When he thought roughly ten seconds had passed, he inverted the enchantment: Rextalyet , amyrtus .”
He felt nothing within the cube’s enchanted boundaries. The question was, what had happened outside it? Again, he tried to focus his gift, to see into the adjacent dimensions and get a glimpse of what the world beyond his protective enchantment probably looked like. Visions flickered in his head, and after a few seconds of confusion, he decided he must be seeing smoke, or perhaps dust. Something had happened, but he couldn’t judge how severe it had been.
His ears felt strange, and he worked his jaw to make them pop. The air pressure is dropping, he realized.
In fact, the air was already getting dangerously thin. It’s exiting quickly, driven by the unopposed pressure inside. The only reason he hadn’t noticed before was because he had used the FT primarily with only five sides activated. I need to add a filter shield to the interior to prevent air from escaping, he thought, making a mental note. Assuming I don’t die before then.
He created an impromptu shield using a spel to do just that. Then he waited.
After what he thought was nearly a quarter of an hour, he checked again, but stil he could detect nothing but smoke or some sort of cloud. He began to wish he had crafted something that would clear the air around the FT to enable him to get a better view sooner. For a moment, he
considered using a simple spel to try to drive the air away, but he stopped before trying it. If he did anything that drove air from within his protected space outward, he would wind up starving for air, since nothing could enter.
Matthew found himself panting. He should have created the air-shield at the very beginning. Because of his delay, a large portion of the air had left the FT, leaving him with little air to breath, air he was quickly exhausting.
He would have to deactivate the enchantment or he would suffocate, yet he could stil detect nothing but smoke outside. Depending on how
bad it was, he might kil himself trying to breathe the air beyond his enchantment when he opened it. He could already imagine what Moira would be saying if she could see his predicament. If he had let Karen accompany him for his testing, she could have easily teleported them somewhere safe.
Stupid never dies. That’s was what his father always said, but it was smal comfort, since he usualy meant his stupidity would live on whether his actions got him kiled or not.
His heart was beating rapidly, and he felt as though he had run a mile. He couldn’t catch his breath. He was out of time.
Matthew created a firm shield around himself, one that would keep out whatever air was outside, and then gave the command that would
deactivate the FT: “ Estus .”
The outside world reappeared and he began faling. The ground had vanished. Flailing his arms, he landed after a drop of nearly fifteen feet. His shield turned out to be important for more than just keeping smoke out, for he landed on a very jagged layer of bedrock.
Stil panting rapidly, he focused his wil and drew on the air, moving it and creating a gust of wind to clear the smoke around him.
Nothing happened.
Wel, that wasn’t precise. His spel was working, but the air he was moving was also filed with smoke or dust or whatever it was. Matthew
drew on his reserves and pushed harder, moving ever vaster quantities of air. He was beginning to see spots in front of his eyes.
Seconds passed, and he began to wonder if he should try shifting to Karen’s world. It was either that or learn to breathe dust. Then, just as he had almost given up hope, sunlight appeared and the air cleared.
Desperate, he dropped his shield and drew a lungful—and promptly began to cough. The air stil wasn’t quite clear enough, but he would
survive. He kept up his spel and soon he began to smel the sea.
Hacking and retching as he tried to clear his lungs, he surveyed the landscape around him. It was a humbling sight.
The ground he was standing on had been blasted into a crater that stretched some forty feet across. He clambered up the side and looked out
—the ground beyond had been blackened and scoured free of soil and grass for as far as he could see in every direction. The forest on the inland
side of him, at least half a mile distant, was on fire, and many of the closest trees appeared to have been knocked over.
“Shit,” he muttered inanely. Then he began to laugh.
To an outside observer, he would have looked like a madman, but even as he giggled he was mentaly taking notes. The air problem had been
serious, but he could solve that.
He carefuly began inscribing a circle on the ground. It was time to go home.
Chapter 44
Karen was standing outside the transfer house when he arrived. “You weren’t waiting here for me this entire time, were you?” he asked.
She smirked. “Would you feel guilty if I was?”
He might, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “You already know the answer to that.”
She shook her head. “You’re incorrigible. No, I was in the keep. I sensed your arrival and teleported over as soon as you got here.” She gave him a thorough once-over with her eyes. “What do you have al over you?” Drawing closer, she touched him with one finger and then promptly
sneezed. “Dust?”
“It worked even better than I expected,” he told her proudly.
“If it had gone the way you described, there wouldn’t be dust al over you,” she remarked. “You realize I’m coming with you when you go to
my world, don’t you?”
He winced inwardly. He didn’t want to bring anyone this time, but he couldn’t find a way around bringing her. Karen’s gift was just too
valuable, especialy since he would arrive at some random location.
She frowned at his hesitation. “Don’t you?” It was technicaly a question, but her tone made it clear there was only one acceptable answer.
