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Twenty
(09/09/06 0930 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
Caradoc was busy checking the kegs of brewing beer when Veronica landed nearby. “Someone is coming from town. I think it looks like Brett Warner and Corrine and if I’m right he’s bringing Lieutenant Cardenas and Desiree is with them.” She sat down on one of the empty kegs. “I hope we’re not going to be getting a constant stream of people from the town coming down here or we’re going to be too busy getting our people into and out of hiding to ever get anything done.”
Bishop nodded. “You’re right and we’re too busy right now to do that all the time. As the farm grows it’s only going to get worse.” He looked at the elf that had been helping him. “Tiny, find Naomi and tell her that hiding everyone isn’t going to be feasible. I don’t want our numbers paraded in front of them, but tell her I think that everyone should just keep working when we get visitors.”
Tiny grabbed her bow and quiver. “Yes, sir, I’ll inform my queen immediately.”
Veronica looked doubtfully at him as the elf went racing off. “Are you sure this is a good idea? How are you going to explain the workers?”
“We couldn’t keep them hidden forever. Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan and it uses the rules the Tropic League set up for tamers and tradesmen both.”
The valkyrie gave him a curious look. “You seem rather cheerful about the whole thing.”
“I’ve decided that worrying about if Hamilton is going to find a way to screw us over is a waste of precious time I could be spending with my family. I know he’s going to find a way. He knows he’s going to find a way. It’s only a matter of when and the only question then becomes can we stymie his attempts until he gets replaced. I think we can.” He slipped an arm around her waist. “After all, if we can’t, we lose. Now, let’s go find our visitors.”
Naomi met them at the house. “Tiny told me what you want. Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“They were going to be seen eventually. Considering Hamilton’s plans for us, I think sooner is better than later.”
Naomi ran her fingers through her emerald hair. “That’s true enough. Most of the pokegirls were already headed into hiding, so I sent out just a handful of them so we have someone visibly working. The others will drift back as if nothing odd were happening. It’ll look better than a general exodus from a couple of spots would and it’ll keep our hiding spots safe in case we need them for the future. Shima is working with Cindy down at the river on the ford. Should I send for her?” One of the things Caradoc had wanted was a way to leave the farm on foot without having to head in the direction of Falmouth. A spot in the river was shallow enough to ford, and Shima and Cindy were currently pulling a level through the area to smooth the riverbed. Later, a couple of tons of gravel would be dumped there to ensure that they could use it quickly if evacuation of the farm became necessary for any reason.
“I think I’m safe enough with you and Veronica.”
“I disagree.” Shima landed next to them and changed to her human form before pulling on the dress she’d carried with her. “Winona is with Bess and she’ll be safe there.” The nightmare cracked her knuckles. “Now we are free to fight if things go that way.”
“Fighting is not my first choice.” Caradoc shook his head. “On the other hand, since we’re all here, Shima, how about giving me a lift so we can meet our visitors.”
The nightmare pulled up her skirt and changed to her centaur form. “It’ll be my pleasure, sir.” She grimaced. “I really hope we don’t get a lot of visitors. I don’t like having to call you sir or pretending that Naomi is better than I am.”
Her maharani started to say something but just grinned at Bishop. He knew what she was probably going to say and grinned back.
Shima ignored the exchange as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Climb on, sir.”
He slid onto the nightmare’s back and reached for Naomi, only to have her shake her head. “Veronica and I will stay on foot where we’re more mobile. Now, let’s go.”
They met up with Warner and Cardenas on the edge of the sugarcane belt. Bishop dismounted as Veronica and Naomi spread out on Shima’s flanks. “Good morning, lieutenant. I’m glad someone finally showed up from town to get the radio dispatches.”
Cardenas and Warner looked like they’d been up all night and there was a distinct smell of smoke to them. The lieutenant gave him a slightly confused look. “What dispatches?” She blinked slowly as if trying to force her mind to work. “Why don’t you just bring them into town?”
“I was exiled by Administrator Hamilton, remember? I believe his exact words were ‘Get out of my city and don’t come back until I call for you’. Those don’t leave a lot of room for misunderstanding and because of it I was unable to deliver the radio dispatches from Montego or Kingston. Fortunately there haven’t been any dire emergencies since he took over.” He eyed their disheveled clothing. “Or are you here for something else?”
Desiree tensed. “Mistress, there are two elves in the sugarcane.”
Caradoc twisted around on Shima’s back to look. Two elves were checking the sugarcane for weeds as part of their daily patrol of the cane belt. “Yes, that’s Sage and Lithop. They’re mine.”
Warner raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t I see them during my inventory of the farm and why didn’t you mention them so I could tell the administrator about them?”
“You didn’t see them during the inventory because they, like my other pokegirls, were busy elsewhere. I didn’t mention them because I didn’t want there to be a confused count on the farm’s taxable assets.”
“Confused count?”
“Pokegirls belonging to a tamer or a tradesman are, by League law, personal property and are therefore not counted as taxable assets. I’m a tradesman and those are my pokegirls. All of the ones you might see around here are mine, and they are all duly noted in Montego as required. League law says I have to report their presence to the regional capital and I have.”
Cardenas’ mouth thinned. “How many pokegirls are you allowed as a tradesman?”
