《Dial H for Heroics》


 Prize

    Jack Lee pulled on his black and red Deadpool shirt as he walked along the


    breezeway with his friend, Josie. His dark hair hid a scar above his eye that had faded to nothing in the years since he had received it.


    Josie Fox also had dark hair, but it was shorter than her friend¡¯s. She wore a Mage T-shirt that had faded from the original black, with the white lightning bolt on the front losing parts in the laundry.


    ¡°You got me on that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Marvel does handle their shifting timeline better than DC. You don¡¯t even know who¡¯s alive or dead in universe. It¡¯s like


    Schrodinger¡¯s Cat.¡±


    ¡°The one with the box?,¡± asked Jack. He hid a smile.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. She shook her head at the pretense. ¡°The one with the box.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if the MCU is going to bring in the X-Men during this multiverse thing they kicked off with Loki,¡± said Jack. ¡°Disney did buy out Fox for the rights.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll probably get the Fantastic Four first,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You¡¯re probably right,¡± said Jack. ¡°The X-Men have been on the screen for a long time. The Kev might want to let them cool off before he brings them in as backup Avengers.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you and Kevin Feige were on nickname terms,¡± said Josie. She almost laughed at the idea.


    ¡°We¡¯re not on as good terms as you and Vic Mignogna,¡± said Jack. He reached the door of their destination and opened it to the sound of a cowbell hanging from the top.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± said Josie. She stepped into the store. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me.¡±


    Jack and Josie had been coming to Warner¡¯s for their comic books collections, tabletop gaming books and gear since they were kids. Every time they stepped into the store, a presence clamped down like stepping into a library.


    Oliver Warner still ran the place despite time taking most of his hair, giving him a bent spine and knobby hands. Every Wednesday, he divided his delivery into their pull bags like clockwork.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Dynamite Duo,¡± Warner said. He smiled with a set of dentures. ¡°Something came for you, Josie. I have it in the back.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t order anything, Mister Warner,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the old shopkeep.


    ¡°I told the guy, but he wouldn¡¯t take the box back,¡± said Warner. He waved at them to come up to the counter before heading to the storeroom in the back.


    ¡°What do you think is going on?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I haven¡¯t ever ordered anything to be delivered here without letting Mister Warner know. Most of the time he has to order anything I want for me.¡±


    ¡°What do you think came?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not buying DC anymore except back issues, most of my Dark Horse stuff came last week, and I have my eye on the Critical Roll Graphic Novel, but I¡¯m waiting until the end of the month.¡±


    Warner returned with a box about the size of a half sub. He placed it on the counter and slid it over.


    ¡°Josephine Antoinette Fox?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Sounds like a name from the fifties.¡±


    ¡°The eighteen fifties,¡± said Warner. ¡°You¡¯re the only J. Fox I know, so I figured it was for you.¡±


    ¡°The both of you are so funny,¡± said Josie. Her expression said how funny she


    thought they were. ¡°I didn¡¯t order this.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s open it and see what¡¯s inside,¡± said Warner. ¡°If it¡¯s something useless, we can send it back in another box.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder how they got my full name. I haven¡¯t used my


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.middle name ever.¡±


    ¡°It will still be on your birth certificate,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe they got it from that


    somehow.¡±


    ¡°This is probably for someone else and we¡¯re tampering with their mail,¡± said Josie.


    Warner used a pocket knife to cut through the tape holding the box closed. He pulled out a smaller box and an envelope. He handed the envelope to Josie.


    She opened the letter and read through it. She opened the small box. Three watches were folded around displays in the box. She frowned at them.


    ¡°What did the letter say?,¡± asked Jack. He inspected the three watches.


    ¡°It said that as a fan of Robby Reed, I was gifted with watches to wear as facsimiles of his Hero Dial,¡± said Josie. ¡°Only Robby Reed didn¡¯t have a watch. He had a dial phone without an earpiece. They sent three in case I broke one, or wanted to give the extras to friends.¡±


    ¡°Robby Reed?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He¡¯s old school, slick,¡± said Warner. ¡°He started out with Captain Comet, and


    the Martian Manhunter.¡±


    ¡°When DC redid their timeline after Crisis, he was in with heroes like the Creeper and the Metal Men after Superman appeared,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s a footnote. Why would anyone care enough to send me three watches dedicated to him. And they got the watches wrong on top of that.¡±


    ¡°They look okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can I have them if you don¡¯t want them?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even like DC,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I never got a free watch either,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll split them. I don¡¯t know why anyone would send me anything like this but we¡¯ll each take one. That seems okay if the watch company wants them back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not giving mine back,¡± said Jack. ¡°They can take my fake Robby Reed H Dial off my cold dead wrist if they can find my body when I go up in a ball of flames.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so dramatic,¡± said Josie.


    She took the watches off their stands. They looked the same from a distance, but up close, she could see tiny differences. She kept the one with the lightning bolt on the back. It reminded her of the Mage lightning bolt on her shirt, and the Captain Marvel lightning it was based on.


    He would always be Captain Marvel to her. Geoff Johns could sit in the Hell of the Upside Down Drowning Sinners forever for his crappy take on the mythos.


    She handed Jack the watch with the star in a circle on the back. It reminded her of Captain America¡¯s shield. She knew he would love that.


    She handed Warner the last one. The marking looked like a boomerang, but maybe it was an A. He took it and put it on the counter.


    ¡°Are you sure about this, Josie?,¡± asked Warner.


    ¡°You can put it on display as a one of a kind thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯ll be like your copy of Steve Ditko¡¯s Fly from the Red Circle days.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Warner. ¡°Thanks for the gift.¡±


    He put his watch in the shipping box and took the whole thing back to his storeroom.


    Jack started putting his new watch on his wrist. He had trouble latching the release together. He paused for a moment to take a closer look at the thing.


    ¡°This reminds me of something,¡± he said, turning his arm this way and that.


    ¡°What?,¡± Josie said. She had her own watch around her wrist. She looked at the face. Where were the numbers?


    ¡°It kind of reminds me of an Omni,¡± said Jack. He finished securing the watch around his wrist.


    Warner came out the back. Both of his customers were gone. He put it in the back of his mind as other customers demanded his attention.


    They would probably be back later after they got over the excitement of a free watch.


    Jack felt like he was falling. Everything was gray. The watch on his arm glowed. It looked more and more like an omni, and he didn¡¯t like that at all.


    Quest One:


    Return Princess Lorelei to her family.


    Quest Two:


    Destroy the Dark Rider of Sachuminou


    Quest Three:


    Save the town of Accordly on the shore of Lake Myra.


    Quest Four:


    Use your heroes to survive your entry.


    The gray cleared away from Jack. He blinked against the wind blowing against his body. The sky looked far below and coming up fast.


    Use your heroes to survive? Josie¡¯s description of Robby Reed made him sound like Ben Ten. Did their dials work in the same way? If it did, he needed something that could fly.


    Jack battled the wind to check the watch with his other hand. The face glowed as he touched it. He saw a list roaming through his mind and recognized it as a list of Marvel characters. How did he pick the one he wanted? He tried turning the watch face. The names lit up. He stopped when he had the hero he wanted. He pressed what looked like a stopwatch button on the thing and hoped for the best.


    Jack stood a hundred feet high, garbed in white fire with wings stopping the world. He could see everything as relevant as he wanted. He spotted Josie in the distance, falling to the ground like him.


    She had been falling, but now everything was frozen while he made his decisions for the future.


    And he only had seconds according to numbers on his watch. He may have frozen objective time, but his own time was still running out.


    He decided to send Josie a message to meet him. He cast his arm out to send a lance of thought at his target. He checked to make sure she understood, then stepped down to the ground. The transformation ended and he became a tired guy who needed a tree to stand up.


    He had beat the quest. That was all that mattered. He needed to get to the meeting place and hook up with Josie. They needed to hash this out, and see if they could get home.


    Quest Five:


    Meet Josie Fox at unknown city in the northwest.


    Quest Six:


    Find a way to get home.


    Jack rubbed his face with his hands. Theoretically, he had a lot of heroes with


    movement powers that could help him. Realistically, he had no idea what any of them did. He could kill himself just trying to figure out how to fly to that city with the watch.

 Flying

    Josie looked at the gray space surrounding her. Information filled her head. She didn¡¯t like the telepathic bullet list and the implied threats it implied.


    Quest Four was especially worrying since she didn¡¯t have a clue what it meant. Use your heroes to survive entry.


    Then the gray cleared away to reveal blue sky and she was falling to what looked like a vast forest below. She noted something that looked like an old fashioned castle, but that was a worry for if she survived hitting the ground.


    Use your heroes.


    Josie touched the watch face. She saw the names of heroes pop in her mind. Spinning the watch face lit them up. She decided to try Supergirl. Flight and invulnerability would make survival ridiculously easy.


    She frowned as she kept falling. Abilities filled her head. None of them were flight.


    She had an instinctive understanding of freefall and spread her limbs to slow down. It wouldn¡¯t save her but it would buy time. What could she do to get out of the situation?


    If she had some kind of rope, she could try to catch a tree and swing her momentum out so she wasn¡¯t killed when she hit the ground.


    Her increased mind fed her more conclusions as she fell. She needed to change bodies if she wanted to survive. What could she change into?


    A white light appeared in the sky. It looked like a greeting card angel the size of a building with a giant flaming sword. It pointed at her before it vanished.


    ¡°Hey, Josie,¡± said a voice that sounded almost like Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t have a lot of time to send this message. The counter on the watch says I only have a few seconds because of what I am using. Enough time to put this message together and save myself, but not you.¡±


    ¡°Figures,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°There is a city between us,¡± the automated voice continued. ¡°We should meet there and figure out how to do these quests. We¡¯re not going to be able to go home until we solve them.


    ¡°Best bet is to pick something specific and hope it gives you something to use like Hawkman. That might help you out.


    ¡°Also I¡¯m probably going to forget everything I¡¯m seeing right now. I think it¡¯s a


    function of this hero, and when the hero is gone, so are all the secrets. I¡¯ll see you in the city.


    Be careful.¡±


    ¡°Hawkman?,¡± said Josie. She realized Hawkman was probably the only winged hero that Jack knew from her side of things. She thought that was fair. She only knew Phoenix and Wolverine from the X-Men.


    A human wolverine was the best origin she had ever heard outside of the Badger talking to his spirit animal, breaking apart into a bunch of personalities and using his kung fu and wrenches on the bad guys.


    Josie touched the watch face. She still had time on the countdown timer. She


    twisted the watch face until she had Northwind dialed in. She pushed the button and became the wind.


    The timer was still visible as she flowed through the air. She had to get close to the ground before her other self wore off. She looked down and descended toward what looked like a clearing in the middle of the trees.


    She decided to dismiss the wind power when she was low enough. Now she had to think about her next moves.


    She heard a small ping and Quest Four vanished from the list implanted in her mind. Two more had taken its place. She hoped that wasn¡¯t the way her career as a dimensional wanderer was going to go.


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    She needed to find the city that Jack had been talking about in his message. Then she could start there. Her watch should help with anything in the woods as long as she wasn¡¯t between chargings, or taken by surprise.


    If she had picked either of the Hawks, would she have turned into a bird? That was something to consider when she started putting things together to use.


    She would also like to have words with whomever sent the watches to her. She had a problem with being trapped in a bad situation by a faceless clown. She was definitely willing to see what Firehawk did at close range.


    She supposed Jack had got a Marvel list in his watch. She paused when she


    considered the third watch. Mister Warner wouldn¡¯t put it on. He didn¡¯t seem that interested in it. He was safe back home.


    She rubbed her face as she thought about the old man trying to use the watch so he wouldn¡¯t splatter into the ground.


    She couldn¡¯t worry about that now. He hadn¡¯t appeared in the sky. That meant he hadn¡¯t put on the watch. That meant he was safe.


    She had to concentrate on her and Jack getting home. She decided to check on Warner when she got back to the real world.


    What did she have that could fly? That would help her cross the forest if she avoided any large predators. Then all she had to do was walk around the city to try to catch Jack when he approached the opposite gate from where she happened to enter.


    She decided to try out a Hawk, or Black Canary. That should get her wings to carry her across the forest. She could even use it to circle the city. She figured Jack would be doing the same thing with any of his own heroes.


    Once they were together, they could start tracking down the quests they had been handed.


    She checked the watch. The cooldown still rolled the numbers, but she should be able to use it to partially get to where she needed to be.


    Then she could let it recharge so she could finish the rest of the trip.


    She activated the Hawkgirl name. She changed into a large bird. She took off with a flap of her wings. She climbed and glided, spotting the castle she had seen on her fall. She figured she could make good time with the wings. Even if her power rolled out, she could walk the rest of the way as long as she stayed out of trouble.


    Josie glided toward the castle, keeping an eye on the walls. She spotted several guards looking out over the city. None of them seemed to have bows. Did they save those for people trying to boost through the walls.


    Did they have monsters lurking around? Was Jack safe out in the forest? She could search for him, but she knew which way he was traveling. She hated to wait for him.


    She also had a problem with the local money and clothes. Everyone wore stuff she associated with King Arthur stories. She doubted a woman in a t-shirt and jeans was going to pass muster. And she didn¡¯t have any money to get anything.


    What was she going to do until she figured out how to get started? The princess wasn¡¯t going to find herself. She needed a source of information and a cloak to hide her clothes.


    She landed on a tower right before her power ran out. Two more quests filled her brain for a second before fading back to background noise. She needed to stop adding on while trying to get the goals she already had completed.


    There were so many questions in her mind. Most of them revolved around where should she really start. She didn¡¯t think she could take on a Dark Rider, or find a princess, but maybe her Supergirl could help her break things down into doable chunks.


    The hero was like Mr. Terrific, possessing a number of skills and a photographic memory. What would the Mr. Terrific do? Would it be more of the same? Did she want to find out right where she was, or wait until she had a private space to practice with the watch.


    Another Quest popped up as soon as she thought about needing a place to plan.


    She growled at herself. She didn¡¯t need any more quests. She needed some place to lay low, get some money and clothes, and keep an eye out for Jack. He had to have some flying heroes he could use to close the distance.


    The thing he had used could probably cross the distance, but it would cause a panic in the city. A huge angel bearing down on a normal person would cause a lot of bad things to happen.


    Could they even speak the language?


    Josie paused to listen to the crowd moving below. They were speaking something like accented English. She should be able to get by except for her accent.


    She lay down on the roof. She needed food and water, money, clothes, a place to stay for a few days, and a guide. Once Jack got there, they could hash out a plan for some of it.


    Her mind returned to the watches. Why prepare such a random trap for someone? Did they know enough about her to predict she would give a watch to Jack? Maybe they thought she would give it to someone else so their two main victims wouldn¡¯t be trying to overcome things at the same time.


    She could see her captor trying to send three people randomly into the trap one at a time instead of two at once. What happened if the two got together? What would they be dealing with other than the Dark Rider?


    How did they get home from here? She didn¡¯t see any way to do that.

 Gold

    Jack Lee checked his watch as he jogged from one tree to another. Something was following him, but he didn¡¯t know what it was. It looked like a bear of some kind. The ready light wasn¡¯t lit on his dial, so he couldn¡¯t change up to deal with his problem.


    He had a few ideas on what he could use to get around. If he was right, he could fly to the city and look around for Josie as soon as his watch was ready. He just had to stay away from the bear until then.


    He couldn¡¯t count on anything like the Whizzer, or Quicksilver, to be a movement specialist. Their names weren¡¯t specific enough. Falcon, American Eagle, and Wasp should get him some kind of flight from the way the watches worked.


    He grimaced the Phoenix might not get him a master telekinetic and telepath. Instead, he might get a bird that burned itself up to be reborn out of the ashes. That wasn¡¯t useful unless he caught someone in a closed space and set them on fire with him.


    He nodded as the watch dinged. He could head for the city and try to find Josie. He had some ideas about that, but if he was wrong, he wanted cover to keep people from trying to mob him because he was some kind of witch.


    He picked Falcon and turned into a bird. He took to the air. He heard the bear crash behind him, but he was climbing away from the predator before it could stop him.


    He knew that he would have been grounded if the thing had managed to claw him while he was in a smaller body. The next thing would have been some kind of bite to the neck.


    Jack climbed until he saw the castle in the distance. He climbed some more and glided down. He hoped Josie had stayed out of trouble. The last thing they needed was to add on to the amount of work they had to do.


    He admitted that he was lazy and didn¡¯t want to do more than he needed to get out of the spot he was in.


    He expected she knew everything about every hero on her watch with the minutes it had taken him to recharge from the Angel.


    He spotted Josie laying on a roof. She looked like she was taking a nap. He landed on the roof and hopped around for a second. He switched his hero off so he could return to normal.


    He noted his flight barely used any energy from the watch. He could fly as the Falcon for a long time. He didn¡¯t know what good that did him, but he filed the facts away. He could fly for a long distance before having to rest, or go to Angel for a minute and dump on anything not as tough as he was.


    He needed some midrange fighters in case he didn¡¯t want to run, or just wreck a whole city block.


    ¡°Hey, Josie,¡± he said.


    ¡°I¡¯m okay, Jack,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t open her eyes. ¡°I just need something to eat, and some place to sleep. Then we need to find someone who can help us with our quests. I just don¡¯t know how to get started, so I¡¯m having some kind of existential crisis for some reason.¡±


    ¡°I think we can look around at ground level,¡± said Jack. ¡°Sitting up here isn¡¯t going to get us anything.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you think Mister Warner put his watch on?¡±


    ¡°No shot,¡± said Jack. ¡°That watch went into some storage thing in the back of the store. Mister Warner had absolutely no interest in putting it on. Maybe he¡¯ll try it out in a couple days when we don¡¯t show up. That doesn¡¯t mean he will come here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not making me feel better,¡± said Josie. She sat up. ¡°How do we find this things we have to look for? I have no idea how to tame a bog hound.¡±


    ¡°Bog hound?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you get that as a quest?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to save some village. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m


    supposed to do that when I don¡¯t know where the village is.¡±


    ¡°So we didn¡¯t get the exact same quests?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder why.¡±


    ¡°Why did we get them in the first place?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I thought you were supposed to get hit by a truck for this kind of stuff.¡±


    ¡°Truck-kun strikes again,¡± said Josie. ¡°How do we find someone who will tell us what we need to know?¡±


    ¡°That part¡¯s easy,¡± said Jack. ¡°We just need to find a saloon and have some money to work with as our capital. We can just sit and listen while we eat the local slop.¡±


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    ¡°And how do we do that?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I doubt either of us have any local money.¡±


    ¡°But we both have guys who can make gold,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have the Molecule Man, and any Eternal on my list of heroes.¡±


    ¡°The powers won¡¯t be the same,¡± said Josie. ¡°But there¡¯s a chance that Doctor


    Alchemy can make gold, or Element Lad. I think I would prefer to test with Alchemy. Element Lad probably just changes his body to match elements which won¡¯t do us a lot of good.¡±


    ¡°How do we test it?,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°I just need a rock,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll see if Alchemy is on my list. Then I¡¯ll try to turn the rock to gold. Hopefully, I won¡¯t need the Philosopher¡¯s Stone to do it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    He went over the side. She worked the watch. She nodded when the name lit up. It looked like the watch didn¡¯t care which side of the fence the name was on.


    She thought that Alchemy might qualify as a hero since he had two identities and went straight. He was one of the few Rogues that had got his life together and got out of being a villain. His namesake showing up and taking over the villain gig was an evil twin plot of the Cary Bates kind.


    She waited for Jack to return with whatever they were going to use as a test subject. At the very least, the Doc might get them some kind of alchemical knowledge that would help them if they had the right ingredients.


    How much juice would he take to use? That would let her know how long she had to write any kind of exotic equation for their transformation sequence.


    Jack climbed back up on the roof. He put several scavenged rocks down next to each other. He stepped back.


    ¡°This might not work,¡± warned Josie.


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t, I¡¯ll turn into the Angel and see if I can do it with him,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re just testing what you can do.¡±


    ¡°You might want to get behind me, or move to the next roof,¡± said Josie. She placed her hand on the watch button. ¡°You don¡¯t want to be gold if I miss.¡±


    ¡°Good point.¡± Jack moved to stand directly behind Josie. It was still risky. What if the power worked like an aura. Still he didn¡¯t want to move to another roof to watch the action.


    ¡°Here we go,¡± said Josie. She pushed the button and transformed into a woman wearing a hooded tunic in dark blue, blue pants, and boots. She raised her hands. Writing surrounded the smallest rock. It transformed with a snap. The rest followed as soon as the circle of letters closed around them. She released the hero and returned to her smaller body and Mage shirt. ¡°I think it worked.¡±


    ¡°That looked cool,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It looked kind of like the runes from Eff Eme Ay,¡± said Josie. ¡°I actually didn¡¯t think it would work. Doctor Alchemy needed a rock to do his transformations. I was worried I would have to make one of those before I could do the rest.¡±


    ¡°It worked,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now we have money to get rooms and look at things without being considered beggars.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need to blend in,¡± said Josie. She waved her hands at her outlandish clothes.


    ¡°Just transform them,¡± said Jack. He picked up the gold. ¡°Duh.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that.¡±


    She paused.


    ¡°I can¡¯t change them while I¡¯m wearing them,¡± she said.


    ¡°Then take them off, transform them, put them back on,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We talked about this sexual harassment,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You are making things too complicated,¡± said Jack. ¡°Look around us. We¡¯re in a fairy tale trying to get out. I bet you half of these buildings don¡¯t have indoor plumbing. Think about that.¡±


    Josie looked around, examining the sprawl around them. She had realized there was no modern conveniences to be had, but somehow she had thought there would be plumbing. She didn¡¯t want to use a chamber pot.


    ¡°I¡¯m holding it until we get home,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t drink any of the water,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might get a taste of whatever they call Montezuma¡¯s Revenge here.¡±


    ¡°I hate you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why are you so happy?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t have to worry about the real world until I get home, and we don¡¯t know what the time difference is,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might be able to save gold from here to retire there when we do go back.¡±


    ¡°We still need someone to ask directions from,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No problem,¡± said Jack. He changed into a green thing with bones sticking out of its skin, too much jaw, and patches of hair. He crushed the gold into plates. He dropped the hero form. ¡°We¡¯ll need a bank to change our gold into something spendable.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where do we find the guy who¡¯ll help us?¡±


    ¡°On the street,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just follow me, and keep your eyes open for pickpockets.¡±


    He descended a trellis to land in an alley between their building and the next one. He waved for her to come down. She climbed down with the speed of a sloth. She realized she could have just flown down when she was close enough to drop the rest of the distance without hurting herself.


    ¡°Why are we climbing around?,¡± she complained. ¡°We could have flown.¡±


    ¡°That uses up power,¡± said Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t want to wait for the charge to fill up because we¡¯re lazy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not lazy,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just procrastinate.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He led the way through the crowd. ¡°We¡¯re looking for a spot where someone will talk to us without asking a lot of questions.¡±


    ¡°There were some women in the square,¡± said Josie. ¡°They might be friendly enough to point us in the right direction.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He kept his hands in his pockets as he walked. ¡°If we can¡¯t find a place to live, we could probably build one that no one would notice in this. Maybe turn it into a fort until we find the princess.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re probably going to have to travel around,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I have the Falcon to fly,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the others can do, and I don¡¯t want to find out in the middle of a town. I might knock over buildings just trying to move around in a hero body.¡±


    ¡°It looks like you were right about the animal names,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder where that puts me for Animal Man, and Beast Boy.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll be able to change into any animal you want,¡± said Jack. ¡°That would be an improvement over only being able to change into one animal.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you have an idea where we¡¯re going?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m moving with the crowd so all they see is the clothes so we don¡¯t have to do something stupid in the middle of a panic.¡±


    Josie thought that she could fry a bunch of the people around them with some of the firebased heroes that must be on the list in her watch.

 The Bank

    Josie watched the crowd as they walked the streets. Some of them watched them back. She stood out compared to the women around her. She must look like a hooker to the people.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to need some adventurer clothes,¡± she said. ¡°Everyone is looking at me.¡±


    ¡°Me too,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess we look like we¡¯ve been robbed and they took


    everything.¡±


    ¡°If we can get a room, I can see if Alchemy will work on our clothes,¡± said Josie. ¡°It might be only good for just changing from one element to another.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll figure that out when we find a place we can use,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m looking for something that looks like a bar. You see anything?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°How long do you think we have before the local police show up to ask us what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Hopefully not before I think of a lie I can tell them,¡± said Jack.


    Josie frowned at her friend. He was too cheerful about being lost in a place where he was expected to kill the local big monster for something they didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Are you okay, Jack?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Jack. ¡°Everything seems to be working just fine. I think being the Angel calmed me down a little as some kind of side effect. Something like that sees a lot of invisible stuff going on, but you have to make it relevant.¡±


    ¡°Is that how you found me falling?,¡± asked Josie. It made sense. How powerful were the artifacts on their arms? Could they call someone like Galactus as a hero? Did they want to?


    ¡°I was falling, and I wanted to find you,¡± said Jack. ¡°The fact what I got was not what I wanted was a fluke. The heightened senses zeroed in on you like that. But the power drain was enormous. That reminds me. I¡¯m hungry.¡±


    ¡°No money means no food,¡± said Josie. ¡°And we don¡¯t know how money works here.¡±


    Jack looked around. He didn¡¯t want to hand over one of their gold sheets without knowing what the value was. He needed someone trustworthy to help them. He zeroed in on a guy with a cart of fruit. He headed toward the fruit seller, not thinking about Josie switching directions to follow him.


    ¡°Hey, buddy,¡± said Jack, waving at the vendor as he approached. ¡°I was wondering if you could help us. We were robbed by some vagrants, and we need to find a bank to get some money to try to start over. Would you know where we could find one of those?¡±


    ¡°A bank?,¡± asked the vendor. ¡°There¡¯s a place to exchange money over in the other street over there. Just keep going the way you were going, turn right when you see the surly watchman, and then walk down until you see two big guys standing in front of a blue door. That should be the exchange.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re new in town, and it¡¯s been a bad time so far.¡±


    ¡°Welcome to Hawk Ridge,¡± said the vendor. ¡°Take a couple of apples with you. Your day can only go up from here.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Buddy,¡± said Jack. He picked two of the smallest apples and handed one to Josie. ¡°Name¡¯s Jack. I¡¯ll come by when things are going better.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the apple,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Have better luck, friends,¡± said the vendor. ¡°Name¡¯s Ken. Everyone in the square knows me.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. ¡°Have a good one, Ken.¡±


    Jack started off. Josie followed, waving at Ken as she went. She bit in the apple as she walked. Jack gave his to a passerby going into a building.


    ¡°This is good,¡± said Josie. She waved the half-eaten apple at her friend.


    ¡°Hate fruits,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s the surly watchman.¡±


    ¡°So we turn in the street and head down until we see two bouncers,¡± said Josie. ¡°The problem is will they let us in to do business dressed like this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried if we have to fight our way clear because I don¡¯t have a middle range fighter,¡± said Jack. ¡°I either have a bird, or Ultraman. I don¡¯t have anyone like Iron Fist, or Daredevil.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t?,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. Both the Karate Kid and Richard Dragon was on the list. If she had to fight, those were the guys she would start with and maybe switch to Supergirl to use the skills and speed that hero had.


    ¡°I have them, but I¡¯m afraid of what they would be when I called them,¡± said Jack. ¡°Iron Fist might just be a guy with a metal hand instead of the martial arts guy who can take down the Hulk.¡±


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    ¡°Try Shang Chi if you have to fight,¡± said Josie. ¡°I remember he was one of Marvel¡¯s fighters, and his name is just a name, so there¡¯s not a lot of play in what the watch can do to change him.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need to take some time and experiment so we know which ones are more useful in what situation.¡±


    ¡°We need to think about walking into this place with some gold, and hoping they won¡¯t rob us,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Of course, they are going to try to rob us,¡± said Jack. ¡°The gold is free to us, but it will cost them something to just buy it off of us.¡±


    ¡°Unless they try to steal it from us,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Which is why I¡¯m going to need you to get ready to fight while I negotiate,¡± Jack said. ¡°If we have to rob them to make our escape, I¡¯m good with that.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t use to be ready to rob people,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I used to rob people all the time,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have layers, you know.¡±


    ¡°You kind of look like Shrek,¡± said Josie. She smiled.


    ¡°Just be ready to go when I¡¯m ready to go,¡± said Jack. He shook his head as he led the way down the street. He nodded when he saw the two guards standing at the door. ¡°Gold Exchange and Monies.¡±


    Josie hoped the Karate Kid would be all right for what they were doing. She wanted someone who could tell them if they were being lied to while making the deal.


    Someone like Hector Hammond would be useful if the powers worked the same way. She didn¡¯t want to risk it if she couldn¡¯t control anything he might have other than telepathy.


    Jack was right. They needed to unlock and use more heroes to figure out what was useful and what was not. At least the Legion should give her a range without too much change.


    She hung back as Jack walked up and talked to the bouncers. He nodded at their reply. One of them opened the door. Jack waved her forward. He led the way into the building, looking around.


    Josie looked at the black stone set for the floor, carved columns holding up the roof, and a heavy counter with bars to protect the tellers from robbery. She supposed that was what the bars were for.


    She wondered how many times somebody tried to rob the place. Magic had to exist in this world. Did they stop magicians from trying to get through the walls.


    She concentrated on the walls. She spotted writing at the base of the walls. It could be some kind of rune system. Maybe it kept people out of the building unless they came in through the front door.


    Maybe it summoned a monstrous watchdog to protect the bank in the night.


    Jack walked up to the counter. He smiled at the ladies working behind the bars. They smiled back at him.


    They looked faker than usual to Josie. She didn¡¯t say anything. It wasn¡¯t up to her to tell workers to enjoy their job more.


    ¡°We¡¯re new in town, and we have had a run of bad luck,¡± said Jack. ¡°A local vendor said you could give us real money for gold. Is that true?¡±


    ¡°It depends on what kind of gold you are talking about,¡± said the counter lady forced to deal with Jack. ¡°What kind of gold?¡±


    ¡°I have four sheets,¡± said Jack. He showed them the gold sheets he had created from the rocks she had transformed. ¡°They¡¯re all the same.¡±


    ¡°I would have to test this,¡± said the counter lady. ¡°Can you wait here?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll be glad to do that.¡±


    The dialers stepped away from the counter. Josie figured the place was wired for sound somehow. How should she talk about the rune system?


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll have a problem with the gold?,¡± she asked. She nodded at the runes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Jack. He looked at the base of the wall. He nodded at the line of letters. ¡°I¡¯m more worried about getting out of here. This place is making my creep factor start up.¡±


    ¡°Creep factor?,¡± asked Josie. She was almost afraid of the explanation.


    ¡°It¡¯s like spider sense,¡± said Jack. ¡°If the regular creep factor was a Twinkie, the creep factor of this building and staff would be the size of a Labrador.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Josie.


    The counter lady returned with the sheet of gold. She put it on the counter and waved Jack back to her. He checked her colleagues, but nothing seemed wrong.


    ¡°I had this checked and talked with the floor manager,¡± said the counter lady. ¡°We can change your gold into currency and put it in an account that will be covered by any Gold Exchange in the country.¡±


    ¡°How many are those?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Twenty five right now,¡± said the counter lady. ¡°We¡¯re always expanding.¡±


    ¡°So how much would four sheets like that be worth?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°About six hundred silver,¡± said the counter lady.


    ¡°How much would a brick be worth?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°A brick?,¡± said the teller. She looked around the room.


    ¡°A brick of gold,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It would have to be weighed but I think a few thousand silver at the low end is all I can guarantee,¡± said the counter lady.


    ¡°I¡¯ll sign the paperwork,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have four sheets of gold, so that will be twenty four hundred silver. My associate is going to need to be able to access this account too.¡±


    Josie waved her fingers to indicate she was the associate.


    ¡°And we¡¯re going to need some silver to take with us since we¡¯re going to need to buy clothes and get lodging for the next few days,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is that doable?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, sir,¡± said the counter lady. ¡°If you¡¯ll fill out the paperwork, I will pull out your ledger and start your account.¡±


    The counter lady handed Jack the paperwork and walked away. He handed the paperwork to Josie. She had more experience dealing with banks and agreements.


    ¡°The fees on this is usurious,¡± Josie said after reading the paperwork. ¡°They are charging you an arm and leg to use their services.¡±


    ¡°Do we go somewhere else, or do we put up with it?,¡± said Jack. ¡°What are our options?¡±


    ¡°We need more information,¡± said Josie. ¡°Right now, we have no choice unless you want to make gold counterfeits. I think I could do that if I had an idea of what the money looked like.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s pretend we¡¯re not criminals and sign the paperwork,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then if we start having problems, we rob the bank and get our money back.¡±


    ¡°I can get the clothes and change them as Alchemy,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now that I have an idea of what people wear, I can match that well enough.¡±


    ¡°And we need a base of operations, and a place to get information,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can try for rooms at an inn, or maybe buy a house on the cheap. Then we¡¯re going to need someone who knows the local news that we don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad Mr. Warner isn¡¯t tangled up in this,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°But he¡¯s a bigger fan than us. He¡¯d probably be able to use his watch better than we can.¡±

 The Bell Tower

    Jack hummed as he led the way out of the bank. He had a bag of silver in his pocket, a watch that let him become other people with powers, and a goal he could accomplish in a world from War of Warcraft.


    And if he couldn¡¯t accomplish his goal, he could become a villain and rob people while roaming around.


    He doubted he would even try to complete the quests if Josie wasn¡¯t trailing around behind him.


    He was going to keep that to himself. He didn¡¯t need her thinking he would just leave her on her own. That might cause her to do something destructive to the city around them.


    He didn¡¯t really care about the city. The people were just moving targets getting in his way. That was even more so now that he had something that gave him the ability to do anything he wanted.


    The quests flashed at him. Apparently they didn¡¯t like the thought he might just retire instead of doing what they wanted. That was interesting.


    Could they take the watch back if he didn¡¯t make a move in a direction they liked?


    How much time did they have before they couldn¡¯t fulfil the first three quests, the prime quests? He frowned as he considered his options. They had to do something about the main quests to keep the watches. He didn¡¯t like it, but it looked like unlimited power came with some limited responsibility.


    ¡°We know where the bog hound and the doomed town are,¡± Jack said. ¡°Which one do you want to try out first?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try the town,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have no way to tame a hound. I don¡¯t even like dogs.¡±


    ¡°I thought about not even trying,¡± said Jack. ¡°The quest list shouted at me in anger.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± said Josie. ¡°The quests are why we¡¯re here. If we don¡¯t try to get them done, we might be stuck here without working watches.¡±


    ¡°That would be horrible,¡± said Jack. ¡°Neither one of us have the skills to live here other than as petty criminals.¡±


    ¡°Speak for yourself,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have dozens of skills I can turn into a job here. I just don¡¯t want to live here.¡±


    Jack shrugged. He had no idea she knew that much practical stuff.


    ¡°Let¡¯s ask our friend, Ken, where Accordly and Lake Myra happens to be,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we can figure out how to get out there from here. We might have to come back here to town, so maybe we should think about renting rooms until we get back. I wonder how we should do that.¡±


    ¡°We should ask about the other quests too,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to deal with them sooner, or later.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder if there is some kind of mystery around the


    Princess going missing.¡±


    ¡°There might be something going on that someone else is taking the blame and no one can really look into it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I mean we¡¯re the only ones here who don¡¯t owe anything to anyone.¡±


    Jack nodded. It made sense to him. If a dealer, or a bag boy, got robbed, they couldn¡¯t go to the cops and complain someone had taken their drugs or money. Instead they put the word out and waited for someone to snitch to get a bounty, or favor from highers up.


    A princess in trouble could mean that another country was trying to explain they weren¡¯t behind things. Some paranoia and anger might be on the Princess¡¯s side of things. There might be hawks on both sides calling for fighting.


    He didn¡¯t have an idea on the Dark Rider, but it sounded like a Ghost Rider. They might have to figure out how to split the power from the rider when they needed to get things done.


    That might be a good use of his Angel. Would the Dark Rider be able to stand up to the minute of power he could bring to bear? He was bound to try.


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    He spotted the vendor at his stand. The man looked surprised to see them, but he covered it up with a smile.


    Jack grinned back, putting on his mask as he watched the market around him. The first reaction put him on guard. Their new friend might not be as honest as they first thought.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Ken,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Exchange gave us some money, so we wanted to come by and thank you again. We have some other questions that we thought you could help us with before we have to leave town. Would you mind?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to talk right now, or later?,¡± asked Ken. He handed off three apples, and some broccoli to a matron.


    ¡°Do you know an Inn we can stay at for the next few hours?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°There¡¯s one a few streets over called the Bell Tower,¡± said Ken. ¡°I¡¯ll be glad to meet you there when I am done for the day.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Ken,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll see you there.¡±


    ¡°Something wrong?,¡± asked Josie. She tried not to look at the vendor as they walked away.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. He decided to walk three streets over, checking the


    intersections as he went. ¡°He seemed surprised to see us.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Got no clue,¡± said Jack. He paused when he saw a bread loaf with a spike sticking out of it. He smiled. ¡°There¡¯s the inn he recommended. Should we go down there and talk to them, or look for some place else to crash and then meet Ken later?¡±


    ¡°How bad do you think this is?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I have no clue,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can totally ask around for another inn.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can use it for a home base for right now,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re not going to be here long if we have to travel to find this Bog Hound, or Lake Myra.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might be hinky, but we¡¯re only going to be here for one day, maybe two, then we¡¯re flying out to deal with the important things.¡±


    ¡°Long enough for us to get adventurer clothes, and fit in a little better,¡± said Josie. ¡°I like it. It¡¯s simple. It reduces trouble.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m for that,¡± said Jack. ¡°You going to keep your lightning?¡±


    ¡°You keeping Deadpool?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I was thinking of trying something else to be scarier like the circle x or the arrow a from the Avengers,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s understandable,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can always get the Marvel star.¡±


    ¡°So we can be a matching pair,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°You can be Captain Marvel, and I can be ten Captain Marvels.¡±


    ¡°But my Captain Marvel will always be better,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°At being a big red cheese,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°At least mine didn¡¯t get Cancer,¡± said Josie. ¡°With ten others trying to seize the name.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a low blow, Jo,¡± said Jack. He clutched his heart in fake injury. ¡°I might


    never be able to talk to you again.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. ¡°At least none of your Marvels split into pieces and rushed around like that.¡±


    ¡°I know, right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Wait. There was a Captain Marvel that did that?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Josie. ¡°His magic word was Splitzam.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re putting me on,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Check it when you get home,¡± said Josie. ¡°He won¡¯t be on either of our watches. He¡¯s a hero from Harvey, or Columbia.¡±


    ¡°I thought Harvey did Casper and Richie Rich,¡± said Jack. He led the way up to the front of the inn. A sign next to the door proudly proclaimed he had come to the right place.


    ¡°They did superheroes before that,¡± said Josie. ¡°They had Dracula as a super Batman for instance.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Really,¡± confirmed Josie.


    They walked inside and looked around at the people taking up spots at their tables, and the long counter. A lot of them looked at the two strangers. Jack waved at the crowd.


    ¡°Can I help you?,¡± said a waitress. She frowned at their appearances.


    ¡°We need some food, some beer, a room, and a clothing shop,¡± said Jack. ¡°My friend needs some traveling clothes.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the waitress. ¡°The food and beer I can do in a few minutes, a room in a bit, and there is a clothing shop a few places down that can help with your wardrobe.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is it okay if we talk to the tailor while you rustle up the grub?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be fine,¡± said the waitress. ¡°It¡¯ll give the place a chance to clear out before the dinner crowd comes in.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get you some clothes, Jo. Then we can feast.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll be back in a few minutes.¡±


    Jack waved at the crowd again before they left. He looked up and down the street.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see a shop coming down from the main road,¡± said Jack. ¡°Keep walking?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that,¡± said Josie. She pushed her hair out of her face.


    ¡°What do you think about the town so far?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It reminds me of places in Europe before they invented the car,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m surprised we haven¡¯t seen any horses around.¡±


    ¡°They might be penned up so the streets are clear,¡± said Jack. ¡°I did see a cart being pulled earlier.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for that. I just assumed there would be more.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. He checked the front of stores as they walked. ¡°I think this is the place. Let¡¯s go in and see if they are as friendly as the rest of the people we have met so far.¡±


    ¡°I hope Ken can tell us something about our quests so we can get this over,¡± said Josie. ¡°Living in the past doesn¡¯t seem so charming without plumbing.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how we¡¯re supposed to tame the Bog Hound,¡± said Jack. ¡°Sounds like a Ghostbusters episode.¡±


    ¡°I forgot about that,¡± said Josie. She rubbed her face. ¡°That¡¯s the one with the four leaf clover.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s what we¡¯ll need to settle things,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯s horrible,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get some tougher clothes, and then food,¡± said Jack. ¡°My stomach wants something inside of it.¡±

 I, Vampire

    Josie and Jack went inside the tailoring establishment. Josie inspected the materials, touched everything, asked questions about costs and time to assemble a small wardrobe.


    Jack asked if they had anything in his size, and could he grab it right then.


    The staff seemed insulted with his callousness, but they doted on Josie. She smiled as she ordered three outfits that were essentially shirt, pants, vest, and cloak in different colors and materials.


    ¡°Could you send everything down to the Bell Tower when it¡¯s done,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re booking rooms there until we figure out where we have to go.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Jack. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know where Lake Myra is, do you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about forty miles north of here,¡± said one of the assistant tailors. ¡°Most of the city¡¯s water and fish are from there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Jack. He handed the man a silver piece. ¡°That¡¯ll save us a lot of work.¡±


    Jack paid for everything, handing over a little more to make sure that clothing would get to the inn as soon as it was made.


    ¡°Do we have enough to cover a stay at the inn?,¡± Josie asked. She tried not to stare at a man turning into an alley ahead. He looked familiar.


    ¡°Depends on how much they charge,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have enough to cover tonight, maybe tomorrow. Too bad we don¡¯t have the Internet. Google would be a big help.¡±


    ¡°The mapping would be good,¡± said Josie. She tapped the phone in her pocket. ¡°Just being able to text would let us split up to take care of things without having to worry about where we were.¡±


    ¡°After I eat, I¡¯m thinking about flying up and getting a bead on this Lake Myra and see if that guy was right,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°How long do you think that will take?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The Falcon is pretty fast for a bird,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could fly up there, look around, and be back by nightfall.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll give me a chance to take a nap,¡± said Josie. ¡°I feel tired all of a sudden. Maybe it¡¯s jet lag.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°The time seems almost in sync with our world. Maybe we lucked out with the time differential.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once we have everything set, we can push these quests over. How hard can it be?¡±


    ¡°Hard enough they drafted two geeks from another world so we have to do some Kunosuba crap to get home,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Are there other people with watches?,¡± Josie frowned as she asked the question.


    ¡°If there are, are they on our side?,¡± said Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t need guys trying to get our watches because they couldn¡¯t get the job done.¡±


    ¡°Good point on that,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the Bell Tower. ¡°Let¡¯s go in and get rooms and food. You can do your recon while I nap, then we can come up with a plan.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to meet Ken in a few hours,¡± reminded Jack. ¡°He might have more information for us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be ready,¡± said Josie.


    They stepped in the inn. The crowd had thinned out in the few minutes they had been shopping. The waitress smiled when she saw them. She waved them to a table full of empty plates. She whisked the debris away as they sat down.


    ¡°I wonder what they have,¡± said Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t get to choose unless they have more than one thing cooking in the back.¡±


    ¡°Probably some kind of stew,¡± said Josie. ¡°Anything would be good right now.¡±


    ¡°On one hand, I don¡¯t care whether we stay here, or not, but I would like to know what¡¯s really going on,¡± said Jack. ¡°I doubt we were picked at random.¡±


    ¡°I was picked,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think they didn¡¯t expect me to split the watches. What would you get if you had both of them, the Amalgam Universe?¡±


    ¡°What would you get if you had all three?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°If we knew what was on that watch, we could guess,¡± said Josie. ¡°There were a lot of comic book companies that folded up at the end of the forties. There might be three different versions of the Black Cat combined into one hero to use.¡±


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    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know there were three versions of Cat Man.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie.


    The waitress came back with mugs full of beer. She put them on the table.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have plates ready for you in a minute,¡± said the waitress.


    ¡°Could I have a double portion, please?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be fine,¡± said the waitress. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Were you able to get rooms for us?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°We asked the tailor shop down the street to drop our clothes here.¡±


    ¡°We do have two rooms at the end of the hall upstairs,¡± said the woman. ¡°Master Comb, the keep, said he would charge you a silver a night.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Josie.


    The waitress whisked away, dealing with other customers on the way back to the kitchen.


    ¡°This beer is a lot bitterer than what I¡¯m used to,¡± said Jack. He took another sip of his drink. ¡°It seems a little strong.¡±


    Josie took a sip of hers. She grimaced. The taste was bitter, and held on. It didn¡¯t resemble the beer at home at all.


    ¡°You could get drunk on one of these mugs if you¡¯re not careful,¡± said Jack. He pushed his mug away.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. She kept her mug near her hand, but decided to wait until the food came before she tried any more. Maybe it would grow on her.


    ¡°If these quests don¡¯t work out, we can start our own distillery,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± said Josie.


    The waitress returned with a plate of meat and veggies for Josie. A bowl of soup was on the side. She set everything down before assuring Jack his plate would be right up.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to cut this with,¡± said Josie. ¡°Everybody has a knife. We


    should have grabbed two from somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Eat it with your fingers,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a barbarian,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Take my pocket knife,¡± said Jack. He handed over his Swiss pocket knife. ¡°I¡¯ll use my fingers.¡±


    Josie took the knife and cut her slab into sections with a little effort. She stabbed a piece and put it in her mouth. She nodded at the taste.


    ¡°It tastes good,¡± she said. She stabbed another piece and put that in her mouth to chew.


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± said Jack.


    The waitress returned with two plates of meat and vegetables, and two bowls of soup. She plopped them in front of him and stepped back.


    ¡°This looks good,¡± said Jack. He picked up one of the bowls and sipped at the


    contents. ¡°I¡¯m really hungry.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said the waitress. ¡°Let me get you a spoon.¡±


    She walked back to the kitchen.


    ¡°I guess she thought you weren¡¯t going to eat,¡± said Josie. She smiled as she stabbed another piece of meat.


    ¡°Like the great Wesley Snipes said,¡± said Jack, sipping his soup. ¡°There¡¯s always some clown trying to iceskate uphill.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the right wording,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The sentiment is the same,¡± said Jack.


    Josie smiled.


    They went through the meal. She felt loggy the more she ate, and her arms felt stiff when she tried to move them. She needed a nap more than she thought.


    ¡°I can hang around until you get through your nap,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Go ahead and take your look around,¡± said Josie. ¡°One of us has to stay active to show we¡¯re doing what we¡¯re supposed to do. We can¡¯t let the watches think we¡¯re not going to do anything. We can¡¯t afford to lose them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get you up to your room. I¡¯ll fly up and come back


    before Ken shows up for our meeting.¡±


    Jack got the room numbers. He didn¡¯t like there were no keys to lock the rooms up when they were out. He helped Josie up the stairs and down the short hall to her room. His room was across the hall. He frowned at that. He had wanted rooms right next to each other.


    The inside of the door had a lock bar. He liked that a little better. He helped Josie stagger inside, and placed her on the bed. Then he pulled the bar in place. A pull moved the clothing chest in front of the door.


    ¡°Are you going to be all right?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Go,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me sleep. Take enough notes in case we need a map.¡±


    Jack went to the window. He eased out on the sill and pulled the window closed behind him. He turned into the Falcon and flew away with a flap of his wings.


    Josie woke up to a pain in her face. She blinked. Fog covered her vision. She


    suppressed a groan to try to look around.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake,¡± said a guy in a doublet and pants. ¡°Good. I want you to know what¡¯s going to happen to you.¡±


    Josie realized they had taken her clothes and chained her to a wall. She still had her watch. All she needed to do was to select someone and call them.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell you what¡¯s going to happen to you,¡± said Josie. She pulled her forearms together. There was enough slack for that. The cuff had been slipped at the edge of the watch. She couldn¡¯t turn the dial much, but she nodded at the choices it gave her. She rolled the face to light the name of the hero.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?,¡± said the guy. He smiled. ¡°This should be precious.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you, all of your friends, everyone that ever dealt with you,¡± said Josie. A quest lit up in her head and this one had a large number of targets attached to it. ¡°I¡¯m going to take everything from you with a push of a button.¡±


    The guy jumped forward, reaching for the watch. Josie pushed the button. He landed in the arms of a taller woman with longer, redder hair and red eyes. He tried to pull back but she was far stronger than he was.


    ¡°This wouldn¡¯t have happened if you had just walked on,¡± said the Vampire.


    Everything that made him what he was went to her in a flow of red. She let a skeleton crumble on the floor.


    Josie stepped out of the chains, and went to the door. She heard sounds and screams. She pulled her door open and stepped out in the dungeon. Jack would find her eventually. She knew that. She planned to be done before he got there. He didn¡¯t need to see what was going to happen in her abattoir.


    She went from room to room. The screams went with her. Before they had been women and girls. Then they¡¯re were the men she seized. Then the tinkling collapse of bone followed that.


    Everyone she killed added on to the time she could be the Vampire. She smiled at that. That gave her plenty of time to clear the building. Then she needed to find her clothes. When she changed back, she didn¡¯t want to be naked.


    She pursed her lips as she thought about taking one of them alive. Did she really need that? She decided that she needed someone to talk to so she find the rest of the rats.


    Turning on the Vampire would make the rest easy.

 Onceover Accordly

    Jack liked flying. There was something about having the wind in your face as you glided along. He wondered if he had something faster than the Falcon. He wanted to go faster than what a bird could do.


    Marvel had a host of characters who had flight as their secondary transport power, but the way the watch worked, he could pick Nova and blow up the planet.


    That would be a big oops.


    The Angel had been a big enough surprise. He had thought he was getting a winged guy. He hadn¡¯t expected a power to change the face of the world. He had lucked out not killing himself and Josie.


    The Falcon knew which way was north. Instinct pointed the way. He supposed it came with the bird body. He was high enough he could see the lake in the distance. He checked the time on his watch. He needed to head toward the ground.


    He dove in a long glide toward a road he had spotted heading up to the water. He figured that he could walk a little ways to let the watch charge again, then transform back to the Falcon and fly the rest of the way to Lake Myra.


    Then he would have to ask for directions to the doomed village.


    That should be a lot of fun.


    Maybe he would get lucky and the towns around the lake posted signs for travelers. That would help him a lot. If he found one of those, that should help him get to his destination, give him time to look it over, and get back to Josie.


    Meeting Ken and getting some answers for his questions would be a bonus, but he was more concerned about Josie. He had Doctors Strange and Druid in his call list. He might have to use them to find out what was going on.


    He liked to think he was a tough guy, but she was tougher than he was. Just having to sleep like that said she had caught something from the fantasy land they were in. He didn¡¯t like that at all.


    He landed on the road just as the timer ran down. His bird body exploded away to let him start walking on human legs toward the lake.


    He checked the counter on his watch as he walked. He had a bit before it was


    recharged. He wondered what recharged it. Was it his body movement? Was it something in the air? Was it stealing his soul like a warlock, or devil, or devil


    warlock?


    He had Warlock on the watch. He bet himself that he wouldn¡¯t get a kooky alien if he used that body.


    He wondered how common bandits were in this neck of the woods. He hated to run into some robbers while his watch was recharging. He supposed that he must look like a poor target. Everyone would think he was broke.


    Rich people and merchants used carriages. Poor people walked, or rode horses out of Disney¡¯s Sleepy Hollow.


    Gunpowder was smarter than his rider.


    Jack found a sign. His village was to the left. He wondered how far to the left it was. He needed someone to give him an idea of the distance.


    He walked to the closest village. He noted the docks on the lake. Fishermen would have no need for a landlubber like him. He kept an eye open for the local watering hole. Someone there would know where Accordly was. Then he could fly there and try to figure out how to save it.


    That was probably more in Josie¡¯s bag than his.


    He was a lot better at blowing stuff up than being able to put the stuff together in the first place.


    He should have waited until he talked to Ken and found out more information.


    He saw a place with a sign that said Workman¡¯s Rest. He decided that would be the place to ask directions. Then he could move on.


    Jack walked into the saloon. One old guy ran the bar. A younger guy wiped the tables. They looked enough alike to be related. He waved at them as he headed for the bar.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± Jack asked when he hit the long wooden counter. It looked like it had come off a boat. ¡°I was wondering if I could get a drink and if you could give me directions to a place called Accordly.¡±


    ¡°Why would you want to go there?,¡± asked the Bartender. He gave Jack a glare with his sunken beady eyes.


    ¡°I got a call,¡± said Jack. ¡°Someone needed a hand up there. I come up from Hawk Ridge in the south.¡±


    ¡°The walled city?,¡± asked the Bartender.


    ¡°It still had them when I left,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m just hoping to look the job over, then talk things over with my partner. If the job is legitimate, we might look into it. Right now, I just need to find the place and figure out what¡¯s wrong up there.¡±


    ¡°Accordly is about ten more miles down the Lake Road that you came in on,¡± said the Bartender. ¡°There¡¯s a big rock on the lake right before you get there. As for what kind of trouble there might be, I have no idea. People are saying that lights dance in the sky over the town at night. If there¡¯s any trouble with that, I don¡¯t know how you are going to fix it.¡±


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Lights in the sky?,¡± said Jack. ¡°That could be anything from something burning in the ground, to lightning because people are touching something they shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°People are giving Accordly a wide berth until whatever it is stops,¡± said the


    Bartender.


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who wants to get mixed up in something no one


    understands?¡±


    ¡°That was my thought too,¡± said the Bartender.


    ¡°Let me have a pint of whatever you got,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to hit the road. I have to try to get back to the city to talk to my partner before something comes up.¡±


    The Bartender grabbed a mug. He went to a barrel on a cradle and opened the spigot to let the beer inside drain in the wooden cup. He handed the cup to Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s on the house,¡± said the Bartender.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. He sipped the beer. ¡°This is really good. If I had any friends, I would tell them about this. This is really good.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for that,¡± said the Bartender. ¡°Good luck up at Accordly.¡±


    Jack put a silver piece down on the bar after he finished his beer. He headed


    for the door. He waved at the men as he stepped out in the street and turned right.


    He wondered what kind of hero he could use to figure things out.


    He decided to test out heroes to see what each of them did as he walked around the lake. That should give him an idea of what each of them could do. He could just switch bodies on the same charge until the watch ran out of power. Then he could walk around Accordly while he waited for the recharge. Then he could head back to Hawk Ridge to check on Josie.


    He started with the Avengers. Captain America immediately went into his fighting cue. Scarlet Witch also went on the list. The Vision had vision powers, good for detective work, but not for anything else. Thor was the closest to his comic book counterpart. The rest were twisted around their names into something else.


    Makkari and Ikaris were good movement heroes, even if they were weaker than their sources. All that mattered was that he had a speedster which meant he could get anywhere in a few seconds.


    Quicksilver, the nominal speedster of the setting, was a blob of living metal to the watch.


    His experimenting carried him to Accordly. He looked the town over. It looked


    perfectly ordinary to him, like every other town he had passed through to get there. He didn¡¯t see why it would be destroyed while the others still stood.


    He needed to spend more time looking around, but he had to get back to Hawk Ridge. Maybe Ken knew something he didn¡¯t.


    Maybe he was supposed to land in Accordly instead of the big city. The locals would have told him what the problem was, and he would have already fixed it with his watch. Maybe he wasn¡¯t supposed to help Josie at all.


    He wasn¡¯t going to do that. If he didn¡¯t have Josie, he didn¡¯t have a reason to help anybody.


    He put on Makkari and ran back to Hawk Ridge. He smiled when he was at the wall in a couple of seconds. It was a little more effort than flying, but it was also way faster. He switched and used the rest of his power to fly to the Bell Tower.


    He entered Josie¡¯s room through the window and switched back. He frowned. She was gone with no note. The door was still barricaded. He checked the timer on his watch. It would be a bit before it was back to full power.


    Who did he have he could use as a detective? Mister Fantastic? Daredevil? The Punisher, maybe?


    The watch topped off and he decided to try Wolverine first. Becoming a bad tempered quadruped with a great sniffer told him people had come into the room from the window. They had taken Josie out while she was asleep.


    One of them was still close according to his snout. He looked over and realized one of the kidnapers had stayed behind as a cover in case he came back and started asking questions.


    They hadn¡¯t known he would be able to identify them from the way they smelled.


    Score one for Team Reed.


    Jack switched to a couple of forms, settling on what he could get from Beast. He leaped across to the other window. He would have been embarrassed by what was going on, but he was already angry, so embarrassment at catching two people in the act of intercourse was mitigated.


    The man had quick reflexes. He almost reached his sword where it lay by the bed before Jack grabbed him in a furry paw and yanked him in the air, and then slammed him against the floor.


    Jack checked the numbers on his furry arm. He had time to ask some questions before he had to switch back.


    ¡°Where is the woman from the next room?,¡± he asked. His voice had a lot more growls than he liked. ¡°Don¡¯t lie. I know you took her.¡±


    He slammed the man against the floor when he didn¡¯t answer immediately.


    ¡°They¡¯re selling her,¡± said the woman. She had the bed sheet wrapped around her. ¡°They took her to sell her. They take women and girls, drug them, and then mark them. Then they sell them. Once they have been marked, they have to obey anyone designated as their master.¡±


    She stood and turned around. A flower decorated her back.


    ¡°Where?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the woman. ¡°Somewhere by the wall.¡±


    ¡°Do you know where?,¡± Jack asked his victim.


    ¡°No,¡± said the man. It sounded like no. It was hard to tell because something like a gorilla had him by the neck and was squeezing tight with long fingers.


    ¡°Then I don¡¯t need you,¡± said Jack. He flung the man out the window. ¡°I¡¯m going to find my friend, then I¡¯m coming back to burn this place down. It¡¯s up to you whether you want to tell everyone to get out.¡±


    ¡°Some of them don¡¯t know,¡± said the woman. ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to tell people.¡±


    Jack realized that picking something that wasn¡¯t human looking had given him the free answers he needed. Could he break the slavery control with one of his heroes? He thought he could.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming back,¡± said Jack. ¡°If my friend is hurt, I¡¯m going to be angrier than


    what I am now. Maybe we can take the tattoo off your back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait,¡± said the woman. She picked up her dress. ¡°What do I say about this?¡±


    ¡°Tell them the truth,¡± said Jack. ¡°Tell them that they kidnaped someone who has a friend that will rip up this town to find her. And if she¡¯s hurt, I¡¯m going to be really mad.¡±


    He climbed out the window. He ignored the crowd around the guy he had thrown out of the window. He had places to be, and not a lot of time to get there. He paused on the roof to switch to the Vision with the time he had left on his watch. He scanned the city. He found Josie chained to a wall in some building pushed up on the wall.


    He supposed that was to let them smuggle women out of the city and put them on the road to other places.


    That was over.


    He switched to Makkari to get to the building. He still had time. He switched to the Scarlet Witch and hexed the door into a corroded mass that crumbled out of his way. He paused at the fragments of bone he discovered in the first hallway.


    ¡°Josie!,¡± he called out. ¡°Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Up here, Jack,¡± came the reply. ¡°I¡¯m upstairs.¡±


    Jack jogged up an open wooden stairwell. He should have known that Josie wouldn¡¯t be the one that needed rescuing.

 Hex

    Josie looked at her captive. He was the only she had let live. She needed answers. She couldn¡¯t get that from a dead man.


    Maybe she could with the right hero on call. It was something she could try to figure out in the future. Another quest dinged in her head.


    She shook her head.


    A more heroic version of Jack appeared in a red suit, cape, and crown. He took in the scene with a glance. He lowered his hand.


    ¡°Can you watch him for me, Jack?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to find my clothes.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you want to talk about this?¡±


    ¡°Not now,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe later.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting for you to get back.¡±


    Josie nodded as she left the office. She heard Jack ask about the piece of metal she had wrapped around her captive. She had taken it from one of the dead guards and put it to good use in her mind.


    She had ripped through the place like a hungry wolf pack through a herd of sheep. They hadn¡¯t been prepared for the level of violence she had committed to using. She ignored the scattered bones as she walked back to her cell.


    She needed her clothes. When her hero ran out, she was back to being naked. Jack wouldn¡¯t mind, but she did. And her Mage shirt was something she planned to give to her kids when she had them.


    She wasn¡¯t sure she was going to have them the way she was going. She wondered what the death penalty was like for being a witch in this world. She put that thought aside.


    She would probably go down fighting something she wasn¡¯t supposed to be fighting for a world that didn¡¯t even know her.


    How did she get dragged into this?


    She returned to her cell and let the Vampire go. She searched the sparse room and found her clothes thrown on the filthy floor. She fumed at that. She hung everything up and used Alchemy to clean them with the last of the charge in her watch.


    She was glad she killed the dungeoneers. They deserved it for crumpling up her shirt.


    She stepped back out in the hall. The girls were still crying in their cells. Had she left them manacled in place? She must have. She had to do something about that before she got on with the rest of her business.


    ¡°Hey!,¡± Josie called. ¡°We¡¯re going to get you out of here in a few minutes. Just settle down. I have to ask the guy in charge some questions, then my friend and I will cut you loose. We¡¯re not going to hurt you.¡±


    That didn¡¯t stop the crying, but it quieted down while she was listening. She nodded. She hoped she could help them. She didn¡¯t want to put them back out on the street if she had better options.


    She went back up to the office. She had to get some answers if she wanted to track down the rest of the organization.


    Jack was snooping around the office in his normal form. He had pushed the head guy¡¯s chair against the fireplace while he looked around. He nodded at her when she walked into the room.


    ¡°How did you find me so fast?,¡± asked Josie. She crossed her arms.


    ¡°I talked to a guy and his slave at the Bell Tower,¡± said Jack. ¡°Did you know they give the women they take a drug that makes them slaves. The women all have a rose on their back from what she said.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t give me this drug,¡± said Josie. ¡°Wait. They were going to give it to me before I changed and used I, Vampire.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to do about this?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I have a quest to wipe these people out,¡± said Josie. She turned her frown on her one captive. ¡°So I need their names so I can get started.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know that so you¡¯re wasting your time,¡± said the head guy. He grinned at her. ¡°I¡¯m protected. If you do anything to me, you will spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder.¡±


    ¡°We want your people to come after us,¡± said Josie. ¡°That will make our job that much easier. When we¡¯re done, we won¡¯t have anything to worry about as far as your Montrose is concerned. You¡¯ll all be dead.¡±


    ¡°Actually, where are your books?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Books?,¡± said the chief. ¡°What books?¡±


    ¡°Your ledgers, your paperwork,¡± said Jack. ¡°You know. Your records.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re in code,¡± said the chief. ¡°They won¡¯t do you any good.¡±


    Jack checked his watch. He frowned at what it told him. He tapped the desk with his fingers.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s fair,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell us where they are?¡±


    ¡°Why would I do that?,¡± asked the trafficker. ¡°The next man in my position needs them more than you two.¡±


    Josie felt her face flush as anger coursed through her system. Jack waved a hand at her. She looked at him. She wanted to turn back into the Vampire and use it slowly on this man. She wanted to reduce him to bones as slowly as she could so she could enjoy it.


    ¡°What¡¯s your quest, Josie?,¡± said Jack. He checked the timer on his watch.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°I have to kill the hundred plus kay members of the Montrose,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m ready to get started with what I have here.¡±


    ¡°How many mages do you have on your watch?,¡± asked Jack. He tapped the desk again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think I could count on Zatara and Zatanna because of their names, Sargon, the two Doctors. I¡¯m not sure about the Spectre, or Phantom Stranger, and Ibis would probably turn me into a bird. Maybe Mark Mystic and Ra-Man if I stretched it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s probably some edge cases from ordinary guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°Like Angel. I have the Scarlet Witch for sure. Throws hexes. That¡¯s how I got through the front door so fast. Hexed the door and it corroded away.¡±


    ¡°Is this leading somewhere?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Did you know you could hex a group of people?,¡± asked Jack. He checked his watch.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°How many people?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know off hand,¡± said Jack. ¡°I saw it as an option. I might need some help with the size of the group you¡¯re talking about. I couldn¡¯t kill them all in one stroke. That would be asking too much, but I could do something.¡±


    ¡°Could you mark them?,¡± said Josie. She saw how he was thinking now.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you sure you want to go through with this? You might be killing people for a decade.¡±


    ¡°I said I would commit to a war when I generated the quest,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t exactly take that back now.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He dialed his watch in to the hero he wanted. ¡°I want to find the ledgers to help us out with the hex. What do we do about the women?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you erase their geas?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I promised the slave back at the Bell Tower I would try. I think I can hex it in person, but not as part of a group thing.¡±


    ¡°What are you two talking about?,¡± asked the trafficker. He had listened to the


    direction of things and didn¡¯t like the implications.


    ¡°We¡¯re talking about making it easy to track down your membership,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then it will be open season like those lawyers in Schlock Mercenary.¡±


    ¡°I remember that,¡± said Josie. She had thought the snakes in ties apt and cute at the same time. ¡°Didn¡¯t Schlock¡¯s company get an open bounty on them.¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Shoot on sight anywhere and anytime.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡±


    ¡°I sure am,¡± said Jack. ¡°I love this magic stuff.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°It¡¯s what I need.¡±


    ¡°You two can¡¯t be serious,¡± said the trafficker. ¡°You¡¯re talking about a spell. There¡¯s no such thing as magic.¡±


    ¡°We have artificial force multipliers,¡± said Jack.


    Jack hit the button on his watch. He turned into a man in green and yellow. His eyes were black holes stuck in his face.


    ¡°Guess what?,¡± said Jack. ¡°X-ray vision.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. ¡°More harassment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t seen you naked before,¡± said Jack. He looked around the room, settling on a wall opposite of where they had left their captive.


    ¡°Tequila was involved, and you know it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. He switched to the green derelict that he had used to flatten the gold they had taken to the Exchange. He pulled the wall apart to reveal a safe that he casually ripped open with his unnatural strength.


    He pulled out a set of books and a box of gold. He put them both down on the office desk. He returned to normal and waited for his watch to recharge. He smiled at the trafficker, who looked sick.


    ¡°What do you have there?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°A list of people paying and being paid by the Montrose, and money for our war chest,¡± said Jack. He pushed over the box. ¡°The ledgers are going to help me with my hex.¡±


    ¡°What are we doing?,¡± said Josie. ¡°We still have those girls downstairs.¡±


    ¡°And the door is gone,¡± said Jack. ¡°Anybody coming along will see that and want to know what¡¯s going on. I need you to check your magic users. I¡¯m going to need help throwing the hex down.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can use one to fix the door.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you think they have some of that geas drug around?¡±


    ¡°There might be some in my cell,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think they gave me any before I used my watch.¡±


    ¡°See if you can find that and bring it back with you,¡± said Jack. He checked his watch. ¡°Then we¡¯ll get started.¡±


    Josie nodded as she went back downstairs. She checked her cell. There was a bottle of blue stuff glowing in the pile of bones that used to be a man. She gingerly picked it up. It bubbled when she moved it.


    She checked the girls in the other cells. Some of them had empty bottles in their rooms. Some didn¡¯t. There was a mix of crying and silence she didn¡¯t like. She assured them that she was going to get the chains undone in a bit.


    She used a small amount of power as Zatanna to put a solid wall where the door used to be. That should keep people out until they were ready to go. She switched back to give her watch time to recharge as she headed back upstairs.


    That was when she noticed there weren¡¯t any windows on the bottom floor.


    She walked back into the office and put the bottle on the desk. It bubbled some more. It wanted to be used from the looks of it.


    ¡°I wonder what the Ghostbusters would make of that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s a love potion,¡± said Josie. ¡°They make their slaves love being slaves.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how long that lasts,¡± said Jack. ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Full power,¡± said Josie, after checking her own watch.


    ¡°What are you two doing?,¡± asked the trafficker.


    ¡°Full sending a message,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just need you to hold the hex.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Josie.


    They hit the buttons on their watches. Jack took on the Scarlet Witch with its red body suit, ruby crown, and cloak. Josie called on Zatanna with its black suit and top hat. The only flash of color was a handkerchief tucked in her jacket¡¯s breast pocket.


    Jack raised his hands. Light erupted around the ledgers and the potion bottle. He nodded at the effect he had created. Josie raised her hands and poured fuel into the hex. She noted that the counter on her watch was holding steady for some reason.


    ¡°Testing, testing,¡± said Jack. He smiled when his words seemed to emit from their captive audience. The trafficker looked down at himself in shock. ¡°Hello, Hawk Ridge and beyond. How¡¯s it going?¡±


    Josie frowned at him. He grinned at her.


    ¡°The reason you are hearing my voice this fine night is some people decided to kidnap my friend and try to make her a slave and send her to some unknown spot on the map. She decided that she wants to kill all of those people, but we just don¡¯t have enough juice to make thousands of people drop dead in one stroke.


    ¡°Lucky for some of you.


    ¡°So what¡¯s happening is a hex in three parts. The first part is communication.


    Everyone that can hear my voice is sitting within earshot of one of the people we¡¯re targeting. So look around if you can hear my voice. A member of the Montrose is close by.


    ¡°The second part of this hex is location. To communicate with you, and to tell you what is going on, the hex is actively searching for every member of the Montrose we can reach. I don¡¯t know what the active range is for this, but I am going to say it¡¯s wide enough to cover the city and part of the forest beyond.


    "The third part is transformation. Every member of the Montrose we can reach will be revealed to the public, no matter what disguise they wear. So if you are missing a loved one for whatever reason, there¡¯s a chance these people took them and sent them out of the city so you would never see them again.


    ¡°We can¡¯t kill them in one stroke, but we can mark them so we can kill them later.¡±


    He gestured with his head for Josie to get ready. She nodded. He handed the hex over to her while he reached for his watch. She felt the strain, and a glance at her watch told her she wouldn¡¯t be able to hold things for long the way the numbers were counting down.


    He pressed the button, and winged light stood at the hex. A flaming sword burned the air in his hand.


    ¡°I want you to know this would have never happened if you hadn¡¯t made that one mistake,¡± said Jack. He reached into the hex with his glowing hand. ¡°We would have been content to go about our business and let things stand as they were, but now we¡¯re going to have to take a hand in things and it won¡¯t be pleasant for some of you.¡±


    He twisted his wrist, and light flowed from him and out into the world.


    His watch dinged and he changed back.

 The Robert Reed Appreciation Society

    Jack carefully moved everything off the desk. He sat on the top, then reclined until he was laying down. He closed his eyes.


    ¡°That takes a lot out of you,¡± he said. ¡°I wonder how many people are going to start running.¡±


    ¡°If they look like this guy, probably all of them,¡± said Josie. She changed back as her watch dinged.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jack sat up. He looked at their captive who seemed to be staring at his hands. He reclined again. ¡°That is something that won¡¯t come out.¡±


    ¡°You tattooed hundreds of names on what I can see,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did you do that to his whole body?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m really tired right now. I¡¯d like to get a nap, and then raid a fridge somewhere. Then I have to go back up to Accordly and figure out what¡¯s wrong with the place.¡±


    ¡°I think I am going to talk to the girls and figure out what they want to do,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are you going to be okay?¡±


    ¡°Take the freak with you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to guard him, and I don¡¯t want to deal with him trying to get loose.¡±


    ¡°Come along, Snidely,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe the victims downstairs will want to know what happened.¡±


    She called on the Vampire again. She lifted the chair casually and left the room. She whispered in his ear about how she was going to enjoy the next few minutes.


    Jack napped quietly on the desk. Using the Angel had put some oomph in his hex, but it had also wore him out. The watches probably took their energy from them somehow.


    He found himself in a room with a lot of chairs. The chairs faced him in a semicircle. He looked around for his own chair, but didn¡¯t see one. He supposed he was supposed to stand through whatever his dream had in mind.


    Twelve people walked into the room and took their seats. They looked at him with steely eyes and grim expressions. He waited. Saying something at this moment could get him into more trouble than what he wanted.


    ¡°Jacob Ezekial Lee,¡± said the centermost sitter. ¡°We were wondering why you


    haven¡¯t fulfilled your quests.¡±


    ¡°I just found Accordly today,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going back up there tomorrow to try to figure out what¡¯s wrong. Right now, I have no shot with the information I have.¡±


    ¡°And why is that?,¡± said one of the men. He sat on the end of the row, a staff leaning against his chair.


    ¡°All I have is a name of a place, some gossip that there are flying lights at night up there, and that¡¯s it,¡± said Jack. ¡°The town looks ordinary from what I could see when I looked it over.¡±


    ¡°What about your other two quests?,¡± asked one of the women. She had brought an owl into the room with her. It perched on her arm and glared at Jack.


    ¡°I know even less about them than I do Accordly,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t even know where to get started.¡±


    ¡°But you took the time to curse a fraction of the population,¡± said another woman. ¡°Why is that?¡±


    ¡°They got in my way and became a threat to my operation,¡± said Jack. ¡°Such as the operation is.¡±


    ¡°I think my colleagues would like to know what you plan to do next,¡± said another man in the middle. He held a hat with wings on the sides. Maybe it was made out of wings. Jack couldn¡¯t be sure of the detail.


    ¡°I plan to recover from using the watch,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I¡¯ll probably need to take care of myself. Then I¡¯m going back up to Accordly and see if I can narrow things down to something I can do something about. Then I¡¯ll probably do that something to take Accordly off the quest list. Then I am going to look for the princess, or the Dark Rider. That¡¯s the best I can say right now.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a lot of time, Jacob,¡± said the centermost sitter. ¡°You have to move forward as rapidly as possible.¡±


    ¡°I do have a question,¡± said Jack. ¡°Why did you pick us? Why did you send the watches to Josie? You obviously counted on her giving the watches to other people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more than one question,¡± said the woman next to the centermost sitter. She was probably his second from the way she looked at Jack. ¡°But we had hoped that Oliver Warner would take up the fight again, but he didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Warner is old,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s no way he would get involved in this.¡±


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    ¡°He would have when he was younger,¡± said the woman. She smiled slightly. ¡°He was a hero through and through.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not going to dispute that.¡±


    ¡°Everyone has secrets,¡± said the centermost sitter. He stood. Jack realized how much taller he was when he did that. ¡°We¡¯re counting on the two of you to get the job done.¡±


    ¡°Can you give me something to help out?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The princess is in the north,¡± said the man with the hat. ¡°That¡¯s where you will have to hunt for her if you want to find her.¡±


    ¡°The Dark Rider has not been called yet, but his crypt is also in the north,¡± said the woman with the owl. ¡°In any case, your actions might have caused more operational interference than what you thought when you set out to quell it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie and I will fix things for you.¡±


    ¡°You are very confident for someone who might be dead in the next few days,¡± said the second in command.


    ¡°The Army teaches it to you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some people like it better than others.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be checking in with you again,¡± said the centermost stander. He walked to a door that suddenly appeared in the room. His staff followed in some sort of staggered hierarchy.


    ¡°The princess and the Rider are both in the north,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s not like an


    indicator with a map, but it¡¯s something.¡±


    He walked to the door and let himself out, watching scenes from old comic books come to life around him. He made his way deeper into his dream landscape to rest.


    Soon enough, he would be back at work in the salt mines.


    Jake woke with a slow opening of his eyes. He sat up slowly. Josie slept by the fireplace, taking up the visitor¡¯s chair. He wondered what she had done with Mister Chuckles. He decided he could wait for her to tell him.


    He thought about his dream and took a clean page from a ledger to make notes on with a piece of graphite. He needed to know things about the north, but he could figure that out when he was done with Accordly.


    Maybe Josie could help him figure out what was going on by the lake.


    He heard his stomach rumble and decided he needed something to eat. He wondered what time it was. Should he raid the Bell Tower for anything edible? Could he trust the food? It was obvious now that they had drugged Josie¡¯s food so they could take her out of the room that much easier.


    He didn¡¯t want to wake Josie up. Maybe he should get out of the building and find a place to eat. Then he could come back fresh and ready for the day.


    He scratched out a note for Josie. He made sure the door was locked. Then he headed up the fireplace as the Wasp. He became the Falcon at the top and glided over the city.


    He wondered if any of the Montrose people were out. What would happen to them? He supposed they would avoid any legal action by saying they hadn¡¯t done anything wrong and no one could prove anything different.


    How many would be reduced to bones by the time Josie was done with them?


    Should he have done something different? The Reed Appreciation Society acted like he had done something minor when they had bigger concerns. He wondered what was really going on, and why Mister Warner had given them the watches when he knew what was going on from the start.


    On the other hand, he was taking care of things in a roundabout way. He should have kept a better eye on Josie, but there was nothing he could do for that now. He had to work on the future.


    And the future meant raiding some place for food and drink. He also needed to get maps of the north to plan out a better expedition than what he was doing at the moment.


    He decided to try the Bell Tower. Maybe he could find some food there that wasn¡¯t poisoned, and he had promised to check on the woman in the upstairs room.


    He landed on a nearby roof. The Bell Tower burned despite people forming a bucket brigade to put out the flames. He wondered what had happened there. He scanned the crowd and saw a familiar face watching the building burn.


    He made his way to the ground and walked to where he stood beside the slave. She glanced at him and his strange clothes. Watching the fire seemed more important.


    ¡°What happened here?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°There was this voice out of the air and some of the customers changed,¡± said the ex-slave. ¡°Some of the mercenaries drew weapons when they saw the tattoos on the customers. A fight broke out and a fire started from a knocked over lamp.¡±


    ¡°The guy I threw out the window?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t live,¡± said the woman. ¡°You freed me when you did whatever you did. I know it was you.¡±


    ¡°I used a counter on the drug sample I had,¡± said Jack. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the woman. ¡°My life is in shambles. I don¡¯t know where to start to get back on my feet.¡±


    ¡°I have to go north and I need information,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll pay you to gather that information for me.¡±


    ¡°What will I do about a house in the meantime?,¡± said the woman. ¡°Should I stay here in the street?¡±


    ¡°My friend and I took a place,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess you can stay with us if you want. You can write home if you want. Maybe try to find out what happened to your kin while you were gone.¡±


    ¡°Why would you do that?,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°Because we¡¯re not going to be here when we get done with our jobs,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can afford to give you some money until you have a job to take care of yourself.¡±


    ¡°So you want information?,¡± said the woman. ¡°That¡¯s all?¡±


    ¡°My drafters say we don¡¯t have a lot of time to get things done,¡± said Jack. ¡°So Josie and I will need all the help we can get until we leave.¡±


    ¡°So you have a place I can stay?,¡± asked the woman.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s a bit rough right now because it¡¯s mostly a dungeon, but we¡¯ll give you money to turn it into something else. Also I don¡¯t know what Josie did with the girls that were locked away.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why I should trust you,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°Because I threw a guy through a window for my friend,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would do the same for someone I hired to work for me.¡±


    ¡°You would?,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°In a snap,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can count on that.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see this dungeon,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for something to eat,¡± said Jack. ¡°Anything open this time of night?¡±


    ¡°Only the gambling houses and some of the clubs,¡± said the woman. ¡°Montrose will probably have people there to spot women.¡±


    ¡°The Market is closed, right?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The stalls will be closed too,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go have a look,¡± said Jack. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Elaine Numera,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jack,¡± said Jack. He started off down the street.


    ¡°Why would you want to raid the Market?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Actually I¡¯m looking for someone I know,¡± said Jack.

 Fall Down

    Josie carried her potential victim down to the dungeon part of the building. She put the chair down, and cut the Vampire off.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to these girls and see what they want to do,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I¡¯m going to think about what I want to do with you.¡±


    ¡°As soon as my leader finds out what you¡¯ve done, he¡¯ll look for you,¡± said the


    trafficker. He shook his hands under his restraints.


    ¡°That won¡¯t matter to you,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯ll be lucky if I let you live for more than the next five minutes. I have a quest to kill your organization. That means it¡¯s open season on Montrose, no matter how big, or small you guys happen to be.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± said the trafficker.


    ¡°Look at yourself,¡± said Josie. ¡°Think about it. I¡¯m on a mission from God.¡±


    Josie went into the cells with the keys she found on her first victim¡¯s bones. She unlocked the manacles and asked them to get dressed. She knew they had been hurt, but she had no way to deal with that other than consulting with the various magicians in her watch for a memory wipe.


    She wanted to give them a chance to decide on something like that before she cut them loose.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± she asked. She shook her head at that. Of course things were going poorly. ¡°My name is Josie. I need to know what you want to do. Then I¡¯ll do what I can to make that happen.¡±


    ¡°What about those men?,¡± asked one of the girls. She seemed more hardbitten than the rest. Maybe she had been snatched off the streets.


    ¡°The ones that attacked you are dead,¡± said Josie. ¡°The rest, the ones we could reach, are marked like our friend here. They will be following the first batch as soon as I can put my hands on them. My friend, Jack, is going to help with that.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want anything from us?,¡± asked the hardbitten girl. She looked around. She seemed the oldest of the group, outside of Josie.


    The rest of the girls were on the verge of breaking down again.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have some things I have to do. Once I¡¯m done, I¡¯ll be gone. If you guys want to stay here until you have a place to go, that¡¯s fine. If you want to go home, I¡¯ll take you home. If you want to forget this happened, I think I can do that too. I¡¯m letting you choose what you want. Anybody marked is dead. One way, or the other, I¡¯m not letting them live if I don¡¯t have to.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll help us?,¡± asked the youngest girl. She cowered from Josie¡¯s stern eyes.


    ¡°I said I would,¡± said Josie. She ran her fingers through her short hair. ¡°I have to go out for a while. That¡¯ll give you time to think about what you want to do. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any food in here, so that should be a consideration.¡±


    ¡°Could you bring something back,¡± said a middle girl. ¡°I think I haven¡¯t eaten since yesterday.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll rustle up some grub for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m hungry myself.¡±


    She admitted she wasn¡¯t as hungry as she should be, but she thought it was because the Vampire fed the watch instead of the other way around. Thank goodness for minor heroes who only lived on as c-list hero cameos.


    ¡°If we wanted to go home, you would let us?,¡± said the middle girl again.


    ¡°I said I would,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you don¡¯t have a home, or don¡¯t want to go home, I¡¯ll make a space for you here. I don¡¯t think Jack will care, and I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°What about him?,¡± said the hardbitten girl. She gestured at Snidely in his chair.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to settle our personal business,¡± said Josie. ¡°Think about what you want to do. Leave Jack alone. He¡¯s a grouchy riser.¡±


    ¡°What would you do?,¡± asked the girl.


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    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Probably stab someone. I don¡¯t have any family, and I don¡¯t have a lot of responsibility other than to myself. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the same for you girls.¡±


    ¡°It is for some of us,¡± said the hardbitten girl.


    ¡°Think about how you want to change that,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. She had plenty of time to use. ¡°Come along, Snidely. I have something to show you.¡±


    She became Zatanna again and seized the back of the chair. She wanted to be hovering high in the sky. She smiled as her prisoner looked around and started screaming.


    She slapped him in the face to stop the screaming. He looked up at her.


    ¡°Please, don¡¯t kill me,¡± cried Snidely.


    ¡°Who¡¯s your protector, Snidely?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I would like to talk to him first


    before I start on the rest of the minions.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Third Captain Warham,¡± said the trafficker. ¡°He allows us to send the


    merchandise through the wall, diverts investigations away from us.¡±


    ¡°Where can I find him?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He is usually in the main guard tower when he is on shift,¡± said Snidely. ¡°Please don¡¯t drop me.¡±


    ¡°Which one is the main guard tower?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The one on the right of the South Gate,¡± said the trafficker.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to let you go,¡± said Josie. She released the chair.


    The trafficker screamed until his chair hit the ground. It took most of the impact, but he still went through the wood and broke every bone in his body. Witnesses wondered where he came from up there in the night sky.


    Josie stepped to the indicated tower. She checked her watch. She didn¡¯t have a lot of time on the counter. She let the hero body go to let the watch recharge. She stood in the shadows and waited for it to get to full power.


    She watched the small amount of guards moving around. They weren¡¯t on the lookout for someone like her standing on their ramparts. They were more interested in people moving on the ground inside the wall.


    She frowned. She wondered what would be the best for this. She decided to call on Karate Kid and moved forward to the tower door. She tested the door. It swung open for her.


    I guess they only lock it when they¡¯re being invaded.


    Josie checked the rooms. Most looked like barracks. Some of the men were asleep in the cots. Their equipment rested in stacks at the foot of the beds. She couldn¡¯t tell if any of the men had Jack¡¯s hex on them from the door.


    She decided to let it wait. She was only here to talk to Third Captain Warham. She had no doubt that he would be wearing the hex.


    She found the man¡¯s quarters and office. He woke up as soon as he heard the door open.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?,¡± the guard demanded.


    ¡°Josie Fox,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to talk to you if I could. A problem has come up with your dealings with the Montrose.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?,¡± asked Warlawn. He sat up, sword in hand.


    ¡°Do you have a mirror?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°There¡¯s one in my kit,¡± said the captain. He reached over and turned the nearest lamp up. Then he pointed at the bag next to the wash basin. ¡°A wall mirror is too expensive.¡±


    Josie opened the kit bag and pulled out the mirror. She tossed it over to the man. He raised it to his face. He gasped at the names crisscrossing his skin in unearthly ink.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have got into taking women from where they wanted to be and selling them,¡± said Josie. ¡°The whole region knows what to look for, and they are going to be looking at you.¡±


    The two empty bottles of liquor and the alchemy vial explained why he hadn¡¯t heard the voice of his doom.


    ¡°Who are you?,¡± asked the captain. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°Your partners kidnaped me earlier,¡± said Josie. ¡°I killed all of them. I¡¯m here to kill you too. Then I have to go back and check on your other victims and make sure they get as much help as I can give them.¡±


    Warlawn stabbed forward, extending across the medium sized room. Someone was here to kill him. He couldn¡¯t let them make the first move, especially since they seemed smaller than he was.


    The kit bag knocked the sword out of line. The move turned into a circular swing that flung the sack at the guard¡¯s face. He raised his free hand to knock it away as he tried to recoil to get to his feet. Then a heel took him in the face, and that helped him out of bed.


    Warham swung his sword to buy him time to get to his feet. He had to keep his distance from his enemy. She was faster and more sober than he was. He couldn¡¯t let her get close to hurt him with her hands.


    A grip of iron caught his sword arm. Kicks sent him to his knees again. And then he felt pain in his neck. He started choking.


    Josie took the sword from his hand. She tossed it on the desk.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to hunt you all down,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can do that before I go home.¡±


    She walked out of the office, letting the brown clad Kid go back to her limbo. She still had to get back to her newly acquired den and talk to the girls. Then she had to get some sleep.


    Who knew being a masked vigilante took so much work? Her respect for Batman went up at that moment. Too bad she hadn¡¯t stuck to his no killing rule. She had jumped down that slippery slope head first.


    She flew back to her new quarters and entered the building. Her temporary charges had pulled their blankets from the cells and made pallets to sleep on. She went upstairs and nodded at Jack still sleeping.


    She settled into the visitor¡¯s chair. She closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her. She had to think about food and water in the near future. And indoor plumbing. She mustn¡¯t forget indoor plumbing.


    Her dreams showed her an army of clay figurines. Some were broken. She knew that she would have to break the rest to get to the locked chest at the back. A few of the clay army went up as she watched. She nodded. Apparently she wasn¡¯t their only enemy.


    How many other forces would she have to oppose to get what she wanted?

 Mercy

    Jack used Vision to find the person he was looking for in the closed Market. It was a different place without people, and the stalls closed for the night. He could have provided for Josie and her girls from what he could steal in the minutes he wandered in the dark.


    ¡°This is the place,¡± said Jack, reverting to normal.


    ¡°What¡¯s here?¡± asked Elaine. She stood back in case there was trouble. Her new employer seemed much too impulsive.


    ¡°My friend, Ken,¡± said Jack. He knocked on the door of a small shack between the vendor and a building butting up on the Market as a boundary.


    The door opened. Ken stood in the frame. His exposed skin had a flock of names covering it. He frowned at his visitors.


    Jack punched him in the face. He followed through with a shoulder check that pushed the man inside his shack. He kicked the man after he went down to the floor.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Kenny?,¡± said Jack. He looked around. ¡°You are so lucky Josie is not here. She would be killing you like the rest.¡±


    ¡°I know him,¡± said Elaine. She stepped inside the shack and close the door. ¡°He recommended the Bell Tower to me when I arrived in town. I was looking for work at the time.¡±


    ¡°No surprise there,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Father?,¡± said a voice behind a curtain on the other side of the shack. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Would you mind, Elaine?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want to talk to Ken here while I decide what I want to do.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that would be all right,¡± said Elaine. She walked behind the curtain.


    ¡°Let¡¯s step outside, Ken,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then you can explain what¡¯s going on.¡±


    He waved the other man out of the shack. He waited for the surprise swing and try at a reversal. Nothing came as the vendor just moved away from the tiny cabin and stood beside his closed stall.


    ¡°So you have been pointing women out to be sold,¡± said Jack. ¡°You use your stall as a watch station. I got that much. Who¡¯s the girl in the shack?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s my daughter,¡± said Ken. ¡°She¡¯s sick. Montrose supplies us with a potion to keep her healthy most days. Some days are better than others. I use their bounty system to pay for the potions.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still dead if Josie figures out you¡¯re a rat,¡± said Jack. ¡°I doubt she¡¯s going to let this slide when she has a quest to fill out. You¡¯re going to have to get out of town.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t leave the city,¡± said Ken. ¡°My daughter won¡¯t survive without her potions.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look at your daughter and do what I can,¡± said Jack. ¡°If Josie starts hitting the alchemists, there won¡¯t be any potions for your girl any way. You¡¯re better off moving out of the city and starting over clean somewhere else. The problem is everyone will know you were involved with the Montrose. You can¡¯t get out of that now.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t let her die,¡± said Ken.


    ¡°There¡¯s a chance that she will grow up without you if you stay,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some of your victims like Elaine might remember you and decide it¡¯s okay to take you out since you don¡¯t have an army at your beck and call.¡±


    ¡°What will I tell my girl?,¡± said Ken.


    ¡°I would start with some version of the truth,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯s going to find out, so you might as well break it to her now instead of waiting for someone else to spring it on her.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where I could go,¡± said Ken.


    ¡°Pick a direction and go, but not North,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll be operating up there. Don¡¯t go there. Go somewhere else. Let me look at your girl and see if I can do something so she¡¯ll be ready to go. Make a clean break with the Montrose, Ken. If I see you in the trade again, I¡¯m going to be a lot angrier than what I am now.¡±


    ¡°Can you do something for her?,¡± said Ken. ¡°The alchemist said she wouldn¡¯t survive without her potion for more than a few days.¡±


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    ¡°We¡¯ll see if I can do better than that,¡± said Jack. He stepped inside the shack.


    He walked behind the curtain, dialing one of the four guys he thought could help in this situation. Elaine looked up at him. She gave him a look that said she didn¡¯t know what was going on with the girl.


    ¡°Ken says they have a bounty system,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to get their names from him while I look at the girl. Josie is going to want something for the mercy I¡¯m giving.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯ve seen something like this on the streets. They call it moon fever.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I can¡¯t fix this so they can travel, then I don¡¯t think anyone could.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re very strange,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Don¡¯t confuse mercy for kindness,¡± Jack said. ¡°Hurting kids is just not my style.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Elaine. She stepped from behind the curtain. She started talking to Ken about what he knew.


    Jack didn¡¯t listen to that. Instead he hit the marker for Doctor Strange. He frowned as he became something with too many tentacles and eyes. He put the little girl into a deep sleep with a touch. He flipped open dozens of screens in the air and went over what they told him.


    The little girl wasn¡¯t really sick. She was just drugged up. He went over the


    components on the screens, creating an antidote in his internal organs. He checked his timer. The clock was on median time. He blinked three of his eyes as he continued to work.


    He injected the antidote, and waited. He felt a surge of satisfaction as the chemicals fought and the potions lost to his concoction. He changed back when everything had stabilized.


    All she had to do was sleep it off and avoid any more alchemy.


    He wondered if Ken knew. He doubted it.


    ¡°Make sure to get Ken¡¯s alchemist too,¡± Jack said. He waited for the girl to stop breathing, but the Doc had performed better than he had thought he would.


    ¡°How is she?,¡± Ken asked after several minutes. He poked his head around the curtain.


    ¡°The potions you were getting for her were bad for her,¡± said Jack. ¡°She needs to sleep off the cure, and she¡¯ll be ready to go in the morning. Did you tell Elaine who your alchemist was?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Ken. ¡°Argraver¡¯s on Durn Street.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go back there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get ready to leave. As soon as your little girl wakes up, leave the city. Avoid anybody you know is in Montrose. Try to keep your face covered. There will be plenty of people looking for you, so you¡¯ll have to be careful from now on. Elaine?¡±


    ¡°Yes?,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°Can you find the people Ken named?,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I imagine that some of them are already dead since they


    frequented the Tower.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll give the list to Josie and let her go about her business. But we have some more things to do before we head back. Remember what I said, Ken. Maybe by the time she gets to you, Josie will be tired of killing.¡±


    ¡°But maybe she won¡¯t,¡± said Ken.


    ¡°Maybe she won¡¯t,¡± said Jack. He counted out fifty silver pieces. ¡°Enjoy your


    borrowed time.¡±


    Jack walked to the door, hands in his pockets. He walked out. Elaine followed


    silently, giving one look at Ken. She stepped out.


    Ken started putting things in a battered travel bag. He needed to get out of the city before the sun came up.


    ¡°Hey,¡± Jack said from the door. He had his head in the opening. ¡°You still got


    vegetables in your stall?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Ken. ¡°They won¡¯t do me any good now except for road food. I suppose most of it will rot before we get to the next town to sell it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m taking as much of it as I need,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have people to feed now.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Ken. Giving up his merchandise before it rotted away was enough considering what he had been given.


    ¡°Remember what I said,¡± said Jack. ¡°Stay away from any alchemist, the Montrose and the North. And don¡¯t come back here for anything.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Ken. ¡°Thank you for helping my girl.¡±


    ¡°Nobody likes losing a loved one,¡± said Jack. He withdrew from the shack.


    ¡°All right, Elaine,¡± Jack said as he rubbed his hands together. ¡°The stall is ours for the taking. And I would like to visit Ken¡¯s alchemist.¡±


    ¡°He poisoned the little girl?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Looks like,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe a bunch of others too.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Control maybe.¡±


    Jack looked at the stall. How did he get the food from the Market to their quarters against the wall? Could he take the whole thing and put it outside until he could get to it?


    What did he have that could do that?


    He decided that Makkari could get the food to his place, and then he would have to open a door to get in to move the vegetables in. They didn¡¯t have a kitchen yet, but maybe he could work on something just for storage.


    Elaine had to meet Josie if he wanted to hire her for the job.


    ¡°This is the plan,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to take you to our headquarters and introduce you to Josie. Then I¡¯ll come back for the vegetables and fruits. Then I need to talk to this alchemist before I need a nap.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not letting that go?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The alchemist?,¡± said Jack. ¡°No. Ordinarily, it wouldn¡¯t be my problem, but there is something about this that demands I do something.¡±


    ¡°Something?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Something,¡± said Jack. ¡°You don¡¯t have to thrown in with us. We can part ways right now if you want.¡±


    ¡°I think I will stay for a little while,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I would need to find a place to


    stay, or try to get enough supplies to leave the city and start over somewhere else if I didn¡¯t take your offer.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s head over to the hideout and see if I can find a place for you. We just took possession, so it¡¯s not livable at the moment.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve probably seen worse,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. He called Makkari¡¯s red and white armor. He picked Elaine up in his arms and took off. A second later he stood outside where the door he had hexed should have been. Josie had done a good job closing it off.


    ¡°This is your headquarters?,¡± asked Elaine. She looked up at the wall overhead.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°I need to put another door in. I forgot that we had closed everything up. Hold on a second.¡±

 This Old House

    Josie woke up. Something smelled good. She sniffed the air. Someone was cooking. She hoped it wasn¡¯t Jack.


    She stretched and looked around. He wasn¡¯t asleep in the room. He might be cooking after all.


    She followed her nose downstairs to where the dungeons were. She still had to sort out the girls. Some of them were bound to want to go home.


    She hoped they knew enough not to talk about what happened. The authorities, even the straight ones, were not likely to be happy with their vigilantism. And she had killed a watch captain in his quarters.


    She found the bottom floor of the building had been changed out. She wondered how that had happened. The hardbitten girl stood there supervising as the other girls went about cleaning and putting things in place to turn the dungeon cells into real rooms. Windows had been poked through the walls to let in light. She nodded at the girls as she followed the smell to a room down toward where the door had been replaced by a sheet of metal with a lockbar in place.


    A kitchen and pantry had been set up in that extra room. An older woman and two of the girls were cooking stew over a hearth.


    ¡°Hello, miss,¡± said one of the girls. ¡°Jack said to let you sleep in.¡±


    ¡°The food?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We raided a vendor in the market,¡± said the older woman. ¡°Elaine Numera.¡±


    ¡°Josie Fox,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the woman. ¡°I know you. You work at the Bell Tower.¡±


    ¡°The Bell Tower burned down last night while things were going on,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Could you excuse us, girls? Mistress Fox and I need to talk for a moment.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the older girl. She tugged the younger girl¡¯s arm. ¡°Let¡¯s step


    outside.¡±


    Josie watched the girls leave. She went to the doorway to make sure they kept going. She turned to the new arrival.


    ¡°Jack hired me to help him collect information,¡± said Elaine. ¡°He said you will be campaigning in the North soon enough. As soon as lunch is ready, I plan to find maps of the area as well as anything on this princess and Dark Rider you¡¯re supposed to find. Until then, he said to give you this list of names and tell you they are involved with the Montrose bounty system.¡±


    She handed over a list on a folded piece of paper.


    ¡°Bounty system?,¡± said Josie. She opened the paper up and read the names.


    ¡°Montrose use spotters for women they want to abduct,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Apparently they give points to the spotters for services. The one person we found was using his to keep his daughter mobile because she had been poisoned.¡±


    ¡°Poisoned by alchemy?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Jack did some work on the walls for us and set this up but he wanted to talk to the alchemist on the list, Argraver. Then he was heading back up to Lake Myra to look around again.¡±


    ¡°I need to find out about this bog hound,¡± said Josie. ¡°Especially how to tame it. Can you add that to your search?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. She pulled out a notebook and made a note about bog hounds. ¡°Another quest?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s near some town named Kernly. I have to find it and calm it down somehow.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯ll bring back what I can find.¡±


    ¡°Do you need anything, Elaine?,¡± said Josie. She put the list of names in her jeans pocket.


    ¡°I need to keep busy until I figure out what I want to do with my life,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Things are a shambles for me now.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°So Jack went to talk to this alchemist. That might hurt


    Montrose more than I thought. I wonder how many alchemists were supplying the love potion to them.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way of telling except by looking at them in their shops,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Whatever you two did has marked people all over the city. Anyone selling Montrose things would be marked.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need the help since we don¡¯t know anything about the players involved.¡±


    ¡°At some point, I expect the Watch to get involved,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The Bell Tower burned down when some mercenaries saw some of the customers changing. I think they knew each other.¡±


    ¡°I expect we¡¯ll see some more vigilante actions taking place,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some people are going to want their relatives back.¡±


    ¡°The girls?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Chattel to be converted and sent away until I talked to the people here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m giving them a chance to get back on their feet.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°When you go north, will you need me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re facing.¡±


    ¡°What will happen to me?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We¡¯ll leave you enough of a chest to start over doing whatever you want,¡± said Josie. ¡°You might even be able to start a school for orphans so they can be better people when they grow up.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I will do well with children,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I sure don¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°Lunch smells good. Thanks for cooking.¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing but stew,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We were able to clear out one of the stalls at the market for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Hey, sleepy head,¡± said Jack from the door. He had a wooden screen in his arms. ¡°It¡¯s about time you woke up. We¡¯ve been cracking along since the sun came up.¡±


    ¡°We did a lot of the work while everyone was asleep,¡± said Elaine. ¡°And then he put in the windows before he went and got whatever that is.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a conspiracy board,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll be here but I


    figured that we needed some way to keep track of things.¡±


    ¡°Where do you want to put it?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I thought it should go upstairs in the office,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s where Elaine will be doing most of her doings, and it¡¯ll give us a chance to connect everything up as we go.¡±


    ¡°How long do you think we¡¯ll be here?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°How many more enemies are you going to pick up?,¡± asked Jack. He walked off with the screen.


    ¡°Are you courting?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Have you had a friend all your life who treats you like family even though you¡¯re not?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°That¡¯s about where Jack and I are so if you want to ask him out, go ahead,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be good if he isn¡¯t going to stay,¡± said Elaine. ¡°If I were to seek a husband, he would have to be here.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Are you guys talking about me?,¡± asked Jack, appearing in the door. ¡°Smells good. I have to go back up to Accordly and look at the place again. The only thing I got is lights float in the sky at night.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I go up with you?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The more the merrier,¡± said Jack. ¡°Nope. Is your room big enough, Elaine?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s bigger than what I¡¯m used to having,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°What did you do?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Let me give you the tour,¡± said Jack. ¡°This used to be some kind of closet. I put in a fireplace to cook food, a table to chop vegetables, and a pantry for storage. We have a water pump for clean water. I raided the Market for vegetables and meat.¡±


    Jack left the kitchen, gesturing for Josie to follow. He pointed out Elaine¡¯s bedroom next to the kitchen. There wasn¡¯t any furniture in the room yet.


    He had punched windows and installed glass and shutters in what used to be the dungeon cells. He had pulled out the manacles and applied thin plaster to make the rooms more cheerful. The connecting walls of two of the cells had been knocked out to make one big room for the younger girls.


    They were still cleaning the floor with mops.


    ¡°How many of you are staying?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°All of us, missus,¡± said the hardbitten girl. ¡°Most of us don¡¯t have anywhere else to go. The rest don¡¯t want to go back home.¡±


    ¡°Names,¡± said Josie. She looked at the six girls she had rescued. ¡°I don¡¯t know any of you.¡±


    The girls tried to introduce themselves all at once. Josie whistled a high enough note to make all of them wince and cover their ears.


    ¡°Oldest to youngest, one at a time,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Beatrice,¡± said the hardbitten girl. Josie nodded, repeating the name back.


    They went down the line with the introductions. Laura, Alicia, Angelica, Melanie, and the youngest Matilda.


    ¡°I want you girls to think about what you want out of your futures,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll be here, but whatever I can do before I leave, I will.¡±


    ¡°How many of you can read and write?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I can, milord,¡± said Matilda. She ran her hand through her hair.


    The others looked away.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°You want to stay, you are going to have to work on that as well as help us with things we need to do. Finish cleaning up your rooms so we can eat. Then you¡¯re going to have to help Elaine with the supply run. Chop chop.¡±


    He clapped his hands to hurry them back to work.


    ¡°Supply run?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We need a ton of maps and information,¡± said Jack. ¡°And the girls need some clothes. Apparently Montrose grabbed them with what they had on, and nothing else.¡±


    ¡°My spare clothes,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯re at the Tower.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re at the Tower ashes,¡± said Jack. ¡°If they were delivered at all.¡±


    ¡°I suppose I can check on them,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t like this at all.¡±


    ¡°When you get involved in a syndicate, that¡¯s what happens,¡± said Jack. He shrugged.


    He led the way up to the office. Josie noticed that the space had been changed around while she had slept. She blinked at the changes.


    ¡°Naturally, this is my room,¡± said Jack. He pushed open the door nearest the stairwell.


    He walked down to the next door. He pushed open the door. Snidely¡¯s desk and office things were in that room. Several wooden boards hung on rails to pin things to when they had the things.


    ¡°This is the war room,¡± said Jack. ¡°Everything Elaine can find will go in here for us to use to do our quests.¡±


    ¡°The last room is mine,¡± said Josie. She glanced at the open door. She grimaced at the thought she hadn¡¯t noticed anything when she had staggered out and tried to wake up.


    ¡°I put in a window so you can fly out any time you want,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°How did you do all of this?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°One of my heroes is an Eternal who can build things with his mind,¡± said Jack. He glanced around at the room. ¡°It took me a while to put everything together because the watch kept running out, but it was worth it.¡±


    ¡°Too bad you didn¡¯t put in a bathroom,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I did,¡± said Jack. ¡°Downstairs.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you show me that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m still working on it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I got a shower, but no tub. I almost have a toilet ready to go.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I still would like to see it. I need to clean up and get clean clothes. And I think you do too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll work on it before I head up to Accordly,¡± said Jack. ¡°I thought about a washing machine, but there¡¯s nothing here that I can use for that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to wash our clothes the old fashioned way, and hang them up to dry,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me see this bathroom. I would like to wash up before dinner.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He started down the stairs. ¡°Most of this was pretty easy. A little molecule manipulation. Marvel is lousy with that type of thing, but they never use it for anything practical.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She smiled as she followed him downstairs. ¡°I always said Reed Richards was useless.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know,¡± said Jack. He turned at the bottom of the stairs. ¡°It¡¯s not just him. It¡¯s like every guy who can shape things with whatever is run by ego. The Molecule Man could have just made gold with his power and declared himself rich. He just needed to be able to exchange it for real money somewhere like we did.¡±


    ¡°Instead he¡¯s fighting the Fantastic Four and Avengers and losing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°At least he finally smartened up, hooked up with a babe, and got out of the life for a while.¡±


    He paused in front of a door at the end of the girls¡¯ room. He opened the door and stepped back. Josie stepped inside. This room looked a little rougher than the rest of the changes, but everything was there for a bathroom with a rough seat for a toilet next to the shower space.


    ¡°I need to use this right now,¡± said Josie. ¡°Lock?¡±


    ¡°Right here,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just remember you¡¯re in a house with seven other women.¡±


    ¡°Most guys would love that,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Most guys don¡¯t have four sisters,¡± said Jack.


    Josie went into the bathroom, glad that he had thought of a lamp for lighting. She disrobed and stepped into the shower space. She pulled the cord. Freezing water dropped down on her. She didn¡¯t care. She waited in the space to dry before cleaning her clothes as Alchemy.


    They needed to add towels to the shopping list.


    ¡°The water is cold, Jack,¡± Josie complained, as she walked into the kitchen.


    ¡°I can¡¯t get parts for a furnace for another thirty years,¡± said Jack. He sniffed the stew. ¡°This smells good.¡±


    ¡°I think we need a dining room,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯ll put it on my list,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we have to deal with our errands.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re probably going to have to buy clothes for the girls,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think two sets apiece might be okay, one set for going out and one set of adventurer clothes for working.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll handle things,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will rent a cart if necessary to bring everything back.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me that we need to put a better lock on things to keep people out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll do that after we eat so I can give you a key to get back in.¡±

 The Source Of The Problem

    After lunch was done, the kitchen cleaned and the food stored for later in an


    improvised ice box, Jack had the shutters closed on the windows and put a lock on the door. He fashioned four keys. He kept one and gave the other three to Josie, Elaine, and Beatrice.


    He gave Elaine most of the silver he was carrying. He just needed enough to buy a couple of pints up at Accordly. She made a note of the amount in her notebook.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I feel I should give some kind of pep talk, but I don¡¯t know what I should say.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a first,¡± said Josie. ¡°Look out for each other, avoid trouble, don¡¯t be afraid to stab someone if you have to. If you get into trouble, we¡¯ll come looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Is this how a dad feels sending his ducklings out into the world for the first time?,¡± asked Jack.


    Elaine said nothing, but Beatrice rolled her eyes. She shook her head.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be back either later tonight, or tomorrow, depending on if we can track these lights down,¡± said Jack. ¡°See if you guys can start teaching the others about letters and reading. They¡¯re going to need it sometime. Basic mathematics too.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else, milord?,¡± asked Beatrice. The sarcasm dripped in her voice.


    ¡°I would really like a good apple pie if you can find one,¡± said Jack. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any bakeries around.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll keep an eye open, sir,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything else.¡±


    ¡°Keep an eye out on things we might have to fix,¡± said Josie. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be another ongoing struggle, but we can look at smaller problems easily enough.¡±


    ¡°Yes, missus,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You can call us by our names,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re not lords of the land.¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°See you tonight.¡±


    He touched his watch and a bird started climbing. He turned and headed over the wall, heading north.


    ¡°Show off,¡± said Josie. She shook her head. ¡°Be careful. We¡¯ll see you tonight.¡±


    She ran along the wall, touching her watch. She turned into a bird and flew after her companion.


    ¡°They are very strange,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Let¡¯s get our ducklings marching. We have a lot of walking ahead of us unless we can hire a cart to take us around.¡±


    Jack glided on the wind, vectoring in on Accordly. He enjoyed flying. It was the best ability the watch gave him.


    He descended as the counter started down the last ten seconds. He dropped down just a few feet above the ground when he changed back. He smiled as Josie landed perfectly and expanded out of her bird form.


    ¡°Why did we fly up here?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you had a speedster form?¡±


    ¡°Makkari,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s an Eternal that impersonated two other heroes, Hurricane and Mercury. Marvel combined them into Makkari and put him on a team of monster hunters led by Bloodstone. I think Doctor Druid and the Black Panther¡¯s aunt were also on the team.¡±


    ¡°The Black Panther has an aunt?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°She was retconned in as a character set in the fifties and sixties when Druid and Strange were starting their careers as masters of the mystic arts.¡±


    ¡°Sounds cool,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why did we fly up here instead of using super speed?¡±


    ¡°Because I like to fly,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s walk in and see if we can settle this one quest. The Arr Arr Ay Ess wants us to hurry things up.¡±


    ¡°The Arr Arr Ay Ess?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The Robby Reed Appreciation Society,¡± said Jack. He headed for the rock that marked the border of the town. ¡°They gave me a stern talking to in a dream last night. They said they would call back.¡±


    ¡°So you decided to avoid sleep,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I would never do that,¡± lied Jack. ¡°I love sleep more than most.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°But you¡¯re going to have to sleep sometime. The human body is not designed to go without it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good for another thirty hours,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s the town. What do you


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.think?¡±


    ¡°It looks innocent enough, but it could be something out of King country under the facade,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll probably find a killer clown somewhere down there.¡±


    ¡°I hope not,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m afraid of clowns.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Ever since that thing at the carnival,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We were six,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Some wounds never heal,¡± said Jack. He headed for town. He checked his watch as he went. It seemed to be charging faster as he passed the rock. He wondered why.


    He led the way to the center of town. He turned in a circle. What was going on here? He didn¡¯t see anything out of the ordinary.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything either,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need to walk around, maybe spotcheck with special abilities.¡±


    ¡°I already used the Vision,¡± said Jack. ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything then.¡±


    ¡°It could be sporadic,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might not see anything until whatever


    happens, happens.¡±


    ¡°We might be too late if that happens,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s an inn over there. Maybe we can hang around and eavesdrop.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I try Zatanna?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Josie touched her watch. She took on her hero form, raising her hands. A flame shaped like a bird took to the air. She started after it.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty neat,¡± said Jack. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°I created a detection spell and told it to look for what we want to find,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to hurry if we want the spell to stay active long enough. It¡¯s draining the watch slowly but surely.¡±


    ¡°Got you covered,¡± said Jack. He touched his watch. Makkari appeared. He grabbed Josie and sped after the flame. The bird landed in a circle of stones outside the town. They let their hero forms fade away as they looked around.


    ¡°Got a half charge still,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Barely used mine at all,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some kind of magic circle?¡±


    ¡°Reminds me of Stonehenge,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s say that¡¯s what we got here. Does magic other than us work here?¡±


    ¡°Snidely didn¡¯t seem to think so, but he could be wrong,¡± said Josie. ¡°Wizards might just want to stay away from people while they experiment on poor helpless owlbears.¡±


    Jack considered the circle. He looked back at the town. He could barely see it through the trees.


    ¡°Could this be something natural?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Josie. ¡°It could be a volcano. It¡¯s sitting here, pointed at the town.


    Something happens. Town is wiped.¡±


    ¡°I wish we had an expert so if we start tearing this up, we¡¯d have some idea on what would happen,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t want to trigger the thing we¡¯re trying not to trigger.¡±


    ¡°Give me a second, and I¡¯ll call Zatanna back and see if I can pick up anything,¡± said Josie. ¡°Should be a snap.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°It would be okay to get this done. I don¡¯t like that Princess Lorelei and the Dark Rider are both up north. It¡¯s too big a coincidence if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°Someone using her to get him somehow?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°But the Society said he hadn¡¯t been called from his crypt yet. Something like that usually involves a sacrifice.¡±


    ¡°I can do another scrying spell, but it will totally crap out before we get close enough to see the end,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I can¡¯t just take us there since I don¡¯t know where we¡¯re supposed to go.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the same with Makkari,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can run up there, but where would I get started looking. Elaine has to come through for us.¡±


    ¡°She will,¡± said Josie. ¡°She seems a lot more suited to save the world than us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not giving up my watch,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society did say that Mister Warner was supposed to use the watches, and not us.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s older than dirt,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. ¡°Would he even know what to do?¡±


    ¡°Apparently they have been using him for a while,¡± said Jack. ¡°He refused the call this time.¡±


    ¡°He may have wanted to retire from fixing their problems for them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Everyone gets tired of bad jobs eventually.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder if one of my guys could help. Doctor Druid might give us something.¡±


    ¡°Let me try mine first,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might need yours if something bad happens.¡±


    ¡°Something bad?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Like me setting this off,¡± said Josie. She waved her hands at the ruins around them.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t take any risks. I¡¯m not explaining anything to your


    mom.¡±


    ¡°You better,¡± said Josie. ¡°You owe me.¡±


    Jack waved his arms at the forest surrounding them instead of the small city they lived in. He made a face like are you kidding me.


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t count and you know it,¡± said Josie. ¡°This has nothing to do with me.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I refuse to talk to your mom.¡±


    ¡°You still owe me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I invoke the debt.¡±


    ¡°You owe me more,¡± said Jack. ¡°Bathroom with plumbing.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t for me,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I could have made my own bathroom as soon as I found a place to move in.¡±


    ¡°I am not talking to your mom,¡± said Jack. ¡°I refuse on the grounds that it isn¡¯t my problem.¡±


    ¡°Jack, so help me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will punch you in the noggin.¡±


    ¡°Your mom hates me, Jo,¡± said Jack. He looked at the ground. ¡°I would rather you just wrote her a letter I can deliver if I make it back home.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t hate you,¡± Josie said. She tried on a smile that didn¡¯t last. ¡°She just blames you for how I turned out.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make me feel better,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She wanted a Pollyanna, she got Joan Jett,¡± said Josie. ¡°See, I could be a bard here if I had a guitar.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I doubt rock and roll will ever be popular here.¡±


    ¡°You never know,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can figure out what¡¯s going on here so we can sort this out and get back to Hawk Ridge.¡±


    She called on her main magician form. She summoned a book of knowledge and let it do the work, reading between the lines as it went. She frowned as she dismissed the book, and switched the hero off for later use.


    ¡°This is a summoning circle,¡± she said. ¡°It looks like Snidely was wrong about magic not being around.¡±


    ¡°Break it down for me,¡± said Jack. He looked out at the lake, thinking about fishing and boating, and how the lake was keeping the towns around it alive.


    ¡°This ruin is part of a network,¡± said Josie. She looked around. ¡°Magic energy is being fed into that network by natural collection. Eventually it will summon


    something to attack the town. I just don¡¯t know what. And I don¡¯t know if we can deal with it. My spell indicates it will be something big.¡±


    ¡°The people I talked to down the road don¡¯t know anything about this,¡± said Jack. ¡°I expect they would be more excited if they knew that something was coming out of the lake that might reach into their towns.¡±


    ¡°They might not know,¡± said Josie. ¡°The network is old. And the flow is low. The only reason it¡¯s a problem for us now is because the bowl is almost full.¡±


    ¡°How do we empty it?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°We would have to rewrite the circle into doing something else,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe we could burn off what it¡¯s collected if we had another spell handy.¡±


    ¡°Maybe some kind of weather spell, or something,¡± said Jack. ¡°Either way, it¡¯s going to be bad on the people on the lake.¡±

 Bomb Away

    Josie checked her watch. The counter was loading faster than what it should. She expected it was because of whatever was loading the summoning circle with energy.


    ¡°All we have to do is move part of the circle, and that will stop everything?,¡± asked Jack. He frowned at the lake.


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you have?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering if that big rock that serves as the town marker is part of the chain,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we move that, we could disrupt the chain.¡±


    ¡°I have Solomon Grundy,¡± said Josie. She pictured the big undead monster throwing cars. Could he move that rock? ¡°He¡¯s Hulkish.¡±


    ¡°I have a version of Hulk and Thor,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might be able to move that rock with enough muscle power.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We have three options as far as I can see,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can do nothing and let the thing be summoned and fail the quest, we can let the summons work and try to save the town if we can, or we can try to stop the summons from happening. Stopping the summons seems to be the least amount of work for our side.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m for that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Just moving the rock out of line might be enough.¡±


    ¡°I have Doctor Druid,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll use him to see how much of a breakage we can cause. We might have to move some other things to really disrupt the mana gathering.¡±


    ¡°Seems like a good idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder if the town knows they are sitting on a time bomb.¡±


    ¡°I doubt it,¡± Jack said. ¡°Why stay here if they did?¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once we clear this quest, we can work on the two shared ones. Elaine might have dug up something on this Bog Hound for me to get rid of it.¡±


    ¡°I wonder why Princess Lorelei is so important,¡± said Jack. He led the way back toward the lake. He checked his watch as he walked. ¡°Some kind of war thing?¡±


    ¡°Arranged marriage gone bad?,¡± Josie said. ¡°Maybe she got lost up in the North, and someone needs to find her.¡±


    ¡°Why us?,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s more going on than what we know right now. I have a feeling that we will be stopping something massive like this village thing.¡±


    ¡°A war would be massive,¡± said Josie. She frowned. ¡°A war between two species might be bad. Are there elves here?¡±


    ¡°Can they do magic when the humans can¡¯t seems more relevant,¡± said Jack.


    Josie nodded. Any magic spell that could be repeated would spell the end of a magicless army in seconds unless someone killed the magicians first.


    How much would her watch allow in a situation like that?


    She considered her options as she followed Jack down to the rock. She could


    probably do a lot with Zatanna, or one of the Doctors. Supergirl had already shown her she couldn¡¯t count on the traditional bricks she was used to seeing.


    She frowned as she thought of a Captain Marvel without the powers of Shazam behind him. What would that be like? Would he even be able to fly?


    ¡°I¡¯m calling Druid to give us a benchmark,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I¡¯ll change to help you move it before something happens.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m ready with Grundy.¡±


    Jack pushed the button on his watch. He became a man wrapped in robes, hood pulled down over his face. A glowing triangle marked his forehead.


    He raised his hands. Light revolved for a second around him in a circle. Josie noticed the grass formed a host of letters as the light faded away.


    ¡°We just have to pull the rock and get rid of it, like excising a bad tooth,¡± said Jack. ¡°We should put it where it can¡¯t be put back to start the process over again.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me call Grundy so we can get started on that.¡±


    Josie pushed her own button. She frowned as she became chalk white and smarter than what she should be. She groaned. The watch had given her a Solomon Grundy that was aware of the situation, but not strong enough to move the rock.


    ¡°What are you two doing?,¡± asked a passerby.


    ¡°We¡¯re moving this rock so the town isn¡¯t destroyed,¡± said Jack.


    Josie knew Jack should have lied. It was too late to do anything about that now. She ran at the man and swung. The man went down to a knobby fist. He tried to call for help. He hooted instead.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let him call the others,¡± said Josie. ¡°They know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Jack made a hand gesture. Fog rolled over the villager. The man fell asleep before it cleared away.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Innsmouth, Jack,¡± said Josie. She mentally considered what heroes could help in this situation. Her new wisdom pointed out someone that could be useful.


    ¡°Innsmouth?,¡± said Jack. ¡°The fish people?¡±


    ¡°The fish people the government bombed to heck because they were doing things men were meant to know,¡± said Josie. She switched forms.


    ¡°They were fish people,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time to debate things,¡± said Josie. ¡°That hoot was a call for help. We¡¯ll be crawling with whatever they are in a few minutes. We have to move the rock before then.¡±


    She put both hands on the rock. She lined up with the lake. If she pushed the thing into the water, the town would be able to pull it out given enough time. She wondered how long it would take for them to put the pieces back together.


    ¡°What you doing?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Hopefully fulfilling the quest,¡± said Josie. Energy poured into her hands, lighting them up. She let it out in a directed explosion away from her. Cracks ran up the jagged pyramid. She needed to blast it again.


    She needed to use everything she had.


    Josie poured everything out into the air. She vanished in a flash of burning light and expanding air. The jagged tooth of rock came apart under the explosion. The top half flew away in a shower of fragments. The bottom half stuck out of the ground in a shattered stump.


    Jack picked himself off the ground. He looked at the stump. Energy was still building up. What could he do?


    Ribbons of lightning played along the circuit of ruins in place around the town. It looked like they had sped up the destruction of Accordly. Something poked through the thinning membrane between worlds.


    The marker still had to come out. He had the Hulk and Thor. He needed to switch and finish the job. How much time did he have before that thing hit the planet?


    Shaking hands worked the watch face and button. Robes gave way to a red haired Viking with a sledge hammer in his hands. He burst through the ribbons of light, feeding his countdown more numbers as he did it. He cued up and swung the hammer. The base of the monolith came out of the ground and shattered into a million pieces as it flew into the lake.


    The light show snapped off. The air cleared of the snapping storm smell. The thing in the middle of it made a noise like a man being strangled before it went back to where it belonged.


    ¡°Josie!,¡± Jack called. He looked around. ¡°Josie!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Josie stood feet away. Her white suit and helmet allowed the trees to show through from the other side. ¡°I¡¯m still putting myself back together.¡±


    Ding went the quest clearance.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just saved the town from being destroyed by whatever that was. Let¡¯s get out of here before everybody tries to lynch us.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to fly,¡± said Josie. She checked her counter. It said zero. ¡°I blew myself up and when I get done putting myself back together, my watch will be down for a while.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Jack. He let Thor go for his normal, shorter form. He picked up one of the rocks that used to be part of the bigger rock. He put it in his pocket.


    Let them try to put the marker back together without it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start walking,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can pull myself back together while we¡¯re going.¡±


    ¡°I have a feeling we¡¯re in trouble if the town catches up to us,¡± said Jack. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°I used the power of the Human Bomb,¡± said Josie. She shrugged. ¡°Grundy doesn¡¯t give me superhuman strength. It just gives me the ability to spot things faster.¡±


    ¡°It gives wisdom, or intelligence,¡± said Jack. He spared a glance at the town as they moved away from the lake.


    ¡°Right,¡± said Josie. ¡°So it pointed out that the Human Bomb might be the way to go with this. He started out at Quality, and was brought over to DC in the seventies, the same as the Fawcett guys. His power blew things up when he touched them.¡±


    ¡°So you can blow things up too,¡± said Jack. He waved at her transparent form.


    ¡°I can blow myself up,¡± said Josie. ¡°It uses everything in the watch. It¡¯ll take me a while to get back in the game.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we follow the road, we¡¯ll be able to get to the next town and keep an eye out for the fish people.¡±


    ¡°Keep an eye on our backtrail,¡± said Josie. She glanced behind them. ¡°The


    Accordlians are not going to take the ruin of their god as anything but an insult.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I feel like it was going to wreck their place and keep marching to the next town and so on. Stopping it from getting here was a good move in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder what this Dark Rider will be like if he was named in the warning.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we want to find out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder if the princess has anything to do with things since they are both in the North.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I knew where to look, I could try a scrying spell to see where she is.¡±


    ¡°I love this magic stuff,¡± said Jack.


    Josie shook her head as she walked. She could feel things snapping together. The counter still read zero. All of the fuel must be going into putting her back together.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°The town is turning out. They seem in shock.¡±


    ¡°It probably never occurred to them that someone would disrupt everything,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They never met us,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Met you,¡± said Josie. She smiled as the last piece clicked back into place. She lost the form of the Human Bomb. The recharge counter started clicking downwards.


    ¡°You look normal,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Can you get us out of here?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll have to remember not to use the Human Bomb unless I want to really blow things up.¡±


    ¡°Reminds me of Nitro,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder what his power is inside the watch.¡±


    Jack twisted the watch face and called Makkari. He picked Josie up in his arms and fled through the woods so fast that the local animals and monsters had no time to react before he was past and headed to Hawk Ridge. He cut around the line at the gate and his wind pushed people out of the way. He paused at their new home and put Josie down on her feet.


    ¡°That was fast,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we beat the girls back.¡±


    ¡°Who knew that solving an insurmountable problem would only take a few minutes of concentrated effort?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I hope they are staying out of trouble. I gave Elaine a lot of money to buy the stuff we need.¡±


    ¡°We should get them a self-defense instructor,¡± said Josie. ¡°What would that look like here?¡±


    ¡°A guy like Sean Connery waving a sword around,¡± said Jack. ¡°Thish ish how you shtab someone.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully we can get someone closer to Basil Rathbone since he knew what he was doing,¡± said Josie. ¡°I suppose sword fighting isn¡¯t taught to girls.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what the girls want to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°They¡¯ve already been kidnaped once. Why make it easy for a second time?¡±


    ¡°They could get killed,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They could get killed either way,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s their call.¡±

 Dinner

    Josie nodded at the dining room set up by Jack. He had extended the floor space on the bottom floor, pushing the girls¡¯ rooms out. Then he had put up walls to mark a dining room and a living room. Pushing the kitchen and Elaine¡¯s room around to be behind the rooms had been a little trickier, but done. A shutter went over the door to prevent anyone knocking it down instantly.


    Josie put a table and chairs together for them. Zatanna made that easy. She thought about beds for the girls, but wanted to wait to see what they brought home from their shopping trip.


    Jack put the stew on to boil. He cooked some meat he had bought from a butcher with fire from his hands before cutting it up and adding it to the pot.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need more than this eventually,¡± said Josie. She waved at the stew in the large pot hanging over the fire. ¡°Where did the crockpot come from?


    ¡°I made it when I made the rest of the kitchen,¡± said Jack. ¡°One of the drawbacks of living in the past is the lack of variety in the food. That¡¯s why they developed fancy recipes to make the food more presentable.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. ¡°How do you think the apple pie will taste?¡±


    ¡°Not as good as back home,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It will be all natural,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Give me my artificial flavors and preservatives,¡± said Jack.


    The lock in the front door rattled and the crowd of girls entered the hideout. Their words filled the air until they noticed the new room joined to the area around the front door. Amazement at the change filled the air.


    ¡°How did the shopping go?,¡± Jack called.


    Josie smiled when she stepped out of the kitchen and saw their reactions. Putting a little amazement in people¡¯s lives was worth it.


    ¡°I have a list of things we secured,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We had to rent a cart to bring some of it back. I hope that was fine.¡±


    ¡°You were in charge,¡± said Jack. ¡°If that is what you had to do, then it¡¯s fine. What did you get?¡±


    ¡°We picked up maps of the city and the North, several texts about the Dark Rider, and the royalty in the North, clothing, spices, bedding and pillows, blankets, a wash bucket for washing everything, and some personal things,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°And your pie, milord,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°That¡¯s the most important thing,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have to send you back to get me another one if this one is any good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that will be thrilling,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We were talking about hiring a self-defense instructor for all of you,¡± said Josie. ¡°We were wondering what you thought about that.¡±


    ¡°An instructor?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Someone to teach you how to fight,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do they allow that here?¡±


    ¡°There are retired mercenaries who teach sword fighting, and other things,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t think many teach women.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to let you girls think about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°It might be useful down the way.¡±


    ¡°Will we still have to learn letters?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Yes, Mel,¡± said Josie. ¡°You will.¡±


    She ignored the groan that entailed. She clapped her hands once.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack, help the older girls with bringing the things in. Younger girls, help me set the table. The pie will be cut after dinner. Then we¡¯ll see about basic letters and such.¡±


    ¡°Ahhh,¡± was the collective groan.


    ¡°Then clean up and ready for bed,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Best move along before she gets out the whip,¡± said Jack. He gestured for Elaine and the three oldest girls to precede him to the door. ¡°Then you¡¯ll really hear some bad words.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Melanie.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°She cusses like a sailor. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Josie shook her head. She waved for the three younger girls to follow her into the kitchen.


    ¡°Mathilda, get the plates for the table. Melanie, fill up mugs with clean water and take those in,¡± said Josie. She looked around the kitchen. Jack had made silverware too. ¡°Angelica, wash this lettuce and tomatoes, and then cut them up in a bowl. We¡¯re going to have salad with our stew.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s salad?,¡± asked Angelica. She looked around for a knife. She found one in a drawer. She grabbed a bowl from a cabinet and put it on the table.


    ¡°It¡¯s fruits and vegetables cut up and mixed together,¡± said Josie. ¡°Sometimes a sauce is added to enhance the taste.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Seems like a waste.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s basically a filler,¡± said Josie. ¡°It fills your stomach without hurting you, and


    doesn¡¯t let you eat so much.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t get fat and can¡¯t take care of yourself,¡± said Melanie. She had half of the mugs filled and on the table. She had one in her hand, working the pump to fill it with water.


    ¡°Ideally,¡± said Josie. ¡°A lot of things go into obesity.¡±


    She took a moment from making sure the girls were handling things. She realized in a second, they looked like her and each other enough to be sisters. She frowned because she knew it wasn¡¯t a coincidence.


    Montrose had gone after them because of what they looked alike. They had gone after a category to fill an order.


    They deserved what they were getting from her, and anybody else looking into their business.


    She ushered the girls out with the food. She took a moment to put a bottle of dressing together for the salad. She put that on the table as the girls gathered around the table. Jack had his pie in hand, and sniffed the apple smell where he stood.


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± asked Josie as she took the pie away from him.


    ¡°She¡¯s coming,¡± said Jack. He frowned as his pie disappeared into the kitchen.


    ¡°You can eat the pie after dinner,¡± said Josie. ¡°Be seated, please.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I should have asked for ice cream too.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to get ice cream here?,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to make it yourself.¡±


    His face lit up at the thought.


    ¡°After dinner,¡± said Josie. She shook her head.


    Jack made a sad face at that. The girls laughed at him. Some commented on who was really in charge.


    ¡°Tell us about your day, ladies,¡± said Jack. ¡°How does Hawk Ridge work for


    citizens of the country?¡±


    ¡°We went and got fitted for clothes,¡± said Mathilda. ¡°That was strange. Mum usually made ours at home.¡±


    ¡°Then we checked for bedding,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Elaine had to bargain with the man to get a cart so we could bring everything home.¡±


    ¡°The expense is in my notebook, sir,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Then we walked through places with piles of books and the adventure hall,¡± said Melanie. ¡°That was a pain.¡±


    ¡°The maps were great,¡± said Laura. ¡°There are so many places beyond the city.¡±


    Josie and Jack looked at the middle girl, Alicia. She hadn¡¯t spoken of the day¡¯s adventure. She worked on her soup slowly.


    ¡°What do you think, Al?,¡± asked Jack. He made a gesture for the dressing to put on his salad.


    ¡°Words,¡± said Josie. ¡°Use your words.¡±


    ¡°May I have the dressing, please?,¡± said Jack. He caught the bottle out of the air. ¡°So, Al, did you see anything that was good.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°What do you think about a swordsman teaching you some things?,¡± Jack asked. He poured half the remaining dressing on his salad and dug in.


    ¡°That would be good,¡± said Alicia. She started on her salad.


    ¡°Do you want to talk about anything?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡±


    ¡°How did your quest go, milord?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°It went good,¡± said Jack. ¡°Accordly seems to be full of fish people who worship a fish god of some kind. And their god was about to drop in and have a talk with the locals. We figured out what to do, and stopped that, but the town is probably mad at us right now.¡±


    ¡°You have a knack of making enemies,¡± said Mathilda.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m friendly and outgoing, love cats, and generally live and let live.¡±


    ¡°And the fish people?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Are overreacting,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I would love to meet these fish people,¡± said Laura. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a fish person.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll probably be mad that we blew their subterfuge,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who knows if they¡¯ll be there the next time we go through there?¡±


    ¡°Anyway,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to get some chalk so Mathilda can show us how to write letters after dinner. We need to clean up. And Elaine and I need to go over what she found. And we need to put the beds together.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like work,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Life is like that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Tomorrow, we¡¯ll have to make plans on how we¡¯re dealing with things. Give Elaine any requests for anything you think you might need. I think if all of you can read a book, then you pass the read/write course.¡±


    ¡°How big a book?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s say one hundred pages,¡± said Jack. ¡°Pick something you¡¯ll like to read about. It¡¯ll make things easier for you.¡±


    ¡°A hundred pages?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°No pictures,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯re not serious,¡± said Laura. ¡°I could have gotten a book of maps, but now I can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to write down what the book is about in five hundred words. That way I know you read it.¡±


    ¡°Five hundred words?,¡± said Melanie. ¡°That¡¯s a lot.¡±


    ¡°There are people where we come from that write fifty thousand words in a month as part of a contest,¡± said Josie. ¡°Five hundred is not so bad.¡±


    ¡°Fifty thousand?,¡± said Melanie. ¡°What¡¯s the prize for this contest?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Josie. ¡°Is everyone done? We can bring out the pie and cut it up.¡±


    ¡°Yes, bring on the pie,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need a trash can for the refuse. I guess we¡¯ll scrape the plates out next to the wall. Let the local rats have some of it.¡±


    ¡°The city doesn¡¯t have anything for half-eaten food,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Local farms


    would have added it to a compost pile for the next harvest.¡±


    ¡°Something else we¡¯ll have to check on,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go, ladies. That pie isn¡¯t going to eat itself.¡±


    The rest of the night went by quietly as the pie was shared, the living quarters was cleaned up, and Matilda wrote down the letters of the alphabet on a wall with chalk for her students to learn. At one point, Josie worked on a guitar and tuned it so she could sing a few things.


    They settled in to rest. The next day would have their next challenges.

 The Racket

    Jack stood in Elaine¡¯s office. He looked at the maps, and the drawings they had brought back. Marks for Montrose filled in some of the city map. He didn¡¯t know how long they would be there.


    Josie had already told him she wanted to swing by and deal with them before she headed north.


    It wasn¡¯t up to him to warn the sitting ducks a hawk was in flight.


    Elaine approached while he studied the maps.


    ¡°There is someone downstairs who wants to speak to a person of authority,¡± she said. ¡°They are at the door.¡±


    ¡°Did they tell you what they wanted?,¡± asked Jack. He turned and blinked at her. ¡°Is Josie asleep?¡±


    ¡°She went out with the girls to the adventurers¡¯ hall,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°So we can¡¯t expect her to handle this with her usual charm,¡± Jack said. He smiled. ¡°Let me go see what this is about.¡±


    He started downstairs, listening as Elaine followed him. He wondered who would want to talk to him. Maybe he could scare them off and get back to his real job.


    He raised the shutter and opened the door. He saw a group of men standing outside. They had the look of thugs on them. He grinned at them at his friendliest.


    ¡°We don¡¯t do charity,¡± he said. He closed the door in their faces.


    Something banged against the door again. He frowned at it. Did he want to ramp this up before Josie got back? She would laugh like a hyena if he got invested in wrecking another syndicate in the city.


    It would be better if she was stuck with the resulting quest in his opinion.


    Jack opened the door. He grinned at the thugs again.


    ¡°We¡¯re not buying anything either,¡± he said.


    He slammed the door shut. Would they get the message?


    A third banging said they weren¡¯t getting the message. Did he want to resort to violence? He didn¡¯t have to. He had a dozen heroes on his watch that could take care of things peacefully. He was sure of that.


    He decided to give it one more try. He dialed the watch to give him the warped form of Captain America when he pushed the button. He grabbed the door handle.


    Elaine was in the living area, hiding behind a wall. She had taken cover while he was trying to shoo away his visitors. He respected that.


    He opened the door. The thugs seemed a little irritated at him. He smiled at them.


    ¡°I have already told you there is no money, please go away,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have some things I have to go over with my assistant, then I¡¯ll have to see what my partner wants to do in the next few days. I don¡¯t have the time for you beggars today.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not beggars,¡± said the obvious leader of the group. ¡°Where are the men who stay here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the only man staying here now,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you¡¯re talking about the former owner and his minions, they¡¯re dead. Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re dead?,¡± said the spokesman. He looked at the group spread around him. ¡°How did that happen?¡±


    ¡°They made my partner mad,¡± said Jack. ¡°So she killed them. Is there anything else? I have a busy day, and I don¡¯t have any more time.¡±


    ¡°We want you to make time,¡± said the spokesman. ¡°The guy was supposed to transfer money to us.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s dead,¡± said Jack. ¡°So that isn¡¯t going to happen. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°What if you give us the money?,¡± said the spokesman. ¡°What do you think about that?¡±


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    ¡°I think you knocked on the wrong door,¡± said Jack. He pressed the button on his watch. He really would have liked to try out Blade, but Captain America should be more than enough to handle this problem.


    A thing like a scarecrow in red, white and blue with an eagle¡¯s head leaped at the group. It moved faster than any fighter, hit harder than flesh and blood, and knew every bit of fighting technique that had ever washed up on the shores of the United States. He ignored the screams from the broken bones as he worked.


    They weren¡¯t part of Montrose, but he knew he had to teach a lesson. If they came back when the girls were by themselves, there would be problems and an escalation off the charts.


    The destruction of one evil syndicate was more than enough for him.


    Jack changed back before the timer wound down. He looked at the mess he had made. What did he do now?


    ¡°Do we still have that cart and horse, Elaine?,¡± asked Jack. He looked around. People were looking at the gang crying and moaning on the street.


    ¡°Mistress Fox took it with the girls,¡± said Elaine. She winced at the blood on the gray cobblestones. ¡°Should we get another for these criminals?¡±


    ¡°Naw,¡± said Jack. ¡°They can walk it off.¡±


    Elaine doubted they were going to be able to walk what Jack had done off any time soon.


    ¡°Tell Josie I went to talk to whomever pays these guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll be back when I¡¯m done.¡±


    ¡°Another quest?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I hope not,¡± said Jack. ¡°But if I have to burn a house down, that¡¯s what I got to do.¡±


    He kicked the nearest man in his broken leg. The man cried out.


    ¡°You best start walking along, or the other leg will get broken too,¡± said Jack.


    The man staggered to his feet. He looked around for anyone who could help him. Some of the men had gotten broken arms for their trouble. One man would be eating out of a straw for a while if they had straws in Hawk Ridge.


    ¡°Now, we¡¯re going to see your boss,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I want to do that before


    my partner gets back from whatever she is doing. She will be utterly berserk that she missed putting you gumps in a toe tag sack and dropping you somewhere no one will ever find you.¡±


    ¡°A toe tag sack?,¡± asked one man had the presence of mind despite having every bone in both arms broken.


    ¡°That¡¯s what they call the bag they put dead people in for burial,¡± said Jack. ¡°There is a tag to tell the Watch who got killed and how.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever seen one of those,¡± said the man.


    ¡°You keep bothering people and you might,¡± said Jack.


    It was slow progress across the city until Jack found a cart going the same way. He paid the driver two silvers to let his victims ride in the back.


    The cart rolled along, and the men suffered through the ride. It was better than walking with the injuries they had. Jack¡¯s watch climbed up to full power as they went. If he had food and water, he thought the watch would fill even faster.


    ¡°This the place?,¡± asked the driver. He pulled the cart to a stop in front of a closed mansion gate.


    Jack slapped the nearest man across the back of the head. The man gritted his teeth from the sudden pain. He nodded to answer the question.


    ¡°Stay on the cart if you want to live,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll give you another silver to wait.¡±


    ¡°Two,¡± said the driver.


    ¡°One and a half,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Half?,¡± said the driver.


    Jack took a silver piece. He changed just long enough to break it in half. He handed the half piece to the driver.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you the rest when I come out,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said the driver.


    ¡°If I don¡¯t come out, go back across town to the wall, and look for a house built into the wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°Look for a woman with a picture of lightning on her shirt. Tell her I promised you two gold pieces to let her know I came down here and she should blow this place up.¡±


    ¡°Blow it up?,¡± asked the driver.


    ¡°Like a dragon,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hopefully, this will go all right.¡±


    Jack walked up to the gate. He waved at the two guys inside. They didn¡¯t look too happy to see him. He grinned at them.


    ¡°Is your boss in?,¡± Jack asked. ¡°I would like to talk to him.¡±


    ¡°What if he doesn¡¯t want to talk to you?,¡± asked one of the goons.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Tell him that the guy he was using to smuggle stuff through the wall is dead. If he keeps sending goons down to my place, I¡¯m going to come up here and burn his house down. If my partner gets wind of any of this, she will hunt everybody he ever worked with down and take them apart before she comes up here to deal with him. You got that?¡±


    ¡°Who are you to be making threats?,¡± asked the goon.


    ¡°Did I sound like I was making threats?,¡± said Jack. He touched his watch.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the gate goon.


    A human torch burst into flames right in front of him. He stumbled back from the heat. The fire vanished.


    ¡°That¡¯s because I was,¡± said Jack. ¡°I got stuff to do. As long as he stays on his side of the line, he won¡¯t ever have to see me again.¡±


    ¡°He will probably want to talk to you,¡± said the goon.


    ¡°Tell him I got some things to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll meet him at one of the gambling places around. Which one would he prefer?¡±


    ¡°The Silver Coin,¡± said the goon.


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet him there about eight,¡± said Jack. He saw they didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. ¡°Changing of the night guard.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll let him know,¡± said the goon.


    ¡°Also you¡¯re going to have to get a healer to look after your extortion guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°I had to hurt them a little bit.¡±


    He went back to the cart. He waved the goons off the back. They responded as fast as they could. Being dropped in the street wasn¡¯t going to help them.


    He handed the driver the other silver piece and started walking back home. He had a bit before his watch was back to full charge. He hoped his warning was taken in good faith. He didn¡¯t want to have to blow up another syndicate up before he could go home.


    That didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t.

 Adventuring

    Josie led her girls toward the Adventurers¡¯ Hall. She had already returned the cart and horse, paying a little extra for the trouble. Beatrice and Laura gave directions from the other outing they had already done with the supply train.


    ¡°Are we there yet?,¡± whined Melanie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Quit whining.¡±


    ¡°The adventurers didn¡¯t seem to like us,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Not my problem,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Can we have some custard afterwards?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. She wondered how Jack had put up with four sisters. She was already feeling her fingers demanding that she strangle her charges the way they twitched.


    She supposed she could have asked for Colossal Boy, or Green Lantern, to move the girls through the city faster. She hadn¡¯t wanted to attract attention. Now she thought she should have already done it to stop their complaints.


    ¡°Missus,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Can we stop to get something to drink?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°We should do that. Then we have to press on.¡±


    A shop of icy drinks appeared on the next corner. Matilda, Angelica, and Melanie burst into a jog to get there first. Beatrice and Laura walked a little faster to keep up. Alicia stayed by Josie¡¯s side, trying to match her pace.


    ¡°Do you want one, Alicia?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes, missus,¡± said Alicia. She didn¡¯t pick up her pace to rush after the girls.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She wasn¡¯t in a hurry, and just walking felt all right.


    By the time they got to the shop, the other girls had their drinks in paper cups. Josie ordered one for herself and Alicia. She noted that the mix was cooled by a giant icebox under it. She nodded.


    She had thought there was some magic involved, but it was good old know how.


    Josie paid for the treats and urged the girls back on the street. They still had a ways to go to get to the Hall. She wondered why there weren¡¯t smaller halls around so adventurers didn¡¯t have to cross the whole city to get a job. She supposed that it was one hall, one city.


    Maybe the city Watch didn¡¯t like the thought of armed combatants in more places than one. It probably kept fighting to a minimum.


    Josie nodded when the older girls pointed out the Adventurers¡¯ Hall. She frowned at the men around the entrance. They said some things about her Mage shirt. She ignored the words.


    ¡°Hey, maiden,¡± said one of the adventurers. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come with us and have a grand time?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going in to find the best swordsman this crappy place has,¡± said Josie. She walked by. ¡°If you are still here when I come back through, I will be the last thing you see.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s she¡¯s saying is run,¡± said Matilda, as the group of girls walked into the hall.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try the desk,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯ll know any adventurer capable of teaching you six.¡±


    ¡°What if is the man you threatened, milady?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the second best then,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m good with that.¡±


    ¡°Have you thought you might have a bad temper?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. ¡°My mother said I was always the quiet one in the family.¡±


    The girls failed to imagine someone surlier than their protector. It just wasn¡¯t possible as far as they were concerned.


    The desk lady frowned at the gaggle of girls coming her way. She recognized them but not their protector. They were with someone taller, with longer hair and proper clothing the previous day.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to hire a swordsman to teach these girls how to fight. Do you have any that are any good?¡±


    ¡°Not as teachers,¡± said the desk lady. ¡°Adventurers are usually hired to do jobs no one else wants.¡±


    ¡°This is a job no one else will want,¡± said Josie. A tug on her shirt made her look around.


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    ¡°Archery,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°And this one wants to learn how to use a bow,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know any of our present crop that uses the bow,¡± said the desk lady. ¡°I suppose you can advertise on the board for a specific teacher. I don¡¯t know anyone who would take you up on it, but you might get lucky.¡±


    Josie frowned at the woman. She counted to fifty to let her face resume its normal complexion. The desk lady smiled at her.


    ¡°Tell your adventurers they will have to go somewhere else for work,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m taking their jobs until I get a swordsman and archery teacher.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that,¡± said the desk lady.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what I can¡¯t do,¡± said Josie. She marched away.


    ¡°You should have just given us someone,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Can¡¯t you see she¡¯s a witch?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s an angry witch at that,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky she didn¡¯t turn you into a pile of bones,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Come on, girls!,¡± called Josie. She started pulling all the notes from the boards she passed on the way to the door. She waved at the girls to grab up any she might have missed.


    The adventurers around the door saw the girls coming and realized they were in the way of a bull rush. Most of them retreated from the opening. The one who had talked to Josie on her way in raised his hand as he started to say something. He found  himself in the middle of a tornado and flung to the square roof of the hall without his clothes, or weapons.


    Josie marched on.


    ¡°I thought I told him to run,¡± said Matilda, the last girl in line.


    ¡°He¡¯s extremely stupid,¡± said one of the other adventurers. ¡°We keep him around to draw attention while we go about our business.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s okay,¡± said Matilda. She ran to catch up with the other girls.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where is Tenniman Street? The first job is a lost dog.¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to go through all of these?,¡± asked Beatrice. She waved her handful of notes.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Matter of fact, I plan to clear them tonight. Then I plan to grab any jobs posted until I get a teacher.¡±


    ¡°You might be carrying this too far,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°I plan to drive the Adventurers out of the city until I get what I want,¡± said Josie. ¡°The faster they give me a better answer, the faster they can get back to work.¡±


    ¡°Lord Jack isn¡¯t going to like this,¡± said Melanie. ¡°It¡¯s more work.¡±


    ¡°Jack is not the boss of me,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Does he know that?,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is the street. Why did this guy post a job for finding a dog at an adventurer¡¯s place? Surely the dog would have come home if it was still alive.¡±


    ¡°Someone might have took it in, and kept it,¡± Beatrice said. ¡°Pets are a luxury, but if you can afford one, you keep whatever you can.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me get started.¡±


    She went to the address on the note from the hall. She talked to the old woman there. The dog she was looking for was something like a terrier. It kept the rats out of the old lady¡¯s apartment.


    She changed into Zatanna and followed her spell to another building down the block. She yanked the dog to her through the building. She walked back to her original address and handed the dog over. The old woman and the dog both seemed happy


    about the development.


    Someone came out the building, looking around for something. Josie thought this guy had taken the dog out of spite. His beady eyes and unkempt clothing made him look like someone who would never get a pet on his own.


    ¡°Have you seen my dog?,¡± he asked the girls.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. She looked at the spells she had as Zatanna. She made him forget the dog. He stood there blankly. Then he walked back inside his building and whatever he had been doing.


    ¡°One job down,¡± said Josie, returning to normal. ¡°What¡¯s the next closest one?¡±


    Josie went through each job, completing them with the help of her heroes in a matter of minutes. She used Beatrice and Laura to get to the places indicated because of their knowledge of the city. She marked the last one off before the sun went down.


    ¡°I¡¯m tired,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°One more job to do,¡± said Josie.


    The girls groaned in unison.


    ¡°Stay here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    She vanished.


    The girls settled against the walls of the nearest building. Complaints about hunger and hurting feet soon filled the air. They had been wandering around all day. There was no guarantee that the Adventurers would even find them teachers.


    Josie reappeared. She clapped her hands.


    ¡°Congratulations,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Hall recommended a swordsman to teach you. We won¡¯t have to empty their job board tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Thank the gods,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°What did they say about the completed jobs?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I made it look like they were actually doing things instead of roaming the town and barely getting anything done,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can find some place to eat, and a cab. We¡¯ll ride home now that we¡¯ve done a day¡¯s work.¡±


    ¡°Yay,¡± said Melanie. ¡°My feet hurt.¡±


    ¡°I should have taken you home,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, girls.¡±


    ¡°You should have let us see the expression on that lady¡¯s face when you turned in all of those jobs,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Probably looked like a fish,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Can we have a piece of cake?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can get a piece with your dinner.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Archery?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t have a bowman,¡± said Josie. ¡°I plan to keep at it until I get you someone who can shoot the wings off a fly.¡±


    ¡°The Adventurers won¡¯t like it,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be here long,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s why I want you six to be able to defend yourselves when I¡¯m gone.¡±


    ¡°Ease back a little, missus,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°The more people who hate you is more to hate us when you¡¯re not here any longer.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right about that,¡± said Josie.


    There was a small collective sigh of relief that Josie hadn¡¯t stated she was going to kill all of her enemies in the city. That was a bit much on top of the Montrose quest. The city could lose a majority of its population with something like that.


    Anyone who crossed the strange woman could be considered an enemy that needed to be put down.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the dinner, and head home,¡± said Josie. ¡°Tomorrow, we have to meet your teacher at the hall.¡±


    She led the way down the street. She went into a place with take out service and ordered for the lot of them. She paid with a few of the silvers Elaine had given back after her own shopping trip.


    ¡°We can eat here before we start looking for a cab,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we can¡¯t find something, I¡¯ll whisk us home.¡±


    ¡°Why not whisk us around everywhere?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s lazy,¡± said Josie. ¡°And walking toughens you up.¡±

 The Deal

    Jack thought he looked okay. He had built some clothes out of thin air to resemble a black suit like MIB. All he needed were the shades. He could work on that later if he needed them.


    He stepped into the office. Elaine looked up from her desk. She squinted at him.


    ¡°Do I look okay?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think it¡¯s better than what you usually wear.¡±


    ¡°That cuts, Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°What you doing?¡±


    ¡°Reading about the Dark Rider,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think I have something that you can use.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. He waved his hand for her to keep talking.


    ¡°These books I found have mentions of paths that the Dark Rider used for his previous attacks,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I need to mark down the paths on the map. I think there may be a source somewhere you can use to start your search.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± said Jack. ¡°I knew it was a good idea to hire you.¡±


    ¡°Did you?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I didn¡¯t have anything to lose. I have to go talk to this mobster. Tell Josie I will be at the Silver Coin, maybe trying out my Longshot, or Domino. Worse case, I might have to use the Human Torch.¡±


    ¡°Will she know what any of that means?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Maybe the Human Torch,¡± said Jack. ¡°Everyone knows who the Human Torch is.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about him when I get back,¡± said Jack. ¡°Stay out of trouble, and keep an eye out. These clowns might try something while I¡¯m out.¡±


    ¡°I only have to hold them off until Mistress Fox returns,¡± said Elaine. She petted the crossbow on her desk. ¡°After that, the situation will turn in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°Tell her not to set for another syndicate busting quest,¡± said Jack. ¡°One is enough.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± said Elaine.


    Jack offered a grin. He tugged his jacket to straighten it. He headed downstairs. He stepped outside and made sure the door was locked. He thought all of the shutters were down except for the one over the door. He supposed if someone was waiting for him, they could take his key from him. Then they could just walk in.


    Maybe he should think about an alarm for when they were away from the hole in the wall.


    He called on the Falcon and glided over the city. It took a bit, but he found the casino tucked away in the middle of what could be called Downtown. He landed in an alley and switched back. He let the watch recharge before he walked over to the door.


    A line was stalled at the door. Jack nodded at the bouncers at the door. He recognized a third man as the gate goon from the mansion he had threatened to burn down. The man nodded without a neck when he saw Jack standing there. He gestured for one of the doormen to let the visitor pass in front of the rest of the que.


    Comments were answered with stoic expressions that said shut up.


    ¡°This is a nice place,¡± said Jack. He looked around as the goon led him across the floor. ¡°How much do you have to rig things?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said the goon. He nodded at a bald man on the other side of the room. ¡°That¡¯s Quint. He runs the place for the boss. He would know about anything like that.¡±


    ¡°Cool,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe I can pick up some quick gold after the meeting.¡±


    ¡°The boss is upstairs,¡± said the goon. ¡°What¡¯s the deal with you?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Jack. He paused at the bottom of the stairs to look at the goon who could make two of him.


    ¡°You are about to meet one of the most powerful men in the city,¡± said the goon. ¡°He could have you assassinated like that. You should be scared.¡±


    Jack frowned in thought. He nodded. He should be scared. He didn¡¯t know why he wasn¡¯t except the promise of what Josie would do.


