Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Page 12

  “Good job, Rick,” said Nickelo. “Keep her attention. Don’t let her gather her thoughts.”

  Richard laughed. He tried to put as much contempt into his next words as possible. “It’s as I expected. Only cowards use rifles and pistols.” Richard laughed again. “I’m told the first scout I killed was the Crosioians’ best. At least she was honorable enough to use her phase spear and scout abilities when we fought.” Richard paused for effect. “Even if she did beg for mercy like a weak human before I ended her miserable life.”

  Richard hoped his words would cause one or both of the scouts to scream in anger and attack. An angry enemy was vulnerable.

  “If I can take out one of the scouts quickly,” Richard reasoned, “then my odds of surviving this encounter will increase dramatically.”

  “I estimate a seventy-two percent probability the scouts will kill you even if they lose their tempers,” said Nickelo. “Too bad. I was just getting used to having you around.”

  Chapter 10 – Two Against One

  _________________

  As it turned out, neither of the scouts screamed or attacked. Instead, they appeared to come to a consensus. Both scouts let their plasma rifles slide off their shoulders. Their weapons clattered noisily onto the metal deck. Once unencumbered, the scouts maneuvered to positions on opposite sides of Richard.

  While the bat creatures repositioned, Richard removed the silencer from his 9mm and replaced both the pistol and silencer into his shoulder holster. As he did so, he began backing toward the relatively clear area near the stairwell. There wasn’t much room, but it was the best option he had at the moment.

  The two scouts simultaneously sent lines of Power at Richard’s chest. He had the feeling they’d used the coordinated attack in battle more than once. He batted one line away with his own Power. The other Crosioian’s line began wrapping around Richard’s heart. Before the scout could squeeze, Richard diverted his own line of Power and knocked the attacking line away.

  “I can’t counter two attacks at the same time,” Richard said hoping his battle computer had a solution to his dilemma.

  “If you want to stay alive, you’d better learn real fast.”

  Nickelo’s reply didn’t give him much confidence.

  The Crosioian scouts made a half dozen more attacks using their lines of Power. By luck as much as by skill, Richard was able to defend himself without taking any serious damage. Apparently growing frustrated with the failure of their psionic attacks, the scouts switched to physical ones. They both charged at the same time, swinging their phase spears.

  The tips of their spears formed blurring arcs as the scouts pressed their attacks. The strikes came too fast for a mere human to counter. Fortunately, Richard wasn’t a mere human. He was a wizard scout. Plus, his battle computer was the most advanced of its kind in the galaxy. Despite the double attacks, he somehow blocked their strikes.

  “You’re doing well, Rick.”

  “Thanks to my battle suit,” Richard said as he continued fending off the scouts’ blows. “If it wasn’t for the suit’s assistors, their attacks would be too strong for me to stop.”

  “Aren’t you going to thank me also?” asked Nickelo. “I’m the one adjusting the assistors for maximum efficiency. At least give me some of the credit?”

  “Thanks,” was all Richard had time to say.

  “Unfortunately,” said Nickelo, “the Crosioians’ battle computers are helping them as well. I’m doing my best to anticipate their actions, but if you don’t change your tactics soon, one of those scouts is going to get an attack through your defenses.”

  No sooner had his battle computer completed his thought than one of the scouts feinted at Richard’s chest with her spear before changing direction toward his right leg. He attempted to counter with his phase rod but was a microsecond too slow. The creallium point of the Crosioian’s spear pierced the tough leg-armor of his battle suit and tore a deep hole into the flesh of his thigh. With an involuntary scream of pain, Richard kicked back hard with his left leg. At the same time, he swung his phase rod wildly in the hopes of keeping the scout at bay.

  Suddenly, Richard’s mind went into a time-freeze. He was frozen in midair. The scouts were frozen as well. The larger of the scouts was in the middle of thrusting her phase spear directly at Richard’s exposed chest.

  “This is crazy. What good is a time-freeze if I can’t control it? And why does it happen anyway?”

