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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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Nine
(07/29/06 0900 Falmouth, Tropic League)
Richard Henry raised his binoculars and watched as the ponytaur stepped out of the house she’d been living in and stretched as she yawned. The pokegirl looked around cautiously and trotted down the street towards the park where she fed; her hooves clopping echoingly on the road. He glanced to his side when Pippi growled low in her throat. Reaching out, he ran his fingers over her ears, which flicked as the growltit subsided and gave him a slightly guilty look. “Sorry, sir. I want to fight her myself.”
“I understand, Pippi. Just remember that while you may know how to do this, I do not. Bishop was very clear that we’re not to get involved in fighting until he says we’re ready to do so. I’m going to obey him until I’m sure that I won’t get you killed by ordering you to do something stupid.” He went back to watching. “He also said you’re supposed to be one of the more obedient pokegirls.”
Pippi leaned against him, silently asking for more attention. She made a contented noise when he began sliding his hand up and down her spine. “I won’t attack her unless you order it, sir; but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to.” She twisted around so his hand was sliding over her breast instead of her back. “Since I can’t fight right now, we could do something else while we wait,” she murmured in a sultry voice. “Something fun.”
Richard tried really hard to ignore the tightening in his groin. “I’d love to indulge you, but you know I have to pay attention to this. As soon as we get home, ok?”
She grabbed his hand and licked his fingers before turning around again. “Yes, master.
There was a flicker of motion as Naomi stepped out of the cover she’d been hiding behind and raised her hands. Her intended victim responded instantly by breaking into a dash, as a result making the chains that shot from the elfqueen’s hand miss as the ponytaur surged forward and down the street.
For an instant Naomi stood frozen as her jaw dropped. Richard grinned as a loud curse floated up to him and she began jogging after the now vanished pokegirl. Pippi giggled. “Do I really need a lesson in how to screw up by the numbers? I can probably figure that out on my own, sir.”
Richard started to reply and suddenly stiffened. “Uh, oh.”
Pippi rose up to look over the parapet of the roof once more, just in time to see the ponytaur appear again, now in full flight back the way she’d come. The growltit gasped as she watched Naomi frantically try to leap out of the way, only to be trampled underfoot as the ponytaur ran her down without pausing.
Behind the ponytaur, Shima raced in pursuit. The nightmare stepped into the air and over the fallen elfqueen. She started to hesitate, only to resume the chase when Naomi waved her on. The elfqueen rolled slowly to her feet and spat blood before picking up her bow and limping to the side of the street. She glowed briefly as she healed herself and then began heading up the street, this time keeping close to the buildings.
Up ahead, energy flared as Naomi used ice beam. It coated the road in front of the fleeing ponytaur, leaving a sheet that shimmered in the sunlight. The ponytaur hit it and went down in a flurry of limbs. She spun as she careened across the ice and slammed into a car, rump first. Glass shattered loudly and she screamed in a high thin voice.
Shima pulled up and halted as the ponytaur lurched to her feet and stood on three legs. Her left hind leg was twisted and bone protruded whitely from a jagged hole in her thigh. Blood pulsed from the wound in time to her heart as she shrieked a challenge at the nightmare that obviously was a pure bluff.
“Why doesn’t Shima attack, sir?”
Richard shrugged at Pippi’s question. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s waiting for the ponytaur to go down from blood loss.”
The growltit stiffened. “Or maybe she’s waiting for Veronica.”
Richard swung his glasses up to see the valkyrie come over the nearest rooftop and swoop down on the unsuspecting ponytaur from behind. Her shield glowed as she swooped and she squarely hit the ponytaur with it in the base of the spine. The two pokegirls went down in a tangle of limbs and Veronica screamed as a wing snapped. “She could have done that better.”
“She’s probably not used to trying to take prisoners, sir. Or perhaps the presence of pokeballs and the availability of healing have made her overconfident.”
Shima raced forward and her armor flowed up out of her skin as she knelt in front of the struggling pair. Quickly she pulled something from a pouch on the valkyrie’s waist. She staggered backwards when the ponytaur accidentally kicked her. The nightmare grabbed the ponytaur’s foot and smacked the pokeball she’d taken from Veronica against the hoof.