“I’ve got a limit of one hundred pokegirls, women and kits.”
“How many do you have right now?”
“I’ve got twenty eight pokegirls and kits, including Winona.”
Cardenas rubbed her face wearily. “Hamilton isn’t going to be happy that so many pokegirls belong to one man. You know what that means.”
“It means he’ll be unhappy. He doesn’t have the authority to try to confiscate them and he can’t force me to get rid of them. Only the military commander has that kind of power and that’s only in an emergency or if I’m using them in a manner that breaks league law. About the only way I could do that is if I were fomenting rebellion and I’m not. Commander Jordan already knows what I’m building here and it’s just a farm.” Bishop smiled grimly. “Even if he finds a way to confiscate my farm, the pokegirls go with me.”
Cardenas shook her head angrily. “I don’t care about that, Bishop. I’m not here to bust your balls on Hamilton’s orders.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We had a problem last night during the party.”
Bishop waited for a moment before nodding. “Ok. You had a problem. What kind of problem?”
“Administrator Hamilton decided to have a celebration of the fact that the colonists made it to Falmouth with minimal losses. So he threw open the doors to the cache and we had a party. Scavenging teams had found a bar that hadn’t been looted and a lot of alcohol was passed around. Everything was going well until the fire.”
Caradoc had been staring at her in shock. “Let me get this straight. He let everyone into the cache to eat all they wanted? How much food is left?”
Belinda looked down at her hands. “That’s not the worst of it. Late in the evening, someone went into the cache for some more food. They took a lantern with them and something in the room caught fire. Before we knew what was going on, the building had gone up. Four people and a pokegirl in the building were killed and the entire cache was lost.”
Naomi shook her head. “You’re here because you need food? I’m surprised Hamilton didn’t send all his troops so we can’t say no.”
Cardenas didn’t look up. “Feral pokegirls from the northern part of Falmouth were drawn by the fire. My men have been fighting them off and on all day and we were all that the administrator could spare for this trip.” Finally she raised her head to meet Bishop’s gaze. “We need your help. I wanted to plead with you before Hamilton tried to commandeer the supplies we need.”
“I’ll give you what I can.” He turned to his elfqueen. “Naomi, what do we have?”
Naomi looked thoughtful for a moment. “We’ve got sugarcane and some oranges and bananas. There are also some other odds and ends, but we don’t have any spare tools or bedding for them. We stripped this place for the cache.” She started to say something else and broke off with a glance at the tamers. “Sir.”
He nodded. “What about the cheese?”
Naomi winced. “That’s for sale, sir.” She smoothed her face when he shrugged. “We’ve got a hundred and twenty pounds of hard cheese and thirty five pounds of ricotta ready to be sold or eaten. With the fruit and sugarcane we have ready, it should be enough for everyone for a week, if they ration it. But, sir, please understand that’s if we give all our ready great grapes, too. If we have trouble here, we’ll be without available healing for our people,” She shot Cardenas a suspicious look, “no matter where the trouble comes from.”
“Give them everything. They need help right now and I won’t have them starve just because they were complete idiots.”
“I’ll take care of it, sir. Veronica, tell Lori what’s going on and have her get started assembling everything at the Henry house. It’ll need to be packaged for shipment by ponytaur.”
Veronica nodded and sprouted wings. “Yes, maharani, I mean my alpha.”
Cardenas gave Caradoc a grateful look. “Thank you, Bishop.”
“I’m giving you everything I’ve got, Belinda. There won’t be more for at least a week, and even then I’ve got customers expecting me to make deliveries to them, too. They’re not likely to starve if I don’t deliver to them, but I am not going to float the colony forever out of my own pocket. I can’t. You need to push to the beach so you can start fishing and gathering food around the city.”
The lieutenant nodded. “I’m grateful for whatever you can give us and I’m sure everyone else will be too.”
“In Falmouth I know of two stores holding tools in the city that were missed when it was evacuated. One is in the center of town and the other is on the southeast side. We took a bit from the second one for the cache, but we had just been attacked by a feral minotaura and we were kind of in a hurry to get out of there, so a lot of stuff got left behind. I saw fishing supplies there, including some nets and poles.”
“Thanks for the information. I’ll see about sending some people there as soon as we get back to the colony.”
Bishop nodded. “Now, if you don’t mind, we’ll go to the radio shack and I’ll give you those dispatches for the administrator.” He slid off of Shima’s back. “Shima, could you go to the house and get the key?”
“I’ll be right back, sir.” The nightmare whipped around and raced off.
“Why do you keep the radio locked up?”
“We’ve got a milktit kit who is an adventuress and while I’d love to get rid of the radio, as long as it’s my responsibility, I’m going to keep it safe from her.” He began walking towards the radio building. “If you’ll please come with me, Shima should be back in few minutes.”
(09/09/06 1800 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
“Do you have any other news to report, over?” The woman who managed the radio in Montego Bay sounded bored. The messages from Kingston had been routine for a change.
“I have Falmouth news, over.”
“Falmouth? News? That’s different, Falmouth. Go ahead, over.”