    ¡°Turn around for a second and look at the floor,¡± said Jack. He gestured at the gaming area. ¡°You see all the guys with the tattoos on their faces?¡±


    The goon looked at the crowd. His eyes tracked across the room slowly. He nodded.


    ¡°My partner made an unbreakable vow to kill all hundred thousand of them,¡± said Jack. ¡°They¡¯ll be dead before we pull out of the city, one way or the other. She did that over a personal attack. She doesn¡¯t really like me that much, but if she thought this was something personal against her, there¡¯s no telling what she would do to you.


    "All I want is a talk. Maybe ask about the lay of the land. Then I¡¯m going to get dinner and go home. I still have to find some monster in the North before it becomes a problem and heads down here to the city if it can reach down this far. I don¡¯t want to find out if it can if you know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding?,¡± asked the goon.


    ¡°The goons that held the house I¡¯m holding got what they deserved a little faster than the rest of these,¡± said Jack. He put on his grin. ¡°You don¡¯t have anything to worry about because you¡¯re not marked.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad for that,¡± said the goon.


    The minion led the way up the stairs. He nodded at the guys on guard in their livery. Jack thought the coins as buttons on the double breasted jackets were a nice touch. His plain suit didn¡¯t look that impressive next to that.


    One of the guards knocked on the door. Someone inside made a noise. He opened the door for Jack and the goon to step inside. They did, and the minion stepped to one side to get out of the way of any trouble.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said the man behind the desk. He seemed like a former goon made good. His suit was good quality in blue and silver. He had smoothed his hair down with oil. ¡°I¡¯m Mory Guin. I employ the men you injured, and own the house you threatened to burn down.¡±


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    ¡°I¡¯m Jack,¡± said Jack, grinning. ¡°Your guys tried to extort me after I told them I wasn¡¯t giving them any money. I thought about really hurting them but I didn¡¯t want to ramp up into a war with your organization. I just want to be left alone to conduct my business.¡±


    ¡°And what is your business?,¡± asked Guin. He gestured for Jack to sit in a visitor chair.


    Jack walked over to windows over the gaming floor. He looked down on the people burning their money below.


    ¡°I have a couple of jobs that I have to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°My partner has decided that she is going to wipe out the Montrose to the last man. When we get done, we¡¯re heading home. You¡¯ll probably never see us again unless we get called back to do another job. Apparently an acquaintance of ours has been coming here for similar jobs before we got the call.¡±


    ¡°Do these jobs interfere with my business?,¡± asked Guin.


    ¡°The Montrose one, probably,¡± said Jack. He turned from the window. ¡°The others most likely not unless you¡¯re in cahoots with a bog hound, and a Dark Rider of Sachuminou. I also am supposed to find a lost princess.¡±


    ¡°Those are bigger menaces usually handled by adventurers,¡± said Guin. ¡°I only deal with those types of things when they get close to Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how close these will hit,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just know I¡¯m expected to stop them. I don¡¯t want to take you on, or deal with you other than under friendly circumstances. But I can¡¯t have your goons showing up at my place demanding money. That¡¯s out. And for Pete¡¯s sake, tell them to be a little better with their money collecting on my street. My partner might decide to put an oar in and she bears grudges.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Guin. ¡°What will you give me for this?¡±


    ¡°Saving the city isn¡¯t enough?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°What do you want in exchange?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I need a job done, and my men say you¡¯re a wizard,¡± said Guin. ¡°I think you can handle this for me, and I will extend my protection to your whole street.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the job?,¡± said Jack. He rubbed his chin. He should have seen this coming.


    ¡°I think one of my rivals is getting ready to go to war with me,¡± said Guin. ¡°I want him dissuaded from doing that.¡±


    ¡°And you think I can do that?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need him killed,¡± said Guin. ¡°I just need him looked at so I can figure out how to apply my own pressure.¡±


    ¡°And if you can apply this pressure, he works for you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is that what we¡¯re talking about?¡±


    ¡°Essentially,¡± said the mobster.


    ¡°If he¡¯s in with Montrose, he¡¯s dead,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about that.¡±


    ¡°That will be up to you to find out,¡± said Guin. ¡°No one has seen him in the last few days.¡±


    A knock sounded on the door. Guin looked at the interruption. He waved at his doormen. One opened the door. Two men were shoved in the room. The mobster gestured for them to sit down.


    ¡°Mister Kray?,¡± he asked of one of the men at the door.


    ¡°These two started fighting on the floor,¡± said one of the giants. ¡°We thought it best to separate them and bring them up.¡±


    ¡°This man sold my daughter,¡± said the obvious aggressor. He pointed at the other newcomer.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what he¡¯s talking about,¡± said the other man, sweating on his facial tattoos.


    ¡°How did you get that face?,¡± asked Jack. He pointed at his own.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the tattooed man. ¡°Why? What does it matter?¡±


    ¡°You got that from a hex,¡± said Jack. ¡°So Mister Guin and I are talking about a deal but I don¡¯t really think he knows what he¡¯s buying into. So I¡¯m going to ask you what happened to the girl. And you¡¯re going to tell me. If you lie, or refuse to answer, you¡¯re going to have a problem. You guys might want to step back. This might be a little messy.¡±


    ¡°If you kill him, you have to dispose of the body,¡± said Guin. He put everything on the top of his desk in a drawer. He gestured at his men to move to the door. ¡°The room is soundproof. No one will hear him.¡±


    ¡°You might want to move, grandpa,¡± said Jack. He waved the other man to stand beside the goons. Old leather and cotton creaked as he moved.


    ¡°What did you do with the girl?,¡± asked Jack. He didn¡¯t grin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about any girl,¡± said the proposed victim of violence in his chair. He looked up at Jack. ¡°That guy is mad. I¡¯ve never seen him before in my life.¡±


    ¡°You should have saved your lie,¡± said Jack. He touched his watch. Something like a giant wolf stood up in his place. Teeth as big around as thumbs and hooked together like a crocodile¡¯s parted to bite.


    ¡°I sold her!,¡± said the potential dinner. ¡°I sold her!¡±


    Jack became normal. He shook his head at the man.


    ¡°Where did you sell her?,¡± said Jack. The who wasn¡¯t that important. He would be talking to the guy soon enough as it was.


    ¡°Down by the Gold Exchange,¡± said the tattooed man. ¡°There¡¯s a building there.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where you took the girl?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°What was supposed to happen after that?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked the ex-boyfriend. ¡°I handed her over and took the money so I could win back what I lost here.¡±


    Jack covered his face with his hand for a moment. He punched the man in the face. The man rocked back in his chair.


    ¡°He sold my daughter?,¡± asked the other man. He reached for the knife that was no longer on his belt.


    ¡°I¡¯m going down to see if I can get her back,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind holding this guy here as a show of good faith, I would appreciate it. Either I, or my partner, will be back to collect him when I get done.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯ll help me with my problem?,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re not making things worse for me, and accept the limitations on things, I¡¯ll look into it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Fair dealing gets fair dealing.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Guin. ¡°Take the old man downstairs and put him somewhere he can get something to eat and drink while he waits. Take this other man to the other office to wait.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do this,¡± said the tattooed man. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡±


    ¡°You owe me a considerable amount of money that I will have to write off,¡± said Guin. ¡°You sold another human being and didn¡¯t pay what you owe with the money you got. I have been informed that anyone with the markings that you have are marked for death. I have nothing to lose by dropping you over the wall. If Jack hadn¡¯t asked me to hold on to you as part of our negotiations, I would have Linus and Charles show you what I do to welshers.¡±


    ¡°You still might be able to do that,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°Back home, they used to bury people in the ground and let poisonous insects do what they wanted.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± said Guin.


    Jack didn¡¯t question where he would get the insects. There had to be something in the surrounding forests that could be used. And Guin could probably ship in anything he needed if he wanted to hurt someone bad enough.


    ¡°Can you find my Natalie?,¡± asked the distraught dad.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    He tried not to groan at the sound of quests being accepted in his head. He shook his head. He should have known something like this would happen. It was best to get on it if he wanted to have things settled.


    Jack headed downstairs and crossed the floor to the front door. He paused by the bouncers.


    ¡°I have to do a job,¡± he told the one on the right. ¡°I¡¯ll be back as soon as I get done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out,¡± said the man. He waved the next couple inside to lose whatever they could.


    Jack jogged down the street, working the dial to get Makkari. He summoned the red and white speedster. Two blinks later he stood in front of his door. He let the Eternal go so he could use his key to get inside.


    ¡°Hello, milord,¡± said Beatrice from the living room as he entered.


    ¡°Hey, Bea,¡± said Jack. He pulled off his jacket. ¡°Is Josie around?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s upstairs with Elaine,¡± said the oldest girl. She pointed up at the office.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he said. He jogged up the stairs and stuck his head inside the office. He pulled off his tie. ¡°I need a favor, Jo.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± asked Josie. She exchanged a look with Elaine. ¡°Elaine told me that you were out at one of the casinos after dealing with some goons.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m working for the local godfather,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s a missing girl. I said I would find her. I¡¯ll tell you about the rest on the way.¡±


    ¡°I thought we weren¡¯t going to get involved,¡± said Josie. She smiled.


    ¡°This guy and the girl¡¯s father showed up at the casino,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to get my adventuring clothes. Loverboy sold the girl to get money to gamble. They¡¯re both waiting for me at the casino to see if I can work some kind of trick for them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Loverboy was involved with Montrose, wasn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got the Jack Makeover,¡± said Jack as he went to his room. He stepped inside and closed the door. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have long to live if I¡¯m reading Guin right.¡±


    He pulled the black and red t-shirt and jeans from the storage space he had built. He quickly changed and put his suit away. He liked that suit. It had come out better than he had thought it would.


    He stepped out of his room. Josie wore a poncho over her clothes. He glanced at it.


    ¡°I got it on the way home after we ate,¡± said Josie. ¡°The girls have a teacher now. We¡¯re supposed to meet him tomorrow.¡±

 Sitting Ducks

    Josie followed Jack across the city. She dismissed Northwind on the roof beside where he let Makkari go. She checked her watch as he looked around.


    ¡°What now, Sherlock?,¡± she asked. She looked across the roofs. The white stone of the bank stood out from the gray of the normal buildings.


    ¡°One of these buildings holds a young woman,¡± said Jack. ¡°So the easiest thing is to switch to Vision and looked around.¡±


    ¡°It might hold more than one the way these people work,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s where you come in,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might need to bust open some heads.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you think would be the best thing I can use? I think Zatanna would be the best at moving things.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go with Makkari,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I might have to go to


    Captain America, or Blade.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Vision is up.¡±


    She waited as the black eyes moved around. Then a hand came up and pointed at a block house across from the Bank. He reverted to normal, still pointing at the building.


    ¡°I counted six guys on the bottom floor,¡± said Jack. ¡°There are four on the upper levels. All of them seem to be patrolling. Women are in cages on the bottom floor.¡±


    ¡°How do you want to do this?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I think we can just bust in the front door and overwhelm them.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can take the bottom floor with Makkari.¡±


    ¡°I think I can handle the other four from here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just need a spotter to make sure I hit the right target.¡±


    ¡°You can hit four guys through a brick wall from here?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would love to see that.¡±


    ¡°You know I have Green Arrow, right?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I took a bunch of contracts today and finished them. He was one of the heroes I had to use.¡±


    ¡°Why not Zatanna?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°She basically can only do one thing at a time,¡± said Josie. ¡°Multiple targets is hit or miss unless I use something with an area effect. The Green Arrow seems to work like Yondu.¡±


    ¡°Give me a couple of seconds to recharge,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll put the Vision on and we¡¯ll see what you can do.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have Hawkeye?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He¡¯s not an archer,¡± said Jack. ¡°He has some kind of vision power similar to Vision, but it¡¯s weird. I can¡¯t think of a use for it right now.¡±


    ¡°Let me know when you¡¯re ready,¡± said Josie. ¡°I might need to move to make sure I can shoot through the wall. We might have to get closer, or find a window to shoot through.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can move over to that building next to it.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think there might be windows there, but we might need to shoot from the bank.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go over to the closer one,¡± said Jack. ¡°That might give you a better chance if you do have to shoot through the wall.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She thought that she could blow through the wall. She wasn¡¯t sure.


    ¡°I can get us there,¡± said Jack. ¡°That would be just a click for Makkari. Then I can watch for you as the Vision.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Josie.


    Jack checked his timer and nodded. He called on Makkari. He carried them to the other roof. Then he switched to the yellow and green Vision.


    Josie called on Green Arrow, wrapping up in leafed tunic and pants. A hood obscured her face. She raised her arms, mimicking pulling back an arrow. A line of light appeared along her forearm.


    ¡°First target is in the corner,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s sitting down at a desk.¡±


    Josie shifted her aim, following Jack¡¯s pointing finger. She loosed the arrow. It


    punched through the wall. She drew and fired again, aiming for the same spot.


    ¡°He¡¯s down,¡± said Jack. ¡°It looks like a wound to the chest. The other three are coming down to our end of the building. They are in the middle of the space.¡±


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Josie unleashed a fusillade of light arrows at the wall. She waited for confirmation of hits before she stopped firing. The quest counter went down as Jack held up his hand.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°All four down, one still alive. The guys on the bottom are


    rushing a staircase on the other side of the building. It looks like they heard the others going down and are trying to stop anyone coming down from the second floor.¡±


    ¡°No clue where we are?,¡± asked Josie. She had a view of the floor through holes she had punched through the wall. She drew back the invisible bowstring.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have to learn to read lips if I keep spying on people.¡±


    ¡°Get ready to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to put down some cover fire first to make them back up. Just punch through the wall, or try the door while they¡¯re distracted.¡±


    ¡°Go,¡± said Jack. He switched to his green derelict and walked to the edge of their building.


    She loosed another volley of arrows into the upper area, aiming for the other side of the building. Some of the bolts bounced down into the stairwell and made contact. Her quest counter went down.


    Jack jumped across the gap and crashed through the wall. He lumbered toward the stairwell.


    Josie doubted Jack needed her help with any survivors. She decided that she should try the ground floor and either come up from behind the targets, or at least see if she could start moving the women and girls out of the building.


    Either way, survivors had to be dealt with, Jack¡¯s target had to be found so he could fulfil his quest, and the victims needed to be helped back to a normal life.


    Josie checked her watch, noting she had enough for a few more uses of powers. She called on the Northwind and dropped down to the ground. She switched the watch off while she looked for a door. Then she used Zatanna to open the door.


    She walked inside. The captives started clamoring for release. They didn¡¯t know exactly what was going on, but they knew something was. She raised her hands for silence.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to be getting all of you out of here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to know what you guys want to do. So think about it.¡±


    She threw out a bird of fire that went down to one cage in particular. She walked down and looked at the bedraggled girl with red hair. The girl looked back at her.


    ¡°Natalie?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°Who are you?,¡± asked the captive.


    ¡°My friend Jack said your father is looking for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°He asked Jack to find you.¡±


    ¡°My father?,¡± said Natalie. ¡°What about Evan?¡±


    ¡°Evan sold you to these people to clear his gambling debt,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t mention that Jack had thought he was trying to win the rest of the money he owed instead of working to pay it off.


    Jack appeared from the stairwell. He frowned at the cages. The pinched expression on his face meant murder.


    ¡°We can¡¯t take all these girls back to the hole in the wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°We need wagons and a place for them to stay for the night at least,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we need to get them sorted back to their lives.¡±


    ¡°I need to drop Natalie off with her father,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯ll still be at the casino. Maybe I can get Guin to front us an inn or some kind of hotel. I doubt they will want to stay here.¡±


    ¡°You have to be wrong about Evan,¡± said Natalie. Tears streaked the dirt on her face.


    ¡°Evan?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The boyfriend,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He¡¯s done,¡± said Jack. He shook his head. ¡°Guin is not going to let him walk after something like this. He¡¯s got a short life ahead of him.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you do something?,¡± asked Natalie.


    ¡°I¡¯m going back to kill him myself,¡± said Jack. ¡°Look around you. He doesn¡¯t get to ride off into the sunset unless he is on fire.¡±


    ¡°What about me?,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°You better think of getting a better boyfriend than the one that put you in this cage,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think we need to get things going,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack, go talk to Guin and see if you can get us help. These women are going to need nurses and more professional help than we can give them.¡±


    ¡°Maybe there is some kind of healing cleric around,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I got Makkari. I¡¯ll go over and see what I can do. Good job with the Arrow. You sliced those guys up bad.¡±


    ¡°The counter went down,¡± said Josie. She checked the quest again. She frowned. More than ten had been hit. Where had the other three been?


    Maybe Guin had decided keeping Evan around wasn¡¯t that great after all.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to look for keys,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the girl. ¡°I think you should talk to your father and figure out what you want to do from here. Evan is gone. He¡¯s never coming back, and he didn¡¯t plan to come for you in any case.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that,¡± Natalie said. It was words without conviction.


    ¡°He sold you,¡± said Josie. ¡°If he loved you, he wouldn¡¯t have done that.¡±


    She decided to search the dead for the keys. If none of the guards had them, she would search the building. She headed to the stairs.


    She frowned at the bodies on the stairs. Jack had not lied about the damage the arrows had done. She frowned at scratches on the walls and wooden stairwell railings. It looked like the bolts had bounced around like Hanzo¡¯s in his video introduction.


    Josie quickly went over the bodies. She found a ring of keys after a few minutes of searching. She went back to the cages. The captives yelled at her to be set free. She imagined some of them could make it home to their families without help.


    ¡°How many are good to go?,¡± she asked.


    Some of the women shouted and waved their hands through the bars on their cages. Josie let them out one at a time. They rushed to the door and vanished into the night, going their separate ways.


    Josie nodded. She still had a number of captives to work on. She would have to get the ones out that seemed mature enough to handle problems and ask them to help their still more hurt colleagues.


    Jack appeared with a big man in tow. The man looked at all the cages. He looked aghast.


    ¡°Linus, this is my partner, Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie, this is the number one minion in Guin¡¯s organization. He has the authority to help us as long as we don¡¯t try to abuse it.¡±


    ¡°I already let some of the women loose,¡± said Josie. ¡°I was getting ready to let some of the rest who can move go.¡±


    ¡°All right, Linus,¡± said Jack. ¡°You know anything about how to fix this?¡±


    ¡°I wish I had never seen you,¡± said Linus. He rubbed his square face with a hand as big as a gallon jug. ¡°I know a couple of guys we can get to let us house these people at least for the night. I¡¯ll have to use Master Guin¡¯s name to force them to help us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be glad to talk to them for you, Linus,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± said Linus. ¡°This is the girl?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s down the row,¡± said Josie. ¡°I guess we should let her fight things out with her father now, instead of letting things stew.¡±


    ¡°I guess Master Guin will mediate things, even if he doesn¡¯t want it,¡± said Linus.

 Reunion

    Jack watched as wagons full of women rolled away from the warehouse. Linus had gathered up the drivers and got them moving under his boss¡¯s authority. The women who had no way to get home were guaranteed shelter for the night at least.


    ¡°We should ask who owns this building,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We should wait for the relief,¡± said Jack. He put away his thoughtful face. ¡°Then give them the pincushion treatment.¡±


    ¡°I think the hole in the wall would be a dead giveaway something bad happened,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That can be fixed,¡± said Jack. He smiled again. ¡°It¡¯s too bad we¡¯re already settled out by the wall. We could take this building. It has a lot more room for us, and the shops are closer.¡±


    ¡°So we just take bigger and bigger places as we work our way up the ladder?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re already taking whatever gold we can find,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the girls will want to move every three days,¡± said Josie. ¡°Plus I¡¯m starting to like the place we have.¡±


    ¡°We still have unfinished business at the Coin,¡± said Linus. His face didn¡¯t betray any emotion of what he had overheard. ¡°Mister Pear and Evan will need to be settled now that we have most of this cleaned up.¡±


    ¡°How do you want to do this, Jo?,¡± asked Jack. He wanted to deal with Evan himself, but it wasn¡¯t his quest. And the family arrangements could be a problem.


    ¡°We leave everything as is,¡± said Josie. ¡°Montrose will know we took the women by morning. There¡¯s nothing we can do about that. They¡¯ll probably know Guin was involved somehow. He¡¯s involved in the fight whether he likes it or not, and someone will associate us with his interests. So right now, we let whomever owns the building clean up the bodies and try to straighten up the damage. We have to look out for the girls, and finish our other business too.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Linus?,¡± said Jack. He was Guin¡¯s rep on the scene. He should offer an opinion.


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Linus. ¡°I know a guy that can watch this place to see who starts


    working on fixing it.¡±


    ¡°You do?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°He¡¯ll be able to tell Mister Guin who the money is,¡± said Linus. ¡°And following the money is always good when you want to get to the heart of things.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s smarter than you look,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I can see why you¡¯re the right hand man.¡±


    ¡°I work at it,¡± said Linus. ¡°Let¡¯s get the rest of this over with so I can get to sleep. It¡¯s been a long day for me.¡±


    ¡°I got this, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can¡¯t carry more than one of us at a time.¡±


    She called on her dark magician. She clapped her hands and they stood in front of the casino. There were less people in line trying to get in as she reverted back to normal. If she had to fight her way out, she wanted the watch to be at full charge.


    The Green Arrow would have a lot of hard angles to use for her shots if it came down to that.


    Jack followed Linus up to the door. His quest had cleared for Natalie Pear. He nodded at the bouncers. They nodded back. He had access now because he was associated with them. Everyone else would have to wait until some of the crowd inside cleared away.


    Or thrown out because of drunkenness, and bad behavior.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, guys?,¡± asked Jack. He watched as Linus waved a man over and whispered in his ear.


    ¡°Slow,¡± said the right hand bouncer.


    ¡°This is my partner,¡± said Jack. He pointed at Josie in her poncho. ¡°She probably won¡¯t be around all that much, but if she is, just don¡¯t let her drink too much. She¡¯s an angry drunk.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said the bouncer.


    Josie frowned, not catching the words but knowing they were about her. She gripped Natalie by the arm so the girl wouldn¡¯t run off. They had done their part to show what they could do. Once was enough.


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    ¡°I sent for my guy,¡± said Linus. ¡°He¡¯ll be set up on that place by sun up. We¡¯ll know what¡¯s going on in the next few days.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Linus,¡± said Jack. ¡°That will make things easier for us.¡±


    ¡°Just be ready if they decide to go after the boss,¡± said Linus.


    ¡°We need some way to talk to your boss when we¡¯re not around,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might not be in the city while we¡¯re running these other quests down.¡±


    ¡°We need cells,¡± said Josie. ¡°How do we do that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have an idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°I certainly don¡¯t know how to build one.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s stick to the immediate business,¡± said Linus. ¡°Then we can worry about


    messaging.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about it.¡±


    Linus led the way across the casino floor. He waved at someone standing across the room as they went. The other man nodded.


    Jack figured that was Mister Pear or Evan¡¯s keeper being given the high sign to bring their guy to the office. One more talk would finish this round of negotiations.


    He wondered what crimes Mister Guin sponsored other than legalized gambling and protection rackets.


    He may be legit and this was just the way business was run in the city.


    Jack nodded at the door men on the office. They nodded back. They examined the others with him, eyes sliding over Linus.


    ¡°This is my partner,¡± said Jack. ¡°If anything happens to me, she¡¯s the one to go to cover my obligations.¡±


    Kray nodded. Jack thought it was Kray.


    He knocked on the door with the palm of his hand. A sound came from inside. He opened the door.


    Mister Guin leaned back in his chair at the small group entering his office. He


    gestured to the visitor chairs. Jack went to the windows and looked out over the floor. Josie followed suit. Natalie sat in one of the chairs. She looked wrung out by what was going on.


    ¡°Josie, this is Mister Guin,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s a big wheel here in the city. Mister Guin, this is my partner, Josie. If something happens to me before I find out what¡¯s going on with your rival, she¡¯ll figure it out for you.¡±


    ¡°That is acceptable,¡± said Guin. ¡°The rest of our current business?¡±


    ¡°Linus did most of the heavy lifting,¡± said Jack. ¡°There were women in cages waiting to be processed at the location. And a few watchmen. Linus helped us move the ones who couldn¡¯t move on their own out of there, and he put a watchman on the building so we can figure out who owns it without a record check.¡±


    ¡°That brings us to Evan Fros,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you spare him?,¡± said Natalie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be good in the long run,¡± said Guin. ¡°He owes me money and he has no intention of paying off his debt. And he is willing to do anything to gamble, even sell his loved ones. I don¡¯t think that should be rewarded.¡±


    ¡°And he would do it again to the next woman who trusted him,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s why he got the tattoos on his face. You¡¯re not the only one he sold to the Montrose.¡±


    ¡°Why would you want to stay with someone who doesn¡¯t value you?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anyone else,¡± said Natalie. ¡°My father doesn¡¯t care about me.¡±


    ¡°He cared enough to try to stab your boyfriend in front of a bunch of people


    downstairs,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just because he doesn¡¯t tell you he cares, doesn¡¯t mean he doesn¡¯t. Someone who didn¡¯t care wouldn¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°And he has been waiting for you downstairs for a while,¡± said Mister Guin. ¡°I would suggest you take this chance to work out your problems outside the Coin, and come to some kind of agreement. And stop choosing idiots as paramours. It will make your life easier in the long run.¡±


    ¡°Natalie?,¡± said the old man. ¡°Can you come home?¡±


    Natalie twisted in her chair. She looked at her father. They both had tears on their faces.


    ¡°Go home,¡± said Mister Guin. ¡°Put your life in order. If things had gone another way, you would not be here now, and trapped in a situation you couldn¡¯t get out of without help. Take the chance to restart.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Mister Pear. ¡°Natalie, please.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Natalie. ¡°I¡¯ve been a fool.¡±


    ¡°Mistakes happen,¡± said Jack. ¡°Linus will get you a wagon. Be a little more careful.¡±


    Linus rolled his eyes to say I am not your errand boy, but he put up with it and waved the Pears out of the office.


    ¡°Evan,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°He is in my other office waiting for things to be settled,¡± said Mister Guin. ¡°And it looks like not all of it is as settled as I would like.¡±


    ¡°If it makes you feel better, ten guys won¡¯t be knocking at your door,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Thirteen,¡± said Josie. ¡°Three more died after we started sorting things out.¡±


    ¡°What happened there?,¡± Jack asked. He had a good idea what had happened. Those three women had known where to find their enemies, and did for them. It wouldn¡¯t be conclusive without finding the bodies, but it was a good explanation.


    On the other hand, they could have someone else hunting Montrose too, and he was using the Makeover to make sure his targets were real targets.


    Jack thought either was fine as long as they didn¡¯t cross him, or Josie, while they were working on these quests.


    Josie shrugged. The quest just told her that part of the organization was gone. It didn¡¯t tell her what happened.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get done with the rest of this business,¡± said Guin. ¡°Then we can sort out what we¡¯re going to do for the future.¡±


    ¡°Shall we?,¡± said Jack. He made a gesture with one arm.


    Guin led the way out of the office. He walked down the stairs at the head of his entourage, waving at customers as he went. He noted the tattooed guests and hoped his new partners didn¡¯t decide to kill them on the premises.


    Jack put on his grin as he looked at the moving targets. He could feel the frown on Josie¡¯s face and hoped she didn¡¯t do anything rash. He knew he couldn¡¯t stop her if she wanted to go to town.


    One quick Human Bomb in the middle of the casino would kill more people than what he could block with anything he thought he had on his watch.


    Maybe he could break the wave with the Angel, but he wouldn¡¯t want to risk that on a quick draw.


    Josie had always been faster than him.

 Evan

    Josie walked beside Jack. One push of a button and ten to fifteen more enemies would be gone. They were surrounded by people who didn¡¯t know what was going on, or didn¡¯t care.


    Did she want to kill all of them too?


    She decided that it wasn¡¯t worth it. She could hunt all these people down later. Some of them might already be living with women who wanted to kill them, but just didn¡¯t have the chance yet.


    She had a more important concern at the moment. She had to deal with the errant boyfriend.


    ¡°How much does he owe you, Mister Guin?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°Between seventy five to hundred gold pieces,¡± said Guin. ¡°He earned some of it back with his winnings before Mister Pear started having words with him.¡±


    ¡°Can you afford to lose the money?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°I can if I make an example of him,¡± said Guin. ¡°It¡¯s a pain to hunt down people who don¡¯t want to pay what they owe. Soon everyone thinks that they can just skip on what they owe. Then I have to do something harsh to the next one I catch trying to welsh.¡±


    ¡°Never mistake kindness for mercy,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°Not quite exactly right, but close enough,¡± said Guin. He waved at one of his men to open the other office.


    Josie knew paperwork didn¡¯t get done in the little room unless it was the medieval equivalent of a phone book being used on someone¡¯s face.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Evan?,¡± said Jack. ¡°You lucked out and we found Natalie on the first try.¡±


    ¡°What we are here to talk about is your future,¡± said Guin. ¡°You still owe me a lot of money, and this lady needs to kill you to fulfil her vow.¡±


    ¡°Pay Mister Guin the money, Jack,¡± said Josie. It was useless to torture the man any further. He didn¡¯t have the money, and he never would no matter how hard he tried.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why we have to pay the money,¡± grumbled Jack. He searched his pockets for gold coins. ¡°I¡¯m broke.¡±


    ¡°Mister Guin doesn¡¯t want to eat the cost of this loser, or what we made Linus do earlier,¡± said Josie. ¡°Yes, we made him loan resources to charity and it makes him look good, but he¡¯s a godfather. He doesn¡¯t want to look good and blow his cover. So pay him the money, even if it¡¯s just to cover the operating expenses we ran up.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Mister Guin?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Will fifty gold cover what we used up tonight?¡±


    ¡°I will forgo the rest since you have shown you can do what you say, and your word has been good so far,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right back,¡± said Jack. He switched to Makkari and vanished out of the room. He returned in a few minutes. ¡°Here you go. Fifty gold.¡±


    Mister Guin took the money and handed it to Charles. The money would be added in to the take from the night after everything was said and done.


    ¡°I think you should all leave,¡± said Josie. ¡°You don¡¯t want to see what¡¯s about to happen.¡±


    ¡°You heard her, guys,¡± said Jack. He gestured for the men to leave the room. ¡°We can look at things when she¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°I would like to know what you plan to do,¡± said Mister Guin.


    ¡°He¡¯s getting executed,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I have to think how many I can seize from the casino floor.¡±


    ¡°Only Evan Fros,¡± said Mister Guin. ¡°The rest will have to be hunted down in their own time away from the casino.¡±


    ¡°We do need people we can farm the parts of the job we can¡¯t do on,¡± said Jack. ¡°We could never help the women we rescued without Guin¡¯s people.¡±


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She looked at the casino floor. Some of the people must have felt the edge of her gaze. They looked back at her, but didn¡¯t understand why she was glaring at them. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with so I can get ready for tomorrow.¡±


    She switched to the Vampire, changing her appearance to a woman with long red hair, and flimsy dress. Red eyes and fangs made Guin draw back. Jack pulled him back out of reach.


    She touched the boyfriend¡¯s face with her hand. He slowly came apart as red light flowed out of him and into her. Bones and a suit of clothes fell to the floor around the chair.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to leave the clean up to you,¡± said Josie. She switched back. ¡°It¡¯s up to you if you want to warn these idiots. They might not have heard the message that went out. I guess you stand to make money when they start dying.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look into your guy tomorrow,¡± said Jack. ¡°You got an address?¡±


    Guin handed over a slip of paper. He glanced at the empty clothes on the floor.


    ¡°If he¡¯s Montrose, he¡¯s not going to make it to a deal,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might want to see where you can expand into his turf if he¡¯s not there any more.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to my accountant,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°Your people have been a big help,¡± said Josie. ¡°I won¡¯t forget that.¡±


    ¡°It was something to meet you,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°We won¡¯t be here forever,¡± said Jack. ¡°This might be your chance to shine.¡±


    ¡°Shining too much attracts unwanted attention,¡± said Guin. ¡°Let me know if you need anything to get the job done.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll let you know what we¡¯re doing when we do it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about what you¡¯re doing,¡± said Guin.


    Jack grinned.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have a long day ahead.¡±


    ¡°Have a good rest of your night, buddy,¡± said Jack.


    Josie led the way out of the casino, eyes forward. She nodded at people nodding at her. She sensed Jack waving at someone, but didn¡¯t look. She had promised not to kill anyone in the casino.


    That didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t wait outside and shoot them while they were leaving.


    ¡°So you got the kids a teacher?,¡± said Jack. His voice kept her moving.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t met him yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°The lady at the Hall seemed unhelpful at best. She¡¯s probably trying to stick us with a scrub after what I did.¡±


    ¡°And what did you do?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I cleared all of their posted jobs and threatened to keep doing it until they found me someone,¡± said Josie. She shrugged under her poncho. ¡°I picked up some things with my watch doing that. Zatanna is good with general stuff, but some of the other heroes can do better in certain situations.¡±


    ¡°Elaine said she had a lead on the Dark Rider,¡± said Jack. ¡°After I check this guy out, we can go up there and explore around.¡±


    ¡°Sounds okay,¡± said Josie. She thought about getting the kids to their lessons, and commuting up north to look for a dirty crypt. ¡°Maybe she can get us close enough so I can use a scrying to find the place, or at least narrow it down to where we can find it easier.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± said Jack. ¡°That just leaves the lost princess, and the bog hound. The hound sounds easier since we know where it should be.¡±


    ¡°The princess is in the North according to your dream,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe she has something to do with the Rider.¡±


    ¡°That would be just my luck,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can put that off one more day before we start really trying.¡±


    ¡°Also Alicia wants to use the bow instead of a sword,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Hall lady didn¡¯t have any archers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s strange,¡± said Jack. ¡°You would think that would be a priority here. There isn¡¯t any guns around.¡±


    ¡°They might be out in the surrounding forest hunting monsters,¡± said Josie. ¡°There¡¯s not much call for a bow when a lot of fights are going to be at arm¡¯s reach.¡±


    ¡°Not a lot,¡± said Jack. ¡°A good bowman can shoot a swordsman on a quick draw. Maybe the Watch doesn¡¯t allow bows in the city.¡±


    ¡°Like the Wild West towns,¡± said Josie. She turned the logic around in her head. ¡°But they will still allow swords?¡±


    ¡°I will ask the next cop I see,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe we should get bows ourselves. We¡¯re the only ones walking around with no weapons.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°The watches are so overpowered, I never thought about needing a sword.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree with that,¡± said Jack. ¡°We should think about getting a couple for us as covers.¡±


    ¡°Just add that to the list,¡± said Josie. ¡°This has been the busiest three days of my life.¡±


    ¡°I so would like to go back and try out Domino, or Longshot,¡± said Jack. ¡°Easy


    money.¡±


    ¡°If the powers worked like the originals,¡± said Josie. ¡°Which I don¡¯t want to bet on the way things are going.¡±


    ¡°You have a point,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you okay with all this? Maybe you should take a break.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t right now,¡± said Josie. She shrugged. ¡°Killing people, no matter how much they deserve it, is not something I thought I would be doing.¡±


    ¡°I had the same thought when I joined the Army,¡± said Jack. ¡°That part didn¡¯t go as well as I thought it would.¡±


    ¡°Why are we walking home?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I thought you needed time to talk out your feelings,¡± said Jack. ¡°Woman stuff.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be annoying all the time,¡± said Josie. She gave him a bird.


    ¡°It¡¯s something that I like to do,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know if there is a place open to eat.¡±


    ¡°The girls and I stopped at a place on the way home,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s still open.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m starving after all the running around I did.¡±


    ¡°I think I did a lot more running around than you did, Mister Go Fast Boy,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°Just because I¡¯m faster, doesn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t go farther,¡± said Jack. He gestured as he talked. ¡°I had to cover the city five times.¡±


    ¡°So dramatic,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°You are such a poser.¡±

 Midnight Musings

    Jack let them in the hole in the wall. The kids were quiet. He hoped they were asleep. He headed upstairs. He walked into the office and looked at the work Elaine had put in.


    He looked at the lines marked out for the Dark Rider. They seemed to converge in a range of mountains. He looked for landmarks he could use to start his search.


    He didn¡¯t like being away from the city now that he had things going on. Elaine and the kids would be in a bad situation without them.


    The girls were in a bad situation because of them.


    He found a marker for Kearnly. It was in the east. He couldn¡¯t tell the distance. He didn¡¯t want to split up, but they might have to do that to cover the distances involved. They needed some way to call each other. Their cell phones were useless here without some way to project a wave across the distance.


    He pulled out his cell phone and stared at it. He put it on the desk as he sat down to think.


    An idle thought crossed his mind about where Elaine had picked up a crossbow but he could let that go. She needed to be able to protect herself if they weren¡¯t around. As long as she didn¡¯t shoot one of the girls, he was okay with that.


    He eased back in the chair. His obligations had two different directions. He had to go north, and he had to check on Guin¡¯s rival. The rival would probably be an easier job to handle, but the Rider was more dangerous according to the Society.


    He wondered if someone else was hunting the Montrose. He put that thought aside too. It wasn¡¯t his job to protect them. If someone wanted to take advantage of the Makeover, more power to them.


    As long as they didn¡¯t take a shot at Josie, or him, he was okay with them getting some street justice.


    He needed to ask Elaine about Guin. She wasn¡¯t local, but had been in the city longer than he and Josie. She might know enough rumors to give him an idea if he needed to get a toe tag sack for the godfather.


    He was willing to give the man a chance since he helped out with the captured women, but there was only so much he was willing to tolerate. As long as he wasn¡¯t pushed, he could live and let live.


    If Guin crossed him, that would be a bad mistake if Jack lived.


    He didn¡¯t want to think what would happen if Josie decided to take things in her own hands.


    Josie appeared in the doorway. She had two cups in her hands. She sipped at one, and put the other down on the desk.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?,¡± asked Jack. He sniffed at the cup and smiled at the steam coming up to his face.


    ¡°Hot chocolate,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you have a plan, or are you flailing around?¡±


    ¡°I have an idea on what we should do,¡± said Jack. He sipped at the cup. He smiled. ¡°This is good. Where did you get it?¡±


    ¡°I magicked it up,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s your idea?¡±


    ¡°I need to look at Guin¡¯s enemy and find out what¡¯s going on with him,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I have a rough circle of area to search for the Dark Rider. Once I find the crypt, I can set up on it and wreck anyone trying to wake him.¡±


    ¡°How do I help with that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. He sipped at his chocolate. ¡°I wonder if I can use the Angel to search. Would I remember where I found the crypt if I did?¡±


    ¡°Let me use Grundy for a second,¡± said Josie. She put her cup down on the desk and pulled on the form of the pale woman. She looked at the map. She traced the mapped lines in her mind. She drew an x on the paper where the lines met. She discarded Grundy as she went back to her cup. ¡°I think you should start there.¡±


    ¡°No town there,¡± said Jack, twisting in his chair. ¡°You think that¡¯s where he comes from when he starts.¡±


    ¡°Pretty close,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s still a big area to search.¡±


    ¡°At least you know where Kearnly is,¡± said Jack. ¡°How are you going to handle that?¡±


    ¡°I am going to ask Elaine what she found on bog hounds, and come up with a


    strategy,¡± said Josie. ¡°I might not have to do anything but keep it away from the town. That just leaves us with the lost princess. How do we find her?¡±


    ¡°Got no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe we can ask Linus.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll like that,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°I think drafting him like we did was not something he wanted to deal with.¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°His boss told him to live with it,¡± said Jack. ¡°The hard part was getting him to the scene.¡±


    ¡°So we move in the morning and hope we¡¯re doing the right thing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s the only thing we can do,¡± said Jack. ¡°You better get some sleep while you can. You still have to meet the scrub of a teacher for the girls tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me,¡± said Josie. She sipped her chocolate. ¡°I hope he¡¯s okay. I want the girls to be able to handle themselves here. We¡¯re going to be leaving them in a mess if we get done and have enemies left alive to bother them.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. He picked up his phone. He juggled it in his hand. ¡°We need to be able to call them, and have them call us if there¡¯s an emergency.¡±


    ¡°That would be good,¡± said Josie. ¡°How do you propose to do that?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Building a tower to catch the signal and reroute could get us line of sight in the city, but anything out of the walls would be out of the question with normal physics. Maybe I could magic something up if I gave it some thought.¡±


    ¡°The next thing you¡¯ll want to do is build cars, and airplanes, to take it easy with using Makkari all the time,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything wrong with that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go to sleep. I¡¯ll see you in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t sit here and brood all night,¡± said Josie. She picked up her cup. ¡°It¡¯s not good for you.¡±


    ¡°Batman does it all the time,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°Batman is a little psychotic,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s why Superman will always be


    better. I¡¯ll wake you up before I get the girls together to go to the Hall.¡±


    ¡°This responsibility stuff is a lot harder than I thought it would be,¡± said Jack. He sipped at the remains of his chocolate.


    ¡°You would be a great dad,¡± said Josie. ¡°Get some sleep like I said.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. He saluted her with the cup. He looked at the maps around him. He wondered if he could fly North right then and find the Dark Rider¡¯s crypt. How much distance could he cover as Makkari before the watch counted down?


    Was there magic in the world beside the watches? Would he have to worry about a real magician trying to kill him before things were done? Having to dial a hero was a weakness against faster enemies.


    Maybe he should arm himself with a gun if he could figure out how to make one. That would be a big surprise against most of the guys running around in this world.


    He thought about his phone. Maybe he could make something like it work? An idea came to him. He wondered what heroes he needed to make it work. Then all he had to do was get enough for the girls and Josie.


    He probably should get one for Guin in case of emergency. They might need his backing again to fix any bad situation they made worse trying to deal with it. And it would make him feel better that he could call them if something came up.


    Jack put his phone on the desk. He decided to worry about the communications when he had a better idea of what he wanted to do. A simple voice exchange would still be better than what they had now.


    He picked up one of the research books at random. He buried himself into the text, puzzling out the words as much as he could. He reached the end and had a fair idea that the city needed Lake Myra more than he had thought.


    Jack picked up his phone again. He knew that he could set up something in the city. He had the ability with his heroes.


    The room went black as he looked at it. He frowned. He had fallen asleep while sitting in his chair. It wasn¡¯t the first time he had done that.


    A door opened and the twelve members of the Appreciation Society came in. Their leader smiled a little this time. He must be pleased that one of his quests had been covered.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± asked Jack. He realized he was still holding his phone in his dream.


    ¡°You succeeded against Accordly,¡± said the centermost persona. ¡°Congratulations. How goes the rest?¡±


    ¡°Okay, I guess,¡± said Jack. ¡°We think we know the area the Rider is going to start from. I¡¯m going up there to search for his crypt in a couple of days. We still don¡¯t have a clue about the princess.¡±


    ¡°What about the other commitments?,¡± asked the woman with the owl.


    ¡°I think I can wrap up a look at Guin¡¯s rival pretty fast,¡± said Jack. ¡°We finally know where Kearnly is, so Josie plans to go out there. You wouldn¡¯t happen to know if someone else is interested in Montrose?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said another woman. She had a quiver with a bow tucked inside it.


    ¡°Yes, you know, or yes, someone else is interested,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Both,¡± said the woman. ¡°He is hunting them too.¡±


    ¡°He has declared a war,¡± said a man with a sword. ¡°And he hopes to win it


    eventually.¡±


    ¡°I wish him the best of luck with that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie said there was over a


    hundred thousand of them. Any kind of open warfare is going to go bad for him, unless...¡±


    ¡°Unless?,¡± said the man with the sword. He smiled.


    ¡°Unless he¡¯s using the hex and Josie as cover,¡± said Jack. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to be in the city. He could be anywhere. But now he has identifying marks to follow.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re fast,¡± said the man with the sword. ¡°But how did he get on their system in the first place?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯ll figure it out eventually,¡± said the woman with the owl. ¡°You have the same means in your own hands.¡±


    ¡°But you still need to stop the Dark Rider, and find the Princess,¡± said the centermost stander.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe something will come to me about the Princess. I have no idea right now. She could be anywhere.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you will do your best,¡± said the centermost. ¡°You have shown some


    surprises that we didn¡¯t think of when we allowed you to take up the quests. Keep up the good job.¡±


    The door opened. And the group started to march out. When they were gone, Jack cursed. He should have got them to help him with his phone idea.


    ¡°Milord, breakfast is ready,¡± said a soft voice.


    ¡°Come back in a day,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll be ready then.¡±


    ¡°Milord, Lady Josie said for you to come now, or wear your food,¡± said the voice.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. He hadn¡¯t opened his eyes yet.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the voice.


    ¡°I can wear it,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will go well with my black and red.¡±


    ¡°She said she has coffee,¡± said the voice.


    ¡°Coffee?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Better than Starbuck¡¯s,¡± said the voice. ¡°Whatever that is.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what this coffee looks like,¡± said Jack. He opened his eyes. ¡°What do you think of it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s bitter without sugar,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s the way I like it. Let¡¯s get this coffee and see if it¡¯s


    everything you claim.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just telling you what Lady Josie said,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°My coffee better be as black and bitter as a murderer¡¯s heart, or heads will roll,¡± declared Jack. ¡°Roll, I say.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Come on. I want to eat before we have to see this teacher.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be great,¡± said Jack. He put his phone away. He had an idea on how to use it. All he needed was a couple of antennae.


    He wondered if Mister Fantastic could give him some kind of blueprint to his scheme.

 Teacher

    Josie checked her kids out. They looked okay in their adventuring clothes. Elaine had geared herself up to fit in. The assistant had to meet the teacher if she had to take the girls to their lessons.


    Jack staggered into the dining room, rubbing his eyes. Melanie pushed him along.


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot of work getting him up,¡± complained the girl. ¡°He mumbled for a good


    while before he actually started talking, and then he wouldn¡¯t open his eyes.¡±


    ¡°He just needs some coffee,¡± said Josie. She passed over a cup of steaming brew. ¡°I think we¡¯re ready to go. Can you take care of yourself, Jack?¡±


    ¡°I have to hit that house,¡± said Jack. He sniffed the coffee and grinned. ¡°This smells so nice. Could I talk to you for a second, Jo, before you guys head out.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Josie said. She waved the girls to get started without her. Elaine shooed them in front of her, taking one look at the bleary Jack before she left the room herself.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?,¡± asked Josie. She leaned on the kitchen counter.


    ¡°The Society dropped by last night,¡± said Jack. He sipped the coffee. ¡°I forgot to ask them about how to make phones work, but they told me someone else is also hunting the Montrose. He found out who some of them were before we put the hex down, and now he is using that to pick his victims faster.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s good, or bad,¡± said Josie. She weighed things in her mind. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about it until he crosses us, and as long as he leaves us and the girls alone, I¡¯m willing to leave him alone.¡±


    ¡°They said we have the same means to find the Montrose that he does,¡± said Jack. ¡°I haven¡¯t figured that part out yet.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She brushed back her hair with her hand. ¡°We need to stay on target. I plan to take the kids and Elaine out for their first lesson, then see if I can reach Kearnly from here in a reasonable time period. I¡¯m a little miffed that I don¡¯t have a Flash, or Ray, in my deck. What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a Flash, or Ray?,¡± asked Jack. The coffee made him straighten up into a full standing position instead of remaining slumped over like an ape.


    ¡°They¡¯re not speedsters,¡± said Josie. It annoyed her that Jack had found something that could carry him around in a second with little use of power, but she hadn¡¯t found one yet. Flash and Ray were pure blasters, while Quicksilver turned into a blob of liquid metal. Those were the three fastest characters she could think of off the bat. She needed to think and see if she could dredge up another speedster from her memory.


    ¡°That¡¯s sad,¡± said Jack. He sipped at his coffee.


    ¡°How do you plan to spend the rest of your day?,¡± asked Josie. She wished she had another cup of coffee herself, but she couldn¡¯t spend all day sheep dogging Jack, and take care of her own commitments.


    ¡°The first thing I got to do is find the address of Guin¡¯s rival and swing by his house and take a look around,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s a chance he¡¯s not showing his face because of what we did. The plan is to gather intelligence, do a little snoop de snoop. I might go by the building we wrecked, or check in with Linus. Then I¡¯m going to try to map the route to the Dark Rider¡¯s crypt so I can take him out before he becomes a problem.¡±


    ¡°Did you read the stuff Elaine found?,¡± said Josie. She had. It had taken a few


    minutes to piece together the printing process.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°How bad is it?¡±


    ¡°The Dark Rider initiates a Wild Hunt, and anybody he comes across has to join in,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to go. It¡¯s obvious why they don¡¯t want him called up, or let reach any place as big as Hawk Ridge.¡±


    She left him cursing and having to get his own food. She stepped outside and locked the door. The girls fidgeted in place as they watched her.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have a few miles to walk. So let¡¯s get to it.¡±


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    ¡°Can¡¯t you just whisk us across?,¡± asked Melanie. She made an arm gesture to emulate the teleportation they had done in the night.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you rather walk and build up your muscles for practice?,¡± asked Josie. The looks she received said no.


    ¡°I think a wagon would be good for long range travel out of the neighborhood,


    Mistress,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Et tu, Elaine,¡± said Josie. She squinted at Jack¡¯s assistant.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means, but I assure you that is not me,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°One time, I will whisk you along,¡± said Josie. ¡°After that, you¡¯re going to have to either learn how to walk, or get a job and get enough money for horses for all of you.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like work,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°That¡¯s because it is,¡± said Josie. She looked at the girl. The other girls stepped back in case she was planning on turning the girl into a frog, or something worse. ¡°You can¡¯t sit and expect things just to fall in your lap even if they do sometimes do that. You have to put a little bit of time in to get things you want.¡±


    ¡°That sounds harder than I like,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re lazy,¡± said Matilda. ¡°You want a prince, but you don¡¯t want to eat the heart of a dragon to get one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not true,¡± complained Melanie. ¡°I just like to take the shortest line to get things done faster.¡±


    ¡°If I don¡¯t have to do it, I won¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I have to do it, I¡¯ll do it as fast


    as I can to get it done.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Melanie.


    Josie didn¡¯t tell her that it was a quote from the laziest detective in fiction she had  ever seen. That would be a little much.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll carry you to the Hall. We¡¯ll see how the lesson goes


    before I think about adding a wagon and horse to the expenditures.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Melanie. ¡°No walking.¡±


    ¡°If I drop you, I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Josie. She reached for her watch as the girls processed the words and didn¡¯t like the end thoughts. She called on Northwind, picking her group up and yanking them through the air on a swift wind.


    They landed gently in front of the Hall. Josie switched back. The girls had various reactions but Beatrice and Laura looked sick, Angelica laughed, Matilda and Melanie were screaming for another ride. Alicia stood in place, unaffected by the trip.


    ¡°I think I will walk home,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That was a little too exciting for me.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get ourselves together and go in,¡± said Josie. She pulled down her poncho as she walked toward the door. The girls came behind her, talking about the flight through the city. Elaine walked at the back.


    Josie noticed the quest board only had a few notices on it. How long would it take to fill up again. The counter lady nodded when she saw the group approaching the desk.


    ¡°Mistress Fox,¡± she said. ¡°Your teacher is waiting in the training area off the hall. Just follow the signs.¡±


    ¡°Bowman?,¡± asked Josie. What was wrong with the counter people in this world? They didn¡¯t seem quite right to her.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t found one yet,¡± said the counter lady.


    ¡°This is my partner¡¯s assistant, Mistress Numera,¡± said Josie. She gestured at Elaine. ¡°She will be bringing the girls to their lessons if I can¡¯t be here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said the counter lady. ¡°I¡¯ll leave word with the other clerks so she can come and go with your children.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not her children!,¡± exclaimed Laura. ¡°We¡¯re ducklings.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re my sisters,¡± said Josie. She looked around. ¡°Let¡¯s go, kids. The training area is that way.¡±


    Josie led the way from the counter. She noted the adventurers gave her and her brood a wide margin in the hall as she followed the signs down to a courtyard at the back of the building. Sand had been laid down for people to fall on. She didn¡¯t see anything like a bench. She guessed that anyone coming here was coming to fight and not sit around.


    A man walked out on the courtyard. He wore a frown and a loose fitting training suit. One sleeve of his tunic was pinned up because there wasn¡¯t an arm to keep it from flapping around. His hair had some gray in it, but he still looked younger than she expected.


    ¡°Are you the sword teacher?,¡± asked Josie. She kept her hand wave at his disability to herself, but she knew her doubt was coming through in her voice.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the one armed man. ¡°I¡¯m Sir Darry Harp. I have been in both the army, and worked as an adventurer a number of years. Right now, I¡¯m semiretired and living off the occasional odd job like this.¡±


    ¡°Do you know anything about teaching?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I have taught some lessons to people over the years,¡± said Harp. He could see his joke burn up in midair. ¡°I assure you that I know a little about fighting.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what you got,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Elaine. She¡¯s my second. One of us will be here with the girls for lessons.¡±


    ¡°Did they tell you about my prices?,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°Did they tell you I will light you on fire if you can¡¯t do the job?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Because that should have been the first thing they told you before telling you not to waste my time. Let¡¯s see what you can do. Then I will pay you a good wage.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°Don¡¯t haggle,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Just show us what we should be doing.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Harp. ¡°There are practice weapons in a chest next to the door. Go ahead and get them. Try to pick something that you can use.¡±


    The girls headed for the door. They returned with wooden practice swords. The weapons were held awkwardly by the new students.


    ¡°The first thing I should teach you is how to hold your weapons,¡± said Harp. ¡°You want to hold the hilt with both hands wrapped around it. The hilt is the handle at the end.¡±


    Josie crossed her arms and watched as the lesson continued.

 Errands

    Jack ate his breakfast and sipped his coffee. He smiled when he found the carafe had enough for another cup. He poured that in his cup and sipped it as he planned his day.


    The first thing he had to do was get cleaned up, then get to the place he was supposed to be watching. He thought the Vision would give him a leg up in the looking around department. Once he had something to give Guin, he would hit the mansion and talk to his new partner.


    Then he would try to head north to look for the crypt. Once he had that in hand, he would try to think of a way to bury the thing.


    He took a shower, and cleaned his clothes, before heading out. He didn¡¯t have any silver on him, but he could get some from the bank on the way to the rival mansion. Maybe he could ask for directions from the clerk at the bank.


    He headed for the burned out remains of the Bell Tower. He used that to figure out where the bank was from where he stood. He decided to walk down to the tailor shop before heading over to the Exchange. He might as well try to figure out if the clothes were delivered before the inn went up in smoke.


    Jack grinned when he saw the shop was still standing. The grin faded when he saw that at least two of the tailors were marked when he looked through the windows. He had thought Ken had turned them in, but here were two more potential informants.


    He decided to go in and ask about the clothes. That would let him test the waters. If he had to put off his other jobs for the day, he could do that.


    He pushed in, waving at the staff. The women didn¡¯t look as happy as they had the first time he had come through. They might be stuck with no place to go.


    They might be running the shop depending on how things went.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. ¡°My friend ordered some clothes, but the place where we were staying burned down. I just came in to see if they were ever delivered.¡±


    ¡°What was the name?,¡± said the woman who approached him. She glanced at the tailors in the back of the shop.


    ¡°My name is Jack,¡± said Jack. ¡°My friend¡¯s name is Josie. She ordered some


    adventuring clothes. She was wearing a shirt with a lightning bolt on it when we came in.¡±


    ¡°I remember her,¡± said the woman. ¡°We still have her clothes. We couldn¡¯t deliver them. How are you doing?¡±


    ¡°We found a place across the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie has a bounty she has to collect on a bunch of guys with marked up faces. We¡¯re slowly working on that.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Jack. ¡°She should have just accepted a smaller job, but she was mad enough to take the whole thing. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have seen anybody like that?¡±


    She looked over her shoulder. Jack looked at the two tailors. They didn¡¯t seem happy at the betrayal. He grinned at them.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, guys?,¡± said Jack. He walked past the lady. ¡°You know you guys are good as dead. You should take the chance and run while you can.¡±


    The tailors looked at him. Would they break? Would they fly at him?


    One fled to the back of the shop. There might be reinforcements back there, a back exit, maybe weapons.


    The other came right at Jack. He swung wildly to knock the stranger down. A kick to the jimmys stopped that. He went to his knees. A hand cracked his head against a display case to take him out of the fight.


    ¡°Still got it,¡± said Jack. He walked to the dividing curtain. He pulled it back a fraction to see what was waiting for him in the back area.


    The other tailor had blown by what looked like a room full of assistants and out the back. Where would he run to in his state of fear?


    Jack didn¡¯t want to chase someone down, but decided that he should do something. And he had Makkari. He activated his watch. He crossed the space and out the back. The tailor ran down an alley, toward the street beyond. The ruins of the Bell Tower were on the left. He could cross through there if he wanted.


    Jack caught up with him and knocked him down at the edge of the alley. He made sure to punch him hard enough to knock the fight out of him. He grabbed the man¡¯s neck and walked him back to the shop, returning to normal as he went.


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    ¡°So you know what¡¯s going on,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to explain why a tailor is dealing with traffickers.¡±


    ¡°We ordered Lisa from them,¡± said the tailor. ¡°She¡¯s turned our business around.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Favors for the customers,¡± said the tailor.


    ¡°That¡¯s bad,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t have to tell you that you¡¯re dead.¡±


    ¡°Please,¡± said the tailor. ¡°Can¡¯t you do something?¡±


    ¡°Why would I want to?,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the man. ¡°Josie is going to love ripping you apart. The screaming is the best part.¡±


    ¡°Please,¡± said the tailor.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to your victim,¡± said Jack. ¡°She might want a small measure of revenge for you wrecking her life.¡±


    He walked the tailor back through the apprentices. They watched things with wide eyes. A grin and wave of a hand lied that things were going to be pleasant.


    ¡°Are you Lisa?,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the woman. She looked at the two tailors. One slept off his beating on the floor, the other sweated in his captor¡¯s hands.


    ¡°This is your shop,¡± said Jack. ¡°You own it free and clear. If you have a problem, you can drop a message at the Silver Coin in my name, or Josie¡¯s. I don¡¯t know how long we¡¯ll be around, but when we get the message, we¡¯ll help you with your problem. I¡¯m going to take these two with me. Drop Josie¡¯s clothes at the Coin and tell the doorman who they¡¯re for. They should hold them for us.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Lisa. She rubbed her face with her hands.


    ¡°If the guy at the Coin gives you any problem, tell him that Mister Guin authorized it for me,¡± said Jack. He grinned. He wondered how the godfather was going to take that.


    ¡°I have it,¡± said Lisa. ¡°Thank you for this.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with the business,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯ll be a little bit of work, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to do it.¡±


    He turned to his two victims. How did he do the rest? He suspected that he had someone in his watch that could carry the three of them easily. He went down the list until he saw something that attracted his attention.


    He decided this hero might be the one he needed as a transporter if his power worked the same as his name. He picked Gravity and smiled when he became nearly invisible with a black outline shimmer showing him where he stood. He reached out with his power and grabbed the two tailors. All three of them floated out of the shop.


    Jack decided that this hero was what he needed for heavy lifting when he couldn¡¯t use his Hulk. He carried his victims into the air above the city. He ignored the cries from the tailor he hadn¡¯t knocked out.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± Jack said. ¡°I have been dealing with the Montrose since I got here. Pity has flown. It¡¯s time for you to pay for what you did.¡±


    ¡°Please,¡± said the tailor. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me.¡±


    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I?,¡± said Jack. ¡°My partner definitely will when she catches up to you. You better come up with something better than please.¡±


    ¡°We were just starting out,¡± said the tailor. ¡°We needed someone who could draw the customers in. The sex thing came afterward with some of our customers. It built our business up.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should have found a woman who would do that willingly,¡± said Jack. ¡°There has to be some around.¡±


    He released his grip and let the two men fall from the top of Gravity¡¯s flight line. He watched them head for the city. He supposed he should have put some English on them so they fell outside the wall.


    Jack headed down, aiming for the Coin. He better tell someone there to expect the clothes. He didn¡¯t want the doorman to turn the package away.


    Josie would be mad as a wet hen to get her clothes only to lose them again.


    He returned to normal. The bouncers hadn¡¯t come on duty yet. He tried the door, finding it was locked.


    He knocked. He didn¡¯t need to tell them, but thought it would be rude if he didn¡¯t. He checked his watch. Did he have someone to get through locks? The timer was about half full.


    He knew half of his name list could get through the door if they wanted.


    The door opened. The manager looked out, glare and puzzlement mixing. Jack grinned.


    ¡°Master Quint,¡± said Jack. ¡°I took on some work for Master Guin. I have a package coming from a tailor shop for my partner. I told them to deliver it here. I want you to guard it with your life when it comes.¡±


    ¡°Why should I do that?,¡± asked Quint. He had a casino and bar to get ready. He didn¡¯t have time for some independent contractors.


    ¡°My partner was the lady that came in with me last night,¡± said Jack. ¡°She will be peeved if I tell her that her clothes was lost in transit. And guess who she will be peeved at the most.¡±


    ¡°I see how this is going,¡± said Quint. ¡°I¡¯m not guarding some clothes with my life, but I will hold them for you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. ¡°Linus said you were a good guy, and he was right.¡±


    ¡°Go away until we open,¡± said Quint. ¡°I got things to do.¡±


    He closed the door in Jack¡¯s face.


    Jack checked his watch. He still had to take care of his checking. He switched to Makkari and ran over to the address from the slip he had been given. He changed back as he took in the place.


    Guin¡¯s rival, Donald Corle, owned a townhouse behind a fence with a high gate. Other townhouses surrounded the place so it was one among many. How much money lived in the neighborhood?


    Jack took up a position across the street. He made sure he had some kind of cover before he called on the Vision. Black eyes took in the townhouse and broke it down for him.


    Nobody was home.


    There should be someone, but there wasn¡¯t a butler, or maid on duty. Did this guy live alone?


    Jack switched the Vision off. He hummed to himself as he thought. He decided that he had to get in and look around.


    It was better to make sure the guy was gone, then he could talk to Guin about what the godfather wanted to do.


    He used Quicksilver to get through the gate, and into the house. The place wasn¡¯t airtight against his liquid form. He changed back and searched the house from top to bottom. Everything was gone except for the furniture and furnishings.


    But there was a vault and he contemplated opening it and seeing what was inside.

 Kernly

    The teaching session went on for an hour. Harp had the girls practice with one swing. He gave feedback as he walked around, using a wooden rod to correct posture and holding. He frowned at the end of the session.


    ¡°Take a break, and get some water,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll go for another hour when you get back.¡±


    A series of groans came with the comments, but the girls trudged off under the watchful eyes of their big sister.


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± asked Josie.


    Harp tapped the ground with the rod. He wanted to say nice things, but knew this patron was not interested in flattery.


    That would make things worse in his opinion.


    ¡°Beatrice has obviously been in fights before, knows how to go for vitals, but has no skill,¡± said Harp. The oldest girl would stab a man in the back easily in his opinion.


    ¡°Laura has been in fights and has probably lost,¡± said Harp. ¡°She¡¯s scared of the motion of the practice sword.¡±


    ¡°Angelica would be a danger to herself if I sent her out as she is now,¡± said Harp. She had come close to knocking her own face in the swings she was doing. He had asked her to try to keep things a little smoother.


    ¡°Alicia masters the use of the sword perfectly, but I don¡¯t know about her


    judgement,¡± said Harp. He marveled that he hadn¡¯t had to correct her once beyond some simple basics.


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°She has learned the strike easily, but I can¡¯t tell if she knows when to use it, or not,¡± said Harp. ¡°There¡¯s a lot more to fighting than which way to hold the sword. Some of it is in training on where to strike. I am not sure she knows that she can hit in other places than the chest with the first move.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. ¡°Melanie and Matilda?¡±


    ¡°Melanie is lazy,¡± said Harp. There was no easy way to say it, but it was there. ¡°She continues to try to shorten the move, and it hurts her swing.¡±


    Josie nodded.


    ¡°Matilda is all over the place,¡± said Harp. ¡°I think she knows the move, but she can¡¯t perfect it because she is considering other factors the whole time. She needs to be more concentrated, more instinct than thought.¡±


    ¡°How much do you charge?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I charge five silvers a lesson,¡± said Harp. He frowned. Should he ask for more?


    ¡°Elaine, pay him ten silvers when the lesson is done,¡± said Josie. ¡°Shepherd the kids home, and get them through their chores. I need to head out to Kernly and see what I can do there. Jack said he was going up North after checking things out here in the city. I don¡¯t know when he¡¯ll be home.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mistress,¡± said Elaine. She pulled out her ledger to write down the expense.


    ¡°Master Harp,¡± said Josie. ¡°Alicia wants to know how to use the bow. If you can find her a teacher, that would be good. The clerk says there are no bowman teachers among the adventurers in Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°I know a few people,¡± said Harp. ¡°I can ask them to help out.¡±


    ¡°Do what you can with the girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want them to be able to whip


    their weights in adventurers before I have to leave.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a tall order,¡± said Harp. He tapped the side of the head with his pointer. ¡°It could take years.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much time I have,¡± said Josie. ¡°So do the best you can.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°See how much weapons cost for the girls, Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once they know what they¡¯re doing, they can arm themselves.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mistress,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Do you know when you¡¯re coming home?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. ¡°As soon as I look at this bog hound, hopefully I can help you figure out where to find this lost princess. Jack has never been good with anything like that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any mention in any of the stories


    I came across.¡±


    ¡°Then we might have to go up there and look around ourselves,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°All of us?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Jack when I see him and see what he thinks. I don¡¯t want to leave the city for more than a day and have something happen to you and the girls.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Elaine said. She seemed uncertain.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure they get home safely,¡± said Harp. ¡°It¡¯s the least I can do.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a couple of days, Elaine. If anything happens before I get back, call Master Guin and see if he will help you. Master Harp, I will pay extra for bodyguard services.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re very protective of your brood,¡± said the one armed man.


    ¡°I rescued them when they were about to be turned into furniture and sent away to places they had no choosing to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°I killed those people, and I plan to kill a lot more. I¡¯ll have to go when I¡¯m done. I want them to be able to do anything they want before I leave.¡±


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    ¡°I understand,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think that¡¯s everything for right now. If you have any


    problems with the girls, Master Harp, tell them I will do something spectacularly ugly when I get back.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Harp. ¡°I don¡¯t know if they will be as good as a group of


    adventurers, but they might be able to beat one, if it was the right one.¡±


    Josie nodded. She walked from the training hall. The girls saw her coming as they came back.


    ¡°I have to go out of the city for a while,¡± said Josie. ¡°Master Harp assures me that he will get you home after the lesson. Watch out for each other. Don¡¯t let anyone take advantage.¡±


    ¡°You are coming back?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to look at this Kernly. I am thinking about taking you with us when we start looking for the lost princess. I want you to be able to defend yourselves if that is what we do.¡±


    ¡°Archery?,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Master Harp says he knows some people,¡± said Josie. ¡°So hang in there. You¡¯ll be able to turn targets into pincushions soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Alicia. She almost smiled. Josie frowned. That was the most emotion she had seen in the girl.


    ¡°You got another hour,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯ll probably be sore when you¡¯re done. You might need some ice if you can find it to rub the soreness away.¡±


    ¡°We can handle it, milady,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do a good job while I¡¯m gone.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± said Matilda. She smiled.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie.


    She waved them into the training hall. She smiled. Jack would say she was such a mom. She smiled at the thought of that.


    She walked out of the Hall, eyes on the adventurers loitering around. She silently wished them the best of luck as she headed for the exit. She still had three main quests to do, and then cleaning up Montrose.


    She foresaw years on that job.


    Josie picked out which was East by the map of the city and the direction of the sun. For some reason, the sun crossed the sky from the south to the north. She didn¡¯t understand the rotation, but it wasn¡¯t her problem. She had to head to Kernly, and she didn¡¯t know how far away it was.


    Josie started walking to the East Gate. She called up different heroes on her watch. She would have loved to just teleport across the distance, but she didn¡¯t know if she could just target a place from a spot on a paper. She figured she had to have been there at least once before she could just zap back and forth.


    A familiar name popped up on the watch. She cursed herself for not remembering this hero when she was looking for speedsters. He should be just what she needed at the moment. And once in Kernly, she could set up a door to get back and forth with no


    problem.


    She pushed the button. Red and yellow cloaked her in speed. She smiled as she roared along the street until she could fly. She sailed east in a blur. Northwind was fast, but not this fast. Everything just froze as she whipped by.


    The timer ran out before she reached her destination. She dropped to the ground and walked off the last bit of her change before she returned to normal. She kept walking east, looking for place signs to tell her how far she had come from Hawk Ridge.


    She saw a town ahead. Maybe she could directions get from there. She really missed Google Maps at that point.


    And she didn¡¯t like not being able to check on everyone else at a moment¡¯s notice.


    She smiled at the thought she was turning into her mom.


    She walked into town, checking her watch. She had a small charge. It was just enough to get her out of trouble, but not enough for a long fight against anything that could take a hit.


    The Bomb might be what she needed in a situation like that.


    Josie decided to try for a general store instead of a saloon. The shopkeepers were bound to be more friendly than the bartenders this time of day. And merchandise was easier to spot through windows.


    She smiled to herself when she saw a small crowd of people going into a place and coming out with various things you needed around the home. She walked in and took a look around, smiling at the sawdust smell in the air.


    ¡°Can I help you, stranger?,¡± asked one of the counter people.


    ¡°I¡¯m headed up to Kernly and I wanted to know if I was on the right road,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said the counter man. ¡°Just head east out of the store and keep going until you see the bogs. Kernly is in the middle of that at the end of a bridge they built to the mainland.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for your help,¡± said Josie. She walked out of the store and turned to head along the way she had already been walking. All she had to do was look for a bridge in the middle of a swamp. How hard could that be?


    She kept walking until the watch was recharged. She smiled, knowing she could get back to Hawk Ridge in two jumps with Johnny Quick, maybe one with Zatanna.


    That meant being able to sleep in her own spot behind safe walls when the night came.


    She called on Johnny Quick and vanished on the road. She flew through the air, looking for the bridge, dropping down when she saw it. She let the hero go as she looked around.


    She didn¡¯t know why they had decided to build out on grassy water in the middle of nowhere. She put it down to human crankiness. She stepped on the bridge, feeling it shift around under her feet as she walked across.


    Where would a bog hound come from in this mess?


    The town seemed to be built on an island with piers set up for boats to travel through the swampy areas adjacent. She noticed that levees had been built around the town, but they didn¡¯t seem to keep the water out. Maybe they were there to keep the water from flowing away.


    That seemed odd to her, but she wasn¡¯t living there.


    Josie paused at the end of the bridge. She took in the town. If a monster wanted to come through, they didn¡¯t seem to have any defenses. She thought there should be a small militia at least to ask strangers what they were doing.


    On the other hand, she might be out on the frontier where governments were not welcome.


    A couple of men with the Makeover crossed her line of sight. They seemed to be trying to avoid anyone else on the wooden street. She wondered how many women had went missing with the bog swallowing them up as an explanation.


    She decided she would take care of them before she went back to Hawk Ridge. She wondered how far the hex had reached. Had Jack been able to piggy back the signal around the world?


    He would love to hear something like that. That might help him with his phone idea.


    ¡°What are you looking at?,¡± one of the men called out to her.


    She supposed her status as a stranger made her someone to be yelled at by scoundrels. She wondered if she should leave this to later. She might want to take care of things right now before she got involved in the other problem that had brought her there.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking at two dead men,¡± said Josie. ¡°How much did you get selling your


    mother?¡±


    ¡°What did you say?,¡± said the belligerent one. His partner tugged on his sleeve, trying to pull him away from the coming fight. He shrugged off the grip. ¡°I¡¯m asking you a question.¡±


    Josie called Green Arrow. She pulled the invisible string and took aim. The smarter one ran, heading away from the fight as fast as his boots could hit the wooden flooring under him. The other raised his hands, knowing he was in trouble. She released the arrow, and turned. If she had to put another bolt into him, she would. He fell as she drew the string for another bolt. She shot the other man in the head as he tried to turn and get behind cover.


    She looked for other targets, but the rest of the town had decided to let the showdown happen without interfering.


    She let the Green Arrow go so she could recharge her watch. She frowned at the two bodies. She hadn¡¯t meant to start things this way, but she also had another quest to chase down.


    She admitted that it would be better if she could take them all on at the same time. Picking the organization off one at a time was not something that would get better for her mind, even as she got better at using her heroes to do it.


    It was like kicking puppies.


    Somewhere in the swamp, something howled. It sounded big and angry.

 Report

    Jack looked at the vault at bottom of his quarry¡¯s house. Did he want to open it up? Did he want to let Guin do it?


    He decided that he had the right tool for the job. He should open the thing up and share whatever he found. If he didn¡¯t want to share anything, he could just say nothing was in the vault.


    He didn¡¯t have to give anything to Guin. The godfather probably had his own salvage teams. If he had to leave everything for them, they probably had some way to ship everything across town.


    Could Magneto open the thing up with his magnetism?


    If that didn¡¯t work, he had some other tricks in his repertoire he could try.


    He called Magneto. He shook his head. His hero couldn¡¯t move things with his control over metal. Instead he fired an electrical shock into his target. That wouldn¡¯t help with the vault.


    He decided to try Nate Grey, the X-Man. That should be close enough that he could use his powers. The inventory gave him telekinesis and telepathy. That should be what he needed to move things around inside the vault door.


    He pushed the button, dying his hair a browner red. His clothes were blue and gold. A small flicker showed the world the mental energy at his disposal.


    He stared at the door, letting his ability search for a way around the door and locks. He started with the pins in the key lock next to the combination wheel. He pushed everything out of the way and turned the lock.


    The next thing was to work the combination and move the tumblers out of the way so he could turn the lock bar and actually open the safe. He did that in a matter of seconds. He pulled the door out of the way and looked at the room beyond.


    The vault stood empty. He frowned at the void.


    It looked like the owner had packed everything up and fled. Why would he do that? A token force should be guarding his interests in the city.


    He needed to report this and see what Mister Guin thought about it. Then he had to head North to find the Dark Rider. Unless Guin had a better option to find his rival, that was all he could do.


    Why had the man packed everything up and left? If he knew that, he could find the guy and ask him in person.


    Something was wrong with what he was seeing but he wasn¡¯t a detective, and he didn¡¯t think any of his heroes had anything like retrocognition. He could trail the guy as Wolverine if he knew what scent to follow.


    Jack decided to test the walls of the vault before he left. He felt them with his


    telekinesis. Nothing happened. It looked like there weren¡¯t any secret doors.


    He switched to Vision and made sure before closing the vault back up. He didn¡¯t want someone to break in and steal the nothing left behind.


    Maybe Guin could find the guy through the underground. That was a thought.


    Jack made his way outside. The guy had days to move out of the city if he had left the city. He could have moved somewhere else and hunkered down. If he wore the Makeover, he could be trying to erase it.


    He didn¡¯t know if anyone could erase what he did. He didn¡¯t want to find out. People would be doing anything cover up the markings to avoid any thought they had worked with the Montrose.


    The smart ones would. The dumb and arrogant ones would still be thinking that no one could touch them.


    Then they would meet Josie and that would change really quick.


    He decided to try Guin¡¯s home, and then the Silver Coin. He should be able to leave word at either one about what he had found. Then it would be up to the godfather what he wanted to do.


    Jack wondered if Hawkeye would work in this situation. He thought about it, but he didn¡¯t know what he would be looking for with the power. He could search everywhere and see the guy, but he wouldn¡¯t recognize him.


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    He slipped out of the house and headed for the gate. A switch to Quicksilver got him through the barrier. He switched to Makkari and rushed to Guin¡¯s mansion. He switched back to normal at the end of the block and walked the rest of the way.


    Guin had thought the other man was preparing for war. Maybe he was right. Where would he go if he was getting ready to fight?


    Jack didn¡¯t have the answers for that. He either had to search the entire city, or wait for developments. And he couldn¡¯t wait long if the danger from the Dark Rider was everything the Appreciation Society thought.


    Guin would have to wait for results until he put the Rider down. Then he could move back to this job.


    Jack walked up to the gate. Linus wasn¡¯t on watch today. The two new guys didn¡¯t know him, and he didn¡¯t know them. Would he have to do something to change their minds?


    He was not above a demonstration to let them know he could punch through the gate if he wanted to do it.


    ¡°Move on,¡± said one of the goons. He waved his hand to indicate what he wanted.


    ¡°Mister Guin, or Linus, in?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to talk to them about


    something they wanted.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the name?,¡± said the goon.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the look on the guard¡¯s face. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything bad. I¡¯m just here to talk to Mister Guin about the favor he wanted paid.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the guard. ¡°Stay right there until we get this straightened out.¡±


    Jack nodded. He put his hands in his pockets, and examined the neighborhood. Should he use the Vision to see if something was going on around the mansion?


    He decided that wasn¡¯t his worry. If someone came after Guin, he should he able to hold them off until he escaped with the men walking the grounds. If someone did try, that might be something he could use to help the godfather out.


    The phone might be something he should work out in case they were needed to help protect the mobster.


    The guard returned with Linus in tow. The big man frowned at Jack. Maybe he


    expected the smaller man to take a while before he went about his business.


    ¡°Hey,¡± said Jack. He put on his most cheerful grin. ¡°How you doing?¡±


    ¡°You got something?,¡± asked Linus.


    ¡°The guy is gone,¡± said Jack. ¡°I went over to his house and looked around. He packed up a lot of his personal stuff and left. The vault in the basement has been emptied out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s bad but not insurmountable,¡± said Linus. He looked up and down the street. ¡°Come in. The boss will want to hear this with his own ears.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We have to make sure,¡± said Linus. He opened the gate and ushered Jack on the grounds. ¡°If he¡¯s going to war, the first thing he¡¯s going to do is get money to buy supplies and manpower.¡±


    ¡°What if he just left for better parts?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The next nearest city is Gold Valley,¡± said Linus. ¡°He might head north and cross the border, but there are a lot of frontier towns before you reach a city to set up in, and then the nearest city type place there is Fort Grain.¡±


    ¡°I guess you should spread the word to keep a look out for any of his guys still in the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to go North myself for a few days. If you get word about things, just leave it with Josie, or Elaine. They¡¯ll hand it off to me when I get back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send some messengers out to look around,¡± said Linus. ¡°If he left town, why? He had a line of brothels and other things here. The Watch was leaving him alone. Why start over?¡±


    ¡°Maybe he got a new goal in life than being a criminal leader of a gang,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some people do change jobs.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Linus. ¡°Someone on the Watch might have got enough to make him draw in without having enough to arrest him. That¡¯s more likely.¡±


    ¡°Has anybody started working on that building yet?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t got word, so I am going to say no,¡± said Linus. ¡°Maybe it wasn¡¯t as


    important as it looked.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you see any more spots like that, leave word about them too. Josie will swing by and clean them out.¡±


    ¡°Why only women?,¡± said Linus.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Perfect servants with side benefits?¡±


    ¡°There are plenty around that you don¡¯t have to sweep them up off the streets and they will be as loyal as the gold coming in,¡± said Linus. ¡°This is something else.¡±


    ¡°When Josie finds whomever is at the top, we¡¯ll ask him,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m sure he will have some answer about how he was bettering womankind or something.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Linus. ¡°Sounds a little crazy to me.¡±


    ¡°It always does,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll check in on that house to make sure he didn¡¯t come back while I¡¯m away, but it looks like either he went to a bolt hole, or he left town. I guess be on guard and ready for an attack until we know for sure.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll put on a bigger detail,¡± said Linus. ¡°I don¡¯t like this at all.¡±


    ¡°If he is in with the Montrose, he might be trying to get his face fixed,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might take him a while do that.¡±


    ¡°He can still give orders,¡± said Linus.


    ¡°True,¡± said Jack. ¡°Before I forget, tell your boss I¡¯m working on a rig so I can talk to him any time from anywhere in the city. If it works out, I won¡¯t have to drop by, I can just call.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be happy to hear that,¡± said Linus. ¡°I¡¯ll put someone on the house to wait for Corle to come home.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s coming home,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised to see a for sale sign on the gate in the next few days.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Linus. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the boss. We need strategies for the options we see.¡±


    ¡°He might be hiding at one of his businesses,¡± said Jack. ¡°Give me a list when I get back, I¡¯ll go around and look at them.¡±


    ¡°He has never done that before, but he never left his house empty either,¡± said Linus. ¡°He might have changed his habits.¡±


    ¡°He might be dead, and his crew are covering it up,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to go. I¡¯ll be back in a bit. Have that list of locations and I¡¯ll see what I can do about it.¡±


    Jack waved as he walked off. The quest for the rival was still there. He hadn¡¯t really solved anything.


    One thing at a time, he decided. That was the best he could do.

 The Hound

    Josie listened for another roar. She looked around. Everyone was doing the same as she was. Did the thing invade the town? Should these people be standing out in the open?


    How big was the thing?


    She decided to walk to the edge of town to let her watch recharge. She probably should have waited to kill the two swampers, but anger had decided her course.


    She needed to work on that. It was causing more trouble for her than she liked. She hated to admit it, but Jack thought way better under pressure than she did. She was better at motivation.


    Jack tended to drift if he didn¡¯t have something to do. She half expected him to just vanish for years and then show up out of the blue with a new scar and a raft of stories that didn¡¯t seem right no matter how much he tended to downplay what happened.


    His army years had been like that for sure.


    Jack¡¯s stories tended to be something like ¡®The guys and I were setting up camp, and the television went on the fritz,¡¯ when the television went on the fritz because someone had shot at the camp with rockets and scored a direct hit.


    Josie heard another roar. She seemed to be walking in the right direction. She wondered what she could do about this. The quest didn¡¯t seem to want the hound hurt. She just had to tame it, whatever that meant.


    Maybe there was something about the town that was bringing the monster close. If she could change that, the thing would go back deeper into the waters around Kernly.


    It might be semi-aquatic. It might be intelligent, or more intelligent than normal. Dogs were bright. Maybe she could make a deal with it.


    At least PETA wasn¡¯t around to screw things up.


    She saw a mound of dirt moving beyond the walls that kept the water back from the town. Something like sniffing cut through the air. The townspeople had gathered at the edge to look at the mound move. No one tried to get closer, or raise weapons.


    She wondered what would happen if someone tried to do something. She imagined the wall wouldn¡¯t keep out the giant thing she was watching if it wanted to go to town. The wooden buildings probably wouldn¡¯t hold the thing back if it got angry enough.


    The hound worked its way up and down the wall. It seemed to be looking for


    something. Whatever it was looking for had to be on this side of the fence.


    Josie dialed through the heroes on her watch. Bwana Beast, or Animal Man, might give her a grasp of the Hound¡¯s abilities. They might change her into animals. They might give her random abilities that weren¡¯t useful in this situation.


    Did she want to fight a living avalanche?


    She decided the best thing she could do was try Animal Man. Maybe it would give her something. Then she could try to use that to lever the Hound away from the town, and the swampers.


    Another option were to move the town no matter what the people thought about that.


    She pushed down for Animal Man and dressed in hides as she looked out over the water. Striped camouflage covered her face.


    She felt the Hound moving around on the other side of the levee. It was distressed by something. It needed its eggs. She blinked. The town had built the levee around the Hound¡¯s spawning grounds.


    She hoped this could be a simple fix.


    She touched the Hound with her mind. She offered to move the eggs. All they needed was another spot to let the little hounds grow into something mobile.


    The Hound didn¡¯t know of any other spot that would be as good as the spot the town was on. She could see that it was feeling exasperated and wanted to bust down the wall.


    If it decided to attack, she would have to switch to Zatanna and hope for the best. How much of Kernly could it destroy before she got her act together?


    She told the Hound to hold on. She would find a place to move the eggs where they would be safe, where there was plenty of prey to eat, and where the water was still in the center and moved at the edges.


    The Hound sniffed in disbelief.


    Josie told it to hold its water and give her a second to do the job.


    The first thing she needed to do was find such a great spawning area away from Kernly.


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    She switched to Zatanna. She didn¡¯t have a lot of time on her watch. She needed to take care of things as fast as possible.


    The first thing she did was send out a bird to locate the place where the Hound¡¯s spawn could grow in peace. She followed it through the air until it landed on a tree sticking out of the water. She marked the place so she could find it later.


    She checked her watch. She still had time to do the rest of the plan without stopping for a recharge.


    She went back to Kernly, changed just long enough to inform the Hound of her plan. She changed to Aquaman and became one with the swamp water. She found egg shaped rocks at the bottom of the shallow pond. She changed back into Zatanna and sent the eggs to their new spawning grounds. She changed back to Aquawoman long enough to get back on the pier, and then to normal.


    Josie looked down at her hands. Changing into Aquawoman meant that when she changed back she was completely dry. And the blue and silver hero was water. She could do anything with a big enough source of water, and she was almost invulnerable to normal weaknesses.


    She let the watch regain power before she moved to the next step. She needed to get the Hound to its eggs without problems for the town.


    She didn¡¯t know if she wanted to save the town, but the quest had to be solved so she could go home.


    Mister Warner had answers that needed to be said for her questions. She wanted to know why he had set them up for his bosses whomever they really were.


    She wanted to know why he had allowed things to blossom when he should have weeded those things out.


    She frowned. Why had they called on Mister Warner to do things? And how many quests had he undertaken for little reward?


    What was the point of this?


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± asked one of the townies, watching the mound watching the empty pool.


    ¡°The town rests next to a bog hound spawning ground,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. ¡°It laid eggs, and doesn¡¯t like the wall you put up. So I was asked to move the hound on, and that means moving the eggs too.¡±


    ¡°Who asked you to do something like that?,¡± asked the townie. He frowned at Josie.


    ¡°The Robert Reed Appreciation Society,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now I¡¯m going to try to move the hound, and then head home.¡±


    ¡°There are other things out there,¡± said the man. ¡°The hound keeps them away.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to defend yourselves without it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll put up some barriers to help you out. Then you¡¯re going to have to start building up adventurers to keep the monsters at bay.¡±


    ¡°No adventurer is going to come here and help us,¡± said the townie.


    ¡°Sure, they will if there is money in it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll even post a reward up


    to have adventurers come here and set up.¡±


    ¡°How many do you think that will net?,¡± asked the townie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I do know what that bog hound was going to do to your town if it couldn¡¯t get to its eggs,¡± said Josie. ¡°And that wouldn¡¯t have been pretty.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can see that,¡± said the townie.


    ¡°Let me see what I can do about the hound and then I¡¯ll work on the defenses I promised,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Albert Deen,¡± said the townie.


    ¡°When I post up for adventurers, I¡¯ll send them to you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Why would you do that?,¡± asked Deen. She could see the gears turning in his head.


    ¡°So you can tell them about the fabulous treasure buried in the swamp to the east,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll put together a treasure map for you.¡±


    ¡°So I just point them to a false treasure and let them know where it¡¯s supposed to be?,¡± said Deen. He scratched his head in disbelief.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Josie. ¡°They might even clean out your local monsters looking for it.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Deen. ¡°I just don¡¯t see it.¡±


    ¡°At the very least, the town will make money from visitors,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. ¡°Now I have to herd this hound to its babies, and get your gold for your treasure, and get a map. I¡¯ll post up a job at the Hawk Ridge Adventurer Board. If adventurers start showing up, it¡¯ll be worth your time to trade with them and take their money while they¡¯re looking around.¡±


    ¡°I guess we can make it work out,¡± said Deen. ¡°I don¡¯t know how Lord Conn will take this.¡±


    ¡°If you make more money, that¡¯s more taxes for him,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯ll love it.¡±


    ¡°Adventurers will want proof there¡¯s a treasure,¡± said Deen.


    ¡°There will be,¡± said Josie. She smiled for the first time. Deen stepped back. ¡°But I have to finish this job first.¡±


    Josie turned into Animal Woman to let the Hound know she was ready to take it to the eggs. The monster agreed with a snuffling. She told it to follow the bird and changed into Hawkgirl and took flight. She sailed through the marsh, aiming for the indicator she had set up. The living heap followed her, a small island pushing the water to the sides as it ran.


    Josie circled around the spawning ground. The Bog Hound almost barked when it reached the nest she had carved out of the shallow water. It settled in place, inspecting its new surroundings. The hawk became a woman, nodding at a job where she didn¡¯t have to kill something to get done.


    Josie stood on her branch and looked the bog over as the ding of a completed quest filled her head. She smiled. One more down. She had to set up her fake treasure hunt and post a notice. That should be a snap compared to some of the things she had already done.


    Was she doing the right thing? She had no idea. There were monsters on the loose. The town needed something since she took away their best protection. And adventurers handled monsters as part of their job if they ventured far away from safe areas.


    The watch dinged to let her know it was at full charge. She made a face. Time to get back to work.


    Josie created an orb of gold. She placed it on a platform that resembled a toy boat. She made sure that the platform would not circle back to the Bog Hound¡¯s spawning ground, but instead would go close to the biggest concentration of monsters in the swamp, and run away from anything chasing it. She put on a mana collector so the natural energy in the air would power the thing and keep it moving.


    She created a map of the area around Kernly. It marked where the boat happened to be. She smiled. Let them chase after the boat all they wanted. If they caught up with it, then they were entitled to the gold egg she had created.


    She waited for the watch to recharge. Once she had installed the map and put up walls for the town, she could go back to Hawk Ridge and work on her other quests.

 Caravan

    Jack checked the map in Elaine¡¯s office before setting out to head north. He wrote down the route he should take. He looked for a landmark inside the circle Josie had drawn. There was a small village to the east of the search area he could use for a base.


    He took the time to fix a snack before he left. He really needed to invent the phone so he could talk to the others. He put his worry in the back of his mind. Once he found the Dark Rider, he could look for the princess and settle any other quest that might come up.


    He did like the watch and the fact he could fly across the landscape like a hurricane. His mind turned to why he had been given something that made him an agent of some force out beyond the edge of this world. He decided that there was nothing he could do about that, and he wouldn¡¯t get a real answer if he asked.


    The Watcher had taught him well about the mysterious figure in the background.


    Jack reached the first town on his list. He cut off Makkari to let the watch charge. He walked into town, buying some ale and food from the local inn. He asked for directions, writing them down as the locals talked to him.


    He made sure to check his path of movement. Josie¡¯s circle was northwest of the nearest town. He had to move that way to mark an area to search.


    He wondered how long it would take to find the crypt. If he could wrap things up, he could head back to Hawk Ridge and try to scrounge something about the lost princess.


    Jack reached the last town in his notes. It was the most worn of any he had seen. He supposed they had taken some damage that had never healed. He wondered how many times the Dark Rider had come through gathering up companions before heading south to the forests and the towns inside of them.


    How many times had Old Man Warner, or his other watch wearers, driven the


    monster back to where it belonged, but not before people had been changed


    permanently into monsters.


    He didn¡¯t want that to happen while he was trying to get the quests from the Society done. It would be a failure.


    He had enough of those to fill his apartment back home.


    Jack decided to take a minute before going into town and let his watch recharge. He might have to fly to get a better view of the landscape. Then he could think about what he wanted to do about the crypt of the Dark Rider.


    He could use Vision to check around while under cover. He didn¡¯t need to get


    involved with the locals unless they got in his way.


    He hoped he wasn¡¯t dealing with another fish people god thing where they were willingly throwing themselves in front of the Dark Rider to bolster his numbers. That meant blasting the town out of existence to end the threat. That was the last thing he wanted to do if he didn¡¯t need it.


    If putting down the Dark Rider meant putting down his fan club, Jack would do it. He had done similar things for the Army. What was one more village of innocents mixed in with killers?


    He just wouldn¡¯t be happy about it.


    He thought of that as a failure too.


    Josie would understand, even if the Army hadn¡¯t.


    The watch dinged to let him know it was ready to go. He smiled. He had to be ready to deal with the future, and looking back wasn¡¯t getting that done. He called on the Vision and got to work.


    He surveyed the town and saw nothing out of the way. He turned his attention north, looking for anything out of place. He spotted a trail leading up into the distant mountains. He didn¡¯t see any houses around it.


    Was this the path he needed to find?


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    He could fly up there, and look at things from the air. Then he could decide what to do with better intel.


    Could the Dark Rider turn him, or Josie? He didn¡¯t want to find that out.


    He decided that flight might be better than the super fast Makkari. He needed to look things over from the air. If the crypt was out in the open, he should see something.


    If it wasn¡¯t, he would come up with some way to find it. Maybe he could hex


    something up with the Scarlet Witch. He wasn¡¯t sure that was the best way to do things, but it was the only idea he could think being useful without more information.


    The fact that names were just indicators made him wary of using certain names on his watch. He didn¡¯t want to accidentally kill people with the wrong choice. He had been lucky with some of his picks so far. He didn¡¯t want to push that into something that could backfire on him and Josie.


    And did he really need something like Galactus while searching around the


    countryside when he wasn¡¯t sure the planet eater wouldn¡¯t be hungry. He could save that for some kind of emergency, but he wasn¡¯t sure what kind of emergency would cause him to call one of the greater powers as a persona.


    He called on Falcon and took to the air. He enjoyed the wind and height as he moved. He headed north, trusting his bird persona to keep him on track. He saw a caravan headed in the same direction of Josie¡¯s circle. He wondered what it was doing so far north.


    Jack realized he didn¡¯t really know enough about the region. He had his memory of the map, but he had no way to know how accurate it was. He had no idea how many other towns, cities, countries were around that he hadn¡¯t seen yet. Were the humans and strange phenomena the only things going on down there?


    Where were the elves, dwarves and other demihumans?


    What did the Society represent? They had enough juice to yank him and Josie from Earth, that should be enough to boost up someone local. He wondered if they were in what Josie would call a Black Adam situation.


    He wondered if they would explain it all if he sat down and asked questions. They seemed forthcoming enough except for the part where they didn¡¯t stick around long to talk to him.


    He certainly wasn¡¯t going to risk going home with an argument over motives when he wasn¡¯t sure why he was helping out other than he wanted to go someplace where plumbing was essential.


    He wondered what Josie thought of all this. Had she changed her own mind about going home? She might depending on how long she had to stay and work on getting rid of the Montrose.


    Maybe they should talk about all this when he got back to the city. He wasn¡¯t sure how to approach it.


    He checked for a place he could land and let the bird persona go. He wanted to watch the caravan before he tried to talk to whomever was in charge. He didn¡¯t want to get into a fight in the wilderness if he didn¡¯t need it.


    He also didn¡¯t think they would show him their true self if he appeared out of


    nowhere and asked to join the exodus. If they were unfriendly, he would get a knife, sword, spear to the back as soon as he wasn¡¯t looking.


    He might be a tad paranoid, but he had seen too many of his own friends drop their guard with someone they thought were friendly and it bit them in the neck. He was in a similar situation, and preferred to let the others prove themselves first.


    He wondered why he had let his guard down around Elena. He put that thought aside as he checked his watch. The charge number ticked up as he used a tree and bushes for cover. He could examine his reasoning when he was sure he wasn¡¯t going to have to call on a hero to bust some heads.


    He already knew why he had let his guard down around Josie¡¯s little sisters. She had vetted them with her own instinct, and that was good enough for him. If they could fool her, then he wouldn¡¯t have stood that much of a chance.


    On the other hand, if they crossed her, she would take it a lot harder than he would. He expected walking columns of fire after that.


    Hopefully the girls were aware of that option.


    Jack squinted at the caravan guards approaching his hiding spot. They had the Makeover. They wore helmets with visors and light armor over shirts, but some of them didn¡¯t wear gloves and he could see the writing he had hexed into being.


    He decided to fade back and watch from a distance. He had time to operate. And he had the watch. He had some personas capable of dealing with groups of armed men.


    He wondered what was in the wagons. He decided he could find out when they came to a stop. He had a sneaking suspicion that he was watching slaves being transported. He had no way to return them to where they belonged if that was true.


    He would come up with something if he was right. The angel should give him some kind of options. Maybe he could transport the wagons back to Hawk Ridge.


    Maybe he could drop everything in Guin¡¯s lap and see how he handled things. That would be funny for him, but he doubted the gangster would appreciate more work from their partnership.


    Jack decided to wait before he sent the train back to town. Maybe he could think of some other way to handle things.


    If he got rid of all the slavers riding with the caravan, Josie would be happy.


    Jack moved as quietly as he could through the trees. The wagon train moved at walking speed. He wondered if they were trying to find the Dark Rider¡¯s crypt. The Society did say he was on a timer. This could be the minute hand moving in front of him.


    He decided that he needed to talk to someone for intel. Then he could do his worst.


    He looked for a target he could break down before anyone realized he was gone.

 Back to Hawk Ridge

    Josie set her treasure in motion from the Bog Hound¡¯s former spawning pool. The town watched it as it sailed out on the water. She grew a sign out of the boardwalk and pasted her map to it. Then she petrified the paper and wood into a permanent stone fixture.


    She didn¡¯t want to make the treasure hunt too easy by letting some enterprising adventurers just pull the map apart to take with them.


    All she had to do now was let the Adventurer Hall people know there was a treasure for them to find. The greedy ones would flock to the town to catch the gold orb.


    Josie finished the job by making two sets of walls around Kernly. It wouldn¡¯t keep out anything determined, but it should buy plenty of time for the townspeople to get away from an attack. She made sure to put in walkways and ladders so the brave could use the top of the walls as a place to hold off an enemy.


    She didn¡¯t see any others with the makeover. It looked like the two she killed were the only people dealing with the Montrose. She was happy about that.


    Josie found Mister Deen looking at the new stone walls and scratching his head. She wondered why they didn¡¯t have real magicians doing things. It looked like the watch gave her a small amount of that, but only by giving her a wizard based on a fake wizard.


    Magic worked. Why didn¡¯t someone try to take advantage of it? Maybe they did, and maybe that was why Josie was there in the middle of a swamp dealing with a monster and its kids.


    Maybe calling on an outside consultant was the only way to get things done.


    ¡°I¡¯ll post the notice when I get back to town, Mister Deen,¡± said Josie. ¡°If something looks bad and you have enough time to send a warning, I¡¯m in Hawk Ridge. Just send a notice to the Adventurer Hall and I¡¯ll come back and help you with your problem.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a long way off from here,¡± said Deen. ¡°Nobody here could cover that ground fast enough to stave off a disaster.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I made the new walls extra tall and extra thick,¡± said Josie. ¡°If anything can get through them, you wouldn¡¯t have a chance anyway. The hope is they will hold out long enough for me to get your message and come back and deal with your emergency.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Deen. ¡°I guess the bog hound felt safer to have around.¡±


    ¡°Eventually it would have got tired of having you near its eggs and done something you would have regretted,¡± said Josie. ¡°It was better to have it somewhere else where it can do its thing without worrying about people.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right,¡± said Deen. ¡°Now I have to sort out the Hans brothers, and figure out what to tell their da.¡±


    ¡°Tell him the truth,¡± said Josie. ¡°Someone realized they had done something evil and put them down.¡±


    ¡°What did they do?,¡± asked Deen.


    ¡°They sold women and girls to be sent away,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now everyone involved is marked. So if you see anyone with a large amount of tattoos on their body, it¡¯s proof they engaged in slavery, and someone is looking for them.¡±


    ¡°They had a friend that hung out with them,¡± said Deen. ¡°He has a boat he uses to get across the swamp. He comes to town when he has something to sell for supplies.¡±


    ¡°Let him know he could go the same way as the Hans brothers,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to go. If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t go after the treasure. It¡¯s nothing but bait.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me,¡± said Deen. He held up his hands. ¡°I¡¯ve never been an adventurer, and I never will be. Just talking to you is taking years off my life as it is.¡±


    ¡°Until the next time we meet,¡± said Josie. She called on Zatanna and wished to teleport as far as she could reach back to the city.


    She landed at about what she considered the midpoint between Kernly and Hawk Ridge. She recognized some of the landmarks from her run up as Johnny Quick. She checked the watch. She still had enough for a run into the city from where she was standing.


    Did she want to exchange personas, or try for one more jump from the watch?


    She reached out and jumped to the edge of the wall. She checked the watch. Those two jumps had almost drained the watch out of power. She shook her head. She decided that real magic was more of a strain on the watch than the simple body enhancement it allowed.


    It was something she had to be aware of in the future, and it explained the almost complete drain caused by Jack¡¯s Angel. A lot of power must be going into that hero so it only lasted a few seconds.


    Josie wondered if they were using the watches like they were intended. Maybe they shouldn¡¯t be using them in the open. It was showing people there were things out there they had no control over.


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    That wasn¡¯t anything new, but it was the difference between knowing about traffic accidents and being in one.


    She stood at the edge of the wall and waited for the watch to recharge. She needed to check in with the girls, and Elaine. Then she had to check on Jack.


    She knew he was getting into trouble doing what he did. They really needed to come up with a phone system so she didn¡¯t have to worry about him doing something stupid.


    She was acting like her mother. She didn¡¯t care. Where they were was a lot more dangerous than the Bay. She had already learned that first hand.


    The watch dinged to pull her out of her thoughts. She still had to put up the notice before she could check on her ducklings. Hopefully some of the local adventurers would take up the challenge and protect Kernly from their monsters.


    And she might have to go back out there and see if the brothers¡¯ friend was really part of the Montrose at one point.


    It bothered her that the Montrose organization was so vast that it could stretch across the region. How many women were being abducted and drugged? Why wasn¡¯t anyone doing anything about it?


    She supposed the Watch and people in authority were involved. When nobility talked, a lot of things could be overlooked.


    How long did they have before one of the local nobles tried to interfere with what they were doing? And what would they have to do about it?


    She supposed throwing the local off the top of Hawk Ridge¡¯s outer wall was out of the question unless they wanted to fight the whole nation.


    She thought even Jack would balk at those kinds of odds.


    Josie called on Zatanna momentarily to get to the Adventurers¡¯ Hall. She walked in, but the counter lady was not the one she was used to dealing with. Maybe this one would be better without a practical demonstration of what could be done.


    ¡°Can I help you?,¡± asked the counter lady.


    ¡°I just returned from a little town on the edge of a swamp in the east called Kernly,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to put up a notice that word of a treasure has reached the town, and they need adventurers to look for it.¡±


    ¡°What kind of treasure?,¡± asked the counter lady. She pulled a sheet of paper and bottle of ink closer.


    ¡°I heard it¡¯s a great big egg made of gold,¡± said Josie. She indicated the size of her creation with her hands. ¡°It¡¯s guarded by monsters.¡±


    ¡°Reward?,¡± asked the counter lady.


    ¡°You get to keep the egg if you can get it from the monsters,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Adventurers will need more than that as motivation,¡± said the counter lady.


    Josie thought about that. This was on the verge of inspiring greed instead of sending people into the swamp to clear out the local monsters.


    ¡°If they need more than that, then they¡¯re not adventurers,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯re weak gobs of snot that can¡¯t do the primary function of their job and their licenses to operate should be pulled and they should go back to their farms.¡±


    The lady looked taken aback.


    Josie took a moment to breathe. She needed to think about other ways of doing things than setting someone on fire because they didn¡¯t do things the way you wanted.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have something for those who need motivation.¡±


    She dialed up Zatanna. She created a fake gold egg the size of her fist and a display for it. She put everything next to the job board with a sign that said the real treasure was ten times bigger than this one.


    ¡°If they can get the egg, it will be the size of a baby,¡± said Josie. She started toward the door. ¡°That will be enough for an adventurer to retire on if he can bring it in.¡±


    ¡°You said there were monsters,¡± said the counter lady.


    ¡°Any good group of adventurers should be able to handle anything in the swamp,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t know if that was true, or not. She needed to move people with swords to the town to keep it safe after removing its chief protector. ¡°Make sure it¡¯s groups. I don¡¯t think one person will be able to get through the swamp, get the treasure, and get back to town, and then keep the treasure.¡±


    ¡°I can see why that could be a problem,¡± said the counter lady. She seemed unfazed by the sudden construction in the hall. Maybe she thought it was all a trick. ¡°I¡¯ll put a notice up for the daytime lady to make sure that the quest has unknown dangers involved listed.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± Josie said. She handed over a handful of silver before leaving the hall.


    Josie changed to Hawkgirl and headed home. She still had to check on the girls and get something to eat before she checked on Jack. What kind of trouble was he getting into without her?


    She landed outside the hole in the wall and transformed back. She let herself in, checking to see if the girls and Elaine were home. She smiled at the noise coming to her.


    ¡°Mistress Josie is back,¡± shouted Matilda. ¡°We¡¯re cooking dinner.¡±


    ¡°How did the second half of the lesson go?,¡± said Josie. She looked at the girls gathering to meet her in the foyer. Elaine stood in the door to the kitchen.


    ¡°It was great,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I think I have it down.¡±


    ¡°It hurts a little,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you keep whacking yourself,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°It was good enough that Master Harp said Alicia is better than all of us at the moment.¡±


    Josie looked at the middle girl. She shrugged slightly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get dinner on the table, then I have to check on Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then you girls have to do chores and work on your reading.¡±


    ¡°How did the thing with the bog hound go?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°I moved it to a quiet spot where it can watch over its eggs and have tiny bog hounds as much as it wants,¡± said Josie. ¡°I also put up a notice for adventurers to go out and defend the town for some treasure in the swamp so the town would be defended from the local monsters now that the bog hound isn¡¯t roaming outside of its walls.¡±


    ¡°Will you have to go back?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°It depends on how successful the adventurers are in clearing out the local monsters and getting the treasure.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s something odd about the treasure, isn¡¯t it?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I put it on a boat so it could move around on its own. Otherwise, it is a normal egg.¡±


    ¡°A normal egg,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Why would adventurers chase after that?¡±


    ¡°Because I told them it was made out of gold,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we should eat and then work on what¡¯s ahead before we have to get some sleep before tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What will the adventurers do when they find out there is no treasure?,¡± asked


    Beatrice.


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried that they might displace the swamp monsters on other areas if they are successful,¡± said Josie. ¡°The adventurers I have seen here in town don¡¯t seem that much of what I think an adventurer should be so maybe they will give up before they get hurt.¡±

 Blown Up

    Jack watched as the caravan passed. The trees were his friends as he crouched down in their shadows. He had already picked out a guy he could talk to when most of the wagons had gone by.


    He put aside any questions he might have until he could talk to his chosen victim. He came up with ten reasons off the top of his head a wagon train full of slaves were being transported in the north. He wanted to make sure which one was in play before he went to the second part of his plan.


    And the second part of the plan meant introducing these guys to Gravity and seeing how things worked out for them.


    The wagons pulled by his position, and no one seemed to notice him. He dialed in Gravity and waited through the change. He yanked the last man in line into a tree on the side of the road. He pulled the man deeper into cover as he watched for an alarm to sound.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± Jack asked. He kept one eye on the rolling wagons, and one eye on his captive. He had a few minutes to act according to his watch. ¡°I just wanted to know who you are and what¡¯s going on.¡±


    The guard went for the sword hanging by his side. Once he got that out, he was killing this wizard. It weighed more than it should. He looked down at it.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m doing that so we can just talk. So what can you tell me?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you anything,¡± said the guard. ¡°And I don¡¯t see how you¡¯ll get by when they notice I¡¯m not with the train anymore.¡±


    ¡°The thing is it doesn¡¯t matter if they notice if you¡¯re missing, or not,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t much care about that. What matters is how they look for you, or if they actually come back to do the search at all.¡±


    The guard saw the trail of the threat and realized he could be an example for the rest of his traveling companions. The thought made sweat break out on his forehead.


    ¡°So what are you guys doing out here?,¡± asked Jack. He put on his friendliest grin.


    ¡°The boss is looking for something to take back to Hawk Ridge and get rid of his rivals,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Does he know what¡¯s out here?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the guard. ¡°All I know is he had everything packed up, and


    decided to come out here looking for the thing.¡±


    ¡°What kind of thing are we talking about here?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the guard. ¡°We were just told to load the cargo and get ready to go. He has some kind of map in his wagon. He thinks he¡¯s close to where he wants to go. I heard at least two more days.¡±


    ¡°You guys work for the Montrose?,¡± asked Jack. The answer to that had to be yes thanks to the makeover the guards sported.


    ¡°We financed part of the shipping according to some of the guys,¡± said the guard. ¡°The Montrose is its own thing.¡±


    ¡°I hate to break it to you, but you¡¯re being hunted down,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you should run and not look back.¡±


    ¡°Where would I go?,¡± asked the guard.


    ¡°Not back to Hawk Ridge,¡± said Jack. ¡°That would be a bad move on your part. You¡¯re better off heading east or west, then heading south from there.¡±


    ¡°How would I survive exactly?,¡± asked the marked man.


    ¡°I guess you would have to get a job and work for a living instead of trading women and committing other crimes,¡± said Jack. He checked how much time he had left.


    ¡°I think that would be too much,¡± said the guard. He rushed forward, swinging a scarred hand at his interrogator.


    Jack activated his gravity power and blasted the man as high as he could into the sky. He turned off the persona and moved away from where the scream had started. He knew the caravan would be on full alert after seeing someone launched into the sky.


    He paused behind a tree. He watched the direction the wagons had gone. He had enough pieces of the puzzle to guess what was going on, and he didn¡¯t like it.


    Mister Guin¡¯s enemy worked with and funded the Montrose. He had left Hawk Ridge to look for the Dark Rider¡¯s crypt. He might even have a map to get him to the right spot. Everything he owned was in that wagon train.


    Did he know how to wake the Dark Rider? And did he know that the Dark Rider accumulated followers as he rampaged across the countryside?


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    Jack moved again. He heard people trying to figure out what had happened to the guard. He heard some guesses, but nothing that pointed to them thinking he was in the area.


    That could change at any moment. How did he take advantage?


    He decided that he should flank around the caravan and see if he could move in on the side. He needed to know what they were carrying. If it was women, he had to move them out of there. He had no way to take them to Hawk Ridge and take care of the rest of things.


    He really needed a phone to call Josie and let her know what was going on. He had no idea if she was done with her thing. He smiled at himself as he moved to a bush.


    He sounded like a kid without the Internet in his head. He needed to think about what he could do with what he had at his disposal. Then he could think about turning wishes into reality to make his life easier.


    He moved again as he waited for the watch to reload. He wanted to be at full power when he made his next move. He might need some extra umph to get things done in a hurry.


    Waking the Dark Rider seemed like a lot of problem looking for a solution. He


    couldn¡¯t see where it got anyone anything unless it was used as a weapon, but not approached directly.


    Just pointing in a direction where your enemy lived might be enough if no one


    stopped him.


    But Jack was there, and Josie could defend Hawk Ridge if she was done with her job. She was quicker on the uptake than he was, and probably already knew six ways to take a Wild Hunt down from reading Kevin Matchstick¡¯s adventures.


    The watch let him know it was at full power. He should come up with a plan to deal with the rest of the problem in front of him.


    He needed information first. He moved to a bush where he could see the road and the frustrated guards waiting for him to attack. He called on Vision. He made mental notes as his x-ray vision lit everything up for him so he had a good idea of where everyone was and where he should move.


    He needed to get the women out of the way without using too much of his own resources. A flying brick would be great, but the watch already distorted the names he could call on. Gladiator would probably get him some musclebound fighter dude.


    And he knew the type of people he was getting ready to confront. As soon as trouble started, they would try to use the women as hostages.


    Makkari should be fast enough to take a bunch of the clowns down before they realized he was in action. He could protect the women by making sure that their guards couldn¡¯t do anything.


    After he completed his offensive, he could send them back to Hawk Ridge to take care of their lives with a little money from the wagon master in their hands.


    His use of Vision had caused a small dip in his power pool. It was ready again as he thought about his plan. He nodded to himself and hoped no one was smart enough to try to grab a hostage.


    Jack called Makkari. The speedster was fast becoming his favorite hammer to solving this world¡¯s nails. He smiled under the armored helm.


    He blasted through the trees, avoiding obstacles with ease. He swept the road. Bodies flew as he passed by, thrown by punches exceeding the speed of bullets. He paused when he was sure everyone was down.


    That went better than he had thought it would.


    The owner of the wagons and his personal guard was in the center of the train. A wagon of treasure sat behind that. Two wagons full of women in cages were at either end of the line.


    Jack went to the wagon at the end of the line. He switched to Scarlet Witch. He needed something that would open the cages in a hurry. A hex should do that.


    He hexed the lock on the door and opened it. The women moved away from the light. He frowned. He didn¡¯t have a lot of time before the personal guard came out of their wagon and tried to turn the tide.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to let you out of here,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need you to move away from here in case someone tries to set the wagon on fire. Ready?¡±


    He hexed the cages open and waved the women out. Some ran toward the door and freedom with abandon. Others cowered in their cages.


    He wanted to help them, but he had to open the other wagon first.


    Jack jogged down the train, looking for anyone trying to attack him. The Witch had a set of powers, but wasn¡¯t a good defender unless he knew where the attack originated.


    On the other hand, he hadn¡¯t seen much of a defense against the Witch¡¯s hex power.


    He opened the front woman wagon just as easily as the other. He warned the women to clear out while he went about his business. Some of them did what he wanted immediately. Others had to be coerced.


    Jack put the Witch away as he thought about what he was going to do. He had used half of his power in the three minutes of his attack. He needed to stall for time before he cracked open the big boss¡¯s headquarters.


    Once he broke open the wagon, and put down the guards, he could do something to help the women. He wished he had listened better when the Army had gave him their small regimen of refugee handling training when he had been in.


    He decided he should set the main wagon on fire. That would get him something.


    He wasn¡¯t going into an enclosed space with four good fighters trying to put an axe through his neck. That would be beyond reckless, and against most of the things he had been taught.


    He undid the horses from the wagon and let them go. He didn¡¯t need them in the way, and the resulting flame would scare them into doing something stupid. It was better they were out of the way so he could carry out his plan.


    He called on the Human Torch. His body caught fire. He grabbed a wheel and let the flame start working its way up the wagon wall, and along the floor. He added fuel with an exhalation of fire. He stepped back to watch the results.


    Men burst through the front door, weapons at the ready. They saw the bonfire


    standing next to the wagon. They fled into the trees to avoid having to deal with their strange enemy.


    ¡°Come out, or I¡¯m coming in there,¡± called Jack. ¡°You don¡¯t want that.¡±


    A man carrying too much weight, and a little less hair, came to the door. He waved his hand at the smoke drifting toward him from the fire on the side of his transport. Tattoos marked every inch of visible skin.


    ¡°What do I owe this?,¡± asked the wagon master. He coughed into a handkerchief.


    ¡°My curiosity, I suppose,¡± said Jack. He drew the fire back, stopping the harm done to the innocent wagon. ¡°What brings you out this way?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that concerns you,¡± said the wagon master. ¡°I have a goal in mind that will make me the master of this region, and beyond.¡±


    ¡°I have a goal too,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Dark Rider is to be destroyed, and I can¡¯t allow you to try to wake him.¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll see whose will is stronger,¡± the wagon master said. He raised his hand. Orange lightning blasted Jack to pieces.

 Scrying

    Josie sat in the office after the girls had gone to bed. She stared at the map of the North. Jack was out there looking for the Dark Rider. It was up to her to narrow down where the missing princess happened to be and see if they could get her back to her family.


    She wished their sponsors had given more details about everything. That would have made everything easier in her opinion.


    At the moment, all they knew was the name Lorelai had not been given to any of the nobility that Elaine knew about. It wasn¡¯t listed in any of the official family trees they had been given. And she was somewhere in the north of their home base.


    The mystery bothered her, but it could be that the Society wanted her and Jack to act as they saw fit to handle their quests. Or they weren¡¯t supposed to be handing out watches and quests in the first place. That made sense.


    How many broke the spirit of the law, and not the letter?


    What would happen to them if they did go over some line? Had they already done that when she had invoked her quest to stop the Montrose? How many other quests could she pile on, and still have a hope of getting back home?


    She decided she didn¡¯t need to know what the maximum number of quests that could be added to her list of things to do. She had to work on getting the quests she was already doing done.


    She wondered if Zatanna could get her a hint on finding the lost princess. The magic might be able to mark a place on the map that she could search for her lost girl.


    The rest would be going up in person and getting the deed done. The watches would make that easy to do in her opinion. Then she could worry about the Montrose and the rest of their organization.


    That could take years to clean up that mess.


    Would Jack go home at the end of their three big quests? If he solved the Dark Rider problem, the princess was the only one he had left too. Solving that might leave her alone and stranded until she finished what she started.


    She decided there wasn¡¯t much she could do about that. She had to move on, and hope for the best. That was one of the few good things her mother had taught her how to do.


    She checked her watch, already knowing she was at full power. Two spells should give her something. In the morning, she would check on Jack and then set out for the approximate place she thought the princess would be. Then she would wrap things up.


    She changed into her magician and stood. She raised her hands and asked for spots to indicate where Jack and the princess were on the map of the north. She smiled when the markers appeared. She hadn¡¯t really thought the spell would work. She should have thought of this before sending her friend out on his own to look around.


    Josie placed her hand on the marker for the princess. She reached in and looked around the surrounding area, taking in landmarks. Maybe she could use the map to teleport, but she didn¡¯t feel a spell that could do that. Clairvoyance seemed all right for now. It could break at any time.


    She did have something that could mark the area for her on a clean piece of paper. She grabbed two of them out of the stack and concentrated on the area.


    A picture of what she saw drew itself on the first sheet of paper. It looked exactly like her vision when it was done. She nodded in agreement.


    The frog in one corner looked cute.


    She didn¡¯t see anyone around. Where was the princess in the picture? Was she the frog?


    Josie put that aside to do the second drawing.


    A detailed map slowly appeared under her hand. She placed directions so she could easily find the place where the princess was at the moment. Once there, she could track the woman down with a closer application of Zatanna.


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    She made a duplicate of the map for Jack. She knew he would chase after her once he found out she was in the north looking for the princess. She might as well leave him something to make the job easier.


    And she might need his help if the job was too big for her to do on her own.


    He had saved the day against the lake monster, and helped out with marking the Montrose. He would definitely want to make sure the job was done so they could leave as soon as possible.


    He could probably leave before her if he didn¡¯t have anything else to complete for the Society.


    She decided that she would travel up north in the daytime. She could get a better look at the land so she could finish her search and figure out what to do before the sun went down.


    And if she had to deal with some rogue, she wanted a chance to see him before he saw her. Then she could spellbolt him out of the way.


    She hoped she could get the girls into a position where they could do anything they wanted. How long would it take her to get rid of the Montrose? That¡¯s how long she had until she was forced to leave Hawk Ridge¡¯s world.


    Did she even have that? Once they were done with the original quests, would they be allowed to finish the ones they had picked up from their stay? Should she keep adding on to her list to keep staying in her new home?


    What would the Society think about her trying to do that? Would they care? Did they have some kind of limit on how long they could have watchpeople in the world? Would she and Jack see other catspaws if they stayed long enough?


    She wished she knew why they picked people from other places to do their jobs. She doubted she and Jack were that unique. Warner had been namedropped by the Society to Jack, if that was really a message from the great beyond, and not just a dream.


    Why hadn¡¯t Warner warned them? He obviously knew what the watches meant. A simple don¡¯t put those on might have been good.


    Unless they hadn¡¯t given him a watch to change his shape. She thought about that. Maybe the watches were new for some reason.


    She decided to put that aside. She needed to get some sleep, and carry out her plan for the next day. Once they had Lorelei and gave her back to her family, that might be the end of things.


    She hoped she had a chance to leave the girls in a better situation before she left. Rescuing them meant nothing if they could be hurt again. It was better that they knew how to defend themselves and had the money to buy their way out of certain troubles.


    This world was rougher than her own. She hoped that she wasn¡¯t making the kids soft.


    And she still needed to find an archer. She smiled at that. She doused the lights as she considered if she could just make an archer to teach her girl how to shoot.


    She decided to give their sword teacher time to find someone. A real teacher would be better than anything she could make. And it helped the girls to build ties so they had someone to help them when they needed it.


    She hoped that she wasn¡¯t turning them into a gang of mercenaries. She shook her head. She had a few more important things to worry about over her girls robbing people for protection when she was no longer around.


    She hoped they wouldn¡¯t resort to robbing people when she was gone.


    Josie went to her room and locked the door after lighting the lamp on the wall. She took off her clothes and folded them into a pile before laying down on her bed. She thought about her scrying trick as she closed her eyes.


    Could she do the same thing to the members of the Montrose?


    Sleep fled as she considered what she could do with her new spell. She might be able to track them all down in their homes and get rid of them before they figured out what she was doing. Then it would be her versus whatever they could field to stop her.


    Unless magic was in force, she felt that she had a better than even chance of winning a war of attrition.


    She would have to keep the kids out of it. Any villain worth his salt would know to take hostages to keep her wrath at bay.


    A temporary cease fire would be the most she would put up with while looking for the girls. She was more worried that they would be killed out of revenge.


    And she didn¡¯t think she would be called back to avenge them. The Society didn¡¯t seem to care about anything like that.


    They only seemed to care about threats to the greater world. What did a group of kids matter to them?


    Josie tried to put her thoughts aside. She still had the lost princess to deal with in the morning. She could figure out what she could do about the rest of her problems after that. They might not be problems if she was recalled after taking care of the Society¡¯s business.


    That would leave Elaine and the girls in a bad position if she left when they needed her the most.


    She wondered what Jack was doing. He should have come home by now. Maybe she should check on him. He might have bought more trouble than he could handle.


    She decided she could wait until the morning. Either he was in trouble and there was nothing she could do for him right away, or he was handling things and it had taken longer than he had thought it would. She was sure he would call for help if he needed it.


    She closed her eyes and thought about the future, and what life would be like in Hawk Ridge for her.


    She decided that she would help with indoor plumbing for the city before anything else.


    She smiled at that before she drifted into a light slumber.

 Drink and a Nap

    Jack hurt. He realized he was lucky to still be alive. His Human Torch was simple fire, but now he was spread out all over the place. He should have considered the presence of artifacts but hadn¡¯t. He might have to reconsider his dealings with Master Guin in the face of magic rings punching through his body.


    He needed to get back together and figure out if he had someone he could use to heal up and recover. Then he could deal with his enemy.


    He needed to reset after the mistake he had made.


    Jack willed himself together, ignoring the pain that caused. He picked himself off the ground. He flung a lance of fire at the marked man as a cover. The beam shattered against a shield the ring threw in front of its owner.


    Energy cut the air toward the fiery human as his target shot back. He scrambled out of the way.


    He worked the dial and the flame snuffed out. He moved to the other side of the wagon as carefully as he could. He noted the other man didn¡¯t track him with the ring. That was a break for him as long as he could be quiet.


    He needed to think of what he could do to take the ring out of the equation. He tried to create a force field like the original Invisible Woman. Nothing happened.


    All right. He needed to switch to something that could do work. He needed something to heal himself up also. Did he have anybody he could use to regenerate.


    Not Wolverine. That would turn him into a cousin of a badger.


    He went over the list on his watch. He didn¡¯t have anything he could trust to heal himself other than Doctor Strange, and he wasn¡¯t sure he could heal himself up when he was someone else.


    Maybe there was someone he could use. He just needed to think.


    He looked at Doctor Druid and Brother Voodoo. They could maybe do something if he could switch to them.


    Doctor Druid might be able to create an elixir to fix any damage he might have taken as the Human Torch. All he needed to do was get away from the wagon before his enemy fired another beam at him from his magic ring.


    Brother Voodoo might be able to summon spirits to fix things. He closed his eyes. He should have tested it before now that he needed to know what it could do.


    Jack took a moment to think about what he needed to do to put his plan in motion.


    The first thing he needed to do was get some distance. Then he could worry about the rest. He couldn¡¯t take a hit in this body.


    He looked around. At least most of the captives had been able to get out of the road. That meant he didn¡¯t have to worry about them getting hurt while he did what he could.


    He needed to think about a way to get them back to where they belonged too. He didn¡¯t want to strand them in the middle of nowhere close to where an eldritch monster might turn them into some kind of demons to do its bidding. That would disappoint Josie so much.


    And it would potentially make him a bad guy if he had to hurt them to stop the Dark Rider.


    He could switch to Gravity and see if his enemy knew how to fly. That could buy him some time to come up with a better solution.


    He liked the idea. Could he use it to win? What happened if the guy did know how to fly? That was another kettle of fish he would have to fry.


    He worked his dial. Pain shot through his body again. He must have been really hurt from the blast his other body had taken. He had to ignore it for right now and do what he could to shut everything down.


    And Gravity seemed the best way to go with this at the moment.


    The ringmaster came around the fire he had created with his ring. He pointed the artifact at the glowing figure in blue. It was time to end the game. He screamed as he shot straight up in the air.


    Jack smiled as he watched the body launch out of sight. By the time he came down, the caravan would be headed back to civilization.


    Where had he got the ring? That was the first artifact that Jack had encountered in this new world. Where had it come from? Were there more out there?


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    He resisted any urge to find out the history of the thing. That would be another side quest that would lead him away from fixing the Society¡¯s problems and going home.


    He felt like he was already over committed to tracking the rest of the Montrose and dealing with them.


    Jack switched to Doctor Druid. He created a drink from some of the nuts he found on the ground. He switched back to normal and downed the elixir. He fought the urge to gag as he settled down in the shade of a tree. He pulled leaves and branches over himself and pushed into a crevice in the ground. He checked his watch. He had a few more minutes of use. He called on Druid to finish concealing his hiding place so he could sleep unmolested.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly a cabin and he was leaving the women to fend for themselves until he could get back on his feet. He closed his eyes. He had to let the elixir work long enough to get him back on his feet. Then he could solve the rest of things with his personas.


    Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t be knocked out for so long he couldn¡¯t fix the things that needed to be fixed.


    And he really needed a way to talk to Josie so she wouldn¡¯t be worried. They were in a strange land with strange stuff going on. He didn¡¯t want her to come up and get hurt looking for him.


    And he hadn¡¯t anticipated a bad guy would have something to blow him up like that. The magic they had seen had been ritual stuff from Lovecraft. Someone had been able to make a blaster to try to stop him from doing what he had to do.


    It hadn¡¯t been the first time he had walked into something bad for him, and got away with it. He just needed to keep his lucky streak going.


    He closed his eyes and let the elixir take effect. It was the only thing he could do at the moment. When he woke up, he would decide what he could do about the rest of the mess he was trying to fix.


    The women would have to take care of themselves for the rest of the day at least. When he woke up, he would try to think of a way to get them home. He supposed some kind of magic carpet would be great.


    Maybe he could enchant the wagons to take them back home like a self driving Tesla. He needed to put more work in if he wanted to avoid the wagons going into a lake, or river, between there and Hawk Ridge.


    He wondered if Josie was doing all right, but noticed the bog hound quest was gone from his list. He smiled at that as he dropped off to sleep. She didn¡¯t need him at all.


    Jack came back to himself, wondering why everything was dark. He took a moment to gather his wits. Once ready, he switched to Doctor Druid and dug his way out of his nest.


    Jack still felt drained. He fixed another elixir up and switched back long enough to drink it. Then he called on Hawkeye to check his surroundings.


    His vision ranged out and showed him the woods around him. The guards for the wagons seemed to have fled with one of the wagons. He expected that was the treasure wagon. He could get it back if he wanted to do that. And the surviving guards were on Josie¡¯s hit list.


    The women had built a fire and moved the other two wagons in to act as a shelter from one side of the road. If something wanted to get to them, it wasn¡¯t much protection. On the other hand, it was the best they could do with what they had.


    He looked up at the night sky. He had lost a lot of time recovering. He groaned. There was nothing he could do about that. He had to reset and hope for the best.


    He switched back to his normal self as he considered how to get in touch with Josie. Maybe he could send her a message after he figured out what he wanted to do.


    ¡°Hello the fire,¡± Jack called. ¡°Can we talk for a minute?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?,¡± shouted one of the women. She held a sword in front of her. Maybe she knew how to use it, maybe not.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said the traveler. ¡°How goes it?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re fine,¡± said another woman. She approached the first, and gestured for her to lower her sword. ¡°Are you the one that got us out of the cages?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡±


    ¡°Some of us would like to return to our homes, some of us have nowhere to go, and some would like something to do,¡± said the second woman. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m out here hunting a monster,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s not really safe for you to be out here. If you want, I can help you get to Hawk Ridge so you can think about where you want to go from there.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to talk about it,¡± said the second woman. ¡°Can we camp here overnight?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± said Jack. ¡°The surviving guards took the other wagon and fled south.¡±


    ¡°It had their treasure in it,¡± said the first woman.


    ¡°Do you want the treasure back?,¡± asked Jack. He stood in the trees. He felt he blended in the dark well enough. ¡°It might help you start over.¡±


    ¡°Can you do that?,¡± asked the second woman. She looked at her bedraggled


    companions. Some of them looked hopeful.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± said Jack. ¡°They were going to be hunted down anyway. Right now is just as good as later in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°We would like it if you could do that,¡± said the second woman. ¡°Then we can split the treasure and move on to other things.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just wait here and keep an eye out. I don¡¯t know where the monster lairs so you should be okay as long as you don¡¯t go further north. I¡¯ll get the other wagon and bring it back. Then we can discuss you moving south and setting up.¡±


    ¡°Why are you helping us?,¡± asked the first woman.


    ¡°I¡¯m on a mission from the gods,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit. Have dinner and be ready to move out.¡±


    Jack retreated deeper into the trees. He wondered what had happened to the guards he had wounded. Had they joined their brothers on the stolen wagon, or had they been left to lie where he had dropped them as Makkari?


    Or had the women taken their revenge once they had seen the guards had been downed by him?


    It wasn¡¯t his worry unless they showed up and got in his way.


    Jack called on Hawkeye and zeroed in on the moving wagon. He marked the distance as he switched bodies for the Falcon and took flight. He climbed into the sky and glided down the road, blinking when he saw the wooden conveyance rolling ahead of him with the power of the four horses pulling from the front.


    He soared ahead and looked for a place to set up an ambush. Gravity should be enough to deal with most of the guards. He could switch to something else if he couldn¡¯t get things done with his first choice.


    Either way, he planned to have things settled before the night was over.

 Find the Princess

    Josie woke up and readied herself for the day. She still had to look for the princess, and once that was done, she could help Jack.


    She checked his room before she went into their office and checked the map. He was still up north. She imagined he was looking for the Dark Rider, and some kind of solution to the problem it presented.


    She planned to have her breakfast and save the princess before he got done goofing off.


    She noticed the number of Montrose members had gone down. She wondered if Jack had something to do with that. She decided to ask when they caught up with each other.


    How many more would they have to kill before they broke the organization to pieces?


    She decided to put that out of her mind. She had other things to get done before she could hunt the rest of the Montrose. Once she was done with them, she might be able to go home and give back her watch.


    Did she want to go home?


    That was a question she didn¡¯t have an answer for at the moment. Being uprooted with no way of telling people you were all right didn¡¯t seem good to her. It was like putting yourself on a milk carton with your loved ones missing you because they didn¡¯t know where you were.


    She didn¡¯t want to do that to her family. She wanted to at least send a message to say she was all right.


    Jack would probably get all the blame like he used to when they were kids. If she did one thing her mother didn¡¯t like, her friend got blamed for it. When she snuck out at night, Jack. When she punched Becky Becorra in the eye, Jack. When she got drunk for the first time, Jack.


    Her mom probably thought Jack took her virginity.


    She shook her head. She had to think about her current problems. Solving them seemed more important than a family she might not see again.


    And she still had the Ducklings to think about before she did go home. They were her responsibility until she could get them on their feet and doing what they wanted to do in the world. Arming them, and teaching them how to defend themselves seemed the best way to do that.


    She sniffed the air as she walked downstairs. She smiled at the smell of pancakes. That was a breakfast food from home that had always seemed extra tasty. Did they have syrup?


    They might have some type of sugar, or jelly, but not syrup. She doubted maple trees grew in this world. If they did, she could ship syrup all over and addict people to her sweet, sugary ways.


    She decided that if they did have maple trees, it would have some weird name like Wood Blood Extract Trees, or a word with too many glottal stops and not enough vowels.


    ¡°Good morning, ladies,¡± Josie said from the kitchen door as she paused at the


    opening. ¡°Smells good.¡±


    ¡°Just something I picked up,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We have lessons, then clean up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m heading up to look for the princess,¡± said Josie. ¡°I left notes for you and Jack in the office. I half-expected him to be back by now. I might swing by and see if I can track him down before I hunt down the missing girl.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s have breakfast before we start our day¡¯s duties,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± said Melanie.


    They gathered their food on plates. Milk was poured from a receptacle kept in the icebox. Coffee had been brewed as a second drink. They took their places at the table.


    ¡°This is good, Elaine,¡± Josie said after digging into her food. ¡°Better than it smelled, and it smelled wonderful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve picked up some skills for cooking, and accountancy,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The Tower was good for that at least.¡±


    ¡°Have you thought about opening your own inn?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°You would be rich just on the food.¡±


    ¡°There would be various legal obligations to be settled before I could open any place of my own,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It¡¯s almost three gold pieces just for the basic taxes.¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s the guilds who will all want their piece of the pie, and whomever is running the local undermarket so you can get supplies on time,¡± said Beatrice.


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    ¡°So you would have to deal out more than three gold pieces,¡± said Josie. ¡°But if you wanted to do it, it could be done with someone to deal with non-inn problems.¡±


    ¡°I would say adventurers, but they haven¡¯t been impressive so far,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°They do get to explore,¡± said Laura. ¡°I would love to do that.¡±


    ¡°Going places no one has ever been is a good ambition,¡± said Josie. ¡°But you will need to be able to defend yourself, and know how to survive on your own away from people.¡±


    ¡°Some hunting and tanning skills would be useful,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Matilda is right about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to kill and prepare your food in the wild.¡±


    ¡°Archery,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t forget,¡± said Josie. ¡°Master Harp said he will find you a teacher. If he can¡¯t, I will.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Archery for Laura so she can hunt better.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± said Josie. ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that.¡±


    ¡°Thought about what?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°If Laura wants to explore, she¡¯ll have to kill her own food,¡± said Josie. ¡°An arrow is a good choice for that.¡±


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that either,¡± said Laura. ¡°Good call, Alicia.¡±


    The younger girl nodded.


    ¡°What about the rest of you?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°If you know what you want to do, you can start learning how to do it now instead of later.¡±


    ¡°I want to be a witch so I can turn people into frogs,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I want to be rich,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to live in a grungy stall with no way to live.¡±


    ¡°I want to have a farm with some sheep and cows, and potatoes,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I want,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything better than this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see something you will want to have, and then you¡¯ll work on it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It still won¡¯t be better than this,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be surprised,¡± said Josie. ¡°One day, you¡¯ll be old and gray and want to lose your weight because you¡¯re too fat to get out of bed.¡±


    ¡°Not that long,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a diplomat, hon,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re not good at it.¡±


    Josie enjoyed the meal. Eating with her own family had always been stressful and full of recriminations. This was a lot better in her opinion.


    ¡°I¡¯ll clean up while you guys go to your class,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be out of town for a bit.¡±


    ¡°If I wanted to be an adventurer, could I be?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°But it¡¯s a dangerous job, and you have to be ready for that.¡±


    ¡°I can be ready,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°Then go work on that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead, girls. I can handle some light cleaning before I head out.¡±


    The Ducklings assembled in their adventurer clothes and formed up with Elaine. They left, talking about what they needed to do. Melanie complained about not being whisked across the city again.


    Josie shook her head. Everyone wanted a free ride.


    She cheated on cleaning up the breakfast dishes by switching to Zatanna and working a few spells to put everything up, clean everything, and make sure the fire was out in the fireplace. It meant some extra work for the girls for dinner, but she thought that was acceptable since no one would be home for hours.


    She went upstairs and got her map and picture of where the princess had been. She could use that when she got closer. She locked up and teleported as far north as she could.


    Josie landed on small hill overlooking a meadow. Other hills ran off on the other side of the grass. A rabbit with horns looked at her before running off. She checked her watch as she walked forward. She decided to let her persona go and walk for a ways before doing another teleport.


    She wanted her watch to be close to full power when she arrived at where she thought the Princess would be. She doubted she would have an easy time settling things. Everything had gone her way so far, but she knew that trend couldn¡¯t continue forever.


    Someone else was bound to win sometime. She just had to be ready to minimize any damage to her when that happened.


    Hopefully Jack would find the guy and shank him with something explosive and burning.


    Josie walked until she heard her watch return to full power. She checked her map. Then she called on Zatanna again and shot for a spot close to where she wanted to be.


    She let the persona go as she looked at the town below and to the left of where she had landed. It was close to the sketch she had drawn the night before. She could see several landmarks from her drawing down there but they were wrong.


    She scanned the town and realized she was on the wrong side and that¡¯s why


    everything looked wrong.


    She smiled as she walked to her left to circle around in the direction she wanted. Once she was lined up on the street she wanted to walk, she could walk in and look around for the princess.


    She had a feeling the princess didn¡¯t want to be found. She decided to put that in the back of her mind. She had a job to do, and the best way to do that was find the object that needed to be moved, move the object, walk away.


    The last thing she wanted was to get in the middle of some family feud that might have greater ramifications than she wanted to deal with at the moment.


    First she had to make sure she could talk to the princess and figure out why she was in some town instead of back home. Once she had some more information, she could figure out how to do the rest.


    Maybe she should have waited for Jack. He was a better negotiator than she was. He turned on his charm, and people fell over themselves trying to help him out.


    She couldn¡¯t get a cup of coffee from Starbuck¡¯s without threatening one of those slack jawed gomers with a punch to the face. Jack got extra whip cream and sprinkles.


    And they all smiled at him like he was dating all of them.


    Josie shook off her irritation. She had a job to do. One more job down would be one more step closer to going home.


    She felt Tony Robbins would have a field day with the quest system. It was perfect for a self help style guru. It kept track of everything you needed to do to turn your life around.


    And if you didn¡¯t work on the quests, they got angry at you.


    She walked into town, hoping things would be easier than what she thought would happen. Hope for the best, expect the worst was a maxim one of her literary heroes had laid down and she had taken it to heart.


    And Reacher was never wrong.


    She wondered what trouble she would be making for the people in town. Did


    they know about the princess? Did they hold her against her will?


    Was she going to have to fight the whole town seemed more relevant the more she thought about it.

 A Small Amount of Night Work

    Jack waited, watching the recharge arrow on his watch while watching the road. The treasure wagon had moved toward him through the night. He supposed they didn¡¯t want to be around in case he came back.


    He wouldn¡¯t if he knew a murderous monster was close by and liked to yeet people to their deaths.


    It wouldn¡¯t save them.


    While the watch recharged, he decided that he needed to think about how he was going to deal with things. He had to take the wagon mostly unharmed, kill the six guards trying to take it south, and turn everything around and take it back to the women waiting on him.


    What was the simplest way to get all that done?


    Gravity should work on anybody who couldn¡¯t fly. Throwing the guards into the air should deal with them instantly unless some of them knew how to fly. He could also use Gravity to turn the wagon. All he needed to do after that was get the horses moving in the right direction.


    Did Marvel have any heroes with animal control? He couldn¡¯t remember off hand. Did their western heroes count? The Rawhide Kid and Kid Colt were horsemen as well as gunfighters. Did they count for the watch? Maybe the Two Gun Kid did since he was an Avenger once, and worked with the She-Hulk during one of her series.


    Did he want to take a chance? Would he be a normal guy with skills and guns, or some kind of armed goat? He frowned as he heard the wagon approaching. He had to do the ambush before he could think about seeing if the Kid was on his watch¡¯s list.


    Captain America was a skill horse. He already knew that. Maybe he should stick to what he knew, and experiment when he wasn¡¯t in a haunted woods waiting for a disaster to happen. He could test the cowboy goat thing when he was back in Hawk Ridge.


    It should amuse the kids depending on what he got.


    The wagon came into sight. Torches had been lit and mounted on the front to warn off night animals and monsters. The horses cantered along, pulling on their traces with a small amount of effort.


    They didn¡¯t look that happy, but Jack admitted to himself he didn¡¯t know what a happy horse looked like.


    Traveling through the night, cropping grass off the side of the road, pulling weight behind them, might just be their thing.


    Jack dialed the glowing form of Gravity. It was time for him to make the horses unhappy.


    He seized the guards in invisible embraces, then turned that into a catapult to send them flying up and out of the trees. He spent a second hoping he wasn¡¯t sending bodies falling into villages to scare the residents.


    Having an armored thug crash through your roof would be scary as crap.


    Jack used Gravity to lift the wagon and horses to turn them around. He placed everything back on the ground before shutting off the effect. He climbed up on the driver¡¯s bench and took the reins. He gave the horses a hi-yah, but they looked at him and refused to move.


    Jack frowned. He knew this was going to happen. He didn¡¯t have enough experience with animals to get them to move, or listen to him about anything they weren¡¯t interested in doing. He needed someone who could drive the team back to where the women waited.


    He checked the watch. He had time. He called on Captain America. Information flooded his brain. This was enough for him to crack the reins and get the horses moving back to the other wagons.


    Jack cut the persona off when the horses accepted they were being driven along. He needed to recharge his watch while he thought about what he could do next. He didn¡¯t know what he had in the back, but he felt like the ladies would need some kind of advisor back in the city.


    Maybe Guin knew someone who could help them invest their wealth. Too bad a lot of his customers were bound to start dropping dead when Josie made the time for them. Maybe these ladies could step into the gap and do something to keep the city moving along.


    Killing the local nobility was bound to put a crimp in any plans Guin might have. It might be enough to make him turn on them. And he did know where they were.


    On the other hand, it might make it easier for him to expand his operations if some of his rivals were fed to the wolves.


    Jack¡¯s own read was that Guin would go along as long as he was making something out of the deal. As soon as things looked bad, he would bail and maybe try to keep the partners out of his future business. He might take it to open warfare if pushed to the next level by their insistence on finishing their quests.


    He might try to hold the girls hostage against their good behavior. That would cause Josie to start burning down the town, instead of complying to his wishes.


    Josie didn¡¯t give in. She pulled things apart until she got what she wanted.


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    Jack switched to Captain America long enough to pull the coach to a halt and switch back. The ladies lined up to meet him again. He dropped down from the driver¡¯s bench.


    ¡°This is your treasure wagon minus the guards,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to take another nap and then I will figure a way to get all of you home without too much trouble.¡±


    ¡°What if we don¡¯t want to go back to Hawk Ridge?,¡± asked one of the women.


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you to hash everything out and figure out how you want to divide the money and where you want to go,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m just here to find a lair of a monster and try to stop it from coming out and heading south.¡±


    ¡°How big a monster are you talking about?,¡± asked the first woman he had talked to when he promised to get the wagon back.


    ¡°Supposedly human size to start off, then it grabs up anyone in its way and turns them into monsters too,¡± said Jack. ¡°My friend calls it a Wild Hunt.¡±


    ¡°There are few roads heading out of the path of that if you monster is heading south,¡± said the woman. ¡°Villages along the way would be devastated if there were no warning.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I have to make sure it stays locked down where it is so it doesn¡¯t come at us and reach the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have no idea how big the army would be by the time it hit the walls of Hawk Ridge. I don¡¯t even know if the Watch could hold it against a force of monsters.¡±


    ¡°They probably wouldn¡¯t be able to hold for long,¡± said the woman. ¡°The dishonest ones and adventurers would flee at the first sign of major trouble reaching the walls.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I have to get this nap in and recharge so I can get to work,¡± said Jack. ¡°You guys can figure out what you want to do while I¡¯m resting. Then I¡¯ll help the ones I can, and come back for the rest before I get started looking for the Dark Rider.¡±


    ¡°We should rest too and try to settle all this in the morning when we have daylight to keep everything on an even keel,¡± said woman.


    Jack nodded before he headed into the forest. He needed to get another bottle of elixir from Doctor Druid before resting again. Searching for the Dark Rider in the daylight seemed a lot better idea than trying to find him in the dark.


    And finding him in the dark didn¡¯t look that good from Jack¡¯s perspective. He would be dealing with a ghost of some kind rushing out of the ground and riding south on some kind of animal, possibly a horse. Every person he saw on the road would turn into the same kind of ghost and they would recruit more as they went.


    The wagon train full of women would be gone under something like that.


    He hoped the watch would protect him, but he wasn¡¯t sure and he didn¡¯t want to find out the hard way. Once he ran out of juice, he might be down for the count.


    If Josie was able to save him, she would give such a lecture about how he should be better at taking care of his business.


    Jack drank the elixir and settled in a bed he made for himself. He made sure to put the concealing wall over his body so he had moments to react to a surprise attack. He told himself to get up in a couple of hours. His mental alarm clock said okay, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it would wake him up.


    It was something he had trained himself to do in boot. The D.I.s would come in to wake you up at any time, but most let you sleep for a couple of hours at a time. He had trained himself to get up before they came in and sleep standing up until they started kicking people out of their racks.


    The first few times he had been able to startle the sergeants in charge because they hadn¡¯t seen him standing next to his locker before they started shouting at the recruits.


    Eventually the training moved from trying to break down the recruits to teaching them things, but Jack still retained his alarm and used it when he needed to sleep and then do other things like watch a perimeter, load ordinance, or shoot at something no one could see.


    Jack woke up two hours later like he planned. He took a moment to assess his body before he tried to move. The pain had faded to a slow ache. Everything worked like it should. He was ready to take on a new day.


    He dug out of his hiding spot and brushed himself off. He hadn¡¯t trusted the women, but none of them had come into the trees after him according to the signs around his camp site. He gave that a check off for trustworthiness.


    He used Hawkeye to check the camp. A couple of the women were on guard, the wagons were circled, someone had freed the horses and tied them to trees where they could graze if they wanted. If there was trouble, he hoped the women were good bareback riders. It would take a lot of time to harness the teams to pull the wagons out of the way.


    He didn¡¯t see any threats close by. The local animals tended to move away from a circle marked off where he thought the Dark Rider¡¯s crypt should be. He expected that from old stories he had read.


    Animals didn¡¯t like monsters, and ran from them.


    He let the watch refill as he worked his way around the camp. He headed up the road. He didn¡¯t want any of his magic to be visible to the ladies.


    And he had an idea on how to find the Dark Rider, thanks to remembering what Josie had done to the stone ring. Doctor Druid would be perfect for that.


    He just needed a psychic bird to show him the way. Then he could drop the


    axe on things, and shepherd the women where they wanted to go.


    It sounded like a plan, but he wasn¡¯t sure how well it would go.


    He switched to Doctor Druid and asked the plants to show him the way to the crypt. The grass bent in one direction, trees pointed with branches, wild flowers turned their leaves to go with the flow.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. He followed the pointing limits until he found a hole in the ground. That didn¡¯t look suspicious.


    He switched to Vision and looked around. The hole in the ground led to a cave door at the bottom. There was too much rock to see through from where he stood on the top.


    The crypt should be inside the wall somewhere.


    Jack switched back to normal to let his watch recharge before he went down and looked around. He wanted to be able to throw spells at full power if the Dark Rider popped out of his coffin.


    He hoped he was dealing with something he could beat on his own. That thing at the lake would have ruined him if Josie hadn¡¯t blown the crap out of that rock with her persona. He didn¡¯t know that DC had a hero that could do anything like that.


    Maybe he should experiment with some more of the guys he had to see what he could do. The Scarlet Witch had been a winner, Magneto not so much.


    He wondered if it would be better just to bury the cave with more rock and then turn everything to steel to prevent people from going down and waking the Dark Rider up.


    His quest list said it wanted the monster dealt with permanently. Could he do it on his own?


    He decided he could look around as Doctor Druid, or Strange, and try to find a solution on his own. If he couldn¡¯t, he would ask Josie for some advice once he had dealt with the former slaves.


    He would definitely close this sinkhole before he left the scene. That would stop the casual explorer from causing problems.

 The Princess Found

    Josie thought about what she would do if she was hiding in a one horse town in the middle of nowhere. Hiding out seemed doable as long as she had some way to get food and water without anyone knowing what was going on.


    Theft of food could be a way to live if you didn¡¯t have a way to get a job and make money.


    How many places were there in town where her princess could hide without drawing attention?


    Josie decided that she could just look around before she used her watch to find the princess. She could afford to take a little time. She still didn¡¯t have an idea on how to make the princess go home.


    She didn¡¯t want to complete the quest only to have it reset because the princess ran away again.


    She wondered if that had happened to Old Man Warner when he wore the watch.


    She already guessed why he hadn¡¯t said anything to the customers who came into his shop. No one would believe that he was a hero in another world, dealing with problems for the Reed Society.


    She didn¡¯t believe it herself, and she was doing the same thing.


    She wondered why Warner hadn¡¯t warned them before they put on the watches. Maybe he had forgot what they did. Maybe his original device wasn¡¯t a watch at all. What would they have sent him when he was younger?


    Josie did an estimate of Warner¡¯s age. She thought about what was out there when he was her age. She thought a Green Lantern ring might be what he had used when he was her age. She doubted Robby Reed would have been a thing back then.


    But Green Lantern, Atom Blake and his magic ring, and others were a thing. She could see that being an earlier template for the Reed champions.


    She wondered how many had been pulled to this world to fix problems. How many were still around trying to finish their quests? She thought about that. She might be in the same situation chasing the Montrose until they were gone from the world.


    She frowned. She couldn¡¯t take the quest back once she had started. She should have been more careful about that.


    She paused when she reached the building she had drawn back at the hole in the wall. She knocked on the door. She had no reason to bust down the thing. She just wanted to talk. This might be a problem that was easier to deal with than what it had looked like at the start.


    Things might turn to violence if the princess hated her family enough to fight back against anyone trying to take her back.


    Josie listened as she waited. She heard movement inside the building. She wondered if she would have to knock the door down after all.


    The door opened a crack. An old man peered out at her. He didn¡¯t appear to have a lot of teeth, and his eyes looked fogged over with the beginnings of cataracts.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a princess,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to return her to her family. I¡¯m on a mission from the gods.¡±


    The old man orientated on her voice. He tried to glare at her. It seemed hard since his eyes didn¡¯t quite line up with her.


    ¡°A mission from the gods?,¡± said the old man. ¡°What kind of nonsense is that?¡±


    ¡°The kind that will make it easy to punch you in the face,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re a


    terrible liar. You want to tell me the truth?¡±


    ¡°I think you should go before something horrible happens to you,¡± said the old man. ¡°You don¡¯t want to end up like me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really here to help the princess,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can fix her problem if I know what it is.¡±


    ¡°No one can help her now after what happened,¡± said the old man. ¡°I think you should leave. There¡¯s nothing more to say.¡±


    ¡°I still have to return her to her family,¡± said Josie. ¡°You know where she is so I need you to tell me that much at least.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you anything,¡± said the old man. ¡°Go away.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. Something was going on, and she didn¡¯t have the lever to push it out in the open.


    She decided the best thing she could do was walk away and keep watch. Maybe she could spot the girl and talk to her without the old man around. Something was going on. She could feel that much.


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    Josie took a spot on a wooden roof across the street from the decrepit cottage. She had a small amount of time she could wait. After that, she thought another scry would help her.


    She had a lot of questions but decided it was better to wait before she did something stupid. The spell could have been wrong about the cabin. She could have went to the wrong cabin while thinking it was the right one. And did she want to beat up a blind old man over a complete stranger?


    And she had time. The girls were at practice and Jack was still out doing whatever he could about the Dark Rider. She was surprised that he hadn¡¯t sent a message to let her know how close he was, but he could take care of himself.


    She would be more worried if he didn¡¯t have the watch, and the knowledge of Marvel that he did have.


    She wondered if there was other heroes she could use to solve her problems faster. Some of them seemed useless with the way the watch switched talents, or too dangerous, or not fitting for most of the situations she had found herself in so far. She had been lucky that Zatanna was almost the same as her fictional counterpart without the backward talk spellcasting.


    If she could deal with the Montrose with one spell that would be good in her opinion.


    Maybe she could do a summons that did the job like a quest without her having to oversee everything. She wondered if that would work to clear the quest so she could go home.


    She didn¡¯t know if she wanted to go home. She didn¡¯t have anyone to miss her but Jack and Mister Warner. And Jack was roaming around with her, and Mister Warner might show up at any moment to tell her how she was doing everything wrong.


    She would like that.


    Josie watched as the old man left his place. He walked down the street with a stick. She wondered how blind he was. Did he have enough sight to stay out of trouble, or was it all gone? She shook her head as she stood and walked to the edge of the roof. Two changes later, she stood in the cabin and looked around.


    It was kept up, but she found that there was only belongings for one person. Had her magic made a mistake? That was a first. Something was wrong. She just didn¡¯t know what.


    She decided to do another scry for the princess. Maybe that would tell her what was going on.


    She called on Zatanna and sent out the bird. She followed it with Johnny Quick, watched as it alighted on the old man¡¯s head. He didn¡¯t seem to notice, but the townspeople backed up from the glowing bird on his head. He looked around, trying to figure out why they were afraid of him before the bird vanished.


    Josie returned to normal and walked up to the old man. He glared at her.


    ¡°I think we should talk, princess,¡± Josie said. ¡°Let¡¯s find a place to sit down and have a drink.¡±


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± said the princess.


    ¡°I have a quest to return you to your family,¡± said Josie. She gestured at a nearby inn. ¡°All I want to do is fix your problem and move on to the rest of my goals as fast as possible.¡±


    ¡°Do you think this will be so easily undone?,¡± asked the princess.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. She took the other¡¯s arm. ¡°Maybe if you told me what happened, it will make things easier for both of us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how,¡± said the princess. ¡°But let¡¯s see what happens.¡±


    They took seats next to the door because the princess wanted to be able to run if she had to, and Josie wanted to be able to see out a window to the street in case of trouble. The place was near empty so she wasn¡¯t that concerned with being stabbed in the back.


    ¡°Why are you really here?,¡± asked the princess. She leaned forward so that no one else could hear her.


