Bruten leaned over the side of the bank.  “Good, it is still here.  Quick, get in.”  The boat was crude and tied up with some of Bruten’s primitive rope.

            There was a struggle to get Boston into the boat, but two more punches to her face and a punch to her kidneys brought her to her knees, and then she was tossed in.  Boston was sure her nose was broken, and probably a couple of ribs.  She hurt everywhere, but felt better when she did not move at all.  She thought instead how glad she was to have Thag’s hands off of her, even if it was only a temporary condition.

            Bruten sat beside Boston in the middle and he held her rope tight to be sure she had no thoughts of jumping overboard.   Grogor sat in the stern with one paddle.  Thag took the paddle in the bow.  It was not a canoe, but functioned like one, and it took no time to cast off and reach the middle of the softly flowing water.

            Thag had a thought, now that he was unable to exercise his lust.  “But we are at the big bend in the river.  The current will take us closer to the high country and the mountain village before we turn toward the Great Blue River.

            “Yes,” Bruten said with a wicked grin.  “So even if they follow us to the river bank, they will think we crossed over and should waste hours trying to pick up our trail on the other side.  They will never guess we moved downstream, especially since it will take us partly back the way we came.”

            “They don’t know we have a boat,” Grogor understood.

            “But tonight is the wolf moon,” Thag protested.

            “Easy, Thag.  We are not going to the High Country.  We are not going anywhere near the wolves.  We will keep to the river and go to the side away from the wolves when we come to the big bend.”

            Thag shivered.  He found an emotion to replace his lust for the moment.  It was fear.  Clearly, he wanted no part of the wolves.

            “When we pull back to the shore, can I have her, father.  I really like her.  I want her really bad.”  Grogor was obviously not as afraid.

###

            They all heard the howl.  It was answered several times over.  “Here.”  Koren came to a stop.  “We will not have long to wait.”

            “Decker.  Keep your rifle on your shoulder no matter what, is that clear?”  Lockhart was taking no chances.

            “Understood,” The Captain responded, but he made sure his knife was handy all the same.

            Lieutenant Harper talked because she could not stand the wait, and Alexis agreed with her.  “So why is your village protected by such a wall.  Are you at war?”

            “No longer,” Koren said.  “Years ago, some say for a hundred years the whole world was at war.  The gods were at war, you see, and we fought for our gods.”

            “The gods were at war?”  Lincoln asked.  He did not get that far in reading the database.

            “The gods of the Vanir and the Aesgard fought because of the witch no one wanted, the witch they could not get rid of.”

            “Which side were you on?”  Captain Decker asked.

            “We serve Queen Nerthus,” Koren answered.  “Specifically her two grandchildren by Njord, god of the sea, Vry of light and fertility and Vrya of love and war.”

            “Njord, Fry and Freja,”  Lincoln clarified.

            “So you fought for Aesgard?  Weren’t they in Aesgard?”  Lockhart guessed.

            “Not originally,” Lieutenant Harper interjected before Koren could speak.  “Originally, they were of the Vanir.  They went to Aesgard with their father as ambassadors of the peace while Odin picked some pretty poor ambassadors to go to the Vanir.”

            “Yes,” Koren confirmed.  “It was the peace made by Faya, but once we were all at war.  Once we lived in the north.  Faya and I were both conceived there.  We were losing so we ran to this place.  Faya and I were both born here on the same day.  We are birth twins, being born on the same day.  That was forty-six years ago.”

            “I would not have guessed you were that old,: Lockhart said.  Koren smiled.

            “My wife, Raini keeps me young.”

            They heard the howls again.  They were getting closer, but not on them yet.

            “Tell me about Raini.”  Alexis asked to keep the conversation going.  She did not want to think too hard about what was coming.  “How is it that she can run with the elves?”  Elves could race at supernatural speed, like a fairy in flight.  Alexis understood perfectly when Raini said Lockhart and Captain Decker could not keep up.

            “My wife,” Koren said as he turned to Alexis with a broad grin on his face.  “She is the daughter of Vrya, goddess of love and war.  I am the most fortunate of men having her love to wife.”

            “And she is cousin to Faya?”  Lockhart was piecing it together.

            Koren nodded.  “Faya’s father is Vry, god of light and fertility, and even at forty-six years she remains a beauty beyond compare among mortal women.”

            “I don’t know,” Captain Decker said.  “I have seen the Princess.”

            “As have I,” Koren said.  “She is certainly beautiful.  But Faya is a beauty to rival the gods.”

            “Think Innan in human form,” Mingus suggested as the wolves arrived.

            There were seven in the pack, snarling and drooling at the group.  They paused only when they saw Koren in the lead.  Koren held up his hands to be sure he had their attention, and he spoke plainly.  “These are friends of Faya, the Queen.  Please, we must find her.  One of her friends has been taken and is in need of rescue.  Find Faya, please.”

            One wolf barked and bounded into the woods.  One wolf stayed where it was to block the forward progress of the group.  Five wolves stepped forward to sniff the travelers.  They walked around Koren and ignored the elf, but gave the humans the once over.

            “They may smell the fairy weave in your clothes,” Mingus said.  “That may stand in your favor.”

            Lockhart, Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper stood at attention and kept as still as they could.  Alexis pulled her hands up to her chin, but otherwise practiced calming thoughts as the wolf butted its nose up to her thigh.  Lincoln shut his eyes and gritted his teeth and tried hard to think of anything he could other than being surrounded by wolves.  One growled at Captain Decker, but the Captain wisely made no response.

            It was not a long wait before the wolf came back with five more wolves in tow.  The big one was a red wolf instead of brown, gray or black.  It was covered in red fur, but they did not get a good look because the minute it spied the strangers it transformed from wolf to woman.  That transformation happened very fast, but it looked smooth and painless and was fascinating to watch.

            “Lockhart.”  The woman who was Faya recognized him right away.  “What is the trouble?”

            Lockhart could not answer.  Faya had long, flaming red hair and indeed had a beauty and projected a desirability that was not the goddess Innan but made of the same stuff.  She glowed much stronger than Raini, like she had swallowed a piece of the full moon and it was escaping through her every poor.  She made some effort to tone things down, but by then Mingus stepped up to answer.

            “We met three men when we came into this time and they kindly guided us to your mountain village.  But when we arrived and became occupied at the gate, they grabbed Boston and went back into the wild.  No one noticed for some time as we waited for your cousin Raini to arrive.  By the time we realized Boston was missing, they had an hour or so head start.  Raini and Roland have followed after them.  Master Koren was kind enough to bring us here so we might find you.”

            “Children, show yourselves.”  Faya did not wait to hear anymore.  She clapped her hands and the four wolves that came with her transformed into two beautiful young women and two fine looking young men.  The eldest and youngest were the girls, the eldest being perhaps twenty two, or Boston’s age.  She clearly took after her mother, red hair and all, though not so strong.  They guessed the youngest, who was maybe fifteen took after her father.

