Free God Hammer: A novel of the Demon Accords by John Conroe Page A

lines, the sharp snap of arcing electricity jumping from the nearest outlet to my hand shut them up.  When I motioned for one geek to step away from his monitor and then proceeded to test it with ball lightning with no apparent effect, well, let’s just say I got some cooperation.
     
    “How will we protect our remote computers at our satellite offices around the world?” Chet asked Tanya when she appeared to check up on my progress.
     
    I jumped in with a question before she could answer.  “Are they all as large as this one?”
     
    “No, but they’re not real small either.  Why, Declan?  What are you thinking?” she asked.
     
    “If you can have some representative elements from both the computers and their buildings shipped here, I could ward them, we could ship them back, and they could be hand-placed around the centers,” I said.
     
    “What kind of elements, Declan?” Tanya asked.
     
    “Leftover bricks or tiles from the same batch as used in the building, spare server blades, a few ceiling tiles maybe, some spare keyboards, stuff like that.  I’d also need a blueprint of the building and a map of the layout of each computer center.”
     
    “This would work?  Truly?” she asked.  Chet looked like he was having gas cramps.
     
    “Yeah, particularly if they just remove some of the existing tiles, both ceiling and floor, unplug a few spare stations and stuff.  That way, after I ward them and create an install map, they could plug it all back in and it should link up.”
     
    Chet popped.  “You could have warded my computers without having to put paint directly on them?” he asked, teeth clenched.
     
    “I can ward anything—how well it works is another matter.  This center, the heart of everything you do, well yeah, I could have done a sloppy job on it and you could have taken your chances.”
     
    “Sloppy?  What do you call the goddamned graffiti you tagged my damn systems with?” he sputtered.
     
    “I call it a linked array, double-grounded spherical containment ward.  The far away wards, the ones I would put on the tiles and such, I call sympathetic coordinated relation wards.  The first is much stronger than the second, but the second ain’t shabby,” I said.
     
    He looked at me for a second while Tanya just smiled in amusement.  “You just made that up,” he said.
     
    “I made it up a long time ago.  Just words to describe effects.  I had no one else to talk to about it.  Aunt Ash doesn’t do tech stuff.”
     
    “So the painting you did here is superior?” he asked.
     
    “Think of the difference between a bank vault and an office safe.  Both tough and secure, but to vastly different degrees,” I said. “This graffiti as you call it, is hand applied by the witch in question and each group of protective runes is linked to the building itself and the electrical grid, then all of the ward groups end up linked to each other.  The ones on the elevators, the reception desk, this floor, and, as I do them, all the other floors.  That’s the linked array part.  Individual pieces each strong, but stronger when linked,” I said.
     
    “And it will keep Anvil at bay?” Chet asked.
     
    “It should keep it out, based on how it reacted to the wards on my phone and my skin.  But it will also keep the building from ever catching fire, would probably survive an earthquake, and flying objects will miss it.”
     
    “Whoa there cowboy.  Flying objects?  Like planes?” he asked.
     
    “Yeah, like planes or missiles.  At least once I’ve got most of the building done.  But the sympathetic related wards should also keep Anvil out of the remote centers and will protect against fire, but the building is on its own.  How many do you have, by the way?” I asked.
     
    “London, Hong Kong, Japan, Beijing, Hamburg, Dublin, and Prague.  Those are the main ones,” Tanya said, smiling when she saw my expression.
     
    “Your arrival was absolutely fortuitous Declan.