Of Citadels And Castles, Part 14: When The Woman Comes Around
By C. Mage
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As they walked up the stairs, Shepard whistled. "Tell me about this place."
"It's called the 'Nevernever'. Every world has their own version of it, the world behind the world. It is shaped by the life of the real world, by the thoughts and dreams of the sapient beings that live on it. Since there's not much life here, this world's Nevernever is as barren as Noveria itself. Now, look up at the structure up there. Notice how it stands out more?"
Shepard nodded "It seems more….real."
"That's because there's been people there, life there, long enough to make it more real. But life does not always mean benevolence. When we get up there and enter the real world...we'd best keep to our knittin', as they say. The people up there won't be happy to see us." Machias pointed up at the dark shadows moving inside. "Corruption. I'd stake my badge on it. What's worse, if you look close, you can see how the shadows have a purple outline? That means a Corruption has been forced upon them. If I had to hazard a guess...I think something's controlling them, but it doesn't seem magical." Machias narrowed his eyes. "Come on..I'll drop us in at a safe place. Well, safer place...are you ready?"
Ashley smiled. "We're as ready as you are."
The others murmured assent and Machias thought to himself, Wish I was that ready myself…
As the portal opened, The group moved through, and Machias immediately winced slightly. "The song is much louder now….it's almost deafening…!" he whispered. "Hurry!"
They all filed in and moved into the chamber, taking positions. The room they had entered was large, the size of a large home, with space inside for catwalks and computer terminals. It seemed to be some sort of observation room, with the focus upon the center, where two beings were seen: one asari standing in front of a large clear containment cylinder, within which was a large rachni. It was easily four times the size of the others, the four tendrils on its body moving agitatedly. It looked like a conductor gesturing to some orchestra that wasn't making any music. The asairi was alone in the room, but there were eight other doors leading into the chamber, so there was little doubt reinforcements were not far away.
Shepard stepped forward. "Come on, Mac...you have your world and your skills in it….and this is mine." Machias nodded and the group entered the chamber. carefully, weapons out.
The chamber was almost a perfect square, with one level that was little more than a catwalk running around the outer edges of the large room. A raised platform stood above the outside sections, appearing to be some sort of observation deck. Upon that platform stood a lone feminine figure, dressed all in black and wearing a hat that was wider at the top, looking like some dark crown. Next to the figure was a large, clear cylinder nearly as large as a shuttle, holding a rachni, only this one looked much different than the others.
A rachni queen.
Machias knew it right then that the queen was responsible for the music in his head...and that the figure holding her prisoner had to be the Matriarch, Liara's mother. This was going to be tricky. "Matriarch? We'd like to have a chat with you about your choice of dance partners."
The figure did not turn, staring at the imprisoned queen. "Do you have any clue, any inkling of what it is like to be a mother? There is power in creation...to shape a life, to turn it towards happiness…" She turned towards Machias and Shepard. "...or despair. Her children were to be ours, raised to hunt and slay Nihlus' enemies. I won't be moved to sympathy by you." She glared at Liara. "No matter who you bring into this confrontation."
"Liara is here because she chose to be," Shepard said firmly. "Not because I asked her to be."
"Indeed...and what has she told you about me?" Benezia asked, a cold curiosity in her tone.
"What should I say, mother? That you're evil? Insane? That I know how to kill you?" Liara asked bitterly. "What could I say?"
Benezia looked at her for a moment, then turned back to Shepard, as if Liara had lost all importance to her. "Have you ever faced an asari commando team? Few humans have."
"Are you telling us you would kill your own daughter?" Machias shook his head. "No. This isn't you. This is the Corruption talking."
"Enough!" Benezia paced slightly as she continued. "I see now that I should've been stricter with her." She smiled, then stretched out a hand to Shepard and the others, holding them all in place.
Almost all of them.
The biotic field slipped over Machias' body like a sheet, then was pulled away. Benezia frowned. "I know you...you're the one who saw what was inside the beacon. Well, no matter...if my biotic abilities are so easily shrugged off, perhaps my loyal commandos will show you the folly of facing me!" She took a step back as three other doors to the chamber opened, teams of asari entering and taking position behind barricades erected nearby.
Shepard broke free of the induced paralysis. "Fall back! It's a trap!" he yelled. His team lost no time, moving back to one corner of the room and using the fences around the catwalk for cover. Machias and Meggani did likewise, Meggani using her own biotic ability to create a barrier to help provide cover.
"She's summoning every asari she's got to keep up pinned down!" Shepard turned to Machias. "Got any more tricks up your sleeve?"
"I'm thinking!" Machias yelled back.
"Can't you hit them with a fireball or something?" Tali asked as she drew her pistol.
"Not while that rachni is in the line of fire!"
Wrex bellowed, "It's a RACHNI! It's gotta be destroyed!"
"It's an innocent creature and it's intelligent! There's no way I'm going to harm her! There's always another way!"
"Well, we better think of one, quickly, or it won't matter!" Meganni yelled back, wondering how she got herself mixed up in this mess. Being back on Thessia and stuck in the mire of academia was starting to look good right about now…
FIVE MONTHS AGO
The Nevernever of Earth was shaped by the dreams and imaginations of the people living outside the Nevernever. Magic was borne of life itself, and the "world" of the Nevernever grew and expanded as the idealization of life became more and more prevalent. When Mankind found that the sky was no longer the limit anymore, dreams became more intense, more vivid, and the Nevernever seemed to grow and become more nuanced and complex.
For example, the Nevernever had areas that were now firmly dominated by the Winter and Summer Courts, with some areas becoming more transitory as the seasons changed. One of those areas that didn't change was the Islands, a section of the Nevernever characterized by eternal beaches, no clouds in the sky, the waves crashing on the shores. A beautiful spectacle, warm and peaceful.
