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Grey Chronicles
Seventeen
(10/12/06 2140 Sol System, Pokegirl One)
The Theodora floated motionless relative to the rest of the system while, on the bridge, Dominique cast her dimensional portal spell.
Iain sat straight in his chair and watched Dominique work as intently as he had done so fifteen minutes ago when she’d started casting it. He wanted to learn as much as he could and direct observation was often as good as he was going to get until he figured out why regular magic eluded him.
On the display a red dot appeared in front of the ship. Red bolts of lightning erupted from it and danced around the region as it swelled into a sphere larger than the Theodora. Canaan chuckled. “I can see why creating what looks like a small sun next to the moon would be unsettling to the leagues. I wonder if the leagues here saw it when Dominique was testing her spell.”
Theodora shook her head. “As soon as we realized how visible it was, we moved testing here so they never saw the full sized version. I’m deliberately keeping the brilliance artificially low in the display; otherwise it could damage unprotected vision.”
The sphere swelled more and then suddenly deflated into a glowing ring. Dominique sagged for a second before turning with a triumphant grin. “Theodora, launch probes.” She collapsed into the chair next to Iain.
“Are you ok?”
She gave him a tired and yet very satisfied smile. “Oh, yes. Channeling that much magic is like great sex. I just need a moment to recover.”
Two streaks of light shot from the Theodora towards the red ring. “I am launching a pair of drones to see if I can detect the drone I left in orbit from the earlier entry. If so, I’ll know that Dominique hit the same universe again, but we won’t know for sure if it is the one that you came from. I am not sure what kind of evidence would be required, but I don’t have a way to tell if it is or if it is a different but very similar universe.”
“I can tell,” Iain said.
Dominique’s eyebrows rose. “How?”
“Remember we looked at Kelvin’s girls to determine which universe they gone to when he was killed. To do that, we had to analyze the energy of their home universe and differentiate it from that of where they’d been. Your home universe. All we have to do is match the universe’s energy with the energy in you and everyone else. I have it too, but in much lesser quantities.” He shrugged. “So, once we land I can tell after we meet someone and so can Dominique or Eve.”
Dominique gave him a glare. “April, I think I’d like to help with the next series of combat training sessions you’ve got for Iain.”
The Duelist grinned at her husband. “No problem, Dominique. Maybe you can introduce him to the practice of being attacked by combat magic.”
“I’d be more than happy to help increase his knowledge.”
Theodora smirked at them. “I haven’t shown you the training grounds I built, April. I think you’ll like them.”
Iain sighed. “I’m in a lot of trouble again.” He watched as the first probe entered the ring and vanished. A few seconds later the second probe followed. “Why the delay between the two?”
“If the second emerges and can’t detect the first, it’ll immediately return to warn us that the first was destroyed.”
“What happens if the second probe is destroyed before it can come back?”
“If both probes are gone more than five minutes I will then send through a pattern of six probes while deploying a dozen missiles to loiter in the vicinity of the gate. Two of the last probes are connected with a hundred kilometers of optical cable and will allow the leader, once it passes through, to send data back to the follower before it too enters the gate. I’ll be in constant contact with it and at the first sign of danger Dominique will close the gate while I move to destroy anything emerging from it.”
Iain nodded. “How badly will the hyper drive module inhibit your ability to fight?”
“My weapons are almost completely blocked by the module, but the module itself has eighty percent of my firepower built into it along with full defensive screens and armor. Once it is badly damaged, I will jettison it and engage any enemies with undamaged offensive and defensive systems, full magazines and whatever weapons on the module are still operable at that time. Jettisoning the module will also improve my maneuverability by seventeen percent.” She smiled predatorily. “Right about the time someone thinks I’m almost completely crippled they are going to get a very rude shock.” Her smile vanished. “And the probes are back. Dominique, it is the world you opened the gate to the first time.”
The Archmage grinned. “I never had any doubt.”
“And I had very little.” Theodora turned to Iain and spoke in a formal tone. “Clan leader, shall we proceed?”
“Let’s go.”
The ship moved forward, heading for the passage to another universe. As it approached, two missiles launched from the stern battery. They streaked away in different directions until they were a light minute away from the portal and then decelerated until they were stationary compared to the rest of the solar system. Theodora took up station next to Iain. “According to Dominique’s account as well as the information your twee have provided, crossing universes has no particular effect on the people doing it.”
“That has been our experience. Why?”
“I was concerned that it would be like entering or exiting hyper space.”
“I take it transit can be difficult?”
