Magic InkChapter 28
- 2 years ago
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Even before the others had started dinner in the cafeteria, the flashing lights and sirens had appeared outside the defensive shell. They had been preceded by, and were followed by, helicopters of various police and news organizations. Those arriving included: the Fairfax County Sheriff's department, the Virginia State Police, the FBI, and others including local radio and television news reporters.
There was a multitude of details to be taken care of before our family would be able to join the others for a meal. One of the Boston Council's responsibilities had been to locate the telephone center and disconnect the lines to the outside. They had done that, but had left the internal phone system in operation. We had checked on the wards for the weapons areas to be sure that no one had gained entrance to them. Annie and I checked the small one in building one, and Sean and Sara checked the larger one in building four.
We also checked the Security Center to be sure that it was still in operation. While the cameras could be fooled with a glamour that took a considerable amount of Talent, and it wasn't something that we were worried about. From the Security Center we were able to watch all of the critical areas in the buildings, especially the Director's Office and the Operations Section that we had warded. We could also watch sensitive areas in the Intelligence Section, but none of the key people from that department had been there when the clearing operation started. It would require a number of personnel to adequately man the center, but we could keep at least a partial eye on things from there.
Dad and our Moms were in the Security Center when the four of us entered after our checks on the buildings. They had been keeping an eye on the people that we had quarantined in the Director's Office and in the Operations Section.
"They are still rather upset," Dad remarked when we joined them. On the screen we could see people shouting at each other in both locations and several people were on the phones talking to someone.
"Have the phones been disabled?" Sean asked.
"Yes, the lines to the outside have been disconnected. However, they can still talk to each other internally," Dad told us.
"We are going to have to talk to them at some point," Mother Margie pointed out.
"Yes, after they calm down some more, Dear," Dad said with a smile.
"We're going to have to speak to the reporters and the authorities outside also," Mother Katie reminded us.
"Yes, but that can wait, also," Dad assured us. "And longer than the people we're holding in here can be expected to wait."
"You people are hard to keep up with," Master O'Hennessy said slightly out of breathe, as he entered the room with Oneida Toups behind him.
"Yes, and this place is huge," Oneida added.
"Are all of your people all right?" Dad asked. "No injuries or problems?"
"Yes, my people are all fine," Master O'Hennessy assured us.
"Ours are also. A number of them found the cafeteria and are preparing food for everyone," Oneida told us. We could see the cafeteria on one of the screens and see people eating.
"Yes, food! We're going to have to feed those people that we have quarantined here," Dad said. "That could be a problem."
"Not really," Oneida told us. "Some of our people found a large quantity of what they determined to be Army field rations in the fourth building."
"Field rations?" Sean asked.
"Yes, the boxes were marked 'MRE'. My people didn't care for them," she told us.
"Well, feeding those people won't be as big a problem as I thought," Dad remarked.
"Speaking of eating, are you going to join the rest of us in the cafeteria?" Master O'Hennessy asked.
"Yes, shortly," Mother Margie answered. "We need to keep watch on these people first."
"I'll send some people to relieve you," Master O'Hennessy told us before he and Oneida departed. With all seven of us there it was easy to watch all of the screens. A short time later, four people from the Boston Council, and one from New Orleans, arrived to relieve us. Dad briefed them on what to watch for before we left for the cafeteria and dinner.
Those New Orleans people certainly did know how to cook even if they tended to use a lot of spices. We joined our four Sisters at a table to eat. The meal was great.
"Everything was quiet in our building," Edana told us as we sat down at the table with them.
"Yes, we've been in the Security Center watching the cameras in the various buildings," Mother Margie told her.
"So what happens now?" Tara asked.
"We eat. Then we go to talk to the people in the offices, and if they are nice, they get to eat," Dad told her.
"You're going to let them out?" Gale asked in shock.
"Out? Heavens, no! The New Orleans people found a large store of Army field rations when searching their building. The prisoners will get some of those, and remain behind the wards. From what I saw on the screens, they have a number of rest rooms and plenty of couches and a few beds to sleep on. It won't be that hard on them," Dad told us.
