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Desert Storms 8 1987- Mark Hadron stood in the desert of southern Israel. He looked at the crater he had dug with his device. Ishmael Levram stood at his side. They both held devices to check the surrounding area. “No bodies,” said Levram. “No radiation from the blast. So we had a partial success here.” “The turbulence is high,” said Hadron. “There might be an influx of spirits and other things coming into the area after how I stirred everything up. I guess we’ll have to check it periodically. Milt will make the arrangements when we’re sure that’s what we want to do.” “That was a good demonstration of what could go wrong with the equipment,” said Levram. “Our real throwers would not have blown up like that,” said Hadron. “Unless we meant for them to do that.” “However you look at it, you ruined whatever Amenophis had planned to do,” said Levram. “If we had his body, I would be happy to declare him dead. Since we don’t, I am going to say he escaped somehow.” “He’ll probably want to pay us back for what happened,” said Hadron. “Just one more thing to look out for in the future.” “Pay me back is more likely,” said Ishmael. He smiled. “I would like to talk to him about the plan he hoped to enact. Then I would like to shoot him in the face.” “He probably hoped to get control of the ley lines running out here and use that to boost up to what he really wanted,” said Hadron. “There’s no telling if the geomancer would have kept the boosted power, or not. I’m going to say not.” “So this turbulence,” said Ishmael. “How bad do you think it will be?” “No telling at the moment,” said Hadron. He put away his scanner. “We’ll figure out a list of things you should look out for until things calm down. High on the list will be animal mutilations of any sort.” “Why animal mutilations?,” asked Ishmael. “The spirits will be hungry, but they won’t eat a whole carcass of anything they kill,” said the Lamplighter. “So you have to be aware of any report that shows animals are missing body parts and the rest is discarded.” “Understood,” said Levram. “And if such a thing is going on?” “It will get worse before it gets better,” said Hadron. “Al-a-Din suggested that he might be able to keep an eye on things,” said Ishmael. “That’s fine, but he isn’t going to pay us to sooth over any problems,” said Hadron. “Is money everything?,” asked Ishmael. “It is if you’re poor,” said Hadron. “Is the woman going to help you? You seem to need it.” “I haven’t asked her,” said Ishmael. “I don’t quite understand what she did. I don’t know if having someone with an unknown potential on staff would be good for the department.” “You only have you,” said Hadron. “You have to be kidding me.” “I will need approval to hire her,” said Ishmael. “Do you think that I should?” “I think you need some type of magician-slash-superhuman on staff other than Al-a- Din who might drop dead at any second from the looks of him,” said Hadron. “Hire her, but pay our bill first.” “All right,” said Ishmael. “I will be glad to see what she has to say.” “She might want the government to back her up if she wants to take on Amenophis after this,” said Hadron. “What does it look like, Mark?,” asked Harry. He shuffled his cards in his hands, his hat on the back of his head. “Janie says Milt and Dyson are still having problems with their case.” “We might have to set up a lookout with Ishmael to make sure nothing bad happens,” said Hadron. He frowned at the group in front of him. “There could be a spirit jump here that might flatten out in the next few years.” “Mister Hadron,” said Ishmael. “Suggests that I should hire you, Al-a-Din and Miss Rosenbaum, to assist me if an emergency happens.” “You want to hire us?,” asked Rachel. “What makes you think we want to work for you?” “Because he will need someone who knows what they are doing,” said Hadron. “We can’t hold his hand forever. He needs experts who can deal with things on the ground instead of waiting for us to fly in from the States to save the day.” “And Mark hates the desert,” said Harry. He hid his smile from his friend. “That was going to be my next point,” said Hadron. “Thanks for jumping in with that.” “You’re welcome,” said Harry. “The Scouts will gladly help out,” said Morgan. “But we have the same problem as the Lamplighters. We’re based in Cali, and the flight time is crazy. Plus we might be anywhere doing anything against anyone at any time.” “Barry likes us to look into things when we can,” said Ren. “So you’re going to pay the old man and me to solve mysteries and save the day?,” said Rachel. She frowned at the bearded bureaucrat. “Yes,” said Ishmael. “I know Al-a-Din has spent a long time protecting the region so this is basically just asking him to do what he is already doing for money, but I will need help if Mister Hadron is right.” “I can’t bind myself to working for a government,” said the old man. “So many have come and gone here that I no longer have an interest in listening to nationalists.” “And he is made grumpy dealing with bureaucrats,” said Hakim. “I think I will be the only one you will be working with, and I will be in the field with the both of you,” said Ishmael. “And what will your head say to this?,” asked Rachel. “I do not know what the ministry will say, but since I am the head of the department, I think I can hire the both of you as contractors and turn you loose on any problem that comes under my purview,” said Ishmael. “I have not been audited, but all of my records are up to date and I will be able to go into my budget review with a clear conscience.” “I think you two should look into it,” said Morgan. He smiled. “You don’t want to get into trouble and not have someone to call to get you out. The Israelis might be able to give you a look out