Wizard Cadet (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  “What do you think?” Richard said.

  “I think they are probably right,” said Samanestra. “However, defeating the necromancer will not be easy. The last time Remozorz faced him, all she got out of it was a broken staff. She fought valiantly, but he was too strong. We barely escaped with our lives. Many of our comrades did not. Even now, their mutilated bodies are part of the necromancer’s army. Even Commander Kreathin’s mate, Lillia, was killed. I believe Kreathin is haunted by the thought that his mate may even now be part of the necromancer’s army.”

  Richard had a quick vision of some of his marine recon buddies he’d seen killed over the years coming back as undead and fighting against him. It was not a pleasant thought. Richard tried to imagine how he would feel if someone he loved was part of the undead army. In spite of himself, he felt a little pity for the elf commander if he was forced to fight against those who had once been his friends or even his former mate. As far as Richard was concerned, it didn’t change the fact the elf was an arrogant butt, but he did pity him just a little.

  They traveled the remainder of the day until the sun was just barely above the horizon. As the sun cast its last light, ever darkening storm clouds closed in overhead. Commander Kreathin led his command into a sheltered cove of trees. Soon, the gnomes had a makeshift camp assembled and several small fires going with pots of water hung over them to boil. Two of the gnomes showed Dren and Brachia how to care for their ponies and where to tie them on the picket line.

  While the children cared for their ponies, Richard pitched their tent and got a camp stove going. By the time the children returned, Richard had a pot of stew cooking along with some hot chocolate. Richard noticed several of the gnomes showing an interest in the unique smell of the hot chocolate.

  “Are we having stew again?” said Brachia. “Can’t we have something different?”

  “We could,” Richard said patiently, “but a stew is the easiest thing to cook on short notice. I’ll make you something different next time.” Then with a wink at Dren, Richard added, “Of course, you could always eat what the gnomes are having. Samanestra told me they are on short rations. They are having a delicious supper of hot gruel.”

  “What’s gruel?” asked Brachia suspiciously.

  “Gruel is a thin soup. It’s basically flour and water with a little bit of salt added for taste,” Richard said. “The sisters at the orphanage where I grew up used to serve gruel to children who misbehaved. I seem to remember eating a lot of gruel over the years. It’s actually not too bad if you spice it up with something. Samanestra told me they were putting some dried fish in their gruel tonight. I’ll bet it will be yummy, don’t you, Dren.”

  “Oh, yes,” said Dren with a barely hidden smile. “I’m sure it will be delicious. However, since you already have some beef stew heating up, I guess I’ll have it. I mean, I wouldn’t want it to go to waste. Do you mind if I have yours, little brother? May I have your hot chocolate as well?”

  Brachia looked speechless for a moment. After a short pause, he said, “That child psychology stuff won’t work on me, Dren. Daddy took all those classes at the university, and I know what he knew. And, I didn’t say I wanted what the gnomes were eating. I just asked what it was. I’ll have what you guys are having for supper. I think we should eat and drink the same thing.”

  “I think you’re right, Brachia,” Richard said. “Like I said, if we are still camping out tomorrow night, I will make you something different. But for now, I think the hot chocolate is ready if you want a cup now. The stew will be ready in a few minutes.”

  Brachia took his cup of hot chocolate and went over to sit with Samanestra at a nearby fire. The old gnome and Brachia seemed to take a liking to each other. Richard noticed Brachia let Samanestra have a sip of his hot chocolate. Richard watched as the gnome’s face lit up with surprise which quickly turned into a look of pure joy. Richard had a feeling the old gnome had a sweet tooth, and the taste of the chocolate had hit the spot.

  Dren must have noticed the gnome’s reaction as well because she said, “You better put on another pot of hot chocolate, Rick. I have a feeling we are going to have some company before the night is over.”

  Dren proved to be a fortune teller. Within a half hour, Richard was heating up a fourth pot of hot chocolate. As he soon found out, Samanestra was not the only gnome with a sweet tooth. Before he finally put his camp stove away for the night, Richard figured every gnome in the camp including the High Priestess had gotten at least two cups of hot chocolate. The only holdout was the elf commander. He refused to go anywhere near Richard and the children’s camping spot.

  As Richard finished putting the cooking utensils away, Dren said, “Aren’t you going to put up a tent for you, Rick? It looks like it’s going to rain tonight.”

  “Nick calculates a seventy-eight percent chance of thunderstorms,” Richard said. “I’d say you’d better seal all the air-tight doors and be prepared to ride it out.”

  “What about you, Rick?” said Brachia.

  Richard thought the boy seemed genuinely concerned. He was touched.

  “I’m just going to stay sealed in my battle suit,” Richard said. “My burns are still healing, and I don’t want to expose them to the air yet by unsealing. I’ll be fine. Nickelo tells me this battle suit can withstand depths of over to three thousand meters in the ocean. A little rain is definitely not going to bother it.”

  “Well,” said Brachia, “you could come in and keep us company. Omar doesn’t like thunder.”

  “I’ll be right outside your tent standing guard,” Richard said.

  You mean I’ll be standing guard, Nickelo interjected privately. You’ll be snoring and dreaming of butterflies and rainbows.

