Month: June 2020

Avalon 6.12 The Road Ahead, part 1 of 5

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 267 BC, Qin. Kairos lifetime 84: Meng Shi and the First Emperor.

Recording …

Lockhart and Katie led the travelers away from the oppressive heat of the forges under Mount Etna, and into a pleasant garden of flowers and flowering trees.  Several buildings, haphazardly placed here and there around the garden, looked oriental in the extreme.  Katie chided herself for not remembering.  Katie’s blonde locks and Major Decker’s African appearance aside, at least Boston, Sukki, and Elder Stow could adjust the glamours they wore to appear more oriental.  Alexis could produce a glamour for herself as well.

As they stepped into the wonderfully fragrant garden, they startled many young women, who screamed and ran to the buildings.  Men screamed as well, but Katie imagined they were the eunuchs that watched over the concubines of whatever great house they invaded.  Katie at least got a good look at the clothing of these women, and changed her fairy weave clothes into a more modest replica of what she saw.  She nudged Lockhart, but he seemed too busy staring.

“It was bound to happen, eventually,” he said, quietly.  “We can’t expect the time gate to always be hidden behind a tree.”

Katie nodded, and as the others came through, she made sure they made the proper adjustments in their appearance.

Boston and Sukki led their horses, Honey and Freedom.  Boston helped Sukki adjust her glamour.  Alexis, Lincoln, Millie, and Evan came together, and Alexis immediately helped the others do what they could with their clothing.  Dog followed them, bringing the wagon behind.

Decker and Elder Stow came last, leading their horses.  Elder Stow made quick adjustments in his look, but Decker made the rest of the people in that garden scream louder and cover their faces.  Decker thought it a good idea to check his rifle, but he had no interest in changing out of his camouflage fatigues.

The travelers did not have to wait long. Three men came to greet them. One, middle aged, stared, open jawed. He winced on seeing Decker, and mumbled something about demons of the gods.  The elderly one got down on his face and prostrated himself.  The young one in the middle spoke, kindly, though carefully.

“Welcome to Ji and the court of King Xi, my father.  I am Prince Dan of Yan.”  He bowed slightly before he continued.  “The one beside me is Jing Ke, one who works for my father in many special ways.  The old man at your feet is Ju Wu, my father’s most trusted counselor.”  He paused before he apologized.  “I am sorry my father is not here to greet you himself.”

“Quite all right,” Lockhart said. “We are pleased to meet you. Please tell Wu Ju to stand.  We are not gods.”

“Ju Wu,” Katie corrected, and added, “But we are friends with many of the gods, and would like to be your friends, too.” She gave it her friendliest smile.

Lockhart looked at her, but did not question her sixth sense about such things.  “I am Lockhart, and my wife is Katie.”  Lockhart tried to match Katie’s smile, but Prince Dan looked up at the giant in front of him and swallowed.  He repeated Lockhart’s name with no problem, but turned Katie’s name into two names, Kay-Di, which made Katie sigh before she shrugged.  Di would indicate a clear connection to the gods, like their friend, Tien Shang-Di, the high god of the heavens.

Ju Wu did stand, though he trembled a bit, as Lockhart introduced the rest of the group.  When he got to Boston, she appeared to be focused on conferring with Lincoln.  She had out her amulet, and Lincoln had out the database.  Lockhart tried not to yell.  “Boston, your horse is eating the flowers.”

“Honey!”  Boston did yell, and went to fetch her animal.  “Sorry, boss.”

“We have a long journey ahead of us,” Katie said, to continue the conversation.  “But we thought it only right to pay our respects to the king of the land we are traveling through.”

Katie had no idea what might have gone through Prince Dan’s head, but he suddenly returned their smile and confessed, quietly.  “Right now, my father is hiding with the women.”

“I don’t blame him,” Katie said.  “It must have been shocking to see us appear out of thin air like that.”

“Indeed,” Ju Wu found his voice. “And where have you come from?”

“Most recently, from a land of fire under a mountain,” Lockhart said, honestly.

“I felt the heat,” Prince Dan said, softly, and Lockhart turned his head.  The time gate opened when they went through, and the heat radiated into this place. But now that they were not moving through the gate, it seemed to have closed up, or deactivated, or whatever it did to keep ordinary time-locked folks from stumbling through.

