Infiltration (26 page)

No one needed to be told twice. There were low whispers and murmurs as everyone hustled out of the Great Hall, eager to put distance between themselves and the scene we had just witnessed.

Having been near the front when Case’s team was being interrogated, I now found myself at the rear of those departing the chamber, the purple light from the Diabolist’s staff still shining on our backs. I idled, walking at a slower and slower pace until I was the absolute last person to leave.

As I exited the room, the doors of the Great Hall slammed shut behind me of their own accord. There was a small clicking sound, and I knew that they were locked as well. I checked to make sure that no one was watching me, then turned invisible, phased, and went back inside.

The place seemed even larger now that the crowd had departed; the only people still in the room were Diabolist Mage and the White Wyrm. I floated up into the air and flew to the dais, which they were still on.

As I got close, I saw the White Wyrm turn to face the rear of the dais. He took about three steps, and then seemed to tap his foot on the floor. Almost immediately, blocks of stone in the floor started descending in a spiral pattern, creating a narrow, winding staircase leading down into darkness. This was quite likely how the White Wyrm had suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere.

The White Wyrm began walking down the stairs, followed by Diabolist Mage (who, in turn, was followed by me). Neither spoke as they descended, and after a few moments, I heard a great weight shifting above me as the stones of the dais moved back into place. Simultaneously, what little light that had been entering the stairwell from the Great Hall vanished.

This presented no problem for me, as I was already viewing things in the infrared. An expanding purple glow below me indicated that Diabolist Mage was using his staff for light. I didn’t know if the White Wyrm required any visual aid to see in the dark.

After a few minutes of traveling in this manner, we reached the bottom of the stairs, which terminated at a large room that appeared to serve as an office of some sort. I noticed an antique desk with a matching chair, several large tables covered with archaic parchments and scrolls, and some bookcases filled with dusty, ancient tomes. Light was provided by a number of well-placed torches.

I was most surprised, however, to see that the room had a window. It was situated on the wall behind the antique desk, and it was the only one I’d seen thus far. The view outside the window was pitch black, apparently showing a starless, moonless night.

The White Wyrm stepped behind the desk and looked out the window. Diabolist Mage stayed on the other side of the desk, waiting. On my part, I floated into one of the upper corners of the room.

“So, Diabolist,” he said. “I believe an explanation is in order.”

“Apparently we were compromised,” Diabolist Mage said. “One of our men had a homing beacon that led the Alpha League straight to us.”

“Not that. I’m not talking about that. I’m curious as to why that assault group ended up a mile away from the target. According to Grain Brain, you lost control.”

Diabolist Mage coughed uncomfortably before speaking. “Your little shrunken-head pet is wrong. Why do we need him anyway? My magic can do everything his technology can, and more.”

“First of all, we need Grain Brain because the blend of the mystical and mechanical serves our purposes by confusing the enemy. Those with roots in science will seek a technological answer, while those versed in the arcane will look for a magical solution. Both will be wrong in the aggregate.

“Next, Grain Brain’s inventions enhance your magic, making it easier for you to accomplish things. Without them, your ability to control the power you’ve received is unreliable. Moreover, using them also helps reduce the risk that you’ll inadvertently drain our secret weapon.

“Finally, don’t forget that all of this newfound power you currently wield and boastfully speak of comes from a relic that
I
gave you. Without it, you would be just another street-corner magician doing card tricks on the subway for tips. So I’ll ask you again for an explanation.”

Diabolist Mage gritted his teeth in fury but kept a civil tongue in his head. “I didn’t lose control. I was assaulted — a mind probe.”

The White Wyrm glanced over his shoulder for a second, seemingly concerned. “Did they learn anything?”

“Of course not! I was aware the moment they set foot inside my brain. However, it was enough to break my concentration, and apparently make me lose the intended locus of the transfer.”

“So,” said the White Wyrm, turning all the way around to face Diabolist Mage, “you transferred them to the wrong location, which gave the Alpha League a chance to get involved, and ultimately caused a setback of our plans.”

“You seem to forget that — despite any mistakes on my part — success would still have been possible if not for a traitor on the assault team.”

“No, I didn’t forget that. Nor did I forget that you decided to torture someone who was giving you valuable information on the subject.”

“I’ve seen you do worse.”

“
You
are wantonly cruel,” the White Wyrm said, as if explaining something to a child. “
I
, on the other hand, am only cruel when it’s warranted.”

“We needed to send a message, about both failure and betrayal.”

“Then, by your own standards, you should be punished for failing to destroy the Alpha League.”

“That’s not my fault! Proteus is to blame for that. He’s the one who should be punished. I’ll see to it—”

“You’ll see to nothing.”

“But Proteus is probably a traitor as well, since he didn’t even mention that our weapon failed to take out the Alpha League.”

“Didn’t you say he was disoriented when he came back? He probably wasn’t even thinking about it, especially if no one asked him a direct question on the subject. Also, if he betrayed us, why even come back? Why bring you relics that increased your power, that might make you capable of creating weapons that could defeat Alpha Prime? It seems far more likely that the traitor we uncovered today also gave the Alpha League a warning about our prior attack.”

“Regardless, Proteus should still be disciplined, or it might send the wrong message.”

“So now you wish to kill the courier who brings
good
news? In case you don’t realize it, you’ve already sent a message. You let whoever tried to read your mind know that you can be easily distracted.”

“The situation is more complex than you’re making it sound.”

