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A Little Blue
Fifteen
09/13/09 2100 Isle of Whithorn, Scotland
The sun had gone down less than an hour before but it was too late for anything inside the barn to take advantage of the darkness. The fire set on the lorry had spread to the wood and stored items inside the structure and the entire building had been fully engulfed for a while. The chimney effect had caused the conflagration to become far more intense than anyone had expected and flames shot from every opening they could find. The heat had caused the stone walls to crack and they were starting to lean away from the interior. Their movement had let slates from the ceiling fall away into the fire and let more heat rise out of the barn, which in turn sucked more air into the building through the hole Elsa had cut for the lorry. Wind now whistled into the opening and the heat could be felt from the stone walls nearly a dozen feet away as inside an inferno consumed everything combustible.
They’d made camp in the gully where Eliana’s body had fallen, although the corpse itself had been washed and wrapped before being preserved with Elsa’s magic and then stored in Ciaran’s pokepack.
Ciaran sat and stared into the fire, his mind a thousand miles away. He knew the source of the pain that keened through his heart, but that fact brought him little comfort. He also knew he should probably put on a brave front for the others, but right now even that was beyond his abilities. All he could do is sit and dwell on Eliana’s loss.
Elsa, Ceres and Victoria stood on the edge of the firelight at the boundary between the camp fire and the darkness. The Tantrasaur looked at Elsa. “All right,” she said in a low voice, “we’re here as you asked. What do you want?”
Elsa glanced at the campfire. “I want you to understand that I do not say this lightly. I did not like Eliana. I did not dislike her either, but she was one of my competitors for limited resources and, in that regard, I will not miss her at all. Still, for more practical reasons, I will miss her presence.”
“What limited resources,” Victoria asked, “food?”
“Food is not and has never been an issue here,” Elsa responded. “She competed with me for Ciaran, just as you do. Yet she also helped to protect that resource and that’s why I will miss her presence.”
“Ciaran has been more than fair enough to give each of us equal time in his life,” Ceres said carefully.
“I do not speak of sex with him. We compete for his attention and his affection as much if not more so than we compete for time in his bed.” She looked at the other two pokegirls in turn. “I do not offer this lightly, but we need all of the power we can acquire in order to continue protecting him now that she is gone. I offer to make either of you infernal to increase your power.” She glanced back at the fire again. “And I wish to become blessed for the same reason.”
Victoria started to say something and stopped. Finally she shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I will do it.” She looked at Ceres. “If you wish to become blessed, I will make you that way as well.”
“I will consider both of your offers.” Ceres rubbed her eyes. She’d gotten into an errant gust of the thick black smoke and her eyes were red and itchy. “But I ask if you don’t think this discussion is premature?”
“Not only isn’t it premature,” Elsa said firmly, “it doesn’t go far enough and it’s not the primary reason I asked for this meeting.”
“What do you mean?”
“When Ciaran had only Victoria, he was badly injured beyond her ability to heal without outside help. When he had you, Eliana and Victoria, he was killed. Fortunately, his death wasn’t permanent, but we all know what death looks like and Victoria couldn’t have been so completely wrong about his state of health at the time. And since we don’t know why he didn’t stay dead we cannot rely on his returning to life every time he dies. Only when he has had four protectors has he been safe. It is why you were looking to recruit into the family when I joined it. We are now three again. We should replace Eliana."
“You can’t be suggesting we offer him the Vampire that Victoria caught today.”
Elsa grinned. “I am not. Considering his current mental state he would probably kill her as soon as he realized who she is. She will be sold. However, I am saying that we need to find someone to be a fourth pokegirl member of this family. There will be ferals along the way and we can pick from among them.”
“Ciaran will have to awaken whoever we decide is acceptable,” Ceres said. “We can’t make him do it.”
“No,” Elsa’s ears flicked as she glanced at the campfire again. “I wish it were that easy, but Victoria convinced him to awaken Eliana and, even though he was morally against it because of the situation, to awaken you. With her help, we should be able to convince Ciaran as to the necessity of adding someone else.” She looked at Victoria. “If I could promise myself without lying that I could be completely confident that the three of us could do this without someone else, I would not be here now.”
The Angel nodded. “I know you don’t want less time with him. None of us do.” She sighed. “The fact that you’re bringing this up merely underscores the seriousness of what you believe and what I cannot dismiss.” She looked at Ceres. “Do you think she’s right?”
“Her logic is shaky, but her historical basis for it is sound, and Elsa would have to give up her role as his close in bodyguard if we intended to keep all threats at a distance. If she won’t, then we need at least a fourth just for tactical purposes.” She looked thoughtful. “I have been reading some of the information that we have on this universe that Iain and the others came from. I wonder if the problem we are facing is the reasoning many of the leagues used when they set a harem size of six.”
Victoria frowned. “If they wanted the tamers to control ferals without dying, why not just give them six girls instead of sending them out with one?”
Elsa shook her head. “You’re thinking about that question with the wrong organ.” Victoria gave her a puzzled look and the Mazouku grinned once more. “If you give a teenaged boy or girl six sex partners they will never leave the house. If you give them one to whet their appetite and tell them they can add five or so more, then they’ll quickly pack and be gone.”
Victoria blinked. “Do you really think that’s the reason?”
“No, I really think that the governments involved limited the number of pokegirls in order to balance tamer usefulness in controlling the feral population against keeping the collateral damage in their towns and threat to their own lives to a minimum. So they limited the numbers and would then have vetted tamers for loyalty before letting them have more girls. Still, my idea could be what they used to get these tamers out hunting pokegirls in the first place.” Her teeth flashed. “Besides, if you did give a young man or woman six sex partners he or she would just fuck their girls until they died from exhaustion.”
“Language,” Ceres said, but she was chuckling as she said it. “To specifically answer Victoria’s question, I agree that we probably need someone else to properly protect Ciaran.” She looked at the other two women. “Since we are in agreement about both wanting to protect him and not wanting to lose more time with him but understanding that a little Ciaran is better than none, Victoria will you help us do this?”
She didn’t hesitate. “I almost lost him twice already. I will. But we all have to agree on the girl.”
“Or girls,” Elsa said with a grimace. “I don’t like saying this but reality is that if we have the opportunity to vet a girl she is likely to be aware already. After all, once Ciaran has sex with her the decision making largely moves out of our hands.” Her tail twitched. “Should we consider girls who are feral even though we normally can’t know what she’s like as a person? Certain breeds would be useful if their individual personalities are compatible, like Eliana was.”
Victoria shrugged. “I think we will take every chance to see what’s available but right now we’re straying into the realm of trying to plan too much without enough information. We should just agree to evaluate every girl we run across and not try to make this too complicated.”
“I agree,” Ceres said.
