Ages and Alternities - User contributions [en]

Sapphire

2014-03-18T21:04:08Z

Jsuhoski: /* Roster */

'''- - CAMPAIGN LOCAL TIME IS Sun Time 13, 2436 CE (as of real date 6/9/2012)'''

The '''Sapphire''' campaign follows a group of adventurers in the fantasy world of [[Sapphire:Erethel|Erethel]].

== Roster ==
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Aliana|Aliana]], mysterious cloaked female
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Aurora Borealis|Aurora "Rory" Borealis]], mapmaker
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Chalker Jackson|Chalker Jackson]], human with power over metal
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Runis Silverear|Runis Silverear]], dwarven bard
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Trace Dreygon|Trace Dreygon]], Human Mage from the Troubled Lands

=== Former Members ===
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Josh Andrews|Josh Andrews]], recruiter with a funny hat
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Corrial Gilberts|Corrial "Cori" Gilberts]], mage/alchemist, and his goshawk familiar [[Sapphire:Characters:Elios|Elios]]
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Jinto Salvatore|Jinto Salvatore]], elven mage and scribe
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Ty Penton|Ty Penton]], Human Mage from Eastern Calventine Empire (NPC)

== Supporting Cast ==
=== Introduced ===
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Alaron|Alaron]] - Alpina – Duke Yarrow’s Major Domo
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Sa'Tire Belandrie|Sa'Tire Belandrie]] - Elf Wise One.
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Beckie Mannine|Beckie Mannine]] - Waitress

=== Adversaries ===
*Jerrell Bastress -

===Organizations===
*[[Sapphire:Alpina Mage Guild|Alpina Mage Guild]] -

== The World ==

'''Location''' (Erethel WFF 867664779-2-9400600)
 
This is an alternate Dimension.

'''Purpose'''
 
Undisclosed at this time.

*[[Sapphire:Calendar|Calendar]]
*Deities - [[Sapphire:First Chosen|First Chosen]] and [[Sapphire:Other Deities|lesser deities]]
*[[Sapphire:Places|Places]]

== Game Session Summaries/Writeups ==
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20031108|November 8, 2003]] - February 14, 2004: Recover Stolen Goods
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20040619|June 19, 2004]] - September 25, 2004: Destroy the Temple
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20050924|September 24, 2005]] - [[Sapphire:Sessions:20060114|January 14, 2006]]: Strike the Flame
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070127|January 27, 2007]] - Alpina - Arrival
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070210|February 10, 2007]] - Alpina - Night At Red Band Tavern
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070224|February 24, 2007]] - Alpina - Royal Visit
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070310|March 10, 2007]] - Alpina - About Town
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070324|March 24, 2007]] - Alpina - Explore the Crypt
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070407|April 7, 2007]] - Alpina -
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070421|April 21, 2007]] - Alpina -
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070505|May 5, 2007]] - Alpina -
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20070519|May 19, 2007]] - Alpina -
*[[Letter to the King and Queen of Dolyena|A Letter]] to Their Majesties of Dolyena from Chalker, with Observations Regarding His Companions
*[[Report 36J Filed by Senior Journeyman Mage Corrial Gilberts|Cori's Report]] To the Vellon Se Co Arch Mage Council: Regarding the completion of the Vellon/Alpina Trade Route.
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20071215|December 15, 2007]] - Desecrated Temple
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20071229|December 29, 2007]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080112|January 12, 2008]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080126|January 26, 2008]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080209|February 9, 2008]] - Temple cleansed
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080223|February 23, 2008]] - Decisions and Journey Started
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080308|March 8, 2008]] - A band of mercenaries
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080322|March 22, 2008]] - Into the ruins
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080405|April 5, 2008]] - Temple of Asseraah
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080419|April 19, 2008]] - The Never-Never
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080503|May 3, 2008]] - Intruders, go home
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20080517|May 17, 2008]] - The Clean Up
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20091031|October 31, 2009]] - Rescue the hive in time
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20091114|November 14, 2009]] - Checking up on Yavalin
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20091128|November 28, 2009]] - Alpina again
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20091212|December 12, 2009]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100109|January 9, 2010]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100123|January 23, 2010]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100206|February 6, 2010]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100220|February 20, 2010]] - Unicorn Dell
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100306|March 6, 2010]] - Grassmont - attacked in the decent inn
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100320|March 20, 2010]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100403|April 3, 2010]] - A long time down
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100417|April 17, 2010]] -
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20100529|May 29, 2010]] - Stopping the time threat

*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110319|March 19, 2011]] - Juan Rodriguez

*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110416|April 16, 2011]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110430|April 30, 2011]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110514|May 14, 2011]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110528|May 28, 2011]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110611|June 11, 2011]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110625|June 25, 2011]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110709|July 9, 2011]] - Rescuing the Sapphire Diamond
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20110723|July 23, 2011]]

*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20120609|June 9, 2012]] - Slave traders from Malprin
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20120623|June 23, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20120707|July 7, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20120721|July 21, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20120804|August 4, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20120915|September 15, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20120929|September 29, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20121013|October 13, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20121027|October 27, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20121110|November 10, 2012]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20121208|December 8, 2012]]

*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20140301|March 1, 2014]]
*[[Sapphire:Sessions:20140315|March 15, 2014]]

Return to [[Main Page]]

[[Category:Sapphire]]

Sapphire:Characters:Trace Dreygon

2014-03-18T20:59:12Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Trace Dreygon Shoulder Length Brown hair, sun tanned skin, Grey eyes, 5'6", 150 lb normal build Mage that studies the current art of magic as well as the ancient art of rune or sym...

Trace Dreygon

Shoulder Length Brown hair, sun tanned skin, Grey eyes, 5'6", 150 lb normal build

Mage that studies the current art of magic as well as the ancient art of rune or symbol magic.

Trace comes from the Troubled Lands S.E. of the ancient city of Ardon, the village had several names over the years including New Ardon.
Trace studied with several Mage Guilds' including the one located in Aplina. Trace started traveling to the digs in the ancient ruins to help
identify items of value for the adventurers that were seeking their fortunes. A band of adventurers left him at a dig and "borrowed" his horse,
since Trace refused to leave his Donkey Nancy behind, since she had hurt her leg and could not carry a load or travel fast enough for the group.
They had a very valuable cargo that had to be in Sibinca in two days.

Ages & Alternities:Player-PC List

2014-03-18T20:54:45Z

Jsuhoski: /* Characters played by John S */

== Player List - Active ==
=== Characters played by Bobby J ===
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Josh Andrews|Joshua Andrews]] - Cowboy/Gunfighter
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Stephen Boyd|Stephen Boyd]] - Teacher
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Timothy Cook|Timothy Cook]] – Mercenary/Cook
*[[Chicago:Characters:Anthony Darr|Anthony Darr]] - Democratic Revolutionary.
*[[Chicago:Characters:Evonne Nelms|Evonne Nelms]] - Police Officer.
*[[Chicago:Characters:Jason Rathbone|Jason Rathbone]] - Space Trader.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Ridge|Ridge]] - Warrior Shaman.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Steve Williams |Steve Williams]] - Mechanic/Singer.
*[[Dallas:Characters:Paula Baker|Paula Baker]] - Part-elven mage, semi-retired from IS.
*[[Nomadic:Characters:Rick Jorg|Rick Jorg]] - Techie whose hobby is hunting.
=== Characters played by Mary K ===
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Tanisha Lazuli|Tanisha Lazuli]] - Elf mage. [Resigned from IS]
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Jezabel Ringer|Jezabel Ringer]] - Feline anthro.
*[[Chicago:Characters:SLY|SLY]] - Cybernetically enhanced street fighter.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Richard Cheshire|Richard Cheshire]] - English swordsman.
*[[Chicago:Characters:Jessica Spring|Jessica Spring]] - Psychologist.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Rii|Rii]] - Winged warrior.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Jocelyn Morgan|Jocelyn Morgan]].
*[[Dallas:Characters:Kefya North|Kefya North]] - An IS agent-in-place on a parallel Earth.
*[[Chicago:Characters:Megan Starling|Megan Starling]]
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Aliana|Aliana]] - Mysterious veiled woman hired for her skill in 'getting into tight spaces'.
*[[Nomadic:Characters:Valerie Vaughn|Valerie Vaughn]] - Actress and stuntwoman emerging from her famous sister's shadow.
=== Characters played by John S ===
*[[Chicago:Characters:Brodie Cates|Brodie Cates]] - Martial artist.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Vincent Emery|Vincent Emery]] - Research scientist.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Jarret|Jarret]] - Moon mage.
*[[Chicago:Characters:Johnny Whitetop|Johnny Whitetop]] - Modern Indian warrior.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Weezuachew|Weezuachew]] - Space pilot.
*[[Dallas:Characters:Axle Lee|Al 'Axle' Lee]] - Sometimes known as Butch. Operates an import/export company.
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Aurora Borealis|Aurora 'Rory' Borealis]] - A wanderer mapping the world of Erethel.
*[[Nomadic:Characters:Max Whittle|Max Whittle]] - Athletic reality TV contestant.
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Trace Dreygon|Trace Dreygon]] - A mage in the the world of Erethel.

=== Characters played by Bill S ===
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Kevin McGuire|Kevin McGuire]], aka Mr. Wicket
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Roger Luca|Roger 'Beano' Luca]]
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Tralane Oram|Tralane Oram]]
*[[Chicago:Characters:Earl Grimes|Earl Grimes]]
*[[Chicago:Characters:Valmont Kazor|Valmont Kazor]]
*Silk
*[[Dallas:Characters:Blake Drummond|Blake Drummond]] - Began as a bodyguard and chauffeur; now runs his own security company
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Chalker Jackson|Chalker Jackson]] - Magnetic personality
*[[Nomadic:Characters:Vincente Carbone|Vicente Carbone]] - Mage

=== Characters played by Tom W ===
*[[Chicago:Characters:Reg Myers|D. Reginald "Reg" Myers]], entrepreneur, man-about-town.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Torimar 312|Torimar 312]], a priest under a vow of silence.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Michael O'Connell|Michael O'Connell]], leprechaun.
*[[Dallas:Characters:Jeremy Grant|Jeremy Grant]], fly-anything, fly-anywhere pilot.
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Runis Silverear|Runis Silverear]], young Dwarven bard.
*[[Nomadic:Characters:Jeremiah Trust|Jeremiah "JT" Trust]] - Forensics specialist.
*[[Chicago:Characters:Brandon Zachary|Brandon Zachary]]

== Player List - In-Active ==
=== Characters played by Tony V ===
*[[Dallas:Characters:John Kines|John Kines]], private investigator.
*[[Nomadic:Characters:Sevren Smith|Severin Smith]], aka Black Crane, circus aerialist.
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Peter Deleon|Peter Deleon]]
*[[Chicago:Characters:Apollos|Kelsy Mcculagh]]
*[[Hawaii:Characters:Trent Porter|Trent Porter]]
*[[Delta Base:Characters:Trina Karlighal|Trina Karlighal]]
*[[Sapphire:Characters:Corrial Gilberts|Corrial "Cori" Gilberts]], mage/alchemist
*[[Dallas:Characters:Philip Deveraux|Philip Deveraux]] - Stage Magician / Showman

=== Characters played by James Lovell ===
*[[Delta Base:Characters:Bubba|Bubba]]
*[[Delta Base:Characters:Doctor Konrad Abendroth|Doctor Honrad Abendroth]]
=== Characters played by Daniel Fearn ===
*[[Delta Base:Characters:Brother Nemo|Brother Nemo]]
=== Characters played by Aaron Bonner ===
*[[Delta Base:Characters:Holden|Holden]]

Go To [[Hawaii:Infinite Solutions|Infinite Solutions]]
[[Category:A&A General]]

Dallas:Timeline - Current Situation

2012-12-08T01:31:11Z

Jsuhoski:

==Overall Situation==
===November 17, 2007===

In mid-October 2007, Kef received a handwritten letter, forwarded from Paula, from Philip Deveraux, with whom Kef had been acquainted from the renfair circuit. In the letter he informs Kef that he will be in Dallas near the end of October, and invites her to attend a performance of a magician called Lazarus.

At the moment when the timeline was repaired (10/23/2007), Kef was in Corvallis, Oregon. Upon hearing that Steve lay in a coma, she put her RV in storage and flew back to Dallas.

Paula performed Healing spells on Steve but he remained in Coma. Once it is determned that he is physically sound the group places him in a long-term care facility removed from the main venues.

As of 11/17/2007, despite her efforts Steve's condition remains unchanged, but Kef intends to persist until he is healed. She has rented a small apartment in Terrell in order to be close to the long-term care facility.

The rest of the group tries to settle back into the routine. However this is made difficult by Steve's condition and the Fact that the Twins are aging at a rate 5 times faster than normal. On 11/17 the Twins are chronologically 156 days old (.43 yr) but physically are 780 days old (2.14 yr).

There is a lot of discussion about what to do about this situation and the Da Vinci Prophecy in general.

===Resumption===
'''Below is how I propose to restart the Dallas Campaign. I'm proposing a forward leap for the restart to reset the level/plots of the campaign. Please Review and let me know your thoughts on this.'''

Proposed Resumptions assumptions:
* January 2, 2008 - Paula Baker and the Twins were transported off dimension by ENigma. 
* February 28, 2008 - Igor Darvich and Stan Wilhelm Depart Dimension under own power - Probably. 
* From 2002 - 2007 the rate of 'Unusual' occurrences had been increasing at a extreme rate. In January 2008 that changed.
** There was a reality shift - the way things worked changed just a bit ('''See Note 1 & 2''') but all Characters that owned a IS Amulet remember the before.
** Weird events did not go away but the intensity and frequency decreased dramatically.
** Some Areas show up as HOT Spots. One such example is Cleveland Ohio, U.S.A..
*The PCs situations will have advanced in the 5 year gap based on previous decisions and decisions made in the 5 year gap.
**The IS Pay will continue to be delivered during the 5 year gap.
**Everyone will determine what their PC did during the Gap and I'll work with you to determine what that means in terms of the world at large.
**Based on what everyone decides I'll assess the impact on the Overall interactions with NPC/NPC groups.
**The status of the following infrastructure will depend on the decisions of the PCs and how they interact;
***[[Dallas:Mage Network|The Mage Network]]
***[[Dallas:PSI Network|The Psi Network]]
***[[Dallas:Info-Phys Networks|Safe Houses and Support]]
* Set-up Mechanics for Resumption ('''See Note 3''').
* January 2, 2013 - The Group is pulled into a new situation. 

'''''Note 1''''': - Meta-game this means that we'll convert all PCs fully to 4e if that has not already been done. No set point total for this but a conversion. The way some powers work changes a little from 3e to 4e, hence the reality shift. 
'''''Note 2''''': - All PCs please take Longevity [2 pts] (by-product of reality shift) and The appropriate level of Wealth to go with where that ends up for them. 
'''''Note 3''''': - For those 5 year gap items which are general knowledge please put them below under Major Events for that PC. I'll use that as a starting point for what happened in the 5 years. For other items we'll handle via e-mail or direct talk.
 

 

===Character Specific - 2007 and Resumption===
====[[Dallas:Characters:Paula Baker|'''Paula Baker''']]====

Status – Active PC – (former NPC)

Finances as of 10/31/2007
*Net Worth - - - - - - $3,000,000.00
*Yearly Expenses - - $ 120,000.00
*Yearly Income - - - $ 120,000.00 (4% Return on investments)

''Paula as of 11/17/2007''

Paula retired from Infinite Solutions about 23 years ago (1984). She brought in the $2,000,000.00 to live off of and her interest and living expenses tend to balance out. The spoils from missions have increased her nest egg to $3,000,000.00.

The addition in Mid-June 2007 of the children of the 'Da Vinci Prophecy' has affected her spending patterns but she has adjusted investments to provide the extra money needed to raise them.

After the TimeLine was restored on 10/23/2007 she:
* Used the healing spell on Steve McAllen, but he still did not wake up
* She discussed with the rest of the team how they should handle the twins

With as much input as she could get Paula made a decision on 11/17/2005. 

''Proposed Events after 11/17/2007'' 
'''Major events in 2008''' 
'''Major events in 2009 ''' 
'''Major events in 2010 ''' 
'''Major events in 2011''' 
'''Major events in 2012''' 

====[[Dallas:Characters:Philip Deveraux|'''Philip Deveraux''']]====

Status – Inactive NPC – (former PC)

Finances as of 10/31/2007
*Net Worth - - - - - - $ 600,000.00
*Yearly Expenses - - $ 120,000.00
*Yearly Income - - - $ 250,000.00

''Philip as of 11/17/2007'' 
Philip is a fairly successful Stage Magician. He has met a couple of the members of Infinite Solutions but has not really become involved in their activities.

''Proposed Events after 11/17/2007'' 
'''Major events in 2008''' 
'''Major events in 2009 ''' 
'''Major events in 2010 ''' 
'''Major events in 2011''' 
'''Major events in 2012''' 

====[[Dallas:Characters:Blake Drummond|'''Blake Drummond''']]====

Status – Active PC

Finances as of 10/31/2007
*Net Worth - - - - - -$11,208,330.00
*Yearly Expenses - -$ 240,000.00
*Yearly Income - - - $ 1,650,000.00
** ($ 250,000.00 IS Salary)
** ($ 1,400,000.00 Business Profit and Investments)

Property Owned as of 10/31/2007
*1 House in Dallas
*2 warehouses in Los Angeles Area
*1 Warehouse in San Francisco Area
*1 Warehouse in San Diego
*Old Health Club (includes basketball court) in Los Angeles
*A House on 10 acres in Las Vegas

Business Owned as of 10/31/2007
*[[Dallas:Solution Security|Solution Security]] - employs over 100 people with Offices in:
**Dallas – Home Office
**Los Angeles
**Cleveland
**Chicago – (Tom Cartley is local Manager)
**London
**Atlanta
 

''Blake as of 11/17/2007'' .

''Proposed Events after 11/17/2007'' 
'''Major events in 2008''' 

Sold house (really a house farm) in Las Vegas for $3 million dollars. The FBI approaches Blake about working together.

'''Major events in 2009 ''' 

Blake is by nature a conservative investor, so his money is bonds (treasury, corporate and municipal) and in stocks that pay dividends. He also invested in (REITs - Real Estate Investment Trust). Since 75% of his money is in bonds, Blake's stock holdings took a small hit, but are predicted to come back soon, but the REITs to a major hit and will take longer to recover.

Because of his uncomfortably close relationship with the Atlanta FBI agents, in late 2009 Blake agrees to work with the FBI in a limited capacity.

'''Major events in 2010 ''' 

In 2010, Blake agrees to act as the FBI's private X-File group. The FBI pays very well (which is one of the reasons Blake agrees to the arrangement). Blake opens two new offices in New York City, and Washington, D.C. He considers closing the Cleveland office, but too much weird crap still happens in Cleveland.

'''Major events in 2011''' 

In 2011, the FBI approached Blake with a request from MI5 (their counter-part in Britan) to hire Solution Security in London to act as their X-Files group in England. The money offered was too good, so Blake agreed. With contacts in the FBI and MI5, Security Solution has wide access to information not available to the public.

Blake leased the warehouses in Los Angles, San Franciso, and San Deigo. The health club was lease to a private group that operates health clubs. Because real estate is so cheap, Blake leases a building in Las Vegas that is Secuity Solutions hot site.

'''Major events in 2012''' 

From 2008 through 2012, Solution Security has a very steady work load. Most cases have no super-natural elements, but about four cases a year Blake has had to call upon his friends to help him with cases that have super-natural or demonic causes.

====[[Dallas:Characters:Jeremy Grant|'''Jeremy Grant''']]====

Status – Active PC

Finances as of 10/31/2007
*Net Worth - - - - - - $4,004,570.00
*Yearly Expenses - - $ 600,000.00 (Includes Darvich costs)
*Yearly Income - - - $1,250,000.00 -
**($ 250,000.00 IS Salary)
**($1,000,000.00 Business Profit and Investments –Mostly from Darvich)
 
Property Owned as of 10/31/2007
* 1 House in Dallas
*Hanger at Love Field in Dallas Texas.
 
Business Owned as of 10/31/2007
*[[Dallas:Infinite Solutions Inc.|Infinite Solutions Inc.]] – Dallas Texas (incorporated in 2001)
**IS Inc owns land/building in Miami and Detroit. Bought by Steve MacAllen in May 2005

 
''Jeremy as of 11/17/2007''

''Proposed Events after 11/17/2007'' 
'''Major events in 2008''' 
'''Major events in 2009 ''' 
'''Major events in 2010 ''' 
'''Major events in 2011''' 
'''Major events in 2012''' 

====[[Dallas:Characters:John Kines|'''John Kines''']]====

Status – Inactive NPC (Former PC)

Finances as of 10/31/2007
*Net Worth - - - - - - $ 64,000.00
*Yearly Expenses - - $ 60,000.00
*Yearly Income - - - $ 75,000.00
 
Property Owned as of 10/31/2007
*None.
 
Business Owned as of 10/31/2007
*Kines Investigations
 
''John as of 11/17/2007''

''Proposed Events after 11/17/2007'' 
'''Major events in 2008''' 
'''Major events in 2009 ''' 
'''Major events in 2010 ''' 
'''Major events in 2011''' 
'''Major events in 2012''' 

 
 
====[[Dallas:Characters:Axle Lee|'''Al "Axle" Lee''']]====

Status - Active PC

Finances as of 10/31/2007
*Net Worth - - - - - - $9,500,330.00
*Yearly Expenses - - $ 200,000.00
*Yearly Income - - - $ 1,250,000.00 -
**($ 250,000.00 IS Salary)
**($ 950,000.00 Business Profit and Investments)

Property Owned as of 10/31/2007
*1 House in Dallas

Business Owned as of 10/31/2007
*[[Dallas:PB&J NorthLee Import/Export|PB&J NorthLee Import/Export]] - Started late 2005
*Sold these businesses to his employees but has some shares:
**[[Dallas:Trucking Company|Terrell Trucking]]
**[[Dallas:Limo Service|RT Limo Service]]

''Axle as of 11/17/2007''

''Proposed Events after 11/17/2007'' 
'''Major events in 2008''' 
Started setting up more Import / Export Business partners around the world, including
the vessels carrying the cargo.

'''Major events in 2009 ''' 
Started a cleaning & home repair business for bank foreclosed houses across the U.S.,
this way we will have an unlimitied supply of "safe houses".

'''Major events in 2010 ''' 
Purchased a house (really a house farm) at a foreclosure sale in Las Vegas area for $1.75
million, turned it into a vaction B&B/ranch for retired truckers.

'''Major events in 2011''' 
Started setting up small Import / Export port hubs near airports around the globe.
Also expanded Limo service to Las Vegas.

'''Major events in 2012''' 
Continue to grow the business endevers.

====[[Dallas:Characters:Steve McAllen|'''Steve McAllen''']]====

Status - Active NPC (Former PC)

Finances as of 10/31/2007
*Net Worth - - - - - - $11,973,330.00
*Yearly Expenses - - $ 250,000.00+
*Yearly Income - - - $ 1,650,000.00 -
**($ 400,000.00 IS Salary)
**($1,250,000.00 Business Profit and Investments)

Property Owned as of 10/31/2007
* 1 House in Dallas
*Public Relations Beach house in Malibu
*Songs and Records of Deathwish
**Continuing yearly income of $1,000,000.00
*Mansion in LA
*Beach home in San Diego
*Beach House in Malibu
*200 Acres North of Washington DC

Business Owned as of 10/31/2007
*None

''Steve as of 11/17/2007''

Steve is currently in a Coma.

''Proposed Events after 11/17/2007'' 
'''Major events in 2008''' 
'''Major events in 2009 ''' 
'''Major events in 2010 ''' 
'''Major events in 2011''' 
'''Major events in 2012''' 

====[[Dallas:Characters:Kefya North|'''Kefya North''']]====

Status – Active PC

Finances as of 10/31/2007
*Net Worth - - - - - - $ 2,791,330.00
*Yearly Expenses - - $ 50,000.00
*Yearly Income - - - $ 250,000.00 -
**($ 250,000.00 IS Salary)

Property Owned as of 10/31/2007
* 1 House in Dallas
*Beach House 10 miles north of Los Angeles

Business Owned as of 10/31/2007
*None

''Kef as of 11/17/2007''

''Proposed Events after 11/17/2007'' 
'''Major events in 2008''' 
'''Major events in 2009 ''' 
'''Major events in 2010 ''' 
'''Major events in 2011''' 
'''Major events in 2012''' 

Return to [[Dallas]]

[[Category:Dallas]]

Dallas:Sessions:20071201

2008-03-28T23:08:15Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Kef''' spent a good deal of this period traveling about the country, anonymously identifying [http://www.doenetwork.org unknown human remains] and solving cold cases. She attended Vivi...

'''Kef''' spent a good deal of this period traveling about the country, anonymously identifying [http://www.doenetwork.org unknown human remains] and solving cold cases. She attended Vivian Gray's high school graduation, and regularly emails both Vivian and her younger brother Ed. 
Kef received a handwritten letter, forwarded from Paula, from [[Dallas:Characters:Philip Deveraux|Philip Deveraux]], with whom Kef had been acquainted from the renfair circuit. In the letter he informs Kef that he will be in Dallas near the end of October, and invites her to attend a performance of a magician called ''Lazarus''. 
At the moment when the timeline was repaired, Kef was in Corvallis, Oregon. Upon hearing that Steve lay in a coma, she put her RV in storage and flew back to Dallas. Despite her efforts Steve's condition remains unchanged, but she intends to persist until he is healed. She has rented a small apartment in Terrell in order to be close to the long-term care facility.

Dallas:Sessions:20071117

2008-03-28T23:07:40Z

Jsuhoski: New page: == Paula’s Third Transmission to Enigma == October 23, 2007 - --- 11:59 AM CDT Enigma, We are well into stage two. Looks like I was wrong about it being a time portal. ...

== Paula’s Third Transmission to Enigma ==

October 23, 2007 - --- 11:59 AM CDT

Enigma,

We are well into stage two. Looks like I was wrong about it being a time portal. Touching the amulet also restored the memories of Darvich, Axle, and John. Darvich was experimenting with modifying the dimension portal that came out of the Da Vinci manuscript relating to the prophecy we’re dealing with. There was an accident – and the current theory is that Blake and Steve are somehow trapped in it. So Darvich is rebuilding it and we hope that doing that will release them and restore everything to how it should be. We hope to make the attempt sometime this afternoon.

Paula Baker.

== Paula Baker’s Thoughts Tuesday October 23, 2007- 2:30 PM ==

== Paula’s Fourth Transmission to Enigma. - Tuesday ==

'''******* TOP PRIORITY – URGENT ********************'''

October 23, 2007 - --- 5:30 PM CDT

Enigma,

The correct reality for this Dimension has been restored. Jeremy has instructed Darvich to dismantle the Da Vinci Portal and to stop all work concerning it. The portal is in the process of being dismantled and should be completely gone within the hour.

We have two problems.

Steve McAllen is in a comma. His life signs are low but steady. My healing spells have has no apparent effect on him. Kef is on her way back from the west coast and I hope to know more about Steve’s condition once she gets here.

The Sword is here nuzzled in my closet like it belongs there. It does not! I’ve asked Blake to set a security watch on my home and I’ve distanced myself and the children from it. Thankfully, I am not linked to the Sword.

I need '''immediate''' pickup up of the Sword. It must be taken to a place where it can be dealt with properly.

Paula Baker.

[[Dallas:Sessions:20071103|Previous Installment of What If?]]

Return to *[[Dallas]]

Dallas:Timeline World

2008-03-28T23:06:37Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''WORLD BACKGROUND''' Earth, Sol System Mana Level - Low PSI Level - Normal Meta Level - Normal '''BASIC BACK HISTORY''' Very close to Infinite Solutions' Hawaii R&R World. The...

'''WORLD BACKGROUND'''

Earth, Sol System

Mana Level - Low

PSI Level - Normal

Meta Level - Normal

'''BASIC BACK HISTORY'''

Very close to Infinite Solutions' Hawaii R&R World. There are only minor historical differences up to 2/7/2000. This means that there were generally the same world leaders (Presidents, Kings, Prime Ministers etc.) and that the same macro events occurred in both. Some other members of the governments and various micro events may have been slightly different.

'''THE ''GENERAL'' TIMELINE'''

'''February 7, 2000 (Monday)'''

Governor George Bush of Texas - candidate for USA President dies in freak accident.

'''April 14, 2000 (Friday)'''

Prelim Investigation in Gov. Bush's death find it to have been an accident.

'''November 7, 2000 (Tuesday)'''

Vice-President Gore defeat Sen. John McCain soundly.

'''January 20, 2001'''

Gore/Lieberman Sworn in as President/Vice President of the U.S.A..

Senate is 53/47 Republican/Democrat

House has 10 member Republican Advantage

'''February 2001'''

'''March 2001'''

'''April 1, 2001 – April 6, 2001'''

'''April 7 -April 10, 2001 – Tuesday'''

Events occur in Southern U.S. that seem to climax with the Explosion and destruction of top three floors of Building in Atlanta

'''April 11, 2001 - January 19, 2002 283 days (9 Mths)'''

On September 11, 2001 there was an unsuccessful attack on the World Trade Center in NYC. This was because of the new security measures taken because of the April 10, 2001 explosion of the top three floors of the Trinidad Building in Atlanta. Six of the hijackers were caught and the rest were unable to go on with their plan. This created a pretty big ‘scandal’.

The war on Terrorism is not being waged as in the ‘R&R’ world. The situation in the Middle East is very very tense and the No Fly Zone in Iraq is strictly enforced with missile fire exchanged almost daily. Iraq has not let the inspectors back in and President Gore has not pressed the matter

'''January 18, 2002 - January 19, 2002'''

Cult Murders Occur in Dallas

'''January 21, 2002 – Monday'''

Senate is 50/50 Republican/Democrat

House has 8 member Republican Advantage

'''January 25, 2002 – Friday'''

The ‘death’ of Deathwish makes big international news

'''January 26, 2002 – January 31, 2002'''

'''February 2002'''

'''March 2002'''

'''April 2002'''

'''May 1, 2002 – May 25, 2002'''

'''May 26, 2002 (Sunday) –'''

'''May 27, 2002 (Monday) – Memorial Day'''

'''May 28, 2002 – May 31, 2002'''

'''June 2002'''

'''July 2002'''

'''August 2002'''

Overseas act of Terrorism against the U.S.A. start to pick up. August 2002 saw, three such acts. From this point on there was at least 1 per month for the next 15 months.

'''September 2002 – October 2002'''

'''November 2002'''

Mid Term Elections

'''December 2002'''

'''January 1, 2003 - January 19, 2003'''

'''January 20, 2003 – Monday'''

Senate is 50/50 Republican/Democrat

House has 8 member Republican Advantage

'''January 21, 2003 – January 31, 2003'''

'''February 2003'''

Official Start of Recession.

'''March 2003'''

Military cuts are slowed as it sinks in about what has been going on in the Terror Department

'''April 2003'''

'''May 2003'''

'''June 1, 2003 – June 11, 2003'''

'''June 12, 2003 (Thursday) – June 18, 2003 (Wednesday)'''

Unusual events in Southeast Alabama capped off by very small nuclear explosion.

'''June 2003'''

'''July 2003'''

'''August 2003'''

'''September 2003'''

'''October 2003'''

'''November 2003'''

Plane taking off from London England, shot down with Missile.

'''December 2003'''

Run for President of U.S.A. starts in earnest;

Republicans :
*Conrad Barnes (Wyoming)
*Alan Keyes
*Forbes
*John McCain

'''January 2004'''

Election Year. Gore/Lieberman have been in office 3 years. The same tense situation exists in Iraq but France and Germany are starting a move to lift all sanctions.

There is talk of John Kerry opposing the President’s Democratic Nomination but Intervention of Clinton and Carter convince him not to. This somehow got leaked to the press.

Rest of Mid-east is a powder key. .

'''February 2004'''

'''March 2004'''

'''April 2004'''

'''May 2004'''

'''June 2004'''

'''July 2004'''

'''August 2004'''

'''September 2004'''

'''October 2004'''

'''November 2, 2004 (Tuesday)'''

Election Day IN U.S.A.

Al Gore/ Joe Leiberman VS John McCain/Alan Keyes

John McCain / Alan Keyes Win in a very close race. They do get majority of popular vote.

Senate was 51/49 Democrat/Republican

House had 12 member Republican Advantage

After Election it became:

Senate 50/48/2 Democratic/Republican/Independent (South Carolina and South Dakota)

House 216/216/3 Democratic/Republican/Independent (North Carolina, North Dakota, West Virginia)

'''December 2004'''

'''January 20, 2005 (Thursday)'''

Inauguration of McCain. Terrorists captured making a Run at Disruption of event.
1st 100 days begins.

'''February 2005'''

'''March 2005'''

'''April 1 – 27, 2005'''

'''April 28, 2005 (Thursday) – May 7, 2005 (Saturday)'''

Noted Terror Groups brought to justice through a wide series of events.

'''May 8 – 31, 2005'''

'''June 2005'''

'''July 2005'''

'''August 1 – 27, 2005'''

'''August 28, 2005 (Sunday)'''

Hurricane Katrina hits LA, MS, AL gulf coast. The New Orleans levees hold up remarkable well and the overall devastation is much less than expected.

'''August 29 – 31, 2005'''

'''September 2005'''

'''October 2005'''

'''November 2005'''

'''December 2005'''

'''January 2006'''

'''February 2006'''

Late in the month, joint effort of several countries results in the break up of several 'Terror' Networks.

'''March 2006'''

There is a significant decrease in number of Terrorist Acts.

The Official end of a Two year Recession.

'''April 2006'''

Situation grows tense in Middle East between Iran and Iraq.

For the first time in Years the last week in April has not 'Terror ' Event reported anywhere in the world.

(Note: There were at least two minor failed attempts in the U.S.A.)

U.S.A. Mid-term election cycle in full swing.

'''May 2006'''

Tension remains High in the Mid-East.

Terrorist Activity against Israel increases.

'''June 2006'''

'''July 2006'''

'''August 2006'''

'''September 2006'''

'''October 2006'''

'''November 2006'''

November 5, 2006 - Election Day

'''After Election it became:'''

Senate 48/47/5 Democratic/Republican/Independent (South Carolina, South Dakota -Both, New Mexico, and New Jersey)

House 214/214/7 Democratic/Republican/Independent (North Carolina, North Dakota, West Virginia, New Mexico, New Jersey, South Dakota, South Carolina)

'''December 2006'''

'''January 2007'''

'''February 2007'''

'''March 2007'''

'''April 2007'''

'''May 2007'''

May 29 - Vivian Gray graduates from high school.

'''June 2007'''

'''July 2007'''

'''August 2007'''

'''September 2007'''

'''October 2007'''

CURRENT TIME - Tuesday,October 23, 2007

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Sessions:20071103

2008-03-28T23:05:23Z

Jsuhoski: New page: ==Paula Baker’s Thoughts Monday October 22, 2007- (Immediately after Fight - 1:30 PM GMT)== I’m so tired. But gotta hold it together. The good news is that the Sword still hel...

==Paula Baker’s Thoughts Monday October 22, 2007- (Immediately after Fight - 1:30 PM GMT)==

I’m so tired. But gotta hold it together. The good news is that the Sword still helps me. Unfortunately that’s also the bad news. Now there’s Sabrina Kyle to worry about. Or rather her necromantic amulet. She’s a predator that needs to be taken care of, but I don’t feel like I’ve got time to do it now. Wonder how long it’ll take Jeremy to finish this business with the hotel.

I’ve gotta get a better hang of dealing with both sets of memories. I can’t ignore the Sword memories, that’s too dangerous now that reaping time for those actions is coming. Treadwell is not pleased and coming for me. The scary thing is I’m not sure that they are the ones trying to kill me – or not the only ones. The hit at the restaurant doesn’t feel like them.

I need to think – remember through all that on the flight back to Dallas and come up with the ‘Love to Kill Paula’ list. The scary thing is I’m afraid I know how I would have dealt with this two days ago and part of me still would – which is why I must maintain firm control.

The Amulet seems to help. And good fortune has shown that it’ll help others. Darvich seems to have some degree of resistance to the time change – not much but enough to get the déjà vu feeling. But when he accidentally touched the Amulet, more concrete memories of the original time line came back to him. It also turns out that I was not the only one who had quit wearing the amulet – both Jeremy and Axle are not wearing theirs. They need to have contact with an Amulet; I think it’ll give them back the memories. Hopefully they’ll trust me enough to touch mine – but if not hopefully they will be willing to wear their own once we get back to Dallas. It would be so nice to have the others remember what was.

I not sure that John or Kef will put theirs back on – I’ll ask them but I think they won’t trust me enough because of my actions here before and Kef seems to blame this all on Enigma. But I trust Kef – she has good instincts. She’s with the Sword. I wonder what that has to do with the way it has been relating to me in the last several hours.

I’m so thankful for her warning – Getting Darvich out was so much easier than I thought it would be. And it scares me to think were I’d be now if I’d gone in there influenced like I was. Feeding my rage and lust just does not help at all.

Now need to hook Darvich up with Kef and get him thinking and building Time Portal. And coordinates. -- gotta get coordinates. Best shot I can think of is to go to the source – but I’m going to need a lot of energy and my sanity can’t afford for me to take it from the Sword. So another task on the trip back has to be making the list of those that believe and will help. That is gonna be hard, given the way I’ve been here for the last several years.

Oh good, looks like we’re ready to move out – Once we hook up with Axle and Darvich, I’ll see how receptive Jeremy and Axle are to touching my Amulet. It would be nice to have them remember.

== Paula’s Second Transmission to Enigma==

October 22, 2007 - --- @ Noon CDT

Enigma,

Stage one of our plan went smoother that expected with all complications seeming to arise from non related local conditions. We have obtained the person who can build the needed transport and are heading back to Dallas.

I will transmit a fuller report once I’m back on a secure terminal.

Paula Baker.

[[Dallas:Sessions:20071020|Previous Installment of What If?]]

[[Dallas:Sessions:20071117|Next Installment of What If?]]

Dallas:Sessions:20071020

2008-03-28T23:04:45Z

Jsuhoski: New page: October 20, 2007 - Kef dreams of three men in front of an archway. She feels as if she should know them, but she doesn't recognize them. The man who appears oldest is tinkering with the ...

October 20, 2007 - Kef dreams of three men in front of an archway. She feels as if she should know them, but she doesn't recognize them. The man who appears oldest is tinkering with the archway when one of the younger men stumbles into the other, knocking the latter against the arch. The archway begins to glow brightly... and Kef awakens.

The day begins normally. Axle, at his home in Terrell, gets up at 4:30am as usual. His trucking company leases space to a detective agency, and he has various listening posts around the country. He thinks briefly of his old friend Butch, who was killed a few years ago.

Jeremy prepares his helocopter for a flight to Austin. He's taking some VIPs there for a University of Texas football game.

Kef awakens in an apartment in Oak Cliff. She readies her .45 and her shock rod. As she told John Kines yesterday, she is going Hillcrest High School to head off a crime she has foreseen -- the rape of a 14-year-old girl by a 17-year-old boy.

Kines goes into his office at Kines Paranormal Investigators. He finds an email from Paula Baker asking him to attend a small ceremony that afternoon. There's something strange about Paula, Kines muses. Ever since she picked up that sword after slaying Kevin McGuire, her personality has shifted towards the dark side. She's become quite skilled at necromantic magic. Dogs and small children shy away from her.

Paula picks up her long black runesword, which greets her: "Hi." She feels the rush of power as she straps it on. She can wear it in public with no problem, since the only ones who can see the sword are herself and Kef. Kef hates the sword and has warned Paula many times to get rid of it, but Kef just doesn't understand -- Paula controls the sword, not vice-versa.

At 3:00pm in Laurelland Cemetery, Paula, Axle, Kef, and Kines come together for what has become an annual ritual -- they gather at the grave of Steve McAllen and remember absent friends. (Jeremy sends his regrets; he won't be back from Austin until later.) Kef edges away from Paula; she can hear the sword muttering in its endless hunger.

Around 6:00pm, Axle, Kines, and Kef meet at Campisi's and discuss how to take the sword away from Paula. Kef admits she has stolen the sword twice, but both times the sword returned to Paula, who never noticed it missing. Eventually Kef notices a slim young man gazing at her from a nearby table. She recognizes him as Philip Deveraux, a stage magician who used to work the renfair circuit. She goes to his table and greets him, then brings him back over to her table to meet her friends. Philip walks with a limp resulting from an automobile accident several years ago. He has come up from his home in Waco to meet with some big-time magicians to discuss building effects for them. He gives Kef his card and the name of the hotel at which he's staying; he should be in town for the next week or so.

Paula, meanwhile, had gone home. After experiencing a series of visions and then blacking out, she awakens at 8:00pm. She phones Kines and asks him to find a man named Blake Drummond, who has family in St Louis; it's important to find out what happened to him. Next she calls Axle and tells him a similar story. Then she gets in her car and drives to Kef's apartment.

Noticing she was being watched by someone in a car with government plates, Paula teleports to Kef's front door. Paula explains to a cynical Kef that for the first time in a long while she had put on her white amulet, and her mind had been flooded with memories of "another reality" where Steve didn't die and someone named Blake Drummond is important. Kef allows that "I can tell that you believe what you're saying," but while she would really like for Steve to be alive, what's done is done.

On her way to Jeremy's hangar, someone shoots Paula in the back. She teleports away to the roof of a nearby restaurant, and her sword appears beside her. She straps on the sword, then watches as several men search for her and set up to watch her car. After healing herself, she teleports to Jeremy's and tells him about her visions. Jeremy points out, "Kef doesn't dream about the past."

That night, Kef again dreams of the three men. This time she recognizes that one of them is Steve. The archway reminds her of the portal she had experienced in Atlanta. The older man works on the portal while Steve and the other man, standing near a work table, are having an animated discussion. The fancy Rolex on the other man's wrist indicates that it is 4:30am on October 20th. Steve is saying, "This thing can be useful. We can eliminate people completely." The other man replies, "That's not right." He makes a sweeping gesture, brushing against a bottle containing whitish liquid. He grabs the the bottle, losing his balance; Steve tries to catch him, but the man bounces off the archway and the portal begins to glow. The older man cries out a triumphant "Yes!" then an alarmed "No!" The man raises the bottle defensively as light from the portal washes over him and Steve.

== Paula Baker’s Thoughts Sunday October 21, 2007- Mid-Morning (@10:00 AM CDT)==

I wish I’d woken up this morning with everything back to normal – but that’s the problem – which normal. Is Kef right? Are my returned memories just my wishes that I had not taken up the Sword? No, I can’t believe that, especially given that they returned after I put the amulet back on. But even that is not convincing enough, Kef’s dream is the proof – and really all that is needed. Not that I would be believing if my true self had not awoken. The sword and my lust of it is all too consuming. Even with my true self restored it’s difficult not to succumb to it. And I remember my failures here. Two sets of memories – one I’d rather forget.

What is the best way to neutralize myself AND the Sword? And survive - - if possible. That seems to be putting this reality back on it’s original track. I need to think up a back up plan if that won’t work.

And talk about long shots. I don’t even know what the history change point was. It’s Blake missing from history. But Why and When was it sidetracked? Timelines and Dimensions intertwine and relate to each other in such weird ways. Get Darvich and convince him to build a time Machine. That’s well and good but I still need a target moment.

Could try for a side step but that doesn’t feel right.

And the hit men.

Someone wants me dead. Now. And they are good. Or at least knowledgeable. And they adapt quickly – unless they already knew I could teleport. From what Kef saw it seems like just a distraction. But it’s one that can kill me too soon if I don’t pay attention. So I’ll pay attention.

The Temptation is to use them as fuel. But people no matter what, are not fuel – no matter how bad they are. Kill if I must – but only if I must. And don’t use the Sword to do it. Which part of me is really in control. Well First things first. Work the list.

*GET Darvich.
*Convince him to build a time machine – and maybe he can use what Kef saw as a template,
*Get Coordinates.
*Short circuit the disruption of the timeline.

But for now rest. It took a lot out of me to follow this second set of men who just tried to kill me. Will John catch the hit men? Probably not. Too much time and distance, but he’s gotta try and I’m in no shape to follow further. Fortune could smile on us. Or I could use the Sword. No, that way disaster definitely lies – even if we win.

Rest -

Need to think about how we’re going to free Darvich. Gonna have to ask John to swing by and pick me up. – Don’t need to be using too much energy. The trip to London will give more than enough time to plan out that rescue.

Yeh, and we need to swing by and send off a message to Enigma. He needs to know just in case we can’t clean up the mess we’ve got. And that can be the back up plan to get rid of me and the Sword if this doesn’t work.

== Paula’s Transmission to Enigma ==

October 21, 2007 - 12:01 PM CDT

Enigma,

It is my observation/Opinion that we have experienced a reality shift in this dimension. Yesterday at around 5:00 PM local time, I put on the Amulet and passed out. I awoke three hours later with a complete alternate set of memories for the last six and a half years. Memories that appear to me to indicate that the previous version that I now recall was a better one.

One of Kef’s visions seems to indicate that Blake and Steve had an accident with a Time Portal which Darvich had built. Not sure why he built it. They seem to have gone through the portal and now Blake Drummond has never existed as far as we can tell.

I’m not sure what you know – but then I’m never sure of what you know. So you may or may not be aware of this already. We’re about to start on a sequence of actions through which I hope the time line is restored.

I plan on checking in each day at this time to keep you up to date on what is going on. I will also provide more detail as I can. Right now I have a flight to London which leaves in a couple of hours.

If I miss a check in, then things probably will have gone to crap. And I might become the worst part of the problem – I have the Sword which was involved in the McGuire Clone Affair and before I regained my alternate memory, I was very deeply caught up in it’s illicit power.

If I lose my battle with the Sword and give in to my worse side, then this world could be in bad shape even if my team mates manage to kill me.

So if I miss a check in I recommend sending a team (protected as much a possible for time and reality quakes) to appraise the situation and either help my team or to clean up in whatever way they have to.

Paula Baker.

[[Dallas:Sessions:20071103|Next Installment of What If?]]

Dallas:Sessions:20070602

2008-03-28T23:03:53Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''What's a Poo-Sham?''' Session Dates: June 2nd-16th 2007 Campaign Timeline: Sept 20th-24th 2006 GM: Tony Vasinda All players were present for both sessions with the...

'''What's a Poo-Sham?'''

Session Dates: June 2nd-16th 2007

Campaign Timeline: Sept 20th-24th 2006

GM: [[User:Tvasinda|Tony Vasinda]]

All players were present for both sessions with the exception of Bobby J who missed one. Daniel Fearn played in the session Bobby missed. 2 XPs per session were awarded, +1 XP for preemptively ending the problem. Tom W also recived a bonus XP for excellent roleplaying and acting solely on character knowledge even in difficult situations.

'''Prelude'''

[[Dallas:PB&J NorthLee Import/Export|PB & J NorthLee Import/Export]] has been doing well and is looking to increase its holdings. [[Dallas:Characters:Axle Lee|Axle]] started work on opening up offices and facilities in Hong Kong, and the company also expanded its New Orleans and London warehouse space to accomodate three large incoming shipments with a common destination. They also expanded their staff in both locations; the new hires include one Xavier Johnson.

[[Dallas:Characters:Blake Drummond|Blake]] opens a Solution Security office in Atlanta and hires a manager for that office, [[Dallas:Characters:Gabrielle Lawless|Gabrielle Lawless]]. Unfortunately, his London office is faltering and is looking at cutbacks. Blake is not happy with this thought and provides some guidance on how to correct this problem. The office tells him that if they make an investment in a larger staff they would be able to cover a high-profile event comming up in late September. Blake gives the green light but seems to be seeing red.

[[Dallas:Characters:Jeremy Grant|Jeremy]] spends some time with [[Dallas:Characters:Igor Darvich|Darvich]] tweaking the flyer.

In mid-March [[Dallas:Characters:Kefya North|Kef]] notices a sharp decline in the number of precog visions and dreams she is experiencing, She figures maybe the drugs are finally working. However, she is continually getting short glimpses of three different cities (Chicago, London, and one other) through the eyes of an individual (perhaps more than one) who seems to be susceptible to psionic influence. [[Dallas:Characters:Gray Family|Ed Gray]] emails her to say that he is having a similar experience.

[[Dallas:Characters:John Kines|Kines]] settles into an apartment and begins looking for a house in the area. He spends a little time with [[Dallas:Characters:Jethro Davis|Jethro]] and Darvich talking about an idea he has for a magi/tech crossover device. He spends some time working with [[Dallas:Characters:Paula Baker|Paula]] trying to reconstruct what has happened to him over the last five years. Paula discovers a Mystic Mark over a tattoo that seems to be keeping Kines from talking about parts of his past. Paula begins urging him to talk to Kef about it, but John seems hesitant. Paula also suggests that they travel to Chicago to see if he can show her some of the things he seems unable to talk about.

Paula also works on her [[Dallas:Mage Network|Mage Network]].

'''Mission'''

In early September(the 7th) Axle recieves an email from the manager of his New Orleans site manager Steve ??? inviting him to come down and inspect the enlarged warehouse space and to meet the new crews and crew cheifs he has hired. Axle goes down and is shown the newly enlarged and remodled warehouse. He agrees that it is a vast improvement. Axle also meets [[Delta Base:Characters:Xavier Johnson|Xavier Johnson]] one of the new crew cheifs that has been brought on. Xavier has a naturally likable quality about him and Axle tells Steve to make sure Xavier learns the ropes from top to bottom. Axle breifly looks over the order of cameras, shampoo, and rum that is comming through but everything seems to be in order.

A few days later Blake's recieves a invitation for himself and two others to London Fashion Week thanking him for the excellent deal they gave them for the security for their event. Immediatly upon reading the words "excellent deal" Blake calls Smitty, the manager of his London office, and begins to grill him on exactly what kind of deal was given. Smitty explanins it was a price cut in exchange for a large amount of ad space at the event. Blake is semi satisfied but also decides a trip to London may be in place for a number of reasons.

Paula and Kines let everyone know that they are planing a trip up to Chicago to look into Kines past and Kef says that she would like to go with them. Blake calls shortly after this to invite Kef to go to Fashion Week and she declines asking why she would even want to go.

Axle gets an email form his London site manager asking if he will have a chance to come and veiw their new space some time soon. Axle says sure. Blake calls Jeremy and asks if he can fly him to London on the 22nd of September, Jeremy says asks why and Blake tells him it is for a fashion show. After Jeremy finishes laughing he says sure. Axle calls Jermey and asks if he can fly him to London on the 20th, Jermey asks if he can wait to the 22nd and fly with Blake. Axle agrees.

Afte Jeremy, Blake and Axle are safetly in the air

*[[Dallas]] Main Page

Dallas:Sessions:20060211

2008-03-28T23:03:06Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Saturday, February 11, 2006. One minute ‘til 3:00am. Kef begins to dream. A beautiful woman with red hair and blazing blue eyes, clad in red armor, stands in the midst of a Roman batt...

Saturday, February 11, 2006. One minute ‘til 3:00am.

Kef begins to dream. A beautiful woman with red hair and blazing blue eyes, clad in red armor, stands in the midst of a Roman battlefield. There is fighting all around her, though at present she is not engaged. The woman is obviously shouting, but there is no sound in this vision.

The scene wavers, refocuses to a jungle scene. The woman’s hair is tied back, and she wears red fatigues. Again, there is fighting going on. It’s hard to tell one side from another – everyone (except the woman) wears black clothing. The features of the other combatants all look Asian. As people trot up to the woman, she hands each one an AK-47, then with a pat on the back sends them into the fight. She seems really happy.

The scene wavers, shifting to Los Angeles, 1980s era judging by the music. The woman, wearing a red bandanna, is the only white person and the only woman in the middle of a gang war between the Bloods and the Crips. In one hand she brandishes a MAC-10, and a sword hangs at her side.

The scene shifts again. The woman is riding in a red convertible being driven by Dallas evangelist Ferris Kellogg. There is music in the background – James Brown performing “Cold Sweat.” The woman turns her head; those brilliant blue eyes stare directly at Kef, and fear washes over the dreamer.

Kef awakens. She hears “Cold Sweat” blasting inside her head. She looks over at Blake, sleeping peacefully beside her, and she thinks, “Where is my gun?” She gets out of bed and goes and slides Blake’s gun out of its holster. She knows she has to kill somebody. Right now.

At this very moment Paula abruptly awakens, convinced that Kef is in trouble. She speed-dials Kef’s cell phone number as she heads for her car.

Kef chambers a round. She moves quietly, cautiously. Over the music in her head, she hears her cell phone ring. Blake doesn’t stir. A trickle of doubt enters Kef’s mind, but she continues. The phone stops ringing.

Carefully Kef climbs upon the bed to straddle Blake’s sleeping form. The phone starts ringing again, but Blake doesn’t move. The music urges her to kill somebody, kill somebody.

Kef isn’t answering her phone. Out of desperation, Paula tries a mental scream.

The music fades away and Kef’s mind clears. She gazes down at Blake. Carefully she safeties the gun, then swings her leg over and onto the floor. She crosses the room and returns the gun to its holster.

Her cell phone is ringing again; she locates it, softly says “Hello?” Paula says tensely, “Kef, you’re under attack, I’m on my way.” “Everything’s fine.” “You sure?” “Yes.” “I just know you were under attack. Nothing happened?” “Everything’s fine.” “Okay. Sorry about the false alarm, then. Love you, Kef.” But Paula continues driving toward Blake’s house.

Kef sits down on the bed next to Blake. She reaches over and gently shakes his arm. Blake awakens and looks at Kef. “Yes? Is something wrong?” “There’s something wrong with me,” Kef says softly. “With you? You look fine to me.” He sits up a bit. “Now, what’s wrong?” Kef’s voice trembles. “I just tried to kill you.” “Well,” Blake retorts, “since we’re having this conversation, you didn’t succeed. But that does beg the question – what’d I do? Why did you try to kill me? Are you going to try again tonight?” “No, because I won’t be here.” Kef stands up shakily.

“O-kay,” says Blake. “Why don’t we talk about this killing of Blake? Why would you try to kill me? And since I was very much asleep, why didn’t you succeed? It’s not that I don’t appreciate it.” Stating the obvious, Kef says, “Blake, you’re not taking this seriously at all.” “No.” Rapidly Kef gets out, “I had a vision. I saw the same woman four times, and after the fourth time she looked at me… then I just knew I had to kill somebody.” “Hmm. All right. So it wasn’t personal. I just happened to be the closest ‘somebody’ around. Right? Well, it’s not that I’m not taking your visions seriously, or that you were about to kill me...” Kef stammers, “Blake, I’m s-scared.” “I’m the one who almost died, and *you’re* scared? Let’s talk about this. What’s this woman look like?” Slowly Kef says, “She had… the most amazing blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Red hair, brighter than mine.” “I like redheads.” “And she always wore something red.” “Hm. Well, I think it’s pretty serious if someone could do that, make you want to kill somebody. But there’s no reason to run out of here.” Kef stares at Blake forlornly, and he says, “There’s not. Unless you’re gonna separate yourself from everybody. I mean…” “Maybe it’s that time again,” Kef murmurs; “I don’t want to hurt you.” “I agree. But I don’t think running out is the answer.”

Blake continues, “You know what? I have the strangest song in my head. I’m not really a fan of James Brown, but I’ve got this song playing in my head. I don’t know where I heard it.” “Let me guess… it’s ‘Cold Sweat.’” “Yeah! I’ve been dreaming I was hearing this song.” “What did you dream?” “I don’t remember. All I remember is the song, just before you woke me up. Were you dreaming about the song, too?” “It was playing in my dream, yes.” “Were you projecting? Can you project your dreams?” “No.”

After a few moments, Blake says, “I suggest, if you’ll feel better, I could put you in another room and lock myself in. That way you don’t have to leave the house. I feel it’s just as safe whether you’re in here or not. But since I’m not afraid, I don’t think that you should be afraid.” “Somehow I don’t find that very comforting, Blake.” “I do.” “I’m sorry I woke you up.” “No, I’m glad to be awake now. I feel rather fortunate.”

Blake asks, “So… are you going to stay in here, or are you gonna go into another room, or… are you gonna run out?” Kef sighs. “I’m going to the front room, because Paula’s going to be here any minute.” “Why’s Paula coming?” “Because she doesn’t believe that everything’s all right.” “Well, she’s right. Everything isn’t all right. But how does she know?” “I don’t know.” “Is this the witchy woman stuff again? D’you think so? But you said you can’t project your dreams, right?” Kef doesn’t answer. “You’re not trying one of those Jedi mind tricks on me like ‘go to bed, everything’s okay,’ are you? You couldn’t do that to me, could you?” “Just… go back to sleep, Blake.” “Okay. All right. I’m gonna stay in here where it’s nice and safe, and you and Paula go out there and discuss… whatever. And in the morning, we’re gonna have an in-depth discussion about your dream. Okay?” Silently, Kef starts pulling her clothes on. (Blake thinks, “This can’t be good.”) She slips out of the bedroom and closes the door behind her.

Around 3:30am Paula pulls up in front of Blake’s house. She attempts to cast the spell Seek Magic, which she has recently learned, but it doesn’t work. After resting for a minute, she tries again, but again it doesn’t work. Having heard the car arrive a few minutes ago, Kef opens the front door and peers outside. Paula gets out of her car and approaches. “Hello, Kef. Sorry to disturb you.” “Why were you just sitting out there?” “I cast Seek Magic twice and couldn’t quite get it to work. Trying to see if there’s any magical item or magical thing that had been thrown at you. Something attacked you,” Paula states positively. “I just woke up with the certainty that something bad was happening to you, that you were being attacked.” “Attacked how?” “I don’t know. Just something bad, is all I know. Like one of your more definite visions.”

Suddenly Kef bursts out, “Why are you humming that song?” Paula becomes aware that she had been humming a song she doesn’t know the name of, and stops herself. “Sorry, I don’t know why I was doing that.” “Did you check yourself for magic?” “Well, the spell I cast would have included me if it had gone off properly.” “I guess you should try again.” Paula takes extra time and care in casting Seek Magic, and she knows she successfully invoked the spell, but she detects no magic within her range.” She does realize that the song has been running through her head ever since she awakened, and she’d been humming it the whole time she was driving. She even knows the name of it now. “‘Cold Sweat.’ That’s the name of the song. I don’t know why I was humming it, though.” Paula sits down, quite fatigued from her spellcasting.

“There’s no active magic within the house,” Paula says, “so if it was a magical attack, it was from a distance, and it’s no longer active.” She looks at Kef. “Do you want to talk about it?” Kef describes her visions of the woman with red hair and bright blue eyes, ending with having seen her riding in a car with Ferris Kellogg. “She turned and looked at me, and that song started running through my head, and I knew I had to kill somebody.” “The song I was humming?” “Yes.” Paula flips open her cell phone and speed-dials Jeremy. “Paula, if they’re not calling us, then why bother them?” “Because something might be going on and I might need to wake them up or snap them out of it.”

Jeremy wakes up and answers his phone. “H’lo?” “You all right, Jeremy?” “Hang on a second.” Jeremy checks to make sure he’s okay. “I’m all here. Anything *not* all right?” “Anything particularly on your mind? Just stop and think and take assessment. See what runs through your mind. Listen to yourself.” When he does this, Jeremy remembers song that had been in the background of his dreams. He doesn’t hear it now, though. “Don’t know of anything,” he says to Paula, “just the voices in my head singin’ to me. Something about ‘in a cold sweat.’” “Stay on the line, please,” barks Paula.

Paula calls Axle’s home number. It’s one minute till four. “Axle, are you okay?” “Yeah, just fine.” “Did I wake you up?” “No, coffee’s made. I’ve been up for a few minutes.” “Anything odd happen just before you woke up? Take a moment and check your mind. See what’s going on in there.” “Totally blank.” But then he remembers, “I was dreaming something earlier. Visions of a guy with a cape, and I don’t think it was Superman.” “James Brown, possibly?” “Could be.” (Axle prefers opera.) Jeremy hollers, “Why are you dreamin’ my dream?” Paula asks Kef if she needs to wake up Blake; Kef replies, “Blake doesn’t think there’s anything to discuss yet.”

