by Ramsey Isler
“So where does this test factor in?” Dominique asked.
“The test is designed to see if a prospective student has the traits needed to master the dark,” I said. “But the trick is, you never know that you’re taking the test. For me, the test was a simple manipulation of the strange matter in the Rift. All I had to do was move a few pounds of metal with the power from the Rift.”
“Sounds easy,” Dominique said.
“It wasn’t,” I said. “When I first met Kellar, I had no idea who he really was. He was teaching theater at the local community playhouse in my neighborhood. It was not the kind of place you’d expect to find a master of magic.”
“What were you doing there?” Dominique asked.
“My mom sent me. She wanted to keep me out of trouble, and I had showed no potential for sports, so she figured drama would be the next best outlet for my teenage angst. I was not happy about the idea of spending my summer with a bunch of emo kids who couldn’t act their way out of a paper bag, but the theater had air conditioning, which made that hot summer a lot more bearable.
“Kellar was the creative director there. He handled everything: acting lessons, lighting, sound, and music. Hell, I think he even cleaned the place since I never saw a janitor. At the time, we all wondered how one man could handle all that work. In hindsight, it’s obvious he was using magic to do most of it.”
“Why was he teaching drama to a bunch of kids?”
“He liked it. The man was a natural at teaching. He had a way with kids — a kind of magic that I don’t think had anything to do with nightcrafting. He made us feel like we could do anything.”
“Was the drama class just a front for his nightcrafter recruiting efforts?” Dominique asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I think he genuinely just wanted to teach some city kids how to channel all the emotion and strife in their lives into something positive. I don’t think he ever really planned to find an apprentice.”
“But that’s exactly what he found in you.”
“Not intentionally,” I said. “I was kind of a rebel back then. Like most teenage boys, I was trying to find my place in the world, and reaching an age where I was aware enough to see just how wrong so much of the adult world was. I channeled that disenchantment and frustration into a fierce competitive streak. It made me difficult to be around, and my classmates at the theater suffered. I didn’t exactly play well with others.
“Kellar saw this and decided I was disrupting his class, so he figured out a way to shut me up. One day, he gave me a special solo assignment. It was supposed to be soliloquy, or at least, that’s what I thought it was. It was actually a basic but long-winded spell. Kellar made me an offer my egotistical little pubescent mind couldn’t turn down: learn the part to perfection, and he’d give me a big role in the next show.”
“So it was a spell in disguise,” Dominique said. “What was it like?”
“It was a bunch of unrelated phrases, like a song written by a schizophrenic. But it flowed with a lyrical style that made the mess sound like it had meaning. I was in love with it. But I only had two days to memorize it, and it was three pages long. I spent every waking moment trying to get those words to arrange themselves in my head, and even when I slept, I dreamed about the text.
“Then my two days were up, and Kellar made me get on stage and recite my lines. It was just me and Kellar in the theater that night. I remember it clearly. I wasn’t nervous at all. I had that passage down pat. It was like I had always known it. And when Kellar turned on the stage lights and gave me my cue, I put on one hell of a performance. I put every bit of energy and emotion I had into it. By the end of it, I felt incredible pride. I felt invincible.
“And as soon as I finished, Kellar turned off the spotlights and used his magic to drop a lighting rig on me.”
“Wow,” Dominique said. “Sounds like he really didn’t like you disrupting his class.”
I shook my head and said, “I was never in any real danger since Kellar was in full control of the situation. But I didn’t know any of that at the time. Still, when it happened, I wasn’t afraid at all. The spell had focused my mind in ways I wasn’t even aware of, and when the cables and lamps and aluminum bars came hurtling towards me, I tapped into the Rift for the first time.”
“What happened then?”
“I’m still not totally clear on that. I just remember looking up at the rigging, then the next thing I knew I was in total darkness, and a rush of power ran through me. Then there was a crash when the rigging hit the floor. But I was fine. Nothing ever touched me, even though I had been directly underneath that mess. I guess I just knocked the rigging out of my way. But it felt so easy. In that moment, I felt like I could move the whole world if I wanted to. I didn’t know what had happened. All I knew was that I wanted more of it.
“After that, Kellar told me I had passed the test. He told me that I had just pulled off my first magic trick. He offered to teach me everything he knew, and all I had to do was pledge my devotion to the craft. He suggested that I take some time to think about it, but I didn’t need any time. I accepted right on the spot.”
“And he taught you magic,” Dominique said.
“Yup.”
“Where is Kellar now?”
“I have absolutely no idea. He doesn’t teach at that theater anymore. No one else even remembers that he was ever there. I wonder why that would be.”
Dominique smirked. “That little memory magic trick sure would come in handy in my line of work.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” I said. “I don’t know that spell.”
“I figured you wouldn’t,” Dominique said. “But you do have many of other things to offer. Take this little story you just told me, for example. In a few minutes you’ve given more information than our people have been able to collect in years. We need you, Kal. The world needs you. Kellar is not the only one who values persistence and ambition. Give me your best effort, and I promise I’ll open doors to places you never dreamed of.”
