Chapter 9: Another Brick in the Wall

So we had our first five pupils for the school. A 6 year-old only just in infants' school, a normal nine-year old boy, a blind twelve year old, a rebellious thirteen-year old female 'yob'* and an orphan. Not the best mix of classes, but it was a start. All of these were selected as the better Apprentices that we had.

I use Sar'ha's term for the pupils as we hadn't really sorted out what to call them, I did have a word for the thirteen year old, but I can't print it here!

She had remained trapped in the room for three hours. Charlotte had managed to shield the walls so that Rachael couldn't affect the fabric of the house to escape. Finally she shouted into the room. "OKAY I GIVE UP! I'LL STAY!" and the door opened for her. Charlotte was outside with some food and water.

"You only had to say you agreed; now we have rooms for you and you'll meet your teachers." Charlotte said.

Rachael shook her head, "Hey, I got thrown out of my last school; how the fuck do you think I managed on the street? My girls and I stuck together." She said trying to be defiant while eating away.

Charlotte nodded, "And when someone stronger came along they ran. Is that the type of friends you want? Here we look after each other and help when needed. Yes, we will be using magic, but you've already found out that if you try to gain from direct magic you're going to lose everything."

Rachael knew what she was being told, she tried to open a shop's door one night and it closed on her jacket. She'd nearly been caught by the shop-owner but managed to kick the door open and ran.

"So how do I work it then?" She asked looking for the angle to help her.

"That you will learn later ... if you really want to." Charlotte said hiding her smile.

"Okay then, what the fuck do I have to do?" Rachael said anxiously.

"First of all, you're going to learn to speak like a lady ... one way or another." Charlotte told the girl who became indignant.

"Hey I can speak like a fucking lady, only I don't want to." Rachael said crossing her arms.

"I don't care what you want; this is for the sake of the other pupils in your class." Charlotte said and then she created a black spark that hovered beside Rachael, almost within her vision but it followed the movements of her head so that she couldn't look at it.

"What's that? Just what the fuck ... OWW!" She quickly slapped at the side of her head, "What the fuck ... Oww!" again she was struck by something.

"That is your vocal coach. Every-time you swear, you will be punished - that spell will administer the punishment, until you learn." Charlotte said with a smile on her lips.

"But that's not allowed, you can't just f ... hit people for swearing." Rachael said but Charlotte noticed that she managed to restrain her mode of speaking.

"I'm not, the spell is. You are the one who decides when you get a shock every time you swear. Now if you'll follow me I'll show you where your room is, then you will meet the others." Charlotte said turning to walk along the corridor to where bedrooms were prepared.

I received a phone call from Captain Bolland, "Beaker it seems that you've introduced more people to this establishment without clearing them through me. Now will you tell me what you're doing?" He demanded.

"Once you have clearance from Colonel Marlow, then you'll be allowed the information, at the moment we are engaged in top secret duty. Need to know, Captain, need to know!" I said.

"Well, the people you bring in have to be cleared by security. I'll need details and backgrounds, and they also have to have an orientation talk to go over fire escapes and the like." Bollard was trying to gain information through other means.

"Once you have clearance Captain." I repeated and hung up the phone.

"You won't be able to keep him out forever. What if Colonel Marlow does give him clearance?" Nichole asked

"Then, we'll see how well he reacts to the truth. Or we could always show him illusions; he'd never know the difference." I said with a smile.

I noticed that Martha was nearby and beckoning to me, "I have a problem with Simon ... I think you'd better see him." She said and explained how she met him.

I went to the room where Simon had been assigned, I went to turn on the light when he sobbed, "Please don't."

"Don't what, Simon?" I asked gently.

"Don't turn on the light; I don't want to be seen like this." He said.

I thought for a moment, gathering the spell I would need and then spoke the words that changed my eyes to those of a cat. I had a monochrome view of the world and the room. I could see Simon hiding under the bed.

"Why are you under there, Simon?" I asked.

"Because." Was the only reply I received from the boy who was under the bed.

"Do you mind if I come down there with you?" I asked him; this time he didn't speak he only shook his head. I crouched down and then eased my way under the bed. "Hello Simon, my name is Chris. I understand you've been hurt. Can I examine you?" I asked.

Simon shrank away from me and I nodded, "I see, you don't want me to. Well, I have this thing, it's like the tricorders from Star Trek, I don't even need to touch you, is it alright for me to use it?" I asked him.

