I’m starting to pretty up some of my older chapters. In this one I changed the font and put in dashed lines to signify point of view changes as I’m doing in newer chapters. Vince is typically in first person, while others are always in third person.

# # # # # # # # # # # # #

Chapter 11: What’s In a Name?

Just when I thought I was done working, Peggy and Gloria without even asking, sent me two more infected birdbrains. Luckily these latest two weren’t as sick as the previous flyers had been and Denise had developed through hard work a lot more power and skill by this time; so we managed to cure them both in only eight hours. P & G cured the rest and the last I heard the two Healers were sleeping like the dead.

When I finally made it back inside of my own home to get some real sleep, I was surprised to see Denise sleeping on my couch and snuggled up with some guy, who was unknown to me. I ignored them and went to my room, where I slept for the next six hours and awoke about midnight. My body’s internal clock was all screwed up. I remained in bed for about an hour while I worked on healing myself. After which, I sat myself down in my chair and using my legs, I pushed myself out to my garage/cave. One more long healing session and I should be able to walk around without having to endure severe pain.

During the previous half day, I had heard some gun and cannon fire but Jennifer had kept me informed, telling me that everything was under control or as under control as things normally got around here. Evidently, a group of eight squids had come close during the day but they had been dive bombed by a flight of flyers using some improvised bomb racks that Grace and Glen had whipped up using the enchanted steel bands and the shells that had been intended for the Holman Projectors. I guess our defensive battle had gone pretty well. Evidently a healthy flyer is faster than a Sky Kraken particularly in a dive. The attack had killed over half of the squids and the few wounded survivors had squirted for safety. But the krakens did manage to damage the Hellcat a little and both tanks had their 20mm rifles torn off.

The flyers were now living in my big garage by the shop, which I didn’t like at all. It was too much like they were being relegated as a second class intelligent species but the problem was that they were physically so wide that our normal homes and doorways were uncomfortable for them. Besides that, I didn’t want to force anyone out of their current living arrangements. However, the flyers seemed willing to put up with their accommodations for now. It had been worse for Kilmer’s people and especially his son. William Kilmer, his wife and daughter were now living in Faith’s trailer.

It was a good thing that I had made Faith and Jim my official Peace Keepers; they were both needed when Kilmer’s former flunkies and family arrived. Martin Kilmer had made a lot of enemies for those that were formerly close to him.

I mulled over my current situation and what was facing my tiny village. I would feel a lot better if I was alone but there was no way I was going to let children be eaten by monsters or known innocent people rot in prison while I had the power to change things.

I thought over what I now believed about the magic that has flooded our world. It is my conjecture that magic has replaced electro-magnetism. We’ve had thunderstorms since the great change and when I’ve seen lightening, I’ve sensed magical energies in the jagged bolts. This magical energy can be shaped by those with appropriate talent using focused will, enchantments and probably spells as well, though I’ve only really used the first two methods. While there are probably many different types of magical abilities like healing and physical enhancements, the four major types seem to be elemental based. Those being earth, water, air and fire but I don’t think of them that way. I think of them more as the four types of matter which are solid, liquid, gas and plasma. I used to define plasma as a highly excited gas with electro-magnetic properties but for our new world I’ve changed that to a highly excited gas with magical properties and thus my ability to be a human flame thrower.

It suddenly occurred to me to wonder how Ron was doing as a welder. Also, I should probably make some enchanted tools for our machine shop. If we had our own small foundry and forge that would dramatically increase our capabilities.

I had a lot to do, in order to give us all a better chance at surviving in this new world. Honestly, I would be far happier if everyone had a better place that they could all go to for refuge and thus leave me alone and in peace but I doubted that was going to happen. The six month time period before the first Warning came was probably the happiest I have ever been since my late twenties. I know I’m back in a younger body again, which is kind of nice, but I still wish that none of this shit had ever happened.