"How long are we going to hold them?" Mother Katie asked.
"As long as we hold these buildings," Dad replied.
As I said previously, we began returning the people who had helped clear the buildings after finishing dinner. The first ones to be returned were the excess people from the Boston Council. The New Orleans people were next after they had finished cleaning up the kitchen where they had cooked the meal that we had all enjoyed. Some of the remaining Boston Council people helped them with that. We were surprised that all of the Plains Council people remained, but who better to sniff out anyone still hiding inside the defensive shell.
After we finished returning the extra people, Sean and I went to inspect the Army Field Rations, while our Wives and Sisters took a break. The rations were in one of the basement rooms in building four - a room that we hadn't previously checked. We were amazed by the large quantity of rations there.
"Damn, man!" Sean said in shock at seeing the huge number of boxes filling the room. "Are these things still good?" he asked next.
"No idea! I never tried them," I answered while examining one of the cases. It had an expiration date that was a year past.
"These aren't brand new, but will have to do," I told Sean as we started loading cases of the rations on a cart and transferred it, and us, to the first building just outside of the warded Director's Offices. Dad was there waiting for us.
"They're still rather upset," Dad remarked calmly. We could see several men inside the office shaking their fists at us and shouting, but none of the noise came through the silence spell that Dad had used so we didn't have to hear them.
"Now that you two are here with the MREs, it's time to go in there and confront them," Dad told us next. Sean and I called up our Sun Swords, and Dad called Fragarach. He canceled the silence spell in the hall, and we moved through the wards with the cart. The shock of seeing us move so easily through the wards, that they had been trying to move through since 3:00 that afternoon, silenced those inside for a short time. The babble started again after a few seconds.
"SILENCE!" Dad commanded, and spoke the trigger word and made the sign for the silence spell. Those present continued to talk and shout for a short time, but there was no sound coming out of their mouths.
"That's better," Dad said in the silence after they finally realized that they couldn't be heard.
"I am Mark Kent O'Connell. I and the people helping me have taken control of this building and the other ones in this complex. You are my prisoners, and you will remain my prisoners until such time as our dispute with the Federal Government has been resolved.
"We have brought you food for the night. There are rest rooms here to take care of your needs, and I have seen showers in several of the private offices. I have also seen that there are numerous couches and some beds in the various offices and waiting areas.
"The phones to the outside have been disconnected, and all cell phone and radio use has been curtailed with a spell. We have also taken control of the computer system.
"You will basically be left to your own devices while we negotiate with the Government. We may come to take one or more of you to those negotiations from time to time," Dad finished.
"Is this all of you?" I asked, as Sean and I had been counting those present so we could leave the correct number of meals, but I had detected no additional people in any of the other rooms. One of the men in a suit and tie raised his hand and tried to talk. Dad collapsed the silence spell for now.
"WHAT?" the man started rather loudly, and stopped when he heard his own voice.
"What do you want?" he resumed more quietly.
"We represent the Magic Community. We want justice for our people and the cessation of your persecution of them," Dad told him.
"And you think you will get it by taking over these buildings and holding us hostage?" the man demanded angrily.
"No, I believe that we will get the Government's attention, and create an awareness of our problem in the public," Dad told him calmly.
"Magic is illegal!!" he shouted.
"Only because you say it is. You will find that there are many in this country that disagree with you on that. The Government tried the same thing with Prohibition and Drugs. It didn't work with them, and won't work with Magic," Dad pointed out.
"That was different. Magic is evil, and the people that practice it are evil!!" another man shouted in anger.
"No, the misuse of Magic is wrong, but there is nothing inherently wrong or evil with Magic, or those who practice it. You can't blame the crimes of a few on the many who are innocent.
"It's similar to possessing a gun. It's not illegal to own one. It is illegal to use it to commit a crime or to threaten others with it," Dad pointed out before adding, "And Magic is a Talent that you are born with, not something that you can purchase," he finished.
"How come you move in and out of here and we can't?" one of the secretaries asked.
