Chapter Seventeen

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I took a running leap at the gate, tapping my MCV at the same time. The scene before my eyes shifted from beige cinder blocks to an aqua hotel lobby. My insides shifted and settled with the sudden absence of momentum, and my feet touched down on the exit’s metal base. Without wasting a breath I stepped onto carpeted floors, spotted the gate to Ontario, and bolted for it.

The inside of a warehouse appeared before me. Canadian mages were having a discussion and seemed unconcerned when I took off running again. I arrived in a humid facility in Hawaii, then a mesa overlooking a frozen lake in South Dakota. With each jump I got better at the rhythm, quicker at using my body as a conduit for the energies I couldn’t produce myself. In five minutes I traveled twenty thousand miles and visited more territories than most people ever get to see.

My last leap took me back to New York, in the middle of a large garage. Its prior owner had been wealthy; the space was large enough to fit a small yacht. In traditional American fashion, the government had seized the whole house after convicting the man of insurance fraud. John Harmond sat on a workbench, his injured leg left to dangle while he hugged the other to his chest.

“You’re a quick study, miss Oberland,” he said, his listless eyes looking through me.

“Damn right. Fastest run yet,” Lagred said. He’d been talking to one of the guards who was clearly miffed at the sudden end to their conversation. “Though Danielle still has her turn, and Eddie’s not here.”

Danielle straightened as he mentioned her name. She pulled down her sleeve to reveal her MCV array, six platinum cylinders banded to her forearm by her wrist and elbow. She’d needed something that allowed a large range of motion and wouldn’t fly around when she was fighting. With a grimace she replaced her sleeve, stepping up to the first gate and drawing in a deep breath.

As soon as she was gone, Harmond said, “what do you think? It’s not at all intuitive, but it’s certainly quicker than waiting as they change out terminus hubs.”

“It took me an hour to memorize the list last night. I can’t imagine trying to get somewhere off the grid,” I replied.

“That’s the the point of this route. With seven gates per city, what you know is enough to get you within 50 miles of most population centers in the US, Canada, or any of our territories. Guam, Puerto Rico, so on and so forth.”

“Just one more jump?”

“Just one,” he replied.

Everything he said made my stomach churn, and it had little to do with the subject at hand. I’d only met him once prior to the Featherlight attacks. In that meeting he’d been cordial but friendly, cracking a smile and shaking hands in a genial fashion. All of those trait had been lost since we had saved him. But that in and of itself didn’t bother me. Everyone dealt with their trauma in their own way, and I was perfectly capable of dealing with his change in personality.

No, what got to me was the fact that his speech hadn’t changed. The intonation, even the cadence of it was the same. Except now it came without any expression at all, like an automaton masquerading as director of the AERD. It made it impossible to tell where we stood, which was discomfiting given what he wanted from us.

“And there’s no danger of, say, materializing inside someone else’s body?” Lagred asked.

“It really is like a computer, in the end. Logic gates, order of operations, the runes work similar to a microchip. Part of the programming involves checking the end platform to see that nothing more dense than air is within the space. If there is an obstruction, the gate won’t fire.”

Lagred flexed his fingers, mulling it over as he eyed the platform where Danielle was emerge.

“You know a surprising amount about magic, John,” Osul said.

“I don’t think I’d be remiss in saying I know a surprising amount about everything. But this is of particular concern to me, because knowing what magic is capable of means I’m better able to deal with it. For instance, I only recently learned that runes could even have sequential logic. The first question that came to mind was whether or not one could use it to make a time-delayed bomb.”

Danielle appeared in the exit platform. She was breathing hard, but her efforts had gotten her through the route a full thirty seconds faster than I had. Lagred tried to conceal his sigh of relief, even as Osul asked, “well? Can it be used that way?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Though not through runes themselves. It would work like our crackers, with a mechanical system making the connection between rune and MCV. A very real threat. It’s even more concerning when you consider the likelihood of the EA forcing a domestic incident.”

Osul’s expression soured. “What an ugly proposition.”

“What did I miss?” Danielle asked.

“We talked about gates, and now we’re talking about the war,” Lagred said.

“What were you saying?” Danielle turned to Harmond. “Domestic event, or somesuch thing?”

He looked to the two facility guards as if sizing them up, then said, “the future of warfare, miss Yates. Nations are going to go after population centers to try and bend the opposing government into acquiescence. And I don’t agree with miss King’s assertion that it’s a grim idea.”

Danielle folder her arms.

“Wouldn’t you rather the United States give up than engage in a drawn-out conflict that could cost millions of lives?”

“Are you kidding, Harmond? Putting a single civilian at risk for the sake of the war effort is already too many, because that civilian could be anyone. It’s deplorable to even imply that we’d be better off with this than traditional war.”

