Golden Iron Guard? There's No Such Thing

Nick Voinovich clears his throat in the tense silence.

"Some Japanese are looking at us," he announces. "Which is odd, because they are in Canada. One of them is a Finder, I believe; he is fanning the air with his hands, and there are kanji on both palms."

"Which kanji?" Jake says.

"These," says Nick, sketching them with a pencil with his eyes fixed on the horizon outside.

"That's Finder, all right," Jake says. "The guy must be good. Do these others look like Iron Guard or Shadow Guard?"

"I don't know," says Nick. "They're wearing fancy gold and steel armor, soaked with spells."

"Crap," says Jake. "How many suits of armor?"

"Six."

"Are they heading this way?"

"Travelling," Nick affirms. "About a hundred miles a jump. Now the Finder's looking around, locking in ... and Travelling again. We've got about ten minutes."

Richter says, "Christine, give me Torch."

Jake Sullivan lurches out of the room, down the kitchen stairs to the basement. For a big man, he moves fast, but it's not like running -- it's short, heavy, steps, chopping one after the other, leaning forward as though he's about to fall down. It's how you run on a steep downhill slope.

Kaze: "These are Mikami -- spirit in a machine, to translate. In 1900, my father was gifted with a suit of armor, as you saw, overlain by many spells. It is a way to get around the madness induced by commanding the spirits directly. He wore it only once of which we are aware--when he announced the Emperor's decision to go to war with the Roske."

"A story is told that one of these Mikami found its wearer to be unworthy and marched itself into the sea to drown his unwanted partner."

"As you saw, there are several Mikami at the very least. But it is rumored that another was added to the armory every year...."

One, Two, Three, Many

Suddenly and without warning, Jake Sullivan enters the room. But that's not so bad, because he lives here, and seemingly means no harm.

"Sky, that power you have is called Massive," he says without preamble. "I've just come from the root cellar -- it's okay. My reinforcing beams are holding up fine."

"It took me fifteen years to develop that power; I've got it doped out. It makes you a little stronger, but not enough to walk without falling over. So take small steps, shuffling your feet at first, till you get the hang of it. Okay? If you trip, you'll probably go right through that floor."

He looks intently at Sky.

"How are you feeling? Your blood weighs more than it used to. And if you keep using this Power, your bones and muscles are going to slowly get denser. Means you don' t have to keep it going all the time to be tough, but it also means you can't turn off the extra mass. If you like being light on your feet, you might want to lay off that Power most of the time."

"The good news is, it doesn't take much magic. You can stay Massive for a couple of hours, easy, and if you have more magic than I do, then longer. And if you really push it, I mean strain everything you got, you're pretty much invulnerable. Like that guy in the funny books."

Jake looks around at everyone. The socially perceptive among them (Belle, Kaze, Sky the gambler, maybe Michael) notice that Jake's looking hard at Richter, but covering it by glancing at everyone else.

"There's something else I've doped out over the years," Jake says. "I'm a Heavy. I eventually learned to be a Massive, too. So I've got two powers. And I've heard of other guys who had two Powers, also."

"The thing is, each Power is a different way of understanding the Power itself. The Power is putting out magic to everyone on Earth, but you hear it with your mind, not your ears. It's not a human being at all -- it's a four-dimensional space squid. So its mind isn't a human mind, either. Everyone hears it in their minds, all the time, but most of us can't understand what we hear. Each Power is like a different piece of what it's beaming to us."

"So I took the Heavy piece and figured out how the Massive piece, which is similar, worked. But everyone I know who has got more than two Powers, pretty soon, they've got 'em all. Seems to me you only need three pieces to solve the whole puzzle."

"And this is why I'm telling you -- everyone who got three pieces -- the Chairman, the Spellbound, Rasputin -- was as crazy as a football bat. Everyone except Faye, and she gave the Power back before it turned her mind inside-out. She thinks if she'd stayed connected to all the Powers, she'd have been thinking like the Power, and people can't think that way.

"Maybe the Power thinks in a different way which works, but on humans, it looks just like raving madness. And usually violent madness."

"Hell, what does the Power do? It gives us magic to fight and get stronger, then gathers it back up when we die. You see a person doing that, you call him a cannibal feeding on his gladiators, or worse."

Jake takes a breath. He hasn't talked this much in years.

"So if. IF. You get two Powers -- watch it. And don't ask for a third. Because you probably aren't the one person in history, so far, who can handle it."

Everyone is looking at Christine, who at last count had six Powers.

"What?" she says. "No, I don't have the Powers. I'm just .. holding them. Face-down, sort of?"

Jake's face is stone.

Tea Means ... Tea?

Richter has agreed with Kaze that a private eye could keep watch on Hitomi.

Kaze: "And you can hire such a person... without it being traced?"

Richter: "Aw, sure, the right kind of money papers over a lot of questions ... all of 'em, for a certain type of guy."

Saburo, who has remained silent up till now: "The longer we let him recover, the stronger Hitomi will be when he returns. We should attack, even if we have no chance of success, to cost him the initiative."

He stands up.

"I volunteer to attack Hitomi to buy you more time. You will use this time wisely, I hope."

Richter is nonplussed.

"Suicide isn't good strategy," he says.

"Begging your pardon, but is it not so that when you went over the top in the Great War, you knew you were likely to die? But you did so for the sake of your race. It seems to me that the situations are alike, but perhaps you will explain to me how they are not."

Kaze shakes her head.

"Saburo, if anyone should be buying time, it should be I. He will not immediately attack me."

She gives a slight smile and shrug of her shoulders.

"I could no doubt delay him for several hours if I offered to serve him tea--properly."
"For our ways are not your ways, Mr. Richter."

Nick Voinovich: "In the spirit of cultural curiosity, what exactly does 'properly' serving tea constitute? In your ways."

Kaze: "To explain would also require hours--as well as demonstration... and regretfully, we are not at our leisure."

Amused. "The chaji celebrates both inner and outer beauty. Properly done, it occupies perhaps four hours."

That explains exactly none of what Nick wanted to know -- but it does remind him that if the answer is as he fears, he would rather it weren't stated in mixed company.

Fire in the Mind

Kaze bows to Richter.

"Mr. Richter, I believe your new torch power is influencing your actions if not your long-term decisions. Do you need to set it aside while you plan?"

"No! It's MINE and I ..."

He sees how people are watching him.

"You're ... right, of course," he says slowly. "Christine, would you kindly hold my Torch while we work out our course of action?"

"Sure, Mr. R," she says, and carefully palms the burning brand off of Richter.

