Scene 10


Casual Dining Room, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot


Mike continued his story. “You know how David has a fondness for grand schemes. Well, one day we find out he’s trying to develop a force field for the mountain.”

I had to interrupt. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me that David managed to put a force field over the mountain?”

“Not exactly, but I’ll get to that. Anyway, when we asked why he was trying to develop such a thing, he just replied, “Well, why do you think? You never know when someone will try to attack us with missiles, or bombs, or directed energy weapons,” like we were complete idiots for even asking the question.

“Uh, directed energy weapons?”

“His words, not mine. We all wisely decided to let him go about his business. After all, the research wasn’t costing us any more than his usual projects. We all figured he would never make it happen anyway.”

“But he did?”

“Again, not exactly. One day, all the wireless devices in the Hall suddenly stopped working, cell phones, radios, and wireless Internet cards, all of it. At the same time, workers on the grounds say the sky went ‘blurry’ temporarily.”

“He had activated the field?”

“Right, only it didn’t do what he had expected. When we examined the devices that were affected, we found that they did still work, but no signal was getting to them.”

Ms. Swan broke in. “An interference field?”

“Exactly, David was disappointed at first that the force field didn’t work, but was delighted when he discovered what had happened. Actually, we all quickly realized how useful this field could be.”

“How so, Mike?” I asked him.

“Well, you know that the League has worked to protect the location of the Great Hall since it’s founding. That has become much more difficult in recent years with all the technological advancements. After all, what good is blindfolding a visitor when he can just look at his GPS as soon as he steps out of the car?”

“So that’s why the GPS wasn’t getting a signal. The field was blocking it.”

“Right,” he continued. “David had stumbled across a method of defeating satellite signals. Of course, it’s a bit inconvenient having to rely on landlines for our communications, but we believe the benefits outweigh that. And before you ask, David also managed to develop a smaller version of the field that is placed in all our vehicles. That’s why your tracking of your trip stopped at the airport, when you got into the car.”

There was something I had to ask. “You know, Mike, some of the things David is working on could prove very beneficial to my team.”

Mike smiled broadly. “Yes, I imagine they would. And, I really wouldn’t mind if you wanted to select a few. But you see, David is away and the door to his lab is locked and has a very sophisticated security system, so you can’t get in.”

We all noticed Ms. Raven perk up at that statement.

Mike let out a little laugh. “Ms. Raven, I can see that look on your eyes. You think you can open any lock, bypass any system. Well, I’m not going to tell you that you can’t try, but I’m not giving you permission either. David’s idea of security can get a bit lethal. If you do try, I’m not responsible for what may happen.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, sir.” She replied. We could all see the calculating look in her eyes. She was already planning the job.

We realized that we had finished dinner and Mike stood up. “Well, I imagine you are all eager to get started on your mission, and so are we. Again, all the facilities of the Hall are at your disposal and we Moderators will be available if you need us. I bid you all good night.”

As Moderators left the room, my associates and I made our way to the library to plan our mission.