Avalon 9.6 Earth and Sky, part 3 of 6

June 14, 2023April 30, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The alien paused as they approached. He looked up at them but showed no hostile intent.

“This is a genesis planet,” Lockhart began. “The Kargill has been given permission to reside here under strict non-interference conditions. The Reichgo have been given permission to visit only with the provision that they do not interfere with the human race, the natural inhabitants of this planet. The elder races born on this world are allowed to visit uder the same conditions, but you do not belong here.”

“I work for the Kargill,” the man said. “Who are you? And how is it you speak Ahluzarian?” The man tapped something near his ear. Probably a translation device which was not needed.

“We are the Men in Black and work for the Kairos,” Lockhart said. “And again, you don’t belong here. Only the Zalanid Mister Smith is allowed here to speak on behalf of the Kargill.”

“You work for the Kargill?” Katie asked, but the man needed a minute. He pulled a different device from a pocket—probably his version of a database. No doubt he had to look up Kairos and Men in Black.

“Perhaps you can help,” the Ahluzarian put his device away and attempted a smile. “I am Commander Takar of the Ahluzarian police. Our job is to keep the space ways and planets of the Kargill free of criminals and pests. My ship is a prisoner transport. There are three worlds well beyond this one at the very edge of the galaxy where prisoners and invasive species are deposited. The Kargill does not allow us to practice genocide as an option. The space lane goes past this system along the Reichgo-Kargill border. I have this system clearly marked as a no-go zone. But one of the prisoners managed to disable a portion of our navigation controls, and we noted this world is also marked as a sanctuary world. We thought to pause here while we made repairs.”

“Help?” Lincoln said as the others came up to listen. “What do you need help with?” Lincoln did not sound happy.

“Why are you not at your ship making the repairs?” Katie asked.

Commander Takar looked embarrassed if Katie read the expression correctly. “When we landed, a sanguar slithered out of the hold and escaped the ship when we took down the screens to replenish our air and water supplies.”

“Sanguar?” Lockhart asked, not liking the sound of something escaping from a prison ship.

“An invasive species, not intelligent, but very clever,” Commander Takar said before Elder Stow interrupted.

“My father. This one, for want of a better word, is a walking tree. No blood to tempt some of the alien people we have encountered in our journey.” He cleared his throat like a man about to read a report. “The sanguar are worm-like creatures, one of the few survivors from the Agdaline world after they ripped the atmosphere off their world in their ill-advised gravity experiments. They arose on the same world as the dragons. They are often red colored, grow roughly three of your feet long, have no eyes or ears, but a mouth with plenty of sharp inward pointing teeth. They live and move underground, like worms, but are sensitive to vibrations on the surface. When something edible walks overhead, they spring out of the ground spewing an acid-like venom.”

Commander Takar nodded that whole time, which suggested that bit of body language translated well between the species. He took up the explanation. “Only one escaped. We counted. One cannot reproduce, and this environment does not seem suitable. It should not be too difficult to detect.”

“What environment would be suitable?” Lockhart asked Commander Takar but looked at Katie.

“Consider a world with little atmosphere,” Elder Stow responded. “Most species and ground cover would die off, leaving a desert-like world, maybe like Mars. If the planet has any wobble, they might still have seasons, so a hot-dry summer and a cold-dry winter. Think Gobi Desert.”

“Where are you parked?” Lockhart asked as the question entered his mind. Commander Takar pointed to the top of the mountain. Everyone guessed he walked down, following whatever trail the sanguar made. “My people are presently repairing the ship and doing guard duty. I volunteered, thinking this sanctuary planet would pose no threat.”

“Not something you should assume,” Lincoln said.

“Shale mountain,” Katie repeated herself. “It might be hard for such a big worm to dig through. If it traveled downhill on the mountain surface, it might have gotten caught in the mudslide. If it got caught in the flash flood, it might be well downriver by now. Elder Stow?”

“So, it might be behind us?” Lincoln asked and looked. Sukki also looked and she did not look happy.

“No,” Elder Stow said. “I had the scanner set for life forms and it would have picked up a sanguar, even if it was ten or twenty feet underground. I saw a black bear, but it avoided us. The rest recorded deer, squirrels, birds and such. My guess is it is ahead of us, and possibly washed downriver.”

“Commander Takar?” Lockhart turned to the man.

“My scanner is set for Sanguar. I stopped here because I lost the trail. It is not nearly as sophisticated as your own, but it will tell us when we get close, and it has a small grid to better pinpoint the location.”

“Commander Takar,” Lockhart frowned at the man, and he seemed to get the message. “You better ride with me.” He turned his head back to look at Tony since they were at the back of the line. His words came out in English, though he did not mean to speak in that language. “Tony. Did you and Louis get all that?”

“Yes,” Tony responded. “I assume we are going worm hunting. Louis says he does not want to even imagine giant worms with teeth.”

“Me neither,” Sukki said, commiserating with the man.

“Maybe hold on to my shirt,” Lockhart suggested, and reached his hand down. Commander Takar did look essentially human, but he could not be sure. In the back of his mind, he remembered the stick people they met at the beginning of their journey. The Kairos warned him not to shake their hands because they were like petrified wood. The spindly little stick people would crush his hand before they ever realized what they were doing. Commander Takar’s hand had a flesh and blood feel to it. He did weigh more than a human, but not by that much. Lockhart’s horse did not complain, much.

Commander Takar and Elder Stow both kept their scanners on as they moved out of the water gap and on to a well-used trail. They still followed the river, which everyone felt would bring them to the sanguar, but after a short way, they felt it best if they got down and walked the horses. Louis did not want to get down. All he could imagine was the worm springing out of the earth, spitting venom, and bighting his leg off in one gulp. He did not really understand how scanners worked. Sukki got him down with the promise to walk next to him. He had seen her shove whole trees off the path. That was a power he could at least understand.

Katie stopped everyone after a short way. She heard sporadic cracking in the distance. Decker, who had wandered out on the wing away from the river, came riding up, rapidly.

“White men on this side of the river,” he reported. “Indians on the other side. They appear to be trying to kill each other, but neither looks willing to risk a charge across the river.”

“We are not here to interfere,” Lockhart said. “History needs to play out in its own way.”

Sukki had her amulet out and interrupted the thought. “The Kairos is probably with one of those groups.”

“The Lenape group,” Louis said. “I heard the big Swede married a half-English, but otherwise he has no use for the English. They killed his parents and burned his home when he was young,”

“So, we need to contact the natives up ahead and find the Kairos. We will ask if there is anything we can do.” Lockhart looked determined, but less than twenty minutes later, they came face to face with a Lenape war party of a dozen warriors. They looked mean, but at least they did not start fighting right away.

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

MONDAY

The travelers get into the middle of a firefight between the English and Algonquin, and of course they watch out for the giant worm with teeth. Until then, Happy Reading.

Avalon 9.5 Men in Black, part 6 of 6

June 7, 2023April 30, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Elizabeth felt sorry for the Wolv. If his cryogenic chamber malfunctioned in some way, he may have spent the last five or six hundred years slowly dying. “Lockhart. Please remind the Wolv that he does not belong on this planet.”

Lockhart had to think about it. After a moment, he made some sounds that the Men in Black did not know a human could make, but the Wolv appeared to understand. It made some similar sounds, and then said one thing plainly in English or Greek for all to hear. “Kairos.”

Diogenes objected. He did this already, once before, in the future… He agreed and came to stand in Elizabeth’s place, the armor adjusting automatically to his shape and size. He pulled Wyrd from the sheath across his back, said, “God forgive me,” in the Macedonian dialect. He chopped the Wolv head off in one clean sweep. He went to one knee, holding tight to the sword like a cross and prayed for forgiveness. Several of the men, and Bram who had caught up with them, went to their knees with him, not doubting his intentions.

When Diogenes stood, he traded places immediately with Elizabeth, who returned in her dress and quickly pulled it up out of the muck at her feet. “Boots,” she said, and her lady boots were instantly replaced by the boots from her armor. They came up to her knees and would keep her feet much warmer. “Good,” Elizabeth said. “Now we can get on with the business we came here for.”

“You mean, this is not why we came here?” Sir Leslie asked.

“It was first, but there is more important work to attend to.”

“What on Earth might that be?” Conner O’Neil asked.

“The lights flying through the night sky,” Jack said, having figured it out.

Lockhart and Decker laughed, and Katie spoke. “Welcome to the world of the Kairos. There is always something more.”

A half-day’s ride down the loch brought the travelers and Men in Black to a scene that Elizabeth both expected and prepared for. When she stopped short of the event, and all eyes turned to her, Elder Stow turned on his screen device. One of the aliens they confronted tried his handgun. It did not even register on the screens, but Elder Stow and several of the travelers looked at Elizabeth. She spoke to everyone and pointed.

The ones with the big heads, big eyes, holes for a nose, and no lips are Reichgo. Their genesis planet was the Pendratti world, now devoid of life and ready to be swallowed as their sun goes red giant. The Little circular metal box floating over there is the Kargill. No one sees the Kargill. The one in the middle is the Zalanid. His home world has been destroyed by the war between the Kargill and the Reichgo, but the Zalanid have taken it upon themselves to negotiate a peace between the two sides.”

