Dial H for Heroics

Jack decided to head to Jane’s House first. He needed a place to put the first gate.

Then he could put the other gate at the hospital and hook everything up. Then he just

needed to adjust the Hole in the Wall’s gate to match the rest.

Elaine and the kids were going to the Hall for practice. She could handle recruitment,

sort June out, and direct people to the hospital. He expected her to call him once she

had something lined up they could use.

He checked on Aviras. The dragon was still reading the massive tome they had been

given by Mister Warner. A talon marked his place as he read about old adventures

when the former champion of order had been active.

“I’m heading out,” said Jack. “You want to come along?”

“I think I am going to finish my reading,” said the dragon. Sapphire eyes regarded

Jack. “Some of these things I had heard about second and third hand. It is interesting

to see an account of what was going on by someone who was there.”

“All right,” said Jack. “I don’t know where I will be, but if something comes up and

you need a hand, call me or Juni to straighten things out. I have no idea when Josie

is going to be back with the Enterprise.”

“I will be fine,” said Aviras. “I am solitary by nature, and this is good for me. I do not

like that we might have to deal with Shemmaria again, but I don’t see any way to stop

them other than a complete change of their government in some way.”

“We’ll worry about that when the quests come down,” said Jack. “Right now, we

have to make a place for the people in storage on the Enterprise to be dropped so we

don’t lose them in case something happens to the ship. I’m more worried about June

trying to do what we do.”

“She will be fine,” said Aviras. “Take care of your things. I will be here with the

books.”

Jack grinned as he turned away from his houseguest. Who knew you could make

someone your friend by shrinking them and crushing their ego? Juni and Rose had

done the same thing with bullies back home.

Jack decided to use Makkari to cross town in an instant. It wasn’t quite as fast as a

teleport, but it was the next best thing. He appeared at the gate in front of the mansion

he had handed over to the Amazons to get them started.

He waited for the gate women to notice him silently. He didn’t have to fight his way

inside, and most of the original band knew him by sight at least.

And he didn’t have an embarrassing nickname like Ear Ripper to live down.

“Jack?,” said the gate woman. “Your woman said you might be coming around

today.”

“I wanted to take the day off, but everybody says I can’t lay around in bed all day,”

said Jack. “I have to put in some gates for you guys, and think about some specialized

surgical stuff for the hospital.”

“Come in,” said the gate woman. She opened the gate for him to enter the grounds.

“I don’t know where Jane is. She’s been dealing with paperwork for the Duchy, and

helping us get things together.”

“Let me look for Jane, and then I will have to visit the hospital,” said Jack. “If I can

get the tough part done today, the rest will be a breeze when I get to it.”

“I will be watching to see what happens,” said the gate woman. “Jane has sent us

through the checker, and it has shown us that we will have to work on ourselves

before we can help anybody else.”

“Josie will make sure everything comes out fine,” said Jack. He walked toward the

mansion. He pushed the button for Jane so he could talk to her on her band before he

actually spotted her.

“Hello?,” asked Jane. She was working. She didn’t have time for small talk with the

people that were piling the work on.

“It’s me, Jane,” said Jack. He kept walking, ignoring anyone staring at him. “I’m here

about the gates.”

“Come up to the side of the house where Josie’s scanner stands,” said Jane. “We can

put it up there.”

“All right,” said Jack. He cut the call and headed to the house. He spotted the machine

standing out like a sore thumb. He nodded. The gate could go behind it and then he

just needed to set up the other end.

He paused at the wall. It was the same type of brick used all over the city. It had been

painted white, but had a lot of dust covering it from the work the Amazons were

doing.

What did he need for the gate? He needed inscripted iron in a ring set in the brick.

Where did he get it? He saw one of the bushes was gone. Maybe he could use the

other one for his purposes.

He nodded as his thoughts lined up with what he thought he needed. He could pull

it out with the transformation. Then he could sink it into the brick. Then he could

power it up with the spell he needed.

“What do you think?,” said Jane. She appeared in the side the door of the mansion.

She frowned as she studied him.

“This is an easy job for me,” said Jack. “I will have to put the other end up at the

hospital so you can go back and forth. Are you ready to take up this responsibility?”

“Sometimes I regret taking your hand,” said Jane. “You ask for a lot for the little you

did.”

“I saved the city,” said Jack. He grinned. “That means you saved the city by proxy.

It’s something you should be proud of. You should have it on the outside wall.

