Scrambled, page 12
part #14 of Directorate Series
Myyk jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the sacks of horse feed. "We can try sprouting some oats and barley. Mind you, that will involve combing through the feed for any grains that look undamaged. It'll be a pain in the ass. Like Jay says, we need to recruit civilians.
"I recommend we get them off their asses right now. No water or food deliveries. They have to come down and haul it up themselves."
Ahco winced. "I . . . Yes. However much I feel the urge to protect them, that's different than coddling them. Time for them to get to work."
Cow and Mike exchanged grins. "We'll drop the news on them this afternoon, while you're out fetching dinner. They can collect firewood, and we'll have a grand cookout all ready for the meat I am sure you will bring home."
Ahco rubbed his nose. "Four or five thousand people . . . quarter pound of meat each . . . At least two meals a day . . . "
"A single big Aurochs would do it, but remember, there's always tomorrow and the next day. Radio us, if you get enough to need us to bring more pack horses." Mike was looking over the street. "What do you think, Cow? We can use that concrete foundation, all the bricks all over the place . . . "
Ahco left it to them, and headed for the picket lines.
Cricket laid his ears back and reached to bite Hairy.
Ahco delivered a flat handed slap to the gelding's neck "Quit it! One save me, you two are driving me up the wall!"
He studied the milling mass of unruly beasts.
"Let's move out! These well-trained parade horses might settle down once they're away from any mares."
He led off at a trot, Hairy remembering enough of his training around his hormonal urges to follow without attacking Cricket.
A kilometer down the road and almost out of the sound of the mares calling after them, they did settle down . . . mostly.
They crossed the center of the pinwheel, stepping up and down from the brick of the East Plaza to plain cement, to rocky ground, detoured around a smelly drying pit of barnacles and seaweed, and further around what looked like the entrance to a mine, the tracks of a rail system diving into a hole in the sliced off hill.
Then back to the grasslands, with strips of foreign land spraying outward.
Northwest, tall trees of an unfamiliar sort mingled with palm trees, sloping down into a marshy looking area. Large things moved back in the isolated forest, but away from them, so he left them alone.
Almost due west, a barren stretch gave way to low buildings. Utilitarian, concrete . . . manned. People on the roof, with binoculars. Ahco brought up his distance vision and looked back. Soldiers in mottled pale colors.
"Earthers. Soldiers. Crap, that's the last thing we needed."
Ukky rode up beside him. "We're all in this together. Shall we talk to them?"
Ahco hesitated . . . shook his head. "We'll let the Minister be diplomatic. After all, he's a civilian. Maybe they won't shoot him." He turned Cricket south and led them off to the southwest vane.
It started with buildings again, badly damaged, but the one skyscraper still straight and, apart from lost window glass, apparently intact.
"Forty floors. Uninhabitable, without electricity for the elevators. Not to mention water." He turned and rode along the edge. The ruined city gave way to a broad stretch of water, surrounded by barnicled rocks and drying kelp.
That gave way to dry rocky ground. A truck parked . . . two men with rifles walking into the grasses.
Movement out in the grasslands. Ahco stopped. The guards spread out a bit and watched the crouching hunters.
A snap of a shot. A deer he hadn't even seen leaped and dropped.
A horned head rose up . . . lowered and charged. Two snaps and the cow was down. One hunter rushed forward. Even at a distance the flare of magic was clear.
"Was that a stun spell?" Coff muttered.
One man trotted back to the truck, glanced their way. Set his rifle down and pulled out an even larger one, inserted a magazine, turned and aimed it at them.
"Son of a bitch is going to . . . "
Horses spooked, and Ahco cursed, lost track of the rifleman . . . spotted the big dinosaur stalking them as it rose and sprinted forward mouth opening . . . crashing to the ground . . . the boom and crack of a supersonic round being fired.
Half the horses were loose and running in panic. And being horses, running back to be with their herd.
By the time Ahco had his situation back under control, the truck was out in the grass, heaving the dead Aurochs and the deer aboard. . . and then, more carefully, two Aurochs calves.