"There's no such thing! It's all made up." Simon said looking back toward me – I was just a dark shape to his eyes.

A muttered spell and then in my hand was a flashing unit, I removed a small piece from the top of the machine and began moving it along Simon's body, I only wished I understood what the blasted screen was telling me. "Translate" I said and watched as the lights changed to letters.

"Simon, you have two broken ribs, severe bruising, you are malnourished and need urgent treatment. I can't leave you here." I sent out a call to Martha who came running into the room. "Who do we have with medical expertise?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "Nobody with real knowledge, we have the basics but it hasn't been studied much."

"That's something we're going to have to rectify." I said and levitated the bed up and away from us, and then Simon was moved so that his body wasn't affected. I left Simon in the hands of Martha who also had the tricorder – I was getting proud of it.

I quickly changed my eyes to normal and then ran to the observatory, I looked at the portal that had been created. I faced it and then spoke, "I urgently need a healer, is there one available who will undertake a long journey?" I asked.

There was a pause and then a voice spoke. "This is Sur'ha of the House of Ool'n, who is calling for aid?"

I let out the breath of air I was holding, "My name is Chris Beaker. I'm known to your world as The Stranger; one of my apprentices is injured and requires healing. I have no way of payment as yet but would request your aid." I said – I wasn't even sure how people were paid on Sar'ha's world.

"Your name is strange, but I am pledged to help all who ask for aid, will you allow me entrance to your portal?" Sur'ha asked.

"Of course Sur'ha, but your travel may seem longer than you expect, do you require any form of assurance that you will be returned unharmed?" I asked knowing that I had to offer a ransom just in case.

"What? No nothing like that, where are you talking from? ... You're not on the Eastern Lands are you?" She asked now sounding more cautious than scared.

"No Sur'ha, I am on a different world, we've only recently gained knowledge of The Art and have only a few Masters and Apprentices, none of us are healers and that is why we need help." I explained.

"No knowledge of healing? Few Masters? This I have to see. I'm coming through now." Sur'ha said.

"Traveller requesting access, Healer Sur'ha, can she enter?" A new voice from the portal spoke.

"Healer Sur'ha is allowed access." I said and the portal brightened up as it activated and a woman staggered into the room. I quickly ran forward and supported her.

She looked at me, "That was surprising. Normally there's no time delay, but I could almost feel the seconds pass." She said.

I let her find her feet and then stepped back, "Thank you for coming Healer, the Apprentice is in his room, I will take you to him." I said.

"One moment ... did you say your name was Chris'n, and this is a whole new world?" Sur'ha asked. I led her to a window and she looked out at the trees and the sunlight. "This is not Zorba'n." She said after a moment and then wordlessly allowed me to take her to Simon's room.

I introduced Sur'ha to Martha – who she called Mar'ha until she got the idea of our names – and then to Simon. Sur'ha placed her hands above Simon and started to mutter, and then she became serious and annoyed.

"These injuries are not from magic use! He's been beaten to put him into this condition. What did you do to him?" She accused us.

"Sur'ha, you can tell if we are speaking the truth to you. I promise you that we took Simon away from where he was to this place; it was after then that we found out how serious his injuries were. That is why we called for help." I said

Sur'ha muttered again and then she looked at Martha and placed her hand over Martha's head, "You pulled him out from that place? You..." She smiled, " ... ah I see, yes that would prove effective, although I would think that further action should be made." She looked at me when she said that.

I shook my head, "I'm sorry Sur'ha but as you see we are not on Zorba'n, we have no say in what happens on this world ... yet! I will pass on the information to the proper authorities but I cannot guarantee that they will act. Consider how your world was before The Accord was created, we are nearing such a phase here, but thanks to your world, we may be able to avoid such things happening." I said

Sur'ha shook her head, "I cannot believe your words, and yet you speak the truth. I need to remain here to treat this child. If you can arrange for a meal of Yiddic and Murair to be served then I will be fine." She said.

Martha looked at me and I looked blankly at Sur'ha then I said, "I think we were going to have steak and chips, would that be acceptable?" I asked and then added, "Or do you just eat vegetables?" as an afterthought.

"I have much to learn on this world." Sur'ha said with a sigh.

My next visit was to Evelyn, she was the blind girl that was recruited by Rose. I knocked on the door and was greeted by a bark from inside followed by "Quiet Marmaduke, it's a friend." A young girl's voice said, "It's quite safe to come in."