She nodded. “It depends on how the transit is performed, but yes, transit to and from normal space can have deleterious effects on individuals. The theories suggest that the reason is because the energy in the hyper universe is different from the energy here, life in this universe didn’t evolve to live in the hyper universe and cannot stand being in it for extended periods of time. The length of this tolerance period can vary significantly from individual to individual. Energy fields generated by the hyperspace drives protect the ship and its contents from permanent damage but some leakage affects the living organics aboard it, even nonsentient living organics can be affected and usually make the trip in stasis or are drugged.”
“The hyper universe is considered to be a proto-universe in which its total width is much smaller than any universe old enough to have life in it. However it does still line up point to point with all existing universes that it touches which is what makes faster than light travel possible in the sidereal universe. Theories and practical experiments suggest that the physical laws in such a place would be very different from the ones here.”
They passed through the portal. On the other side, as far as Iain could tell, things looked identical and there was no real way to determine if they’d changed universes. The portal wavered and collapsed behind them as the Theodora turned and accelerated. “We are heading for the L5 or lagging Lagrange point for Earth. I intend to take up station inside it at twenty six million kilometers from the planet to avoid inadvertent discovery. That will put me almost one and a half light minutes from the planet. Iain will have to pilot the shuttle for the final approach and landing. The automated control system is sophisticated enough that he should have little to do, but,” she shrugged theatrically, “life is nothing more than a series of unexpected events.”
Iain sighed and got up. “I’ve got an hour and a bit, right?”
“Yes, if you intend to leave right away. More likely, you won’t launch for Blue for several hours while I do a survey and confirm where and when we are.”
He turned to April. “Ladies, go ahead and get settled in. If you need me, I’ll be in the flight trainer.”
***
The transport leveled out over the rolling waves and slowed as Iain adjusted the controls. Up head, white water showed the breakers just off the shoreline. As he crossed them, he slowed again until the transport was moving at no faster than a walk until it was over the sandy beach. He brought it to a hover and descended until it touched down. The cloak disengaged and the doors opened.
Iain grinned. “Welcome to Earth. Locally, it is early morning here in the Blue League. The weather will be sunny once the sun rises and pleasant with little chance for rain.” He rose. “And it’s time to disembark, ladies.” He motioned towards the door. “The shuttle is programmed to move a dozen kilometers off the coast and then dive. It’ll sit there on the bottom until we send for it.”
Ninhursag looked at Zareen. “You and Canaan are on point, but stay close. The house is only a couple of kilometers from here so don’t go roving too much. Iain is on Raquel with me, Pandora, Dominique and Sofia in close escort. April and Eve are overhead.”
Vanessa had stayed on the Theodora with the two girls and the rest of the clan, who had no records of being in Iain’s harem. That could be easily fixed, but the fact that they did not understand pokegirls and their place in society here was much more problematic. Considering the comparative freedoms Iain gave them, and their lethal history towards human aggressors, it was likely they’d put themselves and Iain in a position opposing the legal forces of the Blue League. Iain had enough prospective plans in that direction that he didn’t need that possibility too.
Theodora is putting surveillance satellites in position to begin infiltrating the Blue League’s networks but she can already confirm that there are no active arrest warrants for Iain Grey. Kerrik Wolf has several, however.
Iain sighed. April gave him a curious look as they headed out into the predawn light. The sound of the waves washing up the beach was constant but not overpowering, so he could hear her question. “What is it?”
“I’ve got arrest warrants under Kerrik’s name.”
She grinned. “You did tweak the nose of the Minister of Defense.”
“Yeah, I know, but I was hoping to get that painting from Colin Llewellyn. I liked it and it’s not every day that a president offers me a gift.” He pulled out his pokedex and activated it. “I’ve got a list of things to do during this visit.”
Ninhursag cocked her head. “Oh? I haven’t heard about this yet.”
“That’s because some of them are, um, possibly objectionable by a few people.”
The Elfqueen folded her arms. “Let’s hear it.”
“I want to pick up a bunch more seeds and things, including kattle and good Blue chickens. I want to see how Monica Chambers is doing. I wanted to pick up that painting. I want to make contact with Lucy and tell her to get her ass in gear for the move and Sofia and I have a date in the Silver River League.”
The Peekabu’s eyes lit up. “It is time?”
“I’m not sure we’ll be coming back here again and I made you a promise. It’s time.”
Sofia turned to stare at Eve. “You have something to say?”
The Megami-sama shook her head. “Not really. I don’t like what I think you’re going to do but Iain did make you a promise. He keeps them and I can’t fault him for keeping them. He and I have already spoken about some of the promises he makes, but that is between him and me.”
