Spectra's Gambit (26 page)

Flame tried to pull me down to lie with her, but I was too restless. I just kept pacing back and forth. Ever since that meeting with Mantis and Grandmaster Vydor I had been unable to relax. I could feel power crackling around me as I walked, and I wanted to do something … anything … but all I could do was wait.

“Shadow, what’s wrong?” asked Flame.

“It is Dusty and Spectra. They are still under deep cloak. I cannot risk going to them yet,” I said.

I continued to pace back and forth, trying not to use my power to reach out to them. I knew if they were spending all this time in deep cloak that there was a good reason for it. It would be foolish and risky to risk exposing them without knowing what they were hiding from.

“Oh, I’m sure they are fine,” she said.

“That is not what I am concerned about. What if I do not get to them in time?” I asked.

“In time for what? To change their minds?” she asked with a chuckle. “You do remember you’re talking about the wizards that you trained, and trained to be stubborn, too?”

I sighed. “I did it well, I fear.”

“That you did!”

“I just want to remind them that, no matter what, they have family here,” I said. I was struggling with this whole idea that Spectra and Dusty were forming a group to split from the Wizard Kingdom, and I was sure that Grandmaster Vydor, Mantis and the others were reading too much into the training of the spiritualists. Despite that, a shadow of doubt lingered in my mind and I wished to see for myself.

‘Spectra’s gambit’, as Grandmaster Vydor called it, was a dangerous game on many levels. It was not limited to herself and those like her; two realms stood in the balance.
But
, I had to ask myself,
would I not do the same in her place?
I was starting to believe that she was right and we were in the wrong.

“Did you hear they discovered a new species out there?” asked Flame.

“Yes, I saw Shea’s report. Very interesting specimen. I wonder how many more like him are out there?”

“I would hope lots, or he will be very lonely,” she said softly. She gently laid her hand on her stomach and said, “Imagine never knowing this.” Her belly was still as flat as it ever had been, but that would change dramatically in the coming months.

I smiled at her. The prospect of being a father to twins was still overwhelming, but I dared not show it. She needed my support. Her family line had a history of problems during pregnancy, and despite Master Kellyn’s assurance that the babies would be born full-term and healthy, she had nightmares of losing them. Master Kellyn insisted that there was no way Flame would lose a child on her watch, and I know that helped, but some fears have to be beaten the hard way: through experience.

“Mantis will be reaching the council soon with Grandmaster Vydor’s reply,” I said. Mantis had been delayed, or had deliberately delayed, which gave Grandmaster Vydor time to talk with the elite wizards here. We still had no elite wizards that were native-born, but had started to build a sizable contingent of immigrants.

“Is the alliance over?” asked Flame.

“Not yet, but I fear it is in its death throes. Already the last of the elite wizards have left, those who do not wish to immigrate to our realm. Trade with their merchants has all but dried up, and the last shipments of medicines we sent to them was refused at the gate.”

She was quiet for a while and then asked, “Will this mean war?”

“I cannot tell. They are a proud people and feel that we should be subject to them,” I said. “They have a history of subjugating any other wizard groups who tried to get a foothold in their realm. If they apply that logic here, they might very well attack.”

“I don’t see how they can think it wise. We outnumber them considerably now,” she said.

“A thousand students do not equal even one elite wizard. Yes, we have raw numbers, but they have training and skill on their side. Their force is far more mature and battle-hardened. If it comes to war, it will be bloody, that is for sure,” I said.

“Do you think they would win?” she asked.

“I do not think there could be a winner. Each side would be so thoroughly devastated as to make any victory hollow at best,” I said.

“Then the sorcerers would win,” she said.

“In the Korshalemian realm, yes. In ours, I i
magine Henrick would rise to power over anyone else,” I said.

“Is there anything we can do to stop it?” she asked.

“No, it is beyond us. It is up to Grandmaster Vydor to avoid war without making us slaves. I know that he will stand his ground on our independence and do his best to keep the treaty alive, but he is growing tired of their games and might just call their bluff soon,” I said.