“Is that an insect?” Duchamp asked, like he might have a phobia for wasps and such.

“Not really,” Elizabeth offered. The Zalanid looked human enough in his arms, hands, legs, and head. His feet did look a bit insect-like and his waist was skinny as a wasp. Plus, his face looked normal enough, but like he dipped his face in acid, or got hit in the face with several buckets of ugly. He was hard to look at, but he smiled for the crew, his natural disposition, and already the people were thinking he might be a nice person. “The Zalanid and the Kargill were made on the same planet—a third genesis planet closer to the galactic center. Of course, they do not know this, but it may be why the Kargill can relate to the Zalanid where the Kargill doesn’t want to even talk to us or the Reichgo, or any other species for that matter. The Kargill is very private. Now, I must go. You all need to stay here.”

Elizabeth got down from her horse, traded places with the goddess Danna, and phased through Elder Stow’s screens to confront the aliens. Sure enough, the same Reichgo that tried its weapon against Elder Stow’s screens fired on Danna. Danna did not even break her stride. She said, “This meeting is being broadcast on the Zalanid planet where right now the Zalanid are trying to negotiate a peace between the Reichgo and the Kargill. They will see and hear everything.”

Danna raised her hand and every Reichgo weapon or what might be used as a weapon vacated the Reichgo hands and pouches. It all appeared in midair, and as Danna closed her hand, the weapons squished together into a little ball of metal before it disappeared. She snapped her finger, and the trigger-happy Reichgo appeared before her. “That is not permitted on this world,” she said and snapped her finger again. The Reichgo vanished. He appeared on the planet of the Zalanid, millions of light years distant, but she did not tell the Reichgo that. She began again.

“This is a Genesis planet where intelligent life is created. It is one of only a half-dozen planets in the galaxy. Other worlds may develop life, but intelligent life is special, unless you behave stupidly. Now listen very carefully and hear what Helen has to tell you.” She did not say who Helen was. She just reached back to Sherwood Forest and traded with the girl she had once been. Danna left an aura of protection around the girl in case someone got incredibly stupid, but Helen came, not in the armor of the Kairos, but dressed in her own dress and smiling her own smile.

“By right of discovery and first landing, this planet is a Kargill planet. The Reichgo may visit here, but only visit. They are to limit all contact with the native population, and in no way interfere with the natural course and development of the life on this planet, intelligent or otherwise. That is the law, spoken.” Helen, a thirteen-year-old girl, turned to the travelers and got a big smile. “Hello friends. It is wonderful to see you again. I have to go now. I think I have to marry the miller’s son. Goodbye.” She blew a kiss and waved, and Danna returned. It took a second to wipe the smile from her face before she could turn again to the aliens.

“The law has been spoken. The Reichgo need to leave and leave this world alone. The Kargill may park at the bottom of the lake for the moment. You may keep the Zalanid in suspension as long as he is willing. I will need him for the moment. When I return him to the lake, you may send a shuttle for him. Then you must park in the depths of the ocean where you will not be seen or found. Henceforth, you must send the Zalanid to tell my Men in Black when this planet is in danger of an alien intrusion. Those native to this world may be permitted to visit, but all other outsiders do not belong. You may watch and listen, which I know is your inclination. It that clear?”

The floating metal box blinked a light once.

“Good,” Danna said and turned to the Reichgo. “There will be no fighting on this world. This is a genesis planet and a sanctuary world, now, begone.” She waved her arm and the Reichgo vanished from that place. Only a few moments later, the travelers and Men in Black saw a ship take to the sky. The metal box dove into the lake where the Kargill ship had already parked, as Danna knew. The Zalanid looked at Danna, willing, though not without some trepidation. Danna waved her hand once more and the Zalanid became clothed in a full-length jacket and some fine-looking boots. “This world is made up of nation states and many different cultures. But all the people on this world are human. When you are sent among us, you must be clothed to appear as human as possible.” Danna changed to Elizabeth in her dress. Elder Stow took down the screens and Elizabeth continued speaking as if she was the same person as Danna, which in a real sense she was.

“You will be called Mister Smith among the humans. It is a very common name. I am Lady Elizabeth Stewart MacLean of Gray Havens. Allow me to introduce the Men in Black who belong in this time zone. It is the custom in this place to shake hands when introduced.” She took the Zalanid’s hand and shook it to show what she meant. Then she took the Zalanid’s arm like a lady might take a gentleman’s arm. She introduced Sir Leslie and Jack Horner as the founders of the London branch of the Men in Black. They looked reluctant but shook the offered hand only to find it felt human enough. Mister Smith was a fast learner, and he laughed before he objected.

“You say men in black, but this one is dressed in red. And I see much red, green and blue, unless my translation device is malfunctioning.”

“Men in Black is an organization title. I am sure in time they will dress in black, but meanwhile the one in blue is Jean Duchamp. He is French and works from the Paris office…” She continued from there, introducing DeWindt, David Wallach, MacDonald and Campbell as founders of the Scottish office, and Conner O’Neil as their man in Ireland. “Now, let me introduce the Travelers from Avalon. They are time travelers come back from three hundred and sixty years in the future.

“You cannot travel in time,” Mister Smith said, but then considered Elizabeth and changed his mind.

Elizabeth spoke candidly. “I am the Traveler in time, the Watcher over history who is tasked to make sure it comes out the way it has been written.”

“And how do you know the way it is written?” Jack Horner asked.

“I have lived in the future. I read the book,” she said. “But you must pay attention because Lockhart is the assistant director of the Men in Black in the future. He can tell you some real stories, some of which you might not want to hear.”

“But say,” Sir Leslie interrupted. “How did you know that the Reichgo and Kargill… and Mister Smith would be here right now? That could not have been coincidence.”

Elizabeth looked up at the nearby tree. “Heather,” she yelled, and the fairy fluttered down to say hello to the travelers before she landed on Elizabeth’s shoulder as far away from Mister Smith as she could get.

“Oh yes,” Sir Leslie said. “I had forgotten.”

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

MONDAY

The travelers find a Mohawk to guide them through hostile territory to the big Swede, Lars of the Lenape in episode 9.6 Earth and Sky Until then, Happy Reading.

Avalon 9.2 The Called, part 1 of 6

April 17, 2023March 5, 2023M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 1437 A.D. Aragon and Castile

Kairos lifetime 113: Catherine, La Halcon

Recording …

The sun rose over the Mediterranean gleaming golden bright and reflecting off the water of the bay. The travelers came out squinting, facing the water, and had to turn quickly to put their backs to the glare. The spires of the cathedral nearby reached up into the cloudless sky and also glared in the early morning sun, but the cathedral itself, though hardly a stone’s throw away, was hard to see through the narrow streets and buildings that surrounded it. There were people around at that early hour. Poor fishermen were preparing for a day at sea, and merchants of all sorts were headed for the docks and getting ready to open their stalls and begin hawking their wares. Fortunately, the travelers came out of the time gate in a garden, which was actually a cemetery, so they had room to move, and as the time gate faced the sea, it might have looked like they came riding out of the sun itself.

Only one priest faced them. He stood nearby in the shade of a tree, speaking to several families, presumed parishioners. It seemed likely only the priest saw them appear out of a hole in the air, and he only stopped speaking and looked up when Ghost came through and bucked, something the mule never did. The priest certainly saw something, but by the time the people with him looked, the travelers were through, and the time gate quickly closed.

The priest pulled his cloak tight against the cold winter wind. “Pardon me.” He told his families to wait and came right up to the travelers with an odd question. “And what planet have you come from?” An old man followed the priest.

“Earth,” Lockhart said.

“Planet Earth,” Katie echoed.

“Human,” Lincoln raised his hand like he did in France while his eyes stayed focused on the database.

“Why would you ask such an odd question?” Elder Stow wondered even as Tony tried not to curse at Ghost in front of the priest.

“You are not more Galabans from the planet Galabar?” He seemed to indicate the people behind him.

“No,” Lockhart said. “We are human. Who are the Galabans?”

The old man who stepped up to join the priest spoke. “We are,” he admitted in a friendly tone. “We are refugees from our world and hope we may be allowed to make a small settlement on your lovely planet.” He smiled a human enough smile as Elder Stow turned his scanner on the families. “Our world became a battle ground between two peoples. They ruined the world and not many of us survived, but we learned something from the wreckage they left behind. We saw images of your world and the people here, and thought, you are very much like us. We came here. We have nowhere else to go.”

The Galabans appeared light red, leaning toward a light violet in skin color but they wore mostly yellow or pale blue or pale green clothes which further washed out their skin color making them look human enough. There were no doubt other differences that might be picked out on closer examination, but Elder Stow spoke up to resolve all doubt.

“Definitely not human,” he said. “Appearances can be deceiving.”

“Where is your ship?” Lockhart asked the logical question as Lincoln looked up from his reading. Only Sukki kept her eyes on the people in the streets. Katie stared at the old man. Nanette focused her attention on the Galabans waiting for the priest. They appeared to be mostly women and children.

The old man pointed toward the sea as the priest spoke. “They arrived in the northwest of Aragon. The Countess of Chaca, the Lady Catherine sent them here, to my bishop, with papers concerning their need for temporary settlement until she can make better arrangements. Her attention is first taken with the war with Portugal over the Castilian throne. My bishop has provided food, shelter, and work for the men. I have been tasked with teaching the faith to these Novo Christians to keep them out of the hands of the inquisition.”