Down on the battlefield, Naomi joined Shima and they watched the pokeball jerk for a moment before the light on the top flashed once to indicate a successful capture. The elfqueen glanced at Veronica. “Her wing looks shattered. I can’t heal that. Go get Caradoc. He’s got her pokeball.”
The nightmare paused, her eyes lingering on the moaning valkyrie. “Should I put her to sleep first?”
“No, let her hurt. Hopefully she will remember not to do that again.”
(07/29/06 1800 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
“I guess that was a pretty useless example of how to capture a pokegirl.” Caradoc poked at the ground with a stick. “Or maybe it’s a good example of how to screw up by the numbers.”
“I don’t agree.” Richard nodded when Bishop gave him a disbelieving look. “If nothing else, I can take it as a lesson that you can make all the plans you want, but they’ll get torn to shreds when the fight starts.”
“Not always, but it is better to be prepared. Nobody expected her to double back when Shima went after her.”
“You probably didn’t expect Veronica to cannonball into her, either.”
Caradoc gave him a rueful smile. “No, I can’t say that I did. I really hope she doesn’t do that again. If we hadn’t had the PPHU she’d have been permanently crippled.”
“What are you going to do with the ponytaur?” Richard only stumbled slightly over the word.
“Shima wants me to keep her so she doesn’t have to pull a plow. Naomi wants me to get rid of her since somebody is going to have to tame her and she doesn’t want it to be me.”
“I asked about you, not them. You’re the one with the final decision.”
Caradoc flashed a grin. “Good catch. I’m taking her to Montego tomorrow and I’ll see if Commander Jordan wants her. Have you made any decisions about Bluebell?”
“Yeah, I’ve decided to wait at least two weeks before deciding about her. I want to get to know Pippi better first.”
“That’s a good way to do things.”
“I’m glad you see it that way. Now, if only Bluebell would.”
“Has she been a problem?”
Richard nodded. “She was for a while. I think Pippi took her into the woods for a chat. Since then, Bluebell has been avoiding me.” He shrugged. “I can live with that right now.”
“You need to remember that while Bluebell is a high libido pokegirl, too; she and Pippi can tame each other if or when she joins your harem. It’ll take some of the pressure off of you.”
Richard blinked in surprise. “It will? Maybe I shouldn’t wait.”
“If nothing else, keep that in mind while you’re thinking about it.”
(08/02/06 0830 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
Nancy sat down next to him. “Morning, Caradoc. Will you take us to church tomorrow?”
“Good morning to you. Of course I will.” He glanced at her. “Is your mother giving me the silent treatment again?”
Nancy nodded. “Yes, she is.” She gave him a shy smile. “Are you enjoying it?”
He blinked and flashed a sudden grin. “A little. Do you know why she’s upset now?”
“Naomi and her trees. She thinks what Naomi is doing is wrong.”
Caradoc suppressed a surge of irritation. Meddling woman. “How do you feel about it?”
The young woman shrugged. “Mother doesn’t like to think about it, but voodoo isn’t Christian either. They’ve incorporated some elements from Christianity over the years, but it’s not Christian.” She looked at her hands and began picking at her nails. “Don’t get me wrong, mother isn’t a practitioner of voodoo, but she is tolerant of its existence.”
“She’s a pigeonhole kind of person, isn’t she?”
“I don’t understand what that means.”
“I think Amelia organizes her life by how things fit into the preconceptions she carries around with her. If something doesn’t fit into one of her categories, she’s uncomfortable until she finds a way to make it fit.”
Nancy giggled. “That sounds like her.” She sobered as she watched Winona trotting alongside Shima as the two of them made their rounds. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Always.”
“Will the great grape heal any wound?”
He gave her a curious glance. “Pretty much. It works better if the wound is small or closed up, say with stitches.”
She was silent for a few minutes. “My birthday is coming up in about six months.” She looked at him with serious eyes. “I really don’t want to go to be tested. If I’m infertile then that’s fine, but if I’m fertile, they’ll never let me return here to my family. I’ll be locked up with the others and raped until I can’t have kids anymore. ”
Caradoc suddenly looked grim. “That’s what I hear.”
