Into the Fire
Eleven
Scheherazade held him still as Eve landed and sprinted over to drop to her knees in front of Kerrik. “I felt the pain through the bond. What happened?” She pulled his hand down and gasped.
Clear liquid tinged with pink spilled down from the ruin of his eye and ran into his shirt. Iridescent green and white flecks stuck from the socket and peppered his cheek. His good eye was squeezed shut and tears dripped from it. His voice was calm and strangely detached. “When Scheherazade came down for the low level portion of our flight, something hit me in the eye. I think it was a dragonfly.”
Dominique hovered next to Eve. “I’ll keep an eye on the area while you heal him.”
“Stay below the tree line.” Scheherazade’s ears were slowly rotating. “The airship is just over that ridge.”
Eve wiped at his eye with her palm. “Kerrik, I can’t heal it. There’s too much foreign material in the wound track. I’m going to have to remove it and grow you a new one with regeneration. Why aren’t you in agony?”
He grimaced. “I am. I’d tried blocking the pain, but I can’t, at least not yet. What I was able to do was block my body from reacting to the pain. That’s why I’m not flopping around like fish while screaming. Go ahead and do both of them.”
The Megami-sama gave him a confused look. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I want you to remove both eyes and regenerate them together.”
Eve went white. “Why on earth would you want that?”
“The first time we had doggy style sex, Scheherazade’s tail broke my jaw and knocked out several teeth. When they were grown back, they were new and unworn. I’m still getting used to chewing on that side. If the same thing happens with my eye, I suspect there’s going to be problems with the old one. Ergo, I get two new ones at the same time, hopefully alleviating any issues.”
She glared at him. “I am not going go remove your healthy eye.”
Kerrik opened his good eye and she flinched at the pain in it. “Scheherazade.” He went stiff and moaned loudly when the Dread Wolf drove a claw into his undamaged eye and twisted, shredding the orb. She pulled the finger free and began licking it clean.
Scheherazade’s even gaze met Eve’s shocked stare as Kerrik’s moans grew louder. “You might want to hurry. I think his control is slipping.”
“How dare you!” Eve cradled Kerrik’s head and summoned a tiny dagger. She carefully cut first one and then the other eye from its socket. “You and I are going to have a long talk as soon as things settle down.”
“You have a deft hand. The pain actually went down.” Kerrik’s voice was strained.
“I did a lot of medical work during the war. Now stop talking.” She put her hands on his temples, where they began to glow. The glow died. “Stop trying to help.”
“I’m trying to understand what you’re doing.”
“I promise that later you and I’ll go somewhere there are injured people and you can try to understand while I heal them. Right now is not the time for you to be doing this.”
“Okay.”
Her hands began to glow again. “I can’t believe you’re in agony and you were still trying to interfere.”
He gave her a strained smile. “Focusing on what you were doing was taking my mind off the pain.” He gasped in relief as his eye sockets started to glow the same color as Eve’s hands. “Oh, that’s much better.” The glow died away to reveal his eyes were whole. He blinked several times. “Thanks.”
Eve tore the sleeve off her dress and began wiping his face down with it. “Next time, look down when you’re being carried.”
“Unlike you, flying without an airplane is still pretty novel to me. I want to see what’s going on.”
Eve dropped the rag and pulled him against her. She held him tightly as her body trembled against his. “Kerrik, when you get hurt my heart stops. Please be more careful, for our sakes if not for your own.”
He didn’t try to push away. “I haven’t forgotten my oath, Eve, but I’m a curious man.”
Scheherazade chuckled. “I’m still surprised Dominique got you to give that oath.”
“She caught me in a moment of weakness.”
Eve slowly let him go. “I’m just glad he gave it.” She kissed him gently. “Why didn’t you use your armor?”
“He tried.” Scheherazade rested a hand on his shoulder. “I couldn’t hold onto him when he did, so he turned it back off.”
Eve touched his cheek. “Then I carry you from now on. I can put you inside my armor field with me.”
“I think I’d like that, but if it means you have to dismiss your armor to drop me, we’re going to have to figure something else out. You are not going to be left vulnerable in the middle of a fight while dropping my useless carcass.” He frowned. “If nothing else, Scheherazade can haul me along with her telekinesis.”
Scheherazade’s ears flicked. “If I do that, most likely you’ll be in for a really rough ride. You will want to take anti-nausea drugs beforehand.”
He grabbed her wrist and used it to pull himself to his feet. “My projectile vomiting inside my forcefield is bad for me, but it’s a damn sight better than one of you getting turned into a greasy spot while trying to put me down.”
He pulled a pokeball from his belt and released Irena. The chibi Night Nurse looked at his shirt and then turned around, scanning the area. She paused at the small pile of mangled flesh. “Whose eyes are those?” Apparently she knew more about anatomy than he’d thought if she could identify what she was looking at. To him it looked a lot like a small squid had exploded.
“Mine.”
Her face scrunched unhappily. “You let me miss blood? I thought you liked me more than that.”
He gave her a bland look. “I was kind of busy trying not to scream while being operated on, but I’ll try to remember to let you enjoy my suffering the next time this happens.”
“I missed agony too?” She knelt and poked at the pile with a fingertip. “I’d appreciate you remembering. It would show you care.”
For an instant Eve looked like she wanted to kill a particular chibi Night Nurse. Then she took a deep breath. “The airship is just over that ridge. We put down out of their line of sight. Now we have to figure out how to carry out our rescue.”
Kerrik pulled his pokedex out and activated it. “Airships were in use before Sukebe ever came along. They’d fallen out of favor because of safety issues because airplanes had better publicity people. They came back into vogue after the war because they are lower tech and cheaper to build than an airplane. More importantly, when compared to airplanes or helicopters, they also have a much smaller sonic signature that might draw ferals. Even when a curious feral investigates, the sheer size of an airship along with the pokegirls that the crew possesses tends to drive them off with little or no harm to the vessel or cargo.” He glanced up to see if anyone was listening and continued. “There are three basic design philosophies for airship construction. For the most part it varies by builder and sometimes by league, based on what they think gives the best tradeoff in advantages versus disadvantages.”
Irena looked surprised. “You know a lot of things. What are the types?”
“The biggest difference is in the placement of the gondola. Some designs keep the traditional form and put the gondola underneath the airship while others put it inside the airship in an effort to protect it more, like on the Hindenburg. The downside is that it requires a larger envelope since the same amount of bags now have to be built around the volume of the internal gondola and the superstructure has to be reinforced to hold all the engines around the outside of the envelope instead of mounting some of them on the gondola itself. You also need a butt-ton of video cameras installed so you can see where you are going. In addition, maintenance costs for this design are a lot higher and it may be harder to find spare bags or other repair parts away from the home airfield or league. The third design is a hybrid of the other two and puts some of the gondola inside the envelope. It’s got almost all of the disadvantages of either main design, but is a little cheaper to maintain than the fully enclosed gondola and you can put high value items or people in the upper decks where they’re thought to be safer.”
“What style is the Dawn Star?”
“The Blue League builds mostly airships with external gondolas and the Dawn Star is a solid Blue League design. Unfortunately the deck plans I could find are very basic and I doubt she’s still stock.”
