Speculative Fiction

Avalon 3.6 part 3 of 5, Prisoners of the Balok

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The three got tossed into a cell of some sort, where a strong wooden door was latched on the outside. There were already a dozen people in the cell, but they all kept to the back wall and kept quiet except one middle aged woman who came to help untie the strangers. She started with the man, and Lincoln was grateful. His wrists were chaffing.

“Help,” Boston shrieked. Fortunately, Alexis was already free and put the fire out. “I guess burning the rope off was not a good idea,” Boston admitted. Alexis just gave her a mother look that said Boston was not a child to make such a senseless mistake.

“Thank you,” Lincoln said to the woman when she got his hands loose. The woman thought to step back. Most of the others noticed Boston and Alexis did not need help, even in that dim light. Alexis assumed some would think magic, but some might have thought the men did not tie the women well enough.

“My name’s Lincoln,” he said and reached out for the woman.

“Mehabbi,” the woman responded. “And Lothar my husband is injured. Here.”

Alexis came right over on the word injured and found the man sitting, leaning against the back wall, a great cut in his shoulder that appeared scabbed over badly and looked like it was begging to become infected. She moved a young woman out of the way and removed the man’s makeshift bandage. She clicked her tongue and held out her hand. Lincoln put his little Swiss army knife in her palm and spoke to Mehabbi, and plenty loud for everyone..

“She is a healer. Let her work, and give her room.” People were willing as soon as they saw Alexis’ hands and the wound begin to glow with a soft golden light. They did not even object when she opened the knife, removed most of the scab and cut the wound open.

“Lincoln,” Boston took his attention. “Did you notice anything strange about that snake statue?”Etana serpent

Lincoln shook his head, but Alexis spoke up from the floor. “It had short stubby legs,”

“Yes,” Lincoln realized. “And at least one hand of many spindly fingers.”

“Balok,” Boston nodded.

“But that can’t be,” Lincoln said. “They’re extinct.”

“Not as extinct as we thought,” Boston said.

“And where do you think they got the model for the statue?” Alexis said as she stood and wiped the sweat from her brow. The man was sleeping and Mehabbi was crying grateful tears.

“I only hope the ship crashed,” Lincoln said. “Maybe they modeled the statue after a dead one.”

“Don’t count on it,” Boston and Alexis said together.

“I am fairly sure that was a ship overhead,” Boston added.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Lincoln said. “The Balok are driven to kill every intelligent species other than themselves. It is like their religion. They are the only ones allowed to live. If there were Balok around, they would be killing everything.”

“Unless they are trapped here, underground,” Alexis suggested. “Like for some reason they can’t break out, and have to depend on the humans here for survival.”

“The serpent gods sleep,” Mehabbi spoke up as her husband Lothar relaxed. “I heard the men talking when we came in. Overhead is the nest of the eagles. They patrol the skies, but the great eagle has a broken wing and cannot fly. Down below, the serpents sleep but for the few who watch over their offspring. Those few must be fed.”

“Fed?” Lincoln had to ask.

“Us,” Mehabbi confirmed.

Boston looked around. The people in the cell had inched forward and were staring at the newcomers, many with unasked questions in their eyes. “Can I help you?” Boston asked nice and loud, and most turned back to face the wall in an effort to go unnoticed.

###

“I recognize the markings on the ship,” Lockhart tried to remember.

“Sevarese,” Decker said. “They were the first thing I remember clearly when I woke up, after the Pendratti and Gott-Druk shuttles in the Corn Woman world.”

“And Puff the dragon,” Lockhart said. “But how long ago was that?”

UFO Birdman 1“Twelve time zones ago,” Elder Stow suggested. “Averaging a week to ten days per zone, that would be about three months ago. I could check my instruments.”

Katie spoke up. “According to the database, roughly six hundred and fifty years ago.”

“And as I recall,” Lockhart continued. “They had just about finished killing off the Balok and were starting to fight the Pendratti.”

“Not yet,” Decker said. “But the Kairos said they would soon. I remember he was determined to make sure that nuclear war did not start in the Yucatan.”

“They have spotted us,” Elder Stow said. He was looking hard at his scanner. The Sevarese ship stopped and hovered over the scrub grass. The company stayed in the trees, but that did not seem to matter.

“I guess their scanner capabilities have improved over the last six hundred and fifty years,” Katie said.

“Not to mention their fighter ships. They used to be more like jets and could dive bomb but not hover like that.”

“I remember,” Decker said.

“Going,” Elder Stow said as the Sevarese ship lifted again and headed off in the same direction they were headed. “I suspect it won’t take them long to analyze their scans and conclude that we are not locals.”

“Let’s find the others first,” Lockhart said.

“Yes please,” Roland agreed, and he lead them out on to the grasslands, near the hills.

Avalon 3.6 part 2 of 5, Separated

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It took an hour and a half to reach the river crossing, and Decker at least was not surprised to see twenty men there with spears. No one was surprised when Sinab got carefully down from Cortez’ back and went over to join the men, a big grin plastered across his face. Obviously, they were his men, no doubt the ordinary thieves he was talking about.

“An interesting experience,” he said. “I should like to have those beasts for my men, and Kay-tee for myself.” The men began to spread out to encircle the group. “I am thinking your beasts can go faster than we have gone, faster than camels, maybe. With such beasts, I could do so much more.”

Lockhart slid from his horse with a look at Katie. “My turn,” he said. He had his shotgun. Katie and Decker pulled their rifles and Roland held Boston’s Beretta. As usual, Elder Stow appeared to be fiddling with some piece of equipment. “Do you have a champion, of should I just kill you,” he said to Sinab. Lockhart stood, an imposing six feet, as near to a giant as a human in that age could get.Etana warrior

Sinab frowned and waved to a man who was nearly as big. The man held a long spear and grinned, like he thought this might be too easy. Lockhart basted a slug into the man’s leg, and the man went straight to the dirt, moaning and crying like his leg might come off.

“Next,” Lockhart said, and all of the men turned to run. They stopped suddenly when they appeared to run into an invisible wall.

“Like the sphere I have placed around the camp on several occasions,” Elder Stow said. “But a small area. They will not go anywhere until I turn it off or we move out of range.”

“A few minutes earlier to keep them out would have been nice,” Katie mumbled. Then as Lockhart mounted and they started across the river, Katie could not help speaking up. “If Boston and Alexis were here, they would be yelling at you for acting like Decker.” Lockhart made no response, so she looked at Decker, but he seemed like he had no trouble with what Lockhart did.