            “Children.  You must go with Uncle Koren and escort our friends back to the village.”  Faya turned to the travelers.  “It is not safe for you on the plateau.  The night is still young, but as the night wears on and the moon rises, the blood lust of the wolf will increase and anything that is not of the Were will not be safe.”

            “Mother!”  One of the boys, likely the elder wanted to protest.

            “Go.”  Mother was not going to argue.

            “Scout.”  She turned to the wolf who brought her.  “Fly back to the tower and tell my beast we are seeking the one taken and pray we find her before it is too late.  The rest of you, I ask you to forego the wolf on this one night.  I need the eyes of the owl and the raven in the dark.”  Everyone of the wolves present transformed directly from wolf to bird – and birds that were bigger than any bird ought to be.  One took off for the tower, even as Faya herself became a red owl.  Then her flock headed into the sky to be lost in the darkness as Faya’s eldest daughter spoke.

            “This way,” she said and smiled a most attractive smile.

            “Yes,” Koren said with a look around at the trees.  “I have found it is best to listen to Faya.”

            “Beast?”  Alexis caught the word and wondered about it.

            “Of course,” Lincoln nudged her.  “Beauty always marries the beast.”

            “It’s damn Captain Hog all over again!”  Alexis was upset.  Normally, she never swore.

            “Worse, I would guess,” Mingus said.  “You were relatively safe with Hog.  No telling what they will do to Boston.”

            “Can you get a geo-position?”  Captain Decker asked.

            “No, sir.”  Lieutenant Harper answered.  “No satellites.”

            “I will find her,” Roland insisted.  Captain Decker was already checking his weapons

            Raini came back from wherever she had run decked out in bow and arrows, spear and a long copper knife.  She was dressed in leather reminiscent of the leather Saphira wore.  The man beside her talked quietly. 

            “I am ready,” She said when she arrived.  “This is my husband, Koren.  He will take you to the plateau to find Faya.”

            “I am going to find Boston,” Roland said, and Raini smiled at him

            “I am sure you will, young elf.”

            “I’m coming,” Captain Decker and Lockhart spoke together.

            “No,” Raini turned to them with a firm word.  “You would never keep up.  You are both fine men, I am sure, and Captain, I know you are a true warrior, but we will be moving faster than an ordinary human can follow.  We must if we expect to catch them before the worst happens.”

            “Gentlemen, and ladies,” Koren got their attention, but only for a second.  There was a wind and Raini and Roland we gone.

###

            Boston stopped screaming some time ago.  As soon as they were far enough away from the village, Bruten beat her so badly she became dizzy and imagined she had a concussion.  Her hands were tied behind her back and she was made to walk.  She tried to go limp and refused to go forward, but they just dragged her over rocks and through the bushes.  It was less painful to keep stumbling forward. 

            Thag kept a hand on her rope.  He kept his other hands on her person and touched her everywhere.  He seemed to have a particular fondness for her left breast.  She kicked him, but he just laughed.  Her only respite came when Grogor complained.

            “Thag,” Bruten spoke but did not slacken the pace.  “Wait until we are far enough away.  You will get your turn.”

            “Father,” Grogor also spoke.  “I want to go first.  Can I have the first turn?”

            “We’ll see,” Bruten said.  Thag said nothing.  He just kept fondling her.

###

            Koren explained.  “The highland belongs to the Were people.  The rule is no weapons.  You must keep yours put away.  Whatever happens, do not kill any of the animals.  The Were people are the men, women and animals.  Some of the animals may be children.”

            The others did not exactly understand, so Lincoln spoke up.  “I read about the Were in the database.  They are not exactly human – not from this earth, though no one knows where they originated.  They are shape shifters, able to take on not just the form, but the characteristics of the animals.  If you see a deer or bear or hawk, there is no way of knowing if it is a natural animal or a Were person in that form.”

            “Yes,” Koren said.  “And when the moon is full like it is, they run with the wolves.  It is the strongest of all the animal forms they take and the most possessive of their minds.  They become wolves which is why it is generally the worst possible time to go up to the highland.”

            “The database suggests they may have had some dog-like form on their native world,” Lincoln added.

            Koren shrugged.  “The main thing,” he said.  “Is to keep your weapons put away and no matter what happens, do not injure any of the animals we may meet.  If you do, they will kill us all.”

            With that word, they came to an upper meadow and walked silently in the night under the light of the moon, their ears open for any sound.  Lockhart and Mingus followed Koren.  Lincoln and Alexis took the middle.  Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper brought up the rear as they had at first back in the days of the twins, Pan and Iris, but this time they kept their rifles safely shouldered.

            They entered a forest on the other side of the meadow and Lockhart had a question.

            “How far is it to the home of the Were?”

            “Half the night,” Koren answered.  “But don’t worry.  The wolves will find us long before then.”

###

            Roland and Raini stopped to check the prints in the soil.  Roland sniffed the air.  Raini glowed a little and let all of her senses range beyond human range.

            “They have been here,” Raini said.

            Roland merely nodded.  He was certain as well, but presently he was looking around his feet.  He saw a light for a brief moment.  It was not a fairy light.  It might have been a glow bug of some kind, but he was sure there was something.

            “What?”  Raini wondered.

            Roland shifted his foot and shifted a leaf with it.  He picked it up.  It was Boston’s wrist communicator left open and glowing in the night.  He examined the wrist strap and Raini made the pronouncement. 

            “Torn from her wrist.  No doubt painfully.”

            Again, Roland merely nodded as he lifted his head.  There was something else nearby.

            “Up!”  Roland shouted and he scrambled up the nearest tree as only an elf can.  The wolf growled and leapt but it was too slow.  Raini also went up, but it was straight up into the air, about six or seven feet where she hovered and the glow around her increased.  Her eyes lit up and a light came from them that was hot as fire.  The wolf’s back was singed and it leapt back into the forest and ran, like it knew when it was overmatched.

            “Faya is much better at that than I am,” Raini said as she floated back to the earth and Roland climbed down. 

            “I thought you did that very well, m’Lady.”  Roland understood that Raini was not a goddess, but she was a half-goddess to be sure and worthy of all respect.

            “But what was that?”

            “A werewolf..  The future kind.  A poor diseased human driven mad by the transformation its body is not designed to make.  It has been following us through several time zones.”

            Raini nodded this time.  “So now we have to find your friend to protect her from more than just three dead men.”

            The leaves stirred as the two figures ran so fast they appeared to vanish.

I don’t want the government sticking its fingers anywhere in the internet pie.