Eve frowned. “Stock?”
“Stock means something is unmodified from the generic plans. Undoubtedly the Dawn Star’s interior has been heavily customized.” He smiled slightly. “However, the engine room and auxiliary motor rooms are the most likely to have been left the closest to the original plans, even if the engines were switched out for more powerful ones. It’s also the best place to look for Richard Dobbs. If we can, I’d like to get him off the Dawn Star before we start trying to retake the vessel from whoever has her now. I know Eve would like us to rescue everyone, and we’ll try to do that, but Richard is a higher priority and if we find him, he gets evacuated right then.”
Irena cocked her head. “There may be ferals on the island. Dropping him off here could be even more dangerous to him than whatever is taking place on the airship.”
Eve smiled. “Richard will be teleported to our house and dropped off there while whoever takes him will return to rejoin the fight.”
The Night Nurse blinked. “Oh. That’s neat. I am going to have to learn how to teleport.”
The Megami-sama nodded. “Yes, you are.”
Kerrik turned to Scheherazade. “Ok, you get to play scout for us.”
The Dread Wolf nodded. “I’ll approach invisible and then phase through the hull looking for someplace to bring everyone else. I don’t know how long this will take, so please be patient and don’t try to distract me by asking me questions over the link.” She faded from sight as she lifted off and turned towards the ridge.
He nodded and turned to Eve. “Bring Dominique in before Shay is gone. We’ll be better off right now without someone wandering around in case they actually put some thought into this and there’s a patrol out looking for anyone as crazy as we are.”
Irena watched as he leaned back against a rock. “How long do you think she’ll take?”
“I’m not thinking. That’s what Scheherazade wants so she doesn’t get distracted. As for her infiltration, it’ll take as long as it takes.”
Dominique chucked softly as she landed in response to Eve’s magical summons. “He looks so calm. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was completely unconcerned.”
Irena looked surprised. “He’s not?”
“Nope. His stomach is a knot of tension and he’s worrying more than Eve as they monitor Scheherazade’s progress.”
The Night Nurse looked at Dominique with open jealousy in her eyes. “I want a delta bond with him. How long will it take?”
“Ever since he mentioned a spell that would create a temporary delta bond with you, I’ve been working on my version of it. But if you only want a bond with him so you can revel in his worry, it just might take forever.”
“You care about him.”
Dominique nodded. “He cares about me and I return the feeling.”
“I care about him too. I need to be able to monitor his emotional health as much as his physical health, especially since Eve has made my continued physical health dependent on his.”
Eve smirked. “She’s right, at least about her health and his being intertwined.”
“See? I need that delta bond.”
Kerrik’s eyes narrowed. “Ladies, this conversation can wait until later.”
It got silent for a few minutes before Eve sighed. “She’s in position and safe.”
Kerrik pushed away from the rock. “Let’s go. Dominique, you’ve got Irena.”
The Night Nurse frowned. “What’s going on?”
Dominique took her hand as Eve grabbed Kerrik and vanished with him. “I’m going to use the delta bond to blind teleport us to Scheherazade.”
“I want that spell.”
The Archmage paused and gave her an emotionless look. “Then you should consider not antagonizing Eve when you don’t need to. Enjoy his pain if you must, but just don’t make a show of it in front of her.”
“You don’t care if I do?”
“I don’t care what goes on in your head unless it affects me or my tamer. At that point, your usefulness will undergo some serious reevaluation. Eve doesn’t care either, but when you dance around gleefully because he’s hurt, well then you’re being stupid. She’s a Megami-sama, but that doesn’t mean she won’t kick your ass if you piss her off. It just means she’ll heal you afterwards.” The scene changed as they teleported. Dominique dropped her voice. “And now we’re at war.”
They were in a small room bordered with dull silver walls, floor and ceiling. The volume was almost completely taken up by a large electric motor that connected to a shaft which ran out through an opening in the hull to disappear. Massive leads exited the other end of the motor and went up to a conduit track in the ceiling. A closed metal door was in the wall opposite the one with the shaft going through it.
“Dominique, cover the door.” Eve turned to Scheherazade. “Where are we?”
“Each propulsion motor has its own motor room. This is the rearmost one. That door leads to a passage that runs the length of the hull. I didn’t travel it, but it should exit somewhere over the gondola.”
Kerrik was peering at his pokedex. “The plans show that the service tunnel comes out in the main cargo bay or perhaps in the generator room. It depends on when the Dawn Star was built. In either case it should exit directly aft of the auxiliary control room. The tunnel connects with the other four motor rooms.” He looked up. “We should clear each of them to make sure nobody gets behind us.”
Eve frowned at him. “What about your Dragonesses?”
“I don’t think there’s enough room for an eleven person assault team. I won’t call for them unless we really need them.” He frowned. “Besides, six more two hundred pound pokegirls might affect the trim enough to be noticed and anything that might get someone sent back here to see what the fuck is going on is a bad thing. Surprise is our best weapon and I intend to keep it for as long as possible.”
“Two hundred pound?”
“Sorry, Irena, I keep using old measurement systems. Uh, two hundred pounds is ninety kilograms. Six 90 kilogram pokegirls is half a ton, and the trim system might have to compensate for that much additional mass suddenly appearing in the ass of this airship, especially when that’s on top of our mass, which also suddenly appeared .” He changed screens on the pokedex. “Ok, ladies, gather round.” The display held the image of a young man who looked like a younger version of Sheriff Dobbs. “This is Robert. Let’s try not to kill him.”
“Gotcha.” Scheherazade grinned and changed places with Dominique, who made sure the Dread Wolf was guarding the door before peering at the display.
She nodded. “He should be easy to spot.
Kerrik turned to Eve. “Deploy them.”
Eve nodded. “I want Shay in front, with Dominique behind her.” She glanced at him. “I still don’t have a battle name for Dominique.”
The Archmage grinned. “Yeah. What are you going to call me if Nikki is out?”
“Dee.”
Dominique blinked and then nodded. “That’s fine. Nobody can mangle that unless they try really hard. If anyone calls me Dee-Dee, I’m going to crack their skull.”
“You’re not going to tell everybody what to do?” Irena was watching Kerrik.
He shared a frown with Eve. “Irena, first of all this is not a good time for a lot of questions. Save them and I’ll answer them after we return home. However, I’ll answer that one, since it’s very important. I tell Eve what I want, and she makes it happen. She’s my maharani and that makes her my sergeant. I am smart enough to delegate the details to her since she knows a hell of a lot more about everyone’s individual capabilities than I do and the system works really well for us.”
“What about me? Eve doesn’t know my capabilities.”
The Megami-sama nodded. “Yet. Until I do, I’ll be cautious about using you. I don’t like some of your attitudes, but I won’t use you up like Shay would because of it.” The Night Nurse gave Scheherazade a startled look to which the Dread Wolf gave a slow, solemn nod in reply. “Fortunately for you, Kerrik doesn’t think of pokegirls in the same category as fungibles such as bullets, and he won’t let me think of you that way either.” Her face smoothed. “Now, Shay in the lead with Dee behind her. Irena, you take the rear and keep any eye out for anything suspicious. Move out. We’re here to take prisoners of everyone we can, but anyone who chooses to fight us gets taken down hard.”