into bigger problems in the region.” “And you can’t fix anything wrong if you are on the outside looking in,” said Hadron. “Harry and I have to go, Ishmael. We’ll send you a report with our bill. We’ll also put you on as a priority customer if the turbulence starts bringing things out here. Harry and I have to get our stuff and head back to the Big Apple.” “We’ll give you a lift, Mark,” said Morgan. “We’re heading that way ourselves. I have to call Barry to tell him that I did all the hard work of dispersing that major menace of a cloud. And I blew up Amenophis with my mad skills.” “That’s exactly what I want to hear,” said Hadron. “We’ll put the work contract in with the rest of the paperwork, Ishmael. It was good to meet you, and everything.” “The future looks good for you, Ish,” said Harry. “Thanks for having us visit.” “I will be glad to call you the next time I need some out of country help,” said Ishmael. “Thanks for your help, Mister Morgan.” “De nada,” said Morgan. “Barry will call if he has questions we can’t answer.” “I will be ready with anything I can say,” said Ishmael. “The ministry might not want me to share anything I might have discovered with your help.” “I think Barry has some kind of dispensation,” said Morgan. “I will ask when we get home.” “How did he get that?,” asked Ishmael. Morgan shrugged. Barry Nicklaus had been around for a long time before he had been captured by Watson Security. There was no telling which governments owed him for what was done. Marty had run across old friends in some places where there should not be people. There was no telling what he had done for Israel and what he was owed by the government. “Thanks for the ride home, Marty,” said Hadron. “I don’t know what would have happened if you guys hadn’t shown up. We might have lost Israel without you.” “No problem,” said Morgan. “It means getting back to my kids that much sooner.” “We’ll have to load up,” said Hadron. “Good luck, Ishmael.” “We have to report our rental as being destroyed,” said Ren. “The rental agency won’t like that.” “I forgot about that,” said Marty. “Let’s take care of that while Mark and Harry get their stuff from their hotel.” Daisy lifted her head as the men approached. She stared at Marty. How could he expect her to carry all this weight when an emergency had not been declared? She wanted to laze in the sun more than flying. “We’re heading home,” said Morgan. “Don’t make me talk to the wife.” Daisy grumbled but readied to jump into the air. She put up with the four men climbing on her. She flapped her wings and took to the air. Ishmael watched them go. He looked back at the hole in the ground. He decided that he would leave the scar in the ground. The desert would reclaim that soon enough. “How many people are in your department, Mister Levram?,” asked Rachel. “Just me,” said Ishmael. “I gather information and investigate things. Some things I can deal with easily, and some things I have to get help to solve the problem.” “Just you?,” said Rachel. “Where is the rest of your government?” “My department is a last ditch thing,” said Ishmael. “Unless I do something that is newsworthy, they don’t know I exist except at the funding hearings.” “I would like to consider working with you,” said Rachel. “I have been doing things on my own. I am not sure if I have been successful in my efforts. Maybe I need someone objective to tell me what happened after I was done.” “I would appreciate it,” said Ishmael. “I’m afraid the job comes with a lot of paperwork. I will have a ream to fill out over this.” “Then you have hired me at the right time,” said Rachel. “I have never seen a form I have not been able to not fill out.” “Hakim thinks I should form more connections,” said Al-a-Din. “Perhaps working with younger people will give me a better perspective.” “Really?,” asked Ishmael. “No,” said the old man. “He just thinks that the two of you will blow up the countries around us doing something you should not be doing.” “All right,” said Ishmael. “I haven’t really considered that, but maybe you’re right.” “I think I will walk into town to get a drink,” said the old man. “Is there something you want from me before I go?” “This is a phone,” said Ishmael. “I will call when I am able to get you clearance. You will have to fill out forms for your identification.” Al-a-Din gestured for Hakim to take the device. The butler slid it inside his jacket. “Come along, Hakim,” said the Old Man. “Let’s see what adventure we can find.” “Yes, sir,” said the servant, shaking his head. “You’re going to spend some time bailing them out of trouble,” said Rachel. “That is a concern for the future,” said Ishmael. He handed her a phone. “This is your phone. The agency number and my phone number are already programmed in. I will expedite your paperwork when you have it filled out so you can start receiving pay while I write my report on this. Amenophis will probably try to do something in retaliation. If you see anything strange, call me and I will do what I can.” “Have you run into many strange things?,” asked Rachel. She put the phone in her pocket. “I have seen some things,” said Ishmael. “You can go through the files when you come onboard.” “That seems like a lot of work,” said Rachel. “I have to justify what I do,” said Ishmael. “As my assistant, you will have to come up to speed and show me things I can do better than what we did already.” “All right,” said Rachel. “What’s next?” “I have to fill out the reports, get you and Al-a-Din your work clearances, set up a post here in case Hadron is right, and warn the ministry that the area might be tainted for a bit until it straightens out,” said Ishmael. “You have to come in and fill out the packet for new hires.” “Let me get cleaned up,” said Rachel. “Then we’ll see about all this.”