Jenny Howell hated everything about it.
She stood up, her boots making distinct prints in the semi-dry sand. She'd been in the Nevernever ever since the Pact was formed. She was a Marshal, although her jurisdiction and responsibilities had changed. She'd been part of both worlds, although she was more connected to this one, now.
She took off her hat and sighed, revealing back-length raven hair, and a dark complexion that looked like she'd been in the sun since the day she was born. She was attractive, to say the least, but there was a fierce quality to it, a determination and drive that set her apart from the careless and carefree faces that usually frequented the Islands.
Jenny walked towards the threshold of the Islands, willing herself to transition to the Western Forests. She'd felt things, rumblings she hadn't felt before, but came from somewhere very familiar. Wyoming. She knew where that was and what it meant. The last bastion of the Marshals.
She was the last of them. It was her responsibility.
It was odd, having some responsibility again. Decades of inactivity and kowtowing to the Courts as the Drifter made her feel as if a part of her was gone, never to return, and all that was left was tradition and ceremony. Not that there was anything wrong with tradition. Even after a few hundred years, she still wore the fashions of the Earth's Old West and damned if she wasn't going to keep wearing them. If some of those people wanted to dress the Dark Ages had never stopped, then she could wear whatever she pleased...and there was no way in Hades that she'd ever be caught in a dress, much less what some of the other races considered "fashionable".
Besides, as long as there were horses here…
Jenny rode hard, which felt odd just on general principles. Nobody RUSHED anywhere anymore. Everyone was protected and no one wanted to test the resolve of the Court Queens. As she rode, Jenny reflected upon the Pact and the reasons for enacting it, and not for the first time. She was there when Thelimon, the Great Seer, foretold of a time when destruction would consume the Earth, removing Mankind forever, bringing low everything they'd ever created. The people of this world, both mundane and magical, were powerless to stand against the "Great Reapers" and so the only chance for survival was to move all races that yearned to survive into the Nevernever, and seal themselves off from the end of all Mankind. They were to blame, of course, rejecting the natural laws and trying to usurp the world from those who lived in harmony with it. They were getting what was coming to them, and any attempt to defend them would result in destruction for all.
In short, Jenny thought sourly, why protect the ship from pirates when you can jump ship?
Thelimon was joined by other scryers, who all claimed to see similar visions until the predictions became undeniable. What's more, the visions revealed that only the unnatural constructs would be destroyed, leaving behind purified land and water. The idea of the natural order being restored only served to validate the importance of listening to the prophecies.
The prophecies became rumors, then accepted as truth, then enforced as law. All magical practitioners were forcibly relocated. By the time the Prothean artifacts were found on Mars, everyone and everything with a hint of magic were behind sealed portals, safe as milk. It was a new golden age, despite the complaints, and soon, more and more agreed that they had made the right decision after all.
But not everyone.
Jenny had not made camp for the night for more than a few minutes when she realized that she had company. She didn't even bother putting her hand on her gun or looking up. "Hello, stranger."
A man walked into the light of the campfire, wearing clothes from the beginning of the twety-first century, carrying a hockey stick. "You saw me coming earlier?" he asked idly.
"I saw you when you got out of bed this morning. So, you going to siit down, or are you gonna whistle Dixie?"
The man nodded, sitting down, revealing a face belonging to a man in his forties, but eyes belonging to a man more than twice that age. He was in need of a shave, handsome enough without a shave, a little on the slim side. "I've heard about you, Drifter."
"Heard about you, too, Knight. Have a seat." She poked the fire, causing spirals of red and gold to fly upwards. "Not going to insult your intelligence by asking why you're here."
"I felt it, too."
"Someone tell you to check it out?"
"Nah. Figured I'd check it out on my own. Not much to do for a person in my position right now, ever since people chose their gilded cage."
"And here I thought I was the only one dissatisfied with the Pact," Jenny drawled.
"There are plenty of others...they just disagree in whispers. You know how people revere Thelimon. Practically think he walks on water."
"I know why. Shit FLOATS."
The Knight smiled. "I suppose people are used to you being disrespectful."
"I'm respectful...to those who's earned it...or force it."
"What are you going to do when you get to Wyoming?"
"Depends...what are you going to do when I get to Wyoming?"
"Follow you...see where things lead." He shrugged. "Figure out the rest after."
"If you're going to be following me anyhow, might as well ride with me. Can you ride a horse?"
The Knight chuckled. "I once rode an undead monster. I think I can ride a horse."
"We'll see. Hope you like roasted chicken and beans."
"Roasted chicken, the hard way? Impressive, here in the Nevernever."
"You think THAT'S impressive? Do you have any idea what I had to go through to get canned beans here? Eat up, Mr. Knight."
"On one condition. Enough of this 'Winter Knight' stuff, already."
"As long as you don't start calling me 'the Drifter'." Jenny stuck out a hand. "Jennifer Howell. My friends call me 'Jenny'. What do I call you?"
The man smiled. "Call me 'Harry'."
"So, I imagine you did your schoolwork on me. What did they tell you about me?"
"Marshal Jennifer Howell, the current carrier of the Mantle of the Drifter. Used to be a Marshal, and not with the regular rank and file. The OTHER U.S. Marshals, the ones who handled the 'uncivilized areas', the places Wardens didn't go because the non-Europeans had their own ways of doing things and didn't want outsiders telling them how to do their business. When it became clear that some of the shamans were getting outside help from the Pit, the Marshals were created to uphold the Laws of Magic in a lawless land. They were given the power to BE the law, judges, juries, and executioners. People chosen with the highest moral and ethical standards. Paragons. And Machias Castle was the best of them, if you listen to the stories."