Dominique grabbed Kerrik by the arm and pulled him to her for a rough kiss. She winked. “Be seeing you.”
He turned and Scheherazade was standing there. She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against his before turning and putting her hand on the door as Eve slipped into his arms and kissed him soundly. Green eyes looked into his. “Ready?”
“I’d rather be at home.”
“So would we all.” The Megami-sama stepped away from him and summoned her weapons and armor.
Irena made a startled sound when Kerrik picked her up and kissed her gently. “What’s this about?”
“Dominique started this when we were hunting pokegirls. She was still working out her place in the harem and wanted more attention, so she came up with this cockamamie idea to get more kisses. The idea was that she wanted to go into battle with her tamer’s kiss on her lips, just in case she didn’t come back.”
The Archmage gave him a lofty look. “It’s good for morale.”
“Oh. I like this idea.” Irena kissed him again before he put her down again.
“It’s become a tradition.” Kerrik growled softly and unslung his shotgun. “I really don’t want to be doing this, but we’re already here and after all the trouble to find this place it would be a shame to leave without beating someone up for all the shit we have to go through because they’re too fucking stupid to get a real job.” He smiled slightly. “If they’re stupid by nature, getting rid of them keeps them from breeding, and if they’re stupid by nurture, then by getting rid of them they won’t teach their kids to be just as dumb. Eve?”
“Shay, point.” The Dread Wolf opened the door and eeled through it as soon as it was open enough. Dominique was close behind her. Eve’s eyes glowed softly. “Everyone should be up in the control room and gondola, but as we both know, even the Awareness can be wrong on the details.” She cocked her head. “It’s clear.”
The passageway was cramped, just big enough for a single person, with a low enough rough that Scheherazade had to stoop as they moved along. In the roof of the passage the conduit track snaked ahead of them. Incandescent lights were set in alternating walls every twenty feet, leaving the passageway dark and close. They flickered randomly, dimming and then brightening in no apparent pattern.
They followed the passageway until coming to an intersection where halls split off to the left and the right while the main passage continued on. Eve glanced at him before issuing orders. “Those should go to other engines. Irena, take the right passage; Dee, take the left. If possible, do not engage if you find anyone. Try not to make contact and report instead so we can back you up. Shay, use your telepathy and monitor Irena.”
Kerrik was consulting with his pokedex again. “The Dawn Star has five engines, so we should come across this once more before reaching the cargo space.”
Dominique’s staff lit on the end as she headed down the left passage. Irena’s armor spread over her body, stopping at her sneakers. She trotted quietly down the right passage.
Eve watched them go before reaching out through the delta bond. I’m worried about our noise. If Irena had a bond with you, we wouldn’t have to speak out loud at all. I want to move the priority on Dominique’s artificial bond spell up, unless you think you can reproduce with Irena what happened to form bonds with the rest of us.
He blinked. What makes you think I have the foggiest notion about what happened to us to form delta bonds and evolve you three?
The Awareness told me that neither Evangelion nor the evolution stone were the cause of what happened. You were, Kerrik.
Without agreeing with you or the Awareness, if I was responsible I still have no idea what I did or how to reproduce it.
You’re the author. Perhaps you should think about how the other Kerrik would do it or how you might have done it in a story you planned to write.
He frowned at her. You are quickly becoming entirely too comfortable with me doing things like that.
She smiled. You remind me of Sukebe in a lot of ways. He also did things without completely understanding how they worked or, in some cases, how to reproduce something twice. But there is no denying that both he and you do things that work.
Completely ignoring the fact that knowing you knew him is creepy, I need to know something. That’s a compliment, right?
Eve winked. I have a very powerful male who happens to also be a very powerful mage. I’m very pleased about both of those facts and it’s the highest compliment I can pay you.
Kerrik reached out and stroked her cheek. There are a couple of higher compliments you could pay me.
Eve’s eyes slid halfway shut and she leaned into his touch, even if she couldn’t feel it though her magical armor. She jumped when Scheherazade poked her hard in the middle of her back. This is not the time or place for protestations of love.
Eve turned bright red. Who said anything about that?
Moon over him later, Megami. As for you, my tamer, will you please stop distracting my maharani?
Kerrik chuckled and he sketched a salute. Rebuke received and accepted. Focus it is.
Scheherazade nodded. While I don’t want to be here either, this is a good trial run for how we will approach Sanctuary. It’s already shown we need to dither less and not to get distracted with either feelings for each other or annoyance at Irena for her enjoyment of Kerrik’s pain.
Eve’s eyes narrowed. Are you saying I need to be replaced as maharani? Did you also think it should be by yourself perhaps?
You are doing a better job than I ever could, Eve. However, you are not doing the best job you could be doing. Kerrik is made of lightweight steel, not glass. Treating him like he’ll die if he steps out of your sight is not helping us.
Eve looked suddenly thoughtful. Perhaps you have a point. Her head came up. Dominique has cleared her engine room and is coming back. What about Irena?
She found a dead pokegirl wearing a badge identifying her as a member of the crew. It’s her first close encounter with death while alone and I’m helping her work through it. She’ll be back in a few minutes. Scheherazade’s ears flicked. Surprisingly enough, she’s just as afraid of death as the rest of us, so I’d recommend we not taunt her about it.
Dominique landed. That room is clear.
When Irena appeared out of the passage she was pale and her face was pinched. She threw herself at Kerrik, who caught her in midair and held her tightly against him while she trembled violently. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she pushed away to look at him.
He looked confused for a second. “For what?”
“I’m weak. Mother would not have been so upset about it.”
“Your mother was just as upset the first time she came across something like that. Everyone is. You aren’t weak, not in the slightest.”
Her black eyes were somber as they regarded his blue ones. “Honest?”
“I threw up at my first body. I threw up after I killed my first person, too, even though he really needed killing. You didn’t, which arguably makes you tougher than I am.”
She hugged him suddenly before wriggling out his arms. “Thank you.”
“Don’t forget that while we’re clearing behind us as we go, they might have teleporting or phasing pokegirls of their own. Rearguard is not a ceremonial position. I’m counting on you to give me a warning so Eve and I can react while you’re fighting.”
Irena’s look of surprise turned to determination. “I’ll give you that warning and the time you need.”
“I don’t doubt that. Just please don’t go blowing large holes in the airship. I’ve never been in something that crashed and I really don’t think I’d enjoy it.”
Irena blinked. “I’ll keep that in mind. If the choice is get killed or crash, which way should I go?”
Kerrik’s eyes narrowed. “Burn the airship down to the frames before you let someone kill you.”
She grinned. “I just wanted clearance beforehand.”
Eve looked at Scheherazade and Dominique. “Same formation and move out.”
The passageway ended in an interior metal door with a window in it. Light somewhere in the room flared through it at random intervals. Scheherazade pressed herself against the wall and slid forward until she could peek into the room.
