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Eighteen
(09/05/06 1130 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
Naomi ran up and stopped in front of Bishop. “There are a lot of people coming up the road from the Stewart Town. I don’t think it can be anyone but the new administrator and his group. I’ve already sent messengers to summon Shima and Veronica to the house, as we agreed on when we were making plans.” She smiled slightly. “They’re on the main road, so they’ll miss the farm when they go by. I presume you’d like to meet the colonists somewhere else instead of having that horde come here.”
Caradoc nodded and put down the saw. He’d been helping build the trough for the sugarcane mill. They hadn’t found any more useable concrete and so the decision had been made to manufacture one out of wood and wash it down regularly to keep it clean. “I do want to meet them and I don’t. You’re right, though, that it’ll be better to meet them somewhere besides here.”
The elfqueen nodded. “That only makes sense. Do you want me to have some elves trail behind us and provide reinforcements?”
“No, if it comes to that, we can break contact a lot easier than a bunch of elves can. There’s no reason to put them in danger. However, tell Lori to make sure everyone including the milktits know that if anyone comes sniffing around to make themselves scarce until we get back. The league is determined to stamp out pokegirl attacks on humans and I’m not sending any of our girls to the executioner. If the intruders steal stuff, we’ll deal with it after I return.”
“What if the Black Rivers sneak up while we’re gone?”
“Naomi, unless they’re wearing shirts that say Black Rivers on them, my orders stand.”
She blinked and flushed slightly. “How do we tell them apart from everyone else? Good idea. I’ll tell Lori. Where do you want to meet?”
“I’ll be at the house, too. Meet us there.”
A little while later they were on the road, with Caradoc riding while Veronica and Naomi trotted with one on each side of Shima. Caradoc didn’t want to take a chance on his ladies roaming and getting attacked by the tamers traveling with the colony. He leaned forward slightly, raising his voice so Naomi and Veronica could hear him too. “Head for Falmouth. We’ll catch the main road there and then head south so we don’t accidentally miss them.”
Shima turned up the road towards town. “Should we be expecting trouble?”
“I don’t think we’ll have any, but let’s be wary. All it takes is for one idiot to be just a bit twitchy and I’ll be injured again.”
Veronica laughed from her position at his left knee. “It already happens too often when we don’t know to be careful, sir.”
“I know.” He shook his head. “At the first sign of trouble, I’ll take Winona and take cover while you three deal with it.”
The valkyrie nodded as she ran. “Just remember, sir, that your help shortened the fight with Cindy a lot. Anytime you can help like that again, please feel free to do so.”
“Don’t worry, I will. It’ll be a lot easier when your twees come on line, since I’ll be able to stay out of sight and still be able to help out with the battle.”
Naomi chuckled and patted his right leg. “Sounds like you’re getting used to not being able to fight.”
He almost growled with frustration. “I’m learning to accept it. I still hate it.”
A little while later they reached the edge of Falmouth. Going into the city risked an encounter with ferals seeking easy shelter under the roofs of the buildings there, but fortunately it wasn’t necessary. Any ferals in the town would remain the problem of the colonial tamers. Shima turned east and followed the road around to the cache where they’d stored the supplies Commander Jordan had purchased.
They’d built the cache two days ago at the William Knibb Memorial High School on the edge of Falmouth and stationed two elves there to guard it from ferals. The building had seen little damage from either feral pokegirls or the weather and had proved convenient for temporary storage of the tons of supplies they had for the colonists.
The elves remained under cover until they saw Naomi, at which point they came running up to join her and her male. Naomi looked at him. “Well? I could send them home or have the two of them stay here on the off chance a feral will hit the cache in the next couple of hours.”