"Whoo!" she says afterward. "You're right, it does feel ... different. No wonder Scorchy was always so up!"

"It might be a demon," says Kaze mildly.

Christine: "Wait, what?"

Richter: "Oh, I'm sure it's not a DEMON ... per se. Just a spirit with strong inclinations, forceful opinions on ... burning things ... odd, I feel a bit less focused without it. Christine, if I could just borrow that back for a moment --"

Christine: "A DEMON? I want this thing out of me!"

She makes shooing motions with her hands, and foot-long streamers of flame leap forth.

Mrs. Sullivan captures the flames and confines them against her bosom.

"It is not a demon, Miss Tay-un," she says soothingly. "You will grow used to it in time. Do not be alarmed."

That seems to help, some.

Richter: "Well, never mind ... I can see this is going to be difficult. I'll soldier on without it. Now, ladies and gents: go straight for Hitomi, or keep him under the eye until we're ready? Is there really a lot else we need to do?"

Kaze, after raising an eyebrow at Mrs. Sullivan to see if it acceptable since she is otherwise occupied, elegantly pours Mr. Richter--and anyone else who wants it--some tea.

"While it would be... wrong--and foolish... to set the local, mundane authorities on him, perhaps other allies might be employed to delay him... or herd him ... into a more advantageous position for us. It would have to be someone who was working at a distance, not knowing what he was being asked to do--or someone who could shield himself and any others involved."

She adds hastily, "...I do not recommend keeping them uninformed as a matter of guile, but rather one of caution. Should he be using powers of detection."

Richter: "Sure, sure ... he's still a Reader, after all. He'll know what they know."

"Come to think of it, though, there's no reason we can't use a private eye."

Eyes On

Kaze asks Nick if he sees any of the enemy heading their way.

"Yes, I do. I think I see all of them."

"How close are they?"

Belle draws her gun and stands ready.

"Let's see," says Nick. "Four of the Iron Guard are in a line ... all the street signs are in Chinese, or perhaps it's Japanese. So they can't be closer than San Francisco. Not our immediate concern."

"Then there are six fellows who look a bit like the hit men we met in Tulsa. They are ... ah, Oklahoma plates ... in a car on a highway in the high grass. There's no snow, so they can't be closer than, I suppose, Illinois? We have several hours, even if they turn and move closer to our location."

"I'm not being very helpful, I'm afraid."

"Oh, and there's the Tattooed Man. He's undergoing further tattooing from, ah, some kind of demon, with a very wide head and fingers which appear to have been replaced with tattoo needles .. they're dripping smoking ink. The Tattooed Man is screaming. It seems very painful. Hm ... nearby are ... Negroes eating .. a bookstore ... a subway. A very large subway. I think, everything considered, he is in Harlem."

"That is helpful," she says, smiling encouragingly. She doesn't smile much. It's a bit of a new look.

Speaking of looks, she looks at Richter, expecting him to do something with this intelligence.

Richter is indeed interested. He starts to smoulder.

"You have eyes on Hitomi RIGHT THIS MINUTE?" Richter gasps. "We can .. is he surrounded by .. I mean, how many people are around him? We could pounce on him right now!"

"He's a thousand miles away, sir," Nick points out. "By the time we get there --"

Richter cuts him off with a chopped hand, trailing flames.

"NO, no! You keep him in sight all the time, and when we get there, we watch until he's alone, then hit him with everything at once! And while you're watching, we call everyone we know and get them all converging on his location ... this could work! We've GOT the bastard now!"

Nick breaks off his unfocused starting to glance at Richter. He seems to think Richter's getting too worked up.

"You're gonna burn my carpet," rumbles Jake Sullivan.

"No problem, I got it," says Mrs. Sullivan, who is indeed siphoning the flames into a swan shape in the kitchen.

(Janet notes alarm from many small animals in the house's vicinity. The flames have them worried.)

Someone Kicks in the Door With a Gun In His Hand

Gotten pretty quiet in  here, hasn't it?

Raymond Chandler said when he couldn't think of something to happen next, he had a guy come through the door with a gun.

Anyone want to volunteer to kick in a door?

A Full Hand

Janet is fascinated but the new senses and awareness of the animals. Focusing on the cat, she uses him to walk around the little farm and surrounding woods.

The farm looks very different to the cat; a barrel is a tower, a car is a hill, and the tops of things don't exist.

Until he thinks about jumping upon them, and then the smells of the upper surface tell him if it would be a good idea.

Dust smells differently from wet dust, which is distinct from fluffy dust, which is different from dry dust. All are as different as red is from blue. The cat's eyes see forward, but her smell and hearing are 360 degrees.

Everything comes through to Janet as black and white, except for movement. Whenever something moves, it assumes color, rather vivid and even garish color, but when it stops, it fades back to monochrome.

Janet notices (though Cherryblossom does not) that the fly passing overhead is moving slowly enough to see, no faster than a cloud passing in front of the moon. Indeed, everything Cherryblossom sees is in slow motion. Janet thinks she could move very fast if she wanted to.


Sky asks someone to punch him when he is heavy. "If I cannot take a punch, I cannot take a bullet. Maybe this is just weight gain, not tough skin, you know?

"No bruises on the kisser, please! I am electing to be escortifying this sweet young doll from the Save a Soul mission down to Havana on a wager, and dolls (as a rule) are unelectrified if a sharped-dressed palooka makes no configurings to keep himself cleanshaven and un-smudged in the mug. Which of you gents wants to take a poke?"

Richter waits for someone else to volunteer. When they don't, he stands up.

"You're either massive or just heavier," he muses. "We'll know who gets that fin in a second --"

And then he explodes in an uncoiling right cross that swings shoulders, hips, even feet into a sucker punch right on Sky's jaw. Onlookers gasp at its sudden ferocity.

CLUNK!

Richter recoils, nursing his stinging knuckles.

Sky feels the impact, but neither pain nor deflection. It's as if his sense of touch has been filtered by a colored lens, so only one type of sensation is still sensible.

"Definitely armor" Richter says, blowing on his hand. "Ow ..."

"So Christine currently has Massive, Torch, Healer, Beastie, Crackler, and, uh, Eye, I guess, in her hand of powers. This could be good ... we could surprise Hitomi, and also his goons, by switching things up."

"So do we take the time to master these Powers, or do we go after him again right now? I can find him ... it's what I do."

"Who's this Save a Soul gal you're talking about, Sky?" Christine wants to know.

Massive

Richter observes, "Every time you active your new Power, Sky, the floor bends. I think you're putting on weight, like the opposite of a Fade."


"You're probably bulletproof when it's on you. But," he adds quickly to the room, "let's not test that, please!"