Paula goes over and knocks on Blake’s bedroom door. From within he calls, “Why are you knocking?” “In order to wake you up.” Realizing it wasn’t Kef who knocked, Blake says, “Oh. Okay. I guess I should come out there.” “Do you have a song running through your head?” “No.” “Did you?” “I dreamed a song. It was James Brown, ‘Cold Sweat.’” “That’s five for five.” “Five for five what?” “All five of us that are in town have had that song in our minds within the last few minutes.” “Let me come out.” Paula sits back down near Kef.

Jeremy: “So we’re all dreamin’ about bad songs. What’s the deal?” Paula: “I think we’re under attack, but it might just be a byproduct.” Jeremy: “Being attacked by bad Sixties music?” Axle: “I still have eight-tracks.” Blake (from the bedroom): “I kinda like James m’self, but I don’t know why I was dreaming about it.” Paula: “Because something’s going on. Five out of five is too much to be coincidence. And if Steve was here… I’m tempted to try to get hold of him wherever he’s at, but I’m thinking maybe distance will be a protection for him.” Blake emerges from the bedroom. “Did you move my gun?” Kef: “No.” Blake: “Okay. It looked like it was off.” Kef: “I put the safety on.” Blake: “Oh. You did tell me that.” Paula: “Are you awake, Blake?” Blake: “I’m awake enough to know the safety was on on my gun. Yes, I’m awake. Why don’t you call Steve, then?”

Picking up Blake’s house phone, Paula dials Steve’s satellite phone. “What, Blake?” “Uh, this is Paula.” “Oh, sorry. What, Paula?” Steve reports that he had dozed off within the past hour, “and I was hearing James Brown’s song ‘Cold Sweat.’” “S***,” says Paula. Kef finally stirs. “You know, you really need to clean up that pottymouth of yours, Paula. It’s undignified, coming from a woman of your years.” Paula, sheepishly: “I know. Bad habit.” Steve: “Is there anything I should know?” Paula: “I know you make six for six.” Steve, abruptly: “Well, I gotta go.” Paula: “Be careful, Steve.”

Paula: “So it’s six for six.” Blake: “Okay. I’m not sure what that means.” Jeremy: “What it means is either somebody has singled us out, or we haven’t got a big enough group of people to find out just how many have had this dream. ‘Cause if it’s everybody in Dallas, or if it’s everybody in the entire world…” Axle suggests that Jeremy call the professors while he dials up Butch, and Paula suggests Blake wake up some of his employees, but none of them report having strange dreams or hearing the song.

(Kef focuses on Blake, reading his emotions, because he hasn’t offered her any comfort, and he doesn’t seem to care about her at all. He is beginning to rethink Kef’s words, “I tried to kill you.” Maybe there’s more to it than just a bad dream, but he can’t wrap his brain around it. He’s going to have to talk her down later. Blake is calm, unfazed (as with most things). His primary emotion, if it could be called that, at this point is confusion. He is in “detective mode” now.)

Kef decides that the phenomenon has affected only herself and those she considers close to her. She wonders if the fact that it wasn’t just background music to him had something to do with Blake’s not waking up. And maybe Paula’s magic ability was why it affected her strongly. Kef also recalls that when she saw the preacher and the woman in the convertible, they were headed toward the Dallas skyline.

Paula: “So, Kef, you were seen.” Blake: “Seen?” Kef: “She turned and looked at me.” Blake: “The lady with the red hair and blue eyes?” Jeremy: “A lady with red hair and blue eyes looked at you? What?” Paula: “Kef had a vision, or a dream.” Kef: “Four of them.” Jeremy: “Oh, really? This song was playing through all of them?” Kef: “Just in the last one. Does anyone know who Ferris Kellogg is?” Paula: “Yeah, he’s an evangelist, a new voice on the Dallas religious scene.” Axle: “He’s got a billboard out here on Highway 80.” Paula: “Kef saw him riding in a car with the red-haired woman.” Kef: “And she’s on her way to Dallas, if she isn’t already here. She enjoys fighting… I guess… she enjoys death. The dreams spanned history.” Axle: “Do you think this has anything to do with going to Hell?” Kef: “I guess she could be a demoness. That would be the type to hang around with an evangelist.” Jeremy: “Sold his soul to the Devil.” (Axle: “Guess I’d better start practicing my fiddle.” Blake: “Are we going on down to Georgia?” Jeremy: “I ain’t going back to Atlanta!” Kef: “Sorry, Axle, you’re on your own.”)

Blake: “Paula, aren’t you from Alabama?” Paula: “Yes, lived most of the past fifteen years near Montgomery.” Blake: “Montgomery. That’s interesting. I was thinking about opening up an office down there, so I’d be close to Atlanta, and close to Deputy Tyson… but not too close.”

Paula: “The evangelist and the woman have gotten our attention, and I have a feeling you’ve gotten hers.” Jeremy: “Or *we* have.” Kef: “Why? I don’t recognize her.” Blake: “Did she look like she recognized you?” Kef: “Well, she got a good look at me.”

Jeremy announces he’s going out to get a newspaper. Paula sits quietly for several moments, thinking back. It occurs to her that while she was traveling from her house to Blake’s, she was driving overly aggressively, even taking into account her concern for Kef. Kef gets up and pads into the kitchen, finds a pencil and some paper, and begins sketching.

Paula sits down at Blake’s computer and googles Ferris Kellogg. He is thirty-five years old but appears younger. His bio says he grew up in the Dallas area, then left for a while. There’s no indication of where he went. He came back and began preaching at a small church in Oak Cliff. The church has grown to fair size, with an ethnically diverse congregation. Wealthy people drive from all over Dallas to attend his church. He only preaches there every other Sunday; other times he travels around the country as a guest preacher, and on occasional Sundays he disappears to nobody knows where.

Paula goes into the kitchen, picks up the sketches Kef has already completed, and scans them into Blake’s computer. Blake calls Jethro and tells him to match them to a “historical or mythological” (Paula’s terms) woman. “Yes, she has clothes on. Yes, I know this is before you usually start work, plus it’s Saturday. I don’t care.” (Jeremy: “One day’s just like any other. They all end in ‘y’.”)

The phone rings at Axle’s house, but he’s not there. He’s going to pick up breakfast and head over to Blake’s.

Feeling tired and miserable, Kef pushes aside her drawings, lays her head on the kitchen table, and tries to sleep.

As soon as the truck pulls up to refill the newspaper vending machines, Jeremy ties a dollar onto the string and takes a Saturday paper. Going back to his office, he opens the paper to the Religion section (John: “Hallelujah, it’s there!”) but there’s nothing there about Ferris Kellogg. It does list the times for worship services at his Oak Cliff church, which will be conducted by associate preacher Emmanuel Jackson. “I’m back,” Jeremy hollers at the phone. “He’s not preaching tomorrow, at least not at his church.”

Jeremy has flown a combat helicopter in southeast Asia, and he never heard any stories about “an Amazon in red fatigues.” Paula voices her belief that the woman is a supernatural being. Jeremy points out that in Roman times, the goddesses Minerva and Artemis were depicted as warlike. “Or she could be a demon.”

At 4:59, the doorbell rings. Blake opens the door to Axle, carrying a double armload of breakfast. He sets it all on the kitchen table near Kef, then picks up the sketches and studies them. Blake looks at Kef for a moment, then leans down, brushes her thick red hair away from one ear, and murmurs into it, “Psst. Are you okay?” Kef raises her head. Axle waves at her from across the table. Kef replies to Blake, “I was trying to see if I could see anything else.” “I think you’ve done seen enough for tonight, don’t you think?” “No, obviously not.” “Have you told them about the second part, what happened when you woke up?” “That I tried to kill you?” “Yeah, that part.” “Axle, I tried to kill Blake.” Axle: “Doesn’t seem like it worked.” Kef: “No, he’s bulletproof.” Axle: “Did you imagine him to be somebody else, or what?” Kef: “No, I had to kill somebody.”

Blake calls Paula away from the computer into the kitchen. She brings the phone with her. Blake steps back from Kef and asks Paula, “Did she tell you about what happened when she woke up?” Paula, chagrined: “I started calling people and didn’t give her a chance to finish.” Blake: “Tell me exactly what you did.” Kef: “I woke up. I knew my gun was at home. I knew where Blake’s gun was. I was perfectly lucid. I went over, took his gun… chambered a round… went over to where Blake was sleeping…” Kef stops, unable to go on. Paula: “But you pulled yourself out of it, so you’re okay. Hold on to that thought.” Jeremy, cheerfully: “Blake’s made *me* that mad before!”

It occurs to Paula that as she was driving over, there had been an entire concert playing in her head. She figures it was playing in Kef’s at the same time. The music was making Paula drive aggressively.

Paula repeats, “You fought the song and won. Hold on to that thought.” Kef, slowly: “Well, that’s not quite how it was. There wasn’t anything to fight. I wasn’t being forced to do anything.” Paula: “The song was pushing you to be more aggressive, more violent. It affected me that way, and I wasn’t the primary focus of it. I think you were the primary focus because she connected to you through your vision.” Kef, loudly: “And *somehow* to all the rest of you.” Paula: “Well, after all we’ve been through in the past five years, I think we have a pretty solid link.” Kef, very softly: “That’s why I was always a loner before.” Paula: “But having a link makes us better able to withstand this type of thing. It makes us vulnerable sometimes, but stronger in the long run. Teams – families – are like that. She always appeared in violent scenes, so she’s pushing those buttons.”

(It occurs to Kef that the effect on Blake was minimal because ‘pushing his buttons’ simply doesn’t work the way it does in most people. He’s already violent, so pushing him to be more violent didn’t work. “But he didn’t wake up wanting to kill me, either.”)

Axle: “Would this be something Enigma did? A way to contact us, to warn us about something?” Paula: “I never understood how he knew what he knew and how he’d pass information on. He lived up to his name all the time.” Axle: “Would this be down his alley?” Paula: “Yes, it would.”

Blake: “So… we now know that this woman tried to push you to do something that wasn’t… No, no, that’s not what you described, is it? Killing me seemed to be against your nature, but killing didn’t seem to be against your nature.” Kef: “I just knew I had to kill somebody, and I… had never hurt an innocent person in my life.” Paula: “She hasn’t. And her record is still good, because she didn’t end up killing you, either.” Blake, laughing: “Even if she’d killed me, it still wouldn’t have counted!” Paula, also laughing: “No, Blake. In your nature, you’re basically on the side of the angels. In the context of what Kef’s talking about, you are an innocent.” Axle: “Well, nobody said ‘true’ innocent.” Blake: “Let’s not go farther than that. (To Kef) Which is why you didn’t kill me. It didn’t fit in your nature.”

Kef: “Why was I so susceptible?” Paula: “Because you had a direct link to her through your vision.” Kef: “Why is she linking to me?” Axle: “Are you sure she linked to you?” Kef: “No.” Paula: “Your ‘ability’ serves to warn us of danger, things we can help and prevent. It could be that she’s a threat, if not to the world, at least to this part of the world.” Blake: “Or to us.” Paula: “She could be hunting us, but more likely not – so if she sees you as a threat to what she’s planning to do, she’s going to have to find you.” Blake: “In your visions, a person of power may notice you when you’re looking at them. That’s happened before.” Kef: “Yes, it happened with Kevin McGuire’s companion. She turned and looked at me in almost the same way.” Paula: “Well, if she’s a person of power, we need to approach this methodically and carefully.”

Axle’s cell phone rings. It’s his old buddy Butch in California. “Axle, something strange is happening at one of the warehouses out here.” “Shouldn’t you be calling the police first?” “Well…” “Strange funny or strange?” “Strange strange. I was doing my rounds and saw a strange glow. So, being the brave man that I am, I peeked in through the window instead of opening the door. I saw this guy, and then he was gone. I went inside and looked, and there was a burnt mark on the floor, but that was it.” “Anything missing?” “There couldn’t be anything missing, there wasn’t anything in there.” “Okay. Did you recognize him.” “No, I didn’t.” “What did he look like?” “He just looked like a guy. He had a white t-shirt on, blue jeans, and tennis shoes. Blond hair. I suggest you come out here and take a look.” “Is there any shape to the burn mark?” “No, it looks like a starburst, I guess.” “If you’ve got a cell phone that takes pictures, send us a picture.” Several minutes later, the picture shows up on Axle’s phone; he shows it to Paula, who can’t tell whether it’s a byproduct of magic. “Well, keep an eye out, let me know. We’re working on something here right now.” “Okay, boss.”

Axle gives everyone a summary of what Butch said had happened at one of the warehouses that Axle leases from Blake (which formerly belonged to Deathwish). Blake: “One of them had a magic mark or a portal.” Axle: “It could have been a portal. He described a bright light.” Blake: “But I thought it was closed.” Paula: “They were all closed. Someone would have had to go to some effort to reopen them.”

Axle: “Jeremy, are you still there?” Jeremy: “Yeah?” Axle: “I think you might want to make a flight plan to LA.” Jeremy: “Okay. But I thought that Kef’s vision saw the woman here in Dallas.” Axle: “Yeah, but something just happened in one of the warehouses that Blake acquired from Deathwish. So this could be associated with that.” Paula: “Yeah, I don’t believe in coincidences.”

At 6:15 Paula’s phone rings. It’s one of her Renaissance fair contacts. “Hi, Paula. You know how you wanted us to keep our eyes open for anything unusual? Well, in Montgomery on Thursday night, there was an outbreak of weird. And some of it seems to be magical. We’ve had people just drop dead, gangs of kids walk around attacking people and then they don’t remember why…” “How long has this been going on?” “Oh, two or three days. The strangest thing, though… the only thing that really seems to be connected is a song.” “Tell me the song.” “I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s James Brown, ‘Cold Sweat.’” “That’s what I thought you were going to say. Any visiting evangelists or preachers running a revival in Montgomery this month?” “There’s *always* a preacher running…” Paula cuts in, “Somebody who started just a few days before, or around the time this outbreak started, or ended when it started.” “I’ll have to see, but none that sticks out.” “Check it. You described several things, dropping dead, unprovoked attacks by youth, what else?” “There was a dismemberment.” “Okay, how is the local press explaining it?” “Well, they’re not, really. They’re not putting together the events. The youths attacking has made big news. They’re kids from different backgrounds who aren’t even friends. Then they happen to be at the mall and walk by each other and it’s like, hey, let’s go beat up some people.” “Is it isolated just to Montgomery and Montgomery county, or has it been seen in other parts of the state?” “No, we’ve just seen it in Montgomery. So if you could come down here and take a look…” Upon a suggestion from Axle, Paula says, “Check whether Reverend Ferris Kellogg has visited Montgomery within the past two weeks.” “No. He was here a month ago, though.” “A month ago. How long was he there? Was it a week-long revival or a single speaking engagement?” “It was just a Sunday. It was a big deal, which is why I remember it so easily. He was at one of the really large churches.” “And it was packed, wasn’t it.” “Oh, it was standing room only.” “Do me a favor. I want to know if everyone involved had attended that service, the youths taking part in the violence, the people who dropped dead. See if you can relate them back to that service. I have a bad feeling about this.” “Okay. Are you coming down?” “I may. I’ve got other problems breaking out in Los Angeles. I’ll have somebody check it out. Somebody will be around as soon as I can get them there.”

Jeremy talks to some of his contacts “who have access to information I’m probably not supposed to get.” He learns that sometimes Rev. Kellogg flies commercially, but as of a few months ago he began flying on rich folks’ private jets. One of the pilots, Joe, describes Kellogg as “a really nice guy” and he had last flown him just a couple of weeks ago. “Really? Where’d you take him?” “Let’s see. It was weird. First we stopped in Montgomery, but only for a few minutes. Then we went to Chicago, and he stayed there a couple of days. Then we came back to Redbird, then came up to Addison.” “All on your boss’s nickel?” “Oh, yeah. My boss loves him. When Ferris got off, the boss asked him if there was anyplace else he’d like to go. He has a presence about him.” “Yeah? Has he got an entourage?” “That’s the strange thing. No, he usually flies by himself. There’s people there to meet him wherever he goes. But when he flew with me, it was just him.” “I was just wonderin’. I’ve been approached about a job, and I thought I’d better check it out. You know, I wouldn’t want to get up in the air with some nutcase.” [Mary: “Some *other* nutcase.”] “He seemed really nice. He wasn’t too demanding. The boss went all-out for him.” “So are you scheduled to take him anywhere sometime soon?” “No, just whenever the boss calls.” “That’s kind of what I was afraid of. I kind of need a schedule. That’s kind of tough for me.” “Excuse me? Is this Jeremy Grant? Is this who I’m talkin’ to? Are you an imposter? Did you just say what I thought you said about ‘schedule?’” “Yeah.” “One of us needs to get our coffee. It must be me.” “No, really. Now that I own my own plane and do all that, I kinda got to schedule things out. I can’t just…” “As I said, I think I’ll go get my coffee now, Jeremy. Nice talkin’ to ya.”

It’s 7:59. Blake tries to coax Kef into eating some breakfast, but she’s giving him the cold shoulder. Blake thinks, “Maybe I tried to kill her and don’t remember.”

Jeremy suggests, “Maybe Kellogg stopped to trigger something” during his recent brief stop in Montgomery. Blake: “That’s a long trigger.” Kef: “Was she with him?” Jeremy: “No, he flies alone. Supposedly. That’s what I was hoping, that somebody would have seen her.” Kef: “If she *is* a supernatural being, maybe only certain people can see her.” Paula: “Do you have more people you can check? We need to see what cities he’s hit.” Jeremy: “There have been other pilots. I just found one that I knew who had flown him around.”

Kef: “What impulse do these rich people have for suddenly handing huge wads of cash to this preacher?” Jeremy: “Well, that church down there has started drawing all kinds of rich folks.” Kef: “Doesn’t it usually cause problems when preachers use that money to indulge themselves and travel around in private jets instead of, you know, helping the poor?” Axle: “Only if he’s taking the money from the church.” Kef: “So people are giving *him* money directly.” Jeremy: “They’re just offering him rides. And maybe to get in good with him, they have to donate money to the church as well. Usually when those things fall apart, it’s when the preacher falls out of favor with some of the congregation, then everyone starts asking questions. As long as everyone’s happy with him, nobody asks any questions about how he’s spending the money.” Kef: “Then why are they happy with him when he doesn’t even show up to preach half the Sundays?” Jeremy: “I dunno. Want to go to church tomorrow and find out?” Kef: “No, not particularly. Besides, you said that the associate pastor was preaching.” Jeremy: “Exactly! That’s when you should go and ask why they’re happy with the guy who’s not there.” Blake: “That sounds like a good idea.” Kef: “We could ask him that today.” Jeremy: “I wasn’t going to ask him, I was going to ask them… if anybody shows up tomorrow.” Paula: “According to all the sites, they do show up even when he’s not there.” Jeremy: “I wonder if they play James Brown at the services.” Paula: “That’s a good question. I couldn’t see anything like that in the material.” Blake: “James does some religious songs where you can actually understand what he says, but ‘Cold Sweat’ is not one of them.”

Paula: “Well, a lot of bad things are happening in Montgomery, Alabama.” Blake: “Is that your plan, to go to Montgomery? Because I really need you down in Montgomery, now that I think about it.” Paula: “She was desperate for help, and she doesn’t have the wherewithal. She’s smart enough to put it together that they’re all connected, and she knows that I’ve been involved in some stuff over the last several years, and I’ve been asking questions for the last year, so she knows I’ve been paying attention. Whatever he’s planning, it looks like it has some sort of delayed effect. It’s not instantaneous.” Kef: “It’s probably not *his* plan.”

Paula phones Rev. Kellogg’s church. The female voice on the other end answers, “Church of the Natural God. How may you serve the Lord?” Paula asks to make an appointment to see “Reverend Ferris” today or tomorrow, and is told “I’m afraid that would not be possible. He is not in town.” “May I inquire as to which city he is currently bringing the blessings of the Lord to?” “You can inquire but we will not tell you, because we do not know at this time. He is indisposed, and he is studying the Word.” [Jeremy: “Is she a redhead?” Axle: “He’s only gotten to second base… er, chapter two.”] No, he did not name a date when he might be available, but he will probably check in Monday or Tuesday.

Blake: “Okay, I’ll stay here and guard the fort. And if something happens…” Kef: “No, we can’t ever leave you alone, Blake.” Blake: “I have plenty of people to assist me…” Jeremy: “If something happens, we can always come to Hell and look for you, again, huh?” Kef: “How are we going to get there? Mr. Grimes isn’t around.” Jeremy: “The heck with that, we’ll just leave him.” Kef: “No!” Paula: “The situation in Montgomery right now has violence in it, and Blake deals with violence quite expertly.” Axle: “You have enough people locally to inform you if something happens. What I think is that you and Paula should get on a commercial flight and head that way. Jeremy, myself, and Kef will go to LA and check that out, then meet you in Montgomery.” Paula: “If you have Jeremy with you, you’ll have the flexibility to go to Chicago or elsewhere if necessary.”

(Kef: “You could ask the Professor if he has any plans for a red-headed demon b*tch detector.” Axle: “I was thinking he could hook it into the Early Warning System.” Kef: “According to Arthurian legend, Nimue had red hair.” Blake: “Who was that?” Kef: “She was a demoness who imprisoned the wizard Merlin.”)

The group agrees to Axle’s plan. Blake makes flight arrangements to Montgomery for Paula and himself. Their flight leaves at 10:20.

Jeremy calls an acquaintance of his, Supervisor Ted, who has worked at Redbird Airport for fifteen years. “Hey, Ted, it’s Jeremy Grant.” “Hi, Jeremy.” “I’m trying to check some stuff out on a potential client, and I figured you might know something about him.” “Okay, I’ll see if I know anything.” “Do you know anybody that’s flown this Reverend Ferris Kellogg?” “Oh, the Right Reverend Ferris Kellogg! Yes. Well, I know Joe flew him.” “Really? When?” “Oh, probably a month ago.” “Well, I’m wondering about something more recent than that. You haven’t seen him any more recently, have you?” “I don’t know of anything more recent than that.” “So, you know this reverend?” “Well, yeah, I’ve been down to his church.” “Oh, yeah? Seem to be a pretty up-and-up fellow?” “Aw, man, he’s incredible. He gets up there and you can just feel the spirit move through you. Sometimes you’re happy, sometimes you’re sad, you just feel the spirit go through you.” [John: “Sometimes you feel rich, but when you leave you feel poor.”] Ted continues, “I mean, he’s turned that church around. They have that great big ol’ building, and they used to have maybe twenty people in there.” “A few more than twenty when you went, huh?” “Aw, man, it was packed! At the end we went up there, and he shook my hand and he looked me in the eye, and I could just feel it coming from him. I never felt that before. And you could tell from his face that he knew something.” “Yeah, I’ve met some guys like that. Well, who do you know up at the Addison airport that might know something about him?” “Addison Airport, lemme see. What’s that guy’s name… he has a funny name, one I should remember. Harry… Harry Truman! We used to make fun of him. H. Truman is what he goes by. He’s one of the mechanics up there.” Jeremy knows him (even though he does all of his own mechanic work.)

Paula scans the websites for the Montgomery Advertiser and the WSFA-12 NBC affiliate. She finds articles confirming what her acquaintance had told her. There are few details regarding the dismemberment. [Mary: “They can’t put the pieces together.”] A petty thief had snatched a purse and the police were chasing him on foot. When they came around a corner, they found the thief’s legs, then his arms, then his head, then his torso. This had been done in the space of less than twenty seconds, the cops had heard no sound, and whoever had done it was nowhere to be seen. [Mary: “It wasn’t a magic sword, it was an eldritch cleaver.”] According to the autopsy report, each limb had been severed with a single precise blow. Jeremy: “In other words, the person who did this was a butcher. He knew right where to cut.” Kef: “Or a surgeon.” There’s a bio and rapsheet listed for the victim, with the implication that the world won’t miss him. Jeremy: “In other words, they’re trying to say that it’s okay that this happened because he was a bad man.”

At 8:59 Blake goes into his bedroom to get ready to go to Montgomery. He pulls his reluctant red-haired partner along with him. Kef, annoyed: “What?” “Come on. Let’s go in here and talk.” “No.” “No?” “I don’t have anything to say to you right now.” “That’s okay. I have something to say to you, so you can listen.” He closes the door, then immediately confronts her. “For some reason you seem to be upset with me. I’m not sure why.” “Because you don’t care about me, Blake.” “I don’t?” “No. You don’t.” “I thought I did.” “I thought you did, too.” “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, that I don’t care.” “I told you I was scared, and all you did was say ‘we’ll talk about it in the morning.’” “Well, that’s what I usually do… I didn’t feel threatened by you at three o’clock in the morning. I figured that it would wait. I didn’t know that Paula was on her way up here...” Kef: “But you didn’t even offer me a hug! You didn’t offer me any comfort at all, just ‘wait till morning.’” Blake: “Okay, I was wrong! I was still sleepy. I had that song running through my head.” Kef: “Well, you’ve been awake now for how many hours?” Blake: “And you’ve been mad at me for how many hours?” Kef: “And you haven’t done anything to make me otherwise in how many hours?” Blake: “Well, I tried to talk to you, but I kept getting the cold shoulder.” Kef: “I was busy drawing pictures.” Blake: “Yes, I know. And I was busy trying to figure out who we have p*ssed off so far. And now that I have you in here so we’re alone and talking… I might not have handled it correctly this morning. But there’s no reason to go, ‘oh, Blake doesn’t love me’ because that’s not true, and ‘he doesn’t care about me’ because that’s not true. I won’t even say it was a man thing, because it wasn’t. I went back into the mode of, okay, we have some kind of trouble that’s coming, let’s fix it.” “That was the thing, you didn’t think there *was* trouble.” “No, I didn’t, when I woke up. But now, I can readily admit that I was wrong.” “Blake, I can read auras. There wasn’t *any* concern for me.” “Or myself! Because I didn’t feel any danger, any… Why would I feel any danger from you?” “I’m not talking about danger! I was upset, I was afraid…” “Well, I don’t read auras.” “I told you I was scared.” “I thought it was that you were scared that you’d almost killed me. And my thing was to let you know that I had no fear that you would hurt me.” “Oh. My dream didn’t have any significance for you because you didn’t get hurt.” “Well, if your dream was the source of wanting to kill me, and I didn’t get hurt, my conclusion is that you had won out over your dream.” “And the fact that I was upset about it didn’t mean anything to you.” “Well, if I could have gotten you back into bed and talked to you then…” “You were going to roll over and go back to sleep! That’s why I got up and got dressed. I was going to leave, and then Paula showed up.” “And go where?” “Away, so I couldn’t hurt you.” “Once again, I wasn’t worried about being hurt.” “I know *you* don’t worry about being hurt.” “No. I didn’t know that you had got my gun until later. You never said ‘I almost shot you, Blake.’ You said ‘I almost killed you.’ As far as I knew, you were about to stab me or choke me.” “It doesn’t matter *how* I was going to do it!” “Well, if you were going to choke me, I might have a shot. If you were going to stab me, well, I’d have been just bloody.” “I was sitting on top of you, Blake, with your gun pointed at you. You didn’t stir.” “Wow. I didn’t? That’s unusual, don’t you think?” “Well, we’re back to talking about *you* again. It’s *always* you, Blake. It’s *always* about you.” “That’s usually the way my life goes, but that’s not the point, though.” “Well, it started out not to be the point.” Blake, snickering: “Point… You were pointing the gun, it was about *you* then.” “Sure, it was all about me.” “I think… I think whatever you read, you’re not reading correctly. Even if you can read auras, it doesn’t always work the way you think. Nobody’s that accurate.” “Oh, so I didn’t really have a dream about…” “Killing me? No, I’m not saying that. You said you read my aura and you felt…” “I didn’t *have* to read your aura to tell that you didn’t care. I did it because I wanted to find something that indicated that you did. And I didn’t.” “No… I wasn’t concerned… my thing was that you said you almost killed me. That’s what I was focused on.” “Then when you woke up and you weren’t dead, ‘okay, go back to sleep.’ Never mind that I’m standing there naked and shivering.” “Well, I handled it badly.” “So. That’s why I’m upset. Is that enough?” “Yup, I’ve, um, had enough.” “All right.” “I suppose that we can talk about this later.” “There might not be a later.” “Why not?” “Things are in motion now.” “Oh. I thought you knew something I didn’t know. You said ‘there might not be a later,’ I was thinking ‘what do you mean?’ Well, if there is a later, we can talk about it later. How’s that?” “What is it you want to say?” “What do you mean?” “You said we could talk about it later. Why not now? What have you got to say to me?” “Well, I still love you, so what is it that’s… You seem to think I don’t. Is that the case?” “You don’t.” “Okay, I’m just delusional.” “Mm-hmm.” “Okay. I just wanted to make sure I was on the same page. All right. If you’re as sure as you think you are about how I feel… well, I’ve never known anybody to be able to tell me what I feel, but obviously as you go along you meet people like that. If you believe that, then… then there’s nothing ‘later’ to talk about.” “Then there’s nothing you can do about it, is there.” “Not if you believe that, no, there’s nothing I can do.” “You’re not going to try to change my mind?” “You’re the person that believes that.” “And you’re not going to do anything to make me think otherwise. So it’s a self-fulfilling proposition. You say I can’t make you feel however you feel, but I am, because I don’t think you love me.” “No, I said you can’t tell me how I feel.” “Oh. All right.” “But your belief – and you’re pretty stubborn once you get something in your mind, once you get it in your brain that this is the way it is – it takes a shock to your system sometimes to bring you out of it. And since I don’t really have any way to bring a shock to your system – well, yes, I do, but right now I need to focus… I believe that you’re taking one instance that things didn’t go your way, you were scared and I didn’t react the way you thought I should react, and I plead just being dumb on that part. And when I got up, I was just… when I realized, okay, there is a serious problem, instead of looking and saying okay, I need to go back and see how she’s doing, I just started to focus on what we usually do. ‘Oh, we have a problem, we need to get together and figure out what we need to do.’ I should’ve said ‘okay, let’s see about Kef,’ because I should remember how traumatic these dreams can be. And I didn’t. As I say, ‘handled it badly’ might be an understatement on my part. But it wasn’t that I didn’t care. It’s as things got caught up, I said I should go and do what I normally do: take charge of the situation, and try to move it along. You know how we are, it’s like herding cats, with Paula wanting to run this way, and Jeremy wanting to run this way, and Axle wanting to run up and down. And for us to come to a consensus that three of us go to LA, which is what I said at first, and two of us go to Montgomery was my very first saying I said, we went around and around and around and came back to where? Back to what I said we should do in the first place. It wasn’t that I wasn’t thinking about your feelings, it simply was a mindframe, a mindset that I have. And this relationship that we’re in… I’m pretty used to it. But I didn’t take into account that at the beginning… Most of the time you’ve already had the dream, and had the shock, and then I come in and calm you down and try to bring you back to where it’s not so overwhelming. This time, I was at the beginning and didn’t appreciate it. So… give me another chance?” “Okay.” “All right. Good. That’s a weight off my mind.

“Now. LA?” “I suppose I need to go to LA to examine that scorch mark. Maybe it’ll let me learn about the being that made it. But I’m not sure what to do after that.” “I think the direction we’re going might help out. Because I think we might not be seeing the whole picture here.” “It’s more likely that Paula will learn something in Montgomery because the violence there has already started. But something’s about to happen in Dallas, if that last part of the vision is any indication.” “Well, you know what they say – all roads lead to Dallas.” “*We* say that. All the world’s problems land on our doorstep.” “Well, you know, it’s the Kennedy thing; it’s a weirdness magnet here now.”

Jeremy flies Axle and Kef to Los Angeles. On the way, Kef phones the Grays to ask if Ed had had any dreams he hadn’t yet told Auntie Kef about. “Ya know, I did dream something strange about Paula last night. There was a soundtrack playing in the background. And I see her face, and she looks scared, totally frightened, like she’s watching a scary movie or somethin’.” “What’s she looking at?” “I can’t see. All I can see is her. I could see people around her and stuff, but nobody I knew. Then I saw her fall. She just fell over backwards onto a sidewalk.” “Okay, Eddie, I’m glad you told me this. If you have any more dreams or visions, be sure and let me know.” “Okay.” Kef asks to speak to Ed’s mother, Carla. She tells her “Paula and Blake are flying to Montgomery, and there might be some trouble going on, so stay out of Montgomery. If anything psychic or weird happens, let me know right away.”

Paula and Blake land in Montgomery. Blake rents a car (and buys insurance). They pick up Paula’s friend. Paula wants to go first to the place where someone just dropped dead, so they head to a downtown shopping district. On the way there, Paula takes a quick call from Kef, who gives her an outline version of Eddie Gray’s dream. Paula in turn warns Blake that she might faint in the next hour or so, and “whatever causes it, you probably need to… contain.” She turns to her friend and says, “You stepped in the middle of something dangerous, and I’ll get you out of it as soon as I can.”

While Axle is renting a car at LAX, an official approaches and says he needs to speak to Jeremy about his jet because “it ‘pinged’ odd.” Jeremy readily cooperates and shows several inspectors around his plane, but they won’t tell him what they’re looking for. He explains that the solar panels can be used to recharge the engines. He even offers to take them for a flight. Eventually they allow that the solar panels might have been what ‘pinged funny’ and thank him for his cooperation.

Blake finds a place to park. He, Paula, and Paula’s friend walk a couple of blocks. Two of Montgomery’s Finest climb out of their squad car, stride directly up to Blake (the tall well-dressed black man accompanied by two white women) and take him around a corner to have a chat. When Paula tries to follow, she’s requested to “wait here, miss.” “Is he under arrest?” “No, we just want to have a conversation.” “No need to go out of my sight to do it.” “Miss, I think you should probably back off right this moment, or you’re gonna be…” “Arrested?” “That is a possibility.” “For what, sir?” “Interfering with an officer of the law comes to mind.” Paula quickly backs down. “Yes, sir. I understand. I do not want to obstruct justice; that’s the furthest thing from my mind.”

For some reason Paula’s attention is drawn to something behind her. When she turns and looks, she sees five young men harassing other people. As the cops and Blake disappear around the corner, the gang rushes up toward Paula and her friend, and one of the guys (G1) pulls a knife. Paula quickly forms lightning in her hand, and her friend ducks behind her. “Don’t follow the song,” says Paula tensely. The two guys flanking the one with the knife draw their guns and point them at Paula, one at her head (G2), the other at her chest (G3). Paula’s friend (PF) crouches down, and the other two guys (G4, G5) spread out to cut off her escape. “Oh, this is a robbery, then,” Paula says. G1 lunges; Paula parries him with her off-hand, and with her other hand slaps her lightning hand against the gun pointed at her head. The electrical shock causes G2 to twitch the gun upwards and step back. Paula steps into G2 to shield herself from G3. G2 takes two quick steps back; G3 steps toward her; G1 steps forward and slashes air; G4 and G5 close in as PF stays right behind Paula. Paula senses that these guys like the fact that she looks worried and PF is terrified. Concentrating, Paula steps into G1. G2 slides behind her, pointing his gun at the back of her head. Paula tries to cast Spasm but fails badly, and now things happen in slow motion. G1 steps back, slashing at her leg and missing. G3 fires and misses. G2’s finger tightens on the trigger and Paula can actually see the bullet emerging from the gun. She throws herself to the side, but knows she didn’t dodge.

Suddenly a tall man (S) appears, seemingly stepping out of midair. G4 and G5 turn to look at S, then faint dead away. The bullet creeps closer to Paula, who dodges, coming face-to-face with S. She starts to lose consciousness. S brushes past Paula and suddenly G3’s torso is sliced in two. Next, something severs G1’s hand, then his leg. As Paula kisses the sidewalk, she sees G2’s arms and head fall off.

Paula awakens in the car, with Blake holding smelling salts under her nose. As Paula comes around, Blake repeats the treatment with PF. “Okay, Blake, that answers one question. Are you okay?” “Yeah, I had to take care of Tweedledum and Tweedledee first.” (When the gunshots sounded, the cops turned their heads and Blake dazed them.) “Didn’t kill them, I hope.” “No, they’re fine. I went back around the corner and woke them up once I got you and her into the car. It was a bloody mess around there.” “I didn’t even have time to go for the dazer, it was so quick, but I don’t know how much it would have helped. I know what happened to the dismembered thief, or how it was done, at least.” “And how was it done?” “Someone’s got a major time manipulation spell or ability. Somebody phased in, chopped them up – saved my life in the process, thankfully. On second thought, he didn’t slow time, he was moving fast. I had a problem that let me see him. Something about him put me out, just like little Ed said. When you came around the corner, how many bodies or parts of bodies did you see on the ground?” “It looked like what was left of five individuals. [Two died of fright; three were dismembered.] When I woke up the two cops I asked them ‘Is there something wrong around here?’” “They didn’t get your name or ID or anything, did they?” “Oh, yeah.” “They always do.” “But they don’t remember what happened to them.” “I don’t know if my dilemma drew him, or what happened, why he came.” “Was it a he?” “I think it was a he. Definitely wasn’t the redhead. Now I’m confused about which side this guy might be on, given who he’s killing and what he’s doing. A little overreaction for a mugging, but for someone trying to murder somebody it was appropriate.” “Sounds effective.” “They won’t do it again. While this person’s reaction it extreme, it was along the line of the way Steve reacts. A little heavy-handed, but the perpetrator ain’t gonna do it again. So this person could be in opposition to whoever’s creating the violence. Or it could be a manifestation of it. I don’t know. Not enough information. But it was frightening enough that it just knocked me out. And I can’t remember his face because of it.” PF remembers the guy trying to cut Paula and PF attempting to hide; she heard a gun go off, then a wave of fear hit her and she blacked out. Paula: “The weird thing here is, I don’t know what he cut them up with. I don’t remember seeing a weapon. Several things might could have done that. Very sharp magical blade, or monowire.” But his hand and arm motions didn’t correspond to wielding a sword or a whip. His movements were reminiscent of a weird dance.

Blake: “I think we’ve learned enough for the day. I think we should get your friend home and settled down, and then catch the next plane out of here. You’ve already had one close call. I’m just hoping it’s not centered on you.” Paula: “Could have been a target of opportunity, or could be that my… ability drew the ruffians. But five was way more than I could handle myself. [S killed all five of them in less than two seconds.] You’re right, let’s get out of here. There’s nothing I can do here to stop it.” Blake: “Let’s get you back on familiar ground, then once you calm down and think things through, maybe we’ll have a better assessment.”

After the authorities finish harassing Jeremy, Axle slides behind the wheel of the rented car. “We’ll have to have Darvich put an anti-ping device on your plane,” Kef remarks to Jeremy. They drive to the warehouse where Butch greets them and opens the place up. Nothing looks unusual from the outside. But inside, toward the back, there is trash scattered all around. Butch: “That wasn’t there before.” Axle pokes through food wrappers, newspapers, and other debris while Butch shows Kef the scorch mark on the floor, not quite in the center of the warehouse. Kef kneels down beside the mark and holds her hand just above it. She doesn’t feel any emanations from it, so she touches it. [Bill: “Zap!” Mary: “Then I turn into a scorch mark, and that’s the end of *my* adventure, but I have a backup character. She’s a medic.” Bill: “No…” Axle: “She’ll revive you?” Mary: “No, she can’t revive Kef because she’s a scorch mark, but if anyone else…” Bill: “We’ll cut out the scorch mark and hang it above the mantel.” Mary: “Yup. ‘That was my last girlfriend… she tried to kill me.’” Bill: “’I gave her the kiss of death before she left. Kissed her on her forehead, and she was wondering why.’” Mary: “Yup. It’s the mark of you, Beast.”]

Kef concentrates on a particular time. At first she is in darkness. She can hear Butch patrolling outside, talking to someone on his phone. Suddenly a blazing brilliance strikes the floor. Searing white light illuminates the entire interior of the warehouse. Kef sees a pale-skinned man, perhaps 25-30 years of age, with white-blond hair and gray eyes. His facial features are so nondescript that Kef knows she must make a special effort to remember them. He is clad all in white – t-shirt, pants, shoes. He doesn’t appear to be carrying any equipment. He smiles, and Kef’s empathy reads a “happy to be here – finally, the time has come” feeling from him. He stands there for several seconds, then turns in a circle and looks around (he doesn’t seem to be looking for anything, though). His hands move, and seemingly from nowhere, trash appears and rolls toward the back of the warehouse. [John: “It’s the Intergalactic Garbage Guy.” Bill: “Nah, if it were him, you’d be seeing piles of lost socks. That’s for another scenario.”] The bright light seems to collapse on itself, and then the man is gone.

Meanwhile, Butch suggests to Axle that they go check some of the other warehouses. “Okay,” replies Axle, “as soon as she’s done here.” “How long is that going to be?” “A couple of days. Why? Are there scorch marks in the other ones?” “I don’t know.” “I’m not going to leave her here alone.” “Well, Jeremy’s here with her.” Axle repeats, “I’m not going to leave her here alone. How far are they from here?” “One’s a couple miles down the road.” “Let’s hurry,” says Axle, telling Jeremy, “We’ll be right back.”

Butch drives his lime-green Gremlin onto the freeway, and a couple of exits down, traffic comes to a near-standstill. Butch, whistling, creeps slowly forward. Axle cranes his neck, trying to see what the holdup is. Butch fumbles with the radio, and over the airwaves comes a report of a gas spill on Highway XX, the same road they’re on. Axle sees a man walking toward them on the shoulder of the road. He’s pale, blond, and dressed in a white t-shirt, pants, and shoes. The radio starts playing “Cold Sweat,” and Axle quickly shuts it off. [John: “See, I told you I shouldn’t have left.” Bill: “It would have just made it worse. Don’t worry.”] Not quickly enough, apparently, because Axle suddenly feels very sick. It’s as if the passenger compartment filled up with gasoline. (“If I’m gonna get toasted, it’d better be premium gas,” thinks Axle.) Axle passes out.

Kef stands up, walks over, and starts picking through the trash. There’s trash from all over the place here, including distant cities like Dallas and New York. “He’s a teleporter with a side-effect of littering?” she mutters. From not very far off she hears a lot of sirens. Finally, she notices that Axle’s not around. She looks out the door, and through the trees she sees a number of police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks rushing past. “Where’s Axle?” she asks Jeremy, who tells her he’d gone with Butch to check out a different warehouse. “Another warehouse? And they didn’t take me?” “You were busy.” “How long did they say they’d be gone?” “Just a few minutes. It’s just a couple miles down the road.” “Uh, down which road?” Jeremy points. “They left going that way,” the same direction all the emergency vehicles are heading, “about twenty minutes ago.”

Kef speed-dials Axle. (“Let me guess… the spark from the cell phone sets off the gasoline fumes, it all goes up in this big fireball, and I just toasted one of my friends.”) As she listens to the phone ring, she sees a big fireball go up. “Oh, no,” she groans. She looks in the warehouse office and finds a police scanner. The police aren’t sure how the explosion occurred. Kef calls out, “Jeremy…” Jeremy: “I can explain. Flame, gasoline…” Kef: “Jeremy! Axle went that way! And he’s not answering his cell phone!” “In a truck?” “In Butch’s car, I guess.” (“They took a lime-green Gremlin? It deserved to blow up.” “Oh, come on. If he’s got a Gremlin that’s actually still in working condition, it’s a museum piece.” “Yeah, but if it’s lime green…” “Well, it could be painted!”)

Regaining consciousness, Axle finds himself lying on his back, looking up at the sky. Nearby, a paramedic is working to revive Butch. The man dressed all in white is nowhere to be seen. Axle asks, “What happened? I smelled gas, and that’s all I remember.” The medic explains that there had been a spill from a gasoline tanker, and it was as if a powerful wind had carried the fumes down the line of cars on the highway, causing people to pass out. “Then some fool threw a cigarette out, right?” guesses Axle. “I guess so,” replies the medic, “because the tanker blew up.”

Axle’s cell phone indicates a missed call, so he hits callback. Kef: “Hello?” Axle: “Hello.” “How come you didn’t answer before?” “Apparently I was passed out from gas fumes.” “There was a fireball! You could see it from here!” “Yeah, and I could see it and feel it from here, too.” “Well… you shouldn’t be there!” Axle explains they were about a quarter-mile from the tanker when they were overcome by the fumes, and Butch is still very groggy.

Kef describes the man she saw in her vision. Axle says, “Yeah, he was walking toward our car, and was right next to the car about the time I passed out.” Kef: “So it was like he was bringing the fumes toward you?” Axle: “I guess so. Actually, it was like having gasoline thrown in my face.” Jeremy: “Tell the guy to take a bath!” Kef exclaims, “I understand now. It’s another gang of evil friends of Kev McGuire’s clone. I’m gonna kill him again!” Kef describes how the man had scattered trash in the warehouse. Axle recalls that the man in white was carrying one of the caps used to seal a tanker’s delivery system to prevent leaks. Kef: “So he unsealed the tanker and carried the fumes with him just because he could.” Jeremy: “And maybe blew it up.” Kef: “So why weren’t you toasted?” Axle: “I guess this Gremlin’s tougher than we thought.” But it’s very puzzling – if the fumes were so thick as to knock people out, why wasn’t everyone incinerated when the tanker went up?

Axle loads Butch into the Gremlin, turns on the emergency flashers, and carefully backs the car down the nearest on-ramp. At the warehouse, Kef assures Jeremy that the dimensional gate that was once there is still closed, “Eradicated, I hope!” [Bill: “You never know but that the next GM will need a new gate, so…” Mary: “He can open up his own! Don’t use mine that I closed!” Tom: “Stay away from our warehouse! It’s a gate-free zone.”] Jeremy: “So we have albino guy…” Kef: “Yeah, we have albino guy, who’s in Los Angeles, and he just pulled the plug on a tanker truck and passed gas all up and down the freeway.” Jeremy: “And he came here from New York and Dallas and…” Kef: “Well, his trash came here from there. Maybe that is a sign of where he’s been.” [Bill: “Well, some of it looks Chinese. You even have Euro-trash.” Mary: “He looks like Eurotrash.” Tom: “Is that kind of the same as poor white trash?” John: “Yeah, we find a mobile home in there.” Tom: “Double-wide.” Bill: “Don’t say that. I used to ride down I-30 and count the trailer parks outside Little Rock. After awhile, I got tired. No wonder tornadoes hate ‘em. They’re so easy to find.”]

When Axle arrives back at the warehouse (Butch went to get cleaned up), Kef checks him over for injuries. She can smell gasoline on him. “We need to get you a bath and a change of clothes.” Axle agrees. Kef goes on, “Unless I go to where the tanker is, I don’t have any way to follow him, I don’t think. Why he was only two miles away, and he can teleport…” Axle: “He was walking back this way, though.” Kef: “Was he smiling?” Axle: “Yeah, he was smiling.” Kef: “Okay, whoever he is, he gets off on making people sick.” Axle: “Maybe it’s the gas or whatever, but I can barely remember his face, now. I just remember him smiling.” Kef: “He has that kind of face. He’s just not particularly memorable, except for that blond hair and cheesy grin and the white clothes.” Axle: “I don’t know if he’s going to return to this warehouse, or what. He hadn’t gotten very far. It’s been almost twelve hours since he first arrived. What else is there around here that Deathwish owned?” Kef: “I imagine Steve or Blake has the list.” Jeremy: “Did anybody die in the explosion?” Axle: “I didn’t ask, but it didn’t look like it. A bunch of people were passed out and not waking up.”

Just then over the police scanner comes a report that when the tanker exploded, the driver had already gotten out, and none of the people nearest the tanker were hurt. The tanker itself is on fire, but nothing else. Kef: “So he’s here to be…” Jeremy: “Obnoxious. Draw our attention away from Dallas.” Kef: “Ya think?” Jeremy: “That’s where you saw her, and none of us are there now.” Kef: “I didn’t see this guy in any of my visions.” Axle: “There was one thing. That James Brown song came on the radio, and I reached over and shut it off, then I looked up and saw him.” Jeremy: “Did it turn off?” Axle: “I think so, yeah. I don’t remember, I passed out. I guess what we need to do is get a copy of that recording and listen to the whole song.” Kef: “Do you think there might be clues in the lyrics?” Axle: “I don’t know. I’d never heard it before.” Kef: “We don’t have to go to a record store. We just log on and download it.” Axle: “We won’t get busted or anything? I’ve heard a lot about that.” Kef: “It wasn’t me and you can’t prove it. I’ll go to a pay site.”

The LA people contact the AL people, who are sitting at the airport waiting for their plane out of Montgomery. Kef: “Did the thing that Eddie foresaw happen to you?” Paula: “Exactly.” Kef: “Oh, little Ed will be so proud.” Paula: “The entire event he saw took about a second, but to me it seemed like several, because I had a spell misfire right before the gentleman phased in. He was moving so fast that my friend didn’t even register him.” Axle: “Was he dressed in white?” Paula: “It was black.” Kef: “We have white, we have black, we have red…” Paula: “Do you think we’re dealing with some supernatural family?” Kef: “I don’t think they’re related. The woman is beautiful, Mister Trash is kind of average.” Paula: “I can’t tell you what this guy looks like. He was generating fear, and it seemed to be coming from his face, so it must have been hideous. So we have one who is beautiful, one that’s so bad-looking it instills fear, and the other one so mundane you can’t remember. Looks like we’ve got some powerful deities or meta-beings messing with our reality that we need to convince to go somewhere else.” Kef: “Well, last time this happened, it wasn’t *us* who did the convincing. It was another group of super-beings.” Paula: “Either we convince them, or they could be competing against each other. We don’t know if they’re cooperating or in rivalry. We don’t know their relationship to each other. I said ‘family’ but I was talking off the top of my head.” Jeremy: “So the guy that you saw dismember somebody in front of you…” Paula: “I was being assaulted. Actually, he came in right as somebody fired a gun point-blank at my head. He phased in and basically saved my life. But he killed five thugs in the space of thousandths of a second.” Jeremy: “How?” Paula: “I couldn’t really see the weapon. He was doing something that reminded me of some sort of martial arts move/dance, and as he did them it sliced off parts of their bodies. And he killed two of them by sheer fear. They had heart attacks.” Jeremy: “But it was all bad guys that he killed?” Paula: “All bad guys. Myself and my friend, while we were knocked out by the fear, we weren’t in danger of our lives, I don’t think. Whatever’s happened to make people more aggressive…” Jeremy: “Sounds like we’ve got War and Death. Is your guy Pestilence or Famine?” Paula: “You’re not thinking of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, are you?” Jeremy: “Well, we’ve only seen three of them so far.” Paula: “So the one that saved me was Death?” Jeremy: “And War is the woman that likes causing battle.” Paula: “So the one you encountered in LA would be what?” Jeremy: “That’s what I said. I don’t know.” [John: “The gay one.” Mary: “The metrosexual.”]

As Jeremy, Paula, and Axle continue talking, Kef happens to glance around, and amid the trash she sees a bit of paper that somehow looks out of place. She picks it up and finds a leaflet for the Reverend Jack Delphont titled “Where Will You Be At The End?” The leaflet was printed in Los Angeles. She shows it to Butch, who says, “Reverend Delphont? You don’t know about him? The biggest preacher in LA, and you don’t know of him? He’s nationally known.” Axle: “What does he look like?” Butch: “He’s a short, curly-headed guy. Wears loud suits. Real nice guy, at least that’s what I’m told. And he prays for people really well.”

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20060225|One Minute 'Til II]]
*[[Dallas:Sessions:20060311|One Minute 'Til III]]
*[[Dallas:Sessions:20060325|One Minute 'Til IV]]
*[[Dallas]] Main Page

Dallas:Sessions:20060128

2008-03-28T23:02:02Z

Jsuhoski: New page: ''This session was spent catching up the Dallas team from May 2005 to January 2006. The previous scenario ended Saturday, May 7, 2005 (in-game; playing date September 10, 2005).'' May, 2...

''This session was spent catching up the Dallas team from May 2005 to January 2006. The previous scenario ended Saturday, May 7, 2005 (in-game; playing date September 10, 2005).''

May, 2005: Steve and Blake performed data mining on the computers obtained from Miami and Detroit. They turn up a lot of hidden money (mostly bonds) and properties. Blake has title searches performed to make sure they have clear ownership of the properties. Steve suggests transferring all the properties to the IS corporation Jeremy has set up. In four accounts they find $5 million, $1.2 million, $700,000, and $600,000. Blake thinks the money should go toward paying for Jeremy’s new jet, compensating Axle for trucking expenses, compensating Solution Security for their time and expenses, and then the remainder should be split equally six ways.

Kef discovers that being within two yards of Harbie the cat enhances her psi powers.

Blake assigns Sara Summers to research Judy Newhurst’s partner, Quentin Page. Newhurst and Page have been partners for four years. They operate out of the FBI field office in Atlanta. Page is 36 years old, divorced (his ex-wife and child live in Savannah). He has an excellent record as an FBI agent, with several high-profile arrests prior to teaming up with Newhurst. Page and Newhurst have handled a number of “X-Files” type cases with moderate success, but Sara was unable to access any details. Page is known as a straight shooter, but he and Page are known to be “flexible” about following regulations (though they have never been officially reprimanded).

Blake contacts Newhurst to arrange to meet with her and Page. She suggests that, due to the high profile of the case and the fact that she and Page are still working on the aftermath, it would be better to postpone the meeting until June 14 in order not to compromise Blake.

From some of his truckers that pass through Coffee County, Axle hears that Deputy Stan Tyson is doing fine and maintaining the low profile he prefers. (Blake: “But we want to get him elected sheriff!”)

Through May and June and into July, Blake notices an increased police presence near his home and business. He’s aware that Lt. Johannson and Capt. Carothers are keeping watch on him – though not intrusively enough that he could charge them with harassment. By the end of July this scrutiny has been withdrawn.

Kef invites Sara Summers to lunch to smooth things over. Sara is very receptive and accepts Kef’s explanation, and in turn apologizes for overreacting.

Kef locates the carnival that Carla Newton’s parents worked for. It operates in Colorado and the surrounding states, wintering in Denver. Several of the performers do seem to possess metahuman powers. Blake sends investigators, who learn that Carla’s parents were murdered by a couple of people from a town in which the carnival was performing.

Jeremy begins learning from Igor Darvich, including ‘weird stuff.’ Kef has suggested that Darvich should meet other scientists and engineers on a social basis, so Jeremy scans various professional journals looking for authors whose works are challenged and even scoffed at by their peers. (Jeremy doesn’t like people who make fun of people with weird ideas.) Meanwhile he organizes small gatherings for Darvich and various Dallas-area university professors. Jeremy asks that Darvich not discuss the flying machine, dazers, or any other esoteric devices.

Darvich’s main interest, presently, is something he calls ‘quantum probabilities.’ Also, he often spends hours at a time exploring the Internet.

[May 6: Blake and Kef meet with wealthy Don Matthews, who had been financing Carlton.]

May 16: As instructed by Blake, Jethro Davis contacts Kef. She asks him to set up a web miner that monitors news media and Internet outlets for anything that might be construed as paranormal activity. This includes (but is not limited to) ritualistic or particularly atrocious murders, theft or disappearance of religious or 'unholy' artifacts, and the rise or resurgence of religious cults. “I’m tired of getting caught flat-footed by prostitute murders and demon summoning and human sacrifices.”

May 19: Kef receives an email from Vivian Gray, beginning a regular correspondence between the two. Vivian mentions that her brother Ed’s precog episodes have returned to being very minor.

May 24: Marvin Carothers returns to prison; Blake goes to California to witness. The event is well-covered by the media. Blake takes the opportunity to test one of the new dazers on a live target. Carothers’ sudden collapse causes consternation, but after an hour he regains consciousness and is none the worse for wear.

May 30: After testing the dazers at the practice range Jeremy set up, it is determined that the weapons’ effective range is 30 yards. They produce a tight beam which is most likely to cause unconsciousness if it strikes the head or torso. For all practical purposes, they never need recharging.

By this time, Steve has completely overhauled the security systems at ISHQ at Love Field. Jeremy collects a settlement from Love Field security to pay for the damage to his office and equipment.

Early June: London police announce they have completely “rolled up” the IRA terrorist cell connected with Sean McLeon.

At Blake’s request, Abraham Donaldson has been keeping an eye on wealthy Don Matthews. Matthews has become a student of the guru in Boulder that Kef had recommended.

Steve goes to London to set up operations, connections, and safe houses there.

Blake also establishes an office in London. This takes about a week and a half, and will be interrupted by Blake’s trip to Atlanta. With Kef’s assistance, he interviews several current and former members of the London police and Interpol. Kef finds that a couple of them are dangerous ‘time bombs,’ and Blake has Steve handle those.

Kef does some sightseeing in England, including a trip to Salisbury plain to visit Stonehenge.

During June, Axle begins establishing his import-export company. He is setting it up so that it can’t be directly linked back to him. [Bill: “So you want it to be like ‘Butch & Associates.’ Poor Butch, he’s got a lot of mean, ugly people looking for him!”]

June 1: Ed Gray emails Kef, mainly because his mother said to. He writes about once per week.

June 2: Blake makes a “goodwill visit” to the Baltimore police. He meets the officer assigned to the Irish terrorist case and explains that he had been working on the case of the missing so-called psychic, Andy Barrow. When the officer requests that Blake stay around for a day or two, Blake figures correctly that he means to call back to Dallas and have Blake checked out. Instead, Blake hands him his business card and invites the officer to call him with any further questions. Blake feels he has accomplished his goal of establishing good relations with the Baltimore police.

Kef receives an email from Carla Gray, who tells her that the Gray family will be vacationing in Dallas July 2-16. They will be staying with Sohandra and Abraham Donaldson.

June 5-11: Paula goes to a Renaissance faire near Albany, New York, searching for other mages.

June 7: After breakfast, Harbie the cat wanders away.

June 8: The Baltimore police officer calls Blake to obtain more details. In a friendly way, he lets Blake know that Lt. Johannson and Capt. Carothers of the Dallas PD “don’t think much of you. Be careful, they might be out to get you.” Blake thanks him for the heads-up and says “I am working to change their minds.”

June 14: Blake flies from London to Atlanta to meet with Judy Newhurst and Quentin Page. His appointment is at 3:00 in the afternoon. Newhurst shows him into a conference room where Page is waiting. “What may we do for you today, Mr Drummond?” Newhurst asks. “I heard you were looking for me, so I decided it was my duty to let you find me.” “We appreciate your coming in. We had thought you might be a material witness in some cases we had been investigating. Those cases have been closed, and the notation added that you were very willing to cooperate, but we found that you weren’t needed. We do appreciate your coming in.” “Well, if that’s it,” Blake replies, “I think I’ll take my leave. It was nice meeting you.”

Newhurst then takes a small object from her pocket, activates it, and sets it on the table. Blake recognizes it as a security jamming device. “Now, Blake,” says Newhurst, “how’s everything going? Are the situations under control?” “Yes. We’ve moved well past all that now. As far as I know, everything is being rolled up. I talked to the Baltimore police and helped them do up some loose ends. I talked to the Dallas police…” “Yes, they sent an inquiry through about you. I expedited it and gave them the very positive version.” “That’s good, because there are a couple of them I thought I’d assured, but my assurance must have made them more suspicious. But I told them the truth as I saw it.” Newhurst smiles. Blake continues, “Everything else is going well.”

Newhurst says, “I believe you also had some questions concerning my partner. You wanted to get to know him a little bit.” “Well, I’ve used some of my sources to feel him out, and I feel a lot more comfortable now after that research. But I have to ask you,” Blake says, turning toward Page, “you’re not looking to arrest me, are you?” Page replies promptly, “Not at all. We look toward you as an ally and a source, to cut off a lot of this weirdness before it gets too serious.” “I can be an ally, but not really a source. Usually by the time something comes to my attention, it’s already up to full speed or close to it. It takes a lot of connecting the dots to come up with what’s really going on. With this last one, it just happened that the people you were looking for were looking for me. Since they were looking for me and you were looking for me, we all intersected. I don’t know if that will happen again. But who knows who’ll be looking for me next week.” Page says, “We can help each other out in many ways as long as we keep it discreet and don’t get carried away.” “Oh, don’t worry. I have the utmost faith in most of my comrades that their discretion will be equal to yours. With the one that I’m not going to mention… we’re both on our own. I can keep him reined in until he decides he doesn’t want to be reined in.” Newhurst takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, then says, “That’s fine.” “It’s not that he’s not discreet, he’s just impulsive. But he’s very clever and he’s very smart, and he seems to want to do the right thing.” Newhurst says with a smile, “Yes. At least half of the people you used in this last operation, I don’t have any idea who they are. And I’m not going to try to change that.” She seems to exude truthfulness and trust. Blake responds, “I’m not particularly worried about that. I believe you when you say at this moment that you’re not interested in finding out their identities. To tell the truth, I’m not too sure about their identities myself.”