I opened the door to find Evelyn standing by a desk looking at me. "Hello Evelyn, My name is Chris Beaker." I said not really knowing what else to say.

She smiled at me, "So you are The Stranger that I was told about?" She asked.

I nodded, "I was known by that name, but how is it that you know it?" I asked.

"When I was in my library I found a grey book. It was such a strange thing that I had to read it. It explained about the libraries and how the books arrive, it also said that I would join a school to learn about using the spells wisely. That school would be created when the one known to others as The Stranger returns home." She looked up at me, "Would that be you?" She asked.

I smiled and nodded, and then I went through my story of how Sar'ha had joined me and what happened during that time.

"And so you are trying to create this school on Earth to match the one that Sar'ha and Sop'ha are building on their world ... but don't you miss her?" Evelyn asked wisely.

"We have seen each other in the real world, so yes, although I miss her, I know I can see her whenever we want to meet." I said.

"How can you do that? She can't just drop in, can she?" Evelyn wrinkled her nose as she tried to picture this.

"She visits me in my library. We can talk to anyone who has a library with the help of the people who are the Libraries of the world, but now we have a healer visiting from Sar'ha's home world, so the link is now open." I said.

"But how can you meet anyone in an imaginary place? Is that possible?" She protested.

"It is possible and I will make that the first lesson tonight, but don't worry you won't miss any sleep, in fact, I want you to concentrate on your library when you go to bed." I asked her.

"You're not going to try to get into my bedroom are you?" She sounded afraid of that and so I pacified her.

"Not at all, you can lock and shield your door so that nobody can open it if you don't want them to. This is how the spell works..." And I talked her through the sealing spell and how to stop others from negating it – even me. But I did warn her that there was an emergency spell that would operate in times of ... well emergencies.

As she practised the spell, I spent time getting to know her dog, Marmaduke. He was an Alsatian, or German Shepard, and after seeing that I wasn't a threat to her, seemed very affectionate. I rubbed his head and then I sensed that there was a spell present around the dog.

"Where did you get Marmaduke, Evelyn?" I asked her, "He seems very well behaved."

Evelyn stopped her practise and then thought for a moment, "He was given to me by a charity when he was a puppy." She said

I nodded, "Have you used any spells on him?" I asked casually.

"Not really, he seems to know what I need and so I haven't tried," She said and then added, "but he comes into my dreams at times." This last made me look at the dog again, in its eyes, I could see something, but I wasn't sure what?

I left Evelyn in a thoughtful mood, she hadn't cast any magic on her dog, yet there is a sense of magic around it. I left that for later, I had to earn my money now.

I went to the room designated as my office and surveyed the set-up that I had. The Nemesis' I had set up as watchdogs/guards were roaming around the area. They were automatically set to give access to those who were allowed inside the area and had spells available to stun intruders – although I hoped the spells on the door would stop them.

When inspecting the outside of the house, I noticed that gargoyles had been placed to funnel water from the roof to the ground. These I be-spelled to act as watchdogs only, theirs was a sitting brief, a role that they were built for. On the grounds, there were several statues of animals, mainly lions and deer, these I changed to monitor access to the house from the grounds.

To help me with the monitoring, I had a bank of screens that gave me full access to what was being seen - again it was a mixture of technology and magic that worked. The main source of the power being from the electrical supply to the house, but there was a backup generator in the basement, now protected from interference by others, that would take up the load when the electricity went down.

But that was beside the point, what was needed now was another Odin spell to protect the Government's computers. This one would have to be more involved than my watch and report unit, it would have to be able to trace and spike the sending computer. Then with the arrival of the tracker spell, it would also have to protect itself from magic attacks.

I decided that Odin wasn't enough and so I would have to have fighters to protect it, able to deflect spells and normal firewalls. I smiled and while thinking, created the first Valkyrie. This was – as with Odin, Nemesis and Casper – an intelligent spell, with an added bonus, whatever it learnt it would pass on to other Valkyries at light speed, and also when needed, it could re-produce itself.

Using the USB port on my computer, but unplugging the communications cable so that it was isolated from the rest of the world, I loaded the Odin and Valkyrie spells. The Odin spell reported to the screen that it was loaded and monitoring the system – Valkyrie didn't show, as instructed – and that it would report unauthorised access to the system.