Katie took up the telling.  “We came from more than four thousand years ago, and have more than two thousand years still to travel, helped by the gods, as you saw.”

“Boston?”  Lockhart spoke only her name.

“We checked against the map in the database.  The Kairos appears to be outside a city.  Anyi, we think.  He may have a home there, but my guess is he is moving toward us.  Lincoln guessed we will meet him in Handan.  That looks like Zhao territory.”

“Your friend?” Prince Dan asked.

“The Kairos, one counted among the gods,” Katie said.  Katie felt the need to play up the god hand as a way to insure their safety.  Her instincts proved accurate when the third man, Jing Ke, spoke loud and clear.

“You carry weapons and ride horses like the three evil ones who came here two months ago.  They killed my friend, Li Ao, and now, have you come to finish the job?”

The travelers looked surprised and did not know what to say until Decker spoke up.  “They are outlaws.  We have come to find them and stop them.”

“The gods will judge,” Prince Dan spoke to Jing Ke.

Ju Wu had another thought, and he sounded very surprised.  “Your demon guardian speaks?”

Lockhart looked back.  “Demon guardian?”  He grinned.

Decker shrugged.  “I can live with that.”

Evan stepped up.  “We have several assignments, and things the gods have asked of us. But, you know about special assignments for the king, don’t you Jing Ke?” Jing Ke appeared to understand very well, and as he considered it, Evan turned to Katie.  “Lincoln let me read some about this time period from the database.”

Katie nodded.

When they finally got to meet the king, the minister Ju Wu told a fanciful tale to introduce them.  They were sent by the gods to capture the outlaws and drag them back to Diyu, the Chinese Hell, where they belong.  In fact, the travelers just came from the burning court of Diyu, where they picked up their demon guardian, and now are on the hunt. The king was pleased to know the three evil ones would get their just reward, but he became more afraid than ever. The travelers spent the night, but in the morning, they all got horses with the hope that they would be out of Yan territory as soon as possible.

Prince Dan went with them three days, to the edge of Zhao territory, where he added some silver to the purse they carried.  Jing Ke accompanied them ten days, all the way to Handan, the capitol of Zhao, which appeared to be under siege by the armies of Qin.

“I have been charged to spy on the generals Sima Shang and Li Mu of Zhao,” Jing Ke said, frankly.  Jing Ke seemed an affable fellow, once he got to know the travelers a little.

“Slick as a used car salesman,” Lincoln described him.

Jing Ke, now more relaxed in the presence of the travelers, finally told more of the real story of the outlaws, as they sat around the evening fire, in a small clearing in the woods.

“Two of them came through just outside the city almost three months ago.  They killed Li Ao with their magic weapons, their “gunds”, and fled to the south, where I hear they joined with King Zheng of the Qin and promised to make some magic powder.  The third came to just south of Ji about a month ago.  The king sent a troop of soldiers to catch him, but his horse proved too fast and strong to catch.”

“So, the three are together,” Lockhart concluded.

Jing Ke nodded, and added some thoughts. “King Xi has sent me to check on the Zhao.  The Qin have already conquered Hann.  If Zhao falls, the king fears Yan may be next.  I know Li Mu, the Zhao general, has built and strengthened the great wall, and built fortifications to hold off the Qin, but will it be enough?”

“He won’t fight?” Lockhart asked.

Jing Ke shifted in his seat.  “Li Mu beat the Qin in battle once.  He is about the only general to do so, but his losses were so great, he believes he only has enough army left to defend the capitol.  Two years ago, the ground shook in Zhao.  We felt it in Yan, 1000 li from Handan.  Smaller shakes in the earth followed, and many died, as houses and whole villages collapsed. People rebuilt, but then in this last year, floods came where there had been no floods, and the earth dried in places where rivers and streams used to run.  The crops were not many.  More people died of hunger.”

“Sounds like the general has limited resources,” Decker said.

Jing Ke agreed.  “The Qin sent two armies, not just one.  They came, one from the north and one from the south. The Zhao, under Li Mu have fortified the ways, and the Qin have become frustrated, unable to break through.  Whether they are frustrated enough to turn around and go home, who can say?  The ministers are talking.  I believe ministers are born talking.  It does not necessarily mean anything.  I suppose they may find a path to peace, but I believe King Zheng of Qin does not want peace.”

