FA+
Shop
469
Views
Views
5
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 50 x 50
File Size 67.2 kB
Report this content
More from Kythra
Listed in Folders
Chapter 23
The ground quivered as the low rumble of a minor earthquake echoed through the canyon. The unicorn brought his head up, the instincts of millennia warning him that the temblor was not natural. A second, slightly stronger shock shook the trees, and he frowned as he gestured with his horn and murmured a few words. A patch of brush caught fire at the touch of the magic, and almost immediately the flickering flame steadied and twisted into the image of a dark face with burning eyes. “What is it, Pele?”
“They have done something new and dangerous, Cerrunos. They are better innovators than we have seen in uncounted ages. Tell the Diviner to light a fire. I wish to speak with her.”
The unicorn snorted and tossed his mane. “They did something that alarmed you, Pele?”
The dark face scowled. “I felt it through the earth itself. They harnessed the raw energy of magic to make a weapon against Creya. He is dead now, I think, his spells and wards and the dark magic that held his soul disrupted in one blow. I will not miss that one, but this reeks too much of their old weapons adapted to mana much too quickly for my liking. Tell her I will speak to her in the flame.”
Cerrunos twitched his tail. “Indeed. I think I will sit in on this conversation myself, my daughter. Within the hour, even if I have to tell Coyote to fetch her.”
Lowe stopped in her tracks as she opened the door to her office. “You again, Coyote?”
He grinned. “I'm just the messenger boy again, Diviner. You Americans managed to surprise Pele and the Eldest both. They wish to talk about how you defeated Creya.”
The wolf sighed. “I was expecting that. I can get a flight to Hawai'i tomorrow afternoon.”
Coyote shook his head. “They're a bit more anxious than that. Cerrunos is waiting at your home. He's got a firepit ready, he'll light it as soon as we get there.” He offered a hand. “If you'll come with me? You're already late.”
Lowe held up a finger. “Let me get John. I assume you can take us both?”
“Well... if I -have- to.”
She snorted. “I'm hardly going to go somewhere with you -alone-, after all. I've been reading your tales.”
Coyote let his ears droop. “I'm hurt.” He chuckled at the wolf's sniff. “Go fetch your boyfriend, then, but make it quick. Pele's definitely upset.”
"Bodyguard." She sniffed again at Coyote's tongue-lolling smirk. "All right, both. But it's the latter that matters right now."
The Trickster took each of them by one hand and somehow stepped from her office to her back yard twenty miles away. Cerrunos, in human form, nodded as they arrived. “About time. What took you so long, Coyote?”
“I had to wait for her to get back to her office. She was at the White House, and even I can't breach the wards there.”
Lowe cleared her throat. “I suspect the Detail would have objected pretty strenuously, too. If this is about what happened to the Kraken, I wouldn't have known as much if he'd gotten me earlier anyway. I was listening to the battle in real time.” She twitched an eyebrow at the stack of brush that occupied the center of her yard. “What's that for, Eldest?”
“It's for you to talk to Pele.” He gestured, and flames leaped up from the wood. “There. She should be here soon.”
“She'd better be. I think the township will have a fit about this...” She stared as the flames congealed into Pele's face, coal-black with eyes of flame and hair a wreath of smoke.
“There you are, Diviner. Speak to me of Creya. What have you -done-?”
“Unless Creya stores his soul outside his body, I believe we have killed him.”
“Good. He might just have done that, but at worst he'll be a long time recovering. The question remains – how did you do it?”
“I believe that Stardancer is calling it a 'mana bomb'. In the course of trying to reconstruct the Lemurian power grid, one of her people came up with the idea of charging up one of their quartz transmission globes and then breaking it.”
The fiery eyes widened in shock. “On -purpose-? Don't you know how dangerous that is?”
The wolves both grinned as Lowe answered. “Of course they do, now. Which is why we arranged to set it off remotely. They built them as old-style depth charges, and we dropped a pair of them on Creya. Didn't do anyone nearby any good, I'm sure – every last Changeling and mage in the fleet passed out when they went off.”
Pele's sigh hissed like steam. “You do not know enough. Exposure to that kind of raw energy...”
Cerrunos nodded. “She's right. You'd best be careful with such things.”
Lowe perked her ears. “Are we talking about something like radiation?”
Pele nodded. “Yes. You need to treat such things very carefully. And call that fleet home before they feel all the effects.”
“What will happen?”
Cerrunos shrugged. “Almost anything. It is not like your nuclear weapons; their radiation simply kills. Raw magic will change things. Chaos, not death. Though sometimes the victims would be better off dead.”
Lowe sighed. “Lovely. I'd hoped that we were going to get away from the threat of world-shattering weapons.”
All three of the ancients laughed at that. Coyote finally shook his head. “No such luck. Both sides of the cycle have their dangers.”
