Master Mage: Ordained Magic: Book Three, page 12
The man had cut his losses, but I also kept in mind that if we hadn’t been enemies before, we certainly were now, and I’d have to keep an eye pointed his way in the future. I mean, he really couldn’t have been happy with the turnout, even if he did get to save face and save his company by keeping secrets. I was sure he despised me now, and I was fairly sure he’d at least disliked me before because of turning him down.
Kelly said, “It goes without saying, I quit. I’ll keep my word and the non-disclosure though, so don’t worry about that. But I can’t work with you guys after what was just done to me.”
Christopher nodded, “We’ll leave your ship, and the solar system. It’s time to get back to the main mission for us, so we won’t linger here.”
Of course not, we knew that he knew that Rosa would know if his ship ever returned to this solar system. They surely wouldn’t try to go back on their word, because we’d know immediately if they did.
And, that had to be good enough. As far as the illegal jailing, there was nothing we could do if she didn’t want to press charges, and New York wasn’t in our jurisdiction anyway. We’d rescued her, but it was up to her and the New York authorities on if to press charges against the company. I doubted it’d happen.
So, I was mostly satisfied, but damnit, I really wanted to know what they’d had planned.
After they’d left, Rosa sighed.
“I can’t help but know the location of the ships, it never occurred to me to call up the sensor data. I’ll have to do that now, anytime they linger for a long time in a new solar system, at least until there’s a solid policy in place not to exploit alien sentient races or worlds that already have an owner, even of the nonhuman variety.”
I got it, it was a responsibility we never planned for, or imagined needing to step up for. But we had no real authority, all we could do is be watchdogs and whistle blowers. Perhaps ironically, Conroy’s dastardly plan, whatever it was, had turned us into what he’d feared. We would be spying on our ships, to a certain extent anyway. Not on the details, just on the big picture.
I’ll just mention that they did keep their word in all aspects. The news the next day was all about the Pegasi, and that they’d pulled their claim on the world and gone looking for a new one. No one asked the obvious question, or speculated why they’d stayed at that world for two weeks before doing so.
Chapter Thirteen
The Peace master spell was finished, and I’d adopted Gabriella’s suggestion to fix that possible problem that could turn into a tragedy. Any elemental engaged in saving a life would be exempted from the mass banishment.
At the moment I was meeting with Gabriella, Julian, Laura, Jacob, and Kevin. The leaders, or one of them, of Austin, Corpus Christie, Houston, Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and El Paso respectively. The same mages I’d gotten with to plan the master spell book distribution, as well as the mage group that had agreed to a mutual defense pact for all of Texas.
It didn’t take long to go over the reason they’d been invited, to distribute the spell secretly, and then to release it publicly in my shared master spell book once all the cities in Texas were already protected by it. To prevent Louisiana from moving up its invasion to prevent us getting it in place.
Of course, it was already in place in San Antonio. I’d decided to cast it three times, so it could handle around a fifteen hundred mage army, five hundred a spell, before it would run out. I’d have plenty of time to cast another, when the first expired, long before the second and third did.
I know I keep mentioning it, but it was just so ridiculously unlikely. No one probably even thought to ask where I’d gotten the spell from, much less actually asking the question, thanks to the gods interference, and of course Gabriella already knew.
Laura said, “I think I can get this up by tomorrow. There are a lot of glyphs, more than I’ve seen before, but only a few need an added intent by the caster. Most just need a blank mind, so it won’t take long to commit those to memory. It’s somewhat of a relief, that all that training my people did will go to waste.”
Jacob nodded, “I agree. I’ll blanket my city with this spell as quickly as possible. I can see it will stop mages on a killing rampage as well, which is good even if it’s been nine months since the last one seen here.”
Julian snorted, then grumbled, “We don’t know what more than three quarters of the glyphs even mean, for all we know it’s a trojan horse spell for Maya to take over Texas.”
Kevin’s lips twitched, but as usual he stayed silently observant otherwise.
Jacob shook his head, “Do you think she’d need this spell, if she wanted to rule over all of us? If you do, you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on.”
And that was a clue, that they did sort of know, but it was just taboo to say it out loud for some reason. Maybe not how or why I could, but they probably did know I was making the spells I shared. Jacob was usually more diplomatic than that, but apparently, he’d reached his limit when it came to Julian’s obstructive personality.
Gabriella said, “It’s likely once Louisiana invades us, and this spell’s truth is revealed to the world by verifiable action, there’ll be at least one master mage in every city clamoring to learn and cast it. We’re talking about the end of warfare, for all of humanity. At least, against each other and here on Earth.”
Julian raised an eyebrow, “You’re point?”
Gabriella waved, “There are aliens out there, obviously, and some of them might not be nice. So humanity might have to go to war with them at some point.”
Julian growled, “I got that, what’s your point related to us.”
Gabriella blushed, “Sorry, I misunderstood your question. I didn’t actually have a point related to your observation, I was just ignoring your paranoia and negative outlook, and indicating I very much approve of this spell.”