Christmas Morning, Post-Wrapper

Sky says, "Less someone else wants, let me try the heavy brute one. Five to nine nothing happens."

"I'm in for five dollars," says Richter. "Hitomi wouldn't sport a tattoo that didn't do anything, in my opinion."

Christine says, "We'll know in a second! Coming at ya, Sky!"

She deals with a flip of the wrist, and Sky feels coldness cut into his skin.

His muscles tighten to resist the cold, of course, and the cold subsides. As soon as he relaxes, though, it's back. He tightens his limbs a little again, out of reflex, and the cold passes away.

Sky, and those near him, heard a creaking sound as he did so, like a dry door swinging.

"Well?" demands Richter. "Do I owe you five bucks, mister?"


"the mountain and the sun symbols--they have to do with truth and a faraway place," says Kaze. "...it -may- allow the bearer to see the truth although he is at a distance from the subject...."

She is looking at Voinovich.

"All right, I will try it," Voinovich affirms.

Christine hands the symbol off the back of her fingers, already swinging around to see who wants the last one.

"I see ... everything, I think," Voinovich says. "The sky is full of aircraft. There is a man emptying an ashtray into the snow."

"It's not snowing here," Richter says.

"It is where he is. Hm ... the signs are in English. There's a Yellow Cab -- I think it is New York."

"And over there, a few degrees to the right, a little girl is looking in the snow. She is, yes, she is looking for her dime. I see where it is, but she does not. She is looking in the wrong place."

"Little girl! Over there! The dime is to your left!" he says. "She does not hear me."

"You will need to learn to focus your mind," Kaze says softly but decisively. "That is a discipline of which we know much. Come with me."
She takes him to a quiet place on the farm, away from the lightning and chatter and teaches him first steps in meditation.


Belle gets a huge smile. "Golly! This is swell! Sorry about the lamp. I'll have Daddy send another...but...Gee wiz! There's electricity everywhere!

"You guys should see this!"

(Very cool about Janet's new gift!)


Janet takes a moment to listen to the chorus of animals, then slips into the hawk for a minute and dose a quick circle around then area, then switches to the cat.

Their senses are utterly different, but their focus is the same. Intense, steady activity, watchfulness, the creep into position, the strike.

Cherryblossom's meat scraps rarely offer much evasion to the strike, but it still has to be done properly.

Powers for All

The fourth kanji is the signs for "Heavy" and "Brute" but altered, so that its meaning is not a simple combination of the two but something which could be compared to both, as "truth" is both "sweet" and "eternal" but is neither sweetness nor eternity.

The fifth symbol combines the ideograms for "sun" and "mountain" in a way which suggests they are not to be taken literally. "Sun" symbolizes clarity, enlightenment, even truth, while "mountain" is the traditional way to imply "far away". So the power of sending the truth far away? That might be useful, if it were the power to deceive (banishing truth) or cause forgetfulness (another sense of banishing truth) or invisibility (sending clear sight far away) or ...

Belle says, "I'd love to be a Crackler, it goes so well with weatherman."

Christine says, "Crackler for Miss Belle!" and makes a hand gesture, transferring the symbol over to Belle from across the room.

Belle sees the electrical map of the room spring into being, radiating outward from her as her perceptions open. People are dull flickering glows, like clouds lit by distant lightning. Wires are strobing lines, and batteries pools of radiance. The sky overhead is a complicated whirlpool of colliding forces; she can see this even though there's a roof overhead.

And Belle herself, in her own eyes, is a virtually opaque statue of energy. She has as much lightning at her fingertips as a whole thunderstorm. And there are currents of potential drifting through the air, like cigarette smoke, which can easily conduct that power into anything she pleases.

Oops. The lamp can be replaced.

Janet says to Christine, "I would like to try the Beastie."

Christine says, "This one? You got it!"

She deals with both hands, and the odd symbol expands in Janet's vision until it seems to rush past her on all sides.

The passage is cold and sudden, and leaves a lingering buzz ... which sounds like a roomful, a houseful, no, perhaps a convention full of people, all talking at once. And no one's listening.

Janet can pick out voices from the hubbub, with a little effort. Some are chittering about winter and whether they've hidden their food well enough; others patiently bite another mouthful of rich, moist earth and squirm another inch forward; others use their eyes, and see everything in glasslike clarity, moving in slow motion, from a viewpoint just below the clouds.

Each thinks of itself as Me, but Janet can tell from context that some are squirrels, some worms, some birds, and some are fish, although the fish don't think of themselves as wet, which makes it a little longer to grasp.

If Janet focuses more intently, she can see through a hawk's eyes, steering it where she wants to look. It' s harder with the cat on the barn roof, because she doesn't use her eyes as much as her nose. Janet's not used to constructing her mental map out of odors.

Fortunately, Cherryblossom (the cat's name) does know how to do so. And once Janet forms her preference, Cherryblossom hurries to carry it out, as though it were her own idea.

A New Deal

Ronald Richter reluctantly pitches his Grimnoir ring over the side of the airship, so that Hitomi can’t track it.

Kaze, meanwhile, is telling Nick:

“As the New York table had a traitor in their ranks, perhaps it is not the case that Hitomi can track our rings.”

Nick, who can see Richter over Kaze’s shoulder, nods sagely.

“Yes,” he says, “that may be so. But best to be safe, surely.”

Belle conns the Gee Bee to Illinois, where the Grimnoir have a safe house on the farm of one of their retired members, Jake Sullivan.

Wounds are dressed, notes are compared.

Richter: “We know what Hitomi wants now – new Powers. So we find them, and we get there first, and we nail him before he can get away.”

“How do we find them?” someone wants to know.

“Finder, remember?” Richter says, touching his brow. “And Torch now, too, thanks to Christine.”

Christine smiles.

“I think my Power should be called Dealer,” she says. “I can take Powers no one’s holding and hand them out.”

“Yeah, about that,” Nick says. “Did you get any kanji off him?”

“A whole handful!” Christine enthuses. “I don’t know what they do, but I’ve got them right here …”

She spreads her fingers and lines of ink ghost into the air. There are five of them. They’re not actually Japanese letters, but they’re similar in style, just way complicated.

Sullivan squints at them.

“Yeah,” he grits out. “That one’s Iron Strength. Seen it on the Iron Guard … most of them have it. And that one’s Crackler. This one, I think, is Beastie, or something like it. And this isn’t a kanji at all, it’s a spell. Never seen that one before.”

“Anybody want to try them out?” Christine says.