###

Boston, Alexis and Lincoln all had their hands tied behind their back with a strong rope. Their feet were left free to walk, and the spears the men carried made it clear they had to walk and keep on walking until told to stop. The men made no indication about where they were going, or why. Boston suspected the men were slave traders, and she was imagining what she would do to avoid being sold into some harem. Lincoln supposed they were drug dealers and would hold them hostage for a big ransom. He dealt with those sorts of men back when he worked with the CIA, before he came to work for the Men in Black and met Alexis. Alexis did not imagine much more than whatever these men wanted, it would not be good for her, Benjamin and Boston. She thought to speak, and kept her words in English so the men would not understand.

Etana captives“I think I can get my hands free by magic,” she said. “We just need to wait for an opportune time.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Boston said. “Why don’t we try right now?”

“Nowhere to go,” Lincoln said. “We get loose now and they just chase us and catch us. Then they tie us up again, or kill us if they think we are too much trouble.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that,” Boston admitted. “I’m still too new at this magic business.”

“You still find it exciting,” Alexis said. “You need to see that it is just a natural part of you, like breathing. You need to let it be normal for you.”

“Yeah, but wow. I never imagined doing magic.”

“Hush,” Lincoln interrupted. “Looks like we are headed toward that hole in the hill. My guess is their base is underground. Now listen. Elder Stow has probably zeroed in on us with his scanner, but if not, I am sure Roland is tracking us, and probably telling everyone to hurry. And on horseback, they should find us soon enough, so let’s not do anything stupid before the cavalry gets here.”

“So we wait and do stupid things after they get here?” Alexis asked.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Boston said.

###

“You’re right,” Lockhart admitted. “I’m just worried, and I didn’t think we had time to talk sense into a grassland cliff 2bunch of highway robbers.” Katie did not buy it, so he tried again. “It’s just that I spent those years on the police force and saw thieves get away with murder. I guess I couldn’t help myself.” Katie shook her head, no. “You’re right. I was wrong. I’m sorry,” Lockhart said and dropped the subject.

“I’ve lost them,” Elder Stow said, suddenly. “They were clearly there, and then they were gone.” He lifted his eyes to look around as if they might pop up in the distance.

“This way,” Roland pointed. His hunter senses were working overtime.

“I can take us to where they were last.” Elder Stow shook his scanner as if that might help.

###

The underground cavern was massive. It felt bigger than the hill they were under, or at least the roof of the cavern had to be very thin. The men left their spears at the entrance and came to the center where a stone altar stood in front of a massive stone statue of a snake. The snake had red eye. Both Boston and Alexis imagined they were rubies. Lincoln imagined something more like cameras, like overhead in the pharmacy where the red light indicated they were working. The men all knelt before the idol while a man in the distance droned in a strange chant that made no sense. Boston thought she might get away with a whisper.

“I’m not going first,” she said before Lincoln hushed her.

Etana serpent statue“Listen,”

They heard the faint sound of retro rockets overhead. Everyone quieted, the droning chant stopped, and they heard a thump. Some dirt broke loose from the ceiling and fluttered to the floor.

The men looked up, briefly, got off their knees and dragged off their prisoners. One man slapped Boston, and growled at her. Boston let the fire come up into her eyes, but the man had already looked away.

Avalon 3.6: Down Below, part 1 of 5

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After 2855 BC in Sumeria. Kairos lifetime 39: Etana, King of Kish

Recording …

Men swept through the camp and grabbed Boston, Alexis and Lincoln. Boston complained. “Get your hands off me!” but it did her no good. Alexis stayed calm, but found her magic ineffective, and Lincoln had no weapon at hand to fight back. The men had weapons, and looked more than willing to use them. Boston, Alexis and Lincoln were dragged off, and by the time Roland got back from the hunt, the camp was empty.

“Boston!” Roland called, but there was no answer.

Major Decker and Elder Stow came in from up and down river where they had been out looking for an easy way across the deep and wide river on whose bank they camped. They found Roland pacing off his worry.Euphrates 3

“Eight men,” Roland the hunter concluded. “They came down here to the river where the trail stops.”

“A river boat,” Decker decided and sat to close his eyes and let his eagle spirit—his totem fly up and down the river in search of such a boat. Elder Stow got out his scanner which was still tuned to Lincoln, Boston and Alexis, and he scanned the area and across the river for some trace of their life signs.

Roland held his tongue to avoid cursing whoever those men might be. He set himself to cut up the deer and to cook and preserve what he could for the afternoon and the next day.

###

When the evening of the previous day came, the travelers avoided a village only to find their way blocked by the great river that Lincoln surmised was a tributary of the Euphrates. They camped late, and in the morning went out in search of information about where they might safely cross the river.   Elder Stow went south, Decker headed north, Roland went to hunt, and Katie and Lockhart changed their fairy weave clothing to imitate the farm clothing they had seen. They walked back to the village, knowing their horses would cause too great a stir.

Katie and Lockhart found the villagers very helpful in describing a place that Lockhart figured was about three miles downriver. The river broadened out, with an island in the middle, and became shallow enough, to drive an ox cart across. That was where the villagers crossed over with their goods to trade in the market of Kish.

“A Sumerian city,” Katie whispered to Lockhart in English.

“I wonder if Beltain’s people settled there,” Lockhart said.

“That, or she went further down in the Tigris-Euphrates valley to Nippur, Ur or Eridu, or one of the others.”

“But you must beware.” The elderly man in the public house looked very serious. “It would not be safe to go alone, just the two of you. People who have gone to the crossing alone or in small groups have disappeared.”

euphrates fight 1“What do you mean?” Katie asked.

The man leaned forward and whispered. “The serpent cult. They kidnap strangers and the unwary and take them off to their great underground temple and sacrifice them to their strange serpent gods. They say the altar is made of pure gold. They say the statue has eyes of fire, and they are always watching. They say when the idol finds one unworthy, fire comes from the eyes and the person burns to ash. They say there is a great crack in the earth in that place, and the fire in the earth runs red down below, and one day the serpent gods will send their servant, the great worm, up to the world to burn all the world in flames and smoke.”

“Old man,” a young man interrupted.   “Why do you frighten these people with tales old women tell to frighten the children? Let them enjoy their grain.” He turned to the couple. Indeed, he could hardly take his eyes off Katie. It made Katie uncomfortable, but Lockhart thought nothing of it. He thought she was beautiful, too. “You are from the north?”

Lockhart glanced at Katie and nodded. “I have never been this far from my home before. We are weavers, and I was taking cloth to Nippur, to trade, but we were set upon by thieves and lost everything. Now we are heading home by a different road to escape the thieves, but I do not know the way across the river.”

“Ah,” the young man nodded, knowingly. “We have ordinary thieves around here as well. Only the old women and old men are not content with ordinary tales. They make up tales of serpent gods and eagle gods fighting in the sky. Do not listen to such things. They see things that are not there, I think, too many years of Utu the sun shining on their head has addled their thinking.”