Ah, that flash of magic. It probably was a stun spell. They're catching livestock.
The truck turned and drove east. But one man remained behind, walking toward them.
Backpack, two rifles slung, one in hand, pointed casually down. As he neared, Ahco recognized him. "Azho the Priest Killer."
"Priests? I call them child abusers and mind rapists. I did what was necessary to get my family to safety." He nodded at the dinosaur. "The smaller raptors are tasty. If your pack horses are any indication that you're hunting . . . Bon Appetit."
Ahco watched him circle around. One damn me! "Thank you. And . . . there are Earth soldiers, across there. Are you friendly with them?"
A quick slash of a smile. "No. In fact three days ago I was shooting at them and getting shot in turn. I think I'll just avoid them."
"Shooting . . . do you know what happened?"
He turned back and studied them. "Short version? They opened a gate in East Plaza and sent troops. I was handy and recruited to assist. I helped a Directorate agent get through the gate with shaped charges and blew the gate from that side. The weird switching around was already happening, it kept going every few minutes, but it started slowing." He shrugged. "If you're going to be friendly, I can drop by with the full version."
Ahco nodded. "Give me a few days to make sure no one will shoot you on sight."
"Or the rest of the family." He nodded and moved off.
"Ho. Lee. One." Ajdo—Dough—shivered. "He's not the least bit scared of us, is he?"
"No, not at all." Ahco turned and started counting horses. "Probably with cause. Damn it, where's Hairy?"
"Probably still running. Are we actually going to eat that thing?"
Chapter Thirty
A Warrior’s Duty
17 Jumada 1400 nyp
:: Hey! They didn't shoot you! Yay! Gamer won't kill me! ::
Nick grinned as he trotted away from the Black Horse Guards. :: I had my shields up. Didn't even need them. Those two heifers ought to make the women happy. ::
Abbas sent a mental impression of the women all scolding him. :: I may just park the truck and run for it. Anything you need me to do? ::
:: You might check Versalle. I think they're all gone, but be careful anyway. If any of their horses escaped, they may run home . . . if they come close enough to recognize it. Wouldn't mind having a few horses. In any case, check the construction of that arena of theirs. Can it be repaired? If not, can we scavenge the roof panels and use them for new buildings, elsewhere? ::
:: Oh, good idea. I'll recruit some help from the other people. And if you’re not back by tomorrow, we’ll come rescue you from those office ladies in high heels. ::
:: Better give it an extra day. Maybe I can talk to the other groups too. ::
Mental farewells, then Nick turned his attention from the guards behind him to the soldiers ahead.
Yeah. Those were the uniforms he'd been shooting at a few days ago. “I don’t think they’re ready for diplomacy yet.” He decided to take the scenic route.
***
More water world. Nick contemplated the remaining stretch of saltwater. Half a kilometer across, two long.
They ought to be good for something! Although they may all dry up with no regular rain . . . we've only been here a few days, we have no idea how often it rains, this time of year . . . or how these intrusive bits of other worlds will affect the groundwater.
That limestone ledge, the seep . . . if that is what's a half meter or so under the soil, there may be seepage into these tide pools. I wonder how deep the transplanted parts go? Deep enough that the various towers are still standing.
I wonder if anyone has any fishing gear?
He shrugged and circled the barnacled rocks. Lichen covered rocks out to the point. Then an easy trot across to the six-story structure that looked surprisingly intact.
He startled a trio of deer and sliced out to take down a young buck.
He field dressed it, and started dragging it. He had been spotted, people standing on the south side of the building, two men approaching him.
"Hi. You guys need food?"
"Yep. And by now I could eat that thing raw. I'm Lou, that's Harrison."
"Nick. I'm a Oner. Civilian. Enuf mentioned you guys, and I figured . . . well, might as well meet the neighbors. Maybe we can avoid the problems we've both had . . . elsewhere."
"Yeah." Harrison grabbed a deer leg and started walking. "Be nice if we could just concentrate on surviving."
