Chapter 44

Other than a little catching up with Ketty before her busy schedule took over there was nothing to keep us at her political office. Dorry and her two aides escorted us back down through the building and I noted how carefully they were protecting her. Most Mages inexperienced or not tended to shield themselves against both physical or energy attacks and that's what they were doing, one projecting a field that prevented high speed projectiles, the other high energy wavelengths and particles. They'd clearly learned to blend their screens into a composite whole. Róisín and I had learned however that it was best to learn to do both at once in that respect, though we had better and more experienced teachers. Still, what they were doing was pretty good and had clearly served to keep Dorry safe from the earlier attack, plus they were also multi-tasking to an extent by constantly scanning their surroundings too.

"You've trained them well, Mage Brianna," I said when we stepped out into the cool November sunshine.

"They're getting there, we still have to send them in twos though as maintaining two shields and a scan is still beyond almost all of their abilities as yet," she replied, looking pleased at my praise.

"It'll come eventually," Róisín added. "Fortunately there's no pressure to perform as yet in the way of the Coalition."

"Oh trust me, the denizens of this world can come up with some fairly devious and nasty surprises," Brianna admitted. "A lot of it is the advanced technology they have; we're having to learn very quickly to keep our charges safe."

"Such as?" I queried.

"Tiny little machines about the size of a blood cell that can be taught to do various tasks as a whole or individually," Brianna explained.

"Like micro Null?" I asked frowning.

"No, these are tiny little ... robots and the Loegrii are designing them to go after cancer cells and do internal tissue repairs and such like. Problem is they can also be programmed to kill or destroy and spread by reproducing new machines from the body's minerals," she went on.

"Any casualties?" I asked.

"A few, but now we try a focussed EMP surge on those we suspect have been corrupted and that seems to nullify them, the two journeywomen who were collateral damage in the investigation were easily able to fight off the effects, then again they weren't the targets," Brianna explained.

"Found the source?" Róisín queried.

"We suspect a rogue lab somewhere in Albany, but so far the journeywomen haven't traced the source as the assassins simply don't know," Brianna replied.

"Yes, I can see the problem," I mused.

"There are other tricks too, they have a far better control over energy weapons," Brianna added.

"Yes, I noted that the first time I was here, though against a forewarned Mage it's not really an issue," I said.

"Yes, but they usually don't target Mages, they go after key citizens," Brianna added.

"That must tie down a good few of your ladies," I mused.

"It does indeed John and we can't protect everyone, then again we've made some significant inroads into the counter-revolutionaries to make them desperate," Brianna explained.

"Yes, that attempt at Dorry was amateurish, or don't they realise just how well protected some people are?" I mused.

"I don't think they grasp that what we do isn't ... technological," Brianna said with a smile.

"True, magic does not exist," I chuckled.

"Yes, they're currently working on that 'any advanced enough technology is indistinguishable from magic' malarkey that author came up with," Brianna chuckled by way of reply.

"Do they know where the MAGES are based out of?" Róisín asked.

"Well, they know that the journeywomen go into a large building and don't emerge. They don't know we portal from there and have tried the odd sniper attack to no avail. As far as most on this world are concerned the place where Rowenna works is just an advanced medical research establishment," Brianna explained as we approached a drab utilitarian building that supposedly was the MAGES headquarters.

"Big enough to look like a barracks too," mused Róisín.

"Oh yes, that's the impression we definitely wanted to give," Brianna stated.

Once inside we portalled directly to the medical centre and into the warm summer sunshine that Rowenna had the environment set at.

"Don't ... whoever it is, wonder at how you escape their view when you vanish, Dorry?" I asked when we were relaxing over some cold drinks.

"The barracks is built over a subway. We have a fake station set up to look like that's how we get out and about," she giggled.

"And we have portals to sealed rooms all over the subway network as well as most of their maglev stations in the country as a whole," Brianna added.

"Thought of everything," I chuckled whilst wondering what a maglev was.

"We hope so, it will be a long time, if ever, before the general populace finds out about Mages and magic," Dorry said.

"Probably best, though I suspect you'll pursue your dream of becoming a Mage anyway," I replied.

"Of course, John. I've wanted nothing more since just after you rescued me," she said with a sunny grin that reminded me of the skinny adolescent I'd met all those years ago.

"Oh, I think if it ever becomes possible you'll be a wonderful Mage," I chuckled, getting a spontaneous exuberant hug off her as usual when I said such things.

"Thank you, John. You always say the nicest things," she replied.

"For what it's worth, he's right. But it's not something we could ever promise," Róisín said with her own grin writ large on her face.

"I know, but I so want," she sighed.

"You might have to put it off a few years," I said.

"Why's that, John?" she asked.

"Ah ... sorry, didn't mean to look, but you're pregnant, my lovely friend," I finally said getting some hard looks from the other ladies present.

"I am? Oh yes!" Dorry cried out as she was gathered up by a sea of happy women.

"Naughty," Rowenna admonished me.

"I know, but it's blatantly obvious and I opened my mouth before engaging my brain," I replied with a wry smile.

"It's not blatantly obvious, well not to most, I hadn't noticed till you mentioned it, then I had to actually scan," Rowenna answered with a slight frown.

"Not obvious at all John," added Róisín.