Newhurst replies, “I also want to assure you that, in addition to closing out this particular case where your name came up… your name has been cropping up in other files and investigations over the last several years, and we have concluded those in a manner beneficial to you.” “You’re missing something that I must assure you I didn’t have anything to do with. You mentioned an incident in Atlanta. As far as I know, I haven’t done much in Atlanta. So how did my name get on that report?” Newhurst smiles, “You want me to reveal all my secrets, too?” “Well, this is just one. All the rest of them I have an idea why.” Newhurst says, “To be honest, I thought it fit your MO.” “So you put my name in that file?” “Oh, your name’s not on that file. I shaded the truth a bit when I was talking before.” “Okay, that makes sense. That was my concern.” “Rest assured, I didn’t find any concrete proof that you were involved in the explosion of that building’s top floors. But in retrospect, the fact that some people claimed they saw a helicopter approaching the building not long before the event, and knowing what I experienced in London, I think I have an idea what might have happened.” “But I don’t fly a helicopter.” “Absolutely,” she answers, smiling yet again.

Newhurst tells Blake, “If you ever need to contact us officially, you can get hold of us at our regular numbers. If you need us on an unofficial basis…” She slides a business card across the table to him. Blake assures the two agents, “If something comes up of national significance, then I will call you.”

Blake continues, “Here’s a thought, if you could do something unofficial. In the Denver area there was a murder of two people.” He gives the names of Carla Newton’s parents and that of the town in which they were killed. “I would like to know the official cause of death, and whether that matches the coroner’s report.” “I can do that,” says Newhurst. Blake requests that the information be sent to Ms Summers.

As they all rise and exchange parting pleasantries and handshakes, Newhurst picks up the jammer, turns it off, and slides it back into her pocket. Blake wonders whether she realizes that he doesn’t believe the thing was working. He flies directly back to London.

Blake lets Jeremy know “the FBI isn’t looking for me, and they’re definitely not looking for you. They wanted to me a source and an ally. Well, by the time I find out what’s going on, it’s usually done hit the fan.” He adds that Quentin Page seems to be all right. Jeremy: “Does he believe the stuff that she’s looking for?” Blake: “He doesn’t seem to disbelieve it.” Jeremy: “Which is not the same thing.” Blake: “No. But at least while I was there, he didn’t actively challenge anything.” Jeremy: “Is he still trying to find a ‘scientific’ explanation for this stuff?” Blake: “I don’t know.” Jeremy: “All it takes is one guy that decides ‘these people all believe in demons, lock ‘em away.’” Blake: “Yeah. Well, he’ll have to go up the chain of command and make them believe that before he’s able to put me away.”

Mid-June: Jethro Davis begins working full-time with Igor Darvich, who has ‘taken a shine’ to the younger man. Through the activities social gatherings he has organized, which are doing Darvich a great deal of good, Jeremy learns of a professor at a small (less than 1000 students) private university in southern California.

July: Darvich audits several summer classes at the universities. Under several assumed names (based on prime ministers from 19th century England), he has started publishing articles on the Internet.

Axle visits New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Baltimore, acquiring facilities for his new import-export business. He subleases some Los Angeles warehouses from Blake (who had obtained them as a result of the Deathwish adventure). He hires his old friend Butch to work security in Los Angeles.

Steve spends most of July traveling around to his US listening posts and sets up additional ones.

July 2: Using the three people he and Kef have selected, Blake sets up Solution Security International in London. Each of the three has a different area of expertise. Each will hire ten people to work for them, plus an administrative assistant. Blake explains that “as long as I get my money, we’ll be fine. But don’t try to cheat me, because I can count real good.”

July 2-16: The Gray family vacations in Dallas. Axle supplies a limo to squire them around. Jeremy takes Ed for a helicopter ride. Kef spends an entire day with the family at Six Flags. Blake terrorizes Ed a couple of times “just because I can.”

July 7: After flying Axle to LA, Jeremy visits the university where Stan Wilhelm teaches. Wilhelm is pretty much the entire physics department. Jeremy finds him puttering in the physics lab adjoining his office. As Jeremy walks in, Wilhelm says irritably, “No class today.” “That’s good,” Jeremy replies, “because I don’t want to take your class, Doctor. I wouldn’t have understood most of what you talk about anyway.” “Nobody does,” growls Wilhelm. Jeremy: “Actually, there is somebody who does. That’s why I’m here.” Wilhelm: “Really. And who are you?” “Who am I? I’m not the person who understands.” Jeremy hands Wilhelm a list of URLs and tells him to look them up. “I presume you’ve already read several of those.” “Yes, I have. It’s obvious to me that they were written by the same man, and he’s got a strange sense of humor. The names he picks… Hmm, I hadn’t seen this article. How did I miss that?” After several moments, Wilhelm states, “I take it you know this man.” “Oh, yeah. Would you like to?” “Yes, I’d like to meet him.”

Jeremy asks for “something that’s alive” and Wilhelm leads him outside into a quad and points out “that obnoxious SOB,” a young man with long hair and a scraggly beard. Jeremy draws his dazer, pushes the button, and the young man collapses. Wilhelm stares at the device, then at Jeremy. “He’s asleep,” Jeremy says blithely; “He’ll be awake in an hour.” Wilhelm examines the dazer wonderingly. “He made this? When can I meet him?” “In four hours. You’ll have to go to Dallas with me.” After a quick phone call to take care of his classes and labs for the next few days, Wilhelm’s all set to go.

From the trunk of his rental car Jeremy takes the Mark II flyer and puts it on. “You don’t get airsick, do you?” “No…” Jeremy flies straight up and puts the lie to Wilhelm’s assertion. Once his stomach re-settles, the look of wonder returns to Wilhelm’s face. Jeremy flies at speed to the airport, and before long they’re aboard his plane and on their way to Dallas. As Wilhelm examines the dazer, Jeremy tells him, “By the way, if you try to patent any of the stuff inside there, they won’t believe you.” “I’m used to people not believing me, not taking me seriously.” “That’s why I want you to meet his guy. He won’t do that to you.” Wilhelm actually understands some of the dazer’s workings.

Jeremy introduces Wilhelm to Darvich, and within minutes the two of them are deep in theories and technobabble. Jeremy calls Jethro in to babysit. “And I want you to keep track of everything they’re talking about, because something really nice might come out of that.”

[We’re forming UMS, the Union of Misunderstood Scientists. Pronounced “you a mess.” M might also stand for Misanthropic.]

July 10: After spending three days with Darvich, Wilhelm says he needs to go home. Darvich tells Jeremy that Wilhelm makes more sense than anyone else he’s talked with since he left the asylum. “This guy’s got potential. I don’t know whether he’s got the knack yet; I’ll have to get him to build something first.”

Jeremy learns that Wilhelm’s salary at the college is $80,000 plus housing. Jeremy: “Do you want to go back and teach school?” Wilhelm: “Not at that place. It’s a pain in the @$$. But I gotta put food on the table somehow. Why do you ask?” Jeremy: “Because he says you have potential. And I need somebody who can keep him focused.” Wilhelm: “He does tend to wander. You’re offering me a job?” Jeremy: “I don’t speak the lingo well enough to keep him focused.” Wilhelm: “How much do you want to pay?” Jeremy: “How much is your reputation worth to you?” Wilhelm: “Right now in most circles my reputation is… if you were paying for it, it’d be in the negative amounts.” Jeremy: “My point exactly. It’s not getting any better out there.” Wilhelm: “No… but it was the only job I could find.” Jeremy: “Well, I don’t know all the legalese on this. But how about if we work out a deal that you work for next to nothing, but you get a percentage of anything that gets developed?” Wilhelm: “Will you provide a place to live?” Jeremy: “Absolutely! I know a nice penthouse suite that’s unoccupied right now, but you gotta stay away from the television.” Wilhelm: “You got a deal. When can I start?” Jeremy: “You just did.”

Jeremy gets on the phone and calls Axle. “Do you think you could arrange for somebody to pack up a house and a car and take it from LA to here? Not the house, just the contents.” “Hey, I know just the person.”

Mid-July: Blake begins studying demolitions and explosives.

Axle talks to Darvich about improving the mileage on diesel-burning trucks.

July 17: Blake suggests to Kef that she needs an office with computers set up so she can do her research. She thinks all she needs is an RSS feed from Jethro’s web miner to her laptop. “99.9% of stuff that seems paranormal isn’t paranormal.” “I was going to offer you an office… at a nominal fee.” (Blake owns the office building where Solution Security world headquarters is located.) “I don’t want my name on anything.” “Okay, you have significant money, and none of it’s in your name, is that correct?” “It shouldn’t be in my name, no. Steve was very kind to set up a bunch of blind trusts for me. As far as I know I have X amount of money – that’s as precise as I get – and it keeps going up. Every time I look, it’s a different number. And I still have a beach house in Malibu I’ve never seen.” “Well, I have a big property in Vegas that I see every now and then.” (Jeremy: “You didn’t go buy the Bellagio, did you?” Blake: “Not yet. I’m thinking about buying Trump’s hotel, though. He’s in trouble, he needs some help.”) Kef is still thinking about some kind of organization for the psionically gifted, but she doesn’t need an office for that yet.

Late July: Deputy Tyson gives Blake an update on Carl Wyatt, Major Carlton’s man in Atlanta and one of his key people. Tyson had sicced the FBI on Wyatt, but he’d gotten away. (Blake: “I don’t want to be in Atlanta. Atlanta is not a good place for me. I figure that if they *ever* figure out what happened…” Kef: “I don’t know why they think you’re such a bad influence on buildings. How many buildings have we blown up that didn’t *need* blowing up?” Blake: “That is a good point. I thought you were going to say ‘How many buildings have we blown up?’ and I was going to way ‘That’s not important.’” Kef: “Besides, Atlanta was years ago!” Jeremy: “That’s ancient history. They’ve probably even built the top back onto that building by now!”)

Carla Newton, as well as the other survivors of Carlton’s Chicago cell, have apparently ‘melted into the countryside’ and cannot be found despite the best efforts of Blake’s and Steve’s organizations. Kef: “This isn’t precognitive, but I’m going to say that Carla Newton is going to cause us trouble.” Blake: “I know.”

August: Steve is in Paris for most of the month.

August 1: After receiving some information from Sara Summers, Blake speed-dials “the person who loves to travel with me.” “Kef, baby?” “Hi, honey!” “Do you want to go to a prison and see two murderers?” “Um, back up a bit.” “Okay. (scoot, scoot) I’m backed up.” “Why are we going to prison?” “No, wait a minute, let me come back forward. (scoot) Had you on speakerphone.” “Blake…” “These two people supposedly murdered Carla’s parents.” “I notice you say ‘supposedly.’” “I got this information from Agent Newhurst. She said there was something about the case that didn’t sound right. She gave me the official version, that these two guys killed Carla’s parents for their money. And the reason Carla didn’t know where they were buried is that their bodies disappeared from the morgue. So I thought we should go up there and talk to these gentlemen, because they’re supposed to get out on parole this year.” “Well, number one, they’re both stupid, because you don’t kill carnival workers for their money, because they don’t have any. Which means 1-A, they’re either taking the fall for somebody, or 1-B, they were set up.” “Well, I think 1-A and 1-B makes it so we should go visit the prison before they get out and I have to run ‘em down.”

Jeremy flies Blake and Kef to Colorado. Kef dons large wire-framed glasses, a streaked blonde wig, and blue contact lenses. Blake introduces himself to the warden as a private investigator who is following up on a case involving a fugitive named Carla Newton.

Elroy Benton is a roughneck, about six feet all and 190 pounds. His body is marked by many scars and tattoos. At the time of the murders he was in his late teens; he is 29 now. (Kef easily gets into his mind; she notes that he is weak-willed. He’s wondering what’s going on, and what Kef would be like in bed.) Blake begins his interview. No, Elroy never heard of Carla Newton. He doesn’t even remember the names of the people he killed, only that they worked for a carnival. (He recalls waylaying two people who were carrying the day’s take for the carnival. They put up no resistance, but Elroy and his cohort Troy shot and killed them anyway. However, something about these memories bothers Kef.) Blake suggests that after Elroy gets out of prison, Carla might come after him to avenge her parents. Elroy says he’ll keep that in mind (but scoffs that “a broad” could do him any harm). The fact that the bodies disappeared, Elroy thinks, is the reason the charges against them were reduced and their sentences less severe than they might have been. Blake asks whether he had killed anybody before, because “you don’t seem like a killer to me.” Elroy says he’d only roughed people up (he had killed at least three), but “they just pissed us off for some reason. Their attitude made me mad.” Blake warns him that Carla is armed and dangerous, whereas Elroy, as a convicted felon, won’t have any weapons (Elroy already knows where he’s going to get guns). Elroy tries to get Blake to give him his card “and I’ll let you know if she threatens me.” “That’s okay,” responds Blake, “you’ve provided all the information that we will ever need. Thank you.” (Elroy’s disappointed; he had uses for that card, none of which would have been to the good of Blake or his agency.) [Bill: “Blake may have been born at night, but it wasn’t *last* night.”]

Troy Donnally is a few inches shorter than Elroy and has a slightly heavier build. He recognizes Newton as “the name of the people we killed,” though he hadn’t known they had a daughter. (Kef is positive his memories of the murder have been planted. She closes her eyes and searches for the true memories.) He is interested in Blake’s assertion that Carla Newton might be coming after him (and takes it much more seriously than Elroy did). He asks what he can do to help Blake find her before she takes a shot at him. He’d hurt people pretty seriously in fights, but had never killed anyone before (true); the Newtons somehow just pissed him off. “I guess it was an odd night,” offers Blake, to which Troy replies, “Yeah, it definitely was odd. Definitely.” When he gets out of prison, he thinks he might look for work in Denver or San Francisco, and suggests he could be useful to Blake’s ‘organization.’ Blake: “If you get out, I’ll have my people on watch for you.” Troy: “Yeah… you’re going to use me as a stalking horse and see if she comes after me.” Blake: “You know, I hadn’t thought of that, but that would be good.” Troy: “Suuuure you hadn’t thought of it.” Blake: “I would never put an innocent person in harm’s way… without paying them first.” Blake allows that Troy has been useful to him and seems like a reasonable person. Troy: “Well, if you need me or want to hire me, give me a yell.” He stands, gives a nod and a smile to Kef, and leaves.

(On the day in question, Elroy and Troy were in a pool hall, hustling suckers and drinking a lot of beer. They were playing a mark who looked to be in his mid-30s, with light brown hair in a military crew cut. Based on subtle clues, Kef’s sure this man was a psi. He completely turned the tables on the would-be hustlers, trouncing them at pool and cleaning them out of most of their money. They slunk out of the pool hall with a couple of six-packs of beer and went off somewhere to get drunk. After this point, Kef believes Troy’s memories were falsified. What he remembers is that they got the idea to rob the two carnies, and wound up killing them when the man gave them attitude.)

Blake leans over, nuzzles Kef’s ear, and whispers, “Well?” Kef nibbles Blake’s earlobe and murmurs, “He didn’t do it.” A knock on the door interrupts them (dang!); an assistant warden escorts them to the front doors of the penitentiary. On the way, Blake says to the man in a low voice, “It would be to the benefit of the people of Colorado if Elroy Benton doesn’t make it back into society anytime soon.” Kef adds, “He happens to know of a cache of guns he can get to.” The assistant warden asks, “Would you care to put that in writing so I can present it to the parole board?” Blake: “Sure, I’ll put my opinion in writing.” “What’s your professional opinion of his buddy Troy?” “Troy seems to be smarter and less of a menace to society. His job skills are very limited, and I don’t see him being anything but a rent-a-thug at this point, but I wouldn’t recommend that he stay in prison.” “Interesting appraisal. And ma’m, do you agree with your partner’s assessment?” “Oh, yes. Mr. Drummond is very astute when it comes to evaluating criminal personalities. He’s an expert in the field.” The assistant warden rather callously brushes aside Blake’s suggestion that Troy and Elroy should be seen by the prison psychologist regarding their identical memories of the night of the murder.

Once they’re in the car, Blake asks Kef, “Now, what did you think?” She takes a deep breath then says in clipped tones, “Some fellow with a military bearing has jacked with both of their memories. Their last clear memories are that they were hustling this guy in a pool hall, got their @$$es handed to them, left with a couple of six-packs of beer. Next thing they know, they believe they killed the Newtons and they’re getting sent up the river for it. But they weren’t even conscious most of that night. There’s no way they could have committed those murders.” Blake listens thoughtfully, then says, “Well, the trap’s been set now. Whoever did that will be coming after me soon.” “I wonder if it was some crony of Carlton’s that we didn’t catch.” “That’s a possibility.” “But if Carlton had a guy with psi powers, why wasn’t Carlton using him?” “Good point.” [GM: “And another long-term hook is planted.” Mary: “Why are there so many evil psychics in the world?” Bill: “It’s that ‘psy.’ Psy-chic, psy-cho, psy-chotic.” Tom: “Psy-chiatrists.” John: “All those ‘S’ words.” Mary: “It’s a Greek ‘S’.” Bill: “It’s that silent ‘P.’ That’s like when you’re out in the snow.”] Kef sketches a picture of the military man.

Mid-August: Jeremy notes with satisfaction that Darvich’s and Wilhelm’s association over the last four weeks or so has resulted in focusing Darvich and increasing his productivity. They have come up with several ‘conventional’ inventions and concepts that could be patented. Jeremy persuades Darvich that it would be best if Wilhelm takes public credit for their inventions, and Darvich is represented as Wilhelm’s mentor.

The web miner that Jethro set up for Kef unveils the beginnings of a psychopathic killing spree. “I sic Steve on him!” It also turns up three or four people who need immediate psychiatric help to turn them away from evildoing.

Tom Cartley accepts Blake’s offer to transfer him from Cleveland to Chicago. Blake: “You’ve proven yourself to me sufficiently; now you can return to the real world.” Cartley: “Given what I was doing when we first met, I understand.” Cartley takes a few people from the Cleveland office with him to establish the new Chicago office.

Late August: Abraham Donaldson informs Blake that Don Matthews, who is still a disciple of the guru in Boulder, has settled down, seems more satisfied with his life, and is not doing so many “crazy” things.

Vivian and Ed Gray have taken well to Kef’s guidance. Kef emphasizes that Carla must instill a strong sense of good morals in her kids. “They’re going to screw up sometimes, and that’s okay. I just don’t want them to end up in the street like I did.” (Blake: “They didn’t have me watching them. ‘I’m watching you, boy.’” Kef: “Blake, you’re a guardian angel! You’re not the bogeyman, the monster under the bed.” Blake: “No, that’s Steve.”)

Axle travels overseas to various countries to establish connections for his new business.

August 19: Paula goes out of town, visiting the Northern California/Oregon/Washington area.

August 21: In the morning, Harbie the cat reappears. Kef: “Hi, kitty. Did you have a nice trip?” Harbie: “Meow.”
Harbie curls up at the foot of Kef’s bed as she goes to sleep. She dreams of a hurricane crossing Florida, gaining force as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico, and heading straight for New Orleans.

August 22 (Monday): Kef checks the National Weather Service website which is tracking a hurricane named Katrina heading for the Florida peninsula. [In real life, Katrina did not become a named storm until August 24, when it was upgraded to a tropical storm.]

That night Kef dreams of the hurricane again. It doesn’t hit New Orleans squarely, but Kef sees levees bursting and the city being flooded. She senses this will take place in about one week.

August 23 (Tuesday): Kef wakes up early and does some Internet research, which tells her that the New Orleans levees are built to withstand a Category 3 hurricane. Given the one-week timeframe, she guesses that the hurricane must be Katrina, which will cross Florida sometime Thursday the 25th but will be minor as far as hurricanes go.

Kef wakes up Blake and asks him, “Who do we tell about a killer hurricane that’s going to strike?” Blake yawns, “I would tell FEMA, probably.” Kef: “What’s FEMA?” Blake: “Federal Emergency Management Agency, I think.” Kef: “Yeah, I think this will qualify as an emergency.” She describes to him her visions of a very powerful hurricane striking New Orleans within the coming week, “probably that Katrina that’s about to hit Florida,” and breaking the levees, causing major flooding and many deaths. But how can they get any government agency to react quickly?

Blake and Kef call Jethro into a private meeting. Blake assigns him to hack into the NWS computers and change their hurricane models to better represent Katrina as a severe threat. “Sir, I’m good, but they have people that are better. Much better.” “Get the Professor to help you. They’re not that good.” Jethro suggests that the alterations be done after the hurricane crosses the Florida peninsula. Jethro immediately heads over to the hangar to get Jeremy involved in getting Darvich focused.

Blake calls Axle and they discuss transportation. Axle will start bringing in truckloads of food, water, and supplies and leaving them on property near the Convention Center and Superdome that Blake will rent for three months.

Jeremy calls Newhurst and asks if she has any pull with FEMA, Army Corps of Engineers, NWS, National Guard, City of New Orleans, etc. such as to scare people into leaving the city. Newhurst: “So… you know that this hurricane is going to hit New Orleans.” Jeremy: “I believe it. I believe it enough that I called you.” Newhurst: “I’m trying to think of a good excuse to get somebody to check the levees.” Jeremy: “Why don’t you try, ‘there’s going to be a big demon attacking the levees!’” Newhurst will change ‘big demon’ to ‘terrorist cell’ because “that’s the kind of thing they can understand.”

Blake: “I probably need to talk to Agent Newhurst, except that I don’t know what she could do. Do you have any idea?” Kef: “She’s FBI! She doesn’t control the weather. They don’t organize evacuations.” Blake: “Hmm. Well, I think I should call her, though.” Kef: “Why?” Blake: “I wonder if there’s anything that she *can* do. Somebody that we can call to get things rolling.” Kef: “Who else do you know in the government?” Blake: “Just her.” Kef: “She’s, like, the fringe of the government. Do you know anybody…” Blake: “No, I don’t know anybody high up *yet*. I’m taking this very slowly. You know that place we visited earlier?” Kef: “Maybe if *I* went to Hell…” Blake: “Then I would have to come get you.” Kef: “No! Earl Grimes would show up, and he’s a mage, so he can probably change the weather.” [Bill: “Earl is an earth mage. He’d just strengthen the levees.” Tom: “So you do need to head for Hell to see if Earl will come.” Mary: “That’s it, I’m more of a genius than I thought! ‘Blake, I love you. I’m going to Hell.’” John: “Of course his powerstone looks like a basketball.” Bill: “Earl would just pass out afterwards, but he would strengthen the levees, make them a lot bigger. They could withstand a Category 10. Of course, nothing else could come in for a long time, either. That’s it, nothing comes in until Earl wakes back up.”]

Jeremy pays a visit to the Professor. Darvich: “You look like you have a question or something. What can I do for you?” Jeremy: “Change the path of a hurricane.” Darvich starts thinking. “The possible repercussions are mind-boggling.” “I understand.” “It’s all one big system. Disrupt it here, it might create something worse in another place.” “I understand.” “I’m not sure I could do it, but I could start working on it.” “Then instead of changing the path, how about decreasing the intensity?” “To buffer and redirect the winds? Is that what your thought is?” “Whatever it would take.” “Again, changing something here might create a worse effect somewhere else.” “Chaos theory. I’m aware of the Butterfly Effect, yes.” “That’s a good way to put it.” [John: “So we go in and kill a butterfly, which will stop the hurricane.” Mary: “Yeah, but it has to be the *right* butterfly.”] “We’re talking about thousands of lives in the direct path of a hurricane, with little chance that anyone’s going to believe us, with any time to spare to be able to get them out of the way.” Wilhelm speaks up. “We’ll work on it,” he says.

Blake (her other most favorite person) dials up “Judy, Judy, Judy.” “Hello, Agent!” “Why am I not surprised?” “You shouldn’t be!” “No, since I just talked to one of your companions.” “What companion?” “The pilot.” “What did he want?” “He wanted me to… uh…” “He wants you to stop a hurricane.” “No, actually he wanted me to get someone to decertify the levees, to scare people enough that they’d evacuate in front of a hurricane.” “Can’t you just call the Army Corps of Engineers and ask them to inspect the levee?” “What reason would I give them? Well, I’ve already figured out a reason, but I want to hear your take on it.” “Tell them that from a source you heard that the levees are unstable, that your source is worried about the strength of the levees with the oncoming hurricane, and though you couldn’t get it out of them, they seemed to have information that there’s a problem that should be looked at.” [Tom: “Tell them that from a source you heard that there’s a demon coming to blow up New Orleans!”] “That’s a very good idea. I think that’s what I’ll do. I have an organization I can try to pin this on, a splinter PLO group that was involved in an altercation in London.” “At this particular moment, I wouldn’t bring any terrorists into this here. Because if you do that, and then they break, then all of a sudden you have a world of problems, and you have to tell who your source was and everything, they’ll take you in a little room with a little light and shine it in your eyes, stick stuff in your arm and make you blablablablabla… I wouldn’t do that.” “I was in the process of writing up the exact phraseology I would use, which is a variation of what you were saying, to get them to inspect the levees.” [Mary: “I like Axle’s idea. Giant mutant moles.”] “You want to be helpful, but I don’t want them to chew you up, spit you out, then I come out with you.” [Mary: “You’re not likely to come out *that* end.”] “Ahhh, I understand. Enlightened self-interest. All right, I’ll make that slight alteration.” “Thank you. Mine is not enlightened self-interest, mine is purely self-interest. I know how these things work.” [John: “The ‘slight alteration’ is: ‘In no way did Blake Drummond have anything to do with this…’”] “I have one more question.” “Yes, go ahead.” “The supernatural isn’t involved, is it? It’s a natural disaster that you have detected this time?” [Mary: “It *is* supernatural. It’s an act of God.”] “Let’s not talk about ‘supernatural.’ Let’s talk about ‘hypothetical,’ okay? Hypothetically, let’s suppose that somebody was able to peer into the future, and hypothetically they saw the levee breaking. Hypothetically this person, when they see stuff, hypothetically it almost always happens, unless something intervenes. Are you hypothetically following my line of hypothetical reasoning?” “I hypothetically understand. Let me complete this report and get it on its way.” “Thank you.”

August 24 (Wednesday): Axle diverts a Wal*Mart shipment so that it gets “lost” in one of Blake’s rented parking lots. He sends out word to truckers with perishable cargo to “dump it and get the hell out.”

Blake contacts Sam Rodriguez, the mercenary leader. (He and his gang have been very busy over the summer, working near the Mexican border, helping suppress the drug trade.) “Yes, Mr. Drummond.” “I have a job for you.” “Okay, what would be the job? I’ve still got another two to three weeks running on this one.” “How much are you being paid on that one?” Rodriguez quotes a “very substantial” rate. Blake: “Well, I’ll pay you that, then I’ll pay you for another month.” “What do you need for me to do?” “I want you to go save people instead of kill people.” “I’m saving people. We’re killing drug runners.” “Wait a minute. ‘We’re saving people, we’re killing.’ Stop! Period! I want you to go and help pull poor people out of a hurricane.” Prolonged pause, then Rodriguez says slowly, “Yeaaahhh?” “And I’m willing to pay you US dollars, in this amount, up front, on your word that you’ll do it.” “Y-you got me here. Pull ‘em out of a hurricane?” “No. After the hurricane hits, I want you to go in there and pull them out.” “The ones that don’t want to leave?” “Yes. Or can’t afford to leave.” “Provide transport for them, because they’re gonna cooperate. When you said ‘pull them out,’ I think that means I have to use force to get them out. You mean actually provide transport and logistics. And protect them from looters and other dangers.” “Well, you can kill the looters. Actually, skip that, try not to kill anybody on my dime. But that’s what I want, I want you to go, and I want you to pull them out.” “So you want me to go to Florida?” “I want you to go to New Orleans. I want you to be in New Orleans in five days and set up, knowing that you and your men could be stuck there.” “You do realize that my force right now is only about fifty people.” “That’s good. I can pay for that.” “Okay, just as long as you know. I guess I can explain this to my current employer. I can always pick back up on this contract afterwards.” “Yes. I’m only going to pay you for a month, and the US Government will be around after that.” “I never said I was working for the US Government.” “I didn’t hear you say that.” “I sure didn’t.” “I want you to look like the good guys, because you *are* going to be the good guys. I want you to get these people, I want you to get them to safety. And who are you working for? You’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart. And if you’re questioned, that’s what I want you to say.” “Saw a need and we came to help.” “That’s correct. And the issue of who’s paying you is not important.” “Pull a politician when that question is asked, and answer another question.” “That’s right. I’m giving you a chance to make money, and look like the good guys.” “That’s pretty big of you, Mr. Drummond. I’ll be there.” Blake will wire the payment to a Swiss bank account within two hours. (Kef: “That’s yet another thing I love about you, Blake. You can convince a mercenary that he’s doing something out of the goodness of his heart.”)

Jeremy finds out from the Internet that testing on the levees will be conducted Thursday morning.

Blake calls Sara Summers to wire the money to Rodriguez. Kef calls Paula and tells her “if you know anybody in New Orleans, tell them to leave now.” Jeremy adds, “If they need out, I can go get ‘em.” Paula doesn’t even question. “Actually, I know quite a few. I’ll make the calls.” Jeremy determines that the group’s friends in Alabama aren’t in danger from the storm. Axle calls and asks Blake what other equipment he wants sent down there besides generators. Kef calls Baba Al-Rhom, Don Matthews’ guru in Boulder, Colorado, tells him there’s an accumulation of ‘bad karma’ in New Orleans, and that Matthews can elevate his own spirit by releasing some karma from his bank account. The guru “senses the truth” of Kef’s words.

Blake has a thought. [Tom: “It’s a lonely thing.”] He calls the head of the New Orleans chapter of the AARP and says he wants to make a six-figure donation to be spent on pharmaceuticals for the elderly. Jeremy offers a compatible thought: Organize free out-of-town excursions for the senior citizens “and tell them they’re only good on *this* day.” Blake offers free trips to Hot Springs, and when the director protests the logistics with respect to the timeframe, Blake says, “I’m talking about a lot of money,” a total of a half-million dollars. “Tell the people to pack heavy.”

August 25 (Thursday): Hurricane Katrina crosses the Florida peninsula at Category 1. Early projections show it will also hit Louisiana.

Jeremy calls Blake. “Not so much luck with figuring out a way to make it change directions or calm it down. Do you want him to try to change the information in the NOAA computer?” “Change it to do what?” “Show that it’s going to smack right into New Orleans.” “That’s what I wanted anyway.” “I was just making sure you hadn’t changed your mind. We couldn’t do anything until it passed Florida, because nobody would have believed them.” “The uglier it looks – hey, can they make it into a Category 6? The bigger it is, the more solidly it will hit, the more people will move.” Axle suggests “making it speed up a little bit” to make it seem like it’s going to strike sooner than it actually will. Jeremy: “Well, they think they can get in (i.e., hack the NOAA computer), so I’ll have them go ahead and do it.”

Blake: “Darvich can’t make it a Category 1? He can’t have a machine fly in and spin backwards, or something?” Jeremy: “He’s been working on it, but he hasn’t been able to figure out a way to do it.” Blake: “Why don’t we throw him inside and see what happens?” Jeremy: “Have you ever heard of the Butterfly Effect?” “I’ve heard of the chaos theory, yes.” “That’s what they’re concerned about, that changing the intrinsic value of the hurricane will make something worse elsewhere.” “Where is ‘elsewhere’ actually? Is it someplace we don’t care about?” “It’s someplace we don’t know where. It could be in your back pocket.” “The only thing I got in my back pocket is a worn-out credit card.”

(Blake: “I think they’re just being wimpy, worrying about chaos theory. It might hit one of our enemies or something. It might take out North Korea.” Kef: “How many enemies do we have in Cozumel? Not very many!” Blake: “Well, we might have a few! We’re going to take over Mexico and make it the 51st state anyway!” Kef: “We are? You didn’t tell me that part.” Blake: “You know, we’re going to make it into about three or four different states.” Kef: “Then it’d be 51 through 54.” Blake: “Yeah, that’s what we’re gonna do.” Kef: “Why?” Blake: “They’re not gonna do anything with it!” Kef: “Sure, they are! They’re sending their people to our country!” Blake: “See? When we own it, we can send them back!” Axle: “You’re already in America, don’t go any nearer.” Kef: “We could send them to Canada.” Blake: “We’re gonna take over them, too!” Kef: “How many states can you make out of Canada?” Blake: “Ooh, a whole bunch.” Kef: “The big problem we’d have is we’ve got to get someone to redesign the flag so we can get all those stars on there.” Blake: “Quebec would be the only holdout.” Kef: “We don’t want Quebec anyway.” Jeremy: “They speak funny.” Axle: “They’re French, we can take ‘em over.”)

Over the next several hours, the hurricane projections begin to indicate a dead hit on New Orleans. News outlets report that the Corps of Engineers had a team out checking the levees, which (in their professional opinion) are not in all that great of shape. In fact, they’re not sure they would hold up to a Category 3.

Jeremy flies almost fifty of Paula’s acquaintances from New Orleans to Dallas.

Axle and Blake coordinate the delivery and placement of generators in various New Orleans hospitals. They order and send in supplies to be used by Rodriguez’s team.

August 26 (Friday): Due to the hurricane projections and alleged condition of the levees, officials order New Orleans to be evacuated in advance of Katrina. FEMA has gotten involved. (“Son of a gun,” says Jeremy, “we’ll have to give Newhurst a pat on the back.”)

Friday evening, Wilhelm tells Jeremy, “We have a possibility for blunting the force of the wind in a localized manner from certain points. However, it’s something that Darvich himself is going to have to build, because I don’t even have a vague idea what he’s talking about.” Jeremy: “What does he need?” Wilhelm names off a list of components, adding, “And he’ll have to put it together on-site himself.” “Where’s ‘on-site’?” “The place where you want him to blunt the winds. He plans to shunt the force into a dimensional breach. He may create a dimensional gate, powered with the energy of the winds.” “And you thought I wouldn’t like that because…? You thought I wouldn’t believe you.” [Bill: “I don’t like it because it’s opening up another dimension.” John: “Demons will come through.” Mary: “All those *not* in favor of opening dimensional gates…” Tom: “All those *not* in favor of telling the precog that we’re thinking about this…” Bill: “He’d have to smooch up to Blake. When that gate opens, I’m one of the first people they’re coming after.”] Jeremy continues, “I’ve been to Hell.” Wilhelm lets that pass, saying, “He thinks he may be able to shunt it to a place it’s not harmful. He thinks he can control it. There’s a lot of ‘he thinks’ in this, Jeremy.” “I guess I’d better talk to him.” Wilhelm trots off to get some sleep.

Darvich alternates between furious scribbles on a legal pad and rapid tapping on a computer keyboard. “Professor?” “Yes?” “Tell me. Wilhelm didn’t understand.” “I’ll try to keep it simple. Blunt the force over a circle about a quarter-mile in radius by shunting the energy into my device and then re-focusing that. But I have to do something with the energy. Given the way I’m going to be pulling it…” “It’s not enough area. The levees are bigger than that.” “That’s why you have to choose exactly what part to protect. If you could tell me exactly where they’re going to break, we could place it there.” “It won’t work.” “It’s the best I can do.” “I know. But if they don’t break there, the only reason they don’t break in another place is because they’ve already broken there.” “That’s the way it works.” “Okay, you tried. It’s okay.” “Maybe I can take the energy I pull and instead of sending it into the breach, I can pump it into the ground and strengthen the entire levee structure.” “I don’t know if you can or not.” “Let me work on it.” Darvich returns to scribbling.

[Mary: “Now we’ll have to name this new volcano after Darvich.” Bill: “The Darvich Effect?” Tom: “The Ponchartrain-Darvich Volcano?” Mary: “Yeah. Throw Wilhelm in there for good measure.” Tom: “Just because he’s a mathematician doesn’t mean he’s a virgin.” Bill: “Maybe, maybe not.” Mary: “I wouldn’t think that a New Orleans volcano would care if he was a virgin or not.” Tom: “That’s true, good point.”]

Jeremy calls Blake and has him put him on speakerphone. “Darvich wanted to open a dimension gate to get rid of the energy of the hurricane.” Blake: “And you talked him out of it, didn’t you.” Jeremy: “I told him that probably wouldn’t work for me.” Blake: “Whatever. As long as you talked him out of it.” Jeremy: “Well, not he’s trying to come up with a way to channel the energy into the ground to strengthen the levees.” Blake: “What makes him think channeling energy into the ground would strengthen the levees? If he channels it into the ground, he’ll simply break the levees from the ground up.” Jeremy: “Okay, I have a question for you. Would you have thought that he could have channeled the energy from a microwave and let me fly?” Blake: “No, I didn’t believe it until it happened.” Jeremy: “So are you gonna disbelieve that he can channel the energy from a hurricane into the ground and strengthen, rather than destroy, the levees?” Blake: “I am gonna disbelieve that at this particular time.” Jeremy: “Okay, so when it happens, you’ll believe it.” Blake: “You are bright. I see that hanging around him is helping you.” Jeremy: “Let me ask you one more question, then, Blake. If the levees are gonna break with or without his help, what difference does it make if we try?” Blake: “The difference is ‘he’s gonna be shot, so we pull the trigger anyway.’ That seems to me to be the same logic. I don’t think that we should help them break.” Jeremy: “I don’t think we should help them break, either, but if we try to keep them from breaking, and they break anyway, I don’t see the difference, personally.” Blake: “I follow your logic. I simply don’t want to be part of doing any harm if we can help it. But it does sound better than opening up a dimensional rift where the demons can come in and get us.” Jeremy: “Yeah, we’re not doing that part. Because I tried to convince the FBI lady that there was a demon coming, but I didn’t really want to do that.” [Mary: “It’d be perfect for Jeremy. Demon shows up, you say ‘see, I told you,’ Newhurst believes you. The next time you tell her that The Great Bird of the Galaxy’s gonna show up, she’ll believe you. Little Green Men are gonna show up, she’ll believe you.” Tom: “Just because you can’t see him doesn’t mean they’re not here!” Bill: “But that’s a good indication.”] Blake: “As far as Darvich is concerned, I’m sure that he’s extraordinary. I will give him that. If he can explain to Jethro the theory behind pumping energy into the ground to strengthen the levees, then I’ll buy it. I didn’t say ‘explain to me’ because after about two minutes, I’ll be bored. I didn’t say ‘you’ because, though I understand you’re brilliant yourself, I think that he’s still in front of you.” Jeremy: “It’s getting deep here, sir.” [Mary: “It’s just that ‘extraordinary’ was on Blake’s Word-of-the-Day calendar, and he had to use it.” Tom: “He’s got to use it another six times before it counts.”] Blake: “Yes, I know. If he can explain it to Jethro, though, I guess it’s feasible.” Jeremy: “All right.”

Blake: “Besides that, where does this machine have to be?” Jeremy: “Out on the levees.” Blake: “You mean the machine has to be on site?” Jeremy: “Yeah, it’s got about a half-mile diameter.” Blake: “The levees are bigger than that, aren’t they?” Jeremy: “Right, which is why opening the dimensional rift wasn’t going to work. Because keeping it from breaking where it was sitting, it would have ended up breaking somewhere else anyway.” Blake: “Why do you need to open up a dimensional rift?” Jeremy: “To get rid of the energy.” Kef, soothingly: “We’re past that now, okay?” Blake: “What about the dimension where the energy’s going?” Jeremy: “You said you didn’t care if we sent something to our enemies or people that we didn’t care about.” Blake: “That’s true, but I don’t know if there’s a friend in those dimensions.” Jeremy: “Well, what if there’s demons in that other dimension? You’re worried about them coming through. We’re gonna blast ‘em with energy.” Kef: “Earl Grimes is in the other dimension, too. He’s a nice guy.” Blake: “For some reason… you bring demons in because you know that I know that they’re coming to get me.” Jeremy: “Yeah, and? Your point?” Blake: “The point is, I see that you’re trying to manipulate me now. And it’s working. I’m upset about that.” (Laughter)

Blake: “Okay, I’m gonna get back on topic. If Jethro can understand enough to tell me what’s happening, then…” Jeremy: “Now wait a minute. That’s way far different than what you said before.” Blake: “Well, if Jethro understands it, he’ll say ‘yes, I understand it.’” Jeremy: “That isn’t what you just now said. You said if he can explain it to you.” Blake: “Then that’s okay. We won’t have to go that far. Because I really don’t want to know that much. I only have a limited space up here, and I’m not gonna fill it with Darvich talk.” Jeremy: “Okay.” Blake: “But how’s he gonna get to the levee?” Jeremy: “Transportation isn’t your expertise, is it?” Blake: “My expertise is being in New Orleans with a hurricane bearing down on it.” Jeremy: “Okay, well, you can be there if you wanna come along.” Blake: “Let me see, how to say this… ‘No’ is just not strong enough. How about ‘hell, no.’ There you go. That’s the word I was looking for.” Jeremy: “Then why are you worried about how he’s going to get there?” Blake: “I’m not.” Jeremy: “You just asked me!” Blake: “No, you said ‘worry.’ I was simply after information. I wasn’t gonna worry. It’s a logistical question. I have people down there if he needs protection or anything.” Jeremy: “I don’t think the Army Corps of Engineers is going to be trying to stop anybody at that point.” Blake: “Okay. As long as we’re not doing any dimensional openings, I think we’re fine. Go ahead, knock yourself out.” Jeremy, chuckling: “Okay, Blake.” Blake, dramatically: “You’ve been to where I’ve been. Do you want to go back?” Jeremy: “Yeah, it was kinda fun. I was able to fly without the li’l machine.”

Jeremy goes over and wakes Jethro up. “I thought you said I could sleep.” “No, I told Wilhelm he could sleep. You don’t get to sleep.” (Blake: “You’re being paid real money. Get up.”) Jeremy continues, “Blake just told me that you have to understand something.” “I do? That’ll be a first.” “You have to go understand how Darvich can make the energy from the hurricane go into the ground and strengthen the levees.” “This oughta be interesting.” “Vivarin?” “Yes, thank you.” [Bill: “Black Molly?” Mary: “Jeremy didn’t give him the stuff *he* takes.” Tom: “No chance! I’m gonna need him again before long!”]

An hour or so later, Jethro comes up to Jeremy. “I understand.” “Good!” Jeremy picks up the phone and dials Blake. “Hello?” “Blake, I just need you to hear one thing, okay?” “Okay.” “Tell him you understand.” Jethro: “Yeah, like I just said, I understand what he said.” “Okay. There you go.” “Let me talk to Jethro.” “Why? You said you wanted him to understand what he said.” “Well, that’s fine. Everything’s cool. I still want to talk to Jethro. I just want to know what he understood.” “That’s not what you said.” “No, that is what I said, I just wanna know – put him on the phone! I’m finished talkin’ to you.” Jeremy, laughing, hands Jethro the phone.

Jethro: “Yessir.” Blake: “Did you understand what Darvich told you?” Jethro: “Yeesss.” Blake: “And does it sound feasible?” Jethro: “95% of the stuff I’ve heard from him in the last three months doesn’t sound feasible.” Jeremy: “But it’s all worked!” Blake: “That’s not my point, though.” Jethro: “I understand what he intends to do and what he says it’ll do, and even how he says it’ll do it.” Blake: “What does he intend to do?” Jeremy: “He’s pumping energy into the earth of the levee to strengthen it. It’s something to do with – how did he put it – fortifying the atomic bonds in such a way that the cohesion between the surfaces and the substance is fortified to such an extent…” Kef: “But you don’t want to make the levees harder, you want to make them more resilient.” Jethro: “Yes, ma’m, you’re right.” Blake: “Will that make the structure stiffer?” Jethro: “Stronger. More able to withstand. Resilent, stiffer…” Kef: “You can make something stronger, yet make it more brittle at the same time.” Jethro: “That’s not what Darvich said.” Blake: “He’s going to strengthen the molecular bonds by pumping energy into the ground?” Jethro: “Yes.” Kef: “Does he have a way to test it on a small scale first?” Jethro: “He probably can. What do you want to test it with?” Kef: “Build a little sand castle or something.” Jeremy: “We can pick one of those oil rigs out in the Gulf that’s been evacuated already, that the storm’s gonna pass through a day earlier.” Blake: “I think that’s apples and oranges. I don’t think it’s the same deal.” Jethro: “Well, you’re working with a substance that you want to withstand the force. Darvich is saying that since the levees are all constructed of a like nature, he can cause the strengthening effect to propagate through the entire levee system. The lady’s afraid it’ll be like a tree that won’t bend before the wind, and it’ll be brittle and it will break. But that’s not the kind of thing Darvich is talking about.” Blake: “Go get the Professor.”

Darvich: “Yes?” Blake: “Professor. This working theory you have, as far as strengthening the levees. When you do that, will it make them stiffer?” Darvich: “What do you mean by ‘stiffer’?” Blake: “When the wind hits it, will it give? Or will it just stand straighter? Will it give less or give more?” Darvich: “Think of it more like a force field, if that helps you. Converting the levee into a force field.” Blake: “Behind it, or in front of it? Or will it be around the levee?” Darvich: “You might say I turn the levee into a force field, via kinetic energy funneled through the device into the structure.” Blake: “Not the ground?” Darvich: “The levee *is* ground, pretty much. Since the ground has been packed, I can propagate the force field across the levee.” Kef, softly: “Blake, he’s no longer talking about opening dimensional gates, so I’d say we let him go for it.” Blake: “Okay, Professor, sounds like a winner. You scrapped the plan about the dimensional gate, correct?” Darvich: “Yeah, Jeremy pointed out that that wouldn’t serve the right purpose. But there’s more dimensions than the demon level.” Blake: “Do you know which dimension you’d be pumping it into?” Darvich: “Well, not exactly.” [John: “You might blow out the pilot light in Hell.” Mary: “It’s snowing!” Bill: “Hell has frozen over!”] Blake: “Professor, it sounds like a winner. Thank you for your help.”

Jeremy calls Newhurst. “That was really good, quick work, getting somebody at the Corps of Engineers to take a look at the levees. Did you use up *all* your favors from him?” “Well, not really, given the cover story I used. Why, what do you need now?” “On Sunday, I need the Army Corps of Engineers to allow some testing to be done at the levees.” “Uhh… maybe I can arrange that.” “Do you want to save the levees?” “Oh, definitely.” “We need some testing to be allowed on Sunday.” “Get your man here and I’ll make sure he can get onto the levee.” “There’ll be several of us.” “Are you going to be present?” “Yeah, I think I’m gonna have to be.” “That should make it a little easier.” “Our friend Mr. Darvich is going to be there, too.” “Somehow I’m not surprised that he’s involved in this. It’s harebrained enough.” [Bill: “Harebrained?” Mary: “Harebrained? How dare she?” Tom: “There’s no demons involved. It’s not even interesting to her!” Mary: “So demons aren’t harebrained, but mad scientists are?” Tom: “Yeah.” Mary: “But these are mad scientists.” Tom: “And thus?” Mary: “We don’t *have* a tame demon!” Tom: “Well, we could find one, maybe.” Mary: “I don’t think so!” Bill: “I agree, I don’t think so!” John: “We’ve got Steve.” Mary: “But he’s in Paris.” Bill: “And he’s not trained! He has a magic mark just like Blake! Blake knows it’s there!”] Newhurst continues, “People are evacuating, though there are a lot of dissenters like we’ve talked about. Your team of 50 arrived and started assisting with the evacuation. They weren’t reluctant to go into the tougher areas.”

Jeremy determines from Darvich that the parts needed for the device will easily fit onto a helicopter, and it will take about ten minutes to assemble once in position. Darvich will need to borrow a couple of parts from Jeremy’s flyer. Jethro and Wilhelm will also be along. They will fly in Sunday evening and then camp out and wait for Katrina’s leading edge to arrive. Jeremy: “Then as it hits, we turn the device on, and then fly out of there while the hurricane keeps coming. Or we can just sit there and wait for the thing to go by, and fly out afterwards.” (Axle: “Or you might fly out during.” Jeremy: “It’d be much more fun to try to fly out along the front edge of it, though.” Kef: “You know people do that. Usually not in helicopters.” Blake: “They usually go in something really fast.” Axle: “Like your house.” Jeremy: “Well, the helicopter will be really fast.” Axle: “Just watch out for the cows.”

Blake calls his AARP contact. “I was right, wasn’t I?” He admits Blake was somehow correct. Around 500 senior citizens took the free trip to Hot Springs.

August 28 (Sunday): There are no problems getting to the levee and setting up. Jeremy had invited Newhurst along, but she didn’t feel that was necessary. (“I think she understood what was gonna happen.”) A couple of ACE guys want to watch what Darvich is doing.

Blake: “I don’t care what Newhurst said. I don’t think she has enough pull to cover all this we’ve done.” Kef: “She’s got nothing to cover. In the chaos that follows the hurricane, nobody’s going to remember any of this. The good stuff that you and Axle and Jeremy did, they’ll just be taken for granted. The focus will be on where FEMA screwed up, where ACE screwed up, where people die, where people get flooded…” Axle: “And Wal*Mart will take credit because their stuff was in position, right in front of the cameras in trucks with their logo on the side.

August 29 (Monday): Hurricane Katrina makes landfall near New Orleans. The device is set up. Jeremy flies out (“Yee-haw!”) without losing anybody. Miraculously, the levees hold. FEMA and Wal*Mart take much credit for the fact that food, supplies, and generators were accessible in the right places. There was considerably less flooding, structural damage, and loss of life than there might have been without the efforts of Our Heroes.

In response to Jeremy’s query, Darvich says the levee-strengthening effect is temporary and will last maybe fifteen days. Accompanied by one of Rodriguez’s mercs, Jeremy flies back and retrieves the device without landing the helo. Later, Jeremy has Jethro fake up a bunch of reports, supposedly based on data from the device, that show that the levees are dangerously unstable right now and that the ACE should wait two or three weeks to let them re-stabilize (he doesn’t want them discovering the altered molecular structure).

September: Dan Taylor goes on trial in early September, is convicted, and begins serving his sentence in October. Later in the year, Great Britain begins extradition proceedings which run into January.

September 13: Jeremy takes delivery of his new Gulfstream jet. Modifications begin immediately.

September 24: Harbie wanders away again.

Blake sends Rodriguez and his crew to Houston to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. Axle positions several gasoline tanker trucks along the evacuation routes.

September 30: Axle completes the sale of controlling interest in his trucking and limousine companies to his employees. He retains a 25% share of each, carries some of the note, and still clears several million dollars in profit. This took up a substantial amount of his time over the summer. Per his stipulation, the company names are changed so they will no longer be identified with Axle.

Paula takes a trip to Quebec, Canada. In her searching thus far, she has identified 18 people who she thinks are low-level untrained mages.

October: Steve is in Cairo, Egypt.

Blake’s new Solution Security office in London informs him that they have dealt with the list of individuals he had given them. They have been arrested.

Tyson checks in with Blake, who tells him that Carl Wyatt has disappeared from Atlanta and asks Tyson to inform him if he hears anything.

October 1: Axle’s import/export business officially opens.

December-January: Steve is in Moscow. (His next three targets are Beijing, Hong Kong, and Sydney.)

Early December: Some of the Darvich/Wilhelm patents have been approved, and a bidding war begins for the production rights.

Christmastime: Kef gathers everyone together to celebrate the holidays. Even Steve returns from Russia to take part in the festivities.

Early January: Darvich creates a device that triples the mileage obtainable from diesel fuel. Jeremy ensures that it gets patented. By the end of January, the entire fleet of Axle’s (former) trucking company is equipped with these devices.

Dallas:Sessions:20050521

2008-03-28T23:00:18Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Discovery''' May 21, 2005 GM: Bobby J. On Thursday, April 28th, Blake gets a call on his private line from Tom Cartley. (Cartley, formerly c...

'''Discovery'''
 May 21, 2005
 GM: Bobby J.

On Thursday, April 28th, Blake gets a call on his private line from [[Dallas:Characters:Tom Cartley|Tom Cartley]]. (Cartley, formerly chief of security for Cinnamon Winters, had been gravely wounded during the Deathwish episode and spent quite some time hospitalized; upon his recuperation, Blake had hired him and set him up to run a security agency in Cleveland.) Cartley tells Blake, “I just had a gentleman call on video” who wanted to talk about Cartley’s experiences with Cinnamon’s security in Dallas. The caller identified himself as Sean McLeon; Cartley has connected him with a radical offshoot of the Irish Republican Army. Cartley describes the call as “more confirming than fact-finding.” Blake says that should Cartley receive any such calls in the future, “and if he uses the word ‘darkness’ more than three times, let me know.” Blake instructs Cartley to expand his security company into Cincinnati.

On April 29th, Axle hears from his old buddy Butch Holliday for the first time in about a year. Butch mentions that “an Irish guy” accompanied by at least one well-armed, burly goon has been asking around about the blockade in Los Angeles (which was keeping traffic away from the final warehouse fight with Deathwish), making the truckers nervous. Also a couple of Feds, a woman and her male partner, have been making inquiries.

As a result of activities in 2002, Steve has hooks into four security agencies as “listening posts”: Twilight Security in Baltimore, run by Conan Parker; Brubaker Security, New York, Wilson Otto; Brewster Security, Denver, Davis Cooper; Jefferson Security, Chicago, Jefferson Taylor. Conan Parker phones Steve to tell him that noted psychic Andy Barrow had been reported missing three days ago. Barrow is known as a finder of lost items and people, enjoying a reputed 70% success rate. On April 1st, a man named Bob Taylor had returned from his birthday dinner to find his home’s security system had been breached. Stolen was his extensive collection of 6000 rare comic books dating back to the late 1950s. However, other valuable collectibles were left untouched. Police described the theft as a professional job. Later, Steve learns that something else had also been taken – a complete first-edition set of the “Wild Cards” science fiction series – and that Andy Barrow had been called in to try to locate the stolen goods.

Overlooking a lonely stretch of sidewalk in east Dallas, Kef and her silenced .45 are watching the path that she knows a twelve-year-old girl will be taking when a grubby man in a battered blue van tries to snatch her. The girl comes into view, and then the man arrives just as Kef has foreseen. As he grabs the girl’s wrist, Kef fires a single shot. The man clutches his chest and the girl runs away screaming. Kef slips away before the sirens sound. As Kef makes her way toward a bus stop, [[Dallas:Characters:Harbinger of Doom|a cat]] appears in her path and meows at her. Kef exclaims “Where have you been?” but the cat only weaves in and out between her shins. Kef picks up the cat and fusses over it. The cat purrs.

Axle phones Blake and shares the information from Butch. Blake wants Axle to have Butch pass the info along to Solution Security in California. He warns Axle that the Irishman is IRA. (Axle: “I have those for my employees…”) Blake signs off with “Now I have to call Steve – and you know I hate that.”

Steve answers his phone with “All right, what’d you find?” Blake tells him Axle’s news about the Irishman and the Feds. They wonder what possible connection Deathwish might have had with the IRA, other than that Don Metheny had an Irish ancestor about four generations back. Blake: “All roads lead to me, which eventually leads to you.” Steve: “You’re on your own – I gotta go to Baltimore.” He suggests that Blake read the “Wild Cards” books. “I don’t know why they’d be stealing comic books, but they’re obviously interested in the paranormal.”

Blake calls Sara Summers. “I want every Wild Cards book there is – by tomorrow.” He also wants her to tie Taylor and Barrow together, and coordinate with Cartley. Blake then calls Cartley.

Steve phones Kef. “How would you like to go to Baltimore to solve a mystery and find a missing noted psychic?” Kef replies, “You can tell me more over dinner.” Jeremy will be ready to fly them out at 7:30am tomorrow. Kef mentions that the cat has reappeared, no doubt a harbinger of doom.

Kef arrives at the house and yells for Paula. “Damn cat’s home.” Paula emerges from her practice room. They open a tin of salmon for the cat.

Blake calls Detective Smith with LAPD, asking about any “Irish problem.” (Smith had been the one who called Blake back on February 2nd about the “Jane Doe” [Kef] in the hospital. That investigation was later dropped. LAPD had another stabbing victim who turned out to be wanted in a series of rapes – so there was not much interest in nailing the person who stabbed him.] Smith replies, “Nothing’s come across my radar.” Blake: “Now it has.” “Are we talking events of a terrorist nature?” “Could be.” Blake mentions a possible link to Deathwish. Smith says, “That doesn’t make any sense.” Replies Blake, “It never does.” Smith thanks him for the heads-up.

Steve picks up Kef. By shopping at several different Half-Price bookstores, they collect an entire set of the Wild Cards books. Then it’s dinner at Maggiano’s.

Axle notifies Blake that a trucker from Baltimore named Ian Miller has been hospitalized at San Jose Memorial. He had been attacked by two men, one of whom laid Miller out with a tire iron.

Blake gets a call from an old friend, Deputy Stan Tyson in Alabama. He’s holding a guy for being drunk and disorderly. He had been asking about Blake and the events in Damascus. The guy gives the name Dan Taylor, and he is an Irish national. Tyson’s willing to hold Taylor as long as he can, a total of 24 hours, and allow Blake to question him.

Blake calls Jeremy. “I need to go to Alabama tonight.” Making a quick calculation in his head, Jeremy replies, “No problem.” (Six hours round-trip will get him back to Dallas in plenty of time to fly out to Baltimore in the morning. The fact that the small Alabama airports are closed during middle-of-the-night hours is a mere trifle.) Blake adds, “I’m going to take Steve with me. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

As Steve and Kef are chatting and enjoying their dinner, Blake calls Kef and announces, “You’re going to Alabama tonight.” Kef suggests that Blake bring Steve in on three-way. Blake wants Kef to be present when he talks to the Irish guy. The three of them discuss for a while, speculating – why the IRA interest in science fiction and weird events? Then Blake gets a call from Axle and signs off. Kef takes hold of Steve’s arm. “Count to ten, calm down.” Steve retorts, “I’m perfectly calm!” He sighs, looks over the remains of dinner, and remarks, “As last meals go, this was a good one.”

Blake calls Kef back – she and Steve should meet him at Love Field in twenty minutes. Kef calls Carla Gray, who despite the late hour is happy to hear from her. “Sorry we missed you when we visited last summer.” Kef replies, “I was – out of town.” She tells Carla that she and her friends will be arriving in Alabama in the wee hours of the morning and might request her assistance. Kef calls first Paula and then Axle and lets them know they need to hurry if they want to make the flight.

By 10:30pm they are airborne. Blake relays a message he got from Axle – in Philadelphia, some Jordanians (perhaps connected with the PLO) had been asking about events from two years ago. Steve recognizes the name Sean McLeon as a radical of Scots-Irish descent. Kef decides it’s time to take a nap.

Blake makes several phone calls, coordinating his people. Steve phones his contact in Baltimore; Barron’s son, Andy III, had stated that his dad had become “nervous and skittish” a few days prior to his disappearance. The contact believes that someone has since gotten to Andy III, who has turned reticent. Also, Bob Taylor’s comic collection had contained several one-of-a-kind books. Blake instructs Tom Cartley to keep Andy III under surveillance. Cartley may be approached by a Middle Easterner soon; “be armed and on your guard. Concentrate on the word ‘terrorist’… Be careful, replacing you will be hard.”

Kef awakens and relates a vision. She saw Marvin Carothers, the former head of Solution Security, clad in a prisoner’s garb (he had started serving time in May 2003) and sitting in a stark meeting room across from a man Kef figured was a lawyer. The lawyer reached into his briefcase, took out an envelope, and slid it across the table. Carothers picked up the envelope, opened it, and removed what Kef believed were packets of drugs, which he then concealed in various places around his person. Kef noticed lines like thin scars around Carothers’ face, and when he arose and was escorted out of the room, his movements, especially his stride, were not those of Carothers. She got a closer look at the lawyer’s briefcase, which bore the initials E. C. and a business card with the name Edward Carver. She thought Carver had a military bearing about him. According to indications in her vision, this meeting will take place tomorrow afternoon at 2:30.

