This work is fiction. The work has no relationship with any person existing at any time anywhere whether real or imaginary or copywritten. Everything in this work is mea culpa.
This work is the property of Kerrik Wolf (saethwyr@ (SPAM) hotmail.com). Please remove (SPAM) to contact me.
You should not read this work if you are under the age of legal consent wherever you reside. This work may or may not contain any and/or all of the following: death, cannibalism, dismemberment, violent acts, implied sex, explicit sex, violent sex, rape, blasphemy (depending on your religion), BDSM, torture, mimes, necrophilia and just about anything unwholesome that you could consider.
Feedback is encouraged. I enjoy hearing from people. Positive feedback will be appreciated, cherished and flaunted in front of people. Negative feedback will be appreciated, cherished and listened to, that I might continue to grow. Flames will give me a good laugh. Feedback may be delivered to: saethwyr@(SPAM)hotmail.com. Please remove (SPAM) to contact me.
Grey Chronicles
Ten
(09/26/06 1230 Grey Ranch, Sabine County, Texas League)
The rain had finally stopped and now a cool breeze swept the area hard enough to make the fabric of the tents rumble in the wind.
Daphne staggered across the finish line and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. “How did you beat me,” she finally got out.
Iain wiped sweat from his face with the bottom of his shirt as he watched her tail with interest. The flame on the end of it pulsed every time she gulped air. “I set the rules,” he replied. “You use your wings to travel any distance that’s more than a few feet and you never run, so by making this a ground race I gave myself the advantage. Add to that the fact that I’ve been training hard and it let me win this time. It was still close, though. You’re faster than you look.”
She glared at him briefly. “I set the rules for the next race. I am not losing to a human twice in a row.”
Pandora snickered. She’d ran with them but wasn’t even breathing hard, showing the effects of the enhanced speed and iron constitution that she’d inherited from her various evolutions along with the beneficial results of April’s tyrannical training regimen. “We’ll see. Just remember that if you don’t make it competitive and he doesn’t have a chance, Iain will stop playing with you.”
Daphne unfolded her wings and used them to channel more of the breeze onto her face and torso. She closed her eyes briefly in pleasure at the feeling of the wind over her body. “You’re much stronger and faster than he is. I take it you don’t train with him much?”
“No, I don’t. During training my job is to train him, not train with him. I train with Eve, Dominique, Vanessa and Canaan.”
You have a reply from Ygerna.
Iain blinked at Theodora’s report, tuning out Pandora and Daphne. That’s a lot faster than I expected.
She’s a former queen who has no kingdom, is not yet married, has no children and is a professor for an academy that has not reopened its doors. Perhaps she has more free time than you thought or perhaps Dominique could be more important to her than we anticipated.
Iain sat down cross legged and pulled his pokedex from his belt. “Let’s find out.”
Daphne had been saying something to Pandora. She broke off in mid word when Iain abruptly dropped to the ground and pulled out his pokedex. “Iain?” When he didn’t look up, she turned to Pandora. “What’s this?”
“He’s focusing again. It’s one of the reasons he has bodyguards. Unless you hit him, he’ll ignore us.” She was watching Iain curiously. “The holographic display on each of our pokedexes is tuned for the holder. Unless he switches to wide viewing mode we won’t see or hear anything except a multicolored fog.” She held up a hand when Daphne reached towards Iain. “Give him a minute. His reaction to being disturbed is usually violent. Canaan’s joke is that his fight or flight response has a direct short and goes from fight to fight harder.”
Iain watched as the display lit. Ygerna was apparently assimilating well since she was wearing jeans and a comfortable looking blouse instead of the flowing dresses she had worn while queen. Her gold hair was bound in a tight weave and draped down her back. She nodded to the recorder. “I am Ygerna and I greet you, Iain Grey. I must admit I was surprised to hear from someone who has a member of my court in his harem and even more surprised when I checked and found that you are not and have not been a knight or page. I look forward to hearing about how you came to have one of mine and yet you are not.” She paused for emphasis. “I think that the best place for us to meet will be here in the kingdom. Contact me so we can determine what would be the best time for us to meet.” The message ended.
Iain became aware that he was being stared at and looked at Daphne, who was watching him with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. “Is something wrong?”
“Your body was still here. Where was the rest of you?”
His eyebrows rose slightly. “I’m trying to resolve some issues for the ladies in my life. Unexpectedly, one of these issues may be at the point where it can be concluded permanently and I got a message that should help to speed the process along.”
“Whose issue is it and what is her problem?”
He shook his head firmly. “I haven’t been given permission to discuss it with anyone else. If I were working on an issue for you, I wouldn’t discuss it with others unless you told me I could.” He put his pokedex away and climbed to his feet. “And I have to go take care of some things.”
“As annoying as it is right now, I do respect your dedication to your clan. Will you have the same dedication to your employees?”
He smiled. “We want you to be family, Daphne, as much as you are willing to be. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Daphne watched Iain and Pandora head off. Her gaze was contemplative until they were out of sight. Then she heaved to her feet and snapped her tail sideways, flipping mud from it in a line. Her wings spread and she vaulted into the air to find April and see what the rest of her day would be like.
***
(09/26/06 2320 Grey Ranch, Sabine County, Texas League)
“You wanted to see me?” Eve stopped next to Dominique. She and Iain were sitting in darkness on a log near the shore of the lake. The night was filled with the sounds of frogs and the lapping of water on the shoreline. The only light came from a sliver of moon overhead.
Iain nodded and motioned for her to sit. She picked a spot on the other side of Iain from her harem sister. “Eve, Dominique and I have to go to the Kingdom of Haven soon and I wanted to ask if you’d like to come along.”
“Is this about Ygerna?”
Dominique nodded. “I want released from my vows before we go back in case whoever replaces Marcus tries to summon me. If that happens again, I’ll help Iain kill everyone in the Order.”