“Your ship is parked underwater?” Lockhart asked, stuck on what he imagined was the important point.

The old man sadly shook his head. “Of the three ships that brought us here, two have returned to our home world with word of our discovery. We brought the third ship to this place, but we had difficulty flying the short distance. There was an accident. We managed to escape, but the ship sank in the waters. It is now ruined. We are cut off from home until our other ships return.”

“You know this planet is off limits to outsiders,” Katie said.

“So the Lady Kairos explained to us, but we have nowhere else to go and now, no way to get there.”

The travelers remained silent, looking at one another, not sure what they could say. Even Lincoln seemed to be at a loss for words. The priest and the old man waited, stomping their feet a bit against the cold. The priest, because he saw them appear out of nowhere, and while they claimed to be only human, he was not so sure. The old man because he saw enough to recognize these were people who had power well beyond his understanding. He saw the women with only a word adjust their clothing to the local styles they could see. He wanted to ask how they did that, but he dared not.

Katie finally broke the silence. “You must learn and practice the faith. In this time and place it is vital for your survival.”

Lockhart spoke again. “We will be seeing the Kairos, shortly. Do you have anything you wish us to tell her?”

The priest shook his head, but the old man had a thought. “Only to remind her of what we told her at the first. The Nameada—spiders may have followed us to this world. Such was not our intent, but we are new to space, and they may have followed without our knowing. They breed fast and are deadly. I hope—pray they did not come here.”

“Space alien spiders?” Sukki heard and let out a little shriek before Lincoln could respond. Lincoln frowned, like she stole his line. Tony, having gotten Ghost under control, laughed. Nanette sealed her mouth and looked at Decker, who remained as stoic as ever. Elder Stow fiddled with something on his scanner. Katie and Lockhart stared at one another once more before Katie again broke the silence.

“Priest. What city is this?”

“Barcelona,” the priest said.

“What is the year?” Lockhart asked.

“1476. February. Why?”

“Not your concern,” Lockhart said. He looked at Katie without a word. She pointed the general direction and he said, “Move out.” They turned and started through the narrow streets of the city.

###

That night, having made it out of the city, the travelers sat in a quiet village inn. While Lincoln and Elder Stow both seemed preoccupied with their reading, Lockhart finally asked what everyone appeared to shrug off. “So, why did Ghost object so much when we arrived?”

Tony looked at his food for a minute and it gave Sukki a chance to interject her thought. “I guessed it was because we came out facing the sun, and the sun was so bright in the way it reflected off the water. I had to close my eyes.”

Tony nodded a little before he shook his head. “It is only a guess, but you know Ghost is not good with strangers. Back in the Khyber Pass, the bandits got him out of the harness, but he would not move for them, not even to get put in the fenced in area where they put the horses.”

“The horses did not cooperate either,” Katie said. “I assume that is why they were still saddled and ready to ride.”

“Maybe,” Tony said. “But Ghost is normally okay with strangers as long as he can ignore them, like when we move through a town. I have noticed, though, he reacts to strangers when they are not human. I don’t know what it is, or how he can tell, but this is not the first time. He did not mind the Apes so much, though he let me know not to get too close. The Flesh Eaters made him nervous.”

“He didn’t want to be eaten,” Lincoln said under his breath while he read. He looked like he did not blame the mule for that attitude.

“He did not seem to like the Galabans either,” Tony continued. “I don’t want to read into it. We are talking about a mule, but it seems like he has a sense for aliens that are a danger.”

“Like children and puppy dogs,” Lockhart said. “They can sometimes tell the good ones from the bad ones.”

“And elves. They can sense such things,” Sukki added, thinking of her adopted sister, Boston, whom she missed.

Katie nodded. “I wouldn’t trust the mule entirely, but I also felt something not quite right with the Galabans from the start. The old man and individually they seemed nice enough but, I don’t know. My elect senses flared.”

“I know what you mean,” Nanette agreed. “I looked with my magic if I did it right. The old man was not lying, as far as I could tell, but it seemed like he did not tell us the whole truth.”

Elder Stow spoke up. “Like, if their ship crashed in the sea, how did they escape and get safely to shore? Do they have shuttle craft and escape pods hidden somewhere? And what is their weapons technology?”

“It almost makes me want to go back and ask some more questions,” Lockhart said, but Decker interrupted.

“The Kairos met them and brought them to Barcelona. We should trust that she knows what she is doing, and she knows what these Galabans are capable of. Our job is to get back to the future. It is hard enough staying focused on that without all the interruptions.”

Avalon 8.10 Refugees, part 3 of 4

August 10, 2022June 29, 2022M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Aiko sat on the log Decker pulled up to sit by the fire, though the fire had been put out. He stared at the ring of stones that surrounded where the fire had been and imagined other stone circles he had seen, some with big stones that no man could lift. He also stared at Elder Stow, the Neanderthal, and wondered if the man lived in Hokkaido among the primitive people there. But he shook his head. The flying woman of power had the same look, and they had no such people living on Hokkaido, unless the scholars were all mistaken.

“Ready,” Elder Stow said, and Boston turned to the man.

“Why have you and your men come to the mountain?” she asked plainly.

Elder Stow touched his device, one he had not shown before. Aiko jumped from the slight electrical shock that struck him.

“Let’s try this again. Why are you here?” Boston asked.

Aiko shook his head more vigorously, and the electrical shock was a tad stronger. He jumped again and opened his mouth. “The lady does not know about her father being sick and dying. I told you the truth. Her brother sent us to inform her and bring her to see him, if she is willing.”

“That is not entirely true,” Boston said, her truth detector being on high alert.

“Mostly true, but some part is a lie,” Elder Stow agreed, and Aiko got a larger electrical shock. He shrieked, and Alexis came over from helping Lincoln hitch-up Ghost to the wagon.

“What are you doing?” she asked, demanding an answer

“Trying to get the truth,” Boston said, never taking her eyes off Aiko.

Alexis raised her voice. “We do not torture people. I can’t believe you. What are you doing? Leave the man alone.”

Decker and Tony arrived, and Decker immediately spoke up. “Do you want me to kill him? That would solve the problem.”

“Decker!” Nanette followed Alexis to the group, and she did not hesitate to yell, but Decker just grinned, albeit, looking a bit like a shark. Aiko withdrew from the grin and the fact that Decker was black. He never saw a black man before, and it made him think frightening thoughts.

Boston came out with it. “You and your men were sent to kill Hideko. Why?”

Aiko broke down and covered his eyes. He felt frightened and ashamed and would not look at anyone. “My lord, Kiyomori is afraid of her. She is the eldest and he fears she may claim this whole province as an inheritance. She has proved herself a worthy and formidable leader of warriors, and this place is separated from the other provinces he controls. He fears she may succeed in taking the land and men, and he wishes to keep all of the land and the warriors under his control. He has plans. But please. I am only a soldier. I do not know what his plans are.” He appeared to weep a little.

Lockhart interrupted the scene. “I need three of those discs. We have three visitors.”

Boston took the disc she got back from Aiko. She stuck her hand out and Tony and Decker gave her theirs. She handed all three to Lockhart who turned around, having decided he did not want to know what was going on. He would hear all about it in a moment.

“We don’t torture people,” Nanette yelled again to get back on topic.

“We would not have hurt him,” Elder Stow said, quietly. He got interrupted by Lincoln who came over with Sukki. “Everything packed and saddled. We are ready to go.”

“I’m ashamed of you people,” Alexis concluded.

“Go ahead,” Boston said to Elder Stow. He had his weapon out and seriously worked on the controls while he watched his lie detector. He turned the power of the weapon down to almost nothing. He hesitated, but only for a second before he shot Aiko. The man collapsed.

“Elder Stow! Boston!” Alexis scolded them again and checked the warrior. “He will live, but I imagine he won’t be moving for quite a while.” She gave the two a hard look but could not imagine what else she might say. Nanette appeared to be silenced as well. Fortunately, Katie and Lockhart soon showed up with their three guests, and Lincoln broke the tense silence.

“All packed up and ready to go,” he reported. He even tried to smile.

“Good,” Lockhart began to respond, but Hideko interrupted him.

“Boston.” she opened her arms, and Boston ran for her hug, but it felt half-hearted.

“I may have gone too far again,” she said softly and backed up. “But not,” she insisted. “He has a hundred warriors down the hill, and they were sent by Kiyomori to kill you.”

Hideko merely nodded and introduced her companions, Tomoe the elder Gozen and Hangaku the younger. Then she looked at Aiko and spoke to everyone. “You may have just delayed things. If killing me is what he has been commanded to do, he is honor bound to succeed or die trying. If he fails and survives, Kiyomori will kill him. There are times in the history of this nation when suicide seems the only honorable way out after such a failure. Stupid. I much prefer your American solution to failure.”

“What is that?” Tony asked.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

People did not know what to say, so Lockhart changed the subject. “What else did you find out?”

