by Dan Willis
“Hey,” he said on a sudden impulse, turning back to the lieutenant. “Who is Seaman McCormick?”
If Lieutenant Leavitt thought that was a strange question, he didn’t let it bother him.
“A sailor missing off the Chicago,” he said. “She was supposed to sail yesterday, but Seaman McCormick didn’t show up for duty.”
“So what?” Alex asked. “Have you never had a sailor skip town before?”
“Sure,” Leavitt said. “But nobody remembered ever seeing Seaman McCormick. When the Captain pulled his service record, they found out he didn’t exist.”
“How does a guy who doesn’t exist get duty aboard a Navy ship?” Alex asked.
“That’s why the base is under lockdown,” Leavitt said. “This McCormick guy might be a spy, and he might be hiding on base. The Admiral is going to keep the base on lockdown until he’s found or we’re certain he’s gone.”
No wonder the Navy cops seemed so irritable. Alex didn’t envy them the task of hunting someone through the shipyards in a thick fog.
The phone buzzed and Leavitt beckoned to Alex.
“Follow me,” he said.
They crossed to the back of the room and the lieutenant opened the door. Inside was an office almost the same size as the waiting area. A simple desk stood between two posted flags; one was the stars and stripes and another Alex assumed represented the Navy. Behind the desk sat an athletic-looking man with iron-gray hair and steely eyes. He wore an officer’s coat that looked very much like the one Lieutenant Commander Vaughn had worn, just with a few more decorations.
Vaughn, himself, stood beside the admiral’s desk with the folder on Alex open in his hands. On the other side stood a woman in a green jacket with a close-fitting pencil skirt. Her back was to him, but Alex knew her immediately.
“So here’s where I find you,” Sorsha Kincaid said, turning to face him. Her imperious features were colder than usual and something around her eyes told him that she was very irritated.
Alex was pretty sure the Ice Queen’s presence was the reason he’d been let out of the brig. He was also sure, from the look on her face, that she would make him repay that debt in full, probably in the most uncomfortable way possible.
16
Call the Wizard
“Come in, Mr. Lockerby,” Admiral Tennon said. At least Alex assumed the gray-haired man behind the desk was the Admiral.
“Thanks,” Alex said, moving to stand in front of the desk, next to Sorsha. He put on an easy smile, as if he’d just been invited to a steak dinner by the Governor. Sorsha rolled her eyes at him.
Lieutenant Leavitt moved to a small writing table in the corner of the room and sat down with a pencil and a notepad.
“Don’t be so glib,” Tennon growled. “If I had my way you’d be rotting in the brig until you told Vaughn here everything you know.” He jerked his thumb at the Lieutenant Commander. “But,” he continued, “since I’ve been advised by Miss Kincaid that you are absolutely essential to a current investigation by the FBI, I’ve decided to give you a chance to play straight with me.”
“What is it you want to know, Admiral?” Alex asked. There wasn’t any point in posturing. Tennon wouldn’t have threatened to lock him up and throw away the key if he couldn’t make good on that threat. Alex had ways to get out of whatever jail the Navy might put him in, but he had no desire to become a federal fugitive over the Burnham case.
“How did you learn about the SEI?” Tennon demanded.
Alex recounted the story he’d told to Lieutenant Commander Vaughn. In the corner, Leavitt diligently made notes as Alex spoke.
“Have we been able to verify that Dr. Burnham is, in fact, convalescing at home?” Tennon asked.
Vaughn looked pointedly at Leavitt.
“Yes, Admiral,” he said. “I spoke with his granddaughter Karen Burnham a few minutes ago. She confirmed Mr. Lockerby’s story and admitted to hiring him.”
Tennon nodded and smiled appreciatively at the young man. When he looked back up at Alex, however, his face was stern and implacable.
“All right, Lockerby,” he growled. “It seems you’ve told us the truth so far. Now what’s this you told Lieutenant Commander Vaughn about a motor that Dr. Burnham was working on?”
