Wizard Cadet (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 2) Page 5

The security team from the shuttle’s perimeter began running up the ramp in an organized rush. Richard was impressed with their efficiency. He moved to a nearby wall and tried to stay out of their way. His job was over.

  One of the attached liaison officers from the diplomatic corps came over and helped the insect up. The insect began making those weird squeaking sounds and pointing towards the ramp. The last of the security team re-entered the shuttle as the ramp sealed shut. Richard heard the engines whine as they prepared for takeoff. With a lurch, the shuttle was in the air and rotating into a steep climb.

  Richard sighed. He’d survived his first official intern mission. His only regret was the enemy scout had survived as well. Just before takeoff, Richard had noticed two more white dots on the north side of the mansion blink out. A quick flash of blue confirmed the presence of the enemy scout. He knew the scout was good, because Commander Stevens’ soldiers were the best in the fleet. Yet the Crosioian scout had killed five of them in less than a minute.

  Next time, Richard promised. Next time I won’t be babysitting a blasted cockroach.

  “Wizard scout,” said Commander Stevens. “Get over here on the double.”

  The commander was near the liaison officer and the cockroach. Richard hurried over. Commander Stevens was talking on the intercom to the pilots.

  “You heard me, lieutenant,” said the commander. “I said turn this tub of bolts around now. And, don’t make me come up there to explain the order a second time in person.”

  Richard felt the shuttle begin a diving turn to the right.

  Commander Stevens looked at Richard and pointed to the insect. “He says his children were in the mansion. Did you see any children during your recon?”

  “Insect children, sir?” Richard said. “Negative, sir. I saw a couple of human children on the second floor, but that was all.”

  As Richard spoke, a translator on the liaison officer’s belt emitted a series of squeals and squeaks. The insect responded by making squeaking sounds of his own as it tried to grab Richard by the shoulder with one of its claws. Richard stepped back as he knocked the insect’s pincher-like appendage away. The bug was not deterred. It stopped trying to grab Richard, but it kept up an incessant stream of squeaking. The liaison officer’s translator interpreted the squeaks.

  “Those were my children,” said the insect. “I will not leave without them. If you take me by force, I will never tell you what I know. Never!”

  Commander Stevens looked as if she was trying to remain calm while an internal struggle was going on inside her. Richard had a feeling she had just learned through her private intercom about the deaths of two more members of her detachment. He gave her high marks for self-control. It was an area in which he’d often been told he was lacking.

  “We are returning to the target site,” said Commander Stevens in a calm but crisp voice. “Can you locate those kids? I need a yes or no. Quick.”

  “Yes, commander,” Richard said. “Assuming they are still in the house. A couple of guards locked them in a room. I imagine the guards have let them out by now due to the fire. The guards were just down the hall from the kid’s room. Or, I guess they might have jumped out a window. They seemed like pretty sharp kids, and their room was only on the second floor.”

  “No,” said the insect. “That was a secure holding area. There are no windows, and the door can only be opened from the outside.”

  Richard had an image of the two kids being roasted alive. He had an uncomfortable feeling that he might have left them to die a horrible death.

  Nick, Richard said, what are the odds those guards let the kids out of their room after the fire started?

  Zero, Rick, said Nickelo. I guess you don’t remember, but you shot those two guards in the hallway as you were dropping down the hole from the attic to the first floor. And before you ask, I’d say there is less than a ten percent chance someone else came upstairs to let them out. You did a pretty efficient job of killing everything in the building that breathed.

  Richard felt bad. The kids had not given him away to the guards. For their reward, he had unintentionally left them to be burned alive. But, he didn’t know what else he could have done. Securing the cockroach had been his mission. Regardless, he felt like he should have tried to do something for them.

  Commander Stevens yelled to her troops, “We’re going back in. Get you gear ready. Red team will secure the shuttle. Green team, you will provide security for the wizard scout. He’s going into the building to find two human children.”

