Experimental Proofs: Ars Scientiaque Magicae Book Five

By Jonathan Edward Feinstein

The Tzali now have a claw-hold on Maiyim's moon and a massive asteroid invasion base from which they are preparing for the final invasion of Maiyim. Meanwhile, the sinister Sons and Daughters of Maiyim are manipulating both sides to their own ends, but when the Maiyim Strike Force suddenly invades the Olen School and abducts the Tzali loner and their ally, Pulac-pa, they all have a new set of enemies to deal with.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312301627

Book preview

Experimental Proofs: Ars Scientiaque Magicae Book Five

Experimental Proofs

Ars Scientiaque Magicae Book Five

by

Jonathan Edward Feinstein

Copyright © 2014 by Jonathan E. Feinstein

All Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Megafilk Press, Jonathan E. Feinstein, 923 Drift Road, Westport, MA 02790

Cover art:      This photograph, entitled Water Bays Foggy Skyline Sunrise, was taken by Jon Sullivan. This is a public domain image, not copyrighted and no rights reserved but can be found with many others at www.public-domain-image.com.

ISBN:

978-1-312-30162-7

Stories by Jonathan Edward Feinstein

Gaenor’s Quest

The Red Light of Dawn

The Black Clouds of Noon

The Rainbow of Dusk

The Cold Clear Skies of Midnight

The Maiyim Stories

The Maiyim Tetralogy

World of Water

Men of the Earth

Island of Fire

Gods of the Air

Three Stories of Maiyim

A Deadly Union

An Interesting Title

A Shattered Family

Ars Nova Magica (and related side stories)

The Maiyim Bourne

The Staff of Aritos

   A Promising Career

   A Fine Adventure

The Tears of Methis

   Freshman Orientation

The Book of Candle

   Dry Dock

Ars Scientiaque Magicae

Unexpected Reactions

Hypothetical Notions

Theoretical Bases

   Lift Off!

Required Components

Experimental Proofs

The Terralano Venture

Agree to Disagree

By the Light of the Silvery Moons

There Goes the Neighborhood

Down Time, Ltd.

Down Time

Taking Time

Time Out

Show Time!

Double Time

A Plethora of Deities

Downhill All the Way

In the Sky with Diamonds

The Seed

The Tree

Tempting the Fates

Teasing the Furies

Inspiring the Muses

Dancing with the Sphinx :Waltz

Dancing with the Sphinx :Tango

Dancing with the Sphinx :Foxtrot (Forthcoming)

The Wayfarers

A Land without Borders

A World without  a Name

A Nation without Maps

A Country without Unity

A Continent without Form

An Ocean without Charts (Forthcoming)

The Pirates of Pangaea

An Accidental Alliance

The Unscheduled Mission

A Planned Improvisation

The Forced Alternative

Other Stories

Elf Alert!

A Study in Ethnology

Off on a Tangent

Author’s Foreword

Over the last two years I have been writng reviews of audiobooks on my blog (http://jonathanfeinstein.wordpress.com/). The blog began as two blogs, one at Lulu.com and the other on Microsoft’s Live.com and served only to announce my own books in various formats. Eventually, both Microsoft and Lulu decided not to host blogs and both got automatically shunted to Wordpress… and I am on a tangent, aren’t I? Anyway announcing new books does not happen very often and along with one or two posts of personal observations it was a very unread blog… putting it in the vast majority of such things.

Since I started writing, I have not had a lot of time to read other authors’ works, which is a shame because I really like to read. It does not matter if it is a real book, a PDA screen or my Kindle. I like reading, but as most of my spare time is spent proofing my own stories I just do not have the time to look at anything written by someone elseoften enough to suit myself. Solution? Audiobooks. I can buy them in various stores or download them and then listen to them in my car. Sure, that means listening for only a few minutes at a time, but I average over one audiobook per week, so that’s not too bad.

The one downside about audiobooks, though, is that you have to listen to all of them. Well, you could skip ahead, but that’s cheating. You can’t skim a poem or song in the middle of a text, you have to listen to the whole thing. I mentioned that in my first blog entry on that subject, "Would Someone Please Shut the Hobbits Up?!?" which was a review of audio editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. They were quite enjoyable but when listening to someone else read them, the frequent stops for songs, especially early on in the stories, really got in the way of the actual story. When reading to oneself, of course, the experience is different… and you can always bookmark the pages and go back to them if you want.