He thought for a minute. “Have them remain here until they see us return or the colonists show up in case they somehow slip past us. If it’s the colonists, then they’re to avoid contact with the group and return to the ranch. I want to keep Hamilton in the dark as to how many pokegirls I’ve got for as long as possible. That means if someone comes around, I want everyone to get into hiding. The lost work isn’t as important as keeping the people that are ours.” He looked at the two elves. “You be careful around them. I have no idea how they’ll react, but if you’re attacked and you can’t escape, identify yourselves as members of my farm. As soon as we find out you might be in their custody, we’ll do our damnedest to get you freed before you can be bonded to someone new.” He looked at each of them in turn. “If you want to go to one of the Tropics, we’ll handle that after things settle down.”
One of the elves grinned. “Sir, we’re just fine with you and our queen. They won’t catch us, but they might pursue us all the way to the farm.”
Naomi looked at him and nodded. “If they do, you let them. We’ll deal with them once they get there, whether it takes a talk with them or a flight of arrows.”
The elf glanced at Caradoc, who gave her a grim smile. “You are part of my farm and I will protect you as long as you don’t do anything stupid.”
“Running isn’t stupid, right?”
Naomi chuckled. “Running is very intelligent.”
“Then, my queen, you don’t have to worry about us doing anything stupid. We’ll run like a low flier is hot on our heels and we’re leading it into a trap.”
Veronica grinned. “You will be. Low fliers were fun to kill.”
All the pokegirls exchanged predatory grins before Bishop shook his head. “That’s more than enough planning to fight the Revenge War all over again. Instead, let’s concern ourselves with the conflicts left to come. Shima, let’s head east. If they’re heading up from Stewart Town, they’ll be using the B11.”
They took the A1 easy until it connected in with the B11 in the ruins of community called Rock. There, they switched to the B11 and headed southeast following the road as it meandered towards Clark’s Town, nine miles from Rock. Past there, it continued on another eight miles to Stewart Town, where Cloud had seen them before racing back to the farm to let her queen know.
Caradoc wasn’t in any hurry, so it took about three hours before they saw the outskirts of Clark’s Town. “Shima, stop here.” He slid off of her back and draped an arm over her back right behind her human torso. He stood there for several minutes, staring at the ruin in front of them. “I don’t like it. Urban combat is the worst and if they’ve made it this far and we surprise them, they could seriously hurt us before things get straightened out.”
Shima twisted slightly to look at him. “You’ve got that backwards. I can almost guarantee that anyone attacking us will think they’ve stuck their hand inside a sharptit’s mouth when we’re done with them.”
Naomi sighed. “Start using sir and master again. I’m not fond of it either, but we’ll be around outsiders.”
The nightmare closed her eyes and took a deep breath before nodding. “Yes, my maharani.” She flashed a quick smile. “I mean my alpha.”
Caradoc smacked her on the shoulder. “Stop that. Change back to your human form.”
“Yes sir.” The nightmare shifted to her bipedal form and handed Winona’s onbuhimo to Bishop. She stretched and twisted to face him. Her voice was teasing. “I know you don’t want all the nasty men staring at me, so can I have my dress, sir?” Recently she’d started experimenting with different outfits and today she’d chosen a metallic red tight mini dress that was almost the same color as her hair and eyes. Shima watched him as she pulled it over her head and down her body. A smile appeared on her face when he seemed unable to look away as the dress slid over her hips.
Naomi chuckled. “Now that the show’s over, can we get back to business?”
Bishop blinked. “Right.” He moved the onbuhimo to hang from his back and winced as Winona promptly reached up over her head and grabbed a handful of his hair. “We’re going to have to break her of that or she’s going to pull clumps of my hair free one of these days.” Veronica began working the kit’s fingers free and he sighed. “Thanks. We can’t have a formation of any kind since I need to either be in the front or near it. What we’ll do is put Veronica in the rear and Shima on point, but both of you don’t go farther than a few feet in from me. Naomi, you’ll stay near me. If we get attacked, I’ll run for cover while you ladies go on the offensive.”
“We need someone flying, sir.” Veronica said politely but firmly.
