The Genie and the Engineer 3: Ravages of War (17 page)

The story that had emerged rather early, and was confirmed
over and over again, was that the world’s government leaders were fully aware
of the
Errabêlu
wizards and were totally and openly cooperative with
them. After all, the wizards had made it crystal clear what would happen to
them and to their families if anyone even thought about not cooperating.

How such a secret known to so many for so long could have
been kept from the general public was something of a mystery to Paul. But it
had
obviously been kept a secret and successfully so.

In the meantime, the Scotties had gathered a ton of
intelligence data on the wizards of
Errabêlu
. The locations of many of
their residences were identified, as well as other pertinent information and
intelligence. And all without the Scotties tipping their hand to
Errabêlu
.

Ω

The Situation Room on the subterranean 12th floor of the Mount
Logan facility was large enough to hold hundreds of Scotties, providing them
with several long tables’ worth of workspace. The room’s four walls held
holographic maps of the Earth’s surface. The main map, stretched along the
north wall, was of the entire Earth. This was the map that currently held
Paul’s and Capie’s attention now as Daneel 1 spoke. On the map, various
multi-covered lights blinked and moved, signifying the shifting positions and
locations of teams of Scotties. The red stationary lights were the designated
targets, each one representing a safe house or residence of a wizard of
Errabêlu
.

“As you can see, Dad, most of the teams are in their starting
positions,” Daneel 1 pointed out. “Ready to move in when you give the word.”

Paul didn’t reply but continued to study the map while
thoughtfully rubbing his chin. There were a lot of teams in place, 112 of them
by count, scattered all across the globe, from Washington, D.C. on the west all
the way around the globe to Wellington, New Zealand on the east.

“Operation Bushwhack is scheduled to go off at 7 p.m.,
Eastern Daylight Time,” Capie said. “And it will be, what, 11 a.m. in
Wellington?”

The image of Daneel 1’s holographic face above his cube
shrugged. “Not ideal, no. In order to maximize our chances for success, we need
to trigger Bushwhack simultaneously. And, while it is 7 p.m. Monday night in
Washington D.C., it is midnight in London, 1 a.m. Tuesday in Paris, 7 a.m. in
Beijing, 8 a.m. in Tokyo, and 9 a.m. in Canberra, Australia. In other words,
there really isn’t an ideal moment Earth-wide to catch all the wizards in their
homes. No doubt we will miss some of them. But this represents our best
opportunity to use surprise on our side and capture most of them, especially the
most powerful of the wizards—the ones in the United States, China, and Russia.
And if we miss the ones in Wellington and Canberra, then that’s the price we
will have to pay.”

“Understood,” Paul said dispassionately, still watching the
lights on the map. If he was counting right, the last team had just moved into
position.

Daneel 1 apparently noticed the same thing. “Hadaly 240…”
(the fictional female robot created by Auguste Villers de l’Isle-Adam) “…reports
that her team is at the designated position,” he stated impassively. “They are
near the residence of the President of Myanmar. You may remember, Dad, the president
there is also an actual wizard, like the General Secretary of North Korea.”

“Is there a problem?” Capie asked.

There was a pause while Daneel 1 relayed the question.

“Hadaly 240 is not sure,” he replied uncertainly. “There’s
just something different there, she says. For one thing, she’s seeing a lot
more snakes around.”

Paul’s head jerked around in a tight spin. “Snakes? In
Naypyidaw at
that
time of the morning? Send me an image, quick!”

A picture formed on the map in front of them, the image that
of a fairly large snake twisted up in some shrubbery. The snakes head was
pointed outward, the tongue lashing in and out.

“Quick!” Paul urged. “Test for a magic spell!”

Gemstones were used by Oni to track magic spells, but during
their stay on Mars, Paul had discovered that the new talismans were more
effective tools for that purpose. The image of the snake on the display
changed, showing a color gradient. Most of the image was a cool green or blue.
But the snake glowed a strong deep red.

“A magical familiar!” shouted Daneel 1.

“Launch Bushwhack, now, Now, NOW!” barked Paul.

On the map, lights began to move as Scotties portaled into
position around the houses, apartments, and residences of known wizards of
Errabêlu
.

“How did they know?” Capie asked, her hand to her mouth.

