Spectra's Gambit (36 page)

He laughed. “Tell this Spectra there is no need to wait. We are ready to kill her now.”

“Suit yourself.” I said again. I was too weak to come up with a better comeback.

The lights in the room dimmed and I heard Master Spectra say, “Surrender or die.”

“Show yourself or the lizard dies!” called out the man by my cell.

“Have it your way,” said Master Spectra, and ghosts of some kind came out of the floor. The men tried to shoot at them, but their weapons fired harmlessly through the spirits and they started to take casualties from friendly fire.

“Hold your fire!” called out their commander, but it was no use. The men flew into a panic as the ghosts flew around the room, passing through the men but staying clear of the commander. Blaster fire was erupting in all directions as the men frantically tried to kill what could not be harmed.

“Here, Chrimson, drink,” said Spectra as she appeared in the cell. She gave me something to drink, and in my weakness I drank it without even looking at it.

I felt warmth and strength return to my body. My mind cleared, and my leg even felt a little less painful.

Master Spectra turned to look at the carnage outside the cell and waved her paw in a cutting motion. Suddenly all the ghosts were gone. Most of the men that had been in the room were dead and those few remaining ran out the door, leaving only the commander standing there as Jade physically restrained him.

“Tell your superiors that this is not acceptable treatment of prisoners. Next time something like this happens, everyone dies. Jade, throw him out and let’s go before I really lose my temper,” she said.

Jade lifted the human commander and literally threw him out the door, and then deactivated the force field that sealed my cell. Master Spectra cast a gate, and Jade helped me through back to the Nemesis.

On board the Nemesis, Nanny came over to treat my wounds and gave me another one of those strange drinks that felt like it was rebuilding me from the inside out.

“Sorry, Master,” I said to Master Spectra.

“For what?” she asked.

“I failed in my mission,” I said.

“No, you did not. Kymberly made it off safely with the datapad, thanks to your distraction. You saved the mission,” she said.

“What?” I asked. “Did I really?”

“Yes. Now, get some rest and follow Nanny’s instructions. We can debrief after we pick up Greymere and Saraphym,” she said and then left me with Nanny.

“Did she say I saved the mission?” I asked.

“Of course, dear. Your leg on the other hand, you did not save quite as well,” she said. “It will be a while before you can walk again. Priestess Shea’s potions are a great emergency cure, but something like this will require time and proper treatment.”

“Yeah, I suppose even this armor has its limits,” I said. I was still wearing the armor, but it was in very bad shape. It was obvious now that not all their shots had missed, as I had originally thought they had. The armor had done what it could to keep me alive, but it could only do so much.

“Indeed. Well, you will be happy to know that Kymberly is up on the bridge flying us away from that awful station. I am sure she will be down later to see you. Until then, rest.” I did not want to rest; I wanted to get back to work. As Nanny said that, however, I started to feel sleepy and by the time she had stopped talking I was completely out.

I called Spectra, Nanny, Greymere and Kymberly into my office for a private meeting. It was time for the next play in my wife’s gambit, and I needed each of them on board if it were to be successful.

“Okay, Dusty, we’re all ready,” said Spectra.

“Everyone, thanks for coming,” I said. “First of all, I want to tell you what we’ve discovered in the data that we collected from the station. The short version is that this is bigger than we could have imagined. The data points to a collection of designer viruses which, if unleashed, could wipe out most of the non-human population of the galaxy.”

Greymere asked, “Surely that is not possible. How could they begin to distribute something like that?”

“There is no information about a delivery method in the data we collected. That may be why they haven’t launched any of it yet,” I said. “The attack on the Cathratinairians appears to have been a test run. They made the perfect target because of their tightly-packed culture.”

“We have to stop them!” said Kymberly.

“Yes,” I said. “And we have a plan to do just that, but it is going to require some changes among our number.”

Spectra said, “We have identified roughly two dozen spiritualists among the wizards whom we feel would be a good addition to our team. I plan to approach them and bring them on board this ship, which will require some changes in how we operate.”

“I would imagine so,” said Greymere.

