#82: The Dinner

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Shelby arrived at the appointed time, to the minute. He arrived wearing a long western style duster coat. He appeared to be walking. Those who knew him slightly would have wondered at that. They knew that Shelby had no legs, how could he walk? Those few who knew him better wouldn’t wonder in the least. Shelby was the master of Structural Smoke.

The Orc twins were doormen that night. One opened the door. The other announced his arrival.

“Mr. Shelby Winslow...The ArchMage” he rumbled. The timbre of his voice was beyond gravelly. It was similar to that of an avalanche of Iron Cannon Balls.

The Dragon Lady glided to meet Shelby. She was wearing a gorgeous floor length gown and moved so smoothly that one would think that she was on powered roller skates. She too, was riding StructuralSmoke. She arched an eyebrow toward Shelby when she greeted him at the door.

“ArchMage?” Shelby muttered so that no one but her could hear.

“I have no idea where he came up with that” the Dragon Lady whispered back as she winked at Captain. ”He’s learning to read. Perhaps from a comic book?”

Shelby grinned in reply. More of a grimace actually, then he spoke loud enough for others to hear. “Thank you for the invitation. I am honored.”

She said with equal volume. “I am most pleased that you could be here.”

“ Welcome to my MonkeySphere.” She said much quieter such that only Shelby could hear

Shelby blinked at that. MonkeySphere huh? He revised his estimation of the DragonLady skyward....to about the Stratospheric level. He observed the crowd.

“Yup...about a hundred it looks like, perhaps a bit less.” he thought to himself.

“If you will come with me please?” She said as she accepted his arm. He escorted her to the head of the table. The tables were arranged in a horseshoe configuration, open end facing the door. He and the Dragon Lady moved thru the open space between the legs of the “U”. He escorted her to her seat, then sat down in the one to her right. In compliance with the theme of the party both their chairs followed the Dragon Motif. They were practically Dragon Thrones.

The dining area looked smokey. One of the proverbial smoke filled back rooms perhaps? Shelby realized that this was not the case. Not at all. It was foggy from all the floating Structural Smoke. Shelby noticed that everyone but he was wearing dragon tear pendants. Avatars were everywhere.

After they were seated the dragon lady gave a short speech. Then the meal was served by flying Avatars...naturally.

Shelby mind texted

Shelby
Good food
The coffee is great.
I can’t wait for the Brandy and Cigars.
Are you aware that we are about
to be visited by a SWAT Team?
.
DragonLady
Yes,of course
I am unsurprised
that you knew this.
.
They have been looking
for you for years.
They’ve finally found you.
I will take care of the ones
that Chad has left alive.
.
Shelby
Oh? Chad too?
That’s very nice of you.
Many thanks.
Very good then.
I’ll leave everything in
your capable hands.
.
DragonLady
You ARE the ArchMage.
It’s nothing less than your due.
You are most welcome.

As if on cue the Front Door exploded inward.

DragonLady
They’re heeeeeereee.
How rude.
A bit excessive I think.
It wasn’t locked.

The SWAT Team came in shooting.

“Freeze!” they screamed. “Put your hands over your heads.”

Yet they continued shooting. They used the raised hands as aim points. They were shooting the guests, the guards, the avatars, the wine glasses.

There were no dogs present...thankfully.

If Marc and Captain had been hit by the initial blast it didn't’ seem to have phased them. They might have become even more inscrutable, it was hard to tell. They stood with folded arms, one on either side of the door, and watched. Oddly enough the SWAT team ignored them. Perhaps they were invisible to the thugs, or perhaps mistaken for statues.

The leader of the SWAT team, displaying very poor situational awareness rushed to the head of the table. He stood before the Dragon Lady and Shelby holding a tricked out assault rifle which he had pointed at them. It had two rails complete with lasers, target designators, lights and a bayonet as long as his forearm.

“YOU...you’re coming with us!” he screamed at Shelby. He shot the DragonLady. He seemed not to be able to speak other than by screaming.

Shelby surveyed the sight before him....then he smiled.

“I think not” The Dragon Lady said calmly. She looked distastefully at the rifle rounds hanging in the air before her, much as she would have looked at puppy poop.

Then she surveyed the room. There were no happy faces. Everyone of her guests were staring in distaste at similar bullets, suspended in the air in front of them also. Had it not been for the instant reaction of the defensive programming built into the Dragon Ladies Structural Smoke....she and every one of her guests would be dead.

They were not amused.

The SWAT Team members were all in shock. They’d shot ALL of their ammunition, at point blank range, at helpless civilians, just as they had been taught. No one had died. How could that be?

Even worse. They all, suddenly, felt as if they were neck deep in invisible cement. They could NOT move.

