4 Terramezic Energy

by John O'Riley

  “We’re in the capital, Virgos,” Hermina informed him.

  “This is incredible,” Mark said.

  Hermina turned to a group of three recessed compartments in the wall next to a computer console dominated with rune-like symbols marking touch keys. She typed in a sequence and there was a pleasant chime of acknowledgement.

  “I think you’ll enjoy this.” Hermina’s eyes twinkled with pleasure as she glanced at him then turned back to the compartments.

  Several seconds later, the doors of two of the compartments slid up to reveal two decorative silver platters containing plates of what looked like glazed cinnamon rolls with a side of dressing, and two silver mugs with a steaming beverage. Hermina and Mark each took a tray and chose one of the tables beside the window. Mark found himself staring outside again with a sense of wonder. He hadn’t imagined such a place existed and to think these people came from the same ancestors. The only difference is that they hadn’t lost their technology and magic. It was almost like traveling back in time and meeting the ancients. Mark had so many questions but they were all jumbled in his mind in a chaotic knot.

  “So everyone has always been a wizard here,” he finally said.

  “That’s correct.” Hermina’s striking blue eyes conveyed compassion. “This must be overwhelming for you.”

  “Do you have cars here?” Mark asked.

  Hermina tilted her head to the side with puzzlement. “Cars?”

  “Vehicles that have wheels that allow people to travel large distances that would take too long to walk,” Mark explained.

  “We have gliders. They are floating devices that can carry between six to twelve people depending on the model. They’re saucer-shaped and made of wizard glass. You won’t see very many here because we’re in a glider restricted area. To preserve the natural beauty of our world, they are confined to designated commuter areas. There are parking garages on the outskirts of every city. There are transport stations strategically positioned throughout the area that allow for travel from one city to another and from one part of the city to another. Everything is within walking distance so gliders are mainly used as recreational devices,” Hermina explained.

  “It must take enormous amounts of power to keep those transport stations running.”

  “We have power stations that provide wireless energy to these facilities,” she explained. “In fact, you came flying out of one of our Interplanetary Transit Centers. Your identity wasn’t registered in our database for any of our colony worlds and the light energy from your body prevented us from reading you or scanning for injuries. We had to rely on a physical examination and found only minor bruising.”

  Mark wasn’t sure what was the proper way to eat a cinnamon roll with the President of a world. He reached for his fork and was able to easily tear off a piece with it. Hermina took this opportunity to take a bite of her own roll. Mark was surprised by the taste which wasn’t cinnamon at all. It was a variety of subtle spices he’d never encountered before and the dominant flavors of butter and honey reminded him of baklava.

  “This is a typical lunch on Adamas? Are you sure it isn’t dessert or breakfast?” Mark’s lips curved in a teasing grin.

  “It’s actually very healthy. The sweetener is from a type of shrubbery that contains almost no calories and has a lot of trace nutrients. The lunch bread is packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. It’s considered a staple.”

  “Interesting.” Mark refrained from further teasing even though she reminded him of a dietician rather than a government leader at the moment. He took a bite of the food that looked like dressing which turned out to taste exactly the same. Coincidentally, that was his favorite food for Thanksgiving and Christmas. He thought it was pretty cool to be able to eat this dish year round instead of just for the holidays.

  “You seem pleased about something.” Hermina leveled an inquisitive gaze at him.

  “The food is delicious,” Mark told her.

  Hermina grinned with amusement. “You haven’t tried the sabia yet.”

  Mark picked up the silver mug and took a sip. Rich hot chocolate blended with mint greeted his taste buds.

  “That’s the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had!” he exclaimed.

  A strange sensation stirred his psychic receptors and he realized his magical links had somehow become active. A trickle of light energy made its way to him. His eyes lit up with relief and joy as he sensed the presence of Josephine, Alice, Helen, and Perry in the distance. They had expanded their network and must be working on strengthening it.

  “Something is happening to you.” Hermina’s brows furrowed together with concentration for several seconds. “You’re generating light energy somehow.”

  “It’s my group. They’re charging up the links between us. I think it will keep me from burning out. Josephine must have thought I was dead at first but when she expanded her network, I’ll bet Perry sensed my presence.”

  “Who is this Perry?” Hermina asked.

  “He’s a light being I created by accident.”

  Hermina tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to avoid burnout?”

  “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure this will be enough. It depends on how often they can work on our network and how much light energy comes through,” Mark said.

  “Hopefully, you’ll be able to retain your white magic.”

  As the connections lost their charge and became dormant again, Mark could no longer feel the comforting presence of his friends. His intuition kicked in for several seconds and a foreboding chill tickled his spine as an impression of danger loomed in his mind and that Hermina was deceiving him.

  Chapter 19

  Josephine was having a rough time waiting for Arthur Gallagher to arrive with a truth-speak enchantment. She couldn’t stand the guy and didn’t like the fact that he held all the cards on this interrogation with APU 81. Josephine wanted to be in charge as she wanted to make sure they found a way to open a portal to the world where Mark had gone. She was currently seated in front of her computer with Maggie beside her while Alex and Jake waited at their own desks and Ben stood off to the side. As an added precaution, Maggie and Josephine had left one of their protection amulets active in case there was a surprise attack with terramezic energy. Of course, this meant that a small portion of power would be wasted during this time period but there was no sense in being knocked out and letting the prisoners escape either.