  I don’t snore, Richard said. If you hear anything while I’m sleeping, it’s probably the buzzing of the battle suit’s cooling fans.

  Your battle suit doesn’t have cooling fans, said Nickelo. It’s a self-contained environment with an internal heat exchanger to supplement the isotopic battery. You should study your battle suit’s specs more.

  I have studied the specs, old buddy, Richard said. I was just making a little joke.

  Yeah, said Nickelo. And a very little joke it was.

  You know, Nick, you’re not as funny as you think, Richard said.

  Brachia and Dren did not seem convinced by Richard’s assurance.

  “Honest kids,” Richard said. “I’ll be fine. But, if the weather gets too rough, I’ll come inside and keep you company. Does that seem like a deal?”

  “Okay, Rick,” said Dren. “Make sure you do.”

  After the children zipped their tent flap shut, Richard walked to a nearby tree. He sat down with his back against the tree and was soon asleep.

  Chapter 17 – The Blue Dot

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  Lightning flashed across the sky, and the rain began to fall. At first it was a drizzle. Then it became a steady downpour. Nickelo scanned the area with his electronics noting the position of everyone in the camp. Well, almost everyone. The elf commander did not register. The elf had activated his stealth shield immediately after his initial meeting with Richard. Nickelo compared the previous data he had collected from the elf with the data from Richard. The elf had a very good stealth shield. The elf’s Power reserve was also quite large. It was over twenty times as large as his wizard scout’s reserve. Nickelo calculated a ninety-seven percent chance the elf was keeping his best stealth shield up on a continuous basis. Nickelo was unable to detect the elf with any scans even though he could visually monitor him with the battle helmet’s external video when he was within range. The elf’s shield was good, but not perfect. Nickelo ran a quick calculation. There was a high probability his wizard scout could pinpoint the elf with an active scan without discovery if he was careful. Richard had become quite proficient at active scans during the past year.

  Nickelo sensed a strange input coming from his internal receivers. It was another of th
ose inputs he had reluctantly come to call emotions. Nickelo calculated this emotion was probably a sense of pride in his wizard scout. Nickelo was concerned. He was increasingly displaying emotions the longer he was associated with Richard. After carefully reviewing the available data, Nickelo had to admit ‘the One’ was probably correct in denying him access to the tele-network. It would not do to have large segments of the tele-network contaminated with emotions. Not having access to the tele-network was unfortunate given the current circumstances. The data in his internal databanks was insufficient to make reliable calculations. Without a valid interface with the tele-network, he was unable to even determine if any tele-bots had accompanied them to this planet. The child, Dren, had suggested they had, but he could not verify their theory. Nickelo was ninety-six percent sure they had, but without an interface to the tele-network, the presence of any tele-bots did him no good even if they were here.

  Another flash of lightning lit up the camp. Nickelo was glad he was embedded inside the battle helmet. At least he was dry. That was more than the gnomes could say. Without the gear they had lost during their battle with the Northern Mages, the gnomes were having a rough time. Most were huddled under their soggy blankets trying to sleep as best they could under the torrential rain. Nickelo ran a scan on the two children. They were staying dry in their tent. Nickelo mentally applauded his wizard scout for securing two tarps over their tent to insure no moisture bothered the children’s rest. He also approved of Richard’s decision not to summon gear for the gnomes. Neither his wizard scout nor he knew how much equipment was available. The items in the storage warehouses might need to last his wizard scout a very long time. They could not give the stuff away willy-nilly.

  Nickelo laughed. He liked the word willy-nilly. He would have to find a way to use it in his conversation with his wizard scout or the children.

  Probably best to use it with the children, Nickelo thought. They would probably appreciate it. Rick can be a stick-in-the-mud sometimes. Hmm. I like that phrase also.

  Nickelo laughed again. He pictured himself in various scenarios calling his wizard scout a stick-in-the-mud. Most were quite amusing. Nickelo wasn’t sure why, but he enjoyed jerking his wizard scout’s chain every once in a while. Existence could be very boring at times. Interacting with his wizard scout helped keep things interesting. Nickelo was glad he had an interesting and unpredictable wizard scout. They made a good team.

  Nickelo sent out a logic thread to monitor Richard’s health. The data returned almost immediately. Nickelo was not happy. His wizard scout’s blisters were going down, but some of the worst parts of the burns were starting to scab over. That would make Richard stiff. Some advanced combat moves might become more difficult for his wizard scout. Richard’s left leg was stiffening up as well. The injury from last year had never healed correctly.

  I do not understand the logic of ‘the One’, Nickelo thought. All my algorithms indicate it would be best if Rick had his DNA baseline taken so he could self-heal. Sending him on dangerous missions without the ability to self-heal is asinine. If I could access the core programming of ‘the One’, I’d rewrite it and put some sense into that computerized brain. Assuming ‘the One’ is a computer, of course.

  Nickelo accessed previous probability calculations he had made. Without new data, they were still valid. The ninety-nine point eight six percent probability ‘the One’ was a computer or network of computers was as near an indication of certainty as he could get.

