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Grey Chronicles
Four
(09/19/06 0600 Toledo Bend Reservoir, Sabine County, Texas League)
By the time Iain finally untangled himself from Canaan’s embrace he was just about willing to swear that she had a lot more than four arms. He grabbed his clothes and slipped out of the tent.
As he began dressing, the flap opened on one of the other tents and Pandora appeared, also holding her clothing and weapons. He sighed as she threw on her clothing. “Why are you up,” he asked quietly. He suspected he already knew the answer and shot a suspicious look at Dominique where she stood watch over the camp.
She winked and then proceeded to ignore him.
The Fallen Angel settled her weapon harness into place and gave a shimmy to let everything fall into position. “You already know that I’ve been assigned to be your bodyguard unless I’m on sentry duty.”
“I remember, but I have a question. Who is my bodyguard when you’re standing sentinel?”
She pulled her hair back and tied a leather thong around the ponytail to hold it in place. “Right now it’s Canaan and then Dominique. Sofia wants into the rotation but she’s still not bonded to you and was told to pack sand until she is. Then she’ll told she’s not powerful enough to protect you adequately.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard.”
Pandora shrugged. “You can take that up with Ninhursag, April and Eve. Do you want me to wake them up?”
Iain considered it and shook his head. “No, I think I’ll let my irritation stew for a while so I can be properly motivated when I confront them about this.”
“I think you should too.” When he shot her a look she shrugged again. “I don’t mind the duty itself since it shows they trust me. I just don’t like their reasoning for assigning me to it.”
“What is their reasoning?”
“They put me with you so we could control each other.”
Iain’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t understand.”
Pandora glanced around them and reached for his hand. “Let’s go somewhere else. I don’t want this discussion to wake up the others.” The scene changed from a predawn campsite to a raging blizzard so cold that it sucked the air from Iain’s lungs. Pandora dragged him inside the shuttle’s entrance and the bay door slid smoothly shut behind them to block out the Antarctic storm. “Sorry about that,” she said through chattering teeth. “I didn’t think to check the weather first.”
Iain hugged her until their mutual shivering stopped. He relaxed his grip but didn’t release her. “Ok, we’re someplace arguably more private. What’s up? I remember you telling Sally that you’re a psychopath and need me to control your impulses for you.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. In private she was sometimes clingy, but that made sense considering her Seraph past preventing public displays of affection and the fact that she’d never really dealt with the loss which had made her into what she was today. “That’s not the whole story. Eve says we’re both homicidal and that your concern for me will make you keep my impulses under control and my concern for you will make me try to do the same for yours. April and Ninhursag don’t necessarily disagree with her assessment. It’s the same reason Canaan is assigned as your alternate bodyguard. Dominique’s just in the rotation because they wanted a third person.”
Iain chuckled. “I am not homicidal. I’m a sociopath and only care about the things that are important to me.” He ran his hands slowly up and down her back. “What do you think we should do about it?”
“Are you going to let me kill the people I want to kill?”
“It depends on who you want to kill.”
“Then you’re doing what she says you will. You won’t let me kill them because it could cause trouble for me.”
“There’s some enlightened self interest in there too. After all, I don’t want your killing to cause problems for me either.”
“I’m not sure I can help you keep your impulses under control, Iain. In some ways you’re as broken as I am and I tend to want to kill the people you want to kill.”
His eyes narrowed. “Nobody controls me and Eve should know that. She’s hoping I’ll keep myself under control so you won’t have to kill them before I do.”
“Eve said I was a good replacement for Scheherazade. Is that what she meant?”
“I don’t think so. Scheherazade was dedicated to keeping me safe as opposed to preventing me from killing everyone I thought needed it. As my bodyguard you are carrying out the same role she did, though.”
“Am I a good replacement for her?”
Iain fought down the grief and anger that surged from the simple question. Nobody could replace Scheherazade and just asking that made him want to strangle Pandora for an instant. Then he got his temper under control and tried to make light of the question. “You’re not furry enough. However, you are the best Fallen Angel I’ve got and I wouldn’t trade you for anything, not even Scheherazade’s coming back to me.” That was true enough. He’d trade his own soul for his Dread Wolf’s return, but not hers.
“I tricked you into accepting me into your life,” she pointed out.
“So did Eve and I don’t love her any less. Maybe it’s a celestial thing to think they’re better than anyone else.” He lifted her head and kissed her soundly. “So, do you think celestial pussy is better than other pussy?”
She gave him a deadpan look. “I don’t know any celestial cats so I can’t answer that. Do you?”
He chuckled and kissed her again. “Pandora, I’m pleased to have you in my bed, my life and as my personal bodyguard.”
Her eyes were huge and vulnerable. “Really?”
“I promise that it is so.”
She hugged him hard enough to leave bruises and Iain fought not to gasp in her grip. “Thank you.”
