The Commission - 11
by Anthyrax
Chapter 11: So It Begins
Donner Pass and elsewhere, 3:57 AM California Time
The huge black pyramid was now the focus of much attention. Army helicopters flew overhead, while ground vehicles of all sorts now blocked the roads leading to the pass. Train and road traffic had already been rerouted, and more and more government and military people arrived by the hour.
But something was happening now. For the first few hours the pyramid had simply just been there, emanating no energy, radiation, or signal and as cold as the air around it. But suddenly the people around noticed that it was becoming decidedly warmer all of a sudden, and a few also noticed that the top of the pyramid wasn’t as dark as before.
Instruments that detected energy or radiation suddenly began to come to life, and warnings showed up on panels and readouts.
And then, suddenly, the pyramid glowed a brilliant gold color, and a beam of light nearly 100 feet wide shot into the sky, further than the people on the ground could see.
It happened in other places too. Pyramids in South and North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and even in the polar regions all beamed lights in the sky.
But none of the observers cared any more.
As the light shot into the sky, another wave of light, orange in color, spread at the speed of an explosion, and engulfed everything and everyone within the upper pass. People writhed in agony on the ground as it engulfed them, their flesh contorting, changing and within, their minds took on new patterns. In the air, helicopters and aircraft suddenly glowed, and then their outlines changed, and as they fell, the former works of man became something else.
Los Angeles and elsewhere 3:58 AM California Time
It was early morning in Los Angeles, and the city was a quiet as it would ever be at that hour. Elsewhere, in other time zones, the daily pace and cycle of life continued as always. In a hundred of the most populous or important cities of the world, life was pretty much as it normally was.
But a few people on the streets in Los Angeles, and more in other places, looked up, and saw a glow in the sky. Getting bigger and bigger as it came closer.
Donner Pass 3:59 AM
Where men and women had been standing, a series of egg shaped cocoons, the size of large boulders lay strewn about. Vehicles and aircraft had been replaced by larger cocoons, and not a sound could be heard in the pass any longer, and only the wind stirred the snow.
Morro Bay 4:00 AM
Cindy and Kim stood beside the other three women, watching the sky. They stood on the front porch, looking over the town of Morro Bay, and the great hill sized rock at the harbor mouth. The streaks of light were now too many to count, and the five women watched in silence. Sarah checked her watch and told everyone to close their eyes.
A moment later, a light brighter than the midday sun flickered to the south, and an eye blink later, another erupted to the north. The women still with their eyes shut, counted for a few seconds before opening them and looking toward the direction of Los Angeles.
A giant angry red and orange cloud was rising, higher and higher by the second, as the mushroom cloud of debris and fire leapt toward the stratosphere.
Alberquerque, 4:01 AM
Gavin and Grim stood on the roof of the parking garage and watched the bright flashes of the light to the northwest that marked the destruction of Fort Carson, Cheyenne Mountain and Colorado Springs in Colorado.
“So it begins.” Gavin whispered.
Beside him, Grim stared silently as he blew out a cloud of smoke from his cigar.
4:30 AM Morro Bay
The girls were gathered together eating a quick meal before they made their next move. No one was really hungry, but they needed their strength after all of the magic they had used in the last few hours.
“How soon until the quake starts?” Sarah asked.
Cindy answered where she sat at a folding table in the garage, her eyes on the lap top computer in front of her.
“We have about an hour.”
“Kim, how long before these spells starting wearing off?”
Looking a bit sheepish, Kim replied. “Umm, well, anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The statues will come out of it first, then the rag dolls.”
“Well, we need to sort them. We want all of the FBI people, and a couple of paramedics and maybe some police officers too. We will just transform them as they are for now into permanent storage, and I guess I dispel everything else on the others, and Cheryl and Michelle, you guys can put them to sleep right after that.” Sarah ordered.
They looked at the collection of little figures before them. Two were stone, the rest were plush dolls, all about 12 inches in length.
“We might want to take the pilots too you know.” Kim remarked, and Michelle and Cheryl nodded.
When Sarah looked at her quizzically, Kim continued to explain. “Hey, a helicopter pilot can probably fly one of those dragonfly things they have in Shiron just as easily.”