Elder Stow spoke up. He appreciated the change in subject. “I have been watching my screens. We have seven Ouran who I believe are the genetically modified super soldiers we were warned about. They are blocked by the screens, but I imagine they know what screens are. It appears they may bring their shuttle craft close to try and blast through. Meanwhile, we have a hundred warriors, as Boston reported. They have come up to the side of the screens and I imagine they have no idea what it is, but they are trying to see if there is a way around. I suspect they will run into the super soldiers any minute now.”

“Recommendation?” Decker asked, though it was not really his place to ask.

Elder Stow nodded. “I was thinking, you can take the discs, probably in two shifts. There is a road that direction,” he pointed.

“Where we are going,” Hideko said quietly to Katie.

Elder Stow continued. “I can stay here and keep the screens up. When you send the word that you are away, or if these Ouran try to follow you, I can turn off the screens, go invisible and fly to catch you up.”

“I can stay with him,” Sukki said, but Elder Stow shook his head.

“Not this time, daughter. You are the only one with the power to take down the shuttle if it should suddenly fly off to pursue the group. You remember how to take out the engines and can cause them to crash, whatever else you might do. I will stay until I hear from you. I will be all right, and I have my personal shield if something should go wrong.”

“Be careful,” Tony said. “These super soldiers appear to be telepathic. They tried to get into our minds but were kept out by the hedge of the gods. I assume you are equally protected, but I do have a bit of a headache.”

“I was just going to say that,” Decker said.

“Yes sir, Colonel,” Tony responded. “But I pay attention to magic and all that stuff. Elder Stow thinks more like you, in terms of logical, scientific explanations, but the universe can’t always be explained in that way. Sorry.”

“Fair enough,” Lockhart said. “Let’s get going.”

“I will ride with Katie,” Hideko said. “Tomoe, you ride with Alexis. I want you to hear good things about making peace. Hangaku, you can ride with Nanette and hear all about her wedding plans.” Hideko smiled for the couple who quickly looked at each other.

“I didn’t say anything,” Decker said, and held his hands up.

Nanette looked down, like she did not want to look at anyone. “He asked me to marry him, and I said yes.”

The women cheered and took turns hugging Nanette. Elder Stow and Tony said congratulations and shook Decker’s hand. Lockhart, Lincoln, and Decker passed glances. Lockhart backed away and Lincoln looked like he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth closed for once.

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

Don’t forget Thursday’s post to finish the episode…

Avalon 8.10 Refugees, part 2 of 4

August 9, 2022June 29, 2022M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Decker turned off his wristwatch. Tony turned the volume on his watch to minimum and followed. The colonel was teaching him combat skills which he feared he would need once he got back to his own time. He tried not to think about World War One, but from what little he gathered, it would be a bloody and ultimately indecisive war. World War Two would follow. Well. he thought. The Italians would switch from the winning side to the losing side. That did not surprise him.

“Hush,” Decker said and squatted down behind a bush. Tony inched up to where he could see. Several men—they looked mostly like men—stood in a nearby clearing, conferring. They had two arms with what looked like five fingered hands, a torso and two legs, and one head, a bit large, but with relatively human-like facial features. Their noses pushed up, the ears were extra small, the lips extra thick, and they were completely bald, but they might have passed in human company if it was not for the blue tint in their skin.

One alien appeared to be talking through a communicator with the shuttle, or maybe a more distant main ship. The other two talked quietly with each other until the one on the communicator suddenly stopped talking and turned his head to look right at the bush where Decker and Tony were hiding. Tony saw the yellow eyes, what he considered the final proof of their alien nature. The two who were talking quietly also stopped talking and turned to stare at the bush.

Tony felt some pressure on his mind. It made him squint, and he thought it might give him a headache. Decker stood up. He started getting used to things trying to get into his head, like ghouls and Vr projectors. He spoke to the aliens. “This planet is off limits to alien species. You do not belong here.”

The pressure on his brain receded and the one that talked on the communicator, the evident leader of the group, spoke.

“We are greater Ouran. Some lesser Ouran came to this world not far from here. We must find them and remove them.”

Tony stood. He holstered his handgun but left the strap unsnapped. “What do you mean, remove them?” he asked.

The Ouran commander did not pause. “They are escaped slaves. Their removal will depend on their degree of cooperation.” He did not say it in so many words, but both Tony and Decker understood if the escaped slaves did not cooperate, they would be killed. That especially rankled Decker.

“Maybe we will make this a sanctuary planet,” he said.

“You have no authority nor the ability to stop us” the commander said. “And you would not like it if we have to force you to cooperate.”

Decker turned on his wristwatch and spoke. “These people are called Ouran. Our group is soldiers hunting escaped slaves. We will be returning to base for orders. Keep an eye on our progress. Out.”

“Roger,” Elder Stow responded, and then there was silence. Decker and Tony slowly turned around and walked back toward the camp. They both knew that one of the Ouran soldiers followed them, but they came to the screens and passed through with the discs Elder Stow gave them. The soldier banged his foot and could not get beyond the screens. He no doubt reported his finding.

###

Boston had to do some convincing, but she got Sukki to agree to her plan.

The human samurai-like soldiers were bunched up at the bottom of the hill. Boston ran to them, and showing some remarkable elf speed, she ran circles around them, slapped a number of them on the chest, and ran back up the hill to stop and stare at them. She had to stare before she could talk. She winded herself and had to catch her breath.

The samurai did not know what to do other than shout. Boston had removed her glamour of humanity, so she stood there in her red-headed, skinny elf glory. Her eyes shifted from face to face, and then she spoke. “What are you doing on my mountain?” No man said a word. “Speak, or I will taunt you again.” She tried not to giggle at her memory of Monty Python.

One man stepped forward. He bowed, not knowing what else to do. “I am Aiko of the Taira, and our master owns all this land, and the mountain, though I suppose he may not argue about the mountain if you ask him.” He bowed again.

“But what are you doing here?” she asked and thought of what Lockhart said. “Who are you looking for?”

The men shuffled their feet. Aiko looked around before he shook his head. They would not say.

“Sukki,” Boston called. She figured if their purpose was not nice, they would probably refuse to tell her. Sukki flew in, but overhead she saw one of the samurai in the back of the group had an arrow on his bow and pointed it straight at Boston. Suki threw one hand out. She tried to cause the man to go unconscious, but she fried him and felt terrible about it when the man screamed and collapsed.

“Boston?” Sukki asked. Boston gave Sukki a hug, which she needed.

“These men won’t tell me why they are here,” Boston moped. Sukki simply had to look at the men and Aiko spouted.

“Taira no Tadamori is deathly ill, and Taira no Hideko needs to be told. Her brother Kiyomori sent us to fetch her, if she will come,” the man lied, and Boston knew it was a lie. She had to think of what to do, but only took a second.

“Aiko. You must come with us. The rest of you need to wait here no matter how long it takes. Come. Don’t make me tell you again.”

Aiko reluctantly followed as they quickly moved out of sight from the men, among the trees. When they got to where the screens projected, Boston kept back and let Aiko walk into the screens. Sukki walked right in, having a disc, but Aiko could not proceed. Boston smiled and handed the man the disc she had been given to come and go through the projection.

“This is a magic token that will let you enter the place of mystery. Guard it with your life.” She gave him the disc and he walked right through the place where he had previously been stopped. Wonder filled the man’s eyes, as Boston phased through the screens and Sukki ran ahead to tell everyone to remove their glamours. Sukki had put hers on, so she looked like a Neanderthal.

“Ameratsu protect me,” the man whispered as he came face to face with Alexis.

“Ameratsu was a very nice girl,” Alexis said, and smiled for the man.

“I remember Ameratsu,” Boston piped up. “That was ages ago.”

The man trembled.

###

Lockhart and Katie came into a meadow where they found some blue tinted people. The people looked scared and stopped to face these new people. Lockhart and Katie hardly knew what to think before a woman in her mid-to-late forties stood up from the grass where she had been completely hidden. She held something like a pole with a curved sword attached to one end. She spun the pole and stepped up to hug Lockhart and Katie and she shouted.

“It’s all right. You can all get up. These are friends.” She turned to the blue skinned people. “You need to keep walking. We need to get to the school by sundown.”

“Hideko?” Lockhart asked, Lincoln not being there.

Hideko nodded and yelled. “Gozen.” Two young girls answered. The older one said, “What?” rather sharply. “The young one said, “Here I am,” sweetly. They attended Hideko, and Kate widened her eyes.

“Two elect. You have two elect in your school?” Katie was surprised.

“And you are one of us,” the elder Gozen said. The younger one just stared.

Katie pointed to the younger one. “I could still see you when you were hiding.”

“She is young. Just learning,” Hideko said and reached out to hug the girl. “This is Hangaku. The grumpy older one is Tomoe. Where is Boston?”

“Back in the camp,” Lockhart said. “You have warriors sneaking around. Boston and Sukki went to check on the humans. Decker and Tony checked on the aliens.”

“Ouran soldiers hunting down escaped slaves,” Katie remembered.

Hideko understood. She turned to the girls waiting in the field, and the bluish people that had paused in the field. “Ladies. Take these refugees to the school and let them rest in the open room until I get there.” She said more quietly. “Gozens, stay with me.” and to Lockhart, “Lead the way.”