I had pulled down one of my old physics books. I was idly flipping through the pages thinking about the four states of matter. I had no handy fluids to play with and I didn’t want to make a mess, so I focused my attention on the wind/air/gas element of magic. I know that winds are created by differences in atmospheric pressure and those differences are typically caused by the heating and cooling of the Earth. But air or gases can also be moved by mechanical means, such as a fan.

I’ve enjoyed creating new things with magic, like fire stones but once I’ve made the prototype, I’ve found the repetitive production of the same item to be extremely boring and tedious. I just wish there was someone in this compound with the untapped talent for being an enchanter but I haven’t spotted anyone as of yet. I’ve kept it a secret so far, though it’s possible Steve might have caught on, but besides being able to awaken the talents, abilities or enhancements in people, I also seem to have the gift of seeing what untapped magical potential a person might hold.

I instinctively knew which people I could successfully teach true sight to. The people that failed my torture session were there because I hadn’t believed what my intuition was telling me.

I knew that Denise could be a healer, though I still doubted myself at that time. Additionally, I have more magical authority or power in areas or things that I magically recognize as being mine. When George, Boris and Candace swore their oaths to me, they in essence became mine and thus I had greater magical capability in awakening their buried potential. George had been a surprise, Boris’s outcome had been no shock and as for Candace, I had known almost exactly what all of her talents and enhancements would be prior to her being knighted. But the oaths they swore had been very powerful and I will not seek out others to do the same, they must come to me.

I pulled down two of my new books, one on meteorology and other on climatology. I’m not even sure if I even know the difference between the two.

I know I’m a grouch and that far more people in this world have been betrayed much worse than I have been but I have never felt that comfortable around large groups of people and it was almost like I was destined to be an angry hermit.

I idly tried sensing the gases that made up the air around me. The components of which, were of course a lot more diffuse than what is in solid matter but in only a short while, I could sense what I thought were oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide and argon. I pulled down a chemistry book from a high shelf or rather I magically/telekinetically called down a chemistry book that was on a high shelf. There really is not much difference between a rock and a book to my magic and some books are so heavy, like the CRC Chemistry Handbook that I now held in my hand, that I’d rather be hit by a rock.

There were things that we needed to do. This compound needed better and stronger facilities to house the inhabitants. We needed some magical tools in the machine shop, because any means of improvement that could increase both quality and our rate of manufacture should be grabbed with both hands and our teeth if necessary. I also needed to instruct some more trustworthy people in the use of magic. I wonder if “Dumbfucker” is a better name than “Stupidfucker?” We should start patrolling the nearby areas, there is probably a lot of material out there that we can salvage, liberate or loot. Though, I will try and avoid doing the latter.

I looked again at my newest title; I still had a hard time wrapping my mind around it, especially the fine print. While it might seem like it offered me a lot, to me it meant a boatload of unwanted responsibility and work. Steam engines, I hadn’t checked with Glen about our progress in building our own one hundred horsepower engines. How is that coming along? We definitely needed that size engine or larger, in order to build our own armored vehicles. We could no longer afford to deploy three of our four tracks at the same time, both George and I had agreed on that point. At least two fighting vehicles had to remain here to defend this compound. For that matter I better come up with a name for this place. I’ve got to stop calling it a compound, that implies something that’s temporary to my mind and I’m pretty sure that this situation is permanent.

I get power from owning this place and if I don’t name this village soon, some other idiot will. Hmmm how about, The Village of Idiot, nope; Vinnie’s Village and Grill, no that sounds too friendly; The Town of No Trespassing, that has potential; The City of Grilled Kraken and Grub, nah; The Hamlet of Fuck Off and Die, I like that one but we’ve got kids living here. The Village of You Can Leave Now, nope; Tanksalot, hell no; The State of Insanity, over used.

