by John O'Riley
Mark crossed the room and kissed Josephine. “We’re having a baby boy!”
“Yes, we are.” Josephine reached out and caressed Mark’s face as he beamed at her. His comforting and powerful energy washed over her and she reveled in it. A rush of affection and love surged through her, causing her body to radiate with a shimmering white luminescence. Her intuition kicked in and she knew this baby would be special. Her brown eyes misted with unshed tears as joy flooded through her.
“This is absolutely wonderful! In two years, you’re going to have a new addition to the family!” Helen gushed.
“Two years?!” Alex exclaimed with incredulous disbelief.
Helen threw him a surprised look. “Everyone knows the average pregnancy lasts two years for a category six because of their unique physiology.”
“Not everyone.” Alex regarded her with stunned amazement.
“You need to get out more,” Jake advised.
Everyone watched Alex as though seeing him for the first time and wondering under what rock he’d lived all these years to be ignorant of such common knowledge.
“Apparently so.” Alex’s face flushed with embarrassment.
Chapter 14
Norman, inhabited by APU 81’s mind, stepped out of his silver sedan and walked down the sidewalk of the quiet, middle-class neighborhood of Venice, Florida. He wore a city utility uniform, held a bunch of large orange traffic cones and carried a fake ID badge that identified him as an employee of the Venice water utilities. He was average height and slender with short black hair and a dimpled chin. Norman halted in front of the large, pink house where he’d been working for several days. He placed the traffic cones in a wide swath across the street to prevent traffic from bothering him. Next, he pulled out two NPX regeneration units he’d created from materials at the Sedalia, Missouri site where Myles was still working. Until recently, APU 81 had been restricted to possessing only one individual at a time but now that its crystal skull was connected to a terramezic energy generator, it could inhabit multiple host bodies at the same time. This gave APU 81 an edge against his enemies who didn’t yet realize he’d acquired this new ability.
The site in Sedalia was partially restored and had provided APU 81 with the two additional NPX regeneration units which allowed him to regenerate this facility in Venice while he continued his work at Sedalia. Norman set the two fist-sized cubes on the ground at his feet on the edge of the neatly manicured lawn of the pink house. The hot humid air pressed against Norman like a physical weight and distracted him a bit as he began directing the nanites that the NPX regeneration units were creating. The cubes glowed with a silvery luminescence. APU 81 could sense the part of the facility he needed was just about ready for restructuring. After several moments, Norman raised his hands and pointed his palms towards the yard. Six large standing stones measuring approximately eight feet in height burst out of the ground. The stones were positioned in a circular formation and etched with glowing blue and red rune-like symbols. Several seconds later, a smaller ring of stones burst up from the ground several feet outside of the first ring of stones along with a gyroscope composed of blue, translucent material and measuring approximately four feet in diameter.
The front door to the pink house burst open and an elderly man stepped outside with a furious expression on his face. When he saw the strange structure that had sprung up in his yard, he halted and stared at it with astonishment. Norman ignored the human as he directed terramezic energy at the gyroscope to jumpstart it. The two rings of the gyroscope swung rapidly and fed energy to the main generator buried beneath the standing stones. Within seconds, massive amounts of terramezic energy flowed into the structure. The owner of the pink house escaped back inside. Norman knew he was no doubt calling the local authorities. He would have killed him but no doubt the other neighbors were doing the same thing so it would have been a wasted effort. Besides, Josephine would most likely be one of the officials ordered to investigate and she was his target. Norman picked up the two NPX regeneration units and stepped closer to the gyroscope until he was just outside the ring of stones encircling it.
This was only a small part of the original facility but he didn’t have the time to restore the whole thing. This was exactly what APU 81 required to fulfill its plans for revenge. A sinister smile curved Norman’s lips as he changed the settings on the main generator to maximum. The rings of the gyroscope spun ever faster and spat out occasional blue sparks and mini lightning bolts. Dark storm clouds began to gather in the clear blue sky above. The glowing rune-like symbols on the standing stones all turned crimson and brightened with a grave warning in an ancient language that only APU 81 could understand.
Chapter 15
Josephine and Maggie sat at the dining room table with five wands resting on the wood surface between them. Blue energy cascaded from the palms of their hands and into the wands as they shaped the energy matrix of the terramezic energy scanning enchantment. The two women strained to focus their power but after several hours they stopped for another break. Josephine and Maggie leaned their backs into their chairs as fatigue seeped into their bodies in spite of their connection to the mini vortex in the house.
“It feels strange to be exhausted and energized at the same time,” Josephine remarked.
“Yes, it does,” Maggie agreed.
Mark emerged in the room wearing a concerned expression on his face.
“I hope you’re not straining yourself,” he said.
Josephine arched a brow at him. “This is hard work but it’s necessary. Don’t worry about me.”
“Can I get you anything?” Mark looked anxious.
Josephine offered a warm smile. “I feel like having some Earl Grey tea and pickles.”
“Really?” Mark regarded her with surprise.
“I’m kidding about the pickles.”
A nervous chuckle escaped Mark’s lips before he left the room to make her some tea.
“Your brother is a real sweetheart,” Josephine said.