“Thieves around here?” Lockhart asked, but only because he could not see anything in the village worth stealing.

The young man nodded. “But they stay by the river, looking for people who would bring grain and goods to market. That is why it would not be safe for you to travel the river alone, just the two of you.”

Lockhart glanced at Katie again and made a command decision. “We are not alone. Our people are camped by the river. We came to your village to find the way across.”

“Ah,” the young man nodded again. “I did not think you were alone.” He paused to think before he spoke again. “I have been thinking to visit my brother in Kish. Perhaps I could guide your people to the crossing.”

Katie shook her head, no, but Lockhart was already agreeing. “That would be very helpful,” he said. “My name is Lockhart and this is Katie.”

“I am Sinab, and I have but one question.” Sinab paused again and let his eyes rest on Katie. “I have never seen hair the color of the sun and the sand. Are there may such people in the north who share this color?”Katie 4

Lockhart and Katie looked at each other again. They were trying not to attract attention, but Katie’s blonde locks were never considered. “Some,” Katie said softly, and she stood, so the men stood as well. As they walked to the door, the old man spoke again.

“Beware the serpent people.”

Sinab grinned and brushed him off as they went out. They all stopped and stared as Decker, the African-American, Roland the elf, and Elder Stow the Neanderthal on Misty Gray came riding into town, the other horses trailing behind.

“Lockhart,” Roland raised his voice. “Boston, Lincoln and Alexis have been kidnapped. They crossed the river and are being taken to some hills, but time is short.”

“Sinab knows the way to the river crossing,” Lockhart said, and he forced the man to get up on Lincoln’s horse, Cortez. Katie took the reigns. Roland held the reigns to Honey, Boston’s horse, and they set right out, but they could not move fast.

The old man watched and wondered how these big donkey people might do against the eagle people and the serpent people, and whose side they might be on.

Avalon 3.5: part 5 of 5, Darkness Overhead

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“I set the screen to the dimensions of the building,” Tara said. Three arms of zombies that were trying to reach in through the narrow windows were sliced off. They still tried to reach, grab and scratch whatever they could, but Elder Stow, who was back down from the rafters with Boston, used his own weapon to turn the arms on the dirt floor to dust.

Tara moved the knob to push the particle screen ten feet out from the edge of the building after checking the compensator to be sure the earth was not shoved out from beneath the building. The screen pushed the zombies back from the wall and the giant zombie back from the door, and the people could breathe a moment of relief.

“But I don’t imagine whoever is doing this will let the equipment continue to work for long,” Roland said.

“Someone is doing this?” Boston asked.Djin sky 1

“Of course,” Tara said. “I saw the dark in the sky.”

“No.” Katie and Alexis breathed as Alexis stepped over to where they were holding down Lord Veregoth. She was going to put him to sleep.

“The Djin?” Lockhart asked through his short breath. His arms were getting tired holding down the giant’s head.

“A big, bad genii,” one of the dwarfs said. “Bangles,” he tipped his hat.

“Blinker.” The other dwarf tipped his hat.

“Good to meet you,” Boston said, and then caused gasps from the dwarfs when she went to kiss Roland.

“Something helped me,” Alexis admitted as Veregoth went to sleep and Decker got off the giant’s chest. “It seems the Djin isn’t the only power around.”

“Probably why this equipment is working,” Tara added with a look at Elder Stow.

“Movement outside,” Katie said from the nearest window, and everyone squeezed in to look “Sky is clearing,” she added. A moment later, all the zombies collapsed. Tara was back on the floor with her eye closed. She reported what she saw.

The titan, Bhukampa was coming. “Brihaspabbi did something right for a change. I don’t know if he reported to the Brahmin, but he fetched the titan.”

“Brihaspabbi?” several people asked.

“Her husband,” Baga said.

“Separated,” Mitra added.

titan 1“Hoth!” They all heard the roar. It was deeper and more penetrating than Veregoth’s roar. As Boston said, it echoed down to the toes. Veregoth was coming around and Visana moaned before they all found themselves outside at the feet of a person who stood thirty feet tall and did not look happy. There was a twelve foot giant at the titan’s feet, and he fell to his knees.

“Father. Forgive me. We were caught unaware.” Hoth was making excuses.

The titan leaned down and stretched out a hand toward the travelers. His unhappy expression turned to anger. “Fool,” he said and slapped Hoth who flew through the air and crashed into a wall of the Great Hall. Hoth collapsed, but by then Veregoth was on his knees with his eyes downcast. “You were told these were under a hedge of the gods. Will you bring the gods here to take our land?”

“Lord. They claim to be from the future, but that doesn’t make sense.” Veregoth was shaking. “I thought they were telling lies.”

“Did the woman confirm this?”

Lord Veregoth paused. “I thought she started the lie to deprive us of good workers.”

“The woman does not lie. And you do not lie well, fool.” The titan Bhukampa stepped on Veregoth like a man might step on a mouse. They all heard the bones crushed under the titan’s heel. Then a simple wave of the titan’s hand and Veregoth made a new grave on the giant’s hillside. In fact, all the zombies, human and giant alike returned to their final resting place.

“What happened?” Young Lord Visana was coming around and shaking his head, like he was trying to clean out the cobwebs.

old giant 2“You were possessed by the Djin who made you capture these people and then brought the dead back to life,” Tara said.

“No. Not possible. My mind is too strong to be possessed as you say.”

“The woman does not lie,” Hoth said as he staggered up to fall again to his knees before the titan.

“Hoth. You were told to get rid of the woman.”

“Seven times we drove her away, and seven times she returned. You forbade us from harming her in any way.” Hoth clearly tried for naked honesty. “She speaks for all the slaves, human and spirit, and keeps the work progressing. Shall we drive her out an eighth time?”

The titan did not answer. “You will let these future people go with their horses and all of their things. I do not one future thing stolen or left behind. Is that clear? I will not have a slit of an opening where the gods may come up into this place, and by capturing these people, you have made a door with an open invitation.” The titan shifted his eyes to glare at Tara. “Woman. What do you have to say?”

Tara looked straight up into those eyes ad raised her voice. “Let my people go,” she said.

“I will think on this,” the titan responded, wheeled around and walked off briskly.Tara 1

Tara took a deep breath, but Alexis and Katie were both there to hold her up. “He scares me to no end,” Tara said.

“Me too,” Katie agreed.

“Lincoln too,” Alexis said with a grin, and the women laughed.

“You heard Lord Bhukampa.” Hoth yelled. “Get your things and go.”

###

The travelers were not far down the trail when they saw a man in rags approach. They planned to warn him about the giants, but before he joined them, Boston, who was out front as usual, slipped off Honey’s back and began to vomit.

