Conclusions -- Author: Will Keith, Kappa Squad, TRES Corps.

   When I went back, I found the Element exactly where it was said to have
been.  Odd... it was attached to the power source that usually drove the
Carillion.  Its base was foggy, not opaque.  And there was a large crack
across the base, running jaggedly from one corner to the opposite side.
   The sounds of battle from the stairs had stopped.  I presumed the
sponges had been defeated or stymied somehow.  I picked up the small
notebook computer running from a battery.  The Wyrm-Minion had quite
politely left it on with the password already given.
   He'd been making some hurried calculations, it seemed - some sort of
cascade reaction had burnt out his Element's "battery," and he was having
to recharge it from the circuit.  From his notes, he had been worried as
anything - but why?
   The second-in-command of the T.A.L.O.N. forces opened the door.  "The
sponge attack has been neutralized, sir."  He looked around.  "Where's
James?"
   "He's outside the Tower."
   "What?!"
   "He's slightly injured.  Dispatch somebody to get to him before the cops
do."  I closed up the notebook as he ordered somebody to do - something -
to get him out of there.  Time enough later to... wait a minute.  I
reopened the notebook to take a look at the phrase that had caught my eye.

   "As it appears that your Element will make it to full power bare minutes
before the Generator begins broadcasting, you will be allowed to proceed.
However, the power leakage later..."

   I stopped paying attention.
   "Don't remove the Element from that circuit!"
   "What?  Why not?"
   "Get somebody up here who can tell me the amount of power that thing is
drawing.  I want to know at what rate it's being powered up.  Then we're
going to need to take this to the Welch chemistry labs."
   "But..."
   "Don't ask.  We may not have time.  Once you've got the information, get
a team to move this to Welch."  I closed the notebook again.  "And get
everybody else here.  We've got clean-up to do."
   He assigned people to various jobs, and soon was watching me among the
rest of the group.
   "Alright.  We have to get out of here and leave a lot of questions
behind us.  Where's the mending guy?  You?  Get rid of the bullet marks.
The rest of you - if a sponge is dead, incinerate them.  I want nothing
more than a black spot on the floor, and avoid that if you can.  If they're
unconscious, bring 'em with you.  If they're conscious, rectify that fact.
Equipment leaves with us.  You and you, get to the Life Sciences Library
and see if there're explosive devices.  You know what to do whether you
find them or not.
   "The cops are going to be coming in to find out what on Earth happened,
and maybe soon.  MOVE, people!!"
   We sprang into action.  Every floor was scoured, small teams moving
through and collecting unconscious sponges.  The smell of acrid smoke was
something you worked through to do the job.  The sponges' supplies were for
the most part destroyed - only a few items were collected.
   James was removed from the public eye by a fast-moving girl with a
penchant for confusing watchers - the police never knew what hit them.
   The team checking the Element reported the power usage and "shifted" to
a maintenance closet in Welch.
   The speakers and recordings were found and dismantled.
   Twenty-seven floors of stair later, we made it to the intersection,
where sporadic fire was still being exchanged.  With the added firepower of
the full team, we smashed through the remaining defenders and scoured the
Tower's more public areas while a detachment swiftly went through the Life
Sciences Library and the area for explosives.  None were found.
   The surviving sponges were fewer in number than I would have liked.  But
they were what we had, and T.A.L.O.N. now knew how to despongify them.  We
exited quickly, rounding up our perimeter group and sending everybody back
to headquarters to await final developments.
   Behind us, the police were somewhat hesitantly ordering somebody to
return, but were having more trouble corraling what looked like some
extremely interested press.  *Definitely* time to go.