“It sounds like you already understand the situation very well,” Katie said.

Jing Ke agreed again.  “But I will look and report to my king what I find.  Li Mu may make the taking of Zhao too expensive, so the Qin may reconsider and go elsewhere for a while.  Like to Wei or Chu.  That may give Yan time to make alliances and build our own formidable army. Who can say?  That is the future.”

Things wound down, and people got plenty of sleep that night.  When they got up the next morning, they stayed mostly quiet.  They had some very strong morning tea, and Lockhart said thank you before he mumbled, “It still isn’t coffee.”

Avalon 6.11 Shipwreck, part 6 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The ground trembled under the Greek soldiers, and those who were not knocked down by the lightning stroke, fell from the earthquake.  It seemed a curious earthquake, because the travelers did not feel it at all.  All that happened was the Greeks lost their footing, and a hole opened up in the side of a very small ridge.

Everyone stared at the figure in the field.  The helmeted figure of a woman looked like the avenging angel of Almighty God.  The sword she held looked impossibly big and unquestionably sharp.  It seemed the very scythe of the angel of death, the reaper come to harvest souls. The Greeks wailed and tried to hide themselves in the ground they felt surely they would be buried in.

“Athena,” Galatea said, and clapped.  “I mean, Minerva.”

The Eporites did not hear, being too busy prostrating themselves.  The travelers vaguely heard, as the struggled to shut their mouths.  Minerva roared.

“Tramp!”  Nanette appeared in front of the goddess, and trembled.    “I don’t need Apollo to laugh and point at me.  And I don’t need the Kairos to tell me this is not how it is supposed to go.  I made you, and this is what you have done with your life?”

“It’s not fair,” the witch complained. “Why are the gods on their side? They have the weapons and the power. They have everything.  It isn’t fair.  I should have it.  I should have it all.  I want it now.  Give it to me.”  The witch may have put every ounce of compulsion and magic into that demand, but in the face of a goddess, that would have been like a drop of water trying to put out the sun.  Not only is that nonsensical in terms of size and strength, but the sun is not even the kind of fire that water can affect.

“Your other half does not feel this way,” Minerva said, silencing the girl to interrupt her.  “Don’t ask me how I know, but clearly you were corrupt from the beginning.  I will find the source of that corruption.”

“No.” Nanette shrieked.  “We serve that one.  She is my source.”

“Of whom do you speak?  Who is your source?”

“No,” Nanette, the witch screamed and instantly caught fire.  She continued to scream for a few seconds before she entirely burned up, leaving only a small pile of ashes on the dirt.

Minerva reached out to put her hand over the ashes before they blew away on the wind.  The ashes came up to Minerva’s hand, and they saw a small clay jar in that hand.  Somehow, the ashes squeezed into the jar so not one escaped, and Minerva put a stopper in the top of the jar.  “And there they will stay until the opportune time.”

“Is that it?” Lockhart whispered.

“I don’t honestly know,” Katie answered in the same soft voice as Minerva looked at the travelers.

“Go home,” Minerva said, not only did the cavalry troop vanish, and the soldiers on the ground, but Petracles and the Eporites, and all of their horses vanished as well.   Only the travelers remained, and Galatea, who suddenly looked miffed.  Minerva ignored the girl as she talked to the travelers.

“I did not look close at this one. She is no more. She will neither bother you nor hinder you any longer.”  Minerva waved, and Katie vanished to reappear beside Minerva, well out of ear shot.  “I went and saw her.  My daughter.  She is beautiful.”  She began to cry.  “She is so smart.  She reminds me of him.  I love her so much.”  She began to weep, and Katie held her and offered what comfort she had.  Minerva did not have it in her to cry for long, and shortly, she pulled back.  “Don’t tell. Please.  Keep this our secret.”

“Your secret is safe.  You just love that beautiful girl.”

Minerva nodded and nearly smiled. “And you and Lockhart should have a girl.”

Katie looked in the direction where the others stood.  “I hope. Someday.”

Minerva nodded again, and disappeared.