It seemed poetic justice that Spectra’s quest for independence was the driving force behind Grandmaster Vydor’s need to make a stand for independence in defiance of our greatest ally.

“Do you really think it is a bluff?” she asked.

“I am hoping it is, my love, with all I have in me. Anything else would be a waking nightmare.”

“Greymere, here, drink this,” said Nanny.

“No, really I am fine,” I said. She had brought me an illuminescence potion, which I knew to be a rare commodity since only Shea and Doctor Leslie could make them as yet
.

“You can’t lie to me, young man. I can see that your energy levels are low,” she said.

“I will drink a little from Nemesis’ generators in a while, but really I am fine,” I said.

“See that you do,” she said and disappeared into a wall.

I was starting to get used to a mothering ghost, but I suspected that it wasn’t something I ought to be so familiar with.

“You’d better do as she says, or she might well pin you down and pour that potion down your throat,” said Master Dusty.

I smiled. “That she might, Master! Where did she come from?”

“She was Spectra’s nanny when she was growing up and took care of her after she lost her parents. We brought her on board to help with Nemesis, and apparently also to keep you in line,” said Master Dusty.

I leaned back and rubbed my shoulders. I had been working for almost a week on correlating all the data we had collected. At first we all worked on it as a team, but it became apparent that the others had very little training in data discovery, so I broke off from the group in order to work faster. Nemesis joined me and we spent most of the week linking the various pieces of information together and building plausible models for the missing data. Working with a living computer was just another oddity I’d had to get used to with this odd little group.

I had called Master Dusty and Master Spectra in to discuss something I discovered before Nanny came in to harass me with that potion. “Well, she is right. I don’t know how she can tell, but I have burned up too much of my energy store working on this.”

“Oh, I suspect your mother could … ” started Master Dusty but Master Spectra squeezed his arm and cut him off.

“She is a spirit, so she can see spiritual things much more readily than we physical people can,” rescued Master Spectra.

“It is all right, Master Spectra,” I said.

“What is?” asked Master Dusty, obviously confused.

“She stopped you from referring to my mother just now, thinking it would upset me since I never knew her,” I said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” he apologized.

“No, really it’s fine. I have no memories of childhood, nor of my family, but I accepted that long ago,” I said.

“Well, you have a family now,” chimed in Nemesis.

“So let’s see: Master Spectra, Nemesis and myself … hmm, that makes at least three orphans in this family,” I said.

“Four,” said Saraphym, who walked in carrying an illuminescence potion. “Sorry to intrude, but Nanny asked me to bring this to you.”

“Nanny!” I laughed. “Put that away. That’s too precious to waste. I can drink from our generators.”

“Oh? So you’ve been skipping meals again?” she demanded.

“Now you’re really in trouble,” said Master Dusty.

I sighed. “Nemesis, do you mind if I humor the ladies and take a drink from here?”

“No, go right ahead. I’ve been keeping the power stores at 110% of normal just for you,” he said.

“Let me guess: at Nanny’s instructions?” I said.

“Maybe,” he said.

I thought Master Dusty was going to pass out from laughing so hard, but I reached out and pulled in some of the power from the banks around me. It did feel good to drink; I had been too focused in my research to notice I was getting weak.

“What did you want to tell us?” asked Master Dusty.

“Master, I think we should disconnect from the fleet,” I said. “Based on what we have been able to extrapolate from the data, this fleet is flying to a nearby station to resupply. That station is,” I paused to bring up a map, “here, about another two days’ journey. After that, they will travel to this station here as their next target.”

“Why are they targeting stations, and how do you know that is their next target?” asked Master Spectra.

“They are destroying evidence of something, I believe. Each station is evacuated just before the attack, and this one is presently being emptied of all nonessential personnel,” I said. “That’s how I know it’s next.”

“That explains why they all seemed so empty,” said Master Dusty. “But they do leave people behind to die.”