John nodded. “At least we're getting in on the ground floor of the new cycle, then.”
Pele scowled. “Do not use this weapon in -my- ocean, Diviner. And I would prefer that you did not use it again at all. Keep secret how you killed the beast.”
Lowe nodded. “I shall inform the President, kupunawahine Pele.”
“See that you do. And see that he listens.” The image faded, and the fire returned to its natural state as she ended her spell.
Cerrunos extinguished the fire and shifted back to his unicorn form. “Take them back to her office, Coyote. I shall go home.”
Admiral Tollant looked at the latest message from Washington, and passed it to his flag captain. “I wish they would've thought about this sort of thing -before- we used those bombs.”
Captain Langston nodded. “Be advised that exposure to the emissions from the m-bombs may be detrimental to long-term health. Yeah, should've seen that coming, sir. Not that we really had much choice but to use it, I think. But... they're recalling the whole task force to Norfolk? Someone must've lit a fire under CinClant about it.”
The admiral nodded as Langston passed the message slip back. “Yep. We need the medical department up to speed on this as soon as possible.” He turned to the petty officer who'd brought it in. “Take this to Commander Williams, please, son, and ask him to come up here as soon as he's read it.”
Williams arrived on the flag bridge five minutes later. “Informative little note, Admiral. Nothing specific, I take it? Just vague warnings?”
“I'm afraid so, Doc. But I wanted to brainstorm the possibilities with you. Apparently the warning is serious enough to pull us back early. We're heading for Norfolk right now, and they've sent a medical team to meet Moosbrugger, Normandy and Scranton at Rota when they pull in.”
Williams nodded. “So probably they're worried about something like radiation. No surprise after two helo pilots passed out from it. What can you tell me about the weapon?”
Tollant frowned. “Officially? Nothing. Unofficially, they called it a mana-bomb and it apparently harnesses the energy of the Changeling Event to disrupt things that use it. Our friend out there-” he gestured westward, where aircraft were still making passes to conduct target practice on the Kraken's body, “was a big user of the stuff, and the bomb shut him down long enough to kill him. But there was a flare of... light, weird light, for a half mile around the bomb. Normandy and Scranton were in that range, and a lot of folks passed out from it. They seem fine now, aside from the two helos that went in while their pilots were out, but...”
“But the warning came the next day. Any idea why they didn't know before?”
Tollant shook his head. “Again, not officially. But... there's some really strange rumors running around Washington, according to Captain Jenkins. That there are things like the Kraken, but on our side. That the new NSA director made a secret trip to Hawai'i shortly after being appointed. To Kilauea, not to any government offices. That one of them lives there, and is giving out hints. That the President is getting advice from Coyote, or Merlin, or Dracula, or Zeus. You name it, it's been in the rumor mill.”
“So... someone might have found out about it after the fact and warned them. Makes sense, I suppose. There was that whole nuke over Mexico thing...”
“Exactly, Doctor. The world is upside down, and everything we knew is wrong. So... keep an eye on the personnel and watch for anything crazier than usual.”
“Will do, Admiral. Thanks for the heads-up.”
Wei Lung spent most of his time in the chamber that had once been the Great Auditorium of the Great Hall of the People. The stage and adjoining section of the lowest level had been converted to the dragon's use, tables and seating removed and the space filled several feet deep with gold and jade-rich gravel. He worked and slept there, emerging only sporadically for meals and to fly over Beijing. The upper levels of the auditorium retained most of their seating, aside from a few sections which had been converted into office space for his chief deputies. Today, he hoped, was going to be a little more interesting than the past few months had been. He lay in a depression in the gravel, watching from behind half-lidded eyes as Chien ushered the tall loawai into his presence and introduced him. “The American ambassador, Wei Lung. The Honorable Jon Huntsman.”
His disinterested pose evaporated as the man bowed properly and addressed him in nearly flawless Mandarin. “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Great Dragon.” He straightened up and smiled. “I bring you the greetings and good wishes of the citizens and government of the United States of America.”
“I was not aware that you spoke the language of the Middle Kingdom, Ambassador. Your predecessors were notorious for having to depend on interpreters.”
“I studied it in college, Wei Lung. And I served as a missionary in Taiwan in my youth, which helped to convert my theoretical studies into practical knowledge.”
The dragon grumbled at the mention of Taiwan. “And does your government still stand behind the Taiwanese rebels?”
Huntsman blinked, surprised at the sudden undiplomatic turn in the conversation. “Our position on that has not changed. If they voluntarily choose to join you, we will not stand in their way. We feel that it should be up to them to decide, however, and we will support them to the best of our ability against a military attack.” He smiled again. “As it happens, your removal of the previous regime here on the mainland has eliminated most of their objections to reunification. I suspect that if you offer them local autonomy and continue to open up your economy, they may even approach you themselves. After all, it was the Communists that they were rebels against, so in a way they are no more rebels than you are.”