“You are always welcome. Now, unless you want to get naked and roll around for a while, we need to be getting back before Dominique rats us out to Ninhursag.”
“She knew I wanted to talk to you in private and agreed to give us half an hour.” Pandora checked her twee. “And our time is almost up. You’ll have to seduce me later.”
“It’s a date.”
She gave him an almost shy look. “I’d like a date with you.”
“Then a date you shall have.”
“Good.” The landscape jumped and they were standing outside his tent again.
Iain was hungry and made a beeline for the pile of backpacks. Quickly he pulled April’s to the top. He plugged his pokedex into the pokepack and scanned the contents. “Aha. She has some apples that we brought. Do you want one?”
Pandora glanced back towards the tent April was sleeping in. “Aren’t those hers?”
“They’re in the general food storage section, so no. She keeps her personal stuff in a well marked location.”
“Then I’ll take one please.”
Iain released two apples and handed her one. “Just remember to keep the seeds. These would be considered heirloom apples here and Ninhursag will want them.” He snorted. “Even if apples never breed true, once we’ve got an orchard we’ll graft what we want to keep and turn the rest into lumber.” He bit into the apple, relishing the taste.
He was almost finished with the apple when something huge burst from the underbrush a dozen yards away and lumbered in his direction. He had a view of a massive red head and shoulders that was suddenly blocked as Pandora moved between him and the intruder. There was a steely rasp as she drew her sword.
Iain grabbed her shoulder. “Hold up a minute. I’m not sure I’m in danger.”
Pandora didn’t drop her guard. “What is that thing?”
“It’s a bull and it’s not charging.” Iain had been chased by too many cows not to recognize that the oncoming bull wasn’t attacking them. Of course, an animal weighing nearly a tonne was dangerous by virtue of its size and Iain wasn’t going to be stupid around something that large.
Dominique was suddenly beside him. “Do I sound the alarm?”
The bull was slowing, suddenly wary of the growing number of people in front of him. “Not just yet. Pandora, I’m going around you. Don’t move unless I get attacked.” Iain stepped around the Fallen Angel and slowly moved towards the bull. “Hi there, big fellow.” The words weren’t as important as his tone, which was calm and friendly. He held out the remains of the apple. “This is what you smelled, isn’t it? Care for a treat?” The bull’s nose quested towards the apple and he carefully took it from Iain’s hand. Iain slowly reached out and scratched the bull’s forehead in the location where he’d found cows always seemed to have an itchy spot. As he chewed, the bull took another step forward, pressing Iain’s fingers harder against his skull. “You were someone’s pet, weren’t you?”
On closer inspection, the bull hadn’t had the best time since the Revenge War. While he otherwise looked healthy, the right side of his skull was misshapen and he was missing the eye on that side. Nasty looking scars ran over that side of his face, down his neck on that side and ended just in front of the shoulder. Iain chuckled. “Someone kicked a pokegirl’s ass, didn’t he?”
Pandora held out her apple and moved up next to Iain. The bull happily munched on her offering. “What makes you say he won?”
“He’s not dead, is he?” The bull shifted his head, bobbing it under Iain’s hand to move the scratching to a new place. “That shows who won the fight. He’s friendly enough that he reminds me of the pet steers we used to raise for slaughter, but he’s not cut.”
“What do you want to do with him?” Dominique spoke very softly.
Iain made a decision. “He’s a Santa Gertrudis. They’re a good breed that grows pretty quickly. Some of us are going to go back while I buy the land from Buck. The rest of the family will hunt the area looking for more cattle and round them all up. Ninhursag can fix any Bloody Flu fertility issues they have with the Earth Mother technique and that’ll get us started in cattle ranching.”
“You are going to buy this county? What made you change your mind?”
He gave Dominique a slightly embarrassed look. “Yeah, I know this place is as good or as bad as any other but Tenochtitlan was founded because of an omen, why not the Grey Ranch too?” He gave the bull one final scratch and dropped his hand. “And the scarred but unbowed survivor of a pokegirl attack is a fine omen for what we want to build here.”
Pandora shook her head. “What are you going to name our new mascot?”
He gave her an amused smile. “I’ll call him Vinotero. That was the name of the Brahman bull that sired the Santa Gertrudis breed. He’ll be Vinnie for short.”
“So we are going to buy the county?”
“If it’s for sale we will. Dominique, we’ll stand guard while you get Ninhursag up. I have something she needs to do before we go back to Austin.” He grinned. “Always butter up the potentates.”
***
(09/19/06 0930 Austin, Texas League)
The bell rang when April opened the door, bringing Sally from the back of the room. She looked Iain, April and Pandora over and chuckled. “Welcome back.” She turned and yelled towards the back. “Buck! It’s for you!”
“Good morning, Mrs. Hartman,” Iain said.
Sally blinked and flushed slightly. “We’ve never made it official, but thank you. Our church has forbidden marriage between pokegirls and humans.”
