The Sin of Moloch

by Andrew Gordinier

  “Where is Deanna?”

  “Who?” Finley asked, but John didn’t really hear it, he saw that Finley had his Primer clutched tightly in his hand. John reversed gravity under Finley, sending him slamming into the ceiling with a satisfying slam. Then John returned it to normal and happily watched Finley fall to the floor.

  “Give me back the Primer, and tell me what you did with Deanna!” John used a pattern to rush forward and punch Finley across the jaw as he was staggering to his feet. Finley fell backward from the blow and seemingly fell into the floor. “Damn it!”

  John frantically searched for traces of Finley’s pattern and spotted a faint thread whispering away towards downtown. John looked down the thread and saw that it ended on a rooftop where Finley was trying to catch his breath. John teleported in, landing on the far side of the roof. Glancing around, John quickly realized they were on the tower connected to Navy Pier. He could see out over the lake, and looking up the ribbon of the shoreline along Lake Shore Drive was a stunning sight. John saw it all and only thought about how many people would see them if they started throwing fireballs and lightning bolts around up there.

  “Can we please talk now?” Asked Finley breathlessly.

  “Yeah. Let’s talk about you breaking into my safe and stealing from me. Let’s talk about what you did to Deanna.”

  “Last time I tried to clarify who you were asking about, you very rudely punched me. So, I am going to assume you are talking about that charming young lady with the large… hard drives.” Finley held cupped hands to his chest and chuckled. “I haven’t seen her since she called you. I hung around and watched her shower, then left. She didn’t have what I was looking for at the moment. Though, when this is over, I might buy her a drink. Have you seen all her tattoos?”

  “When this is over, you’ll be happy to be alive and far away from here.”

  “You’re tough, John. No arguments there.” Finley stood up. “You might even kill me, but do you have time for this?”

  John said nothing.

  “You really do have some moments of quality stupidity, don’t you?” Finley sighed. “If I didn’t kidnap the girl, who did? Then you have to ask yourself, what are they after? I doubt it was me, I’m pretty easy to find.” To disprove his point, Finley teleported away.

  John followed the fading thread and ended up out over the lake, not out of sight of the city, but well out past the Cribs that pump water to the town. Arriving in mid-air, John threw together a quick pattern to keep himself from falling into the lake. Finley was nowhere to be seen. There also wasn’t any proof that he had teleported away. John drifted in a slow circle, carefully looking for clues.

  A massive column of water suddenly rocketed out of the lake to engulf John in cold water that suddenly seemed to get colder and colder. John quickly realized what was happening and blasted his way out of the freezing rain using raw force and escaped just as the water froze solid. The pillar of ice stood still and tall for a moment before falling over into the lake with a thunderous crash that shattered it into smaller but still vast blocks of ice.

  “I saw that one in a cartoon.” Finley’s voice echoed around John, coming from many places at once. “Do you like it?”

  John said nothing but prepared several patterns of his own.

  “Come on, John! You usually have a smart ass remark for everything-“ John spotted Finley floating about twenty feet under the surface of the lake. His pattern bright gold and red against the simple blue-green of the lake. John magnified the weight of the water around Finley, the heavy water quickly dragged him deeper, and at the same time slowly started to crush the life out of him as the pressure grew. Finley broke free with great difficulty and leaped up out of the lake like a Polaris missile. A massive stream of flames pouring from his fingertips, just missing John. To keep Finley’s attention, John sent a volley of lightning in his general direction. While Finley was dodging that, John turned the waves below them into icy spears and hurled them up at Finley. Caught off guard Finley was struck by several of the spears, the ice was brittle to do much more than shatter as they hit him, but it gave John a chance. Swooping in, John grabbed hold of Finley’s coat and spun him around several times before throwing him against the brick wall of a nearby crib. Finley collapsed limply on to a narrow ledge, still clutching the Primer.

