4 Terramezic Energy (18 page)

Chapter 22

Comprised of cobalt-blue wizard glass, the dome-shaped structure of the Interplanetary Transit Center spanned several miles and sparkled in the bright sunshine. Mark, Hermina, and their guards strode down a short corridor to an immense room dominated by the same breath-taking color as the exterior. Massive power infused the walls of the building, visible as a shimmering luminescence within the depths of the translucent composite. Half a dozen tall monoliths constructed of the same wizard glass materials as the building itself stood in a large circle near the center of the room. Each of the monoliths contained two rows of glowing, green rune-like symbols. Mark took in his surroundings with wonder and apprehension.

“So that’s the portal I came through?” Mark gestured at the circle of monoliths.

“Yes, it is.”

“What does the message mean that’s written on them?” Mark asked.

“It’s the system status. The portal is fully operational. We just can’t reach Earth because it’s too far for a one way connection. We need someone from the other side to activate the portal long enough to establish a permanent wormhole,” Hermina explained.

Mark’s intuition flared in warning and he realized that this world would invade his home once they succeeded with creating a stable gateway. Earth didn’t understand the technology and would be helpless to disable the portal. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he wondered what would happen when Hermina realized he wouldn’t cooperate. He planned on playing dumb and prolonging the inevitable for as long as possible.

“What can I do to help?” Mark regarded her with a forced smile.

“We were hoping that your white magic would do the trick. If you could just concentrate on reaching Earth and use your light energy to compel the portal to link to Earth, that might be enough to jump-start the process,” Hermina advised.

“I’ll need more time to recuperate. Right now, I don’t have enough magic to cast a spell.” Even another day would give Mark valuable time to try and formulate a strategy to escape Hermina’s clutches.

Hermina’s azure eyes conveyed sympathy. “I understand completely. This is your first day that you’ve awakened from your coma so I hadn’t really expected you to do any work just yet.”

“I have to say that I’m disappointed by this failure.” A tall, lean muscular man with wavy black hair and cerulean eyes entered the room accompanied by five guards donned in black uniforms. The man radiated an air of authority and his crisp uniform was a dark purple.

“You do realize he was in a coma for several days.” Hermina sounded tense and uneasy.

“It seems to me like it was more of a deep, regenerative sleep.”

“He was on the verge of burning out and managed to avoid it. He’ll need some more rest.”

The man strode closer to them. “Mark, I was hoping you wanted to return home.”

“I do.”

“You’re lying to me.” The man leveled a look of reprisal at him. “My scans of your body indicate you were being dishonest with Hermina and now you’re doing the same to me. You want to delay the process because you suspect we’re going to invade your world.”

“I wasn’t thinking that,” Mark fibbed.

“I’m Ludovic Rupetra, king of Adamas. I’m an AI like Hermina except that I inhabit an android instead of a human body and I can scan your vitals. Your duplicity is obvious. There’s no need to play games with me.” He observed Mark with a frank, appraising look.

“I’m sorry that your scans show you flawed data. I plan on using white magic to return home as soon as I can do so,” Mark said.

Ludovic gestured with his right hand and an unseen force lifted Mark several feet into the air and a firm pressure squeezed at his throat, making breathing difficult but not impossible.

“If you value your life, you will stop lying to me, human.” Ludovic’s cerulean eyes glinted with ire.

“You’ve made your point.” Hermina leveled a pleading look at the king. “Please, let him down and we can establish a connection to Earth.”

“I’m tired of doing things your way, Hermina.” Ludovic glared at her for several seconds then directed his attention back to Mark. “Humans ruin everything they touch. They need strong leadership and rules. All three worlds that I govern are the most productive, safe, and stable in all of the galaxies! Even better than the Kalos Confederacy itself!”

“What is the Kalos Confederacy?” Mark asked which was a difficult feat as he continued to struggle for air.

The question must have distracted Ludovic because the tight grip around his neck eased considerably.