At the same time, as a storyteller, I understand that musicians, movie makers, writers and artists of all kinds should have their work protected and be fairly compensated.  Who will put in that kind of effort, creative sweat, hard – damn hard work for nothing?  Why should anyone produce anything?  So people can just take it for free while they have to continue to shuck corn for some sales and marketing company?

We are rapidly headed toward the day when only a few rich and altruistic people will bother to make music or films or books or anything, and I guarantee that most of what we will get will be crap. 

People should be, indeed they need to be fairly compensated for their work – and it should be their work.  And the people who want everything for free off the internet?  They are worse than thieves.  They are dream killers.

            Bruten, Grogor and Thag had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.  They were rude, uncouth, unclean, stank and were prone to make noises some of which also stank.  Alexis referred to them as Neolithic rednecks.  Boston called that an insult to all true rednecks while the women moved to the other side of the fire, and then some.

            Lockhart, Captain Decker and Lincoln tried to stay on the friendly side of the fire.  Curiously, neither Mingus nor Roland seemed offended by any of it.  “I thought that was normal human behavior,” Mingus said later, and with a straight face.  Roland admitted he put  up some kind of magical shield that protected his eyes, ears and nose from the worst of it.

            The travelers were all inclined to make for their tents early that evening and paused only for a minute when Bruten asked where they were headed come the morning.

            “North, generally.”  Lockhart had already decided to not give out any more information than necessary, and apparently the others came to the same conclusion.

            Bruten nodded, though certainly he had no idea which direction was north, or what north was for that matter.  “You are headed for the fortress people on the side of the mountains.  We are, too.  We know the way.  We will take you.”

            “Boston,” Lockhart called and she glanced at her amulet.  She tried not to make a show of it.  Grogor and Thag sat up straighter when the redhead came close.

            “We are going—“ Boston started to speak, but Bruten interrupted.

            “That way,” Bruten pointed, and he was exactly on target.  “We know the land and the people there.  We will take you.”

            Lockhart was not the only one to wonder what they might expect in return, and it took some courage on his part to say it, but he said, “We can go together.”

            “The red hair knows the way,” Grogor said to his father.

            “Well, of course she knows the way,” Bruten shoved the boy.  Thag laughed and showed off all of his teeth.  Boston thought there might be nine altogether.

            “Well, goodnight,” Lockhart smiled and shoved Boston behind him to scoot her off to her tent.  As he came to his own tent, he found Lincoln, armed and ready.

            “First watch.  Wake you in three hours?”  Lockhart glanced back at the three by the fire and then responded.

            “Watch out for anything in orange.”

            Lincoln nodded.  “And the werewolf, and the bokarus, and the ghouls.”  He wandered back to the fire.

            “The hair is right, but she is too young,”  Bruten was saying.

            “A daughter?”  Thag suggested.

            “Must be,” Grogor said.

            Lincoln shook his head.  It had to be in code.

            No one and nothing bothered the travelers in the night, and the three rednecks slept and snored all night long, hard as it was for the others to hear.  It did have the virtue of keeping the guards awake.

             In the morning, the three goons were anxious to get moving.  Bruten said it was a full day, or two if they did not get moving.  Boston confirmed that they were about seventy-five miles or so from the next gate, so they hurried.

            All through the day, Lincoln and Lieutenant Harper pointed out where the trail their guides followed was better than following the straight line given by the amulet.  When they came to a cliff they would have had to climb and the three guided them a half-mile to a sheltered trail that lead gently up the side.  Captain Decker told the others to shut-up, and at least Lieutenant Harper said, “Yes, sir.”

            The sun was very low in the sky by the time they reached the foot of the mountain.  They stood at the top of a small hill, in an open field where they had a fair view.  Bruten explained as he pointed up the mountainside.

            “You see?  Real mountains.  Not like the hills we have walked through.  They say beyond the mountaintop is a high country, much higher than the land we have been on.  No one goes there.  There are stories.”

            Grogor interrupted.  “The Were people live there.  The stories say they can appear as a bear, and once as an eagle.  They say when the moon turns full they hunt as wolves.”

            “Stories to frighten children,” Bruten interjected.

            “But Bruten,” Thag had something to say.  “Tonight the moon will be full.”

            Bruten slapped the big man on the arm.  “Child,” he said.

            “What is that?”  Alexis wondered.

            “Transylvanian Plateau,” Lincoln answered, but it was not what she was pointing at.

            “A wall of trees,” Roland answered.  “I would say our fort.”

            “Yes,” Bruten smiled and nodded for the elf.  “Your eyes are like the eagle.  That is the way up, blocked by the great wall.  Behind it is much flat land and the village and they say a way to the high country that does not have to climb the mountain peak.”

            “You don’t know?”  Lockhart was suspicious.

            Bruten paused before he answered.  “We trade, skins and such, but only at the village edge.  We have never gone past the wall.”  If it was a lie, it was skillful.

            “We best move if we expect to get there before dark,” Captain Decker said, and they started down the other side of the hill.

            It was dark by the time they arrived, but just twilight dark.  The land was covered with spring and the light stayed long in the sky.  If it had been winter, they never would have made it.  As it was, the men at the gate were hesitant about letting them in.  They told them to go away and come back in the morning.  Lockhart figured he had nothing to lose.

            “We have an important message for Faya and it cannot wait until morning.”  He pulled Roland to the front so they could get a good look at the elf.

            “A message from the gods?”  One of the guards asked.

            “It cannot wait until morning,” Lockhart simply repeated those words and with that they were let in but told to remain by the gate until the elders could come.  So they waited, and sat, and waited some more until Captain Decker made a confession.

            “I wish you brought a deck of cards, too.”

            Then they waited some more until at last they were approached, not by village elders, but by a lone woman, a beauty of the first rank.

            “Faya?”  Alexis said.

            “No.  Hair is all wrong,” Lincoln answered

            “I am –“

            “Wait, wait.  Don’t tell me.”  Lincoln had the database out and announced the woman’s name.  “Raini.  She is Faya’s younger cousin.”  The woman smiled and then several men came up to join her.

            “And you are?”

            “Robert Lockhart, Mam.  Ben and Alexis Lincoln, Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper.”

            “Military,” the woman interrupted.  “And with weapons I have never seen before.  I can see they are formidable.”

            “Yes, and Roland and Mingus are friends.  Mingus is father to both Roland and Alexis.”

            “Yes, the elves,” Raini said.  Both had removed their hats out of respect for the Lady and though this was no goddess, they all felt she was not far from the designation.  “Welcome to our homes.”

            “And Boston,” Lockhart paused.  “Boston?”  He raised his voice.  “Where has that girl gotten to?”

            “Where are Winken, Blinken and Nod?”  Alexis wondered, referring to their three trail guides.  Katie Harper thought to speak into her wrist communicator.

            “Boston.  Are you there?  Where are you?”