Alex looked thoughtful, mostly to give himself time to think. Explaining amberlight was something he’d learned not to attempt long ago. Most people just couldn’t wrap their heads around it.
“I can’t be sure it was a motor,” Alex said, choosing to explain his knowledge of the motor more simply. “But it was clear Dr. Burnham was working on something big and mechanical. There were machine parts all around the area where it had been. When I investigated, I found tire tracks leaving the workshop where the thief or thieves pulled it out. Apparently it was mounted on some kind of trailer.”
Tennon and Vaughn exchanged a meaningful look.
“Anything else?” the Admiral demanded.
Alex shook his head and shrugged, trying to look as innocent and truthful as he could.
“That’s all I know.”
Tennon shot Vaughn another look, and this time the Lieutenant Commander shrugged almost imperceptibly.
“All right,” Tennon said. “I can see you’re not a spy, just some busybody sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. That said, I do appreciate your finding Dr. Burnham and getting him home; that was a good piece of work.”
Alex was surprised. That sounded suspiciously like a compliment.
“I also appreciate your bringing the matter of Dr. Burnham’s missing work to our attention. That said, this is a Navy matter now, Lockerby. If myself or Lieutenant Commander Vaughn hear that you’re investigating on your own, I’ll have you locked up indefinitely. Am I clear?”
“Crystal,” Alex said.
“Now,” Tennon said, turning to Sorsha. When he did, his expression softened a bit. Sorsha wasn’t just powerful, respected, and dangerous — she was also quite a looker, and the Admiral seemed taken with her.
That’s a mistake, Alex thought. He’d seen Sorsha use her considerable feminine wiles to manipulate men before. She was good at it. Alex wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she’d done exactly that to get him out of this jam.
“Miss Kincaid has personally vouched for you and she’s assured us that she’ll be keeping you busy. With that in mind, Lockerby, I’m authorizing your release. Don’t make me regret that decision,” he added, giving Alex a hard stare. “If I see you back here, I’ll make you regret it. Now get out.”
Alex didn’t have to be told twice, but Sorsha lingered for a moment to thank the Admiral and assure him that Alex would be far too busy helping her to be a bother.
“So what do you think happened to Burnham’s project?” Lieutenant Leavitt asked as he followed Alex back into the waiting area. He’d spoken in a low tone so that Vaughn and the Admiral wouldn’t overhear, but his voice was full of curiosity.
“No idea,” Alex said, truthfully. “I was hoping you guys could tell me what it was, then maybe I could use a finding rune to locate it.”
“Sorry,” Leavitt said, shrugging his shoulders with a grin. “Shade Tree is top secret and I’m just a lowly lieutenant.”
He went back to his desk and sat while Alex waited for Sorsha. She emerged from the office a moment later and swept toward the door, pulling Alex along in her wake.
“What were you thinking?” she demanded once they were out in the hall, headed for the front door. “Having someone call the Navy about a top secret project? How did you think that would end?”
“That’s not what happened,” he protested. “And whatever Shade Tree is, it’s not a government secret. Burnham was building it in his garage.”
Sorsha opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again as she processed what Alex had said.
“It might be a secret,” Alex continued. “But Tennon is paying for it out of some off-the-books account.”
“Well, whatever he and his lackeys are doing, it’
s no longer your concern,” she said in a dead-on impression of a scolding schoolmarm.
“Don’t be so sure,” he interrupted before she could go on. “Did you see how nervous Tennon and Vaughn got when I mentioned Burnham’s missing motor? Whatever was in that garage, it’s dangerous.”
“So is this,” Sorsha said, waving her hand at the fog. “The city has already lost over a million dollars from work slowdowns, traffic problems, and accidents.”
“I left a message with your secretary,” Alex protested.
Sorsha rounded on him and fixed him with a penetrating stare.