Standoff Stood Down

Kaze fades towards Richter and hopefully reaches him, . She materializes with a hand to heal the damage in Richter's torso and another clasping a three-bladed knife that she has pressed against the Reader's spine.

Richter gasps as his wounds are mended.

"Mr. Kellogg, she's got a knife on me," the Reader says softly.

"I know, Carl," says the voice. "She will not use it if you remain calm. Do not try and turn the tables. You've done well -- let us handle the rest of this problem."

"Well, Mr. Richter? You seem to have the floor. What should we do, that we have not done, such that you will cease to trouble us?"

"Kidnapping and murder are a good start," Richter snaps back. "Where do you get your students from? And what happens to the ones you can't use?"

"My students come from everywhere," says Kellogg. "Some are referred by their parents, others I become aware of as I travel. My Power makes me keenly aware of others like myself, wasting away in a world of ordinary men."

The sounds of crashing explode from outside, where Saburo, Janet, Sonny-Boy and Michael are. There's the crash of lightning, the whoosh of flames, the whir of objects hurled through air -- the usual Active medley.

And Belle Weather brings the Gee Bee hovering to rest right over the hangar, blotting out the Moon.

Richter says, “Hitomi’s slipped the noose again – he’d rather we kill all of these kids to buy him ten more minutes than stay and take his medicine. We’re leaving. And we can’t have this young fellow telling all of our secrets … oh, but wait, you know them too, don’t you, Mr. Kellogg?”

Kellogg takes a step back, clutching his chest in terror.

“Right,” says Richter. “We can’t let you live either. So we’re just going to have to shoot through your boys here until we get to you.”

But instead, Richter sticks his captured gun in his pocket.

“But we don’t kill kids and we don’t kill fools, unless we can’t help it. Chew on that, and if you decide you’ve been on the wrong side, give us a call.”

Richter glances up, but of course cannot see Sky.

“Sky, we’re leaving. The bird’s flown. If these fellows try anything … well, let’s just say it’ll be their hard luck.”

Outside, the noise of smashing, burning, exploding magical battle continues.

“Oh, right. Kellogg?” he says.

Kellogg puts a hand to his temple, and the fighting ceases.

“Come on, Sky, Kaze,” says Richter. “Let’s gather our dead and get back on the case.”

And Then, Of Course

1. Kaze narrows her eyes and smiles:.
   "Where the red mountain
   Covers the last golden army
   There my father dwells"
2. Well, the Power of Haiku has floored Hitomi, so he's gonna stand there with his mouth slightly open.
   
   This causes Richter to be able to take the shot. Richter's exhausted and hurt, so most of his bullets miss. One, however, clocks Hitomi right in the head.
   
   Hitomi goes over backwards, but doesn't reach the floor before he Travels.
3. And then, of course, the door behind the Reader bursts open. It literally bursts, because a Mover behind it has pushed on every board in the door at the same time, shredding it apart.

About a dozen students in the blazers, ties and slacks of the Academy are in the hallway. Some have fire wreathing their hands, one is sheathed in ice, one has a massive barbell held in one hand, and so on. They didn't send the Readers and Finders to investigate the sounds of gunshots, evidently.

Richter is closest to them. He puts his gun to the wounded Reader's head.

"Your boss is a Reader, right? Well, read my mind."

From behind the boys comes an authoritative call: "Stand by, my New Men. Mr. Richter has the floor."

Neither Nick, nor Christine, nor Richter wonders where the female half of the student body might be. But it's the first thing Kaze thinks of.

Wind Against Student

Kaze keeps Nick and Christine Faded through touch--one hand on Christine and her leg locked with Nick's--as she interposes herself between Christine and Hitomi.

Then, reaching out her hand, she touches him to heal one of those nasty, artistic, black scars on his hand.

But she has only had the Healer power for a moment. It turns out the Healer has to actually touch the patient, not just pass a Faded hand through him.

"Hitomi, you are destined to lose. You are not at one with the source of Magic as my father was. You do not know what he knows." A slight but distinct emphasis on the present tense of the last word.

Hitomi hisses a sharp indrawn breath.

"The Chairman -- he lives?"

Christine and Nick, seeing that Hitomi is within arm's reach of them, hurry from his grasp. This also means they break contact with Kaze, and become solid.

Nick pours on the magic, with Christine boosting him. The Torch cries out with effort, then bends backward at the waist, his flames curling into rigidly frozen shapes around him, encasing him in a mound of frozen fire.

Hitomi tries to grab Kaze by the shoulder.

"Where is he? What is he working toward? Tell me!"

But of course, even a Fade can't grab a Fade.

If no one's going to shoot Richter, he might as well get up. He takes a gun off the wounded Reader and aims between Hitomi's shoulder blades. He may never get a better shot ...

Failing Torch

Kaze shouts at Ito: "Hitomi is crazed. Too many kanjii have driven him mad! There is a reason all the powers are not given to one person."

She would very much like to stay and watch/be a second at this duel, but Sky is in a lot of trouble--and it's not a duel.

Says quietly to Christine, "It is -your- power he wants. Do not use it obviously. And stay close to me."

"You can take on the Torch?" to Nick. Nick nods.

"We will get Richter out and then come back."

Kaze and her two friends rush to the hangar while Ito and Saburo bow to each other. Behind them, a slashing cacaphony of fighting sounds erupts.


Sky Masterson is separated from Richter by a burning slick of waste oil, spreading from a punctured oil barrel. The shadow of the Gee Bee airship, piloted by Belle, falls across the hangar. It is directly above the hole in the wall where Kaze's team is entering.

Kaze also spies Hitomi, back in the shadows near the south end of the hangar. Hitomi, as soon as Kaze's group enters, Travels away.

The Torch turns and washes Kaze's group with flame! But it doesn't reach all the way. A few feet from Kaze, the fire flickers into harmless smoke and heavy mist.

Kaze feels a heavy chill from behind her, where Nick is.

"I have him," Nick says. "Ignore him, or shoot him."

Christine touches Nick on the shoulder, and the flames from the Torch's arms shorten, the invisible junction of Torch and Icebox pushing closer and closer to the Torch as though he were losing a thermal arm-wrestling match.

Hitomi shimmers into solidity right behind Christine.

Sky and Kaze have seen all this, but have but a moment to react.

The Master Plan is to Burn the Sky

1. Sky shoots the Heavy. Maybe it will make him drop the other Iron Guard, and put out the fire for a moment.

   
   

   The Heavy was apparently not prepared to be shot! He staggers and lets his buddies down easy, then falls to one

   
   

   The Torch throws fire in return at Sky. A barrel of waste oil by the door whooshes into deadly flames. Sky is forced a step back by the intense heat. Although the Heavy's influence is off him, Sky cannot grab Richter in time. Richter and the young Reader are on the other side of the flaming oil drum.