"I was there, Harry. I was his partner right up until the moment he vanished. All those stories you heard? They're true."
"Even the one about the dragon?"
"Especially the one about the dragon. Mac was the only one I ever met that could use Soulfire."
Harry blinked. "Soulfire's…"
"Yep. Power of Creation itself. Machias was a devout Christian. If he hadn't become a Marshal, he could've been a reverend. The man had faith, no doubt about it. Only seen him use Soulfire three times, twice to defeat demons, and once to exorcize a demon from a person. Soulfire isn't something you have, it's something you borrow from the Almighty and give it back the moment it ain't needed no more. The moment you start thinking it's yours, that's when you lose it. For good."
"Sounds like someone I'd like to meet."
"Well, if something happened the way I think it happened...you may get the chance. When he vanished, we all thought he'd been killed by the energies that destroyed the mountain. But it looks like he wasn't killed….he was thrown FORWARD in time. Imagine it...being the only wizard in the world."
"And locked out of the Nevernever. With that kind of power, he couldn't open his way into the Nevernever on his own, right?"
"Mac's never been the type to knock down doors without trying to find out why they're shut and locked to begin with. You see, Mac's a thinker. He didn't get the reputation he had by shooting his way through a problem or a mystery. Even as a tenderfoot, he knew what was up seconds after walking into a room. He noticed the details, put things together. He was a detective, like you used to be."
"I still am, you know."
Jenny stopped her horse and turned. "When was the last time you had to try to figure out what was wrong, in anything? Besides what we're doing now? Face it, Harry. You miss it. The chase. The challenges. The pursuit of justice. You haven't done anything like that in decades."
Harry was silent. "You're not wrong," he said after a few moments.
"That's why you're with me, right now. You want to figure out what's going on as badly as I do, maybe more. Something is wrong with this whole deal, not just the Pact itself. You want to know WHY they did that. Well, come on. It's another day's travel before we reach his Sanctum."
"And then?"
"And then, we find out if my old friend is still around."
"There it is." Jenny smiled and sat back in her saddle. "Call me strange, but I think the real thing looks better than its Nevernever counterpart."
"Certainly looks real enough...and I can feel a difference about the place. Last time I visited a place that felt like this was down in Mexico." Harry sobered. "Haven't that about that in a long time…"
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, just...feeling a little discomfort."
"I knew it." Jenny laughed as she looked Harry over. "I thought you said you rode an undead monster."
"Yeah, but I didn't ride it for three days straight."
"Only another hour's ride. Promise." Jenny smirked and turned the horse back around, riding off at a gallop.
"Me and my big mouth," Harry muttered, not for the first time in three days, and followed.
As they rode closer, Jenny remembered the path to get into the Sanctum. He also remembered how to get in, since the entrance was hidden. "Harry, we'll stop the horses here, then head for the entrance. Oh, by the way, do you know the song, 'Camptown Races'?"
"Why in the world would I need that?"
"Just follow me and sing it out loud until I tell you to stop."
Harry shrugged. "You asked for it." He began to sing, a little off-key, "Oh the Camptown ladies sing this song, doo-dah, doo-dah, Camptown racetrack five miles long, oh, the doo-dah-day…" Jenny led Harry through the doorway, moving past the wards that were placed there, designed to prevent intrusion both in the real world and the Nevernever. "Going to run all niiiight…"
"Okay, you can stop now!"
"Oh come ON, my singing isn't that bad." Harry grinned.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a spectacular singer, Harry?"
"As a matter of fact, I think I've heard that once or twice."
Jenny grimaced. "I can't figure out WHY. I'm just glad I got you to stop before the bobtailed nag came up."
"Oh, HA HA, I am pissing myself, you are so funny…" Harry looked around. "Yeah...definitely seeing it here. The rock and stones in here were definitely shaped. And I'm seeing...a carved set of circles. Wait. There are seven circles here, within two triangles, one with the point north and the other pointing south...and there's…" Harry stopped. "Is that SILVER?"
Jenny smiled. "Among other things."
"He etched the designs into the rock, then filled the crevices with silver. Seven circles within two triangles, what was he trying to do, summon the Archangel Michael, or Mephistopheles?! This isn't some two-bit scrying circle."
"Mac was a real smart man, liked to immerse himself in research. Those shelves over there used to be loaded with books. Over there was his lab, food storage, and the water pump over there should still work. He'd spend hours reading through his books, working on new ideas."
"What's that over there?" Harry walked to a small alcove on the far side and looked it over. "Looks like a small chapel."
"That's exactly what it is." Jenny smiled. "If it was Sunday in the Sanctum, he was here."
"You know...the White Council would find something like this troubling. If this place was as packed as you said, he could've been accused of trying to start the end of the world."
Jenny turned to Harry. "...or stop it."
"I've had to deal with the White Council. They're not 'innocent until proven guilty' types, they're 'guilty until proven innocent, not that it'll matter' types. Working out on the fringes of civilization like that must have made it easy for him to get away with a lot without Council interference."
Jenny sat down on a bench shaped from the nearby stone. "You have to understand what it was like, back then. The Europeans were taking over the New World. The Wardens stuck to the cities and the civilized areas. But out here...people were just trying to find a place to survive after they had their land taken from them. There were a lot of scared people out here. The Marshals were here to keep the peace, not root for one side or the other. More often than not, they were helping the natives, not the Europeans. When it was all over and all the territories were conquered by the Americans, the Marshals, at least the magical ones, disbanded. The Wardens were in charge and they were happy about it….especially since they didn't appreciate having to back down from the Marshals from time to time when it came to jurisdiction."
