The ship was hit and knocked back but the General’s skills kept them from crashing. He managed to keep them aloft and turned the ship to ride the shock wave. The fire caused them no harm. They couldn't feel any heat from it even though it burned everything in its path. ALF forces caught in the flames were burnt to ashes while the GloCom soldiers and Wardens were untouched.
Nefertiti was screaming for help. Medics made it to her and found Ra leaning against a piece of wreckage. He had a large piece of metal piercing through his chest and out his back pinning him to the debris.
“A flying vehicle was destroyed by another flying vehicle and the debris hit him,” she told the medic. “I’m doing what I can to keep him alive. Help him, please,” with tears flowing from eyes and on the edge of panic.
The medics started working to stop the bleeding, cut him free and secure him for transport.
The Tormentor was gone. A crater about a hundred feet across and several dozen feet deep was burned into the ground where it once was. The General circled the crater and at first, could not see anything. As the smoking ground cooled and the heat rapidly dissipated in the chill morning air, two bodies could be seen in the center. The General and High Lord couldn’t tell if they were alive. The General landed the shuttle close to them then he and Alicia jumped out and ran over.
“They’re breathing!” Alicia yelled.
“I need a medical crew immediately to the center of the blast zone. NOW! Two casualties, injuries unknown,” the General said on the comm as he ran to them.
“I can’t see any open wounds. They have numerous burn marks. They're alive but they’re not responding,” Alicia told the General.
He started checking them over. They were completely nude, all of their clothing burned away in the fire. Only their shields and swords remained.
A woman wearing a long flowing dress appeared.
“Who the hell are you?” said Alicia.
“I am Morgana,” she said as she kneeled by Chelsea.
She ran her fingers over her forehead then did the same to Sebastian.
“They are injured from the electrical shocks but will survive. This makes me happy,” she said.
“How did you get here?” said Alicia. “We’ve searched for you but couldn’t find your chamber. Who woke you?”.
“I will explain all in time but for now, our focus should be on their health,” she told Alicia. “They are precious to me and their safety is paramount.”
The med crew arrived and put the two on stretchers. They were unconscious with multiple second and third-degree electrical burns. The medics transported them to the unit’s mobile hospital.
#
While the doctors worked with the two wounded, treating their burns and checking for other injuries, Morgana and Alicia stood talking. The General was busy with the duties of his command.
“I have so many questions. How long have you been awake? Who woke you? Where have you been? How did you get here?” asked Alicia.
“You have seen much in the way of magic since the Seal was broken and know of teleportation. It was I who brought Boudicca and her apprentice to your battlefield. As to my awakening...I never slept. I have been watching, waiting, hoping this day would not come but it has and now I must no longer hide,” she told Alicia.
“But the Warden’s records indicate you were placed in your crystal chamber and moved to a hidden location,” said Alicia.
“The Wardens responsible for me falsified those records at my request. They balked at the idea but in the end, agreed and allowed me to forge my own path after the Seal was formed,” Morgana told her.
“They’re awake but tired,” said the doctor. “I don’t know how they survived that blast or whatever electrical shocks caused those burns but they did. They have a significant number of those burns and are weak but they should recover. If you want to talk to them you can but don’t push them too hard they need to take it easy,” he continued.
Morgana and Alicia walked into the room and over to the two of them. They were covered in bandages and looked tired.
“Did we stop it?” asked Chelsea.
“You did. Whatever you did it’s gone and we can’t find any trace of it,” Alicia told her.
“Good,” said Sebastian.
“You just stopped a legendary nightmare and all you can say is good?” said Alicia laughing.
“I’m also hungry,” he replied.
Chelsea spotted Morgana. “Morgana? Is that you?” Chelsea asked.
Her hair was the flowing, curly red that was a trademark of Irish descent she remembered from Camelot, not the long, straight black hair in their dreams of Atlantis but it was her. “It is my dear,” replied Morgana as she took Chelsea’s hand.
“When did you awake?” Sebastian asked her.
“Apparently she didn’t sleep. The Warden’s records were doctored,” Alicia told her.
“How did you survive without access to magic? I thought it would kill the Masters,” Sebastian said.
“Magic is not just the simple currents that the Masters use. Magic is the fabric that binds all together. I have studied your sciences over the years and became quite adept at them. In physics, you have matter that is comprised of atoms which are comprised of atomic particles and then subatomic particles. You talk of weak and strong forces like gravity. Magic is the strongest of those forces and binds that beneath even the subatomic together. Magic, in a way, is like a river. The Masters swim in the surface of that river but it goes deep. The Seal took away their ability to swim but did not impact those who know older magic, the deep magic,” said Morgana.
“You’re Atlantean,” said Sebastian.
“I am. I was there when the empire fell. I have watched the world throughout the millennia waiting to see if I was needed again. I believe that now I am,” Morgana told him.
