Hard Magic gc-1

by Larry Correia

  Jane was holding up Sullivan's.45. The Chairman glanced over at the Healer. "I did not see that coming," he said as Jane shot him.

  "Take that, you bastard!" She dumped the rest of the magazine into the grand leader of the Imperium. He appeared mildly amused as the bullets struck. Sullivan had nothing to lose. He surged forward as the Chairman raised his finger to blast Jane into oblivion. Three Iron Guards intercepted him, simultaneously buffeting his body with fire, ice, and electricity.

  "Hey!" a voice cried from the other end of the great room. Every head turned, and Sullivan was surprised to see Faye and Francis. The girl hurled a bucket through the air, spilling tiny reflective bits behind it. Francis was concentrating hard. Sullivan instinctively threw himself to the ground.

  The air hummed with movement as hundreds of fragments zipped through the room. Francis didn't just send them out. He whipped them back, using his Power to fling them at terrible speeds, around and again. Iron Guards screamed as bodies were pierced.

  The Icebox at his right jerked as a piece of wire zipped through him and the Crackler at the left threw his hands to his neck to stop the spray of arterial blood. Then Sullivan was looking up into a pair of grey eyes as Faye dropped his missing BAR right into his lap. "This might help!" she shouted. "I'm gonna go protect the Geo-Tel!"

  The crazy Traveler girl had gotten it backwards, but whatever. Sullivan rolled over and started shooting Iron Guards.

  Faye landed right in front of the Chairman. Bits of shrapnel were flying around like crazy insects and the room was a really scary blue. The man she'd vowed to kill was there, brushing bullet fragments out of his hair. Francis was hitting him with all sorts of high speed projectiles but the Chairman didn't seem to notice. He held up one hand and every item in the room froze, then fell to the floor with a clatter.

  "Now you-you are strong," the Chairman said. "Yet so unpredictable. Too unpredictable, and therefore you must die." His hands glowed like molten lava and he reached for her and somehow she knew that whatever spell he was using was going to rip the Power right out of her and pull her memories out of her head and yank her soul out of her body all so he could learn from it and then throw away the husk.

  But he was right about one thing. She was unpredictable.

  Faye grabbed the Chairman's glowing hands and felt a terrible surge of blood magic tear through her, but she only needed them for a second. Mr. Rawls had said that Travelers couldn't get close to the Chairman, unless he let them. She'd never done anything like this before, but she couldn't come up with any reason why it wouldn't work. Probably… She held on for dear life as terrible forces racked her body and Traveled.

  She didn't go very far, just a little wrinkle in space. So she landed a mere five feet away, hopping on one foot, her injured leg bent. It worked! The Chairman was looking at her funny, not used to being surprised. She hadn't moved him, and he couldn't figure out what she'd just done, but then Faye held up the two cleanly severed hands. His eyes flickered down to the stumps his arms ended in, and realization dawned.

  "Well, shoot! That worked real good," Faye squealed

  The Chairman was flabbergasted, offended, and then the pain hit. From the look on his face, Faye figured that it had probably been a real long time since he'd experienced that. Blood came squirting out both stumps. The Chairman opened his mouth and let out the most terrible yell she'd ever heard.

  "GIVE ME MY HANDS!" he screamed, and she felt the voice inside her head, like Mr. Garrett could do, only ten thousand times bigger, but unfocused because she figured that she'd just messed up his concentration real good. Jane had once told her that she could Mend darn near any injury, but she couldn't make limbs grow back. Only some lizards could do that, but she could reattach parts that had been cut off, provided she got them fast enough, and that gave Faye an idea. So she Traveled to someplace that she'd been to very recently.

  The rear end of the Tokugawa looked different because of all the bright blue light this time, but the big engine was still humming merrily along and the big terrible scary propellers were flying so fast that they were just a black blur and it was really super loud. This should really make him mad, she thought as she tossed the Chairman's still-convulsing hands right into the propeller. They exploded into a red mist.

  She reappeared right off to the Chairman's side and grabbed Jane. "What have you done?" he shrieked.

