Geron Kees

There is the total invisibility available on Jamie's shields, and the perfect disguise available to Irik's people. The disguise is just that, not true invisibility. It uses visible light to cause the user to blend with all surroundings, from any angle. It is a disguise that fools the eye, not invisibility. It's why Jamie and the others could see Irik when they used the 'heat' modification to the shields to look about them in the Infrared. The invisibility feature of Jamie's shielding actually does pass the visible spectrum around the circumference of the shield in every direction, providing true invisibility. But normal light is not coherent light. Laser light is a different animal. Even a very powerful laser beam does not carry much kinetic energy. What happens when a very powerful laser strikes a solid object is a rapid ablation of the surface of the target, an exploding outward of the material struck, itself, which converts the energy of the strike into kinetic energy, as the explosive force opposes the direction of the strike. So you can bash things around with a very powerful laser, but it's not due to any (or much) kinetic energy inherent in the beam. It's caused by a reaction in the target, itself. A strike against a barrier like Jamie's shield results in a rebound effect similar to a strike against solid matter, as the shield is forced to deflect the energy of the strike. As the blue lance is too powerful to be countered by focusing all resistance at the point of impact without causing the shield to fail, the shield tries to distribute the strike to every part of it's surface. This process is less efficient on the back side of the shield than on the side taking the strike, causing the shield itself to rebound back away from the strike. At the power levels of the blue lance, the rebound is sufficiently violent to injure someone within the shielding. That's my story, and I am sticking to it!

Yup.

At least Jamie remembers now that he can translocate everyone!

I can't tell you, as it might spoil the story for you. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.

Who, me?

Hmm. Hmm!

Christmas trees are comforting and cheerful. I usually put ours up around the first of December, and take it down shortly after New Years. One year, though, we decided to see how long we could take the cheerily-lit warmth of the tree glowing in the family room each night, and I didn't decide I'd had enough of it until midway through March!

After some years of cutting trees in our own woods for Christmas, I decided that, in the spirit of giving, I would cut no more. I found an artificial tree that is extremely lifelike, and even easier to put up than a real tree. The result has been a still nice Christmas, and there are all these small firs in the forest that like me now.

Nether thou goest?

Skoda, certainly, didn't think he was going to die. Jamie just thought HE wasn't going to die, a little harder!

If they were really and truly ANCIENT, I'd say YES!

Darn! Beaten to the punchline AGAIN!

Has the makings for a heck of a party!

Back home, where I comes from, we call that the pot callin' the kettle black!

Sometimes, necessity really IS the mother of invention!

Even Jamie was surprised that he could take Skoda's knack. I tried to imagine what that might feel like, but couldn't quite get there!

I'm sure you'll come back swinging if they don't meet with your approval.

You never know.

Nah. You're not quite up to Ivor's standard yet. But, you're getting there!

I wondered if anyone would remember the old Czech car. I thought it a perfect name for a cranky, bad-tempered mage.

Luck is going to count for much with these guys!

Jamie staggered in a small circle, dizziness nearly overcoming him, unable to halt the strange feeling of motion that had assaulted his eyes. He immediately closed them, and released the new knot lock of magick in his mind. "That didn't look good," Dorf said, the sympathy in his voice enhancing the concern in his eyes. Jamie shook his head, blinked his eyes again, and then smiled wearily. "That's an understatement. The new shield did change the incoming light, but not in a good way. Ev

I'm a firm believer in the 'second time' around.

I happen to agree with you!

I fully agree that science and magic can be interchangeable terms depending on the level of knowledge possessed by the observer. Jamie doesn't just sense normal low-frequency electrical currents. He is also sensing emissions at what we would term 'radio' bandwidths, but he just doesn't know the difference well enough to separate them.