CHAPTER 25
Witch Hunt
“Ahh!” Henry Cross exclaimed, as he sat before his computer terminal. Had he been standing, he would have fallen down, when the teenage boy wearing glowing golden armor and elf weapons appeared next to where he sat.
“Sorry to startle you,” George apologized with a smile, as he stepped forward to shake hands with the scientist, who had risen to greet him.
“How did you do that?”
“Control of quantum mechanics?" asked George. "Is that what magic is? I haven’t had time to dwell on such issues much. Teleportation is a very convenient means of travel, though it requires much of the traveler.” George looked around the sparse room. “You seem to have fallen from Government favor.”
“That’s an understatement. Jerrod Grogen won his arguments with President Jeffers and has been given carte blanche to deal with Narma and monster issues any way that he wants to. That included my confinement here. He had rather more severe expectations with respect to you, which I am delighted to see that you have somehow thus far averted.”
“Just barely; it wasn’t easy.”
“But I forget my manners; please make yourself comfortable, young man.” He motioned George to a chair and sat back down himself. “You have doubtless come a very long way. You were responsible for the African iceberg, perhaps?”
“That was part of it. I needed some energy so that I could teleport myself to the Sun to absorb even more energy." George told Cross about his visit to the Sun.
"Hopefully you didn't disturb the Sun so much that there are Earth climate repercussions," said Henry. "Next time try to get your energy from a star that isn't supporting life on a nearby planet. Better yet, gulp down a super nova if you REALLY need energy."
"Interesting!" said George. He paused for a few seconds to discuss super novae with Freedom. "Yes, an adult male dragon can absorb the energy of a super nova of any type. Freedom will need to do so in order to someday defeat the Dark One."
"In this case however, from the Sun you absorbed enough energy to defeat the Monster Giant?" asked Henry.
"Yes," said George. "As you are doubtless aware, we were at last able to overcome KraKara, but now I am on another and more dangerous quest, for which I urgently seek your aid.”
“I suspected this to be more than a social visit. I am at your disposal, but as you have already surmised, I am somewhat limited by circumstances beyond my control.”
“And yet they continue to provide you access to information.” He nodded towards the computer screen.
“Occasionally they ask for advice from me which they then seem to completely ignore. President Jeffers values his base instincts and those of Grogen more highly than he values facts and reason.”
“At the peril of themselves and Earth," said George. "They are playing a very dangerous game. Can they really be so narrow minded and greedy?”
“Unfortunately they can be and are. But how can I help you?”
“I seek Witch Greble. If she is not here already, she will be coming to this country to seek more death and to escape to Narma using the Portal to tell the Dark One where Freedom is. That can't be allowed to happen. The Dark One is hundreds of times more dangerous than a witch.”
“The last definite information I have on her is with regard to the crashed transport plane in Africa,” said the scientist.
George nodded. “Mary survives, but only barely. Everyone else besides the Witch is dead.”
“Including Ellen?”
“Yes.”
The scientist was visibly upset. “Grogen, that bastard, he set it all up.”
“And President Jeffers approved?”
Henry nodded. “Jeffers approved. Grogen has already reported to him that the Witch died in the crash. Grogen is taking full credit, of course.”
“If we survive the current crisis our whole relationship with humanity may have to be reconsidered, but I don’t have time to deal with human idiocy and foolishness right now. Any ideas on how to find the Witch?”
Cross shook his head. “I’ve seen no recent reports of mysterious deaths or airplane hijackings. My suggestion is that you try to think like her. You and your Narma friends are best equipped to do that. What is she after and what does she have to do to get it? Also, what does she know or not know, and what are her resources?”
“One of her objectives must have been to get rid of us, or I doubt we would have been attacked by a flock of rocs while we were confronting KraKara. She must have thought that Freedom and I were goners, or she would have stuck around to make sure. On the other hand, if she’s seen recent news reports, she knows that we’re still alive.”
“If she thinks you and your dragon are dead, what would she do?”
“She’d like to take more lives here on Earth, but she must know that the dragon Jewel will return before long, and that she must avoid Jewel at all costs.”
“So what should she be doing?”
“Fleeing to Narma,” George concluded.
“But if she knows that you’re alive, what will she do?”
“She already took her best shot at getting rid of us. So same answer, I guess. Get to Narma and the Horde with intel that Freedom and I are here on Earth. It may turn out better for her anyway that we’re alive if the Dark One wants to kill us himself. In either case she should be trying to get to the Portal. It’s the same conclusion we’ve reached already.”
“So then why aren’t you simply waiting for her to show up at the Portal?”
“If I didn’t give a damn about humanity, I’d do just that. The problem is, she’ll want to make herself as strong as possible before she gets back to Narma. She could kill many thousands of people on her way there, or maybe even hundreds of thousands or millions.”
“So then she may attack New York or some other large city, before traveling to the Portal. As yet I’ve seen no data to identify which city that might be.”
George sighed. “I’ll go to New York than. In the meantime, please keep looking for any evidence as to where she is, and let me know if you come up with anything.”
“Certainly, but how would I contact you?”
George looked around for a moment, then pointed to an empty coffee mug that sat near Cross’s computer monitor.”
“I’ll look back at this room from time to time. Turn that coffee cup upside down in front of your computer monitor and that will signal that you know something. Write whatever the information is on a sheet of paper and put it under the cup, and I’ll read it.”
“From New York?”
“Right. We call it scrying. Uses a lot less energy than popping our total selves from here to there.”
“Amazing.”
"American soldiers attacked me in Africa and I suspect they helped the Witch capture Mary in Cairo," said George. "My friends and I are not happy about that at all. Really, really not happy. Perhaps such knowledge may help you recover some influence with your boss the President. And tell him also that if he wants to re-establish good relations with me and with Narma, it has to be through you." George glanced at the door leading into the hallway. “Your babysitter has finally noticed that he’s not getting any audio or video feed from this room and is coming to investigate.”
“I suppose you should get going then, George, if you want to avoid complications.”
The tall, thin, gray-haired scientist and teenage boy stood and shook hands.
Moments later as the door to the room opened, there was a loud popping sound.
“What’s going on in here?” the Special Forces operative asked, his hand resting on his holstered hand-gun.
Cross looked up from his computer screen. “Dinner, pretty soon, I hope. Are they getting me the seafood fettuccini I requested?”
“Not my department, Doc. What was that popping sound when I came in?”
“Oh, that?” He grasped a knob on his computer console and turned it. “My hearing isn’t what it used to be. I had my speakers turned up for a while. Magnified
some odd news report sounds, I suppose. There; now I've turned down the sound.”
The man looked skeptical. He drew his gun and searched the adjoining bathroom and closet, then, shaking his head, he left Cross, who with renewed purpose was scanning through status and news data. Where was the Witch, anyway? He paused only to send an EMAIL to the President.