Wei Lung narrowed his eyes, observing the human carefully. <Respectful -and- clever. Perhaps it -will- be useful to make an alliance with this 'Republic' of theirs.> He nodded. “This is true. Very well, we shall give that matter some more time. Now, what did you wish to see me about?”
“Project Mirror, your Excellency. President Boehner is hoping that the Middle Kingdom will join with America, India, and the European Union in redeveloping the Lemurian technologies. Otherwise, huge numbers of people will die when electricity finally fails and billions now dependent on it for food and heat and light are cast adrift.”
“You wish to maintain your pre-eminence in the world, in spite of the Change.” The dragon's tone was sarcastic. “We have far less to lose if the world goes back to being primitive.”
Huntsman nodded. “This is true, Wei Lung. But you will still lose somewhere between a twentieth and a fifth of your population, we estimate. Beijing, Shanghai, all the major cities...” He waved a hand at the overhead lighting. “You cannot feed and warm them through the winter without a replacement for the railways and power plants.”
Wei Lung nodded, thoughtfully. “And your people? How will they fare?”
The Ambassador sighed. “If we cannot do this? Half of us will die, if we are lucky. We are far more dependent on machines than you are. At best, we will lose much of our most advanced systems. Our researchers do not expect that we can reproduce our communications net at anything close to its present capabilities, even if we can rework our transportation and power grids in time.” He looked up to meet the dragon's gaze. “We have more to lose than you do, but you have far more to gain. We will lose ground no matter what, but if you cooperate with the rest of the world, far fewer will have to die, here as well as abroad, and you will catch up, not least because you have four times our population. Do you really want to impoverish the planet to be the pre-eminent power in a world of primitive subsistence farmers, rather than become an equal in a more advanced world?”
The dragon regarded him carefully for some time, the Great Hall silent as his ministers and their assistants waited for his answer. He finally spoke. “There is merit in what you say, Ambassador. And as you have been candid in your answers to my questions, I will be so in mine. I have no love for the machines you have built, and I do not wish to see magical ones replace those driven by electricity. But... you are correct. My estimates match your own, and I ... I have no particular wish to let a hundred million of my people die. There are details to be worked out, but I think we can reach an agreement.” He lowered his head back down to the human's level, gauging the man's courage as fangs the length of his hands glinted bare inches from his face.. “I do remember the Lemurians. We were quite important to them in their heyday. Do you know why?”
Huntsman shook his head. “I'm afraid I have no idea, your Excellency.”
The dragon picked up a handful of green-glinting stones in a clawed hand. “Jade. Jade was the key to the way they generated and controlled mana.” The dragon grinned, lifting his head up again as the man refused to flinch. “The Middle Kingdom will definitely be important again, Ambassador. There are few sources of it elsewhere.” He shifted. "I will instruct my ministers to bargain with your people on this problem. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."
Huntsman bowed again, recognizing the dismissal. "Thank -you-, your Excellency."
Jackson frowned as yet another *Most Urgent* flag from State appeared in the email inbox. <Not again. There's something about Foggy Bottom that turns people's brains into oatmeal. She gets fifty of these a day from those clowns, and they're never actually important. No wonder she has me screening her email.> Dutifully, he opened it and started reading. His eyes widened a moment later and he picked up his phone and hit the speed-dial. “Director? I'm forwarding a note from the Ambassador to China. He's got something useful for Project Mirror.” He listened for a moment. “Right. Forwarding the idea to Stardancer's people, as well. He says that the dragon gave him a hint. Jade is key to the process.”
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory had been the scene of frantic activity since the first day of the Change. Much of the research being conducted had suddenly become obsolescent, if not completely obsolete, but the new nature of reality needed to be explored and catalogued. The CIA's Blue Sky program had been moved there months earlier, displacing parts of the weapons, energy, and engineering divisions. Most of the surviving groups had had their research programs drastically altered in the wake of the rebirth of magic, and Dr. Carpenter had arranged for the less mentally flexible scientists to be transferred elsewhere to more mundane duties. Those still at LLNL had been put to the task of repeatedly running a series of tests on standard materials to monitor the progress of the Change.
The e-mail from the NSA popped up in a half-dozen inboxes. 'Jade may be the key to generation and control. Investigate soonest. JJ for JDL.'
The convoy of Chevy Suburbans took the exit marked 'Staff Only' and stopped at the guardhouse only long enough for the driver of the lead vehicle to flash his badge. “Official business. Call the duty manager. We need to see him right away.” The rest of the convoy followed him in, driving up to the entrance to the underground part of the complex and parking beside it with complete disregard for the marked spaces. The group that stepped out was a mixed bag. About half of them were stereotypical Men In Black, allowing for the three women and four Changelings among them. The rest were split evenly between humans and Changelings, mostly in civilian clothes with a few in robes.
