Chapter 2

We sat on the porch with our thoughts for a long time after that. Eventually our thoughts were interrupted by a high flying reconnaissance plane flying over our property. Its various probing beams and spells created pastel colors on the wards of the spherical Defensive Shell, as they touched it in the morning light.

"Don't worry," I told Celeste. "They won't discover anything other than that we have a Defensive Shell over our property. They won't be able to see inside of it." Celeste appeared to relax on hearing this.

"Tell me what you know of the political history of the last two centuries," I requested.

"In 2368, the international socialists and the liberals succeeded in what they had been after for over three centuries which was a one world socialist government run by the New United Nations. There were quite a number of nations, especially the smaller ones, and certain religious groups who were not happy with the way borders were redrawn by the New World Government or by the way that nationalities and country names were abolished to be replaced with regional designations and subdivisions. There was quite a bit of turmoil for about eight years.

"The experiment lasted 65 years during which time businesses and corporations were replaced by state run entities and production of everything went down. There was little for people to eat or to replace worn-out items. Only the politicians were happy.

"The political leaders of the World Government were meeting in Moscow in May of 2433 while the leaders of the Military met in Berlin. The old political leaders who had brought about the World Government had by then died, retired, been assassinated, died in accidents, or disappeared mysteriously and had been replaced by younger, more aggressive and power-hungry politicians.

"The Military leaders decided that the politicians had really screwed things up and had taken the world down the wrong path, and they decided to fix things by removing the politicians and running things themselves.

"In Moscow, the politicians had their own security people with them, but the Military was providing the main security for their meetings. When the Military leaders decided to act, they ordered their people in Moscow to eliminate the politicians and their secret police in addition to ordering other elements to remove those who had been left in the various political regions to run them. Since the Military not only had more men, but bigger and better weapons, the politicians and their security forces were quickly eliminated.

"The Military leaders did decide to keep the regional designations that had been established. This decision was not popular with many of their subordinates from the various sub-regions who wanted to re-establish their former national identities and this led to quite a lot of fighting over the next ten years or so.

"The Military leaders did do away with many of the inefficient state-owned businesses in the areas they controlled and reestablished civilian businesses, which naturally they had a controlling interest in.

"Of course Magic had played a part in all of this on both sides, and many with strong Talents grew rich and are well protected. The Military still has some control of the various governments that have been formed since then," Celeste finished.

While Celeste and Margie had been talking leisurely, there was panic, confusion, and then planning going on elsewhere.

The heads of the Military in North America had learned of the destruction in one of their supposedly secure control centers. There were accusations, and confusion, as the General there had never reported the occurrences of that morning. There was even greater turmoil when they discovered the loss of the satellite. Finally a two star General was appointed to determine what happened, who was to blame, and to recommend necessary changes. He flew out to the Rocky Mountain Control Center late that day, but he would discover very little.

The other two power groups in the government had also been busy during this time, but their approaches were quite different.

Those who actually controlled the major political parties, but not those elected to lead them, met in the capital to set aside their differences and work out their united approach to this new problem. They all had plans for various emergencies though they were all somewhat different in conception and execution – especially execution. A united plan was adopted fairly quickly. It had been forced through by the leaders of the two strongest parties.

The Third Power Group was the Wizard's Council. It had been started by Wizards in the Military, but had been quickly taken over by civilian Wizards. It was now composed of those with the strongest Talents in their country or region. They were not actually a part of the Government or the Military, but little of substance was done without consulting them. They too had contingency plans, but they were more individual plans, though some did follow the same pattern. Their approach was therefore significantly different from the other two groups, and they activated one of those plans immediately on leaning of the events of that morning.

My phone rang just as Celeste stopped speaking. I looked at it and saw that it was not just the government calling, but the politicians who ran it. I was tempted to not answer it but did anyway.

"What do you want?" I demanded gruffly before they could say anything.

"We wish to apologize for the actions of the Military this morning, and to invite you to a meeting with some of us to discuss things to our mutual benefit," their representative said.

"Why should I meet with you after what has happened already today?" I demanded.

"The Military is always headstrong. We have a more philosophical approach to things and believe that we could reach an understanding that would be mutually beneficial," he returned. I wasn't buying his bullshit for a minute, but decided to see what they had to offer. It would be easy to say no when I grew tired of them, and I did need to give all of those in power a chance to change my mind even if I doubted that they would.

"Where and when do you want to meet?" I demanded briskly.

"In the Congress building at the new capital in an hour," he replied. "Have you been there before?" he added. The Capital of the United Stated had been moved some time ago after Washington D. C. had been reduced to a nuclear wasteland by terrorists. What was left of the government had been moved to Lincoln, Nebraska and reestablished there.

"All right, I'll meet you there in an hour to hear what you have to say, but I'm not promising anything," I told him and closed the phone.

"Are you really going?" Celeste asked in a worried voice.

"Yes, I need to give them a chance to change directions and behaviors. That doesn't mean that I believe that they will," I told her. We went inside and made an early lunch before I changed and got ready to leave. I had instructions for Celeste before leaving.

"Celeste, dear, don't go outside of the Defensive Shell while I'm gone and don't allow anyone in here either. This whole thing could be nothing more than a diversion to get me away from here so they could snoop around at their leisure," I warned her.