  “You want a smart ass comment now?” John floated in closer to Finley, but not too close.

  “Not really.”Finley sounded weak to John but was apparently not so weakened that he couldn’t teleport away again.

  Following the thread left by Finley, John was horrified, the thread went straight up. Peering up the thread, John saw that it ended in nothing at all. It ended well above the atmosphere and beyond the reach of the Earth’s gravity. The thread was long and fading quickly, John cobbled together a pattern that he hoped would protect him in deep space, and teleported.

  Finley had already teleported away again, leaving behind another fading thread of his presence. It clearly went to the surface of the moon, John was unwilling to follow it that far. He turned to return to Earth and was shocked. There hanging before him in the vastness of space was home. A sphere of blue oceans, brown and green lands, with white clouds whispering across its face. John was totally unprepared for the sight, and for several moments, he simply drifted looking back towards home. John softly whispers, “That is home.” to himself.

  John slowly became aware that he was having a hard time breathing, the improvised patterns he used to protect himself from the hard vacuum of space were failing. He teleported to the warehouse. John stood there in the rubble of his sanctuary and tried to deal with the emotional storm brewing in him. Deanna vanished, his Primer stolen, the warehouse destroyed, leading to the fight and chase with Finley that brought him to… A literal new view of the world. John was brought back to earth by his phone ringing, it was Eric.

  “We need to talk, it's urgent.” Eric’s voice held a cold professional tone.

  “Finley stole my Primer and wrecked the inside of the warehouse. I chased him, but he got away-“

  “You can teleport! How does someone get away from you?”

  “They go to the moon.”

  “He left?”

  “Yeah, and Deanna is missing too.”

  “That wasn’t Finley.” Something in Eric’s tone touched a nerve in John.

  “Who was it?”

  “We got a message from Solomon. He wants to talk to you and you alone.”

  “He has Deanna?”

  “John, be cool-“

  “I’m cool. Up to my ass in ruble and abducted friends, but I’m cool.”

  “No, be cool. I’m gonna get Conrad to send me to Chicago in a few minutes. I can help.”

  “Eric-“

  “Solomon called us on Radha’s phone.”

  John hung up and dialed Radha’s number.

  “Hello, John. If you hadn’t called soon I was gonna order a pizza. I hear Chicago is famous for deep dish, is there someplace you recommend?” Solomon's voice felt close to John, but he wanted it closer, so he could choke the man to death.

  “Where’s Radha?”

  “She’s on vacation with Deanna. You’ve been working that poor woman too hard with all that typing.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Besides the pizza? Oh, you mean in exchange for their lives? I want you to lure Finley to me before he leaves the planet, and I want your Primer. I can’t allow rebels like you to have it, they might upset things.”

  “And if I can’t give you either one?”

  “John, now is not the time to play games….Hmmm, hold on a moment. Are you watching the local news?”

  “No. I can’t find my remote, I think it’s buried under some rubble that used to be my bathroom.”

  “Home improvement is always satisfying, but more importantly, John. Did you and Finley have an argument by any chance?”

  “What gives you that idea?”

  “Because Channel Fi
ve thinks it’s vital that I know there was some sort of UFO over the lake spraying fire and shooting lightning. They have video, not high definition mind you, but good stuff.”

  “Finley stole my Primer, and I went after him.”

  “Is he dead, or did you experience a moment of weakness and just cripple him?”

  “He got away.”

  “You can teleport-“

  “Yeah, yeah. I can teleport, so how does someone escape? Well, let me tell you something; I wasn’t planning on going to the moon today!” John held the phone in front of him as he yelled into it.

  “Really?! He left already. Well, let me know when you catch him… Better yet, just bring me back his head.”

  “Huh?”

  “I would say that you should stop playing stupid, but I’m starting to wonder about you. Get yourself together and go after Finley. Bring a bag or something to put his head in, something waterproof, you would be surprised how long a severed head will drip. It gets messy.”

