Missiles & Magic

Thorne continued. Slowly, steadily. Minutes stolen here and there.
Cameras put into the control room. Not much work left...
His eyes widened. He hit a jackpot. The servers were accesible from the Agency now.
Too bad he tripped a flag in the process.
He needed five more minutes to end this part.
Thirty to be done.
The alarm will sound in fifteen.
There was no choice.
After five minutes he took the USB out and left the room. And the building.
When the alarm sounded, he was safely out. Angry, but...
With the Agency uncompromised, someone else can finish this.

Considering he barely saw anything through the slit in the veil, things were going well.
Thorne kept distance, following the taillights.
She'll lead him where he needs to go, willingly or not.
The taillights suddenly disappeared. He slowed down to creeping pace.
He got just close enough to make out the silhouette of the jeep in front of him when its headlights flashed and it sped straight at him.
He barely had time to dive headfirst into the brambles on the wayside.
Cursing, he jumped up, covered in thistle heads, tore the headscarf off and glared after the disappearing jeep.

The hideout was more crowded than it should have been, when Aminah got there couple days later.
She pulled aside the two people she needed and set a time and place for pick up with them.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught a movement in the back of the cave.
It was a woman in a niqab, fretting.
Something was off about her.
As Aminah left, the woman slowly followed.
She waited for Aminah to start her car, mounted a motorbike (growling and cursing at the fabric of the dress getting in the way) and tailed her.

[fire cracking, cicadas chirping, quiet talk in the background]
Thorne: Where did she take you?
Woman's voice: Can't tell.
Thorne: I just need help. For my family...
[coins clink]
Woman: It was dark. No light. Only crack, high up.
Thorne: A cave then.
[fabric rustling]
Thorne: [resigned] Which direction?
[wood snaps, scratches against sand]
Woman: That's how you go.
Thorne: Thank you.
[fabric rustles, steps walk away from the fire]
Thorne: Thanks for your services.
Guide: Desert dangerous at night, I guide!
[coins clinking]
Thorne: No need. Me and darkness are old friends.
[pistol magazine snaps, small motorbike starts up]

"No," the woman said icily. "You won't tell. And you're no use to me."
She gave her companions a quick succession of commands in Arabic, ignoring Thorne.
Five people got onto the jeep and they drove off, leaving him in the dust, defeated once again.
She was right.
He wasn't ready to put lives at risk - and talking wouldn't help his cause.
The dead end got deader.
In the evening, one of the hidden people, creeping back, flashed Thorne a quick, shy smile.
A ray of hope, a kick off towards the surface.
He offered them food and started asking.

This time Aminah was voluntold to lead the recruiting party. She scanned the crowd. The soldiers with her knew very little about magic. Still, there were some people she couldn't quite pass by.
She lifted her hand to point them out, eyes cold and hard.
"You want me," the man spoke broken Arabic with an accent. No magic.
"I am not your way to heaven from this purgatory, soldier," she declined in English.
"Oh, you're definitely not an angel, I know," his eyes were as hard as hers. "Take me. Or I'll tell your companions about your other activity here."

“... and what are YOU doing here?”
The blow was unexpected.
Thorne hanged his head low and mumbled apologetically. If he could, he would show Psycho what for... but he couldn’t. Not yet.
He was walking a fine line with the crazy local leader. Keeping close enough, getting intel...
From the next room a cracking noise sounded.
... but not too close to actually be considered a thread.
He was great in following orders...
“You, big guy. Get rid of this body, will ya?”
He was also sure he is going crazy in here.
He needs out. But finish his job first.

Thorne needed someone reliable. Someone he could work with.
He needed Maddie.
That was not possible.
Not because he would want to protect her. Not even because she was taking care of their little one.
Maddie knew him too well. As an empath, she couldn’t be fooled.
And not just her. Every seasoned agent would know something is amiss. They wouldn’t listen to his explanations. He has this under control. He will not abort the mission.
Not an seasoned agent, but someone reliable, who would listen to his orders. And not die.
It’s time for Osprey to leave the nest.