I would like to pick Hermione Granger as my star pupil CES

Eric Williams, one of the survivors of the border kidnapping that made the news, is home here in Winston. CES

Someone tried to do the don't talk about sexual orientation on a federal level and one of the Republicans at the meeting was just like so whom are you trying to bar with this bill because as written this bill bars anyone from talking about anything involved in a marriage, sex, gender, so forth. I didn't mean for that to happen. It's called the Law of Unforseen Consequences. Maybe you should learn how to read a book so you can see how that works. CES CES

Yes CES I would like to pick Tom Strong as my grad student. CES

I would like to pick Kim Possible as my freshman. CES

Gun tracing would be helped by automated processing like the fingerprint system, or Vicap, but the ATF is forbidden to computerize their records. Their Gov page tries to paint a rosy picture of the process but this is what NBC Chicago says: https://www.nbcchicago.com/violence-in-chicago/how-crime-guns-are-traced-in-the-us-one-page-at-a-time/2615068/ Pay attention to the fact that when they get a request to track a gun, someone has to go into the record area and manually search for the number from the manufacturer, and then call the manufacturer to find out the chain of deals that happened with any one gun. CES

I would like to pick John Constantine as my university pick as contract law professor CES

The Church of Latter Day Saints were fined five million dollars on a 3 billion investment working the church considered tax free CES

