This is a work of fiction any similarities between the characters, events, or locations in this story and actual locations, events, or people are purely coincidental.
© 2004 Warlord
{Questions, Comments, Suggestions, or Feedback: Contact Warlord at [email protected]}
Atlantis
By Warlord
“Knowing her fate, Atlantis sent out ships to all corners of the Earth. On board were the Twelve: The Poet, The Physician, The Farmer, The Scientist, The Magician, and the other so-called Gods of our legends.”
Atlantis by Donovan
It was a cold, fall rain. The kind of rain that reminded you that winter was close at hand. I had been cruising the back roads of the north woods and the windshield wipers on my pickup had been beating steadily for the past hour
Looks like there would be no grouse hunting today. Any self-respecting grouse would be in his grouse home next to his grouse fireplace being served hot chocolate by Mrs. Grouse! Not that I was any particular danger to grouse longevity, but it was too cold and wet to play!
Ahead of me, I spotted a sign for a farm sale. It was a farm where I had hunted last fall. I wondered what happened to the two old brothers.
I pulled in and parked in the yard. The rain had slowed to a drizzle. There was a small travel trailer covered with auction bills, the mobile office for the auction’s clerk. Ray, the clerk, asked if I wanted a bidder number? I handed him my driver license. He gave me number 6. At my unspoken question, he said:
“This hasn’t been a working farm for a long time, so the local farmers have little interest and the cold, wet weather will keep away tourists who might otherwise be looking for antiques. You only have to compete with 5 other bidders.”
The FFA/4-H food wagon had coffee and donuts and an awning! I decided to see what the brothers might have had in their shop. As was customary for country auctions, all the small items from the shop and outbuildings were thrown in boxes and spread around tables in the cattle shed next to the barn. There were about two-dozen boxes spread haphazardly about the shed. The boxes would usually be bid up separately, hoping for some competition among the bidders.
I immediately spotted some eyebolts. If I could get those boxes cheap enough it would save a trip to the hardware store. I sipped my coffee and waited for the auctioneer to reach the shed.
The rain picked up again, and became a full-fledged downpour. I noticed a cowboy hat wrapped in a yellow rain slicker coming my way; I assumed that was the auctioneer. Soon Buddy the auctioneer, Cliff his assistant, and Ray his clerk were huddling at one end of the open shed and we were ready to proceed. Just about that time an attractive young women in a Columbia Sportswear jacket entered the building.
Buddy opened bidding on the first box at 50 cents. No response. Ray looked over at me and said:
“It’s up to you, you’re the only bidder out here.”
“OK, I bid $20 for all boxes and all their contents.”
Buddy glanced at the smartly dressed woman and shrugged:
“You wouldn’t pay much more than that if I bid every box and you probably aint interested in every box.”
“Going, Going, SOLD to bidder?”
“Six”
“Six, all sales final, must be paid in full before removal and all items must be removed by close of auction -- Pay the clerk!”
I walked over to Ray and gave him a twenty. He handed me a receipt.
The rain was now coming down so hard that the drops were rebounding off the ground and back into the air.
The auctioneer lit a cigarette and offered me one. While we smoked we made introductions. Dr. Helen Erickson was only niece of the two brothers and closest relative.
“So what happened?”
“Charles had a heart attack and died here on the farm. Edwin went down fast after that. He was in the local nursing home and died of pneumonia.”
“That’s too bad, they were pleasant old guys.”
“How did you know them, are you from around here?”
“No, I’d come up from the city to hunt grouse and your uncles always let me walk the fence lines. If I only got a couple, I used to give them to Ed.”
“That was you? When Edwin was in the nursing home, he was complaining about the food, he said he wished it was hunting season, how you used to give them whatever you shot!”
At this point the rain relented to a mere downpour and the auctioneer and Ray headed back to the house to finish with furnishing and “antiques”. Helen seemed in no great hurry. Cliff asked if I needed any help loading MY boxes into my pickup. I took the hint and ran out to my pickup and backed it into the main door of the shed. We loaded all the boxes and covered them with my tarp. Cliff followed back to the main house.
Helen asked:
“Can I get your advice?”