The artifact she was restoring gave Aminah some trouble as the original text on it was mostly illegible.
She traced the intricate lines with practiced precision.
As she finished the last one, there was a flash of magic.
It left a metallic aftertaste in her mouth, but she smiled.
Job well done.
Time to put it in the hold.
In the corridor she met a soldier leading a little girl.
"Ah, Mistress, new apprentice for you, Master said."
She had the sinking sensation of realizing you forgot something vital.
The sweet child shouldn't be here.
She could have stopped it.

Risa was back from the mission for almost two weeks and in top form. There was a talk about her learning some more about portals. Soon.
That'll be fun.
But for now, her availability shined green.
Then her phone rang.
Thorne.
“I need a favour,” he said without any introduction.
Isn’t he in deep cover?
“An escort for someone. Keep him safe.”
“Alright.”
Of course he is.
“In case they take him, you need to kill him before he talks.”
Silence.
“Can you do that, Osprey?”
Deep breath.
“Al...right.”
“Intel in your mail. See you on the other side.”

The magic was pulsating, beating, thrumming.
Much more than sum of nine parts.
In Aminah's mind it conjured images - drums of war, the beating of thousand feet in a military step, the clank of a disc magazine being clipped into a weapon.
Steady beat of an enormous heart.
One that made you want to follow - to become a part of it.
It was calming and disquieting at the same time.
The Professor watched her closely.
"Now that you understand... can you replicate it?" his voice broke through her trance.
With cold composure she dodged the answer.
"I need some air."

Risa fell asleep in the truck, snuggled to Fox.
That was new.
Their destination did have a signal. It even supported videocalls.
“Should we abort?” Fox asked. “Ospery was hit quite hard.”
“How are you, Osprey?” Swan asked.
“Fine. Shaken, but fine.”
“Really?” Swan gave her quizical look.
Risa turned away from screen so the telepath could not read her mind...
That wasn’t very smart.
“There is one last place left,” Swan turned to Fox. “The decision is yours. Don’t go in if it feels similar like the last one. Extraction team will be ready.”
But better not use them.

"Talk to me, Mouse," Wolf's voice came through the magical interface.
"Not much to tell. He's still turning up mostly useless artifacts," Aminah shrugged. "His grunts are tyrannizing everyone and there are rumours of possible connection in Iran."
"Iran?" Wolf sounded surprised.
"Do you want me to look into that?"
"No," the answer came too quick. "No, Mouse, I'll deal with that myself."
"Use me, Wolf. I can handle it. Don't baby me."
"Negative, Mouse."
"He trusts me."
"Does he tell you everything?"
"He tells me enough."
"And we need to keep it that way."
"Roger Wilco. Out."
She sighed.

Risa shot up gasping for air.
That dark wave was not a dream. She could half-feel it. It was real. Without thinking she pulled couple of things out of her pockets and started forming a protective star.
She was never taught this, but since early childhood she knew how to protect against shadows lurking in half-seen darkness.
Her hand stopped before she began with the activation.
Do not use any magic. Under any circumstances.
This was magic. Low key, but magic.
She dropped her hand and scattered the objects into a non-pattern.
Then laid down and let the darkness flow.

"You look tired," Deirdre wasn't beating around the bush.
"I am."
He looked over his shoulder, making sure nobody was listening.
"You know dad's 'When tired, push harder' isn't always right..."
"...about that..."
He fell silent. He couldn't bring himself to tell her.
She probably read it in his eyes.
In the silence he heard voices.
"...SAPFU like you can't imagine. Dirties using magic, they say. Tango Bravo Sierra, if you ask me."
"Anyway, we're Oscar Mike at o'dark thirty. Better hope the cousins get that ASS back out of Syria..."
...
"Thorne, are you listening?"
"Sorry, time to push harder."