Avalon 8.7 Escaping, part 6 of 6

July 13, 2022June 26, 2022M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Elder Stow stood outside the door to the Ape ship when Lincoln, Alexis, Nanette, and Tony arrived. Tony went to the wagon where Ghost dutifully stood in the shadow of the ship munching on a small pile of oats Tony left at the back of the wagon. He watered the mule while Lincoln and Nanette dug out four of the solar powered lanterns the travelers sometimes used in the night. They would need them to light the halls and rooms in the ship if they did not want to go with the emergency lighting alone.

Alexis stepped up to the door but stopped when she saw Elder Stow alternately staring into the distance and staring at his scanner. “What?” she asked as she turned her own eyes to the edge of the rise where all the Berbers and their horses got killed. It was far enough away so she thankfully she did not have to see all the details.

“Six people. Maybe seven,” Elder stow said. “Seven horses. They are coming this way. And I am picking up thirty or more—what should I call them—disturbances that appear to be checking the Berbers like an opposing army might check the dead on a battlefield, to be sure the dead are actually dead.”

“Disturbances?” Alexis thought for a second. “Like little ones?” Elder Stow nodded. “Maybe it is Yasmina.”

Elder Stow appeared to relax. “That would explain it.”

“Alexis,” the cry came through the wristwatches. Boston sounded anxious.

“Coming,” Alexis responded. “The Kairos appears to be on the horizon and headed in our direction,” she added and stepped into the ship. Nanette followed and made a path of three lanterns between the door and the central chamber where Sukki and Boston had Captain Argh down, lying flat on the floor. Lincoln came with his gun drawn just in case there were more Apes around, or maybe a Flesh Eater that snuck in the open door.

When they arrived, Alexis took a deep breath and went to work on the Ape’s leg. She put her hands near the wound and her hands began to glow. Soon, the wounded area glowed as well, and the unconscious Ape appeared to sigh.

“I’m going to see Yasmina,” Boston announced and headed toward the door. Sukki added a word for Lincoln before she followed.

“Boston and Elder Stow examined the main lines and concluded they are damaged beyond repair. Even if Elder Stow could power up the ship, it would not be able to fly. They might be able to send a distress call, but that is about it.” She jogged to catch up to Boston.

“And you are?” Captain Argh opened his eyes and started to come around.

“Your doctor. Hush,” Alexis said. “Nanette is my apprentice, and Lincoln is my husband, now keep still.”

The captain seemed to nod and closed his eyes again.

Boston arrived outside in time to see a young woman introduce her companions to the travelers, who had arrived with their seven prisoners and seven extra horses. “Muhammad al Rahim is my faithful friend,” she pointed to the old man who looked armored and carried plenty of weapons in the heat. “Aisha is my elf maid, or near as one gets to one in these parts.” The maid appeared to genuflect to the travelers. It looked like something between a bow and a curtsey. “And this…” She pulled a young man forward.

“Hello,” the man said in a very unpretentious voice. “These are my men.” He pointed to the three men with him.

Yasmina continued with a big grin. “This is Ala al Din.” She waited.

It took a few seconds before Katie blurted out, “Aladdin?” Yasmina nodded.

“We already did the genie bit. At least, the first half of it. Aladdin lost the lamp.”

“What is it with you” Lockhart said. “Every time it gets stranger and harder to believe.”

“We met Ali Baba and the three sons of Sassan and their magical artifacts, including the magic carpet,” Katie said.

“And Sinbad,” Lockhart remembered. “We fought skeleton-zombies.”

“And now Aladdin? Hard to believe,” Katie finished.

“Stranger and stranger.” Lockhart shook his head again.

“Can’t argue with that,” Decker added under his breath.

“I’ve done all I can,” Alexis’ voice came from the wristwatches present. “Captain Argh needs to stay off his leg as much as possible for the next week or so, but I believe it will heal from here without infection. He might be able to travel if he had a place to go.”

Yasmina reached out and grabbed Katie’s wrist to answer. “Tell the captain to be patient. Elder Stow and I will be there shortly to see what we can work out. I have just a couple of things to do first.”

“Roger,” Lincoln answered as Yasmina backed up and opened her arms.

“Boston.” Boston ran into the hug, and it was hard to tell which young woman grinned the hardest. Yasmina whispered. “Do I sound confident, like I know what I am doing?”

“You are doing a great job,” Boston whispered back.

“Thanks,” Yasmina squeezed the elf. “You know I am just making it up as I go along.”

“That works,” Boston said and took a step back. “It is all we ever do.” Yasmina looked down, humbly, but nodded.

One of the seven Berber prisoners took that moment to make a run for it. Al Rahim pulled his sword. Aladdin’s three men pulled their swords, like men who had learned to follow the lead of the old man. Decker raised his rifle, but they all stopped when they saw two ogre-like monsters rise right up out of the sand. While the man screamed, the monsters grabbed the man from each side and ripped him in half. They sank back into the earth and took their prizes with them.

Al Rahim yelled at the remaining six Berbers. “That was foolish. Any of the rest of you want to try that?”

“No. No, please. Please, no.” The Berbers looked frightened to the point of tears.

“You need to stay here, touch nothing, and keep quiet until the princess gives you permission to leave. Is that understood?”

“Yes. Yes, Lord. Understood. Yes. Thank you.”

Al Rahim turned from the Berbers to see Yasmina had already gone inside the ship with Elder Stow, Boston, Sukki, and Aladdin in her trail. Tony stepped up to the crew with a pointed question.

“Should I start to set up the camp for the night?”

Lockhart shrugged, but Katie and Al Rahim spoke at the same time. “Might as well.”

###

Yasmina let the six Berbers go that evening. Aladdin picked the best of the seven horses for his stables, he said. The six men rode off on the six other horses. Lockhart was surprised she just let them ride off.

“I thought that was better than killing them,” she explained. “They won’t remember the guns, the aliens, or you, or anything. They will head back to the capitol and by the time they get there, they will remember searching for me, but think they had to battle troops loyal to the Emir of Egypt and they won, but they alone survived the encounter.”

“Nice tall tale” Katie said.

Yasmina smiled and nodded. “I am sure Creeper the imp will spice up the tale by the time they arrive.”

“This isn’t Fatimid territory?” Katie asked, and Tony said he was just wondering the same thing.

“Sallum is as far as certain Fatimid territory goes,” al Rahim answered for the princess who seemed more comfortable talking quietly with Aisha, Boston, Nanette, and Sukki. “Between Sallum and El Alamein is territory no one fully owns. After El Alamein, the land remains in Abbasid hands through the Emir of Egypt, but I will not count the Princess safe until we reach Alexandria.”

Yasmina interrupted. “Except now I will spend the next ten days or more here cleaning up this mess.” Clearly, while she spoke with the girls, she kept one ear open for the other conversation. “Lockhart. You will have ten days to get to the time gate. Then we head for El Alamein, and that may help move the gate toward you, but be careful it doesn’t pass you by.”

Lockhart said he understood, but Decker changed the subject as he turned to Aladdin. “So, what is your story?”

“Me?” Aladdin looked surprised that anyone would be interested in him. “I lost the lamp and the Sharif sent me on a diplomatic mission to the Fatimids, maybe hoping I would get killed. The Djin did not have to work hard for that. The Sharif’’s daughter and I were close. The Imam who stole the lamp wanted her and wanted me out of the way. You see, the Caliph told the Emir of Egypt to make peace. The Emir told the Sharif and the Sharif told me. That was that. Anyway, I had a minor post in the diplomatic mission, but the Isma’ili fanatics were not interested in peace. Most of the mission got killed for heresy, but Princess Yasmina saved me and my men. We owe her our lives.”

“And now you are going home?” Alexis asked.

Aladdin nodded. “And I will marry the girl, if she will have me, even if her father is the Sharif.”

“Good luck,” Decker said, and glanced at Nanette.

In the morning, Yasmina said there was another one to send home. They got the Ape shuttle out of the main ship. Captain Argh complained that it was not capable of interstellar travel, and he certainly expected his few ships to be long gone, but Yasmina assured him it would do. Elder Stow charged the ship, fully. All Captain Argh had to do was pilot it toward deep space and he would be found.

“Sometimes you must trust others,” Eder Stow said. “Even if they are not your species.”

“A good lesson,” Yasmina said. They all said good-bye to Captain Argh and wished him well. Yasmina also said good-bye to the travelers. Then she complained. “Al Rahim! It is going to take forever to clean up this mess. Aladdin. Don’t touch anything.”

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

MONDAY

Don Giovanni runs the Greatest Show on Earth (a bit of temporal tampering), but mostly they run through the Black Forest because the Big Bad Wolv have landed. Until Monday, Happy Reading.

Avalon 8.7 Escaping, part 5 of 6

July 12, 2022June 26, 2022M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The travelers with the Berbers rode to the Flesh Eater ship and shook their heads, thinking there was no way any Flesh Eaters survived the crash when Elder Stow’s message came through their wristwatch communicators. There were Flesh Eaters around, or at least one.

Lincoln, Alexis, and Decker all turned the sound down on their watches. Nanette and Tony heard but did not know what to do about the message. Katie and Lockhart both got ready to respond, and Lockhart spoke.

“Roger that.”

They got down along with about half of the Berbers. The head man stayed a bit in the saddle to use the height to look around. “I see it would be pointless to try and separate some of you when you can send messages to each other over a distance,” the head man said.

