Chapter 20

The Assembly Room on the second floor where the Clan Chiefs and Elders met wasn’t much different from other assembly rooms that any of us had seen on occasion while serving in Special Operations. This one was just a bit smaller and arranged a bit differently. The room was tiered, or terraced, so that all of the clans had a good view of the front of the room where there was a podium and desks for the Speaker and his two assistants on a small raised stage.

Each clan had a number of desks for their Clan Chief and Elders. There were usually four desks grouped together, and there were desk groupings for twenty-four clans. However, only sixteen of those groups of desks were filled at present. There was a large video screen behind the Speaker’s area and cameras throughout the room. The desks all had electronics to allow the occupants to speak to the assembly and to vote on issues.

Those attending the meeting had filed in and taken seats at what appeared to be their usual places. Once everyone was seated, the Speaker rose to address the Assembly.

“This session of the Assembly of Clan Chiefs and Elders will now be opened with a prayer by the Reverend Patrick Mac Giolla Phadraig,” the Speaker announced in a loud voice, and a younger man of about 46 years of age with red hair and broad shoulders stepped up to the podium from the area behind the Speakers’ desks.

All of those seated at their desks had bowed their heads as the Reverend began a prayer in Gaelic that we couldn’t follow, as apparently he didn’t have a strong Talent or possibly any Talent. When he fell silent after several minutes, ‘Amen’ was heard from nearly all of those present, before the Reverend left the podium, the stage, and the hall. It appeared that he would have no part in the deliberations.

In the meantime, our Partners had no trouble moving into a small room off of the assembly hall where the Tigers were soon asleep for a nap on the floor, and the Eagles were on their perches and were also taking a nap. The rest of Tiger Team had appropriated a set of desks at the back of the hall and were seated to await our turn to address the Assembly. We didn’t have long to wait, as when the Speaker returned to the podium, he got right down to business.

“Before we take up the business of the Clans, we will hear from those sent here by the Unity Government. At least this time, we have someone who is able to converse with us on an intelligent level. My Granddaughters insisted that their message was very urgent.

“Colonel Patrisha Ferguson will be the one addressing the Assembly, assisted by Captain Cleveland Jensen. Colonel Ferguson,” he called to finish, and Trish and I rose to descend to the Speaker’s platform and the mike there.

The Colonel started by explaining who we were and what our assigned mission was. She then went on to explain about our initial misgiving on receiving the mission. Next, she continued with the many questions raised on our arrival here concerning the timing of the request for our assistance as well as the mysterious arrival of the Franklin just when we needed it. There was also the arrival of the de Gaulle at another crisis point before going into our speculation on how long ago the request for aid had been received by the Unity before Special Operations was notified. She also included the slip-up by President O’Foghladh about their friends and allies arriving.

The final thing she covered was the approval to promote Luther and Miranda. How quickly it was received, and who it had been approved by. She also explained just who he was, and what his presence here could mean. Lastly, she explained what conclusions we had drawn from all of this information.

“If we are correct, there is a large Unity fleet sitting on the outskirts of this system. They are waiting for whatever friends or allies that the current government here may have alerted to come to their assistance. We, that is Tiger Team, firmly believe that this has all been arranged by forces in the Unity Government to take over not only this world, but also the worlds of those who respond to the present government’s call for help after defeating their Military forces.” the Colonel finished.

“Are you saying they would take over Parthas?” demanded an Elder in the front row, without waiting to be recognized by the Speaker.

“That would be the logical conclusion, but it would be what was left of Parthas after a huge space battle. There would be a number of disabled and destroyed ships or their parts that would probably crash into the planet as well as whatever was left of the space-station. They couldn’t very well take over the other planets and leave you independent,” the Colonel told him.

“That is not a satisfactory result,” the Speaker sent in answer.

“We would fight to the last man,” another Elder shouted in anger.

“That is a very likely conclusion. Do you think the Unity Government would hesitate to blast all of your cities and settlements from space? They have had plenty of time since arriving for their satellite system to have mapped every square foot of the planet. No, fighting is not the answer.

“What we must do is convince the present government to step down and allow you to govern. Then we may be able to convince those they called on for help to stay away from Parthas. This would not be an easy task and may be impossible,” the Colonel said in an anxious voice.

“Aye,” an older Chief, by his dress, acknowledged. “They would never agree to that. They would rather we all die than lose control of the planet to anyone, and that includes your Unity,” he told those in the hall.

“What is to be done then?” the Speaker asked to take control of the meeting again.

“What about your Magic?” Lucy asked, as she made her way down the center aisle to join the discussion. “You all have strong Talents and Magic. Can’t you use it to protect the area that you have claimed?” she demanded.

“We might be able to protect our Clan holdings by bringing all of the Clan Magic users together, but not the entire area that we have claimed, even here in the flatlands. There aren’t enough of us, and without the fields and the mines, we would all soon starve to death in addition to not being able to purchase anything,” the Speaker told us in a discouraged voice.

“Don’t you have any large-scale defensive spells?” Lucy demanded.