“Yes,” she admitted. “A message that told me nothing. And then you disappeared for almost forty-eight hours. Your secretary kept giving me excuse after excuse, each one flimsier than the last, until she finally admitted you were here. And what are you doing here? Are you investigating the fog? No, you’re sticking your nose into the Navy’s business over a missing man that you’ve already found.”
“His daughter asked me to find out why he was attacked,” Alex said with a shrug. “I think mysterious Navy secrets is a pretty good explanation.”
“Well you can tell her you don’t know and leave it alone,” Sorsha said, a note of finality in her voice.
Frankly Alex didn’t care what Tennon or Vaughn or even Sorsha thought, something was rotten about the whole business with Dr. Burnham.
“I mean it,” she said, sticking her finger in his face. Apparently, Alex’s intention to continue investigating the curious matter of Dr. Burnham was obvious. “Drop it.”
“Fine,” Alex lied, being careful to keep his expression neutral.
“Now,” Sorsha said as they reached her long black floater. “Open the door for me, and then you can tell me all about this mysterious discovery you made.”
Alex tugged the door open and held it while the Sorceress got in, then he went around to the far side of the car and climbed in himself.
“Is your office still in the Chrysler building?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Well then, let’s go there and I’ll show you.”
She eyed him for a moment, then turned to the driver in the front of the flying car.
“Back to the office, Rodger. And stick to the streets until we’re out of the Navy Yard.”
Rodger did as he was instructed but as soon as they passed through the main gate, he pulled a large lever on the car’s dashboard and it lifted gently off the street. Alex had never ridden in a floater before and he held on tight to the armrest until the car broke through the fog into the late evening sky. It had been a while since he’d seen the clouds and he spent a few minutes just looking through the window.
“Here,” Sorsha said as he craned his neck to look up at the moon. She waved her hand as if she were shooing a troublesome fly, and the roof above them became as transparent as glass.
Sorcerers had all the good tricks.
Sorsha Kincaid maintained an office on the sixty-fifth floor of the Chrysler building. It was the headquarters of Cold Disk, Limited, her rather unimaginatively named company that sold her refrigeration disks.
Alex had looked into her business after their first encounter two years ago. The office employed a secretary and several salesmen who processed orders through to a warehouse down by the aerodrome. There was a large office that Sorsha almost never used, and a conference room that mostly served as a meeting place for her FBI team.
What Alex didn’t know was that there was also a garage for her floater. As the driver approached the building, Sorsha said something in her deep, echoing magic voice and a smooth piece of the building’s side dropped down like a drawbridge.
The floater drifted left and right in the constant wind that always blew at the top of tall buildings, but Rodger maneuvered the vehicle slowly and expertly, bringing it into the sky garage and setting down gently.
Alex reached for the door, but Sorsha put a hand on his arm.
“Wait till I close the door,” she said.
“Actually, it would be better if you didn’t.” He pulled the handle and pushed the door open against the stiff wind that now blew inside the garage. Sorsha glared at him with her short hair whipping around her face. She waved her hand and the hair instantly returned to normal, as if she felt no wind at all.
“Show off,” Alex said with a grin.
He climbed out of the floater and made his way to the wall farthest from the open drawbridge. Using his chalk and a vault rune he had to hold against the wall, he managed to get his vault open. Sorsha exited the floater, no doubt curious about his vault, but Alex ducked inside and was back in a flash with his investigation kit before she could make her way around the far side of the car.
“Why didn’t you just do that inside?” she shouted at him over the wind.
Alex finished locking his vault and the polished steel door melted back into the wall of the garage.
“You need to see what the fog really is,” Alex yelled back, opening his kit. During their conversation, Sorsha’s driver exited the car and sensibly went inside the office to wait.
Alex took out his lamp and lit it, being sure to close the back to keep the wind out, then he slipped his oculus on, settling it over his right eye. He pointed the yellowish amberlight out along the drawbridge. All along the edges of the door, he could see bundles of the hair-like clumps, clinging to the outside of the building.
