“Make sure you speak to him in a shielded room,” Golem advised. The wards protecting the President had partly shielded him from the burst of uncontrolled mana released from Harrow’s prison. A few improvements and they’d hold against anything, but direct assault. “She may be trying to spy on us.”
“True,” Caitlyn said. She sounded more confident now they had a plan. “Matt, you and I have to discuss what’s going to happen. And then I want us all prepared for departure. If we don’t manage to stop the Queen of Nightmares soon, the consequences don’t bear thinking about.”
Golem gave her an odd look. “Do you think that a nuclear attack would kill her?”
“I don’t know,” Caitlyn said. “But blowing up one of our own cities would tear the country apart.”
Chapter Forty
Washington DC, USA
Day 37
“They found the Mayor walking away from the city,” the President said, grimly. FEMA had been on alert ever since Washington, as had every military base in America. There were troops near New York, although no one was quite sure what to do with them. “When he was interviewed, he said...”
He nodded towards the screen, where the Mayor was repeating the message from his new mistress. It was a very simple message; the Queen of Nightmares was willing to leave the rest of the country alone, if they accepted her control of New York. Caitlyn felt oddly heartened by the message, realising that Golem was right. If Harrow felt the urge to negotiate, rather than dictate, she probably wasn't as powerful as she seemed. And she was clearly trying to buy time.
Several UAVs, intended for deployment to Afghanistan or other countries where American troops hunted terrorists, were currently orbiting New York and the surrounding environs, trying to figure out what was going on. Large numbers of people seemed to be milling throughout the city, hunting for stragglers or simply idling around, like puppets whose strings had been cut. Even with the advanced sensors on the UAVs, it was difficult to be sure; two UAVs had flown too low and simply fallen out of the sky. No one was quite sure what had happened to them because all telemetry had been lost at the same time.
Outside Manhattan, Harrow’s control appeared to be far less than total. Plenty of people were fleeing for their lives, or trying to fight the rampaging mobs, which seemed a great deal less coordinated. The soldiers who were frantically trying to set up barricades had reported that shocking the mobs tended to restore them to sanity, although they’d been unwilling to trust them any further than absolutely necessary. Other reports stated that some mobs seemed to come apart as soon as they were several miles from Harrow’s influence, although the distance they needed to be from New York seemed to change with every report. The only good news was that Harrow’s zone of influence seemed to be stable, rather than expanding outwards. If it had been, the entire country might have been lost.
“You should have told the world about the danger,” Senator Whitehall said, quietly. He, Tomlinson and Caitlyn were the only ones with the President. Most of his Cabinet had been dispersed even before the incident at Arlington that had devastated Washington. “And the American people. This secret has cost thousands of lives.”
The President nodded. From what Caitlyn had heard as she’d been driven to the White House, the rest of the world was outraged at never having been told of Golem’s existence. They seemed to think that the secret should have been shared...and Caitlyn suspected that they had a point. Right now, they didn't have anyone who could match Harrow for sheer power, let alone knowledge. All they had was a combination of science and sorcery that might not work, as there had been no way to test it against a genuine sorcerer.
“And now we have to decide if we want to nuke New York or not,” Whitehall added, after a moment. “Do we have any other choice?”
“I will not nuke an American city if there is any other choice,” the President said, flatly.
“I don’t think there is any other choice,” Whitehall said. “Do you think I like the idea of slaughtering millions of Americans?”
He calmed down, with an effort. “But she has millions of potential sacrifices in New York and a prospective place of power,” he added. “If we don’t stop her now, what will happen when she has killed enough people to release the rest of her friends?”
It was a very valid question, Caitlyn knew.
Tomlinson had a different question. “Can we be sure that the nukes would even work?”
Caitlyn winced. The teams that had investigated the stalled cars in New York had concluded that the sudden surge in mana had scrambled or burned out the computer chips that governed their systems, Not every car had stalled – something that had been overlooked at the time – but all the modern models had been wrecked, rendered useless until the chips could be replaced.
“We can have the triggering system replaced by a primitive device, according to the military,” the President said. “There were contingency plans to replace the systems in the event of an EMP attack. At my command, a nuclear weapon is already being prepared for use, if necessary.”
He looked over at Caitlyn. “Do you have a different idea?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” Caitlyn said. “We think we have a concept that should work, given time to deploy it properly.”
“And if you’re wrong,” Whitehall said, “we lose everything.”
“If I’m wrong, the city can be nuked later,” Caitlyn countered. Somehow, the thought of speaking to her political superiors was no longer terrifying. But after everything else she'd seen, politics held no fear for her. “But there are millions of people in New York. We owe it to them to find a solution that doesn't include slaughtering them.”
“True,” the President agreed. “How long will it take your team to deploy?”