“I don’t need to start a battle between us and the colony tamers. They might well see a flying pokegirl without a tamer around as an attacking feral.” He patted the valkyrie on the shoulder. “I want someone overhead as much as you do, but right now it’s a bad idea.”
Naomi looked thoughtful for a moment. “What if she popped up and looked around to see if there are any other pokegirls flying around? If so, then we’ll be warned if they’re not from the colony or even if they are.”
Shima nodded. “If she does see some and there’s more than one breed, we’ve probably found the colony.”
Caradoc looked at Veronica. “I guess it’s a good idea. Go up and have a look-see. Be careful and stay close.”
“Yes sir.” The valkyrie summoned her armor and wings. She turned away from them and trotted a hundred yards back the way they’d come before taking to the air and accelerating hard. Abruptly she pulled into a loop and as she inverted at the top, rolled upright and continued back towards them, climbing a hundred feet into the air as she did.
I didn’t know that winged pokegirls could do an Immelman turn.
Caradoc chuckled softly. “Is that what that’s called here? I didn’t know they could fly upside down like she just did. That’s theoretically impossible, like looping a helicopter.” Naomi gave him a look but kept quiet. He felt a pulse of concern for him across their bond and knew he should be more careful about talking to his twee in public. “Sorry.”
The elfqueen looked surprised and then smiled broadly. “I’m glad you can feel that more easily.” She winked. “Sir.”
As she reached them, Veronica folded her wings and plummeted towards the ground. At the last moment, she snapped her wings open and flared into a landing in a cloud of dust. As her feet touched the ground, her wings vanished and the valkyrie dropped into a ready position as she summoned her sword and shield.
Shima looked singularly unimpressed. “Showoff.”
Veronica sheathed her sword. “Sir, I didn’t see any flying pokegirls of any sort, but I did see some thin columns of smoke. It could be that they are from a fire pokegirl doing something or they could be from cooking fires.” She glanced in the direction of the town. “I did a lot of aerial surveillance for pre and post strike intelligence gathering and those feel like cooking fires to me.”
Naomi gave her a long look. “It feels like cooking fires?”
“You know what I mean.”
“We all do know what you mean. You considered what you’d seen and applied your experience to it. That’s the source of your calculated estimate, which is a feeling or a hunch.” Caradoc turned to look at the town and nodded. “And I feel you could be right. We’ll proceed as if the colonists are up ahead. If they are, they’ve probably got tamers out in a perimeter.” He sighed. “Standing here isn’t going to accomplish anything.”
Naomi nodded and shifted her bow on her shoulder. “Shima, you’re on point. Veronica, drop back. Both stay within sight of us.”
The group proceeded at a slow walk into the town, every sense alert for danger. They were coming to the center of town when a pokegirl stepped out of an alley and moved to block them from going any farther. She was about six and a half feet tall and solidly built. Bright yellow dreadlocks framed eyes so black they looked dead. She wore tight shorts and a shirt that put her impressive bust on display. “Halt and identify yourself.”
That is a xerablondi, a spider based fighting bug pokegirl.
Shima raised an eyebrow. “You’re the one trespassing. Who are you?” She flexed her hands while trying to remain as unthreatening as possible.
Caradoc shook his head. “I am the administrator of Falmouth and I’ve had a report that some people had entered my lands.”
The xerablondi barked a laugh. “You are not Administrator Hamilton. I happen to know he’s enjoying lunch right now.”
“You will address me with respect or I’ll have your hide,” Bishop snarled at her loudly enough to make Naomi jump. “And as for Mr. Hamilton, until he formally relieves me, I am the administrator of Falmouth. Now fetch your tamer so he can escort me to the camp.”
The xerablondi almost cringed. “Yessir. I’ll get him right away.” She made an abortive move to salute and then ran back into the alley.
The elfqueen gave him a sideways look and he whispered to her. “If you act like you’re in charge, many times people presume you are. Can you imagine Van Der Haegan or Jordan putting up with that attitude?”
Naomi shrugged. “I suppose you’re right, sir. I’m glad you didn’t put up with her being a bitch.”
