by Geof Johnson
“I’d love to see that reunion, though. Can you picture it? Families that have been separated for centuries and didn’t even know of each other’s existence, suddenly brought together? That would be fascinating to witness. Imagine the stories they’d tell.”
“Imagine the casseroles they’d bring,” Dr. Tindall said, and they all laughed.
Dr. Westbrook turned and gazed at their surroundings. “What a fantastic, crazy thing.” Then she frowned at Dr. Tindall. “You’ve been keeping this a secret all this time?”
“I couldn’t tell anyone because of the oath, like the one you just took. I think it’s important to get an anthropologist here right away, though if you agree to study this culture, you’ll have to keep it a secret. You can come with me on the weekends, if you want. I’ve already got a place to stay, or we could stay at the inn. That would be fun, I think. Jamie’s going to let me use the school’s pickup truck, so we’ll have transportation. It’s really a wonderful place to work, Karen. What do think? Will you do it? You won’t have to take the inoculation potion again.”
“I’m definitely intrigued.” Dr. Westbrook smiled and lifted her eyebrows nearly to her hairline.
Jamie pointed an accusing finger at Dr. Tindall. “But not until you investigate the second mining site. You promised.”
“Oh, I will. I’m just waiting on you to select the world.”
“What’s this?” Dr. Westbrook said.
“She has to do an environmental impact study of a potential mining site for us,” Jamie said, “and it’ll be on a different planet, for the same company that’s already mining another world. It’s how we make most of our money to pay for everything, now.”
“I want to go with you, Nancy,” Dr. Westbrook said, “if it’s on another planet. I didn’t know there were more.”
“There are thousands of Earth-like planets that I can make doorways to,” Jamie said. “Maybe millions. Maybe an infinite number. But Dr. Tindall has to check one out for us before I approve the mining deal.”
“Then I’ll definitely go with you. My background isn’t biology, but I’m sure I can be helpful.” She smiled broadly. “Jamie, can we stay here a while so I can see more of this place?”
“I’ve got track practice here around four o’clock. I can make a doorway back to campus for you then. How’s that?”
“Your team is training here?” She looked at the gravel track nearby and knitted her brow. “Don’t you have a nice facility back in Cullowhee?”
Jamie tsked. “It’s a long story, but my team likes to run here, so I make doorways for them almost every day.”
Dr. Tindall glanced at her watch and nodded. “We can stay until then. If we get cold, we can always go inside the school.” She put her hand on Dr. Westbrook’s arm. “We should do that anyway so you can meet Jamie’s grandmother, Evelyn. She works here.”
“She teaches here? On another world?”
“Somebody’s gotta do it,” Jamie said. “In fact, we’re looking for a science teacher for next year. Want a job?”
“No.” She chuckled. “I have one, thanks.”
* * *
The two CIA agents suggested that all of Jamie’s friends should help plan the second mission to Romania, but only three of them could be a part of the actual strike team. Eric had several reasons for that: the cliff ledge by the monastery where Jamie would put the doorway was too small for all of them, fewer people meant less chance of getting discovered, and Eric and Terry had only brought back three extra bulletproof vests from their last visit to the CIA headquarters.
“Nobody goes without a vest,” Eric insisted. “Not even you, Jamie. I don’t care if your shield can protect you from a nuclear missile strike. You might lower it for a moment, and that’s all the time a sniper needs to kill you.”
“Sniper?” Rollie frowned and put a fist on his hip. “You didn’t say anything about snipers.”
“I’m not saying that one will be doing sentry duty, but it’s a possibility. They’re not as effective at night.”
“We’re definitely going at night,” Fred said firmly. “Late at night, like, two or three in the morning, Romanian time. We want the witches in the monastery to be asleep when we go, because we’ll probably have to use a spell or two on the guards, and those witches will feel it if they’re awake.”
“Right,” Terry said. “We don’t want to tip Cage off that we’re utilizing magic.”
Jamie held up his hand and waved it loosely. “Eric, are we snatching him on this mission? I thought we were just tweakin’ his nose. Something relatively safe.”