“Will you help me?”
Eve snorted derisively. “Why on earth would I want to do that?”
“I am angry at my family and I desire revenge. No matter what happens between my family and me there may be people there that do not deserve my fury and you can get them away from me before I hurt them in my anger.” She met the Megami-sama’s gaze. “I have listened when you speak, for the young are supposed to listen to the old so that they may be guided by the wisdom of the aged.” Eve blinked and her eyes narrowed slightly but she didn’t otherwise react as Sofia continued. “Your words speak of justice and they appeal to me. I would be satisfied with justice against my family but I know I will never have it and so I will take vengeance instead.”
Eve looked surprised. “Why can you not have justice?”
“I have listened to Iain, for even though he is young he has wisdom. In this world justice is controlled by the governments and the SilverRiver government will say that my family has done nothing to me that requires justice be done. Retribution is all that is left.”
Eve swung a startled glance at him. “You said that?”
“She had questions and I tried to give her honest answers. Justice is revenge administered by governments and it’s considered morally upright compared to taking revenge by butchering out the bad guy yourself. I don’t agree with it, but that’s a personal viewpoint based on experience with governments insisting on proof even if everyone knows the crime and the guilty.”
“But you want to kill them.”
He nodded. “I do, but I’m not going to lie to Sofia so I can. There will always be people who deserve to die and some of them I’ll be able to kill.”
“What did you decide?”
“What her family did, while morally reprehensible, is not illegal in the eyes of the Silver River League. If Sofia had been human when it happened, yes, but as a pokegirl she’s just an object. There is no People for the Ethical Treatment of Pokegirls and no laws against pokegirl abuse in SilverRiver so she can’t sue for justice. But we also talked about innocent bystanders and not hurting them in her haste to punish those who deserve it. I never considered enlisting your aid to protect them, but in retrospect it makes sense. She trusts you to protect the innocent and to not protect the guilty.”
Eve turned back to Sofia and took her hand. “If that is what you want me to do, Sofia, then I will be honored to help you.”
“Ok, now that’s settled,” Ninhursag said with a smile. “Let’s get to the house.”
They were half a kilometer from the house when Pandora held up her hand. “Stop.”
Ninhursag looked around. “What is it?”
“There’s smoke coming from the chimney.”
Iain frowned. Now that the Archangel had pointed it out he realized that a thin wisp of white smoke, almost invisible against the stone, was drifting from the top of the chimney. “Ninhursag, pull the outriders back in. I don’t want them hit where they’re twisting in the wind.”
The Elfqueen nodded. “They’re coming back. We’re going to knock on our own front door?”
“Technically we abandoned the house. If we get attacked, we’ll smash them flat but if they’re law abiding there’s not much we can legally do. We never filed on the property.”
Ninhursag blinked. “Why the hell not?”
April’s dragon landed and vanished without her bothering to dismount. She dropped to the ground. “We didn’t file on the property because we didn’t want to put anything new in Iain’s name. We were trying not to be found at the time and it made sense. We could claim possession since we were inhabiting the place.”
“We can’t now,” Pandora said sourly.
Canaan appeared with Zareen. “The fire pit is intact. We can take the house and burn the bodies in the pit.”
The Nightmare snorted. “Iain’s stories say bodies always go way out in the ocean.”
Iain looked at Ninhursag. She grinned and sketched a bow in his direction. “We’re not attacking first. Eve, you make contact while we cover you.”
The Megami-sama trotted forward without comment while everyone else slowly spread out. Iain started to slip off of Raquel’s back and the Rapitaur grabbed his thigh as he shifted his weight. “Pandora and I are protecting you. You stay on my back in case we have to run.”
“That’s kind of overkill,” Iain complained loudly. “You’re neutralizing a quarter of the harem before the fighting begins.”
Ninhursag shrugged. “You put me in charge and told me to do what is necessary. You can always fire me, but you’re our clan leader and there are a lot of people who are depending on your continued survival.”
“Fuck me.”
“That is what they’re hoping for,” April muttered.
Eve knew how thick the stone door was and gauntleted her hand to protect it before knocking hard enough to be heard inside. The she stepped back a couple of paces and went into parade rest. The pokegirl who opened the door was massive, gray skinned and had a heavy beak and horns. Furled wings peeked over her shoulders as she looked down at Eve. “What do you want?”
She is a Gar-Gal, Eve’s twee whispered to her. “On behalf of my tamer I would like to speak with your tamer, if you please.”