Desert Storms 7 1987- “We need to fly a few more miles that way,” shouted Hadron. He pointed in the direction he wanted to move. “We’re close to the center.” “The cloud has shrunken,” said Ishmael. “Observations are saying that it contracted while we were getting the equipment together.” “We can’t worry about that,” said Hadron. “Ren might have done something, but the thing is still going to try to stop us from dispersing it.” “Concentrated beam?,” asked Cho. “Yeah,” said Hadron. “We can’t fire more than fifteen seconds, but that might be enough to punch a hole in the center of this and cause it to collapse.” “Got it,” said Cho. “Give me the high sign when you are ready.” Hadron watched the scanner. The energy in the cloud had dipped, but not completely gone out. Then it had dipped even more. He couldn’t see a passage in the ground but he was sure that whatever was causing this was underground. The scanner would have shown any person, and most monsters, capable of shoving the sand like they were witnessing. They were going to have to dig the problem out after they set part of it on fire. “Can you hover here, Morgan?,” asked Hadron. “Can we hover for the nice man, Daisy?,” Marty asked his dragon. Daisy made a noise that said yes, they could hover for a bit. She flapped her wings to hold them in place in the air. “Shoot, Harry,” said Hadron. He aimed down into the storm and lit it up. The blue flame wasn’t as hot as he liked it, but it was burning the cloud into submission. Cho fired down into the cloud as close as he could to where Hadron had targeted. The second blast helped create a clear circle in the center of the whirlwind. Cracks appeared in the sand below. “Take us down,” said Hadron. “We have to find what we’re looking for before the sand comes back at us.” Marty tapped Daisy on the head and she dove to a landing inside the cleared circles. Hadron and Cho corrected their direction of fire to push against the moving walls they had created. The dragon landed with a thump. “We need to find the door to where we want to go,” said Hadron. “It should be to my right.” “Looks sealed,” said Ishmael. He pulled out a pack from his belt of tools. “We’re going to have to make our own door.” “Do it,” said Hadron. “We won’t be able to hold this back for long.” Ishmael opened the pack. He took out a brick of explosives and jabbed in a detonator. He pushed the button and fled from the area of effect. He had picked a spot where Daisy and the Lamplighters wouldn’t be affected. He smiled when the sand dropped down into an opening. “Take off, Daisy,” said Marty. He dismounted. “Get ready to scoop us up if the sky clears.” Hadron dropped down the hole first. He swung his cannon both ways before marching along the tunnel. Ishmael and Marty dropped down next, then Cho. Harry kept an eye on their back as they moved toward the source of energy. Someone had been digging out smooth tunnels from the looks of things. Hadron paused when he stepped into what looked like a throne room. He swung the scanner around, pointing the cannon wherever it indicated. He didn’t see a mastermind. “I don’t see Ren,” said Marty. “Which way do we go?” “That way,” said Hadron. “All right,” said Marty. “Let me turn loose something to break open this cracker box.” “I don’t think so,” said a relic from another age. “I still have work to do. You’re going to have to go in a cell until I am done. Amenophis will decide what to do with you when your use as batteries is done.” “I think you should wear some clothes, bud,” said Harry. He tipped back his fedora. “And while you are looking for a suit, we’re going to need our friend back and for you to stop your cloud.” “Who do you think you are?,” said the sand king. He raised his hands. “I control the flow of the Earth. You can’t stop it.” “Light him up,” said Hadron. Hadron and Cho fired their cannons at the sand king. A wall of earth blocked the twin streams. Marty ran along the side to try to get around. Ishmael didn’t know what he should be doing, but he needed to help out. If the Lamplighters fell, his country would go back to being in danger from the magician in front of him. He had a pistol and had been trained. He felt bullets wouldn’t go through the wall. How could he use it to end this fight. He moved to one side. He shot once at the minion of Amenophis. The sand blocked the bullet as soon as it came within reach. He frowned. How fast could the wall block his bullets? He decided to empty the magazine to see what would happen. He pulled the trigger until the slide locked back when the gun was empty. The wall exploded to knock his projectiles out of the air to protect its master. Hadron moved forward. He frowned at the way the wall kept him from wrecking it. The blue flame dispersed magic, but the cannon wasn’t powerful enough to disperse everything like he wanted. Even with Harry helping him, they were barely holding on. “I think you should give up,” said an old man dressed like a Chinese peasant. “Now that we are free, your scheme is over.” “The old man is right,” said a woman in t-shirt and shorts. “You are done. And Amenophis will be done as soon as we’re through with you.” The sand king