“We won’t apprehend him unless the opportunity presents itself with minimal risk. My idea was for us to plant a bug on his property. I doubt we’d be able to put one inside the monastery, but we can still get some useful intel from outside, if we put it in the right place.”
“What kind of bug?” Nova said.
“Two, actually, paired in one small package, stuck up in a tree.” He looked at Jamie. “That’s where you come in.” Then he swept one flattened hand through the air.
“I get to fly on this mission? Cool.”
“You’ll still have to stay below radar range. You’ll need to place it up in a tree, and it may be too dark to translocate it accurately. The unit will consist of a very sensitive outdoor mike and another device that will pick up two-way radio and cell phone transmissions. Both units will be coupled with an antenna that will send the signal to our other satellite, the one that’s permanently stationed over Eastern Europe.”
“So what do we do?” Melanie touched her chest with one finger, then pointed at Bryce, Rollie, and Nova.
“We need your help planning the details of the mission,” Terry said. “Nobody’s ever tried anything like this before, and you are familiar with Jamie, Fred, and Rollie’s capabilities.
“Rollie’s going?” Nova’s eyes narrowed sharply. “Why do you need him? He might get hurt.”
“We’ll try to make sure that he doesn’t,” Terry said, “but I think we might need his super speed.”
Rollie flashed a cocky grin and started to say something, but Nova elbowed him the ribs. “Ow!” His brow dropped sharply. “What was that for?”
“Don’t you go gettin’ overconfident and get yourself killed.” Then she waggled a finger in his face. “And don’t do anything stupid!”
“Nobody will,” Terry said. “We’re going to come up with a good plan, and everybody’s going to come back safe and sound.”
“You’d better,” Nova said. “If you’re going to Dracula’s backyard, we’re going to have to come up with a fool-proof plan.”
* * *
Early Saturday evening, Jamie, Fred, and Rollie returned to Eric and Terry’s house, all of them dressed in dark clothes and wearing heavy coats and gloves. Fred had a bag slung over her shoulder, full of various potions and powders.
Eric and Terry were ready for them when Jamie and his friends stepped through the magic doorway into the agents’ living room. They had on their bulletproof vests, and their pistols were strapped to their waists; their assault rifles were at their feet.
“This is what we’re planting tonight.” Eric held out a fist-sized apparatus that looked like two cell phones that were strapped to a tiny satellite dish. “I rigged this up yesterday.”
“Don’t you think they’ll notice?” Fred said. “That’s pretty suspicious-looking.”
“Well, first of all, nobody ever looks up, and this is going to be way up in a tree.” Then he turned around to the table and grabbed a cluster of dark green plastic leaves. “And if they do, this will camouflage it. This is fake mistletoe that I got from the craft store.” He slipped its stem through one of the black plastic straps that bound the devices together. “See?”
“How is it going to attach to the tree?” Rollie asked.
Eric flipped it over to reveal a two-inch long spike on the back. “I fixed a big roofing nail to it. Jamie’s going to have to jam it into the bark of one
of the branches, with the little dish pointing up. You can do that with your magic, can’t you?”
“I think I can get the bark to mold itself around it. That’ll be better.”
“Is that one of your spells?” Terry said.
“I can get plants to do stuff, especially trees. That’s why I’m majoring in Biology.” Jamie held out his hand and said, “Can I see it?” Eric gave it to him and Jamie hefted it and frowned. “It’s heavier than I thought it would be.”
“It’s got a lot of electronics packed in there,” Eric said. “A super-sensitive microphone, a bug to pick up electronic broadcasts, and a transmitter.”
Fred eyed it and said, “Don’t drop it while you’re up in the tree. It’ll make a racket.”
“Okay.” Eric set his jaw and looked each of them in the eye. “Does everybody know what to do?”
“We’ve been over it a hundred times,” Rollie said. “Let’s go.”
“Wait.” Terry handed each of them a bulletproof vest and a black ski mask. “Put these on first.”