“I don’t know,” Paul muttered, concentrating on the map.
“Maybe it’s just that one wizard.”

“But there were no snakes a few days ago, when we did the
interrogations!”

Paul didn’t answer. He was just as puzzled as she was.

But at least one wizard had been alert enough to establish
an early warning system. The snake would have revealed Hadaly’s presence. Odds
were, Hadaly wouldn’t be taking the President of Myanmar wizard captive.

It only remained to be seen how many other wizards had also
been forewarned.

The Saint Elias Mountains, Canada

Mount Logan

Headquarters

Monday, 9:58 a.m. PDT

June

O
peration
Bushwhack turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Of the targeted 112
wizards, only 21 had actually been taken captive. All of the other target
residences had been empty, the wizards of
Errabêlu
successfully avoiding
the trap.

Paul blamed himself, of course, as he studied the results on
the world map. In retrospect, it was easy to see from the
Errabêlu
point
of view. First, Hamadi had disappeared a few months previously. Then, just a
few days ago, six wizards and a hundred Oni had vanished from the
Errabêlu
castle in Transylvania. So naturally, everyone in
Errabêlu
knew
something was up and, quite naturally, they established early warning spells to
protect themselves.

Well, some of them did, anyway. But 21 had not. And of those
21, Paul was amused to note that there were two very familiar names on the
list.

Dr. Duncan Ruggiero and Celeste.

“Are you sure you want to talk to them?” Capie asked from
her seat at the conference table, with a pained puzzled look. “They were
planning to murder you in cold blood.”

Paul understood how thin the ice was he was skating on and
therefore decided on extra measures of caution. He really didn’t want Capie to be
jealous, especially when there was no cause for her to feel that way.

“Not her, not specifically,” Paul replied trying to reassure
his wife while gently squeezing her hand. “I’m interested in talking to Dr.
Ruggiero as well as Celeste. I want both their inputs. And it won’t take long.
You don’t have to come with me.”

She studied his face with her patented “You must be crazy”
look. “Leave you in the same room with that hussy? Not on your life!” she said
with eyes ablaze and venom in her voice.

Paul calmly nodded in assent.

“Dad?” Daneel 2 asked. “We are already doing the
interrogations for the other wizards. We can do these two as well, if you
prefer.”

“Yes, let them do the interrogations,” Capie insisted
emphatically. “You trained them for this.”

Feeling like he was being ganged up on, Paul grimaced and
shook his head. “Yes, Daneel 2, I want the interrogations of the other wizards
to continue, using the Avatar Technique. But this is not an interrogation, not
just yet. What I’m trying to accomplish here is to answer the question of what
do we do with the wizards of
Errabêlu
in the long run. And, as you know,
I’ve assigned a team of Scotties, led by Rommie 451,” (Gene Roddenberry’s,
Andromeda
)
“to explore the possible options. But in the meantime I want to find out from
these two if there is another alternative available.”

“Such as?” Capie asked, with a suspicious inquisitive look.

With a shrug, Paul glanced at the floor. “Mind you, I don’t
expect it to work. But it must be tried, at least once. And it stands a better
chance on Ruggiero than anyone else.”

Selma 1 floated through the door at that moment. “What
stands a better chance, Dad?”

“Logic.” He held up a hand to ward off any dissent. “Yeah, I
know. Not likely to work. I think I just said that. Anyway, Daneel 2, pass the
word to Darby 71. I want a platoon of Scotties to take those two prisoners to
the best resort you can find on the northeast Scottish coast, near Aberdeen or
Edinburgh. The swankiest resort that you can find for them. Don’t let them
escape but let them relax and have a good time for a day or so.” He glanced
over at Celeste. “We’ll be there tomorrow evening to have dinner with them.
They say that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Let’s see
if they are right.”

Ω

Early the next day, by way of portal over the North Pole,
Paul and Capie arrived at the Malmaison Boutique Hotel sitting on a rocky cliff
above the city of Aberdeen. It was nearly six pm local time, when they checked
in, taking the Terraced Suite.

From the front desk, Paul guided Capie through to the Chef’s
Table, a cozy private dining room for eight people not far from the kitchen.
There they found Ruggiero and Celeste seated at the table, enjoying cocktails
and picking at a plate of bacon turnovers known as piragi.