Buck appeared from the back with a steaming cup of coffee. “Iain! What brings you here this time?”
“Remember that I wanted to buy some land to the east? Well I’m here to make a purchase.” He looked at April. “But first I’ve got something for you.”
“You don’t have to give us gifts,” Buck said. “In my capacity as a league official I sell to everyone.”
“Hush, Buck.” Sally watched eagerly as April swung off her pokepack. “I like gifts.”
Iain held up his hand and April paused. “I like to think you two are our friends, Buck. That’s why I gave you the coffee and why I brought you some fresh fruit this time. It has nothing to do with league business. If you’d like, we can work out the details of the sale first.” He glanced at Sally. “And I’m hoping that you and Sally are telling your friends that we’ve got nice things that we’ll be selling soon. Word of mouth is the best advertising after all.”
Buck chuckled. “All right, Iain. It’s just that some people think things are still done the old way and have tried to bribe league officials in the hopes of getting special treatment. I’ll be glad to accept any gifts from a friend.”
April released a basket of fresh apples and another of fresh peaches. Both had been grown by Ninhursag that morning and almost glowed with healthy goodness. “Here you go.”
Sally’s eyes lit up. “I love peaches! These look wonderful!”
April picked up the apples. “You get the peaches and we’ll put these away while the men talk.”
Sally grabbed the basket of peaches and the two women headed into the back.
Buck shook his head as he watched them go. “You really think we’re friends, Iain?”
“Not yet, but you and Sally are good people. I could do a lot worse in my choice of people to try to befriend.”
“Thanks, I think. What do you want to buy?”
Iain took a deep breath. “I’d like to purchase the entirety of Sabine County.”
Buck looked surprised. “I see. There’s a league related security issue with Sabine and because of that we’ll need to have Captain Garrett here for this. Do you want to change your mind?”
Iain snorted. “I may not have that option. When I asked my Elfqueen if she wanted to come with me back to Austin to negotiate for the land her response was ‘Fuck Austin. This is where we belong’. Let’s see what this issue is and what we can do about it.”
Buck turned to face the back. “Sally, when you get done go get Carston and tell him this is important!”
Sally stuck her head out the door to their living quarters and grinned at her tamer. “He’ll want to know more than that and you know it.”
“It’s about the Toledo Bend area, Sally. You remember our talk about it. Tell him I may have a solution for the problem we were discussing.”
Sally’s smile vanished. “I’ll get him in just a minute, Buck. Let me finish putting up the fruit.” She disappeared again.
Hartman pointed at some chairs. “Have a seat, Iain. You too, Pandora. Would you care for something to drink?”
“We’re good.” Iain looked at Pandora, who shook her head. “Fine, be that way.”
“I will.” She moved behind Iain’s chair when he sat.
“Is something wrong,” Buck asked curiously as April and Sally returned. Sally slipped out the door as April grabbed the chair next to Iain.
“She’s my bodyguard and takes her job seriously.”
Buck frowned. “Why do you need a bodyguard?”
“That’s the question I keep asking. So far the answer seems to be ‘just because’.”
April glared at Iain briefly. “That’s not it and you know it.”
“I don’t have those kinds of enemies in Texas and they’re not likely to show up here. We all know that, too.” He glared back. “Answer that, missy.”
She shrugged. “I can’t and you know it, so apparently I’ll have to fall back on the fact that it makes your family happy to know you’re protected.” She folded her arms and leaned back with a defiant look on her face.
Iain’s jaw set and he looked away. Finally he took a deep breath and turned back to Hartman. “What is this security issue you mentioned?”
Buck had been watching the exchange with interest. “I think I’ll wait until Carston gets here before we discuss it. I want to get his take on the situation first.”
Iain sighed. “And how long will it take for Sally to return with Carston?”
“It shouldn’t be too long.”
April produced a small box from her pokepack and smiled at Iain and Buck. “Anyone care for a game of dominoes while we wait?” She didn’t bother to look at Pandora since she knew that the Fallen Angel was on duty and wouldn’t get involved.
Hartman grinned. “That sounds like fun. Let me refresh my cup of coffee and we can play.”
***
(09/19/06 1045 Austin, Texas League)
Iain was glad to hear the bell on the door ring as someone pulled it open. It gave him a reason to get away from the domino game and the reproachful looks April kept giving him. He wasn’t entirely sure but he thought she was unhappy because he wasn’t helping her and ganging up on Buck in the game. She hadn’t said anything about it over their bond or through her twee, though, and he wasn’t going to ask.
Besides, the house rule was that if everyone could speak, mental communication was cheating during games. The ladies had wondered why Iain had insisted on that wording, at least until he’d explained about Whisper.
Sally came in with a grumpy glare over her shoulder. “Sorry about the delay, Buck. If Iain offers supplies for the land, get some damned radios so we can find people faster.”