half-turned and flung a battering ram at the new arrivals. The woman stepped in the way and raised her arm. A shield of light stopped the sand on contact. The ram broke down into a pile at her feet. “Hakim?,” asked the old man. “Please counterattack.” The butler pushed the air with his hand. All the loose sand in front of him blasted at the sand king who fought to divert it from his body. The carrying wind was enough to fling him into the air. He caught himself with soft earth before crashing to the ground. “You attacked us out of the shadows when we couldn’t defend ourselves,” said the woman. “Now that the ground is more even, how do you like it?” She chopped the air with her hand, cloaking herself in protective armor. A helm covered her face last. She pulled a blade as she marched forward. “Do you really think we can take Amenophis?,” Cho asked. He pointed his rifle vaguely at the sand king. “Ask me that if he does show up,” said Hadron. “It looks like the magicians are going to take care of the rest of this for us. We need to find Ren and be ready to move out if Amenophis does show up.” “I have no objections,” said Ishmael. He had one full magazine for his pistol. He exchanged that for the empty as he moved away from the magic combat. The last thing he wanted was to catch a stray curse. Hadron waved the others to pull back before he did. The sand king and the armored woman traded physical spells across the room. He paused as Hakim punched the enemy through a sandy wall. “The old man is well known,” said Ishamael. “The government leaves him alone because of his butler.” “I wonder why,” said Cho. “All right,” said Hadron. “We’re letting them fight. We need to get Ren and pull back. If our side wins, your sandstorm is done. If he wins, we get the others and come back to burn as much of this down as we can with real guns and equipment.” “I agree completely,” said Ishmael. “The door out is that way.” Hadron pointed his cannon down the tunnel they had used. He frowned at the reading he got from the attached scanner. Someone was already in the tunnel. He opened up with blue flame to deal with whomever was there. He paused when he saw the flame hit something down there and stopped pushing forward. “Time’s up!,” shouted Hadron. “Amenophis is here!” “Where’s Marty?,” asked Cho. “We don’t have the weapons for this.” “Hakim?,” said the old man. “I think we need an exit strategy for our young friends.” The butler grew upwards, smashing through the ceiling with his giant body. He grabbed a helicopter out of the air and crashed it into the ground. He looked around for anyone else to challenge his physical power. The exit tunnel collapsed on Amenophis and whomever else he had brought with him. Hadron saw the shield take a hit before it vanished under the earth. Maybe they could have taken him in a straight fight, but he doubted it. People had been chasing Amenophis for years and he always walked away. Just driving him off and breaking his minion had to be a win today. Daisy swooped down and landed inside the newly renovated bad guy base. She looked around for Marty. At least he was still alive. “Everybody on the dragon!,” shouted Hadron. “We have to back up and regroup.” Hadron pushed Ishmael and Cho in front of him toward the giant lizard. He waved at the old man to run, wondering if he had to go over and lift the guy up and carry him out of danger. The woman pointed her sword at the hole the sand king had plunged through. Dozens of blades punched through the wall. The helmet hid her expression so it wasn’t clear if she had actually hit with her finishing move. Daisy looked around with her dish eyes. She growled at Hadron as he reached for her foreleg. Marty and Ren appeared out of the other door. The Animal waved at the dragon as he ran toward her. His friend trailed behind at a slower pace. “We’re leaving?,” Marty asked. “As fast as we can,” said Hadron. He looked at the two places he expected his enemies to pop out. The sand king showed himself as everyone else boarded the dragon. He lit the magician up with the blue flame. He threw the cannon away when smoke poured out of the device. “We have to go before the gun blows up.” “You heard the man, Daisy,” said Marty. He started climbing the arm to the dragon’s shoulder. “Let’s go before we get caught in an explosion.” The group pulled themselves together and Daisy lifted up. She flew through the hole in the roof and headed for a clear sky. She headed south. “What are we waiting to happen?,” said the woman. Her armor faded away. “My weapon was cobbled together make believe,” said Hadron. He watched the hole fade away behind them. “And it is going up. I don’t know how much damage it will cause when it goes up.” Hakim landed beside Al-a-Din. He raised a hand in a warding gesture. A column of blue flame erupted from the hole. Sand and wind blew outward from the explosion. A network of veins collapsed under the pressure. Hakim diverted everything he could as Daisy carried them to safety. “I think you should power down the semi-flamer,” said Hadron. “Then I think we should take it apart before it blows up on us.” Cho held his hat to his head as he nodded at the thought.