"Because these are our wards, and they are keyed to us. Also because we have the Talent and can create them in the first place," Dad told her. Sean and I counted out enough of the MREs so that each person would have one. Since they were in cases of twelve it was easy.
We then transferred to the Operations Section to do the same thing. Those in the Operations Section were even more aggravated than those in the Director's Office had been - that is until Sean and I drew our Sun Swords. They became very quiet then. Dad hadn't even drawn Fragarach. He then basically gave them the same talk that he had given the others. Those in Operations were definitely more surly than the others had been, and Sean and I decided that if they remained that way, they could get very hungry.
When we returned to the cafeteria after returning the unused rations to their storeroom, Ed and Bill were having dinner along with the Boston computer people who had been helping them.
"One of the first things that we looked for," Ed was telling the others, as we came in, "Was how they had blocked us out of our classes. We found a large file on the Family, and in there was a reference to the program they had used. We went to it and turned off the blocks. We should be able to get back to our schooling as early as tomorrow. We should also be able to catch up on all of our classes, as the Government computer uses a very powerful program, and we can get into nearly anything in the school's computer system."
"That goes for your Home-school's computer system, also," Bill told us.
"Yes!" Edana said excitedly. "We'll probably have plenty of time to catch up. There isn't a lot to do here."
"There are plenty of documents to go through," Bill told her. "And Ed and I will need help on that. The Boston people have jobs to return to shortly, so we will need plenty of help."
"Yes, we can all help with that in addition to everyone doing their school work," Mother Katie told us. "Those at the printing plant will just have to do the best that they can without us for a while."
"What about the authorities and other people sitting outside of the defensive shell?" Mother Margie asked. "There are a lot of them."
"They'll just have to wait until morning," Dad told her and us. "They'll be more ready to listen to us by then."
"For now, we need to relieve the people in the Security Center, and set up a watch schedule," Dad told us changing the subject. He called over Master O'Hennessy and Oneida Toups to talk with them.
"We need to start a watch schedule. How many people do you have that can be put on it?" he asked them.
"I have six security people here plus my assistant in addition to the four working on the computer," Master O'Hennessy informed us.
"Just the one already on watch in addition to myself and Marie Laveau, but Marie doesn't understand much of this modern technology," Oneida told us.
"I could stand watch with Oneida and her associate, if it would help," Master O'Hennessy volunteered.
"Fine that would give us nine teams. An hour and a-half watch time per team should get us by until well after daylight. There will be a minimum of three people to a watch team, and that will be stretching things some, but should be all right," Dad told us.
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The sun was well up when I awoke the next morning. I was indeed loved. Gretchen was still in my arms, and Clare and Shannon had moved up against me. Clare was pressed against my back, and Shannon was pressed up against her little blond friend. I lay there for a time thinking about what had happened last night. It had indeed been an exceptional night, but I was worried. I had three women in love with me. Somewhere along the line, I had already decided to marry two of them. This, of course,...
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Final characters introduced in the story: Wolfgang Patrick O'Connell Mike and Gretchen's son, born 7 November 2053, auburn hair, green eyes Carl Michael O'Connell Pat and Petra's son, born 7 November 2053, reddish blond hair, blue eyes While Pat and I had been busy with our Wives and Sons, a bit of a brouhaha had developed at the University. It seems that some of the other Faculty members were jealous of our Parents and Aunts, and their position in what had become one of the...
We had just finished taking our seats and Lady Caoilinn had signaled for the first dish to be served when everything was interrupted by a long, loud, high pitched, agonizing scream that was suddenly cut off. I immediately sent out my Magical senses to determine what had happened. I didn't like what I found. "What on Earth was that?" Lady Caoilinn demanded in the sudden silence that followed the scream being cut off. Captain Sean Og was already on his feet and calling for the guardsmen,...
Seamus continues his Narrative: The following new characters appear in this chapter: Sarah MacKenna, Chandra Duncan's Sister, Seamus's Wife, 5'-2" tall, 100 pounds plus, 34C-20-30, 18 years old, long lustrous black hair, brown eyes, beautiful Duncan MacKenna, Oconostota Chandra's Brother, A & A's Husband, 5'-10" tall, 145 pounds, 16 years old, dark auburn hair, gray eyes, a very handsome young man I transferred Black Bear, the Ranger Lieutenant, and myself back to the...