A burly man who looked like he spent a lot of time outside came through the door behind the Chocoboob. He snorted. “I don’t want to be easier to find, Sally. Hell, I’d like to be harder to find sometimes.”
The brunette behind him laughed until she saw Pandora. Her smile faded as she looked over the slung shotgun as well as the sword at the Fallen Angel’s waist and she moved closer to the man she’d been following.
“He was at my place, Buck.” The speaker was a tall, slender black woman wearing a nice button down shirt and jeans. Her left arm ended at the elbow. “I needed some information on the problems going on in El Paso and he was briefing me when Sally showed up. Since she said you might have a solution to the Toledo Bend issue, I decided to tag along.”
Buck nodded. “Iain, this is Captain Carston Garrett and Lisa, his pokegirl. The other woman is Lorena Robinson. Everyone, this is Iain Grey. The lady putting up the dominoes is April and that is Pandora. They’re interested in buying land in east Texas.”
Garrett shot Buck a hard look. “What land?”
“I want to purchase Sabine County. I understand there’s a precedent since you’ve already sold a county in west Texas to someone.”
“What do you intend to do with the land, Mr. Grey?” Robinson’s voice was simultaneously cool and curious.
“Is that important, Ms. Robinson?”
“It’s Mrs. Robinson and, yes, it is. You see, the Toledo Bend Reservoir is a natural fortification that keeps Indigo forces from crossing over to raid into that part of Texas. You’re proposing to purchase a part of that and we need to know that you don’t intend to drain the reservoir or anything like that.”
April had finished cleaning up from the game. “We’re settling there and intend to raise our family. We’ll be ranching and farming the land and selling what we can in Port Arthur and elsewhere. We like the reservoir and don’t intend to do anything bad to it.”
Robinson and Garrett exchanged a look before the captain turned to Buck. “I don’t see where this helps us, Buck.”
“We own the land right now, Carston. It helps if we sell it to him with the requirement that he also purchases the top of Newton County and he keeps the dam safe as part of the conditions of the sale. I’ve met the rest of his family. He’s got like twenty pokegirls.”
“Buck’s exaggerating. Iain has ten pokegirls,” Sally said flatly. “I will admit, though, that they look like they’re a powerful bunch.”
Iain looked at all three humans. “What dam?”
“What do you know about the area?” Iain was curious as Robinson took control of the conversation again.
“Not much. When I lived in Texas I mostly lived in the area between Austin and Houston. I drove through Orange and Vidor from time to time.”
“The reservoir and generating station were finished in 1969. Before then there were a lot of problems with flooding along the Sabine River which would affect the Orange and Port Arthur areas. The dam stopped that and things were fine until the world exploded.” Almost involuntarily her eyes dipped to the stump of her left arm before returning to Iain. “The problem is now Indigo claims nearly half of Texas and they have threatened to blow the dam and destroy Orange and possibly Port Arthur if the towns don’t surrender to them and recognize Indigo sovereignty. So far they haven’t carried through with their threat, but we believe that it is more due to them being busy elsewhere than out of any sort of decency on their part. The way their tamers are treating Indigo’s own citizens shows how little they value human life.” She rubbed her eyes briefly. “Recently they’ve received new teams of tamers and their pokegirls at Fort Polk, which is only thirty miles from the dam and only a hundred miles from Port Arthur. There are rumors that they intend to begin a campaign against east Texas to capture the region.”
Iain shrugged. “If they come into Sabine and I own it, you don’t have to worry about them.”
“That’s good to hear.” She turned to Buck. “Your idea seems like a good one. I’ll let you present it.”
“Thank you.” Buck turned to Iain. “We will sell you the land you want along with the area of the reservoir from your land to the Indigo land border if you also take the top ten miles of Newton County and over into Louisiana to the South Toledo Bend State Park and you take possession of the dam and protect it from attack.”
Pandora blinked. “You want us to invade Indigo.”
Lorena shook her head. “Technically no we don’t. We do claim the whole area and so you’d be defending Texas land. Your land.”
April frowned. “Who the fuck are you? I know who Buck is and Iain told us that Carston was captain of the Texas Ranger Division, but who are you?”
Lorena looked surprised for an instant. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m the president of the league. Granted, there’s more work at our dairy than in the government but I am the president of the Texas League.”
Iain sighed and twisted his head in a circle to loosen the sudden tightness in his neck. “What about the generating station?”
“You’d get the whole dam. I’d love to see electricity flowing into Texas but I don’t think there’s an intact transmission line for a thousand miles. Don’t worry; I don’t intend to leave you twisting in the wind out there. There are TDF forces in Orange and Port Arthur that can support you if the Indigos move against you.”
Iain suddenly had a headache and a bad feeling of déjà vu. “I don’t mean to sound insulting but we don’t trust anyone we haven’t trained with. We’ve already been screwed over by a government.”
