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Grey Chronicles
Eleven
(09/28/06 0445 Grey Ranch, Sabine County, Texas League)
“So what’s going on with you, Theodora?”
The hologram smiled at him. “I’ve been busy. I finished three chaser ships and they’re bringing a cometary ice ball to where I’ve built a fuel depot on the far side of Luna. I need more hydrogen and oxygen since I’m selling fuel to the Wolf stations. I’m working on a small manufacturing facility that should be able to handle your planetary needs while I go get more raw materials for processing and I’ve got a swarm of parasite ships vacuuming the space around earth for all the trash the humans left. I am leaving all of the operational satellites, but there’s a lot of stuff in orbit that’s junk and therefore fair game. Not to mention it’s a serious navigational hazard for anyone who doesn’t have force fields.”
Iain blinked. “You have been busy. What brought all of this on?”
“You told me to do what I thought needed done, remember? I know you don’t want me to involve myself in planetary politics, so I decided to focus on developing the clan’s space side.”
Iain nodded. “What would you do if I allowed you to get involved in planetary politics?”
Theodora flashed a grin. “My clan is being attacked by the Indigo League with forces under orders from Fort Polk. I’d bombard the fort from orbit until it was a smoking ruin and let Indigo know that I’d do the same to anyone else who attacks you.” She shrugged. “But you won’t let me do that, will you?”
He chuckled. “No. Bad AI.”
She laughed. “I know. I shouldn’t think about stuff like that, should I?”
“You shouldn’t tempt me.”
Theodora laughed harder. “Oh, is that the problem?”
“Trust me when I say the idea of having you shatter the Indigo League’s ability to wage war is very, very seductive.” He sighed. “And we’re not going to do it. Eve isn’t the only person who would have a screaming, and justified, fit. Do you think we should to build a habitat in case we need to evacuate?”
Privately, Theodora was pleased Iain changed subjects without warning. It was a sign of an active mind and one she could appreciate. “No, I don’t. If you need to leave Earth the Theodora has more than enough room for the entire clan. Remember that the Theodora can accommodate fifty thousand people without crowding. So unless you intend to evacuate all of Texas, building a habitat would just hurt my feelings.”
“Ok, no habitat. Do you think I should be doing anything that I’m not yet?”
Theodora chuckled. “You don’t have that much time this morning. However, there’s nothing on that list that’s time critical for the clan. It may cost lives elsewhere in the world, but that’s not really important to me.”
“What do you think I should be doing?”
“Keeping the leagues unstable would be useful in the long term while Texas and more importantly the clan grows stronger. That would mean supplying the nascent rebellions before the leagues can crush them. Of course, that would mean lots of people would get caught in the gears and killed if you do supply the rebels. It would also mean you’d have to change your mind about how much you want to use my manufacturing resources to provide equipment for the Terrans. Do you think I should be doing anything that I’m not?”
Iain shrugged. “You can think circles around me without making any of your circuits warm. I doubt there’s anything I can think of that you haven’t.”
“Organic brains are capable of intuitive thinking that eludes most AIs. Just because something isn’t logical on the surface doesn’t mean it might not be important. It’s what makes the combination of organic brain and twee so formidable.” She smiled. “When someone finally manages to make twee inheritable, it’s often thought that it will herald a new evolutionary step for both organic and inorganic life.”
Iain thought about it for a few moments. “I’d like you to begin exploring the asteroid belt. Somewhere out there is at least one asteroid station that was built by Sukebe. It’s got a lot of technology from various universes as well as some pokegirls who are in stasis.” He blinked. “And it might well have this world’s Grimoire of Danu somewhere on it.”
“Is that important? I know it has powers but it can only be used by the Sidhe.”
Iain smiled and yawned. “There are some truewizard tricks that might allow me to work around the blood safeguards on the Grimoire. If that’s possible, then someday I might be able to use it to bring any members of my dead harem who want it back to life. If not, then it still makes one hell of a bargaining chip with a large number of people.”
“Are you tired?”
“I’m always a little tired.” Iain blinked. “Oh, shit.”
“What is it?”
“I know how to find the station with the Grimoire on it. Sukebe was experimenting with a mechanical form of teleport that he swiped from a particular universe. It’s called a shifter and his model has some design issues, but there’s an activator buried in Glasgow Green Park in Glasgow Scotland. Its programmed to take anyone activating it to that asteroid station.”
“Shall I retrieve it?”
“I’d have to go there to locate it, Theodora.” Iain shrugged. “I’ve got too much other stuff on my plate already. Glasgow will wait.”
“I will go ahead and hunt for the station on my own, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t. You go have fun with it.” He rose. “Is there anything else?”
“No, Iain. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” The hologram vanished.
He rose, rubbing his eyes again. “I need about a week to sleep.”
Canaan snorted. “As if you could sleep the whole time unless we use magic to keep you under.”