    ¡°I already told you,¡± said Josie. She held a hand up to attract the lone waitress¡¯s attention. ¡°Someone drafted me into helping you out of whatever this is. How did you get stuck as an old man in the first place.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a curse,¡± said the princess. ¡°I only look this because I am here. If I were to return to my rightful place, I would become my normal self again.¡±


    ¡°And you can¡¯t return because?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I will be summarily executed for crimes against the state,¡± said the princess. ¡°Exile was the best that could be done in the situation.¡±


    ¡°Everyone thought you were guilty?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the princess.


    ¡°Were you?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No...Yes...Maybe,¡± said the princess. ¡°I don¡¯t know any more.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s put aside the question of guilt for the moment,¡± said Josie. She ordered two beers from the waitress and two dishes of whatever they had on hand as food. ¡°If I were to fix things for you, what would happen?¡±


    ¡°I would still be considered a criminal and executed if I returned,¡± said the princess. ¡°There is no way to reverse the judgement.¡±


    ¡°This looks a lot tougher than I thought it would be,¡± said Josie. ¡°There¡¯s no way to reverse the judgement at all?¡±


    ¡°There is a challenge, but it is trial by combat, and no one would stand up to defend me. And I don¡¯t think you would be able. You don¡¯t look like you know how to handle a sword. You would be killed in the first exchange of blows.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree with that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack might know how to fix your problem. He might even stand up for you.¡±


    ¡°No human has survived a challenge from the Tuantha in my memory,¡± said the princess. ¡°I doubt your Jack would do better.¡±


    ¡°I think we should lay things out for him and see what he thinks,¡± said Josie. ¡°He might have an idea we can use.¡±


    ¡°It has been a long time since I went home,¡± said the princess. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible.¡±


    ¡°I think we should find out what Jack thinks, and see if he will stand for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can think about clearing your name. If you had a way to reopen your case, we wouldn¡¯t have to think about any fighting. We could just show people what happened.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that will do me any favors,¡± said the princess.


    ¡°Sometimes exact words is the wrong thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you have to speak the truth, you should embrace it and make it yours.¡±


    ¡°My people are bound to speak the truth,¡± said the princess. ¡°Obfuscation prevents giving your word so that you don¡¯t have to answer the demand.¡±


    Josie shrugged. She couldn¡¯t blame someone for getting caught up in the machine of the state and getting ground up and spat out. The question was how guilty was the princess and should they help her at all?


    That part was a little fuzzier and full of obstacles.


    Jack might have a solution to the problem. He might be able to stand up to the Princess¡¯s people with the right persona. Would he want to do that, or would he want to come up with something else that would fix things without them getting involved in the criminal history.


    Their bowls and beer came while she thought.

 Bad News

    Jack didn¡¯t like the hole in the ground. It reminded him of too many movies where spelunkers were trapped in a cave and picked off by cannibals. He took a moment to look around and steel himself. He had to do something if he wanted to stop the Dark Rider from emerging.


    The Society wanted the thing destroyed. He didn¡¯t know if he had the knowledge to do that, but he could put off anyone calling it for a while.


    He had a feeling that was why the caravan of women had been dragged out here.


    Guin would be happy his rival had been shown how to fly. That was one less thing making Hawk Ridge dangerous for the commoners spending money in his shops and gambling halls.


    Josie would like it too. It meant one less person she would have to hunt down to fulfil the quest she had brought on herself.


    He had thought about just filling in the hole until he had the women stowed away at the nearest town. Something called on him to try to deal with things tonight before something bad happened. The feeling nagged at him. He couldn¡¯t tell if it was his own instinct or the urging of the quest list now that he was so close to where he had to work.


    The last thing he wanted was to let something invade the city and overwhelm Josie and the girls.


    So the first thing he had to do was gather information, and look for a way to deal with things in a permanent manner like they had with the lake portal ring.


    They could get that piece of rock when they pried it out of his cold dead hands. Maybe not even then if he was running someone like Gravity, or Angel.


    Then they would have to wait for it to fall out of orbit and find it and then bring it back to the lake after they had assembled the rest of the rock he had smashed as Thor before they could put that one piece back in place like a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle.


    Hopefully Josie would have hunted them all down before that happened.


    He decided that either Doctor Strange, or Druid, would be the way to gather


    information. Their abilities seemed wide, but not as wide as Zatanna¡¯s. The Scarlet Witch didn¡¯t have any way to gather information, but was his go to fixer upper in close combat, but he was liking Gravity and Cap.


    You couldn¡¯t do better than yeeting someone into orbit.


    Jack decided to try Druid first. Maybe it would give him the presence of lines to disrupt so the Dark Rider couldn¡¯t ride any more. After that, the actual disruption should be easy enough to do.


    Nothing said smash like Thor¡¯s mighty magical hammer.


    He triggered the watch to get the Falcon. He dropped down to the bottom of the hole and reverted to normal. He looked around in the dark. He should have brought a torch to set something on fire.


    He turned into Druid and turned a rock into a glow stone so he could see what he was doing. He looked around. He didn¡¯t like the fact that he was standing in a big circle of rocks again.


    He let his senses roll outward as he moved out of the circle. He didn¡¯t want to trigger it. He wasn¡¯t quite ready to fight whatever was behind the tomb door on the other side of the chamber.


    He wished Josie was on the scene. Her magic was better for this. He nodded as he saw the magic force flowing into the door. It was a trickle at the moment.


    How did he want to do this? If he moved the rocks, that should cut off the flow of energy. Then he would okay on the job.


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    He could switch to Gravity to handle that part of things.


    The main problem would be the spirit on the other side of the door waiting for the knob to turn. What happened when the ring started vanishing? Would it come out to try to deal with him? Would it go after the women to expand its army? Would it try to recruit from the small towns from there to Hawk Ridge until it the hit the city itself?


    He decided to put aside the questions. Either Druid could buy him enough time to switch to the Scarlet Witch and throw hexes around, or it couldn¡¯t. He had to do something before the natural flow made his decision for him.


    He decided that he would try out Gravity. If it worked, he would keep it up until he had to change into something else. How hard could it be to yeet some rocks out of a hole?


    Was yeeting the rocks the right move? That was something he needed to know, but couldn¡¯t until he tried. He could try to fix his mistake if the Rider manifested. He didn¡¯t know how hard that was going to be, but he still had some things he could use if Druid wasn¡¯t effective.


    He wondered how many others had thought the same thing before their stupidity exploded around them.


    Jack did one last check before switching bodies. Energy flowed from the rock to the tomb. He noticed that some of it came from him. He stepped away from the circle. It must be drawing a bit from him to help with its powering up.


    He should start taking the circle apart before he was neck deep in monsters.


    He called on the dark form of Gravity. He pointed at the nearest rock and activated his power. The giant stone started to move up so he could lift it out of the hole. White lines appeared to connect the stones. It struck his grip and let the marker drop back in place unharmed.


    More magic? That would fit the rest of this. Maybe he should consult Josie before trying anything else.


    A glow seeped through the tomb door. He decided that wasn¡¯t good. Maybe he should get away from the opening as fast as possible before something bad happened.


    The door opened as Jack headed for the top of the sink hole. He frowned as he considered that he might have woke up the Dark Rider ahead of time. How did he put him back to sleep?


    He landed and looked at the names on his watch. Could he do anything with Druid. He didn¡¯t know. He had to try. The women were in the road ahead of this monster. They would be snapped up if Josie was right.


    He saw another name. He frowned at it. It was a mage. And he dealt with ghosts as part of his magical skill. He might be perfect for this if he worked close to his comic book version.


    A spirit on a horse emerged from the sinkhole. It glared at the dark field in front of it. Then it seemed to see the wagons and started toward them with a yell.


    Jack pushed the button to switch. He couldn¡¯t let this thing have the women.


    He had given his word was paramount in his mind, but other things supported that decision. He felt chains and ghosts wrap around as he stepped in the path of the ghost horse and held up his hands.


    ¡°You can¡¯t pass,¡± Jack said. ¡°Go back.¡±


    ¡°It is my duty to gather the levee to win the war,¡± said the ghost. ¡°I can¡¯t be stopped.¡±


    Jack made note of the clothes, and simple looking knife at the belt. He didn¡¯t seem to be dealing with a knight, or someone high up. How did he fix this for both of them?


    ¡°There isn¡¯t any war,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to raise a levee against.¡±


    ¡°You are wrong,¡± said the ghost. ¡°I have been given orders.¡±


    ¡°I am the one who called you, and I didn¡¯t call you to do anything,¡± Jack said. ¡°Matter of fact, I didn¡¯t even know you would show up. I was trying to get rid of those stones because they were in the way.¡±


    ¡°You called me?,¡± said the Dark Rider. ¡°Impossible. I am bound to the service of Sachuminou. There is no way you could call me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there is a Sachuminou,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you¡¯re the only one who even remembers there was such a place.¡±


    ¡°You lie,¡± said the Dark Rider. ¡°I can¡¯t go to sleep until it falls, and it hasn¡¯t fallen.¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Jack. He had the ability to learn things with Brother Voodoo. He sat down and concentrated, sending out his need. Something heard him and followed the call to the dirt road.


    A spirit dressed in tabard and boots stumbled out of the ground. It looked around, pushing back the hat on its head. He saw the Dark Rider and the sitting Jack and smiled.


    ¡°Brother,¡± the ghost said. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°We would like to know about Sachuminou,¡± said Jack. His eyes glowed. His voice had an echo.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he tell you?,¡± asked the new ghost. ¡°He destroyed it with his magic. Killed himself too.¡±


    ¡°You lie,¡± said the Dark Rider.


    ¡°Brother, don¡¯t you know me?,¡± asked the ghost. ¡°I was there when you rode down with your hounds. You sliced through both sides of the lines adding on to your forces. When you were done, there was nothing left of Sachuminou¡¯s capital, and almost nothing left of our army. Goshawk took both countries and absorbed it into itself.¡±


    ¡°Classic third party move,¡± said Jack.

 Elves

    Josie wondered what she should do with her cursed princess. She would like to just dump the transformed elf across the line and let things work out on their own. She doubted that would earn her a quest completion unless she dumped Lorelei on her family.


    Should she try to talk to the Princess¡¯s parents? How would that go? Would they even talk to a human at all?


    She needed something to use as a handle. She couldn¡¯t just sit on this girl until she finished everything else.


    She could but she didn¡¯t want to do that. She wanted to knock this thing out of the park and meet up with Jack. The quest to destroy the Montrose would be the last major thing she needed to do.


    And she wanted to know how he was doing with the Dark Rider. Maybe she should have went ahead and helped him instead of letting him go out on his own.


    ¡°I need to know what happened in detail,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I am going to have to talk to someone in charge to see what I can do about reversing things so you can go home. I still have a job to get done, even if I don¡¯t know how to do it at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t your gods let you fail at this thing?,¡± asked Lorelei.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t my gods, and the answer to that is no,¡± said Josie. ¡°They want you returned before there is trouble. Framing you for a crime and sending you into exile could mean anything. Do you have enemies?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a princess,¡± said the old man. ¡°I have tons of enemies. I couldn¡¯t name them all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the crime. What was that?¡±


    ¡°I was accused of stealing a broach from one of the maids,¡± said Lorelei.


    ¡°Who accused you?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°My sister, Avelina,¡± said the princess. ¡°She¡¯s fifth from the top of the heir line.¡±


    ¡°Where did they find the broach?,¡± asked Josie. She assumed that Avelina took it to create a frame and get rid of her sister. She had seen enough family drama not to rule that out.


    Jack¡¯s four sisters had also been her friends. They were all over the top about what they did and how they did it.


    ¡°On a dress I had worn the night before,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°I had been asked to attend a court function, and wore the dress, but not the broach.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?,¡± asked Josie.


    The old man wrinkled his face at the question.


    ¡°Are you sure about the number of fingers on your hands?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°Not always, especially when I have been drinking,¡± said Josie. ¡°So it was your word against hers that you took the broach and pinned it to your dress?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°The maid, Mathilda, confirmed that it had been missing, and that she had asked around the other servants if they had seen it. Apparently my sister got wind of the search and took it upon herself to search my quarters.¡±


    ¡°And she moves up into your slot since you¡¯re gone,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She moves into the fourth slot,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°There are a brother and two sisters ahead of her, and my brother is the only heir.¡±


    ¡°The princesses get nothing?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°They could get to be queens, but in general, the boys get to rule while the girls have to manage things,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°I expected to have a marriage arranged in some other enclave in a few years if anyone would take me.¡±


    ¡°So Avelina could be trying to get to the throne,¡± said Josie. ¡°She would have to take out the other three first in some way. I doubt she will be able to frame them all the same way she framed you.¡±


    ¡°You are talking about her killing her siblings,¡± said Lorelei.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t rule it out. I think in your case, she definitely arranged for you to get into trouble.¡±


    ¡°But everyone knew I had borrowed that broach before,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°Everything could have been explained as a mistake except for the formal charges being filed to strip me of my titles.¡±


    ¡°She get the titles?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Some of them,¡± said the exile. ¡°Some went to my other siblings.¡±


    ¡°I think we should start with a letter to the authorities,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And what will that get us?,¡± asked Lorelei.


    ¡°It will get us a way in if we can work it right,¡± said Josie. ¡°After that, we have to see what we can do.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think you can fix this?,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°My family will never accept me back.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need them to accept you back permanently,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just need them to accept you back long enough to clear my quest list.¡±


    ¡°I am glad that you are so clear in your intentions,¡± said the elf.


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    ¡°I have been here about a week,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have found that if I want to get


    anything done, I have to be clear and concise and ready to punch somebody in the face. Otherwise, the knuckleheads I deal with won¡¯t do a thing.¡±


    ¡°You would fit in at home very well,¡± said the princess. She sipped her beer and made a face.


    ¡°I need some paper and a pen,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to send this letter and hope we can make things on an even footing. If we can, maybe we can clear your name, and get you something out of this other than the experience of being an old man.¡±


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been that bad,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°But also not that good.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go anywhere,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once we get started, you¡¯ll be home where you belong and I can finish the rest of what I have to do.¡±


    ¡°Avelina won¡¯t like this,¡± cautioned Lorelei.


    ¡°Avelina won¡¯t like it if I turn Jack loose on her household,¡± said Josie. ¡°She¡¯ll


    like it even less if I do something about her.¡±


    Josie sipped the rest of her drink, and made her way out to the street. She took a moment to figure out where the local general store was and walked over. She paid for a couple of sheets of paper, a quill pen, and a bottle of ink. She also grabbed a bag to carry her new belongings.


    What could she say that would get her a look at the crime scene? What would get her a chance to challenge the ruling? She had to be respectful but forceful in what she had to say.


    Both of their lives were on the line if she went ahead.


    Did she want to go home?


    She didn¡¯t know at the moment. Right now she had to deal with her quests. She would talk to Jack about the rest.


    He always seemed to know what to do when he didn¡¯t have a plan in the world.


    She sat down at the table with Lorelei. He had finished his meal and set his cup aside.


    She thought about what she could say as she placed the paper on the table in front of her.


    She decided that the first thing she should say was howdy, let them know that she was talking to them. She filled the body of the letter with the most insulting to honor language that she could muster. She then signed it with her signature and ecks and ohs.


    She waited for the ink to dry on her careful lettering. She folded the paper up. She took the other sheet of paper and folded it into envelope. She put the letter into the envelope and sealed it. She pressed the paper down.


    ¡°Address?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Two twenty and a half of the Canary Road, left central side,¡± said Lorelei.


    Josie wrote the address on the envelope. She looked around, changed to Zatanna long enough to send it, then changed back. Now all they had to do was wait. The magic letter could also be the end of their communication problem. All they had to do was write the letter and magic it to wherever it had to go.


    She wondered if she could just write Jack¡¯s name on something and let it go. Did she need the address of where he was. She doubted the wilderness counted as an address.


    Elves appeared in the street outside. They looked around at the small town. Sunlight gleamed from their golden armor. They were two rows of infantry with spears. They formed up on either side of the street to allow a white horse and rider trot to a stop.


    ¡°It looks like someone didn¡¯t like my letter,¡± said Josie. She stood. ¡°You might


    as well stay here. If I can work things out, well and good. If I can¡¯t, my partner


    is going to come looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Will he be as foolish?,¡± asked Lorelei.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°Certainly a better thinker about things.¡±


    She walked out of the diner and stepped out in the street.


    Who did she have in her watch that could do things she needed doing?


    She didn¡¯t want to call up Etrigan. A real demon if she took his body would be bad in her opinion. She wanted something a lot smoother if she had to go that route.


    ¡°Hola,¡± said Josie. ¡°Como esta?¡±


    ¡°What foul language is this?,¡± said the knight on horseback. ¡°Are you the one that sent the letter saying the king had lost his mind?¡±


    ¡°Are you an idiot?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Do you know who I am?,¡± asked the knight. His hand dropped to his sword.


    ¡°If you so much as draw that weapon, I will wreck you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do we have an understanding about this?¡±


    ¡°Who are you to say such a thing to the likes of me?,¡± asked the knight. His hand didn¡¯t quite drop from the hilt of his weapon.


    ¡°I¡¯m the terror that flaps in the night. I¡¯m the elf ear ripper of justice,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m Josie Fox. Who might you be?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Sir Galestone of the Reach of Darkness, killer of monsters, and upholder of laws,¡± said the knight. Josie spotted one of the infantry rolling his eyes in the first position on her right.


    ¡°Now that we know who we are, what do you want?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The king has asked me to escort you to court and have words with you,¡± said the knight. ¡°You can come along quietly, or on your back, but you are coming along.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why I should do that,¡± said Josie. ¡°The king can come here if he wants to talk to me.¡±


    ¡°That is not possible,¡± said Sir Galestone. ¡°He can¡¯t leave the court at this time.¡±


    ¡°Turn around and lead the way,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will be right behind you.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the knight. He pulled on his reins to turn the horse into a circle.


    He let it trot down the road. They vanished in a sunbeam.


    Josie followed, hand wrapped around her upper forearm. She felt a tumbling


    sensation and staggered but kept her feet. The infantry escort fell in at her sides.


    The knight let the horse trot on a road made of gold bricks. The infantry sped up to keep up with him. Josie walked. She wasn¡¯t running anywhere because some clown couldn¡¯t let his horse walk.


    The infantryman who had rolled his eyes fell in beside her. He cradled his spear on the shoulder of his armor.


    ¡°Sir Gallstone is probably going to want you to move faster than this,¡± said the


    infantryman.


    ¡°Then he can provide a horse,¡± said Josie. ¡°Otherwise, he is ess oh ell.¡±


    ¡°The elf ear ripper of justice?,¡± said the infantryman.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you forget it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ve been known to turn them into bags full of


    marbles.¡±


    ¡°I believe that,¡± said the infantryman. ¡°Name¡¯s Bob. Don¡¯t turn the king¡¯s ears into bags full of marbles. The Royals will be upset.¡±


    ¡°If I start thinking about doing that, it will already be too late,¡± said Josie.


    Bob smiled.


    ¡°I like you, Bob,¡± said Josie. ¡°If things go down, run. You don¡¯t need to be caught up in the storm that will come down.¡±


    ¡°You may be formidable, but don¡¯t try to take on the Court unless you have to,¡± said Bob. ¡°They¡¯re all masters of their elements.¡±


    We¡¯ll see how much of a master they are against whatever I can dip into, thought Josie.


    The procession walked to a set of buildings built in a spiral around each other. A wall ran around that. All of it seemed to be made of giant stones stacked on each other. Galestone paused at the gate, turning in his saddle to glare at Josie who waved at him as she walked along.


    ¡°Seems impatient,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we should walk slower.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s wise,¡± said Bob. ¡°The king is waiting for you to arrive.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Be my guide, Bob. That will get you out of work for a bit.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s fair,¡± said the infantryman.


    They arrived at the gate. Galestone looked down at her. She smiled at him.


    ¡°You can go,¡± she said. ¡°Bob is going to show me the Court chambers. We should be okay.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the knight.


    ¡°There¡¯s no glory in this,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m just talking to the king and queen and then I¡¯m leaving. There¡¯s not going to be a war, or dead elves, or blown up castle, or anything like that. If you¡¯re good, I¡¯ll have someone bring you tea and cookies.¡±


    ¡°Tea and cookies?,¡± said Galestone. His face turned red slowly as he looked down at her.


    ¡°Or milk if you prefer,¡± said Josie. ¡°Show me the way, Bob. I need to get this over so I can go about the rest of my business.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mum,¡± said Bob. ¡°I¡¯ll send the cookies with the extra sugar on them, sir.¡±


    Josie walked through the gate and headed toward the castle.

 Rides End

    ¡°Cursed yourself to keep fighting even though the fight is over,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s rough.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about war?,¡± asked the Rider.


    ¡°I have done some things,¡± said Jack. ¡°Not as bad as you, but I have fought for my country and killed people who didn¡¯t like that. But this isn¡¯t about me, it¡¯s about you. You can¡¯t keep coming down into a country that doesn¡¯t exist any more killing everything in your path. That has to end.¡±


    ¡°How do you propose to stop me?,¡± said the Rider. ¡°Your theatrics have only slowed me down. I can continue my ride at any point.¡±


    ¡°So you are going to take revenge on people who don¡¯t know who you are?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°They deserve what I am going to give them,¡± said the Rider. He drew his sword. ¡°So do you.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to settle this peacefully?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I can give you eternal peace in the afterlife.¡±


    ¡°Why would I want that?,¡± said the Rider. ¡°I would rather bathe in the blood of my enemies.¡±


    Jack flicked the dial on his watch. He should have known that he couldn¡¯t talk his way out of this. It was a good thing he had something that would handle the ghost on his list of personas. He pushed the button.


    An angel appeared in the forest, wings spreading like fire in the sky. A giant fist came down and crushed the Rider and horse. The spirit retreated back to its crypt to be recalled later thanks to his curse.


    The watch dinged and Jack returned to his normal body. He shook his head as he went over what he had found. He needed to break the curse.


    He needed to let his watch recharge first.


    Jack sat down and looked at the hole in the ground. He checked his watch. It was recharging faster than he thought it would. That meant the energy was flowing into the hole, like at the lake. He had to disrupt everything without letting the Rider come out and try to deal with him.


    What¡¯s the plan?


    Jack knew he hadn¡¯t destroyed the Rider for good. He hadn¡¯t got the ding for quest completion. He knew the natural energy of the world was recharging the curse as fast as it could. He knew moving the rocks would draw the Rider out. And he needed something to stop the flow and end the curse to get rid of the Rider for good.


    Could he do an exorcism with Brother Voodoo? Did he have someone on his watch with a blessing that did the same thing?


    He felt like the Crypt put the Rider in suspended animation. Maybe he didn¡¯t exist before he started trying to gather his army. How did he disrupt the flow to the rocks?


    If he knocked down the platform, would that put a stop to things? The rocks would have to fall in a perfect straight line to set up the flow deeper in the cavern.


    If he wanted to do that, what could he use?


    He wondered if Nitro could blow the platform apart like Josie¡¯s Human Bomb. Would that stop things? Letting everything fall into the dark seemed the best thing to do.


    He knew he couldn¡¯t move the rocks one at a time since they seemed to automatically trigger the Rider¡¯s existence to defend their standing.


    Maybe he could hex everything from up top.


    Jack liked that thought. One hex on the platform might be enough to counter the spell the Rider had come up with to keep coming back to life to fight the invaders of his country. It seemed easy and doable. The only real problem was what happened if he was wrong.


    He decided that he had to try. He couldn¡¯t come up with anything better. He wished Josie was there. She would have a better idea than he did.


    He decided to at least try. He couldn¡¯t let this keep going on. Any invasion into a populated center would end in the deaths of hundreds, thousands, depending on the route the Rider took.


    And the fact that he had already destroyed his own country spoke volumes about the damage done.


    How many people knew about the old country that had been subsumed by Goshawk at the end of their war?


    He needed to get the women moving south and hope they could do things on their own for a bit. If he failed, he didn¡¯t want them to be the first victims of the new Hunt. He doubted they would return to normal when the Rider was finally put down again.


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    Then he could try to hex everything and see what happened.


    Avoiding responsibility was usually the way he liked to do things, and now here he was responsible for saving part of the world. He gave a mental hats off to the Reed Society for this.


    Not many people could con someone into doing things for them to save themselves and others while they sat back and did nothing.


    Unless they were rich.


    Jack gathered himself together. He had to get to work. He could take a nap later.


    He walked back to the wagons. A couple of the women were on guard. They regarded him with suspicion. He supposed he wouldn¡¯t be trusting if some random guys dragged him out in the woods.


    ¡°Could you wake up your boss?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I think I have some bad news for her.¡±


    ¡°Is this about the giant that suddenly appeared and vanished?,¡± asked the guard.


    ¡°A little yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Saw that, did you?¡±


    ¡°The whole forest saw it,¡± said the guard. ¡°The people at Hawk Ridge probably saw it.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe the next town down the road.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Jack,¡± said the headwoman. She pulled her hair in a pony tail held by a knot. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°I had a talk with the Dark Rider,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I put a temporary stop to him, but he¡¯s going to be back. I need you to move your camp down the road while I try to make sure I can exorcize him. I might not be able to do that before he grabs you guys up.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can stop him?,¡± asked the head woman.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to risk all of you. You should be okay the rest of the night, but come sunrise, you should break camp and roll south as fast as you can.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said the woman. She looked at the wagons, and animals. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°Either I save the day, or I go down like a chump,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to get some sleep before I try to come up with a solution to the problem.¡±


    ¡°You are more than welcome to sleep with us,¡± said the head woman. She waved at one of the wagons.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that will be good for either of us,¡± said Jack. ¡°Be careful heading south. If I solve this, I¡¯ll get you where you want to go.¡±


    ¡°What if you can¡¯t?,¡± asked the guard.


    ¡°My partner will be irate and use me for batting practice,¡± said Jack. He swung his arms as an example of what he meant. The women winced.


    ¡°Now I¡¯m going to sleep, and I need you to think about what you have to do in the morning,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I¡¯m going to try and save the day.¡±


    ¡°If you can¡¯t?,¡± asked the guard.


    ¡°Go east,¡± said Jack. ¡°That should be okay unless he veers.¡±


    ¡°We will look for you, Jack,¡± said the head woman. ¡°We should start cooking and getting the animals ready.¡±


    Jack walked into the trees. He checked his watch out of habit, glad that it was full. He needed to recover from using the Angel. He needed to fix this one way, or the other, tomorrow. He needed someone with knowledge of magic other than Druid.


    Maybe he should look up what Doc Strange could do in this situation. Maybe there was a medical component he could use.


    He thought he could use the Angel as a last resort if he had to do that. One giant fist down that hole might be enough to blow things apart.


    He called on Druid to get him a bed for the night. He vowed to be home for a night on his real bed that night. He was tired of sleeping out in the middle of the woods with grass as his blanket.


    Tonight he was sleeping in his own bed, or know the reason why he couldn¡¯t. The quest list dinged at him.


    ¡°Someone has a sense of humor,¡± said Jack. He settled in and set his internal alarm. He probably needed food. He could take care of that tomorrow. He supposed later today would be better.


    Jack slept off his exhaustion and woke up slowly. The sun shown down on his bower. It was time to figure out what to do.


    Jack stepped out on the road. He used Hawkeye and nodded at the wagons moving south. He didn¡¯t know how long they had been moving, but they were away from the battlefield.


    Now he had to do something about the Dark Rider before he caught up with the train and headed home.


    The first thing he needed to do was consult everyone on his list he thought would be a magic user. After twenty minutes of this, he nodded at the information he had been able to gather.


    The aptly named Magik had given him the most. He nodded at the conditions he had been able to sus out with her powers. The most obvious one was lifting the curse and moving the rocks so they didn¡¯t gather energy. He didn¡¯t have to move them far.


    And he had the perfect persona for that if it worked like he thought it would.


    Lifting the curse required more work with Brother Voodoo. He was the expert on ghosts and how to fight them. He drew the required symbols around the hole in the ground. He let his watch charge up as he went because he needed full power to do what he had to do.


    He summoned the power and cast it down in the hole taking over the network that fed the Dark Rider. He felt something trying to stop him, but he chopped through it. As the watch ticked down, he yanked the curse up and rendered it to pieces before the Rider could come back.


    Part one of the plan was done. The quest hadn¡¯t cleared. That meant the Rider could keep coming back.


    Jack called on Avalanche, a guy vibrating against the ground in his black and yellow Deadpool shirt. He realized that his power didn¡¯t work the same. He couldn¡¯t cause rock to flow like water.


    Instead he was the avalanche.


    He poured down in the sinkhole as a wave of rocks, pushing the markers out of the way and off the platform. They fell into the darkness below as he piled more of his new body on the ledge. He pulled himself on the platform and let the persona go.


    He became the Scarlet Witch and hexed the crypt, ripping it to shreds with his power. That finally caused the mental ding he was waiting to get. He collapsed the tomb with a wave of his hand.


    He checked his watch. He had a couple of minutes. He became the Falcon and flew out of the hole. He landed on the road and became normal long enough to switch to Storm to fill the hole with water from the giant rain cloud he became. He lost power and fell on the edge of his shallow lake.


    He waited until he was at full power before becoming Storm again and raining on the hole until it was full. He lost power as he dropped down to the road. The water roiled for a moment as the wind died down.


    Time for him to catch up with the train to let them know he was headed back to Hawk Ridge, and they should decide what they wanted before meeting up with him at the Silver Coin.

 Columbod

    Bob escorted Josie through the palace. She nodded at the stone walls and floors, hanging tapestries, and sconces of golden light everywhere. People went about their business with stares at her as she walked.


    ¡°So what do you think happened, Bob?,¡± Josie asked to interrupt his whistling as he walked.


    ¡°I have no idea, Mum,¡± said the escort. ¡°The exiling process is above my pay grade as it were.¡±


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t hear any gossip about this?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I heard that the princess was escorted to the border and thrown over, Mum,¡± said Bob. ¡°She couldn¡¯t deny the missing item was in her apartment.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to assume no one thought it was strange that she just stole the broach instead of asking if she could borrow it?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The broach was missing, and the princess had it,¡± said Bob. ¡°And she didn¡¯t know how it got there.¡±


    ¡°You people are not right,¡± said Josie. ¡°A million explanations and you didn¡¯t ask any questions.¡±


    ¡°The king made the ruling,¡± said Bob. ¡°None can gainsay his word.¡±


    ¡°Even if he was wrong?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Especially if he was wrong,¡± said the elf. ¡°That¡¯s just how it is.¡±


    ¡°I got a job to do,¡± said Josie. A ding filled her brain. She nodded as the Dark Rider was no longer an issue. ¡°It looks like I¡¯m going to have to prove him wrong in every way.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see this,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°Either I fix this on my own, or my partner does,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I don¡¯t know if Jack can fix anything like this.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can either,¡± said Bob.


    They reached a pair of golden doors. Two guards crossed halberds to block their passage. Josie stood there, glaring at them.


    ¡°We have an order to attend His Majesty¡¯s presence,¡± said Bob. He bowed.


    ¡°Why should we let you pass?,¡± asked one of the guards.


    ¡°I have been asked to speak to the king,¡± said Josie. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me if I do, or don¡¯t. They will send Gallstone to come get me again, and then there will be someone to talk to you about being a little more professional.¡±


    ¡°Sir Galestone,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°Excuse me?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°His name is Galestone, not Gallstone,¡± said Bob. ¡°But it is a common epithet given to him, I must say.¡±


    ¡°I have heard it both ways,¡± said Josie. ¡°So you can step out of the way, or have Sir Galestone come up and do whatever knights do to lackeys.¡±


    ¡°Mostly chop them to pieces,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine too,¡± said Josie.


    The guards looked at each other, and slowly dropped their weapons to attention beside their armored bodies.


    One pushed the door open for them to walk inside the court room.


    Josie and Bob walked down the center aisle of the massive room. Hundreds of eyes watched their progress. They stopped in front of the jeweled encrusted thrones of the King and Queen. Bob sank to a knee, using his spear as a support. Josie bowed slightly.


    ¡°Are you Josie Fox?,¡± asked the king. His voice did not sound pleased to meet the person who had sent him a scathing review of his ancestry.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Josie. ¡°I assume you are the king of the elves.¡±


    ¡°You are correct,¡± said the King. ¡°I think you should address me with a little more respect.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I apologize. Where I¡¯m from, royalty is almost dead in the world. I should be more aware that it hasn¡¯t ended here.¡±


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    ¡°What do you mean Royalty is dead?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°There are a few countries where the monarchy is allowed to exist as figureheads and for ceremonial purposes, but for the most part, governments have done away with them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That is not the case where we sent Sir Galestone,¡± said the King.


    ¡°I¡¯m from a lot farther away than that little town,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m here at the behest of the Robert Reed Appreciation Society. They want your daughter returned to you and cleared of all charges. How do I make that happen?¡±


    ¡°I have never heard of these people,¡± said the King. He looked around. None of the courtiers stepped forward with information. ¡°Why would they want this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I assume they think you were wrong. They might not want elves over the border. They just might think you can¡¯t do your job any more. I don¡¯t know about any of that. All I know is they asked my partner and I to get the job done, no matter what. So that¡¯s why I¡¯m here. I didn¡¯t expect all these people to be witnesses, but it is what it is.¡±


    ¡°Why would it matter if the court was here, or not?,¡± said the King. He glanced at the courtiers.


    ¡°Because if they weren¡¯t here, we could have a quiet talk,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I could find the real thief, clear the princess, and be one step closer to going home.¡±


    ¡°Justice was done,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°If it was, I wouldn¡¯t be here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I mean everybody here knew the princess borrowed the maid¡¯s jewelry. Everybody here had access to the maid, and her clothing and jewelry. Half the court had reason to falsely accuse the princess and profit from whatever happened to her. It doesn¡¯t take a big brain to see that she was framed.¡±


    ¡°There is no way that¡¯s true,¡± said Avelina. ¡°You lie like all humans lie.¡±


    Josie sighed. She looked around. The court was openly hostile to her. The King and Queen didn¡¯t want to budge from their mistake. She looked at Bob. He gave her an eyebrow raised as if to say what cha gonna do.


    ¡°If that¡¯s how you want to play the game, that¡¯s how we¡¯re going to play the game,¡± said Josie.


    Josie had thought about her options. She had Etrigan on her watch. She could unleash him on this crowd and see what happened then. She also had another option. She twisted the dial. This could be a bad move for her if her choice ate as much energy as Jack¡¯s did on his watch.


    On the other hand, it might be the only way to get at the truth and see if she could negotiate a deal.


    If Jack could call on an angel, she could too.


    Zauriel burst out in the room in flame and light. An inhuman face regarded the court. She only had seconds to act.


    ¡°Who put the broach in Lorelei¡¯s chamber?,¡± the angel asked.


    ¡°I did,¡± exclaimed one of the guards at the edge of the crowd.


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Lord Cuttrees asked me to do it,¡± said the guard. ¡°I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°My friend, you are done now,¡± said Bob. He shook his head at the other guard.


    ¡°Why did you have the broach placed in the princess¡¯s quarters, Cuttrees?,¡± asked Josie. She could feel the watch rapidly descending to zero.


    ¡°I wanted Avelina to be uplifted to make her more worthy of marriage,¡± said Cuttrees before he could stop himself. ¡°Then I planned to marry her to gain the crown in my time.¡±


    Zauriel vanished. Josie frowned at her watch. She had committed a flashy act that might get her killed now that she didn¡¯t have any power. She grimaced. At least the princess had been exonerated in front of her parents.


    ¡°You want to marry me?,¡± said Avelina. She didn¡¯t look happy at the prospect.


    ¡°All of my plans ruined by some human with an artifact,¡± said Cuttrees. ¡°My retainers to me. It looks like the throne is going to change hands by force today.¡±


    Josie fell back as the court reassembled itself around the nobleman. He drew his sword. There was no doubt who would be the first one to kill on his list.


    She should have armed herself with a sword even if she didn¡¯t know how to defend herself with it yet.


    She could see Jack laughing at the mess she had caused just by asking for the truth and getting it.


    Josie glanced at her watch. It spun faster than she had ever seen it. She supposed there was enough random magic in the air to load it up. She just needed to hold on for a couple of minutes, then she could think of something to get out of this mess.


    Cuttress ran right for her and Bob. He swung his sword down to cut her out of the way of his charge to the throne. Bob blocked the blade with his halberd. They strained against each other.


    Josie had two guys she thought could be fighters on her watch. They should excel in the close quarters as the elves imitated Errol Flynn with the clashing of blades everywhere she looked.


    She called on Richard Dragon and her body changed as her knowledge of fighting increased. She grabbed a rebel noble by the upper body and threw him across the room.


    The elves divided as the king¡¯s forces retreated to give her giant body room to move. Cuttrees stepped back from the infantry holding him in place. He raised a hand to launch a spell at the new threat on the field.


    A dragon¡¯s paw grabbed his legs and slammed him into the floor. He tried to get a shield together to protect his body. It was too late as the reptilian fighter used him as a hammer against anyone who thought they could win. The royal guards moved in and started shackling the rebels where they had fallen trying to kill the rest of the court.


    ¡°Does this prove the innocence of my client?,¡± asked Josie, returning to normal.


    ¡°It proves we were hasty in our decision,¡± said the king. ¡°We will rescind her


    punishment based on what happened here.¡±


    ¡°What about Cuttress and his mob?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°They will be detained until I can figure out a suitable punishment for them,¡± said the King.


    ¡°I will tell Lorelei she can come home and get her personal things fixed as much as they can be fixed,¡± said Josie. ¡°It was a pleasure to meet you.¡±


    ¡°I wish I could say the same,¡± said the King. He inclined his head in dismissal.


    Josie pulled on Bob so he would lead the way. She had to get close enough to cross back to the town and tell her charge what had happened. Hopefully she hadn¡¯t hung herself with bedding while her champion had gone about the business of trying to get her reinstated as a royal.

 Werewolf Jack

    Jack flew south as Makkari. When he reached the wagon train, he let the persona go. He needed to have his talk, then he needed to head home and get some food and sleep. The next time he left town, he was packing a bag.


    A man couldn¡¯t live on magic elixir alone.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± he said as he jogged up beside the lead wagon. The horses weren¡¯t running, which was good. The driver pulled the horses to a stop, and set the brake.


    ¡°Are you done with your business?,¡± asked the spokeswoman. She waved the other wagon to stop also.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m headed back to the city. You guys should be okay except for the usual bandits and things. The Dark Rider is gone for good now.¡±


    ¡°What do you plan to do now?,¡± asked the spokeswoman.


    ¡°I have to talk to Master Guin about his rival, and then I¡¯m going to take a minute to rest,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I¡¯m going to help my partner if she needs it. She set herself a vow to kill all these slavers. I have to help her with that on top of the last quest she has. A man¡¯s work is never done.¡±


    The spokeswoman rolled her eyes. Several glares from others in earshot winged Jack¡¯s way.


    ¡°Do you think Master Guin will trade fairly with us?,¡± said the spokeswoman.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°He seems okay for a criminal mastermind and king of the


    underworld. I wouldn¡¯t want to cross him unless I had to do it.¡±


    ¡°We will stop in at the Silver Coin to talk to him,¡± said the spokesperson. ¡°We¡¯ll need places to live, jobs, and ways to find our families for those of us who have them.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to talk to Josie about that?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°She might know how to get you home faster.¡±


    ¡°Let us talk to Master Guin first,¡± said the lady. ¡°I hope that he is as reasonable as you claim.¡±


    ¡°We have a deal,¡± said Jack. ¡°As long as he keeps his end, Josie doesn¡¯t show up at his gambling halls and burn up his customers. Anything else is negotiable to the extent that Josie wants to negotiate. Besides I think deep down, he is a good guy, and if it is an act, he knows what will happen if Josie decides to go on a rampage.¡±


    ¡°Your wife is that formidable?,¡± asked the lady. She smiled.


    ¡°Not my wife,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯s my best friend, and she tries to keep me on the straight and narrow when she can. But she has anger issues, and takes after her mother.¡±


    ¡°I have seen that before,¡± said the lady.


    ¡°I¡¯ll vouch for you at the Coin, and I will let Josie know you¡¯re in the area so she can keep an eye out,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you need any more help than that, we¡¯re living by the wall and checking in with local Adventurer¡¯s Hall.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said the lady. ¡°Farewell, Jack.¡±


    Jack gave her a wave and headed into the woods. He checked his watch. Some of the power had tipped up during their talk. He might have enough to get home as Makkari and see his bed that night.


    He called up the speedster and started south through the woods. He tried to hew to a straight line as much as possible, jumping over obstacles in his way as he ran. He ran out of time after passing something with a lot of fur and no visible face. He kept an eye out as he jogged on, waiting for his watch to fill up again.


    He wondered how much farther he had to run as he heard a roar behind him. He should have expected the thing would try to chase him since he was in the area and smelled like chicken. His speed had carried him out of sight but the thing might be able to track him for a while.


    Would it track him all the way to the city?


    Look, Josie. I brought home a bear dog. Can we keep him?


    No.


    The watch dinged to let him know he was capable of fleeing. He thought about turning on the monster and doing something but decided not. He was the one crossing boundaries. The locals probably knew about the monster. Why get involved and possibly hurt when he still had to get home to his bed?


    It wasn¡¯t his job to kill every monster he came across, just the ones Josie picked up as her enemies.


    He pulled on Makkari and flew across the ground again. He kept an eye out for the road, or road signs. The last thing he needed to do was get lost on his way home.


    Josie and her ducklings would never let him hear the end of that.


    He decided that he needed to get an aerial perspective. Makkari was fast as lightning. He might be close to the city and not know it.


    He changed to the Falcon and took wing. He pushed himself up to gliding height. He would have smiled when he saw the walls of Hawk Ridge ahead. He had been a little east of it. That was nothing a little gliding couldn¡¯t fix.


    He soared down over the top of the walls and landed on a rooftop of an apartment house. He changed back to normal and looked around for landmarks. He had to get to the Silver Coin, or Guin¡¯s house to talk to him, or Linus. Once he had asked them to help the wagon train, he could head home and get some sleep.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    He might have to order the kids to take off while he napped. He was good with that.


    Once that quest was done, he could check on Josie and see what she had done. Then they could decide how they wanted to run the rest of the quests until they were off the table.


    Identifying and getting rid of the rest of the Montrose could take forever. Josie


    couldn¡¯t give up the quest either as far as they knew. They had the kids and Elaine to look after during that time.


    When the girls got old enough, they would have to be set up to go out on their own. He wondered if he was ready for anything like that.


    He decided he would make a terrible dad since he didn¡¯t just want to tell his baby birds to fly out because they were old enough.


    They better bring home acceptable boyfriends or heads were going to roll.


    Jack saw the market and thought he could navigate to the Coin from there. He dropped down to the ground and started walking. He needed to let the watch recharge while he worked out what he wanted to say.


    The two pieces of good news would make Guin ecstatic. Combined with the fact that  he might have to help some refugees would be great for a good news, bad news type of thing.


    And Jack liked to troll more than most.


    He walked down until he found the street where the bank was, then crossed six more blocks and took a right. The front of the Coin came into view. He hadn¡¯t walked so much since the Army. Maybe he should learn how to ride a horse, or drive a cart. He wondered how much a horse cost to keep.


    He imagined that he could just have Josie create a gold brick any time they needed money to pay their bills.


    He waved at the bouncers taking up their positions at the door. They didn¡¯t wave back.


    ¡°The boss in?,¡± he asked. He didn¡¯t recognize them. He hoped he didn¡¯t have to cause a scene on the street.


    ¡°Who are you to ask?,¡± asked the one on the left.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jack,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s good if he¡¯s not here. I¡¯ll swing by his house and see if he or Linus are in.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Jack?,¡± said the one of the left. ¡°Werewolf Jack?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it like that, but yeah,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Master Guin said for you to go in and up to his office,¡± said the man. He opened the door with one hand.


    ¡°Thanks, Bud,¡± said Jack. ¡°Has my partner been around?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said the man.


    Jack thought the other man whispered thank the gods but he wasn¡¯t sure and he didn¡¯t want to press on it. Stories of what they could do must have gone around.


    That was okay as long as no one tried to stab them in the back.


    Jack walked inside and headed for the office. The place looked strange without people playing. He waved at the manager. The man didn¡¯t wave back.


    He found two men at the door and one nodded. He thought the one man was Kray. Kray opened the door for him. He nodded and went in.


    Guin sat behind his desk, reports and ledgers in hand. He scanned the lines as Jack went to the windows and looked at the gaming floor being readied for the night.


    ¡°What news, Jack?,¡± said Master Guin. He put his records down after marking


    his place.


    ¡°Two wagons full of women are headed this way,¡± said Jack. ¡°I asked for them to talk to you about what they could get here in the city, or anywhere else they might want to go. I think if they want, they can be put up in Corle¡¯s abandoned mansion until they figure out what they want to do.¡±


    ¡°What about Corle?,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°He was taking them up to wake up the Dark Rider to destroy Hawk Ridge,¡¯ said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if he lived after what I did to him, but he won¡¯t be able to do that.¡±


    ¡°His assets?,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I guess you can take whatever is not nailed down, but I would like that house until these women don¡¯t need it anymore,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Josie about hooking them up with her swords teacher so they can learn how to defend themselves better.¡±


    ¡°What do you get out of this?,¡± asked Guin.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s not true, but what I get out of it is not anything


    physical. So I made a deal with these women, just like I did with you. If there is a problem, I or Josie will handle it. If all the women move on, you can have the house with the rest of whatever you seized.¡±


    ¡°Is Corle really dead?,¡± asked Guin. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but I tried to yeet him into orbit,¡± said Jack. ¡°He was wearing a ring that projected force. If he knew how to really use it, he could stop himself from splattering into the ground.¡±


    ¡°Yeet?,¡± asked Guin. ¡°Orbit?¡±


    ¡°I threw him as far into the sky as I could,¡± said Jack. ¡°So if he lived, he flew


    or used his ring to block the impact of hitting the ground.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Guin. ¡°I take it you didn¡¯t get the ring.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t chase him to make sure he hit the ground,¡± said Jack. ¡°I thought it was better not to let the Dark Rider try to blow up the city. That would have been a mess.¡±


    Guin pushed back from the desk. He put his hands together as he thought. He scratched his eyebrow after considering his options.


    ¡°Can you find the ring?,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Jack. ¡°I didn¡¯t have an interest in looking for it at the time. Do you want it?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Guin. ¡°I have no interest in setting myself up as a target with such a thing. If you could find it, and destroy it, that would be fine for me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look for it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe I can find a use for it other than killing people that I hate.¡±


    Jack heard the quest ding and shook his head. Apparently making an agreement was enough to set up a quest.


    ¡°I have to go and check in with Josie and the girls,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you need anything else?¡±


    ¡°Linus said your partner was interested in the building you liberated,¡± said Guin. ¡°It belongs to the Money Exchange.¡±


    ¡°The Money Exchange?,¡± said Jack. ¡°You know if they know any magic?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± said Guin. ¡°But one of my accountants checked the people that were here the night we dealt with the Pears to people that are affiliated with the Exchange. Most of them run money through it in some way or the other.¡±


    ¡°So do we,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you do too.¡±


    Guin nodded.


    ¡°So these people are using the Exchange to move their money and their captives in my opinion,¡± said Guin. ¡°I have a couple of people trying to identify their holdings.¡±


    ¡°If you had the ledgers we took, do you think you could do something with them?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that I could,¡± said Guin. ¡°What will you do?¡±


    ¡°I have been up North a bit, so I am going home and getting a nap,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I am going to work on the list of stuff I have to get done. Josie should be able to help me with the ring. I¡¯ll get the ledgers for you. I¡¯ll talk to her about not mass murdering these people before you can set something in place to avoid problems, because we both know there is going to be problems and when we leave, you¡¯re going to be stuck with the majority of whatever mess is made to clean up.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the end use of these slaves?,¡± asked Guin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know other than free sex and work,¡± said Jack. ¡°Corle was going to kill all of his. If you find out, let me know. But this organization isn¡¯t going to stay around for much longer. Josie is going to get impatient and do something rash. If I were you, I would plan to move in and grab whatever you think you can before the fire is lit.¡±


    ¡°I think that is the best advice you have given me so far,¡± said Guin.

 Nobility

    Josie held Lorelei¡¯s hand as they crossed back into the elven kingdom. Bob walked on the other side, glittering in his armor. Two lines of pike men stood on the sides of the road up to the castle.


    ¡°This is impressive,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The Court doesn¡¯t want to lose a princess they just got back, mum,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± said Josie.


    Lorelei still wore her old man clothes, but she looked like a young girl with pointed ears and long sliver hair. Her eyes had varied streaks of color that changed when she moved her head to look at something.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you convinced my father to change his mind,¡± said Lorelei.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I did,¡± said Josie. ¡°Forcing Cuttrees to admit he was trying to scam his way to the top was enough to vacate the charges, but you still might not get your titles back, or be back in line of succession. I could only do so much without taking a hammer to your dad¡¯s hard head.¡±


    ¡°At least you didn¡¯t turn his ears into bags for holding marbles,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°Bob helped clear you,¡± said Josie. ¡°If he hadn¡¯t stalled Cuttrees, things could have gone differently.¡±


    ¡°I always hated him,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°You did well,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go in and see what the king says. I hope he gives you back your stuff, but if he doesn¡¯t, we have to think about the second best option.¡±


    ¡°The second best would be the titles of the courtiers that were arrested,¡± said Bob. ¡°That would be several duchies of their own.¡±


    ¡°Cuttrees¡¯s land is the Dire Wood, isn¡¯t it?,¡± said the princess. ¡°Anything around that would have roving packs of monsters eating anyone who dared to travel by themselves.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get through this meeting,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe some of the other lands are more pleasant.¡±


    They walked through the castle, courtiers and guards everywhere. Most bowed to Lorelei as she passed. One of them, a maid in black and gold, said something that no one heard. The princess nodded at her.


    ¡°That was Kalia,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°The stolen broach belonged to her.¡±


    ¡°She looks down,¡± said Josie. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not everyday you get used to frame a beloved public figure and told to keep quiet or else.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t blame her for what happened,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°She didn¡¯t instigate the search through the castle. My sister did.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the king wants you to do anything about that either,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I know,¡± said the princess.


    The guards pushed open the doors to the throne room without being told this time. Bob nodded at them as he passed. He had glimpsed at what his human companion could do with her artifact. Two guards would not stop her if she wanted to go somewhere.


    The King and Queen sat on their thrones. The siblings stood around them. No one else was in the room. Josie and Bob hung back to let the family reunite. They had done what they could, but in the end it was up to the King to make amends for what had been done.


    Lorelei knelt before the throne.


    ¡°Daughter,¡± said the king. ¡°I cannot reinvest you with the titles that has been taken from you. I cannot add you back to the line of succession in your former place. I cannot do anything but lift up your exile and allow you to take up your former quarters in the castle.¡±


    ¡°So you aren¡¯t going to pay her back for the disastrous lack of judgement you


    displayed?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this.¡±


    ¡°There are rules, human,¡± said the King. ¡°Are you not expected to abide by your Society?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think they have only one rule and they use extortion to make sure it gets done. Your Highness, I feel that my client is due something out of this miscarriage of justice. The Society only wants her to be reunited with you, and yours. I want her to come out of this better than what she was before she went in. I feel like she should be invested in all the titles of the court people that I beat down. I think that¡¯s fair.¡±


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°She could hold those lands, but she would not be royalty,¡± said the King.


    ¡°She would be a duchess?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I think that, or a baroness,¡± said the Queen. ¡°She would have to come up with her coat of arms, and secure her new lands.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if we confer for moment, Your Highnesses?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Be our guests,¡± said the King. He waved his hand for them to go ahead.


    ¡°I nailed about five to ten guys,¡± Josie whispered as she and the two elves huddled. ¡°There¡¯s no way all that land is contiguous. I think they¡¯ll go for it, thinking you can¡¯t run all the lands yourself. Do we back down, or ask for connecting lands?¡±


    ¡°I think if we don¡¯t take what¡¯s offered, we¡¯ll be worse off than we are now,¡±


    said Lorelei.


    ¡°So we need a list of these titles and where they are,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I will be roaming around, but I¡¯ll set up a thing where you can call me if you need help.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the former princess. ¡°Let¡¯s gird up our loins and do what must be done.¡±


    ¡°Father,¡± said Lorelei, approaching and kneeling at the thrones. ¡°Your Majesty, king of elves and ruler of all you survey. I will take up the responsibilities that you hand me. I will do my best to bolster the realm.¡±


    ¡°Daughter,¡± said the King. ¡°Stand. We have acted hastily, and wish you to know we regret the actions performed. These are your new lands. Guard them well.¡±


    Ribbons of light wrapped around the new nobility. She stood taller, her clothes


    becoming something that glittered in the light. A ring with an emerald the size of a thumbnail wrapped around her finger. The spell cleared and Josie smiled at the ding her system gave her.


    ¡°Makes your eyes teary,¡± said Bob in a whisper.


    Josie smiled at his face.


    ¡°You are so softhearted,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe the new duchess could use a new captain of the guard.¡±


    ¡°That would never happen,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°Josie Fox,¡± said the King. ¡°Approach the throne.¡±


    Josie took a spot next to Lorelei, hand on her watch. She forced her face to be neutral so she didn¡¯t show what she thought.


    ¡°You have gone above and beyond your duty to your Society,¡± said the King. He held up a hand to forestall any protests. ¡°We both know this to be true. You have saved my daughter from exile, my other daughter from a proposed courting, and my kingdom from a rebellion. You are entitled to a reward.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, Mrs. Your Highness, Highness Kids,¡± said Josie. ¡°The only thing I need is an archery teacher, and my friend, Bob should be allowed to serve the new duchess until they can¡¯t stand each other any more. I think that he deserves some accolade for saving the day, and Lorelei is going to need a protector now that I have to turn my attention to the rest of what I have to do. If you need me, call on me until I go home again.¡±


    ¡°Your Society will permit this?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°They only seem to care about what they want being done, ma¡¯am,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I have a chance to help someone above and beyond, they don¡¯t seem to care. I¡¯m sure they will talk to my partner and I about stacking these quests like we have been doing, but that¡¯s a matter for the future.¡±


    ¡°I will see about this request for an archery teacher,¡± said the King. ¡°Robert, come forward.¡±


    The infantryman came forward and knelt. He braced his polearm against his shoulder so it wouldn¡¯t fall on the sitting couple.


    ¡°Would you agree to being knighted and accompanying our daughter to her new duties, Robert?,¡± asked the King.


    ¡°I gave my oath to defend the realm,¡± said Bob. ¡°I would gladly go with the Duchess in the furtherance of that oath.¡±


    ¡°Rise, Robert, Knight of the Dire Woods,¡± said the King. Light bound him to his knight for a moment. ¡°You have performed your duty, and this is more duties for you to undertake.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty,¡± said Sir Robert. ¡°This is more than I would have thought possible.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Father,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°Thank you, Mother. I love you both.¡±


    Josie stepped back. The family wasn¡¯t quite whole, but it was almost patched. The siblings would be the ones to watch in the coming years.


    And if she hung around long enough, she could show them why she was the elf ear ripper of justice.


    She didn¡¯t have a problem with that at all.


    She hoped the princess would do well with her new start. And this might have been what the Society wanted when they ordered her and Jack to deal with this. They couldn¡¯t possibly have seen Cuttrees being an improvement over what was on the ground and working.


    She never thought of herself as an agent for the greater good before. She wondered why they even thought she would play ball, but knew she was as predictable as a season.


    No one could rip the ears off elves as well as she could.


    Josie went to stand by the door. She needed to build a messenger for the princess so she could assist Lorelei and Bob if they got into trouble with their new holdings.


    The King and Queen hugged their daughter. Diamond tears dripped from their eyes. Bob hung back, holding on to his pike. He didn¡¯t look comfortable in a crowd of emotions.


    Josie smiled. She had done what she could. She hoped she had made a better future for them.


    ¡°Sir Robert,¡± said the King. ¡°I charge you with the protection of my daughter. Do not disappoint me.¡±


    ¡°Sir, I will do everything in my power to keep her safe,¡± said Bob. ¡°If I can¡¯t, it will be because I am already dead.¡±


    ¡°You had better be,¡± said the King.


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± said Bob. He saluted.


    ¡°I think I have to figure out what my lands need,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°I will send


    you letters to show my progress.¡±


    ¡°We will visit,¡± said the Queen. ¡°Do as much as you can before we do.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mother,¡± said Lorelei. ¡°Come, my knight. We have to visit our domains and see what needs be done.¡±


    Josie opened the doors and stepped outside the throne room. She needed to set up Lorelei with a letter to call her for help. She doubted a takeover of the


    rebel lands would be as smooth as everyone thought.


    Once she was done with that, she had to check on the ducklings and Jack.

 A New Day

    Jack felt a shake on his shoulder. He groaned and turned over. He pulled the blankets over his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to wake up, Jack,¡± said a female voice. ¡°We¡¯re going to be having breakfast in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good, Mom,¡± said Jack. He burrowed deeper into his bedding. He had solved most of his problems. He wanted to take a day to just stay in and do nothing.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?,¡± said another voice from the door.


    Jack tried to ignore that voice too. This was his lazy day.


    ¡°He refuses to get up,¡± said the first voice.


    ¡°Let me show you something,¡± said the second voice.


    Jack felt the bed move and then he was falling to the floor. He grunted on impact, glad that his arm had protected his head. The bedding had wrapped around him like a cocoon.


    ¡°Go away, or heads will roll,¡± said Jack. He pulled his blankets tighter around him.


    ¡°Time to rise and shine,¡± said the second voice. He recognized it as Josie¡¯s. She sounded way too cheerful. ¡°Things to do, places to go, people to see.¡±


    She started clapping her hands.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t leave me alone,¡± said Jack. ¡°You will regret it. Go away.¡±


    ¡°Jack, you will miss breakfast and make the kids sad,¡± said Josie. She nudged him with a foot. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    He sat up and stretched. He glared at the two women standing over him. He squinted.


    ¡°Why are you bothering me?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Elaine wanted to see you naked,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I did not,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I was simply trying to wake you so we can go about our day.¡±


    ¡°I am good,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going back to sleep. Then I have to go back north. Don¡¯t bother me until then.¡±


    ¡°But the girls want you to meet their teacher,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know this is some horrible ploy. I will get up and meet the girls¡¯ teacher. Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°Put some clothes on,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Elaine. We can¡¯t let Jack sexually harass you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand that, but all right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°He has seen me naked already.¡±


    ¡°Was there tequila involved?,¡± asked Josie as they left the room.


    Jack got up. He walked to the door and closed it. He put a lock on it and closed that tight. He remade his bedding on the floor and wrapped himself back up. He closed his eyes and savored the feeling.


    It felt good to sleep in his own space. A knocking on the door disrupted that feeling.


    ¡°Go away,¡± He called from within his blankets.


    ¡°I have a coffee for you,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Would you mind opening the door?¡±


    Jack wrapped himself up in his blankets as he stood. He went to the door and threw the lock back. He opened the door and squinted at Elaine as glarefully as he could. He looked down at the cup of steaming brew. He sniffed the air.


    He looked at her face. She smiled. The smile looked fake to him.


    ¡°Do you want your coffee?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Josie put you up to this, didn¡¯t she?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can a man not sleep after days in the wilderness saving the world? Is that too much to ask?¡±


    ¡°I think Lady Josie would rather you awake and greet the day,¡± said Elaine. She offered him the cup.


    ¡°She¡¯s not the boss of me,¡± said Jack. He took the cup. ¡°All right. Tell her I will come down to talk to her before she leaves.¡±


    ¡°She said to wait until you actually came down,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He frowned at the untrustfulness from his friend. ¡°Come in.¡±


    He walked to his bed and sat down. He sipped at his cup. He looked down at the floor.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Elaine stepped inside the room. She closed the door. She wasn¡¯t afraid of anything Jack might do. Out of all the men she had met, he seemed reluctant to take advantage of her.


    ¡°How are you feeling?,¡± asked Elaine. ¡°You have all the marks of indulging in too much ale.¡±


    ¡°Indulged in too many elixirs,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can sit if you want.¡±


    Elaine found a chair shoved in a corner. She sat down and laced her fingers together.


    He scratched his head as he thought about what he needed to do. His quest list was sparse. He wondered what Josie¡¯s looked like. Probably had a million things to do.


    They sat in silence. Jack had nothing to say, and Elaine could wait.


    ¡°I think I am ready to go,¡± said Jack. ¡°Would you please get me another cup of


    coffee?¡±


    ¡°Certainly, Milord,¡± said Elaine with a smile. She stood. ¡°It will be my pleasure.¡±


    Jack put his head in his hands. He felt horrible. He decided that he should get up. Josie would probably set the bed on fire if he tried to go back to sleep.


    He quickly got dressed. He dragged his bed clothes back on the bed. He would make the bed when he got done with whatever he planned to do during the day. He sat back down as Elaine knocked on the door. He opened the door and gestured for her to come in.


    ¡°Your coffee,¡± she said. She held out the cup for him.


    He took the cup and sipped at it. He could have done without the rude awakening, but he was back to operating level.


    He noted that the princess quest was gone. He nodded. Now all they had were the minor things they had decided to do while trying to blend in with the city dwellers around them.


    Once those were done, they could go home and leave this life of heroism behind once and for all.


    He decided he was going to take the day off and just look around. He had done enough work in the last few days. He could take a few hours for himself.


    And he had to run the ledgers over to Mister Guin to see what he thought of things.


    ¡°How do you feel?,¡± Elaine asked.


    ¡°Pretty terrible,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see if there is any food left. I¡¯m taking a day off. I drank too many elixirs while I was chasing Dark Rider.¡±


    ¡°Potions can be bad for you,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Milord. I¡¯ll help you down the stairs.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m older than I look.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s obvious,¡± said Elaine.


    She took his arm. He stood and limped along with her as they went down the stairs. He grunted at the girls moving around about their chores. Josie raised her eyebrows at the two of them limping toward the kitchen.


    ¡°Morning, sunshine,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Hate you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hate you with the power of a million suns.¡±


    ¡°Is that more than nine thousand?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°More than ninety thousand,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Have a seat, Milord,¡± said Elaine. She pulled a chair for him. He sat down and put his head on his arms, on the table.


    ¡°Hungover?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I see you saved the princess,¡± said Jack. He didn¡¯t look up from his resting spot.


    ¡°It was a breeze,¡± said Josie. ¡°I see you stopped the Dark Rider. What was the story around that?¡±


    ¡°He was a doofus and cursed himself and wrecked what he was fighting for with his one big play,¡± said Jack. ¡°Magicians were real here at one point. So we might see a real one sooner or later if we stay.¡±


    ¡°The princess was framed and exiled and lost everything,¡± said Josie. ¡°I got her a duchy on the backs of a rebellion led by a villain. I think I have an archer lined up to teach the girls, and they are elves.¡±


    ¡°Get out of here,¡± said Jack. He opened one of his eyes. ¡°Is there a Santa Claus?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about Christmas elves,¡± said Josie. She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m talking about Legolas elves.¡±


    ¡°Let me know if they look as good as Liv Tyler,¡± said Jack. ¡°Otherwise, I don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°They look better than that,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going down to the Adventurers¡¯ Hall. Do you want to go with us?¡±


    ¡°I have to go back up north,¡± said Jack. ¡°I agreed to find this magic ring as part of our deal with Guin. I need to give him copies of the ledgers so he can track down all the people in them from the Montrose. It looks like the Exchange is involved somehow, but we¡¯re not sure.¡±


    ¡°The bank where we exchanged our gold?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You remember the women in the cages in that building,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The one where we had Linus look into who owned it?,¡± said Josie. ¡°What about it?¡±


    ¡°Guess who owns it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You have to be kidding me,¡± said Josie. ¡°The bank owns that building? That makes me want to burn the place down.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to take a softer approach if we want to clear the bank out,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to need some kind of replacement for it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to replace it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We have to look after the rest of the country whether we want to or not,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society is not going to be happy that we¡¯re ripping everything up and not fixing anything. They were already not happy that we decided to mark all the Montrose members with a curse since it wasn¡¯t the primary mission.¡±


    ¡°But the primary missions are done,¡± said Josie. ¡°Will they let us stay here until the rest of the quests are done?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not as long as we¡¯re working on them,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I don¡¯t drag people to another universe and expect them to fix things for me either.¡±


    ¡°This does have a Guardians of the Universe feel, doesn¡¯t it?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who were they?¡±


    ¡°The guys who ran the Green Lantern Corps for so long, and then writers started making them stupid jerks unable to learn from their mistakes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Those guys.¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Jack. ¡°Either way, we have to keep going until they yank us out of here. We have to plan like we¡¯re going to be here forever, but might die. So we need wills, retirement funds, some insurance, and something to hand down to Elaine and the girls.¡±


    ¡°The Exchange seems to be the only bank around,¡± said Josie. ¡°You think they hold the royal treasury too?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might be something to look for when we do start looking at them. Is slavery even legal here? Are we the criminals?¡±


    ¡°Slavery is only legal for work farms,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Criminals are sometimes posted there as part of the food processing for the kingdom. Eventually they are released back in the world when their service is done.¡±


    ¡°So the Montrose are definitely over the line and valid targets of vigilantism,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m Batman.¡±


    ¡°I think you need to come with us and recover from your night of carousing,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can be Batman tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Iron Man was always the better rich guy helping people with his money any way.¡±


    ¡°You take that back, or you will regret it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Never,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have picked my hill to die on. Dressing up as a flying rat shows a man who¡¯s mentally disturbed while a suit of heavy armor is the way to go. What do you think, Elaine?¡±


    ¡°I think you both are insane,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Shall we start the day?¡±


    ¡°I need some toast first,¡± said Jack.

 The Hall

    Josie smiled as she gathered her ducklings, assistant, and partner up after breakfast.


    She considered whisking them to practice but Jack looked like he needed to walk off


    his problems. He did seem to cheer up after the small amount of food and juice he had


    sampled before they left the hole in the wall.


    They had a small worry that they would be yanked out of place now that their major


    quests were done. Josie didn¡¯t think that would happen. The Montrose quest was too


    big a replacement mission. The smaller ones she had left like finding an archery


    teacher might be something the Society would let slide, or find someone else to


    handle while they sent Josie and Jack home, but open warfare on a continent spanning


    organization would be big enough to keep them in Hawk Ridge she felt.


    She could be wrong. She didn¡¯t know enough about how they felt about things.


    Human trafficking might be something they put up with until they sent someone to


    rip it up by the roots.


    The talk she had with Jack indicated they wanted their own quests done before


    anything else, but understood that sometimes you needed your own brand of justice.


    Maybe she was giving them too much of the benefit of doubt.


    She decided that she would stay on as long as she could. The ducklings needed her


    for a bit more in her opinion. She doubted Elaine wanted to be stuck with


    fosterchildren just because they were sent home.


    They stopped by the Silver Coin to check on the wagon train coming into town. No


    one had seen them at the casino yet. Jack nodded at the report before they started to


    the Adventurers¡¯ Hall for the girls¡¯ fighting lesson.


    Jack didn¡¯t show signs of checking on the rescued women, but Josie gave him an hour


    before he broke from the group and went looking for them. He would make sure they


    had changed course on their own before he gave up on them.


    She wondered how many elixirs he had drank while chasing the Dark Rider. A bigger


    consideration was how long it would take for him to get back up to snuff.


    She supposed she could use Zatanna to fix things if she needed. Magic could do a lot


    to help them, but she realized that it only worked for specific ends. Cursing the


    Montrose had been the biggest thing they had done, and she thought it had worked


    because the Angel represented unimaginable power.


    Too bad they couldn¡¯t kill them all the same way.


    ¡°Do you think Guin can do anything about the bank?,¡± Josie asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how,¡± said Jack. ¡°He would have to take everything over and put his own


    people in charge. I don¡¯t know if he is that ambitious.¡±


    ¡°I would like to raid these people,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea,¡± said Jack. He shrugged. ¡°We need access to their


    pipeline so we can pull everything up piece by piece.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where do we get started?¡±


    ¡°We should see if they have real magic on their building,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we need


    to start looking for their members. I feel that once we start wrecking their executive


    board, we can spread out.¡±


    ¡°It still looks like a big job,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°If they stop doing business with the Montrose, there is a chance the writing will


    fade,¡± said Jack. ¡°The curse only works on people who do business with them. If


    people stop doing business, they might be able to get clear eventually.¡±


    ¡°I hope not,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want them to be permanently marked until I can get to


    them.¡±


    ¡°Curses always have outs,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m more worried if they track us down and


    decide to try to take action against us, or the kids.¡±


    Josie frowned. She knew that the girls could be in danger. It made the decision to


    teach them swordsmanship better than she had thought.


    They reached the Adventurers¡¯ Hall. Josie ushered her entourage inside. Maybe she


    had done too much already. How many of these mercenaries wanted to match up


    against her and her dial? How many would she have to put in the ground to keep her


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itducklings safe?


    When did she become such a mother?


    The girls led the way to the practice hall. Their teacher smiled as they grabbed


    wooden practice weapons to get started. The master noticed the new addition but


    merely directed the girls to extend their arms and try to knock the practice dummies


    down.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m Jack.¡±


    ¡°Pleasure to meet you,¡± said the one-armed man. ¡°I¡¯m Sir Darry Harp. Your wife was


    formidable enough to persuade the powers that be to pull me out of retirement to


    teach your children.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no,¡± said Jack with a smile. ¡°Josie isn¡¯t my wife, and these aren¡¯t my kids.


    Thank goodness. They are a heap of trouble.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?,¡± said Josie. She turned one eye on them while watching the girls


    practice with the other one.


    ¡°We were talking about how we¡¯ve been friends for ages,¡± said Jack. He waved a


    hand at her. ¡°Go back to watching the kids.¡±


    ¡°I apologize,¡± said Harp. He smiled at the other man. ¡°I suppose I assumed you were


    together because of your clothes being so strange.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are the girls learning anything?¡±


    ¡°Some faster than others,¡± said Harp. ¡°I notice you don¡¯t carry a sword.¡±


    ¡°I have some training with something like a crossbow, but I noticed that you don¡¯t


    allow that sort of thing inside the city,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The city guard is afraid that anyone with a grudge and a bow could shoot a target


    and get away before they could arrive at the scene,¡± said Harp. ¡°Blades are close in


    and there is a chance an attacker could be hurt during any duel that might occur.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Still, someone really good could escape a duel without


    an injury easily.¡±


    ¡°The local guard is mostly used to breaking up fights and patrolling for crimes in the


    street,¡± said Harp. ¡°If someone broke into your home and committed a crime, they are


    mostly useless in finding out what happened.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it, Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°We already have the rest of our quests to do. Don¡¯t


    add on to the list.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± said Josie. She frowned at him. ¡°I am


    perfectly capable of letting sleeping dogs lie. I am not going to decide to root out


    corruption in the local police.¡±


    ¡°You were thinking it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could see it in your eyes.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°We could spend x amount of years rooting out every criminal in


    the city and getting rid of them, and trying to be better than the Guard, but just getting


    rid of the Montrose will be a big enough job for us.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s reassuring,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°On the other hand, any Guard attached to Montrose will have to go,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s the nature of the vow.¡±


    ¡°You will make a lot of enemies with this,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we need the girls able to defend themselves,¡± said Josie. ¡°We won¡¯t be


    here when we get done with our quests.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Harp. ¡°I expect to see some real progress in the next few days.


    Then we can try sparring.¡±


    ¡°Sparring is okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who do you think is the best right now?¡±


    ¡°The middle girl,¡± said Harp. ¡°She is already better than most adventurers in technical


    issues. I just don¡¯t trust her judgement on defending herself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something she will have to work on, I guess,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Who will they be sparring?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They will work against each other at first,¡± said Harp. ¡°Then I will see if I can get


    some adventurers to work with them until they come up to snuff.¡±


    ¡°Sounds doable,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t have a fixed timetable for you. Jack


    and I might have to leave suddenly. We will leave a fund for the girls to continue


    their training.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how things go,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°We should try to get you a prosthetic arm,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do they have that here?¡±


    ¡°A prosthetic arm?,¡± said Harp. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever heard of that.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s talking about an apparatus to give you a hook for your missing arm and hand,¡±


    said Josie. She glared at Jack. ¡°You could be a little more sensitive.¡±


    ¡°I have seen those,¡± said Harp. ¡°They looked ungainly and clumsy.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say I knew a guy who knew a guy,¡± said Jack. ¡°And let¡¯s say he could make


    you an arm that would operate like a real arm. Would you want it?¡±


    Josie rolled her eyes.


    ¡°What would I have to do for such an arm?,¡± asked Harp. He frowned at the strange


    man in front of him.


    ¡°Uphold the greater good to the best of your ability,¡± said Jack. ¡°Simple hero stuff.¡±


    ¡°Being a hero is a lot different than being an adventurer,¡± said Harp. ¡°There are a


    lot of other considerations involved.¡±


    ¡°Think about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be glad to talk to my guy if you want a


    replacement arm.¡±


    ¡°Jack, why don¡¯t you practice with the girls?,¡± said Josie. ¡°They need a live dummy


    to practice on to get better.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m no good with a blade,¡± said Jack. ¡°We talked about this.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯re little girls. They can¡¯t really hurt you.¡±


    ¡°Four sisters,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know you¡¯re lying.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a coward,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine likes you. She might want to see your


    manlier side.¡±


    ¡°I never said that,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t see how this will improve the girls¡¯ morale.¡±


    ¡°If they can beat Jack, then they can work up to better targets,¡± said Josie. ¡°If they


    can¡¯t, they can work on their methods until they do.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see what I can do.¡±


    He went to the storage chest and picked out a light facsimile of a sword. He swung


    it to test the weight and speed of the thing. He probably couldn¡¯t break a bone with


    it, but he could sting on impact.


    ¡°All right, girls,¡± said Harp. ¡°Form up at the edge of the practice area. We¡¯re


    going to try a melee against Jack.¡±


    Jack walked down to the other end of the cleared space. He glanced at Josie and


    shook his head. She smiled and waved her fingers at him. He closed his eyes and


    took a deep breath.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to try a three minute round,¡± said Harp. He walked around the edge


    of the cleared rectangle. ¡°The object is to push Jack out of the box. Jack, you have


    to defend yourself for the full three minutes. Everyone ready?¡±


    Both sides nodded.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin,¡± said Harp.

 Melee

    ¡°All right, kids,¡± said Jack. He tried to put on a grin. ¡°This is just practice. We can


    take it easy.¡±


    ¡°Ice cream for anyone who can knock Jack out,¡± called Josie from the sidelines.


    ¡°Four scoops of chocolate.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. He glared at her.


    Melanie charged, swinging her sword wildly. He blocked, turned the strike, and


    booted her in passing so she ran out of the sparring box.


    ¡°What was that, Mel?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you can be bribed with ice cream.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°We form a line and try to push him out the back end.¡±


    The next few minutes had Jack blocking swings and dodging where he could. He


    backed up under their onslaught. Their combined skill might not be that great but


    there were a lot more of them swinging at him at close range.


    He knocked the sword out of Melanie¡¯s hands when she tried to reengage with him.


    He kicked it across the training hall so she had to run to get it and come back to fight.


    Beatrice and Alicia pressed on him, leading the charge. The younger girl struck


    rapidly at his legs while the older Duckling swung at his head. Matilda danced around


    at the edge of his vision, looking for an opening to attack.


    Laura and Angelica were trying to force their way in from the left. He took a couple


    of hits to the legs and danced around to shake it off.


    Josie gave a cheer for her girls as they kept working on him. Jack glared at her before


    deciding he should be a little more serious. The Army had taught him some things


    when it came to close quarters fighting.


    He caught Beatrice¡¯s arm in the crook of his and spun her around. He grabbed her


    waist and hoisted her off the floor. He used her as a shield, and charged the other


    girls. They split apart as the oldest girl tried to reverse her grip on her wooden


    training weapon to whack him. He slapped her hand and the sword flew out of it. He


    kicked it away as he turned to face his enemies.


    The rest of the Ducklings paused as he held his hostage in front of him. Beatrice tried


    to kick free. He needed to do something else to buy time. He pushed his hostage on


    Laura so they both fell down. He moved to strike them both while they were down,


    but Alicia got in the way as a guard.


    Jack and the middle girl exchanged swings as rapidly as they could swing their


    swords. The rest of the girls watched as the two of them moved up and down the


    square. The hiss of their weapons filled the air. Finally, the combatants locked up


    their swords as Alicia tried to force him off the pad.


    Jack grabbed Alicia¡¯s wrist with one hand. He fell down and put a foot in her gut. She


    flew over him. He let go so she could fall on her back. He jumped to his feet and ran


    at Angelica with his sword high in both hands. She ran away from him, so he poked


    her in the back to keep her running.


    ¡°Time,¡± said Sir Darry. He raised his conductor¡¯s baton. ¡°It looks like you need more


    work on your techniques.¡±


    ¡°It looks like I get the ice cream,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°Maybe one day you will


    taste some of that excellent desert, but it won¡¯t be today.¡±


    ¡°All right, girls,¡± said Harp. ¡°I think you should take a break. Then we will talk about


    what happened.¡±


    ¡°He held us off,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I thought you never held a sword before.¡±


    ¡°Where I am from, they don¡¯t really use swords much,¡± said Jack. ¡°The army teaches


    us to use a version of the crossbow, and a knife.¡±


    ¡°You did well for someone who doesn¡¯t have any technique,¡± said Harp. ¡°Go ahead


    and get some water. Then we¡¯ll talk.¡±


    Jack waved the girls out of the hall before putting his sword in the box. He took a


    deep breath. He had worked up a sweat. He shook his arms and legs to work out any


    kinks.


    ¡°How much did you hold back?,¡± asked Josie.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°None,¡± said Jack. ¡°Four sisters, remember. They got what I could give them.¡±


    ¡°Baloney,¡± said Josie. ¡°Your sisters are all boxers. I know you took it easy.¡±


    ¡°Prove it, Perry Mason,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    Josie squinted at him. Her lips firmed up to match her pugnacious nature. She could


    see the hundred arguments she was about to win in the next few seconds.


    A bird flew into the hall. It landed on Josie¡¯s head. Its mouth opened. A letter


    fluttered to the ground in front of her.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?,¡± said Harp. He held his baton ready to strike if he needed it. The bird


    sat on Josie¡¯s head, and looked around the room.


    Josie carefully bent down and picked up the letter. She opened it and read it silently.


    She nodded when she reached the end.


    ¡°Lorelei found a teacher for Alicia,¡± said Josie. She nodded to herself. ¡°That¡¯s one


    more thing out of the way. I need to write a reply. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    She walked out of the training hall with the bird perched on her head.


    ¡°It looks like I am about to be able to wander around on my own,¡± said Jack. ¡°And


    eat all the ice cream I want.¡±


    ¡°You did hold back,¡± said Harp. ¡°I could tell.¡±


    ¡°I would appreciate it if you kept that to yourself,¡± said Jack. ¡°Only the three of us


    need to know.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Harp.


    Elaine nodded.


    ¡°I still have some things I have to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°So I think I am going to eat my ice


    cream and then I have to head up north. Try to keep Josie out of trouble, Elaine. I¡¯ll


    be back as soon as I find what I am looking for up there.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will let her know. This has been different from what I


    thought it would be when you hired me.¡±


    ¡°What did you think it would be like?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I admit I thought you were lying about what you wanted,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I was ready


    for you to just walk away and vanish.¡±


    ¡°There may be a point when Josie and I do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°When we leave,


    hopefully we¡¯ll be able to give you and the girls enough to do what you want.¡±


    ¡°Can you really get me another arm?,¡± asked Harp. He had seen enough strange


    things about his clients to convince him maybe they could replace his limb.


    ¡°I can look at it,¡± said Jack. He heard the familiar sound of a quest being enacted.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be heavy and need some getting used to at first. That¡¯s going to require


    some work on your part.¡±


    ¡°I would like to try,¡± said Harp. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I could repay you except by doing


    what I am already doing.¡±


    ¡°I have to check on a lot of things first,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll get you that arm


    one way, or the other. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Harp. ¡°Let me talk to the girls about how well they did.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll be home later, Elaine.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting for you, Milord,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Stay away from potions until you


    do come home.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. He waved at them and made his way to the door.


    Jack walked through the hall. He paused when he saw the giant egg and


    announcement of the treasure hunt around Kearnly. No one seemed interested in that


    job. He headed for the exit.


    He waved at the girls as he reached the main hall. They were heading the other way


    back to the training hall.


    ¡°I have to get back to work,¡± Jack said as the Ducklings flocked around him. ¡°I


    should be home tonight. Watch out for trouble while I¡¯m gone.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll keep an eye out,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Alicia doesn¡¯t think you are so tough.¡±


    Jack at the stolid middle girl. She frowned up at him. He almost smiled at her serious


    face. He decided that she wouldn¡¯t want that.


    ¡°Rematch?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do it right now,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I will let you have your shot soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Will wait for you,¡± said Alicia. She held up a hand. He shook the hand, hearing the


    ding of another quest.


    ¡°Get ready for another beating,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You will get the beating,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll be home as soon as I can. Go have your evaluation.¡±


    ¡°We will get that ice cream,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Doubt it,¡± said Jack. He grinned at them and headed for the exit. He reached for his


    watch and thought about what he needed to get him started on his tasks for the day.


    He stepped outside the hall. He hoped that the girls wouldn¡¯t get into any trouble, and


    that Josie didn¡¯t cause them problems. He walked down the street dialing for the


    Falcon. He needed to fly to get a view of the city and see if some of his obligations


    were being taken care of while he carried out other things.


    He flew over to the Coin. He nodded at the familiar wagons sitting in front of the


    casino. It looked like the women were in talks with whomever was at the casino. That


    didn¡¯t mean Guin.


    He landed in the street and switched back. He went to the door.


    ¡°Jack!,¡± called a familiar voice from the wagons. The head of the freed slaves waved


    at him from her wagon.


    ¡°I have a place for you to stay,¡± said Jack. ¡°Follow me and I will take you over there.


    Then you can work out the rest for a job, or building a business, or just lounging


    around.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said head woman. ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to rest the horses and get food for all


    of us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you over there and you guys can get settled in,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I have to


    go back north.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll follow you to this place,¡± said the head woman. She nodded at her crew.


    ¡°Thanks for the help.¡±


    ¡°Once you get back on your feet, you¡¯ll be able to do wonders,¡± said Jack. ¡°Stay


    away from the people with the marked faces. They¡¯re part of the gang that took you,


    and they are slated for bad ends.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± said the former slave. ¡°We¡¯ll deal with them in kind.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Jack. He changed to Gravity and pulled the wagon train after him as


    he flew along the streets.

 The Rick

    Josie went to a desk. She still had her paper and pen set from her trip up north. She


    ignored the adventurers pointing at her and laughing. She had a possible teacher for


    Alicia and Laura. She didn¡¯t have time for people who didn¡¯t matter.


    She quickly wrote out a letter to send back to Duchess Lorelei, asking if it was okay


    for the teacher to arrive at Hawk Ridge and talk to the girls. If he was good to them,


    she would take him on.


    She didn¡¯t have to spell out what she thought if he didn¡¯t come up to snuff.


    She folded the letter into an envelope and wrote Lorelei on the outside. She handed


    it to the bird on her head. It took off in a trail of fire.


    Josie sat back in her chair. If the archer was good enough to teach her girls, that was


    one more quest done. Did she want to complete them all? She knew there would be


    pressure from the Reed Society for them to finish their business.


    Would they let her finish tracking down the Montrose if she took too long to do the


    job? How many could she scoop up before that happened? She didn¡¯t think they


    should be allowed to run around loose and poison every part of society, even if she


    wasn¡¯t part of the society.


    She had partially accomplished one of her quests. That was something in her eyes.


    She would take her lumps when the Society decided to hand them out.


    At least she wasn¡¯t promising people replacement arms.


    She sighed. She supposed the watches made them great doctors if they wanted. She


    doubted Hawk Ridge was ready for anything like that. She could already see the kinds


    of trouble that would flow from news of a miracle worker replacing arms and legs for


    the handicapped of the world.


    An elf in green and brown walked in the Adventurers¡¯ Hall. He looked around until


    he saw Josie sitting at the desk. He marched forward, hands on the buckle of his belt.


    ¡°Be the witch?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Be the burning effigy that used to be an archery teacher?,¡± asked Josie. She made


    sure her paper and writing equipment was put away before she thought about what


    she was going to do.


    ¡°The Duchess said you had a sharp tongue,¡± said the elf. ¡°I be the Rick. The Duchess


    said you had some girl you wanted to teach to shoot.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever taught anyone anything?,¡± asked Josie. She stood, squinting up at the


    taller elf.


    ¡°Aye,¡± said the Rick. He looked down on her. He felt pressure building in the air. He


    decided to heed Sir Robert¡¯s advice and keep to factual statements with no


    obfuscation. This was a human that angered easily and had the potential to send him


    home in need of tea. ¡°I have taught hunters in the Dire Woods for years.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to introduce you to the girls and their other teacher and my assistant,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t really expect you to get started today, but I do expect a block of time


    we can agree on for you to train them. Do not cause me trouble. I have things to do,


    and I don¡¯t have a lot of time to waste on someone who can¡¯t do a good job. If things


    work out, I will write to Lorelei and Bob to give you a promotion, or some kind of


    compensation. If things don¡¯t work out, I will still write Lorelei and Bob to tell them


    where to find you. That is the arrangement from my point of view. Are we


    understanding each other?¡±


    The Rick understood completely the implied threat in the human woman¡¯s words. He


    didn¡¯t know if she could carry things out, but he also didn¡¯t want to anger someone


    the Duchess considered important enough for him to meet.


    ¡°Let us see these children,¡± said the archer. ¡°They may not be capable of pulling a


    bow string, much less loosing an arrow.¡±


    ¡°Come this way,¡± said Josie. She started for the training hall. She ignored the


    adventurers looking at her, and her companion. She doubted any of them were ready


    to take on an elf.


    They walked into the hall. Harp was using his baton to point out where they had


    failed to take down Jack. He commended them for their effort, but they really needed


    to improve if they wanted to get that ice cream.


    ¡°Sir Harp, Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Rick. He¡¯s going to be teaching Alicia and


    Laura archery. I need to know what would be the best time for him to do that while


    they still take swordsmanship lessons.¡±


    Josie thought she heard Beatrice say the elf could teach her archery lessons. She


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.closed her eyes.


    ¡°I think we can work something out,¡± said Harp. He gestured for the elf to walk with


    him. ¡°Give us a few minutes please.¡±


    They stepped out of the hall.


    ¡°All right, girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°I know the elf is kind of handsome, but let¡¯s keep the


    sexual harassment to a minimum.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°It means that he is here to do a job for us, and we shouldn¡¯t be trying to lure him in


    with sexual advances,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I don¡¯t want adopted nephews and nieces. I


    am too young for that.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want a half elven niece named Josie?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I can just rename all of you Josie. Let¡¯s stick to the subject at


    hand. The Duchess is not going to want her top monster hunter tied down to a human


    girl. I don¡¯t want my wards tied to a monster hunter. Don¡¯t make things hard for


    either of us.¡±


    ¡°And girls,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You would have to leave here and move to the Elfheim to


    work for whomever has your contract. It would be just like slavery here.¡±


    The two teachers came into the room. Harp had a small smile. The Rick seemed a


    little looser than he had been when he arrived.


    ¡°Which girls am I teaching?,¡± asked the archer.


    ¡°Alicia and Laura,¡± said Josie, indicating the girls with a hand. ¡°Have you two


    worked out the time issue?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have all of the girls for two hours in the morning,¡± said Harp. ¡°Master Rick will


    have anyone who wants to learn how to shoot for one hour in the afternoon. We will


    adjust for emergencies as we go.¡±


    ¡°Master Rick, this is Elaine,¡± said Josie. She indicated the assistant. ¡°If I am not here,


    and there is a problem, she is the responsible adult. Do not let anything happen to my


    kids if you can help it.¡±


    ¡°They are safe as houses with me,¡± said the elf. ¡°Sir Harp says there is a range. I


    would like to take the girls over to see if they can handle a bow.¡±


    The ding of the completed quest made Josie smile as she nodded. She waved the


    Ducklings to follow their new teacher out of the hall.


    ¡°How well do you think things will go?,¡± asked Elaine. She followed Josie, who


    followed the rest of the group.


    ¡°We will probably see at least one half elven baby,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like for Rick


    to have more restraint, but I can already see Beatrice and Laura lining up to be his


    girlfriend. And I don¡¯t think things will work out like they want.¡±


    ¡°Does anything ever work out like we think it will?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Not particularly,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hope for the best, expect the worse.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The girls are all mature for their ages. They will be all right


    even if you do leave.¡±


    ¡°What would you do if we didn¡¯t leave?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I am just following your lead right now as your


    secretary.¡±


    ¡°I think as long as we keep adding quests, we might be able to stay here until we die,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°What would you do if we decided to do something like that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I had always assumed you would leave. If you were to


    find a way to stay, do you think I could still work for you?¡±


    ¡°You have helped us save the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°No one but us will know, but you


    have done work to protect these people.¡±


    ¡°But I could still be your assistant?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°If you want to,¡± said Josie. ¡°You have done a lot for us, and we haven¡¯t really done


    that much for you.¡±


    ¡°I was enthralled when Jack found me,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I never thought he would come


    back to talk to me. When he did, I never thought he would take me in. When he did


    that, I never thought that either one of you would treat me as well as you have. I


    would like to stay. You have done more for me than I have for you.¡±


    ¡°But are you happy?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°This has been the finest part of my life after some darkness,¡± said Elaine. ¡°And I


    never thought things would be this good after what happened to me.¡±


    ¡°I think Jack would like for you to stay,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I know I would. Even


    if you don¡¯t stay, I will do something for you as a moving out present.¡±


    ¡°I will be glad to stay,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What is next on the agenda?¡±


    ¡°We have to figure out how the Money Exchange and the Montrose work together,


    and how much of one can we rip up before we start destroying innocent people¡¯s


    livelihoods,¡± said Josie. ¡°Any ideas?¡±


    ¡°I think we need to look at the local branch¡¯s ledgers and see how they compare to


    the ones we already have,¡± said Elaine. ¡°How we get them becomes the next step of


    whatever plan we come up to do.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°That means looking at the building and seeing if it can stop


    whatever magic we can throw at it. Then we need someone who can look through the


    book fast enough that we can put them back once we know what we¡¯re looking at in


    the long run.¡±


    ¡°There is one question now that we are considering this,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. She paused at the archery range. Rick was showing the girls


    how to string a bow. She nodded at him.


    ¡°If the Exchange and the Montrose are the same thing, are the clerks slaves?,¡± asked


    Elaine.


    ¡°Were they freed by the hex like everyone else?,¡± Josie asked herself.


    ¡°Are they involved seems more relevant in case you have to do something to them


    to fulfill your vow,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I need to talk to one of them, don¡¯t I?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It might be a way to do things easier than ripping the building up and throwing


    it over the wall,¡± said Elaine. She smiled.


    ¡°You know I can¡¯t do anything like that,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I would like to.¡±


    ¡°So we need to look at one of the clerks,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We need to know if they are happy with what they are doing,¡± said Josie. ¡°If


    they aren¡¯t, they might tell us things we can use. And they have buildings across the


    continent according to the speech they gave Jack and me when we got here.¡±


    ¡°More slaves doing the work for their masters,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how long that lasts,¡± said Josie.


    They watched the lesson silently. Josie nodded when it was over and the girls had all


    taken turns trying to pull the bow tight. None of them were quite up to the task.


    ¡°Ye¡¯ll practice the pull until you can actually do it,¡± said the Rick. ¡°I think it¡¯s time


    for you to do other things.¡±


    Josie nodded at the teachers as she waved her girls to follow her.

 Corles Ring

    Jack plopped the wagons down inside the gates of the Corle estate. He had chosen a


    flashy way of doing things, but he didn¡¯t regret it. Now he had to look for Corle¡¯s


    body and his magic ring.


    First he had to recharge his watch. All that flash had cost him some in resources.


    ¡°All right, ladies,¡± said Jack. ¡°The house should be open to you. I would suggest


    looking around and figuring out what you want to do. I have to head back north. If


    you need anything, send a runner over to the Coin where you guys were and Master


    Guin will look out for me.¡±


    ¡°What about the taxes on this place?,¡± asked one of the other women.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would be more worried about what could happen if


    Corle¡¯s partners want to know what happened to him. Tell them the truth. Tell them


    the Montrose murderer did away with him, and is looking for them.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that will help?,¡± asked the head woman.


    ¡°Only if they know enough to be scared of what Josie might do to them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ll check back with you in a few days. Keep your heads down, and think about what


    you want to do the rest of your lives.¡±


    ¡°I would like to meet this Josie,¡± said the head woman. ¡°I want to see if she is as


    formidable as you say.¡±


    ¡°Probably more than I think,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will swing around when I get back to the


    city.¡±


    He checked his watch before he scaled the wall. He dropped down on the other side.


    He turned and started north. He only had enough of a charge to clear the city.


    He walked along the streets, waiting for the ding of full power. Once he was sure he


    had enough to last for a while, he would use Gravity to carry him north to where he


    had encountered the wagon train.


    He could use Makkari, but he wanted to fly more than travel fast. He wanted the time


    to think as he traveled across the continent.


    Questions about the ring and how Corle got it cycled through his mind. He put them


    away. He wasn¡¯t getting any answers unless the gangster had survived the orbital shot


    he had been sent on.


    Jack didn¡¯t expect anything like that to happen. He could be wrong, but that was why


    he was going upcountry to keep things on track.


    The thought of real magic in the air made him think of becoming a real magician.


    Could he do it with his watch? That would be nice, and give him more options other


    than punching things.


    He wondered if he could build a ton of artifacts with his watch that he could power.


    What would a magic staff look like in this world? Could he build a ring to power him


    up like the ring at Accordly, or the Dark Rider¡¯s tomb?


    He put the thoughts aside as the watch told him it was ready to go. He called up


    Gravity and flew over the wall and headed north. He decided the place he should start


    was where he had turned the Dark Rider¡¯s tomb into a lake.


    Then he could start looking for Corle¡¯s body.


    He kept an eye on his countdown time as he traveled. It wasn¡¯t as fast as Makkari, but


    it was still fast. Once he had that starting point, he had to figure out a search pattern.


    He thought Josie could find the ring a lot faster with Zatanna, but the girls were good


    for her. She didn¡¯t need to run around helping him when she should be keeping an eye


    on the kids.


    And they didn¡¯t know if they could stay since they had completed all of the primary


    quests in record time.


    Jack had to land and recharge the watch after minutes of air time. He used that to


    walk along the road, eye out for the local wildlife. He wondered where the strange


    animals like the jackalope he had seen had come from. Were they all magical in some


    way too?


    He could invent quests about finding out the answers for all these questions forever.


    Would the Society step in and tell him to cool it? Did he want them to? How much


    could they push things with their sponsors?


    Jack decided that was the real question. How far could they go before there was a real


    threat of them losing their watches and the sponsorship? Would they be stuck in


    Fantasy Land with nothing but their skills? Would they be sent home, and someone


    else selected to do things?


    He took a breath as he paused on the road. The watch dinged again. He switched to


    Makkari and ran the rest of the way to the new lake he had constructed. He stopped


    running when he came within sight of it. He let the transformation go so he could


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itthink about what had happened.


    He had been the Human Torch, got blasted, became Gravity and flung Corle into the


    air as high as his power reached. Now he needed to know if the gangster had survived


    his rough treatment.


    He might have if the ring allowed him to fly. The only evidence that it hadn¡¯t was that


    he hadn¡¯t tried to stop Jack from dealing with the Dark Rider, and the women being


    allowed to run away with his treasure.


    Jack thought that maybe the angle falling down from above was on the other side of


    the lake. How did he check everything out?


    What could he do with his watch? He had some brains on the dial. Would Mister


    Fantastic still be a genius? Would he be able to figure out the angle of descent from


    memory?


    Would he be able to make an artificial arm for Master Harp like he had been


    promised?


    He decided to try Mister Fantastic, and if it worked he could use the persona to build


    telephones and trains to revolutionize the world.


    Jack hit the dial and switched bodies. Concepts flooded his brain, but he concentrated


    on what he needed. He nodded at the required math and the spread of landing spots.


    Apparently Mister Fantastic remembered more than he did about the fight. He didn¡¯t


    have any way to mark the area, but he thought since he had an area to search he could


    exchange Mister Fantastic for one of his fliers and search from the air.


    He switched to the Falcon and took off with a flap of his wings. He soared over the


    forest, checking the trees as he went. He found a hole in the canopy after a few


    minutes of searching.


    Had Corle survived the crash with his shield? He could be trying to get back to Hawk


    Ridge to cause trouble. He wasn¡¯t going to like his former slaves moving into his


    house.


    Jack landed in a tree. He let the Falcon go. He decided to recharge the watch before


    he tried to narrow things down further.


    He wasn¡¯t going to give Corle another chance. The mobster had proved himself too


    ruthless to live. And if he could stop him from wrecking anything else in Hawk


    Ridge, it would be worth it despite the quest to get the ring.


    He liked doing good when he could. It lightened his soul.


    When the watch dinged to tell him it was at full power again, he decided the best way


    to search the forest was as Doctor Druid. He called on the other persona and sent out


    a questing note from where he stood.


    Everything turned to point him toward his goal. He smiled in satisfaction. If Corle


    had survived his fall, he hadn¡¯t gone far. He had the trees hand him along until he


    found the impact site.


    Corle had tried to use his shield to save himself from the look of the crater in the


    ground. It had partially worked. Then the shield had winked out and he had hit a tree


    without its protection. Then he had tried to crawl away, but his broken bones hadn¡¯t


    let him go far before something hungry had come across him.


    But the ring was still there. It remained on what remained of his hand. Apparently he


    hadn¡¯t enough stamina to fight off the predator that had come for him. Or he had died


    and been scavenged.


    Jack took the ring to settle the quest, nodding at the ding in his head. Then he


    gathered the body together and buried it. He didn¡¯t put a marker on the site. No one


    but him needed to know about it.


    He would deal with the ring when he reached the city. Then he could ask Elaine to


    check on artifacts loose in the world. He wasn¡¯t going to trigger a quest to start


    searching for them, but he did want to know what he might have to face if he stayed.


    He might should ask her if there were more legendary monsters they might have to


    clean out in the future. That could give them a jumpstart on exorcizing all of the


    problems ahead before there were quests for them.


    Maybe the next time he talked to the Reed Society, that should be something they


    should discuss.


    He let Doctor Druid drop and walked along. He needed to head south. By the time he


    got home, Josie and the girls would be finished at the hall. He needed to stop and get


    ice cream so he could rub his victory in.


    He smiled as he walked. Once home, he could take the rest of the day off, or take the


    ledgers by Master Guin. He had a few hours of traveling time to decide on what he


    wanted.


    He didn¡¯t like that the Money Exchange seemed to be behind the slavery ring. When


    they ripped that up, plenty of innocent people would be harmed by their actions. It


    meant having to put new administrators in charge that they could trust. And he only


    trusted Josie and Elaine.


    If Josie and he finished their quests, they would be gone. It would be up to the people


    living here to fix the problem. And he didn¡¯t trust them to do that.


    Maybe they would fix the problem if they knew more about it. Elaine did say some


    adventurers had attacked part of a group that had been exposed when they put the


    curse down.


    He decided he couldn¡¯t count on that. He was surprised he had been able to strike a


    deal with Master Guin.


    He supposed that having a wizard on the payroll outweighed any potential problems


    that the wizard could cause by pursuing his vendetta across the continent.


    Master Guin would probably cut them loose as soon as their usefulness was over.


    Jack could see that. Who wanted two crazies on the payroll if they didn¡¯t need them?


    The Iceman only kept working because the mob needed to kill people. If he had


    started killing anybody he wanted, they may have turned on him sooner.


    He called on Makkarri and headed south. He wondered how much he was beating


    down the road with his superspeed. He might be creating a local legend like the Ghost


    of the Road.


    He arrived at Hawk Ridge. He flew over the wall and looked for an ice cream shop.


    He found one after minutes of searching. He smiled at that. He bought a gallon of the


    stuff and took it home.


    He put the desert in an icebox he created and got a bowl down. He dipped out the


    bowl and took it to the dining room table. He smiled as he ate the ice cream.


    The ladies arrived while he was eating his second bowl. He waved his spoon at them


    as he leaned back in his chair.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± he asked. He took another bite of ice cream. ¡°This stuff is good,


    but they only have vanilla.¡±


    ¡°You are a fiend,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I know, right,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s part of the charm.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re thinking about doing a raid tonight,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you want in?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right, girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°Since Jack has graciously bought ice cream, let¡¯s see if


    there is any left for us.¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s my ice cream. They have to earn it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting the ice cream,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we¡¯re doing the raid. That is all.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack.

 Planning

    Josie dipped the vanilla ice cream out for the girls, Elaine and herself. She took her


    seat at the table last. The rest had already dug in. Jack got up and got a third serving


    as she watched him.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you got the ice cream and didn¡¯t plan to share it,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Losers shouldn¡¯t get rewarded,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you¡¯re not number one, you¡¯re number


    two.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Don¡¯t explain,¡± said Josie. ¡°They don¡¯t need to know, and you don¡¯t need to rub it


    in. Be gracious in your victory.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get paid for that,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re independently wealthy,¡± said Josie. ¡°You don¡¯t get paid at all.¡±


    ¡°What don¡¯t we need to know?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°If you needed to know, I would tell you,¡± said Josie. ¡°But you don¡¯t, so I won¡¯t. Eat


    your ice cream, and then we have to go over the lessons.¡±


    ¡°Not lessons,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so dramatic,¡± said Josie. ¡°And yes, you have to go over your lessons.¡±


    ¡°We should decide what books you want to read,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That will help with


    the lessons.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should discuss what you read to help with the report writing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do we have to write five hundred words?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will teach you about putting things together for employers.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to be able to leave you a dragon hoard,¡± said Josie. ¡°You need to


    think about what kind of job you want when we¡¯re gone.¡±


    ¡°But what we should really think about is how do we get chocolate for this ice


    cream,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We would have to grind the beans if we can find any,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any


    in the places in the market.¡±


    ¡°Maybe need sugar,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe we could get fruits to crush for the juice.¡±


    ¡°That would be good?,¡± said Angelica. ¡°What kind of fruit? Strawberries, blueberries,


    watermelon?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but any of those should be good,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I think Angelica should be a professional cook. She


    loves food.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, hon?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°You would need to learn how to do recipes


    and how to make food fast and neat.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it sounds good,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Could you help me?¡±


    ¡°If you want to set up a shop, you¡¯re going to have to get trained,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think


    we can look around for a school for you.¡±


    ¡°She might have to work in a restaurant for a while,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°An internship could be a thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might have to look into it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have a few hours before dinner time. If you girls would


    clean up these bowls, and think about what you want to cook, now is the time. Elaine,


    Josie, let¡¯s talk about this raid you guys want to do upstairs.¡±


    Jack placed his empty bowl in Alicia¡¯s empty bowl. She squinted up at him.


    ¡°Number two,¡± he said with a grin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t taunt the girl,¡± Josie said. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder your sisters beat you up all the


    time.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t all the time,¡± said Jack. He waved for her to follow him upstairs. ¡°I gave


    as good as I got.¡±


    ¡°Tell yourself whatever helps you sleep in the night,¡± said Josie. ¡°Come on, girls.¡±


    Josie helped the girls wash the bowls out and put them up to dry before heading


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.upstairs to the office. She made sure they pulled out the paper and graphite pens


    Elaine had procured for them to study. She headed upstairs.


    She found Elaine and Jack taking up chairs while they waited for her to make her


    pitch. She closed the door and went to the board. She took down the pictures for the


    Dark Rider and Lorelei and put them in a box. She left up the crude map of the


    continent as she gave some thought to their problem.


    ¡°We need a better map,¡± said Josie as she looked at it. She turned to face her


    colleagues. ¡°What do we know about Montrose and the Exchange?¡±


    ¡°We know they enslave women and traffic them,¡± said Jack. ¡°We know they paid


    protection to Guin to be left alone. We know they use spotters for the women they


    want. We know the Exchange owns the building we raided for Natalie Pear. We don¡¯t


    know if they traffic men or children, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they did.¡±


    ¡°We know the Exchange claims to have twenty five offices around the country to


    do their public work,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We know the Montrose secured their victims¡¯ cooperation through alchemy whether


    by the potion for the slaves or poisoning the loved ones of their support in the street,¡±


    said Elaine.


    ¡°And all their members are marked for us,¡± said Josie. ¡°I expect we can¡¯t depend on


    any law to turn these people over to here.¡±


    ¡°Any court would look at you, and any member of the Montrose, and you would be


    laughed at unless the Montrose offended the judge,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Which is probably part of the reason the Society uses outsiders to do what we are


    expected to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°They can¡¯t depend on the locals to do the deeds.¡±


    ¡°Or the locals are dependent on the people they have to live with when the emergency


    is over,¡± said Josie. ¡°Someone from Accordly is not going to throw his life away


    stopping his dark god from showing up and dropping down on their neighbors.¡±


    ¡°Point,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you want to do? If we escalate to destroying the


    Exchange, we might have to face the whole continent. Are you ready to do that with


    Elaine and the kids in the way?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Not in a full scale assault. I would rather Leverage them, but I


    don¡¯t think we have the expertise between us. We can break in, we can murder


    people, but we can¡¯t make them do something stupid so that everyone turns against


    them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not that sneaky,¡± agreed Jack.


    ¡°So what can we do?,¡± asked Josie. She frowned at her partner, and their assistant.


    ¡°How do we rip them apart while keeping the girls and Elaine safe?¡±


    ¡°We need information,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We should see if we can talk to someone inside


    the Exchange. We might be able to talk to one of the clerks if they are free.¡±


    ¡°We also need to know how far the hex went,¡± said Josie. ¡°I found two guys as far


    away as Kernly.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Unless we invent faster transportation. Makkari is fast,


    but for only about ten-fifteen minutes at a time.¡±


    ¡°Teleporting is good but about here is all I can reach with one go,¡± said Josie. She


    pointed to a spot on the map halfway to the marked Kernly. ¡°If we have to travel


    beyond two jumps, then we are going to have problems.¡±


    ¡°So we need to target the Montrose here in the city, look at the bank, and try to get


    assets transferred to people we trust,¡± said Jack. ¡°How would you like to be a banker,


    Elaine?¡±


    ¡°I think people would know I was a fraud almost immediately,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can turn this all over to Guin and hope for the best,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We do need his resources for the local things, and whatever he can reach outside of


    the city.¡±


    ¡°Guin didn¡¯t know he was dealing with the Montrose, so he¡¯s not marked, but why


    was he collecting money from the people using this station?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°And we have to look at supply lines and communication and command,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°How do they know where to sell the women they abduct?¡±


    ¡°Messages are carried by courier, as well as general post,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Adventurers


    can be asked to deliver messages to out of the way places for a fee.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way for us to check on that, is there?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I expect not through the usual means,¡± said Elaine. ¡°No one would want to reveal


    what they had sent with the adventurers, so I doubt they told the guild, plus


    adventurers can be hired as guards for caravans if it was impossible they could look


    at what they are guarding.¡±


    ¡°You said that some adventurers burned down the Bell Tower when they saw people


    being marked,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No, they killed some of the marked people when you sent out your call,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I burned down the Bell Tower.¡±


    ¡°All right then,¡± said Jack. ¡°Good job on that.¡±


    Josie made a face of bemusement. The last thing she had expected to hear was her


    buttoned down secretary/aide/almost friend had burned down her last place of work.


    ¡°I thought so,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think the adventurers had lost some of their members


    and decided to attack the ones they thought were responsible.¡±


    ¡°Do you know them?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Only by sight,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen them at the hall on our visits.¡±


    ¡°They might be out on a job somewhere,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll put that on the


    backburner.¡±


    ¡°We can actually do something about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Something small because we


    don¡¯t know who we¡¯re looking for at the moment.¡±


    ¡°These guys might be our hunter,¡± said Jack.


    Josie nodded at that. Someone else was killing members of the Montrose. It was a


    small possibility that the group, or one of its members, had decided to take justice in


    his/her hands like she had decided to do.


    She saw no reason not to help them with that if she could.


    ¡°So how do we get started on cracking Montrose for real without turning it into such


    a war we have to burn the city down?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°If we could seize the members¡¯ assets, we could hire adventurers to help us with part


    of the job,¡± said Jack. ¡°But that dips into crimes we¡¯re not suited to commit.¡±


    ¡°Following the money is good, but there are places where there is no money to


    follow,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The organization could be camped somewhere in the forest


    with armed guards and no way to find them for some of the places we would have to


    locate if we wanted to free their victims.¡±


    ¡°So we need to look at their books and we need to find every place they are


    operating,¡± said Josie. ¡°I hate to let the people living here in the city live but we can¡¯t


    let things get so bad that the girls can¡¯t have a normal life.¡±


    ¡°And now we know why superheroes wear masks,¡± said Jack.


    Josie nodded.

 Inspiration

    ¡°So the first step of our plan is to gather intelligence,¡± said Jack. ¡°Where do we


    start?¡±


    ¡°We need to take a look at the bank and see if it has any magical thing going on


    before we try to break in,¡± said Josie. ¡°We know magic works here, and the elves at


    least can use some of it.¡±


    ¡°And the rings,¡± said Jack. ¡°Both Accordly and the Dark Rider had them as power


    ups.¡±


    ¡°Once we are sure we can break in without causing problems, we need to get anything


    that will point to locations and staff,¡± said Josie. ¡°A master set of books would be


    ideal, but anything like maps, or plans, could save us some time.¡±


    ¡°We need copies,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we just take them, then they¡¯ll know we¡¯re onto


    them. Right now, they just know that someone broke in and cleared that one


    warehouse out, and cleared this place. I¡¯m surprised no one has tried to take this back


    from us.¡±


    ¡°I can make copies,¡± said Josie. ¡°What if they can¡¯t take this place back?¡±


    Jack looked at her. He looked at Elaine. She seemed as perplexed as he was.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they be able to take things back?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say the guys living here was paying protection?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°And Guin


    was their protector. Maybe they can¡¯t take the place back because they don¡¯t know


    what happened here yet.¡±


    ¡°If Guin keeps his word, the only way they will know is if they show up and can¡¯t get


    in and we explain it to them,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s a problem that will solve itself if we


    take some of their guys out during our lookaround.¡±


    Josie added inspectors with a question mark to the board.


    ¡°It looks like we might need to get a guard dog for when we¡¯re out doing our things,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°So the main goal is to get into the building, copy their books and any


    maps, and leave without exposing ourselves. Am I reading that right?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it is wise to talk to anyone staffing the


    building. They could turn us in for our interest as soon as we separate.¡±


    ¡°What happens if we¡¯re wrong and the Exchange is not involved with the


    Montrose?,¡± asked Jack. He smiled at their disbelief. ¡°I like to have options to fall


    back on.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re not involved, we leave them alone unless they come after us,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Until they cross us while we¡¯re trying to cover this quest, then we can start doing


    things to make them miserable.¡±


    ¡°When do you want to do this snooping?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think we should do it tonight to show we¡¯re working on the quest so we don¡¯t get


    pulled out of here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have things the way I like them and I don¡¯t want it


    ruined because we¡¯re not getting things done.¡±


    ¡°Can you stand guard duty until we come back, Elaine?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t like the


    fact that things could escalate beyond what we can do with our watches to stop them.¡±


    ¡°At this rate, we¡¯ll have to put a wall around our wall,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Any ideas on how we can communicate without phones?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I know you


    did something when that bird flew into the training hall.¡±


    ¡°I created a magical homing pigeon,¡± said Josie. ¡°I left it with Lorelei and Bob so


    they could call me if they had problems with their new governmental positions. She¡¯s


    a duchess now instead of a princess, but she has to command the areas the Crown


    seized from their rebels.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s stable?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The elf lands have a lot of magic running through them to fuel the bird,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They might not work the same way here in Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°But it is a way we can send messages in case of an emergency,¡± said Jack. He


    smiled. ¡°I¡¯m so stupid. I thought so much about towers and satellites I never thought


    about just creating a signal that works wherever we go. The homing pigeon was a


    great idea. I wished I had thought of it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like that look on your face,¡± said Josie. She crossed her arms. ¡°What¡¯s on


    your mind?¡±


    ¡°That I am an idiot,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could have had a phone network at any time if I had


    just stepped outside the box like you did.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Josie. She glanced at Elaine. Their assistant seemed to be


    just as confused as she was.


    ¡°We never needed a tower to channel a signal when we always had magic to do it for


    us,¡± said Jack. ¡°When do you want to do the raid?¡±


    ¡°I think we should look at the building as soon as the Exchange closes,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Sometime around sunset.¡±


    ¡°I need to think for a minute,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I need to check to see if this works.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.If it does, the girls will be able to call us any time they need us.¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°Could you give me some time? If it works out, we¡¯ll


    be able to call each other at any time we want. I need to talk to myself for a bit.


    Thanks for the idea. You¡¯re awesomesauce.¡±


    ¡°So we should get dinner together?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might need some kind of marker from the girls. If you could get


    that too while I am still thinking, it would be great.¡±


    ¡°What kind of marker?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Some kind of symbol like Josie¡¯s lightning,¡± said Jack. ¡°Something that represents


    them.¡±


    ¡°Like a pony mark?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°My Little Pony?,¡± said Josie. He gave her a blank look. ¡°Friendship is magic?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, like that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead. I have to think. Then we¡¯ll do the raid.


    Elaine, you said you knew the adventurers on sight. The ones at the Bell Tower?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Do you know them well enough to describe them for a picture?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Maybe?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something else we can handle after the raid,¡± said Jack. He rubbed his hands


    together. He went to the door. He opened it. ¡°Number Two! Can you bring us some


    water?¡±


    He closed the door.


    ¡°Alicia is not Number Two,¡± said Josie. She squinted at him. ¡°If you don¡¯t watch out,


    you¡¯ll be stabbed before the week is done.¡±


    ¡°Not now,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m still having my moment. I need some paper. And a pen.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what you¡¯re doing?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just remembered something, and I think I can make


    that work for us.¡±


    A knock sounded on the door. Jack went to the door and opened it. Alicia stood there


    with three cups of water in her hands.


    ¡°Do you know your way around the neighborhood?,¡± asked Jack. He took the cups


    and handed them out to the women while keeping his.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I came up from the South. My father wanted work here in


    the city as a leather worker.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be doing an experiment later,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to think about


    what you think of as something that represents you like a family crest, or something.


    Josie has her lightning for instance. Can you do that? Then I am going to need you


    to go out and walk around for me.¡±


    ¡°Walk around?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can do?¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Not a Number Two.¡±


    ¡°You can be my number two anytime,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine is my Number One.¡±


    ¡°She is good for you,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I have to go back to my study.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you really think so?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Alicia. ¡°You need someone to help you keep your loon inside.¡±


    ¡°And where did you pick that up, young lady?,¡± asked Jack. He grinned at her.


    Alicia looked at Josie and walked away.


    Jack looked at Josie. She hid her face with her mug of water. He looked at Elaine. She


    was red.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°That was a reminder not to ask Alicia anything I didn¡¯t want


    to know. Do you two have anything to say before you start dinner?¡±


    ¡°I think I shall gracefully bow out until you are ready to show us your idea,¡± said


    Josie.


    She walked out of the office.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± said Elaine. She held her cup in both hands.


    ¡°I think you are good for me too,¡± said Jack. He sipped his water. ¡°Blushing looks


    good on you.¡±


    ¡°I think we should talk about this when things have settled,¡± said Elaine. She shook


    her head. ¡°Then we will have to think about what your Society will think about


    anything like a marriage.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be ready when you are.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Milord,¡± said Elaine. She stepped out of the office. ¡°Good luck on your


    idea.¡±


    Jack closed the door and sat under the lamps he had moved around. He needed to talk


    to two of his personas to make sure he could actually do what he wanted to do. Then


    he needed to test it for distance.


    If he could get coverage for the city, that would be more than he needed for the


    moment.


    And if he needed to expand the coverage, he felt like his idea would be simple


    enough to add on without causing problems.


    He decided to talk to Magik first. That persona had been a big help against the Dark


    Rider. That knowledge would be useful in spell work. He selected a net of spells and


    translated that to the top paper in ink. He looked at his notes and nodded.


    He called on Mister Fantastic and checked his idea and notes. He found a wealth of


    design issues that he wrote down as fast as he could before the persona wore off. He


    sat back when he thought he had everything right.


    He just needed to build a prototype.


    He looked at his watch. He needed to wait for it to recharge. Then he could build a


    prototype that he could use to define his idea. Then once he had that, he could just


    duplicate the prototype for all the girls, Elaine, and Josie.


    He was almost ready to go.


    What shape should the communicators be? That was the thing he needed to decide


    before he did anything else. He looked at the notes from Mister Fantastic. He decided


    on the wristband.


    He would rather have gone with the implant, but doubted the kids would go for a


    piece of metal stuck in their jaws. He didn¡¯t understand how sci-fi could describe that


    and not think how awkward that could be with a device hidden in your face.


    The main thing was that the devices would work forever off of whatever energy fed


    magic in the city. And the only thing he had to really worry about is if the girls


    decided that liked to talk on the phones so much they ran the charge out.


    He would have to lay out some rules for them.


    He took one look at the design notes and decided he needed the marks so he knew


    who was calling him.


    Once he had that marked out, he could build something for them to use. Then he


    could think about Harp¡¯s new arm.


    He left the office and headed downstairs. The girls were at the dining room table,


    working on learning how to spell and read. He smiled when he saw them. He went to


    the kitchen and saw Josie and Elaine cooking meat on a grill over the fire in the


    fireplace.


    ¡°I should have come up with something that acted like a stove,¡± said Jack. He smiled


    when the women jumped at his words.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m almost ready,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can make a prototype now. All I need is a symbol


    to call.¡±


    ¡°I guess use the lightning bolt,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine?¡±


    ¡°I think a quill would work for this,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I have to get what the kids want, then I can put one together,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t


    expect the range to be that great, but if we can cover the city, that should be enough


    for right now. I¡¯ll have to figure out how to add a booster if we need it later.¡±


    ¡°And you think this is the fix we need?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s a step, but if we stay here long enough, I think I can add on to the basic model


    until they will be like our phones,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to experiment with one to make


    sure it does what I want before we swear by them.¡±


    ¡°What kind of experiment?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I want to make sure that the kids can use them without losing an arm,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The basic stuff.¡±

 Calling

    Josie wondered what was going on with Jack. She decided to just cook the meal for


    the girls and they would find out when he was ready. She had seen him act like this


    before when he thought he had a good idea.


    Usually that involved explosions of some kind.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He came down from the office with wristbands in his hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if these work like I think they will.¡±


    He handed out the bands. Josie noted that hers had a lightning bolt in the center. She


    glanced at Elaine¡¯s. Hers had a feather in the center. A ring of other symbols went


    around the center symbol. She expected that each one was marked with whatever the


    girls had told him was their marker.


    She put it on and it sparked for a moment. The markers lit up, then cooled. A


    secondary light glowed green under the center symbol.


    ¡°When the light is green, the bands are ready to use,¡± said Jack. ¡°When they are red,


    they are out of power. You are going to have to snack when you feel weak to keep


    the charge going. Everybody got that?¡±


    The girls nodded. They looked perplexed by the explanation. Josie scratched her


    eyebrow.


    ¡°So this is the new Jack Caller,¡± said Jack. He placed his own on the arm. ¡°I don¡¯t know


    how far away the signal will reach, or if it will reach everywhere in the city. There


    are probably places where the signal will drop, just move until you can pick


    something back up.


    ¡°So what you do is push down on who you want to talk to with a finger.¡± He pushed


    down on what looked like an Avengers A. ¡°Can you hear me, Al?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Echo.¡±


    ¡°I want you girls to go out in the neighborhood,¡± said Jack. ¡°Spread out and check


    in where you are. You just push my button and let me know. We¡¯ll see if the signal


    will go through buildings like this. Also, we¡¯re checking to see how long the charge


    lasts with constant use. It¡¯ll recharge itself, but you guys are going to have to eat a


    little more. All right, go. I¡¯ll call you back when we¡¯re done.¡±


    He waved his hands for them to set out.


    They filed out, talking about the bands.


    ¡°Alicia is an Avenger?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t take a number two,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I wonder why,¡± said Josie. She shook her head.


    ¡°This is what I need from you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need you to go as far as you can outside


    the city and call back. That way we can see if the caller will go through the wall, and


    how far away it will reach.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can do that with Zatanna. How far do you need me to go?¡±


    ¡°Go as far away as you can,¡± said Jack. ¡°If it¡¯s too far, then there won¡¯t be a


    connection back. I would love to be able to call somewhere really far away, but that


    isn¡¯t practical yet.¡±


    ¡°Nor necessary since we only know Elaine and our girls,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I have to make a single use for Guin and Linus,¡± said Jack. ¡°But they will only be


    able to talk to me, or you. I don¡¯t quite trust them with Elaine, or the girls.¡±


    ¡°How sure are you these will work at range?,¡± asked Josie. The demonstration


    showed the concept was doable.


    ¡°I¡¯m just glad they didn¡¯t cut our hands off,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her expression.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I made sure they wouldn¡¯t do anything like that when I put them


    together.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so glad to know that,¡± said Josie. She looked down at the band around her wrist.


    ¡°I just push the button like Deadpool, and we¡¯re talking.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead. The girls are calling right now.¡±


    Josie changed to Zatanna. The caller bracelet cut off when she assumed another form.


    That was good to know. She wished she was at the edge of her limit on the other side


    of the city. She landed in a familiar spot and thought she was on the road to Kernly.


    She hid off the road and powered down. She had enough of a charge to get back


    home, but she couldn¡¯t try to call Jack as Zatanna. She pushed the button.


    The Ducklings and Elaine had fanned out from the hole in the wall and seemed to


    be working their way toward the center of the city and along the inner wall. Jack


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.seemed to be teaching them to clear the channel after speaking their peace.


    ¡°This here¡¯s Rubber Duck for Army Monkey Boy,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m five by five in the


    Big Green along Kernly Road. Going to say three cities away, Army Monkey Boy.


    Come back.¡±


    ¡°Copy that, Rubber Duck,¡± said Jack. ¡°Max range out?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± admitted Josie. She knew how she could find out. ¡°Have to go


    offline to read your fortune. Ready?¡±


    ¡°Hit me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Off line,¡± said Josie. She released the call button and took the bracelet off. She


    reached for her watch. She changed into Zatanna again and asked for the book of


    knowledge. It gave her the approximate range of the watch. She switched back and


    put the watch back on. She pushed the button to call back. ¡°Rubber Duck is back on


    the air waves. Bee oh kay says fifty more klicks west. That¡¯s a big radius from the


    hole in the wall.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s working better than I thought,¡± said Jack. ¡°Any problems, girls and Elaine?¡±


    A chorus of negatives flowed through the line.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s bring it in for dinner.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a party of Montrose heading for the house,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Everyone clear the line,¡± said Jack. ¡°Where are you, Matty?¡±


    ¡°I am halfway to the desert shop,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I saw them go by on the road


    heading back to our place. They¡¯re pulling a covered wagon. I can¡¯t see what¡¯s


    inside.¡±


    ¡°Everyone form up on Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I got this. Josie, come in and flank around


    in case one runs. Let¡¯s see if they are actually coming here, or if they are going


    somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Saw them, Milord,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I am walking two streets away from Matilda. At


    least two hooded men in the front. They are on the shop road, heading for the wall.¡±


    ¡°Copy that, Bea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Keep an eye out for more of them.¡±


    Josie changed back to Zatanna and lost the link. She wished that she was almost


    home. She appeared on a roof where she could see the wagon rolling toward their


    den. She decided to change back long enough to let Jack know that this wasn¡¯t a false


    alarm.


    ¡°The girls are right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I see two on the bench, and there may be two, or


    more in the back.¡±


    ¡°Probably dropping off more victims, or checking why the last bunch didn¡¯t send


    anyone else through the wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°Everybody hang back. I¡¯ll deal with this.


    Let me know if more of these guys make themselves visible.¡±


    ¡°At least you know your wrist phones work,¡± said Josie. She moved along the roofs


    to follow the wagon. She wanted to confront them in the street. She decided to hold


    on for Jack. He probably wanted to make sure before he did something heinous.


    ¡°Dick Tracy would be proud,¡± said Jack. ¡°They¡¯re giving the secret knock. Let me get


    started.¡±


    Josie watched the bulbous shape of the hole in the wall. Jack opened the door to


    greet the wagon, grinning at the people on the bench in the front. He waved at them.


    They started asking questions. Jack said something. She couldn¡¯t hear all of it, but it


    sounded like he said that the old crew was dead. The people on the wagon


    dismounted, pulling clubs and swords. Answers were needed about this situation.


    Josie reached for her watch. She knew Jack didn¡¯t need her help, but she didn¡¯t want


    to let him carry her quest for her. She should get down there and do something to help


    out.


    Three of the men dropped dead before she could do anything. She blinked. The fourth


    tried to run. Jack stabbed him in the leg, his persona a mass of floating swords. What


    had he pushed to get that?


    She dropped down as a hawk and returned to normal. All of the Montrose except


    for the living one seemed cut to pieces.


    ¡°Blade is okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I like Captain America more.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll never have to worry about winning a swordfight,¡± said Josie. She went to the


    back of the wagon. It was shut against people peering into the back from the street.


    ¡°Anybody in there?¡±


    ¡°We are,¡± said a young voice. ¡°These men took us. I want to go home.¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re talking to one of the guys now. We¡¯ll get you home.¡±


    ¡°The Ducklings and I are together,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I can¡¯t talk to Jack through the


    band.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t work when we¡¯re changed for some reason,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have


    another wagon full of kidnaped girls. Give us a second.¡±


    ¡°Who do you work for, Dudley?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I would like to have a talk with him.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± said Dudley. He tried to stop the blood coming out of his


    leg with pressure from his hands. ¡°He¡¯s a lord.¡±


    ¡°Let me help you,¡± said Josie. She pushed the button on I, Vampire again. The blood


    from the wound floated to her. ¡°Give us the name and I will let you go to warn him


    that I am coming to get him. Otherwise, we¡¯ll have to find him ourselves. He won¡¯t


    get a warning, and you won¡¯t be alive.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Lord Endwright,¡± said Dudley. He watched the liquid stream through the air.


    ¡°Please let me go.¡±


    ¡°Where do we find him?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He has a townhouse toward the center of the city, a few blocks west of the


    Adventurer¡¯s Hall,¡± said Dudley.


    ¡°Are you an adventurer?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Dudley. ¡°I couldn¡¯t get the license.¡±


    ¡°All right then,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can go.¡±


    Josie waved her hand in dismissal.


    They watched Dudley pulled the sleeve of his shirt off and tie it over the wound in


    his leg before he limped away. He hopped along to the corner.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to follow him and see where he goes,¡± said Jack. ¡°See what you can do


    about these women. You might have to ask the Corle posse to hold on to them until


    they can go home.¡±


    ¡°The Corle posse?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°They¡¯re the women I put up in Corle¡¯s mansion after I killed him,¡± said Jack. ¡°Send


    a message. We might have to ask them to route survivors back to where they belong


    instead of getting Guin on things.¡±


    ¡°I want my shot at this Endwright, then we do the raid,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you,¡± said Jack. He turned into the Falcon. ¡°Save some food for me for


    when I get back.¡±


    He flew off with a flap of his wings.


    ¡°Are you there, Elaine?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°These bands are a wonder.¡±


    ¡°Bring the kids in,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to talk to some people.¡±


    ¡°Understood, ma¡¯am,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Is it about the Montrose?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack said he met some people that might be able to help us get


    these girls back to where they belong. I need someone better with horses to help get


    the wagon over there.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Do you want to keep the wagon?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to keep the wagon and horses?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Because that will be a lot


    of work to feed the animals and muck out any stalls.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk about it with the girls,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done.¡±

 Raid with Blade

    Jack switched back and forth as the Falcon to follow their patsy across the city. The


    watch constantly recharged as he moved as himself across the roofs. He used the


    Falcon to cross gaps he couldn¡¯t jump across but only long enough to land and


    change back. He didn¡¯t want to get ahead of Dudley in case he was lying about whom


    was his boss.


    The small stab wound and the threat of a horrible death might have been enough to


    wring the truth out of the man, but torture was unreliable and people will say anything


    to get out of trouble.


    Jack would have said anything to get away from Josie when she was wearing the


    fangs and hair himself.


    But Dudley was heading towards the Adventurers¡¯ Hall according to his inner


    compass.


    That much had been the truth. So which of the buildings around the Hall contained


    the slavers? And what did he want to do when he found it? What happened if he


    didn¡¯t wait on Josie?


    She would be mad as a wet hen, but he could live with that rather than tell her mom


    that she had got killed raiding some guy¡¯s house in an extradimensional scavenger


    hunt thrown by mysterious backers. He was not doing that at all. Josie would have


    to talk to her own mother.


    Jack paused to watch Dudley skirt around the Hall and head for a set of walled houses


    on the other side. He nodded as that part checked out. He wondered what the


    transporter would say to explain how he had lost his cargo.


    He doubted the man would say he had been attacked by a vampire and an assortment


    of cutlery. That would be too outlandish to be believed. He would probably say that


    a gang of bandits had attacked the wagon and stole everything.


    Jack would do the same thing if he was in the same position.


    Jack flew across the large cleared gap around the Hall to land on the roof. He changed


    back and watched the wagoneer move through the neighborhood toward a house at


    the end of the row. Was that the Lord¡¯s house? He could probably check with


    someone on the street, but he watched to make sure Dudley was allowed inside the


    house.


    Dudley was allowed inside the gate by two more men with the Jack Makeover. He


    walked down the driveway, and headed for the back of the place. It looked like he


    could enter as a servant, or as some kind of salesperson.


    Did Lord Endwright know what was going on suddenly became a relevant question.


    He checked the power on his watch. He had enough to watch from a distance as the


    Vision. Then he could worry about what he planned to do. He was tempted to try out


    Nitro on the house and see what happened.


    And he was also tempted to go ahead without Josie. He didn¡¯t need her to take part


    in something she shouldn¡¯t be doing. The Army had already given him enough skills


    to blow into the house without her. The watch just made that easier.


    He dialed the Vision and watched Dudley make his way to a waiting room set up like


    a living room off the kitchens. A woman appeared with the Montrose markings. She


    and Dudley exchanged words about what had happened at the hole in the wall. The


    woman seemed placid on the surface to the watcher. She apparently told her servant


    to wait in the parlor until she decided what to do.


    Jack regretted the Vision didn¡¯t allow him to hear what was going on.


    He looked through the rest of the house. He noted that two men were bedridden


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.in separate rooms on the top floor. He wondered what that was about. Obviously the


    lady seemed to be running things. Why keep the men around?


    He decided that wasn¡¯t his problem until he broke in.


    He noted the staff moving around. He frowned at the amount of unmarked servants


    mixed in with the marked guards wandering the house. He thought maybe ten


    noncombatants in the house.


    That meant taking care not to cut people up that didn¡¯t deserve it.


    He had personas on his watch that he could use as workarounds. The main problem


    was chasing people down as someone else and not being able to wall them with


    the Vision at the same time.


    The two sick guys interested him in the questions they posed. Why keep them around


    when you were a despicable human trafficker? He doubted for love. Maybe keeping


    them alive kept the money flowing somehow.


    He stepped back and returned to normal. He could get in through the roof. Gravity


    could help him sort through the people he was going to get rid of from the people


    who didn¡¯t seem to know what was going on. Then he could think about fixing the


    two sick guys with Doctor Strange, his medician.


    Did he want to do the raid right now before Josie could get in the way? He didn¡¯t see


    why not. She could handle trying to get the kidnaped victims back to where they


    belonged.


    He could put up with a little anger over a done deal. His four sisters had taught him


    that much.


    He decided to let Josie know he was going in so she wouldn¡¯t use that against him.


    He just wouldn¡¯t tell her directly.


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± Jack said into his new phone watch. ¡°Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, milord,¡± said Elaine. ¡°These watches are something new. I don¡¯t know if I


    like it, or not.¡±


    ¡°Tell Josie that Lady Endwright seems to be running the show, and I am going in,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the watches,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I have to change up,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll let you guys know when it¡¯s over.¡±


    He changed to the Falcon and flew across to the roof of the house. He dropped down


    to a window ledge as Blade and cut his way inside. He walked across the bedroom,


    noting how luxuriously appointed it was compared to the two sick guys. He sliced


    through the door.


    The next few minutes were bloody as Jack carved his way down through the house.


    The regular staff had the sense to run from him. The soldiers tried to fight back at


    first. Then they started to run as Blade¡¯s floating swords hacked through anything


    that got in his way. The only one he wanted to question was Lady Endwright. The rest


    were cannon fodder.


    He wondered how the city authorities were going to take this usurpation of their role


    after he was done. He certainly wasn¡¯t going to be covering it up.


    Jack ran out of power halfway through his search. He frowned as he backed up to an


    empty office. He had to wait for the watch to recharge now. Had anyone gone upstairs


    to deal with the sick men? He should have thought they would need a guard from the


    rats in the house.


    He might have to fight without the watch if it didn¡¯t charge up fast enough.


    He thought he heard an explosion below him. He wondered if Josie had decided


    to show up instead of getting the others settled. He grinned. He shouldn¡¯t have called.


    Now she would be mad and looking around to do things to people.


    A serious of snaps echoed below. They sounded like gunshots to him. What was she


    using? He didn¡¯t remember the Arrow making noise when she shot up that


    warehouse.


    Someone slammed open the door. He punched the face before realizing he had


    punched one of the maids. He directed her to a chair as she clutched her face. He


    noted she didn¡¯t have the Montrose Makeover. That was enough to let her live for the


    moment.


    ¡°Stay in here and you might be alive when this is over,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t step out of


    here until I get done.¡±


    ¡°Lord Endwright needs protection,¡± said the maid.


    ¡°How¡¯s he going to get that if you¡¯re dead?,¡± asked Jack. He switched back to Blade.


    ¡°Stay out of the way, and I¡¯ll see what I can do about him.¡±


    He stepped out in the hall. His swords rotated around him as he looked for targets.


    He spotted something made of marbles coming up the stairs. He doubted anyone


    else could do what he and Josie were doing.


    ¡°Hey, Josie,¡± he called.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hey Josie me, buddy,¡± said Josie. ¡°How many are supposed to be here?¡±


    ¡°Dudley, ten guards, and the Lady Endwright,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯s twelve,¡± said Josie. ¡°I only got notifications for eleven.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a maid in the office here,¡± said Jack. ¡°She wants to check on the lord of the


    manor. Apparently he is sick.¡±


    ¡°Not a Montrose?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We still have to find the last one,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need the Vision for that.¡±


    Jack nodded as he switched bodies. He looked over the house. He frowned. He


    dropped the persona.


    ¡°She¡¯s with the Lord,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go up and see what kind of deal she wants


    to make.¡±

 Lady Endwright

    Josie let her persona go so her watch could recharge. She frowned at Jack as they


    made their way upstairs. He was supposed to wait for her instead of raiding the place


    himself.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wait for me?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to,¡± said Jack. ¡°What about the girls in the wagon?¡±


    ¡°Elaine and the Ducklings are negotiating with your harem for safe passage for


    them,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some of them don¡¯t have homes. Jane said she would look after


    them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s really great,¡± said Jack. He smiled slightly. ¡°Are you ready to do this?¡±


    ¡°I need to let the watch recharge after what I did,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m still mad about


    this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are,¡± said Jack. He waved his hand for her to take the other side of the


    door. ¡°I will be glad to talk to you about this when it¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°I know better than that,¡± said Josie. She took the other side of the door. ¡°You avoid


    talking about things you have done.¡±


    ¡°And I will continue to do so until the day I die,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll try to cause a


    distraction. She was holding a knife to the Lord¡¯s neck. It¡¯ll be up to you to pull off


    the rescue.¡±


    ¡°Zatanna should be useful for this,¡± said Josie. ¡°One spell should be enough to


    separate them.¡±


    ¡°Then we can see if we can find out anything from her about who¡¯s running things


    and how to cut them off,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might let us change the existing nobility into


    something useful without causing a civil war.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what she wants,¡± said Josie. She looked at her watch as it dinged to let her


    know it was ready to conduct business.


    Jack knocked on the door. He wanted the Vision to track her moves, but decided he


    wanted to be loose in case he needed to call up someone else. Scarlet Witch, or the


    Hulk, could make short work of the door if he wanted. He didn¡¯t know if she would


    start cutting if he knocked the thing down.


    And he didn¡¯t want to get in trouble with the Society for causing someone innocent


    to be executed in his own bed by his greedy wife.


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± called Lady Endwright.


    Josie summoned her magic. She waved at Jack to keep talking while she got ready.


    She didn¡¯t need the door open as soon as she summoned the book of knowledge to


    help her target her enemy.


    ¡°I want to know about the Montrose,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m ready to trade you your freedom


    for whatever you can tell me about the organization.¡±


    ¡°Why should I believe you?,¡± said Lady Endwright.


    ¡°I let the spotter in the market go with his daughter when he gave me the alchemist


    that makes your potions,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I killed him. It¡¯s amazing what chemicals


    will do when you set them on fire.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you,¡± said Lady Endwright.


    ¡°Which part?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°The spotter gave me everyone he knew, and I gave


    everyone else to my partner. I don¡¯t know if she had time to take her revenge yet, but


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.I definitely did kill the alchemist and Donald Corle.¡±


    ¡°You killed Donald?,¡± said Lady Endwright. ¡°He went up north on some expedition.¡±


    ¡°He was trying to unleash a menace on the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°He got what he


    deserved.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you,¡± said Lady Endwright.


    ¡°I have his ring,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are we going to keep talking through the door, or are


    you going to let me open it so we can talk face to face?¡±


    ¡°I want you to leave the hall, and then leave the manor,¡± said Lady Endwright. ¡°I will


    send a message to the rest of my men. We will take the younger Endwright with us


    and leave the elder behind. When I am sure I¡¯m safe, we will leave word where the


    younger Endwright is so he can be found.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care about the Endwrights,¡± said Jack. ¡°My offer still stands. I will let


    you walk away with whatever you can carry if you give us details about the Montrose.


    You won¡¯t leave that room alive otherwise. Don¡¯t throw everything away when you


    can rebuild somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Open the door,¡± said Lady Endwright. ¡°I want to see if you are armed.¡±


    Jack turned the knob and pushed the door open. He stood in the frame with his hands


    up. He saw the crossbow at the last second and stepped back as the bolt whipped


    across the room. He shook his head as the missile sank into the opposite wall.


    Josie flung her hand into the room. She nodded as everything froze in place. She


    checked her watch and noted the spell was eating a lot of energy. She wrapped Lady


    Endwright in a set of manacles after making sure she wasn¡¯t armed with anything


    else. She pushed the noble off the bed so she couldn¡¯t try to strangle her husband with


    her new manacles.


    ¡°So we have number twelve,¡± said Josie. She gestured at the manacled lady. ¡°What


    do we do about her husband?¡±


    ¡°I use Doctor Strange to see what¡¯s wrong with him, and fix him,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then


    we deal with things from there.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She let the Zatanna persona slip. ¡°Are we really going to let


    her go?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t come outside to talk to us, and shot at me too,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯s not


    getting a pass. I just want to know what she knows about the rest of the captains.


    Maybe we can do something to them to make the rest reorganize.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t ditch me over that,¡± said Josie. She frowned at him. ¡°You may have some


    powerhouses on your watch, but so do I. And one wrong move, and I am all alone


    except for the girls and Elaine. They don¡¯t have the years that we do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m capable,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I¡¯m not explaining anything to your mom either.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not trapping me with a trade,¡± said Jack. ¡°Take your prisoner and clear out


    while I try to figure out how to deal with Lord Endwright. Then we can see who we


    have to deal with next.¡±


    ¡°All right, but your mother is a lot better than mine,¡± said Josie. She grabbed the set


    of chains of the noble and pulled her to her feet. ¡°She would want to know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send her an invite when Elaine and I figure out if we want to get married or not,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Maybe even give her the watch so she can be the next champion.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear you say anything like that again,¡± said Josie. She pulled on her


    prisoner. ¡°Let¡¯s go downstairs, and you can tell me what you know.¡±


    ¡°You ruined everything,¡± said Lady Endwright. She seemed a little dazed by what had


    happened.


    ¡°Jack does that,¡± said Josie. ¡°One time, he did something to a friend¡¯s birthday cake


    that caused his friend to never talk to him again.¡±


    ¡°It was your cake,¡± said Jack. ¡°And we talk all the time.¡±


    ¡°Do you hear that?,¡± said Josie. ¡°That sounds like the voice of a ditching ex-friend.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I chased Dudley back to where his home base was and raided it,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Now don¡¯t let anyone in here until I am done.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the stairs,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we can wait there.¡±


    ¡°I will see you pay for this,¡± said Lady Endwright.


    ¡°How?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m tempted to put you through the process so you can see what


    you are doing, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll learn anything. So when Jack is done, I will


    talk to him about how much we can squeeze you to get what we want.¡±


    ¡°What if you can¡¯t get anything?,¡± said the noble.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll deal with you in a way you won¡¯t like,¡± said Josie. She already had some


    ideas based on the book of knowledge. She wouldn¡¯t want to try them where she


    might have to battle new arrivals trying to get their commander out of her hands.


    But they wouldn¡¯t take her without a fight since Josie had opened up Bulletgirl. That


    tended to trump the normal swordsmen about the same as Jack¡¯s Blade.


    She had never thought of herself as a gun bunny, but the persona allowed her to fill


    the air with bullets made from her body.


    That worked great against people that had never seen a gun.

 Staff Meeting

    Jack made sure the bolt was thrown on the door. He didn¡¯t want anyone coming in


    while he was working. Doctor Strange¡¯s looks were a little on the squamous side.


    And the tentacles could be a bit too much.


    He called on the Doctor, asking for a diagnosis. Once he knew what was wrong, he


    could think about how to fix it. He had an idea alchemy was involved in some way.


    Montrose seemed to love it for the ease of use and criminal potions that could be


    brewed.


    The screens confirmed poison through the Lord¡¯s body. It was a minor miracle he


    hadn¡¯t died. A counter started brewing inside the Doctor when he was sure that was


    what he had to deal with to put a hamper in the Lady¡¯s plans.


    Jack injected the antidote and watched the screens. The poison cleared away slowly


    as the cure worked its way through the victim¡¯s body. A few days of rest, and then he


    would have to work to get back in shape.


    He couldn¡¯t do anything to help that. He had to check on the boy, and see if he was


    suffering the same thing. If he was, then he needed the cure and he would have to


    rehabilitate himself like his father.


    It looked like the maid would get her chance to move into the Ladyship if she played


    her cards right. A lot depended on if the Lord would be grateful to someone nursing


    him through his months of weakness.


    He might send her away so he didn¡¯t have to be reminded his wife poisoned him so


    she could take over his estate and sell human beings to others.


    Jack decided that what the Lord tried to do next was out of his hands. Once he had


    mitigated the damage on the son, he would be done helping the family other than


    what he and Josie were already doing. Lady Endwright was probably not going to


    make it back to the household the way Josie was looking.


    He found the maid in the room he had left her in. She stood by the door when he


    cracked it open. She wore worry on her face.


    ¡°I need to work on the boy,¡± said Jack. ¡°Lord Endwright is sleeping. When he wakes


    up, he is going to need to be exercised and checked for sores. Then someone is going


    to have to make sure he tries to walk three steps a day until he can. Do you


    understand?¡±


    ¡°What kind of food should I get for him?,¡± asked the maid.


    ¡°Start with soup,¡± said Jack. ¡°When he gets stronger, you can start adding bits of meat


    and vegetables. Do not get him any elixirs, or other alchemical solutions, no matter


    how hard he howls. It will set him back and kill him.¡±


    ¡°No elixirs, or potions?,¡± asked the maid.


    ¡°None,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you want to check on the Lord and then get the staff together,


    that would be good. I will be happy to repeat my instructions.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the maid. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone would believe you said anything


    to me.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s sleeping, but you should be able to check on him,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get everyone in


    the dining room. Hopefully, no one is dead in there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the maid. ¡°What was wrong with Milord?¡±


    ¡°Potions and elixirs,¡± said Jack. He waved her to get on with things before walking


    to where the son slept in a coma.


    Jack used his Doctor Strange persona on the boy after making sure the door was


    locked. Having too many tentacles and eyes was not going to be good for anyone


    casually looking in on what he was doing.


    The boy was nearly dead, so he had to alter the cure to boost him to a better baseline


    before he could start curing the rest of the damage. In a few months, he should be


    working on walking again.


    Flushing the poison out pushed the kid out of his coma and in a more normal sleep.


    Someone had been taking care of him so he wouldn¡¯t starve in his sleep. That


    someone was probably the maid who had tried to protect the lord from him.


    He decided to see if the staff had been gathered. Once he had said his peace, he could


    pick up Josie and the Lady Endwright and talk about what they wanted to do next.


    One thing about the uncertain future, Lady Endwright was not going to be facing it


    for much longer.


    Jack stepped over the sliced and shot traffickers on his way to the dining hall. He


    wondered how Josie had managed modern bullets in a medieval world. He could ask


    when he was done with this bit of things.


    Hopefully he wouldn¡¯t have to call on Blade and show these people how he really


    went about his business.


    No more than he already had anyway.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    He walked into the massive room. People in livery clustered around the table. He


    could tell he wasn¡¯t what they expected. That was okay.


    ¡°Please be seated,¡± said Jack. He waved at the table. ¡°This won¡¯t take long.¡±


    The staff looked at him before taking their places. They all wanted to say something,


    but some of them had already seen him in action as Blade. No one wanted to have


    something chopped off by a madman.


    None of them had the makeover. That put them off the list of people that needed to


    be killed in his opinion. They could always put themselves back on the list at a later


    date.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°My name is Jack. How many of you are loyal to Lady


    Endwright?¡±


    None of the staff admitted to anything that could get them killed.


    ¡°So all of you are loyal to Lord Endwright?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He was fine until he got married,¡± said the maid. ¡°Then he got sick, and has been


    sleeping everything away while that woman tried to ruin his fortune.¡±


    ¡°The younger Endwright got sick too,¡± said one of the younger butlers. ¡°They both


    wound up in bed.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°They were both poisoned.¡±


    He saw that was an idea that had been discussed among the staff members.


    ¡°All right, I gave them a cure,¡± said Jack. ¡°They will be weak for the next few


    months. They are going to need to be nursed, and exercised. Potions and elixirs


    should not be given to them. It will put them back in bed and probably kill them. Now


    if they die, and I come back through here, heads will roll. Am I understood?¡±


    He looked at the staff. They all looked back at him in various states of anger.


    Obviously, he had hit a nerve.


    ¡°Now, who is the cook here?,¡± said Jack. Two women in blood spattered aprons


    raised their hands. ¡°All right. The Endwrights are going to need liquid food until they


    are strong enough to eat real food. Soup will be the order of the day. After a while,


    you can put in tiny amounts of meat and vegetables until they can handle real food.


    Butlers, and groundspeople?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Marl, the head butler,¡± said an older man in a suit marked with the Endwright


    crest. ¡°This is Casp, the master¡¯s valet, and Ord, the son¡¯s valet. The man over there


    is Kirn, who is the head groundskeeper.¡±


    ¡°Both Lord Endwright and his son are going to need to be exercised and taken outside


    to do things,¡± said Jack. ¡°You four are going to have to get them into chairs and work


    on getting their muscles back into shape. Same time every day would be ideal, but I


    understand if you can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°What about Lady Endwright?,¡± asked the maid. Anything they did could be


    overturned by the wife at any moment.


    ¡°What about her?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°When she comes back, she won¡¯t allow us to help Lord Endwright,¡± said the maid.


    She looked at her fellow employees. They all made gestures of support. ¡°None of us


    know how to fight to protect Lord Endwright.¡±


    ¡°Lady Endwright is not coming back,¡± said Jack. ¡°She threw her lot in with a bunch


    of human monsters, and she is going to pay a heavy price for that. There is no doubt


    in my mind that she poisoned her husband and son for control of the estate. I would


    apprize Lord Endwright that he has been sleeping under her care and he might need


    to check how much money he actually has. Are there any other questions?¡±


    ¡°Lady Endwright¡¯s cronies?,¡± asked Marl. ¡°They do visit her when they can.¡±


    ¡°Tell them that Lady Endwright is dead, and they will be too,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you


    know their names and where they live, that might be something you should write


    down for me to hand to my partner.¡±


    ¡°Will she kill them too?,¡± asked one of the cooks.


    ¡°Eventually,¡± said Jack. He watched Marl and Kirn talk and write about names they


    were putting on the list. Marl had actual names while Kirn had estates. He glanced


    over their shoulders. ¡°You can mark Corle off. I killed him up north.¡±


    ¡°Chopped him to pieces, sir?,¡± asked Kirn. He waved at the house around them.


    ¡°I threw him off a great height,¡± said Jack. ¡°He was trying to summon a monster to


    invade the city. He could not be allowed to do that.¡±


    Jack thought that was factually true since he didn¡¯t want to get into Gravity and the


    power the persona gave him. And it looked like Corle was going up to try to get the


    Dark Rider to start down the trail.


    There was no telling how much damage would have been done if the vengeful ghost


    had actually made it to the gates of Hawk Ridge.


    Taking the both of them out was a necessity and required under the quest list and Jack


    didn¡¯t feel bad about that at all.


    ¡°I think these are all the people that Milady Endwright dealt with since taking over


    the Lord¡¯s estate,¡± said Marl. He handed Jack the paper.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to my partner. She might be able to clean this


    mess up for you. I expect one of you will have to keep an eye on the Endwrights until


    they wake up, and then you guys will have to keep a lookout for anything that needs


    to be nipped in the bud. Naturally anybody with markings like Lady Endwright


    should be sent away and told they are marked for death just like her.¡±


    ¡°What do you want for this?,¡± asked Marl. As a senior, and in charge of the house for


    the nobility, he was used to bargaining for things.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want anything,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a job to do, and this is part of that. When


    the threat is over, I¡¯ll be gone and you will be back to doing things on your own. Just


    look after each other, and the rest will work out.¡±


    ¡°We will do our best,¡± said Marl. He looked around at the staff. They all gave him


    agreement.


    ¡°If you need something, send a messenger to the Silver Coin and leave a note with the


    doorman,¡± said Jack. ¡°They know me there.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Marl. ¡°I guess we should start cleaning up.¡±


    ¡°Just remember,¡± said Jack as he turned to leave. ¡°You, all of you, are responsible


    for whatever happens next.¡±


    He left out the front door, looking for his partner. He had a list of names in his


    clutches and a will to see what would happen if he and Josie paid them a visit before


    they got out of town.


    Blade had worked great in the house, but maybe he was too messy. He should try


    someone who just left holes in his victims without leaving bodyparts everywhere. He


    should ask Josie what she had been using.


    He doubted the heroes he was familiar with that used beam attacks like Cyclops


    would use the same attacks in their persona.


    He found Josie alone with a notebook in her hands. She had it open to read the pages


    with a finger to mark where she was. The frown was a cloud on her face.


    ¡°Ready to go?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°The nobles?¡±


    ¡°Fixed,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Could you clean up the place?¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± Josie turned her squint of doom on him.


    ¡°Pulling out a tooth sometimes requires gum surgery,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to carry me back to the girls,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Deal,¡± said Jack.

 Judgment

    Josie let Jack deal with the Endwrights while she walked Lady Endwright to the


    courtyard outside. She still had her paper and she had an idea of what she wanted to


    do. And she had the means to get it done.


    She doubted the noblewoman would like what was going to happen, but she had a


    small amount of patience for people hurting others. She supposed that was too much


    comic book reading coming up from the back of her brain.


    ¡°What are you going to do?,¡± asked Lady Endwright.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to change forms and take all the information I can from you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Then I am going to send you somewhere where you can¡¯t do any more harm.¡±


    ¡°I would like to live,¡± said Lady Endwright. ¡°Isn¡¯t there something material you


    want?¡±


    ¡°Your organization tried to make me a mindless pawn,¡± said Josie. ¡°All I want is the


    fulfilment of my quest so my patrons know that I am still working on the job that I


    said I would do.¡±


    Josie reached for her watch face.


    ¡°I¡¯m not your judge,¡± she said. She pushed down for Zatanna. ¡°I¡¯m your judgment.¡±


    Josie wished for all the relevant facts that she wanted to appear on clean sheets of


    paper. She read the contents as the words wrote themselves. She nodded at the


    confirmation of Donald Corle¡¯s involvement. And the fact that he was dead made her


    feel even better about Jack operating on his own.


    When the spell had run its course, she bound the information into a notebook and put


    it to one side.


    ¡°What are you going to do now?,¡± asked Lady Endwright. She tried to catch her


    breath to recover from the assault on her mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to let you go,¡± said Josie. She wished for her victim to appear in the sky


    over the city and start falling to the ground.


    She returned to her normal form and sighed. She should have thought of some way


    to express mercy instead of vowing to kill all the members of the Montrose.


    Executing them was starting to take a mental toll no matter how much they deserved


    it.


    Maybe she needed to send an invitation out to get as many as the Montrose together


    so she could get rid of them all at once. Maybe that would ease her pangs. She had


    totally wrecked herself out of anger.


    She throttled her regret down. This wasn¡¯t the first time she had jumped into


    something without looking where the bottom was. She had survived those, and she


    could survive this.


