A Spell for Sedition

The Politics of Magic

The Spell Control Initiative was the new law of the land and MACE, the Magic And Customs Enforcement agency, was being recruited to enforce it. Adam Germain, the head of the Union of Thaumagenetic Engineers, was not in favor of the SCI, but when offered a newly created White House Cabinet post as Chairman of the Department of Thaumaturgy, he chose personal advancement over principle and eagerly accepted.

William Merlin Slade, Special Adept Agent for the Bureau of Thaumaturgy, could see the writing on the wall. People who did not use magic wanted to bring magic users under their control. The Spell Control Initiative favored corporations over independent adepts, who would now be required to clear all their professional spells through the man who was once their lobbyist and head of their most powerful union. And John Angelo, Slade's friend and Director of the BOT, had been asked to resign by the President of the United States.

Things were looking bad for adepts across the country and Slade, together with John Angelo, wanted to do something about it. But the climate of opinion was against them, and to make things still more complicated, someone had taken out a million dollar contract on Slade's life. The magic wasn't going to go away; it was about to be co-opted.