Orders of Magnitude (The Genie and the Engineer Series Book 2) by Glenn Michaels Read Free Book Online Page B

now.”
    Capie hung her head, absorbing this information. “I’m sorry,
but my father means a lot to me. If you don’t want to help—”
    “We need a plan, dear. And while we are planning, let’s grab
a quick bite to eat—”
    “I’m not hungry,” she declared stubbornly. “And this will
take too long.”
    “Not in this place,” Paul said. “Come, I need your
imagination and your brainpower. I want to save your father and we need a good
plan to do that.”
    She reluctantly nodded and walked in.
    They took a small table in the back corner of the place. A
young, fairly pretty girl took their order. Well, Paul’s order. Capie only
wanted a glass of ice water.
    “Uncle Sam?” Paul asked, as the waitress left. The tall
tactician materialized in the seat next to him and gave a brief nod.
    “Capie, we will need Tia too, please.”
    “Fine.” With a sullen wave of Capie’s hand, the Queen of the
Fairies appeared, in the seat across from Uncle Sam.
    “Now,” Paul said, leaning forward, forming a steeple with
his hands. “We need a plan of attack.”
    • • • •
    “It might just work,” admitted Juan Mendoza as he leaned
back in his chair, rubbing the stubble on his chin while he studied the Bernard
A. Mitchell Hospital floor plans in the holographic display in front of him.
“If you can find the smoke bombs.”
    “And the airsoft guns, man,” added Neal, seated next to him.
    “Most sporting goods stores have some decent guns,” Matt
Hutchens said with an affirmative nod. “And you can get smoke bombs in
fireworks stores over in Indiana.”
    Juan was now shaking his head slightly. “Even with the guns,
amigo, you gotta keep your distance. Your amulets against their talismans…you gotta
do the mongoose dance.”
    “That means duck and avoid,” Neal explained.
    The impromptu planning session had grown, now including the
waitress Chloe, the cook Neal and two hastily called friends, Juan and Matt. The
latter two were airsoft enthusiasts, considered to be something of local
experts on tactics and equipment. Another pretty girl, Kyra, Matt’s girlfriend,
had tagged along. All of them looked like kids to Paul, either high school
students or college freshmen.
    Paul grinned. It had started innocently enough, when Chloe had
brought back his burger, fries and drinks, then asking if Tia or Uncle Sam had
wanted anything. Capie had responded with a curt sarcastic retort that both
were magical holograms and not real people and therefore didn’t need to either
eat or drink.
    The situation had snowballed from there, practically
developing a life of its own. They might have looked like kids but all of these
young adults had sharp minds and had quickly accepted the reality of magical
powers and, more important, the dire situation that Capie’s father was in. More
than that, they interacted with Tia and Uncle Sam on a near instinctual level,
adding valuable suggestive and creative ideas. Paul was highly impressed and
wondered if maybe they wouldn’t make better wizards than he himself. It was
something to contemplate in the future.
    “You should have the element of surprise,” Matt said. “The
professor’s stroke hasn’t been in the news yet so they don’t know that you
know.”
    “And,” Kyra said, smiling and looking at Capie, “they don’t
know that you are a wizard too.”
    “They don’t even know that she isn’t in a wheelchair
anymore,” Neal pointed out.
    Paul checked his watch again. Although the interchange had
been extremely productive, it had also consumed more than an hour and a half of
their time. If their plan had any chance of success, they needed to get moving.
    “I can’t tell you how much this has helped,” Paul confided
with a grin. “Many thanks to all your suggestions. And this plan.”
    Even Tia smiled. “Yes, you’ve given us some excellent ideas.
They will be of tremendous help.”
    Kyra giggled and the others beamed proudly. “We wish we
could go with you.”
    Capie