Attack on an Evil God

by Ásgrímur Hartmannsson

Chapter 6: Doom Car

Maggi got away from the crazies by saying yes and okay to everything. The next day he met Freyja and Hansi, and drove home with them. To his surprise they had news for him.

Freyja told him, “Our basement was broken into last night, and the machine that kills fascists was stolen.”

“Yeah, and nothing else,” Hansi added.

Maggi was surprised, but quickly got a hold of himself. He told them about his adventures. They seemed unconcerned for the most part but were happy to receive the information.

“You saw their mara?” Hansi asked. “Now you have not only participated in the use of one, you’ve actually seen one with your own eyes.”

Maggi didn’t deny it.

“You know magic exists, and you know it is being used by us and our adversaries. And you realize that they believe themselves to be fighting fascism.”

“They probably used their mara to run over Palli and Laura,” said Freyja.

“And now they have a robot statue,” said Maggi.

“You still don’t believe?” asked Hansi.

“Wanna hear the truth? I’m just going along with your scheme because you amuse me. I have nothing better to do, literally.”

“Ah, thanks,” said Hansi.

“He’s honest,” said Freyja. “I like him.”

“You want to come get the car?” Hansi asked Maggi, seemingly at random.

“What car? Whatever, sure.”

“I’m going to start restoring a car. Just tell people that if they ask.”

“So it’s an old car.”

“I’m told it runs, but I have jumper cables just in case. I need you to give me a lift and follow me back home. I’m going to put it in my garage.”

“So that’s why the garage is empty.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, what sort of car?”

“I just bought one at random on E-bay. Had to be forty years old to keep up appearances and keep down the price. Yeah, it’s not exactly modern, but it was cheap, the engine runs, and it has lots of space for smuggling.”

“You’re doing a French Connection?”

“Yes, sort of. No drugs, though.”

“Damn. You could have made a bundle.”

“Customs has dogs. What I’m importing doesn’t smell that way.”

“Oh, it’s magic.”

Hansi smiled. Maggi went to the car and Hansi showed up a minute later with jumper cables and a bottle.

“What’s in the bottle? Moonshine to bribe Customs?”

“No, holy water.”

“Holy water? Why?”

“You know American cars. Sometimes they just need a bit of exorcising.”

Maggi decided not to ask Hansi about that any further, fearing the answer.

The car turned out to be a sky-blue 1977 Cadillac Eldorado. Hansi had already turned in all paperwork. He was just getting the vehicle from storage by the harbor. As a cover, it was highly persuasive. Of course, someone would restore something like that. Not exactly showroom-perfect, but it looked fine to Maggi, with no obvious pieces missing, and the exhaust emissions weren’t black.

Hansi drove it straight into his garage, and Maggi parked outside. Hansi waited for Maggi to come in before he closed the door. Hansi opened the trunk of his new car and got out the spare tire.

“You don’t need to watch this if you don’t want,” he told Maggi. “Freyja is brewing coffee, and we already called Anna.”

Maggi was fine with that. Cars weren’t really his thing. And that was a lot of car, right there.

Upstairs Anna was already there, drinking tea with Freyja. They were talking about what their friends were doing, what their friends’ kids were up to, the price of overcoats in various stores, and things of that sort.

Maggi sat by and nodded now and then, thinking he should have stayed in the garage. There had been tools there he could have been fiddling with. But no coffee. He had another cracker. He was eating his third when Hansi arrived.

Maggi’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “What the hell do you have there?”

“Oh, this? This is an M-4 carbine.”

“That’s an M-16!”

“No, man, an M-16 is longer, and different in a variety of small ways.”

“That’s a machine gun.”

“Whatever.”

“What are you doing with it?”

“We’re going to use it to fight the Antichrist.”

Maggi’s jaw almost dropped to the floor.

“And it is also a test. Remember that.”

“I’m out of here,” said Maggi. He hurried out, with Anna following him close behind, seeming worried and scared.

“We’re dealing with arms smugglers,” said Maggi.

“Don’t we have to call the police?” asked Anna.

“Right, you call the cops, I drive us the hell out of here.”

Hansi stood in the door watching them leave, having put the small rifle against the wall out of sight. He smiled.

Freyja came to him. She asked, “Are you sure it will work?”

“It has always worked thus far, hasn’t it?

Proceed to Chapter 7...