Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles 1: Wizard Defiant (17 page)

If I gave you control, Nick, could you just take over my abilities and heal her yourself?

It doesn’t work that way, Rick. You’re an emp-healer. There aren’t many of your kind around for good reason. You have to take the person’s injuries on yourself before your Power can heal them.

That’s crazy,
Richard said.

Nevertheless, Rick, that’s how your healing ability works. Most wizard scouts heal others directly. But once again, you seem to have an affinity for doing things the hard way.

Fine then
, Richard said.
Let’s do it.

Richard could feel the pressure bandage getting soaked with blood. The sorceress was bleeding to death as they spoke. Richard tried to understand why the female’s life meant so much to him, but he couldn’t even explain it to himself. Maybe it was because she had risked her own life thinking she was saving his. Unbeknownst to her, the ghoul’s teeth and claws would not have penetrated his armor. She had risked her own life for no reason.

All right, Rick
, said Nickelo.
I’ll guide you through the healing process. The methodology is pretty simple, although it will take you years of practice to perfect it. You’ll normally be striving for efficiency, but in this case you just need to get the artery reconnected and the wound healed. Don’t worry about efficiency. Your healing will be drawing Power from that second Power pool the technicians told you about, so your primary Power reserve won’t be affected.

What about the poison?
Richard said.

Wounds are one thing, Rick. Poisons and diseases are another. You’ll need advanced training for them. But, the poison won’t kill her. The wounds will. That’s what you need to heal. Are you ready?

Ready
, Richard said. He was a little nervous. A person’s life depended on him getting it right.

Fine, Rick. Healing is similar to an active scan. That’s why the scan is taught first. Your healing will be a little different from the way most wizard scouts heal, but not much. Do you see your primary Power reserve?

Yes
, Richard said. He had always seen it, even when he was a young child. Or maybe seen was the wrong word. It was more like feeling it. He knew it was there.

Do you see your second Power reserve?

No, Nick
, Richard said tensely. This was taking way too long. Richard wanted to get busy healing. The pressure bandage was completely soaked now.
Is all of this really necessary, Nick? She’s dying.

Yes, it’s necessary. And, it would go a lot quicker if you didn’t argue with me over things you know nothing about.

Nickelo was quiet for a second. Richard said nothing.

Fine
, said Nickelo.
I guess we understand each other’s role in this endeavor. Okay, Rick, find the point where your Power is overflowing out of your main reserve. Trace that overflow to your second Power reserve. That’s where your primary healing Power is stored.

Richard looked, but he saw no overflow. Then it dawned on him.
There is no overflow, Nick. My Power reserve is less than a hundred percent.

Oops!
said Nickelo.
I forgot. See. Even computers make mistakes every once in a while.

Nick!

Okay. There’s still time, Rick. She’s got a least four or five minutes before she will bleed to death.

Nick!

I’m hurrying, Rick. You should see a faint path leading away from your main Power reserve. It will look different from the rest of the surrounding area.

Got it
, Richard said impatiently.

Trace it to its end point, Rick. That will be your second Power reserve. It only gets overflow Power from your main reserve. Any overflow from your second Power reserve is just lost if it’s not used.

Save the lectures, Nick. I found the second reserve. Now hurry, please.

I always hurry. You’re the one that’s slow.

Nick!

Fine. Now, Rick, I want you to pull some Power from that second reserve and use it to wrap the sorceress’ injuries.

How do I find the injuries, Nick? Is it just what I see on the surface?

No, Rick. Touch her with your Power. It will be easier if you hold onto her. Take one of your gloves off. Flesh to flesh contact helps. Don’t touch the wound directly. You don’t want any stray ghoul poison getting on you. And, make sure you don’t let go until the healing is done.

Richard took off his left glove and grabbed hold of the sorceress’ right arm in order to be well away from the wound.

Touch her with your Power, Rick. It’s similar to the way you touch targets with your active scan. Once your Power has made contact, try and imagine you are her. Try to feel how her body should be. Compare that to how her body is now. Any differences will be her injuries.

Richard had no idea what Nickelo meant, but he was determined to do his best. Drawing Power from the second reserve was easy enough. Wrapping the sorceress in Power was no problem either. Imagining his body was a female’s body was a definite problem. Things just didn’t feel right.

No pressure, Rick. But the sorceress will be dead in three minutes.

Richard did his best to shove thoughts about gender differences to the side. A body was a body after all. Lungs, heart, blood, muscles, they were all the same regardless of gender. After a moment, Richard began to sense how the female’s body should be. He felt the differences in her body now.

