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A Little Blue
Twelve
08/28/09 0845 Cairnryan, Scotland
General Fowler looked to be in his early fifties and his bearing fairly shouted that he was career military. He was slender, with graying hair and a thick moustache. Blue eyes had faded under the assault of years in the sunlight and the impression Ciaran got of him was of a rapier, bared and ready to draw blood.
His pokegirl was a few centimeters taller than Eliana and muscular, with short black hair and forward flopping dog ears. Dark eyes framed a rather large sleek nose. She was wearing a short dress that let her tail show as it drooped behind her. War Hound, his twee whispered, a powerful combat pokegirl.
When Ciaran braced to attention, the general held out his hand. “I’m General Fowler, and I am rather glad to see you, major.” He had a strong Scottish accent and Ciaran wondered briefly what had made what was obviously a former British Army staff officer break his oath and turn traitor to those to whom he had sworn his undying loyalty.
Colonel Turner spoke as Ciaran shook hands with the general. “General, this is Major Culpepper and Lieutenant Baker, sir. They’re on some secret mission to Ireland.”
Fowler’s eyebrows climbed on his face. “What is the nature of this mission, major?”
“I am afraid, general, that I cannot disclose it, even to you, sir. It is classified at the highest level and need to know only.”
Fowler surprised him with a smile and a hearty chuckle. “Well, I doubt I have a need to know, major. I just hope that your mission isn’t time critical.”
Ciaran frowned. “Sir? I don’t understand.”
The general’s smile was that of a small child with a secret that he was about to share. “I meant what I said, major. You’ll be free to carry out your mission, but you’re not going to Ireland any time soon. You see, I’m conscripting you.”
Ciaran’s frown deepened. “I still don’t understand, sir.”
Fowler’s smile faded. “It’s actually very simple, major. Major King managed to get himself killed by a water pokegirl three days ago. That means I don’t have a commander for B Squadron, which could prove problematic for my mission. You show up and you’ve got two pokegirls, so you’re obviously an experienced soldier. I was short a major. Now I’m not.” His smile returned, but with a hard edge to it. “You can keep your sergeant, but Lieutenant Baker is needed in A Squadron. You’ll get her back when we’re done.”
“Sir, I must protest this. This is a really bad idea, sir. I have my orders to continue on to Ireland.”
Fowler nodded. “You should protest this, but I am your superior officer and this mission is critical to the Blue League. I am ordering you to do this, major.” His smile returned. “What is your first name, major?”
“John, sir.”
“Well, John, it’s not going to be that bad. There’s a lot of loot waiting for us and we’re going to give those God’s be damned Royals such a hit that they might never recover.”
Ciaran gritted his teeth. “Sir, I would like to request that Lieutenant Baker stay with me. Transfer a lieutenant from B Squadron to A in her place.”
Turner cleared his throat. “General, I don’t think that breaking up the cohesion of B Squadron at this time is recommended.”
Fowler nodded. “I agree, Mike.”
Turner squared his shoulders. “However, sir, I don’t think that Baker should be separated from Major Culpepper, either. She’s an unknown quantity and could prove just as disruptive in A Squadron.”
“What do you recommend, Mike? I’m not leaving her behind.”
“Add her and the sergeant as extra tamers to B Squadron. Culpepper will have an extra tamer, but I think adding her there will be more beneficial than trying to force A to accept her.”
Fowler eyed Turner suspiciously. “Does this have anything to do with the fact that you command A Squadron?”
Turner grinned. “Of course it does, sir. I may be down two tamers but my team is well trained to work together and honed to a fine edge. I really do not want to interfere with that.”
Fowler shrugged. “Very well, Mike. Major, you get to keep them both. Colonel Turner will introduce you to your troops. You are dismissed, major.”
Ciaran braced back to attention and followed Turner. The colonel led him away from the general and stopped once they were out of earshot. “I feel for you, major, but not enough to let you get away. We’re going to need a lot of luck as it is and additional firepower is always welcome. Now let me introduce you to your men.”
08/28/09 1830 Cairnryan, Scotland
Victoria looked at him and shook her head. “You know how petty this is. It’ll draw attention, too.”
“I’m feeling rather petty right now.” Ciaran smiled without humor. “My day is currently and pretty much the foreseeable future is going to be one colossal waste. And I was told that I could pick any house I wanted and eject anyone I didn’t like. This is the sort of thing the obnoxious tamers from Blue seem to be doing, especially to each other, which I just don’t get.” Baker shook her head but didn’t say anything as he looked at Ceres. “Do it.”
The Tantrasaur smiled. “I rather like this idea.” She knocked firmly on the door.
A few minutes later Karen Woolsey opened it. She blinked at them and put on an obviously fake smile. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“I want to talk to Captain Breckenridge, please.”
“I’ll get him.” She disappeared inside.
Ciaran looked at Victoria. “Take Eliana and do some hunting. We’ll need fresh supplies and our normal source of them is currently unavailable. Bring back whatever you find, but definitely get some fresh meat of some kind. If nothing else, it should build a little goodwill.”
Breckenridge came outside as Eliana shifted to her equine form and Victoria slid onto her back. He watched the Samhain trotting towards the guard post on the edge of town with undisguised envy before nodding to Ciaran. “Major, what can I do for you?”
“You can pack your belongings and find somewhere else to stay. I’m claiming this house.”
Breckenridge gaped at him for a moment before closing his mouth and glaring. “May I inquire as to why you’ve chosen this house in particular, sir?”
Ciaran shrugged. “Other than my pokegirls, your soon to be former housekeeper is the prettiest girl I’ve seen in this dump. That’s reason enough for me. The reason for you to do this is because I’m a major and I’m a tamer. Now, captain, please pack and move.”
“Maybe he needs help with that, sir,” Elsa asked wickedly. “I can help him pack.”
Ciaran didn’t look at her. “Down, girl. You wait your turn.” She smirked at the captain as he continued. “I’m waiting, captain. This isn’t a request and this isn’t debatable. Wait too long and my cat here will get to help you carry your things. And she has very sharp claws.”
Breckenridge’s face went stony. “Give me five minutes, sir.”
A few minutes later they watched as Breckenridge stomped angrily away. The whole time Ciaran had been aware of Karen Woolsey’s shadow hovering just out of sight. “Miss Woolsey?” The shadow jumped as if stung. “Miss Woolsey, please come here.”
There was more fear than hate in her eyes as she slowly approached him. “Sir?”