  “Why?” asked Nickelo. “I suppose it’s because ‘the One’ put part of his essence in you when you were an embryo. I calculate that’s why you can interact with computers in ways no other wizard scouts are able. Surely you don’t think other scouts can communicate with their battle computers at hyper-speed like you.”

  In truth, Richard had assumed just that. He’d taken for granted his friends had the same relationship with their battle computers that he had with his.

  “Well, you assumed wrong,” said Nickelo intruding upon his thoughts.

  “What good is this accomplishing? Everything around me is going slower than an ice comet stuck in Hacon’s rings. Doing anything useful when everything around me is going so slow is nearly impossible.”

  “Tell me about it. You’re preaching to the choir, Rick. I deal with this every nanosecond of my existence. However, such is my lot in life. As for you, I calculate the stress of the situation brought this on. I’d bet a new isotopic battery when the time-freeze is over, you’re going to wish it had lasted a little longer. You do see the phase spear heading for your chest, don’t you? So my advice is to take advantage of this time while you can.”

  Richard knew Nickelo was right but refused to admit it to his battle computer. He decided to take a moment to survey the area around him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make his eyes move during a time-freeze, so his visual input was limited. His gaze was currently too focused on the point of the scout’s phase spear to be useful. Thankfully, the input from his passive scan was clearly imprinted in his shared space. He could sense the energy output of everything around him, even frozen in time as it was.

  Normally, Richard only considered the energy output from other life forms. Everything, even inanimate objects, gave off at least some residual Power. The combination of Power readings from both living and inanimate objects was usually too convoluted to be useful. His mind could only assimilate so much information at once. That’s why he normally only monitored life forms. With his mind now operating at hyper-speed, things were different. Reaching out with his mind, he drew in as much data from his surroundings as possible. The amount of data was overwhelming.

  “Nick, help me make sense of this information. Correlate it with the schematics of this ship. I want to know what’s above, below, and in all the rooms around us.”

  A schematic of the destroyer appeared on Richard’s heads-up display, then wavered. Images of objects were suddenly overlaid on top of the rooms displayed on layers of blueprints. Many of the objects had numbers near them.

  “What’s those numbers?” Richard asked.

  “Percentages. Data from your passive scan’s too generic to allow me to determine what an object is with a hundred percent accuracy.”

  “Can I use an active scan to get better information?”

  “Not while you’re in a time-freeze. Even an active scan takes time to do its job.”

  Richard thought he saw a flaw in his battle computer’s answer. “I just sent out my passive scan to get all this data. Surely my active scan is just as fast.”

  “Actually, you didn’t send out your passive scan. It was already activated. All you did was allow the information it had already accumulated to enter the shared space in your mind.”

  “But—”

  “There are no buts. Everything we’re doing is happening in the space of a single nanosecond. Heck, if you could interact with the physical space around you with your mind, you could just send out a line of Power and break the links of those scouts to their Power reserves. Howe
ver, you can’t, so just deal with it. Now stop wasting time and think of a plan before your mind shifts back to normal speed.”

  A part of Richard wanted to argue further. However, one look at the tip of the scout’s phase spear heading his way changed his mind. He really did need a plan. Rotating the schematics of the ship, Richard tried to find something—anything—that would give him an edge. The image of a large object in the area above the stairway drew his attention. The object had the number 87 imprinted near it.

  “What’s that?” Richard asked.

  “It’s some type of electrical generator,” answered Nickelo. “Or at least, there’s an eighty-seven percent probability it’s a generator. I suppose it could be something else.”

  “It looks big. Is it heavy?”

  “Based upon the stress on the ceiling’s brace beams, I calculate it’s at least thirty metric tons. Why?”

  Richard compared the outline of the generator above with the objects at his level near the stairway.

  “Oh, Rick,” said Nickelo with a note of admiration. “Sometimes you really surprise me. I think that’s why I like being your battle computer. You make life so interesting.”