"Why?"
"Lawbreakers thought they could escape Warden justice by heading west. Wardens didn't like that, and when they tried to follow, they found out the criminals had managed to escape the frying pan by running towards the fire. The Wardens wanted trophies, but the Marshals wanted justice, and that meant, in certain cases, summary executions."
"Yeah...the White Council prefers getting their criminals alive. Can't torture the dead."
"So when the Marshals shut down, the Wardens swooped in and let everyone know they were in control again...much to the regret of many. The Marshals were popular. They were people, not just enforcers. Their time was over. Most everyone in the Marshals retired, went other places, settled down. The Rangers welcomed me with open arms, but I checked in on Mac's family, now and then. Elaine married a nice grocer, had a good life, but Lorraine...died within a year of losing Mac. I tried to support her all I could, but I could tell she always blamed the Marshals for what happened to him. To my knowledge, neither Elaine nor her children were wizards, so we all figured the bloodline died with Mac."
"And you're saying he didn't die? He showed up here, instead?"
"Mac was good at a lot of things. Gettin' killed wasn't one of them. There has to be something here we can…" Jenny stopped, looking a the circles carved into the floor. "Harry, I've got an idea. Mac was always careful, always planned ahead. Check out the circles in the floor. Can we use it to get a connection to the Nevernever?"
"There should already be some kind of connection. I recognize some of the symbology used in it. Why?"
"Look down, past the floor deep into the earth...can you see it?"
Harry looked down, then whistled. "He's got the circles positioned on a ley-line nexus. He didn't pick this place by accident, that's for sure. There's five major ley-lines and three smaller ones, all meeting right here!" Harry found himself actually excited for the first time in decades. "And with the ley-lines charging up the silver in the circles, we could set off a magical surge of energy…"
"...big enough to blow a hole in the walls between here and the real world?"
"Yep. There might be a few hiccups, though. One, this'd be a one-way trip at best. At worst, we'd be blown to smithereens. Two, setting off something like that will NOT go unnoticed. It's likely that everyone in the Nevernever will feel it. And there will be a lot of powerful people who won't like what we did."
"So what you're saying is our chances aren't good."
"Nobody's ever done this before. Nobody has ever tried. And if it works, it could weaken the barriers here. One way or another, there's going to be a lot of people in the Nevernever who will be quite unhappy with us."
Jenny didn't take long to answer. "DO IT. I'm tired of being 'safe'. And you are, too. I can see it in your face when you talked about how to get out of the Nevernever. So...let's do it."
Harry looked up at her. "You are completely nuts, you know that?" He grinned. "GOD, I missed working with crazy people."
"Is it ready?" Jenny asked.
"Not yet, just a few more minutes."
"I've been waiting two DAYS…!"
"You got a choice, Howell. We could do it FAST or we could do it RIGHT. You can pick ONE."
Jenny hmphed and looked around at the inside of the Sanctum in the Nevernever. "I'm going to miss this place...like I'd miss a burr under my saddle."
"Trying to concentrate here, Howell…" Harry chuckled at Jenny's sigh. "You've been in here since the 1900s. What's another minute?"
"Mac wasn't in trouble before now. Before, he was dead. Now, not so much."
"Okay….I'm done. Just have to start the casting to 'light the fuse', so to speak."
"Just a warning, Harry, I've heard about you and your knack for lighting things on fire. Be careful."
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. Be ready to make tracks once the rupture happens. I have no idea how long it'll stay open."
"Ready."
Harry concentrated, then cast the lynchpin spell. There was a rumbling all around them, and a screeching sound that set Jenny's teeth on edge. "What's happening?!" she yelled over the sounds.
"It's the Barrier….it's resisting the effects of the spell!"
"What do we do?!"
"Wait! The cascade effect should be coming through any second now!"
"The WHAT?" Jenny yelled, then the rumbling sound became several degrees louder. The circles in the middle of the Sanctum were starting to glow, the silver becoming incandescent as the stored power began to resonate. It began to hum audibly and Jenny looked at Harry with worry etched on her face. "THIS IS GOING TO BLOW UP IN OUR FACES, ISN'T IT?!"
"DON'T WORRY! THE BARRIER WILL COLLAPSE FIRST!"
"ARE YOU SURE?"
"...MOSTLY!"
"THEN I'M GOING TO 'MOSTLY' TAKE BACK EVERYTHING BAD I'M ABOUT TO SAY ABOUT Y…!"
Jenny was unable to finish that statement, as a massive shockwave cut short her words and blew her off her feet…
….and she landed HARD on her back, the wind knocked out of her. She was gasping for breath like a beached flounder for several minutes until she could get her breathing under control, then started breathing through her nose.
The air was musty, with the scents of old stone and ozone in the air. Jenny sat up quickly.
She was BACK! "Harry! HARRY! You alive?!" she called out.
"...technically…" came a pained voice twenty feet away. "OW…."
"We need to get out of here. We don't want to be here when the others show up."
"Relax...they're not going to open the Barrier for a couple of runaways. By the time they get around to gathering their committees together and deciding on whether or not it's worth the hassle of breaking their own edicts, we'll be LONG gone. Besides...there's no way I'm going to move right now. I feel like someone bent every bone in my body."
"We've got to get up...we've gotta find Mac."
"Relax, Howell...from what you've told me, Mac can handle himself. I'm more worried about us. We don't have a dollar to our names. We don't have a way to ride someplace civilized. Walking there is going to be even worse."
Jenny smiled. "I've already got it figured out. There's a town about thirty miles from here. We can make it there, easy."
"What about water?"
Jenny walked over to a hollow in the rock and brought out four canteens. "We fill these up and we'll be set. Don't worry, Harry. The walk will do us some good."