The following new characters are introduced in the next two chapters: Savannah Collins Shannon's twin, James's Wife, 5'-2" tall, 105 pounds, 34C-22-34, 17 years old, blond hair, gray eyes, very cute Shannon Collins Savannah's twin, James's Wife, 5'-2" tall, 105 pounds, 34C-22-34, 17 years old, blond hair, gray eyes, very cute James's Narrative of his trip to Boston: I went north with Gwyn, Glanda, and their soon-to-be lawyer Husband plus a number of other Representatives to...
I awoke the next morning a very satisfied and rested kitty. I instantly knew that it was morning even with no windows to see out or the fresh air of dawn to sniff. The remains of last night's meal, about twenty pounds of meat, were still there and I wolfed it down in short order before starting to clean my muzzle and whiskers, which I had neglected to do last night due to tiredness. Following cleaning up, some of last night's meal was anxious to depart, and I deposited my cat scat in the...
The following new characters appear in this chapter and the remainder of the story: David Strickland Master Wizard, President of the Council William Rittenhouse Master Wizard, Oldest Member of the Council, builder of the trap James Knox Master Wizard, Member of the Council, Master of Creatures Taylor Peale Master Wizard, Member of the Council, creator of the Magic-stealing creatures Ross King Master Wizard, Member of the Council, in charge of external security Neville...
The following new character appears in the next several chapters: Franklin (Frank) Mahony Master Wizard, Celeste's boyfriend, 5'-9'' tall, 160 pounds, 22 years old, dark auburn hair, gray eyes Frank's Tale: I had heard rumors of creatures down in the tunnels under the headquarters building of the Wizard's Council that stole people's Magic if they ventured into the wrong areas down there. There were also stories of missing Wizards who had vanished trying to eliminate this...
Grace takes over the narrative: Margaret O’Connell and her Husband returned that evening after supper. As promised, she brought the wedding dress and a box of books, but she also brought two lamps with her. “These are Magic Powered lamps, which don’t require fuel or electricity to work. All that you need to do is activate the spell in them with your Talent, and then you can adjust the intensity of the lamp to the level that you require,” she told Owen and me, before demonstrating how to do...
It was just after 4:00 that afternoon when the radio broke the silence. "Attention all O'Connell teams! We have just received word from the Intelligence Corp that the Persians have landed a short distance down river from Frankfurt. Keep a sharp lookout for their arrival. That's all for now," Grandfather Mark finished. Pat and I used the small pair of binoculars that we had been issued to search the area west of the city, but could only make out the top masts of several ships down the...
On arriving at the Hall for the evening meal, we were surprised to see a larger table set up and that several other guests were already there for the meal. The current conversations all stopped when we entered the Hall. "These are my house guests," Lady Feidhelm told the others. "The young man is Master Kellen O'Connell and the young ladies are the Mac Sweeney Sisters, Airmid and Almha, his Apprentices," she finished. "Kellen, these are my guests for the evening meal: Master Murchadh...
We materialized in the Duke's apartment on the second floor of the Manor house. The lamps there ran on Magic and they were lit. There was a fire in the large fireplace, making it much cheerier than the cell that we had just left. Of course the four girls couldn't see any of this, but they could feel the increased warmth. A large sumptuous dinner had been set out on the large table in the dining area here. It appeared that the Duke and Duchess had been interrupted as they prepared to have...
Mark's Narrative Continues: We didn't see Seamus or most of his people for ten days following dinner that night. Meagan and Maureen did appear for dinner a couple of times during that period, and they borrowed Dymphna for a time as Seamus and Carl had taken Dealla and Cessair with them. Having three Mages in the Ohio country put a strain on our one remaining Mage, Coleen, who was rather busy with two locations to take care of. Things on this side of the Ohio River had not slowed down or...