  “No,” Richard said in a voice that could only be interpreted as a command. “I’ll do it alone. Have the shuttle make a pass at a hundred meters. Tell them to have the fighters strafe the area around the building just prior to our pass. That Crosioian scout is still down there. Maybe they’ll at least get him to dive for cover.”

  Rick, said Nickelo. You only have eighteen percent Power. This is suicide.

  Richard didn’t answer. His mind was in high-gear. Leaving the kids was his foul-up. Commander Stevens had already lost five of her team. Richard vowed he wasn’t going to let her lose any more.

  A series of creases in the commander’s forehead told Richard all he needed to know about the internal conflict battling inside her. He was sure her first instinct was to argue, but she held her tongue. Although Richard was only a wizard scout cadet, he’d been assigned to her on an internship with orders from the central computer as a full wizard scout. Richard had been told often enough by his Academy instructors only a fool of a commander would go against the recommendation of a wizard scout. Richard had been with Commander Stevens long enough to know she was no fool.

  “What do you need?” she asked all businesslike.

  A lessening of centrifugal force told Richard the shuttle pilot had completed his turn and was in the process of leveling out for the pass.

  How long, Nick? Richard said.

  Eighteen seconds, said Nickelo.

  “Commander,” Richard said, “I need an M12 with three bandoleers of grenade ammo.”

  Richard unslung his M63 lightweight plasma assault rifle and let it fall to the floor.

  A nearby soldier rushed over to Richard and placed her M12 assault rifle in his empty hands along with extra ammo. “It’s a good rifle,” she said. “It won’t let you down. But, I want it back in one piece.”

  Richard nodded his head in thanks. Turning to the crew chief, Richard said, “I need one of the emergency-escape bags. An extra-large would be best if you have it.”

  As the crew chief hurried to the front of the shuttle, Richard yelled, “And, I’ll need two oxygen masks as well.”

  Smart, Rick, said Nickelo. You’re learning.

  Richard had no doubt the mansion was at least partially engulfed in flames by now. If the kids were still alive, he could put them in the shuttle’s emergency escape-bag. The bag was not fireproof, but it was fire resistant. He hoped the bag would provide the kids with at least a little protection if he had to get them out through the flames.

  Twelve seconds, Rick, said Nickelo.

  “Commander Stevens,” Richard said. “Give me five minutes on the ground. If I have them before then, my battle computer will contact you and set up a rendezvous. If you don’t hear from me by five minutes, then there’s nothing to find, and I’m probably dead. Just leave and get the target back to the mothership. If by some miracle I’m alive, I’ll make my escape using my stealth shield. Nickelo will coordinate our rescue with the central computer at a later time.”

  Commander Stevens nodded. “Good luck, wizard scout,” she said. “We’ll give you five minutes.”

  You have six seconds until the drop point, Rick, said Nickelo as a red light illuminated near the rear ramp.

  The crew chief returned from the front of the shuttle. He handed Richard a small, metal container. Then the crew chief hit a button on the wall and the rear ramp lowered until it was even with the floor of the shuttle. A blast of cool, night air hit Richard in the f
ace. The crew chief held out his hand palm out. He began counting out the last five seconds as he lowered his fingers one by one.

  Seal me up, Nick, Richard said as he shoved the metal container into the satchel of J22 plastic explosives he still had strapped over his left shoulder.

  The visor lowered and sealed with the lower part of the battle helmet. Richard barely noticed the tubes entering his body openings to connect him with his battle suit. He had more pressing things on his mind at the moment.

  As the crew chief dropped his second finger, Richard pulled out two blocks of J22 and set the timers at five seconds. When the crew chief’s third finger went down, Richard hit the activate switch on the J22s’ timers. He noticed the usual stony features of Commander Stevens’ face change as her eyes widened.

  Hmm, said Nickelo. I guess she’s not made of ice after all.

  Another of the crew chief’s fingers went down.

  One second, said Nickelo.

