People stopped firing.  Any soldiers who survived, did so by running away. The roof across the street looked empty of archers.  Li Si, the king’s chancellor stood in the alleyway, but his eyes looked wide and his mouth seemed stuck open.

“Done,” Elder Stow said.  “I have put up a screen wall between the house and the street.”  He looked at the others, saw enough through the window to see the bodies, and he complained.  “The equipment is not designed to make a wall screen, much less a single sided screen. It takes time, focus, and serious reprogramming.  I worked as fast as I could.”

“That’s all right,” Lockhart said.

Decker spit.  “No problem.”

“Are we finished?” a voice asked. Everyone turned and saw Tien Shang-Di, king of the Chinese pantheon, standing there, looking older and wiser than the last time they saw him.

“Lockhart and Katie.”  Meng Shi decided.  “You need to come and collect the outlaw horses, and all of their equipment, and take it with you.  The rest of you need to get the horses and wagon out of the back yard and get ready to ride.”  He walked out of the house, Tien beside him.  Katie and Lockhart followed without a word.

Alexis hurried to the back, concerned about Millie watching all those horses by herself.  Others, especially Boston followed more slowly.

Katie and Lockhart proceeded with the grizzly task of stripping the outlaws of everything, including their pants and shirts.  Lockhart drew the line at the underwear.  Then they collected the guns and horses.

Meng Shi and Tien walked up to Li Si, who still had not closed his mouth.  “Removing the memory of the gunpowder and how to make it is easy.  I would think some memory of explosive magic powder should not be a problem.  Memory of the outlaws will be trickier.”

“Strangers with big horses and magic weapons might work,” Meng Shi responded.  “It fits with the magic powder idea.  The travelers are moving through time on big horses with saddles and magic weapons, and there is not much I can do about that in most times and places.”

Tien nodded.  “So, what do we do with this one?”  He looked at Li Si, who even then had not closed his mouth.

“A day would be helpful,” Meng Shi said. “Maybe twenty-four hours, like lunchtime tomorrow.”

“Lord Meng?”  Li Si did not appear certain what he was seeing.

“Are you planning on running away?” Tien asked, being unable to read Meng Shi’s mind.

“My family,” Meng Shi said.  “I need the travelers to get them to safety, to Xiang’s family around Shu, before I confront the servant of the Masters.”

“I can’t help you with the servant of the Masters,” Tien said, and paused to look closer.  He grasped something, reading minds or not.  “You believe you might not survive that confrontation.”

“I might not,” Meng Shi said, honestly.

“Don’t worry,” Tien said.  “I will watch over your wife and children.”

“I appreciate that,” Meng Shi said.

“Lord Meng?” Li Si asked again, as he, and Tien, and Li Si’s horse disappeared from the street.

Meng Shi turned around. The street appeared full of people carrying water for the fire.  He heard plenty of talking, shouting, and noise, but he caught sight of Katie and Lockhart in the alley.  They had mounted the outlaw horses, and he nodded at their wisdom.  Leading the horses through the crowd might have been difficult, but people would step aside for mounted warriors or dignitaries.

Meng Shi had little trouble getting back to the house where he found his own horse saddled and waiting.  He noticed several of the local houses were on fire.  He felt bad about that, but also felt there was nothing he could do about it.

They started out slowly, but it did not take them long to reach Meng Shi’s house.  They immediately began packing the home and family for a long journey.

Meng Shi’s wife, Lilei, and their eleven-year-old daughter, Aiting, packed their silks, and everything of value around the house, down to cooking utensils.  The women helped, but Lilei felt reluctant to pack her jewelry and the family gems in front of these strangers, until she found out Boston was an elf.  Boston found out something, too.  Later, she tried to explain it to the others.

“I felt the love Lilei had for Meng Shi, and how much he loves her.  And the children, too.  All I wanted to do was help and protect Lilei, and do whatever she asked.  You know, I was a free spirit, inclined to do my own thing, and good at being passive-aggressive, even when I was human. Becoming an elf did not change that much.  I might not have done exactly what she asked, but the urge felt strong to treat her almost like a goddess.  I don’t think I can explain it better.”