Nickelo must have sensed Richard was close, because he said,
Now, Rick, wrap the differences with the Power. Then pull half the Power back into you. Once that’s done, the sorceress’ wounds will start to heal.

Richard did as commanded. He wrapped her wounds with his Power and pulled half the Power back into his own body. Suddenly, Richard felt a white-hot pain in his left forearm. He jerked away from the sorceress. The healing was forgotten. Richard looked at his arm, but of course, he could see nothing through the battle suit. However, he did see blood dripping down his left hand from where it was escaping from under the cuff of his battle suit. His left forearm felt like it was on fire.

What the hell, Nick? Something’s wrong.

Nothing’s wrong, Rick. You’re an emp-healer. What’d you think that meant? You have to take the sorceress’ injuries on yourself before she can be healed.

“What about me?” Richard said out loud. Since his battle suit had unsealed when he removed his glove, the tubes were no longer in his nose and throat. He could talk again.

Once the one half of your Power heals the sorceress, then the other half of your Power will heal you. But you broke contact, and you lost all that Power. Now you have to start over again. If you do that more than a few times, you will be out of Power. And by the way, the sorceress has less than two minutes left to live now. If you can’t force yourself to hold on until the healing is complete, then don’t even bother trying.

Richard did not try to reason things out. He just acted. He grabbed hold of the sorceress’ right arm again and drew Power out of his second reserve. He sensed he had less Power in the reserve than before. He wasted no time in finding the sorceress’ wounds and wrapping them with Power. Richard drew half the Power into his own body. Again there was a white-hot flash of pain in his left forearm, but this time he did not let go. After a few seconds, he felt the differences in the female’s body diminish. Before long, the differences completely disappeared.

You can let go now, Rick. The sorceress is healed.

Richard let go. “But my arm still hurts. What’s going on? You said I would be healed as well.”

It’s all right, Rick. It just takes your Power a few minutes to heal any injuries you take upon yourself when healing others. The pain should be subsiding soon.

By the time Nickelo finished speaking, the pain in Richard’s forearm had lessened significantly. Richard noticed the blood was no longer flowing down his left hand.

“My arm’s better, Nick, but it does still hurt a little.”

Such is the life of an emp-healer, Rick. Your wound will heal completely in another minute or so. The sorceress only had a relatively minor wound as far as healing was concerned. Imagine how it would feel if you ever decided to heal a major burn wound on someone. By the way, can you please talk to me with thoughts. I hate verbal communication.

Fine, Nick. But my healing days are over. I’m not taking other people’s injuries onto me again. They can find a normal healer. Emp-healing sucks.

Ah
, said Nickelo,
words of comfort from an angel of mercy. Did anyone ever tell you that you complain a lot?

Did anyone ever tell you that you talk a lot?
Richard said.

______________________

Once Richard’s pain went away, he removed the pressure bandage from the sorceress’ arm. The claw marks were gone as well as the bite wound. The excessive amount of blood on her arm prevented him from telling if there was a scar.

Reaching behind his back with his right hand, he removed his canteen from its pouch. He unscrewed the cap and tipped the canteen over the sorceress’ forearm to wash the blood off. Nothing came out of the canteen.

“Great,” Richard said out loud. “I forgot to fill the canteen before we left.”

Oh, yeah
, said Nickelo.
I haven’t explained that to you either. It’s a dimensional canteen. If you promise to talk to me with your thoughts instead of verbally, I’ll tell you how it works.

Fine
, Richard said using thoughts instead of words.
What is a dimensional canteen, and how does it work?

Your dimensional canteen is similar to your dimensional pack. You’ll notice two dials below the neck of the canteen. The first dial is pressure, and the second dial is temperature. Just set the dials then imagine water. Power from your reserve will energize your canteen, and out will come water. You can dial from ice-cold water to boiling water. The pressure can be normal gravity feed to a high-pressure stream capable of reaching a hundred meters in the air.

Bull
, Richard said.
I’ve never heard of anything like that before. I let it slide earlier because I was desperate, but I’ve never heard of a dimensional pack either.

Nevertheless, here they are, Rick. I guess things actually exist which even you don’t know about. Imagine that. Does it make you feel humble?
Once he had stopped speaking, Nickelo began laughing uncontrollably.

You’re not as funny as you think you are, Nick. Geesh. Grow up already.

Nickelo stopped laughing.
Fine. I’ll laugh during my off-time. You haven’t heard about a dimensional pack or canteen because they were developed just for you. They are synched specifically to your Power frequency. They won’t work for anyone else.

How do you know that, Nick?
Richard said suspiciously.