“Why do you want me to come along?”
Iain pursed his lips. “I know she’s an analog of the woman you knew in your universe, but Kasumi shouldn’t be that different and it can’t hurt to start making friends in Haven.”
Dominique nodded. “And you might enjoy talking shop with the analog of one of your former professors and friends.”
“Who else are you thinking about taking?”
“I’m not going near any place that has another Elfqueen without Ninhursag, so she has to go. Besides, her company will make sure I’m still covered if you two go off with your analog friends. Other than that, I’m open to suggestions.”
Eve draped an arm around Iain and leaned against his side. “We don’t want to look like we’re presenting a threat to Shikarou’s family if your writing is accurate. Three might be all we take, at least of your living harem.”
Dominique cocked her head. “What about his undead harem?”
“I want Iain to take every one of them that will fit somewhere on his body.”
“That worried about him?”
Eve nodded emphatically. “They’re too used to having their own way and trampling all over anyone who disagrees with them. Iain’s usually disagreeable.”
“Hey!”
“I mean to people like that,” Eve said soothingly.
He made a face. “Gee, that’s so much better.”
Dominique began laughing. “You’ve been corrupted by Iain and the Texans. You used to think trampling over people was often easily justified.”
“Perhaps.” Eve smiled broadly. “But I don’t think I’ve ever accepted any justification to trample all over whatever side I happen to be on.”
Iain kicked a rock into the water. “I don’t see what the big deal is. We’re not going to see Shikarou. Why should he be a problem? I’m not one of his citizens and I’m not interested in emigrating. All I want to do is meet Ygerna, get her release for Dominique and maybe let you meet Kasumi.”
I have already contacted Selene to see what requirements there might be for this visit. Contrary to Iain’s protests, if Eve sees Kasumi this visit is with at least one high ranking member of Shikarou’s court and possibly two depending on Ygerna’s official ranking in the court hierarchy. In addition, Iain is a clan leader of an unaffiliated clan.
“Oh, come on, the worst of the clan politics is way in the past. I’m just Iain Grey.”
“We’re not visiting a clan. This is the Kingdom of Haven and Shikarou is a stickler for some things,” Eve pointed out. “I did meet the one from my world and he might consider your visit some kind of state event.”
Iain groaned. “Theodora, did you tell them I’m the clan leader?”
Of course I did, Iain. I saw no reason to lie to them about something so easy for them to verify. Kerrik and his family along with Cassiopeia, Virtue and Vice all know who you are.
“You have a point. Fine, I’m clan leader and I get to deal with the fallout from the position. If it’s a state visit then it’s a state visit, but I’m not going with the idea that I’m anyone important,” Eve opened her mouth and he hastened to add, “to them.” He was silent for a moment. “Theodora, please stress that I’m not coming in any official capacity. This visit is strictly for Dominique and Eve. I’m just coming along because I’ve never been to Cuba.” He pronounced it cooba. “I mean Haven.”
“Actually, since we’re delta bonded you have to be present if Ygerna releases me from my oath,” Dominique said.
“Oh. I guess I have a real reason to be there.” Iain blinked and his eyes narrowed. “If I have to be there if Ygerna releases you, does that mean your oath is binding on me?”
“I don’t know,” Dominique admitted quietly. “I’ve never been delta bonded before.”
“I see.” Iain’s voice was flat. “If I kill Ygerna, does that free you?”
“Yes it will.” Dominique was watching him warily. “Why?”
“It’s pretty simple, my love. If Ygerna tries to command me through your oath, she’s going to suddenly get very dead.”
***
(09/27/06 0400 Grey Ranch, Sabine County, Texas League)
Iain.
His eyes flicked open and immediately frowned when he realized that his chest was cool and wet. Vanessa was sprawled across him and drooling on his chest. His twee supplied him with the time and he sighed before carefully lifting her and sliding her sideways. He wiped off with his shirt and left it as he grabbed his pants and slipped out of the tent.
A heavy fog had surrounded the area, making the tents wet with condensation. If it weren’t for his perception, he’d have been lost in the grey mist. Quiet footsteps sounded to his left and he turned as Raquel stopped nearby. “I can sense you, Iain. Let me give you a lift.”
“Theodora woke me up.” He made his way to the Rapitaur and climbed onto her back. “You know, you spend almost as much time in your centaur form as Zareen does.”
“I never had the option before,” she said quietly as she moved away from the tents far enough that they could talk without disturbing the rest of the family. “My previous owners only let me be like this when they needed my speed for something. The rest of the time I was forced to be in my human form. I’m probably overcompensating, but I like this form.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “So why are you up after only two hours of sleep?”
He snorted. “It was one hour, twenty three minutes and seventeen seconds. Like I said, Theodora woke me up. What is it, Theodora?”
Four humans and five pokegirls have crossed over into your property from Indigo. Backtracking their path suggests that they came from Fort Polk. I’m reviewing the surveillance records to pin down their movements more closely.
“It’s four in the fucking morning. Why the fuck aren’t they asleep like most decent folks?”
It would suggest that they are not decent people. They are making camp in the vicinity of the dam.
Raquel’s soft gasp told Iain that Theodora was filling her in too. “I presume that, since you didn’t sound a general alarm, this isn’t an emergency yet.”
That is correct. They’re moving slowly and appear to be hunting for ferals as they travel. I have picked up the electronic signature of Haven built pokedexes from two of the humans.
Raquel frowned. “They have detectible electronics? I thought pokedexes were shielded.”
