“Are you saying that their most powerfulleaders are cowards?” asked Zalith.
“Well, I studied the history of the war theyare fighting with the wizards of the other realm, and that is thepattern I have found. They always retreat when the grandmasterwizard or any of the master wizards appear on the scene and send intheir underlings to fight for them, and our combined forces shouldbe able to handle their underlings,” I said.
“That is simply unbelievable: to have allthat power, and then be afraid to stand and fight,” commentedZalith.
While they continued to ask questions of theothers, a thought occurred to me. “Gafar, Dr. Rannor’s brain hasseveral memory blocks in it. We do not know who put them there orwhy. Assuming he agrees, can you remove them, as you did forme?” I asked telepathically.
“Most likely, but it would be a fairlyinvasive probe and he would not be able to hide anything,” hereplied.
“Well, this has been a great visit, but wemust be getting back to the Dragon Claw. Rumor has it I have to getup early for a big event tomorrow,” said the captain.
“I understand, Captain. Too bad you cannotstay for a tour of our little ship. We had to completely gut it andstart over to make it the way we wanted,” I said.
“Perhaps another time,” he said.
After that Kellyn was whisked away byAndreya: something about not seeing the bride before the wedding. Istarted to protest but the captain reminded me never to argue witha bride about her wedding.
Once we got to the bay I stopped them andsaid, “Captain, I have another favor to ask. We would like allseven of us to attend the wedding and reception, but that wouldleave the Nevermore with no one on watch. Would it be possible foryou to send over some trusted officers to stand watch for us?”
Zalith turned, gestured at the new emblem onmy staff and said, “The Dark Knights would be honored to come toyour aid.”
“Then that is settled. We will send them overin the morning,” said the captain.
“Vydor, if you don’t mind, I would like tostay behind and take that tour you offered,” said Dr. Rannor.
“Of course, we can fly you back later if youwish, or you are welcome to stay in our guest quarters,” Isaid.
“Well, if it is no trouble to you, I wouldrather stay until the wedding,” he said.
I was surprised by his request, but it was noproblem, so I granted it.
With that settled, the captain and Zalithboarded the shuttle and left. Zalith’s comment about the DarkKnights and their gift of the emblem had lifted from me a heavyburden I had carried since I had lost the squad. All this time Ithought I had failed, yet had it not played out the way it had Iwould never have met the Black Adders and we would have lost thefight for that planet, which would have spelled the end of theEmpire. The weight that lifted from me was amazing. I had feltstifled all this time by that guilt.
Then I realized that was the weaknessexploited by the dark specter in the gate. Every time I let myanger and depression get the better of me, he grew stronger. When Ihad nothing but love and support around me, he was powerless. Thiswas an amazing breakthrough. I had to share it with Kellyn, but shewas in Andreya’s quarters and out of my reach. I asked Darnath toget a message to her, and after some argument he agreed to try, butmade no promises of getting past Andreya.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Once the shuttle was gone I turned to thegood doctor and asked, “Do you really want a tour, or would youprefer a comfortable place to sit and talk?”
“I think a talk would be good,” he said.
“Then let’s go to the library,” I said andled him to the lift.
We rode up in silence; he seemed nervous. Iwanted to reach out and find out what was wrong, but I resisted. Hedeserved the privacy of his own thoughts. When we finally enteredthe library he looked around and said, “Impressive.”
“Come now, Doctor, the only thing impressiveabout this library is its room to grow,” I said.
“What do you mean? You have more real bookson that one shelf alone than I have seen in my entire life!” washis reply.
I looked around the room and said, “Funny howtwo people can see the exact same thing and get such differentfirst impressions.”
“I think it has to do with what you have tocompare it to. Obviously you have seen a much greater library, andI have not.”
“Yes, I have and most of these books arecopies from it. Come this way. I have a place where we can sit withaccess to refreshments.” I was not sure when I had picked up thehabit, but I rarely read any more without snacks or a drink of somekind.
We entered an area of the library that hadvery few shelves; instead it had big, comfortable reading chairs,end tables and a small food locker. This was my favorite area ofthe library. Its partial seclusion allowed me to become immersed inwhat I was reading.
I got myself a big mug of coffee and asked,“Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you,” he said.
I settled into my favorite chair, and he satacross from me. “Now then, Doctor, what is on your mind?”
“Well, Vydor, remember those memory blocks wespoke about last year? Did you ever find out if you had more?”
“That was the only one, and it appears tohave been put in place because of the secret message I was decodingat the time,” I said.
“Ah. Well, I was able to find out more aboutmine. This is the strangest thing; it turns out they are of my owndoing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, perhaps I should show you,” he said,as my cup began to float up.
I scanned the room, found the source of thepower and traced it back to Dr. Rannor.
“Yes,” he said, lowering the cup. “You see, awhile back I found I could do that, but I knew of the decree aboutthe Black Adders, and I didn’t want to be imprisoned like them. SoI contacted Larath and asked for his help. At the time he was morethan happy to help me forget everything I could do.”
“Of course. He was eliminating a potentialenemy with no risk of being discovered,” I said.
“When you killed him, his spell broke and allmy memories came back,” he said.
“Now that is a revelation. What powers do youhave?” I asked.
“Not much. I can lift very small things likeyour cup, and I can sometimes detect people just before they openthe door or come into view,” he said.
“Well, that is a start, and it shows that youdefinitely have the gift. What do you plan to do now?” I wasstalling while I updated the five members of the Council that Icould reach. This was a big discovery, big enough that Andreyarelayed messages verbally to Kellyn. This was the first Magus fromour realm we had found since the Council was formed. “Gafar, ifhe exists, there could be more. Do what you can to scan the fleetwith minimal penetration. We need to know if there are others likehim whom Larath mentally locked up, or any othersorcerers.”
“That will take some time, a lot of time;but I will do what I can. It would probably be best if I start withthe Dragon Claw and work out from there, since that is where hisinfluence would have been the greatest,” he responded.
“That is just it, Vydor, I don’t know what todo now. Frankly, I am far too old to be of any use in the war, andI am due for retirement this week,” said Dr. Rannor.
Retirement in the Navy was a bit of a looseterm, as there was no place for him to go until the fleet happenedto pass by a station that could take him. And since we were juststarting a mission, that would be a while yet. He was stillthinking out what he wanted to say, so I let him work on it while Idiscussed our next move with the other wizards. Ultimately thechoice was mine to make and not his, but I was not going tostrongarm him into anything.