Stephanie extended a hand so Lars could pull her to her feet. She turned to the others and saw they wore the same worried looks on their faces.
“Guys, relax. I won’t ever go back there. I know now that everything bad that happens is because of Frog.”
They all laughed, and Frog frowned. “I’m really not that bad.”
That simply made them laugh even louder. With a smirk, Lars turned to Stephanie. “So, what are you doing here?”
She took a deep, calming breath. “I had to get a workout in early. And my morning meditation has become a must-have. In reality, I have some things I need to start practicing and attempting here on Earth. It’ll be a long day of real-life research, but after my last trip into the pod, when I saw that there is so much more I can accomplish, I don’t want to wait. This stuff will help us all if we’re attacked again.”
Lars nodded. “That seems reasonable. I guess we should head back to our duty posts, then.”
Stephanie grabbed his hand hastily. “I actually hoped you guys could all help me instead.”
He pulled his hand free and clapped to get the team’s attention. “All right, listen up. No PT today. Instead, Stephanie needs us as guinea pigs. The only one authorized for injection testing is Frog, though, so we’ll hand him over to the techs shortly.”
The man’s eyes widened. “The hell I am. What kind of bullshit is this? You aren’t pumping me full of experimental serums.”
Stephanie laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “Relax. There are no injectables. As you saw during the fight, I can create a shield like a wall. In the pod, I tried to create a shield that would enclose us in a safe barrier. The problem was, it was far too strong and you could barely move in it. That left you vulnerable, and I couldn’t control it while I went full witch on the enemy.”
She paused to check she had their full attention. “Anyway, I kept trying until I could make a shield that you could move in. Now, I need to practice it with you and not your avatars, which is what I’d like to do today.”
While they all stared at her and tried to get their heads around what she’d just said, she moved to the middle of the mats. She took a defensive stance and pulled the eMU from the ground and into her body.
At first, the power made her shiver, and her eyes shimmered brightly while her skin became almost translucent with light. When she felt her reservoir fill, she released the tether to the ground.
Carefully, she spun her hands around each other and whispered incantations while they moved until a circular orb of bright blue magic formed within her palms. It was beautiful to watch but even more fascinating when she released it.
The bright sphere spun slightly to the right and then elevated to float above them. It morphed quickly to become nothing more than a sedentary cluster of rock and mud before it flattened and shimmered into a complete and visible shield. The team stared at her with wide eyes.
Slowly, she walked forward and lowered it. “So, I have made about nine of these today and they are always switching up.”
The men were impressed, and Frog reached out tentatively to touch the edge of the barrier. He winced and looked at Stephanie when blood trickled down his two fingers. “And there it is—my number-one concern.”
She pushed the image out closer to the others. “This thing is as sharp as hell. Somehow, it became this insane death blade. That is a real worry. I also don’t think this will cut it even if it can still cut other things. My other concern is asphyxiation. Lars, step forward.”
He raised an eyebrow but did as she requested, although he glanced at the others. She began running laps around the mats and increased speed with each circuit. “One thing I noticed is when my heart rate and anxiety are up and I attempt to throw a shield, they become like saran wrap.”
Stephanie rubbed her hands together and looked at Lars, drew her arm back, and threw one of the shimmering creations. The eMU barreled through the air like a thick cloud, but when it reached him, it collided with him like it was a solid object. The ends curled quickly around his body and encapsulated everything but his head.
“So we now have his entire body safe but unable to defend itself. And we have his head sticking out, ready to be chopped off,” she explained as she gestured to free the energy from him and release it into the ground.
She was shocked that even after the team had seen how badly they might die, they were still ready to give it a try. They immediately threw out crazy ideas that she unfortunately had to stop so they wouldn’t kill themselves.
Johnny put his arms out and licked his lips. “We could have her wrap us in protective spells. Like, have it as a suit. Hell, if we had that over us, clothes would no longer be required.”
Her mouth fell open, but she shut it again quickly. “Uh, number one, clothes will always be a requirement for you, my friend. Number two, that is a really bad idea. Did you not see the magic wrap Lars up like a mummy? It could do that as a suit and you would still end up unable to move, breathe, or even talk. You would be like a wrapped sausage ready for the enemy to devour.
“What about if we stored it, like in a vial or battery, and when we needed it, we simply poured it on ourselves,” Frog suggested.
Stephanie shook her head. “Okay, obviously no one is listening to me right now. Grab your excitement, boys, and put it right back where it came from. This is serious, and I need you to understand that this is meant to save lives, not make more casualties. We can all work together, but you need to think about exactly what your idea would provide, its cost, and what exactly it is. I’ll even use small mono-syllabic words so you can understand the process.”
He scratched his head. “What’s monosyllabic?”
Johnny cracked up. “It’s this sex move where you wrap your arm over the chick’s shoulder, and you try to finger her butthole at the same time. Or maybe it’s your own butthole—”
Frog threw a towel at him and they all laughed. Stephanie enjoyed the camaraderie in the room even though she tried desperately to keep her magic on a tight leash.