"Oh dear, another hidden talent emerges," I chuckled. "But I noticed the ... glow of an unformed mind when we first met today."

"The Healing magic sorority lost out when you decided on being an enforcer, John," sighed Rowenna.

"I followed my Mage and what talents I have, emerged only after I started in London," I replied with a shrug.

"True, if you'd been my apprentice you may have ended up a healer," Rowenna mused.

"Then I doubt we'd have discovered Loegria," I chuckled.

"True, true," she chuckled. "Oh well, life is what it is."

"Wonder what the higher power take on there being no Mages here is," I wondered out loud.

"Well, they're here, but they do not have Theurgists or Thaumaturges fighting a proxy war either come to that," Rowenna answered.

"Doubt they'd tell us if we asked, just curious is all," I chuckled.

"Keep that sort of curiosity well in check, John," Rowenna admonished me sternly.

"I will, I'm not comfortable with them being around at all, save perhaps for Jerahmeel," I replied.

"Even Jerahmeel has to obey the rules," Rowenna replied. "Not that we know what most of the rules are."

"I know, asking is akin to committing suicide," I chuckled.

"Well, the people here have a full pantheon of gods, which correlate roughly to our higher powers, but no supreme God, just a head God who orders the universe and makes sure the 'rules' are kept. Sort of a god of science and order which is how their society as a whole happened upon a scientific age early, as the gods all have to obey the rules or laws of science and don't do 'miracles' or rather miracles follow the rules too. That's why some have a difficult time with Mages as we aren't on the surface terribly explicable," Rowenna explained.

Thinking back to my first time in Loegria and Ketty's troubles with me doing as I did, I could only nod in acceptance of Rowenna's explanation of how the world society of Loegria viewed things.

My musings were interrupted by Dorry flinging herself into my arms to thank me for the 'news' of her condition.

"Oh John, thanks for confirming my baby," she gushed. "Olmer and I have been trying for a little while now and this will make him so happy!"

"He won't mind that I let the cat out of the bag?" I asked and then realised she didn't understand the colloquialism and had to explain.

"You have the oddest sayings, John," she giggled. "But no, I rather expect that by the end of today he's going to have a lot more on his mind than our baby."

"Well, you know him best," I said with a grin.

"Indeed I do and his introduction to magic will be interesting, but I think he'll cope," she replied with a happy smile.

"Well, we can always edit his memories if you ask," Rowenna added.

"I know, but I truly hope you won't have to. Having you do it each time he meets you simply to conceal the fact that you don't age is necessary if a bit wearing at times," Dorry admitted.

"The offer I was allowed to make to Ketty is applicable for you and Olmer too," I said. "You'll have to fade from public view though, but can live a life away from the spotlight."

"We'll see, John. There hasn't been the pressure on us that Ketty and Niras have had to face ... yet," Dorry answered.

"Might happen if Olmer does become Archon one day," Róisín added.

"That future may or may not happen as the river winds down to the sea of time," Dorry replied with her own colloquialism.

"Certainly not set in stone, true, but I think he'd do well," Rowenna answered.

"So do I, but I see what it's done to Ketty and wonder if it's worth it at times," Dorry replied.

"Well you'll be there to help and I can keep your body healthy from stress toxins and the like," I offered.

"I know John and believe me if it does happen I'll be taking advantage of it," she said and gave me another hug.

Dorry then portalled back to her home and left the rest of us to set up for a combination dinner dance where the crème de la crème of Loegrian society (the bits of it that knew about magic) were invited to see how Olmer and hopefully Niras coped with a new reality in their lives. Rowenna and her staff seemed to have everything in hand and a catering company, carefully screened, were setting up in the kitchens whilst the ladies and few gents moved chairs and tables into pre-assigned places, more often than not using telekinesis and teleportation to get things into place. A portal in the shape of a doorway had been set up and soon flared into the lambent violet light that signified a major transference as Morgana, Simon, Arch, Jemima and for the first time Julia stepped through onto the world we knew as Loegria's soil.

"So this is the big secret that my Seers were forbidden to even discuss with me save only for an obscure name," she said with a smile as the group were met with an almost mass formal greeting.

"Yes, Mage Julia," Rowenna replied. "This is not a place that we would wish the Coalition to find, nor do they have the means to defend themselves from the various denizens of the Outer realms that certain research paths they were heading down would most certainly take them."

"And you found this how?" she asked with a puzzled raising of an eyebrow.

"John found it, or rather their research into alternative realities captured him and brought him here to a world without magic," Rowenna explained.

"No magic?" Julia asked looking rather shocked.

"They can't, it has to do with the frequency that their brains use which blocks access to the higher functions Mages use," Rowenna went on. "Which reminds me you'll need to adjust your frequency reception to cover this level," she explained.

"No wonder you set up here then, you must be able to screen any background resistance to healing in your charges," Julia mused after adjusting her senses to cover Loegrian thought frequencies.

"We can, plus also thanks to John we're looking at a means to block Mage functions in our prisoners by using an electronic device to alter our frequency to that of a Loegrii. It's successfully passed a full trial and if used under Null initially we should be able to do a full brain scan on the likes of Heinrich, Imar and the Nephilim, perhaps even a Sidhe, assuming we could capture one," Rowenna replied.