Nick Tesla is still free. Robo is his robotic son and successor as the protector of humanity from weird stuff CES

I would like to pick Atomic Robo Tesla as a teacher of historic exotic sciences CES

I need two archaeologists in my department. I am picking Dr. Henry Jones Jr as one of those. CES

Author Posted 1 hour ago I was afraid of that. I'm sniped! (Was going to make zookeeper.) Always one, sometimes two. CES

Department of Archaeology The Dean is Dr Kent Nelson. CES

Before I forget, Ron Desantis apparently signed the law to take Disney's self governance away. CES

I have to agree with Vlad. The only thing that can really hurt Fox is the loss of viewers and as long as they tell their audience they are right, nothing will change. Now if these two lawsuits hurt Fox so bad that they can't stay on the air, maybe Murdoch will say something. I doubt they are going to fire Tucker Carlson as long as he keeps implying things instead of saying it plainly. He would need a scandal and lawsuit like Bill O'Reilly for that to happen. CES

The part that stood out to me was prior to the study there were only five a decade and then all of sudden there are five in a month. I don't want to say there is a causal link with the Obama and Trump Admins but 5/decade then 21/2010, and five in the last two years. That's not counting the things like the Pelosi attack. We're just looking at mass shootings. CES

I'm ready CES

Something that has come up here locally (I actually didn't know which thread to post it in, but decided on this one because it is kind of about a proposed new law), Representatives here in NC want to ban the use of mug shots in public forums. They state that it compromises the future of people with minor crimes by being identified by hypothetical employers and others. This is the opposite of laws being put in effect to keep police body camera footage from the public except by a subpoena by other reps. CES

From Tennessee, Andy Ogles has been reported as lying about his whole resume like George Santos. CES

Watched Morbius. My son and I agreed that the speed effects were bad, and there were a couple of green screen failures. The story was middling. CES

The sheriff of Ashe County has opened a box to drop off unwanted babies so they can be fostered CES

They had Dare and Devil but I don't remember who the combinations were. The best combination was Dr Strangefate who became the villain of one of the follow up series. CES

