Spell Robbers (5 page)

“I
thought he stopped having you tested.” Ben sat next to Peter on the bus, heading up to the university.

Peter’s expression and voice came out flat. “I did, too.”

Ben watched the wavering threads of water stretching across the bus window. The storm had eventually started up this morning.
Un
-actuated. “So. When do you go in?”

Peter shrugged with one shoulder. “This Saturday. I’m considering bombing this one on purpose. Maybe the man just needs a sign to give up hope.”

“Don’t bomb it.”

“Why not? It’s up to me.”

“Yeah, but … what your dad does isn’t up to you.”

Peter fell silent. The bus chugged along and soon arrived at the campus. By the time they reached the basement of the Castle, they were both drenched. But so were the other students, who were all dripping outside in the hallway. The classroom door was closed and locked.

“Where is Dr. Hughes?” Ben asked.

“Dunno.” Dylan handed Ben a piece of paper. “This was taped to the door.”

Ben read the note:
Class, I will be late for our session today. Please feel free to take the afternoon off, if you do not want to wait for me. If you do wait, I hope I won’t be long.

“So she’s coming,” Ben said.

Abbie shrugged. “Guess so.”

“I think I’m gonna go,” Julie said. “Bye, guys.” And she left.

Ten minutes later, Dylan and Abbie left, too. Ben sat down on the floor, his back against the wall, legs outstretched. Peter sat against the wall opposite him, his legs crossed. He kept looking at his watch, and Ben figured he probably wanted to leave, but he wasn’t going to if Ben was staying. And Ben planned to wait. It was either here for Dr. Hughes, or somewhere else for his mom.

A short while later, Dr. Hughes strode down the hallway, pumping the water off a blue umbrella, a slim package tucked under her arm.

“Ben! Peter! Sorry I’m late. Did the others leave?”

“Yes,” Peter said.

“That’s too bad. I have exciting news.”

“What is it?” Ben asked.

She pulled out her keys and unlocked the classroom door. “Let’s talk about it inside.”

The fluorescent lights flickered on down the length of the room with a buzzing sound. The gun range he’d used the day before was gone. Dr. Hughes went to her desk and set the package down, while Ben and Peter took two chairs nearby.

“I apologize for my tardiness,” she said. “But I think you’ll find your patience rewarded.”

Ben and Peter waited.

Dr. Hughes came over and sat down near them in one of the other chairs. “I am not the first to have explored and experimented with actuation. There are others, though I don’t know their real names, but I doubt any have come as far as I have.”

“What others?” Ben asked. “And why don’t you know their names?”

“They’re physicists like myself. Professors. Government researchers. People whose professional reputations could suffer if our interests in quantum actuation were made public. We’ve formed a loose network, using pseudonyms. Well, after yesterday’s” — Dr. Hughes looked at Ben, and then seemed to remember that Peter was sitting there — “unpredicted results, I contacted a man I’ve been in touch with for several months to get his input on portable augmentation.”

“Portable?” Peter looked back and forth between Ben and Dr. Hughes. “What do you mean, portable?”

“In a moment, Peter.” Dr. Hughes straightened in her chair. “This man … oh, what name did he go by? That’s funny, I’m normally good with names.” She tapped her lips with her index finger. “Richter! That was it. At any rate, this man got back to me, and it turns out he’s been interested in portable augmentation as well. We agreed to share some results, and he overnighted me a package with copies of his work. I’ve been glancing through it, and I believe he’ll be a useful research ally going forward.”

An ally. What had she said his name was? Ben had already forgotten. Something … Richter? Yes, Richter. That was it.

“So what did you mean by portable augmentation?” Peter asked.

Dr. Hughes folded her hands in her lap. “Well, it’s something I’ve been working on from the beginning, the end goal, actually. Yesterday, I asked Ben to stay and help me with it. But we did not get the results I was expecting, and that caused me a bit of alarm. We must make certain that at each step we take every precaution.”

Ben wondered if Peter would be bothered, knowing Dr. Hughes had picked Ben instead of him.

Peter said, “And this man who sent you the package … what was his name?”

Dr. Hughes blinked. “Um.”

“Richter,” Ben said.
Richter
.
Something about the name felt slippery in his mind.

“Yes,” Dr. Hughes said. “Richter.”

“Right,” Peter said. “So this man might be able to help you with portable augmentation?”

“That is my hope,” Dr. Hughes said.

“Can I try it?” Peter asked.

Dr. Hughes sighed. “I don’t think so. Not yet, anyway. I have to make sure it’s working as predicted by the math.”

Peter hitched his frown to one side. “Okay.”

“So that was the exciting news?” Ben asked.

“Yes!” she said. “Don’t you find it exciting?”

“Yeah. Sure.” But the gun still didn’t quite work yet.

They spent the rest of the afternoon back at what had now become routine for Ben, with the standard equipment in the actuation rings. After wielding the augmenter gun, and creating a missile of ice, conjuring a little rain cloud just didn’t hold the same appeal. Still, the afternoon passed pretty smoothly with the other kids gone.

Ben and Peter even started playing off each other in the actuation ring. Ben would actuate snow, and Peter would actuate a little flame to melt it. Then Ben would actuate a rain cloud, and Peter would turn it into snow. It felt a bit like chess. Or a duel.

“Let’s wrap up for today, gentlemen,” Dr. Hughes finally said.

Ben and Peter nodded to each other, let go of their actuations, and went to collect their things.

“I’ll be looking through the notes from …” Dr. Hughes snapped her fingers by her ear.