He gave her an odd look and then looked slightly embarrassed. “I just want to establish from the beginning that I am no longer someone that everyone can order around. I’ve got too many responsibilities at the farm to let that happen.”
“She’s coming back, sir.” Veronica glanced at him. “There’s a human with her.”
Shima shifted slightly to block the oncoming pair’s line of sight to Caradoc and he touched her on the shoulder. “I have to talk to them and it would be a lot politer if I didn’t have to do it while they had to look at you.”
The nightmare glanced over her shoulder and moved out of the way. “You and Naomi are tense, so I’m tense.” She faced forward. “Sir.”
The man stopped a handful of feet away and gave them a belligerent glare. “Who the hell are you?”
“I am Administrator Caradoc Bishop of Falmouth. I want you to summon someone who can lead me to the camp.” He smiled without humor. “I’m not interested in fighting a pitched battle because one of the sentries didn’t see me inside this circle of attractive female flesh.”
Naomi fought a smile as the sentry suddenly grinned. “Yeah, no tamer would look at you first, sir.” His smile disappeared. “However, there’s a problem. I don’t have anyone else and I can’t send Shelly since she’s my only pokegirl.”
Caradoc nodded. “I’ll assume responsibility for your watch area while you send her for an escort.”
The tamer’s smile returned. “You heard the administrator, Shelly. Go get an escort for the administrator. Run, don’t walk and don’t dally once you’re there.”
“Yessir, I will and nossir, I won’t.” The spider pokegirl turned and raced off.
The tamer watched her go before turning back. “I’d heard you were rather unconventional and an administrator actually,” he broke off suddenly. “Sorry, sir.”
“What, an administrator helping out is unconventional?” Caradoc chuckled as the man flushed. “I was made administrator because I live out here and that way Commander Jordan could saddle me with a radio. I’m a tradesman and I own a farm, so I’m used to getting my hands dirty. As an administrator or even a tamer, you can’t get much more unconventional than that.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Caradoc Bishop.”
The man grinned again and shook hands with Bishop. “Justin Peters at your service, sir. I understand that Mr. Hamilton will be taking over from you immediately, so I won’t be at your service for long.”
“I’ve been told that about Mr. Hamilton. Anything else you can tell me about him?”
Peters got a wary look. “Well, between you, me and the ruins, he’s a pretty conventional administrator.”
“Enough said, Mr. Peters. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
Justin relaxed. “Thanks. What kind of farm do you have?”
“It’s mostly produce and sugarcane, with some chickens and fish. I also grow coffee and berries and I’ve got some beer brewing up. Later I’d like to make rum.”
“Damn, it sounds like you’ve got a good operation going. If you’ve got beer, you’ll be getting some of my money.”
“Hopefully someone in your group who settles in Falmouth will want to open a pub and I can supply them. Then they’ll get your money. I’m not set up for bottling just yet and most people don’t want to buy beer by the barrel.”
“Well now, I’ve always wanted to own a pub.” Justin rubbed his hands together. “We’ll have to talk about this more later.”
“That sounds good to me. Veronica, get on that roof. Naomi, you’re with me. Shima, poke around a bit, but stay close.” A thought struck him. “And stay out of the buildings.”
Veronica summoned her wings and spread them before pausing. “Sir, do we engage if we see any ferals?”
“Just report.” Naomi’s voice was curt as she shifted her quiver on her back to hang near her belt. “You are not to engage without orders.”
“Yes, my alpha, I hear and obey.” She launched into the air and circled before landing carefully on the roof of a two story building.
Shima shifted to her equine form and trotted away to disappear into a side street. Naomi shook her head and dropped her voice to where Peters couldn’t hear it. “Do you really expect ferals here? Any should be drawn to the campsite already or else have fled.”
“I didn’t expect milktits in a hardware store, either. However, it did teach me a lesson about expecting things.”
She nodded and dropped her bow into her hands. “That’s an excellent point.”
