The Warlock's Gambit by David Alastair Hayden, Pepper Thorn Read Free Book Online

explain how the Manse can move throughout the universe. Because even at the speed of light, it would take four years to travel from Earth to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. At that kind of speed, the Paladin certainly couldn’t rush all around the universe fighting evil. You’d be lucky to have one battle in your lifetime.”
    “Well, whatever it is,” said Arthur, “it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
    Lexi sat quietly beside Arthur, staring silently. Unless he was mistaken, she was purring softly. Vassalus sat so close to the window that his nose touched. They were all mesmerized, and Arthur would’ve sworn that none of them budged for a good half hour. Eventually though, his legs got tired, and he leaned back against the giant desk, setting his hands on the glass that protected the top.
    The glass suddenly came alive with images and text — the entire desktop was a display.
    “Cool!” Arthur grinned and touched another spot experimentally. “The Paladin’s desk — my desk — is a computer.”
    Morgan spun around and shoved him out of the way. For a moment, Arthur thought she was going to either hug the desk or start drooling. “This is the best thing ever!”
    Arthur nodded toward the window looking out onto space. “What about that?”
    “Well, yeah, okay … this is the second best thing ever.”
    Arthur laughed. “Oh dear. Lexi, Vassalus, do you think you're strong enough to help me drag Morgan out of here?”
    “Well, of course,” Vassalus said. “But why would we need to do such a thing?”
    “Because that's the only way we're ever going to get her away from an alien computer.”
    Morgan glanced at them. “Did you say something about me?”
    “Nope, not at all.”
    The open windows on the computer screen showed video surveillance of different rooms in the house, and were labeled accordingly. They could see into the Great Room, the Dining Hall, the Training Room …
    “This is awesome,” Morgan said. “And I don't just mean because it's an alien computer. Having video of all the different rooms could really help us out.” She stomped her foot and started to say another washing-out-your-filthy-mouth word, but a glance at Vassalus, who was wincing in expectation, stopped her. Instead, she huffed. “All the rooms we haven't visited yet are blacked out.”
    “I bet that's because of the shades, like the way the lights are all dimmed in a room that’s infested with them,” Arthur said. “You know, I didn’t see video cameras anywhere.”
    “I did not either, Master Paladin,” answered Vassalus.
    “Me neither,” Lexi piped in.
    Morgan shook her head. “Maybe they're hidden.”
    “Or maybe it’s magic,” Arthur teased.
    Morgan ignored him and continued to open and close screens and move things around the desk.
    “Can we see into our rooms?” Arthur asked. “We haven’t visited those yet, but they don’t have shades in them.”
    Morgan tapped a few control buttons on the screen. “We can — but we won’t .”
    Arthur held his hands out. “Sorry. It was just a suggestion.” Whatever bothered her about her room bothered her a lot.
    Morgan pointed to the set of four symbols that appeared on each window. “The + and — symbols are obviously for zooming in and out. And I think this one's an ear and the other is a mouth. And that would make sense.”
    “If you say so. You know I don’t have a clue about computers. I've only ever used the ones at school. We don't have one at home. Grandma won't spend money on something she doesn't believe in.”
    Morgan shook her head. “I still can’t believe that. Is she retired?”
    “She works as a travel agent.”
    “And she still doesn’t use a computer. How?”
    “Telephone, notebook, and one of those calculators that prints out on tape.”
    “Really? But that’s so … primitive.”
    “Well, she doesn’t make much money anymore. She’s basically halfway retired. Honest to goodness, she really thinks vinyl