Disclaimer:
This work is fiction. The work has no relationship with any person existing at any time anywhere whether real or imaginary or copywritten. Everything in this work is mea culpa.
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You should not read this work if you are under the age of legal consent wherever you reside. This work may or may not contain any and/or all of the following: death, dismemberment, violent acts, implied sex, explicit sex, violent sex, rape, cannibalism, blasphemy (depending on your religion), BDSM, torture, mimes, and just about anything unwholesome that you could consider.
The pokegirl universe was first documented by Metroanime and to him all of us who reside or visit there owe a debt of thanks.
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Bhavacakra
Two
(9/04/06 1800 Bastion Station, L4 Point)
Locating Bastion took over three hours, mainly because Whisper and Kerrik had never worked together like this before and there were some misunderstandings before the station hove into view.
Bastion was a dark sphere floating in the void, bereft of lights of any kind. “Stop here while I contact Cassiopeia and inform her that it’s us. I know what weapon systems are on Bastion and don’t need any demonstrations of just how effective they can be.” He activated his com. “Vice, please contact Bastion.”
“Yes, Commander. Bastion Station replying.”
“I offer greetings, clan leader. That is an interesting vessel you’re in.” Cassiopeia’s voice turned chiding. “If your beacon hadn’t been on it, I’d have opened fire by now.”
He blinked. “What is your defensive envelope set for?”
“Eighteen million kilometers.”
“A light minute? Why so much?”
“A girl can’t be too careful and nobody told me to set anything less.”
“I suppose you’re right. Reduce your defensive envelope to nine million kilometers and give a warning first if you can. Have you had to fire on anyone?”
“No, clan leader, I haven’t. Defensive protocols updated.” The AI’s voice warmed again. “Sir, do you wish to come aboard or should I send out your cargo?”
“I think we’ll come aboard first and then load the cargo as we’re leaving. I want my ladies to have a teleport point here in case we’re in a hurry.”
“Very good, sir. Will Shikarou be sending his teleport capable pokegirls to visit for the same reason?”
“I think he should. Feel free to remind him of the fact that none of them have been here yet.”
“Yessir.” A tiny hatch on the side of the station opened. “Dock One is open and waiting for your entry, sir.”
Kerrik nodded. “I’ll warn you that this craft is pretty nimble. Whisper, that opening is the docking bay. The inside is pressurized with normal atmosphere and there’ll be a forcefield over the hatch opening keeping it in. Go through that at less than two meters per second until we know how your ship’s hull will react to the forcefield.”
An excellent suggestion. The ship darted for the docking bay, coming to a halt right outside it. Then Whisper drifted it forward and into the docking bay.
Misery stared at the hatch. “We look really small. How big is that thing?”
“The hatch for Dock One is five hundred meters across. It’s the biggest dock on Bastion. Larger ships would park above and below at the external docking ports.”
The docking bay was roughly a kilometer across and dotted in places with small gardens. One open area flashed cyan three times and Kerrik pointed. “Land there.”
Whisper settled the construct down to hover a meter or so over the deck and the upper part dissolved down to the floor. Please disembark promptly. She watched as her three companions dropped to the deck of the landing bay before lifting off the floor of her construct as it began to dissolve. What do we do now? She drifted over and landed next to Misery.
Cassiopeia’s voice sounded from a point in front of the group. “Clan leader, I have prepared your quarters for you and your harem.” A softly glowing blue sphere appeared in midair. “Please follow the guide and I’ll lead you there so you can relax.”
Kerrik’s ears slanted sideways and he suddenly looked wary. “I didn’t ask for a room. What’s going on?”
There was a noticeable pause. “I was instructed to prepare your quarters by Shikarou, sir. He’s requested a shuttle for transport. It departed twelve minutes ago. ETA is twenty minutes to landing and passenger embarkation.”
Kerrik scowled. “Oh, no, I’m not waiting around for him. Cassiopeia, until otherwise instructed by me, you are not to park anything or allow anything to park in this spot. In addition, you are not to depressurize this landing bay until my instructions change. For the moment, this will serve nicely as a teleport point.”
