Excerpt: Wizards in Space

“Ever since I was a boy, I’ve wanted to soar between the stars, to travel at will, to explore. Something in me will never be happy while I’m trapped in one place. So of course, for a small child, the ideal answer to this desire was to be a wizard.
“I wanted to be a wizard when I grew up. Any time an adult asked me that question, I answered them truthfully, my treacherously blue eyes wide and innocent. It took me a long time to understand why I was met everything from gently condescending smiles to outright laughter. I didn’t understand. Why couldn’t I learn how to be a wizard? Wasn’t it just like anything else?
“Of course it wasn’t. You’re either born a wizard, or you’re not, I know that now. But to a kid, that didn’t matter. As I got older, it didn’t take me long to realize how futile and downright stupid my dream was - but it was still my dream. My one secret passion that I couldn’t tell anyone about.
“I got into science on a fluke. Genetics caught my attention when we covered it in high school, so I decided I might as well go in to that. After all, I couldn’t do what I really wanted to do. It was in my studies in college that I first learned about linked genes. Certain diseases only manifest when two other, unrelated genes are also present. If the two aren’t there, no disease. But, if the two are there, that doesn’t necessarily mean the disease is as well.
“That set me thinking. The wizards. What do we know about them? They’re all of them brown haired and brown eyed, right? Every single one of them. But not all brown haired and brown eyed people are wizards. There’s a possibility there, a possibility that the… whatever it is, that lets wizards do what they do, is somehow tied to their genes. To the genes that code for eye color and hair color. That’s what I’ve been studying. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. If the wizards ever found out, I’d be a dead man. They don’t want anyone even thinking about trying to figure out their little secret. They like having a monopoly, and I don’t blame them. If you had the one ultimate power that everyone else in the galaxy wanted, wouldn’t you want to keep it a secret?
“As you can see, this sort of research wouldn’t exactly make much money, considering no one can know about it. I’ve managed to collect a few samples of wizard DNA - not an easy task mind you. But the Guild isn’t kind to freeloaders. So I got kicked out of my lab. That’s where I need your help. I need a facility with guaranteed privacy, good security, and the equipment I’ll need to complete my research. I want to find the gene, then figure out what it does. If I can do that… there may be potential to replicate it.”
Nicholas stopped and took a deep breath. That was the most he’d said at one time, well… ever. He had just felt the need to explain thoroughly, not just what he was doing, but why. For some reason, he felt like he needed Gabriel to understand. It wasn’t just for the money, either. To have someone truly understand his passion, his quest, his drive; to understand, and to sympathize, that was more than he ever could have hoped for. And yet it was what he most wanted. So he waited, anxious, for Gabriel’s reply.