“Sure, what do you need?”
“I’ve gotten a bunch of conflicting counsel on what to do with this property and I’d like an unbiased opinion.”
“First question, Helen, how much land?”
“Over 750 acres, we have a mile frontage on both sides of the river and we own the land where the two feeder creeks enter the river.”
“So you own the big gravel pit?”
“Yes, how do you know about that?”
“They let me sight-in a couple rifles down there.”
“How long has the property been in your family?”
“Their Grandfather homesteaded the original tract while this was still a territory.”
“Do you need the money?”
“No, I work as a physician and general surgeon in Chicago’s Downtown Hospital emergency room and I actually do better than most doctors in private practice.”
“Then do nothing. This could be a prime resort development with that river frontage and this well drained land. You sell now and someone else makes a huge profit when that development pressure come to this county.”
“What do I do in the meantime.”
“Hire someone to put sheets of one inch plywood over all the doors and windows of the house and all the outbuilding. Put no trespassing signs on all the building. Pull the gate shut and padlock it. Put a small for sale sign on the gate and see if anyone calls”
“That really is the direction I would like to go, I hate to be the one who sells this place.”
Helen was flying out of the metropolitan airport, so I gave her my number and told her to call me if she had a layover at the airport and we could have supper.
I drove home with the windshield wipers keeping time to Muddy Waters. It was perfect weather for the blues!
When I reached home, I pulled in the garage. No point in procrastinating, I began unloading the truck. The boxes went downstairs into my shop. I might have over-bought! Seemed like such a good idea at the time. As I made a quick inventory, I found those dozen eyebolts. I saw a couple old books, several cans, and bottles that were genuine antiques. These were still boxes stacked everywhere.
I found one box that intrigued me, it was different from the rest. The top was sealed and when I opened it, I realized that it had been sealed for a long time. The paper in the top of the box was yellow and crumbling with age. The headlines were about “THE FIRE!”
Okay if you aren’t from around here than you can be forgiven for not knowing. THE FIRE (usually in caps, even when talking) was a disaster that happened in 1918. It swept across the north woods and burned up forest and also the small farmsteads that were carved out of the woods. The fire became a firestorm, long before Dresden and Tokyo popularized the term.
The contemporary literature was filled with stories of horse and wagon unable to outrun the fire. They also talk about whole families dying in root cellars of smoke inhalation or oxygen depletion. One farmer was boiled to death when he thought to hide in his well! Even the train was caught in the fire and destroyed. There is a large stone monument at the local cemetery which marks the resting place of several hundred people too badly burned to identify or where the whole family died and no one was left to claim the bodies.
Likely this box had been sealed in the immediate aftermath of that fire. I opened the box and found a small wooden building, like a kid’s toy dollhouse wrapped in more of the same newspaper.
It looked like pictures I had seen of a Viking long house. There was no paint; and the wood was badly scorched on one side. At first I thought it might be a toy or even a jewel box. But, there were no openings or drawers that I could see. The confusing thing me was the weight. It was not hollow; it seemed to be solid wood. It even seemed heavy for that!
I decided to save the mystery for another time. I cleaned up, picked up the bolts and climbed into my Suburban to head for my girlfriends.
I rang the doorbell and Cynthia let me in. Cynthia was my girlfriend Catherine’s 16-year-old daughter. Catherine was 30; they really acted more like sisters who grew up together. Cath was a waitress in the poker room I frequent. Cynthia was wearing a tight tee and bikini panties.
“”Where’s mom?”
“She is working back to back shifts, all the wait staff at the poker room are sick. Cath said you won big and then disappeared?”
“Yea, I was playing high limit holdem and hit a real rush!”
“How much?”
“About $25K.”
“Cool!”
“You know me. I have to get away when I win. Otherwise I might play it back, thinking I’m invincible, instead of just lucky one day. Here, I picked up something for mom”
I handed her the eyebolts. She snickered and took one in each hand, holding her hands above her head as if tied. It did wonderful things for her shirt!
“Not that, it’s for her crafts. Cath wants me to string some wires in the basement by her workshop so that her birdhouses and wind chimes can dry after she paints them.”