You are correct and pokedexes are shielded against electrical attacks but not detection if someone knows what to look for. In addition, all pokedexes have software designed to check for a network on a regular basis in urban areas in order to process updates to the pokedex and so the tamer can receive messages. In the wilderness a pokedex will continue to check once every few hours until it comes within range of a suitable network. These have satellite communications ability and have been pinging our constellation trying for access. Our network is encrypted, however, and I am not letting them in. I have used the protocol that they are broadcasting to invade their pokedexes and verify that they are indeed Indigo military forces. Their orders were not uploaded into their dexes, but I can give you the identities of the two who own the pokedexes and some harem information.
“They’re probably not sophisticated enough to upload to the pokedexes unless Haven is also selling them other computers besides the pokedexes.” Iain muttered. “But they’re in Texas and on my land, so what they’re up to is pretty easy to figure out. We’ll let everyone sleep until six.”
***
(09/27/06 0615 Grey Ranch, Sabine County, Texas League)
Ninhursag pointed at the holographic screen. “We know that this is Lieutenant Robert Travers and this is Sergeant Louis Fontenot. There are also another man and a woman traveling with them,” she pointed at the pictures captured from the dexes internal memory in turn “who we cannot identify at this time. Travers has a Ponytaur and a Ladyien while Fontenot has an Umbrea. We’ve also identified a Slutton and a Minotaura.” The harem and their employees were sitting in a semicircle while Ninhursag gave the briefing. “Canaan will scout the unit and scan the people she can so she can determine what their orders, if any, are.” Iain had pointed out that they could be on leave and hunting independently, although not even he thought that’s what they were doing. “All of the humans are armed with M16A4 rifles and grenades. Travers is also carrying an AT4 anti-tank weapon. The pokegirls carry knives but are otherwise unarmed, which is consistent with what we know about current Indigo League philosophy.”
Eve raised her hand. “Are we going to make contact with them to warn them off?” The truth was that the senior elements of the harem and Iain had discussed this beforehand and she was playing devil’s advocate in order to let the employees know that questions were allowed. This particular question was especially appropriate to be coming from the group’s Megami-sama.
Ninhursag shook her head. “It depends on what Canaan picks up, but we all know that Indigo believes we’re rebels and they have accurate maps of the area. I really doubt they’re lost and I intend to engage and crush them without bothering to chat beforehand unless Canaan discovers they’re defecting or something like that. Once we’ve neutralized them we’ll evaluate any prisoners and decide what to do next.”
“Besides,” Iain chuckled. “I’m not like Kerrik or Shikarou. Bullets and pokegirls can kill me pretty easily and I’m not going to walk up and politely ask them to go home before I open fire just so they can shoot at me first.” He flashed his teeth. “I have been shot in the head and almost had my head ripped off by someone. I can learn, eventually.”
April stood. “I didn’t think we’d need weapons training this soon, but there will be a firing range set up before tomorrow. Anyone who is interested in carrying a firearm will go through training before I’ll let you have SAP rounds. I can’t stop you from using any weapon and ammunition you find, but I recommend you go through a firearms course that Iain and I will be giving before you try to use it. That course will qualify you for the SAP ammunition, by the way. Right now the only people qualified to carry SAP bullets are me, Eve, Pandora, Ninhursag, Iain, Vanessa, Canaan and Dominique.”
“Guns are a crutch,” Canaan snorted. “I’m more dangerous without them.”
“You don’t have to use them,” April replied, “but if you change your mind you can.”
The Splice’s voice was dismissive. “I won’t.”
“Canaan.” The Splice blinked at Iain’s tone. “We got the message. April, please continue.”
“All of the employees will be issued stripped down pokedexes for communications and so they can ID any targets. Just remember to use them only when you have to in case our opponents have enhanced hearing. Other than that, I’m done. It’s back to Ninhursag.”
Chuck’s ears flicked. “Why isn’t Iain giving this briefing?”
Iain chuckled softly. “Ninhursag has three hundred years of experience doing this sort of thing. I’d be an idiot to let that go to waste just so I could stand up there and pontificate.”
“Hey, what did I say about big words?” Daphne grinned when Iain shook his head. “I’m still learning to read.”
Iain stuck out his tongue in her direction. “Ninhursag, please proceed.”
The Elfqueen nodded to him. “Theodora will continue monitoring the invaders while we move into position. Our first target is the lieutenant. I want that anti-tank rocket taken out before we attack. Once the rocket is neutralized we may,” she raised a finger, “I stress may give them the chance to surrender before we turn them into Sharptits chum. We will take prisoners if possible. Now as for individual assignments,” she continued the briefing while Iain watched the pokegirls. His harem was blooded and the employees were all veterans of the Revenge War. They were nervous, but it was the nervousness of a racehorse in the chute waiting for the gate to open.
They would do.
***
(09/27/06 1220 Grey Ranch, Sabine County, Texas League)
Hidden in the shelter of edge of the forest, Iain and Canaan glared at each other. “I thought I was in charge,” he snarled.
She snarled back. “You are until you make stupid decisions like that one. This is my job. It’ll just make you a target.”
Iain didn’t back down. “No it won’t.”
“Bullshit and you know it.”
“I can make the shot from cover and never be discovered.” Iain’s lip curled in a sneer. “You just want to kill someone.”
The Splice smiled hungrily. “You’re right I do, but I won’t unless it’s necessary. What’s your excuse?” When his eyes narrowed to slits and he hissed angrily her smile widened. “Hit the nail on the head that time, didn’t I? Well, you don’t get to kill someone today.” The sound that came from Iain’s throat was an inhuman growl of fury. Canaan shivered. “I like that. You need to make that noise the next time we’re going to fuck.”
Pandora put her hand on his shoulder. “Iain, she’s right,” she began. There was a sound like bacon frying and she yelped as she jerked back. “You hurt me,” she accused as she examined the scorch marks on her palm and fingers.
Iain glanced at her and took a deep breath, straightening up from the half crouch he’d gone into. “I’m sorry.” His voice was surprisingly normal and Canaan eyed him warily. “What?”