“She has a fever,” Roland cried out, but Alexis was already down and running to help.

Decker and Elder Stow came in from the wings while Katie ran to the front. Lockhart and Lincoln grabbed the horses, not that there was anything more than scrub grass to tempt them.

“I don’t know what it is,” Alexis said, a touch of panic in her voice. “She is fading, but my senses are not picking up anything I recognize.”

“Did the zombies touch her,” Lincoln called out. “Did they bite her or scratch her?”

“Why should it be like those old movies?” Alexis asked.

“The Djin probably got the idea from one of our minds,” Roland said.

Elder Stow came to his feet. “She did receive a small scratch on her leg when she shoved the zombie off the roof.” Roland examined Boston’s leg and saw the scratch that looked like it barely bled.

“But I don’t know how to fix that.” The panic was now evident in Alexis’ voice.

“Here. Allow me.” The ragged man from the road had caught up with them. Suddenly, they all recognized him.

“Varuna.” Katie was the one who said it.

varuna on the roadVaruna took Boston’s hand and she opened her eyes, all cured, smiling, and even the cut on her leg disappeared. Alexis squinted and called Varuna by another name.

“Baga,” she said. “You are Varun, and Mithras is your brother, I bet.”

“Tara does not know. No one knows,” Varuna said, and he answered the questions that were on several minds even without them being asked. “Tara is a seer of the Shemsu. She sees in her minds eye if any Agdline come to earth. She knows the Agdaline sacred symbols, knows how to construct them and where to plant them. She needs to bring her people into the Indus valley, but is prevented.   Meanwhile, we are using her talent to keep a watch on the gods in the north. And we are watching over her.”

“You were the power that made Elder Stow’s equipment work,” Katie put it together.

Varuna nodded and continued. “Tara’s husband, Brihaspati works for the Brahmin up in what you would call Afghanistan. The Brahmin also has his eyes on the Indus valley, but that would mean war among the gods. Dayus is fool enough to let that happen.” I hate deceiving Tara, but I must find a way to prevent war at all costs. Tara bringing her Shemsu people into the valley would at least delay things. I don’t know if war may be prevented, but I will not bring the Kairos into the picture if I can help it.”

“I do not think you are deceiving her as much as you are helping her,” Alexis said, and she and Varuna helped Boston to her feet.

“I like to think of it that way,” Varuna said. “And now I have helped you.”

Boston checked her amulet and spoke her surprise. “Hey. We have traveled all the way to the gate. How did we do that?”

“Please,” Varuna said. “Go forward and do not look back.” He vanished, and Lincoln had one mumble to add.

“War among the gods does not sound good at all.”

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

Beginning next Monday, Avalon, episode 3.6 finds the travelers in Sumaria in the days of Etana, King of Kish, where they find enemies, old and new, among the serpents and the eagles brought down from the heavens.  Enjoy …

Avalon 3.5 part 4 of 5, Defending the Hall

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Decker and Harper began firing when the zombies were still some distance away. Lockhart watched Katie shoot three right between the eyes. They collapsed, but they did not stay down. Whatever animated them got them up again.

Boston calmed her spirit as well as she could before she sent a fireball from the end of her wand. The zombie it struck burst into flames, but that did not stop it. It continued to stumble forward until Roland struck it with an explosive arrow. Back at the dawn of history, Roland showed a talent in entertaining the children of the Stick People. He focused on an arrow and shot a magic arrow into the sky that burst like fireworks on the Fourth of July. Now, using that same technique, he was able to blast zombies to pieces, but it was terribly slow work.

“Thanks. I was afraid it would set the building on fire,” Boston admitted. Roland took a moment to explain how to turn her little fire into a firecracker.

Alexis stayed busy popping the heads off zombies and skeletons. Her magic would have been powerfully explosive if attached to a real arrow, but she did not have that option. With her wand alone, about all she could do was blow the zombie heads to pieces. It did not stop them, but it slowed them way down.zombie 4

Decker noticed what Alexis was doing. He began to concentrate his fire on the zombie necks in an effort to liberate the head. He sent one head bouncing to the ground. A second one leaned heavily to one side but remained attached by some muscle tissue, so the zombie was nearly headless. Neither case caused the zombie to stop moving forward. Decker realized that what they were doing was not working.

“There must be a way to stop these things for good,” Lockhart shouted, having come to the same conclusion as Decker.

“It’s no good. It’s not working,” one of the dwarfs also shouted.

“Why is this equipment not working?” Elder Stow was frustrated.

“Let me see it,” Tara came to him to look it over

“Disarming the people is cheating,” Baga said.

“Right.” Mitra agreed, even as Elder Stow found a spark of life in his weapon.

Outside, Tara’s Shemsu people came to the edge of the village. The zombies had no interest in the village, and the villagers had no desire to assist the giants presumed to be in the great hall. They came because of the sound of gunfire, though they did not know that was what it was, and because it appeared the zombies were not going to attack them. The villagers were content to watch until someone shouted out.

“Tara and the sons of Ahura are trapped in the Great Hall.”

Another man shouted. “Don’t touch the dead. They are diseased.”

That got the villagers moving. The non-Shemsu natives got spears and moved carefully toward the zombies. They clearly heard the word not to touch them, but primarily from behind, they managed to pin a few to the ground. Meanwhile, their Shemsu neighbors had another thing in mind.

zombie 5The unique telekinetic ability of the Shemsu people was such that the more solid the object, the easier it was to lift. Any attempt to lift a zombie would crush the zombie, or make it fall apart. Some did that, and their efforts were effective, particularly when they managed to toss the zombie or zombie pieces twenty or thirty feet up into the dark, threatening sky, and watch it fall back to the ground where it struck and splattered.

Equally effective were the stones that ranged in size from a person’s head to a man’s mid section. The Shemsu could throw the stones without touching them, and several zombies were crushed in that way. Even so, there were some fifteen zombies and skeletons that made it to the Great Hall, and four from the swamps in the back. The reason there were not more on the back end is because once Elder Stow got his weapon to work, he was able to utterly disintegrate the majority of them.

Lockhart used his shotgun to turn one zombie head to mush, but then he and the other people against the walls had to back away from the windows. Zombie arms were reaching inside looking to scratch and infect who they could, and the zombies began to tear at the openings to make them wide enough to get in.

Suddenly, Lord Veregoth and young Lord Visana both stood, their eyes glazed over like men in a trance. Lord Veregoth made a grab for Tara, but she screamed and scooted under the table. She had Elder Stow’s scanner in her hands and held it tight to her body to keep it safe. Mitra and Baga were right there with their spears to strike Lord Veregoth in the thighs. The giant let out a strange sound of pain and confusion, and fell to his knees.