As Katie slipped back down the little ridge, she found the others excitedly talking to someone.  She could not see him until she practically stood on top of him.  “Bogramus,” she said.  It was the dwarf from the last time zone, and after sixty years, he only had a touch of gray.

“Well you see, Miss Boston, it was like this,” Bogramus spoke like a grown man to a young child.  “Hephaestus, er, Vulcan said he wanted some minerals dug out of the Nebrodes Mountains, and since I had a whole crew of bored fellas, we said we could do that.  We are dwarves, you know.  Digging for gold is our specialty, but we take work where we can.”

“So, we go this way?” Lincoln asked, and pointed into the cave.

“Yep.”

“But wait,” Katie said, trying to catch up in the conversation.  “Where is the time gate?”

“This way,” Lincoln said, pointing again.

“But it would not be right to come all this way and not say hello to Vulcan,” Millie added.  “You said he invited us.”

Katie agreed before she said, “Wait. Where is Wallace?”

No one wanted to say it.  Alexis stepped up.  “He didn’t make it.  He waded into the soldiers and Nanette screamed and pointed right at him, so they killed him first.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Katie said, especially to Millie and Evan. Evan nodded and Millie sniffed and nodded with him.

Katie returned the nod and started toward Lockhart and the entrance to the cave, but this time Galatea said, “Wait.” She hugged all the women and shook hands with all the men, including Bogramus. “I don’t do underground stuff. Well, I do grottos and sea caves, but with water and high tide.  Smokey, hot underground? No, no.”  Galatea waved and vanished with the words, “See you next time.”

Then they began to walk into the cave and found it well-lit with torches.  “So how many dwarves are working here?”

“Seven,” Bogramus said with a straight face.  “And all bachelors.  Ah, this is the life.  No females to make us miserable, and no children running around getting in the way. Ah.  Mind you, I wouldn’t mind if you knew where some unattached females were hanging around, bored, maybe.”

“Do you whistle while you work?” Lockhart had to ask.

“No, not especially.  Ragtide likes to sing, but we gag him as quick as we can. He is what they call stone deaf.”

“Tone deaf,”

“That too.”

Within an hour, they came to a big open cave, well ventilated, but full of iron works and coal fed boilers and furnaces.  It got hot in there, but Vulcan stood by a forge, waiting patiently.

“Elder Stow,” he called, and the Elder went to the god, meekly, wondering.  “Put your equipment on the table here.  Put it all down, and don’t leave anything out.”

Elder Stow looked briefly at Lockhart and Katie, who both nodded and encouraged him.  He had misgivings, but did as instructed, and stepped back with a word.  “It would probably be best if even you did not get a good look at the inner workings of some of my equipment.”

Vulcan laughed.  “Your secrets are safe.  It is your power source I am concerned about.  Apollo says the time of disillusion is drawing near, and I am thinking the gods might not be around to charge up your equipment next time you need it. There.  Everything is charged except your scanner.  Now here.  This is a new piece for you to carry.  It is a charger.  It should build up a full charge in a few minutes under a light source.  Let us say there are a few things you don’t need to know, either.  Then you touch it to the power source point and it should charge whatever piece of equipment you have in seconds.”

Elder Stow took it and tried it on the scanner.  “Thank you.” It worked perfectly, and did not overcharge the scanner.

“Sure, sure.  You can have your people take it apart to see how it works if you haven’t already come up with something similar by the time you get home. Meanwhile, I might copy that material, your substitute metal there, for a couple of swords I have in mind.  Probably my last gifts to the Kairos before I go away.”

“Hey Boss,” Boston shouted.  The time gate is right in front of us.”

“Yes,” Vulcan laughed.  “Didn’t you wonder why it was only two days’ distance? I thought it would be better to keep it on shore.  Otherwise, the time gate would have been across the sea, half-way to Epirus.”

“It is noon,” Katie said.  “We could go now.”

“You are welcome to stay here and leave in the morning.”  Vulcan said, and smiled, knowing how hot it was for the humans.

They all said thank you and hurried before they melted.

************************

MONDAY

Avalon 6.12 The Road Ahead is the final chapter in Avalon, season six.  The travelers from Avalon confront the three outlaw-cowboys who are giving the First Emperor of China some unnatural help. Don’t miss it.  Until Monday, Happy Reading.

