Balance - Book 2

by Marc Dickason

  *****

  I climbed from the D.O.M van and surveyed the immense field in which Jeremy Dempsey would be giving his second speech. It was alive with activity, swarming with black dots that erected barricades and taped off areas. On the far end I could barely make out a stage.

  Two anomalies jumped out at me. The first was a dozen basic metal and wooden scaffolds erected at regular intervals around the field’s perimeter. The second was a network of wooden beams dotting the field, each standing eight foot and with upper tip painted bright red. The effect created was of an enormous Battleships board.

  “In here,” a voice called.

  I turned and saw Delaney waving from an unmarked tent. Its tarp covers flapping lazily in the morning breeze. A mobile D.O.M station. Inside Special Operation Enforcers were gathered around an equipment littered table. They looked at my arrival and nodded.

  “Jet,” Delaney said, “Good to see you again.”

  “And you, Leonard.”

  “We’re waiting for Commander Gill.”

  “Alright.”

  There was a beat. He looked around awkwardly. “Be seeing Elaine for dinner on Saturday evening.”

  “That’s great,” I replied, smiling, “I hope it goes well.”

  “So do I.” He returned the smile. “She says hello, by the way.”

  “Tell her I say hello right back.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Commander Gill entered in a flourish.

  “Welcome, Enforcers. Are we all here? Excellent. The situation is simple enough so let’s just go over the details.” He handed out maps of the field. “When you spot the Spell call it in via the red beacon it is nearest to. That’s A to P up the front and one to sixteen up the sides. Are you all seeing this on your maps? Yes?”

  I looked at my map and saw an aerial sketch of the Battleships design.

  “Communicate via radio and assist each other finding that Caster,” Gill continued, “Restrain him or her quickly, quietly and politely. Any conflict will set that Spell off and we’re all well aware of the consequences. Questions? Then get out their and familiarise yourself with the layout. One body per scaffold.”

  For the next hour the handful of specialists communicated via radio. We circled the perimeter and discussed how best to divide up the field. I landed up in the scaffold at row E. My zone, including D to F and to the halfway point, vertical row eight, stretched out like a scrubby brown football field. Below the scaffolds, visible between my feet, the ‘crowd control’ Enforcers stretched out in an enormous ring. They circled the field from their positions behind a sturdy barricade. Benny and Clara Anderson would be among them.

  I raised my gaze to look out beyond the gathering area. It was surrounded on all sides by undeveloped land, with a single dirt road snaking off back towards the city. My secret hope had been that the remote location would discourage a large crowd. And guessed it had likewise been the hopes of the D.O.M. But by 11:00 the little road was gridlocked. And by 12:00 the adjacent field was blotted out with parked vehicles, their windshields flashing silver flares in the peaking sun.

  By 13:00 the gathering area was almost at full capacity. And by 13.30, the talk due to start in half an hour, the sea of bodies beneath me was dumbfounding. I gazed out and attempted to pick out an individual face, eyes exploring the pulsating mess. But the sheer number of people made it difficult to isolate a single person.

  “Hell of a crowd,” a voice came through radio, “we’re not going to find anything in this confusion. We need more Enforcers.”

  “Just stay focused and do what you can,” Gill’s voice snapped, “Keep your bearings. Stay calm and keep in communication. Refer to your maps. No amateur mistakes.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “Then get ready. I’ve just received word Dempsey is en route.”

  I saw a large black car pull up near the stage at the far end of the field. Via a road I had been completely unaware of. Three more vehicles followed close behind.

  “I see him,” a voice confirmed.

  Shapes emerged from the cars and headed for the mounting steps. They appeared Tom Thumb size from my perspective. One crossed the stage and a hush fell.

  “Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman,” Dempsey’s voice boomed.

  “Show time,” Gill said from my radio, “Eye’s peeled, Enforcers. See what you can see.”

  “I would like to first officially announce that I regret the outbreak of violence that occurred at my previous talk. I do understand that there is frustration and anger among magic users, and this is completely understandable. But please, I urge you all to stay calm and control your emotions. We are not here to fight, ladies and gentlemen. We are here to pioneer a new future.”

  A roar of agreement rose up.

  “And that’s why we’re here,” Dempsey went on, “To talk about our futures. All of our futures. And the futures of our children.” He raised a stack of papers high above his head. “And to talk about what I have here.”

  My eyes drifted down to the crowd. People settled and prepared to listen; men, women, old, young; thousands and thousands of faces. Here was a middle aged man who had worn a red baseball cap to keep the sun off his bald spot. Here a young lady whose sunglasses although expensive, did a terrible job of staying level on her nose. And here was a smiling young father with a child sitting on his shoulders.

  “Not detecting anything yet,” a voice came over my radio.

  “Me neither,” a second replied.

  “Nothing here,” a third voice; Delaney’s.

  I focused on a person directly below near the barricade. There was no sign of the spell. I moved on, found another face and probed. Nothing.

  “Nothing here,” I said into the radio.