   I stood in the middle of Speedway and took a deep breath.  Battle was
done with for now.  Welch and its labs lay to my left.  I entered and made
contact with the team with the Element, still on its pallet.  We needed to
speak to someone, and I hoped I knew just the person...
   "Dr. Brandon?"
   The white-haired and bespectacled, but still energetic man looked up
from his desk, where he was checking some exams.  "Yes?"
   "I understand you are versed in solid-state chemistry, especially
crystal structures."
   "That's one of my specialties, yes.  You - appear to be in something of
a state of disarray, young man."  I glanced down at myself, realizing I
still bore soot and sweat from the action just undertaken.  Well, I knew he
was a cocky enough guy to begin with, since he'd stayed in the sheltered
side of Welch when he could have evacuated.
   "My apologies for my appearance, sir, but the matter is something
urgent.  If I were to provide you with a sample of a crystalline substance
without knowing its constituents beforehand, would you be able to determine
how much energy was stored in it - what the approximate disorder in the
sample was - and how much energy could be stored in its ideal
configuration?"
   "Depending on the complexity of the crystal, that could take me anywhere
from five minutes to..."
   "...yes?"
   "Well, unforeseeably long.  But I don't have unforeseeably long right
now, so if you want to hand over the sample and a consultancy contract I'll
give you an estimate."
   I paused.  "Just a minute, it's outside."  I left and addressed the guys
with the Element.  "Stand back, guys, I don't know how badly this'll react
to being cut."  I knelt and, being in more of a hurry than the last time I
tried this, swiped a laser cutter across a corner of the Element, slicing
off a neat tetrahedron of smaller proportions, about 4 cm on a side.
   This I brought back into the office.  The professor looked it over, and
said, "What's this on the top side here?"
   "Microlithographic circuits.  Energy bands in a part of a calculating
device."
   He looked up at me.  "Bull."
   "No lie.  That's not the reason I brought it, though.  I need you to
determine what I asked."  I hesitated.  "What would be the price for
getting it done A.S.A.P.?  As in top priority?"
   "Hmmm... semi-transparent... clean lines... probably a simple basis..."
He looked up and quoted a figure that rocked me.  Frankly , I didn't know
if I could pay it.
   "One moment, please."
   "I got the time."
   I pulled out my JihadLinker and connected the cellphone.  This had to be
quick.  I stepped outside and checked the hall - good.  It was quiet
enough.  "TRES HQ."
   ...
   "Finance."
   ...
   "Somebody who can authorize payments from a TRES dummy company, please."
   ...
   "ID: LC Will Keith, Kappa Squad."
   ...
   "Research.  Currently on field assignment."
   ...
   "Yes, I'll hold."
   Dum dee dah, doo be dah doo...
   "Back?  Good.  I want to know if I can indemnify TRES for -" and I
quoted the amount.  I held the phone from my ear as the paperpusher on the
other end apparently had hysterics.
   "What?  Oh, it's for an outside chemical test of an Array Element's
structure."
   ...
   "No, he doesn't know what it is.  I'm not a moron."
   ...
   "Thank you.  Now will you kindly tell the contractor this?"
   I went back in and handed him the phone.  They spoke for a few minutes,
during which time he checked his bank account online and seemed pleased
with the results.  He hung up and returned the phone to me.
   "Well, Mr. Keith, let's go."
   We made our way to the labs.  A powder of a bit of the sample underwent
an X-ray diffraction and the requisite calculations, and we quickly had the
basic crystal structure and the amount of energy it could hold.  Some kind
of complex thing I didn't understand but which basically boiled down to
burning the sample gave him an excellent estimate of the disorder in the
sample, or conversely, how much energy it had(as a function of moles).  At
my request, he also kindly provided a formula for the volume of a given
number of bases.
   Armed with this information, it was a simple task to calculate the gram
molecular mass of the Element and the volume taken up by the battery on the
bottom.  Knowing how much energy could thus be stored in the entire
battery, and knowing how much energy was there, giving the difference
between the two...
   ...at the rate at which the Element was storing energy from the
Carillion power circuit...
   giving the amount of time until the Generator activated, from the time
we'd disconnected the Element.
   I stared at the number on the screen.  As a function of days from 9 P.M.
today, when we'd disconnected the Element, we had 4 and one-sixth days.  At
midnight Saturday, time was up.
   Almost distractedly, I rejoined the T.A.L.O.N. team.  We "shifted" a
safe distance from U.T. and destroyed the Element, then made way to the
T.A.L.O.N. house.