            The answer came back.  “Help!  I’ve been kidnapped.  Bruten and ow!”  The voice cut off.

After 4146BC near the Transylvania Plateau.  Kairos: Faya (Beauty).

Recording…

            The boat came out of the time gate on a broad and slow moving river.  The water was blue and fresh and even the marines were glad to be away from the sea, the salt and the storm.

            “I’m guessing a tributary of the Danube,” Lincoln said.

            “I’m guessing we should pull to shore,” Captain Decker said.  The boat was suddenly creaking and snapping and looked to be rotting beneath their feet.

            “The wood,” Alexis said.  “It aged fifty years in a second.”  She pulled out her wand and magically plugged a leak that appeared in the bottom of the boat.  “Hurry.”

            Lockhart, Lincoln, Roland and the Captain pulled on the oars as hard as they could.  Lockhart drafted a bit deep in his haste and the oar snapped.  They had a spare, but they were at the shore by then.  Unfortunately, the riverbank was a small cliff some six feet high and there did not appear to be an easy way up.

            The boat cracked along a seam. Captain Decker donned his backpack and leapt for the top.  He grabbed on to a tree root where the tree grew close to the water and with some wiggle and struggle, he managed to pull himself up.

            Meanwhile Lockhart, Lincoln and Roland shoved their oars into the soft bank.  They were ten feet downriver from the Captain’s position, but it kept them from drifting further in the current.

            “Catch.”  They heard Captain Decker’s voice though he was out of their line of sight.  A rope fell to the deck even as the boat began to sink.  Alexis scurried up the line, followed by Mingus and Katie Harper.  Boston started to throw all of their backpacks up to the ledge while she got wet up to the knees.

            “Lincoln, go.”  Lockhart said.  He and Roland had the outer oars pressed into the soft mud.  Lincoln in the center was not helping much to hold them in place so he scrambled up the line.

            “Boston, hurry.” Roland said as he and Lockhart struggled to keep the  boat from swinging wildly in the current.

            “Got it all,” Boston announced even as the bottom gave out beneath her feet.  She went straight under the water.

            Roland thought fast and dove after her.  He held on to the rope as he went.  Lockhart lost control of the remains of the craft even as a far more primitive rope came down and he grabbed on for his life.  The boat beneath his feet broke apart, but he hung there for a moment with his eyes on the river.  Roland came up a second later with the rope wrapped around Boston.  She was hacking and gagging from swallowing too much water.  Roland said one thing.

            “Bokarus.”

            Lockhart found himself pulled up and shouted with all his strength.  “Bokarus!”

            Alexis and Mingus quickly hung their heads over the side.  There was not much Mingus could do with his fire against the water, but Alexis grabbed him to draw on his strength as well as her own and had out her elm wand.  She took a shot at Boston and her brother and the rope they clung to began to shorten and pulled them with it.  Then at once, Boston and Roland lifted in the air.  They saw a big hand reach up from the water to grab them, but it missed and the others were quickly able to draw them to the land.

            They all heard the scream.  They saw the Bokarus rise out of the river.  It circled them in its rage and frustration.  The river rose, but the six foot bank was too high to overcome, and with a final scream, the Bokarus flew back beneath the waves.

            Boston got to her knees to cough and spit.  “I’m fine, I’m fine,” she said as Roland hovered over her.  Mingus and Alexis joined them on the grass.  Alexis especially looked drained, like she might have looked after running a marathon.

            “I was afraid we lost you,” Alexis said.

            “The Bokarus had a good hold on her,” Roland nodded.

             “Come, girl,” Mingus helped Boston to her feet and he and Roland walked her a bit before they let her sit down.  “All appears to be in working order,” Mingus concluded.

            Lockhart thanked the three men who helped them.  Bruten was the father and Grogor was the son.  Thag was the big, ugly one with less than a dozen teeth. 

            Captain Decker stood, Lieutenant Harper beside him, and both were rifle ready.  The Captain spoke.  “I thought Thag was a character from the Far Side.”

            “It fits, sir.”

            “Knock it off,” Lockhart said as he judged the position of the sun and checked his watch.  “Make camp.”  They did that, and their three new friends did so as well.  They strung their rope between two trees and made a lean-to to sleep in.  Their eyes got big when Mingus magically started the fire, but not any bigger than watching Roland fawn over Boston.

            Lockhart, Captain Decker and Mingus made the camp when Roland headed out on the hunt.  Katie Harper spent the next hour checking all of their equipment after the salty sea, all that rain, the river water and the final flight through the air.  Meanwhile, Lincoln and Alexis kept watch on their new friends.

            “Red hair,” Bruten pointed to his fellows. 

            “Young.”  Thag said.

            “I heard,” Grogor looked at the older men.  “She looks young.”

            “I heard also,” Bruten agreed.

            Alexis and Lincoln listened, but the conversation sounded like code.

            “And magic.”  Thag pointed toward Alexis.

            “Flying through the air,” Bruten said with a shake of his head.

            “But the Were fly through the air,” Grogor countered.

            “Yes, but they become like the birds of the air to fly.  This one flies without wings.”

            “And the yellow hair woman warrior to watch over her,” Grogor added.

            “And the dark one of death,” Bruten agreed.

            “Very pretty,” Thag interrupted with a look at Alexis.

            “Don’t look at me,” Alexis said.  “I am married.”

            The men gave Lincoln a cursory smile and continued with their conversation.  “The elves care for her, like they say.”  Bruten added.

            “Must be,” Grogor added.

            “Yes,” Thag concluded.

            Lincoln tugged on Alexis’ shoulder.  She looked at him, but he shrugged.  Something did not feel right to him and she trusted his sense about such things, but he would have to verbalize it to truly grasp it – whatever it was.  He groped for the words by asking a question.

            “So, Bruten, what are you three doing out here in the wilderness?”

            “We hunt,” Bruten gave the short answer, but said no more as Roland came back with a deer.  He set the deer down by the fire and went to check on Boston while the three hunters nudged each other.  It was not clear, though, if they were pointing at the deer or at Boston and the elf’s rapt attention to the girl. 

            “Lockhart,” Roland called once Boston assured him that she was just fine.  Lockhart looked up from where Captain Decker and Mingus were doing a hatchet job on the deer.  “I found the Gott-Druk boat about a mile downriver,” Roland said.  Everyone stopped to listen.  “Empty.”

(Notes that will point to the introduction for the book of Avalon, Season 1)

It was somewhere in early 2010 when I went wandering through the universe in search of a storyline… And I thought to start at the beginning.

But the beginning of time doesn’t do anything for me.  I mean, who was there other than God or no one depending you your point of view?  And all of those ages and ages it took just to form the sun and the earth, I mean, what, write about aliens?  I know, have the story end with them crashing on the newly formed planet and write: “The End… The Beginning”  Yawn.