The Gar-Gal regarded her for several seconds. “Stay here.” She slammed the door shut.
Less than a minute later the Gar-Gal jerked the door open and stepped outside. A second Gar-Gal who was dressed identically followed her out. They took up station on either side of the door as a burly man with salt and pepper hair appeared in the doorway. “I’m Tom FitzGerald. Who are you?”
“My name is Eve. Without trying to sound provocative, my tamer would like to know why you’re in our house.”
“Is your tamer here?”
“He’s around the side of the house with the rest of our harem.” Eve smiled brightly. “Just around the corner so he can see me but you can’t see him.”
FitzGerald grinned. “Smart man. You go get him and I’ll talk to him.”
Eve turned and waved.
Ninhursag started forward. “April, you’ve got Canaan, Zareen and Sofia in reserve.”
The Duelist dropped back and began conferring quietly with her team as Raquel trotted towards Eve. The Rapitaur pulled up three meters away and shifted right a pace as soon as Iain’s feet hit the ground.
FitzGerald gave Iain a professional once over and smiled approvingly. “Your pokegirl has bad manners. She never called me sir.”
“She takes after me.” Iain stuck out his hand. “Iain Grey, tradesman hunter.”
Tom shook it firmly. “Tom FitzGerald, tradesman shepherd. I don’t make my girls sir me either and it’ll do my two charges good to hear other girls be what they consider disobedient.” He jerked a thumb at Eve. “I found this house empty three weeks ago and started using it as a base for my shepherding. I checked in Tralee and nobody had claimed this place so I filed last week.” He was firm, but neither apologetic nor antagonistic. “If it was yours, you should have filed on the land.”
“Indeed I should have and my loss it is.” Iain motioned towards the omega tree visible in the distance. “I should warn you about that tree. It produces fruit you’ve never seen before but it’s quite edible. But if you attack it, it might try to attack you back.”
Tom blinked. “Does that explain why there are dead pokegirls stuck on its branches?” He swore when Iain nodded. “Damn. But the fruit is good?”
“Tastes like chocolate when it’s ripe.”
“I’ll keep that in mind when it sets fruit.” Tom looked back at the house. “I have room and you’re welcome to stay here for a couple of days if you’ve mind to.”
Iain didn’t have to think about it. He shook his head. “Thank you very much for the offer, but it was our home once and staying in it now wouldn’t feel right. Tralee isn’t that far away and we’ve got tents if something delays us.”
Quiet relief glinted in Tom’s eyes. He didn’t want Iain there any more than Iain wanted to stay in his former home. “If that’s what you want to do.” He bobbed his head. “Well, I’ve got work to do, so I’ll take my leave now.”
Raquel knelt as the door shut behind the second Gar-Gal, rising again as soon as Iain was seated. “I don’t like them being in our house.”
Ninhursag pointed at where April and the others were waiting. “Let’s go. As Iain pointed out, it’s not our house anymore, and two Gar-Gals are unlikely to be that man’s only pokegirls. We’d have to kill him and his harem.”
“And more”, Iain said. “He mentioned two charges. That means he’s got two beginning tamers out here with their harems and is teaching them how to stay alive while hunting. That’s the whole reason behind the Shepherd program.”
“I didn’t see anyone else,” Eve pointed out. “Did you with your perception?”
Iain nodded. “There’s a man and a woman in there and a couple more pokegirls along with them.”
“So what do we do,” Ninhursag asked as they rejoined April’s team. “Are we going to be commuting from the Theodora?”
“That would put all of us at needless risk of detection,” April countered. She looked at Iain as they headed away from the house. “The Kerrik Wolf accounts were pretty much drained by our spending spree before we left, but the Iain Grey and Austin Drummond accounts both have some money in them. It’s not much though,” she grimaced, “and we emptied every credit chip we have. We’ll need to refill them and that means a pokegirl center or a bank.”
Pandora’s face stilled. “They’ll be looking for Iain and might be looking for some of us.”
The Duelist nodded. “And that’s the problem. Even if we catch ferals for sale we’ll have to present a pokedex or other ID. We still don’t know if they tumbled to the fact that Iain and Kerrik are the same person, but it’s a chance we can’t take.”
Iain smiled suddenly. “What about Rafael?”
“Who?”
“I have another identity as tamer Rafael Constanza Delgado Lopez from the Silver River League. I know he doesn’t have a lot of money, but we only used that account once.”
Sofia’s ears canted sideways. “You do not look like a Rafael.”
“I did then. You are his starter and only pokegirl.”
