Thaumatology 07 - Eagle's Shadow

by Teasdale, Niall

  ‘What the Hell is all this?’ Nita asked.

  ‘Thaumatology,’ Lily said, lying on the bed under a large group of field dynamics equations.

  ‘They’ve got a generator in the presidential bunker based on the design Cheryl and I came up with,’ Ceri said. ‘The equations we used were based on a fairly static thaumic field value and that’s based on a static flow rate of null thaumitons.’

  ‘Sure,’ Nita said, looking blank.

  Ceri chuckled. ‘Imagine that there’s a river of energy flowing through and between all the dimensions. That’s the null thaumiton field.’

  ‘Okay,’ Nita said.

  ‘Like a river, there are places where it flows fast and easily, and others where it slows down. As far as the magic field is concerned, the flow is… well, controlled by something called the Super-magic field. That’s the theory anyway. Cheryl found evidence of the thaumino, the force particle for the field, fairly recently, so it’s some confirmation that it’s right.’

  ‘Didn’t you say something about that at Black Fields?’

  Ceri nodded. ‘A very weak Super-magic field, like at Black Fields, allows the null thaumitons to travel through that area of reality very quickly. There’s no resistance, no decay, no magic field.’

  ‘So… that means the generator thing won’t work?’ Nita suggested.

  Ceri turned and pointed a finger at a block of equations near her head. ‘According to this, exactly the opposite. The generator creates a catalysis field, a localised area where null thaumitons are broken down into positive and negative thaumitons. If you stick a turbine in a faster flowing river…’

  ‘It’ll generate more power,’ Lily finished for her. ‘That thing almost blew up half of London.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ceri said. ‘The normal activation time for the generator is about thirty seconds. That’ll give about four hours of three megawatts of power. If you’ve got a strong mage holding up the containment circle you can charge it for longer, but that’s not the safest thing to do.’

  ‘Why?’ Nita asked.

  ‘If the power drain beam malfunctions it takes a lot longer for the energies in the circle to get to safe levels, and if you drop the circle before then…’

  ‘Half of London goes missing,’ Lily said. ‘So if they charge the generator at Black Fields for thirty seconds, what are they going to get?’

  ‘If my figures are right, about thirty hours, and an explosion that’ll put a hole in the planet.’

  ‘Do you think Levy knows about this?’ Nita asked.

  ‘I doubt it. I didn’t even think of it until today. I don’t think anyone has considered plugging Super-magic theory into equations like this. But that’s not the point. Well, it’s a related point, but…’

  ‘Come to the point, love,’ Lily said, grinning.

  ‘Sorry.’ Ceri grinned back. ‘Say they actually use the generator in Black Fields due to some emergency. Say it “malfunctions.”’

  ‘Black Fields gets wiped out,’ Nita said.

  ‘A gaping hole gets blown in the eastern seaboard and the Atlantic floods in actually,’ Ceri said, ‘but they don’t know that. Levy mobilised some troops in Virginia. I thought that was up to the President?’ Nita nodded. ‘So some troops loyal to Levy attack Black Fields, cut the power and the generator gets started up… And then it’s pretty much Armageddon.’

  ‘Oh,’ Nita said. ‘Crap.’

  ‘I couldn’t have put it better myself.’

  Part Six: The Politics of Cataclysm

  Richmond, Virginia, February 29th, 2012

  ‘It’s not exactly good news,’ Ceri said. ‘Kangee basically confirmed my theory. Operation Black Top is a plan to send a small, military attack force in against Black Fields. They’ve arranged to have evidence left suggesting the attack was made by Native American forces with orders from the Chinese.’

  ‘And people are going to buy that?’ Lily asked.

  ‘If that’s the only information they’re getting,’ Hoffman said, ‘then yes, they will.’

  Ceri nodded. ‘They’ll enact emergency provisions to take control of the media as soon as Wilson’s dead.’ She sat on the corner of the bed. They had taken a couple of rooms in a small motel on the outskirts of Richmond. Again there was an adjoining door, and Nita and Hoffman stood just inside it. ‘Kangee also thinks the attack detachment has moved into the Black Fields area already. His people tracked down the source of those rumours about troops movements in the south. Turned out it was a gremlin who likes hacking government computers. He got the information on Black Top and he’s sure it’s going down soon. Whatever we do, we’re going to have to move fairly quickly.’