It was the primary generator room. In the center of the room was the generator, which could either run off of the piezoelectric crystals scattered over the hull or, in an emergency, from a small diesel that was connected to the generator via a detachable clutching system. Massive batteries that stored the electricity needed to run the airship lined the walls and lights glowed green on the main power control panel on the other side of the room. A domesticated Ria holding a steel bar in each hand stood in front of one of the batteries. She touched the bars to the bus bar connectors and laughed as a corona of light flared around her. At the same time, the lights in the room dimmed.
There was a loud click and hum in the room, and the Ria jumped away from the battery, hiding the rods behind her body. An angry female voice spoke from a speaker on the power panel. “What the hell are you doing up there, Emma?”
The Ria grinned widely when she realized the com system had no video. “I ain’t doing nothing. Why?”
“Don’t make me come up there. If you blow the electrical system on this tub, Jack and I can’t coordinate with the family on the ransom. At that point I won’t have anything to do except kick your dumb ass around for a while.”
The Ria’s ears flattened on her head. “I’m not doing anything,” she said firmly.
“You’d better not be.” There was another click and the hum stopped.
The Ria grinned again. “Kelly? Kelly? My alpha?” She snorted when she was sure that Kelly wasn’t listening anymore. “Bitch.” She touched the rods to the connectors on another battery and giggled as the lights flickered again.
Scheherazade phased through the door and eased up behind the Ria as she pulled the rods off the battery. The Dread Wolf hit the electrical pokegirl in the back of the skull hard enough to smash her face into the bulkhead. Emma flopped backwards into Scheherazade’s arms, her body twitching.
Dominique opened the door and moved to cover the door on the other side of the room, looking cautiously through its window for anyone else. “It looks like the cargo bay you mentioned earlier.”
Kerrik stopped next to Scheherazade and looked at the face sized dent in the wall. “You hit her pretty hard. Is she dead?”
“I think she’s dying, but, no, not yet.”
Eve looked at the newest harem member. “Irena, go ahead and stabilize her.”
The Night Nurse grinned. “Sounds good to me.” She put her hands on the Ria and closed her eyes. “She’s bleeding heavily inside her brain. I’ll stop the bleeding, but if I leave the blood where it is she should stay in a coma until her body reabsorbs it. That’ll take at least a week if she doesn’t die from dehydration.” Her eyes opened and she looked at her maharani. “If I completely heal her, she’ll probably wake up in a couple of hours.”
Eve nodded. “Don’t completely heal her. Shay, secure her just in case.”
For hunting pokegirls and other bounties, they’d purchased some zip tie restraints rated to hold an angry Sphinx. Scheherazade used some of them to quickly hogtie the comatose Ria after Irena finished with her. “She’ll pull her hands and feet off before those restraints give and they’re burn proof, so she can’t melt them.”
Kerrik moved to look out the window into the cargo bay. It was full of scattered crates and boxes that turned the bay into a warren of shadows. “Perfect.” He turned to Eve. “I want to set up an ambush in the cargo bay and lure some of them to us.”
The Megami-sama’s eyebrows rose. “How?”
“I’ll open the master breaker and that’ll cut all their power. I’m sure they’ll think Emma is screwing around again and finally broke something. Whoever they send will be in a hurry to get here and won’t be looking around in the cargo bay.”
“That sounds like it might work.” Eve looked thoughtful. “I wish we knew how many of them there are.”
“So do I, but the bad guys will be the only ones roaming the airship. If we take someone who is conscious, we can ask them about it. So far we have three names, and one of them is Emma over there. Kelly is her alpha, so she’s a pokegirl, and Jack must be their tamer Or Jack could be Jackie and also a pokegirl.” He rubbed his nose. “From what I could find, there’s only a crew of eight humans. I don’t know how many of them have pokegirls, but if they kept their pokegirls up most of the time, it would have been easy for a small group to take this ship. Even if their pokegirls were out, if the attackers caught Landry first the crew would probably surrender at that point.”
“You don’t think there are many of them.”
“There’s no reason to be, that and more humans makes more slices of the pie and each slice gets smaller.” He grimaced. “We’re kibitzing again. Eve, put people in the cargo bay. Whoever we catch can give us some answers.”
His maharani nodded. “Shay, Dee, Irena. Don’t hit them until they’re almost in here and I want someone able to talk.” She jerked her head in Kerrik’s direction. “I’ll be here with him.”
Kerrik glanced at her. “And I’ll be trying to stay out of any fighting.”
Irena had a hungry look on her face. “Other than alive and able to talk, you don’t care what happens to them right?”
Eve’s lips thinned. “I am not going to start repeating myself. I was perfectly plain in what I want, but you’d better remember that a lot of screaming will warn anyone who can hear it.”
The chibi Night Nurse beamed back at her. “Ok.”
***
Eve watched him as he examined the power control panel. “Did I make a mistake putting Irena in the attack group?”
He didn’t look up. “You know you didn’t. Scheherazade and Dominique will keep her from doing anything stupid, and giving her trust is the best way to help her to grow. You’ll learn more about what she can do after this crap is over.”
“How do you do that?”
He glanced at her. “How do I do what?”
“I look at her and I see a kid. It’s hard to get past that. You don’t.”
“I’m not fucking a kid and I just keep that in mind. Maybe it’ll help when you have sex with her. Just make sure she uses her adult form as much as possible.”
Eve smiled slightly. “Perhaps. That won’t be tonight, though. Tonight I’m sleeping with my tamer. He’s mine tonight.”
“I’m always yours and you know it.” Kerrik reached for main breaker. “Are we ready?”
“Yes.”
He pushed the button on the breaker and there was a loud clunk as the breaker opened. The lights on everything except the power control panel died. The fans that had been circulating the air, and that had been unnoticed before they stopped, went silent. A single emergency light came on in the ceiling, giving off a wan glow that brightened and dimmed slowly. “It looks like someone was remiss in their maintenance of their emergency systems. I bet it’s very dark everywhere.” He pulled a handle from a holder on the breaker and slid it onto a handle. He began pumping it up and down, charging the spring that would close the breaker.
“What are you doing?”
“After we catch whoever shows up, I’m thinking about restoring the power so they think nothing is wrong.”
“Won’t that restore the intercom so they can call up and see what’s going on?”
Kerrik blinked. “Damn, you’re right. Good catch.” He grinned suddenly and pushed the button to close the breaker. There was another loud clunk as the breaker closed. The lights came back on and the fans started up again.
There was a loud click and hum as someone activated the intercom. “Emma, what the fuck are you doing down there?” It was Kelly and she sounded like she was working herself into a rage.
The hum died when Kerrik opened the breaker again. He grinned. “That ought to get someone down here ASAP. I probably just let the smoke out of at least one computer, too.”
Eve giggled and looked surprised at herself. “Do you have any idea how unprofessional it is for a Celestial to giggle?”
“I just know you look really cute when you do.”
She stuck out her tongue. “Now I need to get you hidden in case they make it in here.”
“I thought I’d just stand outside the door to the room. There’s not really any place to hide in here.”
“True.” She grabbed his hand. “Come on. We can monitor things through the delta bonds.”
They had just slipped into the passageway back to the motor rooms when two pokegirls entered the cargo bay and headed for the generator room without pausing. One was a Marmotte. The other was obviously an evolution of the Rack and her gray feathers gave her away as the breed’s ice evolution, Neigix. A path had been set up in the cargo bay that lead directly between the door of the generator room and whatever lay on the other side of the cargo bay and they headed straight down it.
