Beckton stepped through the fourth row of bombe racks, trying valiantly to ignore the incessant clicking of the cryptologic machines as they crunched their way through yet another coded message. He drew from his right pocket one of the large box magazines…

Silvertown led the way into the darkened construction hall. Electronic components, vacuum tubes, and the occasional scrawl of developmental magic were everywhere in the open space - lying across drafting tables and workbenches alike.

Osterley tried to ig…

"Coming up on the anomaly now," I whispered. "All seems normal."

"Copy that. Telemetry looks good from here."

The steady hiss of oxygen coming from the compressed tank on my back punctuated each step as I made my way over the uneven ground. As I did, th…

There's a darkness in you. It hides in our whole family. It's a sickness that must be fought and accepted in equal parts. I know it. You won't, not until you look inside yourself without flinching and recognize that your darkness shares your face. It's in…

Beckton frowned at this, but rather than making eye contact with Silvertown checked his weapon.

"What do we know about the message?"

"Very little. Director Ackerson knew more. He's meant to be in his office."

No-one needed to say what had likely happen…

Newkirk tore his eyes away from the dangerously beautiful agent when Osterley coughed pointedly.

"Perivale was wounded in a firefight with Moritz and enemy saboteurs. Newkirk engaged and destroyed Moritz. Now we're here for Bleecker."

Silvertown pressed…

When a human silhouette appeared in a doorway to their left, Newkirk was quick to react. He raised an arm and gathered a firebolt to throw -

Osterley gently but very firmly pushed his arm down.

"Silvertown, I presume."

The figure slowly lowered the len…

Newkirk felt Osterley grab at his sleeve as she fell, but before he was pulled off his feet she let go and rolled to a halt. She sprang up seconds later, letting her heavy woolen cloak fall - already going up in flames. The agent threw it aside and ran th…

Beckton brought them to a screeching halt in a cloud of acrid-smelling tyre smoke. Both agents left the vehicle immediately, taking cover behind their open doors and firing from behind them in the manner of policemen.

The headlights threw long shadows th…

The laboratory was a large and blocky building. It was set back from the road, but no fence surrounded it, nor was there a checkpoint outside. The entire assemblage was dark, however, and slightly forboding in stillness and silence.

Osterley gave it a sh…

Osterley cocked her head in an inquisitive manner.

"What have you seen?"

Newkirk closed his eyes, his voice assuming the deep tones of prophecy.

"I see... spinning electric equipment in numbered rows. Spellcasters exchange fire at close range. A figure…

A sudden and violent attack of nausea hit Osterley without warning, almost doubling her over, and by the time she had recovered she was interrupted by the arrival of Private Carson and another soldier with a medic's armband.

"Sarge... ma'am. You all righ…

Screams, hundreds of them, howled in waves. Sometimes they joined together in choral unison, almost like a hymn, sometimes in overlapping layers clashing to be heard. It was as if the tortured voices from every hospital and from every war zone that had ev…

The story Uncle Charlie told went that some Columbians had jacked a Volvo and tried to outrun the cops. The heavy frame of the car and low engine power kept it from gaining any distance from the black and white cruisers and their grim faced drivers. Uncle…

The sergeant's eyes flew open. He tried to sit up, but Osterley pressed him down with a firm hand.

"Sergeant? I'm Agent Osterley."

The wounded man did a strange thing then. He looked into her eyes with a disconcertingly intense stare and huffed a pained…

A hush dropped over the battlefield suddenly. Those with firsthand experience or a larger degree of common sense stayed down, while those of a curious nature were transfixed by the sight of Newkirk stepping out into the road.

Or rather, they watched a wi…

At the sound of Grouse's shout Beckton turned - pivoting on both feet and dropping to one knee at once, just as an older man in a dark-grey overcoat and (somewhat incongruously) a German-style steel helmet came around the corner in pursuit.

The private,…

So many of the businesses in Lickton were gated, barred, or just downright broken. The damage wasn't contained to businesses either. Boarded up windows and doors hid fearfully behind waist high fences burdened with condemned signs, neither of which kept a…

When his cell dinged as an alarm, a single note strong and pure as a minister's daughter, Lamar didn't even break stride to check it. He knew what it was. Every day the same alarm reminded him to be home for dinner. He had an hour to get there and be a da…

Beckton was waving a pair of troopers up to a delivery van that was missing most of its roof when he saw Osterley leap out from behind it and hare off up the street.

"What's that girl doing, sir?"

"That girl is Agent Osterley, Private Grouse. With me,…

And the mask did shimmer and flow like molten gold

but where did the tattered robe of the exalted King go?

Chant and scream until all in unison sing--

Once, for the twin suns that rival to be seen,

Twice, for the black stars and the glow of strange moons,…

I watched as a deep, dark, gulf widened between two people leaning against the same Honda Civic. Papers had been served, the process of divorce started. It wasn't too late to stop but it was too late to stop without consequences. My sister's whole body wa…

Behind the shimmering curtain of rain, made bright by passing headlights, a stately house appeared. Faint at first, its thin translucence swallowed the house that had been built in its absence. As the rain splashed against the walls and roof, the house be…

Osterley felt Newkirk lean in close, speaking into her ear rather than raising his voice.

"It's unlikely that both Moritz and Yorck are here. We should eliminate whichever one is and move on."

"But how?"

"Go with Beckton. Provoke them into firing at yo…

In the dark my hands made twisted shapes, more through intuition than direction. They danced like they belonged to a conductor, while my fingers played the air in long strokes like a pianist's. I was aware of their movements but I couldn't see them. They …