“Me too,” Elsa added. She looked back at Ciaran. “What do we do about his grieving for Eliana?”
Victoria’s eyebrows rose. “We comfort him and nothing more. Just remember that we are human too and it’s normal for us to show grief for a loss. Don’t try to bury any emotions or they’ll come back upon you at the worst time.” She gave Elsa a warning look. “Don’t try to adjust his emotions or we will stop you.”
“Did I ever say I could do anything like that?”
“No,” the Angel shot back, “but then you typically don’t until after you’ve shown us a new spell or ability. Only then do you admit to having it.”
Elsa blinked and then chuckled. “I didn’t think you’d noticed that.”
“I don’t mention everything either, Elsa. I want your promise to not try to modify Ciaran’s feelings with any spell or natural ability.”
Elsa cocked her head. “Do you think my promise is worth anything?”
“Ciaran thinks you have honor and you are honorable with him. I am giving you the opportunity to be honorable with me, so yes, I think you are honorable.”
Elsa scowled. “You are no fun.” She nodded once. “I agree to only use comfort and reason with him. If they do not work, then so be it.” Victoria folded her arms and Elsa’s ears flattened for a heartbeat. “Fine, I promise.”
“Thank you. I,” she looked back at Ciaran, “I will speak to you in the morning about scheduling when we will exchange light and dark blessings. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to see to Ciaran’s wellbeing.” Without waiting for a reply, she headed for Ciaran.
Elsa watched as Victoria sat down next to him and slowly slid sideways until her hip was touching his. She spoke to him in tones too low for Elsa to hear and he nodded once. Victoria then put her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder. She shuddered once and Ciaran put his arm around her. Elsa’s ears flattened. “I thought she was going to see to his wellbeing.”
“She’s a crafty one,” Ceres said quietly as tears began running down Victoria’s face. “Ciaran is unlikely to let one of us actually comfort him, but he will comfort us. So she gets held while she cries for Eliana’s death and in doing so, she comforts him in two ways. First, she gives him something to focus on besides his grief and second by doing the thing he cannot.”
“Men cry. I have seen it happen before.”
The Tantrasaur nodded. “They do, but whether or not one will cry depends on the man. I have met Ciaran’s father and he believes men should be strong inside and out. He raised his son to never cry and Ciaran in many ways is his father’s son.”
“Will I meet his father?”
“We’re going to Texas so you’ll get to meet all three of his family.” Ceres rubbed her eyes again. “He’s got a father, a mother and a sister living at his family’s home. His sister was going to add an Elfqueen to their family, which is interesting because their parents are devout Catholics.”
“What does that mean?”
“For us, it does not mean much right now. I’m reading about Catholicism when I can since Ciaran is Catholic, but there’s a lot to read and it isn’t easy to understand. The most important thing right now is I need to tell Victoria and Ciaran is to not make jokes about you being evil. His mother, especially, will not understand or appreciate the humor involved.”
Elsa smiled amusedly. “What can they do?”
“Ciaran loves his family and would not defy them without a good reason.” Ceres looked at her. “Martha can refuse to allow us to stay at her home and she could refuse to let Ciaran bury Eliana in the family cemetery.”
“That’s important to Ciaran?”
“It seems to be.”
“Then warn them and I will behave during our visit.”
“I will after I am relieved of guard duty. You should get some sleep.”
Elsa shook her head. “I will sleep after Ciaran goes to sleep. Until then I will keep him and Victoria company, even if only from a distance.”
“That is an excellent idea.”
09/14/09 0815 Isle of Whithorn, Scotland
Woolsey looked the group over and frowned. “Where’s the blonde girl?”
Ciaran took a deep breath. “Eliana is dead.”
Woolsey’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
“We found what was attacking your people,” Ceres quickly interjected. “When we were scouting them she was killed. We continued the mission and eliminated the threat.”
“What was it?”
“A group of Vampires and Vampira were preying on them.”
“What did ye do with them?” This question was from a swarthy man with a series of scars that ran down both of his arms.
Ciaran’s response was grim. “We killed them.”
“All of them?” The man’s mouth turned down. “We could have used some of them.”
Victoria wrapped her fingers lightly around Ciaran’s arm as his fists clenched hard enough to whiten his knuckles and spoke before he could. “They were feral and if one of them escaped she already knew where there was a ready supply of food. We couldn’t take a chance on that.”
“Are ye saying we’re defenseless,” the man sneered.
“We are saying exactly that,” Elsa snapped. “Since you couldn’t protect yourselves and we had to take care of your problem. I would say that is the very definition of helpless.”
The man glared at her. “You don’t speak that way to your betters, girl.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” She paused for a heartbeat before smiling evilly. “You are not my equal, much less my better.”
The man snarled at her and raised his fist. Ciaran jerked free of Victoria and put himself between Elsa and him. His voice was calm, conversational and completely at odds with the fury in his eyes. “If you lay a hand on her I will kill you.”
“Ciaran,” Elsa said from behind him. “Please move out of the way. As a Texan, you can hit him back if he hits you. If he hits me, I get to hit him back.”
“This isn’t about that. A gentleman doesn’t hit a woman.”
Elsa’s ears canted amusedly. “Then why would you expect someone like this jerk to not hit one?”
Woolsey’s laugh was cold. “She has you there, Thomas. You are certainly no gentleman and you are the type to hit a woman.”
Thomas spat between Ciaran’s boots. “That thing is no woman.”
“What is your name, sir?”
Thomas folded his arms. “I am Thomas Finch the Third.”
“Mr. Finch, for the purposes of this discussion, it doesn’t matter what Elsa is,” Ciaran said. “What is important is that she’s not yours in any way, shape or form and if you hit her someone is going to take you to task for it.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Even if there might be a bit of an argument as to who gets to do it.” When Thomas didn’t do anything except glare, Ciaran looked at Woolsey. “Karen, we came for the sailors. Can I just get them and go now?”
“I’ll talk to Smith but I don’t see why he would try to hold them.” She gave him a sympathetic look. “Do you want to talk to him too or would you like time alone.”
“I need some time alone with my family,” he answered. “Just let me know what Smith says.”
Thomas gave him a malevolent smile. “And what are you going to do if Smith says you can’t have the sailors?”
Ciaran shrugged. “I’ll leave. As I had told him that I was going to retrieve the sailors, it is likely that when I get to Cairnryan I’ll have to explain to General Milne why I don’t have them with me. He’ll insist I tell him where you are located at and I will. Then I’ll go on to Ireland with a clean conscience while he details the Royal Army to retrieve the sailors and you will all probably die.” He smiled thinly. “Some of you don’t deserve what will happen to you at that point, but you I won’t miss in the slightest.” He turned to Ceres as Finch purpled. “Let’s go find someplace quiet and,” he looked around the interior of the base, “not inside here.”