“Oh? I seem to recall things being rather simple. You promised that you would be able to master the power you were given, but I see little evidence of it.”

“I’ve mastered plenty!”

“Yes, if you only count the ability to destroy things — buildings, bridges, and the like. That’s nothing — the equivalent of letting a child push the plunger on some TNT. Anyone can destroy. What’s needed is mastery of the finer nuances of this power you’ve been granted.”

“Such as?”

“The loyalty spell, for starters. You were supposed to cast a spell to ensure complete loyalty to me and my plans, as there is no honor among thieves. If it were done properly, we wouldn’t have had a traitor on our team today and maybe your brain wouldn’t have received a telepathic flyby.”

“The spell is still in place. When I shined my staff on the assembly minutes ago, I screened everyone present, and they were all still under the influence of magic.”

My ears perked up. I had been in that room when Diabolist Mage had shined his light on everyone. Did that mean that I was supposedly under a spell now? A
loyalty
spell? To
these
people?

“If the loyalty spell is still active and in place, then how do you explain our traitor?” the White Wyrm asked.

“I can’t,” Diabolist Mage said, shaking his head.

The White Wyrm seemed to take this in stride. He turned and began staring out the window once more. He stood there like that for several minutes, so still that he barely seemed alive.

Finally, Diabolist Mage pointed his staff and the window and said, “Perhaps I should—”

“Don’t,” said the White Wyrm firmly, raising his hand in a forbidding gesture while still looking outside. “I’m well aware of the dangers of looking out of the window — of staring into the void. I know that it supposedly drives men mad, which is why I had you remove all the other windows in the castle. But a healthy mind has nothing to fear; only the weak-minded need to worry about what is, or rather isn’t, out there.”

The last part of their conversation seemed odd to me, and I really didn’t follow it. I had no idea what was so special about a window, but I didn’t think it worth wasting a lot of time to find out.

Finally, the White Wyrm looked over his shoulder and spoke. “You should go, Diabolist. Work on mastering the powers you now possess.”

Diabolist Mage didn’t say anything, but I could tell from his emotions that he really didn’t like being told what to do or being casually dismissed.

I thought the Diabolist was about to exit via the stairs and I prepared to follow him. Instead, however, he tapped his staff on the ground and simply disappeared.

Rather than stay there and watch the White Wyrm stare into space, I disappeared myself, teleporting back to my room.

Chapter 32

My sole remaining roommate wasn’t present when I popped into our room, so I became visible and stretched out on my bed. I closed my eyes, trying to process everything I’d recently learned and plot my next move.

I knew who the major players were.

I knew that they had a powerful source of magic.

I knew that they had an army of bad guys who’d fight for them.

I knew that the destruction that had recently occurred was the result of Diabolist Mage manipulating his new power.

I knew that creating weapons strong enough to defeat Alpha Prime was on their agenda.

About the only thing I still didn’t know was the source of the Diabolist’s magic, although it was clear that the items I’d brought in the satchel had benefited him in some way.

Bearing all those facts in mind, maybe it was time for me to get back home and hand the reins to the Alpha League. Any intel I could provide would probably help — especially if Mouse, Esper, and the others had to come back here and face an armed militia.

Or maybe they didn’t have to…

Something cool and ethereal seemed to touch my mind, and I jumped to my feet as inspiration swept through me, the seeds of a plan starting to sprout in my mind. It might not work, but it was worth a shot.

************************************

I had noticed that almost no one here carried any weapons, which probably wasn’t a bad idea considering that the number of supervillains present made for a volatile mix of personalities. (Or maybe the loyalty spell the Diabolist had mentioned played a role in that, fostering camaraderie.) However, Case’s group had gotten equipped with weapons and armor just before they departed. That told me that there was probably an armory somewhere on the premises. The only question was how to find it.

The easiest method would seem to be my little mindreading trick: ask someone where the armory was, pluck the answer from their thoughts, and be on my merry way. However, after my fiasco with trying to peek into the Diabolist’s mind, I was actually a little gun-shy about skimming anyone else’s thoughts. Still, in the end, I didn’t have much choice unless I simply wanted to wander around invisibly from room to room until I came across what I was looking for.

However, rather than just trying to read the thoughts of random individuals, I adopted a different strategy. First, I tried to feel potential candidates out empathically. Those who are often the easiest to pluck thoughts from telepathically also tend to exhibit certain characteristics emotionally. For example, people who are somewhat insecure or extremely uptight are so burdened by their personal issues that getting in and out of their brain is usually a piece of cake.

Using this technique, I quickly learned that there were actually three armories, not one. I briefly pondered whether than meant that the bad guys had so much offensive weaponry that they had to store it in more than one place, or whether this was simply an attempt to avoid putting all their eggs in one basket. Mentally I shrugged, as it ultimately didn’t matter; I was certain I could take out three weapons depots just as easily as one.

The first armory was located in close proximity to our quarters — basically, at the opposite end of (and around the corner from) the hallway that Monitor and I had entered when he had shown me to the door of my room. Oddly enough, the entrance was guarded by my old buddy Imo, who had clashed with me and Alpha Prime at the overpass. Hanging from his hip was the mace he had used in that earlier attack.

As might be expected, I had approached the area invisibly, flying near the ceiling. I phased through the wall above Imo’s head and found myself inside what was probably a forty-by-forty foot room. I gave a low whistle, impressed with what I was seeing.