by Daniel Diehl
It was a long minute before Jason finally broke the silence. “How the fuck did you do that? I’ve never seen you do anything like that before?” His face was a mask of pure amazement while Beverley’s shone with delight.
“My boy that is nothing to what you may witness over the upcoming weeks. I have used very little of my power over the centuries, but I think it’s time I got back into practice.”
“You really are a wizard, aren’t you old man?”
“I told you before, there are no such things as wizards. But the things I do, I do very well. Now, are you ready to help me take on that le Fay creature?”
Jason kept his voice calm and even when he repeated the question “You’re a wizard, aren’t you?”
“Oh, alright, I lied. I am Merlin Emrys ap Morfryn, the greatest wizard in the history of the world. My power transcends science, nature and time itself, and I need your help. Are you up to the challenge?”
Chapter Twelve
The next morning Jason left the flat early, tying up loose ends at the University. He had not seen Merlin before he left and wasn’t sure if he might have slipped out on some private errand; but when he returned just before noon, he heard Merlin’s voice coming through the bedroom door. As Jason crept toward the door and peered through the inch-wide crack, aromatic smoke drifted out to meet him.
Propped against the computer stood the Venetian mirror and in front of it, his back toward the door, sat Merlin. He was surrounded by piles of scrolls and books and his hands were scribing strange shapes in the air, each pass leaving a pale blue streamer in its wake. On one side of the computer table, a small brass brazier sent sweet-smelling smoke floating toward the ceiling.
“Come in, boy,” Merlin said without turning his head. His hands kept up their steady motion, passing this way and that through the air. “You aren’t disturbing me and you know by now I don’t bite.” Then, he added with a small, wicked chuckle. “At least I won’t bite you.”
“I didn’t want to interrupt you. You know, break your concentration or anything.”
“Very thoughtful. But I’m almost finished, at least for the time being. Take your coat off, fix me a drink and I’ll be out in a moment. We need to have a little chat. Plans to lay.”
Jason puttered around in the kitchen waiting for Merlin to appear. Five minutes, ten, twenty. Finally, from the bedroom came a deep laugh and the single, emphatic word “YES.” A moment later, Merlin stood in the kitchen door, his hand out for Jack Daniels.
“You look pleased.”
Merlin smiled. “It seems that I haven’t lost the touch.”
“What were you doing in there?”
Merlin wandered toward the tiny living room, talking as he moved. “Just because the mirror was made of crystal doesn’t automatically make it a scrying glass; it requires preparation. The right powers must be imparted to the glass to make it work.”
“Is it ready now?”
“Not quite. But by this evening I can begin tracking our quarry.”
“You make it sound as though we were going on a big game hunt.” Jason smirked and wrinkled his brow as though he were slightly confused.
“We are. Don’t you see? Morgana has been hunting us; me for a thousand-and-a-half years, and you for at least a month. She’s a predator by nature. It’s what she does. Now, we’re going to turn the tables on her. The hunted are about to become the hunters.”
“So you think we should actually go after her?”
“We have no choice. If she gets to me before we get to her, she’ll have an entire army of fire-breathing monsters at her side and there will be no way to stop her.”
“I assume you have some kind of plan, here?”
“It is not very sophisticated but, yes. Not only must we find out how she contacts the Dragon Lords, we need to know how big her power base is. We need to know what she knows, who she knows and how much political and economic power she wields.”
“That’s the question. What’s the plan?”
“Once I’ve located her headquarters, we break in to them and steal her records - at least as many of them as we can cart off.”
Jason stared blankly. “That’s it?”
“I said it wasn’t very sophisticated, but it worked before so it should work again…if we don’t get caught.”
“Umm.” Jason pinched the bridge of his nose between a thumb and forefinger, shaking his head from side to side. “You’re right; it isn’t very sophisticated. A lot of things have changed.” After a pause to collect his thoughts, “Assuming she has as much money as she seems to have, she undoubtedly has the most sophisticated security system on the market. Motion sensors, sound sensors, infrared, video surveillance, that sort of thing. Not to mention the fact that she probably has a small army of armed security guards.”
“I can arrange it so neither the guards nor the cameras can see us.”
“I have no doubt you can. But even if you make us invisible the infrared heat sensors will pick us up. The guards will seal off the building and we’ll be trapped.”
“Hmm.” Merlin nodded, realizing his methods might be a little out of date. “So what do you suggest?”
“I know this doesn’t sound as romantic as what you have in mind, but no one keeps their records on scrolls any more.” Merlin knitted his brow and stared at Jason. “Everything is stored on CDs and computer files.”
“Everything?”
“Everything. Billions of documents, worldwide. Millions more being added every day. It’s almost foolproof. Everything is protected by passwords and embedded in encoded systems that require an expert to break into.”
“Then that makes it even easier. We just steal her computer.” Merlin seemed genuinely delighted with this revelation.
Jason smiled and waved a cautioning hand, halting Merlin’s train of thought. “No. If she has any kind of an organization at all, everything is backed up in a half dozen places. We might get a copy of the information, but she would still have it, too. Besides, even if we destroyed everything, she would know it was us.”