“Then Mordred’s power comes from that magic,” said Sebastian.
“Yes. He was never formally trained and I would never have dared teach him at his age. His talents are wild and uncontrolled. If magic is a great river he is a flood. He doesn’t know how to control it and despite my best efforts, I could never get him to express a desire to learn control. That and his emotional tendencies are why I did not teach him to use that magic. He only survived the Seal because he has a tenuous enough connection to the deep to sustain him but not enough of one to tap that magic directly,” Morgana told them.
“So Merlin isn’t his father?” he asked.
“He very much is. I met Merlin when he was much younger and still full of life and hope before he became the waste he is now. I gave him the illusion I was untrained and let him think he taught me. I grew to love him and we had a son. That is all true,” she said.
“Mordred’s power is like a child with a gun, though. He can point and shoot but doesn’t understand the power he has and that makes him more dangerous than you could imagine. I held out hope to the end that the Seal would stop him. I hoped against hope his connection to the Weave was too weak, his knowledge too limited to survive,” she told them.
“So you could stop him then,” said Sebastian.
“No, and not because he is my son. All people with magic talent have strengths and weaknesses much like the ebb and flow of the currents on a river. Some currents are fast and strong, some are slow and weak. When it comes to magic, some are strong in some things and some are strong in others. My strength is not in the magic of destruction but of creation. I made your swords for example. Merlin thinks it was his effort and I’ve always allowed him to think his creations were his and his alone but they were not. I am an artificer. I even created the stave and scepter for the monarchs of Atlantis,” she told them.
“Why tell us now? After keeping these secrets for thousands of years, why now?” asked Chelsea, still holding Morgana’s hand.
“Because something changed. I’ve watched you two for a long time and encountered you in many of your incarnations throughout the ages. Now, you are ready. As much as I
love my son, you are the ones who will stop him. You can feel it can’t you. You are strong in the magic needed to fight and protect. You are both born guardians,” Morgana said.
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Chelsea.
“You feel the power growing in you. What you did with the Tormentor is proof of that,” Morgana told them.
“Really? And how would you know this?” asked Chelsea.
Morgana smiled at her and said, “Some secrets must still be kept.”
Boudicca came in. “I’m sorry to interrupt but this shouldn’t wait. Sebastian…” she started but had trouble talking.
He looked up at her and saw his father's flask in her hands. “Boudicca, what’s wrong?”
“Sebastian, it’s your father, he...he’s gone. I’m so sorry,” she said.
He was stunned. “I don’t know what to say...he can’t be…”
“He died a hero. He single-handedly stopped a group of ALF from attacking the hospital. It’s my fault. He told me to stay behind so I let him go alone and stayed here. The medical personnel could have handled the wounded. I should have been there to help him,” she said.
“Don’t blame yourself. If he told you to stay it would have been because he thought the wounded needed you more than he did and you know how stubborn he could be. Your magic isn’t strong enough to win an argument with him,” Sebastian told her.
“I got to him just before he passed. His last words were to tell the two of you he loved you,” she said.
“Thank you,” Sebastian said as his eyes started getting moist.
“Sebastian, Chelsea, I must go now and apologize but I must leave you. Ra needs me. He was injured badly and is struggling to survive,” she said.
“What happened?” asked Chelsea, between sobs.
“He was pierced by a piece of a broken machine. It has injured him gravely and many of his organs were hurt. Trish and Nefertiti are doing what they can to aid the doctors. They are calling his condition a coma. I am not familiar with that word but I believe it is what my people would call the sleep of death. I must return to them now,” Boudicca said as she excused herself and left.
“Can I be alone, please. I need some time to think and process this. I just want to be alone with Chelsea for a little while,” Sebastian said trying his best to hide tears.
#
The two men sat across from each other. A woman ran her hands over Mr. Atkins, rubbing and fondling him. He was smoking from a pipe and smiling. Mordred did not seem pleased.
“Mr. Atkins your heavy-handedness has forced them into action and cost me my favorite pet. It will be years before I have the strength to create a new one,” Mordred said.
“You’re too angry, kid. A little chaos is good for the soul. As I recall, we just followed your orders. If you have anyone to blame, it’s you. Besides, we have the Tokyo reinforcements coming and they won’t know what hit them,” Mr. Atkins said laughing.
“I told you to attack the Wardens not to invoke my name in doing so. You have set things in motion before we were ready,” Mordred told him calmly.
“Calm down, kid. Things will work out. Just have some patience and let my people do their thing,” Mr. Atkins replied.
“STOP CALLING ME KID!” Mordred yelled at him.
“You're going to pop a vein if you keep this up. Here, have a hit of this,” said Mr. Atkins offering the hookah's pipe to him.