"You, maybe." Harry looked tired already.
"Saddle up, cowboy. Fill up the canteens at the pump over there while I do some checking. Mac used to stash other supplies here…"
They left that very hour, and Harry had been expecting a trek through the desert. He was surprised to note that the weather was cooler than expected, and the ground not quite so sandy. The sky was cloudy, allowing for periodic shade from direct sunlight. "This isn't so bad, though I still wish I had my car."
"Wishes in one hand, horseshit in the other, guess which one fills up faster. You are right about the weather, though. Must be October already." Jenny looked to the horizon. "Not seeing too many roads, which is something of a surprise." She blinked. "Uh, Harry…..eyes south. You see that? Up there in the sky?"
Harry turned and looked to where Jenny was pointing. "I see it….not sure what it is. Wave at it."
"Wave?"
"Trust me." He raised both hands and started waving. Jenny shrugged and did the same. As they did, the object in the sky turned and approached. It looked like a car, but instead of wheels, the vehicle was supported by jets of blue flame. "I think it's some kind of vehicle."
"And it's FLYING." Jenny shook her head. "Wonders never cease...I got a feeling there's going to be a lot of things we never saw before."
The vehicle moved to one side of them and lowered itself to the ground, then a door rose on the side and two people stepped out. "You folks okay?" a woman in some sort of form-fitting uniform asked politely.
"Who are you?" Harry asked.
The other person in uniform, this one male, pointed to the stylized green tree on the side of the craft. "Parks And Wildlife. Are you part of some film or something?"
Harry chuckled. "Or something. We need to get back to civilization. Can you give us a lift?"
"Sure thing. You're lucky we found you." The woman smiled. "I'm Officer Davis, that's Officer Alann. You should be more careful out here; this park still has some surprises that show up when you least expect them."
Jenny grinned. "Oh, I believe you, Officer. Truly."
"It's a miracle Mac didn't go insane…" Jenny said hollowly as she looked around at the station. "What IS all this?"
"Uh, don't worry, she's just method acting," Harry said to the officers staring at Jenny. They nodded, a couple of them shaking their heads.
Jenny turned to Harry. "What's 'method acting'?"
"FOCUS, Howell. Looks like a lot more time has passed than we thought. A lot of this stuff looks like it came out of a STAR TREK Next Gen episode. Just have to be careful about touching things…"
"I don't have trouble handling technology, Harry."
"I do. Wizard, remember? You'll have to do the touching for me."
"With what? How will any of this help us?"
In answer, Harry waved down one of the officers. "I don't suppose you have a publicly-accessible terminal we can use?"
"Right over there. I'll turn it on for you; we don't get many people using it." One of the officers led them into another room with a desk and a terminal, but no keyboard. When he activated it, the device opened up into a screen, with a light source projecting a keyboard onto the desk surface. "Let me know if you need anything. We're at Station #42."
As the officer walked away, Harry smirked. "The answer to Life, the Universe and Everything."
"Right now, I'll settle for an answer on where to find Machias Castle." She looked down at the desk, then pressed a finger against the H key. The letter showed up on the screen. "You're in luck, Harry, you can use this without using it. So, you're the expert on the future. Do something with it."
"Wonder if they still have Google." He typed in a request for a search engine and typed in Machias' name. The results were almost immediate:
.
MACHIAS CASTLE, SELF-PROFESSED WIZARD
ANOMALOUS HUMAN RELEASED FROM PSYCHIATRIC CARE CLAIMS TO USE MAGIC
MACHIAS CASTLE THWARTS THEFT ON CRUISE STARCRAFT
ATTACK ON EDEN PRIME: ARE THE GETH TO BLAME?
RAGS TO RICHES STORY: WHO IS MACHIAS CASTLE?
HAVEN FOR THE QUARIANS: NEW PLANET DISCOVERED BY INDEPENDENT EXPLORER
.
And, near the bottom, offers of money for more information on Machias Castle. Jenny blinked. "Great Caesar's GHOST...is this all real? Other planets? People from other planets? Ships that can fly from planet to planet in a matter of days? And Mac is in the middle of all this? RICH? I know he was always frugal from time to time, but….how did any of this happen?"
Harry pulled up the article. "Seems he had an account before he disappeared...and since there was no body and his wife took care of his finances, the money just sat there and collected interest."
Jenny peered over Harry's shoulder. "What's 'interest'?"
"I'm guessing you glossed over the business end of your job."
Jenny snorted. "I hunted and shot for a living. I had enough to pay for my bills. Hey, maybe my account is still active! Maybe I have money coming to me!"
"How much money did you have in your account before you passed over?"
"It's been a while, I don't remember."
Harry considered. "Remember your account number?"
It took some digging, and some online work, but Harry was able to navigate through the bank's online access system and was able to set up an account to access what Jenny had in her account. "Have to admit, I'm excited!" Jenny said. "To think, all those riches, just waiting to be collected. I never been wealthy before. You don't exactly join the Marshals to get rich."
"Easy there, Jenny. There have been a few changes. We apparently don't use 'dollars' anymore, the economy changed to credits...seems there's a rate for exchange…" Harry stopped. "You ready for this?"
"Yep! Tell me how rich I am."
"Well...based on this...you have….one hundred and eighty-five thousand, nine hundred and twelve credits."
"WHOOO! I'm RICH! How about that? Huh?" She slapped Harry's shoulder. "With something like that, I should be able to get my own ship, too!"
"Uh….maybe not. But you might be able to buy a nice life, take it easy."
"Yeah, that ain't gonna happen until later. We gotta find Mac now. Where is he?"
Harry did some more typing and digging. "Says here he just left someplace called 'the Citadel' and is heading to someplace called….Noveria."