“I see.” Merlin nodded his shaggy head, his long beard bouncing on his stomach. “So what do you recommend?”
As though someone turned on a light in Jason’s head, he snapped his fingers. “A hacker.”
“A hacker?”
“Yep”, Jason nodded his head slowly, pleased with himself.
Merlin imitated him, his head bobbing up and down blankly. “What on earth is a hacker?”
“It is a sort of computer age sneak thief. Very sophisticated. A good hacker is a technological genius. They can extract information from any computer, anywhere without anyone ever knowing they were there.”
“So we break into Morgana’s offices and take one of these hacker people with us. He gets the information and all we have to do is get out without being caught. Right?”
“Wrong. We don’t have to break in at all. That’s the beauty of it. A hacker can tap into Morgana’s system from anywhere and extract or delete the information without anybody ever knowing he was there.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Very.”
“Now that’s what I call wizardry of the highest order.” Merlin relaxed into his chair, pondering this new electronic world. “So where do we find one of these hackers?”
“I have absolutely no idea.”
Leaning forward, Merlin patted Jason lightly on the knee. “Then you, my boy, have your first challenge in our quest. You locate one of these hackers while I finish the scrying glass and concentrate on finding the Lady le Fay.”
“Right. No problem”, Jason lied. He pushed himself out of the chair, wondering how to find a world class hacker. Half to himself, he muttered “Maybe Beverley knows somebody who knows a hacker. I don’t know...”
Merlin interrupted his rambling train of thought. “Speaking of your friend Beverley, I have something for her.” Merlin rose and walked toward the bedroom, motioning Jason to follow.
; Rummaging through pile of scrolls and papers littering the floor, Merlin finally located what he was looking for. Stepping toward Jason he held out his hand. It was balled up in a tight fist.
“Here. Give this to Beverley and tell her to wear it at all times. She must never take it off. It will prevent Morgana from locating her only so long as she has it on.”
Merlin opened his hand exposing a tiny crucifix on a delicate silver chain. Studying it for a second, Jason saw that the cross was made from some kind of reddish stone. The four arms terminated in finely filigreed caps of the same silver as the chain and the little figure of Christ. Jason looked at Merlin for a moment before he spoke. “That’s very thoughtful, but I don’t think Beverley is a Catholic.”
“I don’t think God cares which church she goes to. Besides, in this instance, the religious connotation is only symbolic. The power lies in the cross itself. I have imbued the stone with the ability to prevent Morgana from tracking its wearer. So long as this is around Beverley’s neck she will be invisible to Morgana’s scrying.”
“Wow. Why don’t we each have one of these?”
“If I had any idea Morgana knew where I was, I would have made us each a similar charm weeks ago. But now, we want her to know where we are. If she loses track of us now, she will know we’re fighting back. We don’t want that. We need her to believe she still has the upper hand.”
“Right. Got ya’.” Jason closed his hand around the crucifix for a second before dropping it into his shirt pocket. “Thank you, Merlin. I know Beverley will appreciate this and so do I.”
“It’s the least I could do. I seem to have put her in harm’s way and I must do all I can to protect her. She’s a very nice young lady.”
* * * *
“You need to talk to my brother.”
Jason and Beverley were staring out through the big windows of Betty’s tearoom. Outside, in the cobblestone square, a mime dressed like a gigantic a Punch and Judy character, made himself grow taller and shorter to the delight of a crowd of children huddled against the biting wind. Jason had already given her the crucifix, explained the importance of never taking it off, and brought the conversation around to his search for a hacker. After staring silently into her coffee for some minutes, Beverley’s voice made Jason shift his gaze away from the mime.
“I didn’t know you had a brother.”
“Jonathan. He’s only eighteen and still lives at home with Mum and Dad, but he knows all about computers. I think it’s what he does.”
Jason knitted his brow. “You don’t know?”
“All I know is that he spends his whole life in his room with his computer and he seems to be making money. Somehow.”
“You think he might be a hacker?”
“I don’t know. But all his friends, such as they are, seem to be people he knows on-line. Even if he’s not a hacker he might know somebody who knows somebody.”
“Hey. It’s worth a shot.”
“I’ll ring home tonight to see if my parents would mind us paying a visit.”
“Great. I guess we should start back, I’m dying to see Merlin’s mirror...I mean, his scrying glass.” They shared a small laugh at the strangeness of their new reality as they struggled into their coats and headed toward the door.
Chapter Thirteen
Two days later, Merlin had completed work on the mirror and was beginning the laborious work of tuning in to Morgana le Fay’s vibrations, insisting he would be fine on his own while Jason and Beverley visited Jonathan. They left early, taking Beverley’s Mini southwest out of York toward Leeds. From there, they drove through Manchester and on to Chester where Beverley’s parents lived. They were met at the door by a small, comfortable looking woman in her middle years.
“Come in out of the cold. You two must be half frozen.” Jean McCullough smiled and bustled, keeping up a stream of welcoming chatter as she tossed their coats onto a chair.