After putting the bolts back in the bag, Cynthia and I ordered supper from the neighborhood Chinese restaurant. After supper, we saved the extra for Cath in the fridge.
Cynthia joined me on the couch. She sat on my lap and began kissing me. I pulled off her tee and began to fondle her tits.
“Are you tired?”
I admitted I was.
“You look tired, after all that driving. Get undressed, I’ll get the comforter.”
Cynthia had me lay down on the couch and then she spooned in front of me, with her back to me. She covered us both with the comforter. She leaned back and I kissed her goodnight. She held my hand to her bare breast.
“Get some sleep, Humbert.”
The next thing I knew it was morning and Catherine was kissing me awake. Then she kissed Cynthia.
“I brought you a present.”
I showed her the bag with the eyebolts. She immediately grabbed one in each hand and held them over her head! It did wonderful things for her chest too.
“No, but it seems like I might need to think about that given the reaction.”
I explained about the wires for her crafts. I got a big grateful kiss with tongue and promise.
“How was work?”
“Everybody was sick, I was the only waitress left, and they begged me not to leave. I stayed until Evelyn showed up to start days. They passed the hat and everybody threw in cash or chips, over $3,000!”
“We saved you some Chinese.”
“Never mind -- too tired.”
I undressed Catherine and tucked her in bed and told her I would be back after she woke up. I dropped my Cynthia Lolita at school and headed home.
It was time to tackle the mystery of my “Viking House.” While I was sleeping, my subconscious had come to a conclusion: The house was too heavy! It was too heavy even if it was solid wood.
I lifted the Viking House into the center of my bench and pulled my strongest halogen work light into position
I went to my shelf and pulled one of my woodworking books. I looked up what a cubic foot of white pine would weigh. I measured the house, and then I weighted it. I was merely following Archimedes who used displacement of water to reach a similar conclusion.
By my calculation, the house was heavier than a similar volume of solid wood. Lots heavier!
Now what?
I took a small high-speed dentist’s drill with a burr bit and placed a small hole on the side of the house just at the roof peak. Then with my flexible bore scope, I looked at the interior for the first time. The scope had a light on the tip and I passed it back and forth to get a feel for the interior,
Now I was even more intrigued, the upper part was hollow. What was adding all the weight?
At about “window” level was start of the wood filling the interior. There was a gap between the blocks of wood and the inside edge of the house. I took my very thin Japanese saw and gently cut the roof. The I pressed the same saw into this gap. The saw went to the solid bottom of the house and stopped. I sawed all around as if it was a cake I was loosening from a cake pan. Then I used my chisel to loosen the “block” of wood.
I took 4 wood screws and lagged them into the block and tied strong cord to the screws. Lifting the cordage and twisting I broke the center block loose from the house. I lifted it free!
I set the block on the bench and moved the now empty house off to the side. Taking my magnifying glass and the light, I examined the block carefully. I was beginning to think that this block had NEVER been out into the light of day since the house was built originally. I really had no estimate of when that was, but moment-by-moment it was getting older!
The block was not solid, but had horizontal seams at irregular intervals. My next task was to open them.
I stopped, looked around and realized that it was dark and I was hungry. I called Cath and left a message that I was busy with a project and would catch up when I could. Then I pulled a steak out and grilled it while I pondered my next move. I cleaned up and resumed my detective work. Slow and steady seemed the best course.
Again with my strongest lights placed as close as possible, and working from bottom to top, I slipped a thin blade along the seam between the layers and then I followed with series of chisels of increasing thickness until the wood “popped” apart. I repeated this at each seam until the entire block was reduced to a series of thin pieces scattered on my bench.
My dissection revealed hollow compartments, with carefully made indentations to hold their contents with no damage, movement or noise.
What I found confirmed that this was not a curio from the fire, but after that I was just more confused.
There was a large rectangular milky white crystal in the largest compartment, about the size and shape of a large matchbox. Looking closely, the crystal seemed to have other colors below the surface. In another series of pockets were gems: diamonds, rubies, and sapphires of large size and to my eye quite flawless.