Dominique and Scheherazade were hidden amongst the cargo in the bay while Irena was crouched behind a small pile of boxes that wouldn’t hide anyone larger than the chibi. She struck first, moving into the path behind the Marmotte and going down on one knee as she lashed out with her armored wings.
The Marmotte missed the tiny sting as she fell down with a curse. The Neigix stopped and snickered. “Tripped on the floor, did you?”
“Shut up.” The Marmotte tried to get to up, only to roll over and stare in shock at her legs when her feet refused to respond. It was then she discovered that both of her Achilles tendons had been severed by the Night Nurse’s razor sharp wings.
Scheherazade leaped out of hiding and pounded the Neigix with a series of punches that shattered bone as Dominique stopped just out reach of the Marmotte and pointed at her. A glowing ball of energy swirled inside her half closed grip like she was holding a baseball. “Surrender or die.”
The fighting type froze as the Neigix smashed into some crates and bounced back into Scheherazade’s grasp. Her cry of rage and pain cut off as the Dread Wolf took her throat in both hands and crushed her windpipe.
Irena chuckled. “Never get into melee range with something as strong as my sister.” She stepped around the Marmotte and looked down at the dying Neigix. “I’m pretty sure we were told to take them alive.”
Scheherazade shrugged. “She’s not dead yet. Fix her enough she won’t die.”
The Night Nurse knelt and healed the Neigix’s throat before checking the rest of her injuries. “She’ll live now. Should I cripple her so she can’t fight? All I have to do is sever the nerves under her armpits and the ones to her wings. She’ll still be able to walk, but she won’t be able to move her arms and wings so fighting will be almost impossible.”
Scheherazade winced. “That’s a dreadful thing to do to someone.”
“It would be dreadful to do to you or any other of my sisters in the harem, but for her? It would be efficient.”
Dominique grinned at the wide eyed Marmotte. “You hear her? You behave or I’ll let her do that to you.”
The Marmotte shook her head frantically. “I won’t fight. Just don’t let her near me.”
Dominique nodded. “I’m glad you are going to behave. Now I have a couple of questions for you, and as long as you are truthful and complete with your answers I won’t let my associate play with you. What’s the path from here to the hostages?”
Anne’s ears flicked and her tail twitched. “You go through that door and you’ll be in a room filled with spare parts and tools. A door there leads the crew quarters. There’s a ladder in the floor that drops down to the passenger level. It comes out in a room where you can shower and change clothes before going where Landry can see you. He doesn’t like to see dirty personnel. There’s only one door, and it leads to the mess room.”
“How many of you kidnappers are there?”
“Five. Jack and his harem of four pokegirls.” The Marmotte’s ears flattened. “I didn’t kill anybody! Don’t kill me!” Her useless feet flopped as the muscles twitched.
Scheherazade’s armor flowed away as she folded her arms. “Name everybody and tell us where they are. When this is over, if you’ve been good we’ll not only heal you, we’ll sell you as a captured pokegirl instead of turning you over to the league.”
“You won’t condition me?”
Dominique shook her head. “No, we won’t. It’s a better deal than you’ll get from the BLSF.”
“That’s Brenda over there. If you’ve already caught Emma, there’s just Kelly and Jack. His full name is Jack Williamson and Kelly is his alpha. She’s a Demoness and it’s her show.”
“How many hostages are there and how many are still alive?”
“I’m not sure how many hostages there are. All we were interested in was Landry and his family’s money. Kelly killed two pokegirls and one human, if she hasn’t finished off the Megami yet.”
“What’s the human’s name?”
“How the hell should I know? I didn’t get names.” She froze when the door to the generator room opened and Eve came out, followed closely by Kerrik. “Oh, fuck, you’ve got a tamer. That means your agreement with me doesn’t mean shit.”
Kerrik gave her as friendly a smile as he could. “Dee made a good deal with you. You get healed, cleaned and sold if you tell us the whole truth. We will honor it as long as you do.”
“I don’t suppose you’d keep me for yourself?” She sighed when he shook his head deliberately. “I didn’t think so, but I can hope, can’t I? The pokegirls the hostages own are in their pokeballs. There was a Megami on board, but she’s a free pokegirl hitching a ride and Kelly claimed her as a plaything. The humans are all together in the mess while Kelly has her toy in a compartment off of it, in the Captain’s Mess. It’s got a sign on the door. Jack is standing guard over the hostages.”
Eve turned to Kerrik. “We have to rescue the Megami.”
“I intend to rescue all of the hostages, but she is not our top priority and I’m not going to jeopardize our primary mission to rescue her specifically. Can you live with that?”
The Megami-sama looked into his eyes for several seconds before nodding. “I can.”
Dominique frowned. “Have you considered that she may be with the Alliance? If she is, when she sees him there could be problems.”
Eve frowned. “Even if she is, we have to rescue her along with everyone else.”
Kerrik turned to Irena. “Can you heal the Marmotte?”
She shook her head. “Not easily. The Achilles tendon retracts when cut, so I can’t repair it without doing surgery on her ankles. I’d have to peel the flesh back and pull the tendon together before closing the cuts. We don’t have time for that right now. A healing cycle will fix her right up, but she’ll have to go into her pokeball and Jack probably has it.”
“My name is Anne.”
Irena looked down at the Marmotte. “And I should care about that how? Whether or not you killed anyone with your own hands, you participated in the hijacking of an airship. More importantly, your actions put my tamer into harm’s way to stop you. He and Dee made the deal with you, not me. I’d cheerfully slit your throat and let you bleed out right here.”
Scheherazade gave Eve a curious look as if expecting her to protest and the Megami-sama gave a half shrug. “I can’t really say anything. I kind of agree with our little infernal.”
Anne’s eyes went wide and she shrank into herself. Kerrik shook his head. “A deal is a deal. If she’s being completely honest with us, she gets healed and sold as salvage. It’s better than getting turned into electricity.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He looked at her. “Is there anything else I need to know?”
The Marmotte shook her head. “No sir.”
Kerrik immediately disagreed with her. “Actually there is something else. Does Jack have a gun? If not, how can we identify him from the other humans?”
Anne’s face was a study in confusion. “Sir, he’s the only one who isn’t tied up.”
“Oh. That makes sense. Guess I get the duh award for the day.” Kerrik rubbed his eyes. “Shay, Dee, you two takes care of Jack. Eve, Irena and I will smash our way into the side room and rescue the Megami from Kelly.”
“What about her?” Scheherazade jerked a clawed thumb in the direction of the Marmotte, who was busy trying to be invisible.
Kerrik exchanged a look with Eve and sighed. “Tie her up. She gave us a promise and if she breaks it, I’ll give her to Irena after we’re done.”
The Night Nurse grinned delightedly. “If I can have her pokeball, I can conduct some experiments in falling damage by releasing her outside the airship and trying to recover her after she hits so I can repeat the process.”
Anne gave the chibi a sick look as Eve shook her head. “I’m sure she’ll be quiet here until we come back to heal her.”
Anne was watching Irena watching her. “Damned right I will!”