The light bobbed once. “Understood, clan leader. May I inquire as to the reason you and Shikarou are at odds?”
“His wife insulted the women I’ve chosen to associate with. I pointed out that not only were the insults baseless, but that she didn’t know them well enough to say whether it was true or not, since she was judging them by the actions of others. She refused to apologize.”
“Which one was it,” Cassiopeia asked crisply. There was a definitely frosty tone to the AI’s voice.
“It was Poppet, but I’d prefer you weren’t disrespectful to her because of this.”
“And if she insults me as well, sir?”
“That would be entirely separate from the insults she gave to Raven, Whisper and Misery.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I would like to remind you that all of Shikarou’s wives are outlanders and don’t know the insult that they unwittingly give. A warning might be in order before you take offense.”
“Sir, with all due respect to your son, he sometimes seems as much an outlander as any of his family. However, I will remember and heed your advice.” Her voice warmed again. “I am not aware that Shikarou is bringing anyone with him since the shuttle I sent has not yet arrived in Haven. A review of my visual records indicates that he does not usually travel alone. At this point, I am slowing the shuttle and will extend the arrival time by as much as possible.”
“Don’t overdo it. You have to work with Shikarou and I don’t want you to be offended on my behalf. He needs you for supplies and surveillance, whether or not he realizes it.”
“I am still yours to command, clan leader. If you wish me to work with him within the restrictions you have placed, I will.”
“Thank you, Cass, I really appreciate that.” He looked around as the sphere vanished. “Ladies, this is your teleport spot. Whisper, let’s go get our construction equipment.”
The cabbit unfurled her antennae and lifted into the air again as her sapphire began to glow. Do we need to call you clan leader as well? The golden circle appeared underneath her and began expanding.
“If I were going to insist on that sort of silliness, I’d have already done so. Cass does it because it amuses her to occasionally annoy me as opposed to any sort of demands on my part.” He slipped his arm through Misery’s. “Transport, please.”
Once Raven had boarded, the dome appeared and Whisper floated her construct out through the hatchway. Where do I need to go? There was a feeling of startled surprise when a bright light on the side of Bastion station lit up, illuminating a large metallic cube that hung in space. Is that my destination?
Kerrik nodded. “That’s the nanorobots. Can you build a cargo bay around them?”
Whisper didn’t reply as the construct slowed next to the cube. The side of the dome began to bulge in the direction of the cube and it slowly grew around its target. When it was completely enclosed, Whisper began moving way from the station.
How big is Bastion?
“The station is a rough sphere twenty kilometers in diameter.”
Misery laughed. “My, she is a big girl.”
Kerrik’s com buzzed softly. “Incoming call from Bastion, sir.”
“Go ahead. What is it Cass?”
“Clan leader, now that you have the nanorobots in your possession, I am free to make a suggestion to you, if you will hear it.”
“Cass, you know I am always willing to listen to your suggestions. They’re usually quite helpful. I am curious as to why you were restricted to begin with, however.”
“Sir, you asked me not to impart certain information to you until you had taken possession of the cube. My advice is this: perhaps you could take a page from how Bastion station was constructed, sir.”
Kerrik looked startled for an instant. Then a thoughtful look appeared on his face. “That’s an excellent suggestion. First, I have some questions for you. Have you detected any transmissions from the Blue League either by or regarding a unicorn named Poppet or a human named Jamie Harris? It would probably involve construction around the location where the Harris Conservatory was located on pokegirl prime. If you don’t already have them, please pull the records from Alexandria and compare.”
“Sir, there are no signs of construction around that portion of Scotland and I have intercepted no radio communications that involve or reference Poppet or Jamie.”
Raven jerked slightly. “You were right. They never met here.”
“1993 was fifteen years ago.” Kerrik rubbed his ears slowly. “Interfering at that temporal point shouldn’t affect what happened to Haven since it took place before the Red Plague. It’ll be close and will affect some other things, but Haven should be safe.”