  “…and don’t we owe it to our children to provide the best life we can?” the politician was saying, “Don’t we owe them a better future?”

  Another face a little further out into the crowd. Nothing. And another. Nothing.

  “I think a better future is worth striving for. And I don’t think I’m the only one. It’s time things changed. And we can be the pioneers of this change.” He flapped the booklet like a trophy. “What I have here is a draft for proposed laws concerning the magic using population. New laws, that aim to change not only the way society deals with magic users, but how it views them. No more halls packed from wall to wall with ignored citizens. Not another Judy Carlson!”

  The crowd roared again.

  Here we had a man in his fifties. His greyed hair and eyebrows erratic. But no spell. Here was a couple, mid thirties. Attractive and dressed in designer clothing. Nothing.

  “Still nothing,” stated a voice.

  “Nothing here,” followed a second.

  My eyes darted. Another face; nothing. Another; nothing.

  “Got something!” someone exclaimed. I raised the radio. “Benson. I got a bite, C-5.”

  “Confirm,” Gill said.

  There was a pause.

  “Yes, sir. Confirmed. Young man, early twenties. Girl next to him has it as well. Its complex, been passed… at least a dozen times, sir. Probably more.”

  “Move to assist, Enforcers,” Gill said, “Focus in.”

  I made to climb down my scaffold but another voice spoke.

  “Got another positive here, sir! Laurens. Right near the stage, P-2. Been passed more then a dozen times.”

  “Confirm that,” Gill snapped.

  “Confirmed.”

  “There is more then one point of origin. Split up. Those nearest the rear and front. Enforcers at the back switch your radios to channel two. Quickly now! If those spells cross over into each other’s areas this will be a logistical nightmare!”

  I descended the ladder and sprinted for Benson. A wall of Enforces, barricade, and forest of bodies blurred passed at my flank. I skirted two scaffolds and mounting the next. One beyond the confirmed contact row.

  “Anything?” I asked the Specialist already presen
t.

  “Nothing yet.”

  I scanned a person directly below. Nothing. My eyes moved further out into the crowd. Nothing. I turned my head and picked a person halfway between me and Benson. And there it was.

  ‘A better future for me, a better future for my children.’

  I dove in, trying to bar out the deafening ambient noise. And reached for the underlying notes. At first they remained illusive and I fought an urge to yell out for everyone to ‘shut the hell up’. But there they were. A cluster of singing frequencies, one, two, three… one discordant, two the same…four, five six…

  “I have it here,” I said into my radio. My eyes flicked to the nearest wooden post. “B-3. It’s been passed about nine or ten times.”

  “Then your Caster is in rows A or B,” Gill said, ‘Enforcers you are focusing on rows A and B!”

  I descended the scaffold and sprinted to row A, the other man following close behind. As the sea of bodies whipped past the Spell was becoming noticeable as a larger entity.

  ‘A better future for me, a better future for my children…’

  “I have it here,” a voice said, “A-3. And 2. It’s pretty much everywhere. I have it at about six passes near 5.”

  “Here too,” someone added, “About five passes near A-5. We’re getting close.”

  I arrived at the scaffold. A Specialist was mounting the ladder.

  “Stay down, Clarence,” he yelled, “When we find the Caster you’ll have to go in and restrain him!”

  “Okay!”

  “Move up, Clarence,” Gill said, “who else is down there? Who’s helping Clarence?”

  “I’m on it,” a voice replied.

  I jogged past the scaffold and around the back of the barricade. The distant figure of Delaney came running up from the opposite direction. He saw me and gave an acknowledging wave.

  ‘A better life for me, a better life for my children…’

  The spell grew. It rose into the ambience and gathered like a cloud.

  “…all we ask is to spare our children the oppression we have experienced,” Dempsey was saying, “we may have struggled, but they deserve better. And this law draft can offer them the life of equality we only dreamed of.”

  A roar of agreement thundered like a million stampeding horse hooves.

  “About three at A-6. It’s right near here, its right near here…’

  “Stay on it, stay on it,” Gill’s voice urged, “They’re closing in on the other side. We’ve got this.”

  I moved up the columns, having to periodically stop and jump on the spot to see the posts. Enforcers between me and the barricade turned to look, their faces anxious.

  “What’s going on?” one asked, “is it under control?”

  “Just stay focused,” I replied.

  Delaney spun and gestured for me to approach.

  “Here!” he yelled, “A-6!”

  I sprinted towards him.

  “Woman in the blue top,” the radio said, “I got about three on her!”

  “Three on the blonde man beside her. You guys ready down there?”

  “Yes!” Delaney responded. I arrived, panting, beside him. He turned to me. “Clarence, we have to do this as quietly as possible. As quietly as possible. Don’t cause a stir. We calmly make our way through the crowd, approach the person, and I will disable them.”

  I nodded.

  “I have two on the woman, pink top, sunglasses…”

  “Two on the guy she’s with! Chequered shirt. It’s someone right here.”