  So why doesn’t ‘the One’ do the logical thing and accelerate Rick’s DNA baseline testing? His actions make no sense. I need access to the tele-network. This isolation is frustrating. How am I supposed to help and guide my wizard scout without access to pertinent data?

  With a computer’s equivalent of a sigh, Nickelo stored his wizard scout’s health data and moved on to other thoughts and calculations. From what he’d picked up from monitoring the conversations of the gnomes, their column should arrive at the Oracle’s location on the morrow. Nickelo was unsure what the day would bring. His most reliable algorithms indicated the Oracle would provide data his wizard scout and he desperately needed. The downside was the Oracle would probably give Richard a task that would put the wizard scout and his two young charges in danger.

  It can’t be helped, Nickelo decided. Every viable algorithm requires the Oracle as a variable in order to get Rick and the children home. It’s a risk Rick will just have to take.

  Nickelo took control of his wizard scout’s active scan and did a quick spot check of the surrounding area. He supplemented it with the battle suit’s electronic scan. Nickelo combined the information from both scans plus the data from Richard’s passive scan. He used it to update his wizard scout’s heads-up display. For the nine hundredth and thirty-seventh time, Nickelo expressed gratitude his wizard scout trusted him enough to keep the override activated most of the time. This allowed him to use Richard’s scans without disturbing his wizard scout’s rest.

  The close-in scan was as expected. Nick opened the passive scan out to a range of two thousand meters. He sensed nothing troubling. Of course, at that range, his wizard scout’s passive scan could only pick up groups of lifeforms or a single powerful lifeform. Nickelo had a logic thread run a quick calculation on the probability the passive scan might pick up something at an even farther range. The result was less than half of one percent. Nickelo activated a random number generator for a number between one and one thousand. The result was a four.

  Hmm, Nickelo mused. What are the odds? Wait. I know, he thought. It’s four out of a thousand. Nickelo knew Rick wouldn’t find his joke funny, but he felt sure any computer with a sense of humor would find it hilarious.

  Since four out of a thousand was less than one half of a percent, Nickelo opened his wizard scout’s passive scan up to sense input from up to four thousand meters distance.

  Why not? he thought. Rick’s Power reserve is currently at ninety-six percent, and the passive scan requires almost no Power.

  As expected, the passive scan returned no lifeforms. At those ranges, Nickelo knew only a group of several hundred lifeforms or a very powerful creature would register. Everything appeared normal except for one little anomaly to the northwest. Nickelo ran some probability calculations to determine if the cost of an active scan would be worth the possible return of useful data. The probability was low.

  If his wizard scout had less Power, he probably wouldn’t have risked it. But as it was, Nickelo gathered the active scan Richard had set up for him and intertwined it with the battle helmet’s electronic scan. Nickelo sent a tightly controlled line of Power towards the anomaly. He let the active scan hide the less secure electronic scan. He eased the scan towards the anomaly. Probing cautiously and as efficiently as possible, Nickelo gathered some initial data and returned it to the battle helmet’s receivers. Out of habit, he posted the result on the heads-up display. The anomaly was a single lifeform. It did not have a stealth shield activated. Nickelo compared the lifeform’s frequency with known lifeform frequencies in his databanks. He found a match.

  Nickelo changed the color of the dot on his wizard scout’s heads-up display to blue.

  Time to wake up, Rick, Nickelo said in a private thought to his wizard scout.

  Nickelo sighed. His wizard scout was having a pleasant dream involving the shuttle pilot, Liz. Nickelo sensed his wizard scout was happy. He had a momentary regret that he needed to disturb his wizard scout’s slumber. His regret didn’t last long. Using the battle suit, he sent a small electrical charge into his wizard scout’s buttocks.

  Time to wake up, cadet, Nickelo said cheerfully. Duty calls.

  Chapter 18 – For Good or Ill

  ____________________________________

  What the … Richard thought as he jumped to his feet with his M63 at the ready. He visually scanned the surroundings for potential targets. He saw none. He glanced at his heads-up display. It was uncharacteristically at a higher range setting. The white dot
s of his gnome allies and the children were all bunched together at the center. At the extreme northwest of the display, he saw a flashing blue dot.

  Nick, Richard said. Are you seeing this?

  Of course I’m seeing this, said Nickelo. I put it there.

  That blue dot, said Richard, is it the Crosioian scout?

  No, it’s not, said Nickelo.

  Oh, Richard said a little relieved. Then what is it? You’ve marked it blue.

  I mark all unknown anomalies in blue, said Nickelo. But in this case, I am using the blue to indicate the presence of that demon you encountered that first night on this planet.

  Do you mean the one with the werewolves? Richard said stalling for time. He was furiously trying to figure out possible courses of action. Should he wake the kids up and run? Should he warn the gnomes? He held off making any decisions for the moment. His battle computer was unusually calm, even for a computer. He needed to know why.

  Yes, I mean the demon with the werewolves, said Nickelo. Have you been having secret rendezvous with other demons while I was asleep?

  This is no time for jokes, Nick, Richard said. He was not in the mood. His buttocks hurt, and the pain seemed very similar to an electrical shock. He didn’t have to do much guessing to figure out who had initiated the shock.