Decker dropped his ineffective rifle and went for young Visana at the knees. Katie leapt and slammed into the giant’s chest, He fell hard with his back to the dirt and the wind care bursting out of him. Lockhart turned his shotgun around and slammed the butt end into Visana’s temple. It took several strikes before Visana stopped moving. Lockhart hoped he didn’t kill the fellow, but the thought passed quickly as Alexis shouted.

“They are up on the roof!”

Lincoln grabbed the chain from the fan and began to pull. The fan stuck fast, and Katie and Roland quickly came to help. Roland leapt to put his full weight into the chain, and there was a snapping sound. An arm fell to the floor where it continued to grab and clutch at anything that came close. Elder Stow disintegrated the arm with a tight beam, and then grabbed Boston from behind.

“Hey!” Boston shouted.zombie 3

“My weapon will surely burn down the building,” Elder Stow said. His anti-gravity belt was working again and he carried Boston up to the rafters. The fan was turning, keeping the zombies out, but beside the fan, one zombie was tearing at the shingles and widening a hole to get inside.

Boston still had her wand, and she tried to think of heat, not fire. It came out like a laser beam, directed at the zombie’s head, and melted the head, but it did not dislodge the body. The body continued to claw at the opening to widen it.

Elder Stow was incredibly strong. Boston felt secure enough in his arms to kick out, to dislodge the zombie from the roof. It worked, but being in shorts allowed the zombie to make a grab for her leg. It did not catch the leg, but scratched it. There was small bit of blood Boston hardly noticed.

“Giant coming to the door,” one of the dwarfs yelled. He had managed a peek out one of the windows and did not like what he saw. While Lincoln continued to pull the chain for the fan, Katie grabbed her rifle and headed for the door, Roland one step behind. Alexis was working on the giant, Visana, to heal him and keep him alive. They did not need a zombie giant inside the building. Mitra and Baga each held an arm of Lord Veregoth. Lockhart held down the giant’s forehead while Veregoth raged and struggled to break free.

Roland grabbed Blinker the dwarf to take his magic and let the magic stream to the latch. He paused after a moment and said the latch would hold, but he could not prevent the giant from knocking down the door. He stationed himself and the two dwarfs to guard the entrance. Katie stood by with her rifle at hand, useless as the rifle seemed to be.

Decker grabbed his rifle and came up to Veregoth. Everyone yelled, “No!” so Decker paused while Alexis spoke. “If you kill him, he will go zombie on us. An enchanted giant we can handle. At least he is not contagious.” Decker nodded and sat on Veregoth’s chest, but kept his rifle in hand.

zombie 2The giant outside slammed into the door. It cracked, but did not give way. Roland and the dwarfs had a magical shield up to strengthen the door against intrusion. There was another crash, but the door held. Blinker put a hand to his head like he was developing a headache. Dead or not, the giant remained half-titan. A third crash loosened a couple of boards when Tara shouted from under the table.

“Got it!” she yelled.

Avalon 3.5 part 3 of 5, Zombies

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“Tara!”

“Mitra. Baga. What is it?” Tara asked and tried to calm the young men so they could speak. Boston, Lincoln and Alexis paid attention. Lockhart, Katie and Decker went back to the arrow slit openings in the wall to see if they could see what was happening.

Lord Veregoth, the giant asked his question while Mitra and Baga caught their breath. “What did he mean, the dead will eat the living?” He was still staring at Lord Visana who was laid out, unconscious, across the entrance way where the door could not be closed.old giant 3

“The dead are rising from their graves,” Mitra said with only a touch of panic in his voice.

“Movement in the graveyard,” Major Decker spoke from the wall at the same time, his eye focused out the narrow opening. Katie and Lockhart went to the side wall to look out on where the graveyard was, and Boston joined them.

“Friends?” Lincoln asked of the young men.

Tara accepted the distraction. “The sons of Ahura, Varun whom we call Baga, and Mitra, his brother.”

“I guessed they were brothers,” Alexis said to the side as Lord Veregoth asked another question.

“What does he mean the dead are rising from their graves?”

“Look for yourself,” Lockhart told the giant and shouted, “Decker.” He grabbed Katie and went to the door to drag ten feet of giant from the entrance in order to get the door closed.

“Maybe we should head for the barn to see if our weapons are there,” Decker suggested.

“No need,” Katie pointed. Roland and a couple of dwarfs were scurrying between the two buildings and they were loaded down with all of their weapons.

“Where is Soma?” Tara asked the boys, like they were one short of their usual gang.

“Probably hiding,” Mitra said.

“He has a crush on Tara,” Baga said with a big grin.

Tara 5Tara blanched. “My children?” she asked.

“Safe,” Baga assured her.

“Brihaspabbi is probably off writing some more stupid poetry,” Mitra added. “And has no idea what is happening.”

“Brihaspabbi?” Alexis asked.

“My husband,” Tara said with a roll of her eyes. “We’re separated.”

“But that is not possible,” Lord Veregoth roared from where he was leaning down and had one big eye trained on the graveyard. “The dead don’t get up and walk around.”

“Roland,” Lockhart said. “Help me get the door closed.” The two of them shoved now that Visana was out of the way. The Marines, Captain Harper and Major Decker checked their rifles and Decker offered a thought.

“A flamethrower would be nice.”

“We have Little Fire.” Katie pointed at Boston who grabbed her wand and went back to stare out one of the narrow openings in the wall.

“I can’t quite reach the latch,” Lockhart complained. Roland looked up and Lockhart was about to jump for it when a big hand reached over his head and latched the door.

“But dead people walking around is not possible,” Lord Veregoth complained.

“It is what it is,” Decker offered the bit of philosophy he adopted back when he finally accepted the fact that this was not all an illusion, and Colonel Weber was not within communication range. He took up a position at arrow slit at the back corner of the building. Katie set herself at the window at the front corner.

There were six windows along each side wall, two up front on each side of the door, and four on the back wall. Roland, Boston, Alexis and Lockhart with his shotgun took the four between the Marines. That left Lincoln out, and Elder Stow who was grousing that his equipment was not working

“I can’t get a screen up. My weapon shows no charge, but that can’t be right. Even the sonic device is drained.” Elder Stow sat on the floor and began to take things apart.

“Excuse us, Lady.” The two dwarfs that came with Roland inched up to the window by the door and Katie took a step back. The dwarfs squeezed in and Katie went to kneel beneath Lockhart’s shotgun.

Lincoln pointed to the narrow windows and asked Tara a question.“Why so narrow?”arrowslit 1

“So people can’t escape out the windows, and zombies can’t squeeze in” Tara explained while she took him to a long chain by the back wall that went up into the rafters, twenty feet above. “This is hot, arid country. There is a big wooden fan in the roof, turned by pulling on this chain.   A fresh breeze gets pulled in through these vents when the fan turns.”

