by Booth, John
“Who paid you to kill me?”
He said nothing, looking stubborn again, though I could see the anguish in his eyes.
“Shall I cut another spoke?” I peered below and looked around. The third one along from the one I’d cut looked like a good bet.
“By all that is sacred, no,” he said in words that sounded like prayer.
“I promised you I would destroy this base. If you tell me what I want to know, perhaps I’ll spare some of it.”
One of the ships on the broken spoke attempted to use its engines to move away. The energy field of its engines caught a ship in the next spoke along, which crumpled like a cola can. Despite the destruction was all eerily silent on the viewing platform. A small voice inside me shouted ‘no,’ but I ignored it.
It was too much for the General.
“The Elves. We have an alliance with them that has survived a thousand years. There are no good wizards, we all know that. And you stand here proving it.”
This man wasn’t my enemy. It was the Elves. It was always the Elves in the end. As that thought sank in, my anger with the Fedre faded and I began to shiver with reaction. What in God’s name was I doing? Images of the men I’d killed with their hand grenades came back to me. I had walked through their blood and gore as though it was nothing. Now I was murdering millions of innocent people to prove what? That I was everything I hated. The people about to die below were just like Jenny, Esmeralda, and Captain Cari. And they were dying at my hand.
All at once I knew what I had to do, if not how. I turned away from the General and focused on trying to undo the harm I’d created. When I flowed power onto the spoke to move it, it made barely any difference.
I felt the General shoot at me. My shield was still in bouncing mode and the bullet hit him in the hand. I didn’t have the time for this.
“I’ve let my anger drive me rather than my heart. How do I save the ships below?”
His face twisted into a sneer, so I repeated my words as an order. His face smoothed as he considered my question.
“The module is drifting too close to the next module. Can you push it back?”
“Not a chance. The power needed is too great. The best I can do is give it a push. That will use most of my power and even then I won’t get much in the way of velocity.”
The General’s face wrinkled as he thought and I removed the compulsion on him. I needed him in a state where he was free to think. He opened his eyes and gave rapid instructions.
“Concentrate all your power on the broken end of the module and try and get that end moving upwards.”
I braced myself and poured my magic into his request. It looked like nothing happened as magical forces pushed against the enormous mass of the spoke and power drained out of me like a flood, but I knew I had to carry on. The spoke and the ships tethered to it were so massive that it would take time to see the results. I found I was holding my breath.
Then it became obvious it was working. The near end of the spoke was moving up at a wretchedly slow pace. I diverted some of the power to pushing up the nearest ships because they were being pulled up by their tethers.
“Yes, that’s it. Now if only the commanders recover from their panic and see what we’re doing,” the General’s voice was thick with emotion.
The broken spoke had almost cleared the spoke it had been drifting into. Rising vertically out of their plane.
“Don’t shoot!” the General yelled and I momentarily stopped applying power.
I glanced behind me to see a squad of soldiers squatting on the stairs, their weapons pointed at my back.
“No one is to attack this man. He is trying to save many lives.”
The General turned away from the squad and hunkered down beside me. I hadn’t realized I was on all fours, concentrating on lifting the spoke.
“See if you can lift the middle of the module a little,” he said. “It might break if it bends too far.” He put a hand on my shoulder and our faces were only inches apart.
I tried, but it was impossible to tell if it was working. The strains along the length of broken spoke must be immense as I was turning it in a giant circle, pivoted at its furthest end.
The General laughed weakly. “They’ve figured it out,” he said and patted my shoulder. “You gave them the time and the inspiration to see what they had to do.”
What was he talking about? Then I saw it, jets were shooting from the ships on the broken spoke. They were helping me and pulling themselves clear of the station. Their tethers were straining to lift the spoke up and away from the plane of the spokes and the hub of the base. The ships were coordinating their actions because the spoke was tipping steadily away.
As I watched in awe, the broken end of the spoke rose to the level of the viewing platform. It was at least two miles away, but with my magically enhanced sight I could see bodies among the wreckage of where I cut the spoke from the station. Some of the bodies looked like children.
The General touched his ear and I saw he was wearing an earpiece.
“Calm down and get off the airwaves. The immediate crisis is over. The ships on module twenty-two, stay tethered to it. I repeat, stay tethered. Bring the module to a halt relative to base wherever it is convenient and then search for casualties. Ship F1049 has been crushed by a launch field on Module Twenty-One. Base emergency services are to concentrate resources on searching for survivors and stabilizing their condition. Prioritize the schools and infant facilities. Stay off this frequency until further notice.”
There was only one thing left for me to say.
“I apologize. Your soldiers killed a friend who sacrificed his life to save me and I let my anger take over. You are not my enemy, the Elves are.”
The General laughed and I could hear the relief in it. “A wizard with a conscience, I never thought I’d live to see the day.” He looked at the squad still pointing their weapons at me. “Stand down. He might destroy us all if you get him angry again.”
The squad backed away, their weapons pointing at me until they were out of sight.