“I’m just about ready to let you do that.” He stretched and reached inside himself for energy, relaxing as the magic chased away the cobwebs in his head and fatigue that made his bones ache.
“That’s not healthy.”
He snorted. “So find me something else.”
Canaan grinned suddenly and looked past him. “Oh, I think something else has found you.”
With his perception, Iain could see Sofia coming up behind him. She was nude and carrying her sarong tucked under her arm. “Hi, Sofia.” He turned around to face her. As he finished turning, she let the sarong fall. Before it could hit the ground, she lunged at him in a blur.
***
(09/28/06 0630 Grey Ranch, Sabine County, Texas League)
April slipped out of the tent and stopped abruptly. Sofia was sitting on the ground not too far from the entrance. What had surprised her was what the Peekabu was wearing. Instead of her customary sarong, she was clad in a colorful skirt and blouse. She was holding an oval embroidery hoop and was humming as she worked a needle through the fabric in the hoop. The Peekabu’s ears rotated to face her, but otherwise Sofia ignored her presence.
The sight made no sense to her, so April gave a mental shrug and continued following her delta bond to Iain. She found him stretched out on a grassy slope staring at the brightening sky while Canaan stood sentry nearby. He nodded to her. “Morning.”
“Morning.” She waved to Canaan and settled down next to her husband. “Did you L5 Sofia?”
Iain’s head snapped around to stare at her as Canaan burst out laughing. “I’ve never heard it put that way,” the Splice chortled. “She tamed him.”
April started. For a moment she appeared speechless before smiling. “All I can say is it’s about time. What made her decide she was ready?”
“She didn’t want to be outer clan,” Canaan answered. “And she didn’t want Daphne and the others outranking her with more time in the harem than she had. So she took steps.” Fangs flashed in a grin. “You wanted to make her a problem solver. I’d say you succeeded.”
Iain pushed to a sitting position. “What can I do for you, April?”
“You need a shave.”
He nodded and held out his hand. April took it and helped him get up. He winced once. “Are you all right?”
“Her nails or claws or whatever you want to call them are sharper than she thinks.” He stretched and winced again. “I’ll be fine in a little while.”
April turned him slightly and looked at the dark wet lines striping the back of his shirt. “I’ll heal you when we get to the lake.”
***
(09/28/06 0845 Grey Ranch, Sabine County, Texas League)
Iain had put a magnetic level on the front of the sailboat and another on one side and checked both of them periodically as supplies were stowed aboard it to make sure the load was being distributed evenly.
“What do you know about sailboats, Iain?”
He looked back at Ninhursag. “I know the theory behind their operation but I couldn’t make one work. Besides,” he gestured at the stump of mast protruding from the center of the watercraft, “the sail is gone.”
“Does the motor work?”
“Nope. In fact, I’ve pulled it off to lighten the ship. We’re going to be pushed by some of April’s water creature cards. Later we’ll build a harness so we can be pulled by them instead if it’s a gentler ride that way. It’ll take about an hour to get to Zwolle once we get underway, which had better happen in less than ten minutes.”
The Elfqueen grinned. “And I’ll bet that’s my cue to go and make sure that we leave in ten minutes.”
Iain just smiled.
***
(09/28/06 1030 Zwolle, Indigo League)
The folding tables had been scavenged from a high school and they’d found the mismatched tablecloths by looking through a row of empty houses. Iain was laying out the final items when he saw Russell Louis and his Kunimitsu, Kayla. He nodded to them. “Morning.” He gestured down at his voluminous colorful t-shirt and comfortable looking cargo shorts. “What do you think about my outfit? I’m going for friendly and non-threatening.”
Russell looked around slowly. “This may have been a bad idea.”
Iain cocked his head. “Oh?”
“There have been some changes since the last time Debra and I were home. We have a mayor now. He’s not a league loyalist but I know he’s not going to like you selling military equipment.” Russell’s eyes widened when he saw the AT4 laying on one of the tables. “What is that doing here?”
“I don’t need it, so it’s for sale. So are the other two M-16s. I found ammunition for them so they’re useful again. So your mayor isn’t going to like me selling weapons and pokeballs?”
“No, he won’t.”
“Does he have a pokegirl?”
Russell blinked. “No, he doesn’t.”
“Can he give you or Debra orders?”
Kayla laughed. “No, he already found out he can’t.”
Iain nodded. “So he has no pokegirls of his own, he can’t command yours and he’s not going to like me selling my wares. Am I inside the city limits?”
Russell shrugged. “No.”
“Ok, then. I’m a mean bastard and I have pokegirls which means that there’s nothing he can do about me except whine.”
Russell blinked. “You’d let your pokegirls hurt another human?”
“If it came down to it, yes, I would. However, in this case I’m just not going to let him close my business just because he doesn’t like it. If nobody buys from me then I probably won’t come back, but I’m not going to let some tin pot dictator decide I can’t try to sell what I want outside the limits of his authority.”