They had just finished getting out of the Suburbans when the park manager arrived. He swept up to the person who appeared to be in charge of the group and offered his hand. “Wayne Landis, night manager. I've called the General Manager, and we're trying to get hold of corporate headquarters. What's going on?”
The lead agent ignored the handshake. “You'll have to ask her.” He pointed to a rather scruffy-looking badger Changeling wearing a blouse and an ankle-length skirt who was supervising the unloading of carrying cases from the last pair of Suburbans.
Landis scurried over and repeated his self-introduction. “I'm Wayne Landis, the night manager. Who are you people and what are you -doing- here?”
The badger turned and smiled at him. “Jerry Morris, Department of Energy. We're here to borrow a few things from the Chinese Pavilion. Don't worry, we'll give you a receipt for anything we take, and I promise we'll be very careful with it. My superiors promised me that I'll have to pay for anything that breaks.” She opened the binder she was carrying. “You'll want to see the warrant, I assume?”
“Warrant--? Yes, of course.” He stared as the badger shuffled through the papers. “Wait. Jerry? But you're--”
The badger rolled her eyes. “Yes. -Now-. Bigger shock than the fur, let me tell you.” She found the page she wanted and handed it to him. “Here we are. Temporary confiscation of all jade or partly jade objects from the Tang Dynasty or earlier for testing and analysis. We'll try to keep the disruption to an absolute minimum. The pavilions close at nine, correct?”
“Correct-- wait, jade?” Landis was starting to look shell-shocked. “What has that got to do with the Energy Department?!?”
Jerry grinned. “Project Mirror. Jade may just be the new copper.”
Landis nodded. “All right. But why only the old stuff, then?”
She shrugged. “That they haven't told me. But the Project people have requested every old bit of jade carving in the country, and I got put in charge of this particular expedition. So if you'll lead us through the tunnels, we'll get started packing as soon as the guests are out of the park, and you can figure out what to put in the exhibits in place of what we're borrowing.”
Landis' cell phone chose that moment to buzz. “Just a moment, please...” He flipped it open. “Yes?” He listened for a moment. “Yes, they just got here.... yes, they have proper packing cases.... yes, they gave me the warrant.... Just a second.” He flipped to the last page and peered at the signature. “Judge Conway, Florida Middle District Court.” He was silent for a few minutes. “Checks out? All right, sir. I'll take care of it.” He closed the phone and nodded. “That was corporate legal. Apparently someone got them into the office on a Saturday just for you folks.” He grinned. “We don't actually -own- all the pieces, you understand, but a Federal warrant gets us off the hook. The Walt Disney Company has always been patriotic.”
Jerry smiled. “Then let's get started.”
The scene at Epcot Center was repeated across the nation at art museums, antique dealers, and private collectors. Most of the material was flown to Lawrence Livermore; the rest was distributed to other research centers.
Lowe made a call to Stardancer a few days later. “Now that the excitement is over, why did we do that? Several of the California museums are already protesting to their Congressmen.”
Stardancer chuckled. “Yeah, I was afraid of that. We'll try to get it all back as quickly as possible.”
“So why? I have to tell the President -something- tomorrow morning.”
“If jade channels magical energy - and our first tests do seem to confirm that - then the older stuff may be shaped for just that purpose. We're testing the abstract pieces first, to see if they do anything interesting with an energy feed, and if we have to we'll go on to the more artistic pieces, just in case. We're mainly interested in the pieces from the previous cycle, Qin and Han Dynasty stuff, but slightly younger stuff may still be carved in traditional – and therefore active – patterns. S'why we set the parameters the way we did.”
The wolf nodded. “So you're hoping to find a shortcut, eh?”
The witch laughed. “Absolutely. Why reinvent the wheel if you don't have to?”
“Fair enough. Keep any weapons stuff segregated. Wei Lung seems to be cooperating, the discussions about joint projects and information sharing are going well, but he's insisting that some of his people get to visit our research sites, rather than just trading information.”
Stardancer rolled her eyes. “Riiiight. Make sure we get that reciprocated before signing anything, then.”
Lowe chuckled. “That's what I already told the President. I'm just glad we've got a good ambassador – I told the President to send those instructions directly to him, rather than let State bungle it. The Indians aren't all that happy about cooperating with China, but they don't have any useful Immortals to draw on, so they aren't complaining too much. Raksha seems to be giving them some trouble, but nothing as bad as the Kraken or Quetzal gave us.”
“We've already got some of the people from Europe here. I'm still hoping that Merlin or Circe show up.”
The wolf shook her head. “If they do, I hope they'll cooperate. Neither of them has that good a reputation in the legends.”
Stardancer chuckled. “We have other sources than Le Morte d'Arthur and the Odyssey. They're not as bad as the stories make them out to be.”