“I don’t like how you can hide your emotions. It’s not healthy.”
Iain chuckled. “You should have kept to the first part of your statement. That, at least, was true.”
“Fine. I don’t like it. I also don’t think it’s healthy and I’m a genius.”
He shrugged. “I don’t like the fact that Pandora is agreeing with you, but I have to live with it.”
The Archangel wriggled her now healed fingers. “How did you do that?”
“I’m not sure. Truewizard mistake again. Pity I can’t do that sort of thing at will.” A grin flashed across his face and vanished. “Or at anyone else for that matter.”
“Aren’t jokes supposed to be funny?” Canaan’s head came around. “They’re five minutes out.”
Iain sighed and took a position where he could see the road. They were about a hundred meters from it, too far away for a traditional ambush but a little too close for comfort considering that the Indigos had pokegirls with enhanced speed. Canaan and Pandora joined him. “Are they defectors?”
Canaan shook her head at his question. “According to what I can find in their mind, their orders are to perform a two week long sweep of the Texas border region and return to Fort Polk, catching any pokegirls they can along the way and gathering intelligence on the situation along the borderlands.” She glanced at him. “They’ve got twenty Haven pokeballs between the four of them.”
Iain glanced at her. “What color are their balls?”
She blinked. “I can’t see them, Iain.”
“Just making sure you have limits.” He broke off when the Slutton appeared ahead. She moved slowly and alertly scanned her surroundings as she followed the road. She was carefully keeping to the center of the pavement. Iain wondered why for an instant and realized that the sides of the road were bordered by weeds with thistles. Like just about every other pokegirl he’d seen on this world, she was a domesticate type and apparently she didn’t want to get thistles in her fluffy tail.
Iain lifted his rifle and tracked the Slutton through the reflex sight on the weapon. As per his instructions, Theodora had patterned the long guns in their armory after Terran equipment and his rifle was based off of the Israeli Tavor TAR-21 assault rifle but chambered in 15x44mm rounds and using a 60 round casket magazine. The bullpup configuration made the weapon compact which was perfect for using in brush or in urban terrain against fast moving targets like pokegirls. Theodora had designated the 10x40mm version the Grey Assault Rifle or GAR-10 and the 15mm weapon the GAR-15. Iain wasn’t sure how he felt about it but, as Theodora had undoubtedly expected, the harem had been pleased by the nomenclature. They were supplying the GAR-10 with standard armor piercing rounds to the Texas Defense Forces. The longer assault rifle rounds made the weapons accurate out to 500 meters.
Pistols models were in marks with the Grey Mark 1 or GM-1 using the 10x20mm round and the GM-2 being chambered in 15x25mm. Both had an effective range of 75 meters in expert hands, which Iain was most decidedly not. At ten meters, however, he was a deadly shot.
The Slutton passed the tree he’d marked in his head. He was wearing a throat microphone just like everyone else. Yes, he had a twee, but this was good practice for working with groups where he didn’t want to reveal its presence. He whispered. “Lead element has entered the kill zone.” They watched as she ambled down the road and finally reached the bend at the edge of his vision. “Lead element has left the kill zone.” That made her Ninhursag’s problem.
His earpiece clicked twice in acknowledgment.
A minute or so later the other Indigos appeared. There were four humans: one white man, two black men and one black woman. Fontenot was the sergeant and the lone Anglo. They were spread out in a line with pokegirls in a loose collection around them. Canaan cocked her head and gave Iain a devilish grin. You know they have plans for being attacked. Want to see those plans go all to hell?
Iain nodded, wondering what she had in mind. Sure.
Canaan’s antenna extended fully. Watch and learn.
The sling for the AT4 came apart. The strap slipped free and the rocket fell off the lieutenant’s pack to clatter loudly to the road. The whole group jumped. The humans pulled their weapons up and knelt as the pokegirls scanned the area looking for threats. Travers swore loudly when he realized what had happened. The rest of the group relaxed as he reached for the rocket.
Before he touched it, the weapon slithered a meter away from him.
Travers swore again and jumped away from it as tension ratcheted up amongst the group once more.
Canaan laughed softly and Iain chuckled.
Travers pointed at the AT4 and said something. The Ponytaur trotted over and grabbed for it. The launcher jerked sideways as she lunged at the last second, evading her attempt to grab it. It skittered into the grass and headed for the woods on the other side of the road from Iain and his group. Everyone stared at it in amazement as it disappeared into the trees.
Canaan glanced at her two companions. Now what will he do? He can send someone after it or he can accept that it’s gone and not split his forces.
“I’d fucking put up a combat perimeter and pull back. Obviously there’s a pokegirl in the area and he’s not aware of it. The fact that she took his rocket instead of anything else would prove she’s not feral, has telekinesis or magic and knows military hardware. That’s a bad combination and no amount of explosives is worth our lives.”
That’s only obvious to you, Iain. They’re used to crushing ferals and aren’t paranoid enough yet.
“They faced aware pokegirls during the war,” Iain pointed out.
Not really. Small units of infantry don’t face organized units of pokegirls if they don’t have any of their own. All they can do is die when that happens. What they did was hunker down and hope they didn’t get killed while the pokegirls ran rampant around them. Since then they’ve acquired pokegirls of their own and it’s made them arrogant. They have what April would call new tamer syndrome, which lasts until you get your ass kicked by a feral.
“I never got my ass kicked by a feral.”
She glanced at him. Yes you did. She just wasn’t a pokegirl. Before you came to us, somewhere along the way you got badly hurt by at least one woman. I can see the scars in your psyche.
Iain scowled and looked away.
Theodora had hacked into the pokedexes again and was piping what sounds they picked up into the radio feed. Or maybe she was injecting it directly into the auditory section of Iain’s brain through his twee. He supposed it didn’t matter since either way he could hear what was going on.