The beginning of life?  Boring.  Trilobites forever!

The beginning of intelligent life?.. maybe.  There were elder races: Australopithecine, Homo Habilus, Homo Erectus, Cro-Mangon, Neanderthal.  Something might be done there, and they do turn up now and then in my stories.  In fact, I once took a journey to an Elder dominated world in a book I wrote called Killers in Eden.  But no, not here… Hmm…

So, how about the beginning of Homo Sapiens?   That might be worth a story, but here all you really have are God and the first Adam, or something crawling up out of the slime depending again on your perspective.  And then it was hundreds of thousands, even millions of years before anything “happened.”  How Neolithic can you get?

So how about the beginning of history, I thought, and concluded that now we are getting somewhere!  In my writer’s universe, real history began around 4500 BC.  But then I hesitated, because that is where I always seem to end up.  The beginning of history. 

I mean, I have this character called the Kairos (an ancient Greek word for “event time”).  He (or she) has lived 120 lifetimes up to the present life, a male named Glen (the Storyteller), the 121^st life of the Kairos.   Often called the Traveler in Time or the Watcher over History, there are plenty of stories to tell and several involve Glen, including The Princess & The Storyteller, Crossing the Wires and Trading Places (all books whose names will undoubtedly be changed if they should ever see print). In fact, at that moment in 2010 I was finishing a collection of stories, within a single, larger story, about some of the Kairos’ adventures in Glen’s lifetime which I called Invasion of Memories.  It details Glen and the so-called Men in Black repelling an alien invasion.  Along the way, Glen tells a number of stories of adventures he had earlier in his life.   But here, I really wanted to do something different.

I thought about the children of the Kairos, like what if they got wrapped up in an adventure in Avalon – the ethereal home of the Kairos, full of light and dark elves and dwarfs and all.  But then, I already explored that avenue in The Golden Door where the ancient goddess Ashtoreth comes roaring out of hiding, captures Avalon and causes the Kairos to fall into a fevered illness.  He hovers between life and death and only his children have a hope of rescuing him.  Unfortunately, until then they had no idea their father had a secret identity or that Avalon, his natural home in the Second Heavens, existed – much less that it was a place so full of magic and wonders.  A good story, but done…

I cannot imagine where to go with that story, unless the door drags them off into time and space… which it may do someday. 

Then I remembered Ashtoreth’s fascination with the Heart of Time.  The Heart was created at the beginning of History while Angel watched and the Kairos (Alice) and the old god Chronos held hands.  The Heart is a great crystal that beats with light and holds a record of everything that ever happened in history.  Ashtoreth wanted to change history, you see, to make it come out more to her liking, and that was another reason to stop her, but then…

Well, I was thinking, what if there were time gates of a sort?  They would have to be associated with the many lifetimes of the Kairos in one way or another; but what if a person could move through time via the gates?  Hmm.  And what if those gates could only be accessed through the Heart of Time?  Hmm.  Of course, the gates should only be accessible to people out of their natural time to prevent the innocent from stumbling across them…

In Invasion of Memories I had already determined that both Lincoln and his wife (a former elf) were missing – though I was not sure where I was going with that.  I determined Lincoln would be found in space, but Alexis?  It would be a simple thing to imagine Alexis’ elf father kidnapped her for fear she was getting too old and likely soon to die.  He might have snuck into the chamber housing the Heart of Time and escaped into history, dragging his daughter along.  So he goes back to the beginning of history in an attempt to escape altogether.  So the Kairos follows, making the time jump to the beginning through the Heart… 

Of course, to keep in character, the Kairos should have to sacrifice himself in some way to save Alexis, and that would leave the crew to travel home the slow way – by way of the time gates.  This would work with the right mix of people.  Let’s see: Lincoln and Alexis, and I suppose her father Mingus.  As Associate Director of the Men in Black, Lockhart would have to go and keep an eye on Lincoln, and that means Mary Riley, who everyone calls Boston, would be there as Lockhart’s right hand.  To keep Mingus under control we need someone from the history department on Avalon, like Doctor Procter, and maybe throw in Mingus’ son – Alexis’ elf brother, Roland.  That is seven and more than enough for a television show… but given the journey I think the Kairos would be sure they have the help they need:  Two marines should do it: one rough and ready commander-commando and a woman with the archeological, anthropological and intellectual capacity to handle a 6500 year journey.  Hmm…

Avalon the series is a television series in written form.  Anyone who wants to make it a television series in television form, give me a call.  In the meantime, I am having too much fun writing out these stories.  I have only one general rule: that anyone reading a story from – for example – the middle of season three should fairly quickly pick up on what is going on and basically how it all works.  Of course, reading them in order will enhance the experience, but I hate accidentally picking up book two of some trilogy and being totally lost.  Especially for a TV show, a person ought to be able to come in the middle and still get a good story.

I hope you enjoy reading the Avalon stories as much as I have enjoyed writing the series.

            The storm pounded them, but Mingus, Alexis and Roland combined enough magic to keep them from being capsized or breaking apart.  The waves rose twenty and thirty feet above them, but they moved like the proverbial cork on the water, rising up one mountain and free falling down the other side.  The others bailed.  They had to.

            The ship spun around, first one way and then the other until they had no sense of direction at all.  The only thing they could count on was the amulet, but Boston was afraid to get it out for fear it might be washed overboard.  She clutched it with her hand over her shirt and kept it tight between her breasts.  She jumped with every new stroke of lightning, but never let go.

            Roland heard the scream first and looked up into the black sky.  Mingus had to squeeze his son’s hand to bring his concentration back to task.  The face of the Djin, still in cloud form came down like a dive bomber and buzzed the boat just above their heads.

            “Focus,” Mingus roared against the storm and the thunder.

            Alexis knew better than to look.  Lincoln would have to scream for her, and he did.  Boston also closed her eyes.  Katie Harper and Captain Decker tried to concentrate on bailing.  Lockhart growled.

            The scream came a second time, this time from the other side.  But when it reached the ship, Lockhart held up an oar in its face.  The cloud face broke apart on the oar, but it simply reformed on the other side, and as it rose again into the storm, they heard the laughter – a real cackle of amusement.  It was toying with them and they knew it and the Djin knew it, too.

            The scream came a third time, but this time before it reached the ship it pulled up and let out a very different sound.  It disappeared in the clouds and an old man appeared in the ship, or so it seemed. 

            The man glowed, not with the awesome light of the gods, but like a lantern or perhaps a lighthouse in a storm.  It was a warm and welcoming glow, the kind ships would always look for in the dark of the night.  The ship itself seemed to broaden so the man could sit comfortably in their midst.  No one knew quite what to say as the rain softened and the water calmed around them.  Outside of their little bubble, the storm still raged in its full ferocity, but within the bubble, all was suddenly calm and quiet.