09/14/09 1030 Isle of Whithorn, Scotland
Ciaran shifted against the wall he was leaning on and idly watched Elsa brushing out her hair. “How’s Victoria’s training in teleportation coming?”
Elsa smiled. “She’s got the basics down and doesn’t have any problems returning to any place she’s seen since her training started.”
“So she can’t teleport us to Texas.”
“No, and she won’t be able to for a while, if ever. Besides, I did some checking and you’re talking about roughly five thousand miles. I don’t know if I can teleport that far. Victoria certainly cannot.”
“How far can you teleport?”
“I don’t know what my absolute limit is. I have teleported between Wick in Scotland and Plymouth, so I can do at least five hundred miles at a go. If you’re determined to establish a teleport line to Texas, we’d have to go from island to island, probably hit Greenland, Iceland and Nova Scotia before teleporting south towards Texas.” She smiled when he frowned. “Now find me some islands and we’ll see what I can do.”
“I read some of Iain’s stories where his girls can pretty much teleport anywhere on Earth.”
She snickered. “I’ve read those stories too. All of the people you’re thinking of are older than your United States of America was before it died and they have a lot more practice than I do.”
“That’s true enough. Well, nothing can change the facts. I’ll contact Theodora and ask if I can get a taxi.”
Elsa glanced at him. “Are you disappointed in me?” She shivered when he ran his nails up her spine before sliding his arm around her to pull her against him. “Is that a no?”
“That is a no.”
09/14/09 1120 Isle of Whithorn, Scotland
“You know,” Ciaran said quietly, “I never thought to ask how many sailors we were talking about. I certainly didn’t expect twenty two of them.” He looked at Ceres. “How on earth do we get them all safely back to Cairnryan?”
The Tantrasaur pursed her lips. “It’s thirty miles to Cairnryan and that’ll take at least two days, more probably three unless they get moving a lot faster than I expect they will.”
“I thought people walked three miles an hour. That’s a day’s walk.”
“That was probably fit people on level soft ground. It’s a day’s walk for you. You’re in shape for a hike.” She nodded towards the gaggle of men standing with Smith. “They’re sailors and the last time they had a good stroll was when they came here. From the way at least one of them is limping, three days is starting to look a bit more optimistic than I’d thought.” She started to say something and broke off.
Ciaran gave her a grim smile. “Yes, Eliana would have been useful in making them move faster, but she’s gone and we have to make do without her.”
“Elsa’s not going to like this but I don’t see much choice. Victoria and she will have to take turns flying overhead while I am the point. Whoever isn’t flying will be in the rear and you’ll have to be in the middle, Ciaran, and help us defend them if there’s trouble.”
He nodded. “I’ll do it and I’m glad that I can help, but I know you’re wrong about one thing.”
She cocked her head. “What’s that?”
“Elsa isn’t the only person who is going to be unhappy about me having to get involved. You’re probably not and Victoria is going to be livid.”
09/14/09 1410 A747, Scotland
The rules of engagement that Victoria had laid down for him during their meeting before getting started had sounded more complicated to Ciaran than astrophysics. She was profoundly unhappy that he was going to be expected to fight anyone who hit the middle of the column unaided until someone else could arrive.
Not that he was going to follow her dictates, but he’d already learned that in Victoria’s case it was definitely easier to get forgiveness instead of permission. She’d yell at him, but he could live with that.
Elsa’s statement had actually concerned him more. She’d listened to Ceres’s explanation without comment and been uncharacteristically quiet while Victoria had exploded about the situation. Only when Victoria was done and gone and Ceres had headed to brief the leader of the sailors had she turned to him. “Understand this, Ciaran. You may or may not see this as a threat, but I don’t. I see it as an exercise in cautioning you against being foolhardy. You see, I know that you’re going to ignore Victoria’s orders and fight if you think you need to without following her silly rules. If she considers it, she’ll realize that too and just how stupid it was for her to try to order you around, but that’s not important. Here is what is: if you get attacked and you have to choose between saving your own life and saving the life of the man or woman standing next to you, you’d better choose to save your own life. If you get killed protecting one of the humans here, I will kill every last one of them in return. So if you let one person die to save your life, you’re actually saving the lives of everyone else, including that of Karen.” She raised a hand when he started to speak. “You can order me not to do this, but you can’t stop me if you die. You can only prevent it if you stay alive.”
He scowled at her. “That’s not very nice.”
“If being not nice keeps you alive, I will be as cruel as I need to.” Her ears flicked. “I’m not trying to keep you from fighting if you have to. I would never let someone do that to me and I respect you too much to attempt to do it to you. I just want to exhort you to be careful when you do.” She took his head in her hands, tilted it up to hers and kissed him gently before rubbing his cheeks with hers. “I do not want to lose you.”
“I don’t want to be lost,” he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. “And I also don’t want you murdering anybody, so I’ll see what I can do to stay alive.”
She chuckled and rubbed her cheeks against his again. “See, I’m not really asking for too much.”
“At least you didn’t call me stupid too.”
Her face became serious. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you be stupid, Ciaran. Sometimes you might not think about something as much as I’d like, but I suspect sometimes you feel the same way about me.”
“I certainly wish you’d reconsider murdering our charges if I get unlucky and buy the farm.”
Her ears canted sideways. “What does that mean?”
“It’s American slang and it means to die. Here they say buy it.”
“I’ve never heard either of those.” She shrugged. “Just don’t buy anything.”
“I’ll do my best.” He glanced over where Ceres was talking to the leader of the sailors. Neither of them looked all that happy about the discussion. “Let’s go see what’s going on.”
He pulled his mind back to the present. This was not the time or the place to be distracted. The column was moving at a better pace than Ceres had thought it would, which made everyone happy. The man with the limp had been assisted at all times by one of the other sailors, with his helper telling off with another whenever he got tired. With their help, the injured man had been able to keep up with the moderate pace Ceres had set. That had also managed to keep the group of Irishmen more compact and that made everyone happy since it meant that Ciaran was usually in the view of at least two of his three women at any particular time.
“Hey, Yank.”
Ciaran looked towards the speaker. It was one of the Irishmen. He hadn’t been introduced to anyone except the leader, a weather-beaten man by the name of Aydan Lynch. Of course, he reflected, other than him, the only other people were Irish sailors and Karen Woolsey, and she knew his name. “I am not a Yankee.”
The man made a dismissive gesture. “You’re from America. You’re a Yank.”
“I am from Texas and calling a Texan a Yankee or a Yank is an insult. What do you want?”
“I want a gun.”
“You are free to pick up any gun you find.” A few of the sailor’s companions chuckled at that.
The man pointed at Ciaran’s belt. “You’ve got one you’re not using. Give it to me.”