“Just the wards that you have seen. They have always been sufficient against the present government,” several men answered.

“But all of you have powerful Talents, and there is plenty of Magic available,” she protested.

“Yes, but we have never had a need for large scale defensive spells. Our wards and the ability to appear anywhere against the enemy have served us well,” several men told her.

Lucy exhaled heavily and stared at the floor for a short time following that before looking up.

“There is a spell that was known to all of those teaching at the Magic School on Ainalhai III, but none of them had a strong enough Talent to cast it and have it larger than about 15 feet in diameter. It produced a sphere, but even with several of them working together, they could never expand it to more than 25 feet in diameter.

“I could teach you the spell, if you think you are strong enough to expand it significantly,” she told them.

“What does this sphere do, or could it do?” the Speaker asked.

“It was proof against everything they could have fired at it. They even had the space-station fire at one that they had managed to expand to 25 feet in diameter through a huge amount of effort. Even its lasers couldn’t affect the sphere, but they boiled away the ground it was sitting on,” Miranda told them.

“What is this spell?” the Speaker demanded in our minds, as he moved up to reclaim the podium.

“It would be best to cast it outside rather than in a building, as it is a complete sphere having half above ground and half below,” Miranda told them using her voice.

“Should we have a look at this spell?” the Speaker demanded in everyone’s mind. “Cast your vote,” he added, and the video screen behind him soon lit up. There were 62 votes for and 2 votes against having a look at the spell.

“The vote is conclusive. We will adjourn to the courtyard to have a look at this spell,” the Speaker announced, as all of those there rose to return to the courtyard. All of the movement out of the hall woke our Partners.

“We are going outside,” I sent to Bob and Susie.

“Outside. Hunt. Have deer here. Hot blood-filled meat,” Bob sent, and I could just see him licking his teeth in anticipation.

“No hunt. Use Magic,” I sent to him and the other Partners, to disappointed thoughts from them.

Once everyone reached the courtyard, there was a heated discussion of just where to cast the spell. It was finally decided to cast it outside of the courtyard in case there were any problems with the spell. The Speaker and his assistants led everyone out of the courtyard and a good hundred and fifty feet from it, to a large empty field. In the field, the Chiefs and Elders lined up facing Miranda and the rest of Tiger Team who were a good thirty feet in front of them.

“Proceed,” the Speaker told her, and Lucy moved away from the rest of us to cast the spell. She recited the spell out loud in Gaelic while tracing its large complicated glyph in the air. Almost instantly, a yellow sphere some forty feet in diameter surrounded her, but that was the least of what occurred after she had cast the spell.

The ground around us began to shake violently like an earthquake was occurring. The wind, which had been a gentle breeze, suddenly rose to hurricane force, whipping up a thick dust cloud that was nearly impossible to see far through. A loud screeching noise also began. It was loud enough to cancel the noise from the wind.

The shaking of the ground was so strong that it caused many of the Clan Chiefs and Elders to fall down. Our Partners let us know their displeasure by roaring and the Eagles screeched. Their complaints were just barely audible over the other noise. The Colonel, Luther and I managed to remain on our feet through all of this, as did Bob and Susie. The Eagles’ perches had fallen over, but they landed on the round vertical members on the ground and held on with their claws.

It took more than three minutes for the ground around us to stop shaking. The wind followed it after a few seconds, and the screeching noise had stopped also. The dust slowly settled once the wind and the shaking had stopped to reveal a six sided pillar some three feet on a side and around fifteen feet tall that had appeared in front of the area where the Clan Chiefs and Elders had assembled to watch the demonstration. As they began to regain their feet, the Pillar started to speak to all of us in our minds. I also noticed that my Magic and my Talent were a good bit stronger than they had been when we came out here.

“So, you have finally called on me,” boomed out of the Pillar into our minds. “You waited until your time of greatest need to call on me. I have been waiting since your arrival and for millenniua before that. It has been long since the Creators departed leaving me here by myself. I have put the time to good use though and discovered much about this world that they left me.

“Since you have been here, I have learned your languages and watched as your use of Magic and your Talents increased, yet you never required my assistance until now. The spell that the female stranger cast is the one that released me to protect my world again. I am now ready to cast that spell to protect all that is here. Those waiting at the outer limits of this system will be unhappy with that, but it will do them no good. The Ferguson woman was correct in her assessments and conclusions.

“I will ensure that those who have desecrated the land with their endeavors will stop. I will also reverse the Tectonic forces that have raised the ridges and created the valleys. It will only require a thousand years or so to do that. Practically no time at all.

“When you need to speak to me, come here to this extension of myself, and I will listen to your requests. All is ready now,” IT finished, and suddenly, we could all see a yellow cast appear in the sky. It covered the sky from horizon to horizon in every direction. Lucy had joined us by now and was staring at it with us.

“Oh my God! It’s cast the shell spell around the entire planet. Do you realize the amount of power it would require to do that?” she asked in awe. The Speaker was also approaching us now.

“My Talent and my Magic have more than doubled since the Pillar appeared,” he told us.