“I’d kill myself and be damned for eternity.” Nancy’s voice went soft. “Can you make it so I’m definitely infertile? I hear that a knife wound in the right place will do it. You could heal it afterwards with a great grape and by the time I need to go for testing it’ll look old. Will you do that for me?”
“I could do that.” Nancy’s eyes lit up. “But I won’t.” Her face fell as he continued. “I can understand your reasoning, but I won’t mutilate you.” He placed a hand on her shoulder as she started to rise. “Wait, there’s another way. I won’t do that to you, but if you’re willing, I can evacuate you to Haven. They don’t treat women like property there and you’ll be free to have the best life you can. That way, when you find someone you’ll still be able to have a family of your own.”
“I couldn’t stay here then.”
“No, but you won’t be able to stay here in any case.” He gave her a slightly sad smile. “You’re fertile.”
Nancy looked stunned. “How do you know?”
Caradoc wasn’t going to explain that Naomi had accidentally activated her Earth Mother technique while she was learning to control it and that Nancy had been inside the field radius at the time. “Naomi saw it in a dream and she’s scarily accurate.”
“Oh.” She looked at her hands as she twisted them together anxiously. “I don’t want to leave my family.”
“Take them with you.” He gave her an amused look at her shocked expression. “Richard would probably do well here, but he’ll also do well on Haven. Your mother hates the people here because of what happened to your uncle. She’ll be happier there and won’t be able to vent that anger on me.”
“You’d take us to Haven?”
“I haven’t known you long, but your family has shown me the most kindness of anyone here. I’ll even miss your mother, but you’ll do well there and Haven will be better for all of you.”
“How do you know so much about it?”
Whoops.
Caradoc silently damned himself for his impulse to help her and thought quickly. “I know about them from my time in the US. They’ve helped some people in the Indigo League and I learned about them from there. That’s how I knew they were trading with the Indigos.”
Nancy nodded slowly. “That makes sense.” She tugged at his hand. “Can I get up now? I need to go tell mother about this so she can come by and ask you if I heard you correctly.”
“Sorry.” Caradoc let her up. “I just wanted to explain before you got mad at me.”
“I understand now. I’m glad you did stop me. I don’t think you’d have offered to betray the Tropic League if you’d had to chase me down to do it. You do know that exporting fertile women is a capital offense.”
“Yeah, I do. In your case I don’t care.”
“Thank you.” She hugged him before heading off.
I see you didn’t mention that Amelia was also inside the field when it accidentally activated.
Caradoc snickered quietly. “If she ever lets a man get that close, she’ll have earned the surprise.”
(08/03/06 1900 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
Amelia Henry watched her two children and Pippi clean the remains of dinner from the table and turned to look at Bishop. “I need to have a word with you.”
Caradoc slid to his feet. “Let me walk you home.” He glanced at Naomi and she gave him a tiny nod to let him know that she’d follow them at a discrete distance, but still remain close enough to hear and be able to intervene if anything happened. He was not going to get into a fight with the Henry family matron.
Amelia waited until they were halfway along on their journey before speaking. “Why have you offered to help us flee to Haven?”
“Nancy is determined not to enter the Tropic League breeding program and I wanted to help. She’s my friend. All of you are, even you when you’re mad at me.”
She gave him an odd look. “What about the authorities? Aren’t you worried about them and what they’ll do?”
“I’ll tell them that I returned from a trip and all of you were gone. Richard will want to take Pippi with him so they’ll figure you decided to flee into the wilderness. In any case, if they decide to punish me for your leaving, I offered to do this of my own free will and I accept what will come.” He smiled slightly. “I also think Shima can get away from just about anyone they send after us. Anyone she can’t, the four of us can probably outfight.”
“What about your farm?”
“My friends are more important to me than property and I can always have another farm somewhere else.”
Amelia sucked on her lower lip as she considered his words. “I’m not sure I want to leave you here to face the authorities alone. Why don’t you come live with us in Haven?”