Her ears pricked up. “Does that make me a maharani?” She smiled thinly when Iain shrugged. “Then it does.”
Ninhursag wasn’t the only pokegirl who scowled at that.
April looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head. “Rafael only had a few thousand SLC in his account. He was supposed to be a dirt poor farmer, remember? His identity can’t solve our problem since we need to put money on the credit chips to move into his account and for that we need access to the Kerrik or Iain identities.”
Iain bumped his head against Raquel’s human back in aggravation. “Well, shit. I guess we’re staying in tents for the duration of our visit.”
You will not. I am loading several kilograms of gold and silver into a transport. It will be there in two hours. You can sell that and put it into the Drummond or Delgado account. I would suggest loading credit chips and transferring money into both of them to keep this from being a problem in the future, should we return to this world again. Theodora paused. I would also recommend selling the gold in a different league than Blue since they take a DNA sample in Blue and verify the seller’s identity for tax purposes. It is a good security measure for the league, but bad for us in this situation.
April grinned. “So we’re going back to SilverRiver?”
Ninhursag raised a cautionary hand. “No, we’re not. Blue knows we’ve used SilverRiver as a refuge. We took Lindsey there and Iain threatened to flee there once when he was talking to Monica.” Her silver eyes looked into Iain’s blue and green ones. “This is going to sound counterintuitive, but perhaps we should consider Capital. The McMahons shouldn’t be able to identify either Austin or Rafael. Even if they do, Kerrik scared them pretty badly the last time we had to deal with them. They’re not stupid and should leave us alone, especially considering the changes going on in Sanctuary.”
Eve perked up. “He’s only been Kerrik Wolf in Capital and hasn’t used any pokedexes there. Unless we want to go to a league we haven’t been to yet or take our chances in Sunshine, this could be our best bet.”
“Sunshine could be a better choice,” Iain pointed out. “Nobody is trying to capture or kill us there.”
“What about Kelvin?”
Iain looked surprised. “Kelvin’s never tried to capture or kill us.”
Pandora folded her arms. “Iain, you know what I mean.”
“The odds of running across Kelvin are remote. He’s probably still on the Des Moines. Even if he’s not, he and I are not at war.” Iain smiled. “And while Granny or her representative might try to talk me into submitting to her wishes, she’s not going to send anyone to try and detain us, even if she apparently knows I’m Iain, Kerrik and Austin. The McMahons, on the other hand, aren’t always that bright. Ok, Linda is intelligent but Vincent, while not stupid, doesn’t use his brain all of the time and he really doesn’t like losing. It is very possible that he might convince himself that my statements of what’ll happen to him if he fucks with me again are empty ones and that he’s safe if he’s far enough away from the capture team when they try for me.”
That is correct, my lord, Eirian said in his mind. He will believe something very much like that.
How do you know?
The Dragoness poured off his arm, followed an instant later by a second figure. It was the Armsmistress that had been part of the guard detail when Iain was a prisoner in Capital. Her name was Sorrel. “My lord,” she said in a musical voice that had no place coming from one of the unliving, “I have closely observed Vincent McMahon for many years before I came into your service. His arrogance is only exceeded by his pride. He is, however, not stupid and if he were alone your statements would give him pause. But he takes counsel from, among others, the Undertaker and Triple H. They have not been defeated in years and they will not believe you can best all of them working in concert. If you are in Capital and are identified, they will feel your presence to be a challenge to their power and will urge Mr. McMahon to remove the stain you have placed on Capital’s honor by releasing the might of the Capital League against you.”
“And that’s that,” Iain said contemplatively. “Ninhursag, we’re going to Caesar’s Prank. I don’t see any reason to put myself in a position to have to kill Vincent.”
“And after we have some money?” April was watching Iain curiously.
“We’ll need a base of operations. We own a house here in Blue but it’s rented and the league may be watching it. We will lease someplace or purchase it outright.” He looked thoughtful. “We have done that before, though. Perhaps we’ll do something new. Something they wouldn’t expect.”
Dominique grinned. “Dublin. Or we could commute from Caesar’s Prank.”
Iain frowned. “Before we left there were suggestions that Blue may be working on a way to track me. If so, I should stay inside Blue since, Kelvin’s people notwithstanding, I’m not supposed to be able to be located while I’m inside the league. We’ll get the money and return. As for Dublin, that sounds reasonable. We can get lost in the population there and we’re not planning on staying that long anyways.”