“The people left behind, as far as I can tell, are part of the evidence they are destroying. I doubt if those left behind have any idea that they are being purged.”

“Even with the stopover, this fleet will make it to that station long before we can,” said Master Spectra.

“Yes, Master, but if we fly to this trade hub here,” I pointed to a third station on the map and continued, “we can get passage with one of the larger trade fleets that uses this jump route here, which will put us within a day of that station. If we leave now, we should get to that station a full day, if not two, before this fleet can.”

“How confident of this research are you?” asked Master Dusty.

“It’s an educated guess,” I said. “Confident enough to suggest we follow the lead and risk losing track of this fleet.”

“What are they covering up?” asked Master Spectra.

“We haven’t been able to find that out yet,” I said.

“Saraphym, get Kymberly and head for the bridge. Tell Jade to disconnect from the fleet and head for the trade hub,” said Dusty. “Best speed without sacrificing our cloak.”

“Yes, Master!” she said, beaming with pride as she ran from the room. This would be the first time Master Dusty had allowed them to fly without himself and Master Spectra guiding them. They were ready, but Master Dusty seemed reluctant to let them go.

“Greymere,” said Spectra, “it will take us a couple of days to get to that trade hub. On the way, we would like to take you to the Spirit Realm to test a theory.”

“Theory, Master?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “I suspect you are actually a native of the Spirit Realm, and not of this one.”

“What?” I asked.

She told me what had happened when they’d brought Saraphym through the Spirit Realm, and how my native form appeared to be a spirit and not a physical form.

“But, won’t the same thing happen to me if I go there?” I asked.

“Maybe, but Dusty and I will be there to save you if need be. Besides, I think you are far more prepared than she is.”

“How so?” I asked.

“The secret to survival in the Spirit Realm is to know yourself,” she said. “Since you came along, you have shattered Saraphym’s self-identity and she is relearning who she is. That means she does not have a firm grasp on her own nature. You, on the other hand, have a much stronger grounding in who you are.”

“You see,” joined in Master Dusty, “the Spirit Realm baits you into thinking that you are part of it and that you belong there. When I was there hunting that sorcerer, it started to convince me that I liked it there and that it was my home. That is the devious nature of its trap; it makes you want to stay, so you can see no reason to leave.”

“But in your case,” said Master Spectra, “you are grounded enough in who you are and where you belong that it should not be a problem for you to take a short trip there. Over time the realm can pull anyone in, but just as Dusty was there for an extended period and still came back, I think you could do the same.”

I felt I knew myself fairly well, but I was not sure I understood anything else anymore. “This Spirit Realm, it is an important place to you as spiritualists?”

“Yes, it’s essential to our power. In a sense we are a part of it, and it is a second home for us,” said Master Spectra. “Saraphym will need to become familiar with it in order to advance in her powers.”

“How is it that you and Nanny keep using her to get to me?” I asked with a smile. I knew exactly what Master Spectra was up to. Soon the line of reasoning would be that I’d have to go in order to help Saraphym in her training later.

“Hey, it worked for Nanny, didn’t it?” asked Master Spectra with a sly grin.

I noticed that Master Dusty seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this exchange. “Fine, fine. Let me get a decent meal, and then I’ll go,” I said. I knew enough to know I was outmatched.

“Let’s get clear of the fleet before we leave. How about an hour after breakfast?” asked Dusty.

“Sounds good. I suspect I would have some trouble if I left without saying goodbye to Saraphym,” I said.

“Oh, that you would,” Spectra said in a slightly evil tone.

After Spectra and Dusty had left I leaned back in my chair and tried to gather my scattered thoughts. So much was changing around me, and I was no longer sure of the future. I was used to being in the driver’s seat, with clear goals and ambitions. As a loner, I could afford to play fast and loose, but as a part of a team like this which seemed likely to be a long-term situation, I had to be more careful and consider the needs of others. I had no real desire to go to the Spirit Realm, but if it was going to help my new family accomplish their goal to establish their legitimacy, I would do it for them.