“My grandparents had an attic fan,” Lincoln said. “Of course, it was electric.”

“Same idea,” Tara said. “But we live in manual labor land.”

“She’s so smart,” Mitra praised Tara as if she invented the fan, which she may have.

“Tara,” Baga had something else in mind. “You need to tell us what you see.”

Lord Veregoth took a seat at the table and worried his hands. “Yes, woman. You must say what you see.”

Tara nodded, sat where she was, and closed her eyes. She reported. There were thirty or more people crawling out of their graves, which Tara found surprising because she imagined there were not that many they buried that were uneaten by the giants. Some appeared more like skeletons, so she imagined they were buried before her people became prisoners. Tara looked around for a cause. All she could see was an overhead cloudy and dreary day, which was also odd since it did not rain much and it was not the season for rain. “Giants,” she spouted. There were three coming down from the hillside where the giants were buried in all honor. They were decked out in fine clothes and carried their weapons at the ready. Two living giants who overcame their fear of facing the dead went to confront them, and it was a fight. “They are coming out of the swamps below,” Tara said. “A dozen or so.” She opened her eyes. “Lincoln, Lockhart, Katie and Elder Stow take the other wall. You, too, Blinker.” She spoke to one of the dwarfs.

Dwarf 1“I should have my head looked at for even being here,” Blinker groused, but went.

“Baga and Mitra. You could at least have brought spears.”

“We did,” Baga said, and there were two spears leaning up against the wall by the door. No one remembered seeing them from the first, but the mind just glossed over that fact as the boys went to fetch them.

“One of you on each wall,” Tara said. “Lord Veregoth and I will guard the door.”

“Woman!” Veregoth got ready to say something, but paused when Tara’s clothes vanished and were replaced by the armor of the Kairos, complete with weapons.

“Veregoth. I know you are not afraid.”

“It’s impossible, I tell you. The dead don’t get up and walk around.”

Decker interrupted the giant’s complaint. “Incoming,” he shouted.

############

Be sure to come back next Monday and Tuesday for the concluding chapters of Avalon 3.5, beginning Monday with part 4 of 5, Defending the Hall … against zombies, of course.

Enjoy.

Avalon 3.5 part 2 of 5, The Interview

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The giant was only nine feet tall, though perhaps bent over a bit from age. His hair and beard were gray, and his hands and face showed signs of a long life. There was an ordinary woman in his trail, about five-three, which was tall enough for a woman in that age. She had deeply tanned skin, but she had straight brown hair and bright green eyes which suggested something other than strict middle eastern heritage. The giant took a seat at the head of the table and kept one eye on the people while he gave the appearance that he was ignoring them and did not care one whit about them.

“Lockhart, I am sorry,” the woman spoke in English.

“Tara?” Lincoln asked, but they all knew who it was.Tara 3

Tara nodded. “Roland and your horses are safe for the moment. Roland is in the workhouse, talking with the gnomes about liberating your equipment. The dwarfs are being stubborn. They want to know how everything works. It’s complicated.”

“Are there humans here?” Alexis asked.

Tara nodded again. “Most of the workers are human slaves, including my people who were caught migrating through the no-man’s land.”

“And the giants?” Lincoln wondered.

“Half-breed titans, and they have found it easy to force others to do all their work and they eat anyone who does not cooperate. Somehow, we have to convince them to let you go, without eating you.”

“I thought we were under the protection of the gods,” Boston said.

“Surely,” Tara agreed. “But the gods mean nothing in this place. These half-human children of the titans worship no one in this no-man’s land. That does not mean the gods are powerless. I am sure that after they eat you, they will face terrible consequences.”

“Great!” Lincoln hardly got to start his complaint when the giant at the table interrupted.

“Woman. What are you telling these slaves?”

“Lord Veregoth.” Tara dipped her head in a slight bow toward the giant seated at the table. “I am explaining that they have been fortunate to have been selected to serve the great masters.”

“And you speak in strange words. How is this? I know every word spoken by blood or spirit.”

“They are words that do not yet exist. The words are from the future as are these people. They were headed back to the future when we interrupted their journey and brought them here.”

old giant“Woman.” Lord Veregoth shook his head. “You are speaking nonsense. People cannot travel into the past. You would have traveled into the past and taken your people by a different road, if you could. Do not deny it. And the only way to go into the future is wait until tomorrow.”

“Truly,” Tara began to speak when Lockhart put his hand quickly over Alexis’ mouth.

“Keep it in English,” Lockhart instructed everyone. “He does not need to know that we can understand him.”

Lincoln had his mouth open, and pivoted toward Tara. “Ask him how he knew where we were to capture us.”

“Young Lord Vinasa had a vision that pinpointed your exact location. That was strange since he has never had such a vision before,” Tara responded.

“Smells like a set-up,” Katie said.

“Exactly,” Lincoln agreed.

“Stop.” The giant at the table was getting agitated. “What are they saying? What are you telling them? Speak, woman.”

Tara offered another slight head bow. “They asked how you knew about them. I mentioned young Lord Vinasa and his vision, though he never had such a vision before.”

“Yes. Strange thing that he saw these people, only I see his vision did not show him everything.” Lord Veregoth eyed Lockhart and Decker. “These are bigger than most. They should do a good day’s work.” His eyes turned to Boston and Katie. “And the strange red and yellow hair might interest Lord Hoth. He likes different things.” Lord Veregoth shrugged. “But the ugly one,” he said of Elder Stow. “I do not know what he is. He seems strange to me. Can they explain?”

Tara translated and Lockhart answered, with Tara translating again. “The red and yellow hair are future colors and do not belong here. Elder Stow is of the Gott-Druk, the people who once lived in this land and were driven out to the stars in the days of the flood. We are all from the future and are trying to get back there as quick as we can. The gods have made a way, but it is a hard and long journey.”

“Enough!” Lord Veregoth shouted and stood. “Do you think I am a fool? No one comes from the future. That is impossible. We are all going into the future, but it is day by day. No one can get there faster.” Lord Veregoth looked down on the travelers, and he had murder in his eyes, and maybe supper.

Alexis shook her head and Lincoln whispered. “The brilliant and stupid share the same flaw. Instead of adjusting their thinking to fit the facts, they adjust the facts to fit their theories.”

Alexis responded with a whisper of her own. “I was thinking he is a radical twenty-first century atheist who denies any reality that doesn’t fit with his preconceived worldview.”giant madman

“Quiet,” Lord Veregoth roared and slammed a hand on the table, but then he paused in his anger as a young ten foot giant burst into the room, and left the door open.