Jeremy lands at the Dothan airport (he is able to turn on the runway lights by transmitting a certain code). Awaiting the group is a panel van being driven by one of Deputy Tyson’s cousins. It’s a 25-minute drive to New Brockton, and the van arrives at the jail around 2:30am.

Tyson already has Dan Taylor waiting in an interrogation room. Axle and Paula go into the observation room. As Steve and Blake enter, Kef slips in behind Taylor and begins listening to his thoughts.

Steve offers Taylor a large cup of coffee, which Taylor gratefully accepts. Blake starts the interrogation. Taylor claims he’s a freelancer for the London Times on a journalistic assignment in the United States, and he’s in Alabama “visiting kinfolk.” (Kef reads: He flew to Atlanta from London, then rented a car and drove here. He was sent by his cell boss to confirm the downed helicopter, the gunfight, the explosions. He is a computer whiz and was going to tap into the Coffee County and Fort Rucker computer systems. Unfortunately for him he is a compulsive carouser, and had gone out drinking rather than get right to work on his tasks.)

After a few minutes, Steve glances significantly at his watch, then declares, “Drunk people shouldn’t lie. You got about twenty minutes to stop lying.” Taylor comes to attention, glancing at the half-empty coffee cup, and his thoughts become very excited (“How many of them can I take out?”). Steve adds, “Don’t worry, there’s an antidote.” Taylor: “What’s the deal for the antidote?” Blake quizzes him: “Why is the IRA interested in Alabama?” Taylor mentions the “weird events” and the “high instance of unusual people” – he is to identify the latter for the pickup team.

Blake informs him, “We’re watching you now. You and your boss and your boss’s boss. Tell him when you make your report, we know about Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Chicago. We’re concerned, and we’re watching you.” Taylor gives the names of his leader and the other three members of his cell (Kef shakes her head; he’s lying). His orders came from the big boss himself (McLeon). (Taylor has Absolute Timing and is anxiously counting down the twenty minutes. He is considered a top-class IRA operative. Most of his gear is in his room at the Riviera Hotel in Elba; his weapons are hidden in his rental car.)

Taylor asks repeatedly for the antidote. Finally Steve, acting as if it pains him greatly, fetches another coffee cup, then brings out a small vial, dumps the contents into the cup, and hands it to Taylor, who immediately gulps it down. Before he and Blake walk him back to his cell, Steve pats Taylor down and confiscates a very fine set of lockpicks. As they pass Tyson, Blake points out brightly, “Look – no bruises!”

The group meets with Tyson. Kef informs him about the weapons hidden in the spare tire well, but Tyson says he has no legal pretext to search Taylor’s rental car. Hearing this, Axle wanders outside and simply puts a hole in one of the back tires. Blake tells Tyson, “You can keep the weapons, we’ll get his computer.” Tyson warns that the Riviera Hotel is directly across the square from the Elba police station.

Tyson asks warily, “Is this going to be as big as that stuff a few years ago?” Blake makes emphatic motions – bigger, bigger. Tyson says that the FBI has been monitoring the area.

Tyson calls his cousin to come pick us up. It is 3:00am, Saturday, April 30th.

(In approximately one hour, Dan Taylor will die of liver failure. The binary poison Steve gave him is untraceable [and Steve collected the coffee cups]. Instead of giving him the antidote, Steve had administered the other half of the lethal drug combination.)

[June 18, 2005]

It’s just after 3:00am Saturday, April 30. The group has left the Coffee County Jail and is headed toward Elba. As we’re leaving New Brockton, Steve observes that the car that just sped past us in the opposite direction was being driven by Don Gray. Blake flips out his cellphone and dials Carla’s number. Carla explains that her son Ed had awakened from a dream extremely agitated. He insisted that there was a danger to us at the county jail, and kept repeating, “That guy must not die.” He had seen Paula locked up in a jail cell, Blake under interrogation, and Steve lying wounded after a gun battle with FBI agents.

Blake and Kef are puzzled. They’d seen Steve give Dan Taylor the poison antidote, and the man had been fine when he was taken back to the lockup. Shrugging, Steve allows that the drug may have had unexpected side effects. Kef has Axle dial Deputy Stan Tyson and hand the phone to Steve, who suggests to Tyson that he induce Taylor to vomit. Carla Gray, a registered nurse, will soon be there to look after Taylor.

We continue on to Elba. At the Riviera Hotel, Steve and Axle raid Dan Taylor’s room. Axle finds a .25 caliber pistol taped beneath a dresser drawer, which he leaves. They carry away Taylor’s computer and other gear, and a handwritten journal.

As we head for the airport, Blake, who has put two and two together, grins at Steve. “You sly dog. You can’t just go killing people.”

Kef phones Carla for a status report. Carla thinks that Taylor will be okay, but her daughter Vivian had had to “put him out.” She explains that Vivian had used her telepathic abilities to muddle Taylor’s memory of the past couple of hours. Ed had begun having precognitive dreams several months ago, but they had been of a minor déjà vu nature until tonight. Kef understands that Ed had been very insistent about the impending danger, and she asks Carla why she had gotten her whole family up in the middle of the night to drive straight into it. Carla responds that her intuition had prompted her to do so. Kef asks whether Carla knows of anyone else in the area with psionic abilities. Carla names Tom Kirkland, the boy who along with Vivian had been kidnapped by Dr Nix, Frances Gray, and associates a couple of years ago, and Harold Cassidy and Ann Bradley, whose powers were apparently burned out during the course of those events. Kef points out that that’s a very high number of talents in a limited geographical area, and asks Carla to try to find out if any others have emerged recently.

4:30am: We arrive at the airport, where Jeremy waits to fly us on to Baltimore. Axle helpfully wipes down Cousin Tyson’s van (removing things like, oh, fingerprints), and Blake gives him a hearty handshake containing a couple of c-notes.

On board the plane, Blake powers on Taylor’s computer and faces a very well-crafted layer of software-based protection. “Steve, how are you at hacking?” “Well, I’ve been studying the subject… let’s see what I’ve learned.” But Steve’s nascent skills are no match for Taylor’s expertise.

Kef, meanwhile, reads through Taylor’s journal. It’s a log of contacts, information, and plain old gossip. Considering that he had only been at it a short while and shouldn’t have had much of a base to work from, what he’s gathered looks pretty good. It seems to Kef he’s been confirming data rather than conducting an investigation.

Around 8:00am (Eastern time), Jeremy announces that we’re approaching Baltimore. We decide we want to land at an executive jetport rather than a major airport. Blake, mindful of Steve’s near-success at offing Taylor, quips, “Are you able to go out in the sunlight, O evil one?” Steve rolls his eyes expressively.

Kef reminds the others about her vision of the apparently-fake Marvin Carothers’ upcoming meeting with lawyer Edward Carver this afternoon. Blake contacts the head of Solution Security’s Los Angeles office, Fred Stevens, and informs him “Carothers is not in jail where he belongs.” “That’s not good,” Stevens replies. “He hates you.” Stevens will have one of his operatives plant a video bug on Carver.

Steve calls Andrew Barrow’s son, Andrew III – who goes by Will – and arranges to meet him for breakfast.

Blake calls Tom Cartley, his man in Cleveland. Cartley has obtained copies of all the Wild Cards books and bios of the people known to be involved in the current investigation. The IRA has not contacted him again. He will arrive in Baltimore in a few hours. Blake warns him that Carothers is on the loose and may very well be carrying a grudge against Cartley.

It occurs to Steve that they’re not all that far from Boston. “Blake, I may have some contacts here who can help with [Taylor’s computer].” He rings up a fellow at MIT who answers the phone with a cranky, “You’re interrupting me! I almost have this project done!” Steve says smoothly that he hasn’t yet field-tested the EMP device, and the fellow’s attitude turns much friendlier when he recognizes his client. Oh, certainly, he knows some folks who can crack any computer’s security. After Steve hangs up he remarks, “I like this guy more and more.”

Meanwhile, Kef and Paula visit the ladies’ room and freshen up. On their way back, Kef expresses her idea that something may be going on in Alabama to trigger latent psionic abilities. In answer to Kef’s question, Paula says she’s only met two, maybe three people on this world who possessed actual innate magic ability and weren’t just carny magicians. Kef makes the point that more-than-human abilities are the stuff of science fiction and comic books; they’re not supposed to really exist. (Deathwish, Cinnamon, Dagger, and Paige obtained their powers from demon worship; Marc Balsam and Andrew Stronomer may have gotten theirs through demonic rites.) Yet now she knows of at least seven people with psionic talents who all came from a small rural area of Alabama.

Kef and Paula rejoin Steve, Blake, and Axle. Jeremy will stay with the plane. Kef asks, “Where to now?” “Shoney’s,” answers Steve, “and I need you with me.” Kef and Axle climb into Steve’s rented BMW, and Paula joins Blake in his rented Jaguar.

At the restaurant, Steve (wearing a new face) introduces himself as Jim Phelps. Will Barrow is quite chatty (and doesn’t notice at all when Kef slips through his natural mind shield). Andy Barrow, Will’s father, is well known in the Baltimore area as a psychic investigator, and has helped out the police sometimes. Andy had told Will he already had a pretty good idea who stole Bob Taylor’s comic-book collection. Will hands Steve a few pieces of notepaper that he found in his father’s study. One sheet is written in a foreign language that Kef recognizes as Gaelic. Surreptitiously touching his white amulet, Steve is able to understand the writing: “Astonishing Tales #1, March 1953 – This is the Key – In Baltimore – Sean.”

Will relates how he had had to convince the police that his father had been abducted. There were no signs of a struggle, or if there had been one, the furniture had been straightened out afterward and fingerprints wiped. The stray sheets of paper were the main indicators; Andy Barrow was a very tidy man. Will hands Steve a key to his father’s house and a card with the address written on it. Then he says, “I’m curious about your interest in my father’s disappearance – you’re obviously not from around here.” Steve responds, “I keep an eye out for occurrences like this and investigate them. Sometimes they turn out to be something of significance, sometimes not.” Will comments, “That’s an odd… hobby.”

Using OnStar, Blake has obtained the location of the Westbrook Comic Shop. He and Paula arrive there 30 minutes before opening time. Seeing a young employee inside, Blake taps on the door with one hand and presses his friend Ben to the glass with the other. A little nervously, the kid unlocks the door and lets them all in, then pockets Mr. Franklin. Blake asks to see a copy of Astonishing Tales #1. “I’m afraid we don’t have that one,” the kid says, explaining that there are only a few copies left in existence and each of those is worth upwards of $50,000. “Where could I see a copy?” The kid gives him the phone number of Harvey Carson, the shop’s owner, who is known as an expert on comic books.

Blake calls Carson. Other than the one stolen from Bob Taylor, Carson says there are four copies of Astonishing Tales #1 known to exist. They are located in San Bernardino, Seattle, Toronto, and Johannesburg, South Africa. It’s a 40-page book with a cover price of 25 cents (rather high for that era), an anthology of “weird science” tales by offbeat writers. Yes, he can get a list of the authors and synopses of the stories.

Steve, Axle, and Kef arrive at Andy Barrow’s house. Axle goes walking around the neighborhood, talking to various residents to see if they’ve notice anything unusual going on. Ellen Haywood, a Mrs. Kravitz type lady, bends Axle’s ear for quite a while, mentioning among other things a strange couple who had moved into the neighborhood a month and a half ago. Susan Whitehurst recalls that a few hours before sunrise a couple of days ago, a big older-model Chevrolet pulled into the driveway of the new neighbors, the McNally’s, just a few doors down from the Barrow residence. The McNallys had thrown a big party recently, but as far as anyone knew, nobody from the neighborhood had been invited.

Kef crosses Barrow’s study, seats herself in his very comfortable chair next to a small table, and closes her eyes. She casts her senses back in time, to just before sunrise three days ago, where in this very chair Andrew Barrow sat meditating. Abruptly he was jerked out of his seat, so roughly as to knock over the small table and scatter the loose papers that were on it, a couple of which drift beneath the chair. Reflexively striking out at his assailant, a man whose features were hidden by a mask, Barrow got in a lucky blow. Stumbling, the man barked his shin against a coffee table, tearing a small hole in his pants leg. A woman, also masked, struck the back of Barrow’s head with a pistol butt, knocking him out. Barrow was tied up, the furniture set back in place. The room was searched and surfaces wiped down. Then the man gathered up the loose papers, hoisted Barrow in a fireman’s carry, and left the room.

Kef had risen from the chair, eyes still closed, and traversed the room, following the action. She halts, “looks” down, then opens her eyes and peers closely at the edge of the coffee table. Raising her voice, she calls out, “Steve…” “I’m right here,” he says quietly. Kef starts, then says, “I thought you were searching the house.” “I was watching in case you tripped,” he explains. Kef blushes and manages to stammer only a little bit. “Th-there’s a little bit of cloth here, and I think a skin scrape, maybe a bit of blood… from the man who took Barrow away…” Steve nods, retrieves a plastic baggie from the kitchen, and collects the tiny sample as Kef describes the rest of her vision.

Near 11:00am Blake phones Steve. “Have you gone to see Taylor yet? Everyone keeps telling me to talk to Bob Taylor.” Kef talks to Carla Gray. Dan Taylor pulled through and is presently resting in the hospital. Weapons charges have been filed against him. Around dawn two FBI special agents named Newhurst and Page showed up at the jail, looking for Jeremy Grant and Blake Drummond. The agents seemed to have studied up on Deputy Stan Tyson, too. Carla figures the FBI will be taking Dan off of Tyson’s hands.

Kef phones Jeremy and warns him about the FBI. Steve contacts Bob Taylor to arrange a meeting. About Barrow, Taylor relates that shortly before he went missing, “He said he was having trouble ‘locking onto the vibes’. He was going to try a different meditative technique.” Commenting on the comic book, Astonishing Tales #1, Taylor says the theme of the issue was science gone wrong. In particular, one story described the use of mysterious “transmissions” to turn normal people into super-beings… or monsters. Amidst the pseudo-scientific “gobbledygook” (Taylor’s word) the author, Igor Darvich, described precisely the frequencies of the required transmissions. Steve brings up the similar theme – men into supermen/monsters – found in the Wild Cards series. “Whether or not these things exist, they believe it.” Taylor’s incredulous: “You’re telling me someone stole my entire collection just for one book?” Taylor will be available to meet with Steve after 3pm.

Blake calls Harvey Carson back. “I want you to broker a deal.” Blake wants high-resolution digital pictures of every page of the comic book. He’ll pay $500 per page and Carson will get a 10% broker’s fee… IF Carson can get the images within two hours.

Kef has heard of Igor Darvich; he was known for his wild ideas and eccentric writings. “Is he still alive?” Steve finds out via the Internet that Darvich, now 98 years old, lives in an asylum in London, to which he had been committed many years ago. His daughter died ten years ago, and her three children live on the Continent (“Probably too embarrassed to visit Granddad,” Steve remarks). During the period in which he was writing and illustrating comic books, Darvich had lived in New York, but he had fled to England to avoid being declared insane and committed, ironically enough.

Axle tells Steve and Kef about the McNallys’ house and that a van had been seen pulling into their driveway. Currently there were two cars parked in the drive. Axle had rung the bell and no one answered, so he had left one of Steve’s cards.

The three of them lock up Barrow’s house and walk over to the McNallys’. Kef crouches between the two cars and puts her hand to the driveway. Steve knocks firmly on the front door; there is no answer, but he thinks he saw a windowshade move just a bit. No one comes when he rings the doorbell. Telling Axle to watch Kef, Steve goes around to the backyard.

Kef’s vision shows her an old panel van pulling into the driveway. She makes note of the Pennsylvania license plate number. Two men and a woman get out and start transferring stuff from the van into the house – interrogation tools, a special chair, a drug kit. Kef’s eyes fly open; she grabs Axle and hurries to find Steve. “Steve!” she says excitedly, “They might still have him here!” Realizing that Kef hadn’t taken time to see all there was to see, Steve tells her reasonably, “Well, we should find out if they left with him before we break in.” With a meek “Yes, sir,” Kef goes back around the house.

Steve’s phone buzzes. “I was going to turn myself into the police,” Blake announces, “but I changed my mind.” “What did you have for breakfast that disagreed with you so much that you want to get killed?”

An hour before sunrise, a man gets into the panel van and drives off. That night many cars come and park in and near the driveway, and a dozen people, casually dressed, go into the house. Around midnight they begin to leave, and by 1:00am all who had come are gone. Thursday before sunrise, the van returns. The driver enters the house, he and another man carry an unconscious Andy Barrow to the van, and the driver drives the van away. The next activity is mid-afternoon, when some police officers come by. Friday noon some plainclothes cops show up, then leave twenty minutes later. No one has been in or out via the driveway since.

Cruising in his rented Jaguar, Paula at his side, Blake takes notice of a white panel van and its suspicious-looking inhabitants and concludes that it’s moving at a fairly high rate of speed (for a van) toward Andy Barrow’s neighborhood. Blake calls Steve. “Have you killed anybody yet?” Steve: “Are you saying I should go in before their friends arrive?” Blake circles the Jag behind the van. Steve tells Kef, “We’re going in.” Axle goes around to watch the front door, calmly dragging out a duffelbag. Steve easily unlocks the garage door and draws a gun in each hand; behind him, Kef readies her pistol.

Steve opens the door into a utility room. In the doorway opposite stands a man braced to fire. Steve fires three shots, one of which strikes the man’s right arm. The man jerks back behind the doorframe and Steve can hear a gun clattering to the floor. Steve orders, “Drop your weapons!” Axle sees a curtain move – someone’s peeking out the front window. Calmly, Blake hands Paula first a .22, then a silencer, and requests, “Please assemble.”

Steve crosses the utility room. To his right he can see the man’s injured arm dangling, bleeding. The man’s hand twitches toward the gun on the floor, and Steve warns, “You’re not that good.” Axle whips out his handy AllTool, slides beneath one of the cars in the driveway, and starts taking the linkages off the transmission. Steve hears footsteps running from the front of the house toward the kitchen. With his left hand the man flicks out a knife and throws it at Steve, missing by a good six inches. Kef moves up to where she can see the man’s eyes… a killer’s eyes, the man tensing to rush Steve.

Steve fires. Two shots hit the man’s knees; he goes down, still conscious. Kef can hear the woman approaching, and she moves across the kitchen, trying to stay out of Steve’s line of sight.

The woman enters the kitchen, and immediately Steve trains one of his guns on her while still covering the man with the other. “Drop it now,” he orders. Kef tackles the woman, who fails to dodge. They both lose hold of their guns as they slide across the floor.

The woman tries to elbow Kef but barely nudges her. They slide toward a doorframe. Steve orders the man, “Hand behind your head.”

The woman twists herself enough so that instead of hitting her head on the doorway, her torso strikes it instead. Kef tries to drive her head into the woman’s solar plexus. Steve continues, “…and I’m a damn good shot.”

The man goes limp. The woman breaks Kef’s hold on her, but Kef rolls off and pushes herself back out of the way. Steve warns the woman, “He’s unconscious. How many bullet holes will it take before you stop?” The woman scowls, but surrenders.

After Steve zip-cuffs the woman, he goes to perform first aid on the bleeding man. He asks the woman, “How many are coming in the white van?” The woman is tight-lipped, but after a few moments Kef says quietly, “At least five, with AK-47s.” The woman gapes and splutters, and Kef reads in her horrified thoughts, “She must have read my mind! I’ve experienced touch-telepaths before, and I’ve built up some defenses against them, but no one this powerful!” She starts going through some mental gyrations in an attempt to obscure her thoughts, but not before Kef catches her wondering where Drummond is.

Steve warns, “We have grenade launchers. Your van won’t withstand that.” As if against her will, the woman pulls out a radio and speaks into it in Gaelic. Steve phones Blake, who reports that the van just changed course.

Blake pulls the Jaguar alongside the van. “Hold this,” he tells Paula, indicating the steering wheel. She reaches over and takes hold of the wheel, keeping the Jag perfectly positioned while Blake raises his silenced .22 and fires six shots, blowing out first the van’s back tire, then the front. Then Blake takes back the wheel and puts the pedal to the floor as the van’s driver overcompensates and the van starts to roll. Blake fishtails the Jag around as the van slams into a big oak tree.

Meanwhile Steve phones 911 and reports a van full of thugs with automatic weapons. “Are you in any danger?” the dispatcher asks. He replies cheerfully, “No, I’m fine, thanks.”

The van’s gas tank has ruptured. Blake reloads his gun. He tells Paula, “Tell me when you hear the sirens, okay?” He watches the van closely, but no one’s getting out. After about a minute Paula says, “They’re coming.” Blake fires a couple of shots that ricochet off the pavement, raising sparks… and igniting the gasoline vapors. He backs the Jag around a corner into an alleyway.

Blake reports to Steve, “The van had an accident.” Steve, dramatically: “The van’s on fire, and no one got out? How terrible!” The woman panics – the other members of her cell were in that van. Kef picks out a great deal of information from the woman’s tumbling thoughts, including passcodes and the names of contacts. Steve asks, “Where are the keys to that car, babe?” The woman doesn’t answer aloud, but Kef motions with her head toward a countertop.

Steve calls Axle inside. Axle’s heard sirens, and figures one of the neighbors called 911. He goes out to pull the BMW around to the back of the house. Steve tells the woman not to cause trouble; she scowls and thinks vicious thoughts.

It occurs to Steve and Kef at the same time that they haven’t seen the rest of the house. Steve suggests, “Let’s take us a tour real quick.” Right away in the master bedroom they come upon a grisly sight – a man and woman lying on the bed, their throats slashed. In another room they find the drugs and equipment Kef had envisioned earlier. Steve judges “This might come in handy” and takes the drug kit. He injects the woman with tranquilizer before walking her out to the car.

Steve checks into a cheap, no-name hotel, booking three rooms (two adjoining, one across the hall). Blake and Paula join Steve, Axle, and Kef and their two prisoners there shortly afterward. Axle takes the man into a bathroom and gets him cleaned up.

Just before 1:00pm Blake hears from Carson. “I got it!” The digital copies he ordered are ready. Carson collects a 10% fee both from Blake and from the owner of the comic book that was copied. Blake calls his assistant Sara Summers to EFT the funds, receive the files, make copies, and transfer the images to Steve’s laptop.

Kef stands out of the woman’s sight as Steve brings her around (but keeps her somewhat “druggy”). Kef murmurs that their setup was a “semi-trap” for Blake, who is viewed as “a potential disruption to Sean’s plans.” Blake begins to question the woman, who gives her name as Jean Doohannie. “How are you doing?” “Oh… bruised ribs… a little sore.” “You were looking for me?” “Potentially… We thought you might appear… We were to capture you if possible, kill you if necessary… you and your magic man… or lady… We didn’t realize those three [Steve, Kef, Axle] were connected with you… till it was too late… You somehow get involved with all this supernatural, psychic… stuff. Sean wanted us to get you… Sean’s very powerful… Sean’s going to do something spectacular… monumental!”

Blake responds, “I haven’t done anything on the international field… I wasn’t paying attention to Sean McLeon before; now I am. That could be bad for Sean.”

Jean continues, “I think Sean’s got magic… or psi powers… I’ve learned a lot in the last several months.” Glancing at Steve and gesturing, she adds, “I’m able to block your lady out of my mind.” At this a wolfish grin spreads slowly across Steve’s face, and he utters a low chuckle that grows into a robust and truly diabolical-sounding laugh.

Blake explains to Jean, “You’re in an untenable situation. You’re a killer on foreign soil. We can do whatever we want with you.” Jean tries to bluff, claiming “Sean will come for me! He’ll get me out of this, and he’ll kill all of you!” But inside she knows better, and her bravado collapses. She allows that Barrow will be delivered to Sean ere long, if he hasn’t been already. Before shipping him off, her cell had questioned Barrow about “psychic crap – how far he can see into the future, stuff like that.”

Blake questions Jean, “Why are you involved in the IRA? What is it you’re after?” She answers by rote: “To get Northern Ireland completely out from under England’s thumb, then to unite Ireland and keep England out forever.” With curiosity, Blake asks, “And then what happens after that? Who are you going to ally with? Trade with?” Jean seems stumped for an answer; obviously, she hasn’t thought that far ahead.

Steve calls Jeremy, who is in the middle of moving the jet to another airport. Steve tells him that the FBI is looking for him, and asks him to prepare to fly the group to London.

[July 16, 2005]

It is 1:35pm on Saturday, April 30. Blake continues to question Jean Doohannie, asking her if she has a passport. She says it’s at a safe house on the outskirts of Baltimore. There’s a passport there for each member of her cell. Steve asks if she has more than one; she replies, “They give me one as appropriate.”

Anxiously, Jean queries, “What are you going to do with me?” Blake: “I’m trying to figure out a way not to kill you… I can’t bring myself to kill you – though of course, you are a murderer and a terrorist.” Blake wonders if they could get her committed, and Steve states, “They don’t commit people for that.” Jean offers, “I believe I’m on your government’s watch list.” Blake: “There’s a slight problem – I’m on the watch list, too.” Jean manages to quip, “It must get crowded outside your house.”

Steve wakes up Jean’s partner, Seamus Nally. Since he is about the same build, Axle gives him a change of clothes. Blake asks brightly, “How are you feeling, Seamus?” Groggily and in obvious pain, Seamus answers, “Like shit.” “You should have given up when you dropped your gun,” Steve points out. Seamus grumbles, “There was obviously a lot Sean didn’t know. I wonder if the Yank withheld it.” Steve inquires, “Which Yank would this be?” “I never got his name.”

Blake returns to Jean and asks her the name of the Yank. “He’s just someone Sean was working with,” she answers. She admits she had seen him once in Belfast. (Kef gets a mental image of a tall man with military bearing.)

Going back to the other room, Blake asks, “Seamus, ready to go to the safe house?” “I guess you disposed of the van,” Seamus says resignedly. “’Fraid so – I waited and no one got out. We’ll have to drink to their memory and pour a libation for them on the ground – you, me, and Jean.” Less poetically but straight to the point, Steve adds, “Don’t try anything or I’ll shoot you again.”

As Blake walks Jean out, Steve speaks privately with Kef. She tells him everything she learned from Jean’s mind about the safe house, particularly the specifics of the deadfall traps. “What are you going to do with them?” Kef asks. Steve replies, “I’m thinking they won’t survive the deadfalls.”

Blake, Steve, and Axle drive Jean and Seamus out to a house in the suburbs and pull their vehicle into the three-car garage. Going up to the door leading from the garage into the house, Steve adroitly picks the lock and disables the pressure switches. Jean gapes in amazement at how smoothly he accomplishes this, and Steve gives her a look that says “I know something you don’t know.”

Blake ties Jean to a chair. Paula starts checking the house for magic as Axle sets himself to watch Jean and Seamus. Axle suggests to the others that they search for hidden weapons. In the garage Blake finds AK47s and ammo, plastique and timers, and various electronic gadgets. He loads the guns, ammo, and electronics into Steve’s car.

As he searches the house, Steve locates an additional trap and a floor safe. Jean doesn’t know the safe’s combination, but Steve finds it written down. The safe contains $20,000 in small bills, an assortment of British and American passports, and a number of blank drivers licenses. Blake has Steve vet the back door, then goes out and inspects a small shed, finding only gardening tools. Elsewhere in the house Steve finds a remote control that can trigger some of the deadfalls. He figures that two would take out the whole house.

Meanwhile back at the hotel Kef is reading Astonishing Tales #1. The “hero” of Igor Darvich’s tale built a fantastic machine that generated waves of a specific frequency that turns humans into supermen or monsters. His motivation was to give people what he felt they deserved. He eventually learned that the outcome depended not only on his intention, but also on the inner being of his target. Some people he tried to punish gained superpowers, some he tried to reward turned into monsters. The story’s illustrations contain a complete schematic for the machine, but Kef feels that there’s some essential part that Darvich omitted. She also comes to believe that this story was based on actual events.

In studying other stories Darvich wrote, Kef finds several recurring themes – being alive at the wrong place and time, not recognizing what one has until one loses it, and wish fulfillment. He also had several technical articles published in various journals. One in particular catches her eye. Titled by the editor “Electronic Stimulation of Atrophied Nerves,” the precis reads more like a description of bionics or cybernetics, a direct interface between human and machine.

On the Internet Kef finds a few news articles about Darvich’s “crazy” behavior. There aren’t many specifics available about his current residence, Baker House Asylum, though she does obtain an address, phone number, and the name of a contact person.

Steve screws a silencer onto his gun, then fires three or four times into a wall. Blake scolds Jean, “You were gonna blow us up, weren’t you.” Steve interjects, “Sorry, it’ll be more believable if Seamus blows us up.” He shoots Jean in the chest. Blake unties her and leaves her body sprawled on the floor. Steve shoots Seamus in the back, and he and Blake drag the body near one of the detonators to make it look as if he had crawled there after being wounded.

About a half-mile from the house, Steve sets off the detonators.

Axle will clean out Steve’s car, have it washed, “fix” it so it runs poorly, and return it to the rental agency for a new car. Steve points out, “I’ve got an appointment at 3:00.” Paula pipes up, “Blake has a car.” Blake says, “That’s too bad.” But in response to a sharp look from Steve, Blake raises his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay!”

At the hotel, Steve goes to talk to Kef. She tells him what she’s learned from studying Darvich’s story. He invites her to go with him when he interviews Bob Taylor, since “you can ask more intelligent questions about his collection than I can.”

Blake walks down to the nearest 7-Eleven and buys a cellphone. He calls his aide Sara Summers (via Vonage) and instructs her to put him through to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. He asks the FBI switchboard operator for Agent Newhurst or Agent Page. The operator says, “If this is an emergency, I can patch you through to her cellphone.” A few electronic relays later, and a female voice says, “Newhurst.” “Hi, Agent Newhurst. This is Blake Drummond. Why are you looking for me?” Newhurst says she has something urgent to tell him, but she doesn’t want to discuss it over the airwaves. It relates to “Los Angeles, Deathwish; Fort Rucker, Alabama; maybe Atlanta.” Blake ripostes “I’ve never been to Fort Rucker” and “Deathwish got their wish.” Newhurst reiterates, “It will be to your benefit to have this discussion, privately.” Blake sighs, “I’m just going to have to skip the beneficial part. I’m willing to help law enforcement, but this is not a good time.” Newhurst mentions “You also picked up a young lady in LA,” and Blake comes back with “I authorized the use of my credit card.”

Allowing a note of tension into his voice, Blake says, “I’ve got some rumblings about some Irishmen looking for me – Are you Irish? Can you tell me why international people who happen to be Irish and the FBI want to talk to me at the same time? You have the weight of the United States government on your side, so this wouldn’t be a meeting of equals.” Realizing that she isn’t going to break through Blake’s stonewall, Newhurst signs off with, “There is one name I can say over the airwaves – Captain Brubaker. Good luck, Mister Drummond.”

Blake tells Sara to “wake everyone else up” and find out who else is watching him. She gives him a synopsis of the first Wild Cards book, defining a number of card-related terms – Aces, those 1% who were granted wonderful powers by the virus; Deuces, those who got an insignificant ability; Jokers, those who turned monstrous in form; “drawing the Black Queen” meant death in 90% of those infected. One of the main characters was an alien, a powerful telepath, whose people were intent on using humanity as the guinea pigs for their virus. In the back of the book is a fake scholarly paper theorizing that a person’s disposition determines the outcome of their infection.

Steve as “Jim Phelps” and Kef as “Jenny” meet with Bob Taylor at a restaurant. Taylor has always been a comic book fan. Though he has pretty much withdrawn from fandom itself and now does most of his buying over the Internet, he used to attend comic book conventions and shows frequently. He recalls that at a con in New York about 25 years ago, a kid he met suggested that Igor Darvich actually had superpowers. Kef asks him why, only a few weeks after the theft of his collection, he had contacted Andrew Barrow to try to locate it. It’s all Steve can do not to laugh as Kef says earnestly, “You really think he has psychic powers? Do you really believe that stuff? Is it because you read all those comic books about superheroes and so on?” Sheepishly, Taylor admits that he privately wishes that he had secret powers. At Steve’s suggestion, Taylor will research the correlations between Darvich’s work, the Wild Cards series, and comic books.

Back at the hotel, Steve examines the passports for usability. Blake tells Kef that the FBI is after him, and wonders how they linked him to Deathwish and Atlanta. Captain Brubaker is an investigator posted at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, who has been looking into the events in Alabama. Kef brings up a thought she’d had – Blake’s sometime employer, Abraham Donaldson, had married a woman named Sohandra McPearson, and Kef wondered if she might have Irish ties.

Steve comes in with his makeup kit and starts to work on Blake for his passport photo. Kef phones Carla Gray (who is Sohandra’s sister) who tells her that their ancestry is Scots. Then Kef says gravely, “You said that your daughter Vivian had ‘messed with’ Dan Taylor’s memories. Tell me – who has she been practicing on?” At first Carla is flustered by the question. “There are some things a parent just doesn’t want to know.” Kef, incredulous: “Your daughter is developing psychic powers, changing other people’s memories, and you don’t want to know about it?” Carla confesses that it was she herself who guided Vivian in altering Taylor’s memories; Vivian was afraid to do it, but Carla insisted it was necessary. Kef presses her: “How did you know Vivian could even do anything like that?” Well, she’d done it “by accident” to a boy at school who had sneaked her private journal out of her backpack and read parts of it. “How could she tell she’d blanked his memories?” Well, the boy had gotten a vacant expression on his face, and acted somewhat disoriented. “How did she react?” She’d come running home, “scared to death.” Kef pauses a beat. “How would she know whether all she did was erase a few minutes’ worth of memories?” After a moment’s silence, Carla says quietly, “I will sit down and talk with her.”

(Qui custodiet ipsos custodes, indeed? Kef keeps her sorrow to herself.)

Around 5:00pm Blake calls Abraham Donaldson to ask if he’s had any inquiries from the authorities. Yes, there was an FBI agent named Quentin Page who came in a couple of months ago. He was investigating some kind of computer-related deal, spent a few hours checking out some of Donaldson’s people.

Axle tunes in CNN and catches a report on various violent events in Baltimore. A 911 call to a home where a man and a woman were found dead in their bed. An explosion at another suburban home. A van that had overturned, then caught fire. There was one survivor. A witness reported a sports car side-by-side with the van just before it rolled.

Blake and Kef have a quiet discussion. Blake gives her the gist of his conversation with Newhurst and how, since she has the might of the US government on her side, she could pretty much come get him and even disappear him whenever she liked. Kef worries that Darvich really did build his machine, and that the government will get hold of it. “As the saying goes, I love my country, but I fear my government.”

Steve returns from a trip into the city around 7pm and starts handing out passports and airline tickets. He has sent Jeremy and the IS jet on ahead to Dublin, carrying most of the group’s heavy weaponry; he should arrive around 10:00am local time Sunday. The others will take commercial flights to London, Axle, Paula, and Steve on one plane, Blake and Kef on a later one.

Blake checks in with Fred Stevens in California. They’d gotten good feed from the bug, and it’s all on tape now, “just like you said.” (Stevens will give a cash bonus to the operative who planted the bug.) The lawyer, Edward Carver, had returned to his office, and is currently out around town. The fake Marvin Carothers had indeed had plastic surgery. Blake: “We need to find Carothers.” Stevens: “The lawyer is small fry.” Blake: “By the way, the FBI is watching you.” Stevens: “We’ve been all above-board!” Blake, with unmistakable emphasis: “Who’s your boss?” He offers further instruction: “If the FBI approaches you, be truthful. Just don’t be stupid and volunteer anything.”

Kef complains that she didn’t bring any changes of clothes, as she somehow didn’t have an inkling when she departed Dallas – gads, was it only this morning? – that she’d be leaving the country. Blake generously takes her clothes shopping… with the first stop being Victoria’s Secret. “Definitely get the red set. Men like red.” “Redheads aren’t supposed to wear red. Besides, nobody’s going to see it.” “Trust me. Get the black and the white and the baby blue, too.” “Goodness, these panties aren’t even finished.” “Oh, well, never mind.” (Blake covertly stuffs them into the shopping bag.) Kef murmurs, “Oh, well, if they’re for you…”

The flights are uneventful. None of the five sit together. Kef sleeps but doesn’t dream. Everyone meets at the Sheraton, then the group checks into the Hilton. Kef gives out the passcodes and procedures (that she’d learned by tapping into Jean Doohannie’s mind) for an IRA safe house on the outskirts of London. Steve alters his own and Kef’s appearances. By 1:00pm Sunday afternoon the group is on the road, Blake driving one car, Axle another. Cruising past the place, Blake, Steve, and Kef spot two outliers when there should be three. There are maybe five people inside.

Steve and Kef will pretend to be a couple of new IRA recruits. In deploying the others, Blake asks Axle, “How’s your stealth?” Axle rejoins, “I drive a truck!”

Steve and Kef get past the gates and up to the door. The man who answers their knock, Edwin, stands six feet tall and has black hair and brown eyes. Motioning with his thumb, he tells them, “Donald’s back there, he’ll brief you.”

Donald has light brown hair and a fair complexion. He seems nervous. Kef slips past his natural mind shield. “Bill” and “Nancy” play it up as enthusiastic converts to the cause. Donald wasn’t expecting any newcomers. “Ben talked to me,” Kef pipes up. Donald groans. “That idiot screwed up again, sending me a couple of green recruits… We’ve already sent the device out of here.” Kef gets that Barrow is still in the house, and that Sean and five others are heading for the asylum to pick up Darvich.

Still grumbling to himself, Donald leaves for a few minutes. Kef quickly fills in Steve. Donald returns and asks them “Have you had lunch?” He’s going to have them help transport “the man” (he started to say “Barrow” and checked himself). He shows them into the kitchen, where Steve fixes himself a pastrami sandwich and Kef sips a can of Coke. “Can you shoot?” Donald asks Kef dubiously before handing her a Glock, but he seems reassured by the way she handles the pistol.

At 1:45 Donald hands out the assignments. Steve and Kef are to help handle Barrow. Edwin says “Follow me” and leads them further into the house, trailed by Steve, then Kef, then Donald. Steve fast-draws, half-turns, and shoots Donald three times in the throat. Kef sways and leans against the right-hand wall. Outside, Blake puts a gun to the head of the guard he’d sneaked up on. As Paula strolls past as a distraction, Axle asks the other guard for a light.

Edwin quickly draws his gun and whirls around. Steve shoots him in the heart. Blake grabs his guard by the arm, makes him take a step back, then shoots him in the back of the head. As soon as his guard reaches into his pocket for a lighter, Axle slugs him in the face, rocking him back. Paula utters a few words and the guard goes limp. She and Axle drag him out of sight.

Steve grasps Kef’s arm. “Are you all right?” [Slipping away… drowning, dying… dying!…] Drawing strength from Steve’s grip on her, Kef pulls back from the brink of oblivion. A few long seconds more and she looks up, meeting Steve’s gaze. “Are you all right?” he repeats. She nods and straightens up. “Stay behind me,” Steve tells her; Kef draws her gun (amazed that her hands are steady) and follows.

Steve knocks, then pushes the door open. The man inside is gripping one of Andy Barrow’s arms; Kef slides in and takes hold of the other, pulling Barrow slightly away from the man. Steve fires once and the man falls dead. Over the radio Steve asks the rest of the team, “You guys see a car with a guy in it?” Axle and Blake both indicate the car’s position. Steve looks out a window and spots the car. He fires, glass shatters, a red mist splatters.

Kef unties Barrow, who seems to quickly recover from the sudden invasion. They had pointed a machine at him, he says, but nothing happened. Steve and Kef lead Barrow past the dead bodies and bundle him into a car.

As they pull away, Kef says, “We’re being followed.” There are two men in a small car. Blake comments, “Looks like mercs.” Steve: “Blake, you want to take care of that?” Blake slows and the other car drops back; Blake reads its operator as a Driver. The other merc talks furiously into a radio. Blake slows down some more and turns a corner, where he sees another vehicle moving at speed, trying to catch up with Steve’s car. Blake radios, “Steve, make a left.” After a few maneuvers, Steve loses his tail, and Blake’s disengages.

Steve’s car arrives a little before Blake’s at the Asylum where a major firefight has just occurred. Dead and wounded lie scattered about, some dressed in guards’ uniforms, others probably IRA. There is one IRA longarm lying on the ground. Explosives have damaged the walls and the front of the building. Axle gets out of the car and runs inside to see if anyone needs help. One of the guards lies bleeding but conscious in the foyer. Axle applies pressure to the wound and starts bandaging. “What happened?” The guard gasps, “His squad took one of our most dangerous residents!” Blake finds car tracks headed out toward the next safe house. Steve and Blake both realize that this asylum had too much security for the sort of place it was supposed to be.

Kef has been encouraging Barrow to talk. He has had some precognitive visions. “I’ve seen the infinity symbol on a Gulfstream jet,” he says; his description of the pilot matches Jeremy. Then he describes a woman, but it’s not either Paula or Kef. “Somebody rescued me – he had a face that changed constantly.” When he would try to focus on whether or not Sean McLeon would succeed in his plot, Barrow got “a kaleidoscope of images” – some where Sean seemed victorious, others where he failed, including one where another man spoke the words “You served your purpose” then shot Sean through the head.

As the group leaves London, Blake sees ½ mile away another car staking out the road (two guys, military bearing). Blake radios to Steve, “Don’t stop.” “Are they trying to get us, or intercept the other guys?” Steve wonders.

Blake pulls right up next to the car, pointing his gun at the driver. Axle is pointing his gun out the back. Blake instructs Paula to get out and go around to the other side of the car and point her gun. Then Blake makes a window-cranking motion, and the driver activates the power window. Blake: “We need to talk. You agree, don’t you? … I don’t want to kill you; you don’t want to die.” The driver says, “I report to Major Carlton,” a former US Army officer. He admits to being a mercenary.

Blake orders the other guy to get out of the car, then walk backward to Paula. “Paula, when he gets close, tell him to get on the ground.” Blake has Axle get out and zip-tie the guy on the ground.

The driver says to Blake, “Our mission was surveillance. We were looking for you. You were spotted leaving an IRA site with a subject. We moved in and found three dead inside, two outside, one outside hog-tied. We were to follow, find out your affiliation, then capture or kill.” He adds in all seriousness, “By the way, don’t tell me now. I want to walk away alive.”

Blake asks, “Are you working for Yank?” “Major Carlton is an American, yes.” The “IRA nitwits” had come this way. The merc teams are “backup and extra protection for the IRA, in case they try to double-cross the Major.” Blake: “I am on the list, don’t worry.” Merc: “The Major still might want to make you an offer.”

From behind the car Axle calls, “Could yer pop the boot, guv’nor?” Inside the trunk he finds combat rifles, a medkit, emergency supplies, and in the spare tire, a holdout gun (which he removes).

Blake disarms the two mercs. “Can’t think of any reason to kill you,” he tells them. “You’re lucky I spotted you.” With considerable sang-froid, the driver inquires, “Any message for the Major?” Blake declares, “It would be advised for him to kill Sean and the other IRA members, then find another hobby. And ship the books back to their owner.” “Who shall I say sent this message?” After a moment’s thought, Blake replies, “Special Agent Page.”

Blake and Axle place the two men in the trunk of the mercs’ car. Blake has Paula cast Sleep on them both, then for good measure injects them with a sleep drug. Axle pushes the car back out of the way.

As they hit the road again, Blake radios Steve, “There’s four more teams out there.” Steve responds, “I’ll be on the lookout.”

[July 30, 2005]

It’s shortly after 2:00pm May 1, 2005. Steve McAllen drives north up the A1(M), weaving through traffic, trying to overtake the IRA car fleeing from Baker House Asylum. Kef reaches out with her mind, trying to sense Igor Darvich, but though she tries hard her only result is a cold sweat. Passing one small town, Steve spots his quarry about a mile ahead, followed by one of the mercenaries’ cars.

As they approach the town of Stevenage, Steve and Kef both see the IRA car take the exit. The merc car goes on past, the second man talking on the radio. Kef thinks the man is calling in another unit.

Kef turns around in her seat. “Mr. Barrow, do you have any idea where they’re going?” Andrew Barrow, recently freed from his IRA captors, closes his eyes. After a moment, he opens them again. “I’m afraid not.” Steve takes the junction into Stevenage.

Over the radio captured from the roadside mercs, Axle hears, “Unit Three, vector to Ally Site Three please.” The same order is repeated for Units 1 and 5. Quick affirmatives come from Units 1 and 3. For several seconds Axle lets the silence stretch, then while crumpling a sheet of paper near the pickup he says, “Unit Five, affirmative.” “Say again, Unit Five? Did not copy.” Still crumpling paper, Axle repeats “Unit Five, affirmative.” This time the response is “Read you, Indigo.”

Reaching into his pocket, Steve presses a button on a remote control. Something in the trunk begins emitting a humming sound. Kef glances back warily. “Steve, you don’t have to tell me what that thing does –“ “Oh,” he replies readily, “it’s an EMP device. It’s got about a quarter-mile range.” He explains that it produces an electromagnetic pulse capable of shutting down electrically powered devices. He’s turning the thing on now and placing it on standby because it takes some time to ramp up.

Over the headset comes the voice of Blake Drummond. “Okay, I’m in town – a little guidance please.” Steve reads off the coordinates from the car’s inboard navigation system. As if searching for an address, he drives casually through the quiet streets. The IRA car pulls into a cul-de-sac; the two houses at the end of the street each have several cars parked in front… a few of which bear bullet scars. Steve and Kef take note of a man crouched on one peaked roof, dressed in camo and wearing a headset, armed with an AK47. Steve figures the man’s counterpart is on the other side of the roof. He also spots a sentry smoking on the front porch.

The IRA car parks, empties. Four men clad in camo fatigues get out. There’s no sign of Darvich.

Steve asks Barrow about his kidnapping. Barrow describes his treatment as “very rough.” At the safe house the one called Sean had pointed a strange device at Barrow and switched it on, and was quite angry and frustrated when it had no effect. During one of his visions, Barrow had seen a larger version of the same device attached to a transmission tower. Kef doesn’t believe that the IRA will build a bigger device until they get the small one working.

Blake’s car comes up behind Steve’s. Steve sees a nearby park that would give them a vantage point for watching the houses. Blake and Steve give assignments to the rest of the group. Barrow shouldn’t be out in the open where he might be recognized, so he will remain in Steve’s car and take a nap. Blake and Paula drive off to take up their position, while Axle stays in the park, monitoring the mercs’ radio chatter.

Steve sets up his laptop at a picnic table. Kef tells him her theory that Edward Carver, the lawyer who had visited the fake Marvin Carothers in prison, may be connected to the Major Carlton that the mercs work for. She is convinced that Sean McLeon will never get Darvich’s device to work. Steve cocks his head at her. “You’re sure of that?” “I’m sure,” replies Kef, “unless they can torture the secret out of Darvich… and I doubt that they can do that.”

Axle and Steve almost simultaneously get the idea to have the mercs from Unit 5 (that Blake left locked in their trunk) report trouble with the IRA. Steve tries out his Midwest accents on Axle, and on his second try Axle indicates he’s made a perfect match with the radioman’s voice. Composing a script and downloading various sound effects, Steve puts together a story on his laptop to be broadcast over the mercs’ radio.

At this point, our narrative returns to Friday evening in Baltimore, Maryland. Jeremy hasn’t seen anyone taking particular notice of his plane. After performing a final search and making sure the special cargo compartments are sealed, he files his flight plan and preflights his plane. At 7:15 he is cleared for takeoff, destination Dublin, Ireland.

There isn’t all that much for him to do on a trans-Atlantic flight, so Jeremy turns on the autopilot and settles down in his captain’s chair for a nap. A few hours later, a sound from the cabin startles him awake. Taking over from the autopilot and pulling his straps tighter, Jeremy sends the jet into a barrel roll. The resultant multiple thumps make him certain someone’s back there. Coming out of the roll, Jeremy pulls back on the stick and the plane starts a 30° climb, which leads to scuffling, sliding sounds and a soft grunt. Heeling the jet over into a power dive, Jeremy reaches back, opens the cockpit hatch, and calls out, “Fasten your seat belts – this is your pilot speaking.” From the aft part of the cabin come several more bumps, then a heavy thump followed by a groan.

Jeremy levels out the plane, kicks on the autopilot, and goes back into the cabin to have a look. There’s a woman with a small scalp wound sprawled up against one of the bulkheads. She looks to be not quite 5 ½ feet tall, brunette, tanned; she’s wearing a light jacket over her slacks and blouse. Searching her turns up a passport and a billfold, no weapons.

Jeremy picks up the woman and carries her forward, depositing her in the copilot’s chair. He grabs some duct tape and binds her arms and legs as well as securing her to the seat. Looking through her billfold, he finds a driver’s license for Carla Newton, address Chicago, birthdate indicating age 24. There’s also a photo of her with two older people (possibly her parents), another of a young man, and a picture of several cats. Taking another look around the cabin, Jeremy decides the woman must have gotten hungry and had been raiding the galley when she made the noise that had awakened him. He can only figure that she’d been hiding in the WC, but Jeremy’s sure he had checked the plane thoroughly (as always) before takeoff. He returns to his pilot’s seat, frowning in thought.

A couple of hours later, with the jet about 45 minutes out of Dublin, the woman regains consciousness. “Did we crash?” she moans. Jeremy replies, “Not while I’m the pilot, we didn’t.” “Something happened…” Jeremy chides, “You didn’t stay in your seat with your belt fastened. Also, we’re about to land in Dublin, and you don’t have your passport.” Carla seems to notice her restraints for the first time, and a pleading note enters her voice. “I need to get to Europe, and I didn’t have enough for a ticket!” “How do you know?” Jeremy rejoins, “You didn’t ask me how much it would cost.” She offers to give Jeremy all her money, saying she wants to get to London. “How were you going to survive in England without any money?” he asks. “I’d have gotten work… somehow… I’ve always been lucky…” Jeremy chuckles.

Jeremy asks, “Why do you need to be in Europe?” “I was being threatened by some men, and I need to get to where my boyfriend is… I overheard something… some men were plotting something… they even killed somebody… their names were Mohammed, Abdul, and Sharif… I saw them kill somebody…” “Why didn’t you go to the police?” “I couldn’t tell the police… because, well, I’d broken my probation” for possession and sale of drugs. Jeremy nods knowingly.

About her boyfriend, “His boss sent him over to Europe until things cool off… he runs numbers, collects insurance… he works for the Mob.” “So you want to be married to the Mob,” Jeremy cracks. Carla claims she hasn’t heard from her boyfriend in three months.

While the woman seems quite sincere, Jeremy’s finding it hard to believe anyone can be so stupid. “Hang on,” he says, standing up. Pulling a jackknife out of his pocket, he cuts the duct tape binding her. She asks for some aspirin, and he waves in the general direction of the medicine chest at the front of the cabin.

After she’s swallowed some aspirin and peeled the duct tape off her clothes, Carla asks where she should dispose of the trash. Jeremy unlocks and swings open the door to the smuggling hold and says casually, “No one will ever find it in there.” Her eyes get big (though perhaps not quite big enough to indicate true surprise). “You’re not going to shoot me?” she whimpers, “I’ll never, ever tell!” “No, you won’t,” Jeremy agrees, locking the hold.

The autopilot signals that the jet has entered Dublin airspace. Jeremy radios ahead for service for his plane, and a limo “for my passenger and I” to a hotel – “Make it a good one.” Jeremy also leaves voice mail for his other team members, whom he has been unable to reach during his flight, giving the name of the hotel and adding, “Contact me at your earliest convenience.”

Right at 9:00am local time, Jeremy touches the jet down in Dublin. Carla behaves quite docilely as they ride the limo to the hotel, then go up to the suite Jeremy’s reserved. “Are you hungry?” he asks. “Room service will bring you breakfast. Order something Irish for me.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy turns on the TV and tunes in CNN International. After a few minutes, “Dang,” he remarks, “They’re starting to figure this out – that the IRA is doing things in America.” Carla ventures, “Are you involved in that?” “Maybe…”

After breakfast arrives and they’ve started eating, Jeremy wonders aloud, “What do we do with you?” Carla chokes slightly on a piece of toast. Again she wheedles, “I’ll give you all my money… I’ll make my way in Dublin somehow… Like I told you, I’ve always been lucky…” Jeremy isn’t buying it. “You weren’t surprised at what my plane was carrying. You’re going to a boyfriend you haven’t heard from in three months –“ Carla cuts in, “I’m running from trouble.”

They finish their breakfasts in silence, then Jeremy remarks, “You’re not making a case for leaving.” With a hopeful expression, Carla suggests, “Maybe I can help you – I can learn my way around Dublin… I wouldn’t tell anyone, since I’d get in trouble, too.” As it’s now about 10:30, Jeremy tells her, “You probably need to go to sleep.” Following her into the bedroom he indicates, he unplugs her room phone and takes it with him, bidding her “Have a nice nap.”

An hour later while he’s watching TV, the room phone rings and Jeremy answers. A female voice says, “Yes, I’m Judy Newhurst. I need to speak with you, if you’re Jeremy Grant. May I come up to your room?” “A little out of your jurisdiction, aren’t you?” Jeremy drawls. “Where’s your partner?” “Agent Page is still in Baltimore, following up on some leads.” “How’d you know where I was?” “You filed a flight plan.” “So did the Fed pay for your ticket, or did that come out of your own pocket?” “I paid for it myself.” “Why didn’t you just come get a ride?” Jeremy inquires. “I’d heard you were at the one airport, but when I got there, you had moved. By the time I reached the right airport, you’d already taken off. Then I was just able to catch the next commercial flight to Dublin.” Jeremy invites her to come on up.

A few minutes later there’s a knock at the door. Jeremy checks the closed bedroom door, but doesn’t hear Carla stirring. He opens the suite door. The woman in the hallway, dressed in a nice tailored suit, flashes her FBI folder. “Special Agent Judy Newhurst,” she introduces herself. “You’re one difficult gentleman to catch up with, Mr. Grant.”

Jeremy shows Newhurst to a seat near the coffee table, then slouches on the sofa across from her. She gets right to the questioning. “You formed and chartered Infinite Solutions Corporation in 2001, correct? Interesting name; where does it come from?” Jeremy grins. “I tried to draw an 8 and it fell over.” “There’s a series of occurrences in the US that have you in the vicinity…” “I didn’t do it.” She mentions “gunfights and explosions” in Chicago [during the Kev McGuire clone affair], a chemical fire in Boston (Jeremy looks puzzled at this one), “Coffee County, Alabama, a couple of years ago…” Jeremy interjects, “That’s when I fixed the Army helo that was about to crash. It’d have been a shame to lose it.”

Newhurst gazes at Jeremy intently. “You and your friend Blake Drummond… you’re involved in a lot of unusual events – with demons, strange entities… things people don’t believe exist.” Jeremy stares back at her. “When you hired on with the FBI, did you pass the psych test? I didn’t.” She starts to say, “You applied for the Bureau?…” but then moves on, mentioning “blood sacrifices in Texas.” “Oh, yes. Some of those guys attacked my office. They didn’t live through it. Maybe they wanted Axle’s truck.” Newhurst says, “We thought they’d be here with you… Mr. Drummond, that is, and Mr. Lee, who also knows Mr. Drummond.” “Well, they’re not,” Jeremy responds.

Newhurst takes a deep breath, then leans forward. “We want to help your group deal with unusual events. We want to feed your group information, to help you in your work.” Jeremy shoots back, “You want me to do your job.” Newhurst’s tone hardens; she claims she has enough on Jeremy to send him to the penitentiary. “So you want me to give up Blake,” Jeremy says flatly. Newhurst pulls back a bit. “There’s a gentleman running in the same tracks that I have been. His name is Robert Cagle. He’s been doing research, asking questions about you for the past year. We think he has links to the IRA, PLO, and other such groups. He’s been tracking Mr. Drummond, yourself, Mr. Lee, and also someone named Butch.” Jeremy asks her, “If this guy’s working with terrorists, why haven’t you picked him up?” Newhurst replies, “He’s hard to catch up with.” “Like Blake,” Jeremy says.

Newhurst says slowly, “I feel that something big is coming to a head.” Jeremy thinks a bit, then says, “Is that what you’re mad about? The atomic explosion? There were a lot of people saved there.” Newhurst says, “Deputy Stan Tyson recently captured an IRA terrorist. Tyson also seems to know more than he’ll say, while his sheriff hasn’t got a clue.”

Newhurst takes a couple of cards out of her case and passes them across the coffee table to Jeremy. “Those are Agent Page’s and my business cards.” After a pause, she adds, “I sincerely want to help you.” Jeremy answers, “You mean, you want me to help you. You gave me the name of someone you can’t find. You don’t want to deal with stuff no one believes…” “They assign me to the weird cases,” says Newhurst. Jeremy says, “And you enjoy it, don’t you?” Newhurst nods unhesitatingly.

Changing the subject, Newhurst asks again, “Why is the name of your corporation ‘Infinite Solutions’?” Jeremy merely grins and says, “Cool, huh?” “Very cool,” she agrees. She mentions that she reads science fiction and fantasy, though she admits she was never much into comic books and superheroes.

“You’re curious, aren’t you,” Jeremy states. “You want to stay and get in on what happens next. You should cash in your return ticket that you paid for, and you can ride back with me.” Newhurst accepts. Jeremy indicates an open bedroom. “You should take a nap.” She admits that she hasn’t had any sleep recently; during her flight across the Atlantic, she’s been working away at her laptop. Taking out her cellphone Newhurst says, “I need to check in with my partner.” As Newhurst starts dialing, Jeremy strides over to the closed bedroom door and yanks it open, fully expecting Carla to tumble out, having been eavesdropping on the other side. But no, Carla’s lying in bed, sleeping. He closes the door quietly as Newhurst says into her phone, “Yes, I got the reaction you predicted… I’m going to stay over here for a while… Tell them I called in sick!… No, he isn’t going to hurt me.”

Right at 3:45 – almost seven hours after Jeremy had left the VMs – everyone else’s message lights finally come on. (Darned providers.) Kef walks to the car for privacy. She calls the hotel and asks for Jeremy Grant. Meanwhile, Steve starts playing his recording of Indigo reporting that “Unit Five is getting jacked by the Irish!” rendered even more convincing with the sounds of gunshots and shattering glass. Another merc’s voice orders, “Bow and Splat, leave your positions, find out what happened to Indigo. I’ll stay with the Groom.”

Kef returns and slides onto the bench beside Steve, giving him the gist of her phone conversation with Jeremy. “You should talk to him,” she concludes. Steve shakes his head in disbelief, but pulls out his phone. Laying her hand on his arm, Kef reminds him to stay calm and not let others in the park overhear him. “Of course I’ll be calm,” Steve says, then dials the hotel. “Hello, it’s Phelps… I understand you have a couple of guests… You didn’t buy the stowaway’s tale, did you?” “She didn’t have any guns, but I showed her ours,” says Jeremy. Newhurst “wants to help us, or she’ll put us in jail… She can’t find Robert Cagle, so she thought she’d tell us so we could find him.”

Steve wants to talk to Newhurst himself before letting her get more involved, so Jeremy gets her up from her nap. At Steve’s request, she uploads data from her laptop to his. Kef looks over Steve’s shoulder as the data comes up on his screen. Major Carlton had been the investigating officer looking into events in Coffee County, but abruptly left the military and disappeared. Robert Cagle is an international financier who also launders money and finances terrorists. As a picture of Cagle comes up on the screen, Kef seems to see his face peel away, revealing a different one she recognizes… Steve, sensing Kef sitting bolt upright, mutes the phone and looks at her inquiringly. Pointing to the picture, she mouths the name “Carothers.”

Steve says to Newhurst, “That bullsh*t threat to put people in prison won’t hold water.” Newhurst says placatingly, “That must not have come out the way I meant. I think you are doing necessary work.” Steve: “For everything you know about, there are two or three you don’t.” Jeremy, on the extension: “Like demons from hell… right through the TV, baby!” Newhurst: “I want to be part of your solutions, not your problems.” Steve: “It doesn’t always work that way… It’s always the harmless-looking ones who cause trouble.” Kef (who is usually quite harmless looking) gives Steve an “are you talking about me?” expression. Muting the phone briefly, Steve tells her, “You prove my point.” Momentarily, Kef allows herself a pout of injured innocence.