“He can cause trouble.”
“Only if I let him,” Iain replied. “And he can only cause trouble for you if you let him. If you’re not willing to stand up to tyrants here, are you going to be willing to stand against the Indigos when they come back?”
Ninhursag was watching the conversation. “Do you want us to leave?”
Russell sighed. “I don’t want there to be trouble. Mayor Despre thinks if we don’t have any military weapons then the league will leave us alone.”
Iain looked around and spoke in voice too soft to be heard outside their immediate surroundings. “You were briefly in the ILA. Do you think that’ll work?”
Russell shook his head and glanced at Kayla. “No, it won’t. It didn’t work the first time they came either. Where’re your other pokegirls?”
“We’re stretched a little thin right now, so it’s just me, Ninhursag and April.” Stretched thin was an understatement. Dominique was on the Theodora while Vanessa had picked this morning to have contractions again. They’d been coming on and off for a few weeks now. Since there was nothing normal about her pregnancy, there wasn’t anything they could do except observe and take copious notes. The contractions made her snappish, and a snappish legendary was never completely safe to be around. It was at these times that Theodora kept an eye on her for them while Sofia brought her whatever she wanted.
Everyone else was rounding up more cattle for branding, that and trying to solve the ostrich puzzle. They’d found more ostriches and kept finding one or two of them regularly, so Iain thought there had been a ranch of them around somewhere and had asked everyone to keep an eye out for it.
This trip wasn’t really a high priority, instead being more to show that Iain was willing to provide materiel support to help the Louisianans in their fight against Indigo than anything else. It was why he’d brought primarily military equipment like weapons, pokeballs and camping gear supplemented by the some of the latest harvest of the fruit trees Ninhursag had grown. He had to come since he was the only human in the family and he’d brought his maharani along because she was his tactical expert. Among other things, April provided control for the Giant Red Sea snake that had pushed the ship. Right now she was keeping an eye on their boat so it didn’t vanish on them. It didn’t have a sail or a motor, but sometimes people stole stuff for no reason that made sense.
Iain eyed Russell. “How’re you and your sister doing?”
Russell brightened visibly. “We’re good. We claimed our parent’s house and are fixing it up. I came down to buy some of those berry seeds that you said you were bringing.”
Ninhursag pointed at the table to the right. “I brought better than that.” The table was covered with food cans that had been cut in half. They’d had drainage holes punched in the bottom and then they’d been filled with dirt. Growing in each can was a berry plant. “Seedlings are more profitable and, since they’re already germinated, you don’t have to wonder if they’re going to sprout.”
“I don’t suppose you take SLC script?”
Ninhursag shook her head. “No, we don’t. But we do take barter and we accept Texas and Haven coinage.” She glanced at Iain, but he’d made the decision and while she didn’t agree with him, it didn’t really hurt anything to do this. And he was right in that someday it would be a collector’s item. “And, for as long as it lasts, we will take old American money at its face value. American money must be in useable condition.”
Russell looked around. “Look, Iain, I have some people who are interested in what you’ve got for sale, but they’re not going to publicly go against the mayor. They’d like to do business with you in private. I was hoping we could arrange to meet somewhere.”
Iain looked at Ninhursag, who shrugged. His tone was resigned. “When?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Remember where we met while you were still in the ILA? I’ll meet you there tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Iain.” He eyed the table full of berry plants. “Don’t forget to bring those. If I don’t get them, Debra will kick my butt.”
Ninhursag chuckled. “They’ll be there.”
“Good. I’ve got to go” Russell and Kayla hurried off.
Iain rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “This is becoming a huge pain in the ass. We’ve got a long list of things more important than this.”
“So will we be at the battlefield in the morning?”
He nodded. “Yes, but if nobody shows up within a couple of hours we’re not staying. I can sell all of this in Texas if they’re going to play games.” A heavy sigh escaped him. “I’m really not in the mood to deal with assholes. We’re leaving. Let’s go ahead and move the plants first.”
While Ninhursag took the rack of seedling trays back to the boat, Iain started packing away everything else. He’d just begun when two men headed his way. The first looked over his wares and shook his head. “Mister, you’ve got quite the collection of illegal weapons here.” The second man produced a sawed off double barreled shotgun from inside his coat and aimed it at Iain as the first man continued to speak. “As mayor of this town it’s my responsibility to confiscate this stuff.” He gestured at the man with the shotgun. “This is my sheriff.”
It was obvious that they’d been waiting for his pokegirl to leave so he would be completely alone and vulnerable. Iain’s face went flat. “Are you going to arrest me as well?”
“I don’t see why that would be an issue,” the mayor said soothingly, “as long as things go smoothly here.”
Iain looked at the muzzle of the shotgun and into the eyes of the man holding it. This gunman would have no problems killing him. In fact, he might have problems not killing Iain. “I like smooth. Nothing here is worth my life.”