    And she had the kids and Elaine to help with that. They made some of this worth it.


    She saw Jack coming out of the house. He looked grim but satisfied. Helping people


    suited him a lot more than it did her. Out of the two of them, he was the one who was


    doing better with the challenge they had been given.


    He could survive anything with the same cool attitude as getting a tea out of the


    fridge. He had survived a few years getting shot at and had slipped back into civilian


    life without a problem.


    ¡°Ready to go?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°The nobles?¡±


    ¡°Fixed,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Could you clean up the place?¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± Josie turned her squint of doom on him.


    ¡°Pulling out a tooth sometimes requires gum surgery,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to carry me back to the girls,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Deal,¡± said Jack.


    Josie shook her head. He didn¡¯t look as regretful about his request as he should in her


    opinion.


    ¡°How did you get a gun?,¡± asked Jack as she turned back into Zatanna and checked


    her watch.


    ¡°Bulletgirl,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t want to use her full power on the house. Maybe


    something out of Mary Poppins would do. The staff, whomever remained, could


    handle anything she didn¡¯t after they left.


    ¡°Bulletgirl?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Bulletgirl. I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you believe,¡± said Josie. She picked a spot of blood on the


    floor. She told the blood to start burning up the rest of it as fast as it could. The


    bodies would vanish as the blood did its work.


    She cast a general clean up spell to do the rest of the work. The servants might leave


    when they saw things hopping around. There was nothing she could do about that.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me put up some monitors, and we can go.¡±


    Birds appeared and perched inside the house. When the area within their watch areas


    cleared, the bird would vanish.


    ¡°We can go now,¡± said Josie. She almost smiled as damage started repairing itself in


    little dancing motions. ¡°The birds will make sure the job gets done.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°You ready to fly?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Josie. She let Zatanna go so the watch could recharge.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Let me call up Gravity and we¡¯ll be on our way,¡± said Jack. He made the switch to


    an outline of color and pulled them both in the air. They soared above the city at a


    leisurely pace. ¡°Do you think the Montrose will start coming after us now?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Lady Endwright had a lot of deals in the works trying to


    increase her fortune. Her death might throw a spanner in the works, might make the


    organization try to hold her husband to her deal.¡±


    ¡°I told the servants to turn anyone with the Makeover away,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know


    how long that will hold with a force of armed men.¡±


    ¡°Probably not long,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we keep taking back their slaves, we might rise


    above being minor annoyances.¡±


    ¡°If we keep killing their personnel, we might rise above being minor annoyances,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°If we can force them out of Hawk Ridge, we might rise above medium,


    and into the major threats to their dealings.¡±


    ¡°I was feeling tired,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right. Maybe we should work on


    trying to clear them out of Hawk Ridge. I would love to get as many as I can together


    so I can get rid of them in one fell swoop.¡±


    ¡°What do we do?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Advertise?¡±


    ¡°I doubt they will go for something like that,¡± said Josie. She rubbed her face. ¡°This


    is making me car sick.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s the falling without hitting the ground,¡± said Josie. ¡°Still, it¡¯s fast.¡±


    ¡°I can go faster, but I didn¡¯t want to try that inside the city walls,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    didn¡¯t want to splat against a building.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Josie. ¡°There is the Corle house. Bring us down, and we can walk


    the rest of the way.¡±


    ¡°Bringing us in,¡± said Jack. He let the natural gravity of the planet slowly take over


    and they drifted to a landing.


    ¡°What do you think about what we found out?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The Montrose are big users of alchemists and if we hurt them, we can hurt the


    overall production,¡± said Josie. ¡°The hex we put on the love potion seems to have


    permanently taken it off the table somehow. So they can¡¯t make willing slaves


    anymore, and the ones they had might decide to fight back if they aren¡¯t broken


    already.¡±


    ¡°We might have created an army of amazons waiting for their chance?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any more deaths inside the


    organization other than the ones we caused. We are still on our own unless I start


    seeing massive losses.¡±


    ¡°Nothing from the hunter?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No, so either he is out of the picture, or he is traveling,¡± said Josie. ¡°The watches are


    making it easy for us to travel, but most people have to take days to get where they


    are going.¡±


    ¡°So he might have cleared out everyone around him?,¡± said Jack. ¡°How would he


    know about any others?¡±


    ¡°If he is traveling,¡± said Josie. ¡°He might be dead in a ditch somewhere.¡±


    ¡°But if he is traveling, how would he know there were more than one little group


    doing business?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He has a copy of the ledgers,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s the only way.¡±


    ¡°He might have done some Jack Bauer on a few of them,¡± said Jack. ¡°I like the


    ledgers because it matches up to what the Society told me.¡±


    ¡°So he knows as many of the Montrose as we do,¡± said Josie. ¡°Is he coming the


    way?¡±


    ¡°No idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need to do something with what you took from Lady


    Endwright.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Elaine to map it,¡± said Josie. ¡°It might give us a hot spot we can clear out


    after we clear Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°How did you get Bulletgirl?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have been wanting someone I can shoot


    with other than Gravity.¡±


    ¡°Still stuck with hand to hand guys?,¡± asked Josie. She smiled slightly.


    ¡°I pulled out the Human Torch,¡± said Jack. ¡°Setting people on fire doesn¡¯t have the


    knockdown that I want.¡±


    ¡°Blade?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Too messy, too upclose,¡± said Jack. ¡°Sure, I can cut through anything with fifty


    blades swinging around, but I am spraying blood and body parts everywhere. It¡¯s like


    putting your hand in a cuisinart. Nobody wants that.¡±


    ¡°I suggest you look at any of the old gunslingers and see what they can get you,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Bulletgirl is an heroine bought up by DC who was the sidekick to Bulletman.


    Their real power was flight, but the name change from the watch lets me do with them


    what you do with Blade.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s nearly the same as the Arrow,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can see that.¡±


    ¡°There has to be some gunslingers on the watch,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°There are,¡± said Jack. ¡°The names are what¡¯s stalling me from trying them since they


    all have variations of kid in their names. Rawhide Kid, Apache Kid, Two-Gun Kid,


    Kid Colt. I am afraid of turning into a goat with a gun.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Josie. She smiled.


    ¡°Don¡¯t act like you don¡¯t know what I am talking about since you lucked out with


    Grundy,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯re right about that,¡± said Josie.


    She wanted someone superstrong, but got someone supersmart instead. They had


    made it work out.


    Their talk had taken them from their landing spot to the gates of the former Corle


    estate. They paused when they saw their ducklings playing with other kids. Elaine and


    Jane stood off to one side talking.


    ¡°So what do we do now?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°We let them play while we work,¡± said Josie. ¡°Isn¡¯t that what Imagine Dragons


    said?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t been able to build a town, but okay,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We might the way we¡¯re going,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hello, ladies. How are things?¡±


    ¡°We already sent the ones who wanted to go home back,¡± said the leader of the


    refugees. ¡°The rest want to go with you.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Their families couldn¡¯t afford to feed them and sold them to get money to live on,¡±


    said Elaine. ¡°The problem is we don¡¯t have room unless we expand the hole in the


    wall.¡±


    ¡°We could expand the hole in the wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would have to look at it, I


    guess.¡±


    ¡°A solution would be to let them stay here,¡± said the head woman. ¡°But if I do, what


    do you want in return?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°How long can you support a group of women and girls


    here? Josie and I don¡¯t have an idea on what costs are here in the city.¡±


    ¡°If we aren¡¯t extravagant, we can support what we have for years,¡± said the head


    woman. ¡°More people coming in would be a draw on our resources.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Elaine?,¡± asked Josie. She didn¡¯t want to bargain with this


    woman but she knew they were imposing on someone who had just had everything


    ripped up around her. They couldn¡¯t take in every kid they saved no matter how much


    she wanted.


    ¡°Judging by what I saw, the taxes on this place would be enormous,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Turning part of the grounds into a garden might help with food, but they will go


    through the fortune they recovered in two years as long as they live modestly with


    small amounts of upkeep.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is what I want. Anybody we rescue and wants to stay,


    they stay here. If you want to pick up people off the street, that¡¯s good too but not


    necessary. If they want to go home, you arrange for that. In return, I will budget your


    tax bill and reasonable expenses with Elaine to keep you afloat. If any of you want


    to learn how to fight with swords, or shoot a bow, I will pay to have that done too.¡±


    ¡°Define reasonable expenses,¡± said the head lady.


    ¡°Upkeep on the house, small expandings of the wall to the property line, food and


    drink, and one Christmas party,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see golden privies when


    I visit.¡±


    ¡°You are not nearly as angry as Jack made you out to be,¡± said the head lady.


    Jack shook his head.


    ¡°I can be,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do we have a deal?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the head lady. ¡°We will need carpenters and workmen if we have to


    add to the house for others.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a reasonable expense,¡± said Josie. ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Christmas?,¡± said the lady.

 Talking

    Jack lounged in his chair in the office of the hole in the wall. He watched the ladies


    put in pins on the map of the country, and the city. He frowned at the hubs that


    appeared under Josie¡¯s and Elaine¡¯s hands.


    How many would he have to visit in person? It was a big fantasy world out there.


    He smiled.


    ¡°What are you smiling about,?¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I can finally build a flying boat and travel the world like Captain Hook,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That was Peter Pan,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I like Hook better,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Of course you would like the pirate better,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Be that as it may,¡± said Elaine. ¡°This is only what Lady Endwright dealt with from


    her notes. There may be more strongholds that we don¡¯t know about and can¡¯t mark


    right now.¡±


    ¡°And we don¡¯t know where our hunter is either,¡± said Josie. ¡°What does that leave


    us?¡±


    ¡°You guys are looking at this the wrong way,¡± said Jack. He wished he had some tea.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to worry about the ones at the edge of the map yet. We need to worry


    about the ones that are next door to us.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you want to do about this?¡±


    ¡°I think we should look at Guin¡¯s direct competitors,¡± said Jack. He nodded at the


    decision that was forming in his mind. ¡°Plus I need to give him a radio band so we


    can talk to him. We definitely need to look at the alchemists and see if we can cripple


    them.¡±


    ¡°People depend on the alchemists for help with sickness,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We can¡¯t


    destroy all of them.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to unless they are marked,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Actually, we can deal with the alchemists the easiest,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we can move


    on to the other things we need to do.¡±


    ¡°The Exchanges are definitely involved in this,¡± said Josie. ¡°How do we handle that?¡±


    ¡°We start by making sure we can fund Jane, and then we talk to Guin about who he


    wants gone more than most out of the people on our list, and we deal with the


    crooked alchemists on our list,¡± said Jack. ¡°The alchemists are probably the easiest


    thing out of our list we can do.¡±


    ¡°And how are we going to do that?,¡± Josie said. She crossed her arms. She gave him


    a look that said this better be good.


    Jack grinned.


    ¡°Come on,¡± said Josie. ¡°Out with it.¡±


    ¡°I want you to go down to the adventurers¡¯ hall and hire anybody down there to hand


    out fliers to every alchemist in town,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe offer some reward. Elaine,


    what would be a reward that would look good but not suspicious to an alchemist?¡±


    ¡°It depends on how well the alchemist is doing, how greedy that person is,¡± said


    Elaine. ¡°Some won¡¯t leave their shops for anything.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do either of you know how many alchemy places there are in


    town?¡±


    ¡°We have a list of alchemists working for Montrose,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t have to


    deal with all of them.¡±


    ¡°Then one of you should hand out the fliers and see who you can get out of their


    places,¡± said Jack. ¡°It would probably look better if there were faces without the


    Makeover, but you¡¯re right. Someone might get hurt if something happens.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think about it, did you?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack.


    Josie made a gesture that said why do I try?


    ¡°So we get these alchemists in one place,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°I have a talk with them,¡± said Jack. ¡°Tell them to come down to the building we took


    for the offer.¡±


    ¡°The one owned by the Exchange?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll go down and talk to Guin. Anybody we take is going to need


    his staff to execute the remains. We might as well let him know we¡¯re shifting gears


    now that we have this wealth of information.¡±


    ¡°The fact that Lady Endwright and Corle were involved bothers me,¡± said Josie.


    She made the universal gesture for sexual intercourse with both hands.


    ¡°They¡¯re dead, so the world is a better place,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hopefully they didn¡¯t have


    kids.¡±


    He stood and brushed off his clothes. He smiled.


    ¡°As soon as we have a target we can move on for Guin, then we can start rolling the


    Hawk Ridge gang up,¡± said Jack. ¡°It means that you guys are going to have to be


    more careful. They might decide to come after us.¡±


    ¡°The only question is the girls and Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can¡¯t let anything happen


    to them.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Elaine?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think as long as no one knows we¡¯re connected to you, we¡¯re fine,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Jane and her house might have more trouble. Word that you killed Corle will have


    spread around by now. Someone will try to stop you that isn¡¯t connected to the


    Montrose. No one wants a war with Guin, but it does happen.¡±


    ¡°It is what it is,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go ahead. I¡¯ll go talk to Guin, you guys round up


    the alchemists. Send them down to that building. Then we can see what tomorrow


    brings.¡±


    ¡°Practice for the girls, and more work for us,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think Elaine and I will go


    to the Exchange tomorrow to set up the fund for Jane. Then we can go by the house


    and let her know she can write markers for the money.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do the raid by yourself,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine can¡¯t marry a ghost.¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°We¡¯re still talking about that,¡± said Elaine. She smiled. ¡°Go do your thing. We will


    have a late dinner the way things are going.¡±


    ¡°Guin is probably at home,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll start with him there. Once I give him a


    phone, I¡¯ll feel better about leaving him out there alone. I need to give Jane a phone


    too. She should be able to talk to you about her problems.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re good to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t raid anyone that Guin gives you. I¡¯m not


    cleaning up the mess like I did at the Endwrights¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I will stay within arm¡¯s reach,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we do clear out the city, where should


    we go next?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine and I will talk about it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He left the office. He had most of his watch¡¯s power in hand.


    It should take a few minutes each to do what he said he would do.


    If he happened to stumble across someone with the Makeover, Josie couldn¡¯t say he


    shouldn¡¯t have done something.


    He dropped down a few blocks away from the old Corle Manor. He walked up to the


    gate and used Hydroman to get through. He walked up to the door as Majik, working


    on the watch phone. He knocked on the door when he was done and had switched


    back to normal.


    Jane opened the door with a frown. She raised one eyebrow at him. He supposed the


    other one didn¡¯t work.


    ¡°It¡¯s you again,¡± said Jane. ¡°What manner of orphan are you leaving with me now?¡±


    ¡°I have to go talk to Guin, but we wanted to give you a way to call us if there was


    some trouble here at the house,¡± said Jack. He held out the wristband with his


    Deadpool symbol, and Josie¡¯s lightning. ¡°So you push either one of these two buttons


    and you call Josie, or I. Then we come down to deal with things. Also Josie said she


    is going to set up a fund so you can actually start buying things from your pay if you


    need it. She, or Elaine, might be by on the way to the girls¡¯ practice.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°That will keep us from going through the money we have


    here. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no trouble,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to be stirring up trouble, and we feel that


    eventually someone is going to think about doing something to you to get revenge.


    We want to be able to look out for you since you¡¯re working for us.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. She strapped the band around her wrist. ¡°Do you really think


    there is going to be trouble?¡±


    ¡°Eventually,¡± said Jack. ¡°They can¡¯t let us run them out of the city. If they did that,


    anyone could run them out of the city.¡±


    ¡°That would be so bad, wouldn¡¯t it?,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°The guards wouldn¡¯t like it,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I have to go. Maybe once we


    move to another city, you won¡¯t have so much to worry about.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have a home for any that needs it,¡± said Jane. ¡°That is my oath.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Jane,¡± said Jack. He walked to the gate and slipped through. He needed to


    make the last bracelet. He decided to make two. Linus should have one if he was


    going to stick with his boss.


    He walked toward Guin¡¯s small manor a few miles away. The Coin was beyond that.


    He idly wondered how many gambling halls Guin owned as he waited for his watch


    to tick back to full power. He wondered how much of a status quo he and Josie had


    already ripped up by solving their initial quests.


    When would they get more jobs to do for the Society?


    He stopped by the house. The guard on the gate pointed him to the Coin. He gave the


    man a thanks. He started down to the gambling hall.


    He switched to Majik long enough to make two radios. He walked up to the door. The


    doorman nodded and let him in. The casino stood empty of customers at the moment.


    Uniformed people rushed around checking the food and drink, inspecting the tables


    and cards.


    The manager glared at Jack before nodding at him. He pointed to the office over the


    floor.


    That¡¯s an angry, old man. He still has nothing on Josie¡¯s mom.


    Jack went up the stairs. Kray opened the door for him. He nodded.


    ¡°Thanks, Kray,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m not fooling with a werewolf,¡± said Kray.


    ¡°I¡¯m more of a wizard,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Not fooling with wizards either,¡± said Kray.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± said Jack. He walked into the office.


    Guin sat behind his desk. Linus stood by the window. They didn¡¯t look happy to see


    Jack. He grinned at them.


    ¡°What can I do for you?,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I have presents for you both,¡± said Jack. He pulled the bands out of his pockets. ¡°Put


    these on, and I¡¯ll show you how they work.¡±


    Guin waited for Linus to put his on first. Then he put his on when his second didn¡¯t


    burst into flame. They looked at the gray bands with their two buttons.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°You push the buttons for whom you want to call. The


    lightning is Josie. Let me show you how it works. If something bad happens, you can


    call us and let us know. Distance will affect how much we can help you.¡±


    He pressed the lightning bolt on his own band. A chime sounded.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m showing Guin who he should call in an emergency,¡± said Jack. ¡°Thanks for


    taking the call.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re definitely not calling her unless we want someone dead,¡± said Linus.


    ¡°I heard that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t make me come down there.¡±


    Linus blanched a little.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jo,¡± said Jack. ¡°See you around.¡±


    He cut the connection.


    ¡°And why do we need these?,¡± asked Guin.


    ¡°We grabbed up a Lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°She gave us all the names of everyone she dealt


    with and we wanted to know if you needed someone removed off the list. There¡¯s


    bound to be some trouble when we get started. We want your organization to remain


    in place to help us until we¡¯re done in the city.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re moving on?,¡± asked Guin.


    ¡°Eventually,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s only a finite number of resources the Montrose has


    here. We want to roll all of it up, and then look at the next closest place. There¡¯s


    bound to be blowback.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Guin. ¡°I¡¯ll be interested in how you are going to deal with the


    Exchange. They seem to be in the core of the enemy¡¯s money making.¡±


    ¡°The immediate step on my mind is just to turn Josie loose on them and see what


    happens,¡± said Jack. ¡°If that happens, you might need to step in and keep the


    Exchange open under your wing.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Guin. ¡°That will be a very public display that neither of us can afford.¡±


    ¡°It will attract the king¡¯s attention,¡± said Linus. ¡°If it does that, there will be a tax. A


    very high tax.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t want that to happen unless we can prove the


    Exchange is behind the Montrose which is behind something happening to the King.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s asking for trouble,¡± said Linus. ¡°The King doesn¡¯t like anything that looks


    like a rebellion.¡±


    ¡°We have an organization that might be tied to the continent¡¯s bank, moving women


    everywhere, and bribing the authorities,¡± said Jack. ¡°Lady Endwright seemed ready


    to just run this city. You fellas would have been on the street if that happened.¡±


    ¡°I think we could have held her off without your help,¡± said Guin. ¡°But with the


    threat abated, others will step into her place.¡±


    Jack grinned. He had an idea that anyone stepping into her place was already on


    Josie¡¯s list. And they would go the same way as Lady Endwright soon enough.


    ¡°Josie wanted to know if you had someone giving you trouble that was part of the


    Montrose,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will give you a chance to expand into new turf.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s Hent,¡± said Guin. ¡°He¡¯s protected, and rarely leaves his estate. But he is


    receiving wagons every few days.¡±


    ¡°No one wants to know what¡¯s going on in his place?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We tried to get a couple of guys in there as workers,¡± said Linus. ¡°They never


    came back with a report.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go up there and look around,¡± said Jack. ¡°Got directions?¡±


    Linus wrote down a list of landmarks in his precise hand on a piece of paper from the


    desk and handed it over. He looked out the window to the floor below.


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Guin. ¡°Hent is said to have guests wandering around his grounds.


    I don¡¯t know if any of them are with the Montrose, but something is going on,


    and you will be hurt if you are caught.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about you guys than me,¡± said Jack. ¡°Anything happens to me


    and Josie loses her cool, you guys will have dead bodies everywhere. It¡¯ll look like


    an invasion of zombies wanting a piece of the action. Anyone who survives will have


    to explain to the King how the city was lost when there was no threat around.¡±


    ¡°Stay alive because that would be best for everyone involved,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°It would really be the best for me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll look at this Hent. If he has the


    same thing going on that Lady Endwright and Corle had, I doubt he will be around


    for much longer.¡±


    ¡°Lady Endwright was running things for Montrose?,¡± said Linus.


    ¡°She poisoned her husband and heir,¡± said Jack. ¡°I fixed the Lord and son. Josie


    talked with Lady Endwright and got all this stuff printed out. I¡¯ll talk with her about


    getting you a copy of things.¡±


    ¡°Are there any names listed in the authorities?,¡± asked Guin. ¡°I think we should


    have them framed for the other guards to deal with them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll look into them.¡±


    ¡°Do not kill them,¡± said Linus. ¡°We want them to be sent to prison to obstruct any


    interest in either one of us.¡±


    ¡°How many can we put in jail before someone takes an interest?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said Linus. ¡°I think it will be better if nothing points to us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± said Jack. ¡°Remember, if you need help, just call. I will be


    on the way.¡±


    He left the office.

 Robber Bank

    Josie and Elaine looked at the bank. They looked up and down the street. People on


    the street moved by them without interest.


    ¡°The building used for holding for the Montrose is over there,¡± said Josie. ¡°We


    brought the women down this street and Linus helped them out with rooms.¡±


    ¡°Did he?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I checked on them,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack made the deal, but Guin came through for us


    on the first day. He might be a wheel locally here, but he is looking out for anything


    stirring his pond.¡±


    ¡°The way you two work makes that the responsible thing,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Jack hurt his


    money gatherers and then made threats they weren¡¯t sure he would carry out.¡±


    ¡°He would carry them out,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the Money Exchange. ¡°He


    likes to show that he is an easygoing goof that wouldn¡¯t hurt a fly, but he was in the


    army, and he was known in the neighborhood for doing things no one else would do.¡±


    ¡°Brave?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I blame his sisters,¡± said Josie. ¡°So the goal is we need to set up a fund for Jane, and


    we need to look at whether this building can stop the watches. If it can, we need to


    rethink our breaking in.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to do either of those?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°First, we need to take a look at the Exchange with Zatanna,¡± said Josie. ¡°That will


    show us something about the building itself.¡±


    She stepped into an alley and transformed. She held up her hands. A book appeared


    and wrote itself with everything that it could gather from the air. When it was done,


    the book closed and became real.


    She grabbed a brick from the ground. She concentrated and it became gold. She tested


    it and it was real according to her magic. She frowned at the realization she could


    tank the economy by producing gold bricks any time she wanted.


    She switched back to normal.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have something to give to the Exchange to open the


    account for Jane. Keep your eyes open, and watch the guards. Jack said the creep


    factor inside was the size of a Labrador. It will probably go up once they see what


    we¡¯re using to set up Jane¡¯s house of refugees.¡±


    ¡°I can see where they would want to know where you got a brick of gold like that,¡±


    said Elaine. ¡°I doubt they will believe that you conjured it.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t conjure it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I transformed it. The brick came from where Jack


    busted through the wall above us. I just made it gold instead of clay. If we have


    problems, call Jack and let him hear what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°We could be dead by the time by the time he gets here,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Then we won¡¯t have to see what happens when he starts using Blade on this crew,¡±


    said Josie.


    She already had seen what happened when the fifty blades of floating death had been


    unleashed. She had no doubt that any staff would be chopped to pieces before they


    could come up with a way to stop Jack.


    She put the brick in her messenger bag. She nodded as she looked up and down the


    street. The guards shifted as they noticed her, but they didn¡¯t move from in front of


    the bank building.


    She led the way across the street, nodding at the guards. One opened the door for her


    and Elaine to step inside the building. She crossed the room, hand gripping her watch.


    She wanted to turn into the Human Bomb and see what happened when she turned the


    persona loose.


    Elaine touched her shoulder. That brought her down. She couldn¡¯t risk her assistant


    in the middle of all this.


    ¡°Yes, miss,¡± said the counter clerk. The eyes weren¡¯t as blank as they had appeared


    to be the first time she had been in the room with them. ¡°How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°I came in with Jack Lee,¡± said Josie. ¡°We opened an account with four sheets of gold


    being converted to silver to spend.¡±


    ¡°I remember,¡± said the clerk. She glanced at Elaine. ¡°Let me pull the ledger for you.¡±


    She stepped away from the counter. She came back with a pass book. She opened it.


    She looked down at the entries.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any activity on your account yet,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re here,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is our assistant, Elaine Numera. We want


    to give her access to the account, and set up a fund for a business we¡¯re engaged in.¡±


    ¡°Is Mistress Numera going to need access to that too?,¡± asked the clerk.


    ¡°She is going to be managing it for us,¡± said Josie. ¡°Also this business will need to


    be able to write markers on the account to be paid from the Exchange.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± said the clerk. ¡°Let me get another passbook. How much money will you


    need to put in the new account?¡±


    ¡°This brick of gold,¡± said Josie. She pulled the rectangular cube out and dropped it


    on the counter.


    The clerk¡¯s eyes went wide. She looked around.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to have this weighed so I can give you an accurate reading of how much the


    Exchange can give you to start your account,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine and I can wait.¡±


    She struggled to carry the gold away from the counter. She vanished into the back


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.room.


    ¡°This is where they come back and tell us they never saw the gold,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about how the guards are looking at us,¡± said Elaine. ¡°They all


    have their hands on the cudgels on their belts.¡±


    ¡°If things go bad, drop and crawl away to cover,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get


    hurt.¡±


    She glanced down, and nodded at Bulletgirl being uppermost on her watch face.


    ¡°Yes, Milady,¡± said Elaine.


    The clerk came back without the gold. She pulled down an empty ledger and


    paperwork to be filled out. She took a breath before looking at Josie and Elaine. She


    knew something was wrong. Her face and eyes said it even she didn¡¯t know what.


    ¡°I have been instructed that your bar of gold is worth one hundred thousand silvers,¡±


    said the clerk. ¡°I am going to need you to fill out the paperwork, and the name of your


    business.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need something that Jane will be comfortable with when


    she writes the markers.¡±


    ¡°Jane¡¯s House should be good,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Jane is the actual manager of the


    operation. Send notices for the markers to Hole in The Wall on Cot Road. I will


    authorize payment as part of my duties.¡±


    ¡°End of the meridian?,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Who do I talk to in case of fraud?¡±


    ¡°Master Emer is the chief in charge of that,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°Master Emer knows what will happen if there is fraud with these accounts?,¡± asked


    Josie.


    ¡°There is a law of insurance in place,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°I think what the lady is asking,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Is does Master Emer know that if


    anything happens to these accounts, that he will be held responsible in a way that the


    law does not usually permit.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°That was exactly what I was asking. Some of this money is going


    into the Silver Coin and other enterprises. If it suddenly disappeared, Master Guin


    will want to have words with Master Emer.¡±


    She made a throat cutting motion with her thumb.


    ¡°I will be glad to tell him,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. ¡°That is a relief.¡±


    They filled out the paperwork, and asked for a book of cheques for Jane. The clerk


    kept an eye on them like they were exotic animals ready to attack. An authentication


    seal went with the rest of the things so when Jane wrote a marker, she had to put the


    mark on the bottom of the page to make sure the payments would be passed on.


    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± said Josie. ¡°If there is a problem, send it around for Elaine


    to look at it. My partner and I will let her use the money as she sees fit.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the clerk. ¡°Will this Jane come in draw from the account?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will talk with her. If she has to come in, I will have


    a letter of authorization written out for her.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the clerk. She put both ledgers away after filling out the entries.


    ¡°Thank you for you help,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will be by if our operation moves out of


    Hawk Ridge to let you know how we want things done.¡±


    ¡°Yes, madam,¡± said the clerk.


    The ladies retreated from the counter. They headed for the door. The guards stepped


    out of the way so they could leave. Josie smiled at them. They took a further step


    back. One opened the door for them to leave.


    Josie led the way out in the street and turned toward the Corle mansion. She kept her


    hand on her watch as she eyed the people on the street with them.


    ¡°We¡¯re being followed,¡± said Elaine. ¡°From the Exchange, perhaps?¡±


    ¡°Probably,¡± said Josie. ¡°After all, we just handed over a brick of gold worth more


    than the price they were giving us. They might want to know if we have more.¡±


    ¡°They also have Jack¡¯s Makeover,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Why does he call it that?¡±


    ¡°Where we¡¯re from women and men want to make themselves look better to attract


    partners,¡± said Josie. She walked into the next alley she saw. ¡°They get professionals


    to go over how they look and improve what they can.¡±


    ¡°Hence a makeover,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Irony?¡±


    ¡°I assume so,¡± said Josie. She pointed her assistant to a place behind a trashcan where


    she could duck down and hide for the next few seconds. ¡°I think this is far enough


    away from the Exchange I can get rid of the bodies without any problems.¡±


    ¡°I left my crossbow,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Keep an eye out in case there are more than


    two.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Milady,¡± said Elaine.


    The two bank guards paused at the entrance of the alley. They looked down the street


    after not seeing Elaine with Josie.


    ¡°What do you two want?,¡± asked Josie. She had her hand on the watch. It was


    charged enough for her to deal with two guys in leather suits.


    ¡°We want the rest of the gold,¡± said the guard on the left. ¡°And we think you¡¯ll give


    that to us.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know who I am, do you?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°You think you are going to scare


    me into giving you some gold when I have taken a vow to kill everyone in your


    organization? What do you think is going to happen to the two of you? The moment


    you started following me around was the moment you decided to die.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s some big talk,¡± said the guard on the left. It looked like he had talked his


    buddy into trying to rob customers of the Exchange, and things weren¡¯t going as well


    as he liked and he was regretting it.


    ¡°Bulletgirl,¡± said Josie, touching her watch. Her persona took over, converting her


    body into roving marbles rotating around central axis to mimic a human body. The


    guards realized they were in a lot of trouble and started to run from the alley. She


    pointed her fingers and the cracks of the sound barrier followed as the two men fell


    with holes in their legs. ¡°I can¡¯t let you live now.¡±


    She walked to where they were trying to pull themselves along. She put two more


    bullets into them. She stepped back into the alley and let the persona go.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Elaine,¡± said Josie. She waved at her assistant. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here before


    more of them show up. I don¡¯t want to fight with you here.¡±


    ¡°That was something,¡± said Elaine. ¡°How long do you think it will take before they


    realize they are missing guards?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. She continued down the alley.


    ¡°I wonder how many others will try to visit us,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I might have overplayed the gold,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s talk to Jane about her account


    and management. If the Exchange comes down to the Hole in the Wall, I will have


    to make sure they have a warm welcome.¡±


    ¡°I found it interesting that Master Guin¡¯s name didn¡¯t reach those guards,¡± said


    Elaine. ¡°I doubt that he is so unknown in the city that common thieves don¡¯t know


    who he is.¡±


    ¡°They weren¡¯t the outside guards, were they?,¡± asked Josie. She stepped out on the


    next street. She started back toward the bank building, peering down the alleys as


    they passed. She paused when she had a view of the Exchange. ¡°The two outside


    guards are still there. The one has a distinctive scar on his face.¡±


    ¡°So the two dead guards came from inside the building,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You want to find out who sent them,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can see it in your eyes.¡±


    ¡°If they traffic women, they might not be above trying to steal from them first,¡± said


    Elaine.


    ¡°I think we should talk to Jane first, and then we should turn Jack loose on these


    people,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think that he is better at the questioning part than I am.¡±


    ¡°We should let the girls know that the Exchange knows where we live,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder how long it will take before the guards are


    missed. I think they should have returned by now.¡±


    ¡°We did leave their bodies where they could be found,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Anyone from


    the Exchange that looks around will find them soon enough.¡±


    Josie started by calling the girls and letting them know to keep an eye out for anyone


    in the neighborhood. She hoped they had learned their lessons with Harp well.


    She called Jane to let her know they were coming by the manor. Paperwork and the


    seal had to be handed over so the markers could be written for supplies. Jane agreed


    with that.


    She called Jack last to let him know what had happened.


    He made sure he had the name of the fraud chief down before he told her he would


    look around.


    Josie and Elaine walked to their destination with eyes out for anyone else who might


    want to rob them.

 Infiltrator

    Jack switched gears when he heard what had happened at the bank. He was glad the


    phone bands worked. Instead of days later, he could look at things minutes later. He


    still had to look at the recluse for Guin, but this way he could dig into the Exchange


    in a way that he hadn¡¯t thought about doing before they had sent someone after Josie


    and Elaine.


    He used Falcon to get across the city. He landed on the building he and Josie had


    invaded. He dialed back to let his watch recharge. He looked at the names on his


    watch as he waited. He really needed someone who could infiltrate the building and


    let him listen to things until he was ready to spring his diabolical trap.


    It looked like Invisible Girl was the primary there, maybe Ghost Rider depending


    on what his actual powers were. It would be great to be able to walk through walls.


    He saw Vapor and remembered her from the U-Foes.


    He laughed at himself. If he had known he would be stuck in a Dungeons and


    Dragons world with the whole of a Marvel roll call at his beck and call, he might have


    boned up on what could be viable, or not. He supposed a lot of X-men would be


    perfect for this situation.


    He wondered if Bucky would be good since Brubaker turned him into a kid assassin


    when they brought the sidekick back in Captain America. He smiled. Retcons are


    the bread and butter of writers. Some of them work better than others.


    At least it wasn¡¯t as bad as some of the stuff that Josie groused about.


    A company who didn¡¯t know what characters were usable didn¡¯t seem that aware


    about what they were doing.


    He needed to get across to the other side of the street. Then he could break into the


    building and start looking around.


    Maybe he should think about taking Josie¡¯s bar of gold back.


    He grinned at the thought of just stealing the bar back and putting it back in their


    account until someone noticed something odd was going on. He decided to hold on


    that until he had an idea of what he wanted to do about the rest of things.


    He turned into the Falcon and flew over to the other roof. He realized that he had an


    infiltrator that could fly. He returned to normal just long enough to turn into the


    Wasp. He dropped down in the crack under the roof access door and headed down,


    listening for voices to eavesdrop on.


    He decided to find an empty office to recharge the watch before he ran out of power


    and got into trouble. He frowned at each of the rooms on the top floors were barracks


    for the staff. He kicked himself for not using the Vision to look at things before he


    plunged in.


    He found a linen closet and let the persona go. He listened to people talking as they


    moved in the hall outside of his refuge. The gold bar and dead guards were all the


    talk.


    There was no doubt that Josie had done the deed. They didn¡¯t know how.


    He wondered how long it would take before some knucklehead decided to raid their


    place on the wall.


    He decided there was nothing he could do about that right now. The best thing he


    could do for everyone involved was removing the Montrose and helping the city fix


    the wound he was going to cause. That was all he could do.


    Anyone coming at him while he was doing that had made themselves fair game in his


    opinion.


    He turned into the Wasp and flew up and down the corridor. He found offices under


    the barracks. He worked his way down, and found the vault room and the counting


    paraphernalia. Ledgers for each customer stood in shelves lining the wall.


    They could use some computerization in his opinion.


    He worked his way down to the main room where the clerks waited on people. A


    check on the door showed they were locked and barred from the inside. So the


    officers had already gone for the day, or they were upstairs in the barracks area.


    How many needed the Blade treatment? He charged his watch behind the counter


    as he pondered the question. Should he get them into a big room and ask some tough


    questions, or should he just hunt them one at a time like Jason Vorhees? He tapped


    the counter as he thought.


    Maybe a quiet talk with Emer would give him something he could use. Then he could


    think about what he wanted to do with the rest of the staff.


    Letting them live seemed out of the question.


    He had time to decide. He should go ask Emer some questions. Maybe some of these


    people were prisoners that needed to be looked after.


    He wondered when he had decided to embrace vigilantism. He decided that his time


    in the Army had not been as good as he had thought. It had taught him the value of


    hurting people who got in his way.


    He walked up the stairs, looking for people who might want to get in his way. Maybe


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.Captain America was the way to go here. He didn¡¯t need to kill everything moving,


    just persuade them to stay out of his way until he was done.


    He had a goal in his search. He could let the rest run if they wanted.


    And if they didn¡¯t, he could deal with that too.


    The barracks were mixed company. He hadn¡¯t realized that when he had come


    through as the Wasp. He frowned at the flower tattoos on the women he could see,


    and the Makeover on the men. Some of the men reached for weapons when they saw


    him.


    He pressed the button on his watch. He would love to have a Bulletgirl on his roster.


    He would have to make do with good old Cap, even if he had an eagle head and a flag


    for clothes.


    The next few minutes of the watch counting down on its use was filled with the


    sounds of breaking bones and cries of pain. Jack let the persona go when no one came


    at him. He looked around as he tried to decide what to do with the women. He


    decided that it was up to them if they wanted to leave after the display he had put on.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said one of the women. He recognized her as the clerk that had checked him


    in with the sheets of gold they had made. ¡°Jack Lee?¡±


    ¡°Have you seen Master Emer?,¡± Jack asked. ¡°I wanted to have a talk with him.¡±


    ¡°There was a meeting,¡± said the clerk. ¡°He went to see what was expected of him.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know where?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± said the clerk. She looked around. ¡°Marsella?¡±


    ¡°I think it was with a man named Hent,¡± said the other woman. ¡°They were meeting


    at his estate outside the city.¡±


    ¡°Naturally,¡± said Jack. ¡°It looks like you ladies are in charge of this branch of the


    bank until someone comes down to try to take over from you. It would probably be


    for the best if you sent a note to let the next guys in line know that something


    happened here. That will give me fresh victims.¡±


    ¡°What about these?,¡± said the clerk. She waved at the broken bodies groaning on the


    floor around them.


    ¡°What about them?,¡± said Jack. ¡°If they¡¯re smart, they will get out of town and try to


    get a job with someone who doesn¡¯t mind the way they look.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t have them here in the Exchange,¡± said the clerk. ¡°Not if you expect us to


    take over.¡±


    ¡°So I need to get these guys out of here?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Please,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°None of you guys know how to fight, do you?,¡± asked Jack.


    He could see they couldn¡¯t defend themselves unless they got desperate. He frowned.


    He needed to do something about things. He didn¡¯t like it, but he couldn¡¯t leave them


    without someone looking after them.


    And he couldn¡¯t hang around either.


    He had warned Guin this could happen. He didn¡¯t expect it to be so soon.


    ¡°All right,¡± Jack said. ¡°I¡¯m going to call a guy and see if he can get guards for the


    building. I¡¯ll talk to Josie about getting another bar of gold to fund things for you. I


    doubt the bank will pay to guard you from itself.¡±


    He hit the button on the band for Guin. He waited for the answering ding.


    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I need a group of guards for the Exchange,¡± said Jack. ¡°It looks like the local


    officers are meeting with your target tonight. I am going over there and seeing what


    is going on.¡±


    ¡°I will let Linus know,¡± said Guin. ¡°I will have to hire adventurers to do this.¡±


    ¡°I will cover the cost,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can let the Exchange have the


    building back. It will be up to you to hold it while the staff work out what they want


    to do now that I have dealt with their guards.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to my accountant to see what I can do about this,¡± said Guin. ¡°This is


    somehow better and worse than what I thought would have to happen.¡±


    ¡°I want to keep the people here safe until we figure out what we can do to mitigate


    the problems,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might make you head of all the Exchanges


    everywhere.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the last thing I need,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I have to go,¡± said Jack. ¡°Tell the adventurers to keep things safe, and not to let


    anyone give orders other than you.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°All right, ladies,¡± said Jack as he cut the connection. ¡°Master Guin will send over


    adventurers to look after things until we get things sorted out. If any of you want to


    get out, let me know when I come back and we¡¯ll work something out for you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it,¡± said the clerk. She gestured at the writhing bodies at her feet.


    ¡°Can you do something about these men before you leave?¡±


    ¡°I got them,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to your boss about this, and maybe I can get


    something done.¡±


    ¡°They will want to go after this new business when they find out you were involved,¡±


    said the clerk.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I can kill them more than once,¡± said Jack.


    He flipped through the roll call and paused when he saw Warlock on the list. He


    thought about using that persona. He decided to let it wait until he had some


    downtime. He needed the boost from Majik, then he could look at the meeting.


    They were probably trying to plan out how to get rid of him and Josie. Maybe killing


    the Ducklings and Elaine were in the offing. Or maybe they weren¡¯t a big enough


    threat yet, and the meeting was about future endeavors.


    The women pushed away from the shifting numbers and letters he had become. He


    pushed on the wounded guards and they fell out of the building. He gave the women


    a salute before pulling himself across the city towards where he had to be.


    He landed gently at the edge of some trees. He didn¡¯t see a wall, but maybe there was


    a fence away from the road he was standing on. He could see lights in the distance.


    That was where he had to be if he wanted to talk to Hent and Emer.


    Fixing things for the clerks meant fixing things for the city. That was the only way


    he could make a change that stayed around after he was gone.


    ¡°Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you guys looking out at the Hole in the Wall?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Everything is calm so far.¡±


    ¡°I have to crash this meeting,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Exchange managers are meeting


    Guin¡¯s recluse. I have to go in and find out what¡¯s going on. Also we might be


    running the Exchange branch through Guin.¡±


    ¡°I guess that will make any charity work we do easily done,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Hopefully when I get done, they will want to move out of town instead of trying to


    take us on,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I doubt that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they try to flood the city looking


    for us.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t have to look far,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Someone is banging on the door,¡± said Josie. ¡°It looks like I¡¯m going to have to do


    some things myself.¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± Jack said. ¡°They might try to swoop in with the police.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Ask them what they want, Elaine. I have to change


    into something on fire.¡±


    The connection cut off as she activated her watch. Jack frowned. He could hurry


    home, or deal with the problem in front of him. He decided that Josie could handle


    things. He had to rely on her for that. He had to handle what he had in front of him.


    It was time to see what Hent had going on.

 Tax Men

    ¡°Who is it?,¡± asked Elaine. She stood so she could yank the door open to give Josie


    a clear shot at whomever was standing on the other side of the door.


    ¡°The Guard,¡± said a male voice. ¡°We¡¯re here to arrest some tax dodgers.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nobody like that here,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think you have made a mistake.¡±


    ¡°The Exchange reported that you deposited a block of gold with them,¡± said the


    guard. ¡°The city wants its share.¡±


    ¡°That was fast,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe the two I killed actually worked for the city, and


    I expected them to be working for the Exchange.¡±


    ¡°Maybe the city, the Exchange, and the Montrose are all the same,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Or


    close enough, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°How much taxes are we talking?,¡± called Josie. She gestured for the kids to retreat


    upstairs to the office.


    ¡°Open the door, and we¡¯ll give you the writ,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°If I open the door, I will kill anyone standing outside,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I were you, I


    would just stick the note in the door and leave. I¡¯ll talk to my partner about it


    tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll bust this door in,¡± said the guard. ¡°We have a ram to do the job.¡±


    ¡°If you want to die over some fake tax notification, I am glad to help you,¡± said Josie.


    Her body was nothing but green fire standing in front of the door. ¡°Open the door,


    Elaine.¡±


    Elaine pulled open the door, using it as shield. The guards paused when they saw the


    green flames rushing at them. Some of them ran. Self preservation trumped any duty


    to the city of Hawk Ridge. The rest that were too close to the door wore burning


    clothes they struggled to get off before they went up like dry straw.


    Josie nodded as she saw the Makeover on the tax collectors that had clustered around


    the door. She added fuel to the fire so they would burn faster in the middle of the


    street.


    She had thought about letting them live, but the thought they would try to take her


    Ducklings and Elaine again had triggered her temper. These wouldn¡¯t live to do


    anything else to anyone else.


    And she was surprisingly fine with that.


    ¡°Get me some water, Elaine,¡± she said. ¡°We should put the fires out so I can track


    down the rest. I want them to be scared enough not to come back, but I don¡¯t think


    that will work until a lot more suffer.¡±


    Elaine stepped into the kitchen and returned with a bucket of water. She held it as


    Josie switched bodies. The water expanded in a spout of water and dropped down on


    the burning corpses. The fire went out instantly.


    ¡°I have to find the rest, and check on Jane,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hold the door until I get


    back.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The bodies might need to be moved.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°A woman¡¯s work is never done.¡±


    She took a moment to be Zatanna. That was long enough to blast her fallen enemies


    out of the city like comets. She sent out birds to track down the survivors. She turned


    off her watch to let it recharge. She wanted to be full power when she needed it.


    As soon as she was done tracking down the last of the group that had tried to invade


    the Hole in the Wall, she would go by Jane¡¯s and make sure no one was trying to rip


    down the gates.


    They were targets just because Jack had rescued them and let them use the dead


    Corle¡¯s manor and grounds. That put them under the partners¡¯ wings until better


    accommodations could be arranged.


    In her mind, she was not going to let some tax collector try to steal everything they


    had gathered together just because some rich guy thought he could get away with it.


    She checked her watch. It was almost at the top as she jogged down the street. She


    decided to check on Jane first. Then she could finish tracking down her enemy¡¯s


    minions.


    She pulled on Quick and crossed the city in a second. She powered down when she


    saw Jane¡¯s amazons telling the tax collectors at the gate to beat it, or else. They had


    armed themselves with crossbows and swords.


    Could they use them against the Guard?


    Most of them had the Makeover too.


    She decided to do something reckless and attract the attention of the tax collectors.


    Once she had done that, she could do what she wanted.


    If the unmarked guards came at her, they would get what she was going to give the


    marked guards.


    She switched to Bulletgirl and shot the one demanding access in the face. He fell


    over. His group looked down at him in surprise. She waited until someone tried to


    take command before she shot him too. She advanced to let them know where the


    bullets were coming from so they had a chance to flee.


    The marked guards fell under her onslaught in seconds. The surviving guards ran. She


    let them go. She had a feeling they would join the other survivors she was tracking.


    Once she had them in one place, she would decide if they deserved to live, or not.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Witch,¡± said one of the women. ¡°Hello, Josie.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Hilda,¡± said Josie. She powered down again. ¡°How are things?¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Hilda. ¡°You came at a good time. We were about to fill these livers


    with toothpicks.¡±


    Jane came to the gate, crossbow in hand. She nodded at their visitor.


    ¡°Getting you the gold to run your house seems to have triggered the Exchange to try


    to take the rest,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What rest?,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°The rest they think I have laying around to finance things here in the city,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Jack is talking to the Exchange officers. I guess keep an eye out for more


    trouble. I am going to track down the ones that got away and warn them off.¡±


    ¡°Do you think this will be an ongoing thing?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am hoping that things will settle when we finish


    cleaning the Montrose out of the city, but they are in other places. We might be at war


    for a long time. You can bow out if you want.¡±


    ¡°I think that we will avail ourselves of your sword instructor,¡± said Jane. ¡°This is our


    home. No one will take it from us except by force.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Harp and get him here to show you some basics,¡± said Josie. ¡°I admit


    maybe I thought that the Montrose would never be able to turn and attack us. I was


    wrong about that. I can see why the Society picks people to temporarily live here. I


    have to go deal with the rest of this.¡±


    ¡°Good luck, Jo,¡± said Hilda. ¡°We¡¯ll be here when you get done.¡±


    Josie turned and walked away. She called on Zatanna and sent out more birds to track


    down the survivors of her second strike. She turned into the Northwind to fly above


    the city and see if she could find all of the survivors at once.


    The tax collectors had kept to duos running through the streets. Some of them paused


    to watch behind them. Her birds kept them in view. The spells would run out when


    they finally settled in one place for the night.


    Josie planned to scoop them up long before that became an issue.


    She started by assembling a place outside the walls of the city with her magic. She


    moved around and sent each man to the prepared spot. She got the last one and sent


    him right as the power in her watch ran out. She waited in a doorway for her watch


    to recharge so she could finish the rest of her plan.


    When the watch was full, she became Zatanna and stepped to the cells. She turned off


    the persona to look at the captured men. Some were banging on the walls, trying to


    break out. They had seen their comrades burned up in front of them. They definitely


    didn¡¯t want the same thing to happen to them.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Josie. She noted the silence. ¡°Who thought it was a good idea


    to come to my place and ask for money?¡±


    ¡°It was ordered by the Captain of the Guard,¡± said one brave soul. ¡°Any women were


    to be imprisoned until they could be transferred to the Duke.¡±


    ¡°Duke Hent?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Is the Captain in with the Montrose?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Does he have the tattoos on his body?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Does anybody here have a copy of the warrant?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I thought that Commander Aile had the paper, but he went up in a column of flame,¡±


    said the talkative guard.


    ¡°The Captain of the Guard is going to be dead in the next few days,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    expect the Duke will be done sooner than that. The only question is what to do with


    you guys. You aren¡¯t on the list, but I don¡¯t think you should live. And you are a


    threat to my girls and my enterprise.¡±


    ¡°You can kill us any time,¡± said the guard. ¡°We can¡¯t stop you. Some of us were just


    doing our jobs.¡±


    ¡°I am going to tell you a story,¡± said Josie. ¡°A time gone by, there was a war. It was


    huge. The Allied Forces crushed down their enemy, shrinking the amount of control


    the enemy had. They uncovered these prisons. The enemy had taken civilians and


    killed them with torture and machinery. There were trials to determine what the


    punishment would be after the war was over. The judges determined that just doing


    your job was not an excuse for murdering the helpless. Do you understand what I am


    saying?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to kill us, aren¡¯t you?,¡± asked the guard.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I should. I should treat you all like you have treated the people in


    your care. I¡¯m not. I¡¯m going to give you a chance to work some of this off.¡±


    The resulting silence was telling.


    Josie checked that she had her messenger bag. In the excitement, she had not thought


    about what she had done with it. She pulled out some sheets of paper. She wrote a


    letter in fast strokes before sealing it and sending it away on the air.


    ¡°What are you going to do with us?,¡± asked another guard. Not being killed by a


    piece of metal through the skull was better than being killed in his opinion.


    ¡°I asked some friends for a hand with you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t allow you to stay in


    the city. You would be able to cause trouble for me. I don¡¯t want to kill you. You¡¯re


    not on the list and murder is bad. So I am going to hand you over to someone who


    will hopefully make you better guardians than you are now.¡±


    Light split the evening air. Infantry in gold armor marched out and clanged their


    spears on the ground. A knight rode a white charger into reality. He smiled lightly


    when he saw Josie standing beside the rat warren of walls she had created.


    ¡°Josie,¡± said the knight.


    ¡°Thanks for coming, Bob,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you help me with this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not often that a kindness is asked from the Court,¡± said the knight. ¡°Are you sure


    about this course?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hand them over, or kill them,¡± said Josie. ¡°I killed their comrades and now I am


    doing what I can with the rest of them. It¡¯s a logistical pain from my point of view.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said the knight. ¡°How many of you want to live?¡±


    He smiled at the captives. Some of them paused at the question. They all agreed that


    they wanted to live. They didn¡¯t all agree with going with the elves.


    ¡°Make no mistake,¡± said Bob. ¡°This isn¡¯t exactly a kindness either. You are being


    turned over to the duchy as protectors of the lands. If you do well, and carry


    yourselves honorably and bravely, you will be brought back here to this world. If you


    don¡¯t, well, there are worse things to happen to people.¡±


    ¡°If you do make it back here, don¡¯t come back to Hawk Ridge,¡± said Josie. ¡°Start over


    and do what you have to do somewhere else. One mercy is all I am allowing.¡±


    ¡°Can you give us a door, Josie?,¡± said Bob. ¡°Everyone who wants to live come out


    and walk down the lane. Everyone who wants to die, stay inside there and wait for it.¡±


    Josie switched long enough to carve a door out of her prison. She switched back as


    she waited. The infantry tensed. There was no glory in killing helpless prisoners, but


    they had heard the order and knew the command would be given.


    You were told the consequences and then you lived with the choice. That was the


    Elven way.


    The guards came out. They were still armed, but they looked at the infantry and


    decided that attacking and fighting their way clear was not going to happen.


    The elves would slice them apart with their axes before they could flee off the road


    and into the woods.


    ¡°I have a family,¡± said one of the guards. ¡°I can¡¯t just leave them.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Quiton Gall,¡± said the guard. He made sure not to touch his sword.


    ¡°Your wife?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Enesia,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°I will tell her what happened and offer her support,¡± said Josie. ¡°She and any kids


    will be looked after until you return. Then you will leave the city. Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Gall. He frowned as he looked after the other guards walking down the


    lane of infantrymen and vanishing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Bob. ¡°You only have to be brave enough once. Go ahead while


    I talk with Josie.¡±


    Gall walked down the lane and vanished.


    ¡°This is so unlike the hard bitten ear ripper of justice to look after an enemy¡¯s


    family,¡± said Bob. He smiled under his helm.


    ¡°You know what Jack says at a time like this?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mistake kindness for mercy,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to go. He¡¯s probably cutting


    their boss into a million pieces right now. Thanks for the help.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how much help I have really been,¡± said Bob. He turned his horse and rode


    back across the border to his demesne. His men followed him with a clank of metal


    and squeak of leather.

 Death

    Jack whistled as he walked toward the front gate of the Hent estate. All the lights


    were on, and he could see plenty of security along the walls. He decided that maybe


    he could just talk to the guards at the gate and see if they would let him in. If that


    didn¡¯t work, he had other ideas about dealing with things.


    He hadn¡¯t heard anything from Josie yet, so he was putting that down to good news.


    She had either handled things at the Hole in the Wall, or she hadn¡¯t. There was


    nothing he could do about that now.


    After he was done with this, there would be time enough to rampage through the


    streets in true Hulk style.


    Hopefully the Society would understand about that.


    Again he briefly wondered about the nature of the quests and the contractual


    meanings. He came to the same conclusion that they weren¡¯t supposed to add on to


    the quests, but were supposed to get done and go home without really touching things


    in the Fantasy World.


    They had picked the wrong person in Josie Fox not to touch stuff.


    ¡°Hey guys,¡± Jack called. He waved as he walked up to the gate. ¡°How¡¯s things?¡±


    ¡°Do you have an invitation?,¡± asked one of the guards. He had the Makeover, and


    a list on a board. He looked at Jack in his Deadpool shirt and jeans. This was not


    someone who looked like he should be hobnobbing with rich people was in his eyes.


    ¡°I have a message for an Emer from the Exchange,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was told he was


    here.¡±


    ¡°Give it to me, and I will give it to him,¡± said the guard. The others had drifted over


    to see what the fuss was.


    ¡°Ready?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Dear Master Emer, it is the sad duty of the Robby Reed Appreciation Society to


    inform you that you are going to die shortly. I regret that such a message has to reach


    you in this way, but it was felt that you should know with swiftness the events that


    have been triggered have prompted your death above all your peers who will also


    shortly be eliminated. Regretfully, the ARR ARR AY ESS,¡± said Jack. He paused.


    ¡°You got all that?¡±


    ¡°What is the Robby Reed Appreciation Society?,¡± asked the guard. He looked at


    the other guards. ¡°I have never heard of that.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re weird guys who like to sit in a dark room and plan to remove threats


    to the world using agents,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you going to take the message in, or


    do you want me to do it, or are you going to call Master Emer to the gate so I can


    talk to him out here away from the other guests.¡±


    The guard considered things and thought the guy at the gate looked harmless. He


    didn¡¯t even have a sword on him. How was he going to overpower the amount of


    guards on his own?


    And the Duke might want to hear the threat also.


    ¡°I am going to pass you through,¡± said the guard. He waved at two of his contingent


    to approach. ¡°Go with these two. Don¡¯t touch anything, don¡¯t say anything until they


    bring you to the Duke and Emer.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± said Jack. He waved at the two men to lead on. He whistled as he


    followed them up to the giant main house. He wondered how much money had gone


    into that, and how they had built it out in the wilderness where random monsters


    seemed to be a thing.


    He supposed if you had enough men, you could cut down anything that might show


    up to stop you from building your dream house.


    ¡°Do you mind?,¡± asked one of the guards.


    ¡°Hm?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Do you mind not whistling?,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t mind at all,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s just something that got stuck in my head.


    I guess you never heard of Disney here.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said the guard. ¡°I haven¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°He was a storyteller famous for taking stories and sanding off the rough edges,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°And one of the stories is about this princess whose evil stepmother


    banishes her from the castle. She falls in with these hard working miner dwarves. And


    that¡¯s there signature tune, ¡®Whistle While You Work.¡¯ It¡¯s been on my mind because


    it¡¯s only like three or four repeating notes.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Disney has a lot to answer for in my opinion.¡±


    The guards shook their heads. Escorting a strange messenger through the manor had


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.not been on their list of things to do for the night. Mostly they wanted to enjoy the


    end of the party after the guests started leaving.


    The trio made their way to a giant hall. Guests and guards were everywhere. Most had


    the Makeover from what Jack could see. The ones who didn¡¯t seemed like minor


    nobles trying to get in good with their higher ranking society, or merchants who


    might be on the make.


    He wondered if the curse worked on new members. That was something he would


    have to check on when he was done with what he was going to do.


    ¡°This is exactly what Josie wanted,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯ll be kicking herself when I tell


    her about this.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the friendly guard.


    ¡°All these people in one place is exactly what she wanted,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°Too bad for her that she isn¡¯t here. I¡¯ll be able to rub that salt in forever.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked the guard.


    ¡°So she can kill them all,¡± said Jack. The guards looked at each other with concern.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see this Emer. The night is turning to the day, and I have other places to be.¡±


    The guards paused at the entrance of the great hall, and looked around. The friendly


    guard pointed at the table with the bank executive and others taking finger foods off


    plates.


    ¡°He¡¯s the fat guy with the two women,¡± said the guard. ¡°Green stripes.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. ¡°You guys seem okay, so I am going to give you a friendly


    warning. Grab whatever you think is valuable and head out on the road. There¡¯s going


    to be trouble, and you don¡¯t want to get killed getting in the way.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked the other guard, speaking for the first time.


    ¡°All these people are going to die,¡± said Jack. ¡°And you will too if you hang around.


    Grab some gold you can melt down and get out of here if you want to live. If you


    don¡¯t, that¡¯s good too.¡±


    Jack sauntered through the crowd, grabbing food off people¡¯s plates. Some of it


    was okay, some of it was bland enough that he put it back after chewing on it. He


    grabbed a cup of wine and sipped at it before putting the glass down on another table.


    ¡°Master Emer?,¡± Jack said when he reached the guy pointed out by the guards.


    The dialer agreed with the unspoken assessment of fancy duds. The man nodded at


    his identity. ¡°I have a message for you.¡±


    ¡°A message from whom?,¡± said Emer. His bulk pushed the women sitting on either


    side of him out of the way.


    ¡°The Robby Reed Appreciation Society,¡± said Jack. ¡°They sent me to tell you that


    your time is up, and so is everyone else¡¯s here.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?,¡± said Emer. He looked around. A lot of the people at the table


    were looking at the confrontation, wondering what he was going to do.


    Jack dialed down to a name he had spotted that he had never used before and had no


    idea if he should use it here. He pressed the button and hoped he had made the right


    decision. A dark cloak formed around him as his face became a skull. A scythe fell


    to his hand.


    ¡°Your time is up,¡± said the thin voice of Death.


    Emer aged twenty years and dropped dead. The women on either side of him jumped


    up and started running. Their lack of clothes didn¡¯t slow them down.


    Jack turned and swept his gaze over the table. Everywhere he concentrated people


    aged to their natural limit and fell over. Some of the men suffered wounds as if from


    blades, or monster claws.


    He turned in a slow circle. Everyone with the Makeover dropped dead. He started


    walking to the door. He turned his gaze on the guards who had rushed in at the


    screaming that had attended his use of power. They fell over from future wounds and


    bled out.


    He walked down the stairs. He touched everyone with the markings and let them drop


    dead as he passed. He paused at one of the minor nobles he had noticed earlier who


    shielded a woman behind him.


    Neither had the markings on their face.


    Jack frowned at the two of them. He checked his watch. Numbers had grown with


    the amount of deaths he had caused. He supposed it was the same thing as Josie¡¯s


    vampire.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± asked Jack. He spared a glance for a man trying to run over


    a woman down the hall. The guy dropped dead from a heart attack.


    ¡°I am protecting my love,¡± said the noble.


    ¡°Do you really want to protect your love?,¡± said Jack.


    The man nodded. He didn¡¯t seem that old to Jack. He might have just come into his


    office.


    ¡°Go out the other doors and flee across the grounds,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t look back.


    Shun any member of the Montrose you see. Go on, get!¡±


    The pair did as he said. He wished them the best of luck. And they had a cool story


    out of all this if they could make it back to the city without dying.


    He walked down the hall, searching the rest of the castle. He met a few of the servants


    that didn¡¯t seem involved in Hent¡¯s trafficking so he pointed them to the nearest doors


    and told them to go if they wanted to live.


    Jack reached the front door. A guy dropped dead from what looked like arrow


    wounds. He stepped out and started for the gate. He had enough time to get down


    there and clear out the gatehouse and then head down to the city. He wondered who


    was going to fill out the slots he had emptied in the upper class.


    It would be a hoot if Lord Endwright had gotten promoted from his hard work. I can


    become a duke in my sleep. What can I do now that I am awake?


    Jack started whistling as he reached the gatehouse. The guards were gone. He


    wondered if he had done the wrong thing. He probably should have killed them first.


    He hoped he had killed the Captain of the Guards in all that. He didn¡¯t want the police


    to retaliate against him now that he had adopted nieces in the way. Maybe the next


    one would be smart enough not to allow criminals to operate in the open.


    He hoped Josie was having a better time of it. He let the persona go and started


    walking down the road. Death had been a good call in the massive room. It would


    have taken him forever to cut people down as Blade.


    He decided to call Elaine. She would know something about the Hole in the Wall.


    He could change directions depending on what she told him.


    He doubted he could catch up to Josie if she was on a spree.


    He also needed to talk to Guin and let him know that he might have to look around


    for assimilating whatever he could in the aftermath of what had happened. He


    doubted the godfather would want a haunted castle in the woods, but there was other


    things he could pick up before any of his rivals got involved.


    He expected Guin not liking the extra heat they might have drawn down on the city


    and his operations. He would have to work to mitigate that after the show he had put


    on. He supposed the survivors would start spreading word that a monster was killing


    all of the Montrose.


    He supposed a monster was what the Society had wanted to do their jobs for them.


    He hoped they didn¡¯t regret that now.

 Notifications

    Josie sat a moment and thought about her recent decisions. There was two things it


    fell on her to do until she heard from Jack. She wanted to call him, but felt he would


    call her if he had news.


    The first thing she had to do was talk to Darry Harp, and arrange for him to talk to


    Jane about training the Corle Posse. They definitely needed to know how to stab


    people now after what she had done.


    The second thing was tracking down Gall¡¯s wife and telling her he would be away for


    a while. She didn¡¯t relish that at all.


    It would be like telling Jack¡¯s Mom he wasn¡¯t coming home any more.


    She decided to do the unpleasant duty first. She had promised Gall to offer the


    support. It hadn¡¯t lifted to quest status, but she might as well keep her word. Then she


    could talk to Harp and Jack.


    The numbers on her quest against the Montrose had plunged down in four spikes.


    Two of them had to be when she hit the tax collectors, one had to be Jack hitting the


    Exchange building. Jack must have hit somewhere else to drive the number down that


    far, that fast.


    He had probably hit personnel working for the Exchange. She could wait to see what


    he had done in the morning. If it was important enough, he would call and tell her


    what he had done.


    Josie hoped she had done the right thing sending the surviving guards to the elves.


    Lorelei would do something to put them to work for her duchy.


    She should have asked Gall where he lived to make her job easier.


    She decided the best thing was fly back to the Exchange building and use that as her


    center of search. Once she found the wife, she could do the same for Harp. Then all


    she needed to do was fly over and talk with them.


    She definitely couldn¡¯t tell the wife her husband had been asked to police the most


    monster ridden part of Alfheim. She couldn¡¯t see that going over well.


    She checked her watch. It had slowly recharged as she had stood at her makeshift jail


    and thought about things. It was time to get back to work.


    She hated breaking bad news. She thought about the maxim Mel agreed with. It was


    better to get it over with and do it as fast as possible.


    That boy was still a lazy kid detective.


    Josie called on Northwind and blasted over the wall. She headed for the Exchange


    building and landed on the roof. She waited for the watch to recharge before she went


    ahead with her search.


    She used Zatanna and her search birds to range out from the building over the city.


    She nodded when they came to a stop and landed on small houses in different


    directions from the center of the city. She let go of the persona and let the watch


    recharge.


    When she was ready, she changed back into Northwind and jumped off the Exchange


    roof. She soared over the city to where the Galls lived. She landed outside of the door


    and let the persona go. She straightened her poncho and firmed up her resolve before


    she knocked on the door.


    She knocked again when no one answered the first knock.


    A disheveled woman appeared in the doorway. She glared at Josie. She pulled her


    robe around her as she looked up and down the street.


    ¡°Mrs. Gall?,¡± asked Josie. She didn¡¯t want to break bad news to the wrong woman.


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± asked Mrs. Gall. ¡°Is this about our rent? Quiton is working on


    the payment for you.¡±


    ¡°I came by to tell you your husband was sent outside the city with the rest of his


    squad,¡± said Josie. ¡°He was called away suddenly and this was the only way he could


    tell you.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean sent outside the city?,¡± said Mrs. Gall. ¡°He¡¯s been paying extra


    not to have to do anything like that.¡±


    ¡°Apparently they were seconded to another post,¡± said Josie. ¡°He said to send you to


    Jane¡¯s House for help with things until he gets back.¡±


    ¡°Jane¡¯s House?,¡± said Mrs. Gall. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a small charity helping people with problems,¡± said Josie. ¡°Get your bills


    together and ask Jane for help and she will get things in order for you until your


    husband comes home.¡±


    ¡°When will that be?,¡± said Mrs. Gall.


    ¡°When he is released from his duty,¡± Josie said. ¡°He has to make his new commander


    happy before he can be sent home.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this at all,¡± said Mrs. Gall. ¡°What about his old commander?¡±


    ¡°Which one?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Aile,¡± said the housewife.


    ¡°Dead as a doornail as far as I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t even know where the body


    wound up.¡±


    ¡°This is about the sudden bill, isn¡¯t it?,¡± said Mrs. Gall. ¡°Quiton said there wasn¡¯t


    something right about the way it had been called up, and then Aile and his second


    showing up to drag Quiton with them.¡±


    ¡°I imagine the second is dead too,¡± said Josie. ¡°Your husband and part of his squad


    are fine. They will be returned to the city and they will be sent away somewhere else.


    It¡¯s just how things are right now. If anything changes, I will come by and let you


    know.¡±


    ¡°Aile screwed something up, didn¡¯t he?,¡± asked Mrs. Gall. ¡°He screwed up and


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.dragged Quiton in with him.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°He made a mistake. I don¡¯t want you to worry. Your husband will


    be home soon, and Jane will help you if you go by and talk to her.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Mrs. Gall. A baby started crying behind her. ¡°I have to go.¡±


    ¡°Good night,¡± said Josie. She walked away from the house, dialing up the Northwind


    so she could change as soon as she was out of sight.


    She pushed the button and lifted off. She gained the top of the roofs and looked


    around. She saw the other bird in the distance. She drifted across the city and landed


    gently at her destination.


    She knocked on the door. She counted silently as she waited for someone to come to


    the door. It opened to reveal an older woman in neat dress and long gray braid.


    ¡°What can I do for you?,¡± asked the lady. One hand remained behind her body.


    Maybe it had a weapon ready to go.


    ¡°Is Sir Harp here?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I would like to talk to him for a minute.¡±


    ¡°Madam Fox?,¡± said Harp from inside the house. He approached the door. ¡°Is


    something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Jane would like to hire you to train her Amazons to use swords,¡± said Josie. ¡°The


    Exchange sent some guards down to raid the grounds. I had to intervene, but the


    upshot is the women want to be able to fight on equal grounds with the Guards.¡±


    ¡°What is the commission?,¡± asked Harp. He smoothed back his hair with his one


    hand.


    ¡°I have no idea at this point,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m financing things, but Jane is handling


    the money. I don¡¯t know how much you will have to haggle with her if you want the


    job.¡±


    ¡°Will she want to come to the Adventurers¡¯ Hall?,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just came by with the offer. I have to catch up with


    Jack. I think most of this could be worked out with Jane if you want to do that.¡±


    ¡°Is this dangerous?,¡± asked Mrs. Harp.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know. A lot depends on what Jack did. The Guard might


    be more worried about that than what happened at Jane¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s time you told us something other than you are a witch,¡± said Harp. ¡°I


    think we need some tea. And we¡¯ll discuss this a bit.¡±


    Mrs. Harp placed her club in a basket next to the door. They stepped out of the way


    and allowed Josie to follow them to the kitchen. Mrs. Harp put a kettle on to boil


    while her husband put three cups on the table. He sorted out marked packets of tea.


    He placed three of the same kind on the table and put the rest back in their jar.


    ¡°What do you want to know?,¡± asked Josie. She took a seat at a point in a triangle


    with the Harps taking the other two points at the round table.


    ¡°The word around the hall is that you are a witch, and you have done things since you


    first came by with your sisters,¡± said Harp. ¡°How much of that is true?¡±


    ¡°I am not a witch,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just have a force multiplier that I can use to do


    things. It was given to me to sort things out, but I might have done something stupid


    and overstepped what I was ready to handle.¡±


    ¡°Overstepped how?,¡± asked Mrs. Harp. Josie could see she had the same type moves


    as her husband. The dialer wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she could handle a sword just as


    good as her husband.


    ¡°I declared a war on an army of human traffickers in a fit of anger,¡± said Josie. ¡°And


    since I have started, we have linked them to the nobility and authority here in the city,


    as well as the Exchange that secures valuables and handles monies.¡±


    ¡°Jack is aware of this?,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°Yes, and I am afraid that he did something rash,¡± said Josie. ¡°The counter for the


    quest showed a large number of them dying.¡±


    ¡°Is this Jane, or your sisters involved?,¡± asked Harp.


    ¡°I rescued the girls, and Jack came home with Jane¡¯s gang,¡± said Josie. ¡°Donald Corle


    was taking them up north to wake up the Dark Rider. I assumed he had planned to


    sacrifice them to get what he wanted.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re involved with Warner,¡± stated Mrs. Harp.


    Josie couldn¡¯t hide her reaction. She looked at the two of them, and judged their ages


    by Oliver Warner¡¯s.


    ¡°We have had dealings with Warner in the past,¡± said Harp. ¡°You could say he was


    the reason why we got married. How is he?¡±


    ¡°Old, and running his shop,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯ve known about the Society and its


    business all this time?¡±


    ¡°Not a Society, but Warner always appeared to track down some threat and then


    vanish,¡± said Harp. ¡°He dealt with a number of things over the years, and we had a


    hand in some of it too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s how Darry lost his arm and gained a knighthood,¡± said Mrs. Harp.


    ¡°If I had known, I would have said something sooner than this,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t


    think about anyone knowing Mr. Warner here. He never said anything about this, and


    we kind of found out a lot from things said by his former bosses.¡±


    ¡°This Society?,¡± said Mrs. Harp.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we call them,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack is the only one to talk to them.¡±


    ¡°Have you done anything about the original problem that brought you to Hawk


    Ridge?,¡± asked Harp.


    ¡°We had four quests originally, and we handled them,¡± said Josie. ¡°The rest is what


    we picked up while doing the original quests.¡±


    The kettle whistled. Mrs. Harp pulled it off the hook and poured the water for them.


    The trio opened the packets of tea and dumped them in the water to steep.


    ¡°How big is this problem?,¡± asked Mrs. Harp. ¡°Is Jane involved?¡±


    ¡°She is only involved as a bystander,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know if anyone other than


    Guin knows that she is someone saved by Jack from the Montrose. We gave her


    group Corle¡¯s house since he wasn¡¯t going to need it anymore. That might have been


    one of the reasons the Montrose tried to levy a tax bill against her and her group.¡±


    ¡°This type of corruption was not something Warner usually dealt with when he


    appeared,¡± said Harp. ¡°He usually had bigger problems to handle.¡±


    ¡°Jack and I think the Society doesn¡¯t really want their people to live here,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The problem is I took this quest and I don¡¯t know if I will be pulled away before I


    can get things done.¡±


    ¡°How do you want our help?,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°I just need you to look at Jane, and see what you can do,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I need the


    Ducklings to come up to snuff. I think we¡¯re going to wait for a few days to see what


    the fallout is.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Jack will be able to build an arm for Darry?,¡± asked Mrs. Harp.


    ¡°If he can¡¯t, no one can,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think he got a quest for it, so I know he will


    work on it. I don¡¯t know how good it will be so I don¡¯t want to get your hopes up.¡±


    ¡°I will try not to,¡± said Harp. ¡°You haven¡¯t done a lot of real fighting, have you?¡±


    ¡°I have done some fighting,¡± said Josie. ¡°But this is murder. I have killed more than


    a few of these people and some of them deserved it more than others.¡±


    ¡°You said the city tried to collect taxes on Jane¡¯s people at this property,¡± said Mrs.


    Harp. ¡°Was it after sunset?¡±


    ¡°It was early night,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Collections are done in the day time at a center of works,¡± said Mrs. Harp. ¡°They


    rarely come to someone¡¯s house and demand money.¡±


    ¡°And they rarely make arrests,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°So fighting them off was the right move,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It will still make you a target for anyone in the government who wants to assert that


    you should have bowed to the authority no matter how wrong it was,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°All I can say is they committed suicide when they saw me coming,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    have to get back to the Hole in the Wall. I left Elaine and the kids there after I broke


    out. I need to go home and make sure they are okay.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to this Jane and see if she will take some instruction from me,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°I will do it in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have the girls ready to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hopefully there will be some quiet days


    while the city adjusts to whatever holes were suddenly opened in the infrastructure.


    I hadn¡¯t really thought Jack would bomb the place out.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be the first time something like this has happened,¡± said Harp. ¡°Warner did


    some things he should have thought more about before he did them.¡±


    ¡°I am not surprised,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will see you in the morning.¡±


    Josie walked to the front door and let herself out. She glanced over her shoulder at the


    older couple. She walked into the darkness.

 Meeting on the Road

    Jack watched the road from underneath the branches of a tree. Some of the guests had


    passed him on the way back to the city so he decided to let them pass in peace. There


    would be stories tomorrow.


    And Josie would not be pleased by what he had done.


    Guin wouldn¡¯t be either, but he expected the godfather to be ready to take whatever


    he could out of the deal with so many openings in the infrastructure above him. He


    might be able to take over the city from any rivals that might stand in his way.


    He pushed the button for Elaine on the call band. He could talk to her while he


    watched the road.


    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°How are things at home?,¡± asked Jack. He backed up so the glow from the call could


    be construed as something else.


    ¡°Josie is still missing,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The neighbors are talking about what she did.


    I can see some pointing at the Hole in the Wall through the windows.¡±


    ¡°What did she do?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°She set the tax collectors on fire in a public display,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we


    might have to move.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Keep an eye out. I doubt anyone else is going to make a move


    tonight, but someone might think they can. I¡¯ll call Guin and see what his take on


    things is. I might have made things worse with what I did.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Where do you think Josie is?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call her in a second,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯s probably walking things off.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call her,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You deal with Guin. Then come home.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll be home in a bit.¡±


    Jack pressed the button for Guin. He doubted the guy was asleep. This was his prime


    time at his casino.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Jack,¡± said Guin. His voice sounded like he talked on magic phones every


    day. He probably wanted a box of them for his organization.


    ¡°I hit a party at Hent¡¯s house,¡± said Jack. ¡°You didn¡¯t say he was a duke.¡±


    ¡°He bought the title from the last Duke,¡± said Guin. ¡°I assume there was a lot of


    damage, and that¡¯s why you¡¯re calling.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to say that is a yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°If the Montrose didn¡¯t know about


    things before, they know now. Do you know anybody in the Guard?¡±


    Guin didn¡¯t say anything about the Makeover. That should have been a clue


    something was on the horizon. Yet people with it came into his casino like they had


    no care in the world.


    He wondered if that would change now.


    ¡°I know some people that I use to secure information,¡± said Guin. He said it in a way


    that he wasn¡¯t going to give the names to Jack in case he decided to use the contacts


    to do something like this.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°See if you can get one of them to dummy up an excuse to go


    out to the Hent estate and file a report. I didn¡¯t identify all the dead people. Some of


    them fled. If they were smart, they cleared out of the city.¡±


    ¡°We need to talk about this,¡± said Guin. ¡°In person. Mistress Fox too.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll let Josie know. When?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to figure out how bad this is, and then we¡¯re going to sit down and talk


    about your methods,¡± said Guin. ¡°Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°Too much attention?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Not yet, but possibly,¡± said Guin. ¡°I am going to find out how much damage you


    have done, and then we will see if our partnership will carry on. Do not kill anyone


    else until we talk.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t plan on it,¡± said Jack. ¡°A lot of the survivors are headed into the city. Some


    of them might want to leave after what happened.¡±


    ¡°I will call when I am ready to arrange a meeting,¡± said Guin. ¡°Keep your head


    down.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to talk to Josie. Some people from the Montrose tried


    to hit the Hole in the Wall and Jane¡¯s House. Josie dealt with them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Guin. ¡°I will send someone around to check on Jane in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Tell them to be careful,¡± said Jack. ¡°Jane might be angry at someone trying to get


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.through the gates and doing things.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Guin. ¡°I will ask her to join us. Is there anybody else involved?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right. One of the survivors is coming down the road.¡±


    ¡°Do not kill him,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I gave this kid a pass,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll send him down to the casino so you can talk


    to him.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Guin. ¡°That will be something I can work on tonight.¡±


    ¡°It looks like the kid isn¡¯t alone,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have to kill some more people


    before I¡¯m done. I¡¯ll send him down to talk to you when I get him out of this


    problem.¡±


    ¡°More restraint, Jack,¡± said Guin. ¡°There¡¯s only so much I can do in the face of Royal


    Authority.¡±


    ¡°I need to save this kid and his true love,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I¡¯m done for the night.


    Let me know when you want to have this meeting. I¡¯ll herd Josie down to talk to


    you.¡±


    Guin cut the connection. Jack made a note not to drink or eat anything at any meeting.


    That would be a bad idea in his opinion.


    He watched as the minor noble and his true love shared space on a single horse


    trotting down the road. A group of guards he had missed at the estate were galloping


    up to surround the rider and his lady.


    Were they guarding the noble, or gearing up to rob him and take the lady wherever


    they wanted? He decided to wait for something to happen. He just had to be ready to


    act before either of the kids were hurt.


    He decided that wasn¡¯t good enough. It was better to show himself and see what


    happened.


    Jack stepped out from under the trees and stood on the side of the road. He had his


    hand on the watch. What would they do when they saw him standing there? Did they


    know his true face? That would decide things in his opinion.


    ¡°It¡¯s him.¡± One of the riders pointed at Jack. ¡°It¡¯s him.¡±


    Jack watched as the group turned to face him. He wished he had a Bulletgirl on his


    watch. He frowned at the group. They already had swords out. Some of them waved


    the blades at him.


    He pushed the button and Captain America filled him with all the fighting expertise


    he needed to get the job done.


    Jack pulled the closest marked man off his horse and kicked his face in. He used the


    horse as a vault to leap to the next one. They dropped to the ground with the persona


    on top. Fists worked twice to make sure the guard didn¡¯t get up.


    The surviving guards turned their horses and rode toward the city. They passed the


    noble and his lady without doing them any harm. The younger man pulled his horse


    to a stop.


    Captain America grabbed the reins of one of the loosed horses and let Jack lead it to


    the still mounted noble.


    ¡°Can you ride, lady?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°You can take this horse.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the demon,¡± said the noble.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Jack. ¡°A friend of mine wants to talk to you. He is waiting for


    you down at the Silver Coin in the city. I think he wants to know what happened at


    the Hent estate.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± said the noble.


    ¡°He is going to have to fix the mess that was made,¡± said Jack. ¡°And he is going to


    need help with that. So I told him that you were there, and he asked for me to send


    you down so he could talk to you.¡±


    ¡°What does this have to do with us?,¡± said the noble. He and his lady exchanged


    glances.


    ¡°You¡¯re witnesses,¡± said Jack. ¡°Guin wants to talk to you so he can figure out where


    he stands. He doesn¡¯t want to be caught up if something happens to the city. You


    guys might be the key to his defense.¡±


    ¡°Will he help us?,¡± asked the lady.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s pretty mad at me right now. He might turn you away


    as soon as he gets what he wants.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a chance,¡± said the noble. ¡°I don¡¯t really like it.¡±


    ¡°What were you trying to do at Hent¡¯s estate?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I wanted to get my land back,¡± said the noble. ¡°Duke Hent took it from me over false


    tax claims.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go talk to Guin. Tell him what was going on, and what you


    want out of this. With all of those guys dead, you might be able to get your land


    back.¡±


    ¡°Will Guin help us?,¡± asked the noble.


    ¡°If he won¡¯t, I will,¡± said Jack. A ding went off in his head. ¡°Go talk to him and ask


    him for a strategy. Tell him that I will back you if you are being straight with me.¡±


    ¡°Are you a devil?,¡± asked the lady.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m just a guy sent to do a job and the job just expanded out of


    control.¡±


    ¡°I have seen that before,¡± said the noble. ¡°My name¡¯s Lord Cilt. This is Madeline


    Fors. We were going to get married before all this happened.¡±


    ¡°You still might be able to if things go right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Talk to Guin, see what his


    advice is. Then we will see about the rest of this.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Madeline. ¡°How will we find you?¡±


    ¡°I will find you,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you need help, go by Guin¡¯s and Jane¡¯s House and tell


    them you¡¯re looking for me. They¡¯ll know where to find me.¡±


    ¡°Will they?,¡± said Lord Cilt.


    ¡°Unless I go home,¡± said Jack. ¡°Have a nice ride back to the city.¡±


    ¡°How are you getting back to the city?,¡± said Madeline.


    ¡°I plan to fly,¡± said Jack. He headed into the trees. ¡°Be careful because I¡¯m leaving


    you guys alone.¡±


    He checked his watch as he moved through the woods. He had time to fly home if he


    hurried.


    He called on the Falcon and headed into the sky. He had an eye on the fleeing guards.


    They weren¡¯t stopping. That was good. If they were, they were doing that to ambush


    Cilt and his love. Jack decided to make sure they left the couple alone. Once the two


    were at the Coin, they could bargain with Guin about a room.


    Jack returned to normal ahead of the guards. He stood in the shadows and waited for


    them to pass. He made sure they were all still there.


    One of them might get the idea that it would be good to stop and try to do things on


    their own while the others headed for home.


    He waited until Cilt and Madeline passed before he changed to the Falcon and flew


    ahead to the top of the wall. He dropped down and switched to normal. He waited


    until the couple reached the gate. If the guards turned, this is where it would happen.


    He watched them ride into the city and head toward the Coin. He changed into the


    Falcon and flew ahead to make sure that they reached the casino. He smiled when


    they reached the door. The bouncers waved for the two to enter ahead of the line.


    Jack headed for the Hole in the Wall. He still had to talk to the women and figure out


    where they were going from here.


    He dropped down and let himself in to the apartment he had expanded from a holding


    dungeon. He paused when he saw all the girls were waiting for him with sticks at the


    ready.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys supposed to be in bed?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Josie isn¡¯t home yet,¡± said Elaine. ¡°She won¡¯t answer her band.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go look for her,¡± said Jack. ¡°Any more trouble?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It looks like some of it has been abated by her action.¡±


    ¡°She set them on fire,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Did they deserve it?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Alicia. ¡°They wanted to take us again.¡±


    ¡°Then they got what they asked for,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll find her.¡±

 Melancholy

    Josie wandered the city. She kept an eye out for troublemakers. She wondered if she


    had to put more people in the ground. Her mind worked at the timing of the tax bill


    as she walked.


    She frowned at the thought that she had deposited the brick, and they had turned the


    guards on her within hours. And they had groups for the Hole in the Wall, and Jane¡¯s


    people. What had they wanted doing that?


    Then her thoughts turned to the Harps knowing Old Man Warner. She had not


    thought that would happen. Was Hawk Ridge the center of the Society¡¯s reach? She


    wished she knew more about what he had done for the Society when he was there,


    and he had cost Harp his arm during one of those actions.


    She knew she could find those things out if she wanted to bad enough. Did she want


    to? What things were out there that Warner had dealt with when he was there?


    She wished she had not started the quest against the Montrose. She wasn¡¯t ready to


    kill people until she was done.


    How did Jack hold on to himself after what they had done?


    She found a place to sit outside and watch the street. She checked in case she needed


    to spend money. Some people let you sit if you kept to yourself, some called the


    police.


    And the police in Hawk Ridge were just as bad as back home, if not worse.


    She thought that the tax bill had been dummied up because of the brick. Maybe the


    Exchange has asked the guards to raid in the hopes of finding more bricks. Raiding


    Jane might have been trying to grab two prizes for one.


    Setting them on fire might have been too much.


    Killing people cleanly had to be better than setting them on fire and waiting for them


    to cook like racks of ribs. She had went overboard on that.


    She decided that sitting and wallowing in guilt was not for her. She had done the


    things. She could live with it. She had two puzzles, but one of them could be


    explained by an order given from the Exchange. The other could only be settled by


    research.


    How did she do her research into Warner¡¯s former adventures in Hawk Ridge?


    Any place that had information would be closed at that time of the night. She didn¡¯t


    feel like breaking in and searching for stories about Warner. She could do that in the


    daytime.


    What did Elaine and the Ducklings think about her now?


    She had exploded into the tax collectors and killed them in columns of fire. She didn¡¯t


    have to do that. She could have used Bulletgirl, or Richard Dragon, instead of


    resorting to the flashy use of power she had done.


    She needed to think about other names on her watch. Zatanna was versatile enough


    to handle most situations. She had some good hand to hand fighters with the Karate


    Kid and Richard Dragon. Johnny Quick gave her speed. She had two good shooters


    with Bulletgirl and the Green Arrow. She needed to have some defensive players to


    stop things in their tracks before she resorted to something like Fire again.


    She needed something like whatever Jack had used to build the phone bands. She


    needed a little more imagination than what she had used so far.


    ¡°I thought I¡¯d find you here,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you want to talk?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. ¡°I took care of the kids and Elaine and Jane¡¯s Amazons. I


    used too much flash on it.¡±


    ¡°I crashed a party from the Exchange,¡± said Jack. ¡°Guin is miffed at us. He wants us


    to lay low until he has assessed the damage I caused.¡±


    ¡°How much damage did you cause?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°Guin just knows something¡¯s up since I asked him


    to identify the bodies at the estate.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do now?,¡± asked Josie. She looked at him. He stood with eyes


    scanning the street. She knew he wasn¡¯t wearing his habitual smile. She took a breath


    to try to center her thinking.


    ¡°Guin asked us to wait, and then have a meeting,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we see what we


    have to do from there. I think he is afraid of the king coming down and wiping out


    the city as a threat to the rest of the country.¡±


    ¡°We stopped some things, but did we do anything worthwhile?,¡± asked Josie. She


    didn¡¯t feel like she had done anything to be proud of with her power.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°I enabled true love to have a chance of being the right thing. I¡¯ll


    put that against anything else. The others are worried about you. I¡¯m worried about


    you. I think we need to find some booze and some cards and try to cheer up.


    Tomorrow will show us what kind of disaster I actually committed.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. She felt something on her face. She brushed it away


    with the back of her hand. ¡°I have been thinking about things I did wrong. Maybe I


    should be thinking about what we can do next. More of the Montrose will be coming


    into town after what we did.¡±


    ¡°Guin is right,¡± said Jack. He put his hands in his pockets as he watched the people


    on the street. ¡°We have been using names that are flashier than what we should be


    using. We might need to tone things down, grab people like Mesmero to do the job.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will have to leave the clerks at the


    Exchange alone until their management can be replaced.¡±


    ¡°How long will that be?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°We should tell them to do the work and pay


    themselves until they figure out what they want to do. Maybe we can get Guin to help


    them open another bank and seize that building for them.¡±


    ¡°You want to compete with the bank in charge of taking women with a bank run by


    women?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a thought right now,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have to think of it as a next step. We


    might have to help them run the other bank out of town.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We should go by and let them know that most of their bosses


    have been murdered. I¡¯m sure they will love that.¡±


    ¡°I just introduced them to the natural features of time,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go over and


    talk to the clerks, and then we¡¯ll see if we have to protect them from their bosses


    when Guin pulls back any protection they might have at the moment.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She felt lighter. She knew when she reached the Hole in the


    Wall, she would break down and cry. For now, she could put on her stoic face and try


    to help someone else with their problems.


    ¡°Are we walking, or flying?,¡± asked Jack.


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    ¡°We can fly,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have Hawkgirl ready to go.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Jack. ¡°Because I am already there.¡±


    He jumped into the air and became the Falcon. A flap of his wings and he was


    climbing up over the city.


    Josie shook her head. She pushed the button her watch and became a hawk. She beat


    her wings so she could reach the same area in the sky and glide toward the Exchange


    building.


    Jack dropped down on the roof of the Exchange building a few minutes later. He


    smiled as Josie came in for a landing. She released the persona to be normal again.


    ¡°Now we just go in and tell the clerks they are in charge until someone from the home


    office comes and talks to them,¡± said Jack. ¡°But we also have to tell them that the


    Exchanges are making money from stealing people. I¡¯m sure they will love that.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can rig another bank with Guin¡¯s help,¡± said Josie. She thought about the


    twenty five branches spread out on the map at home. ¡°We might be able to seize this


    building and put it under the city¡¯s control somehow.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°He might want to dissolve our partnership after the


    mess I made.¡±


    ¡°You may have accidentally made things easier for him since wizardry is obviously


    not his strong point,¡± said Josie. The depression slowly lifted. ¡°I gave the surviving


    tax collectors to Lorelei and Bob. They were called to serve the bill almost


    immediately.¡±


    ¡°So someone from the bank told them to try to grab you and whatever gold you might


    have lying around?,¡± said Jack. ¡°That feels right. It was probably Emer.¡±


    ¡°Or we missed someone,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯ll know after Guin¡¯s investigators get through sorting things,¡± said Jack. He


    opened the door for them to go downstairs.


    The pair made their way in silence to the barracks room. The women were asleep on


    their beds. Josie took out a piece of paper from her bag. She used her quill to write


    a short note for the lady who might be Emer¡¯s replacement. She left it on the woman¡¯s


    pillow. They retreated from the room.


    They walked back up to the roof and sat down after making sure the door was locked


    behind them. Candles lit the dark below them and in windows across the city. Torches


    burned on top of the wall that surrounded the city.


    ¡°What do we do now?,¡± said Josie. She was sick of killing but she still had people she


    had to defend.


    ¡°We wait,¡± said Jack. ¡°We walk the kids to their lessons, we keep an eye on things,


    we let Guin do his thing until he¡¯s ready to be our partner again. I screwed up clearing


    out Hent¡¯s estate like I did. I didn¡¯t find any girls except for the ones they were using


    at the dinner.¡±


    ¡°They might be hidden in the dark somewhere,¡± said Josie. She felt a pang. ¡°I think


    we should make sure.¡±


    ¡°I guess checking wouldn¡¯t be interfering, but we can¡¯t let Guin know we¡¯re looking


    around while he is looking around,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think one go over with the Vision should be enough,¡± said Josie. She rubbed her


    face. ¡°Why did you look for me?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re worried about you,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re my best friend and the kids¡¯s adopted


    sister. You turned them around, and they don¡¯t want to lose you on top of everything


    else. And Elaine asked me to make sure you were okay, so she¡¯s worried too.¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t think I did the right thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°I had to speak to one of the guy¡¯s


    wives. She¡¯s stuck with kids and no one to help out unless she does what I tell her and


    asks Jane for help. I don¡¯t know if Jane will help her after what her husband tried to


    do at the estate.¡±


    ¡°Remember what you¡¯re always telling me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you should put a little


    faith in that at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Hope for the best, expect the worst,¡± said Josie. ¡°It just doesn¡¯t seem that good right


    now.¡±


    ¡°You can always adopt Harry Bosch¡¯s if you think you¡¯re man enough,¡± said Jack.


    He grinned at her.


    ¡°What¡¯s that, dipstick?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Everybody matters, or nobody matters,¡± said Jack. He hugged her. ¡°You matter.


    Let¡¯s go look around and then you can get me some more ice cream.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to reward bad behavior,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You can¡¯t prove anything,¡± said Jack. He checked his watch before becoming the


    Falcon and flying off into the night.


    Josie smiled. She stood, brushing off her pants. She changed into Hawkgirl and sailed


    into the sky after him. She tried to enjoy the wind on her face as she swooped down


    to a landing outside a mansion with dead bodies scattered everywhere.


    Jack had already switched to the Vision. He scanned the grounds, turning in a circle


    in the same spot. He frowned as he paused.


    ¡°There¡¯s an underground thing under the house,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can see cages, but I


    don¡¯t see any women.¡±


    ¡°I think we should open it up for Guin,¡± said Josie. She looked around. ¡°Maybe his


    guys will look things over while they are sorting out the bodies.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mole Man maybe?¡±


    ¡°I think Quakemaster should be good enough for this,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can let


    the guys find everything on their own without making Guin even more madder than


    he is now.¡±


    ¡°Quakemaster?,¡± said Jack. He pointed at where a tunnel should go.


    ¡°Third rate villain,¡± said Josie. She called on the body she wanted. She pointed her


    hand at the indicated spot. The ground split open under her influence.


    She let the persona go when the job was done.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head home,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can hang out while we try to think what our next


    move should be.¡±


    ¡°I was going to research Warner¡¯s jobs,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Harps both know him. Their


    ages don¡¯t seem quite right.¡±


    ¡°Your sword teacher knows the old guy who used to do what we are doing?,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Get out of here.¡±


    ¡°That was my reaction too,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We can both react that way over a bowl of ice cream, and maybe some apple pie if


    we are fast enough to get one before the store closes,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You and your apple pie,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You and your tequila,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe we can rustle some of that up too.¡±


    ¡°How in the world would we rustle up some tequila?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The same way you rustled up the coffee and hot chocolate in a world where there is


    no cocoa,¡± said Jack. ¡°Wait. You already rustled up some tequila, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m still dry.¡±


    There had been a few years where she couldn¡¯t get out of bed without a shot. She had


    dragged herself to a show, and then stopped drinking right after. She knew she would


    always remember Bobby Koontz, their drummer, dropping dead after mixing a bunch


    of things together and downing half a bottle of vodka on top of that.


    She had never told anyone about it after she reported Bobby¡¯s death. She had simply


    closed that time of her life off.


    Jack had been in the Army. He had known she had drunk some, but she had kept all


    the gory details to herself. She knew he would have deserted to bail her out, but she


    was such a mess, she couldn¡¯t even ask for help.


    ¡°Hot chocolate to go with our ice cream and pie?,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you think you can


    beat me home.¡±


    ¡°I am already there,¡± said Josie. She pushed the button on her watch and stepped


    across the city as Zatanna. ¡°What a maroon.¡±


    ¡°You cheater,¡± Jack said a moment later, appearing in a cloud of dust. ¡°I can¡¯t believe


    you.¡±


    ¡°If you ain¡¯t number one, you¡¯re number two,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You and your Ricky Bobby,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Just be glad I don¡¯t make you carry a mountain lion around all the time,¡± said Josie.


    She discarded the persona as she opened the door. Elaine and the girls stood on the


    other side of the door.


    ¡°Welcome home,¡± said Elaine.


    Alicia stepped forward. She raised her arms. Her stolid face shook.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± said Josie. She hugged the girl. ¡°Some things had to be done, and now we


    have to wait to see what happens. I¡¯m still looking out for you.¡±


    ¡°Ice cream, Elaine,¡± said Jack. He ruffled the girl¡¯s hair. ¡°I have made a lot of people


    unhappy and now I must recharge to make more unhappy in the next few days. You


    know what we need? A newspaper.¡±


    He vanished into the kitchen.


    Josie shook her head. She looked at her sisters. They all had the same look of


    determination.


    ¡°Tomorrow we go about our business,¡± she said. ¡°Right now, we have to make sure


    Jack doesn¡¯t eat the rest of the ice cream.¡±


    ¡°Not the ice cream,¡± said Angelica. She led the charge into the kitchen. ¡°Not my


    precious.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, Alicia,¡± said Josie. She tried to smooth the girl¡¯s hair down. ¡°Your sisters


    need you to stop your big brother from committing the greatest crime in history.¡±


    ¡°I was scared,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay to be scared,¡± said Josie. ¡°I get scared too. Only people with brain damage


    don¡¯t get scared.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared of some meddling kids!,¡± came from the kitchen. ¡°Why don¡¯t you get


    a giant dog to help you out?¡±


    ¡°Case in point,¡± said Josie. She let a bit of exasperation show. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can


    do about the ice cream. We can¡¯t let Jack have it all.¡±


    ¡°Not number two,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Josie.


    They walked to the kitchen door and looked at the rest of the Ducklings trying to


    corner Jack who was using the table as a defense. He wore a grin, and had the ice


    cream in hand.


    ¡°Ice cream, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Bowls and spoons, girls. Let¡¯s have a little order.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was about to blast out of here with my prize.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s have a moment to celebrate, but then we have to get


    ready for bed and tomorrow we are taking lessons and learning things.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to learn things,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. She smiled slightly.


    ¡°Luckily,¡± said Jack. ¡°I brought home a pie to go with my ice cream and I have


    nowhere to go tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You fiend,¡± said Melanie and Angelica at the same time.


    Jack laughed.

 Talking to the Boss

    Jack found himself in the dark room. He had expected that. The amount of death and


    carnage he and Josie had inflicted deserved some kind of lecture. He just didn¡¯t feel


    like hearing one.


    One the other hand, maybe the Society didn¡¯t care about that as long as they didn¡¯t


    cross whatever goals the Society wanted taken care of before they finished those


    personal tasks.


    He found it hard to gauge motivations when little information was shared.


    The twelve came into the room and took their seats. They regarded Jack with degrees


    of exasperation and anger. He grinned at them.


    They could take his fake Robby Reed H Dial off his dead body after he had gone up


    in a giant ball of fire.


    ¡°There are some problems on the horizon,¡± said the leader, sitting in the center chair


    on the right. ¡°We will be issuing quests again. These personal ones will have to take


    a backseat to our desires.¡±


    ¡°How many?,¡± said Jack. He tried to not show his relief that they were still on the job.


    ¡°At least three,¡± said the second, sitting in the center chair on the left. ¡°This quest


    against the Montrose may have held off and triggered circumstances at the same


    time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Neither do we,¡± said the lady with the owl. They had the same empty gaze turned


    on their champion. ¡°Something changed when you inflicted your damage at the party.


    We don¡¯t know what.¡±


    ¡°We feel they might have decided to declare war on you,¡± said the man with the


    sword. He tapped the blade against his boot.


    ¡°And to do that, they have decided to look for artifacts in the hinterlands,¡± said the


    second.


    ¡°I should have expected that to happen,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have been turning their


    troops into cannon fodder, and trying to get rid of their leaders. Josie said Darry Harp


    knew Old Man Warner and lost his arm during one of their quests. Do you know what


    happened there?¡±


    ¡°He lost the arm during a monster hunt,¡± said the lady with the bow. ¡°Oliver Warner


    had to cut the arm off before the poison killed him. It was a decision that Warner


    regretted when if he had more time he could have saved the arm.¡±


    ¡°Does Harp know this?,¡± asked Jack. That was some rough stuff to have your friend


    cut off your arm.


    ¡°That is unknown,¡± said the lady. ¡°Warner might have told him out of guilt, or he


    might have guessed.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we have unknown problems coming, maybe threats against


    the kids, and the local godfather hates us for causing him problems. Am I missing


    anything?¡±


    ¡°You have an alliance with the Elves and they will expect you to hold up your end,¡±


    said the man with the winged hat, or hat made out of wings. ¡°One of you might have


    to go to Lorelei¡¯s duchy to deal with problems there.¡±


    ¡°We can handle it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Why didn¡¯t Warner stay? Why are you allowing us


    to stay?¡±


    ¡°Oliver didn¡¯t feel for the land like you do,¡± said one of the silent women towards the


    end of the row. She was beautiful, more so than any other woman that Jack had ever


    seen, but casual about it in her suit. ¡°Without ties, doing the quests and going home


    to try to live a more normal life was how he liked to do things.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like he was having mental problems,¡± said Jack. ¡°Did you guys talk to him


    about it?¡±


    ¡°He preferred not to talk to us except if he was having problems fulfilling the quests,¡±


    said the center right. He leaned forward in his chair. ¡°I admit most of us would not


    be good counselors for the mentally ill.¡±


    ¡°A man has to know his limitations,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Do you?,¡± said the man with the sword.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just haven¡¯t seen them yet. When you get an idea what these new


    quests are, send them along. I¡¯ll let Josie know we¡¯ll have to knock some of them


    down.¡±


    ¡°You might want to be subtler with the use of the watches,¡± said the man with the


    hat. ¡°The way you are going, every man will turn their hand against you despite the


    friends you are making.¡±


    ¡°We were talking about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll try to dredge up some low level mooks


    I can use. I do have one question.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said the center right.


    ¡°Is Kid Colt a gunfighter like the source material, or is he a goat with a gun?,¡± asked


    Jack.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try the watch and find out?,¡± asked a man with braces on his legs.


    His face had been beaten with the ugly stick.


    ¡°I knew it was a goat with a gun,¡± said Jack. ¡°Damn it.¡±


    ¡°Be ready, Jacob Ezekial Lee,¡± said Center left.


    ¡°You can call me Jack, pretty lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°What may I call you?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± said center left. She smiled. ¡°Good luck. You may get the death you


    wish for before too long.¡±


    ¡°The only death I wish for is my enemies,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe Jo¡¯s mother.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you will see enough of one of those,¡± said Center right. ¡°We will contact


    you when we need you.¡±


    ¡°I will be waiting,¡± said Jack. ¡°Could you put in some addresses? That will be a big


    help.¡±


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    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the Quest Formers,¡± said Center right. ¡°I am sure they will be glad to


    make things easier for you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± said Jack.


    The group began to file out of the door.


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Jack. ¡°One more thing.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Center right as his staff left the room.


    ¡°Do we have to meet in a dark room like this?,¡± said Jack. ¡°It seems kind of


    villainous. Could we meet somewhere a little more bright and less goth?¡±


    Center right snapped his fingers. A set of lightning ran in the sky behind him. Little


    fairy dots appeared and Jack knew they were standing on a mountain somewhere.


    He could see the moons in the sky, clouds running in front of them. Above them,


    behind Jack, the mountain¡¯s peak reared up into the clouds.


    ¡°This is great,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is better than sitting in the dark. Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Do the quests, Jack,¡± said Center right. ¡°Save the world. Exercise a little more


    brain power. I know that you can do that.¡±


    ¡°Josie is the brains of this outfit,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She needs to use a little more brain power also,¡± said Center right.


    He stepped through the door and closed off the light in the dark. Sky took over.


    ¡°This is a neat trick,¡± said Jack. ¡°I thought I was the only one who could lucid


    dream.¡±


    He looked out over the land, marking Hawk Ridge in the distance. He smiled.


    He could be home if he wanted. He wondered how far away he was from the city.


    Was he close enough to fly down as the Falcon?


    He was in a dream. The watch should work forever to get him home. Time limits


    were for the waking world.


    On the other hand, any dreams could become nightmares in a second and drop him


    to the ground because his watch cut out on him.


    He decided that maybe he should climb down the side of the mountain.


    He woke up as he was looking for his first foothold. He rubbed his eyes. He needed


    to avoid sleep, but at least he was learning something. He got out of bed and dialed


    Kid Colt. He turned into a goat in a cowboy outfit with an old revolver.


    He decided to use that when he was desperate.


    He let go of the persona and got dressed. He didn¡¯t have anything to do except work


    on Harp¡¯s arm like he promised. He thought he could have that done in a few hours


    if he exerted the watch a bit.


    He wondered what the new quests would be like. He needed to warn Josie about the


    Elves. She could send a message to Lorelei and get her ready for their interference.


    At least the Duchy would give them a home base to start on their task.


    And he felt like Lorelei had a small bond with Josie. It wasn¡¯t enough to keep Josie


    from setting her on fire, but it was something.


    He walked downstairs and nodded at the signs of life. He wasn¡¯t much of a cook, but


    he should be able to boil potatoes, or something. Too bad they didn¡¯t have a fryer for


    fries. That would be awesome in his book.


    Maybe he should make a fryer. They could have fried chicken to go with his fries for


    example. The only problem was where the oil would have to come from.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°How are you spending the day?¡±


    ¡°I thought I would work on Harp¡¯s arm,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then see what an oil fryer would


    look like in this kitchen.¡±


    ¡°We need to tidy and then head down to the Adventurers¡¯ Hall,¡± said Elaine. ¡°When


    we are done with that, I have some grocery shopping to do.¡±


    ¡°Can you ask Josie to send Lorelei a letter to keep an eye out?,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might


    have a job in the Duchy.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°The Society dropped by to let me know that we are getting new jobs in a bit, and we


    should expect a small amount of trouble after what we did,¡± said Jack. ¡°Be extra


    careful for a bit.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let Josie know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Do you think this is about the guards she handed


    over to be trained?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Fried chicken would be good, maybe some scrambled


    eggs. Pizza could be done. A stove would be great for us.¡±


    ¡°What if the monster is too big for you to handle?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Then Lorelei and her crew are in for a heap of trouble,¡± said Jack. He put together


    a breakfast out of what was in the icebox. He used the Human Torch to do his


    cooking while the girls got ready for the day.


    ¡°Will you be traveling?,¡± asked Elaine. She watched him warm the plates with his


    hands.


    ¡°I have no idea yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society seems to be waiting for a go sign.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Maybe the quests can only be triggered when something happens,¡± said Jack. ¡°They


    talked like they were waiting for the guys we might have to chase to decide what they


    want to do. If they decide the wrong way, the Society expects us to handle it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°As soon as I know, I will start researching.¡±


    ¡°I think Josie is going to want you to find out what you can about Harp and his


    knighthood,¡± said Jack. ¡°It seems he¡¯s a friend of a friend. So we might have to look


    out for him in the middle of all this.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can look at the Registery,¡± said Elaine. ¡°A lot is not recorded except in


    public records and that isn¡¯t going to cover anything like something you and Josie


    have to do.¡±


    ¡°I guess word of mouth isn¡¯t reliable in this case,¡± said Jack. He made sure everything


    was cooked before he started taking the plates to the dining room table.


    Elaine put out forks for the girls. She didn¡¯t try to carry the steaming plates.


    ¡°You would have to track down the witnesses and after all this time, how many


    of those would still be alive?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Old Man Warner has been an old man all my life.


    There¡¯s no telling how long he operated here while living there.¡±


    ¡°So there may not even be a witness to what he did,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°He may not even have operated in Hawk Ridge the whole time,¡± said Jack. ¡°A lot


    depends on what he had to sort out, and how much he had to work. One job every five


    to ten years doesn¡¯t seem like a lot.¡±


    ¡°If he and Harp formed an adventurer party, they might have had their jobs listed in


    their registery logs,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Good thinking,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know what digging into things will get us, but


    maybe if he left enemies, they might form up to get us.¡±


    ¡°How far would word that Warner had heirs carry?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°As far as the Makeover,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Which reached to Kernly,¡± said Josie. She had on her dark black shirt with intact


    lightning bolt on it. ¡°That¡¯s a big radius.¡±


    ¡°I think it reached as far as there was members of the Montrose,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let the


    plate cool down before you try to eat breakfast.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Josie. She sat down at her place at the table.


    ¡°I used a persona that represents a fair bit of power,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have covered


    the whole planet with what I did.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Did you do that with the love potion?¡±


    ¡°Maybe not the individual ingredients,¡± said Jack. ¡°But maybe the conglomeration.¡±


    ¡°You erased an alchemical potion from the planet?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°What good was it? Now people have to fall in love the old


    fashioned way instead of being drugged up.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t argue with that,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting new jobs,¡± said Jack. ¡°Lay low until the notifications come in. Then


    we¡¯ll have the quests to do.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The Society is not going to let you be fat and happy here,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now pull on


    your big girl pants and give the world a smile.¡±


    He demonstrated for her.


    ¡°That is nothing like a smile,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°That is not even thing pleasant to look at,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°You are scaring me,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Did you sit on something sharp?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°I want to eat,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°What do you think, Al?,¡± asked Jack. He put on the expression again.


    ¡°Do we have butter?,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Too bad,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Do none of you know what a smile looks like?,¡± said Jack in the most Brian Blessed


    way possible.


    All the girls and Josie pointed at Elaine. She turned her head to hide her expression.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know when I¡¯m beaten.¡±


    He sat down and began eating.


    Chatter filled the room as the group talked about plans. Elaine asked Josie to send a


    letter to Lorelei to warn about trouble in her small kingdom.


    Josie nodded. She liked the former princess and her knight. They were the best of the


    elves she had met.


    ¡°Unspecified trouble?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°At the moment,¡± said Jack. ¡°But we¡¯re going to be getting a quest about it soon


    enough.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie.

 Momentary Lockout

    Josie got herself together after breakfast. She put on a false smile. She decided that


    it didn¡¯t look good on her face. She was better with the dour expression she usually


    wore.


    ¡°All right, girls,¡± she called as she pulled on her poncho. ¡°We go to practice, and we


    keep an eye on things until we know where we stand. If the Society is giving us new


    quests, there might be movement involved in things.¡±


    ¡°I would like to find some new things to eat,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Maybe some new


    recipes.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll check,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some salt and spices might be good to add to some of the


    things we cook.¡±


    ¡°Are we whisking to the Hall?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°The Society wants more low-key force solutions,¡± said Josie. ¡°So no whisking unless


    we have an emergency.¡±


    ¡°That is awful,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°This is the real world where existence threatening monsters could just snap people


    up,¡± said Josie. ¡°So I have to keep a low profile and leave no witnesses.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t want any trouble,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Everything will be fine,¡± said Josie. ¡°But we can¡¯t lose our grip on things.¡±


    ¡°And you need to work on things, Melanie,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Weak,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to walk if I can fly,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°But you can¡¯t fly,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Barely walk,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, kids,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can talk about things as we walk.¡±


    ¡°Should we talk with Jane?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I can call her and ask her to send someone to check on Madam Gall,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    don¡¯t like that she got dragged into this because her husband was used to enforce a


    bad tax bill.¡±


    ¡°The husband could have refused and been lashed,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That would be the


    price of disobeying the senior officer in command.¡±


    ¡°Nobody wants to be whipped,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder how many other Guards have


    been roped in by the Montrose to help them do things.¡±


    ¡°The question is how far up it has gone,¡± said Elaine. ¡°There are a lot of positions in


    the government that people look on for protections and assistance. All of that could


    be suborned by the enemy from the way things look now.¡±


    ¡°Jack might have improved that without meaning to depending on who died at the


    party,¡± said Josie. ¡°He knew I was looking for an opportunity like that. We can¡¯t go


    after the alchemists now thanks to him.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about a newspaper,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I heard Jack mention it but I don¡¯t think


    I have heard of one of those here.¡±


    ¡°Where we¡¯re from, events are collected and reported,¡± said Josie. ¡°Communication


    is like the bands Jack gave you, so some things are known right after they happened.


    A newspaper gathers these events into printed pages to allow people to read about


    them. Reporters, the people writing the stories for the papers, look for events, or


    wrongdoing, to tell people. Some places use the papers and news to cover up what the


    government did or make it seem like another region was responsible for things.¡±


    ¡°Lying to its people seems a thing the government does no matter where you are,¡±


    said Elaine.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°I doubt anyone really knows what


    goes on outside their spaces here. I wonder what would happen if we did start a paper.


    Would we even be able to support it?¡±


    ¡°How do you support such a thing in your world?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°The paper, or the organization behind the paper, charges for advertisements so you


    can tell people about something you are selling,¡± said Josie. ¡°For example, say Harp


    wanted to teach more and had the money, he would just take out an advertisement to


    announce that he had open classes and what hours he was prepared to keep.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That was like the preliminary plan against the alchemists.¡±


    ¡°Who knew Jack would kill a bunch of the rats at one time,¡± said Josie. ¡°I might have


    to go back to the vampire and track these people down in their homes thanks to him.¡±


    ¡°Will that make you happy?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie.


    The group closed on the Hall. A raucous crowd had gathered at the doors. They


    milled about, complaining about not being served, and some had bags of what could


    have been fresh kills.


    ¡°I wonder what¡¯s going on,¡± said Josie. She scanned the faces and found they were


    devoid of Jack¡¯s handiwork.


    She heard someone murmuring witch in the background. She didn¡¯t bother looking


    around. Some of the others recognized her and pulled back. No one wanted to be


    turned into a frog.


    Should she abandon the lesson? She had been asked to keep her head down. Did she


    want to throw that away so soon? If she saw Harp, she expected that he knew what


    was going on.


    ¡°Take the girls and circle around to the side, Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°If things get rough,


    I might have to resort to a lot of flash to get out of it.¡±


    Elaine nodded. She waved for the Ducklings to group at the side of the Hall. She kept


    an eye on the adventurers around them. A lot of the mercenaries could be dead in the


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.next few minutes.


    Josie nodded when she had a clear space to work in. She didn¡¯t want her girls or


    Elaine hurt by whatever she had to pull out of her bag of tricks. She wondered what


    Jack had used at the house to kill so many. That might be useful here.


    On the other hand, if she dialed in Bulletgirl, a lot of these adventurers would start


    sprouting holes to show them they should have kept their distance.


    ¡°Madam Witch,¡± said one of the adventurers. ¡°Could you help us?¡±


    She recognized him from the first day she had visited the hall. He looked a little older


    now, a little more scarred. His light armor had scratches. He had hit something with


    the hilt of his sword at one point from the dent in it.


    ¡°Your friend was the lady¡¯s man,¡± said Josie. ¡°I remember your group. Where¡¯s the


    rest of you?¡±


    ¡°I asked them to wait at the back of the crowd,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°No one knows


    what¡¯s going on. Can you find out for us?¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing.¡±


    ¡°Some of us have bounties that have to be handed in so we can resupply,¡± said the


    adventurer. ¡°To do that, we have to get into the Hall and fill out the paperwork. The


    longer that takes, the more the smell will fill our space.¡±


    ¡°The kids have to take their lessons,¡± said Josie. ¡°No one knows what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°No, Madam Witch,¡± said the adventurer.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the teacher for my kids,¡± said Josie. ¡°Spread the word around that I¡¯ll talk to


    whomever¡¯s on duty if they¡¯ll be a little patient. I¡¯ll have Sir Harp come along as a


    witness.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the adventurer.


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°They might not be open because no one is in


    residence.¡±


    ¡°The hall should never close,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°If no one is there, then something


    bad has happened to the clerks and the staff charged with the building.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Start telling people to line up and Sir Harp and I will open the


    door and see if there is anything we can do to fix the problem.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said the adventurer. He started with those close by and worked his way


    through the crowd, waving at his group to come forward to assist him.


    Josie waved at Sir Harp. She needed someone to act as her cover so she could break


    in and find out what was going on. She didn¡¯t want to increase her reputation as a


    witch so people started trying to act on that.


    She had plenty of people she had to kill. The Society wanted to her to tone it down.


    She could do that.


    She doubted they would take her watch with more quests coming down, but they were


    right about the two of them attracting too much attention. They couldn¡¯t do the quests


    and fight the whole world at the same time.


    Jack might be able to do that, but she knew she couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Hello, and good morning, Mistress,¡± said Harp. He looked over the crowd. ¡°What


    seems to be the problem?¡±


    ¡°The Hall is locked up,¡± said Josie. ¡°One of the local adventurers asked me to take


    a look at the reason why.¡±


    ¡°It seems odd,¡± said Harp. ¡°I have only seen that happen a few times.¡±


    ¡°So it is strange,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you keep an eye out for me?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Harp. ¡°The Ducklings?¡±


    ¡°They are around the side,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wanted them out of the way if I had to cut


    loose in the middle of all this.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Harp. ¡°Let¡¯s look at this door and see if we can open it.¡±


    ¡°And we want to keep the adventurers back until we have things settled,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I might have to do things inside the hall to straighten things out.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Harp. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    Josie called on the Locksmith. Two turns from an extendable rod from a specialized


    gauntlet and she had the door open. She stepped inside, letting the persona go.


    Harp followed, throwing the bolt back until they had everything straightened out.


    The Locksmith was good for breaking locks, but his combat abilities were low. It was


    better to be ready to call on Dragon, or Bulletgirl, than try to depend on someone


    Batman beat with one punch.


    Josie and Harp crossed the grand hall. She noticed that her job for Kearnly was still


    on the board. She frowned at the clerks arguing behind the counter.


    They walked up to the counter and stood there. The argument seemed to be about the


    absence of the Hall manager and the lack of procedures in effect. The three clerks


    didn¡¯t notice their visitors.


    ¡°Maybe we can help you,¡± said Josie. ¡°What seems to be the problem?¡±


    ¡°Everything is locked up and we can¡¯t open,¡± said the clerk Josie dealt with over the


    Ducklings. ¡°Master Guan hasn¡¯t come in with the hall keys so we can get started. No


    one has seen him.¡±


    ¡°I can open the locks for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°There are a load of adventurers outside


    that want their bounties cleared. Can you three clear the crowd without him?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the clerk. ¡°But we have no way to secure the money at the end of the


    night, and without him we can¡¯t make policy decisions.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about any of that,¡± said Josie. ¡°The first thing we¡¯re going to do is get


    you keys for everything, and get you open. Just make policy decisions like you think


    he would until he shows, or he is replaced. Sir Harp will have the groups come in so


    you can disperse the crowd outside. It should be a snap.¡±


    ¡°A snap?,¡± asked the clerk.


    Josie snapped her fingers.


    ¡°All right,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°Sir Harp,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you see if you can get the crowd outside to line up. Ask


    the adventurers who talked to me to help you out.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Harp. ¡°Do you want me to let them in?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to open the locks and get keys for the clerks to run


    things. As soon as I do that, we can have the line come in and start getting


    processed.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Harp. He went to the outer door and stepped outside.


    ¡°Show me these locks,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll help you out.¡±


    The head clerk pointed to the shelves behind her. A shutter had been pulled down


    over the operational ledgers. Notes from the overnight clerk filled the tray for writing


    in the ledgers when the shutters were lifted.


    She led the way to a small vault next to an office. She demonstrated both were locked.


    ¡°There is a secondary vault in the office,¡± said the clerk. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it needs to


    be opened, but we might need to transfer funds from it to the small one out here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll open everything up and provide keys for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°That should get you


    through the next few days. If you need anything else, just talk to Elaine and she will


    let me know.¡±


    ¡°Can you open the locks?,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°It might take a minute,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me look at the ledger shelf first, and this


    vault. Then we can open the office. I¡¯ll look at the vault in there and open that for you


    too. It will be up to you to run things until something more permanent is done.¡±


    ¡°You act like Master Guan is dead,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s probably sleeping off too much


    ale and will wake up and get here in a rush. Until then, you are in charge. Do well


    with the position and you might have your own guild hall to run.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. She used the Locksmith to undo the locks for the women. She


    produced copies from a grinder around her belt and handed them over. The vaults


    opened after few moments of examination with the lenses the persona came with over


    the hood it wore. She popped them open and let the clerks take the tills out of the


    small vault to put in the counter so they could start the business of the day.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started,¡± said Josie. She went to the main doors. She cracked them open


    and looked outside. Harp had organized the people into three lines. He glanced at the


    doors, and nodded at Josie standing there. He approached so they could talk without


    shouting across the courtyard.


    ¡°The clerks are getting ready,¡± said Josie. ¡°I guess we can start sending them in so we


    can clear everyone out of the way.¡±


    ¡°It should be quick to do,¡± said Harp. He waved at the first line to come forward.


    ¡°Did you fix their problem?¡±


    ¡°Until they get a manager to run things for them,¡± said Josie. ¡°The clerks will have


    to run things without Guan to enforce any policy.¡±


    ¡°A letter will have to be sent to the Central Hall to let them know that he is missing,


    or dead,¡± said Harp. ¡°A week is usually the deadline for such a sending, unless the


    death is confirmed earlier.¡±


    ¡°I have a feeling that he was at the party Jack hit, and he isn¡¯t coming back,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°Then maybe the local adventurers will get someone better as their manager,¡± said


    Harp.

 Taxes and Steel

    Jack decided to spend the first part of his day just thinking. He went up to his office


    and settled behind the desk. New quests meant new problems. At least they were right


    about the quests being a stopgap to going home.


    He could see why Old Man Warner had decided not to stay in Dark Ages Land. If he


    had, maybe he would have inflicted more of a change on things. Would he want


    responsibility for that?


    Jack and Josie had inflicted their own changes in the small amount of time they had


    been using the watches. Should they have interfered like they did?


    He found that he had no ability to excuse the interference they had done other than


    the higher powers said it was okay. That would have to be enough for right now.


    Anything else would have to be judged case by case.


    He looked around and found some scrap paper. He grabbed a pen and thought about


    the arm he had promised to make for the Ducklings¡¯ teacher. He wrote down what he


    thought he could do with the aid of Majick and Warlock.


    He might need Doctor Strange to put the prosthetic in place.


    Surgery would be fast the way the Doc did it. Five tentacles, a collection of eyes, and


    a magical natural welder would give him what he needed.


    Then he could deal with Guin over what he had done at the Estate in the woods.


    He wondered how that was going. Should he be helping them identify the bodies he


    had dropped everywhere? Death was an excellent trump card against the low


    resources he had seen on Hawk Ridge¡¯s planet. He might need to keep it up his sleeve


    more.


    Still, he had killed a crowd of human monsters in seconds. That had to be some kind


    of local record. He decided that Josie would be mad if he put up a sign bragging about


    it.


    He wondered if the Montrose would send in guys to find him and Josie from other


    places. How many could he syphon off as they tried to figure out what was going on?


    Could they make Hawk Ridge a no fly zone for their enemies?


    Eventually they would smarten up and stop sending guys to the city, and then he and


    Josie would have to hunt them down.


    He decided to hit the administrative building at the center of the castle and city. He


    had told Lord Cilt he would help out with his land problem. Maybe he should see


    who actually owned the land now. That was the first step in getting it back.


    He found the building after asking for directions a few times. He entered and looked


    around. He needed more directions, or maybe a Vision. One lookaround pointed him


    to the right staircase and a sign marked out in the strange letters of the place.


    He climbed up to the office and paused at the counter. No one was in sight. He didn¡¯t


    see a bell. He wondered if there was a clerk around. He decided to jump over the


    counter and start looking around the stacks of papers.


    He needed to find Lord Cilt¡¯s case and the papers for the tax seizure. If they were


    there, it might give him a clue on how to proceed next.


    There was no guarantee they had written an order. Why produce evidence against


    yourself for fraud when you were taking someone else¡¯s property? Why not just claim


    you had a reason, and then never file any paperwork at all?


    Unless they needed to have that paperwork to show they had a case to seize things.


    What was the law for eminent domain against a noble? Could you just take an estate?


    He felt he needed to look at the tax code and look for anything other people would


    miss. First, he had to find the paper order for the seizure.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said a voice by the counter. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± said Jack. He turned and grinned at someone in the livery of the authority.


    ¡°My name is Jack. I was asked to look into a false seizure of property. I was


    wondering where those orders were.¡±


    ¡°False orders aren¡¯t possible,¡± said the clerk. ¡°Everything is filed in triplicate and the


    Archive gets a copy, the Court gets a copy, and the Administration gets one that is


    filed for the Duke.¡±


    ¡°What if the official order was entered under false pretenses?,¡± said Jack. ¡°How


    would you go about fixing that?¡±


    ¡°You would have to present a case before a magistrate, or the Duke, to get the charge


    vacated,¡± said the clerk. ¡°Then you would have to send the order to the King¡¯s


    scribes, and then wait for a returning order.¡±


    Jack thought about that. That presented the case that a false charge could be filed, but


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.there was no way to fix it short of going to the King. And the threat of that was so


    great that no one ever tried it.


    Nobody wanted to meet the axeman over something like a property crime.


    Should he swing by the King¡¯s castle and say something to the man? He decided that


    would not be in the best interest of his mission. And if the King was a member of the


    Montrose, he would meet Josie in a dark alley.


    He could look at the King later when he was done killing the local Montrose.


    ¡°So as long as I didn¡¯t file anything with the Royal Archive, I could just sign an order


    and have it cleared by the local courts?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe if you were a member of the nobility,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°So if I wanted to look for an order here in the Archive, how would I find it?,¡± said


    Jack. He waved his hand at the paperwork around him.


    ¡°You would need the number for the paperwork, and I would show you the drawer


    where the order was kept,¡± said the clerk. ¡°Do you have the number for any such


    order?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a name. Would that be enough?¡±


    ¡°Depends on the name,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°Lord Cilt,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you know where his order would be?¡±


    ¡°The noble tax orders are in the closet to the left,¡± said the clerk. He pointed at the


    door at the back of the room. ¡°They should be filed under the title given.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. He went into that archive. He lit a lamp hanging on the wall and


    went through the drawers until he found the tax papers for Lord Cilt. He went over


    the orders and frowned. He didn¡¯t know exactly what he was looking at it but it


    looked hinky to his untrained eyes.


    He needed to look at the tax code, and then ask the Court how Lord Cilt had come up


    for the land grab.


    He had a feeling that Lord Hent had stated he wanted the land, then the city powers


    moved to give the land to the Duke. Arguing with him at a party wasn¡¯t something


    that would have worked in the champion¡¯s opinion.


    He might have been put down by the guards on the scene to shut him up about any


    corruption.


    ¡°Can I ask what this is about?,¡± asked the clerk. He stood where he could watch Jack


    reading the order. He didn¡¯t want this stranger to ruin the paperwork.


    ¡°I ran into a guy who said the city took his land under a pretense,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m


    trying to see if he has a way of getting it back.¡±


    ¡°He would have to file an appeal through the Court,¡± said the clerk. ¡°Maybe to the


    Capitol. Chances are he still wouldn¡¯t get his property back. Once seized, never


    returned.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like some basic government pirating,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you have a copy of the


    Tax Code?¡±


    ¡°I think I do in my desk,¡± said the clerk. ¡°I wish you the best of luck trying to get


    your friend¡¯s land back. It¡¯s normally not done.¡±


    ¡°If I can¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll ask my partner,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯s a lot smarter than I am.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the clerk. He searched his desk until he found a tome of tremendous


    proportions. He handed it over, sighing when the weight was out of his hands.


    ¡°That¡¯s a big book,¡± said Jack. He put it on a cleared table before it dragged his


    arms out their sockets. ¡°Do you know the tax code?¡±


    ¡°No one knows the tax code,¡± said the clerk. He tried not to look too amused by his


    unwanted guest¡¯s predicament.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what I can do with this bad boy,¡± said Jack. He reached for his watch


    and Mister Fantastic came to the front in golden overalls and boots. He flipped


    through the pages twice to make sure he had all the material covered before he


    gave the persona up.


    ¡°Thanks for your help,¡± said Jack. ¡°I appreciate it.¡±


    He handed the book back. He would need someone in power to sign an order.


    He wondered who that would be with all those people he had killed.


    He imagined it would be whomever replaced Hent if he didn¡¯t have any heirs.


    He put it on his list to find out who the replacement duke was so he could coerce


    an order out of the man so Lord Cilt could get his land back. There was something


    wrong about this. His look at the order suggested that the land had been seized to


    line Hent¡¯s pockets.


    He would go over things at home. The first step was waiting for the new appointment


    of someone in charge of the region that Hawk Ridge dominated. Then came the need


    to have things written down and sent to where they needed to be.


    Jack worked his way around to head over to the local metal works. He wanted some


    genuine metal to make Harp¡¯s arm. He could create some, but he wanted to feel


    the weight of it before he tried to attach it to the former adventurer.


    It would be a problem if the arm weighed too much for him to use it.


    Once he had that back at the Hole in the Wall, he could work on shaping the


    resources into something useful. He might ask Josie to help him just to see what she


    thought of things.


    He walked along the street of smiths, listening to the clangs of hammers on metal


    and the hissing of cooling water. He paused at a place that didn¡¯t look that busy and


    went inside.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said the counterman. ¡°I see you¡¯re someone in need of a sword.¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the other¡¯s expression. ¡°I was wondering if you


    had any raw material to sell.¡±


    ¡°Raw material?,¡± asked the counterman. ¡°What kind of material?¡±


    ¡°Iron, steel, maybe some copper,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure what I will need.¡±


    ¡°Not sure?,¡± said counterman.


    ¡°I¡¯m building an arm,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s my first time. Any suggestions?¡±


    ¡°I have some gauntlets that could act as hands,¡± said the counterman. ¡°Would you


    like to look at them?¡±


    ¡°That would be great,¡± said Jack. ¡°How many do you have?¡±


    ¡°I have about ten,¡± said the counterman. ¡°They are all purpose replacements. Usually


    we have to make something specific for the armor in question.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see these replacement gauntlets,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I see something I like, I will


    pay to have them delivered to my residence.¡±


    The counterman waved for Jack to follow him to the back of the shop. A forge burned


    the air next to buckets of water. Pallets of metal rested next to the buckets, ready


    to be turned into weapons or armor. Completed pieces were piled up in bins so they


    could be grabbed and sold.


    They walked to the wooden storage bins. The counterman picked up one of the


    gauntlets and handed it over to Jack. The dialer took the piece of armor and turned


    it over in his hands.


    ¡°As you can see we made the knuckles as articulated as we could,¡± said the


    counterman. ¡°The metal is tough enough to take a mace blow. You just fit it over any


    armor you might have.¡±


    ¡°How much would it be for three of these, and about twenty ingots of metal?,¡± asked


    Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look up the prices for you,¡± said the counterman.

 Lost Girl

    Josie stood to one side of the training hall. Things were running smoothly again. She


    doubted that their manager would show up to take back the reins.


    She didn¡¯t know how many top dogs had been killed by Jack, but she had a feeling


    that he had sliced through a lot of the corruption in the city. She wondered how many


    had been at Guin¡¯s casino the night they had met the underworld boss.


    She nodded as the girls worked with their wooden swords. She hoped they would be


    able to defend themselves when she and Jack had to leave. She just didn¡¯t see the


    Society letting her stay forever.


    She didn¡¯t miss her old life. This was a fresh start for her. The job was not as great


    as she thought it would be, but she had made some friends and Jack was there.


    And he loved the stuff they were doing.


    The adventurer who had asked her to step in came into the training hall. He looked


    at the girls going through their practice. He made a face. He knew beginners when he


    saw them.


    ¡°Madame Witch,¡± he said.


    ¡°Mistress Fox, or Josie,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not really a witch.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°We would never have been able to


    claim our bounty if you hadn¡¯t stepped in.¡±


    ¡°It was nothing,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Elaine, Jack¡¯s assistant. And these are my


    sisters. I am sure you know Sir Harp.¡±


    The adventurer nodded at the group looking at him. Harp swatted the nearest girl with


    his wand to demonstrate that they should keep practicing even if distracted.


    Elaine stood to one side. She waited placidly in her dark dress and boots. She had the


    feeling that another favor was going to be asked.


    ¡°I would like to hire you,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°Something has come up, and I need


    someone who can use magic to help me.¡±


    ¡°I already have a job,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I don¡¯t know if my boss will let me take in


    outside business.¡±


    ¡°Would you consider the task?,¡± asked the adventurer.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Eric Fass,¡± said the adventurer.


    ¡°Let¡¯s step outside,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine, please come with me. I want you girls to be


    able to take on Jack again in a few days. Keep working.¡±


    She waved the adventurer to lead the way outside the hall. She wondered what he


    needed that he couldn¡¯t do himself. She and Elaine stepped outside the door. She


    made sure to keep her hand on her watch in case she needed it.


    The adventurer¡¯s group was there. She paused. They didn¡¯t seem to want to deal with


    her. She could sympathize. She was a notoriously bad tempered witch that had hurled


    one of their members on the roof of the hall without his clothes.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep things simple,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Tell her, Budd,¡± said Fass. He waved at one of his comrades to go ahead now that


    they were involved.


    ¡°Madam Witch,¡± said Budd. He seemed to be the youngest member of the group, with


    a poodle on his head, and some old scars on his face. He kept his hands together. ¡°I


    would like you to help me find someone.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Josie. She frowned. ¡°What makes you think I will do that?¡±


    ¡°We think that Emily was taken by the tattooed men,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°These are the men I told you about at the Tower,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The ones who got


    into the fight in the public room before it burned down.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Fass. ¡°You worked there?¡±


    ¡°For a bit,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Is this what the fight was about?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Budd. ¡°I lost my temper and went after one of the other parties at the inn.


    He had told me that he had lost my sister during a raid.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t believe him,¡± said Josie. She frowned. ¡°Have you been cutting these


    tattooed men down trying to find her?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Budd. ¡°But I am likely to start if you can¡¯t help me.¡±


    Josie frowned. If this group hadn¡¯t been killing the Montrose on their own, the hunter


    was out there and still faceless. She was good with that.


    ¡°We went out where the others said they left Emily, but we couldn¡¯t find a trace,¡± said


    Fass. ¡°We completed some contracts so we would have money to pay a diviner to


    help us. Running into you this morning was a stroke of luck.¡±


    ¡°Are the others dead?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Did you kill all of them at the Tower that


    night?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said one of the other adventurers. ¡°Markam got away while we were dealing


    with his partners.¡±


    Years of city life told her that she should not get involved with this beyond this point.


    Her quest contract blinked at her that she needed to keep killing Montrose members


    and customers.


    ¡°Where do you think he is?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No idea,¡± said Fass. ¡°We spent a little time looking for him, but he has hid out well.¡±


    ¡°I think Jack would love this,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It would appeal to his man of mystery


    that he likes to project.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he can track the girl, or Markam as fast as I can,¡± said Josie. ¡°On the


    other hand, he would love to scare some clown waiting for someone to come get him.


    You should have seen some of the things he did against his sisters.¡±


    ¡°I can imagine,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Will you help us?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Let me explain something to you guys so you know where you stand,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Your sister is gone. This Markam sold her to be processed with a love potion and put


    somewhere far away from here. She might not be the same person, might not be alive.


    I can try to find her but I can¡¯t guarantee her safety, or anything else. But we broke


    the love potion part of things and we have been doing things to the tattooed men here


    in the city, but there is still a hundred thousand of them and they are entrenched with


    the authorities. If you get into this, whether I or Jack can find Emily, your lives might


    be over when the governmental hammer comes down. Do you understand what you


    could be in for if I go ahead?¡±


    ¡°We are adventurers,¡± said Fass. ¡°We can¡¯t back down because of what could


    happen.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine, if you can get the girls together when their archery


    lesson is over, I will meet you back at the Hole in the Wall. If I can¡¯t find the girl,


    maybe I can find Markam unless Jack already killed him.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will explain things to them. Should I be ready for anything


    else?¡±


    ¡°Jack said the Society told him the Elves might have problems,¡± said Josie. ¡°If the


    Rick shows up, ask him if he heard anything.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Jack will want to know about this.¡±


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Call him,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will hopefully have part of this wrapped up before dinner


    tonight.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the Tower, guys,¡± said Josie. She waved at them to start walking.


    ¡°That¡¯s where I will get started.¡±


    ¡°What do you want in return?,¡± said Fass. ¡°We have money from the contract we can


    give you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m rich,¡± said Josie. ¡°The only thing I need is people that can help me when there


    is trouble. Everything else is negotiable.¡±


    ¡°Is this Jack a fearsome warrior?,¡± asked Budd.


    ¡°Jack is a man of his word, and someone who is easygoing which lends him to be


    merciful when possible, but merciless when opposed,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s all how¡¯s it


    going, buddy? My friend is the dangerous one. Then out comes the knives in the


    dark.¡±


    ¡°I would put him down as someone not to cross,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Mistress Fox,¡± said Fass. ¡°Can you find Markam?¡±


    ¡°If he is still in the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to the Tower. The


    Society wants me to stop ripping things up with force multiplication and use my brain


    more. So that¡¯s what I am going to do.¡±


    ¡°The Society?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°The Robby Reed Appreciation Society,¡± said Josie. ¡°They want problems to be


    solved, but they don¡¯t want me burning down the city to do that.¡±


    ¡°Could you do that?,¡± asked one of the other members of the adventuring group.


    ¡°I doubt it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would have to create a volcano inside the wall and cause


    it to erupt and cover everything with superhot lava. I don¡¯t think I have the ability to


    do that.¡±


    Josie realized that she did have the ability to do that with some of the personas she


    had if they worked the same way as their counterparts.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you just said, but I am scared that you said it,¡± said the


    unknown adventurer.


    ¡°Why Markam?,¡± asked Fass. He seemed to be concentrated on the task ahead.


    ¡°I want to follow the chain,¡± said Josie. ¡°We find him, then we find the next one in


    the chain, then we find the next until we find someone who knows where Emily went,


    or we get close enough that I can track her down in one shot.¡±


    ¡°If the chain is broken?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°Then I will come up with something else,¡± said Josie. ¡°And if I can¡¯t, I will call up


    Jack, and turn him loose from where we lost the trail. Either way, one of us will find


    her.¡±


    She had accepted the quest so she was responsible for the search. She would get it


    done despite what these adventurers thought.


    The group had a horses to ride through the city. Josie didn¡¯t have a horse. She told


    them to go ahead and she would meet them at the remains of the Tower. She waited


    until they were out of sight before calling on Jesse Quick and blasting across the city.


    She arrived and let the persona go to wait for the adventurers to arrive and let her


    watch recharge.


    She wondered if Markam had stayed in the city. If he had, was he counting on


    someone to keep him safe from his fellow adventurers? Maybe he had. Maybe he


    hadn¡¯t thought about what a group of mercenaries inclined enough to hunt him down


    would do. The adventurers knew she could do things, but they didn¡¯t flock to her door


    to ask for help like these guys had.


    She examined the charred remains of the former inn. She didn¡¯t know what Elaine


    had used to burn the place down, but she had been thorough. Had she warned the


    patrons before she put the torch on? Maybe.


    If the owners were in with the Montrose, they deserved what they got. Josie wasn¡¯t


    changing her mind on that any time soon.


    She spotted the adventurers down the road and waved at them. They didn¡¯t seem


    surprised to see her at the scene first. They were probably putting everything down


    to magic and letting it go for more pressing concerns.


    ¡°This is where we last saw Markam,¡± said Fass. He dismounted and looked at the


    flattened building. ¡°I don¡¯t see how you are going to track him down from here.¡±


    ¡°I am going to send out a scrying spell,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once the spell finds him, or his


    general location, we can round him up and talk to him. The main thing is will he try


    to fight it out after what happened, or will he come along quietly?¡±


    ¡°I expect him to run, but if he has to fight, he knows he can take on two of us at a


    time,¡± said Fass. ¡°We will take him but it will a long battle if we don¡¯t want to kill


    him.¡±


    ¡°He might have friends,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will deal with that when we have to. I¡¯m


    going to get started. Then we will see where this leads us.¡±


    The adventurers backed away. They didn¡¯t want to get caught in a magic spell.


    Supposedly magic was illegal in the city, but no one had tried to enforce the ban in


    a long time as far as any of them could remember. They might be in trouble just for


    asking for Josie to do magic there in the street.


    Josie called on Zatanna and asked for a search bird. She sent it out before changing


    back. The bird glowed like fire as it perched on the roof and waited for them to follow


    it.


    ¡°I have a sense that he is not in the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°If he was out of range, the spell


    will go after him until it runs out of juice. We would have to keep doing it until we


    got close enough for the spell to lock on to him and follow him all the way home.¡±


    ¡°If you did this for my sister?,¡± asked Budd.


    ¡°It would light her up if she was in the city, if she was out of range, it would give a


    line to follow,¡± said Josie. ¡°But again I would have to keep doing it until we got close


    enough to find her. That could take days.¡±


    ¡°You could find her faster if you were alone,¡± said Fass. He understood the


    limitations of what they were working with well enough.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I expect that I will find a small army where she is, and I


    would need some help to get her out.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see where the thread takes us,¡± said Fass. ¡°Maybe Markam will know where


    they took Emily. That will limit the area we need to search.¡±


    The group rode ahead. The bird flew in front of them, directing them to the East Gate.


    They rode through and it led them into the forest. They found a trail after a few


    moments. Fass dismounted and looked at the ground.


    ¡°A wagon has been coming through here regularly,¡± he said. ¡°Tie your horses off.


    We¡¯ll go the rest of the way on foot. Sentries might be looking for people to come in


    off the road. Keep an eye out and be careful.¡±


    All of them knew what a wagon moving through the trees meant. Someone was


    camping and resupplying from the nearby city. If they had an eye out, they might spot


    the adventurers coming. The bird hopped from foot to foot as it waited for the group


    to start moving forward again.


    Fass waved the group forward. They silently spread out in a line to look for sentries


    that might be looking for them. The scry bird flapped red wings of fire and lead the


    way, aiming deeper into the trees.


    Josie landed in the forest behind them and walked along. The hawk was a great tool


    for invisible flying. She had trailed the scry bird the same as the adventurers and was


    now taking a break. She wanted her watch at full charge so she could expedite any


    attack they might plan.


    She caught up with the group after a few minutes of walking. They had dropped down


    behind some bushes between much bigger trees. Her scry bird had entered a fenced


    area full of tents and huts. It perched on one of the tents before fading away.


    ¡°This is a bigger than what I thought we would find,¡± whispered Fass.


    ¡°Can you guys circle the outside?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once I go to work, I imagine a lot of


    them are going to try to get away from me.¡±


    ¡°Lou,¡± said Fass. ¡°Circle around and see if there is another gate. If they run, this


    might be their only exit.¡±


    Lou, a younger man in brown and black, vanished into the trees. Josie tried to keep


    track but he was simply gone as soon as he walked three steps from his position.


    ¡°What does this Markam look like?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill him by


    accident.¡±


    ¡°A fat man with an eye patch,¡± said Budd. ¡°He likes to use an axe.¡±


    ¡°As soon as Lou gets back, I¡¯ll go in and deal with this,¡± said Josie. ¡°It would be good


    if you can get whomever¡¯s in charge so we can talk to him too, but if some of them


    escape, that¡¯s okay. I can hunt them down later.¡±


    ¡°I am looking at at least twenty of these bandits,¡± said Fass. ¡°Are you sure about


    that?¡±


    ¡°I can deal with it,¡± said Josie. ¡°It would be a lot easier if I knew what Jack used,


    but I have something that will work fine. Like I said, some of them will try to come


    through the gate once I start. You can try to stop them, or let them go, but if you


    see who¡¯s in charge, I would like to talk to him.¡±


    ¡°We will hold the gate,¡± said Fass.


    Lou came back and took up a position at the opposite end of the group¡¯s line.


    ¡°This is the only gate I saw,¡± said Lou. ¡°Sentries on small towers inside the fence.


    How are we going to take the place?¡±


    ¡°I guess this is where I come in,¡± said Josie. She touched her watch and became a


    hawk. She flew over the fence and landed inside the compound next to the tent where


    the scry bird had landed. She became Bulletgirl. She walked into the tent. She shot


    everyone that looked up at her. Markam had jumped up to run. She shot him in the


    leg so he couldn¡¯t run away from her.


    ¡°Stay here if you want to live,¡± said Josie. ¡°Otherwise, I will put another hole in you.¡±


    She walked out of the tent and started shooting anyone in her way. She heard the


    dinging of the quest counter going down. One man rallied his troops and called for


    them to use the gate to get away from the monster in their midst. She shot him in


    the leg so he couldn¡¯t join the rest of the crowd stampeding for the gate. She began


    picking off the back of the crowd as the leaders worked the lock bar and surged out


    into a small flight of arrows.


    Josie shot some of the survivors in the back as they charged over their fallen


    comrades to get to the safety of the trees. More arrows flew, taking targets as they ran


    for cover.


    She let the persona go. She had her two victims in hand. Now she had to make sure


    they gave her what she wanted before they were executed.


    Mack Bolan¡¯s words were not that much of a comfort.


    She walked back to the tent as Fass¡¯s group came into the camp. They spread out and


    made sure any survivors were put down. She didn¡¯t imagine there were many of


    those. Bulletgirl¡¯s bullets could curve to hit center mass while in flight.


    She hoped they didn¡¯t kill the guy in charge. It would be annoying, but she couldn¡¯t


    blame them if they did.


    She pushed the tent flap aside and jumped as an axe tried to take her head off. She


    stepped in and kicked the wounded leg as hard as she could. Markam dropped to the


    ground, propping himself up on the axe handle.


    ¡°Hello, Markam,¡± said Budd, appearing at the tent flap, sword in hand. ¡°I think you


    should unhand the axe before I cut you to pieces.¡±


    Markam let the axe drop flat to the ground.


    ¡°Now we¡¯re going to talk about my sister,¡± said Budd. ¡°And I want some straight


    answers out of you.¡±

 Can You Give Me A Hand

    Jack gave the address for the Silver Coin for his delivery. He wondered how Guin¡¯s


    bagging and tagging the dead bodies he had left behind was going. He should swing


    by and talk to the man.


    Did he have time to swing by and watch how things were going? How fast could he


    make a fake arm? At least he had enough metal to make some false starts before he


    got it right.


    He probably had enough to make two, or three, arms. He thought that he should make


    it natural looking, but maybe Harp would like some kind of switchblade so he could


    stab someone by surprise. The older adventurer seemed like someone who would like


    that.


    And Jack thought he could hide something in an extradimensional space with the help


    of Magik. How hard could it be?


    He decided that he needed to prepare a little better. He would need a plan for the arm,


    some way to connect it to Harp¡¯s shoulder, and a way to power it so the weight didn¡¯t


    drag the swordsman around every time he moved it.


    He might need to put in a brace in Harp¡¯s shoulder so he could move the thing as


    naturally as a real arm. He should have watched the Six Million Dollar Man reruns


    more when they were on the air. They would be a big help to him now to show him


    how they had did Steve Austin¡¯s arm, and legs.


    ¡°I have the technology,¡± said Jack. He smiled at the voice of Oscar Goldman running


    through his head.


    Jack arrived at the Hole in the Wall, and went in. It felt good to be able to lounge


    around without the girls getting in the way. The only thing to make it better would be


    a football game and some beer.


    He wondered if he should put a platform as the top of the bubble he had constructed.


    That way he had a patio to lounge around without having to deal with people in the


    street.


    He decided to put that up for group consensus when the group came back. This was


    his lazy day. He was not chasing anything until the sun came up tomorrow. The only


    exception he was willing to make was the girls getting into trouble and needing to be


    bailed out.


    He wondered what the next quests for the Society would be like. They seemed to like


    the save the world type thing he used to see in books. He thought that petty stuff was


    beneath them.


    Jack laid down on the couch and closed his eyes. He thought about what he could do


    for Harp. Various weapon designs sprang from his imagination, but he put them all


    aside. He would have to talk to the knight about any he might build into the arm.


    He didn¡¯t want the man to stab himself, or his loved ones, by accident.


    He certainly wasn¡¯t going to try to put any kind of gun, or laser, in the thing. That


    would make it easier to have an accident by just pointing the thing in the wrong


    direction.


    A simple hand and arm should do the trick. He needed to quit overanalyzing the thing


    and get his metal and gauntlets from the Coin. He could talk to Guin while he was


    doing that.


    He wondered what else he could do.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said his wristband.


    He checked to see who could be calling him. He smiled when it was Elaine. He


    wondered what the deal was. She should still be at the girls¡¯ practice sessions with


    Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Elaine,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°A group of adventurers asked Josie for some help,¡± said Elaine. ¡°She wanted me to


    let you know that she will be busy with that for a bit.¡±


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t tried to call me, so I guess she¡¯s all right,¡± said Jack. He sat up. ¡°What¡¯s


    the deal?¡±


    ¡°One of the group lost his sister, and they asked Josie to help them track her down,¡±


    said Elaine. ¡°She said she would help them.¡±


    ¡°Montrose stuff?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It looks like it,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It was the same group that was at the Tower when your


    Makeover was put in effect.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Jack. ¡°Should I get involved?¡±


    ¡°I think Josie wanted you to know in case you had to follow in her footsteps,¡± said


    Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯m expecting some metal to be dropped off at the Coin so I can work on Harp¡¯s


    arm,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have to put that on hold if this is real trouble.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Josie will have trouble with the adventurers,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I do think


    that she will be fighting before the day is through.¡±


    ¡°We wait,¡± said Jack. ¡°Either Josie handles this and comes home, or we give up


    waiting after a day, and go look for her. I think that¡¯s the way to go. If she is all right,


    she won¡¯t like us cutting in her business. If she isn¡¯t, there¡¯s nothing we can do for


    her now.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯m not happy about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°But she will really not be happy if I save the day


    for her and she didn¡¯t need it.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I am not happy about it either.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t keep your kids at home their whole lives,¡± said Jack. ¡°Sometimes you


    have to let them fly on their own.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°At the very least, the Society will let us know if something does happen to Josie, and


    she needs some kind of avenging,¡± said Jack. ¡°Keep an eye on things, and we¡¯ll


    decide what to do in the morning.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I also have to talk to the Rick if he comes in for the girls¡¯


    archery lesson.¡±


    ¡°If something comes up there, I will trade with Josie and deal with it for the Elves,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°That way we can get the quests done without too much trouble.¡±


    ¡°I will let him know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I have to go. The lesson is ending. I will tell Sir


    Harp that you are working on his arm.¡±


    ¡°Ask him if he wants a concealed weapon in it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I can do that, but


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.I am not sure.¡±


    ¡°I will ask,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Will you be able to make arms and legs for others?¡±


    ¡°I sort of saw this as a one time deal for someone who is helping us out,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Does he want limbs for other people?¡±


    ¡°He said he would like to think about it,¡± said Elaine. ¡°There are a couple of old


    comrades who would love to have their arms back.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, but I¡¯ll have to at least look at them,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t really know


    what I¡¯m doing with this.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That was probably not what he wanted to hear.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m working part of the kinks out in my head as we¡¯re talking,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Eventually I am going to need to take measurements and look at his shoulder. Then


    we are going to need to block out a period of time for him to get used to the arm and


    make sure he can use it without hurting himself. If it works, and it doesn¡¯t kill him


    through any sort of nerve pain, then I can try to fit up any of his comrades he wants.


    This won¡¯t be like an assembly line where I can just slap an arm on anyone I want.¡±


    ¡°We understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°An assembly line to put arms on people would change


    the world.¡±


    ¡°It would change mine too,¡± said Jack. ¡°But such a thing is just out of reach. It would


    take a minor miracle to get such a thing working there, and a lot of hard work to get


    it working here. I have to get the metal so I can put together a toy arm to see if the


    process works. If it does, a full-sized arm will be the next thing I¡¯ll do.¡±


    The call ended. Jack thought about the arm. Had he bitten off more than he could


    chew? He thought that he could do the job with the help of Magik and Doctor


    Strange. If he had to resort to the Angel, he would without a second thought.


    He had promised a man an arm, and he would deliver it.


    If he couldn¡¯t, hopefully Harp would understand.


    He decided to go over to the Coin and check to see if his metal had arrived. He would


    figure some way to get it home from there. He might need to put together a work


    room so he could put the parts he thought needed together.


    Hopefully, Josie would have something to tell him by the time he got back. He didn¡¯t


    want to worry all night before taking matters into his own hands.


    He was not going to put a letter together to send back to Josie¡¯s mom to tell her


    she had run off with some guys and got killed. He just wasn¡¯t going to do that.


    Jack got off the couch and headed out. He made sure to lock up behind him. He didn¡¯t


    want his neighbors thinking they could just break in while he was gone. Hunting


    down thieves was just extra work he didn¡¯t want to take on at the moment.


    If someone did break in, he would turn the wrath of Josie on them in a second.


    He flew over to the Silver Coin. He landed at the front door. They weren¡¯t open


    yet. He knocked on the door. Quint should talk to him for a moment. Then he could


    get his stuff and move on to the next phase of his plan.


    He had always wanted to be a doctor back home, but things had never worked out


    for him. And the Army hadn¡¯t really did anything for him. Now he had the chance


    to do something with a force multiplier right out of a comic book.


    ¡°You again?,¡± said the manager of the casino. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I ordered some metal to be delivered here, and three gauntlets,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m


    trying to build an artificial arm that works like a real one.¡±


    ¡°Of course you are,¡± said Quint. ¡°I had a delivery of bars and said to myself, ¡®Do


    you think these are for an arm? Sure do.¡±


    ¡°So they came already?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said the casino manager. ¡°I will hold them if they do show up, but quit


    bothering me.¡±


    ¡°But your sunny disposition makes my whole day better,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Be that as it may, I have things to do,¡± said Quint. ¡°I can¡¯t do them if you are in my


    way.¡±


    ¡°I can come in and help,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can make a salad like that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you around,¡± said the old man. ¡°What makes you think I will allow


    you to make anything called a salad in my place. Go away.¡±


    ¡°One day, you¡¯re going to need me to fix a problem,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t think I won¡¯t


    gloat.¡±


    ¡°If that day ever comes, I will take any gloating with good grace,¡± said Quint. ¡°Until


    then, begone.¡±


    Jack exhaled a sigh as the door slammed shut in his face. He sat down on the steps


    and sulked for a moment. Maybe he needed to hunt up some excitement.