“Please relax. I’m not going to rape you, and neither is anyone else here. Breckenridge needed to hear something that was close to the reason he was here and would therefore understand. It is close to the reason he was here, isn’t it?”
She nodded slowly. “He didn’t lay a hand on me, sir, but he was watching. It was going to happen eventually.”
“What an idiot. Rape a woman who lives in the house you’re living in and you deserve to get rat poison in your coffee. Well, I’m not going to do that. With the ladies in my life, there’s no need to seek company outside of my harem and, besides, rape is a sin.” She wasn’t going to believe him and there was no way to prove a negative, so he changed the subject. “I’m Major Culpepper and this is Lieutenant Baker. The naked girl is Ceres and this lass is Elsa. Lieutenant Baker’s pokegirl is Libby. The sergeant who is with us is Sergeant Sullivan and her pokegirl is Eliana. They are running an errand for me and will be back in a little bit.” He cocked his head. “Do you have enough rooms for us to stay here?”
“If she doesn’t,” Baker said, “Libby and I can find someplace else to stay.”
“I have room,” Woolsey said softly. “I’d rather not have anyone here, but Breckenridge was awful.”
Ciaran nodded. He’d found out after the prisoners they’d captured had been taken away that Eliana had looted their gear for anything she thought useful, including some money. This meant they had a small bundle of illegal Blue League money. “We’ll pay you in either Blue League credits or Royal script, whichever you’d prefer.”
She looked surprised. “Pay?”
“While I am commandeering your home, I see no reason not to pay you for it. You deserve some kind of compensation for the inconvenience.” His smile was tinged with compassion. “I know you’d rather not have anyone here at all, but if we leave Breckenridge will probably return or someone else will take his place.”
“And if Breckenridge comes back he is very likely to take his frustration out on Miss Woolsey since he can’t attack us,” Elsa offered, “with unfortunate consequences for her health.”
“He’s not,” Ciaran said as Woolsey paled. “Please show us to our rooms and please think about what kind of money you’d like to be paid in.” She nodded.
A few minutes later Ciaran, Baker and their pokegirls were gathered in his bedroom, with most of the women sitting on the bed or floor while Ciaran took the only chair in the room. He rubbed his eyes. “I’ll brief Victoria when she gets back,” he said as he leaned back and balanced the chair on two legs. “Well, since we’re now heavily involved in Operation Mistletoe we now know why the Blues are here.”
“Why is it called Mistletoe,” Libby asked. “Isn’t that a plant?”
“It is, but I suspect someone in charge is rather familiar with Norse mythology.” Baker smirked when Ciaran frowned at her. “I have a minor in Comparative Mythology.”
He nodded. “Cool. I know that mistletoe was used to kill Baldur, but I don’t know why that might be a good reason to name an attack on Glasgow after it.”
Baker chuckled. “Few people would be. That is why I said that someone was rather familiar with Norse mythology. If you knew the Prose and Poetic Eddas the way I do, you’d know that Baldur’s death was what started the chain of events that culminated at Ragnarok. Obviously, someone who does know Norse myths is hoping the attack on Glasgow will begin the final destruction of the Royals.” Her smile faded. “What the Blues have planned is bad enough.”
Ciaran rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. “The plan, for anyone who wasn’t paying attention, is to take the ferries, stuff them full of tamers and pokegirls, with regular troops to fill in any empty spaces, and sail them to the ship docks in Glasgow. It’s thought that since nobody has tried an amphibious assault so far this will catch the Royals off guard and let the Blues take the city. If they can hold it against the anticipated Royal counterattack, they will use it as an anchor and reinforce it from the sea while other forces currently moving into position somewhere near Carlisle rush north along the western coast and drive any Royal forces before them. Any units caught in the vise between the two forces will be destroyed. If Glasgow can be held, the plan is to use it as a beachhead moving troops from safer Blue areas by ship. If they can’t hold the city, they’re to level the place and annihilate the populace. Each ship can carry more than a thousand troops and whether the Blues can hold the city or not it’s going to be bad for the Royals living in Glasgow.”
Baker’s face was grim. “We have to try and stop them.”
Elsa was sitting cross-legged near the door and playing with the end of her tail. She looked up. “Right now they think we’re Blues and we’re going with them.” Her ears flicked. “The weak point is the ferries themselves. If they can be disabled the mission cannot proceed. They are, of course, aware of this and so they’re keeping the boats under guard.”
“More importantly for the boats,” Ceres looked from Baker to Ciaran, “is the fact that the Irish crews of the ferries had pokegirls who know how to operate them. The crews were captured by surprise and so these girls are unhurt. All of them were confiscated and bonded to Blue tamers, and they now either do the maintenance or advise others on how to do it to keep the ferries running. Sabotage would have to be extensive to keep repairs from being effected.”
“What about the Irish crews?”
“They are not a factor.” Libby’s ears half flattened. “They wouldn’t cooperate but they’re still alive and are being held here in Cairnryan.”
Baker nodded. “I have heard that they’ll be returned to Ireland along with the ferries when all of this is over in an attempt to mitigate any political damage with Ireland.”
Elsa scowled. “The pokegirls, of course, will be kept. They’re not important, after all.”
Ciaran had a thoughtful look on his face. “If we can’t sabotage the ferries and we can’t allow them to make it to Glasgow, we only have one option.” He looked at Baker. “I presume running away and warning the Royals isn’t a plan.”
Elsa’s head came up. “No, it isn’t a plan but it should be part of the plan.”
“We are not,” Baker began.
Elsa cut her off. “Libby can teleport you to Glasgow. There you can warn your superiors about Operation Mistletoe so they can sound the alarm about the invasion. There may be more to this than just an attack on Glasgow and a possible invasion. Although I’m not sure the Blues have the forces for a wide assault, if I were making these plans I’d at least have a noisy distraction planned for the easternmost part of the front to draw attention from Glasgow. A force that looked like it was threatening Edinburgh couldn’t be ignored in case it was more than a feint. If they don’t make the attempt, I’d be concerned that this is the feint and they’re ready for a blitz attack on Edinburgh.” She looked at Ciaran. “It would be healthier for us if she came back after sounding the alarm. If Lieutenant Baker turns up missing and we can’t provide the general with a reasonable reason why, we’re going to be in much more danger than before.” She smiled thinly. “She has to go, however. Ciaran wouldn’t be believed, so it must be Tamsin.”
“If I can, I’ll come back,” Baker said. “If I can’t, I’ll send Libby with a message to tell you that I can’t. I intend to, though. I know you’re only staying because I feel we need to find a way to stop this assault. I am grateful that you’re helping.”