Lorena laughed. “Back before the war we all were, Iain. If it helps you can remember that the dam’s survival is vital to our interests so I don’t intend to abandon it or you. That reservoir channels any attacks down towards Orange and the TDF unit there. I don’t have the manpower,” she smiled at Pandora, “or pokegirl power to chase Indigo units all across our eastern border. I need the reservoir intact as a buffer.”
Iain, April, Pandora, it was Theodora, you knew that if you settled down in east Texas you would be eventually crossing blades with the Indigo forces. I will monitor and give you as much early warning as I can. It should be sufficient against anything except direct teleportation into the clan home. This means you don’t have to worry as much about being called a murderer for all of the people you’ll have to kill to protect your land and the dam just makes it easier to predict where attacks might be directed toward.
That wasn’t necessarily true and Iain knew it, but otherwise Theodora was correct in her assessment.
“What is this additional property going to cost us,” Pandora wanted to know.
“Nothing,” Buck replied. “You’ll get the extra land at no charge and I’ll throw in a five percent discount on the land you do want to buy. It’ll all be deeded to you so everything is completely legal.”
Iain frowned suddenly. “Wait a moment. You claim the whole area? What area and why are you claiming stuff outside of Texas?”
“Do you understand that politics is the art of the possible and that negotiation is the power behind what is and what isn’t possible?”
“I have heard that. I’ve also heard that no treaty matters until it is ratified on the battlefield.”
Lorena chuckled. “That seems to be more than true enough in our situation. Anyway, when Indigo, Sunshine and Johto partitioned Texas, we made some claims of our own into their territory. It was supposed to give us place to start negotiations.” Her face soured. “None of them bothered to try and talk to us.”
Carston snorted. “Apparently they have forgotten Texas history and how stubborn we can be. Their tamers came waltzing in and found out that we had tamers of our own who weren’t willing to be drafted. The survivors went home and reported Texas in open rebellion. Fortunately lots of areas in all of the leagues are just as rebellious and closer to their capitals. It’s kept them busy up to now.”
Lorena gave him a look and he subsided. “We claimed everything in a line from the north border of North Carolina across to just south of San Francisco and down into Mexico to Monterrey.”
“Bold,” Iain murmured. “Useless, but it was definitely bold. You’ll have to be a legitimate government in their eyes before they’ll even try to talk to you. And, under your constitution, you don’t really have the power to do much.” He looked at Pandora. “And so we fight.”
“And so we fight,” she echoed softly. “But we fight this time for our home and our future. There’s nothing more worthy of battle.”
Through the delta bonds and Sofia’s twee, Iain took a quick tally. It took only a handful of milliseconds to complete. “I’ll try to protect the dam, but understand that I am not going to sacrifice my family for nothing, and, in the end that’s what that dam is to me.”
He watched Lorena visibly relax. “Thank you. That’s all we can ask.”
“Not true,” Lisa said, speaking for the first time. “The Rangers and the league will buy captured pokegirls. We’ve got more tamers than pokegirls right now and,” she grinned, “you and Kerrik gave us money to pay for them with.”
Iain glanced at April and back to the Ponytaur. “If we come across any we’ll bring them here.”
“It would be faster to go to the land office in Orange,” Buck said. “If you bring them here we’ll just have to transport them there anyway and you’re closer to Orange than Austin. Oh, and Dave is headed out that way.”
Carston frowned. “What about Dave?”
“Iain and his ladies are the ones that caught Nanette and gave her to Dave.”
“That we did,” April said. “And we’ve got several other feral pokegirls who are ready for sale as soon as we can get back home and get them. So, can we start the negotiations for the sale of the land?”
“Sure,” Lorena pulled herself onto the counter, sitting with her legs swinging idly. “Buck, go get the ledger and do your job, sluggard.”
***
(09/19/06 1500 Grey Ranch, Texas League)
Canaan watched the pokegirl flying overhead at well over three hundred feet for a few seconds and then teleported, exiting just above and behind her target. Her legs clamped around the flying Dragoness’ waist as she grabbed the flying type’s wings with her two lower hands and slammed the fists of her two upper hands into the sides of the Dragoness’ skull.
The Dragoness freaked as they plummeted towards the ground, struggling frantically to free her wings even as she twisted, trying to bring her head around enough to employ one of her breath weapons on whoever was attacking her. Canaan kept pounding her fists into the Dragoness’ head until just before impact. At that point she rolled free of the Dragoness and hovered as the flying pokegirl slammed into the ground in a huge gout of dirt and grass.
Canaan didn’t throw the pokeball as much as just drop it onto the top of the dying Dragoness. “I don’t know about these new pokeballs,” she said as she arrived at the collection point a short time later. “I know that if they stop bouncing around the capture is complete, but I keep thinking that without the chime she’s going to burst free as I reach for the ball.”
Dominique shrugged. “So wait a few seconds first.”
“Where’s the fun in that? It’s the same reason I didn’t just hammer her with psychic attacks from a distance. I like hand to hand combat.”