    As he watched the street, a cart rolled up to the front of the casino. The blacksmith


    waved at him from the shotgun seat. He got to his feet and waved back. His material


    was here.


    ¡°Is this place yours?,¡± asked the smith.


    ¡°It belongs to a guy I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me help you unload things and I¡¯ll take


    it the rest of the way. Thanks for bringing it this far.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see whatever you make with this,¡± said the smith. ¡°Usually the guild


    doesn¡¯t like outside competition, but I couldn¡¯t see how what you said you were


    making was possible.¡±


    ¡°This is a one time thing, maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°If it works like I think it will, then I¡¯ll


    be happy. Right now, I am still trying to figure out if I can hook it up to the shoulder


    without killing the guy.¡±


    ¡°I can see where that would be a problem,¡± said the smith.


    ¡°Either way, I am not going into smithing as a full time job,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a lot


    of other things I have to worry about before I can devote any time to that. If my friend


    likes the arm, and it works properly, I will ask him if he wants to show it off to you.


    That¡¯s the best I can do.¡±


    ¡°That would be excellent,¡± said the smith. ¡°Where do you want us to put the bars?¡±


    ¡°Just unload them right here, and I will finish moving them along,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I


    need more metal, I will come by and order from you.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good,¡± said the smith. He climbed up in the back of the wagon and


    let down the gate. He pushed the bars of iron to the edge of the wagon. His assistant


    gave Jack the three gauntlets he had ordered to show him how to put the hands


    together.


    Jack waited for them to pull off before he switched to Gravity. He yanked everything


    in the air and flew home, using the roof tops as cover. He had to change back long


    enough to open the Hole in the Wall before taking on Gravity again to bring the metal


    in and stack it in the living room. He made sure the door was closed before letting


    Gravity go.


    Now he had to let the watch recharge before he could start working on things.


    He decided to make a sandwich and get some water before he started working on the


    metal. He might need to change into Doctor Strange and make notes about how an


    arm should work so when he became Magik he could build one out of the metal


    without too many problems.


    How hard could it be?


    He decided to see what Doc Strange had to say about things. He had time before the


    girls came home. He didn¡¯t really want them to see his other form. That would be a


    little embarrassing for him, and he supposed horrifying for them.


    He could do without either reactions.


    His persona sprang up and put down a model for what a human arm should look like


    from a waxy secretion. He nodded. It looked good to him.


    He changed back to examine the arm. He nodded at the look of it. He could turn


    it into something real for Harp. All he needed was a little bit of time and some Magik.


    He grabbed up a gauntlet and went over it. He concentrated on the arm. He could


    do it for a model, but he would have to be Strange again to put it on.


    ¡°How long would it take for me to put it on without hurting Harp?,¡± Jack asked


    himself.


    He didn¡¯t have an answer for that. He waited for his watch to recharge before working


    on the next step. He became Magik when the machine dinged readiness. He grabbed


    an ingot and ran about twenty spells through it at the same time. It stretched out, but


    he knew he didn¡¯t have enough metal in one of the bricks. He added the rest one by


    one, layering them in, until he had a complete prosthetic. Then the watch timed out.


    He checked it out as he waited for the watch to recharge. It looked complete. He


    needed to check it with Strange before he made some adjustments with Magik. Then


    he needed to get with Harp to show him what he had, and explain what he planned


    to do.


    Getting his arm back would probably be as upsetting as losing it in the first place.


    He decided to wait on the arm. He needed to psych himself up so he could just tell


    Harp, and then do the operation as fast as possible. He needed a block of time and a


    big charge on his watch.


    He probably needed Josie to help with the fix. He didn¡¯t want to run out of power in


    the middle of things, with no backup.


    He liked that as an option. It would make putting the arm easier if he had her on


    hand to help him if he ran out of time.


    He thought that he should hunt her down and wrap up her job, so he could get her


    assistance. How fast could he wrap up her task so he could wrap up his?


    He also had to deal with Guin over the mass killing he had committed.


    He wondered who the new Duke would be. It might be his chance to get in with the


    local government to help him do whatever jobs the Society wanted done. He looked


    at the other side of the equation. It could also be an unveiling of new targets to get rid


    of if they were in with the Montrose.


    He wondered if Guin would try to get rid of him if the problem escalated.


    It was something to consider.

 Talking

    Josie didn¡¯t bother trying to fix the wounded slavers that she wanted to question. She


    knew they wouldn¡¯t last long after she asked her questions. She doubted they would


    last long if she wasn¡¯t there.


    She doubted they would still be alive if she wasn¡¯t there to ask her questions.


    ¡°There are some cages in the back of the encampment,¡± said Lou. ¡°They have been


    used recently from the looks of things.¡±


    ¡°Probably missed a caravan to the next city,¡± said Fass. ¡°We would like to know


    where Emily Budd is, Markam. What do you say?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where she is,¡± said Markam. ¡°I handed her over and that was the last


    I saw of her.¡±


    ¡°Then we don¡¯t need you,¡± said Josie. She changed into Zatanna just long enough to


    wish him into the air. He vanished from the ground to appear high above the ground.


    He hit and broke some of his bones. He tried to move away from the impact site with


    his crooked arm and leg hanging loosely as he tried to pull himself along with his


    whole limbs. Something small with too many teeth and a bad temper found him like


    that moments later. No one heard him screaming from the eating.


    ¡°Who are you?,¡± Josie asked the second survivor of her attack. He looked at where


    Markam had been. He seemed stunned. She slapped his face as hard as she could.


    ¡°What is your name, dummy?¡±


    ¡°Hasler Poat,¡± said the commander. ¡°What did you do with him?¡±


    ¡°I sent him somewhere he will have to work to get home from before the local


    animals find him,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like for you to tell me what is going on here,


    and where did you send Emily Budd.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea where she wound up,¡± said Poat. ¡°We were given an order and we


    carried it out.¡±


    ¡°You were given an order and you carried it out,¡± said Josie. The look on her face


    made the adventurers stand back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything wrong with that,¡± said Poat.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She turned back into Zatanna. She began loading his acts into


    a notebook. He stared at the letters forming on the paper. ¡°I want you to know that I


    might have been willing to deal with you, but I don¡¯t think that is possible.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I am going to give you another place to look at from here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going


    to pay you to wipe out any of the marked men. I am going to go ahead to see if I can


    find Emily.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°What about him?¡±


    ¡°Take this,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to let him go the same way I did Markam.¡±


    The way she stated that cold fact made Fass frown. He had killed plenty of people


    that needed killing, but not like this.


    ¡°What are you going to do?,¡± demanded Poat.


    ¡°I am going to introduce you to the power of flight,¡± said Josie. She wished him high


    in the air after his subordinate. She saw the counter go down again after a few


    minutes.


    Fass flipped through the pages of the notebook. He frowned at the maps with routes


    marked in as he thumbed them down..


    ¡°So what have we learned?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°This organization is bigger than we thought,¡± said Fass. ¡°The route from here is set


    due east. We could spend months chasing down every name on this list.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to do that,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s the farthest location in the book?¡±


    Fass flipped through the pages until he found the post Josie asked about. He made a


    face.


    ¡°It¡¯s a month away according to this,¡± he said. ¡°A messenger could get there faster,


    but they would run their horses into the ground doing it.¡±


    ¡°There has to be some way to get there faster,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think Emily is


    somewhere along that line. I don¡¯t know if she is still out there, but if she got free, she


    might be coming back here.¡±


    ¡°I wish we could let her know we¡¯re looking for her,¡± said Budd. ¡°She should know


    we¡¯re looking for her.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can send her a letter,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can she read?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Budd. ¡°I think she can read three different languages. Why?¡±


    ¡°I am going to write her a letter, and see if we can let her know that we¡¯re coming,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Then I am going to ask Jack for ideas on something that will get us there


    faster.¡±


    ¡°Can you do that?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°Write a letter?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Yes. Get something faster than a horse? Maybe. Find


    your girl? Almost certainly, but I am expecting jobs to come up for the Society and


    I might have to put this on the backburner to do those. The Society doesn¡¯t seem to


    mind if I help people in the pursuit of my quests, but they want their jobs done first.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like every contractor everywhere,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She checked her bag. She still had some paper and her pen.


    She wrote down an explanation of what was going on, what she wanted to do, and


    how to send back a reply. She put that in an envelope and addressed it to Emily. She


    turned in Zatanna and sent it on its way.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie, changing back. ¡°The letter is on the way. If she sees it and


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.writes an answer, we¡¯ll know where to go.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we do that?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Because my range for transport is half the distance to Kernly,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I


    expect the range will be lesser if I try to bring all of you along with me.¡±


    ¡°What about the letter?,¡± asked Fass. He waved at the space where the letter had been.


    ¡°It¡¯s not alive and it doesn¡¯t matter if it gets set on fire by the transport,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say the same for us.¡±


    ¡°I like not being on fire,¡± said Budd. ¡°I think that¡¯s good for us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you like it,¡± said Josie. ¡°It warms my heart.¡±


    The envelope appeared in front of her. She opened the envelope and read the


    contents. She nodded.


    ¡°She thinks she is in a town named Cairn,¡± said Josie. ¡°She says she can hold on us


    until we figure out what we want to do to get to her.¡±


    ¡°Cairn is next to the border,¡± said Fass. ¡°It¡¯s days away from here by horse.¡±


    ¡°How do you want to handle this?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We can ride up there and get in position to figure out what we can do to get her


    back, and safe,¡± said Fass. ¡°We can deal with things there once we know what¡¯s on


    the ground.¡±


    ¡°I think we need to head back to the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can talk about how to get


    you guys there faster than a month of running your horses into the ground.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°Budd, get everybody together. We¡¯ll head back to the city and


    try to come up with something. Dinnertime is almost on us.¡±


    ¡°What about these bodies?,¡± Budd asked.


    ¡°Vultures have to eat too,¡± said Fass. ¡°Make sure you get their money. We¡¯ll need


    that to finance anything we want to do and we¡¯re not going to want to take time to


    claim bounties unless they fall in our lap.¡±


    Josie wrote another letter and sent it. She wanted Emily to know they were trying to


    think of a way to get there faster than a horse.


    What they needed was a van, or a helicopter, but she had no way of making anything


    like that without a heavy duty leaning on Zatanna¡¯s magic to make the unreal real.


    Jack was doing all right with his magic user. Maybe she could do something with


    Zatanna. She had already mastered scrying and message sending. How much harder


    would it be to make a vehicle for the adventurers.


    She doubted she would be able to just whip something up out of her imagination.


    Maybe she could, if she sat down and thought about things enough. Her Zatanna


    worked by wishing like Johnny Thunder¡¯s command of the Thunderbolt. The magic


    flexed and took some of the charge off the watch as it tried to do what she wanted.


    She could build something. She thought about the house in Up, the Tardis, the


    Wanderer. She nodded her head. All she needed was a little bit of time to get the job


    done.


    Would Fass go for having an enchanted headquarters that could carry his team


    anywhere in the world faster than any beast on the ground? She thought that he


    would.


    The problem was she didn¡¯t know if she could make such a thing a permanent fixture


    in the real world. It might take them where they needed to go and then fall apart like


    the Bluesmobile.


    It wouldn¡¯t be the first time magic had acted in a way she hadn¡¯t been prepared to


    answer.


    ¡°I think I can get you to Cairn,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to think about the ideas before I


    promise anything. Emily knows we¡¯re looking for her, so unless something happens


    in the intervening time, we¡¯ll get her back. I just need to think about things tonight.¡±


    ¡°You have done wonders for us already, Mistress Fox,¡± said Fass. ¡°We could never


    repay you for the help you have given us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to leave you to your pillaging,¡± said Josie. ¡°Meet me at the Hall in the


    morning. Then we¡¯ll see about turning things into something we can use.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to come with us?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I think Emily has got into trouble in Cairn, and it¡¯s going to take more than the eight


    of you to get her out of it,¡± said Josie. ¡°She didn¡¯t say so in the letter, but she is on the


    run from an organization with ties to the government. She might have had to kill


    some of the local Guard, or nobility to get free.¡±


    She might still be killing them. That was something they would have to work out


    when they caught up with her.


    She thought they needed transportation. She would have a talk with Jack. Maybe he


    could help her turn some of the stray ideas in her head into something realistic. At


    the very least, they needed something to cross the distance faster than a horse.


    She didn¡¯t think they had more than a few days to get Emily back before someone


    caught up with her.


    At the very least, she wanted to look at things on a map to show her where she needed


    to be.


    Josie walked out of the tent. She looked up at the sky. She wanted to change the


    world for the better. She looked around at the dead bodies being stacked up. Was she


    doing it right?


    Saving the girl was something good. She could do that. She had the skills and the


    watch. She could do it.


    She changed into a hawk and headed back to the city. She needed to talk to Jack


    about some kind of transportation. Maybe she could get him to help her build it. Then


    she could fly out with Fass¡¯s party to do what they had to do.


    She hoped they didn¡¯t have problems with flying, or high speed along the ground.


    She dropped at the Hall. She went inside to the training rooms. The girls had already


    started for home. She had to catch up with them.


    She left the hall, waving at the shift change in the clerks. She jogged down the street,


    looking for a gaggle of girls talking about things. She wondered if they went into the


    stores to pick up supplies, or rented a cart to get home.


    Melanie would love that.


    She spotted the Ducklings a few streets over. She checked her watch as she jogged


    behind them. She had enough for a fast sprint as Quick to catch up with them.


    She changed back when she fell in step behind Alicia walking along silently. The girl


    paused to look in a window, but didn¡¯t seem to see Josie¡¯s own reflection.


    ¡°How are things, kiddo?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°All right,¡± said the second youngest. ¡°Not a good archer yet.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you will be?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said the girl. ¡°Maybe not as good as an Elf, but still all right.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to practice at home between sessions?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I¡¯m sure Jack can


    put in a shooting gallery for you to shoot at a target.¡±


    ¡°Where would we put it?,¡± asked Alicia. She raised her hands to demonstrate the need


    to expand the Hole in the Wall for such a thing.


    ¡°There are things that Jack could do,¡± said Josie. ¡°It might call for some rearranging


    of things. He might need your help to get some of it done.¡±


    ¡°What is it like?,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Being able to do anything you want,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°Do you think I can do anything I want?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°What is it like being young and having your life ahead of you when you haven¡¯t


    done things you regret for the rest of your life?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°It¡¯s the same for adults,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t know what we¡¯re really doing, and


    for some of us, navigating choices between trying to just eat and excelling at


    something we love is something that has to be worked at just as much as children


    have to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives.¡±


    ¡°It sounds hard,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Responsibilities are what people pick up when they care about others,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°There are always going to be people who would rather duck what they should do for


    what they want. It will be up to you to think about what you want to do, and what you


    need to make that happen.¡±


    ¡°Archery,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Then I will talk to Jack about that while I am talking to him about building a flying


    machine,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to have to go out of town, and I won¡¯t be able to get


    to where I need to go fast enough on my own.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t do everything?,¡± asked the Duckling.


    ¡°There are always going to be practical limits,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s something to


    remember for the future. Some things are impossible to get no matter what you can


    do.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I don¡¯t like that.¡±


    ¡°It makes things interesting when things don¡¯t fall in your lap,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like interesting,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°No one does,¡± said Josie.


    They followed the rest of the girls toward home. Their thoughts were on their


    personal futures.

 Pre-op

    Jack looked at the arm. He had gone over it with Doctor Strange and Magik. He


    nodded to himself when it was ready. A nerve connection rested in a second package.


    He needed to put the connection in first, then hook the arm to that. Then he had to test


    it to see if it worked.


    He still didn¡¯t feel comfortable with the thought of trying to put it on himself.


    Jack made himself a sandwich to refuel, and got another glass of water. He hoped the


    ladies were cooking. He could eat anything, but preferred someone else¡¯s cooking to


    his own.


    Being able to eat something a goat would turn away from was not a good


    recommendation of a learned skill.


    He heard the door unlock and checked his watch. He still had enough to call Death


    for a few seconds if he wanted. Once bodies started dropping, the watch would use


    that to expand his time.


    ¡°Hello, girls,¡± said Jack. He waved the part of the sandwich he hadn¡¯t eaten at them.


    ¡°How did your day go?¡±


    A chorus of fines and wells answered him with silence from Alicia, and Josie. They


    came in at the back of the group. He recognized the look of grimness. He was about


    to be told something bad was happening.


    He decided to finish his sandwich before he gave them an audience to ruin his meal.


    ¡°Guys,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want to pick your brains. I am going to have to go out of town


    for a few days. I am going to need a flying machine. Can you guys get together and


    think about what that would look like?¡±


    The girls started asking questions about where she was going and what she was


    doing. She held up her hands.


    ¡°I have been asked to rescue someone on the other side of the country, and I need to


    get there faster than usual,¡± said Josie. ¡°Think about what I would need. It has to have


    room for nine other people.¡±


    ¡°So you found this Emily?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I sent her a letter,¡± said Josie. ¡°She says she is in Cairn.¡±


    ¡°I think that is in the papers upstairs,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look at them in a minute,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack, Alicia would like a shooting range


    to practice in away from the training hall. Can you do that here?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Jack. He considered adding another room to the Hole in the Wall.


    He would need to put Mister Fantastic on the planning in his opinion. That persona


    had control over a lot of skills that he could use his other personas to bring to life. ¡°I


    would have to plan for it so we don¡¯t have the wall come down on top of us.¡±


    ¡°Can you really do it?,¡± asked Alicia. Her stolid face concentrated on him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to make a plan,¡± said Jack. He looked around the apartment he had altered


    to be their home. ¡°If I dig out too much, I could cause the wall above us to settle. We


    wouldn¡¯t want that.¡±


    He brought his hands together in a crushing motion.


    ¡°On the other hand, I can punch a door through the other wall and expand a room


    from what we got,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would have to check to make sure I didn¡¯t impede


    the street, or our neighbors.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Practical limitations.¡±


    ¡°Essentially,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just because you think you can get your hand in the cookie


    jar, do you really want to cross the gator-filled moat to do it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Depends on the cookie.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and think about the flying machine I need, Alicia,¡± said Josie. ¡°Write


    everything down for me.¡±


    ¡°Are you coming back?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will be out of range of the watches, but I will send you a letter


    every day while I am gone so you know what¡¯s happening.¡±


    Alicia nodded before she joined her more boisterous sisters in trying to figure out


    what her biggest sister needed.


    ¡°So going out of town without me?,¡± said Jack. He wiped the crumbs off his hands


    by wiping his hands together. ¡°With eight other guys?¡±


    Jack smiled at her. She was still his grumpy bear, even if she was trying to do the


    right thing. She gave him a look of offense, but put it away.


    Friends to the end had been their motto and they had stuck to it for a long time.


    ¡°I got a job,¡± said Josie. ¡°Sometimes I have to do things. That¡¯s how it is. Can you


    help me with the flying machine. I keep thinking about the house from UP! for some


    reason.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to need help with Harp¡¯s arm before you go.¡±


    ¡°Did you already make it?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes, I did,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I am a bit of a master wizard you know. I don¡¯t


    just whip up miracles in my sleep. I whip them up when I am awake also.¡±


    ¡°What do you need my help for if you already have it done?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Putting it on if you don¡¯t mind,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°When?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Whenever you want, but maybe before you head out with your harem,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You remember when you said the Society could have your watch back after you


    exploded,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I sure do,¡± said Jack, grinning.


    ¡°I can make that happen,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I doubt that, young lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who would tell your mother about your eight


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.boyfriends?¡±


    ¡°They are not my boyfriends, they are customers,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how that makes it better,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Are you really going to get on my nerves about this?,¡± said Josie, crossing her arms.


    ¡°I¡¯ll lay off if that¡¯s what you want,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I would like to meet them before


    you go off with them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re meeting at the Hall in the morning,¡± said Josie. ¡°I had hoped to be able to


    present the base of a working plane before then.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll go talk to Harp tonight,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I¡¯ll see what I can do about making


    you a flying machine.¡±


    ¡°Can you?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need something we can use to wrap a base around,¡± said Jack. ¡°I do have Mister


    Fantastic, and he does have a wide knowledge base and photographic memory.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me tell the kids so we can go.¡±


    ¡°We were going to need a flying machine sooner or later,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might as


    well do that to help with this quest before we have one farther away than we can


    reach with the watches.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to see more of this world if we want to,¡± said Josie. ¡°And if we have


    to move on to somewhere else. This might have to be a mobile house.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about it,¡± said Jack.


    He walked into the living room and grabbed the arm from where he had left it when


    he had finished. He picked up the connector next. He hoped it worked fine for Harp


    after the work he had put into it.


    There was nothing worse than an arm no one wanted.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to visit Sir Harp,¡± said Josie. ¡°When we get back, we¡¯ll look at the


    ideas you came up with to see what we can build before morning. Then I have to fly


    east with these adventurers.¡±


    ¡°You will come back?,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is just a search and rescue. We¡¯re going to fly out, find this


    girl, pick her up, fly back. Jack will be here if there is any problem with people in


    the city.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to be back pretty soon,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll whip up some tacos, or


    something. Then we¡¯re going over what you guys come up with for a mobile house.


    Do you guys need something as an example?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Back home, we have mobile homes that we can ride around in on the streets,¡± said


    Jack. He looked around and saw a scrap of metal left over from the arm. He turned


    into Magik, and picked the piece of metal up. He concentrated and sculpted out a RV.


    ¡°They kind of look like this. An engine drives the thing on the road.¡±


    He let the persona go as he put the little statue down on the table for the girls to look


    at.


    ¡°Now the idea is that people can ride around, and camp at night,¡± said Jack. ¡°They


    act like rolling houses.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s neat,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°They¡¯re everywhere back home,¡± said Jack. ¡°And mostly belong to old people who


    don¡¯t have to work any more.¡±


    ¡°And you want something like this that flies?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Anything that you can think of would be great,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know you have the


    brain for this.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll come up with something,¡± said Beatrice. She looked at the younger girls. They


    all nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Thanks, kids,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie and her boyfriends will need all the help they can


    get.¡±


    ¡°Not boyfriends,¡± said Josie. ¡°They are possible minions.¡±


    ¡°Servants,¡± said Elaine, as the girls looked puzzled. They agreed with that.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you ready to go, Josie?¡±


    ¡°I have been ready,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are you sure that thing will work?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to test it when we put it on him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that will go over well with his wife,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You can¡¯t get a steak without breaking some rocks,¡± said Jack. He gestured for her


    to lead the way. He didn¡¯t know where the Harps lived and needed her to go first.


    ¡°We talked about you mangling old sayings,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. She


    had enough power to get them across town. ¡°We¡¯ll be back as soon as we can, kids.¡±


    She changed into Zatanna and whisked them across the intervening space in a second.


    She let the persona go before leading the way up to the house¡¯s front door.


    ¡°I hope you know what you are doing,¡± she said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see soon enough,¡± said Jack.


    Josie knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. She stared at the door


    as she listened.


    Jack juggled the arm and the connector. He had done a good job. The rest would be


    up to Harp¡¯s nerves and how much he trusted them.


    Jack would do a lot for a new arm if he had lost the old one. He hoped that helping


    Harp wasn¡¯t a mistake. They only knew the man through his teaching lessons. That


    didn¡¯t mean much, but the Society halfway vouched for him and helping him could


    be adding a little bit of good to the world.


    And Bosch¡¯s sentiment was something to aspire to even when you didn¡¯t want to.


    Jack nodded at the Harps when they came to the door. He noted they seemed nervous


    about having guests.


    ¡°Jack says he has an arm put together that he wants to put on you before I leave


    town,¡± said Josie. ¡°Is it all right for us to come inside and show you what he¡¯s made?¡±


    ¡°Josie is going to help me out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I can put the arm on myself, but


    I don¡¯t want anything to go wrong. This is going to hurt a little when I set everything


    up and get started.¡±


    ¡°And Jack¡¯s doctor self is not good for people to look at when he starts using it,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°I doubt it¡¯s that bad,¡± said Harp.


    Jack called Doctor Strange in all of his many tentacled, squamous glory. He


    dismissed the persona a second later.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Harp. ¡°I stand corrected.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need you to lay down on a table if you have one,¡± said Jack. ¡°This


    is going to be a two step operation, and you will have to take a couple of days to get


    used to the weight.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can give me a metal arm?,¡± asked Harp.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the part I¡¯m concerned about,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am more afraid that once we


    have everything together, the arm craps out and kills you by accident.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°I¡¯m kidding,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie will be right there to make sure nothing goes wrong.


    I¡¯ll have the thing on you and working in a few minutes. It will just take some getting


    used to since you learned to get around not having an arm in the first place. This


    should just take a minute, and then you will have a second hand.¡±


    ¡°Have you done something like this before?,¡± asked Harp.


    ¡°Most of the people I have helped have been poisoned,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the


    expression on the knight¡¯s face. ¡°I know that¡¯s not what you want to hear, but if you


    are poisoned in the future, I can fix that for you fairly easy if you can hold on until


    I can show up.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t let him hurt you,¡± said Josie. She gave Jack a light punch to the shoulder.


    ¡°He¡¯s just scaring you to see what you will do. Replacing an arm is not something


    light like planting a flower, or putting water on to boil.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Harp. ¡°Just don¡¯t make things worse.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Josie. She waved Jack to go in. ¡°We¡¯re going to use the kitchen


    table. There might be some clean up, but we will handle that while you sleep off


    the operation.¡±


    ¡°Madam Harp,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you sure you want to watch this? It will be bloody


    and messy.¡±


    It would be easier if she left. Putting someone¡¯s arm on would be something that


    she wouldn¡¯t forget for all the wrong reasons. She didn¡¯t need to see that if there


    was a way to avoid it.


    ¡°I worked on the battlefield,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°I doubt this will be any worse than


    what I have already seen.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡±


    ¡°I have Fate and Occult,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can back you up if something starts going


    wrong.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. He walked into the kitchen and put the arm and connector on the


    counter close to the table. ¡°All right. I¡¯m going to need you to climb on the table and


    lay down so I can look at you before I get started.¡±


    The knight did what he was told, clasping his wife¡¯s hand as he lay down. She stood


    away from the nub that used to be his other arm.


    ¡°The first thing that¡¯s going to happen is I am going to change and numb you so you


    can¡¯t feel anything,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we¡¯re going to put in the connector so the arm


    will fit in with the shoulder. We might have to adjust it as we go. I will probably ask


    you to move the arm at some point. Just wait for that to happen. Ready?¡±


    ¡°Do you need me to change when you do?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°If this takes longer than what I can hold Strange, I am going to


    need you to hold everything in place and make sure the work doesn¡¯t come undone


    because my time ran out.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Fate should be able to do that.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started,¡± said Jack. ¡°I change, you change if I hit the limit, then when I


    have a charge, we switch back.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch as Jack checked his. It was still climbing


    back up to maximum. She could tell his was doing the same thing.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s show time.¡±

 New Arm

    Josie watched as Jack became a thing from Lovecraft and summoned various floating


    screens so he could keep track of everything. An appendage injected something inside


    Harp as he lay on the table. One of the screens lit up with a timer and a section of


    shoulder and upper back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me,¡± said Jack. ¡°And tell me if you feel anything.¡±


    ¡°Feel anything?,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°If you can feel something, I didn¡¯t numb everything,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will have to track


    the area down and numb that too.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said the knight.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°The first thing I have to do is hook the connection to the


    shoulder where your remaining arm is. The artificial arm is a little long. I¡¯ll have to


    fix that after everything is attached and working.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Harp.


    Jack split the nub with tentacles producing blades of light at the ends. He worked the


    connection in place and threaded wires to hook to the nerves and muscles leading to


    his patient¡¯s spine.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t magic do this faster?,¡± asked Madam Harp.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could just shazam this hunk of metal on your husband. It would


    be a snap. The problem is if he runs into something that drains magic in the future,


    it might just fall off.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said the Harps.


    ¡°Tell them about the fish people, Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°I only have a few minutes before


    the pain killer wears off. I have to get the rest of this done before that happens.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said the Harps again.


    Josie frowned at Jack, but he was moving with superhuman speed. Talking would


    slow him down, and that was the last thing they needed while he was halfway through


    lancing the wires where he needed them to go. He was already cursing the fine work


    he had to do.


    ¡°There are fish people disguised as humans up north on the lake,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Apparently they had a summoning ring taking the local magic to power a gate. When


    they had enough accumulated power, the gate opens and their god comes calling. One


    of our first quests was to stop that from happening. So we figured out what was going


    on which was a ring of stones, and we dismantled it.¡±


    ¡°Tell them about their god,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right, almost done with the connections.


    About five minutes left. Definitely going to need you to take over for me in a second,


    Jo.¡±


    ¡°Let me call Fate and see what I can do,¡± said Josie. She dialed down to the name and


    pushed the button. She became cloth and words. She frowned. This wasn¡¯t what she


    expected. ¡°I am going to have to try Occult. This won¡¯t do the magic we need.¡±


    She dialed down to Doctor Occult and pushed the button. She changed into a body


    with scrubs and a mask. She nodded at the gloves on her hands. This was perfect for


    what they were doing.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Losing power in three seconds. As soon as I recharge, I think


    I can finish the rest of the job.¡±


    ¡°What needs to be done?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I need to finish threading the connections and then hook the arm to the connection


    hub, and then re-size it and check it for functionality,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I can fix that with this persona,¡± said Josie. ¡°Give me a second.¡±


    She concentrated, watching the counter on the watch count down. She didn¡¯t know


    if she could do all the connections in the amount of time given, but she could do


    enough that when Jack took over he could finish the job before his watch counted


    down again.


    Practical limitations was not on their side.


    Josie concentrated, running her magic over Harp. She sensed the things she needed


    to do and worked everything in place as rapidly as she could. She felt the hooks


    engage one by one. She had a mental picture of what she was doing and it was


    confirming checkpoints as she went.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have the hooks in place. The connector should work.¡±


    ¡°Can you hold it in place until I recharge?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to seal around the connector to keep Harp from


    losing any more blood, then we can try to hook the arm on.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think the worse is over.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Everything is a little elevated. How do you feel, Sir Harp?¡±


    ¡°Lightheaded,¡± said the older man. ¡°Is the operation a success?¡±


    ¡°The first part,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to do the second part in a second. Can you


    hold on?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Harp. ¡°What did the fish god look like?¡±


    ¡°He looked like Jack¡¯s Doctor body except as big as the castle and a lot more


    tentacles,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It was a good thing I punted that rock when I did,¡± said Jack. ¡°It was halfway across


    and ready to grab anything that got in reach.¡±


    ¡°We think it would have scoured the lake country first before coming down to the


    city,¡± said Josie. ¡°And the Society didn¡¯t want that to happen for whatever reason.¡±


    ¡°Not the goodness of their hearts?,¡± said Madam Harp.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe they saw the lake god as a rival for power and


    said no to that, or they might have asked us to handle things because it kept things


    stable, or any other reason including out of the goodness of their hearts.¡±


    ¡°Having talked to them,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think the goodness of their hearts


    overturns the practicality of their wants. Something has to be done. They can¡¯t do it


    themselves for whatever reason. They get someone who will do the job out of the


    goodness of his heart. But I think they are more inclined to see things depending on


    what they are in charge of fixing before it gets crazy than what misery will be


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.unleashed.¡±


    ¡°Like politicians, or army commanders,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°I can¡¯t disagree with that assessment,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I am about halfway


    full. Let¡¯s see what we can do with that amount of time.¡±


    He changed back into Doctor Strange. He put up his screens. He nodded at the


    influence Josie still had as Doctor Occult. He checked her connections in a matter of


    seconds. He took the arm and hooked that to the connection joint. He made sure it


    fitted in place and that it would move on its own. He activated the wires and saw


    Harp wince at the sudden feeling. He blinked a few of his eyes as he checked


    everything again.


    It should work, but it was still too long. He needed to resize it to something more in


    line with the man¡¯s real arm. It shouldn¡¯t look like he put a gorilla¡¯s arm on a man.


    ¡°Do you still have time, Jo?,¡± Jack asked. ¡°I have to switch out.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. Her magic said everything was in the right perimeters and she


    was keeping Harp¡¯s blood pressure in a respectable range.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. He switched to the numbers and letters form of Magik. He touched


    the metal arm and made it fit in proportion to what it should. He stepped back and


    switched to Strange again. His screens told him everything looked normal.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°The arm is on and it should work. There is a release lever at


    the shoulder in case you need to take it off. You will experience some discomfort and


    mild pain until you get used to things. Understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± said Harp. ¡°I will be able to use it like a normal arm?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but it will still be heavy and if you¡¯re not careful, you can hurt yourself with it,¡±


    said Jack. He became normal.


    ¡°Now I have to build an airship to save someone else¡¯s day,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you go a


    week without busting yourself in the face, that will be a win for me.¡±


    ¡°Help him up, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you know about Eric Fass and his crew?¡±


    ¡°They are some of the best adventurers that we have here in the city,¡± said Harp. He


    sat up with the help of Jack and his wife. He flexed his new arm. He winced at the


    pain of moving it. ¡°As far as I know, they have never done a shady job since getting


    their licenses.¡±


    ¡°Would you trust them?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Within limits,¡± said Harp. ¡°Just because a group of adventurers have made a name


    for themselves at standing out of the shadows doesn¡¯t mean they haven¡¯t done things


    they should not have. Why?¡±


    ¡°One of the members of Fass¡¯s group lost his sister to some shenanigans,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I told them I would help find her for him.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s the sister?,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°Emily Budd,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She was a good one,¡± said Harp. ¡°She joined Markam Myme¡¯s crowd. She didn¡¯t


    want to be in the same party as her brother. She wanted to do better, and Fass is more


    cautious than most. He¡¯s not one to delve just to delve, he¡¯s there to look for


    something or carry out a job.¡±


    ¡°What happened to Emily?,¡± asked Madam Harp.


    ¡°Markam¡¯s party turned on her and sold her to someone on the other side of the


    country,¡± said Josie. ¡°I told Fass I would help him out if he accepted any


    consequences that might fall on him personally.¡±


    ¡°Do you need a hand?,¡± asked Harp. ¡°I would be glad to go with you.¡±


    ¡°I just need you to keep an eye on the girls and get them better than what they are,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°What is going to happen is going to be against king and country, and you


    can¡¯t be allowed to take the risk now that things are going better for the both of you.¡±


    ¡°If you want to have dinner with us, I¡¯m not going out of town,¡± said Jack. ¡°Bring


    something if you want.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can do that,¡± said Madam Harp.


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie is going out of town and we should have a party.¡±


    ¡°He just wants to see if the arm works,¡± said Josie. ¡°But come by. I¡¯ll tell the girls and


    Elaine to expect you. They at least will be able to cook something without poisoning


    you unlike some people.¡±


    ¡°I cooked breakfast this morning, thank you,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re still alive.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m used to the food poisoning,¡± said Josie. ¡°Have a good night, folks.¡±


    She turned into Zatanna for long enough to clean up the mess they had created putting


    on the new arm. She waved at the Harps as she led the way into the night.


    ¡°Do you think they miss Warner?,¡± asked Jack. He walked along with his hands in


    his pockets.


    ¡°They might miss adventuring,¡± said Josie. She considered things as she led the way


    down the street. ¡°I don¡¯t know if a new arm will help heal the wound, but I wouldn¡¯t


    be surprised if Harp starts taking jobs again. He might not realize that he is over the


    hill and should take it easy.¡±


    ¡°Some old people don¡¯t,¡± said Jack. ¡°The arm worked out better than I thought it


    would.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t say that in front of them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to be going around and handing out magic arms,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You say that now, but one day we¡¯re going to be on a quest and the next thing you


    know that¡¯s all you will be able to do,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go by the Adventurer Hall before we go home to talk to the kids,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I want to look at the place before I start work.¡±


    ¡°Have you heard from Guin yet?,¡± asked Josie. She pushed the worry that their


    partnership with the gangster was gone away. There was nothing she could do about


    it if it was, and she hadn¡¯t made the mistake of killing the Duke and his closest


    friends.


    And she had no doubt they needed killing from what Jack had said.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I scared him. He¡¯s a lot more cautious than some of the


    criminals I have run into.¡±


    ¡°Have you run into a lot of criminals?,¡± said Josie. She couldn¡¯t remember a lot from


    their childhood, or after when Jack had enlisted.


    ¡°Half of our senior class were dopers and thieves,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s how I found out


    who robbed Mrs. Coltrane. My sisters and I waited for them and then we beat them


    down and got back her stuff.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She knew someone had broke into Mrs. Coltrane¡¯s old house.


    The old lady had been happy that her stuff had been returned three days later. She


    never thought Jack and his sisters had ambushed somebody and robbed them of what


    they had stolen.


    ¡°Why do you think Pearsall and his bullies avoided Juni like the plague?,¡± said Jack.


    Josie could see that. Juni was three years ahead of them, built like a short bull, and


    known for throwing people through windows. Pearsall was a weed. Any fight would


    have been short and to the point.


    ¡°I never knew about this,¡± said Josie. ¡°No wonder you have taken to this champion


    of the universe stuff so well. You were already a vigilante.¡±


    ¡°Just because I helped my sisters beat up some guys doesn¡¯t make me Batman,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°You are vengeance,¡± said Josie. The imitation of Kevin Conroy was almost spot on.


    ¡°I always saw myself of a more of a Darkwing Duck type of guy,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe


    Baloo from Tail Spin.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t quite see you as either one of those,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°Maybe


    Launchpad.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s not bad even if he can¡¯t land a plane once he gets it in


    the air.¡±


    The dialers paused when they reached the open ground in front of the hall. Jack


    walked around the grass lawn, measuring steps as he went. He knew from experience


    Mister Fantastic would remember this as soon as he was dialed up.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I have the room volume down for how big we can


    make the ship. Let¡¯s go see what the girls came up with. I¡¯ll have to gather material


    to build whatever we need in the morning.¡±


    ¡°No making something out of thin air with your magic?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I could, but what happens if you run into someone who can take constructions


    apart?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°It will be bad enough to be knocked out of the air, but to just


    lose the whole ship with no way to repair it would be worse in my opinion. I want our


    enemies to waste time trying to shoot us out of the air instead of dispelling my work.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°The look on your face was classic.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Why don¡¯t you write a letter home to your mom to let her know


    you¡¯re okay?¡±


    Josie froze and glared at him. He looked nonchalant, but she knew he was getting


    ready to mock her reasons why not. She could see it in his eye. She decided to not


    give him the satisfaction.


    ¡°I¡¯ll write a letter to Warner to let him know we¡¯re working for his old bosses,¡± said


    Josie. Jack nodded in agreement. ¡°Maybe he can tell us stuff about his old cases.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thought,¡± said Jack. ¡°Someone must have stopped the Dark Rider


    before we did. Chances are Warner did that. Who knows what else he dealt with when


    he came by to visit?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not telling my mother anything about this,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Neither am I,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She started walking again. ¡°Why are we walking?¡±


    ¡°Because we are waiting for our watches to recharge after working on putting an


    artificial arm on someone,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am at almost full charge again. We can fly


    home if you want.¡±


    ¡°That would be great,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s good because I am already there,¡± said Jack. He dialed in Makkari and


    vanished.


    ¡°You cheater!,¡± shouted Josie. She pulled on Quick and raced after him.

 The Duke

    Jack let Makkari go as he stepped into the apartment he had taken from their mortal


    enemy. He grinned as he walked across the room. Josie arrived a second later, clothed


    in lightning. She let her persona go as Jack stepped into the kitchen to get another


    glass of water.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you cheated like that,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You teleported in a street race,¡± said Jack. ¡°Too late to call foul now.¡±


    ¡°I can call foul if I want to,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cheat and that won¡¯t happen,¡± said Jack. He toasted her with the glass of


    water.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get even,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Cheaters never get the cookie,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see what the kids have for us.¡±


    ¡°Cheaters never get the cookie?,¡± said Josie. ¡°What is up with the mangled sayings?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. His uncle used to do that all of the time. He wondered why


    he was doing them now. He hoped he wasn¡¯t getting dementia like his uncle had.


    There were no nursing homes in fantasy kingdom.


    ¡°Do I need to look at you as Occult?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I hope not,¡± said Jack. He paused as the girls looked at him from their papers. Plates


    and empty cups were everywhere. ¡°What do you guys have for me?¡±


    ¡°We put together what we think is the only logical conclusion,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It¡¯s a


    flying boat.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. ¡°What does this boat look like?¡±


    Laura showed him a rough drawing of what looked like an ark with sails stretching


    up over the top. It didn¡¯t need to be that big, but they had thought of chicken legs to


    land on. He nodded at that.


    ¡°We also thought about something like your sculpture,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°We couldn¡¯t


    figure out how to make it fly.¡±


    ¡°We also came up with this,¡± said Melanie. She gave him a picture of a bird. ¡°The


    wings flap to carry you along.¡±


    ¡°A bird is pretty close to what we have back home,¡± said Jack. He took the drawings


    and stacked them on top of each other. ¡°People back home figured out that if you had


    a wing of a certain shape you could direct air under you. If you went fast enough, the


    air would lift you up. We also had balloons that could lift a basket high enough that


    the wind above the ground would push the balloon. It wasn¡¯t nearly as controllable


    as a plane since they didn¡¯t usually have wings to grab anything.¡±


    ¡°There was also the zeppelin,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The Goodyear,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    He took a piece of paper and charcoal and drew a rough egg shape on it. He added


    lines on the back with a quick touch. A basket went underneath.


    ¡°There is gas in this bag,¡± said Jack. ¡°It gives lift. It kind of makes things lighter than


    air. The propellers are driven by an engine inside the basket. The propellers push the


    zeppelin through the air like a slow moving barge on a river.¡±


    ¡°Why does it look like that?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°The shape is to cut down the air wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°Air passes around things when


    you go high enough. So you don¡¯t want something blocky. You want something that


    the air will run down the sides without a lot of resistance.¡±


    ¡°How fast could you make a zeppelin?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll have a lot of work ahead of me if you want to


    take off by noon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just meeting them in the morning,¡± said Josie. ¡°It would be nice to take off then,


    but not really necessary as long as we get something done.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have a solution if Guin will help us one last time.


    Do you mind if I take these drawings with me? I¡¯m going to need them to make things


    work.¡±


    ¡°What are you planning?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can see it in your eyes.¡±


    ¡°I am going to ask Guin for some help getting the material together,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then


    I am going to put your airship together by the Adventurer¡¯s Hall unless you want me


    to put it together somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°And if he says yes?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Then I will have the keel done by sunrise,¡± said Jack. ¡°The rest might take a bit


    longer depending on how fast the material comes in.¡±


    ¡°If he doesn¡¯t want to help out?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Then I will figure out where to get the raw material I need to do what I need to do,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°It will probably be best to build the thing away from the city. That will


    obey the scale back rule the Society asked for us to abide.¡±


    ¡°Abide?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The Dude abides,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her expression. ¡°The Big Lebowski?


    Have you not seen that?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I probably never will now.¡±


    ¡°Your loss,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right. I think we have a plan if I can get some cooperation


    from Guin. Then I can start putting the prototype together somewhere. I had thought


    the Adventurer lawn would be okay, but it¡¯s too flashy for this. We want to keep it


    concealed so no one knows we can fly anywhere on the continent.¡±


    ¡°Can we watch?,¡± asked Laura. ¡°I would love to see something like real magic.¡±


    ¡°You see real magic everyday,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Not like this,¡± said Laura. ¡°Please. Can we watch?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°When the time is right, we¡¯ll go out to watch things unfold.


    It will look like any other building project.¡±


    ¡°I think it will be great,¡± said Laura. ¡°I don¡¯t care how boring it will be.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Grab something to eat. I asked Master and Madam Harp to eat


    with us when Josie goes out of town. We need to check supplies for food when we


    get done with this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll put a list together for us to pick up at the market,¡± said Elaine. ¡°How do we get


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.to the building site?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you out there as soon as Jack has a place he is happy with to put things


    together,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Let me see if Guin is at the Coin,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll go from there. Chances are I


    won¡¯t be able to start until the morning. You guys might have to show up early in the


    morning, so be ready to get some sleep if I can¡¯t hammer something out.¡±


    ¡°Have you done something like this before?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°Not exactly like this,¡± said Jack. ¡°But we have magic here, so the job should be a


    snap once I get started.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait for word from you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll write the letters to Warner to see


    what he thinks of all this.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He smiled at the assemblage. ¡°Let¡¯s see what I can do with


    what you have given me.¡±


    He walked out the front door and started down the street. He touched his watch and


    became the Falcon. He flew over to the Coin and dropped down at the head of the


    line. The doormen nodded when they saw him coming up the steps.


    ¡°Is Guin in?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I need some help.¡±


    ¡°You need some help?,¡± said the one doorman.


    ¡°Just because I am incredibly handsome, athletic, brilliant, and humble,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t need a hand from someone with a ton of goons at his


    fingertips.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the boss thinks of things like that,¡± said the doorman.


    ¡°I am about to make him happy if things work out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m sending Josie out


    of town.¡±


    ¡°I think he would be more happy if you went out of town,¡± said the other doorman.


    ¡°Can¡¯t,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie is the one that got the call. I¡¯m just her support at the


    moment.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill everybody,¡± said the first doorman.


    ¡°I¡¯ll work on that,¡± said Jack.


    People started saying things about Jack talking to the doormen and how they couldn¡¯t


    get inside the casino to waste their money. He waved at them before he stepped


    inside.


    He made his way to the main office over the casino floor. Kray didn¡¯t seem inclined


    to let him through. He expected that. He was intruding on a man at the center of his


    domain. A certain wariness after what he had done would be on everyone¡¯s mind.


    ¡°May I pass?,¡± asked Jack. He waved at the office door.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Kray. ¡°The boss has someone in there who wants more money out of


    the business.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He¡¯s trying to level some new tax levy,¡± said Kray.


    ¡°I would like to meet this man,¡± said Jack. ¡°Knock on the door, please.¡±


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to do that?,¡± asked Kray.


    ¡°Then I will,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just do it. I¡¯ll talk to this tax man. I have a feeling he tried


    to grab Josie and the kids under the guise of a tax bill. I want to express my


    displeasure.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t turn into a werewolf and bite his head off,¡± said Kray. He knocked on the door


    with a big fist.


    ¡°I am not going to promise that,¡± said Jack. ¡°A lot depends on what he tells me, but


    biting might have to be done.¡±


    ¡°You dump the body,¡± said Kray. He opened the door.


    ¡°I am willing to do that,¡± said Jack. He walked into the office.


    Guin sat behind his desk, Linus standing to the right. An thin man with glasses on a


    lanyard stood to the left. A stack of ledgers sat on the desk. Four guards stood to


    either side of a man sitting in the visitor¡¯s chair. He had some finery on, and two large


    rings on his hand.


    ¡°Master Guin,¡± said Jack. ¡°Linus. Josie is going out of town and I thought I should


    invite you to eat with us and the girls.¡±


    ¡°And who are you?,¡± said the visitor. He had a lemon expression on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jack,¡± said Jack. He put on a harmless grin. ¡°And who do I have the pleasure of


    addressing?¡±


    ¡°I am the new Duke Hent,¡± said the new duke. ¡°We were talking about new rules for


    the casino. What is your position here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t work here,¡± said Jack. ¡°Master Guin helps me out on some things, and I help


    him where I can. That¡¯s the other reason I came by, Master Guin. I was wondering


    how much pull you have with suppliers around here.¡±


    ¡°Then I think you should leave,¡± said the Duke. ¡°You have no place here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Master Guin, I will be setting up on the old Duke¡¯s property


    and destroying the manor to get part of my supplies. If you could pass the word


    around that I might have to buy the rest on credit from the local shops, that will be


    good.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said the Duke. ¡°That¡¯s my property!¡±


    ¡°For how long?,¡± said Jack. ¡°The way things are going, you might not make it out of


    this room. You see, someone sent some guys down to my place with a false tax bill


    and my partner had to kill most the collectors involved. The rest she gave to the elves


    to be straightened out. Now I see you here, and I am thinking you gave the orders that


    got those collectors killed. And I am wondering if I should do the same to you before


    you become a pain in my behind. And if I have to kill you right here and now, I¡¯m not


    going to spare your bullies either.¡±


    ¡°Do you know who I am?,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°What you should be asking yourself is who is this guy?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m the guy


    who made you the Duke, and I can make the next guy the Duke if I am not happy with


    your dukedom. Are we clear with where we stand here?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°I¡¯m just visiting the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°It means nothing to me to put another guy in


    your place. If I were you, I would think about not being a corrupt scumbag and


    enjoying the rest of my life doing my job to help people to the best of my ability. That


    will make you happier and give you a longer life.¡±


    ¡°I will see you hanged for this threat,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°How?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you really think these four guys are going to get you what


    you want?¡±


    ¡°Take him,¡± said the Duke. He waved at Jack.


    The four guys reached for their swords. Jack reached for his watch. A flash of light


    created a cloak of darkness with a skull for a head and a scythe in hand. The guards


    realized they were in serious trouble. They backed away from the specter in their


    midst.


    ¡°Your time is running out,¡± said Death. ¡°I think you should use it a little more wisely.


    I will be keeping an eye on you from now on. If I see you do something out of line,


    I will visit you in the dark.¡±


    Jack switched back.


    ¡°And I am taking the old Duke¡¯s house,¡± he said. ¡°When I am done, there will be


    nothing left of it. Is there anything else you would like say before you leave?¡±


    ¡°I will make you suffer,¡± said the Duke. ¡°You can¡¯t get away with this.¡±


    ¡°My partner is going out of town,¡± said Jack. ¡°Be glad she decided not to come with


    me to talk to Master Guin about the supplies we need. The new Duke would already


    be throwing your stuff out on the street so he could take over. Also I know you


    fraudulently filed tax bills on people to take their stuff. I want you to give all of it


    back before she comes home. Once I tell her about meeting you, I can¡¯t imagine you


    are going to stay alive for much longer after that.¡±


    ¡°Do really think you are untouchable?,¡± asked the Duke.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I just know what will happen to you if I did get


    touched. It wouldn¡¯t be pretty, it wouldn¡¯t be painless, and the collateral damage


    would be greater than what I could estimate. Go home, quit being greedy, think about


    whom your successor will be if you don¡¯t. And think about how many others will die


    with you when you go. The previous Duke took most of his circle with him after all.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave of you,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I want what I am owed, Guin.¡±


    ¡°As I have shown you, you are owed nothing,¡± said Guin. ¡°And Jack isn¡¯t the only


    one who has buried his enemies over the years. Go home, Your Grace. The way you


    are going, someone will think they are paying too much, and that will be the end of


    you. The city is full of malcontents, and lately more than a few have dropped dead.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said the Duke. He gestured for his men to follow him from the office.


    Guin sat back in his chair, hands interlocked.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t do us any favors killing the old Duke,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I guess I assumed that the crooked collection was all in with the rest of the stuff he


    was into,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can see that I will have to do something to him.¡±


    ¡°He is not part of the Montrose,¡± said Linus.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a writ to stop evil wherever I find it. Of course


    that writ comes from a group of what could be imaginary creatures, but I am not


    going to let that stop me.¡±


    ¡°That makes me feel better,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°You are invited to dinner tomorrow,¡± said Jack. ¡°I do need as much material as you


    can gather for me. I will pay for it as soon as I can get the money out of the bank. If


    you want me to set that guy on fire while I am taking care of other stuff, I can.¡±


    ¡°His bill is so out of order,¡± said the man with the glasses. ¡°He is just trying to


    squeeze the business to enrich himself.¡±


    ¡°He is going to go after you over the money,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can expect him to go


    after your employees.¡±


    ¡°I will tell everyone about this so they can be ready,¡± said Guin. ¡°We might have to


    spend time in court over this. He has the ability to use that against us.¡±


    ¡°I guess it would be too much to go by the local judges and talk to them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Guin. ¡°Some of them were caught up in your rampage through the


    former duke¡¯s manor. I don¡¯t know how their colleagues will take that.¡±


    ¡°You would think that it would be a guidepost to do a better job,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t


    want to set him on fire, but I will if I see anyone come by the Hole in the Wall with


    less than good intentions. Even if this guy isn¡¯t trading people, he is doing enough


    stuff to attract my attention. And I already gave him his one warning.¡±

 One Letter Home

    Josie helped clean up the dirty plates. She wondered if Jack could do what he said.


    He had done some things she would have never considered trying, but he had always


    been like that.


    ¡°I am going upstairs to write some letters,¡± said Josie. ¡°You girls might want to get


    a nap before we head out. I have a feeling that Jack will put on a show for us.¡±


    ¡°Practical limitation?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would think the material that he needs to put everything


    together. He might not be able to get it all tonight, but we should be able to see


    something.¡±


    ¡°Even if he puts just the keel in, that would be a display to point at to anyone who


    wanted to look at it,¡± said Laura. ¡°I would love to see how it worked.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what we can do when Jack finishes it,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s going to want to


    test drive it.¡±


    ¡°Test drive?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to want to see if it will work like he thinks it will when we use it,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°So he might take us up to show us what it can do before I leave tomorrow.


    Now get a nap. I will get you when he sends word that we are ready to go.¡±


    ¡°The maps are upstairs,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I can find them while you are writing your


    missives.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°Lights out.¡±


    The girls retreated to their room and settled on their beds in their clothes. Boots stood


    where they could pull them on as soon as they were awake.


    Josie led the way up to their office. She wondered why the girls were on the ground


    floor. She put that aside. They were where the wall was the thickest and closest to the


    door.


    If they had to escape anything, going to her room and sliding out the window was


    possible.


    She needed to ask Jack to think about putting in an escape hatch when he worked on


    the shooting gallery for Alicia.


    Josie went to the desk they had inherited from the former owners and sat down. What


    did she want to say to Old Man Warner? She wanted to be bright and cheerful so he


    wouldn¡¯t put on his watch and come across the line. They didn¡¯t need him to break


    his retirement.


    She did wonder what he had used before the watch since he didn¡¯t seem to recognize


    it. Maybe he had a secret transformation like Sailor Moon. That would be hilarious


    to find out.


    Maybe he knew something about the Society after dealing with them for so long


    before he retired from saving their world from the dangers within.


    She pulled a sheet of paper close and picked up a pen to dip in an ink bottle. She


    stared at it as she considered what she wanted to say to him.


    She decided that she should just state the situation baldly, let him know they were


    doing okay, and ask him about his former cases. That should cover the entirety of the


    letter. She filled out her thoughts as neatly as she could. At the bottom, she told him


    that if her mother was bothering the police to let her know and she would write home


    to tell her that she was okay.


    She didn¡¯t wince at the obvious lie. She was never writing home to her mother for any


    reason.


    ¡°This is Cairn,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It is almost on the border with the Shermainans. If the


    Montrose was smuggling women there, it would open more problems for us.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Jack was right?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Do you think we covered the whole


    planet with his makeover? If we did, was it permanent? Do I have a timer to finish the


    job before they go underground because their markers faded away?¡±


    ¡°I think it is quite possible that you have marked these villains for life,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Even if the rest get away from you, you have already helped some, and avenged


    others. I think that¡¯s the best you can do.¡±


    ¡°Let me send this letter to Mister Warner,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can think about what


    we¡¯re going to do to settle the rest of things.¡±


    ¡°If a fight does break out, you might have to battle forces from both sides of the


    border,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Shermanians are known to trade along the border for what they


    need.¡±


    ¡°And they won¡¯t like it if we show up to throw a wrench in their plans,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you think you can stop the whole organization?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. She made a shrug with her shoulders. ¡°If we can whittle their


    numbers down so that future generations can take care of things after we are gone,


    that would still be aiding the greater good.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you engaged in this war?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Heck no,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s going to be the lie I tell in my memoirs.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That¡¯s more like the Josie I know.¡±


    ¡°Do you have directions to Cairn?,¡± said Josie. ¡°If Jack does build something that


    flies, we¡¯re going to need some landmarks to stay on the right track.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to write it out for you, but it looks like you can stay on the road east,


    through the swamp, and then keep going to the low river until you see the various


    towns and farms,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Then you would have to figure out which one of


    those is the one you want.¡±


    ¡°We could land and ask for directions,¡± said Josie. She took on Zatanna and sent her


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.letter across the veil to Earth. She wondered what Mr. Warner would think about it.


    She hoped he stayed in his retirement. There was nothing as embarrassing as having


    an old man yell at you for doing your job.


    ¡°Should we call Jack and find out what he¡¯s doing,¡± said Josie. She let the persona


    go.


    ¡°I think we should give him more time,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think he is going to be doing


    something big and he doesn¡¯t know if it will work.¡±


    ¡°The Harps will be coming by to eat tomorrow while I¡¯m gone,¡± said Josie. ¡°What


    do you think about that?¡±


    ¡°I think Jack is being too open about us and what we mean to him,¡± said Elaine. ¡°He


    is displaying a weakness to them.¡±


    ¡°I think he is showing you off,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯ve only seen you with the kids, so


    this might his chance to say this woman can do anything. He¡¯s just doing it badly.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not courting yet,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Jack is not good at that type of thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°You have to throw out the feelers


    first. Just ask him if he would take you to a show and dinner. He will jump at the


    chance. I guarantee it.¡±


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you got together with him?,¡± asked Elaine. ¡°You have known each


    other for years, and he is comfortable with you.¡±


    ¡°We might have, but my mother hated him,¡± said Josie. ¡°So she did whatever she


    could to keep Jack away from the house, and then Jack enlisted and I made some bad


    decisions. And then Jack got out, and I was a barely functioning wreck. I¡¯m better


    now than I was, but I missed my chance because I was stupid.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Nothing to be sorry about,¡± said Josie. ¡°Life happens whether you like it, or not. And


    it is so finite in the way it moves you along pass paths you can¡¯t take any more. Jack


    has been my best friend through most of it. Hopefully I have been a good friend to


    him, but I doubt it.¡±


    ¡°I think that you have,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will ask about the show.¡±


    ¡°Hey, guys,¡± said Jack over their communication bands. ¡°I am getting ready to start


    work. I am up at the old Duke¡¯s house. Guin and Linus are going to eat with us


    tomorrow. I¡¯ll have to get a couple more steaks to put on the grill for dinner.¡±


    ¡°I sent a letter to Warner to let him know we know what he was doing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Hopefully he will send something back about his old cases.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Jack. ¡°He can let your mom know that you¡¯re still alive, I guess.


    If you want to see this, come ahead. I am at full charge.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be right there,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did you ask Jane to eat with you and the girls


    too?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that. I¡¯ll swing by and talk to her when I am done


    with this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re coming to watch you at work.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be putting the model together in a couple of minutes,¡± said Jack. ¡°So I¡¯ll be off


    air.¡±


    ¡°Give us a minute to get the girls together, and then I¡¯ll bring us up there,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Why the Duke¡¯s mansion?¡±


    ¡°So I can tear it down,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll waiting for you.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll look at your directions tomorrow. Let¡¯s see what Jack


    plans to do with his personas.¡±


    She wondered if Jack was overcoming the practical limitations of what he wanted


    to do by ripping up the Duke¡¯s mansion since the man didn¡¯t need it any more.


    And Jack was not above rubbing it in to other people who wanted to use the mansion


    now that the old owner was dead.


    ¡°Might want to get a cloak,¡± said Josie. ¡°I doubt it¡¯s going to be warm while we¡¯re


    standing around in the dark.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the girls up and running and we can go,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Is it going to be a


    long walk?¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re going to have to fly,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the wince that got. ¡°I¡¯ll


    go slower for you.¡±


    ¡°That would be appreciated,¡± said Elaine. She left the office.


    Josie decided that she needed a jacket under the poncho she wore. Her t-shirt was too


    thin, and she didn¡¯t want to change clothes. She changed into Zatanna long enough


    to fashion a jacket to wear. She pulled it on, and let the poncho fall down over it. She


    headed downstairs.


    The Ducklings and Elaine had on heavy cloaks and two layers of clothes from the


    looks of things. It was enough to make Josie wonder what winter was like in the city.


    She smiled at them. She doubted the girls got any sleep.


    ¡°Jack said he¡¯s getting ready,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll carry us up there so we can watch the


    preliminary steps. I doubt he will be able to put the thing together before the sun


    comes up.¡±


    ¡°Will it fly?,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°It sounds like something from fairy stories,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it will fly, but if it does, I will using it to travel east to finish finding


    Emily Budd for her brother,¡± said Josie. ¡°I expect you to carry on with your studies


    and help cook for your guests. Try to stay out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we will be champions of the universe and be able to use magic?,¡± said


    Laura.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is already a bad job with a lot of responsibility. Do


    you want to chase after quests for the rest of your life?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Jack to think about coming up with something small that you can practice


    with so you can get ready to replace us when we die,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re not going


    to live forever.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you can trust us with this?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really have anyone else I can trust,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just don¡¯t know how to


    do it myself, or I would. I¡¯m sure Jack can build you something that will help you get


    out of trouble without turning you into menaces who just take everything you can


    because you are too lazy to work for things.¡±


    Everyone glanced at Melanie, but said nothing.


    ¡°I can work,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I am not lazy.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯ll look at Jack¡¯s boat, and then we¡¯ll talk to him about giving you something


    you can use,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m sure he will love the challenge of that.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if other champions did the same thing,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°It would explain the ring Jack recovered,¡± said Josie. ¡°Ready to go, girls?¡±


    ¡°Waiting on you,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I guess that¡¯s fair.¡±


    They stepped outside. Josie locked up and they started down the street from the Hole


    in the Wall. A gang of men in city livery rode the other way. They paused to watch


    the men stop at their door and dismount. Josie shook her head as one of the men


    knocked on the door.


    ¡°More tax collectors?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I guess I should have let one get away to spread


    the word. Go ahead, Elaine. I¡¯ll be right with you.¡±


    Josie walked back to where the men congregated around the door. They hadn¡¯t


    prepared for this.


    ¡°What you guys doing?,¡± said Josie. ¡°They aren¡¯t home right now.¡±


    ¡°Where did they go?,¡± asked the leader of the tax collectors. He didn¡¯t have the


    Makeover, so he might be legit.


    ¡°They went to watch the Duke¡¯s house being torn down,¡± said Josie. ¡°You guys are


    the second group of tax collectors to come out here. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°None of your business,¡± said the tax collector. ¡°What do you mean the Duke¡¯s house


    being torn down?¡±


    ¡°Her brother is tearing the Duke¡¯s house down,¡± said Josie. ¡°You might be able to


    catch them there if you want to ride out there. Best bet is to leave the bill in the door


    and go home.¡±


    The way they looked at each other said they didn¡¯t really have a bill, so they


    shouldn¡¯t be there.


    And the news that their target was tearing down the Duke¡¯s seat of power didn¡¯t make


    them happy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you guys all think you can come out and try to collect money,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°They don¡¯t keep anything here. It¡¯s all in the bank. And the last tax


    collectors that came out here without a bill was set on fire. If I were you, I would just


    leave a note for them to pay the bill and go home. You don¡¯t want to be set on fire if


    the witch decides you have to go, do you?¡±


    Josie waved at them and walked away. She made sure to use Zatanna for a moment


    to reinforce the shutters and the door to make it harder for the tax collectors to get in.


    If they did break through, she could hunt them down later.


    She caught up with the girls and boosted them in the air with the North Wind.

 First Flight

    Jack considered what he could do to the new Duke Hent. He didn¡¯t want to kill the


    guy, but he didn¡¯t want him getting in the way while he was doing things. Maybe a


    trip to the Elves would fix his attitude.


    He smiled as he considered what that would entail. If the Elves fixed the guards Josie


    had sent over, they should be able to fix some minor noble. He could see that


    backfiring once he was on the other side of the wall.


    Jack stood on the lawn of the manor house. He didn¡¯t see anybody around. He hoped


    the women had escaped from things after he had went to town. He should have made


    sure they got where they needed to go before he had broke free and headed for town.


    He couldn¡¯t take back his decision now. He probably should have killed the guests


    while they were coming out, instead of ripping them up by the bushel. He had not


    considered anything about what would happen after he was done.


    He should have.


    He supposed that was why he had been a great infantryman, and not a good


    commander. He needed to think more about long term strategy instead of short term


    gains made by killing his enemies in the face before they could come after him.


    He needed to talk to Elaine and see what she thought. She was a better planner than


    he would ever be. He could see that in the way she did things.


    He decided that he needed to search the house to make sure he was alone at the


    moment. He checked his watch. His counter climbed to full. He needed to know that


    he wasn¡¯t frying people by mistake.


    He wanted to fry them on purpose.


    He walked through the house. The servants had left, taking things with them as they


    went. He could see spaces where things had been, but were gone. All the bodies had


    been gathered up and moved out for burial away from the house. The guards might


    have just left them for the local animals, but he doubted that.


    He walked back outside with some paper and a charcoal he had scrounged up. He


    turned into Mister Fantastic and drew a blueprint of what he was making. He leaned


    into something that looked like Buck Rodgers from the thirties and Futurama. He


    smiled when he was done. He grabbed some rocks and pinned the paper down to the


    ground in front of where he wanted to start his building.


    He turned back and called Josie as he waited for watch to fill back up. He smiled. He


    hoped she liked the build when he was done. What he was doing was crazy and an


    extension of doing things with the watches to make his life easier to live.


    Jack hoped that things would work out easier than the arm. He doubted that it would


    be no matter how much easier than he made it look.


    He hoped Guin would be able to get him the rest of the material he needed if he


    couldn¡¯t build the ship out of the mansion.


    If he could build the thing out the mansion, then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about


    that.


    Jack settled on the lawn. He closed his eyes. He had his idea in mind. He had a


    blueprint based on what the girls had given him and his own experience. He was


    ready to start when the girls got there.


    The fact that he was erasing Hent¡¯s mansion was just frosting on the cake.


    He smiled when he saw the Ducklings drop out of the sky. Elaine wrapped her cloak


    around her when she landed. She smiled as she herded the girls to one side. Josie


    appeared as a body of wind. She let the persona go to be her human self.


    She placed her hands in her pockets as she walked up to join her adopted sisters.


    ¡°Hey, girls,¡± said Jack. He waved them forward to join him. ¡°I¡¯m going to be


    working. Do you want to see the thing from the inside, or the outside?¡±


    ¡°Can we have both?,¡± said Laura. ¡°We¡¯ve never seen you do anything major in


    person.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can have a recording made while I¡¯m doing it,¡± said Jack. He rubbed his


    face. ¡°That way we can watch it later after everything is done.¡±


    ¡°It will be like the couple who build things and post videos of it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can do that while I am working. I can build things around us


    while we sit here. When things start, don¡¯t try to walk around. Things will be flying.


    You could be hurt.¡±


    ¡°We got it,¡± said Josie. She bumped into Elaine.


    ¡°Would you like to see a play after we have dinner with the Harps tomorrow?,¡±


    Elaine asked.


    ¡°Just you and me?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Like a date?¡±


    ¡°Like you are courting,¡± said Angelica. She bounced on her toes. ¡°Like you are


    getting married.¡±


    ¡°Are we getting married?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Also Josie promised us magic stuff to use. She said you were


    better at that kind of stuff than she is.¡±


    ¡°Did she, Number Two?,¡± said Jack. ¡°That is so ego boosting.¡±


    ¡°Also the tax people were back at the apartments trying to break in when we left,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°I told them you were out here, but I don¡¯t think they believed me.¡±


    ¡°What I am about to do does sound outlandish, doesn¡¯t it?,¡± said Jack. He put on his


    grin. ¡°Let¡¯s see how far we can go.¡±


    He sat down and waved for the others to sit down around him. He looked around,


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!making sure the drawings were in reach. He nodded. He flexed his hands.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with phase one,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to have to do this in steps as the


    charge runs out. I might need some water, and some food before I am done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll cover that,¡± said Josie. She sat to one side, among the shorter of the ladies


    present. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you got.¡±


    Jack looked around one more time. Then he pressed the button on his watch and


    called for Magik to get to work.


    White rings opened in the air in front of the house. They began sucking the house into


    their grip. White rings formed around the girls. Material began to extrude out of the


    rings.


    A deck formed, lifting them up. A ring of inscribed metal formed around them.


    Wiring leaped from the ring to form connections up and down the proposed volume


    of the new airship. Mechanisms formed behind the group, putting themselves together


    into giant machines. More rods formed to create fans below them and behind.


    ¡°Most of engineering is done,¡± reported Jack. ¡°As soon as we move, I¡¯ll try to light


    the mana battery to power the engines and test them. Outer walls are coming online,


    landing gear is down to help support the keel.¡±


    He stood up. He gestured for the others to follow his lead. The rings adjusted to let


    them move out of the way.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to carefully go forward. Watch for anything


    moving in the air as things work themselves out.¡±


    The group walked around flying pieces of walls and wiring soldering itself into place


    to a ladder rising upwards. He climbed up and made sure nothing flew at them as the


    girls followed. He nodded as half of the house had been taken apart and reconstituted


    under his spellwork.


    ¡°The Duke is not going to like that,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Having met the man,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can honestly say I was about to set him on fire


    just based on his personality alone.¡±


    Four wings unfurled at the stern of the ship like a giant X. Engines rolled into


    existence at the base of the wings. Small roars drifted to the group as more of the


    house was converted into material for the aircraft.


    Seats rolled out of the walls next to windows fitting into frames. Jack nodded at the


    count. He had enough for the girls, and for the adventuring party. A galley cut itself


    off from the rest of the deck with a closing door in a partition wall.


    Controls formed the front of the section. A small display formed between the pilot¡¯s


    and co-pilot¡¯s seat. Lights for switches came on one by one.


    ¡°It looks like things are slowing down,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead and get seated so we


    can test this baby out.¡±


    The girls found seats. Harnesses dropped down over them so they wouldn¡¯t fall out


    of the seats when things got rough.


    ¡°Take the co-pilot¡¯s seat, Jo,¡± said Jack. He took the pilot¡¯s seat. ¡°Everybody strapped


    down?¡±


    Josie dropped into the seat on his right. She pulled the harness down and let it clamp


    down on its own.


    ¡°Things are still adding on,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might be adding on to the mana batteries


    for flying. As soon as I get an all clear from the machine, we¡¯ll try to fly and make


    sure it will carry passengers and cargo.¡±


    ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Then we lift off, and go nose down into the ground,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right. The


    house is gone. I have taken everything from the mansion. I wonder what the new


    Duke is going to do about getting a new house.¡±


    ¡°Probably tax someone until he can take their house,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°He¡¯s already sent more collectors to our place,¡± said Josie. ¡°I gave them a warning,


    but they might be breaking in despite the fact I toughened the door and shutters.¡±


    Jack frowned. He hated to think he would have to do something drastic, but it looked


    like he was going to have to draw a line in the sand. Maybe the next guy would


    understand that he shouldn¡¯t be taxing the crap out of the people in the city.


    There was no telling what they were doing to the local farmers that fed everybody.


    He should have made an example of the old Duke, so the new Duke would understand


    who he was dealing with right out the gate.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°All the lights are green. I¡¯m lighting the engines. Look out


    the windows and make sure that nothing falls off as we lift off.¡±


    The collective what made him grin.


    ¡°All right, Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°This works like one of those pilot simulators. Throttle


    up to cruise speed, pull the latch to move the stream from the belly fans to the rear


    engines, climb to five hundred feet and let the machine do the rest.¡±


    ¡°Navigation?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Before you lift off, you put in your destination in the console here,¡± said Jack. He


    reached down and put in a random spot on the map. ¡°The console will start off with


    just a line, then get more detailed the closer you are to the target.¡±


    He reached down and put in a random spot for the console to point at from where they


    were. He nodded when the flat map appeared. He turned to follow the line north.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where this will take us, but it¡¯s a good test run for the quinjet,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°Quinjet?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why quinjet?¡±


    ¡°Why not?,¡± said Jack. He smiled as he spun the aircraft through the air in a circle.


    He laughed at the cries from the back. ¡°You get to name the next one.¡±


    ¡°How long can it fly?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°The batteries were at minimum power. Red light there.


    We¡¯re going to have to bring it in. Ready?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°Everybody, look for some place soft for us to put down so the batteries can


    recharge,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Will the quinjet float?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Jack. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°There is a lake below us,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I think we can drop down on top of it if


    you¡¯re careful.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Instruments are marking the Ell Zee. I¡¯m bringing us down.


    Throwing the latch for the belly jets. We can hover to a landing.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am keeping an eye on things. What do I look for as we go


    down?¡±


    ¡°The altitude marker is center of console over the navigation,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re


    about two hundred feet above the water.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°How long will it take for the batteries to recharge?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. He smiled at her expression. ¡°It depends on what is


    flowing through here.¡±


    ¡°That is not good,¡± said Josie. ¡°Will the jet float long enough for the batteries to


    recharge?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°If it doesn¡¯t, the airship is waterproof. We can sink to the bottom


    and fire things up when we¡¯re ready to go.¡±


    ¡°To the bottom?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can watch the local fish while we¡¯re waiting.¡±


    ¡°Why would we want to do that?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°So we can see animals in their home grounds,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Who wants to see that?,¡± asked Melanie. ¡°We could drown.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t drown,¡± said Jack. He turned down the jet power. The airship crashed into


    the lake. ¡°And if there was such a threat, I would get us out of here before anything


    happens to us.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re safe in here,¡± said Josie. She watched as he turned the engines off. ¡°If we


    weren¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t stay here.¡±


    ¡°Now all we have to do is wait for the engines to fill up and give us a green light,


    and we can fly home,¡± said Jack. ¡°Until then we can look out the windows and listen


    for the call of the whipperwill.¡±


    ¡°The whipperwill?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bird,¡± said Jack. ¡°A night bird like the owl.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re above where Accordly happens to be,¡± said Josie. She looked down at the


    center console. The map was down without power from the engines.


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Jack. He had an eye on the gauge while keeping an eye out for fish


    people wanting to board and get at him and Josie for what they had done to their god.


    He didn¡¯t like being stuck in the middle of the lake with the kids. He didn¡¯t mind


    fighting the fish people off, but he didn¡¯t want to risk the kids over this.


    ¡°We could fish from here,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we had rods and lines.¡±


    ¡°It probably looks pretty in the daytime,¡± said Jack. ¡°You kids want to come up here


    fishing one day when we¡¯re not saving the world.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Laura. ¡°I would love that.¡±


    The rest were noncommittal at best.

 Home Again

    Josie looked out the window on her side of the cabin. She smiled at the water lapping


    around the hull of the quinjet. She would have named the airship the Enterprise, or


    the Spirit of Adventure, or even the Dial. The quinjet was the generic Avengers jet


    that didn¡¯t have names.


    She was surprised that Tony Stark hadn¡¯t bothered with it. It seemed right up his


    alley from the movies.


    ¡°You said that the battery is recharging,¡± said Josie. ¡°How does it work?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her expression. ¡°Magik came up with it so


    we didn¡¯t have to have jet fuel.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She heard dings and the list in her head changed. She groaned.


    The Society had come through with the promised quests.


    ¡°Dragon in Elf land,¡± said Jack. ¡°You want that?¡±


    ¡°If you take the Lich Queen,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why is there a Lich Queen?¡±


    ¡°Lich Queen?,¡± asked Laura. ¡°Is that dangerous?¡±


    ¡°Depends on if she has an army of zombies at her back,¡± said Jack. ¡°Usually you set


    them on fire and step to watch the flames roll out.¡±


    ¡°I think we can stop the murderer easily enough,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have become all


    right detectives in all this.¡±


    ¡°It seems out of place against a dragon and a Lich Queen,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe the


    targets is what makes him dangerous.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t tell us why they want us to fix things, but I suppose that there is


    something hidden that we don¡¯t know about yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°Like Lorelei.¡±


    ¡°Saving a princess is always cool,¡± said Jack. ¡°Ask Lancelot.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Lancelot?,¡± asked Matilda. She smoothed down her hair with her hand.


    ¡°He was the second best knight who caused his kingdom to be doomed,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°But he did save a few princesses when he wasn¡¯t cheating on his best friend, the


    king.¡±


    ¡°Ohhhhhh,¡± said the girls in the back.


    ¡°So not one to emulate,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Other knights were objectively better, but his legend has been polished as the


    doomed lover of the queen, and the destroyer of the kingdom he vowed to protect,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°So when people from my land hear King Arthur, they don¡¯t think of


    Percival who found the Holy Grail, Gawain who was the bravest of the brave and got


    stronger as the sun climbed, the undefeated Galahad or the doomed lovers Tristan and


    Isolde. It¡¯s always Arthur and Lancelot fighting over Guinevere.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± said Matilda. ¡°There is a built-in conflict for the lazy storyteller with the


    king, the right hand, and the queen. It¡¯s like the story of Gowan Hand, and his


    Hundred. Gowan¡¯s stories all revolve around the fact he failed his last quest.¡±


    ¡°Are you a critic, Matty?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I have read most everything written about Gowan.


    There are different stories for his men, but most accounts include his doom.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°There is the first hero from this side of the tracks we have


    heard about.¡±


    ¡°A King Arthur, or a Finn MacCool, at that,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°I wonder if they


    have a Hercules buried somewhere we have to go.¡±


    ¡°We do have one question we need answered,¡± said Jack. He put on his grin.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?,¡± asked Josie. She knew she was going to hate the question by the look


    on his face.


    ¡°Where are we going to store the quinjet when we get back to the city?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think about that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We should store it at the apartment,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°There¡¯s no room,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Shooting gallery,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t we store it at the Duke¡¯s former place?,¡± said Matilda. ¡°It¡¯s not like he¡¯s


    going to be using it.¡±


    ¡°It should be underground,¡± said Angelica. ¡°We don¡¯t want someone to steal it while


    we¡¯re doing other things.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± said Jack. ¡°Any opinions, Elaine?¡±


    ¡°If we could buy out some of the houses around the Hole in the Wall,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We could put together a stable for this craft.¡±


    ¡°And get a shooting gallery to practice in,¡± said Jack. ¡°I like it, but would people sell


    out to us just because we wanted their houses?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Some of them might like to take money to avoid


    getting involved in a war with the tax collectors.¡±


    ¡°We can see if they want to move out,¡± said Josie. Jack hadn¡¯t thought about a


    hangar, and she hadn¡¯t thought about the people on the street that had seen her burn


    those men to cinders.


    ¡°I have some ideas about things that we could do with some more hocus focus,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Maybe some Stargate stuff from my butt.¡±


    ¡°Stargate stuff from your butt?,¡± said Matilda. ¡°How does that work?¡±


    ¡°He is talking about magic shortcuts,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°And I think that I have a sort of solution, depending on if anything was left at the


    Duke¡¯s land,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will take some Stargate stuff, if it works like I think it


    will.¡±


    ¡°What do we work on first?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think I can take the dragon and find the


    murderer, if you can stop the Lich Queen from rising.¡±


    ¡°I might need another aircraft depending on the distance involved,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.the shows still running, Elaine?¡±


    ¡°They run to midnight, Milord,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Thank you, Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Your voice is a lot squeakier than normal. You


    might be getting a cold.¡±


    ¡°Not squeaky,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°It looks like the battery is charged up,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to start the engines and


    Jo will fly us home. I¡¯ll work on a hangar while you girls dig up what you can about


    the Lich Queen.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Josie. She shifted in her seat and pulled paper out of her pack. She wrote


    a quick note and sent it on its way. She nodded after it was gone.


    ¡°Lorelei and Bob will know what we are looking for and can probably find it faster


    than we can,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s the best I can do right now.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you can fly this, you can head down to Cairn with Fass¡¯s


    group without a problem. If you can¡¯t, I¡¯ll have to fly you down and help find this girl


    so we can extract her. Then we start trying to finish the big quests.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good to go,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Remember, if a bird hits the hull, it¡¯s not that bad,¡± said Jack. ¡°If it hits a window,


    you just drop down to a couple thousand feet and it¡¯s survivable. If you are flying low


    enough that you take a bird in the engine and it blows out, you have only seconds to


    fix whatever the problem is, or land before you crash. Got that?¡±


    ¡°What happens to the bird?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°It gets chopped up as it turns the engine into a broken piece of scrap,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Poor bird,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Poor us is more like it,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Powering up the system,¡± said Jack. ¡°Loading navigation with a request for the


    Duke¡¯s residence. Starting the belly jets to lift us out of the water. Do you have the


    controls, Jo?¡±


    ¡°I think I am ready,¡± said Josie. She glared over her shoulder at the complaints her


    comment made. ¡°All right, I¡¯m ready.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re at the top of the lift from the belly jets,¡± said Jack. ¡°Pull the latch. Pull up on


    the control to go up, slide the throttle forward to build speed. If the engine stalls, just


    push the start button to kick the engines back on.¡±


    Josie tried to enjoy the casual speed the quinjet had. She climbed until she was at the


    marked operational ceiling. She made a slow u-turn and headed south toward Hawk


    Ridge.


    ¡°The city is beautiful from up here,¡± said Laura after a few minutes of flight.


    ¡°It¡¯s so different from what it is on the ground,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We should have marked a landing zone for the quinjet. We¡¯re


    a little too high for us to hover.¡±


    He looked at the navigation console, which was giving him a picture of the


    destination. He pulled the lever on the side to shift the view around. He spotted the


    area he was looking for away from the city.


    ¡°There is a compass next to the altitude meter,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you see it?¡±


    ¡°I see it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Turn it so that zero and one eighty five line up and take us down to the operational


    limit of the hover jets,¡± said Jack. ¡°Be careful about the trees. They can wreck us.¡±


    ¡°Throttle back,¡± said Jack when he was sure they were on the right course. ¡°We don¡¯t


    want to overshoot and have to turn around.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a clearing off the road,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think that¡¯s where we need to go.¡±


    ¡°Throttle back to drop us to slow driving speed,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then push the latch for


    the belly jets. We want to hover in place before we drop down to the ground.¡±


    ¡°There is a hole in the ground,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It is to our left.¡±


    ¡°Can you put us right over the hole, Josie?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I think we have a hiding


    place for the quinjet if you can bring us down in the center of things.¡±


    Josie took a moment to wipe her face with the sleeve of her jacket. She had not been


    that nervous on the way back even with talk of a bird attack. This was where she


    could kill them off with one fumble.


    ¡°Extend the landing gear,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s the red lever next to the jet lever.¡±


    Josie pulled the lever. A series of thumps told her the legs had descended under the


    airship. She slowly brought the aircraft down, watching as the meter told her how


    many feet she had left. She felt a thump as the meter reached zero.


    ¡°We¡¯re alive,¡± said Melanie. ¡°We¡¯re alive.¡±


    ¡°Let me see if I can lower the gangway,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might not have the room


    for it. If we don¡¯t, I¡¯ll have to do a small gate to get you guys out of the jet before I


    fix the room problem.¡±


    Jack pushed another button on his side of the console. A door opened under them


    somewhere. He smiled for a second. He made sure the jets were off so they didn¡¯t


    spray loose dirt everywhere, the power to the aircraft was off so it couldn¡¯t


    take off without the warmup, and that he could see solid ground outside his window


    before he unbuckled the harness and started down to the entrance.


    ¡°There was a space underneath the mansion,¡± said Josie. She undid her own harness


    and went to help the others with theirs. ¡°When Jack took the house, he must have


    exposed it to view.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I like flying as much as the idea of flying,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°A horse is never as good as a unicorn,¡± said Josie. She helped them to their feet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if Jack can conceal his baby from the Duke and anybody who wants to find


    it bad enough.¡±


    ¡°What do we do about the tax collectors?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°If they are still on our door when we get home, I will try to reason with them,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°I expect Jack will want to terrorize their boss.¡±


    Alicia led the way down the ladder to the bottom of the airship. She looked down the


    corridors and turned toward the faint breeze and burning smell she detected. The


    others followed at a leisurely pace. They walked down a set of steps folded out of the


    front of the craft. Walls of dirt and stone surrounded them.


    ¡°Josie, if you could give the girls a lift home,¡± said Jack from the top of the pit. ¡°I will


    conceal our new secret launchpad from view. I might even have enough material to


    do some extra work. My spell kept making parts even after we left.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure, Jack?,¡± asked Josie. She looked around at the pit.


    ¡°Trust me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll even put in beacons so we can see where we¡¯re landing


    in the future.¡±


    ¡°Be home before the last show starts,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to see if you can


    survive one date in the city without setting something on fire.¡±


    ¡°How hard can it be?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead. The faster I get this done, the faster I


    can take Elaine out. I¡¯ll talk to Guin about this murderer. Maybe he can find


    something out through the Guard.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Huddle up, girls. I¡¯m taking us home.¡±


    ¡°More flying,¡± said Laura. ¡°I love this stuff. I could fly all day long.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty good,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I wish my stomach didn¡¯t try to empty everything


    out when I did.¡±


    ¡°You probably get motion sickness,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some people can¡¯t take fast motion


    from outside forces. Everyone ready?¡±


    She ignored the sound of whistling behind her as she dialed in Northwind and lifted


    off with her sisters in tow. They flew over the city¡¯s wall and dropped down on the


    street leading to the Hole in the Wall. She pushed out with her wind and didn¡¯t feel


    any resistance. Maybe the tax collectors had taken the hint.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to go slow to our place,¡± said Josie, letting Northwind go. ¡°I don¡¯t see


    any loose bodies around, but they could be using the buildings to hide while they


    come up to ambush us. Scatter and call Jack if there is trouble. I don¡¯t want any of


    you caught in the crossfire.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do something to bring more attention, Mistress,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Having more


    men disappear will just shine a light on us.¡±


    ¡°Your concern is noted,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am just going to walk up to the door and see


    what happens. Hopefully, they won¡¯t be waiting inside for me.¡±


    She walked up to the door, taking on Zatanna for a moment. She threw a scry bird


    inside the apartments as she moved forward. She frowned as the bird told her people


    were in her place. She should have known someone would be able to pick the locks.


    It would be so easy to kill them in the apartment and hang them from the wall. It


    would be a warning to anyone who got in her way. She liked it. She decided that


    she would save that for when she needed it.


    She picked out a hero she hadn¡¯t used yet. She didn¡¯t know how he would take, or


    what his powers would be. But maybe it would give her something overwhelming


    and non-lethal at the same time.


    She changed forms and thought that it was a match for Jack¡¯s Doctor Strange. She


    knocked on the door with her knobby fist at the end of a stick arm. She had three, or


    four, more sticking out her green body in random places.


    The people inside froze at the knock. Then one of them adopted the power of his


    position and came to the door to tell the visitor to clear away. He paused when he


    yanked the door open and saw Josie standing there with too much bulk and eyes and


    teeth. He tried to close the door in the face of the monster standing there. A big fist


    knocked him out of the way.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to talk to Josie Fox,¡± said the Martian Manhunter. ¡°Have you goons seen


    her?¡±


    A lot of screaming answered her.

 Stargate Stuff

    Jack looked at the coiled hoses of wires created by his spell. He looked at the quinjet


    sitting in its new home. He thought about his needs and how he wanted to do things.


    Some of it definitely was going to be Stargate stuff out of his butt. He didn¡¯t see any


    way around that.


    The first thing he needed to do was create a charging station for the airship. Once


    plugged in, he wanted it to be ready to lift faster than his watch if he could make that


    possible.


    The next step was creating some kind of cover so that people couldn¡¯t find the thing


    and try to fly it out of its space. The last thing he wanted was joy riders crashing the


    thing somewhere he couldn¡¯t get to so he could salvage the parts.


    Once he had both of those things in place, he needed a fast way for Josie and the kids


    to get to the thing without having to resort to Josie¡¯s watch.


    And he needed lights and a beacon so the quinjet could be guided in and landed with


    a minimal risk.


    He solidified the walls and pushed the ground deeper so the landing pit was deeper


    underground. He checked the work, satisfied that if the door was open, no one would


    be able to see it unless they were in the air themselves, or close up.


    He used some of the spare material to create a lift and cradle for the jet to lift it off


    the floor. If they had to work on it, they needed to be able to walk under it.


    The next step was to create the charging ring and the lights inside the pit. That


    worked well since his persona could shape everything without any input from him


    beyond what he wanted. He nodded when he felt the mana gather and push into the


    batteries on the quinjet. He checked the flow and adjusted it where he could so the


    aircraft would recharge in a few minutes instead of hours.


    He didn¡¯t want a door overhead, but the only other thing he could think to do was


    create a gate charged by the mana collectors. Then all he had to do was fly through


    the gate and head where he wanted to go.


    The problem with that was the fact he would have to set up another gate as an


    endpoint. Did he want to do that? Would it be easier to just stick with a door in the


    ground?


    He decided that if he needed a door, he would make it thick enough that the human


    types he had run into couldn¡¯t get to the cradle for the aircraft. He made sure to put


    in markers so they could line up with the cradle when they dropped down into the


    hiding place. He formed a set of doors that he brought down on top of him and the


    work space. He made sure all of it was linked to the charger so he wouldn¡¯t have to


    worry about using his powers.


    It also had to be ready to stand aside to let the jet get into the air and get out of there.


    So he didn¡¯t need supplies from Guin at the moment, but he had a secret base if he


    had a house to one side of his launchpad. He decided that he shouldn¡¯t build anything


    and let the Duke figure out what had happened. At some point, he might need to move


    the launchpad, but he could hold until he was sure about it.


    Now all he needed to do was build a bridge back to the Hole in the Wall. Time for


    some Stargate stuff out of his butt. He smiled to himself.


    He took some of his supplies and built a ring into a wall. He hooked up to the


    chargers. He nodded when the energy loaded up and he could sense a gate, but it


    wasn¡¯t all there yet. He needed to set up an endpoint.


    And that endpoint had to be at the Hole in the Wall. He had no other place he wanted


    hooked up this flying machine capable of dropping fire on a city without anything


    being able to fly up to stop it. He had to fly home and set up the endpoint and a


    charger for it. He checked his watch and saw that it was loading faster in the control


    area of the charger, just like it had in Accordly¡¯s stone ring.


    He waited until he had a full charge. He needed to carry some of the material home.


    He looked up at the roof. He needed to set up a lever to open and close the door. He


    should have thought of that.


    He used part of the material to set a door control next to the cradle. He added a


    remote to the quinjet so he could open and close the door from the air. He needed a


    lever on the outside of the door to open it from the grass. He pulled the lever and


    turned into Gravity and carried what he wanted to use out of the pit. He set up a lever


    with a fake rock to cover it. Someone would have to knock the rock out of the way


    and pull the lever to open the landing pad cover.


    The controls were simple enough on the jet, but hopefully none of the locals would


    be brave enough to steal the thing if they did find it.


    He had to take the rest home and finish the job. The jet could be a game changer for


    them to get across the continent. Just using teleportation was not going to get them


    to any emergency scenes fast no matter how many times they used it.


    He switched to Gravity and picked everything up. He flew back to the city and


    dropped down over the wall. He had to pause once when his watch ran out of power,


    but as soon as it recharged, he picked the metal slats up again and carried them the


    rest of the way home.


    He paused at what he found.


    A group of guys had been wrapped up and hung from the ceiling in the dining room.


    The apartment was trashed. Everywhere he looked was chaos. The girls were various


    forms of mad, and he knew he was about to see someone fried like an egg in a


    microwave.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, girls,¡± he said. He put on his best cheerful face. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me


    you were throwing a bachelorette party. It¡¯s a bit early for that. Elaine and I haven¡¯t


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.had our first date yet.¡±


    ¡°These guys broke in and trashed the place,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re debating what to do


    with them.¡±


    ¡°I guess boiling oil is my suggestion,¡± said Jack. ¡°Feet first so they last longer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that into consideration,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They wrecked the upstairs,¡± said Elaine, coming down the stairs. Jack thought she


    looked quietly furious. This was the face of a woman who could burn down her


    workplace without a second thought.


    ¡°Let me guess,¡± said Josie. ¡°You guys were looking for some stockpile of gold. I told


    you there was nothing here. Now my sisters and my associate are angry. I think


    lighting you up like giant candles is the way the go to send my answer back to your


    boss.¡±


    ¡°The new Duke won¡¯t care about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you mind if I slip by. You¡¯re


    going to have to show him in person what you think of him, and I don¡¯t think he has


    the self preservation instincts of a lemming.¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t a tax bill,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°So they are trespassing, which means we can


    do what we want to them.¡±


    ¡°Target practice,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I still have to put in a range,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hold on. I have to do this first before you


    guys do whatever to these guys.¡±


    ¡°Calling the Guard won¡¯t get us anything,¡± said Elaine. ¡°They will want to lock us


    up for besting their friends.¡±


    Jack slid the metal around the hanging guards. He moved into the living room and


    made a face at the destroyed furniture.


    That couch might have a stack of gold bars in it. Slice that joker up.


    Josie was way too calm about this. She was probably thinking of doing something


    heinous in retaliation.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°I have a door in my secret jet hangar bay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I feel like I need a door here


    in the living room so we can get to the secret jet hangar bay without having to ride


    horses, or depend on magic powers to do things. Neat, right?¡±


    ¡°If it works,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°The other end works good enough,¡± said Jack. He changed to Magik and waved the


    rubble of his room to move away from the wall. ¡°I just need to set up a door here, and


    we have an instant tunnel.¡±


    ¡°These guys,¡± said Laura. ¡°What were they thinking? We saw and heard Josie warn


    them off. Why didn¡¯t they listen? Now they are going to get murdered.¡±


    ¡°Some people don¡¯t believe that something bad is going to happen to them,¡± said


    Jack. He checked his numbers. He still had a few minutes to make things work. ¡°They


    always have to be shown they made big mistakes, but it won¡¯t change how they do


    things.¡±


    ¡°There are better ways of doing things,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Not my problem,¡± said Jack. He waved a mana battery into effect and watched it


    charge. He started putting the gate in the wall. ¡°I can only do what I can for you guys,


    and even then, one day, you¡¯re going to want to move out and get your own husband


    and solve your own problems.¡±


    ¡°Beatrice and I are old enough to do that now,¡± said Laura. ¡°So is Melanie, but I


    wouldn¡¯t trust her with a household.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to move out?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Laura. ¡°I want to do things and go places, but I want to be able to


    come back when I want.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s up to you,¡± said Jack. ¡°We want you kids to grow up and be able to take care


    of yourselves. I guess we¡¯re mother henning you because of our own upbringing.


    We¡¯ve done some stupid things, and we want you to do better than us.¡±


    ¡°I doubt we can do better than saving the city from certain destruction,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°There¡¯s always going to be one more problem, one more emergency, one more


    villain,¡± said Jack. He put in a control pad. He installed a pin number and punched


    that in to open the pad. Then he listened as the gate opened. He pulled Laura to one


    side as the energy collected on the surface of the wall. He marked a line on the floor.


    He engraved do not cross while door is open under the line. He put his hand into the


    energy and pulled it out. ¡°The gate is working. I¡¯m going to step through and test it.


    Then we can figure out what we¡¯re going to do with our captives.¡±


    ¡°What did you do?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°I am going to step through, and then you step through,¡± said Jack. ¡°If it works like


    it should, we¡¯ll be in the hangar. We just come back the same way.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe this,¡± said Laura. ¡°You could put these up everywhere. People would


    love it.¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a feeling that I am abusing my power to make things


    easier for me to make things easier to do the jobs for the Society. Spreading this out


    would cause too much of a problem for the world here, and I am the only one who can


    do this that we know of. We¡¯ve already done too much. If we keep building things,


    in a few years, you wouldn¡¯t be able to function because the world would be too


    different. Let¡¯s take it a little slower.¡±


    ¡°It would be a great way to make money,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°We already have enough in the bank to last you the rest of your life,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°And we can make more any time we want. Come up with some practical reasons to


    make gates and we¡¯ll talk about it. Now we have to make sure this one works, so I¡¯m


    going to go first. You count to three and follow me.¡±


    He stepped into the ring and vanished. The feeling was like being dumped in cold


    water while being stung by bees. He stepped out in the hangar and nodded. He


    stepped out of the way and waited. Laura came through a few seconds later.


    ¡°That¡¯s unpleasant,¡± said Laura. ¡°Why do you think it feels like that?¡±


    ¡°Have no idea,¡± said Jack. He smiled at her. ¡°Now we see if we can go back so we


    have a two way gate instead of a one way gate.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Laura. ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡±


    She stepped into the ring on the wall and vanished. Jack noted that the charger


    snapped on to keep the gate open. That was something to be aware of and to tell the


    girls about when he explained what he had done.


    Now they had an escape hatch if they needed it. And once here, he could close the


    gate by just taking the charger offline. Anyone trying to follow them would be sent


    back to the other gate, or caught in the space between gates until he opened another


    door.


    He marked out a line on the floor so the girls knew not to stand too close when the


    gate opened. Then he stepped through and into his living room.


    He made a small frown at the mess they still had to clean up. He turned off the gate


    and nodded to himself.


    ¡°Maybe you are right about spreading all of this magic around,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°I would love to change the world into something better,¡± said Jack. ¡°But everything


    has consequences, and you can¡¯t always predict what those will be. And even though


    our bosses are a little lax, they want us to take care of their business before we start


    charging people to use gates to travel from town to town. Dragons aren¡¯t going to slay


    themselves.¡±


    ¡°If we took over for you, we could spread this magic,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°You would be in constant danger,¡± said Jack.


    Laura waved her hand at the destroyed living room.


    ¡°And this is an example of unintended consequences,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we had gone


    home when we should have, you would have had to stay with Jane and probably


    never seen your sisters again. The Duke would still be sending girls away, and people


    would be squeezed by corrupt officials. Staying has given you a family of sorts and


    the local corruption a heartburn. And there is no telling what the answer Josie is


    going to want to give for this.¡±


    ¡°I am surprised she has let them live,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°The night is still young,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s move on to the next task we have to


    complete.¡±


    ¡°The jet was great,¡± said Laura. ¡°I never thought about being able to fly before you


    made that.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, I¡¯ll be able to come up with something better when we need it,¡± said


    Jack. He took one more look at the mess that used to be his living room. He was


    going to want a pound of flesh for this.

 Duke in the Night

    ¡°Let¡¯s try again,¡± said Josie. She glanced at her watch. It was recharging to full


    power. When it did, she had already decided that would be the end of her patience.


    ¡°Why are you here? If you say tax bill when there is no tax bill, someone will be used


    as a pinata.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a pinata?,¡± asked one of the collectors. He didn¡¯t seem to be taking being


    hung upside down in a giant spider web cocoon as seriously as he should be.


    Josie gritted her teeth. She looked around. She found a table leg laying on the floor.


    These idiots had broken her dining room table, and it was one of the things that she


    had liked putting together for the place. She picked up the table leg. She tested it for


    weight. It was already a column about the right size for a baseball bat. She looked at


    the clown. He looked like he didn¡¯t think his situation was so funny now. She


    whacked him across the chest and sent him swinging through the air.


    ¡°I would like to do that next,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°So would I,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I haven¡¯t hit anyone in a long time. I need the practice.¡±


    ¡°Arrows,¡± said Alicia. She waved at the swinging collectors. ¡°I have a shooting range


    now.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t shoot us with arrows,¡± said one of the other collectors.


    ¡°You were warned,¡± said Josie. ¡°How many arrows do you think you need, Alicia?¡±


    ¡°One,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I can pull it out and shoot it again.¡±


    ¡°I like that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Very frugal.¡±


    ¡°We might need a sheet on the floor,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I don¡¯t want to clean up any


    blood.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°When we¡¯re done, we¡¯ll wrap them in it and drop


    them in the forest. I heard some of the adventurers say the local monsters will eat


    anything, living or dead, in a few hours.¡±


    ¡°It depends,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Some only eat the dead, but others like chasing living


    things. It¡¯s some kind of instinct pattern according to my reading.¡±


    ¡°Somebody better hope they¡¯re dead when we drop them over the wall,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do I have to state the options again, or do I have to give Alicia the bow and an


    arrow?¡±


    ¡°There was a tax bill,¡± said one of the Guards who looked the youngest and least


    hardbitten. ¡°It was a shadow tax bill.¡±


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± asked Josie. She whacked the clown again. He tried to hold down his


    stomach contents.


    ¡°I have never heard of any shadow tax bill,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°A commission is signed to be collected with conditions,¡± said the guard. He eyed the


    table leg. ¡°Either the bill is paid, or we take everything.¡±


    ¡°Is that why Aile died?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°He was trying to collect the commission?¡±


    It made sense if the commission acted like a job for the adventurers. Something got


    posted and somebody tried to take care of it to get some kind of reward.


    ¡°I guess,¡± said the Guard. ¡°I didn¡¯t know Aile was dead.¡±


    ¡°I told you before you broke in that the other tax collectors had been killed, and what


    would happen to you if you kept going,¡± said Josie. ¡°Were you not paying attention?¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t believe you,¡± said Angelica. ¡°They thought Aile had given up and


    retreated. They didn¡¯t take you as seriously then as they are now.¡±


    ¡°I wonder why,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who signs these shadow bills?¡±


    ¡°A magistrate,¡± said the lead collector. ¡°The gold is to go to the Duke.¡±


    ¡°The dead Duke, or the living but about to die Duke?,¡± said Jack from the living room


    border. ¡°That is a real distinction.¡±


    ¡°It goes in the treasury of the Duchy,¡± said the collector. ¡°Whomever has keys to that


    has the gold.¡±


    Josie frowned at the hanging Guards. How did she want to vent her anger? She really


    wanted to turn them into candles and hang them from the walls. Her expression made


    it clear that was what was going through her mind.


    ¡°If you kill them, you can¡¯t torture them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°They wrecked my place, threatened my girls, and made our job harder by


    vandalizing our work space,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am having a hard time thinking of a reason


    they should live. And they did all this after I told them there was no gold, and the last


    group of tax collectors had been vaporized out in the street. I¡¯m thinking that they


    should be targets for Alicia until she gets tired of shooting at them.¡±


    ¡°Will never get tired,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I like the pinata thing myself,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°It reminds me of tenderizing meat


    before you cook it.¡±


    ¡°I might have to stop eating meat after that,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°I was thinking maybe we should visit the Duke and the magistrate who signed off


    on the bill,¡± said Jack. ¡°Unless you really want to shoot these guys over the horizon.


    That might be fun too.¡±


    ¡°If you tortured these men, and hung them from the walls, that wouldn¡¯t stop the


    tax collectors from coming as long as this shadow board was offering money,¡±


    said Elaine. ¡°The next group might be smarter and more persistent about their


    goals and endanger the girls.¡±


    ¡°So we should talk to the Duke before we make a decision,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to let these mooks live if they leave the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°They don¡¯t


    have the Montrose Mark yet, so I am willing to let things slide. Fixing the place


    back up to the way it was should be okay. On the other hand, I¡¯m really angry


    right now, and putting bullets through their heads is also looking good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking the other tax collectors got off too easily and we should have allowed


    one of them to warn anyone else what would happen,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°That was a mistake,¡± said Josie. She eyed her trapped captives. ¡°I wonder which


    one I should let go to let everyone else know they should not be mixing with


    my business.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to the Duke,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m really interested in this shadow board. It


    reminds me of Person of Interest.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no Team Machine here,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re Team Machine,¡± said Jack. He smiled at her. ¡°We¡¯re going to let you guys


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.live if you behave. I think you need to be put somewhere that you can¡¯t cause trouble


    for the girls and my beloved until I get back.¡±


    ¡°Beloved?,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°He means Elaine,¡± said Angelica. ¡°She¡¯s his beloved. I approve of the sentiment.¡±


    ¡°I do also,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Where do you think we should put them?,¡± asked Josie. She imagined Jack had some


    ready made prison. When could he have made it?


    ¡°Icebox,¡± said Jack. He got a cup from the kitchen. It was one of the few left intact.


    He came back and became Magik. He gestured and the prisoners shrank and


    dropped into the cup.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to put you somewhere safe, but it will be dark,¡± said Jack. ¡°When I get


    back, we¡¯ll let you get back to robbing other people. Don¡¯t come back here again, or


    you will get to be targets for the kid.¡±


    ¡°Or I might think about using you for my own practice at setting things on fire as


    slowly as possible,¡± said Josie. She crossed her arms as she glared at the men in the


    cup.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to go anywhere if you know what is good for you,¡± said Jack. He put a dish


    on the cup and put the whole thing in the icebox. It was a good thing that it wasn¡¯t


    keeping anything inside of it after the rampage the collectors had done.


    ¡°Why are we letting them live?,¡± asked Beatrice. ¡°Other than avoiding attention?¡±


    ¡°Never confuse kindness with mercy,¡± said Jack. ¡°One is not the other.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m missing something, aren¡¯t I?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Just because we have them stored like rats in a cage doesn¡¯t mean they will get away


    scot free,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think I want to see what this shadow board looks like in case


    we have to rip it up before we try to handle the rest of our business.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t set them on fire on our doorstep,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°We won¡¯t,¡± promised Jack. ¡°I think it¡¯s time we talk to the government about some


    change.¡±


    ¡°This is exactly what you said we shouldn¡¯t be doing,¡± said Josie. She felt her eyes


    twitch at the thought.


    ¡°I thought about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I agree with Number Two. Some people need


    to be used for targets.¡±


    ¡°So you want to talk to the Duke?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I just want to see what he thinks about this,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I would like to talk to him about what has happened,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe treat his


    house like ours has been.¡±


    ¡°I would like pictures,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Will you girls be all right while we handle this?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think this will


    take long. I still have to meet Fass¡¯s group in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I will get my crossbow,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Your wee men will still be in the ice box


    when you get back, or they will have holes in them.¡±


    ¡°Either is fine with me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have a lot of work sanding the edges off that loon, Elaine,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Let me find my crossbow in this mess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it,¡± said Jack. He flicked his hand and the numbers of it summoned a light


    crossbow out of thin air. He handed it and a stack of bolts to her and Beatrice. ¡°We


    have to go, and we¡¯ll check the show after dinner with our guests tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I will pick something with a lot of romance,¡± said Elaine. She handed the bolts she


    held to Beatrice. She loaded the crossbow with quick motions of her hands.


    ¡°If you have people come by, retreat up to my room,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can get out the


    window up there.¡±


    ¡°Or you can use the door to the jet,¡± said Jack. ¡°Laura will show you how to work


    it. The number for the pad is six sixteen, then the star. Don¡¯t bunch up when you go


    through.¡±


    ¡°When did you put that in?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°When I got home,¡± said Jack. ¡°Shall we? The night isn¡¯t getting any younger.¡±


    Josie became Zatanna and used her cleaning spell on the area around her. Things


    began dancing around as they put themselves back together.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you do that all the time instead of making us do it?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°I¡¯m building your character so you aren¡¯t lazy if Jack and I have to leave,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Besides you don¡¯t pay me enough to help you out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re rich,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°But you¡¯re not,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the younger woman¡¯s expression. ¡°What


    kind of job would you like to have to pay me for cleaning up after you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a trap,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Be silent and let it go, or your part of the cleaning will


    get worse.¡±


    Melanie looked at Josie smiling at her. She remembered what Jack had said and knew


    that while Josie could be kind, she didn¡¯t have much mercy. She decided it was better


    to complain at a later date when her guardians were done with their current tasks and


    not looking to take their anger out on anybody in their way.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now that we have that settled, I think we should talk to the


    Duke and dig into what we can about this situation.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll be back as soon as we can.¡±


    ¡°We will hold our quarters,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The next tax collector will go home with


    a hole in his nether regions.¡±


    ¡°See if you can show Alicia how to shoot,¡± said Jack. ¡°That will be good for her until


    she can use a bow of her own.¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Alicia.


    Josie smiled. Adopting the kids had been a good idea. She had thought she should


    send them to somebody better than she was, but they were lifting her up in this


    strange place. She might not be able to do the job without them.


    ¡°To the Duke,¡± said Jack. He pointed in the air. ¡°Where is he? I don¡¯t know where


    he is now that he doesn¡¯t have a mansion.¡±


    ¡°You are such a weenie,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you something,¡± said Josie. She called on Zatanna. She threw out a scry


    bird. ¡°All we have to do is follow the bird.¡±


    ¡°I need to learn how to do that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I need to learn how to do the magic technology you do,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you some tricks,¡± said Jack. Still garbed as Magik, he waved his hand. The


    two of them vanished in a collection of sparks.


    They appeared in a room in the dark. Josie waved her hand and candles lit


    themselves. Jack let the Magik persona go. He wanted the ability to slice and dice if


    he wanted.


    ¡°Is this the Duke?,¡± asked Josie, stepping back from the bed. She let Zatanna go.


    Karate Kid, or Richard Dragon, might be better for what they wanted.


    The Duke sat up at the strange voice in his bedroom. He caught a fist to the face. He


    clutched his face as he collapsed back into his pillows.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Duke?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have some questions. This is my partner.


    She¡¯s a little ticked that your goons wrecked our place, and she¡¯s been talking about


    setting you on fire.¡±


    ¡°I remembered a thing where I can rip the skin off a goon with a fingersnap,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I have been wanting to try it out, but I haven¡¯t had a reason until now.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t send anyone to your home,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I have been trying to figure out


    the charges rendered by my uncle before he died. I don¡¯t have time to get revenge on


    you for your bragging.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk like reasonable people then,¡± said Josie. She sat down in one of the chairs.


    ¡°One of the Guards I took said there is a shadow board for extra income. Jobs are


    posted and the guards take them. Then they get paid. The jobs aren¡¯t legal as far


    as we can tell. Ours was to seize whatever gold we had, and take the women to the


    Duke. I am going to assume that is your dead uncle since he seemed to be deep


    into human trafficking. How do we find this board?¡±


    ¡°How do you expect me to know that?,¡± asked the Duke. ¡°That is for my captain


    of the Guard to know.¡±


    ¡°I think your old one is dead,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who¡¯s in charge now?¡±


    ¡°Captain Grif,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I moved him up into the command slot when I saw


    that I had holes in my staffing. He is supposed to be recruiting men to fill those empty


    spaces.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re being very kind with your time, Your Grace,¡± said Josie. She leaned forward.


    ¡°Let¡¯s apply your knowledge of the system to our wee problem. That will make me


    less inclined to treat your home the same way mine was. If you were paying guards


    under the table to carry out duties of search and seizure, how would you pay them


    assuming they were getting paid through official channels?¡±


    The Duke did not trust this suddenly placid face in the light of his candles. There was


    something in the eyes that told him this was a monster in human form.


    ¡°I would arrange a bonus to the monthly pay through the treasury,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°But since I have only just started, any payment that would be authorized under my


    uncle would have to be given out by the Chancellor who has authorization to make


    the budget and cover expenses through the public funds.¡±


    ¡°Would you mind taking us to the treasury?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to see the


    books.¡±


    ¡°Why would you like to see the books?,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°I would like to find out everyone involved in this criminal ring and have words with


    them,¡± said Josie. ¡°And the logical way to do that is to find out who is taking jobs,


    and who is commissioning them. And once I know that, I will visit them and express


    my displeasure. If you are not involved, I am willing to keep the peace with you as


    long as you stay in your lane. But I have to leave the city in the morning, and if I have


    to start turning people into exploding pulp to get what I want before I leave, one of


    us will not be worried about how the city is going to go on without them. I am not


    your judge, I am your judgement, and the best thing you can do is cooperate so you


    can gain some leniency.¡±


    ¡°Let me get dressed and we will go to the archives,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°Thank you, Your Grace,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will try to keep this as short as possible


    so you can go back to bed with a clear conscience and a better hand on your ruling.¡±

 Audited by Birds

    Jack walked behind the Duke as he led the way out of his townhouse to the


    administration building. He whistled softly as they went.


    ¡°What is it with the whistling?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t remember you doing that before


    you went into the Army.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be jealous because you¡¯re not the only one who knows music,¡± said Jack. He


    grinned at her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the theme from Spongebob Squarepants counts as music,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Of course it does,¡± said Jack. ¡°What else could it be?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s like saying Nickleback is better than the Beatles,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°You know better than that,¡± said Josie. She shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re


    talking about this.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t either,¡± said the Duke. ¡°And I don¡¯t understand any of it.¡±


    ¡°Even the screwheads don¡¯t get you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m a simple man,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I like to keep things I do simple too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can agree with at least,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The archives for the treasury is down below the main building,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I


    don¡¯t know how to find what you are looking for. I¡¯ll know what it means if we can


    find anything.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie can find the right files. The next step will be finding


    out the names. Then we¡¯ll have to decide how to stop things from continuing. You


    don¡¯t want corruption undermining your leadership. The King is said to be heavy


    handed with people who don¡¯t run things effectively.¡±


    ¡°Hawk Ridge isn¡¯t quite as important as it used to be, but there are still things made


    here that we ship out to the rest of the dominion,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°Like what?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Furniture, music instruments, alchemical formulas,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I just saw the


    outlook prospectus yesterday when I took office.¡±


    ¡°Do they make guitars here?,¡± asked Jack. He knew that Josie had magicked one up,


    but maybe they could get more without hard work.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I was solely interested in what they owed, and how


    much business they expected to do for the year. The King demands those reports for


    his own forecasting.¡±


    ¡°I imagine,¡± said Jack. If the King was keeping track of things, and he thought you


    weren¡¯t keeping up the revenue stream for his own coffers, what would he do? How


    many people wanted to find out?


    Jack wouldn¡¯t want to be at the end of that attention even if he had a magic watch that


    let him get away with a lot of stuff that no one else would dare try.


    The Duke waved at a guard to open the vault for them to enter. He stood out of the


    way as they took in the shelves of ledgers reaching back as far as they could see.


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot neater than the tax archive,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯s regularly used by the Court and Administration to figure out rulings,¡± said the


    Duke. ¡°These books are only for what the Treasury collects and pays out.¡±


    ¡°What if someone cooked the books?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°He means what if someone were entering fraudulent sums,¡± said Josie. She frowned


    at her partner.


    ¡°There¡¯s an audit every six months,¡± said the Duke. ¡°The King¡¯s auditors and the


    Duchy¡¯s auditors go over each heading for the last six months.¡±


    ¡°So if someone wanted to defraud the kingdom, he would have to be able to make


    everything look kosher to two sets of eyes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Unless they were in it


    together.¡±


    ¡°I am going to say yes,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I am not sure what kosher is, but the context


    seems right.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be thinking what I think you are thinking,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t trust anybody who works for this city,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the


    Duke. ¡°I think if you use your scry spells on these books, you should look for the


    orders and bonuses for the shadow board, and then look to see if someone was


    skimming off what was taken from the city.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°There might be overlap.¡±


    ¡°That will make things easier for us if there is,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now chop-chop, you have


    to meet the adventurers in a few hours, and you are surly without your sleep.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you surly,¡± said Josie. She frowned at his grin. ¡°Let me dump what I need


    on the desk. Are there empty ledgers around, Your Grace?¡±


    Hent looked around the workspace. He produced an empty book and placed it on the


    counter.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how many commissions were put out there,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can see


    if any of that extra money went into the official coffers.¡±


    She became Zatanna. Small birds of fire erupted from her, searching the shelves.


    Entries wrote themselves in the empty ledger. Commissions were in red ink, false


    entries were in blue. The Duke stepped back from the flipping pages.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. He indicated they should wait by the door. ¡°This part is


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itharmless for us. She¡¯s just putting down all the information we might have to sort


    through. When she gets done with that, then things might be a little bit more


    harmful.¡±


    A thought struck him.


    ¡°Can you find Lord Cilt¡¯s case,¡± said Jack. ¡°He said his land was taken in a tax deal


    like ours.¡±


    A fire bird broke off. It found a shelf and writing appeared on a page by itself in the


    ledger.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. ¡°That will give me a leg up in getting his land back for him.¡±


    ¡°I assume that he was evicted and his land seized through this scheme,¡± said the


    Duke.


    ¡°It looks like,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder how much land was stolen through this.¡±


    ¡°What about my uncle¡¯s mansion?,¡± asked the Duke.


    ¡°Destroyed it and the slave pens underneath it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if this pans


    out, I will build you a bigger house on land you didn¡¯t own because it was stolen.¡±


    ¡°Can you really do that?,¡± asked the Duke.


    ¡°It will show up like magic,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the official. ¡°I¡¯ll just need some


    supplies. Would you like wood, or brick?¡±


    ¡°Brick would be nice,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Maybe some big windows.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll put a model together for you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put it on the site of your


    uncle¡¯s old place. I put a curse out there to keep people away.¡±


    ¡°Of course you did,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°It looks like I have gathered everything I can,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we have,


    and how we can use it.¡±


    ¡°May I?,¡± said Jack. He called on Mister Fantastic. He flipped through the pages and


    memorized everything he saw. ¡°It appears that most of the commissions were given


    out by a Magistrate Lewn. I don¡¯t know if he survived the Hent House Massacre, but


    his name is on ninety five percent of the extra jobs filed, ours and Cilt¡¯s among them.


    And it looks like there is some skimming going on. I can¡¯t actually tell who is doing


    it, but some of the commissions aren¡¯t going to the public coffers. Maybe all the


    receivers and the Chancellor are in on it.¡±


    Jack showed the Duke the entries where the funds had been diverted with no path out


    of the offices.


    ¡°How much has been stolen?,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°I am going to say millions of gold pieces in monies and property,¡± said Jack. He


    put the ledger down and reverted back to his normal form. ¡°You might want to get


    someone not connected to the books to audit everything. Thanks to you, we know


    who signed the order for our brick of gold and Lord Cilt¡¯s land seizure.¡±


    ¡°Guin¡¯s tax bill?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s high, but not higher than what I would expect,¡± said Jack. ¡°Someone might


    still be trying to line their pockets from his profits.¡±


    ¡°I need an independent auditor to go through this,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°I would say a team,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe Guin knows someone. I¡¯ll call him and ask


    for a recommendation for someone that doesn¡¯t work for him.¡±


    ¡°I should have expected this to be happening,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Uncle had so many


    flaws. Now that I have to take over for him, I can see that he was causing problems


    for the land out of corruption.¡±


    ¡°Better to find it on your own at your takeover, than the King to find it at the next


    audit,¡± said Jack. ¡°I heard that he likes to use the axe whenever he has a problem.¡±


    ¡°What is our next move?,¡± said Josie. She had let her persona go as soon as the spells


    were done. ¡°Do we get an auditor team in here to go through the books to back up


    what my magic found? Do we talk to this Magistrate? It doesn¡¯t help with our tax bill


    as far as I can see.¡±


    ¡°But it does,¡± said Jack. He took on a Perry Mason before a judge stance. ¡°We know


    that this judge is signing false orders for seizures. That means that we have someone


    who can vacate the charge against us, and return Lord Cilt¡¯s land. All we need for him


    to do is sign the order and make sure the Royal Authority has those orders which we


    can easily do. Now if he is taking a kickback, he is also defrauding the Duchy. Now


    if we can arrange for a confession in front of the Duke, then we can have him


    removed and put away for charges akin to obstructing justice and corruption.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t stop other judges from doing the same thing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Are you really considering putting down every judge in the territory?,¡± asked Jack.


    He shook his head. ¡°You have one syndicate that you are taking apart. There will be


    other judges and nobles for you to set on fire.¡±


    ¡°You have killed more nobles than I have,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know we were having a contest,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you want to turn this into


    a race to see how many nobles and crooked judges we can kill? I mean we could do


    that. It would change the way things work here, but I don¡¯t have a problem if you


    don¡¯t have a problem.¡±


    ¡°Can I interject?,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°Go ahead, Your Grace,¡± said Josie. ¡°What would you like to say?¡±


    ¡°I think that you should not kill everyone you come across,¡± said the Duke. ¡°And


    I think that removing people as part of a game is not good.¡±


    ¡°You have a point,¡± said Josie. ¡°Doesn¡¯t he, Jack?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Jack. He put on his smile. ¡°I would have won, but we can¡¯t just


    massacre every enemy we come across. It would make us look bad.¡±


    ¡°As it is, I have a quest to take apart the tattooed men,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t put that


    aside just because some of them are well born. Some of the nobility will have to go,


    no matter what.¡±


    ¡°I will try to avoid any conflict with you as far as that goes,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Why are


    you looking for tattooed men?¡±


    ¡°They steal girls and women and send them to be used as slaves,¡± said Josie. ¡°And


    since they picked the fight with me first, they all have to go.¡±


    ¡°I can see that was a bad decision,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°Do you have anybody, Your Grace?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I haven¡¯t had time to look around for someone, and most of


    my family are distant.¡±


    ¡°Then you don¡¯t have to worry about it except as violation of the laws against


    slavery,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think we should talk to this magistrate next,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you want to do


    about this tax fraud stuff?¡±


    ¡°I think I will have a talk with the Captain, and the Chancellor,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I will


    hire someone from the old companies to look at the books.¡±


    ¡°We are going to talk to this Magister Lewn and see about this order being rescinded


    and the order for Lord Cilt,¡± said Jack. ¡°This could be the start of a beautiful


    friendship.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said the Duke. ¡°But there are a lot of things that are out of order


    that need to be righted. I think I will start with the things I can touch first.¡±


    ¡°If¡¯ you¡¯re trying to do the right thing, we will help you,¡± said Josie. ¡°In return, we


    are going to need your help to straighten things out.¡±


    ¡°You can be our Alfred,¡± said Jack. He glanced at Josie. She covered her face.


    ¡°I think he means our Gordon,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll let the guards know


    that we¡¯re not going to kill them for this shadowboard business like we did the other


    tax collectors. We will let them go with a warning.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I can do with these malefactors, but something might turn up,¡±


    said the Duke. ¡°Good night. I will look at this in the morning and see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be glad to help out where we can,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°Uprooting bad guys


    is part of the mission statement.¡±


    ¡°One more thing, Your Grace,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have been asked to track down a


    vicious killer named Sawtooth. Could you spread the word around that we are


    interested in any weird deaths? They will look like monster attacks where there


    shouldn¡¯t be monsters.¡±


    ¡°I will have my staff put together a query for you,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Can I go back to


    bed? I foresee a busy day when I wake in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Would you like an assist over to your quarters?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°It¡¯s the least we can


    do.¡±


    The Duke picked up the annotated ledger.


    ¡°I will walk,¡± said the noble. He left the treasury, book under his arm.


    ¡°I hope we did the right thing there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go talk to this Lewn and get


    our tax problem straightened out. Then we can get ready for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he didn¡¯t know what his uncle did as part of the Montrose, but he knew that


    his uncle was doing things that he shouldn¡¯t,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And he avoided it to stay out of trouble,¡± said Jack. ¡°He might be smarter than he


    looks.¡±


    ¡°I wish I could say the same for you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Trust me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m so smart that I might have two brains working up in my


    cranium.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that.¡±

 Lewn

    Josie checked her watch before knocking on the door of the house in the center of the


    city. She looked up in the sky. She wasn¡¯t at full charge yet, but she didn¡¯t feel like


    she needed it. She wondered why Lewn hadn¡¯t bought a bigger house with the money


    he had stolen.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like much,¡± said Jack. He scanned the street. ¡°I wonder why he didn¡¯t


    spend more money.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he spent it on things we can¡¯t see,¡± said Josie. She listened at the door. ¡°I


    don¡¯t hear anyone coming to the door.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should knock louder,¡± said Jack. ¡°We could just knock the door down.¡±


    ¡°He might be scared of coming to the door,¡± said Josie. ¡°A lot of criminals would


    want to get their own back here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to knock on this door with Thor and see what happens,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t


    want to spend a lot of time on something that we¡¯re going to have to leave unless we


    have to do something horrible to clear the tax bill.¡±


    ¡°How long will your shrinking last on those guys at the apartment?,¡± asked Josie. She


    could see them reverting to full size and hurting the girls while she was out chasing


    this down.


    ¡°Until I turn it off,¡± said Jack. ¡°Permanent change is better than a holding spell


    according to Magick.¡±


    Josie knocked on the door again. She frowned as impatience crept up on her. She was


    giving this guy thirty seconds and then she would use the Human Bomb on this door.


    The door opened. A tall man in a robe and slippers looked down on them. He was less


    than impressed by the unwanted visitors on his doorstep from the expression on his


    face.


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± asked the man in the robe.


    ¡°Go ahead, Josie,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Magistrate Lewn?,¡± asked Josie. Looking at the house, she figured she had a good


    chance of talking to the man she wanted to be talking to.


    ¡°He¡¯s in bed,¡± said the servant. ¡°Could you go away?¡±


    ¡°We have business with him,¡± said Josie. ¡°We expect the Duke might have business


    with him in the next few days. Could you get him for us?¡±


    ¡°And what can I say is your business?,¡± said the servant.


    ¡°We exposed his tax fraud to the Duke, and before his head is rendered from his


    body, or whatever the maximum punishment for defrauding the Duchy is, we would


    like his signature on a order returning property he fraudulently stole,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We also would like to know what he was thinking trying to rob us, and how he


    found out we had gold in the first place,¡± said Jack. ¡°He put our adoptees in danger


    which means that we might be doing worse than the Duke unless he can straighten


    things out.¡±


    ¡°We understand that you might not have a clue about what¡¯s going on,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°But I think you should get the magistrate and let us iron things out before it gets


    worse for him.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening an authority of the city and the lands beyond,¡± asked the butler.


    ¡°I got this one, Jo,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are we threatening an authority of the city?¡±


    He touched his watch and a ten foot tall wolf stood on his hind legs. A growl escaped


    the werewolf as he stepped closer with clawed hands. Then he was a man in short


    sleeved shirt and blue pants.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you should get Lewn before we start resorting to actual


    threats which might end in violence.¡±


    ¡°If you want, we can talk in his bedroom so he doesn¡¯t have to get ready to see us,¡±


    said Josie. She wondered if she had a werewolf on her watch. That might be


    something she could use herself. ¡°But we are going to talk to him, one way, or the


    other.¡±


    Josie gently pushed the butler back in the house. She followed, looking for threats.


    Just because they had watches that let them do things, that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t


    be clocked by a lucky shot.


    ¡°Which way should we go?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He¡¯s upstairs,¡± said the servant. ¡°His room is at the end of the hall.¡±


    ¡°You can wait down here if you want,¡± said Josie. ¡°Our talk won¡¯t be long.¡±


    ¡°Put some tea on to boil,¡± said Jack. ¡°My mom says it¡¯s good for the nerves.¡±


    Josie led the way up the stairs. She didn¡¯t have to do anything to the judge if he


    signed the orders like they wanted. They could go home, release the tax collectors,


    and she could go to bed so she could be ready to go out to the airship and pick up the


    adventurers in the morning.


    ¡°Magistrate Lewn,¡± said Josie. She knocked on his door. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you,


    but I have business that can¡¯t wait until the morning.¡±


    ¡°Go away,¡± said an old voice. ¡°The court will be open in the morning.¡±


    ¡°You will be under investigation in the morning,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I expect you


    will have legal problems of your own by the end of that. I need your official power


    before you are removed and sentenced by another magistrate.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?,¡± asked Lewn.


    ¡°May we come in?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Your servant is downstairs making tea for you.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he keep you out of the house?,¡± said Lewn.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Because my partner threatened to rip him into little pieces,¡± said Josie. She frowned.


    She decided that he was going to try to hold her off. Maybe the servant was some


    kind of killing machine the judge trusted to kill them. Maybe there were other guards


    that could be gathered to stop them.


    She stepped to one side. She gestured for Jack to open the door for them. He could


    do a lot to a door designed to keep them out.


    Jack turned in his green giant and blasted the door open with a fist. The door might


    have been made of metal with a wood veneer. That didn¡¯t stop the persona from


    just knocking it into a bent spindle holding on to its hinges.


    ¡°There you go,¡± said Jack in a voice that sounded like gravel. He switched back


    to normal.


    ¡°How is it going, Magistrate?,¡± Josie went to a chair next to a reading table and the


    bed and sat down. She noted the shaking hands of the man in front of her. He was


    ancient, with almost no hair and one cloudy eye. He would be dead soon whatever


    happened in the next few minutes.


    ¡°What do you want from me?,¡± said Lewn. ¡°I don¡¯t know you.¡±


    ¡°You signed a bill to send tax collectors to our place because you heard about the


    brick of gold we gave the Exchange,¡± said Josie. ¡°We talked to the Duke and he


    showed us the ledgers for the Treasury, and it seems you have been doing this for a


    long time. And now the Duke knows.¡±


    ¡°The Duke has always known,¡± said Lewn. ¡°That¡¯s not a threat to me.¡±


    ¡°Which Duke?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Lewn.


    ¡°The old Duke is dead as a doornail,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s a new Duke in town.¡±


    ¡°And he seems like a very serious man,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°So we need you to vacate the bill against us,¡± said Josie. She locked her hands


    together.


    ¡°And we need you to refund Lord Cilt¡¯s land back to him,¡± said Jack. ¡°I told him that


    I would look into it, and it looks like you stole his land from him. So I need you to


    sign that order too.¡±


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t?,¡± asked Lewn. ¡°There¡¯s not much you can do to me.¡±


    ¡°We can give you more years and send you somewhere else,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can live


    part of your life over and do better.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that you can do anything like that,¡± said Lewn.


    ¡°Sign the orders and we will send you out of the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then you¡¯ll have


    the rest of your life to do with what you want.¡±


    ¡°Can you guarantee that?,¡± asked Lewn.


    ¡°I can guarantee that you will be set up somewhere else,¡± said Jack.


    Josie glanced at his face. Her partner didn¡¯t wear his habitual smile. Whatever he was


    offering was not as good as he said it was.


    ¡°You can do this?,¡± said Lewn. ¡°I suppose that would involve some kind of alchemy.¡±


    ¡°It would involve some energy buffering,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You will be as


    healthy as any man, in a place where you can start over, with no problems on the


    horizon.¡±


    ¡°If you can do that, I would be glad to sign any order you need,¡± said Lewn.


    ¡°What do you need to sign such an order?,¡± said Josie. Something was going on with


    Jack. She could see it in his eye. She wanted to say something but thought that they


    should get what they wanted out of this before they gave Lewn what he wanted.


    ¡°Some paper, a quill, and my official seal,¡± said Lewn. ¡°The orders would have to be


    registered with the Royal Archives.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll fix that when we have the order,¡± said Josie. She pulled paper and pen out of


    the bag. She handed it over to him so he could write out what he needed. ¡°The seal?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s downstairs in my office,¡± said Lewn.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe the tea will be ready by now.¡±


    Josie watched as Lewn wrote out each order. She took a second to be Zatanna to


    make sure the orders were right. She didn¡¯t want to put things in the files if they


    were false.


    Jack returned with the seal. He handed it over. Lewn poured wax from the nearest


    lit candle on the two orders. He pressed the seal down. He handed the papers to Josie.


    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± said Josie. She made copies and sent them on their way


    to where they belonged.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to hold up my end.¡±


    Jack touched his watch and became Magick. He gestured for a ring to form around


    the bed. Poles formed out of the ring. Years rolled off the magistrate and he shrank


    back into his childhood.


    ¡°Good luck with your new life,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You just turned a grown man into a baby,¡± said Josie. She had known that Jack was


    trying out things with his new persona, but that was incredible. ¡°How do I do that?¡±


    ¡°You just have to turn time back to when you want it,¡± said Jack. He let the persona


    go after he took the ring apart. ¡°We have to deal with our mini tax guys, and then I


    need another sandwich.¡±


    ¡°If Lewn was most of the jobs on the shadow board, we might have destroyed it,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°We might have to track down the other notices I saw,¡± said Jack. ¡°Those guys


    will be skittish when word gets around that a baby has been left in Lewn¡¯s place.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s let Jeeves know,¡± said Josie. ¡°He might not want to deal with his employer


    being a baby.¡±


    ¡°I had to deal with him trying to call the Guard on us,¡± said Jack. ¡°We should leave


    him a note to tell him what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he will like that,¡± said Josie. She paused. ¡°Do you know what this means?


    We¡¯re immortal.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. He started down the stairs. He looked at the back of the house.


    ¡°We¡¯re not.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t we be immortal?¡±


    ¡°Because the spell erases the years, which means the memories, which means our


    personalities as they are now,¡± said Jack. ¡°Every time you used it on yourself, you


    would be physically resetting everything about you. You would forget the kids, how


    to use the watch, or even how the world works.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. She had done things she regretted, but she didn¡¯t want to forget


    the good with the bad. She didn¡¯t need to throw the baby out with the bath water.


    ¡°There are things we might be able to do to become immortal, but I don¡¯t want to try


    them and find out we were like crickets,¡± said Jack. ¡°Better leave this guy a note to


    let him know the new Lewn is his responsibility.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember the crickets story,¡± said Josie. She dug out some paper from


    her bag and wrote a note for Jeeves that his boss needed whatever help he could give


    him now that he was an infant.


    ¡°One day this guy wanted to be immortal,¡± said Jack. ¡°He won the love of a girl that


    was special to the gods. They gave him immortality, but he still aged and eventually


    turned into a cricket because he had become so old and wrinkly.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s where crickets came from,¡± said Josie. She looked around the kitchen.


    She put some conjured milk in the ice box in one corner. ¡°A curse from the gods.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can find Lord Cilt?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to give him the order that


    the land is his again. And then I have to take care of the mini guys.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t get a ding for the shadow board so someone is still


    going to try to use it.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see them try it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to let Cilt know, and I might have


    to go out with him to evict anybody sitting on his land.¡±


    ¡°Here,¡± said Josie. She transformed and sent out a scry bird. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with the tax


    people. Don¡¯t forget the dinner tomorrow and the show.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget how to lift off out of the pit,¡± said Jack. ¡°I installed a lever to pull to


    move the roof off the hangar. All you have to do is hover straight up and set the


    course.¡±


    ¡°This could be excessive,¡± said Josie. She had an idea on who she could use as a pilot


    if she needed it. ¡°People will see that and run in fear.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the fastest thing I could think of to build,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just bring it back.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Josie. She grabbed him in a hug. ¡°Go out on this date and make me


    proud.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Mom,¡± Jack said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we¡¯re doing the right thing, but I love


    being able to throw spells and fly and build weird contraptions. I didn¡¯t have anything


    back home, and now I have a circle of people I know.¡±


    ¡°I think friends is the word you are looking for,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Jack. He looked up at the sky. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in a bit.¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Josie. ¡°People are going to start looking out for us to bust up the


    game now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what we do,¡± said Jack. He turned into the Falcon and flew away.

 Lord Cilts House

    Jack followed the fire bird across the city. He frowned as the houses dipped in


    quality. He wondered if he could fix any of them without causing problems. He


    landed in the road just as the magical searcher landed on the roof of one house in


    particular. He switched back so he could walk to the door and let his watch recharge.


    Josie¡¯s bird vanished. This must be the place. He knocked on the door.


    Lord Cilt opened the door. He frowned at Jack. Then memory kicked in. He stepped


    out of the house.


    ¡°How¡¯s things?,¡± said Jack. He had an eye on the street. Some people were watching,


    but no one was coming up to directly intervene.


    ¡°I have a job as a clerk so we can get money to live,¡± said Cilt. ¡°I had savings, but I


    am holding it for when we need it. I¡¯m amazed that you found me.¡±


    ¡°Josie can find anyone in the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°Would you mind showing me your


    land?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s late,¡± said Cilt. ¡°Are you sure you have time to look at a place out over the


    wall?¡±


    ¡°I have the time,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is Madeline here? We should bring her with us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get her,¡± said Cilt.


    ¡°Tell her to wear a coat,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will be cold the way I travel.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell her,¡± said Cilt. ¡°What should I say?¡±


    ¡°Tell her that I want to see the land, and talk about what you¡¯re going to need to set


    back up,¡± said Jack. ¡°Depending on how big the place is, you might need help to get


    things going for you again.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t have a lot of money coming in from rent,¡± said Cilt. ¡°Let me get


    Madeline.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget coats,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember,¡± said Cilt. He went back inside. He came out a few minutes later,


    pulling on his coat. Madeline was at his side, pulling on her own coat. ¡°I don¡¯t


    understand why you want to go out to the old place.¡±


    ¡°I went over your tax situation, and my partner and I think we came up with a good


    solution,¡± said Jack. ¡°But you¡¯re going to have to pay the taxes that come up on the


    estate, or lose it again. I just wanted to see things for myself, and see if there is


    anything else that needs to be done before I step away.¡±


    ¡°You think you came up with a solution?,¡± asked Madeline.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Jack. ¡°Ready? This will be cold, but once I know where we are


    going, actual travel should be over in minutes.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re ready,¡± said Cilt. He glanced at Madeline, who nodded in agreement.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get ready.¡±


    Jack checked his watch and he had enough to do a short trip outside the wall. He


    switched to Gravity, becoming an outline of a person. He gave a thought and the three


    of them flew into the air. He headed straight up so they could see the city and land


    around it.


    ¡°Which way do we go from here?,¡± said Jack. He spun around. Flying in the night sky


    was great. It was like swimming in a dark ocean.


    ¡°Do you see that tower in the distance?,¡± said Cilt. He pointed at an obelisk amidst


    the trees. ¡°That¡¯s our lookout. The main house and lands are behind that.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what¡¯s there,¡± said Jack. He put on the speed and dragged them to the stone


    tower sticking out of the trees. He spotted a house and overgrown lawn and garden


    in a cut out section of the forest. A dirt road led back to the main road into the city.


    ¡°It will need work to bring it up to what it was,¡± said Cilt. He hugged Madeline as


    they floated toward a landing.


    ¡°Give me a moment to examine things,¡± said Jack. ¡°That place in town looked okay.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my parents¡¯,¡± said Madeline. ¡°I don¡¯t think they want me to stay with Davod.¡±


    ¡°Poor lords aren¡¯t great supports,¡± said Jack. He smiled at them as he gently put them


    down and let the persona go. ¡°They are usually spendrifts who are a step away from


    dragging down everyone around them.¡±


    ¡°I had a good hand on things until the court turned against me,¡± said Lord Cilt. ¡°I


    don¡¯t understand why they would do that.¡±


    ¡°Someone paid the judge to do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I gave him a second chance. It will


    be years before he can bother anyone in the city again.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Madeline. ¡°So Davod has the land back again?¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°I have the order for him,¡± said Jack. He handed over the paperwork. ¡°Hang on to


    that. You¡¯re going to need it to prove your claim. Let¡¯s have a look at the house. I


    want to make sure that you guys can live in the house until you can hire someone to


    help keep the place up.¡±


    ¡°Why are you helping us?,¡± asked Madeline.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. He walked up to the front door. He knocked on the door.


    Nothing moved at his blow. He checked the door and found it had been locked. He


    didn¡¯t want to knock the door down, but he didn¡¯t want to be delayed.


    ¡°They took the keys when they evicted me,¡± said Cilt. ¡°The property manager had a


    set but I think they took those too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll look around from out here. I don¡¯t want anything living


    caught up in what I am about to do.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Cilt.


    ¡°You have custody of your home again,¡± said Jack. He touched his watch and became


    the Vision. He looked through the house and under it. It had been stripped bare of


    everything. He frowned at that. He would have to put in a little bit more work. He put


    the persona away. ¡°You can still be evicted over the livability of it if the Duke wants


    to impose the housing codes out here. So I am going to fix that, and then you¡¯ll be


    able to bed down here if you want. You still might have to get guards to protect the


    estate from outlaws, but this will be the best I can do at the moment.¡±


    ¡°I can try to locate the old staff and see if they will come back,¡± said Cilt. ¡°Some of


    them will surely have found other places to live while I was trying to fix things.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t answer for that,¡± said Jack. He looked around at the overgrown grounds and


    the forests beyond. ¡°I¡¯m hoping the two of you will be okay until you get everything


    back where you want it, or better than that. If you have other problems you think I can


    help you with, talk to Master Guin and he¡¯ll send me a message no matter where I am


    so I can help you again. I¡¯ll be chasing people so I don¡¯t know where I will be, or if


    I will be in Hawk Ridge while I am working.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Cilt. ¡°The estate didn¡¯t have problems with monsters when we


    were working it. I don¡¯t know what it will be like now.¡±


    ¡°You probably won¡¯t have a lot to worry about,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can put up a wall


    around the estate, but anybody who wants to get in, will. Just be careful, and have a


    weapon ready to use in case of trouble. I¡¯m going to clean the house out and cut some


    of this grass down. The rest will be up to you.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to do that?,¡± asked Madeline.


    ¡°Magic,¡± said Jack. He summoned his spell caster and did some quick figuring in his


    mind. The weird math he used came naturally to him in this persona, but he knew he


    would never be able to figure out the formulae when he was normal.


    The first thing to do was clean the house out so Cilt and Madeline could live in it


    without getting black lung. Maybe fix holes in the walls where rats had chewed


    through things. The best way to do that was a ring pulled from the grass and


    underbrush that needed to be cut anyway.


    Jack built a ring around the house from the dead flora that he had caused with his


    magic. When he had the iron construct ready, he channeled enough energy into the


    ring to reset the house until it was brand new with no problems at all. He lit one lamp


    so if Cilt and Madeline wanted to enter, they would have a light to see by.


    Everything looked better from Jack¡¯s point of view. He threw the ring around the


    land. A wall of stone erupted out of the metal and blocked the house from the road


    as far as he could tell.


    Jack let the persona go as the door opened for them.


    ¡°Do you guys want to stay out here tonight, or look at it in the daytime?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I can drop you off on the way home, but you will have to get your own horses to


    come back out here.¡±


    ¡°I think we can stay out here,¡± said Cilt. ¡°What do you think, Madeline?¡±


    ¡°I think we should stay tonight, and look at everything in the morning,¡± said


    Madeline. ¡°We should decide on what we need in the daylight. Then we can get


    someone to help us with furniture, and whatever we need.¡±


    ¡°We can ask your parents to help staff things,¡± said Cilt. ¡°We might only be able to


    open the bottom floor.¡±


    ¡°Will you two be okay out here?,¡± said Jack. He created a sword in a scabbard from


    a bush and handed it over before he let the persona go. ¡°Be careful with this. It¡¯s


    sharper than sharp.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why you helped me,¡± said Cilt. ¡°But I won¡¯t forget this.¡±


    ¡°I helped you because I wanted to,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not everyday someone


    stands up to protect their true love from a monster. That¡¯s impressive on its own. And


    then we have evidence that someone was targeting more than you with fake tax bills.


    Stopping that was in the mandate for my job.¡±


    ¡°Your job,¡± said Madeline.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to protect people and put down monsters,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°Sometimes they are the same thing. I have to take off. Have a good life.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re invited to the wedding,¡± said Cilt. ¡°We will keep a space for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let my beloved know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Good night, Lord and Lady Cilt.¡±


    Jack took to the air and headed to where he had left the airship. He should have


    thought of putting up something to keep people from the launchpad. Now he had an


    idea on what to do so he didn¡¯t have to worry about it.


    He took a tree and turned that into a ring around the cleared land where the house


    used to be. He put a spell on it as it spun into the ground. He made sure that a mana


    charger kept the ring working. He keyed the ring to himself and the others of his


    group so they could approach overland instead of using the gate from the Hole in the


    Wall. He nodded when the spell went active. A passive push would tell people and


    animals to stay away from the ring, and the launchpad.


    Anyone would be able to see the quinjet take off, but they wouldn¡¯t be able to get


    close enough to do anything unless they had a power of their own.


    Jack checked his work, before letting the persona go and sitting down on the grass.


    He stared up at the sky. He had to think about how he could deal with a Lich Queen.


    Brother Voodoo and the Human Torch might be the best weapons in his arsenal


    against a monster like that.


    He controlled spirits and set monsters on fire. You don¡¯t get much better than that in


    dealing with a zombie making monster.


    He picked himself up. He had to get home. He needed to shake the day off and work


    on things, try to find the subjects of his quests. Then he had to do something about


    them.


    He wished he was the one going off with the adventurers instead of Josie. He didn¡¯t


    know them, and didn¡¯t trust them. And he liked to think he could handle himself


    better in dangerous situations.


    He took a moment to take one last look around. This could be a secondary base if they


    wanted to leave the city. He would miss the apple pies.


    He smiled. That should be the last thing on his mind. He could grab an apple pie any


    time he wanted.


    He pulled the lever and let the lid open so he could drop down in the bay. He closed


    the roof. He walked over to the stargate and went home.

 Jiminy Cricket

    Josie got home and unlocked the door. She stepped inside. The girls had armed


    themselves somehow with clubs. Elaine had her crossbow pointed at the door.


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m unarmed.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°He¡¯s taking care of some personal business,¡± said Josie. ¡°I told him I would deal


    with the tax collectors. Are they still in the icebox?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What are you going to do with them?¡±


    ¡°I am going to let them go after making them normal again,¡± said Josie. ¡°And then


    we¡¯re going to have some sandwiches and I am going to bed so I can be ready for


    tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°So you are going out with the adventurers?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°If Jack can make artifacts for you girls, what do you want to do


    with them?¡±


    ¡°Avoid work,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Learn to cook,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Better than what I can do now.¡±


    ¡°I want to be able to fly,¡± said Laura. ¡°That was great when we were cutting through


    the sky. I want to do that, but without an airship.¡±


    ¡°I want to be able to learn everything I need,¡± said Matilda. ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound


    practical compared to the others but I would like to be able to do things where I didn¡¯t


    have to depend on others.¡±


    ¡°Super archer,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Best archer in the whole world.¡±


    Beatrice said nothing. She frowned at her adopted sisters. She looked at Josie.


    ¡°I have to think about it,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Avoiding work sounds good if you have


    work to do and aren¡¯t on the streets, flying is good for traveling as long as you don¡¯t


    hit anything, learning to cook better won¡¯t replace natural skill, and knowing things


    won¡¯t replace experience. Being the best archer means nothing unless you plan to


    fight all the time. Right now there is nothing I want, and no reason to chase about


    after it.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Josie. Her mother had wanted things for her, but she just couldn¡¯t


    see it, and had carved her own way. She was willing to let Beatrice do the same if she


    wanted.


    Beatrice nodded at her own thoughts. She had been on the street for a while. She


    knew what it was like to have to chase after every meal, run from the Guard, and face


    down small monsters who were also trying to scavenge a living. Jack and Josie had


    taken her in and treated her like their kin. She could live with that as long as it lasted.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to have to deal with the tax men and send them


    off. You girls might want to wait in the other room until I am done.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve all seen naked men,¡± said Beatrice. She slapped her club against her hand.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need them thinking we¡¯re going to beat them to death,¡± said Josie. She


    paused. ¡°But that is an option.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We will hold the doors for the living room and the personal


    quarters. I will personally have my crossbow ready in case they try to get shirty.¡±


    ¡°After the last few hours, that might be the last thing on their minds,¡± said Josie. She


    waved at the Ducklings and Elaine to take their places. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with


    before Jack comes home and starts clowning around.¡±


    She went into the kitchen and brought out the cup and saucer Jack had used for his


    prison cell. She turned the cup over and let the webbed up Guards fall to the floor.


    She ignored their tiny cries. She stepped back so she wouldn¡¯t step on them.


    She didn¡¯t want to do that unless she had to.


    Josie called on Zatanna. She was going to need the magic to reverse what Jack had


    done. And she wanted to make sure they knew enough not to come back.


    Some people only had to be told once. Others needed something more than telling


    before they got the message.


    ¡°All right, guys,¡± said Josie. She let them grow back to their rightful size and let the


    webbing finish burning away on its own. ¡°We fixed the tax bill. Magistrate Lewn will


    no longer be signing for jobs for your shadow board. The Duke knows about it now


    and he isn¡¯t too happy about the fact you guys were ripping him off.


    ¡°So I am going to let you live the limited time you have before the Duke figures out


    who you are if he ever does, but these are my three conditions. Jack will think I am


    going soft and I don¡¯t want that. He¡¯ll start stealing all the ice cream he can get his


    hands on until I have do something harsh.¡±


    ¡°The Duke knows about this,¡± said one the guards. He looked at his comrades. ¡°It


    came with his authority.¡±


    ¡°The old Duke knew about it,¡± said Josie. ¡°The new Duke wants to know where his


    money is.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?,¡± asked the surly leader of the group. He glared at her.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Someone has been keeping the money you guys have been collecting for the Duchy,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Now that the new Duke knows this, he wants the money back. As my


    friend Jack says, heads will roll for this. But that¡¯s not my problem. You guys are my


    problem and I have two ways of fixing that problem.


    ¡°The first way is a short, violent death for you, but that won¡¯t send the message I want


    to send. It would be so easy to turn you into falling stars and let you explode when


    you hit the ground. The girls say I should ease back. The city isn¡¯t going to want to


    clean up my splattered bodies forever. Just because I have a hammer, not everything


    is nails.¡±


    Josie paused. She saw on some of their faces that those guards had dealt with the


    aftermath of her and Jack literally dropping bodies on the city. And they had not liked


    the experience.


    They would like it even less if it happened to them personally.


    ¡°So these are my three conditions,¡± said Josie. ¡°And then you can leave and never


    return. Am I understood? Any of you who want to be dropped on the city is welcome


    to step to the right so I can do that first.¡±


    The Guards stepped to the left to make sure they didn¡¯t have to worry about that


    before things were done.


    ¡°The first condition is you are going to be the best Guards you can be,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No more bribery, no more corruption, no more committing crimes yourself. As soon


    as our business is settled you will go back to your lives and do your jobs the best way


    you can. Do the right thing. Help people.


    ¡°The second condition is you will work on improving your fellow Guards until they


    come up to snuff. Any who have the Makeover should be avoided because they are


    going to die soon. Don¡¯t join in with them, and shun them as much as you can.


    ¡°The third condition is to warn your fellow Guards off the Shadow Board if you can.


    The Duke has stated he wants that money for the Treasury. I doubt he will think twice


    about taking it out of the people who gathered the money in the first place.


    ¡°And I am going to give you a reminder to carry with you until you hit the bar,¡± said


    Josie. She exerted part of her power as Zatanna to hex them. ¡°Any time you do


    something wrong, you are going to lose a pound. Eventually you will just vanish.


    When you get to where you don¡¯t have to decide to be a good person, the curse will


    come off. Think of it as a conscience made of a horrendous disease that will eat you


    alive until you are dead, or can convince it you can do the right thing without


    someone sitting on your shoulder.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that to us,¡± said the leader of the tax collectors.


    ¡°As the champion of order at the moment, I can do it, and have done it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°If I have to deal with you like this again, I will consider using the hammer. Am I


    understood? Go home. Think about what you are going to have to do. And use


    tomorrow to be a better person. Good night, gentlemen. Do not let us meet like this


    again.¡±


    She waved her hand and the naked men were out on the street, wondering where they


    could get clothes in the middle of the night without getting into trouble. They began


    running to their homes, using alleys to navigate the city.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that was kind, or merciful,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯m not inclined to be either,¡± said Josie. ¡°But sometimes I try to do something else


    other than setting people on fire.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what they will do next,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think you girls should get ready for bed. I know I have


    to so I can see what¡¯s what in the morning. Maybe we can change the world with this


    new approach.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they will think getting rid of you will lift their curse and they come back to


    do that,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°I guess I will have to put the door shutter down and do something about security,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Maybe what we need is a dog.¡±


    ¡°A dog?,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Will it have long hair and a gentle disposition?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I think trying to teach it to fetch for you is going too far


    at being lazy.¡±


    ¡°I would never do that,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Too much work,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°In any case, we might need something that will watch the place for us when we are


    out,¡± said Josie. ¡°That will prevent more break-ins and keep things the way we like


    them. And you girls have to get ready for practice tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Are you really the champion of order?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°It depends on what the Society actually is. Now we have


    to get ready for bed and get ready for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I think learning how to fight was a good idea,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Thank you for not just


    killing them out of hand. A warning may not be heeded but at least you gave one this


    time.¡±


    ¡°If I can use this to change the city, it will be a win for us,¡± said Josie. ¡°The amount


    of corruption we are seeing may cause those eight guys to die to the hands of their


    fellow cops. We¡¯ll have to keep an eye on them to make sure nothing happens, I


    guess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to get ready for the dinner tomorrow,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to take


    the girls to the adventurers¡¯ hall.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to meet Fass¡¯s crew there with the airship. I might as


    well take them with me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That will make things easier for me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just dinner with the Harps and Master Guin,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯re not our


    parents.¡±


    ¡°I know, but I am still nervous,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You will make a great wife,¡± said Beatrice. She nudged the other girls and they


    threw in their agreement. ¡°Will you stay here, or move out?¡±


    ¡°Stay,¡± said Alicia. ¡°You¡¯re our biggest sister.¡±


    ¡°You are our friend, and we want you to do what you think you think is right,¡± said


    Beatrice. ¡°I want your room if you move out. That way I can find a man of my own.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t happen,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°I will get a boyfriend before you,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Josie. She looked at Elaine. The assistant still held her crossbow at


    the ready in case she had to use it. ¡°There¡¯s more to finding the right person to share


    your life with than how fast you can do the horizontal mambo.¡±


    ¡°What is the horizontal mambo?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°I think you are too young for this conversation, young lady,¡± said Josie. ¡°Come


    back in twenty five years.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what everyone says,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I think you should go to bed,¡± said Josie. ¡°Beatrice and Laura will explain it to you


    in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what the horizontal mambo is either,¡± said Laura.


    Beatrice made a gesture with both hands.


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Laura. ¡°I do know what that is.¡±


    ¡°Beatrice and Laura, let¡¯s have this talk in the office upstairs,¡± said Josie. She rubbed


    her face. ¡°I never thought I would be having a talk about responsibility. Everyone


    else, go to bed. Master Harp will be trying to shape you into swordswomen


    tomorrow.¡±


    She made a gesture for the Ducklings to get moving. She wondered what kind of talk


    that Jack got from his mom. He probably got it from his sisters.


    She led the way upstairs to the office. She settled behind the desk. She looked around.


    The office looked more organized than what she remembered. Maybe the cleaning


    spell had done that.