I chuckled, couldn’t help it, which had Julian glaring at me.
Kevin said, “I’ll also adopt the spell.”
We all looked at Julian in question after that, since it was unanimous otherwise now that Kevin had voted.
Julian growled, “What?”
Laura said, “You’re the only one that hasn’t yet agreed to get the spell up as fast as possible.”
Julian threw up his hands, “Of course I’m going to do it. I just don’t like trusting her blindly, but I won’t put all the mages in Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Arlington in danger. We know we can’t trust the ruler of Louisiana after all, but I hate baring my back to anyone.”
Gabriella shuddered, “That’s a visual I could’ve done without having in this life.”
Laura snickered.
Julian gave out a creative hand gesture.
“I get it, I’ll verify it under truth spell if you want, or you could just cast it on a ghost town and get a few volunteers to test it first.”
He waved his hand, “Not necessary.”
Laura asked, “So you do trust her in this?”
He grunted, “Not really. I trust she isn’t a killer, so if she betrays us and takes over, we’ll be able to oust her right back as soon as we recover. My objection wasn’t pointed at her or the solution the spell represents, not really, it was pointed at all you fools for blindingly trusting her.”
Well, Gabriella didn’t blindly trust me, but that was a secret, that she also knew all the glyph meanings in the spell. I’d like to think she’d have trusted me anyway, though.
Laura shrugged, “She doesn’t even want to rule San Antonio, and I know that because she isn’t. The only authority their mage society has is in law enforcement. They’re all minimalists as a government, and would no doubt not even take that on if it was possible not to at least do that. I trust in her motivations and ambitions, as well as her character, it isn’t a blind trust at all.”
I smiled. That’d been almost touching.
“Any questions about the spell itself? Or our plan to end the war before it begins?”
They all shook their heads.
Laura said, “This spell won’t cast itself, and who knows how much time we have left. I propose we leave it at that and end the meeting.”
The motion carried, and they all got up and left, save Gabriella.
Gabriella asked, “Want to hit a beach? I was thinking Buenos Aires. We can grab lunch too.”
“Sure, I’m all yours until two.”
With the Endless Wardrobe, the two of us always had bikinis ready to go after all, or formal dresses for that matter.
Gabriella nodded in understanding, since that time was about when my husband would get home. We headed out for some relaxation and fun. The group going grew larger, as Rosa came along and invited her apprentices, Hope and Faith, who were sisters with religious parents. I also wound-up inviting Marie, but unfortunately it was a school day and midmorning, so I couldn’t invite Virginia without encouraging truancy, so she didn’t get to go.
Anyway, we had a blast.
“Umm, so are you a witch now or something, baby?” Carlos asked, with a hint of humor, “Or maybe a Dolittle?”
I got the context of the joke, since I was the reason for the yard being full of animals. I mean, every neighborhood cat, a bevy of squirrels, two flocks of birds, and a dog or two. At my request, the cats hissed, the birds cawed, and the squirrels got up on hind legs and started to chitter at him in a scolding way.
As for me, I’d been sitting in the meditation position on the grass, but I was laughing so hard now that I tipped over and was lying on the grass, trying desperately to breathe.
Carlos said, “Damn, baby, that’s…”
“Funny!”
All the animals split, the squirrels to the trees, the birds to the air, and the cats every which way jumping fences. The dogs were much more sedate on their way out, almost casual about it.
Carlos snickered, “I guess I asked for it, but the word I was going for was scary.”
I giggled, “Sorry. I was… investigating. The commune spell forms an intimate rapport for communications. Neither language nor species seems to be a barrier, though the birds really have nothing interesting to say.”
Carlos tilted his head, “Can I ask why?”
I shrugged, “I have no plans in mind, not directly, but I was curious if it would overcome the species barrier with aliens. I thought it a better idea to communicate with animals, if that was possible so would a bridge to an alien but sentient intelligence. But I also feel like I’m on the edge of understanding something else.”
Carlos nodded, “So you can control animals?”
I shook my head, “No. It’s communication, though I do have to say the instant rapport does help create trust. Even the cats and dogs were hanging together.”
He snorted.
Trust, except when it’s a terrifyingly powerful god calling you, then it inspires fear. They may not have wanted to scare us, but they probably didn’t have a choice.
Commune by definition was an intimate sharing of ideas or communing with nature. It was the second definition that I wanted to explore more fully soon. Communing with nature.
An intimate rapport delivered understanding of a thing, which was probably why the gods couldn’t appear as any less than what they were while using the spell to communicate with their people. But my point was it would give me a deeper understanding of the world around me.
It was also relaxing, animals tended to be present in the present, enjoying the moment, and not dwelling on the future overmuch. Relaxing and enlightening, so I was sure to try out commune like this again, and on different animals. Maybe even insects and flora.
“Welcome home, help me up?”
He said, “I have a better idea,” and he fell to the grass to lie beside me.
I giggled, “Okay, we’ll just stay here a while. How was work?”
He shrugged, “Not nearly as interesting as yours. Nothing new happened anyway. Want to go out to dinner tonight?”