The crystal was wrapped in a thin piece of supple leather that had a diagram showing the gems placed in a pattern on indentations on the top of the crystal. In other pockets were a silver ring, a wrist piece/buckler and a necklace with silver medallion. Looking at the runic symbols on the ring, medallion and other jewelry, I started to think pre-Viking.
Placing the crystal under the halogen light, I placed each gem as it showed on the diagram. I don’t know what was supposed to happen, but nothing did. Setting the jewelry next to the crystal, I looked at the time. I was shocked! And then realizing how long I had spent hunched over the bench I was exhausted. I staggered to my bed. I would get up and finish in the morning when I was fresh.
I woke up, long past noon. I walked straight to my coffee pot and made a pot of coffee. While it was perking, I stepped into the shower and stood under the spray until I ran out of hot water. After a couple of cups of coffee, I felt almost human.
I walked into my workshop and confronted a figure in a monks robe. Think Alec Guinness in Star Wars (though come to think of it EVERYBODY in a monks robe looks like Alec Guinness in Star Wars). One thing poker teaches you is not to react emotionally, but to think it through rationally. So I rationally tried to think: How he got in my house and where my closest pistol was.
Then I took a good look and realized that he was a hologram of some sort. For all the world he looked like our old T.V. sets black and white image when the rabbit ears could not quite pick up the signal, monocolor and grainy.
Then he started talking and I realized that there was no good reason for me to have a hologram visiting either!
He said his name was Enoch and he was counselor to the council of 100 and aide to Queen Isobel. He asked a favor, could I place the home jewel, (that gesturing toward the crystal) in sunlight and could I make it warmer.
I took a good look at the crystal. Gone was the milky white color, it was now transparent and simmering with a host of internal iridescent streaks and flashes.
I asked him why?
Enoch told me that I could ask for any boon, any favor and it would be granted if I would help with this request. He said the power to grant my favor was only limited by my imagination. I told him that I imagined pretty good!
We have established my penchant for gambling and other risky behavior, so the next part should be no surprise.
I carefully moved the crystal (with its jewels) to the kitchen tabletop in full sunlight, and then I brought out an electric space heater, which I placed on the table right next to the crystal. I told Enoch that I would be back shortly.
I went to the local Tractor Supply Store and bought a couple large infrared heat lamps (used for raising little farm animals), I stopped at a green house and bought “artificial sunlight” lights, which would give off wavelengths of energy just like sunlight.
I returned home with my lamps and went in to see how Enoch was doing. He was vastly improved, he was now in full color and his signal had stabilized. He was not quite digital, but he was close.
I asked Enoch to follow me as we went up the stairs and into my attic. At one time before I was downsized, I had wired this space to be a home office. Now it was going to be a hiding place for this crystal.
“Enoch, this is going to be your new home.”
I told him the windows and the skylight would provide ample sunlight and I would install the lights that I had purchased today, to provide energy 24/7. Then I had to explain “24/7.” Oh well!
I installed the all the lights, moved the heater, and then at dusk, I moved the crystal to the attic. It was already glowing much more brightly with many more internal streaks and flashes. About an hour later, Enoch reappeared. He was looking good! A strikingly beautiful woman accompanied him. She had auburn hair, which flowed on both sides of hr face. Her figure was full and statuesque. Her bearing was regal. As well it should be, this was Queen Isobel brought to meet me.
Enoch asked about the jewelry. I brought it out and laid the three pieces on the table. Queen Isobel said:
“You have saved us and by your action you have become my champion.”
She told me to place the wrist piece on my left forearm. The ring was to go on my right ring finger and the necklace around my neck with the medallion centered on my chest.
“These simple tools will allow you to focus the powers of the jewel and to wield the powers of the most powerful mages in all Atlantis.”
“Okay, talk to me who are you and what is this about.”
Admittedly this was a conversation we should have been having sooner, now was a good time to find out what was going on.
Enoch and Isobel sat down and told me the story of Atlantis. It really did exist and it really had very advanced technology. Their technology was even more advanced than we have today because they had access to magic! They had electricity, cold fusion, and computers. This made the way it ended all the more distressing.
