Spinspace: The Space of Spins (The Metaspace Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

was about to say something, but her mouth closed again when he stroked the pipe and after a few seconds of gurgling water began pouring into the bucket. When it was full he shoved it aside and took the other one from her and filled it also. Then he stroked the pipe downward, turning off the flow.
    “Now you don't have to pump anymore,” he said. “The swizzle will bring up the water for you.”
    Her eyes were wide.  “How did you do that?”
    “Xander taught me.  I'm his apprentice now.”  He smiled slightly.  “Don't worry, I'm not putting salt n my beer yet.”
    She was quiet for a moment as he picked up the buckets.  “Carolyn came by last night.  You were already in bed, so I didn't wake you.”
    “I was pretty tired,” he said. “But I'm glad you reminded me.  I wanted to have a talk with her today.”  He followed her back in and set the buckets by the sink.
    “What about?”
    “I'm going to ask her to come back to Denver with me.”
    She stood stock still there in the kitchen, staring at him now.  “Are you saying what I think you're saying?”
    He shook his head.  “It's not like that. I'm going to ask her to come to Xander's school.”
    She frowned.  “Why on Earth would you ask her to do that?  Jonathan won't like it, not at all.  He still thinks she has feelings for Burton.”
    “Because I think she can become a wizard.  And I think she deserves the chance.”
    His mother lifted an eyebrow at that.  “But she's a woman.”
    “So?  Who said wizards have to be men?”
    'Wouldn't she be a...a witch?”
    “No.  It's not really magic.  She won't be adopting black cats or wearing a pointed hat.  In fact, Xander would rather we call ourselves 'psionic engineers' or something like that.  But I think the old word is fine by me.  I'm becoming a wizard.”
    His mother leaned on the counter and looked away.  “Then what does he need her for?”
    “He doesn't need her.  Rado does.  We all do.  We need all the wizards we can find, especially now., because you can't have a school without teachers.”
    “But what do we need wizards for?”
    “Well,” he said. “Two of us stopped the Honcho's invasion.  That's the first step.  Right now his son is convincing Texas to join with Rado to start a new Union.  That's the second.”
    “I see.  And now what?  We join Texas in their war of conquest?”
    “No,” he said.  “Now we find ways to get the rest of the countries to join us instead of fighting us.  That's going to take a lot more than two wizards.  And so we need the school.”
    “And are you going to kidnap her, if she doesn't want to go to Denver?”
    He stared back at her.  “I'll try reasoning with her instead.”
     

Chapter 9
     
    Kareef: The Reluctant Dropout
     

    “It is the men of knowledge who can truly realize God.”
    – Quran 35:28
     
     
    All the way home from the madresah he tried to figure out what he had done to deserve this disaster.  The briefing the Mullah had provided, what little there was of it, had done nothing to reassure him that this was not a colossal mistake and waste of his time.
    For one thing, he would not even be graduating.  Instead of receiving his certificate, he would be trekking off to a foreign land to enroll in a sketchy establishment run in the headquarters of the Governor of Rado.  From his geopolitics studies he knew that Kristana D'Arcy was a ridiculous anomaly.  Imagine: an entire country taking orders from a woman!  And yet she had succeeded and survived for two decades of attacks from Texans and other barbarians. 
    What this meant was that either (a) she was a mere figurehead and smarter men were running the country, or at least its military...or (b) that she was some kind of fluke: a woman who could handle authority almost as well as a man. 
    But it made no sense, her supporting the school of Xander.  Unless, as certain members of the Order had apparently decided, she had powerful wizards tipping the