    Beatrice and Laura came in. They took the other seats. Elaine stood by the closed


    door.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s his name? Let¡¯s start with that. Then we¡¯ll talk about


    what you want and what I want.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to treat him badly?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°But that¡¯s something that will come after we talk about this.¡±

 Round Table

    Jack came out of the stargate. He walked through the apartment. He nodded at how


    everything was back in shape. He needed to learn the cleaning spell for himself. It


    would save him so much trouble in the future.


    He walked through the dining area. He took a moment to look in the girls¡¯ room. He


    frowned that they weren¡¯t in bed. He looked in the kitchen. No one there either.


    He found the four youngest girls loitering around the office door as he checked


    upstairs. He fell in behind them silently. Everyone had their heads to the door as they


    tried to listen to what was going on in the office.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± Jack whispered. No one turned to look at him.


    ¡°Beatrice might be courting,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I can¡¯t hear what they are saying.¡±


    ¡°I put a good door on this,¡± whispered Jack. ¡°It muffles sound really good.¡±


    The four girls turned to look at Jack. He grinned at them. They made faces at his


    mirth.


    ¡°So Beatrice has a boyfriend,¡± said Jack. He waved at them to go downstairs. ¡°Why


    don¡¯t you tell me about it while I figure out how to make an apple pie out of


    nothing?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know anything,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Mistress Josie has Beatrice and Laura in


    the office. She might be skinning them alive.¡±


    ¡°She might be skinning you next,¡± said Jack. He made the hand gesture for them to


    get moving. ¡°How did the thing with the tax people go?¡±


    ¡°She put a curse on them and let them go,¡± said Angelica. ¡°She told them that if they


    weren¡¯t good guards, they would waste away to nothing.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like Thinner,¡± said Jack. ¡°I approve. I¡¯m hungry.¡±


    ¡°What is Thinner?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to hear this story?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wish they hadn¡¯t wrecked


    the food in the icebox. At least they left me some bread.¡±


    ¡°They left us some spices and fruits,¡± said Angelica. ¡°We can do something about it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s have something to eat. Then you girls need to get some


    sleep.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get us some water,¡± said Matilda. She squinted at Jack. ¡°What is the Horizontal


    Mambo?¡±


    ¡°I think you should ask Jo what that is,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I did,¡± said Matilda. ¡°She said come back in twenty five years.¡±


    ¡°I guess you have something to look forward to then,¡± said Jack. He set about making


    a plate of fruit sandwiches. The girls got water to drink with their snacks. He saved


    cucumbers to cut into disks for his sandwiches.


    ¡°Nothing like sandwiches made from leftovers,¡± said Jack. ¡°Reminds me of when I


    was a kid.¡±


    ¡°Thinner, Jack,¡± demanded Matilda.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He got himself a cup of water and talked while he ate. ¡°Thinner


    is a book by the great Stephen King. He¡¯s fairly decent storyteller. Now this story is


    about a lawyer who gets cursed by an old woman and starts losing weight. He was a


    big guy at first, but then losing as much as he was, he was going to die. The body is


    not made to lose that much in a couple of days like he was. He asks one of his clients,


    a notorious gang leader, to help him find the old woman and her family. When they


    do, he threatens the old woman for a cure and she gives it to him. The cure is to give


    the curse to someone else, and he planned to give it to his wife, but he realized that


    he had given it to his daughter instead. He took the curse back on to save her life.¡±


    ¡°So he sacrificed himself for his daughter?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. He finished his sandwiches. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing Elaine is shopping


    tomorrow, or we wouldn¡¯t have any food for our guests tomorrow night.¡±


    The office door opened. Stomps came down the stairs. They paused when they saw


    the younger girls and Jack in the kitchen.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Bea?,¡± said Jack. He waved his cup of water at her. ¡°I think we have


    enough for a couple more sandwiches.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going out,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°If that is okay, Milord.¡±


    ¡°Do you want company?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I was about to put the babies to bed.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I think I can walk around on my own.¡±


    ¡°Have a good time with that, and be careful,¡± said Jack.


    The five of them watched her march out.


    ¡°I hope she doesn¡¯t catch a cold,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She seems mad,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Probably because she was courting and she didn¡¯t tell anyone,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°She¡¯s old enough for that, right?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I mean she¡¯s not a kid like you four.¡±


    ¡°Not a kid,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°How old are you?,¡± asked Jack.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Alicia did some calculations. She held up two hands to keep track.


    ¡°I¡¯m eleven,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I think.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a kid,¡± said Jack. ¡°And as such you are subject to bedtime rules.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like a kid,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°You might be mature for your age,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now I think you guys should go to


    bed. I¡¯ll clean up this mess in the morning. Then we¡¯ll get ready for dinner. How¡¯s the


    lessons going?¡±


    ¡°I think we have a grasp on the reading, except for Matilda who is ahead of us, okay


    on the mathematics, and poor on the swordsmanship except for Alicia,¡± said


    Angelica. ¡°She is dangerous.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe after these new quests are done, you can show me what


    you guys got. If I were you, I would practice the writing in some kind of journal so


    you will be ready for your graduation exam.¡±


    ¡°Will you get rid of us, Jack?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°You¡¯re not my kids,¡± said Jack. ¡°Why would I get rid of you?¡±


    ¡°She means what happens when we get old enough to start our own families,¡± said


    Angelica. ¡°What happens then?¡±


    ¡°What do you want to happen?,¡± said Jack. He held up a hand. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be


    evasive. I want to know what you want to do. I figure Laura is going to want to go out


    on her own when she thinks she¡¯s ready. Maybe that¡¯s what Beatrice wants to do


    now. In the end, it will be your call. I have seen families living in expanding houses


    until they were like small towns themselves, and I have seen kids younger than you


    living on the streets because their parents didn¡¯t care about them. So I kind of know


    both ends of the spectrum. Whatever you pick, I will be glad to help you do.¡±


    ¡°If we want to do what you do?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°What I do is extremely dangerous and could get you killed,¡± said Jack. ¡°But if you


    want to sit in the co-pilot seat when you¡¯re older, I don¡¯t have a problem with that as


    long as you listen to what I am saying, and watching out for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Can do that,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see, Number Two,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now hit the sack. We have a big day


    tomorrow.¡±


    He ushered them to their rooms and blew out the lamps in the main room so they


    could have space to themselves after he shut their door. He couldn¡¯t decide what he


    should do next. Should he talk to Josie and Elaine, or should he follow Beatrice, or


    should he go to his own room and crash out?


    Following Beatrice around appealed to him the most, but the oldest Duckling would


    not like that at all. She was the adult by the standards of the world they lived in.


    Pressing down on her would not be great as far as he was concerned.


    Laura came down the stairs next. She looked at the darkness and paused. She saw


    Jack sitting at the table by the glow of his watch.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°Thinking,¡± said Jack. ¡°How¡¯s your day been?¡±


    ¡°It was fine until I had to talk about boy things,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Is that why Beatrice left on a walk?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Someone at the Adventurers¡¯ Hall has been courting her, and she never told


    anyone,¡± said Laura. ¡°And she¡¯s mad that Josie wants to meet him.¡±


    ¡°And she doesn¡¯t like that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I would like it either.¡±


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°Elaine is someone I ran into and impulsively hired as my assistant,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Since Josie and I are partners, there was zero chance she was not going to meet


    Elaine. The fact that Elaine has all these good qualities on top of everything else is


    great. When we have Jack, Jr., she will be a great mother for him, just like she¡¯s a


    great nanny for the younger girls and friends with you and Beatrice. Essentially


    Elaine is probably the only reason we haven¡¯t burned the city down yet.¡±


    ¡°I have never thought of things like that,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Josie and I are from a different place with different rules,¡± said Jack. ¡°The fact that


    we are operating like this when our predecessor just left anyone he saved to fend for


    themselves is a change in the status quo. I don¡¯t know if our bosses like that, but


    that¡¯s how I like to roll.¡±


    ¡°Would you burn the city down?,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°For you and the kids, Elaine, Josie?,¡± said Jack. He didn¡¯t grin at her in the dark. She


    could almost see his expression in the ambient light. ¡°There would be nothing


    standing. I have murdered plenty of people I didn¡¯t know for lesser reasons.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should be happy, or scared,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Reassured is okay when you get your own boyfriend,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you should


    turn in. I¡¯ll wait up for Beatrice. I would like to meet this adventurer myself. I never


    thought of myself giving some guy the dad talk.¡±


    ¡°The dad talk?,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°If you hurt my little girl, I¡¯ll rip your arms off and use them for lawn ornaments,¡±


    said Jack in the gruffest voice he could manage.


    ¡°I think you should work on that,¡± said Laura.


    She walked into the dorm she shared with the other girls. She shushed their questions


    as she closed the door.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think my father ever used that expression,¡± said Elaine. She stood by the


    stairs.


    ¡°We¡¯re invited to Lord Cilt¡¯s wedding when he pulls it together,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°How did that happen?,¡± asked Elaine. She walked over and sat down in a chair at the


    table. Jack scooted his chair closer.


    ¡°I fixed up his estate for him, and he said he would leave a spot open for us to attend


    his wedding,¡± said Jack. ¡°Not as the best man, or anything, but as a guest. And I said


    I would bring my beloved with me. And he said that would be great.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m your beloved,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I am anyone¡¯s beloved.¡±


    ¡°I would like to make things work,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know you could land anyone you


    wanted. You have the looks, the brains, the style. You¡¯re the total package. I¡¯m just


    a guy who¡¯s turning his vacation into a job.¡±


    ¡°Do you really feel that way about me?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to sit up for a bit and wait for Beatrice to come home.


    You¡¯re welcome to sit with me but I know you¡¯re going to have a long day tomorrow.


    Sleep is more important if you can get it.¡±


    ¡°What do you plan to do tomorrow?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to help you where I can, think about these new quests, maybe figure out


    a way to fish in the lake up north when I don¡¯t have a boat yet,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You don¡¯t talk much about yourself,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯ve learned more about you from


    Josie than I have from your own lips.¡±


    ¡°Nothing to talk about,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am the son of an Army dad and an immigrant


    mother. I have four sisters who are around my age. Josie has been my friend for a


    long time. I served in the Army, but never acquired a rank. Mainly I shipped


    somewhere, did some things, shipped somewhere else, did some things there. When


    the Society set up their trap to get champions here, I accidentally fell into it. We don¡¯t


    know if the watches were meant for us, or for Old Man Warner. Either way, they are


    helping us get things done even if it isn¡¯t what the Society wants.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to know about me?,¡± asked Elaine. ¡°You never ask anything.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°It seems enough that you are willing to put up with me.


    There¡¯s not many who will do that.¡±


    ¡°Are you in love with me?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Yes, but not in an expressive way,¡± said Jack. ¡°More in a stealth hug sort of way.¡±


    ¡°Stealth hug?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Do you want me to show you?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I would love to know how those work,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Say you were sitting there reading,¡± said Jack. He got up. ¡°And I needed to go to the


    kitchen for a lemon. I would just come by and wrap my arms around you like an


    octopus for a second. And then keep going.¡±


    He demonstrated without moving on.


    ¡°I kind of like this,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We should do more of this.¡±


    ¡°I will be glad to for you,¡± said Jack. He kissed her cheek. He looked up as the key


    rattled in the lock. He sat down in his chair. ¡°Do you think she has her boyfriend with


    her?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. She smiled in the dark. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she will like us sitting in


    the dark like this.¡±


    ¡°My dad did it,¡± said Jack. ¡°So can I.¡±

 Conversation

    Josie locked her hands together as she leaned back in her chair. She wondered if she


    could turn it into a semi-recliner. She looked at her oldest wards and wondered if she


    was acting like her mother.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why you want to meet my fianc¨¦,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°We don¡¯t know what


    we¡¯re going to do about the future yet.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get stubborn now,¡± said Laura. ¡°You know why. It¡¯s because you have been


    keeping it secret when you know someone other than you can get hurt.¡±


    ¡°Also I would like to know how serious this adventurer is about you, Beatrice,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°If he just wants to date and move on, that¡¯s fine. If he wants to build a life,


    we¡¯ll have to expand our coverage to include him.¡±


    ¡°Adventuring is not conducive for a long life,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t got beyond kissing,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to drop all of this on


    him out of the blue.¡±


    ¡°You can invite him to dinner to meet Jack tomorrow,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack is usually


    good with others.¡±


    ¡°Jack will scare him off faster than you,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true,¡± said Josie. Didn¡¯t she used to be the scary one of their


    partnership. How did that switch happen?


    ¡°Just bring him, Bea,¡± said Laura. ¡°We want to meet him too. How is he going to get


    along with us as your sisters if you don¡¯t let him meet us?¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re not,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I have been on my own a lot longer than I have


    known you.¡±


    ¡°And I have been on my own since before you were born,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t go in


    that direction, Beatrice. It¡¯s not Laura¡¯s fault. She¡¯s the next eldest, and I don¡¯t want


    to hunt her boyfriend down too. So I¡¯m including her in this, so she knows.¡±


    ¡°I just want to keep this one thing to myself,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Is that so bad?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s not so bad. Maybe you¡¯re right. You know all about having


    children, so it¡¯s no big deal there.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t even seen him naked yet,¡± said Beatrice. She covered her face. ¡°Please let


    this end.¡±


    ¡°Do you really know about having children?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°What do you think the horizontal mambo is for?,¡± asked Beatrice. ¡°Have you never


    seen animals mating?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Laura. ¡°The men here was my first experience with that. And Josie


    killed the man with me before he could get all the way undressed.¡±


    ¡°If you do have a child, Beatrice,¡± said Josie. ¡°It will be your responsibility. Are you


    ready for that? Some people say they are, but they aren¡¯t on the inside.¡±


    ¡°I might need some help,¡± conceded Beatrice. ¡°I don¡¯t want a baby, but if I have one,


    I will do the best I can.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not happy,¡± said Josie. ¡°But if you are responsible, and look after things


    yourself, I will do what I can for you if something happens.¡±


    ¡°Then I won¡¯t have to bring him to meet you?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll just find him and ask him what I want to know directly. It¡¯ll be


    a lot easier for the three of us.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°But I can,¡± said Josie. ¡°Part of this is looking out for each other. If I have to look out


    for this unknown, I want to know if he is worth it.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I will ask him to come to dinner tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Ask him to come early so he can help with the cooking,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Ohh,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Fine. Can I be excused?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will see you in the morning.¡±


    Beatrice got up and stomped out of the office. She didn¡¯t keep the surly look off her


    face.


    ¡°Is this really necessary?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°This might be a case of too good to be true. If it is, Beatrice


    will be hurt by this guy. I know life does that, but I don¡¯t want it to if I can help it.¡±


    ¡°You are mother ducking her, when she wants to swim on her own,¡± said Laura. ¡°Me


    also, but I don¡¯t have anything to worry about yet.¡±


    ¡°I am trying to do better than my own mother,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I am


    succeeding as far as that goes.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that is fine,¡± said Laura. ¡°I will be sure to bring my fianc¨¦ around for you


    to meet to avoid all of this awkwardness.¡±


    ¡°The baby thing applies to you too,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you have one, be ready to do the


    major lifting on getting it to adulthood and taking care of itself.¡±


    ¡°If I am an adventurer, I don¡¯t think I will have children,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Most people think that,¡± said Josie. ¡°And then the unexpected happens, and you


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.have to leave your kid with your mother, or grandmother, while you work two jobs,


    go to school to find a better job, and deal with all of that because you didn¡¯t protect


    yourself from some smooth talker who got up your skirts.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s what you think is happening with Beatrice?,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°No, but I would rather be ready than wait for Beatrice to swell up like a balloon and


    have nowhere to go because she¡¯s stuck out in the middle of nowhere and can¡¯t call


    for help because her boyfriend is unreliable,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Meeting Jack might not be the test of character you want,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I doubt he


    will do anything to this adventurer unless the man is stupider than most.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. ¡°Sometimes meeting Jack is exactly the test of character you


    want to put someone through.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I go?,¡± asked Laura. ¡°Please don¡¯t find this man and squeeze him.


    Beatrice won¡¯t like it, and she won¡¯t stay if she thinks she can¡¯t trust anyone.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Good night, Laura.¡±


    The Duckling walked out of the room.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m cut out for this parenting stuff,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No one is perfect,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯m going to get ready for tomorrow myself. I will


    talk to Jack in the morning about Beatrice¡¯s beau. I think that is the kind of thing that


    would appeal to him.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to think about these quests and see


    what kind of plan I can come up with to get them done. Maybe Lorelei and Bob will


    have some kind of clue on where their dragon will be coming from so we can deal


    with that the easiest.¡±


    ¡°I think a gift for the girls will be good so they can better protect themselves, but you


    have years before they are out of the house and off doing their own work,¡± said


    Elaine. ¡°Patience will serve you well is what my mother always used to say. I never


    knew how true that was before I came to Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°It would be so much easier if I could see the future and plan accordingly,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Good night, Elaine. I will see you when I get back from Cairn.¡±


    ¡°I will make sure to leave a spot for you if you get done earlier and can get home soon


    enough,¡± said Elaine. She stepped out of the office.


    Jo sat back in the chair and closed her eyes. It occurred to her that she did have a


    persona who could look at the future. Did she want to do that? How liquid was time?


    Would the future change just because she was trying to take advantage?


    She didn¡¯t think she should mess with it at the moment. Maybe when she was


    desperate and everything was extremely wrecked, she could try to trawl for a future


    to make things better.


    She decided the best thing she could do was see if she could remote a view to Cairn.


    If she could do that, she could find Emily before they left in the morning. The rest


    would be just going out there and getting her.


    The saved time would allow her to get back so Jack and Elaine could go on their date


    without worrying about who was going to keep the kids from burning the place to the


    ground.


    It was a win-win as far as she could see. How did she make things where she could


    remote view on the other side of the continent? Maybe she could automatically write


    something. Would her range be affected by something like that? Her letters reached


    across vast gulfs of space. Maybe a drawing would do the same.


    Then she could use that to figure out where Emily was when they got close enough.


    A scry bird would also be there, marking the adventurer. All she had to do was get


    close enough to drop one from the air.


    Why hadn¡¯t Beatrice brought her boyfriend around? That kind of bothered her. She


    looked at the reasons why it did before putting the thing back in a box. She had more


    important things to worry about than why her ward had decided not to allow them to


    talk to someone who might be able to get her away from the Hole in the Wall.


    They had seen a certain amount of corruption in the city so far. What happened if this


    guy was just another example that needed to be taken care by them? What would


    Beatrice think of them?


    There was nothing she could do about that. Beatrice knew they were doing jobs for


    some higher power. If her boyfriend got in the way, he would have to go.


    Maybe a talk with Jack was just what the doctor ordered.


    She checked her watch as she called on Zatanna. She sent out a scry bird as she sat


    at her desk. How much time would it need to create a drawing for her on a random


    piece of paper? She felt the process work on the paper. Once it was done, she looked


    at the picture. She thought she could find the place.


    She copied over what she had got from Poat and decided to read that until she felt like


    going to bed. She smiled at Jack creating a wormhole just to move back and forth


    instead of flying to where the ship rested.


    She thought she had the controls down, but she did have a persona she could call on


    to help if she needed it. Hans von Hammer might be just the thing she needed to get


    the airship out of the city and out east, and then back.


    She wondered if Jack had an ace he could call on to fly the quinjet when he needed


    it. Maybe he planned to use Mister Fantastic if he was forced to fly dangerously.


    The copied material pointed her at several nodes close to Hawk Ridge. She didn¡¯t


    know how many names in the material was still relevant. She used Zatanna to mark


    out anyone who had died.


    She painted a map around Hawk Ridge. The camps stood out close to the road but in


    the forests. She nodded at the x over the camp she had raided with Fass¡¯s boys.


    Could she wreck another one before she left town?


    She could do it as soon as her watch recharged. She looked at the closest camp on her


    map. She could reach out with Zatanna and blast them up into the night sky. Secret


    raids in the night might be better than explosions in the day time.


    Josie decided to think about it and look into the camps when she got home. She could


    raid them and transport any captives home if she had a way to carry them where they


    belonged.


    Maybe she needed to get Jack to make a train for them.


    She also needed to check on the Galls to make sure Mrs. Gall was getting the help she


    needed. She was glad that she hadn¡¯t killed Officer Gall, but his inability to do his job


    had got on her nerves.


    How many other guards would she have to put the Josie Curse before they got the


    message?


    She needed to check on the guards marked with the Makeover. They needed to be put


    down before they caused problems with her corruption fighting schemes.


    She had so much to do. She could feel the edge of a quest forming. She sat back


    and looked around. She calmed down. The last thing she wanted was a quest to


    get everything organized.


    That would take forever if she knew herself.


    The quest dissipated before it could force her to make a list to go through and check


    off.


    Josie sighed. She looked at her desk. She had a model of the town of Cairn on one


    side, and a model of Hawk Ridge on the other. She wondered what she could do if she


    could open a gate to the real places represented by the constructions.


    She decided to keep that in her pocket until she needed to use it. She put together


    a table to hold the models and pushed it against the wall. She could see Jack making


    some comments on the things.


    He could probably use his stargate through the models to reach anywhere in town.


    Josie noticed a spark floating over the model of Cairn. It resembled one of her scry


    birds. She smiled. The model showed the effects of her magic. This could be better


    than she thought.


    Magic was great. She hoped the spell was still running when she got up to fly out


    there. She nodded. She could use this if she needed it.


    She would have to pack the town of Cairn up and take it with her. She could use that


    while flying to find Emily.


    Josie snuffed the lanterns and decided to get some sleep. She would deal with


    Beatrice in the morning. She hated leaving town when she didn¡¯t have that sorted out


    the way she wanted.


    She got ready for bed and set an alarm. Tomorrow would be busy.

 Dad Talk

    Jack and Elaine waited as Bea came into the main room. He put a smile on.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Bea. She paused as she saw them sitting together. ¡°Are you going to


    talk to me too.¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re trying to decide if we should quietly neck, or try out some


    other things. I was just telling Elaine that I¡¯m a screamer so if she wanted to do a lot,


    we might have to use her room instead of mine.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Elaine. She seemed to shake her head in the dark.


    ¡°Like a kicked kid,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s almost like a yodel.¡±


    ¡°Are you mocking me?,¡± asked Bea.


    ¡°Is that a serious question?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Because you know better than to ask


    something like that.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to sit with us?,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I feel like I need a chaperone.¡±


    ¡°I think I want to be alone,¡± said Beatrice. She looked at them. ¡°How do you put


    up with these restrictions? I just want to be courted. Is that too much? I am not a


    child.¡±


    ¡°Sit down, Bea,¡± said Jack. The glow of his watch indicated his arm moving to point


    at a place at the table. She settled in a chair. ¡°We¡¯re not going to talk about your


    boyfriend. We¡¯re not going to talk about meeting him which we totally should have


    done by now if we were your real parents. We¡¯re not even going to talk about you


    being on the street when the Montrose picked you up. We¡¯re not going to talk about


    any of that. We¡¯re going to stay on neutral ground and talk about other things such


    as Elaine and I are invited to a wedding when it happens and we should have


    something to wear. What would look good on Elaine for this? I want her to make


    every female guest cry in her presence at her glorious appearance.¡±


    ¡°Cry?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I would rather they rip their eyeballs out in jealousy knowing they will never be as


    beautiful as you,¡± said Jack. He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll take what I can get.¡±


    ¡°Dresses for events are all finery and ruffles,¡± said Bea. ¡°They weigh heavily as you


    move.¡±


    ¡°Maybe something sheer,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t like transparent clothes.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Bea. ¡°Elaine looks good in everything. And it¡¯s natural. She


    doesn¡¯t have to work at it like most women.¡±


    ¡°Hair up, or down?,¡± asked Jack. They could see his watch move to indicate where


    his hands were.


    ¡°I think hair up is the standard,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I think it depends on what dress she picks to wear,¡± said Bea. ¡°Some are made for


    the hair to be down, some aren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Colors?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I think she favors greens, darker blues.¡±


    ¡°I think wedding dresses are light colors,¡± said Bea. ¡°I am not sure. Maybe lighter


    shades of blue and green would be the way to go.¡±


    ¡°We could ask the tailor lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°The tailor lady?,¡± asked Bea.


    ¡°Josie got her clothes from a tailor lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°That was right after we got here,


    but before the inn burned down. I went back and got them for her.¡±


    ¡°Did you burn down the inn?,¡± asked Bea.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I thought it was a good idea at the time.¡±


    ¡°You burned down an inn?,¡± said Bea. ¡°And it was a good idea?¡±


    ¡°Some of the adventurers there were threatening to do worse,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I


    just beat them to doing that before they killed the owners themselves.¡±


    ¡°I hope Fass appreciates the trouble you went to,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it for him,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you told us this?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Does it change things?,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The only reason Jack knows is I told him so


    he wouldn¡¯t think I am harmless.¡±


    ¡°Helpless,¡± said Jack. ¡°I already knew you weren¡¯t harmless. I just didn¡¯t expect you


    were more ready for trouble than that.¡±


    ¡°I have been on my own for a while,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I think you¡¯ll make a great wife for someone like me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯re responsible, lovely, and a touch dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Josie wants Todd to come to the dinner tomorrow,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I don¡¯t know


    if he is ready to meet all of you.¡±


    ¡°The good thing is she¡¯ll be halfway across the country with the quinjet with Fass¡¯s


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.Fighters when this goes down,¡± said Jack. ¡°We should plan for her to be back though.


    Depending on what she needs to do, she could solve their problem jiffity quick.¡±


    ¡°Jiffity?,¡± said Elaine and Beatrice.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I said,¡± said Jack. He leaned back in his chair. ¡°We should ask their


    guys to come too if they get back in time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re looking at a large guest list,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That will mean a large amount of


    supplies and a long time cooking.¡±


    ¡°I can handle the cooking,¡± said Jack. ¡°The main thing will be the supplies. I should


    have asked Lord Cilt and Madeline to the party. I¡¯ll go do that when we¡¯re done


    planning. The main thing is getting enough to feed let¡¯s say twenty people.¡±


    ¡°Twenty?,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Why twenty?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s going to be me and Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s two. You kids is six more so


    that¡¯s eight. The Harps and Guin and Linus is twelve. If the Duke shows up, he¡¯s not


    coming alone so say five more. That¡¯s seventeen. Todd is eighteen. The Cilts are


    twenty. Fass¡¯s Fighters and Josie is ten more. So thirty. So we should plan for forty


    more or less. That¡¯s a lot of food if they all show up. I can handle the cooking, but


    you might have to get a cart to bring back everything. This room is not big enough


    for that many people.¡±


    ¡°Expand the room?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just move the table outside and make it bigger so everyone has a place,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°What do you think, Bea?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if Todd knows anything about cooking,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need him to help me do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I do need him to help serve the


    food. Does he have any skills with that?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I don¡¯t really know.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about a menu. I don¡¯t think this will be


    something to improvise.¡±


    ¡°You probably should have asked for your guests to send a notice that they are


    coming,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I should have,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about that. This is a kind


    of spur of the moment thing.¡±


    ¡°I imagine,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯ll grab a cart full of ingredients. I will be interested


    in what you come up with for everyone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send out notices so everyone knows that we are waiting on them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That will be good. Tell your boyfriend to be here at sundown, Bea. I am going to


    assume that you will be able to talk to him at the Hall while you¡¯re there for your


    lessons.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to talk to me about responsibility?¡±


    ¡°Why would I do that when I can practice my dad talk?,¡± said Jack. He put on his


    gruff voice. ¡°Boy, Bea may not look like much but I put in a lot of work for her just


    to look as good as she does, but if something was to happen to her, I will rip your skin


    off and turn it into a pair of underwear. And then I will give that underwear to the


    slimiest monster I can find to wear. Are you hearing the boot that¡¯s coming down,


    boy? Because it will be kicking your face in.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Please for the love of all that is holy, don¡¯t do


    that.¡±


    ¡°I wish my D.I. was here,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s as good as a Marine D.I., but


    he would have some gems. I wonder if I can ask Josie to send him a letter so he can


    write back with suggestions.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that either,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be embarrassed at this meeting.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a natural family, do you?,¡± asked Elaine. ¡°This is your family for


    better and worse?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°The first rule of families are they will embarrass you,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s a natural


    extension of things. Be glad that Josie doesn¡¯t have cute pictures of you as a baby to


    show off.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she would do that,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°She doesn¡¯t seem that sentimental.¡±


    ¡°Takes after her mother,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s not always a good thing. Is that


    everything?¡±


    ¡°What was Josie¡¯s mother like?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Why?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Josie said she has been on her own for longer than I have been alive,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have said the Ducklings aren¡¯t my sisters, but when I said it, I was


    thinking they were using ties to bind me. Then she said that she had been alone for


    longer.¡±


    ¡°Ask Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe she will tell you. Now I think it is time for Elaine use


    me to test out the soundproofing of the walls before I fall into a sleep cuddled up with


    her.¡±


    ¡°Lord Cilt has to come first,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Then we can see what a yodel is.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sharing you with him,¡± said Jack. ¡°Oh. I misheard. I have to drop off the


    invitation and give him time to get to the city from his estate. You¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°I will go with you if you want,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°That would be great,¡± said Jack. ¡°Beatrice, I am sure your sisters are still up and


    waiting for you to talk to them about this Todd. I reserve the right to fix his face if he


    is ugly.¡±


    ¡°I reserve the right to shoot him with my crossbow if he is rude,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to give me advice on this?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Do you want me too?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine is a lot better than I am about giving good


    advice. The only thing I can tell you is don¡¯t let this guy say anything rude to Josie


    if she makes it back before the dinner is over. You don¡¯t want to see what could


    happen if that happens.¡±


    ¡°Her curse was bad enough,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You don¡¯t want your boyfriend put under


    a curse to make him love you. Either he does, or he doesn¡¯t. Making him love you is


    not real, and you will know and resent it.¡±


    ¡°She is getting good with that stuff,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think I gave her enough credit


    since she was using blunt force more than she should. Subtle workings is something


    I thought she wouldn¡¯t get the hang of since she tended to operate the other way.¡±


    ¡°I will do what I can to let him know to avoid her,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Please don¡¯t


    embarrass me in front of him.¡±


    ¡°I will do what I can,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will probably be too busy to deal with him in


    person.¡±


    ¡°I will speak highly of you, Beatrice,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We should give Lord Cilt his


    invitation before we turn in. Tomorrow will be a long day.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we have enough chairs,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will have to fix that before


    everyone shows up.¡±


    ¡°Forty people is a lot,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We¡¯ll work on that tomorrow. Maybe we can


    borrow some.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He stood up and held out a hand for Elaine to take as she stood.


    ¡°Beatrice, I am not going to say that I am your dad, or anything like that. I don¡¯t feel


    responsible for you. I have a job to do, and protecting you to the best of my ability is


    part of that so I can have a base to use for my job. Not hurting your significant other¡¯s


    feelings is not on my agenda. I will do the best that I can to spare your feelings


    because you are my friend, and my friend who does feel responsible for you and my


    beloved think well of you. Now we¡¯re going to make sure we have the invites ready


    and placed where our guests can find them, then we¡¯re going to come back and do


    things that adults do. Then the morning will bring a lot of work for me and I will be


    a little grumpy about that.¡±


    ¡°Does Josie think well of me?,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that.¡±


    ¡°Just because she doesn¡¯t say it, doesn¡¯t mean she doesn¡¯t feel it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now


    we have to go. Josie is flying you to the hall in the morning, so be ready for that.¡±


    ¡°The loon part is theatrics,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I should have seen that.¡±


    ¡°Not everyone is as dumb as they look,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will see you in the morning.¡±


    He smiled at Elaine. She smiled back.


    ¡°Shall we fly to the ends of eternity and beyond on the wings of our love?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That would be nice if we could manage it,¡± said Elaine.


    They walked into the living room to use the stargate to get to the ship so he could


    carry them to their destination.

 Fasss Flying Fighters

    Josie woke up. She had to get ready for the day. She cut off the alarm before it


    sounded. She grabbed her clothes and headed down to the bathroom. That was the


    best thing Jack had done since they got to the city.


    She showered and cleaned her clothes with magic before getting dressed. She dressed


    and walked to where the girls shared their space. She had to get them up and ready


    so she could drop them off at the Hall.


    She opened the door and shook them awake one by one. Beatrice would get the girls


    moving once she was moving.


    She went to the kitchen and magicked up some coffee. It was the one thing she


    missed from Earth. Maybe she could ask Mr. Warner to send her some real beans so


    she could make real coffee instead of whipping some up.


    She went up to the office and nodded at her map of Cairn. It still had a scry bird


    marked on it. The marker moved around. She assumed that Emily was doing the same


    thing.


    She shrank the model down and put it in a case. She figured Fass and his crew would


    be able to use the model to move faster. She put the case in her messenger bag. She


    made sure her poncho covered the bag.


    She needed to get the girls to the airship and fly down to the Hall. She hoped she


    could leave the girls at the Hall without Sir Harp supervising them. She frowned at


    Beatrice being able to hang out with her boyfriend, but she wasn¡¯t there to make her


    ward miserable.


    She sent Fass a messenger to get his group moving so he could get to the Hall for


    pick-up. She didn¡¯t want to wait that long once she got started.


    She thought she could get this rescue done and be back before the dinner. She just


    had to hurry. She hoped she didn¡¯t run into dragons in the real world. That would be


    a pain to deal with while in the air.


    She went downstairs. The girls were slowly getting themselves together. She needed


    another cup of coffee so she could finish waking up.


    ¡°Will you girls be all right until Sir Harp starts your lesson?,¡± said Josie. Where was


    Jack and Elaine? Did she really want to know the answer to that question?


    Elaine appeared. She wore a skirt and Jack¡¯s Deadpool shirt. Josie felt her eyebrows


    go up at that. She noted the Ducklings were taking note also.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± said Josie. She walked into the kitchen and made another cup of


    coffee for herself.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± said Elaine. She poured herself a cup of water and looked around


    for the kettle and some tea packets.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fix that for you,¡± said Josie. She did another switch to Zatanna to make tea, then


    switched back. ¡°As soon as the girls are ready, we¡¯ll be on our way.¡±


    ¡°All the invitations are sent, and I have to get food to be cooked,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We¡¯re


    going to try to eat at about sundown. Jack said he will have to put the table outside


    to accommodate everyone. Also Fass¡¯s group is invited too if you can be done and


    back in time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you and Jack to look at the model in the


    office. I think it will help us in the future.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Nice shirt,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Jack gave me a spare,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t think it suits me. I think I need


    something else.¡±


    ¡°Let me know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can write a letter to Mr. Warner and see if he will send


    us something else for you.¡±


    ¡°You have more shirts like these?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Massive looms make those by the thousands. Then the pictures are added,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Let me deal with this and I will see if I can make you a catalogue.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Elaine. She sipped her tea. ¡°I have to put together a cart full of


    food and bring back here for Jack to cook up. I don¡¯t think Jack knows what he wants


    to cook.¡±


    ¡°He likes to improvise,¡± said Josie. ¡°See if you can get him on his feet, and moving.


    He might be able to move food from the market to here with his stargate technology.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± said Jack. He wore his Deadpool shirt and jeans He tried to smooth down his


    hair with a hand. ¡°Any more coffee around?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. She got down a fresh cup and made coffee. She handed the cup


    over to him.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± said Jack. He sipped the hot liquid. ¡°Any word from Lori and Bob about


    our dragon?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me herd the girls out to the quinjet so we can get started


    with our day.¡±


    ¡°Six sixteen star on the pad,¡± said Jack. He turned his attention to Elaine. ¡°That shirt


    looks good on you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You don¡¯t scream as loud as you said. We might have to


    work on that later.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m out,¡± said Josie. She put her cup down on the sideboard. She went to the door


    and called, ¡°Girls, let¡¯s get going.¡±


    ¡°I have to get ready and head to the market,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Josie said there was a


    model she wants us to look at some point.¡±


    ¡°I have to start thinking about moving the table outside,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have to


    enchant it so we have enough seats for everybody.¡±


    They heard Josie barking at her Ducklings and silently agreed to wait until the girls


    were gone before they got started with their day.


    Josie visually checked out her girls. They looked ready. Alicia made practice swings


    with one hand.


    ¡°I am going to drop you off, and pick up Fass¡¯s group,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are going to


    have to wait for Sir Harp for your lesson. Can you walk home if Jack doesn¡¯t pick you


    up?¡±


    ¡°Elaine and Jack are wearing the same shirt,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Can we get one too?¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will make you a catalogue to look through so you can get


    other things than Deadpool.¡±


    ¡°Will Jack pick us up?,¡± asked Melanie. ¡°Walking home is bad.¡±


    ¡°I will ask him to do it,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you guys will head to the quinjet, I will talk


    to Jack about it. You might have to help with the cooking.¡±


    ¡°That would be great,¡± said Angelica. She smiled at the thought of slinging a knife


    around at a head of lettuce.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± said Josie.


    Laura put the passcode in to let the others use the stargate. They went through one


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.after the other.


    Josie walked back to the kitchen as heavily as she could in case something was going


    on. She reached the door. Jack and Elaine were still drinking their morning


    stimulants.


    ¡°Could you pick the kids up, Jack?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I still don¡¯t like them crossing


    the city by themselves.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it, Josie,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯m going to need help with the supplies if we are


    going to feed as many people as we think are coming. They are a big help


    sorting things, especially Angelica.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t invite Lord Endwright and his crew,¡± said Jack. ¡°We should have done


    that.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t invite Lorelei or Bob either,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll send them a letter in a


    minute as soon as I get the kids to their practice.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess we can be excused not inviting Endwright. He¡¯ll


    still be on a liquid diet.¡±


    ¡°I will be back as soon as I can,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I¡¯m not, save some cake for me.¡±


    ¡°Have fun storming your castle,¡± said Jack. He waved his hand.


    Josie went back to the stargate. It had shut off. Maybe that was an automated feature.


    She would ask Jack about it later. She pressed the code for Earth into the pad and then


    the star key. The wall bubbled. She stepped into the cold stinging pipe and slid out


    in the hangar.


    ¡°That was something,¡± said Josie. She walked up the gangplank and headed for the


    pilot¡¯s chair. She inspected the girls in their harnesses as she went. The last thing she


    wanted was to flip the ship over and have them fall out of their seats. Bea sat in the


    co-pilot¡¯s chair.


    ¡°This is at once amazing, and so mundane,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I don¡¯t understand any


    of these markings.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully, I won¡¯t crash when we come in for a landing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That is not what I wanted to hear,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Josie. She smiled at her co-pilot. ¡°I will definitely survive if I


    have a warning.¡±


    ¡°And I definitely didn¡¯t need to hear that,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get this show on the road. First, we turn everything on.


    Check the energy pool. Open the roof. Open the belly jets so we can hover. Raise the


    landing gear. So the throttle is this lever here, Beatrice. You push it forward to


    pour power into the engines to lift you up. The roof has retracted. We¡¯re going to pull


    back on the stick, and let the belly jets lift us off the cradle. Okay, we¡¯re clear of the


    hangar. Close the hangar. Now we lift up to our maximum height and turn toward the


    city. Hit the lever to switch the jets to push and we start flying forward.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°We climb away from the trees and orientate on the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°There it is. So


    we turn and fly over the wall. Looking for the Adventurers¡¯ Hall is going to be a little


    difficult from the air but we should be able to put down on the yard in front.¡±


    ¡°This is going to cause such a stir,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Tell them that your Uncle Jack is working on turning steam into locomotion,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°Is that what is going on here?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Sort of,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s all a little timey-wimey, weebly-wobbley.¡±


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t real words,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Neither is supercalifraglistic but you don¡¯t hear me complaining,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Throttling back. There is the yard. Switching to belly jets. Lowering landing gear.


    It¡¯s probably a good thing no one is around. All right, throttling to a stop.¡±


    ¡°The Guard will be losing their mind over this,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to be quick with our trade,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get you girls off, and


    get Fass¡¯s people on. Then I can take off and no one will know we were behind


    everything.¡±


    ¡°Someone will know,¡± said Beatrice. She worked her harness.


    ¡°As long as they don¡¯t talk about it, that¡¯s fine that they know,¡± said Josie. She freed


    herself.


    The two of them helped the younger girls unstrap and get to their feet. There


    was a rush to get to the gangplank that Josie lowered with a panel next to it.


    She should have lowered it from the cockpit, but had been worried more about


    getting the girls moving.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She visually checked the girls. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We need to switch


    out and get the quinjet back in the air.¡±


    She spotted Fass and his group with a bunch of horses. She shook her head. They


    couldn¡¯t take the horses.


    ¡°Girls, take the horses,¡± said Josie. ¡°Adventurers, get your gear that you need.


    Everything else has to stay. Beatrice, do you know where to take them?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Sally,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°She¡¯s the clerk.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s a bill, tell whomever that I will pay it when we get back,¡± said Josie. ¡°If


    you have to, call Jack. Tell him to come up with the money.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Milady,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I think we can handle some smelly beasts.¡±


    ¡°They will bust you wide open if you¡¯re not careful,¡± said Josie. She watched from


    the bottom of the gangplank as Fass and his crew grabbed weapons and camping gear


    from their horses and started to come aboard.


    Another adventurer jogged up. He started talking to Beatrice about what was going


    on. After some exchanging of words, he pointed toward the back of the hall.


    ¡°Have you guys got it?,¡± asked Josie. Alicia waved at her with a stolid face. ¡°Clear


    away so we can leave.¡±


    The girls started walking the horses away from the impromptu landing zone. Josie


    watched them go, frowning the whole time. She didn¡¯t want to leave them on their


    own.


    Some of the girls looked happy with the smelly beasts, but Beatrice talked to the


    single adventurer like she was breaking bad news.


    Josie walked back up the gangplank and directed the adventurers to stow their gear


    in cargo boxes Jack had rigged against the back wall. She led them to the passenger


    seats and showed them how to strap in. Fass joined her in the cockpit. She showed


    him how to strap in while warning him not to touch anything.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hopefully, the kids will be all right at the Hall until Sir Harp


    shows up.¡±


    ¡°I think the adventurers will look out for them,¡± said Fass. ¡°No one wants to tangle


    with a witch with a bad temper.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a witch, and I don¡¯t have a bad temper,¡± said Josie. She set the map for Cairn


    with a little effort. ¡°We¡¯re lifting, guys. We should be okay as long as I don¡¯t hit the


    wall heading out of here.¡±


    ¡°What did she say?,¡± said someone from the back.


    ¡°Then what is this, if not magic?,¡± asked Fass. He spread his arms out to take in


    the cockpit.


    ¡°If you guys get to where you can harness science and machinery,¡± said Josie. ¡°You


    will be able to field a ton of these any time you can get the metal together. Belly jets


    on. Landing gear retracted. Lifting to maximum height. Turning to line up with


    navigational line. Switching jets. Climbing and pushing the throttle open. I don¡¯t


    know how fast this thing can go, but we¡¯ll be at Cairn in a few hours.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how fast we¡¯re going?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I think the speedometer is broken,¡± said Josie. ¡°It only says two.¡±


    ¡°Two what?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re over the wall and out in the wild yonder.


    I wish I knew where the automated pilot was so I could let the quinjet fly itself.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t think you would build something like this to help us,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Jack took it as a challenge, and killing two birds with one stone,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Eventually, we¡¯re going to have quests out of the city. We¡¯ll need some kind of base


    to get where we need to be fast enough to make a difference and since we already


    needed to get to Cairn to get Emily, Jack decided to put this together to get us there


    as fast as possible.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t know how fast we¡¯re going?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°When this center console becomes a picture of Cairn,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s when


    we¡¯re going to need to look for a place to land unless you want to drop in the center


    of town and get out as fast as possible.¡±


    ¡°We might be conducting a raid,¡± said Fass. ¡°We should land somewhere and plan


    before we rush in and kill everything we can and get out.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She touched the center console and adjusted for a spot west of


    the town proper. She frowned at the speed of the details filling in on the map. She


    figured she would be near the landing spot soon.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to slow us down so we don¡¯t overshoot,¡± said Josie. ¡°Look out your side


    for a clearing we can land in.¡±


    ¡°I see a couple ahead,¡± said Fass. ¡°Can you slow us down further?¡±


    ¡°Let me ease back on the throttle, switch to belly jets,¡± said Josie. She realized that


    she was still too high for the belly jets to hold her up. She let the ship sink as it


    coasted forward. ¡°All right. I see a spot we can land in.¡±


    ¡°This thing is faster than any horse,¡± said Fass. ¡°The King would give his eyeteeth


    for this.¡±


    ¡°It can only be fueled in certain ways, and Jack didn¡¯t tell me how the parts worked,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°If someone hits us with something big enough, we will hit the ground


    hard enough to turn us into burning jelly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an unfortunate side issue,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Lowering the landing gear,¡± said Josie. She nodded at the familiar thump of landing.


    ¡°We¡¯re down a few miles short of the target.¡±


    ¡°Let me get out of this and we can plan on the ground,¡± said Fass. ¡°We couldn¡¯t do


    this without you.¡±


    ¡°We have to succeed first,¡± said Josie. She shut everything down. ¡°I need to let Emily


    know we¡¯re close enough to reach her. I also need to send a letter to Bob and Lori.


    Your guys are invited to dinner. Jack is putting something together for people we


    know. He said your party might as well come too.¡±


    ¡°Why would he do that?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s like that sometimes.¡±


    Josie lowered the gangplank and unstrapped her harness. She got up and started


    helping the crew off the ship. She sat down on the ramp and pulled out her case for


    her model and some paper. She wrote her two letters and sent them off. She opened


    her case and took out the model of the town they were about to invade. She opened


    it up, and smiled.


    The mark for her bird was still in motion.


    ¡°Emily is still alive,¡± said Josie. ¡°So we still have a chance at a rescue.¡±

 Kiss the Cook

    Jack decided that the first thing he needed to do was get the dining room table out in


    front of the Hole in the Wall. And then he needed to figure out a way to expand it to


    hold everybody who decided to come.


    He decided that he could do some timey-wimey, weebly-wobbly, jellied space-time


    to fix that.


    He was also going to have to create some phantom chefs to help fix the food. He


    could do both things.


    He needed something temporary for this dinner. He didn¡¯t want phantoms using his


    kitchen. There could be accidents that would make Josie mad enough to wreck things.


    ¡°What do you think the menu should be, Elaine?,¡± said Jack. He paced the front of


    the apartment, measuring things with his eyes.


    ¡°We could load up a wagon full of vegetables,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t know about any


    meat we can get.¡±


    ¡°Get whatever you can,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can with what you bring back. If


    you have to, just send it with a messenger and I will throw it on the barbie.¡±


    ¡°That sounds doable,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We have three hours before the girls are done


    with their training.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can work with that.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how you are going to do this dinner?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I have an idea that will make the kitchen unusable until the dinner is over,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°If it works out, will things be done by sundown, or will I have to serve the food


    in waves?¡±


    ¡°Plan to serve in waves,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That will keep things simple.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can do that.¡±


    ¡°I am going to get started on gathering things before I have to escort the Ducklings


    home,¡± said Elaine. She kissed him on the cheek. ¡°Try to stay out of trouble.¡±


    He gave her a stealth hug before letting her go about her business. She looked good


    in her dark green dress and undershirt. She looked good out of it too.


    He needed to set up a bubble. That would allow the table to be stretched to hold the


    extra people and chairs. And the best way to do that was to mark out a space for the


    table. And he had the technology with his ring discovery using Magik.


    So the first thing he needed to do was mark that space out with a ring of metal but he


    didn¡¯t have the metal on him.


    He could get some from around the Hangar. All he needed to do was grab a tree from


    out there and convert it into metal that he could turn into a ring of space.


    He needed to do that before he actually moved the table outside. Once he had the ring


    in place, then he could put the table outside so things would be in place. Then he


    could figure out how to do his assistant chefs.


    Then he would have to fix anything that went wrong with his experimental means.


    He went to the stargate and stepped through to the hangar. He opened the roof from


    the metal floor. He climbed up to the surface and looked around before he went to the


    nearest tree. He looked back toward the city.


    There was no way he could just blast this material back to his place. He could, but he


    didn¡¯t know where it would land on the other end.


    He could do something with the stargate. He looked around for a taller tree. He could


    turn that into steel to be used.


    He could do a transfer to move the transformed wood into the hangar. Then he could


    move everything through the gate. Once that was done, he could set up his space ring.


    He wondered how the watch was handling the energy transfer of all the magic he was


    throwing around. At least the quinjet was getting charged from the ambient air, and


    mana charger in the hangar. He decided to ask the Society the next time they wanted


    to talk to him.


    He became Magik and formed a ring around the target tree. He formed another ring


    he could carry with him. He dropped down inside the hangar. He placed the ring


    down in front of the stargate to their apartment.


    He activated the spell. Metal chips piled out of the ring at his feet. When it was done,


    he went back to where the first ring sat and picked it up for later use. He dropped


    back down inside the hangar. He closed the lid before he moved to the next phase of


    the plan.


    He opened the door and sent the chips through the gate. When he was done with that,


    he followed them to his living room. He looked around for something to carry the


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.metal chips.


    He found an apron in the kitchen. He laid that down on the living room floor. He put


    everything on the apron and carried it outside in the street.


    Once he had the chips laid out in a rough circle, he moved the table out in front of the


    former hideout. Once he had a rough size to judge by, he had to put his bubble in


    place. He could just make the ring and wait until everyone arrived. He didn¡¯t want to


    drain the street of energy before he needed to.


    He still had to put the ring in place. He looked around. He might need a public


    bathroom. He doubted the one in the apartments would take care of forty people.


    He put the consideration aside for later.


    He used Magik to turn the metal chips into a ring with the words he needed inscribed


    on the hoop. He stretched it out four feet beyond the table. He walked around it with


    his sense active. It was ready. All he needed to do was light it up.


    He returned to normal. His neighbors were in the street looking at what he was doing.


    He waved at them. He still needed to do something about the kitchen help.


    He stepped inside the kitchen. Things would be easier when he had the ingredients.


    He could look at them and then come up with dishes. Then he could have his


    imaginary servants help him make the food. He would have to have real people to


    help him serve his guests.


    He thought Elaine would help him with some of it. Maybe he could get the girls to


    help him carry the rest.


    Maybe he should have everyone come up to a buffet/cafeteria style setup, and then


    he could portion out the food for them.


    He grinned at himself. He should have given more thought to the process. He could


    be stuck trying to serve everyone if his help turned out to be no good.


    He lit the fire for the hearth. He made sure the grill was in place so he could cook on


    it. He definitely needed to come up with an oven.


    He decided to use pylons to be the base of his chefs. He could build in telekinetic


    hands for them to chop up vegetables, cook meats, and season things.


    He needed some more metal for the pylons. He would have to go back to the hangar


    and change another tree. He looked around the kitchen, thinking about things.


    He might need to temporarily expand the kitchen to keep things going so that he


    didn¡¯t have to work so hard.


    Maybe he needed to expand the hearth so he could cook more than one thing at a


    time.


    He could do it with enough metal to act as his space ring. He definitely had to go back


    to the hangar and get enough material. That should take a moment. He wondered how


    long he had to cook everything.


    He might have to do something to make the hearth cook at a hotter temperature. He


    should look at that and cook something before the crowd got together.


    Maybe he should try for the cake that Josie wanted. He would need eggs and milk for


    that.


    He needed to make those servants and see how they did cooking. That would show


    him how to finetune them. He nodded at the decision. He should try for something


    small first, before he let them do the big one.


    First, he had to build them and make sure they could do what they wanted. And that


    meant he needed the metal. And that meant going back to the hangar and using his


    magic to transform trees into the material he needed.


    He went back through the stargate. He found the biggest tree near the hangar. He cut


    it down and chipped it into parts. He moved the parts back through the gate. He took


    everything into the kitchen and built the three chefs he needed and created a space


    bubble for the hearth and icebox.


    He felt a surge. He needed to take the bubbles down when they were done with


    dinner. They were eating up too much energy, and he was sure they were grabbing


    whatever from his watch and com band, and people in the street. He couldn¡¯t let the


    spells eat people while he was feeding them.


    He needed to keep the girls out of the apartments. The drain would swallow them up.


    He couldn¡¯t allow that.


    Bea¡¯s boyfriend was another hand.


    He stepped out in the street. He needed the ingredients. He couldn¡¯t do anything else


    until he had those. He wondered how Josie was doing over there across the country.


    He should have went with her. They would have already been on the way back.


    Then he could have sent her with Elaine to get the kids and ingredients. Then they


    would get to cooking that much faster.


    The neighbors were watching his table. He wondered if they were going to ask to sit


    in with him and the others. He didn¡¯t mind, and he had asked Guin to quit extorting


    them for protection.


    He looked up at the sky. He could fly above the city and check random things out


    until his stuff showed up. He could start trying to find the Lich Queen with the rest


    of his time.


    He wondered if he could use the maps to do what Josie had done with her scry birds.


    He didn¡¯t know. He was using Magik to specialize in strange tech. That had to be


    better than just wishing for a result to happen.


    He didn¡¯t really like that. He was a big supporter of heroes with explanations for the


    things they were doing. Green Lanterns with their magic rings would never be as


    good as Captain America in his opinion.


    He wondered what else he could be doing. Maybe he should visit the elves and look


    around for the Dragon that was supposed to kick up. He would love that. It was right


    out of King Arthur.


    The cart rolled up with the girls and the food. He smiled. He admitted to himself that


    he had been quietly going crazy waiting for them to get home. Now he had to put


    everything away and get to work.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go into the kitchen,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯ll kill you. Just change and get ready for


    the guests if any of them show up. I want to see if the chefs I made can put together


    a fruit plate for us to snack on until dinner is ready.¡±


    ¡°A fruit plate?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°It¡¯s a plate that has squares of fruit on it,¡± said Jack. ¡°They¡¯re snacks until the main


    courses can be served. Let me get things started while you girls clean up and get


    ready. I don¡¯t see the boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s coming later,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I told him what to expect.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how when I don¡¯t know what to expect,¡± said Jack. He checked his


    watch. It was running slower than he expected. He definitely needed to shut things


    down after dinner was served.


    ¡°He¡¯s really timid,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I think Josie scares him.¡±


    ¡°She scares me too,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me put things up, and we¡¯ll do our test run. Go


    ahead. I want to see if these things will do a good job, or if they explode and take the


    kitchen with them.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say things like that?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Army training,¡± said Jack. He smiled at her. ¡°Time for some Gravity.¡±


    He changed bodies and picked everything up with his power. He dragged it into the


    kitchen and put everything away where it went. The chefs flexed their hands at the


    sight of things to turn into food.


    ¡°Can you chop up some fruit into squares for the kids?,¡± said Jack.


    The chefs went to work.

 The Raid

    Josie looked at the model. The scry bird marked the house Emily had taken. She


    seemed to be holding it against anyone who tried to get in.


    Emily¡¯s reply letter dropped in her hands. She read the words with its strange spelling


    and frowned. She could have just rescued Emily with a simple teleportation, but Cairn


    was a company town and it was full of the Montrose and its victims.


    ¡°Is something wrong?,¡± asked Fass, the leader of the adventurers she had ferried to


    this point.


    ¡°Emily says that all of the houses in Cairn are full of captives and guards,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I can get her out fairly easily. But the rest will have to be worked on. And I have no


    way to get them to safety if I did rescue them all. The quinjet only has space for so


    many people even if I bundle them in like logs in the cargo deck.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long ride back to Hawk Ridge, even if we steal their horses and wagons,¡± said


    Fass.


    ¡°First, we have to get them away from the Montrose who want to ship them across the


    border,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We could take the houses with the captives, and hold them while you get rid of the


    guards,¡± said Fass. ¡°I think we can do that as long as they don¡¯t set fire to the


    buildings.¡±


    ¡°So we set aside what we do with these people after we raid the town,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And we start by saving Emily and working our way outward.¡±


    ¡°Can you show us where the captives are?,¡± asked Fass. ¡°That will help us with our


    planning.¡±


    ¡°Combatants and noncombatants,¡± Josie asked the map in front of them. Combatants


    lit up in green, noncombatants lit up in blue. Emily was red like the scry bird.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°We can get into those houses and kill the guards. The women


    are probably going to be chained, or caged. These other two buildings on either end


    are probably barracks. They are stationed to let people in and out with a challenge.


    If we cleared them out first, the guards on the women would have hostages against


    us.¡±


    ¡°I can get us inside those houses,¡± said Josie. ¡°But we¡¯ll have to spread out and move


    up and down the street.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°What kind of options can you give us?¡±


    ¡°I feel I can put all of us into one of those houses from here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can go in


    alone and form a distraction while you guys save everyone. I can burn everything


    down, but that¡¯s not something I want to do for obvious reasons.¡±


    ¡°Can you move us from house to house?,¡± asked Fass. ¡°I think that will be useful for


    what we want to do.¡±


    She thought Fass would back out from such a challenge. Saving Emily could be done


    with one teleport, maybe two. She hadn¡¯t expected him to pick up the gauntlet and


    start planning to help her.


    ¡°I can move us around, but each move will cost me,¡± said Josie. She hated to reveal


    that weakness. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to fight because I am conserving my strength.¡±


    ¡°What would you do if we weren¡¯t here?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I would set one of the end buildings on fire and try to catch as many as I could


    inside,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I would shoot as many that try to put the fire out as I could


    before I tried to do something else.¡±


    ¡°We can make that plan work,¡± said Fass. ¡°We just need to be on the other side of the


    town when you set the fire. Then we can try to catch their forces between the two of


    us. Their greater numbers make such a scheme hard to carry out, but still doable.¡±


    ¡°So I send word to Emily that is the plan,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we go in and do the


    deed.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Fass. ¡°We¡¯ll need a signal paper to let you know when we¡¯re in position.


    Once we send that, you can cause as much of a distraction as you want. We¡¯ll try to


    pick off as many as we can with our bows at first, then with swords.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want to get involved with this?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I can get Emily, and


    you guys can sit the rest of this out.¡±


    ¡°We could,¡± said Fass. ¡°But helping you gets us home that much faster. I don¡¯t think


    that your Ducklings will much like us if we do the bare minimum and nothing else.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead and get into position. This is your paper. Send it to


    me when you think you are in the perfect ambush spot. Then I will set this other end


    building on fire and we¡¯ll see what happens.¡±


    ¡°I think we won¡¯t be able to kill all of them, but we will be able to get the women


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.back,¡± said Fass. ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to think of some way to help them back to where


    they belong.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She wrote out a note and sent it to Emily. She wrote out


    another note and gave it to Fass. ¡°Just tell the note to return to me when you think


    you¡¯re ready.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get started,¡± said Fass. ¡°We have a long walk ahead of us.¡±


    ¡°Take this with you,¡± said Josie. She offered him the model map with its moving


    spots. ¡°You¡¯re going to need it more than I will.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Fass. He took the model. ¡°Are you sure you are up for this? It will


    be akin to open war.¡±


    ¡°I will do the best I can with what I have,¡± said Josie. ¡°All that matters is we save


    whomever we can. If we have to let some of the Montrose run off into the wilderness,


    that will be fine. I can hunt them down later. Killing all of them would help satisfy


    my quest, but it¡¯s not strictly necessary.¡±


    ¡°We can do the job,¡± said Fass. He led the way into the trees. His group spread out


    around him with Lou, their ranger, vanishing as soon as he decided to get ahead of


    them.


    Josie waited for a few minutes. She could get to the spot she wanted in a couple of


    minutes. She had to wait on them to get where they wanted to go. Once she turned


    into Fire, the rest would be how many could they ambush trying to stop her.


    She turned into a hawk and flew toward the town. She landed under a tree and


    became normal again. She checked her watch, glad that it was refilling. She would


    be putting it to heavy use in a bit. She would need all of its invisible fuel.


    She walked forward to the edge of the woods. She spotted the target building ahead


    of her. She looked around. No guards. Once she hit the building, she would have


    plenty of guards to deal with.


    She wondered if they had sentries to keep an eye on the road. She hadn¡¯t seen anyone


    on her approach. The alarm hadn¡¯t gone up as Fass and his group made their way


    around to the other side of the small town.


    Finally a letter dropped in her hand. She nodded. It was time for her to go to work.


    She started walking toward the building as she dialed in who she needed. She hit the


    activate button and started the timer just as she threw her shoulder against the door.


    The wood shattered as a column of green flame filled the coach house. She tried to


    ignore the men screaming as she went about her business.


    She spread the fire. A look out the back windows showed her tattooed men running


    towards the burning place. She would have to greet them with someone else in a


    second.


    She wondered if Deadshot was any good. Green Arrow and Bulletgirl had been filling


    her long range needs. Could the villain be an even better shooter than what she had


    already used?


    She decided to stick to her proven personas first. She could experiment after the job


    was done.


    She turned into Bulletgirl as she stepped out of the burning house. Wherever she


    pointed her segmented fingers, metal slugs tore through a target. Some she killed


    outright, some took a wounding because they saw what had happened to their closest


    colleague and turned at the last second.


    She made sure to shoot them again before they could try to get away from her.


    It was better to not let them live and get in the way if she could do that.


    Other deaths she wasn¡¯t responsible for kept the numbers on her quest going down.


    She thought that was Fass¡¯s party attacking from behind. She was attracting all the


    attention, so she could see where they could easily catch people before they realized


    they were caught between two forces.


    Josie remembered that the houses lining the street were jails for whomever was inside


    of them. She didn¡¯t know if she had cleared the guards out with the dead bodies she


    was laying down. She had to check the houses and make sure no one could use the


    captives as hostages.


    She put bullets into targets as she moved down the street. The slavers started to run


    from her. They knew what she was doing, and they wanted no part of it.


    She entered the first house and found women chained together. She frowned at them.


    A guard raised his sword to stop her. She shot him with a wave of her hand. She made


    sure he was dead before she returned to normal so she could talk to the women.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to get you out of this,¡± said Josie. ¡°My friends and I will provide means for


    you to get home after we clear out the rest of these scumbags. Until we do, I need you


    to barricade the door and wait for us to get done.¡±


    ¡°The chains,¡± said one of the women. ¡°We can¡¯t do anything until we¡¯re free.¡±


    Josie changed to Zatanna and unlocked the manacles. She changed back and checked


    her watch. She still had a little bit of time she could use to kill some more of these


    beasts.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Stay in here until we have things sorted out. If you don¡¯t want


    to wait, I would suggest you head into the trees and away from the fighting. I¡¯ll give


    you help as soon as I am done.¡±


    Josie checked her watch. She had to free the other houses as fast as possible. How


    many had they just wounded and could still be a danger? She had no idea.


    She looked at the battlefield. A lot of dead bodies clustered around the burning coach


    house. She saw some with arrows in the midground. She worked her way along her


    side of the street, letting the watch fill up as she checked for movement in the houses.


    She needed someone like the Vision. She should work on that when she was looking


    for people who would be mad at her for killing some of their friends and coworkers.


    She spotted a woman in chain armor killing someone with a sword. Neither seemed


    to be the best fit for her. She looked at Josie. She raised her sword.


    The quest ding went off to let Josie know she had found Emily Budd.


    ¡°Emily Budd!,¡± shouted Josie. ¡°I¡¯m the rescue.¡±


    ¡°You need to work on that,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°Two days is good in my opinion,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you guard that house down there?


    There is some women stowed in there. I¡¯m afraid they need someone to keep them out


    of trouble.¡±


    She pointed at the house she meant.


    ¡°What are you going to do?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to finish what I started,¡± said Josie. ¡°Keep your head down, and look out


    for your brother. He¡¯s here somewhere.¡±


    ¡°You brought Thad?,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°I brought his whole crew,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now, I need you to keep an eye out so we


    don¡¯t bungle everything at the last moment.¡±


    ¡°Markam?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°I killed him the first thing when we started looking for you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡®I wanted to do that,¡± said Emily. ¡°How could you take away my satisfaction?¡±


    ¡°It was easy,¡± said Josie.


    Emily shook her head as she went to the house and knocked on the door. The women


    inside let her in to guard them.

 Dinner

    Lord Cilt and Madeline arrived first. They had borrowed horses from somewhere and


    rode into town. Jack put down a ring for the horses so they wouldn¡¯t wander up and


    down the street.


    Jack watched the sky as he checked with the chefs and waited for more of the guests


    to arrive. A contingent of women and girls arrived from Jane¡¯s House, including the


    great woman herself. She chided him on acting nervous when he had faced down


    monsters and saved the city. He replied he was waiting for the kitchen to explode.


    He let the Ducklings and Jane¡¯s crowd hang out while he waited. Elaine talked with


    Jane and the future mated Cilts. They were all smiling, so he didn¡¯t expect any trouble


    from that quarter. Jane and her second, Hilda, were rough, but good people. They


    hadn¡¯t deserved to be dragged up north to be fed to a ghost in the hopes that


    something bad would happen to the city.


    He didn¡¯t regret what he had done to Corle, and he told himself it had been the right


    move every day he thought about it.


    He nodded when he saw the Duke arrive in a carriage. The man had his four man


    guard with him. The dialer greeted him and introduced him as Master Hent to the


    others. He didn¡¯t need Jane, or Cilt, doing something they would regret. One of the


    men happened to be Captain Griff, who was introduced as Master Griff.


    The Harps arrived next. He placed them in with the Ducklings and Jane¡¯s crowd.


    They knew the girls and Jane and Master Harp started talking about training for her


    group.


    The Rick showed up. He and Jack exchanged some words. There was something


    going on in the duchy. They were keeping an eye on things, but they might need a


    touch of the Josie before things were done. Jack assured him that when Josie got back


    from her current mission, one of them would be in the duchy fixing things.


    He noticed that Laura and Alicia glommed on to the elf. He suspected different


    reasons were in play.


    Guin and Linus arrived. Jack put them next to the Duke but asked them not to talk


    business. He didn¡¯t want a fight breaking out before the food started to be served.


    He was sure Linus could take all of the Guard with one hand broken and tied to his


    gigantic body.


    Jack decided he couldn¡¯t hold up dinner for Josie. He had to start serving. If she got


    back before the dinner was over, her spot was ready at the head of the table.


    The other person he thought would be there wasn¡¯t there either. Bea looked around


    for her boyfriend. The expression on her face was a bit stormy. The boyfriend better


    show up or else from the looks of things.


    ¡°Josie wanted to be here, but she had to take care of something across the country,¡±


    said Jack. He took up a spot next to her seat, and his at the right hand. ¡°I hope she


    will show up if she gets done before too long. I did tell her sundown, but since the


    rest of us are here, I think maybe we can get started. We¡¯ll have some food, some


    drinks, maybe a band if I can remember how to do that.¡±


    A young man in rough clothes ran down the street. He stopped to catch his breath


    when he saw the party at the table. He walked the last of the distance toward them.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. ¡°What¡¯s the hurry?¡±


    ¡°I was invited for dinner,¡± said the adventurer. He looked at Beatrice. She made a


    face. Jack glanced at her, reading the face as don¡¯t talk to him because he is crazy.


    Jack grinned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember inviting you, and I¡¯m throwing this shindig,¡± said Jack. He put as


    much movie cowboy twang as he could in his speech. ¡°Matter of fact, I don¡¯t recollect


    ever meeting you before this minute. What¡¯s your name, boy?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Todd Fain,¡± said the younger man. ¡°I am an assistant at the Adventurers¡¯ Hall.


    Lady Beatrice was kind enough to invite me to dinner.¡±


    ¡°Was she now?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Are you getting ready to take my Beatrice off my


    hands and make an honest woman out of her?¡±


    ¡°We have talked about a wedding,¡± said Todd.


    ¡°And when will it be?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I would love to see my Elaine all gussied up for


    another wedding after Master Cilt and Madeline¡¯s. Maybe we should be talking about


    a double wedding.¡±


    ¡°There is the matter of the dowry,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, boy,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you have a dowry? I can¡¯t wait to see what Josie


    has to say about that. She might explode in happiness.¡±


    Beatrice put her head in her hands. Laura patted her on the back. She leaned over and


    said something in a whisper.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have one right now,¡± said Todd. ¡°I am working on it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all right, boy,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie will take some of your fingers. You don¡¯t


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.need them all.¡±


    ¡°Fingers?,¡± said Todd.


    ¡°Heck, she took that guy¡¯s arm so he would teach fencing faster,¡± said Jack. He


    pointed at Master Harp who waved with his metal hand. ¡°Had to get him a metal


    hand. You ain¡¯t going to miss no fingers.¡±


    Todd looked at the guests at the table. Some of them looked like they could cut off


    fingers. He steeled himself. If that¡¯s what it took, then so be it.


    ¡°He¡¯s mocking you,¡± said Beatrice¡¯s youngest sister. ¡°He¡¯s making fun of you for


    showing up later than Beatrice. Sit down so he will serve the food.¡±


    ¡°Matilda Fox,¡± said Jack. ¡°I cannot believe you are stepping on my game like that.¡±


    ¡°It was easy,¡± said the youngest with crossed arms and a smug smile.


    ¡°Sit down, Todd,¡± said The Rick. He pointed to the other side of Laura. ¡°When you


    meet Mistress Fox, you will find her less of a trickster.¡±


    Beatrice scooted over to make room, and there was a chair for him to sit in. He sat


    down. Their hands locked for a moment.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me start getting your food and drinks.¡±


    Jack walked into the apartment and his servants were starting the supply process. He


    looked down at his watch. It was loading up super slowly. If trouble broke out, he


    only had enough juice for one or two minutes of persona to handle it.


    He started bringing plates to the table and giving them to his adopted family and


    guests. Angelica looked like she had gone to heaven. Apparently they didn¡¯t have a


    lot of variety in Hawk Ridge for someone who liked food.


    It took a few minutes but he had given everyone a small starter plate. He went back


    to the kitchen. The second course was being readied as he walked in. He decided to


    give the servants a couple of minutes before he started trucking the second course out


    for everybody.


    It took a bit but he worked out a system where he was bringing out plates and sending


    them around the table to those who wanted them, and then getting the next course as


    the current course was being finished. He even handed off some plates to neighbors


    who had drifted too close to the setup.


    He did this for a few hours, asking about the food as he went. He noted that the


    people were talking about things and he eavesdropped where he could. One snippet


    was he had been joking about the fingers, which he said no he wasn¡¯t before he


    moved on.


    Finally, it was time to serve cake, and ice cream. A band of bedraggled fighters came


    up the street. They looked at the table and gave a collective sigh at being too late.


    ¡°And who might you be?,¡± asked Jack. He checked his watch. It was almost full since


    he had been moving around and working the whole time without using it.


    ¡°I¡¯m Eric Fass, and this is my group,¡± said the leader. ¡°We were invited, but we¡¯re a


    little late.¡±


    ¡°Everyone else has eaten,¡± said Jack. ¡°Grab some places. I will bring you out some


    food, while I get the desert for everyone else. It should be a snap.¡±


    The adventurers mixed in with the guests. They knew some of the people there and


    it was easy to talk to them about their adventure. Plates full of food appeared in front


    of them. They looked on in amazement as Jack moved on with the cake and ice


    cream.


    Eventually the crowd started to disperse. The Duke was the first to go, calling on his


    men to leave with him. Jack sent him off with a handshake and a smile.


    Jane and her horde got a care package to take back with her. She and the Harps


    arranged for a training schedule for the women. She wrote him a marker to cash at the


    Exchange when he needed to be paid for his services. He blinked at the number on


    the paper.


    Todd tried to get up to go, but Jack told him to sit if he wanted to keep his hands.


    The Rick left next, stepping out of the ring. He gave Jack some pointers about battery


    chargers that didn¡¯t need people to sit in them. Jack gave him a basket to take back


    to the duchy. The elf left with an accompanied sigh from Laura.


    Josie came out of the apartment a few minutes later. She nodded at Guin and Linus.


    She turned her full attention on Todd.


    ¡°Sit down,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll get you a spread. Tell me about your adventure when


    you¡¯ve eaten.¡±


    ¡°This is Todd,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Beatrice¡¯s friend.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to meet you,¡± said Josie. Her tone didn¡¯t sound pleased. ¡°Thank you for


    coming to dinner.¡±


    ¡°I already told him we needed his fingers if he wanted to marry Beatrice,¡± said Jack.


    He came out with a big plate disguised as a tray and set it down in front of Josie. She


    looked at the pile of food.


    ¡°What is this?,¡± asked Josie. She waved at the tray. ¡°And no, we don¡¯t need your


    fingers, Todd. What good would they do us?¡±


    ¡°This is your dinner,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s the same as everyone else got. Eat up, and if


    you eat it all, I will get you a piece of cake and some ice cream.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on a diet,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s Thanksgiving,¡± said Jack. ¡°Eat up. Bea, if you want to take your boyfriend


    somewhere to hang out for a while, that¡¯s fine. Bring him back in a few minutes so


    we can have the family chat.¡±


    ¡°Can we stay for the family chat?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Do you also have a boyfriend we have never met, and need to lay the ground rules


    for?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I can get one,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°When you do, you can sit in,¡± said Jack. ¡°Until then, this is grownup stuff for


    grownups.¡±


    ¡°This is a lot of food, Jack,¡± said Josie.


    Elaine ushered the girls away from the table. Jack smiled at her as he watched her go.


    ¡°You almost missed it,¡± said Jack. ¡°As soon as I take the stuff down, I won¡¯t have


    another dinner like this until Matilda is out of the house.¡±


    ¡°How did your trip go?,¡± asked Guin from his end of the table.


    ¡°The Montrose are sending women across the border,¡± said Josie. ¡°We destroyed one


    of their way stations, but there are plenty more out there for us to find and put down.¡±


    ¡°The King will not like this border trade,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°They had women in chains waiting for their buyers,¡± said Fass. ¡°We cut most of


    them down and burned one of their buildings. We lifted the women where they


    wanted to go. A lot of them had places to go back to when we got them out of there.¡±


    ¡°Not like Jane¡¯s Amazons,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°This is excellent,¡± said one of the fighters. ¡°Did you cook this?¡±


    ¡°I asked some guys to make some things,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m glad you like it.¡±


    ¡°This war is expanding outwards,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°It¡¯s only going to get worse if the nobility is committing treason to run this


    enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to say anything in front of the Duke, but some


    of his peers are behind the scenes. Not just the ones Jack stacked up at the former


    Duke¡¯s former mansion.¡±


    ¡°If this turns into a Royal Crusade, there could be a lot of collateral damage,¡± said


    Guin.


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about what the Shemmarians need with women that they steal


    them,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think if we figure that out, we¡¯ll know enough to cut some of this


    off at the core.¡±


    ¡°That means going into their lands and asking questions they might not want to


    answer,¡± said Guin.


    Josie shrugged.

 The End of the Raid

    Josie circled through the town. A lot of the fighters for the Montrose had been drawn


    to fight the fire she had started. That made it easy for her to eliminate the guards on


    the enslaved women and free them.


    She noted that Fass and his group had cut some of the guards down with their bows.


    She doubted the defenders had even known they were under attack before the


    adventurers had shot most of them.


    She linked up with the group. Fass had the model in his hands. He examined the real


    town, comparing it to the representation.


    ¡°Some of them made it into the woods,¡± said Fass. ¡°I sent Lou and Budd after them.


    I told them to do what they can but not to chase them too far.¡±


    ¡°I found Emily,¡± said Josie. ¡°I left her guarding one of the prison houses. We should


    ask these women if they have homes to go back to, or if they want to come with us


    back to Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°Everyone we ran into are dead. So we are ready to go as soon


    as we search the bodies.¡±


    ¡°Did you find anyone to tell you what the Shemmarians want,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Fass. ¡°We were too busy cutting them down to question them.¡±


    ¡°I should have picked one and asked him,¡± said Josie. ¡°What I need is a long range


    seeker missile to kill these guys where they live instead of having to chase them


    everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I, for one, am glad that you don¡¯t,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°My reputation is that bad?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Other adventurers are scared of you,¡± said Fass. ¡°Only Sir Harp seems happy to have


    you around.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll work on that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll try to care about it a little more.¡±


    ¡°I think it will help you more if you keep engaging with these monsters,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I have a vow,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to keep going until the organization is gone for


    good.¡±


    ¡°Lou and Budd are coming back,¡± said Fass. ¡°It looks like the guards got away in the


    forest.¡±


    ¡°Which direction did they travel?,¡± asked Josie. She checked her watch. It was about


    half full. ¡°Get everyone together and take them back to the quinjet. We can stuff them


    in the cargo bay and drop them off where they live on the way home.¡±


    ¡°They headed west,¡± said Fass. He pointed out the direction.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will get them while you get everything together and head


    back.¡±


    ¡°Be careful out there,¡± said Fass. ¡°I know nothing about how your flying machine


    works.¡±


    ¡°I will be right back,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch as she headed in the


    direction pointed out.


    She could head out there and get the others and then head back in a few minutes. She


    thought it was definitely within reach of what she had on the watch.


    She changed into Zatanna and sent out a scry bird. Then she changed into Quick and


    followed the bird into the trees. She caught up with the two rangers and then followed


    the bird to the first fleeing trafficker. She slammed him into a tree at high speed.


    Josie looked out into the trees. The men had scattered away from this straggler. She


    could send out a bird to mark them, but she didn¡¯t have the time to chase them all


    down when she had to get her people out of town.


    She changed into Zatanna and boosted her voice so the fleeing guards could hear her


    as they ran for their lives.


    ¡°I am going to find you,¡± Josie said. Her voice drifted through the trees. ¡°I am going


    to take you apart. I am your judgement waiting to be carried out.¡±


    She thought she heard someone scream in the distance.


    That was good as far as she was concerned.


    She looked at the one guy she had caught. She took the time to make a book of


    knowledge, and then she sent him as high as she could. She used a scry bird to find


    her wanderers and teleported back to them.


    ¡°I think we can go now,¡± she said. ¡°We got what we came for, and did a little bit of


    damage. We have to fall back and regroup with what we have. There¡¯s not enough


    of us to declare an open war.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Budd. ¡°We were going back anyway.¡±


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    ¡°That was a nice fire, even if it was green,¡± said Lou. ¡°I have never seen anything


    burn like that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Fass is looting the bodies and getting the women ready to


    move back to the quinjet. Your sister was fine the last time I saw her, Budd.¡±


    ¡°She was always better than me,¡± said Budd. ¡°Don¡¯t tell her I said that. She will lord


    it over me for the admission.¡±


    ¡°I think that will be the least of her worries after the last however many days she


    has been chained up and carried away from home,¡± said Josie. ¡°Keep an eye on her


    in case she gets night terrors.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out for her,¡± said Budd. ¡°I should have said something about


    her going with Markam. I thought she would get tired of traveling with them and


    switch to our party. I didn¡¯t think anything like this would happen.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s safe, if hurt a little,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s all that matters. If she needs you,


    she will tell you. But until then, she might have to take a break from adventuring


    and do something else for a while. Let her do that if she wants.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Budd. ¡°Thank you for your help. We would never have found her


    before she was killed, or hurt bad enough she couldn¡¯t defend herself, or whatever


    other bad fate was on this road if you hadn¡¯t.¡±


    Josie agreed. They never would have found Markam without her. And by extension,


    they never would have found this border town either. Now Fass had a book he could


    use to take whatever satisfaction he wanted if he wanted to keep destroying outlaw


    towns like these.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can get everyone home,¡± said Josie. The counter on her quest had


    gone way down. She wondered what would happen when the women returned


    home. Would local law and order prevail, or would they see a lot of street


    justice and revenge?


    That was out of her hands as soon as she dropped the women off.


    They walked back to the battlefield. The women were on one side, Fass¡¯s party and


    Emily on the other. Neither group looked happy.


    Josie frowned. She supposed the women were opposed to going with a group of


    rough customers after what had happened to them. She couldn¡¯t blame them. She had


    to get them moving so she could go on with her life.


    If they had to ride along with Fass¡¯s Fighters, then that was what was going to


    happen.


    ¡°Everybody, let¡¯s go,¡± said Josie. She made a move gesture with both hands.


    ¡°What happens to us now?,¡± said one of the combative women. She had armed


    herself with a knife, and stolen a dead man¡¯s tunic to help cover her rags.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have a carriage and I am going home to have dinner


    with my adopted family and whomever my friend invited over. Fass¡¯s Fighters are


    going with me because there wasn¡¯t enough room for horses, but that is just an


    assumption because I am sure there are loose horses now that they can saddle and ride


    if they want. If you want to stay here, I¡¯m good with that. If you want to be dropped


    off as we head home, then I am good with that too. If you have no place to go, I can


    take you to Hawk Ridge and I know someone who will help you find work and get


    your own place there in the city. What do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°What do you want for this?,¡± asked the woman.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want anything,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I am not going to stand around all day. I


    have a dinner to get to and a partner I have to make sure isn¡¯t burning down the city


    while I left him unsupervised. This choice is your choice. I¡¯m leaving.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Fass. ¡°This is your money. There is a bounty on lawbreakers, but we¡¯re


    not going to be able to collect it the way we did things. But each of you get three


    pieces of gold each.¡±


    A wave like are you serious went through the crowd.


    ¡°It¡¯s not much, but it¡¯s what we scavenged from the battle,¡± said Fass. ¡°And you are


    entitled to it.¡±


    Fass handed each one of the women three gold coins. He told them to place it


    somewhere they wouldn¡¯t lose it and could hide it when they got home.


    ¡°These tattooed men are everywhere,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am slowly doing what I can


    to wipe them out, but until I do, don¡¯t trust them if they try to talk to you, be ready to


    fight if you see more than one. They are getting paid to take women. They are not


    getting paid to leave you alone.¡±


    She led the way into the forest. She transformed long enough to locate the quinjet


    where it waited. She needed to talk to Jack about a remote like the Ted Kord Blue


    Beetle¡¯s Bug. They could just ask it to hover until they were done, and then pick


    them up so they could leave.


    She hadn¡¯t seen any armament and didn¡¯t know if Jack had left that out on purpose,


    because he didn¡¯t want one of the kids shooting the wall accidentally if they decided


    to take the quinjet out for a spin, or there just wasn¡¯t a space in the design for


    anything.


    Maybe there was weapons and Jack had just not shown her. Did she really want to


    poke around and light something up accidentally. Jack would never let her live it


    down.


    ¡°You remember that time you set fire to the hangar because you poked the wrong


    button?,¡± he would say. ¡°Cause I do.¡±


    She boarded the quinjet and let the others get situated in the cargo bay. She let Fass


    arrange things to his liking. He seemed to know what he was doing, and she doubted


    Sir Harp would have given him a good recommendation if he was untrustworthy.


    She lifted into the air and sent scry birds out to mark where she had to put off her


    riders. Most were toward Hawk Ridge so she wasn¡¯t going that much out of the way


    to drop them off. When they reached the right spot, the bird would just yank that


    person, or group of people to the ground.


    She dropped the last one off and headed for home. Fass sat in the co-pilot¡¯s seat.


    He held the model and a bag in his lap. She vectored into the Adventurers¡¯ Hall and


    landed in the yard.


    ¡°These are your share and your model,¡± said Fass. He handed over the objects before


    unstrapping himself. ¡°I will get the others off so we can see this dinner and


    meet your friend, Jack.¡±


    ¡°If I have another expedition like this, can I call you?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Fass. ¡°You did most of the work, and everything worked just right from


    my side of things.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. She put the case and bag in the co-pilot¡¯s seat. ¡°I¡¯ll see


    you at the Hole in the Wall. If you need help, let me know. I will do what I can.¡±


    ¡°I will see you at dinner, Madam Witch,¡± Fass said. He smiled before turning and


    disembarking.


    ¡°The name is Josie,¡± fumed the pilot as she made sure everyone was clear before


    taking off and heading back to the hangar. Someone would realize something was


    going on eventually but at least Jack had covered up the hole in the ground.


    She checked her watch after she landed the jet on its cradle. She made sure everything


    was shut down before using the stargate to get home.


    The scry bird and teleportation had been a good trick. She was glad she had thought


    of it. Now she had to deal with dinner and Bea¡¯s boyfriend. She felt that was going


    to be a little bit harder than setting someone on fire.

 A Couples Circumstances

    Jack still had a lot of cleaning up to do, but he could do after the talk with Todd.


    Everyone was slowly going through their meals, trading plates when they didn¡¯t like


    the dishes present.


    ¡°I would like to add Eric and his group to the com bands,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might need


    them for other jobs cleaning out the Montrose.¡±


    Jack thought about mocking her. He decided to let it lie. Josie had gone out on a job


    and come back. The Fass team had supported her because of their own self interest,


    but they had supported her. He could use a lighter touch this one time.


    ¡°I can make a unit in a couple of minutes, but I have to work on it after I clean up,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°As long as everything is deployed in guest mode, it will take twice as long


    to recharge. Maybe three times as long.¡±


    ¡°Guest mode?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I had thirty people here,¡± said Jack. He waved at the bubble of the table. ¡°And they


    all wanted to talk to you, but you missed it and they had to put up with me.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you told Beatrice¡¯s boyfriend he has to give up his fingers?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Again what would we do with them?¡±


    ¡°We could pickle them and put them as a sign to tell people no trespassing, or else,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I am sure it will work wonders on the tax collectors.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will,¡± said Josie. Her voice said how much she thought of his proposed


    deterrent. ¡°Speaking of tax collectors, did Duke Hent find the other magistrates for


    his shadow board?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Guin. ¡°But he did say an audit of the books was underway. He needed


    independent proof before he could move against any wrongdoers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably better than we hoped,¡± said Jack. He smiled. He had a small plate


    in his hands from the kitchen. He went through the food with a fork as he stood inside


    the ring of space. ¡°After all, not many people would accept two people breaking into


    their houses, walking them to the central archive of the Tax Service, and showing


    them thousands of entries where their property had been robbed of millions of gold


    pieces, and they only had a limited way of getting it back. An audit allows him to


    demonstrate that he is not as stupid as he looks and that he either crushes the


    offenders, or folds them under his wing like the old Duke did before I talked to him.¡±


    ¡°You talked to the old Duke Hent?,¡± asked Budd. ¡°How did that go?¡±


    ¡°The two seconds I had was all I needed,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead and finish your meal.


    I have cake and ice cream. Then we are going to have to ask Todd what his intentions


    are.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we should stick around for that,¡± said Fass. ¡°That is something that


    should stay in the confines of your family as weird as it may seem.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree with the assessment,¡± said Guin. ¡°I doubt Master Fain is going to


    want to be more embarrassed than he already was.¡±


    ¡°Show Master Guin the book we got from Markam¡¯s camp,¡± said Josie. ¡°Master


    Guin, if you can tell us anything about those holdings, that would be good. We found


    some leads that led up to Cairn where Emily was being held. If you can give us


    something to strike at in Shemmaria, that would be even better.¡±


    ¡°We can do that tomorrow,¡± said Fass. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can go through another round


    of planning right now after all this food. I would like to get some sleep and look at


    things fresh in the morning.¡±


    ¡°So would I,¡± said Guin. ¡°If you will come to the Silver Coin tomorrow at about the


    third call, I will set up a space where we can work.¡±


    ¡°I would like a priority target to destroy,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want to disrupt their supply


    chain and seize anything not nailed down.¡±


    ¡°You want something that will cost money to replace?,¡± asked Guin. He locked his


    hands together. ¡°You might have to take more than one target.¡±


    ¡°If the two of you can get me something that will hurt the Montrose enough that they


    stop operating until I can find their leadership,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Take your time, plan out a few days,¡± said Jack. He put his empty plate down. ¡°I¡¯m


    going to have to look some things over for Rick¡¯s people. And if the Lich Queen


    shows up, we might really be in open warfare.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Guin. ¡°Good luck with your domestic situation. I rarely found


    them working out any way like I intended with my family.¡±


    He stood to go, and so did Linus.


    ¡°I will be ready on the morrow, Master Fass,¡± said Guin. ¡°I am sure that there will be


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.a host of targets to select and ready for plucking.¡±


    ¡°I will be there,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Would you like to take some of the food home with you?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I made


    plenty.¡±


    ¡°I think I will fast for the next few days,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°Could I have some more of the cake?,¡± said Linus. ¡°It will make the others jealous.¡±


    ¡°Sure, buddy,¡± said Jack. He went into the apartment and brought out a whole cake


    on a covered dish. ¡°Take it with my blessing.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Linus. He peeked under the cover and smiled. ¡°I take back some


    of the things I said about you.¡±


    ¡°You said bad things about me?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I slaved over this food. I worked my


    fingers to the bone. The least you can do is take back all the bad things you said.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it, Linus,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t give into the emotional blackmail and the


    attempt to make you feel guilty.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± said Linus. ¡°Not with this delight in my hands to make me feel better.¡±


    The mobsters strolled off, Guin waving at his carriage to pick him up.


    ¡°We have to go too,¡± said Fass. ¡°This has been an exciting and enriching day for us.


    I¡¯m sure Guin will let you know about any town we want you to destroy.¡±


    ¡°I was hoping to get another piece of cake,¡± said one of the fighters. Jack didn¡¯t have


    all of their names down in the brief time they had taken spots at the table.


    He went back into the apartment and came out with two trays. He handed them to the


    fighters. He smiled at their expressions.


    ¡°The one on the left is more cake,¡± he said. ¡°The one on the right is leftover food you


    can put in an icebox and eat tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the best witch¡¯s brother I have ever met,¡± said the guy with the cake.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that,¡± said Jack. He waved them off as they started back to their


    quarters.


    ¡°Let me let some of this digest before we talk to Todd and Bea,¡± said Josie. She


    leaned back from the table. ¡°This was a spread and a half.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to start shutting the kitchen down,¡± said Jack. ¡°It draws a lot of power


    doing what I did to expand the hearth and icebox. Once I have that back to normal,


    we have our talk, and then I take the table back inside.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think I am going to sit here unable to move and watch the


    street.¡±


    Jack went into the kitchen and looked at his robots. They had worked perfectly as


    chefs. They had cooked everything to perfection.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to shut everything down now, guys,¡± Jack said. He pushed back a twinge


    of guilt at just making these cooks only to shut them down when he no longer needed


    them. ¡°You did a good job. Everyone was impressed by the work you put in.¡±


    The servants bowed the best they could. They did some last second cleaning before


    being cut off.


    Jack took their rings so they would safely power down. He placed them in a cannister,


    before pulling the ring for the hearthstone out of the wall. That shrank down and went


    on top of the cooks. He checked the icebox. If he cut that off, the food in it would


    spoil before they could eat it all. He left the ring in place but cut off the duplicating


    effect so they could use everything up before it went bad.


    He placed the cannister on the top shelf in the pantry to keep out of reach of people


    who didn¡¯t know what they were doing. He checked the hearth one more time to make


    sure all the food cooking in it had been served.


    He stepped outside. The table ring had to go too. It was drawing more power than


    what he wanted it to have. As soon as their talk was over, he would get rid of the ring


    and move the table inside.


    Bea and Todd came up without the others. He considered that to be a good move


    since he would have to shoo the other girls away instead of letting them in on Bea¡¯s


    business which she obviously didn¡¯t want.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said Josie. She shifted in her chair. ¡°I¡¯m Josie Fox. How do you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Todd. ¡°The dinner was excellent.¡±


    ¡°It was great,¡± said Jack. He smiled as he took up a spot behind Josie.


    ¡°Beatrice hasn¡¯t told us anything about you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are you two moving in


    together, getting married? I¡¯m not taking fingers for a dowry so you don¡¯t have to


    hide your hands.¡±


    Jack wondered when the last time he was as green as this boy seemed.


    ¡°We just started courting,¡± said Todd. ¡°I don¡¯t know what we are going to do. My pay


    from the Guild only goes so far to keep me in shelter.¡±


    ¡°What do you do?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I was brought in to help with general services for the adventurers and clerks,¡± said


    Todd. ¡°Sally, the head clerk, is the defacto manager since no one can find Guan,


    so she hired me to help with the books, get supplies, point adventurers at certain


    quests we feel are important and not what they would usually take. Actual quests pay


    more but you have to have experience to be able to make demands for jobs. I don¡¯t


    have that yet.¡±


    ¡°Actual quests are more dangerous than being a clerk,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s the only way to make money,¡± said Todd. ¡°Right now, I can¡¯t


    support myself, much less a wife.¡±


    ¡°Beatrice is old enough to know her own mind,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will give you my


    blessing, but let¡¯s be clear, if you start courting someone else, have the courage to tell


    Beatrice first, and if anything happens to her, it better happen to you too.¡±


    ¡°When you two figure out what you want to do about housing and such,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let me know. Maybe I can put together something for you that will last as long as


    you both live.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to set him on fire?,¡± said Bea. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said Todd.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m saving that for when he does something so stupid that it¡¯s


    the least harmful result of fixing whatever problem he is in.¡±


    ¡°I like to think I would never do that,¡± said Todd.


    ¡°Everybody thinks that,¡± said Jack. ¡°And then the next thing you know, you get


    hit by a truck and have to fight fox spirits with your incredible expanding staff. If you


    two need help, we¡¯ll help you, which you knew Bea. Sneaking around is for little


    kids. Grab your first love and own it. That¡¯s what we used to do when I was a child.¡±


    ¡°You never did that,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°When I met Maria Gonsalvo, I grabbed hold of her in ways you have never thought


    to be grabbed,¡± said Jack. He winked at Josie. ¡°Too bad she stepped on an Eye Eee


    Dee, or I might not have left the Army.¡±


    ¡°You two are not that much older than me,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Are you?¡±


    ¡°You may kiss your beloved, Todd,¡± said Jack. ¡°But only kiss, and not here. The


    younger girls will want to know all these answers to their questions about face


    sucking, and I don¡¯t think I am qualified to give them the answers.¡±


    ¡°And you will be persecuted if something happens to Beatrice,¡± said Josie.

 The Model

    Josie watched the young lovers break away and head off where they could have their


    own space. She sat in her chair, hoping she was doing the right thing. She should


    have used the book of knowledge to take everything she wanted from Todd Fain to


    make sure his story was true.


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to move your lazy bones to the lazy bones couch,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    have to take the ring apart and move the table back inside where it belongs.¡±


    ¡°I have done a lot of work today,¡± said Josie. ¡°Killed a lot of people. I can be a little


    relaxed right now if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to be relaxed somewhere else so I can shut everything down so


    the watches recharge like normal,¡± said Jack. ¡°These spells interfere with the recharge


    function on our Omnis.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She watched the street. Some of the neighbors waved at her.


    She waved back. She wondered why they were waving. She couldn¡¯t remember ever


    talking to them.


    Josie stood and stepped out of the ring. She went to the wall of their place and


    watched as Jack transformed just long enough to pull the ring surrounding the table


    up from its place in the ground. He raised it high enough so it wouldn¡¯t touch the


    table before he shrank it down. He walked inside it to store it.


    ¡°What do you think the Shemmarians gain from buying women from here to take


    back across the border?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°What do mail order brides get?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see the connection,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Foreign women ask for Americans to marry them,¡± said Jack. ¡°Once they have their


    green card, they leave the husband.¡±


    ¡°Except the women can leave in this case,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Same principal,¡± said Jack. ¡°Someone over there wants more women for some


    reason. Let¡¯s say he wants to be like Genghis Khan and spread his seed everywhere.


    He doesn¡¯t have enough homegrown women. He needs women from somewhere else.


    He turns to an organization that sells women. Both sides know that they can¡¯t be


    caught so they have to keep things as secret as they can. Boom, here you are kicking


    over the chemistry shelf.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I like that as a theory. The nobles must be getting paid a ton


    of loot to risk the King dropping the axe.¡±


    ¡°They also don¡¯t just sell women,¡± said Jack. ¡°They have diversified into other things.


    The women trade is just something they do on top of everything else.¡±


    ¡°A shadow government opposed to the real government could be a thing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And again it was bad luck they grabbed you on our first day here,¡± said Jack. ¡°And


    while the Society was giving me flack, I don¡¯t think they care other than this is


    something we are doing when we could be doing their business faster.¡±


    Jack moved the table into the dining room with a flick of his hand. He stepped inside


    and made sure it was lined up the way it should be.


    ¡°So Rick said there was trouble in Lorelei¡¯s duchy?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I should go over


    and see what they need. How bad could a dragon be?¡±


    ¡°I already told him that I was going to look at it,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I will. I know some


    things about dragons.¡±


    ¡°You know some things,¡± said Josie. Her tone was unconvinced.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know some things. The problem is always going to be can we


    negotiate, or do we fight. I can do either, but hopefully I can just swoop in, bargain


    with big crusty, and swoop out with no one being hurt by the massive collateral


    damage that we could inflict in a major fight.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it is going to want to be called big crusty,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Use your big brain to find the Lich Queen, and Sawtooth,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know you


    can do it. I am going to make sure the icebox won¡¯t explode, and then I am going to


    sit and think for a bit.¡±


    ¡°If you talk to the Society, see if you can find out why the Shemmarians need the


    women,¡± said Josie. ¡°Their answer might help us stop the slave trade across the


    border.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll lie about it, but they might not give me the


    answer we need to the problem. They seem big on us figuring out how to solve things


    on our own.¡±


    Josie made a shrug. She had dealt with plenty of people like that. She found that


    straight answers prevented more problems. Telling someone to figure it out


    themselves was just passing the buck in her opinion.


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    ¡°I think I am going to move into Elaine¡¯s room, or maybe shift things around,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I am going to do right now.¡±


    ¡°We all noticed the Deadpool shirt you gave her,¡± said Josie. She smiled as Jack


    waved at her. ¡°The kids asked me for their own.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s okay for a Rob Liefeld creation,¡± said Jack. ¡°Probably better than Wolverine.¡±


    ¡°Are you and Elaine planning to get a separate place of your own?,¡± asked Josie. She


    had been around Jack off and on for years. She could see the gears moving in his head


    as he considered what the next step should be.


    ¡°Elaine and I will have to talk about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you will set the


    girls on fire if we aren¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°You set one guy on fire, and it follows you around until you die,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    didn¡¯t give them to the elves, just because I have dealt with Lorelei and Bob for a


    while.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that like it¡¯s a cookie earning thing,¡± said Jack. ¡°The next thing will be


    staying out of jail.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going up to the office and sit in my chair and think,¡± said Josie. ¡°The dinner was


    fine.¡±


    ¡°It was better than that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Would you like some hot chocolate?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll go over and look at this dragon with you.¡±


    ¡°One of us has to go,¡± said Jack. ¡°The other should work on the other quests. I think


    your model building is better for that than what I do.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t fall asleep down here.¡±


    ¡°Sleeping is the last thing I intend to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine is great for me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I need to know anything about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to my chair


    and I am going to think really hard.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going over to the duchy and look around the land of the


    elves for a bit. Maybe I can deal with this dragon, maybe I can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You better call me if you need help,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be happy if you


    get killed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°See if you can make a model of the country. No, do


    the continent. That way we can show these screwheads what airdropping a nuke looks


    like.¡±


    ¡°We are not dropping a nuke anywhere,¡± said Josie. ¡°That is way too much overkill.¡±


    ¡°There is no such thing,¡± said Jack. He dialed up his main magic user and stepped


    across the veil to the land of the elves with a wave of his abstract hand.


    Josie went up to the office. She looked at the model of the city as she sat down in the


    chair. The model of Cairn was still in the quinjet. She probably wouldn¡¯t have another


    use for it, but maybe she could adapt it to a second map if she wanted to redesign the


    thing.


    She studied the model and wondered how many people were being hurt inside the


    walls with no one to help them.


    She couldn¡¯t help everyone, but she could do things if she wanted. She had that


    ability with Zatanna and her scry birds. Did she want to make things so easy for


    people they resented her when she couldn¡¯t help them at all?


    What would Captain Marvel do?


    She decided that she needed to keep her mission narrow. She could do things, and


    help people, solve crimes, set people on fire. She could do those things, but she


    needed to concentrate on finding the objects of her quests and dealing with any


    Montrose elements in the city.


    The more she took on, the more she would lose when she failed. No one batted a


    hundred all the time. And she wanted to be ready to help her new family out if they


    needed her. She couldn¡¯t do that if she was trying to help the whole city at the same


    time. The day doing quests for the Adventurers had shown her that much now that she


    sat in her chair and considered the problem.


    She changed into Zatanna and fiddled with the model so it would change like a


    Google Map. The more zoomed in it was, the more detail would be rendered. She


    smiled at the result. Pulling the view back added in the continent in sparse detail.


    ¡°Show me the remaining Montrose members,¡± said Josie. Red sparks lit up all over


    the continent from Hawk Ridge to the oceans surrounding the coastlines.


    She pulled back on the map and saw more sparks on the oceans. Did the Montrose


    reach other continents? Would she have to chase them overseas when she was done


    with this side of the planet?


    She dialed back down to Hawk Ridge. There was a rough circle around the city. She


    might be able to swoop down and set a bunch of them on fire before they knew what


    happened to them.


    How many had women they were getting ready to move out of the city to somewhere


    else to force them to do things they wouldn¡¯t have agreed to do?


    She asked for Montrose victims who needed her help in the city. She saw a spot on


    the other side of the city from the Hole in the Wall. It looked like another major


    building operation. She marked the place with a bird. She could look it over before


    the girls came back and talked to her about Beatrice¡¯s beau.


    Josie wrote a note for the girls and left it on the dining room table so they wouldn¡¯t


    worry. She locked the place up and turned into a hawk to fly across town. She glided


    to a landing next to her red scry bird sitting on a roof of a cube a street over from the


    West Gate.


    She thought about what she wanted to do. She wanted them to open the door for her


    without them knowing it was her. She had a few people on her watch that could get


    her in. She decided on the Mist. He was an old Starman foe that had been brought


    back to modern times through the League/Society team-ups, and then Robinson¡¯s


    Starman. That should be enough to get her inside the building and let her have a


    lookaround at the security before she started doing things.


    She could probably get everyone out with Zatanna and her new trick of teleporting


    with her birds. Then she could set the rest on fire.


    Then she could head home and think about if her model could find the targets of her


    quests without any problems.


    She still needed to get inside to mark the women for her teleportation. She considered


    some of the things that might go wrong. Most of them could be countered if she acted


    fast enough.


    She decided she would feel better if she had people to help her, but everyone else was


    taking care of their own businesses. She would have to do the best she could and hope


    that she didn¡¯t get killed in the attempt.


    She waited on the roof for her watch to charge up to full power. She nodded when it


    dinged at her. She could just turn into Zatanna and walk through the walls, but the


    Mist could get in and be invisible for however long the watch¡¯s charge lasted.


    Then she could change into someone more capable of using deadly force.


    Bulletgirl would do what she needed as long as Josie didn¡¯t have to punch through


    someone to get things done.


    Josie crept under the door and flowed around in her foggy body, taking in the scene.


    She decided that she needed cover to change into her deadlier persona. Then she had


    to go to work.

 Dead Spot

    Jack let his persona go. He checked his watch. The charger was climbing faster than


    usual. Magic in the air was what he thought.


    He decided to walk until he found someone to ask for directions. There had to be a


    town with people to point him toward the home of Lorelei and Bob. He didn¡¯t know


    if they were an official couple, but they were linked together in his mind.


    He wondered if the Rick had a home, or did he roam the woods like Robin Hood?


    The champion of order looked around as he walked. Josie hadn¡¯t told him about


    anything strange, but he could see the land around him didn¡¯t seem right.


    He wondered if the magic in the air caused what he was seeing, or if the strange shape


    of things caused the magic. He decided that he could let it lie. He didn¡¯t have to know


    everything. He had to find his dragon and deal with it. Then Elaine could work her


    magic on him.


    He hoped Josie was staying out of trouble while he looked around. He didn¡¯t need to


    get home to find her covered in blood, and dressed in rags.


    He wondered what the dragon would be like. He doubted it would be cool like


    Bowzer. Maybe it would be something like Godzilla.


    Three guys in cloaks dropped on the path in front of him. They pulled knives to


    threaten him. He grinned at them, hands on his belt buckle. He had never been


    mugged after he had got out of the Army. He had been in the middle of an attempted


    robbery before he enlisted, but Rose, his sister, had put that guy in the hospital with


    the back of her hand and a car window.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± he asked mildly. ¡°I¡¯m Jack. Who are you guys?¡±


    ¡°Give us your money,¡± demanded the one in the middle.


    ¡°I read up on the Elf rules,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ve given you my name. You have to give me


    yours.¡±


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t,¡± said the bandit.


    ¡°Stab him so we can take his money and go,¡± said the one on the right. He had his


    head on a swivel, looking for anyone who might interfere.


    ¡°There¡¯s no money,¡± said Jack. His grin was even bigger. ¡°Duchess Lorelei and her


    knight are putting me up while I look at some kind of lizard problem for them. I was


    on my way to her place, but I was looking for someone to give me directions. And


    here you are.¡±


    ¡°We should leave,¡± said the one on the left. He pulled on the central bandit. ¡°We


    don¡¯t want to mess with the nobility especially after what happened in the Court.¡±


    ¡°Look, guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°I still need directions. You wouldn¡¯t happen to know where


    Lorelei¡¯s seat is do you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s north, follow the crows,¡± said the bandit on the right. He pointed in a direction


    off the road.


    ¡°So we¡¯re not going to have to settle this with blades?,¡± said Jack. ¡°That would be


    good. My partner would be angry if something happened to me. I¡¯m glad that she


    doesn¡¯t have to come over here and be unpleasant.¡±


    ¡°Who is your partner?,¡± said the bandit on the right.


    ¡°Josie Fox,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± said the bandit. He turned and fled down the road.


    ¡°Your partner is the Fox?,¡± said the bandit on the left. ¡°The Fox?¡±


    ¡°I just call her Jo-jo,¡± said Jack. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t believe that when she was a little girl


    she pushed some old woman down a flight of stairs, would you?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the bandit on the left. ¡°Especially after what happened at the King¡¯s


    castle.¡±


    ¡°Do you guys need a lift somewhere before I head out?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think we will be glad to walk,¡± said the central bandit. He turned and followed his


    friend down the road.


    ¡°Have a good night,¡± said the last bandit. He followed his two friends.


    Jack waved at them as he watched them hurry away. If things had turned bad, he


    would have called up Blade and asked them to deal with the resulting storm of blades.


    He faced in the direction pointed out by the one bandit. It was almost too much to ask


    for it to be the right direction. On the other hand, he didn¡¯t have anything to lose, and


    if he got close enough, he could try to copy Josie¡¯s bird to find the right place.


    He wondered what Josie had done to inspire such fear. He decided that she had been


    her usual self.


    Jack had to choose between Gravity and Falcon to fly to the hold. He decided on


    Gravity. He wanted to be able to defend himself, and ten Gs aimed straight down was


    enough to fix most problems he might run into in the air.


    Crushing victims like beer cans was not something he should do lightly, but if that


    was what it took, he had the world¡¯s biggest boot.


    He lifted into the air, flying as high as he could without an air supply. He saw various


    shelves of ribbons of dirt giving rise to islands of greenery. Some of those stage-like


    constructions had towns, and keeps, on a part of them. One of the castles he looked


    at formed a bridge between shelves.


    Which one was Lorelei¡¯s? He didn¡¯t see signs to point a weary traveler to where he


    had to go. Maybe he should adopt Josie¡¯s search method with one of his own


    creations.


    He supposed that he could it with the right spell.


    Once he had the right castle, he still had to get in. He doubted they would just open


    the door for him.


    He could knock on doors until someone told him the right place for him to go. Did


    he want to annoy the Elves until they gave him what he needed. On the other hand,


    he was there to fix their problem.


    He racked his head for an answer. He landed and let Gravity go. He didn¡¯t need to fly


    before he knew where to go. His mind went to the comics and movies he had seen and


    searched them for an answer.


    He decided to short cut the process with the help of Mister Fantastic. He took on the


    persona and thought about what he wanted with what he could do. The persona made


    a few notes and left them on the ground before returning back to the watch.


    Jack picked up and looked at the notes. He kicked himself for not seeing the machine


    he needed immediately. All he had to do was build the machine he needed and turn


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.it across the Elven dimension to find the people he wanted to talk to so he could take


    care of his business before Josie started riding his case.


    He took on his Majik persona and touched a tree. The tree changed to an antenna. It


    dropped a screen for him to look at as it turned in place. It produced a geographic


    picture on the screen to show him which castle he needed to visit. He marked the


    location before turning the tree back to normal.


    He changed to Gravity and flew over to where the small castle stood by itself like a


    lone tower in the middle of a small town. He let the persona go as he dropped down


    in front of the great door to allow the duchy¡¯s forces out from their base to defend the


    town from invaders.


    He walked up next to the gate and looked for a smaller entrance. He didn¡¯t see any


    smaller door. He wondered if he should just sneak in, or to make some kind of noise


    so the elves would talk to him.


    He could fly to the top of the wall and see if the sentries were awake. He didn¡¯t have


    a problem with a small scare before he talked to the Duchess and her knight.


    This was the kind of thing Spider-man was made for, but did he want to turn into a


    spider at the moment.


    He decided that he would just amplify his voice and hope for the best. He had a


    couple of sound people in his catalogue. He decided not use the Banshee. He didn¡¯t


    want to cause bad luck just trying to attract attention to his position.


    He called Siryn and called ¡°Hey! Anybody home?¡± into the air.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?,¡± called someone on the wall. Jack couldn¡¯t see him. He didn¡¯t know


    if the man could see him down at the base of the wall.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m here to see Lorelei and Bob about their problem. They wanted


    Josie Fox, but I¡¯m all they could get.¡±


    ¡°I will wake Sir Robert,¡± said the sentry. ¡°He will have the authority to answer you.


    The Josie is not with you?¡±


    ¡°Do you want her to be?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I can call her for you.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said the sentry. ¡°That will not be necessary. Just wait.¡±


    Jack let the persona go. He wondered what Josie had done to strike such fear. The


    Rick seemed able to deal with her just fine. The archery teacher might be


    exaggerating stories for the rank and file.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my problem until it becomes my problem,¡± said Jack.


    The gate lowered down. A troop of soldiers stood attendance with long hafted axes


    upraised. Lights sprang into existence. Jack nodded at the display.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m Jack. I¡¯m pleased to meet you. Would someone


    point me in the right direction?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Sir Robert,¡± said an elf pulling on his armored shirt. He frowned at this stranger


    in the night. ¡°The sentry said you are friends with Josie Fox.¡±


    ¡°Most days,¡± said Jack. ¡°Pleased to meet you. I¡¯m just here to look around. The Rick


    said there was a problem brewing up, and we¡¯re on the lookout for a dragon coming


    through here. I thought I would pop over and get a local to show me around.¡±


    ¡°The Rick gave us the food you shared with him,¡± said the knight. ¡°He said you had


    concocted a bubble for holding a sitting arrangement.¡±


    ¡°It was a little something,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie said you were good people, and she


    doesn¡¯t usually say that about anyone. She¡¯s back home looking into the other quests


    while I try to solve this for you.¡±


    ¡°Is the Rick doing a good job for you?,¡± said Sir Robert.


    ¡°Two of the girls are in love with him,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because he¡¯s


    showing them how to shoot, or because they never had anyone to crush on before.


    They¡¯re young, and he¡¯s a handsome devil.¡±


    ¡°I can get an uglier teacher,¡± said Sir Robert.


    ¡°I would rather leave that until Josie says something,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some things are not


    going to change. They will grow out of it and move on to someone else. Until then,


    I have to fix the Society¡¯s problems, decide on what to get my beloved, and think of


    ways to mock people.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are good at two of those things,¡± said Sir Robert. He smiled.


    ¡°I like to think I am good at all three,¡± said Jack. ¡°And with a host of hidden talents


    that no one ever thought of having in one man before except maybe Lester Dent. The


    Rick said you had a spot you were keeping an eye on. I think that will be my first


    stop. Then I will expand my search until I have some clue about what I am trying to


    find.¡±


    ¡°Our guards have alerted us to a spot some of the wildness has started to avoid,¡± said


    Sir Robert. ¡°I¡¯ll take you out there myself.¡±


    ¡°Can you just give me a guide?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want Josie to have someone familiar


    on the ground in case I blow things.¡±


    ¡°Lori will be glad to do that if something happens to me,¡± said Sir Robert.


    ¡°Lori?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we call her behind her back so we don¡¯t have to put on airs all the time,¡±


    said Sir Robert.


    ¡°That kind of thinking will get you turned into a crispy critter, my friend,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she will mind as much as her father,¡± said Sir Robert. ¡°I will send you


    out with one of the countrymen Josie has asked us to watch for her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine as long as he can lead the way without getting himself killed,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°He has made much improvement over the last day, or so,¡± said Sir Robert. ¡°Gall,


    report to the main gate, please.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will take him. I hope he has got much better than he had been


    when he tried to waylay Josie.¡±


    ¡°He only has to be brave once before I can send him home to his family,¡± said the


    knight.


    Quiton Gall arrived in a set of iron armor, carrying a new halberd. He rested it when


    he assumed attention in front of Sir Robert and Jack. He looked at Jack, but said


    nothing.


    ¡°Infantryman Gall,¡± said Sir Robert. ¡°I have a mission for you. You are to escort this


    visitor to the dead spot beyond the Dire Woods. You are to await disposition, and


    report back. You are to deal with anything that gets in your way as well as you can.¡±


    ¡°I will be glad to go,¡± said Infantryman Gall. He didn¡¯t look like he was glad to go.


    ¡°Which way is this spot?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°That way,¡± said Sir Robert. ¡°The mileage is not known.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come along, Gall. I¡¯ll look out for you as much as I can. Josie


    won¡¯t like it if I embarrass her in front of her friends.¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Sir Robert. ¡°I don¡¯t want to send a letter to Josie to notify her that


    you were killed on this expedition.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re invited to the wedding if Elaine and I set the date,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m sure


    the kids will be over the moon.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the knight.


    ¡°They have only met the Rick,¡± said Jack. ¡°They would love a real elf. Laura would


    fangirl I tell you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is, but I am sure that¡¯s good,¡± said Sir Robert.


    ¡°Come along, Gall,¡± said Jack. ¡°I hope you like flying.¡±


    He switched to Gravity and lifted the both of them in the air. He pulled the


    infantryman up to give them an extensive look at the surrounding countryside. Gall


    made a sound short of a scream at the height they were hovering.


    ¡°Which way do we go?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°That way,¡± said Gall. He pointed at a shelf of trees to the west of the castle. He held


    his hand over his mouth to keep from throwing up.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He pulled the infantryman along as he floated across the


    landscape. He checked the air as he went. He didn¡¯t want to deal with monster birds


    attacking while he had someone he might have to drop to his death.


    He swept over the trees and spotted a clear spot of dirt on the ground. He dropped


    down inside the trees. He put Gall down. He directed the soldier to hide


    behind a tree.


    ¡°I am going to look this over,¡± said Jack. ¡°Stay out of the way. If the dragon shows


    up, run back and let Sir Robert know there¡¯s trouble on the way.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want help?,¡± said Gall. He clutched his halberd at the ready.


    ¡°Do you know any magic?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°I will need you to let Robert know he is going to need more help more than I need


    you to get killed,¡± said Jack. ¡°I definitely don¡¯t want Josie to give me a lecture


    about how I should have called for help, and the both of us got killed at the same


    time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how she will lecture you if we¡¯re both dead, but I will take your word


    for that,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to take a look around. Best hope is we know what


    the problem is and can think of a solution. Worse case, we deal with the problem right


    now with fire and blood.¡±


    ¡°I would rather the first, and not the second,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°Here we go,¡± said Jack.


    He called on Majik and grabbed some leaves to make into a scanner. He pointed the


    device at the dead spot and watched the screen as it sorted things. He frowned at the


    depression it showed him. It seemed to be the cause of the dead ground in the middle


    of the forest.


    The mana flowed into that depression. He frowned as his watch seemed to be losing


    power faster than normal. He had a solution that he could place immediately. He


    didn¡¯t know if it would work like he wanted, but he didn¡¯t really have that much to


    lose.


    He stood at the edge of the depression. He created a ring around the bald spot out of


    a line of individual grasses. He activated his spell and his watch started ticking over


    at the speed he associated with the Elfheim.


    He held up the screen. The air moved normally. He nodded. He had cut the drain


    off in a matter of seconds.


    Was this the dragon trying to power up? Had he come across a totally different


    menace and the dragon was still out there? Could he take a dragon if he had to do


    that?


    He frowned. What did he do now? He should back off and let things settle.


    The ground inside the ring began to drop away. He stepped back. He frowned at the


    giant claw digging its way out of the ground.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°It looks like this is a dragon.¡±

 Fire Bird

    Josie found a niche behind a stack of boxes to change back. She needed to get rid of


    the foggy body of the Mist, and take on Bulletgirl so she could dispense some justice.


    She realized that she could do things easier with her new trick. That would clear the


    building for her to go to town, and get the women somewhere they could be helped.


    She thought her plan over as she assembled her fog under cover and changed back to


    normal.


    The only flaw was she wasn¡¯t going to be able to move fast as Zatanna, and she


    needed to premake some birds first.


    The rest would be able to take care of itself with her acting as a manager if she missed


    something.


    Jack and the Society would love her new soft approach to hammering nails. She could


    feel that in her bones. Then she could check on the girls and make sure Jack wasn¡¯t


    doing something stupid.


    She knew him, and she knew how he liked to do things despite his protestations of


    innocence.


    She checked her watch. She wrote a note to Jane. That would be the first thing to be


    done when she started. She wasn¡¯t sending any of these women back home until she


    knew she wasn¡¯t sending them back to the men who sold them.


    She would apologize for her suspicions if she had to do that after the action was over.


    Two teleports were just as easy as one if you were worried about what was on the


    other end.


    She became Zatanna and sent the note. Someone at Jane¡¯s house would see the note


    and know that Josie was doing something. It wouldn¡¯t matter if they could read it or


    not. They would know that she was doing something.


    She created a bunch of the scry birds and sent them to Jane¡¯s yard. The fiery avians


    flew through the walls and headed across the city. She would know when they were


    in place. All she had to do was hold on for a few moments. Some of the men trying


    to force the women into cages paused when they saw the birds flying through the


    warehouse to their destination.


    Birds of fire were a troubling sign that something was about to go wrong according


    to some of the talking she overheard. She might have to do something before the birds


    were ready.


    She frowned at the setup. This was just like the other building they had raided but


    there were stacks of cages with ladders to the topmost, and no second floor.


    Everything was in front of her. Her cover was a stack of dry food collected in boxes


    on side of the building.


    The birds called they were ready. She ordered them to complete their second task.


    One by one, they popped on Jane¡¯s yard. When they did, a captive woman fell out of


    a cage, or a human grip, and dropped on the grass.


    Jane would figure everything out from the short note and the sudden guests inside her


    walls. She would call if she needed help, or clarification.


    Josie did a scan and smiled when it came back empty of bystanders. She could treat


    the traffickers the same way with a less friendly landing zone. There would be no


    splattered bodies or even evidence she had interceded.


    She created enough scry birds to match the milling guards. They were calling to each


    other in panic. She nodded when she had enough, and the spell said it had one to one


    matching with her targets.


    She picked a spot for them to land after they appeared when the birds called them


    from their end of the chains they now wore. The birds flew off to make things happen.


    She waited for a while as the birds carried their ends to the designated area. She


    nodded when she heard the dinging that they had reached where she had selected to


    be the landing zone.


    The birds were thousands of feet in the air, but since they weren¡¯t alive, that didn¡¯t


    matter.


    She told them to pop out of existence and drag the other ends of their chains to them.


    The guards vanished one by one. Some rushed for the doors, vanishing in midstride.


    They appeared over the camp she and Fass had raided that day. She wished them the


    best of luck as they cascaded into the ground, camping gear, and dead bodies they had


    left behind.


    Some of the targets might have survived the impact. If they did, she wished them the


    best of luck with any hungry beast that might come along.


    She changed back and looked around at the empty place. She frowned at the stacks


    of cages, chains, and what looked like braziers with brands in them. They couldn¡¯t


    rely on the alchemy anymore, so it looked like they were going back to a burned in


    rose as a marker.


    She wondered how they took their sudden deaths. She thought she should feel guilty


    about things. Instead she had a sudden long bell sound followed by single dings that


    told her she had done the right thing.


    In the face of that, she was prepared to be a bit happier than what was normal for a


    mass murder following a mass transportation of possible victims to help.


    She needed to go to Jane¡¯s and try to settle the women down and send them home if


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.they wanted to go home. After that, she had to get to her home, and check on the rest


    of her adopted family.


    She doubted Jane wanted people just popping up, but she felt that her mansion was


    the right place to send people until they could be sorted out. Once that was done, Jane


    could straighten things out and help others on her street.


    She wondered how long the Amazons would stick around. There had been famous


    charity places on Earth that folded after the founder had died. She didn¡¯t want that to


    happen to Jane¡¯s house but what could she do if it did happen?


    She didn¡¯t have what it took to be helpful to people day in and day out.


    She changed back into Zatanna and wished she was at Jane¡¯s house. She appeared


    outside of the gate. The former captives milled around, the Amazons trying to sort


    things out and figure out what their new arrivals wanted.


    Josie let Zatanna go. She waved at one of the gate women trying to figure out what


    they were supposed to do. The woman smiled when she recognized the shorter


    woman in a poncho.


    ¡°Your doing?,¡± asked the gate woman, opening the gate for Josie to come inside.


    ¡°I was testing out some new stuff,¡± said Josie. ¡°I found these women in a warehouse


    on the other side of the city and performed a rescue. I wanted to make sure they were


    safe before I went to work.¡±


    ¡°They all seem confused about what happened,¡± said the gate woman. ¡°We were


    confused by why they were here. What¡¯s the next step?¡±


    ¡°I send as many as I can home so they can go back to their lives,¡± said Josie. ¡°If none


    of them want to go home, I guess they stay here until they can get jobs and find places


    of their own.¡±


    ¡°If you keep this up, you will have to build a bigger house,¡± said the Amazon. She


    indicated the yard full of women.


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Josie. ¡°At a certain point, I might have to build one of these places


    in every major city across the country.¡±


    ¡°The problem that big?,¡± asked the gate woman.


    ¡°There are tons of these guys everywhere,¡± said Josie. ¡°Just because Jack and I are


    snapping off the local branch, it doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re chopping the tree down. We need


    to get at the core of this and pull everything up so it doesn¡¯t grow back. The object


    lessons we¡¯re handing out aren¡¯t doing anything since no one but the locals know


    what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°I know that feeling,¡± said the Amazon. ¡°I think you will hit on an idea that will


    work. You guys seem big on pulling out weird things to solve mundane problems.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me talk to these women, and then we¡¯ll see how many


    Jane can do anything with to help out.¡±


    Josie walked into the yard. She looked at the mass confusion. She smiled slightly that


    most were happy not to be in chains and being sent somewhere strange because


    someone else said so.


    ¡°Hey, everybody!,¡± she called. She clapped her hands to attract their attention. ¡°Do


    any of you live here in the city?¡±


    Calls of I do ran through the crowd. Some of them waved their hands to get Josie to


    look at them.


    ¡°Do you want to go home?,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you have a place to go, step to the left by


    Hilda.¡±


    Hilda raised her hand to show them whom Josie meant. The crowd flocked to her.


    Josie became Zatanna and sent out a horde of birds to where they needed to go. She


    supposed she would be able to use one bird as a mobile station eventually, but this


    concept was working for her and a little more casting time didn¡¯t matter in this


    situation. When the birds got to where they should be, they returned to the mana as


    soon as that particular woman appeared on the doorstep.


    ¡°How many of the rest of you have homes you want to go back to?,¡± Josie asked the


    remainder. Only half had been sent away. Where had these come from?


    This crowd quickly joined Hilda without being told. Some of them had scars from


    their manacles, and from whippings when their rags shifted just right. It made Josie


    take a firmer expression.


    Maybe dropping the Montrose out of the air was too merciful.


    She sent out the birds and waited. The women started disappearing one by one. At


    least one was from Kearnly from the talk Josie overheard. She was going to have to


    go back out there and do something in her opinion.


    She had already decided it would be something unpleasant, maybe bog beast related.


    Three women remained. They seemed out of sorts, and maybe had suffered the most


    out of all the women Josie had recovered.


    She could put a curse down, but she didn¡¯t quite know how to heal their minds from


    the injuries they had taken. But they could stay with Jane, and maybe she could help


    them.


    Josie let Zatanna go. Her dark eyes glared at them. She hoped they knew they were


    safe.


    ¡°No place to go?,¡± asked Hilda. She was Jane¡¯s second, and a rough sort. She looked


    at the three strangers with her hands on her hips. Someone had shaved one side of her


    head and let the rest of her blond strands fall down the other side. ¡°I¡¯m Hilda. If you


    have no place to go, you can stay here. We¡¯ll put you up for a bit. You can sign up for


    work, look for a place to move so you don¡¯t have to live on the grounds. Meals are


    at dawn, noon, and sunset. If you stay here, everyone works to keep the place up. It¡¯s


    best if you can find a job you are good at instead of trying some where you aren¡¯t.


    You can leave any time. If you have any questions, just ask. Jane runs the place so she


    is trying to keep things running okay without eating us up. We have some cold food


    in the kitchen if you want it, baths on side of the house, and fresh clothes. We will


    need to add you to the books so you can get the pittance we call an allowance so you


    can buy things at the market for your own use. Let¡¯s go get this sorted out so you can


    settle in and try to get a grip of things.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s that woman?,¡± asked one of the rescuees. She pointed at Josie standing off


    to one side.


    ¡°That is the right honorable Josie Fox,¡± said Hilda. ¡°She is the meanest, angriest


    witch that ever lived. Say yes, Mum, when you see her and keep walking. She is a


    tower of hate crammed into a small bag of evil. She¡¯ll rip your ears off if you¡¯re not


    careful. That¡¯s what happened to Carol. Now let¡¯s get you sorted out and on the


    path.¡±


    ¡°Someone told her about the ear ripper thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°Only Bob knows about


    that. He must have told the Rick, and Rick must have told Harp. I can¡¯t believe this.


    You threaten to rip one guy¡¯s ear off and it follows you around like a lonely puppy.¡±


    ¡°It is a specific threat,¡± said the gate woman. She hid her smile.


    ¡°And I didn¡¯t rip Carol¡¯s ear off,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t even know Carol.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the one missing one ear,¡± said the Amazon.


    ¡°If I had the time, there would be some more missing ears, I¡¯ll tell you that,¡± said


    Josie. She huffed. ¡°All right. I have other things to do. I can¡¯t just teach people


    lessons because they are on my nerves. I have to get home.¡±


    ¡°I will tell Hilda not to tell the new girls you ripped Carol¡¯s ear off,¡± said the gate


    woman. ¡°She¡¯ll come up with something else to impress any more new girls we might


    take in.¡±


    ¡°Let her keep it,¡± said Josie. ¡°She better watch out if I get a big black hat and a bad


    tempered black cat is all I am saying.¡±

 Henry Pym Is My Friend

    Jack stood back and watched as more and more of the lizard emerged from the hole


    in the world. He made sure to tell his ring to keep expanding as more and more of it


    appeared. He took a few steps back to keep from the inside of the ring as it expanded


    with the giant winged lizard.


    The last thing he wanted was to be in a confined area with his watch cut off from


    whatever powered it while taking on a giant blue monster.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m Jack.¡±


    ¡°What makes you think I care?,¡± said the dragon. It peered down at the enemy facing


    it.


    ¡°It¡¯s just basic politeness,¡± said Jack. ¡°I tell you my name and you tell me yours. Then


    we talk about the weather, or something.¡±


    ¡°I am Aviras,¡± said the dragon. ¡°You are bold for a human who is about to die.¡±


    ¡°You know what they say,¡± said Jack. ¡°There are old humans, and bold humans, but


    no old, bold humans at all.¡±


    ¡°Why are you messing with me, human?,¡± said the dragon.


    ¡°The people I represent want the Duchy that you are standing in to continue


    unimpeded and unharmed,¡± said Jack. ¡°That might change in the future, but right now


    at this moment, I have been asked to keep you out of the land until further notice. I


    would like to ask you to go back where you were and stop draining the life out of


    everything.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why I should do that,¡± said the dragon. ¡°I have drained too much out of


    my home, and now must seek out my food here and the places I can sense beyond this


    world.¡±


    ¡°And the Duchy is just your current meal?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly right,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I eat the world until it becomes something good


    and true.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound like it will be good and true,¡± said Jack. ¡°In any case, you are going


    to stop bothering the land here.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see a reason to do that,¡± said Aviras. ¡°My sole reason for being here is to


    make sure nothing happens to my source of food and here you are telling me I can¡¯t


    eat. Do you see where that would be a point of contention between us?¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should go on a diet,¡± said Jack. ¡°Anyways, it isn¡¯t a point of contention.


    The Society doesn¡¯t want you eating the elves, my friend doesn¡¯t want you eating the


    elves. I don¡¯t really care if you eat the elves, but I am definitely not getting my friend


    angry at me. So what we need is a halfway point where you don¡¯t eat the elves, and


    I don¡¯t have to put up with the stress.¡±


    ¡°What kind of halfway point would you suggest?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I can build you a mana charger to gather all the loose mana still left in your home


    dimension so you can eat there without spreading out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can build it into


    this ring. Then you can go home and a stream of mana would keep you fed without


    killing everything here.¡±


    ¡°Let us see how that works,¡± said Aviras.


    Jack changed to Majik, checking his watch. He had only one try to be tricky.


    Anything else and he was going to be killed.


    He changed the ring. He saw Aviras smile as mana was slowly drifted into the ring.


    The dragon stretched its wings.


    He looked at Jack who reverted back to normal. Jack smiled outside the ring. Why


    was the human smiling?


    ¡°What is the smile about?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I know a smile when I see it,¡± said Aviras. He stretched his neck toward the human.


    One fire blast would get rid of this unknown menace. Maybe that is what he should


    do now that he had something just bombarding him with mana.


    ¡°Can I tell you a story?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why you want to do that,¡± said Aviras. It waved a claw. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Let me go back like eighty-ninety-years my time,¡± said Jack. He sat down on the


    ground. He wasn¡¯t that close to the ring, but he wouldn¡¯t have been able to run if


    Aviras wanted to hurt him.


    ¡°People were buying these things called pulps,¡± said Jack. ¡°They were magazines that


    contained weird ghost stories, mysteries with hard detectives, and The Shadow, The


    Master of Darkness. A group of people decided that they could make the same type


    of stories but with pictures.


    ¡°I am going to stick to the history part of this and not get into a breakdown of what


    these picture books looked like if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said the dragon. ¡°I don¡¯t see how that is relevant to this situation, but


    proceed while you can.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now once these picture books got popular, they were sent all


    over the world. A major war across the continents was raging and these picture books


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.were traveling with the troops, and inspiring picture books in other countries who


    hadn¡¯t seen the like before.


    ¡°Companies came and went, characters rising and falling after the war and across the


    decades. A guy named Martin Goodman saw his chance to create another company


    to challenge the king of comic book companies, and the middle class of the others.


    He hired a guy named Stan Lee whom he had worked with to help start a new


    company. Lee hired two guys he knew to come in as his starter artists and coworkers.


    He had a ton of stuff to do, and these guys had to be able to do things on their own.


    And they had to be fast artists to get the pages done.


    ¡°So we have Timely as the brand and Stan Lee riding herd on Jack Kirby and Steve


    Ditko for Martin Goodman. Ideas started flowing.


    ¡°Years later the three men would dispute who did what and what credit was owed.


    But that is out of the purview of this because we are close to the core of what I


    wanted to tell you.


    ¡°Still with me, big guy?¡±


    ¡°I am following along with interest,¡± said Aviras. Flame leaked out of his beak-like


    snout.


    ¡°Now Timely, which would get a name change to Marvel, was doing superhero


    stories to match up with what the king and the other companies were doing. They


    were also doing like weird science stories and invasions from space and things like


    that,¡± said Jack. ¡°One of these monster stories was about a man who accidentally


    shrunk himself down to the size of an ant. He recovered and got his original size back


    at the end of the story. It was what is called a catalogue story. It¡¯s not really


    important, it stands alone, and the hero is kind of the stereotype of a mad scientist at


    the mercy of his own invention.¡±


    ¡°Is this relevant with the rest, or are you talking to hear yourself?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Both,¡± said Jack. ¡°You see Goodman wanted teams to compete with the other


    company¡¯s new Justice League, and Doom Patrol, and Teen Titans. So he tells Lee


    to think of something. Lee turns to Kirby, they throw a few ideas on the wall to see


    what hits. One of their ideas is the Avengers. And the Avengers as a group have been


    one of Marvel¡¯s top teams ever since. Every new writer wants to take that team and


    turn it into their own creation with their own things added on to it.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s like Matilda telling us about Gowan Hand in a way.


    ¡°So the ant man I was telling you about became the Ant Man for the Avengers with


    the ability to get small and the power to control ants. His girlfriend becomes the Wasp


    who can shrink down and fly. They are joined by three other guys Lee and Kirby


    worked on. Thor, Iron Man, the Hulk make up the rest of the team. Their first enemy


    is against Thor¡¯s brother, Loki. So they stick together for a bit but the Hulk is written


    as surly as my friend Josie so he leaves, and Lee and Kirby bring in one of Kirby¡¯s


    creations from the big war, Captain America, who basically is the Avengers at this


    point. Almost every line up has Captain America as the guy saving the day.¡±


    ¡°And all of this is relevant how?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Henry Pym, the Ant Man, has a lot of mental problems,¡± said Jack. ¡°At this point in


    his history, some of the dumber writers who use him emphasize those problems, but


    they have also made him the controller of size. Early in his career, he found out how


    to reverse his ant formula to make him a giant. Then he figured out how to use it


    tactically. He also had some mishaps and side issues along the way. I don¡¯t even want


    to tell you about Ultron.¡±


    ¡°Again I fail to see how this is relevant,¡± said Aviras. More flame was leaking from


    his snout as he looked down at Jack. There was something wrong about this. This


    human should be screaming in fear.


    ¡°Like I said, Hank Pym, a man with eight, or nine, names, but usually the Ant Man,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Controlled the size of any object.¡±


    He held up a switch and pressed the button on the top of it.


    Aviras opened his mouth to breathe flame on his enemy. He looked up at the human


    who grew taller than he was. He looked around. Jack hadn¡¯t grown taller. He had


    shrunk.


    He roared in fury. It sounded like a kitten¡¯s weak mewling.


    ¡°Before you get all angry,¡± said Jack. He became Majik again. He waved his hand to


    create a bowl out of the ring around the dragon. It had shrank with him as it was


    designed to do. ¡°I¡¯m willing to trade with you.¡±


    ¡°I will kill you,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I will roast your bones, and chew your face off.¡±


    ¡°Then I guess you want to be six inches long forever,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll just send you


    back to your home so you can be a warning to the next dragon who wants to fool


    around and find out. The Society takes this stuff seriously. They don¡¯t really care


    what I do to you to accomplish their aims. They just want it done.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to trade, human?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°What do you want first?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I think once we settle that part, then we can


    talk about what I want.¡±


    ¡°I want my rightful size and power back,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I want to take as much magic


    out of the air as I can. I want to eat until I am full.¡±


    ¡°But you are never full,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s some clear goals. I respect it. Getting back


    what you lost is something everyone wants.¡±


    ¡°What do you want, human?,¡± asked the dragon.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Jack. ¡°I already have one cranky roommate. I don¡¯t have much use


    for another one.¡±


    Jack modified the ring and the island it had pulled out of the ground to have a handle


    so he could carry it like a basket.


    ¡°What¡¯s going to happen right now,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to Bob and Lorelei


    and then we¡¯re going home. I will get you some food, and we¡¯ll see what we can do


    about the rest of this. I know you think you can be all weaselly, but I am going to let


    my partner have you to see what kind of real curse she can put on you. Jo will show


    you some things, my friend.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to meet this Jo,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll tell her you are friendly. Maybe she won¡¯t give you


    cancer.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°It¡¯s a disease that eats you up from the inside,¡± said Jack. ¡°The more it eats, the more


    it spreads. The more it spreads, the more it eats. Eventually you drop dead without


    someone to take it out of you.¡±


    Gall stepped out of the trees. He held his halberd at the ready. He didn¡¯t look like he


    wanted to get too close.


    ¡°You were talking, and then you shrank him,¡± said Gall. ¡°I can¡¯t believe what I saw.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going back up to the castle,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to get home and let the others


    know things are okay. Josie or I will talk to your wife. I know Josie talked to her


    earlier so she can get help from Jane. If you do good, Bob will send you home. If you


    want your wife and kids to come here, I will talk to Bob to get them here with you.¡±


    ¡°Let them stay in the city,¡± said Gall. ¡°The Dire Woods are more dangerous than the


    human world.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you think, Aviras? You could stay here in the Dire


    Woods and defend the castle until you are big enough to go home.¡±


    ¡°Why would I do that?,¡± said the tiny dragon.


    ¡°Helping others helps yourself,¡± said Jack. ¡°Remember, my tiny new friend, everyone


    matters, or no one matters.¡±


    ¡°I am not your friend,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I hate you.¡±


    ¡°You are going to be small a long time with that attitude,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°Tiny--new--friend.¡±


    He carried them across the Elven woods as the quest list dinged.

 The Dragons

    Josie appeared in the Hole in the Wall¡¯s office. She sat down behind the desk and


    looked at the model she had constructed. The thing worked great for what they


    needed.


    Red dots congregated north of the city. Were there more magical problems up there?


    Would the idiots wake up the Lich Queen? Maybe she should swing by and have a


    word with them.


    She noted that the quest for the Dragon was gone. She wondered how Jack had done


    that. She wondered if he had done a Sleeping Beauty and threw a magically enhanced


    sword into the dragon so it died.


    She should have went with him, but if she had, the women she had rescued would


    have been shipped out of the city to somewhere else.


    She had made the right call to do what she had to do. She could ask Guin, or the


    Duke, who owned that building and where they lived.


    Paying them a visit would be something to arrange when she had the other things


    sorted out.


    Josie decided to check if the others were home, maybe raid the kitchen. If Jack was


    home, she would show him the improved model.


    He loved how magic worked. Improving something good into something better was


    something he would tell her was a good idea.


    She heard the girls arguing with a squeaky voice when she came down the stairs. She


    spotted Elaine and Jack leaning on each other. They were smiling at what was going


    on in the living room.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± Josie asked. She didn¡¯t like the sudden grin on Jack¡¯s face.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Jack. ¡°I made a new friend and brought him home to meet the girls.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She listened to the clamor from the living room. ¡°How


    dangerous is this new friend?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll bite your face off, mate,¡± said Jack. He was doing Gabriel Eglesias doing


    Steve Irwin. ¡°He¡¯s angry.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how angry he is,¡± said Josie. She stepped inside the living room.


    A blue lizard with wings roared from the back of the couch. He glared at the five girls


    present. Beatrice must be with her beau. The girls all had nets in their hands. Matilda


    had a burn mark in her hair.


    ¡°What is going on?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°These females are chasing me around, and I don¡¯t like it,¡± said the lizard. It flapped


    its wings. ¡°Call off your children before I bite their faces off.¡±


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie. Then louder because he wasn¡¯t presenting himself with the speed


    she wanted. ¡°Jack!¡±


    ¡°I heard you the first time,¡± said Jack. He stood in the door. ¡°What you want?¡±


    ¡°What is this?,¡± said Josie. She waved at the dragon on the couch. The beast glared


    at her over its crocodile snout.


    ¡°This is my tiny new friend, Aviras,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m not your friend,¡± said the dragon. ¡°I hate you for making me like this.¡±


    ¡°So you told the girls it would be okay to further torture this tiny new friend?,¡± said


    Josie. She could feel the blood pressure rise in her neck.


    ¡°We¡¯re trying to put him in his night basket,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Tomorrow, we are


    supposed to get him a terrarium.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want a night basket,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I want my freedom.¡±


    ¡°Tell her why you¡¯re not fifty feet long and full of flaming fury,¡± said Jack. ¡°Jo will


    love to hear your side of things.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Jo?,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Please do not give me cancer.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jo. She turned her glare on her friend. He grinned back at her. ¡°You


    told Hilda about the ear thing, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I would never stoop so low,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes, he would,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Look at me. I used to be majestic and handsome. Now


    I am a child¡¯s doll. He would stoop lower than this.¡±


    ¡°Our friend here drains all of the mana out of a place,¡± said Jack. ¡°He was starting on


    the Duchy, which is why the Society wanted us to drop the hammer on him and take


    him out.¡±


    ¡°So you brought him home?,¡± said Josie. She could feel the pain build in her eye. ¡°To


    the girls?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s mostly harmless,¡± said Jack. ¡°He will never be able to drain enough mana now


    to do anything. The only thing we have to worry about are his teeth and claws.¡±


    Aviras breathed fire at him, but he was standing outside the range of the tiny flame.


    ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have to worry about him setting fire to the place while


    he is roaming around.¡±


    Josie rubbed her face. It didn¡¯t help her headache go away, but the sensation


    Stolen story; please report.distracted her from wanting to kill her friend.


    ¡°Come here, dragon,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to sit down at the dining room table.


    Clean up this mess, girls. Then go over your lessons before going to bed. Elaine,


    please see what you can do about Matilda¡¯s hair. I can see why Beatrice didn¡¯t want


    us to meet Todd now.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to give me cancer?,¡± asked the dragon.


    ¡°Buddy, out of all the things I might be stopping myself from doing, that is the least


    of your concerns at this moment,¡± said Josie. ¡°Am I clear?¡±


    She held out her hand.


    Aviras inspected the hand for a moment. He decided that it wasn¡¯t going to hurt him.


    He made a running leap from the couch, using his wings to give him enough lift to


    reach the appendage. He sat in the palm and watched the room as Josie took him


    into the dining room and put him on the table.


    ¡°Sit,¡± said Josie. She pointed at one of the places for Jack to sit. ¡°I¡¯m disappointed


    that you let the girls chase this dangerous beast around, and let Matilda¡¯s hair get


    struck, and did nothing.¡±


    ¡°I am disappointed too,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°You shut up,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re not in the business of taking in our enemies.


    We are in the business of putting holes in their heads. Is there any reason why I


    shouldn¡¯t drop the hammer on you right now other than Jack has turned you


    into some kind of weird science experiment?¡±


    ¡°Everyone matters, or no one matters,¡± said Aviras.


    Josie squinted at him. She turned the look on Jack. Jack grinned at her from across


    the table.


    ¡°The both of you are dangerously close to being torn to pieces,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s


    start again. Jack, why didn¡¯t you kill the lizard? Let¡¯s start with that.¡±


    ¡°We were having such a good talk, I decided that just removing him was good


    enough,¡± said Jack. ¡°And he is so cute now compared the monstrosity he was


    before I put the Pym curse on him.¡±


    ¡°And let me guess, Aviras,¡± said Josie. ¡°You don¡¯t like the Pym curse.¡±


    ¡°I do not,¡± said the dragon. ¡°Look at me. I can¡¯t terrorize people like this.¡±


    ¡°Or eat planets,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Or eat planets,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°So we do what?,¡± said Josie. ¡°We let him live as our prisoner until he gets back to


    full size?¡±


    ¡°That will never happen,¡± said Jack. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have the mental capacity to break


    the curse. Can I name him George, and hug him and pet him. He will be a great


    bunny.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Josie and Aviras said at the same time.


    ¡°You¡¯re not turning a sentient being into a brainless problem,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are we


    clear?¡±


    ¡°I had hoped he could be the ringbearer for when Elaine and I get married,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I will never help you,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You are a monster.¡±


    ¡°I can send you back home as you are,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can send a postcard to let us


    know how that is working out.¡±


    ¡°How does he break the curse?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°That¡¯s seems more relevant to the


    discussion.¡±


    ¡°He just has to learn to be better,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°How much better?,¡± asked Josie.


    Jack shrugged.


    ¡°If he was a superhero,¡± said Josie. ¡°Which one would he have to be to break this


    curse? Captain Marvel, Captain America, Superman, Batman, Beast Boy? Give me


    a ball park look, Jack.¡±


    ¡°At least Captain America,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯re screwed, bro,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to get you a tiny knife so you can kill


    yourself.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°The only way to break this curse and regain your full size is for you to be a paragon


    of good,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you are going to learn to be that hanging


    around with us.¡±


    ¡°I will kill you,¡± said Aviras. He turned his attention on Jack. ¡°I will kill you and eat


    your flesh.¡±


    ¡°That still won¡¯t break the curse,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It will make me feel better.¡± The dragon tried to roar out some flame but the mark


    just scored the top of the table, and nothing else.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just repaired this thing.¡±


    Josie sat back in her chair. She looked at the tiny dragon coiled up and hissing.


    The wings flapped in anger.


    ¡°You¡¯re not a threat any more, except if you can set someone¡¯s house on fire,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°If you want to make your way in the city, we¡¯ll let you go.¡±


    ¡°You would do that?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Josie. ¡°You should do okay. Most people won¡¯t see you. Stray dogs and


    cats should leave you alone after you set them on fire a couple of times. And if you


    want to get bigger, harming people is the last thing you can do. The girls will hate it,


    but I¡¯ll get them a goldfish, or something.¡±


    ¡°You would replace me with a goldfish?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t consider it a replacement since they never had a pet as far as I know,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°More like a future prospect. We¡¯re always doing dangerous things. A


    goldfish might not live long enough.¡±


    ¡°Am I not better than a goldfish?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°They might not want you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Dragons are notoriously fussy. And this


    outfit has no room for fussy babies.¡±


    ¡°I am not a fussy baby,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Let¡¯s ask the girls,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can always kick him out tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°The city should be safe enough for him,¡± said Josie. ¡°As long as he keeps a low


    profile, he should be okay.¡±


    ¡°Some cat will eat him in a heartbeat,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can put him up by the hanger.


    The ring will keep people away, and the mana charger will keep him fed as it charges


    up the quinjet.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no shelter other than the hangar,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want him trying to


    steal the quinjet and blowing up part of the city.¡±


    ¡°We can build him a lair,¡± said Jack. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take a minute.¡±


    The girls came into the room. Elaine stood behind them. They firmed up their resolve


    in the face of the questioning looks they received.


    ¡°Yes, ladies?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°How may we help you?¡±


    ¡°Are you making the dragon leave?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to live here,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s not a real danger to anyone else. So


    we are discussing if we should let him have a lair at the hangar. It will have to be far


    enough away so we can take the quinjet, but close enough that he can use the mana


    charger to feed.¡±


    ¡°I can build another charger just for him,¡± said Jack. ¡°The jet¡¯s charger would just be


    a backup.¡±


    ¡°We would like for him to stay,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Aviras. ¡°I am a dragon. I should be huge and dangerous. Not whatever


    this is.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of friends,¡± said Laura. ¡°We would like for you to join us. We¡¯ll


    make a space for you.¡±


    ¡°And Matilda loves stories of dragons,¡± said Melanie. ¡°This is her chance to be the


    hero in one of those stories.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°They¡¯re offering you a chance to break the curse and be something better,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Everybody matters, or nobody matters. You have half the saying mastered.


    Can you do the other?¡±


    ¡°I hate you,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can take off any time. Wouldn¡¯t you rather


    be with people who will treat you good because they can instead of wanting to drop


    the hammer on you because of the threat.¡±


    ¡°I think this is the time to look around and ask yourself who is going to help you back


    up now that you are down,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think you should take the night and think


    about it. I will be glad to put you out in the daytime so you can see any problems


    coming and find a place to stay where you have enough shelter to live however you


    want other than hurting people.¡±


    ¡°Your Society won¡¯t say anything about this?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Unless your situation changes, what can they say?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°You can go with


    the girls to their practice tomorrow. It¡¯ll get you out of the place and let you see


    things here in the city. It might be a little dangerous, but if you are one of us, we will


    look after you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t abuse the privilege,¡± said Josie.

 Field Trip Proposal

    Beatrice let herself in just before dawn. She paused when she saw a blue lizard resting


    on the dining room table. Jack sat at the table, head propped up on a hand. He snored


    slightly. She could sneak by and get to her room without problems.


    She started toward the door to her shared rooms with the other girls.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move, evil doer,¡± said the lizard. ¡°I will bite your face off.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Bea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Long night?¡±


    ¡°Were you waiting on me?,¡± asked Beatrice. She turned to face the lizard glaring at


    her. Flame licked around its maw. Jack still had his head on his hand, not moving.


    ¡°I must have fallen asleep while we were talking,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is Aviras. I think


    we were talking about Star Wars.¡±


    ¡°We were talking about the different systems in fictional settings where the so-called


    sailing ships used different dimensional arrays to circumvent the light barrier and how


    we could use that here with my knowledge of dimensions, and your ability to call on


    magic,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°Did we get into anything specific?¡±


    ¡°We were talking about something called Spelljammer when you passed out,¡± said


    Aviras.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what any of that means,¡± said Bea. She decided to sit down at the table.


    It was obvious she had to be polite for a few minutes and get Jack to leave the table


    with his strange companion.


    ¡°We¡¯re trying to make the quinjet fast enough to reach the moon of the outer planet


    of this solar system if it is a solar system without spending months in travel time,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°If it is a solar system,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Which we don¡¯t know, because no one has


    flown above the sky to have a look.¡±


    ¡°I could fly up there,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I don¡¯t know if any persona I picked would


    survive if there wasn¡¯t any air.¡±


    ¡°That sounds crazy,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°What about you and Todd?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I have not met this Todd,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Is he one of us?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s an auxiliary that is mating with Bea,¡± said Jack. He didn¡¯t move. His eyes


    remained closed.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Aviras is a dragon,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think he cares that much about you mating


    with Todd.¡±


    ¡°I do not,¡± said Aviras. He flapped his wings slightly.


    ¡°I need to ask you something,¡± said Beatrice. She placed her boots on the floor and


    leaned on the table with her elbows. ¡°And I need you to be serious in your answer.¡±


    ¡°You have come to the wrong human for that, female,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll at least listen before saying anything.¡±


    ¡°Todd has asked me to go on an expedition with him, and some adventurers,¡± said


    Beatrice. ¡°He wants to be close without everyone else around.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say he didn¡¯t have a lot of experience?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The party is going to have a core of experienced adventurers and some amateurs like


    Todd to help out,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°We¡¯re heading west across the plains to a hold they


    want searched.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s they?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Todd said the expedition had a sponsor and had asked for adventurers to search for


    some kind of treasure that they think is there at the hold,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°He said


    there¡¯s no way there¡¯s anything there, but it will get him experience to be an


    adventurer and start his own group later.¡±


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± said Jack. He still hadn¡¯t moved. She couldn¡¯t tell what he was


    thinking.


    ¡°I want to get out and see if he is the one I want to spend the rest of my life with,¡±


    said Beatrice. ¡°If it is, I would like to go with him, and help out.¡±


    ¡°You want to give him a chance?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I will ask Elaine to get you some gear,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll need to get you a blade you


    can use even though you¡¯re not great with your lessons. Jo will get you an emergency


    letter. Put it in your boot.¡±


    ¡°Why my boot?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°If you lose everything but your clothes and boots, you will still be able to call for


    help,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might take us a few minutes to get to you, but we will get there.


    Don¡¯t tell anyone about this. No one knows how dangerous things will be, they won¡¯t


    be careful if they think Jo will show up to save the day. That could get someone


    killed.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Todd?¡±


    ¡°It could get him killed the most,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just tell him that you guys are on your


    own, but Jo will be keeping an eye on things from here.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I thought you would forbid it.¡±


    ¡°What you are talking about doing has a lot of unknown factors,¡± said Jack. He


    opened his eyes. ¡°The com bands will reach back to the city for miles, say three days


    travel on horse. Anything after that, you will have to use the letter if you get into


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.trouble. Things might go as smooth as Todd thinks. Things might be more


    complicated that what Todd told you. There might be problems down the road that


    we can¡¯t foresee like monster and bandit attacks on your group. You¡¯re old enough


    to go with supervision, but I don¡¯t trust anyone I haven¡¯t seen in action. So that¡¯s


    already a strike against this. And I don¡¯t think Todd has an idea of what is bound to


    happen when you are in the wilderness with no help at hand. The only thing that


    would make me happy is if I was going along with you to make sure neither you or


    Todd was wrecked. Jo will let you go, but she will worry.¡±


    ¡°She will also be obviously enraged if something happens to you,¡± said Aviras. Jack


    looked down at the dragon. He made a face of agreement.


    ¡°Aviras is right,¡± said Jack. ¡°If something happens to you because of this expedition,


    there will be a lot of dead people left in her wake.¡±


    Beatrice sat back in her chair. Josie and Jack had helped Jane set up her charity on the


    backs of dead people. She knew that Josie was not going to have that much mercy for


    anyone that hurt her ducklings.


    ¡°So you¡¯ll talk to Josie for me?,¡± said Beatrice.


    Man and beast looked at each other and started laughing. Then they both said No at


    the same time.


    ¡°I think as the first step into womanhood,¡± said Jack. ¡°You should talk to Josie and


    tell her that you want to fly on your own without our wings as protection.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°If you want to go, you have to make a case for yourself,¡± said Jack. ¡°I did when I


    joined the Army. Jo did when she joined her band.¡±


    ¡°Standing against your progenitor is the first step to creating your own bloodline,¡±


    said Aviras. ¡°I, myself, had to claw my way to control of my own territory against my


    brothers.¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let her give you cancer,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Wasting disease,¡± said Jack. ¡°Jo would never do that.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Too slow,¡± said Jack. ¡°She likes fast moving slugs that punch holes through her


    targets. Cancer takes years of pain and agony. She doesn¡¯t have the patience for that.


    She would rather drop the hammer down in a second and move on to the next guy


    who needs a hole in his head.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to know that now,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I thought for a bit that she would just put


    something inside of me that would eat me alive. I feel a lot better knowing that she


    will crack my skull open like a melon instead.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t see the slug unless she misses,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get some sleep, Bea. I will


    not say anything about you staying out all night and being touchy-feelie with Todd.


