Scepter of Truth Read online

  Scepter of Truth

  The Inner Earth Chronicles Book 1

  DL JONES

  Copyright © 2019 by DL JONES

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  1. Hand to Hand

  2. The NIP

  3. The Uniform Fits

  4. A Visitor

  5. The Father's Message

  6. The Fall

  7. A New Land

  8. Thaslatten

  9. Roast Duck and Money Owed

  10. The Horned Man

  11. Herbal Magic

  12. Skylar of the Sun

  13. A Hand is Raised

  14. Long Live the Queen

  15. The Sentence

  16. The First Test

  17. A Mage Exits

  18. The Last Test

  19. Partegon Sense

  20. Cryks!

  21. A Change of Plans

  22. Toofie

  23. Swamps, Sand and Grass

  24. Know the Ledge

  25. The Warts Inn

  26. Mr Horns

  27. Pure Intentions

  28. The Mighty Sir Lukan

  29. Theres another one?

  30. Mardici

  31. A Dangerous Dip in a Dangerous Pool

  32. A Father Returns

  33. A Baroness is Born

  34. Partide Hold

  Also by DL JONES

  About the Author

  1

  Hand to Hand

  An elbow flew, slamming into Tangie's ribcage. She stumbled over and took a deep breath, trying to hide the pain she was feeling. Trevor reached in, grabbing for her legs, but she was too quick. Tangie moved her leg slightly, just enough to evade Trevor's grasp. She pushed down on his outstretched arm, causing him to lose balance. Trevor tried again, but this time he over-reached. Tangie held his wrist with her left hand and pulled him into her. She then threw her leg over his shoulder and rolled, locking his arm. She leaned back, twisting his wrist and arm. The angle of her arm lock put pressure on his shoulder, causing his eyes to water.

  Trevor's face turned red as he struggled to get his arm free. Tangie pulled harder, twisting his wrist even more.

  "Okay, you got me... I tap!" Trevor yelled.

  Tangie let go of her grip and rolled over, freeing him. Trevor stood to his feet and shook his arm, trying to loosen up the pain he was feeling in his shoulder.

  "Round one goes to Tangie," said Alonzo.

  Alonzo Martin was the leader of the MMT, the Modern Military Team. The nano-soldier unit was part of the MMT. Alonzo was more of a scientist than a military man, but this team focused on nanotechnology. One of the nation's top scientists seemed a fitting choice to run a team based around that technology.

  Alonzo walked over to Trevor and watched him shaking out his arm.

  "Are you okay? Ready for the next part of the test?" he said.

  "Yeah, this is nothing," Trevor replied.

  "Don't worry, losing the match doesn't mean you fail qualifications. This wasn't a contest between you and Tangie, but more of an evaluation of skills. You are still in this," Alonzo said.

  "I should've won. I didn't know dirty tricks were acceptable," Trevor said, glaring at Tangie.

  "Dirty tricks? This was a grappling match, and I beat you with a simple arm lock. That's part of grappling," Tangie said.

  "An arm lock? Tell me how useful that would be in the field. How will you have the time to throw your legs over someone's shoulders while they are shooting at you, or swinging a blade?" Trevor said.

  "There, there, Trevor. It's all combat. The method she used to force you to submit is a useful method in hand-to-hand combat," Alonzo said.

  "Humph," Trevor reacted dismissively.

  "Tangie, you seem to be very skilled. I knew you had combat experience, being a military woman, but this is beyond typical army combat training," Alonzo said.

  "Twelve years of mixed martial arts training, sir. I started my training at age seventeen. I hold a black belt in Taekwondo, a brown belt in Brazilian Jujitsu, did a little Greco-Roman wrestling and weapons training. Once I decided to join the military, I wanted to make sure I could handle myself... being a woman in a man's army," she responded.

  "Wow, that's impressive. I took you as just a computer scientist. I knew you were smart, but you appear to be quite the combatant as well," Alonzo said.

  Trevor looked on in disgust. He walked over to the edge of the mat toward the boxing ring. Tangie watched him with a slight smirk on her face.

  "Trevor. Did you hear what Alonzo said? The method I used, for you to submit," Tangie said. "Submit. You submitted to me."

  "Let's see how you fare when you can't use your dirty tricks. The next test is in the ring, right?" Trevor said.

  "Correct. This test is basically an evaluation of your reaction time. Also, your hand-eye coordination and decision making. What better way to do this than a little boxing match? Suit up. We will wear headgear in this test," Alonzo said.

  Tangie and Trevor walked over to the lockers in the gym's corner. Tangie opened her locker and grabbed a pair of boxing gloves that hung in the back. Trevor glared at Tangie as he tightened the straps on his headgear. Once they were both suited, they walked over to the boxing ring and climbed inside.

  Trevor was a large man. Standing six foot two, he towered over Tangie, but not as much as he would most women. Tangie was tall herself, as she stood five foot ten. Both Trevor and Tangie were athletic people at the top of physical health. They stood in the ring facing each other, Trevor mumbling to himself while Tangie watched silently.