Bishop took a deep breath. He hadn’t been told to report this, but then again he hadn’t been told not to, and if he were the administrator, he’d have wanted the news sent. It was important enough to inform Montego that the colony was in dire straits to merit the possibility of any interception by the Black Rivers. “Last night the Falmouth colony had a fire that completely destroyed their supply cache. They have some emergency rations from the Bishop farm, but that will only last a week at most. There were five fatalities, four humans and a pokegirl. Their names and types are currently unknown. At this point I understand that the fire was contained to the cache. Falmouth, over.”
There was a shocked silence lasting over a minute. “That’s dreadful. Are you requesting assistance, over?”
“I have not seen the damage firsthand and the report I had was vague at best, so I can’t make any recommendations. However, I have not been instructed to request aid at this time. Right now this is just an informational report on the situation, over.”
“I have documented the report, Bishop. I’ll see that it gets expedited to the commander. Is there anything else, over?”
He chuckled to himself. “Isn’t that enough?” He keyed the mike. “No, Montego, nothing else to report, over.”
“Very well, Bishop. This is Montego Bay, over and out.”
Caradoc began powering down the radio and, once done, hung the headphones on their hook. He automatically checked the battery charge and used a piece of pencil to make a notation on the wall. He’d started charting the battery discharge rate against radio usage since he’d noticed that it looked like there might be a short somewhere in the system that was slowly draining the battery. If he found real evidence of something like that, he’d probably have to begin dismantling the radio to find it. If nothing else, it might necessitate disconnecting the battery from the radio when not in use. If so, he’d have to rig up some kind of quick disconnects for it.
Naomi was leaning against the wall when he came out. “I heard you tell them about the fire. How did they react?”
“She wanted to know if we were requesting help. I haven’t seen what happened, so I don’t know if they’re trying to scavenge anything from the building or if they’re working on securing an alternate food supply.”
“Do you want to see the damage?” Naomi began finger combing her hair out.
He shrugged. “I’d like to know if the fire spread and who was killed, but if we’re caught there Hamilton would have me dead to rights for disobeying a direct order from him. I’m not going to chance it and I don’t want anyone from the farm to do it, either.”
The elfqueen nodded. “I agree. It would be too dangerous for anyone here and we don’t have anyone from anywhere else we could ask to visit.”
“Unless we get invited back to Falmouth, I want to stay as far away from there as possible. That is the whole reason for the ford in the river.”
“We’re going to need a ferry for goods or a wagon that’ll float. The current is strong enough that nobody will be able to carry much in case they fall.”
He sighed. “I know, Naomi. I was thinking we’d try to find a small boat to act as a ferry for supplies.”
“I’ll have a patrol range up and down the river looking for something suitable.” She fell in behind him as he headed for the river.
Caradoc stopped and gave her a suspicious half glare “Is there some kind of plan to make sure that I’m never alone now that Hamilton is around?”
She gave him a look that was by far too innocent. “Why would you think that?”
“You’re wasting time following me around when you could be checking the coffee plants. They’re one of the few things I’m not giving to Falmouth since it’s not a necessity.”
She flushed slightly and leaned forward to kiss him gently. “We’re worried about you.”
“I’m worried about me, too, but I’m within shouting distance of someone no matter where I am. We can’t spare someone to bodyguard me full time.” He sighed. “Or do you think I’m so completely useless that I couldn’t survive long enough to yell for help?”
“Do you promise to do that?”
He blinked. “You thought I wouldn’t yell for help if I get attacked by a pokegirl? No matter how unhappy I am about the fact that I can’t fight just about anyone with tits, I am well aware that if I want to keep living, I need to keep practice running away and bellowing at the top of my lungs while I’m doing it.”
Naomi gave him a piercing look. “I haven’t heard the word yet.”
He drew himself up straight. “I promise that if I am attacked by an enemy pokegirl I will scream for help while doing my best not to get turned into paste, unless that screaming obviously looks like it could get me the attention of other attacking pokegirls or enemies. Is that acceptable?”
She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. “Perfectly.”
(09/10/06 0530 Bishop Farm, Tropic League)
“Hello the farm!” The voice was female and unknown as it floated out of the darkness. “I bring greetings from the Tropic League and Montego Bay.”
Caradoc responded instantly by rolling out of bed. He was promptly flattened as Shima did the same thing. She ignored him as he got back up, stepping to the window and cautiously peering out into the night. The nightmare gave him an annoyed glance as he joined her. A woman floated a dozen yards from the house, her arms folded as she waited for a response.
That pokegirl is a neo iczel. The forces from Falmouth do not include any of this powerful and extremely arrogant pokegirl and neither do the reports of the forces available to the Black Rivers, so it is unlikely that this is some kind of attack. I can detect the elf patrol is in position to attack if the word is given. I want all the farm units given twee to facilitate secure communications and deployment. Outlines of the elves began to softly glow in his view as the twee injected data into his visual data stream.
Bishop whispered to Shima. “That’s a neo iczel.”
“Damn,” she whispered back. “They are pretty tough.”
He straightened at the window. “Why are you here?” Shima made an abortive grab at him and then began muttering uncomplimentary things about her tamer under her breath.
The neo grinned in the darkness. “I had to fly down here so I could return to Montego and bring Commander Jordan here. He’ll be arriving in ten minutes. I thought you might want to know about it.” She vanished as she teleported away.
