4 Terramezic Energy (24 page)

“I won’t help you murder Mark.” Josephine glared at him with defiance and loathing.

“Don’t overestimate your value to me.” He pinned her with a cold, assessing gaze for several seconds. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll get the answers I need from you through the scans. It will just take a little longer.”

Josephine wanted to scream with frustration and tear the straps off her body that imprisoned her. If only there was a vortex nearby that she could access. She narrowed her eyes at his retreating back until the door slid shut behind him.

Chapter 30

A sliver of sun rose just above the horizon as Mark trudged through a thick forest. It frustrated him to return to this shelter when he’d come so close to finding Josephine, Alice, and Maggie but he couldn’t evade the search parties without the cover of night. He reached the hidden doorway in the ground protected by light energy. A beautiful shade of green moss spread across most of the forest floor, including the rock door. Mark issued a brief pulse of light energy and the door slid to the side, revealing a deep stone staircase. He descended down the steps and a short while later, the entrance slid shut behind him. Brass sconces jutted out from the stone walls, containing clear glass spheres the size of a fist that radiated a soft glow. White magic had created these enchanted fixtures.

As Mark descended deeper into the underground dwelling, he came to an area where the wall lighting had darkened. He activated them with another brief pulse of light energy. After trekking all night, exhaustion had settled deep into his body. He wanted nothing more than to collapse in one of the cots that he knew would be waiting for him in one of the chambers. He finally reached the bottom of the stairs and trudged down the long corridor. He wondered who had created this secret base and why they had abandoned it. He turned the corner to continue trekking deeper into the passageway which was dark. He raised his hand and issued another pulse of light energy which activated the illumination, revealing Hermina Draco who stood waiting for him.

Mark stilled and he couldn’t quite believe his eyes for several seconds. Realizing he was in imminent danger, adrenaline pumped through his veins and he stumbled hastily backwards. He drew as much light energy as possible and realized there was no way he could activate his teleportation amulet to escape. Instead, he ignited the protection enchantment. A sphere of white energy popped into existence around him.

Hermina offered a tentative look. “I mean you no harm.”

“Source energy is the most potent magic there is.” Mark straightened to his full height and forced a stoic expression on his face.

“I realize that.” She paused and spread her arms out in an expansive gesture. “Which is why I helped to create this place. I’m part of the resistance movement which will one day overthrow the Kalos Confederacy and make this a free world again.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Now that your friends are here, your magical network should be stronger. Can’t you use your intuition to see that I’m telling you the truth?” Hermina suggested.

It hadn’t occurred to Mark to try as his mind was sluggish with fatigue and the shocking sight of his mortal enemy made it difficult to think clearly. He realized he did have enough spare light energy to use his intuition.

“Is everything you told me a lie?”

“Everything I’ve told you just now is true. When you were in my home, I couldn’t be completely honest with you. The guards work for Ludovic even when they take orders from me. I’m always closely watched. Ludovic controls over a dozen androids that are identical in appearance in different parts of this world. He can access my computer systems in my home at any time and ever since you landed on Adamas, he’s kept me under constant surveillance. None of our conversations were private at my residence and when we were out in the city, the guards were eavesdropping for Ludovic,” Hermina said.

Mark regarded her with surprise as she was definitely telling the truth. “Couldn’t you have disabled the systems in just the room we were in for a short period of time?”

“I’m afraid not. I don’t have the same abilities as Ludovic.” Hermina frowned with contemplation. “Most AI’s have the ability to hack into computer systems with ease and to plant computer viruses. These types of AI’s lack the ability to control people. A small percentage of us are just the opposite. We can inhabit the minds of people but we’re unable to directly interface with computer systems. I’ve had this body for centuries. The humans created a clone of an omnipoten and I interfaced with it as it grew from an unborn baby to adulthood.”

“Why didn’t you wait until it was older before you took over?” Mark asked.

“Because I didn’t want to run the risk of a young mind developing. I can’t stand the thought of stealing someone else’s body like a parasite. I would never do that.”

Mark’s intuition flared as she spoke and he could sense everything she spoke now was the truth. “Are there others like you on Adamas?”

