Jack watched the control panel in his chair. He needed a crew he could trust to fly the
Enterprise for anything more complicated than straight line travel. He could do a lot
with the automated controls, but a crew would be so much better.
Mister Warner and the survivors from the villages talked to one side of the bridge.
Mister Warner was explaining what they were doing, why he didn’t wipe out the
clans at the parley, and what exile and the Island meant to the goblins.
Trying to interfere in the parley was bad for any clan that did that and didn’t have the
force of arms to stop any reprisal. It meant some talking to from the elders that had
been threatened on the field. The other elders would make up their minds, but they
wouldn’t harbor someone wanting to go to war with the Night Blades.
“We have a lot of pings moving toward a settlement picked out by the scanners,” said
Jack. “Some unknown lifeforms are mixed in.”
“Probably orcs,” said Mister Warner.
“Enterprise, mark unknowns as orcs until we have a certification,” said Jack.
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
“I’m going to go down and deal with this,” said Mister Warner. “Considerations?”
“I can shoot at them from up here,” said Jack. “No need to make it a knife fight.”
“We can’t let any of them escape,” said Warner.
“I can put them in the brig and we can take them back across the line,” said Jack.
“And they will be executed in the most painful way possible,” said Warner.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” said Jack. He saw that most of the crowd on the
bridge agreed with his assessment. He supposed having your family and friends eaten
in front of you put things in a different perspective.
“Neither do I,” said the bitter woman.
“I think we need to do this a little more cleanly than just taking them home,” said
Warner. “So I am going to go down and deal with as many as I can. Jack, I would like
it if you kept them from circling around and getting to the village and trying to do
something there. We might need to check the nearby farms to make sure they didn’t
maraud on the way to their real target.”
“I think it’s a mistake, but I’ll let you do it,” said Jack. “Give me your phone.”
“Why?,” said Warner. He handed over the flip phone.
“I am going to give you a line to the Enterprise so you can get updates on target
movements,” said Jack. He examined the thing. “This is older than Jesus. Why
haven’t you got a smart phone?”
“I don’t need one,” said Warner.
“All right,” said Jack. “Enterprise, move to a position over the village, ready phasers
to lock on target. Give Mister Warner targeting information once I have the line set
up. Ping targets on the big screen.”
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
The picture on the screen changed as the giant ship flowed through the air. It spun to
face the enemy on the ground. Red diamonds marked the massed enemy as they
closed on the settlement.
Jack changed into Magik. He squeezed the phone in his hands, shaping it into a mike
and earpiece. He put in a line for Mister Warner to talk to the Enterprise, but not able
to command it. He handed the changed phone back to the old man.
“Take it off when you change, put it back on until you don’t need the body any
more,” said Jack. He let the persona go. “It’ll hook to the side of your face and you
can listen as the Enterprise talks. When we’re done, I’ll put it back the way it was.”
“All right,” said Warner. “Let’s go down and deal with this.”
He changed into his phantom form and descended through the deck. The Enterprise
tracked his movement to the ground. He changed back long enough to put the mike
down, and then he called the Dart, a Roman soldier with a flying arrow at his side. He
put the mike to his ear as he listened to the tactical comments coming to him.
The arrow flashed out through the trees. Diamonds winked out as it cut the goblins
and orcs down. Every time one of the enemy died, the machine gave Warner a new
target to strike.
“Enterprise, shoot at any enemy that breaks toward the village,” said Jack. “We don’t
want them to reach anyone they can use as hostages.”
“How is he doing that?,” said the bitter woman.
“I have no idea,” said Jack. “Magic?”
The Enterprise shot up a group of goblins and an orc trying to break away from the
deaths of their fellows. The diamonds remained on the screen, but they stopped
moving after the phaser fire.
Warner kept moving. His arrow circled around him, slicing his enemies apart as he
moved. He took a second to check his watch. He still had plenty of power left.
“He broke them,” said the burned man. “They’re running.”
“They’re getting shot in the back,” said Jack. “Enterprise, keep shooting at targets
until they are all down.”
The screen showed the gold pulses of fire from the disc of the ship to the ground.
Some of the orcs took the blasts better than the goblins, but they went down just as
much as the smaller demihumans.
“They are heading south,” said the skinny man. “You think they are trying to get back
to those tunnels near our villages?”
“If they are, they are going to be in for a surprise,” said Jack.
“You’re not going to let them go?,” asked the bitter woman.
“Why would I?,” said Jack. “Everything depends on these guys not being found by
the local guys. Mister Warner can cover the dead up on his own. The rest that the
Enterprise is shooting at will be handed back to the other clans to keep the peace. I
don’t think they want that as much as I want it.”
