Josie followed Seven Russ to her sister’s house. She glanced over her shoulder a
couple of times. Hugh’s boat dragged him out to sea. She wished him the best of luck
surviving on the water.
Seven knocked on the door. They had done what they could. Everything else was up
to Karney himself to recover.
“What happened?,” said Six, after she opened the door.
“We cleared your name,” said Seven. “There shouldn’t be any problem from the
fishing village over this.”
“A guy named Hugh wanted the ring Karney received from when another fisherman
had killed himself,” said Josie. Six glanced down at the ring on her finger. “He won’t
be able to bother you for a long while if ever again. We have to see about your other
sisters who are in need, then I have to get home and make sure Jack hasn’t burned
down the town.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” said Six.
“Tell him how you feel,” said Seven. “Maybe you will both be a little happier. Josie’s
right. Jack is erratic and capable of great harm when left to his own devices. We have
to go.”
“Hold on,” said Josie. She changed to Zatanna. She produced two firebirds and let
them fly to the roof of the house. She let the persona go. “If you get into trouble, you
and Karney can take a one time trip to Hawk Ridge. These are expendable spells to
get you away from here. Ordinarily I wouldn’t do this, but Seven is going to be across
the continent with no way to get here if you have another emergency. This way, you
will have a hand up if you need it.”
“I don’t understand why you would do that,” said Six. She looked at the firebirds
shuffling around on the edge of the roof.
“Jack keeps telling me everyone matters, or no one matters,” said Josie. “I don’t quite
see it, but it’s the price of his cooperation.”
“And she is soft on the inside,” said Seven. “June has told me things.”
“I will rip both of your tongues out if you repeat such scurrilous lies,” said Josie. The
sisters smiled at her obvious huffery. She made a noise that was almost a bah. “We
will look out for you if you need it. It’s part of the job.”
“Thank you,” said Six. She hugged her sister. She held her hand out for a wrist grab
of friendship with Josie. “I have to make sure the master is comfortable.”
“Good luck,” said Josie. She touched the button for the Enterprise on her com band
to talk to the machine. “Two to beam up, Enterprise.”
Blue sparks clouded her vision, and then she looked at the surrounding Transporter
Room One. She smiled. Now she had to do something for Seven’s other sisters.
“Where is Three?,” said Josie. She led the way to the Bridge. “Finding and helping
her should be a snap. I don’t know what I can do to help Two and her church.”
“I don’t know either,” said Seven. “Two has always been the most spiritual of us.”
“Enterprise,” said Josie. “We need to find Three Russ. Can you do it?”
“Affirmative,” said the machine. “Unknown time period to complete task.”
“All right,” said Josie. “Can you follow one of my birds?”
“Only visually,” said the machine.
“All right,” said Josie. “Get ready. I am going to send out a bird and I want you to
keep it in sight and mark where it goes.”
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
“All right,” said Josie. It was a plan to get to where Seven’s sister was. The matter of
time was small since the ship could cross planetary distance at sonic speed.
“I am ready to help,” said Seven.
“Finding Three’s friend should be easy,” said Josie. “Getting her out of whatever
trouble she is in will be the hard part.”
Josie pulled on Zatanna, her work horse, long enough to send out a firebird to find
Seven’s sister. It passed through the ship’s wall, and headed west. The Enterprise
followed at a distance, scanning for the Russ signature. It came to a halt above a camp
site in the middle of a group of trees. Villages were in the distance, but they looked
days away from where the bird had come to a stop.
“It looks like we have a place to start our search,” said Josie. “Stay up here in orbit
until we need you, Enterprise. We might need some fire dropped down if things go
bad.”
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
“All right,” said Josie. “Let’s go, Seven. The faster we are done with this, the better
things will be.”
They went to the transporter room and teleported down to the surface. They looked
around for Three.
“Three?,” asked Seven.
“I’m here,” said Russ’s sister. She appeared among the underbrush. She put her sword
away. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”
“You said you needed help finding your friend, so I brought help,” said Seven. “Josie
can find your friend easily.”
Josie waved her fingers.
“I don’t think the person hunting Four will help the rest of us,” said Three.
“I’m not hunting Four,” said Josie. “And I am not helping the rest of you. Seven said
you needed help. I said I would look into it. If you don’t need help, I can go back to
my city and carry out whatever tasks I need to do there.”