Good news… I did not include any poems or songs in this book.

You also have to listen to the author’s forewords and postscripts. (Sorry. I am including one of those.) Listening to some of them, I am most impressed by the sheer ego displayed by some of those who wrote them. I found myself thinking Is that what I sound like? Well I hope not, but just in case, I apologize if that is the case. I think an author’s notes should complement and enhance the story they accompany, not grant the author yet another soapbox to spout off from. Having just said that, I realize that is exactly what I have done, again. Oh well…

Experimental Proofs is the next to last book planned for Ars Scientiaque Magicae (The Art and Science of Magic). It’s been a few years since Islandtwist and Spinnaker returned to Olen with the captive Tzali – an invading alien from space – named Pulac-pa. In that time, Pulac-pa has overcome his skepticism about magic and learned how to cast some basic spells. In fact, he is fairly accomplished for a second or third year apprentice. Twist and Spin are still master mages, but working on their wizards’ degrees while teaching at the Olen School. And meanwhile the Tzali continue to attack Maiyim from their base on the moon, Midbar, as their battle asteroid continues to approach the planet for what will be the final battle between Maiyim and the Tzali.

Enjoy!

Jonathan Edward Feinstein

Westport, MA

June 7, 2014

Prologue

The plan is ill-conceived, one of the men at the long table complained. Nineteen people attended this meeting. Once they had numbered a full two dozen, but there had been losses. Even in the past, however, their membership had fluctuated.

The tall Orentan woman at the head of the table glared at him. We have been through this, she told him coldly. The matter was settled years ago. She glanced out a wide picture window. It was snowing lightly outside and the nearby mountain and its ski trails were inviting. It annoyed her that they were rehashing issues that should have been resolved.

The situation has changed, the man, a short and rotund human responded. We know more about these Tzali invaders than we did then.

We know they do not use any form of magic as we know it, a Granomish nobleman pointed out. Granomen were also short and broad in stature, but unlike the human, this one was not fat, but with firm muscles under his chalk white skin. That leaves them vulnerable.

They seem to be doing all too well against the combined military forces of Maiyim, a human woman argued. They are firmly established on our moon, Midbar, and there is nothing we can do to get them off. There is nothing we could do to keep them from taking all of Midbar if they wanted it.

That’s just it, the first man told her. They do not want Midbar. It’s an airless world where people can only live in artificial habitats. They want a real world. They want Maiyim. They do not want any competing species around when they get here.

True, a Granomish woman agreed. She was no relation to the nobleman and, in fact, was a new member to this select group, having been invited a year earlier due to her vast riches acquired via shrewd business deals. It seems to me that by helping these Tzali crush the existing nations, we shall be putting ourselves in an inferior position. Once they hold Maiyim they will have no need for us and our help.

I said this has been settled, the Orentan woman repeated. You have all been shown our defense against the Tzali. Let the combined military wear down the Tzali for us. Whichever side wins will then be too weak to resist us.

It is an impressive spell you plan to use, the Granomish woman admitted, but no one spell can do all you claim.

It is hardly our only resource, an Orentan man commented from the far end of the table. With our own people rising through the ranks of this new Maiyim Strike Force, we will have a private army of our own when the time comes.

When the time comes? the first dissenter argued. We cannot depend on a resource that is not yet ours. Next you will tell us we have already beaten the Tzali and rule the world. If plans like this one worked, we would have controlled all Maiyim generations ago. This is foolish!

The debate continued on and the chairwoman made careful notes on the terminal in front of her. When she next looked up the arguments had started to slide into name-calling. That would never do. Their group thrived on lively debate, but it had always been done with civility. She noted that the two main troublemakers were that human man who had begun the argument and that Granomish woman who was relatively new to the group. A shame, the chairwoman thought, I had such hopes for her.