  ‘Well, we watched the evening news while you were out,’ Nita said. ‘There’s still no sign of any major alarm from Levy. The business at the award ceremony has fallen out of the news like they’re playing it down.’

  ‘Yeah, well, if he’s planning to have the place blown up, he won’t want to be there,’ Ceri said.

  ‘He’s sticking to Washington,’ Hoffman said. ‘There was a mention of increased levels of alert in the security details. Black Fields is going to be on full alert as well. They said that the President was “unavailable for comment.”’

  ‘You don’t think he’s already dead?’ Lily asked.

  ‘I think,’ Hoffman said, ‘that Levy would have made his move if that were the case. However, he has his people surrounding Wilson. The President’s obviously being held incommunicado, probably “for security reasons.” It’s going to be hard to get to him, but I see it as about the only option.’

  Ceri nodded, frowning at her hands in her lap. ‘All right, but you don’t get to go.’

  ‘What?!’ The chorus came from three sides.

  ‘You need to contact the Secret Service,’ Ceri explained. ‘You need to find some people you can trust and bring a force in to Black Fields. Army as well. We need them to intercept the assault team.’

  ‘You need me going in there,’ Hoffman said. ‘It’s a null magic zone, you can’t…’

  ‘I can,’ Ceri said. ‘I can work magic there.’

  ‘It’s true,’ Nita said. ‘I saw her do it.’

  ‘You’re right, Ed,’ Ceri went on, ‘we do need you in there, but we need you more out here. Four of us can’t keep Wilson safe, even if we can save him from the immediate threat. The three of us can get in and try to do that, but you have to be the one to bring in the forces we need to hold things after that.’

  Hoffman drew in a long breath. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘I’ll go in the morning.’

  ‘Thank you, Ed,’ Ceri said.

  March 1st

  The scent of smoke filled her nostrils coming from the burned out wreck at the bottom of the cliff. Ceri turned around and there, where they always were, were her parents; ghostly, semi-transparent forms, but her parents nonetheless. ‘You two haven’t been in my dreams for a while,’ she said.

  ‘How do you know it’s a dream?’ her father asked, though it sounded like one of his academic questions. “Explain your reasoning.”

  ‘You’re here, for one thing,’ Ceri replied, ‘and I went to sleep in a bed in Virginia, with Lily.’

  ‘She’s a sweet girl,’ her mother said, ‘though I never saw you ending up with another woman.’

  ‘Or with a werewolf,’ her father added.

  ‘Did you turn up to discuss my sex life, or is there some other reason for the visit?’ Ceri asked, grinning.

  ‘Yes, down to business,’ her father said. ‘You need to wake up, Ceridwyn. They’ve found you.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Wake up, Ceri,’ her mother said. ‘Now. Wake up!’

  Ceri opened her eyes. She could hear cars on the road at the front of the motel and the sound of rain on the window. They’ve found you. The words echoed in her head and she slipped out of bed, moving to the door and peering out through the spy hole. She could make out two cars parked in the middle of the lot the U-shaped building was built arou
nd. There were men there too, and it looked like they were loading guns.

  Opening the connecting door woke both Nita and Hoffman, curled against each other in the bed. ‘We’ve got trouble,’ Ceri said. Hoffman was across the room and at the door in two seconds flat.

  ‘Not sure,’ he said. ‘FBI or CIA.’

  Nita was at the window, peering around the edge of the badly fitting curtain. ‘CIA,’ she said. ‘Hit squad.’ She was already holding her pistol.

  ‘Oh,’ Ceri said. ‘Well if they’re a hit squad, I have no trouble hitting back.’ Lily was behind her already and Ceri took her hand, drawing power through her. ‘Tell me when they move.’ A ball of orange light, flickering and dancing, began to grow in her hand.

  ‘They’re getting ready,’ Hoffman said.

  Ceri turned to Lily. ‘When I say, open the door, but stay clear of it.’ Lily nodded her reply.

  ‘Two squads,’ Nita said, ‘moving toward the two doors now.’ Hoffman backed away from the door, grabbing his pistol off the nightstand and aiming at the spot he had just left.