It’s in my databanks, but I don’t know how the information got there
, said Nickelo.
But, I have a copy of an order for fifty-five dimensional packs and dimensional canteens. I assume the others were sent to wherever the extra copies of your other equipment went.

Sounds expensive
, Richard said. It worried him. One thing he had learned during his time on the streets was that nothing was ever free. Someone would want Richard to pay somehow.

I can’t even begin to calculate the cost of the equipment you’ve been issued, Rick. In my opinion, entire divisions or a fleet of starships could have been equipped for less.

Why?
Richard demanded.
Who has access to that kind of financial resources? The last I heard, the Empire was struggling financially due to all the wars. I don’t care how high someone is in the government. They couldn’t spend those kinds of credits without the central computer raising alarm bells.

I don’t know, Rick. Nothing in my databanks provides any information that could be useful. I’d honestly tell you if I knew.

Richard’s head was spinning. He hated thinking so much, so he decided to act. The dimensional canteen seemed like something he could handle. He left the two dials on the canteen at their defaults and imagined water. He tipped the canteen over the sorceress’ forearm. A clear stream of cool water came out and ran gently over the female’s arm. He felt a miniscule amount of Power drain from his reserve.

After he had washed away the blood, Richard inspected the sorceress’ arm again under white light. There wasn’t even a scar.

Nick
, Richard said.
If I was injured, could I heal myself with my emp-healing ability?

No
, said Nickelo.
Self-healing is different. You have to have your DNA baseline taken first. That’s also when we’ll get our shared space.

Tell me more about the dimensional pack. How do I know what I can and can’t get?

Trial and error, I suppose, Rick. It all depends on Power requirements. The more complex the items, the more Power it will take to energize the pack. Simple thinks like food, basic medical supplies, simple weapons and ammo, or camping equipment will take relatively little Power. Complex items like computers or advanced weapons will take more Power. If an item requires more Power than you have, the pack will not energize, and you will not get the item.

You said I could get weapons and ammo? I used up most of my ammo during our fight. Can I get a resupply?

Oh, I forgot that too
, said Nickelo.
Some items are freebies. Your default weapons and their ammo require no Power to energize the pack. Neither does your battle suit or even this helmet. Which is a good thing since they are so advanced you’d never have enough Power to get them from your pack. But, you can get antique items from your home world of Earth for very little Power.

None of that makes sense, Nick. How do you know all that anyway?

I told you, I don’t know, Rick. It’s just in my databanks. I don’t know how it got there.

Richard imagined a new isotopic battery for his M63 lightweight plasma assault rifle and two more anti-personnel grenades. He opened his pack and the grenades were there, but the isotopic battery was not.

Hey, Nick. What gives?
Richard complained.
I imagined a replacement isotopic battery for the M63, but I only got the grenades.

Oh
, said Nick.
I can only hypothesize, but I’d guess that
‘the One’
is limiting you to your initial load of ammo. Try putting your old isotopic battery in the pack. Then imagine a fully recharged one.

Although dubious, Richard did as Nickelo suggested. He was concerned he might lose the near-empty battery he had, but the reward seemed worth the risk. Besides, he’d grown to trust his battle computer’s advice.

Richard put the old isotopic battery in the pack and closed the flap. He imagined a fully recharged one. When he opened the pack, he reached in and pulled out an isotopic battery. A glance at its meter confirmed it was at one hundred percent power.

Cool
, Richard thought. He closed the flap of the pack and imagined another isotopic battery. He opened the pack. It was empty.
I guess you’re right, Nick. The jerk won’t let me get an extra battery.

Just deal with it, Rick. Once you know the rules, you can work it to your advantage.

Richard hated to submit so easily, but his battle computer was right. It was what it was. He just needed to deal with it. Richard extracted his partially empty clip from his .44 AutoMag and put it in the pack. He closed the pack and imagined a fully loaded clip. He opened the pack, and there it was. He closed the flap and imagined another fully loaded clip. When he opened the pack, it was empty.
Jerk
, Richard thought.

The good news was that none of his
freebies
drew Power from his reserve. On a lark, Richard imagined a 9mm pistol with a shoulder holster and silencer. He opened the pack. It was empty. He tried imagining the boot knife Sergeant Hendricks had made for him. Same result. The pack was empty.

Trying to find loopholes are you, Rick?
asked Nickelo with a chuckle.

Mind your own business
, Richard said.
By the way, how long will it take for the ghoul’s poison to get out of her system? A few hours? She’s breathing better, but the way her eyes are staying open without blinking is starting to give me the creeps.