  “What about Radha and Deanna?”

  “They will be my house guests till you return. Do you know what they say about house guests and fish? They both start to smell after a few days. Don’t be slow, John.” Solomon hung up before John could say anything else. John briefly thought about trying to find Radha’s phone, tracking it to Solomon so he could kill him. John dialed her number, and it went right to voice mail. He needed another option.

  Looking around at the wreckage that used to be his sanctuary, he had foolishly believed it would be a safe place, John felt impotent and angry. He wanted to rage across the city, find Solomon and do horrible things to him till he told him where Radha was. The very idea that she might have been harmed brought cruelty and anger to the surface that John had been unaware he possessed. John examined the remains of his safe, picking up his pistol and checking quickly to make sure it was in working order. A few of the flash drives had survived the explosion, and he put those in his pocket, then it occurred to John, why didn’t Solomon ask about the program? John resolved to ask him before Solomon died screaming. John looked around again, and with a heavy heart, set fire to the warehouse before teleporting away.

  John arrived at Radha’s apartment and found it in nearly perfect order. There was no sign of a struggle or violence of any kind. There was a note on the fridge:

  John,

  Finley’s head and your Primer.

  Love, Solomon.

  John crumpled the note and started to consider just what he was going to do. He was interrupted by his phone ringing, Conrad's number flashed on the screen, and John hoped he had at least one friend left in the world.

  “John? Where should I send Eric?”

  “I don’t know that Eric can help here. Solomon wants Finley’s head and my Primer, or he’ll kill Radha and Deanna. The problem is that Finley has left the planet already and taken my Primer off-world. Last I saw he was headed towards the moon.”

  “Did you two fight before he left?”

  “Yeah, I heard we made the news.”

  “John, I don’t have to explain to you how bad this all is, or that I’m upset. But this isn’t the time for that. Gather what you can and come to New York, we’re still in the hotel. Meet us here as soon as you can.”

  “I’m on my way.” John wished it had sounded heroic, wished he had been able to come across as determined, but he just felt angry and hateful.

  John arrived in New York in Conrad's suite at the hotel. There were several people from the congress there standing around Conrad, Eric was at his side. No one said much of anything, they just looked at him disapprovingly. John stood his ground, suddenly aware that he was still wearing his suit. It was dusty, ripped in a few places, and burned from the explosion.

  “Things got out of hand.” John said simply, but no one reacted. This all felt familiar to John, the judgment, and the isolation. He remembered it from high school, he was no longer part of the “in” crowd. The worst was yet to come, he was sure of that.

  “John.” Said Conrad slowly. “We can’t afford displays and conflicts that will divide us, not now.”

  “I’m sorry I did my best.” John felt shamed by those few words and the look on Conrad’s face.

  “Now, please explain what is going on.” Conrad’s expression did not falter.

  “I was working on a program that would find new patterns and test them safely. The girl I had working on it with me had no idea what it was. To her, it was just complicated and strange computer code. Recently it spat out large portions of odd number sets, M Theory and things like that. When Deanna tried to plot data as graphics, it fried her computer. I shut everything down then. I also had a guy by the name of Finley show up, claiming to be a long lost relative, and demanding I give him my Primer-“

  “You had a Primer!” Shades almost shouted, and it echoed the looks of shock that John, of all people, had touched something so ancient and powerful.

  “Yeah. It was in my father's things, I found it when he died.” John said.

  “He wasn’t a mage?” Asked the woman who had given the speech at the meeting.

  “No.”

  “John, please finish.” Conrad gently prompted.

  “Finley stole my Primer, I chased him, but he teleported to the moon. I wasn’t going to follow him because he plans to go into deep space.” John paused, and there were murmurs and accusing glares from the gathered faces. “I returned and discovered that Solomon had kidnapped Deanna, and Radha, my girlfriend.” John felt himself choke at anger and despair that he might be the cause of Radha’s suffering. “Solomon contacted me. He wants me to go after Finley and kill him, then hand over Finley’s head and my Primer in exchange for Radha and Deanna.”