“Here,” he said, slipping off the oculus and passing it over.
Sorsha put it on and Alex had to swallow a chuckle when she looked like some kind of Hollywood pirate.
“Out there,” he said, pointing to the edge of the opening.
Sorsha’s mouth dropped open when she turned.
“What is all that?” she called over the noise of the wind. “And why isn’t it blowing away?”
“It’s anchored to the building somehow,” Alex said.
Sorsha moved before he could stop her, walking purposely out, past the car and onto the open section of wall.
“What are you doing?” he yelled after her. “Get back here.”
She had started to lean down, to examine one of the bundles on the very end of the drawbridge door, but when Alex called, she stood up. She gave him an exasperated look which was made comical by the oculus covering half her face.
“Really, Alex?” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “And what do you think will happen if I somehow manage to fall?”
It was a rhetorical question. Sorsha was a sorceress; if she fell off, she could just teleport herself back up again. It was an unnerving and uncomfortable way to travel, but she’d done it before and had even carried Alex along with her. As fast a method of getting around as teleportation was, Alex had no desire to experience it again.
“Right,” Alex said, managing not to look sheepish. “Sorry.”
Sorsha squatted down, perching precariously on her moderate heels, and ran her hand back and forth a few inches over the door. Alex knew she was running her fingers through the ethereal, hair-like strands that anchored the fog. After a minute, she rose and came back to where Alex stood, taking off the oculus and handing it to him.
“Let’s go inside,” she said. She pulled a lever on the wall and the drawbridge door moved upward until it sealed the garage. Once that was done, Sorsha led Alex through a door in the side wall that exited into a small room with pegs for hats and coats.
Sorsha passed through this room and out into a hallway that ran past several offices. It was after six and they were quiet and dark. At the end of the hall, Sorsha entered a large conference room with a long, polished table and comfortable chairs.
The sorceress passed by the table, heading for the back of the room and the standing liquor cabinet there. As she poured herself something from a crystal decanter of dark liquid, Alex pulled the flask of rejuvenator out of his kit and took a swig. He immediately felt better.
“Do you want some?” Sorsha said, holding up the decanter with her back toward him. “It’s Napoleon b
randy.”
“No thanks,” Alex said. He’d learned the hard way that alcohol and the rejuvenator didn’t go well together.
Sorsha shrugged and poured herself another glass, downing it as well. She closed the cabinet and turned back to Alex, pulling her long, black cigarette holder out of thin air.
“Do you have a light?” she asked, sauntering over to where Alex stood by the table.
Alex knew the sorceress could light the cigarette herself without even thinking, but he pulled out his lighter and squeezed the side, popping open the spring cap and igniting it.
“So,” she said, blowing smoke as she talked. “What did I just see?”
Alex shook his head and shrugged.
“It’s some kind of binding between the fog and the building,” he said. “It has to be some kind of magic, but I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Neither have I,” Sorsha said.
“All I can really tell you is that it isn’t natural,” Alex admitted.
She fixed him with an annoyed look.
“That’s it?” she said. “All you can tell me is that the fog doesn’t blow away because it’s somehow attached to buildings with magical bonds that break apart when you try to grab them but form up again afterward?”
She was frustrated, mad at the situation and not really at Alex, but he was the only target for her rage in the room.
“It’s more than you knew before,” he said, keeping his voice neutral and friendly. Even though her problems weren’t his fault, she could still freeze him solid if she felt peevish, so it was in his best interest to placate her.
“That doesn’t tell me anything,” she growled.
“What do your FBI monkeys think?”
She glared at him.
“The bureau came to me because they had nowhere else to go,” she said, puffing on her cigarette.
Now Alex understood. He’d assumed working with the Feds was something she did for fun, but apparently it was much more than that. Her professional reputation was on the line, not to mention her mystique as a sorceress. Alex could practically feel the frustration rolling off her.