“You said you needed help,” said Seven. “Have things changed since we talked?”
“Frenda is missing,” said Three. “I have tracked her east since her capture, but I have
been one step behind the whole time. I want to get ahead so I can help her.”
“I can do that,” said Josie. “It might take a bit, but it can be done.”
“Why?,” asked Three.
“Why what?,” asked Josie.
“Why would you help me?,” asked Three.
“Everyone matters, or no one does?,” said Seven.
“Jack will be so proud of you,” said Josie.
“What does that even mean?,” said Three.
“I have a job to protect the world,” said Josie. “Just because you are a clone, and your
sister is drawing the ire of my boss, that doesn’t mean I would just turn away if you
needed a hand. And you do need a hand. So I am extending mine.”
“You are part of the everyone,” said Seven.
“What can you do?,” said Three, conceding the points.
“Let me show you,” said Josie. She pulled on Zatanna. She sent a bird out to find this
Frenda. She didn’t know where to look but the spell should still do its job. She let the
persona go. “Enterprise, I sent out a bird. Can you see it? I need to know where it
goes.”
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
“All right,” said Josie. “Are you ready to move?”
“I can leave the camping gear,” said Three. “We can come back here when any
fighting is done.”
“All right,” said Josie. She started off for the road.
The sisters followed her at a short distance behind. She could feel them whispering
about her, but said nothing. She wasn’t interested in winning Three Russ’s approval.
Seven would have to live and work with June. Showing her how the job was done
was part of her responsibilities. She hadn’t thought of herself training someone to
replace her, but she wasn’t really against it.
“Why didn’t you carry us with the bird?,” asked Three.
“I didn’t want to,” said Josie. She looked up at the sky. She couldn’t see the
Enterprise cruising above them. She had no doubt if she told the ship to drop a
torpedo as a marker, somewhere ahead would go up in a geyser of dirt.
“The marker has come to a stop,” said the Enterprise. “There is a small caravan close
by. I believe that it is watching the caravan.”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Can you move us within a half mile of the caravan?,” asked Josie.
“Affirmative,” said the Enterprise.
“Do it,” said Josie.
The three woman disappeared in a cloud of sparks. They reappeared on the side of the
same road. The trees and bushes were thicker, and the sound of some large animal
moving around came to their ears.
“Let’s walk over and see what we can see,” said Josie. She peered around. She saw
a wagon in the distance. It retreated from their point of view. “I might have to carry
us.”
Josie turned into Northwind and picked up the sisters. She flew along the road,
leaving a cloud of dust behind her. She slowed to a walk when she was close enough.
She let the sisters go, before changing back.
Three pulled her sword as she started forward. She kept an eye on the guards riding
their horses beside the wagon. She wanted to close on the wagon and look inside. If
she could get to the door, the next thing she would do is see if Frenda was inside.
Then she could open the door to get her friend out.
Josie waited for her to draw attention. Once that happened, she would pull on
Bulletgirl and start shooting. She frowned at the marking on the guards that she could
see.
It looked like she was about to work on one of her quests in the next few minutes.
Three jumped on the bumper and seized the bars on the door at the back of the wagon.
She looked inside. She frowned at not seeing her friend inside. Some of the women
saw her, and called for help. She dropped off the back of the wagon. She stood as the
wagon kept going.
Josie jogged up. Seven was close behind.
“She’s not in this one,” said Three.
“Everyone matters,” said Josie. She pulled on the shape of Bulletgirl, pieces of her
body rotating around the axis lines of her body. She raised a hand. A piece of finger
took one of the guards down as he turned to look at the noise behind the train.
Josie’s shot spooked the horse which alerted the rest of the guards. She shot them too.
They fell with holes in their heads. The driver urged the wagon team to gallop away
before whatever killed the rest of his crew killed him too.
Josie changed forms to catch up with the wagon. She climbed up the back of the
wagon. She punched the driver in the head, then kicked him off the bench. He hit a
tree and bounced to the ground.
She grabbed the reins of the horses and pulled on them, hoping they would halt at the
pull. She set the brake after the wagon rolled to a stop. She saw another wagon ahead.
She dropped down and went to the back of the wagon. She cut the door open for the
people inside. She had to catch up with the other wagons. The Russes needed to look
after the prisoners while she took care of the rest of the problem.