            “I must say,”  the old man spoke first.  “When Odelion asked me to keep an eye on your progress, I hardly expected it was a request worthy of note.  Now I see what he meant.”

            “I don’t think he knows about the Djin,” Katie said honestly.

            “A bit more powerful than its cousins,” Lincoln added as he set down his hat, the only thing he could find to bail with.

            “Like a Bokarus on steroids,” Lockhart said, and the man smiled and spoke again.

            “When the wind comes up from the coast of, what does he call it?  Oh yes, Africa, it often brings storms.  Many a good fisherman has been blown to other shores by such storms and many, sadly have been lost.

            “Lost?”  Boston wondered.  “Couldn’t you help them?”

            The man shook his head.  “No, dear Boston.  I can help you because you don’t belong here in the first place, but for those who are, what is the word, native.”  He shook his head again.

            “It is the two commandments even the gods must follow,” Alexis spoke up.  “One is that men die, and two is that even the gods must not change rule number one.”

            “A fair statement, elf daughter.”  The man nodded his head.  “Now Boston, dear, where is this time gate of yours?”

            Boston paused.  That was twice the man called her dear and she never felt so special in her life.  She just wanted to smile forever, but she remembered.  “Oh.”  She pulled out the amulet and pointed.  “Only five miles.  That storm certainly ate up the distance.”

            “Very good,” the man said, and the ship, the whole bubble which included the water immediately beneath the ship, rose up into the storm and raced to the spot.  “Sadly perhaps I cannot go with you to explore this other world.  I will get there all in good time.”

            “What do you mean you cannot?”  Roland was confused.

            “A fair restriction,” the man said.  “Sometimes we must restrict ourselves and each other.  When these gates were established, it was decided to bar all who were native to the time, even the gods.  Perhaps especially the gods.  I see though with some, such as yourselves, exceptions have been made.  That is the decision of the source.”

            “The –“ Katie started, but the man raised his hand and cut off her thoughts.

            “I have said enough on that score and really only have one last thing to say.  Captain Decker,” the man turned to the marine.  “It will do you no good to continue to berate yourself and think of near failure.  All turned out well in the end, didn’t it?”

            The Captain was surprised by the words, but he nodded.

            “There, so it would be best to put it out of your mind.  Oh, but I see something else is bothering you.  About young Odelion?”

            Captain Decker looked straight at the man in the boat as he answered.  “The poor man has four wives.”  He shook his head and disguised nothing about the way he felt.  He imagined that to be torture.  The man in the boast smiled at first, but as he thought about it, he began to laugh.  The laughter was contagious.  Very soon everyone was laughing, even those among them who did not find the Captain’s attitude particularly funny.  They could not help it.

            “Well, you are here.”  The man spoke again after a while.  “Now all of you who don’t belong here need to go through the gate.”  He vanished before Lockhart could speak.

            “You don’t mean the Gott-Druk, too.”

            “Or the werewolf.”  Lincoln remembered.

            “I just hope the Djin is of this time period,” Roland said as he picked up an oar.  They were going to have to row through the gate which Boston said should be right in front of them.

            The land began to fall away behind the travelers, slowly.  They had to row against the wind.  The ship, as the marines called it, was just big enough for the eight of them.  The rowers sat on two benches, side by side.  Lockhart and Captain Decker sat toward the bow and Roland and Lincoln toward the stern.  They each had an oar and had very little room between them as they tried to row in unison.

            Alexis and Mingus sat on the two benches in the bow where they stowed some of their packs.  They had a fairy weave tent and spare oar between them and they were trying to rework the plain flat sail into a sufficient fore and aft style where they could tack in the contrary wind.

            Boston and Katie were in the stern on the simple oar that acted as a rudder.  They had pulled it up to let the rowers work, so there really was little for them to do other than watch where they were going and watch where they had been.  The craft was big enough so they did not worry about standing up, but Captain Decker did point out that there was only a short, built-in keel so there was a chance of tipping over if they were not careful.

            Boston kept her eyes on the amulet and kept them generally headed in the right direction.  She ignored Lincoln when he complained he could not possibly row twenty miles.  Katie watched the land recede and the waves roll.  After a while, she thought she saw something different.  She had to reach down to her pack which was stored in the stern and retrieve her binoculars.  After a look, she handed the glasses to Boston.

            “What is that, there?”  She asked.

            “Another ship,” Boston confirmed.  She looked without the glasses and then tried the binoculars again.  “It is beyond twenty-twenty sight, but with these…”  She paused before she finished her thought.  “I would say it is following us.”

            “Yes,” Katie confirmed when she got the binoculars back.  “Only I can’t see anyone in it.”

            “Oars up,” Alexis was up in the front.  Whatever she and her father had concocted was ready for a trial.  Some of the concoction was magic.  Boston and Katie both expected that.  Most of it, though, was simple technology.  They managed to adjust the square sail rigging to give more side to side action so it could be used for more than just downwind sailing.  Then with the oar and fairy weave, they made a jib which they erected in the bow.

            “Not very strong,” Mingus admitted.  “We might not go much faster than the oars, but that is just as well.  We don’t want to roll.”

            “I have grown the keel a little,” Alexis added.  “But there are limits.”

            The oars came up and if anything the ship slowed down, but it continued on its forward progress and the men were glad to think they did not have to row the whole way.

            “Roland.”  Boston called the elf having thought of his hunter’s eyes.  “Come look at this.”  They reached for each other and held one another at the elbows to carefully traded places.

            As soon as Roland got to the rear he announced, “Another boat, following us.”  Boston concluded that the elf eyes were better than twenty-twenty.  She had guessed as much.  When Roland took the binoculars for a closer look, he said something they did not want to hear.  “Gott-Druk at the helm.  One in orange.”  He returned the binoculars.  “Cloaked.  Invisible to human eyes, but not so sophisticated as to prevent my seeing.”

            The click they heard was Captain Decker attaching the scope to his rifle.

            “Hold,” Lockhart said.   “It is staying beyond normal human sight.  It probably doesn’t imagine it has been seen.  We are too vulnerable at sea.  As long as he keeps his distance, we can ignore him.”

            “I am sniper trained,” Decker said.

            “But he is invisible to your eyes,” Roland reiterated.

            “Besides, return fire given the weaponry that is probably at his disposal would blow the ship out from beneath us.”

            “At least,” Katie agreed.

            “So we just ignore him?”  Lincoln asked.

            “For now.”  Lockhart nodded.  “If it follows us through the time gate, we can probably set a better trap further on.”

            “Agreed.”  Captain Decker unlatched his scope.

            Then they sat until the silence became complete.

            They sat for a long time with nothing to look at but the sea and each other.