“In the meantime,” Ciaran said, “as the new commander of B Squadron I intend to inspect both ferries. I don’t know which of them we’re going to be carried on and I want to familiarize myself with each of them.”
Elsa bared her fangs in a wicked grin. “And, of course, you’ll be taking Ceres and me along with you.”
“Of course I will. Major King got eaten by a water pokegirl. I’m not going anywhere near the water without you two.”
08/29/09 0145 Cairnryan, Scotland
The pounding on the door woke almost everyone in the house. Victoria rolled out of bed and was instantly dressed as she moved to guard the bedroom door. Ciaran grumbled as he reached for his pants and she glanced back at him with an amused smile. “You should be used to getting up at all hours.”
“It’s not that. I’m jealous. I wish I had magic that would make clothes for me, too.”
Veronica snorted as the door opened and Elsa slipped in, followed by Eliana, who was buttoning up her dress. “Ceres is guarding the stairs in case they’re here for us.”
They could hear voices downstairs, but the words were too indistinct to make out. The only voice Ciaran could identify was Woolsey’s.
Elsa snickered and he shot her a look. She shrugged. “They’re here because someone reported that they smelled our dinner.”
Ciaran and Victoria exchanged a confused glance as he finished buttoning his shirt. She’d come back with a goat and they’d put most of the meat to marinade for the next meals, but he’d cut some steaks off of it and fried them on the stove for their dinner. He’d cooked enough for Karen, too, although she’d been unwilling to eat the meal with them. She had, however, provided some potatoes and some freshly harvested greens to go with the steaks.
“I’m telling you I’m innocent!” Karen’s yell could be heard by everyone. There were more voices, but this time the tones were angry.
Ciaran grabbed his shoes and began slipping them on. “Victoria, get downstairs and stop them until Major Culpepper can get involved. Take Eliana and Ceres with you. No violence if we can avoid it.” Elaina made a disappointed sound that he ignored.
She opened the door and looked back at him. “How long will you be?”
“Two minutes at the most.” He reached for his jacket. “Brits want their officers to be ready for the day no matter what time it is so I have to be completely dressed before I appear. At least there’s no tie involved in this uniform.” She laughed and left the room.
When he came downstairs a minute later, everyone was already outside. Karen Woolsey was obviously under arrest, she was handcuffed and being held between two soldiers while a moon faced sergeant was icily staring at Victoria. Eliana and Ceres were standing at the gate to the fence, not blocking the exit, but obviously in position to do so if required. The fact that the Blues didn’t have any pokegirls was good; otherwise things might have degenerated even further.
He turned to the two noncoms and spoke in an icy tone. “Well, why have you broken down my door this morning?” The door hadn’t been damaged, but it was a good idea to set the proper accusatory tone immediately.
The sergeant turned to face him and braced to attention for a second. “Sir, I’m Sergeant McDowell. This woman is under arrest for hoarding.”
Ciaran blinked. “Hoarding? What on earth are you talking about, sergeant?”
“Sir, the rules were read when this village was liberated from the Royals and every person was require to attend.” His eyes flicked towards Elsa standing behind him. “As you are no doubt aware, sir, all meat was to be turned in for our troops needs. That’s league law during the war.”
For several reasons, the most primary of which was that he was not a member of the Blue League Army, Ciaran obviously hadn’t been aware of that law. “There’s been some confusion, sergeant. Who reported this woman for hoarding?”
The sergeant shrugged. “I’m not sure, sir. I just got the order to bring her in. Most likely it was one of her neighbors who did it for the reward.”
“Major, what is going on?” Baker stepped into the doorway and looked around, stifling a yawn. Libby eyed the tableau from right behind her.
He didn’t look back at her. “Lieutenant, Miss Woolsey has been taken into custody for hoarding meat.” He started to fold his arms and decided not to in order to try to present a less adversarial posture, but his voice was still unhappy. “Sergeant McDowell, the meat is mine. I don’t particularly care for the food served in the mess and since I was on my way to someplace that did not involve stopping here; I’ve been catching my food as I travelled. That goat was too slow to recognize that we were hungry. Since I was staying in Miss Woolsey’s house and she shared her food with us, we shared our food with her. If there’s a rule against that, I’m the one who should be in handcuffs.” He made no move to offer his wrists. “Now, you are going to release Miss Woolsey and you are going to return to your post and explain to them that I overrode you and that this allegedly illegal meat was being used by Blue soldiers. If necessary,” he said as a mulish look appeared in McDowell’s eyes, “I will go with you to give that explanation in person.”
“Yes, sir. I believe it will be necessary for the major to accompany me, sir.” He looked at the men holding Woolsey. “You heard the major. Release her.”
The soldiers quickly removed Woolsey’s handcuffs. At a word from Baker, Libby escorted the young woman inside as Ciaran looked at the sergeant and said with a bit more warmth, “Do I need to wear the cuffs?”
The sergeant shook his head. “You are not under arrest, sir.” He glanced behind Ciaran as Elsa stepped forward. “But, sir, you shouldn’t bring them with you.”
Elsa hissed angrily. “Sir, you should not be alone. If you’re arrested I’ll need to be there so I can inform Lieutenant Baker.”
“The major isn’t under arrest,” McDowell repeated stubbornly.
“If anything happens,” Ciaran interjected before Elsa could say anything else, “I am sure that word will be sent to the lieutenant. If nothing else, if I don’t come back you’ll know what happened.”
Elsa glared at him for a heartbeat. “Sir, this town is not secure. There are rebels here and ferals in the surrounding wilderness. If you are not under arrest then as a tamer you should be accompanied by at least one of your pokegirls to the sergeant’s post. I will not enter.”
“That sounds reasonable, major,” Victoria said firmly.
“It does,” Ciaran answered. “She can help protect you and your men as well, Sergeant McDowell. What do you say?” He cocked his head when McDowell obviously hesitated. He could understand the man’s desire to not have Ciaran’s primary offensive weapons tag along, but Ciaran didn’t really want to be alone if he could avoid it. “If she can’t go, then I must reconsider your assurance that I am not under arrest in light of that fact.”
McDowell scowled and looked at his men. “Get moving. No, sir, she can come with us.”
“Thank you, sergeant,” Ciaran said. He tried carefully not to sound condescending. “I was shot by a Royal not too long ago and Elsa’s presence is comforting. If nothing else the next person won’t shoot more than once before she dismembers him.”