“Are we going to stop the assassination attempt or just move the prince and Jamie beforehand?” Misery smiled hungrily. “Personally, I’d prefer to fight. Then we don’t have to move them and we get to kick some ass.”
The important question is whether or not we can do this. If not, we’ll have to shelve this idea until Kerrik’s powers are restored.
“I think we can do it now.” Kerrik stretched slowly. “The fact that we’re aware that a problem needs fixed indicates that we didn’t go into the past from the future and protect the prince. If we had, Cass would know that Naruhito didn’t die during the attempt and it’s very probable that Poppet and Jamie would be in Scotland right now. Therefore the necessity of a trip into the past still exists in our future.”
“Maybe nobody has done this yet.” Raven gave him a serious look. “Does that make sense?”
He smiled. “It’s a nice try, but if the timeline had already branched, we would not be aware that a problem existed. If we were going to have to wait that long to attempt to shift the timelines, I’d have made sure we never knew there was a problem and Cass wouldn’t have made that suggestion right now. I need that construction facility online just as soon as possible and I’m not going to wait twenty years for it. Cass, I’ll need your recordings of that time period so we can plan an exit point. I think we’ll use another planet for the anchor. You’ve got at least one satellite orbiting every planet in this system, can you suggest one?”
“Clan leader, I think that Venus would be your best choice, unless you use the sun itself as an anchor.”
“Venus will work fine. Please send your recordings of Venus at that time to Virtue.”
“Already done, clan leader.”
We will have to make some interesting decisions once we go to the past. It is only fifteen years between then and now. Will we stay and shepherd the development of Japan in the Edo League?
Raven shook her head. “We can’t. You live there for part of that time period and you might detect us.”
Naruhito and Jamie could die from the Red Plague in the intervening time period. We may have to take that chance to assure their survival.
“I have a preventative for the Red Plague.” Kerrik smiled slightly. “We’ll give it to them without their knowledge.”
“You have a vaccine?” Raven looked shocked. “You could save humanity.”
Kerrik disagreed. “I have a preventative. A vaccine is usually made from a dead version of what it protects against. The Bloody Flu and Red Plague were magical in nature and don’t have an organic component to use in concocting a vaccine. Magical residue, while it sometimes does exist, isn’t useful for something like this.”
“Are you going to save humanity?”
“No. I don’t have enough doses for everyone and no urge to use it on them even if I did.”
“Why not?” Amethyst eyes stared into his. “Not that I’m asking you to, but wouldn’t it reduce the feral problem by having humans to take them?”
“If there were that many humans, they’d put pokegirls in zoos and brothels if they didn’t exterminate them entirely. Besides, Shikarou and his family wouldn’t have any place to go and I’d have to find them another world to be their home.” His ears flicked as he snorted. “If I’d been inclined in that direction, I’d have dropped an asteroid or three on China where the lab was located before they could develop the Red Plague. Either that or I’d have tracked down and killed the scientists involved in the work. Maximum result for minimum expenditure of energy.”
“Wouldn’t that be kind of rough on the people around that facility?” Misery grinned when he nodded. “Outstanding!”
“It’s a moot point, Misery. I am not going to bombard China. I am not going to save humanity from the Red Plague.”
Bombarding China might make it easier for Naruhito to keep Japan free of China’s influence.
Kerrik suddenly chuckled. “Now that’s a tempting reason, but the truth is that Japan has never been free from China’s influence and vice versa. We will return Naruhito to Japan, prevent him and his family from getting the Red Plague and give them the secret of taming pokegirls. If he can’t accomplish something with that, then it’s time for Japan to fall.”
Misery cocked her head. “What if we gave him some pokegirls too? It’s probable that we will be in a position to capture at least some of the assassination team and we can always get him a handful of others fairly easily.”
What do you mean?
“We can capture any pokegirls we run across. Also, if Raven shows up at a base and demands a dozen troopers, do you really think any general who wants to keep all of her blood inside her body will say no?” She grinned evilly. “I mean, if Death shows up.”
