THE GOOD-BYES WITH AUNT CORA the following day were awkward. Both of them knew this was the right decision, Fort leaving to go to the Oppenheimer School, but neither one could say that out loud. Cora hugged him and cried, promising she’d write to him. Fort said he’d do the same, but at that moment he couldn’t wait to leave.
If nothing else, this new school wouldn’t be filled with memories of his mom and dad. And if things went well, he’d be learning to destroy one of those monsters, to make it suffer like his father must have. The image that Dr. Opps had given him of the creature shrieking in pain propelled him now, keeping him going in spite of the fear of leaving his old life completely behind.
A black car had come the night before to take Rachel, and a duplicate vehicle arrived to drive Fort and Dr. Opps to a military base a few hours away. Fort spent the trip staring out the window, lost in thought about what was to come. Dr. Opps didn’t seem to want to talk either.
“Anything to do with the books will have to wait until we’re there,” he’d told Fort before they got in the car. “I’ve already shared more than I should have. This is all information that can’t get out to the public, Forsythe. Even your aunt can never know. Keep that in mind when writing letters. Any mail in and out gets read and censored if necessary to keep the school’s secrets safe. You won’t have access to a cell phone or a computer, either. There can’t be any trace of the school’s location leaked, for the safety of everyone involved.”
That made sense, but Fort did wonder what would happen if he was kicked out, like Rachel figured he’d be. What would it be like to have his memory wiped? Would he remember anything?
No. That wasn’t even worth considering. He wouldn’t fail, and he would learn magic. There was no other option. This was for his father, and Fort wasn’t going to let him down.
Not again.
When they reached the military base, Dr. Opps got out of the car to speak in very quiet tones to the guards at the gate. He gestured back at Fort a few times, and the guards checked three different IDs Dr. Opps gave them, then did the same for the driver. Finally Dr. Opps came back and the gate went up, allowing the car to drive across the base to a small airfield where a few helicopters waited.
“Have you ever flown in a helicopter, Fort?” Dr. Opps asked, as the driver opened the door for him. Fort shook his head. He tried to take his suitcase from the trunk, but the driver just smiled at him and waved him off.
“Has to go through security,” the driver said, and left carrying the suitcase to a smaller building near the airfield. Fort watched it go, wondering if he was going to see his things again.
Not that he’d taken much. Too many of his favorite books reminded him of his father reading them out loud, reciting them like he was onstage on Broadway. Most of those he’d left behind with Aunt Cora, who said she’d put them in storage until he came back. Same with all his photos, except for one of his mother and father, which he had brought. The Gettysburg Address brochure was in his pocket, as usual. But nothing else seemed to matter anymore.
As Fort watched his suitcase disappear, Dr. Opps pushed a helmet down over his head. Fort pushed up the visor, giving the doctor a questioning look. “Probably won’t do much if we crash,” Dr. Opps told him, putting his own helmet on. “But it never hurts to take precautions.”
That wasn’t reassuring, exactly, but fair enough.
Dr. Opps led Fort to the nearest helicopter, which was just starting up. As the rotors whirled faster, Fort ducked beneath them to enter the helicopter, even if he was much too short to worry about getting hit. He felt a bit less embarrassed when Dr. Opps did the same.
“This everyone?” the pilot asked, turning around from the seat in front as Dr. Opps closed the doors.
“We’re it,” Dr. Opps said, and Fort realized he’d been right about not seeing his suitcase again. Part of him felt relief, like he was leaving even more of his old life behind. But the rest of him wished he hadn’t packed his most comfortable hoodie.
The pilot pulled back on a long stick in front of him, and the helicopter lifted into the air with a jarring jump. Fort quickly grabbed ahold of the handrail next to him tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. Dr. Opps just sat across from him, looking unconcerned. “Don’t worry,” he said. “The flight can get a bit rough, but we’ll be fine.”
“A bit rough” turned out to be incredibly bumpy, with abrupt drops out of nowhere every few minutes whenever they’d hit a pocket of rough air. They flew for a few hours, crossing land with almost no roads or houses. Trees spread out beneath them in every direction, missing only from some mountains they had to circle around. Fort wondered where they were, but decided the location of the school was probably something else he was better off not knowing, so he could never accidentally give it away.
By the time they reached their destination, Fort had gotten airsick, so had started focusing his gaze on the floor, hoping that’d help. That meant when the helicopter landed, he jumped in surprise. But Dr. Opps just smiled and opened the door as the rotors above them slowly began to wind down. Fort took a deep breath, trying to get his heart rate back under control before following the headmaster out.
No matter what else was to come, this was going to be his first glimpse of a real, live school for magic, and that alone was enough reason to be excited.
Unfortunately, his excitement quickly dropped when he found himself standing on a military base almost identical to the one they’d taken off from.
If his father were there, Fort knew exactly what he would have said. He could almost see his dad, standing there with a disappointed look on his face. They could have put a little effort into magical-ing it up, couldn’t they? he’d say. Maybe some living portraits or moving stairs or something? But don’t you worry, Fort. When you’re the top student here, you’ll make up for it all by being so amazing, people will come to the school just for a glimpse of you!
Fort reached his hand into his pocket to grab the Gettysburg Address brochure, squeezing it between his fingers until the image of his father disappeared and he could breathe again.
It didn’t matter what the school was like, as long as it taught him Destruction magic.
And besides, maybe this was just another stop on the way, and they’d take another helicopter or car to the real school.
“Here we are,” Dr. Opps said, gesturing around the base. “Welcome to the Thaumaturgic Defense Agency, home to the Oppenheimer School.”
“The . . . what Defense Agency?” Fort asked, vaguely remembering hearing that somewhere before.
“Thaumaturgic. It basically means magic, but doesn’t embarrass the military when they have to ask our special congressional committee for more funding. Speaking of, don’t worry about all the guards here.” Dr. Opps gestured all around them, and for the first time Fort realized there were dozens of soldiers grouped around the airfield, each one holding some sort of assault rifle. “They’re just here for your protection. Like I mentioned back at your aunt’s house, we have the best protection available here at the TDA, and no one gets in that we don’t let in, Fort. There’s no safer place on earth than the Oppenheimer School.”
Fort nodded, but as he glanced around, he saw that none of the soldiers seemed to be looking out toward the walls. Instead, they were all staring at Fort and had their fingers on the triggers of their weapons.
“This is the airfield, obviously,” Dr. Opps said, waving a hand around them. “Boys’ dormitory is over to your right. Soldier and officer barracks are those buildings past that, and off-limits to you.” He pointed at a short, fat building straight in front of them. “That’s the students’ mess, where you’ll be assigned specific times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And behind the mess is the Training Hall. That’s where you’ll be spending most of your time.”
Fort stared up at the five-story brown building, and again, was completely taken aback by how boring it looked. Mostly it resembled an office building, like the headquarters of a bank. “The Training Hall is where I’ll learn magic, then?”
“That’s right. But first, we’re going to get you a security ID. Then I’ll show you the books, take you to the dorm, and get you settled.”
Fort nodded, feeling a bit more excited now. The Training Hall might look boring, but if it had books of magic that could teach him a magic missile spell like Rachel’s, then boring was worth it.
The soldiers around them waited as they passed. Then four on either side broke off and strode alongside them as they went, their guns still at the ready.
“What are they doing?” Fort asked Dr. Opps.
He patted Fort’s shoulder. “Nothing to worry about. Just here for protection, remember?”
Right. But if the students were the ones being protected here, why did all the soldiers have their eyes on Fort?