Ben reached for the name, and just barely found it.
Richter
.

“Um … him.” Dr. Hughes flicked her hand away. “Anyway, our new ally, after which I hope to have some idea of how to proceed with the portable augmenter. With luck, you’ll be able to try it soon, Peter.”

“I look forward to that, Dr. —”

A deafening boom, and the door to the lab blew inward off its hinges. It flew across the room and slammed into several of the tripods. Sparks scattered across the floor where they fell. A swarm of men wearing black ski masks spilled through the smoking doorway.

Dr. Hughes gasped. Peter yelled something. Ben’s thoughts went to defense. To ice. To actuation. But fear scattered his thoughts before they could form, let alone reach out to make anything. And then two of the men grabbed him and held him by the arms.

“What is this?” Dr. Hughes cried out. “Who are you?”

The intruders had her, too, and Peter. Who they were didn’t matter right now. Ben had to do something. If he could somehow get into one of the actuation areas, then he might be able to.

One of the men swaggered forward. “We’re the Dread Cloaks. So best beware.” His voice came out hoarse, and as well as the ski masks, he and the others all wore the same clothing. Polished black boots, black pants, and black vests over bloodred dress shirts. “You have something we want.”

Dr. Hughes thrashed but couldn’t break free. “What could I possibly have?”

The man’s shrouded gaze roamed from one side of the room to the other. “A portable augmenter. That’s what you called it, right?”

“What? How do you —?”

He made a sweeping gesture with his arm, and one of the computers nearby leaped from its desk and smashed into pieces against a wall several yards away.

Ben knew actuation when he saw it. He could feel it. These were no simple robbers, or terrorists, or anything like that. And the man had actuated without any augmenting equipment at all. Ben looked at Peter, but his friend just stared wide-eyed at the floor. Was he in shock?

“You …” Dr. Hughes whispered. “Who do you work for? Who sent you?”

“You insult us,” the man said. “The Dread Cloaks are not for hire. Now where is it?”

Dr. Hughes looked so small, her eyes so big. She began to shake.

“How about I do to one of these boys like I just did to your computer?” The man held up his arm like he was preparing to backhand something — or someone.

Ben swallowed. Would it be him or Peter? Ben was about a foot away from one of the actuation rings. If he could just step inside it, he could summon something. But what? A little cloud? What would that do? No, he needed something powerful. An ice missile. A fireball. A lightning bolt. He tried to make eye contact with Peter, but his friend was still looking downward.

“Don’t harm them!” Dr. Hughes cried. “Let them go, and I’ll tell you where it is.”

The man brought his arm down. “Show me where it is, and I might not kill them.”

Dr. Hughes bit her lip, still shaking. “In my desk. It’s just over there in my desk.”

The man flicked his head, and one of the others crossed the room. He pulled each of the drawers open, and a moment later came back with the augmenter gun in his hand. He passed it to his leader, who brandished it in front of Dr. Hughes.

“This? This is it?”

Dr. Hughes nodded. “Now let them go.”

The man studied the device in his hand. “Show me how it works.”

“It doesn’t,” Dr. Hughes said. “Not reliably.”

“Show me!” His hoarse voice became a tortured growl.

Ben felt the grip on his arms relax a little. His captors had become distracted by the augmenter gun. He closed his eyes and started gathering his thoughts. Calming his breathing. A lightning bolt. He would summon a lightning bolt. He pictured the oxygen atoms in front of him; he imagined a disturbance in the air, bouncing the atoms off one another, knocking electrons loose. He gathered these electrons in front of him, charging them up. He held them there, and opened his eyes.

Dr. Hughes was pointing at something on the augmenter gun in the Dread Cloak leader’s hand. Everyone in the room was looking. Now was his chance.

Ben yanked his arms free and leaped backward into the circle. He focused on the nearest Dread Cloak and, without thinking, let the actuation go with a single clap of his hands in front of him.

A searing arc of light shot forward and struck the Dread Cloak in the chest. He bolted upright onto his toes, stiff, and then collapsed to the ground. Ben closed his eyes to try to summon another, but the attackers were on him instantly.

“Get him out of there!” their leader shouted. “And make sure Riggs is still alive.”

Ben fought and kicked and wriggled, but he couldn’t break free. Two men dragged him from the circle, across the floor, and forced him to his knees next to Dr. Hughes.

The leader bent down close. Ben could see his eyes were blue through the slits in the ski mask. “Hello, hero boy. That was a devilish trick. Care to try it on me?”

“Too easy,” Ben said.

“Defiance. I like that.” The leader stood and looked back at the man Ben had struck. “Well?”

“He’s alive,” came the reply. “He’s coming around.”

The Dread Cloak leader returned his focus to Ben. “A fine little playpen you have here, with your toys. But you’ve just toddled into the grown-up world, and I think you will find it a painful place.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Dr. Hughes said. “Please. I beg you.”

“Leave him alone!” Peter shouted.

Ben looked at his friend. Something had finally roused him.

“We have two hero boys?” The leader coughed. “Bring him here.”

They hauled Peter over and threw him down next to Ben.

Dr. Hughes tried to lean toward them. “I’m sorry, boys, I —”

“Silence, Doctor.” The leader looked around the room. “Quite clever to have built all of this. But in the end, of what use is it?” He held up the augmenter gun. “But this. This I can make terrible use of.”

“I told you, it doesn’t work reliably!”

“Then I will need you to continue working on it.” The leader turned to Ben. “But devilish children must not be left to run amok. Kill the boys.”