Desert Storms 6 1987 Ren opened his eyes to a voice asking if he was all right, and sand rubbing everywhere. He should have stayed home. He could be eating flapjacks with Corona and Bond instead of being trapped wherever he was at the moment. He was in a cylinder of light. Signs had been engraved in a platform under him and in the ceiling above him. He touched the transparent wall with the sleeve of his coat. Smoke rolled off the cuff as he watched it. “If you try to jump through the cage wall, you will be burned badly,” said the voice again. Ren examined the rest of the room he was trapped in. His cylinder stood in a triangle facing two other cylinders. An old man dressed in the style of ancient China and a man dressed in what the detective thought of as butler tuxedo took up one of the cylinders. The old man was bald, wrinkled beyond belief, and calm about being trapped. His servant stood at parade rest behind him, as impassive as any butler born. Ren wasn’t sure the butler was human. The other cylinder held a woman with dark hair and green eyes. She wore a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. A rune covered the back of her hand. “How do you do?,” asked Ren. He looked down and didn’t see his bag. He looked around the room and spotted it on the floor next to his cell. “Caught by the storm?,” asked the woman. “Yes,” said Ren. “My friend and I were looking at the cloud when it expanded. I think I took a hit. My name is Ren.” “I’m Al-a-Din,” said the old man. He gestured at his servant. “This is Hakim.” “I’m Rachel Rosenbaum,” said the woman. “The cells prevent the use of magic.” “That is unfortunate,” said Ren. He checked the pockets of his coat. He smiled when he felt his tool kit in his jacket. “Is that why we’re in these magical cells?” “We think the person who put us in these is draining our ability to cast magic to do whatever he is doing,” said Rachel. “He’s in control of a giant sandstorm,” said Ren. He pulled out his tool kit. “We were examining it when it caught me. My friend was not taken, so he might be working on a way to get here and do something to stop the cloud.” “Is he a magician?,” asked Rachel. “No,” said Ren. He smiled. “He’s an adventurer.” “What good is that going to do us?,” said Rachel. “He will act as a distraction while I think of a way to get us out of here,” said Ren. “I would love to see that,” said Rachel. She threw up her hands. “How will you get us out of here?,” asked Al-a-Din. He leaned forward as much as he could to watch Ren work. “I plan to open my cylinder, and then yours,” said Ren. He looked through his tool kit until he found a pair of pliers. “Then we shall look around to see what we can do about the man behind the giant cloud.” He dug at the material in the floor of his holding tank. He found a loose stone and worried it until it popped loose. He placed the stone out of the way. He needed to pull a few more before he could make the burning light wall fail. He worked on the stones as carefully as he could. The last thing he needed was to trigger an alarm. Any capable mage would see what he was doing at a glance. Then reinforcement would happen and his chance would be gone. He frowned at the way the floor tried to grow over his attempt to fracture it. He pulled out a rod from his tool kit. He yanked one of the stones from the sign. He sank the rod into the floor to keep it from closing the wound he had made. “That’s interesting,” said Ren. He took out two more of the rods. He would have enchanted them, but his reserve of magical energy had been eaten by his cell. “What’s interesting?,” asked the old man. “The enchantment on the bottom of our tanks heals when we do things to them,” said Ren. He pulled another piece of stone out of the way. He drove a rod down inside of the wound. “I wonder how much I have to destroy before the wall cuts off.” “Perhaps as much as half,” said Hakim. “The wall is fading. You should perhaps hurry. I don’t think we’ll be alone long. The storm king will want to question you about your capabilities soon enough.” “I don’t think what I have will be that useful to him,” said Ren. He extracted one more piece of the floor and saw the beams stop above the bottom of the cylinder. “I was taught things to help me solve mysteries.” “Anything is useful in more than one way,” said the old man. “There are two exits that I have seen. One is behind you. The other is to your right. I don’t know if either leads outside.” Ren put away his tool kit and covered his head as he rolled through the gap in his cell. He stood up. That worked better than he thought it would. He looked around for a switch to turn off the other cylinders. “You might want to leave,” said the old man. “That will cause some trouble for the enemy.” “Let me think of a way to cut your cylinders off first,” said Ren. He picked up his bag and draped it over his shoulder. “If I can get you three out of those things, that will cut the cloud off. Marty will have an easier time breaching this place to help us.” “All of this was formed from a magic command of the sand,” said Rachel. “You would need something to punch through both of the caps.” “I don’t really have anything that can do that,” said Ren. “I do have a pocket knife that I can pass one of you so you can work on freeing yourselves while I look around.” “Give it to Al-a-Din,” said Rachel. “Hakim is more powerful than I am in the right circumstances.” Ren took out his tool kit and picked out the pliers, a chisel, and a small hammer. He pushed them through the wall of the cell. The metal smoked as the magical laser wall ate at them. Hakim waved his hand over the metal to cool the tools off. “I’m going to look around and see if there is a way to let Marty in,” said Ren. “I will come back and get you people out of this.” “Take your time,” said Rachel. “We’ll be able to free ourselves soon enough,” said the old man. He waved Ren away as Hakim dug into the bottom of their cell. He shoved the rocks out on the floor with his feet. Ren decided to take the door to the right. It seemed to lead deeper into the facility. Maybe he