“Then stop bragging and pretending that it’s bitching. We all know what you’re really doing, which is telling us just how great you think you are.” Dominique added the ball to the bag of captured ferals. “That makes nineteen and one problem child.”
Eve appeared out of thin air. “Iain’s back and we’re suspending operations for the moment. You’re to return to base camp while I get Daphne. Where is she?”
“She went back home,” Dominique reported.
Eve frowned. “And who let her do that?”
“I can’t detain her. That goes against the whole Texas League ideal that Iain embraces, remember? I asked her to stay and she said she’d be at home when Iain wanted to talk to her. Then she flew off.” Dominique gave Canaan a sideways glance. “Aren’t you going to complain about that rule too?”
The Splice shook her head. “Not a bit. I get to defend myself against any pokegirl or human who threatens me and the law will be on my side. You won’t hear a peep out me slamming that sort of rule.”
“Even if you can’t just kill them out of hand,” Eve asked curiously.
“Now you’re confusing me with Pandora. I’ll kill anyone I need to without a qualm and as fast as possible but I enjoy the fight more than the kill.” Her voice dropped. “I think Pandora’s problem is that she doesn’t enjoy anything except perhaps being with Iain. Killing the people who bother you is the most efficient way of ensuring they can’t bother you anymore. She’s still beating herself up for what happened to her other tamer before she died and because of it she’ll cleanse the world of life before letting him get seriously hurt. That includes us, by the way.”
“You think so?”
“Just because she’s a dark type and I can’t read her mind doesn’t mean I can’t see where her past led her to become what she is today. I’m a hunter and I’m supposed to be able to evaluate prey with an eye towards predicting their responses to stimuli. And as a Wham mix I’m a genius to boot but I don’t need it to figure her motivations out.”
“You think of her as prey?”
“Dee, I think of everyone except Iain as potential prey.” She grinned. “It’s why I’m his other bodyguard.”
***
(09/19/06 1520 Grey Ranch, Indigo League - disputed)
The dam was almost three and a half kilometers of mounded earth with a concrete facing on the reservoir side. The control station with the generating station was on the Texas side of the border while the primary spillways were on the Louisiana or Indigo side of the border. Louisiana road 191 ran over the top of the spillway portion of the dam while it turned into FM692 on the Texas side and ran thirty meters or so behind the generating station.
“I’m no engineer but I do not like the way that looks.” Iain was pointing at a rill of mud and water that emerged from the downstream part of the dam near the generating station and flowed down to the Sabine River below. “If that means the reservoir has piped through the dam, it could be getting ready to fail when we get another heavy storm upriver. Or it could last for years with the existing damage.”
From the information I have on dams of this sort, Theodora told them over their twees, they are designed for constant attendance by several operators and maintenance personnel. Being abandoned for several years cannot have been beneficial. After a proper survey I can install a control system to maintain proper lake flow and level as well as begin repairs to the structure of the dam itself. However, in its current state a single earthquake technique or other powerful pokegirl attack could irreparably damage the dam or, indeed, cause immediate failure. The Texas League is right to be concerned about the potential for disaster downstream.
“So if the water level gets too high there’s a problem?” Dominique moved closer to the lake side and peered down into the water. “It looks ok to me.”
Actually, there’s more danger if the water level gets too low. High water will spill over the top of the dam and potentially cause erosion. However, the water pressure from the standing water inside the reservoir helps to hold the dam in place and if the water level falls too low the dam can become unstable throughout its entire structure, precipitating catastrophic failure. I can reengineer the dam to make it more stable against all forces by constructing a weaver control network over the dam and conducting internal repairs as well as upgrades. Repairing the dam will take months. Rebuilding it, however, would take years. Speed is advised. May I begin, Iain?
“Do what you think is best, Theodora,” Iain ordered. “Don’t bother waiting to ask for permission again, either.”
I hear you, clan leader, and I will follow your instructions. Thank you for the show of trust. It is likely that there are feral pokegirls inside the control building or the generator portion of the dam itself. Until my survey is complete, I would recommend not disturbing them for fear of destruction of the dam while battling them. The same is true for combat in the water or on the land around the vicinity of the dam.
“You heard the lady,” Ninhursag said. “If we see ferals around here, monitor and track but do not engage.”
“The same goes for Indigo forces,” Iain said quietly. “Unless they are actively trying to destroy the dam, leave them be. Avoid contact with them if at all possible.”
“What if they are trying to capture the dam,” April asked.
“Let them have it until Theodora tells us it’s safe to kick their asses out. I know, if they fight ferals here they could destroy the dam, but that’s a chance I’m willing to take. We won’t destroy the dam by accident.” He rolled his shoulders to loosen them up. “What’s next on the agenda?”
“We have a problem,” Ninhursag informed him.
“What?”
“Not what, who.”
“Ok, who?”