*

Avalon 6.11 Shipwreck, part 5 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

By the morning of the third day, Galatea got right up behind Petracles again, a very contented smile on her face. Apparently, everything went well in the night, though Petracles looked exhausted.  The six soldiers Petracles brought with him to escort the group rode at the back and had the good sense to keep to their own camp in the night and keep their mouths shut.

Boston was not so sensible.  She turned to Sukki, pointed at Galatea snuggling up to Petracles, and said, “See, that is how you do it.”  She said it several times.

“What makes you think I want to do it?” Sukki responded, but turned her face away, and turned red.

They found a narrow wooden bridge across the Simeto River, and felt grateful to be able to cross without incident. It did not seem a very wide or deep river, but the travelers were glad not to have to go out of their way to find a ford.

Katie said, “Hopefully, things like roads and bridges will become more common from here on out.”

“That is Mount Etna?” Lockhart asked about the snow covered peak they headed toward. Katie nodded.

“That would be my guess.”

“I don’t see any smoke,” Lockhart pointed out.

“No,” Katie agreed.  “Lincoln could probably read in the database about every eruption around this time, but all I know is, while the volcano erupts often in history, most of the time it is inactive.  Like maybe a hundred years of quiet between eruptions.  An eruption might last a month, several months, a year or two, but then the mountain gets quiet again for the next twenty years or maybe two hundred years.  Who can say?”

“Like predicting earthquakes,” Lockhart suggested.

“Yes.  Related,” Katie said.  “I had a friend at the Pentagon who worked on that very thing… To predict earthquakes, not to trigger them.”

Lockhart nodded that he understood.

“Wait,” Katie said, and stopped, so the whole train of horses stopped.  “We are being followed.

“Where?”  Lockhart looked back.

“Since the river.  A whole troop of men.  They have cut us off from the bridge.”  Katie looked at Lockhart.  “I’m sorry. I got busy loving you and stopped paying attention.”  Her head snapped toward the front, but then Boston and Sukki were galloping back from the point.  A minute later, Decker and Elder Stow both raced in from the sides.

“There is a whole army out there,” Boston said it first, as Petracles with Galatea came along side.

“Yes,” Galatea said.  “Men from Tauromeni and Catina.  I was wondering when you were going to notice.”

“I smell the witch,” Lockhart said.

“I hear that,” Decker agreed.

“I can put up my screens, but not for long.  Then we will be out of power.”

“They may try a mass attack from all sides.  Our weapons are good, but not against an army.”

“It would be like Custer’s last stand,” Boston suggested.

“We can’t draw the wagons in a circle. We only have the one,” Lockhart joked. “Why don’t we see what they want before we start shooting people.”

They moved forward, slowly in a group, and stopped a hundred yards from the phalanx of men.  Lockhart and Katie then rode out to the fifty-yard line and stopped there, to wait.  Petracles, and thus Galatea followed them, but the rest wisely stayed behind.

“Petracles wanted me to stay back,” Galatea said, with a true smile that made the others smile.  “He wanted to protect me.  Isn’t he the cutest thing.”

Petracles did not think he was cute, but he spoke, and tried to stay serious.  “I represent Pyrrhus here.  These Greeks have no business turning out soldiers against their king.  The king has given you safe passage.  In fact, he insisted.”

They did not have to wait long. Six men rode out from the other side. Galatea whispered, like it was a conspiracy.  “They are under the spell of your witch.  She is hiding.  Shh. Don’t tell that I told you.”

“Hello friend,” Lockhart began, but Petracles interrupted.

“I am here as representative of Pyrrhus the king.  These people have been given safe passage to their destination. How dare you bring an army out against your king.”

“These are not people,” one man spoke in a hypnotic monotone.  “They are demons from beyond time.  They must surrender all of their things.  They must surrender themselves to be burned at the stake.”

“Friend,” Lockhart began again, but this time Katie interrupted.

“Galatea.  Can you set these free from their hypnotic spell?”

“Oh,” Galatea shook her head.  “I don’t know if I am allowed to do that.”

“Please,” Lockhart said.

“Just these six,” Katie explained. “I’m not asking you to set them all free, or anything big like that.  Just a little thing.  Just these few.”