“Ah!” Ruggiero said, his eyebrows going up appreciatively as
he caught sight of Paul. “Our hosts have finally arrived!”

Paul nodded at the half dozen Scottie guards in the room.
Quietly, they slipped out into the hallway beyond.

“Finally! A bit of privacy!” grunted the
Errabêlu
wizard.

Celeste ignored Capie but smiled warmly at Paul.

“Paul!” Celeste said cordially, with a big smile, stepping
around her chair to take both of his hands. “I am so glad to see you again!”

Paul dispassionately noted her distinct flinch as her hands
touched his own but paid it no attention. There were weightier matters to deal
with here.“You were gone a long time, young man,” Dr. Ruggiero granted, with
good humor. “It is nice to see you again and in such good health. And with two
arms again, as well.” He reached out to shake Paul’s hand and more visibly
blinked when their hands made contact.

Paul nodded with a tight smile. “It’s a long story, but I am
sure the two of you can feel the level of magic at my command. This is my wife,
Copernicus Kingsley-Armstead.”

“You are very beautiful, my dear,” Celeste acknowledged
reaching out to touch Capie’s bare arm. And wincing again. “And a full wizard
of your own too. Ah, more than that, you are expecting? Oh, many wonderful
congratulations!”

Capie eyed the other woman as if she wanted to claw her
face. Paul turned in surprise and shock to stare at his wife, not believing
Celeste’s words to be true.

But Capie refused to look back at him and Paul realized that
Celeste had indeed spoken the truth. His wife was pregnant and he was going to
be a father! A sense of pride swept through his whole body and his soul
suddenly burned with love for his wife. The tiny man in the back of his head
was leaping up and down and turning cartwheels with joy!

But Paul restrained himself from any other outward sign of
emotion. Now was not the time to share his joy with any of the wizards of
Errabêlu
.
There would be time for that later, when Capie and he were alone. Nevertheless,
Paul reached out and took Capie’s hand, squeezing it gently and giving her his
best loving smile. Relaxing ever so slightly, she gave him a half smile in
return.

“She’s the love of my life,” Paul proclaimed.

Dr. Ruggiero’s smile vanished as he stared at the back of
the door. “And these floating cubes? What are they?”

Capie gave him a wintry smile. “Those are
our
army of
wizards,” she answered, closely watched their reactions.

Ruggiero grimaced and swung back to face Paul.

“Young man, I know we didn’t quite get off on the right foot
last year but please, let us put those differences aside. Just return our
talismans and we’ll be on our way, no harm done, shall we say.”

Paul smiled, knowing how annoyed the man was by the
situation.

“Let’s have dinner first and then we’ll discuss it like
civilized people, shall we?” he suavely suggested. “Oh, waiter?” he said, as
the door opened and a gray-haired man stuck his head partway into the room.
“Four for dinner please. And another plate of appetizers if you will.”

Paul glanced at the surprised look on Ruggiero’s face. “I
understand that both the pork cutlet and the lobster risotto are both excellent
here. Have you tried either one and if so, what do you recommend?”

Ω

It was a bit of a strain through dinner, but the four of
them managed not to talk “business” during the meal. Despite what Paul found to
be most excellent cuisine, both Celeste and Ruggiero found the fantastic food
to be merely adequate. The luxurious accommodations were also met with faint
praise.

After desert (a choice of tonka bean panna cotta with
strawberries, honeycomb and strawberry sorbet or the Valrhona dark chocolate
tart with a passion fruit sorbet), the four of them moved to the Reception Room
where they found comfortable seats in front of the natural gas fireplace.
Ruggiero and Celeste ordered cocktails while Paul and Capie selected English
teas.

“Well, young man,” Ruggiero said, after sipping his drink.
“Shall we get down to business now? I ask again, please return our talismans
and we’ll be on our way.”

“And the other wizards?” he asked.

Ruggiero was momentarily puzzled by the question.

“You captured other wizards? Well, if you did, you should
release them as well, of course.”

“So that they can go back to their preparations for World War
III,” Paul stated, dispassionately.

“Quite,” Ruggiero acknowledged, with a small chuckle. “Yes,
I know. You are one of those Normie lovers. You want
Errabêlu
to cease
manipulating the governments of the Normies. Am I correct?”

“Indubitably,” Paul responded, with a tight smile.