  “Since you’re obviously reading my thoughts, tell me this. Will it work?”

  “I guess we’ll soon see,” replied Nickelo. “I’ve a feeling this little time-freeze of yours is about to end.”

  Richard glanced at the Power in his reserve. Less than half.

  “It’s at forty-one percent,” corrected Nickelo. “Shifting the entire security team and yourself into the void at the same time was expensive.”

  “Do I have the Power to do what I need to, or don’t I?”

  “It’ll be close, Rick. Maybe you should give me control of your Power for efficiency’s sake. We won’t have time for a second chance.”

  Richard agreed. Everything would have to be done near instantaneously to make it work. Even now, he could feel the physical world around him starting to speed up. It was now or never.

  Forming his Power, Richard gave control of it to his battle computer. He also made sure the override on his battle suit was activated. The scout’s incoming phase spear was too close for comfort.

  Time shifted back to normal.

  Everything seemed to happen at once. Richard felt his battle suit twist to the side. The scout’s phase spear missed his chest but got close enough to gouge a shallow groove in the side of his battle suit. At the same time his suit was twisting, Richard sensed his Power wrap around him and the metal plating of the ceiling above the stairway. His Power shimmered. Both the ceiling and his body shifted into the void at the same time. Down came the generator straight through the now translucent ceiling.

  Thirty metric tons of the generator’s metallic mass engulfed everything below it, including Richard. Blackness blocked out all visual references. As he’d hoped, the generator had fallen on both of the Crosioian scouts. Richard said a silent prayer that neither of the scouts were shifters.

  Taking back control of his Power and his battle suit, Richard cut off the dimensional shift of the ceiling letting the metal beams and plates of the ceiling shift back into the physical dimension. Using his telekinesis, Richard moved laterally until he was clear of the generator, then shifted out of the void.

  The arm of one of the scouts protruded from underneath the bottom of the generator. Although the arm was drenched in blood, its clawed fingers were scratching against the floor as if trying to pull the bat creature’s body free. Richard sensed Power from the scout’s reserve trying to heal its crushed body, but to no avail. The continual damage from the weight of the generator was too much for the scout’s limited Power reserve. Within only a few seconds, the bat’s clawed hand made a final spasm of movement. Richard sensed the last of the Power in the scout’s reserve dissipate into the universe. The twitching claws grew still. Richard didn’t need his battle computer to tell him the scout was dead.

  “Move!” shouted Nickelo.

  Richard’s right leg was nearly useless from his previous wound, but he still had the Power from his telekinesis wrapped around his body. He levitated hard to the right just as a phase spear thrust outward from the center of the generator. The phase spear was followed by the form of the smaller Crosioian scout, which was slightly translucent. She was in the void.

  “How?” Richard asked.

  “I guess she’s a shifter,” said Nickelo. “She must have a good battle computer to boot. Your trick with the generator was too fast for even a bat’s reflexes. I thought sure you’d catch them both by surprise. Oh, well. Live and learn.”

  At the moment, Richard wasn’t sure he was going to live long enough to be able to learn from the error of his ways. As soon as the scout cleared the generator, she began thrusting her spear wildly in an attempt to pin him to the wall with its deadly point. Richard knocked the spear aside with his phase rod. Red and blue sparks flew into the air as the two opposing sets of phase energy made contact.

  “You’re down to eight percent Power,” said Nickelo. “Recommend you stop using your telekinesis as soon as possible.”

  Richard had an urge to tell his battle computer what he could do with his recommendation. His telekinesis was the only thing keeping him out of reach of the scout’s spear. His right leg was still useless.

  “Your leg should be healed well enough to bear your weight in four seconds,” said Nickelo.

  Richard levitated his body out of the way of another thrust. He had a feeling the odds he’d be alive in four seconds were growing increasingly smaller. He was hurt. The scout wasn’t. If the situation had been reversed, Richard was sure he could’ve finished her with no problem. Then he sensed the scout wrap her spear with Power.