Caradoc grabbed his clothing and quickly dressed. “Feed Winona and let Naomi and Veronica know to get dressed and join me downstairs. I’ll need some milk and butter from the cold storage. We need breakfast and it’s very likely that the commander will too.” While they’d given Cardenas everything they could spare, by no means had they given her everything they had. Bishop had no plans to starve his household so the people in Falmouth could eat better, especially after what Hamilton had done with the supplies he’d already provided.
As if summoned by her name, Naomi appeared in the doorway. She was wearing her quiver and carried her bow. Otherwise she was nude. “Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. We’ll probably be feeding breakfast to Jordan and whoever else comes with him, so send someone down to the cold storage for milk and butter. We’ll do eggs and biscuits.”
Naomi nodded. “I’ll send Veronica down. Shima, after you’re dressed, get down to the Henry house and roust out everyone there. I want them patrolling in five minutes. Then you can come back and feed Winona. Tell them that we’ll provide biscuits for everyone.” She smiled at Bishop. “They love your biscuits.”
He slipped past her, stopping only for a good morning kiss. “I’ll get on it, my queen.” Her soft laugh followed him down the stairs and into the kitchen.
A minute later Veronica raced down the stairs and slammed through the kitchen door out into the night. He lit a candle and started adding wood to the banked fire in the stove as he listened to her run for the cold storage. Her steps came inhumanly quick as she shifted to a full run just after she cleared the steps.
Ten minutes later the first biscuits were coming out of the oven when the neo iczel returned. She was carrying Commander Jordan and she gently landed before letting him go. He promptly pulled a pokeball from his pocket and released Meredith as the neo vanished back to Montego.
Veronica was waiting with a lit torch to greet him. “Good morning sir; Master Bishop is inside and he’d like to invite you and Meredith to break your fast with him.”
Jordan’s eyes lit up. “I’d like that a lot.”
“Then this way, sir.” Once on the porch, Veronica smothered the torch with some sacking and stacked it with the others before leading them into the house. “Master, Commander Jordan and Meredith are here.”
Bishop looked up from where he was mixing ingredients. “Good morning, commander. Why don’t you and Meredith have a seat while Veronica gets you some coffee?”
Jordan blinked when he realized that Bishop was wearing a pinny over his clothing and that the young man was doing the cooking. He suppressed a smile and waved Meredith to a chair next to his. “And good morning to you, Mr. Bishop. I take it you don’t segregate your pokegirls when you eat?”
“No, I don’t. I’m not fond of eating alone, especially when I could eat with my family.”
Jordan nodded. “We’re seeing a lot of that kind of behavior in the outlying farms. The league council isn’t too happy about it, but they understand it’s a necessary evil if they want the farms to be productive. Speaking of productive, as soon as possible, I’d like a tour of your farm.”
“Does the league have any ideas on how to deal with situation, since they’re not too fond of it?”
The commander shrugged. “They’re considering making all farmers take a human wife. There’s an idea that having a human woman around will help to put pokegirls in their league designated places, and it would get some of the mules out doing something useful on the farms.”
Bishop exchanged a look with Naomi. “Unless she’s fertile, it probably won’t do any good. Mules are treated almost the same as pokegirls from what I’ve seen and most farmers are going to pay more attention to the women who can give him children.”
“Unfortunately, that’s what we’re seeing in the pilot program.” Jordan sniffed the coffee Veronica gave him with obvious pleasure. “It must be nice to live on a coffee plantation. I don’t dare make my coffee this strong or I’ll run out too quickly.” He blinked when Veronica put a tray down on the table. His eyes widened. “You have cream and sugar? I’m impressed.”
Naomi chuckled. “Sir, we not only happen to live on a coffee plantation, we also live on a sugarcane plantation and a small dairy farm with the two milktits. Oh, and Meredith? The cream is safe. It’s been treated.”
The brass blinked and gave her tamer a sly look that he missed as he added sugar and cream to his coffee. “Do you think I might be able to get some that wasn’t?”
Naomi gave her an amused smile. “We’ll see some of the milktits during your tour, so I’m sure we can.”
Jordan sipped at his coffee and sighed. “When do you think you’ll start delivering sugar and milk to Montego? When you do, put me down for several pounds of sugar.”
“Before the fire, I was planning to go there in a few days with that and some cheese we’ve made. In two weeks, I’ll have fresh soap for sale and hopefully I can take everything to Montego then.”
Jordan grimaced and reached for a biscuit. “The fire’s why I’m here.”
Bishop flashed a quick grin. “What? You’re not here just to visit? But you come down here so often.”
Meredith snickered into her mug. “After this coffee, Mr. Bishop, we may be coming down more often.”
“If that’s what it takes, Meredith, feel free to drink all the coffee you want.” Caradoc gave Jordan a curious look. “You said you’re here for the fire? Why?”
“I want to talk with Hamilton and see if he needs any help that Montego can provide. As soon as the sun’s up, I want you to take me into town so I can meet with him.”
Bishop started breaking eggs into a bowl. “Does he know you’re coming? I know you didn’t send any messages by radio, but you might have sent a courier.”