   
   

   Sky feels the jazz ebb .. his luck is turning!

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   As Kaze (with Nick and Christine) moves past Ito, she whispers in Japanese, "Your boss struck Saburo down. Left him for dead. Hitomi is out for himself. A dog. He would do the same to you."

   
   

   "No, you don't understand!" says Ito, clearly stricken. "Hitomi is strengthening us .. all of us! He's making us strong enough to kill the Monster, and it's nearly here!"

   
   

   "You see, the Power that gives us our abilities is a living thing. It lives deep in the sky, beyond the Moon. But it is afraid, because there is a Monster which wants to eat it. Many times, the Power has come to a world, and given Powers to its people. But the people did not grow strong enough in time, and when the Monster came, the Power had to flee, and leave the people to their fate."

   
   

   "Hitomi is gathering all the Powers together. He teaches! But now there is a Power which can grant Powers to the unlucky, those not blessed like we are. Once he has that Power, he can emPower the world, and slay the monster!"

   
   

   Ito closes his eyes and bows.

   
   

   "It is my world, my race, at stake. I will not let you kill Hitomi. No matter who has to die."

   
   

   Saburo, with a scream, launches at Ito. Saburo's hands are claws, his arms are razors, and secondary spines with spikes on them are uncurling from his back.

   
   

   Ito readies his Power.

   
   

Converging

Traveled him several feet to one side, right atop the wounded mindreader, leaving behind the riveted steel bands holding Richter down. That is his third travel, so he is getting low on oomph.

But he's jazzed, baby, jazzed! His luck has never run so hot!

The three Iron Guards float, held aloft by their Heavy. Their Torch sprays fire to illuminate the room, not locating Sky immediately.

Sky falls on the Reader with Richter. The Reader groans, then Richter slugs him with surprising force. The Reader lolls, knocked senseless, although his eyes are still open.

Kaze, Nick, and Christine cross the lawn to the hangar with no problem at all, since all of the Iron Guard are hunting Sky.

Sky feels himself grow heavy, so heavy that he cannot stand up. A Traveler can jump with whatever he can carry, but what if he cannot even carry his own weight?

The Iron Guards float down into the middle of the room and split up, to take Sky from three angles.

Kaze, Nick and Christine arrive and see the Torch's flames lighting up the room. They can't quite see Hitomi, but they see the three Iron Guards, the Torch in red, the Mover in blue, and the Heavy in green. Kaze never got to know any of them very well; they weren't very friendly.

Saburo, who is NOT Faded, shouts, "Ito!" and the Mover turns around, startled beyond recognition.

"Saburo?" he says, followed by a Japanese sentence that means, "Have the devil Grimnoir made you into a zombie? For you are dead!"

Sky vs. Everybody

Sky travels to the lightswitch (his second jump), points one pistol at the telephone, pulls the switch and pulls the trigger at the same time. 

Good luck finding a lucky traveler in the dark, Iron heads! 

In his mind's eye, he pictures teleporting behind the Hitomi throwing a strangling wire around the man's filthy neck, imagining the event in gruesome and precise detail. 

Hitomi hisses in discomfort. In fact, he loses a moment, standing there with his arms around all three of his Iron Guards.

"Psychic attack!" he says, in English. "Quintana! Disrupt him with the Inward Shout!"

Quintana (the young Reader) who is on the floor covering his head with his arms because his telephone just exploded in his hand, rolls over, clutching said hand with every appearance of pain. He does not disrupt Sky with the Inward Shout, opting instead for the better-known Outward Whimper.

Meanwhile Sky trots over to the last known position of Richter, using his luck to avoid blundering into oil cans or assassins in the dark. He feels the jazz as his Power racks up one lucky break after another -- it's using up his magic, but it feels like it's revving him up. Like it always does.

The Iron Guard Torch throws flames ten feet in the air. Sky is lit up like two big spotlights were on him, just as he bends over to free Richter.

"He's got my ring," is the thing Richter chooses to say first. "He can do things through it."

Then the two-ton lift Richter is strapped to lurches off the concrete floor, falling upward with all the massive weight of its steel construction. Gravity has flipped upside-down!

Also, a dangling chain from a motor hoist whips through the air like a possessed bullwhip, striking at Sky's torso. It, too, packs a mighty punch.

Sky Steals the Stage

Sky teleports into the rafters over the lights in the hangar. He’s seen hangars before; they all got rafters up above the lights. He doesn’t know exactly where the beams and hanging chains are, but he’s always been lucky, so why not throw them bones?

When he appears, no one sees him. Hitomi, his bodyguard Rock, and the young Reader in school uniform are directly below Sky. The three Iron Guards are off to Sky’s right.

The Reader joggles Hitomi’s elbow. Hitomi’s eyebrow goes up; he stares into the Reader’s eyes. They have a moment.

Sky doesn’t have precognification or somehow whichwhy like that, but he gets an uneasy feeling about all this. The young Reader breaks off and runs for a telephone on the wall, while Hitomi Travels to the Iron Guards.

Hitomi grabs all three Iron Guards, embracing them as widely as he can, shouting in Japanese.

For a moment, no one is guarding Ronald Richter. He looks up and sees Sky silhouetted against the rafters.

Sky needs to do about three things at once. But he can’t.

+++

Meanwhile, Kaze has acquired Van Cortlandt’s Healer power. She Heals Christine’s feet, then Nick’s side, which is all burned up.

Victoria, the New York Massive, is still glowing red-hot. Healers have to touch their patients, which is problematic if the patient is at 800 degrees. Fortunately, Nick can cool her skin until it’s safe to touch her. When Kaze heals her, Victoria heaves a huge breath of air; her temperature has been burning up all the oxygen before it reached her, but being a Massive, it was taking her forever to asphyxiate.

“Bastard,” she says when she can talk. “How did he turn Lauren against us?”

“He’s got many mysterious powers,” says Nick seriously, playing along.

Kaze Heals Tojiro, then has to catch her breath. Healing is an unfamiliar strain.

“How are you holding up?” Nick wants to know.

Burning in Death

Fire ignites at the base of Lauren's spine and crawls up her back, flaring into complex tattoos all over her arms. The smoke from their burning is sweet and dusty at first, as it burns off the makeup covering her arms.

"My kanji are only slightly weakened by the death of their host," the voice of Hitomi says through Lauren's stiffening lips. "And now that I know where you are, I --"

He doesn't notice when Janet shoots Lauren's body. He might in fact not literally notice, if he's operating her body like a puppet rather than possessing it like a demon.