“The little ones have always treated the beloved spouse of the Kairos as special,” Alexis said.  “And the children like princes and princesses.  Even close, special family members, family servants and trusted retainers, and close, personal friends have been treated well. It is really self-defense.  Things would not go well for the hobgoblin that played a nasty trick on the beloved spouse of the Kairos, as you may imagine.”

Meng Shi took the men and his two boys, fifteen-year-old Pi and nine-year-old She, to the barn and stables. Meng Shi’s trusted retainer, Ba, showed them the oxen, the two big wagons, and the horses they needed to get ready to travel.  Meng Shi found some shovels and got Lockhart and Decker to take the boys out, to dig up several bronze pots filed with gold and silver.  Elder Stow said he was not much good with oxen, but he had just the right tool for making holes in the ground.  He used the same tool Alexis used to pull the bullet from Boston’s shoulder.

“She, I understand,” Lockhart told the boys.  “Like Meng Shi Junior.”

“Father calls She Junior, sometimes,” Pi said.  “His real name is Shu.  That means third son.”

“Our brother died when he was one,” She added.

“Even though Father sometimes calls me Shu.  It is complicated.”

“Pi?” Lockhart said the name like a question, but Pi understood what he was asking.

“I am Meng-Meng, the first son.  Shu means three.  Father calls me that sometimes, because he says I made a family of two into a family of three.”

“Point one four one five nine, father says,” She nudged his big brother.

“Pi,” Decker said, and snorted.

Once everything got packed, it became too late in the evening to move.  They would relax and leave about two hours before sunrise.

Meng Shi called his children close and instructed them that for the next month, or until he caught up with them, they were not to call themselves by the Meng name. They would take their mother’s name, Xiang.  He explained to Lilei that he had dangerous work to do, and he explained to the travelers that he would hide and watch for three weeks, maybe twenty-five days if he could manage it.  Probably not a full thirty days if he had to act.  He wanted to plan his move where he had the best chance for success, by which he meant survival.  The travelers understood that they had to be gone in that time in case Meng Shi died and the whole time zone reset.

Meng Shi and Lilei went off to spend what time they had together.  Millie and Alexis got to put the children to bed, and Millie confessed that she really wanted to have children.  Alexis said she understood.

Four in the morning, the caravan headed out from Meng Shi’s house.  Meng Shi stayed, and showed himself to his neighbors in the daylight with the hope that they would think whatever travelers headed off in the night, they had nothing to do with his family.  He prayed that by the time his neighbors figured it out, his family might be well on their way, and difficult to catch.

Lilei cried most of the first day, and Aiting cried with her.  Pi kept a stiff upper lip, but She ignored them all and kept running ahead.  Boston finally put the boy up behind Sukki, and the three of them got along great after that.

Ba, and five servants, including one man for each ox-drawn wagon, went with them to watch over the family. Ba got a third ox to carry the traveler’s wagon, which they loaded with all the silver, gold, and jewels, and which also carried all of the cowboy equipment.

Lockhart rode Dog at the front of the line, and Katie rode the horse that had been Reynard’s.  Alexis, Lincoln, Evan and Millie shared the other two cowboy horses, and two horses they brought from Ji, but mostly they walked, since the caravan could not move any faster than the lazy oxen.

Decker and Elder Stow took the wings, but in this case, they kept their eyes open for whatever might be following them, or catching up.  They also watched the dozen horses that got tied to the wagons, including the rest of the ones the travelers rode all the way from Ji.  It would make the beginning of a nice herd once Lilei reached the city of Shu.

Shu proved twenty days down the road, and Boston got nervous.  That had been the limit of Meng Shi’s promise, and the time gate looked to be a few days beyond the city.  They saw Lilei and the children warmly accepted by her family, and heard the family promise to keep the secret of the Meng name.  Lilei’s mother delighted in calling her grandchildren Xiang Pi, Xiang Aiting, and Xiang She.