About ten minutes later Veronica tossed a rock that landed near Naomi. She was crouched down near the wall around the edge of the roof and was pointing down the street in the direction that the xerablondi had gone. Naomi gave a shrill whistle and Shima trotted into view. She looked up at the pointing valkyrie and drifted back into the shadows under a half collapsed building.
The xerablondi appeared, followed by a young woman and a cat pokegirl with muted tan fur and black stripes.
That is a sabretooth tigress. She’s a fighting and rock type pokegirl.
The woman stopped and looked at Peters, her mouth an angry line. “What is going on here?”
“Lieutenant, this is Administrator Bishop of Falmouth. He wanted an escort back to the camp. He offered to set his pokegirls to take over sentry duty while I sent Shelly back for someone to lead him in.”
“I don’t think I gave you that kind of latitude in my orders.”
Caradoc raised a hand. “And I didn’t give him any choice in the matter. As administrator I outrank him and he’s not stupid.” His expression clearly wondered if the lieutenant was.
She wasn’t. Her expression instantly changed to a blend of friendly and neutral. “I’m Lieutenant Cardenas, sir. I was under the impression that Administrator Hamilton was the administrator of Falmouth.”
“He isn’t until I’m officially relieved of the job and that hasn’t happened yet.” Caradoc shrugged. “That’s political, however, and I don’t see any reason to drag you or your subordinate into what’s going on. Hamilton will relieve me and I’ll go back to being a farmer.”
She gave him a grudging smile. “Thank you, sir. Why didn’t you just get directions from Peters, sir? Why an escort?”
“Trust me; it wasn’t because I wanted someone to lead me around. I only wanted an escort because I’m well aware that nobody knows me or my pokegirls from the Black Rivers and I’m not interested in getting jumped because of it.”
“I suppose that’s fair enough. We’re combat troops and you’d get pretty badly hurt.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Caradoc lied. He looked at Naomi. “Bring the others in.”
She nodded and waved. “We’re done with sentry duty.”
“Others?” Cardenas looked surprised when Veronica stood up and hopped off the roof. The valkyrie’s armor crashed loudly when she thudded heavily to the ground. Her eyes went wider when Shima appeared out of the shadows on the side of the street and moved to stand next to her tamer. Naomi suppressed a smile as the poor sabretooth tigress twisted frantically around to try to keep everyone in sight. The cat pokegirl visibly relaxed when Veronica and Shima joined Caradoc and Naomi.
Caradoc shifted the onbuhimo slightly. “Lieutenant, the sooner you take us back to camp, the sooner you can get to your real duties.”
She nodded. “Yes, sir, why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you the camp so I can do just that?” She looked at the sabretooth tigress. “Desiree, you take point.”
“Yes, mistress,” the tigress rumbled as she moved into the lead. They headed out a brisk walk. Naomi exchanged a glance with Bishop and made a hand motion to Veronica. The valkyrie nodded and slowed so she could begin drifting back to take the rear guard.
Lieutenant Cardenas looked around critically as they walked. “Sir, is Falmouth this bad?”
Bishop glanced at the ruins. A lot of buildings had been damaged by fire or had been almost completely leveled. Most of the windows were missing and trees poked through several roofs. “It looks like a battle was fought here.”
“Yes, sir, the Battle of Clark’s Town pretty much engulfed the entire town. It lasted for almost two days, what with the sniping and artillery bombardment. It was the biggest battle in Jamaica and our worst loss of the war. The pokegirls chewed us up pretty badly.”
Bishop looked interestedly at her. “I’ve only explored the southern part of Falmouth but we’ve done flights over the whole town. It’s in a lot better condition, even if it was abandoned after the plague. Ferals have done some damage to the buildings, but nothing like this.”
“I’m glad to hear that, sir. It’ll be nice to go home again.”
“You were one of the evacuees?”
“I was born there. I wasn’t living there when it was evacuated, but ironically I was one of the troops sent in to convince the holdouts to leave.”