Caradoc thought fast. “Haven will be a good place for you and your family, but I’ve never lived under the rule of a king and I’m not interested in trying it right now. For me it’s unlikely to be different than living in the Tropic League.” He decided to change the subject. “There’s even a Christian church there. It was set up by the people from that failed colony attempt that Tropic tried.”
“Bluebell has been sniffing around Richard. What about her?”
Bishop shrugged. “If Richard wants to take her with him, then he can. If not, she’ll just have to go without a tamer for a while longer. If Bluebell does stay, I’ve got more than enough work to keep her busy enough that she won’t be chasing me. I will miss having you, Richard and Nancy around to help with the farm, but on Haven you can have a farm of your own. While I freely admit that your help has been invaluable, even if you stay eventually the elves will have to come up to speed.”
“You’ve been good to us, Caradoc, but I think you’re right and we’ll do better away from here. I will miss you, but I won’t miss being here.”
“I understand. You hate this place after what happened to Ken, and watching Nancy get taken to a breeding facility won’t help. When do you want to leave?”
“We can be ready in a few days. I’d like to pack some things to take. Can we do that and still go on Shima?”
“You can as long as the bundles are fairly small.”
She gave him a bitter smile. “Thanks to the Tropic League, that’ll be easy. We don’t have much anymore. Can we take the tools you gave us?”
“Of course you can. Those are your property. Take any of mine that you might need, too. I can always loot more from Falmouth.”
“Thank you, Caradoc. I think I can walk the rest of the way safely by myself.”
Naomi joined him as Amelia headed for her home. They stood together, watching her head off into the darkness. “Is this really a good idea?”
“Probably not, but Nancy was definite about what she’d do when they took her away. I believe her and if I can arrange things so she doesn’t have to take her own life, then I will.” He slipped his hand over the elfqueen’s. “I’m not going to make this a regular occurrence, but in this case I am going to help them.”
“I’m glad we’re helping them, too. I still feel guilty about what happened, even though it was an accident.”
“I do too. That’s part of the reason why I’m doing this.” He glanced at her. “Can you use that power on total strangers and not feel guilty about it?”
She nodded firmly. “I can and I will. In the long run, this will help everyone out. I hope that someday what will happen is that our work will get the breeding facilities shut down and stop them branding their own people.”
“Are you planning to use that technique on yourself?”
“I’d like to, but I was going to wait until we could talk about it. If I get pregnant, I want you happy about it too.”
Caradoc smiled slightly. “I think the only person here who is going to be really upset about more children will be Winona when she realizes that she’s lost her only child status.” His fingers tightened around hers. “I do ask that not every elf get pregnant at once. It would not only be difficult to handle that many infants at once, but the league will either be very interested or very worried if every elf here reproduces at the same time.” He kissed her gently. “I’ll be ecstatic when we have a child or two.”
She gave him an amused smile in return. “If you think I’m going to be one in a crowd of pregnant pokegirls, you, my master, are very mistaken. Since I determine who gets pregnant when, when the time is right I’m going to go first. Anyone else can wait until I have our daughter.”
“That’s very selfish Naomi, but I can’t find it in my heart to fault you for it.”
“Really?”
“You are their queen and you’re my alpha. Both should grant you some privileges to go with your exalted rank.” Bishop slid his arm around her waist. “And I don’t think that waiting a little while for a child will kill any of the elves.”
“When can I have ours?”
“I think things need to be settled a little more, but perhaps sometime this year.”
“Good. I don’t want to wait any longer than I have to. Winona is wonderful, but she’s not mine.”
“She’s what brought this on, isn’t she?”
Naomi nodded. “She is part of it. I want one of my own and I want her with you.”
“You do realize that you won’t become a pokewoman for centuries, right?”
“Our children will be our children whether they are elves or humans.” Emerald eyes peered into his anxiously. “That’s right, isn’t it?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Of course it is.”
(08/04/06 0800 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
Caradoc looked up at the clop of tiny hooves and watched Winona make a beeline for the chair closest to him. Wood squeaked as she shoved it across the floor until it bumped against his. He reached out and grabbed the top of the chair as she pulled herself onto the seat and rearranged all four legs until she was sitting comfortably. “Good morning to you, Winona.”