“We’re just transferring the various tools we’ve designed to helicopters now,” Caitlyn said. She'd wanted to lead the mission in person, but Matt – and CWO Lesage – had talked her out of it. They’d pointed out that she was hardly a trained commando, while her skills would be much more useful at the Forward Operations Base they’d established near the city. Besides, there weren't that many headbands to protect someone against mental manipulation. “The mission should be underway in less than a hour after we reach the FOB outside New York.”
Some of their devices were already there, as they’d been placed near New York following Calvin’s successful escape from the NYPD. One of the WANDs had been used to chart the mana level around New York and, oddly, the results had been encouraging. There was a faint drop in the level of mana towards Manhattan, as if Harrow was sucking it all up for her own use. Given time, and a handful of Niven’s Wheels, the mana level could be made to fall sharply. Harrow’s immortality wouldn't survive that, the researchers believed. Caitlyn could only hope that they were right.
“Very good,” the President said. “How long will it take to complete the mission?”
Caitlyn swallowed. “It should be over, one way or the other, six hours from launch.”
The President made a show of consulting his watch, making a very grim decision. It was one only he could make. “You have seven hours from the moment the mission is launched to deal with the Queen of Nightmares before we nuke the city.”
“And hope that it kills her,” Caitlyn said, dryly. Nukes weren't as devastating as most people believed; utterly destroying New York would require multiple warheads, and something as simple as hiding in a cellar could provide a limited amount of protection. Harrow might not know what a nuke was, but she certainly knew how to make very strong wards. “And what if it doesn't?”
“Then we have to think of something else,” the President said.
They shared a long look. No crisis in living memory had brought the United States to the brink of destruction. Only the Civil War had threatened America’s integrity. Pearl Harbour, 9/11, even Vietnam had all been painful, but they had hardly been fatal. Indeed, they couldn't have been fatal. America was geopolitically invincible.
But this w
as different. It was a threat that was effectively home-grown, one that didn't seem to feel the urge to follow any rules. Fighting it might require using scorched earth tactics on American soil. Even if Harrow were defeated, the scars she left behind would linger for eternity. And the rest of the Thirteen were still out there, waiting for their prisons to unlock so that they could return to the world.
“Maybe we could sacrifice ourselves,” Whitehall said. “Couldn’t we boost our own magicians with the same tactic?”
Caitlyn grimaced. “I hope it doesn't come to that, Senator,” she said. “Do we really want to encourage them to develop a taste for it?”
***
“...Latest reports from New York indicate that a superpowered sorceress has taken over most of the city,” the newsreader said. “Emergency broadcasts from FEMA have warned all citizens within fifty miles of New York to use the protective runes outlined on the internet to protect themselves and their families. Martial law has been declared in the state of New York and all civilians are warned to remain indoors and use the protective runes. I...”
Matt snorted as the television announcer started to cough. There was someone who hadn't fully adjusted to the new reality, although he couldn't really say that he had adjusted properly. Every time they thought they had a handle on the crisis, something else happened to damage their confidence in success. The latest reports from New York suggested that Harrow was slowly securing her control of Manhattan and the surrounding area.
“I've organised a Coast Guard boat to pick you and the rest of the team up and transfer you to New York,” Caitlyn said. She’d been oddly quiet since returning from the White House, as if she was worrying about something. It was hard to blame her. “We’d prefer to use a helicopter, but Harrow seems to be aware of the threat aircraft pose.”
“And knocks them out of the sky,” Matt said. Several news choppers had ignored the exclusion zone the FAA had declared around New York and flown over Manhattan, only to lose power and fall out of the sky. Golem had suggested that Harrow was simply jinxing them as soon as she saw them, which might be why she’d ignored the orbiting UAVs as long as they stayed high overhead. “At least a few reporters were killed.”
Caitlyn nodded. The Mage Force had been harassed by reporters from day one, most of whom had taken the official statements and put a terrible slant on them. And after Calvin had made his daring escape, the media had been very sarcastic about the failure of the Mage Force – and everyone else – to stop him escaping in broad daylight. It was so much easier to make critical comments than actually do something.
“There isn't much time,” she said. “If this fails, you’re going to be at ground zero of a nuclear blast.”
“I know,” Matt said. Lesage and his men had volunteered at once, even though Matt had worried about giving Harrow more minds to play with. Misty had volunteered too, as had Joe Buckley – and, surprisingly, Mindy. Calvin had apparently convinced her that she was his anchor; his ghost was bound to her until she died. “I just don’t think we have much choice.”
Matt had been born and bred in New York, the child of a policeman whose own father had also been a policeman. Golem had wondered if the Hunter DNA had had an effect on his family even after the mana had vanished, although Matt found the whole concept unbelievable. If there was no mana, how could it be doing anything, but just lying dormant in his genetic code? Or had the mana only dropped to a very low level...