Steve hangs up, ponders for a moment or two, then calls Jeremy back. “See how fast you can get a helo and fly over to London.” “With or without the cargo?” “Without if you must, though ‘with’ would be better.” “One passenger or two?” “You can’t just leave one home alone.” Steve suggests that Jeremy have Newhurst find out what she can about Carla. As Steve hangs up Kef asks him, “You aren’t seriously going to bring the FBI in on this?” Steve explains, “It’s not the FBI; it’s Newhurst, who is presently separated from the FBI and has become a crusader.” “All that from one conversation,” Kef says with a touch of admiration.

Jeremy pulls out Carla Newton’s passport and hands it to Newhurst. “Would you check on this person, please?” Shortly after entering the name on her laptop, Newhurst reads “Arrested for possession/sale… on probation…” “She’s breaking it,” Jeremy interjects. Newhurst goes on, “She’s had a passport for three years, never used it before.” “We need to be going,” says Jeremy. “We’re taking a helo trip to London. And your first assignment is to take charge of Carla.”

Steve phones Jeremy once again. He warns him about flying into the blackout zone (that he will cause when he activates the EMP device), and tells him to obscure the ID on his helicopter. Then he asks Newhurst, “How’s your new charge?” “Something about her doesn’t ring true.” “Have you taken fingerprints?” “I don’t have the proper equip—“ “Improvise. Also check for surgical scars – Cagle has ‘em.” As it’s getting toward sunset and the park is becoming deserted, Steve, Axle, and Kef pack up, get into the car (awakening Barrow), and head for a pub to get dinner.

At the airport, Jeremy sets Newhurst and Carla to transferring cases from the Gulfstream to the rented helo. Newhurst: “I don’t want to know what these are, do I?” Jeremy: “You may have to use them. You’ve been trained, haven’t you?” Taking a wooden dowel, Jeremy attaches strips of variously colored duct tape, then holds up the dowel to color-match the duct tape to the helo.

Axle broadcasts on the merc radio, “Be on the lookout for the Arab car.” (He has observed a car with three rough-looking men of Middle Eastern appearance cruising in the vicinity several times.) The query comes back, “Who is this?” “Unit 5-A.” Silence, then, “Who are you?” “Ask Unit 5. I just don’t want Unit 1 to get shot in the back of the head by the car that’s been circling the park for an hour and a half.” “Are you the ones who took down Unit 5?” “We replaced them.” “May I ask your affiliation?” “Truckers Union.” “Teamsters?” “We’re looking for Jimmy.”

Kef, who’s been picking at her food, suggests that she take Barrow someplace where he’ll be safe for the night. Steve hands her the car keys. During the brief drive to a nearby inn, Kef asks Barrow about his ordeal. He says that in exchange for his cooperation Sean offered him money and power; Barrow refused. “You were brave to turn him down,” Kef tells him; “Sean might have killed you.” He replies, “I couldn’t go against my principles.” Softly Kef says, “Nice to know someone still has them.” “So young to be so cynical,” he chides. With a touch of pain in her voice, Kef replies, “I’ve seen a lot in the last few years.” Kef gets Barrow checked into the inn and sees him to his room, and lends him her cellphone so he can let his son know he’s free and unharmed. As she turns to leave Barrow speaks. “If I may offer a word of advice… Don’t let what you’ve seen turn you into someone you can’t live with.”

Around 9:15pm Jeremy calls Steve. “I’m here. Where do you want the equipment?” Axle, Steve, Kef, Blake, and Paula rendezvous with the helicopter in an empty field four miles north of Stevenage. While there are several appraising glances at the two unknown women, no one bothers to make introductions. People begin moving boxes from the helicopter into the cars. Steve explains to Jeremy that he’ll be providing air cover when the rest of them attack the IRA safe houses.

Kef contrives to pass close to Carla and manages to tap into her mind, though the latter possesses a level of mental resistance Kef hasn’t encountered before. Carla’s mannerisms are those of a nervous, somewhat frightened young woman… but her thoughts are those of a trained operative; she is busily calculating the group’s firepower as she frets to herself, “I can’t give any warning… I’ll just have to ride with it.”

Drifting past Steve, Kef murmurs, “Ask her some leading questions.” Steve raises an eyebrow, then strolls over to Carla and strikes up a conversation. “You’re not simply a stowaway,” he says. “You’re an agent. Who are you working for?” Wandering by, Jeremy informs Carla, “You know you kept asking if I’d hurt you?” (Pointing.) “He’s the one that hurts people.” Listening to Carla’s increasingly troubled thoughts, Kef finally picks up the data she’d been waiting for. Wishing to remain in the background, Kef “speaks” a sentence directly to Steve’s mind: “She’s working for Cagle.” And when Steve drops that name on her, Carla begins to panic, looking around and thinking, “Oh, no, which one of them’s the ‘path?” (As if her flimsy cover story hadn’t made her an object of suspicion!) Axle hands Carla one of the merc radios, informing her “You’re now Unit 5-A.” “What happened to Unit 5?” she blurts out. It seems Carla has worked with Indigo previously. Steve lowers the boom: “Besides, if you were who you say, you’d be peeing your pants.” “You’ve penetrated the group?” gasps Carla. Jeremy laughs, “We have now!” Carla claims that her assignment was “just to find out about you,” and she figures Cagle will kill her for her failure. “I’m just small fry.” Steve binds Carla with duct tape, then draws a knife and cuts a tiny transmitter out of her waistband. “It’s not activated,” she says quickly, “and it has a fairly short range.” “I don’t have time for a full interrogation now,” says Steve, “but you’re going to help us take Cagle’s organization apart.” Axle walks up behind Carla and zaps her with a stun gun.

As Carla collapses, Kef too falls to her knees. Newhurst hurries over, asking “Are you all right?” “I’m fine… just a bit light-headed,” murmurs Kef, as she takes advantage of Newhurst’s proximity to tap into her mind. As Kef relates to Steve some time later, “She’s… for real.”

Once they finish transferring equipment and devising last-minute plans, Jeremy takes off in the helo with Newhurst and the unconscious Carla. As the cars approach Stevenage, the unmistakable staccato crackle of gunfire shatters the evening’s peace. Blake’s video surveillance equipment indicates that the IRA and the mercs are fighting the PLO. Already several bodies lie scattered about the front yards. “The camel jockeys are turning into lawn jockeys,” comments Axle. Kef asks Steve to let her out a little distance away from the houses so she can attempt to sneak in and locate Igor Darvich. Smearing some face-blackening makeup on her face and taking the foil-wrapped radio Steve hands her, Kef slips away into the darkness.

Most of the fighting is taking place in front of and just inside the houses, so Axle driving one car and Steve the other follow mirrored paths toward the back of the main house. Two guards are visible. Steve knocks a guard ass over teakettle with his car. Axle accidentally hits a pothole, which screws up Blake’s aim, but in the next moment Blake puts a bullet right between the other guard’s eyes.

With a word of warning to the others, Steve brakes to a stop and then activates the EMP device, disrupting the flow of electricity and blacking out the neighborhood. Axle, Blake, and Paula bail out of their sputtering car as its momentum rolls it into the back of the house. Blake and Paula enter the house and work their way toward the front. Kef comes in from a different direction, quickly checks some of the back rooms, and descends the cellar stairs. Axle heads for the other house, reasoning that the two houses are very likely connected by a tunnel, and once there he begins throwing flash-bangs through the windows. Steve unwraps his night-vision goggles and radio from their protective foil and puts them on, picks up his AK47, and trots into the house intent on finding Darvich’s machine. Up top, Jeremy maneuvers the helicopter so as to give Newhurst (who has braced herself in the doorframe) a superb platform from which to shoot.

At the bottom of the stairs Kef finds herself in a long, straight tunnel with a cement floor and wood paneling on the walls. It is pitch black. Switching on her tiny penlight, she can barely see the doors along the tunnel. Listening carefully, she determines that someone’s in the second room on her right. When she peeks in, sure enough there’s a man handcuffed to a bed, a hale sixtyish-looking gent wearing an expression of extreme annoyance. “Igor Darvich?” Kef ventures. He stares at her (and he seems able to see Kef quite well despite the darkness) and responds in mocking imitation, “Jane Doe?” As she enters the room, he mutters, “A pretty Jane, though.” Kef touches his thoughts, which swirl in chaotic confusion, but she becomes aware also that he is a metahuman. Drawing her pistol, she fires one shot through the handcuff chain, weakening it enough that Darvich can pull it apart.

Making his way down the cellar stairs, Steve hears the lone shot, glimpses the faint light, and walks quickly toward them. Sensing a familiar presence, Kef moves to the doorway and whispers, “Is that you?” Kef says she will wait here with Darvich until she gets the signal to leave. Steve will find and destroy Darvich’s machine. “It won’t work, will it,” Kef states, directing her words at Darvich, “You didn’t give them the secret.” “Of course not!” snaps Darvich, “Never!” Steve, however, isn’t taking any chances.

Toward the other end of the tunnel, someone drops a flashlight from above. Steve calls out, “Is that you, Butch?” and Axle answers that he’ll guard the stairway. Shortly thereafter inside a storage room Steve finds the device and sets an explosive charge on it, then gets Axle and the two men run up the tunnel.

“Sean’s not here,” Blake radios tersely. “Police sirens, two to three minutes away.” Axle and Steve emerge from the house. Steve retrieves the EMP device from his car. Axle stuffs rags into the gas tanks; Steve tosses a couple of incendiaries at each car, calling “Fire in the hole!”

As the others make their way to the rooftop, Jeremy has Newhurst draw a line with automatic fire. The message to the mercs: We could kill you if we wanted to, but we just want to evacuate our people. The helo meets no resistance as Jeremy touches it to the roof. Kef emerges through the trapdoor first, followed closely by Darvich. Steve throws a few final incendiaries at each house, then calls to Jeremy, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Jeremy heads due east, then curves to the north, flying map-of-the-earth. Several miles away he lands just long enough to pull the duct tape off the helo’s identification number. As he approaches Dublin (at a normal altitude), he radios the tower, “Aw, I was trying to fly to this podunk town, but I couldn’t find it again in the dark, so I came back.”

The time is 9:55pm on Sunday, May 1.

[August 13, 2005] (With help from Bill)

As the helo approaches Dublin, Kef has been spending most of the trip studying Igor Darvich’s mind. His thoughts are chaotic, almost kaleidoscopic, but Kef picks out various clues from his past. Darvich has always felt like “a man out of his time.” He knew he was a superior sort of man, misunderstood by most, and craved the companionship of others of his level. As a scientist in a small town in upstate New York in the late 1940s, he was something like the MacGyver of his day, building ultra-tech gadgets out of mundane materials. He had had a close relationship with his beautiful assistant, and had built the device illustrated in the comic book with the intention of imbuing his assistant and his few other friends with metahuman abilities. He tested the device on two men with good results. To his horror, the device turned the woman he loved into a rampaging bloodthirsty monster that slew hundreds of people before Darvich and the two elevated men killed her. Later, Darvich turned the device on men he had wished to turn into monsters, and instead they became Adonises.

In the years that followed, Darvich’s children turned against him, and the US Government started harassing him. Finally he destroyed his lab and fled the country. He ended up at the Baker House Asylum (which does not house the insane, but is a government-operated facility for ‘unusual’ people) about fifteen years ago. He was content to remain there, though he could have broken out at any time, because he felt he deserved to be there. Everything he touched went wrong.

Kef concludes that while Igor Darvich has deeply-rooted emotional problems, he is not insane – his mind works so rapidly and on so many levels and pathways at once that he finds it difficult to relate to other people, and most people in turn cannot understand him. She thinks that he could be helped, over time… but by whom?

Blake strikes up a conversation with Darvich. “How old are you? You look pretty spry for a man who’s nearly 100.” Responds Darvich, “How old are you?” Blake replies “Younger than you… I’ve read your comic book – so you think you’re Homo Superior? Darvich looks thoughtful and just smiles. Blake continues, “How many dimensions have you been to? Just one? So much for Homo Superior.” “I like it here,” retorts Darvich. Blake asks, “Are you going to help us?” “With what?” “We don’t know yet…”

Jeremy lands the helo, and the IS team starts transferring the clandestine cargo back to the jet. Blake starts to ask Judy Newhurst to keep an eye on Darvich, but Jeremy interjects, “She helped load it, why can’t she help unload it?” Blake expresses surprise that the FBI agent was allowed to know about the heavy weaponry, but as Jeremy points out “She had to know about it to use it.” Adds Newhurst, “You may not believe it, Mr. Drummond, but I am on your side.”

Carla Newton has returned groggily to consciousness, and causes no fuss as the group takes a limo to the hotel. By 10:45pm everyone is in the two-bedroom suite that Jeremy had rented that morning. Paula turns on the TV and tunes in CNN, where the big story is the blackout and shootout in Stevenage. Several suspected IRA members have been arrested, as well as about a half-dozen Middle Eastern men. There is no mention of any Americans, so apparently the mercs all got away. Neighbors interviewed by CNN reporters said they’d long suspected something about those houses at the end of the block.

Casually Blake asks Carla (who is fairly awake by now) “Do you know who I am?” “No, but I can guess,” she replies with a glance at Jeremy. Jeremy suggests Blake use “the bedroom without the phone” for his interrogation, and Blake takes Newhurst along as well. Carla talks fairly freely, remarking “You’ll get it out of me eventually. I think there’s a ‘path around.” Cagle is looking for Drummond and the others; “You’re marked as a Level Three threat.” (Blake feels rather proud to rate at the top of the scale.) Carla is part of a cell of five people located in Chicago; the others are Amy Bronson, Compton Ferris, Neil Parson, and Vic Daniels. Other cells exist in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Cagle contacts their cell through Compton Ferris when he wants something done. She was told she would have backup in London.

Jeremy orders room service – “Send up a smorgasbord” – then goes to talk with Darvich about flight. Soon Darvich is spouting all kinds of technical terms about lift coefficients, tractor beams, windbreak fields… Jeremy understands enough to know that he is talking about human flight without a vehicle. “Have you built one of these things?” he asks. “Yes, but they stopped working.” “Would you build me one?” “Okay, just a minute.” Darvich jumps up off the sofa, goes into the kitchen, produces a multipurpose tool from somewhere, and begins taking apart the microwave.

Leaving Carla and Newhurst in the bedroom, Blake finds a quiet corner, flips open his cellphone, and calls Tom Cartley. Cartley is on the road, headed back to Cleveland from Baltimore. Blake instructs him to run full profiles on all five members of Carla’s cell as well as Robert Cagle, and send men to Chicago to pick up Compton Ferris. Then Blake phones his administrative assistant Sara Summers in Dallas. She reports that one of their operatives has been hospitalized at Parkland, and another is in pursuit of “either one layered team or three separate ones.” She has hired another security agency to guard the office. Sara had had to call in favors from members of the Dallas Police Department, specifically Lieutenant Johansson and Captain Carothers. Concludes Sara, “We’re pursuing all avenues, pushing our resources.” “You mean your resources,” Blake replies. He wants the groups identified, then he will decide what’s to be done.

Blake takes Kef aside. He wants to get hold of Cagle, but is out of ideas as to how to go about it. She suggests he lean on the lawyer, Edward Carver.

Room service arrives. Darvich accepts a sandwich, then starts taking apart the delivery cart. Newhurst describes Carla as “fairly amoral.” Jeremy hands Newhurst the printout of Darvich’s comic book so she can read it. Axle checks the hotel grounds outside.

Blake phones Los Angeles and connects to Edward Carver. “You know that prison you’ve been visiting? You’re liable to wind up on the other side for passing drugs.” Carver starts to deny it, but Blake adds, “I have you on tape.” Carver’s demeanor changes. However, he claims he isn’t working for Carothers. Blake demands his employer’s contact info.

Several minutes later, Blake gets a call. The bug planted on Carver previously is still working. Carver had called a cellphone number in southern California and put out a hit on the fake Carothers for late tonight. Blake instructs, “Get him somewhere he won’t be killed, then let the police know that’s not Carothers.”

As Carla dozes, Kef spends some time sifting through her mind. Carla would normally only contact Cagle through Compton, but there was another method by which she could place a coded personal ad in the Miami daily newspaper. She doesn’t know the names of any of Cagle’s people other than in her cell, but she thinks he also has international cells. The information she has seen on Blake and Jeremy mentions that they associate with someone called Butch and possibly a woman who is a mage.

Blake goes looking for Newhurst and finds her in the kitchen along with Jeremy and Steve, watching Darvich at work (he has disassembled most of the kitchen appliances). He asks her what she knows about Carothers. “You were involved in the downfall of Deathwish,” she replies, “and you took over that security company from Carothers.” Blake tells Newhurst that the Carothers in prison is fake. She says it ties in with the direction of events, but she doesn’t know who’s financing Carlton. “Cagle is running the intel branch for Major Carlton, but he’s not financing him.” She also mentions that Carothers had been imprisoned before. Blake says, “I think he never went to prison” and suggests that he might not have become Cagle immediately. Blake tells her he wants the fake Carothers “taken out of circulation” so he won’t be killed (before Blake gets a chance to question him). Axle awakens briefly from his doze, suggests they check DNA records, and goes back to sleep. Jeremy suggests Carothers may have been switched after he walked into the prison, implying that the warden was involved.

Blake, regarding Newhurst (and possibly influenced by Kef’s fears): “Right now, we’re riding the same track. What about later?” Jeremy: “Tell her to get off the bus!”

Jeremy reveals that as instructed, he had booked the suite under the Infinite Solutions name. At this time Blake considers it a bad idea for all the IS people to be in the same place, and goes down to the lobby to book another suite (this one on the third floor, whereas Jeremy’s is on the 8th). Newhurst remarks to Jeremy, “You live a complicated life. Is it always like this?” Replies Jeremy, “No, sometimes it’s worse.”

By the time Blake returns from downstairs, Darvich has finished the flying belt. Jeremy’s eager to test it out. Darvich outlines the belt’s capabilities: it has a top speed of 200 mph, can carry up to three people, and generates a windscreen. He isn’t quite sure, though, how far the power supply will take it, though he’s certain there’s at least 45 minutes’ flight at top speed. Jeremy asks Blake if he wants to go on the test flight. Blake: “Are you going up until it stops?” Jeremy: “That would be stupid.” Blake: “So are you going up until it stops?” Blake agrees to go (partly because he doesn’t believe the device will work). Then Jeremy invites Newhurst, who jumps at the chance. Darvich helps Jeremy into the flying belt, points out the controls and gauges, and gives Jeremy a headset with which to communicate with Darvich, who will be his ground crew. Jeremy goes on a brief solo flight to get accustomed to the controls. He returns to the balcony, activates a ‘tractor field’ that grasps Newhurst and Blake around their waists, and the three of them take to the air. (Axle woke up again and considerately turned off the lights in the suite so they wouldn’t be silhouetted.) While the flight is a lot of fun, Blake suggests that Jeremy might want to conserve the batteries in case he needs to use the flight belt later.

Intrigued by the fact that Carla accepts magic-users as fact, Kef delves into the woman’s past. Carla Newton (which is indeed her real name) grew up traveling throughout the midwest with a carnival out of Denver. Several performers in the carnival possessed actual metahuman talents, including her mother, a touch telepath, and her father, a strongman (he was of ordinary build, but had three times the strength of a normal man). There was a mage with a few fire spells, a telekinetic, a mimic, and an acrobat with perfect balance. The only special skill Carla inherited was her mind shield. She had been away at college when her parents were killed in an accident; no one would tell her exactly what had happened. After this Carla started getting into detective work and “spy stuff,” and it was her knowledge of unusual things that led to her being hired by Cagle. Blaming the carnival for her parents’ death, she readily gave them up to Cagle, though she doesn’t think he’s followed up on that lead. She isn’t sure what Cagle’s motives are, but she doesn’t really care, either.

Kef withdraws from Carla’s mind, stands up and stretches. Blake approaches her and they talk. Blake seems concerned about Kef, and she expresses to him her misgivings about “government involvement” in their group’s doings. “You know what the government does with ‘special people’, don’t you? Either you’re forced to work for them, or they lock you away… Sure, the Fed claims she’s on our side, wants to help us, but what happens the first time we don’t do things her way?” She expresses irritation with Enigma, asking “What real help has he ever given us?” Blake mentions that Enigma had disappeared the evil urn (an artifact owned by Cinnamon Winters) and taken Frances Gray off their hands, but Kef hints that Enigma may be the source of the “very weird stuff” that has been happening over the past four years. Blake points out that if it hadn’t been for Enigma the members of their group wouldn’t have met each other, “and you’d still be having visions, and what would you do about them?” Replies Kef, “Whatever I could… like I always did,” but her defiant gaze falters a bit.

Carla has awakened, and Jeremy says to her, “So when are your friends coming? Are you just letting them walk into this buzzsaw? You don’t like them much, do you?” She admits that Compton had been in Baltimore with her, and that she had been supposed to call him within an hour of the plane’s landing.

Blake takes Kef, Paula, and Axle down to the third-floor suite. Blake and Kef take one room, Paula takes the other, and Axle gets the couch. Blake tries to calm Kef’s fears by telling her how he envisions “this team thing,” and by touching her. “The six of us have a unique opportunity to help the world. These strange situations were probably going on all the time. We just did not see them. We get to use our talents to stop horrible evil. Yes, I agree that some of these situations are aimed directly at us, but that is just one of the risks that comes with living. You had visions before you ever met the others and me, but now you don’t have to face these occurrences alone. You need to relax, and live. Quit worrying so much about everything (even though I agree with you about the government). You have transferred your fear and distrust of Enigma to Paula. Paula is a little quirky, but she is more like you than you think. Like you, she has a gift. Like you, she feels can’t control her gift as well as she should. She cares for you, and she’s sensitive to your behavior towards her. We are more alive now than most people, and we are on the side of good. That is hard to beat.” Blake and Kef continue to talk until they both fall asleep.

Axle awakens himself around 5:00am and goes out quietly to make his rounds. He notices that a different desk clerk is on duty. Out front he sees a sedan of the same style the mercs had been driving; its hood is still warm, and in the back seat are several bundles covered in blankets. There’s another car around back in a good observation position. Axle heads toward a nearby coffee shop, which lets him pass close enough to see that someone is in the car. He notes that the coffee shop doesn’t open until 6:00am. Out of sight of the car, Axle pulls out his cell phone and dials Sara Summers in Dallas. “Call Blake and tell him he’s got company. At least two people, and they’ve brought gifts. Tell him I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Blake’s cellphone wakes him up, and as he listens to what Sara has to tell him he slips out of bed and gets dressed. He phones Steve and fills him in, concluding, “I thought I’d get you moving to do what you do.” Blake calls Axle for an update. Then he wakes up Kef, who relates a dream she had just had. Two hotel maids pushing a cart stop in front of the 8th floor suite, open the door with their master key, push the cart inside, and close the door behind them. There’s no sign of Jeremy or Steve. One maid pulls out a machine pistol, enters one of the bedrooms, and shoots Judy Newhurst dead. The other uses a tranquilizer gun on Igor Darvich. Kef recognizes one of the maids as Amy Bronson, a member of Carla Newton’s cell. Blake heads for the stairwell as Kef goes toward the elevators.

Steve has awakened Jeremy, who goes and wakes up Darvich and tells him, “They’re coming to get you again. Go in the room with the young lady that’s all taped up and be very quiet.” He instructs Newhurst, “You’re protecting Mr. Darvich. If some demon comes through the TV… don’t go with him.” Steve helps Jeremy into the flying harness; Jeremy activates the tractor field, and they take to the air.

Axle has managed to get the coffee shop to open a little early. He buys a loaf of day-old French bread. Out of sight, he scrounges up a length of rebar and conceals it in the bread loaf. Then he starts walking in the general direction of the occupied car. By now Axle’s certain the man is one of the mercs.

Jeremy sees someone following Axle, weapon in hand. He points this out to Steve, who fires through the windscreen. As Axle is about to pass the car, he suddenly spins around and smashes the driver’s-side window with his reinforced loaf.

Blake reaches the lobby. He finds a cleaning lady (concealing a trank gun), the desk clerk (pistol), and a lounging man (pistol and knife). Blake walks up to the front desk, leans over it, and shoots the desk clerk in both legs.

Axle smacks the surprised merc in the face with his bread (aka “buns of steel”). Jeremy zooms downward and releases Steve to land with a solid thump atop the merc’s car.

The desk clerk falls down, screaming in agony. Blake turns and fires at Lounging Man (LM), who dives for cover. Jeremy flies up about 60’ and sees several people in motion – one from the front of the hotel (FH), another bearing an AK47 (AK). The merc in the car (MC) draws his gun. LM calls out “Go, go!” Steve aims at FH. Axle whacks MC in the hand; the hand goes limp, and the weapon flies away.

Blake realizes the cleaning lady has left the lobby. He takes a step and aims at LM. Kef, who has reached the 8th floor and concealed herself in a niche, hears someone pushing a cart up the corridor. LM pops his head up briefly, then ducks down again. Jeremy zooms toward AK intending to kick or slam him. Axle pops open the back door lock.

Blake takes another step and waits for LM to pop up again. When he does, Blake fires three shots, two of which strike LM in the head. AK fires off a wild burst, missing Jeremy completely. Steve kills FH, who had paused at the sound of the burst, with a single well-placed shot. Jeremy activates the ‘grabber’ and pulls AK straight up into the air. AK promptly loses his last meal and his gun as well. As he rises above the hotel, Jeremy sees two snipers on the roof. Axle flicks the remaining bread off his rebar and gets into the back seat.

Sniper 1 shouts and tries to aim at Jeremy, who commences flying in zigzags toward them. AK is still being sick. Axle puts the rebar across MC’s neck and pulls back hard. Blake goes over to the desk clerk and finishes him off with a shot to the chest, then heads for the elevators.

Jeremy lines up on the snipers, dives toward them in a bombardier run, and releases AK. Blood spurts, guns fly, and both snipers (as well as AK) are KO’ed.

Kef hears the cart stop. An elevator dings. The cart starts moving again.

Axle yanks the driver’s seat back and drags MC into the back seat.

Kef hears another elevator ding. She realizes the first ding she heard must have been from the service elevator.

Jeremy sees two more cars racing toward the hotel. Suddenly one of them makes a U-turn and drives off, while the other continues. Jeremy flies over toward Steve.

Axle dumps the unconscious MC out of the car.

Blake strides purposefully up the hallway. At the door to the suite he sees two women and a cleaning cart. He also sees Kef walking quietly toward them from the other direction. Blake makes as though he’s walking on past the maids, who move aside for him, but suddenly he turns and puts his gun to the head of the woman with the trank gun (TW). TW stiffens, the other maid (GW) fast-draws her weapon and Blake shoots GW in the head. Kef comes up with her pistol aimed and says quietly to TW, “Don’t try anything.”

Jeremy picks up Steve and tells him about the two cars. Steve instructs him, “Drop me in front of the hotel and we’ll take care of this.” As soon as the two men show weapons, Steve nails them both.

It is now 6:05am, Monday, May 2.

[August 27, 2005]

It is shortly after 6:00am local time in Dublin, Ireland. The group has just foiled an apparent attempt by mercenaries to kidnap Igor Darvich and possibly kill the rest of them. Just outside the eighth floor hotel suite, Kef keeps her gun trained on Amy Bronson while Blake loads the dead body of Amy’s partner (who had had the bad sense to pull a gun on Blake) into the housekeeping cart. Blake alerts FBI Special Agent Judy Newhurst that he’s about to enter the suite, then wheels in the cart. Blake checks with Axle, who reports “I’m in one of their cars and I’m coming around. Where are we going after that?” Responds a rather harried Blake, “One thing at a time.”

Carla Newton barely exchanges glances with Amy. Blake inquires of Carla, “We’re not going to have any trouble out of you, are we? I’m not in a good mood.” Both Carla and Amy behave meekly, as their lives depend on seeming subdued and harmless.

Blake and Kef gather up the captives along with Newhurst, Darvich, and Paula and take the back elevator down to the rear of the hotel, where Steve, Axle, and Jeremy get everyone loaded into two cars. From toward the front of the hotel, a scream pierces the air; one of the guests must have come upon the bloody scene in the lobby. Sternly Blake warns Carla and Amy yet again, “If you cause any problems at all, we’ll push you out of the car as it’s moving.” Axle, from the driver’s seat, calls out “That’s a good idea – car… moving…”

The two cars head for the airport. In the car Steve’s driving, Paula sits in the front passenger seat, with Amy flanked by Blake and Kef in the back. Tapping into Amy’s mind, Kef reads a great deal of worry, wondering how their targets were tipped off, concern after Carla didn’t check in, orders from the boss, Cagle, to go to Dublin and find the old man, a military unit as a diversion. Aloud Amy asks, “Do you always keep guards in the hall? You were laying for us!” Blake: “Did you know we had the asset?” Amy: “We thought you did. I was assigned to neutralize the old man.” There were ten people in her assault team. Compton Ferris and the other two members of her cell are out at the airport.

Blake takes Amy’s cellphone and looks over the few numbers it has called. Amy says that the leader of the merc team is Joe McBride. Blake phones McBride. “I’m calling to arrange a truce… and a trade for Amy.” McBride drawls, “I’m assuming y’all are the FBI truckers?” Blake: “Your group attacked us – we were minding our own business.” McBride: “You don’t seem to be the kind to kill unnecessarily.” Blake: “I’m sure Amy wants to continue this path she’s chosen.” After several minutes’ tense exchange, McBride agrees to Blake’s rules of engagement and promises that he won’t kill Amy. After cutting the phone connection, Blake looks at Amy. “Hopefully, we will never meet again.” “What about Carla?” Amy asks. Blake muses, “I like Carla; I might keep her.”

Axle leads the way to the back side of the airport, trying to get as close to the jet as possible. Blake and Kef both see a sniper and a spotter on the ground about 70 yards from the plane, clad in camouflage, watching the front of the hangar intently. Steve and Blake figure there’s another sniper/spotter pair on the other side of the hangar.

Amy’s phone chimes and Blake answers. Now McBride wants Carla, too, in exchange for letting the group fly out unmolested. Blake mutes Amy’s phone and uses his own to call Jeremy; Jeremy hands his phone to Newhurst, who holds it to Carla’s ear. Blake: “I have a situation here. They want you back. Do you want to go back?” Carla: “Yes.” Jeremy: “You don’t think they could hit me anyway, do you?” Blake speaks to McBride again, agreeing to the deal.

The group pulls up to the hangar and dashes inside. Newhurst stands guard over Carla and Amy. Blake and Kef report that the security in the hangar had been bypassed expertly. Axle checks the exterior of the airplane, including the hydraulics, for sabotage. Jeremy goes over the interior, and when he opens the smuggler’s hold, he finds the group’s own explosives have been wired together! Fetching Steve and Blake, Jeremy tells them, “I don’t know how to undo what they did. We’re not leaving on this plane.” After looking things over, Steve says the explosives are wired to a remote detonator, but appear deliberately easy to defuse, and he does so. Jeremy tests the fuel in the tanks for contamination. Out in the hangar Blake locates two surveillance cameras and dabs grease on their lenses.

Kef goes to the center of the jet’s cabin and looks into the recent past. Two commandos board the plane. One goes aft, stops and places something small under a seat cushion, then searches meticulously until he locates the smuggler’s hold. He signals to the other man, who comes aft and wires the explosives. The second man then takes some plastique, shapes it, and places it in the WC while the first man conceals another small device elsewhere in the cabin. The men had also scanned the cockpit but neither touched anything. Kef signals to Steve who removes the two listening devices, and he easily defuses the C4 in the WC.

Jeremy calls the company from which he had earlier rented a helicopter. “I need to rent a plane to fly to America.” The company promises it will be readied and delivered to Jeremy’s hangar in an hour. Jeremy phones airport facilities and arranges to rent his plane’s hangar; “My plane is not ready to be flown.”

Axle suggests taking the C4 that Steve removed from the WC, sitting Carla and Amy together in the hangar with the C4 underneath their chairs, and Blake cleaning off one of the camera lenses and training it on the two captives. Blake: “We don’t have the detonator.” Jeremy: “I know who can make one!” Blake: “They don’t play fair, do they?” Carla speaks up: “They play for keeps.”

Kef suggests that Blake get Newhurst’s advice on how to proceed. Newhurst says “keep your deal” with the mercs, and get out ASAP when the new plane arrives.

With Darvich’s help Jeremy straps on the flyer. “I’m not standing on the tarmac preflighting that thing,” so he’s going to do that at the rental company’s hangar. Staying just a few inches above the ground, Jeremy zips over to the other hangar. “Let me check the top,” he says, flying up over the jet. Axle has Darvich ask Jeremy if we should all go over there to the other hangar. Blake says he doesn’t want to risk more innocents, and Kef nods in support.

The new plane is towed to the hangar. No untoward activity is seen from the mercs. Jeremy files a flight plan with an eventual destination of Dallas, and invites Darvich to sit in the copilot’s seat. By 8:00am the plane is loaded. Blake has last words with Carla and Amy. “If y’all survive this, I hope we never meet again. If you are assigned to watch us, I hope you refuse. Not many survive more than one meeting with us… right, Amy?”

Jeremy taxis the jet away from the hangar; Kef reports that the mercs aren’t moving. As the jet rolls toward the runway, Blake calls McBride. “Do you see your ladies?” “Affirmative. What type of trigger?” “Same as in the bathroom – you have the trigger. You guys are sneaky!” McBride: “Evidently we need a refresher course.” From the cockpit Jeremy calls back, “Tell them that if there’s even a scratch on my plane, I’ll never let them live it down!”

The jet is airborne. Blake: “Tell your boss we’d like to talk to him, come to a mutual understanding.” McBride: “The major is going to be royally p*ssed.” Blake: “He should reassess his goals. We’re getting close to being upset.” McBride: “You have neutralized my team. I’ve taken 50% losses.” Blake: “Most conflicts end badly so far.” McBride: “There are things going on that make no sense, but I’ve had bosses that made even less sense.”

Kef senses Blake’s relief as their jet flies safely away from Dublin. As Blake keeps rattling on and on with McBride, increasing cockiness in his tone, Kef gives him an emphatic throat-slashing gesture. Blake takes the hint (the phone signal was breaking up anyway) and signs off. “You got what you wanted, Blake. No need to be taunting the merc.”

Axle figures out a way to plug in Jeremy’s flying belt to recharge. The group discusses where they should go next. The decision is made that most of the weaponry, explosives, etc. will have to be dumped into the Atlantic Ocean before we land anywhere. Darvich is allowed to pick through and keep whatever he finds useful, and the group will retain the medkits and the tranquilizer gun.

Blake phones California. “Good morning!” Fred Stevens says cheerily. The fake Carothers is secure, having been transferred to another prison facility. Edward Carver, the lawyer, has been scrambling; he has a meeting at 1:00pm PDT, and Stevens is placing appropriate assets. A DNA test will be conducted on the fake Carothers. A “very gung-ho” FBI agent is organizing a federal probe of the prison officials who might had been involved in the switch, and is “keeping us moderately out of it” exposure-wise. Stevens concludes, “The last three or four days have been very interesting.” Replies Blake, “Welcome to my entire life. Get some rest, I’ll be in touch.”

Jeremy switches on the autopilot. He comes back to the cabin to sit near Newhurst and ask her about her partner, Quentin Page. “He doesn’t understand my obsession with your organization,” she admits. “Officially, we have an information source we will not compromise. He agrees with me on this.” Retorts Jeremy, “For now – until he decides he needs a promotion, or that you’ve gone over the edge.” “He’s not that kind of man,” Newhurst says assuringly. “And I don’t intend to turn you over to anybody. I’ll just smooth over the rough edges you leave behind,” this last with a glance at Blake. Blake shoots back, “You’re not our enemy… yet.” A lively group discussion ensues. Finally Kef raises her hands and her voice and declares, “Enough! We’re wasting our energy. Cagle and Carlton and McLeon are our problem right now. Let’s agree – for now we stay wary of Newhurst, she keeps trying to prove we have nothing to worry about from her.”

Jeremy observes, “Cagle is a control freak. He runs his own cells. Things are blowing up in Los Angeles, so I think he’s there.”

Kef phones Andrew Barrow, whom she left at an inn near London. He is very chipper and quite pleased with himself. As a result of one of his visions, he had located Bob Taylor’s comic book collection and is preparing it to be shipped back to Baltimore. The London area is abuzz with news of the breakup of a terrorist meeting, fire and explosions at the asylum, and something about shootings at a hotel in Dublin.

Blake calls Sara Summers in Dallas. She reports that someone had made a pass at their office with bullets and Molotovs; no people were hurt, the damage was minor, so she figures it was a distraction, or an attempt to attract police attention. No one is watching the assets now. She had to deal with the police; they want to talk to Blake. They had pursued two or three groups that had been watching them, got nothing except two of their own agents had been hospitalized. One group appeared Middle Eastern, another group (military) had contained African-Americans. None of them were from the government. Blake wants identification of at least one of those groups – “You have three bites at the apple.” Also, “Don’t go anywhere near Infinite Solutions HQ. If you even drive by, I want you to turn your head.”

Around noon GMT, with no ships or boats or other planes anywhere in the vicinity, Axle and Steve dump several crates overboard.

Jeremy asks Darvich, “Is there any reason you can’t go home?” Newhurst checks FBI files, discovering that Darvich was under investigation for some mysterious deaths in the 1950s, then was involved in something – protests? – in San Francisco in 1968. Steve works up a passport and identification for Darvich, asking him what name he wants to use. “I like the name Warbucks,” Darvich muses, “and the name Kerry.”

At 1:30 Jeremy lands in Brunswick, Newfoundland. Newhurst agrees that she can’t enter the US on their jet, so she will catch a commercial flight to Baltimore, and then fly out to Los Angeles.

By 2:00pm we are once again airborne. Since no one has a strong idea of where to go other than “not Dallas,” Jeremy heads toward St Louis. Kef curls up to catch a nap. Blake calls Tom Cartley, who is in Chicago. Axle orders a truck to haul stuff to Dallas.

Kef awakens at 3:00pm CDT, just as Jeremy is landing in St Louis. Nearby, Blake is awake, so she relates a vision she had just had. She was looking out over a city skyline lit by afternoon sun. Her point of view swept in toward one of the upper floors of a particular office building. Through the glass she peered into a conference room, well decorated and plush. Two men were seated at the conference table. One of them was Major Carlton, dressed in a conservative business suit. The other she recognized from media coverage as Don Matthews, a so-called “dotcom millionaire” known to be interested in New Age stuff, so Kef also realized the skyline she had seen was in Denver. The time indicated on Carlton’s wristwatch was 6:30. Kef feels this meeting will be taking place today.

Blake remembers that his frequent client Abraham Donaldson does business with Don Matthews, and gives him a call. Donaldson readily supplies the address – Stoddard Building, Suite 1500 – and phone number for Matthews’ company. He describes Matthews as having a unique personality, “eccentric and weird.” Blake: “If his stock takes a dive, it won’t affect you, right?” Donaldson: “So he’s the focus of one of your special investigations?” Blake: “I cannot confirm or deny…”

Darvich, after seeing how the flying belt performs, tells Jeremy he figures a four-hour cruise time at its top speed of 200 mph. Jeremy asks about a solar charger. “We’ll just work the panels onto the top of the next plane I buy.”

At 4:15pm MDT Jeremy lands the jet at Denver International. Blake rents two V8 sedans with large trunks. Jeremy asks around and finds out that there is a helipad near the Stoddard Building. Steve freshens up the makeup for those who are in disguise.

The cars are delivered at 4:30pm. Blake, Kef, Paula, and Steve are in one car, Axle, Darvich, and Jeremy in the other. In an alley downtown Axle pulls in between two semis at a loading dock. Jeremy pulls out the flyer from the trunk and Darvich helps him don it. Jeremy flies up to the top of the Stoddard building and lands between two huge AC units where he can watch the helipad. Blake, Steve, and Axle case the outside of the building.

By 5:30pm Blake is in the lobby of the Stoddard Building, Steve is outside near the entrance. Axle has taken Darvich shopping at a nearby Radio Shack, and Darvich is currently sitting on the sidewalk tinkering with a radio-controlled car.

An armored Town Car with dark tinted windows pulls up. Carlton and two bodyguards emerge, all of them wearing body armor. The limo pulls away. Steve reports that another man is across the street watching the entrance, but he doesn’t seem to have ‘made’ either Steve or Blake. Blake announces that he will shoot each one once with the trank gun (which contains three shots). Steve repositions; Kef slides behind the wheel of the car Blake was driving.

Blake fires at the lead bodyguard (B1) and hits him in the leg. B1 missteps and the other bodyguard (B2) notices. Blake’s second shot strikes Carlton, who doesn’t appear to feel it. B2 fails to dodge Blake’s third shot. B1 and B2 turn to face Blake; Carlton turns his head. Blake fast-draws his pistol and steps forward, leveling the gun at B2’s head. First B1, then Carlton collapse to the floor. B2 fast-draws his gun. Blake fires twice at B2’s shoulder; most of the damage is stopped by Kevlar, but the impact may have hit a nerve because B2 drops his gun. Then B2 falls down.

Steve rushes up, waving an official-looking wallet. “Special building security!” he booms, “Everyone clear the area!” He starts barking orders at the security guard. Steve pulls B1’s gun, pops out two shells, and places the gun under B1’s hand.

Amid the chaos Blake grabs Carlton and radios, “Kef, I’m coming out.” Kef pulls up and Blake “helps” Carlton into the back seat.

Jeremy flies up over the edge of the building. Carlton’s third bodyguard (B3), who finally realizes that the Major is being taken, reaches for his phone. Blake: “What about the guy across the street?” Jeremy: “I got him!” Jeremy flies down, gets hold of B3 with the tractor field, then soars back upward. B3 not only throws up, he drops his phone. Jeremy leaves B3 atop a building across the way.

Axle picks up Steve and Jeremy. Kef and Axle drive to the airport. Major Carlton, thoroughly unconscious, is loaded onto the plane. The rental cars are returned. Shortly after 6:30pm the jet is airborne, with Jeremy heading toward an airport in Long Beach, California. ETA is 7:00pm PDT.

Kef very successfully taps into Carlton’s mind and immediately relates surprising news: Carlton is running the show! It’s Cagle who reports to Carlton, not the other way around as the group had believed. Carlton had sprung Carothers from jail and inserted the fake. He wanted Carothers’ knowledge from his involvement with the group’s activities.

But why is Carlton after us?

[September 10, 2005]

It is around 7:00pm PDT May 2, 2005 when Jeremy brings the jet in for a landing at Long Beach, California. On the flight from Denver, Kef has been searching through the unconscious Major Carlton’s mind, prompted by Blake’s questions. Carlton is a megalomaniac, working to change the world according to his own vision. He is very intelligent and his mind is highly structured and organized. He also possesses strong intuition, which enables him to make leaps in logic. He had planned to make the military his career, but at his 20-year mark on July 1, 2003, he opted out. This was after he had investigated the paranormal events in Alabama. His intuition allowed him to put two and two together and figure out what happened at the graveyard and even what sort of summoned creature was involved. He intends to use Igor Darvich’s device on the entire world to unleash latent metahuman abilities, then spearhead the New Age that is bound to follow and manipulate it to his own ends. He believes (intuitively) that when these powers are awakened in the genetically fortunate few of the world, he will himself possess them to a high degree. Estimates that up to 10% of those exposed to the device will die immediately, and countless others will be killed in the ensuing turmoil, do not bother him at all.

Carlton sprang Marvin Carothers from prison in May 2004. The same plastic surgeon that resculpted the substitute’s features into Carothers’ also made Carothers look like financier Robert Cagle. (The real Cagle is still alive, being maintained in a drug-induced coma in a sanitarium in Europe. The plan is that when Carothers’ prison term is up, Cagle will be brought back to resume his own identity.) Carlton’s investigations had linked Carothers with Deathwish and the supernatural events surrounding that rock band. Carlton, working through lawyer Edward Carver, had made the offer to Carothers and then bribed four prison officials so the substitution could be made.

Carlton is not very happy with Carothers, however. In Carothers’ burning desire to get revenge on Blake Drummond and the others, he had done things that forced Carlton’s hand.

Carlton had hooked millionaire Don Matthews, a big believer in the New Age, into funding his elaborate yet meticulously planned schemes. He had pushed all the right buttons with Matthews, even making him believe that he, Matthews, was running the show.

Carlton was able to draw the IRA into his circle after Sean McLeon had stumbled upon rumors about Darvich’s device. Carlton figures that McLeon will eventually try to double-cross him, and stands ready to dispose of him when that occurs.

Carothers built Carlton’s intel groups. Carlton is amassing an extensive database of paranormal events and abilities that have sprung up around the world. Kef obtains the contact protocols Carlton uses with Carothers.

Casting a spell, Paula reads in Carlton’s aura the potential for magery along with what she describes as “swirls” of psionic abilities and “something like Darvich.” This verifies Carlton’s intuitive knowledge that he himself is latent for metahuman talents.

Kef recalls a Rhine Institute study from about five years ago that concluded that approximately one out of every 1,000,000 people possessed any psi abilities, and in only a fraction of those were the abilities demonstrable and measurable. Axle, who had read the same study, says that the numbers are more concentrated in the technologically advanced nations. The theory is that when minds are free from concentrating on day-to-day survival, higher functions are able to develop. “Or maybe it’s sunspot activity,” says Axle, “and the ‘psychic boomers’ are coming of age.”

At the airport, the group rents a limo and a second car. Axle, Jeremy, Paula, and Darvich get into the limo. Blake, Steve, and Kef bundle Carlton into the second car.

Blake phones the head of Solution Security in Los Angeles, Fred Stevens. “It’s definitely interesting working for you,” Stevens says cheerfully. He doesn’t know Cagle’s whereabouts. Carver, who is still being tailed, left his office 30-40 minutes ago headed for a meeting in downtown LA. “That’s a ripple effect of me coming into the area,” says Blake. “Let me know where Carver winds up.”

As the group heads for Solution Security’s office in Beverly Hills, Kef continues gleaning information from Carlton’s mind. Matthews has no way to contact anyone else in Carlton’s organization. Carlton had a fourth bodyguard in Denver, not just the three that we picked up on. The bodyguard would have notified Carothers through a contact point that Carlton had been taken. Carlton has an opponent in the NSA, an agent named Kenneth Stimberg, that he wants to have killed. While he is aware that Blake and Jeremy have done things that disrupted his plans, to Carlton we are of only peripheral concern. It is Carothers who obsesses over Blake et al. Carlton is almost annoyed enough with Carothers to have him eliminated; however, Carothers currently controls all the intel assets. He is good at this, although he has still not tiered his structure like the major wants him to.

Jeremy, who has been watching Darvich take apart various things in the back seat of the limo, asks what damage has been done. Darvich has, among other things, increased the efficiency of the beverage maker.

At 7:50pm we arrive at Solution Security. The 7th floor offices are a beehive of activity. The receptionist greets Blake and inquires as to our needs; Blake asks for a large conference room with all surveillance nullified, and a technician with a non-networked computer. “Let Stevens know where I am – he’ll be happy I’m here.”

Once in the conference room, Blake buzzes the receptionist. When she arrives, he hands her three empty hypos from the tranquilizer gun and three full ones. “Get that drug analyzed, and when you figure out what it is, get some more and fill the empties. Don’t stick yourself.”

A hulking guy arrives with a computer under each arm, giving his name as Jethro. Blake tells Darvich that Jethro will be his assistant, and tells Jethro, “Assist the doctor, keep me informed, and try not to let anything go boom.” Jethro looks alarmed until Blake assures him he meant a “metaphorical” boom. Adds Axle, “Think ‘crash’.” Resting one hand on his flyer, Jeremy says proudly, “He built this out of a microwave, a refrigerator, and a serving cart – and it goes 200 miles per hour.”

Kef relates that Carlton and Carothers typically hold their meetings in a rented space in New York. Carlton runs three combat squads of 20 each, one in Los Angeles (headed by Bob Gasin), another in Dallas (Sam Rodriguez), and the third in Washington, DC (Joe McBride). Carlton’s actual base of operations is in Detroit; the New York office is an elaborate fake which Carlton mainly uses when he meets with clients (he has worked as a military and intelligence consultant; his clients have included the US government). Kef obtains the codes to the security system; there is no live security on-site. Blake phones Tom Cartley in Cleveland and sends him up to the Detroit office with instructions to “box up everything and take it – computer files, furniture, everything – and ship it to Dallas.” (Blake asks Axle to make the shipping arrangements.) “Keep the Chicago stuff going with a skeleton crew. Call me if you see Cagle.”

Carlton’s key people have been identified as Carothers, Carver, the three combat team commanders (who aren’t apprised of his grand scheme; they are fed a patriotic line and are well paid besides), and an admin guy in Atlanta named Carl Wyatt.

Blake calls Deputy Stan Tyson in Alabama, who answers on the fourth ring. Blake gives him a quick synopsis. “The IRA and the mercs weren’t after us – we were just in the way.” Tyson relates that about four hours ago the Feds came and got Dan Taylor and shipped him to DC. “Oh, and I’ve got you guys’ cat, or so the Grays tell me.” Aside to Kef, Blake asks, “Do you want the cat back?” Kef replies, “If the cat’s in Alabama, it must belong in Alabama.” To Tyson, Blake says, “Please ask the Grays to feed it.” Blake mentions Carl Wyatt, then explains, “I’ve barred myself from having dealings in Atlanta, but if you have a way to do so, tell me where he is.” Tyson, cautiously: “How important is this, Blake?” Blake: “This started in your jurisdiction and mushroomed into a worldwide phenomenon!” Tyson: “I don’t know that I should feel honored.” Blake: “Do you watch CNN? That’s your jurisdiction’s fault!” (Kef gives Blake a sharp look.) “He has committed crimes –“ Tyson: “But you don’t know which ones, yet.” Tyson makes no promises, but will do what he can.

About 8:30pm, as the tranquilizer wears off and Carlton starts to awaken, Blake injects him with “happy juice.” Carlton has been ziptied to a chair, facing so that he can only see Blake and not the rest of the conference room. Kef settles behind him out of sight. Dim alarm bells go off in his mind at the sight of Blake Drummond, but Carlton succumbs to the drug’s effects. “How are you doing, Major?” “I’m fine, Mr Drummond. I don’t know why you have me tied up… I apologize for Cagle; he went postal. It was unintentional, I assure you. I’ll smooth it over.”

Axle visits Solution Security’s well-stocked armory, reloads. He wanders around the office, where several people are monitoring Fred Stevens’ field reports. Carver has been tracked to a restaurant area.

Blake pulls out Carlton’s cell phone. “What’s the number for Cagle?” “Speed dial 13.” Carlton asks to be untied; Blake placates him with “Come on, a talented man like you would cause all kinds of mischief if he was loose. Unbinding you would be awkward.” Carlton: “We can work together!” Blake: “I’m sure earlier events were just business on your part, not revenge." Blake wants Carlton to talk to Cagle, but Carlton warns him it would tip Cagle off. Blake asks Jethro for some special phone devices. Jethro immediately produces a cell phone, opens it and makes a few quick adjustments (as Darvich watches avidly), then tosses it to Blake. Impressed, Blake says, “When this is over, you and I are gonna have a talk. I didn’t know you could do that.” Replies Jethro matter-of-factly, “You’re not supposed to be able to.” Blake says, “I smell a raise in your future,” drawing a big grin from Jethro.

Turning once again to Carlton, Blake asks directly, “You were going to rule the world, was that your plan?” Carlton struggles against the drug but loses. “With your knowledge you could help accelerate the process. I could definitely find a place for you.” Blake: “What about all the innocent people?” Carlton: “The world would become a much better place! We would eliminate poverty, eliminate the unfit!” Blake: “But what about all the dead?” Carlton: “You believe in the afterlife, don’t you? They’ll be better off there.” Blake: “What kind of casualties are you talking about, out of six billion people?” Carlton: “No more than five or ten percent.” Blake: “I’m not good at math, but isn’t that six hundred million people?” Carlton: “But with that device McLeon dug up, we could mitigate that, get it down to one percent! What about it? Are you in?” Blake: “There’s a hole in your theory. The device will only work as long as Darvich wants it to work. You do know that, don’t you?” Carlton: “I can persuade him. He doesn’t have to know everything.”

Stevens reports to Blake that Carver has arrived at DelValcheo’s restaurant. Stevens has one person inside keeping an eye out for Cagle. Blake instructs, “See if the person Carver’s with answers his phone.” Stevens: “But it’s a private room…” Blake, sharply: “Why do I hear excuses? I want to hear ‘yes, boss’. All I want to know is if he answers the phone.”

Axle suggests switching keys around at the restaurant’s valet stand, to slow down Carver’s departure. “Do that,” Blake grins, “use your talents.” At Kef’s suggestion, Blake asks Steve to go down and lead the restaurant effort. Jeremy, overhearing, asks “Who’s Steve going to get? Don’t you want to talk to the guy?” Jeremy will take Steve and Axle using his flyer. “This is LA, they’ll think it’s a movie.” Steve: “Come on, Axle, it’ll be an adventure.” Axle, resignedly: “At least I have on clean underwear.” Jeremy, brightly: “For now.” Jeremy gets Jethro to strap him into the flyer’s harness, then he, Axle, and Steve go up to the roof and take off.

Blake addresses Carlton again. “Let’s discuss your European cell. You know their force has been cut in half?” Carlton: “Yes, I was notified. I wonder how you found me in Denver.” Blake: “Your people in Dallas distracted my people.” Carlton: “That was Carothers’ doing. He called it an elaborate misdirection process.” Carlton’s LA team’s staging area is near the Hollywood Bowl. Carlton is sure that Carothers will try to retrieve him. “He needs me. He doesn’t have access to the strike teams, and he only has a small amount of the money – he has no contact with Matthews. He will very willingly come after you. In all modesty, I’m the mastermind of the complex web that’s being woven.”

Jeremy radios Darvich, “Professor, we’re over the restaurant.” Darvich notifies Blake. Blake unties one of Carlton’s hands and places the cell phone in it. “Tell him we have you and it would be best to back off.” “Cagle, this is Major Carlton. We’ve got a problem. I’m in negotiations with Blake Drummond. He plucked me out of Denver.”

Fred Stevens reports to Blake that the man seated with Carver had just taken a phone call. (Stevens managed to get into the private room disguised as a waiter, and mentions that that arrangement had cost the company $4,000.) Blake replies, “I assure you that’s Cagle. I want you to acquire him, alive if possible. Only the backup team is to use deadly force – because I can’t control what they do.”

Steve has Jeremy drop him off near the restaurant. Jeremy: “Axle, is there somewhere you want to be dropped off?” Axle: “Dallas.” Jeremy: “No problem, we can make it!” Axle: “Unfortunately, that’s 1200 miles, and your flyer’s range is just 800.” Jeremy: “I’ll work out a trajectory!”

At Blake’s prompting, Carlton says to Carothers, “Drummond says to back off… and order the steak.” Carothers: “Tell Blake Drummond I’d like to meet him.” Blake: “Tell him Ed’s in trouble, too.” After the phone call, Blake takes the phone and reties Carlton, telling him “You were very effective.”

Four minutes after the phone call, two men come rushing out of the restaurant. Jeremy: “I think those guys are having a problem.” Axle: “Looks like it.” Blake has Darvich relay instructions to Jeremy to pick up Cagle. Jeremy says to Axle, “You’re about to have a fellow rider. He may be feisty.” Jeremy swoops down, snatches Cagle in the tractor field, then shoots straight up, all so quickly that there are no witnesses. Jeremy says cheerily, “Good morning, Mr Carothers.” “Oh, sh*t.” “That would be one of the reactions, but it looks like you didn’t have any problems.” “I have a strong constitution…”

Delayed at the valet stand, Carver finally takes off in a car that isn’t his. Blake tells Stevens to pick up Carver and “convince him to come to me.” Blake sends a security team up to the roof to take charge of Carothers “and don’t pick off Axle.”

Without landing, Jeremy releases Axle onto the roof of the Solution Security building. He asks Carothers, “Do you like riding in this thing? I haven’t done any loops yet.” Carothers groans, “You’re the IS pilot, aren’t you.” Axle instructs the security team, “He’s ex-military, and Blake wants him alive.” Carothers is searched and relieved of two guns (one of them an ankle holdout).

Not wanting to be seen, Kef leaves the conference room. She and Paula enter an adjacent room where Kef is still close enough to hear Carlton’s thoughts.

The security team delivers an unhappy Carothers to the conference room. Blake straps him to a chair. Carothers’ eyes widen when he recognizes Igor Darvich. Blake injects him with ‘happy juice’, then inquires, “How’re you doing, Marvin?” “You’ve got a flyer that doesn’t make noise. That’s not good.” He goes on, “I thought I had a good shot at you, with the IRA and PLO. Thought I could get it done fast, on the side.” His tone dripping vitriol, he spits, “But you have some malevolent devil watching over you like a guardian angel. Why should I answer any of your questions? It won’t gain me anything.” Coolly Blake answers, “Because you can’t help it.”

Axle leaves the conference room. He suggests that Carothers should be scanned for tracking devices. “Prepare for visitors.”

Blake asks Carothers, “Marvin, where is the physical location of your research center?” Carothers mutters, “That must have been Mr Grant flying,” then aloud says, “I’ve got information you want. I’m keeping it as a bargaining chip.”

Blake draws himself up. “Now I must come to the crux of the matter. Marvin, I see only two things to do with you. One, I give you to the feds and you go back to jail… for a long time. Or two, there’s a man driving around the city right now who wants to kill you.” Carothers says craftily, “I know you have a magic person with you – a witch – and a killer, and Butch. I got most of you, I just need the names of the witch and the killer. You want the real Cagle alive, don’t you?” Blake answers, “I already know where Cagle is.” Carothers: “Your witch is more powerful than I thought. I only wish…” but he leaves the rest of that thought unexpressed. Blake: “Your prison term will be greatly extended. During that time, I want you to get anger management, to get over your anger so you don’t come avenge yourself.”

Axle learns that Edward Carver has been picked up. Kef asks Paula to warn Blake that Carlton’s drug will be wearing off in five minutes. Paula goes into the conference room and signals Blake by pointing at Carlton and holding up five fingers.

“Major, have you ever killed anybody?” “Only in active combat.” (Kef knows this is an outright lie; Carlton had killed at least four people who refused to be ‘recruited’.) Blake says thoughtfully, “My problem is, as nice a guy as you are, as smart as you are, you haven’t committed any felonies. What do I do with you?” Carlton repeats encouragingly, “Join me!” Gravely Blake responds, “The six hundred million, or sixty million… I can’t get past that.” “We’ll find a way,” Carlton asserts (thinking Blake must be one of those squeamish types). “You’ll bring in more resources for the effort, and things will be better all around!” Blake asks Carothers, “What do you think, Marvin?” With a sneer, Carothers growls, “This guy’s got the morals of a scorpion.” Blake turns to Carlton. “I’ll ponder it. – No.”

Blake muses, “Does Ed have anything on you? Sure he does. He could connect you to the prison scheme. He’ll fold like a house of cards.” Blake looks up. “Now I’m happy. You can go to prison for a long, long time. You can refine your scheme, surrounded by other criminals.”

Leaving the conference room, Blake checks in with Steve. Steve had defused a fail-safe bomb in Cagle’s car, and is bringing Carver in. Quietly, Blake tells him, “I’m going to send the major downstairs. Will you take care of him? I don’t want to see him again.” Understanding Blake’s meaning completely, Steve agrees.

Blake returns to Carlton and Carothers. “Major, I’ve changed my mind. The lawyer isn’t good enough to tie you to anything. I believe we should just part ways. You just keep your operations out of my sphere of influence.” Replies Carlton, “You’ve got Carothers. He was the one who was after you. I don’t see any reason to mess with you.”

Blake releases Carlton’s legs, and the major stretches them. Blake says, “I’m going to take you to the stairway. I’m going to give you a head start… five minutes before any of my people come after you. Hopefully, we’ll never see each other again.”

