Monday, January 23, 2017

Snippet time. #06 From Special Agent in Charge.

Someone from the FB page named Jed asked for this.



 

<Unedited>


I heard the men before I saw them.

“…I still say he cost the team the world series. If he hadn’t run off the field and not touched the base the game would have been won and they wouldn’t have had to replay the game.” The speaker’s voice was deep and sonorous.

“But Merkel wasn’t the one that threw the ball to second. It was Chance’s fault. The ball he used was not the game ball. That one was tossed into the crowd by pitcher Joe McGinnity. If anyone lost the game it was him. Not the runner.” This voice was thin and reedy.

“But the game…”

“Stop! You two are seriously debating a game that has been over and done for a century! Please no more about baseball. Can’t we talk fashion again?” This came from a woman.

“Like that is anymore interesting Sims. I could have lived my whole life without knowing the eight ways to spot a fake Louboutin shoe. I’d never even heard what one of those was until you told us. Who even looks at the stitching or heel transition?”

“Women do. If you had a girlfriend you might know this. Doesn’t your wife tell you these things Jenkins?”

“My wife wouldn’t even know how to put one of those things on much less walk in them. She’s more of a flip-flop sort of girl. I’d show you a picture but … you know.” Jenkins it seemed was the reedy voice. Sims sounded a bit vain if shoes was all she talked about.

“OK. So let’s discuss something else then. How about disco?” The deep voice made the suggestion.

The other two made loud groaning noises. “That is exactly why you are still single Sloan. How can you stand to listen to that stuff?”

Sloan, Sims, and Jenkins were apparently the ones that were trapped. I could hear other voices but those seemed to be the support crew. I could see the hole in the fence as well as the speakers. The two men each held what looked to be a similar gizmo to the one I took last year. The woman was frozen looking over her shoulder.

“Uh, guys.” Jenkins was frozen looking in my direction and he saw me first.

“… I still say disco sucks!” Sims and Sloan were still arguing.

“Guys! You need to listen to me!”

“What! Jenkins you will get your turn. We all agreed to protocol here.” Sims yelled at him.

“There is a woman on the other side of the fence and she’s looking at me!” Jenkins sounded a bit frantic. I made a mental note to tweak the spell a little. It shouldn’t even be allowing them to speak. Could it be the machines they held?

The wards allowed me to reach through and take the small machine from Lieutenant Jenkins. I could see his insignia now. “Thank you lieutenant. This will go nice with my collection of these.”

“She just took the shield breaker from me!”

“Jenkins shut your freaking mouth! That name is Top Secret and you know it. Who took your machine? Describe her?” Sloan looked to be a Captain. Interesting.

“Hey we need some help over here! Help!” Lieutenant Sims yelled toward those on the other side of the fence.

The voices on the other side of the fence suddenly got louder. I needed to hurry. The ward and shield should prevent bullets from penetrating but I didn’t want to take any chances. I removed the shield breaker from Sloan and used my telekinesis to push the three officers back through the fence.

“We’re free!” Sims yelled.

“Somebody stop her she has the … thing I can’t talk about! Hey you, give me that gun I need to shoot a Witch!” Captain Sloan started arguing with an unnamed Marine.

Not cool. I held up my hands and muttered a repair spell. These little machines troubled me. They were able to penetrate the shield but not all the way. Mundanes shouldn’t mess with things they don’t understand. I walked back to my lab but in a roundabout  direction making ninety degree turns and watching the corner of the fence as much as possible. My protections should stop a bullet but I didn’t want to test them out that way.

My safe was in my office. It was original to the office and one of those incredibly heavy reinforced steel ones from the early twentieth century. Grandmother and I had used magic on it to change the lock and add some protections when she was here at graduation. Changing the make-up of non-living things was something I was gaining skill at and we actually used it to test out my magic. Why not get something useful out of it?

The door opened with a creak. I made a mental note to get some oil. Inside was the original device as well as more spell bombs and a few rare crystals. The spell bombs were something Grandmother cooked up. Too bad I had left them here on my probi mission they could have come in handy. They were transmogrification bombs.


~~~~~~

The day was ending and the sky darkening when I heard the whirring. Looking up I could see one of the Marine Corps new Ospreys. Jack, being a Marine himself, talked about innovations and changes to the military that could affect our service so I knew with only a glance what it was. The sky above my lab was protected but not disguised. They could see me as easily as I them.

“Step away from the vehicle and put your hands on your head!” I stopped washing the floor mats and stared up at the aircraft. The rear door was open and what looked like an assault team was about to descend. Shaking my head I went back to cleaning. This should be fun.

“This is your last warning!” Special forces black outfitted troops began sliding down ropes as the plane hovered about thirty feet of the ground. Stopping again I watched and winced as the first troop hit the shield.


9 comments:

  1. This snippet just kept getting better.

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  3. Enjoyed that! Aargh that we have to wait!

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  4. Damn funny!
    Be damned stereotypical... but funny.

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  5. Thanks for that,enjoyed it and eagerly await the book

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  6. i keep looking every day for the release, I really enjoyed the series so far and Mr. Pauls story telling keeps getting better (one can really see that in the Athena series)

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  7. How many chapters are you up to? Are you going to be done before MA's next QB book?

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  8. Mike just finished his book this afternoon. We sort of compete. I'm within one chapter of finishing. Chapter count is 20.

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