She grinned at him and held out her arms for her traditional morning greeting. Caradoc gathered her up and hugged her until she squeaked before giving her a quick kiss and placing her back into her chair. She giggled and hugged herself.
Bishop picked up his spoon and dipped it into his scrambled eggs. Winona scooted to the edge of her chair and grabbed for his plate. He intercepted her hand. “That’s not for you.”
The nightmare kit scrunched up her face and whined piteously enough that Shima poked her head in the door from outside. “What is the matter?”
“Apparently she thinks she’s ready to try food.” He looked up at the nightmare dam. “Is she?”
Shima shrugged. “I can’t seem to find her instruction book and since she is advancing much faster than a human child, you don’t have any referents either. Would you let her taste eggs?”
“Why not?” He dipped the spoon into his eggs and tapped it empty on his plate before offering it to his daughter. Her eyes lit up and she opened her mouth wide. Bishop carefully placed the tip of the spoon inside her mouth. Winona responded by closing her mouth and sucking. She promptly grabbed the spoon and tried to cram it inside her mouth. Caradoc had expected something like that and his hand closed over hers before she could shove. “You’ll hurt yourself. Open your mouth.” Winona ignored him and held the spoon in place. She flicked out her tongue and began licking the spoon clean. “That works too.”
Shima settled into one of the empty chairs. “I’m glad she’s bonded to you.” She gave him a bland look. “I’m also glad I don’t have to make her decide who she prefers. I’m not sure it would be me.”
“Of course you are her favorite. You’re her mother. She comes to me when she feels experimental. You give her a shelter in an uncertain universe that I happen to be part of.”
The nightmare perked up. “You think so?”
“I know so.” Bishop kept his voice confident.
Apparently satisfied by the taste, Winona settled back in her chair and hummed to herself while Caradoc finished his breakfast. Shima waited until he was washing his dishes before speaking again. “I understand that the Henry family will be leaving us soon.” Her voice was carefully neutral.
Caradoc paused. “What is it?”
“I thought that you were going to take Nancy as your mate and I’m surprised you’re letting her leave.”
He gave her a puzzled look. “Why would I want to do that? She and I have nothing in common.”
“She’s human and she’s fertile. You need a human mate.”
“I’ve got three women in my life already. Nancy has no place in it.” He squeezed Shima’s shoulders gently and she leaned back against his hands. He could feel tension trembling beneath her skin. “Shima, have I given any sign that I’m dissatisfied with you?”
“No, but,” she broke off as he placed a hand over her mouth.
“But nothing. You and Naomi are my women and my family. Veronica is in my care, but I don’t care for her like I do you.” He gently pulled her head back to look up at him. “And I don’t have any feelings for Nancy. Just because she’s not a pokegirl doesn’t make her better than you in any way.”
“She won’t go feral if you stop having sex with her.”
Caradoc blinked. “I am not having sex with Nancy, so I can’t stop having sex with her. What gives you the impression that I care for her like that?”
“You took some serious risks to bring her family here from Bog’s Walk. She’s been part of your life longer than I have. No, you’re not having sex with her, but then you don’t have to, do you?”
“We also don’t have anything resembling a relationship, Shima. I’ve chosen you, Naomi, Veronica and Winona as my family. Please trust me on this. I don’t want Nancy or anyone else in the Henry family to stay here. Frankly, I’m glad they’re leaving.”
“You are?”
He nodded emphatically. “I like Richard and Nancy, but honestly Amelia has been a nuisance since I met her and right now they’re a package deal.” His voice changed as he mimicked Mrs. Henry. “Why aren’t you Christian? Why won’t you go to church? I don’t want Richard having sex! I don’t want Richard sleeping with pokegirls! I don’t like what Naomi is doing. I hate the Tropic League for killing my brother and I’m going to take it out on you since they’re not here. I don’t like you sleeping with pokegirls.” He glanced around to make sure they were alone as Shima giggled loudly. Winona grinned and giggled with her. “She’s not my family and she has no right to hector me like that. It’ll be much quieter with them gone and just between you and me, I’m looking forward to it very much.” He kissed her forehead. “So don’t do anything that might make her want to stay.”