She didn’t want to accidentally kill someone.
When the laughter had reached a fevered pitch, she jumped up on the weight bench and clapped loudly. “Hey, morons, we have some ideas to try. Let’s get started.”
The team had no sooner settled when the alarm for the front gate sounded. Stephanie glanced at Ms. E who’d stood quietly to one side and watched them. The manager walked to the training room controls and looked at the camera feed. “Goddammit!”
Stephanie and Lars hurried over while the rest of the team took to the mats. Together, the trio looked at the live camera feeds.
“Who are they?” Stephanie asked and squinted at the SUV waiting at the front gate.
Elizabeth pressed the gate button without making the slightest effort to talk to them. “It’s the Navy again, and this time, completely unannounced.”
A loud boom in the ring drew everyone’s attention. Johnny had body-slammed Avery into the mat. The victim cursed, and the others stood and laughed wildly, Johnny included.
Ms. E rolled her eyes. “The children will destroy my beautiful training room when I go to the door to figure out what these seamen are here for.”
Stephanie giggled. “I got them. If any get out of hand, I’ll tie them up with magic rope or something clichéd like that. Then, you can take care of them later.”
She nodded. “Perfect. Be back in a few.”
Her slip-on Vans squeaked as she headed down the hallway. She hadn’t felt like wearing heels that day, and she was glad she’d chosen something more sensible. When she reached the door, she could see Amelia had already allowed the car into the compound and the Navy’s representatives were at the front door.
This time, they’d sent two women, both with officer insignia on their shoulder. The youthful pair stood and waited outside. One of them had an envelope in her hands.
Ms. E opened the door for them, and they took a couple of steps inside before they paused and waited for her to address t
hem. She tapped her foot on the floor and folded her arms.
“I know the last visit was scheduled, but it, too, was a waste of my time. Please tell me why you thought it would be appropriate to come back without an appointment, and after only two days. It is bordering on harassment.”
The woman to the right—Banks, according to her name tag—tried for a reassuring smile. “We do apologize for the intrusion, Ms. Smith, but we have orders to deliver this invitation to either you or your colleague from the last meeting. You and Ms. Stephanie Morgana have been requested to attend a meeting at Federation Naval Headquarters to be held as soon as possible.”
Elizabeth felt her blood pressure spike. Her shoulders tightened, and she pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Reaching out against her better judgment, she snatched the summons from them. “Thanks. We’ll be there if we believe we have to. If that is all, you can show yourselves out.”
Both women nodded and she locked the door behind them, then scowled as they climbed into the SUV and headed out. Irritation coursed through her, and she tore the envelope open and flapped the two sheets of paper in front of her.
She started to read as she walked toward the training area without looking back. The formal wording deepened her irritated scowl, and she had reached the second paragraph when a loud gunshot rang out ahead of her. She stopped dead in her tracks.
Her gaze darted to the passage and the door of the training center. She picked up her pace from a leisurely walk to a full-on sprint in seconds. “Dammit! I knew I shouldn’t have left these idiots. Now, they’re firing rounds inside the damn building.”
“What the hell—” she shouted out as she burst into the training room and slowed instantly.
The team stood in a group, their eyes wide. Elizabeth snapped her mouth shut, walked over to stand beside Stephanie, and followed the girl’s gaze to the small piece of metal undulating so very slowly in front of her. It was a bullet suspended in midair—or, at least, that’s what it looked like.
The object actually still moved and tried to push through a very dense field that surrounded it on all sides.
“What the ever-loving…” Elizabeth mumbled and narrowed her eyes to watch it more closely.
Everyone heard her, even though none of them had really noticed she had returned. But they knew her voice, and their bodies reacted almost instantly and snapped to attention.
Johnny pursed his lips, and his gaze shifted to the gun he very carefully attempted to set the safety on and slip back into the holster concealed at his back. He actually seemed to hope she wouldn’t see it.
Of course, Elizabeth was far too smart for any of that. She stepped smartly over to him and grasped his wrist. “What in the ever-loving hell are you miscreants up to?”
Lars turned and looked slightly stunned. He glanced at Johnny’s gun and back at the bullet drifting between them.
“Stephanie said one of the problems she had was the fact that the shields in the Virtual World were in the right position but didn’t actually hold the bullets back.” He shrugged. “So, we fired one into a shield she created around Frog—after we let him out of it, of course. You know, just in case. And this is what we found. The bullet moves at a glacial pace through the eMU. The magic doesn’t completely stop it but it definitely slows it to where you can move out of its way or knock it aside.”
Ms. E stared at him for several moments and looked extremely displeased. She maintained the uncomfortable eye contact with him—although he tried to break it—and held it even when she asked Stephanie a question. “How thick is it?”
The girl frowned and leaned forward to study the shield from the side. “About two inches, maybe?”
Elizabeth released a deep breath and walked over, yanked Frog from in front of the bullet, and hauled him further away. She turned to look at the drifting projectile for a moment and began to ask a question.