    Neither will my accomplice. If you get to go, Elaine and I will outfit you. I will make


    sure Jo gives you one of her emergency letters.¡±


    ¡°I am an accomplice now,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I don¡¯t think I like that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re united in not letting Josie know something that will get us hurt,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We¡¯re confederates in an ongoing act. Loose lips sink ships, and snitches get


    stitches.¡±


    ¡°I will lay down and try to take a nap,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Remember you¡¯re not alone,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re all in this together.¡±


    ¡°Everyone matters, or no one matters,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get ready to go. I will cook some breakfast later for us before


    you girls have to hit the sticks.¡±


    Beatrice went to her room, boots in hand. She looked back over her shoulder. The


    lizard watched her with one eye. Jack sat in his chair, slumped as if he had already


    gone back to sleep. She stepped inside and closed the door.


    Aviras looked up at Jack. The champion of order sat with his eyes closed, but he


    wasn¡¯t asleep. He seemed to be contemplating things in silence.


    The dragon was not used to this. Jack liked to talk. He thought about things and said


    what he thought. He didn¡¯t sit in silence if he didn¡¯t have to.


    ¡°Is there a problem?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. He stood and stretched. ¡°It¡¯s just a lack of information. I don¡¯t


    want to stand in Bea¡¯s way, but something is off about this.¡±


    He started to the kitchen. Maybe a cup of coffee and some apple pie would help him


    out. He certainly didn¡¯t want to send Bea out in the wilderness with some green pup


    and some strangers.


    Aviras glided from the table top and followed. He missed having real flight. He didn¡¯t


    have the resources for it now. He was just too heavy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± the dragon said. He stepped inside the kitchen. ¡°I need a hand


    up if you want to talk eye to eye.¡±


    ¡°I can give you something to help fly if you want,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That would be nice, but let¡¯s stick with the problem ahead and why you don¡¯t like


    it,¡± said Aviras.


    Jack hunkered down and extended a hand. He waited for the dragon to get on the


    hand and lifted him to the table top. He put down a bowl for himself and a small


    saucer for his companion. He put two different values of pie and ice cream on the


    dishes. He whipped up a cup of coffee and put that down next to his bowl.


    ¡°Let me get you some water,¡± said Jack. He pulled out a smaller bowl and put some


    water in it. He put that down next to the saucer.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice that Bea has found a boy, but it¡¯s sudden unless she knew him before she


    met us,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ve only been on the job a week, maybe two. She started


    taking lessons in that time, and then found a boyfriend in a shorter time than that, and


    he wants to take her on a dangerous expedition that he shouldn¡¯t be on at all.¡±


    ¡°So the obvious question is why is he on this expedition?,¡± asked Aviras. He licked


    the ice cream. ¡°This is good.¡±


    ¡°And Bea doesn¡¯t have an adventurer license at all,¡± said Jack. ¡°The only reason she


    is down at the hall taking lessons from Harp is Josie blackmailed the manager into


    giving the girls a sword instructor. Why would she be considered an asset? And she


    has been a city rat all her life from the few times she has said anything about it. That¡¯s


    another strike there.¡±


    ¡°You are saying something is wrong with this picture, but you know you can¡¯t stop


    Beatrice from going,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I think that I am,¡± said Jack. He nodded as he dug in. ¡°We¡¯ve made some enemies


    in the seven days we have been operating. This could be something where they take


    Bea because of what we did.¡±


    ¡°Or it might be because of Beatrice¡¯s romance with Todd,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You¡¯re right.


    You don¡¯t have enough information.¡±


    ¡°And I don¡¯t trust Todd,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No one ever trusts the boy in the relationship,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t trust him because of the rampant corruption we have found here,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°He might not be part of it, but if he is, his romancing Bea can¡¯t be good.¡±


    They ate in silence. Jack frowned as he looked at the door. He seemed to be seeing


    some other vista.


    Aviras took his time with the ice cream and pie. He thought that maybe he had lucked


    out not seeing this version of Jack in the Dire Woods.


    ¡°I am going to give Bea her gift without telling her,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe it will keep


    her out of trouble. Maybe it won¡¯t. If she makes the case for going, and goes, I don¡¯t


    want anything to happen to her because of Todd.¡±


    ¡°If Todd does betray her, it will be bad,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Are you ready for that?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want her to do well without us. I just don¡¯t trust Todd to


    be that helper she needs.¡±


    ¡°I could eat his face,¡± said Aviras. ¡°It would be a warning to your enemies.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saving that for later,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you having problems flying?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Aviras. ¡°My wings won¡¯t carry me in this weak air.¡±


    ¡°Which is my fault,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his tiny companion.


    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± said the dragon. ¡°I am glad that you agree with me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m working on something for Laura,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you want a prototype to help


    with your flying?¡±


    ¡°Prototype?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°She said she wanted to be able to fly under her own power. I think


    I have the principle worked out. Do you want to try the early part out to see if it


    works?¡±


    ¡°And you think this will help me fly like I used to do?,¡± said the dragon.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would like to see if it works before I give it to Laura.¡±


    ¡°What happens if it doesn¡¯t work like you think?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Worse case?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the dragon. He flapped his wings slightly.


    ¡°You turn into a rocket and get to see the planet from orbit,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try this on,¡± said Aviras. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem as bad as life is now.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack.

 Permission Slip

    Josie woke with the sun shining in her eyes. She should have known that Jack would


    have known which way the sun would shine to make sure it shined in her face. She


    would have to do something about that when she felt like it.


    She dragged herself out of bed and got ready for the day. She had to get the kids to


    school. Then she had to consult with Fass and Guin over which Montrose holding


    they wanted ripped up. Then she had to figure out how to find Sawtooth and the Lich


    Queen.


    She had to make sure that Jack didn¡¯t decide to bring miniature versions of them


    home too. One enemy in rehab was enough in her opinion.


    Aviras had calmed down after the kids had let him enjoy his spot on the dining room


    table. At least he hadn¡¯t set anything on fire. And he seemed to be engaged with Jack


    over something in the making.


    Josie expected some new version of the com bands to come out of those talks.


    She didn¡¯t expect her new houseguest to be flying around the dining room with


    some hooting from her partner and laughter from the girls. Elaine stood to one side


    and smiled.


    Josie walked around the flying circus and entered the kitchen. She made some


    coffee and sipped it as she went back to watch her family.


    ¡°This is well done,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I don¡¯t feel any effort at all.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you think you can show Laura how to do the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the dragon. He landed on the table. ¡°I think we should go outside if


    she wants to do anything more than hover.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to try this out, Laura?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°You¡¯ll have to be careful with it,


    but you should be able to lift yourself and some weight into the air. I don¡¯t know what


    the speed will be like under your control.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ll be able to fly?,¡± said Laura. ¡°Could I try it out?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go outside. Aviras, can you keep an eye on her. I don¡¯t


    want her hitting the wall, or flying so high she passes out.¡±


    ¡°I will fly along,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I am much faster than what I was when I was bigger.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think that is?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The jewel is geared to an adult dragon, but I am a miniature dragon now,¡± said


    Aviras. ¡°If it stays like this when I break the curse, I could be slower but still faster


    than other dragons not built for speed.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s something that you should look for, Laura. The jewel


    might snap you out faster than what we think.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Laura. ¡°Let¡¯s see what I can do.¡±


    The group went outside. Josie stood at the back. She wondered if she should change


    into Zatanna, or Hawkgirl, to stay with them. She didn¡¯t want Laura to bash herself


    against the wall like a bird against a window.


    ¡°Ready?,¡± said Jack. He held up an arm to keep the girls back. He waved at some


    of the neighbors watching from their houses. ¡°Try to stay in a straight line up. If the


    flight cuts out, spread your arms and legs out to catch the air until you can cut it back


    on again. I don¡¯t know how much of a draw it will be with the com band too. If you


    feel weak, come down before you crash.¡±


    ¡°Straight up,¡± said Laura. ¡°If the jewel cuts off, hold out arms and legs until it comes


    back on. If I feel tired, come down and land.¡±


    Josie sipped her coffee. Laura had said she wanted to fly on her own. This was her


    chance if Jack¡¯s invention worked.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He held up his hand. ¡°When the hand drops, you go.¡±


    He dropped the hand. Laura and Aviras flew straight up and were out of sight in a


    matter of seconds. Jack changed to the Vision and watched from the ground.


    ¡°Are they doing all right?,¡± Elaine asked. She watched the sky too, but she didn¡¯t see


    two specks among the clouds.


    ¡°They are doing okay,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°Aviras is showing her some moves. He


    might work his way back to his top form faster than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you are a better influence than you thought,¡± said Elaine.


    Josie smiled. Jack seemed happy. Starting over in a brand new world with hero dials


    had certainly been good for him.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He changed back. He activated his com band. ¡°Laura? Aviras?


    Can you hear me? I think you need to come down and pick up the others and see


    how far you can carry them.¡±


    ¡°On the way,¡± said Laura. ¡°This is great. Aviras knows where the hangar is so he can


    find a place there if he wants to move out of the city.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Jack. ¡°Bring it in. If you can carry everyone to practice, Melanie


    will be happy. Remember you might have to snack to pay the cost.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Laura. She appeared in the sky. She dropped down, slowing as she fell


    until she hovered over the street stones. Then she stepped down the last few inches


    to solid ground. Aviras landed on her shoulder, folding his wings against his body


    like a bird.


    ¡°Aviras?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The focus is there,¡± said the dragon. ¡°I could sense the mana burn as I went. I could


    fly many times faster than what we did. I am way faster than Laura, and have more


    years experience. I will say this is a successful test for me.¡±


    ¡°Laura?,¡± said Jack.


    The girl caught her breath. She smiled.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°It was great,¡± said Laura. ¡°It was like running, but I could also sense how much


    effort I was expending. If I sprinted flat out, I could burn up everything and reach the


    lake where we tested the quinjet in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go get some ice cream, and then you can work on the weight


    part of things. I have to work on the other cards for the other girls.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Aviras in a low voice. ¡°I am also many more times faster than what I


    was. This is amazing.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to go full speed in the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯ll splat against a wall like


    that.¡±


    ¡°I will be careful,¡± said the dragon. ¡°Thank you for this gift.¡±


    ¡°No problem, brother,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can build you some blasters to augment


    the natural flame thing you got going on.¡±


    ¡°I would love to see that,¡± said Aviras. A smile crossed his face.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± said Jack.


    Josie sipped her coffee. She hoped Laura knew what she was doing. She really hoped


    Jack knew what he was doing. He was arming the kids with spells that could get them


    into trouble.


    ¡°Can we talk, Missus?,¡± asked Beatrice. ¡°I have something to ask.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Josie. She frowned. ¡°Let¡¯s go up to the office.¡±


    She led the way through the Hole in the Wall, and up to the middle room. She took


    a seat behind the desk. She sipped her coffee as she watched her adopted sister take


    the visitor¡¯s chair.


    Beatrice put her hands together. She made a face as she thought about how she should


    approach this talk.


    Josie waited. She had been on the other side of talks with responsible adults before.


    She knew something was up. She figured Todd was the reason. She hoped it wasn¡¯t


    a marriage proposal.


    ¡°I have been asked to go on an expedition with a group of adventurers from the Hall,¡±


    said Beatrice. ¡°I wanted to let you know that I am going.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good of you to tell me,¡± said Josie. She sipped her coffee. This was definitely


    something Todd had caused. She wanted to rail at the younger woman, but that wasn¡¯t


    what she could do in this situation. ¡°When are you going?¡±


    ¡°In the next few days,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I would like an emergency letter in case there


    is trouble.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Josie. She saw a cloud on Bea¡¯s face. She knew the duckling didn¡¯t


    want to ask for help. Jack had said something. She could see that in the way the girl


    didn¡¯t want to give a reason. ¡°This is your chance to do something.¡±


    Bea stood up. Anger had started to build up. She was on the verge of saying


    something that would cause problems for her.


    ¡°Bea,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to tell me that Jack told you to get the letter


    because he thinks there is something off, but you don¡¯t want it to be off because you


    want to spend time with Todd, it¡¯s okay. But that¡¯s why we¡¯re talking and that¡¯s why


    you want the letter. It doesn¡¯t take a genius to see the dots. You don¡¯t have to lie


    about it, not with me.¡±


    ¡°Jack said he wouldn¡¯t talk to you about it,¡± said Bea. She sat back down. ¡°I have to


    cut my own path like you two did, even the dragon.¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t said anything about this,¡± said Josie. She checked her cup. It was empty.


    ¡°This is my first cup of coffee, and I haven¡¯t talked to him. What did he tell you?¡±


    ¡°He said that I needed to work things out with you, but I had to say something,¡± said


    Beatrice. ¡°He said something about he had to stand up to go in the Army, and you had


    to stand up to get in a band.¡±


    ¡°That happened at about the same time,¡± said Josie. ¡°What did he say about this


    expedition?¡±


    ¡°He said not to let anyone know I had the letter,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°And to keep it in


    my boot until I needed it.¡±


    Josie pursed her lips. Something like that could mean that Jack didn¡¯t trust the


    expedition. He probably felt something was wrong. She had to agree. Beatrice knew


    nothing about the wilderness as far as she had said. She would be handicapped in the


    woods on her own.


    That could be what Todd was counting on if that was why he wanted Beatrice to go.


    It put him in a more sinister light than what he had presented at the end of the dinner.


    Could his meek personality be a cover for something else?


    ¡°How did this come about?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Todd and I talked last night,¡± said Beatrice. They might have done more than that,


    but Josie wasn¡¯t going to pry. ¡°He said that an expedition was forming, and he had


    been asked to go along. He thinks that it will help him to get promotions and move


    up. He asked me to go along with him.¡±


    ¡°Do you know anything about living in the woods?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Some,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Not a lot. If I can learn some things, I think that I will be


    better for it.¡±


    ¡°You will be on your own in the middle of nowhere,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are you sure about


    this?¡±


    ¡°I just want to see what I can do,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be totally safe.


    We¡¯re just looking at some abandoned fort in the middle of nowhere for salvage and


    then coming back.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the kind of quest to give to noobs,¡± said Josie. ¡°If that¡¯s what really going on.


    No matter what happens, don¡¯t go without letting us know. Tell Todd some excuse.


    Give me a couple of seconds and I will give you a bird to take with you. It will


    get you out of trouble while letting us know something is up.¡±


    ¡°A bird?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Josie. ¡°You won¡¯t even know he¡¯s there. Did Todd tell you what


    to bring along?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Jack said he would ask Elaine to help outfit me, and give me


    a weapon to carry with me in case there¡¯s trouble.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s covering the bases,¡± said Josie. ¡°All right. We haven¡¯t known each other long.


    I like to think that you don¡¯t have to be scared of me. When I first came here, I


    didn¡¯t have a clue about what was going on, or what I was doing. Sometimes I still


    don¡¯t. Sometimes I have found better ways of doing things that I didn¡¯t think of


    before. In any case, when I adopted you guys, it made things better for me personally.


    It was something that I needed. I value that.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay here forever, but I will be your friend,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°You saved my


    life. I won¡¯t forget that. Before I met you and Jack, I was killing rats for dinner, living


    in whatever doorway I could find, avoiding the Guard because of how some of them


    were and still are. You have changed that around, and changed things for the others.


    We talk about it sometimes. The others want to follow in your footsteps. I just want


    a place of my own.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s reasonable,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I will help you with that. Don¡¯t ever think I


    wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Have you ever done anything like this?¡±


    ¡°I used to be in a band,¡± said Josie. ¡°For a long time, I did nothing but travel around


    with a bunch of guys who tried to take advantage. You might be in the same situation


    with this. Don¡¯t let them take advantage.¡±


    ¡°I will be ready to defend myself after what happened here,¡± said Beatrice. She stood.


    ¡°Thank you for giving me this chance.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to be better,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need some more coffee. I need to get your


    bird. And I need to make sure that Laura doesn¡¯t drop you girls while


    carrying you around to the Hall.¡±


    ¡°Are you right with this?,¡± asked Beatrice. ¡°Is there any reason why I shouldn¡¯t go?¡±


    ¡°The only reason I can think of is we don¡¯t know who is involved,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I


    had my way, I would send you out with Fass and his boys. They seem honorable and


    right enough not to cause you problems while you are navigating this. Trust no one,


    Bea. Go out and come back the best you can.¡±


    ¡°Yes, missus,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°If things get bad, and you need a hand, I will come down there and turn people into


    pinatas for you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Bea. ¡°I will talk to Elaine to pick out things I need.¡±


    ¡°If Jack gives you a sharp sword, don¡¯t cut yourself with it,¡± said Josie. ¡°You might


    lose a limb.¡±


    ¡°I will be careful,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Jack already said not to tell Todd about any of


    this.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are trying to set up a net in case things go wrong. Some


    people would test that to see what would happen. That generally gets them hurt. So


    our first priority is you. We want to make sure you come home above everything else.


    Making sure Todd comes home is a second consideration that isn¡¯t as important to me


    as you are. Then the rest of the expedition will have to take their chances unless it¡¯s


    convenient for us to do something about them. And if things are bad enough, I will


    ask Jack to turn everything we see into dust to protect you, and then Todd.¡±


    ¡°Dust?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°At least,¡± said Josie.

 Hap

    Jack smiled as Laura lifted the girls off the ground. He hadn¡¯t given her enough of a


    boost where she could slam them all into a wall, but she could carry them back and


    forth to practice. That was the important thing.


    He still needed to work on things, and he had Corle¡¯s ring. He wanted something like


    it for Bea. He needed to look into it. Everyone was clearing the house. That gave him


    time to put in some brain work.


    He didn¡¯t want Beatrice to be out in the middle of nowhere with no one to help her.


    He wondered if this was how his parents had felt when he had joined the Army.


    He smiled to himself. He could understand how it felt now.


    He placed the ring on the table. The gem glinted at him. He could almost feel the


    mana flow through it without using his personas.


    The first thing he needed to do was figure out how it worked and if he could take it


    apart without wrecking it. If he could set things aside, he might be able to put


    different powers in the thing so Bea could carry it like a concealed weapon. He didn¡¯t


    know if there were more artifacts out there, but he kind of expected to run into some


    if they stayed long enough.


    And he didn¡¯t want to put something together where the girls killed each other using


    them.


    Josie came into the dining room, cup of coffee in her hand. She made a face as he


    hovered over the ring.


    ¡°Gift for Elaine?,¡± asked Josie. She gestured with her cup at the ring.


    ¡°I took it off Corle,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s a blaster and a shield generator. I want to take it


    apart and see what it can do, and if I can make others.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make it where the girls can punch holes in each other¡¯s heads,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe. What you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to walk over and talk to Fass and Guin about what I can destroy to hurt


    the Montrose so much they have to put everything on pause and think about their


    scheme,¡± said Josie. ¡°When I get back, I am going to look for a way to find Sawtooth


    and the Lich Queen.¡±


    ¡°Unless someone calls, I am going to be here looking at this,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Aviras?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I sent him with the girls to look at the Hall and the people,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe Harp


    can teach him some sword work.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a dangerous thing to give him the means to fly around,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think he will do all right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think a lot of his problems are with the need


    to suck in so much mana at a time. And he needs to be on a diet. So hopefully letting


    him fly will reward him for being a good guy.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you have against Bea joining this expedition of


    hers?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything against it,¡± said Jack. He looked up from the ring. ¡°I just don¡¯t


    trust it, and I don¡¯t trust her boyfriend. His creep factor is higher than the bank¡¯s


    when we first got here.¡±


    ¡°I think you said the Exchange was like a Labrador,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°His is like a St. Bernard,¡± said Jack. ¡°He hasn¡¯t done anything out of hand, but I


    don¡¯t like him.¡±


    ¡°Objectively, or subjectively?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Both,¡± said Jack. ¡°This field trip makes no sense as far as how he leaves a clerking


    job to track across to the other side of the country. Why would they let him join? Why


    couldn¡¯t he train up with a group like Fass¡¯s? He didn¡¯t impress me at dinner as


    someone who knew what he was doing. The speed of his moving in on Bea is


    something which could be explained away as different cultural norms, but I don¡¯t like


    that when I look at some of the other things.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do about it?,¡± asked Josie. She sipped her coffee.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to look at this ring and see if I can make Bea something she can use for


    her own protection,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would rather go on this expedition with her and


    deal with things my way, but I don¡¯t want Bea thinking that I am interfering with her


    romance because I hate Todd¡¯s guts. That will make her cling to him more.¡±


    ¡°Like the Pears?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°When I get rid of Todd, I want clear evidence that he was


    trying to do something to Bea, and hoped to get away with it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we get something, how do we let Bea know without letting


    her think that we wanted him gone?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t worked that out yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°When I do, I will bring you in as my


    accomplice to do the dirty deed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to be your accomplice,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can murder someone on my own.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Can you explain how it was for the greater good?,¡± asked Jack. He sat back down


    and stared at the ring on the table.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Then we¡¯re going to have problems selling it to Bea,¡± said Jack. ¡°And we still have


    to do the rest of our quests in the middle of this. The Lich Queen seems the worst,


    while Sawtooth could be anyone operating anywhere.¡±


    ¡°We need a way to gather more information that is better than the Pony Express


    we have now,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need something like the Internet.¡±


    ¡°I will get right on a source for information as soon as I check out this ring,¡± said


    Jack. He winced at the ding in his head. ¡°All right. Got a reminder quest for that one.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go about my business,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll look for a way to sort out


    the rest of the Society¡¯s jobs when I get home. Maybe the model upstairs will


    help us.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say it covers the city?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I did some alterations and I can take pictures of everywhere,¡± said Josie. ¡°It told


    me that there are Montrose at sea. We might need a pirate boat before things are


    done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe we can use the quinjet for that. Now go and


    do your thing. I want to look at this ring while everything is quiet.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She stepped out and locked the door behind her. She headed


    down the street.


    Jack went back to looking at the ring. He needed a way to look at its guts. How did


    he do that?


    He decided the best thing to do was a scanner like he had figured out how to create


    with Mister Fantastic and Majik. That should let him look at the nuts and bolts of


    things without worrying about taking the ring apart and ruining it.


    Once he knew what it looked like on the inside, he could decide how to use the


    information to make more rings if he wanted.


    He wrote down what he needed as Mister Fantastic, even drawing a sketch of the


    device for ease of use. Then he switched to his Majik persona and created a ring


    around the ring and infused that with information gathering magic while building


    a screen to act as a tablet so he could see what his scans were doing.


    Jack switched back and frowned as the scans showed different things the ring could


    do, the mana cost, and the recharge factor. He thought maybe it was like something


    out of a game system with the tree and associated functions flowing along like limbs


    with the recharge as the trunk. Someone had built the thing like he had the quinjet.


    He closed his eyes and slipped away. He stood in a workshop. He could see things


    moving around as different designs were moved along a display screen to be


    considered. He spotted the ugly guy from the Society meeting limping along on his


    prosthetic legs. He was calling for more of this and that to some underlings across the


    shop.


    ¡°A goat with a gun sucks,¡± said Jack as he walked up, hands in his pockets.


    ¡°I like to amuse myself sometimes, Jack,¡± said the ugly guy. Squinty eyes twinkled


    in his wrecked mug of a face. His chest and arms were like a gorilla. Jack had no


    doubt that if he let the guy grab hold of him, he was going to have a tough time


    breaking that hold.


    ¡°I must have fallen asleep while I was checking out this ring that I salvaged,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°It¡¯s all magic and everything.¡±


    ¡°I have made a few of those,¡± said the ugly guy. ¡°Loaded them down with


    enchantments and such.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know any of your names,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t want to call you Mister Ugly


    Guy while we¡¯re talking.¡±


    ¡°My name¡¯s Hap,¡± said the ugly guy. He smiled. ¡°Do you have a picture of this ring?¡±


    Jack looked around. He saw a pile of scrap paper on a nearby work station. He


    grabbed the top sheet and a pen. He became Mister Fantastic long enough to draw


    a picture of the ring and the magic tree he had uncovered. He gave the drawing to


    Hap when he was done.


    ¡°This is Warner¡¯s old weapon,¡± said Hap. He frowned as he looked at the magic


    tree. ¡°It was kind of like a Green Lantern ring.¡±


    ¡°The guy who had it threw force bolts and created a shield with it,¡± said Jack. ¡°He


    didn¡¯t use it to fly around.¡±


    ¡°You can do a lot more than that with this if you had the mana, and the ability to


    imagine things,¡± said Hap. He smiled. ¡°It was one of my better things. I wondered


    what he had done with it when he stopped accepting our calls.¡±


    ¡°I took this off a guy who was using it to enforce his will on people,¡± said Jack. ¡°It


    was a pleasure for me to do so. I want to give it to one of Josie¡¯s Ducklings, but I


    wanted to make sure I knew what it could do first.¡±


    ¡°It can do almost anything,¡± said Hap. ¡°You just need the imagination to do the tasks.


    A lot depends on whether this Duckling has enough mana to use it. If not, she will


    need a battery to power it.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if a voice command would be better than trying to imagine things,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°You would have to put that in,¡± said Hap. ¡°Warner seemed to get it.¡±


    ¡°Warner is a fan of comic books,¡± said Jack. ¡°The people that he associated with, and


    the person I dealt with in particular, seemed to have problems with visual


    identification and imagination on top of that. On the other hand, he was trying to


    wake up the Dark Rider, so I assume he knew enough to figure out what would


    happen if the Rider hit the city and turned everyone there into minions.¡±


    ¡°Good thing you stopped that,¡± said Hap. He smiled slightly.


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°How would I add a voice command to the ring


    so I can give it to Bea and she doesn¡¯t blow her head off by accident.¡±


    ¡°This is the code you need,¡± said Hap. He went to a tablet and called up a sentence


    of a code. He printed that out and gave it to Jack. ¡°Good luck with your do it


    yourself.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. He looked at the code so he would remember it as Mister


    Fantastic when he woke up.


    ¡°How do you like the system so far?,¡± said Hap.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little vague, and leaves a lot of room to maneuver, and I wonder if it would be


    easier just to give us the target and point us at them,¡± said Jack. ¡°On the other hand,


    taking on our own quests is like giving us giant reminders in our brains to get things


    done.¡±


    ¡°But do you like it?,¡± said Hap.


    ¡°I have only been on the job for a week,¡± said Jack. ¡°A nice addition might be a


    countdown timer to tell us how long we have to do the jobs for you guys.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to the others about such an addition,¡± said Hap.


    ¡°Thanks for everything,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is a great workshop. I might have to copy


    this in the real world.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s mostly automated,¡± said Hap. ¡°Most of the real work goes on in my head.¡±


    ¡°So no real work then,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the technologist who grinned back.


    ¡°Go about your business,¡± said the bigger man. ¡°Enjoy your goat with a gun.¡±


    ¡°One day I am going to get you together with Josie and see which of you has a better


    time of it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The Notorious Josephine Fox is well known for her temper,¡± said Hap. ¡°That¡¯s one


    of the reasons we picked her to bear one of my watches.¡±


    ¡°What are the others?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Those are not mine to disclose,¡± said Hap. ¡°Remember the code, and good luck


    with your adopted sisters.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re invited to the wedding when we have it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Hap. ¡°You have to live to have a wedding. Good luck with that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that,¡± said Jack. He saw the door out of the workshop and woke up


    on the couch. He held the paper with the code in his hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can make this work,¡± said Jack.

 Target Selection

    Josie walked across town to the Coin. She had plenty of time before the meeting. She


    filed away Jack¡¯s doubts with her own in the back of her mind. She could ask Fass


    about the procedure when they had done with the other business of the day.


    They could both be worried over nothing. Todd might be a normal young man they


    just didn¡¯t like because he was dating their adopted sister.


    She supposed Jack felt the same way back home, but his four sisters didn¡¯t need his


    protection. They were more than capable of putting their romantic interests in the


    hospital if they wanted out of the relationship.


    She reached the Coin and knocked on the door. Of course it was closed. The casino


    ran in the night time. Day time was for cleaning and getting set up for later. She idly


    wondered how much money flowed through the gaming house.


    ¡°Can I help you?,¡± said the grumbling manager. He glared at her through the crack


    of the door.


    ¡°I¡¯m Josie Fox,¡± said Josie. She kept her poncho over her hands in case she wanted


    to do something to fix his scowl. ¡°I¡¯m here about a meeting.¡±


    ¡°The boss said you would be coming by,¡± said the manager. He waved her inside.


    ¡°They are in the downstairs office.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir,¡± said Josie. She crossed the floor to the space where she had dealt


    with Evan Fros. He had deserved a small portion of the punishment she had handed


    out. She should check on the Pears to see how they were doing after what had


    happened.


    She found Fass and Guin going over the book she had compiled. Their seconds


    shared cake in the background. She smiled slightly as she closed the door behind her.


    ¡°Mistress Fox,¡± said Guin. ¡°We think that we have something for you, but we are not


    sure.¡±


    ¡°It looks like a cargo depot,¡± said Fass. He waved her over to look at the charts they


    had placed on the table.


    ¡°We think that the women being funneled through Hawk Ridge are being massed


    together to head up to a bunch of border towns like Cairn,¡± said Fass. His finger


    traced the route on the assembled maps. ¡°Then they are split up and sent across to the


    Shemmarians.¡±


    ¡°Did you find a planner behind this?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Linus, chewing on his cake. ¡°We think someone in the Exchange is


    the partial helper for the money. We have traced down some of their holdings and


    they match up with property taken by the old Duke, and with what the dead members


    owned.¡±


    ¡°Jack might have done us a massive favor when he hit that party,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°In what way?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I thought it was a mistake.¡±


    ¡°I did too,¡± said Guin. ¡°I have some people in the Guard. Jack asked me to notify


    them and send them up to the Hent Mansion. They have identified most of the dead


    and notified the next of kin. That got us a list of property and funds moving through


    the bank as part of the notification process in court. Jack¡¯s method, whatever that was


    but I am going to say the figure with a scythe he displayed to the new Duke, altered


    the bodies that some of them had to be looked at by their next of kin so we could be


    sure who he had killed.¡±


    ¡°That added with the book shows us the outline of the routes and who we should


    expect to be involved in the different cities,¡± said Fass. ¡°You were not kidding when


    you said that the nobility was involved.¡±


    ¡°Not all of them,¡± said Josie. ¡°Cilt seems clear. Endwright was poisoned by his wife


    and she was running the show. The new Duke seems okay on the surface and is on


    the hook for all the money the bank funneled out of his duchy whether he likes it, or


    not. I imagine he is trying to find the other judges involved in the fake land scheme


    right now.¡±


    ¡°And we can help with that,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°You figured out who they were?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Budd did,¡± said Fass. He indicated his cake eating lieutenant with a thumb.


    ¡°Magistrates Lewn, Moac, and Harn come up on the warrants associated with the land


    seizures. The payments are filtered through to commanders of the Guard.¡±


    ¡°Lewn is gone,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack turned him into a baby. It was some new thing he


    wanted to try out. We left him in the care of his butler.¡±


    ¡°He turned him into a baby?,¡± asked Budd. He had seen some things hanging out with


    Josie. That was a little much.


    ¡°I think he likes to experiment sometimes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t want


    to ask because I didn¡¯t want to know the answer. Apparently he worked out a way to


    push time backwards. There is only one problem with the process that we think


    happens. It will be a few years before Lewn can answer us for sure.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask about this possible problem?,¡± said Guin. He had seen some things from


    Jack, and had seen some outlandish behavior. This was a little much.


    ¡°Jack pushes time back,¡± said Josie. ¡°Say you were like a hundred years old. You


    want to be fifty again. It can be done. You just forget everything after the specific age


    that you stop aging.¡±


    ¡°You would lose half of your life,¡± said Guin. ¡°There would be holes where family


    and contacts had been but they had died and not been renewed. Your enemies would


    remember you, but you wouldn¡¯t remember them and they could take advantage of


    that. You would lose any expertise with something. I see all types of problems with


    that.¡±


    ¡°We could be wrong,¡± said Josie. ¡°You might remember even if you are physically


    younger. We won¡¯t know unless we check in with Lewn, who won¡¯t be able to talk


    for another five years.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s either a second chance, or letting someone get away to try to get revenge


    later,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°If we are still around when Lewn gets old enough, hopefully Jack gave him


    something to help straighten his life out into something a little more non-evil,¡± said


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.Josie. ¡°But that¡¯s outside the scope of this. Can I hit this place and wreck it enough


    to ruin things for the Montrose?¡±


    ¡°Maybe in the region, but not much overall,¡± said Fass. ¡°There are a dozen of these


    shipping sites in the kingdom. If you paralyzed all of them, there would still be


    women on the road being shipped to other places around those big places.¡±


    ¡°If you hit this one on the way to Kearnly, you might divert a lot more of their traffic


    north and south and keep them away from the Shemmarians a few weeks longer,¡± said


    Guin.


    ¡°I ran into a lady last night from Kearnly,¡± said Josie. ¡°And there were some brothers


    up there. I heard they had a friend that lived out in the swamps. I always meant to


    go up there and find him.¡±


    ¡°They resell the women when they are no longer useful,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Resell?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°As soon as whomever was done with Emily when she reached her final destination,


    the client could resell her back to the Montrose at a lower price,¡± said Budd. ¡°So we


    talked about it and we want to hunt them down until we are done.¡±


    ¡°The Guild has been taken an interest in this,¡± said Fass. ¡°There is talk about purging


    members with the tattoos.¡±


    ¡°If more than Emily have been sold, it could start an open war,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Adventurers are by nature murderous and vengeful.¡±


    ¡°I think taking on the nobility will get the Guild stomped,¡± said Josie. ¡°It doesn¡¯t


    matter if Jack and I do it. We aren¡¯t an army. If the Guild does it, the king might take


    notice and move to quash your movement before it could do anything. If we had


    official backing from the king, we could have an open season declared.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we want,¡± said Guin. ¡°You two were already going to be at war without


    the kingdom, but if the King gets wind of this, he would need to know that the


    enemies of the kingdom were benefitting from it before he would give any more


    hands a chance.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send him a letter,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you guys out of it. I¡¯ll put in a copy of


    everything we found so far, and what has been happening. Maybe he will ask for


    proof. Maybe he will give the Guild a shot at rooting these people out.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he will want to execute us as traitors to the state,¡± said Linus. He paused


    eating his cake at the thought of losing his head to an executioner¡¯s axe.


    ¡°I am more worried what will happen if a civil war breaks out when we don¡¯t know


    why the Shemmarians need so many women,¡± said Josie. ¡°Does the King know about


    this already and is looking for a reason to do something? That is what bothers me the


    most. We have one faceless hunter out there going about his business. There are


    bound to be more wandering around before too long once they make the connection.¡±


    ¡°And if the King declares a war with the Shemmarians,¡± said Guin. ¡°That could turn


    into a crusade. We can¡¯t afford that.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will write the letter. Either he already knows, or he


    dismisses it. I hit the place you guys picked out as soon as I deal with the Lich Queen


    and Sawtooth. If the King gives the go ahead, we start amassing adventurers to deal


    with the Montrose near Hawk Ridge, and slowly work our way to other cities in the


    country. That¡¯s the immediate plan, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Guin. ¡°I will talk to the local Exchange people and see what they can give


    me.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to Sally about hiring people to help with the smaller targets,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°We can still do bandit runs with what we have.¡±


    ¡°I have another model back home,¡± said Josie. ¡°It is giving me a picture of where the


    Montrose people are in real time.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I built it when I built the Cairn model,¡± said Josie. ¡°It is taking pictures of where the


    Montrose members are every five seconds I think. It is something we can use to help


    our raids.¡±


    ¡°That seems good,¡± said Fass. ¡°The Cairn model was a great help.¡±


    ¡°I have to make sure Bea is ready for this expedition on top of everything else,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I wonder if Jack figured out the ring he salvaged yet.¡±


    ¡°What expedition?,¡± asked Budd. He put his empty plate down on a nearby table.


    ¡°Beatrice was asked to go on an expedition to some ruin by her boyfriend,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They are supposed to be signing on as noobs to get the experience.¡±


    ¡°Never heard of that,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Excuse me?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The Guild doesn¡¯t do that unless a quest came up where more than one group was


    needed,¡± said Fass. ¡°An experienced group would only take someone new if they


    knew that person and were training them as a replacement. Calls for a mass gathering


    are usually like a war action. And there is no quest for anything like that as far as I


    know.¡±


    ¡°Matter of fact, the only quest I know of where more than one group has been


    designated is the Kearnly Egg Hunt,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Todd lied about the expedition?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It depends,¡± said Fass. ¡°Do you remember what was said?¡±


    ¡°Bea came to me this morning and said they had been invited to go,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°There would be a core of experienced adventurers going with some amateurs filling


    out the ranks. Todd was one of those amateurs and he asked Bea to go along with


    them so they could spend more time together. I promised to get her a bird, and Jack


    and Elaine were going to outfit her for the trip when it was supposed to start in a few


    days.¡±


    ¡°I can say that doesn¡¯t usually happen unless the Guild sets it up,¡± said Budd. ¡°You


    don¡¯t just get invited along. Either you know someone and they say yes, or you don¡¯t


    and you stay home.¡±


    ¡°I have been on an expedition like that,¡± said Fass. ¡°I went with my Uncle. He knew


    two of the party leaders involved and they asked him to help out. He brought me


    along to help him.¡±


    ¡°So there¡¯s a chance that there is no expedition,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°A bigger chance than not,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Bea acted like she was going,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Does she have a license?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She can¡¯t go on any expedition through the guild without a license and the


    paperwork for next of kin,¡± said Fass. ¡°If she were caught on a legitimate quest


    without a legitimate license, she would be barred from the Guild.¡±


    ¡°The Guild doesn¡¯t like independent adventurers roaming around causing problems


    while trying to solve jobs for people,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Where is this building you need hit?,¡± asked Josie. Guin handed her a set of


    directions that went in her bag. She could find it later after this latest crisis was


    resolved. ¡°I will find it later after I figure out what I am going to do about this thing


    with Bea¡¯s boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°This might be totally innocent,¡± said Guin. ¡°The boy seemed harmless at dinner.¡±


    ¡°Back home,¡± said Josie. ¡°There was a guy. He seemed harmless. He dressed up like


    a clown to cheer up sick children. He ran his own business. He was everybody¡¯s


    friend.¡±


    Guin waited silently for the point.


    ¡°One day the local Guard became suspicious of our friend, the clown,¡± said Josie. She


    frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t remember how now. In the end, they dug up the bodies of thirty


    boys and young men from under his house that he had raped and murdered. But he


    was harmless. I have to make sure Bea is safe before I can turn my attention on other


    people¡¯s problems. I have to make sure this expedition is the real deal before I let her


    go. If it isn¡¯t, I want to know why Todd lied to Bea other than the obvious.¡±


    ¡°We have other places selected,¡± said Fass. ¡°Would it be okay if Budd and I looked


    at this model?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Master Guin, I will send a note to the Duke about the other two


    judges and let him do what he is going to do. If I need to sweep them up later, I will.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited and miss the bigger picture,¡± said Linus. He chewed on a piece


    of his cake. ¡°This could all be some kind of misunderstanding. You don¡¯t want to set


    someone on fire just because they said the wrong thing.¡±


    Josie looked at the big man. He looked like a goon in a suit, but he had a thinking


    brain behind that simian face. She didn¡¯t know what was going on. She should find


    out before making things worse.


    ¡°Thank you, gentlemen,¡± said Josie. She bowed to them. ¡°I should look this one time


    before I leap. If you guys can find me more targets, or a brain other than the ruling


    committee of the Exchange, that would be great. If I can change the flow of the


    women, that might be enough for me to start crippling this beast. Eric, if you need to


    look at the model, it is at the Hole in the Wall. Jack is there doing something. He can


    let you in if you want to look at the thing in the next few hours. I don¡¯t know where


    I will be. I will let you guys know when I have the letters to the King and the Duke


    written.¡±


    She turned and strode from the room.

 Envenomed

    Jack looked at the code in his hand. He looked at the ring and scanner read out. How


    did he enter the code into the ring so it would respond to voice commands? Maybe


    he could use some magic for it.


    He thought that Hap was proud of his machines. They were great at what they did. He


    wondered what would happen if he dropped a ton of miniature watches like he had


    built for Aviras and Laura on the general populace. He could see a world out of the


    background of My Hero Academia where the powers fought until someone beat down


    a compromise to create the hero system. He decided only his kids would be able to


    use what he built for them.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said his com band. He looked down. Josie¡¯s lightning was lit up.


    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± said Jack. He thought he could put the code in with a simple application


    of magic and then he could watch to see what happened.


    ¡°Bea is missing,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need you to check the model and ask it where she is.¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Jack. He jumped to his feet and ran through the apartment, climbing


    the stairs two at a time. He pushed into the office and looked at the model with its


    moving lights along its surface. ¡°Beatrice Fox.¡±


    One light lit up outside the city and moving north. It was moving fast, like a horse¡¯s


    gallop.


    Did Bea even know how to ride a horse?


    ¡°Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a marker moving due north from the city. I am going to say


    some kind of horse.¡±


    ¡°I have this,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I¡¯m the fastest and I can get there the quickest.¡±


    ¡°Do you need me to do something, Jo?,¡± asked Jack. He could put on Makkari and


    hunt the Bea napper down in a second.


    ¡°I got it, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Fass is coming by later to look at the model. I told him


    you would wait for him to show up. We¡¯re still working on targets.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°She is still going due north. It looks almost like the road up


    to the Dark Rider. You don¡¯t think Todd is trying to do the same thing as Corle?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s gone, Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°She changed shape and vanished.¡±


    ¡°Bring the girls home, Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch from here.¡±


    ¡°As soon as we get home to wait for Fass, go after them,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Beatrice


    might be hurt.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll take Aviras with me so I have a backup.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re coming home now,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Laura is lifting us.¡±


    ¡°Show me Josie Fox,¡± said Jack. A light marking her appeared in front of the Bea


    light. He nodded. She must be setting up some kind of ambush.


    How long would it take Laura to bring everyone home? How long did he have before


    Josie went into action? Why wasn¡¯t she doing something right now? Was this about


    Todd?


    ¡°Show me Todd Fain,¡± said Jack. Two lights appeared. One was with the Bea light.


    The other was half the country away. Two Todd Fains could be viable if Fain was a


    common last name there in Fantasy Land.


    ¡°Show me the Ducklings and Elaine,¡± said Jack. Another set of lights marked the girls


    flying home as fast as Laura could push them. He nodded. They would be coming


    through the door in a few minutes.


    He checked his inventory for someone who might be able to get to the scene faster


    than Makkari. Majik would let him teleport but not that whole distance from the city


    to where Bea was being carried.


    Could the ring carry him that far through the air? Did he have enough mana to power


    it?


    He had two minutes to plan. He checked the lights for Bea and Todd. He compared


    that to where the Hangar was. He had a plan as soon as he could compare the


    distance. He doubted he could call Jo if she was using her personas to keep track of


    Todd and Bea.


    He just needed to move down from the Hangar fast enough to intercept before


    something happened to Bea while they were traveling.


    The rest would be Josie dropping the hammer.


    He had a plan. He had a weapon. He didn¡¯t have an explanation yet, but he felt that


    he would not be turning Todd Fain into a baby after this was over.


    And he was okay with that.


    ¡°We¡¯re home, Jack,¡± said Elaine from downstairs.


    ¡°Office, Elaine,¡± said Jack.


    The horde burst into the office in a few seconds. Aviras rode on Matilda¡¯s head. Jack


    stepped back to give them room.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Fass is coming by in an unknown amount of time to look at


    the model. He is helping Josie with a project. The green light is Bea. The yellow is


    Todd. The black is Josie. The purple is you guys. I am going to use the stargate to get


    up to the Hangar and come down from there. Elaine, I am going to need directions


    once I am on the move. Aviras, you are with me. The flight power should allow you


    to repel anyone who wants to get in that we don¡¯t want to get in, Laura. As soon as


    we get Bea back, we¡¯ll be home.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re good,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I tried calling Beatrice. There¡¯s no answer.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not dead yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think the model would light her up if she


    was. She might have lost her band, or she might be unable to talk. We will deal with


    that when we know what happened. I¡¯m going.¡±


    ¡°We will be fine,¡± said Elaine. She went to a cabinet and pulled out her crossbow.


    ¡°Do what you have to do.¡±


    ¡°We will rescue the female and bite the faces,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I swear it.¡±


    ¡°To the stargate,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we put on some speed.¡±


    He rushed from the room. The tiny dragon flowed after him, using its wings to glide


    on the air almost as fast as a rocket.


    Jack pressed the code into the pad next to the ring for the gate. He nodded as it


    opened the tunnel for him. He jumped through and out the other side miles away. The


    dragon flew out after him.


    ¡°That is mildly unpleasant,¡± said Aviras. ¡°And it drains essence from us when we use


    it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± said Jack. He opened the roof of the hangar and led the way


    up to the ground bordering the hole where a house used to be.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°Where am I, Elaine?,¡± said Jack into his band.


    ¡°You are southeast of the lights, Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It looks like he is headed up


    toward Lake Myra with Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t be going that way for long,¡± said Aviras. He blasted in the direction


    indicated from the report.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be out of contact for a minute,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll call back if I need more


    directions.¡±


    Jack dialed down to Ikaris. It was the other movement specialist he had tested with


    Makkari. The other Eternal was faster in general but couldn¡¯t fly. Ikaris could fly, and


    he was faster than the more leisurely Falcon.


    Jack took to the air and arrowed north after his companion. He wondered if Todd had


    stuck to the roads, or had moved into the trees. He should be able to see the moving


    horses before too long.


    Aviras started circling in the air ahead. He seemed to be watching the ground as he


    went around. Jack joined him, and spotted a moving wagon heading along the general


    road.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to land so I can talk to Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie might be waiting


    for him to come to a stop before she does something. We need to be ready to support


    her. Can you stay on station up here until I get back.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I am ready to bite his face.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully we¡¯ll give you the chance to do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Keep an eye on things


    until I get back.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Aviras. ¡°We might not have to do anything.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Jack. He aimed for a tree he could watch the road from while he


    made his call. Now that he had found the wagon, he didn¡¯t want to lose it before they


    got Bea back.


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± Jack asked. ¡°We think we have them in sight. Is Josie still north of us?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You are incredibly close to both of them. Josie is not answering


    her band. Neither is Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°Josie must have her watch running,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right. We¡¯re going to let her


    make the first move before Aviras and I swoop down and deal out the beating we


    should give for this.¡±


    ¡°Call me when you¡¯re done,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I will, honey,¡± said Jack. He let the line go so he could call up the Ikaris persona


    again. He took to the air and joined his dragon friend again.


    ¡°Josie and Beatrice aren¡¯t answering their coms,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie might be waiting


    as someone up ahead. I have no idea what is going on with Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°She might be hurt,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I will check on her. It should be easy for me now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get hurt,¡± said Jack. ¡°Matilda will be sad. I think she considers you a member


    of the family.¡±


    ¡°She is nice and is reading the history of Garion the Hammer for me,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°If you can get Beatrice out of the wagon, that¡¯s good,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you have to


    hide until we get things stopped, that will be good too.¡±


    ¡°My only concern is that Beatrice might be so hurt that she needs immediate aid,¡±


    said Aviras. ¡°I will be able to handle any other problem easily.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go.¡±


    Aviras blasted down. He reached the back of the wagon. He examined it for a second.


    Then he slipped inside the wooden cabin on the wheeled base.


    Jack checked his watch. He would have to land and change back if he waited for


    much longer. What was Josie waiting on?


    The horses pulling the wagon vanished one at a time. Jack paused as the wagon


    started slowing as it rolled to a stop. He smiled as he thought that Josie had dealt with


    the horses so Todd couldn¡¯t try to escape on one of them before he could be stopped.


    Jack landed behind the wagon as it rolled to a stop. He changed his persona to


    Gravity so he could send Todd into orbit for being a pain. He waited for the guy to


    start running in the face of things.


    There was blast of burning air, and a scream. Jack paused. What happened there? He


    stepped to one side of the wagon. Todd fell off the bench with his head on fire.


    Jack couldn¡¯t decide what to do in the moment. He wanted to sling the burning


    kidnapper into the air on one hand. On the other, it was a pretty blue flame dancing


    on his head.


    ¡°You don¡¯t touch my sister,¡± said Aviras. He climbed out of the back of the wagon.


    He looked a little bigger. Flame danced in his maw. ¡°This is how Foxes handle our


    business.¡±


    ¡°Good job,¡± said Jack. ¡°I give you the points and extra pie when we get home.¡±


    ¡°Ice cream?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Ice cream too,¡± agreed Jack.


    ¡°Beatrice is sick,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to fix that.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Jack. He let Gravity go and watched his mana limit climb. When it was


    high enough, it would be time for Doctor Strange to take a hand in things.


    Josie walked up, garbed in her Zatanna persona. She waved a hand and Todd froze.


    The flame on his head became a blue cone pointing up at the sky.


    ¡°I have to check Bea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we can take her home.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She flexed a hand and the book of knowledge gave her a


    notebook on Todd. She scanned the writing and frowned. ¡°This is bad.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need transport,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might need to put him in a cage if


    you aren¡¯t getting rid of him right now. That way you can keep him around while


    your watch is recharging.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s part of a cult,¡± said Josie. ¡°They want to sacrifice people to let in monsters like


    the God of the Fish People invade this plane of reality.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to be part of it for long,¡± said Jack. He climbed up in the back of the


    wagon. ¡°Good job on the sneak attack, Aviras. He never saw it coming.¡±


    ¡°I am great and powerful,¡± said the blue lizard. ¡°What about Beatrice?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to turn into a medical doctor and see what¡¯s wrong with her,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Then I am going to try to fix it.¡±


    ¡°Are we doing that here, Jack?,¡± asked Josie. She chopped her hand and a hill of dirt


    covered Todd. She let go of the persona.


    ¡°The sooner the better,¡± said Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t know what he gave her. She might die


    before we can get her back to the Hole in the Wall.¡±


    Jack summoned his medician and powered up the screens he used to do his work.


    Eyes blinked as he took in the knowledge. He started churning together antidotes


    based on what he saw.


    ¡°He poisoned her with some kind of mixture,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to try to erase


    them one by one, and add in a body builder to repair the damage they are doing.¡±


    Josie ignored the ding of Sawtooth being erased. She didn¡¯t know how they were


    going to explain this to Bea, but he wouldn¡¯t be around since the ground had crushed


    him in his own grave.


    ¡°I should have used a book of knowledge at the dinner,¡± said Josie. ¡°I screwed up.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have a doctor on your list?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I think you can help us with


    that.¡±


    ¡°What can I do?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Do you have any healing magic?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I don¡¯t. Most of my knowledge was in dimensional arrays and


    mana exploitation. I can¡¯t cast the spells like I am now.¡±


    ¡°I have something,¡± said Josie. ¡°Head back to the Hole in the Wall. Tell them what¡¯s


    going on. Tell Elaine that we are going to try to bring Bea to the Hangar so we can


    move her through the Stargate to get home. Can do?¡±


    ¡°I am the fastest dragon alive,¡± said Aviras. He blasted out of the wagon and took off


    toward the city.


    ¡°We will be able to teleport home in a few minutes,¡± said Jack. He monitored his


    screens. ¡°Right now, I just need to cure what the poison is doing.¡±


    ¡°I know but I wanted to get him out of the way,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to call on


    Doctor Occult and see if I can speed this up.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s do what we have to do.¡±


    Josie checked her watch, and then called on her doctor guise. She did a mental


    examination. Jack¡¯s various cures were cutting into the poisons and weeding them


    out, but Bea needed a little more oomph to get back on track. She closed her eyes and


    let the magic scan do the work for her.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°One ingredient is gone. The rest are trying to take over for it.


    See if you can target this red devil turpentine stuff in the lungs and heart.¡±


    The reddish streaks burned away in an instant. Weaker poisons blew up with it out


    of the way, erasing themselves in a sweat bath.


    ¡°We have three more in the mix,¡± said Jack. ¡°The most widespread is the green goat


    venom.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Josie. ¡°The last two are trying to hold on. What do we do about it?¡±


    ¡°Keep doing what you¡¯re doing,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to try for a miracle. You


    ready?¡±


    ¡°We need it if we want to save Bea,¡± said Josie. ¡°All this power, and we have to


    worry about practical limitations. What a crock.¡±


    ¡°I told the builder of these things I would get you together with him,¡± said Jack. He


    reverted to normal, grinning. ¡°He said your temper is famous.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She pushed one of the lesser poisons back. It wanted to be


    scrubbed, but she didn¡¯t have the time on her watch to do that.


    ¡°You¡¯re the Tommy,¡± Jack said. He checked his watch, grinning at her expression.


    He changed to Angel. He wasn¡¯t supremely tall, but he was made of fire with wings


    of light and a blade that would cut anything. He sliced the poisons apart with one


    swing, cutting them out of his ward in a trail of smoke. He instantly reverted at the


    loss of power from his watch.


    ¡°That was so excellent,¡± said Josie. She put her medical magic into healing


    everything she could reach. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do that at first?¡±


    ¡°What happens to Bea if I did that first and it failed, and then I can¡¯t use the watch


    for the next twenty minutes?,¡± asked Jack. He lay down on the wagon floor. He


    closed his eyes. ¡°I would be out of power, and dead on my feet at the same time.¡±


    ¡°You saved her, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me,¡± said Jack. ¡°Thank Aviras with the head on fire thing. It was the


    perfect ambush. The little gump will never let me live that down.¡±


    ¡°He is a Fox after all,¡± said Josie. She grinned at him. It was rare these days, but it lit


    her face up like it used to when they were kids.

 Reset

    Josie sat in a chair. She had her guitar in hand. She still had some rust but she could


    still do the notes. She sung the words to Hate Me under her breath as she waited.


    It was a song that matched her mood.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong,¡± whispered Bea from the bed. She leaned to the side


    to vomit. Josie held a pot for her to spew into until she was done. She dropped back


    on the bed and gasped for air.


    ¡°I have some water for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to hold it so you can sip at it.


    Ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± whispered Bea. She took a gulp and washed the taste around and then spit in


    the pot. She took another sip before laying back in bed. ¡°I feel weak.¡±


    ¡°You had fourteen, or fifteen, poisons in your system,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack used his


    doctor on you. He said it might be a while before you are back up to snuff.¡±


    ¡°You did nothing wrong,¡± said Bea. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that song was. Don¡¯t sing it.¡±


    ¡°The guy who wrote it had some addiction problems,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can sing you


    Jack¡¯s favorite song even if it¡¯s really for two people.¡±


    ¡°I would like that,¡± said Bea.


    Josie picked up her guitar. She tried out a few chords. She smiled as she sang ¡°Hit the


    road, Jack,¡± a lot higher than Ray Charles. She thought she did okay with the other


    singer even if she didn¡¯t remember the woman¡¯s name off the top of her head.


    Bea smiled.


    ¡°This is Milord¡¯s favorite song?,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. ¡°It was more like his sisters¡¯. He liked Stand by Me.¡±


    She sung the song and hoped she did Ben King a small amount of justice. She sat


    back in her chair when she was done.


    ¡°I liked that one,¡± said Bea. ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°Jack¡¯s bedroom,¡± said Josie. ¡°You needed some place private, and Jack is arguing


    with himself about moving in with Elaine. This is kind of the push he needs to get


    things the way Elaine wants it.¡±


    ¡°He is giving her one thing the way she wants it,¡± said Bea. She snickered quietly.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a couple of days before you can move around


    on your own. I think Jack will let you stay here in his room for good. It will prevent


    him from turning it into some weird workshop that we¡¯ll have to worry about


    exploding cats coming out of at the worst time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Bea. ¡°I thought Todd loved me. I didn¡¯t think he was going to try


    to kill me.¡±


    ¡°No one did,¡± said Josie. ¡°You did nothing wrong, Bea. The next guy you hook


    up with will probably treat you better. You can¡¯t tell what the future will hold. If


    someone had told me we would be here after all the things we had done, and placed


    in charge of protecting this world from trouble, I would have laughed in your face.¡±


    ¡°Would you?,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Yes, and twice as hard if I had been drinking,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you drink a lot?,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°I used to get blackout drunk and not know how to get home,¡± said Josie. ¡°I stopped


    drinking more than a couple of beers at a time. I don¡¯t really talk about it now. I was


    a wreck, and barely taking care of myself.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell him. I thought he should have a life without


    having to bail me out of my problems. He was in the Army and on the other side of


    the planet. Flying home would have wrecked that for him. That was the one thing that


    I didn¡¯t want.¡±


    ¡°So you hid the problem?,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°And then I fixed it when I had enough.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for rescuing me,¡± said Bea. ¡°I was unkind when I could have been better


    about things.¡±


    ¡°You are a Fox now,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some things are expected.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I would have,¡± said Bea. She looked away.


    ¡°I think that you would have if you could,¡± said Josie. ¡°You did the right thing when


    we met. I am sure you would still do the right thing because of that.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°When I showed up as the Vampire, you defended the other girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°You


    took them under your wing. You became their champion when you could have just


    run off. You took a chance on me when you didn¡¯t know anything about me. You


    took a chance on Jack when I wouldn¡¯t have in your place in the first place. You are


    a good person. You are worthy of help. We all see it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel worthy,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She smiled. She went to the door. She opened it and called


    for Aviras. The dragon appeared in a second. He perched on Josie¡¯s shoulder as she


    walked back to her chair. ¡°Aviras, tell Beatrice about Jack¡¯s project.¡±


    ¡°The mischief maker and lover of the cursed Hank Pym is building you a magic


    weapon to use for the betterment of all mankind and me,¡± said Aviras. ¡°But mostly


    me.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Look upon the greatest of dragons and know I do not lie,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I would


    expect more gratitude for the savior of your life.¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°We were wiped when we got done with the poisons,¡± said Josie. ¡°Aviras got Laura


    to pull us home. The rest was the moving of you into a private room while you got


    better.¡±


    ¡°Jack has not got my ice cream yet,¡± said Aviras. ¡°The dullard.¡±


    ¡°You are asking a known welsher for a reward,¡± said Josie. ¡°You should ask someone


    else. We need to get you a com band if you are going to hang out with us now that I


    think about it.¡±


    She pressed the button to light up Angelica¡¯s symbol.


    ¡°Angelica?,¡± she said.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Missus,¡± said the middle girl.


    ¡°Aviras is complaining that Jack hasn¡¯t paid him his ice cream,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you


    mind getting him a small bowl. Maybe two scoops.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I can do that,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I was about to make a snack for me, so it


    shouldn¡¯t be that much of a burden to get something for him.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. She cut the connection. ¡°She will get your ice cream. I


    suppose you will want to go get it.¡±


    ¡°I cannot open the door,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I got you,¡± said Josie. She walked over to the door and opened it for him to fly down


    to the kitchen. She closed the door behind him.


    ¡°Only Jack could bring something like that home and take it in,¡± said Bea. ¡°There¡¯s


    more to what happened, isn¡¯t there? Something happened to Todd.¡±


    ¡°Aviras stopped him from using you as a hostage, and I killed him,¡± said Josie. She


    sat down in her chair. ¡°The body was buried where we caught up with him.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t regret that,¡± said Bea. ¡°At least he didn¡¯t get away with trying to kill me.¡±


    ¡°He was part of a cult,¡± said Josie. ¡°They are trying to bring old fiends here to


    Graecias by sacrificing maidens. I think one of his fellow members wanted your


    type from the Montrose as that sacrifice and when you didn¡¯t arrive, he came looking


    for you.¡±


    ¡°My type?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I think the six of you were gathered to be shipped off together,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then


    you would have been used as fuel for whatever they think they are doing. When I was


    taken, they just saw me as a seventh victim to send along for the money.¡±


    ¡°Nobody has seen magic outside of a children¡¯s story,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Until you two


    arrived, I can¡¯t remember ever seeing anything unusual.¡±


    ¡°I think that was part of Warner¡¯s job,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am still waiting on his old case


    records if he has any. I think he was brought over to cool any magic use down and


    stop anything natural that was too disruptive.¡±


    ¡°For this Society?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think they want to keep things stable. Dragons destroying the


    elves and fish gods who can rip up part of the world because nothing is there to stop


    them get put on the list, and they get dealt with by people like me.¡±


    ¡°And the world is a game board for them?,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°We¡¯re just pieces to be


    moved around?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s why we got the warning about Todd. You are the


    reason they are doing things. We¡¯re the pieces that are being moved around, but


    they want us to move ourselves. Maybe that¡¯s why Warner gave up. There was


    always some other monster that needed to be chased down for faceless backers.¡±


    ¡°He put the world in danger by quitting,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Depends on if there were others taking up his slack after he left,¡± said Josie. ¡°We


    know he worked with Harp and his wife. Maybe he had put together a crew, and


    thought they would hold on since this was their place. Maybe they did for a while,


    but he was the glue and without him, they didn¡¯t have a way to leverage things.¡±


    ¡°Maybe some of them went bad,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe we¡¯re cleaning up their failures. Maybe we¡¯re doing


    something that any comic book fan worth her salt would give eyeteeth to do. Maybe


    we¡¯re better than Warner.¡±


    ¡°What does that leave us, the Ducklings?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°It leaves you an adopted family with an adopted brother who is going to get bigger


    as he learns not to eat everything in sight,¡± said Josie. ¡°It leaves you the persons you


    could be. And it leaves you with a lot of decisions that you have to make for what


    you want to do. And you still have homework to do.¡±


    ¡°Homework?,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°That book isn¡¯t going to read itself,¡± said Josie. ¡°And cheating only hurts you.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Beatrice. She waved her hand weakly. ¡°I will catch up on my letters.¡±


    ¡°Go back to sleep first,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can do your other things when you can


    get out of bed on your own.¡±


    ¡°When will that be?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Whenever it happens,¡± said Josie. ¡°Take it easy. You will be out roaming around


    with your sisters soon enough. You can show your tiny new brother how to use a fork


    when you are better.¡±


    ¡°That will be grand,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say Fass was visiting before all this


    happened? How did that go?¡±


    ¡°I have a target to strike when you are better,¡± said Josie. ¡°Until then, someone


    has to be with you to make sure we did everything right. If we missed some of


    the poison, it could kill you if Jack and I aren¡¯t close.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t Jack put in a window?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Because this room is actually facing the wall,¡± said Josie. ¡°The other side of the


    hall faces the city.¡±


    Josie sat in her chair. She had thought she had lost Beatrice. One week and these


    kids were her kids. How had that happened? She wondered if she would have been


    a better mother than her own. She doubted that in the world where she didn¡¯t have


    a magic watch and quests to protect the world.


    This world was a second chance for her. It was something she needed after the years


    of darkness. There might be more darkness ahead, but she thought she could live with


    it.


    She picked up her guitar and sang the Ballad of Serenity to herself in a low voice.


    Snores told her that Bea had gone back to sleep. She smiled.


    Burn the land, and boil the sea, you can¡¯t take the sky from me.


    Josie closed her eyes. In a few hours, she would be back at it. The Society wanted a


    monster hunting protector of mankind. She was willing to do that for her kids, and her


    grumpy pet dragon.


    Sooner or later, they would run into something that would stop them cold. Until


    then, she would do what she always did in situations like this. She would misbehave.


    A couple of hours later, Matilda and Aviras came in. She carried a book in her hands.


    Josie regarded them with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°It¡¯s our turn,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Aviras likes to hear about Garion the Hammer. I


    thought we could read while we are on watch.¡±


    ¡°She does a great Garion voice,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Show her.¡±


    ¡°Garion smash,¡± said Matilda. She swung her arm like a giant swinging a hammer.


    Josie wondered why these two wanted a turn in the room. Dark eyes regarded the


    youngest of her adoptees. They turned on the blue lizard on her head, flame on his


    mouth, wings folded back, claws clutching her hair.


    ¡°You can take a turn, but read quietly,¡± said Josie. ¡°Bea is trying to sleep. If she has


    problems, call one of us to help you.¡±


    ¡°We will watch,¡± said Aviras. ¡°We will act well.¡±


    ¡°We can do it,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She stood up. ¡°I need some coffee and the bathroom. I will


    check on you in an hour.¡±


    Matilda settled in the chair. Aviras lit the candle in the lamp so she could read in her


    spot. She opened the book. Josie stepped out in the hall as they quietly bickered about


    which story they should read next.


    She hoped she wasn¡¯t making a mistake as she headed downstairs. The kids had


    gathered in the dining room, around the table. Jack and Elaine were in the kitchen.


    Silence prevailed.


    ¡°How is she?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Sleeping,¡± said Josie. ¡°Matilda and Aviras are watching her while I recharge. I need


    the bathroom and some coffee. Is there anything I should know?¡±


    ¡°Jack thinks he knows where the third quest is,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°As soon as Bea is better, I will take care of that.¡±


    ¡°She will get better?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°She is just weak right now, and needs to regain her strength. She


    will be back on her feet in a bit. I don¡¯t know how long it will be. We¡¯ll talk about


    this after I get done.¡±


    She proceeded to the bathroom and took care of her business. She looked at the


    mirror Jack had hung sometime while trying to improve things. She didn¡¯t know


    the thin face that looked back at her.


    She took a deep breath to keep from crying. She took another to exert her will to pull


    on her stoic mask. Then she walked out of the bathroom to get her coffee and plan for


    the future that still needed to be protected.

 Recovery

    Jack smiled as he worked in the kitchen. He had come a long way from when he used


    to burn eggs on bread. Elaine showed him some things too. She liked the kitchen,


    liked coming up with things.


    He had lucked out meeting her.


    He wondered how things would have gone if he had left when he finished the first


    set of main quests. Would she have waited for him to come back? Would she have


    found someone else and moved on with her new wealth. He had no idea.


    And he was afraid to ask because he didn¡¯t want to know any answer that would hurt


    him.


    Beatrice would be dead, but the other girls would still be able to live on without


    Josie and him to mess up their lives any further.


    He didn¡¯t know what the foster care systems were like in this world, but he doubted


    they would have had an easy time of things without them.


    ¡°What are you thinking?,¡± said Elaine. Her gaze turned on him and he caught his


    breath. He had been lucky to meet her.


    ¡°That either I am the luckiest man alive, or you are so unlucky,¡± said Jack. He smiled


    at her. ¡°I can¡¯t decide which.¡±


    ¡°You are the luckiest man alive,¡± said Elaine. She smiled back at him. ¡°Accept that.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. He reached for a plate to start portioning the


    eggs and sausage he had cooked together.


    ¡°I have the toast ready,¡± said Elaine. She placed the cooked bread on a plate.


    ¡°Thank you, Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°You have done wonders for us. I don¡¯t know what


    we would have done without you, and you are teaching me to yodel very well.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call those sounds you make yodeling,¡± said Elaine. She blushed slightly.


    ¡°And you two have done things for me that I never would have been able to do on my


    own. Saving my life is the least of it. And you still haven¡¯t taken me to a show,


    welsher.¡±


    ¡°Welsher?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The dragon picked it up somewhere,¡± said Elaine. ¡°And you are a known welsher


    on your agreements.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t welsh,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just procrastinate on the payment.¡±


    ¡°We get Bea on her feet, deal with this last quest, and then we go to the show,¡± said


    Elaine. ¡°Josie is taking the girls for the night so we can go without worrying about


    the city burning down.¡±


    ¡°I would never worry about that any way,¡± said Jack. He made sure everyone had an


    equal share. He took the bread and made sure two went with each plate. ¡°I need to


    make soup for Bea when she is strong enough to eat.¡±


    ¡°Will she get better?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Oh, sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I placed a charger around the bed to fuel her up, and I put a


    builder in her to rebuild what the poisons damaged. I just need to check her for cancer


    eventually because the builder may overgrow tissue to compensate for what Todd did.


    I haven¡¯t said anything to Josie, but we may get quests to look for his friends.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°They are trying to summon a fish god to this planet,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society doesn¡¯t


    like that. So eventually we might have to do something about that.¡±


    ¡°How bad would such a summons be?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Depends,¡± said Jack. ¡°You know how kids sometimes set fire to ants? It might be


    like that for a good part of the world.¡±


    ¡°Then why do they want to do that?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. He got glasses of milk for everyone. ¡°Some people have


    mental problems where they want to do things to hurt people. This is a grander way


    of hurting as many people as they can. Maybe they think they are going to be the king


    of whatever is left.¡±


    ¡°How much would be left?,¡± asked Elaine.


    Jack picked up a nugget of sausage to show her, before popping it in his mouth.


    Elaine winced at that.


    ¡°They are mad and stupid,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Which is why if they get close to succeeding, we might have to chase them down


    and give them the same thing we gave Todd,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think you should in any case,¡± said Elaine. ¡°These people are too dangerous to be


    left alone.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°With Josie¡¯s model, we should be able to find them anywhere


    on the continent. Then we can drop in and let Aviras bite their faces. He loves that


    sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°He has gotten bigger,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°That was bound to happen as long as he did good to do good,¡± said Jack. ¡°Forcing


    Todd away from Bea was a direct threat to him in a size comparison, and he saved


    Bea¡¯s life. If Todd had held us up, she would have died before we could do anything.


    That¡¯s probably how Harp lost his arm.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The Society told me that Warner and Harp were hunting a monster when Harp was


    bitten,¡± said Jack. He made his serving into a big sandwich. ¡°Warner couldn¡¯t save


    his arm, so he cut it off.¡±


    ¡°You think that if Warner had more time he would have been able to save the arm?,¡±


    said Elaine.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hap said the ring works on imagination. Either Warner couldn¡¯t


    imagine a solution, or Harp was closer to death than anyone knows and cutting the


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.arm off was the only fast solution to save his life.¡±


    Elaine nodded.


    ¡°Let¡¯s serve our hungry wolves,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we are going to have to go work.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Elaine.


    They picked up the plates and carried them into the dining room. The girls were


    working on their letters and numbers. Josie had paper and pen in front of her. She


    finished her thought and put the letter out of the way so they could eat together.


    ¡°It¡¯s just eggs and sausage on toast,¡± said Jack. He put his plates down and helped


    Elaine with hers. ¡°We have cups of milk for you. Let me get those and we can eat.¡±


    ¡°Ice cream,¡± demanded Aviras.


    ¡°You eat what we eat,¡± said Jack. ¡°Ice cream all the time will make you fat. Matilda


    doesn¡¯t want you crushing her head with your weight.¡±


    ¡°You are a little bigger,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°And fatter,¡± said Melanie. She picked at her food.


    ¡°I¡¯m not fat,¡± said Aviras. He looked up at Matilda. ¡°Tell me I am just right.¡±


    ¡°You are a little bigger,¡± said Matilda. ¡°But not that much bigger. You are not that


    much heavier.¡±


    ¡°What happened?,¡± said Aviras. He looked down at his blue body. It still looked the


    same to him.


    ¡°You did good, and you got good,¡± said Jack. He put down cups of milk and a bowl


    of milk for the dragon. ¡°Thank you for saving Bea¡¯s life.¡±


    ¡°It was my pleasure,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I didn¡¯t like him anyway.¡±


    Everyone looked at him as he started working on his food. Eye rolls followed the


    looks.


    ¡°What is the plan for the next few days?,¡± asked Josie. She picked at her food with


    her fork.


    ¡°I take Elaine to a show when Bea is better,¡± said Jack. A ding marked the formed


    quest. ¡°We hunt down the Lich Queen and the rest of Todd¡¯s friends before they try


    again. I work on the rest of the things I planned to give the girls for their protection.¡±


    ¡°I am about to send a letter to the King to try to get adventurer sanction to help us


    with the Montrose,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we can get that, we can hire the Guild to help us


    do the quest in the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°We are talking about declaring open war on them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°If we get it,¡± said Josie. ¡°And it only means that we can secure the border against the


    king¡¯s enemies. He might want to get rid of us instead if he is involved.¡±


    ¡°So we might have to be ready to move if he thinks we¡¯re a threat to him,¡± said Jack.


    He worked on his sandwich.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°We are dangerous to him. I already sent the names of the other


    two judges to the Duke. I am sure he will like that. We will have to see what happens


    there, but I foresee some questions about where the money went.¡±


    ¡°I did promise him a replacement house,¡± said Jack. ¡°I didn¡¯t get a quest for it.¡±


    Ding went his internal list.


    ¡°And now I do,¡± said Jack. He took a breath. ¡°It looks like the Society has a sense


    of humor.¡±


    ¡°They know you are a welsher,¡± said Josie. She smiled quietly.


    ¡°I pay what I owe,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Ha,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Double ha,¡± said Alicia. She said it so flat that it was hard to tell if she was serious


    or not.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. He paused taking a bite from his sandwich.


    ¡°Not quite a triple ha,¡± said Alicia. She worked on her food like a machine.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. He looked around the table. He saw some smiles. No one seemed


    ready to get back on their feet yet.


    ¡°Why is everyone eating without me?,¡± asked Bea. She had the blanket from the bed


    wrapped around her. She stood at the base of the stairs, hand on the wall. ¡°Don¡¯t I


    have a place at the table?¡±


    ¡°You are not supposed to be up,¡± said Jack. He dropped the remains of his sandwich.


    ¡°You are going to hurt yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Bea. ¡°I can¡¯t be in bed all the rest of my life.¡±


    Jack and Elaine pulled out a chair for Bea to sit. Josie stood and reached for her


    watch. Doctor Occult ran a scan to make sure nothing was ripping apart inside


    of her sister.


    ¡°She¡¯s weak, but she will recover,¡± said Josie. She nodded at the results as she let the


    persona drop. ¡°Bea, you won¡¯t be able to eat something solid. Soup and pudding


    is what you can get until you get a little better.¡±


    ¡°Ice cream?,¡± asked Bea.


    ¡°You can have some of that if you can keep it down,¡± said Josie. She looked at Aviras


    before he could say things were unfair. He blinked at her. ¡°Are you sure you want


    to move around?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Bea. ¡°I am feeling better.¡±


    Jack frowned at her. He put a hand on her forehead. It was warm, but not really


    sweaty. He glanced at Josie. She nodded.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will whip up some pudding for you, and get you some


    ice cream while I am working.¡±


    ¡°That would be good,¡± said Bea. ¡°I need to get back on my feet.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He went into the kitchen and found the remains of the ice


    cream. He put all of it on a bowl. He cut up some strawberries for it. He frowned


    at not having any chocolate to put on the top of it. He turned into Majik and created


    some from spices they had on the shelf. He made sure that it was evenly poured


    over the ice cream. He let the persona go. He carried the creation to the table and put


    it in front of the sick girl. She looked at it with dismay.


    ¡°What is that?,¡± said Aviras. He pushed forward, but Matilda grappled him back to


    his side of the table.


    ¡°Ice cream,¡± said Jack. He produced a spoon. ¡°Go ahead, Bea. Eat up.¡±


    ¡°Could I have one of those too?,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°We¡¯re out of ice cream,¡± said Jack. He waited quietly for the eldest to take a bite


    from the bowl he had created. ¡°I¡¯ll get some later.¡±


    Bea took the spoon and dipped into the bowl. She took a bite and paused. She chewed


    slowly on the bite. She nodded as it went down.


    ¡°This is great,¡± said Bea. She nodded. She took another bite. ¡°It¡¯s too bad we¡¯re out


    of ice cream.¡±


    ¡°You can walk down to the store and get some more as soon as you put your boots


    on,¡± said Jack. His face did not have any of his good humor. ¡°I would like to see it.¡±


    ¡°Right now?,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°As soon as you eat,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will go with you.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Josie. A frown crossed her face.


    Bea¡¯s cheeks plumped up. Illness flushed her face green. Jack picked her up and


    carried her to the bathroom. He was almost too late, but she vomited in the toilet he


    had made. He waited on her to finish with a gasping for air.


    ¡°Maybe I should have stayed in bed,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Feeling better?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Would you like to finish your ice cream?¡±


    Bea started throwing up the bile in her stomach at the suggestion. She stopped after


    a couple of minutes. She fought to get her breath back.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Bea¡¯s stomach is fighting the rest of her for supremacy,¡± said Jack. ¡°Give us a


    second. She might need to throw up some more.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who hasn¡¯t had that happen?¡±


    ¡°Not me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can eat ice cream all day without problems.¡±


    Bea started vomiting again. He held her hair out of the way. When she was done,


    he wet a rag that Elaine had found somewhere and left in the cubby next to the


    shower. He handed it over so she could wipe her face.


    ¡°How¡¯s the stomach, Bea?,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°It hurts,¡± said Bea. ¡°My ribs hurt.¡±


    ¡°That happens when you are throwing up,¡± said Jack. He took the rag, wet it again,


    squeezed out the water, and did a better job of wiping her face. ¡°There are muscles


    connected to your ribs. When you throw up, they yank everything around. If you


    throw up hard enough, you can break a rib.¡±


    ¡°I think I can make it back to bed,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°I give you points for effort, but when you are sick, take it easy,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Everything looks okay, but you could still have problems with that many poisons


    that were in your body. Next time, I will bring you your soup and crackers and you


    will like it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Milord,¡± said Bea. She tried to smile. ¡°I need some water.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a thing too,¡± said Jack. ¡°First, you go back to bed, then I get the water. Do I


    need to carry you?¡±


    ¡°I can walk,¡± said Bea. ¡°Are you moving into Elaine¡¯s room?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t decided, but maybe that will the way things go, or take over Josie¡¯s and


    push the office out,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie can have Elaine¡¯s room, and we have twice the


    space.¡±


    ¡°I would like the upstairs room,¡± said Bea. ¡°I like a room to myself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask Elaine what she wants to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°She might go for it. You ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Bea.


    Jack picked her up and carried her out of the room. He asked Matilda for water. He


    shook his head at the dragon bathing in the ice cream. Elaine had the bed covers. She


    followed behind them.

 Raid Planning

    Josie sent the letter to the king with a copy of the book of knowledge she had


    recovered from the Montrose members she had killed. It was out of her hands until


    she received a reply.


    Beatrice was better, being able to eat real food again. She would be working with the


    others in another few days. That was good.


    No one had to watch her now, and she didn¡¯t have to listen to Matilda imitating a


    barbarian hero with a big hammer.


    She looked up as the door to the office opened. Jack, Aviras on his shoulder, and Eric


    Fass stood there. She waved for them to come in.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°You said you had an idea on how to find the Lich Queen.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. He put Aviras down on the desk. He walked over to the model


    of the world. ¡°Show me the Lich Queen.¡±


    A gold circle formed. It rotated across the border into Shemmaria. Josie could see that


    from the desk. She and Fass frowned at the display, but Jack grinned.


    ¡°Eric Fass,¡± said Jack. A silver light formed west of the circle. ¡°So we know the


    model is still working.¡±


    ¡°So what does the circle mean?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°Don¡¯t have a clue,¡± said Jack. ¡°Best guess is the model is trying to locate the Lich


    Queen but she isn¡¯t active yet, and that circle is where we¡¯ll find her.¡±


    ¡°And that circle is in a direct line with the Montrose operations,¡± said Fass. ¡°This


    was marked out from the book when Guin and I looked for targets.¡±


    ¡°Maybe stopping the Montrose stops the Lich Queen,¡± said Josie. She stood. ¡°I still


    have to hit that warehouse outside of Kearnly. It¡¯s on the way to the border. Do we


    do this?¡±


    ¡°I can get my group together,¡± said Fass. ¡°We can do both.¡±


    ¡°We have to do something,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t like leaving without someone to take


    care of Bea, but if we don¡¯t do something, those idiots might find a way to unleash


    a menace on the world the likes of Aviras.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the tiny dragon. ¡°I would like to see them try.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Show us the depot in Kearnly.¡±


    A blue ping lit up the map. The red of the Montrose wandered about. The four could


    see a large grouping of the enemy surrounding pale noncombatants.


    ¡°Either we can get up there in time to save them, or we get up there in time to burn


    the building down, and the women and girls are already on their way to that circle,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Do we have options either way?¡±


    ¡°Aviras could go up there ahead of us,¡± said Jack. ¡°But there¡¯s not a lot he could do


    on his own. Maybe he could carry a stargate so we can get up there to do things. But


    that means we have no transport anywhere else, and we would have to send him with


    the same stargate, or another one across the border. If he gets stopped anywhere along


    the way because of a monster bird, or whatever, the attempt is done.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not sending him alone,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll fly up there with the quinjet, and


    then if any of the women are close we will rescue them as part of the operation. Once


    we know for sure what we can do with the ground, we can plan a next step to carry


    out any tasks.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re not going to rush in and molly everyone?,¡± said Jack. He gave her a frown.


    ¡°Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me punch you,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to take it a little slower


    than what we usually do. If Eric helps us, we have to make sure his group is protected


    as we go and we will have to pay them at the end of this.¡±


    ¡°Anything we recover will have to be split with anyone we free just like Cairn,¡± said


    Fass. ¡°I am sure the others will help out.¡±


    ¡°If you can gather them up at the Hall, Eric,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack and I will get the


    quinjet and meet you on the Yard. We will fly out there, and hit the shipping depot,


    and try for a lookaround in Shemmaria. If there is a Lich Queen, your group will have


    to fall back and get out of the way. We¡¯ll be dealing with dead things brought back


    to life.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to come up with some way to set things on fire,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have


    to augment Aviras and use him as a flamethrower if we need to get out of there fast.¡±


    ¡°I am ready to set things on fire,¡± said Aviras. ¡°And depriving others of their hoards


    is a time honored custom.¡±


    ¡°This would be extremely useful in the field,¡± said Fass. ¡°Should we take it with us?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make some portable ones,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will be like having a bird in the air


    telling you what everyone is doing.¡±


    ¡°And that will make all of this easier,¡± said Fass. ¡°Let me send out the word. It will


    take me a bit to get the others together.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll meet you down at the Hall in one hour,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack and I will work on


    the portables for your group so we can mark people as we go.¡±


    ¡°We will be ready,¡± said Fass. ¡°I have to hurry if I want to meet the deadline.¡±


    Fass jogged from the room. They heard him talking to Elaine and the kids before he


    ducked out of the apartment.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°I think he likes you,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his friend. ¡°He might give you little


    Josies if you let him.¡±


    ¡°What about little Jacks?,¡± said Josie. She frowned at her friend.


    ¡°Elaine and I are working on that,¡± said Jack. ¡°The things she can do can make your


    toes curl.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear anything like that from you again,¡± said Josie. She crossed her


    arms. ¡°And I am not dating Eric Fass.¡±


    ¡°He seems okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I think he likes you.¡±


    ¡°He only likes me because I am making him rich with these raids,¡± said Josie. ¡°He has


    that no dating the boss air around him.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Aviras?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°He seems much better than Todd,¡± said Aviras. The dragon fluttered his wings. ¡°But


    I don¡¯t have any experience with the human mating rituals.¡±


    ¡°Are you two ganging up on me?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Josie, bubby, bubbly boo, friend of a friend of a friend,¡± said Jack. He pointed to


    himself with both hands. ¡°What makes you think I need help from a blue lizard to


    state the obvious? I think you could knock some boots there, if you know what I


    am saying.¡±


    ¡°I do know what you are saying,¡± said Josie with a squint in her eye. ¡°And if you


    say it again, I will have a Jack hoodie, with Aviras toe warmers added to my


    wardrobe.¡±


    ¡°Leave me out of this,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I do not want to warm any toes.¡±


    He took to the air and passed through the open door, heading downstairs. The girls


    were doing chores. He doubted Matilda would threaten him in such a way.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need encouragement to jump bones,¡± said Josie. ¡°And Fass doesn¡¯t seem


    that type. So let it go.¡±


    ¡°I can ask Linus to come around,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her expression.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything like that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will skin you alive. Let¡¯s do the raid, and


    then look for the Lich Queen. I will worry about my romantic life when I feel like


    worrying about it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Remember to name the first one after me. This world needs


    more Jacks to do what has to be done.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure any kid named after you will be a terror,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s look at what we


    can do to get Eric¡¯s boys copies of the model to use in the field.¡±


    ¡°Already thinking about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have a working thing in a bit while


    we¡¯re flying out to deal with things.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need some coffee, and then we need to do these raids. When


    we get home, Elaine is going to want to go to the show with you. Be ready for that.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you can handle the kids by yourself?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have Aviras to do things for me,¡± said Josie. ¡°Take notes on the show so I can


    be sure you actually went instead of fooling around.¡±


    ¡°I can do both,¡± he said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure, but try to keep the noise down,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now I am going to get


    my coffee, and then we are going to start the quinjet so we can fly into the city


    and pick up the boys. Get ready for that.¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± said Jack. He took one long look at the model. ¡°I might even come up with


    a whole new bag of tricks for this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything I will have to explain to Elaine at your funeral,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Trust me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will always come home.¡±


    Josie nodded. She left the office and headed downstairs. She had a certain amount of


    faith in Jack. He was learning new ways to use the watches and he had always been


    a touch dangerous. Arming him up and sending him out against a target was a death


    knell for it.


    ¡°Do you want to send a letter home to your sisters and mom?,¡± Josie asked as she


    made some coffee.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to wait until Elaine and I are ready to get married,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want to


    make the surprise surprising.¡±


    ¡°When you need to send something home, let me know,¡± said Josie. ¡°These letters


    should be able to reach across with the force from the watch behind it.¡±


    ¡°Any word from Warner?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°He might not have been able to read my handwriting.¡±


    ¡°Or he might be ducking you because he knows we¡¯re doing his job and he¡¯s the one


    they wanted to pull back with us as his backup,¡± said Jack. ¡°And he doesn¡¯t want


    to take responsibility like a deadbeat dad.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°But until he writes back, we have no way of knowing unless


    we go home.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not doing that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I love all this magic stuff.¡±


    ¡°Which is probably how they knew to pick you over all the other people Warner


    knew to be his replacement,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was looking for a change of pace. Moving out of San


    Fran had been in my thoughts for a while.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t get much farther away than another universe,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°This is almost like a video game, isn¡¯t it?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am afraid that I will wake


    up and all of this will be gone.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I feel the same way. Let¡¯s see if we can make some imaginary


    people a little happier than what they are now.¡±


    ¡°At least our dragon will be happier,¡± said Jack.


    Josie made herself a cup of coffee and smiled. She sipped at the drink. They were


    going to have to take off in a bit. Fass had to get across to where his group were, load


    up his gear, and then make it to the Hall. They should have given him more of a


    warning.


    She doubted an hour was enough time.


    ¡°What do you think will happen if the King believes your letter?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The Montrose gets destroyed faster and stop being a threat to everyone around


    them,¡± said Josie. ¡°Marking them was the best thing we could have done. If we can


    force them out of the borders, that will be even better. The fact that they allied with


    other factions in other countries will put a strain on things, but we have to do what


    we can with what we have. Refusing to even try is the same as letting them win.¡±


    ¡°And we were never going to do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do about


    this. Maybe if we start hitting those depots, they will have to change routes.¡±


    ¡°We still have to catch up with the alchemists in town that were supplying them with


    their potions and things,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯re still included in everything instead


    of a subset of targets.¡±


    ¡°Ready to get the quinjet and head to the Hall?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°You said you had an idea on how to port the model¡¯s output to


    something mobile. How are we going to do that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you when we get out to the Hangar,¡± said Jack. ¡°One of us should check


    on Bea before we go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Say your goodbyes to Elaine, and grab Aviras and we can go.¡±


    ¡°Are you up for this?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I have a better grip on things,¡± said Josie. ¡°And some people no matter what I think


    need to be dealt with in a way they can no longer hurt others. I think I can live with


    things, just like I always did. You¡¯re the one who brought the enemy home.¡±


    ¡°And he is so adorable,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s like a talking grumpy cat. We could make


    a mint with him on Youtube. This ice cream is the greatest. This ice cream isn¡¯t.¡±


    Josie¡¯s eyebrows twitched at the imitation. She shook her head and waved her hand


    for him to go. She headed upstairs to Jack¡¯s former room. He hadn¡¯t minded giving


    it up to Bea.


    She knocked before she entered.


    ¡°How do you feel, Bea?,¡± she asked.


    The young woman had pulled herself up to sit with her back to the wall. She had


    some notes surrounding her. She smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯m doing better,¡± said Bea. She waved at the notes. ¡°I¡¯m working on my letters.


    Elaine said she would figure some way for me to walk around without hurting


    myself.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going on a raid,¡± said Josie. She handed over an envelope. ¡°We¡¯re going to


    be out of reach of the com bands for a bit. If something happens, send the letter.


    We¡¯ll come back to deal with it.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Bea. ¡°I think with Laura around, no one will try to break in.¡±


    ¡°I know but I worry,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want anything to happen to you because I


    was out doing my job.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mother,¡± said Bea. She smiled. ¡°We will be fine. Do your duty. We will do


    what we can with the rest.¡±


    Josie shook her head and walked from the room.

 A Touch of Death

    Jack settled in the pilot¡¯s seat. He powered up as Josie settled in the co-pilot seat. He


    nodded as the charged engines registered full power. He opened the Hangar¡¯s roof as


    he retracted the landing gear and fired the belly jets. The quinjet leaped into the air


    and hovered as he closed the cover over his storage space.


    ¡°Can you do me a favor and write a note for the Duke to mark out a spot where he


    wants his new house,¡± said Jack. ¡°Remind him that he can¡¯t have the old Duke¡¯s


    property.¡±


    ¡°Thinking about his house?,¡± said Josie. She pulled out a piece of paper and a quill


    pen. She wrote a note and folded it. She sent it with Zatanna.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. He headed into the city with the normal drive. ¡°If I come across


    something I like, I might steal it and drop it in place instead of just building it out of


    scratch. I should have asked for some kind of blueprint.¡±


    Josie wrote another note and sent that. She smiled quietly.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s the Guild Hall. Do you see Fass and his Fighters?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°Take us in and we¡¯ll work on the portable maps while we are


    waiting.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you think you can do that teleporting thing with the bird


    again?¡±


    ¡°It works great for moving things,¡± said Josie. ¡°It just takes some setup time.¡±


    ¡°We might need it to move whomever we find at this place,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m just


    thinking ahead before we get into things.¡±


    ¡°I can alter the model to give us real pictures,¡± said Josie. ¡°I should have thought of


    it before we started out.¡±


    ¡°Just put it on the to do list,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can see a magic mirror thing we can try to


    put in use.¡±


    ¡°I see what you¡¯re talking about,¡± said Josie. ¡°Magic television.¡±


    ¡°I was thinking more like magical internet,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°We can


    watch Dan and the boys in concert.¡±


    ¡°I like that,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can show the girls the light show.¡±


    Jack brought the quinjet down and hovered to a landing in the Hall Yard where


    adventurers gathered to talk about the jobs they had taken off the board, and to get


    organized. He didn¡¯t see anyone he knew in the small crowd standing back from the


    machine.


    ¡°I think I have a pilot I can use if things get bad enough,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just don¡¯t


    want to use him unless I have to.¡±


    ¡°I have Rocket Racoon, but I am afraid of what happens if I call him,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do


    I get a savvy spacefighting raccoon with a gun, or a raccoon that turns into a missile?


    If I had access to G.I. Joe, I could get Ace, Ghost Rider, Maverick, or Slipstream.


    Maybe Wild Bill who is awesome. But apparently you can¡¯t get the licensed heroes


    with what we have.¡±


    ¡°Blackhawk, pilot or bird?,¡± said Josie. She smiled with Jack¡¯s grin.


    ¡°Bird,¡± they said together.


    ¡°How are you going to make portable models?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I assume it has


    something to do with magic tech.¡±


    ¡°I need something to work the spell on,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can grab


    something as a base. I can transmute anything we need from raw material.¡±


    ¡°Everyone is looking at us,¡± said Aviras from the back. ¡°Should I set them on fire?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Jack. He undid his harness. ¡°Do you think you can find Fass?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± said Aviras. ¡°It should be simple enough to look around as long as I can


    get someone to open the doors if I have to go inside.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to lower the gangplank for you to do your recon.


    If you run into trouble, come back to the quinjet. I¡¯ll sic Jo on any problem.¡±


    ¡°That should be extremely hilarious,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Toe warmers,¡± Josie said.


    ¡°But I think I have to be going now,¡± said the dragon.


    Jack triggered the door. He looked out the window. Aviras soared away on his


    mission.


    ¡°Toe warmers?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I get cold feet,¡± said Josie. ¡°How are we going to make these portable models for


    Eric¡¯s crew?¡±


    ¡°I need some material,¡± said Jack. He headed down to the gangplank. He rubbed his


    hands as he thought. Josie followed. ¡°Then we just adapt what you did to a new


    surface and use that for our command and control. We probably won¡¯t need it, but I


    like having things in case I need it rather than needing it and not having it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can use that. Should we arm up in case we run out of


    power?¡±


    ¡°Do we need to?,¡± said Jack. ¡°You still got my pocket knife? That should be enough


    for you.¡±


    ¡°Pocket knife?,¡± said Josie. She raised her eyebrows.


    ¡°Ryan Reynolds killed Morgan Freeman with one,¡± said Jack. He stood in the Yard


    and looked around. ¡°I don¡¯t see why you can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°What are you looking for?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Also I don¡¯t see how killing a ninety five


    year old is okay.¡±


    ¡°He deserved it,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°That¡¯s what I need.¡±


    Jack walked over to a bush. He looked around. The bush was all alone. He placed a


    ring around it, using Majik and transformed leaves. He activated the ring. The bush


    became fifteen tablets of glass and metal. He checked the sheets and lightened them


    for easier carry.


    ¡°Step one is done,¡± he said, reverting to normal. ¡°I¡¯m going to wait until we¡¯re on


    station before I try to copy your model.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can do that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think that was one of Warner¡¯s problems and something he was


    afraid of but didn¡¯t want to admit.¡±


    ¡°Magic was driving him crazy?,¡± said Jo. She frowned at the implication.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°Remember, the Society said he operated as a lone champion


    with some allies helping out. Using the ring might have started going to his head and


    he decided that maybe he should put things down and not come back.¡±


    ¡°And constantly going home where the ring might not have worked could have


    caused some problems for him,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wish he would send a letter back with


    some of the answers we want. I know he wouldn¡¯t want us prying, but I think what


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.he knows is relevant.¡±


    ¡°Did the Duke send back his answer?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Once I know where he wants his


    house, the faster I can take stuff and build it for him.¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Josie said. ¡°I asked him to pick a spot that was legally his, and where he


    thought a house would do him the most good. I don¡¯t think he liked that we seized the


    old Duke¡¯s place without a by your leave, and we are holding it with the force of our


    arms.¡±


    ¡°When he gets a watch, I¡¯ll care a little more,¡± said Jack. ¡°I consider it the spoils of


    war.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Plus we can¡¯t have him uncover our secret airplane hangar


    right in the same spot as the old house was.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s why I put a mental vibe out there to keep people away.


    I didn¡¯t want them finding the roof switch and falling in. Crashing the quinjet inside


    the thing would be more acceptable than some idiot driving it into the city wall, but


    it¡¯s still bad for us.¡±


    ¡°Totally agree,¡± said Josie. ¡°There¡¯s Fass. Looks like he¡¯s ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Josie Fass is almost close to Josie Fox,¡± Jack whispered.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± said Josie. ¡°No one wants to be involved with a witch. Let¡¯s go before I


    give you a black eye.¡±


    Jack grinned at her as he carried the inactive tablets into the quinjet and stored them.


    He headed up to the pilot¡¯s chair. They would be out of there in a minute, and then


    headed out of the city.


    He began powering the machine up as he heard Budd and Aviras bickering about


    something from their conversation as Josie and Fass settled everyone in.


    ¡°Jack!,¡± called Josie. ¡°We need another seat.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Jack. He transformed long enough to coax another seat out of the floor.


    He changed back to let the watch recharge. He noted that it was much slower than he


    expected. He thought it was because of the mana charger powering the engines.


    It might also be eating his charge on his watch.


    He could fix that as soon as he landed. He set the coordinates they wanted with a


    touch of Majik. He started the engines as Josie started up front. She took her seat and


    strapped in.


    ¡°Emily Budd wants a taste of revenge,¡± said Josie. She kept her voice low.


    ¡°That¡¯s not something we can worry about unless she gets in our way,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The fact is we need her if we have a lot of women to deal with and ship home. The


    freed slaves aren¡¯t going to look that highly on a bunch of guys.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Also I think the charge on your watch is going to refill slowly while we¡¯re using the


    quinjet,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think the mana charger feeding the engines is in the way like


    at the dinner.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll worry about that when we get to where we have to go.¡±


    ¡°Everybody strapped in?,¡± called Jack. ¡°We¡¯re leaving.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Fass. ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡±


    Jack pulled up the landing gear as he lifted off. He swivelled the aircraft to point


    down the line created by his navigation. He poured on power as he climbed above the


    wall. They would be in Kearnly in a few minutes from the way the gauges moved.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to land somewhere we can walk up on the camp, or whatever it is,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°The first objective is to rescue as many women as we can. Depending on the


    way things look, we might have to use Josie¡¯s birds to transport them. The second is


    to wipe out as many of the Montrose that we can, take their stuff, identify anyone


    else. I¡¯ll probably have to do that. Eric, your guys are going to have to protect Josie


    while she is getting all of the victims away. There¡¯s a chance we will have to retreat.


    If we do that, we¡¯ll hold as long as we can before we fight back to our landing zone.


    Aviras is going in with me as support. I will probably need someone to watch my


    back, and he can fly out of danger if things go badly. As soon as we land, I will


    activate the tablets and we¡¯ll see how they work in the field.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll rush us?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°They may break in random directions,¡± said Jack. ¡°If they do that, Josie will have


    to defend you and the women instead of moving them out of the area of operations.


    We¡¯re going to need you to shoot anyone who comes within bowshot. I expect some


    of them will see what¡¯s going and rush you to take you as hostages.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something we can¡¯t allow,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s a ton of targets on the scene according to


    Josie¡¯s invention. There¡¯s a chance they will all run right at you. If that happens,


    we¡¯re going to do what we can keep you alive, but we might all be killed just trying


    this.¡±


    ¡°If we defeat this force, the salvage rights will be worth it,¡± said Fass. ¡°Doing


    something to these monsters will just be the syrup added on.¡±


    ¡°Remember to stay calm and be ready,¡± said Jack. ¡°You guys might not have to do


    anything but keep watch.¡±


    ¡°Then that will make everything that much better,¡± said Fass. ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡±


    ¡°Josie, as soon as we land, we¡¯ll look everything over and see where we can start this


    extraction,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might need to call Jane in case we have to send some of


    these people back to Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we have been stopping the Shemmarians from doing whatever they


    have been trying to do accidentally?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°It would be funny if we have,¡± said Jack. ¡°We are doing so much good, we crippled


    the military of another country.¡±


    Jack looked for a place to land close to the designated area. He found a clearing and


    brought the jet down on its landing gear. He was glad the Hangar fixed wear and tear


    as it charged up the engines. He could see replacing the legs taking a fortune in the


    old world.


    He lowered the gangplank before unstrapping his harness. He wanted to make sure


    nothing was going to charge the jet while they were trying to arm up and get ready


    for combat.


    He hit the ground and looked around. Nothing moved. He frowned at that. Silence in


    the forest was a dead giveaway something was there the local animals didn¡¯t like.


    He went back up the gangplank and pulled enough tablets for everyone out of the


    storage locker he had stashed them in. He took them outside. He had to get the


    sensors running so Fass could keep track of anyone trying to get close to attack the


    group while they were running security.


    He carried his burden away from the jet so his watch would recharge faster. Then he


    changed to Majik to finish work on his creations. If it worked like he thought, he


    would be able to alert the group to anyone trying to get close enough to attack by


    surprise.


    He created an iron ring on the ground from sheared grass. He placed the top tablet in


    the ring. He let the runes charge the tablet and enchant it to give him a picture. He


    smiled as small facsimiles of people went about their business within range of the


    device.


    He took the original device out, and put all the copies into the ring. He told them to


    charge and give the group priorities. One by one, they lit up and showed his group


    milling around the quinjet, pulling on weapons. None of the enemy seemed close


    according to the tablets.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re at the edge, no one is around, no seems to care about


    finding out what they heard. Do we go ahead?¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of enemy workers here,¡± said Fass. ¡°None of them seemed to have


    noticed anything. And they seem to be holding captives next to the cage wagons at the


    edge of the camp.¡±


    ¡°Jo?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I can send them all to Jane¡¯s from here, or we can send them home one at a time in


    however long that will take me,¡± said Josie. ¡°Either way, if I am doing that, then I


    can¡¯t help fight.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll go down there and send the women up here. Then you


    send them where they have to go.¡±


    ¡°Depending on how far away they are from their homes, it might take a while for the


    birds to make the delivery,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you need protection while I do what I got to do?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can build a wall


    for you until I get done.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you have a plan?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. He became Majik and formed a ring in the ground. ¡°I¡¯m going to


    take Aviras down there and lift all the captives up and let them appear here one at a


    time. I don¡¯t know how much time I will have, so let¡¯s do what we can to fix this.¡±


    ¡°All right, guys,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s push the women to one side until they are gone.


    Anyone who doesn¡¯t have a place to go, I will send down to Jane¡¯s. I need to send a


    letter to her to get ready to take in anyone we send to her.¡±


    ¡°They will start coming through as soon as I get started,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Budd, you and Emily do the crowd control we might need,¡± said Fass. He pointed


    to a spot to one side of the ring. ¡°We need to funnel those people away from any


    fighting. Everyone else spread out in a wall and keep an eye out. We don¡¯t want them


    running up here when Jack gets started doing what he is doing.¡±


    The Fighters spread out in the directed way. Glances at the new tablets told them


    where everyone was. Arrows were put in the ground to be shot when the outlaws tried


    to break in their direction.


    Jack came together in the center of the camp. Aviras was on his shoulder, looking


    around at potential targets. He was about to do a big magic to show that he was ready


    to stop anything anywhere by anyone.


    ¡°Two hundred miles with a blindfold on,¡± said Jack as he raised his hands. ¡°Mama


    always asking where did I go wrong. What¡¯s up danger?¡±


    He cast his spell.


    Jack stood in the center of camp. Tents formed little houses everywhere. A corral for


    horses were on one side of the camp. Transport cages were on the other side. People


    were everywhere.


    His spell ripped up everything that wasn¡¯t alive and turned the mass into an


    expanding ring of iron on the ground. The captives disappeared out of their chains as


    soon as the ring passed under them. The Montrose looked around as everything


    around them but their horses vanished.


    The horses fled from the destruction.


    ¡°There are two kinds of people in this world,¡± said Jack. He reached for his watch.


    ¡°Us and them.¡±


    He called the cloaked skeleton, tapping the summoned scythe on the ground.


    Foot soldiers started dying from wounds and sickness and old age. He turned in a


    circle, letting the touch of death reach out. Occasionally one of the men would burst


    into blue flames. This caused a stampede away from the camp as the men fled from


    Death.

 Ride the Bullet

    Josie glanced at the pad created by Jack as she reached for her watch. She frowned


    at the red dots vanishing from the screen. What was he doing down there? She had


    her own part to play. It was time to do that.


    The ring he created glowed as segments lit up. One person appeared. She looked


    around, probably wondering what had happened.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting rescued,¡± said Josie, wearing her Zatanna persona. ¡°Do you have


    somewhere to go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m from Gold Valley,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She hooked up a bird to the woman and sent it off. ¡°I want you


    to wait over there by the young lady with the sword. I don¡¯t know how long this will


    take but I¡¯m sending you home as fast as I can.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the woman. ¡°Getting me away from those fiends was good


    enough.¡±


    The next few minutes were a variation of that interaction. A woman clothed in rags


    with various marks of her ill treatment appeared. Josie would ask them if they had


    some place to go. She would attach them to a bird if they did, and send them to wait


    with Emily. If they didn¡¯t, she told them to wait with Budd, and she would send them


    to a shelter that would help them get back on their feet.


    As each woman appeared, a section of light would disappear from the ring.


    ¡°Some of them are fleeing this way,¡± she heard Fass say. ¡°Ready bows.¡±


    Josie looked around. The closest ones that were riding the birds had already left. She


    still had a remainder waiting on her to ship them to Jane¡¯s, and some as far away as


    Hawk Ridge waiting on the birds to reach their destination.


    The ring was regular iron after what she had done. So all she had to do was defend


    her group from anyone trying to come through the woods from Jack¡¯s devastating


    attack. She didn¡¯t know what he had done, but she had no doubt it had been horrible.


    ¡°Budd, Emily,¡± said Josie. ¡°It will be a few minutes maybe for the birds to yank


    everyone who had some place to go out of here, but the group I plan to send to Jane


    doesn¡¯t have anything yet. I¡¯m going to help the others while you look after them.


    Can do?¡±


    ¡°We can guard them from flankers,¡± said Budd. He looked at his sister. She nodded.


    ¡°Jack¡¯s magic eyeball should help make that easier.¡±


    ¡°Ladies,¡± said Josie. She looked at the bedraggled mob. A cold fury welled up inside.


    ¡°Budd and Emily are going to protect you. Listen to them, and things will be all right.


    As soon as I am done, I will send the ones without homes to Jane to be helped. All


    right?¡±


    She didn¡¯t wait for an answer. She walked to the front of the crowd as Fass and the


    rest of his group fired their arrows at the group desperately trying to flee from the


    specter in their midst.


    She reverted to normal as she took in the situation.


    ¡°What did you do, Jack?,¡± she asked as she looked at the devastation down below the


    small hill they commanded.


    ¡°Killed most of them, thank the gods,¡± said Fass. He held his sword at the ready as


    he watched his men field arrows at their charging enemy.


    ¡°Anyone else trying to take this hill from us?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Fass. ¡°Unless the rest circle around outside of the range of this device,


    these few are all we have to worry about at the moment.¡±


    ¡°I still have some time,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going down to deal with this. Budd and


    Emily are watching out for the women who haven¡¯t been transported yet. When I get


    back, I will finish sending them home.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°We will hold our position.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the help, Eric,¡± said Josie. She reached for her watch. She called on


    Bulletgirl. ¡°We couldn¡¯t have saved these women without you.¡±


    She strode down the hill. She pointed at anyone she could see. Slugs leaped from her


    body with the flat crack of the sound barrier breaking. She heard the ding of her quest


    going down with every kill. If she missed, she kept shooting with her power until she


    got the next ding and could move on.


    Her effort broke the middle of the charge as her bullets sliced across the wooded area.


    She supposed she was helping any of the wildlife that needed places to live and could


    live in the holes she was punching in the trees with her misses.


    She paused when she reached the end of the treeline. She frowned at the clearing that


    used to house a group of human traffickers. Jack had cleared it as easily as he had


    cleared the Duke¡¯s house for the quinjet.


    She looked around. Anyone who had survived the assault was running. What would


    they tell their comrades? A demon had shown up and destroyed everything was


    something most wouldn¡¯t believe even here.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± she called. She reverted to normal in the face of relative safety. She needed


    to power up the watch to finish her end of things.


    ¡°We¡¯re here, Josie,¡± called back Jack. He waved his arm, the sleeve of his robe


    revealing the skeleton beneath. ¡°Aviras was a big help.¡±


    ¡°I did not set any of these people on fire,¡± said the dragon. He rested on Jack¡¯s


    shoulder.


    ¡°I think the ones that got set on fire are men you would have run into in the future,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°And obviously, they crossed you then. That¡¯s why they died like this now.


    We actually changed the future a little.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°I will hold on your explanation until I see something that explains what happened


    better,¡± said Aviras. ¡°They probably came after Mathilda, and thus the violent


    response.¡±


    ¡°Favorite human?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I like her a lot better than you,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t?,¡± said Jack. It was hard to tell, but Aviras thought he was grinning


    under his skull mask.


    Josie rubbed her face. She couldn¡¯t decide which of the Abbot and Costello team in


    front of her she should punch first. She finally turned her glare on the two and said


    through clenched teeth, ¡°Are you done?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Jack. He reverted to normal and held up the pad that appeared in his


    normal hand. ¡°We still have one guy close by.¡±


    Josie turned and looked around. She didn¡¯t see anyone moving around. All she saw


    were dead bodies with different lethal wounds. She called Zatanna and threw out a


    fire bird to locate their lone survivor.


    The man jumped up and started running away from the trio. Josie flung another bird


    that grabbed the man and brought him back to stand in front of them. He looked at


    them with wide eyes, sweat running down his marked face.


    ¡°Do you want to live?,¡± asked Josie. Her altered face frowned at their captive. She


    was willing to trade at the moment. They had killed a humongous number of cannon


    fodder for this operation, and they still had to cross the border to finish the job.


    She could make an exception for one man if he was smart enough to change his mind.


    ¡°I would like that,¡± said the trafficker.


    ¡°I want you to go south,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you to never harm anyone else for as


    long as you live. I want you to realize that any moment I can find you and snuff you


    out on a whim. And most of all when someone talks to you, I want you to tell them


    your punishment, and what you did to deserve it.¡±


    She imposed her will on his mind. Magic snapped together a lock on him. He started


    talking about what he had done to the three of them. He clamped his hands over his


    mouth to stop his babbling.


    ¡°I think you should go south,¡± said Josie.


    The man ran off, hands still over his face. He looked at Josie with fear and anger in


    his eyes. Mostly it was fear. He didn¡¯t try to grab anything that might help him once


    he reached the trees.


    He was too afraid of a worse punishment.


    Josie stared at him as he ran off. She made a face as she reverted to normal. She


    looked at her partner and his blue dragon. He frowned back at her. The dragon tried


    to hide behind his neck.


    ¡°I prefer the cancer,¡± whispered Aviras.


    ¡°As curses go, you just created the ancient mariner,¡± said Jack. ¡°How do you feel


    about that?¡±


    ¡°I wanted him to know how I felt,¡± said Josie. And she had felt a fury at this one lone


    survivor.


    ¡°Angry and violent?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to deal with the rest of these women. I will send Eric down


    to raid the bodies if he wants after what you did. I think he is afraid of you.¡±


    ¡°When you give great power to someone with few limitations, things are bound to


    happen,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you need a hug?¡±


    ¡°Why would I need a hug?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Women stuff,¡± said Jack.


    Josie frowned at her friend. He held out both arms. He didn¡¯t have his smile on. She


    blinked at him, as she got her temper back under her control.


    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± said Josie. She made a face at them. She turned and headed up the hill.


    She kept her hands under her poncho so no one could see them clenched into fists.


    She still had a job to do. After that, they had to cross the border and look around for


    their hidden enemy. Then more sparks would fly.


    She shouldn¡¯t have left her pad with Budd, but as long as the Montrose had fled


    around the hill, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem. They had engaged the enemy, and things


    had turned out better than what she had thought would happen.


    She saw Fass directing his troops into getting their arrows back from where they had


    shot up the panicked line of men before she had taken a hand in things. She waved


    at him as she walked to the back of the group.


    The group of women had shrank since she had left. She nodded. The birds had


    delivered their anchors and the women with places to go had went there. She hoped


    they were right about being able to go home.


    She couldn¡¯t do anything about that. She had to move the rest to Jane¡¯s. Then they


    could regroup and do the other raid.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She looked over the group in front of her. ¡°My name is Josie


    Fox. I don¡¯t have the time to look after you personally. I am going to send you all


    to my friend, Jane. The house is in Hawk Ridge. If you don¡¯t want to stay there, let


    Jane know and she will work out some way to send you where you want to go. Jane


    will be able to call me if there is some other problem I have to address as you try to


    rebuild. Is everything clear?¡±


    ¡°What happened to the other women that were here?,¡± asked one of the group. She


    waved at the space next to Emily.


    ¡°They had places to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°So I sent them back to where they said they


    lived. If you don¡¯t want to go to Hawk Ridge, I can send you to some other town right


    now, but I won¡¯t be able to help you after you touch down.¡±


    ¡°Can we go?,¡± said another woman. ¡°I don¡¯t want to stand out here.¡±


    ¡°Are there any objections?,¡± asked Josie.


    Various forms of nos answered her question. She felt that some of the women would


    need some kind of assistance. They had been on the road for a long time with


    minimum care.


    Josie took out her note paper and wrote a message for Jane. She sent it ahead of the


    group. She sent out the birds one after the other.


    ¡°Whatever they tell you, I did not rip off anyone¡¯s ear,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would never


    do anything like that unless I was really mad.¡±


    The birds yanked them across the world in a scattering of popping bubbles.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that is over with,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°There was one lone dot,¡± said Emily. ¡°Did you let him go?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. She reverted back to her normal appearance.


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel merciful or kind,¡± said Josie. She said the words in a flat tone. Emily


    stared at her for seconds as she processed what was said.


    Josie took a breath. She looked around. The world didn¡¯t seem that much brighter.


    ¡°I think Fass will want you to help search the bodies now that you don¡¯t have to herd


    some scared women around,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am heading back to the quinjet.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Budd. ¡°Be careful. Some of them might have flanked around us and


    found your magic bird.¡±


    Josie found her pad. She picked it up. The only dots on the surface were marked


    friendly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to think for a bit.¡±


    She walked away, scanning the pad every few seconds. One shot and she would be


    down for the count. She could feel the watch charging as she walked to where their


    mobile base stood.


    At least she knew what Jack had used at the party. That had been something as the


    dots on the pad just vanished. He had done a number on the camp. It was a miracle


    the one survivor she had cursed had survived what he was doing.


    She supposed he didn¡¯t feel that lucky now as he made his way south.


    She worked her way up to the co-pilot¡¯s seat. She could see Warner quitting if he had


    a series of small actions that were violent and didn¡¯t look as if they were changing


    anything.


    Was she and Jack changing anything? Maybe. She didn¡¯t know.


    Aviras settled on her lap. He curled himself into a loop, wings folded closed.


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Jack said to sit with you since you were down,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that


    means but I agreed to do that while they are trying to figure out what they want


    to do here.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to keep going with us?,¡± asked Josie. She reached down and stroked


    his back. ¡°We can¡¯t protect you all the time. And we¡¯re monsters of our own kind.¡±


    ¡°You saved those women,¡± said Aviras. ¡°How do you feel about that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Does that outweigh all the hurt we inflicted?¡±


    ¡°I think you are doing what you have said you would do,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You are


    saving what you can and helping others to do the same.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie.

 Border Crossing

    Jack looked around as Fass and his fighters searched the destroyed camp. His process


    had left personal things alone, so they could rob the dead men and women of


    whatever they were carrying. He had seen worse in the warzones he had traveled


    through for Uncle Sam.


    He wondered how many foot soldiers had escaped and would think about reforming.


    What would that do to the Makeover? Either he had marked all of them for life, or he


    hadn¡¯t. The ones that were still marked had to be dealt with in one way, or the other.


    He doubted that he had left any treasure chest around with the growing of his ring of


    transport.


    He frowned as he considered the implications of what he had done.


    He had cleared most of the cover, and transported all the victims at the same time.


    That had worked perfectly as far as he was concerned. Death had worked out but he


    hadn¡¯t been able to kill all of them. Practical limitations had worked against him


    there.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Fass. ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was thinking that we should have stopped the runners. I just


    didn¡¯t see how to catch all the ones on the edge. Word is going to spread when they


    reach other parts of their cartel. Maybe that will make them look for us the next time


    we decide to take out an arm of their organization. I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the rest of this will be doable?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I have to take a look at the battlefield,¡± said Jack. ¡°If there is a lich queen, it could


    be bad for whomever she goes after. I don¡¯t want her to roll up to Hawk Ridge and


    kill everybody there. I¡¯ve grown attached to it in the two weeks I have been living


    there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fond of it too,¡± said Fass. ¡°We¡¯ll regroup and leave. Can you cover the bodies


    up? We don¡¯t want a lot of scavengers showing up to lead others back here. Let the


    Montrose search for their lost infantry.¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might want to grab your stuff and get back up the hill.


    You don¡¯t want to be caught in the move.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get everyone back,¡± said Fass. ¡°Let me know if you can¡¯t go forward.¡±


    ¡°Will do,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I should have done something better than what I


    did. A mass killing like this is bound to weigh things down.¡±


    ¡°Warfare is never as clean as people want,¡± said Fass. ¡°We¡¯ll move out so you can do


    what you can do.¡±


    Jack nodded as he looked at the clearing full of dead people. Budd had gathered all


    of the bags of money they could find and carried them slung over his shoulder. They


    filed up the hill toward the stand, and the quinjet behind.


    He looked up and down the clearing. He had done something a little more monstrous


    than usual. He wondered how the Society would take this. He doubted they would be


    happy if he killed all these people and the Lich Queen started her scheme working


    before they could do anything to stop her.


    He could bury all the bodies in one fell swoop. He could see that.


    He hoped that Elaine had a good show to watch when he got home. He needed


    something to take his mind off what he had done.


    Jack checked his watch. He had enough fuel to do the deed. Then he could walk back


    to the quinjet and make sure Josie hadn¡¯t turned her anger on the dragon keeping her


    company. Then he could ask for a letter to be sent back to Elaine to get a bearing with


    the model. Then they would take to the air.


    He hoped he wasn¡¯t flying them into a place where they got killed, and the girls and


    Elaine were on their own.


    He changed into Majik. He took control of the iron ring running around the camp. He


    channeled his spell into the ring and the bodies were covered by the ground and


    crushed down. He looked around. The corpses were buried.


    He let the persona go. The ring could stay. It was inert unless he was using it. He


    might need it for later.


    He walked up the hill. Fass was the last man there. They walked toward the waiting


    quinjet in silence.


    Jack looked at the pad. He wondered if he could use it like Jo used her birds. He


    scratched his head as he examined the piece of metal in his hands. He thought about


    possible builds as he walked along.


    He might be able to use the second generation as combination scanners and coms like


    in Star Trek. He wasn¡¯t sure. From there, he could build short range teleporters.


    ¡°What are you thinking?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°How many atoms make up the human body,¡± said Jack. ¡°And if I can turn all that


    into a stream that I can project a million miles away.¡±


    ¡°And why would that be important?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°It just enables faster travel,¡± said Jack. ¡°Imaginary worlds back home had gates


    where your home could be splintered across different places for ease, gates to cross


    days of travel in an instant, weaponized equipment. I was thinking that maybe I can


    use a version of Josie¡¯s model to instantly transport anything anywhere.¡±


    ¡°And you wouldn¡¯t have to fly,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I mean you might need to fly for different things, but for just walking between


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.cities,¡± said Jack. He shrugged. ¡°It might be okay. I imagine people would lose their


    minds about being able to leave their home city and look at some place different for


    a bit.¡±


    ¡°Most people don¡¯t travel unless they have to for making a living,¡± said Fass. ¡°I think


    my group is one of the few that have adventured more than a few days from Hawk


    Ridge¡¯s walls.¡±


    ¡°I forgot that you guys don¡¯t have the speed to move around and return to get back


    to your lives,¡± said Jack. ¡°Still, it might be good for adventurers to be able to move


    from station to station to do quests.¡±


    ¡°The King and his nobility will want this more than adventurers,¡± said Fass. ¡°It would


    allow him to move people at will, while denying his enemies the travel time.¡±


    ¡°So I should hold on the development,¡± said Jack. He thought about the technology


    abuse that could come from having teleportation. Schlock¡¯s mercenaries had started


    a million wars with the dropping of teleportation on the galaxy. Did he want to do


    the same thing to the world he was trying to protect?


    ¡°I would keep it to yourself,¡± said Eric. ¡°Your magic eyes and model can change the


    ability of warfare at the moment. Do you want to change it so much that things would


    spiral out of control?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make it easier.¡±


    ¡°Think about your discoveries a little more before you let the general public have


    them,¡± said Eric. ¡°Anything can be weaponized in the right hands.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t I know it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s move on before I start crying over the death of


    my idea baby.¡±


    ¡°I admit it would make what I do that much easier,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said Jack. He put on his grin. ¡°I have to send a letter to Elaine


    to see if she can get us a bearing. Once we have that, we can launch. Better get your


    gear stowed and the crew strapped in.¡±


    Fass smiled. He joined his crew, unstrapping his sword. He didn¡¯t like it but he knew


    the consequences of having a certain amount of poundage shift at the wrong moment


    and wounding his leg while he was sitting in a chair not designed to let a weapon


    hang by his side.


    Jack checked his watch while he headed up to the pilot¡¯s seat. He put his pad in a


    pocket in his seat before he sat down. Aviras and Josie looked at him from the co-


    pilot¡¯s chair.


    ¡°Could you send a letter to Elaine and see if she can get us a bearing for the Lich


    Queen circle from here?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we¡¯ll fly over and take a look around.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we should get this done. This could be a Dark Rider


    situation and I think that¡¯s why the Society wants us to handle it.¡±


    ¡°It could be worse than a Dark Rider depending on things,¡± said Jack. He didn¡¯t


    power up the quinjet. He didn¡¯t want the charger to interfere with Josie¡¯s watch when


    she sent the letter.


    ¡°What kind of things?,¡± said Aviras He glared with his diamond eyes at his curse


    maker from Josie¡¯s lap.


    Josie scratched a note out and sent it. She waited for the reply. Her eyes were on her


    grinning partner. She didn¡¯t look amused to him.


    ¡°Well a lich queen can be a queen of an army of dead people that are animated but


    brainless,¡± said Jack. ¡°They are puppets. Or...¡±


    A note dropped out of the air on top of the dragon. Josie unfolded it and read it. She


    nodded.


    ¡°Or?,¡± prompted Aviras. A little flame had started on the edge of his snout. His


    expression, while frozen to strange eyes projected a fear of knowing to those who


    knew him.


    ¡°We could be dealing with a queen of an army of necromancers who can overrun


    everything around Shemmaria and kill everything they encounter and bring their


    victims back to animation, or use that to power more spells to do more damage,¡± said


    Josie.


    Jack gave her two guns with his index fingers and a grin.


    ¡°Lovely,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Queen of the necromancer army is looking good from where I am sitting,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s the kind of thing the Society wants to stamp out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to switch my crowd killing personas,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine give us anything?¡±


    ¡°She said the bearing is about eighty points, south by southeast,¡± said Josie. ¡°She


    gave me a four hundred mile marker. Her note said the circle is still big, and hovering


    over some town named Kas.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He fired up the charger and set the navigation. ¡°It looks like


    it¡¯s a straight line from here. We should be over it and getting information for the


    pads to do our thing in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to fly at this dangerous thing?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°It¡¯s who we are,¡± sang Jack. He lifted off. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if we¡¯ve gone too far.


    Doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s all okay. Doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s not our day.¡±


    ¡°Oh, won¡¯t you save us?,¡± sang Josie. ¡°What we are? Don¡¯t look clear. ''Cause it¡¯s all


    uphill from here. Oh.¡±


    ¡°They say we¡¯re crazy!,¡± sang Jack loudly.


    ¡°You are!,¡± said someone from the back.


    ¡°You can walk home,¡± Jack said back. He shook his fist in mock anger.


    Josie and Aviras rolled their eyes.


    The flight across the border was uneventful. Nothing had been developed that could


    fly. And nothing was as fast as the quinjet. There might be some natural monsters


    who wanted to challenge for the title, but they remained clear of the line as the jet


    streaked like a missile across the sky.


    ¡°All right, flight crew,¡± said Jack. He looked out his side of the cockpit. ¡°Anyone


    see a pile of bodies, slave caravans, or marked men who need to be killed?¡±


    ¡°Give me a minute,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll throw out a marker to give us a starting point.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Everyone look for where the red bird goes when released.


    That¡¯s the place we have to be to save the day.¡±


    Josie took on Zatanna and sent a scry bird through the window. It hovered outside


    for a moment and then headed down. It hovered over something that could have


    been a church from the looks of things.


    ¡°Everybody see that?,¡± said Jack. He made a wide turn to look for a landing spot. ¡°It


    headed for the box with the steeples.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going ahead, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll see you when you hit the ground.¡±


    Jack mildly cursed when she vanished from her seat. He dropped the ship down in a


    clearing at the edge of town. He saw guards coming to stop them from doing what


    they wanted to do. He would handle them before following Josie.


    ¡°Gear up,¡± said Jack. He grabbed the pad from its pocket. ¡°Hostiles incoming off the


    port side. I have to get out there and tell them that¡¯s a bad idea.¡±


    He called up Majik and did a short hop to stand on top of the quinjet. He looked down


    at the approaching guards. He summoned a ring around the ship, calling it up from


    the local flora. It exuded lightning to keep the Shemmarians from trying to get to the


    jet. He changed forms to let Captain America carry him over the wall of electricity.


    The red, white and blue scarecrow charged into the crowd. His momentum broke their


    ragged wall. His blows broke their faces and the bones in their limbs. He let them


    drop where he forced them to a stop.


    Jack changed back to Majik to dampen the protective wall. He dropped the gangplank


    so the adventurers could exit as soon as they had their equipment ready to use.


    ¡°Josie went ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°I doubt that was a good idea. I am going in and


    ripping the place down.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Fass. He walked over to one of the men clutching his legs in pain.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on at the temple? What are you doing there?¡±


    ¡°The commissioner is working on some kind of weapon,¡± said the man. ¡°He has been


    in there for months. He takes in women and asks for more.¡±


    ¡°What happens to the women?,¡± asked Fass. The grim look on his face said he had


    a possible answer that he didn¡¯t like.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the guard. ¡°They never come out.¡±


    ¡°It looks like we¡¯re here in the nick of time,¡± said Jack. He formed a charger and wall


    around the quinjet. ¡°You know what that makes us?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Big damn heroes,¡± said Jack.

 SHAZAM!

    Josie appeared on the roof of her target building. She took a moment to look for


    sentries as she looked for a way inside without teleporting. She didn¡¯t want to appear


    in the middle of a mob, and be taken right off the bat. She looked at her watch and


    saw the flow was faster than what she expected.


    Someone had turned the place into a mana charger. And that was filling up her watch


    almost as fast as Zatanna was draining it. She decided to clear the building with her


    birds. She sent them out to a random location miles away. Once they reached their


    destination, the guards and staff would quietly start disappearing.


    Then all she had to do was open a door and walk inside.


    She felt the first pop of her spell dragging its victim out of the way. She smiled. By


    the time they got back, things would be decided one way, or the other.


    She let the Zatanna persona go. She wanted to be able to use other things if she ran


    into trouble. The transit would still happen until the birds ran out yanking the guards


    and staff out of the way.


    She found a ladder leading into the building from one of the steeples. She had entered


    the door as a guard vanished. He didn¡¯t have any time to alert anyone to her presence


    before he was gone.


    She slid down the ladder and looked around when she reached the bottom. She


    frowned at the converted second floor being turned into a hospital ward. Dozens of


    women were strapped to beds. Crude hoses took the blood from the women and


    carried it to a tank in a corner of the room.


    Josie thought she might have let Zatanna go too soon. How did she fix this? What


    was going on with the blood? How did she stop this?


    This might be something she could use Doctor Occult to stop if she knew what was


    going on.


    She took her pad out of her messenger bag. She put it on a rolling table. Little dots


    were forming into two waves. One wave was heading out to where the quinjet to try


    to stop Jack from doing what he did best. The other was coming right at the makeshift


    hospital.


    The first thing she had to do was keep everyone else out of the building until she


    could do what she had to do to stop things in their tracks.


    She could do that simply enough with Zatanna. Then she could move on to a plan to


    stop things in their tracks.


    And a book of knowledge might give her something she could use in such a


    hypothetical plan.


    She summoned her master magician. She decided the easiest way to keep people out


    was to construct walls over the openings to seal the building. She sent out her


    minions to get the job done. The fire birds reached the exits and sealed them with


    summoned rock.


    By the time someone got a battering ram to the front door, this would be over one


    way, or the other.


    She held out her hands and an invisible pen wrote out facts to tell her what was going


    on as the building blocked off anyone trying to get at her. She frowned at what she


    read.


    Maybe she should let the Shemmarians in so she could inflict what they deserved on


    them.


    She decided that she had to do something about the women losing their blood on the


    tables around her first. Then she would see what she had in her bag of tricks for


    anyone who happened to cross her path.


    Quick executions were going to be the order of the day in her opinion.


    She decided that Doctor Occult was what she needed. Then she could move everyone


    outside. She sent the book of knowledge to Jack. He would be busy for the minute it


    took for him to take apart any advance on him, but once he was done with that, he


    could think about what had to be done to take the operation apart.


    She switched bodies. Her delay tactic had bought her some time. She doubted they


    could get at her while she was working on their victims.


    The first thing she had to do was assess her sudden patients. She let the magical scan


    reach out to tell her what she needed to know. It gave her information like the book


    of knowledge spell she used extensively, but it was directed at what she wanted to


    heal, and how best to do that.


    Josie checked her watch as she went over each scan. She had to take the plugs from


    the hoses out of each neck, close the wounds, and speed up the healing. She had to


    do that before the woman on the table died while she worked to save her.


    She could do it. The watch was recharging faster than it should, even with the


    alterations that she had done to the building, and the Doctor Occult persona was


    specialized for this sort of thing.


    If she tried anything with Zatanna, there was a chance that she would cause the event


    she was trying to prevent.


    Wishing things into working sounded great, but if you weren¡¯t precise, you could


    inflict unintended consequences on yourself like a monkey paw.


    Josie started work, cutting off the flow of blood and reversing the effect. She


    perceived that the tank was there to keep everything fresh for what they wanted to do.


    She was not going to let that happen.


    Once she had the ladies¡¯ blood back where it belonged. She disconnected the hoses


    one by one. She created a seal over their wounds and asked the magic to heal it up.


    They would need care when she was done, but they wouldn¡¯t be lab rats unless the


    enemy took the building back from her. She made sure the women remained asleep.


    Now she had to get them out of the building and in the hands of someone who could


    help them.


    Josie did one more scan to make sure she had fixed everything. She frowned at the


    seed she found. She paused. She couldn¡¯t send any of these women away until she


    figured out what had been placed in them.


    The book of knowledge had said that the seed of holding would keep things under


    control. This had to be what the spell was talking about. Were there other seeds


    waiting to be planted?


    She could extract them. How much time did she have? Did she have enough time to


    do the job? She looked at the pad. Jack and Fass¡¯s Fighters were coming right at her.


    Enemy combatants were dropping like flies. The other persona user might be using


    Death again to get to her.


    He could have teleported to get inside the building. She doubted he was going to


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.leave their helpers outside to face the music themselves. And he was probably


    looking for the brains behind this so they didn¡¯t have to come back to do this again


    down the road.


    She had time to extract the seeds. She turned her persona off. She wanted to have full


    power in case something happened before Jack got to the building.


    She watched the numbers go up. She listened to the sound of the building. How much


    did they take from the women who had come before the ones she was operating on?


    And why were they trying to fill the tank on the other side of the room?


    She needed to do something about that before things were done. That tank had to be


    the key to creating the lich queen.


    She could do something to it once she was done with the main effort. She could send


    the women to Hawk Ridge and have Jane¡¯s crew do whatever they could before she


    got home.


    She heard a bang under her. Red dots flowed into the building. Someone had blown


    a hole in her defenses.


    She couldn¡¯t do the operations while dealing with people rushing to take the subjects


    back to finish the job. She frowned as she dialed through the names on her watch.


    What did she have to stop a crowd from trying to take her position?


    She had to get in front of the biggest portion of the crowd. Then she could use


    Bulletgirl on whomever she saw.


    She grabbed the pad and called on Quick. She flew to the stairs leading to her floor.


    She knew there were two more, but she had to worry about the one with the most


    enemies on it, and then try to take the others when she was done.


    She paused when a bolt of red light leaped at her from the bottom of the staircase. She


    backed up. Someone had grabbed an artifact to use against her.


    Jack had said they might run into a magician to try to stop them. It looks like he had


    been right about that. How did she counter this new enemy and get the women out


    without losing everything?


    She doubted that she could move the women without taking the seeds out. That might


    trigger some kind of transformation. She didn¡¯t want that to happen if she could help


    it.


    Josie turned into the Green Arrow. She took aim with her invisible bow. She began


    to send glowing arrows down the steps. She nodded as she saw the missiles ricochet


    off the stone railings and walls of the staircase.


    She heard a couple of dings as she got lucky and killed members of the Montrose


    among her enemies. If she killed others, they didn¡¯t trigger the quest completion.


    A blast of red light answered her volley. She stepped back. She didn¡¯t want to face


    anyone with potential problems in the way. She let go of Green Arrow. She had to


    move the women out of the way before she could engage in a magical duel with her


    enemy.


    She wanted to put an end to this before things moved out of control. The last thing


    she wanted was undead women rising up to destroy everything around them. How


    long would it take for them to work their way to Hawk Ridge and her Ducklings?


    She was not going to let that happen whatever it took to get the job done.


    She checked her watch. She nodded as it recharged faster than normal. She had to


    hold things in place until Jack could strike from behind. She would like to take the


    guy down, but she didn¡¯t know how her wish magic would stand against someone


    else¡¯s own knowledge.


    She turned into Zatanna. She decided to move the women to the roof. She could get


    them back on their feet when she was done dealing with the magician trying to rush


    her.


    She sent up birds for each of the sleeping women. She waited until they reached the


    targeted level. Then they were gone. She hoped that hadn¡¯t been a mistake.


    She hoped that she hadn¡¯t killed them and started them on the road to lichdom.


    A red blast brought her back to her current situation. She needed to do something


    about the Shemmarians.


    The first thing she needed to do was seal the room so she could buy time. Then she


    could think of something since she didn¡¯t want to trade magic bolts with another


    magician.


    She swiped the doorway with rocks like she had at the Hole in the Wall when she first


    arrived in Hawk Ridge. She needed a solution for her problem. She wanted to use the


    Human Bomb but if she did she would be locked down until she came back to herself.


    Could she kill the enemy magician with the blast and then evade the soldiers that


    would be waiting on her to become solid again.


    She had a lot of personas that might be effective. She just didn¡¯t know what would


    be effective in this situation. Maybe she needed to come up from behind and try to


    smash them against the closed doors.


    She decided to do one thing to wreck things before she engaged with the enemy. She


    turned to the tank full of seeds and blood. She wished for it to burn up so it couldn¡¯t


    be used to create the problem she was trying to stop.


    A loud scream echoed through the building. Josie covered her ears with her hands


    long enough to block the sound with her magic. She hoped she had done the right


    thing.


    She wished to get down to the ground. She paused as the crowd of guards were all


    around her. She had to move before they tried to take her for the magician and her


    birds weren¡¯t going to be a big help at the moment.


    It was time for speed.


    She switched to Quick. She had the speed to get away, but why do that? She could cut


    down the odds while waiting for Jack to show up.


    Josie started kicking the armed men with her super speed. She broke bones while


    letting the swords go by. She found a baton hovering in the middle of the fight.


    Suddenly she had a drum stick to use on the heads of her enemies.


    She paused when she ran out of faces to smash. Six seconds had been enough to clear


    out the space around her. She spotted fighting in the street. Should she join that? She


    heard a noise and jogged behind a column in a blur. Red light missed her.


    Josie looked around. The soldiers she hadn¡¯t put down tried to get out of her


    battleground. They didn¡¯t want to get caught in the crossfire, and that told her they


    knew what the light did to people.


    Did she turn back into Zatanna to use her wish magic against the red light? Did she


    try something else? What would happen if she called up Fate? Would his magic work


    better than her usual spells?


    The only other magician she thought would be helpful was Shazam. Would the old


    man give her what she needed? Did she want to test it?


    She wondered if Bulletgirl would do things in this. She didn¡¯t want to sling bullets


    and hit a shield she couldn¡¯t shoot through while he was shooting at her.


    She decided that maybe Shazam was the way to go. She touched her watch and hoped


    she wasn¡¯t making a mistake. A mistake now would get her killed and leave her kids


    with Jack.


    That was a fate worse than death in her opinion.


    She touched her watch. A form made of magic and lightning took over her body. She


    felt stronger and the world seemed ready to bend to her will.


    Red light reached for her. She dodged the beam. She flashed forward. She wondered


    if this was what Geoff Johns wanted, but was too incompetent to write as a story.


    Captain Marvel had been a flying brick. He accomplished great feats with his powers


    lifted from the gods. Adding on magic must have seemed like a good idea. He just


    wrecked the greatness of the character for his personal wants.


    The magician tried a continuous beam slicing through the air. He held a book in one


    hand. The light leaped from the pages. His skeleton glowed through his skin with


    every second of power displayed.


    Josie zipped through the barrage. She brought her fist in his face as hard as she could


    swing her arm. Lightning blasted through the red glow. The magician flew into the


    nearest wall. He dropped the book out of his hand. The aura protected him from the


    full force of her blow.


    It didn¡¯t protect him from the second one that crushed his face to paste.


    Josie changed into Fire and set the book on fire. She stepped back from the explosion


    that resulted. It almost blew out her fire. She stepped back and let the furnace roar


    back up to full power.


    She looked around and let Fire go. She still had to get those seeds out of the women


    on the roof. That would be easier without having someone trying to blow her


    operating theater up while she was working.


    Zatanna was still going to be her workhorse, with Doctor Occult as her medical expert


    and paramedic for special cases like this. Shazam would be her personal force against


    anyone who got too close to her with beams of light, and other magic.


    That had been a surprise to run into someone who could match up with her for just


    a bit. She had to worry about that in the future and plan accordingly.


    One hit from that red beam would have been enough to kill her. She knew that from


    the way it had blasted through the wall. She should have kept the book, but


    destroying it seemed a better idea.


    Jack had to know there were more exotic weapons than Warner¡¯s old ring, and the


    watches, and they were in unfriendly hands.


    She doubted that would stop him from doing crazy things to get one over.

 Operation

    Jack had Aviras on his shoulder as he strode toward the building with the steeples.


    His scythe clunked along the grass as he glided along. He needed to kill as many


    combatants as he could as the adventurers tried to reach the church without getting


    involved.


    They needed to cover for Josie and whatever she had found more than he needed the


    help. His watch was enough for the moment unless he ran into someone with


    something that stopped Death in his tracks.


    He doubted it, but they were trying to make living weapons as far as he could tell.


    There was no telling what they had to resist his interference.


    ¡°There is a small group spreading out to stop us ahead,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I can see them


    from here.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can help Jo?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t want you hurt in the fighting


    that¡¯s about to start.¡±


    ¡°I think I would be more help to Fass,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I would be glad to get him to the


    temple.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯ll do. We¡¯ll meet up at the building next to the


    temple in case we have to get by Josie. She might be tearing these bums a new one,


    and we don¡¯t want to step in front of that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad we¡¯re in agreement,¡± said the dragon. He took to the air, vanishing in the


    treeline.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see what he¡¯s worried about,¡± said Jack to himself. ¡°He¡¯s a smaller target.¡±


    He checked his watch as he headed for the spreading net of men. They had seen and


    heard the ship, but they were still coming. That said they weren¡¯t afraid of something


    seen in the sky.


    Would they be afraid of him?


    He reached the edge of the line. Men dropped dead as he concentrated on them. Some


    took cover to get away from his sight. Some fired bows at him, and he was glad he


    had sent Aviras away.


    The little guy was tough, but he didn¡¯t want to stop in the middle of a firefight to


    work on patching the dragon up if he was hit. He wanted to cut the crowd in two and


    wipe most of their numbers down before they could regroup to think of some new


    tactic.


    And he wanted to make sure he got the brains of this operation so they didn¡¯t have


    to come back to fix things.


    Jack reached out with his power and dropped some of the men in their tracks of old


    age. He expected some of them to have wounds, but these might have lived to be


    grandpas before he came along. He paused behind a tree as some of the soldiers


    rushed forward with axes and swords in their hands. They had decided to join


    someone shipping women to their site for whatever they were doing to them. They


    weren¡¯t getting a lot of mercy if they wanted to stand in his way.


    He swept his gaze over the mass of troopers. They dropped one by one. He paused to


    check for strays before moving toward the temple. He had to meet up with Fass and


    keep things going.


    There was no telling what Josie had found, or what she had done to anyone in her


    way.


    A loud scream echoed over the town. That sounded like something Josie would cause.


    He looked for anyone not running toward the scream. Those people would know what


    it meant and realize their work was over.


    A scream like that wasn¡¯t from someone like Josie. It was a sound something larger


    than a human would make if they were mortally wounded.


    The soldiers fell back to join their leader at the temple. Jack watched as red and gold


    broke some of them when they ran towards the front doors. He smiled.


    Josie was still on the job.


    He dropped Death long enough to check his spotter. A lot of the combatants were


    down at Josie¡¯s position. Thunder rolled and he took a chance to peek at the cause.


    Josie had turned herself into lightning with red light making up parts of her body.


    He didn¡¯t know what that was, but it looked like a flying brick. He was glad that she


    finally had something to protect her other than a gunslinger. He decided to put on


    Makkarri to get across the street to talk with his partner. Then they could get the


    fighters together and finish their raid.


    Someone with a ray gun started shooting at him as he changed. He decided to deal


    with that before doing anything else. Five hundred punches against a red aura of light


    was enough to send his victim staggering down the street, but he was still up and


    holding a book in his hand to power his protection.


    Jack should have turned to Majik to clear this out before he tried to meet with Josie.


    He frowned as he considered his next move at the super speed he now possessed. The


    necromancer was starting to turn around to blast at him with the heat beam power he


    had. He had to knock down that protective aura and then the man himself.


    Josie crashed against the guy with all of her new found might. He flew into the air


    like a baseball heading for the fence. There was no telling if he would survive his


    landing.


    And Jack was okay with that if he was out of the fight while they tried to clean things


    up and get out of town.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?,¡± Jack asked. He waved his hand at the new body.


    ¡°Shazam,¡± said Josie. Lightning crashed and thunder rolled across a dark sky. ¡°They


    were doing things to the women that were here. I did some work, but they aren¡¯t in


    the best shape.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get everybody together and on the roof,¡± said Jack. ¡°The quinjet is protected


    from these guys. All we have to do is figure out our next move, and then do that.¡±


    ¡°They turned the building into a charger,¡± said Josie. She returned to normal. She


    switched to Zatanna. ¡°Let me send out some birds.¡±


    Fire birds reached for Fass¡¯s Fighters. When they hit the roof of the building, the


    adventurers teleported into position. Some of them had been in the act of putting


    down their enemies and had to stop their movements before they did something like


    stabbing their comrades.


    Josie pulled Jack to the roof with her. She looked around. Everyone seemed unhurt.


    Aviras rode on Emily¡¯s head. She didn¡¯t seem to like it. Jack noted that she was the


    tallest of the fighters, but said nothing.


    Matilda was the smallest of the girls and he liked riding around on her.


    ¡°We exchanged blows, but nothing like what you were doing,¡± said Fass. ¡°What is


    wrong with these women?¡±


    ¡°The Shemmarians placed something in them and was trying to build something


    downstairs out of blood and magic,¡± said Josie. She switched to Doctor Occult. ¡°I


    burned it up in its cradle, but these women still have something in them. I¡¯m afraid


    that if I move them, they will start the process we¡¯re trying to prevent.¡±


    ¡°And we don¡¯t want a bunch of necromancers bringing back the dead to be their


    servants to attack the living,¡± said Jack. ¡°What you got, Jo?¡±


    ¡°My scan says there are seeds inside these women,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think if we take


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.them out, that¡¯s the end of the problem other than making sure these women get taken


    care of by Jane and back on their feet.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is there any way for those mooks to get up here without us


    knowing?¡±


    ¡°There are exits from the steeples,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can seal them up as Zatanna and


    switch back. Those book users can blast down walls. The first one I dealt with cut


    through the barrier I put up to keep them out.¡±


    ¡°Do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll call Strange and see if he can help fix this. We can¡¯t take


    them away if we think they will be monsters before we leave the building.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything we can do?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°Watch the edges in case they decide they can shoot at us from the other rooftop over


    there,¡± said Jack. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to shoot back while we¡¯re trying to fix this.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°Some cover might be nice.¡±


    Jack swept out a ring to create a wall around the roof operating theater. That should


    be enough to cover the group while they worked.


    He felt the wave of wish magic closing up the doors in the steeples to the roof. He


    nodded. That should cause enough of a delay for them to do what they needed to do


    and then head back to the quinjet.


    He let Majik go, and dialed up Doctor Strange. He created the scanner screens he


    needed to check each woman before he did anything. His face contorted at what he


    saw. He needed a better solution that ripping the seed out. That would just kill the


    women before he could fix anything.


    Josie had probably seen the same thing when she used her own persona to scan for


    problems.


    He let the persona go to let his watch charge, and so he could think. This was going


    to be a little tougher than knocking someone over the horizon.


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I think we could kill all of these women by accident if we make a wrong move,¡± said


    Jack. He wished he knew more about what the seeds were supposed to do. ¡°Were they


    like this when you found them?¡±


    ¡°They were being exsanguinated by some machine,¡± said Josie. ¡°I unhooked them,


    and sealed their wounds. Then I blew the tank up that was taking their blood. It


    screamed when I did that.¡±


    ¡°The machine could have been replacing their blood with whatever the seeds need to


    grow,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know enough to safely make a decision. What does Doctor


    Occult tell you?¡±


    ¡°We have to get the seeds out if we want to get these women back where they


    belong,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think we want to fool around and find out what will


    happen if we don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Extraction is going to be tough,¡± said Jack. He started grinning. ¡°I just had a crazy


    idea we can use.¡±


    ¡°How crazy?,¡± asked Josie. She looked around the rooftop. The adventurers were


    keeping watch and listening to them at the same time. She supposed it was a good


    thing they weren¡¯t trying to keep anything secret.


    ¡°So crazy, it has to be Montgomery Scott certified,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her


    expression. ¡°I¡¯m going to need a minute to get ready. As soon as I¡¯m done, you can


    send all these women to Jane to be looked after. Tell her that they¡¯ll need beds and


    liquid food to build up their strength until we get back home and can send them where


    they actually belong.¡±


    ¡°Let me write her a letter,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you know what you are doing?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°The problem is getting the hippos to dance instead of chewing


    on their tutus.¡±


    ¡°I will give you a black eye to take home to Elaine,¡± warned Josie. ¡°Do you


    understand the threat?¡±


    ¡°I would be more scared if you were taller,¡± said Jack. He lifted his hand how high


    he meant.


    ¡°Don¡¯t test my resolve,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t quite glare, but her eyes gleamed in the


    sunlight like a giant cat¡¯s.


    ¡°Moving along,¡± said Jack. He waved at Fass to approach. ¡°I need two guys to help


    me out here. I would do it with Gravity, but I am going to need to do some of the


    lifting. Josie is going to need to check each woman before we send them back to


    Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°Emily, Thad,¡± said Fass. ¡°You¡¯re up. What is the plan?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to take the seeds out of the women with some Stargate stuff out of my


    butt,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we¡¯re going to check them out, and then send them to Jane.


    Once we¡¯re clear, we ask Elaine to give us a vector. If we have the job done, we go


    home. If we don¡¯t, we have to look around and finish the job before something


    happens and we wind up fighting a bunch of dead people.¡±


    ¡°I think I like explanations without so many ifs,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°It¡¯s all I got right now,¡± said Jack. ¡°The other options are throwing these women off


    the roof and hoping for the best, or just ripping the seeds out without knowing what


    happens if they activate while we¡¯re working.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what kind of Stargate stuff you can pull out of your butt,¡± said Fass. He


    made a face at the sentence.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need a place to put the women after we¡¯re done so they


    can be checked out before we get them out of here.¡±


    ¡°Here, Jack,¡± said Emily. She stood next to the wall. She bent down and tried to make


    a mark in the stone. Aviras shot a small flame out and scored the top of the roof.


    ¡°So we need a place to put up the entrance ring,¡± said Jack. He lined himself up with


    the spot that Emily and Aviras had picked out. ¡°So I¡¯m going to put these rings down.


    All the women get moved over to my side of the roof. When they appear on that side,


    they have to be moved out of the ring and checked out. Once we have them processed


    and checked out, Josie can work her magic.¡±


    ¡°Let me send a letter to Jane and Hilda,¡± said Josie. ¡°They will love this.¡±


    ¡°The Hole in the Wall won¡¯t have the room for them,¡± said Jack. ¡°The kids might be


    able to act as nurses, but Jane knows how to deal with things almost as well as Elaine.


    And her Amazons are almost a small army in their own right.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯ll know that this is important.¡±


    She wrote out the situation and sent it with Zatanna. They received a reply a few


    minutes later. Jane said they had a place marked to make transport to guest quarters


    reasonable.


    ¡°That part is ready to go,¡± said Josie, turning the persona loose for later.


    ¡°There might be a small danger when I take the seeds out,¡± said Jack. ¡°Whatever you


    do, don¡¯t touch them. We don¡¯t know how they will act, and they might try to get into


    the nearest body and eat the victim up from the inside before we can do anything to


    stop it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good warning,¡± said Fass. He indicated his people who weren¡¯t helping


    should move out of the way.


    ¡°Also while we¡¯re doing this, we won¡¯t be able to keep the Shemmarians from trying


    to break through the walls Josie put up,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Lou?,¡± asked Fass. He turned slightly to look at the ranger.


    ¡°They are regrouping on the other side of that barracks we saw on our way in,¡± said


    Lou. ¡°They are between us and the flying machine, but I think the dragon can punch


    a hole for us if we need it.¡±


    Aviras lifted his head in pride.


    ¡°Finally someone appreciates my value,¡± said the tiny dragon.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get a big head now,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right, let¡¯s get started.¡±


    Jack took on his Majik form and created three rings in the roof. Two were the size of


    people, one the size of a small dog. He waved for Emily and her brother to start


    moving the sleeping women into the ring next to him. They vanished and reappeared


    in the other person-sized ring. Small needles appeared in the smaller ring.


    Josie went over each arriving woman with her Doctor Occult medical scan. Two more


    of the Fighters moved the women out of the rings so they could do the job in a hurry


    instead of waiting for Budd and Emily.


    ¡°We got all of them,¡± reported Josie. She looked at the seeds with her scan. ¡°Those


    are nastier than I thought.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Jack. He directed his attention at the small ring. The seeds vanished


    in a sparkle of light. ¡°Now we have to get everyone out of here and look at what we


    have to do for our next step.¡±


    ¡°What did you do?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I reduced the seeds to their components so they could never be used to hurt anyone,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°You can do that with a person?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°Remember how we were talking about moving people across long distances without


    wagons,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s part of the operations.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that we agreed that we wouldn¡¯t spread the secret around,¡± said Fass. ¡°What


    you just did is more dangerous than moving people.¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t do anything with what I have here,¡± said Jack. ¡°You would need a ray


    to direct fire like a phaser.¡±


    ¡°You are not making things better,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to take me a couple of minutes to move all of these women out of here,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Do we hit the barracks on the way out to show we can?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like we didn¡¯t get a ding,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Lich Queen still has to be a threat


    somehow.¡±


    ¡°So we move these women to Hawk Ridge,¡± said Josie. ¡°If the circle moves, then we


    know the women, or one of them, are the threat. If it doesn¡¯t, then there could be


    other factories just like this one.¡±


    ¡°We should set fire to the barracks to give us a distraction for when we move back


    to the flying machine,¡± said Eric.


    ¡°We need to check out the rest of the town to make sure our target isn¡¯t here,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Then we need to clear out and let the rest get back to their lives without


    monsters dropping and setting things on fire with lightning.¡±


    ¡°Shazam was the best for the job,¡± said Josie. She stood as Zatanna and hooked fire


    birds to the victims. They flew off to their destination. ¡°I would like to know who


    came up with this and talk to them. This operation has been going on forever.


    Someone must know what the next move is once they had a Queen ready to start


    animating skeletons.¡±


    ¡°Some kind of war against the King¡¯s Army,¡± said Jack. He let Majik go so he could


    recharge. ¡°How much could a normal force take when faced with dead people with


    weapons?¡±


    ¡°Most normal armies would break against such a foe until there was a way found to


    stop any rampage of corpses,¡± said Fass. ¡°Even adventurers would think twice about


    protecting a place from such a force.¡±


    ¡°So we need to make sure such a weapon can¡¯t be put on the field,¡± said Jack.

 Goblin Tree

    Josie sent a letter to Elaine. Once they knew where they should be looking, she could


    throw out a bird and find the real Lich Queen. She wanted to know how this people


    had come up with their bloodsucking and seed planting. After that would come


    something from the Old Testament.


    It might be something the Society would eventually assign them in the course of their


    days. She didn¡¯t want to wait that long.


    The magic books might be part of the same problem. By themselves, she had no


    problem with people arming special forces. Coupled with the torture and potential


    world ending disaster in the mix, she might have to do something about them if she


    got a chance.


    And Jack had given her some ideas to use with his use of the Stargate rings, and Star


    Trek teleporter pads. She thought she could nuke someone if a showdown like that


    happened.


    Elaine¡¯s letter came back while she was thinking. The model stated that the Queen


    was close to them. She couldn¡¯t pinpoint where exactly the menace happened to be.


    ¡°Elaine said the model says our circle is still here,¡± said Josie. The women started


    vanishing. She frowned. ¡°Now I have to ask her if the circle moved.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°Our bad guys are surrounding the temple. They¡¯ll be trying


    to get up here to stop us from pulling the plug eventually.¡±


    ¡°You would think they would run,¡± said Budd. He looked over at the neighboring


    building. He had his bow in hand, arrows on the top of the wall in front of him. Once


    he saw a target, he would grab an arrow and shoot. The move would only take a


    second.


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°No one who has seen us at work lived to tell the tale except


    maybe the one guy Jo punted out of town. That was a good shot. I wonder how much


    those personal shields can take before we crack them.¡±


    ¡°Make them drop the book if you can,¡± said Josie. ¡°I killed the one after he dropped


    his.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an important note,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you wind up fighting some guys throwing


    red beams of death at you, and holding a glowing book, knock the book out of his


    hand. Then you can stab him as much as you want.¡±


    ¡°Elaine wrote back,¡± said Josie. ¡°Whatever was going on with those women, the


    source is still here with us. So we have to find it and knock it out of commission


    before the Shemmarians wake it up and sic it on us.¡±


    She threw out a firebird. It soared across the town. It landed on another building that


    was a cube of gray blocks and no windows. It landed on the roof, and poofed out of


    existence.