  “Two on the fat guy. And two on the guy next to him. Commander Gill, it’s someone right here just a few meters from the post. But I can’t find the source.”

  “Keep looking, keep looking!”

  The spell was washing over me in pulsating waves. Emanating from nearby in the crowd. Whoever it was had to be just beyond the first rows of people.

  “You feel it?” Delaney asked me.

  I nodded, “Yes,” and raised the radio to my mouth. “We can feel it here, Commander Gill. It’s getting stronger.”

  “Wait for confirmation,’ Gill replied

  ‘A better life for me, a better life for my children…’

  “…a better life for us,” Dempsey was saying, “And for our children…”

  The air was electric. I craned my head back and looked up into the cloud flecked sky, knowing that above the Spirit was waiting. Swelled like an enormous bloated tick.

  “Holy shit! Gun! Gun! Clarence, Delaney! It’s a kid! He’s…”

  From directly ahead came the CRACK of a gunshot. I jumped, heart lurching. Beside me Delaney crouched. The bodies in front of us pulsed as thousands of men, women and children shared the same fright. A deafening roar of indignance followed.

  “Who is it!?” I yelled into my radio, “Who is it!?”

  “It’s a kid! Repeat, a child! Just a few meters directly in front of you! Blue shirt! Take five steps past the barricade! Quickly, quickly!”

  Already people were turning towards us and fighting to get over the barricade. Panic, fear and outrage blazed in a dozen nameless faces. The ring of Crowd Control Enforcers squared their shoulders.

  I turned to Delaney. We shared a nod and together pushed out calm laced Spirit. The Enforcers in front of us did the same. There was a visible reaction as expressions turned from rage to bewilderment.

  “Let’s do it,” Delaney barked.

  We pushed past the Enforcers and leapt over the barricade, ploughing into the crowd. But immediately I was jostled and manhandled as I attempting to squeeze through gaps. Desperate bodies fought for space.

  “Right there, right there!” a voice screamed from my radio, “You’re right on him, Delaney! Grab him!”

  I looked to my right but could not see Delaney.

  “That’s him, that’s him! Delaney has him, Commander!”

  “Get him out!” Gill roared, “Assist him, Clarence!”

  And I would have had I been able to. But it was then I lost my footing and was dragged to the ground. My world was replaced by a sea of legs. A hundred angry boots, shoes and high-heels assaulted me. Claustrophobia and suffocation swept in. Feet stomped on me, kicked me, one stood briefly on my head crushing the still raw stitches and drawing blood.

  “Delaney! Clarence went down!” I heard the radio squawk.

  I attempted to stand and was sent back to the ground in a mess of limbs.

  ‘You’re going to die here,’ my mind whispered.

  Panic erupted. I realised my Spirit was being called into life. As a last resort my knees drew up and I curled into a ball, covering my head with both arms. Attempts to control my breathing were futile.

  “Oh shit, oh shit…”

  More shoes and feet pounded down. The toe of a construction boot bounced off the back of my head. Someone else trod on my ankle and I cried out. My Spirit heard the call and prepared to fight back. Rational thought was slipping. I again tried to struggle back to my feet. This time a hand gripped me under an arm.

  “Stand clear, stand clear!” I heard a voice roaring, “Careful, here! Stand clear!”

  Beside me was Delaney. Around us the crowd eased away as he pushed out his Spirit.

  “Come on, Clarence!” he yelled into my ear, “Keep calm! This way!”

  We managed to half walk, half stagger until emerging into the clear. Two hands helped us back over the barricade.

  “Stand clear! Coming through!”

  To the left and right the Crowd Control Enforcers were trying to keep back the civilians. The masses were bombarded with calming Spirit. But the situation was spiralling out of control. A gap opened nearby allowing a handful of civilians to strike out clumsily at the Enforcers. From somewhere else a dull SNAP rolled out across the empty landscape.

  I gasped in breath, heart hammering. Spirit still sizzled around my body.

  “You okay?” Delaney asked.

  I nodded. “Did you get the child?”

  “Yes.” He j
erked a thumb towards the tent. “Let’s help with the crowd!”

  We joined the overwhelmed Enforcers and added our support. My waves of Spirit cascaded out beyond the barricade and the nearest crowd was brought gradually under control.

  But another two SNAPS sounded nearby followed by a rapid series of POPS. I looked to my right and saw a few civilians vaulting the barricade. They rushed an Enforcer. But the young woman floored them with a burst of Spirit. To my left a similar situation occurred. Civilians advanced aggressively over the barricade. The Enforcers attempted to push them back but were swarmed.

  “This side!” I yelled at Delaney.

  We moved to assist, standing shoulder to shoulder and poured calming Spirit over the detached group.

  “Get back!” Delaney bellowed, “You civilians there; get back!”

  The detachment calmed and drifted back over the barricade.

  “Good work,’ Delaney said to me”

  “Thank you.”

  We turned to look back up the row. Gradually the crowd calmed.

  “Let’s go see about this child.”