Three days later, Boston and Sukki stayed out front, and Decker and Elder Stow stayed on the wings. They all had their own horses.  Lockhart rode Dog, sometimes, and Katie rode Reynard’s horse, though she switched it out to use her own saddle.  Billy and Tom Porter’s horses took turns as draft horses to pull the wagon.  They were not sure how long they could keep the wagon, but the paths were becoming roads, and the roads were improving, so they might do well if they did not end up in the middle of a jungle.

Katie and Lockhart often walked with the others.  In a pinch, Katie could double up with Lockhart on Dog.  Lincoln and Alexis could double on one cowboy horse, and Evan and Millie could ride another, which would leave the third cowboy horse to drag the wagon, possibly for miles.  That would not be a good way to go under normal circumstances.  It would be too hard on the horses.

“So that leaves us with walking most of the time,” Lockhart concluded.  The morning sun just touched the horizon, and people started packing to go.

“Have you noticed,” Katie said, and paused.  “Maybe it is just me, but it seems the time between gates is getting longer.  That is not a good thing if we are reduced to a walking speed.”

“How do you figure?”

“Twenty-three days from Meng Shi to the gate.  Xianyang to Shu was four hundred miles, according to Lincoln.”

As Lockhart considered her observation, Tien Shang-Di showed up.  Alexis noticed and figured it out.

“Meng Shi died.”

Tien dropped his eyes.  “I can hold the time gate here for a bit, but I would appreciate it if you hurry.”

“Boston?”

“Heading out, Boss.”

People moved quickly.  Things got thrown into the back of the wagon, and Evan pulled the cowboy horse forward, through the gate.  Finally, Lockhart and Katie, both mounted, were the last.

“Thank you,” Katie said to Tien, who waved.

“Come on,” Lockhart told her.  “We have a long way to go to get back to the twenty-first century.”

END

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

TOMMOROW

A brief introduction of what s to come.  We return to familiar faces and one new face in the Kairos Medieval, Book 3 Light in the Dark Ages  (M3) where Festuscato, last Senator of Rome sails to Danish lands and the Halls of Hrothgar (8 weeks of posts).  Then we return to Gerraint in the days of King Arthur and the search for The Holy Graal.  (13 weeks of posts).  And finally, The Old Way has Gone, where Margueritte, grows up on the border of Brittany and Francia, and gets into all kinds of medieval trouble. (18 weeks of posts).  Tune in tomorrow for the preview.

*

The upper cavern floor was perfectly flat apart from the few rocks here and there that had fallen from the ceiling over the centuries.  The room was wider than the deck of an aircraft carrier.  The ceiling did not look too tall, but the opening at the far end looked wide enough and tall enough to land a flying aircraft carrier.  Still, it would take some seriously good piloting skill to land safely.

People camped across that flat floor.  A few tents were set up, with cooking fires blazing away.  Children ran free, and so did the dogs, but Decker could not imagine they got dogs to climb those stairs.

“You got an elevator somewhere?” Decker had to ask.

“Yes, actually.”  Yu-Huang said, as he took them to the opening at the far end, which gave a great view of the forest below and the distant hills.  A wicker basket, like one might find at the bottom of a hot air balloon, and rope contraption with pulleys waited only for passengers to be lowered to the ground below.  “Of course, we haven’t been able to use it since the Shang showed up.”

“When was that?” Lockhart asked.

“Just after Artie arrived,” Yu-Huang answered, and looked at the android.

Artie smiled again and nodded shyly.  “I was beginning to learn about the way, and the Shang came and attacked the caravan that was supplying the people here with meat and grain.  I used my weapon.  I kind of overreacted.  The Tao says we should not raise our fist in anger.”

“The Tao?” Katie asked.

“All life is precious,” Artie said, her eyes downturned.

“I am more interested in the teeth and tail,” Boston spoke up, and Artie smiled again.

“The Tao says it is best not to fight at all.  If I can frighten them off without having to injure them, that is better, don’t you think?”

“I think you are learning fast,” Alexis said.

Katie agreed.  “But do not hesitate to defend yourself if you need to.”