“All right. It's your responsibility if they do show up. I'll talk to you next week.”
“Bye.”
The ground quivered as the low rumble of a minor earthquake echoed through the canyon. The unicorn brought his head up, the instincts of millennia warning him that the temblor was not natural. A second, slightly stronger shock shook the trees, and he frowned as he gestured with his horn and murmured a few words. A patch of brush caught fire at the touch of the magic, and almost immediately the flickering flame steadied and twisted into the image of a dark face with burning eyes. “What is it, Pele?”
“They have done something new and dangerous, Cerrunos. They are better innovators than we have seen in uncounted ages. Tell the Diviner to light a fire. I wish to speak with her.”
The unicorn snorted and tossed his mane. “They did something that alarmed you, Pele?”
The dark face scowled. “I felt it through the earth itself. They harnessed the raw energy of magic to make a weapon against Creya. He is dead now, I think, his spells and wards and the dark magic that held his soul disrupted in one blow. I will not miss that one, but this reeks too much of their old weapons adapted to mana much too quickly for my liking. Tell her I will speak to her in the flame.”
Cerrunos twitched his tail. “Indeed. I think I will sit in on this conversation myself, my daughter. Within the hour, even if I have to tell Coyote to fetch her.”
Lowe stopped in her tracks as she opened the door to her office. “You again, Coyote?”
He grinned. “I'm just the messenger boy again, Diviner. You Americans managed to surprise Pele and the Eldest both. They wish to talk about how you defeated Creya.”
The wolf sighed. “I was expecting that. I can get a flight to Hawai'i tomorrow afternoon.”
Coyote shook his head. “They're a bit more anxious than that. Cerrunos is waiting at your home. He's got a firepit ready, he'll light it as soon as we get there.” He offered a hand. “If you'll come with me? You're already late.”
Lowe held up a finger. “Let me get John. I assume you can take us both?”
“Well... if I -have- to.”
She snorted. “I'm hardly going to go somewhere with you -alone-, after all. I've been reading your tales.”
Coyote let his ears droop. “I'm hurt.” He chuckled at the wolf's sniff. “Go fetch your boyfriend, then, but make it quick. Pele's definitely upset.”
"Bodyguard." She sniffed again at Coyote's tongue-lolling smirk. "All right, both. But it's the latter that matters right now."
The Trickster took each of them by one hand and somehow stepped from her office to her back yard twenty miles away. Cerrunos, in human form, nodded as they arrived. “About time. What took you so long, Coyote?”
“I had to wait for her to get back to her office. She was at the White House, and even I can't breach the wards there.”
Lowe cleared her throat. “I suspect the Detail would have objected pretty strenuously, too. If this is about what happened to the Kraken, I wouldn't have known as much if he'd gotten me earlier anyway. I was listening to the battle in real time.” She twitched an eyebrow at the stack of brush that occupied the center of her yard. “What's that for, Eldest?”
“It's for you to talk to Pele.” He gestured, and flames leaped up from the wood. “There. She should be here soon.”
“She'd better be. I think the township will have a fit about this...” She stared as the flames congealed into Pele's face, coal-black with eyes of flame and hair a wreath of smoke.
“There you are, Diviner. Speak to me of Creya. What have you -done-?”
“Unless Creya stores his soul outside his body, I believe we have killed him.”
“Good. He might just have done that, but at worst he'll be a long time recovering. The question remains – how did you do it?”
“I believe that Stardancer is calling it a 'mana bomb'. In the course of trying to reconstruct the Lemurian power grid, one of her people came up with the idea of charging up one of their quartz transmission globes and then breaking it.”
The fiery eyes widened in shock. “On -purpose-? Don't you know how dangerous that is?”
The wolves both grinned as Lowe answered. “Of course they do, now. Which is why we arranged to set it off remotely. They built them as old-style depth charges, and we dropped a pair of them on Creya. Didn't do anyone nearby any good, I'm sure – every last Changeling and mage in the fleet passed out when they went off.”
Pele's sigh hissed like steam. “You do not know enough. Exposure to that kind of raw energy...”
Cerrunos nodded. “She's right. You'd best be careful with such things.”
Lowe perked her ears. “Are we talking about something like radiation?”
Pele nodded. “Yes. You need to treat such things very carefully. And call that fleet home before they feel all the effects.”
“What will happen?”
Cerrunos shrugged. “Almost anything. It is not like your nuclear weapons; their radiation simply kills. Raw magic will change things. Chaos, not death. Though sometimes the victims would be better off dead.”
Lowe sighed. “Lovely. I'd hoped that we were going to get away from the threat of world-shattering weapons.”
All three of the ancients laughed at that. Coyote finally shook his head. “No such luck. Both sides of the cycle have their dangers.”
John nodded. “At least we're getting in on the ground floor of the new cycle, then.”