But he does notice when Christine lunges through the burning grass and grabs Lauren by the shoulders. As if tearing spiderwebs, Christine strips the burning kanji off Lauren's body, and stands there panting, holding the chain of firey letters in her hands.

Lauren's body drops like a sack. Nick quickly extinguishes the fire at Christine's feet, but can do nothing for the pain of her burns.

"It's okay, Nick," Christine says, "when you're a Torch, I guess burns don't hurt!"

She slips one of the tattoos over her hand like a bracelet. It snugs into place on her wrist.

"I don't want to go crazy ..." she says, looking at the chain of fire kanji hanging from one wrist. "Hey, I don't have to!"

She turns to everyone else.

"Who wants to be a Torch for a while?"

Kaze to Christine:

"Is van Cortland's healing power available...?" Her eyes are soft and sad. "I would prefer that one."

Christine: "Oh, but his Power isn't a tattoo. It's bound too tightly to him. I couldn't ... oh my ..."

Christine goes over to Van Cortlandt's body.

"It just .. .came loose," she says, holding a wisp of purest sunlight in her left hand. Her right still holds the fire kanji from Lauren.

"It's slippery -- I can't hold onto it!" Christine says. "Kaze, come here, quick! Before I lose it!"

Kaze goes over there. Quickly.

Christine hands Kaze the twist of sunlight. As it passes from her hand, the twist unfolds, into a dawn like that pure sunrise seen only at sea, on a clear morning.

This is not a kanji, but a Power. So it does not tattoo itself in a pattern of ink and punctures on Kaze's skin. Rather, it fills up a spot in her soul she was not aware was empty.

Just as she knows how to Fade, she now knows how to Heal. And suddenly perceives Christine, watching her anxiously, as a barely-contained whirligig of blood rushing, joints sliding, tendons flexing, lungs wetly contracting, brain gurgling ... nothing at all is wrong, she's in good health, but this is how a normal body looks to a Healer.

Except she has burns on her feet and ankles. Christine can't feel them, but they're bad.

"Hell," says Nick Voinovich mildly. A wrench has just hit him in the head, hurled by the Iron Guard's Mover. It clinks lightly and falls to the ground, instead of rebounding, and leaves a white mark of frost instead of a huge bruise.

Nick picks up the wrench, his eyes frost over, and he hurls it back, with the same force it struck him. The Mover is startled and has to deflect it, which means all the other junk he's throwing at Sky falls to the ground.

Fireball

1. Belle continues to man (woman?) the ship as long as that is needed.
   
   Once she is not needed to fly the ship, she will report to whomever is in charge at the moment and offer her excellent marksman services as a gun on the ground.
   
   But the ship is out of sight of the Grimnoir on the ground (for if it were not, it would be visible to the enemy) and therefore, you won't KNOW when it's no longer needed!
   
   Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave the rings behind ... the Grimnoir communication spell will still work without a ring but it's much more difficult, such that only an expert spell-weaver should even attempt it.
   
   Which is why it's a relief when Van Cortlandt's angular face and oddly European goatee appear out of a swirl of dust motes in front of Belle.
   
   "There's shouting in Japanese. I think we may need you here very soon, but watch out! Don't get shot down, as you're our only way out."
   
   
   
   Kaze slips out the back of the building, faded, and quickly reports to the group:
   
   "The team we met before is there... with a student healer keeping Richter alive. Barely. They are on to us, but before we were noticed, the Tattooed One mentioned that the San Francisco team is all right."
   
   Janet fades out as well, but takes a slightly different way back to the group, to hopefully trys and confuse anyone that might try and follow her and Kaze. When she get's there she adds "And they know we were snooping around, so what every we're going to do we better not doddle about it."
   
   Kaze adds in a listless tone... "And one of the New York crew is a traitor..."
   
   Sky draws both his pistols and runs toward the hangar.
   
   Kaze catches a sudden flare of fear in Lauren's eyes, just before Lauren ignites everything around her.
   
   Kaze was warned by Lauren's reaction, and so has Faded. Janet is just very quick to react tonight, and Fades as well.
   
   Van Cortlandt, Tojiro, Victoria, Angie, Sonny-boy, Michael, Nick Voinovich, and Christine, however, are not so lucky.
   All of them are washed in flames, their hair and clothes burning before they know it.
   
   Nick puts himself out with an effort of Icebox will. The others flail about, out of control.
   
   Lauren, knowing that her teammate Victoria is a Massive, gestures at Victoria and enhances the fire around her to white-hot intensity. Victoria resists, but finally drops, glowing red-hot.
   
   "Fire steals your oxygen, doesn't it, Vicky?" Lauren says softly. "I always knew I could take you down if it came to it."
   
   Van Cortlandt heals his burns. But he's still on fire, so his skin and hair burn up again. He makes strange signs with his hands, focusing his effort to heal himself as quickly as the fire scorches his flesh away ...
   
   ... until he runs out of magic.
   
   Seeing he's going to lose the race, Van Cortlandt uses the last of his magic to heal Christine, Sonny-boy and Michael, who have by now fallen unconscious from the pain. Their burns have also gone out, so once they're healed, they're fine. although still in shock from the sudden agony.
   
   Lauren turns, seeing the two Fades unharmed. Behind her, Christine, Sonny-boy and Michael are recovering their wits, but she can't see everywhere at once.
   
   "Everything needs air," Lauren snorts. She sets the grass at Janet and Kaze's feet ablaze. In a heartbeat, Lauren stands in a sea of rippling yellow sparks and smoke, as she sets all the grass between herself and the Fades on fire. They can walk toward her without harm, but if they solidify to attack, they'll get burned.
   
   "Everything but me," Lauren adds. "With what Hitomi's given me, I can burn all day and never get out of breath. But you gals .. you'll be gasping for more magic in a few minutes, and eating smoke in a few more."
   
   Lauren walks backwards, into fresh fuel. The grass will be all gone in minutes. All unknowing, she is backing towards three conscious Grimnoir ...
   
   Or four, actually. Because Kaze rushes at her. She passes through Lauren, solidifying long enough to ram a steel fork through the base of her spine.
   
   "You should recognize this position," Kaze remarks. "And as for your burning grass, your master himself remarked: we become used to pain."
   
   Lauren falls, astonished and dead.
   
   
   
   Meanwhile, Sky Masterson was so quick off the mark that he wasn't within the range of Lauren's fireball. Lucky break, really.
   