I want a name that is slightly intimidating but doesn’t scare the locals too much; a name that communicates strong defenses and might discourage visitors. Off the top of my head I can think of four words that tend to communicate strong defenses: armor, stronghold, castle and fortress. I don’t have castle so that’s out. We don’t have a fortress but we are pretty heavily fortified so that is still a viable name. If the majority of the people living here survive; it will, in the short term, be because of our Guardsmen. But in the long term, I think it will be the machine shop and what it produces that saves our asses. Forge is another word for making, it’s a strong word and it also has connotations of being an unpleasant place in which to work, which might discourage people from coming here. So how about I name this place The Stronghold of Hermit’s Forge? It’s a fucking pretentious name but if anybody doesn’t like it they can leave.

I again focused my attention on wind energy and air, trying to better my limited understanding of the subject.

-----------------------------------

Jennifer was awoken by a rushing noise coming through the floor beneath her room, concerned she decided to awaken Faith, who was probably the most heavily armed of all the women living in the house. Faith armed herself and both women went down the stairs, to Vincent’s room in order to alert him to what they were hearing. They knocked on his door, and getting no answer, they opened it. Upon entering they found him missing from his bed. The women cautiously went to the door leading from the kitchen and into the garage, they paused to listen. The rushing noise was much more pronounced there. Jennifer opened the door as Faith stood ready with her rifle. There in the middle of the room was Vincent, who was surrounded by a miniature tornado that was lifting both him and his office chair, a foot or more above the floor. He seemed to have his complete attention focused on a book that was floating before him; the women decided to quietly and quickly close the door.

--------------------------------

I’ve found that every time that I’ve exerted myself to perform some greater magical feat, that the size of my personal magical gas tank increases and my rate of energy recovery goes up as well. These last few days of busting my ass, to heal those sick featherheads, has almost doubled the size of my fuel tank.

I slowly lowered myself back down to the floor. Once I had stumbled onto learning the initial secrets of Air Magic, I hadn’t wanted to wait for a more appropriate time or setting. Neither, with my injured body, could I easily move outside my cave to perform any Air Magic experiments in the open air. I had stumbled from one insight to another, while keeping my complete focus on this my latest type of magic. I had been on a roll and I had thought it was worth the risk. As a result of my learning experiments, my workshop was now a little bit of a wreck but I think I had made the right decision. I’m now able to use magic involving the three states of matter. I suspect that learning Water/Liquid Magic will not to be that difficult now. But what I need at this moment; is a snack and my bed. I think that it must be within an hour or two of dawn right now.

I rolled into the kitchen, where I saw Faith and Jennifer sitting at the table and drinking tea. Good, they could make me something to eat.

Hello Jennifer, hello Faith; could one of you make me a fairly large snack please?”

Jennifer leaped up. “I’ve got a charcoal grill burning just outside the back door. I’ll have you something in fifteen minutes Vincent.”

I once again reminded myself of the need to make some magical hot plates, at least for my own home. Jen quickly gathered some food and hurried outside the back door, she seemed to be a little nervous. Faith as well, looked a little disconcerted but she visibly pulled herself together and began to speak.

“Vincent, we saw you in the garage with the wind swirling around you and holding you up, it was kind of freaky. Jennifer and I are worried that if we don’t have any magic ability, besides true sight, and if other people do gain magical skills, then she and I might soon be seen as weak and easy targets for foes and bullies alike. Do you think it’s possible for Jen and me to gain greater magical abilities? Can you please teach us?”

“Faith, as far as I’ve been able to tell, most people have at least a little bit of magic in them now. I’ve been able to awaken talents in people through painful instruction and by using magic. I can teach magic that I already know to people but if I don’t know a particular branch of magic, where your own potential gift may lie then I can’t help you.”

“But you knighted George, Boris and Candace and they suddenly got all kinds of magical abilities?”

“I only unleashed their potential and I’m almost positive that it wouldn’t have worked without them swearing those binding oaths to me. You already know that my power, here on my own land, is greater than if I’m someplace else. I think it’s the same when someone swears an oath to me. In a sense that person becomes mine and agrees to never betray me; the magic inside of me and the magic in our new world recognizes that, which in turn gives my magic the ability to awaken the magic and hidden talents inside of the person swearing an oath to me.”