Pele scowled. “Do not use this weapon in -my- ocean, Diviner. And I would prefer that you did not use it again at all. Keep secret how you killed the beast.”
Lowe nodded. “I shall inform the President, kupunawahine Pele.”
“See that you do. And see that he listens.” The image faded, and the fire returned to its natural state as she ended her spell.
Cerrunos extinguished the fire and shifted back to his unicorn form. “Take them back to her office, Coyote. I shall go home.”
Admiral Tollant looked at the latest message from Washington, and passed it to his flag captain. “I wish they would've thought about this sort of thing -before- we used those bombs.”
Captain Langston nodded. “Be advised that exposure to the emissions from the m-bombs may be detrimental to long-term health. Yeah, should've seen that coming, sir. Not that we really had much choice but to use it, I think. But... they're recalling the whole task force to Norfolk? Someone must've lit a fire under CinClant about it.”
The admiral nodded as Langston passed the message slip back. “Yep. We need the medical department up to speed on this as soon as possible.” He turned to the petty officer who'd brought it in. “Take this to Commander Williams, please, son, and ask him to come up here as soon as he's read it.”
Williams arrived on the flag bridge five minutes later. “Informative little note, Admiral. Nothing specific, I take it? Just vague warnings?”
“I'm afraid so, Doc. But I wanted to brainstorm the possibilities with you. Apparently the warning is serious enough to pull us back early. We're heading for Norfolk right now, and they've sent a medical team to meet Moosbrugger, Normandy and Scranton at Rota when they pull in.”
Williams nodded. “So probably they're worried about something like radiation. No surprise after two helo pilots passed out from it. What can you tell me about the weapon?”
Tollant frowned. “Officially? Nothing. Unofficially, they called it a mana-bomb and it apparently harnesses the energy of the Changeling Event to disrupt things that use it. Our friend out there-” he gestured westward, where aircraft were still making passes to conduct target practice on the Kraken's body, “was a big user of the stuff, and the bomb shut him down long enough to kill him. But there was a flare of... light, weird light, for a half mile around the bomb. Normandy and Scranton were in that range, and a lot of folks passed out from it. They seem fine now, aside from the two helos that went in while their pilots were out, but...”
“But the warning came the next day. Any idea why they didn't know before?”
Tollant shook his head. “Again, not officially. But... there's some really strange rumors running around Washington, according to Captain Jenkins. That there are things like the Kraken, but on our side. That the new NSA director made a secret trip to Hawai'i shortly after being appointed. To Kilauea, not to any government offices. That one of them lives there, and is giving out hints. That the President is getting advice from Coyote, or Merlin, or Dracula, or Zeus. You name it, it's been in the rumor mill.”
“So... someone might have found out about it after the fact and warned them. Makes sense, I suppose. There was that whole nuke over Mexico thing...”
“Exactly, Doctor. The world is upside down, and everything we knew is wrong. So... keep an eye on the personnel and watch for anything crazier than usual.”
“Will do, Admiral. Thanks for the heads-up.”
Wei Lung spent most of his time in the chamber that had once been the Great Auditorium of the Great Hall of the People. The stage and adjoining section of the lowest level had been converted to the dragon's use, tables and seating removed and the space filled several feet deep with gold and jade-rich gravel. He worked and slept there, emerging only sporadically for meals and to fly over Beijing. The upper levels of the auditorium retained most of their seating, aside from a few sections which had been converted into office space for his chief deputies. Today, he hoped, was going to be a little more interesting than the past few months had been. He lay in a depression in the gravel, watching from behind half-lidded eyes as Chien ushered the tall loawai into his presence and introduced him. “The American ambassador, Wei Lung. The Honorable Jon Huntsman.”
His disinterested pose evaporated as the man bowed properly and addressed him in nearly flawless Mandarin. “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Great Dragon.” He straightened up and smiled. “I bring you the greetings and good wishes of the citizens and government of the United States of America.”
“I was not aware that you spoke the language of the Middle Kingdom, Ambassador. Your predecessors were notorious for having to depend on interpreters.”
“I studied it in college, Wei Lung. And I served as a missionary in Taiwan in my youth, which helped to convert my theoretical studies into practical knowledge.”
The dragon grumbled at the mention of Taiwan. “And does your government still stand behind the Taiwanese rebels?”
Huntsman blinked, surprised at the sudden undiplomatic turn in the conversation. “Our position on that has not changed. If they voluntarily choose to join you, we will not stand in their way. We feel that it should be up to them to decide, however, and we will support them to the best of our ability against a military attack.” He smiled again. “As it happens, your removal of the previous regime here on the mainland has eliminated most of their objections to reunification. I suspect that if you offer them local autonomy and continue to open up your economy, they may even approach you themselves. After all, it was the Communists that they were rebels against, so in a way they are no more rebels than you are.”