Travers turned purple. “Somebody get that fucking rocket back this instant!” He looked at the woman. “Deb, you and Horns get in there. We’ll cover you.”
That’s Private Debra Louis and the Minotaura is hers. The other human is Private Russell Louis and is Debra’s brother. I’d forgotten how easy it is to get into the minds of pureblood humans. By the time I met you, almost all humans had built up some psychic protection from breeding with pokegirls over the generations. It wasn’t enough to slow me down but I was aware of it like you’d be aware of brushing through a spider web.
Louis sighed, checked her rifle and motioned towards the Minotaura. They headed into the thin woods with the fighting pokegirl taking point.
They moved slowly, following the line of disturbed leaves left by the anti-tank weapon as it moved along the ground. Horns slowed when she saw the weapon hanging on a tree branch a dozen meters ahead. “Mistress, it could be a trap.”
“Of course it’s a trap. The question is what kind of trap. Be careful, Horns. Our high and mighty lieutenant did not follow us in here and we’re swinging in the wind if anything happens.”
“I noticed, mistress.” The Minotaura advanced cautiously, searching for tripwires or other traps. Finally she lifted the AT4 from the branch and turned around, holding the weapon up triumphantly. “Mistress, we got it!”
Private Debra Louis was standing frozen. Behind her, Zareen had one arm around the woman’s body, trapping the M16 against the soldier’s torso. A razor sharp knife was pressed against the private’s throat. “Stay quiet,” the Nightmare hissed in a whisper, “or I’ll cut her head off.”
Horns straightened and spoke in a toneless voice. “Don’t hurt her and I’ll do whatever you want.”
Dominique dropped her camouflage spell. “Put down the rocket. Do you have a pokeball?”
The Minotaura’s ears flattened as she let go of the AT4 and the rocket fell to the loam. “If you recall me you’ll kill her when I’m not here to get revenge for her death.”
“If I wanted her dead,” Dominique countered, “she’d be dead already. You’re not a challenge to us and her, living or dead, is of little consequence to me. Right now our tamer doesn’t want us to kill her unless we have no choice. So, do we have a choice or not?”
“It’s on my belt,” the private frantically whispered as Zareen pressed down with the blade. “On the right.” Blood welled around the edge of the knife.
Dominique watched Horns as she plucked the pokeball from Louis’ belt. “I promise that when you are released she will still be alive and as unharmed as we can keep her.”
Horns nodded. “I will hold you to that.” She disappeared into the capture beam.
Zareen spun the human in her grip. Her eyes flashed and Louis went limp. Dominique picked up the AT4. “Get her to the collection point and give her to Chuck. Then get back to Iain. I’ll take care of this.”
***
Ninhursag watched as the Slutton moved slowly down the road. The Slutton as a breed were blessed with enhanced speed and strength. They were incredible killing machines when feral and to be honest, weren’t really much better behaved when aware, being well known for their viciousness. This one was almost trembling with what the Elfqueen recognized as eagerness for some kind, any kind of combat. She’d seen it before. Unfortunately for the Slutton, she’d grown complacent in her role as scout. She was moving at a slow but regular pace, which made certain things much easier.
Ninhursag took careful aim with her bow and released. She was fully trained and comfortable with firearms, but bows were her first choice. Besides, they were silent killing devices.
Not that killing was the intent in this case.
The arrow took the Slutton in the knee, shattering it. The Slutton hit the ground, screaming in fury and pain.
Ninhursag broke cover, aiming another arrow at the Slutton as she stepped a few paces forward. The Slutton growled in anger at her. “I’ve stolen your speed, girl. If you don’t surrender, I’ll take your life next.”
The Slutton’s crawling charge was slow by enhanced speed standards but was still faster than a sprinting man. Ninhursag’s arrow hit her in the upper back. Instantly it sprouted even as a second arrow hit the Slutton in the shoulder. Roots burrowed into the Slutton’s torso, piercing the heart, lungs and intestines. The Slutton collapsed, gasping to breathe. “Surrender,” she said clearly in a wheezing rasp.
“You had your chance,” Ninhursag said as she turned away. She headed off at a quick lope towards where she knew Iain was. Behind her the Slutton jerked once and became still.
Once the Elfqueen was out of sight, a shadow extended from a bush near the Slutton. It slid under the corpse, which sank into the darkness and was gone.
***
“What the fuck is Deb doing,” Travers muttered. He, along with everyone else, jerked around when the Slutton’s scream echoed from up ahead.
Russell Louis blanched. “Sandy’s in trouble. We’ve got to help her.”
“Stay put, Rus,” Fontenot snapped. He glanced at Travers. “Sir?”
Travers pointed at the woods. “Deb and Horns are on their own. They’ll catch up with us. Use the terrain and advance slowly. Blackie and Silver will lead. Lady, you take to the air and cover us.”
“Sir,” the Ladyien’s wing cases opened and she took off.
Eve, Raquel and Sofia were stationed a hundred meters or so from where Dominique and Zareen had been. The Megami-sama touched Sofia on the shoulder. “You’re up.” She swung up onto Raquel’s back as the Peekabu raced forward.
Sofia covered the distance between her starting point and her destination in three seconds. Lady was still climbing when Sofia ran up a slanted tree and released her thunderbolt at the Ladyien from only three meters. The electrical discharge sent the flying pokegirl into convulsions and she slammed face first into a large pine before spinning to the ground.
Momentum carried Sofia over the road. She hit, rolled and came to her feet as she spun to return to her starting point. Sergeant Fontenot’s burst sprayed dust around her as she fled. She’d made it out of sight when she discovered that she’d been shot in the back. The Peekabu sent word through her twee and April was waiting for her when she returned to the clearing. The Duelist returned Sofia to her pokeball and teleported away.