He gave her a dry look. “I’ve heard that some people took a lot more convincing than others.”
Her eyes became distant. “There were some atrocities, sir. I wasn’t involved with them, but there were. There were trials, too, and those guilty of them were punished.”
“So what changed?”
She looked curiously at him. “What do you mean?”
Caradoc’s voice was even. “When people were forcibly relocated to Bogs Walk, a man was killed by a pokegirl on her tamer’s orders because he didn’t want to leave his home. It may or may not have been an accident, but in either case nobody was punished for what happened. What changed in the league’s policy towards civilians and how they police their tamers?”
She looked away. “I don’t know, sir. I just do my job.” She sounded troubled and Caradoc decided that was the best he could do for the moment.
Bishop wasn’t impressed by the camp. For the lucky few, it was a collection of old tarps turned into lean-tos with sticks or short lengths of metal pipe. The rest made do with blankets spread out on the ground. People moved around doing various small chores or sat on the blankets and stared wearily at each other. Three fires had been set up in the parking lot they’d set established the campsite in, and the odor of the asphalt burning beneath the coals would be sure to flavor anything cooked on them.
In the center of the camp three real tents were set up backed against the side of a building and close enough to each other to almost touch. In front of the opening of each tent there stood a pokegirl sentry. Bishop recognized a tigress. Of the other two, one was another centaur type pokegirl. The last one was a cat type of some kind. She was more animalistic than others he’d seen and had a slight muzzle and tail. Yellow fur spotted with black rosettes covered her entire body. He had no idea what she could be and sent a mental query to his twee.
In his vision, the centaur was suddenly outlined by cyan. That is a ponytaur. They are another metamorphic species. They are relatively fast transports and can evolve into several other types, including the unicorn, which can then evolve into the nightmare. The outline shifted to the cat pokegirl as she looked around with a bored expression, her ears flicking slowly. This one is a cheetaura and she is another metamorph that can take a centaur shape in addition to the bipedal form you see here. The evolved form of cheetit, she is faster than Shima can fly, although she is otherwise unremarkable. Her speed is probably wasted in the Tropic League, considering all of the heavy undergrowth.
Lieutenant Cardenas pointed at the tents. “Administrator Hamilton will be in there. Leah is his pokegirl. She’s the cheetaura.”
“Thank you, lieutenant, for taking the time to bring me here.” Caradoc squared his shoulders. “Well, let’s get this over with.”
They were about halfway across the camp when the cheetaura realized their destination. She said something low to the ponytaur, who jerked her head around and began watching them as they came up. The simplest conclusion was that Hamilton would be in the tent that Leah was guarding and so he stopped in front of her. “I’m Caradoc Bishop and I’m here to see Mr. Hamilton.” From behind her he could hear regular grunts accompanied by low feminine moans.
Leah almost sneered at them. “Administrator Hamilton is otherwise engaged. Come back in an hour.”
Too many rude people in too short a time finally caused him to reach the end of his temper. Bishop’s face set and his voice rose slightly to project into the tent and, incidentally, across the nearby colonists, who turned to watch at the first indication of some excitement in their day. “Bernard Hamilton is not the ruler of Falmouth until he relieves me. Until then I am the administrator. After the reception I’ve gotten so far, if you think I’m going to wait for an hour until he gets through fucking some pokegirl, you are very mistaken. When he gets to Falmouth he’ll need to send out parties to locate my farm and then I’ll tell him where in the town I put the cache full of food for him and his people so they don’t starve while they’re getting started carving out a home in the ruins. Good day.” He turned on his heel as Leah’s mouth dropped almost audibly. “Shima, I’ll need a ride home. Veronica, you have point.”
The nightmare’s eyes sparkled with glee. “Yes sir!” She shifted to her equine form as Veronica summoned her wings and launched herself into the air.
Naomi was sliding onto the nightmare behind her tamer when a huge man came barreling out of the tent behind Leah. He was well over six feet tall and massively built and with one hand held a large flowery towel around his waist. “Halt!”