Stepping outside, Blake tells his security team, “I want each of the stairwell doors guarded, from the sixth floor down through the second. If he comes out any of those doors, I want you to shoot him dead. No matter what you hear inside the stairwell, don’t go in. You have two minutes to get in position.”

Returning to the conference room, Blake addresses Carlton. “Well, Major, I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but it’s not. Are there any loose ends?” Replies Carlton, “Our paths won’t cross again. You ought to reconsider my offer, though.” “You’re not going to spring Marvin again?” “No, I’m not.” Carothers speaks up, “By the time I get out of prison, one of you will be dead.”

“Major,” Blake goes on, “it’s a shame you’re amoral, because you are brilliant. But you’re willing to sacrifice people to achieve your ends. You have absolutely no feeling for people.”

Axle is standing by for Carlton’s release, and one of Blake’s people asks him, “This guy’s dangerous?” Axle replies, “Sure. Oh, you mean Carlton? I thought you meant Blake.”

Blake removes Carlton’s remaining restraints. Carlton stands up, stretches and flexes. Blake walks Carlton out of the conference room and opens the door to the stairs. Without further ado, Carlton begins descending the stairs. Taking out his gun, Blake sits down on the top step of the stairwell and listens to the reports from his security team. A voice counts down the floors as Carlton trots past, then reports, “Out of the building and moving, sir.” Blake stands up, holsters his gun, and returns to the conference room.

One of the security team, monitoring video cameras in the parking garage, sees Carlton sliding into a gray car that seems to be waiting just for him. “That’s one of ours! Should we tell the boss?” Axle replies, “Don’t bother, he’s busy. Call the police and report that car stolen… in a few minutes.”

The ‘happy juice’ has finally taken full effect on Carothers. (Kef has also tapped into his mind.) Blake obtains an address in Miami, the security codes, and the name of the 24-hour security firm paid to watch it (Sunrise Security). “Miami…” muses Blake. He phones his admin Sara Summers in Dallas. “Send two people to this bungalow in Miami. Take everything, fill up a pod, a friend will pick it up. Neutralize or distract the security guards; force is not required.” She assures him the two operatives will be leaving on the first commercial flight available in the morning. She goes on, “I have a name to give you – Sam Rodriguez.” Blake says he’d already heard that name. Sara goes on, “The police in Dallas still want to talk to you. They don’t believe you’re not involved in the things that have been going on over the past forty-eight hours, even though I told them you’ve been out of town.” Blake assures her that when he gets back to Dallas, he will talk to the police.

Blake faces Carothers. “Marvin, I have news for you about your friend the Major. The good news is, he made it out of the building. The bad news… we’ll have to talk to him in another lifetime.” Carothers says wryly, “So one of your partners got him. Just because you anticipate something doesn’t mean you can prevent it.” Comments Blake, “He was a brilliant fool. Just like you. I’ve been to hell; they were glad to see me leave.”

Blake exits the conference room, spots Paula waiting outside, and asks her where Kef is. Paula leads him into the room next door. Kef sits with her head resting against the wall shared by the conference room, her eyes closed, but as he comes in she says softly, “Hi, Blake.” Blake tells the two women, “I’m about to have to call Newhurst to come pick up Carothers. Can you think of any downside to that?” The three of them have a discussion, during which Blake raises the idea that if he can find her, he might hire Carla Newton. Kef warns against that, saying “She’s completely amoral. She has no loyalty at all. Money won’t keep her on your side, either.” Blake comments, “But she does know quite a bit about us.” He asks Paula, “Do you have a lobotomy spell?” Responds Paula, “I used to know a temporary forgetfulness spell.” Kef says quietly, “I know who does.” Going down the line, they discuss what, if anything, to do with the various known members of Carlton’s and Carothers’ organizations.

As the three are talking, it is Kef’s phone that chimes at midnight. Steve tells her, “It’s taken care of. I’m headed back. The Major is vanished from the face of the earth.”

Blake goes around to his people and gives instructions to send all but a couple of them home; “Be back at 8:30.” Those remaining are assigned to watch Carothers. He describes Steve’s current appearance, saying “Let him come up.” Blake and George (Fred Stevens’ relief man) walk Carothers to the restroom, then to a room with a cot. “Once you lay down,” Blake tells Carothers (who is fairly docile by now), “the only way you’re going to the bathroom is on yourself.” He instructs George, “If he gives you any trouble, don’t kill him – but you can beat him severely.”

Kef finally heads off for a long hot shower. Paula makes arrangements to have fresh clothes delivered for them both.

Fred Stevens arrives, escorting Edward Carver. He reports to Blake, “He’s agreed to give evidence against Carothers. Your friend intimidated the hell out of him. Sir, if I may say, your friend comes across as a stone-cold killer.” Blake smiles knowingly, and issues further instructions for having Carver and Carothers guarded overnight.

After asking where “the pretty lady with the reddish-brown hair” is (Kef’s still wearing a wig over her flaming red curls), Blake goes to the ladies’ shower room and knocks. “Kef, it’s Blake. We’ve got Carver. Want to come help while I question him?” Kef thinks mournfully to herself that she had really looked forward to a long shower, but replies, “Give me a few minutes.” “Want me to wait?” Blake says teasingly, but heads back to the conference room.

A few minutes later Kef emerges from the shower room, wearing only a towel around her body and another wrapped around her wet hair. She goes to the room next to the conference room, sits down, and is highly successful at tapping into Carver’s mind. Carver’s scared. He’s not a very nice person. He’s a dirty lawyer, takes bribes. He’s not clear on the details, but he knew Carlton had large-scale plans. The potential for those plans creating great wealth for him attracted Carver.

In the conference room Carver says straightforwardly to Blake, “Your guys made it quite clear what you got on me. I’ll cut any deal.” “Who will you testify against?” Blake asks. “There’s no Carlton any more. Are you the revengeful type?” “Not really,” Carver shrugs (he would take an opportunity if it fell into his lap, but he won’t go looking for one). Blake asks pointedly, “When you’ve paid your debt to society, you won’t come after me or those around me?” “No, I won’t,” answers Carver. “Here’s my deal,” says Blake. “Give me access to all your records. Then I will give you to law enforcement and you can deal with them.” Carver says, “Oh, so it’s them I have to cut a deal with.” “I either kill you or turn you over to them,” Blake says. “We’re going to take you to the bathroom, then you get to go to sleep on your own – meaning we won’t beat you into unconsciousness.”

Carver dictates to Fred Stevens instructions on how to get into his office and the codes for accessing the data. After Carver is bedded down, Blake says, “Stevens, I want someone there at nine o’clock.” Stevens cracks, “It’s not as much fun to wake people in the same time zone?”

Paula brings Kef fresh clothes and Kef changes into them. Paula and Blake each take showers. Clad in a thick bathrobe, Blake lets himself into Stevens’ office, settles himself in a comfortable chair, and puts his feet up on the desk. A few minutes later there comes a tap at the door. Kef sticks her head in and asks Blake, “Is there anything you need?” Blake answers, “Let’s all get a good night’s sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

By 8:30am most of the employees have arrived back at the office. Blake finds a voice mail from Tom Cartley: “Gathered, boxed, delivered to pickup point.” Axle gets a call about the Detroit pickup, and schedules a similar pickup for Miami. Over breakfast Kef describes last night’s dream: “It was the kind of vision I practically never have. Nothing violent happened. Agent Newhurst came, Blake delivered Carothers to her custody, it all went smoothly, no problems.”

At 11:00am Sara Summers calls. The house in Miami has been cleaned out and the items are on their way to Dallas. “We provided a distraction for the security guards, rather than money.” Blake tells her, “You can stand down a bit. There’s a danger I’ll take care of when I get back to Dallas.” Sara requests that the employees who have been on round-the-clock alert for the past several days be allowed to take some comp time off, and Blake gives his assent.

Around 11:30am Judy Newhurst calls Blake, who tells her, “I have two presents for you, maybe three. Carothers, Carver, and a tape of Carver.” “Ah, the evidence that will tie it in a nice little bow.” Blake admits, “The Major escaped our grasp, and we’ll probably never see him again.” Newhurst, after a brief hesitation, says “I’ll put him on the federal and Interpol watch lists.” Blake asks, “Want to know a secret?” Newhurst replies firmly, “No.”

Blake goes and rouses Carothers and Carver. “It’s a beautiful morning except for you two, but it’s a good day to be alive.”

At noon, Darvich and Jethro (who had fallen asleep in the conference room) wake up and get something to eat. Darvich orders more equipment. Jethro says to Blake, “This guy’s amazing!” Blake advises, “Don’t ask questions. Watch and learn.” Among the items already delivered are seven Remington electric shavers. (At Kef’s suggestion, Jeremy had asked Darvich if he could construct something like a dazer that would knock someone unconscious without the use of projectiles and without having to come in contact. Jeremy described the dazer as about the size of an electric shaver.) [John: “When you get dazed with a Remington, your hair falls out.”]

As Kef predicted, at 2:00pm Newhurst arrives. Blake and Beatrice (the third highest-ranking employee after Fred Stevens and George) deliver Carothers and Carver to the awaiting FBI agents. All goes well.

By 3:30pm the group has left Solution Security (no doubt to the great relief of many). The drive to the airport and takeoff are uneventful. While airborne, Blake checks in with Tyson. “That Atlanta guy has gone to ground, but I set the FBI regional office on him. I got creative – being around you stirs up my creative juices.” Blake thanks him for his assistance, telling him, “You’re a focal point. I’m sure our paths will cross soon. Isn’t it time for you to become Sheriff Tyson? I’ll contribute to your campaign. Discreetly, of course.” Tyson chuckles. “It’s never boring, working with you. I’m glad to know you. And I know I’m just seeing the tip of events.” Replies Blake, “Where you are, it’s more than the tip. I’ll let you know whenever I’m in your jurisdiction.” “I appreciate that. The Grays send their best wishes – the cat has gotten comfy. And do me a favor… ask your friend… tell him it’s not nice to break hospitality.” “I wish you luck,” says Blake, “but you’re a guy who makes his own luck.”

At 8:45pm CDT on Tuesday, May 3, Jeremy lands the plane at Love Field in Dallas.

Igor Darvich is ensconced in one of Steve’s old safe houses, on the bus line and close to Love Field. Jeremy rents another hangar and starts getting it fitted out to be a workshop for Darvich. He asks Darvich to build an improved flyer with a harness that can be put on and taken off without assistance, and can be collapsed and carried in a suitcase. Jeremy will also start contacting engineering and physics professors from area colleges in hopes of broadening Darvich’s circle of friends and helping him at last feel that he does belong in the world, free, happy, and productive.

Jeremy arranges to have the rented jet flown back to Ireland. Having deemed his jet unsafe to fly he sells it as scrap, specifying that the Infinite Solutions logos are to be completely removed. He is in the process of buying a new and even better jet, to which he plans to have Darvich make improvements, including the addition of solar panels to the top of the wings.

Axle makes arrangements to sell controlling interest of the trucking company and the limousine service to his employees. Publicly, he announces that over the past year or so his other ventures have been taking up most of his time, and he believes his employees should have more control over their future. He maintains a small percentage of both companies so that no one will think he’s just dumping them for any reason.

Privately, however, he is worried that someone down the line will use or hurt his employees or their families in order to get to Axle.

On May 4th, Blake uses Major Carlton’s phone to call Sam Rodriguez, who answers “Yeah, Major.” “The Major has left this place. This is Blake Drummond. There is no deal – your services in Dallas are no longer needed.” Rodriguez starts to demand money to pay 20 people for five days’ work, but then admits that they had been given a month’s payment in advance. When Blake assures him he won’t have to give any of it back, Rodriguez relaxes. “I have no ties to Dallas. I’ll be leaving as soon as possible, along with all of my people. No hard feelings?” “Not from me,” says Blake; “I take it you are an honorable man, and we will have no clashes.” Rodriguez suggests he may take his group down to the Mexican border.

On May 5th Blake and Kef visit the Dallas police department. He pays his respects to Lieutenant Johansson and Captain Carothers, thanking them for assisting Ms Summers. The officer who had been hunting for him grudgingly allows that Blake has a solid alibi; the officer’s still suspicious, but he has no proof of illegal activity by Blake. Blake explains, “A group or groups had our business under surveillance, and we sought to discourage them. Mercenaries were involved, so it had to be a professional job.” “We’ll have a lineup with suspects,” the officer says. Blake replies, “Our people will identify them if possible.”

CNN reports that 90% of Sean McLeon’s terrorist group had been neutralized. McLeon had fled, but authorities are certain it’s only a matter of days before he is taken into custody.

Blake sets up an appointment for May 6th to meet with Don Matthews. Kef has Steve give her a new face and hair, and dons gypsy garb similar to that she wore in her renfair circuit days. When Matthews himself greets them, Kef clasps his hand, gazes at him and intones, “Your spirit… it illuminates all about you.” Getting down to business, Blake says “Major Carlton is no longer working on the New Age project.” “He stood me up,” Matthews complains, “and two of his men were allegedly involved in an altercation downstairs.” “Were you aware of his methodology?” Blake inquires. “He was rough at times,” Matthews admits, “and I had to admonish him. It’s his military background… it darkens the spirit. We were making good progress… Now, I’m at a loss.” Kef leans forward, saying, “You must carry on… you must continue to uplift your own self, and by that process, raise up all around you. You have much that is possible within you, so much. I know of a guru, a great-souled teacher in Boulder…” Matthews, eating up Kef’s glowing attention, exclaims to Blake, “You are wise to have such a spiritual advisor!”

After they leave Matthews smiling and Blake is driving away from the Stoddard Building, he puts in a call to Abraham Donaldson. “I’ve just had an… enlightening… meeting with Don Matthews, and I have a favor to ask of you. Will you keep an eye on this fruitcake? If you see any bad strangeness, please let me know. He’s turned from the path of darkness, but I’m not sure what that will do to his business.”

Blake tells Kef they must have a talk with the Gray family about the state of the world and their children’s blossoming psychic powers. “If they don’t have a plan, they need a plan. If they have a plan, what is the plan? Things will come after them.” Kef confesses, “I’m embarrassed... I condemned Carla for having Vivian use her power to erase a man’s memories, and yet… since then I’ve wanted several times to have it used.” “You felt like a hypocrite,” remarks Blake. “Kef, you’re still the best one to help and advise them. You’ve had more direct experience with these things and their aftereffects than anyone else.”

On Saturday, May 7, Blake and Kef fly to Montgomery then drive the eighty miles to New Brockton. Don Gray, mowing the front lawn, greets them. “Go right on in, we’ve been looking forward to seeing you.” Almost as soon as she steps in the front door, Kef finds Harbie the cat purring at her feet. As she picks up the cat and starts fussing over it, Kef experiences an incredible surge of positive energy that makes her feel stronger, her powers enhanced. Carla greets Blake and Kef happily and gives each of them a hug, then serves iced tea and lemonade. Don joins them after he puts the mower away.

“We need to talk about your children’s abilities,” Blake tells them. Right away, Carla starts apologizing. “I know that what I had Vivian do to that guy wasn’t right, but it had to be done.” Kef asks, “Why do you say that? What makes you say it had to be done?” “Because,” Carla says, “Ed insisted that if that guy was allowed to take away his memories intact, terrible things would happen.” “What terrible things?” “He said that Major Carlton would capture our family and force us to work for him… and that you and Blake and everyone else would be killed or enslaved. I don’t know how I was able to guide Vivian as to what to do, I just knew, and I knew it had to be done.”

Just in the past couple of weeks, her children’s powers have increased greatly (Kef stares at the cat, which purrs innocently in her lap). Vivian’s powers frighten and upset Vivian, so Carla had refrained from discussing them with her. Kef counters, “When she got her period, you discussed menstruation with her, didn’t you?” Carla looks sheepish. “Yes, I see the analogy.”

“Their powers aren’t going away,” Blake says. “If they don’t learn to harness their powers, they will hurt themselves and those around them.” “You have to provide your children’s moral compass,” Kef adds. Blake continues, “I know you’re horrified at what happened to your daughter Frances, but you must get past your fear, for their sake.” Carla looks to Kef. “I’d like to have your guidance. Please help us figure out what to do.”

Don calls Vivian and Ed into the living room. Vivian is an attractive young lady of sixteen now, and Ed a feisty twelve-year-old. Blake asks Vivian her powers, and she describes how she can read people’s thoughts and emotions (sometimes without intending to), and that she sometimes knows what’s going to happen before it actually does. Borrowing a pencil stub from Ed, she places it on her palm; after a moment, it starts rolling up and down her hand. “I can only do that with very light objects.” “Anything else?” presses Blake. “Well… sometimes I go to sleep in one place, like in a chair, and when I wake up, I’m in my bed, and I don’t remember getting there.” Ed says he gets premonitions, and often a sense of déjà vu. “Déjà vu means something’s already happened,” remarks Blake. “Could it be you’re actually stepping back a few moments in time? I believe it’s called fugue.”

Kef suggests that for starters, meditation and yoga training will help Vivian and Ed learn to calm and control their emotions. Carla promises to consult with Kef often. “And next summer, we’re planning another family trip to Dallas,” Carla says. Kef smiles. “Maybe this time I’ll be home.”

Return to [[Ages & Alternities:Track 1 Mission List]]

Return to [[Hawaii:Infinite Solutions|Main Mission Logs]]

Dallas:Sessions:20050326

2008-03-28T22:57:34Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Track 1 – '''Deal with the Devil ''' - March 26, 2005 GM: Bobby J. / Bill S. Write-up: MaryK GM Notes: No ''' Deal with the Devil ''' A121 Track 1 Assignment '''MISSION TEAM'...

Track 1 – '''Deal with the Devil ''' - March 26, 2005

GM: Bobby J. / Bill S.

Write-up: MaryK

GM Notes: No

''' Deal with the Devil '''

A121 Track 1 Assignment

'''MISSION TEAM'''
*Paula Baker
*Blake Drummond
*Jeremy Grant
*John Kines
*Al "Axle" Lee
*Steve McAllen
*Kefya North

Friday, October 3, 2003: A couple of days after the death of Kevin McGuire’s evil clone, Paula finds a letter on the kitchen table. It is in Kefya’s handwriting, though rather shaky.

“I quit. I may be a slave to Fate, but I’m not Enigma’s pawn. I see now that you kept your real self hidden from me. I am scared of you… all of you. And I’m afraid, so very afraid, of what I am becoming.”

Laid out on the table are Kef’s pistol and shotgun (unloaded and impeccably clean), cell phone, and the keys to her RV. Her backpack and some personal effects are gone, as is Kef.

October 4: Paula Baker produces a handwritten letter.

Paula informs Steve McAllen, Blake Drummond, and Jeremy Grant that Kefya has left, leaving a letter saying she has quit. Paula sounded upset, and once she had informed all of them, she could not be contacted for the rest of the weekend. (She was not at the house, and there was no word of her anywhere on the streets.)

October 6: Monday morning Paula called Steve, Blake, and Jeremy in a conference call. She told them that she was going back to Montgomery, Alabama, but that she was still available if they needed her. She assured them that she did not know where Kef was, but trusted that she would be safe and work things out. Paula would speak of Kef’s disillusionment, and would only give details of the note if they strongly insisted. Paula then asked them to take care of the house and Kef’s other things until… whenever. By the end of the day, Paula had left the DFW area.

October 9: By Thursday, at least two people in every Renaissance Faire and area that Kef and Paula had ever worked had a sealed letter in their possession, which they were asked to deliver to Kefya if they saw her. Also, there was an e-mail from Paula in Kefya’s e-mail box. Anyone looking for Paula for the rest of October would be able to find her in Montgomery, Alabama.

Over the next few weeks:

Jeremy gets a message that Kurt Perry, a pilot who flies a business shuttle out of Alliance Airport, will crash on October 27th unless he realizes that his plane’s fuel guage is malfunctioning.

Blake gets a message to tell Deputy Tyson that the man’s name is Darrell Wayne Vogel, 5’9”, 180#, 38 years old, dirty blond hair, bushy mustache, various tattoos, and on the evening of October 28th will pick up his next victim at a movie theater in Enterprise. Blake calls, and learns that Tyson has been on the trail of a serial rapist.

Steve gets a message that three teenagers – Richard Grisham, Greg Slocum, and Jay Byler – are planning a Columbine-style massacre at their school, Pernell Swett High School, Pembroke NC, on October 31st.
October 23: The three teenagers are found passed out in a car with several weapons and explosives, after a tape of them planning how to get the explosives in place is sent to the local police.

October 26: Blake returns to Enterprise in search of Darrell Wayne. He contacts Carla and Vivian Gray to help in the search, but does not tell them why. With their help, he finds Darrell. Blake convinces Darrell to write out a confession detailing all of the killings and where the bodies are located. This process will take about a day and a half. On the return trip to Dallas, Blake tells Deputy Tyson where to find Darrell. Tyson finds Darrell in his trailer bound and gagged, in need of medical attention for his severe head and groin injuries.

October 29: Kef has so far not checked her e-mail. She chances to meet a friend of hers in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, who gives her a letter from Paula.

Summer, 2004: The Gray family – Carla, her husband Don, and their children Vivian and Ed – visit the Dallas area on vacation. Blake spends some time visiting with them. Carla was hoping to see Kef as well, but Blake says she’s out of town.

Axl has started a limo service. He has made 15 cars available, scattered in various locations around the Metroplex. All of them use the same ignition, door, and trunk keys, and he has sent a set to each of his friends. These cars are guarded by retired truck drivers, and are moved around occasionally.

[I’m going to mess with the timeline here to make it fit the story.]

January 13, 2005: In a diner somewhere in Oregon, Kevin McGuire appears and speaks with Kefya, apologizing for his clone’s actions and telling her not to give up fighting evil. Kef had been doing drugs to try to “burn out” her precognitive abilities, but her powers actually became stronger, and the drugs gave her nightmares. She flushes the drugs, then calls and talks to Blake. She doesn’t tell him where she is, but implies she is heading back to Dallas.

February 2: Blake gets a phone call from a Los Angeles hospital. They have a “Jane Doe” patient (no ID), badly injured. Among her meager possessions they found a scrap of paper with the letter “B” and Blake’s phone number on it. The patient is about 5’6” and has red hair and green eyes. Blake’s sure it must be Kef.

Blake finds Jeremy and they fly to Los Angeles. En route, Blake informs Paula as to what is going on. Paula calls Axl to try to hitch a ride on one of his rigs. “I don’t want to fly right now.” Axl says he will check with his friends.

Jeremy and Blake arrive at the hospital and locate the room. The patient, seemingly unconscious, awakens as soon as they walk in. The woman is indeed Kef, who is very happy to see them. She has big purple bruises on her face and arms, and a couple of stab wounds that (she says) aren’t serious.

Kef asks if they can get her out of the hospital without anyone seeing them, then later on Blake can transfer some of her funds to the hospital to pay for her care. She just wants to get out of the hospital and go back to Dallas. Blake, who anticipated this request, gives Kef some clothes, a wig, and sunglasses. While Blake pays the hospital, Jeremy walks Kef to the car.

On the way to the airport Blake asks “what happened?” but Kef refuses to tell until they are all safely airborne. Then she says she had been attacked by a man with a knife who had intended to rape her. She managed to take the knife away, then next thing she knew her assailant was rolling on the ground screaming and her hands were bloody. She stumbled away, blacked out, then woke up in the hospital. She pretended to be unconscious so she did not have to speak to anyone. She figured the cops would be coming to question her, but her sixth sense kept warning her not to talk to them.

Kef thanks Blake and Jeremy for getting her out of there. She asks Blake whether Sheriff Tyson was able to catch the serial rapist.

Kef looks like hell. The nurses at the hospital cleaned her up some, but her hair is a ragged mess (and she had always been proud of it before) and she looks like she hasn’t had a decent meal in weeks.

After the plane lands, Blake drives Jeremy and Kef to his house. Jeremy and Kef are in the back seat, and Kef falls asleep with her head on Jeremy’s shoulder. She dreams that she is walking in darkness holding someone’s hand. As she approaches a door the darkness begins to lift, and she sees that the person she is holding hands with is Jeremy. They open the door and see a room with a table with places for five people. There are two individuals at the table. One of them is Blake, and the other is very large with red skin, black eyes, and pointy teeth. He radiates an unpleasant feeling. Blake and the red devil both look up from their card game at Jeremy and Kef. Blake smiles at his two friends, but the devil does not look pleased. Kef wakes up and finds Jeremy looking at her strangely. She knows that Jeremy has experienced the same dream.

When they arrive at Blake’s house, Blake offers to call a doctor for Kef. She declines, saying, “No, thank you. I don’t want any doctor. They’d ask too many questions. If you’ve got Tylenol, I’ll take three or four.” She brushes her hand over her face. “I had a vision just now. Blake, have you been consorting with the Devil lately?” Blake, handing her a bottle of Tylenol, says, “No, I haven’t had any dealings with devils.” Kef describes her dream in detail, as she wanders through the house testing for evil vibrations. Jeremy comments, “I think you ought to be careful who you play cards with.” Blake replies, “I haven’t consorted with demons since the mark disappeared… You never know when your past will catch up with you… Maybe Kef’s arrival is a bad omen for the demon… I’m sure they’re not holding a grudge.”

While Blake fixes hamburgers, Kef takes a long shower. She emerges, a towel wrapped around her hair, wearing one of Blake’s old t-shirts. After lunch, Jeremy returns to Love Field. Kef falls asleep in one of the guest bedrooms.

Late that evening, Paula arrives in Dallas. She phones Axl and thanks him for arranging the ride, assuring him that the trucker was a perfect gentleman. She then calls Blake and asks how Kef is doing. Blake says she looks pretty beat-up, but she’s safe now. Paula obtains one of Axl’s cars and arrives at Blake’s around midnight. She looks in on Kef who is sound asleep, then sleeps in another guest bedroom.

February 3: Blake and Paula are up early. The smell of breakfast cooking brings Kef into the kitchen. Paula’s greeting is reserved, and Kef responds in kind.

Blake notes that Kef has a towel on her head again, and Kef complains that her hair is still a mess. Blake offers to bring in a hairdresser. Kef doesn’t want anyone seeing her banged-up self and asking questions; Blake tells her to go put on a sweatshirt and jeans (he has plenty of women’s clothing hanging in the guest bedroom closet… hmm) and assures her that the hairdresser he has in mind is both highly competent and very discreet. Blake makes a phone call, and within the hour Nicole (Niki) Shelf comes bouncing into Blake’s house. Her chatter puts Kef at ease, and 45 minutes later Kef’s hair is a halo of fluffy curls. Blake walks Niki back to her car; her squeal of delight can be heard clearly by those inside, and Blake walks back in, grinning. Kef comments, “She was really impressed by that bulge in your pants,” and Blake replies, “Yeah… my wallet.”

At 2:00pm Axl and Jeremy arrive for lunch. Axl gives Kef a set of car keys. Kef draws a sketch of the vision she (and Jeremy) had had of Blake playing cards with a devil, and while doing so, she recalls that in the background were cavern walls and the eyes of lesser demons watching from the shadows.

Kef talks a little about what she had gone through over the past year and a half, how she tried to get rid of her visions only to have them become more frequent. Sometimes she has them two or three times a day, interspersed with nightmares. She has come to a renewed acceptance of her ability, and a reluctant realization that she alone cannot handle all the troubles she foresees, thus she must ask her friends for help, possibly endangering them. “You can always opt out, though – but I can’t.” Blake opines, “Life has a way of moving things to where they need to be,” and Paula is impressed with this wisdom.

Blake gets a call from a Detective Smith with LAPD about the “Jane Doe” in the hospital. Blake implies that he’s willing to cooperate, while at the same time revealing very little the cops don’t already know.

Blake tells Kef and Paula that they can stay with him as long as they need to, but he thinks they should work on getting Kef’s life back to normal. Kef’s house (which Kef says is Paula’s) has been taken care of, but they should go “open it up” and make it truly homelike again.

Life goes on. Kef’s injuries heal, and she puts back on enough weight that she doesn’t look like skin and bones. Paula does some research trying to identify the devil/demon from the vision, and insists on talking to Blake every day.
Despite numerous attempts to contact him, no one has heard from Steve in many months. There is speculation that he is out of the country.

Paula has made it a point to keep in contact with everyone she could, but during the afternoon of March 21st, it occurs to Paula that she has not actually spoken with Blake in a few days. She and Kef drive over to his house, which is locked up tight. Blake’s cherished sports car is gone; Kef’s psychometry indicates that it last left the driveway on the 18th.

Blake’s administrative assistant at Solution Security, Sara Summers, tells Paula that Blake hasn’t been to the office since the 18th. From his files Ms Summers produces the last few entries from Blake’s handwritten business journal.

March 16, 2005: Meet client today. Client’s name is Andrew Stronomer. Wants to investigate his partner, Marc Balsam. Marc Balsam may be a lot older than he is saying. His birth date is 11-11-58. They are Masons, but I think they are into something else. Mr. Stronomer is independently wealthy, but so far I can’t find out how he accumulated his wealth.

March 17, 2005: Meet new client today. Client’s name is Marc Balsam. Wants to investigate his partner, Andrew Stronomer. Wants to know his history. He asks if I am interested in becoming a Mason. I decline. He says Mr. Stronomer has some mental power. I inquire about the nature of these “mental powers.” He says he doesn’t know. I’m sure he is lying.

March 18, 2005: Meet third client in three days. Client’s name is Consta Millan. She is a professional palm reader and sometimes can see the future. There is something not right about her. I can’t put my finger on it. She says she represents some power interests (her words) who want me to investigate Marc Balsam and Andrew Stronomer. I inquire why her clients want these men investigated. She says that they owed her clients a great debt, and her client will collect on it soon. What do they want me to do? I asked. She says that I will bring the darkness. I ask What does that mean? She said when we meet tonight she would explain.

Apparently Blake routinely photographs his new clients, so Sara has a photo of Marc Balsam. She describes him as being about 45-50 years old, 6’ tall, thin, with salt-and-pepper hair and “funny eyes” that are very dark. The photo of Andrew Stronomer did not come out. Consta Millan did not come into the office.

Thanks to a special device in Blake’s sports car, Sara can tell Paula and Kef that it is currently parked near the Sam Moon store near the corner of I-635 and Harry Hines Blvd. Paula contacts Jeremy and asks him to fly his helicopter over. Paula and Kef quickly locate the car, parked well away from other cars. Via remote control, Sara turns off the alarm system and unlocks the car for them. “Blake’s gonna freak when he realizes his baby’s been outside in the weather for three days,” Kef remarks while going over every inch of the car with clairvoyance.

Kef realizes that Consta Millan’s business address places her somewhere in this shopping center, so she goes looking for it. However, when she reaches the place it should be (next to a nail salon), not only can she not find the suite, but her feet keep carrying her past the place it ought to be. Paula comes up and unsuccessfully casts Detect Magic, but nonetheless she can easily see a door bearing the words: Madame Millan – Seer of the Future. When she steers Kef in that direction, she can see it, too. They enter the dimly lit front room of the suite. From behind a curtain emerges a little old lady who looks to be in her mid-70s. She already knows that they are Blake’s friends. Paula phones Jeremy and Axl on a three-way call and leaves her phone line open.

Madame Millan invites them back into a candlelit room where the three of them sit down at a small table. Upon the table rests a crystal ball. As soon as they are seated, Paula hears the cell phone connection go silent. Madame Millan tells them frankly that she serves “evil masters” who have given her certain psychic powers… at a price. Her masters want Blake to “bring the darkness,” which she thinks refers to Stronomer and Balsam.

Curious (and ignoring professional courtesy), Kef stares into the crystal ball. Once more she sees herself walking in darkness, holding someone’s hand. As they approach the door, the darkness lifts and she can see that the person beside her is Jeremy. This time she turns and looks behind her. Following them are three more people – Marc Balsam; a thin, bald, elderly man (who is later determined to be Andrew Stronomer), and a tall person dressed all in black. Opening the door and stepping in, she sees Blake and a devil playing cards at a round table. There are stacks of bone poker chips in front of each of them – Blake’s stack contains about twice as many chips as the devil’s – and three empty places with smaller stacks of chips.

Madame Millan explains that Stronomer and Balsam owe her masters a great debt. They had tried to summon someone (or something) else and got her masters instead.

Jeremy has found a place to land his helicopter, and is trying to find Consta Millan’s address when Kef and Paula emerge. Jeremy is perturbed that he can’t find the door on his own. He uses a flare to scorch an arrow onto the sidewalk, pointing directly to the door, but once Paula steps away from the door Jeremy can no longer see it. Nor can he walk to it, even though he is walking on the arrow. A quarter tossed in the direction the arrow is pointing is somehow diverted to land in front of the nail salon. At this point Paula realizes it’s not simply an Aversion spell as she had thought. Kef says, “Don’t be too upset, Jeremy. I can’t see it either.”

Axl arrives with a trailer to load Blake’s car into. Jeremy needs to take his helicopter back to Love Field, so it is decided that Paula will pick him up at the hangar and they will go to Marc Balsam’s place of business, a New Age/Occult bookstore in the Oak Lawn area called In Time.

What they find is a good-sized store, rather untidy, but with lots of customers browsing the shelves. A short, pudgy man in a gray suit stares at Paula. Jeremy approaches one of the store’s employees and says, “I need to talk to Mr. Balsam. Blake Drummond sent me.” A few minutes later Balsam descends a stairway (exchanging a few words with the staring guy) and invites them up to his office. “What has Mr. Drummond found out?” he asks them. Jeremy replies, “You need to come with my colleague and myself.” Balsam tells them their colleagues won’t find Andrew. “Mr. Drummond could find him. Andrew wants to be found by Mr. Drummond.” Andrew usually uses a wheelchair, but “he can walk when he wants to.” He can read minds, make people forget or remember things, and astral project. Balsam turns to Paula and asks her, “Have you ever considered being a Mason?” Jeremy points out that the Masons only accept males, and Balsam implies that it’s a special type of Masonic group.

Balsam says that he and Stronomer have worked together for “a couple of decades.” Balsam came here from a foreign country, which he does not name. He gives his birth date as 11-11-58; Paula presses him for the century, but Balsam turns coy. Paula comments, “You’re making yourself an enigma to us,” but doesn’t get any particular reaction. Jeremy advises him, “Brush up on your poker.” In turn, Balsam suggests they examine recent violent events in Texas.

A tall, very handsome, well-dressed man comes in and wants to speak with Balsam, who indicates to Jeremy and Paula that their meeting with him is at an end. As she leaves Paula tells him, “If I were you, I’d close the deal quickly.”

Axl and Kef drive down Harry Hines to an office/warehouse. The outside office door is locked and the place looks deserted. Axl finds an unlocked loading bay door and raises it, and he and Kef slip inside. The warehouse is empty and looks like it has been for a while. There’s no answer when Axl knocks on the office door, but it is unlocked. Axl writes out a note as Kef searches the office. From a desk drawer she removes what look like two oversized pennies. The obverse bears a misshapen Abe Lincoln; the reverse has the markings of a “wheat penny.” The coins both bear the date 1896. Kef detects an evil feeling from them.

Upon leaving the office, Axl notices something they had overlooked before – a pentagram painted on the floor of the loading bay. Each point of the pentagram bears the symbol of an evil Egyptian god, including Anubis and Set. From the looks of it, the pentagram has not been used in quite a while. Kef holds the strange pennies near the pentagram; there’s no apparent reaction, but Kef notices that the coins are a strange color – like copper mixed with blood. Kef erases part of the pentagram by rubbing it out with her sneaker.

Axl and Kef rendezvous with Jeremy and Paula at Jeremy’s hangar at Love Field. It is 6:00pm on Monday, March 21.

[April 9, 2005]

It is 6:00pm. Kef, Paula, Axl, and Jeremy meet at the Infinite Solutions hangar at Love Field. Jeremy and Paula relate their encounter with Marc Balsam at his bookstore. Paula draws sketches of three men – Balsam, a man she refers to as a “sniffer” who identified her as a mage, and a “painfully handsome” blond man who reminded her of a Greek god. The latter seemed to be someone with whom Balsam had business dealings, though as Kef pointed out, if the man was considered important then Balsam would have gone to him. He is not the third man in Kef’s vision, who was a light-skinned black man.

Axl and Kef briefly describe the deserted warehouse and its pentagram. Kef shows Paula the two copper-and-blood “pennies” dated 1896 that she had found; Paula detects nothing magical about them.

Kef’s cellphone warbles. Sara Summers, Blake’s administrative assistant at Solution Security, gives the results of some checks she has run. Regarding Andrew Stronomer she has found nothing. There are four Marc Balsams, all with the same birthdate (11/11/1958), originating in Arkansas, New York, California, and Missouri, though only the one in Arkansas has any history. This one traces back to one John Balsam of Washington, Arkansas, which Sara thinks is located near Hope, “but it doesn’t show up on MapQuest.” In response to Kef’s questioning, Sara says there are no public records at all regarding Balsam – no property purchases, no land deeds, no tax payments, no school records, no birth certificate, nothing. Kef exclaims, “You can’t just Google these people – you have to do some footwork!” Stiffly, Sara replies that she does have people out searching, that she thought Kef would want her early findings even if they didn’t amount to much. Sara goes on that the warehouse in Dallas had been sublet to Masons Inc. for cash; this turned out to be a fake corporation. When Kef pointedly asks whether the Masonic angle has been followed up, Sara coldly responds that she is in the process of doing so, then signs off. Right after the phone connection is severed, Kef vents with a heartfelt, “Bitch!”

Paula ventures the thought that this has to do with what she calls a “dimensional incursion.” Kef asks snidely what Paula’s boss Enigma is going to do about it, and Paula looks around at Jeremy and Axl and replies, “We’re it.” Even Enigma can’t keep an eye on every world to watch for ‘incursions.’ Kef implies that these things didn’t happen on this world before Enigma intruded his agents (Axl inserts, “Or maybe we did and we just didn’t know about them”) and wonders if Paula’s former co-worker, the one nobody liked, had somehow put a gigantic “kick me” sign (as Paula puts it) on this Earth.

Paula calls Sara (Kef: “I don’t think she wants to talk to me”) for the name of the company that rented the warehouse to Masons Inc. Allied Inc. had actually rented warehouses to Masons Inc. at least four different times – Dallas, July 2004; Houston, September 2004; San Antonio, December 2004; Carrollton, March 12, 2005… nine days ago.

Recalling that Balsam had told Paula and Jeremy to examine recent violent events in Texas, Kef begins a search of AP and other news reports on the Internet. Starting in December 2004, one item quickly stands out – in San Antonio, 12/15/2004, four prostitutes were discovered in a warehouse, brutally sexually assaulted and murdered in what was described as a ‘ritualistic’ manner – their throats slashed and their hands and feet severed. Hieroglyphic type markings were found near the bodies. Kef quickly finds related murders: Houston, 12/14/2004, four prostitutes raped, throats cut, hands severed; Dallas, 07/13/2004, four prostitutes found murdered at the very warehouse Axl and Kef had searched earlier; Carrollton, March 12, 2005, the Dallas Morning News reports four prostitutes killed and dismembered (but their throats were not cut).

Kef is incredulous that something of this nature happened in this area so recently, yet she had heard nothing about it. Paula comments that this brings necromancy to mind. Kef responds, “Don’t necromancers start with dead people?”

The group climbs into Axl’s semi and heads for Carrollton, arriving at the warehouse around 8:30pm. Aware that the crime occurred pretty recently, everyone is alert for police presence and makes an effort to remain unseen. The back door has had plywood nailed over it, and Axl goes to work with his crowbar while Jeremy and Paula keep a lookout. Kef tries a side door but it’s locked.

Paula’s cellphone chirps. Steve McAllen says cheerfully, “Hi, Paula! Has Blake been kidnapped yet? What’s going on… is it the hookers?” Paula: “I thought you were in Belize?” Steve: “Doesn’t mean I don’t keep up with things.”

Axl unplugs the phone lines so the alarm system can’t dial out, then crowbars open the door. Kef slips inside and goes directly to the pentagram. The bodies have been removed, though chalk outlines remain. Blood stains four points of the pentagram. Kef kneels at the fifth point and extends her senses back in time…

Person in robes standing at the top point, wearing a dog’s head mask, elaborate robe and gloves. Lying at the four other points – four women, two already dismembered. Other two women also dead, their faces frozen in expressions of extreme terror. Center of pentagram – devil with large sword. Waves of fear wash over Kef, emanating from the center. To the sides – many people in plain brown robes, faces hidden by hoods, radiating bloodlust. Two others in elaborate robes, hoods pulled back; one is Balsam, the other is the very handsome man. Devil reaches out of the pentagram and dismembers the other two women with the sword. Then raises the sword and points at the masked man, as if in salute. Masked man and Balsam glow. Robed men begin chanting, “Tiamat… Tiamat…” The devil laughs, then vanishes. The robed men file out. The handsome man brings a wheelchair and helps ease the masked man into it. The man removes his mask; it is Stronomer. Stronomer, giggling: “We are close to being able to summon Tiamat!”

Kef forces herself to go back further, to the beginning of the ritual. The four women, nude, walk in, seemingly in a trance. Stronomer, wearing the mask, orders them to lie down at the points of the pentagram with their legs spread. Twenty robed men arrive and proceed to have sex with the women. More robed people enter. Two of them speak with Stronomer; Kef gets a glimpse of one man’s hand, the flesh of which is very white, like a dead man’s. Chanting begins. Power flows from Balsam and Stronomer into the pentagram and they glow. A hole opens up inside the pentagram and the devil rises up bearing a sword, smiling like he knows a joke that no one else understands. Devil spins around, brandishing sword and generating panic. Devil hacks two of the women and the robed men cheer. Other two women come out of their trance and begin screaming, screaming, then convulsing. Devil hacks them…

Meanwhile, Paula tries a fire spell, then a lightning spell, to test the mana. She doesn’t detect any increase or aspect to the mana level here. She begins to wonder whether there was any magic used at all.

Axl calls time; they have to leave before the alarm goes off. Paula fetches Kef, who has not quite returned to the here-and-now, and leads her outside. As Axl drives away, Kef describes most of what she saw, leaving out the more graphic details. As she speaks, Jeremy can see the images in his mind’s eye.

Paula mentions, “Steve’s back in town.” He has already been investigating the prostitute murders. Kef sinks back in her seat, staring at nothing. Her voice starts out level, but rises to a cry, “Paula… my being a precog… having these so-called powers… is so damn useless!” She is appalled that at least sixteen women have been murdered as part of demonic rituals, and she never had a clue. Axl tries to offer comfort: “No one can see everything, be everywhere.” Kef: “But what is it for, if not something as horrible as this?”

Axl continues to drive around as the group discusses what to do. Paula calls Steve to meet them at the Infinite Solutions office at Love Field. Steve arrives to everyone’s greeting. He says to Kef, “I like the hair.”

At the point of midnight, there’s a knock at the door. The security monitor shows a tall, light-skinned black man dressed all in black. Kef exclaims, “It’s him!” – the unknown man from her vision. Axl answers the door. The man introduces himself as Earl Grimes, and asks for Kefya North. Paula casts an Aura spell and reads that Earl, who is a mage, is basically a good guy with a few darker spots. Once inside, he pulls out his white amulet for the others to see. He explains that he was sent to Dallas to deliver something to Kefya North, then to help in whatever way he can. He had been approached first by Enigma, then by Kevin McGuire (Kef’s eyes go wide); the latter seemed almost penitent, saying that he had wronged Kefya and wanted to make amends to her.

Earl hands Kef a silver ring and explains that it will focus her precognitive abilities. The ring bears a sword design that he says will help protect her.

Kef outlines the scenario and explains that they need to find Andrew Stronomer. Earl assures her he can do that. “Seeker and Trace?” Paula asks him; he implies that he has another method. Steve: “You must be a great and powerful wizard indeed.” Earl: “That’s what I keep telling myself.”

Everyone agrees that a good night’s sleep is in order. Jeremy has a room behind the IS office; Axl will park his semi in the hangar and sleep in the cab. Steve will go to one of his houses. Kef invites Earl home with her and Paula, and he graciously accepts. Just before she leaves, Kef approaches Steve and takes his hand. She says simply, “I’m glad to see you again,” squeezes his hand, and quickly departs before Steve can reply.

As Kef drives homeward, having just gotten onto LBJ Freeway, her danger sense alerts her that they are being followed. She alerts Paula and Earl about the four people in the car behind them. Paula immediately calls Steve, who gives instructions to delay for about twenty minutes, then head for the Tollway and go north; he will rendezvous with them. Meanwhile, Earl teleports onto the top of the pursuing vehicle. A cone of darkness forms around him. He leans over and knocks on the windshield. The car starts to swerve back and forth as if the driver is trying to make Earl fall off. Earl returns to Kef’s car and the darkness dissipates.

As Kef leads the pursuers up the Tollway service road, Steve comes up from behind and hits them. In an amazing feat of driving skill, the car does a 360° and continues chasing Kef. Steve catches up to them and with his silenced .45 shoots out a front tire. The windows roll down and guns emerge. Steve tosses a flash-bang on their windshield. The car screeches to a stop.

Steve gets out of his car and approaches cautiously. The driver’s head is down and both hands are on the wheel; the other three have been dazzled by the flash-bang. Steve shoots each of them in the trigger hand, then zip-cuffs the driver and pulls his shirt over his head. Kef brings her car around and she and Paula get out. Paula searches the trunk and finds two bodybags and a length of rope. The driver starts to raise his head; Steve warns, “I wouldn’t do that.” Paula tries to cast Minor Healing to stop their bleeding, but her spells fail. She asks Earl to help, and he does so. Steve blindfolds each of the men, who are then loaded into the trunks of Steve’s and Kef’s cars. As they pull away, Steve shoots a hole in the pursuers’ car’s gas tank and hurls a lighted flare at it. Paula phones Axl and tells him what has just transpired; Jeremy will alert Love Field security.

Going to an area with no other traffic, Steve performs a more thorough search of the men. He takes a cellphone from one of them. Each has one of the odd “pennies” in his pocket; Steve disposes of them. He suggests to Kef and Paula that they shouldn’t go home tonight, and leads them to one of his safe houses.

At the Infinite Solutions office, bullets strike the front door, shattering the evening’s silence. The security monitor shows four men wearing brown shirts, hoods covering their faces. Jeremy calls Love Field security… but there is no answer. He leaves a voice mail: “There are bullets being fired here; where are you guys?”

Axl and Jeremy level their shotguns at the door. As the four men burst in, the leader sees Axl, then grabs his buddy and pushes him forward as a shield. Jeremy shouts, “Come on in, boys!” Axl fires both barrels and kills a man.

Axl takes three steps toward the door. One intruder points his gun at Axl, yells “Stop!” then fires three shots, somehow hitting Axl in the butt. Jeremy heads for the door as the other two intruders rush in.

Axl goes through the door. Jeremy yells, “You, freeze!” and fires; one guy (the lucky one) rolls out of the way, but another is hit in the legs. One guy says “Stop” and another aims and says “Freeze.”

Jeremy steps back inside the office and slams the door. Axl is reloading; Jeremy indicates “there’s a rifle right there.” On the monitors, Jeremy sees lucky guy get up off the floor, pointing his gun at the office door. The other guy checks the dead guy, then he and lucky guy pick up the injured guy and start backing toward the outer door. As soon as they get outside where they can’t see him coming, Jeremy starts out in pursuit. Axl opens the hangar doors and climbs into his semi.

Jeremy, who can see well in the dark, fires his shotgun. He hits both the injured guy and one of the guys carrying him. He chases lucky guy, gaining on him slowly. By the time lucky guy gets into his car, Jeremy is less than 20 feet away. Ducking down, the guy starts the car. Jeremy fires at a front tire, blowing it out. The guy shifts into reverse and stomps on the gas. Jeremy fires through the driver’s-side window, shouting “Freeze!”

Axl’s semi, all its lights blazing, roars up. Lucky guy glances up, then floors it. Axl runs right over the car, killing the formerly lucky guy. All four of the intruders have the strange pennies in their pockets; their car’s trunk contains two bodybags. Axl asks Jeremy for a sling…

Jeremy phones Paula. “Are you guys having trouble with bad guys?” Paula acknowledges, asking if Jeremy and Axl are all right, and whether they had interrogated the intruders. Jeremy exclaims, “Talk to them! That would have been a good idea, huh, Axl?” Axl moans, “I’ve got three holes where there should only be one!”

Jeremy then phones the main Love Field number. “Are you having trouble contacting Security?” “We just called them and they answered.” “Send ‘em over to clean up the mess they couldn’t stop.” Jeremy is also perturbed that the IS security system, designed by Steve, hadn’t alerted him to the intruders until they were right at the front door.

At Steve’s safe house, Earl volunteers to interrogate the driver. Kef stands behind the driver and taps into his thoughts. Earl stands before the driver; darkness forms at his feet and spreads across the floor. The driver starts out fiercely defiant (with an image of Andrew Stronomer in his mind), but soon fear insinuates itself. A fireball appears in Earl’s hand; as he bounces it in his hand he says, “You’re going to tell us the truth.” The driver responds “You can’t scare me,” but his thoughts say otherwise. The driver at first denies knowing Andrew Stronomer, but then Earl sets his pants on fire. Earl steps back and suddenly a demon is there, demanding the address where they were to meet Stronomer.

The driver starts spilling information. The coins are the identification required to get into the secret meetings. Their objective is “whatever the Master tells us… The Master is planning something great.” Tonight they were to capture the two women and take them to an address in Oak Cliff. The Master’s assistant had said that one of the women was magical; the Master himself said the other was special. If they didn’t check in by 2:00am, it would be known that their mission had been a failure. He claims there are “thousands” of members in their group, but he only names a few. The very handsome man is called Roman; he never stops smiling, is very strong (e.g. he can snap a man’s arms with almost no effort) and unusually fast. One time, the driver relates, a shot knocked Roman down, but he got right back up and broke the shooter’s neck. Marc Balsam can read minds. As for Andrew Stronomer, “The Master can do anything.”

It is 3:00am Tuesday, March 22.

[April 23, 2005]

It is 3:00am Tuesday, March 22, at one of Steve’s safe houses. Earl Grimes looks around from questioning the driver and enquires of the others present whether he should ask anything else. Kef moves out from behind the driver and asks calmly, “Are you done with this one?” Earl indicates affirmative. Kef stands before the driver, staring down with eyes so dilated as to appear black, her backlit hair like a crown of fire. “She was nothing but a headless torso to you, was she.” It is not a question. “She had a name, she had friends, she had a life.” The driver starts to giggle and Kef snaps, “Shut up.” She goes on, “To you and your little boys’ club, she was nothing but a &^&=, a reward for good little boys who do as their ‘master’ tells them.” The driver continues to snicker and wisecrack. “Shut up. Tonight your ‘master’ told you to kidnap two women. It didn’t matter to you what for or who they are. But he said one of them was ‘magic’. And you were thinking you’d never had magic &^&= before, and you were going to get yourself a piece.” The driver leers as Kef snarls, “You were planning to rape… my… friend.” Whatever his last words may have been are lost, as Kef draws her pistol and fires three fast shots into his heart. In the ensuing silence, Kef turns away, not looking at anyone, and stalks out of the room.

Several seconds pass. Then Steve glances significantly at one of the other captives. “What’s your story?” The man starts to babble, “Uh, I’m from Plano.” Steve gives an impatient sigh and shoots him through the head. The next man looks up fearfully. “I’m a low man.” He says that he and the others are sometimes sent out to round up vagabonds, then a demon comes and leads them away. ‘Away’ where, he doesn’t know. The demons are very frightening; in fact, a wall of fear surrounds them.

Paula finds Kef sitting in front of a computer screen, staring off into space. She asks quietly, “How are you doing, Kef?” “Not well.” Kef sets her right hand on the mouse, but her hand is shaking so badly she can’t control it. Paula sits down and takes Kef’s hand in both of hers. Some minutes pass before Kef speaks again. Demons can’t be summoned without magic, so the lack of magic use at the pentagram indicates that the demon’s appearance and the human sacrifices were simply a show to impress the followers, with the rapes a reward for the faithful. Kef googles the term “Egyptian Masons” and gets back a few references to a demonic cult. They are an offshoot of the Freemasons, combining the remnants of the Knights Templar with a cult that worshipped the evil Egyptian gods Anubis and Set. A man named Jack Balsam led the Egyptian Masons in the early 1900s. There is also mention of a Sumerian voodoo-style deity called Tiamat.

Love Field security finally arrives at ISHQ. Jeremy demands, “Where the hell have you been?” The squad leader, who Jeremy doesn’t recognize, asks him to identify himself. Jeremy: “Ask that guy – he’s on patrol.” That Guy: “Uh, he’s the owner.” Jeremy: “Yeah, the guy who called BEFORE this all happened.” No one in the security office remembers hearing the phone ring at the time Jeremy had called. Jeremy: “You might hire guys who aren’t on drugs, eh?” The leader asks Jeremy, “Do you know who these guys are?” “I didn’t stop to ask. I could guess, but I don’t know… You didn’t get here in time to stop them.” The squad leader, glancing around, replies, “Their bad luck, looks like.”

Dallas police, along with paramedics and firemen, arrive. Axl, who has been sitting patiently in his semi (keeping pressure on his wounds), is first-aided and transported to Parkland Hospital. The police take a statement from Jeremy, who mentions the most-likely-related attack on his friends along the tollway. “Our PI buddy is missing,” he says, giving Blake Drummond’s name. The police tell Jeremy he’ll have to vacate the crime scene.

Jeremy calls Paula. “The police are making me leave. Where are you guys at? Do you need help?” “Things are well in hand,” Paula assures him. The attackers were sent by “The Master,” Andrew Stronomer. Kef is rather upset. Jeremy: “I’m sorry I didn’t save any for her.” Paula: “Just as well.” Paula learns that Axl is at Parkland; she says she’ll go heal him. She gives Jeremy their current address and says, “Make sure no one’s following you – and if they do, we’ll get more of them.” She gives Jeremy a summary of the interrogation of their attackers.

Jeremy hits the road, then calls Steve. “So what’s next?” Steve advises, “Get some sleep.” “Sleep?? We gotta find this Stronomer bozo!” “How? I’ve got a mess to clean up.” Jeremy suggests leaning on Marc Balsam. He fusses about the failure of the ISHQ security system to give sufficient warning of the attack, and Steve agrees to check it over sometime. “Be careful. Make sure you’re not followed.” Jeremy goes to his own home, checks for stakeouts, calls Steve back and says “I’m home,” then goes to bed.

Around 4:30am Steve and Earl return from “cleaning up” (Earl muttering “Note to self: Bloodthirsty crew!”). Steve pokes his head into the room where Kef and Paula are still working at the computer, and suggests that everyone go to bed.

Almost immediately, Kef begins a series of dreams.

In the first dream, she is walking through a place she recognizes as Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. As she passes in front of The Gap, one Hispanic man steps out behind another, puts a silenced gun to the latter’s head, and fires. A clock in The Gap reads 4:00. She continues on to the information desk, which displays the date, March 23.

Next, Kef is sitting at an outdoor café. Across the way is a Kroger supermarket. A street sign reads Cedar Springs. From the angle of the sun, it appears to be late afternoon. Traffic is heavy. Across the street a woman is walking. Suddenly a man steps out of a doorway, grabs the woman, and snatches her into the building. No one else seems to notice. A clock inside the café shows 5:00, and Kef feels that the event is imminent.

Then Kef’s point of view changes. She is looking down at herself lying on a bed. A cellphone rings; Kef gets up from the bed and picks up the phone. Caller ID indicates… Blake Drummond. A photo of Blake comes up on her screen. “Hello, Kef? I’m in Hell.” In answer to Kef’s concerned questions, Blake tells her he’s just fine, for the time being, although a doglike demon tried to bite his arm (and hurt its teeth), and the demons occasionally “play catch with me.” He had gone to see his new client, Madame Millan, and “a big red guy” caught him and escorted him to “this place.” He has heard that “Darkness is coming for me” and that “the two people who think they’re in charge are going to get the joke.” He believes that the reason he has been able to contact Kef is that the big red devil, Azael, is speaking at that moment with Stronomer, and he was able to “piggyback” his call’s signal. Blake suggests that the group should be able to set a trap for Stronomer.

On the phone’s screen appears a new scene: A devil, whose back is turned, addresses an image of Stronomer. A mirror behind Stronomer reflects tall buildings… and a flying red horse. Blake’s photo reappears, but then the connection is cut. Kef tries to awaken but finds she cannot, and tumbles into darkness.

Before anyone else is up, Paula calls Axl at Parkland and says she’ll come get him. She is able to cast a healing spell that substantially mends his backside. Then Axl must deal with the paperwork of getting himself checked out of the hospital.

Around 11:15 Kef awakens. Quite unusually, she feels very refreshed. She grabs a pad of paper and a pencil and sketches images and scribbles down notes from her dreams. A little while later Jeremy phones her. “Did Blake call you from Hell?” Jeremy had had that exact same dream, and from the landmarks he saw he has determined which building Stronomer was in. Blake’s call had come in at 5:30am.

Kef hears Earl heading into the kitchen, and she follows. “The demons are expecting the darkness,” she tells him; “What does that mean?” Darkness rolls over the room as Earl explains that in his world he belongs to a super team, where “my name is Darkness.” He had once gotten in a “lucky shot” and killed a demon prince, and ever since then he’s been aware that the demons are not happy with him. He had sensed that Enigma was sending him into a confrontation with demons, but his conscience makes him go and face them, even though he expects to die. (“I always expect to die.”) Kef expresses gratitude for his help. She is intrigued by his description of a world where superheroes are real, and wonders why Enigma wouldn’t have sent an entire hero team along with Earl against the demon. Earl shrugs and says he’s been sent to help her team. Kef says, “We’re not a team;” it’s been over a year and a half since the last time they had all been together. Kef says she’s been acting on many of her visions alone; Earl tries to explain how a team is better than an individual, because they can do more, and keep her from getting shot, stabbed, and beaten as she admits she has been.

Paula and Axl arrive back at Steve’s house. Steve finally rolls out of bed. Kef calls Jeremy, who has determined that the building Stronomer was in is owned by the Bank of America and is currently vacant. Paula turns on the TV; the news reports that a Dallas businessman was attacked and a private investigator is missing. Steve asks Earl what to use to fight demons; Earl suggests “magic weapons sometimes work – or explosives.” He hands Steve and Kef one clip apiece of caseless 9mm demonbane bullets, saying “I got them from McGuire.” Steve’s search on the names given by their captives had turned up only minor thugs.

Jeremy phones Steve; “Balsam’s not at the bookstore.” He had called and asked for Balsam and gotten the response, “Who?” The person who answered claimed that the store was owned by someone named Webster. Jeremy says, “I’m thinking Stronomer has wiped out their memories.”

After Jeremy arrives with lunch – BBQ from Sonny Bryan’s – Kef describes her other two visions, at Frisco and in Oak Lawn. No one recognizes the people in her sketches. Steve, Paula, and Axl will go to Stonebriar Mall, while Kef, Jeremy, and Earl go to Oak Lawn. Steve makes up himself, Axl, and Paula so that none of them are recognizable (Steve looks like a ‘stoner’). On the way to Frisco, Steve stops at a church and obtains some holy water.

The Stonebriar group arrives around 3:00pm. Paula sets up near The Gap, acting like she’s waiting for someone. Axl sits on a bench, eating Dippin’ Dots and watching for the victim. Steve scopes out the vicinity, noting the locations of entrances, restrooms, and so forth. At 3:47 Paula sees an outside door open and calls Steve. Steve responds, “Those aren’t supposed to be open – I’ll be right there.” As Steve comes downstairs, he sees the victim come out of The Gap and walk past Paula into the men’s room. Steve in his stoner guise wanders in. The victim and the shooter are talking together in low voices; they move away from Steve. They exchange a few more whispered words and shake hands, and the victim leaves.