Travers was reaching for his pokeball to recover Lady when the road in front of them exploded in black fire that drank the light. The weeds shriveled and the asphalt and dirt began to burn darkly giving off a thick black smoke that whirled upwards in the light breeze. A glowing woman strode through the flames and stopped. Fontenot put a three round burst into her chest.
Eve ignored the bullets bouncing off her force field armor as well as the Umbrea and Ponytaur moving to intercept her. “You get one chance to surrender, Lieutenant Travers.” She pointed upwards. “You’re outnumbered and surrounded and this still isn’t our full strength. You and your pokegirls don’t stand a chance.” Her voice turned grim. “No more need die this day.”
Travers glanced up. Daphne and Winifred circled overhead, along with April’s Dark Magician Girl, Thunder Dragon, Guardian Angel Joan and Black Skull Dragon. He blanched at the sight. He let go of his rifle as if it had bitten him. It fell unnoticed to the end of its tactical sling as he put his hands up. “Stand down! Stand the fuck down right now!”
Dominique and Vanessa appeared beside Eve. The Megami-sama gestured towards the humans. “Disarm them and put their pokegirls up.”
The humans stared as Raquel stepped into the black flames and sucked them into her body as she walked. She stopped near Eve and watched the prisoners alertly as Dominique and Vanessa quickly stripped them of all their equipment and returned all three pokegirls to their balls.
Vanessa produced some plasticuffs and bound the humans. She waved at the sky and Daphne and Winifred landed. “Watch them. If they do anything stupid, kill them.” The constructs vanished as April recalled them.
Daphne grinned and leaned down until she was nose to nose with Travers. “Your kind hurt me, Indigo man. I don’t like that. Give me any excuse and you die here.”
“Daphne.” Eve’s voice was firm. “No threats.”
Daphne straightened with a sour expression. “Do I have to apologize to it?”
“No, just don’t threaten them anymore.” She turned slightly as Iain, Pandora, Ninhursag and Canaan came up. “Well?”
Russell scowled at Iain. “You’re human.”
Iain smirked. “That’s actually open for debate, but I’ll accept the definition for the moment.”
“Where’s my sister?”
“She’s fine.” He turned his head to look as Zareen came out of the forest. Debra, Sofia and April were on her back. “And here she is.” He turned to Travers. “Lieutenant, I’m afraid the Slutton didn’t make it.” Travers met his gaze stonily and Iain shrugged.
“What are you going to do with us?”
“You’ll be separated and questioned. After that, we’ll see.”
Travers sneered. “I should have expected torture from the likes of you.”
“Oh, no, Robert, we aren’t like you. We don’t torture people.” Iain patted the receiver of his rifle. “I’d cheerfully shoot you in a fight and not lose a bit of sleep.” He grinned darkly. “Hell, I’d cheerfully kill you right now but I won’t torture you.” He looked at Ninhursag. “There’s no reason to drag this out or give Bobby here a chance to bluster. Split them up, gag them and let’s get this done.”
A few minutes later the humans had been moved twenty meters from each other and magically silenced in lieu of gagging. Iain and Canaan walked from one person to the other in turn. Finally they ended up with the harem. Canaan spoke first. “Travers and Fontenot have fully accepted the Indigo ideals and are patriots of the new league. They’re useless for our plans and I recommend we kill them and dump their bodies somewhere to feed the ferals, be they pokegirl or hog.”
“Noted,” Iain said. “What about the siblings?”
“Russell and Debra Louis were press ganged into the Indigo League Army. Debra and Horns are inseparable. They’re not recognized or delta bonded, but there’s something really strong between them and when Horns was taken away from Debra during recruitment into the army, she tried to starve herself to death. So the league inducted Debra into the ILA and Russell came with her. They hate the Indigo League but don’t want to leave their home in Louisiana. If we cut them loose, they’ll head back to Zwolle, which is where they’re from.”
“You ready to read the pokegirls?”
“As long as you remember I can’t read the Umbrea, yes.”
The read of the pokegirls was simple. They were released one at a time, Canaan would scan them and they’d be returned. Iain stopped with the Umbrea’s ball in his hand. “Tell us about the others first.”
“Horns was just glad to see Debra wasn’t hurt. She wouldn’t be any good with anyone else. Lady, the Ladyien, is bonded to Travers and is happy to be his. The Ponytaur is named Silver and she’s not happy with Travers. She had a tamer she liked and she failed to keep him alive when the ILA came to town. She was given to Travers when he became an officer.”
“And that leaves the Umbrea.” Iain tossed the pokeball to Canaan.
She blinked at it in surprise. “You don’t want to interview her?”
“I do, actually, it’s just that I don’t want to be a convenient target for her anger. Tamers are the weak link so I’ll be way over there with Pandora and Zareen while you, Ninhursag and Eve question the Umbrea.”
Canaan watched him as he went over to the group, spoke briefly to them and held out his arms. Pandora smiled, summoned her wings and grabbed him. She vaulted into the air with Zareen climbing upwards behind her.
Ninhursag joined her and the Splice shook her head. “I take it he was serious about being way over there.”
Ninhursag smiled. “You know he likes flying. I swear we’re going to have to convince his twee to provide real time tracking when he finally learns how to fly on his own.”
Eve smirked. “And for when he finally learns how to teleport.”
“I’m trying not to think about that day. It’ll be worse than chasing a kit who you have to punish and who is aware of what’s coming.”
Canaan aimed the pokeball and hit the release. “That’s why Eve and I have precognition. We’ll catch kits before they learn they can run. We’ll catch Iain too.”
The Umbrea gave them all an unhappy look. “I see I’m up for sentencing.”
Eve shook her head. “I am a Megami-sama and I just want to ask you a few questions. After that, you’ll be released.”