“The mercy will not be there, will it?,” asked the bitter woman.
“I don’t know,” said Jack. “This is the first time I have dealt with goblins for the
Society. The example we saw does not look good for anyone we hand over.”
“That’s good,” said the woman.
“What do we do when this is over?,” asked the girl.
“What do you want to do?,” asked Jack.
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“I would love to rewrite my life,” said the bitter woman.
“I was ordered not to time travel,” said Jack. He grinned. “They’re afraid that I might
destroy reality.”
“I can see that,” said the bitter woman.
“All targets are down,” said the Enterprise. “Phasers are powering down.”
“Pick up the stunned goblins and orcs,” said Jack. “Put them in a cage on the cargo
bay.”
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
Blue sparks gathered up the fallen bodies from the ground.
“You brought them up here with us?,” said the skinny man.
“They are in a cage of force walls,” said Jack. “And they will be gone as soon as
Mister Warner gets done, and we can go back to the parley site.”
Mister Warner appeared on the bridge. He held his altered phone in his hands.
“I need for you to fix this,” said Warner. The old man held out the earpiece. “Then
we need to finish the rest of this. The quest is over.”
“Sure,” said Jack. He took the phone. “The living goblins and orcs are in the cargo
bay. Have you got the rest of your day planned out?”
“I plan to deal with the prisoners,” said Warner. “And then I will help the survivors
rebuild, which I normally wouldn’t do. Then I will talk to Zu about staying on and
doing quests based here in the south.”
“We can get you room at the Hole in the Wall,” said Jack. “You know you are like
one of the family.”
“I met all of your family,” said Warner. “It has made me glad not to have any
children.”
“Okay,” said Jack. He grinned at his friend and mentor. “I can put a stargate down so
we can get down here instantly from Hawk Ridge if you need it.”
Warner looked around at the crowd. Some of them nodded.
“We might need it,” said the burned man. “I think we should try to rebuild. We are
going to need all the help we can get.”
“Take us back to Bright Rose,” said Warner. “Let’s see if the goblin clans are still
there. We were fast handling this.”
“Enterprise, take us back to Bright Rose,” said Jack. “Let’s offload our prisoners, and
then we can mark a place for the new village to go up.”
“Affirmative,” said the machine. The screen changed to blue sky as the ship rotated
in the air and headed south. The dying green smoke marked the landing spot for them
as the ship came to a hovering stop.
“I think we should all go down,” said Warner. “I might need help with the transfer.”
“Sure,” said Jack. “Go down to Transporter Room One. I will go down to the cargo
bay and get ready to ship the goblins down. Then I will be down with them.
Enterprise, you are on overwatch until this is resolved. Can do?”
“Affirmative,” said the machine. “Phasers ready.”
“Let’s go,” said Warner. “Let me introduce you to some people. Remember to keep
silent and keep an eye on how things work. Stay close to me. You don’t want to get
too far out and I can’t help you.”
Warner led the group into the elevators. He kept the little girl and her stuffed animal
at his side. She would be the last one hurt as far as he could help it.
Jack waited for the elevator to clear. He used Magick to fix Mister Warner’s phone
and then he let the persona go. Now it would call across the continent, piggybacking
off the Enterprise. He put his and Josie’s phone numbers in the contact list and left
the tactical line in it in case they had to do what they did later.
He put the phone away, and took his phone out. He put Mister Warner’s number in
as his contact, while changing it to use the Enterprise as an antenna. He nodded as he
let Magik go.
He called Josie’s phone and left a voice mail just saying “Test,” as he stepped into the
lift. He hung up and rode down to the cargo deck. He stepped on the deck and grinned
at his awake prisoners. They gave him surly expressions and some expletives. One
giant green guy tried to punch through the force cage put in from ceiling to floor. It
wasn’t enough to overcome the Enterprise’s projectors.
“Enterprise,” said Jack. “Transport the group down to the ground if they are ready.
Then open the cargo bay door.”
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
“What are you going to do?,” asked the giant.
“I’m going to introduce you to Gravity,” said Jack. He grinned. “And then we’re
going for a flight.”
Jack pulled on the shimmering aura of his other self as wind picked up from the open
door.
“Drop the cage, Enterprise,” said Jack.
The walls of the prison vanished. The prisoners looked around, hoping for an escape
in their strange environment. They weren’t ready for Jack to grab them with tendrils
of gravity and lift them up. They flailed in the air as Jack floated calmly off the deck.
“Enterprise, shut the doors after we leave,” said Jack. “Let’s fly, guys.”
He accelerated toward the open door, dragging the survivors of Warner’s assault
behind him. He grinned at the screams trailing behind him as they hit the ground floor
and he urged everyone to go faster.