Caradoc touched Shima on the shoulder. “Move so I can see him.” The nightmare turned in place until she faced the tent. He kept his voice polite. “Can I help you?”
“Who in the hell do you think you are? I am the administrator here and if I issue orders not to be disturbed, then I will not be disturbed!” His brown eyes were angry and glittered against his cocoa skin.
The man was obviously building into a full blown ranting session and Bishop wasn’t interested in hearing whatever he had to yell. “Since I don’t know your name, for the moment I’m going to presume that you are Bernard Hamilton. I am Caradoc Bishop and according to what I understand from Commander Jordan, until you formally relive me, I am the administrator of Falmouth. In any case, I do not work for you and I don’t have to listen to you yell. You either stop the bellowing or you can do it without me after I leave. It’s your choice.” Gasps rose from the onlookers, most significantly Leah.
Hamilton’s eyes bugged and he stopped himself with an obvious effort as he watched Veronica drop to the ground next to the nightmare, summoning her sword and shield as she moved in front of Shima. She spun the sword expertly in a circle to loosen her wrist and then waited with a look of anticipation on her face. His voice was still angry, but it was even. “Call off your pokegirl.”
Caradoc slid to the ground as Naomi unhorsed on the other side of Shima. “You were distinctly unfriendly, Hamilton, and if I’m going to tell Veronica to stand down, then you will need to do the same for Leah.”
Hamilton twisted to see the cheetaura moving to interpose herself between him and the valkyrie. “Get back bitch!” She cringed away as he returned his attention to Bishop.
“Veronica, stand down.” The valkyrie dismissed her sword, shield and wings as she moved to stand next to her tamer. “Now, Hamilton, what is it you want?”
Behind Hamilton the tent flap opened and a short, slender lemon yellow pokegirl with long ears and pink circles on her cheeks came out to stand next to Leah. She was wearing a pair of short shorts that clung to her slim hips.
That is a pia. They are an electrical type pokegirl. Pia are the base form of the line that produces the peekabu and the ria.
The pia’s tail lashed slowly as Hamilton’s eyes narrowed. “I want you to tell me about this cache you mentioned.”
“I set you up with several tons of food and some odds and ends of equipment. You should have enough food for a month. That way you can get your people settled into Falmouth without having to worry about foraging for food on top of everything else. You’ll be busy enough looking for tools and housing for everyone.”
Hamilton tried to fold his arms and his face darkened when he had to grab frantically for his towel. “And you did this out of the goodness of your heart?”
“I set the cache up because Commander Jordan asked me to.” Bishop shrugged. “Still, I wouldn’t have been willing to let people starve.”
“You’ll lead us to it.” It wasn’t a request. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
Caradoc nodded. “I’ll see you then.”
“Good. You can set up over there.” Hamilton pointed into the crowd of colonists.
Bishop raised an eyebrow. “I have a farm to run and I’m not going to leave it overnight unless I absolutely have to. I’ll be back at first light.”
“You’ll stay here so you’re not late.”
Caradoc kept his voice polite. “No, I won’t. I didn’t bring bedding or anything else I’d need. I’m not going to take any from your people, who need it a lot more than I do, and I’m not going to spend all evening in the surrounding houses scrounging for filthy rags to put my daughter into when she has a serviceable bed at home. I said I’d be back at first light and I will. You just worry about getting your people ready in the morning.”
Hamilton’s face darkened again. “You make sure you’re here. If you’re not, I’ll have your hide.”
Bishop just looked at him for a long moment before pulling himself back aboard Shima. “Veronica, you have point. Naomi, let’s go.”
(09/06/06 0600 Colonial Camp, Clark’s Town, Tropic League)
Shima paused when the camp came into view. “They don’t look ready to go. Does that mean you get Bernard’s hide?”
Bishop chuckled. “What would I do with that ratty old thing?” He slid off of her back and stretched. “I’m just surprised we didn’t see any sentries.”