“We have several surprises,” Lockhart responded, not spelling things out. The travelers got their various weapons, handguns, and wands while the Berbers uncovered and pulled some primitive rifles from their own saddles.

“I guessed,” Decker said.

“I didn’t,” Lincoln said, and everyone stopped when they heard Boston’s voice over their watches.

“Alexis. We need you. Captain Argh, the Ape pirate captain has a hole in his leg that needs to be healed.”

“Emergency?” Alexis asked.

“No. He says it happened yesterday.”

“A bit busy right now,” Alexis responded. “Be there when I can.”

“Stay off the com,” Decker said. “We are going in.”

They wanted quiet, now knowing at least one Flesh Eater awaited, maybe inside. The Flesh Eater surprised them. A weapon fired, a sickly green light, and one of the Berber riders and his horse collapsed. Decker returned fire. even as the Berbers shouted, screamed, and threw their hands to their ears or collapsed to the ground in agony. The travelers still carried the discs which protected them from the Vr energy. Elder Stow insisted they keep them until the days of the Flesh Eaters passed. Clearly, the Berbers had no such protection.

The head Berber, still on his horse with three of his men, turned and rode off at all speed. Lockhart added a shotgun blast to the one Decker shot at, but Katie hesitated until she saw a different Flesh Eater carrying the Vr projector. She remembered that they had personal screens of some sort that protected them from swords, knives, spears, arrows, and even bullets up to a point. It might take a dozen bullets from her high-powered advanced military rifle to penetrate. But the projector had no such protection as far as she was aware. She pulled the trigger and on the third shot, the projector exploded, knocking the Flesh Eater to the ground, and cutting off the projection of Vr energy.

The Flesh Eater with the hand weapon that tried to keep its head down after shooting one of the Berbers eventually succumbed to rifle fire. Fortunately, around the wreckage of the ship, there were plenty of places for the travelers to hide behind. Decker and Lockhart rushed forward when the Vr projector exploded. Decker finished the one with the handgun. Lockhart pumped three shotgun slugs into the one stunned by the explosion of the projector. He saw when the second slug burned out the personal screen and penetrated. The third slug finished the Flesh Eater.

Lincoln, Tony, Alexis, and Nanette pushed carefully around the outside of the action. They found three more Flesh Eaters in various stages of dead and dying. They lay propped up against pieces of the hull that blew off the Flesh Eater ship and got partially buried in the sand. One Flesh Eater already looked dead. One appeared to be unconscious. The third was missing an arm, but he otherwise stared at the travelers through malevolent eyes, his tongue darting out now and then to taste the blood in the air. He spoke. The only time the travelers heard a Flesh Eater speak.

“My world is destroyed. The enemy world is destroyed. My ship may have been the last. The enemy ship may have been the last. Your world is off limits to outsiders?” It paused and coughed, or maybe laughed. “No world is off limits to the people. Your world should be eaten.” It coughed or laughed again as Tony fired six bullets into the alien. Alexis and Nanette both made a sound of protest, but neither outright objected nor said anything. Lincoln shot the other two, the one that appeared unconscious and the one that seemed to be already dead, just to be safe.

Katie came out from inside that section of the ship that remained intact. She commented to Lockhart and Decker who disarmed the recovering Berbers and got them to sit on the sand while they waited for another Flesh Eater to show up, if there were any more. “It doesn’t smell as bad as the old Balok ships.” Katie pulled up her hand and spoke into her wristwatch. “Elder Stow. We could use your scanner to see if there are any more Flesh Eaters around that we have not accounted for.”

“I apologize, my mother. I was just thinking it is too bad I could not be in two places at once.”

“Boss,” Boston interrupted to report to Lockhart. “Captain Argh can see the Berbers on his scanner monitor. They appear to be preparing to charge the ships, and they got guns. Captain Argh did not know better, but I can analyze the material and did the math. Sukki confirmed.”

Katie turned to the men beside her. “My feeling is they don’t want to lose us as prisoners. They want to capture us again now that we have eliminated the Flesh Eaters.

“Or kill us if capture is not possible,” Decker suggested.

“I agree,” Lockhart said.

“I agree,” Lincoln echoed as he stepped up with the others from the back.

Decker spoke into his watch and got straight to the point. “Any people in this age with guns are to be considered enemy combatants. They need to be eliminated.” He looked at Katie and she nodded.

“We are still a few hundred years before black powder shows up in Europe.” she said. “And cannon before handguns.”

In the Ape ship, Sukki began to panic. “What can we do about the Berbers? There are so many of them.”

“We can intercept them before they reach the other ship,” Elder Stow said, and he pulled his weapon and his scanner. He got on the com. “My Father. I can see from here. The scan shows five Flesh Eaters, but none appear to be moving. I believe you got them all. We will attempt to cut off the Berbers as they pass us by. Hopefully, you will be presented with a manageable number.”

“Don’t risk yourself or the girls,” Katie responded.

Boston got out her wand before she went invisible. Captain Argh swiveled his chair to face a different monitor that came up from the floor. He ran a finger along a bar on the console, adjusted one knob, and pressed a button. He held his finger on the button while the lights in the command center flickered and went out.

Sukki, Elder Stow, and Boston, who became visible again, all watched on the monitor. A wide blue light came from the Ape ship. The Berbers and horses fell to the ground just before they began their charge. A few at the back of the pack survived but turned to run off. The monitor shut down and some kind of yellow emergency lighting became the only light in the room.

“You ended the Eaters. My mission is complete, so I ended the threat to you. It was the last bit of power from my fuel cells.” He sighed, put one hand to his wounded leg, and appeared to pass out.

Boston got on her watch right away. “Alexis. Captain Argh needs help. Please hurry.”

“As quick as I can,” Alexis said, and turned off her wristwatch communicator. “I don’t know what she expects. I have no idea what Ape anatomy might be like.”

“Do what you tell me,” Nanette said. “Just do your best.”

Alexis nodded and mounted, and Lincoln, Tony, and Nanette rode with her to the Ape ship. Lockhart, Katie, and Decker had seven Berber prisoners and seven Berber horses to deal with.

Avalon 8.6 Standing Still, part 6 of 6

June 29, 2022May 15, 2022M G Kizzia Leave a comment

They untied the three men and Lockhart was the one who named the wounded one. “Engelbroad,” he called the man.

The man coughed and spit. He would not live long. “Engel,” he said. “Engel Bronson, king’s man. I fixed their tank after they crashed. Ungrateful…” He began to cough up some blood. “I strengthened their screens and enhanced their photon canon. I warned them about you, but I see I did not enhance their weapon nearly enough.” He had to stop talking. He moaned and seemed unable to stop the bleeding. “A mistake I will not make again,” he said, and it was the last thing he said.

Meanwhile, the Ape commander asked Kerga what he would do with the Eater bodies. “Bury them, like the Christians,” Kerga said. “They do not deserve the flames. We will give them a good Christian burial, and as they say, may God have mercy on their souls.”

“Hey!” Decker shouted. One of the freed men started to scream and ran off. Nanette pulled her wand to stop the man, but Decker lowered Nanette’s hand. “Let him go. I don’t know if we can help him.”

Harrold came to look. “He is Vanlil,” Harrold said. “A man of the mountains. We fought them when I was young. He has no welcome here.”

“Come,” Kerga shouted generally to everyone. “We must celebrate.”

The Ape commander shook his head. “We are under strict instructions not to mingle. Though I do not understand why the Gott-Druk is here.” He stared at Elder Stow.

Lockhart answered. “The Gott-Druk and the Elenar are native to this planet tens of thousands of years ago. They are allowed to visit if they do not draw attention to themselves. I don’t know if that explains it. Lincoln has the database. He could explain it better.”

“This is the world where my people began,” Elder Stow said.

“And another reason why this world is supposed to be off limits to outsiders. The Gott-Druk, The Elenar, the Imuit all began here and keep an eye on this world.”

The Ape commander understood something, anyway. He took his crew back to his ship. They would probably be a while before they lifted off.

The travelers went through their camp and picked up Lincoln, Alexis, Eric and Astrid, and from there they went to the big house to celebrate. That consisted mostly of the men drinking, bragging, and showing how strong, or as Alexis called it, how stupid they could be. The travelers did not stay long. Katie only asked one question to Captain Jarl.

“Where did that third man go?”

“He said nothing the whole time,” Nanette agreed.

“He said he had to take the king’s ship out that evening,” Jarl said. “You might still catch a glimpse of the sail, but he said he had to get back and report to the king. Now that Engel died, it fell on him to bring the bad news.”

“Come on,” A man interrupted. “They are sending Engel off in old man Knute’s ship. The old man will have to make another ship for when he dies, if he ever dies.”

Katie insisted on witnessing a real Viking funeral. Tony and Nanette went with her, but Lockhart took the others back to the camp.

###

Kirstie arrived the very next morning. She started out happy to see her friends. She hugged her son, Soren, and added a hug for his friend Hodur. She hugged Inga and introduced her husband Wilam to the group. “Wilam is from Danelaw.” Boston stood the whole time turning her toe in the dirt and trying to be patient. But at last, Kirstie opened her arms wide and yelled, “Boston,” though Boston was only a few feet away.