The sergeant didn’t seem reassured. “Yes, sir, now please come with me.”
Ciaran nodded to Baker. “Take charge, lieutenant. This shouldn’t take long.”
“I will, sir.” She waited until Ciaran, Elsa and the Blues were out of sight and started inside, only to be stopped by Ceres’ outstretched arm. “What is it?”
“Did you deliver the message we discussed earlier?”
“It was taken care of before I went to bed.”
“Good.” She looked at Victoria. “You and Eliana shadow the major and Elsa. Contact me if you need my help, but otherwise just make sure that he’s safe. If you need help, I’ll drag Baker and Libby along with me since the Blues will come for them too after we break him out.”
08/29/09 0645 Cairnryan, Scotland
Ciaran didn’t exactly dread going to his destination at the 5th Blue Pokegirl Regiment headquarters, but he wasn’t excited either. Even the real Major Culpepper would probably have been floundering in this situation. Ciaran didn’t even have whatever experience Culpepper might have to fall back on and he was ever so painfully aware of that fact.
On paper, B Squadron was identical to A Squadron and was composed of four Troops, each of which had seven tamers (one commander and six regulars) and anywhere from seven to fourteen pokegirls in it depending on the number of pokegirls owned by each individual tamer. Add in the commander and his pokegirls and a squadron held anywhere from fifty eight to eighty seven individuals, all of whom were the responsibility of their commanding officer.
Considering their firepower, equating individual pokegirls with tanks made some sense, although it really sounded like a political decision to Ciaran. But they were, for the most part, human sized and, when compared to tanks, there were a lot of them in use by the Blue League. That meant there had to be a lot of regiments for them to be in. There were five regiments involved in Operation Mistletoe, the 2nd, the 5th, the 11th, the 14th and the 22nd. According to what he’d read in the documents he’d received from Iain, the Blue League on the world he’d originally come from had started with this kind of unit structure but had eventually shifted to almost pure tamer/pokegirl units with non-tamer reserves and reorganized them along infantry lines, but in the meantime there were going to be a lot of unit flashes and designations to remember.
But that was all incidental. What was important was that B Squadron had lost Major King and was not going to accept some passing officer as their new commander. They wouldn’t accept anyone as a new commander until he’d proven himself, and Ciaran knew he didn’t have the experience or training they would be looking for. So he was more than willing to let Captain Kangethe continue running the Squadron while pretending to be learning his new job all the while plotting to betray them in a war in which he had no business fighting on either side. But these Blues intended to kill a whole bunch of people just because they were living in Glasgow. Ciaran couldn’t stand idly by and let that happen, not and live with himself afterwards. Nor could he quiet his conscience by deciding that Baker’s warning to Royals was all that they could do.
He had only one thing going for him, and that was there were no telepathic pokegirls in the 5th Regiment. Apparently most of those were being used by special units to ferret out rebels in already held land and weren’t in general military use.
Well, that and his ladies. Only time would see if those advantages were enough.
Lieutenant Colonel Turner stopped him as he turned towards B Squadron’s office. “Major.”
Ciaran went briefly to attention again. “Sir.”
“How are you settling in?”
“Honestly, sir?”
“Yes, major, honestly.”
Ciaran grimaced and told the truth. “As we both know, sir, General Fowler shortstopped me because I was a warm body and he had a hole in his TO&E. I am resented by everyone in the squadron for trying to take Major King’s place and especially by Captain Kangethe because he had already done an outstanding job of picking up where Major King had left off. I know the British tendency to make do and not complain and the only reason I am bringing this up is because every one of them is right to feel the way they do. I am not qualified for this job and there is no way short of God himself coming down and touching me with his power for me to become qualified, much less fit in, in the time we have before Mistletoe begins. So to answer your question, I am settling in by staying out of Captain Kangethe’s way while he does the job I don’t know how to do and I just stand around trying to figure out how to write Captain Kangethe’s recommendation for him to be brevetted to major which is what should have happened in the first place.”
Colonel Turner didn’t quite wince. “Well, I did tell you to be honest, major.”
Ciaran smiled thinly. “Was it too much too quickly?”
Turner shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, I think you’re right. Kangethe is the next in the chain of command and he should have been promoted, not brevetted, to major, and gone on with the mission. But General Fowler felt differently.” He paused, as if to invite Ciaran to question why the general had done so.
Ciaran wasn’t military but not even he was that stupid. “So I feel the best thing I can do is let Kangethe command the squadron while I run as much interference as I can between him and any busybodies trying to impede what he’s doing. I haven’t had to do that yet, but I’m sure there are people like that here.”
Turner nodded. “There are.” A deep bell rang somewhere in town and his expression turned grim. “However, right now it doesn’t matter. Where are your two subordinates?”
“They’re outside. We were going to inspect the ferries to see if the modifications for carrying troops are going according to plan and to try and figure out where we’re going to put a whole bunch of aggressive men and pokegirls into a cramped space and have everyone survive the experience. What did you want them for, sir?”
“Did you hear that bell?” It rang again as Ciaran nodded. “It’s summoning everyone to the center of the village for an assembly. Our men are going to be there to keep disturbances to a minimum.”
“What’s going on?”
His face grew even grimmer. “You’ll see.” His Slicer silently followed him as he led Ciaran outside and headed away. Ciaran motioned to Baker and Victoria to come with them and fell in behind the colonel.
Baker spoke in a low voice. “Where are we going?”
Ciaran glanced at her. “The colonel said there’s some kind of assembly and everyone has to attend it. I don’t know what for.” Turner led them to an open area roughly in the middle of the village. There was a large group of people standing around, some looking defiant or angry while others seemed numb or frightened. They were partially surrounded on three sides by Blue tamers, their pokegirls and units of regular soldiers so they couldn’t retreat. The rest of the Blue soldiers were drawn up in formation facing a wooden platform. Ciaran noted absently that they vastly outnumbered the villagers.
On the platform were five people bound to poles mounted on the platform, two Blue officers talking quietly to each other and four pokegirls. Ciaran recognized a Growlie, a Rapitaur, a Peekabu and a Leopardess. The pokegirls were ignoring the crowd and focusing entirely on the prisoners with an air of anticipation that made Ciaran sick to his stomach. One of the officers stepped forward and Ciaran realized the beret he was wearing bore a silver winged skull on it, something he’d never seen before.