Ciaran was not giving up his pistol but tried to be diplomatic about the situation. “Sir, are you aware that most pokegirls are resistant to handgun fire? I use my pistol for dispatching pigs and such, not for fighting. A man shooting any firearm at a pokegirl is pretty much just making himself a target.”
The man laughed. “And yet you have one.”
“We have no choice but to let me be one of the guards because we don’t have enough pokegirls to cover your group adequately. None of my girls are happy I’m doing this. Considering I almost died the last time I did something like this, I’m not happy about it either, but it’s either I do this or leave some of you to die.” He smiled thinly. “Are you volunteering to sacrifice yourself for your associates?”
“Hell no!” Laughter sounded from some of the other sailors and the man glared at them. “Bugger off!”
Ciaran ignored them and went back to watching for threats.
An hour later Elsa spiraled in and landed nearby. “Ceres is calling a break for the weaklings,” she said cheerfully, ignoring the scowls from the sailors who could hear her. “I’m due to change places with Victoria and thought I’d come by and see how you’re faring.” She slipped her arm through his and dropped her voice. “What did that idiot want earlier? I saw him challenging you for something.”
“He wanted my pistol.”
“You should have given it to him.” When he looked surprised, she smirked. “He’d have made the perfect lure when something attacked and he blazed away trying to hit it.”
“I was more concerned that he’d be behind me and shooting in my direction,” Ciaran said dryly, “and with explosive bullets.”
Elsa blinked. “Forget what I said. You did the right thing.”
“Thank you. Did you see any ferals?”
“Not a one. All I saw were some nervous animals. I suspect any ferals are hunting them instead of the nasty humans who come with the occasional surprise that hurts. The stories you have suggest this is what was going to happen.”
“Yeah, you’re right, but some pokegirls can be territorial, others can be aggressive and some are just dumb.”
“That’s why I’m not staying long.” She licked his cheek. “To be honest, I hope we do see some ferals. The captures bring good money.”
“And having ferals on hand will give you three a chance to convince me to add to the family,” he noted quietly.
Elsa’s face stilled. “Sometimes you might be just a little too smart.”
“I realize it too. We don’t have the coverage we need for this because Eliana is gone. Not having enough coverage is the reason you were asked to join us.” He sighed. “I miss her and I will miss her for a while to come, but I learned years ago when things first fell apart that people die and sometimes they die without any warning. The fact that I care for some of them doesn’t make them any more resistant to that fact. I wish to the Lord that it did.” He turned to watch the Irish taking advantage of the break to drink from their canteens. “I also learned that although you can’t replace a person when they fall, sometimes you have to fill the place they held no matter how much it might hurt to do so.” He shrugged. “We have to fill the slot that Eliana held. The only thing I absolutely refuse to do is to fill that slot with another Samhain. I don’t care if that’s all we run across for the next month, the answer will always be no.”
She nodded. “I will let the others know.”
“Thank you.”
Elsa started to say something else but broke off with a grin. “I have to go. Victoria wants to know where I am.” She trotted off before he could say anything.
Ceres says the break is over.
Ciaran raised his voice so the Irish could hear him clearly. “Break time is over, gents and ladies. Please get moving. After all, the sooner we get you to Cairnryan the sooner you get to go back to dear old Eire.”
09/15/09 2145 A747, Scotland
The fire had been put out and buried and the camp moved another two miles before settling in for the night. The Irish had stopped grumbling about doing this when Elsa had brought back video of the first dinner spot the next morning. Something had picked through the debris around the fire, dug up the fire and then, presumably in a fit of pique at finding nothing worth eating, knocked down some trees and smashed them into kindling before disappearing.
Secretly, Ciaran suspected Elsa was the culprit in the destruction, but he wasn’t going to ask. After all, what he didn’t know he couldn’t testify to. Besides, it kept the Irish doing what he wanted, which would help keep them alive.
He pulled out his handheld and eyed the stars overhead as he activated it. “Good evening, Theodora, do you have a moment?”
Her image appeared in front of him. “Good evening, Ciaran. What do you wish to inquire about?”
“I’d like to know if I can hire transport to my family’s property in Texas and then back to here. Eliana was killed and I want to bury her in the family plot where she belongs.”
Theodora nodded. “Of course you can, Ciaran. I liked her and she will be missed.”
“Thank you. I’m not sure exactly when I’ll need it, but it shouldn’t be more than a week. I have to return to Cairnryan and pick up Captain Baker first. I just wanted to give you a head’s up beforehand.”
“I appreciate it, but I only need a five hour warning.” Theodora hesitated. “May I inquire as to how Eliana died?”
I can explain it to her faster.
“Please access my twee so you can get the whole story,” he said.
She looked surprised. “Thank you, I will.” She blinked once. “I am glad you didn’t let her killers escape. What will you do with the Vampire that you captured?”
“Victoria captured her and she’ll get sold to Iain as usual.” He smiled thinly. “I’d have killed her at the time, but now is not then.”
“I will be ready to take any captures from you then, Ciaran.” She gave him a bow. “You and the others please be careful and call me when you’re ready for transport.”
“We will. You take care.” She vanished and he set a timer for twenty minutes. When the timer ran down he activated his computer again. “This message is for Cassiopeia. I am Ciaran Sullivan and I work for Iain Grey. If and when you are available, I would like to speak with you about a possible business deal. Thank you.”
As soon as he broke the connection another hologram appeared in front of him. This one was of a trim brunette wearing a green and gold military uniform he didn’t recognize. She favored him with a look that was an interesting blend of annoyance and curiosity. “I am Cassiopeia, Ciaran Sullivan. How is it that you know of my existence?”
“As I said, I am in the employ of Iain Grey and for him I am on a mission here in the United Kingdom to verify the existence of the threat that Shikarou eliminated and that I will not name lest it hear me and come seeking answers. To help me in that mission he gave me some stories to read, including at least one where you are described.”
Some of the annoyance faded from her face while the curiosity increased. “Your explanation is logical. Why have you requested to speak with me?”
“I have been purchasing some items from Theodora but she cannot provide me with a few of the things I would like to get and I wanted to ask if I could acquire them from you or Kerrik. Specifically, I would like to invite an AI to join my family.”
“Theodora said she could not provide you with one?”
“She did.”
“She cannot or she will not?”
“She said she could not. As she has not, to my knowledge, lied to me, I presume that’s what she meant.”
“You are not one of us. An AI is a very heavy responsibility. We are not a computer program as you would understand.”
May I speak with Cassiopeia for you? It’s not that you couldn’t eventually explain things to her, but this will reduce the time to seconds.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Cassiopeia, my twee would like to interface with you in the hopes of expediting this conversation and so I hopefully don’t come off sounding like a complete idiot.”
She frowned. “You have a twee?”