He pulled me against him to steal a kiss, then rolled away and up to his feet. He helped me up as well.
“Love too.”
Chapter Fourteen
The next day was the Thursday morning healing session. I almost never saw anyone in a near death state anymore, since it was the search and rescue team that usually dealt with all the trauma cases. People were coming in to get over colds sooner now, or just as a six-month checkup for a healing spell tune up so to speak.
Rosa showed up at the end of it, and I recognized the look in her eyes, she had news to share.
“What’s up?”
Rosa said, “Two things. The first I can handle, I just think it’s interesting. A nascent group called the Space Ambassador Corp contacted me to request a starship so they can go out to 51 Pegasi. It’s made up of scientists, former ambassadors to the U.N., and is sponsored by a few states as well as other mage-controlled countries around the world. They also have a small volunteer mage contingent. I figured I might just donate a ship, build one out in the explorer configuration.”
That should work, since only the caster can change the ship’s configuration, it would always be an explorer class.
I nodded, “That was fast, and it sounds good. You need help with the second thing?”
Rosa said, “SpaceX and Lockheed Martin approached me with a joint project they have. They designed a mining ship, and they want to build it. Several of them if the prototype checks out. They want a magical solution for comms, to avoid a sixteen-minute turnaround time when talking to a ship in the asteroid field. They also want a magical solution for getting there, one that doesn’t require years of floating through space after a short burn.
“I thought it was a good idea. They’d do all they can do, while we take up the slack for the ship’s systems that they can’t make with technology yet. I think this is their last gasp, if it doesn’t work, since all their government contracts have gone away. They have to break into the public sector and in a big way, so a new industry is the way to do it.”
I replied, “That should be easy enough. A thrust and deflection shield system, they’ll need that second part when going a significant percentage of the speed of light, or a micrometeorite would crack them like a walnut shell. Plus, solar winds, or do they have a solution for that?”
She bit her lip, “They didn’t mention it, so they might?”
I giggled, “Or they might be thinking a portal spell to get around the local solar system. Find out and get back to me. They should also have their own radio for local comms, to talk to people off the ship or other mining ships in the area. I can see a spell that links up their radios with one of their communication satellites in orbit as well, so less a radio spell than an instantaneous quantum link for their technological radio. Like a second antenna that’s really just a faster than light repeater. But, you realize it will make you a part of the assembly line?”
She made a face, “They won’t build that many, a small fleet of ten to twenty, so I’ll deal. I can also ask them to get all the radios enhanced at the same time, so I only have to go once. Then they can install them in the ships one at a time on their own time.”
I nodded, “Find out on the solar winds and deflector thing. If they do have a solution for the first, but not the last, I can get them a portal system spell. Just one not powerful enough to get to other stars, but plenty powerful enough to pop around the solar system. But magical thrusters will also allow them to land and take off from the Earth’s surface, a portal system will not. So I think thrusters, with a shield, is the best way to go for this.”
She shrugged, “They could hire a mage to take care of lift and descent into and from orbit with simple glyph spells, not just the ship, but also in getting loads of metals to the surface. It’s only the two systems I mentioned that require master spells, that they’re forced to come to me. But I will recommend it. That would save them money in the long run and be a complete solution. How fast?”
“For eight light minutes? A few hours, and sixteen light minutes would only add an extra hour. The farther they go the higher the top speed, so it isn’t a linear thing at all. You should also suggest they add white noise generators. Without the hum of engines and no sense of movement, it might be eerie.”
She laughed, “I forgot about that, and I will. I’ll let you know what they decide.”
It would also be my next master spell since I hadn’t started a new one since finishing the Peace spell. It was all stuff I’d already done, as part of the ship building spell, so I doubted it’d take me longer than a day to get it done, once I had the right information on exactly what they wanted and expected.
It would take some adaptation, the spell would be cast on the radio, and I’d have to provide a flight control interface extension on the radio, where they could hook up flight controls. Or, the spell could also build a remote console they could just install in the bridge as one of the stations. That might be better.
What happened over the next week was a huge scandal that would take down Conroy and it also satisfied my curiosity. It was all over the news, someone at Conroy industries had leaked the truth of his plans for the alien world to the press, along with furnished proof in e-mails and project proposal documents.
According to the news report, he wanted to kidnap, enslave via mind control, and then teach some of the Pegasi mages enough glyphs to be useful. He planned to use them as a free magical work force, as city and resort builders for when he found new worlds. Also, as his own private mage army.
The man’s arrogance knew no bounds.
Essentially turning the project into pure profit with little to no expenditures. No wonder Kelly had balked.
There were no laws against it in space, so he wasn’t arrested, but he was reviled, and his company stock took a serious nosedive. So much so, he quickly moved to liquidate, up to and including selling the starship to another group of investors. None of the assembled colony groups waiting to make a deal would have anything to do with him, so there was no point in keeping it. He was ruined in business, but still plenty rich as he walked away with a lot of money after that liquidation.