“Yes, you will.” Eve motioned to Dominique. The Archmage’s eyes flashed and the Marmotte went limp.
Scheherazade held out her hand and streamers of golden energy poured from both the Marmotte’s and Neigix’s bodies to be absorbed by the Dread Wolf. “They’ve got just enough energy to stay alive. Any real exertion by either of them will probably result in their death.”
Eve nodded. “Good. You heard Kerrik. Shay and Dee take down Jack without harming the hostages while we get the Megami. Try to be as quiet as possible so we don’t warn the Demoness. Then we’ll find Richard.” She looked at her tamer. “What do we tell Landry?”
“As little as possible, but never, ever tell him we were sent to rescue Richard instead of him. In fact, don’t tell him a damned thing. Just refer him to me. That’ll make him feel good when he finds out that I’m a normal tamer who rules his harem through micromanagement.” He raised a finger when Irena’s eyes lit up and she opened her mouth. “You finish that comment and you will find out what micromanaging is really like. I’ll make sure your clothes get selected for you, your meals get chosen by me and your portion sizes are carefully measured out along with your sleep and taming periods.” He smiled broadly as she froze. “And then I’ll get creative. Daily hair measurements and trims, physical measurements and daily weightings to make sure you don’t get too out of shape, scheduled bathroom usage; the list can go on and on.”
The Night Nurse managed to give him an offended look. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
Eve snickered softly. “And we’re all going to pretend that’s the truth. Now move. Shay, Dee, you two are still on point.”
They cleared the crew bunkroom before dropping down to the crew washroom. A neat sign on the door to the mess deck reminded the crew to ensure that they were presentable before proceeding and that violations of this policy could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.
Irena snickered. “He really doesn’t like dirt, does he” she whispered.
Eve suppressed a smile and nodded to Scheherazade. “Do it.”
The Dread Wolf positioned herself directly in front of the door and dropped into a crouch. Her hind legs quivered with suppressed tension. Dee. The Archmage jerked the door open and Scheherazade lunged through it with all of her enhanced speed, with Dominique and the rest of her family as close on her heels as they could be.
The hardest thing for her at that point was to avoid killing Jack when she caught him.
The move went flawlessly, and Jack was a prisoner before he knew he was being attacked. However, the shrill sudden cries of fear told everyone that the hostages hadn’t been gagged and they were just as surprised at Scheherazade’s appearance as Jack was.
Kerrik cursed and slammed past the Dread Wolf and her prisoner, only to come to a halt as Eve grabbed the back of his shirt and jerked to put him behind her before she slashed once at the door to the Captain’s Mess to shatter the lock. Then she burst through it with Kerrik right behind her.
The blood soaked Megami’s eyes filled with joy at them while the Demoness made an odd yelping sound and stumbled away from her victim. Without pausing, Eve raised her sword and threw herself at the Demoness. Her opponent made another odd sound and lunged to the side, making Eve miss.
“Eve!” This was the first time Kerrik had fired his new weapon in anger, and the shotgun cycled perfectly as he put a three round burst into the center of the Megami’s chest. The celestial pokegirl’s face went slack in shock as he fired again, this time putting the three slugs through her heart.
Eve’s face was white as she jerked the shotgun from his grasp, snapping the combat sling and snapping two of his fingers in her hasty grab. She dropped the weapon and turned to face the Demoness again, snarling in fury as he stumbled backwards holding his hand. “Bitch, let him go from your spell.” She froze in surprise as the Demoness rippled and changed. Blood appeared on her clothes and the illusion faded to reveal the Megami. Her arms were bound and she was gagged.
At the same time the illusion on the dead Demoness vanished.
“Oh, Kerrik, I’m so sorry.” Eve ignored the Megami to take her tamer’s hand and heal it. “I couldn’t tell.”
Kerrik’s eyes flicked once in the direction of the rescued Megami as he spoke in a quiet voice. “You were focused on what you thought was the enemy, but it was your celestial power through our bond that let me see through to the truth.”
Comprehension filled her eyes. “You’re right, but she was lucky you were here. Why would the Demoness do something like that?”
He snorted. “Cut our new friend free. As for why she’d pull this stunt, Demonesses can teleport. After getting her jollies watching you chop down a celestial, she’d escape.” He flashed a grin. “At least this time you didn’t crush my hand like a grape.” He looked at the shotgun and sighed as Eve went to release the Megami. “I’m going to need a new barrel. Who knew gun maintenance would be so expensive?”
“I’m sorry.” Eve untied the Megami and healed her injuries. “Who are you?”
“I am Michaela.” The Megami cocked her head. “And who are you?”
“I am Eve.”
Michaela smiled. “I can tell by your name that you are high ranking in the hierarchy too.”
Kerrik fought not to snicker as a bit of the Smothers Brothers version of Streets of Laredo drifted through his mind. “I can see by your outfit that you are a cowboy. / I can see by your outfit you are a cowboy too. / We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys. / If you get an outfit you, you can be a cowboy too.”
Eve shot a glare at him as her mouth quivered with a suppressed smile. “How did you come to be here?”
Michaela smiled brightly. “I had a revelation that if I rode on this airship, I would find something that’s been lost. It’s something important that we need for our war with the forces of evil.”
“You broke my shotgun, Eve.”
Eve turned to look at him and frowned for a second before her face turned gray as she realized what he meant. “I don’t think you’ll need it before we can get it repaired.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Michaela blinked and stepped around the Megami-sama, her hand outstretched. “I almost forgot to thank my rescuer’s tamer. And you are?”
Kerrik’s grip was firm. “Kieran. Kieran Whelan. It’s a pleasure to meet another celestial, especially one as pretty as you.” He winked. His eyes flicked to Eve’s startled ones. Tell the others my name. “Maybe we three could take some time and explore just how grateful you are for your rescue.” He let his gaze drag over the Megami’s breasts, which were partially visible through her torn blouse.
Michaela’s face went blank and she carefully disengaged her hand from his. Her voice was so neutral it was almost flat. “Thank you again, Mr. Whelan, but apparently my revelation was, as is sometimes the case, mistaken.”
He grinned. “Perhaps later, then.”
Michaela swept past him and out of the room as she tried not to roll her eyes. As soon as she was gone, Eve hugged him. She thinks you’re scum. That was inspired.
He hugged her back. That was pure panic, brought on when I realized she was named after one of the archangels and was looking for me. Let’s get the others, check on Dobbs, tell Landry he’s free and get out of here.
Eve gave him a curious look as she let him go. What would you have done if she’d accepted your offer?
Been a gentleman and fucked her silly, what else? However, I knew there was less than a ten percent chance that a free Megami would deign to bang a crude tamer like myself.
When they returned to the mess the scene was reversed, with one person bound securely while the rest glared at him. A tall slender young man turned as Eve and Kerrik came in. “Who are you? Did my family send you?”
Eve looked at Kerrik as he smiled grimly. “I was asked to correct the situation as it existed here.”
Landry’s eyes narrowed and he spoke slowly and distinctly. “Michaela said you mentioned your name before she left, but didn’t say what it was. Who are you?”