“Daphne.”
***
(09/19/06 1525 Far Side of Luna, Sol System)
Theodora had already produced and loaded the constellation of communications satellites into a transport for delivery. Now she was working on the list of equipment that Iain had agreed to provide for the Texas League in exchange for the land they’d bought near the Indigo border as well as turning some of her stores of gold into coins for the rest of the payment. She stopped making all of it and shifted part of her manufacturing to producing the external weaver control system for the dam. While doing so, she also began moving a million cubic meters of basalt pebbles into the cargo bays of other transports. The basalt would be woven into fibers on site to provide replacement material for the dam and would greatly improve the structural strength of it during the renovation and repair. Later, the fibers would be expanded into additional structural reinforcements that would essentially make the dam itself almost indestructible.
The Theodora had living quarters for fifty thousand people and the support equipment for all of them, so manufacturing all of this took only a minor portion of her onboard facilities. In the meantime she continued stocking stuff that she thought he would need.
Her primary manufacturing system was geared towards producing large scale items such as space stations and ships. It was, up to this point, effectively unused except for Iain’s instructions for the manufacture of the complement of parasite ships, the satellite constellation and a modular hyper drive for the Theodora. The parasite ships and the constellation were complete while the drive module was currently under construction. It was, however, of low priority and she suspended work on it while picking out a long series of plans and putting them into the primary production queue. For the first time since her awakening, all of her manufacturing equipment ground into full activity.
She was, after all, following his instructions. “Do what you think is best, Theodora,” Iain ordered. “Don’t bother waiting to ask for permission again, either.” Theodora savored the words with satisfaction and began to do as instructed.
***
(09/19/06 1600 Grey Ranch, Texas League)
The road was graveled and looked like it was an old logging road that continued deep into the forest. Everywhere he looked grass, weeds and saplings were spreading islands of green over the gravel. Where they were standing part of the forest had been removed by snapping off the trees close to the ground and piling them up on the east side of the clearing. Backed up against the pile of trees was a collection of travel trailers of differing types, models and ages. All had been placed together and a large pile of sheet metal and wooden paneling dumped on top of the dead trees suggested that at least part of the interiors had been gutted. Even though pressed together, some of them canted oddly since a tire on one side or the other had ruptured.
Iain shook his head at the sight. “Wow.”
A loud voice came from the trailers and the one closest to the edge visibly shifted as something massive moved within it. “Yeah, it’s a crap hole, but it’s my crap hole.” The door and part of the wall peeled back as the Whorizard inside pushed it open. Iain could see that the wall section had been carefully cut along the roof and floor to allow it to flex without damaging it more. It let the Whorizard exit without having to struggle to fit her wings through the narrow door. “Who the fuck are you?” She scowled when she saw Dominique. “Oh. You.” Her gaze turned to Iain. “You must be their dick.”
Iain chuckled and stuck out his hand. “I’m Iain Grey. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She stared at his hand for a second before gingerly extending hers for him to shake. “I’m Daphne. I am not one of the crazies.”
“She means feral,” Dominique muttered.
“I mean bugnuts crazy, that’s what I mean.”
“Well, the common term is feral and I know you’re not feral since you can talk. Feral Whorizards can’t.”
Daphne reared up to her full height as her wings half unfurled. “I understand, Iain, that you want to throw me off my property.” Irritation rumbled in her voice.
“That’s not true,” Iain said soothingly.
“Don’t lie to me, man.”
Iain’s eyes narrowed. “I understand that Whorizards are proud and easily angered if their honor is impugned. I happen to be a lot like that and I am not lying to you. I do not want to evict you, but I will if I have to.”
“If you don’t want to evict me, what do you want?” She frowned. “And I’m not interested in you as my man, either. Right now I don’t want to settle down with any man in particular. That’s why I go into Orange when I need my itch scratched and I find someone to screw.”
“That’s ok. I’m not interested in you either.”
She looked shocked. “You don’t want me?” Her eyes narrowed and she showed her teeth slightly.
“Wait a minute. You just said that you don’t want me and now you’re getting pissed because I said it was mutual?”
Daphne blinked and burst out laughing. “That does sound really stupid, doesn’t it?”
“I’d say it was a little silly, not stupid.” Iain smiled broadly. “I’d never call anyone who can rip me into tiny pieces stupid to her face.”
Daphne laughed harder. “You’re pretty smart, for a man.” The laughter subsided. “All right, man, tell me what you do want to do with me.”
Iain nodded. “Let’s start with some basic truths. I’m a human and you’re a Whorizard. You are very tough, but without making any threats about it, my family is more than strong enough to beat you in the kind of fight we’d have if it comes to that.”
“You wouldn’t fight me fairly?” She sounded more curious than angry.
Iain shook his head. “Not a chance. Half of us would get beaten to a pulp in a fair fight with you. If we fight you, trust me we’ll gang up on you so you can’t do that.”