Steve, inside a stall, hears a bag being opened, followed by a loudly whispered exclamation. The shooter leaves the bathroom, walking quickly, pulling a gun from one pocket and a silencer from another and fitting the two together. Axl rises from his bench. Steve fast-draws his gun and sticks it in the shooter’s back while simultaneously grabbing the shooter’s gun arm, saying in Spanish, “Hold it. Let me have it, or I’ll let you have it.” Paula starts creating a noisy disturbance in order to draw onlookers’ eyes to her. The victim has moved on out of sight. Steve continues in Spanish, “Your opportunity’s gone; let me have it or you’re dying.” Rather than give his gun to Steve, the shooter shoves it into his pants, then raises his empty hand out away from it. Steve walks the shooter into the restroom; Axl follows them.

The shooter, whose name is Juan Fernandez, tells Steve, “Henry Hernandez cheated me, that dirty thief. We’re in it together. He said there was a gold watch and some diamonds in there,” indicating the bag. Steve takes Juan’s gun, then examines the bag, which contains gold-painted pennies, glass gems, and a watch marked Olex. Steve asks Juan, “Are you a fence?” “No, I was the lookout while he robbed the stores.” “That’s not your line of work,” Steve observes, indicating Juan’s gang tattoos. “We’re going to have a little talk. Outside.” Via radio, Steve tells Paula there’s no apparent connection here with Stronomer.

Juan had had a key for the outside mall door. Steve and Paula get into Juan’s car, with Axl following in theirs. Paula calls Kef, says “We got him,” and briefly describes the disagreement between the two thieves. Kef growls, “How freaking useless.” Axl suggests, “Maybe we prevented something else.”

Suddenly Juan smiles at Steve, and his eyes change color from dark brown to gray. “Shoot him now!” Steve shouts to Paula, backhanding Juan. Paula shoots Juan in the shoulder and Steve adds, “In the head!” Instead, Paula mutters and gestures and casts a spell. Juan simply sits there, smiling at Steve. Steve, with sudden comprehension, says, “Hello, Mr. Stronomer.” Paula then puts her gun to Juan’s head, telling Steve, “I hope I’ve inhibited his intelligence.” Finally Juan speaks. “Ow, you shot me.” Steve replies, “I shot this guy you’re using.” Juan turns his head to stare forward, still smiling. Steve suddenly stomps on the brakes, making Juan fall forward, then shoots him in the head. As Juan slumps over dead, Paula asks, “Why did you do that?” Steve explains, “Stronomer was working through him. He wasn’t feeling any pain, and he might have tried some mental shit.”

Paula phones Kef. “It’s a trap,” she says, describing what just happened. Kef gets up from her seat at the outdoor café (which is actually a Chinese restaurant) and goes to tell Earl. Earl says they should continue with their plan; Stronomer may be gathering info. Paula calls again, telling Kef she thinks Balsam might have read her mind (while she was at the bookstore the other day) and gotten names and images. Earl remarks that Kef’s probably overestimating their abilities; Kef thrusts her phone at him, exclaiming, “Talk to Paula! It’s her, not me.” In Earl’s opinion, what happened was “sadistic play” rather than part of a deliberate plan. Earl believes Kef picked up the visions because they were tied to Stronomer, not because he sent them to her. “If Stronomer could send dreams to you, he’d just come get you instead.” Earl does think Stronomer is now after Paula, having learned of her magic powers. “I make my enemies overestimate my abilities.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy had scoped out the office building. The offices on the ground floor are vacant. One of them is unlocked, and appears to be in use by a homeless person. The floor is strewn with porn magazines and empty whiskey bottles. A few red stains are on the dirty bedding. At 4:40 the door opens and a hunched-over man enters. He seems unsurprised to see Jeremy, but tells him in a flat voice, “This is my place. You gotta leave.” Jeremy: “I can leave, but not yet.” Jeremy accuses the man of grabbing women and dragging them to this room. The man responds, “I don’t grab women.” He continues to tell Jeremy to get out. Jeremy offers him $20 to let him stay for 20 minutes. The man takes the money, but again orders him out. Jeremy replies, “I’m stayin’. Fair’s fair.”

Then the man straightens up and slides the $20 into his pocket. He says softly, “Well, I guess you can stay.” His eyes change color from brown to gray. Jeremy realizes that someone just entered his mind. “That’s a good trick. Are you Mr. Stronomer or Mr. Balsam? I just want to talk. I’m not into shooting, like my partner is.” The man responds, “Do you have the time?” “I got plenty of time.” “What time is it?” “4:45 – you have fifteen minutes.” “Plenty of time,” the man says. Jeremy: “It’s Kef you want, I don’t know why.” Suddenly Jeremy feels himself becoming very tired; he punches redial on his phone.

Kef’s phone rings; it’s Jeremy’s number, but there’s nothing but a few thumps and an indistinct voice. Kef motions to Earl, indicating the office building. Earl takes Kef’s hand, and in the next instant they appear in the room. Kef hurries over to Jeremy, who is lying on the floor, and awakens him. Earl shines Sunlight in the man’s face. The man is raised up and turned away from Earl. Kef approaches and tries to get into the man’s mind; at first she feels resistance, then she is sucked in.

Kef is standing in front of a table. Seated in a chair, bound and gagged, is the man who was going to grab the woman. Nearby is an old man in a wheelchair, leering at Kef, who she recognizes as Stronomer. They trade words, Stronomer insinuating that he would soon have Kef; Kef, challenging, responding that he didn’t possess what it takes to have her. Stronomer, seeming excited, hands Kef a coin and says he is looking forward to seeing her soon. Then her connection is broken… but she can still “see” the coin resting on her hand, and feels a slight but definite tug from it.

As Kef recovers, Jeremy and Earl learn that the homeless man (who has returned to his hunched posture) can’t remember anything for the past two days.

[May 7, 2005]

After dinner at the Chinese café (Kef’s fortune reads “The end is near”), the group discusses how to get into the vacant building and take Andrew Stronomer. With a quick recon, Steve notices several cameras set up outside with no apparent blind spots. Several plans are discussed and discarded, including getting into the old Magnolia Building across the way, peering through the window with one of Steve’s high-powered scopes, and then Earl teleporting Stronomer away. Paula, knowing how much magical skill this takes, is impressed that Earl can even consider doing such a thing; Earl tells her sincerely, “You must brush up on your spells.” Earl declares “we can’t let Kef go in alone,” to which Kef responds, “Why not?” Steve asks Kef if she’s sure it wasn’t him disguised as Stronomer in her vision; while she’s aware of Steve’s amazing disguise powers, she’s sure it was indeed an elderly, crippled man she saw. Steve asks Earl, “Can you make [Stronomer] unconscious?” “I can make him anything,” laughs Earl.

Finally a plan emerges. Jeremy and Axl will go to Love Field, come back with Jeremy’s helicopter, and be available for a rooftop extraction. Earl will turn himself and Steve invisible, and they will follow Kef and Paula into the building.

The building is unlocked. Kef, with Paula following, strides right past the manned information desk toward the elevator bank. As Kef reaches out to push the elevator button, however, one of the two guards waiting there stops her. The guards insist on frisking the women for weapons. Paula holds her purse out to the side; the guard is so interested in patting her down that he doesn’t think to check inside her purse. Standing off to the side, Kef slips out her 9mm and holds it behind her, and someone takes it. (Steve, still invisible, finds himself walking toward a stairwell, and with a powerful effort of will he makes himself go back to the elevators.) Elevator doors open. One of the suits steps in and punches multiple buttons. Kef and Paula are herded inside, and Steve and Earl slip in with them. Earl returns Kef’s gun.

Jeremy, having been warned of Stronomer’s mental powers, fashions himself a tinfoil hat. (Genuine Reynolds Wrap, not the cheap stuff. Double layer.) He files a flight plan indicating that he is taking tourists for a ride over downtown. Since Kef had advised them to bring a door opener, Axl finds his shotgun and a four-foot-long crowbar. Once he sights the roof of the target building, Jeremy sees a spot where he can easily (since he’s Jeremy) set down the helo.

The elevator doors open on the second floor, a large open area that was formerly a gymnasium. Paula walks out like she knows where she’s going. Kef acts nonchalant.

The doors open again on the 6th floor. No one gets in or out. (Steve feels a “tickle” in his head but no compulsion.)

At the 8th floor, the doors open and the incredibly handsome man called Roman strides in and grabs at Steve (who Kef can’t see). The suit looks fearful as Roman grabs him with one hand, but when he is set beside the control panel, he pushes the “door open” button. Kef starts fussing at Roman for barging in, but he pays her no heed. Steve sprays Roman with mace but it has no effect. Roman grabs again at Steve, who dodges. Kef steps out of the elevator; Roman turns, picks her up, and sets her back inside, behind the suit. At point-blank range Steve fires his M16 into Roman’s eye; Roman flinches and raises a hand to his face. The injury looks to be no more than a razor cut, oozing very red blood. Steve unloads a burst into Roman’s side, succeeding mainly in shredding Roman’s expensively tailored Armani suit. Roman grabs for the barrel, but Steve twitches it out of the way, stepping back out of the elevator. Kef shoves the suit hard, bouncing the guard off of Roman. Roman sets himself in the front of the elevator, and the doors close, leaving only Kef and the suit inside.

Paula’s feet carry her forward toward a very short man (4’2”). She is only about a yard away from him when she realizes something isn’t right. The midget doubles up his fist. Paula opens her purse, gets hold of her gun, and fires right through the purse, getting what would seem to be a solid hit. The midget swings his fist, missing twice but then striking Paula. She kicks him in the head, but to her mind comes the thoughts, “I know he dodged; how did I hit him?” She fires at his head and misses. The midget leg-sweeps and Paula falls down.

Five yards away from him, Steve sees a humongous roach. It skitters toward him on all six, then raises up its upper half, clutching at him with two sets of limbs.

Paula rises to a crouch. She notices that the midget’s bullet wound isn’t bleeding… but then it begins to bleed. The midget lands a punch on her chin, knocking Paula onto her back. Realizing the truth of this fight, Paula mentally screams “Get out of my mind!” The midget melts away. Bruised and sore, Paula gets to her feet.

The suit holds the elevator door open. Psyching herself into self-assurance, Kef steps regally into the luxurious penthouse. She turns her head and Stronomer leers at her. Beside him stands Marc Balsam, with a funny look on his face. Kef is aware that ever since she got into the elevator someone has been repeatedly and unsuccessfully trying to get into her mind. Kef smirks and takes a couple of steps toward the pair.

“Progress check.” Axl’s voice comes over their radio headsets. Steve: “I’m on floor 8 with Roman and a giant roach.” Earl: “I’m on the 8th floor with Roman, a giant roach, and Steve.” Paula: “Which means Kef’s by herself.” Jeremy: “It’s shotguns and crowbars time!”

Steve fires at the roach, which dodges. With one pair of legs the roach grapples Steve around the waist, and with another limb it grabs for Steve’s gun hand, but he fends that one off. With a few steps’ running start, Roman leaps to tackle Steve – but suddenly freezes in midair. Surprised at first, Roman concentrates, straightens himself from a horizontal posture to vertical, and steps down to the floor. From somewhere Earl’s voice murmurs, “Oh, shit.” Steve jams his gun against the roach’s head; one burst gets through. Emitting a chittering sound, the roach grabs again at Steve’s hands; Steve parries. Then the roach hauls off and flings Steve at Roman. Roman raises a hand to smash Steve into the floor – but then stops. Steve flies under Roman’s hand and hits the ground. Chittering, the roach runs toward Steve… and then Roman completes his swing and strikes the roach with a loud splatting, cracking sound.

Kef’s words also go out over the radio. “Ah, Mister Stronomer. We meet at last. And you must be Mister Balsam.” Still with the odd expression on his face, Balsam says to Stronomer, “Andrew, I bounced.” Cackling, Stronomer replies, “Of course, you fool. I told you she was juicy. I’m going to have fun with her.” Turning his beady eyes back to Kef, he adds, “I know all about your friends. The ones on the roof, too.” Kef notices standing in shadows a very plain-looking man holding a gun, staring at her. Suddenly Kef fast-draws her gun and fires at Balsam, who simply steps out of the way. The shadowed man raises his gun. Kef fires three more times, but the bullets bounce off an unseen barrier. Then her gun flies out of her hand and into Stronomer’s.

Jeremy makes a fast landing on the roof. Axl comes out, shotgun in one hand, crowbar in the other, and takes cover behind a massive air conditioner unit. He takes aim, fires, and blows the roof access door’s latch to pieces. He reloads his shotgun, then wedges the door open and starts down the stairs. As he reaches the door to the 10th floor, two ninjas step out of the shadows. At the same time, a huge dog rushes out the roof door. Jeremy drawls, “Axl, you let the dogs out.”

Paula runs back to the 2nd-floor elevators, to be met by a thin, red-eyed man with pallid white skin. Having been warned not to make eye contact with this one, she shuts her eyes and concentrates on a spell. The man reaches her just as she completes the spell and touches him; unfortunately, the Daze spell fails. She turns away, but the man grabs her by the gun hand and turns her back to face him. She tries to pull her gun away but cannot. Then the man head-butts her and lets go; Paula staggers back. Opening her eyes, looking toward the floor, she can see the man’s feet, so fires her shots upward from there. The man grunts loudly and draws his own gun. Paula fires again and the man goes limp, his gun dropping to the floor. For insurance, Paula puts three or four bullets into his brain. She collects the man’s weapon, a .380.

Steve fast-draws his pistol (the M16 is empty) and fires three fast shots into the roach’s neck wound. The roach chitters agitatedly. Steve gets up, and the roach scurries away toward the stairs. Roman, who seems to be listening to something, speaks: “I yield.” Steve puts his pistol away and reloads his M16. “Okay, you yield.” Earl’s voice inquires, “Are you okay?” “I’m fine.” “Let’s take an elevator ride.”

Axl backs up and throws his crowbar, not believing the ninjas are real. The crowbar passes through Ninja1 and clangs against the wall, but N1 is still there. N2 swings and hits, but the wicked-looking katana does about as much damage as a rubber knife. Axl thinks the words, “Get out!” N1 vanishes; N2 strikes Axl again but causes no injury. N2 drops his sword and he and Axl trade punches. Axl orders, “Go away, man.” Throwing up his hands, N2 steps back into the shadows. Axl radios Jeremy, “Whatever ran up the stairs isn’t real – but other stuff might be.”

Jeremy turns the helo’s spotlight on the onrushing horse-sized white dog… then proceeds to ignore it. Over the radio Paula says, “Jeremy, shout it out of your mind.” “There’s nothing in my mind.” The helo shakes as the dog thunks into it, and the dog backs up for another charge. Jeremy thinks to himself “At least do something intelligent!” as he picks up his gun and opens the door. The dog head-butts Jeremy, who feels it but is unhurt. Turning his back on the dog, Jeremy heads for the rooftop door. The dog, following, bites Jeremy in the back, then clamps onto his arm and starts gnawing. Paula: “How’s it going, Jeremy?” Jeremy: “This dog that doesn’t exist is hanging on my arm.” Steve: “Just get downstairs and quit playing with it.” Pulling the dog along with him, Jeremy descends the stairs.

Axl opens the stairwell door, half-expecting to meet a geisha. Another locked door is in front of him.

Kef says softly, “Mister Grimes, where are you?” Earl answers, “On the elevator with Roman.” Stronomer tilts his head, and Paula feels a feathery touch on her mind: “Don’t worry, be happy.” Paula replies, “Go to hell.”

The elevator dings. Steve palms a flash-bang. Roman moves out first, his feet not touching the ground.

The dog still hangs from Jeremy’s arm. He casually jams the dog’s head against a doorjamb as he continues on.

Axl walks quietly through a kitchen area, then he can see Balsam and Stronomer from the side, and then Kef, then Steve and Roman.

Steve hurls the flash-bang onto the floor in front of Stronomer. Kef, guessing what Steve’s sudden throw indicates, closes her eyes and covers her ears. Axl aims at an armed man that emerges, staggering, from the shadows. Balsam flinches and Stronomer giggles.

Paula comes out of an elevator. Jeremy catches up with Axl, who glances at the dog and suggests, “Get him something out of the refrigerator.” Jeremy calls out, “Hey, old man, your dog’s here.”

Kef strolls toward Stronomer and Balsam. “You owe a debt that you haven’t paid, and we’re taking you there to pay it.” Steve: “There’s two ways you can go.” Paula: “They’re giving you a sporting chance. Do you play poker?”

The dog disappears, and Jeremy feels really good. Paula pleads with him to “get him out of your mind.”

Stronomer claims to remember no debt until Kef mentions the name Azael. Then he protests, “We didn’t have a pact.”

Jeremy walks up and takes Kef’s hand. He suggests that Kef turn on the TV. “Try channel 666.”

Steve says to the armed man, “Put that down before you hurt yourself.” (The man – the mage-sniffer that Jeremy and Paula had encountered at the bookstore – cannot see Earl, so he thinks Steve is a wizard.)

Once more elevator doors open, and out steps Madame Consta Millan. Earl becomes visible. Madame Millan takes the TV remote from Kef, then goes over to the TV and a doorway opens. Kef says, “Let’s go.” Kef and Jeremy lead the way, followed by Roman (still under Earl’s control), then Earl, Stronomer, and Balsam. Steve grabs the sniffer by the ear and pulls him along, too. Paula and Axl follow.

Ten minutes’ walk brings the group to a door. Kef opens the door and steps in. Here is the cavern she had seen in her vision, including the poker table. Blake looks up and smiles; the devil Azael frowns. Other demons lurk in the shadows. Then Azael grins and says, “Darkness.” Earl mutters, “Oh, shit.” Jeremy, brightly: “Friend of yours?” Earl: “Never met the guy.” Azael announces, “My friends, it’s time to tell the truth.”

Azael notices Roman and stares at him for a while. When the sniffer glimpses Azael, he faints dead away. Paula murmurs, “Overload.” Paula can feel that the mana level here is ridiculously high; she mutters “Oh, boy,” then warns the others, “Be careful what you wish for – it may happen.” Everyone else feels a strange tingle, like electricity.

Azael raises one hand and gestures thrice. Stronomer and Balsam are jerked out of the group and float toward the table. Earl waves his hand and Azael says warningly, “Darkness…” Earl sends Roman drifting over to the table.

Kef starts toward Blake on a path that would pass close to Azael. Steve calls out, “Hold up, Kef. I think we have a substitute.” He indicates the sniffer. Azael says disdainfully, “I already have him.” Steve: “Blake didn’t volunteer for this deal.” Azael: “I will explain in a second.”

Azael addresses Stronomer and Balsam. “Gentlemen, I’ve been kind of not truthful. You tried to call Tiamat, and I stepped into a breach. Tiamat is not a demon – isn’t that right, Roman? Tiamat is an alien – isn’t that right, Roman?”

With a pained expression, Roman responds, “I didn’t know. I was a long-range scout for Tiamat. My mission was to estimate how long it would take to take over the Earth.”

Azael: “Andrew Stronomer, I knew you wanted to get stronger and rule the world, but now you have to stay with me. Marc Balsam, I’ve been after you for centuries. You killed and tortured so many, and I thank you. But I wanted just one person… You, Darkness. You killed one of my best colonels. We had almost achieved a way into that dimension.” Earl protests, “I got lucky – it was the elf who destroyed him.” Azael: “You can’t leave. I have a teleport shield on this place.”

Azael then raises his hand and gestures at Earl. All of a sudden, darkness explodes from Earl and surrounds the group…

Three long seconds later, the darkness roils back into Earl. A golden aura surrounds Blake. Steve has disappeared. Axl has grown taller and broader, and his skin has become metallic, ridged. Jeremy has sprouted wings. Kef is clad in a tan-colored robe and bears a glowing sword. Balsam, terrified, has drawn a large sword. Jeremy hears Stronomer’s voice in his head: “Come to me.” Shadows disengage from the cavern walls.

From the ceiling a nine-foot-tall demon leaps down and crouches in front of Axl. Axl brandishes tire chains and enwraps the demon’s arm. Unseen, Steve flits over beneath Stronomer. Jeremy flies over and lands on the table facing Stronomer; Azael swipes at Jeremy but misses. Earl grabs Azael with Levitation. Paula, feeling she can do almost anything with this wealth of mana, casts Haste on herself and moves toward Azael. Kef leaps over Azael, who swings at her; she parries with her sword, drawing sparks along the devil’s arm. Blake stands up and takes a punch at Balsam; he misses, but knocks a chunk out of the wall. Azael draws a flaming sword, then throws a red bolt at Paula. Paula Blinks and finds herself standing in the chair Blake just vacated. Grabbing hold of the chain, the demon jerks Axl forward and wraps his arms around him.

Sensing something behind her, Kef swings twice at a 7’ demon, which curses and falls. Steve slithers up Stronomer’s back and begins penetrating his force field. Axl flips on his high beams and sounds his air horn; the demon faints. Blake swings at Balsam, breaking the latter’s sword; Balsam stops smiling. Stronomer levitates and whizzes across the room toward the door. Earl raises Azael another yard. Azael slams the door shut, then swings at Jeremy’s back; Jeremy feels heat, and something ricochets off the wall and strikes Stronomer, slapping him out of his wheelchair. Stronomer falls to the floor and cries out. A demon swings at Paula, who Blinks. Jeremy backflips, flies over to where Stronomer lies, and says, “Yes, master.”

Steve penetrates Stronomer’s force field, puts his hand in the old man’s mouth, and lets poison flow from his fingertips. Kef strikes Azael twice, raising sparks but causing no damage. Axl begins racing around the perimeter of the cavern, attempting to run over the demons. Jeremy doesn’t feel so happy anymore; he flies up twenty feet and takes aim at Azael. Azael, who has returned to the ground, speaks the word “No,” and the entire cavern turns, causing Earl and Paula to fall down. “Enough.” Stronomer reaches for Steve’s mind. Steve whispers, “You’re dead – you just don’t realize it yet. Nothing can save you.” Stronomer hisses, “I don’t think you understand me, boy.” Green gas emerges from Azael’s butt, and Kef leaps upward.

With all her might (and Force), Kef brings her sword down on Azael’s head, but the devil doesn’t even flinch. Paula casts Create Object and something like a metal vase completely covers Azael’s head. Steve replies to Stronomer, “No, I think you stay in your body,” and mentally pushes him out. Axl runs over two demons and comes to a stop when he hits a third. Azael disappears – leaving the vase hanging in midair – then reappears, smiling. Earl goes to one knee as Azael laughs, “Fool, you can’t Banish me from here!”

Kef lops off a demon’s head, but it keeps coming at her. Steve jams his poisonous shadow fingers in Stronomer’s eyes. Suddenly, everyone in the cavern freezes in place… except Azael and Kef. Azael turns toward Kef, who raises her sword.

In the next instant, Kef finds herself standing in the penthouse. With her are the others except for Earl Grimes. The sniffer is there, but Stronomer, Balsam, and Roman are not. According to the clock, only a minute has elapsed since they left.

The television clicks on, and Azael smiles out at them. At the table behind him can be seen Stronomer, his mouth open in a silent scream; Balsam, looking rather the worse for wear; Roman, unfazed, clothing repaired. “Where’s Darkness? He was getting irritating, so I sent him back with the rest of you.” Axl answers, “He didn’t come from here.” Steve warns, “Are you sure you want to find him? You’re gonna lose.”

[May 21, 2005]

The group performs a cursory search of Stronomer’s penthouse suite, taking a handful of CD-ROMs, a computer, and the security camera recordings (also on CD). Jeremy and Axl carry the computer up to the roof and fly away in the helo. (Jeremy makes the helo smoke a little, to back up their story regarding engine trouble.) Paula goes to check on James Spector’s body, and it’s not there.

By the time the police arrive, they find a vacant building.

On the way to Marc Balsam’s condo in East Dallas, Blake says that Azael and various demons tried to rough him up a bit, but for some reason they couldn’t hurt him. He doesn’t know the source of the golden glow that surrounded him after the burst of darkness. He speculates that the reason he was kidnapped was that Madame Millan “got unlucky” and had a vision of Blake and Earl in the same room, and so predicted that taking Blake would bring Darkness. Blake thanks the others for rescuing him. Kef says, “We couldn’t not come after you, Blake.” Steve snorts eloquently. Kef insists that Blake call Sara Summers.

As an aside, Kef says to Paula, “You need to stop talking in code.” Paula admits that under stress she tends to lapse into the jargon employed by her previous Infinite Solutions team.

At the condo, Paula announces she’ll watch the street, but Kef asks her, “Shouldn’t you check for magic stuff?” As it happens, Paula finds on the front door a small diamond-shaped object imbued with a Nightingale spell; i.e., it will sound an alert if the door is disturbed. Steve finds no sign of any electronic security, and he easily picks the lock. The condo is rather sparsely furnished – Kef figures that Balsam had many residences, and this is but a minor one – but they collect a hardcopy list of 20 names and phone numbers, financial records, and Balsam’s journal.

Back at Steve’s safe house, Steve, Blake, Paula, and Kef start going over what they’ve collected. Stronomer’s bank accounts contain a total of $4 million. There is a list of cities where over the past five years Stronomer had had prostitutes and homeless people murdered to carry out the rituals he believed would summon Tiamat. His notes indicate that he knew Balsam was several centuries old, and possessed of a substantial mind shield; he was only able to read Balsam’s surface thoughts. One time Stronomer attempted to mentally strongarm Balsam, which knocked out Balsam and left Stronomer stunned.

Balsam’s bank records list cash and property holdings worth nearly $30 million. His personal journal goes back to the 1400s, when he fought in the Crusades and discovered he was immortal. More recently, he noted “what a sick f*ck Andrew Stronomer is,” but he was “exciting,” someone to watch and eventually kill. “Andrew always cleans up when he moves to another place,” including destroying his followers.

Axl arrives with Stronomer’s computer. There’s not much on it besides the codes to his security system.

“Creepy James Spector – call him Demise.” He can feed his own death into other people’s minds, making their bodies shut down. Many a time Spector has been shot and stabbed, wounds that would have been fatal to other men, but he still lives. Paula says, “We’re talking subatomic vaporization… I put three bullets in his brain and he walked away.” She’s sure he was real, not one of Stronomer’s constructs (like the midget, the ninjas, the giant dog). The security recordings show that about ten minutes after Paula left him, Spector began to stir and the bullets popped out of his head. The giant roach came and helped him up, and they departed the building through a side door, the roach disguised in a trenchcoat and hat. (Kef marvels that a giant roach can walk the streets of Dallas unnoticed.)

The next round of sacrifices were to take place on April 30th; Stronomer’s notes indicate that either this would be the one to summon Tiamat, or he would end the Texas attempts and move on. Kef is adamant that all the remaining Egyptian Masons be hunted down, and the rapists killed. Axl suggests that the group invite them to the next sacrifice, then blow them all to hell. Blake will interrogate and then kill one particularly sadistic cultist, while Steve will carry out most of the other executions.

Around 2:30am Steve tells Kef, “We’re not going to solve this tonight – go to sleep.” He takes his own good advice. Blake and Kef continue to comb through the data for another hour and a half, at which point Blake thinks to ask, “Where’s my car?” Kef, her head resting on Blake’s shoulder, responds drowsily, “It’s been taken care of.”

The next day Paula and Axl go looking for Madame Millan’s place, which they easily locate – the shop is no longer warded. The woman who greets them looks familiar, but is much younger than the medium they had thought was Consta Millan. She claims to have had her shop there for a couple of years, but she had been out of town for two weeks. Deciding to give Kef a chance to check this woman out, Paula offers this Madame Millan $1000 to dine at Antares restaurant and do a reading for a “potential business partner” of hers and Axl’s.

Kef dresses to the nines in a slinky forest-green dress and four-inch heels. She puts on contact lenses that change her eyes from green to blue-gray, and covers her flame-red hair with an auburn wig. She introduces herself as Sabrina West. While Paula keeps up a line of chit-chat, Kef determines that Consta Millan really does have psychic powers, though via touch only. Millan is basically a good person with a broad streak of greed. When “Sabrina” allows Millan to take her hand, the latter immediately reports a vision of Sabrina, Paula, Axl, and a man matching Blake’s description. They are sitting at a dining room table at what appears to be a planning session, talking and smiling. “Your business venture will go well for all of you.”

Jeremy and Axl, accompanied by excellent legal counsel, are questioned extensively by the authorities. A week goes by before Jeremy is allowed back into his hangar. Axl finally gets his truck back on April 13th, then files a lawsuit against Love Field security. On April 27th they are no-billed by the grand jury. Jeremy has a small fine levied against him for landing near Sam Moon’s.

Paula devotes 10-12 hours per day practicing spells, trying to shake off the rust and to re-learn all that she has forgotten.

Return to [[Ages & Alternities:Track 1 Mission List]]

Return to [[Hawaii:Infinite Solutions|Main Mission Logs]]

Dallas:Sessions:20031011

2008-03-28T22:56:28Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Track 1 – '''Kev McGuire's Evil Clone''' - October 11, 2003 GM: Bill S. Write-up: MaryK GM Notes: No ''' Kev McGuire's Evil Clone ''' A110 Track 1 Assignment '''MISSION TEA...

Track 1 – '''Kev McGuire's Evil Clone''' - October 11, 2003

GM: Bill S.

Write-up: MaryK

GM Notes: No

''' Kev McGuire's Evil Clone '''

A110 Track 1 Assignment

'''MISSION TEAM'''
*Paula Baker
*Blake Drummond
*Jeremy Grant
*John Kines
*Al "Axle" Lee
*Steve McAllen
*Kefya North

''[This is a transcription from my notes, nearly a year and a half after the actual gameplay. Items in square brackets are things brought back to my memory by the notes; thus, they are inaccurate/incomplete. MaryK]''

September 28, 2003, 2:30am – Kef is in the piney woods of East Texas. She dreams… Outdoor café, somewhere sunny. Three people:
*One fair with dark hair, he seems familiar, evil
*Woman, beautiful, dark shades, large black hat, unnaturally pale, different vibes than anyone, conflicted but not evil, blood-red lipstick
*Pale thin blond man, “feels” old, aura has elements like Paula’s, tortured soul, good most of the time
*Fourth presence, felt but unseen – evil

Near future. Quiet lunch. Woman and dark-haired man seem to be a couple. The woman seems to know Kef is there; she looks her direction and smiles as if she’s been waiting for her. Woman doesn’t show teeth when she smiles

Paula gets on the computer and does research. Someone looks like young Greg Brady. Paula phones Steve around 1:00pm. Rogue analogue of an IS agent – murderer. Name is Kevin McGuire. Enigma gave Paula a magical artifact to counteract this world’s low mana. Look for gang members dying in trunks. Memphis – 20 gang members found dead in one trunk yesterday (9/27).

Paula calls Blake; Steve phones Kef. Steve feels a chill, like someone just walked over his grave. Paula detects residual magic.

Paula says Enigma visited her at 9:30am. Cynthia Jones grew a clone of Kev McGuire from stolen DNA & braintape. McGuire killed her and her group. He can travel to different worlds.

Memphis – George Lewis killed – resembles photo in dossier. Was a librarian, age 35, shot with M16 from long range (300-400 yards) coming out of a Luby’s.

Memphis – Sarah Carter, nurse, found dead, drained of blood. Harold Dean, x-ray technician, found dead, sword wound, skin gray and like paper. Name sounds familiar to Steve

Kef shows the others her drawing of the three people in the café.

9pm: Paula sees Steve light up with magic – Seeker. Kef calls Jeremy to get the plane ready. Blake obtains 20 wooden bolts for Paula’s crossbow.

11:30pm: Begin flight to Memphis. One gang member survived, and owes Blake a favor.

1:30am: We land in Memphis. Steve is “touched” again – colder. Hospital; man in traction describes attack by a man with a silver bat, laughing and repeating the words “Where is Mister Wicket?” Jesse played dead and survived being stuffed in a trunk.

4:00 am: Leave hospital
Kef dreams – tall pale man, long black sword in hand. Sword has emotions, hunger. It was the 4th presence in her vision. Sword bears arcane designs and symbols that Kef doesn’t recognize. Dark, streets and buildings. Grim expression, “work to do.” Behind Kef she hears a panicked male voice from ground level, “No, don’t do it! What do you want?” Screaming. A sound coming from the sword, a whisper or murmur, wordless vocalization of hunger. Kef turns, sees victim crawling away backward, gets a good look at his face. He stops, seems to levitate past Kef. She wakes to a scream, “splack” and sucking sound. Pale man is sad. Sword is feeding. Victim is “slipping away.”

7:00am: Paula and Steve (made up as Greg Brady) go to another hotel

7:30am: The next Seeker comes, brighter and colder. Paula deduces it is finding Steve and pulling things from his mind, like names. Cast by a mage 1 ½ times stronger than Paula.

11:00am: Jeremy tunes in CNN. Kansas City, MO – 15 gang members found in trunk, dead. Frank James dead of severe blood loss. Jeremy calls Paula; “We’re in the wrong town.” “Frank James” was an alias Steve once used in Kansas City. Next stop could be Chicago, Dallas, or Miami. In Chicago, Steve was “Jason Smith” six years ago. Willie Burton, shot long-range with M16 in KC; looks like Greg Brady.

Blake arrives. Harold was 35 and looks 85. Jeremy phones a celebrity impersonator company and orders up some Greg Bradys to meet them at Midway [airport in Chicago]. Jason Smith is the victim in Kef’s dream.

Kef dozes on the plane: Looking through a high-powered scope. Sees herself, Paula, Jeremy, Blake, Steve (as Jason Smith). Steve seems “fuzzy.” Daylight, around 4pm, walking around airplanes, cars, taxis, Hertz, Avis

Steve gets touched again, just before we land at Midway. Paula casts Keen Eyes on Steve and Jeremy. Jeremy pulls the plane into a hangar. A limo arrives; Kef senses danger. Paula casts 3-point Drunkenness on driver. Steve, Blake, and Jeremy hear a “siren song.” Steve and Blake begin weaving as if drunk.

A figure drops down from the top of the hangar, hovering in midair. Shoots at Paula who Blinks. [Paula had armed herself with an M16 and demonstrated she was familiar with using it… much to Kef’s shock.]

Steve fires; should have hit, no effect. Man gives Steve a mean look. Steve runs for cover. Kef tries Telereceive; bounces. Steve throws a flash-bang, startles driver. Limo accellerates toward Paula – Blink.

[The fight went on for several rounds. Nothing seemed to affect McGuire. Kef was inside the plane until Paula was injured, then Kef came down the steps and dragged Paula into the plane. Eventually Kev McGuire flies away. We later learn that the three Greg Brady impersonators have been bloodily slain inside the terminal.]

Paula has a dazer (from Enigma). Paula’s ring has Blink and Dispel Magic as well as +5 to spellcasting (presumably). [It didn’t occur to Paula to try the dazer or Dispel Magic on McGuire; Kef starts to upbraid her for this lapse, then bites her tongue and sits silently on the plane, brooding.]

We are airborne, heading toward Dallas (maybe).

'''[October 25, 2003]'''

Paula gives the dazer to Steve. We decide to fly to Milwaukee and drive back to Chicago. Blake rents a Cadillac Escalade.

7:45pm: Steve phones the guy; he says Kev offered him a lot of money. Supposed to Murphy’s Pub. Steve offers to go in his place (Disguise by 10). Practices [shooting the dazer] on a wino at 20 yards.

8:30pm: Blake outside in car. Jeremy, Paula, Kef inside. Jeremy sees a guy in jeans, t-shirt, jacket, dark hair, back to the wall. Gets a table three or four over. Paula, disguised (by Steve), strikes up a conversation with a man, five tables away where she can see Kevin. Kef gets a glass of red wine, then goes over to the jukebox.

Steve enters, goes to the bar, orders a beer. Feels a tap on his shoulder, nobody there. Kev beckons to him. “Elric sends his greetings.” Steve’s arms are pinned.

A lady walks by Kef – dark hair, very fair, humming a familiar tune, makes a beeline to Kev’s table. Kef tries to run into her, “hits” and falls down. Woman moves on.

Paula slides into a chair next to Kevin, calls him “Andrew.”

The woman helps Kef up, smiles, says “Not right now.” Kef asks “Who are you?” and she says “That’s not important” and “I’m going to save your friend.”

Kevin says “I killed three people today. I broke their necks.”

Paula gets up to leave, is forced to sit down, flails around and tries to cast Drunkenness, but Kevin is magic-resistant. Kevin says, “Shh, or I’ll do your mouth.” To Steve, “You and I need to talk later. It’s too late for Jason.” The woman says, “Kevin, we should go now. You were a great distraction.” She whispers to Kev (while trying to cast Sleep on Steve).

Jeremy calls Blake. “They’re getting ready to leave.”

The woman tells Paula to cast Aura; “You know you want to.” She is an alien named Sabella.

Sabella and Kev leave, Steve floating after them. Sabella whispers to Kev, and Steve floats back to the table. Kef rushes to the table and starts frisking Steve, who raises his head and winks. Kef urges him to go after them, but by then they have flown off.

10pm: Go to a bookstore, get every book Jason Smith wrote.

Midnight: Back to the plane. Kef tries Psychometry; no one approached the plane.

3am: Steve feels that little “ping” again.

Land at Love Field. Steve figures the next target is someone both he and Jason knew. Blake suggests we all go to his house. [Kef falls asleep, has a replay of Jason Smith’s death; hears the scream “Willie Burton – the name is Willie Burton.”] Kef leaps off the sofa and bursts into Steve’s room [to be met by an instantly-awake Steve aiming the business end of a very large gun at her. Kef apologetically stammers out her information, then backs carefully out of the room.]

10:30am: Steve finds a record of Willie Burton, but he’s been missing for seven years. Mid-level crook, drugs, guns. Was about to move into the big time. Blake’s contact indicates he’s in a federal witness protection program.

Steve did not get pinged at 7:30am. Steve and Paula leave so Steve can make his report.

CNN: Jason Smith found dead of sword wound. 30 gang members found dead in a trunk.

Steve practices with the dazer on squirrels and grackles.

6:30pm: Steve feels a ping, but Paula perceives it’s a different source.

A hole appears in Blake’s living room. Blake, Paula, and Jeremy are stunned. Sabella steps out, carrying a pudgy white man. Steve dazes her but she shrugs it off. Next comes a humanoid in black and gold armor, black sword at his side, carrying Elric/Erlic. Steve tries dazing the armored man, then fires .45. Armored man swings sword, hits Steve’s arm. Sabella grabs the sword and pulls it of Steve’s arm. Sabella heals Steve’s arm; refers to him as “victim”. Steve recognizes the guy as Michael Moorcock, who Steve supposedly killed ten years ago.

They are Eternal Champions. Swords are evil, but the champions do good things. Armored man is Krom. Sword has found a new master – Kev McGuire. Sabella is from Mars; there are only two like her. Kev is wearing a ring with Missile Shield on it.

10:00am: Steve is pinged – but it’s not Kev. “He’s coming.”

1:30pm: We set up.

1:45pm: Dimensional door opens; Krom and Sabella step out.

1:59pm: 200 yards up, dimension door opens and Kev steps out, grinning. Drifts down in front of Krom. Paula casts Dispel Magic; Steve dazes Kev. Blake and Jeremy open fire, blow his leg off. Steve shoots him in the brain. Sabella heals Krom. Blake arrives with Erlic, who picks up the sword and stabs Kev, mutters “No soul.”

We return to Blake’s. Moorcock is awake. He’s in Dallas for a book signing.

Steve has Kev’s ring, but it’s no longer magic.

Return to [[Ages & Alternities:Track 1 Mission List]]

Return to [[Hawaii:Infinite Solutions|Main Mission Logs]]

Dallas:Sessions:20030607

2008-03-28T22:55:36Z

Jsuhoski: New page: GM: Bobby J. Steve and Blake evaluate Deathwish’s real property for investment and tax purposes. Several of the properties are refurbished and donated to charity. Blake advised Kef to ...

GM: Bobby J.

Steve and Blake evaluate Deathwish’s real property for investment and tax purposes. Several of the properties are refurbished and donated to charity. Blake advised Kef to study occultism, history, religion. Kef and Steve make sure that Cinnamon’s sister, Ann Masters, gets the benefit of her record sales, etc.

With Steve’s help, Kef has made over $800,000 from buying and reselling Psitron’s mansion and the valuable antiques inside it. Kef owns a beach house in Malibu and is having it fixed up.

Steve builds up his network of contacts and moles. Blake buys Solution Security and its 30 agents. Blake hires Tom Cartley, who recovered from his coma after four months in the hospital, but has memory loss. Blake sets him up in Cleveland.

Abraham Donaldson, the dotcom millionaire, continues to hire Blake as his bodyguard. Donaldson becomes engaged to Sohandra McPearson (the woman he had taken to Cinnamon’s concert) and he hires Blake for wedding security.

The cat wanders in and out of Kef’s house.

Friday, October 11, 2002: Kef wakes up in a cold sweat – but doesn’t know why. Her friends are all okay. No big event in the world.

Between the end of October 2002 through early February 2003 there is an increase in the murder rate and the number of unsolved missing persons cases in Boston. Someone with immense strength put a rattan sword through a re-enactor’s body. Most of the murders involve savage slashings and some, broken necks.

March 2003: Blake invites his friend the police lieutenant to dinner at a steakhouse and quizzes him about the Boston occurrences. Four days later, the lieutenant tells Blake they have no prints. There are some eyewitnesses – winos talk about a “steel robot.” Some say the killer was tall, others say average-sized. Someone on a motorcycle had his chest punched in with a fist. Some of the victims were armed and had fired.

April 29: Blake invites Kef and Steve to dinner; they discuss the Boston events.

April 30: Jeremy flies Steve, Blake, and Kef to Boston. There is no pattern to the killings, and no common factor.

May 4 (Sunday): Kef wakes up at 6am after a vision. She was high on a bluff overlooking the city of Birmingham. She sensed a Great Hate (with a metallic “taste”), a Lesser Hate, and a Lesser Great Hate. Kef and Blake fly to Birmingham.

May 5: Kef leads Blake to the bluff overlooking Birmingham and the statue of Vulcan. Kef slips into a meditative trance and sees a replay of her vision. The Lesser Hate carries a sense of whirlwind. Blake makes some contacts in B’ham; he hires a private investigator to track missing persons and/or weird deaths caused by great strength and report them to Blake.

May 6: Jeremy flies Kef and Blake back to Dallas. Steve is making arrangement with “geeks” at MIT for an EMP device.

May 9: Steve concludes his business and returns to Dallas.

June 11/12: Kef has a vision. Two Army CWOs [Chief Warrant Officers] in a helicopter at night, wearing IR goggles, facing a cemetery, panicking, trying to take off with a bad engine. Big glowing orange “gate” behind them, pursuing, can’t dodge it. In the background are pine trees, and Kef can read on one of the headstones: Avery Johnson 1932-1978. Kef calls Blake who calls Steve, who narrows it down to Fort Rucker AL or Fort Campbell KY. [They are able to determine that an Avery Johnson with matching birth/death years is buried in Damascus Cemetery.]

By noon they have arrived in Dothan AL. Near the cemetery a breeze is stirring. Nearby is a house for sale (realtor Mark Caldwell), and an abandoned church. They are approached by a tall (6’3”) black man who introduces himself as Deputy Stan Tyson. He says that some say the house is haunted. The house had belonged to the Johnsons, who had died in March. They were found in their car beside a highway, suffocated. Blake phones Caldwell; the asking price for the house and land is an incredible $200,000.

Blake gets a call from Abraham Donaldson. His fiancée’s fourteen-year-old niece, Vivian Gray, is missing from “a little podunk town called New Brockton, Alabama.” She went missing Tuesday night. She is the daughter of Don and Carla Gray.

Deputy Tyson mentions another fourteen-year-old, Tom Kirkland, that recently went missing. There have been eight or nine such over the past year.

Blake phones Jeremy to have him pick up some oxygen tanks.

We drive to New Brockton to Don and Carla Gray’s house. Carla is in her late 30s with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing nurse’s garb. Carla had taken Vivian to a party. She and her friends went to a movie, but Vivian left halfway through.

Steve asks to see Vivian’s diary. For February 11 she had written, “I can’t believe she’s gone – this only happens in bad movies – what could have happened to Frances?” Frances is Vivian’s older sister, 18 years old, studying engineering at MIT.

Carla is convinced that Frances is “gone” and that Vivian is alive but her time is short. Kef believes that Vivian must be psychic (telepathy, empath, danger sense/precog, sleep-teleporter(?)). Carla: “You must be one of the second-sight paladins of the past… who fate the weird.”

We reach the movie theatre at 5:30. The concession guy saw a man and woman in the parking lot. The woman wore sunglasses. The man was 6’3”, wearing a light jacket, khaki pants, and a Boston Red Sox baseball cap.

We go to Ryan’s restaurant in Damascus for dinner. Jeremy arrives with 7 oxygen tanks.

[June 21, 2003]

It is Thursday, June 12. We finish dinner and fill in Jeremy.

7:30pm: Arrive at cemetery. Kef and Steve go to the Johnson house and enter through the back door. It looks like someone has been here in the last few days. Kef feels that “Death has walked here.” Down in the basement they find a room containing some shelves and an antique-style barber’s chair. Two people are there: Su Li, a petite oriental/black woman with an annoyed expression, and Father Michael O’Hare, a balding man with weathered skin, wearing a cassock. He has a dual aura: good/evil, good fighting evil.

Father O’Hare sensed two spirits in the house. He channels Eugene Johnson, who says he died at home on Saturday, March 15. He had arisen that night to investigate a ruckus outside. He saw five people (a couple of women, an older man, and two other men) with a mist spinning around them.

Su Li has slipped outside. She deflates a car’s tires and follows a man into the trees. She hears him say into a radio, “Carter. Two unknowns. Don’t know what they’re doing. One looks like a priest, maybe. Spirit hunters? We told it to behave itself.”

At 10:45pm Su Li drags a man out of the woods toward the house. Steve looks him over then ties him up. The man’s name is Rudolph Carter. He is tall, fit, tanned, dark-haired, and has calloused hands. He carries a 9mm Beretta and a very sophisticated coded radio.

Paul Sanders and Darren Bradley – helo pilots. Vortex is the “lesser evil”, also known as vacuum vortex or breath robber; thins border between time and space

Father O’Hare’s holy symbol is that of a spirit hunter. He does something and the mist vanishes. Steve in the basement has a room full of mist (not swirling). He phones Kef – the thing ran to its master(?). Bradley shows mage potential.

Su Li has Carter’s cell phone. It buzzes with a call from Donald McMasters. Kef listens to the voice mail – McMasters blasts Carter for not reporting in. The voice sounds mechanical.

We trap some of the vortex in the refrigerator. The fridge vibrates, then vanishes.

Steve injects Rudolph Carter with crediline and interrogates him. He gets the names Frances Gray, Dr Nix (professor at MIT), Donald McMasters (ex-Army).

McMasters’ Corvette comes zooming past Jeremy. He finds it parked at a convenience store, and uses his panel van to push it into the gas pumps.

Su Li enters the church and sees McMasters with a phone in one hand and a .45 in the other, aimed at Paula who is unconscious on the ground.

McMasters snaps the phone shut and puts it away. Su Li fires her needle gun three times – no effect.

Blake reaches the back door of the church. Su Li tries a leg sweep; McMasters goes down, rolls, loses his gun, then gets to his feet facing Su Li. Jeremy pulls away from the ‘Vette.

Su Li fires, hits once in the leg; he looks surprised. Blake reaches the sanctuary, sees McMasters wearing a web belt containing grenades. McMasters fast-draws another gun and aims at Su Li’s head. The gas pump explodes.

Blake fires; all three shots glance off McMasters. McMasters fires reflexively and misses Su Li’s head. This puts him briefly in front of a window, so Steve shoots and hits with three bursts in the lower torso and leg. McMasters is knocked toward Su Li, who rakes her claws across his throat – but his skin is very hard.

Steve re-aims, soaking the recoil. Blake drops his .30 cal on its sling, draws his 9mm an fires at McMasters’ head; one shot does minor damage. Su Li steps away and fires, which hits and bounces off. Kef reaches Paula, who is unconscious and bleeding. McMasters pulls a knife and flings it at Blake, who dives behind a pew; the knife thunks loudly into the pew. McMasters fires wildly and misses Kef.

Kef drags Paula to the door. Blake stays behind cover and holsters his gun. Su Li steps and aims. Ghosts flock to Father O’Hare. McMasters rips up Blake’s pew and hurls it, striking Su Li. Steve fires; the three bullets that don’t bounce off pierce the hand, head, and leg. Father O’Hare tells the spirits to distract the bad man.

Blake fires at point-blank range, hitting McMasters once in the head. Blake dodges out from underneath as McMasters falls unconscious. Blake hears a weird whirling sound.

Blake warns Su Li to get out of the church; he picks up Paula from Kef. Su Li and Steve dive into a ditch as Jeremy returns with the van. Boom! The church blows up.

Father O’Hare unties Carter and leads him out of the house. Carter is given his stuff back and turned loose for the sheriff to find.

We drive through Enterprise to Dothan and get a hotel room.

[August 2, 2003]

4:00am Friday, June 13th. At a hotel in Dothan, Alabama. Paula is feeling better; she has a bruise on her face.

10:00am: Steve wakes up and checks the MIT course catalog. Nix teaches physics and physical sciences, but school’s out (as of June 9th). He is not teaching summer session.

10:30am: Blake showers, shaves, dresses, goes out and gets a paper. Doesn’t see anyone staking out the hotel, or anything noteworthy in the newspaper. Steve determines that Nix’s itinerary was written by two different people.

11:00am: Kef wakes up and turns on the TV. Report of double explosions in Damascus AL. Media circus, army helos, fire trucks. General store burned to the ground. Police arrived on the scene around 4:10am. There’s a report that an Army helo had landed there before. The Coffee County Sheriff, Warren Walker, has someone in custody, and will hold a press conference at noon. Kef calls Steve and Jeremy. Blake phones Kef, then orders room service for Kef’s room. Paula wakes up and checks on Father O’Hare and Su Li. Jeremy suggests checking McMasters’ room. Donald McMasters is listed in the phone book. He is former Army special intelligence out of Fort Rucker.

Noon: New Brockton county jail press conference. One person in custody, being questioned; name not released. Deputy Tyson was the first on the scene. There may have been fatalities in the church. Reporters ask: Does this tie in with the missing persons in the area? Did a meth lab blow up the church? The church had been used for “recreational activities” by local youth.

1:00pm: Blake’s phone rings. Carla Gray asks if there is any news of her daughter Vivian. Ann, a friend of Frances, had phone earlier; she thinks she saw Frances around town a few days ago. Blake gets Ann’s cell phone number, calls her and asks about Frances. Ann thinks she saw Frances a few days ago at a shopping mall in Dothan. She didn’t notice anyone near her. She thinks Frances was following her. Frances was driving a car the size of a Chevy Lumina. There may have been a man in the car with her. Ann and Frances and Harold Cassidy were all very close friends; “Frances and I knew each other’s thoughts.” Ann is presently down near the cemetery “out of curiosity.”

Blake calls Carla back. Ann Bradley is a year younger than Frances; her parents are Dan and Beverly. Harold Cassidy is a student at the University of Alabama; his parents are John and Evelyn.

Jeremy ascertains that Paula can see “psychic powers” in a person’s aura.

Steve and Jeremy go the plane and also drop off the panel van. Blake, Kef, and Paula head for the cemetery. When they arrive at 2:00pm, it’s still a media circus with plenty of locals gawking. Blake rings Ann’s cell phone and Kef spots her. Blake looks for Frances but she’s not there. Kef sees a guy who might be watching Ann; he’s wearing a baseball cap. Kef senses that Ann is curious but very nervous, afraid of being found out. A young man comes up to Ann and they start talking. Paula detects that baseball cap guy is “a man of violence”; human; not a mage or a psychic. The baseball cap bears a BoSox logo.

Blake makes a beeline for Ann, stops three feet away from her and dials her number. She checks caller ID, then puts the phone away. Blake taps her on the shoulder and says, “Ann, you should answer your phone.” She is startled; the young man with her looks protective. Blake asks the young man for some privacy, then tells Ann, “You’re being followed. Why? Why are you important? Why are you nervous?” Ann says she doesn’t want anyone to get hurt.

Blake phones Steve (he and Jeremy are on the road) and tells him that the man who was with Frances is watching Ann now.

Baseball cap guy calls Frances Gray at a Boston area code. “Some armed unknown’s making contact with Ann. He looks like he’s trained. I’m going to disengage. Have my partner pick her up later.” He turns, bumps into Kef and excuses himself, and continues on his way. Kef follows.

Blake gives Ann his business card and shows her his PI license. “They’re following you. I wonder why. Why are you important?” Ann: “I gotta call someone first.” Blake: “Is Harold at his parents’ house?” Ann barely conceals her startlement. Blake: “He might be easier to crack than you.” Ann says she’ll go home and call Harold.

Kef gets the license and description of baseball cap guy’s rent car. He drives off and turns west toward Enterprise. Kef calls Steve and tells him.

Blake calls Kef and tells her about Ann. Blake, Paula, and Kef get into their car. Blake calls Steve’s number and talks to Jeremy. They don’t need help. “Tell Steve it’s okay to wound him.”

As we’re leaving, Tyson pulls up behind us. “We want to talk to you about what you might have seen yesterday.”

Ann lives between Damascus and New Brockton. When we get to the Bradley house, her car isn’t there. We continue to Harold Cassidy’s house. A pickup is there, and Ann’s car parked behind it.

Steve realizes he’s been made. He asks Jeremy if he can shoot Baseball Cap’s tires out. Jeremy replies, “How’s he gonna get away from us? If I point the gun at him, he’ll duck and wreck.”

Blake knocks, and Harold opens the door. “You’re the person who’s got Ann in a dither?” He unlatches the screen door and lets them in. “Frances, Ann, and I have always been able to bond together.” They had been in a group meditative trance at the Damascus graveyard on May 26, 2002 when something went wrong. Something appeared and flooded their minds. They summoned the vortex, then fled. They never tried to link again. Blake asks if they could locate Frances if they linked “with a third person.”

Baseball Cap starts pulling away. Jeremy takes the wheel and Steve aims at his tires. Jeremy mashes the accelerator and brilliantly passes the car between them. Steve rolls a 3 to hit the tire. Boom! Baseball Cap loses control, rolls the car.

Blake calls Paula inside and says that Harold and Ann think they summoned the vacuum vortex. Ann, Harold, and Kef form a circle. Kef feels in her mind a link with Ann, but Harold can’t seem to link. After fifteen minutes Kef sighs and breaks contact.

Baseball Cap’s car slams against a pine tree. Several cars stop. Steve approaches the car. Baseball Cap is alive and bleeding (a lot) and unconscious (his airbag deployed) from head wounds. Steve reaches into his pocket, pulls out a handkerchief, and takes BC’s cell phone, then squirts liquid poison into his mouth. Another man helps Steve pull BC out of the car. Due to a few well-placed ideas by Jeremy, no one seems to associate their car with the one pursuing BC.

Jeremy calls Blake. “Well, we caught him.” “Is he talking?” “No, he’s unconscious. He wrecked his car.” “Did Steve shoot him or shoot the tire?” “He shot the tire.” “I told you just to wound him.” “We didn’t shoot him.” “If Steve’s over there, the guy’s going to die. Did you get his cell phone?” “Did he have one?” “I don’t know, you’re there.” “I’m not there, I’m sitting in the car, talking to you.” Etc. Steve says to move the car due to the risk of fire. A state trooper pulls up.

Harold promises to see Ann safely home. Kef insists on driving while Blake calms down. As we get to the sheriff’s office, Jeremy reminds Steve to call Blake. Blake gets worked up again. BC’s name is Drake Hendricks. Kef takes Blake’s phone away, as the conversation seems to be going in circles. Blake goes into the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Walker and Deputy Tyson ask him about being at the church. He explains that he was working a missing-person case. He implies he was looking for Frances and then Vivian. He explains that his client is engaged to Carla Gray’s sister.

Kef calls Steve on Blake’s phone. BC’s partner may be named Donna. Steve and Jeremy are near Ann’s house. We head for the hospital where Carla works. Steve and Jeremy get to Harold’s. Two more cars are there and nobody is watching. They go to the Grays’ house.

6:15: At the hospital, Blake wants to talk to Carla. At the Grays’, a man and a boy are playing catch in the front yard. Carla says things have been quiet. There was an accident on Metcalf Highway that would have gone to Troy. She will call Blake when she gets off shift.

We all meet at an Italian restaurant in Enterprise for dinner. Steve gives Blake and Kef some AP ammo. Steve is going to watch Ann.

BC’s phone rings. It’s a Boston cell phone number with no name. The call goes to voice mail. Male voice, gravelly: “You want to talk to me.” Jeremy: “Gee, wonder if that’s meant for us.” Steve calls the number. “Y’all are pretty good.” “We try.” “Name a price [to quit your investigation].” “$100 million and Vivian alive.” “She’s more important to me than to you.” The voice offers $150 million. “I don’t think I’m interested in your money, Dr Nix.” “I’ll have to take care of you another way. Time is on my side.”

Blake: “I’ll take Kef and Paula. I feel better knowing Steve and Jeremy are together.” Steve and Jeremy go to the hospital. Blake calls Ann; Harold is with her at her house.

8:30pm: Blake calls a policewoman he knows in Boston. She spoke to Professor Nix at MIT in the course of a missing-student investigation. He wore shades, claiming sensitivity to light. He was in good physical condition for a 45-year-old man. Blake says that Nix and Frances were “experimenting” in the field of physics; she makes the mental connection regarding the explosion. She will go investigate him. Drake Hendricks had a long rapsheet; Blake says he died in Troy AL. Donna Mixon is 5’7” with dark brown hair. He gives her Rudy Carter’s name and says “Connect the dots.” Nix has something that punches through people’s chests.

Steve calls Kef and says that Carla can get off work. We all meet at the Grays’ house. Carla, Ann, Harold, and Kef link minds. Carla reaches out with her mind, then recoils with horror, breaking the link. She saw a farmhouse, and Frances was powerful and filled with hate. And Frances was feeding her flesh to Vivian…

[September 13, 2003]

Kef and Paula talk to Ann, Harold, and Carla and calm them down.

Near 10:00pm, Friday, June 13, 2003. Blake and Steve notice a car cruising by, driven by a woman (no shades). The car has Houston county (Dothan) plates. Blake plays with the phone he got from Drake Hendricks. The phone rings and Blake answers. Nix says, “Don’t you feel exposed?” Blake hints that the cops are coming. “Do you want to talk with the guy who’s going to kill you?” Blake gives the phone to Steve. Nix: “I’m told you’re going to be my executioner. Look to the skies.”

Steve slips outside. Don Gray goes after his shotgun. Kef moves the circle to the dining room in the back side of the house. Blake goes upstairs and looks out the boy’s window. Steve and Blake both see large dogs sniffing around. Blake asks the kid if he has a BB gun; it’s a Daisy pump. Steve draws his silenced .45, aims. Blake fires and hits a dog directly in the snout, but there’s no reaction. Steve hits one in the foreleg; it tumbles and barks with surprise, but there’s no blood.

Blake: “Little man, put on your shoes, it’s time togo.” The boy throws back his bedcovers; his shoes are already on. Blake enters the dining room and tells Kef “We have to go.” Don, Carla, and their boy Ed get in Don’s car; Harold, Ann, and Kef in Carla’s; Blake and Paula in another car; Steve and Jeremy in another. Steve gets his scope from the trunk. Something on four legs comes running up fast. Blake puts the car in gear, intending to run a dog over. Steve sees two dogs about 45 yards away. Don aims his shotgun.

Blake peels out. Steve fires 3 times, gets one solid hit and the dog’s head disintegrates. Jeremy pulls out. Kef whips her car around expertly (Blake: “She’s the One – Nea!”). Don fires and misses.

Steve aims at the other dog. Kef accelerates. A dog leaps toward Blake through the windshield. Blake brakes such that the dog hits the grille instead – the dog punches through into the engine compartment. Don jumps into the car and Carla pulls out.

Steve fires at a zigzagging dog and turns its brain to mush. The other dog rips at stuff in Blake’s engine block. Blake slams on the brakes, flinging the dog back out. Jeremy looks around, sees nothing else coming. Carla backs out and turns around.

Paula starts a spell. The dog (it looks like a German shepherd) stares at Blake with red glowing eyes; it’s pretty torn up. Steve aims. Kef heads for the highway; Jeremy waves. Blake runs over the dog. Carla follows Kef, running over a headless dog.