“Not any more. There were five like me who died in the war against the Kalos Confederacy. We thought our defenses were strong enough to withstand them. We’d managed to fend them off for centuries.”

“The colony worlds have been at war for centuries?” Mark wouldn’t have believed this was possible.

“I suppose so. There’s no official declaration of war. Their goal is to eventually rule everything. We were never under constant attack. Every few years or so, they would try to hack into our computer systems and open a portal to this world. Because we wouldn’t establish a connection with their interplanetary transit system, their ability to come here was extremely limited through one-way travel. It takes vast quantities of power for that. Unfortunately, they managed to take over one of our Interplanetary Transit Centers and succeeded with forcing a link between our worlds. This allowed them to come in en masse and their forces overwhelmed us.”

“Why don’t the human colony worlds unite their forces?” Mark asked.

“Some of us do form smaller groups. The largest one is called the Delphis Alliance which has eight. The problem is that most of the human governments are confident they can stay independent without the help of others. Adamas never came close to losing against the Kalos Confederacy for centuries. Unfortunately, the Kalos Confederacy is so doggedly persistent that they achieve victory every once in awhile,” Hermina said. “As president, I had concerns about this growing threat and urged our government to unite with the Delphis Alliance for security; however, my fears were not shared by the majority of the people.”

“I’ll bet they wished they listened to you now,” Mark said.

Hermina’s lips formed a sad and wistful smile. “Yes, they do. But I don’t blame them for not listening to me. Even if they had joined the Delphis Alliance, there isn’t much more other planetary governments can do to guarantee security for other worlds. The Kalos Confederacy may have broken through our defenses in spite of the added protection.”

“Tell me about the AI’s living on this world before the invasion,” Mark prompted.

“There were hundreds of us living peacefully as citizens of Adamas. Most of them inhabited androids. There were eight who served as elected representatives in our government. When the Kalos Confederacy invaded, most of the AI’s living here were killed in battle. When the Adamas military officially surrendered, the rest of the AI’s were rounded up and executed. I was the only one spared because my kind who inhabit mortal bodies are considered inferior and they always keep a small fraction of the elected officials of a government to remain in power. It helps facilitate the transition to the AI takeover,” Hermina said.

“Wait a minute.” Mark patted his pants to feel his wands and frowned with bemusement. “Why did Ludovic let me keep my white magic enchantments?”

“He didn’t.” Hermina’s lips twitched in a smug grin. “Your light energy amulets and wands were confiscated by Ludovic; however, the resistance broke into the facility where he’d stored them and they switched them out with replicas. They returned them to me and I evaded the cameras by slipping them back into your clothing as I pretended to tend to you while you were in your coma. It took me many trips because I could only risk returning one item at a time but I succeeded.”

“Yes, you did.” Mark couldn’t help but admire her spirit and cleverness. “How long has Adamas been a member of the Kalos Confederacy?”

“It’s been about four years now,” Hermina said. “I have to admit the resistance sometimes gets caught and our numbers are dwindling.”

“Why don’t you live in this underground base?” Mark asked.

“Some of them live in similar bases but it’s very hard to be self-sufficient and remain off the grid.” Hermina’s bright blue eyes conveyed uncertainty. “I hope you will help us to drive Ludovic’s forces away. We might be able to offer you the tools to succeed.”

Mark deactivated his shield in a show of good faith. “If you have some sort of stash of white magic hidden away that can help banish Ludovic, I’m in. But we have to save Josephine and my friends.”

“Of course. We will do everything in our power to help you rescue them. I can’t risk staying here any longer. As you pointed out the other day, we do a lot of walking here. I have some teleportation enchantments that allow me to get away for short periods of time if I need to. I’m supposed to be on my way to a meeting and I’ll be expected shortly. You can find the vault for white magic when you awaken by scanning for it. This base is larger than you think with hidden passageways to other bases. However, this particular area is abandoned and the closest inhabited one is several days journey. For now, you’re going to be alone. I’m sorry, Mark,” Hermina said.

“I’ll be okay.”