“Seven,” said Josie. “Can you help these women until I get back?”
“I can,” said Seven. She searched the bodies for keys to the chains that she could see
inside the opened door.
“Carry me,” said Three. “I can help you.”
Josie took a moment to look at her with stern eyes. She glanced at Seven, who was
doing what she could.
“I can,” said Three. “I don’t carry this sword for show.”
“She is a good swordswoman,” said Seven. She vanished inside the wagon to start
unlocking manacles.
Josie picked up the sister and carried her to the next wagon. She dropped Three on
the roof while she knocked the guards off their horses. Lightning blows ended the
fight before it began. The driver of the wagon fell under the wheels as the sister
stabbed him and then pushed. The horses rolled to a stop on their own.
“I’m going ahead,” said Josie. “Free these women, and get them moving away from
here.”
She flashed to the start of the caravan. She had some minutes left on her watch. She
had to stop the leaders and then go back and grab the last free one coming up from
behind. She doubted Three had listened to her, but she wanted to get done before the
swordswoman arrived.
The fact that the people she was dealing with all had the Makeover meant she was
doing the right thing. She doubted she was putting a dent in their operation this far
north, but putting down the ones she had come across was enough at the moment.
The organization was slowly fading from existence with every one of its members she
could kill.
She flew through the lead wagon’s guards after briefly appearing on the road. She
paused on the other side of the wagon as the men dropped to the ground. She doubted
she had killed any of them, but the ones that lived would have headaches until she
fixed that.
She let the persona go to recharge. She only had one more wagon to deal with, and
then she had to organize things for the women that had been freed. She doubted Three
wanted a hand in that.
She heard the ding of the watch reaching full charge as the second wagon came into
view at a full gallop. There were no orbit of guards around this one. She didn’t pause
to think about it. She had to stop the driver and the wagon. She could check on the
guards after that.
She changed back into Jesse Quick and knocked the driver off the bench like a stroke
of lightning. She pulled on the reins to bring the wagon to a halt next to the first one
she had already captured. She set the brake and jumped down. She ran over to the
driver and made sure he wouldn’t get up in the next few minutes while she took care
of business.
The keys to the locks to the first wagon fit the locks in the second. She let everyone
out of their manacles. What was she going to do now?
Some of the women probably had places to go back to now that they were free again.
That would be an easy fix for her. The rest would need to go to Hawk Ridge, or be
set up somewhere close by to recover from what had happened.
The results weren’t bad for an incidental job for a surly clone homonculus that she
could have turned down.
Guards from the second wagon appeared. Some of them were wounded from the
bloodstains on their clothes. They rode toward where they thought they would find
reinforcements. Three Russ rode behind them, sword in the air. She caught the one
in the rear and sliced him down before he could turn to block with his own sword.
The last two members of the caravan aimed for the women milling in the road. Once
they were through the crowd, they could outrun the lone raider behind them.
Something would be said about the loss they had suffered but future punishment was
better than a sure death behind them.
Josie changed to Bulletgirl and shot the both of them down before they got close
enough to hurt the slaves. She reverted back as the bodies hit the ground and the
horses slowed to a trot.
“Boim!,” said one of the women. She waved at Three. “You caught up with me. I
can’t believe it.”
Three slowed her horse to a walk. She looked down at the battered woman smiling
at her. She smiled back. It had been a long chase, but they were reunited.
“Three,” said Josie. “Did you free the women in the other wagon?”
“I gave the key to one of the inmates so I could chase after the rest of these vermin,”
said Three. She gestured at the fallen bodies around them.
“I suppose that is all right,” said Josie. She frowned at Russ’s sister. Everything had
worked out, but there could have been a lot of things gone wrong with what they had
done. Three was not a shining example of heroic, but she had done some things to
show that she could be with the right prodding. “What are you going to do now?”
“I’m taking Frenda home,” said Three. “That was what all of this was about in the
first place.”
“These other women?,” asked Josie. She gestured at the small crowd.
“They aren’t my problem,” said Three.
“They are now,” said Josie. “I want you to look after them until everything is
straightened out. That is the price of my help.”
“You’re joking,” said Three.