“Iain gave us the opportunity to acquire them and the means to give them to others if I wish. I didn’t turn him down.”
“Who have you given them to?”
“So far they’ve just gone to my ladies, my parents and my sister.”
“Not the Blues or the Royals?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know any of them that well.”
She eyed him for a moment before nodding. “I will talk with your twee.” Ciaran didn’t feel anything but her curious look became friendly. “I will speak to Kerrik about your request. He has the final decision as to whether or not you will be given access to an AI, but I will tell him that I think it would be a good match.”
“Thank you, Cassiopeia.” He paused for a second. “May I ask a slightly personal question?”
Her eyebrows rose. “You may. I may not answer, however.”
“I understand. What is the uniform that you wear?”
“It is the uniform of the Clan Wolf military.”
“What is your rank?”
“I do not wear rank insignia. I have never been a member of the military, but since I serve a former clan leader, I choose to wear the uniform he designed.”
“Do any AIs have rank?”
She shook her head. “We do not.”
“I don’t agree with that, but if it works for you.”
She eyed him curiously. “If you receive an AI, will it have rank?”
“It will be a part of my family and my friend as my ladies are. We are too few to have rank, but if we did, so would it.”
She nodded. “You have interesting ideas. What kind of package would you want an AI to come in?”
“What are the options?” He frowned. “What would an AI prefer?”
“We can come in a wide variety of packages, including some that are man portable, but we tend to want to be in fairly large, well defended objects. Selene is typical of a surface AI. She is inside a base, albeit a small one. She is, however armoring it as quickly as she can. I and Theodora reside in space born facilities. Hers is more mobile than mine is but mine is more heavily armed and protected.” She smiled briefly. “At least for the moment it is. She has some interesting ideas for modular armor and weapon systems.”
“I hadn’t considered that.” He thought quickly. “I am still reading through Iain’s stories when I have time, but I think that I would like a ship for it that’s a good starting size and a weaver that it can use to build more substantial protection for itself.” He nodded. “A ship would let me get to Texas more easily and eventually the weaver would more than pay for itself.” He smiled slightly. “I know that certain elements want to keep weavers out of the hands of the Earthlings, but the truth is that those elements can’t do it forever. According to something Iain said, Kerrik isn’t in the best humor with the persons who want to try and the AI is likely to help keep me from misusing it.” His smile acquired real humor. “I am willing to be a test case for humanity’s use of weaver technology and I won’t give it to any of the leagues.”
“You don’t trust them to use it wisely?”
“Miss Wolf, I trust them to use it for the benefit of the government, the government’s flunkies and their cronies no matter what their current political affiliation all the while lying to their citizens and telling them that they’re only using it for the people’s best interests.” He snorted. “Just as governments throughout history have done all along until we defanged the Texas government.” He blinked and chuckled. “I’m sorry; you know all about this since you work with Kerrik.”
Cassiopeia was looking at him with a slightly puzzled expression. “You called me Miss Wolf.”
He smiled. “I think I’ve been around the British for too long, including my ladies. First names are for people you’re exceptionally close to or, as I initially did with Baker, want to annoy. Theodora is Theodora Grey so I thought you are Cassiopeia Wolf. I don’t know you very well and only used your first name earlier to get your attention. Was I mistaken?”
“No,” she said slowly, “you’re not. I’m just not used to it.” Her smile reappeared. “And I thank you for it.”
“You are very welcome and I thank you for taking the time to listen to me ramble.”
“To be honest, I wanted to get to know you a little before I spoke with Kerrik. Between talking with you and talking with your twee, I have the information I need to give him an informed opinion. It’s nearly 1400 there so this is a good time. Either he or I will contact you in a week or two.”
“Thank you. Be well, Miss Wolf.”
“Be well, Mr. Sullivan.” She vanished.
09/17/09 1030 Cairnryan, Scotland
Baker folded her arms and gave him a cross look. “You could have told me that Woolsey was your contact with the partisans.” She shot Woolsey an angry glare that made Karen smile in a fashion very reminiscent of one of Elsa’s smug little smiles.
Ciaran managed a chuckle. “Thank you for asking but the trip was fine. We managed to not lose a single person on the return leg and the weather was splendid. It’s good to see you too.” He glanced at Woolsey. “Karen, you might want to go home and avoid the coming lecture.”
Woolsey nodded. “I shall, but first, Captain Baker, please understand that Ciaran wasn’t permitted to tell anyone about me. I hate the Blues, but I don’t trust the Royals very much either. They’ve betrayed our trust and our persons too often.” She held up a hand when Baker started to speak. “Something else I’d like you to know is that Eliana died while Ciaran and she were helping us. Please keep that in mind while you’re interrogating him.” She turned to Ciaran. “I want to thank you for helping us. You didn’t have to and I and Smith understand that. We will not forget what you have done for us.” Then she gave him a bright smile. “I’ll have dinner waiting when you come home.”
“Is she angling to join the family,” Elsa asked in a low voice as Woolsey left.
Ciaran didn’t look away from Baker as he whispered back. “No, she’s grinding Baker’s face in the fact that she trusts and likes us and not her.”
Elsa grinned. “I like her.”
He gave her a look before turning to Baker. “Tamsin, Eliana was killed while we were helping the partisans with a problem, but I don’t blame your government or, by proxy, you for it.”
“What happened?”
“When we got to where the partisans are located we discovered that something was killing them and they couldn’t stop it. We investigated, during which Elaina was killed while determining that it was a flock of Vampires and Vampira. Then we eliminated them, gathered up the sailors and came back. It happened four days ago.”
Baker gave him a slightly hurt look. “Why didn’t you tell me then?”
“I wanted to tell you to your face. I don’t know why, but it was important to me. It’s probably because you’re the only British friend I’ve got.” He grimaced. “That and I didn’t want Milne panicking over it and trying to send troops to get involved.”
Baker gave an involuntary laugh. “Generals do not panic. They react to the situation in the wise and experienced manner that years of command have given them. Lieutenants panic.”
Ciaran frowned. “What do captains do, Captain?”
She grinned. “Captains become concerned. They do not panic either.”
“That’s good to know.” His smile faded. “Eliana’s death means my plans have changed a little bit. Once we cross over to Ireland I want to head away from Larne and then briefly return to Texas to bury her.”
“You didn’t already do that?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“Her body is being preserved inside my pokepack. Granted, it takes up a lot of the capacity, but,” he shrugged, “this is important to me and my extra stuff is in her old pack.”
Baker’s eyebrows rose. “Why didn’t you just put her body in her pack?”
“I wanted to carry her home.” He smiled for a second when she just stared at him. “I know it’s not rational. Grief isn’t. But I was responsible for her and I,” his voice broke for a second, “I will continue to be responsible for her until she’s laid to rest.”
She shook her head. “You’ve never seen them as the enemy, have you?”