“And everybody make sure you have your countercharms,” Fred said, “or you’ll get as stupefied as the guards.”
Jamie pushed open the magic doorway and a blast of frigid air swept into the room.
Fred crossed her arms and shivered. “Oooh, it’s cold.”
“That’s why we have to wear heavy coats and gloves.” Terry flicked off the overhead light. “Jamie, check it out for us.”
Jamie stepped through to the narrow ledge where they had entered Romania the last time, which was lit by thin light from the quarter moon. He inspected the footing, kicking at the powdery snow, and took a few tentative steps down the length of the rocky outcropping, and nodded to himself. Then he leaned back inside the doorway to where everyone still waited. “It’s okay. I don’t think we’ll slip and fall.”
“How far is the drop?” Rollie said.
“Couple hundred feet, maybe.”
“It’s more than that.” Eric walked out with his assault rifle held tightly in both hands and his ski mask over his head. Everyone else followed, and crowded onto the ledge. Eric put a finger to his lips and pointed skyward, and Jamie nodded and floated up to the edge of the cliff, twenty feet above. He stopped and hovered when his eyes cleared the last of the sheer rocky wall, and he scanned the area.
Lights on tall poles still illuminated the runway, which was cratered from Jamie’s blasts weeks earlier. Two guards stood nearby with their backs to him, and about 50 yards away sat a new helicopter, protected by two more men. All of them wore heavy coats and hoods, with rifles slung across their backs and their chins tucked low against the cold, shifting their weight from foot to foot or shuffling about.
Jamie descended to the group waiting below and held up four gloved fingers. “Two just ahead,” he whispered, “and two by the chopper.”
Terry pointed at Fred and mouthed, “Your turn.”
Fred, nearly unrecognizable with her head covered in a black ski mask, grasped her silver fairy necklace in one hand and nodded. Jamie summoned his will and gestured, and she slowly ascended, as if being lifted by helium balloons. When she reached the top, she began spinning the charmed pendant in a broad circle, the silver chain blurring into a ghostly disk in the light from the runway. After a few seconds, she held out her free hand and raised her thumb.
“The guards are stunned now,” Jamie said in a low voice.
Eric tapped his chest with his hand, and Jamie levitated him to join Fred, then Jamie sent Terry, both agents with their weapons level and ready for violence. Rollie was the last remaining with Jamie on the narrow ledge.
Rollie tugged his mask lower and cleared his throat softly. “I guess it’s my turn, huh?”
“Scared?”
“Nah,” he said, though Jamie didn’t believe him.
“This isn’t as bad as when we had to deal with the demon,” Jamie said.
“Nothin’s bad as the demon.”
“You got Fred’s other Stupefyin’ pendant?”
Rollie opened his hand and showed him the small brass cross and chain. “You got the spyin’ device?”
“It’s in my coat pocket.”
“Fake mistletoe?”
“Other pocket. You’re stalling, Rollie.”
“Just making sure.” Rollie tilted his head back and looked upward. “I’m ready. Send me.”
Jamie floated Rollie to the edge of the cliff where the others waited, then flew up to meet them. Eric and Terry crouched on either side of Fred with their guns trained on the runway. Fred was still spinning her necklace, and all of Cage’s security guards stood like statues. The only clues that they were alive were the small mists of frosted breaths that escaped from their slack mouths at regular intervals.
It was a surreal scene: Four unknown men, frozen in place, sculptures silhouetted by the glare of the security lights. They spread stark shadows across the hard concrete of the runway, which still bore the deep scars of Jamie’s previous sorcery. Quiet as a graveyard.
Rollie tapped Jamie on the arm and whispered. “Show me exactly where I gotta go.”
Jamie pointed off in the distance to his right. “That big tree near the corner of the building. Remember, I can’t make a doorway for you because the glow is too bright, so you have to run as fast as you can without tripping, and stick to the shadows. Soon as you get there, start spinning the pendant in case anybody comes by.”
“Eric,” Rollie said, “are you sure there are no land mines or traps or anything?”