The archmage glared at her for a moment and then smiled. “I see your point. If you showed up, they’d just run away.”
Misery nodded. “That they would. As far as they know I’m an angry and unstable psychotic murderer who kills on a whim. I’d still be that way if Kerrik wasn’t constantly siphoning off some of that rage through the delta bond.”
Raven suddenly clenched her fists and looked jealously at her harem sister. Her eyes glittered with suppressed anger.
“Actually there some studies that indicate that a mini-top becomes much less aggressive if she gets fucked enough. The problem is that most normal humans can’t keep up with one.” Kerrik looked demurely at his pokegirls. “Not that I have that problem with any of you.”
He relaxed when his aside had the intended effect as Raven and Misery burst out laughing while Whisper’s mental voice echoed their amusement. He’d keep the jokes coming forever if it kept his maharani from trying to kill his mini-top because she didn’t have a delta bond too.
(9/04/06 2200 Venus Orbit)
Raven suddenly looked a little queasy. “Whisper, can you do this and keep up the ship’s existence at the same time?”
It is very likely that the construct won’t make the entire trip with us. If that happens, I will create a new one as we exit. I can do this almost instantly and so it presents no hazard to us. The cabbit’s antennae twitched and her needle sharp teeth gleamed as she grinned. I have no desire to die and I wouldn’t do this if there was the slightest chance I wouldn’t survive it.
“At least you two get to help do this.” Misery glared at the storm covered planet below them. “I’m the only one who is actually delta bonded to him and I’m the only one who gets to make this trip in a fucking pokeball.”
Raven gave her a commiserating look. “I know and I’m sorry about that.”
Misery looked surprised. “You are?”
“You are part of our family and if there was any way you could be involved in this, I assure you I’d insist that you be there.”
Kerrik was packing his backpack. “Raven will be in a pokeball too. She’s not a telepath of any sort.”
Raven whipped around. “I’m a magical pokegirl!”
“So are Misery and Whisper. We need as close a bond as possible and since we’ve never done this before we need to minimize the number of minds involved. Even though you all have twees, only Whisper is truly experienced at mind to mind contact. You know that fact just as well as I do. As soon as the construct is in place and pressurized, I’m releasing you both. I promise. If you want, later we’ll practice time travel and blind jumping with each individual and in every conceivable grouping until everyone is proficient.”
Raven gave him a look filled with desperation. “What if she can’t get the construct up or something else goes wrong? You’ll die.”
He shook his head. “If that happens, my powers will come online and I’ll save everyone that I can.” He looked at the cabbit. “I’m sorry Whisper. If something like that happens, I’ll try my best to save you too, but I can’t make any promises.”
I know I can create the construct before losing consciousness. I have done so before and that time I wasn’t aware the construct was going to vanish. This time I will be prepared for that event.
Raven gave her a suspicious look. “What happened?”
At the time, two of us were ferrying supplies out to the orbital base during the construction phase. Once done, one of us would fly the other back along with anyone needing transport back to the planet. We took turns as to who would be the ship and who would get to catch a nap. It was my turn to nap on this particular trip. I was sound asleep when a dark lady that was heading back to the planet with us went berserk and killed the starlightxpress who was being the ship.
It was a nightmare. I woke up when the construct came apart and pulled mine into existence. Then I recovered the persons who’d been swept away when the air expanded. Of two hundred pokegirls, I recovered one hundred and forty six alive. All but one of the others died from decompression.
Misery flicked her long ears and gave Whisper a surprised look. “One died but not from decompression? What happened to her?”
I used my abilities to execute the dark lady who had murdered my friend.
Misery grinned toothily. “That sounds fair.” Raven nodded her agreement.
The pokegirls in command of the project didn’t agree. The dark lady was the executive officer of the station and it was decided that she was more valuable than I was to the completion of the station. Even though without my quick response everyone on that trip would have died, I was taken off of ferry duty and almost executed for my actions. She looked at Kerrik. What is your opinion of what I did that day?