They were done in by tectonic plate shift which destroyed their home in a series of Mount St. Helen sized disasters. They saw it coming, but sort of like global warming, they kept talking themselves out of actually believing the truth. The other problem was jealousy, other kingdoms were jealous of the riches and would not allow free passage to a safe haven. The Atlantis folk finally had to hide
The crystal I had released was a hiding place! Think of it as a lifeboat!
Their greatest scientists built something like a “Star Trek” transporter, which converted them to some sort of energy, and then they entered the crystal to wait for rescue when it was safe. A Queen’s Champion was entrusted the task of guarding and protecting this crystal with the life essence of the Queen, court, rulers and scientists of Atlantis.
I picked up the narrative at this point. Someone must have placed these items in the wooden house. Then they were passed from hand to hand over time. Two discrete possibilities exist: The people holding the house did not know its contents, just knew it was old and important or the people had full knowledge of the contents and were not decided on the proper time to call forth the crystal.
THE FIRE was a player, my supposition is that the house was a keepsake, wrapped because it was the only survivor of a complete wipe-out, that is, a family which all died in the fire leaving no one to carry on.
That left the scorched wooden house wrapped in newspapers that ended up on my workbench.
Parts of the story were bothersome, the Queen became evasive when we discussed how many people were in her crystal, was that the only crystal and most interesting when were you planning to reconstitute your selves.
It seemed like a good time to sleep. I apologized for being a poor host and left for bed.
I work up the next morning and while I drank my coffee, I pondered my new responsibility. I also wondered at my infatuation with Queen Isobel. I had the hots for a hologram. Talk about unrequited love.
I returned to my living room and found Isobel and Enoch, pretty much where I left them,.
“You guys don’t sleep much?”
“No sleep is necessary living in the electric realm.”
“My queen, your champion has some recommendations. Things need to be done to keep you safe and not so incidentally to keep your champion in one piece.”
The recommendations included: Having her chief magicians explain how I could use my new powers, looking for the rest of the main crystal, and finding other magical items they had described last night.
“Do you need something more in order to scan or look for the rest of your crystal?”
“Why do you assume there is more to it?”
“Is there more?”
This was THE pivotal point in our relationship. Queen Isobel telling truth or lie at this point would set the tone for all the rest that followed.
Enoch started to scold and Isobel silenced him.
“You are a wise champion, fate has been kind, I will tell you anything you wish to know.”
Isobel and Enoch both filed in more gaps.
There was a larger crystal “somewhere” which “mine” was a small part. These were other crystals, which were also intended to be lifeboats. Before the Diaspora the crystals acted like powerful computers, (actually AI seemed closest) and as generators of magical energy. There were magical items like my three that focused, intensified, and called forth magic. There were many such and it had been common in the realm for a magician to place magical items near a crystal to make it more powerful.
“Can a wizard or mage sense that this crystal is here making magic?”
“Yes”
That was not good news.
“My Queen, as your champion, I need to give some directions. With your permission?”
It was time to intensify the sense of urgency. I told Enoch to find me the best wizards and scientists for two tasks: Find the bigger crystal and find me other wizards and their magical items.
“We’ll call them “gadgets”, its what the Manhattan Project called atom bombs to prevent security leaks.
Enoch and Isobel just looked puzzled, there were enough unknown topical references to keep me busy for a week explaining.
“Never mind, just tell them to report quickly and call them GADGETS.”
“Enoch you need to find your best fighting wizard and have him train me in offensive and defensive tactics.”
Then it was time to reap my reward. I asked Isobel and Enoch if they were serious about granting me a boon or if that was just to get me to uncover the crystal.
“Ask for anything, with magic many impossible things can be granted.”
I walked them to a corner of my basement and began pulling plastic off tables. I have a regulation craps, roulette and blackjack table. Just exactly like the ones in Las Vegas. I explained the operation of each table to Isobel and Enoch.
“Your magic must control the outcome so that I can win, without alerting literally dozens of people whose only job is to observe, catch, and punish cheaters with exactly the same idea that I have.”