   There was a party going on when we got back.  Alchohol was in evidence,
as was a magician's way of playing with wild sounds and flashing illusions
of fantastic things, varying from formless lights to exaggerated tales of
prowess in what the caster had done today.
   As usual after a battle, the survivors were crying defiance to the
powers of destruction and chaos, having laughed in their face, getting hit
and having done some hitting.  There was the general air of "We are fewer,
but we are HERE!"  The injured were laughing as hard as the rest, and the
ones not here were being toasted by the occasional less-rowdy pockets in
the crowd.
   I found James in something like a converted storeroom in the back,
working with the few who were less of a mind to celebrate, despongifying
the captives.  It was quieter here, and my footfalls alerted them.
   They all looked up for a moment, then most went back to their work.
James' glance lingered - then melted into the first smile I had seen from
him.  He got up and came over to me.
   Seen closer to, his expression was more like a relief of stress than
anything else - the day's events had left their mark on him, as they would
on all of us.  But he clasped hads with me nevertheless, saying,
"Congratulations, Jiha - Will.  The day is won.  The Element /is/
destroyed, I trust?"
   "Saw to it myself.  I wanted to thank you for your cooperation in this."
   "It is our purpose.  We are not the Jihad, but a common enemy is a great
cooperation-inducer."
   I grinned.  "So it is."  The expression fell from my face - I still had
work to do.  "Where's my cycle?  I didn't see it out front, and I have some
information to get out."
   "Of course.  It's in the barn, out back."  My eyebrow cocked, but I
acknolwedged and left him to return to his work.
   The "barn" turned out to be a large storehouse for building materials
and tools.  My cycle sat patiently in a cleared space on the
sawdust-covered floor.  Various projects in states of completion were
around the place - it seemed T.A.L.O.N. took its commitment to simple,
strong craftsmanship seriously, and lying about were a few wooden chairs or
a granite-topped desk I wouldn't have minded furnishing my own quarters.
Perhaps I'd speak to them about it when this was over.
   I activated the JihadLinker and the cycle's com systems.  I quickly
typed out a message to TRES RBNMA Task Force coordination indicating my
findings and worry about the time period for activation.  I flagged it
"Urgent," and just to show I was admittedly nervous, cc'd it to several
other JAO's involved.
   That done, I checked what had been sent in to me.
   Pers had done some great work, taking out a major center.  As I read the
brief, I could imagine her doing many of these things, some of which
tickled my sense of humor and some of which were simply amazing.
   So, the Liaisons were deeper in this than we had thought.  Interesting...
   Sanford's team had come up with a rough mathematical fit to the
placement of Array Elements, which was interesting, but of more note was
the surprise that some Elements were in space and some were improperly
plotted.  Gee-orgeous.
   I scanned on through the list, something nagging at me.  Charcharadon's
info was of interest, the sensor developed seemed to be working out well...
what was the issue?
   Then it hit me.  I scrolled back up the list, extracted an image of the
_Lydia_'s fit, and went through and pulled up Burdoo's calculations and
overlaid them.
   Like a giant symbol for the null set, the line upon which she had
determined the Generator lay crossed directly through the circles described
by the _Lydia_ team.  And, sitting both on the line and within the inner
circle, was Sumner County, KS.
   How could we have missed it?
   Before I got into self-recrimination, it was obvious how we had missed
it - there was generally a reason the Command center, or a distribution
point, was offset from the center of one's forces.  But that was when any
decent military strategy was employed.  These people were, if human, still
working within the relentlessly centralized, paranoid power structure of
the Purple Forces.  Of course they'd want everything as close as possible,
despite the repercussions.
   No doubt there were plenty of Jihaddi noticing this - but, on the flip
side, the analysis computers we generally had working on such things
probably hadn't even had the newly-found base entered yet.  Working on the
assumption that we were better off flooded with suspicions than missing
this because nobody sent it, I copied the combined image, highlighted
Sumner, and sent it back to TRES.

   Then the wait.
   I flipped through communications channels, watching activities while I
walked back into the house and picked up dinner.  I had to regretfully turn
down a number of invitations to various groups, but was pleasantly
surprised when the entire company demanded to see the television report on
the events.  The illusionist lass magnified the display and we all sat back
and got quiet.