One of the weirder theoretical researchers had suggested that mana was somehow interlinked with the soul, allowing ghosts to exist even when much of the mana had drained away. It was possible that mana actually kept people alive; their bodies naturally produced that sort of mana, but not enough for it to start slopping out and allowing for actual magic. And that raised the issue of just what mana actually was...
Matt hadn't been able to follow most of the argument, but he had worked out what would happen once Golem’s theology got out to the religious population of the world. He’d stated that the first god might well have created himself – however the hell that worked – and the later gods come after him, followed by humanity and the other matter-based creatures. How his story would compete with the creation myths of a thousand different religions would be fun to watch, from a very safe distance – and just what would happen when the evolutionists got hold of it...
Golem had speculated that dinosaur bones might have belonged to dragons, dragons that had died when the mana ran out. Matt was pretty sure that the researchers who’d dug them up would have noticed massive wings, but maybe they’d vanished too over the years. If there had been gods, creatures of raw mana, that had created humanity, what did that mean for the human race? Perhaps Harrow and her kin were understandable, in a way; they’d known that humanity was the creation of someone else and they’d attempted to uplift themselves to their creator’s level. Or maybe they were just nasty bastards and bitches.
“I know,” he said, remembering what she'd said. New York was his city; it had its failings, and he’d seen most of them as a policeman, but he couldn't just walk away. “I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't try.”
“I understand,” Caitlyn said. She forgot discretion and pulled him into a hug, which became a kiss. “Don't you dare come back dead, or a zombie. The Mayor is giving everyone the shivers.”
Matt nodded, sourly. He’d had no respect for the Mayor even before the crisis had begun – the man had been too intent on politics instead of real policing and preferred politically correct nonsense to actual reports – but no one deserved to be turned into a zombie. Calvin had admitted that he'd used a mind control spell to rape Marie, whom he’d later killed, and that had been a minor joke compared to shattering the Mayor’s mind. All the politician could do was babble out Harrow’s message, time and time again.
A thought struck him. “We should tell the entire world her name,” he said. “Make them all say it regularly.”
Caitlyn gave him a sharp look, and then started to laugh. “She wouldn't know where to look,” she said, in delight. “That’s...evil.”
“Check with Golem first, make sure that she wouldn't be able to lash out at the speakers,” Matt warned. “And if she can’t, put it on the news and encourage people to speak her name.”
He picked up the body armour the researchers had modified and started to put it on. “One way or the other, we’re going to need every advantage we can get,” he added. “Caitlyn...”
“I understand,” Caitlyn said, quietly. Matt saw tears shining at the corner of her eyes. “Come back alive, all right?”
***
“You have got to be joking,” Miss Reynolds said, flatly. “You shouldn't be anywhere near the mission.”
Mindy sighed. Just like every other adult in the world, Miss Reynolds only listened to kids when it suited her to listen. “Calvin says that I have to go,” she said. “My magic is linked to him, somehow, and he is linked to...her.”
“And Calvin was also working for her,” Miss Reynolds pointed out. “At the very least, he has consistently shown poor judgement...”
“He died for me,” Mindy said, feeling the old helpless rage bubbling up inside her mind. Calvin had been helpless and angry because of how his peers had treated him, but Mindy had been frustrated because she hadn't been allowed to advance at her own pace. She was far smarter than the other kids in her grade, partly because she’d done her own studies using her brother’s books. “I have to go on the mission.”
“You shouldn't be sent into danger,” Miss Reynolds said. She hesitated. “But Agent Lyle seems to have decided that you can be allowed to accompany the team. It is criminally insane to send a child on such a mission.”
Calvin, invisible to everyone but Mindy, whispered in her ear. “I’m the only one who can go,” she said, repeating what her brother’s ghost had said. “You need me to lead you to the Queen of Nightmares.”
“So you have said,” Miss Reynolds said. “We will just have to pray that you don’t ne
ed body armour, for we never made any for you.”
Mindy shrugged. The researchers had been working on body armour that offered some protection against magic – she’d been allowed to help them, which had given her the sense that she was really doing something useful – but they hadn't made any for her. None of them had realised that they would need Mindy as part of the team until it was too late. All she really had to defend herself were the spells Calvin had passed on to her, including tricks that might defeat Harrow, and a small bodyguard of dangerous men who treated her like a queen.
“Silly girl,” Miss Reynolds said, as she turned to leave. “Be at the helipad in twenty minutes.”
“I could turn her into a toad,” Mindy muttered, as the door closed behind her. “Or maybe trick her into looking for the wrong set of droids.”
“That’s how I got into trouble,” Calvin said. “I used my powers for personal gain.”
Talking to her brother as a ghost was eerie, even though it was also better than talking to her parents. Right now, of course, her parents didn't want to talk to her. She hadn't even been able to tell them that Calvin wasn't dead. Well, he was dead – but he’d come back as a ghost.
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