Boston grinned a true elf grin, and Wilam came close to matching it on his human face. “I started to think you forgot me,” Boston said.

“Never,” Kirstie responded and gave an extra squeeze before she let go. “So, what have you all been doing while waiting for me?” she asked. “Inga’s note talked about, murders? It was rather vague.”

“Flesh Eaters,” Lockhart got her complete attention and he told her the story, beginning with their arrival, and ending with Engel’s funeral. Kirstie’s face turned more and more sour as he talked. “The Ape warship moved out a few hours ago,” he said. Then he told her in the end that Engel, the king’s man was Engelbroad, physicist and servant of the Masters in Genevieve’s Day, and Kirstie let out a war cry.

“That is it. My life is over. Bieger?” she asked Inga who nodded. “He will report to the king quick enough. They have been looking for me, for the Kairos since I was a teenager. Now they will know who I am and where I am and have proof.”

“We can move to Northumbria,” Wilam suggested. “They will never find you.”

Kirstie shook her head. “Can’t. Not yet. I have to get all the pieces of a crashed ship, and a tank, and all the bodies and weapons to the Avalon isles and off this earth. I have to help these people move on in their journey. It is a good thing you stayed here. Much of the inland road you would have to follow is hardly suitable for horses, much less a wagon. I have to think about that. Then I have to scour the mountainsides for Flesh Eater survivors and get rid of them. They can be worse than Bluebloods, and they breed like rabbits. God, I sound like Genevieve.”

“How can we help?” Inga and Katie asked more or less at the same time.

Kirstie put a hand to her head. “Alexis, got any aspirin?”

###

The following morning, first thing in the morning, Kirstie made the travelers get up and saddle up, prepared to move. The sky turned overcast, but the rain had the kindness to stay away. Besides Wilam, Inga, Eric, and Astrid, Kirstie’s son Soren, his friend Hodur, and Hilde, who was both Hodur’s and Eric’s mother was there. She was always kind enough to be like a mother to Soren when Kirstie was away. Kirstie instructed them all, sternly.

“The gate will stay active for a bit after the travelers go through. Do not follow them under any circumstances, and do not let anyone else follow them. The travelers belong in the future, and they are trying to get home, but anyone else who goes through the time gate will age as many years as they advance through time. That could be fifty or more years all at once. Soren, you would become a wrinkled old man of sixty without having lived any of the years in-between. All of your friends would be lost to you, and who know where you might end up. Probably in the desert where it never rains.

Kirstie looked up. The sky began to produce a wet mist. It would surely begin to rain shortly.

“But how are you going to move the time gate to us?” Sukki asked.

“Amphitrite has agreed to help this one time,” Kirstie said. “Pardon me Wilam.”

“All right,” Wilam smiled, and he smiled for Boston who he knew to be an elf. Boston returned the smile.

“Amphitrite?” Astrid asked. She did not understand what Kirstie was talking about.

“The goddess,” Eric told her and lowered his eyes out of respect.

“But… where is she?” Astrid asked, even as Kirstie went away so Amphitrite could take her place. Kirstie wore her armor—the armor of the Kairos which automatically adjusted to Amphitrite’s size and shape. Astrid’s eyes got big, and she quickly dropped her face as she shut her eyes, tight. Hilde gave a knowing look to Hodur and Soren. She glanced at Eric and Inga, who apparently knew all about it, and lowered her eyes as well.

“Lockhart,” Amphitrite spoke. “I will go out to sea to the point where the time gate should appear in this place. It is early morning if not first thing. Please go through quickly. Kirstie has a lot to do before she and Wilam can go anywhere. I cannot say she will get it all done before she is found. You know, I cannot say… Lincoln, don’t you dare look it up. Wilam, please make sure no one follows the travelers.” With that, Amphitrite vanished, leaving a small misty spray in her place, but one that smelled of salt water and the sea.

“Boston and Sukki,” Lockhart said. The time gate appeared literally in front of their faces. Boston and Sukki had taken to going through first. When they did, Soren and Hodur jumped up and shouted.

“Good-bye. Bye.” Inga grabbed Soren and Hilde grabbed Hodur, just to be sure.

As Lockhart and Katie went through, Katie remarked. “Funny to mention the Elenar. We haven’t seen them in a long time.”

Elder Stow, who came behind them said, “Please no,” nice and loud. Then he appeared to think about it and said, “Sorry. What you call a knee-jerk reaction.” Decker laughed.

Tony drove the wagon and Nanette sat beside him on the buckboard. Nanette waved and spoke. “Lovely to meet you all.”

Lincoln and Alexis came last. Lincoln had out the database but waited to say anything. What he actually said when he went through was, “It is hot.” Then he talked to Alexis, Nanette, and Tony while Boston and Katie compared directions on their amulets. Elder Stow, Decker, and Sukki fanned out to get the lay of the land, and Lockhart wondered where they ended up.

“Kirstie does not make it,” Lincoln said. “She dies that year, near as I can tell.”

“She is still quite young,” Nanette objected.

“Thirty-one,” Lincoln agreed. “Don’t tell Boston. She will want to go back and warn her.” He stopped thinking about it when he heard Lockhart shout.

“Lincoln. Where are we?”

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

MONDAY

The travelers find themselves in North Africa where Yasmina, the Arabian princess is trying to get away from the soldiers who have accused her of murder. Monday, 8.7 Escaping Don’t miss it. Happy Reading

Avalon 8.6 Standing Still, part 5 of 6

June 28, 2022May 15, 2022M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Elder Stow waited while the Flesh Eater tank blasted through the last few trees that stood between them and the camp of the travelers. Lincoln and Boston had Elder Stow’s screens on full power, though Elder Stow said half power might be enough. Boston was not taking any chances.

The military meeting took place outside the camp, so the ape men, Vikings, Decker, Katie, and Lockhart were not protected by the screens, but as the travelers figured out, the Flesh Eater tank came first for the travelers. They knew the ape warship was there but figured the ape main weapon on full power would take a long time to break through their screens. They had to deal with the unknown element of the travelers first, then they guessed they would have time to take care of the warship.

Boston shouted when she saw the tank. “It looks like the Kargill weapon we decompressed back at the Men in Black headquarters when the Vordan attacked us.” The others looked at Boston with curious faces. “Lockhart would know.”

The screens skipped through red and orange and settled on a light yellowish tint that hardly showed any green, much less blue or purple. At the same time, the screens around the tank showed two places where they went immediately to a sharp, deep purple glow and appeared to strain against burning out altogether. It did not take long for two holes to appear in the Flesh Eater screens. The screens around the tank fizzed, popped, and went out altogether.

The tank exploded in several small explosions. Sukki backed up temporarily, but the explosions were not big enough to put her in danger. Elder Stow, protect by his personal screens, used his handheld weapon to fry the engine and power source. Sukki returned quick enough to melt the canon in the front of the now dead tank.

Sukki also fried a couple of Flesh Eaters she found out in the open and did not feel nearly the gilt or sorrow she felt when she fried the Vikings in the last time zone. She knew that was not right. As horrifying as the Flesh Eaters might be, they were still people, and should be treated as such. She understood what the others and the Kairos taught her, that people came in all kinds of shapes and sizes, the good and the bad living side by side. There might be millions of species in the universe. She did not know how many. But they were still people and should be respected as such, or as Boston told her, people were people no matter how small.

Sukki backed off as she lectured herself. She still did not feel bad about frying a couple of Flesh Eaters, but maybe she hoped the rest would stay hidden in the trees where she could not get at them easily. Besides, she was tired. That took a lot out of her. She flew back to the military meeting.

When Elder Stow joined her, the two became visible again. Elder Stow reached for his scanner and took a moment to study and report the results. “There are a half-dozen in the woods, still alive. They have three humans that appear to be prisoners. Wait a moment.” Elder Stow touched a spot on his scanner. People waited, though nothing appeared to happen until all heads turned toward the popping sound in the forest. It sounded a bit like firecrackers. “I have remotely burned out the Flesh Eater personal screens, which were not very good in any case.” To the Ape men he said, “Now, when you find them, your weapons will be affective on their unprotected flesh.”

“You flew…” the Ape commander said. “Invisible… and now burned-out Eater personal screens, remotely, using something only the size of your hand…” The awe in the Ape commander’s voice could easily be heard, even by the humans, a different species.

Elder Stow turned to explain to Lockhart and Katie. “I analyzed the Flesh Eater screens in the last time zone and allowed for fifty years of improvements. My scanner has been working on the necessary alignment frequencies to burn them out. The scanner does not have much range, you know. If there are some still in the hills, or maybe in a lead or iron lined cave, they will likely still have functioning screens.”

“Wolv all over again,” Lockhart said.

“Not far from true,” Elder Stow said. “The Humanoids had very primitive personal screens which the Wolv spread all over this edge of the galaxy. These Flesh Eater screens appear to be built using the same technology and principles, so they must have come across the Wolv at some point.”

“And we missed it?” Decker said with a straight face. “It must have been a battle, seeing Wolv and Flesh Eaters go toe to toe.”

“Colonel,” Katie spoke up. “The Humanoids ate flesh raw as well.”

“Yes,” Lockhart said. “I had forgotten.”

