Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles 1: Wizard Defiant Read Online Free PDF

proper positions in his wall locker. He then stood at attention beside the door of his room.
    Beep. Beep. Beep.
    The fifteen second warning alarm sounded in the deserted hallway. That is, it was deserted except for the presence of TAC Officer Gaston Myers.
    “You’re off confinement as of now, cadet 832,” yelled TAC Officer Myers. “You’d better not be late for my formation, or you’ll be sorry you were ever born!”
    Richard cursed his TAC officer under his breath and raced for the stairs. He took them four at a time.
    Beep. Beep.
    The five second alarm sounded. Richard raced out the door in a futile attempt to get to his spot in the company formation. He knew he’d never make it in time. He was right.
    Beep.
    The final alarm sounded. It was 0505 hours.
    “You’re late, 832!” shouted a nearby TAC officer. “Everybody can thank cadet 832 for some extra calisthenics this morning for being late. Formation is a group effort. If one cadet is late, every cadet is late. Now everybody down and give me thirty!”
    Some of the nearby cadets made a few half-hearted grumbles at Richard, but nothing serious. They all knew the TAC officers would always find some reason for extra calisthenics. The bad news was it was a weekend, so there were no classes today. The TAC officers had all day to give the cadets their undivided attention.
    The morning wore on with the TAC officers thinking of one torturous exercise after another. The only break was when they got the privilege of running from one end of the parade field to the other. It was 0830 hours before the TAC officers finally ordered them back into formation.
    “I hope you’re awake by now, cadets!” said TAC Officer Myers. “Today is a special day. We’re going to call it ‘cadet 832 day’. It seems cadet 832 told the Commandant he liked challenges. Well, TAC officers like challenges too. So for this special ‘cadet 832 day’, we’re going to strive to help all of you get all the challenges you can handle. Next formation is at zero nine hundred with full field gear. Too bad you missed breakfast, but since cadet 832 did not make our little road march yesterday, we’re going to do it again today. You can eat when you get to the top of hill 3025. That is, assuming you get there by noon. Dismissed!”
    Richard ran back into the barracks with the other cadets. Many of them let him know how much they appreciated the opportunity to participate in ‘cadet 832 day’.
    ‘Thanks, 832!’, ‘Idiot!’, ‘What the hell were you thinking?’, and ‘Why don’t you just D.F.R.?’ were some of the nicer comments.
    Richard let the snide remarks roll off his back. The other cadets were just being used in one of TAC Officer Myers’ mind games. They knew it as well as Richard. Next week, a different cadet would probably be the company scapegoat.
    As Richard approached the door of his room, he spied a few of his personal items strewn in the hallway. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He knew what to expect even before he entered his room. His room had been exploded by one of the TAC officers. His tightly made bed was overturned, and the bedding was tossed across the room. Every item in his wall locker had been thrown helter-skelter from one end of the room to the other.
    It’s going to be a long day , Richard thought as he turned his bed upright and straighten the mattress.
    “They’ve got you zeroed in this time, 832,” said a voice from the doorway. It was cadet 147. He was Richard’s acting platoon sergeant, at least for this week. Leadership positions among the cadets rotated frequently. The TAC officers had a habit of taking out their wrath on the acting leaders whenever their cadets screwed up. Cadet 147 was an exception to the rule. He’d been acting platoon sergeant for almost three months. That was a lifetime in pre-Academy terms. Richard had a lot of respect for 147. He was an older man, probably in his mid-thirties, and he was a good leader. Richard