“So, if I swear an oath to you, you’ll magically awaken my talents?”

“I might, we would both need to think about it and you would have to come up with your own oath. I’m not going to tell you what to say. This isn’t slavery but it’s too much like a master-servant relationship to my mind and I don’t like it. You don’t lose your freewill but you might lose your abilities if you ever betray me. Please keep what I told you in confidence; I want everyone who comes to me to do it of their own volition. I don’t want rumors and peer pressure influencing people.”

“Can I think about it too, Vincent,” asked Jennifer? Who was now standing just inside the back door off of my kitchen and holding a plate of some wonderfully smelling food. She must have been listening from just outside the rear entrance.

“Of course you can Jennifer. You can both tell me your decisions tomorrow. Right now, I’m too tired to do anything or to talk more about it.

By the way, I’ve settled on a name for this compound and I would like you to make an official announcement about it. I was afraid of hearing some name that I didn’t like, so I decided to come up with my own. The Hermit’s Village is still okay and variations similar to that but the official name is now The Stronghold of Hermit’s Forge. A stronghold is a strongly held defensive position but not necessarily a fortress or castle. I think we qualify on that score, since we’ve managed to defeat some pretty significant attacks. The word forge can mean many things such as to create or to move forward but it is also the word for a metal workshop. All those definitions are, to my mind, good things and I think that the machine shop here will play a big part in saving all of our lives. I used the word hermit because I didn’t want to use my own name. I’ve been secretly afraid that someone would start calling this place Vinnie’s Village.

You might thing that the new name is unduly bombastic but this is a new world and I think we have to start thinking and talking in strong terms. We’ve been attacked by Night Stalkers, giant armored mammoths, lizard men, and Sky Kraken. Well now we’re living in The Stronghold of Hermit’s Forge and we will fucking kill anything and everything that attacks us! I’ve got plans for this place and if I have my way it will become an impenetrable fortress.”

Both women smiled slightly, at the end of Vincent’s little speech. Faith had a question though. “Vincent, do I have any hidden talents?”

“Yes, you do; not too many potential physical enhancements but more than I have which is zero. However, you have the potential gift for at least two forms of magic.” I stared at her quite intently. “In fact your potential is pretty sizeable if you work at it.”

Faith gasped and started to grin. Jennifer spoke, “Vincent, what about me?”

I focused my attention on Jen. “You have potential too Jennifer, perhaps not as much as Faith does but that’s a judgment call and you might like your hidden talents better than what Faith has inside of her.

I have more than a suspicion that besides our genetic makeup, that our own thoughts and feelings also play a part in want awakens inside of us. But I’m still pissed off that I didn’t get anything in the way of physical enhancements. Now, if you can give me that plate of food, before it gets any colder, I’ll be a happy man.”

Jennifer flushed red in embarrassment and rushed over with Vincent’s snack.

After eating, I went to my room, got in bed and wound my alarm clock. The time was five a.m., I set it for ten. Then I did a full healing session on myself and went to sleep.

Including the sleep I had gotten last night and this morning, I actually awoke feeling quite refreshed before my alarm went off. Lately, I had found that I no longer needed eight hours of sleep at night but I wasn’t certain if I could get by with only four hours or if I needed at least six.

I woke up pain free but I still felt a little weak in my pelvic region. I thought that with a lot food, a couple light healings and a few more days that I should be back to one hundred percent fairly soon. I bathed and closely examined little Vincent. What I discovered, forced me to recall the ending for the movie Young Frankenstein, where Gene Wilder gets something in exchange for giving up a portion of his brilliant intellect. I hadn’t been as calm as I had pretended to be when my penis was blown into pieces. At the time what tissue was left, didn’t seem to me, to be enough to effectively rebuild that appendage, so I was forced to steal tissue from my ass. Perhaps too much tissue, at a guess my penis was at least thirty percent larger in all dimensions. It wasn’t a monster like some men have but it was definitely now larger than average. I wasn’t going to let it bother me, it’s not like anyone else was ever going to see it.