Artie lost her smile again and looked at the ground as she nodded.  “Yu-Huang says it is the way of this sad and broken universe in which we live.”

“Be happy,” Boston insisted.  “Hey, I know.  The men are busy pretending to talk about important things, so why don’t you show us around?”

“I will,” Artie said, and took them first to the cliff that looked out over the forest.  She pointed.  “I don’t know if you can see the Shang tents in the dim light, or the smoke from their fires, but there is an army of several hundred and they have cut off our access to the rich farmlands and the river country.  Fortunately, the Xi-Rong people that live in these hills and mountains know how to hunt and gather well enough, and hide, so the Xia army cannot find them.”

“I see the smoke,” Katie said, and Alexis nodded.

“I see the camp,” Boston admitted.  “And it looks mostly deserted.  I am afraid to think what has moved in to scare them off.”

“Ghouls,” Alexis said the word, and no one objected.

“Come,” Artie said.  “Let us ask the Lords.”

Artie led them to one wall where there was a hole that let water into the cavern, and a small waterfall that let the water down into a cut groove in the floor.  The groove deepened as it headed toward a corner of the cave opening where it fell, a much bigger waterfall, into the woods below.  Three grand tents, and three smaller tents to the side, tents that the travelers surmised could not have been locally produced, stood by the stream, like guardians of the waters.

“Giza,” Katie blurted out, and to the curious looks of the others, she added, “They are arranged like the pyramids of Giza.”  She held her tongue as they came to the biggest tent in the center of the Giza-tent complex.

“Tien,” Artie called.  “Lord Tien, forgive the interruption.”  No answer came, and Artie took a step back and spoke to the ceiling.  “Tien?”  She rushed to the next biggest tent and called.  “Tuti.”  She stepped back and called again.  “Yin.  Where are you?  Yang, where is your sister?”

Boston looked into the first tent.  Alexis pulled back the flap on the second.  They were both empty.

“The children of the Kairos—of the Nameless god,” Katie specified who Artie was seeking.  Artie confirmed that with a nod while Alexis and Boston caught up.

“Lady Eir, their mother was here as well.  I knew the other gods were going to leave according to the agreement, but I thought the children of the Kairos would stay with their father.”  Artie looked worried.  “Come, Yu-Huang will know.”  She turned to go and interrupt the men, and the others followed.  “Lord,” she called across the cavern, and the men stopped talking to wait for the women to arrive.

“I was about to explain,” Yu-Huang said, as they neared and all gathered around.

“Hush, daughters,” Mingus said.  “Pay attention,” he added for Boston.

“The king of the gods, the Shang-Di is not well,” Yu-Huang began.  “He has always been cruel and mean, but able to be reasoned with in the past.  Now it seems as if reason has left him altogether.”

“Is he mad?” Lockhart asked.

Yu-Huang continued without answering that question.  “Nuwa was able to build a defense for the Longshan culture that stretched along the fertile Yellow River. Lin was able to found the Hsian Dynasty, and her children were able to extend their rule and influence to the Yangtze.”

“Her children, Huang-Di and Yu the Great,” Lincoln said, quietly.

Yu-Huang heard and nodded.  “But now, the Shang-Di has raised up his own people, the Shang, and he has made them mean and cruel, like himself.  The Shang have become the masters of the Hsian world, and everyone else has been made no better than slaves.”

“But wait,” Katie finally interrupted.  “History says the last of the Hsian became the cruel and evil ones, and the first of the Shang were like saviors who established a new dynasty.”

Yu-Huang nodded.  “History is written by the victors,” he reminded everyone.  “But the reality of the actual events of history may be different.  It is something that as the Watcher over history, I have to struggle to reconcile all the time—literally all the time.  In this case, though, it is a simple matter of the Shang finding a way to rationalize and justify the usurpation of power.  Now, what they will do, and what they are already doing from the beginning, is use the army to conquer and grind the people into conformity and uniformity all over what you call China.  The people will work, sometimes like dogs, and the ruling Shang will reap all the benefits.”