Lou grabbed the other back leg and they lugged it up the fancy steps to the flat area in front of the building. They had a nice collection of firewood, stacked, a large cone of wood ready to fire, sitting on the ashes of a previous fire, and a small fire burning to the side, with three metal kettles sitting on the coals.
"The bonfire is to discourage the dinosaurs. There's some nasty ones. They killed Sergeant Baldwin the first day . . . the day before yesterday? No, three days ago."
"Yeah, I've seen two kinds, so far." Nick dropped the deer as a . . . bunch of office workers crowded around to eye the "poor dead thing" as one woman murmured.
"Don't be silly, Alice. That's the lunch you were complaining about missing and the dinner you were hoping for." The speaker put her hands on her hips. "And I hope we can find something better than my little folding tool to butcher it with."
Nick handed over his knife and withdrew. Lou and Harrison followed him.
He set his own rifle down, and pulled the slings of the other two guns over his head. "From what Enuf said, you'll need these. I don't have much ammunition, but these are Earth weapons, so those soldiers might be able to resupply you." Nick dug in his backpack and produced four magazines.
Lou was frowning. "You're just giving them to us?"
Nick paused, to find the right words . . . "I'm . . . I was trained as a Warrior. Raised to believe that it was my duty to protect people, to assume responsibility at need."
"A warrior?"
"Well, and to kill enemy soldiers. But never the ordinary people of the other side." Nick shrugged. "Then I grew up to be a dangerous criminal. And of course now I'm just one more marooned fool. Hoping for nice neighbors and no more warfare. So . . . what else do you need?"
"Water and electricity." Harrison shrugged. "We found a stream, but it's a trek and a half for these women."
Nick looked down at the thick grass. "About twenty kilometers south of here the soil's about ten or twenty centimeters thick, with limestone below it, with some water seeps. I wonder . . . if we could dig down to porous wet limestone here?"
Lou glanced back at the building. "Maybe we could find something we could use for shovels."
"We'll need something like chisels and hammers for the rock." Nick walked out into the grass and closed his eyes. Living animals were easy to sense. Something to do with the electricity of the nervous system. Plants' slow chemical reactions could be felt . . . differently . . . and then the diffuse glow of the microbes of the soil. The cold density of stone . . . weak in limestone . . . about fifty cems down . . . and three or four meters down even weaker, lots of tiny absences.
It’s deeper here. The soil’s thicker . . .or maybe the limestone layer is dipping to the north. Wild cattle and horses, so we’re in Europe or Asia . . . or perhaps the continents are positioned differently, connected differently.
Nick eyed the grassy ground. "Go scavenge. I'll see what I can do here, with what I've got."
Physical shields and the slice spell were much the same sort of thing. A plane of force, of will that reflected moving particles, absorbed kinetic energy. Or pushed through physical mass and shoved, imparting kinetic energy.
Nick shoved a broad shield down through the tough grass roots and dirt until he hit the stone. Scraped, lifted . . . watched it jerk and splatter as the tangled roots of the other three sides of his scoop resisted.
Stupid roots.
Right. He sliced down fifty cems, and walked a grid. Five meters by five meters . . . in half meter sections. This time he levered out a neat block of soil and tossed it. Narrowly missing his fascinated audience.
A couple of young women admired the neat square hole.
"I never believed those tall tales about you people being able to do magic."
Cute, blonde, sexy. I could take her right now. . . I . . . What is wrong with me?
Nick forced a grin and gestured. "Go ahead." Cleared his throat and tried to talk without squeaking. "Muscles work as well as magic."
By the time Lou and Harrison got back with pipes, rebar, and snapped off lengths of lumber, a dozen people were down in the holes, expanding them. They snatched the improvised pry bars and had the dirt cleared quickly. Another grid, cut into the limestone this time. Four meters by four meters, sliced in a half a meter grid, half a meter deep. But no way to undercut it.
Lou and Harrison got busy with improvised chisels and sledges. Once one square was broken out, Nick could get down and slice across.
And nurse an aching head while the Earthers cleared a row.