  "Okay, same rules as boxing. Punches only, no elbows, knees, or kicks. No hitting below the belt, no grappling of any kind. Last but not least, when I say stop, you stop. This isn't about who wins or loses, it is about how you perform," Alonzo said.

  Alonzo held up his hand and looked Tangie in the eye. She nodded. He looked over at Trevor for the same acknowledgment. He had it.

  "Fight!"

  Trevor rushed in, swinging aggressively. His strikes came hard and fast. While he appeared to be wild with his attack, he indeed had a certain amount of technique. His attacks were well telegraphed, nothing to keep his opponent guessing. Tangie ducked and dodged, trying to last through the onslaught. She threw a couple of strikes herself, but Trevor was fast and evaded them all.

  Tangie took a step back, trying to bait a swing from Trevor, and he bit. Trevor stepped in with one of his well-timed but overly telegraphed strikes. That strike was what Tangie was looking for. She stepped to the side just enough to cause Trevor to miss, and countered with a strike of her own. Tangie's strike glided smoothly over Trevor's missed swing and hit him in the temple. He stumbled. She followed with an uppercut that caught his chin. He took a few steps back.

  Tangie started with a barrage of well-timed strikes of her own, but not as telegraphed. She gave different looks, feinting and throwing punches from different angles. Trevor now found he was the one that must last through a storm of punches. He'd made it halfway when one of Tangie's strikes hit the spot. His legs wobbled as he buckled. Tangie saw the end was coming and threw hard punches to his body.

  After about four hard body shots, Trevor was able to slip one of Tangie's blows and get out of danger. Tangie reset, and they squared off once again.

  Trevor attempted to repeat his opening, but Tangie now had his timing figured out. Trevor threw a punch, Tangie slipped to the side and countered. He threw an uppercut and the same thing happened. Every punch Trevor threw was mi
ssing. He paid for every effort by receiving a stiff counter-punch. The rest of the round went the same way. Trevor would have moments of success, but Tangie always managed to reset and punish him with counters.

  "Stop! The round is over. Good job, guys," Alonzo said.

  Tangie took a deep breath as she pulled off her gloves. Trevor walked to his corner and spit into the water bucket. There was a little blood in his spit. He tossed a towel in the bucket on top of the blood to hide it from anyone that walked by.

  "Good work, you two, Id say you both passed and can move onto the next test. Get showered up. I'll meet you in a few hours at the range," Alonzo said as he left the gym.

  Tangie gathered her things from the corner of the room and walked over to her locker.

  "Good work, Miss. You are a lot better than I thought you would be," Trevor said as he walked by Tangie.

  "Thank you, Trevor," said Tangie, surprised by the compliment. "Oh, I saw you trying to hide that blood. My counters are killer, I should've warned you," she added, laughing.

  "Your counters weren't that impressive. I took it easy on you. Don't get too cocky, Miss," Trevor said as he stormed off.

  Tangie laughed as she grabbed her things from her locker and walked over to the showers. Since she was the only woman being evaluated for the nano-soldier team, she had the showers to herself. The showers were brightly lit. White railroad tiles covered the walls and floor. Gave the room a tranquil but medical feel. She walked in, closed and locked the door. She untied the lace that held up her compression shorts and pulled them down to her ankles, stepping out of them. After removing her top, she started the shower. She stood in the mirror looking at a bruise on her rib.

  "That will hurt for a few days," she thought to herself.

  She looked at her face in the mirror, giving herself a long, hard look.

  "Can I do this?"

  Tangie didn't really care about being a part of the MMT, or any kind of military activity. Her whole reasoning for being here was to find out some information. It had been fifteen years since her father died. She wanted to know why, and how. This was the team he'd created. Her biggest motivation in joining this team was hopefully finding out what really happened to her dad.

  The room filled with steam from the shower, fogging the mirror. Tangie reached up and removed the band from her ponytail, letting her hair fall down her back.

  "I don't have time for perms or keeping up with a curling iron, so these cornrows will have to do," she thought to herself.

  Tangie wore her hair braided, six thick braids from front to back. Her hair was long enough that the ends of the braids went down her back. She kept the braids tied together in a ponytail to keep them from interfering with her combat matches. A hairstyle that required little upkeep and was easy to pin up into a ponytail and wear down if she wanted a more "dressed-up" look.

  "Perfect for every situation," she thought.

  After a shower, Tangie walked over to her gym bag and grabbed a phone from a pocket hidden inside. She dialed a number.

  "David," she said as the person answered the phone.

  "Yes. Tangie, is that you?" David said.

  "Yes, just wanted to give you an update. Actually... I wanted to talk to my big brother," she said

  "Aww, sis. Everything okay?"

  "Yes. So far, so good. I made it past the initial qualifications. I should have the final one later this evening."

  "Find anything out about Dad?"