He saw Mister Warner on the ground with the villagers and the goblin clans
summoned to the parley. He started slowing everything down before he reversed
gravity and slammed the goblins around until their insides wanted to get outside. He
dropped them gently on the ground, to their momentary relief at not being yanked
around by a mad man.
“This is your associate, champion of the Faceless?,” said the goblin with the sparkling
voice. He wore a finer looking leather armor, and carried a sword that reminded Jack
of Inigo Montoya. He had hair braided down his back.
“I’m Jack,” said Jack. He kept Gravity. He had time and he didn’t trust the goblins as
much as Mister Warner. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. We don’t have goblins where
I am from. I am not sure what the protocol is here.”
“We are deciding what to do,” said the burring voice of the reasonable goblin. He
wore black with several blades tucked in his belt and scabbarded across his back. A
scarf covered the lower part of his face.
“We took these guys up north,” said Jack. “They were on the way to burn down
another village. Mister Warner killed a bunch of them in a fight. The Enterprise
caught these guys while they were trying to run away.”
“More exiles,” said the bass. He was almost an orc with a tunic and rough pants. He
had an axe hanging from his belt and a shield on his back. “Nil Cont. I see that you
haven’t learned your lesson.”
“The other clans have been told what has happened,” said the voice. “It will be days
before everyone is notified and we can start looking for the Iron Teeth in earnest.”
“The invasion was broken,” said Mister Warner. “I am going to say their leader was
among the ones I killed, or here. The shadow of war is lifted. These people will be
resettled and helped to rebuild their lives. Jack?”
“I have to say I am willing to let bygones be bygones,” said Jack. “I will talk to my
partner, and Mister Warner will write this up for our archive. I don’t know if you can
call for help if you need it, but if there is a big enough problem, I will get a quest and
then I will come down and handle it as well as I can.”
“You would help us, human?,” said the burr.
“Everyone matters, or no one does,” said Jack. “But don’t mistake kindness for
mercy.”
The prisoner goblins went for their weapons. They could fight their way out of the
assembled clans, maybe take hostages for later eating. This parley could work in their
favor. Gravity crushed them, breaking their bones at the weak points. The assembled
clans and villagers stepped back from the sudden pools of blood and crushed flesh.
“I don’t have as much as I used to,” said Jack.
“We will ask the assembled clans for a vote on an alliance,” said the voice. “It will
take some time.”
“I will talk to my partner,” said Jack. He grinned. “That will take less time, but she
is more cantankerous.”
“What female isn’t?,” said the axe goblin.
“I’m not,” said the bitter woman.
Everyone looked at her. She sniffed the air.
“I want to thank you for your help, respected clan leaders,” said Mister Warner. “If
I remain, I will be in the south, and close by to help if a problem arises.”
“We remember you from your help years gone by, Warner,” said the burr. “We still
owe you more than you owe us.”
“It was a job, Au Ben,” said Warner. “And it was necessary. If I had been smarter,
things would have been better for your clan and the others. Hopefully we won’t have
to meet at a parley in the future. Give my well wishes to your family. Au Kineth, Au
Stinek, give my regards to your fathers.”
“The old thing will hate he missed you after what happened the last time,” said the
axe goblin. “Your apprentice has the earmarks of someone dangerous when he is
older.”
“You should meet Josie,” said Warner. “She might like a goblin prince to boss
around.”
Jack grinned at the thought.
He checked his watch. He still had plenty of time. It was time to make an exit.
“It was a pleasure meeting you,” said Jack. “I will invite you to the wedding when
Elaine and I have it.”
He lifted his group off the ground and soared toward the waiting Enterprise. He
smiled as his ship anticipated his needs and opened the cargo bay door to let them
inside. He set everyone inside on the bay floor gently.
He let Gravity go, and pulled out Mister Warner’s phone to hand to him.
“All right,” said Jack. “I’m going up to the empty lounge and getting something to
eat. Anyone want to get something to eat with me?”
“Why is it empty?,” asked the bitter woman.
“The Enterprise didn’t come with furniture,” said Jack. “Let’s go. Then we’re going
to have to decide what to do with you guys. I can build a village for you, but you will
have to decide how you want to handle the rest of your futures.”
“Can’t we stay here with you?,” asked the little girl.
“I don’t live on the Enterprise,” said Jack. “And eventually you would go stir crazy
if you stayed on board. There is nothing to do here. You can’t even have a dog on
board.”
“You can stay with me,” said the bitter woman. She glared at Jack. “I will look out
for you.”
“All right,” said Jack. He rubbed his scar for a second. “Once we have things
hammered out, we can move on to the actual doing.”