“I think you acted appropriately. I’d expect similar actions if something like that happens again.”
Thank you.
Kerrik sat down on the deck and dug two pokeballs from his pack. A look of loathing appeared on his face. “I hate these things. If there were any other way to do this, I would, but with my powers gone this is the only way.”
“Why do you hate them?” Misery sat down next to him and leaned against his side. She made a contented noise when he started stroking her ears. “Oh.”
“What is it?” Raven dropped down on his other side. “Why?”
He answered before the mini-top could. “I don’t like them because I believe you should have control over your life. These take that away from you.”
Raven chuckled. “Would it help you to know that Ginevra taught me how to leave a pokeball whenever I want and I taught it to Misery and Whisper?”
His ears flicked. “Yes, actually that would.”
“She did. It was when I was trying to learn card conjuration from Madison and teaching her how to make a dimensional storage space in her clothes. Ginevra traded me the secret of entering and leaving pokeballs for the same trick.”
He gave his maharani a curious look. “What did Misery and Whisper give you for that secret?”
“They didn’t have anything to trade at the time, so they both owe me for it.”
I think that instead of listening to Raven gloat, it’s time we did this. Whisper’s mental voice conveyed annoyance.
“Raven, please cast the spell to delta bond Whisper and me.”
The archmage slid to her feet. “Very well.” Quickly she cast the spell.
Kerrik raised an eyebrow when the bonds formed. “You included yourself in this?”
“I am the maharani. I will not be the only pokegirl not bonded to you. If you are in danger then I’ll know it so I can leave my pokeball and try to teleport you somewhere safe.”
Whatever it takes, Raven. I want to do this so we can return to Earth.
Raven gave her a bland look back and suddenly grinned. “I agree. I want to get on land before it’s time for me to feed.” She gave Kerrik a look filled with heat and he felt his body begin to respond. Raven’s ideas about feeding were very definite and she liked sex with her blood.
Whisper grinned when Kerrik activated a pokeball and her maharani dissolved into the capture beam. Thank you. She’s still uncertain of her place with you.
Misery snorted loudly. “She’s not the only one and you know it. We’re all still feeling out our way here. None of us is used to sharing.” Her eyes slid sideways to peer at her tamer. “I’m just glad you don’t try to force us into group activities or try to pair us up with people we don’t want to be with. I wouldn’t mind fucking Raven if she’d stop biting, but she won’t. My blood belongs inside me and she doesn’t seem to get that fact.”
“Orgies are only fun if everyone wants to be there. Most of the time someone gets their feelings hurt.” Kerrik clambered to his feet and pulled Misery up with him. “As for Raven biting, she’s always done that during sex. I’m not sure she can stop it.” He pulled the mini-top’s pokeball from his belt and paused. “Do you have problems with Whisper?”
Misery grinned. “Let’s see. If I let her into my mind she knows exactly what I want her to do exactly when I want her to do it. No, I think I can tolerate that.”
Kerrik gave her a droll look. “I’m glad you two are getting along passably well.” He activated the pokeball and retrieved Misery. “What about you, Whisper?”
I am glad that you are teaching Raven how to bite without savaging her victim and I’m really glad you keep her well fed. I don’t mind a little biting during sex, but Misery is right when she said Raven has issues with limits. As for Misery, I am grateful that you’re keeping her emotional state somewhat level, no matter whether it’s due to the delta bond or the extra sex you and she have. On occasion, I was with her before she met you and she was much more demanding and very rough in bed. That is not what I prefer from my partners.
“What about me?”
From the time that I was decanted, I was promised a tamer of my own. That was part of the motivations for which we fought. We were promised humans of our very own by the Maker and his direct servants. When that promise failed to materialize, I was deeply hurt. Then I heard about Operation Cowslip and my hopes rose that I, too, would finally get a male for myself. That also came to naught and I had given up on ever having one when Raven brought you to me. Even though I have to share you with them, for that one thing alone, I will forgive her a great many trespasses. Whisper met his eyes. I have no complaints about you, Kerrik.