“Good morning,” he said in a deep voice. “We are here to execute sentence on criminals convicted of breaking League law. We do not tolerate criminals in the Blue League and our justice is sure.” He went on to name the prisoners and their crimes. One was guilty of hoarding food, two were thieves, one was supplying local rebels with supplies and the last had murdered a soldier in cold blood. “The sentence for each of these criminals is death, with the execution to be carried out immediately.” With that, he and the other man walked down the steps of the platform and moved a few meters away as the pokegirls closed in on the prisoners.
Afterwards, Ciaran decided that what took place next was torturing prisoners to death instead of an execution. It was messy, painful and, worst of all, slow. The pokegirls took turns torturing to death one person at a time, with the Leopardess getting a second victim for herself.
By the end of it the pokegirls, the platform and the ground around it were covered with gore and five piles of almost unrecognizable meat dangled from the poles. A few people had collapsed but nobody had fled, the civilians because of the surrounding troops and the military because of iron discipline, but Ciaran took grim satisfaction in the fact that he wasn’t the only person to have thrown up sometime during the murders. He was also obscurely pleased that he hadn’t made it through the entire program without vomiting. It reminded him that he was human and that this was way beyond his limits. As it was, he suspected it was going to haunt his dreams for some time to come.
The pokegirls filed off the platform and the Rapitaur paused at the bottom to turn and set fire to it with her flamethrower technique. At that, the troops were dismissed and the civilians fled to their homes as large clouds of smoke billowed towards the sky.
“Now we go back to work,” Turner said. “Take a few minutes to clean up but I want you in the office in an hour, major.”
“Yes, sir.” Ciaran looked around as Turner left and paused, shocked at the raging fury he saw in Victoria’s eyes. “Are you all right?”
“I’d heard that these things were happening, but this is the first proof I’ve had.” She started to say something and stopped. “I want to talk about this more later.”
“I do as well,” Baker whispered.
Ciaran nodded. “We will, but not here. Now we have to return to work.”
08/29/09 2130 Cairnryan, Scotland
“Tamsin,” Ciaran said, “please use your magic to soundproof the house. I know you don’t like being heard outside when we have sex and you are pretty noisy.” They were back in his room. Ceres had swept it for listening devices before he’d begun talking. Now she stood guard near the door.
Baker gave him a shocked look for an instant and then pulled a wand from somewhere in her uniform. She cast a spell and put the wand away. “The exterior of the house is soundproofed. I presume you said that for the benefit of anyone outside who might be listening.”
“You presume correctly. Also, since I used your first name they’ll figure you’re a pokegirl.” He sat down and looked at Victoria. “First I want to know if you ever seen anything like this morning from the Royals.”
Baker glared at him. “Why you,” she began.
Ciaran matched her glare. “Victoria will not lie to me. Thanks to your government’s idea of how important I am, you have a vested interest in sugarcoating anything that I might find offensive. Don’t worry; you’ll get your turn.” He turned back to Victoria. “Well?”
She shook her head. “The Royals do have crimes that will get a person executed but I haven’t heard or seen anything like what we saw today. Royal executions are quick and involve firing squads. The work parties for lesser crimes are extremely hazardous, but anyone who survives is released when they’re done.”
Ciaran nodded and looked at Elsa. “How often does something like that happen in Blue?”
Her wings rustled as she shrugged. “In areas firmly under Blue control the executions take place on a weekly to monthly basis, depending on the number of people to be executed. In areas like this where Blue control is much more tentative, the executions happen frequently to help cow the populace as well as to thin out potential terrorists. In both situations execution is by pokegirl. What you saw today was one of those execution teams. There’s one in every village and several in cities.”
Eliana gave her a curious look. “What do they do for crimes where the penalty isn’t death?”
Most crimes are punishable by death, but for the few non-capital crimes the convicted is typically given twenty or more lashes from a pokegirl with enhanced strength. Many of them don’t survive that either. Often any property they have is confiscated too.”
Baker was still looking angrily at him. “We cannot let them bring this to Glasgow.”
“She’s right.” Victoria’s voice was firm. “If they can hold Glasgow this will happen and if they can’t they’ll murder everyone there, man, woman and child. Neither eventuality can be allowed to come to pass.”
“Relax, ladies, I agree with you.” He smiled at the almost identical expressions of surprise on their faces. “This kind of casual brutality cannot be allowed to spread. The fact that it’s institutionalized across the Blue League just makes it that much more horrible. This isn’t my fight, but I can’t walk away and not try to do something.”
“You have a plan.” Ceres smiled when he turned to look at her. “You have a tell when you’re playing cards and are about to undertake a risky move. I can see it now.”
“I don’t suppose you’d inform me of this tell so I can stop doing it,” he asked.
Her smile became a quick grin. “No, I won’t.”
“Fine. Be that way.” He shrugged. “Yes, I have the bare bones idea of a plan.”
“Share it.” So many women spoke at the same time that Ciaran was never sure who had said it first. They looked at each other and laughed.
“We’ve got no choice but to sink the ferries while they’re in transit, hopefully somewhere far from shore or at the worst possible place to try to swim ashore.”
“From what I’ve heard,” Ceres said, “the ferries will be operating far enough out to sea that they can’t be seen from land. One of the reasons they were chosen for Mistletoe was because they still have operational GPS systems. That means they can still be navigated by people with little sailing experience.”
“They’ve got people with sailing experience,” Ciaran countered. “They’re here as a backup in case the GPS packs it in. However, none of them have experience along this part of England and Scotland, so they’d have to use dead reckoning.” He paused for a second. “I’ve heard of some people in a community in Galveston who are making a tidy sum producing sextants. I wonder if there’s anyone like that around here.”
“If not,” Victoria said, “there will be eventually. It’s too useful a tool.” She looked at Ciaran keenly. “Are you willing to live with drowning a whole bunch of people who haven’t done anything to you?”
Ciaran sighed. “That’s what it boils down to. This isn’t my war and I’m not a soldier on either side. But those people are going to sail to Glasgow and kill an even larger number of people just because they happen to live in a certain place. There will be more of those murders just like the ones this morning, and for the same stupid reasons. Someone will hoard food to feed their families. Someone will attack a soldier who is stealing from them or get involved if they’re trying to rape some woman. And these people will torture them to death for defending themselves.” He shuddered and turned faintly green at a memory. “The Leopardess was eating parts of them before they were dead. She was taunting that one girl with it.”
Elsa eyed him curiously. “So what’s the plan on how to sink the ferries?”
He gave her a weak smile. “That is my plan. I’ll need help in fleshing it out.”
She stared at him for a handful of heartbeats before finding the ability to speak again. “Hopeless. You are completely hopeless.”