“See, sheriff, I told you this looked like an intelligent man. Help me with all of this contraband.” The sheriff slung the two assault rifles over his shoulder while the mayor balanced the rocket launcher over the case of 5.56 mm ammunition. They backed up a few meters with the sheriff covering Iain before they turned to leave.
Iain pulled the pistol from underneath his shirt and shot the sheriff in the back of the head. The explosive round didn’t shatter the skull as he’d expected but it did blow the man’s eyes out of their sockets to jounce on the ends of the optic nerves as he crumpled.
The mayor whirled with a shocked expression. Iain smiled pleasantly. “You missed one.” He shot the mayor in the top of the chest. A spray of blood and tissue colored the air behind him as the mayor fell.
Ninhursag and April were suddenly standing beside him. The Elfqueen’s eyes were hard as she scanned the area, her bow ready. “Do you think Russell was involved in this?”
Iain shook his head as he knelt and began working the weapons free of the bodies. “No, I don’t, but we’ll take Canaan tomorrow and find out for certain.” He nodded towards the sheriff’s body. “He’s got a nice shotgun. Be sure to get it and any other weapons they have.”
***
(09/28/06 1100 Zwolle, Indigo League)
All three of them were on guard as the boat moved away from the pier. This was probably the best time for gunmen or pokegirls to pop up and rake the craft with some kind of attack. Nothing happened and soon the shore began to shrink behind them. The Toledo Bend Reservoir was only a few kilometers across at its narrowest point, but they had a good thirty kilometers of travel on it to reach the landing from which they’d launched.
Iain sat in the stern and watched the Giant Red Sea snake push steadily against the sailboat. “I regret having to kill them,” he said finally.
“They weren’t inside your bubble,” April pointed out.
“Oh, I don’t regret taking their lives. That kind of person is just marking time until someone does for them. I regret the fact that I killed them because of the potential problems the act itself could bring between us and the residents of Zwolle. They could have used our help and now they’re likely to refuse any aid from us.”
Ninhursag shrugged. “We’ll just have to be more on guard tomorrow morning in case they try to start something. You could have let them take the weapons. We didn’t need them or the money they’d have brought.”
“Then I set the precedent of letting a thief steal from me and kissing his arse while he does it.” Iain turned to face her. “That’s a bad reputation to have if you’re a merchant and word always gets around. And since the sheriff was willing to threaten me with a shotgun, I had to figure he’d shoot me if I just tried to make them drop our property.” He rubbed his face. “I looked into that man’s eyes and saw someone who had crossed some line that I haven’t yet. I like killing and I want to kill sometimes but I don’t go looking for people to kill.” He snorted. “I guess that’s not as much of a difference as I’d like to pretend. I kill the people who come to me and say ‘if you don’t kill me I’m going to kill you’ or ‘I’m stupid so please kill me’ instead of going looking for people to kill.” He rolled his eyes and snorted.
“There’s a huge difference between the two, Iain,” April protested from where she sat at the sailboat’s rudder. The Giant Red Sea snake could push the ship without difficulty but if nobody steered the craft it would quickly turn sideways against the thrust and probably turn turtle as the mindless construct continued to shove. Even if it didn’t roll over, the strain might well crack the vessel in two.
Nobody wanted either of those events to happen.
“Thanks, my love.” Iain gave a mental shake of his head. He wasn’t sure he agreed with the Duelist but saying so would just precipitate a long discussion where she would try to convince him she was right. If one was truly honest with oneself, was there much of a difference between the Salticidae and the Ctenizidae except in technique? One was a jumping spider and an active hunter and the other built nests with trapdoors and waited for victims. Both were still spiders and both hunted and killed their prey.
Iain took comfort in the thought that Eve and Vanessa were unlikely to be willing to stay for long with someone who was like the dead sheriff even as he remembered just how powerful even the alpha bond could be for pokegirls.
His musings about the state of his soul were interrupted when the Giant Red Sea snake popped like a soap bubble and April gasped as feedback from the event stabbed through her mind. She didn’t let go of the tiller and the boat continued moving forward on momentum. Iain blinked as several areas of water around the boat bulged upwards to become lumps that became heads made of water. These heads darkened and became opaque, revealing mottled gray and blue skin with mostly brown hair. One of the pokegirls had hair that was a yellow that fluoresced vividly in the sunlight.
Ninhursag aimed her bow at the single Wet Queen as Iain slowly drew his pistol. “Who are you and what do you want, cousin?”
The Wet Queen turned her head and appeared to vomit as she emptied the water from her lungs. She took a deep breath of air. “I am Heltu. I am here with my tribe because my heart heard your call and yearned to come serve you. Will you accept my pledge, oh Queen Ninhursag?”