Wei Lung narrowed his eyes, observing the human carefully. <Respectful -and- clever. Perhaps it -will- be useful to make an alliance with this 'Republic' of theirs.> He nodded. “This is true. Very well, we shall give that matter some more time. Now, what did you wish to see me about?”
“Project Mirror, your Excellency. President Boehner is hoping that the Middle Kingdom will join with America, India, and the European Union in redeveloping the Lemurian technologies. Otherwise, huge numbers of people will die when electricity finally fails and billions now dependent on it for food and heat and light are cast adrift.”
“You wish to maintain your pre-eminence in the world, in spite of the Change.” The dragon's tone was sarcastic. “We have far less to lose if the world goes back to being primitive.”
Huntsman nodded. “This is true, Wei Lung. But you will still lose somewhere between a twentieth and a fifth of your population, we estimate. Beijing, Shanghai, all the major cities...” He waved a hand at the overhead lighting. “You cannot feed and warm them through the winter without a replacement for the railways and power plants.”
Wei Lung nodded, thoughtfully. “And your people? How will they fare?”
The Ambassador sighed. “If we cannot do this? Half of us will die, if we are lucky. We are far more dependent on machines than you are. At best, we will lose much of our most advanced systems. Our researchers do not expect that we can reproduce our communications net at anything close to its present capabilities, even if we can rework our transportation and power grids in time.” He looked up to meet the dragon's gaze. “We have more to lose than you do, but you have far more to gain. We will lose ground no matter what, but if you cooperate with the rest of the world, far fewer will have to die, here as well as abroad, and you will catch up, not least because you have four times our population. Do you really want to impoverish the planet to be the pre-eminent power in a world of primitive subsistence farmers, rather than become an equal in a more advanced world?”
The dragon regarded him carefully for some time, the Great Hall silent as his ministers and their assistants waited for his answer. He finally spoke. “There is merit in what you say, Ambassador. And as you have been candid in your answers to my questions, I will be so in mine. I have no love for the machines you have built, and I do not wish to see magical ones replace those driven by electricity. But... you are correct. My estimates match your own, and I ... I have no particular wish to let a hundred million of my people die. There are details to be worked out, but I think we can reach an agreement.” He lowered his head back down to the human's level, gauging the man's courage as fangs the length of his hands glinted bare inches from his face.. “I do remember the Lemurians. We were quite important to them in their heyday. Do you know why?”
Huntsman shook his head. “I'm afraid I have no idea, your Excellency.”
The dragon picked up a handful of green-glinting stones in a clawed hand. “Jade. Jade was the key to the way they generated and controlled mana.” The dragon grinned, lifting his head up again as the man refused to flinch. “The Middle Kingdom will definitely be important again, Ambassador. There are few sources of it elsewhere.” He shifted. "I will instruct my ministers to bargain with your people on this problem. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."
Huntsman bowed again, recognizing the dismissal. "Thank -you-, your Excellency."
Jackson frowned as yet another *Most Urgent* flag from State appeared in the email inbox. <Not again. There's something about Foggy Bottom that turns people's brains into oatmeal. She gets fifty of these a day from those clowns, and they're never actually important. No wonder she has me screening her email.> Dutifully, he opened it and started reading. His eyes widened a moment later and he picked up his phone and hit the speed-dial. “Director? I'm forwarding a note from the Ambassador to China. He's got something useful for Project Mirror.” He listened for a moment. “Right. Forwarding the idea to Stardancer's people, as well. He says that the dragon gave him a hint. Jade is key to the process.”
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory had been the scene of frantic activity since the first day of the Change. Much of the research being conducted had suddenly become obsolescent, if not completely obsolete, but the new nature of reality needed to be explored and catalogued. The CIA's Blue Sky program had been moved there months earlier, displacing parts of the weapons, energy, and engineering divisions. Most of the surviving groups had had their research programs drastically altered in the wake of the rebirth of magic, and Dr. Carpenter had arranged for the less mentally flexible scientists to be transferred elsewhere to more mundane duties. Those still at LLNL had been put to the task of repeatedly running a series of tests on standard materials to monitor the progress of the Change.
The e-mail from the NSA popped up in a half-dozen inboxes. 'Jade may be the key to generation and control. Investigate soonest. JJ for JDL.'
The convoy of Chevy Suburbans took the exit marked 'Staff Only' and stopped at the guardhouse only long enough for the driver of the lead vehicle to flash his badge. “Official business. Call the duty manager. We need to see him right away.” The rest of the convoy followed him in, driving up to the entrance to the underground part of the complex and parking beside it with complete disregard for the marked spaces. The group that stepped out was a mixed bag. About half of them were stereotypical Men In Black, allowing for the three women and four Changelings among them. The rest were split evenly between humans and Changelings, mostly in civilian clothes with a few in robes.