Aren’t you the sympathetic one?
said Nickelo in a tone that told Richard he was being chastised again.
To answer your first question, it will probably take five to seven days to clear the poison out of the sorceress’ system. Then it will take another three or four days for her to get her strength back. Just so you know, Rick, I think your comment about her eyes is harsh. She’s so completely paralyzed she can’t even blink. I may be a computer, but even I know that’s got to be torture for her. How would you be feeling if you hadn’t blinked in the last thirty minutes? Plus, having you shine that white light in her eyes every so often probably hasn’t helped. I’ll bet there’s even grit and grim in her eyes from where she fell on the tunnel floor. The odds are she’s in agony right about now. But that’s just my opinion. You undoubtedly look at it differently since all you can think about is how her eyes staying open bother you.

Damn it, Nick
, Richard said.
Why didn’t you tell me sooner?
He was frustrated with himself for not thinking about the female’s plight earlier. He’d never been very good at thinking about the feelings and the plight of others.

You’re the boss, wizard scout. I’m just the poor, little battle computer.

Whatever
, Richard said.

Richard started to apologize to the sorceress, but he stopped before he spoke.

Nick, does she speak standard? I didn’t think about it until now. She understood me earlier, and I understood the few words she said, so I guess she must understand standard.

Actually, Rick, you didn’t speak to her in standard. You spoke a language in my databanks called Letian. Even your thoughts to me now are in Letian. Some words that do not have a Letian counterpart are in standard, but you’re speaking Letian for the most part.

I’m not even going to ask
, Richard said.

He imagined clean cloths, sheets, soap, eye drops, and bandages. A tiny amount of Power flowed from his reserve to his pack. Richard opened the flap and removed the items. On a hunch, he imagined an old-fashioned, battery-operated, camping lantern. Once again, a slight amount of Power was used. He retrieved the lantern from his pack and turned it on. The room was bathed in a soft, white glow. Richard turned off the white light on his helmet and raised his visor.

“I’m sorry,” Richard said softly to the sorceress. “I didn’t realize you were in pain. I’m going to get you cleaned up and put some drops in your eyes. That should help.”

Richard worked quickly to remove the grime on the sorceress’ face. Afterwards, he used the eye drops to flush out her eyes. He also used an anti-bacterial eye ointment he extracted from the pack as a protective salve on both her eyes. He then moistened some stripes of cloth bandages and placed them over her eyes.

Once he finished with the sorceress’ eyes, Richard kneeled next to the sorceress and placed his forefinger on the carotid artery under her jaw. He felt the steady pulse of her heart. Keeping his finger in place, Richard said, “Your wounds are healed, and I’ve done the best I can for your eyes. The ghoul’s poison will just have to work its way out of your system. I’m told that will take about a week.”

The female’s pulse speeded up significantly. That alone told Richard the sorceress could hear and understand him.

“Now, don’t worry,” Richard said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. “We’re in a safe place. This room has a high-level stealth shield around it, so we can stay here a long time without being discovered. I’m not going to leave you, so don’t worry. We fought together. As far as I’m concerned, we’re a team. I never desert teammates.”

The sorceress’ pulse slowed a little.

“I’m going to make a bed for you on one of the benches in this room. I’ll get you cleaned up so you’ll be more comfortable. Then I’ll get your robe and gear cleaned. They’re both covered in blood and ghoul-gore.”

The sorceress’ pulse increase significantly.

She’s panicking, Rick
, said Nickelo.
A lot of her gear is very powerful. Have you noticed the Power readings from her pack?

Richard had.
Yes. It’s similar to that sphere we found in the alcove.

Correction
, said Nickelo.
They are duplicates of the sphere’s Power readings. She’s liable to think you’re going to steal her stuff and leave her here alone. I’m betting she wasn’t in this place taking a stroll for her health. That demon was yelling something about thieves. Speaking as a computer, one plus one equals two. Do you get the picture?

Yeah, Nick. I understand
, Richard said.

Turning his attention back to the sorceress, Richard said, “Anything you have now, you’ll have after you’re well. I don’t want anything you have, so you don’t have to worry. Now, you can either trust me or not. Since you’re paralyzed for the next week or so, you should probably just trust me. Besides, why should I lie? If I wanted something, I could just take it. But you don’t have to worry. I won’t break your trust. I’m a wizard scout, and my word is my bond.”

The sorceress’ pulse slowed a little. It was faster than normal, but much slower than it had been.

Richard envisioned a camping mattress and sleeping bag. He pulled them out of his pack. Since Nickelo had implied old twentieth century and twenty-first century Earth gear was cheap on Power, Richard figured it was best to use the older gear to save Power. Because his stealth shield was using more Power than he could regenerate, Richard knew he had to be frugal with his Power.