June slipped into July, and we still hadn't found time to return to the Other Reality to visit the girls still there, and to see how they and the Daughters they were carrying were doing. We had planned on returning several times, but every time that we had, something had come up to prevent us from leaving. Aside from the normal work in the fields on the growing crops, and our work in the printing plant, several emergencies had developed to prevent us from leaving. The first was one...
Because of our late start, there was no way that we could make the fifty kilometers to Gray before dark. We passed through the hamlet of Belleauve that afternoon, and had neared Mirebeau-sur-Beze before deciding to stop for the night. We looked for, and found, a wooded area with a pond nearby, at the edge of an open field. Pat and I had unsaddled our riding horses, unhitched the cart team, and removed their harnesses before we took them out to the pond for a drink. The women were preparing...
Monday started a week of discoveries and amazement for our future wives. While Pat and I hit the books, as the old saying goes, on Monday morning, our Sisters and female Cousins took our girlfriends shopping in Statesboro. They went on the small bus that makes regular trips to town several times a day so that our people can shop or run other errands. The first shock was the bus itself. It's one of the small types of buses that can carry 25 or so passengers, like those used by many churches...
Characters introduced in this chapter: Shannon O'Connell (Shan) Sheena's twin, one of Mike's future wives, 5'-4" tall, 104 pounds, 34C-21-30, 15 years old, long flaming red hair, deep green eyes, some freckles, and terribly cute Sheena O'Connell (She) Shannon's twin, one of Pat's future wives, 5'-4" tall, 104 pounds, 34C-21-30, 15 years old, long flaming red hair, deep green eyes, some freckles, and terribly cute Clare O'Toole Cathleen's twin, one of Mike's future wives,...
At home on Monday we all relaxed for a while except for the need to weed the fields and some maintenance on the new Tractor. Sean and I took Annie and Sara out to show them how to weed with Magic. They were surprised that they knew the spell, and at how easy it was to weed the large fields with Magic. Later our Moms took them out and introduced them to the herbal garden and weeding by hand because many of the herbs and other things growing there would be considered weeds by the Magic spell,...
"Shannon, what are you doing?" Savannah demanded, standing in the hall behind us. Shannon's head came up off my chest, and she turned toward her Sister in a more determined way than I had seen before. "It's all right, Savannah. He will take us with him and will marry both of us," she told her Sister. Savannah gasped in surprise. "Really? Both of us? Are you sure?" she asked in a doubtful voice. "I told Shannon that I would marry both of you. I will be glad to have both of you as...
Annie and I spent a troubled night with thoughts of Weres waking us from time to time, as I was sure others in our family did. We had all heard tales about them, but had always assumed that they were just that - tales, and not anything real. We were about to discover if they were real or not. Annie and I were up early for breakfast and were joined by Sean and Sara, who were up equally early. After breakfast there wasn’t anything to do at our houses, so we went over to our parents’ house to...
Mark resumes the Narrative: I didn't have a chance to return to the barracks room until sometime later. I had checked with all of the Platoon Leaders and the remaining leaders of Olive Hill. I had also created the permanent Portal to Hickory Hill to get supplies in here. Wolf came over to me as I entered the room. He had very hesitantly left the girl that he had rescued, who was asleep on one of the bunks. "I'm sorry that I let you down, Mark, but I ... I just couldn't leave Saoirse....
The sun was already up when we rose the next morning. It was dry and fairly warm in our defensive shell, and the fire that the Eternal Flame had left was still burning. While the women started on breakfast, Pat and I fed the horses. "We are going to take the horses for a drink," I told the women, as we prepared to move the horses through the defensive shell and our wards. They didn't like this, and were always skittish when we did it. "Breakfast will be ready in a bit," Shannon called...
The following Monday, the 4th of September, was Labor Day, and on Tuesday, the 5th, we all started back with our home-school studies. Pat and I were now Seniors in high school. Thanks to the work done by the 'Book of Dreams', Shannon and Sheena were now in their Junior year of high school, while Clare and Cathleen had started their Sophomore year. Gretchen and Petra, because of their late start with the 'Book of Dreams' were only on eighth grade work at present, but were advancing rapidly...