Harmond said, “There will be no peaceful resolution to this conflict, no compromise that would be sufficient for either side. For the sake of argument, there’s no difference between a mage and a weapon of mass destruction. They vary in size, and they may be controlled by different mechanisms or circumstances, but the damage that would come from a sudden outburst could be equally devastating. There can be no agreement when citizens of enemy nations are equivalent to bombs.”

“So the president thinks this way as well? Is he authorizing the military to use force against Spanish and French cities?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t get it. What do you think is going to come of this? What happens after one side bows out? Do you start targeting dissenters?” Danielle asked.

Lagred had moved closer to her over the course of the conversation. He stood behind her, a firm presence in her shadow. I was left to chew my lip and wonder where I stood, because while I saw Harmond’s logic, the world he was talking about terrified me.

“I don’t know what comes after. Right now I only want to resolve this conflict so we can resume the pursuit of true peace.”

“’True peace’. Great quote, for someone who works with the FBI,” Danielle said with a snort.

“Bantering about morality doesn’t really interest me. If you have a way to resolve this situation that spares lives and doesn’t involve aggression on enemy fronts, I’d be more than happy to hear you out.”

“Again with those sound bites, Harmond. ‘Aggression on enemy fronts’? You’re talking about committing acts of terrorism.”

“Semantics.”

“Not even. It’s the goddamn definition of the word.”

“What is the point of this discussion?” Harmond said in an exasperated tone. “Are you intending to wound me? Without a better alternative, this is our only recourse.”

“I’d do anything to get the people in charge, including you, to feel a bit of accountability for this… this mess, this disaster, whatever you want to call it.”

“You think I don’t feel accountable?” Harmond asked, raising his head for the first time since the argument began.

Osul stepped forward. “Enough of this. We all need one another, so it’s time to move to different topics. Danielle, you made excellent time through the course.”

She rolled her shoulders. “Precise rune control is kind of my thing.”

Osul had taken the edge off, but the mood of the room hadn’t changed. Harmond was studying Danielle with an impassive expression, and she was doing her best to ignore him. I wasn’t sure what damage that conflict of ideologies had done to our relationship with Harmond, but it wasn’t like he could turn down help.

“We need to discuss Eddie Ehlers,” Osul said.

“Of course,” Harmond replied. “We were already aware of most of what the youngest Ehlers was claiming. The rest seems plausible enough. Unfortunately, we can’t release him with the way things are.”

“Figured as much. Can I ask why not?” Lagred said.

“Because the people he has implicated are titans of industry, and industry is the backbone of a war effort. Arresting them would be imprudent.”

“Imprudent?” Danielle asked. “Justice is imprudent now?”

“Punitive action is almost always imprudent, provided alternatives exist.”

Lagred put himself in front of Danielle before she could reply. “Stop. It’s not his fault. Alright? It’s not his fault.”

“But-” she said.

“But nothing. I know why you’re after him, and I’m telling you it’s not his fault. I’m OK.”

She scowled, seemingly about to add her husband to her list of targets. Her fists were clenched, and she trembled with rage. Then at all once she stopped, releasing the pressure in a single sigh that seemed to take everything out of her.

“Sorry,” Danielle said, backing to the wall.

“You have every right to question me. No need to apologize,” he said, ignoring her obvious insincerity.

Osul cleared her throat.

“Hmm?” Harmond hummed.

“Eddie. You said you can’t release him. Is there any way we can exonerate him? Anything is better than seeing him rot, or go to trial.”

He nodded. “I can’t release him as things are, but times are going to change. We know the EA is going to attempt an attack soon, likely on our sovereign ground. I suspect that no one will mind one more mage joining the defense effort during such an event.”

“And if he goes to trial before then?”

“There’s a chance that, during his deposition, I let that fact slip to his gaggle of lawyers. I have no doubt that they will be able to drag out the proceedings for however long is necessary. Unfortunately for us all, I don’t see it taking very long.”

Through all of this, the two guards hadn’t said a thing. I took it as implicit trust from Harmond, since he clearly knew how to deal with people. One scratched his nose, glancing at Osul out of the corner of his eye.

“And until then? Is there anything we can do to help him?” Osul asked.

“No. And I’d advise you don’t try anything, for the same reasons that the FBI and its sister organizations aren’t going after them. In theory we could seize their assets after their arrests, but it sets a dangerous precedent. The sect of citizens who still cling to industrialism will see it as a personal attack.”

“And you can’t just call it a wartime necessity?”

“I could think of a thousand pretty words to wrap it in, but the only thing that matters is how it is perceived. You’ve seen more than enough evidence of how shortsighted people can be.”

“So you want us to do nothing but wait. Wait until disaster strikes so we can see our friend again,” Osul said, her voice hard.

“That would be best, yes.”

“You’re an unpleasant man, mister Harmond.”

“Would it surprise you to hear that you’re not the first to tell me that?”

But Osul didn’t reply. There had been bitterness in that quip, and I doubted it was directed at us. She rose once more, straightening her armor before saying, “fine. Can I run the course again?”

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