"How'd you figure that out?"
"Some things never change. Civilian vessels have to file flight plans, and those are still a matter of record. Just means finding the right record." He turned to Jenny, giving her a smirk. "I was a detective, you know."
"So, how do we get to Noveria?"
"The hard way. I'm going to call us a ride...and figure out how to get us some IDs."
"Well?"
"We've got a LOT to do. Officially, we don't really exist. I can finagle us some IDs but will take some illusion magic. We have to fool them into thinking our birth certificate information is legitimate."
"Wait, how did Mac pull that off?"
"That's the first thing I looked at. Apparently, the medical file generated when he first came to the Citadel as a patient was sufficient enough for him to create a valid ID. They had genetic information to use as a means of creating some kind of profile for him. Once he accessed his bank and showed a financial profile, I imagine that greased the wheels." Harry kept digging. "In some ways, it's much easier to fake an ID if you've never had one before. You could come from anywhere and be able to get a brand-new one. It's trying to fake other identities that gets tricky. They're going to ask us for a lot of information, get retinal scans, DNA scans, fingerprints."
"I don't even know what half of those words are. Are you sure we can get these IDs?"
"I'm sure." Harry smiled. "Trust me."
"Last time someone said that to me, they were trying to sell me a cure-all that could clear up warts, settle my stomach and get rid of headaches forever." Jenny closed her eyes and sighed. "Well, as Mac always said, 'God hates a coward'."
"You all right, Howell?"
Jenny groaned loudly. "I would've rather spent the day breaking wild horses! I've never talked so much in my entire life! UGH!" She took off her hat and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. "At least that whole mess is over with. It IS over with, right?"
"Congratulations. You are now a card-carrying member of the planet Earth. You have an ID, a personal record, and most importantly, a bank account with access to funds throughout the known galaxy."
"What about you?"
"Not so much. Technically, you were missing, and with no next-of-kin, the money kept piling up. Me? Some reprobate had me declared dead and looted my bank account. If I was still legally alive, I'd be in debt up to my eyeballs just from the service fees ALONE."
"Huh. Well, seeing as how I've got so much money, you can have half."
Harry blinked. "That's….a lot of money to give half of it to someone else."
"I've got more than I know what to do with, and we're in this together, partner. Not going to have you tapping my shoulder every other hour to ask to borrow money from me. But after that, I expect you to be responsible with your money. Mac was the same way. Being a regular wizard doesn't automatically make you a FINANCIAL wizard."
"I used to be a struggling detective. Believe me, I know how to stretch a dollar, or in this case, a credit. Now, let's find someone who can get us to Noveria." Harry looked at himself, then at Jenny. "AFTER we do some shopping for clothes. We're going to need to blend in a bit more."
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"Please. We look like we just walked off a movie set based on a novel that is a crossover of LORD OF THE RINGS and A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS. You know what they say, 'When in Rome…'"
"What does visiting the Coliseum have to do with this?"
Harry shook his head and facepalmed. "Lord, give me strength."
"Lord-a-MIGHTY…" Jenny breathed. "Just LOOK at this place. I ain't never seen anything like it."
"Quit staring at the spaceport, Howell, you'll look like a rube."
"Harry, are you going to stand there and tell me IN BROAD DAYLIGHT that you're not impressed and amazed by this?"
"Oh, I'm impressed. I'm just choosing not to LOOK impressed. Now, pretend you're in a new town."
"No need to pretend THERE…"
"Now, do you want everyone looking at you?"
"No, of course not….oh. Right. So, now we're dressed like the locals. Now what?"
"I did some research on Noveria. Ice planet, pretty far off the beaten path. A lot of businesses go there, though."
"Why would that place be popular if it's barren?"
"Probably the same reason why your friend's sanctum was out in the middle of nowhere. You said he liked to do research. Was he the type to research dangerous things in the middle of Dodge City?"
Jenny understood immediately. "So this planet has sanctums, too, only for businesses? What sorts of things do they study there?"
"If I hazarded a guess or two? Weapons, hazardous materials, the kinds of things that wouldn't bother a frozen rock out in space, but could bother a lot of governments."
"So what are we standing around here for? Mac's in the middle of all that!"
"Follow me, and let me do the talking."
"Why you?"
"Because I've seen more STAR TREK and STAR WARS movies and TV shows than you ever will."
"Huh?"
"Exactly."
With legal tender now at their disposal, getting a pair of cabins on a starship going to Noveria wasn't difficult. The real challenge was taking the shuttle up to the starship. As they went transatmospheric, both of them began to feel the effects of leaving the magical field surrounding Earth. Jenny sat on the bunk in their room. "I feel like my get-up-and-go just got-up-and-went. What's going on?"
"No idea...but I'm feeling it, too. I don't recommend trying to use magic while we're out in space. God only knows what'll happen if we do." Harry sighed. "Howell, tell me about this guy. Considering we just performed the most dramatic jailbreak in history, I'd like to know more about the guy we broke out for. What was he to you?"
"He was my partner."
"Nothing more than that?"
Jenny gave her as powerful a glare as she could. "That's not ENOUGH?" She shook her head. "Oh, Mac could turn the head of any girl, but he had this really annoying trait that kept other women at bay...he was deeply in love with his wife. The goddess Venus could've come out of the sea, almost-dressed in scandalous clothing, walked up to Mac with her arms wide, and the only thing he'd want from her would've been to ask if she'd seen the fugitive he was chasing."
"An honorable guy?"