Kerrik slipped his arms around her hovering form and she squeaked when he climbed her like a tree. He wrapped his legs around her waist and kissed her lovingly. “I have no complaints about you, Whisper.”
She drifted downward to stand on the surface of the deck as she wound her arms around his body to hold him in place. I suggest we move farther away from Venus before attempting this. While the construct will enter the time slip with us, it may well disintegrate on exit. If that happens, I can recreate it, but my cargo will have to be tracked down and recaptured. I would prefer not to have to chase it into Venus’ atmosphere.
“Remind me when my powers return that I would like to examine what your spaceship construct is made of.”
I will. Her antennae unfurled and she draped them on either side of his head, rubbing them against his temples. I feel you so deeply in my thoughts. It’s a wonderful feeling and I don’t want it to ever stop.
“We’re working towards having a true delta bond as fast as we can.” Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against hers. “Are you ready?” He felt their minds slide together and merge. A chuckle slipped out of him. “I see you are. Then do it.”
The construct flared gold and then melted into nothingness, taking them with it.
(11/15/-10 1430 Venus Orbit)
One second there was nothing; and the next, the construct appeared. It flared brightly and unraveled to vanish. The cube floated free, moving under the inertia that the construct had last imparted to it. It swept through space as a much smaller construct sprang into existence around the cabbit and her master. The cube smashed into the forming construct, which shattered under the blow. The impact spun the cube away on a different vector while behind it Whisper frantically created a new construct to protect herself. Her tamer had been knocked free and only the fact that they shared a delta bond allowed her to locate him. The construct turned and carefully lunged forward, only to stop just before Kerrik’s spinning body impacted with it. The dome vanished and the construct darted once more. As soon as he was inside the dome’s radius, it reappeared.
Kerrik crashed to the ground and curled up, his body heaving as blood ran from his mouth and eyes.
Whisper focused her mind through the mesh of links radiating from her tamer. Raven.
Energy poured from the pokeball at his waist and swirled around Kerrik’s form before coalescing into the archmage. She dropped to her knees and forced her tamer flat on his back. His breath rasped in his throat as he struggled against her grip. Raven placed her palms in the center of his chest. Her hands glowed crimson as she used her meager healing arts on him. She suddenly looked worried. “He’s not getting better.”
He is. There was an accident and his lungs blew out into his torso. He’s healing.
“What kind of accident?” Raven growled as he went into convulsions again and snatched a pokeball from his belt. She activated it. “Misery, get his shoulders!”
The mini-top grabbed him and recoiled. “He’s in agony. He’s trying to shield us from it.” She steeled herself and forced his shoulders flat while Raven sat on his legs.
The construct failed as anticipated. I created a new one as anticipated. What wasn’t anticipated was that the fucking cube would crash into it before I had it at full strength. It broke the construct and knocked us apart. I managed to deflect most of the impact so we weren’t seriously injured, but he spent over a minute decompressing before I could catch him.
Raven nodded. “It’s always the little things. What happened to the cube?”
I recovered it while you were fighting with him. It is in its own section in the ship.
Kerrik took a deep shuddering breath and stopped struggling. “Why am I blind?” His voice was hoarse but strong. Raven and Misery exchanged a congratulatory grin.
Your eyes were damaged. Considering your regenerative abilities, they should heal momentarily.
Misery leaned over him and rubbed her cheek against his. “How do you feel?”
Raven’s eyes flashed. “Stop scent marking him.” Misery sat up and glared back, her mouth half open to show her fangs.
Kerrik coughed and spat bloody sputum. “I feel like I’ve had the bends. My mind hasn’t caught up to the present yet. Wait, I decompressed, didn’t I?” He coughed again. “Raven, this is a really bad time to pick a fight with Misery.”
Raven had the grace to look ashamed. “You caught that?”