I laughed. “That line might work on all your other recruits, Dominique. But I learned magic. I can dream of a lot of things you can’t.”
Dominique paused for a moment. Then she said, “Point taken. So what can I offer you as additional motivation?”
“I don’t need additional motivation,” I said. “We both want to find a way to stop the nightcrafters from putting people in danger. That’s enough for me. You could fire me the day after it’s all done. I wouldn’t care.”
“Very noble of you,” Dominique said. “But I’ve been in this business for a long time. Lots of people start out with the belief that virtuous acts are their own reward. But, after a few years, even the best of us get jaded. It helps to have some added perks to work for. The job has a way of grinding optimism and honor out of you after a while.”
“Well then,” I said, “I guess I’d better get this shit done quickly.”
* * *
The next two months were intense.
Dominique put me on a NATO training crash course designed to cram half a year’s worth of preparation into 21 days. I had no time off. There were no lunch breaks with the coworkers, and there weren’t any water cooler chats either. I just had one training session after another. I learned the ins and outs of the NATO organization: who reported to whom, what the rules were, how the rules could be bent, and when the rules could be broken. I learned interrogation techniques and basic firearm skills. Dominique even tried to get me into a lock-picking course, until she realized there would be no point. My nightcrafter training gave me many of the skills I’d need for my new job, including the ability to soak up all this new information. As grueling as it all was, it was nothing compared to Kellar’s unforgiving tutelage in the ways of the dark.
During this training process I occasionally played the role of lab rat while Newton performed his experiments. He was never pushy about it, and none of the tests hurt so I didn’t have much to complain about. I even
used some of the time to get some naps in since Newton wanted to see if my dreams had any effect on my abilities. But whatever Newton learned from me, I think I learned twice as much from him. He gave me a clear perspective of the Rift and my magic from a scientific perspective. It didn’t make my magic any better, but it did make me feel a lot smarter.
Once Dominique was satisfied that I’d learned enough to not embarrass her, she gave me my first real assignment. I was going to Europe with a specialized NATO team, and Newton. Dominique had two objectives for us to achieve. The main point of the mission was to chart out NATO’s first accurate map of the Rift’s boundaries and hot spots in Europe. But we were also supposed to get a feel for where the European nightcrafters were hanging out.
As a kid, I’d often fantasized about touring Europe with a rock band (I’d be the lead singer, of course). Dreams of groupies and crazy sex in exotic places like the Netherlands danced in my head. But this trip definitely fell short of the fantasy. Instead of groupies, I had a gaggle of NATO chaperones tailing me. Instead of sex, I was usually freezing my ass off in some forest.
Newton was by my side during nearly every waking moment. He had a menagerie of devices used to measure everything from heat signatures to the dew point in the air. But most of his time was spent searching for that 214 Hz ELF field, and using it as a guide to create his map.
I spent all of November searching the frigid hinterlands of Europe at night. By the time I was done, I wanted a vacation somewhere hot and sunny and full of vibrant life — like Vegas or Tijuana. But the pain was all worth it because, at the end of it all, we had our map.
When all the data was collected and analyzed, Newton unveiled a high-resolution digital map detailing the edge of the Rift down to an accuracy of three feet. It integrated satellite images and street-level photography and all kinds of crap. I was impressed. I’d never seen a detailed map of the Rift during my lessons, and I doubted any nightcrafters ever had any kind of map although they all knew the general areas where the Rift was sure to be. For the first time, I felt like we really had an advantage over the other nightcrafters. I started to believe we could actually beat them.
* * *
A well-deserved rest came on a bright but chilly afternoon in a quaint little Dutch town called Enschede. It was officially our day off, and it arrived long after I’d lost track of how many consecutive nights we’d spent mapping the Rift with as much accuracy as Newton’s brain and gadgets could manage. Our nights were spent finding the edges of the Rift’s spread while our days were spent analyzing the data, planning the next night’s scans, and grabbing sleep wherever we could. Today, we finally had a chance to relax. Newton and I left our escort of burly military types to enjoy their naps and sports and efforts to chase local booty while we went off to explore the town and actually enjoy the daylight for once. To my surprise, Newton spoke Dutch fairly well, so we didn’t have much trouble navigating the town and finding a wonderful bar with seemingly every beer known to man.
The bar had an odd Dutch name that I couldn’t pronounce and I forgot it two seconds after Newton told me. The exterior was pretty plain, and it looked like a dozen other places we’d seen on this trip. But once we got inside it was a whole different story. The few patrons there were all smiles and bloodshot eyes. The place was filled with a flowery potpourri that reminded me of springtime in a meadow. It was completely unlike the bars I was used to in New York. Those joints smelled dank and had a faint aroma of spilled alcohol and vomit.
“This town is located just off the German border,” Newton said. “So it has a fine selection of the best Dutch and German beers. There’s a brewery in town that makes some amazing stuff you just can’t get in the states. This place has a great sampler special too. Seven varied beers for a good price.”