Unfortunately, when the bullet reached the edge of the shield, it resumed its normal speed and rocketed into the wall behind them to break a chunk of concrete off that plummeted to crash to the floor.
Everyone turned to stare at it with wide eyes and their mouths gaped as they seemed transfixed by the giant lump of wall. Their gazes shifted simultaneously from the shattered concrete to Elizabeth, who had hunched her shoulders and now flinched as another piece of concrete fell and bounced across the floor to stop at her feet.
Their eyes widened when she swiped her arm viciously in a gesture that made everyone scramble away. Stephanie lost her concentration and as the shield dissipated, Ms. E raised her voice.
“Noooooo gunnnns!”
The team stood perfectly still as she straightened her jacket and flicked small chips of concrete off her sleeve. She snapped her hand up and pointed angrily at Lars. “Control your team. You’re not a newbie.”
He nodded fervently. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And the rest of you,” she snapped and glared at each one in turn, “control yourselves.”
They each managed a hurried, “Yes, ma’am,” as she strode out of the training area. She closed the door behind her but stopped immediately outside and out of their view. She could hear them high-fiving each other inside. A smile curled the edge of her lips, and she shook her head.
One thing she had always been good at but never found a good reason to use was manipulation. It turned out that a small concession to reverse psychology was exactly what her team needed to really start working together as one solid unit. If that meant she had to be the bad guy, she didn’t care. Making things work was basically what she was there for.
While she thought about her moral flexibility, Ms. E headed to her office so she could give Burt a call. She had promised her boss an update on everything.
It was good to get back to her office where she was greeted by the sweet scent of her nectar candle coupled with the vase of freshly cut, short-stemmed roses. The blooms were arranged in a half-ball in a small glass amphora on a side table. She might be a hard-ass out in public but she still liked her creature comforts.
She settled into her chair and pressed the button that automatically activated the sound cancellation system. To her, it was for the private line to her boss, and she had no idea what else it did.
With the missive from the Navy on the desk, she waited for him to answer. It was time she went over the legal documents with him. They were now under pressure from all sides, and the Navy was breathing down their necks in addition to everything else.
“I think I bought us some time with the Federation Navy,” Burt explained when the ringing ceased and he came online. “I was able to get into the Naval database and changed a few things so it wasn’t legally you. I thought it would help us find out what we needed to do.”
“Did you see anything in there that would justify their obsession with Stephanie?” Elizabeth asked.
BURT rushed the data he had collected through his system to double check, but given that it was more of a millionth check since the first time he’d gone through it, nothing had changed.
“No, I can’t find anything that would explain it at all. There is no evidence that what is happening is actually going on, let alone a reason for it. But I do know, whatever it is, it’s for far more than merely recruiting a really talented witch to their ranks.”
Down the corridor in the training room, the really talented witch and her team were having the time of their lives.
“No guns. No guns. No guns,” the guys chanted and pumped their fists as Stephanie activated several shields.
They took turns to bolt directly into and make as hard an impact as they could in an attempt to see if they could be broken by human contact. Her technique had noticeably improved and she managed to thicken each magical layer as she explored how the shields worked. If she could perfect it, this was the magic that might hold the secret to surviving large-scale battles with little to no injuries.
The team had an amazing time, even Stephanie.
Lars stood to the side
and grinned as he watched her dance around and fling shields at the various men who ran in from the side.
Johnny walked up and nudged him. “She looks like she’s ready to join the fray again.”
The team leader nodded. “It does. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, though. Her spirits are high, and we can only hope they stay that way.”
The other man scratched his head. “What happens if she gets knocked out?”
Chapter Six
The diner was wild that afternoon with everyone so close to graduating. None of the people left at the school had been accepted into any collegiate program. This was basically the entire Gov-Sub and almost all the middle-class kids. The richies were sparse, and the only ones who came had either decided to take a year off to travel on their daddy’s dime or were already in line to own a multi-billion-dollar corporation, which meant college would have simply been a huge party for four years.
Even though Todd had been accepted into the military, he felt he should still finish his schooling. They had taken all their end of the year tests so they essentially did nothing but shoot shit all day. He had a couple of minor assignments due in English, but after fighting to get through this part of his education for so long, he was glad to be rid of it.
After school, everyone who was anyone headed to the diner. It wasn’t his favorite place to be but he was caught up in the popular crowd so he went wherever they did. Not having Stephanie to walk home with had taken a toll on him.
He missed her, even if it was only to walk through the ghetto together and dream and hope for a better future. There was something about the way she talked about it that made it seem not so damning and depressing.
One of his buddies sat to his right and two of the popular girls from school, Amber and Ally, sat to his left. Amber studied the ends of her hair, her nose wrinkled, eyes crossed, and mouth open. “I need a trim. I’ll have to ask my stepdad to give me cash. Ever since mom married him and we moved into middle class, she has become as stingy as shit.”
Witch Of The Federation (Federal Histories Book 2) Page 6