“Idealistic but impractical,” Ruggiero said, with a sad
sigh. “First, the Normies cannot govern themselves. Second, it is
Errabêlu
that is the solution. The human race owes us a great deal of credit as well as
thanks for all that we have done for it. And, with just a few hundred years
more work…well, the level of technology at that time will take us to the stars.
A worthy cause indeed. Join us and we can see it brought to fruition.”

“Nope,” Paul said, with a bigger smile. “It’s not going to
be played that way. Instead, we are going to play a little game. I will be the
host, Monty Hall, and the name of the game is “Let’s Make a Deal.” Now, behind
Door Number 1, there is death. As painless as possible, but rather permanent,
I’m afraid.”

“Door what?” asked Celeste, with a puzzled scowl on her
face.

“Behind Door Number 2 is stasis. Not permanent, no, but long
term. Hundreds if not thousands if not tens of thousands of years. Not a lot
better than Door Number 1, if you want my opinion.”

The doctor frowned. “Is there a Door Number 3?”

Paul leaned forward, putting his cup of tea on the coffee
table in front of him.

“Yes, there is one more door,” he replied, carefully
studying the faces of the two
Errabêlu
wizards. “Cooperation. Work with
us, voluntarily. The Normals will be on their own, government wise. Oh, sure,
we’ll give them a little helping hand, so that they can overcome all the
defects and damage they’ve suffered over the centuries. That’s why there are so
many Scotties here, both to help the Normals and to make sure that
Errabêlu
never interferes again. But, in time, the Normals won’t need us even for that.”
Paul looked Ruggiero sternly in the eye. “Humanity has made a lot of progress
over the centuries. Yes, they still have a lot of problems. I would be the
first to agree with you on that score. But they are far enough along now that
they can work out the majority of those problems, as soon as
Errabêlu
gets out of the way. What do you say? Door number 3?”

Ruggiero stared at Paul with a frown tinged with anger. “I
recognize your sincerity but, believe me, as one who has personally watched
humanity closely over several centuries, you are mistaken in your belief.
Normies are misguided, weak, selfish, arrogant, decadent, immoral, and
incapable of seeing to their own needs. Believe me, Paul, with all of my heart,
I wish it were not so but I only speak the truth here.”

“As one who was recently one of those Normals, I must, of
necessity, disagree with you, Doctor,” Paul said before waving his arm around
him. “A Normal did all this, with a little education and a few magical powers.
However, it is obvious that you disagree with us and so we must go our separate
ways.”

Celeste cleared her throat. “And just what is it that you
intend to do with us if we don’t pick any of your doors?”

Paul sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“You will be taken back to the prison, for a while, until we
capture the remaining wizards of
Errabêlu
. And then we will put you in
stasis, unless you choose to cooperate with us. And the sooner the better.”

Celeste glared daggers at him. “The path you are on will
only lead to the destruction of the human race,” she snapped at him. “We can’t
be a party to that.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” Ruggiero declared with a bitter
frown. “And you can’t win. You may have taken a few wizards captive but
Errabêlu
is very powerful. You can’t succeed. Please, don’t do this. It will only lead
to your destruction.”

“Please change your mind,” Celeste begged. “Don’t do this.
You cannot know what lies ahead for you. Or for your charming wife, or your
child. Please, don’t do this.”

Capie smiled wickedly. “If you’re arguing against it, then I
know for sure we are doing the right thing.”

Paul sighed somberly. “I had to try to convince you. I have
no desire to unleash either Doors 1 or 2 upon you, but you leave me no options.
Thank you for the pleasure of your company through dinner. In the morning, the
Scotties will take you back to prison. Goodbye.”

Ω

Changing his mind, Paul elected not to stay at the resort
but to return to the Mount Logan facility instead.

Somehow, he managed to restrain his joy until they had
returned to their quarters there.

Then he grabbed his gorgeous wife and swung Capie around,
clasping her tightly in his arms.“You’re pregnant?!” he shouted.

Capie nodded nervously. “I was waiting until the right time
to tell you. You seemed to have so much on your mind lately.”

Paul let rip a Tarzan yell and started dancing a jig with
her. Daneel 1 entered the room behind them, puzzled by the two humans’ emotional
outbursts.

“How far along are you?” Paul asked, as he stopped his
dance, grinning from ear to ear.