Eric looked over his shoulder at them, still aiming his gun at the men on the runway. “Not where you’re going. It’s too close to the edge of the cliff. There may be some by the access road, where they’d expect an attack to come from. It’s the only way up here unless you have a sorcerer with you.”
Rollie turned and ran off, immediately blurring as he streaked away at a supernatural speed. He stopped when he reached the designated tree and began twirling the enchanted pendant, and Jamie prepared to join him. “Here goes,” Jamie muttered. He summoned his will and translocated.
He reappeared next to Rollie, who stood behind the giant poplar near the south corner of the old stone monastery. “Keep that thing going,” he said to Rollie and pointed at the pendant. Rollie twirled it with one hand, eyes darting about, looking for possible trouble.
“Hurry,” Rollie whispered. “It’s cold, and I can’t do this all night.”
Jamie looked down and saw dozens of crumpled white stubs the size of pencil erasers, scattered on the ground among the gnarled roots. “Are those cigarette butts?”
Rollie glanced, too, still spinning the necklace. “I guess this is where the guards hide from the boss when they’re on break.” Then he grunted and said, “Now, will you go already?”
Jamie leaned back and gazed up the length of the giant tree, the upper reaches of it dimly illuminated by the distant runway lights. Eric said don’t go any higher than seventy-five feet.
Jamie eyed a spot that looked promising and floated slowly toward it, careful not to hit his head on any branches as he rose. When he thought he’d gone high enough, he settled onto a stout limb and rested one hand on the trunk. He carefully slipped the listening device from his coat pocket and studied it for a moment, trying to decide where to put it. He chose a place on the nearest branch, which was slightly above and off to the side of the one on which he was sitting.
I’ll have to do the spell bare handed to make this gizmo stick to the tree. He rested the deceptively heavy piece of electronics on his thigh and pulled at the tight-fitting glove on his right hand. It resisted stubbornly at first, and he had to yank to free it. It finally popped off, but the motion jostled the apparatus from his leg. It tumbled away.
He reached for it in a panic but grabbed only air. Oh, crap! His senses immediately shifted to his slow-motion vision as he watched it hurtle downward, spinning as it fell like an electronic meteor. Straight toward an unsuspecting Rollie.
Look o
ut! Jamie wanted to shout but couldn’t for fear of alerting other guards. Instinctively, he pointed a bare finger at the missile and commanded: Levitate. It slowed to a halt inches from Rollie’s skull and hovered in the air like a satellite over his head. Rollie still twirled the pendant, unaware, while he scanned the surrounding area for danger, never seeing the near-disaster that floated just above.
Jamie exhaled a sigh of relief, gestured upward, and the device rose and returned to his hand. He wrapped his fingers firmly around it, careful of the nail that was fixed to it, and pressed it against the neighboring branch. Then he summoned his will as he pushed it in flush against the tree, the wood accepting it easily. He urged the bark to become softer, like cookie dough, and it flowed and grew around the edges of the device until it was firmly in place, now part of the mighty poplar as if it always been there.
Jamie smiled to himself, then pulled the fake mistletoe out of his other pocket and threaded the stem through one of the plastic straps on the unit. He paused and admired his work. That looks pretty good. I don’t think it’ll be noticeable from below.
He put his glove back on, dropped off the branch and descended to the ground next to Rollie, who was still spinning the necklace.
“Did you do it?” Rollie whispered.
Jamie nodded. “Let’s go.”
“You need to get rid of our footprints first. You got a spell for that, right?”
“Of course.”
They returned to Eric and Terry’s house, and Jamie made a doorway for the rest of their friends so they could join them. Nova was visibly relieved to see that Rollie was safe, but Rollie tried to act nonchalant about the mission. “It was nothin’,” he said with a shrug. “Everything went just like we planned it.”
“Except that I almost knocked you out with the device when I dropped it,” Jamie said.
Rollie wrapped his knuckles against his skull. “Wouldn’t ’a hurt. Head’s too hard.”