After eating, I walked over to the shop. “Hey, Glen”

“Hi Boss, I heard about the new name for this place and I like it.”

“That’s good. I came by to find out if there had been any problems here in the shop or if you needed my help? Have you been able to make one of those one hundred horsepower steam engines yet, because we’ll need another armored vehicle if we’re going to start sending out salvage and supply gathering expeditions; and for that new vehicle we’ll need an engine.”

“Yeah Vince, we’ve got it working but I have to tell you that we all, including yourself, screwed up a little. We never looked at all those steam engine plans that Jennifer bought for us. The one hundred hp engine we built is a good one and it’s light too but it was a little tricky for us to construct, nonetheless we’ve mastered that now.

However in some of those plans that Jen got for us, are designs for a one hundred and twenty five horsepower engine and a two hundred horsepower engine. Not only that but she got us plans for the needed boilers and complete plans for how the steam engines and boilers can be installed into boats or land vehicles. The type of steam engine, in those plans, is easier for us to build but it’s heavier, six hundred pounds for the smaller one and over a thousand for the larger engine, but that’s including the weight of the boiler. Surprisingly the size of the things isn’t too bad at all.”

“So what do you think we should do?”

“We’re going to have to cast some engine blocks in order to build them. Do you think that’s something you can help with?”

“I know that I can get generate the required heat and I think I can help make certain that the cast metal piece is a good one.”

“If you can give us a solid engine block that would be great, it would certainly leave me with a lot less to worry about. If some of your magic works on metal, I would like you to take a look at the Hellcat. Clyde is worried about it. Those damn krakens bounced it around and we’re pretty sure it’s got some stress cracks in it now. After you see him if you can come back here? I want to introduce you to our new gunsmith; he’s got some interesting ideas.”

“Alright, I’ll go see Clyde but while I’m gone, you think about building some kind of armored personnel carrier for us, something like the Priest but on wheels.”

“I’ll do that Vince.”

I walked outside and I saw both Clyde and George inspecting the Hellcat. “Hello George, I heard you got bounced around a little, how are you feeling today? Hey Clyde, how’s it going?”

“Hello Vince,” responded Clyde.

“Morning Boss, I’m feeling better this morning. Gloria fixed me right up. But my poor baby is all banged up.” He patted the Hellcat.

I put my hands on the Hellcat, closed my eyes and concentrated on the vehicle. Just like with my healer’s sight, I was presented with a 3-D image of the tank in my mind. I started to do my own inspection of the machine. It took me awhile. Both men were still there when I reopened my eyes. “Yeah she is fucked up a little. But I think she can be fixed with some big hammers, a hydraulic jack or two and some magic. It will probably take half a day to get her back into a functional state.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the enchantments that I could possibly add, to things like shields, personal body armor and armored vehicles; enchantments that would make those things tougher for as long as the magical energy held out. Maybe in a few days, I can have some magic along those lines that we can test. Clyde, I’ll come back this afternoon and if you’re available, we’ll start to work on fixing this old girl.” I patted the tank destroyer.

“I’ll be waiting for you Vince.”

After hearing Clyde’s answer, I resumed talking. “I’ve already mentioned to Glen that we need another armored vehicle or two. He’s got a steam engine built that could power one. Do you two have any ideas where we can find an APC, either with wheels or tracks?”

George replied. “The closest National Guard Armory is over forty miles away. Who knows what we’d run into between here and there. Using three armored vehicles on our expeditions gives us greater redundancy and drastically increases our capabilities over just using two of them. Honestly, I would like to use all four of them when we send people out of the compound but after fighting monsters here, like those krakens, we don’t dare risk doing that. The Priest and either the Sherman or the Hellcat has to remain here at the Stronghold at all times. Actually, I would like a second APC for this compound. If we’re going to send an expedition to that armory, in my opinion, we would need a minimum of four armored vehicles and I would prefer six. The only option that I can see is to add armor to some of the heavy pickup trucks that we have here or can find nearby. Of course we’ll have to convert them to steam power as well.”