Kerrik jerked a thumb at Eve. “Michaela and I work for the same people. You don’t need to know who. She was in trouble and I was sent.” He looked past Landry at Scheherazade. “Take Williamson’s pokeballs and gather up his remaining girls. We’ll take them with us for debriefing before turning them over to the league.” The Dread Wolf nodded and picked up a small bundle before heading for the washroom.
“I want to keep them myself.” Landry folded his arms. His expression suggested he wasn’t used to being told no very often.
Kerrik looked at him. “Mr. Landry, what you want doesn’t factor into my instructions.”
“Make what I want part of them!”
Dominique smiled slightly. “Sir, I’d like to borrow the engineer so he can assess the damage to the generator room before we leave. Our bosses wouldn’t want to leave them stranded if we could avoid it.”
“Do it.” He turned back to Landry as a man whose face matched the one they’d looked at on his pokedex earlier got up and followed the Archmage out. “As for you, Mister Landry, you’ve been rescued without harm and your family didn’t have to cough up a single credit for it. Take the victory, sit down and shut up.”
Landry suddenly looked like he’d bitten into a lemon.
Kerrik looked at Irena and Eve. “Give anyone who needs it basic first aid. If anyone gets fresh, they don’t get healed.”
Irena nodded. “Do they get further injured?”
He pretended to think about it. “You’ve been good so far, so I’ll leave that up to you.”
“Thank you, master.”
Landry lurched up from the table he’d been leaning against. “Now see here, she isn’t to hurt any of my crew.”
Kerrik shrugged. “Relax, Mr. Landry. Your people are too shell shocked to feel horny right now. In an hour or so it’ll be different, but right now they’re just numb. It’s very unlikely that they’ll try anything that my pokegirls can take offense at. But if someone is stupid enough to cop a feel, he can bleed for it.”
“You’re a bastard.”
“That’s debatable. My parents did eventually get married.”
Landry subsided into foul mutterings.
The medical check didn’t take long, but Scheherazade and Dominique both returned before Irena and Eve were done. Dominique nodded to Kerrik. “Mr. Dobbs says the damage is minor. He’s running a few checks before he restores power just in case the Ria’s shenanigans broke something he didn’t catch, but there’s no reason for us to be here anymore. I’m sure our ladies and mistresses can find something else for our talents.”
Kerrik chuckled. “You are absolutely right. Ladies, it’s time we left. The only question is who gets to carry Mr. Williamson here.”
Eve smiled and pointed at Scheherazade. “You do.”
“I’ll find out who you are, you know.” Landry glared at him. “My family is powerful.”
Kerrik gave him a bland look. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew, Mr. Landry. With luck, you and I will never meet again. I should warn you, however, that there are very few troubleshooters with celestial harems and the Celestial Alliance takes a very dim view of people threatening celestial tamers. Should you prove persistent, there will be a response and I can assure you that you will not like it. I’m sure your family is very powerful, as you mentioned, but the Blue League looks out for its interests first, and only then does it consider the interests of its citizens. As powerful and influential members of the league, you and your family should be well aware of that, as well as the fact that the league works very closely with the free celestials.”
Landry started. “Just who are you?”
“I’m a ghost who makes problems go away, Mr. Landry. Pray that you never know more about me than that.” Kerrik turned to Eve. “Let’s go.”
***
The Denmother looked up as the door opened. “Mister Wolf, it’s been a while.”
“Trust me, I know.” He gave her a weary smile and stepped out of the way as Eve stepped into the sheriff’s office carrying Williamson. “I’ve got someone for you. As soon as you get him into the system he’ll probably set off some alarms and the league will send someone for him.”
Colleen’s ears flicked. “Who is he and what did he do?”
“His name is Jack Williamson and he recently took a member of a prominent family hostage. He picked one of the sons of a very wealthy family with deep connections to the Blue League.”
She shook her head. “You certainly keep things interesting. Is the family name also level Omega?”
“Not so far as I am aware. He took hostage Andrew Landry on his airship, the Dawn Star. I captured Mr. Williamson and his harem, in the process freeing Mr. Landry.”
The Denmother’s ears flattened. “Put him in that chair while I get the sheriff.” Colleen disappeared into the back.
Eve shared a curious look with Kerrik while she dumped Williamson into the indicated chair. “I wonder what that was about.”
His response was forestalled by the return of Colleen. She was followed by the tallest man Kerrik had seen so far since coming to this world. He was actually taller than the Denmother and a smile creased his face as he held out a huge hand to Kerrik. “Colleen has told me a lot about you, Mr. Wolf. I’m Bertram McConnell, the sheriff you’ve avoided managing to meet up till now.” His brown eyes fell on Williamson. “And now she tells me that you’ve brought me a man who supposedly kidnapped my second cousin.”
Williamson’s eyes went wide.
“We’ve never met, since I come from the poorer side of the family, but he’s still blood.” McConnell turned back to Kerrik. “Would you mind waiting while I verify the kidnapping?” It wasn’t a request and everyone in the room knew it.
Kerrik shrugged. “I hope it doesn’t take long.”
“It won’t, I assure you. Colleen, why don’t you get Mr. Wolf some tea while I make a call?”
Kerrik shook his head. “You could just tell her to guard us so we don’t vanish on you.”
McConnell chuckled. “I just did.” Kerrik started to say something and stopped himself with an obvious effort. “Yes, Mr. Wolf?”
“Please make your call.” Anger bubbled in his voice. “I was stupid and this is my punishment.” He fixed Williamson with a look that made the man cringe. “I won’t be stupid anymore.”
Eve put her hand on his leg as McConnell left the room. “What’s the matter?”
“Epiphanies suck.” He shook his head slightly and dropped his voice as Colleen settled down behind the counter without bothering to make any pretense at serving tea. She watched them alertly. “Not here, not now.”
McConnell was back less than ten minutes later. “Mr. Wolf, it appears my family owes you a debt of gratitude. They’d like me to express their pleasure at freeing my distant cousin and also for delivering Mr. Williamson to justice. They’re even offering a reward for Andrew’s rescue, and if you’ll give me your pokedex, I’ll arrange the transfer of funds.”
Kerrik rose gracefully. “Thank you, sheriff, but I didn’t do what I did for a reward, and so it wouldn’t be right for me to accept one now.”
McConnell frowned. “Are you sure, Mr. Wolf?”
“I am. I hope you have a nice day, but we need to be going.” He gave a half bow and paused. “I am free to go, right?”
The sheriff’s frown deepened. “Of course you are. Have a nice day.”
Once outside, Kerrik headed down the street towards the edge of town with Eve trailing behind him. She stopped him when Dundalk was no longer in sight. “What is wrong?”
He was trembling with suppressed emotion. Eve tasted it through the link and found fear and rage. “I am a fucking idiot, that’s what.” He took a deep breath and she blinked as his emotions vanished inside him. “Look, I know this is going to sound bizarre, but I’d like you to go home until I call for you. I am not going to wander around where ferals can get to me or anything else that’s likely to get me killed. I’m going to go straight to April’s house. I don’t mean to insult anyone, but I need to talk to someone who isn’t as close to what’s happening as you and the others are.”
Eve didn’t look happy. “Straight there?”
“I promise.”