            “Hats,” Alexis insisted early on.  “We are getting much too much sun.”

            They sat and listened to the water splash against the sides of the boat.

            “I wish I brought a deck of cards,” Lockhart said.

            The Mediterranean smelled especially strong of salt and brine.

            Boston fingered her khaki shorts made from that marvelous fairy weave.  She began to change the color, tried stripes, dots and flower prints before she changed them back to khaki.  That entertained everyone for a few minutes.

            The sea looked as endless as the time.

            “This database is interesting,” Lincoln said.  “Did you know there are whole novels downloaded.”  Several hands shot out and slapped Lincoln hard enough to almost make him drop the handheld.

            “I was wondering why you kept staring at the thing,” Lockhart said.

            “What are you reading?”  Boston and Alexis asked together.

            “David Copperfield,” he answered.

            “Not some science fiction like Lord of the Rings or something?”  Captain Decker wondered.

            Lincoln shook his head.  “I prefer realistic fiction.”

            “Yeah,” Lockhart said.  “But I have found that realism is not necessarily realistic.”

            “I can see that,” Katie said.

            “Storm coming up fast.”  Roland was still looking behind, keeping an eye on their follower.  The wind shifted to blow from the stern and while a good blow might have tempted them to try running with the wind, these clouds looked very dark.

            “Lieutenant.  Help me get the sail down.”  Captain Decker ordered.

            “Lincoln, you and I need to hold the rudder,” Lockhart said.

            “Father!”  Alexis stepped forward to bring down their makeshift jib, but Mingus was staring at the clouds.  The lead cloud had a face, and one that did not look happy.

            “Djin!” 

            “Probably unhappy that we keep killing his lesser cousins,” Roland suggested.

            “The ghouls,” Mingus explained to the Captain and Lieutenant who paused.

            Mingus shook his head and went to help Alexis.  Everything was down and tied by the time the storm hit, including the crew, and good thing.  The first strike snapped the rudder and nearly capsized the boat.  Katie and Lincoln would have been washed overboard if they were not secured.

            Lockhart set guards in the night to watch for the Gott-Druk.  He was especially concerned about the behavior and comments of the ones in the orange jumpsuits.  He guessed they were from the future and tossed into the past like them, and everyone agreed with that conclusion.  “There is no telling the capabilities in terms of advanced equipment they might have with them,” he concluded.

            That night, people slept well enough despite everything.  They were learning to sleep when they could.  The night was warm and the sky was clear when Captain Decker took the watch.  He looked to the moon and was glad it was not full.  He watched the stars and was equally glad that none of them moved.  All calm, he thought right before he felt the splitting headache.  He squinted, and put a hand to his head.  When he looked again, he had a shock.

            The sleepers in the room were all ghouls.  He looked where Boston and Lieutenant Harper were asleep.  He saw only ghouls.  They looked like female ghouls and he never imagined there was such a thing.  Something in his mind said they needed to be killed.  It said they all turned into ghouls because they were asleep and unable to resist.  It said the only reason he was not turned was because he was awake.  He believed what his head told him, but at the same time his military mind did not cease to work.  He was too exposed where he was, so he got up quietly to first move behind cover.

            “Captain Decker, close your eyes.”  The Captain heard the words and recognized the voice.

            “Mister Mingus?”

            “Exactly.  The real ghoul has cast a glamour.  I see it, too.  None of our friends have become ghouls.  It is an illusion.”

            Captain Decker paused.  “How do I know you are not lying to me?”

            “Man, close your eyes.  Just listen to my voice.  The Kairos is hunting the ghoul right now.”

            Two of the sleepers stirred.  Lockhart because he just lay down and Boston because she was a light sleeper.

            “Decker?”  It was Boston’s voice that came out of that ghoul mouth.  “What is it?”  That time the voice had a ghoulish sound to it.  Captain Decker raised his rifle, but he did not pull the trigger.  He slammed his eyes shut.

            “Keep your eyes closed.  And don’t trust your ears.  The humans can be made to sound like ghouls.  I have enough magic to cut through that part of the illusion.  You must trust me.”

            “Sir.”  Captain Decker said and sweated because he came very close to killing everyone.

            “Keep talking,” one of the ghouls said, but it sounded enough like Lockhart so Captain Decker did not open his eyes.

            “The ghoul had to come to the surface and get close to affect the glamour,” Mingus continued.  “Roland is with Odelion.  It can’t be far away.  They will get it.  Trust me.”

            “How can I trust you?  Maybe everyone has turned into ghouls.  You may be the illusion trying to disarm me.”

            “No one has touched you.  Don’t touch him.”  Alexis was up and about to do that very thing.  She backed off.  “Listen, Captain.  If they were real ghouls they would have you on the ground already and be feasting off your soul.”  Mingus paused.  “Hurry up,” he said the words through what sounded like gritted teeth.  He was running out of things to say to keep the Captain distracted.

            “It’s a trick,” Captain Decker said.  “It has to be a trick.”  He was about to open his eyes when they all heard an unearthly scream.  They heard a voice a moment later.  It was a human voice.

            “All clear.”

            Mingus came in from the outside.  He had been speaking through the doorway with his back to the outside wall.  “All clear,” he repeated the words but still kept back from touching the Captain.  Captain Decker opened his eyes, slowly.  Everyone looked human again.  What is more, the voice in his head appeared to be gone.  He set his rifle on the floor where he stood and walked out into the night.

            “No.”  Lockhart prevented anyone from following him.

            Odelion found Decker sitting in the chief’s chair by the council rock.  Of course, Captain Decker would have no way of knowing it was supposed to be a sacred seat, like a throne of sorts.  Odelion did not mind.  He just took Balamine’s seat.

            “Are you alright?”  He asked.  Captain Decker spoke but he did not look at Odelion.

            “Why did you bring me on this mission?  I nearly killed everyone.”

            “A-ha!  So you admit that lady Alice and Glen and I are all the same person.”

            “It would be kind of hard not to admit that at this point.”

            Odelion  waited before he spoke in case the Captain had something more to say.  “You are here because of your military background.  You are a marine ranger, you have been with the seals, done specialized missions in the field and have the training in both strategy and tactics that may be needed to get everyone home safe and in one piece.”

            “But that is why I almost killed everyone.  And I could have.”

            “But you didn’t, and now that glamour will be much harder for another ghoul to get away with.  You are experienced and with such experience comes a natural resistance.”

            “Small comfort.”

            Odelion stood, but he had one more thing to say.  “Take as much time as you need, only remember your crew needs you, too.”

            Captain Decker nodded before he asked his question.  “So why are you up?”

            Odelion smiled a very broad smile.  “I have four wives.  You don’t think I get any real sleep, do you?”

            Captain Decker nodded but said no more as Odelion walked off.