The women toted the limestone cubes off to serve as outdoor seating around their campfire.
Nick dug through his backpack, and found a last bottle of boost. Chugged a third of it, then got back to work.
"I don't know why I'm digging a nice pool when I have no idea whether we can find water at all, let alone whether it'll have the pressure to not need to be pumped. Or baled, from however deep." His voice barely wobbled.
Lou shot him an odd look. "Kid . . . how old are you?"
Nick frowned. "Kid? I'm nineteen."
"Yeah, right. I remember when my voice did that. Welcome to the hell of puberty."
Nick choked.
Lou gave him a sympathetic grin. "But maybe you guys do it differently than we do. Your idea of a well is sure odd."
Harrison handed the last block up to waiting hands. "Ah yes, we could dig a well like in the fairy tales, a bucket on a rope."
Nick moved in about half a meter and made another grid cut. Flopped down in the tall grass while they broke rock. Puberty? Can't be. I'm a eunuch. And when the banging and thumping stopped he got up and started slicing again.
Four layers of limestone down it was definitely damp. Nick frowned. "Time to try something new." A cone. Twenty centimeters across, tapering to nothing, two meters down. He levitated carefully and pulled it out. Reached deep and sliced carefully to widen the hole. Sliced another cone . . . then had to slice the cone into slimmer pieces to get it out . . . with water welling up around it.
They took turns peering down the hole.
"It not what I'd call impressive water pressure, but the water level is rising." The cute blonde bounced and Nick shut his eyes, locked down the impulse to just, just grab her.
I have to get out of here. Right now.
He straightened, and started a strategic withdrawal. "Well, Drinks and dinner on me, but I need to head . . . " He broke off at the sound of gunfire.
Lots of gunfire.
Nothing visibly happening to the south.
"Dinosaurs, I hope."
Nick joined the general exodus to the east, and far enough out onto the grasslands to see the hub.
Black uniforms on the left, camouflage on the right. Shooting at each other.
"Damn. Stupid idiots." Nick threw his hands in the air. "I'm going to go home and warn everyone there that they're now in a war zone. We may have to just move out and away. There's a whole planet out there we can get lost in."
Lou looked from him, back to the battle. "Did you say you were a criminal?"
"Yep. Both sides will be shooting at me." Nick hesitated. "If you guys need to run for it? Head east until you're well clear of the pinwheel, then head south. If we're running, we'll be headed for the pass between the mountain range and the lone peak. You'll see it when you get out there."
Chapter Thirty-one
The Presidential Tour
17 Jumada 1400 nyp
Agni Withione Gerund Canary, President of the Empire, walked out onto what used to be the East Plaza.
Guards spread all around, weapons at hand. Some quite large bore.
"I thought you said they'd killed all the dinosaurs?"
"Never hurts to be cautious." Axti Withione Black Point was both a good friend and a superb assistant. Not that the Head of the Presidential Directorate was merely an assistant.
If not for the scandal of producing a Clostuone son, Ax might well be the President and I'd be his director. Axti’s son was twenty, across on Tall Trees Colony when we lost the gate. Estranged or not, he'd been so proud of the boy's accomplishments at the Directorate School . . . so shocked to realize he'd never see him again. So worried about what may have happened to him, over there.
I wasn't estranged . . . just too busy, too distracted . . . But I did love my son . . . I love him still . . . dammit, I wish I knew what happened to him. If only . . .
He shrugged the speculations away. Time to deal with reality.
He walked out to meet the . . . Disco people.
Inso Neartuone Gday Brisbane. I know this man. He died thirty years ago.
"Inso, I cannot over-stress my personal gratitude for the help you've given us. And the thanks of my world. Even if I don't understand the odd looks you keep giving me."
The old man cackled. "All we mostly provided was a way for your own people to get to where they needed to be, quickly. You've got this well in hand . . . and on my world you're the most obnoxious, bombastic, arrogant asshole that ever somehow made it into high office. It is very odd, seeing you acting reasonably and speaking sanely."