“You present me with a problem,” the General mused. “According to our laws you have committed enough capital crimes for me to have you executed a thousand times over. On the other hand, you are undoubtedly the hero that just saved millions of lives, by largely undoing the crisis you created. On the third hand, we attacked you, and I suspect that in your world you are a person of some standing. We probably committed an act of war, which makes your response legal.”
My thoughts turned to Esmeralda. “I am the protector of Salice and married to the heir to the throne.”
“As I suspected. The lawyers will be fighting over this for centuries. On top of that I may have technically surrendered when I offered you my help just now.” The General sighed. “Last and by no means least, I can do nothing against you even if I wanted to. May I suggest we sue for peace?”
I put out my hand. “It won’t bring our dead back, but I think that peace is a very good idea.”
The General squeezed my hand. “Then it is settled. There is only the matter of war reparations on our part as we were the instigators. Is there anything we can give you to settle this matter and stop our lawyers from coming after me?”
I shook my head. What could these people offer me that would make up for Captain Cari’s death?
“Are you sure?”
I shook my head again and hopped.
23. Counting the Cost
The BatCave was empty when I arrived. My dragon was most likely out hunting unless Jenny had called him. Fluffy prefers roast lamb to almost any other food and Welsh Lamb is his favorite variety. He claims that his father is largely responsible for the taste by selectively culling the less tasty sheep from the hill farms as a civic duty.
Some dragon tales are a little too tall for me to believe, but it would explain a lot if his father roamed Wales a couple of thousand years ago. That was when the Fey (Elves and other cousins of humanity with magical tale
nts) still shared the planet with us. I knew that the Fey and Dragons had a relationship going back many thousands of years.
Things had gone on for long enough. It was time to confront the source of my problems and that meant going to the hidden worlds and seeking out Farolan, which was why I was back in the BatCave in the first place.
Fluffy flew in and skidded across the stone floor adding new grooves to its already tattered surface. Fluffy landings were legendary.
“Still haven’t mastered the stationary landing?”
[Of course I have. I could glim in and land perfectly, but this way is fun, Jake. You should spend more time enjoying yourself.]
“Good meal?”
[Overcooked. I would have a word with the chef except that I am he. Too eager this time, but at least the creature did not suffer.]
I placed a hand on the iridescent orange flank of my best friend and gave him a pat. “There’s been trouble in Salice. I’ll fill you in on the details.”
[This will not stop until we confront the Elves.]
“I know. How do I get to them?”
Fluffy’s laughter sent flames across the room. [The same way they have sent their pawns after you. We must go to the temple and use Farolan’s image to travel to him.]
“We? I think I should go alone.”
[Not a chance. There are others of us who would like to be the hero on occasion.]
Hero? I thought of all the sentient beings I’d killed in the last few days. Hitler was a beginner compared to me. That wasn’t a pleasant comparison, but it was fair.
“I can’t go yet. My capacity and ability to absorb magic have gone up dramatically recently, but I used most of it saving the Fedre’s spaceships. I need time to recover before I face the Elves.”
[Your power has gone up since your marriage?]
I knew what Fluffy was getting at. My wives had forced me into a speedy marriage because, according to Esmeralda, wizards who married for love became more powerful. It turned out to be a load of rubbish.
“It can’t be that. Nothing happened for the first couple of weeks after the wedding.”
[And how quickly did it happen after the consummation?] Fluffy was grinning at me.
He was right. How did I miss that? Both changes to my powers came after I slept with my wives. Not that much sleeping was involved. But that was crazy, how could the magic know?
“That’s ridiculous.”
[Magic often is. It is late. Do you plan to sleep here?]
A glance at my watch showed it was well past midnight. I ought to go to Salice and tell Esmeralda what had happened, but now that Fluffy had mentioned the time I could barely keep my eyes open. As there was a mattress in front of me, I collapsed on it and closed my eyes. It had been a busy day.
“Wake up, Jake. It’s nearly noon.”
I opened bleary eyes to focus on Jenny who was shaking me. My magic was half full, but I still felt terrible. My neck ached from the lack of a pillow. It was a surprising omission by my wife, but then she had probably been in a hurry when she moved the mattress.
“Retnor told me what happened yesterday. All those people killed, you must feel awful about it.”
“And Wilhelm Cari. He has a wife and kids.”
Jenny frowned. “Will the King and Queen support them? I mean they don’t have social security or insurance over there. How do widows and children survive?”
It hadn’t occurred to me. Things I took for granted in Wales were unknown factors in Salice.
“If they don’t, I will. He died saving my life.”
Jenny smiled. “I know you will. I’ve brought you some clean clothes, though you might want to hop over to your parents’ house and have a shower first.”
Jenny is a typical woman. I go around saving the multiverse and all she’s concerned about is whether I smell nice. Sniffing my clothes, I knew she had a point. My clothes smelled of explosive chemicals and blood. Not a nice combination.
Picking up the fresh clothing I hopped to my bedroom and discarded my clothes. I looked at my trainers in disgust. Bits of stinking flesh had dried onto the soles. For a second I thought I was going to be sick. It had really happened. I had killed all those people.