“Good point. What the hell, they are fit and smart enough. Why not.” Sarah replied after a moment.
Standing up, she walked to the open garage door and looked down at the scene before her. The helicopters lay where they had crashed, while the police cruisers and ambulances remained parked where they had been left, their lights still on.
“Shouldn’t somebody have showed up by now?” Cheryl asked as she moved beside her.
“I guess Los Angeles and the Bay Area getting wiped out took care of any Federal or State interest in us. They have a lot bigger fish to fry now. Besides, I bet we took out most of the local cops already.” Sarah remarked grimly.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Cheryl replied.
They felt a surge of magic and then a few yards in front of them, Hans appeared, dressed in combat fatigues, with the same boots and sunglasses the girls had.
He nodded a greeting and walked toward them. The other girls went over to stand with Sarah and Cheryl and waited.
“I see you have been busy. Well, it’s time to go.” He said, a bit grimly.
“Yes Sir” the girls replied.
Hans took over and began sorting through the dolls. “We have to get moving, the next phase will be coming on pretty quick. The pyramids have already started changing the area around them, and there is one not too far from here.” He remarked.
The five women stood around him, watching him. “What are we doing next?” Sarah asked.
“We need to go to New Mexico. It is time for reunions.” He replied. “We will be linking up with Gavin and Grim.”
The five women smiled for the first time in a while.
After a few minutes he was done. The former FBI agents, including Molly, along with the helicopter pilots, a couple of paramedics (both of them women), plus a couple of the younger state troopers were in one pile. The remainder were grouped together, a pile of plush dolls.
“Its your turn now. I can travel faster carrying you than teleporting you all.”
The five women looked at him, a little surprised.
“Well, at least I can get some rest this way.” Sarah remarked wearily.
Hans nodded and twisted his ring and pointed to her. A green flash of light engulfed her.
The other women watched as her skin glowed briefly, and then began to fade in color. It became lighter and lighter and along with her hair and eyes, faded to pure white. Moments later, she stood motionless, a statue of purest ivory.
“Kim, would you take off her clothes, and the rest of you, would you mind doing the same. It is easier if you aren’t wearing anything. Put your wands and jewelry in this bag.” he ordered.
Kim looked at him before she started undressing her friend. “You just want to see us naked you dirty old man.” she teased. “I see you didn’t tell Sarah that until she was unable to complain.”
Feigning innocence, Hans replied. “Surely you misunderstand me.”
“Oh yeah, sure...” Cindy giggled.
Hans chuckled for a bit, it had been a while since he had laughed too. “Ok, so I didn’t want an argument. She usually wins those and I don’t have time today.”
The other women smirked. Sarah usually got what she wanted, and could sweet talk Wes into just about anything and had been the one who had changed their mission a bit after talking with Hans.
“I am serious though. You know how much easier the spell is to cast without having to deal with clothes and the like.”
Kim smiled and continued her work, while the other girls nodded. Besides, Hans was damned good looking, and an Elf, and what the hell, showing off a little was part of their nature now anyway.
One by one they joined Sarah. Beautiful nude statues of ivory.
Kim was the last one, and she asked him to wait. She walked up to him, naked and her gorgeous body (although a little black and blue in places) was very distracting. He grinned at her, and she grinned back, before kissing him firmly and strongly on the mouth.
“And you give Wes a hard time about stealing us, you are as big a dirty old man as he is,” she giggled.
She had a big smile on her face a few minutes later when Hans finished transforming her.
“Thanks for the laugh and the kiss Kim.” he whispered to her, “I needed it.”
He shrank them down and placed them in his backpack, along with the other dolls.
He took a last look around, and then collected the other dolls and laid them out in the front yard. Moments later, he cast a spell on the remaining dolls. Instantly, they returned to life size, and then gradually, they began to glow and began reverting back to flesh.
Nodding in satisfaction, he walked purposefully out the back door into the backyard and cast another spell and disappeared.
Moments later, as the dolls were still transforming back into flesh and blood people, the ground began to shake, and a roar of sound could be heard as every fault in California released its energy at once.