Ninhursag threw a startled glance at Iain but returned her attention to Heltu before he could say anything. “You will accompany us as we return to our home. There I will accept your pledge into my service.” She looked at the other water Elf pokegirls floating around them. “Do all of you wish to join my service?”
Heltu laughed abruptly. “They are mine and wish what I wish.”
His maharani glanced at him again and Iain realized what she was probably thinking. I’m not really fond of the idea but once she’s bound to you the members of her court become part of yours. If anyone wants out you can release them at that point.
The lines of Ninhursag’s face relaxed slightly and once again Iain was struck by how much his approval mattered to these women that had invaded his life. Except for that one thing, each of them was a powerful and independent person in her own right. It was, as always, a worrisome thought and one that helped him to always curse Sukebe instead of blessing him. Oh, they were willing to disagree with him on many things, such as April and her insistence that he wasn’t like the recently deceased sheriff, but most of those arguments had more to do with things that, if they were right and he was wrong, was actually better for him. After all, it was better for his current sense of self if he didn’t think he was slowly morphing into an impulse killer. So did April believe that because she actually thought he wasn’t or because some part of her knew he’d feel better if he did?
Iain knew that down that road of questioning everything the women in his harem said lay nothing but madness and he shelved that line of thought for another introspective moment where he felt like a little mental self flagellation.
Ninhursag was nodding. “Very well.”
“Did they destroy my construct?” April looked at Ninhursag. “If they didn’t, we’re not alone.”
Heltu surged upwards so that more than a third of her body was out of the water and she could see over the gunwale to the stern. She regarded April flatly. “What are you?”
“She is one of my subjects,” Ninhursag interrupted. “And she controlled the creature pushing our ship. Did you destroy it?”
“We did not want to reveal ourselves with a monster around. Our energy blades gutted it and it died.”
“That monster was created by this woman. Her name is April and she is a Duelist pokegirl. She is going to create it again and it will return to pushing our ship while you escort us.”
Heltu was slowly sinking down. Apparently whatever she was doing to keep herself level with the ship was either running out of power, if it was a spell, or she was tiring, if it was solely physical effort. “The creature is dead.”
Iain snickered softly as April’s eyes hardened. She didn’t move as she activated the card in her pocket and the Giant Red Sea snake appeared behind the boat. Water splashed as the Wet Elves dropped below the surface and returned to using fade.
Heltu gasped when the construct appeared and instantly fury swept over her face at her show of weakness. The expression vanished as if it had never existed. “Your mage is powerful, my queen. We will escort your vessel until it lands and then you will receive my oath of service.” She slid beneath the waves and vanished.
April’s face twisted as she fought not to laugh. It was very likely that a Wet Elf or even Heltu would stay nearby to eavesdrop on the boat. All that escaped was a choked off cough before she turned to look at the construct floating serenely behind them. It slowly moved forward and pressed its head against the stern just to the side of the rudder before its body twisted sinuously and it began once more shoving the sailboat towards home.
***
(09/29/06 0600 Grey Ranch, Texas League)
The tables were set up and April was busy serving breakfast. Iain was reviewing the orbital view of the area when Ninhursag came over. The Elfqueen nodded to Pandora, who returned the greeting. “Iain, what does Theodora say?”
“Last night a group of people left the Zwolle area and camped on the Louisiana side of the river, but still within the land the Texas League sold to us. The numbers have changed a couple of times so either someone is teleporting in and out or somebody there has pokeballs and girls. There’s a maximum of seven people and a minimum of four, which means it’s likely there’s at least one more pokegirl than Horns and Kayla.”
Ninhursag frowned. “A recon might spook them and would definitely make them aware that we know where they are. I wonder if they’re coming to trade or to fight.”
Pandora glanced at her. “They knew we were planning to be here this morning. If they were coming to fight they should have gotten into position to ambush us before we could arrive.”
“I agree that we would have done just that,” Ninhursag said patiently, “but you’re presuming they’re trained military. Some kind of irregular unit might not have that strong a command structure or the experience to yet know that an ambush followed by a quick retreat is the best way to attack aware pokegirls.”
There’s still too much cloud cover for me to be able to visually identify them from the satellites, Theodora said. If they use the road across the dam my sensors there will let me tell you a lot more about the group. Infrared scans suggest they have three large pokegirls with them or perhaps some kind of pack animal such as horses or donkeys. The presence of pack animals is inconclusive since a trading group would bring them to carry things they’ve purchased and a raiding group would bring them to carry loot while an assault group might use them to carry extra munitions and other equipment.
“Knowing they’re there is a great enough asset,” Ninhursag was reviewing the maps of the area through her twee. “If I were going to attack them I’d hit them at the bottleneck created around the dam area.” She smiled suddenly. “As long as I thought the dam was sturdy enough to take what I was going to do to my victims.”
Which it is not.
“Which it is not,” the Elfqueen repeated. “But once the dam is repaired it will become a viable choke point.” She gestured around them. “In the meantime I can build a killing ground here. That’s the reason we fought the Indigos here the first time.”