   "...and this is Austin's 10 o'clock News.  Our top story tonight: the
Tower situation has been resolved.
   "Earlier today, you were with us when we witnessed the ill-fated attempt
of the APD to drive the occupiers out of the Tower without causing damage
to the historic building, once it was determined that their claims of
hostages were untrue.  Instead, the police were themselves driven out after
suffering heavy casualties.
   "It is not clear what occurred at this point.  We have these unusually
blurry images -" pictures began to show, of the invading teams,
illusion-cloaked and under cover of dark, moving into the Tower; you
couldn't so much as tell they were human - "of what appears to be activity
outside the Tower just after this attack.  Watchers did report flashes of
light and unusual noises for over an hour thereafter, but police refused to
be drawn back into the Tower until an alternate plan could be devised.
   "What is certain is that, about an hour after the attack, two men fell
from the Observation Deck, with a third watching from above.  We were
unable to determine if the men were killed, because shortly thereafter, our
equipment began to experience malfunctions."  They had apparently
interpreted the energies being tossed around, as well as the actual static
of a sorcerous battle being waged, as real problems.  Good.  "One of the
men disappeared during this round of intereference - " a red bolt obscured
the screen - "and the other was removed from the premises by a woman who
managed to elude police forces and slip past the perimeter.
   "As for the man on the Tower..."  their best image was shown, magnified.
Superb.  I was a blur in red and white.  "His identity remains unknown."
   "However, police have attempted another incursion.  This time, they met
with no resistance.  Indeed, they met with no occupying forces.  Save for
some damage to a few doors and walls -" the view flashed through a few of
these images - "there is no evidence that the Tower was ever subjected to
the events of day.  The worst damage is to the side doors, and to the
Observation Deck.  Also, for some reason, the Knicker Carillion was detached from its power source.   "Rumors are flying tonight as to what actually occu
rred.  The police are being uncooperative.  The only statement we could get
from the crisis commander was:"
   An image of the police commander showed up.  "The b*****d's supposed to
be in Houston."  The T.A.L.O.N.-ted illusionist stood up and took a bow to
cheers from the audience.  "And where are the people we shot?"
   Back to the reporter.  "An excellent question, and not one answered by
the conflicting stories of the two people who were 'released' as hostages."
The two men, one still acting under orders to forget most of what had
happened, were shown arguing over details in their versions of what
occurred inside.
   "Several state officials at the scene, including UT administrators and
state congressmen, have given some vague indications of their positions on
the matter."
   Representative Littleton was shown.  "This just goes to show you,
terrorists are fundamentally cowards who can't stand up to a well-trained,
focused force like we have here in Austin.  I'm sure they'll be found and
put to trial."
   The Capitol's security chief, speaking a touch dryly, said, "No, I doubt
these people will show up again.  Any serious group would have indicated an
agenda.  Probably general social malcontents.  I'd just like to thank all
those who were truly responsible for ending this threat decisively."
   Back to the reporter.  "In short, Richard, we're here at the Tower, with
the problem solved, the evidence missing, and a mystery that may never be
explained.  For the 10-News, I'm..."

   T.A.L.O.N. burst into spontaneous applause, laughing at their success
and resuming the celebration.  It almost drowned out the sound of my
JihadLinker beeping.  I took a look at the message on the screen.

FROM: LC Nolan, XO, Alpha Squad.
TO: TRES RBNMA Task Force
CC: All Other JAO RBNMA Task Force Coordination Centers

Body:
   TRES forces have located information relating to the time of Central
Generator activation.  Further, TRES Analysis has reached agreement with
LoD and other JAO's on the implications of several combined pieces of
information.
   Likely time of Central Generator activation: Midnight Saturday.
   Likely location for Central Generator: previously unknown Purple Forces
base in Sumner county, KS.  Map appended.  Jihaddi will gather West of the
base at the indicated point.

   If you've taken out the Array Element in your area, get to Kansas in one
day by plane, bicycle, or winged horse.  We've found the Generator, and
there's not much time.

END Message.

   It was a matter of seconds to find James and a seven-leaguer and get
permission to borrow the man for a night.  In moments, we were aboard my
cycle and leaping toward Kansas and a final confontation.

   When we arrived, I found a dark plain with a few Jihaddi on watch,
overseeing a silent encampment which would have to remain as quiet as
possible even while its numbers grew.  Sometime soon we must begin the
final assault, no matter how many had been able to make it.
   In the darkness, without campfires lit and any lights subdued, it was
hard to tell how many of us there were.  I lay my cycle down, curled up
against it in a blanket, and went to sleep.

   Soon we would know.

To Be Concluded...