could talk their captor down. He thought his chances were poor to do that. He had come to some conclusions with the information he had, and things looked bad at the moment. He was obviously dealing with a magician capable of shaping stone. He had seized a spot in Southern Israel that gave him control of the local area. The captured magicians had been drained to help power his sandstorm. The only question was what was he trying do with his magical storm. Ren had a few ideas and none of them were conducive to a peaceful resolution. And he would have to do something to hold the magician in place until the others were free, or Marty arrived to save the day. And he was sure that Marty would track him down. The Animal had waited ten years, but had finally hunted down the killers of his former family and freed his adopted father. He would try to find Ren, one way or the other. The detective skulked along until he found what looked like a wide open space turned into living quarters. He looked around for another exit in case he had to retreat. He didn’t have a lot of magical power, but he should be able to distract the brain behind this long enough for others to take a hand. How long would he have to hold? He doubted he would be able to do that for long. Still, he had a few tricks that should be useful. “How did you get out of your battery?,” said a voice to Ren’s right. Ren raised an eyebrow at the man confronting him. The man had wrapped himself in a cotton tunic, with sandals and a pharaoh’s wimple. Gold bracelets covered his arms. He held a hooked staff in one hand. “How do you do?,” asked Ren. “My name is Ren. I am here to talk to you about my accommodations. There is a need to improve them if you want me to stay here.” “I’m afraid my plan doesn’t call for your comfort,” said the sand king. “I have been designated by Amenophis to gather as much of the sand to me as I can and hold this position until he orders me to action. You will have to go back to your cell until I receive that word.” “I expect that you will trouble long before Amenophis will be able to order you into action,” said Ren. “You’ve attracted too much attention. The Israelis know you are here and plan to root you out.” “Do you really think that is possible?,” said the sand king. He made a gesture with his staff. “I have control over a wide expanse of the desert. They will not be able to do anything to stop me once I start the cloud moving.” Ren didn’t like that. As long as the cloud was in the desert, it was mostly harmless. People and animals could avoid it, buildings were out of the way, water was confined to oasis that could be dug out after a storm. If the storm was diverted into a metropolis, the toll would be outstanding. Anything living caught on the street would be flayed alive. Anything loose would be turned into dangerous projectiles. Even cars could be thrown around in a high enough wind. “I see you understand the implications,” said the sand king. “And there is nothing anyone can do to stop me.” “I’m willing to try,” said Ren. “Do you really think you can stop me?,” said the sand king. “I don’t think you have any spells that can touch me.” “I have one thing,” said Ren. He raised a hand. Light blasted across the room, blinding his opponent. He fled the room back toward the cell room. That didn’t go as well as I thought it would. He paused in the cell room. He looked around and spotted the other exit. He dashed toward that, waving at the others. He didn’t take the time to explain what was going on. He was sure they would understand as soon as the other man appeared. He just had to buy time so Marty could find him, or the others to escape and shake off the drain. He didn’t know how long that would take and knew his own power was at low ebb. He didn’t have enough to hypnotize a door yet. He found a long tunnel on the other side of the exit door. He ran down its length. If there was a door leading outside, he might be able to do enough to get through the storm. On the other hand, if he didn’t have enough power, this might be his last stand and being thrown outside could flay him alive. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with Corona being angry at him for being trapped like a rat. The sides of the tunnel narrowed. Dust fell to the floor. The roof shook. “I don’t have time to do this,” said the sand king. He advanced down the tunnel from the other end. “You are going to be contained, then I will make sure that you can’t escape again.” “I don’t think so,” said Ren. “I think as long as I am free, I am a stick in the spokes of whatever Amenophis planned. So I think I will remain free to do whatever I want.” “You don’t have the power to do that,” said the sand king. He pointed his staff at Ren. The end of the exit tunnel wrapped around the detective. “Get out of that.” “Give me a second, and I will,” said Ren. He smiled to show his good cheer. “I think I won’t give you that chance,” said the sand king. He gestured with his staff and the hand moved down the wall, dragging Ren with it. He dragged the detective back into the cell room. He paused. His captives glared at him, but they seemed to be hiding something. He gestured the hand to carry his captive to the third space. He ejected the rods and urged the platform to heal completely. “I don’t know what you three think is going to happen, but Amenophis will be here soon,” said the sand king. “Your position will be worse then.” “What makes you think you will still be here?,” asked Rachel. “Your plan is crumbling around you.” “Whatever happens, I will use you to power my creation,” said the sand king. “Not even the Mark will be able to stop the destruction ahead.” “I think you are wrong,” said Ren. He smiled again. “I think you are overestimating what you can do.” “What makes you say that?,” asked the sand king. He looked up. “What is going on up there?” He placed Ren in his cell and fled toward his living quarters. He couldn’t hide his alarm. “What do you think is going on?,” asked Rachel. Ala-a-Din and Hakim stepped out of their cell. “My friend is back to help us out,” said Ren.