***
The road with the security gate and the tower leading to the harbor where the Daisy Mae docked when she was in port looked identical to the last time they’d been there. Iain eyed it for a second. “I wonder if they’re in port now.” He shook himself. “It doesn’t matter. They don’t have business with me and I’m not going to either accidentally or deliberately involve them in the troubles I still feel hanging over my head.”
“Are you starting to show signs of precognition now, Iain?” Canaan folded her lower set of arms as she halfheartedly glared at him. “That is supposed to be your harem’s responsibility.”
He shrugged. “It’s more that I know we have unfinished business and our enemies may feel they have unfinished business with us. Do you feel what I think I do?”
She nodded reluctantly. “We still have enemies who wish to hurt or kill us. I feel them but I don’t think we’re in any immediate danger.”
He looked at his maharani. “Ninhursag, let’s go with city security.”
Zareen shifted to her centaur form and bumped her shoulder against his back. “I carry you.” Raquel’s eyes narrowed and the Nightmare snorted. “I phase.”
“She’s right.” Ninhursag looked around. “Pandora, Zareen, Eve and I will stay with Iain. The celestials will be good cover for him. April, take everyone else to the beta site and monitor our progress.”
“I’m celestial too,” Dominique pointed out to the Elfqueen. “And you’re not.”
“Two celestials are enough and I am his maharani. I stay with Iain and you do what I tell you to.”
Dominique scowled. “I hear you.” She took Sofia’s hand and they vanished.
Iain eyed Ninhursag without speaking until everyone except the people staying were gone. “Was that really necessary,” he asked quietly.
Ninhursag’s response was firm. “Harem’s have chains of command, Iain, and Dominique knows it, even if she had to be reminded of that fact.”
“And Dominique was just testing, Iain, as we pokegirls are wont to do from time to time.” Eve was busy surveying the area around them. “If she truly wanted to challenge Ninhursag’s authority she could have gone over her head and appealed directly to you. That she didn’t shows she understands even if she’s unhappy about it.”
“And as our tamer, Iain, you’re not supposed to second guess my commands to the harem.”
“You’re right, Ninhursag. I’m sorry.” Iain made a decision and tapped Zareen on the shoulder. The Nightmare’s legs folded up and Iain threw a leg over her back. “I will be Kerrik Wolf here. I’m already known as that and I don’t want to confuse anyone about Iain or my other identities. We’ll put the money in his account and withdraw it to the chips unless Blue has frozen his money.” He snorted. “Not that it really matters.”
“What do you mean?”
“Both men look very similar and have some of the same pokegirls in their harems that just happen to have the same names. What saves us is nobody has yet had a reason to run a comparison between the two.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Eve responded. “The Kerrik Wolf identity is mixed with that of the kami Kerrik Wolf who has an alpha named Whisper and a very different harem, remember, and his DNA is very different from Iain’s. Things are not nearly as clear cut as you might think.”
“Well then, confusion to our enemies.”
***
Roderick “Rod” Jackson was reading the news on his pokedex when Iain and Eve exited the jewelry store. With his enhanced hearing spell, he could clearly hear Eve speak from where she stood across the street from the bistro table at which he was sitting. “So we come back in two hours when the assay is complete?”
Iain shrugged. “We’re selling a kilogram of gold in unmarked twenty gram bars that have no provenance or certificates of authenticity. I’d want to assay the purity on them too. I’m also sure he’ll contact the authorities and make sure there’s no record of theft of anything like them.” He released Pandora, Ninhursag and Zareen from their pokeballs. “I have the receipt for the gold and he won’t give us any problems when we come back.”
Ninhursag nodded firmly. “I’ve used him before and his reputation is that he’s greedy but still impeccably honest.” She pointed across the street. “We could eat lunch at that place.”
Iain eyed the bistro doubtfully. “Those tables look pretty flimsy for Zareen’s heavy hands. I think that instead we’ll buy a picnic lunch and go to that park we passed on the way here.”
“Sounds good,” Ninhursag murmured. “Eve, take point.” The group shook out around Iain and headed purposefully down the street.
***
Iain scowled as they came out of the jewelers. Eve gave him a sideways look, noting the unconcealed irritation on his face. “Well, even if he refused to buy from us we have 999.99 pure certificates for the bars now.”
“And they don’t do us a damned bit of good if I can’t sell them,” Iain groused as he released the others from their balls. He looked around and his eyes narrowed before he made a beeline across the street towards the restaurant.
Rod looked up when the shadow fell across his table. “Yes?”
“Who are you with and are you the reason the jeweler suddenly isn’t interested in my custom?”
Rod blinked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Lie,” Eve announced.