The Umbrea brightened. “Megami, huh? That’s the first good news I had all day. I’m called Blackie. What happened to Sandy?”
“If she’s the Slutton in your group, she’s dead.”
“Good. I don’t suppose Fontenot is too.” She looked around. Her ears flattened when she saw him watching them. She smiled at him and deliberately turned her head so he couldn’t see her face. Her smile vanished. “Oh, well, I guess you can’t have everything.”
Canaan frowned. “Isn’t he your tamer?”
“Yeah.” Blackie didn’t sound too happy about it. “That’s what I was told when I was given to him.”
Eve smiled suddenly. “Don’t go with him.”
“I’m bonded to him.” Blackie shrugged. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“Sure you do. You can go with us, strike out on your own or seek work in one of the towns in Texas.”
“And what would I do?”
“Well, we have a ranch and we’re hiring. You can help with work and provide security.”
Blackie’s ears flicked. “Is hiring some euphemism I haven’t heard yet for someone I don’t know sticking his dick in me? They keep coming up with new ones.”
“No, Iain, who is our clan leader, says we need to hire people and pay them a fair wage as well as provide room and board.”
“That sounds interesting.” She glanced at her tamer and then back to Eve. “You know I’m bonded to him. If he tells me to come with him I will.”
“It just so happens that we’re aware of that and that’s why a magical spell is preventing them from talking. If you decide not to go with him, you’ll be put up until he’s gone so he can’t give you any signals to go with him.”
“Can I kill him?”
Ninhursag answered before Eve could. “No. But if he comes back, he’s all yours.”
Eve blinked. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”
Her maharani smiled. “That wasn’t part of your plan. Iain and I discussed this possibility and he said it was the best way.”
“He’ll let me kill another human?”
Canaan’s grin showed her razor sharp fangs. “If you ask nicely, he’ll hold your stuff while you do it. If you join the harem, he’ll help if you want. What he won’t do, however is order you to kill anyone. That he does himself.”
Blackie seemed taken aback at the thought. “I see,” she said slowly. “What about the other pokegirls?”
“Lady wants to go with Travers. Silver doesn’t and Horns will go with Debra. However, we’re going to talk to Debra and Russell and let them know they don’t have to go with Travers and Fontenot.”
“The lieutenant is not going to like hearing that at all.” Blackie grinned maliciously. “I’d like to see when he gets told that.”
“You really don’t like them.”
Blackie nodded. “I had a male I liked. They killed him when they confiscated me. Fontenot isn’t a tenth the man Edgar was but I still have to bend over on command for him or for anyone he tells me to bend over for or for anyone the LT tells him to tell me to bend over for. If you’re hiring, I’ll take that job.” Her ears flicked. “Can I change my name? I was Allison for Edgar and I really like that name.”
“Then Allison you’ll be.” Canaan held up the pokeball. “Now I have to put you back up. I’ll release you again as soon as Travers and Fontenot are gone.”
***
“What did you say,” Travers shouted indignantly.
Iain looked at Fontenot. “Is he hard of hearing?” Fontenot just glared. “I didn’t think so. Bobby, I didn’t stutter. You heard me clearly.”
“We need more than one pokegirl! Give us our girls back!”
Iain raised his rifle and pointed it at Travers. The lieutenant stared at the huge muzzle opening and went very still. “I believe you are operating under a misapprehension, Bobby. You are my prisoner and not the other way around. You’re lucky I don’t just strip you naked and leave you to your fate. Now if you’d prefer to argue with me, I can just blow your brains all over the road and the sergeant can have Lady to guide him back to Indigo without you. So, which will it be?” He shifted the rifle to Fontenot. “You want to say anything?”
Fontenot moved only his head when he shook it. “No, man, you can keep Blackie.”
Iain snorted and lowered the rifle. “You don’t get to sound like you’re giving her to me. I’m in control and I’m taking her from you.” He gestured with the weapon again. “Go a kilometer down the road and Raquel will give you Lady’s pokeball. You so much as say bad words to Raquel and I’ll come and kill both of you.”
The Rapitaur smiled hungrily. “You won’t be fast enough. They’ll be dead before you arrive.” She held up Lady’s pokeball. “Come get her.” She shifted to her centaur form and blurred down the road.
Travers wasn’t done. “What about my other two people?”
Iain sighed and raised the rifle. “I’m keeping them for my own nefarious purposes. Start walking or start bleeding.” Without another word they headed down the road at a brisk pace. He dropped the rifle back into its carry position. “Ninhursag, have someone make sure they make it to Raquel without incident.”
“April, see to it.”
The Duelist summoned her Black Skull Dragon. It crouched and she climbed onto its back as her Dark Magician Girl appeared. It waved to Iain. He waved back awkwardly. “Hi.” She beamed and took off to circle over the Black Skull Dragon as it spread its wings and lifted into the air.
Iain held up a finger as he turned to Ninhursag. “I don’t know why she does that. Let’s go talk to the Louis siblings.”
They were seated on a log and warily watching Zareen as she whittled a chunk of wood with an energy blade. Iain sighed. “Stop teasing them.” Zareen laughed and the blade vanished. “Ok, you two, I’m Iain Grey. I’m not your enemy and I know of only one simple way to prove it.” He tossed a pokeball to Debra. “Here’s your Minotaura. Please let her out.”
Debra toggled the released. Horns appeared. She looked her tamer over. “Did they hurt you, mistress?”
Debra shook her head. “No, they didn’t.”
Horns nodded. “I was promised that they wouldn’t. I’m glad they kept their word.”
Iain looked at Russell. “Sorry about Sandy.”
Russell grimaced. “No loss there. I didn’t want that vicious brute.” He looked at Iain. “They knew she liked killing too much to run away with me which was why she was mine.”
Eve pulled two pokeballs from her pocket and pressed the release buttons. The Umbrea and Ponytaur materialized. “Ladies, I believe you know Russell and Debra.”