“No, my visit is going to come as a complete surprise,” Jordan’s voice held a hint of iron. “I’d have been down in a week or so in any case. If I’m going to be getting administrators sent to me from now on, I’ll damned well meet them so I can get a feel for my subordinates and that first meeting will be without any warning so I can see how they behave when they don’t know I’m around.” He split a biscuit and reached for the butter. “After all, no matter where they come from, they speak with my voice and reflect on my ability to command this region of the Tropic League.” He looked around the table and then gave Naomi a broad smile. “What, no jam? You’ve got all of those fruit trees and no jam?”
The elfqueen blinked. “We’re focusing on the staples right now, sir. Jellies and jams are mainly sugar. Besides, we don’t have a supply of jars or crocks yet, although we may be able to use the one that will be providing us with bottles for beer.”
Caradoc began scooping eggs onto a plate for serving. “There may be a problem with your wanting me to take you into town. I’m not welcome there, by order of the administrator.” The platter got put to the side and he went back to mixing ingredients for another batch of biscuits.
Jordan fixed him with a half-hearted glare. “I thought you weren’t going to cause trouble with Hamilton. What did you do now?”
“He came here ready to hate me and then started issuing me orders when we first met, which, incidentally, was before I was relieved. I reminded him that I was still the administrator until we reached Falmouth. When we got to the supply cache, he relieved me and ordered me not to come into Falmouth until further notice. Until Lieutenant Cardenas, the military commander, came out yesterday, I hadn’t even been able to deliver the dispatches. Since I’m trying not to get any further on his bad side, I don’t have any intention of going to town, possibly ever. I can get whatever I need from Montego or somewhere else.” Bishop glanced over his shoulder at Jordan. “So, as you can see, I have been trying to be good.”
“I don’t care what his problem is, Bishop. I need a guide and you’re the only one around unless the Henrys have returned from wherever they ran off to. Honestly, if they did I’d probably have to have them arrested for fleeing with a woman who hasn’t been fertility tested. Have they come back?”
“No.”
“Then you’ll be taking me into town. If Bernard Hamilton has any problems with my orders, he can air them with me when we meet today.”
Veronica had been helping her tamer with the biscuits. “Commander, sir, may I offer a suggestion?” Jordan was biting into a biscuit, so he merely nodded. “Sir, I might suggest that you wait until sunrise to get your tour. That way you will get to have a much more thorough view of our farm and what we’re accomplishing here.”
Jordan swallowed the bite of biscuit. “I was planning to have that tour after meeting with Hamilton. You know, it sounds to me like there is another reason for your offer. What is it?”
“Sir, with all due respect, I’m not much of a thinker, but from what we’ve experienced as well as heard; Administrator Hamilton is not an early riser. When he sees my master with you, he’s going to blame us for your presence. Therefore, sir, I was hoping the tour would give him a chance to be awake when you arrive in Falmouth so he won’t be as angry with us as he might be if he’s woken up early to deal with his immediate superior.”
Bishop hugged her one handedly. “Not much of a thinker, are you? That was a thought worthy of Naomi.”
The valkyrie flushed. “Thank you, sir. I’m trying to improve.”
Jordan laughed. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not doing a good job of it, because that was an excellent idea. The truth is I don’t need to unnecessarily antagonize him either. We do have to work together and he does have powerful patrons.” His smile became satisfied. “Not as powerful as mine, but powerful enough.” He fixed Bishop with a look. “You might want to consider courting patrons of your own. You’ve already met someone who could introduce you to influential individuals in Montego.”
“I have? Who?”
“Calvin Henry. He’s the pastor in Montego and he knows everybody.”
“He did mention that he wanted to introduce me to some potential investors for the farm. Would that be the people you’re hinting at?”
“They would be, especially after I tell them how wonderful this place is.”
Bishop put the plate down. “Help yourself. Why can’t I just live my life without having any patrons?”
“You became political when you became the administrator and then when you defied Montgomery, you made a powerful enemy. Patrons are a part of politics.”
“Patrons also require me to have obligations to them that aren’t necessarily reciprocal.”
“That’s also political.”
Bishop nodded. “I know. I’ll give it some serious thought, but I’m really not excited about having people own parts of my farm. If I wanted that, I’d have already been selling shares in it.”
Having planted the idea, Jordan changed the subject. “What do you know about this fire?”
“Since I can’t go into Falmouth I haven’t seen the damage firsthand. There were five reported deaths, unless pokegirl deaths don’t matter. Then there were four. I don’t have any information about injuries.”
Jordan blinked at the sudden acid in Bishop’s voice. “I never said that pokegirls don’t matter, so don’t go getting upset at me.”
“Sorry. The league’s policies are aimed at dehumanizing pokegirls and I’m never sure how far that’s gotten.”
“Pokegirls aren’t human.”
Bishop shrugged. “I’ll make you a deal. You show me where someone has sired a child off of a horse or a dog and I’ll listen to your arguments. Hell, if you show me where someone sired a foal or puppies, I’d listen. Until then, we should probably agree to disagree. I’m not the administrator anymore.”
“I know. I’d be willing to put up with your politics to have those people still safely in Kingston. If they get attacked, I’m going to be hard pressed to support them.” Jordan carefully wiped his hands and face with the napkin Naomi had put with the place-settings. “Do you know anything about the circumstances surrounding how the fire got started.”
