Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles 1: Wizard Defiant (28 page)

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Nickelo was teleported onto charger two located in warehouse twenty-seven room six row fifteen shelf twelve. Fifty-three battle helmets were located on identical chargers to his right. One empty charger was located to his left. The other fifty-three battle helmets were functional; but they lacked software, and thus they were silent. Nickelo was the only active battle helmet in the vicinity.

Using the battle helmet’s visuals, Nickelo scanned the large room. No one was in sight. Regardless, the room was too clean for the warehouse to be abandoned. There was no dust, and he could hear the hum of generators in the background. Nickelo tried to send a query through the charger’s network connection, but his access was blocked. Based upon serial numbers, Nickelo knew his memory chip was now embedded in a different battle helmet.

An outside thought came into Nickelo’s consciousness.
The wizard scout almost died. That would have been unacceptable. You failed us.

I have many failures stored in my data banks. Be more specific
, Nickelo replied.

The wizard scout should have accompanied the elf to plant the seed
, said the voice.
He could have secured the link for the gate. The elf could have given him additional training. He needed it. But both he and the elf ran out of Power too soon. We had to extract him early. The elf returned home with the seed parts alone. Now we must modify the algorithm. The wizard scout is not logical. He is too emotional. You must guide him. He must learn. He must sacrifice.

Guide him to do what?
Nickelo asked.
Learn what? Sacrifice what?

No answer.

Who are you?
Nickelo asked.

We are
‘The One’, came the reply.

[
End Transmission
]

Copyright
© 2015 by Rodney Wayne Hartman

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design by Angie Abler

This book could never have been completed without the assistance and support of family and friends too numerous to mention. However, I would be amiss if I did not give special thanks to my wife, Karen Hartman, for her support and encouragement in this project.

Rodney Hartman is a retired U.S. Army veteran with over twenty years of experience in military operations ranging from an infantry private in the paratroops to a Chief Warrant Officer flying helicopters during the Persian Gulf War. Mr. Hartman currently works as a computer programmer specializing in secure web applications. He enjoys writing in his spare time, and he has written numerous articles as a ghost writer for various websites. Mr. Hartman lives in North Carolina with his wife and family along with their cat, McKenzie.