It was July before more checks showed up. It was Wednesday, the 13th, to be exact. On Thursday, the 14th, we returned to Nassau to deposit the latest checks and some excess funds from our parents' regular bank account in Georgia. Our parents were maintaining a large reserve of cash on hand in their house now. They had built it up over the last eleven months. This deposit brought them to over 225 million dollars in the two Nassau banks. It would appear that we weren't the only ones moving...
Mankato's (Robert's) awakening: I awoke next to the woman who had rescued me. From the size of the Talent that I could feel and the amount of Magic energy surrounding her, one would assume that she was a woman of large proportions and stature. In fact, the woman next to me was short with large breasts and a slim but very female figure. In her sleep, her breasts rose and fell rhythmically, and I watched them joyfully for a considerable period of time. At last she awoke and sat up. "How...
Characters introduced in the next two chapters: Lady Caoilinn O'Doherty Master Cahir's Wife, the current owner of Glenveagh Castle, 5'-7" tall, 135 pounds, 36B-24-37, 32 years old, dark blond hair, gray eyes Master Cahir Imprisoned the Mac Sweeney sisters, Lady Caoilinn Husband, 5'-7" tall, 175 pounds, 41 years old, Long brown hair and brown eyes Donough Servant, 6'-2" tall, 255 pounds, 27 years old black hair, blue eyes Sean Og O'Doherty Captain of Guards, Lady Caoilinn's...
I was awakened by Sean's voice as he pounded on our bedroom door a couple of weeks later. "Gus, Gus! Wake up!" he was shouting. I sat up and that was when the knowledge hit me. It was like someone had suddenly opened a door and all of the Magical knowledge that I had been absorbing for the last five weeks plus was suddenly right there in my mind - whole and in exacting detail. I just sat there stunned at the magnitude of it all for several seconds. I was brought back to reality by...
I hated to interrupt the Sisters' fun, but it was getting late in the day, and we needed to come to a consensus on what was to be done. "Would you ladies like to leave here with me?" I asked when they took a little break after exploring the room. "Leave?" they both thought in my mind. "Yes, go somewhere else with me." "We had never considered that we could go somewhere else!" Airmid said in surprise. "How would we do that?" Almha asked. "I can use my Magic to transfer us to...
We awoke fairly early the next morning, as the Sisters wanted to see this new castle. I was worried about what Ken had said, and that they would be disappointed. We quickly dressed in our Wizard's robes, but I didn't know if Ken and the O'Hallinan Sisters were up yet. "Ken could still be asleep," I told my women, who were ready to leave for his apartment. "No, they are awake and up," Airmid told me, confidently. "Are you sure?" I asked wondering how she could know that. "Yes, we...
New characters introduced in the next two chapters: Gretchen Servant, Mikes bed mate, 5'-5" tall, 115 pounds, 34B-22-32, 17 years old, long black hair, blue eyes, a sweet but rather plain looking girl "I'll cover the differences first, as they are marked," Grandfather told us after he had finished his meal, and we all had some more of the excellent wine. "They will allow you to understand the similarities better. Also please realize that all of these events have been caused by the...
Margie resumes the Narrative: Romero New York hoodlum, 5’-8’’ tall, 165 pounds, 36 year old, black hair, brown eyes We moved Mr. Franklin’s concrete mixer, a steam powered Ransome 7 batch mixer with an elevating charging hopper attached to the site of the first house on Monday, the 25th of March. Mr. Franklin was concerned as the mixer weighed some 8,000 pounds, but it really wasn’t any challenge for me at all. My Ancestors had moved much heavier loads longer distances with no trouble. I...
Owen continues the Narrative: I spent most of the remainder of the day in the shop with Joe. There was work to do on some items that the local farmers had brought in for repair. Frank joined us to observe later that morning. “I’ve always been interested in blacksmithing, but there wasn’t any opportunity to do it or even to see it done where I used to live,” he told us when we had taken a short break after finishing the work on the first item. “Where did you live?” I asked, curious. “I...