The big ship overhead projected a greenish light on the Wolv below.  It took a few seconds.  The travelers saw many of the Wolv continue to struggle against the light, but eventually all within visual range collapsed.  Lockhart and Katie agreed that they were unconscious.  Decker said, “Darn.”

Giovanni and Leonora came up from the northeast gate where he and the circus people stood, ready to defend the gate if necessary.  Fortunately, it did not prove necessary.  Sibelius and Vadar, the knife thrower might have stood, briefly, but most, like Titania, would have not stopped any determined Wolv.

“Elenar,” Giovanni named the unfamiliar ship for the travelers.  He went to retrieve Elder Stow’s Communication device.  He needed to talk to the newcomers.

Tony asked, but since Lincoln was not there to look it up in the database, Lockhart had to dredge up the information in his memory from his Men in Black reading.  “They lived on earth more or less at the same time as the Neanderthals, that is, the Gott-Druk—Elder Stow’s people.  But where the Gott-Druk lived here in Europe and the Middle East, the Elenar lived more in Siberia, China, and Southeast Asia.  They got taken off the earth with Agdaline technology at the time of the flood, same as the Gott-Druk.  Early theories called them Cro Magnon or proto humans of some kind, but now the thinking is they are Denisova or Denisovan based on some specimens reported in the journals just before we left.  They look human enough even without a glamour, but they are more closely related to Neanderthals than us Homo Sapiens.  The man from the paleontology department who told me about the report said we will never know for sure unless we can sequence their DNA, whatever that means.”

Giovanni returned, speaking into the communicator, and followed closely by Elder Stow who did not want the Kairos to break it, again.  “Elenar.  This is the Kairos.  You do not belong here on this planet, but given the circumstances, I thank you for your timely arrival.  I will expect your representative in one earth hour.  Better come in the north gate.  The Wolv left plenty of bits and pieces of good men scattered around the battlefield, so you would need a strong stomach for the east gate.  One hour.”  He clicked it off and handed it back to Elder Stow with a word.  “See?  Didn’t break anything, but now you have some explaining to do, I believe.”

Elder Stow looked like he did not want to have to explain, but with a deep sigh he looked down and spoke softly.  “I vaguely remembered something in history, about a thousand years before my time.  I looked it up in my database, which I have found to not be very accurate in some cases.  But anyway, there was once a Gott-Druk group called the Restoration.  They were one of a number of groups that sprang up from time to time, all focused on returning to Earth and retaking our ancient land.  Right about this time, the Restoration experimented with using the Wolv to do the deed.  The Wolv worked well for the Humanoid people.  My history does not admit they ever got passed the talking stage, but apparently, they experimented, as their written record suggested.”

“Your people brought the Wolv here?” They all caught on, but Katie said it.

“Yes,” Elder Stow said.  “We, here, are at roughly the center of the European land mass, Gott-Druk homeland. The written record suggests bringing a brigade, about six hundred to this location and see how well they can clear off the land, that is, kill all the humans.  If these few can clear off and successfully defend an undetermined area of land, that will indicate how many Wolv need to be brought in to clear the entire continent.  The Wolv can be removed again with the stun method, as the Elenar just used, and the idea is then the Gott-Druk can return and live in peace, or as we say, grow fat and full of wisdom.”

The Elenar ship landed, crushing a number of trees that still stood after Elder Stow’s handheld weapon swept the area and the massive explosion of whatever weapon the Wolv brought up.  Decker countered that the Gott-Druk probably had the weapons, including the handheld weapons, and probably did not share them with the Wolv for a good reason.  “The reason there are no Humanoids around anymore is because they taught the Wolv how to use their technology, and the Wolv turned on them in the end.”

“Boston.  Where are you going?”  Sukki shouted as Boston walked away.

Boston shouted back.  “Madam Figiori has some fortune telling cards.  I’m teaching Baklovani the wolfman how to play Go Fish.”

“Can I play?” Sukki asked.  Boston stopped and waved to her.  She ran to catch up.

“Elenar…” Elder Stow said the word and it was not kindly spoken.

“Katie jinxed us when she mentioned them in the last time zone, or the one before that,” Alexis said and put on a big smile.

“Hey!” Lockhart protested.

Alexis just smiled more.  “Well, Benjamin was not here, so I thought it was my wifely duty to say it.”  Lockhart shrugged.  Katie and Alexis both smiled as they watched Boston and Sukki disappear among the circus wagons and tents.  “Probably best if the wolfman stays undercover for a while,” Alexis said.

Katie had a question.  “How long before Lincoln will be able to travel?”

“Tomorrow, maybe.  Next day would be better,” Alexis answered.

“Good enough,” Lockhart said.  “Right now, Decker, Katie and I have to make sure the Wolv in the field are all dead.”

“Grisly job,” Decker said, but he was ready.

###

The Elenar had four warships in a combat group commanded by the Elenar version of a commodore.  Giovanni met with the commodore and his staff while two of the warships penned in the Gott-Druk merchant that brought the Wolv to earth.  The last Elenar ship stayed in orbit to relay information from overhead.  The Gott-Druk had no other ships.  This was an unapproved civilian undertaking.

The Elenar said they kept tabs on various Gott-Druk groups and had a big file on the Restoration.  They said how they got their information was a state secret, but it was not hard to figure out what was happening when some of the Wolv disappeared from one world they were monitoring.

Of course, the Elenar asked about the screens and superior weapons the travelers displayed.  Giovanni said they were state secrets, but he did arrange some help for the travelers to continue their journey.

Two weeks later, the travelers reached the time gate on the Rhine, well above Basel.  They figured Giovanni left Baden-Baden in about a week and headed north toward Manheim.  The circus had to skip the performance scheduled for Stuttgart, but they made some money in the towns on the way to Manheim and they should be in Frankfurt on the day their advanced posters said.  Besides the danger of the few Wolv that still roamed around the black forest, they had to be in Aachen by August.  Giovanni had the written invitation signed by the Holy Roman Emperor himself.

Somehow, Giovanni arranged for a three-man Elenar scout ship to fly cover during the traveler’s journey.  To be honest, they flew up and hovered with their scanners turned to the forest and Rhine River the travelers rode beside.  They looked for any stray Wolv or Gott-Druk that might be tempted to turn in the direction of the travelers.  None did, and in the evening, the travelers always camped in the wilderness, wherever they could find a secluded spot for the Elenar to set down and join them for supper.

Elder Stow kept up his glamour the whole time, looking like a kindly old man.  The Elenar scanners were very good in that age, but they would have to suspect the ruse to penetrate the glamour, and Elder Stow was not about to reveal himself.  Certainly, the travelers understood and kept his secret.  They mostly called him Stow and only let the name Elder Stow slip a few times.  Lockhart explained that they honored and respected their elders and Stow was clearly the elder among them.  The Elenar bought it and there were no incidents.

When the travelers went through the time gate, Elder Stow only said one thing.  “I did not find their sense of humor funny.”  The Elenar laughed a lot, were kind-hearted people who knew how to tell a joke.  Sadly, most of the Elenar jokes had a Gott-Druk as the butt of the joke.

Elder Stow harumphed.  Boston looked at the man and outwardly agreed with him, but she thought some of those jokes were very funny.

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MONDAY

A four part episode with posts Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and THURSDAY.  Metal Men turn up in Normandy in 1066.  The masters have plans to change the future.  Don’t miss it.  Happy Reading.

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