Matthew sighed, “I do. Although I won’t lie. If there was any way to do it without you, I would, no matter how angry you became.”
That statement was enough to aggravate her, and it showed on her features. He was stil filed with adrenaline from his recent brush with death, though. On impulse he reached out, sliding his hand behind her neck, and puled her in for a firm but sudden kiss. His action surprised him almost as much as it did her.
Eyes wide, she stepped back. “What was that?”
He fumbled for an answer he didn’t have before finaly sputtering, “For luck.”
She gave him a sidelong glance. “Luck, huh? You’re the one who’s going to need it, not me. I think you got the custom backward.”
They each scanned the yard with both their eyes and magesight, wondering if anyone had noticed. Being daytime, there were a number of
people about, but no one seemed to be staring. Neither of them said anything else about it.
Karen was the first to restart their conversation. “You had best be sure that contraption you’ve created works properly. If we come back from your next rescue mission and I’m covered in dirt, I’l have a lot of explaining to do to your sister.”
He missed her point. “Huh? Why?”
“Most of the clothes I’ve been wearing were hers,” she explained.
He stil didn’t get it. “But they’re yours now.”
She sighed, “It would be rude if I ruined…, oh, never mind.” There were somethings he would simply never understand.
They walked back to the keep together. The distance between them was minimal, and for a moment, they almost linked arms, but after an
awkward glance or two, they decided not to. Karen’s mind was stil replaying what had just happened, trying to discern whether there was any meaning to it, but when she looked at his features they revealed nothing.
Matthew, for his part, was planning another enchantment. I may have to bring her, but I don’t have to keep her there. Whether she likes it or not.
***
Director Aiseman was trying to enjoy a quiet dinner with his wife when the ANSIS alert lit up, ruining his peace of mind. The next half hour was a tense one. Interceptors and drones were scrambled, missiles launched, and a short while later, another smal piece of terrain was bombed into oblivion.
In the aftermath, the reports came in. There had been two anomalous signatures, spaced less than a minute apart, but nothing more. Both had been in the same location. Either the enemy had arrived and left just as quickly, or they had arrived and been destroyed. There was no way to know for sure.
He was almost beginning to think he could relax when it happened again, barely an hour after the first time. Their response was the same, and the reports gave no more information than they had before.
Another light showed him that the President was waiting for him to answer her urgent cal. Chewing his lip, he opened the channel. Lately his life had become a living hel.
***
Gary was waiting when Matthew emerged from the transfer house, and he handed the young wizard something. “It worked again, flawlessly,
but there was little doubt of that after the first trial.”
“Always good to double check things when someone’s life is on the line,” offered Matthew.
The android agreed, “In this case I appreciate that more than you can know.”
Matt nodded. “I intend to make sure we al make it back safely.”
“If you have to make any hard choices, don’t think twice about me,” suggested Gary. “The power source for this body won’t last forever. At best, I am on borrowed time here. If there are any sacrifices to be made, let me be the one.”
The young mage grimaced. “I’m not giving them anything else. They’ve taken enough. I’m getting my dragon, and all of us are coming back.”
“Keep it in mind, though,” said the machine. “Things never go as planned.”
“They’re the ones who need to worry,” said Matthew. “If things go badly, it won’t end wel for them. I’l make certain of that.”
***
The rest of the week passed quietly for most of the residents of Castle Cameron, but Matthew continued working steadily. He did make a few
changes, under pressure from both Karen and his family. He kept a better schedule, stopping at the same time each night and sleeping late. The work would be done when it was done. That would determine when he left, nothing else, and no good would come from rushing.
He had both Karen and Elaine assist him on a few occasions, their respective gifts being useful for some of the enchantments he was crafting.
He probably would have been able to succeed without them, but it greatly improved his progress with less time lost.
Even Moira left her self-imposed exile to visit his workshop, though he had nothing for her to do. He showed more patience than usual with her, answering her questions and generaly being more sociable than he had been in the past.
“You’re in a good mood,” she noted.
He shrugged.
“I think it’s the work,” she decided. “You always did like a good project.”
“This is important,” he stated. “It’s not just a project.”
She waved her hand at the workbench. “Look at al this stuff. How many different enchantments have you made? You’re right; it’s not a
project, it’s an obsession.”
He gave her an exasperated look, and then his shoulders sagged, “I just want it al to work perfectly. I think I have most of it, but this last part is making my head feel like it might explode.”
Encouraged by this opening, Moira put in, “Maybe if you told me about it.”
“How would that help?”
She glowered at him. “I’m not saying I’l figure it out for you, but sometimes framing the problem for someone else helps you to sort the
problem out in your own mind. Try me. I’l listen.”
Matthew looked doubtful. In the past, he had found her to be a poor listener; most of his explanations seemed to bore her.
“I promise,” she assured him. “I’l pay close attention. Tel me what you’re doing.”