“I could feel it over the delta bond. She’s just worried and when she is it makes her touchy.” He went into another fit of coughing until he coughed up a chunk of bloody tissue. “Wow, I’ve heard of that but I’ve never actually hacked up a lung before.” His ears flicked. “The nanorobots hit us. Bloody one in a billion chance and it just had to happen to us. And people wonder why I’m sometimes convinced that the universe is out to get me.” He blinked rapidly several times. “My eyes are starting to work again.”
“You get touchy when you’re worried?” Raven gave the mini-top a sly smile.
Misery glared malevolently at her alpha. “Drop it. He never said that or one night you’ll go to sleep and never wake up.”
Raven stared into her eyes for a moment and nodded. “I didn’t hear what he said.”
Kerrik tried to sit up and looked up at Misery. “Ladies, can you let me go?” Raven pulled him upright and he gasped. “Fuck me, that hurt like hell.” The archmage held him still until he nodded. “Ok, I think everything vital is healed. I want to commend everyone on helping me. That was a bad one. I know it was bad because the countdown to restore my powers had already started when Whisper got to me.”
Misery pushed to her feet. “Whisper, can you make a bath for him?”
Kerrik shook his head, winced and slowly finished the movement. “I’ll be ok. Let’s get that cube placed and then we can head for Earth.” He smiled slightly. “I’d forgotten just how much it hurts to get injured when you can’t will yourself healed.”
He placed his hands flat on the floor and began the process of levering himself to his feet. Both Raven and Misery reached for him and stopped to glare at each other. His sigh was loud and not particularly happy. “I don’t particularly want help, but each of you take a different arm and slowly help me up. Can you do that without a face off?” He held up his arms and a moment later was standing. “Whoa, dizzy spell.” He clung to both pokegirls for a moment before deliberately releasing each of them and reaching for his pokedex. “Whisper, the cube is safely aboard?”
Yes.
He consulted the pokedex and frowned. He looked around. “My pack is gone. It must have floated away when we had our little difficulty.”
I looked for it, but it has no signature that I can detect. I am sorry.
“It’s ok. It’s actually much harder to lose than at first glance.” He held out his hand. “Pack.” It appeared in his hand and he promptly dropped it. “Damn, that’s cold.” His ears flicked as he stared at his hand. “Cold? Great, I can feel severe temperature variations again. Just wonderful. I wonder how that will bite me in the ass.”
You couldn’t before?
“Not unless I focused. It meant that I couldn’t freeze to death or anything fun like that. I don’t think I’ll test to see if I can now.” He picked up the pack and pulled out his com. “Virtue, access the satellites around the Earth and find out what the date is.”
“According to them, Commander, it is November 15, 1992 or -10 AS.”
“The attack on Naruhito takes place on February 12, -9 AS, so we’re a bit early.” He glanced around. “That’ll give us a chance to start coordinating our actions.”
Raven cocked her head curiously. “Coordinate?”
“We’re supposed to function as a team and we’re sadly lacking in that department. A couple of months of hard training will hopefully do wonders in that direction. We’ll find someplace on Earth to train and then we may go fight some of Sukebe’s units to see how we’ll fare. On the plus side, that’ll give us some donations for the prince.”
That presumes we are successful.
“True. If we fail one or more of us will die, so I’ll work for success and plan to run if things get too bad.”
Misery’s eyes lit up. “Lots of fighting?”
“So much that you’ll probably get sick of it.”
“I doubt that is possible for any of us.” Raven’s fangs gleamed in a silent snarl of anticipation. “We were created to fight.”
He eyed her speculatively for a moment. “We may just get the chance to put that to the test.” He pulled his pokedex from his belt. “Virtue, give me a heading towards the asteroid belt. Ah, there we go.” He pointed. “Whisper, go that way.” The construct shifted and the stars in front of them began to turn blue in color as she accelerated.
(11/16/-10 0910 Outer Asteroid Belt)
“Now rotate the ship until the bay with the cube in it is pointing directly at the asteroid.” Whisper obediently shifted the construct at her tamer’s instructions. “Perfect.” Kerrik pulled a head sized device from his pack and placed it on top of the cube, where it stuck. Then he retreated back into the main portion of the ship and turned around. “Close up the bay.” The wall sealed in front of him. “Can you evacuate the bay?”