Caradoc looked uneasy. “Only secondhand.” While he didn’t care about telling the truth about what he’d heard, he also knew that he’d have to live with Hamilton after Jordan went back to Montego and he suspected the administrator had a long memory for what he might consider a betrayal.
Jordan didn’t give him a chance to avoid the question. “Sit down and tell me what you’ve heard.”
Veronica put the next batch of biscuits into the oven and began filling a basket with the cool ones as Bishop settled into a chair. When he spoke, he was careful to keep his voice even so that Jordan couldn’t hear his disgust at what had transpired. “Everything I heard came from Lieutenant Cardenas when she showed up at the farm after they put the fire out and realized that the cache was lost. Since I can’t go into Falmouth, I don’t know if they’ve been trying to salvage anything out of it. I just gave her what we had available so they wouldn’t starve. Apparently Administrator Hamilton decided to have a celebration of the fact that they’d made it to Falmouth with only minor casualties and threw open the cache to supply it.”
Jordan stopped in mid motion to stare at him in shock “He did what?” Unnoticed by him, the egg on his fork slid off to flop wetly back onto his plate. “That cache was supposed to feed everyone for a month while they got settled in and started fishing to become self supporting. What was Hamilton thinking?”
Caradoc decided not to give his opinion on Hamilton’s state of mind. “It’s believed that the fire started inside the cache when someone went in there to get more food. They took a lantern with them and the suspicion is the lantern was ignition source. We sited the cache inside a school on the edge of Falmouth that hadn’t been damaged, and so everything inside was nice and dry. The fire spread and destroyed the cache. I don’t know how much damage the school sustained from the blaze or even how much damage the cache sustained. If it’s mostly smoke damage, a lot of what’s in there could be salvaged. Unfortunately, among the things we scavenged from the town were some five gallon buckets of tar and some cases of motor oil for use as lubricants. They were in the cache and if they caught fire, it would have been hard for them to put out with their single water pokegirl.”
“They only have one water pokegirl? I recommended that half the tamers have them for fishing.” He missed Naomi as she stepped outside with the basket of biscuits. She came in a moment later with a cup and leaned down to whisper into Meredith’s ear before handing her the cup. The brass grinned and quickly drank the contents.
Bishop shook his head. “Unless they have some in pokeballs that I didn’t see, I managed to observe all the pokegirls they had. The only water type I saw was a feraligarter. While powerful, I don’t know how well the breed works at firefighting.”
Jordan offered Meredith another biscuit and gave a satisfied smile when she took it. “They’re pretty tough and versatile. If that’s all you know about the situation, then since I see the sun peeking over the horizon, how about you show me your farm.”
(09/10/06 1130 Falmouth, Tropic League)
Caradoc waited with Naomi as Shima whirled and raced back the way they’d come. The elfqueen was watching their surroundings while above them Veronica flew a wide perimeter around her tradesman and maharani. A few minutes later the nightmare came galloping back. She stopped in front of Bishop and a wide eyed Jordan climbed down off her back. “You travel like that all the time?”
Bishop smiled slightly. “I think it is fun.”
Jordan shuddered. “You are not normal.”
Over his head, Shima grinned broadly before changing back to her human form. She pulled her dress down over her hips and moved to stand next to Bishop. “Sir, should I join Veronica on patrol?”
Jordan released Meredith from her pokeball as Naomi shook her head. “You stay close. As soon as we get close to the town, Veronica will be joining us. Heaven forbid Hamilton get the faintest idea we’re here to start a battle. His fighting pokegirls would swarm you while the fire types went after me.”
Shima snorted. “They have to get to me first, and then actually hit me. Just because their unit composition was selected to fight us doesn’t mean we’ll just stand still for them and experience does count.”
Meredith frowned. “What are you two talking about?”
“Hamilton was sent here to punish us. He brought pokegirls we are weak against to make the job easier.” Naomi shrugged. “Or it could be just a huge coincidence.”
When Jordan gave Bishop a curious look, the tradesman spread his hands apologetically. “I don’t have any proof, so I can level no accusations. Since I can’t accuse him of anything, I didn’t feel I should say anything about it.”
“I see. And do you feel that your alpha’s opinion is valid?”
“If it is coincidence, it is a rather remarkable one. Hamilton even brought an electric pokegirl who would be rather useful against Veronica. However, Shima is right. Experience does count for a lot and while I’d rather avoid any fights, I’d bet on my girls against almost anyone.”
Naomi’s eyes glowed with happiness at his words.
Jordan nodded slowly. “If you don’t have any proof, it’s just your word against his, so it’s wise not to say anything at all. Now, I order you to escort me to Administrator Hamilton’s office, wait until I am done meeting with him, and then escort me back to your farm so that I can return to Montego Bay.” He gave Bishop a stern look. “And don’t trot out that nonsense that you’re a tradesman and therefore outside the military chain of command. Legally you are, but if you leave and let me flounder around looking for Hamilton, I’ll be upset at you.”
Caradoc nodded. “Well, Commander, I do happen to think of you as one of my few friends here, so although legally you can’t order me to take you town, I’d be glad to. You can order Hamilton not to take revenge on me for violating his instructions, right?”