  Richard ran for the rear ramp. He noticed the light near the ramp turn green as he leaped into the air. Gravity and the shuttle’s momentum caused the ground to rush up quicker than Richard could react with his own reflexes. But Richard was not alone. He felt the battle suit move of its own volition as Nickelo adjusted his body position. Richard saw and felt a hundred things all happening at once. He caught a flash of the shuttle roaring behind him as the pilot put his ship into a steep climb. Richard noticed that the bottom floor of the mansion was fully engulfed in flames. Some of the windows of the second floor were spouting flames as well. Dark smoke billowed out of the third floor windows. The fires illuminated the area around the building in a bright light. Most of the walls around the compound were in shattered pieces.

  Those fighters must have really poured it to them on their strafing run, Richard said.

  Nickelo did not bother replying. He rarely repeated the obvious.

  Richard felt his left arm move forward in a throwing motion. The movement was so fast Richard barely saw the two blocks of J22 leave his hand. The J22 was naturally adhesive, and when they hit the roof of the mansion, they stuck in place. The blocks of J22 exploded while Richard was still ten meters away. The force of the explosion knocked a large hole in the roof. The back-blast slammed into Richard and slowed his fall.

  Brake, said Nickelo.

  Richard wrapped himself in Power as he fell through the hole in the roof. He slowed his momentum with his telekinesis. Richard landed lightly on the floor of the attic. He was not in the same part of the attic where the hackers had been. He did not waste time looking for a door. Instead, Richard sent a blast of pure Power at the attic floor.

  No! said Nickelo.

  Too late, Richard replied as the blast knocked a two meter-sized hole in the floor of the attic. Richard dropped down into the hallway below.

  That was wasteful, Rick, said Nickelo. Using pure Power for destructive purposes is quick, but it’s too inefficient. You could have used a block of J22 instead. Between the braking from the shuttle jump and blasting a hole in the floor, you are down to eleven percent Power in your reserve.

  Piss on it, Richard said. We don’t have time to waste.

  Well, if you don’t stop wasting your Power, said Nickelo, I’ll bet you won’t have any trouble finding time to die when that Crosioian scout catches up with you.

  I guess I’ll just have to deal with him if and when he catches us, Richard said angrily. He was tired of always being limited by his Power reserve. Richard had a fleeting thought about what he would do if he had a larger pool of Power available to him. But, he only wondered a moment. His mind jumped back to the mission at hand. Richard had always been very mission oriented. He was well aware he sometimes got so involved in completing a mission that he didn’t give a flying hoot about consequences. His mission to find and rescue the two children was one of those times.

  Richard noticed a flash of blue on his heads-up display at the west end of the building. The blue dot disappeared almost immediately.

  Hurry, Rick, said Nickelo.

  I am, mommy, Richard said as he tried to get his bearings in the hallway. He still needed to go down one level to get to the kids.

  Richard eyed the hallway floor for a moment as he considered blasting through with pure Power. While he might be stubborn at times, he wasn’t stupid. Richard reached into the satchel at his side and pulled out another block of J22. He thumbed the timer switch to three seconds, hit the activate switch, and threw the block of plastic explosive several paces ahead.

  Boom!

  The force of the blast knocked Richard back on his haunches, but he was unharmed. Once again, he silently thanked the Empire’s technicians for making very good armor. Richard wasted no time as he stood up. The explosion had made a jagged hole in the floor. Thick smoke poured out of the hole. Richard did not hesitate. He jumped down the opening to the floor below.

  The second floor was nearly pitch-black with smoke. Richard didn’t see how anyone, least of all two kids, could survive in the suffocating smoke. However, two yellow dots on his heads-up display confirmed two people still lived in the building. The yellow dots were in a room on the left side of the hallway. The life energies of both dots were weak. One was very weak.

  Richard ran a dozen paces down the hall. Thanks to the filters of his battle helmet, Richard could see well enough through the thick smoke. His thermal night-vision filter was useless, but the sonic and the enhanced-radiation filters more than made up for the loss. Looking down the hall, Richard saw flames licking up through a large hole. It was the same hole he had blown in the floor during his previous drop from the attic to the first floor.