  "No, nothing other than what we all know. He was the founder of this technology, they owe everything to him, blah blah. But I have questioned no one. Don't want to give them any hints who I really am."

  "I know you said once you get his files, you would disappear for a while. Make sure you call me first to let me know. Don't have me waiting here months, or even years, wondering what happened to you," David said.

  Tangie giggled.

  "What's funny, sis?"

  "I was just thinking. Remember the first of Dad's inventions... well, the first one he showed us?"

  "Yes. What was it, a flashlight that turned into a broomstick?"

  "Yeah, something like that. It was almost useless. Well, the flashlight part was good. But as far as breakthroughs, it seemed so insignificant back then."

  "Yeah, I remember him turning on the light and me being totally unimpressed. When it turned into the broomstick, I thought it was cool."

  "You took it to school and got in trouble. They thought you brought a weapon to class." Tangie laughed.

  "I think that was the only one of his inventions that he brought home. It was all top secret after that."

  "Yeah. Well, I need to get off this phone. We aren't supposed to have them, so I had to smuggle one in. Don't want anyone to find out."

  "Okay, be safe. I love you."

  "Love you too," Tangie said as a tear rolled down her face.

  "Tangie."

  "Yes?"

  "If you find out that Dad was killed, what will you do with that information?"

  Tangie looked at the phone. After a short pause, she decided to answer her brother truthfully.

  "I will kill the person responsible."

  2

  The NIP

  The gun range was fairly standard. There were rows with targets at the end. The targets could be set to different distances. Most of the targets were set at fifty feet. A few were set at twenty-five feet.

  Tangie noticed the line of other recruits had formed in the back of the room. She decided to join them. Trevor was at the front of the line. His eye was swollen and black from the session they had earlier. Rick stood beside him. Rick had been a member of the team since it was first active -- the team that her father, Derrick Tesser, had founded with his nanotechnology breakthrough. After Derrick's death, the team was disbanded, the project scrapped, and the government denied its existence.

  "A lab accident."

  That was all the explanation Tangie Newsham, then known as Ashaunte Tesser, and her brother David got for their father's death. Tangie was sixteen when her father died. She was a teenager in high school, but she was already dazzling. Sure to follow in her father's footsteps.

  Once the nano-soldier project got resurrected, Rick had to go through all the same qualifications as everyone else. Another recruit, Brother, watched Tangie as she walked over. Brother wasn't a scientist or any type of scholar. He also wasn't a military man. People often wondered how he got as far as he did, but the team needed a pilot. Brother filled that need. He knew how to fly planes, helicopters... almost any kind of aircraft. And he was good at it. A lot of the other things needed to join the team, he learned as he went.

  Roger, another recruit, stood beside Brother. His qualifications were like Tangie's. In college, he majored in computer science and minored in biology, just as she had. He also has an extensive mixed martial arts background. He fought professionally for several years before joining the Air Force. He wanted to fly planes but never made it that far. He took part in several top-secret missions and programs. He was an excellent marksman. Just your all-around secret agent type.

  "He is sure to get in," Tangie thought to herself.

  She walked over and stood in line behind Roger. He gave her a look, and then turned his attention back to the rest of the group. They were engaged in a conversation about their experience with firearms. Trevor talked about how he was such a good shot with many pistols and handguns. Brother talked about how he only used a shotgun when he worked as a bounty hunter for a bail bondsman in his hometown.

  "I never picked up a pistol until I came here. But I have to say, I'm a pretty good shot. It comes natural," Brother said.

  "This test is right in my wheelhouse. You guys will want to take notes when it's my turn," said Roger.

  Tangie knew that while the experience they all had was relative, this would all be new for everyone. She had done all the research needed to get through this process. Because of that research, she knew that they would not be shooting your typical p
istol or handgun. She had a lot of experience with pistols, handguns and rifles from a combination of her military training and the hunting trips with her father as a child. She knew what they would hold would be a lot different.

  Tangie leaned up against the wall, waiting. She didn't add to the conversation. The door opened and six men in white lab coats walked in. Each carried a silver, hardcover briefcase. Handgun cases, but a little larger.

  "I bet they are .45s, Desert Eagle or something similar," said Roger.

  "Shut up already, Roger," Rick sniped.

  The men in lab coats walked over to the six stations in front of the range and placed the cases on the tables. They then opened the cases and walked away.

  "Welcome, everyone. Please pick a lane and stand in front of the station... let's get started," said Alonzo as he entered.

  All the recruits walked over to a lane and looked in the cases. They couldn't see what weapon was in the case. There was a metallic cloth covering them. Brother reached to remove the cloth, but was interrupted.

  "Don't touch anything. Just stand there," Alonzo said.

  The rest of the recruits looked, trying to make out what was under the cloth. Tangie just watched patiently. Alonzo made his way in front of the group. He was also carrying one of the cases. After setting his case on a small table, he opened it and removed the cloth. He reached in and grabbed what looked like a pistol, and held it in the air.

  "Id like to introduce you to the first nano-injection pistol, or NIP for short."