The chairwoman fiddled with the keys of her terminal and a moment later the two trouble makers were enveloped in egg-shaped fields of sickly green and yellow light that pulsed with oddly convoluted symbols that formed on the surface of the eggs. Inside the man and woman screamed in agony for a full minute until they suddenly disappeared.

Chairwoman Henowa Bai looked down the table and asked, Does anyone else have a problem with the plan?

Part 1 – Darren Plumber

One

Wizard Amble looked at his class. This semester he was teaching Magic Theory to the second year students. Since Oceanvine the Younger, Amble’s ancestor, had founded the Olen Institute for Advanced Magical Studies, or the Olen School for short, the faculty had learned that while students should learn the theory behind the magic they used, it was generally best not to hit them with it in the very first year of classes. Theory helped students to understand what they did and how to do still more, but in a beginning student it could also cause them to over-think the process and thereby slow their progress to a crawl. It was far better to let them get comfortable with learning a repertoire of beginners’ spells before teaching them how they worked.

A student raised his hand. Yes, Mister Tonner? Amble asked amiably.

Sir, the student began respectfully, I must be missing something, but it seems to me that there is no real difference between tech-magic and… uh, he paused to search for the right word, but Amble finished his sentence for him.

Manually deployed magic, perhaps? the wizard smiled. Tonner nodded and Amble went on. You don’t think that there is a difference when tech-magic spells are cast mechanically while it takes a mage to cast a spell in what I suppose is the old-fashioned method?

But the spells are the same, Tonner maintained. If I use a firelighter, the fire spell in it is the same as one I might cast myself.

With individual differences of style between mages accounted for, Amble allowed, you are correct. He was slightly distracted by a sound coming from outside. It sounded like several flyers going by in close formation and he decided it must a squadron on a patrol or training from the airbase about thirty miles down the coast to the south.

And even the basic spells for tech magic devices, Tonner continued, feeling more sure of himself now, have to be first programmed in, or cast as we might say, by a techmage so that the spell in a firelighter is identical to the one the original techmage cast. Uh… isn’t it? The sounds of the flyers dimmed and then grew louder again as though they had flown past the school and then turned around again. The noise seemed to indicate the flyers had hovered overhead for a few moments before continuing on.

Amble chuckled. Yes, of course. The big difference between tech-magic and manually cast magic is in the uniformity of spell signatures from a line of tech-magic devices versus the wide range of spell signature differences we find in manually cast spells. Spell signatures will vary, not only from mage to mage, but will vary slightly each time you cast a spell. A spell cast by a mage fully alert, rested and relaxed will look different from the same spell cast by the same make when he or she is tired or under stress. In Magic Diagnostics classes you will learn how to differentiate some of those variances, but for now…

Just then, the door to the classroom was kicked in and men in dark green armor bearing rifles rushed in. Amble reacted instantly with a large bubble of force usually called a projectile ward, but except to widen the door, it had no effect on the invading troops. Null-magic armor! Amble realized suddenly and instead used a telekinetic spell to throw the large metal teachers’ desk at them. Next he collapsed the ceiling of the room on to some of the soldiers, but was hampered because he did not want to injure any of his students. Then the soldiers opened fire and the last thing Amble heard for a while were the screams.

Across campus Master Islandtwist had been teaching a class of young children when she heard the sounds of the flyers. She enjoyed working with the kids. They had such a sense of wonder when working with magic and it kept the subject fresh for her as well. Unlike, Wizard Amble, her father, she did not attempt to carry on, but walked over to a nearby window and saw the soldiers as they jumped out of the hovering flyers, using personal jet packs to control their descent. Everyone, she commanded her students. "Get down on the floor and stay there until I get back. Then she grabbed a wooden staff with rings of bronze on either end and dashed out the door without bothering to see if she had been obeyed.

Lord Olen, or Frederick Jenynges as he had been named at birth, owned a long wide wharf on one end of his estate. He kept his personal yacht there, and also allowed Islandtwist and her husband, Master Spinnaker to keep their boat, the Maiyim Bourne docked there as well. Actually, that was as much to Freddy’s benefit as it was to his cousins as it kept Maiyim Jenynges, the boat’s sapient personality, nearby as well and he had come to rely on her in a number of ways.