We settled in at a booth. Newton used his flawless Dutch to order some food and the beer sampler for two. A few minutes later there was a plate of meat and fourteen glasses of beer on our table.
“NATO doesn’t do random breathalyzer tests, right?” I asked Newton as I took my first sip of a dark and nutty lager.
“Not for our department,” Newton said. “We don’t even officially exist. But don’t ever mention this cornucopia of alcohol to Dominique.”
“Why not?”
Newton made air quotes with his fingers and said, “The rules. The rules state that we’re only allowed a maximum of two drinks. After the kind of week we’ve had, the rules can kiss my ass. But, like I said, don’t tell Dominique. She’s usually fairly lenient about these things but . . . you can never be too careful with that woman.”
“Understood,” I said. “You know, I don’t think I ever asked how you joined up with her and this whole government thing.”
“I was recruited out of high school,” Newton said. “The government keeps an eye on promising young prodigies, and when I got into MIT at age sixteen I drew some attention and they made me a deal. They’d pay all my education costs and give me a job once I graduated, in exchange for a five year minimum commitment to them and I’d spend my summers in their training programs.”
“Ah,” I said. “So you’re already a veteran. Is that why you know Dutch so well?”
Newton took another swig of his beer and nodded. “And German and French and some decent Russian. I’ve been groomed for this job since I was a teenager.”
“Seems like we have that in common,” I said. “We both learned our skills pretty early.”
“Here’s to the early bloomers,” Newton said, raising his glass. “How’s your beer?”
“Good. Although I’m not really the best judge. This is actually the first time I’ve had beer in years. Drinking isn’t something I ever made a habit of. But I’ve been a little stressed recently so . . . why not?”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Newton said. “This job does bring with it a certain amount of tension. I know more than a few colleagues on anti-anxiety medication.” He pointed to his glass, full of an amber liquid with a frothy head, and smiled. “I prefer to self-medicate.”
“I noticed,” I said.
“It’s either this, or sex,” Newton said.
“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve tried that too.”
“What?” Newton said. “I find that difficult to believe. A handsome fellow like you? You must attract plenty of girls.”
I gave him a suspicious glare. “Now you’re just fishing.”
“Guilty as charged,” he said. His face was turning red, but I didn’t know if that was because he was embarrassed or because the alcohol hit him that fast.
“I’m surprised you don’t know already,” I said. “You seem to know everything else about me. Is there something missing from my file?”
“Contrary to popular belief,” Newton said, “we don’t have orientation records for every citizen. Electronic surveillance still has certain limitations, thankfully.”
“Thankfully,” I said, and took a long sip from my glass to avoid having to say anything else.
“Change of topic,” Newton said. “This is your first trip to Europe, right? What do you think so far?”
“It’s nice. Friendly people, good food, beautiful land.”
“A magical land, would you say?” Newton’s glassy blue eyes twinkled.
“I would say that, actually. This region has a kind of Old World charm. It feels like people have been using magic around here for a long time.”
“You know,” Newton said, lowering his voice. “I was thinking about this earlier and I’ve got some theories I’d like to bounce off you. But that kind of talk will have to wait until we’re a little more drunk and we’re someplace with a little more privacy. Classified mission, right?”
“Shut up and drink,” I said.
And so he did, and so did I. We drank porters and pilsners and bitters and blondes. We talked more about our pasts, and our families. Newton told me stories about growing up in a family of eggheads and spending his summers
in camps ostensibly designed to let kids freely explore intellectual activities with other like-minded children, but instead they frequently led to some campers getting caught doing drugs or doing each other. I did my best to reciprocate, but my childhood was pretty boring until I met Kellar. Still, I tried to provide Newton interesting anecdotes from my youth. But, no matter what I said, I always got the impression that I was telling him something he already knew.
Ninety minutes later we had finished all fourteen beers and were quite happy. We weren’t totally wasted, since the beers had pretty low alcohol content, but the world had definitely changed. I was feeling a nice floating sensation, and a general sense of glee. Everything and everyone in the bar evoked a smile out of me. Newton’s behavior was basically the same as always, but the drinking had a more obvious physical effect on him. His cheeks were flushed and his hair was messier than usual. His glasses comically tilted to one side.
“We should go,” he said. “I still have a lot of things to talk to you about.” Then he lowered his voice and said, “But we can’t do it here. These people don’t have the clearance.”
We both laughed at that. I had no idea why it was so damned funny, and didn’t really care. Newton paid our bill, then we went back out into the crisp Dutch air. Walking took a bit more effort than it had when we came in, but we both managed to travel the short mile back to our hotel in decent time, and without drawing any disapproving glares from the locals.
We went into Newton’s room since it was closer than mine. He got the keycard out of his pocket and into the lock so smoothly that I might have guessed that he was still sober. But he promptly stumbled over a pair of shoes he’d left on the floor and tumbled onto the bed. I had to cover my mouth to hold in the laughter.