“Our first action will be to promote Greymere and Kymberly to join Spectra on my inner council,” I said.

It was hard to tell who was more surprised, Greymere or Kymberly, but Greymere managed to speak first. “I am honored, but what do I know of leading wizards?”

“You know far more than you think,” said Spectra. “Heck, other than myself and Dusty, I doubt if any magus in this realm has spent as much time as you have in the Spirit Realm. The spiritualists we bring on board will need that experience, if nothing else.”

Kymberly was about to speak, but before she could I continued, “Before we go on, I want to talk about Nanny. Even with our small team here, taking care of all of us is too much to ask of her.”

“Oh, I am fine, really,” said Nanny.

“Now, maybe, but not when we add twenty-five more wizards like Chrimson and Jade,” said Spectra.

She sighed. “That would be harder, but I would do it for you if you ask.”

“Instead, Nanny, I will ask: what do you want?” I said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Spectra knelt in front of her. “You give so much to us, and I treasure you. I can send you home to your tribe if this will be too much for you. Do you want that?”

There was an awkward silence, finally broken by Kymberly when she asked, “If Nanny wants to stay, maybe we can limit her responsibilities and get her some help from the new crew.”

“What about that, Nanny?” I asked. “Maybe you can take over the mess hall, and we can rotate staff under you to help out.”

“But what if someone gets hurt?” she objected.

“There are two doctors among the crew we intend to call. If someone gets hurt, they can handle it,” said Spectra.

Nanny was quiet for a long time, and we let her think. Eventually she said, “I miss my family, but you still need me, Spectra. I would like to stay, and I think I could do well running the mess hall,” said Nanny.

“How about a vacation?” I asked.

“What?” asked Nanny.

“What if you went home for a week?” I asked. “We could summon you back at the end of it.”

“Oh, Dusty, thank you, but this is my home now. I want to stay here,” she said.

I expected that answer, as it was every spirit’s desire to get out of the Spirit Realm and stay out, but my offer was sincere. If she wanted to see her family, I would have found a way to make it happen. “Then it is settled. Now for the other issue to be addressed. As soon as we get these spiritualists on board, we will have to separate from the Wizard Kingdom.”

“But why?” asked Greymere.

“The treaty prevents the Wizard Kingdom from permitting spiritualists to train and improve their powers,” I said. “I am sure Grandmaster Vydor would fight for us. He has already allowed Spectra and myself to train, which is causing strain in the relationship between the realms. If we enlarge our group to a full corps, that could very well mean war.”

“I see,” said Greymere. “Then our very existence threatens the entire realm’s safety.”

“Only for as long as we are part of the Kingdom and bound by the treaty. If we leave the Kingdom, Grandmaster Vydor can honor the treaty and stave off war.”

“But it means that we will truly be alone and have to find our own way from now on,” said Spectra.

“I have a complete copy of all the training materials that the Academy has, so we can start our own school right here on this ship, not unlike the first wizards on the Nevermore,” I said.

“We will build the first corps of spiritualists that
either realm has seen,” said Spectra.

“I guessed this might be the plan,” said Kymberly. “I think all of us did, which is why there was a concerted rush for transfer while it was still possible.”

Greymere leaned back in his chair and seemed pensive.

“Grandmaster Vydor and Master Kellyn will want to stop us from doing this, but as wizards we are sworn defenders of this realm. I feel this is the only path that keeps the realm from war,” said Spectra.

“Will we be their allies?” asked Kymberly.

“No, at least not officially, as that would not now be any different from being under their jurisdiction,” I said. “I hope we will remain on friendly terms, though.”

Spectra looked over at Greymere. “Any thoughts about this?”

“Yes,” he said. “We are talking about protecting our family and our realm. I will help no matter how it turns out, but I suggest we do all we can to preserve friendly relations with the Wizard Kingdom. I have a strong feeling that war cannot be avoided in the long term, and that someday we will have to join them in the common defense.”