  “You will not commit the sin of Moloch. I won’t allow it.” The man with the white beard who had killed Shade’s mother seemed willing to do the deed again then and there.

  “Relax, Alex.” Conrad's voice was tired but forceful. “What does Finley hope to find?”

  “He is looking for a lost library that he thinks will point the way to where the first mages came from, in deep space.”

  “He’s mad! Let him go and let the Censor worry about it.” Alex had not calmed.

  “The Censor is clearly interested in more than just the Primer and his trophy.” All eyes turned to the elderly woman. “Taking the programmer hostage makes sense since Solomon is also after that program. But, why send John after Finley? If he wanted John dead, it would be easy enough to do here, just as easy to kill Finley when he got back. No, I think the Censor wants to know what Finley finds and to be able to accuse John of the sin of Moloch. The Censor cleans up the mess easily and gets all the prizes.”

  “But, what are they meant to find?” Alex looked at the faces around him.

  “I would suspect,” Conrad said carefully. “That he will find the same thing as Moloch; the truth. After all, we have no real idea what he found out there, only that it terrified him and drove him mad.”

  John considered this all as he looked at the faces gathered around him. They were clearly the new leadership, what Solomon had called rebels. Each stood silent and considered the gravity of the moment and how it would affect what came next. The silence lasted too long for John.

  “I’m going to confront Solomon. I’m going to rescue-“

  “Don’t be stupid, John. He would kill you outright, and then the women slowly.” Eric broke his long silence. “The only real option we have is to send you after Finley. I’m sorry, I know I’m not a member of the council. I’ve dealt with hostage situations before though, and the last thing we want to do is let Solomon think John isn’t doing what he asks. It gives us more time to deal with our other issues at hand and perhaps gain the upper hand later, depending on what John finds.”

  “Can you track Finley?” Asked Alex carefully.

  “Not now, I had a hard time chasing him as it was. But, all the Primers are linked. I should be able to track that if I can get my hands on another one.”

/>   “How do you propose to do that, young man?” The old woman looked at John from behind a skeptical mask.

  “I can’t really talk about that.”

  “More secrets, John?” Conrad stood as he spoke.

  “I’m sorry, but… I have one more secret that I have to keep.”

  “What do you think, Elizabeth?” Alex asked without hiding his own disapproval.

  “I find it troubling that the first real business before this council is issues of conflict and secrets. I think we had all hoped for better, but we should have known the old ways would not vanish without more blood.” The elderly woman paused. “I think we have to trust Conrad’s judgment of John’s character on this one. We aren’t risking anything much by supporting him, and his success would be a blow to the Censors and the European Conclave. That’s if he shares what he finds.” There were murmurs of agreement among many of the council members.

  “All right.” Conrad looked at John and sighed. “I am going to trust you, John. Despite these recent deceptions, you have been waveringly loyal to this cause and me personally. Unless someone can give me a better strategy or a good reason we shouldn’t support John, we will send him on his way and come up with plans of our own to save those two, should he fail.”

  “I don’t think any of us oppose it, but he can’t just teleport into deep space.” Shades stepped to the front of the small group. “He is going to need more than our consent and emotional support. What happens when he needs to sleep? Eat? How is he going to protect himself, to say nothing of breathing?”

  “Perhaps we know someone with a spacesuit?” Asked Alex with a laugh.

  “Or, better yet, someone who could design one for you?” Eric looked meaningfully at Conrad.

  “A tailored suit always fits better.” Agreed Conrad. “John, how long will it take you to get another Primer?”

  “I don’t know. If I can get one at all at least a couple hours, at most a day.”

  “We’ll get you equipped for your trip, you get a compass.” Conrad looked around at his fellow mages. “We have a lot of work ahead of us and then more work.”