  Better hustle, Rick, said Nickelo. That hole is acting like a chimney. This entire floor will be in flames in a couple of minutes if not sooner.

  Richard ran to the door of the kid’s room. He didn’t waste time checking if the door to the room was still locked. He pointed his M12 at the door handle and fired a 20mm armored-piercing round. The range was too close for the grenade to detonate. However, it blew a fist-sized hole in the door. The door was blown off its hinges as it went flying back into the room beyond.

  The room was filled with smoke, although not quite as much as there was in the hallway. With the door now missing, Richard knew the room would soon be filled with the toxic smoke. He had to get the oxygen masks on the kids before they suffocated. Richard stepped inside and faced to the left. He expected to see the children lying on the floor, but he saw no sign of them. Instead, he saw a pile of bottles and what appeared to be containers of food.

  Where –, Richard started to say, but before he got his question out, he was interrupted by his battle computer.

  The refrigerator, said Nickelo.

  A shoulder-high refrigerator stood against the left wall. The door was shut. The yellow dots on his heads-up display confirmed the children were inside.

  Richard rushed to the refrigerator. He was all too aware there couldn’t be much air in that tiny space. Richard grabbed hold of the handle and tried to jerk the door open. His arm refused to move.

  No, Rick, said Nickelo. Think first. Take a few seconds to prepare the masks and the rescue bag. They’re not dead yet, but they will be after a few whiffs of this smoke.

  Fine, Richard said. May I have my arm back now?

  Richard felt control of the battle suit’s left arm return. He dropped to the floor and pulled the metal container the crew chief had given him out of his satchel. Richard didn’t waste time trying to locate the container’s latch. He grabbed hold of the lid and pulled. The thin sheet metal was no match for the strength of the battle suit’s gloves. Richard easily ripped the lid off the container and threw it on the floor.

  Let’s hope the lid wasn’t important, said Nickelo. Sometimes when a person tries to go too fast, they wind up slowing things down instead.

  Ignoring his battle computer, Richard unrolled a compact bundle of silver cloth. He spread it out on the floor. It reminded Richard of an old-fashioned sleeping bag e
xcept there was not an opening for the head. Running his fingers down the seam, Richard opened the bag in preparation for putting the children inside.

  Both yellow dots on his heads-up display were growing noticeably dimmer. Richard could barely sense the weakest dot with his passive scan. He knew instinctively it was the little boy.

  Richard pulled the emergency oxygen masks out of the metal container. They were flimsy, but then, they were only meant to be used for a few minutes and then thrown away. They only covered a person’s mouth and nose, but Richard figured they were good enough. He pressed the activate button on both masks and made sure he heard air escaping.

  Grabbing the door handle once again, Richard pulled hard. Nickelo did not interfere this time. The door jerked opened and two limp bodies slid out onto the floor. Holding a mask in each hand, Richard put one over the mouth and nose of each child. Keeping the masks in place, Richard rolled the children over onto their backs. The young girl started coughing violently. The boy barely breathed at all.

  Nick, Richard said. I need a little assistance.

  We should just stick them in the rescue bag and go, said Nickelo. That scout will be looking for you. He may be in the building already. It wouldn’t take a genius to know you came back here for the kids.

  The boy will die in the bag before we get outside, Nick, Richard said. Either help me, or don’t, but I’m not moving until they’re both stabilized.

  The girl made a couple of retching noises and then opened her eyes. She closed them almost immediately to escape the acrid smoke. She grabbed hold of her mask with one hand as she felt around with the other. When she made contact with her brother, she rolled over and pulled herself towards the little boy’s head.

  “Brachia,” said the girl between coughs. “I told you he’d come back for us. I told you he wouldn’t let us die. Please answer me, Brachia. You can’t die. I won’t let you die. Please don’t leave me all alone.”

  Richard barely listened to the little girl’s pleas. The boy was fading fast. He had to do something.

  Nick? Richard said putting all the desperation in the word he could muster.