Blackie’s ear flattened. “I thought I had a job working for you.”
“You do if you want it,” Eve replied soothingly, “and so does Silver. But both of you should also get the chance to go with Russell, Debra and Horns.”
The Ponytaur looked at Blackie. “What would we be doing?”
The Umbrea shrugged. “Ask them.”
“You’d help us herd cattle,” Eve said. “And you’d help with the other ranch work.”
“I wouldn’t have to kill people? I don’t really like doing that.”
“You wouldn’t,” Eve said, “unless we’re forced to.”
“I want to work on the ranch.” While not practiced, the two pokegirls nearly chorused the words together.
Russell sighed. “It’s their choice.”
Iain nodded. “Yes it is.” He looked at Nihursag. “Give them two of the M16s, all of the ammunition we captured and all of the grenades. Also get out the ferals and let Russell pick one. We’ll let him tame her before we cut them loose.” He paused for a second. “Strip the pokedexes of any software that would allow them to be tracked and give them both units along with the rest of their gear.”
Russell Louis stared at him. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m not at war with you. I’m at war with the Indigo League and that only because they insist on being at war with me.” Iain smiled. “And when the Indigo League sends someone around to collect the pokegirls your people have accumulated along with your taxes, you’ll need pokegirls of your own and weapons with which to fight them.”
Debra spoke for the first time. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Iain nodded. “Well, yes. That and I like Cajuns. I’m a Texas boy but I knew a bunch of Cajuns when I was in the navy. Love the food.”
Canaan was examining a grenade. “We might keep one of these to make a pattern for some of our own.” She gave Iain a hopeful look.
“American grenades explode when set on fire. Do you want to be wearing a string of them when some Indigo girl uses flamethrower or fire blast on you?”
Canaan blinked and tossed the grenade to Debra. “No.”
I can make better grenades than that, Canaan, if it becomes necessary. Theodora didn’t quite sound like she was sneering at the Terran weapons. Much better ones including bunker busters and gas grenades, if Iain will let me.
The Splice suddenly looked more cheerful.
Debra hung the grenade from her harness. “It’ll take more than this to fight off the league bastards.”
“Aye, that it will,” Iain replied. “Use your pokegirls to catch other pokegirls and sell them to others. In the meantime, you are going to go home to Zwolle, right?”
They both stared at him in shock. “How did you know that?”
“Prisoners get scanned by the resident psychic,” Canaan said with a smirk. “That’s how we know that when we cut you loose you won’t just return to Fort Polk.”
“That’s right,” Russell said slowly. “We will return home if we can.”
“Well, we’ll be along in a little bit with more pokegirls and armaments to sell to you,” Eve offered. “Prices will be good and we’ll be selling healing equipment for your pokegirls as well as berries and seeds so you can plant your own berry patches.”
Russell gave them a perceptive look that made Iain adjust the man’s intelligence upwards somewhat. “So you want us to fight your war for you.”
“No, I hope you’ll tie down some ILA forces but they’ll still send more here and I’ll kill them if I have to. What I really want is for you to have the chance to be free, something you won’t get from the Indigos. They’re not really Americans which makes sense when you realize that the people who toppled the various governments and formed the leagues were from the United Nations.” Iain spat to the side. “Fucking foreign politicians destroyed my country.”
Russell nodded. “We think they were the Illuminati finally coming into the open.”
Iain shrugged. “Call it what you will, it was opportunistic and cruel and, for the most part, very successful. Even if we overthrow the leagues, things will never be the same. The ferals will see to that, but honestly I don’t think they’re worse than the leagues.”
Debra was watching him curiously. “You don’t sound like you’re a Texan. You sound English.”
Iain smiled. “Actually, I sound Irish and that’s because I spent the last little while in Ireland. Still, I’m a Texas boy to the bone and that to the marrow.” He waved at Eve. “And now you need to get a tent set up and let Russell look through our collection of feral pokegirls. I have to finish planning our trip to see Ygerna.” He turned to Russell and Debra. “I wish you two the best and I hope we’ll meet again when we come to Zwolle. Your pokedexes can be used as radios and, before you go, Eve will show you how to do that. When we come to Zwolle we’ll try to call ahead if we can. That way the locals won’t think we’re ILA and try to kill us.”
“Just don’t wait too long to bring more supplies,” Russell said. “If you do, we’ll all be dead. The people in that area were rounded up once already and the ones who are there now snuck back. That means they’re in the Polk registry and if they’re brought back they can be punished for abandoning their responsibilities to the league.”
Debra made a face. “That means some of them will be killed as an example. Most of them are kinfolk of ours.”
Iain looked at Eve, who shrugged. I can put together a shipment that’ll go out tomorrow if you want. Do we give away the ferals or charge for them?
Iain frowned. “Understand that I’m not running a charity and I’m not the US sending aid to Bolivia or some other place. We can bring you a load of stuff tomorrow, but it’ll be for sale. My prices will be very reasonable, I’m more than willing to barter and if business is good we’ll be back. I’m giving Russell a feral today because we killed Sandy. I’ve learned a long time ago that if you sell something to someone they value it a lot more than if you give it to them. The only thing I will not deal in is aware pokegirls. Ferals are property, but once they’re aware they become people and I will not buy or sell them.”
***
Iain Grey
Living Harem
Ninhursag - Elfqueen & maharani
Eve Grey - Megami Sama
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Fallen Angel/ Fiendish Archangel
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
Ranch employees
Daphne - Whorizard
Lynn - Growlie
Chuck - Doggirl
Ryan - Ponytaur
Winifred - Rack (German)
Rosemary - Kitten (Uruguayan)
Allison - Umbrea
Silver - Ponytaur
You can review at Kerrik Wolf’s Review Page.