He felt her relax under his hands. “I’ll try not to, Caradoc. I’m sorry I didn’t understand.”
“How could you know? You don’t have a clue about human relations. Just don’t forget to ask next time. Don’t worry about your place with me. Unless you decide to leave, you’ll always have one.” He chuckled. “If it helps, I don’t know anything about human relations here, either. I only know who I am involved with and they all live in my home with me.”
(08/06/06 0630 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
You do realize that you have to go along with the Henrys on the trip to Haven, right?
“No, I do not. I’ve got work to do here and I’m not interested in going just to sightsee.”
Yes, you do. It is absolutely necessary.
Caradoc gritted his teeth. “Why are you insisting that I have to go along to Haven? If I go, Shima can’t carry everyone and will have to make two trips.”
I carry the IFF codes. Unless you can rip me out of your mind and loan me to Amelia Henry, you have to go. If you don’t go with them, Haven’s anti-air defenses may destroy them as well as Shima once they trace the flight path back to the Tropic League. If you want them dead, Shima can just dump them into the ocean once she’s a dozen miles out. To answer your next question, no, Haven pokedexes are deliberately designed not to be able to broadcast IFF codes unless the registered user’s DNA is used to unlock the pokedex during the broadcast.
“Shit. Is Shima a registered user of my pokedex?”
No, she is not. You are the only registered user, although your pokegirls can use your pokedex. Registration has to take place at a Haven pokegirl center and none of us have been in one. I was not aware of this limitation until I reviewed the IFF situation. I apologize for not investigating earlier.
“I never considered that something like this would ever come up either.” Caradoc took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I want to get Shima, Naomi and Veronica pokedexes for their personal use. I’ll set each up as registered users and make sure I’m registered on all of them.”
We’re not going to be able to take enough trade goods on these trips to pay for that, so it will have to wait.
“If that’s what we have to do, then so be it. The first trip will be Amelia and Nancy. The second trip will be Richard and most of their belongings. At full speed and phased, each leg will take Shima roughly an hour. Add an hour to each round trip for anything that needs dealt with and it’ll take six hours to complete everything. Has Haven responded with any new information?”
No. They will prepare a place for the family to live and offer Richard his own home if he desires. Everyone will have to go to some classes regarding life on Haven. Your obligation to the family will end with their arrival in Covenant.
“Now all I have to do is explain the change in plans to Shima, Naomi and Veronica and then once more to the Henrys.”
(08/04/06 0800 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
Amelia Henry’s arms tightened around Bishop’s waist as Shima began trotting forward. “I want to thank you for doing this.” Caradoc nodded in reply. The ride abruptly smoothed out as Shima stepped onto nothingness and accelerated. The rising wind died away as she phased and turned towards Falmouth. Behind Amelia, Nancy whooped with glee as they swept out to sea.
The trip went uneventfully and soon the island of Haven appeared up ahead.
IFF codes sent and received. We’re cleared to Covenant.
Caradoc consulted his pokedex and leaned forward to rest his head on Shima’s shoulder. “We’re a little off course. Bear right until I say to steady out.”
The nightmare’s voice sounded a little strained as they started a gentle turn to the right. “I haven’t run this fast for so long in a while. I’m glad we’ll be landing soon.”
We will back on course in three, two, and one. Now.
“Ok, head straight.” He tightened his arms around Shima’s waist. “Things should be quieter soon and we can do some serious training. Everybody needs it, including me.”
While it was true that the Henry family leaving would hurt, it was also true that the elves had already been doing most of the work. Naomi had picked up another two elves and a second avariel, bringing the numbers up to eight elves and two winged elves. Even though Richard was taking Bluebell with him, or the fact that avariel claimed to be too fragile for real work, things wouldn’t get too difficult.
In fact, Naomi suspected the efficiency of her elves would increase now that the competing elfqueen was gone. She’d known that Bluebell had been quietly plotting behind her back and interfering with the elves work while doing so. Only Caradoc’s desire to see if Richard could calm her down had kept Naomi from killing her rival or pokeballing her and delivering her to Montego for sale.