"Harry, if that man gave you a handshake, you could put it in a bank and it'd draw interest. Mac never went back on his word. That's just one of his qualities." Jenny laid her head back. "Mac was a class act. A Godly man, but a humble man. He didn't have a hateful bone in his body. It's one of the reasons why he was respected in the territories. He had a system. He didn't accept payment for helping people, so what he would say was, 'I've helped you out, as I said I would. Now, one day, you may see me again, and when you do, I may ask you for a favor. It's not going to be against your principles or morals, but I hope that you'll remember what happened today.' And that's it."
"What kinds of favors did he ask?"
"Well, all kinds of things. One time, he asked a general store owner to hire on someone who needed a job but wouldn't get hired because of his family's reputation. The boy turned out to be a fine young man, who became the owner's best employee."
"Guy sounds too good to be true. What if he asked for a favor and the person helped told him, 'no'?"
"Then Mac lost that time." Jenny shrugged. "It wasn't a perfect system. But some people learned quickly what it was like to be known as the person who went back on their word with Machias Castle. They were usually ostracized by the local community, at best."
"He never made any mistakes?"
"Oh, Mac made mistakes. The man wasn't perfect, but didn't make mistakes when it counted...and when he did make mistakes, he took responsibility for them." Jenny smiled. "It was an honor to be considered his partner. I was the first non-wizard to become a Marshal, you know. Before me, it was a wizards-only club."
"Really…" Harry sat up. "What happened?"
"My father had become Corrupted, threw his lot in with one of the worst demons the Marshals had ever faced. When it was over, I knew how people looked at me. The daughter of a monster. A Comanche half-breed. But Mac stood up for me. He said to the Marshals, 'You don't have to be a wizard to do the right thing, to defend others, to bring justice to the lawless. I believe she can do the job. But if you don't believe in her...then you don't trust my judgment.' And then he took off his badge." Jenny chuckled. "OH, you should've seen the faces of the other Marshals. The ones in charge looked like they'd just bit into onions. If the territories found out that Castle had quit the ranks of the Marshals, faith in the Marshals would've dropped, and the criminals would've seen it as blood in the water. The Marshals also knew that letting me in would open the door to other non-wizards, not to mention non-whites. Finally, they decided to let me and a few other applicants in, and they soon found out how effective non-wizards could be. Mac was proven right, which endeared him to many of the regular Marshals and the new recruits. I remember one day when there was this kid, no more than sixteen. He was a sorcerer's kid, wanted to join up, but he looked as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Finally, Mac walked over to him, put a hand on his shoulder, and said, 'I'm proud to know there are young men like yourself that are so civic-minded.' I tell you, Harry, you couldn't get the smile off that young man's face with dynamite for a week."
"So what happened to Machias?"
Jenny leaned forward slightly. "Johnny Two-Eagle. He'd been raising Cain about the natives being forced into reservations or leaving on the Spirit Walk and existing in their part of the Nevernever. Mac and I had been sent to try and calm him down, but Johnny had already been making plans. He'd been working with a man named Faustus, who had access to forbidden knowledge, the kind that got you a Warden's Haircut just for possessing it...CHRONOMANCY."
"UH oh."
"Yeah. Faustus had created a gateway to the past, three hundred years before the Europeans had even set foot in the New World. He was all set to bring back knowledge of the future as well as cartloads of guns and gunpowder, enough to change history. Of course, he neglected to understand that doing so would cause a massive paradox, big enough to destroy pretty much EVERYTHING. Even fueling the gateway required sacrificing the lives of everyone in the town near the mines where the gateway had been built."
"These guys sound NUTS. What happened?"
"Well, we took down both of them, but by then, it was too late: the gateway was open, people were dying, and the next person to walk through that doorway would pretty much cause Judgment Day. Mac made a decision. Even though he didn't practice chronomancy, he had researched it, and knew that there was a way to defuse the gateway without causing the world to end. Problem was, it would only limit the destruction, not stop it. The mountain would be decimated...and him along with it. I didn't know the second part until after it happened, but I know that he knew and just didn't tell me."
"Why not?"
"Because he knew I wouldn't have left him behind. He just told me to get all the prisoners out while he tried to turn it off." Jenny sighed. "That was Mac all over... man didn't have a yeller bone in his body. Always jumpin' in where angels fear to tread. Since there wasn't no body, Marshals listed him as missing, not dead, and had to break the bad news to his wife and child. I swear, I would've rather faced down a dozen dragons than have to tell Elaine and Lorraine that Mac was gone." Jenny shook her head. "And now he's back. The reaction of the gateway must've thrown him forward in time...either that or God tapped him on the shoulder up in Heaven to tell him that his work ain't done yet. Either way, he's back...and we've got to help him."
"You think he's getting into trouble?"
"I know he's getting into trouble. Mac always said, 'if you got the power to help someone, then you've got a duty to help someone.' And Mac was never one to stand by while other people were getting hurt. The only question is, what kind of trouble is he going to be in?"
"Sounds like Castle can handle himself."
"There's a reason why Marshals work in pairs, Harry. We need to find him. FAST."
Getting into Noveria was an exercise in itself. Heightened security covered the docks and common areas, and every other person seemed to demand to know who Jenny and Harry were. Finally, Jenny grabbed the nearest person and said in her Marshal-Voice, "WHERE IS MACHIAS CASTLE?!"
And that's when the guns came up. Harry's hands shot skyward. "Okay, everyone just calm down…!"
Jenny looked around at the guns pointed at her head and smiled slightly. Well, this brings back memories…
"Wait, everyone, stand down!" A woman stepped forward, looking rather similar to Jenny: dark hair, dark eyes, wearing some sort of uniform. "What was that about Machias Castle?"
"My name's Jennifer Howell, Marshals. This is my associate, Harry." She let go of the other uniformed officer. "We're looking for Machias Castle and we have reason to believe that he's in the middle of some trouble. Who are you?"