I threw the dice a couple times, showing them the bounce off the back wall and how they spun and turned. Then I walked to the roulette table, spun the wheel and dropped the ball. They watched the bounce from one number to another until it settled.
“Can you let me pick THE number and make it look natural?”
Enoch was immediately intrigued; he would get people started
on my projects. He said it felt good to have tasks after years of waiting. Enoch started to fade. I stopped him.
“It’s too disorienting, don’t fade out in front of me. Go to a room or the attic and do it there.”
Isobel and I wandered back to my living room we talked about her life in Atlantis and my life now. She called me Her Champion and I called her My Queen.
Enoch came back with several reports. The wizards could search for crystals, gadgets, and other wizards if I wore the “jewelry” and stayed in the house. The wizards had decided that a Mage named Elias was the best one to teach me about my jewelry and offensive and defensive magic. The scientists and magicians (the terms seemed interchangeable in Atlantis) were also intrigued by my gambling puzzle and were working to solve it.
It was past time for lunch, maybe holograms don’t eat but I hate to miss too many meals
I met with Elias after lunch. He was a younger version of the Enoch hologram, white robes, and no hood. I told Elias of my concern about a contemporary wizard swooping in and stealing the crystal and in the process harming Cath, Cynthia and ME.
He agreed with my assessment (that made me feel better, not) and we moved to an overview of the use of my ring and wrist piece as a lens to focus magical power and the medallion as a shield but also a reserve of energy and computer function if I somehow was “out-of-touch” with the crystal.
My years working with firearms of various types made some of the transition easy. Spells had become commands. They had automated magic! Part of the crystals AI function was tasked with tracking my actions and responding to my requests. The medallion would act in this capacity when away from the crystal.
What could I do? Well I could fire an energy blast that would make Hiroshima look small. I could fly and all other forms of telekinesis seemed available, mind control on several levels, teleportation seemed to work fine and I seemed immune to the attacks of many other wizards.
That was the promising start from Elias We agreed on some exercises to strengthen my skills and Elias told me to wear the jewelry, it needed to adjust to my body and my personality. With that he returned to the crystal.
Training had taken all afternoon and I was thinking about supper. While I ate, Isobel and I talked about continuation of my planning.
Enoch returned with a report, they had located the larger crystal and they found another wizard with a powerful gadget 10 miles away! I’ll have to teach Enoch about ‘I have good news…’
“First we bring in the big crystal, then we fight.”
I told Enoch I needed a monks robe too. I wanted mine built in a particular way, it must have Kevlar lining to stop any bullet or knife and it must be “stealthy” that is I must not appear on radar, video cameras, or be visible to the naked eye. It would be nice if it also protected me from magical attacks as well! He left and shortly a monks robe appeared hanging in the living room. It had several pockets inside which would be useful if I actually needed it for an expedition.
Enoch came back to report the only problem was the “invisible” one. I would be easy to hide in dark or shadows, not so easy in daylight. That did not seem a big problem, I was not going to be displaying my magic or confronting other wizards in daylight. I would do it at night when I might have, if not advantage, at least a fighting chance!
First up, the crystal!
The bigger crystal was located in the Atlantic Ocean, in a deep rift. Not so unlikely given tectonic plate action after these many years. The crystal was below the sea bottom as well as deep below the surface.
The wizards suggested that I fly to a point above the crystal and hover while they use me to focus the energy to raise the crystal.
I admit that I floated a bit around the house and it was pretty cool, but this was an “expert” level exercise – out over the dark Atlantic. I was going to be too far out to swim back!
I waited until dark; I put on the new stealth robe and tried flying around the city, then out into the country. I discovered that I could pick my speed, height, direction, and the medallion would hold my course until I changed it. Autopilot for wizards! This must be where the flying broom legends came from.
The wizards made a holographic map appear and charted a course to the X that marked the spot where the crystal was located. I wanted to leave in the dark but also arrive at X while it was still dark. I suggested that the wizards raise the crystal very slowly so that internal pressure and temperatures could stabilize before they reached the surface.
“Will I be able to carry the crystal back?”
That seemed not a problem.