Pandora snorted. “And this time you’ve got Dominique to add to your magical firepower. I don’t think you have anything to worry about from a group of humans and pokegirls who don’t outnumber us unless there’s a legendary in the mix.” A smirk crossed her face. “And even that would depend on which legendary was with them.”
Ninhursag gave her a beatific smile. “I know. Isn’t it great?” The smile faded. “However, I’m not going to take any chances with our safety.” She blinked and looked down when Iain tugged on her arm. “What is it?”
“Don’t forget I need someone to help run the sales table. If I have to tell Russell that it’ll be a minute while someone from the assault team that’s ready to squash him has to come in to run it, it might put off his interest in trading with us.” He rolled his eyes at her sudden startled look. “You forgot we came here to do business first and not specifically to kill people.”
She had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry.”
“I’ll bet,” Iain replied sarcastically. “Take Zareen, Raquel, Silver and Ryan and go put your eyes on them before we start plotting to murder them all. Remember that they did come from Zwolle and not Fort Polk, people, which is a good sign.”
“Why them?”
“They’re all fast and I don’t really expect a fight, but Silver and Ryan don’t know that. They’ll feel good about being part of a fighting team sent to protect you if you have to extract under fire.” He smiled thinly. “And if you do, we can teleport in and crush them utterly right then and there.”
Ninhursag’s look wasn’t entirely friendly. “I thought I was supposed to be the tactical expert.”
He nodded. “You are. It’s just that you seem to like set piece battles a little too much and there won’t be that many of those here. Start thinking mobility. We’ve got speed coming out our asses. Use it.” He grinned savagely. “If we hit Fort Polk and pull back before they can react, they’ll piss around for days before leaving the safety of the compound, especially if we hit the town too and do the kind of damage we’re capable of.”
Pandora laughed. “If we employed Vanessa’s ability to do damage, there wouldn’t be a Fort Polk.”
Ninhursag cocked her head. “We wouldn’t send Vanessa into battle. Considering her mood, she might not stop until this world looked like our old one does. But Iain’s right. If they look like they’re mustering to come here, hitting them there will definitely throw them off their stride.”
Pandora shrugged. “Fort Polk is going to be a constant source of problems until we destroy it. I say we do it now instead of waiting until after they hurt us. If it weren’t for Iain and his aversion to weapons of mass destruction I’d push to have Theodora rain down death on the entire base.”
Ninhursag was staring at her. “Were you in the Celestial Alliance? You don’t sound like it.”
“No Seraph is in the Megami club as a full member. Instead they come up with pretty ranks and titles to disguise the fact that we’re cannon fodder. To them, we’re just tools to be aimed at problems for the CA. They think the Seraph desire to destroy all evil is fine as long as they get to decide which evil is worth going after and they don’t like the fact that Seraphs as a group don’t agree with their distinctions.” The Archangel shifted her GAR-15 on its sling.
She’d switched over from the 12 gauge shotgun after comparing the weapons. The shotgun had a larger round since it was 18.5mm, but the 15mm round had more kinetic energy, range and accuracy. The GAR-15 was shorter and lighter, which suited Pandora’s combat style of fluid motion and devastating strikes. She’d consulted with Theodora and her weapon was loaded with alternating rounds of SAP and an armor piercing round composed of a hollow copper bullet with an osmium needle inside in case she needed penetration through walls or other structures. She’d suggested the mix to Iain, but he was more worried about the armor piercing rounds killing people behind his intended target than shooting through a brick wall. Pandora wasn’t.
Iain looked at the sky. “Go, Ninhursag.”
“Bye!” The Elfqueen raced off to where Zareen was standing.
Pandora glanced at him. “About my opinion as to how to deal with Fort Polk,” she began.
Iain cut her off. “No.”
“Why not?”
“What reason is there besides the fact that I am not excited about my legacy being ‘Iain the Butcher’? A more practical reason is space is vast and the Indigo League undoubtedly has a couple of Starlights. If we teach them that it’s ok to drop large rocks on your enemies from orbit, they’ll do it to Texas and their other enemies.”
“Didn’t Kerrik already do that?”
“No, he dropped a couple of hundred tons of steel from a few kilometers. Effectively, he carpet bombed them. If Indigo tries that, we’ll figure out how to stop them. But if they begin diverting asteroids to hit the Earth, those are harder to intercept and destroy.” He yawned hugely. “Not to mention that while I’m sure that with written instructions and a couple of practice runs Indigo could nudge asteroids into a collision with the Earth, I’m not sure they could aim them accurately at Texas. A near miss hitting out in the Gulf of Mexico would cause tidal waves that would devastate Haven and the entire Texas coast. A hit in the bay between Nippon and Shanghai would do the same to Nippon. But there are people in Indigo who are just stupid enough to think that they can aim asteroids accurately by hoping when they give the rock a good shove. We’ll stick with my original plan for the time being.”
