by Alex Siegel
"Not until we need it. Just stay put."
Andrew sighed uneasily.
His radio earpiece crackled. "Sorcerers," Agent Williams said through the radio, "move forward cautiously. We have suppressed the cult. You may begin your investigation, but keep your eyes open."
Andrew, Charley, Tonya, and Blake pushed through the brush. Andrew was wearing clunky combat boots which weighed down his legs but helped his footing on the rocky terrain. They eventually came to the fence surrounding the survivalists' compound.
Andrew peered through the wires at a bare hilltop. Sparse grass and weeds covered an area the size of two football fields. Some pipes sticking out probably provided ventilation for the secret underground facility. There were no obvious entrances.
BPI agents wearing black armor and helmets were patrolling the ground. They held assault rifles, and other weapons hung from utility belts. To Andrew, the approach seemed very heavy-handed, but the BPI didn't believe in half-measures.
He spotted a body lying among the weeds. It was a young man in a green hunting outfit. Blood was leaking from a head wound and soaking the dirt. He had a light sniper rifle in his right hand.
Agent Williams ran over to meet the sorcerers at the fence.
"What's the situation?" Tonya said.
"We killed three," he said. "I assume the rest are barricaded below. When they saw they were outmanned and outgunned, they went into hiding."
"Where is the door?"
"Hidden, but finding the way down is the least of our problems. As soon as they found out we're federal agents, they started shooting. They had no interest in talking to us. I'm sure they're preparing for a siege as we speak. Taking the facility will involve a lot more bloodshed I'm afraid."
Williams whistled to get the attention of one of the BPI squads. Men jogged over and used wire cutters to make a hole in the fence. The sorcerers ducked through.
Andrew walked over to the dead body and discovered the victim wasn't much older than himself. He recoiled.
"Hey, Andrew!" Tonya said. "Stay with the group. This isn't a sightseeing tour."
Andrew came back.
Tonya gave Williams a serious look. "I can save a lot of lives with the seam. I can find the door, force the cult to open it for us, and neutralize them without a single shot being fired."
"I hate to admit it, but you're right." His shoulders sagged. "Come on."
The group walked along the fence as they made their way around the hill. Williams and his BPI agents flanked the sorcerers, but Andrew felt only slightly safer. Guns were a lot more fun when it was just a video game. He tried to appear brave in front of Charley, but every unexpected noise made him twitch.
The fence had a gate which had been opened. The group left that way and proceeded down a dirt path. BPI cars and vans were parked bumper-to-bumper on the path leading straight away from the compound. Going around the vehicles required walking through tough weeds.
A green armored truck was parked at the end of the line. The thick front windshield was clearly bulletproof. The windows on the sides were only a few inches tall, and each had a gun port below. The tires in the back were doubled to carry the extra weight of the armor. There were no markings at all, just flat green paint.
Four U.S. Army soldiers guarded the truck. The BPI agents were well-equipped, but the soldiers took it to an even more extreme level. Their assault rifles were considerably bigger and more complex. The soldiers had full facemasks with integrated air filters and goggles. Rigid plates augmented the soldiers' body armor. One carried a sniper rifle which could've been mistaken for an anti-aircraft gun.
Andrew could sense the portable seam inside the back of the truck. The energy source was small but still useful.
The Army guards the secret vault, Andrew thought. Interesting.
The soldiers didn't just give up the seam. Agent Williams had to sign several forms, show his badge, and swear an oath, but the soldiers still weren't done. They sent a picture of his face and a thumbprint back to their base to confirm his identity.
Finally, the soldiers opened the back of the truck. The cargo section contained a safe with an electronic combination.
This is getting ridiculous, Andrew thought.
One of the soldiers unlocked the safe, but he kept his arms extended fully as if the contents were toxic. He opened the door and jumped back.
Andrew, Charley, Tonya, and Blake crowded around to look inside. The safe contained a porcelain doll which looked like a baby. It had no hair, the paint was chipped, and one leg had broken off, but the doll still demonstrated masterful workmanship. The face was eerily realistic.
"There must be a real horror story behind that," Andrew said.
"Indeed," Tonya said.
She gently removed the doll from the safe and cradled it in her arms. The soldiers backed away quickly, almost tripping over rocks and sticks on the ground.
Blake reached out to touch the doll.
Tonya shoved him away. "No. Hands off."
"I haven't earned your trust?" he said.
"Not where a portable seam is involved. I don't want you anywhere near it. We will finish today's operation without you. Wait in the car."
Blake's face fell. "I understand. It's not a surprise, really."
He walked up the line of cars and sat inside one. The two guards assigned to him stood next to the car, and one took out a cigarette.
Tonya turned to Williams. "Let's go."
She led Andrew and Charley back to the survivalists' encampment. A large gathering of BPI agents followed close behind.
Being close to a seam, even a small one, gave Andrew a huge boost in confidence. His awareness expanded, and his thoughts came a little quicker. A cold, hostile world now seemed more manageable. He could make impossible things happen.
Tonya marched through the gate and onto the empty hilltop without hesitation.
"What's the plan?" Charley said.
"We'll start with a little mind-reading."