  "Threw 'em in the propellers," she answered as she fled, and the Chairman blasted half the bottom of the airship into pieces where she'd been standing.

  Jane screamed as they appeared on the Tempest's ramp. She was jumpy like that. Faye was glad to see that they'd done like she'd told them and taken off. Mr. Garrett cried out and swept Jane up in his arms and held her tight.

  Faye Traveled back, knowing that the Chairman could Travel too, but for whatever reason, her head map seemed to still be working, while his was all jumbled up from being next to the big, evil, magic superbomb. It was probably because all she could do was Travel, where he could do about anything. It made sense that she'd learned to pay more attention, since she only had one tiny Power and he had so very many. Like who would be the better musician? The guy who tried to play a whole orchestra, or the girl who could only afford a banjo? It might not be pretty, but she could really play the hell out of that banjo!

  She had to go fast. He didn't need hands to kill people, he could do it with his eyeballs or his brain or whatever else, and he was impossible to kill, except for one thing… Mr. Rawls had said that a direct hit from a Tesla weapon might do the trick, so she just needed to keep him distracted. She grabbed Francis next, since bunches of Iron Guards were trying to kill him. She was Traveling so fast now that she reached him before the bullets did.

  There was no time for formality, so she dumped Francis in the center of the Tempest, and hurried back for Mr. Sullivan. He was the toughest, so he got to go last.

  She had to hand it to Mr. Sullivan. He was stubborn. The fraction-of-a-second view her head map gave her when she hit showed three Iron Guards airborne, another one going out the window, and Sullivan was killing another with the big rifle extended in one hand while giving an Icebox a knuckle sandwich with his other hand. He'd made it to the Geo-Tel, and with a roar threw off the Iron Guards still clinging to him, raised his rifle to smash it, and she grabbed him by the back of the shirt and got them out of there as lightning from the Chairman's eyes consumed the Geo-Tel and the closest Iron Guards.

  Mr. Sullivan brought down the big rifle and smashed the Tempest's already damaged radio board in half. He was still roaring, but it tapered off, as he realized that he wasn't where he thought he was. They were in the cockpit of the UBF dirigible, and the Tokugawa's back deck was visible below them through the broken window. A blue pillar had come up out of the ocean and was shooting into the sky, right through the Imperium flagship. "The device!" he turned to Faye. "You ditz! You moron! I almost had it!"

  "Good thing I stopped you then," Faye said simply.

  He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard. "Take me back," he ordered. His face was covered in splattered blood and he had the most desperate eyes she'd ever seen.

  "Too late," she said. "The Chairman just blew it up, but he was too late. It's already clamped on. The Power is coming, no matter what. And if you don't let me go, it'll get us too."

  He didn't get it. Sometimes she wished she was good with the fancy talk. "Take me back. Now." There was a lot of danger in his voice. Mr. Sullivan could be scary when he was angry.

  "Listen, Mr. Sullivan. I already cut the Chairman's arms off, so if you want to keep yours, I'd suggest you take them off me, right quick."

  Sullivan let go.

  "That's better…"

  He was looking around, realizing that she must have Traveled all these folks here. "Delilah?"

  It was a sin to lie, but maybe it was worse to make this man hate himself even more than he already did. "Delilah was dead when I found her. Sorry." She turned away so she wouldn't have
to see his reaction, because she didn't have time to feel sad. Lance was behind the driver's controls. "Better go fast, Lance. It's on its way."

  "We're going as fast as we can," he shouted. The Tempest rocked as Imperium biplanes flew past, shooting them.

  She hopped over to the broken window and looked out. The Power was coming up out of the Pacific, aimed straight at the strange carvings she'd found hidden in the Tokugawa, instead of America, or wherever the Chairman had thought he'd been shooting it at. The other Japanese battleship was coming around, burning its hydrogen to power the Peace Ray on its front end, and it was aimed right at them. She wasn't sure which Tesla thingy was gonna kill them first, but they sure as hell weren't going to make it on this slow thing.