Rod grinned unabashedly. “Well, part of it was the truth. I’m Rod and,” he flashed some credentials, “I’m with ONI.”
The Office of Navy Intelligence was the investigative arm of the Navy and had a fierce rivalry with the SLIS. Its interests were wide ranging. Its mandate was supposed to be primarily concerned with the well being of the Navy but since the well being of the Navy was directly tied to the well being of the Sunshine League, ONI got involved in protecting the league from both internal and external foes. Sometimes those foes included corrupt segments in the SLIS.
“Are you why I’m not busy finalizing the sale of my gold?”
“I am not the reason why the jeweler changed his mind, but I think I know why he did. How’d you spot me?”
“You changed shirts, put on a hat, slouched and changed tables but I remember faces.” Iain was not going to explain about his twee and its habit of doing constant threat assessment. “So what happened with the jeweler?”
“He got a visit by some of the slime that makes up the SLIS in this part of town. Their cut of such a large transaction would have been more than the jeweler could afford, especially on top of the credits he’d be giving you if he gave anything close to a fair price.” He stood. “If you’re still interested, admiral, I know of someone who will sell to you and for a better price than you’d get from that one.” He pointed with his chin across the street.
“You’re a little behind the news, Rod. I resigned my commission with the Blue League.”
“Apparently I know more than you do right now.” Rod grinned again. “You did resign your commission, but the president of the league reinstated you.”
Iain groaned. “Bloody fucking hell. Why on earth did he do that?”
“No idea.” Rod jerked his head sideways, gesturing up the street. “Let’s get to my friend before he closes for the day.”
They started down the street. Pandora moved up to Iain’s shoulder. “Why is ONI interested in a simple sale of gold?”
“We’re not. We keep an eye on everyone who might cause the kind of trouble that Janus can. Admiral Wolf’s name is on our flagged list and when his pokedex was scanned I got sent out to observe.” He glanced at Iain. “Speaking of Janus, the Daisy Mae will return to port in a week or so. Are you sticking around until then?”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“I know the crew would be ecstatic to see you again.” Rod smirked slightly when Eve’s eyes narrowed.
“With all due respect to them, that doesn’t change my plans.”
“Janus is still on her.”
Iain chuckled. “That’s very tempting, but we both have our work to do and he knows how to contact me if he needs me.”
Theodora spoke to Iain through his twee. He is Special Agent Roderick Jackson. He has no listed harem but he works closely with several pokegirls out of his office. He is an exemplary agent for ONI and has several commendations. He routinely uses magic that keeps his mind from being read.
Rod grinned at Iain once more. Iain had noticed that he smiled a lot and, when he did, it reached his eyes. It probably disarmed a lot of people that he had to interview or interrogate. “Well, if you change your mind, admiral, I’m sure accommodations can be found for you while you wait.”
Iain sighed. “Special Agent Jackson, please stop trying to play games with me. I intend to sell the gold and be on my way. No more and no less.”
Rod’s smile vanished. “How did you know my name?”
Now it was Iain’s turn to flash a grin, even though he knew that smiles seldom reached his eyes. It was one of the things that sometimes bothered people when he smiled. “It’s my job to know things.”
Rod fell quiet for the rest of their walk. They stopped at a pawn store. “Here we are.”
“I’m going to get a fair price for my gold at a pawnbroker’s?”
Rod smiled again. “You will here. The owner is a friend of the Navy and he knows he won’t lose any money in the long run, as long as I speak for you.”
Iain regarded the agent thoughtfully. “What am I going to owe you for this intercession on my behalf?”
“I have some questions that I’d like answered truthfully.”
Iain glanced at Eve, who shrugged. “I will not discuss certain topics, including Janus or any of the other authors. They’re friends or at least compatriots in what we’re going through. I have certain obligations not to discuss other subjects, but I’ll let you know if you cross any lines in that regards.”
“Can you discuss what recently happened in Blue that resulted in the shakeup in the government?”
“I can.”
Rod cocked his head. “Will you?”
Iain smirked. “An excellent question, sir. And the answer is, yes, I will, within certain limits.”
“Iain,” Eve said quietly. “Blue classified what happened.”
“And I care about that how?”
“You’ll disappoint Colin.”
“He’s not my friend, Eve. He stabbed Cherry in the back.”
“She was allowed to retire, Iain. It could have been a lot worse. She could have been brought up on charges or summarily sacked.”