Fomenting unrest and rebellion against the Indigo League inside Louisiana and other places has the potential to be a viable way to draw off military forces that would otherwise be used against Texas, Theodora commented. We are still testing the waters to see what kind of reception we will receive and what support will be necessary. In that regard, Zwolle is a test case that should cost us little.
“Eve won’t like it.”
“She doesn’t,” Iain admitted, “but she also understands that giving the people of Louisiana a chance to decide what they want to do should come before smiting them ourselves. Cajuns are fiercely independent and the way the Indigo League took over rubs a lot of them raw. We can use that. Mix in the reprisals that Indigo and the other leagues use as SOP and a nudge in the right place can have a lot of effect.” He smiled briefly. “And if this doesn’t work, by then we’ll have Lucifer’s army living on our property. Their presence will scare the Indigo League pretty badly.”
“What if Indigo unleashes its own weapons of mass destruction against the Sisterhood?”
Iain’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll consider that a good reason to violate the rules I have in place and I will destroy the league in retaliation.”
“Do they know that?”
“I’m not issuing threats to the league. They’re hopefully not that stupid.”
It would be very difficult to deploy nuclear weapons against our home, Theodora said. My satellite constellation is constantly looking for the movement of radioactives and I would not ask for permission before destroying any aircraft or other transport carrying weapon’s grade nuclear material towards Texas. As it is being built I will sow the Sisterhood camp with sensors and if they try to deploy with a teleport drop I will detect it before it detonates and I will warn everyone I can. Fortunately, Terran nuclear warheads are not very portable and teleport has an upper limit below the mass of most such devices. In addition, any pokegirl not killed outright in a blast could be pokeballed and completely healed in plenty of time for a retaliatory attack. That is one of the primary problems with using explosives against pokegirls armed with what is considered modern pokegirl storage equipment. Because of electric pokegirl techniques modern tamer equipment is shielded against the EMP generated by a small nuclear weapon, so if you don’t kill them immediately the attack is of little benefit considering that with a single PHU thirty enemy combatants can be completely healed an hour. If these are pokegirls with healing magic or other abilities, it can become an exponential process of repair. And since pokegirls are their own weapons and Lucifer is a firm believer in redundant healing systems, any Sisterhood casualties could possibly be returned to the line of battle before the Indigo League assessment report of the damage inflicted is even complete.
Pandora blinked at them and Iain smiled. “Theodora and I have been discussing possible actions of the league and our responses. Eve provided information on what the Sisterhood considers an acceptable TO&E.”
I am stockpiling enough PHU and potion canisters to provide every member of the Sisterhood with one. The plan is to equip every household with enough healing for everyone in it.
April hurried up. “I understand you need someone to help with the sales.” She pointed a finger at Pandora. “You’ve got her.”
“I’m his bodyguard,” the Archangel protested.
“Multitasking is a skill you should cultivate. Canaan, Raquel, Zareen and Ninhursag are off on reconnaissance with Silver and Ryan while Eve, me, Allison and Dominique are the assault team. Vanessa is home with contractions and Sofia is with her. Lynn is the only member of the satellite clan who is literate or can count and she’s home with Winnifred, Chuck and Daphne doing ranch work. That leaves you, so stop bitching and soldier, soldier.” She turned and raced away.
Pandora glared at April’s retreating form and grumbled once. “Do you have prices for everything or should I make it up as I go?”
***
(09/29/06 0830 Grey Ranch, Texas League)
Russell shot an annoyed look at a woman picking over the table Pandora was watching. “Iain, I’m sorry we were so late. Someone decided that she wasn’t in a hurry to get moving this morning.” He returned his attention to Iain. “Did you have to shoot the mayor and the sheriff? A lot of people are angry about that.”
Iain shrugged. “He didn’t tell me to close my shop; he decided to rip me off. Nobody does that and I got the distinct impression that the sheriff would happily shoot me if given half a chance.”
Debra chuckled. “I’m not sorry you killed him. The bastard was giving me and Horns the eye. It was only a matter of time before he tried something and Horns had to kill him.” The Minotaura flashed a grin that was gone almost before Iain saw it. “The mayor was my cousin but I won’t miss him either.” Debra was a plain woman, but her eyes glittered with an intelligence that would have drawn Iain’s attention if he’d been single. “But then you’ve got the firepower hidden somewhere around here to make any protestations on our part empty.” She waited for a second. “You’re not denying it.”
“No, I’m not. Knowing that they’re out there will keep your friends calm.” Iain motioned towards the trio of horses the Louisianans had brought with them. They’d been tied to a tree and were busy nibbling at the greenery on the branches. “I don’t suppose those are for sale?”
“Nope.” Russell gestured at the pile of newly purchased gear that was slowly accumulating near the horses. “We’ll need them to cart all of our stuff back with us. We don’t have any of the cargo pokegirls yet.”