“Maybe not,” Victoria replied. “He does recognize when he’s out of his element and is willing to ask for the benefit of our experience. That’s better than a lot of people we know, either natural or supernatural.”
Ceres laughed softly. “And with a simple change in perspective hopelessness becomes wise delegation. He is definitely an officer.” Elsa blinked and snickered loudly.
Ciaran tried not to sound defensive. “I’ve had it hammered into my head that I don’t know your abilities and limitations so I can’t create a plan all by myself that maximizes the former and minimizes the latter. This is going to be incredibly dangerous and if we are going to come out of this alive we’ll all have to work together.” His eyes swept the room, meeting the gaze of everyone else in turn. “That includes Tamsin and Libby.”
“Of course it does,” Eliana said. “This is their war, after all, not ours.” She leaned back against the wall and stretched out her legs. “I was not an officer, so I won’t have much to offer. You just point out to me what needs broken and who needs to die and I’ll take care of it.”
Ciaran blinked at her and then smiled. “Now you’re a treat.”
Eliana eyes widened and she actually blushed. “I am?” She suddenly beamed. “That’s great!”
“Oh, no, now she’ll be insufferable.” Elsa grinned when the Samhain glared at her. “Oh, I’ll admit you should be. It’s nice to be a treat. I should know since I was one first.”
Eliana’s started to glare back but surprised everyone when it became a smug smile. “Yes, you were. Now you’re not.” Elsa’s ears flattened and she hissed angrily.
“Ladies,” Ciaran said firmly. “Rein it in. We happen to have work to do and squabbling is not part of it.” He looked around the room again. “We’ll start with brainstorming. If you have an idea, no matter how silly you might think it, just say it. Nobody,” he gave Elsa a hard look, “will make fun of it.” She just gave him an innocent stare back. “Exactly. Now, who wants to begin?”
08/30/09 0530 Cairnryan, Scotland
Farming tended to make one an early riser and Ciaran was no exception to that, but farmers also tended to go to bed relatively early. With the interruptions and the late meetings planning the destruction of the Blue League forces, going to bed early hadn’t been happening recently, and he was starting to feel the effects of lack of enough sleep. His eyes burned and his head seemed like it was filled with cotton that slowed down his thoughts. It also tended to make him grouchy, so he was taking special care to avoid snapping at people. He knew very well that when he got this tired, caffeine didn’t make his grouchiness less, so he just drank enough to avoid getting a headache later in the day and then switched to water.
So when he was headed for the door and Karen Woolsey quietly asked if he had a spare minute so that she could talk to him, his first impulse was to explain rather loudly that not only didn’t he have any spare minutes, he wasn’t sure he had any spare seconds either. Fortunately he squelched that urge and merely nodded politely. “What did you wish to discuss?”
“I wanted to express my thanks to you for keeping me from getting arrested. If you hadn’t I’d probably have been killed yesterday along with the others.”
He smiled. “You are very welcome. I just didn’t want you to be punished for something that you didn’t do.”
“I understand that now, sir. I knew you’d helped, but I didn’t understand why you’d get involved in protecting me,” she hesitated, “at least not until last night.”
Ciaran thought there was some kind of hidden meaning in her words, especially since Elsa’s ears flattened instantly, but he couldn’t force understanding through his cotton filled mind. Then he did and horror swept through him and froze his heart. “What,” he croaked.
“The registers in this house carry sound, sir. I know you’re Royals and I heard you planning to stop the Blues.” Her eyes glowed. “I want to help.”
Apparently adrenaline could do what caffeine couldn’t and Ciaran found his thoughts racing. There was one way to ensure his plans weren’t revealed, and he was aware of the sudden tension in Elsa. One word, even a nod, and Karen wouldn’t even know she was dead until she arrived in Heaven for judgment.
But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t order Elsa to kill Karen. Then he would be just as bad as the Blues were.
He took a deep breath and gave a tiny shake of his head. Elsa’s eyes widened and she relaxed a little. “I really wish you hadn’t heard us. It complicates things and this is going to be complicated enough without anything new being added to the mix.”
“I want to help,” she insisted.
Ciaran tried to think of something to say when Elsa put a hand on his arm. “I have no doubt,” she said to Woolsey, “that some people fled the village when the Blues invaded and now they wait with the idea of fighting them. I also doubt that the Blues have found all of them yet. Am I correct?”
Karen nodded. “You’re right.”
“Are you in contact with them?”
“I am. I know,” she stopped when Elsa held up a hand.
“Don’t tell us any details. What we’re going to do is incredibly dangerous and we might be captured. What we don’t know we can’t reveal.” She waited until Woolsey nodded again. “Since you are in contact with the resistance there are two things you can do to help us. First, you can continue on as if you didn’t know what was happening. This is important because if the Blues get any suspicion that someone is planning what we are, we will fail, and die. And you will probably die right alongside us. The second thing you can do is, once the ferries have sailed, inform the resistance. I don’t doubt that the Blues will leave a small security force behind, but it is likely to be just soldiers and your forces might be able to ambush them and defeat them in detail. Also, if any of the Blues on the ferries return, they’re hopefully going to be injured and demoralized. Your people might be able to finish them off and possibly catch pokegirls of your own in the process. But if they’re too strong, encourage the resistance to avoid attacking them and instead husband their strength for the inevitable Royal forces that will be coming to recapture this place.”
Woolsey nodded eagerly. “I can do that.”
“Just don’t tell anyone until after we’re gone. If we fail,” Ciaran said quietly, “Glasgow will probably fall. Even if it doesn’t fall from the invasion, the Blues will kill everyone they can when they retreat.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Karen assured them.
Ciaran forced a smile. “Then it is in good hands. Now I have to go.”
He motioned Elsa outside where Ceres, Victoria and Eliana waited. “Baker went on ahead,” Ceres said. “What just happened?”
Ciaran was not going to discuss this in the street. “Later.” He blinked and focused inward. Explain to my ladies what happened, please. Ceres stumbled while Eliana’s head whipped around to look at the house. A look of sudden horror flickered across Victoria’s face but she didn’t otherwise react. Ciaran decided to head off anything rash. “Eliana, it’s taken care of. Do nothing precipitate.”
“I remember,” she said sullenly.
“Then get moving. We have places to be.”
Victoria glanced at him. What do we do if Karen lets out the truth? Apparently everyone else could hear her twee, because they all glanced at him in unison.
