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Stories from the Verse
Re Verse All
Chapter 54: Beam 73
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Takano 30
Over the next several days Beam had Sophia cast her scrying spell at least once, sometimes twice, each day so he could try to run through as many nearby apartments as he could. Thus, he was at the screen when Bron called him.
“J.D.?”
Bron was right there behind him in the living room, and Beam didn’t want Sophia to lose her concentration, so without taking his eyes off the screen, he answered, “Yes, Bron?”
“I think maybe we have a problem.”
“Oh?” he said hopefully encouragingly.
“Well, I tried to devise a spell that would find people, and I cast it, and--well, I think you should take a look out in the common area.”
The common area? That would be that big cavern to which all the apartments were attached. Beam almost stood up to walk to the door, but then realized that Sophie’s scrying spell was still working, so he typed in the address of their own apartment complex common area.
The screen showed more than fifty adults, sort of oddly dressed, many carrying makeshift primitive weapons, and accompanied by at least as many children of all ages.
Beam swore under his breath. What he said to Bron was, “I see. Well, let’s deal with this. Dawn? Bob? We’ve got company.”
Rising, he walked to the door, and was soon accompanied by his team. He put Dawn directly behind him so she could flank him once they were through the door.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with five other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #370: Characters Confront. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