  “Watch out!” warned Nickelo. “She’s going to use telekinesis to speed up her next thrust.” In what sounded like a note of admiration, Richard’s battle computer added, “She must have one smart battle computer.”

  The scout’s use of Power gave Richard an idea. Sending out a line of his own Power, he found the link to the scout’s Power reserve. As soon as he did, he knew he had her.

  “We’re in luck,” Richard said. “It’s not even booby-trapped.”

  Apparently realizing her danger, the scout tried to shift her Power from her spear in an attempt to knock his Power aside. She was too late. With a twist of his Power, Richard put a kink in the scout’s link.

  The scout stumbled slightly, but to her credit, she continued thrusting her spear in a vain attempt to kill her opponent. Richard used his telekinesis to knock her thrust to the side. At the same time, he shoved the tip of his phase rod into the bat creature’s throat. The phase rod glanced off the Crosioian’s tough armor, but not before the phase energy did its job. The sub-atomic explosions tore apart the inside of the scout’s throat as the demon essence drained her life force. The scout grabbed her neck, dropping her phase spear to the deck. With a reverse swing of his phase rod, Richard knocked the scout’s legs out from underneath her. She fell to the floor.

  “I calculate your leg can bear your weight now,” said Nickelo.

  Shutting down his telekinesis to conserve Power, Richard half fell, half dived at the scout. As he did so, he swung his phase rod at her head. The scout’s armor cracked under his blow. He sensed the demon essence suck out the last of the scout’s life force. The scout stopped moving. With the link to her Power reserve out of commission, she was just a normal, giant-sized bat. The blue dot on his passive scan that had been marking the location of the scout disappeared. She was dead.

  Richard stood up but had no time to celebrate. The sound of distant explosions told him his security team was meeting heavy resistance.

  Limping at first, Richard’s pace quickly increased as his self-heal ability finished closing his wound. Within fifteen seconds, his leg was nearly back to normal.

  “Too bad we can’t say the same for your battle suit,” said Nickelo. “The scout’s spear thrust to your leg took out one of the suit’s backup as
sistors.”

  “Not to mention the seal’s broken,” Richard added.

  “Yeah, that too,” agreed Nickelo.

  As he continued down the hallway, Richard noticed signs of battle. Charred walls along one intersection gave testimony to the liberal use of fireball rounds by at least one of the dwarves. Soon, bodies began littering the hallways and side rooms. Richard breathed a sigh of relief. All of the bodies were tall. None of them were dwarves.

  “I’m using the information from your passive scan to mark the dwarves in white on your heads-up display,” said Nickelo. “They’re all safe, so stop worrying.”

  The sounds of the battle ahead ended. Richard was momentarily worried until he confirmed with his passive scan that all six dwarves and Bright Wing lived. The life force of two of the dwarves was less than normal, but they were still alive.

  Jumping down a final staircase, Richard landed on top a heap of bodies. Several of the bodies were missing heads or limbs. A glance around the room confirmed the battle had been hard. Thankfully, it was over at least for now.

  “’Bout time, wizard scout,” said Storis. He was kneeling down to cover an adjacent hallway with his M12. “Jasper and Mica got hit. Felspar’s with them.”

  After verifying Bright Wing was in the hyper-drive doing her thing, Richard turned his attention to the dwarves. Felspar and the two wounded dwarves were hiding behind a solid-looking computer console. Reaching out with his mind, Richard did a quick survey of the dwarves’ injuries. By the time he knelt down at their sides, he had a plan.

  Felspar acknowledged Richard with a nod of his head. “Glad you made it. Did the scouts give you any trouble?”

  Pointing to the hole in his leg armor, Richard said, “A little. However, they won’t be troubling anyone ever again.”

  Felspar smiled and rose to his feet. “I’m going to cover that stairway. I’ve got a feeling we’ll be having more company soon.”

  “Understood,” Richard said. “In the meantime, I’ll take care of these two.”