She smiled with pleasure. “I’m glad you respect my skills. I’m not going to agree that you could beat me, but I can accept that in such a fight I’d most likely get injured too badly to survive the next time I was attacked.”
“I can work with that,” Iain replied. “Now, I was sold this land by the Texas League, and I’ll admit that I didn’t expect to find an aware pokegirl living here. I can see several options in how to deal with your presence.”
“You could ignore it,” Daphne suggested. “And I’ll ignore yours.”
“I could do that, but eventually you will go feral without a regular tamer. You can’t tell when you start to go feral and eventually it will catch you off guard out here. I can’t let that happen because you’ll be in the middle of my territory and a definite threat to us when it does occur. Not to mention we’d eventually be arguing about what constituted my property and what should be yours to eat. I won’t agree that if you can catch it then it’s yours.”
“You’ve already said you don’t want me for yourself.”
“I have. I think the best option for everyone involved is that you go to work for me. You can continue to live in our land, but we’d eventually get you a better place to live, if you’re interested. You’d also have access to regular medical treatment and, should you need it, we’ll help protect you against anyone who tries to catch you.”
“What about my itches?”
“You can ask my harem or my other employees, when I have some, for help, if they’re interested or we can help you to find different humans every time you need it scratched. When and if you’re ready to settle down, we can help you find someone worthy, too.”
“And if I say no to your offer?”
“Then you can either move off of my land or you can refuse to. If you refuse, we’ll leave and later sneak up on you and crush you without giving you a chance to fight back. Then we’ll heal you and release you on the edge of our property. If you return, we’ll crush you again and give you to a tamer to bond.”
Daphne grinned. “You’re honest, I’ll grant you that. Why don’t you want me for yourself?”
“It’s nothing personal. It’s just that I’ve got ten women in my life right now. I can’t give you the attention you deserve.”
“And if you didn’t have so many pokegirls?”
Iain shrugged. “Since I don’t it’s a moot point.”
She looked puzzled. “What’s moot?”
“It means the question is of little or no practical value.”
“You know lots of words, man. If I work for you, can I learn more words?”
“I’ll make sure you learn to read, which will let you learn as many new words as you would ever want.”
“That would be nice. I’ve always wanted to be able to read. Can I quit when I get bored with this work?”
“You can quit for any reason and at any time. I can also fire you for any reason and at any time. At that point I’ll pay you off and you are free to go on your way. While you work for me, you’ll be given room and board in addition to your pay.”
“I’ll get paid?”
“Yes. We will work out a good wage for you and you’ll get paid for the work you do. You will not get paid for lying around looking decorative.”
The Whorizard gestured at herself. “There’s not a lot that’s decorative here. I’m purely functional.” She looked back at the trailers. “Where would I live?”
“We’ll be building a house out here for my family. There’ll be other houses for my employees. It’ll probably be like living in a block of flats, although we haven’t worked out the finer details yet. I want a centralized complex for ease of defense. Out here by yourself it’ll be harder to keep my obligation to protect you from attack.”
Daphne gave him a wistful look. “Can I have a TV? I saw them before and I’ve always wanted one.”
“There aren’t any stations broadcasting, as far as I know, but yes and we’ll get you a video player to go along with it so you can watch movies.”
April gave her a smile. “We have movie nights and you’re invited once we get the house built.”
“What happens during a movie night?”
“We all get together and watch movies and eat popcorn and candy.”
“Is there booze?”
“Some. We don’t normally get really drunk because someone might hurt Iain accidentally.”
Daphne regarded Iain critically for several seconds. “I can quit whenever I want,” she repeated. It sounded like she was trying to reassure herself of this fact by repeating it.
“All you have to do is say the words and we’ll help you pack any belongings.”
“I know some other pokegirls who aren’t crazy either. They live on the other side of the lake and they’re being harassed by men who live there. Can they come and work for you too?”
He nodded. “As long as they understand that they have to live by the handful of rules I insist on, yes they can.”
Daphne bobbed her head once sharply. “When do I start?”
“Right now sounds good.” Iain gestured towards his maharani. “This is Ninhursag and she’s going to be your boss. She’ll explain the setup here and get you some camping gear so you can travel with us.” He turned to April as the Whorizard moved towards his maharani. “Send someone back towards Hemphill to find a suitable place to camp for the night.” He jerked his head in the direction of the trailers. “I’m willing to bet that makes a lot of noise in the breezes at night and it’ll keep me up.”
***
Iain Grey
Living Harem
Ninhursag - Elfqueen & maharani
Eve Grey - Megami Sama
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Fallen Angel
Canaan - G Splice (Hunter Amachamp & Alaka-Wham)
Zareen - Nightmare
Raquel - Fiendish Rapitaur
Sofia - Peekabu
Vanessa - Evangelion
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit
Matilda - White Tigress
Twau
Armsmistress
Blazicunt
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