WE SAVED THE CITY BY PROXY in a metal plaque would be a good decoration.”

“That and a copper won’t get me a mug of beer at the local tavern,” said Jane.

Jack smiled at that.

“I know that we are asking a lot, and are asking you to be our assistants, and are

asking you to look out for a city that doesn’t know what you did, and how great you

are,” said Jack. “But if we could get a million more of me, we wouldn’t need you.”

“I don’t think Josie would want that many of you around,” said Jane. “I don’t think

Elaine would want that many of you around.”

“I am pretty awesome,” said Jack.

“If you say so,” said Jane. “Do you need me?”

“I think you should know where the door to your installation is so you can show

others and spread the word,” said Jack. “More jobs are coming down and we have

to get what we can done before we have to put things on pause.”

“How bad will it be?,” asked Jane.

“I don’t know,” said Jack. He smiled at her. “Any way, Josie is out of town on

something else, so the jobs will get done as soon as she gets back.”

“That makes me feel better,” said Jane. She waved at him. “Let’s get this done. I have

a million things I have to look at before the day is done.”

“First,” said Jack. “I’m going to need to sacrifice your bush.”

“What?,” said Jane.

Jack became Magik. He grabbed the top of the bush next to the crater in the ground.

He pulled and it changed shape in his hand. He placed that against the wall and

pushed. The metal sank into the brick with a spinning motion. It glowed as it

activated. Jack let the persona go after a quick inspection to make sure the gate would

work when he had the other end online.

“I need to set up the other end,” said Jack. “Come on. We’ll fly over and look at the

spot we need.”

“What do you mean fly?,” asked Jane.

“Fly like we did when you got to town,” said Jack. He turned into Gravity and pulled

them both in the air. He set course upwards so he could see the city from above.

“Which way to the hospital?”

“That way,” said Jane. She pointed in the direction they needed to go. “I really hate

this.”

“Don’t worry,” said Jack. He grinned as he pulled them through the air. “I haven’t

dropped anyone accidentally ever. My safety record is great.”

“I don’t believe you,” said Jane. She pointed again. “You see that gleaming white

building? That’s the hospital.”

“Got it,” said Jack. He increased their speed until he was sure he was close enough

to start slowing down. He brought them down gently to a landing outside the front

door. A stout metal and brick sign said that this was JANE’S HOSPITAL.

“Josie insisted on that,” said Jane.

“People will see this as a landmark,” said Jack. He let Gravity go. “Let’s see where

we can put the gate, and make sure it works. Then I have to work on your machine

so you can get started cycling people through here.”

“We should put the gate in the center of the building,” said Jane. “That way we can

just spread out to our duties from there.”

“Okay,” said Jack. “Where do you want the machine?”

“We should have it in a work area close to the Operations and Emergency area,” said

Jane. “We roll them out of the gate, through the machine, then to their rooms to be

monitored and checked on until they can leave, if they can ever leave.”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” said Jack. “Show me around. It looks nice enough

from the lobby.”

“Josie did all this with her birds,” said Jane. “It was a dismal looking place before

she got started. Follow me down to the Operation Rooms. I have to stop in and see

if we got any food to feed the people we’re going to have work here. I’m proud they

all volunteered.”

“People will think this is a magical place,” said Jack. “You will have people from all

over trying to get their ills fixed.”

“If the Crown takes an interest, there could be problems,” said Jane. “The King could

see this as something valuable to the kingdom, and cut the commoners out.”

“He can try,” said Jack. He grinned. “He might wind up pushed down a flight of stairs

if he does.”

“I can see that,” said Jane. “We might need another house if things expand.”

“It’s your call,” said Jack. “The main problem here is communication technology. I

doubt I am supposed to be handing out com bands to everyone I am attached to so I

can call them to see what they are doing. The Society thinks I am doing too much at

the moment.”

Jane waved her arms at the building above them as they walked across the lobby.

“You know what I mean,” said Jack. He smiled at a familiar face hanging on the wall.

“Nice Doctor Strange. I mean I think they are letting me get away with it because

you are helping us, and are by default Josie’s assistants and minions. I don’t think

they want me to set up a stall at the market and just hand them out to the people.”

“It would change a lot of the ways things are done,” said Jane.

“I don’t think that’s how the Society likes to do their business,” said Jack.

“Do what we tell you and don’t make a fuss?,” asked Jane. She smiled at him. The

two champions she had dealt were the opposite of that from what she had seen.

