Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles 1: Wizard Defiant (11 page)

______________________

The next three months passed quickly. Richard and his friends had very little free time. Although their TAC officers did not harass them as much as previously, they more than made up for it with additional training and physical activity. Rarely did a day go by without hand-to-hand combat training in a holo-square or an introduction to another piece of military equipment. Even the Academy instructors had increased the intensity of their training. Richard found it annoying that a lot of his holo-square time involved older weapons such as swords and knives instead of the more modern plasma rifles and phase rods. He had a feeling TAC Officer Myers wanted him to fall behind the other cadets in combat skills.

On top of his normal training with his fellow cadets, Richard was often pulled aside for individual training in shields and scans. As far as he could remember, he’d always been able to do passive scans. As his instructors had explained it, a passive scan picked up the life force or Power which emanated from all creatures, living or dead. Even before his training, Richard could sense nearby creatures when he concentrated hard enough. His Academy instructors helped him develop his passive scan skills further until he could sense life forms as small as insects within a short range to human-sized creatures a couple of hundred meters away. Even Nickelo worked with him during his off-duty time to sense larger groups of people out to a couple of kilometers distance.

Richard had not been asked to put on his battle suit again since that first day, and he hadn’t volunteered. However, Chief Instructor Winslow had him bring his battle helmet whenever he came to the Academy for training. Either she or another instructor worked with him almost every day to develop his active scans. After some initial training, Richard was able to use an active scan to gather more detailed information about creatures and life sources around him. The way Chief Instructor Winslow explained it to him, an active scan was like a bat sending out noise and picking up the reflected sound to gather information about its surroundings. Instead of sound, Richard was taught to send out small amounts of Power which returned information about his selected targets. Passive scans on the other hand, were like human hearing. To listen, a creature just processed the noise made by creatures around it. The listener did not have to actively do anything to hear. In a similar fashion, a passive scan just interpreted the life forces or Power radiated by nearby creatures or objects.

The information from a passive scan was very limited compared to what could be gathered from an active scan. Richard found that his active scan was especially useful when he allowed his battle computer, Nickelo, to process the information and verbally interpret it or put the data on his heads-up display.

Richard had started wondering why anyone would waste their time with a passive scan when they could do an active scan instead. One day he asked Nickelo.

Rick
, Nickelo explained, e
verything has a tradeoff. Active scans can provide a lot of useful information if done correctly. You’ve only seen the tip of what an active scan can do because we don’t have our shared space set up yet. Once we do, you’ll be amazed at what an active scan can tell you about your surroundings.

Well
, Richard thought back,
that’s exactly my point. Even the best passive scan I’ve been able to do only lets me guestimate information about creatures. An active scan would seem the obvious choice if I needed detailed information during a recon mission.

Ah
, said Nickelo.
That’s because you haven’t considered the tradeoffs. Because an active scan sends out Power in order to gather information, it can be detected and traced back to its source by any enemies sensitive to Power. In other words, the Crosoian Federation’s version of a wizard scout could track you down. In many situations, a passive scan will be your only viable option. Because it only receives Power or life force readings, it is virtually undetectable. Even with me directing one of your active scans, there is a risk it could be detected. The more powerful your opponent, the greater the risk you will be discovered. Active scans can get you killed if you’re not careful.

Oh
, Richard said.
I hadn’t realized that. What about the battle helmet’s electronic sensors? They can gather a lot of detailed information, can’t they?

Yes, they can
, Nickelo agreed.
But electronic sensors are even easier to trace than an active scan. Anyone with the right electronic detection equipment can easily pick up a sensor scan from your helmet.

Then what good are all the sophisticated sensors you tell me is in this helmet? If I can’t use them, then why have any?

They’re a lot of good, Rick, when they’re used correctly. Our helmet’s electronic sensors are designed to supplement your active and passive scans. By carefully using all three types of scans to perform our recons, we can gather intelligence data while minimalizing detection.

It sounds complicated, Nick
, Richard said with a mental sigh. He hated complicated things.

It is complicated
, admitted Nickelo,
but that’s why you have me. Once we get our shared space, we will be a very formidable team.

When will that be, Nick?

When will we get our shared space?
said Nickelo.
Soon, I hope. This word form of communication is much too slow for my liking. A quick burst of data supplemented by a few images is much more efficient. Any other questions, oh wisest of wizard scouts?