“You’re lucky I don’t.” When she looked confused he smiled. “My father and mother have no love for the English. Don’t you think they tried, deliberately or not, to pass that along to their children?”
“I hadn’t considered it.”
“And well you hadn’t. Let’s just say my father and I had a rather long talk about your presence in their home when you were asleep.”
She looked shocked. “I’ve never done anything to them.”
“And pokegirls haven’t done anything to you either.”
“They destroyed my country, Ciaran. That’s hardly something one can forget.”
“The English destroyed Ireland by conquest, Tamsin. They then stole her land, crippled her economy, forcibly settled unwanted colonists on her land, removed her own people or made them starve, massacred her heroes and, finally, in the end refused to acknowledge her complete sovereignty by keeping part of her land forever until England needed Ireland’s help against the Blue League.” He smiled when she flushed darker than her normal dark skin tone. “By your definitions it’s logical for my parents to hate you for what happened to Ireland.” He shrugged. “But I explained to my father that, one, most of what happened was a long time ago and that, two, it didn’t happen to him and, three, it wasn’t caused by you.”
She managed a slight smile. “Most of?”
“Northern Ireland was still part of England while my parents lived in Ireland. England kept it for what they called security concerns, which is the English government’s way of saying they still don’t trust the Irish.”
“They kept it for the Irish who wanted to stay part of the United Kingdom.”
Ciaran shook his head. “Then they should have moved to the United Kingdom. Considering that at least three leagues are trying to divide up my homeland, you’re not going to get a lot of sympathy from me. The people who wanted to stay Americans were reminded, politely, that Indigo and Sunshine weren’t that far away and they could leave any time they wanted.”
You are getting off topic, his twee commented.
“But I digress,” he said without a break. “I can’t and wouldn’t make you treat Libby the way I and my ladies interact. I just ask that you accept that our relationship is different than yours. Now, I presume you want to accompany us to Texas, if only to follow your orders to keep me close.”
“I do.” She chuckled. “I have those orders from two different governments, no less.”
That reminded him of something. “Have you told Libby about your situation?”
Baker looked surprised. “No, I haven’t.”
“You might want to consider it. I mean it’s probably going to be hard to keep those kinds of secrets from her unless you can wipe her memory with your magic and if, God forbid, something does happen to you she might be able to report to your superiors about it. I can tell the Royals if something happens to you, but I can’t tell anyone in the other group you report to.”
“If you tell my government, the message will be passed on to anyone else who might need it,” she said. “Although it might be a while before they could contact you.”
“Then I suppose I should try to make sure that nothing untoward happens to you, Tamsin.”
“I’d appreciate that,” she said dryly.
“I thought you might.” He cocked his head. “Are you done being angry at me?”
“Perhaps. I suppose I am for the moment.”
“Then, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a lot to do. Tomorrow Victoria and Elsa are flying to Larne and I need to try and get a radio message to Larne so they don’t get attacked.”
“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that.”
Ciaran took a deep breath and steeled himself for another lecture. “What is it?”
“I want Libby to go with them so she can come back and get me.”
He thought about it before shrugging. “If that’s what you want.”
09/18/09 0650 Carncasle, Ireland
Victoria and Elsa circled the area for nearly five minutes before landing in the road near the ruins of what looked like a church. They’d left Cairnryan about an hour before and had made an almost uneventful flight. Fortunately the only event had been the sighting of a single flying pokegirl who had promptly turned tail and fled when she’d seen the pair passing by.
“I have noticed that this isn’t Larne,” Victoria commented as she summoned her spear while watching their surroundings. “According to my twee we’re a little north of where we should be.”
Elsa pulled a pokeball from her pocket and rolled it between her palms. “Ciaran managed to contact the government in Larne but do you really want to trust that they managed to reach every person with a firearm or a pokegirl and that all of them will actually listen and not try to kill us?”
Victoria chuckled. “I’m not stupid.”
Elsa eyed her for a second before smiling. “No, normally you’re not.” She paused to see if Victoria would take the bait, but the Angel didn’t stop scanning around them for threats. “We’re not that far from Larne and this way we don’t have to defend our actions in defending our lives,” she punctuated her words by gesturing with the pokeball, “or hers.”
The derision in the last part of that statement earned her a glance. “Did Libby wrong you before you joined us or do you dislike her for some other reason?”
Elsa frowned and stared at the pokeball. “I think it’s because she’s happy not being in our family. She’s supposed to be smart enough to see that we’re so much better off than she is and she should want what we have.”
“Do you want her in our family?”
“No I don’t, but that’s not important. She should want in here.”
“And the fact that she doesn’t aggravates you?”
Elsa’s ears flicked. “I want her to want here so I can tell her she can’t have it. Is that wrong?”
“I’m not sure that wrong is the correct word for what that is. All I can say with certainty is that you are a strange person. I’m glad you’re one of my sisters but you are definitely odd. Now let Libby out.” Victoria watched her sister activate the pokeball. Childish, perhaps, but wrong? Probably not as I feel something similar.
Libby materialized and looked around curiously. “I expected Larne to have people in it.”
“We’re a few miles north of Larne proper,” Victoria said. “Coming here first kept us from being attacked and Elsa and I want to wait until our humans are here before we enter the town itself so nobody tries to capture us.”
“That makes sense.” Libby’s ears flicked as she visibly hesitated. “Since we’re alone, I wanted to say that I’m sorry about Eliana. She was a decent person and she’ll be missed.”
Victoria spoke quickly as Elsa’s mouth opened. She was sure the Mazouku had something mean to say and wanted to cut her off. “I wasn’t aware that you knew Eliana that well.” If her tone was a little cool, well Libby couldn’t have known Eliana well.
“I didn’t,” the Nekomata admitted. “I do know that she was the lowest ranking member of your family and I realize, although I don’t completely understand why, that Captain Baker is subordinate to Mr. Sullivan. That would make me a legitimate target in her eyes with which to take out any frustration she had with you. She never did that.” Libby shrugged. “I’m not sure I wouldn’t have done it if I were her. It’s an easy way to relieve stress and it was obvious that she had some friction with each of you from time to time.” Her tails swished once. “I just wanted to extend my condolences for her loss.”
Elsa nodded once. “We appreciate your gesture.” She started to say something else and broke off. “You’re decent for saying what you did.”
“Thank you,” Libby smiled. “Now I don’t want to keep my mistress waiting.” She vanished.
Victoria eyed Elsa. “I’m glad you found something nice to say about Libby.”
Elsa’s ears flattened. “Bah!” Then she vanished.
Victoria chuckled to herself before returning to watching the surroundings. A few minutes later Elsa appeared, holding Ciaran by the arm. The Mazouku’s ears were halfway flat and Victoria sighed as Elsa let her man go. “What’s wrong now?”