“See! Doesn’t he sound just like a spellweaver!”
sent Spectra privately.
“I tell you, other than the fact he isn’t a magus, he fits the mold perfectly. I wonder can we make him an honorary spellweaver?”

“What about the priestess?” asked Nanny, saving me from having to reply to Spectra.

“Shea? Well, I expect she will remain loyal to the Wizard Kingdom,” I said.

“No, her loyalty is to a much higher cause than that. I suggest that, once this is done, you should ask her to join us,” said Nanny.

The look of surprise on Spectra’s face was priceless. Only Nanny ever seemed to pull that off, and I was always happy to be there to see it.

“Nanny,” said Spectra, “are you sure? A cleric among spiritualists?”

“Yes. It is the wisest move you could make right now,” she said.

Spectra was quiet, and I decided to leave that point on the table and circle back to the beginning. “Now, we still have a mission to complete. It will take us about a year to get to the station where the viruses are stored. Our plan is to use that year to train and integrate the new recruits. Once we arrive at that station we will have to steal their database, which will contain the information Hospital Station needs to create vaccines. When we have the data, we must destroy the virus samples without exposing ourselves.”

“That seems like a reasonable plan. Was there any information in the data from the other station on the specifications of our destination?” asked Greymere.

“No,” I said. “Surprisingly, though, there was in the data you acquired from the cyborgs. It seems they also have a plan to take control of that base, but it is unclear if they know exactly
what is there.”

“How would they fare against the viruses?” asked Kymberly.

“The humans, or I should say those based on human bodies, should be fine. The rest would die, the same as the others; at least, that would be my guess,” said Greymere.

“Then maybe they want to shut it down also?” asked Kymberly.

“Or take it for themselves,” I said.

“Which means we need to beat them to it,” said Greymere.

“Certainly, but we have no idea how far ahead of us they are, if at all,” I said.

“I suggest that we get the troops on board immediately and table the rest of the questions until we are underway,” said Greymere.

“Does that mean we are all in this together? There is no turning back from this path,” I said.

“We are beyond that now,” said Greymere. “I am in, and I know Saraphym will follow my lead.”

“Jade and I were in long before you announced it,” said Kymberly. “I am sure Chrimson will wish to stay on with us.”

“Or at least with you,” I said with a chuckle. “Nemesis, I know you have been listening. Are you with us?”

“Master Dusty, you are all my family. Where else would I go? Of course I am with you,” he said.

Spectra had called it right again; everyone was in, just as she wanted. She was building a kingdom, and I was her chosen king. I just hoped I would be a good one.

I was just settling in to a relaxing evening with my wife Kellyn when she said, “My love, there is an emergency call for you.”

I sighed, activated my communicator and asked, “Grandmaster Vydor here, what is the emergency?”

Doctor Hawthorne appeared on the screen and said, “Grandmaster, I am sorry to disturb you at this late hour, but the hospital is under attack by a large fleet and none of our allies is close enough to help.”

“I will be there in a minute,” I said, and then over the telepathic network,
“Shadow, Mathorn, Salsartazar, meet me in the gate room immediately. One of our stations is under attack
.
”

“I will be back soon,” I said to Kellyn.

She sighed and replied, “I understand.”

I donned my ceremonial robes and transported myself to the gate room, and within moments the others arrived. “Doctor Hawthorne says that Hospital Station is under attack, and none of our allies is close enough to help. Our first goal will be to ease the situation, and then we can try to establish a reason for this sudden increase in hostility.”

They indicated that they understood and I opened the gate to Hospital Station. As soon as we were through the gate I could feel the intense energies pounding on the station’s shields. They would not hold out for long under that attack.

“Mathorn, reinforce the shields. Shadow, Salsartazar, search the station and make sure we have no boarders,” I said.

Mathorn, who was an elite spellweaver, closed his eyes and focused his energies on the shields. I knew that they would soon be a hundred times stronger and left him to work on that while I headed towards the command center of the hospital.

When I arrived I saw Doctor Leslie on the communicator with several heads of the trade consortiums. Doctor Hawthorne came running over to me and said, “Thank the Emperor, you made it!”