   The wall of the hangar buckles open, collapsing on itself. The Iron Guard Torch and Mover are there, seeking targets. The Torch hesitates, but the Mover cocks his head, sending wrenches, chains, nuts, and bolts showering across the lawn toward Sky. Fortunately for Sky, they're heavy enough that he can see them coming. It's not like dodging bullets, which can be harder than it looks.
   
   
2. 
   
3. 
   

We Have Ways of Making You Think

Janet and Kaze approach the hangar as stealthily as possible. It helps that there aren’t any lights outside, except the red lights of the airship mooring tower behind the hangar. And those are just lights meant to be seen, not to light up the ground.

They easily find a part of the wall to Fade through. Unfortunately, the inside is cluttered with engines, wheels, machinery, and an aeroplane – a three-engine Ford, capable of intercontinental trips with a crew of ten.

Janet and Kaze work their way around the clutter, staying low and in the shadows. That’s not easy, because the lighting is from arc lights mounted high on the arc of the hangar’s roof. But around the edges of the great open space, there are some shadows.

Four men are standing in a loose square around a metal workbench. Massive curved mounts on either side would be able to hold an aero-engine, but right now the only things on the table are an assortment of sharp tools and Ronald Richter.

Hitomi is bent over Richter, deftly wielding a paintbrush and bottle of smoking demon ink. He is inscribing a complicated design on Richter’s forehead, which is held in place with a vise.

Hitomi gestures to a young fellow nearby. The guy is not dressed in karate pants like the Iron Guards, but rather in the blazer, tie and slacks of an expensive private school.

The young fellow touches Richter’s chest and head, curling his fingers in the manner of a Healer. Richter awakens, thrashes, but can’t escape.

“Good,” says Hitomi. “Enough. Mr. Richter, you are dying entirely too often for my purposes. We may have to bind your soul to your flesh more permanently, if you cannot hang onto life without assistance.”

“The Grimnoir will stop you,” Richter pants. “Operating in the USA with Iron Guards … Shadow Guards … Hell, the BI and the Army will rub you out once they tumble to what’s cooking.”

“The Grimnoir are dead,” Hitomi replies flatly. “Or do you mean the Knights of New York and San Francisco? The New York Knights are doomed from the moment I planted a traitor in their midst, and as for San Francisco … well, yes, I admit they would be resourceful adversaries if they learned of my activities. But your Grimnoir rings were not as helpful as you imagined, were they?”

Hitomi holds up his left hand, on which Richter’s ring glitters.

“I will be gone before San Francisco, or your ramshackle government, can interfere,” Hitomi continues. “And you … no, I correct myself. You may well be here to see what ensues. Because if I have to bind you with the Lazarus power, it will be very difficult to destroy your consciousness afterward. You might survive to see what it is to be ruled by a human being rather than a slug from the stars.”

“You may find that not so unpleasant as you now imagine,” Hitomi says, “but it does involve being trapped in living death. I do not share the late Chairman’s repugnance for such methods, but you have been an honorable opponent. I would end your life quickly and cleanly, if I can.”

“And so, let us continue …”

He throws a switch to activate a generator under the table. A wooden handle wrapped with cable terminates in frayed copper wires, which spark.

“Where have the Grimnoir detected the Power over magnetism? How are you sure it is not merely a very advanced Crackler?”

“Get … lost,” Richter gasps, and spits at him.

“There is a level of disrespect I will not tolerate!” Hitomi says. “But you must have your show of defiance, since you can do nothing else. All I have to do is apply this current …”

He does, brushing the wire against Richter’s bare foot. Richter bellows in pain.

“And then your will is sufficiently weakened that my Reader power can extract the answer from your mind. We Japanese are not as soft as you Americans. I can easily ignore your pain, as I have learned in childhood to ignore my own …”

He looks up into the arc lights, suddenly alert.

“Shingai-sha!” he barks. “Ni, josei, in’nei – Gorima-nawaru!”

Janet catches the last word as “Grimnoir” with a Japanese accent.

Kaze, however, understands fully.

“Trespassers! Two, female, Fades – Grimnoir!”

And he points directly at where Janet and Kaze are crouching, under the wing of the plane.

(There are five men standing around Hitomi. The Mover, Rock the Massive, the Torch, and the Heavy from the fight in Arkansas, and the young man who is clearly a Healer. Rock moves in front of Hitomi, the Healer moves behind him, and the other three move toward the plane, spreading out so that Janet and Kaze will not be able to see all three of them. The next few seconds will be critical.)

Plan B

Sky says, "Wait. Which team am I? Atlanta or New York? I mean, I like Chicago."

Voinovich says, "Yes, why doesn't Chicago have a team?"

"What can I tell you?" shrugs van Cortlandt. "We don't have many Knights from there. Your table's getting pretty large ... you might consider sending some Knights to Chicago to start one. It's how you get to be an Elder, after all."

While they are setting up future plans, Kaze carefully packs a sling, a knife, throwing blades, and a coil of rope on her person. She also carefully adjusts a non-reflective hair clip that has a black lotus design on it.

Sky squints at the map. "Wait. I don't like the plan.

"Lookit here. If the rifle range gun are all pointed south on this map, then we should not enter by the south door. Cause then someone will shoot us as we move up an empty room with no cover and no concealment.

"Let's hit the connecting corridor between the main house and the rifle range, going in through the big south window." He points.

"... and put one of us with a gun to cover that south door, and then we can bottle up anyone trying to get out of the rifle range, guards or whoever might be loitering in there.

"Then, as I figures it, it would only take one or two guns to block the door leading into the main house. No one comes up on us from behind. See?

"And splitting into two teams is a suckers' bet. Have the Fades find out where he is. We smash in the directest route, grab it, beat it, all of us together."

Van Cortlandt says, "What about it, Janet, Kaze? Can you locate Hitomi for us, without being seen?"

Kaze says, "It depends. I was... completely Faded before..." She sighs and admits, "...Invisible. And he still noticed me."

"But I was not taking any pains to be stealthy, Aside from using my power. I was in the street."

This time, I will use more common tactics to avoid his attention."

So Janet and Kaze sneak away after midnight, with everyone else hidden on the grounds of the school, waiting for their signal.

Neither woman makes a sound as they cross the lawn, avoiding the trapezoids of light cast by frequent windows. They reach the wall of the rifle range.

Janet pokes her head through the bricks, then comes back.

"It's lit up, but there's only one guy there," she reports. "A Japanese man, standing there holding a rifle. But not aiming it. Like he's guarding the place."

"There is no sign of Mr. Richter, or Hitomi, or the other Iron Guards?"

"Look for yourself if you want," Janet says.

Kaze does. She's right.