  “I hope Arthur arrives soon. We have no idea what the limits of APU 81’s new powers are. For all we know, it could inhabit five or more people at the same time now,” Josephine said.

  “Are you sure you should be here?” Alex regarded her with concern. Ben and Josephine blinked at him with surprise. “You know, because of the baby.”

  Josephine’s face flushed with embarrassment. She hadn’t yet told her boss about this news.

  Ben shot her a look of surprise. “You’re pregnant?”

  “Yes but don’t think of benching me. A category six pregnancy lasts an average of two years.”

  “Congratulations, Josephine!” Ben beamed at her with delight. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

  “A boy.” Josephine’s lips twitched in a fleeting smile. She was concerned about the unborn child and worried it would grow up without a father. Even though Mark wasn’t dead, he was stranded on a mysterious world in another galaxy.

  “That’s great news! Way to go, O’Connor!” Ben said.

  “Thank you.”

  “And I wouldn’t dream of benching you,” Ben advised.

  Arthur strode into the room with a sneer of contempt. “I’m going to have to insist that Josephine wait out this interrogation.”

  Arthur wore a black enforcer uniform along with the two enforcers that accompanied him. Josephine recognized Brent who was average height and bulky with a shaved head and Clarence who was average height and medium set with short cropped brown hair and green eyes.

  “This is
my case as well and you’re not taking over.” Josephine shot to her feet.

  Arthur halted a short distance away from her desk. “I will share the information with you in a report but I must insist on speaking with APU 81 alone. You’re an amateur, Josephine, and I don’t want you to get in my way.”

  “I’m the one who captured Norman,” Josephine pointed out.

  “And that was lucky on your part but you had backup from the police station. I read the report.”

  “My point is that he’s in MY custody at the moment. I won’t allow you to see him without me.”

  “You can’t do that.” Arthur leveled a condescending gaze at her.

  “Yes, I can if I declare suspicion that you may not be Captain Arthur Gallagher or that you are under the influence of a mind control spell. You would have to submit to a truth-speak enchantment by a certified court official.”

  “Lucky for me I’ve brought the spell in question.” Arthur’s expression was triumphant.

  “You don’t have a certified court official with you. I’m the one who is required to place the official request and if I should forget to expedite the request due to national security then it will probably take a week or two before we get someone here,” Josephine said.

  Arthur narrowed his eyes with ire. “You’re forgetting that your direct supervisor can also submit the request.” He directed his gaze at the chief of police. “We need to get that official here right away.”

  “I’m afraid I’m not used to making those types of requests myself. I let my lackeys take care of those pesky little details,” Ben said with a straight face although his eyes twinkled with amusement.

  “Very well.” Arthur heaved a burdened sigh as he turned to face Josephine again. “But we are going to lay down a few ground rules. First of all, I’m the one who is facilitator so I will determine whose turn it is to ask questions. I will take the first three turns—”

  In the blink of an eye, an average looking man in his late twenties with blond hair and blue eyes and wearing casual jeans and a tee shirt materialized near the desk between Alex and Ben. The man held a brass wand with a large pointed citrine quartz attached to one end. Before anyone could react to the newcomer, an incredible wind gushed from him in all directions shoving everyone off their feet as well as all the papers, computers, and odds and ends lying on the desks. Josephine and Maggie were the only ones left standing although their shields threatened to collapse. The two women were quick to activate the rest of their protection spells as the wind continued to beat against them. Ben, Alex, Jake, Arthur, Brent and Clarence were tossed across the room like rag dolls. Their bodies smashed against the walls with incredible force and they all lost consciousness except for Ben and Arthur who lay on their sides but were dazed. The wind died down.

  “You’re making yourself vulnerable with all the bodies you’re controlling,” Josephine said.

  “I can summon an army whenever I choose!” the man boasted.

  Alarms sounded due to the teleportation spell. Josephine sensed the wards around the police station become active which would prevent anyone from entering or leaving the building.

  “You won’t be able to teleport out.” Josephine whipped out two of her wands and aimed them both at the assailant.

  The man smirked at her. “You don’t think I have an escape plan, human?”

  “I seriously doubt it’s a good one, parasite.” Josephine unleashed two powerful waves of telekinetic energy.

  Maggie joined the attack against APU 81 with two of her own wands. The man’s shield held and he returned fire. They continued to exchange fire. Soon, Arthur and Ben activated their own protection and revived enough to join the battle. Josephine was surprised when she sensed the wards around the police station drop again. The assailant vanished as powerful streams of telekinetic energy from Ben and Arthur rushed towards him. Josephine expanded her mental awareness to encompass the entire police station and noticed the separate ward around the interrogation rooms had collapsed and Norman was gone.