Galatea’s smile returned, like she could not stay serious for very long.  “Okay,” she said, and the six men covered their eyes, shook their heads, and looked confused before one of them spoke.

“What are we doing here?”

“Wait.  I remember,” another said, and looked at Katie and Lockhart with an odd expression on his face.

“You don’t look like demons,” a third said.

“These good people are under the protection of the king,” Petracles spoke up again.  “I am sure you don’t want to make King Pyrrhus mad at you.”

“Dear, no,” one man said.

“How did we get here?”

One figured it out.  “It was the witch,”

The city elders awkwardly turned on their horses to face their own army.  Only a moment later, they saw the witch come out from behind the men. “No,” she yelled.  “That’s not fair.  Attack.  Attack.”

Decker had somehow managed to get the rest of the group to form a defensive circle around their one wagon. He made sure the Eporites had their bows ready, and made Boston and Alexis get out their bows, even if Alexis protested.  Boston gave her Beretta to Sukki, and Decker gave his handgun to Evan.  They did not have a spare for Wallace, but that turned out to be just as well.  On sight of Nanette, Wallace rode his horse as fast as he could across the field, shouting.

“Nanette.  I’m here for you.  Nanette.”

No one could stop him, as the cavalry troop that cut them off from the bridge prepared to attack.  At the same time, the phalanx of Greeks began to march forward.

“Hasty retreat,” Lockhart said. Katie had her rifle ready, but she agreed.  Petracles rode in all seriousness, but Galatea got her grin back, like it was all too exciting.  The six elders did not seem to know what to do.  Two rode with the travelers.  Two rode slowly back to their troops, knowing they could not stop them.  The final two just stayed where they were, like men frozen in indecision.

Katie spoke when Wallace rode past them. “Let him go.  Nothing we can do for him now.”

When the riders got to the wagon, Katie quickly gave Millie her handgun, having shown Millie how to use it whether Millie liked it or not.  She pulled her rifle up to her sight, and Elder Stow let his sonic device squeal as loud as he could set it.  Even the traveler’s horses protested.  The oncoming horses stopped, bucked, stumbled, turned aside, or turned around and rode back the way they came regardless of their riders.

“Fine and well,” Decker said, “But that is not going to work on the foot soldiers.  The men advanced, seven or eight feet of spear poking out of the front of the formation.  “Captain.”

“Ready, sir,” Katie said in her crisp, military voice.  The others stepped up around them with their bows and handguns.  Bullets from handguns might not penetrate the shields with enough force to do damage to the man, but at least they would not bounce off, like arrows.  Katie and Decker had the rifles, and Lockhart had his shotgun.  Not much against five hundred or more men.

“Aim,” Decker said, and one of the Eporites yelled from behind.

“The cavalry have regained control and are preparing a charge from three sides.”

“I’ve got it,” Elder Stow countered. “Stay on the foot soldiers.”

The cavalry began yelling and started to ride.  The foot soldiers got to where Decker prepared to yell fire. when the cavalry froze, horses and all in mid-stride, and a massive stroke of lightning came down in front of the Greek phalanx, knocking the whole front row off their feet, and some of the men following as well.

Avalon 6.11 Shipwreck, part 4 of 6

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Petracles took the travelers straight to the king, though they had to wait a few minutes to see him.  The king had to confer with his generals first. When he finally came from the tent to meet them, he paused to watch his generals scurry off to their assignments. The generals all but bowed, though bowing to superiors was not a natural Greek trait.  Pyrrhus looked like a hardened general himself, more than a king. He had an aura of a man that had advisors, but rarely listened to them.

“So, these are the merchants?  Did you save any of your wares?  I’m sorry for your losses.”  Pyrrhus made a lot of assumptions in his words.

Lockhart answered straight, and Pyrrhus paused at having to look up at the big man.  “We are travelers, not merchants, and thanks to the intervention of the gods, we all survived.”

“Travelers?”  Pyrrhus frowned, but he had something in mind.  “And you suffered no losses?”

“We lost two horses,” Katie said, and watched Pyrrhus’ face turn sour.

“Over here,” one of the young soldiers waved to the travelers.  “We found your horses.”

Pyrrhus looked mad, but paused to watch.