  Traveling sure does spoil you.

  Sullivan had joined her at the window. The blue light reflected on his face and the wind was blowing his tattered clothing. "The Geo-Tel is locked onto the Tokugawa…"

  "About time somebody got it."

  "We'll die too," he said. "We're too close…" He didn't sound too broken up about that, but she figured that Mr. Sullivan had lived with death so long that he wasn't rightly ever scared of it. "Well, at least we're taking the Chairman with us."

  Faye looked around at all the people on the bridge. They were her friends. She kept losing families, and then making new ones, and then losing those too. She was sick and tired of that. She was just starting to have fun. Mr. Garrett was holding Jane and telling her that everything was going to be okay. Lance, who'd taught her so much and been as patient as Grandpa, was concentrating on not getting shot down. Heinrich was there, and he'd turned out to not be near as mean as she'd figured, and Francis, she'd never kissed a boy before, so she figured that Francis was her beau now, so it didn't seem fair that they'd get exploded before they'd ever gone on a date.

  There was a roar of unbelievable thunder as the sky turned to fire, rolling over the Tokugawa, searing the giant vessel into a black shadow of ash and scattering its molecules on the winds.

  Her head map was all frazzled. The magic was heading their way. The ocean had boiled away in a big circle and energy was crackling up the beam. The wave would hit in just over half a second and she knew that the explosion would be really huge and they'd die, skeletons visible through their bodies before being consumed. This was way bigger than the Peace Ray and everything for hundreds of miles would just be gone.

  A tenth of a second later she'd taken inventory of the entire Tempest. She'd Traveled with two people a bunch of times now. She'd figured out how to do that. It just took more Power. She'd gone further than her head map could see, and that had just taken more Power and enough luck not to get something fused into her body. So how hard could it be to fling an entire blimp and thousands of pounds of people several hundred miles away?

  Another tenth of a second passed while she measured her Power. Just like always, it was all still there. It never seemed to get smaller, just bigger and bigger, unlike everybody else. It must like her best. They were in the air, so it was pretty unlikely that she'd get foreign objects stuck into anyone, but even if she did, it beat getting exploded. She wasn't sure if she should use it all up at one time, because she didn't want to go too far and end up putting them on the moon or something.

  Better safe than sorry. So she decided to use it all, even though she understood that using that much magic very well might destroy her. Ahead of the expanding ball of fire, the concussion bent the air and touched the very tip of the Tempest. For the first time in her life, Sally Faye Vierra gathered up every single last bit of magic she had…

  And Traveled.

  One.

  Last.

  Time.

  Chapter 27

  I swear before my God and these witnesses that I will stay true to the right and good, that my magic will be used to protect, not to enslave, that all my strength and wisdom must always shield the innocent. I swear to fight for liberty though it cost my life. The Society will be my blood and its knights my brothers, and that I will always heed the wisdom of the elders' council. I willingly pledge my magic, my knowledge, my resources, and my life to uphold these things.

  – Oath of the Grimnoir Society, original date unknown San Francisco, California The Pale Horse enjoyed his cigarette. It was a mild blend that soothed his nerves. He reasoned that it was more than likely his last. John Browning was watching him steadily and the.45 had not moved from his heart.

  "You are a hero? For whom, the Imperium?"

  "Oh, far from that, John. May I call you John?" He did not wait for a response. "I've been fighting the Imperium my entire life. I've sacrificed much to stop them and the others like them. I've stood with the Grimnoir since I was a child. My family were of the founders."

  "Yet you betrayed them?"

  "No. I stand by my oath to the end. Perhaps more than any other, for I was willing to go further than any knight before me."

  The room shook slightly. Ripples appeared in the pitcher of water at the bedside. The glass in the window rattled. "Earthquake…" Browning said.

  He could tell. It was done. "No. That was the firing of the Geo-Tel."

  "Curse you," Browning said, lifting the gun.