“Exactly,” said Jack. He grinned.

“We need the gate here,” said Jane. “The elevator is behind us, the Operations and

Emergency section is ahead of us. The Cafeteria and kitchen for the residents, the

offices and archives are to our left.”

“I can do it,” said Jack. He measured things with his eyes. “We’re going to need

a marked out place so people don’t stand close in front of it when it opens.”

“All right,” said Jane. “How far out should people walk around it?”

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “I should have brought something to transform into the

gate. Let’s see if the kitchen has something we can use. Then we can set the gate up

and test it.”

They walked into the cafeteria. Tables and booths had been put in so people could

enjoy a small meal while working or visiting patients. A small kitchen staff worked

behind a counter at the back of the room in a second section devoted to cooking.

“Hello, Ellen,” said Jane. “How goes things?”

“It’s a mess, Jane dear,” said Ellen. She looked like she had been heavy at one point,

been starved thin, and was slowly gaining the weight back. “We should be ready to

start when the place is open.”

“Ellen,” said Jane. She indicated Jack with a hand move. “This is Jack, Josie’s

minion. He is putting in the portable doors for us. Do you need him to do something

for you while he is here.”

“I am not a minion,” said Jack. “I’m Josie’s boss.”

“Does she know that?,” asked Ellen. She smiled at him.

“I don’t know exactly,” said Jack. “That is besides the point. I can put in a cold

storage for you to store stuff longer from the market.”

“We have one of those,” said Ellen. “It’s great.”

“Really?,” asked Jack. “How did she overcome the lack of electricity to run it?”

“I have no idea,” said Ellen. “But it is icy cold.”

“I’ll take your word for that,” said Jack. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spoon or

something weighing about ten pounds that you don’t want back?”

“We have some spare pans we can give you,” said Ellen. “Wait here.”

She bustled off and came back with a sturdy iron pan. She handed it over with a

smile.

“What are you going to do with that?,” she asked with a gesture at the pan.

“I’m going to use it to form a gate so you guys don’t have to walk across town from

the House,” said Jack. “Once I test it, you will be able to get back and forth that much

easier with fewer problems.”

“That sounds lovely,” said Ellen. “Thank you.”

“It’s just part of the job,” said Jack. “Don’t worry about it.”

He waved at her before heading out of the cafeteria and back to the spot Jane had

designated. He thought he had enough iron for the job in hand.

He pulled on Magik again. He grabbed the pan with both hands, one on the handle,

the other on the opposite side rim. He pulled the metal out of shape, expanding it into

a ring. He pushed the ring into the wall and spun it to life.

He didn’t have anything to form into a lock for it. He could probably use a coin if he

wanted. He let Magik go so he could think about what he had in his pockets. He could

use something to form a pad to keep people from just stepping through the gate

anytime they wanted.

He still had his wallet. He took it out. He smiled. He still had some bills, his license,

and his bank card. He doubted any of that would be useful where he was now, but he

might need it when he went back home. He decided the five could be useful at the

moment.

That would be the cost of the pad.

He placed the five on the ground, turned into Magik, picked the five up. He twisted

it in his hand to form the activation button for the gate and placed it in the wall.

He formed a thread between the two of them.

“So push eight one one to go back to the house,” said Jack. He let the persona go.

“Then push that on that end to get here. Push nine nine nine to lock the system up to

keep people from using it.”

“So the machine for the growths?,” said Jane.

“I will do it next,” said Jack. He punched in the number and the gate activated. He

stepped through to the house grounds. He pulled a few leaves from some of the

nearby bushes and used Magik to turn them into another key pad next to the original

gate. He cut a line the right distance from the gate before stepping back to the

hospital. He drew a line in the floor there and marked the section as a danger.

“All right,” said Jack. “Now we can look at where you want to put the machine.”

“Let’s walk down to the Operations area,” said Jane. “We can put the thing there

since it is only going to be used for taking the growths out, and we don’t know how

serious that will be. Some of the nurses might be down before we can get the real

reason we set this place up going.”

“I am not going to build something that will rip their spines out of them,” said Jack.

“We need something that will be painless but fast,” said Jane. “And we can’t have

a lot of afterwards either.”

“I might have to look at one of the women with the spines,” said Jack. “Maybe I can

cure this with an elixir instead of technobabble.”

“I think I would prefer that too,” said Jane. “And Massa should be here organizing

things. We can talk to her first.”

“Let’s do that,” said Jack.