Caradoc had finally decided that apparently elfqueens took their politics very seriously.
Shima began descending as they approached Covenant and Caradoc leaned back to speak to Amelia. “That’s Covenant, the capital and only city on Haven. The refugees from the colony attempt that the Tropic League tried live there, too. You’ll live there for at least the next month while you take classes on Haven’s laws and customs.” She nodded and leaned back to talk quietly to her daughter.
We are to land on the outskirts of the city near the outlander processing center. I’ll put the landing information on the pokedex for your nightmare. A building flashed cyan in his vision. We will be met there by tradesman Cesare Jones and Emily, his nursejoy. She’s going to be doing the medical intake exam.
Caradoc handed his pokedex up to Shima. “Follow the instructions on where to land.” She looked closely at it and changed to the indicated direction as he leaned back again. “Amelia, Nancy, we’re going to be met by a couple of people. They’re going to give both of you a medical exam to make sure you’re ok. It’s standard procedure for new arrivals.”
The wind picked up as she dropped her phase and a moment later she landed and trotted towards the two people waiting for them. Cesare had filled out and his black skin gleamed bluely in the sunlight and seemed to tint his white shirt and shorts. He waved as Amelia and Nancy dropped from Shima’s back. He spoke with a light Scottish burr. “I am Cesare Jones and this is my wife, Emily. Welcome to Covenant.” Emily was pretty, with olive skin, short black hair and brown eyes that glittered with good humor. She was dressed casually in a loose top, skirt and sandals.
Amelia shook hands with Cesare and then with Emily. “Thank you. I’m Amelia Henry and this is my daughter, Nancy.” She looked amused when Emily moved around to shake hands with Nancy. “I understand there’s a medical exam before we can enter your country. Where will that be held?”
Emily moved back to stand next to her husband. “I’m already done, Mrs. Henry. If you’ll come with us, we’ll get your processing started. We’ll stop for a quick lunch, but we should still be finished before your son Richard and his pokegirls arrive.”
Amelia looked confused. “I don’t understand.”
Emily smiled gently. “I’m a pokegirl, Mrs. Henry. I’m a medical specialist and when we shook hands I gave you a thorough exam. You and Nancy are both fairly healthy, especially considering the kind of diet the Tropic League makes its citizens eat.”
Amelia’s mouth dropped. “You’re a pokegirl? But you seem,” she broke off and her dark skin darkened as she flushed.
Emily nodded. “So normal? I seem normal because I am normal. That’s one of the reasons you and your family will be taking cultural classes here. In the Kingdom of Haven, pokegirls have equal citizenship with everyone else.” She looked up at Caradoc, who hadn’t dismounted. “You must be Caradoc Bishop. Will you be immigrating to Haven too?”
Apparently Emily and Cesare didn’t know who he was. “No, I won’t. For the time being I’m happy where I am.”
The nursejoy frowned prettily. “It’s a much better life here. Please reconsider.”
“Thanks, but today I’m just helping some friends to escape.” He nodded towards Amelia and Nancy. “Ladies, I’m sure you’ll do well. If you want to get in touch with me, I do have my pokedex and I’m listed as a tamer in the Haven system so I’ve got an email address you can use.”
Nancy waved. “I will, Caradoc. You take good care of him, Shima.”
The nightmare chuckled as she turned around. “I will. Be well, Miss Henry.” She trotted forward and into the air. Accelerating hard, she climbed and the wind fell to a whisper as she used phase. “I’ll need a rest after we get back to the farm. If you run me through a healing cycle we can be done with this before dark.” She reached back and pulled his hands around to her stomach and pressed them against her. “We’ll be a family alone, as it should be, and I’ll have my daughter again.”
“How are you doing?”
Her fingers tightened. “I haven’t been away from Winona this long before. I miss her. I know Naomi will take care of her, but not as well as we can.”
“Then let’s get this done.”
Caradoc Bishop - Tirsuli human
Naomi - elfqueen
Shima - nightmare
Veronica - valkyrie
Winona - nightmare pokekit