“He’s hovering over you like a Mother Hen,” Maggie observed.
“Yes, he is.”
“He’s a great Dad. I can’t believe Steve is almost three years old already.” A pleased smile curved Maggie’s lips.
“What?” Josephine regarded her with confusion. She had been thinking about naming the baby Steve after her great, great grandfather but hadn’t talked to Mark about it yet. An instant later, Josephine realized Maggie must be having another temporal slip. Her consciousness had surfaced on many occasions while APU 81 had been using the Seer Mirror to gaze into the future. One of the limitations to this powerful device was that it rarely showed the user their own future – only that of others.
“I’m sorry,” Maggie apologized. “I didn’t mean to ruin the surprise. I don’t know why that happens. There’s no warning at all. My consciousness just seems to slide into a different time period memory.”
“It’s okay. Your mind is still healing. It will take some time.”
“It looks like I’ll have plenty of that,” Maggie said wryly.
Josephine’s phone chirped a warning which meant it was a call from either Ben Nutter or Director Hamilton. She glanced at the screen to see it was the chief of police.
“This is Josephine.”
“O’Connor, there’s a disturbance. Witnesses report seeing stone rings. It’s got to be APU 81,” Ben’s voice boomed.
Josephine held the phone back from her ear. “I’ll be right over.”
“I’m sending backup. They should get there the same time as you.”
Ben gave her the address and disconnected the call.
“I’ll return shortly.” Josephine shoved the cell phone back into its holster.
Maggie’s eyes flashed with determination. “I’m going with you.”
“You’re a civilian. You stay here.” Josephine leveled a stern look at her.
“I’m part of your team to hunt down APU 81,” Maggie said stubbornly.
Mark burst into the room carrying a mug of tea. “I’m helping, too.”
“Absolutely not!” Josephine said. “You’re definitely a civilian. There’s no gray area here.”
“I’m not letting the mother of my child face a mortal enemy alone,” Mark said.
“I won’t be alone. Maggie’s coming along.”
“So am I.”
Josephine seethed. “If you get hurt or killed, I’m going to kick Alice’s sorry butt for having that stupid intervention. And then I’m going to kick yours.”
“It’s a deal.” Mark eyed her with steely resolve.
“All right! Come on!”
Josephine, Maggie, and Mark rushed out to the car and she drove toward the address that Ben had provided her in Venice. Josephine felt the distinct absence of her connection to a vortex as she drove as fast as possible towards her destination. She wished this confrontation with APU 81 could have happened at a different time. Her ability to work with magic wasn’t at its greatest due to the work she’d been doing over the last couple of days on the terramezic energy scanner. Josephine heard police sirens but couldn’t tell if they were coming from ahead or behind her. She didn’t see the blue and red flashing lights but kept glancing at the rear-view mirror and then gazing as far ahead as possible to find the source.
“I wonder where my backup is,” Josephine said.
“I think it’s coming from ahead of us,” Maggie said.
It turned out that Maggie was right. When Josephine reached the middle class neighborhood where the stone structures stood, a group of police cars was already waiting for her. Josephine joined them. The Florida sun was obscured by thick black storm clouds that rumbled ominously. Josephine and her backup were about a block away from their destination and could see a gyroscope whirling madly and sparking electrical discharges while the large ring and small ring of standing stones contained brightly glowing red rune-like symbols. A man stood next to the smaller ring of stones and they were too far away to see him clearly but Josephine could tell it wasn’t the same individual Maggie had described who’d been possessed by APU 81.
“It looks like APU 81 has a new body,” Josephine said.
“Yes, that’s definitely someone else,” Maggie confirmed.
Josephine, Maggie, Mark, and ten police officers marched over toward the stone structures and stopped a short distance away with their wands pulled out and ready. Everyone’s shield was active but Mark’s was the only one visible because it was powered with light energy. It manifested as a shimmering white sphere of light surrounding him. With mainstream magic, the shield was only visible if something was impacting it.
“You go through bodies like hot cakes,” Josephine said.
Norman’s expression was frustrated and wary but it only lasted for several seconds.
He focused his hostile glare on her. “I hope you’re prepared to die, Josephine O’Connor, because there’s no way you’re walking away from this.”
Josephine had already scanned the structure which was obviously brimming with power but she could sense nothing which mean it was completely charged with just terramezic energy.
“Why are you doing this?” Josephine asked.
The wand in her left hand contained the short-range terramezic scanner that Maggie had already completed. Josephine flowed a trickle of power into it and immediately sensed the terramezic energy coming from the stone structures in front of her. She stiffened with surprise and trepidation at the massive quantity of power generated by the ancient structure. She’d never felt anything nearly so strong besides a power vortex and this actually rivaled a power vortex. There was an invisible shield protecting the stone rings and it extended out to include APU 81. It was so powerful that no conventional attack could possibly penetrate it. This was a hopeless battle. Josephine’s mind whirled over possible strategies. They would need to either escape or find a way to deactivate the ancient structure.
“I see you’ve developed terramezic scanners,” Norman observed. “It’s about time. Unfortunately for you, it won’t help you survive this battle.”
