Free Mana by John A. Broussard Page B

consistent thing is that abrupt movements were taboo. If the chief stumbled, you could get yourself into serious trouble if you made a quick move to keep him from falling, however well-intentioned your motives. Any touching of the chief, however benign or even necessary, had to be done carefully. His attendants always had to be walking on eggs.”
    â€œThat takes me back to square one,” sighed Lehua. “I have no way of knowing for sure how it would react to a handshake. There might be something I’m totally unaware of that’s important in determining how it’s going to react.”
    â€œRight. You have to know something about electricity’s peculiarities to be aware standing in water when you put your finger into a live socket is just not a good idea. On the other hand you might be able to get away with the same act if you were standing on a rubber mat. One other item of information I picked up that could help is that there’s an expert on the mana legend who’s got an important paper in the works.”
    Lehua’s eyes lit up. “Who is it? Can we get in touch with whoever it is?”
    â€œMaybe. The department chairman is trying to run him down. His name’s Stanley Toa, a Tongan. He’s someplace in Europe right now, searching through the archives for written narratives going back to the early Pacific voyages. Cy insists if there’s anyone in the world who knows more about mana than Toa does, he’s never heard of them.”
    â€œAll right; all right,” Millie said, the exasperation clearly apparent in her voice. She was no longer able to contain herself. “You two are talking in riddles. What’s going on?”
    Lehua sighed, then began her story with the discovery of the whale bladder and its contents. Millie’s exasperation changed to complete skepticism as Lehua described the actual events of the attempted rape, the acid-throwing episode and that day’s disaster at her office.
    â€œAll of this came from that board with some kind of writing on it?” Millie asked, shaking her head incredulously.
    Tessa broke in before Lehua could answer. “Somehow the reading of it gave Lehua this power. We’re not sure how.”
    â€œIt wasn’t just the reading, Tessa,” Lehua said. “I played Annie’s recital three times. Now I’m positive that’s what did it.”
    Millie gave a loud snort. “You two don’t really expect me to believe any of this black magic nonsense?”
    Lehua looked helplessly across the desk at Tessa. “Now you can see why I wasn’t about to tell Captain Silva about it.”
    Tessa pushed back from the desk and got up. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m starved. Come on over to the cafeteria. I’ve got scrip to spare, and I’ll treat you. Maybe Millie will believe better on a full stomach.”
    Millie’s face showed no signs of softening, but she got up along with the other two, and in a few moments they were crossing the broad expanse of Campus Way.
    * * *
    Millie was the first one to spot it. It was a long, sleek black automobile with heavily-tinted glass. It pulled away from the curb from the direction of the entrance, some hundred yards away and, despite its rapid acceleration, made little noise. Millie shouted, “Watch out!” reached with her right hand for the service revolver on her hip, punched Tessa away with her left hand and got one shot off at the limo before it stopped and crumpled with an ear-splitting crash some fifteen feet from them. It was difficult to tell exactly what happened.
    The front bumper of the vehicle was now bent up and back through the shattered windshield. Smoke rose in wisps from the shards of glass and twisted metal that only a few moments before had been a shiny, luxurious limousine. Before Millie could get to the wreck, the smoke broke into a single flame which was followed by a small explosion,