"Gianna Parasini, Internal Affairs. It's all right, I'll take it from here." The other officers nodded and stepped aside, holstering their weapons.
"Has Machias been here?" Harry asked quickly.
"Yes, and it didn't take long for him to make an impression. What you're seeing here is the aftermath of the results of his presence. Reports are sketchy, but one of our administrators here was apparently possessed by some sort of evil spirit if you believe the reports." She frowned. "Something definitely happened in that office."
Harry turned to Jenny. "Sounds like your guy has been a very busy Marshal. Listen, we need to find him. Has he left the planet?"
"Not that I've heard. Seems he took a ground unit to check out a lab out at the edge of the eastern mountain range. The lab's pretty remote, and he left hours ago."
"HOURS…!" Jenny grimaced. "Missed him by hours! How can we get to him? Got any more of those ground unit things?"
"Yes, but the compound is on lockdown. Nobody leaves without proper authorization." The look of sheer determination on Jenny's face, while formidable, was not enough. "I'm sorry, Miss Howell."
"Don't worry. I'll find another way." She strode away from Parasini, Harry right behind her.
"What have you got in mind?" Harry asked.
"We use the Nevernever to get to where we need to go."
"Jenny, you have no idea what the Nevernever is like there, or even if there IS a Nevernever. This is an ALIEN PLANET."
Jenny turned to look at Harry steadily. "I do not care. Mac would come after me to the very gates of HELL. I'm going after him. You coming?"
Harry chuckled. "Once again, going where angels fear to tread. I hope you have an idea on how we're going to get to Machias from here."
"Not yet. But it'll come to me. It always does." Jenny smiled and headed towards a hallway marked as leading to a garage.
"Happy to see such confidence." Harry had a feeling he wasn't going to enjoy the next few hours.
"Wow. Just….wow." Harry looked around, viewing the Nevernever of Noveria. "This place is just so….FLAT. Not a cloud in the sky. There's plenty of wind, or whatever passes for it in this place. It's cold, and I'm aware that it's cold, but I'm not cold myself. Even the words feel like they get frozen…" He turned to Jenny. "So, Magellan, what's the plan?"
"We find what direction to go first…..that way." She pointed to a range of mountains. "See that orange energy? There's life there. That's where we'll check first."
"How do we get there? Look at this place. All you can see out there are miles and miles of miles and miles."
Jenny smiled. "Let's just say that the Mantle of the Drifter comes with certain benefits." She closed her eyes and concentrated. As she did so, the wind began to pick up, swirling around her as she concentrated. Harry watched as something began to take shape behind Jenny, a powerful, multi-legged form that became more and more distinct. Finally, the wind and haze died away and Jenny turned to see something that looked like a horse, with no fur or pelt, white as the world around them, but it was the size of a Clydesdale and had six legs, not four. As a consideration made by the summoning, there was an extra-large saddle on the steed.
Jenny stepped closer and reached up to the muzzle of the creature. It made a sound that was a high, guttural sound that must've been what passed for a whinny, then it lowered its head. The skin was taut over its body, without any sagging.
Harry whistled. "That must've felt bizarre as hell."
Jenny didn't comment, only saying, "Let's RIDE. We got a long ways to go and not a lot of time to get there. I can hear something coming from that direction."
Harry closed his eyes. "I can hear it, but it's hard to hear...but it's beautiful, and it's complex, like an orchestra of thousands." He turned to Jenny as he walked towards the steed. "Jennifer Howell, we are so off the map right now, it's not even funny."
"Mayhap we are...but I don't need a map. I know where I'm going." Jenny pulled Harry astride the steed, then took the reins. "HYAAAH!" she yelled and urged the steed forward. The steed took off at a run like it was a missile that had just been launched, flying over the trackless wasteland as if that was all it ever wanted to do.
As they approached the peaks, Harry yelled over the thundering hoofbeats, "THAT MUSIC IS GETTING LOUDER...AND THE WEIRD PART IS, IT'S LIKE I'M NOT HEARING IT WITH MY EARS!"
"I'M HEARING SOME OF IT…" Jenny looked at the glowing stairs leading upwards. "...AND I THINK WE JUST FOUND MAC!"
"NOW WHAT?"
Jenny smiled. "WHAT ELSE? WE'RE THE CAVALRY, AIN'T WE?"
Anissa and Yria entered the room, crouching down next to their fellow commandos, Paraci and Mystrae. "Units One, Two and Four have them pinned down. All that is left to do is close the circle." Anissa smiled. "For the Glory of the Matriarch!"
The others echoed enthusiastically, "FOR THE GLORY OF THE MATRIARCH!" and began to fire their weapons without care for their ammunition reserves.
Paraci licked her lips at the thought of savoring her victory.
Yria felt an almost orgasmic glee at winning the favor of Matriarch Benezia.
Mystrae hungered only for the blood of any who dared defy the Matriarch.
Anissa fell forward, out cold, her face smacking into the floor grating.
The other three barely noticed, thinking she'd been shot and had perished, failing her Matriarch and being rightfully punished for it. The fact that she fell forward didn't immediately set off any warning bells in their fanatical mental states.
And by then, it was too late.
Jenny didn't know who these people were, or even WHAT they were. All she knew was that they were trying to kill Machias. She slung her rifle over her shoulder, having used the butt of it to render Anissa unconscious, and with a Comanche war cry, she drew her guns at her hips and began firing away. Harry watched Jenny blast away with a ferocious joy, though whether it was from seeing her friend again or being in the middle of a fight, he couldn't tell.
But Harry was not a person to stand by and let Jenny have all the fun…
.
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TO BE CONTINUED...