The Fades recross the ground, quietly, slowly, without being seen, as far as they can tell.

Once they report, Van Cortlandt winces.

"Guess you were wrong, Saburo," he says. "If they're not in there, what's next most likely?"

"The hangar, I believe," Saburo says. "It is far from the main house ... though not as soundproof."

"Kaze, Janet, you ready for round two?"

A Plan To Break Into School

Sky says, "Seeing as how unfortunately I ran out of guns and knives during that last altercational fracas, so I'z was wondering if you know a place where I can get at least two or three some-more of everyt'ing. And a new deck of cards. And some new threads. My narrow tie, green checked suit, spats, and Trilby hat is all sumwhat mussed. Naturally, I can pay, or I roll you for it. Nothing or double."

Van Cortlandt smiles a little.

"Mr. Masterton, anything you can describe, my agents can purchase in St. Louis and have waiting when we arrive. A day is a very long time."

But he does roll Sky for it, and for a wonder! Sky wins.

With Belle conning the light sport-ship, Van Cortlandt devotes his attention to Healing Janet, Sonny-boy, Voinovich and anyone else discommoded by battle. He also pulls tired muscles free of strain, and invigorates weary blood.

Voinovich has his gas-damaged lungs repaired, which necessitates some painful coughing. Kaze helps him with acupressure.

The night passes quickly, with most of the Grimnoir falling asleep after the excitement of battle wears off. By the time the ship arrives in St. Louis, it's late afternoon.

The local paper carries a national wire story; apparently a train crossing the Rockies hit a sabotaged bridge and crashed, with the loss of almost all aboard. Police are investigating but already have noticed the absence of tracks that characterize sabotage by Travelers.

Van Cortlandt suggest that, as the Atlanta knights all know each other, they operate together, while the New Yorkers do their own thing. A visit to the tax office by hired investigators has produced a map of the grounds of the Pringel Academy for the Gifted, as it is known. It's a large mansion with outbuildings on a meadow with a woods in back and a pond not far away.

Saburo is able to draw in the floor plan. The headmaster is Walter Pringel, a Reader, whose office is on the first floor. The left wing is sleeping quarters above classrooms, the right wing is a gymnasium, the center is offices, library, kitchen and dining room, and the garage, rifle range, pool and hangar are separate outbuildings.

If Hitomi is holding Richter, it would make the most sense to have him in the rifle range, which has no windows and is soundproofed.  That long, narrow building is 50 yards from the gym, attached by a covered and walled walkway with windows. So someone in the house would not be able to see people approaching the rifle range from the right side. The only place from which they could observe an approach would be from the hangar, whose doors face the rifle range.  The arrow on the rifle range indicates which way the rifles fire.

"So we need to come in from the right, and make sure no one sounds the alarm from the hangar. Which means we have to have someone secure the hangar, too. But QUIETLY. The students outnumber us by a lot, and they've been given at least some training in cooperative Power combat," says Lauren the Torch, gesturing at the map.

"Gas?" says Saburo. "Travel or Fade into the hangar and gas it?"

"It's too big," says Voinovich. "It would take minutes to fill the place, and they'd smell it."

"Well, then, what about reconnaissance?" Van Cortlandt suggests. "We have two Fades. They check out the hangar on the sly, tell us exactly where everyone is, then the New York team hits them all at once. Then, once the hangar's secure, the Atlanta team hits the rifle range through the right-hand door, here."

Voinovich rubs his chin.

" I like it," he says. "And then New York covers us when Atlanta pulls out with Richter."

"Of course," says Van Cortlandt. "What does everyone else think?"

Heading Out

Van Cortlandt decides Voinovich might be right about Hitomi using the Grimnoir rings as locators; Hitomi certainly seemed to know how to pretend to be John Browning. So he asks everyone to contribute his or her ring to a satchel, which his pilot, Huston, will take with him on a fast train headed West. If Hitomi is sensing the rings, he'll think we're following his San Francisco lead.

Meanwhile, we'll be headed for St. Louis at speed.

Since it's probably a full twenty-four hours until we arrive, so everyone's magic should be restored by then. If anyone wants to take precautions or make preparations, perhaps, Van Cortlandt says they have a teleradio aboard to call ahead.

Fellowship With No Rings?

Kaze speaks quckly.

"Saburo is injured. And Mr. Voinovich's lungs were damaged in the Great War."

She slides off an exquisite gold and jade bracelet and hands it to Van Cortlandt. Bows.

Van Cortlandt is taken aback.

"Now, hold on," he says, spreading his hands so as not to touch the bracelet. "I'm out of the fee for service business. For Grimnoir, especially. I can repair gas and blast damage for Mr. Voinovich -- are you going to introduce me? -- and Saburo's got nothing that I can't ..."

He takes another look, then whistles.

"Whew ... that burn on the side is a strange one. Did he -- was there a tattoo there, with mystic significance? Because there are blood vessels leading to it that nobody should have."

Kaze takes a calming breath. And then another.

"Mr. van Cortland, I should like to introduce Saburo, late of the Shadow Guard and a former classmate.He considers himself masterless now, but we share a common enemy."

"Miss Tane and Mr. Voinovich were, indeed, recruited as Grimnoir by Mr. Richter very recently. They do wish to fight the Imperials who are responsible for the deaths of several friends. They have taken the oath."

Nodding to Saburo:

"Yes, there was a tattoo there. It drew great power from the source of magic--but it also allowed the power-stealer, his former master, to locate him . so he burned it off, rather than endanger us."

Fuji said earlier, "Van Cortlandt never mentions he's a Healer. He enjoys the reaction when people find out."

Sky smiles, not because he is no longer in pain, but because he realizes that any chump not knowing Van Cortlandt is a Healer can be conned into a sucker bet at twelve to one!

(A secondary reason to keep the secrets of the Grimnoir is to avoid being impoverished by sucker bets with guys what know the score.)

Van Cortlandt: "With fifteen Knights, I think we can undertake to rescue Ron Richter. These Imperium types are operating in the U.S. illegally, I think it's safe to say. Any reason not to bring in the police or the BI, or perhaps the Army?"

Voinovich says, "We, Christine and I, are wanted in four states. But if you think you need the police's help, just give us a few hours' head start."

Van Cortlandt: "If you're good enough for Richter, you're good enough for me. We won't give you up to the law."

"Belle Weather, can you help our little airship make good time to St. Louis? We don't know how long Richter's got left. Because as soon as the Imperials find out all they can from him, well, they have no further reason to keep him alive."

Voinovich: "I hate to insist, but those rings you wear may be pointing out our location to the enemy. I respectfully request they be left behind."