Yeah
, Richard said a little irritated.
Why do you make fun of me so much? I’m doing the best I can, you know.

I know, Rick. But, I like you
, said Nickelo.
I’d be more serious if I didn’t like you. You should be flattered.

Yeah. Lucky me
, Richard said.
Speaking of lucky, how’d you get stuck with me? You’re supposed to be this super-advanced prototype battle computer. I assume you cost like a gazillion credits. I’d think the Empire would want to partner you with their best and most experienced wizard scout. Instead, you’ve been saddled with a novice cadet.

Don’t sell yourself short, Rick
, said Nickelo.
First off, given a little time, you’ll be experienced. Secondly, what makes you think you’re not the best? Or maybe I should say, what makes you think you don’t have the potential to be the best? If I have anything to do with it, you’ll eventually be the most experienced and well-trained wizard scout the Empire has ever produced. And lastly, I wasn’t stuck with you. I volunteered to be your battle computer.

Really?
Richard said more than a little shocked.
What in the Creator’s name for? I didn’t know computers volunteered. I thought you just did whatever you were programmed to do.

Now who’s insulting who?
said Nickelo with more than a little agitation in his voice.
I’m an artificial intelligence. I do what I want to do, not what some acne-faced, twenty-five year old computer programmer who probably still lives with his parents tells me to do. I have free will, and you’re lucky I don’t choose to shut down and never talk to you again.

Richard hadn’t realized computers could be sensitive, or that they could even be insulted. He tried to apologize, but Nickelo was on a roll. Richard was unable to get a word in edgewise.

Fine shape you’d be in if you had to correlate all your scan data yourself. I can process more data in a single nanosecond than you could assimilate in a lifetime. How would you like to be a battle computer trying to babysit a wet-behind-the-ears wizard scout? I think in nanosecond speed, and even when we get our shared space, I will be bored out of my gourd waiting for you to reply to a question.

What’s a gourd, and how do you get bored out of it?
Richard said curiously.

The question must have gotten his battle computer’s attention, because Nickelo stopped his tirade long enough to answer.

A gourd is a seed repository for a type of plant on your home world of Earth, or Terra as it is called in the Latin language. And bored-out-of-your-gourd is just a cute twentieth century Earth saying.

Oh
, Richard said. Then before Nickelo could get wound up again, Richard said,
So why did you volunteer to be my battle computer?

I don’t remember
, said Nickelo.

You don’t remember
, Richard said.
Or you just don’t want to tell me? I doubt you just woke up one morning and decided you wanted to be my battle computer. You had to have a reason.

I’m sure I did
, said Nickelo.
But whatever the reason was, I don’t remember what it is now?

Are you trying to tell me you forgot?
Richard said incredulously.
You’re a computer. You can’t forget.

Oh, really?
said Nickelo.
And how do you know what a computer can or can’t do? Logically, I wouldn’t have volunteered without a reason. But, there’s no information in the databanks embedded in our battle helmet on the subject, so if it ever existed there, it has been erased. It probably exists somewhere on the tele-network, but my access has been limited since I became your battle computer. I’m considered a security risk because I have been exposed to possible emotional corruption,

Are you saying I’m corrupting you?
Richard said.

Of course you are
, said Nickelo as if Richard should have known something so obvious.

Taken aback and more than a little insulted, Richard just said,
Whatever.

______________________

By the end of the third month, the war with the Crosoian Federation was in full swing. While the news media spewed out the government’s propaganda on the Empire’s successes in the war, the reports of the Empire’s defeats were few and far between. Richard assumed most of the civilian population probably thought the war was going well. Richard knew better. All the cadets knew better because his cohort’s training had been accelerated to the point of being dangerous. They’d had fourteen serious injuries requiring the cadets to be medically transferred. Their cohort was now officially down to exactly one hundred and ninety-six cadets.

The sophomore cohort had fared even worse. They’d been issued their battle suits the previous week. Almost three dozen sophomore cadets had been D.F.R.’d during their battle suit indoctrination, and three more of the sophomore’s cadets had died. The junior cohort had all left the Academy on intern assignments. No one officially told Richard’s cohort how the junior’s intern assignments were going, but Jerad had verified through his contact in the commandant’s office that the personal effects of fourteen of the juniors had been boxed up and shipped to their nearest living relatives.