I restored my shoes to new looking; hopping the last remnants of the people I’d killed to the local tip. The BatCave was also going to need a clean up when I got the chance.
A shower and a change of clothes later, I returned to the cave. Jenny was scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees.
“I can do that quicker with magic.”
“And then what will I do as your wife? Apart from kissing your wounds better, that is.”
“There is always bed.”
Something flashed in her eyes, “I am not your whore, Jake Morrissey.”
“I didn’t mean.”
“I have a life too. And not just when it’s convenient for you.”
What had brought this on?
“Are we having our first row?”
That brought a smile to her lips. “You have to let me do things for you, Jake Even when they’re sometimes easier with magic.”
I nodded, though I didn’t really understand what she was trying to tell me. Who wants to scrub a floor when I could make it good as new with a wave of my hand? You’d think every woman on Earth would want a wizard for a husband.
“We should go to Salice. See Captain Cari’s wife and children. Say how sorry we are, and how grateful we are to him for saving your life.”
That wasn’t something to look forward too, but Jenny was right. I helped her to her feet and kissed her.
“Now you can clean the floor. My back is killing me.”
I gently rubbed her back as I made the floor good as new. Then we kissed passionately.
[Not again. Find your own cave if you are going to do that.]
We reluctantly drew apart. “Ready to go then?”
Jenny nodded and I hopped us to our apartments in the Palace.
“Esmeralda.”
A quick search of the rooms revealed she was somewhere else. Jenny pulled one of the ropes to summon a servant, opened my wardrobe and laid one of the new wizard costumes on the bed, complete with floppy hat with stupid feather.
“What’s that about?” Surely Jenny didn’t want me to wear that thing. The only time I put the costume on was when Esmeralda made me, and that was only for state occasions.
“It’s to show respect to Captain Cari. You can’t visit his widow and children in jeans and tee shirt.”
“Do I really have to?” My wives had a way of bringing the child out in me. At least she didn’t get out a tissue to wipe my face.
Jenny put her foot down in an Esmeralda type manner. “Yes, you do. Now get on with it. I don’t want Esmeralda to find you half naked with me or we’ll never get you to Wilhelm’s family.”
She was right. I divested myself of sensible comfortable clothes and struggled to get the costume on. I mean, what are frilly shirts about? I can never match button with button hole and it usually takes three goes to get it right. What was wrong with tee shirts? The worst I could do with one of them was to put it on inside out.
When I managed to put on the costume, she handed me the hat. What made it worse was that she was killing herself trying not to giggle. I stared at my Zorro like image in the mirror. I actually looked quite good in a Village People sort of way.
“We have to get you a rapier to go with that. I’ll look on the internet when I get home.” Having spoken her piece, Jenny collapsed on the bed laughing.
“You’re not helping,” I told her severely. Unfortunately I moved my head quickly enough to bring the big feather against my nose, which started my wife off again.
“Is there a state occasion I have not been informed about?” Esmeralda said from behind me. Squeaky shoes, I reminded myself. I have to buy her some squeaky shoes.
I turned and saw a smile of pure happiness flit across her face to be replaced immediately by a fierce scowl. “My Lord Wizar
d could have had the presence of mind to inform me he was still alive.”
“I didn’t finish till late.” One of my weaker excuses, I will admit.
“But you still have enough time to be playing dress-up with Jenny.”
Jenny sobered up and slid off the bed. “Now Ess, Jake has to be properly dressed to see Tillen Cari and her children, don’t you agree?”
Esmeralda’s glare became a smile again as she absorbed this news. “And you managed to get him to dress up like a proper wizard for it? Well done, Jen.”
Sometimes men suspect that women are involved in a giant conspiracy against us. It’s rare when they slip up enough to give us actual evidence.
“She’s distraught, as you might imagine. I went to see her right after it happened; I did not want a stranger to bring her such news. Better it came from the heir.”
Jenny took Esmeralda’s hand. “That must have been terrible for you.”
“It was my desire and my duty. I have offered her apartments in the Palace, but she has declined. The Doran dynasty looks after the families of those that die for us.”
We had to go and see her before I lost my nerve.
“Will you take us to her?” I asked Esmeralda and she nodded. We followed her out of the door.
It was not a part of the city I was familiar with. Only a few minutes away from the Palace it was in a direction I’d never gone, to the north of the river Scown. There were fields and trees in this area and I heard children’s laughter echoing in the streets. Esmeralda led us unerringly to a small terraced house and I wondered if she had been here before the Captain’s death. Somehow I was sure she had.
She knocked on the door and a few minutes later a red-eyed woman answered it. A small boy clung to her skirt and it took me a moment to recognize her. I’d only met her twice before.
Tillen Cari curtseyed to Esmeralda and then stared at me and Jenny in astonishment. My hands were sticky and I didn’t know what to say, which made two of us. Jenny stepped in to rescue me.
“Our husband, the Lord Wizard Morrissey has come to express his gratitude to your husband and his family, because without Captain Cari’s bravery and loyalty, he would certainly be dead.”