“Tonight was supposed to be my night with you.”
“I don’t think I’m spending the night. If I do, I’ll make it up to you.” He grimaced. “If I didn’t think I needed this, I wouldn’t be asking for it.”
“I want you to promise me to explain whatever is going on to my complete satisfaction.”
He met her gaze with an odd smile. “I named you well, you know. I promise.”
“What do you mean?”
“Eve convinced Adam to eat the apple and thus he gained knowledge that caused his fall from innocence. You have done the same to me, in a manner of speaking, and it was necessary that you do so, no matter how much that loss hurts.”
“I suspect it’s going to take a while to explain what you’re talking about.”
“No, it probably won’t. The most dangerous things are usually pretty easy to explain.” He clasped his hands in front of him and clenched them until the fingers turned white. “Will you go home?”
“I’ll be waiting for your call.” Her eyes searched his and she hugged him. “Be careful.”
***
It was starting to get dark when April approached her house. She’d been doing some shopping and had run across a friend who had invited her over for a lunch that had gone long.
She stopped when she realized that someone was sitting on her porch. April wasn’t really worried about some tamer trying to catch her, but she still approached cautiously after pulling her can of pepper spray from her pocket. She frowned when she recognized him. “Kerrik?”
He smiled at her. “Hi. Of all the things I thought might go wrong about doing this, I never thought to wonder if you would be home.”
“How long have you been here?”
He shrugged. “A couple of hours. So, can we talk, or would you rather slap me and tell me to get lost?”
April’s mouth dropped. “Why on earth would I want to do that?” She helped him up from where he’d been sitting on the wooden slats.
“I haven’t really been in touch with you, and I should have been.”
She unlocked her door. “I’ve been corresponding regularly with Eve and I know you haven’t really had any spare time. Your messages, on the other hand, were rather careful not to let me know just how busy you were. I appreciate them, but you should tell me the truth more.” She pointed at the couch. “Sit down and tell my why you’re here.”
“I’m surrounded by celestial pokegirls and I need an objective perspective. I just realized something and I need to talk to someone about it.”
April cocked her head. “I don’t think I can be as objective as you think. I was wrong, you know. That night when I said I hadn’t bonded to you I was wrong. That’s why I haven’t found anyone else. I’m yours if you want me.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I do. The fact that you’re bonded to me will actually help.”
She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad to help then. Would you like some tea?”
He gave her a sad smile. “I’d like a Dr. Pepper, but I’ll take tea.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know any doctor with that name.” She stopped. “How long can you stay?”
“We’ll get to that, but it’s really up to you.”
Mild exasperation appeared in her eyes. “Should I get someone to cover for me at the center tonight?”
He looked blankly at her for a few seconds. “No. You have to work, so I’ll be gone before then.”
“Ok.” She disappeared into the kitchen and returned in a few minutes with a tray that she put on the table in front of the couch before settling down next to him and curling up against his side. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I killed someone today. She deserved it and it wasn’t the first time I’ve killed, but after she was dead I had an epiphany.” He shuddered. “I’ve been operating under a severe misconception, April. I realized today that this place is real. I am really on a pokegirl world and everything here is real.”
April was watching his face. “Why would you think this place isn’t real?”
April was watching his face. “Why would you think this place isn’t real?”
“Because we write about a fictitious world just like this one, with people in it that exist here. There’s no way the pokegirl world could exist where I come from and so it was easy to think that this is some kind of waking dream or hallucination.” He waved a hand. “Oh, I thought about how this place could be real and how the injuries I receive hurt, but I never really took that sort of thinking seriously. There’s no way it could be real.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “But it is. I’m really here and various groups really want me for their own ends, nefarious or not. I’m being hunted by the fucking Sanctuary Goths, for blood’s sake and now I plan to pit myself directly against them. It’s insane.”
“Why did you want to talk to me about it?”
He was silent for a couple of minutes before taking a ragged breath. “Everything has changed and I don’t know what to do. I’ve been taking Eve and the others into battle, but they are real and they could really be killed. But if I ask them, they’ll just say its how things are and that they’re tying to stop Sanctuary which makes their possible sacrifice worth it.” He looked at her. “I can’t trust their judgment.”
“You think you can trust mine?”
“I do. You’re not a celestial and you can be selfish in ways that they can’t.” He smiled slightly. “It’s a compliment. I need someone objective to talk to.”
“You mentioned Omega level clearance earlier when you shot that disguised pokegirl. Does this have to do with that?”
“It does.”
She nodded. “Are they from here, these Sanctuarites? Or is it Sanctuarians?”
He blinked and smiled. “No, they’re not.”
“But they have agents here, and they’re looking for you.”
He nodded. “They are.”
April frowned. “Are they going to stop looking for you?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Can we get help from others to fight them?”
He shook his head. “The leagues know about them, but are so terrified about provoking them that they suppress any information about them from the general populace. And they are having a hard time finding Sanctuary’s agents.”
“Are the people around you in danger from them?”
His voice was flat. “Yes.”
“So someday they could show up on our doorstep and hurt you, or me or any of the others or our children.”
He blinked. “We might be able to hide from them for a long time, but you’re right. They could.”
The Ingénue met his gaze squarely. “Then you have to kill them all, even if some of us die in the doing of it. It’s the only way that the rest of us can be safe someday.”
He nodded slowly. “You’re right. I need your help then, and it will involve you breaking the law.”
“Tell me what you want and I’ll decide if it’s too risky.”
“I want to get another pokedex and set up a new identity on it, a clean one that has no ties to Kerrik Wolf. It’s time to become someone else in order to keep our enemies confused.”
“What about your house in Buncrana?”
“It’s got a fully equipped magical lab in the basement. I’ve already had inquiries from a tradesman with an Enchantress who wants to rent it as a workshop and now it looks like he’ll get to rent the whole building. Are you going to come live with us?”
April shook her head. “Eve wants me to stay here. She says I can do more for the family in my job, and I agree with her. She’s going to make the arrangements for me to start training again, something I am not looking forward to, and when you go hunting, I’ll be taking vacation and going along. However, now that you know we’re bonded I expect to see you regularly.”
“You will.”
“What name and location do you want for your new identity?”
“I want to be Iain Grey from County Kerry, no listed township. That’ll make me a country rube from some undocumented family farm that could have been wiped out by ferals. We may even find someplace out there to live since the land is free if you’re out in the middle of nowhere.”
She nodded. “At least you’ve thought this out. I’ll have your new pokedex ready for you tomorrow and I’ll make the necessary arrangements to have the whole day off. You’ll get here in the morning and give me the whole day. I’ll tell Eve what’s happening so she’ll know.”
“How about I take you to Dublin? That way I don’t have to worry about the sheriff and Andrew Landry disturbing us and you don’t have to worry about anyone trying to get you to come to work.”
“We’ll get a nice hotel room, not some dingy taming room, right?”
“Of course.”
“Can I do room service? I’ve never gotten the opportunity to order from room service.”
“Then room service it shall be.”
Kerrik Wolf - Tradesman
Eve - Megami-sama (alpha)
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Scheherazade - Dread Wolf
Irena- Chibi Night Nurse
April - Ingénue