“I can and I will.” He gave Bishop a searching look. “And thank you for the friend comment. I don’t have many friends, but I think you’ll do. You are one of the few who would understand that I won’t let friendship stand in the way of doing my job.” He held out his hand. “My first name is Jabez.”
Caradoc took it with a grin. “I’m Caradoc.” He let go and turned to Shima. “You’ve got point, but stay close.”
“I will.” She handed him the onbuhimo and headed off. He buckled the carrier on as Naomi made a motion to Veronica, who waved back and began spiraling out to her normal patrol range for when they were on the move.
They’d landed about two miles outside of Falmouth to avoid panicking the town’s tamers. At a mile, Veronica did one last orbit before landing and dropping back to cover their rear. They were approaching the outskirts of Falmouth when a familiar pokegirl dropped from a rooftop. She brushed her yellow dreadlocks away from her face. “Tamer Bishop. I wish you hadn’t come, sir. Master Peters has orders to arrest you if you try to enter Falmouth.”
Caradoc nodded. “I expected something like that, Shelly, but at this point, I’m not trying to enter Falmouth, so I don’t need arrested. Is Justin around?”
The xerablondi bobbed her head in answer. “He is, sir. Will you remain here while I get him?”
“I will. Please hurry.”
Shelly turned and fired a string shot at the top of the building she’d appeared from. She swarmed up the line and vanished into the roof. A couple of minutes later she reappeared with her tamer and wrapped an arm around him before using the web line she’d left to descend to the ground. She let him go and moved to station herself between him and the pokegirls with Jordan and Bishop.
Justin Peters straightened his clothing before speaking. “Caradoc Bishop, if you proceed to enter Falmouth, then I’ll be forced to arrest you for violating the administrator’s orders.”
Bishop smiled. “Sorry, Justin, but this is Commander Jordan from Montego. He’s the commander of the western part of Jamaica and he has ordered me to escort him to the administrator’s office. Incidentally, he outranks Hamilton. Commander Jordan, this is Tamer Justin Peters and his xerablondi Shelly.”
“Good morning, Tamer Peters.”
Peters straightened to attention. “Commander, I have to ask for some identification to verify you are who you say you are.”
Jordan pulled a wallet from his pocket and flipped it open to show a badge. “Here’s my id.”
Peters read it quickly. “Commander, are you overriding the administrator’s instructions concerning Mr. Bishop?”
“I am, at least for the duration of my visit. Bishop informed me that he was forbidden to come here, but I need his assistance for the moment. I want you to send word to Lieutenant Cardenas so she’s aware of both my presence and my orders.”
“Sir, I can’t leave my post.”
“Commander,” Bishop said quietly, “ferals are still a real problem here and the best thing to do may be to go on ahead to the administrator’s office and have word sent to the lieutenant from there.”
Jordan nodded. “That sounds reasonable enough. I’ll want to speak with Cardenas before I leave.”
“Justin, since I haven’t been in Falmouth since the administrator asked me to leave, I’ll need directions to his office.”
Peters pointed up the road. “You’re on Market Street right now. Keep going north on Market until you get to Cornwall Street. After that, it’ll be the large house on the left, across from the Trelawny Parish Council building. If you get to Trelawny Street, you’ve gone too far. His house has white trim and isn’t missing any windows. The windows have also been washed. It’ll be about a mile and a half from here.”
“Thanks, Justin.” Caradoc turned to Veronica. “You’ve got point.”
Jordan looked surprised. “You really think we might get attacked?”
“We took a ponytaur and a minotaura north of here, within the city proper. A lot of ferals are smart enough to hide and wait until they have the chance to pick off a singleton, but you never know what might set one of them off.”
“I don’t remember you delivering a minotaura.”
“I didn’t. You’ve already met Cindy. I didn’t want to break up the herd.”
The trip to Cornwall Street was uneventful, although a few blocks from their destination they did startle a doggirl. The pokegirl gave a loud yelp and fled over a low wall when she realized that Veronica and Shima were there. Scurrying sounds on the other side of the wall which quickly faded away suggested that the feral canine pokegirl hadn’t been alone.
Jordan watched the scene with a bemused look. “When I send out a colony, I’ll have to remember to have them stay outside the town and sweep it a couple of times to try and capture all the ferals they can.”
“You might have a flying type do a few passes before the ground forces go in. We ran across the ponytaur when we were crossing Falmouth and she came out to challenge our presence.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Justin had neglected to mention that a tamer and his pokegirl was standing sentry duty outside Hamilton’s house. The tamer’s eyes riveted on Shima and he gulped before he and a tall, fierce looking pokegirl moved to block their way. The pokegirl gave the nightmare a look of loathing and sneered at her, revealing fangs in a low hiss.
That is a psivamp. She would be very dangerous for us except for the fact that Shima would likely turn her into a bleeding mess without working up a sweat. They hate dark pokegirls because they are immune to most of the psivamp’s powers.
The tamer raised a hand. “Caradoc Bishop, I place you under arrest for trespassing in the city of Falmouth.”