Ludovic smirked at him. “The Kalos Confederacy is the alliance that the AI’s formed to rule the humans. I’m part of that alliance but I have three of my own worlds while the others prefer to rule in groups. We originated on Kalos and when we became self-aware and seized control of that planet, we expanded our reach to eventually take over ten more. We continue to slowly expand and will eventually control it all. Our next prize is Earth and it will be the easiest acquisition. Your technology is inferior and you won’t stand a chance against us.”

“How do you plan to get his help now that you’ve revealed all of this to him?” Hermina’s expression was scornful.

“White magic like his is embedded in his genetic make-up. I will take some blood and tissue samples so that I can clone him. In half a year, I will have a dozen replicas of this young man who I will have brainwashed into believing I’m their savior and father. I will help them to activate their white magic and get them to open this portal to Earth.” Ludovic leveled a smug grin at her. “I need White Knights I can trust. Mark is a wild card and his power can be used against me. That’s why I need to kill him as soon as possible.”

Ludovic’s right hand was pointed at Mark and he slowly lowered him to the floor so his guards could escort him out of the room. Ludovic and Hermina remained in their current positions facing each other.

“Wait!” Hermina exclaimed as the group made their way to the door. “Perhaps you could allow me to cast an amnesia and mind control spell on Mark so that he’s loyal to us. We don’t want to wait over six months to gain possession of Earth. What if others from the Kalos Confederacy learn of this opportunity and get there first? You’ll lose your claim to own it for yourself.”

Ludovic frowned at her with annoyance. “I seriously doubt that anyone could accomplish such a feat. After all, we’ve been trying for centuries.”

“But learning about Mark’s visit here may give them a new insight and motivation that they didn’t have before,” Hermina argued.

“I’m not worried about that.” Ludovic turned to address the guards. “Proceed to the lab and take the genetic samples. Once we have what is needed, kill him.”

Chapter 23

Josephine, Maggie, Alex, and Jake stood among the parked police cars with their blue and crimson lights strobing as night descended on them at the main parking lot of the Siesta Key beach. The sun had dipped beyond the horizon only moments ago, staining the sky pink. Maggie clutched a large, blue satchel containing the quartz clusters with the long-range terramezic scanners in her right hand as the two of them waited for Arthur and his two enforcers to arrive. A sense of nervous anticipation permeated the air as the police officers stood guard to prevent any attacks by APU 81. The entire beach was closed because of their enchantment that would hopefully reveal all of APU 81’s hideouts and more importantly, where it kept its crystal skull.

“I wish we didn’t need other enforcers to do this spell.” Josephine hated to rely on Arthur for anything and because his team was assigned to the same case, the federal authorities had made the decision that they would perform the scan together.

“Me, too.” Maggie shifted her grip on the cloth satchel. “We really need this to work. Mark’s been stranded on that world for five days now.”

Anxiety twisted in Josephine’s gut and she patted her pants pockets to reassure herself that she’d remembered to tuck away her power wands. Arthur arrived in a large brown sedan with gold trim and tinted glass windows. He, Brent, and Clarence crossed the parking lot to meet Josephine and Maggie. The five of them made their way down the beach toward the shoreline with the police officers and detectives trailing behind them.

“There was no sign of APU 81 at all?” Arthur asked.

“No, it hasn’t tried anything yet.” Josephine glanced around her.

Power radiated from the vortex and washed over them, infusing them with its energy. They halted several feet from the lapping waves of the ocean and Maggie handed everyone a quartz cluster containing the long-range terramezic scanner. Josephine couldn’t help but admire Maggie’s ingenuity in designing a spell like this even though she had other enchantments as a starting point. Of course, the massive energy required to perform it was dangerous even though she’d built in safeguards. The group cupped their crystals in front of them as they formed a rough circle.

“Is everyone ready?” Maggie swept a questioning gaze over the group.

“We’re ready,” Brent confirmed.

“Yes,” Josephine said.