Naomi dismounted and looked around. “They might pull them in to the camp at night. That might make sense if they’re concerned that the sentries themselves will lure ferals.”
Shima disagreed. “Ferals wouldn’t even slow down to look for sentries after they smelled the cook fires and the scent of food.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Caradoc looked at Veronica, who was alertly scanning their surroundings. “We’re not in charge here, so don’t start giving orders to the colonists.”
The valkyrie looked surprised. He could see a flush steal down her neck and disappear below her tunic. “Yes sir. I’ll try to keep that in mind. It’s just so hard to know you want something done and to watch them not do it when I know that I’d have little problem motivating them.”
Naomi shifted her quiver to the side so she could slide the straps of her backpack off her shoulders. She tossed the pack at the valkyrie. “You watch that. If our master is right, it’ll come in handy in a few minutes.”
Veronica plucked it out of the air with an easy grace. “Yes, my maharani.”
The elfqueen grinned. “Your alpha.”
“Sorry, my alpha, I’m not made for deception. Give me a good stand up fight any day.”
Bishop rested a hand on her cheek. “You’ll get plenty of those before we’re done.”
She flashed him a grin. “Miles to go before I sleep, sir? Damned right.”
He returned the smile. “You’re the one who took that book of Frost’s poems? I’m glad you like them.” His smile fled. “And we do have promises to keep before we sleep, so don’t plan to lie down anytime soon.”
“I’ll only lie down for you, sir.” Everyone chuckled softly at the double entendre in her words.
He caressed her cheek before pulling away. “And I’m very glad to hear that, Veronica. Now, why don’t you take point?”
As they turned onto the parking lot where the camp had been set, he could see a pair of sentries roaming the perimeter while what looked like every other tamer was drawn up in formation with his pokegirl to his right. Lieutenant Cardenas was walking down the ranks, apparently performing an inspection. She reached the last pokegirl and turned to look at the tents. After about a minute she checked her watch before giving a curt command. The formation dissolved and the tamers began chivvying the colonists awake. Desiree, her sabretooth tigress, looked at them and said something to her mistress. Cardenas said something back and began moving in their direction.
Bishop slid off of Shima and looked around as the lieutenant joined him. “Can I ask why you were having morning formation?”
“It’s the administrator’s orders. I review the troops and if he’s interested, he’ll inspect them and give out demerits.”
“I see.” He shrugged. “I take it I’m rather early.”
She flushed slightly. “No, you’re not. The administrator decided to sleep in this morning. He had a tiring night.”
Caradoc gave the tent an icy look. “After his threats against me about being on time, he decided not to be ready to go when I arrived? Is he trying to make sure that I have no respect for him at all?” He closed his eyes for a few seconds. “I really hope this is about me, him and Montgomery. If he’s like this all the time, he has no business commanding a colony.” He glanced at his valkyrie. “It doesn’t look like they have much in the way of food, Veronica. Start with the children. Lieutenant, I brought all the boiled eggs I had on the farm and some fruit. Between them, I should be able to feed seventy or so people something before they get on the road this morning. I’d like you to detail someone to get the parents to assemble the children who can eat solid food and we’ll start with them. Once they’re fed, we’ll work on their parents.”
Sudden relief appeared on Cardenas’ face as his words sank in. “That’s wonderful. Everyone except the tamers is on half rations right now and, although it hasn’t been that long, the kids have been the worst off, even with the parents giving them most of their shares.”
“I’m supposed to help you get to Falmouth, lieutenant. We’ve got another good half day of marching, maybe a full day depending on how fast the kids can move. And that only begins once his lordship deigns to join us.” His eyes hardened. “I’d like to get the colonists to the cache today so they can get a good meal. If he takes too long, I’ll leave him here and he can catch up.”
Caradoc Bishop - Tirsuli human
Naomi - elfqueen
Shima - nightmare
Veronica - valkyrie
Winona - nightmare pokekit