Clyde then gave us his opinion. “I think that might be our only option too but maybe we can find one of those armored trucks that the banks all use? I don’t know where they’re stored but maybe we can look in the phone book and see if there is a place close by or where one might be. Better yet, perhaps the County Sheriff has something? The Army was handing out all kinds of armored vehicles and I think our county did get armored truck or something from them.”

George took up the conversation. “Let’s put armor on a truck that we have here in the compound. When it’s ready, we’ll send out an expedition to the County Sheriff’s Department. While on the way, the Guardsmen will keep an eye out for an abandoned armored bank truck. There are plenty of trailers here, and all three vehicles could tow one. Who knows, we might get lucky and find two or more armored trucks that we can bring home.”

“I guess that sounds reasonable, but it’s going to take at least two weeks to convert a truck over to steam power and put armor on it. Today, I need to enchant some freezer-fire stones for Steve. Is there anything that I need to do for you George or for the Guard?”

“Yes, if you could please enchant another arming band for those new shells that we’re making and some more iron rods too. Also we need some carbines for our newest recruits. They are simply too light of body to shoot a large rifle especially when their flying.”

I stared at him. “What new recruits?”

George’s eyes wouldn’t meet mine and he had kind of a grin on his face, the bastard. “The entire adult membership of the Long Flight Clan begged to join our Guard; we now have some air assets.”

I cursed under my breath. “So they want to stay here?”

“Boss, they are crazy desperate to stay here, even with living in that garage.”

“How are they fitting in? I’ve been too busy to check on them.”

Surprisingly it was Clyde who responded. “There hasn’t been a bit of trouble Vince. Our people feel sorry for them, because of how they were all swept away from their home world and then trapped here. A lot of our people are fascinated by the Long Flight Clan too, because they are from another world, have wings and can fly. On the flyers part, I think that they are so desperate to find a home here with us that they are trying to be the perfect guests, which has Steve going a little crazy because they won’t ask for the things that they need, like blankets or food.”

George added. “The adults that have worked with my soldiers have done well and they’re extremely quick at learning our language so we won’t need their two clan chiefs or you to translate for us for very much longer.”

“Okay, I’ll make a metal ring and half a dozen shells. But I have very little spare time today, not with having to repair the Hellcat. Besides that I have only two manual action carbines amongst my depleted gun collection, so you’ll have to dig some up, on your own, if that’s the type of firearm that you want them to have.”

“I’ll see what I can find. But Vince, the flyers would all like to be knighted. They’re hoping to get some of the same magical abilities that Candace, Boris and I got.”

I glowered at him. “To start, I will knight or ennoble only the two Chiefs. I think I’ll have time to do that this evening. I might accept an oath from the other adult flyers however they will not be knighted. That is only for military and community leaders and those performing heroic acts. I’m fairly certain that simply accepting a flyer’s oath, without a knighthood, should be enough for the magic to work. Understood?”

George nodded his head in acceptance.

I left them and returned to the shop to talk with Glen, the new gunsmith and to place an order of my own. The gunsmith was Sean Murphy and the husband of Denise. He was the guy I saw sleeping on my couch with her. It turned out that Sean was desperate for an expedition to be sent to his former home, which was less than nine miles away, in order to retrieve his tools, firearms and books. I told him that I would discuss the matter with Captain Mesquida and Lieutenant Murphy. A distance that short and on back roads, just might be worth the risk for the improvement in our gun making capability, that Sean says he can deliver on.

As I was leaving the building I stole a new welding and cutting torch kit which was sitting on a shelf. I had spotted Ron looking kind of depressed and I had an idea. Through the grapevine, Jennifer, I had heard that while he could magically weld and cut metal, that he didn’t have a lot of magical stamina or precision just yet. I thought I could help him.