Half a dozen jagged bolts of lightning lashed out from the black clouds above and struck Josephine’s protection which lit up as a silvery sphere of energy around her. Josephine didn’t wait for the attack to stop, she unleashed a telekinetic blast of her wand and the police officers did the same. Maggie unleashed lightning bolts from the two wands in her hand. The shield around the stone structure became visible as it deflected the attacks. Mark pointed his blue wand and fired his imperium niveus enchantment. A bright stream of silvery white energy exploded from his wand and rushed towards Norman. Norman’s left hand was clenched in a fist and he activated the enchantment he carried in it. Dark energy billowed from it like black smoke with intermittent red sparks that lit it up from within. The stream of white energy split into two as it approached Norman then both ends curved away from him to avoid the dark energy that continued to billow from his fist and settle onto the ground. White energy continued to stream from Mark’s wand as he tried to direct the spell at Norman but it continued to veer away from the black smoke and dissipate harmlessly about a dozen feet behind its original target. Soon, Mark’s wand was depleted and the spell fizzled out.
“Do you see how weak white magic is?” Norman smirked at Mark. “My original plan was to kill Josephine and watch you suffer burnout but since you’re here, you might as well die alongside her.”
Norman gestured at the stone structure, activating an enchantment. Josephine, Maggie, and the police launched another magical assault against APU 81 which the protection easily deflected. In fact, Josephine couldn’t see that their efforts made any measurable effect on the ancient structure. It was generating too much energy and they didn’t have the fire power to overtake it.
“Everyone needs to retreat! Retreat now!” Josephine shouted.
The police officers ran towards the vehicles across the street. She grabbed Maggie and Mark and gave them a push because they continued to face Norman with determined expressions on their faces. From within the larger ring of standing stones, a bright gold light exploded into existence from the very center and about five feet above the ground. An instant later, a powerful burst of wind shoved at Maggie, Josephine, and Mark. The force was so strong, they could no longer make any headway. The rest of the police officers were unencumbered by the spell and continued their evacuation when Josephine gestured at them to leave. Josephine, Maggie, and Mark turned to face Norman who grinned at them with maniacal glee.
“Do you see what a hopeless situation this is?” APU 81 gloated. “You were stupid to come here like this. It was obviously a trap but since you humans are all the same, I knew you would come to me without hesitation. You’re so weak and stupid. You’re like mindless sheep.”
Mark pulled out another blue wand and launched another niveus imperium spell. Bright white energy cascaded from it and rushed towards Norman. Black smoke still poured from Norman’s left fist and the light energy split into two streams which both twisted away from their target. The white energy streams rushed passed Norman and swirled around the large standing stones.
Norman chuckled. “Even though you knew you had no chance of hitting me with that spell, you wasted it like the mindless human you are.”
Mark’s shield winked out of existence without warning. In the absence of his protection, the wind yanked him off the ground and he hurtled towards the gold light within the large stone ring. Josephine screamed with panic and reached out with her hand to grab him but it was too late. The white energy from the niveus imperium sank into the large standing stones as Mark approached the mysterious spell. She launched a telekinetic wave at Mark to grab him but an instant later, he vanished inside the depths of the gold energy field. Josephine’s connection with Mark was ripped away to leave a gaping absence. She cried out in despair and her knees crashed into the pavement. White energy suffused the standing stones of the large ring and several seconds later the gold energy of the sp
ell within it died away. The gyroscope stilled as the facility shut down and lost power.
Josephine glared at Norman as she rose to her feet. “What did you do?”
“This is an Interplanetary Transit Center. Earth was cut off from its colony worlds during the Great Wizard War so the portal that I opened was a one way ticket to empty space. I know you must have sensed it when his life snuffed out.” Norman’s expression was gleeful.
Maggie struck Norman with a knockout spell. His body collapsed in an undignified heap on the pavement.
“In spite of APU 81’s intellect and foresight, it didn’t think to bring up its own personal shield when the stone structure went dead,” Maggie said. “I guess it’s been hanging around with humans for too long.”
Josephine narrowed her eyes at Norman’s unconscious body as hopelessness, despair, and rage tore at her. She wanted to make APU 81 suffer and then to kill it. Unfortunately, APU 81 could vacate its hosts at will. No doubt, it was long gone by now. Her surroundings blurred as tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t believe that Mark was gone forever. It had happened so quickly. A vicious stabbing pain clawed at her gut. Josephine clutched her stomach and cried out.
“Josephine, are you all right?” Maggie grabbed her right arm to help support her.
Josephine cried out again as another stab of agony erupted in her gut. A split second later, she realized it wasn’t her stomach at all – it was her womb.
“Something’s wrong with my baby,” Josephine cried out.
The agony intensified and wracked her body. Darkness crept along the edges of her vision as she began to lose consciousness.
Chapter 16
Josephine shivered as she sat on the edge of a bed in a hospital room with Maggie standing beside her and Doctor Hamilton, a man in his early thirties dressed in blue scrubs facing her. In his right hand, he held a long white medical wand which emitted an electronic hum as a general healing spell wafted over Josephine. He performed a scan with the smaller wand in his left hand.