“You have failed me Mr. Atkins and I do not tolerate failure. You wanted more dread, I will give you more dread,” Mordred told him.
The woman running her hands over Mr. Atkins snarled.
“Disembowel him slowly, make him suffer and then strangle him with his own intestines,” Mordred ordered.
The woman’s fingers grew into claws and she ripped the stomach of the older man open then started pulling out his insides very slowly as the man screamed and the other woman held him still.
Mordred turned to the monitor. Major General Elam’s face could be seen wincing at the scene going on behind Mordred.
“Major General, the ALF is under your control now. Mr. Atkins has been removed from his position. The ALF has been a failure up to this point. Change that. I want the operations at Tokyo tripled,” said Mordred.
“If we pull that much manpower people are going to notice. GloCom is already starting to snoop around and I can keep that under control in small quantities but if we start taking workers in those numbers…” but he stopped as Mordred simply stared at him.
“Yes sir,” said the Major General and the comm went blank.
#
“Phenomenal. I don't know what else to say about it,” said High Lord Alicia. “What you did at Syracuse was unprecedented. It's hard to believe that the Tormentor is gone.”
“It was just our job. It was just another fey,” said Lady Chelsea.
“Would you like to explain that explosion?” asked the High Lord.
“If I could I would. It's as much a mystery to us as it is to you,” said Coordinator Sebastian.
“Whatever it was, it worked. You saved a lot of people and got a lot of attention. There were a number of press shuttles watching the fight and a few of them were shot down by the ALF While the loss of civilian life was horrible, some good came of it. It did a lot to hurt the ALF They used to have this image of the little guy fighting back against an overpowering government. Now, to the media, they're murdering terrorists and that image is being conveyed in their reports,” said High Lord Alecia.
#
Sebastian, Chelsea, Alicia, and General Morrison walked into the President’s office.
“The media is calling you four the Heroes of Syracuse,” said the president.
“We’re not heroes, Madame President. We’re just doing our jobs,” said Sebastian.
“Speak for yourself. I like being called a hero,” said the General with a hearty laugh.
“I can’t thank you enough for what the Wardens and GloCom have done but as I understand it, the defeat of this creature was solely the responsibility of you two?” she asked.
“That’s not true at all,” said Chelsea.
“If they hadn’t weakened it with their firepower and kept it fighting on two fronts, we’d have likely died quickly,” Sebastian told her.
“Nonsense,” said the General. “I don’t know what you did or how you did it but that explosion you caused is what killed it.”
“We don’t know if we’d have survived long enough to do that without you, General,” said Chelsea.
“You can all stop patting each other on the back for now. We have other business to discuss,” said the President.
“I have been reviewing the operation and I think having GloCom and the Wardens work more closely together in the future is a good idea. What are your thoughts?” the President asked them.
“I think it's a great idea,” said General Morrison.
“I concur. I have an idea on how to proceed with that. I would like you to consider stationing an Elite Corp group at Camelot with my people. We've had a few recent hunts where the fey were armed and equipped and with the ALF showing an increase in the use of magic, we should be working together already,” Sebastian said to the General.
“I'll have to think about that and consider all of the angles. It won't be an easy sell to Central Command. We would have to figure out responsibilities and command structure but with Presidential support, I think I could make it happen,” General Morrison replied.
“Assuming you can get me a viable plan in place, you'll have my support. Start work on it immediately,” she said.
“One more thing, we're going to turn the combat zone into a national monument. At the opening ceremony, you're all going to be awarded medals,” the President continued.
“Wouldn't the funding and effort better go to reconstruction efforts?” asked Sebastian.
“It's a minuscule amount compared to the cost of rebuilding and I think it's needed. With all the bad, we need something to give people hope
. They need to be reminded that with all the bad in the world, there is still good. We're building a park. You're getting medals. It's going to be a big publicity event and I expect the full cooperation of all of you. I'll expect speeches as well,” President Yassim replied.
“Yes, Madame President,” said the General.
“Now I hate to push the Wardens out but I’m meeting with the head of Macedon Machines and he’s waiting outside. He's very rich and very powerful and very well connected and I need all the support I can get. As expected, they’ve been granted the contract to rebuild the military after the cataclysm and the CEO is meeting to discuss it. General, you’re welcome to stay as this impacts your people directly,” the President said.
“It sounds more like a campaign support meeting,” said Alicia.
“Yassim, I would love to, but I have a drink to buy and I don’t really care where I get my equipment as long as I get it and it’s up to spec,” said the general.
The door to the President’s office opened and a man walked in and the President greeted him.
“Mr. Macedon, thank you for coming. My other guests were just leaving,” she said as she met a man at the door to her office.
Sebastian stood up and turned to leave and was face to face with the man who just walked in.
“Alexander? Is that you?” asked Sebastian.
The Seal of Solomon Page 44