  "Save your bullet. America is safe," Harkeness said, tapping the ash from the end of his smoke. "What you just felt was the end of Okubo Tokugawa, and if Pershing's knights hadn't been so damn obstinate, then it would also have been the end of Japan as well, though with their leader vaporized, I imagine they won't be nearly the same threat anymore." He could see Browning was puzzled, but his finger was still on the trigger. "You are not convinced?"

  "Please, go on." Browning was polite in his inquisition.

  "I argued against Pershing in the councils. He wanted the Geo-Tel destroyed. I wanted to use it against Japan immediately. The elders were afraid to take so many lives. The Geo-Tel could have wiped the entire island from the map in one shot. As usual, the elders were cowards and took a middle way. They would not use the Geo-Tel yet, but they would hold it in reserve, entrusting it to the man who'd captured it, so that if that darkest day ever came, then we would have one final option… But even as our numbers dwindled, and we lost more brave knights every day, the elders were frightened. Pershing was calling for an all-out, open war, but even he was not willing to take the final step and use our ultimate weapon."

  "Pershing was a solider. Soldiers fight against other soldiers. They do not kill an entire people."

  "The Chairman would not hesitate. Why should we? Has he been right all along? Are we as weak as he says? Should we make way for the strong?" Harkeness asked. He'd had this same argument many times.

  "Save your politics for the elders' council. My hand is getting tired and I intend to shoot you soon."

  "Though the council was afraid, there was another one of the elders who had the will to do what needed to be done. We were tired of doing all the bleeding. It was time to end the secret war once and for all."

  "So where is Isaiah?"

  "On his way to Europe to face the other elders. We have some explaining to do… Our plan was simple. We could not just take the pieces of the Geo-Tel from Pershing. There were only two of us, and we'd be found and stopped. But if the Chairman were to find out where the pieces were…"

  "Not shooting you down becomes more difficult by the second."

  It felt good to talk about this, to get it off his chest. He'd dedicated years of his life to this mission. It was the culmination of his career. "We could not make it seem too easy. The Chairman was far too crafty for that. He'd smell the trap. We had to sell it. We had to make him believe. Isaiah is the finest wizard in the entire Society. He studied Tesla's notes until he was sure he'd mastered the targeting geometry. We just needed to make sure it would be hidden somewhere in the Imperium and the Chairman would kill himself and his entire country for us. When we found out that UBF was building a magnificent flagship for him we knew that we had been given the perfect opportunity."

  Browning scowled. "
You killed Francis's grandfather as well, I suppose."

  "Yes. He knew too much. Originally I planned on just threatening old Cornelius into carving the target onto the Tokugawa. Sure, it was Isaiah who magically put the suggestion of cursing his greatest nemesis into his mind, but the murder is entirely on his head. Pershing had wronged him. It was your good general who exposed Cornelius' son's corruption and selling of secrets to the Imperium. Cursing your friend did two things for us. It secured the favor necessary to place the target and it removed the one Grimnoir who was most likely to thwart our plans."

  "That's how I reasoned it was you. You were one of the few who helped us after the attack, you Healed Black Jack, and you were here again when Stuyvesant died of a Cursing. Tell me, was the attack on the mansion your fault too? Did you tell the Imperium we were stationed at the Talon home before that?"

  "The latest, no. Three years ago, yes," he answered truthfully. "Though harbor no ill will toward my granddaughter. She was innocent. She only tagged along in the aftermath to try and help. Her volunteering to tend to Pershing only complicated things."

  Browning nodded. "I'll not tell her of your plots. I'll tell her you died honorably."

  "Thank you… But I'm afraid that she is gone as well. Just one more sacrifice among many. If fortune was smiling on us when she died, then the Tokugawa was sailing over Tokyo just now. I have no regrets. Stopping the Chairman was worth anything."

  The other Grimnoir was completely calm. Harkeness knew Browning's reputation as a reasonable and level-headed man and now he too knew the whole truth. Sure, Harkeness had done many evil things, but he'd done them for the greater good. He could tell that Browning was pondering deeply on what was just said, and perhaps he too would come to see the inevitable wisdom in what Harkeness had done.