Steve sees that the dog isn’t moving, and runs to the car. Blake tells Paula, “Let’s get out.” Jeremy backs the car up to him and Blake moves the guns to the trunk. Jeremy moves to a passenger seat as Blake, Paula, and Steve get in. As he reloads, Steve looks for the car that cruised by. Blake zooms past Kef just as Steve phones her and explains they had to take one car. Kef asks that Blake let her keep up.

We pull onto a side road hidden in trees. Steve gives Don a hunting rifle to use. Don asks what those things were. Steve replies, “Cybernetic dogs.”

Kef asks Carla to get some blankets, and they spread them on the ground. It’s after 11:00pm now, and the moon is almost full. Ann and Harold form a link, then scream and faint. Harold starts awake with a gasp, and some pine straw catches fire. Ann says, “We linked too fully with Frances.” Frances has a great hatred of humanity, and implied that Harold and Ann would help her control “it.” It will take four more days to “turn” Vivian and the boy.

The cat suddenly appears at Kef’s feet. Blake suggests that Don, Carla, and Kef try linking, then talks to Ann and Harold about overpowering Frances. Carla goes into REM for about five minutes. She reports seeing a house near a crossroads a little outside of Victoria with a couple of dogs on guard.

Blake’s cell phone rings. It’s Deputy Tyson asking about the torn-up car. It looks like something large was dragged off. Two investigators are missing from the site of the graveyard explosion, a state trooper and an Army investigator. Around 6pm it got a little windy and the men vanished. Blake says the wind is the problem and is linked to the disappearances; the men are probably in the woods, dead. Blake and Tyson conduct a “hypothetical” question and answer session. Tyson says he’s running interference with the sheriff. Blake tries to explain the “wind” and the Johnsons and Frances Gray. Tyson promises that if Blake helps him, he will do his best to keep Blake out of the pen. Blake warns Tyson about the wind, and people who wear sunglasses at night.

We reach the Victoria crossroads about 1:00am (Saturday morning). Carla indicates we should turn right. Steve uses his wireless laptop to obtain maps and satellite photos. Kef suggests that one car look for the house; Carla gets in with Jeremy, Steve, and Paula. After a mile and a quarter, Carla indicates a house on the left. The nearest neighbor is 300 yards away and across the road. Behind the house lie woods and some cultivated land. It’s four miles to the next crossroad.

1:30am: They return to Victoria. Steve suggests that Carla, Ann, and Harold form a gestalt and distract Frances. Paula, Ed, and the cat go with them to a church in Victoria.

Jeremy sets up where he can watch the front and back doors. Don covers the back door from the woods. Kef stealths up to the house like a ghost.

2:30am: Everyone is in position. Steve sees that there are two or three people in each bedroom. Three cars are parked in back, including the one that cruised the Grays’ house.

Steve, Blake, and Kef move in. Steve and Blake put holes in some tires. Blake pries open the window. Steve sees two guys playing poker at a card table, and another man lying down. We go to another window; there are two smaller people sitting in chairs. Blake jimmies the lock, opens the window, raises the Venetian blinds and pulls the curtains. Blake hears three dogs moving around, and a man and a woman talking – the man is Nix.

Steve creeps in and cuts the ropes. The kids are drugged. Steve hands out Vivian to Kef and Tom to Blake. Steve tells Blake to get the kids to the car, then call Nix. Steve falls back to Don’s position.

2:45am: Blake and Kef put the kids in the car. Blake returns to the house. Kef drives to the church with Vivian, Tom, and Don. Kef puts Don behind the wheel and positions herself near the triangle [of Carla, Ann, and Harold]. Kef signals when contact is made.

Blake phones Nix. Nix: “You’re annoying.” Blake: “I’m close.” Blake describes the dogs, the people, and the fact that two of the occupants of the house are now missing. Nix suddenly asks Frances what’s wrong. Nix: “You’ve got them.” Blake: “I’ve got you, too.” Nix: “You have me at a disadvantage.” Blake: “Did you get back your headless dogs?” Nix: “It’s going to be a pleasure. Eventually I’m going to kill you.”

Jeremy sees the curtains move in one window. He aims, fires, and hits someone in the leg; there’s a female cry of pain.

Blake: “How was that? Is she okay?” Nix: “You’ve got the children. What else do you want?” Blake: “I can’t let you leave.”

Steve sees the back door open. He can’t see the person, so he shoots through the wall.

Nix: “So we have to fight our way out of here.” Blake: “I didn’t say I couldn’t let them leave.” Nix hangs up.

The gestalt is sweating, being beaten down. Kef steps into the center, kneels, and speaks words of encouragement.

Steve tosses a flash-bang into a puddle of gasoline; one car catches fire. One dog crashes through the back screen door (in Steve’s general direction), the side window (toward Blake), and the front window (toward Jeremy).

Carla yells cryptically, “Trying to port up the link!”

Steve fires, drops one dog, steps toward the house. The other two dogs run straight away from the house. Blake fires and blows a dog’s head away. Someone inside smashes a window, then sprays the woods with gunfire. Kef makes a quick decision and starts breaking the gestalt. Jeremy fires, hits five times (reducing the dog to two legs), then steps behind a tree.

Jeremy drops to the ground and aims at the door. Window Man finishes the sweep, putting a bullet through Jeremy’s bomber jacket. A man dives out the window, pointing in Jeremy’s general direction. Bullets fly out of the kitchen window close to Steve. Steve walks his burst but the man dodges. Steve runs, palming a flash-bang, and asks “Can I save Frances?” Blake hits redial and the call goes immediately to voice mail. Carla snaps out of it and thanks Kef, who starts helping her up.

Jeremy shoots and hits the man on the ground. Blake fires at the woman and she falls back and down. Steve throws the flash-bang through the kitchen door. The dying guy fires a sweep towards the moon. Kef motions to Don to help Carla and moves to Ann.

Steve enters the kitchen and shoots the blinded man dead. Blake runs up to the shredded window. Jeremy switches to single-shot, stands, and walks toward the house.

Steve reverses his taped clip. Blake goes through the window and announces “I’m in.” Jeremy moves around the front of the house.

Blake hears Steve moving, but nothing else. He walks up the hallway. Jeremy keeps moving at half-speed toward the corner where Blake entered. Steve finishes the flip; he sees Blake but no one else.

The window in the great room is broken out; there are signs of a struggle on the sofa, but no one is there. Steve sees heat signatures about six seconds old headed into the pine woods. Steve goes out the window, saying “They’re in the woods.”

Blake phones Deputy Tyson, who answers on the first ring. Blake says they rescued Vivian and Tom; he mentions the burning cars and various dead guys. Blake asks Tyson to put out APBs on Frances and Nix. Frances is “armed and psychotic” and Nix “a crazy Yankee.” He suggests they shoot Frances in the legs and Nix “everywhere.” “If you hear those ticking sounds, grab your hat and run.” Tyson says, “Please clean up the dogs.” He doesn’t want the government getting them.

Jeremy heads toward the road, finding an unconscious dog. He continues to the road, paralleling Steve. Steve finds the tracks of two people leading into the woods. He tells Kef to have the gestalt distract Frances again. Just across a stream, Steve sees where they smeared mud to hide their IR signatures. Jeremy goes and gets the car.

Blake kills the last dog; he and Jeremy put the three dead dogs in the trunk.

[September 27, 2003]

It is 3:30am, Saturday, June 14. Steve is pursuing Dr Nix and Frances Gray through the woods. About 100 yards ahead he hears the sounds of a fight.

Kef is trying to organize another gestalt. She and Harold are struggling, while Ann slips readily into a trance. Kef regroups, lets Harold rest, and encourages Ann and the cat.

Steve hears a splash. From the map he remembers there being a big creek – Whitewater Creek, which flows into the town of Elba. He sees traces of a fight on the creek bank, and something hurled into the woods. The creek at this point is 8-10 feet deep, quick-flowing, with a sandy bottom. There is a female body crumpled at the base of a pine tree. No sign of Nix, and no heat trails. Blake suggests, “Shoot her in the leg.”

Steve, pointing his gun at her chest, stealths to within two yards. Her sunglasses are broken and there’s a bruise on her face. Her body temperature is less than that of a normal human. There’s no ticking sound. Steve checks her pulse, which is less regular than a human’s. Ann can sense Frances, but she seems to be asleep. Blake stops the car, gets his 30-.06 and scope, and goes after Nix.

Steve calls Kef. He tries injecting Frances under the tongue with Suspend, then picks her up. Her body feels like flesh, and she weighs about 170 pounds.

Blake sees something in the water, moving fast, swimming downstream. Jeremy drives to a bridge. Blake gets out onto the bridge and aims at Nix swimming toward him. He fires and gets one solid hit. Blood – or is it hydraulic fluid – stains the water. Blake fires three more shots; Nix dodges two of them, but one hits his chest. Then Nix is beneath the bridge. Blake crosses to the other side of the bridge but doesn’t see Nix. He tells Steve that Nix is under the bridge.

Steve calls Kef – he’s shot Frances with Suspend and will put her in Blake’s car. Jeremy puts the car in park and gets out with his gun. He goes into the woods and watches the bridge. Kef takes Ann, Paula, and the cat and heads for the bridge. She stops about ¾ mile away; she “feels” that Nix is moving south. Jeremy goes under the bridge and sees a trail of fluid in the water. Steve puts Frances in Kef’s car.

3:45am: Heading toward Elba. Blake drives to the next bridge. There are no houses nearby. Blake sets up on one bank, Steve on the other.

Tyson calls Blake from the house in Victoria. Blake fills Tyson in. Tyson: “What part of my county are you in? Should I alert the Elba police force?” Blake: “If worst comes to worst, I’ll surrender.”

Kef walks upstream, Blake and Steve dogging her. At 4:00am Tyson calls Blake; a woman in Elba reported that a bleeding man stole her husband’s car. The address is about ¼ mile from Jeremy’s car. A cop car goes by, lights flashing; Jeremy follows the cop. Blake, Steve, and Kef head for Enterprise. Tyson describes the stolen car as a 1986 Chevrolet Caprice, license 19C-4321, and adds, “Don’t kill any Alabama citizens.”

We see Nix’s taillights. Steve leans out the window and prepares to fire. Blake hands Kef his phone; she dials Nix and actually gets an answer. “Hold for Mr Drummond, please.”

Nix cries, “We’ll end this now!” He swerves around and comes straight for us. Steve fires, and AP rounds pierce Nix’s vitals, arm, and hand. The windshield shatters; the car continues, weaving. Blake slows a bit and veers, and Steve shoots out a tire. Nix’s car starts flipping over and strikes a tree.

Kef’s Danger Sense rockets up; she warns Blake who accelerates away. Steve fires again and Kef’s Danger Sense pegs; she yells “Duck!” and pulls Steve back into the car.

A small thermonuclear explosion occurs.

Jeremy calls Kef; she warns him to stay away. We will meet in the clearing in the woods. Jeremy stops in a driveway to avoid the cops. Blake tells Tyson about the nuclear explosion. A decontamination crew will be flying in from Fort Rucker.

5:15am: We all meet in the clearing. We discuss what to do about Frances and the vacuum vortex. The cat doesn’t like being near Frances. 5:35am: We head toward Dothan. 6:20: We pull up to the hotel. There’s a message for Kef – Su Li and Father O’Hare have left. 6:30: Paula checks Frances’ aura – turmoil, anger, hate, shifting darkness, gloom. 7:00: Kef showers and goes to bed.

2:30pm: Blake gets his wake-up call. Steve, Jeremy, and Frances will fly to Dallas.

3:45pm: Steve, wearing a new face, goes to his room to get Frances – and she opens her eyes. She thanks him for helping her, and offers to help put things right. She thinks Nix was heading to the cemetery to make a deal with the creature. He had a good rapport with it. “I just want to help,” she says. Blake and Paula go to see her. Frances says that Harold and Ann and her mother helped her. Paula gets the same aura reading as last night. Steve loans Frances some sunglasses. Blake, Steve, Jeremy, Paula, and Frances get into a car. Kef feels her friends are agitated (except that Steve has his “game face” on). Frances says Nix wanted to boost the creature’s power; after turning the children, he would have gone after Harold and Ann. Frances has more range with them.

Blake heads for the Grays’ house in New Brockton. He calls Kef. Carla calls Blake and he tells her to hook up with Kef.

Frances seems eager to get to the cemetery with Ann and Harold. They go to Naper Field, an airport in Dothan. Blake distracts Frances while Steve loads the dead dogs into the plane. Steve drugs a drink and offers it to Frances; she says it tastes flat.

4:45pm: Frances seems a bit woozy. She says Nix limited the creature’s area. Kef arrives at the airport, and she, Paula, Carla, Ann, Harold, and the cat enter gestalt. Suddenly Frances turns to attack Steve… then goes limp. Ann says that Frances is the one who controlled the creature. It can travel through time and space and send other people there.

6:15pm: We reach the cemetery. The county sheriff’s car is sitting at the old store. Blake calls Tyson. Tyson says he’ll replace the waiting deputy.

6:40pm: The gestalt combats great malevolence and evil. There’s a heavy backlash and Harold and Ann go unconscious. Blake comments, “We’re not dead, so that’s a good thing.” Blake walks off with Deputy Tyson. “We were working for my client’s fiancée – hypothetically.” We “negotiated aggressively” with the terrorists. Blake’s going to buy a new Chevy for Thelma and Collis Parrish. Blake assures Tyson his friends are “pure gold.”

Steve: “There’s enough naturally-occurring trouble that we don’t need to make more.” He composes a message to Infinite Solutions and sends it off. [I’m not sure from my notes, but I think Jeremy and Steve had flown to Dallas.]

Sunday, June 15th, 8:30am: A response from IS. The transport device will arrive in four hours, and transport will occur at 8:30pm.

6:00pm: Jeremy flies Blake, Kef, Paula, and the cat to Dallas.

8:30pm: Frances and the three dogs disappear.

Later: Blake testifies to the grand jury.

We figure that the fight between Nix and Frances had been staged.

Ann and Harold’s psi abilities are burned out. Come fall, Ann will attend the same university as Harold. Carla Gray wants to keep in touch with Kef.

Return to [[Ages & Alternities:Track 1 Mission List]]

Return to [[Hawaii:Infinite Solutions|Main Mission Logs]]

Dallas:Sessions:20020119

2008-03-28T22:54:34Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Track 1 – '''Cinnamon and Deathwish''' – January 19, 2002 GM: BobbyJ Write-up: MaryK GM Notes: No ''' Cinnamon and Deathwish ''' A098 Track 1 Assignment '''MISSION TEAM''' *...

Track 1 – '''Cinnamon and Deathwish''' – January 19, 2002

GM: BobbyJ

Write-up: MaryK

GM Notes: No

''' Cinnamon and Deathwish '''

A098 Track 1 Assignment

'''MISSION TEAM'''
*Paula Baker
*Blake Drummond
*Jeremy Grant
*John Kines
*Al "Axle" Lee
*Steve McAllen
*Kefya North

Some months have passed since the mysterious explosion in Atlanta put an end to one attempt to invade Earth. The new 'White Amulet Agents' have pretty much gone their separate ways, though they have kept in touch. Never before in her life having had money, Kef has generally followed Steve's advice as to investing her 'salary'. She now owns a house (though she thinks of it as Paula's) and a nicely-furnished RV. One sunny Friday morning in January, the RV is parked at Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth while she and Paula enjoy the Stock Show. While they're strolling through the poultry barn, the Mysterious Cat appears. Kef admonishes him in no uncertain terms not to help himself to the prize chickens. Before long, the Cat begins carrying on in the way cats do when they're hungry; however, he turns up his nose at the offer of a corny dog, so Kef excuses herself from Paula as the cat leads her back to the RV. As she approaches, the back door suddenly pops open and a blond-haired man jumps out, Kef's backpack slung over one shoulder, and dashes away across the parking lot. Kef starts to chase him, but he quickly outdistances her and she gives up. The Cat has also run off, following the man. Kef is sure she had secured all the locks on the RV, and indeed finds no signs of forced entry. Inside she finds that the shower has been used and the refrigerator raided, but only a few mundane items are missing.

Kef finds Paula and tells her what happened. Paula gets a thoughtful expression when she hears that the man apparently got inside the RV without opening any windows or doors. She hints that perhaps Kef should try to sleep and see if one of her 'visions' comes to her. Kef shakes her head and says "It doesn't work that way."

Kef's now in a down mood and doesn't want to stay at the Stock Show any longer. Paula suggests they return home, then go shopping for a new backpack. By the time they get back to Dallas, Kef doesn't feel like going back out, saying she would try to take a nap. She asks Paula to buy her a new backpack.

Kef's 'vision' arrives quickly and urgently. She sees the new American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas, happy people leaving through one of the exits. Suddenly, strange creatures swoop over the crowd, moving with blurring speed. People begin screaming, blood splashes, and the moon turns blood-red. Kef realizes that this disaster will take place tonight, at midnight. She awakens, fumbles for the phone, and calls Paula....

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Paul Harrison: Well, I guess I'll use Paul as my name for now. It doesn't seem right but it's better than nothing. Whatever I was doing before I lost my memory I think I was in way over my head. Two different groups calling themselves White and Black amulets were having some kinda dispute involving layers of double-cross. One side took me as an ally because of the unusual jewelry around my neck. Either the world I woke to is stranger than I could have guessed or the people from both sides were not locals. The White amulet group I believe is going to show me more wonders and maybe thier Enigmatic leader as they turn in thier prisoners. Something is happening I guess I'll write more soon, in case I forget again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Paul reappeared, this time in someone's house. There was a dark icon in the room with him. After getting himself something to eat, Paul tried to use Kef's cellphone to call Paula, but there was too much static. He stepped out the back door to try to get a better signal, and a sudden powerful wave of energy pushed him.into Blake's house, where a remarkable feat of dexterity saved him from knocking himself out against an inside wall. The same wave knocked out Blake and Cinnamon, and pushed Paula from sleep into unconsciousness. Kef alone seemed unaffected, and she saw Steve fade away before her eyes.

The news media are excitedly reporting the 'attempted' kidnapping of Cinnamon Winters, who was heroically saved by her bodyguard and taken to a safe place overnight. Cinnamon showed up at the downtown Dallas police station to give a deposition about the attempted kidnapping, and later met with the press. Executives from Millenium Eagle Records have flown in from California in support of their star.

However, Cinnamon is still being held captive at Blake's house. Kef got a good look at the 'heroically rescued' Cinnamon; the latter is an excellent actress with an extremely good makeup job.

Axl left some voice mails and emails indicating he was having problems.

Blake, using information from his contacts combined with Paul's vague recollections, told Kef and Paul approximately where Steve's safe house must be. They retrieved the icon. Kef is adamant that the icon should be destroyed. However, experiments with construction-site equipment (including pile-drivers and arc welders) had no effect on the icon. They did discover that lead shielding dampened the icon's static effect. Blake again pulled strings to obtain a lead-lined case, such as those used to transport radioactive elements. Paul and Kef returned to Blake's house with the icon in its case.

Blake continued to talk to Cinnamon, who finally began to let some information slip. There is a death metal band called Deathwish whose members all have secret powers and secret identities. The leader calls himself Necrovore.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

On the other side of the Metroplex... AXLEE Trucking is having its problems. One trucker is in the hospital in Jackson, MS. Another's in jail for disorderly conduct and transporting contraband (a South American rock group???). Every other truck on the road has been delayed because of one reason or another. Lee is back at the office trying to get all of his drivers to a safe place and deal with the crisis at hand.

All the cell phone circuits are busy, so Lee left a vmail and email where possible telling the group of his problem and a number of a local Diner to call; he will have people standing by to relay messages. Also, he will be at his trucking business location.

He also sent his trucker Steve to try to get a message to the group, but the AA center was roped off and there was talk of people hurt or killed at the concert.

Lee is trying to stay awake and also wondering what Kef feeds her cat; it doesn't seem to want anything that is on hand.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Paul Harrison: Well, I'm working with the White Amulet people again. These aren't quite as strange as the last batch. They stumbled accross some kinda demon worship group based around some rock bands and singers. Cinnamon turned out to be a front for the real power DeathWish. While the group was deciding how to effectively stop this cult, a forewarning of attack came via Kef. For reasons I'm not sure of, one person took Cinnamon someplace to dispose of her and the rest of us drove around till they got hungry and we stopped for steak. While the others ate I watched over the idol. A large winged demon arrived with several smaller ones in tow. There was a hurried gun battle, where all the demons ended up dissolved with some moderate to minor injuries to the White Amulets and myself. We discovered the other who had gone off by himself had not fared as well. He lost Cinnamon's corpse to the Demons and needed assistance locating it. The corpse was found and burned (a demon herself? I wasn't told the necessity of handling her that way). The White Amulet people somehow came across what looked like a gang or drug czar hangout and decided to exorcise it. When we got inside after some bloody work we found a slaughterhouse of what appeared to be innocent victims. The corpses were fresh, too fresh. We missed saving the lives of all those people by minutes at most. Hopefully we will have a chance to avenge them and hunt down this demon cult at the same time. My own personal business will have to wait a bit longer, unfortunately.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

A dozen human beings were cruelly sacrificed in order to summon the demons that attacked us.

Kef felt that the summoning had to have drained massive amounts of energy from the members of DeathWish, enough to inactivate them for a couple of days. She thought if DeathWish could be located, they would be at their most vulnerable to attack.

Sandra Truax, aka The Sorceress, is dead. She was the woman impersonating Cinnamon Winters. Steve is shot up (again). There was quite a bit of what's euphemistically called 'collateral damage'.

The other DeathWish members have not been located.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The group is in Los Angeles trying to track down the remaining members of DeathWish. They had gone to a music shop where one of the DeathWish members had been scheduled to make a public appearance, but it was reported that the guy had been in a minor auto accident. The music shop was under observation; a man and a woman in a car were making notes and taking pictures of the fans who had shown up.

Blake Drummond returned from DemonWorld with a nasty-looking gash on his left hand and a warning to the rest of the group: Do not tell him where the icon is. He also related that on the way back Paul Harrison, who had been unconscious, had floated away on a different trajectory.

Sometimes, if you persevere, your enemies' flaws will play into your hands. Sometimes you don't live long enough. Anyway... it seems there is a bit of dissention in DeathWish's ranks, at least to the extent that bassist/brick Karl Wozniak puts in a Personal Appearance in defiance of "Necro". He still gives the impression of looking over his shoulder a lot, even when he isn't. Also, a bunch of other guys are looking over his shoulder for him... scanning the crowd, spying on the crowd, taking pictures of the crowd... while Karl laps up the attention.

Blake continues his "Rattle Their Cages" campaign by anonymously sending a greeting card to Karl (from "Us"). Karl's cage is definitely rattled; he nearly snaps the anonymous punk kid bearer-of-greeting-card in two. By reflex Kef intervenes, thus gaining Karl's attention.

Outside the mall, Steve tries to set up in a position where he has the optimal chance of killing Wozniak. However, the situation keeps shifting around... almost as if his moves are anticipated.

A stone-faced man speaks in threatening stage whispers with Karl about "the deal". Defiant at first, Karl caves. After stone-face leaves, Karl excuses himself from Kef, picks up his guitar case (containing 'Dorothy'), and heads for the men's room. There, Blake overhears a cryptic conversation between Karl and someone in one of the stalls. Karl hands 'Dorothy' over the top of the stall and leaves. Whoever is in the stall disappears. Karl returns to the table, gives Kef his phone number and various BS lines, and leaves.

Axl does most of the driving. He's good at it.

Then some other stuff happened...

The group finds out that DeathWish's agent at RCA is Julie Alpert. By an amazing stroke of luck (Directory Assistance), they locate her house. Blake rattles her cage severely.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kef is in the basement. She senses the ghosts of Sorceress and Cinnamon in the abandoned YMCA. She performs a small ritual with her tarot cards, attempting to draw the attention of the angels. The cat scratches at the door and she lets it in.

Axl, with a shotgun, is on a sort of balcony that overlooks the gymnasium floor.

Steve is set up outside the Y with a view down onto its roof.

Blake is in his car, preparing.

Necrovore is seen to arrive with Dagger and Paige. Psitron arrives. Demolition Man arrives, noisily. They are all in the gym along with the 13 homeless people they have brought in as their 'goats', and a number of guards.

Round 1: (10:29.5) Steve detonates the building. Blake accellerates toward the front doors of the Y. Steve fires, shoots a sniper in the head. Outside the basement door Kef hears someone say "covering it."

Round 2: Steve shoots someone in the leg. Demo Man yells "Let's Party!" Axl hears Dagger and Paige running toward Necrovore. Kef opens the basement door slightly; the cat streaks out and leaps at a guard's face.

Round 3: Blake crashes through the front door and immediately swerves left toward the gym door. Steve shoots another head. Kef opens the door the rest of the way and walks out; one guard has a face full of cat, and she shoots the other in the throat. Axl peeks over the balcony.

Round 4: Guard rips cat off his face (ow!). Blake bursts into the gym and fishtails into Demo Man. Demo grabs car and takes hold of driver's side door. Kef shoots now-catless guard.

Round 5: Demo rips off the door and throws it aside. Blake straightens the car, bounces off the wall and hits a guard. Kef picks up the Glock that one of the guards dropped. Axl fires shotgun at Necro and hits Dagger. Necro dives, then rolls to his feet.

Round 6: Steve snipes, shredding one and hurting another dead. Blake scrapes the wall with the faltering car, and the car stops. Demo picks up the car door. Kef starts toward the gym. Dagger and Paige dive behind two of the 'goats'. Necro fires a burst at the balcony. Axl reloads the shotgun.

Round 7: Blake grabs a flash grenade. Demo runs toward the pentagram. Steve draws a bead on two more guys who have ducked down behind a low wall. Kef reaches the gym door.

Round 8: Blake pulls the pin on the flash grenade and tosses it. Kef pulls open the gym door and shoots one guard in the back of the neck. Axl shoots at a sound he hears and gets slammed by Whirlwind (who is invisible). Steve shoots someone in the binoculars.

Round 9: Blake rolls a disco ball across the gym floor. Psitron blinks from the flash. Demo runs to the middle of the pentagram. Whirlwind misses Axl with his airblast, blowing debris around. Dagger and Paige fire at the disco ball. Axl goes for cover. Kef shoots Psitron in the leg twice.

Round 10: Blake picks up another flash grenade. Axl aims at Whirlwind, who is cursing. A guard shoots Kef in her right foot. Someone lands on top of Blake's car right above him. Kef starts limping toward Psitron. Whirlwind moves closer but misses Axl again. Dagger and Paige keep firing at the disco ball. Demo runs toward the car, dropping the door and drawing his morning star, "Dorothy". Necro reaches the gym door.

Round 11: Demo jumps on the car's hood, killing the engine. Axl fires at Whirlwind and hits him twice. Blake pulls the pin on a stun grenade and slaps it on top of the car. Kef shoots Psitron three times (leg, arm, leg); he screams and slides down the wall.

Round 12: Steve is still watching the roof. Blake grabs a pistol and a paint gun and steps out of the car. Kef draws the Glock with her left hand and keeps limping toward Psitron. Axl struggles toward the door as Whirlwind pushes him away.

Round 13: Blake fires paint gun in Demo's face. Steve sees a rover sandwiched between two semis. Axl sprints to the door, firing two shots at Whirlwind. One guard fails his morale check and runs away. Kef keeps limping.

Round 14: Steve finishes reloading. Blake drops his paint gun and aims a real gun at Guard 1. Whirlwind misses Axl; Axl reaches the door. Guard 1 sees Blake aiming at him, fires three times and misses. Kef shoots Guard 1 in each leg.

Round 15: Kef places the muzzle of her gun between Psitron's eyes and fires. Demo (who can't see) swings Dorothy, hits Guard 8 in the chest and crushes him. Axl opens the door and heads down the steps. Blake gets back in his car, spoiling Dagger's and Paige's aim. Dagger and Paige join hands and start chanting. Guard 1 aims at Kef.

Round 16: Steve sees a guard running away from the Y and takes aim. Kef turns toward Guard 1 and aims. Blake grabs a paint grenade and pulls the pin. Axl reaches the base of the stairs.

Round 17: Steve shoots the fleeing guard in the head. Blake throws the grenade at Dagger and Paige; they unlink hands, avert their eyes, and duck down. Kef fires twice at Guard 1's head and turns toward the pentagram.

Round 18: Steve, hearing that Necrovore had fled, is looking for him. Blake moves to the back of his car so Dagger and Paige can't see him. The cat appears at one of the doors and runs toward the pentagram. Demo steps off the car, swinging Dorothy. Kef limps determinedly toward the pentagram.

Round 19: Axl reaches the hole where a door used to be, takes in the tableau on the floor, moves toward Kef. Dagger and Paige aim at Kef. Blake aims at Demo's weapon hand. Kef limps closer.

Round 20: Demo starts smashing the driver's side of the car. Blake fires three times at Demo's weapon hand; Demo lets go of Dorothy (call him 'Lefty' now). Kef limps another three yards closer. Axl's shotgun jams. The cat runs up Paige's backside and pounces on her gun hand. Dagger shoots Kef's left hand; Kef drops the Glock; Dagger's gun is now empty. Paige empties her gun but doesn't hit anything.

Round 21: Blake picks up Dorothy, which seems a little heavy but not especially so. Demo charges straight into a wall. Axl keeps moving, unjamming his shotgun. Paige has a cat fight on her hands. Dagger drops her gun and pulls a dagger. Kef aims at Dagger.

Round 22: Steve calls off Jeremy's "bombing run". Kef shoots Dagger in the head. Axl heads toward Paige. Blake swings Dorothy at Demo as he runs past. Demo turns but his back is toward Blake.
(After this point we went off combat rounds.)

Kef kills Paige.

Axl warns Steve that "the invisible guy" is outside.

Axl grabs a guard's headset and listens for Necro's voice.

Steve starts fighting Whirlwind.

Kef binds her hand, then helps Axl cut the prisoners loose.

Axl performs first-aid on Kef's hand and foot.

Axl, Kef, and cat go after Necro.

Steve hits Whirlwind with paint, making him visible.

Blake gets another car and rams Demo with it, embedding Demo in a wall.

Axl sees a car starting up and fires his M16 at the tires and gas tank (critical success).

Steve shoots Whirlwind in the head.

Blake takes careful aim at Demo, who is blind and deaf.

Axl drags Necro out of the burning car; Necro was stunned but recovers quickly. Necro draws a pistol. Kef aims at Necro. Axl shoves Necro back into the car and slams the door on Necro's head.

Blake shoots Demo through the neck, then through the hole.

Necro opens the door and rushes toward Axl. Steve hits Necro in the brain (crit success).

Demolition Man dies; his armor dissolves and he is nude.

Blake's palm, where he had been marked by the demon, heals.

Paula swings by with a car and everyone hops in; Blake drives away seconds before the police arrive.

Blake phones Carothers. "This is US... There is no more Deathwish; do you want there to be no more Carothers?... Go on with your life and do something else... We killed them all."

The group reaches the airport and Jeremy flies to New York.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steve is working on acquiring Necrovore's financial empire.

Axl has gone back to taking care of his trucking business.

Blake is either going to destroy or take over Solution Security.

Kefya, at Blake's suggestion, is looking into going to school.

Return to [[Ages & Alternities:Track 1 Mission List]]

Return to [[Hawaii:Infinite Solutions|Main Mission Logs]]

Dallas:Timeline

2008-03-28T22:54:01Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Interlude 0''' ''January 11, 1999 (Monday) TO April 5, 2001 - (Thursday) DAY -0'' Events leading up to Gathering '''First Mission – Atlanta Gate''' ''April 6, 2001 - (Friday) t...

'''Interlude 0'''

''January 11, 1999 (Monday) TO April 5, 2001 - (Thursday) DAY -0''

Events leading up to Gathering

'''First Mission – Atlanta Gate'''

''April 6, 2001 - (Friday) to April 11, 2001 (Wednesday) DAY 6''

Events of "Reverse Angle 1"
*[[Dallas:Sessions:20010331|Atlanta Gate specific details]]

'''Interlude 1'''

''April 11, 2001 - (Wednesday) to January 17, 2002 (Thursday)''

Interlude 1 was 283 days long (9 Mths).

'''Second Mission - Deathwish'''

''January 18, 2002 (Friday) - January 24, 2002 (Thursday)''

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20020119|Cinnamon and Deathwish specific details]]

'''Interlude 2'''

''January 25, 2002 (Friday) - June 11, 2003 (Wednesday)''

Interlude 2 was 503 days (1 yr 4 mth 21 days)

---EVENTS TO Third Mission (overlaps Interlude 2).

May 26, 2002 (Sunday) – June 11, 2002 (Wednesday)

'''Third Mission – Dr. Nix'''

June 12, 2003 (Thursday) – June 19, 2003 (Thursday) –

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20030607|Dr. Nix specific details.]]

'''Interlude 3'''

''June 20, 2003 (Friday) - September 27, 2003 (100 day)''

Interlude 3 (100 days- 3 mths 7 days

'''Fourth Mission - The Deadly CLone Affair'''

''September 28, 2003 – October 1, 2003 (4 day)''

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20031011|The Deadly Clone Affair specific details.]]

'''Interlude 4'''

''October 2, 2003 - March 20, 2005 (Sunday)''

Interlude 4 was 536 days (1 year 5 mth 20 days)

'''Fifth Mission - The Devil Poker Affair'''

''March 21, 2005 (Monday) – March 22, 2005 Tuesday''

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20050326|The Devil Poker Affair specific details.]]

'''Interlude 5'''

May 23, 2005 (Wednesday) – April 27, 2005 Wednesday

Interlude 5 was 37 days (5 weeks and 2 days)

'''Sixth Mission – Discovery'''

''April 28, 2005 (Thursday) – May 7, 2005 (Saturday)''

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20050521|Discovery specific details.]]

'''Interlude 6'''

''May 8, 2005 (Sunday) - February 10, 2006 (Friday)''

Interlude 6 was 218 Days (39 weeks and 5 days)

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20060128|Interlude 6 specific details.]]

'''Seventh Mission – One Minute Till'''

''February 11,2006 (Saturday) – February 12, 2006 (Sunday)''

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20060211|One Minute 'Til specific details.]]

'''Interlude 7'''

''February 13, 2006 (Monday) - September 19, 2006 (Tuesday)''

Interlude 7 was 219 Days (31 weeks and 2 days)

'''Eighth Mission – What's a Poo Sham?'''

''September 20, 2006 (Wednesday) – September 25, 2006 (Monday)-''

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20070602|What's a Poo Sham?]]

'''Pre-Interlude 8 - The da Vinci Prophecy'''

''September 26, 2006 (Tuesday) - September 28, 2006 (Thursday)''

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20070630|Expecting Part 1]]

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20070714|Expecting Part 2]]

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20070728|Expecting Part 3]]

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20070811|Expecting Part 4]]

'''Interlude 8'''

''September 29, 2006 (Friday) – October 19, 2007 (Friday)''

Interlude 8 was 386 Days (1 year and 3 weeks)

'''Ninth Mission – What If?'''

''October 20, 2007 (Saturday)''

*[[Dallas:Sessions:20071020|Part 1]] -

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Tom Kirkland

2008-03-28T22:53:11Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Tom Kirkland''' Lives north of New Brockton, Alabama. He is a PSI who was identified by Francis Gray during the Dr. Nix Affair. He has the potential for Teleportation and Telepathy. He...

'''Tom Kirkland'''

Lives north of New Brockton, Alabama. He is a PSI who was identified by Francis Gray during the Dr. Nix Affair. He has the potential for Teleportation and Telepathy. He was 14 in 2003 when Dr. Nix tried to turn him into one of his minions. The Dallas team rescued him before that could be completed.

He was born May 28, 1989. The 2006/2007 school year will be his Senior Year at New Brocton High School.

Back to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Harold Cassidy

2008-03-28T22:52:25Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Harold Cassidy''' Lives on Elba side of New Brockton Alabama His parents are John and Evelyn Cassidy. He is a black haired, blue eyed, 5’11”, 165 pound Male. He is one of thr...

'''Harold Cassidy'''

Lives on Elba side of New Brockton Alabama

His parents are John and Evelyn Cassidy. He is a black haired, blue eyed, 5’11”, 165 pound Male.

He is one of three teenagers who accidentally brought the Etherwhorl across in 2002. He is a Telepath, Teleport, and Pyrokinetic no training.

In 2003 he had just completed his first year at University of Alabama.

He is a risk taker. He was back in New Brockton area for the Summer of 2003, where he got work for that summer. In June 2003 he became part of Dr. Nix Affair. After the adventure his powers appear to have been burned out.

In September 2004 he started his junior year at UA.

In September 2005 he started his Senior year at UA.

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Ann Bradley

2008-03-28T22:51:35Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Ann Bradley - Young PSI - (Dr. Nix Affair)''' This south Alabama native was born August 4,1985 and lived between New Brockton and Damascus Alabama. In June of 2003 she graduated from H...

'''Ann Bradley - Young PSI - (Dr. Nix Affair)'''

This south Alabama native was born August 4,1985 and lived between New Brockton and Damascus Alabama. In June of 2003 she graduated from High School (New Brocton High School)

Her parents are Jean and Beverly Bradley. She has brown hair, green eyes and is a 5’4” 110 pound Female.

She is one of three teenagers who accidentally brought an Etherwhorl across in 2002.
She is Telepath, Teleport, and ESPer. She had no training.

After graduating in 2003 she attended ESJC in Enterprise because of money problems. In June 2003 she became involved in the Dr. Nix Affair. After the adventure her powers appear to have been burned out.

In September 2004 she began her second year at ESJC in Enterprise.

In September 2005 Enrolled at Troy University in Troy, Alabama as a Junior.

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Andy Barrow III

2008-03-28T22:50:48Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Andy Barrow III - Baltimore''' The adult son of Andy Barrow who was encountered during the Discovery Affair. The team interviewed him about the disapearance of his father. Return to...

'''Andy Barrow III - Baltimore'''

The adult son of Andy Barrow who was encountered during the Discovery Affair. The team interviewed him about the disapearance of his father.

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Andy Barrow

2008-03-28T22:50:07Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Andy Barrow - Baltimore''' Noted psychic in Baltimore Maryland. He is known as a finder of lost items and people. He has a 70% success rate. He was kidnapped on 4/24/2005 by internati...

'''Andy Barrow - Baltimore'''

Noted psychic in Baltimore Maryland. He is known as a finder of lost items and people. He has a 70% success rate. He was kidnapped on 4/24/2005 by international terrorists. The Infinite Solutions team freed him on 5/1/05 (During 'Discovery Affair'). The group left him in Stevenage when they headed back to the states at the end of the affair. He recovered the Comic Collection he had been hired to find before coming back to the States. Kef has included him in an informal Psysics network.

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Jane Anderson

2008-03-28T22:49:25Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Jane Anderson''' Cousin of Ken Greeley (California) -(Deathwish Affair) When she met the team she was a 19 Year old, pretty brown haired blue eyed Anglo woman from Southern California...

'''Jane Anderson'''

Cousin of Ken Greeley (California) -(Deathwish Affair)

When she met the team she was a 19 Year old, pretty brown haired blue eyed Anglo woman from Southern California. She is 5 foot 6 inches tall weighing 132 pounds. In January 2002 she was a Sophomore in college.

Her Boy Friend had been missing since last Friday, Jan. 11, 2002. They attended a Cinnamon Concert at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. They had front row seats. During the concert Cinnamon paid special attention to several men in the front sections. After the concert he made lame excuse and took Jane home to the dorm early. When he did not show up for their regular Saturday date, Jane began to worry. Joe just seemed to have vanished. Over the next several days she become certain that Cinnamon had something to do with his disappearance.

She come to Dallas to confront Cinnamon. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to do much herself . So she decided to look up a name given her by Ken. --- Blake Drummond.. She did so and involved Blake in the Deathwish affair. Blake sedated her and put her on a train for home. Before she could decide what to do Deathwish was destroyed, so with a sense of satisfaction she went back to School

In June of 2003 she was 20 years old and finished her Junior year. Her major is Business with a minor in media.

In June of 2004 she was 21 years old. She had decided that she wanted to leave California so she took a job with Marvel Entertainment Group in New York City. She began her job on July 12, 2004.

As of February 11, 2006 she is still working for Marvel Entertainment Group.

Blake for some reason felt that she had potential to become a mover and shaker.

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Ed Towers

2008-03-28T22:48:45Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Ed Towers''' - Dallas Area Crime Boss - ''In Prison'' Local Dallas mid level crime figure. He was involved in several investigations during the Dallas team's origin mission. The eve...

'''Ed Towers''' - Dallas Area Crime Boss - ''In Prison''

Local Dallas mid level crime figure. He was involved in several investigations during the Dallas team's origin mission. The events occuring in April 2001 resulted in his arrest. His trial started on in November 2001.

He was convicted and started his prison term in 2002. It looks like this will be a very long stay. Just how much say he maintains over his former territory is unknown.

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Carla Newton

2008-03-28T22:48:07Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Carla Newton is in her mid-20s (as of May 2005). She is about 5'5" tall and has dark hair. Carla has a rap for drug possession/sale, for which she received probation. Carla grew up trave...

Carla Newton is in her mid-20s (as of May 2005). She is about 5'5" tall and has dark hair. Carla has a rap for drug possession/sale, for which she received probation.

Carla grew up traveling throughout the midwest with a carnival out of Denver. Several performers in the carnival possessed actual metahuman talents, including her mother, a touch telepath, and her father, a strongman (he was of ordinary build, but had three times the strength of a normal man). There was also a mage with a few fire spells, a telekinetic, a mimic, and an acrobat with perfect balance. The only special skill Carla inherited was her mind shield. She was away at college when her parents were killed in what she was told was an accident.

After this Carla started getting into detective work and “spy stuff,” and it was her knowledge of unusual things that led to her being hired by Robert Cagle. Blaming the carnival for her parents’ death she readily gave them up to Cagle, though as far as she knows he never followed up on that lead. She wasn't sure what Cagle’s motives were, but she didn’t really care, either. The other members of her Chicago-based cell were Amy Bronson, Compton Ferris, Neil Parson, and Vic Daniels.

Carla was originally encountered by [[Dallas:Characters:Jeremy Grant|Jeremy]] as a stowaway on his jet. Her frenzied tale that she was in trouble for having witnessed a murder committed by some Middle Eastern men and needed to get to London to be with her boyfriend (a numbers runner and insurance collector for the Mob)... didn't hold water, to say the least. She has been described as "amoral" both by [[Dallas:Characters:Kefya North|Kef]] and [[Dallas:Characters:Judy Newhurst|Agent Newhurst]]. Captured by the Dallas team, she and Amy Bronson were handed over to mercenary Joe McBride in exchange for McBride's not hampering the team's departure from Dublin. Although [[Dallas:Solution Security|Solution Security]] has been trying to locate her, there has been no trace of Carla Newton since.

[[Dallas:Characters:Blake Drummond|Blake]]'s investigators reported that Carla's parents had been murdered. Blake gave Carla's parents' names to Agent Newhurst, who told him there were several things about the case that didn't seem right, including the fact that the bodies disappeared from the morgue. The official report stated that they had been killed during a robbery; the murderers, Elroy Benton and Troy Donnally, were tried, convicted, and are currently doing time in a Colorado prison. On August 1, 2005, Blake and Kef interviewed Benton and Donnally at the prison. Kef determined that their memories of the murder night had been falsified by an unknown psion, a man in his mid-30s with a military-style crew cut.

[[Category:Dallas]]

Dallas:Characters:Marvin Carothers

2008-03-28T22:47:26Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Marvin Carothers''' Involved in the Deathwish Affair and the Discovery Affair. During the Discovery Affair he reported to Carlton and went by the name of Cagle, who was an internati...

'''Marvin Carothers'''

Involved in the Deathwish Affair and the Discovery Affair.

During the Discovery Affair he reported to Carlton and went by the name of Cagle, who was an international financier whose life he had taken over. The real Cagle was alive and kept drugged in case of need. He was rescued in the affair's aftermath. Major Carlton first contacted Carothers on 2/1/2004.

Carothers set up an intell network and had about 50 agents working for him. He kept track of Infinite Solutions becoming familiar with many aspects of their operations.

Carothers was re-captured at the end of the Discovery Affair and returned to Federal Prison on May 24, 2005.

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Dallas:Kines Old Team

2008-03-28T02:27:48Z

Jsuhoski: New page: While Kines was gone he got involved in/with a group of people who presented themselves as demon hunters but apparently may be much more than that. Their exact mission and goals are unkno...

While Kines was gone he got involved in/with a group of people who presented themselves as demon hunters but apparently may be much more than that. Their exact mission and goals are unknown at this point but they have attacked Paula and it seems may be targeting Blake as well. They seem to use simple code names to refer to each other and the members of their group are marked with tattoos that seem to prevent them from revealing themselves or information about the group to outsiders. The fact that John Kines has one of these tattoos may make things difficult at least.

They seem to have an unusually large amount of competent Mages and Psis at their disposal. That fact (along with the little Kines could tell them) has led the Dallas Team to believe that they are from another dimension or world.

They also seem to have access to technology designed to boost natural mental abilities such as Magery and Psionic abilities. So far the group (to its knowledge) has been unable to obtain a sample of this tech. Kef has, however, obtained a journal/notebook that contains detailed technical sketches of certain pieces of this technology as well as text on how to manipulate the technology to make it function. It also has part of a poem on the last page. All of the book was written backwards (mirror image).

A Sample of the Writing:
In the twelfth movement
Align the <unknown> perpendicularly to the <unknown>
If you desire the transition to the Place of the Veil
At the thirteenth movement
Move them parallel to each other...
<more unknown words>

The Poem at the Back:
At the beginning you will find the Steel
And when the Steel shines
It will shine through the Darkness
When...

The group is led by an individual/entity that has identified itself as Leonardo. This "person" can control some of the members of the group directly but has not done so with John and may not be able to. At this point Kef knows more than any other member of the Dallas team about this group.

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Dallas:Trucking Company

2008-03-28T02:27:04Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Terrell Trucking''' Axle Lee owned this company before he became involved in the Atlanta Gate Affair. In 2005 he sold the controlling interest in the company to his Employees. Th...

'''Terrell Trucking'''

Axle Lee owned this company before he became involved in the Atlanta Gate Affair. In 2005 he sold the controlling interest in the company to his Employees. The sale was final on September 30, 2005. The company was then renamed (Offically on October 1, 2005). Axle still has a strong influence on the company.

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Dallas:Solution Security

2008-03-28T02:26:19Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Solutions Security – A Dallas Security firm which was deeply involved in the Deathwish Affair. In the aftermath of the event surrounding the Death and scandal of Deathwish and sever...

Solutions Security –

A Dallas Security firm which was deeply involved in the Deathwish Affair. In the aftermath of the event surrounding the Death and scandal of Deathwish and several other up and coming singers, Blake bought Solution Security and its 30 agents.

He has significally expanded the agency.

In October of 2007 the branches were:
*Dallas
*Los Angeles
*Cleveland - Office oppened in Mid-2002 by Tom Cartley
*Chicago - Office opened August 2005 by Tom Cartley
*London - Office opened July 2, 2005
*Atlanta - Office opened Spring 2006

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Dallas:Info-Phys Networks

2008-03-28T02:25:39Z

Jsuhoski: New page: == Listening Posts == The Listening Posts serve as the gathering points for data which is used for threat determination. All the information is funnelled back to the Dallas Team. The mai...

== Listening Posts ==

The Listening Posts serve as the gathering points for data which is used for threat determination. All the information is funnelled back to the Dallas Team. The main listening post is still in Dallas since this is the team's home base.

On July 6, 2005 the search for threats using the World wide web was enhanced when Kef North received the Web miner softwared she defined and requested. This software soon proved it's worth as it found situations and allowed Kef to apply the appropriate solution before it reached critical mass stage.

{| border="1" cellpadding="1"
|+'''Prominent Listening Posts around the world'''
|+ ''As of 10/2007''
|-
! City !! Country !! Date Live
|-
| Chicago
| U.S.A
| 2005
|-
| New York City
| U.S.A
| 2005
|-
| San Francisco
| U.S.A
| 2006
|-
| Tokoyo
| Japan
| 2006 - June
|-
|Montreal
|Canada
| 2006 - July
|}

== Safe Houses ==

In May 2005 Steve MacAllen concentrated on the Miami/Detroit research and securing the Money/land for IS Corp in Miami and Detroit

In 2005 Steve MacAllen also started traveling to set up Safe Houses and support systems around the World
{| border="1" cellpadding="1"
|+'''Safe House Locations around the world'''
|+ ''As of 10/19/2007''
|-
! City !! Country !! Date Live !! LP Inc.
|-
| Dallas
| U.S.A
| 2002
| Yes
|-
| Cleveland
| U.S.A
| 2002
| Yes
|-
| Los Angeles
| U.S.A
| 2002
| Yes
|-
| Miami
| U.S.A
| May 2005
| Yes
|-
| Detroit
| U.S.A
| May 2005
| Yes
|-
|London
|England
|June 2005
| Yes
|-
|Paris
|France
|August 2005
| Yes
|-
|Cairo
|Egypt
|October 2005
| Yes
|-
|Moscow
|Russia
|January 2006
| Yes
|-
|Beijing
|China
|April 2006
| Yes
|-
|Hong Kong
|China
|July 2006
| Yes
|-
|Sydney
|Australia
|October 2006
| Yes
|-
|Rio De Janerio
|Brazil
|March 2007
| Yes
|-
|Mumbai
|India
|July 2007
| Yes
|-
|Johannesburg
|South Africa
|October 2007
| Yes
|-
|Panama City
|Panama
|Scheduled Jan-March 2008
|No
|}

''Safe House'' refers to supply storage as well as the 'secret hidaway'.

Blake Drummond and Axle Lee set up the Safe House System in Dallas. The set up in Los Angeles and Cleveland was a joint effort. Steve has handled most of the others by himself, although all team members are given the setup in each city as it comes online.

''LP Inc.'' - This refers to a Listening Post being included. A listening post is a network of information gathers in the area. Listening posts exist outside of safe house areas but may be somewhat fluid. Steve is setting up as he can.

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Dallas:PSI Network

2008-03-28T02:24:54Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Return to Dallas

Return to [[Dallas]]

Dallas:Mage Network

2008-03-28T02:24:12Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''The Mage Network''' ''Search for Mages'' Prompted by suggestions from Kef, Paula decided to begin a search for Mages - Potential and Actual. Paula visited several Ren Faire sites and...

'''The Mage Network'''

''Search for Mages''

Prompted by suggestions from Kef, Paula decided to begin a search for Mages - Potential and Actual. Paula visited several Ren Faire sites and other places she thought she might find mages.

She visited the following Places in 2005.

*''June 5-11'' - Albany New York
*''July 15-23'' - New England Area. – Driving Tour.
*''August 19-26'' – Northern California, Oregon, Washington
*''September 23-30'' - Quebec Canada

She located 16 potential mages and 2 active. The active only had a handfull of minor spells.

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Dallas:Limo Service

2008-03-28T02:22:59Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''RT Limo Service''' In 2003 Lee started the Limo service for retired truckers(RT Limo). In 2005 he sold the controlling interest in the company to his Employees. The sale was final ...

'''RT Limo Service'''

In 2003 Lee started the Limo service for retired truckers(RT Limo). In 2005 he sold the controlling interest in the company to his Employees. The sale was final on September 30, 2005. The company was then renamed (Offically on October 1, 2005). Axle Still has a strong Influence on the company.

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Dallas:Characters:Butch Dohan

2008-03-28T02:22:13Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Butch Dohan''' Butch is an old fried of Axle's. He has been involved to a minor extent in the Atlanta Gate, Deathwish, Discovery, and One Minute 'Till Affairs. Return to Dallas

'''Butch Dohan'''

Butch is an old fried of Axle's. He has been involved to a minor extent in the Atlanta Gate, Deathwish, Discovery, and One Minute 'Till Affairs.

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Dallas:PB&J NorthLee Import/Export

2008-03-28T02:21:43Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''PB&J NorthLee Import/Export''' ''Aa of 10/19/2007'' On October 1, 2005 Axle Lee officially launches his Import/Export Business. This has been set up very carefully to mask that he is ...

'''PB&J NorthLee Import/Export'''

''Aa of 10/19/2007''

On October 1, 2005 Axle Lee officially launches his Import/Export Business. This has been set up very carefully to mask that he is the owner.

U.S.A. cities set up with offices by January 2006 are:

*New Orleans
*Los Angeles - Subleases some warehouse space from Blake Drummond.
*San Francisco
*New York
*Baltimore

[[Dallas:Characters:Butch Dohan|Butch Dohan]] is hired to manage security for the Los Angeles sites.

U.S.A. cities set up with offices since January 2006 are:

* _

Offices set up in the following non-U.S.A. cities:

*London - 2005
*Hong Kong - 2006

Following Foreign Offices are in process of being set-up:

*_

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Dallas:Infinite Solutions Inc.

2008-03-28T02:21:06Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Infinite Solutions Inc.''' In 2001 Jeremy Grant incorporated as Infinite Solutions. Back to Dallas

'''Infinite Solutions Inc.'''

In 2001 Jeremy Grant incorporated as Infinite Solutions.

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Dallas:Characters:Stan Wilhelm

2008-03-28T02:20:32Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Stan Wilhelm, former professor of physics at a small California university, relocated to Dallas in May 2005 to work with Igor Darvich. Return to Dallas

Stan Wilhelm, former professor of physics at a small California university, relocated to Dallas in May 2005 to work with Igor Darvich.

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Dallas:Characters:Stan Tyson

2008-03-28T02:19:14Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Stan Tyson, deputy sheriff of Coffee County, Alabama. He was involved in the Dr. Nix and Discovery Affairs. He has kept a soft contact with Blake Drummond. Return to Dallas

Stan Tyson, deputy sheriff of Coffee County, Alabama.

He was involved in the Dr. Nix and Discovery Affairs. He has kept a soft contact with Blake Drummond.

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Dallas:Characters:Sara Summers

2008-03-28T02:18:23Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Sara Summers, office manager for the Dallas office of Solution Security. Return to Dallas

Sara Summers, office manager for the Dallas office of Solution Security.

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Dallas:Characters:Jefferson Taylor

2008-03-28T02:17:15Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Jefferson Taylor''' of Jefferson Security turned out to be a straight arrow. Not corruptible so for him Steve took a different route and sold it completely. Steve convinced him he was ...

'''Jefferson Taylor''' of Jefferson Security turned out to be a straight arrow. Not corruptible so for him Steve took a different route and sold it completely. Steve convinced him he was a Federal agent and the man agreed to report weird and/or illegal stuff to him.

Return to [[Dallas:Security Firm Contacts|Security Firm Contacts]]

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Dallas:Characters:Davis Cooper

2008-03-28T02:16:26Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Davis Cooper''' of Brewster Security was even dirtier than Steve had expected. Steve could have used just blackmail to get what he wanted but sweetened the pot with $20,000 a year. ...

'''Davis Cooper''' of Brewster Security was even dirtier than Steve had expected. Steve could have used just blackmail to get what he wanted but sweetened the pot with $20,000 a year.

Return to [[Dallas:Security Firm Contacts|Security Firm Contacts]]

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Dallas:Characters:Wilson Otto

2008-03-28T02:15:56Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Wilson Otto''' of Brubaker Security was brought on board for $50,000.00 a year Return to Security Firm Contacts Return to Dallas

'''Wilson Otto''' of Brubaker Security was brought on board for $50,000.00 a year

Return to [[Dallas:Security Firm Contacts|Security Firm Contacts]]

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Dallas:Characters:Conan Parker

2008-03-28T02:15:26Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Conan Parker of Twilight Security and Investigations was brought on board for $50,000.00 a year Return to Security Firm Contacts Return to Dallas

Conan Parker of Twilight Security and Investigations was brought on board for $50,000.00 a year

Return to [[Dallas:Security Firm Contacts|Security Firm Contacts]]

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Dallas:Security Firm Contacts

2008-03-28T02:14:56Z

Jsuhoski: New page: '''Security Firm Contacts (SM)''' These contact points were recruited by Steve MacAllen after the Deathwish Affair in 2002. They report to Steve on a regular basis. *[[Dallas:Character...

'''Security Firm Contacts (SM)'''

These contact points were recruited by Steve MacAllen after the Deathwish Affair in 2002. They report to Steve on a regular basis.

*[[Dallas:Characters:Conan Parker|Conan Parker]] – Baltimore – Twilight Security
*[[Dallas:Characters:Wilson Otto|Wilson Otto]] - New York - Brubaker Security
*[[Dallas:Characters:Davis Cooper|Davis Cooper]] - Denver - Brewster Security
*[[Dallas:Characters:Jefferson Taylor|Jefferson Taylor]] - Jefferson Security

MacAllen also attempted to recruit Barry West of Flashpoint Security. Mr. West was having none of it from any angle. He called in the law and Steve barely escaped town. Definitely a good thing that Steve never wore his own face to one of these things. Steve keeps an eye on Flashpoint because West wasn't the ultimate boss. Steve also informed Blake about this Firm.

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Dallas:Characters:Quentin Page

2008-03-28T02:14:21Z

Jsuhoski: New page: FBI agent who tend to get X-Files type assignments. Return to Dallas

FBI agent who tend to get X-Files type assignments.

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Dallas:Characters:Judy Newhurst

2008-03-28T02:13:47Z

Jsuhoski: New page: FBI agent who tend to get X-Files type assignments. Return to Dallas

FBI agent who tend to get X-Files type assignments.

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Dallas:Characters:Gabrielle Lawless

2008-03-28T02:13:05Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Gabrielle Lawless is the office manager for Solution Security in Atlanta, Georgia. Still in her early 20s (as of September 2006), Gabbie is an attractive brunette with bright blue eyes. ...

Gabrielle Lawless is the office manager for Solution Security in Atlanta, Georgia. Still in her early 20s (as of September 2006), Gabbie is an attractive brunette with bright blue eyes. She graduated from Tulane University, and previously worked as a personal assistant to a rather shady import/export businessman.

Gabrielle is a good-hearted person. She possesses the kind of luck that diverts misfortune away from herself. According to [[Dallas:Characters:Paula Baker|Paula]], Gabbie has mage potential. She seems to be an involuntary(?) mind-reader; perhaps that explains why she keeps giving Blake funny looks.

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Dallas:Characters:Harbinger of Doom

2008-03-28T02:12:29Z

Jsuhoski: New page: Harbie (aka Harbinger of Doom), a tabby cat with the seeming ability to enhance psi powers. Return to Dallas

Harbie (aka Harbinger of Doom), a tabby cat with the seeming ability to enhance psi powers.

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Dallas:Characters:Gray Family

2008-03-28T02:11:52Z

Jsuhoski: New page: The Gray family, residents of New Brockton, Alabama. Don and Carla are the parents of Vivian and Ed. All but (apparently) Don possess some kind of psi ability. The eldest daughter, Frances...

The Gray family, residents of New Brockton, Alabama. Don and Carla are the parents of Vivian and Ed. All but (apparently) Don possess some kind of psi ability. The eldest daughter, Frances, was transported off-world by Enigma in June, 2003 after she had joined up with Dr. Nix and become irredeemably evil.

They live near downtown New Brockton toward Enterprise, Alabama.
In June 2003 during the Dr Nix Affair they were 40 and 38 years old. Their children were Francis (18), Vivian (14), and Ed (10). Carla is the oldest Sister of Sohondra McPherson (Sohondra is the youngest McPherson child at 26).

Don works at Ft. Rucker and Carla is a nurse at the Enterprise Hospital.

They did visit Sohondra in Dallas in the summer of 2004. They became mildly involved in part of the Discovery Affair. In July 2005 they once again visited Dallas. This time they did spend some time with Kef. The faimily remains in close contact with Kef.

'''Vivian Gray''' - born March 9, 1989

Also a PSI with Telepathy, Teleportation, and possibly some dormant abilities. During the Dr. Nix Affair in June of 2003, Dr. Nix was having Francis turn Vivian into a minion. The Dallas Team rescued her before the process could complete. The 2006/2007 School year will be her Senior year at New Brocton High School.

'''Ed Gray''' - born January 31, 1993

Also a PSI with precognition and possibly some dormant abilities. The 2006/2007 School year will be his 8th grade year.

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