Maiyim Bourne, the sailing yacht, had been created over three centuries earlier by the gods Nildar and Wenni to help Wizard Silverwind, his wife, Oceanvine the Elder and his protégé Candle on a divinely commanded quest. To that end they had stuffed a vast array of magic into the boat so it could supply them nearly anything they might need to keep them going during the quest. The boat was a powerful gift but could be dangerous in the wrong hands and so when Candle died he left it to his protégés, Oceanvine the Younger and Sextant. Wizard Oceanvine the Younger, in her turn, had left the boat buried deep within a warehouse, hoping that the spell complex might eventually wear out, but just in case, she left a note on board Maiyim Bourne in the form of a holographic image of herself. In order to ensure the spell would still work as long as the rest of the magic on board did, she spliced it into the spell complex that was a part of the boat. What she had never intended was that the spell would interact with the boat itself and create the living person who was Maiyim Bourne,

Freddy was nowhere near the wharf that morning, but Spin was hard at work inside Maiyim Bourne’s cabin, doing his part on a joint paper he and Twist had been working on for the past two weeks. What’s that sound? he asked out loud when he became aware of the first faint traces of the noise made by the flyers. Spin was not really asking anyone in particular, but the sound annoyed him and it was getting louder.

I don’t like this, Spin, Maiyim told him, her holographic image suddenly appearing across from him at the table. My radar picks up several flyers in close formation.

Must be from the base down the coast, Spin shrugged, running his hand through his dark brown hair, though they usually steer clear of Freddy’s estate.

These aren’t Emmine flyers, Maiyim told him worriedly. ‘They’re Granomish in design and they came in from over the water to the east."

Well, maneuvers can be like that, Spin told her calmly. Just because their base is to the south, it doesn’t mean they came here directly. Wait. Did you say they were Granomish? Why would Granom be flying through Emmine air space?

The flyers were built in Granom, Spin, Maiyim replied, starting to relax. But that doesn’t mean the people on board are all Granomen. Doesn’t the Maiyim Strike Force use Granomish flyers?

What would the MSF be doing here? Spin asked.

Invading, Maiyim was worried again. There are men jumping out of the flyers.

I’d better go see what going on, Spin decided. Wait here.

Where would I go? Maiyim asked with a slight smile on her face, but by then Spin was already racing down the wharf.

As he ran, Spin grabbed a small golden, pen-like object from out of his shirt pocket. As he did so, the object began to grow in size until it was roughly four feet long with an odd, complex symbol, known to a few as the Seal of Aritos, marking either end. It was his staff, similar to the one Twist used, but changing size and shape was the least of its capabilities.

The wharf was a quarter of a mile from the building in which Amble had been teaching and as Spin dashed he saw the flyers returning once more and settling down toward the ground. He continued to run, thankful that he was in better physical shape than he had been before he started learning magic, but by the time he arrived, the flyers were already taking off again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one other flyer take off from somewhere near the campus cafeteria. He shot a projectile ward at one of the flyers and managed to hit it. The resulting explosion knocked him to the ground and by the time he was able to sit up, the remaining flyers were out of sight.

At least you got one of them, Twist commended him. Only then did Spin realize he was not the only one who had been in the quad area and others were now picking themselves and each other up as well.

Is everyone all right? Wizard Moonsong, Dean of the Olen School and Twist’s mother asked. Moonsong was of slightly less than average height and she kept her silvering brown hair short. It went well with her conservative tastes in clothing

A little bruised, Spin replied for himself, but… He was cut off by the screams and cries still coming from the nearby class building.

Wait here, Moonsong told him. See to the others. Twist, come with me. The two women ran into the ruined building while Spin did his best to help those outside. As far as he could tell no one on the quad was badly wounded, although everyone was bruised and one woman had twisted her ankle.

Then, from inside the building he heard a different sort of screaming wail and he instantly recognized it as coming from his wife.

Two

Wizard Amble is in very serious condition, the doctor told Moonsong and Twist later that day in the waiting room to the Intensive Care Unit in Olen County General Hospital, but we expect a full recovery. That’s more than I can say for the men who attacked him.