  “APU 81 has taken our prisoner,” she announced.

  Arthur narrowed his eyes at her. “You allowed it to snatch up Norman from right underneath your nose.”

  “You were here with two of your enforcers when it struck.” Josephine was tired of this annoying twerp blaming everything on her. “You’re as much to blame for this as I am.”

  “No one needs to take the fall for this,” Ben said.

  Arthur regarded the chief of police with incredulous disbelief. “You think upper management and the public aren’t going to demand a scapegoat?”

  “I’ve seen a lot of action and this is just a setback. It’s an unfortunate turn of events but we still have the Interplanetary Transit Center,” Ben said.

  “And we have no idea how to use it,” Arthur pointed out.

  “I have a lot of work to do. You can see yourself out of the police station.” Ben’s expression was dismissive. He turned to give orders to the police officers who had just arrived from other parts of the building. Ben left the room to attend to other matters.

  Arthur turned to direct a condescending look at Josephine. “Giving you this case was a huge mistake. I’m going to see to it that it’s assigned to me.”

  “How are Yvonne and Charlotte doing?” Josephine said in a casual tone that contradicted the stewing anger inside her.

  “They’re fine.”

  “Have you cured them of the mind control enchantment and the K-Syndrome?” Josephine asked.

  “Not yet but –”

  “I knew it!” Josephine pointed her index finger at him with an air of loathing. “Mind magic is not your forte and by stealing my case from me, you’re endangering their lives.”

  “You’re an investigator but you’re no enforcer,” Arthur said.

  “My track record proves otherwise.”

  Arthur watched her with disgust for several seconds then he and his two enforcers left the station. Josephine, Maggie, Jake, and Alex took stock of their surroundings. Their computers were all broken with pens, papers and other odds and ends scattered on the floor throughout the room. Two of their chairs were broken. Anita, one of the administrative assistants, strode into the room with a large blue quartz crystal cluster in both of her hands that contained massive quantities of power.

  “Stand aside, ladies and gentleman!” Anita grinned at them as she held out the enchantment and activated it.

  About a dozen, large blue streams of energy gushed from the crystal and swept throughout the room, shoving the chairs and desks back into place. Papers and pens whipped off the floor and hurtled back where they had originated before the attack took place. The computers drifted back onto the desks and the broken pieces of glass melded back onto the screen so that they were undamaged again. In less than a moment, everything in the room was restored to its original condition.

  “That’s impressive,” Alex said. “I’ve never seen a restoration spell in action before.”

  “Our mighty tax dollars at work.” Jake offered a sardonic smile.

  “Mark does amazing restorations.” Josephine’s expression was wistful as she thought of her boyfriend again and wished he was back safe and sound.

  “We’ll find him,” Maggie vowed. “I know I can figure out how to activate and control the interplanetary portal.”

  Josephine knew that if anyone could accomplish such a feat, it was Maggie.

  “Since we no longer have a prisoner to question, we need to finish our long-range scanner,” Josephine said.

  “Agreed.”

  “We’ll see you guys later,” Josephine said. On impulse, she gave Jake a warm hug. “I love you, sweetheart.”

  “Love you, too, Grandma,” he said.

  “Where’s my hug?” Alex cast a teasing gaze at her.

  “Goodbye, Alex.” Josephine blew him a kiss and left the room.

  As she and Maggie stepped outside in the hot humid weather, they picked up the pace to her car so they could escape the h
eat. As soon as Josephine started the engine, she cranked up the air-conditioner to full blast.

  “I’ve noticed there’s always one thing you can count on here,” Maggie remarked.

  “What’s that?” Josephine asked.

  “The heat and humidity.” Maggie’s lips curled with a grimace of revulsion. “I don’t know how you stand it here.”

  “I don’t know how you Seattleites can stand the omnipresent gray skies.” Josephine arched a sardonic brow at her.

  “Touché.” Maggie chuckled with amusement.

  When they arrived at Josephine’s house, Perry and Helen insisted that they work on strengthening their magical network. The three of them stood in the living room near the center of the room.

  “We have a lot of work to do. Catching APU 81 is our number one priority so we can get Mark back. I can’t take the time for nonessentials,” Josephine said.

  “He’s going to burn out if we don’t work on the magical network at least four times a day.” Perry’s expression was panicked.

  “Why are you so sure of this? You can’t communicate with him.” Josephine regarded him with puzzlement.

  “Don’t you see? The connection is what’s keeping his light energy nodes stable. They need a constant flow of power to stay in optimum shape. That’s why white magic practitioners burn out. They reach a point where the nodes can no longer sustain themselves. Mark isn’t receiving any light energy from the network except for when we strengthen the connection,” Perry explained.

  “Can’t you and Helen take care of that?” Josephine asked.

  “It doesn’t work without you.”

  “What about Alice?”

  “For some reason, we can’t pull it off with her as a substitute for you,” Perry explained.

  A troubled frown marred Josephine’s face. “It’s important that Mark doesn’t burnout. At this point, he’d end up in a coma for days and if he’s by himself with no medical aid, he could die.”