He waved his hand at the metal circle that lay on his bench. It was smal, a half-inch-wide band of polished metal that was two inches in
diameter. Both sides were inscribed with tiny runes that covered almost the entire surface. “I’m trying to get it to move after I activate the main enchantment. The problem is, there isn’t much space left on it for more runes, and the motility part is turning out to be harder than I expected.”
“Why do you want it to move?” she asked.
“The people on Karen’s world have an uncanny ability to find us wherever we appear. I want to leave this somewhere after we get there, but I don’t want it to be destroyed. If I could find a way for it to move a significant distance in a short period of time, that would be enough to keep them from finding it,” he said, relating the problem.
“Won’t they just find it after it moves?”
Matthew grinned. Uttering the activation command and touching it, the ring hummed briefly with aythar and then vanished. To Moira’s senses it was gone—not just visibly, but to her magesight as wel.
“That’s a neat trick,” she exclaimed. “It’s just like Elaine’s invisibility.”
He nodded. “I had her help create it. Trying to make it invisible to both sight and magesight was almost impossible without her assistance.” He picked it up with one hand and his arm disappeared up to his elbow.
“Whoa!” said his sister. “Am I going to have to stick your arm back on again?”
Matthew laughed and puled his arm back, showing it to her unharmed. “The invisibility extends out about a foot and a half around it. It looks sort of strange when you see someone reach into it.”
“Why is it so much larger than the ring itself?”
He sighed, “Hopefuly to hide whatever magic I use to move the ring around after I activate it.”
She looked thoughtful. “One of my spel-beasts could fly or run around with it, as long as it was smal enough to fit inside the invisibility, couldn’t it?”
“Yeah, but you won’t be there to create one for me, and I’d kind of like it to be built into the enchantment,” he told her.
She sighed, “That’s your perfectionist streak again. Everything has to be organized just so. Couldn’t I make the spel-beast for you right before you leave?”
“I don’t know when that wil be,” he said, but then his eyes brightened. “Oh! That’s so simple. I should have thought of that before.”
Moira could tel he’d had his moment of inspiration. “I told you talking it out would help. What’s your solution?”
“Give me a hand,” he replied. “I’l need your help after al.”
Chapter 45
Dr. Tanya Miler stared down at her handiwork.
She was in a virtual workspace that mirrored one in the physical world. Her actions controled a multitude of robotic tools and a medical
android in her lab. The lab itself was located in Whittington, Staffordshire, near the site of the old Whittington barracks. The base itself was now largely abandoned, but the UN defense ministry had maintained the medical research facility for work on ANSIS after the war.
The machine that lay on the table wasn’t properly an android in the technical sense. It was a cyborg, living tissue working alongside advanced microprocessors to give it the functionality she needed.
Compared to the first generation of ANSIS detector units, this one was in a league of its own, and she couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride in her work. She was stil annoyed that she hadn’t been able to use Karen’s neural tissue. The girl had changed, and she felt that that change might have made this model more effective. Instead, she had been forced to use tissue from one of the clones.
Her ‘daughter’ was hardly unique. Tanya had colected samples from numerous She’Har during and after the war, and had grown a wide
variety of tissues from them,
though she focused on producing neural tissue. She had done much of her work on isolated organs, but in several instances, she had produced ful human-like clones. Karen was the only one that she had alowed to be raised as a normal human child would be, though. The others were kept unconscious, used primarily for harvesting the parts she needed.
It would have been better with her brain, she thought again, for perhaps the hundredth time.
There was no getting around it. A brain produced in a natural environment was more complex and nuanced. The neural interconnections were
far better than when it was grown without proper stimulation.
Regardless, she wasn’t about to raise any more subjects as ‘children.’ It wasn’t that she had any moral compunction about harvesting their neural tissue afterward, it was simply the time and annoyances required of child rearing. Nor was she ignorant of the fact that most people would find her practices abhorrent. Asking someone else to raise them was out of the question.
There weren’t many true crimes left anymore. The essence of crime generaly involved harm —harm to someone else, harm to one’s self, or
harm to the public. With most people living in a virtual world where murder and theft were impossible, where people had whatever wealth they could imagine, harm was a thing of the past. But Tanya knew that this would be viewed differently.
If her felow researchers knew everything she had done, if the government knew, they’d find a way to make it a crime, if it wasn’t already.
Most of her work skirted the edge. Working with tissues and stem cels wasn’t a problem. Growing ful sized clones and harvesting organs,
made some of her coleagues feel uncomfortable, but they could console themselves with the knowledge that the clones were never awake and
never felt pain. Hel, they never even knew they were alive.
But Karen—they would resurrect the witch burnings of old if they knew about that. That had crossed the line. Or it would have, if she had been alowed to finish the experiment. As it was, no one would ever know what she had intended. She could deny everything.