Hermina vanished in the blink of an eye. Mark found one of the large rooms filled with cots and he flopped down on one. His mind raced over possibilities but he had no idea what kind of white magic could possibly help to rescue Josephine, Maggie, and Alice while at the same time banishing Ludovic and his hostile AI military. As far as he’d observed, light energy healed and defended but it never attacked. In spite of the excitement Hermina stirred in him with her news, he succumbed to exhaustion and fell into a deep slumber. Mark awakened to a complete darkness. He issued a brief pulse of source energy to the six wall sconces in the room and they lit up with ample illumination. He checked his watch and realized he’d been asleep for about twelve hours. He grabbed some rations from the supplies and performed a perimeter scan. Now that Josephine and Alice were adding light energy to the magical network, he was building up white magic to use although it still wasn’t much.

Mark didn’t detect any hidden passageways so he pushed his awareness out deeper. After several moments, he found the stone door protected by subtle magic which was extremely advanced and few wizards learned it. Josephine had tried when she’d met Brad from the Phoenix Community and seen what he could do but she hadn’t had the time once she’d become an enforcer and began experimenting with Mark on creating hybrid enchantments that combined mainstream and white magic. This facility was huge so it took awhile for Mark to venture to the far corner where the stone door waited. The stone wall showed no signs of containing a door but when Mark scanned with light energy, he could easily detect it. A mainstream wizard would have a harder time locating the hidden passageway. The door contained a locking mechanism that could only be triggered with magic. It required a specifically tuned sequence of energy pulses. Josephine would have eventually figured it out but Mark couldn’t do it.

He raised the palm of his hand to the small portion of the invisible door and directed light energy into it, willing the lock to disengage. After a moment, there was an audible click as the door slid to the side with a quiet grinding noise. Mark activated the lighting which revealed another long corridor. He heaved a grievous sigh as he realized there would be a lot more walking involved. He still wasn’t completely recovered and his legs ached with soreness and fatigue. He trudged down the passageway and heard the grinding sound behind him, indicating the door had closed again. The corridor twisted and turned for quite awhile before offering any rooms to search. They all contained stone doors that opened with magic. At first, he was disappointed to find more small rooms cramped with cots but then he discovered a larger one lined with stone shelves containing source energy enchantments. The spells came in the forms of a variety of different colored wands, polished stone pendants on black silk cords and crystal clusters. Soothing currents of light energy flowed through the room. Mark noticed a work table containing a few more enchantments positioned against the far wall and suspected White Knights had worked here on a regular basis.

Mark stood just inside the room and enjoyed the ambiance for a short time before he moved on to search the rest of the facility. He found more rooms for sleeping, eating, and others containing storage for white energy enchantments and yet more storage for mainstream enchantments. Mark hoped to find a power center where he could recharge but suspected Hermina would have let him know about it if a resource like that existed here. On the other hand, she’d admitted she’d ran out of time and had more to discuss. He reached an empty room which puzzled him. He stepped inside the very center and performed a scan. His head throbbed as he burned through his meager light energy supply. Subtle magic hid seven eight-foot tall containers embedded in the wall with a glass door facing out into the room. They became visible and through the glass, Mark could see four people dressed in sky-blue uniforms that matched his own. Suspended animation fields kept them in a deep sleep where they stood.

He blinked with surprise because he hadn’t expected to find anyone down here. The containers carried one short man with blond hair that looked to be in his early twenties, another blond of average height and build in his late twenties, a dark-haired male in his thirties and a tall, woman who looked painfully thin with long black hair that flowed slightly past her shoulders. Mark pressed his right hand against the glass of the container where the youngest man stood and read the psychometric energy. A trickle of impressions flowed through his hand chakra. Right now, he didn’t possess enough strength to perform this type of scan without touch. Hermina and another category six wizard had cast the suspended animation spells on these units to keep White Knights safe. All four of these individuals had been rescued by Hermina and the resistance movement. Ludovic killed any white magic practitioner that showed up in the population. Each of the White Knights who rested in suspended animation had began to experience burnout and accepted the fact that they must stay in hiding from Ludovic for the rest of their lives or until Adams was free again. Instead of allowing their white magic to die out, they chose to halt their aging. Each of them had worked on creating new enchantments to include a magical network spell so that when Hermina managed to save seven of them, they could awaken and link together.