“Vinasa,” Tara managed to name the giant before the giant pointed at the travelers and laughed.

“Now your days are finished,” Vinasa said. “Behold the dead will eat the living.” There was a wild look in his eyes, and an insane sound in his laughter. “The great one speaks. The dead will eat the living,” he repeated before he collapsed.

Two young men came running in through the open door, shouting, “Tara! Tara!”

Lord Veregoth dropped his jaw, looked at the unconscious Visana spread across the entrance, and seemed to have trouble framing his question.

Avalon 3.5 Strange Bedfellows, part 1 of 5

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After 2914 BC in the Persian No-Man’s Land. Kairos lifetime 38: Tara of Sumer

Recording …

At the beginning of the journey, back in the days of primeval chaos, at the beginning of history, Lincoln and Alexis, a couple in their sixties, were restored to their youth. Lincoln claimed to be twenty-nine because Alexis appeared to end up closer to twenty-four. Yet, despite their youth, Lincoln and Alexis argued like only old, married couples know how to argue. Lincoln tried to end it by saying Alexis was right, but Alexis did not end it because she knew Lincoln was lying and just trying to end the argument. The first interesting thing about it all was they were arguing about something that was none of their business—the way old, married couples so often do.

“But if Roland becomes human, that would kill father,” Alexis said.

“Your father Mingus has pretty much abandoned us as far as I can tell,” Lincoln responded. “Why should it matter what he thinks?”elf1

“Oh, he is still out there,” Alexis assured him. “He may be watching us this very minute.”

“Good,” Lincoln said, and he reached over and gave Alexis a kiss. “But I just don’t see Boston willing to give up her humanity to become an elf. That is a choice Roland will have to make, as you did.”

Alexis squirmed in her seat. “Boston already has a lot of elf in her, the way she talks and acts and thinks. The physical change would not change her much on the inside.”

“But some. Enough. It would be a tremendous difference on the inside in some ways, and on the outside. I mean, what would her parents and brothers think?”

“There are ways,” Alexis hedged. “She has enough magical ability to cover herself with a glamour. They would not have to know.”

“Ah! But what about children?”

“Elves don’t conceive but maybe once in a hundred years. They might not have any children until after her parents are gone, and maybe after her brothers are gone too.”

campfire 1“Maybe. Might. I just don’t see her willing to give up her humanity.”

“Well, I don’t see Roland giving up being the elf he is. It would kill father if both of us became human.”

“Having second thoughts?” Lincoln used that phrase often enough in all their years of marriage.

“Benjamin, you know I am not,” Alexis responded and gave him the kiss she always did.

Of course, the second interesting thing about it all was they were supposed to be on watch. It was near midnight, the horses were tied and quiet, and everyone else was asleep. To be fair, they had ridden all day and not seen any sign of people. And also, the sleeping potion, a poppy derivative, came wafting into the camp on a gentle breeze and Alexis and Lincoln were asleep even before it worked its way into the tents.

The horses were carted off by gnomes who learned the hard way that these horses were not for eating. Two gnomes tried to cut Boston’s Honey, and a third went for Alexis’ Misty Gray, and they all received electric shocks strong enough to incapacitate them for a good half-hour. It was the hedge of the gods and particularly, the work of the Kairos. They did not try that again.

The tents and equipment were all taken by dwarfs. They tried to take the clothing as well, but found the fairy weave only responded to the person to whom it belonged. They might have taken Elder Stow’s space suit, but they decided they did not want to deal with a naked Gott-Druk. They were content to take the Elder’s artifacts.

The people, including the Gott-Druk, were taken by the Giants who ruled this stretch of land. The gnomes and dwarfs and the human beings who were their slaves dared not complain, or even point out the obvious. Nothing makes a giant angrier than the belief that you are speaking down to them, like they are stupid or something. And nothing is worse, well, little is worse than an angry giant. In this case, the giants thought they had new slaves and horse bacon. The gnomes decided to let the giants learn for themselves about the horses. And the dwarfs, and in fact the little ones in general by then knew something about the travelers. They dreaded the consequences if the giants tried to have their way.desert at dawn 1

Roland woke up in the wee hours before dawn. He woke several hours before the others because he had a high metabolism. It was not the kind of metabolism that made him want to eat second breakfast or thirds at lunch, like a dwarf. But it was the kind that kept him skinny. In this case, the sleep of the poppies wore off sooner than it did for the others.

Roland found himself left where he slept. The Giants did not want the elf. He hummed a little tune as he searched the area. The tents were gone and the horses were missing, not to mention his fellow travelers, and when he reached to his side, he found even his knife was gone. Somewhere out in the dark, he heard the roar of a lion. He stood, thinking it was not a good thing to be alone in the wilderness, especially one that Lincoln had described as a no-man’s land.

Roland had to think. Tracking the group would be easy enough. He was a hunter, after all. But what he might do when he got there, he would have to think hard. He saw the giant tracks even in the dim light of pre-dawn.

The rest of the travelers awoke in a one-room log house made out of whole trees notched like a child’s Lincoln logs and with a twenty foot ceiling over a dirt floor. There were thin cut windows spaced evenly along the walls, barely wide enough to shoot an arrow through, and just the one door that Lockhart guessed was more than twice his six feet in height. There was also a table with three chairs on each side and one at each end. Lockhart, at over six feet, could sit in a big chair and barely reach his chin above the table. He looked like a child.

“Giants,” Lincoln said. “I would guess the ten foot variety.”

“There are houses off to the side here.” Alexis was peering through a window at the far side of the building.

“Barn in this direction,” Boston said. She was looking out the opposite direction, through a window by the door. “It’s a really big barn. I wonder if they have giant chickens or something.”

“I would guess our horses, guns and equipment are in there somewhere,” Katie said.big wooden door 2

“Looks like a graveyard out here,” Decker said, and everyone went to the side wall to look. There were only four slit windows along that side wall, but it was enough to see the graves.

“Between the houses and the barn,” Alexis said. “Like a warning.”

“Like a threat,” Decker countered.

“Do what you are told or end up here,,” Lincoln agreed.

“Visitors.” Lockhart heard the latch on the door and quickly got down from the chair. The others bunched up around him.

Starting Monday: Avalon, episode 3.5 Strange Bedfellows

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The travelers get in a bind when one of the monsters following them catches them, and things quickly escalate to a matter of life and death.

###

zombies 1

Lord Veregoth, the giant asked his question while Mitra and Baga caught their breath. “What did he mean, the dead will eat the living?” He was still staring at Lord Visana who was laid out, unconscious, across the entrance way where the door could not be closed.

“The dead are rising from their graves,” Mitra said with only a touch of panic in his voice.