Ciaran didn’t like the answer, but he had one. We fail in stopping this invasion. If we survive the disaster, we flee. While we’re going we also grab Tamsin and Libby and get to Glasgow to aid in the defense of the city.
09/03/09 0715 Cairnryan, Scotland
It was a little past sunrise when the ferries drove away from the docks. Ciaran listened to the throb of the engines with a feeling he couldn’t quite identify. There was curiosity, of course, since he hadn’t heard the sound of a large engine in many years. Mingled with that curiosity was nostalgia, for things that had been lost, as well as delight as he watched the waves curling away from the bow. There was also anticipation for what was going to happen today and fear, of course. Until that time, however, the charade had to continue.
The ferries were overloaded for the trip, with people and equipment crammed in until the ships floated only half a meter above the gunwales. If they encountered anything except calm water this mission was a disaster in the making and he and his wouldn’t have to lift a finger to stop it. Unfortunately the weather promised to cooperate.
He turned to Captain Kangethe. “As usual, you’ve done a good job getting everything squared away, captain.”
Kangethe merely smiled at praise that was well earned. “Thank you, sir. I must admit that your suggestions did ease things in some small ways.”
The suggestions had been Elsa’s and Victoria’s. They’d both been high ranking officers and dealing with logistical problems was endemic to any army. “I just do what I can, captain,” Ciaran said wryly. “In a dozen years or so I might actually be ready to command a troop of my own and another decade later perhaps a squadron.”
Kangethe looked a little uncomfortable, but then he was London born and raised and Americans and their humor were still a bit much for him. He’d been very surprised when Ciaran had taken him someplace private and explained that he was well aware he was unqualified to lead B Squadron. He continued on to explain that he was also aware that Kangethe was qualified and that as far as Ciaran was concerned, for the good of the Blue League, no matter what the official chain of command said, Kangethe was the commander of B Squadron. He planned to give Kangethe as much help as he could, and he had. With Victoria, Ceres and Elsa advising him, some of that help had actually been useful, such as hiring locals with money out of his own pocket to make a stock of sickness bags for the squadron since many of them had never been at sea. He couldn’t and wouldn’t pay for enough for the division, but his squadron would hopefully arrive much cleaner than any of the others.
“I think, sir,” Kangethe said carefully after making sure that no subordinate humans could hear them, “that you would be ready for command sooner than that. You learn quickly.”
Ciaran started to reply but stopped when Baker waved to him from across the Demise. “Excuse me, but Lieutenant Baker seems to need something from me.” He headed across the deck. Both boats had been renamed, with new names painted on their bows in huge block letter. He was riding the Royal’s Demise while Colonel Turner and General Fowler were on the Queen’s Disaster.
“Yes, lieutenant?”
She leaned back against the railing, keeping an eye on the seagulls circling overhead. “I spoke with the helmsman. The weather looks good and so we’re going to be taking the alpha route.”
Ciaran nodded as his mind raced. The alpha route curved farthest out to sea to avoid detection by Royal fishing boats or the almost mythical warship, and then went up the middle of the Firth of Clyde. It took the longest in order to maximize their chances of escaping detection and in doing so would add another fifty kilometers to their trip, making the entire one way trip a little over a hundred and seventy five kilometers. The ferries cruising speed was fourteen knots and so the whole trip would take nearly twelve hours. They would slow their final speed, however, to ensure the cover of darkness for the final run in to Glasgow.
General Fowler would have much rather preferred to arrive at dawn in Glasgow, but nobody in their right mind sailed pokegirl infested waters at night. It was dangerous enough during the day, but at night a feral would not be able to decide that the ship she was attacking was too dangerous to attempt until she was already committed, and at that point she wasn’t going to stop attacking until driven off.
The sound of the engines were enough of a draw for ferals, but the Irish had solved the problem when they’d discovered a colony of Wet Elves and paid them to patrol the routes the ferries covered. They wouldn’t be traveling those routes, though, and the newly recruited pokegirls from the ferries were very nervous and on high alert. The problem was that there weren’t many of them, staying on that high alert was exhausting and finally they weren’t used to long trips so they would get tired. Blue pokegirls would be used to leaven the Irish conscripts, but being land soldiers there weren’t many water pokegirls to patrol around the ship as it traveled, so they’d be tired soon too.
In fact, Ciaran was counting on it. He glanced over as a soldier cursed and suppressed a smile as the man began cleaning seagull poop from his hair. Libby made a noise suspiciously like a snicker as he turned back to Baker. “I think, lieutenant, that we’ll do lunch a little late today, say around 1330 or so. Please let Sergeant Sullivan know.”
“I will, sir. Will you require anything special for your meal?”
Ciaran chuckled. “I’d consider killing for a Snickers bar. Do we have anything special to eat?”
“No, sir, I was just asking.”
“Twitting a senior officer is not wise, lieutenant, but under the circumstances I know you’re trying to relieve some stress. Don’t worry, I’ve got it too.” He looked at the sky again and snorted in amusement. Some idiot on the Queen’s Disaster was throwing food out for the seagulls, so the ones circling this boat were headed over there to poop on them. Ciaran thought that was a wonderful idea and hoped the fellow kept feeding them for hours. “I think I will take Elsa and Ceres and head to the bow to try to find someplace to take a nap. Not too long after we get past the breakwater the stern is going to smell like vomit. Thank you for making sure I won’t be one of those contributing to that smell.”
Baker smiled. She’d cast a spell on all of them that she’d said should prevent motion sickness for a couple of days. “You are welcome sir. I’ll come find you when it’s time for lunch.”
09/03/09 1320 Firth of Clyde, Scotland
When the slightly raspy tongue licked his cheek, Ciaran merely twitched. But when warm lips closed on his earlobe and the same tongue licked it he was suddenly wide awake. He was a bit confused when he remembered he was on the Royal Demise, but still very much wide awake. “What?”
Elsa sat up with a mischievous grin. “It’s time to wake up.” Behind her he could see Victoria and Eliana watching with amusement.
Victoria held out her hand and he took it to pull himself to his feet. “Having a bit of fun at my expense, are we?”
“I do believe it’s become something of a tradition with us,” Victoria said in a low voice. “And you know how Brits are obsessed with tradition.” She glanced to the side when nearby soldier drifted in their direction and spoke at normal volume. “Sir, you asked to be woken up before lunchtime. The regular troops were fed a half an hour ago.”
“I did.” He looked around. “Where is Lieutenant Baker?”
“I’m here, sir,” Baker said as she emerged on deck from a nearby hatchway. “I had to use the lavatory.”