“Everyone matters, or no one does,” said Josie. “That’s the new outlook I want you
to have until you take care of business. If I have to put a curse down, it will be the
most humiliating thing I can think of for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t know anything about taking care of other people,” said Three. “What am I
supposed to do with all of these women?”
“Let’s get them together first,” said Josie. “You guys might want to loot these bodies
for money and weapons before we get started.”
Josie walked off to the side. She could easily send all of these women home with
Zatanna. It had been on her mind that they could use another place to help anyone
they rescued. This could be the core of that.
She just had to convince Three and Frenda to do the job.
Some of the traffickers had still be alive after being shot, or cut. That didn’t last long
as Three and the rest of the group went through and took everything they could. She
was efficient about that, only stabbing as much as needed.
“Enterprise,” said Josie, tapping the button of her com band. “Are there any more
slave wagons on this road heading away from us?”
“Negative,” said the machine.
“Keep an eye out,” said Josie.
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
“We’re all here,” said Seven. She looked over the crowd. She had picked up a knife
and sword from somewhere and was belting it on as she approached.
“Do you know how to use that?,” asked Josie.
“We all have been trained to fight,” said Seven. “Some of us are better at it than
others.”
“All right,” said Josie. She frowned at the crowd. They were still dispersing the loot.
“I wonder if they want the horses and wagons.”
“They could be sold at the nearest village with enough money to pay,” said Seven. “I
don’t know if Three would want to keep them as riding animals. Horses eat a lot, and
aren’t that great in a city except to get somewhere faster than normal, or for
shipping.”
“Everybody,” said Josie. “Listen up. How many of you have a home to go back to
right now? Raise your hands.”
Most of the women raised their hands. Josie thought that the number was close to the
three quarter mark out of the victims. She nodded.
“I’m going to send you home,” said Josie. She turned into Zatanna and hooked those
women to firebird chains. When the bird reached their destination, so did the woman
hooked to it. The crowd thinned with a parade of popping as the women vanished.
Josie let the persona go so she could finish the rest of her talk.
“My associate, Boim Russ, has agreed to protect the rest of you,” said Josie. She saw
Three fuming in the background. “Three, where do you and Frenda live?”
“We live in the city of Kole,” said Frenda. “We don’t have a big place to keep other
people. It’s really just an apartment for the two of us.”
“Is there an Exchange there?,” asked Josie.
“A Money Exchange?,” said Three. “Yes.”
“All right,” said Josie. “That is where we are going. Is everyone ready?”
There were murmurs of what is going to happen. None of the survivors wanted to be
popped across the country from the sound of it.
“Trail us from the sky, Enterprise,” said Josie into her com band. “If anything
happens to me, report the event to Jack.”
“Affirmative,” said the machine.
“All right,” said Josie. She drew on Zatanna again. “Here we go.”
Josie sent out her birds aiming for a spot on the roof of the apartment building. She
didn’t think the eight women traveling with her would like to land in a cramped
apartment. They disappeared in waves, with her going last.
She appeared where she expected. The women, except for Seven, gaped at the change
of view. The apartment building was three stories from the look of it and shared space
with some kind of store on the bottom. It could be the core to a new House, but she
wanted something a little more like a house, and not a place sharing space with
others.
“Three, can you show me where the Exchange is?,” asked Josie, letting the persona
go. “Frenda, if you could show the others your place. I am going to arrange for money
and try to find you a house.”
“Really?,” asked Three. She frowned at Josie. “How much money?”
“Enough to get you started as a defender of the weak,” said Josie. “Maybe enough
to make you the hero of the people, maybe the guardian of good.”
“What makes you think I want any of that?,” asked Three.
“Because you are an adventurer,” said Josie. “Let’s walk, and we’ll talk about things.
It will be a big change, but I need someone in the north to be my lookout, and here
you are.”
“And you are going to pay me for that?,” said Three.
“Or find someone else,” said Josie. She gestured for the Russ to proceed. “Now that
I am here, I can set things up so I don’t have to send everyone to Jane to mother
hen. She will like that now that she is on the verge of getting her hospital running.”
“I will listen to your offer,” said Three. She walked to a ladder on the side of the
building and started down. “One would be better for this.”
“If she wants in, I will do what I can,” said Josie. She followed.
“That is a strange witch,” said one of the women as Josie vanished down the ladder.