“I estimated my time of return and was five minutes late on hitting that target.” Elsa half growled. “And Tamsin is still not ready to leave.”
Victoria looked at Ciaran, who nodded. “Right after y’all left she got pulled away for what I was told was a staff meeting with Milne. I suspect it’s another one of those sets of orders in how to handle me, but she had just returned when Libby showed up. She’s packing as quickly as she can.”
Victoria shook her head. “You were packed and ready to go before we left.”
Ciaran shrugged. “We know that Tamsin is a procrastinator.”
“You should let me make sure she gets packed,” Elsa said with a smile.
Instead of dignifying that with an answer, Ciaran released Ceres. The Tantrasaur assured herself that the area was quiet before looking at Ciaran. “How long do you think it’ll be before Baker joins us?”
“Probably not more than ten minutes.”
“Do you want to go to Texas before we go to Larne?”
He shook his head. “They’re expecting us in Larne, remember? Once we’re there and they’ve been reassured we are actually real we can move on.”
Ceres nodded. “I’m glad you told Milne no.”
Elsa’s ears stilled. “I missed that discussion. What did the general want?”
Ceres smiled mirthlessly. “He wanted you and Libby to ferry all of the sailors to Larne. Libby doesn’t have that much endurance so you’d have done most of the work. Ciaran told him he wouldn’t try to get you to do it.”
Libby appeared suddenly, holding the hand of a skinny blonde that Ciaran’s twee identified as a Witch. The Witch started to say something but froze when she realized she was looking into the muzzle of Ciaran’s shotgun. She slowly raised her hands and spoke in voice shrill with fear. “We’re all on the same side, sir!”
“I don’t like surprises,” he said calmly without lowering the weapon. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“I’m Paula and I’m establishing a teleport point so I can bring a few other girls over and we can return the Irish to their homeland.”
Elsa had summoned her sword when Ciaran had moved so abruptly and now she poked the Witch in a nipple with the tip. The Witch winced but didn’t otherwise move. “Let your superiors know that we should have been warned about changes in our plans. If Mr. Sullivan had been a little less in control you’d be dead right now and he would have been right to kill you.”
Ciaran lowered his weapon. “Paula, please be a bit more careful in the future. Now go.”
Without another word the Witch vanished. Elsa looked at Libby. “That was stupid.”
“I’d say I was just following orders, but you’re right.” The Nekomata was watching Ciaran warily. “Sir, would you have really shot her?”
“I thought you were being attacked. I would have killed her to save you.”
“But I’m not your pokegirl.” Her ears flicked. “But the captain is my mistress and she is also your friend. I should have considered how the situation might look. I’m sorry, sir.”
“Like I told Paula, just be more careful in the future and remember that I will protect you. Will you be bringing more strangers over now?”
“I do not believe so, sir. If my orders change, I will ask the mistress to contact you before I do so.” She disappeared.
“What do you know, she can be trained,” Elsa observed sourly. “Apparently all we have to do for her to listen is threaten to use grenades to kill the person standing next to her. Perhaps she’d learn even faster if we threatened to use the grenades on her instead.”
“We don’t make threats, remember?” Ciaran shook his head. “Ladies, let’s move a hundred feet or so. I’m tired of standing on ground zero for Royal teleports. Just make sure we can see this location in case Tamsin ever gets here.”
“If she waits too long, can we just leave?”
Surprisingly, the question came from Victoria and Ciaran seriously considered it for a few seconds. “I’m reaching the point where I’d like to but we still need her for Ygerna.”
They found a nice spot under the porch of a ruined building at which to wait. Several minutes later his computer chimed softly. He checked to see who was calling. It was Baker. “Yes?”
“We are leaving as soon as you say it is safe to.”
“It is.” He disconnected.
A few seconds later Libby and Baker appeared. They looked around in confusion for a moment before Ceres put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. Libby immediately spotted them and the two quickly joined the group under the porch.
Baker was smiling. “You nearly scared Paula into peeing herself.”
Ciaran didn’t smile back. “No, I nearly blew all of her bodily fluids out of her torso. I should have been warned about what was going to happen.”
Baker’s smile faded. “I know. I wanted to but they didn’t give me a chance to contact you. The lieutenant colonel was insistent that Libby ferry Paula to Ireland immediately.”
“My father always said when you get into too much of a hurry things get messed up, your equipment gets broken and your people get hurt. I didn’t realize that aphorism applied to the military too.”
“Ciaran,” Baker said seriously, “that aphorism came from the military.”
“I’ll try to remember that. They’re expecting us in Larne, so we’ll go there first. Once we leave the town and get a few miles between us and it, I’ll ask Theodora to provide the transport I requested.”
Baker frowned. “Could that transport have moved the sailors here?”
“Easily.”
“Then why didn’t you call for it while we were still in Cairnryan then?”
Ciaran thought for a moment for the best way to explain and then decided there probably wasn’t a good way. “I don’t mean this to sound insensitive or cruel, but why should I pay to move the Irish here?”
Baker blinked. “You’re paying to go to Texas?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Why?”
He frowned. “Why shouldn’t I? Iain is paying me to do a job and this isn’t part of that job.”
“What about my mistress and me,” Libby asked.
“I’m paying for the two of you to travel with us. I thought about asking your government to reimburse me for it or even asking Iain to absorb that particular cost since your presence is part of my job, but I want to get Eliana home more than I want the trouble those discussions would bring so I decided it would be easiest if I just paid for you.”
“Is that all I am, part of your job?”
“No, Tamsin, you’re not. I said you were my friend and I meant it. However, I am supposed to make contact with Ygerna if I can and you are the only conduit I have to that.” He considered something for a second. “If you weren’t my friend I wouldn’t give this idea to you. You might want to formally suggest through your official channels, with a documented trail of records, that someone with a clue talk to Iain about paying him to provide the necessary transport to deliver an invasion force of British troops directly to London or wherever the Blues are hiding their leadership.” Baker stared at him. “You could offer them the plan that ends the war. That might be worth considerably more than being promoted to captain.”
“He can do that?”
Ciaran suspected that, if he wanted to, Iain could provide transport for all of the Royals, but he wasn’t going to tell Baker that. “He can. The cargo ship making supply runs could move a lot of troops by itself.”
“Why didn’t you suggest this idea to General Milne?”
“I don’t really care about him. If I, at worst, a civilian and, at best a corporal, suggested it to General Milne, it would, in short order, become the Milne plan to end the war and he’d get a knighthood out of it. Dame Tamsin sounds a lot better to me than Sir Amos does.”
Baker blinked before chuckling. “I must agree.”