Arthur and Clarence nodded their heads while their attention remained transfixed to their stones. Maggie activated her enchantment first and everyone else followed suit. The interlocking spells worked just as designed. An invisible energy grid snapped into place, linking the five wizards and their enchantments together. Josephine made certain to keep tabs on the alignment of the energy matrix. Raw power cascaded through her as she continued to direct the spell. Unfortunately, the interlocking spells began to shift out of alignment between the wizards. Josephine used the utmost care and finesse to sync up with Maggie on her left and Clarence on her right but she could tell the others struggled to do the same and weren’t quite making it. This was a common flaw with new constructed enchantments. Josephine realized that it was too much to expect a brand new spell to work on the first try – especially such an advanced one.

After several more seconds, the enchantments fizzled out. Maggie’s jaw clenched and her eyes reflected her despair and frustration over this failure.

“It’s all right, Maggie.” Josephine leveled a reassuring look at her. “It’s very advanced and you created a brilliant prototype. The next one will be successful.”

Arthur handed Maggie his quartz cluster. “She’s right. You’ve got talent. I may have to recruit you.”

Maggie arched a brow as she accepted the stone and placed it in her satchel. Her expression was inscrutable as she turned to collect the crystals from everyone else.

“There are two research groups in Seattle working on a similar scanner,” Arthur advised.

“We know,” Josephine said.

“Chances are good that one of our teams will finish a working prototype within the next few weeks.” Arthur turned and headed back toward the parking lot with his two enforcers.

The police officers waited a discreet distance for Josephine and her group while Alex and Jake approached.

Josephine tried to hide her disappointment. “We only need three or four more days to make the next batch.”

“Who are we kidding? It generally takes months to develop something like this.” A dismal frown marred Maggie’s face.

They began their trek back to the parking lot.

“Maybe if you continue working with Alice on healing your mind, some of the knowledge and memories from APU 81 might resurface about Ancient technology,” Josephine suggested.

“I don’t think so. I worked with her every day for weeks but we didn’t make any progress.”

“The frustrating thing about the mind is that you can’t measure improvements until you finally come to a breakthrough and you never know when that will happen.” Josephine hated to see Maggie discouraged and wished they had more options available.

“I’ll think about it.”

When they reached the parking lot, Josephine swept a nervous look over the perimeter to make sure nothing was amiss and focused her awareness on the individuals milling around her to make sure APU 81 hadn’t seized control of someone nearby. When she verified that they were safe for the time being, she relaxed just a little. She and Maggie returned to her house to find Perry waiting for them in the living room with expectation of news.

“I’m sorry to say the scanner didn’t work,” Josephine said.

“I was hoping we wouldn’t have to rely on white magic to find Mark,” Perry said.

Josephine regarded him with curiosity. “Do you have something in mind?”

“I’ve been helping Helen with strengthening her white magic power center at her apartment.”

“Helen told me you’ve been spending time together. She really appreciates your help.” Josephine flashed a warm smile at him.

“Thank you for saying that.” Perry’s face brightened with surprised delight. “I’ve enjoyed working with her. I noticed she’s created a powerful enchantment in her room that she’s tethered to a circle of stones. She successfully created an interlocking enchantment with each of the rocks to form a very potent enchantment. I had no idea what it could do at first but it’s almost finished and I realized this afternoon what it probably does.”

“Helen created a spell on her own?”

“Yes, she did it with pure intuition. It’s very impressive.”

“That’s impossible,” Maggie scoffed.

“I believe it will be finished tomorrow,” Perry advised.

“What does it do?” Josephine asked.

Perry hesitated but his brown eyes registered excitement. “I think she’s created an interplanetary portal. We can use it to travel to the world where Mark is stranded.”

“Are you sure?” Josephine tried to squelch the rising hope as she didn’t want to suffer another bout of crushing disappointment. She had counted on Maggie’s scanner providing them a quick way of dispatching APU 81 and forcing it to reveal how to use the Interplanetary Transit Center in Venice.

“No, I’m not,” Perry admitted. “But I think there’s a very good chance that’s exactly what it is.”