You will have to pardon me, Doctor, Moonsong replied cooly, but I have very little sympathy for the men who invaded my campus. I’m only sorry my husband did not manage to kill more of them.

I understand, the doctor nodded, although Twist could tell from the look on his face that he was shocked. I am more impressed that your husband managed to protect his students as well as he did against soldiers with guns and null-magic armor, but who were they?

The Maiyim Strike Force, Twist practically growled the name. She pushed a stray lock of her reddish brown hair out of her face, exposing more of her fierce expression, They’re supposed to protect us, not attack us.

Supposed to, yes, the voice of her cousin, Lord Olen, said from behind her as he entered the room, and don’t think for a moment I’m going to let this pass. An invasion in my county of all places and my own family wounded in the process.

And the whole thing was a diversion, Moonsong informed him. They kidnapped Pulac-pa.

Pulac-pa was a member of an alien species called the Tzali, an aggressive people whose colonization fleets were tasked with establishing new colonial worlds or dying. They were not allowed to return to Tzal. Because colonizable worlds are relatively scarce when you only have food and fuel to visit three before dying of cold or starvation, they could not afford to just move on when it turned out Maiyim was already occupied. From the Tzali standpoint, they had to conquer Maiyim or die in the attempt.

The one hope was that a Tzal who surrenders, switches sides completely and stays that way unless recaptured, so while Pulac-pa had been a high-ranked leader within the Tzali fleet, he had, since his capture by Spin and Twist, become Maiyim’s best source of information on the Tzali. He spoke freely and willingly and because of him, the leaders of Maiyim knew that if they could somehow extract a surrender from the Alpha leaders of the Tzali fleet the war would suddenly be over.

They’ve been requesting we let them interrogate him for weeks, Freddy commednted.

And they could have send their interrogators here just like everyone else has, Twist argued. They nearly killed Slipstream too, you know.

I didn’t know, Freddy confessed. How did that happen?

She was with Pulac-pa in the cafeteria, Twist told him. "I think they went there for coffee or lerta."

The Tzali coffee? Freddy asked. I’ve never quite developed the taste for it. Then again, given my position these days it is probably best that I don’t drink anything connected to the Tzali.

You worry too much about your image, Twist replied. No one is going to care what you drink with your breakfast.

Don’t be so certain, Twisty, Freddy told her seriously. In politics perception is everything.

As His Majesty’s confidante you are above that sort of politics, Twist pointed out, or ought to be.

If only that were the case, Freddy shook his head.

Islandtwist, Moonsong interrupted any further conversation, We should go in to see your father. Frederick, thank you for coming, but the ICU only allows two of us to visit at once.

Of course, Freddy nodded. You two go ahead. I can wait. He found a seat as he watched the two women approach a pair of automatic doors that slid aside when a nurse on the other side pressed a large button on the wall. For a moment he heard the soft cacophony of bells, buzzes and beeps that make up the atmosphere of any intensive care ward and then the doors shut once more, stifling the sounds. For a moment, he wondered if perhaps all those sounds were part of the healing magic involved and then silently chided himself for such a superstitious thought. The sounds came from all the monitoring devices that tracked the life signs of every patient in the unit. Then another thought came to him, Where’s Spin? Why isn’t he here?

Just then as if in answer, Master Spinnaker appeared in the waiting room door with a young Granomish woman whose arm was in a sling. The sling seemed especially severe, matching as it did her white skin. Freddy, Spin greeted him. I didn’t expect you here.

Where else? Freddy asked. Oh yes, I know. I probably ought to be making outraged speeches for the cameras, but I did that already and Wizard Amble is like an uncle to me, you know.

I know, Spin nodded. Twist and Moonsong are in there? Any news? About Amble, I mean.

Freddy reported what little he knew and both Spin and the woman smiled slightly. Have you met Journeywoman Slipstream from Rjalkatyp. Misana, this is Lord Olen.

A pleasure, my dear, Freddy told her, taking her free hand in his.

Thank you, my lord, she replied.

Freddy, he corrected her.

That can’t be right, Slipstream shook her head. I studied up on Emmine customs and traditions. Shouldn’t even your friends call you Olen?