“Honey,” Boston yelled, and ran faster than humanly possible—faster than the horse ran to her.  She hugged her horse and the horse responded.

Lockhart merely called.  “Dog.”

The horse broke free of the soldier holding it and trotted up, exactly like a faithful dog.  It might have licked Lockhart, but Katie grabbed and kissed Dog’s nose.  “Where did you find them?” she asked.

“Porus found them.”  Pyrrhus waved at the young soldier who spoke.

“They wandered right up to the camp. I figured they came to shore and came inland to escape the storm.”  He smiled for the group.

Pyrrhus frowned, but admitted the truth. “Obviously, your horses.  I might buy them.  Your horses are bigger than my own, and they seem steady and strong.  I could get some good stock out of those horses.”

“Sorry,” Lockhart said.  “They are a gift from the gods for our journey.”

“Hera’s Butt,” Pyrrhus swore.  “Why does everyone credit or blame the gods for everything?  We have to make our own way in this world, and damn hard it is, too.  But we win or lose by our own hand, not because of some mystical gods.”

“I beg your pardon,” Galatea spoke nice and loud and stepped forward.  Boston, Sukki and Millie all wanted to say something, but decided it would be safer not to get in her way.  “I’ll have you know these travelers are friends with all of the gods.”

“Not all,” Lincoln mumbled, and Galatea heard, and nodded.

“Well, most of them, anyway.  They are my friends, and they are honest and good people.  I’ve been following their travels for nearly four-thousand years, and maybe the gods get too much credit and too much blame for life, but that doesn’t mean they just sit around doing nothing.”  Galatea snapped her fingers in Pyrrhus’ face and floated up three feet in the air.  Her legs got replaced by her mermaid tail. “Now I am hot and bothered.  I need a swim.  I need to get my tail wet.  Good-bye.  See you later, Boston.”  She snapped her finger again and disappeared, leaving a splash of sea water in her place.

“See ya later,” Boston shouted.

“I guessed, you know,” Petracles said. “No mortal woman could be that beautiful.”

“Careful,” Alexis said.  “Sukki mentioned that Galatea thought you were cute.”

“That could be really good,” Petracles said, but as he thought about it, he added, “And really dangerous.”

“Pyrrhus.”  A woman in the distance shouted as she came up with several men. “Did you forget we had an appointment this morning?”

“What?  No.” Pyrrhus said.  “I’ve been busy.  We had a storm, in case you failed to notice.  There was a shipwreck.”

The woman got close and opened her arms. She shouted, “Boston.”  Boston raced into the hug, again, faster than humanly possible.

“The red-head gets singled out a lot,” Petracles noted.

“She is an elf,” Lincoln said, and left it at that.

“So…” the woman stepped up, nodding to Lincoln who named her as Umma.  “What did you have to offer?” she asked Pyrrhus.

Pyrrhus looked around at his generals, her generals, the travelers and their horses.  He closed his eyes, raised his head and hands, shook his hands and said a very loud, “No,” like he tried to make it all go away.

Umma took the moment to speak to the side.  “Lockhart. As usual, good or bad timing, depending. I don’t know where the witch is.”

“No, no,” Pyrrhus yelled.

Umma turned to the young soldier, Porus. “Hello son.  Thank you for saving the horses.  Your mother loves you.”

“Mother…” Porus objected at being singled out.  He walked behind the tent and no doubt disappeared.

“Proteus,” Katie whispered in Lockhart’s ear.

“Yes, thanks,” Lockhart whispered to the wind.

“No,” Pyrrhus seemed to get hold of himself, and he turned on Umma.  “You need to open the gate and let me come in.”

“Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin,” Umma responded.

Pyrrhus’ face turned deadpan.  “You are a woman.  You don’t have hair on your chin.”

“That can be worked out,” she responded.

“Diogenes?” Millie whispered, not really having had a chance to talk to the young man.

“No,” Evan told her.  “Alexander made his soldiers stay clean shaven. Now, having met them, I think it is because Alexander could not grow a good beard.”

Millie nodded, while Umma spoke, sharply. “I thought you said you had something to offer to end the siege.”

“I tried negotiating with your people, but you are all as stupid and stubborn as the Greeks; but the Greeks want Carthage gone.  So, once again, I am stuck choosing between bad and worse.  I should just break your walls and crush your city.”