They had just finished getting out of the Suburbans when the park manager arrived. He swept up to the person who appeared to be in charge of the group and offered his hand. “Wayne Landis, night manager. I've called the General Manager, and we're trying to get hold of corporate headquarters. What's going on?”
The lead agent ignored the handshake. “You'll have to ask her.” He pointed to a rather scruffy-looking badger Changeling wearing a blouse and an ankle-length skirt who was supervising the unloading of carrying cases from the last pair of Suburbans.
Landis scurried over and repeated his self-introduction. “I'm Wayne Landis, the night manager. Who are you people and what are you -doing- here?”
The badger turned and smiled at him. “Jerry Morris, Department of Energy. We're here to borrow a few things from the Chinese Pavilion. Don't worry, we'll give you a receipt for anything we take, and I promise we'll be very careful with it. My superiors promised me that I'll have to pay for anything that breaks.” She opened the binder she was carrying. “You'll want to see the warrant, I assume?”
“Warrant--? Yes, of course.” He stared as the badger shuffled through the papers. “Wait. Jerry? But you're--”
The badger rolled her eyes. “Yes. -Now-. Bigger shock than the fur, let me tell you.” She found the page she wanted and handed it to him. “Here we are. Temporary confiscation of all jade or partly jade objects from the Tang Dynasty or earlier for testing and analysis. We'll try to keep the disruption to an absolute minimum. The pavilions close at nine, correct?”
“Correct-- wait, jade?” Landis was starting to look shell-shocked. “What has that got to do with the Energy Department?!?”
Jerry grinned. “Project Mirror. Jade may just be the new copper.”
Landis nodded. “All right. But why only the old stuff, then?”
She shrugged. “That they haven't told me. But the Project people have requested every old bit of jade carving in the country, and I got put in charge of this particular expedition. So if you'll lead us through the tunnels, we'll get started packing as soon as the guests are out of the park, and you can figure out what to put in the exhibits in place of what we're borrowing.”
Landis' cell phone chose that moment to buzz. “Just a moment, please...” He flipped it open. “Yes?” He listened for a moment. “Yes, they just got here.... yes, they have proper packing cases.... yes, they gave me the warrant.... Just a second.” He flipped to the last page and peered at the signature. “Judge Conway, Florida Middle District Court.” He was silent for a few minutes. “Checks out? All right, sir. I'll take care of it.” He closed the phone and nodded. “That was corporate legal. Apparently someone got them into the office on a Saturday just for you folks.” He grinned. “We don't actually -own- all the pieces, you understand, but a Federal warrant gets us off the hook. The Walt Disney Company has always been patriotic.”
Jerry smiled. “Then let's get started.”
The scene at Epcot Center was repeated across the nation at art museums, antique dealers, and private collectors. Most of the material was flown to Lawrence Livermore; the rest was distributed to other research centers.
Lowe made a call to Stardancer a few days later. “Now that the excitement is over, why did we do that? Several of the California museums are already protesting to their Congressmen.”
Stardancer chuckled. “Yeah, I was afraid of that. We'll try to get it all back as quickly as possible.”
“So why? I have to tell the President -something- tomorrow morning.”
“If jade channels magical energy - and our first tests do seem to confirm that - then the older stuff may be shaped for just that purpose. We're testing the abstract pieces first, to see if they do anything interesting with an energy feed, and if we have to we'll go on to the more artistic pieces, just in case. We're mainly interested in the pieces from the previous cycle, Qin and Han Dynasty stuff, but slightly younger stuff may still be carved in traditional – and therefore active – patterns. S'why we set the parameters the way we did.”
The wolf nodded. “So you're hoping to find a shortcut, eh?”
The witch laughed. “Absolutely. Why reinvent the wheel if you don't have to?”
“Fair enough. Keep any weapons stuff segregated. Wei Lung seems to be cooperating, the discussions about joint projects and information sharing are going well, but he's insisting that some of his people get to visit our research sites, rather than just trading information.”
Stardancer rolled her eyes. “Riiiight. Make sure we get that reciprocated before signing anything, then.”
Lowe chuckled. “That's what I already told the President. I'm just glad we've got a good ambassador – I told the President to send those instructions directly to him, rather than let State bungle it. The Indians aren't all that happy about cooperating with China, but they don't have any useful Immortals to draw on, so they aren't complaining too much. Raksha seems to be giving them some trouble, but nothing as bad as the Kraken or Quetzal gave us.”
“We've already got some of the people from Europe here. I'm still hoping that Merlin or Circe show up.”
The wolf shook her head. “If they do, I hope they'll cooperate. Neither of them has that good a reputation in the legends.”
Stardancer chuckled. “We have other sources than Le Morte d'Arthur and the Odyssey. They're not as bad as the stories make them out to be.”
“All right. It's your responsibility if they do show up. I'll talk to you next week.”
“Bye.”
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 67.2 kB
Comments