"Yes, Master, I'll do as you've directed," she agreed with a smile.

"Good, study your lessons, and I'll be back shortly," I assured her before casting my strongest wards around me and then casting the transfer spell to take me to Lincoln.

I appeared on the steps of the Capitol building and was immediately surrounded by security guards who all pointed weapons at me. Two older men appeared after a short time and addressed the guards.

"Lower your weapons. This young woman is here at our request and pointing weapons at her isn't a very friendly way to greet her," the one said before turning to me. "Please accept our apology. We have a meeting room reserved, and we should all make use of it." I followed both men up the steps into the building where we took an elevator to the third floor and a conference room there.

In there, seated at the table were two even older men waiting for us. They stood with some trouble as we entered.

"We know who you are, but I don't believe that you know who any of us are," one of the younger men said, but I spoke up before he could make any introductions.

"You're the ones who think that you run the major political parties," I said and went around the table naming each of them and his affiliations.

"How can you know all of that?" the amazed previous speaker asked in wonder.

"There is little that the O'Connells aren't aware of. We have watched things from our Realm for quite some time," I told him and the others before we all took our seats. I spoke again before the others had a chance.

"I hope that you aren't going to make the same tired demands that those who visited me yesterday did," I told them.

"Who visited you yesterday?" one of the younger men demanded.

"Several politicians, a very whiny and threatening group. I sent them, their security men, and their vehicle to one of the remaining glaciers in Canada," I informed them. There were looks exchanged all around the table, but no one acknowledged sending them.

"That certainly isn't our intention. We wish you to join us to help ensure that things remain peaceful and that our citizens are happy," one of the oldest men told me, but I was sure that wasn't all that they wanted.

"And just how are WE supposed to do that?" I asked in an inquiring voice.

"Oh ... there may be some minor factions that you may need to deal with," they told me.

"Minor factions like the Military and the Wizard's Council?" I asked, "or are you only talking about those opposed to the way that you want to run things?"

"Now listen here young lady," the oldest of them started, but I cut him and the others off with a freeze spell just before a group in shift suits and holding weapons broke into the room. They seemed very surprised to find all of the politicians frozen in place.

"Well ... well," I said, "another visit from the Military. How quaint."

"You can see us?" one blurted out in amazement.

"Naturally, your suits use both technology and Magic to make you invisible. I detected your use of Magic and those of you with Talents when you entered the building on the lower sub-basement level," I told them.

"You need to come with us," the one who appeared to be in charge demanded.

"WHY?"

"The Generals want to talk to you," he explained.

"I have already dealt with one General today, and I'm not inclined to visit with others of them," I told him.

"Those who you dealt with were under the control of the politicians and didn't represent the majority of the Military," I was told.

"Besides," he added, "we were sent to rescue you. They have lasers pointed at the chair where you were sitting. They would have incinerated you if you failed to agree to their demands."

"Do you mean the four lasers that are aimed at this chair?" I asked, as I pointed to it with the remote control that I had removed from the oldest politician's pocket with a minor spell. I pressed a button and four lasers, one from each wall of the room, fired into the chair where I had been sitting only minutes before. The Army men gasped in surprise as the four beams incinerated the chair.

"Or are you referring to the lasers targeting each of the politicians?" I continued as I fired the remaining lasers, one at a time, into the politician that it was aimed at.

"Ah ... yes!" the one in charge answered in shocked surprise following a short pause.

"Shall we leave? It seems that my business here is finished," I asked.

"They'll see you leave if you walk out of here," the leader exclaimed in shock, "We brought a spare suit for you to leave in," he finished.

"I'm a Senior Master Sorceress, do you really think that I require a suit to become invisible?" I asked, and using an invisibility spell I faded from their sight right in front of them.

"I'll meet you in the lower sub-basement where you entered the building," I told them and transferred to the sub-basement leaving them to make their way back there. I did not however transfer to the exit door immediately. Instead, I waited near the door to the stairs leading down here.

I was shaking like a leaf. I had never killed anyone before, and now I had murdered four men in cold blood. The fact that they would have killed me if I hadn't agreed to their demands did not seem to mitigate my actions, but what was done was done. I had retained the invisibility spell to keep from being seen, and so I could listen to whatever they said once they considered themselves safe.

"That bitch is good looking but cold, man. Did you see the way she wasted those politicians?" one of the younger men asked in a whisper after the door to the stairwell had closed behind them.

"They weren't elected officials, just members of their parties' hierarchy, and do you think it would have been any different if we had needed to take them out?" an older man asked quietly.

"No, but she's a woman and a civilian. They aren't supposed to be so calm about doing things like that," the first one objected.

"She's also a Sorceress and an O'Connell, they're both usually hard asses. You saw the video of the wreckage at the control center in the mountains this morning, well she's the one suspected of being responsible," the leader informed him, before adding, "Quiet now, we don't want her to hear us."

"How unenlightened they are," I thought to myself, as I transferred to the vicinity of the entry door they had used to await them.

"Miss O'Connell!" a voice shortly whispered, as they approached the door with their shift suits still activated. I appeared next to the man who I could sense as their leader, startling them all.

"How do you do that?" one of them gasped in shock and surprise.

"It's only a simple spell," I answered in an amused voice.

"Simple for you maybe, but we never even felt you use your Magic either upstairs or down here," another one said.