  ‘Now,’ Ceri hissed.

  Lily moved, breaking contact with Ceri, grabbing the door handle and swinging it open as she rolled to the other side. Bullets streamed through the open doorway leaving a ringing sound in Ceri’s ears. She ignored it, waited for the burst to stop, and then swung out into the open. The ball of light flew from her hand and she dived for cover.

  Outside, the orange ball landed on the ground just behind the men approaching the building. Then it exploded. There was relatively little sound, just the roar of contained fire being released, like a door being opened into a burning room. The light was incredible, however; a flare of brilliant orange and red which seemed to turn night into day for a second. Then there was the sound of men screaming, the door to the other room being thrown open, pistols being fired.

  Ceri and Lily pulled themselves to their feet as Hoffman darted back in through their door. ‘Get dressed,’ he said. ‘We need to leave here right now!’

  Great Dismal Swamp

  It was not the most glorious place to spend the night, but it was out of the way and not too far from Black Fields. The Great Dismal Swamp was a fairly huge expanse of swamp and forest with, according to Nita, a big lake in the middle of it. They had dumped the car Nita had stolen for them on a back road at the edge of the trees and then walked in from there to set up a desultory camp for what was left of the night.

  ‘Do you think Ed can actually do it?’ Nita asked as they huddled together, wrapped in their coats. Lily was in the middle, a demonic space heater for the two more human women. They could not risk a fire since they did not know who might be looking for them.

  ‘I honestly don’t know,’ Ceri replied. ‘I know we don’t have much chance. Me and Lily would be arrested faster than photon in a vacuum, and I suspect you’re contacts aren’t trustworthy.’

  ‘I think,’ Lily said, ‘that we should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be tough.’

  ‘Says the girl with the internal heating,’ Ceri grumbled. ‘I’m cold.’

  ‘Snuggle closer,’ Lily suggested. ‘Like I’m going to complain.’

  Ceri snuggled closer, and felt Nita doing the same, and heard Lily give a little giggle. Lily was nice and warm and they had not had much sleep… And there was a hint of light in the sky and it was even colder in the little clearing. Dew was beginning to form on the coats they were using as blankets. Ceri was cold again, as well as feeling a little damp.

  There was something else. There was the feeling that… Ceri lifted her head and looked around the clearing. In the middle of it, sitting in the leaf litter, was a man in a thick, leather coat and a wide brimmed hat. From what Ceri could see of his face he looked old, maybe sixty. His face showed wrinkles a plenty, his lips where thin, but he had bright, green eyes and they were watching the three women intently.

  ‘I was wondering when you’d notice me, girl,’ the man said. Nita’s pistol was aimed at him before he had got to the end of the sentence. ‘Cool your heels, kid. If I was going to hurt you you’d be dead already.’

  ‘Lower the gun, Nita,’ Ceri said. ‘He’s right, if he wanted us dead we’d be dead.’ She waited until Nita’s weapon had been dropped into her lap and then said, ‘I’m Ceridwyn Brent.’

  ‘Simurgh,’ he replied. ‘People call me Sim, the ones who know to call me anything anyway. Felt you coming in. No one comes into my swamp without me knowing, but you I had to come see.’ He had no accent Ceri could trace, but given that he was a dragon he quite possibly predated the local language drifts. ‘I didn’t know there was any of your kind around, and sleeping with a half-demon tucked up like bugs in a rug?’

  ‘What’s he talking about?’ Nita asked. ‘How does he even know what Lily is?’

  ‘Oh, I’m special,’ Sim said. ‘I’m real old, for one thing. Older than I look. I’ve learned a lot of things in my time.’

  ‘Is there a reason for the visit?’ Ceri asked. ‘Aside from curiosity, that is.’

  Sim lifted his head and breathed in deeply through his nose. ‘There’s a group of men about a mile off to the south-east. Been there a couple of days. Military. Special Ops.’ The three women looked at each other. ‘I see you kind of knew they’d be about,’ Sim said, his thin lips curling into a slight smile. ‘Well, late last night they got a call and they got all busy. I heard them talking about three women and a man. Don’t know where the man is, but I think they know you’re about too.’