“Hardly fair,” Elder Stow objected, and people looked at him.  They remembered that his Neanderthal views were really human views in a different package—not that different from everyone else.

“But Lord.  Your children are missing,” Artie could not contain herself.

Yu-Huang nodded again, but continued on his own train of thought.  “All of the gods around China felt it when the Shang-Di went mad.  They felt the disturbance in the force, if I can say that without paying a royalty.  They found me here, where I had already gathered some disciples to begin teaching the way—the Tao.  My hope is that natural law, natural science, spiritual and moral living will eventually work its way into the consciousness in China.  You know; a little leaven will leaven the whole loaf.  But anyway; the gods found me and gathered to decide what to do to prevent the madness from spreading and contaminating all of the surrounding jurisdictions, and maybe the whole world.”

Yu-Huang moved the group from the view of the outside world, to the tents by the stream that the women just left.  Someone built a great fire in front of the tents, and left a pile of wood for the night.  Someone also brought up all of the traveler’s things, including their own tents.  A pig, almost ready to eat, roasted on the fire.  A basket of fruit and a second basket of more than enough vegetables to satisfy Alexis, Elder Stow and the elves, sat beside the fire, ready to be cooked or eaten raw, as people might desire.

“How…” Lincoln pointed at their stuff and began to ask, but Alexis quieted him as everyone gathered around the fire.  Yu-Huang, who appeared to be quite young, and not at all the ancient looking sage one might have expected, continued to stand, and spoke when people settled down.

“Let’s see.  Varuna and his brother Mitra came here.  Enlil and Enki came, with not-my-mother Ishtar.  Brahma and Visnu left Shiva home, thank goodness.  You met mother Vrya briefly a couple of times.  She came with her brother Vry to represent Aesgard.  Gods came from the Scythians, Cimmerians and all the way from the Black Sea.  Let’s see.  Ruan Zee’s husband came, with Caroline from the sea.  Artemis came from the west and Ameratsu came from the east.”

“Ameratsu?” Boston blurted out.  “And I missed her?”

“Artemis?” Katie spoke over top.  “That is a long way.”

Yu-Huang agreed.  “There are still free people on the coast of China, but that way lies the sea, which is not exactly friendly to the children of the Shang-Di.  The whirlwind that you met holds the southern people and keeps the eye of the Roc open.  North is a harsh and sparsely populated land watched by lesser gods and greater spirits.  The nomads there trouble the river lands from time to time, but they are annoying, not a serious danger, and nothing the Shang-Di would be interested in, even in his madness.  But Central Asia and to the west is open to invasion, as the Mongols prove some three thousand years in the future.  Aesgard and Olympus both sent representatives, and Papi Amun, on his own, came all the way from Egypt.”

“Quite a collection,” Mingus interjected.

“Yes.  And that was only naming the ones you are familiar with.”

“But Lord,” Artie sounded distressed.  “Where have your children gone?  Yin, and her mother Eir were teaching me so much about being a woman.”

“The gods negotiated with the pantheon of the Shang, and withdrew.  They left me here to hold the line.  But to be sure, Tien and his brothers and sister have been charged to overcome the Shang-Di should his madness break out and move out of his place.  They hold the Tien Shan, the first step into the west.  But Artie, they too have gone home.  They agreed.”

“So you are alone here,” Alexis said.

“I am,” Yu-Huang said.  “But I am not alone.  The goblins hold the deeps, the dwarves fill these mountains and the elves keep the forests.  The Xi-Rong are many, and not incline to let the Shang intrude on their mountain homes and upland valleys.

“But the Shang appear to have withdrawn as well,” Decker said, having noticed what the women all noticed.

Yu-Huang nodded a final time.  “And the demons have moved in.  Your ghouls from the future have joined a hundred more in this age.  There are iblis and ifrit here, and the marid, your big, bad genie, is on the horizon waiting only for the coast to be clear.  You came at a bad time, but I am glad you are here.”

“Triple watch tonight,” Lockhart said, as Alexis looked to see if the pig was ready to eat.