“Movement in the graveyard,” Major Decker spoke from the wall at the same time, his eye focused out the narrow opening. Katie and Lockhart went to the side wall to look out on where the graveyard was, and Boston joined them.

###

Don’t miss it.

Avalon 3.4: part 5 of 5, Kairos, at Last

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Roland and Boston took a break from staring at each other and talking in whispers. Boston kept an eye on her amulet to make sure they stayed on track and Roland paid more attention to the route to keep them out of trouble. At one point the rocks that sat back from the beach came very close to the water and left only a thin line of travel. Roland checked ahead and found where it opened out again. He paused at the sight, but quickly got the others to catch up.

There was construction going on down the beach. It was not what they expected in the Neolithic world of ancient South America. It was a ship. It looked like a two master, and had a below deck and a cabins fore and aft. It looked like it had a wheel, and no doubt a real rudder.

“Somebody’s tampering with time,” Katie remarked.

“Somebody’s coming in for a landing,” Lockhart responded and pointed up.

The Marzalotipan ship came down slowly. The travelers kept back to watch from safety as the ship corrected its angle several times. It made a lot of noise, but all things considered, it landed gently. There were no flame-thrower retro-rockets and there was no great wind pushed out from beneath the behemoth. Besides that, the Marzalotipan landed some distance from the construction. Alexis suggested that the birdman was well practiced at not disturbing the lives of potential customers. Lincoln added that the birdman needed the room to set up shop.UFO Birdman 3

This time, the travelers got a good look at the set-up. Robots, or drones as Elder Stow called them, did all of the heavy lifting. The Marzalotipan merely pointed here and there, like a traffic cop, Lockhart decided.   Everything was in place and ready to sell by the time the travelers arrived. A group of people from the construction site arrived at about the same time. And they were a strange looking group, as strange as the travelers.

There was an elf, a dwarf, two people who looked like something in between elves and dwarfs, and four men, darker in skin color than expected among Native Americans. The travelers guessed they were Shemsu people by the way the four carried a chair, or rather levitated it without actually touching it. The chair held a spindly old man with legs that appeared to be shriveled down to the bone, and useless. There was also an old, gray haired woman who walked with one hand on the arm of the chair and who kept looking up at the man in the chair as if she was afraid for him with every step. It was the old man who spoke.

“Boston! What’s wrong? You don’t seem to be injured in any way.”

“Wir’a?” Lincoln always had to check, though they knew the old man was the Kairos.

“We already did that,” Roland said.

“I got a poisoned thorn,” Boston explained.

“Alexis pulled out the poison,” Roland finished, and the couple looked at each other with loving expressions.

Wir’a gently patted the hand of the woman beside him as he spoke. “So when are you two going to get married.”

Boston was the one who responded. “We haven’t set a date.”

boat building 1Wir’a rubbed his chin. “Well, don’t wait too long. It will be AD in about three thousand years. Ha!”

“Nice ship,” Katie had to interrupt. The comment forced its way out of her lips.

“Yes,” Wir’a rubbed his chin a little harder and drawled the word. “I have a trip to make. Some of these Shemsu are going back to Egypt and I would rather not wreck between here and Africa.”

“A bit ahead of your time, isn’t it?”

Wir’a nodded, but smiled. “A Three Stooges ship. Guaranteed to fall apart as soon as we reach the Egyptian port.”

“What are you facing?” Major Decker asked the question that both Lockhart and Lincoln were thinking really hard.

boat building 2“The Masters are exporting cocaine to the Egyptian court. Poppies would be bad enough, but cocoa plants are New World and don’t belong there. They have about a two week head start, but it just goes to show, it is always something. Meanwhile,” Wir’a turned to face the Marzalotipan. “You have a name?”

“Ooogleloogalloo …” The name went on for a while and included some whistles and chirps that no human could imitate.

“Well, Oogle,” Wir’a stuck with the first part. “This planet is a trade free zone.” Wir’a paused and turned toward Elder Stow. “Elder Stow. What are you doing?”

The Gott-Druk looked up at Wir’a. “Lord.” He turned his eyes to Lockhart. “My father. I believe I can adapt this instrument to charge up my equipment.” He turned again, this time toward Katie. “My mother. Do you still have those spare Reichgo 10,000-year half-life batteries?” Katie nodded and all eyes returned to Wir’a.

Wir’a frowned. “All right. You can trade this one time with these people only, but then you have to vacate this planet and not come back.” Oogle appeared to put a smile on that bird face. “No horses,” Wir’a added, and Oogle lost the smile. “Fetch Digger,” Wir’a said to one of his little ones who ran off to fetch whoever Digger was.

Digger had a bucket of gold and precious stones with which he was reluctant to part. “This was to be our currency in Egypt,” Wir’a said. “We will just have to fetch some more.”

cannibals 3Elder Stow got his instrument. Alexis got some Dilodian silk. Major Decker looked again at the Blueblood cannon, and had just, in fact, got the Marzalotipan to connect the wide angle lens when they were interrupted by screaming in the distance. Fifty cannibal warriors poured out of the narrow place in the beach and began to spread out as they charged.

“We must have really ticked them off,” Lincoln said as he pulled his pistol.

“Probably killed a wife or a child by accident,” Katie suggested.

“Do you offer a test ride?” Lockhart asked.

“A test shot?” Katie corrected.

The Marzalotipan was not sure what they were asking, but he seemed to nod. Decker needed no more invitation. He sprayed the oncoming horde and with the wide angle and it only took a moment to knock all fifty enemy warriors to the sand.

“Unconscious, I think,” Decker said. “I’m not sure I read the stun setting correctly.” He fiddled with something on the canon and then handed it back to the Marzalotipan. “No thank you. Pulls to the left.”

“What? No.” Oogle protested, but paused to examine the weapon.UFO Blueblood cannon 2

“Lord Iwaca’l,” Wir’a spoke to the fairy that rested on the top corner of his chair. “Please fetch your troop and bind the unconscious natives so they don’t give trouble when they awake.”

“Lord,” Iwaca’l bowed and sped off.

“Oogle, time is up. I am sorry, but you must leave this planet and not return. Please pass the word on to your fellow Marzalotipan. This world is off limits. I am trying to keep the Pendratti war off this world so I don’t want anyone thinking this world is being armed. Do you understand?”

Oogle looked at his take of gold and stones and nodded. “Maybe after there is peace.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Decker said.

“Indeed,” Wir’a agreed, but he said it in a way that was not clear if he would allow trade even then or if he felt the chances for peace were rather slim. He turned the subject “Roland and Boston, set a date and decide what you are going to do about the elf, human problem. I’m listening. Meanwhile,” He turned to the old woman and reached over for a kiss. “What’s for supper?” The old woman merely smiled.