“Can we go help those people?” Sukki interrupted. “They have prisoners.”

The others nodded and Elder Stow asked. “You still have your discs to protect you from ambient Vr energy?” People nodded again as they headed toward the woods. The Apes had big helmets that did the same thing. The Vikings had no such protection, but at least Lockhart imagined any attack on the Viking minds would simply enrage them and send them, at least temporarily, into berserker mode.

They found Boston, Nanette, and Tony on the edge of the woods awaiting their arrival. Boston turned off Elder Stow’s screens, left the device with Lincoln, and left Lincoln and Alexis with Astrid and Eric to defend the camp.

“You don’t have to do this,” Decker told Nanette.

“Neither do you,” she responded, a bit snippy, and pulled her wand.

“You are going to make my job a lot harder,” he said.

“Good.” She would not let him go off and get killed on his own. He stared at her. She reddened a bit but did not care about that.

“Come on,” Boston urged. “I can smell them.”

Lockhart looked at Tony who had his M1911 handgun in his hand. Tony answered the look. “I was not going to let the women go alone.”

“Fair enough,” Decker said as he pulled his eyes from Nanette.

“They are about thirty yards straight in,” Elder said and pointed.

Kerga pointed left and right. Jarl and Harrold took men left and right to circle around. The Ape commander sent one Ape with each group of Vikings. They waited a minute while Boston bit her tongue before she spouted again.

“Come on.”

“Keep your eyes and ears open,” Lockhart said as he stepped forward.

Three Flesh eaters opened fire as soon as the group got close enough to show clear targets. One Viking got a hole in his chest. One Ape soldier got hit in the arm. Decker anticipated the ambush and went to the ground. The shot went over his head while he and Katie both returned fire and put that Flesh Eater down. At the same time, Nanette raised her wand and the Flesh Eater weapons got yanked from their hands and floated ten feet up in the air. Jarl, Harrold, and their men charged from the sides and the other two Flesh Eaters got run through by multiple spears and swords.

Boston raced passed the flesh eaters at elf speed. Sukki followed, almost as fast. They found the three humans tied beside a big tree. One screamed. One would not look at them. The third looked barely alive. He had a piece of shrapnel in his chest, probably from when the tank exploded.

They found five Flesh Eaters on the ground in various degrees of life. If not caught in the tank explosion, they probably got wounded when their personal screens blew. One held a Vr projector, and he grinned as his tongue shot out and in, like he was tasting the smell of their blood. He turned on the projector, and the Vikings shouted and put their hands to their heads, but Elder Stow ended that problem. With his hand weapon, he fried the projector. Then he fried the head of the Flesh Eater.

The Vikings, enraged, as Lockhart imagined they would be, did not let the remaining Flesh Eaters live, though most of them would have died soon in any case. No Ape needed to draw his weapon.

Avalon 8.6 Standing Still, part 4 of 6

June 27, 2022May 15, 2022M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The apes lost two drones that day but gathered the information they needed. They counted ten Flesh Eaters in the woods, and they appeared to be burning a path ahead of them to bring in something like a tank. They did not bring the main gun from their crashed ship, which would have been useless without the energy source of the ship’s engines, but this portable weapon was not far down the power scale from the ship. The ape warship was screened, of course, a necessity for space travel, but they feared their screens might not stand up to the power of the tank.

“We may have to abandon you, temporarily, to bring in our main battleship. The Eaters surprised us with such weapons on another world. We lost the battle for that world.”

“Your missiles were ineffective?” Decker asked. He came to this meeting on the sixth day as they met over primarily military matters. Captain Jarl Hagenson came to represent the village, and Inga came with him to explain if she could. Jarl was younger than Kerga and the others on the council. It was hoped he might better understand these strangers.

The ape commander shook his head. “Whatever their power source, the tanks, as you call them, are shielded against our normal weapons. This is why we may need to bring in the battleship, and even it alone might not be enough.”

“These Flesh Eaters appear to be very good at discerning energy sources and converting them to use,” Elder Stow said.

“They had handheld Vr projectors some fifty years ago. What you call Vorcan energy,” Lockhart said.

“What is Vorcan energy?” Jarl asked.

“It is a by-product of faster than light travel,” the ape commander began, but paused when Elder Stow held up his hand. Elder Stow tried to simplify the explanation.

“When a ship—a people learn to travel at the speed of light, which is very, very fast, they discover several side things that come with breaking the light speed. One is Vr or Vorcan energy. It can kill people. Eventually, the people learn to screen out or block that energy so they can fly very fast, safely. These Eaters have figured out how to recreate that energy in a box they can carry. It is no good against people who are normally screened, like the big invisible screen we have around our camp at night, you know?”

“Yes,” Jarl said.

“But these Eaters see no reason why they should not use it on people who have not learned the secret to protect themselves. In that case, it is a powerful weapon that can cause madness, seeing and hearing things that are not there, and eventually making people unable to move before the heart stops and they die. Do you understand?”

Jarl nodded but did not look too certain. Inga spoke for him. “It is like a spear that can be thrust into a woman who has no armor and no shield to fend off the blow.”

“Something like that,” Katie said, and Jarl appeared to understand better.

“But what is the energy source for this tank, and can we disrupt it?” Decker asked.

The ape commander looked like the question did not occur to him, but Elder Stow spoke again.

“My analysis suggests photon energy, though it may be some early form of anti-matter.”

“Photon?” Katie spoke up. “But even we have lasers.”

“That is the beginning of the circle,” Elder Stow responded, and looked once at Jarl and Inga. “People begin with natural sources such as wind, water, and animal power. Fire is a great step. Then steam and fossil fuels are exploited—still natural fuels. Eventually atomic energy is discovered, fission, plasma drive, and fusion power. Following that come experiments on gravity and magnetism—gravometrics, graviton bombs a hundred times more powerful than an atomic explosion, but without the ambient radiation. If the people survive those days, they eventually find anti-gravity. This leads directly to faster than light travel, but there are other obstacles to overcome. One brings people back to the wave-particle nature of light itself. Here, the circle is completed, and photon energy is a powerful source of energy for a long time before anti-matter, and eventually, anti-photon or dark energy.” Elder Stow looked at the crew from the ape ship and shook his head. “But that is as far as I need to go. Maybe too far. Let me just say, it appears to be photon energy driving the tank.”

“I understood the basic thrust of that,” Inga said, even as Jarl went back to head shaking.

“I got most of that,” Katie said. “I’m sure Boston and Sukki would have understood better.”

“I understood well enough,” the ape commander admitted. “But I have no idea what photon energy is or how to counteract it. We were using plasma drive and learning about fusion energy when the Eaters first came to our planet. We thought to learn from them and advance ourselves. We nearly lost the planet as they ate through the population. We gained knowledge from them and now fight them wherever we find them. We help protect primitives where we can, but the Eaters remain about two steps ahead of us.”

“Can we pull down the shade, somehow, and cut off their energy source?” Decker asked, but Elder Stow shook his head.

‘I read about your Superman, being powered by your yellow sun. But Superman does not become incapacitated every time he steps into the shade. Photon energy is not exactly light energy—not exactly. I’ll say no more.”

“So, what can we do?” Katie asked.

Elder Stow thought a long time, and everyone waited as patiently as they could. He spoke at last. “Every space civilization has benefited more or less from those that came before them. The Anazi gained faster than light travel from the Sevarese and Bluebloods. The Humanoids learned advanced robotics and artificial intelligence from the Anazi. The Wolv stole the improved screen technology from the Humanoids, so they rampaged through the galaxy with primitive, but personal screens for protection.”

“We have a legend about Wolvs,” the ape commander said. “That was a thousand years ago. Most call it a myth. The stories from that time inspired us to fight the Eaters…” He paused before he added, “They are not a myth, are they?”

Heads shook as Elder Stow spoke. “They were real. They ruined most civilizations in this part of the galaxy. Fortunately, those elder races, such as we who had no interest in conquering anyone, survived and increased in knowledge, if not understanding. Now, I see that these people and the Flesh Eaters have gained from the Pendratti, Anazi, Humanoids, and such before them. They have faster than light travel, highly advanced computer driven equipment, and personal screens of a sort. The Flesh Eaters may be a step or two ahead, but I cannot help you catch up. One thing all elder races agree on is people have to learn things for themselves. There have been several incidents where people have been artificially advanced, but the consequences, as far as I know, have always been disastrous.”

“So, you can’t help us,” the ape commander concluded.

“I did not say that.” Elder Stow put up one hand. “I have already told you and your young friend there much more than I should. I will not go further by introducing you to photon technology. But I will remove the tank for you. After that, you will have to fight your own battles, as I heard Gerraint, and King Arthur once say.”

Elder Stow turned to Sukki and Sukki stood right up. “Ready, father.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Elder Stow told her.

“We already covered this, many times,” Sukki responded generally to everyone before she focused on Elder Stow. “I am not going to let you go off and do something stupid without me.”

Elder Stow merely nodded as the two of them lifted from the ground. The ape men shouted their surprise. When the two became invisible, the shouting increased in volume, and Jarl joined them, before people got quiet.

“You did not seem surprised,” Katie turned to Inga.

“I think I have used up my quota of surprise for this life,” she responded.