“I am surprised you could sleep,” Victoria said. “Most humans would have been too keyed up to get any rest.”
Ciaran chuckled. “Apparently there can be an upside to being completely exhausted.” He stretched slowly. “And I do feel a lot better. I still need more sleep, but that nap helped.” He looked around and yawned hugely. “Does anyone have any idea where we are?”
Ceres nodded. “Sir, I’ve made an acquaintance out of one of the navigator’s girls and she told me that we are about twenty five kilometers east of Holy Island, which is near the Isle of Arron and we’re thirty kilometers west of Troon. In half an hour we’ll begin turning almost due north to continue up the Firth of Clyde towards Glasgow. This place should work well for lunch.”
“What about the pokegirl and human sentries?”
Libby sneered. “They’re bored out of their tiny little minds. We’ve seen some feral pokegirls, but most of them took one look at the size of these ships and turned tail. Only one got close and she fled when pokegirls left the Queen’s Demise to confront her.”
“Good. Is there anything else?”
Ceres shook her head. “You’ve got our packs stowed inside yours so we’re cleared for action. Shall we proceed, sir?”
The day before he’d offered all of them the opportunity to back out of what could easily become a suicide mission, and none of them had. He looked around and saw determination in everyone’s eyes. Baker was really a Royal and a soldier, yet even she was waiting for him to give the final order, and the step he was about to take frightened him. But it wasn’t enough to stop him.
“Then let’s do this.” He moved past Baker and the two of them threaded their way across the crowded deck, around soldiers and pokegirls smoking, sleeping, skirted a group of soldiers playing a game of cards and avoided others just trying not to throw up some more as they traveled all the way to the stern rail.
Once there he turned to Baker and smiled. She smiled back and slapped him hard enough to knock his head sideways. “Don’t you ever touch me again,” she screamed. Heads immediately came around to watch as Ciaran grabbed her by the neck and she responded by gripping his uniform with both hands before they toppled over the railing to vanish into the roiling sea below.
Immediately the cry went up. “Man overboard!” People crowded the rail to try to spot the couple.
In the bow, Ceres checked her handheld and tucked it into the pocket of her pack. “I have their transponders. They’re alive and I know where they are.”
Libby nodded. “And my spell is tracking them as well. We won’t have any problems recovering them.”
Elsa took Victoria’s hand and they vanished. The Mazouku’s teleport exited just in front of the Queen’s Disaster. She let go of Victoria and vanished again as the Angel dropped into the water, only to reappear in front of the Royal’s Demise and disappear into the waves in front of the ferry.
Libby grabbed Eliana’s hand and counted to twenty before they disappeared as Ceres turned to face the stern of the ship.
Victoria dove under the bow of the Queen’s Disaster, creating an energy blade as she did so. She reached up with her free hand and patted it against the rough hull of the ferry and stabbed upwards. Then she spun the blade in wide circles as the ship passed overhead. Her energy blade cut a single line, but the spinning turned that line into a series of intersecting curves that intersected at places. Those pieces of hull inside the intersections blasted into the interior of the ship by the pressure of the water following them. Because of the width of the blade’s spin, these holes were a meter in diameter and the line of them going from stem to stern doomed the vessel. As she passed out from under the Queen’s Disaster, Victoria almost negligently lopped the propellers off of their shafts before they could chop her up. Instantly the ship’s engines overspun and began shredding themselves. Underneath the Royal’s Demise, Elsa did the same thing to that ship as it moved over her.
The Queen’s Disaster shuddered from the inrush of tonnes of water as Libby appeared with Eliana in the bow of the ship. She let the Samhain go and stepped to the side, scanning their surroundings as Eliana shifted to her combat form and then blasted a flamethrower attack down the length of the ferry, immolating humans and pokegirls alike as well as setting the hull on fire. Libby grabbed her hand once more and the two of them disappeared.
On the Royal’s Demise, Ceres did the same thing before jumping into the water and diving. She swam until her breath burned in her lungs before surfacing and swimming for Ciaran and Tamsin.
Elsa surfaced and looked around. Behind the Queen’s Disaster, Victoria summoned her wings and waved them above the water to draw attention to her. Elsa aimed her pokeball carefully and returned the Angel to it. She then vanished just as someone fired a long burst at her. She exited a dozen meters in the air and three hundred meters farther away from the sinking ships and spread her wings to circle as she checked her computer. Then she turned and headed for Ciaran.
Behind her pandemonium erupted on both ships. Pokegirls, many of whose tamers were dead or badly injured, attacked one another, each thinking that the other girl was the person responsible for the initial assault. Other pokegirls attacked to defend their tamers from becoming collateral damage in the whirling melee. Some humans were killed in the fighting while others mistakenly turned their weapons on the pokegirls and, in the case of some tamers, on the humans attacking their pokegirls. The engines on the Queen’s Disaster exploded, shattering the stern of the ship and flinging a quarter of her passengers into the ocean. She immediately began to sink by the stern as water rushed into her newest injury while the Royal’s Demise began to list to port as the inrush of water shifted her cargo of supplies for the invasion.
Elsa saw Ciaran and Baker in the water ahead of her. Ceres had changed to her combat form and the two humans were riding on her back while she swam away from the sinking ferries. Elsa dropped down into a glide, aiming at them. “Swim straight,” she yelled as she closed. Her wings snapped forward, stalling her movement just above Ceres’ back and grabbed Baker by the top of the head. They disappeared as she teleported.
Ciaran fumbled with his pack and pulled a pair of grenades from an outer pocket. “Ceres, I’m going to throw two grenades behind you.” The Tantrasaur lifted her massive head and twisted it to look at him with one golden eye. She made an inquisitive noise. “No, you won’t be in any danger.” She dropped her head and went back to focusing on swimming.
Ciaran pulled the pins and tossed the grenades one at a time behind them. They went off far enough underwater that all Ceres felt was a moderate concussion from the detonations.
Elsa reappeared behind them, in midflight. She circled hard, reacquired them headed their way. Ciaran pulled Ceres’ ball from his belt. “I’m recovering you now.” The Tantrasaur grunted and disappeared into the capture beam, dropping him into ocean. He didn’t trust trying to put the ball on his belt while treading water and carefully put it inside his shirt.
Elsa splashed down nearby and swam for him with powerful strokes. She moved around behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. A second later they were no longer there.
Ciaran Sullivan
Victoria – Angel
Eliana – Samhain
Ceres – Tantrasaur
Elsa – Mazouku