The Gem Lords

The Battle of the Portal - Part 5

     Tassley stared curiously as they emerged through the airlock, and edged her way over to stand beside Thomas. "What happened?" she asked, her eyes wide with astonishment. "I thought he was going to kill you! I've never seen him so angry!"

     "We... We reached an understanding," said Thomas carefully. "I explained things and he, er, he accepted the explanation."

     "What explanation?" demanded the woman, staring at him intently. "Where did those spells come from? That was high magic! You can't do high magic!"

     "I'll explain everything when we get back. What are the Garusians doing?"

     "I don't know. Ships have been coming alongside each other and men transferring across from one to the other. It looks as though they're emptying some of their ships, but why they'd want to do that..."

     Thomas's eyes widened with understanding, though. "They're going to ram us!" he cried. "They're going to aim their empty ships at us and fly them in at top speed, probably with all kinds of spells cast on them primed to go off at the moment of impact."

     Saturn seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he listened to Drenn's report, because he dashed back in through the airlock. "He's going to cast a Globe of Invulnerability," said the priest of Samnos. "He says it's the only way we can survive the attack."

     "What about if we turn the ship ephemeral?" asked Tassley. "That would work too, wouldn't it?"

     "Some kinds of magic can affect ephemeral objects," said Thomas, though. "And some kinds of Rossemian magic may be able to penetrate a Globe of Invulnerability." He thought back to Tak's battle with Velzen, when the Gem Lord had succeeded in penetrating just that spell with conventional magics. No, it was no guarantee of safety at all, but it was the best hope they had. If it didn't work, it wasn't likely that anything else would.

     "Can you destroy their ships before they hit us?" asked Tassley, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

     "One or two perhaps," replied Thomas, "but I'm running low on magic. The portal must be opening soon, mustn’t it? How much longer?”

     "Ten, fifteen minutes," replied Drenn. "Not soon enough."

     "They're wooden ships," said one of the soldiers, standing beside his ballista. "We've got a six inch thick steel hull. Realistically, how much do we have to fear from a collision?"

     "Depends how hard they hit us," said Thomas. "And once they hit the hull, they'll be inside our magical shield. Any spells triggered at that point will hit the ship with their full force. I can think of several low level University spells that could do real harm to our ship, and who knows what kind of destructive magics those guys might have dreamed up?"

     "So they could really hurt us?" said the soldier, looking scared.

     "Not if we can help it," said the wizard. "If there's any way to stop them, we'll find it." He had no idea how, though. Even Tak's spells only had a limited range, and those ships would be coming in fast.

     Saturn had an idea, though, and began speaking the moment he reappeared through the airlock. "The Globe of Invulnerability extends about ten feet out from the ship," he told Thomas. "You'll need to be outside it for your spells to hit their ships. Do you have your teleportation spell?"

     "Yes," said Thomas, looking nervous.

     "Good. You'll need to launch yourself out into space. I'll cast a Levitation spell on you that you can control with mental effort alone. The spell should work against the communal gravity field just as it does against a normal planet's gravity. You'll be able to orient yourself, move around, and when you've done all you can you can teleport back aboard. We'll let you know when the Globe of Invulnerability's been lowered."