“She was sacked,” Eve winced at the acid in Iain’s voice. “The retirement was a whitewash to protect the league and you know it. And once he’d stabbed her, he turned her job over to an asshole who should have known better than to try and treat us like we are peons.” He looked at Rod. “I am not disaffected enough to give away state secrets, but I will tell you what was going on if only so Sunshine can make sure it doesn’t happen here.”
Rod’s eyes lit up. “Let’s get that gold sold and then we can talk.”
An hour later they were ensconced in a private room at a fancy restaurant. Please put your pokedex on the table, Theodora requested quietly. Iain complied, ignoring Rod’s questioning look. I loaded some specialized scanning equipment into it for times like this. I can detect no surveillance devices in this room. It does not mean there are none, but the probability is low. You may put your pokedex away or leave it where it is so I can get high quality recordings of this meeting.
Iain left it where it was as he leaned back in his chair. “I’m sure the food here is outstanding, but I have places to be. I believe you have questions?”
Rod put down the menu he’d been scanning through. “I like direct. What happened in Blue?”
“Since its inception, the Orange League has always felt that it didn’t have enough pokegirls. More importantly, it has always felt that it didn’t have enough trained pokegirls. To address that perceived shortage it has placed sleeper agents in leagues around the world. In Blue, those agents were activated to begin funneling militarily trained pokegirls back to Orange for bonding to loyal Orange forces. This program was uncovered by Blue loyalists and the people involved were apprehended where possible. Some of the political fallout from the incident resulted in the ending of some high ranking careers, including that of the Minister of Defense.” Iain eyed the ONI agent. “I do not know if similar programs are operating in other leagues, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. That, by the bye, is why I am telling you this.”
“Was your resignation part of this,” Rod hesitated, “fallout? What is fallout?”
“Fallout is what happens when a nuclear weapon is detonated. Radioactive material survives the explosion and is lofted into the atmosphere, where it travels downwind and falls back to the surface, contaminating it. The colloquial term for the contamination due to such an event is fallout. And no, my resignation was not fallout. As you heard me tell Eve, I resigned my commission because the new Minister of Defense thinks I’m someone he can order around without there being any repercussions. I couldn’t find a good reason to smite him, so I took my toys and went home.”
Rod’s eyes had widened enough to show the whites. “Was the use of nuclear weapons that commonplace that words like that were in common use?”
Iain smiled. “No, everyone was very afraid of nukes and so they made that great an impression. The slightest bit of contamination from some country’s nuclear test was a source of great controversy and lots of recriminations as well as lawsuits. Fallout didn’t respect national boundaries, you see, and everyone was terrified of legends of mutant babies or giant mutated bugs.” He shrugged. “The reality is that while no amount of contamination is a good thing, a couple of nuclear bursts don’t add much to what’s already there. Hell, local background radiation from radon seepage is more dangerous. It’s the chronic effects that can increase the chances for cancers, but the causal effect isn’t well known nor is the safe limit. It’s all guesswork.”
Rod was slowly relaxing. “You know a lot about this sort of thing. I can see why they wanted to recruit you to teach here in the league.”
“That’s probably one of the reasons, true. Do you have any other questions about Orange’s program?”
“How did Blue find out about the operation?”
“They got lucky with the right person in the right place at the right time. It happens to be how the vast majority of operations get blown. If something like this is going on here, the SLIS would be a perfect place for it to be taking place. It would be hidden in some of the regular corruption that goes on in the service.”
“I’ll make sure that’s in my report.” Rod eyed Iain curiously. “Are you that right person?”
“I had a small part to play, but no.” Iain rose. “But now we’ve apparently reached the point where you’re just fishing. I bid you a good day, Rod.”
“You could do a lot better here than you can there, Iain.”
“Rod, I have business there that I can’t conduct here, but I’ll keep the offer in mind. Give me your card and if I decide to relocate I’ll contact you.” He smiled thinly. “Or I’ll contact Granny. She made me some very nice offers once and they might still be valid.” He linked his arm through Pandora’s. “Let’s go.”
***
Iain Grey
Living Harem
Ninhursag - Elfqueen & maharani
Eve Grey - Megami Sama
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - 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
Liadan - Twau
Sorrel - Armsmistress
Natalie - Blazicunt
Slutton
Ranch employees
Daphne - Whorizard
Lynn - Growlie
Chuck - Doggirl
Ryan - Ponytaur
Winifred - Rack (German)
Rosemary - Kitten (Uruguayan)
Allison - Umbrea
Silver - Ponytaur
12 Elves
2 Elfqueens - Dionne & Adrianna
Joyce - Milktit
Lara - Milktit
LakeEmployees
Heltu - Wet Queen
6 Wet Elves
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