“This is a Cigar Moment If I’ve ever seen one.” Shelby observed quietly.

The Dragon Lady raised one eyebrow, she was really very good at that gesture, then nodded slightly. A small dragon avatar flew into the room carrying a cigar. It handed the stoogie to Shelby. Shelby thanked it then presented one end of the cigar to the dragon. The dragon lit the cigar with a small belch of fire. Shelby grinned, took a puff and sat back in satisfaction.

“Carry on.” he said very quietly.

The Dragon Lady nodded to Shelby, imperceptibly to anyone else in the room. She turned her attention to the struggling, red faced shouting Swat Team leader in front of her...and frowned.

“Shouting while the grown ups are speaking is not tolerated” she said. Another small dragon appeared carrying a roll of duct tape.

“Duct tape is Silver” she observed “but Silence Is Golden. One can cause the other. Shall I have your mouth taped shut or will you be silent?”

“You can’t do that” The SwatTeam leader must have been in serious denial. It was obvious to anyone that she very definitely could. The Dragon Lady just stared at him.

“I was only following orders” The petulant SWAT Team leader finally said. Perhaps a different tack would work. It had worked it Nuremberg...oh..wait...it hadn’t.

“What exactly were those orders?” She asked him.

He mumbled.

“Speak up please.” she said “Everyone wants to know why you are here.”

“My orders were to kill everyone. Leave no witnesses, and take Winslow back for questioning. He has been seen using unauthorized technology”. He mumbled.

“Everyone in this room is a citizen of the United States. No one has committed any crime. No warrants have been served. No one has been arrested. Are you the judge, jury and executioner?” The Dragon lady said with contempt.

“What about our Constitutional Rights?” she asked mildly.

“They don’t matter.” he mumbled.

“Speak up!” she reminded him.“ So that everyone can hear!”.

“You have no rights” the Team Leader was defiant.”The Government can do anything it deems necessary.”

The Dragon Lady stared at him for a moment then raised her head and looked at her guests.

“There you have it.” She said “Citizens of the United States have no rights if they inconvenience the Government. We shall have to remember that and take it into account in all our future activities.”

Her guests looked at her..then at the bullets still suspended in space in front of them. Her point was well taken.

The Dragon Lady looked back at the Team Leader “Who sent you dear”.

“None of your business” he spat. “National Security. If you don’t have the need to know......”

He finally realized what he was saying and stuttered to a stop.

“If your enemy is making a mistake....” Shelby murmured...

“..... let him.” The Dragon Lady finished Shelby’s statement quietly.

“You sir.” She said louder, to the Team Leader. “have just dug yourself a hole. No one knows that you are here, do they?”

“What are you going to do?” He began shouting. Terror in his eyes.

The little dragon taped his mouth shut.

“That’s gonna smart when it’s pulled off” Shelby observed, after a puff of smoke “ all that face hair don’t you know?

“Somehow I don’t think he will care by then.” The dragon lady murmured.

“What say you all?” The Dragon Lady said loud enough for everyone to hear. “These men are from the Government and they are here to help us....into an early grave. What should we do with them?”

Her guests were stunned. No one had ever expected to be in this situation.

“ArchMage? What say you?”

The Dragon Lady looked at Shelby. He somberly looked back at her..then extended his arm straight out at shoulder level, fist closed...then he stuck out his thumb....

Down.

She nodded..then turned back to see the reaction of the members of her MonkeySphere. They stared back. Slowly, in ones and twos, they all copied Shelby. Soon they all indicated thumbs down.

The SWAT Team were horrified. They weren’t entirely stupid. They started to scream.

The Dragon Lady closed her eyes momentarily as if the noise bothered her...as if she were concentrating. A translucent bubble appeared and englobed each one of the Swat team members heads. Their screams became muted.

“The bubbles are not permeable.” The Dragon Lady spoke in a conversational tone. “When the CO2 content increases beyond a certain level they will go to sleep....painlessly. They will not awake. This is much more humane than what they intended for all of us.”

As if to underscore her point she nodded at the bullets that were still hanging in space in front of her. Everyone in the room had similar bullets hanging in front of them.

Slowly, one by one, the SwatTeam members quit struggling, collapsed and hung suspended by the Structural Smoke.

“They will all be dead shortly” the dragon lady said .

“ Soon after their demise they will be rendered into Structural Smoke themselves. We should be thankful for this valuable gift sent to us from our government. We can’t ever have too much Structural Smoke. Drink up”. She said and raised a glass of whisky in toast.

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The Next Episode is
#83: Cigars and Brandy…
The Previous Episode was
# 81: Check with the Wiz
the First episode was
#1 : Prologue
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@everittdmickey
.
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