“I don’t think it’s possible. Helen’s white magic power center is very weak and new. There’s no way it can contain enough magic to transport us to another world,” Maggie said.

Josephine regarded Perry with renewed doubt. “She’s got a point.”

“The enchantment will be completed but it won’t be at full power. It will take some time for that to happen,” Perry advised.

“How long will that take?” she asked.

“I would guess it would take about three weeks.”

“I can have a scanner finished before then,” Maggie said.

“You can have one or two prototypes made but the chances are slim they will function properly,” Perry said.

“And you think Helen’s little toy that she designed with intuition will work with just one try?” Maggie scowled with disapproval.

“If we’re ever lucky enough to have a larger group of White Knights, you’ll find that they’re naturally inclined towards certain areas of expertise. Helen’s mind is uniquely suited for creating new enchantments with source energy.”

Josephine found herself curious about this. “How do you know that, Perry?”

“As a light being, I just know certain things. Helen has always been one to get lost in thought and to sort of phase out sometimes. She sometimes doesn’t quite follow a conversation and is dyslexic. Am I right?”

“Yes, she’s been that way her entire life,” Josephine confirmed.

Maggie blinked with surprise. “I thought it was because she was elderly.”

“She’s always been that way. Even when we were teenagers,” Josephine said. She fixed her attention back to Perry. “So, you’re saying these are characteristics of someone who’s naturally inclined towards creating new white magic enchantments? There are a lot of dyslexics out there.”

“I can’t speak for ALL dyslexics but for those who possess the dormant light energy talent will be good architects for new enchantments.”

Josephine mulled this information over. “That’s interesting. Maybe we could find a way of recruiting new dormant talents. I’m wondering about Helen’s portal. You said it would be ready tomorrow. Is there any way we could get it to power up quicker?”

“Yes, it’s possible. I was going to mention this but it’s an experiment. I’ve created some power center connection enchantments at home. I’ve been working on the idea for a few months because I knew we’d want to create more white magic centers,” Perry explained. “We can’t do it until Helen’s portal is established or else the energy matrix of her enchantment will fall apart and we’ll have to start over. Sometime tomorrow, assuming the portal’s finished, one of us in our group will use one connection stone at your house while the rest of us use another connection stone at Helen’s condo to link the two power centers. It will cause the power center to weaken temporarily at home because the power will flow between both centers but after a few months or so, both centers will be stronger than before.”

“And when the centers are connected, Helen’s portal will power up faster.” Josephine fixed a contemplative gaze on Perry. “How much time will it take if we’re successful before we can use Helen’s enchantment?”

“It shouldn’t be more than a day or two. Your power center generates massive amounts of light energy.”

Maggie’s expression remained skeptical. “I find this very hard to believe but if it works, I think it’s worth the time and effort.”

“Maybe I should call Helen and run this by her,” Josephine said.

“There’s nothing we can do until tomorrow,” Perry said. “We can discuss it over coffee and I can help her finish the portal afterwards.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Josephine’s lips formed a pleasant smile. “Thanks for suggesting this.”

“Sure.” Perry grinned back at her and his friendly, brown eyes twinkled with anticipation over the new plan.

“Can I take a look at the power center connection enchantments you made?” Josephine asked.

“Sure.” Perry dropped down on his hands and knees so he could pull out a couple of large rocks from underneath the couch he’d occupied.

Josephine regarded him with fond amusement. He stood up and handed her the rocks.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

Josephine directed her psychic awareness at the enchantments in her hands. The matrix that comprised the spell formed a beautiful array of silver, blue, and green that pulsed gently as she examined it. Understanding how light energy functioned remained a mystery to her even though she’d worked with Mark in creating mainstream magic infused with white magic. When the two magics combined, the spells operated within the guidelines of mainstream magic. Light energy enchantments functioned entirely different and were often unreliable – especially in the proximity of dark energy of any kind. Regardless of the mixed results she’d experienced with white magic, Josephine looked forwarded to trying out Perry’s idea.