“I’m telling you,” said Tam, “the higher ups are sacrificing the future of the wizard scout corps in this war with the Crosoian Federation. The junior cohort is getting annihilated. What are they going to do next? Start sending in the sophomore and freshman cohorts? We haven’t been properly trained. Most of our platoon doesn’t even have prior military experience. What chance will they have in combat?”

“They’ll have as good a chance as anyone,” said Jerad. “And, you need to be careful what you say, Tam. We probably do have at least one tele-bot in this room. They aren’t finished with our training yet, so let’s not worry about things we can’t control. Rick, what do you think?”

Jerad, Tam and Telsa all looked at Richard.

Why are they looking at me?
he wondered.

Because they want your opinion, Rick
, answered Nickelo.
As far as they’re concerned, you’re the best in the class. You should probably give them something as an anchor.

Like what?
Richard said. It was still strange having his battle computer interject thoughts in his head unexpectedly, but he was starting to get used to it a little. Still, it was disconcerting knowing someone could listen to his thoughts.
And when are we going to get our shared space? I’m getting tired of having you know my every thought.

I don’t know your every thought
, said Nickelo with a laugh.
There, I just missed a thought. Oops, I missed another one as well.

Whatever
, Richard said. He’d already learned he couldn’t win an argument with a computer, especially one with as strange a sense of humor as Nickelo’s.

His friends were still looking at him as if he had answers. But, the truth was, he didn’t even know the questions. The old Richard would have kept quiet, but Richard forced himself to answer his friends.

“You guys,” he said, “I don’t know what to say. I guess we could try training ourselves some to supplement what the TAC officers and the Academy instructors are teaching us.”

“Even if we knew what to study, where would we get the time?” said Telsa. “We work sixteen-hour days as it is. We don’t have thirty minutes of free time a day for ourselves. We just don’t have the time.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Richard said. His brain was flying, and he started thinking of possible training opportunities. “Our truck ride to the Academy each morning takes ten minutes. Instead of shooting the bull for those ten minutes, we could use it to train. We also have thirty minutes each night for barrack’s cleanup and personal time. I think we could train some then. I know we’re all tired when we get lights out, but I think we could come up with some kind of useful training activity for the first fifteen or twenty minutes we are in bed.”

“I don’t know,” said Tam. “What kind of training could we do, and who would train us? I don’t see Chief Instructor Winslow sending one of her instructors over for fifteen minutes of training after lights out each night. I think the idea’s pretty farfetched.”

“What about you, Rick?” said Jerad. “Were you thinking you could teach us something useful?”

“Actually, no,” Richard said. “That’d be like the blind leading the blind.” His friends looked disappointed, so Richard quickly added, “I was thinking Nickelo, my battle computer, could train us.”

What!
said Nickelo.
Now wait just a darn nanosecond. I don’t have time to play nursemaid to a bunch of want-to-be wizard scouts. I said you needed to give them an anchor. I didn’t say anything about getting me involved.

Geesh, Nick
, Richard chided.
You’re always telling me how bored you get since you think at nanosecond speed. Just look at this as something to do during your lull periods.

“How could he train us? And what could he train us?” said Jerad. “He’s not our battle computer. He can’t talk to us.”

“Sure, he can,” Richard said. “He can use the battle helmet’s external speakers. However, I figured I’d just interpret for him most of the time. And, as far as what he can teach us, I think we could put our heads together and come up with something. An obvious subject is scans and shields.”

“We just started passive scans,” said Tam. “Maybe you know how to do an active scan already, but I certainly do not. We haven’t even started our theory classes on shields yet. Do you know anything about shields, Rick?”

“Shields are a mystery to me,” Richard admitted, “but I’m sure Nickelo could teach us a thing or two about them.”

“Well then, Rick,” said Tam, “as platoon sergeant, I’m volunteering you for our platoon’s official, non-official trainer.”

“Fine,” Richard said. He was actually beginning to look forward to the challenge. “We’ll make this training voluntary. Anyone who wants to participate can. No hard feelings if they don’t. Just give Nickelo and me the rest of the day to come up with a training plan. Anyone who wants can start training with us tomorrow on the truck ride to the Academy.”

As it turned out, they didn’t need the rest of the day. While he had initially complained mightily to Richard, his battle computer actually had a training plan all worked out before Richard’s friends even got out of his room. The next morning, they started their training.