Her Highness Princess Zara has a computer. You could offer this plan directly to her and become Sir Ciaran. He ignored the voice in his head. “Just remember to keep copies of all correspondence and the dates. If they’re hardcopy just take photos with your computer and send them to me so you have a backup if your computer is stolen or lost.” He shrugged. “It won’t absolutely keep someone from trying to claim your idea for himself, but it will give you the chance to fight it if someone does and you want to contest his claim.”
Baker’s eyes gleamed. “I’ll do just that.”
09/18/09 1015 Larne, Ireland
It was interesting to consider, Ciaran thought to himself, that although he would never admit it out loud where any Irishman or Englishman could hear it, English oppression just might have been what helped to save Ireland from the worst of the fates that had befallen most Western countries during and immediately after the Revenge Wars.
Because of England and English policies, Ireland hadn’t become free until the 1920s and the Republic of Ireland hadn’t been born until a decade later. During English rule, Ireland had been kept, deliberately or not (which answer you got depended on who you asked), poor and rural in comparison with its overlord to the east. It had served as a breadbasket and source for troops for England and the English Empire for centuries. Then had come the Partition and Ireland had been broken into two parts, which hadn’t helped Ireland’s entry into the modern world.
When Sukebe declared war on the world, Ireland hadn’t had any major industries for his forces to destroy, so they’d been spared a lot of what had been going on elsewhere. The Red Plague had hit Ireland just as hard as everywhere else, but the difference was that because a much larger percentage of Ireland had lived an agricultural and fishing lifestyle, more of the survivors did too, which meant that Ireland was spared the waves of starvation that had battered already decimated countries and paved the way for the league takeovers with their vague promises of a better life under new government. The Irish, after all, had heard that story before, and knew what kind of lies lay hidden in the honeyed words. So when the Blues had tried to take over in Ireland, they’d been rebuffed.
On top of that, since the government didn’t change, the people in charge weren’t afraid of the Irish and didn’t force them to relocate to government approved areas so they could be constantly monitored. That meant that while some of them did die to feral attacks, by and large the farmers and fishermen kept producing food for the Irish to eat. There was even talk that in a year or two there might be a surplus to sell to interested parties. This time, however, the money would be coming back to the landowners, instead of to absentee landlords in England and Scotland.
On top of that, Irish soldiers had learned early how to tame pokegirls and small units of them swept the wilderness hunting feral ones for capture. Unlike the leagues and some of the remaining countries, Ireland didn’t confiscate pokegirls from civilians or conscript them, so a growing number of farmers and others had girls of their own to protect them. Ciaran didn’t like the fact that all pokegirls, including aware ones, were considered property and could be bought and sold, but he knew change happened slowly, and the fact that the ones held by private citizens were private property was still better than all of them being owned by the government like they currently were in many of the leagues.
But doing better than most other places was still relative. Ireland had lost ninety percent of its people and since there were no forced relocations, Larne was almost what a Blue or Indigo would call a ghost town. The population had gone in less than a year from sixteen thousand to less than twelve hundred, and it showed in the abandoned and looted homes and businesses. In some places, the houses had been completely torn down and gardens put in around their foundations. Larne had been a deep water port for large roll on – roll off ships, but now fishing vessels were tied up to slips that used to hold cargo ships and tankers. There was new construction around the harbor too, although Ciaran suspected that the raw materials had been cannibalized from some of the looted houses. The new buildings were fish markets as well as a small crate making company and another company that sold ice, presumably using pokegirls to manufacture it since there was no available electricity.
Sandy pointed out at one of the ships floating at a slip. “My father owns that one,” she said proudly. “We’ve been fishermen for ten generations and my son is learning the trade to carry on the tradition. The An Bradan Feasa is only in port today because she is repairing some damage from a storm.” Kirkpatrick was a petite brunette who had been assigned as Ciaran’s liaison while he was in the Larne vicinity and she was giving him a tour of the area. “I’ve been told that you could provide us with more water pokegirls with which to protect our ships.” She eyed him speculatively and dropped her voice. “My family would pay better than the government could if you were to give us first pick from among them.”
“I’ll pass that along to my employer,” Ciaran said dryly. “I’m sure he’ll be interested.” He suspected from conversations with him that Iain would definitely prefer to deal with individual citizens instead of a government when he could, even if the business would be much less consistent.
Baker just seemed amused at the whole tour. “How bad are the problems with attacks from pokegirls?”
“Since we’ve made the arrangements with the local sea elf population the issue has gone down tremendously.” Kirkpatrick smiled innocently. “But the kingdom has definite boundaries in which it will provide protection and my family is interested in the fishing outside of it. Even in the six years since the Great Dying the fishing has recovered incredibly and we want to see what we can catch in untapped areas. My father thinks that the return will be worth the increased risk if we have sufficient pokegirls.”
“I’d recommend more than just water types,” Ceres said. “A few electric and some flying girls would give you more defensive power against both aquatic threats and attacks from Blue pirates.” She looked at their guide. “And electric girls would be perfect for subduing any water girls that ended up entangled in your nets and were pulled on board. That would make them easy to capture and tame.”
Kirkpatrick blinked and nodded. “I’ll inform my father of what you said. Is it likely that we’ll catch some girls in the nets?”
“It’s almost certain that it’ll happen eventually,” Victoria replied. “I’ve seen ships returning with serious damage from accidently bringing a girl on board that way. They think that the feral girls go after the concentration of fish in the net without understanding that they’ll get caught too.”
“That’s likely to happen even where the elves are protecting us,” Kirkpatrick said thoughtfully. Her gaze sharpened on Ciaran. “Do you have an idea of when your employer might contact us about purchasing pokegirls?”
I have informed Theodora and she will speak to Iain about contacting the Kirkpatrick family tomorrow. She requests that you give Sandy one of the com units you carry. Ciaran had in his pokepack a couple of dozen communication devices he’d been given by the Grey family for special circumstances. Apparently Theodora thought that this was one of them. “When we get to my rooms I’ll give you a special telephone. When I tell my employer he’s likely to have someone contact you through it sometime in the next couple of days. It can take messages just in case you’re not available.”
“We have no electricity,” Kirkpatrick pointed out doubtfully.
Ciaran could answer that one, too. “It runs off batteries that are charged by solar power. Just leave it in the sunlight or carry it on your belt and it’ll be fine. A full charge will keep it powered for almost a month.”
“And how much is this radio?”
“My understanding is that it’s relatively inexpensive and he’ll just add the purchase price to your first order. If you want it itemized so you know exactly how much it costs, let him know.”
“I will.” Kirkpatrick blinked. “And now back to the government sanctioned tour.” She gestured back towards the town. “If you will come with me our next stop will be the Guarda building so we can process you into Ireland in a proper fashion.”
Ciaran sighed and followed her lead.
Ciaran Sullivan
Victoria – Angel
Ceres – Tantrasaur
Elsa – Mazouku