Free March Forth (The Woodford Chronicles Book 1) by Deirdre S. Hopton Page B

correct.)
    “Who are you?”
    The man smiled convivially and offered his hand, which Deanna shook awkwardly as he introduced himself. “They call me General Larsen, around here, but you can call me Benjamin.  Drisbane tells me you are completely immune to his shields and that is fascinating to me, absolutely fascinating.  I really can’t tell you how intrigued I am by you.”
    “Drisbane?” Deanna asked bemusedly.
    “Me.  Steven Drisbane,” Steven said, while Larsen said, “Oh, perhaps he didn’t introduce himself properly.  The young man who brought you here is Ensign Steven Drisbane.”  The general stopped speaking and peered around the room as if looking for something.  “Are you here, Drisbane?”
    “Oh, right,” Steven said, pulling out his phone-like device and tapping away at the screen.  A moment or two later, the General’s gaze went directly to him for the first time and the older man smiled again.
    “It’s good to see you, Ensign.”
    “It’s good to be seen, sir.”
    Deanna looked back and forth between the two men.  “You really didn’t know he was there?” she asked Larsen.
    “I’m afraid not, my dear.  Your ability to see through the Wand’s shielding abilities truly is unique.”
    “The Wand?”
    “This,” Steven said, holding up his not-phone.
    “Not exactly how one pictures a magic wand,” Deanna murmured.  She blinked and shook her head, trying to clear away some of her confusion.  “You’re an ensign?” she addressed Steven.  “Like on Star Trek?”
    He gave her that half smile again, an expression she was beginning to loathe.  He looked so arrogant and smug.  “More like in the Navy,” he said.
    “You guys are in the Navy?”
    “No,” Larsen answered smoothly.  “Now tell me, my dear, what is your name?”
    Though she was beginning to feel as if she had fallen down the rabbit hole, Deanna answered calmly and cordially.  “I’m Deanna.  Deanna Flanagan.  May I ask why I am here, exactly?”
    “Of course you may, Ms. Flanagan, and may I say that is a lovely name,” Larsen answered, his eyes twinkling.  “Your ability to see through our shields is simply extraordinary, and we would like to run some tests to try and find the cause of your ability.”
    “What kind of tests?”
    “Nothing too invasive, I assure you.  Mostly, we will just wave some devices at you and look at our computers.”
    Deanna thought for a moment before posing her next question.  “Without putting too fine a point on it, what’s in it for me?  What if I just want to go home? Will you let me go?”
    Larsen offered a wide, magnanimous smile.  “My dear, I would imagine you are as eager to find the cause of your abilities as we are!  Drisbane has shared with me that you have long believed in magic.  Imagine if you have some access to it!  Think of how much you can learn from us.”
    Noting that he had quite artfully avoided answering her questions, Deanna tried another line of inquiry.  “I don’t know what I can learn from you because I don’t know anything about you.  What kind of a place is this?  Who do you two work for?  What do you do, exactly?”
    “We’re the good guys,” Steven said quietly.  She glanced at him and saw a kind of earnest pride shining through his eyes.
    “Well said, Drisbane.  Ms. Flanagan, there is no need to be afraid,” Larsen said in a gentle tone.  “We are part of an organization exclusively dedicated to the study and use of magic.  We use it to protect our great nation and generally improve the world at large.  It is our mission to eliminate needless suffering of any kind, and we hope to do that through developing a greater understanding of and control over the energy you know as magic.”
    “I often think of us as students,” Steven interjected.
    “Precisely, Ensign.  We are students of magic, students of the mysteries of the universe, and you, Ms. Flanagan, seem to be one of those mysteries.”
    Deanna mulled