“You must be Jason.” She said, looking him over approvingly. “And I’ve heard very nice things about you from Beverley. I understand your grandfather is visiting you. How nice. You should have brought him along.”
“That’s very kind of you, Mrs. McCullough...”
“Jean, please.” She was headed toward the kitchen, motioning them to follow.
“Well then, that’s very kind of you, Jean. But he is busy with his...ahh...studies at the moment. I left him with my computer so he is perfectly happy.”
“Computer skills at his age, bless him. If I were twenty years younger I might take up computing myself.” Jason smiled politely as she continued talking while putting on the tea kettle. “As it is, I’m the only one in the family who isn’t an absolute computer whiz. Honestly, sometimes they all sit around talking about interfacing and downloading and I’m completely lost. Oh, well, not to worry. Here, now. A nice cup of tea. Just the thing to take the chill off your bones. You two just relax while I go tell Jonathan you are here.”
“Your Mom seems like a nice lady.” Jason said, after Jean scurried out of the room.
“She is. Really. She just gets a little flustered when her routine is interrupted.”
“I know. Mine’s the same way.” They both smiled and nodded.
Jean McCullough bustled back into the room like a tiny tornado. “Whenever you’re settled in, Jonathan says you can come up. I tried to get him to come down, but you know how teenagers are.”
Rising from her chair, Beverley walked over to her mother and gave her a hug and a kiss. “Thanks Mum. It was really nice of you to let me and Jason drop in on such short notice.”
Jean gave her daughter an affectionate squeeze. “Don’t be silly, dear. This is still your home. You don’t have to make an appointment to see us. Now you two go up and see your brother.”
Following Beverley’s shapely form down the hall and up the stairs, Jason wondered what this Jonathan person was like. He had never had much luck communicating with computer geeks, all zit-faced, glasses and babbling techno-speak. His vague musings were interrupted when Beverley knocked on one of the bedroom doors.
“Jonathan? Open up. It’s your sister.”
“C’mon in. It ain’t locked or anything.”
The room was a warren of shelves filled with disassembled computers and boxes filled with CDs. In one corner was an unmade bed. Jonathan McCullough stopped staring at a computer screen long enough to turn around and greet his sister.
“Hey, Sis.”
“Hey, yourself. This is my friend Jason. Jason, my brother, Jonathan.”
Beverley’s brother stuck his hand out toward Jason who returned the gesture. Jonathan McCullough was not at all what Jason had expected. He was a nice looking young man with a broad, pleasant smile and a firm handshake. He even had shoulders. Nothing at all like the geek image Jason had conjured up.
“So Mum tells me you’re a Yank. You follow the Denver Broncos?
“Uhh, no, not really. I’m not into sports much.”
“Shame. The Broncs are on a roll this season.” He gestured toward the one side chair and the rumpled bed. “Make yourself comfortable if you can find a place.” Beverley indicated Jason should take the chair while she perched on the edge of the bed with a look suggesting something might crawl out from under the covers and make a grab for her.
“So, Bev says you need some computer help. What can I do?”
Jason had been wondering how to explain what they needed without going into detail. Drawing himself up in the chair, he unfolded a complicated lie cobbled together on the drive down. “What we need is a serious hacker. My grandfather’s company is having a lot of its software pirated by one of his competitors. They’re tapping into his system and he needs help tracing the hack to its source. And I think he wants to do the same thing to them. Sort of a payback thing. And it all has to be done so they can’t trace it back to my granddad.” Jonathan had been listening intently, nodding his head in understanding. “So, can you do this, Jonathan?”
“Who, me?” Jonatha
n smirked, letting out a laugh that sounded like escaping steam. “No way. All I do is pirate music and movies, dub them off and sell copies. You need a real surgeon.”
Jason sighed; his first attempt to help Merlin was a dead end. “So you can’t help us?” He started to rise. “Well, thanks for...”
“I didn’t say I couldn’t help you. I said I couldn’t do it myself.”
Jason lowered himself back onto the chair. “So, like, what? You know someone who can?”
Jonathan bobbed his head noncommittally adding, “I think so.”
“Is he good? Do you know him well enough to trust him? How do I get in touch with him?” The questions tumbled out on top of each other.
“Hey.” Jonathan held up his hands. “I don’t know him at all, at least not personally. I’ve dealt with him online a little. I think he just takes pity on me. Mostly I know him by reputation.”
“Is he good?” This time, Jason’s voice was calmer.
“He’s a god. He won’t say it, but the word is he’s hacked the Pentagon, the FBI, NSA, MI5, MI6 and, some say, even the CIA. Believe me, this guy is the best there is.”
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know his real name, nobody does, but he goes by Nemo.”
“You mean like the captain in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?
“Yep. You know, Nemo had a submarine and went to the bottom of the ocean. Well, this Nemo gets to the bottom of things, too. It’s an allusion, you know?”
“Right. An allusion. So how do we get to him?”
“That’s the hard part. Nobody knows where he lives. In his business he can’t afford to be found. It is massively illegal, after all.”
“So how do we get in touch with him?”
“I can handle that. Then, if he agrees to help, I can tell him what you want. Believe me, he’s untraceable.”