I picked up a few things that made me feel comfortable. I slipped a silenced Ruger 22 automatic in a shoulder holster and a Colt Commander 45 in a hip holster. I added a Gerber knife and my Buck folder. I threw on a down vest under the robe and added a couple of candy bars. It was finally full dark. I left shortly after.
It was a rush, floating up out of my yard and then heading for the ocean. I picked an intermediate altitude out of the airline flight path and kept cranking up the speed until it was uncomfortable, then I backed it off a click! Before long my medallion AI told me I was at the correct spot in the ocean. I kept expecting to see an X on the water, like the old Popeye cartoons.
Now came the boring part, my AI told me that they were successful and were pulling the crystal out of the mud and up out of the water. It was just taking time. I tried to find a comfortable position to “hover” in. I finally managed to quit being tense, hovering over the cold, and very deep Atlantic. I settled on standing loosely and broke out a candy bar. I spent some time using telekinesis to pick up flying fish and toss them. It was good practice of multitasking.
The AI announced that the crystal was about to broach the surface. I told them to hold up while I looked around. I rose up a couple thousand feet and then made a circle about a mile in diameter, all I saw was ocean!
I went back and told them to bring it up. I saw the crystal for the first time. I was impressed!
It was in the shape of a ziggurat and about 6 feet tall. I grasped it and there was no weight. I had to steer and hang on.
The flight back was almost anticlimactic, smooth and no problems. We landed in the back yard and entered the house through the back garage door and then carried the big crystal up to meet the little one.
I set the crystal ziggurat on the attic floor and examined it. There was an opening on the very top the shape of my original crystal. Actually now that I looked at it carefully, the crystal was not symmetrical but was in fact seemed designed to fit only one, “correct” way. I placed the crystal and replaced the gemstones. I repositioned the lights and heaters. I went downstairs and collapsed into bed.
The next morning (actually closer to noon, I hate morning) I left my bed and headed for the coffeemaker. I looked in the living room and confronted a crowd. About twelve people were sitting and standing, waiting for me I guess. I recognized Enoch, Elias and Queen Isobel, but the rest were unknown. I got my mug of coffee and walked in. Immediately from every side were thanks and congratulations. Queen Isobel introduced the assembled as “The Twelve” and told me that they were chosen from “The Hundred” to be her closest advisors.
Queen Isobel finally managed to call the meeting to order. Enoch lead the explanation. The new big crystal when linked to the existing, had boosted power to an almost impossible to explain plateau. They were back in touch with the people who used that one as a lifeboat and the other newly linked wizards and scientists were sharing experiences from the forced separation. One difference that I should have noticed was that the holograms were now “solid” and able to touch and move objects instead of passing through.
Elias took up the explanation to tell me that the magical power I could project had increased dramatically and we would have to work on “turning down the volume” of my automatic responses.
Queen Isobel told the assembled group that it was long past time for my boon and she asked the scientists and wizards if they had answered my gambling questions and were prepared to demonstrate? Everybody quickly studied the floor. Committee meetings really haven’t changed!
Enoch started to assign that as number 1 priority.
“What about the other wizard?”
Elias said that they quit worrying when the crystal was so powerful now.
“Nope, keep worrying, this other wizard should not be allowed to pick the time and place of any confrontation.”
I told “The Twelve” that until further notice, we would place the wizard under surveillance. We will learn the layout of his home, his habits and anything that will aid our understanding of his strength or vulnerability. We will then decide if he is a threat and if he is how to neutralize him and his gadget. Isobel nodded and that was that.
Enoch then introduced Jon, (blue robes, no hood, older than Enoch) who was a leading scientist. Jon would be leading the charge on planning my Las Vegas assault. We adjourned to my tables.
I demonstrated the craps table and threw the dice. Then Isobel threw the dice, then Enoch, then Elias, then Jon and on until all everybody had a try. Then I demonstrated the roulette wheel and dealing blackjack out of a shoe. I went to the bookshelf and got down every gambling book that I owned. I told Jon that I expected him and the others working on my project to read and understand these concepts and be ready to discuss my requirements. I looked up and Isobel said:
“Tomorrow.”
That settled that!
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