"Whose minds?"
Tonya pointed straight down. "Theirs."
She walked a little further and then abruptly stopped. She closed her eyes.
"Got one?" Andrew said.
She nodded. "Directly below my feet. Try it. The trick is to become a perfectly blank receiver. Don't let your own thoughts or expectations muddy the signal."
He put his hand on the doll to improve his connection to the seam. Then he also closed his eyes.
He cleared his mind as well as he could, but it was tough to squash the little thoughts in the corners. His brain was too active, and his anxiety didn't help. He tried to remember how he had felt when fighting the banshee. After a few minutes of intense focus, he was finally able to pick up some thoughts that weren't his own.
"Guns..." Andrew murmured. "Barricades... Ambushes... It's an underground fortress."
"And they fear the government," Charley said. "Leading with the BPI was a mistake. We should've used a softer approach."
"Yes," Tonya said. "Let's keep moving. We're looking for the front door."
* * *
Blake looked out the windows of the car he was sitting in. His two guards were nearby, and the four Army soldiers were about thirty yards away. Nobody else was around. In particular, Tonya, Andrew, and Charley were so distant, Blake could barely detect their energy.
Time to create that distraction, he thought.
He took his wallet out. He peeled back a concealed flap to reveal a string of tiny explosive charges. They were just powerful enough to break glass. He carefully pressed the charges against the window in a rough line. He gave a cord at the end a sharp yank to set them off.
The bangs were loud, but he was unharmed. He scrambled to get out of the car.
"Somebody is shooting at me!" Blake yelled hysterically. "A gunman is in the woods!"
He pointed at a random tree and cowered behind the car as if in terror. He peeked over the roof of the car and then ducked down again. He tried to make his knees quiver realistic
ally.
The BPI agents ran around and took cover beside him. The soldiers responded with less certainty. After a quick exchange, they went into the woods in pursuit of the "gunman." With the portable seam gone, there was no reason to guard the empty armored truck.
A man wearing all black emerged from behind a tree and crept up to the truck. Only Blake saw him because everybody else was looking in the wrong direction. The man in black pressed a device against the underside of the truck's wheel well. Blake knew it was a homing beacon, but it was designed to look like a splatter of dried mud. The man silently slipped back into the woods.
Mission accomplished, Blake thought.
He relaxed a little. All the planning and preparation had been building up to that moment. The most important task was now done, so he could enjoy the rest of the show.
* * *
Andrew looked around nervously. He and Charley were following Tonya over the bare top of the hill. If anybody decided to take a shot at Andrew, he would have nothing to hide behind. Ten BPI agents accompanied the sorcerers, but he still didn't feel safe.
Every now and then, Tonya would stop and close her eyes. She was reading the minds of the people hiding underground. She was reporting her findings to the BPI, and they were building up a complete picture of what was below their feet.
"Three over there." She pointed at a patch of dirt. "Armed with shotguns."
An agent made a note on a map.
Tonya walked a little further, stopped, and frowned. She took a couple of steps backwards.
"Crap," she said.
"What's wrong?" Andrew said.
"See for yourself."
He closed his eyes and sensed a weak flicker of energy below. It wasn't a seam.
"Another sorcerer," he said.
"A young boy with latent talent," Tonya said. "We don't need this complication."
Agent Williams was among the BPI agents. "Has the kid had any training?" he said.
"Hard to tell from a distance, but I don't think so."
"Then we'll deal with him later. Keep moving. We still need to find the front door."
Tonya made a big circuit around the hilltop. Eventually, she arrived at a spot that didn't look much different from anywhere else.
"Here," she said. "It's guarded by four guys, two with handguns and two with rifles."
Williams squatted down and looked at the dirt. "How do we open it?"
"I'll find out."
She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists. She pressed the porcelain doll against her chest with her arms.
"Got it," Tonya said. "Everybody step back."
The whole group gave her some space, and the federal agents readied their weapons.
She grabbed a large rock and twisted it like a handle. She pulled up hard. A fake piece of the hillside lifted up to reveal a short staircase. The stairs went down to a solid iron door set in a stone frame, and an electronic keypad was beside the door.
"Cool," Andrew said.
"Now we just need the combination," Williams said.
"No," Tonya said. "They'll open it from the inside, and I'll stun them at the same time. Rush in when I give the signal." She walked down the staircase.
"Hold on. That sounds like mind-control."
"I'm saving lives. If we open this door any other way, people will die, and some of the dead might be your agents."
She put one hand against the door and held the porcelain doll with the other. Andrew sensed her energy spiking, and the seam inside the doll pulsed like a black strobe-light. The doll's eyes began to glow red in visible light.
"Whoa!" Andrew backed up.
Charley grabbed his hand and squeezed.
He heard metal sliding against metal. The iron door opened on creaky hinges. A man wearing a green hunting outfit peered out, but he had a dopey expression, and his eyes weren't tracking properly.
Tonya stepped aside and made a gesture with her hand. All the BPI agents rushed forward, leading with their guns.