            Roland came back to the hut at the same time.  “Ghoul scouts come in threes,” he said.  “And seven in the force to follow.”

            “That is two,” Mingus counted.  “Anenki’s and Odelion’s.”  No one had to say there was another one out there, somewhere, and seven to follow after that.

###

            In the morning, Odelion took them straight to the docks.  “This is modeled after the ships of the Arisopholas in the south.  They regularly make trips to trade in North Africa, so it should be seaworthy as far as you are going.”

            “Look out for the Gott-Druk in the orange jumpsuit,” Lockhart reminded Odelion.  “He looked to have a sophistication of devices that your present day Gott-Druk do not possess.  He and his crew called your Gott-Druk weapons primitive.”

            “So you really think he does not belong here.”

            Lockhart looked around before he nodded.  “We all think it, and he may yet tip the balance of the coming conflict.”

            Odelion nodded.  “I will watch.  My wild men are out even now on the edge of the village, watching.  That was how we knew of the attack in advance.”

            “Technology is good,” Captain Decker said with a look at Lieutenant Harper.  “But there is no substitute for a good pair of eyes.”

            Odelion just nodded again and he and his wives said good-bye.  “I have asked that Oceanus watch over you in your journey,” Odelion added at the last, and he waved while the travelers shoved off.  No one saw a small fishing boat with a good sail pull up its own anchor and drift into the wake of the bigger ship.  No one noticed, so no one saw that the boat appeared to be empty.

            “Hold.”  Captain Decker threw up his hand when they got close and no one argued.  They peeked out from behind the trees.  They could see smoke from fires high in the sky and guessed it was the village, but they saw no houses because of the small hill that blocked their view. 

            The airship looked to have more in common with a glider or navy seaplane than a spaceship from their angle.  It landed on the water, skidded, bounced and slid to a stop like a rock might skip across the surface of a lake.  The Gott-Druk climbed out.  There were six and they wore something like rubber mukluks that allowed their short, squat bodies to scramble to the shore without a serious wetting.

            Lockhart started to rise.  He had in mind to talk it out, but Roland held him down.  The three Gott-Druk in orange came out from the trees to meet the newcomers on the shore, and the first words out of the orange leader’s mouth were not kind.

            “Idiots!  How are we going to surprise anyone when you come blundering in with your noisy antique.  Did it occur to you to stop up shore and walk here, quietly?”

            “Chief,”  One of the other orange men spoke.  “Look at these primitive weapons.”  He pointed at his fellow Gott-Druk and the handguns they carried.

            “Better than the sticks and stones we will be facing.”  The leader ignored his fellow to give out his instructions.  “Kill everyone, males, females and children.  That is the only way you idiots will not miss him.”

            “Right,” Lockhart nodded to Roland and instead of getting up, he pulled his shotgun up to sight.  Captain Decker already had his up.  Lieutenant Harper, Boston and Lincoln readied themselves.  Roland unhooked his sword, but got his bow ready.

            The Gott-Druk spread out as they removed the mukluks and began to climb the little hill.  Lockhart simply said “fire,” and the Gott-Druk began to fall.  Two of the orange men and four of the six Gott-Druk from the plane went down before anyone returned fire.  The last two from the plane each got off a shot.  The travelers had to duck and flatten themselves to the ground.  One tree was set on fire.  Luckily, no one was hurt though they all felt the heat. 

            Then the last two Gott-Druk from the plane fell.  They were downed by weapons similar to their own heat rays. That fire came from the top of the hill and some men stood on that hilltop when it was over.

            “Lincoln, Roland and Decker only,” Lockhart said as he stood.  “The rest of you stay hidden.”   The men stepped free of the trees and Captain Decker spoke softly.

            “We missed the orange leader.”

            “I noticed,” Lockhart responded quietly which inspired Lincoln to count the Gott-Druk dead.  Lockhart raised his hand and waved to the men on the hill.  “Elenar!”  He shouted.

            At least one man there waved back.  “Lockhart!”

###

            “My wives,” Odelion introduced them.  “Philias is my cook, and also likes to eat I might add.”  She was plump, but very warm and welcoming. 

            “Balamine is my worker bee.”  By contrast with Philias, Balamine looked to be in great shape but perhaps too skinny.  “Her goal is to open the first spa and gym on the island.”

            “Oh?  Good for you,” the others said before Odelion said, “Just kidding.”

            “I’m the one who stands between this too large family and starvation,” Balamine said with a smile for the travelers but a hard look for Odelion.

            “Memseti,” Odelion moved on to the African woman.  “She is my Barbie doll but with a brain.  She sees to the children  And then,” he paused.  “Where is my first wife?  Where is Asterasine?”

            “Here I am.”  The woman came in from the outside carrying a woven basket full of fresh picked flowers.  “Just to freshen the home for your friends.”  She put the basket in the corner before anyone realized she was missing her left arm from the elbow down.

            “Gott-Druk,” Odelion referred to the missing limb.  He gave Asterasine a kiss before he sat down on the floor.  When he sat, the others sat.  There were soft skins spread around the dirt floor for that purpose.  In many ways that made it feel more like they were in a tent than a home, but there were several rooms at the back for the children so it was something like a house as well.

            “But now the Elenar have left,” Lincoln said, casually.  “What will you do if the Gott-Druk return in force?”

            “As far as it goes, they were right.  Your sticks and stones are no match for their energy weapons,” Lockhart added.

            “Radiation weapons,” Odelion said.  “And I know it.  We will leave the island when they come.  We will sail to Crete, Sicily, Southern Spain and North Africa.  We will begin again.”

            “But the Elenar –“ Alexis started to speak but stopped when Odelion held up his hand.

            “They have not gone far, and they are watching.  When the Gott-Druk come in force, they will return to do battle.  Sadly, my people would never survive such a battle.  We must leave or die.”

            “Such a pessimist,” Philias shook her head as she brought in a great tray of fish and vegetables.  Memseti followed with the first bread they had seen, albeit, unleavened.  “We will live and be happy.”  Philias gave Odelion a kiss and sighed and smiled at the man.  Memseti followed suit, but lingered a bit on Odelion’s lips.

            “But right now we must also feed the children.”  Memseti followed Philias out the door.

            Balamine came in after the other two left.  She carried clay cups and a big jug of very weak fermented beer.  “You must eat and sleep.  Rest is important for your good health.”

            “Listen to yourself,” Odelion pointed at her.  Balamine looked at him and rolled her eyes, but this time she smiled for him.

            “But now, for us.”  Boston spoke over the fish.  “Our way looks like it is over the water.”

            Odelion nodded.  “I have a boat in mind that will carry you all, that is if you trust my late Neolithic craftsmen.”

            Several of the travelers looked around the room.  It was Lincoln who spoke up.

            “I don’t see as we have much choice.”