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

his mind, though, so no one knew for certain.
    During his last weeks in Maine, Carver’s behavior became utterly incomprehensible.  He would scream at operatives for things that they had not yet done .   He would leave a meeting to go to the men’s room, and call thirty minutes later from Australia, uncertain how he got there.  It was as if he had some strange, magical version of Alzheimer’s, with all of the confusion but none of the constraints of time and space.  No one in the organization knew how to deal with it. 
    Then, one day, he just vanished.  They searched for him, of course.  They searched the entire planet, using their Wands and every trick they knew.  Occasionally, they would pick up a faint trace of his unique energy readings, which they called an energy signature.  It was never more than a trace, though, and never enough to follow.  It was unknown whether Chief Admiral David Carver even still walked the earth.  Various operatives presented long, involved theories hypothesizing that Carver had gotten lost in some unknown dimension, or that he had actually died.  No one could prove any of these theories beyond all reasonable doubt.
    But the organization lived on.
     
    After Steven had studied for two years, he was sworn in as an officer of the organization.  The oath was not terribly different than the one he had taken when he joined the Navy.  He was being promoted to ensign, though, so he took The Oath of Office for officers, which was slightly different than the original oath he had taken.  Also, with the organization being what it was, there were a few practical modifications.
    In front of a panel of commanding officers and alongside several other new officers, Steven raised his right hand and swore: “I, Ensign Steven Drisbane, having been appointed an officer in the Navy of the United States, as indicated in the above grade of ensign, do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, from this plane of reality or any other; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations, under no magical influence, and with no purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter.  So help me God.”
    (The parts that mentioned specific rank and branch were a little garbled, as the new officers, from various branches of the armed forces, took the oath in unison.)
                  Steven wasn’t an overly emotional young man, but as he took the oath, he had a tear in his eye.  His chest swelled with pride.  He had come to truly love the organization and their work; it made him feel as if he had finally found out the secrets of life he always suspected were there.  He loved being separate from the mundane world, from ordinary people with their boring, trivial lives.  He could actually use magic, with the purpose of protecting and improving his country.  It was like a boyhood daydream come true.  He felt like a superhero.
                  Once he was sworn in, Steven would be given his first assignment.  He was so excited to find out what it would be that he could barely stand it.  However, there was a small reception first (at least they served lunch – free food went a long way toward helping him push aside his impatience); by the time the two hour event ended, Steven’s leg was involuntarily twitching with sheer anticipation.
                  Finally, after the festivities, one of the organization’s colonels handed out black envelopes to the new officers.  Each of them opened their envelope, read the paper inside, and burst into excited chatter.  All around, young officers were gleefully shouting things like, “I’m going to be a Wand specialist!” and, “I’m an energy tracker!” and even, “I’ve got ‘boogie man’