One of his companions joined them. Darrell Jackson was former Army. His brother had survived the Revenge War and the Red Plague only to die at the hands of the Indigo League Army and he was a man with a mission. He gestured towards Iain’s GAR-15. “Why aren’t you selling those instead of the M-16s?”
Iain had brought an even dozen of the US assault rifles and several cases of ammunition with him to sell and they’d all been snapped up. “If the ILA sees one of you with these rifles they’ll know you’re getting support from Texas. M-16s could have come from a National Guard Armory or a private owner, which gives everyone a layer of plausible deniability.”
Russell frowned. “I can see where it protects you, but us?”
Jackson nodded. “He’s right. While I wouldn’t mind one of those, anyone caught with one of them will either be shot as a Texan rebel or as a traitor to the Indigo League.” He snorted. “Not that there’s a difference. You Texan rebels are traitors to those league bastards.”
Iain didn’t look worried. “I can live with that. For the record, I have a deed from Texas that gives me all of the lake across my northern border to the Louisiana shore, but I don’t mind you fishing it. I also own around the southern part of the lake past the dam all the way to the South Toledo Bend State Park. I’ll protect it from anyone, so I wanted to warn you.”
Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “Why they’d give you that?”
“So I can assume responsibility for the entire dam.” Iain shrugged. “I didn’t necessarily want it, but they offered me a sweet deal on the price of the land I do want and it means I don’t have to argue with the Indigos about who owns what in regards to the dam when they realize that I’m meaner than they are and they eventually recognize Texas’ legitimacy. I can just run them off.”
“Are you going to produce electricity from the dam?”
Iain snorted. “Eventually, but I come from a power background and I can say, without seeing it, that the whole generation system will need a shitload of work before it moves a single electron. It’s been sitting idle for years and I doubt it was mothballed beforehand. And that doesn’t even begin to take into account rodent damage, water and, of course, ferals. At this point I’m happy that the dam is still mostly in one piece.”
“Mostly?”
“When you crossed over did you see the spring to the left as you looked at the dam? It ran down to join the Sabine River.”
Jackson nodded slowly. “I saw it. It was cute.”
“No, it’s a very bad sign. It means that there’s a hole through the dam. It may be tiny now but moving water is erosive and that hole is only going to get bigger unless I do something about it and soon. It doesn’t help that the Indigos have threatened to blow the dam and wash out Orange and Port Arthur as well as destroying the reservoir, of course.”
“What can you do?”
“I can drop a couple of tons of dirt on the water side and hope I plug the hole. If I can find enough concrete and a pump I can pump cement into the hole on the lake side and plug it like an oil well. I’ve got some other options too, but only if Indigo doesn’t blow up the dam.” He frowned at something only he could see. “That’s why I’m hoping you’ll harass the shit out of the Indigos while I work on repairs.”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Jackson grunted. “You still have that missile?”
It was a rocket but Iain wasn’t going to quibble over terminology. “It’s over there.”
Iain watched Jackson make a beeline for the AT4. “Debra, if you and Russell are smart about this, you can lead the league in circles without ever getting caught.”
“Do you care if we get killed?”
“No, I don’t. But if you get killed it would be a waste and I do care about that. If nothing else you’ll be siphoning off Indigos who would otherwise be causing trouble for me.”
“Your concern is touching.” Debra’s tone was acerbic. “I thought we were friends.”
“No, we’re not,” Pandora joined them. “The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend; he’s just not my enemy at this time. We would like to be friends, though.”
Iain glanced at her. We would?
Yes. Otherwise you’re arming your future enemies. Eventually they will want to discuss the situation about your ownership of the lake and everything in it. If they’re our friends then the discussion is less likely to devolve into pokegirls at ten paces.
Iain burst out laughing. “Pandora’s right. It would be better for everyone if we were friends. We sell to strangers but we help our friends.”
Russell looked around for something. His eyes stopped when they located Kayla. “I owe you a lot for killing Sandy, helping us escape the Indigo League and even more for letting me meet Kayla. You’ve already helped me a lot, Iain.”
“Hey!” One of the people who’d come with them waved at Russell and Debra. “We’re done shopping. Let’s get this stuff packed and get out of here.”
“I’m coming!” Russell yelled and trotted towards the pile of gear.
“We can use our pokedexes to contact you like Eve showed us,” Debra said quietly. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll use it to let you know when we need more supplies.”
“That’ll be fine.” Iain watched her head for the others. “Pandora, let Ninhursag know they’re getting ready to leave. They’ve got what they want and we have their money and trade goods. This would be a good time for them to hit us if they were so inclined.”
“Ninhursag already has a perimeter out and I’m supposed to stay close to you.”
I have a message from Cassiopeia. Kerrik would like to meet with you early tomorrow morning.
“How early?”
Very.
***
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
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