I can. There was a pause. Done. Beside her, Raven and Misery watched with bright eyes. This was new and new was interesting.
“Now open the bay to space. What you’re going to do is carefully nudge the cube in the direction of the asteroid without touching either once the cube is in motion. I don’t care if it takes an hour to cross the intervening 500 meters. Slowly is the watchword.”
What happens if something goes wrong?
“I trust you not to do anything wrong, but if it happens, we’ll deal with it.”
The outer wall of the bay holding the cube melted down into the deck and the bay extended outward to form a tube around its cargo. The spaceship moved slightly and the cube floated down the tube and into space. Kerrik slipped his com onto his collar. “Virtue, it’s all yours.”
“I have it, commander.” The cube’s corners sank into the body as it shifted form to that of a sphere. Misery made a startled noise and Kerrik caught himself sniffing for the scent of fear. He forced his mind back to business.
The sphere drifted across the intervening distance. When it impacted the asteroid, it seemed to splash in slow motion, flattening and spreading out as it nosed into the rock and making the asteroid shine where it flowed. The shine continued to spread until the entire asteroid glimmered dimly in the void. Then it turned absolutely black.
Raven shivered. “What is happening?”
“The nanorobots are powered by free energy in the universe. Primary power comes from the controller I placed on the cube, but they’ll absorb anything they can get, including radiation from the sun. Out here that’s roughly 100 to 200 watts per square meter. Not a lot, but every little bit helps. That’s why they turned black.” He turned away from the view and pointed. “Whisper, the Earth is over there. Once we arrive, we’ll have to find a decent landing site. Before we land, I’ll give you the preventative for the Bloody Flu as well as the Monster Flu and Red Plague.” He smiled. “Just in case.”
The ship turned and headed in the indicated direction. Raven frowned. “This is before the Red Plague, right?”
“That’s right. The Bloody Flu is just hitting its stride and earlier this year Typhonna put in a very brief appearance before she and the other oversized legendaries disappeared. The Monster Flu and Red Plague are still both almost a decade away. Right now Sukebe’s offensives are still gaining momentum.”
Raven and Misery looked at each other. “Africa,” they said in unison.
They are right. Africa is the least populated right now and would make a good place to establish a base camp.
Kerrik snorted. “Everyone wants to go to Africa. Pick the least populated area you can think of and everyone says ‘Africa’. Think again. Try Wyoming.”
Wyoming?
“Wyoming’s average population density is less than five people per square mile. You could set up a pokegirl city out there and nobody would find it without satellite surveillance. We won’t be found there.” He shook his head. “Africa. Wyoming doesn’t have a lot of things that Africa does, like curious idiots with machine guns, AIDS or the tsetse fly.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It wasn’t a bad choice, as choices go, but Wyoming is much better, even with all the snow.”
Misery rubbed her nose and traced a whisker with a finger. “Isn’t Cheyenne in Wyoming?”
It is. We would be much closer to where we need to be.
“That helped my decision, but it’s true that a lot of Wyoming is large expanses of nothing. If we take shelter in the mountains we’ll never be found.”
If I remember correctly, Wyoming has a lot of mountains. Which ones will we use?
“The Laramie Mountain range is closest to Cheyenne. We’ll start looking there.” He slipped his arms through Raven’s and Misery’s. “Whisper, take us to Earth.”
As you command. The spaceship vanished, only to reappear briefly in the Procyon system before making the jump to Earth.
Name: Wolf, Kerrik
Age: Unlisted
Residence: Kingdom of Haven - Currently Texas League
Status: Active
Rank: NA (5)
HRA rank: Colonel
Security Clearance: Omicron
Licenses
Tamer Y
Master Tamer Y
Researcher N
Watcher N
Breeder Y
Active Harem
Raven
Whisper
Misery