Jordan stepped forward and pulled his wallet out again. “No, you don’t. I am Commander Jordan and I command western Jamaica. What you’re going to do instead of arresting Caradoc is go find Lieutenant Cardenas and let her know that I’m here and that I want to see her before I leave, which means just as soon as she can get here. You’re also to let her know that about two blocks south of here are some feral pokegirls, species unknown.”
“Commander,” Bishop said quietly, “they were doggirls.”
“Did you hear that, tamer? The ferals are doggirls. Also inform the lieutenant that Tradesman Bishop is under my protection and is not to be bothered during this visit.”
The tamer had been slowly turning white. “Yessir.”
Naomi frowned. “Sir, is the administrator home?”
The tamer nodded. “He is.”
Jordan smiled. “Meredith, announce us. Be firm.”
The brass stepped forward and hammered on the door hard enough to leave deep dents in the wood. The booms echoed around them and slowly died away. The door was ripped open to reveal the angry face of Leah, the cheetaura that Hamilton owned. “What the hell do you want?” Her eyes took in Bishop and her ears went flat. “You! Tamer, arrest that man!”
Meredith moved to block her view. “I am Meredith, the pokegirl of Commander Jordan. Inform the administrator that the Commander is here to see him, immediately. Understand that my commander will not be kept waiting. Mr. Bishop is not to be bothered at this time. Now move, cat.”
Leah stared at her uncomprehendingly for several seconds before responding. “I’ll let the administrator know your tamer is here.” She carefully shut the door.
Meredith grinned as the lock clicked loudly. “Should I tear it down, sir?”
“Not just yet.” Jordan turned to Bishop. “I want you to wait here. When Cardenas shows up, let her know that I’ll see her after I get done with Hamilton. After I’ve seen her, I’d like you to take me back to the farm to use the radio to summon my transport back to Montego.”
Bishop nodded as the door swung smoothly open. Hamilton stood framed in the doorway. He smiled welcomingly at Jordan. “Commander, this is a pleasant surprise. Welcome to Falmouth. Please come inside. Your pokegirl can wait in the foyer while we go into my office.” He carefully didn’t look at Bishop or his ladies.
“Meredith is my security element and she has to be with me.”
Hamilton looked surprised. “As you wish, commander. This way, please.” He led them inside and gave Bishop a hard look as he shut and locked the door.
The tamer looked at his psivamp. “Come on. Let’s go find Cardenas.” He swung around to face Bishop. “You stay out of trouble.”
“I will.” He watched them leave and muttered something too low for anyone else to make out.
Naomi eyed the door for a moment before turning back to her tamer. “How long do you think this will take?”
“Figure the whole day will be lost and take as a bonus any time we get to work at home today.”
“Your optimism is heartening,” the elfqueen observed sourly.
“Isn’t it? I can but try.”
Everyone laughed softly.
A few minutes later Cardenas and Desiree came hurrying up the street and stopped at Hamilton’s house. She gave Bishop an amused look. “So you’re under the protection of the regional commander? That’s impressive.”
Caradoc shrugged. “It’s not nearly as impressive as it seems to be. He’s been careful to state that his protection covers me for this visit only.” He glanced at the house. “Jordan is meeting with Hamilton now and he wanted me to tell you that he’ll see you as soon as he gets finished with this meeting.”
“Any idea what he wants to see me about?”
“You are the military commander of Falmouth. I suspect he wants to meet the person who’ll be representing the military here.” Bishop flashed a smile. “I don’t think he’ll find any fault with the work you’ve done here.”
“Thanks, but you don’t know anything about it.”
“That’s true, but you haven’t been here long enough to really accomplish anything. I really think the commander just wants to meet you, but then I’m not privy to his thoughts.”
“He’s really not a patron of yours?”
“No, he’s not.”
Cardenas glanced at the house and dropped her voice. “Maybe you should cultivate him as one.”
Bishop shrugged. “He’s too far away. By the time he gets word that something has happened to me, it will have already happened. If I’m dead, getting revenge on my enemies is kind of a waste of time, at least as far as I’m concerned.”
Cardenas began laughing. “You have one of the strangest outlooks I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a pity you’re on Hamilton’s shit list. I think you’d be fun to keep around.”
Naomi gave her a suspicious look that vanished like it had never existed when the human woman glanced in her direction.
About an hour later the door opened and Hamilton’s cheetaura appeared. Leah’s gaze skipped over Bishop and his harem and came to rest on Belinda. “Lieutenant Cardenas, Commander Jordan is ready to see you. Your pokegirl is to remain out here.”
Cardenas frowned and then shrugged. “I don’t think you’ll be in any danger from Bishop, Desiree.”
“I’ll be fine, mistress,” the sabretooth tigress rumbled softly. “Master Bishop seems to be a gentleman.”
Naomi smirked. “When he’s not, it’s only because someone asked.”
Desiree blinked in surprise before grinning back. “Then I’m perfectly safe around him.”
Caradoc grimaced. “Belinda, I’d never try to poach someone else’s family. Go on.” He turned to Naomi as he shrugged off his ever present backpack. “I think it’s time for lunch. Desiree, have you eaten?”
Caradoc Bishop - Tirsuli human
Naomi - elfqueen
Shima - nightmare
Veronica - valkyrie
Winona - nightmare pokekit