Do You Believe in Magic?

Miranda felt the spell linking the boys to her study pulse with alien energies. It was similar to Atlantian magix or the Technomagics that the Dahlet woman had been playing with. Without knowing what had befallen Anne's friends, the former Wotch reinforced the spell linking them to her home. Without the boys it would be much harder to get Milo to her in time to save Tandy from a Magical Explosion. The spell strengthened and then imploded. A dazed Miranda West went across the room, picked up a yellowed tome and began chanting "Cats... cooking... curios... Midas.. Magic Touch!" She levitated a old style telephone receiver off the hook, gestured at the button, and listened to the dialing tones -- "Hello, Mr Happerbasket, my name is Miranda West and we have a situation..."

"A group of extra-terrestrials are invading Tandy, converting the citizens to evolved psychic drones or pools of protoplasm. My apprentice is one of the affected parties and is in danger of creating an uncontrolled magical explosion that will make the Mythos Virus look like a walk in the park."

"No, the teleportation would have been Mr. Ericson and Mr. Grey. I sent them to garner your assistance."

"The spell linking them to my home has been... interrupted. I'm afraid that they did not survive the journey."

"I have been charging the Torc of D'orcania with a spell to draw off Anne's excess power and restore her human form. The alien transformation beam's radiation put Anne's magic production into overdrive. Her mind is now flooded with the anguish of built up magic and she won't be able to control herself. She needs our help to purge her body of the radiation but the restoration spell is so powerful it would transform anyone caught in its blast radius into a replica of Anne. Only a magic immune such as your self could trigger the spell safely."

"During their last visit, my predecessor discovered that the Venusians have a limited ability to adapt to the unexpected and a complete incapacity to manipulate magic. I will arrange for a... distraction... at the crucial moment and provide for your... transportation..." With a gesture, Miranda West caused an ornate oriental carpet that was rolled up in a corner to unfurl itself and spread out hovering a foot above the floor.