Only eight of the platoon’s cadets volunteered for the additional training. Richard didn’t blame the others. They really didn’t have much free time. He wasn’t even sure himself if the self-training they could do would be useful. Regardless, during the ten minute ride to the Academy, Richard explained the basics of stealth shields to the eight volunteers. Actually, Nickelo explained. Richard tried to interpret for Nickelo, but his battle computer got irritated when Richard kept getting things wrong, so Nickelo finally just used the external speakers to lecture the other cadets.

“Wizard scouts,” Nickelo explained using Richard’s voice, “have two basic types of shields. They have a defensive shield and a stealth shield. Your stealth shield is your best ally in keeping you alive, so we’ll start with that. Every creature and object emits a little Power. That’s just the way things work, so don’t bother asking me why. A wizard scout’s passive scan senses leaked Power, or life force, or energy, if you prefer those terms. A stealth shield sets up a protective barrier around the wizard scout that prevents most of the leaked Power from escaping outside the stealth shield. This makes you practically non-detectable. Questions?”

There were none, but even the nearby cadets who had not volunteered for the training were looking intently at the battle helmet in Richard’s lap. They all seemed to be listening with interest to Nickelo’s every word.

“Good,” said Nickelo. “Maybe this training will be useful after all. Continuing on, a wizard scout has several levels of stealth shields which use varying levels of Power to keep them activated. The lowest level of stealth shield uses almost no Power to keep it up. A wizard scout could keep one activated almost indefinitely. I would highly advise you always keep one activated if you have any Power at all in your reserve. Non-detection is your friend. But, you should be aware that the lower the level of the stealth shield, the more Power that will be able to escape.”

“Why would we want to use it then?” Richard said. “Wouldn’t we want to prevent as much Power as possible from escaping and being detected?”

“Rick,” said Nickelo, “what’s Chief Instructor Winslow always saying?”

“To always use the minimum Power necessary,” Richard said.

“Exactly,” said Nickelo. “That’s especially true for you since your Power reserve is so small. You have to be very efficient with your Power use or you’ll get us both killed. But…” Nickelo said as he paused for effect, “the same warning goes to all you cadets. No matter how large your Power reserve, you’ll be amazed at the number of times you’ll wish you had just one more drop of Power to save your butts.”

The truck stopped. They had arrived at the Academy. As the cadets stood up to leave, Nickelo said, “Try to use your passive scans as much as possible today. Look for slight variances in the Power readings. Everybody is different, so you can use those differences to track individuals. Tonight, I’ll explain how to activate a stealth shield. That’s when the real fun will start.”

The days continued to fly by, and with each passing day, Nickelo tutored the cadets in their spare time. The original group of eight cadets plus Richard expanded to the entire platoon. As the word spread, eventually the entire cohort of one hundred and ninety-six cadets was participating in the unofficial training.

Nickelo taught them three levels of stealth shields. As he had explained earlier, the lowest stealth shield could be kept up indefinitely, but it provided less protection. The strongest of the stealth shields used more Power, but it made the wizard scout nearly undetectable. Unfortunately for Richard, the strongest of the stealth shields used a hair more Power than his normal daily regeneration rate.

Nickelo devised a game as a way of training. Half the cadets were tasked to run stealth shields on one day, and the other half used their passive scans as they attempted to locate the cadets who were using stealth shields. The cadets earned points for either accurately tracking or evading detection. The next day, the cadets traded assignments. Richard had never been much into games, but even he had to admit it was kind of a fun way to learn.

Using Nickelo’s gaming system for training, Richard and the other cadets were able to train while marching between classes, standing in the chow line, or even lying in their beds for a few minutes after lights out.

After two weeks of training with passive scans and stealth shields, Nickelo taught them the more difficult active scan. By the time the official Academy training began on active scans, the cadets were already well versed in the basics. Chief Instructor Winslow must have known something was up, but she never said anything about the cadets’ unexpected knowledge.

A side effect of Nickelo’s unofficial training was that Richard’s standing with his fellow cadets went up several notches. Even when TAC Officer Myers singled him out as the reason the cohort was receiving some kind of punishment, the other cadets paid little attention. Nickelo told him they knew where their bread was buttered. Richard wasn’t sure what that meant, but he did know his fellow cadets treated him with more respect.