Andrew and Charley waited for the excitement to die down, and they were the last to enter. He looked around a room that had once been a railroad freight car. Big rust spots marked the walls. A folding card table and four wooden chairs were the only furniture, and a single bare bulb provided light. There was another doorway, but the door was closed. A faint, sour odor reminded Andrew of raw sewage.
Four men in hunting outfits were laying face-down on the floor. BPI agents had put cuffs on their wrists and ankles, but the captives weren't struggling and still had stunned expressions. A pile of assorted guns and rifles was in the corner.
"Next room," Williams said to Tonya.
She raised her eyebrows. "Mind-control is acceptable now?"
"In this specific circumstance."
"I guess it's more like a guideline than a rule." Tonya went to the next door and put her hand against it. "Two people, a man and a woman. Both have shotguns. They're scared and liable to shoot at anything. Let's see what I can do..."
Andrew heard a distant alarm ringing, and it sounded like a school fire alarm.
"What's that?" he said.
"Isn't it obvious?" She pressed her forehead against the door. "Damn it! They're escaping out another exit! Back out!"
The large group of BPI agents turned around and rushed out the way they had come. Andrew followed the crowd back up the stairs.
When he was standing on the surface, he looked around and spotted another opening. A steady stream of men, women, and children were pouring out of the ground like ants fleeing a flooded nest. Some were armed, but they were more interested in escaping than fighting. The survivalists were scattering in many directions at once.
"Get them!" Williams told his men. "Arrest as many as you can!"
He and his agents ran after the survivalists.
Tonya, Andrew, and Charley were left alone.
"Now what?" Andrew said.
"I guess we'll go back inside and take a look around while the BPI rounds up the cult," Tonya said.
"That doesn't sound safe."
"We'll be careful, but I want to examine the evidence before anybody else gets their paws on it. Time is of the essence."
The three sorcerers returned to the buried freight car. Four prisoners were still lying on the floor. They were awake but not moving.
"How long will they stay stunned?" Charley said.
"A few hours," Tonya said. "I hit them pretty hard. I wanted to make sure they didn't put up a fight."
"But you didn't do any permanent damage, right?"
"They may have nightmares for a while."
Andrew frowned as he considered the ethics of what Tonya had done.
She put her hand against the next door. "All clear. The cult is gone." She opened the door.
The next room was a little bigger. Andrew guessed it was made from two shipping containers joined side-by-side. Children's toys were scattered across the floor on one side, and the other had couches in front of an old television.
"They were raising kids here," Charley said in a tone of disbelief.
"The next generation of nutcases," Tonya said.
Andrew furrowed his brow. "All because they're worried about a war with sorcerers. How realistic is that?"
She shook her head. "Not very. There aren't many of us, and we don't work well together. We also need seams which are a very limited resource."
"If we could make new seams...." He looked at the doll in her hand.
"Don't even have that thought. Just the idea can get you into trouble. Let's move on."
They cautiously explored the underground facility. Tonya used sorcery at every juncture to make sure nobody was waiting in ambush, but she never detected anybody. All the survivalists had run away.
The sorcerers had to watch for booby-traps, but Tonya had read enough minds to know how to avoid them. She pointed out the tripwires and cleverly concealed trapdoors. Andrew and Charley stayed closed behind their master.
There were roo
ms full of bunk beds, two kitchens, bathrooms, a machine shop, an armory, a library, storage areas, and a generator room. There was enough food and fuel to last for months in isolation. All the basic necessities were present, but Andrew was very glad he wasn't a resident. Everything was shabby and dirty. There were no windows. A persistent odor indicated the septic system wasn't adequate.
The sorcerers didn't find Journal 1909 or anything else of interest though. They swept through the facility twice.
"Was this a big waste of time?" Andrew said.
"Don't give up so quickly," Tonya said. "The good stuff is probably hidden."
"How are we supposed to find it?"
"Think like a magician."
He hadn't received much instruction in magic tricks, but he would give it a try.
The three of them made another pass through the rooms. Andrew paid attention to how the walls came together and to the locations of the doors. He tried to visualize the layout in his mind.
He did his best, but Charley found the secret hiding place. A false wall sounded hollow when she knocked on it. The latch wasn't apparent, so Andrew fetched an axe from the tool room and chopped through the wall.
A giant safe was revealed. It was as big as a closet and made of polished steel. The hinges were three inches across and could probably support an elephant. The lock used three separate dials.
"Anybody know how to pick a safe?" Andrew said in a half-joking tone. "I don't think the axe will work."
"Sorcerers don't pick safes," Tonya replied with disdain. "Charley, take this but keep it close to me."
She gave the doll to Charley.
"Andrew," Tonya said, "pull open the door when I tell you to."
"Huh?" Andrew said. "How?"
"I'm going to soften the steel by temporarily altering its molecular structure."
His eyes widened. "You can do that?"
"It would be fairly easy if I had the Theosophical seam here," she said. "Using this little one instead will test my skills."
Tonya rubbed her hands together and then placed them against the safe. She closed her eyes. Andrew sensed her energy level shoot way up until an invisible storm filled the entire room.
She grunted with effort, and her breathing became rapid. Her face turned red. Her whole body began to shake so much she had trouble staying on her feet.