Umma nodded, and spoke sweetly. “You have had several victories since coming to Italy, and lost most of your men, and your best men.  I figure one more such victory and you won’t have any army left.”

“Not funny.”

“So then, offer something realistic so we can make peace.”

Pyrrhus paused to look down on the woman, remembering how he felt when he had to look up at Lockhart.  “I don’t like negotiating with a stupid and stubborn woman.”

“I beg your pardon,” Umma said, sounding very much like Galatea.  “My family is keeping the city fed and happy.  My ships, my food, my city.  I’m what you get.  Besides, the city elders decided if you get really stupid, my life is expendable.  I told them even you are not that stupid.”

“So, what good is talking to you? Your city elders will make the decision.”

“My city, remember?  They do what they are told.  Besides, I was not about to let you talk directly to them.  They would negotiate away the whole city and get nothing in return.  City idiots, I call them.”

“She does call them that,” one of the generals with Umma sat beside the travelers who had already taken seats to watch the fireworks show.  The older general sat beside him, and two of Pyrrhus’ generals sat on the other side.

Pyrrhus and Umma spent the morning yelling at each other, until Umma held up her hand and said, “Lunch break.”

Pyrrhus watched the sailors stack wood, some of it still wet, in the place set aside for a fire.  He stared when Boston pulled out her wand and started the fire with a little flamethrower action.  Two soldiers cooked some onions and leeks, while others brought over a whole pig that had been cooking all morning.  The soldiers brought some fruit, and it made a very fine meal, and the conversation around the fire was both cordial and warm.  Though, mostly that was because Pyrrhus spent most of his time in his tent planning for the afternoon argument.

Pyrrhus started the conversation with, “You are the most formidable enemy I have ever faced.  You give no ground, and keep trying to sneak up on my flanks where you think I am unprepared.”

“Nice lunch,” Umma said.  “Did you get enough to eat?”

The afternoon ended with Pyrrhus yelling. “I will get my own ships and block your port and sink your ships.”

Umma said something like the Carthaginian version of “Nyah-nyah,” and added the fingers wiggling on her nose and in her ears, and the butt wiggle besides.  She marched her generals back to the city, and Pyrrhus threw things for a while.  Fortunately, Porus came back by then and moved the travelers out on to the open field where the horses contentedly grazed.  They set their camp near some soldiers, and did not have to deal with Pyrrhus until the morning.

###

When the morning came, Petracles spoke for his king. “Pyrrhus wants you off his land as soon as possible.  He is lending you enough horses so you can all ride, to speed the journey.  He will get his horses back when you take ship in Messana.”

“Boston,” Lockhart yelled, though she was not far away.

“The time gate is around Mount Etna. Lincoln and I checked it in the database,” Boston shouted back, just to be even.

“That is closer than Messana,” Katie said.  “We can get out of the king’s land sooner than expected.”

“Somehow, I believe you,” Petracles said, as Galatea showed up.

“Do I get a horse?”

“Please,” Petracles said without blinking.  “Take mine.”

Galatea smiled and stepped right up to the man.  “We could ride together,” she said, and placed on gentle hand against the man’s cheek while she stood within a hair’s breadth of him.

Petracles swallowed.  “You know how to ride?”

“Only on a seahorse, or in a chariot, but it can’t be hard.”

Petracles nodded.  “Can you hold on?”

“I would love to,” she said, and Petracles swallowed again.  Of them all, maybe Decker laughed the loudest.

Galatea turned to the women in the group. “When my sister rides in her husband’s chariot, she always scrunches down in the back and covers her eyes.  I hope I don’t have to cover my eyes.”

“Mostly road between here and Etna,” Petracles said, as he reached down to help Galatea up behind him.  “We might make it in two days, maybe morning of the third.”  He spoke over his shoulder. “Sister?”

“Trite,” Galatea said.  “I do have ninety-nine sisters.”

“Trite?”

“Amphitrite,” Lockhart said.  “Her husband, Poseidon.  I guess Neptune in this part of the world.”

Petracles laughed, nervously. Galatea did not help when she held him around the middle, snuggled up tight against his back, sighed, and put her head gently against the back of his shoulder.