I’m not a very traditional sort of Earl, Freddy admitted. I prefer Freddy. Think of it as a title if it makes you more comfortable.

Slipstream cocked her head to one side for a moment then asked, Is there any word about Leadfoot?

Leadfoot? Freddy asked.

Pulac-pa, Spin translated. It means Leadfoot the Loner in Tzali. Twist and I always call him Pulac or Pulac-pa, but some use Leadfoot.

Why didn’t I know that? Freddy wondered.

You probably never asked, Spin retorted. When we first brought him back you were too busy pumping him for military intelligence to really get to know him. And speaking of that, any idea of who has him and where he is?

I have Maiyim looking into it, Freddy replied.

Don’t you have a staff to do stuff like that for you? Spin asked pointedly. Not to mention His Majesty’s Bureau of Investigation.

And military intelligence of every stripe, Freddy nodded. Maiyim is better than all of them, especially since I cannot always be certain the Sons and Daughters of Maiyim don’t have their claws in any official report that crosses my desk. The Sons and Daughters of Maiyim were a shadow organization that until a few years previously had been considered the stuff of conspiracy theorists. Then they started acting more openly. Their long term goal had always been world conquest, but had always pursued that end via political means. Composed of some of the richest, most powerful men and women on Maiyim, they had rarely broken the law and when they did, were frequently able to get the matter officially ignored. Now, however, it was known, thanks to the testimony of Tzali captives, like Pulac-pa, that the Sons and Daughters of Maiyim, had contacted the invasion fleet with offers of alliance. The Tzali, according to Pulac-pa, did not trust anyone so willing to betray their own people, but could conceivably use their assistance as far as it went.

Most of the governments of Maiyim would have cheerfully arrested all the Sons and Daughters on charges of treason, but no one knew just who the real members of the Sons and Daughters of Maiyim were for certain. Many of those suspected turned out to be low-level members of the secretive organization. The true leaders were far too protected, especially since it was only the testimony of a captive alien against them.

But we know it was the Maiyim Strike Force, Spin protested. They’re answerable to the International Congress. You’ve been a leading voice in that Congress

Not quite, Freddy disagreed. I have been a Special Legate from His Majesty to that Congress. I am accorded a seat and the right to speak, but not a vote. Just as well too. I’m too busy with the House of Lords to be a full-time representative to that madhouse too.

You were a member of the Congress in Emergency Session, though, Spin argued, and as such you were one of the people who created the MSF.

Yes, I was, Freddy admitted. It was one of the first things we did. The MSF was supposed to work with the established militaries of Maiyim and act as a uniting force. You may recall they were originally tasked with peacekeeping in Saindo.

And they bollixed that up right and proper, Slipstream put in. By the end of the first year after their arrival, the MSF troops had proven they were just bigger, meaner bullies than the local toughs. Even so, they couldn’t hold Saindo when the Eldist Church leaders declared a crusade against them.

And for the first time I found myself agreeing with the Eldists, Freddy admitted. Yes, okay. We created the MSF, but a few months later the new Maiyim Alliance came into session with a charter that gave them more power than we probably should have allowed, but we needed a unifying body to hold us against the Tzali. They went and granted the MSF almost total autonomy, against my arguments, I’ll have you know and now…’

And now we have them killing our own people, Spin finished for him. They have to be disbanded.

That’s not as easy as it sounds, Freddy told him. We would need either Bellinen or Ellisto to join in such a vote and neither has been likely to up until now and frankly unless there have been invasions like this one I doubt they’ll change their minds.

The Sons and Daughters of Maiyim again, Slipstream told them.

It’s a possibility, Freddy agreed, and this time I intend to see that something is done about this. Was anyone killed in the attack?

Only the MSF, Spin told him. Amble killed five of theirs when they invaded his classroom and I got whoever was on that flyer. We have five others who were wounded and left behind by their buddies, but I don’t know if they are up to talking just yet. It may not do any good. None of them are officers and we’ll only hear the old line about following orders.

Well, that’s about the only good news I’ve had today, Freddy replied.

There are two other students in the ICU, Slipstream pointed