  ‘He’s got another job to do,’ Ceri said. That was good; Levy’s people would not be expecting Hoffman to be doing what he was doing. ‘Those men are planning to attack Black Fields Army Base. They’re going to set something in motion which will kill President Wilson.’

  ‘And another human will take his place,’ Sim replied, ‘and the world will go on. I only give a damn about the black ops team because they’re bothering my swamp.’

  Ceri looked at him, considering the psychology. She was fairly sure he was a loner; he had not heard her name before and she got the feeling most of the “mainstream” dragons knew who she was. He probably really did just want to keep his home turf safe. ‘They’re going to initiate a device inside Black Fields,’ she said. ‘When it goes off, it’ll create a detonation that will make an atom bomb look like a firecracker. Your swamp might well become part of the Atlantic. It’ll certainly flatten half the forest.’

  Sim looked at her, still wearing a slight grin. ‘You wouldn’t be telling me this to get me to help you, would you?’

  ‘I’m a thaumatologist,’ Ceri said, ‘I did the maths.’

  ‘She did,’ Lily said, ‘in the air, in the bedroom.’

  ‘Huh,’ the old man grunted. ‘You’re one of… what’s he calling himself now? Athro? One of his students?’ Ceri nodded. ‘He loved that trick. Not his blood though… you smell highborn.’

  ‘Brenin and Brenhines,’ Ceri told him. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Nita staring at her.

  ‘I prefer to stay out of politics. All kinds of politics.’ He looked vaguely disgusted, his gaze shifting away from the women to the ground on his right. ‘When politics threatens my swamp though… I’ll take care of the men. Deal with this device of yours and save your president.’

  ‘He’s not my president,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘Then why are you trying to save him?’

  Ceri frowned. ‘His death will start a war. I really don’t like the people plotting his murder. And he’s a nice guy.’

  Sim nodded and rose to his feet with a smooth grace belying his apparent age. ‘Good enough,’ he said before turning and walking off into the trees.

  Ceri climbed to her feet and began checking their bags for something to eat. What she really wanted was coffee, and for Nita to stop staring at her.

  ‘An old guy who seems like his little red wagon ran off the rails a while back is going to take on a squad of black ops specialists?’ Nita said after a few seconds.

  Ceri
looked up at her. Nita would keep digging at it until she got something. Ceri had told Cheryl what she was exactly because Cheryl would have done the same, but Ceri had known Cheryl a lot better then… ‘What I’m going to tell you doesn’t leave this clearing,’ Ceri said.

  ‘Okay,’ Nita replied.

  ‘If it does, I’m screwed,’ Ceri added. ‘I think if it does, some people would be enormously displeased, and they aren’t people you want to piss off.’

  ‘I’m a spook, Ceri,’ Nita said. ‘I keep secrets professionally. Is he one of the people you’re talking about?’

  ‘I doubt he’d come looking for you with menaces, but others like him might.’ Ceri pulled in a deep breath. ‘And the reason he can take on a squad of elite soldiers is that he’s a dragon.’

  Nita blinked. ‘A dragon?’

  ‘I realise he doesn’t look much, but that was a dragon. They can shape shift.’

  ‘Actually,’ Nita said, ‘it kind of makes a weird sense. The legend is that Drummond Lake in the middle of the swamp was formed when a great “Firebird” made a nest there. Later the hollow filled with rain. Old Sim seemed really attached to the area and dragons live a long time, right?’

  ‘They’re probably immortal,’ Ceri said, nodding. She was waiting for the next question.

  ‘All right, so he’s a dragon, but he seemed really interested in you, and you knew he was a dragon. He said something about blood…’

  ‘There’s dragon in my bloodline,’ Ceri said. ‘Not recent, it goes back over thirty thousand years, but it’s there and they can sense it. And I can sense them, because I’m a sorceress.’

  ‘Sorcerers don’t exist,’ Nita said. ‘They’re a legend.’

  ‘You just keep telling everyone that,’ Lily said.

  ‘You actually buy into this?’ Nita asked.

  ‘I’ve seen the evidence,’ Lily replied. ‘It’s not like she’s the only one who says she is. My father calls her a sorceress, the dragons do, even Gadriel, right love?’

  Ceri nodded. ‘That’s why the Church wants me. I suggest we get some food in us and get going. I want to get a look at Black Fields in daylight before we go in.’