    ¡°I can take us over there,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we have to break in and do what we got


    to do.¡±


    ¡°Everyone ready?,¡± said Jack. He had let his watch recharge as they came up with a


    plan. He had a way to knock down walls at hand.


    ¡°Cover the accesses when we arrive,¡± said Fass. ¡°Lou, keep an eye on things. As soon


    as they realize we moved, they¡¯ll be swarming that other building to stop us.¡±


    ¡°There is a force already over there,¡± said Lou. ¡°They are blocking the ground floor


    doors.¡±


    ¡°Good thing we¡¯re going in through the roof,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the assembly.


    They had seen that expression before and it bode an ill will being applied ahead.


    ¡°All right, guys,¡± said Josie. She wanted to make things interesting for the troops in


    town. She concentrated and flung a bird up for everyone around her, marking the


    combatant dots on the pad as the firebirds streamed into the air like giant fireworks.


    Her group appeared on the other roof as their birds reached it. She made sure that she


    teleported over first to clear the way for them. She only had to hold the area for a


    minute before her birds reached their destination and dragged their passengers after


    them. Fass¡¯s Fighters, and Jack, appeared a second later after she arrived. They went


    on guard, but no one challenged them.


    ¡°They are all disappearing,¡± reported Lou. ¡°It looks like the town is clearing of


    combatants.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my best friend,¡± said Jack. He pointed at Josie in her Zatanna persona. ¡°I


    taught her everything she knows.¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t teach a dog to bite,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s do what we can before they try


    to regroup and stop us.¡±


    ¡°No doors,¡± said Fass. ¡°Do we transport down and go in through the doors now that


    the building is empty?¡±


    ¡°I got it, Eric,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to find inside stairs. Try not to touch


    anything since we still don¡¯t know how all of this works.¡±


    Jack touched his watch. His giant derelict formed up in his tattered suit. He knelt and


    brought one fist down on the roof. He punched through the stone. He dropped


    through and looked around.


    ¡°Budd, go,¡± said Fass. ¡°Lou. Cover the entrances. We don¡¯t know how long we have


    before the army gets back. Emily, Cord, clear the top floor and start working your


    way down. Bosk, Cord. Ern, and Tave, hold the roof. Keep an eye out for the enemy.


    Anyone who sets up on the nearby buildings, shoot at them to keep them away from


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.us. Shoot them on the ground if you have to do that. Stick with me, Case. We¡¯re


    going to help search and keep things running smoothly.¡±


    Josie waited for Fass¡¯s Fighters to break up and start on their tasks. Aviras flew down


    to ride on Jack as he moved through the building. He hadn¡¯t said anything, but he


    hadn¡¯t stayed with Emily.


    Josie let Zatanna go and walked to the hole. She dropped to the next floor. The others


    were already sifting through everything. She followed along slowly. She doubted that


    their problem would be on the top floor, but you never knew.


    It would have been easy to send out a firebird. That would have taken her right to the


    source of their problem. She considered it as she walked down to the staircase at the


    end of the hall. She started down to the ground floor.


    The implanting of the seeds bothered her. What were they for other than control? Did


    they lead to the Lich Queen coming into power? What happened now that they were


    gone?


    Had Jack made them the targets of the Queen¡¯s reprisal by killing her children?


    She foresaw Jack and her going to the capitol of Shemmaria and dealing out some


    rough justice to the government for this. And she didn¡¯t care because all she could


    think was letting the bodies hit the floor.


    She reached the bottom floor. She paused at the layout taking up the entire ground


    floor. She saw Fass making sure his fighters were at the edge of the thing. She


    approved of that.


    There was no need for them to be close while she and Jack tried to figure out what


    was going on with what the Shemmarians had built.


    They had built a pit in the center of the ground floor. A woman lay in the pit. A tree


    had grown out of her naked chest. Marks covered her body. Her mouth had been


    stitched shut. Blood circled her body, inching over the sides of her body. Her eyes


    were closed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can fix her like we did the others,¡± Josie said. ¡°Just the thing


    growing out of her would kill her as soon as we try to take it out of her with your


    teleporter trick.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what we can do,¡± said Jack. He scratched the back of his head. ¡°I have


    never seen anything like this. Has anybody seen anything like this?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± said Fass.


    ¡°There¡¯s the Goblin Tree story, but I don¡¯t know if this is close to that,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°We need something before she wakes up and tries to kill us,¡± said Jack.


    Josie punched him in the arm. The last thing they needed was fear of the unknown.


    They had to figure this out and do it in such a way they left nothing for the


    Shemmarians to recover.


    ¡°The story goes that a young maiden was talking to her true love and they decided to


    run away together,¡± said Emily. ¡°At one point, they were attacked by a tribe of


    goblins. They were separated and the maiden was taken. The lover, a knight and


    adventurer, pursued the goblins. When he caught up with them, they had turned his


    love into a tree. He began to hunt all the tribes down in his grief.¡±


    ¡°No solutions?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Not in the story,¡± said Emily. ¡°He burned the tree down from what the story said.¡±


    ¡°Which is what we might have to do here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to meet the guy


    who thought this was a good thing.¡±


    ¡°You and me both,¡± said Jack. He frowned at the woman in the pit. ¡°I think we are


    going to need to separate this out into component parts and hope she doesn¡¯t wake up


    and try to kill us with all the dead people outside.¡±


    ¡°Stop,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s start with a scan to see what we can do. Then we go at the


    weak points to whatever this ritual is. I¡¯m going to close the building up first so we


    have time. Eric, take your guys upstairs. You don¡¯t want to be around for this.¡±


    ¡°Two of us have to be here in case something goes wrong,¡± said Fass. ¡°Lou, take a


    station by the exit. Budd, take the others upstairs and guard the approaches.


    Remember you will have to make any of these wizards drop their books before you


    can kill them.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get killed,¡± said Budd. He waved at the others to head up the stairs in front of


    him.


    ¡°The witches will protect me,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far,¡± said Jack. He looked around the room. ¡°Go ahead with your


    idea, Jo. Maybe once we learn something about this, we can pick out the weak spots.¡±


    Josie pulled on Zatanna again. She closed all the doors and any windows with rocks.


    She wanted to fight her way out, not let her enemies rush in while they were trying


    to fix what they had uncovered.


    She called on a book of knowledge and asked for the parts to be evaluated. She


    frowned at the tree process description. It required a lot of blood to grow the tree as


    big as it did. It gave back seeds to put in others with careful harvesting.


    At least they knew why they needed all the women they had bought from the


    Montrose. They had no way of getting back any of the women who had been


    processed. They had extinguished all those lives for this.


    Josie felt her face putting on her mask. Someone would pay for this. The ding of a


    quest enacting filed in her mind to remind her of what she wanted to do. She nodded


    in her fury.


    She was glad the Society agreed with her because she was going to do it whether they


    liked it or not.


    ¡°We can¡¯t do anything for this woman,¡± said Josie. ¡°This tree will throw seeds out.


    If they get into anything living, they take over, form trees, and give the victims an


    ability to command dead bodies to start working to bring it more victims to take over,


    or infect if they have another seed inside. We are looking at a zombie invasion.¡±


    ¡°Walking dead?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I hate that show. Everyone is so stupid.¡±


    ¡°I like it,¡± said Josie. ¡°But that¡¯s what we¡¯re looking at if this gets out. We¡¯re all


    going to have to be checked out.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Jack. ¡°How do we deal with this?¡±


    ¡°We are going to need to burn everything to the ground,¡± said Josie. ¡°This whole


    town has to be destroyed.¡±


    ¡°The whole town has to be burned down?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°It has to be taken apart and cleaned,¡± said Josie. ¡°A seed from one of these trees


    could reproduce and start the potential end of the world. And we might be too late


    getting here and dealing with this.¡±


    ¡°I got this,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know exactly how to take everything apart. Get everybody


    back to the quinjet and look them over, Jo. I¡¯ll fix the rest of this.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep Aviras to protect me,¡± said Jack. ¡°We are going to add the people behind


    this to the Montrose. Something has to be done.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can grab everyone and send us back to the jet.¡±


    ¡°Be ready to fly out of here if things reach out that far,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything stupid,¡± said Josie. She gestured for Eric and Lou to start up


    before her and get the others ready to go.


    ¡°There are two kinds of people in this world,¡± said Jack. He didn¡¯t grin at her. ¡°The


    dead and the dying. Go ahead. We will be right behind you.¡±


    Josie didn¡¯t like that look in his eye. She had seen it in school right before he tried to


    throw the head school bully down the steps in their middle school. She hurried after


    Fass and his helper.


    She had never thought of Jack as someone who got angry easily as they matured, but


    maybe she had been wrong.


    She sent out birds as she ran for the roof. She needed to move the others and check


    them out before Jack did whatever he planned to do. She nodded as the spells caught


    hold and sent the others away one by one. She hoped Eric kept them organized as she


    teleported herself away from the doomed town.

 Enterprise D

    Jack looked around the room. He used Majik to put up a wall around the pit, and then


    a lid over that. Hopefully, none of them had been contaminated by the zombie tree


    thing. He moved off to the edge of the room to use his pad.


    ¡°What do you plan to do?,¡± said Aviras. He glared at the room in anticipation of a


    sudden attack.


    ¡°I plan to nuke this country until everything is glass and glows in the dark for the next


    five hundred years,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m trying to figure out how to do that without Elaine


    and the kids suffering from after effects.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the people not involved in this would think that was an acceptable


    display of justice,¡± said Aviras. ¡°And I know that you know this. So as with great


    power comes great responsibility, what do you think the acceptable limit of your


    retaliation should be. Making a land burn as if the sun had touched it is not acceptable


    before you offer that again.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were a Spider-man fan,¡± said Jack. He looked at the lizard on his


    shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Normally, I would have no care what you do to the peasants


    of this place, but the damage you are talking about inflicting would harm Matilda. I


    am going to have to ask you to step back and consider other means.¡±


    ¡°Matilda is your best bud?,¡± said Jack. His smile came back at the thought.


    ¡°She will outgrow our friendship, but until then I have set myself the task of looking


    after her,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Do not mock me for that.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t,¡± said Jack. ¡°Everyone needs someone sometime. So nuking them until


    they glow is a bit much, eh?¡±


    ¡°Your Society would not thank you for it,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need their thanks,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°There are two kinds of people in


    this world, those who say thanks, and ungrateful bastards.¡±


    ¡°I have heard you say variations of that phrase,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Where does that come


    from?¡±


    ¡°Grandma Lee,¡± said Jack. He decided he needed more reach with his pad. ¡°It was her


    favorite saying. She used it all the time. I got knocked out because of it one time.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I would love to hear this.¡±


    ¡°My older sister is named Juniper, Juniper Lee,¡± said Jack. He switched to Majik and


    told the pad what he wanted. ¡°There used to be this show for children called the


    Adventures of Juniper Lee. I may have said some things which she totally blew out


    of proportion.¡±


    ¡°Did she?,¡± said Aviras. A small flame escaped his snout.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Juni didn¡¯t have a sense of humor then. So she¡¯s chasing me


    around the house. Grandma Lee is sitting at the kitchen table, sipping her tea while


    I am using it to keep away from Juni. Grandma Lee goes ¡®There are two kinds of


    people in this world: really fast runners, and idiots that get clocked.¡¯ I looked at her,


    distracted. When I looked back at Juni, she was swinging and knocked me out with


    the first punch.¡±


    ¡°What did you learn from that?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°That I should mock Juni from a distance and be ready to run out of the house,¡± said


    Jack. He grinned at his companion. The pad gave him a wider view of things now.


    ¡°Mark all goblin tree sites.¡±


    The pad put pings down for all the goblin tree sites it could reach. It was only four,


    but they were spread out. He had a feeling that he was looking where the Montrose¡¯s


    captives had wound up after being sent across the border.


    And he couldn¡¯t do anything for most of them now.


    ¡°No nuking?,¡± asked Jack. He put his thoughts in order as he looked at the sites.


    ¡°How many have lich queens in production?¡±


    All of the sites lit up. He frowned at that and realized all the sites were in the circle


    given by Elaine. They were just at the site with the closest of the lich queens waking


    up and destroying the world.


    ¡°No nuking,¡± agreed Aviras. ¡°We can inflict damage without collateral harm.¡±


    ¡°Maybe this is why Warner didn¡¯t stay after missions,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe he didn¡¯t


    want to be involved in the day to day. He had to take someone down, he didn¡¯t have


    to worry about people he didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°He killed his dragons?,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°I almost did,¡± said Jack. ¡°But then I started talking to you and realized you¡¯re not as


    bad as you think. You¡¯re just a glutton. Once you fix that, the rest comes along by


    itself.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know whether to be offended, or pleased,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I think I am going


    to be offended.¡±


    ¡°Be offended to yourself,¡± said Jack. He thought about the circle he would need.


    Could he build a lot of little circles to do what he wanted? The main problem was


    what to do with any women he might have to rescue. He would need a big hospital


    to move them along.


    ¡°We were talking about Star Trek the other day, weren¡¯t we?,¡± said Jack. He became


    Majik and started doing the calculations in his head for the rings he wanted to


    generate the material he needed.


    ¡°We were using that as an example of faster than light travel by enabling a bubble of


    other space to provide faster speeds, but they had a wall where they would have


    problems,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°A lot of the newer tech revolves around using matter as energy and the reverse,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°It¡¯s close to how the magic works here with the mana floating in the air.¡±


    ¡°Go on,¡± said Aviras. He waved a paw.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°It¡¯s how I could build the quinjet out of the Duke¡¯s house,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s also what


    I am going to do with the goblin tree labs. I just need a more selective process. The


    main thing is what happens to the victims we can rehabilitate. Can we save them, or


    are we perpetuating the danger by setting them up to go home?¡±


    ¡°So there is a danger there?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°These guys were trying to invent a weapon that spreads itself,¡± said Jack. ¡°And if


    one of their queens got out, they could have wiped out a portion of the humanity on


    the continent before people were able to fight back and save themselves.¡±


    ¡°If they could do that before it was too late,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we need to move all of these labs, prototype lich queens,


    infected prisoners, and any records into safe keeping. Then we need to restore what


    we need and get rid of the rest.¡±


    ¡°But you want to do this from a moving platform?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Something we can build for later use if we need it, but to act as a hospital until we


    are done with this situation,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You are going to build a flying hospital,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Is that what I am hearing


    from you?¡±


    ¡°I think that is the way I need to go with this,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I have places for the


    materials to do it. It might even teach a lesson without having to say anything.¡±


    ¡°You are the most dangerous human I have ever met,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Jo?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Would not even think of something like this,¡± said Aviras. ¡°She would be executing


    soldiers left and right to clear those sites and then burn them down.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°You ready for this?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Enterprise go!,¡± said Jack.


    The pit and wall disintegrated at the command. The walls of the rooms flowed into


    the bridge that Jack loved so well. He went to the captain¡¯s chair and sat down.


    ¡°Coms,¡± said Jack. ¡°Open channel, Josie.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°This Jack...E...Lee,¡± said Jack. He smiled at the pauses, then stated more rapidly,


    ¡°Captain of the Are Are Ay Ess Enterprise speaking. I have located the other goblin


    tree sites and am moving to perform search and rescue operations. I am ten minutes


    from launch.¡±


    ¡°Are you doing your Shatner impression?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°What¡¯s going on, Jack?¡±


    ¡°There are four more of the goblin tree sites on my pad,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m clearing


    them out, and doing what I can for the victims. I am using the quinjet building


    method to get me a flying hospital to get things done.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Aviras says I shouldn¡¯t follow my first impulse, and I agreed to that,¡± said Jack. ¡°He


    might have saved the country from a Spectre event.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you handle things? The Enterprise is a big ship to have


    in atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all computer controlled,¡± said Jack. ¡°The main problem is going to be sorting the


    people out after I get them onboard and in isolation. I might need more help than


    Fass¡¯s Fighters.¡±


    ¡°Systems online,¡± reported the various consoles around him one after the other.


    ¡°Do you need us to crash these other sites?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might need you to head back to Hawk Ridge and have the Duke


    and whomever you can get to stage up some kind of area so I can put the women we


    rescue. Some of them might be hurt more than what we think.¡±


    ¡°I want to find the person responsible first,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once the word gets around,


    he might try again at an accelerated pace, or worse let one of those patient zeros loose


    in the world.¡±


    ¡°There are four more sites,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hold on. Pad, send location goblin trees to


    quinjet navigation system. Did you get that?¡±


    ¡°Powering up the quinjet,¡± said Jo. ¡°Yes, I got the pings.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to take them apart, sort the women into tanks, and then fly home,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°If something shows up to try and stop me, I have phasers and photon torpedoes


    ready to go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to fly into Shemmaria¡¯s capitol and find the guy behind this,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t deal with the whole thing now, we¡¯ll be back here ripping up more of the


    country later.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to do the plan. I¡¯ll wait until you get back so we can


    make some kind of arrangements to do something with these women.¡±


    ¡°Do not nuke these people from orbit, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°I would never do that,¡± said Jack. Aviras made a noise on his shoulder. ¡°Aviras


    would never allow such a thing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll bite his face off if he tries it,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°No excuses,¡± said Josie. ¡°We get together after the mission and we figure out what


    to do with your Enterprise. Jack, you need to step back with the construction stuff.


    This is a bit excessive.¡±


    ¡°A bit,¡± said Fass. ¡°That thing is as big as a building.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll use it for the Duke¡¯s new house when we get done, or a hospital, or something,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°People still need to be taken care of here, right?¡±


    ¡°Find a spot to park it, and then we¡¯ll hook up with you when we¡¯re done,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Can do?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything you wouldn¡¯t do.¡±


    ¡°I have heard that lie before,¡± said Josie. ¡°Josie out.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, ping quinjet please,¡± said Jack. A small picture of the surrounding sky


    showed the smaller aircraft moving away.


    ¡°Enterprise, we will have to deconstruct target buildings, add to mass, store living


    organics in a buffer until we need them. Combatants should go in one buffer, victims


    should go in another, and goblin tree infected in another,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can we do


    this?¡±


    ¡°I will have to assimilate mass to manufacture the needed components for such an


    endeavor,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°If we leave combatants on the ground, that will speed things up?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes, Captain,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Then that¡¯s what we will do,¡± said Jack. ¡°The primary mission for us to rescue the


    noncombatants, and secure the infected humanoids so they can¡¯t be used to infect


    others. They will have matter implanted in them that we will have to take out so they


    don¡¯t become dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Mission objectives are understood,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with goblin tree site one,¡± said Jack. ¡°If the combatants try to move the


    infected out of the facility, we have to snatch them up and store them in a buffer until


    we can separate them out from their implants.¡±


    ¡°The addendum is noted,¡± said the machine.


    Jack kept his eye on the pad as the Enterprise moved into position. He noted the ping


    of the ship seemed to cross the distance almost instantly. He didn¡¯t have a view of the


    ground.


    ¡°Forward screen, view of the ground,¡± said Jack. ¡°Ping combatants and


    noncombatants.¡±


    Soldiers in longcoats and hats ran from the giant shadow over them. The polearms


    and swords they had weren¡¯t going to scratch armor designed to take a small meteor


    hit without flinching. The layer of shielding over that was just overkill.


    Small diamonds marked the women that had been infected by the seeds. He frowned


    at that. Josie had said there was a cradle, or tank, being fed by the women. That would


    have to be destroyed too.


    ¡°Move all of the noncombatants into a buffer as you take apart the town,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°There should be some kind of tank full of blood to one side of the room with hoses


    attaching the victims to that tank. Just take that apart and don¡¯t put it back together.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the machine. ¡°Assimilating town, moving noncombatants into the


    buffers for storage, goblin tree designate is dispersed.¡±


    The buildings below the Enterprise came apart like Legos being put away piece by


    piece. Jack nodded as the destruction happened because of giant rings around the


    buildings as the Enterprise ate them.


    The soldiers ran from the destruction.


    ¡°Move to target number two when the site is clear,¡± said Jack. ¡°I expect them to start


    trying to save their work by the time we get to number four.¡±


    ¡°I will mark all noncombatants in range,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is pretty boring, but at least we¡¯re getting the job done.¡±


    ¡°What is this walking dead you were talking about?,¡± asked Aviras. ¡°How does it


    pertain to this?¡±


    ¡°Do they have zombies, animated dead, where you come from?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Aviras. ¡°We tend to deal in fire and lightning. Animating the dead seems


    a weak trick.¡±


    ¡°Well then,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me tell you a story, and hopefully that will explain why


    Josie would like to talk to the brains behind this.¡±

 Torpedoes

    Josie guided the quinjet deeper into the Shemmarian air space. She felt like her face


    had decided to frown more since she had come to this place. And part of that was


    Jack being crazy.


    Maybe the Army had not been as good for him as he had said it had.


    ¡°What is nuking?,¡± said Fass. He rode in the co-pilot¡¯s seat. His face still wore his


    expression of amazement at the rise of the Enterprise from the ground after


    assimilating the town they had been fighting in.


    ¡°I thought you would ask about the Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are you sure you want


    to know about nuclear warfare?¡±


    ¡°I think I have seen something so amazing that to anyone other than my group


    who had not seen it, it would be considered the biggest lie ever,¡± said Fass. ¡°I


    heard the warning in your voice. You are fine with this Enterprise, but not nukes.


    Why?¡±


    ¡°These are two different things and are history where I am from,¡± said Josie. ¡°The


    Enterprise is a story, nukes aren¡¯t.¡±


    Fass gestured at the small metal building they were leaving behind in their wake.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Jack about this. This magic stuff is going to his


    head. I think he got sidetracked from his real thoughts and built that to handle the rest


    of the operation instead of doing what he wanted to do.¡±


    ¡°And using a nuke would have been something he wanted to do?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I am not going to ask. It¡¯s good enough that he isn¡¯t


    reducing a whole country to radioactive dirt in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°Radioactive?,¡± said Fass. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever heard that before.¡±


    ¡°I would be surprised if you had,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s start with something that¡¯s not


    really that bad on the face of it. Let¡¯s talk about the Enterprise. And then we can talk


    about nuclear weapons if you want.¡±


    ¡°How afraid should I be about this?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Anyone can do a nuclear weapon if they can find the material and can build the


    igniter,¡± said Josie. ¡°No one can normally build the Enterprise, and Jack¡¯s Enterprise


    is still smaller than the real thing in my opinion, but I am not sure. The D is supposed


    to be able to carry a thousand people comfortably with a cargo hold for tons of


    material, and miniature ballistas to shoot with from the disk. The nacelles are the


    engines and they aren¡¯t used for any housing. I don¡¯t think Jack is quite at the


    thousand person minimum yet, but if he takes those other towns, he might be.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s using the same thing he used to tear that camp down,¡± said Fass. ¡°I saw the ring


    he created to work his magic.¡±


    ¡°He did the same thing for the quinjet,¡± said Josie. ¡°This used to be a mansion.¡±


    ¡°A mansion?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°The old Duke didn¡¯t need it anymore,¡± said Josie. ¡°But yes, this used to be a house


    that Jack turned into a flying machine to help Emily because I asked for a solution


    to the problem.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s prone to that,¡± said Fass. ¡°He was talking about building teleportation stations


    before I talked him out of it.¡±


    ¡°Teleportation is also something you guys shouldn¡¯t have right now,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to hash this out when we¡¯re done with this Goblin Tree mess.


    He needs to do a little more thinking about things other than what he wants to build.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Teleport stations from place to place where you have to hit a designated spot might


    speed up transport of people and goods,¡± said Josie. ¡°If someone found out how


    to use those stations to attack people like I use my scrying, it would be perfect for


    assassins and others to bypass defenses and kill anyone they wanted at any time.¡±


    ¡°It would change the face of warfare, but not for the better,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the Army was as good for Jack as he thought it was,¡± said Josie. ¡°But


    that is also a conversation for another day.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°Let us talk about the Enterprise. I think that will be better


    for my peace of mind than everything else.¡±


    Josie smiled quietly.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She saw the ping for one of the Goblin Tree labs vanish off


    the navigation screen. Jack was still working on solving the rest of the problem


    while they looked for the source. ¡°Let¡¯s start at the beginning and work our way


    along. This all started with Gene Roddenberry. He wanted to put on a show for the


    public about the future being a brighter place and solving imaginary problems and


    talk about current social problems in an allegorical way. So he created a society that


    depended on a fleet of ships to deal with problems and negotiate from force.


    ¡°Only no one wanted to put his show on for him.¡±


    ¡°But he did otherwise we wouldn¡¯t be talking about this,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°A lady named Lucille Ball ran a production company,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know


    what he said to sell his show to her, but she went with it. He was able to put on his


    show for three years. It didn¡¯t last because the production company didn¡¯t want to


    spend the money for it so you would think that would be the end of it. But it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Why not?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Back home, the reach of a show can extend over more than one city,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Hawk Ridge might be the end of a show here, but hundreds of Hawk Ridges can


    watch the same thing at the same time. So a ton of people saw Roddenberry¡¯s show


    about Captain James Kirk, and the crew of the Enn Enn Cee Seventeen Oh One


    Enterprise and loved it. Even three years was enough to grow a spark in what would


    be called a fandom that is still going on almost sixty years later.


    ¡°Now Roddenberry wanted to get his show back on the air. He had limited success


    with a children¡¯s show, and had grown some side industries to keep the idea alive.


    Ten years after the original show went off the air, he created a bigger show that he


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.turned into a string of events for some years. It kept his idea going, but it wasn¡¯t


    really what he wanted. There was a huge outlay in those bigger shows at the start,


    and you had to sell tickets to get that money back. So Roddenberry wanted to get his


    primary idea back on the smaller stage, there was money putting it on, but you got


    the cost back faster if the production companies and so forth liked it.¡±


    ¡°Jack¡¯s Enterprise,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie. ¡°While he was making the bigger shows, he sold the setting as


    a hundred years in the future with an older captain, and different crew, to what would


    be called a syndicate. They put on shows as a partnership to the companies involved.


    They sold the show and put it on the air until no one liked it.


    ¡°The Enterprise D was the designated ship of the show,¡± said Josie. ¡°It was set up like


    a floating town where the crew could bring their families with them. So they had


    schools, small hospitals, research areas, and smaller boats to send on smaller


    missions.¡±


    ¡°That is bigger than what Jack showed us,¡± said Fass. ¡°Governments would give


    their mothers for something like the Enterprise. It would be a great warship for them.¡±


    ¡°It depends,¡± said Josie. ¡°How is he fueling it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying the thing could crash into the ground,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Maybe not crash, but it¡¯s a possibility,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not going to worry about


    that now. I have a part of the job I have to do. We have to make sure that everything


    about the Goblin Trees are pulled up and destroyed. And we have to make sure the


    Shemmarians don¡¯t try this again.¡±


    ¡°So the trees are more dangerous than Jack¡¯s flying castle, or these nukes?,¡± said


    Fass.


    ¡°They present an ongoing problem that has to be stamped out before it gets out of the


    lab,¡± said Josie. She took a moment to organize her thoughts. ¡°Jack¡¯s ship won¡¯t do


    anything without him. It¡¯s only as much of a threat as Jack is.¡±


    ¡°Which is a dragon bigger than the one on his shoulder,¡± said a voice from the back.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She looked over her shoulder. ¡°He¡¯s dangerous but not more


    than any of you in the same position. A nuke is a one time attack that will do a lot of


    damage and cause sickness to people living in the area which will slowly fade away.


    What the Shemmarians are doing is trying to create a weapon that self-propagates


    itself.


    ¡°Imagine one of those Queens bites one person and infects that person. Then those


    two bite two, then four, then eight, then sixteen, then thirty two, so on and so on. In


    a small town that might be enough to wipe the town out, and anyone traveling


    through until someone burns the town down if they can.


    ¡°Imagine something like that loose in a city like Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°We could lose the city if they found a way to sneak one of those things inside the


    wall and turn it loose,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°A lot depends on how fast a person turns with those seeds


    inside them. Do they grow superfast? Do they take with one bite? Do dead people


    start getting up and walking? So I am willing to let Jack separate the subjects out and


    make sure they can¡¯t hurt anyone so they can¡¯t be used while I look for the guy we


    need to find. If they did it once, they¡¯ll do it again unless they can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°They had five of those things,¡± said Budd from the back.


    ¡°That¡¯s what Jack said,¡± said Josie. ¡°They probably planned to grow more if these


    five did what they wanted. Like a sword making assembly line.¡±


    ¡°They could destroy the country,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°They could destroy every country,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not the defender of just Hawk


    Ridge. Anything handed down to me from the Society is a defense for a large number


    of people. They just wanted the Lich Queen stopped. If a new one showed up, they


    would send a warning for us to track it down whenever. I am making sure they don¡¯t


    have to send that warning before it happens.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a personal quest,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°And I will pay you for your help,¡± said Josie. ¡°The main problem is none of us can


    tell the King about this unless we want total war between him and Shemmaria. I doubt


    he will laugh off someone turning his citizens into mulch for a new breed of monster


    that replicates itself and may continue to do so until humanity as we know it is pushed


    off the continent.¡±


    ¡°I hesitate to say that our country is landlocked,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°I am aware,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are working on standing behind Jack for a black eye,


    buddy. And you are a lot closer.¡±


    ¡°I doubt you can do anything like that while you are sailing us along,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Take the wheel, Eric,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have someone I want to punch in the face.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Eric. ¡°You can punch Budd in the face when we¡¯ve landed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back on topic,¡± said Fass. ¡°How do we find the person we are looking for


    to make sure this doesn¡¯t happen together?¡±


    ¡°The plan is to try to send a bird out for this guy,¡± said Josie. ¡°You know what, I


    should have made sure he wasn¡¯t back at the lab. Everything looked automated, I


    didn¡¯t think he would be in charge there.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re going to turn around?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I was in too much of a hurry,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I guess seeing the Enterprise spring


    up out of nowhere was kind of crazy. I need to tighten things down. Take the wheel


    and hold us steady for a second, Eric.¡±


    She didn¡¯t give him a chance to make excuses. She let go of the wheel. She dialed up


    Zatanna. She needed a mechanic to work on the quinjet when she needed. The watch


    was draining faster than she liked. She had to do the spell and let the watch recharge


    while they were in flight.


    She cast a spell to send a group of birds out to make sure that they were heading in


    the right direction.


    ¡°Some of them curved back,¡± said Emily. ¡°A majority are heading to the northeast.¡±


    Josie let her persona go. She took back the wheel. Fass breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Good job,¡± said Josie. She touched the Deadpool symbol on her com band. ¡°Jack?


    Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°This Captain Jack,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Do you see the birds and where they are?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Enterprise, ping birds if you can see them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Visual only,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°I got them, Jo,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you need?¡±


    ¡°Shoot them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Jack. She thought she heard Aviras saying the same thing.


    ¡°I want you to put a photon torpedo in all those sites,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you to


    do it now.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll have to take the rest of the towns down around the pings.


    Enterprise, make sure to keep the markers on the marked subjects. Ready torpedoes


    to fire. Targets are marked subjects.¡±


    ¡°Torpedoes are being readied, course corrections are in,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°Targets are


    moving. Ready to fire.¡±


    ¡°How close are you to moving the combatants out of the way?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Do not


    fire until you have cleared the area.¡±


    ¡°I can move the combatants without absorbing the buildings, then fire,¡± said


    Enterprise.


    ¡°Do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°We want to save lives, but we don¡¯t want to let these targets


    go.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Enterprise.


    Josie turned the quinjet to watch the Enterprise in action. She hit the hover jets to


    hold the plane in place. The thing stopped growing in front of her. She waited.


    ¡°All noncombatants in range of attack are aboard,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°Firing


    torpedoes.¡±


    Josie watched as six specks of light erupted from the bow of the giant machine. They


    hit the ground in explosions of light. She felt the birds wink out in the back of


    her mind.


    ¡°There are two more pings fleeing from the towns,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do I shoot at them?¡±


    ¡°They are part of the brains behind this,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. His usual laughing voice was cold and flat. ¡°Shoot them.¡±


    ¡°Shooting,¡± said the machine.


    More specks erupted from the Enterprise. Explosions marked impacts. If they


    survived that, then they were as invulnerable as Captain Marvel.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get the rest of the test subjects,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I am going to call


    Jane and the Duke and try to get some assistance with this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to follow the rest of the birds to where they go,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you should curse them, Jo,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to take care of things. You do the same.¡±


    ¡°This is a heck of first date between you and your beloved,¡± said Jack. He cut the


    signal before she could say some things to him.


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Jack wants me to court you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in that right now. Just


    because he¡¯s got Elaine, he¡¯s trying to play Cupid.¡±


    ¡°And he thinks we¡¯re a good match?,¡± said Fass. ¡°That¡¯s flattering.¡±


    ¡°I thought you would say something else,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m married,¡± said Fass. ¡°My wife runs our logistics while we¡¯re in the field.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± said Josie. She felt her face flush but let it.

 Tree Pruner

    Jack watched as the soldiers fled from the shadow of his Enterprise. The forward


    screen had an overlay marking out their positions as they ran. The material gathering


    sucked up the damaged buildings, turning their clay bricks and glass panels into metal


    sheets of armor, exotic glass windows, enhanced machinery, and interior comforts.


    A red beam struck at the floating ship. He focused on the blaster as the ship hovered


    over the shooter.


    ¡°Any damage, Enterprise?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said the machine. ¡°Output is not harming our shields at all.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should warn him to stop doing that,¡± said Jack.


    Two more beams struck at the floating disk and wings. The wielders of magic


    sustained their fire for a minute before giving up.


    ¡°I think I have had enough of that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, can you broadcast my


    voice?¡±


    ¡°Microphone is open,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m allowing you to run away,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do that. The next one that opens fire on


    my ship will be turned into giblets. After that, I will randomly fire on any force I see


    and give your troops more causalities. This is the only warning I am going to give


    you.¡±


    One of the book men didn¡¯t get the message. He fired on the Enterprise while the


    crowd around him ran into the surrounding woods.


    ¡°I guess we have to back up our warning,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mark target, fire phasers. I


    don¡¯t care if we hit him, or not. Just shoot at him until he starts running.¡±


    Golden lines erupted from the phaser banks that formed a ring underneath the disk of


    the Enterprise. The ship burned the ground, searing the man inside his protection. He


    turned from the display of firepower and ran. The light followed him, cutting the


    ground behind him as he ran.


    ¡°Can we punch through his shield if we have to?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Unknown,¡± said the Enterprise. ¡°Using low power to force him to run instead of


    letting him use energy bolt against our shields. Will upgrade to torpedoes if I have to


    do that.¡±


    ¡°Permission granted,¡± said Jack. ¡°We want them to keep running. If they have some


    kind of secret resource out here, they will run toward that. That will give us some idea


    of whether or not they have a bigger gun.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they have something bigger than this?,¡± said Aviras. He looked around


    the bridge.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t know they had some kind of magic bankroll until they shot at Josie,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°They might have some kind of giant machine killing device to shoot at us, or


    some kind of spell they think will kill us and let them take the Enterprise, or


    whatever. If they do, we want to shoot them and disrupt any plan like that.¡±


    ¡°Will repel boarders,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie, then Elaine, then Aviras is the chain of command if


    something happens to me. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the machine. ¡°Designate Elaine?¡±


    ¡°Can we reach Hawk Ridge from here?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I will introduce you to Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Attempting call,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Hey, honey,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡±


    ¡°The model says you are still in Shemmaria,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± said Jack. ¡°I built a bigger antenna so I could call home. Aviras is with


    me, and keeping me out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°It is a hard job,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I have to fight tooth and nail to prevent him from


    doing something that I will regret.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s exaggerating, honey,¡± said Jack. ¡°I haven¡¯t set anyone on fire in the last little


    bit.¡±


    ¡°There is still time,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Anyways,¡± said Jack. ¡°If something happens to us, the Enterprise will call you for


    orders. It will be up to you to give orders to save any situation. Say hello, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Elaine,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Hello, Enterprise,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Jack, the circle from the model is still


    approximately about where you are. Do you see anything there?¡±


    ¡°We ripped up the surface area,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have all the infected we could grab


    onboard. The Enterprise is keeping them in the transport buffer so they can¡¯t infect


    anyone else. I wonder if there is something underground that we missed. One of


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.Josie¡¯s birds would be handy right now.¡±


    ¡°Sensor array will allow search,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°Do you wish for me to ping


    anything unusual?¡±


    ¡°We are looking for anything that will match with the organic material we¡¯re storing


    in the transport buffer,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe they have an underground lab where they


    are making more of the goblin trees to infect people with and get them ready for


    shipment across the border.¡±


    ¡°Did you say Goblin Trees?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Apparently the government here is going to use them as a secret


    weapon and send them back across the border. We don¡¯t really have confirmation


    other than the dead woman being used to grow one out of her chest. Seeds were given


    to others but I got rid of those with some Stargate puffery.¡±


    ¡°There is a marker for Goblin Trees further east from where you are,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It


    appeared on the map when you asked about it.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, ahead east, slow,¡± said Jack. ¡°See what you can pick up on your


    scanners.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Pings lit up on the screen. The Enterprise cast a shadow over the ground. Soldiers


    scattered under the metal bird.


    ¡°Looks like a dozen trees mixed in with regular trees,¡± said Jack. ¡°Natural growth?¡±


    ¡°Those pings are in rows,¡± said Aviras. ¡°It¡¯s an orchard. I think they are intentionally


    growing those trees to put into people.¡±


    ¡°We might be too late,¡± said Jack. He frowned at the picture from the ground. ¡°This


    is bad.¡±


    ¡°Talk to me, Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°It depends on how the Goblin Tree spreads,¡± said Jack. ¡°These idiots might have


    exposed all of their personnel to seeds that will cause an infection that will turn them


    into cannibals. And if they spread that around, more than the people we have here


    might have already spread this out of any way for us to stop.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°We might have a generational problem that will keep coming back even after Josie


    and I clear the rest of this out,¡± said Jack. ¡°Shemmaria might have caused something


    that could spread out of control and push the rest of the continent into constant


    warfare with what they created.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I was wrong about nuking them until they glow,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°What?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are there any other spots with the trees marked on Josie¡¯s


    model? The Enterprise can deal with this orchard easily enough. We need to know if


    they¡¯re any in the wild.¡±


    ¡°There is a scattering of dots,¡± said Elaine. ¡°None of them are close to where you


    are.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°How much territory can you scan for goblin trees at any one


    time?¡±


    ¡°I can cover the whole country from a higher elevation,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°You were a big help, Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°You kept us from letting this grove stay


    in their hands so they could keep infecting women to do whatever they planned to do.


    We¡¯re going to reduce the grove to atoms and then move on the rest of the work.


    Aviras and I are perfectly safe riding along in the Enterprise. As soon as we rip up all


    the trees and any samples we find, we¡¯ll link up with Josie and Fass and see how they


    are doing with the planners behind everything.¡±


    ¡°You still have to take me to a show,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Welsher.¡±


    ¡°I will do it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that Shemmaria was trying to create a zombie


    apocalypse and I would have to build a facsimile of a famous airship to accomplish


    my ends. Aviras is a great idea board. I think he will be good for you when you are


    shopping for your wedding dress.¡±


    He put on his gruff voice.


    ¡°That color is all wrong with your eyes. That color is great with your eyes but bad


    with your hair. Strapless is easier to take off. You don¡¯t need petticoats.¡±


    ¡°I will take that under advisement,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Come home when you are done. I


    know something else is going on. We will talk about it when you are ready.¡±


    ¡°You know better than that,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the thought. ¡°I am going to rip


    up these trees and talk to Josie about what we should let the Duke know about this


    to send up the chain of command because this could be the basis for open war. Josie


    might want to keep this in the shadows and pick up quests to keep putting down any


    mad schemes they come up with to invade their neighbors. Some of the brains behind


    this might be meeting Josie¡¯s fist while we¡¯re talking.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for calling,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It was nice to meet you, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I am perfectly safe,¡± said Jack. ¡°Before I get back to work, could you call Jane and


    see if she can set up a field hospital somewhere. If she has to rent a building until we


    can get things done, that will be fine. We have a number of women subjected to seeds


    we took out. They are going to need to be nursed back to health.¡±


    ¡°I will call her,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will draw the money from the Exchange myself and


    get it done.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Be careful. We¡¯ll be home as soon as we can.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Remember the show.¡±


    ¡°Call disconnected,¡± said Enterprise.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need to pull these trees up and chop them into atoms. Then


    we need to climb up and locate the rest of the trees. Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°She is good for you,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You deal with things better with her support. The


    world will be in great danger if she breaks up with you.¡±


    ¡°The world was always in great danger,¡± said Jack. ¡°But my enemies will suddenly


    see the sharper divide between my kindness and mercy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that Elaine is keeping that in check,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°So am I,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would hate to be a bigger menace than the ones I am putting


    down. Josie would be sad.¡±


    ¡°She would be furious, and punch you in the face,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Maybe set you on


    fire.¡±


    ¡°You know her so well,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, commence grove removal and wood


    chipping. Then lift us high enough to locate the other trees and we¡¯ll pull the others


    up and get rid of them.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. Trees began disappearing on the screen. A gardener


    threw up a red beam of death at the hovering ship. A glowing blob of high speed


    metal turned the gardener into a burning splotch of blood spreading out like a


    grotesque flower. The burning book next to it was a period to not get in the way.


    The grove left a hole in the middle of the surrounding trees. Holes in the ground


    marked where the bodies had been ripped up. The aircraft grew a little bigger with


    the additional mass.


    The Enterprise began climbing, extending out its sensor range. It pinged random trees


    in the wild. None of them seemed to have facilities around them.


    It began adding their mass to its own as it cruised east.


    Jack thought as he sat in his command chair. Someone had found a random goblin


    tree, harvested it, and planted it near Kas. Then they had put in place a plan to infect


    anyone who came into contact with the seeds to create their walking dead. They


    had even planted a grove of the things for the convenience to their operating station.


    Were they dealing with the initial tree that had spawned the rest of the plan?


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Make sure that we are picking up all of these trees. Someone


    must have one they are taking care of to create this program in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.

 The Horticulturist

    Josie frowned as one of the birds split off from the cloud she had released. The pings


    Jack had destroyed had cleared some of her spell for her. She had a choice now. Did


    she chase the solo bird, or go after the rest of the flock heading off into the distance.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to veer off and see where that lone bird is going,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then


    we¡¯ll locate the rest of them.¡±


    ¡°Where do you think that¡¯s going?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you think one of the planners is living out here?¡±


    ¡°How far away do you think we are away from the central capitol?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Fass. ¡°At least a tenday of travel by horseback. This craft is


    faster than anything I have ever seen. I think we could get there in a few hours like


    we did the first raid we did in this machine.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want to see where this bird is going. Then we can get back


    on track. I have a feeling the rest are going to organizers in the government.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what the rationale for this is,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Out of everything, I am willing to put money on not knowing what could happen if


    the goblin trees start bringing dead people back to life to fight,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I like the shock tactic effect,¡± said Budd. ¡°They can overwhelm diminished


    resources if they turn an army of monsters on the country.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they know, or are ignoring what could happen, if things go wrong,¡±


    said Emily. ¡°Has anyone seen an idea like this before?¡±


    ¡°Not like this,¡± said Case. ¡°It has something of instant warriors to it.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Emily. ¡°Instant warriors?¡±


    ¡°When Hurley was fighting the king of Rigna, he cornered the king and his general


    on the battlefield,¡± said Case. ¡°The king used his general to hold Hurley off while he


    used some magic to create a small army to fight Hurley. It didn¡¯t stop Hurley, but the


    Shemmarians could be trying to do the same thing with these plants.¡±


    ¡°I like the idea of it,¡± said Josie. ¡°It depends on if these monsters will take orders. If


    they do, then we have to worry about what orders they are given. If they don¡¯t, what


    happens to the Shemmarians?¡±


    ¡°And then what happens if the monster army expands across the border?,¡± asked


    Budd.


    ¡°Depends if they move slow and act with intelligence and how tough they actually are


    to put down, or if they spread like wildfire and draft anyone that gets in their way,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°One gives us a smart enemy that will act like a normal army that we can


    maybe outthink and overpower. The other gives us a spreading disease that won¡¯t


    stop until everyone is them and they can win the war of attrition by the spreading


    numbers.¡±


    ¡°These goblin trees have to be put down,¡± said Budd. ¡°They are the source of things.¡±


    ¡°And someone obviously found one and handed it over to the government to use as


    a weapon,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe they know they are playing with fire, maybe they


    don¡¯t. So far the job hasn¡¯t gone away, so the Lich Queen could still pop up at any


    time while we try to figure out what is going on.¡±


    ¡°The bird landed on that cottage,¡± said Lou. He pointed at a cottage through the


    window. ¡°We should see who lives there.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to land. We are going to need a guard detail for the


    quinjet so we can get home.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Lou. ¡°Once I raise the gangplank, nothing will be able to get inside


    with me.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She looked for a clearing not too far away from the little


    house. She found one and hovered down to a landing. She changed into Zatanna long


    enough to produce a letter. ¡°If something happens, call us. I¡¯ll get everyone together


    and come back.¡±


    ¡°I will keep an eye on things,¡± said Lou. He put the letter in his belt, next to his


    sword. ¡°I think all the smart people will stay away from this roaring beast.¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Jo. ¡°The last thing I need is Jack complaining about how I let his


    baby blow up because I let some amateur stay behind.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Lou.


    Josie led the way off the quinjet. She watched as the gangplank lifted back into place.


    The only thing they had to worry about was Lou taking the thing on a joyride. He


    seemed better than that.


    ¡°The house was over that way,¡± said Case. ¡°I didn¡¯t see movement when we came


    down for a landing.¡±


    Josie watched the trees as she fell into the middle of the group. Anyone could be


    waiting for them. The moment they started taking fire, she planned to zap them back


    to the quinjet and then handle any attacker who didn¡¯t flee from her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any people,¡± said Case. ¡°All alone out here?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Fass. ¡°Budd, take half and circle to the left. Emily, take everyone else


    right.¡±


    Josie and Fass walked up to the cottage door. The bird said someone was home.


    Maybe she was at the rear of the house working in the kitchen.


    Josie knocked on the door and listened. She didn¡¯t hear anything moving. She


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.knocked again after a few seconds.


    Footsteps closed on the door. Josie waited, hands clenched together. What kind of


    threat would they be facing?


    An old man looked at them with a long nose, and short chin. Most of his hair had fled,


    the rest turning snow white. He frowned at them with caterpillar eyebrows.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I know you,¡± he said. He blocked the door so they would have to knock


    him down to step inside.


    ¡°We¡¯re here about the trees, sir,¡± said Josie. ¡°The project has been destroyed by


    sabotage.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible,¡± said the old man. ¡°I set up everything myself. What destroyed


    them? There were five sites, an orchard, and the main source at the headquarters of


    the Army.¡±


    ¡°There is a source at Headquarters,¡± said Josie. ¡°That is good to know.¡±


    ¡°And it is on our list of places we have to visit,¡± said Fass. ¡°We might as well visit


    it next before we talk to our new friend¡¯s benefactors.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not the Army,¡± complained the old man. He tried to shut the door in their


    faces.


    Josie kicked him in the shin, and then pushed him out of the way so she could step


    inside. She looked around but didn¡¯t see a bodyguard.


    ¡°We¡¯re interested in the plants,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Robby Reed Appreciation Society


    believes they are a danger to the continent, and asked me to look into things. My


    associate is here to help me with various things.¡±


    Fass helped the old man to a chair and let him sit down.


    ¡°I have never heard of this Society,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°I doubt many have,¡± said Josie. ¡°They prefer to only let their agents know what their


    interest is and task us with handling that interest. And our interest is in the destroyed


    facilities and the goblin tree orchard. We think the chance of wiping out all life on the


    continent to be a little high.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± said the old man. ¡°I told the Army people that they must never build


    more than one at a time and only use the subject for assassinations.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you told them?,¡± Fass asked. He stood back with his arms crossed. His


    eyes roamed the one room building. Shelves for books and plants were everywhere.


    A table with two chairs took up what could be the cooking area. The hearth took up


    one part of the wall there.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°I laid everything out for them. The grand marshal has the plan, and


    knows the limits.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the grand marshal built a facility to load dozens of seeds into women


    he stole from across the continent,¡± said Josie. She looked around. No chairs for


    visitors. ¡°That is what led us to you. What was the actual plan?¡±


    ¡°I reported that I had found a rare tree during one of my explorations,¡± said the old


    man. ¡°I took a few seeds and a cutting. I worked on them but the only thing they


    would take was blood. As soon as I procured a supply, my first tree sprouted and


    grew up into a small bush. I worked on it until I had a regular looking tree. One of my


    assistants breathed in the seeds and became violent. It took everything I had to put her


    down. I turned over all my research to the local commissioner. The grand marshal and


    members of his staff arrived and asked me a number of technical questions about


    everything. I outlined everything to him and told him that more than one of the things


    would be dangerous since my assistant didn¡¯t seem to feel pain when she attacked me


    and I fought her off.¡±


    ¡°Apparently the grand marshal didn¡¯t listen to your words of caution,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    expect they will come back to you to replace their trees. I am going to need to know


    where your example tree is, and where the original stands. They are going to have to


    be destroyed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you that,¡± said the old man. ¡°I might be able to do more with


    it with enough time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not here to give you enough time to do anything like that,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re


    here to shut everything down, destroy any tree out there, and talk to the grand marshal


    about his plan of using manufactured monsters made from women and girls to


    spearhead an invasion. Your project is over. The only thing left is how much you


    have to pay for what you did.¡±


    ¡°I did nothing,¡± said the old man. He frowned at her, thick eyebrows coming down.


    ¡°I told him the risks of using the tree as a source for soldiers.¡±


    ¡°It would have been better if you had kept everything to yourself,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now


    I have a mess to clean up and people to deal with unpleasantly.¡±


    The old man jumped up from his chair, blade in hand. He stabbed at Josie. She


    knocked his arm away and kicked him in the shins. He collapsed on his knees, knife


    falling to the floor.


    ¡°You had a chance for mercy, maybe working with plants in some other way,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°What do you think would have happened if you had succeeded in stabbing


    me? Fass would have cut you down in a second.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t take my plants,¡± said the old man. ¡°They are all I have.¡±


    ¡°I think you need to see what your actions may have done,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then you can


    tell me what is more important.¡±


    Josie kicked the knife away. She reached for her watch and dialed through the names.


    She wondered if this was the right choice. She frowned. If it wasn¡¯t, she would have


    to move on to the next persona to suit her purpose.


    She took on a figure that looked made of clocks. The hands moved, and the gears


    turned. She nodded at the persona.


    ¡°I will be right back, Eric,¡± said Josie. ¡°The goblin tree could be hidden nearby. I will


    have to send out a bird to look for it after I take our gardener for a ride.¡±


    Josie extended her new persona out. She and the old man stood in place as the cabin


    fell apart around them. At first, nothing seemed to be happening. Then lines of forces


    met each other several times. One was regular soldiers wielding fire in bottles and


    axes. The other was naked men and women covered by cuts and marks. The unarmed


    combatants almost pushed the professional soldiers off the field as they resisted the


    effects of wounds, and fought through fires lit on their skin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said the old man. He looked around at the devastation as the


    fires burned around them.


    ¡°You caused this,¡± said Josie. ¡°You created the walking dead. You gave your plan to


    someone who didn¡¯t understand the danger of what he was using. Everything got out


    of control because no one stopped it in time. Now twenty years in the future, the site


    of your cabin is a battlefield as the normal humans try to push the monsters back.¡±


    ¡°This has nothing to do with me,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°You are the root cause of this,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I went back and killed you before you


    made your deal, I would force the future away from this but I don¡¯t know what kind


    of future it would be. I might lose something important fixing your mistake. Instead


    I think you should fix this future if you can.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°I am going to give you a gift,¡± said Josie. She vanished, leaving him on the field. She


    returned a second later with a ring. ¡°This will help you until the world is safe again.¡±


    Josie vanished after dropping the ring on the ground. She appeared in the cabin and


    let the persona go.


    ¡°What did you do?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I left him to take care of some people,¡± said Josie. ¡°It might improve on his


    empathy.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s alive?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°He might even be able to come back here if he figures out how to


    make my gift to him work better than it normally does.¡±


    ¡°You gave him a gift?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I gave him a duplicate ring that he could use to help out the people around him,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll see if he changes his mind about how well his plan worked out for him.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°Do you really think he counseled the grand marshal to only


    use one of the Goblin Tree women as his assassin?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I don¡¯t think he gave everything to the Army. A guy like him


    would have held something back for his personal use.¡±


    ¡°He would have copied his notes and handed over the copies,¡± said Fass. He turned


    to look around the cabin.


    ¡°He would have kept the original tree, or his newer tree,¡± said Josie. ¡°He knew what


    he was doing, but he didn¡¯t think about what would happen if things got out of


    control.

 The Ready Room Is Not Ready

    Jack frowned as the Enterprise glided at the edge of the atmosphere. Diamonds


    marked the rest of the goblin trees detected by the scanners he had equipped the ship.


    He noted they remained solitary things in the middle of regular trees.


    He didn¡¯t know a lot about trees, but he wondered why the goblin trees stood by


    themselves instead of sheltering in a grove of the same species. Maybe it was


    something to do with their pollination method. If they needed blood to grow, maybe


    nothing spread their seeds except on rare occasions.


    That would explain why the continent wasn¡¯t overran by mindless berserkers biting


    everything in sight.


    Or Warner, and the champions that preceded him, had done what he was trying to


    do and destroyed all the goblin trees they could find before they became a menace.


    That seemed like a good explanation for the preservation of humanity as they knew


    it.


    ¡°What do you think, guys?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The trees are planted more randomly than I expected,¡± said Aviras. ¡°But one is in the


    biggest city we can see with the Enterprise. Headquarters for the enemy?¡±


    ¡°They knew enough to not have their operation in the city in case something went


    wrong, but they wanted insurance in case something went wrong the other way?,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°What happens if the goblin tree infects someone in the capitol and they


    start spreading it around?¡±


    ¡°Their whole invasion plan could backfire and they lose the center of their


    government,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°So we need to get rid of the tree and scan for infected individuals who might be


    carrying seeds that we will have to extract and get rid of before they are triggered into


    new goblin trees,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t hurt anyone not involved in the project,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Enterprise, scan for trees and infected,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might have a tunnel system


    to investigate if they went underground to prevent enemy forces from taking the tree


    from them.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Markers for two trees lit up the screen. Then dozens of smaller markers lit up and


    moved around the cityscape. Jack rubbed his face as he looked at the information.


    The people he would have to rescue would not like him trying to rescue them from


    becoming plant food.


    ¡°This is worse than I thought,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll have to take on the whole city to do


    anything.¡±


    ¡°Not the whole city,¡± said Aviras. ¡°But this is a lot that came into contact with the


    tree.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they all work with the tree,¡± said Jack. ¡°Did they breathe in the seeds? Did


    they give it blood? Did they get implanted on purpose?¡±


    ¡°Unknown,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°Need more data.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have the library of information you need for this, do you?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I only have the limited experience gathered during this operation,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°We need to take you to a library and load you up with whatever we can find out


    about this world,¡± said Jack. ¡°Aviras knows more about this world than either one of


    us.¡±


    ¡°Mathilda has been reading to me her fictions, and fictional history, that she likes,¡±


    said Aviras. ¡°I love Garion the Hammer.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can get her to read to the Enterprise,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She loves to read,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Reading to others would be something she likes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about asking her to read something to the Enterprise, maybe some kind of


    chronology of the world,¡± said Jack. ¡°General knowledge should be there for it to


    draw on to make decisions to help us with our work, and explorations.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°I will look forward to such a reading.¡±


    ¡°So guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°How do you want to do this?¡±


    ¡°We should remove the trees first,¡± said Aviras. ¡°That limits the spread of problems


    while we deal with their infected soldiers and civilians.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you pick up and store the infected in the city, Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Ready to commence operations.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we run into any of those book guys, we¡¯ll issue


    a warning before we shoot back at them.¡±


    ¡°Phasers are ready,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Get rid of the trees,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we¡¯ll see what we can do about the people.


    I don¡¯t think they will like us abducting them for the greater good.¡±


    Rings dropped down inside the courtyards where the trees stood. Jack noted they


    weren¡¯t planted side by side, but in different places on the display created by the


    Enterprise¡¯s scanners. When the metal hoops flipped over and retracted back into the


    ship, the trees had added their mass to the armored bulk of the ship.


    ¡°Should we give them a warning that we are picking the infected up?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    am of two minds. One hand, it would be scary for them. On the other hand, it would


    be scary for them.¡±


    ¡°Give them a warning,¡± said Aviras. ¡°We might as well tell them that trying to start


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.a war with a biological weapon that will keep trying to kill people is wrong. Kill your


    enemy, kill your enemy¡¯s children if you have to, but don¡¯t kill your own people¡¯s


    children¡¯s children.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± agreed the machine.


    ¡°Open the speakers so we can talk to the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we¡¯ll commence with


    picking up the sick and keep them until we can cure and return them.¡±


    ¡°Microphones are open,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°This is Jack,¡± said Jack. ¡°How¡¯s it going down there?¡±


    ¡°Jack,¡± whispered Aviras.


    The scanner showed the population looking up as the Enterprise dropped down to


    hover over the walls of the city. The ship loomed, casting a shadow over everyone


    below.


    ¡°I have been given a job to protect all the people on this world,¡± said Jack. He


    frowned as he put his thoughts in order. ¡°I have only been on the job for two weeks.


    I have done some things in pursuit of that job. Some of that has been ruthless murder,


    and I considered that in this case.


    ¡°Your government has decided to infect people as test subjects to create a weapon


    that might propagate itself until every living person on this continent, even


    yourselves, would be in mortal danger. They have entered into a bargain with human


    traffickers to steal women and children for their experiments. They have


    threatened my friend¡¯s adopted family, and my beloved.


    ¡°Just for that last, I would normally destroy your country from one end to the other.


    ¡°I would render your country uninhabitable and a warning to every other country who


    thought anything like this was a good idea.¡±


    Jack took a breath that was heard by the city as a sigh of regret that he hadn¡¯t done


    that.


    ¡°But my tiny friend, Aviras, said I shouldn¡¯t punish everyone for the mistakes of


    the few,¡± said Jack. Aviras glared at him. ¡°So I am not.¡±


    ¡°I am taking the source of your weapon from you. I am going to cure the people


    among you that are on the verge of turning into monsters. I might destroy the


    government center building to show that I can. Do not do anything like this again.


    I will know, and I will come back to finish the job. Am I clear?¡±


    Jack raised his hand in a cut motion.


    ¡°Speakers are off,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Pick up the infected,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get ready in case they try to stop us.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Transporters are energizing, targets are being


    stored.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are there any of Josie¡¯s birds around?¡±


    Pings lit up several birds lounging around on the top of the castles. Some of the


    infected may have been marked by the birds, but he felt that he was dealing with the


    planners in the towers. He thought about dropping a few torpedoes on those towers.


    ¡°I think you should wait on Josie to arrive,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You are considering following up your threat with shots against the planners of


    this operation like we did in the wilderness,¡± said Aviras. Fire escaped his snout.


    ¡°You are still angry, but not as angry as you were. I am not inclined to defend your


    actions to your partner and friend who hands out geas and curses like they are party


    favors. I wish to be full-sized again one day.¡±


    ¡°Josie wouldn¡¯t hold it against you,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I do not want cancer, and neither should you,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will let this slide for the moment. If I have to rip up the city,


    then that is what I will do. Josie is not going to stop me from that.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Enterprise, take us up above visual range,¡± said Jack. ¡°Put us on station so we can


    pick up Josie when her crew gets here. Keep an eye on what is going on. I expect


    there will be some kind of meeting to assert the government at large isn¡¯t scared of


    one flying ship as a big as a town.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Ascending to required height.¡±


    ¡°Let me know if something happens,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to my office and think


    about things. Maybe get some tea if the replicator works right. Enterprise, are we


    spaceworthy?¡±


    ¡°Unknown,¡± said the Enterprise. ¡°Capability might match expectations but tests have


    to be done.¡±


    ¡°We can do the test before we head back to Hawk Ridge,¡± said Jack. He stood up. ¡°It


    would be cool to know if we can travel around the solar system, if this is a solar


    system, and not some kind of finite plane on a flat plate.¡±


    ¡°Flat plate?,¡± said Aviras. He took to the air.


    ¡°Like Discworld,¡± said Jack. He gestured for the dragon to follow him to a door to


    one side of the bridge. ¡°The D had an office for the captain. He could work on his


    paperwork and do things while waiting for something to happen. It had his personal


    stuff and a replicator for snacks and drinks.¡±


    They waited for the door to open on an empty room with a window showing them


    clouds outside of the ship. Jack stepped inside. He went to the window and looked


    out. He nodded at the fluffy clouds floating on the other side of the reinforced glass.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem ready to be used,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°It does have a replicator slot in the wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°What kind of furnishing should


    go in here?¡±


    ¡°You should have at least a chair,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Maybe a desk to write on if you want


    to write.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t ever decorated a space before,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think we can hang up some


    pictures, and put in a bust, or something. You¡¯re right about the desk and chair. I


    might need a mobile unit to call up things the Enterprise knows that I haven¡¯t thought


    about yet.¡±


    ¡°I would like to be able to read books if I am stuck onboard for a long voyage,¡± said


    Aviras.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind some video games, but I haven¡¯t thought of a way to make them


    here,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise? Are all the rooms aboard empty?¡±


    ¡°All living quarters and public areas are empty,¡± said the machine. ¡°Medical beds and


    equipment are ready in the sick bay.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think about furnishing the ship,¡± said Jack. ¡°That was an oversight,


    Enterprise. I will figure something out so we can be more hospitable to guests.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°So you are going to put furniture in here?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have anything else to do until we hear from Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can


    make this one room where we can sit in comfort.¡±


    He checked his watch. He had time. The mana chargers that ran the ship was keeping


    the watch from charging as fast as he wanted, but it was charging.


    He changed into Majik. He examined the office space. He should have something


    on the wall. Picard had models of the various Enterprises on shelves to one side. He


    should do the same thing.


    First, he needed a chair. He could place that under the window, facing the door. Then


    he needed a desk, maybe a worktable. He needed something to drink. He walked over


    to the replicator slot and ordered a glass of Cheerwine. He sipped the soda as he


    thought.


    He needed a base to build everything out of so he didn¡¯t disrupt the Enterprise.


    ¡°What is that?,¡± asked Aviras. He pointed at the glass of drink as he floated in the air.


    ¡°Cheerwine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I ran into it in the Army. I like it.¡±


    ¡°How did you get it?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°The replicators make food and drink to request,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I needed the glass.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the dragon.


    ¡°Let me show you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Star Trek has the ability to make things out of energy.


    Damage done to ships can be held back with energy fields until the ship¡¯s workshops


    can fit patches back in place. Things are usually done in space to escape the effects


    of gravity while the workers are going about their business. Our Enterprise also has


    the ability to absorb mass to increase its size which the original ship didn¡¯t have.


    It¡¯s a side effect of the magic I used.¡±


    ¡°How does the glass help with that?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°I can use it to make a chair,¡± said Jack. He placed the glass on the floor. He made a


    gesture with his hand and the glass and liquid became an office chair with reddish


    cushions resting next to the window. He sat down in it and thought it felt all right.


    ¡°Are you going to make a desk the same way?,¡± asked the dragon.


    ¡°It should be a snap,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just need something like a couple of blocks of


    metal. I can shape that into whatever.¡±

 Solid Gold Paycheck

    Josie looked around the enclosed space. Where would she keep a dangerous plant


    and copies of all her notes? She decided to do two spells. One would locate any


    paperwork, the other would locate the trees.


    She became Zatanna and threw out birds to locate the gardener¡¯s stash. She didn¡¯t


    want to leave anything behind that could be used to start up the problem again.


    Three birds leaped from her hand. One flew to the book shelf. Fass went to the thing


    and started checking the books for notes.


    One flew into the floor. Josie frowned before looking for a trap door. She pushed


    on the chair and revealed a section of the floor on hinges. She put a barrier up to keep


    anything in the hidden cellar down there when she opened the door.


    The third bird fizzled out. The target had been destroyed between the time she had


    cast the spell and the moment it ended. She was happy about that.


    ¡°The original tree is gone,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°Something came along and did something to it when I cast my spell,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe Jack decided to pull up every goblin tree he could find.¡±


    ¡°Could he do that with that great honking thing he built?,¡± asked Fass. He waved


    his hands to indicate the size of the flying building he had seen.


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can ask him when we get back to the quinjet. I need you


    to grab the papers and clear out of this building. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s beneath us, but


    I am not going to explain why you became a mindless berserker to your wife.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Fass. ¡°I do not relish having to explain anything to Jack if


    something happened to you. He downplays how he feels but he is obviously angry


    about things when he starts making decisions. And he has it under enough control


    to be very dangerous to anyone in his way.¡±


    ¡°A distant storm,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead. I need to make sure no one comes along


    to pick up the tree and start everything again. We¡¯re missing something.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Fass. He placed all the notes he could find in his travel


    bag. He usually used it for loot they picked up, but the papers were more important


    than anything else he had uncovered.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t closed the quest yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why? What have we not done? Is the


    Lich Queen still back in Kas lurking around the empty space left by Jack pulling up


    the town for his ship. And I should have seen that coming too. He was talking about


    a flying boat like Peter Pan, but I ignored it as him just putting out the idea.¡±


    ¡°And then he built the quinjet for Emily, and then the Enterprise for this,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°I should have put my foot down,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead. I need to make sure the


    place is safe for others. Then we can leave and try to figure things out. Maybe I need


    to send a letter to Elaine, and ask her what the model says.¡±


    Fass backed out of the door. He whistled and gestured for his people to fall back. If


    no one had tried to stop them before this, then there was nobody close enough to try.


    He directed them back to the quinjet, handing his bag to Budd with the order to guard


    it with his life. He took up a spot to watch the front and sides of the house until Josie


    came out.


    He was not going to explain why he let something hurt Josie to her more dangerous


    partner. He had thought she was the more dangerous one, but he saw that was a


    mistake in judgement.


    Josie was dangerous and ruthless in her own way. She just wasn¡¯t as dangerous as


    Jack could be when he put aside the loon he displayed for others.


    Josie pushed the cellar into stasis as Zatanna. She asked for anything in the air to light


    up for her. She didn¡¯t see anything that might be dangerous to her. She descended


    into the cellar, flicking a lantern to light with her finger.


    The sample goblin tree rested in a pot of dirt on a pedestal in the middle of a small


    pool of water. Growths ran up the sides, attached to the bark by pulsing veins.


    A mushroom cap joined the top of the limbs together to the central trunk. An ugly


    wooden face regarded her in immobility.


    Josie made sure the air was safe to breathe before she switched to Doctor Alchemy.


    She raised her hand. There was one way to handle this without the risk of causing a


    wild growth in the cellar for others to discover when they came looking for the


    gardener. She flexed her fingers. Words wrote themselves in a circle around the tree


    and pot of dirt. When the sentence vanished, an ugly tree of gold remained.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    She received a ding.


    ¡°So the source of the infection is gone, but not the main user,¡± said Josie. She needed


    to talk to Elaine, and they needed to find the Queen before she came into her power.


    Her immediate concern was the golden tree in the golden pile of dirt in a gold pot.


    She needed to get it to the quinjet and then come up with a new approach.


    She became Zatanna and sent a bird to the quinjet. When it arrived, it would yank the


    gold tree to it. She teleported to the main floor of the house. She made sure nothing


    else of interest was there before stepping outside. She immediately spotted Fass


    standing at the edge of the clearing around the cottage.


    She let the persona go. A walk back to their transportation would give her time to


    think about what they had learned. Then she could wrangle everyone together for


    a planning session.


    ¡°We need to call Elaine to see if the circle moved,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we need to talk


    to Jack and see if he can do anything for us with the Enterprise. I know we missed


    something somewhere. We might have to go back to Kas and talk to the soldiers that


    remained. Maybe they know something.¡±


    ¡°They are probably not going to want to talk to us after the display Jack put on,¡± said


    Fass. ¡°If they are smart, the commanders sent a messenger back to the central


    command, and pulled out.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see any horses,¡± said Josie. ¡°How do they retreat without something to lift


    their burdens?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see any either,¡± said Fass. ¡°Do you think there was a place there we


    missed?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I sent your payment back to the quinjet. Lou might have


    jumped out of his skin when he saw it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°They might have buried the real Queen underground. Jack


    only ripped up the surface buildings where they were trying to produce their army.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried that¡¯s what happened,¡± said Josie. ¡°We ran the army out of there, ripped


    up their bases, and took all the implanted women we could find. If there is a hidden


    spot, the Queen could be waiting to emerge and start spreading her baby army.¡±


    ¡°Everything depends on if they went back to keep her locked up,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°A lot more depends on whether she was able to infect any of them and make one of


    them her first soldier, and what he would do to grow the seed inside of him,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°How do we kill these things?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°We are going to need to set them on fire from a distance,¡± said Josie. ¡°The ones I


    saw were tough enough to take multiple sword attacks.¡±


    ¡°You saw them?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°When I dropped off our gardener friend in the future, this place had become a


    battlefield between soldiers and goblin tree people,¡± said Josie. ¡°Those soldiers were


    being eaten alive on the ground. Cuts from swords and axes barely slowed the goblin


    tree people down. Burning them had an effect, but the fire has to be hotter than what


    I saw being used. To change that future, we have to make sure this doesn¡¯t spread out


    of control now.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Fass. ¡°If fire is the only thing that can hurt them, we might need to


    stock up on oil and use that. It¡¯s something the Adventurers¡¯ Guild will have to


    consider if we fail.¡±


    ¡°We could lose the city if one of those things gets inside the wall,¡± said Josie. ¡°The


    rest of the country would provide the numbers to destroy every country on the


    continent. There is also something worse in a way.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to hear the worse possible outcome that we might be facing,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°We just assumed the seed can be grown in humans,¡± said Josie. ¡°What if it can be


    introduced into animals?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like that thought at all,¡± said Fass. ¡°Anything living could be the Queen.¡±


    ¡°And anything could be spreading it around like rabies,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might have


    left too soon.¡±


    ¡°We have to go back and make sure,¡± said Fass. ¡°We could have let something out


    when Jack destroyed the town.¡±


    ¡°How many knew about anything like that and had the thought to move it?,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We might get lucky and find what we are looking for before anyone gets it


    together enough to move everything.¡±


    ¡°I have never been so lucky,¡± said Fass. He frowned at the silver skin of the quinjet


    coming into view.


    ¡°Show him, Lou,¡± said Budd. He made a gesture with a finger.


    Lou struggled to carry the miniature gold tree into sight. He placed it at the top of the


    stairs. He stepped back.


    ¡°What is that?,¡± asked Fass. He held his hand to his head as he examined the thing


    with his eyes.


    ¡°Your payment,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s solid gold through and through.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re rich,¡± said Budd. ¡°I think this is excessive for the service we have done so


    far.¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± said one of the others. Josie hadn¡¯t sorted them out yet in her brain.


    ¡°If Madam Witch wishes to pay us in a solid gold statue that will set us up for


    life, I say we should take the pay in the generosity it was given.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t even spell generosity,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Strap the gold statue down,¡± said Fass. ¡°Our problem is still ongoing. We need


    to solve that before we think about how we are going to split and spend our newfound


    wealth. We¡¯re going to need a tactic that will work against something that can¡¯t


    be cut, but can be set on fire. We¡¯re going to have to go back to Kas and look


    around for anything that might be ready to spread the goblin trees around. We


    are definitely talking to the Guild and making them aware that such a tactic is


    necessary if we lose here. Am I missing something?¡±


    ¡°We can use the Enterprise to catch anything we have to hunt,¡± said Josie. ¡°So I need


    to talk to Elaine and ask her about the Queen. Then I need to call Jack back and see


    if the Enterprise can see anything we can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Ask Elaine to mark any infected that might have already been sent back over the


    border,¡± said Fass. ¡°We might have been too late and only caught the middle of their


    operation instead of the start.¡±


    Josie frowned, but nodded. She didn¡¯t like the fact that she might have to chase down


    people already trying to get back to normal to make sure they didn¡¯t start eating


    their neighbors. She was definitely going to talk to the planners of this thing.


    They deserved whatever she could think of to give to them so they never did anything


    like this again.


    She started up the stairs, heading for the pilot seat to write her letters. She paused just


    long enough to help Lou and a couple of his friends move the tree against the back


    wall of the cargo deck before she went upstairs.


    She hoped she hadn¡¯t given them all gold fever.

 Conference

    Jack smiled at his refurbished office. He sat down in his reddish chair, and checked


    his watch. The ship was taking most of the charging area, but it was charging in his


    ready room. Aviras sat on his desk, plate of ice cream on hand.


    ¡°I like it,¡± said the dragon. ¡°It is a little homey.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t have that much decoration at the Hole in the Wall,


    but I noticed the kids and Elaine had decided on the colors they want for their clothes


    and bedding.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± Josie said from his com band. ¡°We need to talk face to face. Where are you?¡±


    ¡°I am still over the Shemmarian Capitol,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hold on. I need to get back


    on the bridge to take advantage of the bigger screen.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re in the air, heading that way. We might have a problem.


    Do you think the Enterprise can carry the quinjet, or do you want to land so we


    can hash this out on the ground?¡±


    Jack stepped out on the bridge. He walked to the command chair. Aviras took


    Troi¡¯s seat with a thump. He thought that was appropriate since the dragon had made


    himself his conscience and counselor.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do we have room for the quinjet in the Hangar Bay?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Ping the quinjet,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might have to use the tractor beam. Do we have


    one of those?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°We are above the quinjet¡¯s ceiling.¡±


    ¡°Set a course to intercept, and then bring us down above the quinjet so we can get


    in front and open the bay for them,¡± said Jack. He didn¡¯t feel the ship moving, but the


    heading and pings on the screen in his chair, and on the main screen said the


    Enterprise was shifting course and running smoothly.


    ¡°Can you see us, Jo?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°We are going to try to drop down and get in front


    of you. At a certain point you are going to have to hover, and then the Enterprise is


    going to grab you with a tractor and pull you aboard.¡±


    ¡°Should I cut the engines when the beam engages?,¡± asked Jo.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°The tractor may pull your aircraft apart if you try


    to back away at the wrong time.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jo. ¡°Give me a mark when I should cut the engine. Do not drop us.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. If it was annoyed at the implication it was a butter


    fingers, it didn¡¯t show.


    ¡°We might need a conference call, or something,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to need


    to talk to Elaine, and Jane, about this mess.¡±


    ¡°The Enterprise can reach back to Hawk Ridge from here,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can


    call them at any time.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°There is the flying building,¡± said Fass over the com.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Eric?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It is not as good as we wanted,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Eric would like to get home to his wife,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe buy a house in the


    country with his pay.¡±


    ¡°I would love to meet Mrs. Fass,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the feeling will be mutual,¡± said Fass. ¡°You are a bit too eccentric.¡±


    ¡°But I have a recipe for lasagna that Emeril would kill for,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The one where you add in the ghost reapers and Frank¡¯s hot sauce?,¡± said Jo. ¡°Keep


    that to yourself.¡±


    ¡°Ghost reapers?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pepper that scalds the inside of your mouth when you eat it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad,¡± said Jack. ¡°It just adds a bit of spice.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. He thought he heard her say don¡¯t believe that in a whisper. ¡°All


    right, we¡¯re lining up behind the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Rear view, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right. Hit the hover jets, Josie. We¡¯re a little


    high for them, but the Enterprise is ready to catch you.¡±


    The belly jets of the quinjet lit up as Jack watched. He nodded. The beam of the


    tractor flicked on and surrounded the smaller jet. Josie cut the jets a second later. The


    tractor brought the quinjet into the center of the empty bay. The jet thumped down in


    the center of the launch strip.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any shuttles,¡± said Jack. The door on the hangar bay closed. ¡°They


    have to be made separately. I¡¯m up on the bridge. Take the elevator and we¡¯ll have


    our talk.¡±


    Jack cut the call. He looked around the bridge.


    ¡°Enterprise, block the manual controls unless I give an override,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t


    want anyone pushing a random control and firing a phaser by mistake, or cutting


    the engines, or anything like that.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I approve of the caution,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Now, I have to enjoy the rest of my ice


    cream.¡±


    ¡°Eat it fast,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a feeling we will be moving after this talk. Enterprise,


    take us back to our station. We might have to move fast, are we ready?¡±


    ¡°All systems are nominal,¡± said the machine. ¡°Torpedoes are at full capacity. Energy


    output is at ninety percent. We are combat ready, and able to take on any task.¡±


    ¡°I doubt Josie will want to hold her meeting in the Ready Room,¡± said Jack. ¡°What


    about the conference room. We might need to go there. Is it furnished?¡±


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I guess I can get a piece of scrap from the replicator and make chairs and a table for


    us,¡± said Jack.


    The Enterprise didn¡¯t offer an opinion on that.


    The elevator doors opened and the crew spilled out on the bridge. Josie took one


    look around and nodded. The Fighters paused at the circular room and consoles.


    ¡°I think this is more than I signed up for,¡± said one of the voices at the back of the


    group.


    ¡°What did you expect?,¡± said another. ¡°Madame Witch is witchy, her brother had


    to be the same.¡±


    ¡°But this,¡± said the original speaker, spreading his arms in the air.


    ¡°Look, guys,¡± said Jack, standing up. ¡°I know this is a lot. Your society doesn¡¯t seem


    to have progressed in the sciences all that much. Even this is an extension of what


    we were already trying to do where I came from. Jo, Eric, and I will talk in my office.


    The Enterprise will show you the continent on the main screen. Don¡¯t touch any


    of the buttons. You could crash us. Definitely don¡¯t sit in my chair. Enterprise, go


    over the tactical stuff with the Fighters. Show them what we did, and everything.


    Once we decide what we want to do, I¡¯ll have a target for you to engage.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The image of Kas appeared on the screen as the


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.ship ripped it apart on launch and lifted off.


    Jack gestured for Josie and Fass to enter his ready room. Fass gestured for Budd to


    join them.


    Jack walked around them and went to his desk. Aviras was halfway through his ice


    cream on the desk.


    The other three paused to look at the walls. Josie almost smiled.


    Jack had placed drawings in the style of Alex Ross of Josie, Elaine, and the


    Ducklings on one wall. Josie¡¯s had her wearing a rare smile as she changed into


    Shazam. Below that grouping, Eric and his fighters were in one group picture, Guin


    and Linus sat and stood in the office at the Coin, Jane stood on the roof of her


    mansion with arm upraised.


    The other wall had a shelf full of Avengers memorabilia. Captain America¡¯s shield,


    one of Hawkeye¡¯s arrows, a copy of Thor¡¯s hammer, and a few other things that Josie


    didn¡¯t recognize sat on display.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°We need to go over everything again,¡± said Josie. She went to the memorabilia and


    poked at things. ¡°We missed something.¡±


    ¡°I can call Elaine and ask her if the circle moved from Kas,¡± said Jack. ¡°I did have


    the Enterprise pull up every goblin tree it could detect.¡±


    ¡°We took the source and the maker,¡± said Josie. ¡°He had a baby tree stashed in his


    basement that he was using as his personal zombie maker.¡±


    ¡°And it is ugly,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Josie turned it into solid gold,¡± said Fass. ¡°So it is not a threat any more.¡±


    ¡°I think we have holo decks onboard,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can set up a conspiracy board


    down there to try to hash this out. I was going to suggest the conference room, or Ten


    Forward, but there isn¡¯t any furniture onboard yet other than what I made for this


    office, the bridge chairs, and whatever is down in sick bay. The spell only made the


    ship and what was necessary to run the ship.¡±


    ¡°Are these holo decks safe?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°Unless you get locked in,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, do we have holo decks and are


    they operational?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°On station.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Give us a chance to hash things out and I¡¯ll have a big job


    for you to take care of when we¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go down and look at this holo deck,¡± said Jack. He stood. ¡°Enterprise, Aviras


    gets only one more bowl of ice cream when he is done with this one. After that, we


    will have to talk about a diet.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the dragon, looking up from his feast.


    ¡°A small bowl,¡± said Jack. ¡°Stay out of trouble while we¡¯re gone. I¡¯ll have you back


    with Matilda before too long.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You are evil.¡±


    ¡°The Army does that to you,¡± said Jack. He gestured for the others to precede him out


    of the ready room. ¡°Be glad I never made sergeant. Sergeants are the worse.¡±


    ¡°I find that hard to believe,¡± said Aviras. He dove into his ice cream.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to ride down to Holo Deck One and set up a


    presentation. We¡¯re going to discuss plans to handle the rest of our business.¡±


    ¡°You have this,¡± said the complainer. ¡°What do you need us for?¡±


    ¡°There is always a need to have boots on the ground to make sure the enemy is dead,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Sure, I could bomb any city in the world to rubble in a matter of seconds


    with the Enterprise. But what if I missed? Someone would have to go in and make


    sure. That¡¯s what I got you for.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the complainer.


    ¡°Besides I can¡¯t be everywhere unless I duplicated myself somehow,¡± said Jack. He


    paused at the thought.


    ¡°Concentrate on the current problem first,¡± said Josie. ¡°We still haven¡¯t found the


    Queen, and we have nullified all the trees we have located. How do we finish the


    quest?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Madrox the Multiple Man will have to wait. It probably


    won¡¯t work like the comics, and David did give him personality issues. It¡¯s funny


    how every character he works on has mental problems.¡±


    ¡°So has Mike Baron,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s keep it together until we solve our main


    problem first. You still have to take Elaine to the show.¡±


    ¡°I am ready,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is there enough room to get us all on the elevator?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Which deck am I supposed to go to?¡±


    ¡°Deck ten,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Half of you get on the elevator with me. We¡¯ll go down to


    ten. The other half gets on with Jack.¡±


    The fighters split themselves up with the faster ones getting on with Josie. She looked


    at them.


    ¡°I¡¯m seriously hurt no one wants to ride with me,¡± said Jack as the doors closed.


    ¡°Such is the way of the witch¡¯s brother,¡± said Budd. He patted Jack¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Jack. The elevator doors opened again. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Deck ten, please.¡±


    They stepped in and the elevator rushed them down nine decks. Josie¡¯s part of the


    crew waited in the hall for them to step out when they got there. Jack led the way


    down the hall. He smiled when he found Holo Deck One. The door opened for him.


    ¡°Before we go in,¡± said Jack. ¡°This room responds to us talking unless someone


    enters a program. The Enterprise doesn¡¯t have a catalogue of places yet, so the room


    will look bare until we start doing what we have to do. Don¡¯t be surprised at the


    temporary things that happen while we are in there.¡±


    ¡°Magic?,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be moving images projected by the room,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s just as


    much magic to me as you. Our tech guys haven¡¯t got it down. The best they can do


    is a helmet that allows you to see a strange place and gloves to interact with it, but


    nothing like what the guys from Star Trek came up with for their future society.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s show them,¡± said Josie. ¡°This came after Roddenberry. He never envisioned


    the advances that needed to be done to create something like this.¡±


    ¡°All right, guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go in and sort this out.¡±


    The group stepped into a room where everything was black with green stripes making


    every surface squares. Jack walked to the center of the room. He hoped the Enterprise


    had an idea of what they wanted when they said study, or parlor.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Open a file. Call it Office One. Give us a wood floor, wood


    paneling walls. Electric light fixtures should be okay. Do you need to know what


    electric lightbulbs look like?¡±


    ¡°Negative,¡± said Enterprise.


    The walls of the room and floor covered themselves with wood. A chandelier formed


    from the ceiling and lit the space.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need something to write on and chairs for our group,¡± said Josie.


    Plain wooden chairs sprang out of the floor. A chalkboard emerged from one of the


    walls. A ledge formed to hold chalk and an eraser. Josie walked over and picked the


    chalk up.


    She wrote quest near the top, and then stop the lich queen under it. She turned to the


    group as they tested out the chairs for sitting down.


    ¡°Enterprise, call Elaine, Jane, and Master Guin,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might as well include


    them in this so we can do what we need to do.¡±


    ¡°Channels opening,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said Master Guin.


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± asked Jane. ¡°I¡¯m busy.¡±


    ¡°Give us a visual reference, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. Three ghosts appeared near him.


    ¡°We¡¯re having a meeting because we need your brain power. Josie and Fass¡¯s


    Fighters are here on my end. We¡¯re going to need solutions to some problems so we


    can fix what is going on.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with what we know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can figure out what we


    did wrong.¡±


    ¡°The Shemmarians were trying to build a super soldier out of the women they are


    buying from Montrose,¡± said Jack. ¡°The origin of the Lich Queen was at the facilities


    they had set up to process those women which was located by Josie¡¯s model.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still a circle right now,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It¡¯s a smaller one now than the one we saw


    at first. It is still in Kas.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We pulled all the goblin trees we could find. We rescued all


    the women we found that were implanted with seeds from those goblin trees. We


    killed some of the planners of the operation and I placed the mastermind in the future


    in case we need him before we¡¯re done if he survives the area.¡±


    ¡°Your birds were keeping an eye on your targets in the Shemmarian capitol city,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Enterprise, how many birds were on site?¡±


    ¡°Eight,¡± said the machine from the air.


    ¡°Can you give us a model of last known locations?,¡± said Jack.


    A model of the city appeared on a table near the group. Bird icons moved with pings


    around the buildings. Some of them flocked together as if the targets were in a


    meeting.


    ¡°What do you need from us, Jack?,¡± asked Guin.


    ¡°We have a bunch of women who still have the seeds inside of them,¡± said Jack. ¡°We


    need a hospital, and medical people to look after them while they recover.¡±


    ¡°Where could we get a hospital?,¡± asked Jane. ¡°I don¡¯t know of enough healers to


    deal with anything major in the city.¡±


    ¡°How many women do we have in storage, Enterprise?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Eighty five,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°So we need eighty five beds,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need at least twenty people a shift to


    keep an eye on these women at a minimum. We need three shifts.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s sixty people,¡± said Guin. ¡°We¡¯ll need a place to house them.¡±


    ¡°What about the two warehouses we raided?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I rescued another group


    across the city. Can we seize one of them?¡±


    ¡°We can hire adventurers to do some of this,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Harp should know some people who can act as nurses,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°His wife did say she had experience on the battlefield,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We can get some of the clerics from the Temple to help maybe,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a start on that problem,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can¡¯t let the King know about


    this, so we¡¯re going to have to hide some of this from the Duke. At no point can we


    let the King decide it¡¯s okay to go to war with Shemmaria when we are about to do


    things to them.¡±


    ¡°What are you about to do to them?,¡± asked Guin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°Probably something unpleasant.¡±


    ¡°I also have some of their citizens in storage,¡± said Jack. ¡°They all had goblin tree


    infections.¡±


    ¡°That will be another draw on our resources,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°I had planned to pull out the seeds and throw them back,¡± said Jack. He looked


    at the group with him. ¡°Too harsh?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°but there is going to need to be some kind of explanation given to


    their superiors.¡±


    ¡°I already announced that I was taking them for seed extractions, and then I took


    them,¡± said Jack. ¡°I took their trees too.¡±


    ¡°I am going to send someone to the bank to ask for the deed to that first warehouse,¡±


    said Guin. ¡°I¡¯ll ask Linus to secure bedding.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let Hilda know that we need to find as many nurses as we can to help out,¡± said


    Jane. ¡°We¡¯ll ask the clerics to send people to help out.¡±


    ¡°Jane, tell anyone you get that this could still be dangerous,¡± said Josie. ¡°Even though


    we¡¯re going to pull the seeds out, there could still be problems down the road. And


    we¡¯ll have to move the group I originally sent you to keep an eye on them.¡±


    ¡°The girls will like that,¡± said Jane.

 Walking Dead

    Josie made another list to show them what they needed. She wrote down Kas as the


    source. What were they missing?


    ¡°Jane, tell the Exchange to give you whatever money you need to hire people, and set


    up a pay schedule,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll cover the costs until we can get rid of these


    people, and send them home. We need to make sure they don¡¯t start eating people


    even if we think we healed them.¡±


    ¡°Do the same for housing,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t want anyone on the street unless


    they don¡¯t want us helping them. If you have to hire crews to get things done, or buy


    up places, do that. Rent anything you can, but our people are the primary concern


    right now. Once the crisis is done, then we¡¯ll worry about what to do with them.¡±


    ¡°There was a second place you raided from the Montrose?,¡± asked Guin.


    ¡°It¡¯s a big warehouse full of cages,¡± said Josie. She gave him the address. ¡°I sent all


    the women home that I could.¡±


    ¡°Hilda told me about that,¡± said Jane. ¡°We still have three of them. They are doing


    well.¡±


    ¡°We still need a place for the Shemmarians until we send them home,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°How did they get infected seems pertinent also,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just snatched them up and I haven¡¯t talked to any of


    them. They were mobile and on their feet when I grabbed them according to the scans


    from the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Can we do the work on the Enterprise and then send them to Jane to be watched until


    they are doing better?,¡± asked Josie. That seemed to be the easiest approach to her.


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we had something to duplicate the Doctor from Voyager, we


    could duplicate him on the ground and let him do all the work, and all we would need


    is orderlies to move people out of the way. I think that was a development after the


    Enterprise. Enterprise, do you have an Eee Em Aitch onboard?¡±


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°We will take the building from the Exchange, set up to find the other building¡¯s


    owner, and buy them both,¡± said Guin. ¡°That¡¯s the first step in any plan. Then we


    need to hire staff to work on moving these people out of the buildings.¡±


    ¡°As long as the Enterprise has power, we can keep our victims in storage until we can


    start working on them,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we have time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need to look at the people behind this at one point,¡± said Josie. If


    they dug up a zombie making plant and was ready to use it, then what else would they


    do?


    ¡°The birds are still working,¡± said Budd. He stood over the building model. ¡°Does


    this thing work by magic?¡±


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine. ¡°I can see the birds moving around the city and am


    updating the model in real time based on the visual cues. My scanners have already


    marked the common markers for each subject that I have linked to each bird that I can


    see.¡±


    ¡°You can see the city from here?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°My boy can see the whole world from here,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine. ¡°The scanners can only see the continent directly under


    us.¡±


    ¡°Show them the limit,¡± said Jack.


    A globe appeared. An icon appeared to mark the Enterprise staying in position over


    the Shemmarian capitol. A cone of light touched the globe.


    ¡°That¡¯s still a lot of ground,¡± said Budd. ¡°Kas is in that area, right?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. A marker appeared on the globe to show them where


    the town had stood.


    ¡°What are you thinking, Budd?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to be on the ground if the Enterprise can watch the town for us,¡± said


    Budd. ¡°Then we can swoop down and burn up anything dangerous before anyone is


    hurt.¡±


    ¡°Then all we have is the medical problems to deal with because the main problem will


    be over,¡± said Josie. ¡°I like that except for the part we don¡¯t how long it will take for


    a victim to come back to life if we kill them and don¡¯t burn up the body.¡±


    ¡°Phasers should be effective,¡± said Jack. ¡°Show us what it would look like on the


    ground if you can, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The room became a cleared patch of ground. The chairs, chalkboard, ghosts, and


    globe stayed in the middle of the open space. Josie frowned as she looked around.


    ¡°Where are we, Enterprise?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Holo Deck One, Deck Ten,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Where is this scene?,¡± asked Josie. She kept a huff of discontent inside.


    ¡°The launch point,¡± said the machine. ¡°Turn left and you will see the soldiers trying


    to scavenge what they can.¡±


    The group stood and formed up in a circle.


    ¡°They can¡¯t see us,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Enterprise is just making a picture for us to


    interact with and watch while we wait for something to happen.¡±


    ¡°There has to be something here to trigger the model,¡± said Josie. ¡°Eric and I were


    talking that maybe an animal would become infected and start things off.¡±


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°Anybody here know anything about goblin trees?¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I had some things written down, and Matilda might know


    something.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if she can call from her band,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll call her. Enterprise, call


    Matilda.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Jack,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I¡¯m reading to Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Milord,¡± said Bea. ¡°How are things?¡±


    ¡°A step away from losing the continent,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine says you know everything


    about goblin trees, Matilda. We need to know what you know.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know that much,¡± said Matilda. ¡°The first thing is they aren¡¯t real trees.


    They¡¯re a type of monster mushroom. They grow in your blood and move you around.


    They want to keep growing, but people and animals are sacks that won¡¯t support that.


    So they take over the body and expand until they split you open. No one knows how


    they spread, but they have been found in graveyards sprouting from fresh graves. If


    you get bitten, you have to burn the area of the bite immediately or there are


    problems.¡±


    ¡°Did you say graveyards?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t see any graveyards.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Fass. ¡°What about the notes from the gardener? I left them on the


    quinjet.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Jack. ¡°What did they do if they didn¡¯t bury anyone? Did they have a


    lot of failures in the process?¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, can you show us how everything looked from the air before you took the


    town apart?,¡± said Josie.


    The group stood in the air. Below them were the groups of buildings they had


    assaulted to rescue the stolen women and children. There was an empty space from


    where the Enterprise had built itself. A ring marked the spot of the building becoming


    a flying star ship.


    ¡°What are we looking for?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°A burial site, or a crematorium,¡± said Josie. ¡°They didn¡¯t just leave the bodies in the


    open if the women died in the process. That would have attracted too much


    attention.¡±


    ¡°I have the notes,¡± said Jack. He held up the papers. ¡°What should we look for in


    them?¡±


    ¡°Any notes about gardening the dead,¡± said Guin. ¡°I think that is what Josie is


    proposing. They had dumped their potential weapon in a burial site and hadn¡¯t


    realized they had what they wanted.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if he knew,¡± said Fass. ¡°He must have known they couldn¡¯t do anything if


    the victims were still alive.¡±


    Jack turned into Mister Fantastic and flipped through the notes. He frowned as he


    checked the numbers. He closed his eyes as he reverted back.


    ¡°He knew everything about the process,¡± said Jack. ¡°He sold the Shemmarians a bill


    of goods.¡±


    ¡°Explain, Jack,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°We assumed that the Shemmarians were given this as a weapon to enhance their


    soldiers like Captain America,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°He told us he helped them plan everything,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He helped them plan their doom,¡± said Jack. ¡°He suggested a burial pit on the north


    side of town away from lanes of travel. People coming in who were moving on should


    not know about the research. The project people started dumping their failures there.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t know the plant can animate the dead,¡± said Guin.


    ¡°We thought we were trying to stop the Shemmarians,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re trying to


    save them from themselves.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still in the saving the world business,¡± said Jack. ¡°If this gets out of Kas, it


    will spread and kill civilians outside of the country. We have to do something to stop


    this from going beyond what¡¯s already been done.¡±


    ¡°The circle is closing, Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It¡¯s closing on Kas.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, Red Alert,¡± said Jack. ¡°Battlestations. Ready torpedoes to fire. Get us


    there right now.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I have to get to the ground, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s the only way to contain this.¡±


    ¡°I got this,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, First Officer Josie is in command until I get back.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie. She raised her hand to gesture for him to stop. He touched his


    watch and vanished. ¡°Damn it.¡±


    ¡°Do we fight?,¡± asked Fass. ¡°Or do we stay here?¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, this is Second Officer Elaine Numera,¡± said Elaine over the link. ¡°Can


    you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking command,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Josie will be deployed. Bring the weapons to


    bear on the graveyard, as you drop down. Alert me when you have a fire solution


    where you can fire without hitting our forces, or the Shemmarians, by accident.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the machine. ¡°Will be on station in seconds.¡±


    ¡°You guys can stay, or go,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going down by bird.¡±


    ¡°We need to get our weapons from the quinjet,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Enterprise, can you do point to point internal transport?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Transport them to the hangar to get their gear,¡± said Josie. ¡°Drop them behind cover


    just in case our friends don¡¯t want the help.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± said Fass. ¡°Can you see where I am pointing? There are three trees and


    a bush beside a rock.¡±


    ¡°Landmark recognized,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°That¡¯s where we need to drop,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Do what you have to do, Josie,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Enterprise, Fass and his Fighters need transport to the hangar,¡± said Josie. ¡°As soon


    as they are ready to go, drop them to the ground.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The adventurers vanished in a swirl of blue sparks.


    ¡°I am going to cut this call,¡± said Jane. ¡°I will arrange to buy those two buildings out


    of the fund. I¡¯ll need some help with the deed search, Guin.¡±


    ¡°Linus will grab someone to find the deeds and secure the local owner, Madam Jane,¡±


    said Guin. ¡°Let me start the ball rolling on my end.¡±


    ¡°I am going to stay in contact with the Enterprise,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will let the


    both of you know when this is over.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to go. If things go right, we will settle this quest, bring


    the wounded in to be helped out and looked out for, and hopefully convince the


    Shemmarians to stop doing stupid stuff.¡±


    ¡°Do what you have to do,¡± said Elaine.


    Josie touched her watch and became Zatanna. She teleported down to the ground.


    She could deal with this as long as no one got in her way. Her wish magic could take


    out any single object, or a group if they were close together.


    She sent out a bird to locate Jack. He was a red flame throwing fireballs into a crowd


    of rotten corpses pulling themselves out of the ground on the other side of the


    graveyard. She caused one to explode from where she stood.


    She hoped the soldiers stayed out of the way. She had to help Jack, and then they


    were done with this quest.


    A red beam cut the air as she moved. She looked south. One of the book men stood


    there at the head of a crowd. They seemed interested in trying to stop her from


    stopping their plague.


    She didn¡¯t have time to let them interfere. She had to do what she had to do.


    She swung an arm. A wall of rock leaped to block them off from the action for the


    moment she needed. She checked her watch. She could save the day, but time travel


    was too dangerous. Changing any one link could change everything until she and


    Jack were no longer themselves.


    She decided that Chronos was useful, but she didn¡¯t want to chance ruining


    everything they had already done by trying to change the past to change the present


    to change the future. She needed to think of something fast to stop everything from


    going to crap.


    She teleported to where Jack flung fire at the emerging corpses. She frowned at the


    charging crowd. They needed something bigger to deal with this crowd.


    ¡°How do you think explosives will do against these things?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. He wore his grin on his face.


    ¡°We have the weenies trying to stop us from behind me,¡± said Josie. ¡°They should be


    getting through the wall in a second.¡±


    A few streams of golden light dropped down from the sky. The Enterprise was on


    station up there and shooting at their enemies with its ray guns.


    ¡°We could have the Enterprise drop torpedoes down here,¡± said Jack. He flung


    another fireball with enough accuracy to blow his target¡¯s head up.


    ¡°I can use the Human Bomb right now,¡± said Josie. ¡°That will buy time for you to


    think of something useful and then we can look around for more of these things.¡±


    ¡°Do it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll switch to something else to help us.¡±


    Josie touched her watch and became a figure in a white overall and helmet. She ran


    forward at the crowd of zombies trying to get on their feet and attack their prey. She


    exploded into nothingness. Body parts flew everywhere.


    Jack reached for his watch. It was his turn to do something.

 Mushroom Menace

    Jack had a lot of options. He had three seconds to consider everything before he


    pushed the button. He had half power on his watch. Josie was out of the way so he


    couldn¡¯t hurt her with whatever he did until she became solid again. The Enterprise


    was shooting at random soldiers to keep them clear of the battlefield.


    Matilda and the notes agreed he was dealing with a type of mushroom. Mushrooms


    were half-plant. His options narrowed down to Man-Thing, Plantman, or Doctor


    Druid. None of them quite fit what he wanted, but maybe he could do a lot more with


    Druid.


    He pushed the button and wore the robes and hooded cloak of his persona. He


    reached out with his third eye and felt everything around him. He wasn¡¯t as far


    reaching as Majik, but his narrower focus pointed him to a solution to the problem


    ahead of him.


    The goblin trees animated tissue. They wanted to spread. Once they were at the


    maximum of their growth, they would cast off their seeds in a small natural explosion.


    If something ate the seed, they would stay dormant until the thing died. Once that


    happened, the seed would animate the corpse and search for a place to grow without


    any predators around.


    The trees he had found and cut off from the world had been giants because they were


    really more than one of the growths growing together. Nature had reclaimed the rest


    with more regular trees like oaks, or pines.


    This battleground could probably sprout into such a giant with all the bodies trying


    to grow and move.


    He winced at a hand trying to figure out where the rest of its arm was and getting


    back together.


    He needed to cut off all of this. Then he could worry about the ramifications of the


    Shemmarians trying to build super soldier monsters like the Howling Commandoes,


    or the Midnight Sons.


    Someone in command needed the Ghost Rider¡¯s penance stare.


    He reached out and grabbed all the active mushrooms he could with his magic. Then


    he shut off all their functions such as they were. He waited. The corpses flopped


    around as the mushrooms carried on for a few minutes. Then they stopped


    completely.


    He reached out and asked the world to tell him if there was more active goblin trees


    around. He found some seeds getting ready to burst and take off. He stopped that too.


    He seemed clear of implantations, and he didn¡¯t see anything in the soldiers he could


    sense.


    Josie appeared, the ghost form of the Human Bomb taking shape after her explosion.


    ¡°I thought we talked about you running off and doing crazy things,¡± she said as pieces


    of her materialized out of the air.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we did,¡± said Jack. He couldn¡¯t check her as she was now. He would


    have to wait until she became normal. He grinned at her.


    ¡°We are implementing procedures,¡± said Josie. She crossed her arms as she watched


    golden fire fall a short distance away.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. He threw a cloud of sleep over the wall and listened to the


    soldiers cough while they tried to run out of the cloud before they fell to the ground.


    ¡°You have someone now,¡± said Josie. ¡°You have to give things more thought. Elaine


    would break apart if something happened to you.¡±


    ¡°I am not sure about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯s tough, tougher than us.¡±


    ¡°Not the point,¡± said Josie. ¡°You know it. We are going to hash this out. And I am


    going to find you a therapist.¡±


    ¡°A therapist,¡± said Jack. He said the word with disdain. He had no need for a


    therapist. Therapists were for the weak.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. He could tell she was smiling under the full helmet of the Bomb.


    ¡°I even got a quest for it. How do you like that?¡±


    ¡°I would love to see you find a therapist here just to see if you can scavenge one up,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°If worse comes to worse, I will send a letter to Juni to see what she has to say about


    all this,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe arrange a visit from your older sister. The Ducklings


    would love that.¡±


    ¡°I triple double dog dare you to do that,¡± said Jack. He put on the grin to show he


    didn¡¯t think she could do that. It felt like a mask because he knew that Josie might be


    one of the few people who could arrange a visit from his sister.


    ¡°Wait until we get home,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will set it up as soon as I can. Boom, another


    ding.¡±


    ¡°The Society is not going to go for that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°If Juni shows up, she might be better at this quest stuff than us,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can


    retire on the gold I can make. The girls and I can become nobility while you and


    Elaine retire to some backwoods somewhere.¡±


    ¡°What are your demands?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get the blackmail out of the way.¡±


    ¡°Extortion is such a pretty word when I am doing it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Anyways, it doesn¡¯t


    matter. I have two quests to do, so I think getting your sister to visit is going to be


    easier than finding you a therapist, so I am going to work on that. Until then, I will


    be thinking of worse things to do unless you toe the line. No more weird heavy


    construction things. I don¡¯t even want to know what you would have done with a


    Tardis. No more running into danger like Riggs. No more single handed stuff where


    you are playing things by the ear instead of some kind of plan. Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how we got Aviras,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°What would have happened if things had gone the other way?


    What would have happened if we had got one of his kin instead of him? Are we


    clear? We¡¯re a team. You¡¯re not some kind of weapon to be expended. I am not doing


    this alone.¡±


    ¡°Technically, I am a weapon to be expended,¡± said Jack. He couldn¡¯t help himself for


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.the correction. A punch to the face left stinging pain around his eye.


    ¡°I decide what gets expended,¡± said Josie. ¡°Got that?¡±


    ¡°That hurt,¡± complained Jack. He rubbed his face as his partner took in her


    surroundings. He took a moment to make sure she was clear of the goblin tree seeds


    now that she was waiting for her watch to recharge.


    A ding told them that they had dealt with the quest to the satisfaction of their


    employers.


    ¡°It was meant to, you dope,¡± said Josie. She frowned at her watch. ¡°I want you to do


    what I say. I¡¯m worried about you, and I don¡¯t like these swerves in your behavior.


    They¡¯re more extreme than when we were kids. I don¡¯t want you to hit the guardrails


    and go off the mountain.¡±


    ¡°I will take it under advisement,¡± Jack smiled. He let his persona go. ¡°I think we


    should get out of here before one of us is hit with a lucky shot.¡±


    ¡°Jack, Josie?,¡± said the com band. ¡°I need to know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°Everything is okay, Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to pull out and let the


    Shemmarians try to fix the crater I created.¡±


    ¡°How are you talking to us from Hawk Ridge, hon?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The Enterprise is acting as a relay,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It is close enough to reach your


    bands while still talking to me. The job is done?¡±


    ¡°We still have to do the aftermath parts, but this end is finished,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think


    we can get started on that when we know how far Guin and Jane have got on securing


    a facility.¡±


    ¡°I will let them know that you are coming home,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did Mister Warner ever send his old case files?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I think we should write up the seven official quests we have done to give to him,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°I think I am going to put that on the to do list.¡±


    ¡°Old Man Warner is old,¡± said Jack. ¡°He ain¡¯t got time for no case files.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you hear us, Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Transport our party up,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we¡¯ll have to go home to see if we can


    start freeing people out of storage.¡±


    ¡°We have one more thing to do before we do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine, we¡¯re going


    to the show tonight like I promised. Pick something you want to see. We have to take


    care of this one thing then we will be in Hawk Ridge tonight. I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you too,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Awww,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°This is great,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Wait. I have to tell the others. I¡¯ll be right back,


    Beatrice.¡±


    They heard screaming over the open band.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°Beam us up. Beam up Fass and his Fighters. Then we have


    to get a move on to handle the rest of this.¡±


    ¡°Set in a course for the Shemmarian capitol, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have to have


    a meeting with some people.¡±


    The machine didn¡¯t have time to finish its acknowledgments before Josie and Jack


    stood in Transporter Room One. They stepped off the pad. The transporter brought


    the members of the Fighters back aboard. They looked around at the unfamiliar room.


    ¡°This is the usual room that people get teleported from when a part of the crew has


    to go planetside,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are you still there, Elaine?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Do you need me right now? There¡¯s a ruckus outside.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll keep Jack contained until we get home.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see that,¡± said Jack.


    Josie frowned at him. She held up her fist. He rubbed his face in sympathy. She


    nodded.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Thank you, Enterprise, for protecting them like I asked.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head up to the bridge,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to make sure Aviras hasn¡¯t ripped the


    replicator out of the wall for his ice cream, and then we can get ready to talk to the


    Shemmarians.¡±


    ¡°What are we going to say to them?,¡± asked Emily. ¡°Don¡¯t make walking corpses.¡±


    ¡°I think that is the thing we want to say,¡± said Jack. ¡°Also we need to ask about why


    they were trying to make walking corpses in the first place. They seem to have


    everything under control.¡±


    The Fighters all had different suggestions on that. Fass kept his own thoughts to


    himself. They had been paid to avert a plague. That seemed enough for the moment.


    They couldn¡¯t claim any mission rights for it, but they had a solid piece of gold to


    show for it.


    Jack made sure to ask the Enterprise to scan everybody and make sure they weren¡¯t


    carrying the seeds inside of them. The negative result made him smile a genuine


    smile.


    ¡°If we have to do this again, since we only grabbed up the goblin trees we could look


    for with the sensors,¡± said Jack. ¡°As long as you have someone to pull the seeds out


    before you die, you should be okay. You can actually carry them, but when you die,


    they try to do their thing. I am going to say they impede your health to make sure you


    die faster.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± said Case. ¡°I thought for a minute I might lose something


    over this.¡±


    ¡°Why are we going to the Capitol?,¡± asked Fass.


    ¡°I just need to tell the high command what was going on, and why they should think


    hard about using monsters as soldiers,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we¡¯re headed back to Hawk


    Ridge. The Enterprise can put you down at the Adventurers¡¯ Hall from high enough


    that no one sees it. It will be an unconfirmed story until enough witnesses report


    seeing it.¡±


    ¡°We keep the ugly statue?,¡± asked the complainer from the back of the crowd.


    ¡°If you want, I can turn it into bricks, or something,¡± said Jack. ¡°The ship should have


    a machine shop onboard to do that.¡±


    They reached an elevator.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m heading up first, to check in with Aviras and to get my


    command seat. Who¡¯s riding up with me?¡±


    Fass led the way into the elevator. The Budds followed, then Lou. One of the guys


    Jack didn¡¯t interact with much joined them. The doors closed and they headed for the


    bridge.


    Jack stepped out on the Bridge. He went to the Ready Room and poked his head


    inside. Aviras sat on his desk. Another empty bowl of ice cream sat beside him.


    ¡°Did you enjoy that?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It was delicious,¡± said the dragon. A puff of smoke escaped him. ¡°I wish I could


    have another.¡±


    ¡°Josie says no,¡± said Jack. He let the door shut as he went to his command chair.


    ¡°Where are we, Enterprise?,¡± asked Jack. He didn¡¯t know enough about how his


    screen worked to guess from the markers.


    ¡°We¡¯re above the Shemmarian capitol,¡± said the machine. ¡°We are outside of normal


    ground visual range.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°What should I say to convince them not to try this again?¡±


    ¡°I doubt anything you say could be convincing enough for that,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°Too true,¡± said Jack.


    Josie came on the bridge and sat down in the first officer¡¯s seat. She frowned at the


    display on the arm of her chair.


    ¡°Keep it short and simple,¡± said Josie. ¡°Reassure them the danger has passed. Their


    soldiers are going to report on the Enterprise as a weapon for the crown.¡±


    ¡°And the city saw the Enterprise and heard me talking,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think everyone


    knows their government doesn¡¯t control this.¡±


    Josie made a get on with it gesture with her hand.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s do what we have to do so we can do what we want to do.


    Elaine probably already has a theater picked out for us while we¡¯re procrastinating.


    Enterprise, bring us down to broadcast in the open and then ready the microphones.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Speakers are open.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the eye rolling and face palming his


    opening got him. ¡°This is Jack again. I wanted to come back and tell you your stupid


    plague carrier weapon that would have spread out and killed your country has been


    stopped. My crew and I nipped it in the bud. Your staff has been exposed to your


    goblin tree nonsense so when they died they might have started spreading things all


    inside your castle and killed all of you. They aren¡¯t going to do that now because


    we¡¯re going to fix them before we return them. Don¡¯t ever do anything like this again,


    or we¡¯re going to have problems. This is Captain Jack Lee of the Are Are Ay Ess


    Enterprise signing off.¡±


    ¡°The speakers are off,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°Take us home, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a date to get ready for, Josie has some


    kids and an ice cream addicted dragon to corral, and the Fighters have a gold thing to


    split amongst themselves.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It spun to face its new course and engaged its


    smaller drives.

 The Prime Directive

    Josie stood up. She checked the arm of her chair. They were almost over Hawk Ridge.


    She took a breath.


    It was time to send the Fighters home. She needed to do something about their


    payment so it didn¡¯t look like a transformed monster plant in a pot. She doubted the


    guild would want that in their vault.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fix up your gold mushroom before we put you down on the ground,¡± said Josie.


    She gestured for them to load into the elevator. ¡°If you want to keep working for us,


    that would be good. If you don¡¯t, that will be fine too.¡±


    ¡°There are two other places that I would like to strike,¡± said Fass. ¡°If we take those,


    we will be able to short out the Montrose on the east side of the country.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully we stopped the Shemmarians from engaging in the trade,¡± said Jack. He


    stood by his command chair. ¡°If we can cut off the unofficial buyers, that might stop


    some of the trade.¡±


    ¡°I will go over the source of targets again,¡± said Fass. ¡°We might be able to snap up


    people on the other side of the border.¡±


    ¡°We will definitely keep all this to ourselves except the possession of the gold goblin


    tree bush,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°I will reshape it into something more presentable,¡± said Josie. She smiled slightly.


    ¡°I doubt a gold monster will be anything but trouble.¡±


    ¡°What about your percentage?,¡± asked Fass. Some of his people were shocked he


    would suggest something like that.


    ¡°Keep it,¡± said Josie. She made a gesture at Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t really need it, and your


    people have done all right by us. They deserve to retire well if they want to do that.¡±


    ¡°No more midnight monster hunts for me,¡± said the complainer. ¡°I can do all my


    hunting in the day time.¡±


    ¡°Go down to Transporter Room One,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll get your payment. We¡¯ll drop


    you down at the hall so you can cash out and head home.¡±


    ¡°My wife will be happy to hear that,¡± said Fass. He smiled.


    ¡°I would like to meet her,¡± said Jack. ¡°She has to be the most baddest fighter


    anywhere.¡±


    ¡°I will have to think about that,¡± said Fass.


    ¡°He means no,¡± said Budd. The elevator door opened. The Fighters boarded. ¡°He


    always says I will think about it, and then the answer is always no.¡±


    ¡°I can show her how to make a salad,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Definitely not,¡± said Fass. The doors closed on his weary face.


    ¡°Enterprise, keep us out of sight,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have already given one military a


    reason to try to take you. We don¡¯t want to do the same for the military where we


    live.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I will be right back to talk to you about the rest of the night,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t do


    anything until we talk.¡±


    ¡°What would I do?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Start trying to make a Tardis even though I told you not to,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think you


    should keep your dirty hands off time travel.¡±


    ¡°I am responsible enough to be able to time travel,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Opinion, Enterprise,¡± said Josie. She crossed her arms.


    ¡°Captain Jack Lee will destroy reality within two days,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Jack, looking up at the ceiling.


    ¡°Maybe less if you come up with a better sounding idea and implement it without


    care,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even believe my adopted son would turn on me like this,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Machines don¡¯t care about your feelings,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything until I talk


    to you about your therapy. Then we¡¯ll discuss how we are going to handle things and


    get the women and Shemmarians out of the transporter buffer and get them looked at


    and sent where they need to go.¡±


    ¡°The Shemmarians will be the easiest,¡± said Jack. ¡°All we have to do is pull their


    implants and put them back down in the capitol.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. She nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a minute.


    Is there anything else that I need to deal with before we head home and you get ready


    for your date?¡±


    ¡°You are going to have to talk to Aviras about his ice cream addiction,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Do you do this on purpose?,¡± said Josie. She could feel her blood pressure climb.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait until Juni has a sitdown with you,¡± said Josie. She took a breath. She


    touched her watch and became Zatanna. She frowned at her partner. ¡°Then we¡¯ll see


    how happy you are, buddy.¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. She used her magic to zap down to the quinjet. She grabbed


    the mushroom and twisted it with a small application of her magic. She had a column


    of gold about four feet long by two feet. She floated it behind her to the transporter


    room.


    Josie carried the column of gold into the transporter room. She almost smiled at the


    look on their faces.


    ¡°I smoothed things over so it would be easier for you to cash in,¡± said Josie. She let


    the gold drop on the transporter pad. ¡°I can chop it up into coins, or whatever.¡±


    ¡°This will be all right,¡± said Fass. ¡°We¡¯ll cash it out and split everything up.¡±


    ¡°If you need any help, let me know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will help you out. I will try to keep


    Jack from making any more Enterprises. I never thought he would come up with


    something like this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a marvel out of stories,¡± said Case. ¡°I¡¯m glad that it¡¯s on our side.¡±


    ¡°It was good to have you guys as back up,¡± said Josie. She smiled. She recognized


    Case as the lover boy from when they had met at the Hall the first day with the girls.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get into trouble chasing some girl.¡±


    ¡°Too late,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°Why do you think I am an adventurer eking out an


    existence in the back of beyond?¡±


    ¡°Poor judgment,¡± said Josie. She waved them on the pad with their gold pole.


    ¡°Enterprise, energize.¡±


    The Fighters vanished in a cloud of blue sparks. She loved that effect, but thought the


    original seemed a little better despite the cheapness of it.


    She let the persona go as she walked out of the transporter room. She had forgotten


    how much of the ship was automated. If they had drones, the ship could take care of


    itself while they worked on any future quests.


    She still had a lot of work ahead of her. She had to get cracking on some of it.


    She took the elevator back to the bridge and didn¡¯t see Jack anywhere. She decided


    to try the Ready Room. She went in and paused as Jack and Aviras paused their


    argument over an empty bowl of ice cream.


    ¡°No more ice cream,¡± said Josie. She turned her glare on them. She went to the


    visitor¡¯s chair and sat down. ¡°Now, we seem to have a communication problem


    between the three of us, and I suppose it is time to put some rules down so we know


    where we stand.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine where I am,¡± said Jack. ¡°How about you, buddy?¡±


    ¡°I am also in a fine position,¡± said Aviras. He flew to the back of Jack¡¯s chair in case


    he had to drop below some fast moving projectile.


    ¡°I know that you two think you can run around and do whatever you want,¡± said


    Josie. She crossed her arms as she glared at them. ¡°I thought we were supposed to be


    less showy about how we do things.¡±


    ¡°There were extenuating circumstances,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Needing a bowl of ice cream is not extenuating enough,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We did need transport and a hospital for the people we picked up,¡± said Jack. ¡°And


    the Enterprise D was the best template for that. I admit that we will need a crew if we


    want to keep her in the air, but right now it was perfect for the emergency we faced


    and buys us some time to handle everything now that the emergency is over.¡±


    ¡°And you were going to wreck Kas anyway,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That goes without saying,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Eric knows about nuclear weapons now,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re slowly breaking him.


    We might not be able to use his help anymore. Everyone at the Hole in the Wall and


    the Halfway House will be in danger as soon as it gets out what you built.


    Governments are going to want this.¡±


    ¡°I admit the Enterprise is a big thing to have to hide, but we can hide it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The Shemmarians won¡¯t run around telling people that a giant silver bird threatened


    them. Their government would look crazy if they did that.¡±


    ¡°And you are fine with the decisions that led to you building this ship?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Aviras said I couldn¡¯t turn Kas into a nuclear wasteland, so this was the second


    choice on my mind,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad one of you had some sense,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let this be the last thing you build,


    Jack.¡±


    ¡°I still have to build the information resource thing that we wanted,¡± said Jack. ¡°And


    the Enterprise is going to need to be linked in to that so it can build its own library.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, what do you have in your memory?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Navigational data, weapon system operation, engineering, some medical, a small


    history of Alex Ross and his artwork,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°We will try to fix you up with an encyclopedia about the local things,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Can I trust you two not to do anything like this again until we get everyone off the


    boat and back to a normal life?¡±


    ¡°Aviras has been a good source of advice except for when he wants ice cream,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Then he is easily bribable.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She stood. ¡°We¡¯re going home. The Enterprise is going to hold


    station until we figure out what kind of base of operations we need to fix the goblin


    tree victim problem. Go on your date with Elaine, Jack. Aviras and I will cover any


    problem that shows up. Then we¡¯ll see if your sister wants to visit.¡±


    ¡°I would love to meet this legendary woman,¡± said the dragon.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what happens,¡± said Josie. ¡°More caution would be appreciated from the


    two of you. Work on that. Then we will do a reassessment.¡±


    ¡°Reassessment?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°You two could get everyone killed with your antics,¡± said Josie. ¡°You did good


    with creating and building the Enterprise to carry the load. It also makes us a target


    for every government on the continent. That means the Duke could turn us in for


    a reward any second, which puts the girls and Elaine in jeopardy. I don¡¯t want to


    have to pull up stakes, but if I do, one of you will be hurt a lot. I¡¯ll let the two of


    you decide which one that happens to be.¡±


    ¡°As a simple dragon who lives for stories and ice cream, I will nominate Jack for any


    pain,¡± said Aviras. He indicated the taller human with a forepaw.¡±


    ¡°As your friend, your best friend,¡± said Jack. ¡°I nominate Aviras since he is really


    an enemy trying to turn us against each other in the hopes that his curse will be


    reversed.¡±


    ¡°I will use eeny meeny,¡± said Josie. ¡°Whomever loses gets a beating.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I like that at all,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I would like a coin toss,¡± said Jack. ¡°That is more random, and gives me a better


    chance of not taking a beating.¡±


    ¡°This is the ground rule from now on which you have brought on yourself,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°No more running around and doing big magic unless necessary. Anything you


    create has to vanish. No more doing things that are more risky than getting a


    sandwich out of the icebox. No more bringing people to meet the kids when they are


    part of the job.¡±


    ¡°That seems like more than one rule,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I am trying to cover edge cases because I know if I don¡¯t Jack will build Galactus¡¯s


    base ship,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to say no to that before you even start thinking


    about that.¡±


    ¡°If I worked on a Tardis in the Hole in the Wall, the kids could have their own space,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°They don¡¯t need it,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to lose one of them for years


    because they got lost trying to find their way to the bathroom. I don¡¯t want to get lost


    going to the bathroom. Think smaller.¡±


    ¡°Maybe liminal spaces,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Something less dangerous,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want the space to collapse and take


    the girls with them.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I could dig down and set up separate rooms,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe set up a danger room,¡± said Jack. He started grinning. ¡°That would be


    awesome.¡±


    ¡°For whom,¡± said Josie. ¡°Kids don¡¯t want an obstacle course to try to set them on


    fire.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right about that,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Kids mostly want to do what they want to do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the only one who wanted a danger room when I was a kid?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Josie.

 Date Night

    Jack walked down to Transporter Room One. He had the big quest list in mind, and


    a smaller mental checklist on what to do to clear out the people in the transporter


    buffer, and then move on to do the other things on his list.


    He didn¡¯t like to think about a visit from his sister. He liked to be on his own. He


    didn¡¯t need his older sister trying to bully him into making choices he didn¡¯t like.


    Aviras rode on his shoulder. The dragon remained quiet. That was good.


    ¡°The girls are expecting us,¡± said Josie. ¡°You ready for your date? How long has it


    been?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t dated anyone since the Army,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°I might be rusty.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring her home,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have the time,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t remember meeting any of your


    boyfriends.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have anyone steady,¡± said Josie. ¡°And they were all band guys. I don¡¯t think


    you would have got along with any of them.¡±


    ¡°I would have cut them some slack,¡± said Jack. ¡°They were dating you. That¡¯s a big


    stress test.¡±


    ¡°Oh ho,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s rich.¡±


    ¡°It is what it is,¡± said Jack. He grinned. He didn¡¯t feel like fighting, but it was burning


    off some of his malaise. ¡°What kind of things do people do for fun in the Dark


    Ages?¡±


    ¡°Let Elaine handle that part,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re mixing business with pleasure. Are


    you sure you can handle it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I have a nice suit I can wear while we do the things.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll look into those buildings with Jane to get them ready so


    we can house the women from the transporter.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He could fix anything they needed for floors and walls. That


    was the best thing Majik did.


    ¡°Elaine is good for you, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°The work is on pause until we can sort out


    the next steps. Have fun while you can.¡±


    ¡°I prefer to work on things,¡± said Jack. ¡°I still have to work on the kids¡¯ stuff. I


    almost have Bea¡¯s ring ready.¡±


    ¡°Work on it when you come home,¡± said Josie. She gestured for him to stand on the


    pad after they entered the room.


    ¡°I need to make sure she can use it without blowing off her own head,¡± said Jack. He


    walked on the transporter pad.


    ¡°That would be nice,¡± said Josie. She took her place. ¡°Enterprise, beam us down.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    A blue glow wrapped around them and it cleared after they were put back together on


    the ground.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell Eric about the theories about the transporter as far as dying and being


    brought back,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think he is ready for that yet.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said Aviras. ¡°What theories?¡±


    ¡°Fan stuff,¡± said Jack. He waved his hand in dismissal. ¡°Nothing you need to worry


    about. You¡¯re a mighty dragon.¡±


    ¡°You should say that with more respect,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Jack. ¡°You are the mightiest of all mighty blue dragons. We bow


    before your tiny stature.¡±


    Aviras bit his ear.


    ¡°Ouch,¡± said Jack. He reached up and waved his hand to get the dragon to let his ear


    go.


    ¡°You two need to get it under control,¡± said Josie. She grabbed Aviras around his


    body. ¡°Let go.¡±


    Aviras mumbled around his biting.


    ¡°Let go,¡± said Josie. She had one hand on Jack¡¯s shoulder to steady herself. ¡°I¡¯m


    going to count to three.¡±


    Aviras let go of the ear. Fire escaped his snout. He glared at Jack with his sapphire


    eyes.


    ¡°I think you should treat me a little better,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Come on, buddy. I¡¯ll get you a pancake or something.¡±


    ¡°What about my ear?,¡± asked Jack. He rubbed his ear, feeling the blood welling up.


    ¡°You deserved what you got,¡± said Josie. She cradled the dragon in her arms. ¡°Don¡¯t


    try to act the victim.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you bit me,¡± said Jack. He rubbed at his ear. ¡°Now, I¡¯m bleeding all


    over my shirt.¡±


    ¡°Such is the nature of revenge for wrongs done,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I will fix your ear,¡± said Josie. ¡°Quit crying like a baby.¡±


    ¡°My ears are precious to me,¡± said Jack. He checked his finger, relieved that the


    bleeding had stopped a little. ¡°Now I have to wash the blood off my hand.¡±


    ¡°Picking on someone over their size is a bullying move,¡± said Josie. ¡°I thought we


    went over this when we were kids.¡±


    ¡°I was the one being bullied then,¡± admitted Jack.


    ¡°So you should have some empathy for your victim, Forrest,¡± said Josie. She shook


    her head. ¡°Now where are we? We didn¡¯t specify where we should be put down.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re a couple blocks over from the Hole in the Wall,¡± said Jack. He pointed the


    direction they should walk. ¡°Take a right at the corner.¡±


    Josie walked along, nodding when she reached a familiar landmark. She walked


    another block and saw the bump of their place at the base of the defending wall.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost home,¡± she said.


    Aviras leaped from her grip and flew down the street. He left a small line of fire in


    the air as he went.


    Jack smiled for a moment. He liked that part of things more than anything. He walked


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.behind Josie, hands in his pockets. He hoped that Elaine loved him as much as he


    loved her.


    He wondered how she felt about him, but was afraid what it would mean if she didn¡¯t


    think of him like he wanted. He didn¡¯t want to cause problems because they weren¡¯t


    doing everything right.


    Life was going to be tough enough if they couldn¡¯t work out any problem that might


    arise.


    Was he doing the right thing staying with Elaine? Were they doing the right thing just


    staying? Had Warner been right in his approach until he quit?


    Jack decided the best thing to do was keep rolling with the flow. He had a list of


    problems to solve. He had a problem solver on his wrist. All he needed was some


    time to plan and do what he needed to do.


    Saving the world wore you down. Maybe he had been casting too much, and he


    should think about letting things move on their own for a bit.


    The Society would have new jobs for him and Josie when they were ready. He could


    already see what kind of speeches they were going to give him over the creation of


    the Enterprise. He expected some recriminations.


    On the other hand, they had saved the world with Fass¡¯s Fighters. They should count


    for something.


    He had a feeling that the other women were being used in the same types of schemes.


    He had to think about how he wanted to shut down the Montrose faster, and then


    implement it.


    Letting them run loose couldn¡¯t be good for the good of the world.


    Jack paused in the middle of his ruminations. Josie stood ahead of him. She was


    smiling. That seemed strange. She held out a hand and gestured for someone to come


    out of the bump on the wall.


    A vision of beauty stepped out in the evening air. Amazement washed over him. He


    had known this, but hadn¡¯t experienced it until now. He couldn¡¯t breathe.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Elaine. She paused with hand upraised. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I told you,¡± said Beatrice. Jack noticed her smiling, but it was an image in the back


    of his mind and meant nothing.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can breathe.¡±


    ¡°You are so beautiful,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I am in Heaven. I can¡¯t believe this. I think


    I am dead.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and get cleaned up,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think Elaine wants to take a


    smelly brute out to the show.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can get my suit out.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. She smiled behind her hand.


    Jack bent down a little to kiss Elaine on the cheek. His heart had steadied out. He


    could move. He could think. His thoughts were still in a jumble, but they were


    starting to line up like rail cars on the tracks.


    He rushed into the apartments. He barely noticed the kids clearing out of his way. He


    felt lighter than air.


    He grabbed his black suit and ran into the bathroom. He cleaned up and cleaned his


    old clothes. He donned his black suit, tying his tie as careful as he could. He took the


    time to check himself in the mirror. He nodded at the image smiling back at him.


    Jack folded his clothes and put them back into the room he was sharing with Elaine.


    He wondered how many kids they would have.


    ¡°I have a show picked out for us,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We have time for dinner at a


    restaurant, and then the show, and then we can walk the wall home.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you want to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do we try to get a cab, or walk, or do I carry


    us?¡±


    ¡°We have time,¡± said Elaine. She straightened his jacket with her hands. She kissed


    him. ¡°Let¡¯s take our walk. I know a place we can stop for our meal, then the show.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I seemed to have slipped a gear.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± said Elaine. She took his arm. ¡°We can talk as we walk.¡±


    Jack heard someone say it was worth it to see the look on his face, but he didn¡¯t care.


    He was walking with his girl, planning for a dinner and a show at a theater, and then


    a tour home through the city.


    Things were looking up. Josie could deal with the rest of the world for the amount of


    time they would be taking to enjoy themselves.


    ¡°I see you got a cut on your ear,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Aviras bit me,¡± said Jack. ¡°He got angry that I was being sarcastic when I should


    have been a bit more serious.¡±


    ¡°I assume that you are properly chastised about your behavior,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Never,¡± said Jack. He smiled at her smile. ¡°Josie is inviting Juni for a visit. She says


    that I am having problems. She thinks a visit from my sister would be all right to try


    to get me back on the rails.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t agree?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you think about it? What do you think about


    me?¡±


    ¡°I think that you have some things that need to be worked on, just like I do,¡± said


    Elaine. ¡°If you stay with me, we can work on these things together.¡±


    ¡°Would you like to send for your family?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can do it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anyone, Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That¡¯s why I came to the city to earn my


    keep. I couldn¡¯t stay in my home village.¡±


    ¡°So you would like to meet Juni?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was thinking about ditching her.¡±


    ¡°Ditching her?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You know,¡± said Jack. He made a gesture to indicate movement. ¡°Taking off in the


    Enterprise and letting her hang out with the kids.¡±


    ¡°Josie would be angry if you did that,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Your sister would be


    disappointed. And your family should know how you are doing.¡±


    ¡°I guess you are right,¡± said Jack. ¡°But my first instinct is to take off and avoid her


    until she goes home.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you joined the Army?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I wanted to travel, and Uncle Sam will send you anywhere in the world as long as


    you can shoot a rifle and don¡¯t have too many physical problems,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What about your sisters?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Juni is a fighter, Rose is a teacher, Lily is a paramedic, and Daisy is a delivery


    driver,¡± said Jack. ¡°They¡¯re doing okay, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I feel that you should be embarrassed to be seen with me.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You are so good looking, you are so brainy, you are so capable,¡± said Jack. He


    gestured at the vision of beauty beside him. ¡°I¡¯m a schlub.¡±


    ¡°I imagine that I only seem that good to you,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I can ask the kids and Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°They are better judges than I am.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do that when we get home,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We¡¯re out on our own. Calling them


    will say we are not doing that good.¡±


    ¡°I think we are doing better than I thought we would,¡± said Jack. ¡°I thought I would


    be dead by now.¡±


    ¡°But you aren¡¯t,¡± said Elaine. ¡°And I would like to keep that as long as I can.¡±


    ¡°I should let you see the Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s probably neutral about you, but


    it should know who it is dealing with when you deal with it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do that after the show,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that there aren¡¯t any beds onboard,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about that too,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at his expression.


    ¡°I can skip the show,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. She smiled wider. ¡°Welsher.¡±


    ¡°Fiend,¡± said Jack. He wrapped her in his arms and spun her around in the air. ¡°I love


    you so much.¡±


    ¡°The theater is a few streets over,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We will be able to get seats in


    the boxes so we can sit together without people pushing on us.¡±


    ¡°I am good with that,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can also do other things.¡±


    ¡°Josie wants a report to show we went to the show,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at his


    down face. ¡°You¡¯ll have to pay attention to the show.¡±


    ¡°She won¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. He scratched the scar over his eye. He wasn¡¯t as sure


    as he tried to sound.


    ¡°You know better than that,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at him. ¡°Josie is willing to see


    the show to check against what you wrote.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not my boss,¡± said Jack.


    Elaine raised her eyebrows.


    ¡°She¡¯s not,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I will abide to keep the peace.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good of you,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Our dining awaits. We should do that before we


    go to the theater. There will be food there, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s very good.¡±


    ¡°Street vendors?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°But the food will be uneven. Some of it will be good, but


    you have to look among the bad.¡±


    Elaine took his arm and led him down the street. She pointed at the building that took


    up a block on its own. A sign said it was the Gowran Theater. A wooden sign gave


    them the times in yellow paint.


    ¡°It looks neat,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The restaurant is over a few more streets,¡± said Elaine. She gestured for him to keep


    walking. ¡°The vendors will take up spots near the front of the theater closer to the


    show times.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever eaten at this place?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I never had the money. The Tower didn¡¯t pay me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you burned it down,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have done it if I had swung by


    while working on other things. If Josie had made any connection between the place


    and the Montrose, she definitely would have.¡±


    ¡°I have helped some of the others that have been freed from the inn,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It


    was a small use of the money you gave me.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re here to help people. It¡¯s too easy to tear things down just


    because we can. It¡¯s a lot harder to help people who need it.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you helped Jane?,¡± asked Elaine. ¡°She told us that you had freed


    everyone and gave Corle¡¯s treasure to them.¡±


    ¡°They were in cages on the backs of wagons,¡± said Jack. ¡°The money was a side


    issue. And then Corle tried to kill me, so that made it easier to do what I had to do.¡±


    Elaine kissed him on the cheek. Then she led him by the hand into the restaurant so


    they could have their romantic dinner.

 Juniper Lee

    Josie watched her best friend walk out of sight. She felt a pang of jealousy, but she


    put it away. She had a few things to do before she could indulge in things like envy.


    And she could get a guy any time she wanted as long as it wasn¡¯t an adventurer.


    Her reputation had grown too much there at the Hall to do her any good.


    ¡°They are lovely,¡± said Matilda. Aviras rode on her head as she jumped up and down.


    ¡°You were so right, Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°He was flabbergasted,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Never saw that before,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°The tailor lady was right,¡± said Melanie. ¡°The dress enhances everything.¡±


    She made a gesture with her hands to show what she meant.


    ¡°We should have tried to go too,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I would be able to see what kind


    of show and food was available.¡±


    ¡°I think we can let them have their moment,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the middle girl.


    ¡°We still have work to do now that we have Jack out of the way. I have to write up


    the case logs and send a letter to Juni to see if she wants to visit. We need to think of


    things to show her so she won¡¯t be bored.¡±


    ¡°Ice cream for us?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°You need to go on a diet,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think that the amount of sweets for you have


    to go down.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°When Juni shows up, you all will have to be on your best behavior,¡± said Josie. ¡°She


    likes to make people work twice as hard and do things to shape themselves up. We¡¯re


    asking her to look at Jack and assess his mental state. And Jack will try to ditch us.¡±


    ¡°Ditch us?,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Leave without telling us where he¡¯s going,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He can ditch us,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°He can move like lightning when he wants to.¡±


    ¡°You should mail her now,¡± said Alicia. ¡°That way we can know if she will arrive


    here from there before Jack comes home and thinks of some way to leave town. Then


    we can think of some way of helping people.¡±


    ¡°We still need to make sure if we have the room to work,¡± said Josie. ¡°On the other


    hand, we can do a lot from here. I think Jack is thinking about trying to build separate


    rooms for you lot. Make sure they are normal rooms when he is done.¡±


    ¡°Normal rooms?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°He was talking about a crossdimensional mish-mash, but I told him no,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re not doing anything like Encanto.¡±


    ¡°Why not?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Because when the magic is taken away, the rooms could collapse with you inside of


    them,¡± said Josie. She clapped her hands once and held them together. ¡°I think that


    would be bad for anyone caught inside.¡±


    ¡°It would be like being stuck between a hammer and anvil,¡± said Matilda. ¡°That


    doesn¡¯t sound good at all.¡±


    ¡°Which is why I said no,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now, we talked about shirts like mine and


    Jack¡¯s. I know I promised a catalogue for you guys to look through so we are going


    to do that tonight. Let¡¯s see what we have for food and if we don¡¯t have a lot, we will


    go out and get something to eat.¡±


    ¡°Can you make shirts for us?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where did Jack get that black suit?¡±


    ¡°I think he conjured it when he first went to the gaming house,¡± said Laura. ¡°Elaine


    said some people had come by to collect money.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we will do some simple symbols and maybe some


    logos for you guys. Then we will see what we can do for personal wear.¡±


    ¡°Complete outfits?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Would you like that?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some of these characters wear outlandish gear.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s look at things that resemble your lightning first,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Then we can


    start trying to build what we want for ourselves.¡±


    Josie nodded. She didn¡¯t know a lot about Marvel, but she should be able to do some


    things there, and from the independents. She didn¡¯t want to just give them DC


    characters to choose from for their personal things. She decided to also throw in the


    logos from the sports teams that she knew too.


    Maybe there was something there the kids would like and want to take for their own.


    She became Zatanna. A small application of wish magic brought on catalogues for


    the girls to look through with the various symbols, and some small explanations to


    whom they belonged to such as her lightning and where it came from.


    She reverted back. She could do the same for the case books when she wanted.


    Sending a letter to Juni required her personal touch. The kids were right that she had


    to arrive by surprise, or Jack would ditch out and take off in the Enterprise to do


    something rash.


    He always seemed close knit with his family. She wondered what had changed since


    he had come home from overseas. He would tell her if she pried, but she didn¡¯t want


    to pry that much.


    Josie took a minute to smile as the girls looked through the pictures. Aviras and


    Matilda debated which symbol she should make her own. She wondered why the


    dragon had not fried Jack instantly. There was something there that said something


    to her about a broken kinship.


    She doubted Aviras wanted to give her an explanation for that. He seemed to want to


    obfuscate his motives with another persona just like Jack habitually did.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    They were almost the same in her opinion.


    And he clearly liked Matilda for some reason.


    Josie dug out some paper and went to the kitchen table. She wrote out a short letter


    to Juni. She put in that Jack and she had received a job they couldn¡¯t turn down. She


    asked Juni if she wanted to come by for a few days to talk to Jack. She looked the


    letter over and thought she had kept a lot of the things she was concerned about out


    of the words.


    She added that Juni should send the letter back to let her know if she wanted to drop


    by.


    She became Zatanna again and wished the letter on its way. She doubted Juni would


    send an immediate answer back. She had no idea what the time was like in the real


    world.


    The letter returned almost immediately. Josie was surprised at the speed. She sent


    back another letter and told Juni to pack a bag and burn the letter as soon as she was


    ready to visit.


    ¡°Girls,¡± Josie let her persona go. ¡°Juni wants to visit us. I sent her a pass. I don¡¯t


    know if it will let her visit, but it¡¯s the best I can do from here.¡±


    ¡°When will she come?,¡± asked Angelica. ¡°We¡¯re not ready for a guest to stay.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I can let her have my room when she arrives. I¡¯ll move


    back to my old space with Laura.¡±


    ¡°I doubt that will be necessary,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you think about the symbols?¡±


    ¡°I like this one,¡± said Alicia. She held up her copy with the Avengers¡¯ A in a circle


    with an arrow as the crossbar. ¡°It says archer to me.¡±


    Someone knocked on the door. The girls looked up. Josie nodded. Who could be


    knocking at that hour? She went to the door and cracked it. She felt Laura and Aviras


    at her back, ready to fend off anyone trying to break in.


    ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± said the visitor after Josie looked out. ¡°Looking good, small fry.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m taller than you now,¡± said Josie. She smiled.


    She and their visitor exchanged a complicated hand slap routine until they wound up


    pointing at each other at the end.


    ¡°Come in, June,¡± said Josie. She stepped out of the way, opening the door wide. ¡°I


    thought you would take some more time to think things over.¡±


    ¡°I got a fight coming up,¡± said Juni Lee, smiling as she walked into the apartments.


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t visit now, I would have to wait for a month. That was a dark walk up


    here.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were getting out of the game,¡± said Josie. She gestured for Juni to


    come to the dining room table. Jack¡¯s sister hefted her bag and dropped it on the


    table.


    ¡°I need a few thou to finish filling up my retirement fund,¡± said Juni. She looked at


    the girls looking at her. ¡°I¡¯m Juniper Lee, Jack¡¯s sister.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re built like a pony,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Only smiths have arms like that.¡±


    ¡°I lift a lot of weights,¡± said Juni. She smiled. ¡°Are you Jack¡¯s kids?¡±


    ¡°Gods no,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°We¡¯re her sisters.¡±


    She pointed at Josie. Josie nodded to confirm the statement.


    ¡°Are you really Jack¡¯s sister?,¡± asked Aviras. ¡°He said you are so famous you have


    a show named after you.¡±


    ¡°Did he now?,¡± said Juni. Her smile took on an edge. She looked at Josie. The leaner


    woman just shrugged in her Mage shirt.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have anything ready,¡± said Angelica. ¡°This is all so sudden.¡±


    ¡°June,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Beatrice, the eldest. Laura, who Jack has taught to fly.


    Melanie, who is like Hyouka in attitude. Angelica, our cook. Alicia, who wants to


    learn how to turn people into moving targets. And Matilda, our brainiac. The blue


    lizard is Aviras, whom we have adopted because of Jack. Jack and Elaine are at a


    show, enjoying a date night before we go to work tomorrow. The kids were looking


    for something that appealed to them like my Mage shirt, or Jack¡¯s Deadpool thing.


    If you guys want to talk, I¡¯ll whip up something quick in the kitchen for us to eat.¡±


    ¡°All right, kids,¡± said June. She brushed a stray hair back as her long braid danced as


    she moved. ¡°Tell me everything.¡±


    Josie walked into the kitchen. She checked the ice box and the pantry. She had some


    ingredients to whip something up. She thought a few minutes of the Zatanna touch


    should give her something that would feed a crowd.


    Maybe she could help with June¡¯s retirement fund. She had some gold and she could


    always make more for June to take home and sell.


    Josie pulled on Zatanna. She concentrated and the ingredients danced around the


    kitchen and cooked themselves into a meal that fit on the plates that floated down


    from the cabinet. She made sure to give June two servings before she let the persona


    go.


    Josie poked her head out of the kitchen. The girls and June had gathered around the


    table. They were telling her friend about some of the things they knew she and Jack


    had done over the last two weeks.


    ¡°Angelica?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Could you help me with the plates?¡±


    ¡°Of course, missus,¡± said the middle girl. She got up from her place and walked to the


    kitchen. ¡°Jack¡¯s sister is just like him.¡±


    ¡°I would say so,¡± said Josie. She handed Angelica two of the plates, and some cups


    of water. She gestured for her to go. She grabbed as many plates and cups as she


    could carry and took them to the table. ¡°I have to get the rest.¡±


    Josie went back to the kitchen and got the rest of the plates. She placed them on the


    table as the girls started digging in. She settled in at her place at the head of the table.


    ¡°The girls say you can do magic now,¡± said Juni. ¡°How did that happen?¡±


    ¡°It comes with the job,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s going on with your fighting?¡±


    ¡°I had some problems and need to refill my bank account,¡± said Juni. ¡°This last match


    is it. After I have enough, I¡¯m out. No more sore muscles, no more cuts, no more


    cracked bones.¡±


    ¡°I can give you some gold,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can skip this last fight.¡±


    ¡°Under contract,¡± said June, shrugging her massive shoulders. ¡°I would have to pay


    back my commission to get out of it.¡±


    ¡°I can give you enough gold to cover that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m rich.¡±


    ¡°What is this job, Jo-jo?,¡± said Juni.


    ¡°I¡¯m the champion of order and defender of the world,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am the Justice


    League.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said June. ¡°Is Jack a champion of order too?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my sidekick,¡± said Josie. She smiled slightly.


    ¡°Sidekick?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I¡¯m the hero like Gowan Hand, and Jack is my knight that I boss around,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Does he know that?,¡± said June. She almost laughed.


    ¡°He knows which side the boot kicks,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind retiring here,¡± said June. ¡°Take it easy, that sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°Try to find a place with a bathroom,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Has Jack always been angry?,¡± asked Aviras. He sat on Matilda¡¯s head. His sapphire


    eyes watched the older sister from across the table.


    ¡°I have never seen him really angry about anything,¡± said June. ¡°On the other hand,


    he has never been a champion of order¡¯s sidekick before either.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± said the dragon. The level of anger he had seen seemed like an old friend to


    his keeper. Maybe he had been better at hiding it when he was younger.


    ¡°Jack will be home soon enough,¡± said Josie. ¡°June, you can take the kids to their


    practice. Elaine and I have a lot of work tomorrow. We have to figure out how we are


    going to help these people we have stored on the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°The Enterprise?,¡± said June. ¡°The Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°The Big D,¡± said Josie. She sipped at a cup of water she had poured when she got


    the rest of the plates. ¡°Jack ripped up some town and lab for the material. It doesn¡¯t


    have any furniture. Maybe we can take the tour tomorrow after practice.¡±


    ¡°I have to see this,¡± said June. ¡°I can¡¯t believe what you said.¡±


    ¡°Why not?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack is great with that sort of thing. Aviras used to be fifty


    feet tall and really dangerous. Now he is as cute as a smurf.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Curse Hank Pym and his mastery of size.¡±


    ¡°I know, right,¡± said June. She grinned at the small dragon. ¡°That Hank Pym has


    some tricks up his sleeve. I remember when he built a prison and hid it in an atom.¡±


    ¡°What is a smurf?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°A small person who lives in the forests in villages made out of mushrooms,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°They have a speaking tic where they substitute smurf for random words.¡±


    ¡°I smurfed that smurf up the smurf with my smurfing smurf fist up his smurf,¡± said


    June with a grin.


    ¡°Smurfed that smurf up his smurf?,¡± said Alicia. Her face concentrated on trying to


    translate what June had said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too hard,¡± said June.


    ¡°Alicia wants the Avengers¡¯ A,¡± said Josie. ¡°Have the rest of you picked anything


    you want to wear?¡±


    ¡°I found this bird,¡± said Laura. ¡°I think it¡¯s from something called Astro City. I think


    it goes with my ability to fly.¡±


    She showed Josie Samaritan¡¯s stylized bird he wears on his chest from her catalogue.


    ¡°Looks good,¡± said June. ¡°It¡¯s a dove from the Samaritan, the greatest hero of his


    setting.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s what I¡¯ll be when I¡¯m ready,¡± said Laura.

 Straight Talk

    Jack had gone to dinner and the show. He enjoyed sitting in the box with Elaine and


    watching the story of Hurley hurling monsters across the stage. He had various ideas


    for putting special effects for the show, but Elaine told him to write everything down


    and if he wanted, he could try to sell them to the stage manager to see which ones


    would work the best.


    He acknowledged that he still had a lot of miniature quests to get done before he


    could go into business as a prop man for a small theater. Even if he worked for free,


    they couldn¡¯t afford the exposure. And if something happened to him, no one would


    know how to use anything he built.


    Elaine led him back home, stopping by a small place still open to get him a slice of


    pie to eat as they went. She smiled at his enthusiasm. It was almost like he had never


    seen an apple pie before.


    They entered the Hole in the Wall and paused at the singing coming from the living


    room. The narrator was burying her brother where the wild things were.


    Jack turned to leave. Elaine put her hand on his arm. She smiled lightly, and shook


    her head.


    They walked into the living room. The girls had settled in a circle in the living room


    with Josie and June forming ends. Josie had her guitar in hand, and strummed the


    song to a close.


    ¡°What you doing?,¡± Jack said. He smiled to cover what he felt, and that he had made


    all the girls jump with his sudden appearance in the door. He should have ditched and


    checked on things to avoid dealing with his sister.


    He should have credited Josie more with what she could do with her watch. He kept


    forgetting how insanely powerful they were.


    Elaine kept a grip on his arm. He didn¡¯t know if it was to hold him in place, or keep


    him from becoming something awful and doing something worse.


    ¡°Jack!,¡± said June. She jumped to her feet. She stepped around the girls to charge


    him. She picked him up in a hug, folding his extended arms that tried to keep her at


    bay.


    ¡°Long time, no see, Juni,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can stop crushing me now.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Madam Lee,¡± said Elaine. She wore her own smile. ¡°I¡¯m Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Josie and the girls say you are the brains of this outfit,¡± said June. ¡°I can see they


    were right. Call me June. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡±


    June put down her brother, and extended a hand. Elaine took the hand. She didn¡¯t


    know what a handshake was, but she nodded as they shook hands.


    ¡°What brings you by, Juni,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Jo-jo sent me a letter, telling me about this job you are doing, offered to arrange


    transport here if I wanted to drop by,¡± said June. She shrugged at some of the


    explanation. ¡°I have a fight at the end of the month, so I decided to give up three


    training days to come by and see how you are doing. Would you mind if we talked?¡±


    Jack waved his arm to include the other women and dragon in the room.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be embarrassed in front of Jo¡¯s wolf pack,¡± said June.


    ¡°Ducklings,¡± called one of the girls.


    ¡°Ducklings,¡± agreed June.


    ¡°They eat like a pack of wolves,¡± said Jack, wearing his grin. ¡°We can go for a walk,


    I guess. The show was okay. I learned a little about Hurley the Hurler. If you could


    tell the kids about it, Elaine, we¡¯ll talk about whatever while we¡¯re walking around


    the neighborhood.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make us smurf you,¡± said Alicia. She shook her fist slightly.


    ¡°Are you wearing a shirt with the Avengers¡¯ logo on it?,¡± said Jack. He grinned


    harder. ¡°And you don¡¯t ever want to smurf with a smurf because you¡¯ll get the smurf


    smurfed out your smurf, small fry.¡±


    ¡°What did you just say?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain about the smurfs while Jack and June hammer out their problems,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Go ahead. We have a lot of work to do, and we have to get up with the sun.¡±


    ¡°We will be back,¡± said Jack. He gestured for Juni to follow him as he headed back


    to the front door.


    ¡°Elaine is your girlfriend?,¡± asked June. They stepped out of the Hole in the Wall and


    paused long enough for Jack to lock the door.


    ¡°I had already planned to send you an invite to the wedding whenever we set the


    date,¡± said Jack. ¡°We haven¡¯t set it yet though. We just met and we are still working


    out living arrangements and things like that. Jo and the girls are an added


    complication. And then there is our new job. We might still be living together ten


    years from now and still pushing the big day off into the horizon.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t tell us you were discharged,¡± said June. ¡°You haven¡¯t even called since


    you got out of the Army. Jo implied that you are being incredibly reckless. What¡¯s


    going on?¡±


    ¡°I would never be reckless,¡± said Jack. He directed their steps toward the Coin. If they


    made it there, he could stop in and see how things were going. If they didn¡¯t, that


    Stolen story; please report.would be good too.


    ¡°Baloney,¡± said June. ¡°Try again. I don¡¯t like that some guy my brother just met is


    asking me why you are angry all the time. And you are. You can¡¯t fool me, and you


    probably don¡¯t fool Jo and Elaine. So what¡¯s going on? We used to talk all the time


    before you went in, and we talked all the time when you were deployed, and now this


    sullen silence. And you won¡¯t look at me.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have anything to write home about,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is a chance for me to


    start over, so I am working on it.¡±


    ¡°What about the girl you were seeing in the Army?,¡± asked June. ¡°This Maria girl.


    The letters you sent home about her were gushing. Mom used to read the letters to us


    with smiles in her voice.¡±


    ¡°She died,¡± said Jack. ¡°Blown in half before we could get out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding,¡± said June.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. He stared at a couple of muggers as he walked. They broke off and


    went the other way.


    ¡°Josie doesn¡¯t know, does she?,¡± said June. ¡°You¡¯re still grieving.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s any of her business,¡± said Jack. ¡°And neither should you.¡±


    ¡°Elaine is your rebound,¡± said June. ¡°Does she know? Cause that is her business if


    you want to settle down with her when you¡¯ve only been together since you got here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing the best I can,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t talk to you about your personal stuff.¡±


    ¡°You used to,¡± said June. ¡°And I didn¡¯t mind. This is my last fight, Jack. After this,


    I¡¯ll have to get a real job and settle down. I¡¯m thinking about asking Josie to get me


    a spot here.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no indoor plumbing yet,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Would it matter to you if I did settle here?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Most of the continent is wilderness and cold wars. It will


    be dangerous to live beyond the wall by yourself. Working in the city would take


    more muscle than brains. I guess Josie could set you up a fund for the rest of your life.


    Why move here at all when you could find things to do at home?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said June. ¡°I don¡¯t know how far my retirement fund will carry me


    in my old age, and I¡¯m not photogenic like Rousey.¡±


    ¡°June,¡± said Jack. ¡°What we do is extremely dangerous. Josie adopted those girls


    because she killed a ton of guys that had put them in chains and was going to rape and


    sell them. I have personally changed the local government and dealt with local


    officials in a horrible way. If it came out that you were related to us, you would be in


    a lot of danger here. I mean if you want to live here, I will find you a house and set


    something up for you. You¡¯ll have to do your own housework unless you hire a maid.


    Then you have to work after the conversion of your funds to the local money.¡±


    ¡°So if I wanted to move here, you would help me?,¡± said June.


    ¡°I said I would,¡± said Jack. ¡°The place looks like an isekai and it¡¯s just as dangerous.


    You might have to learn how to swing a sword and shoot a bow.¡±


    ¡°I still have some skills,¡± said June. ¡°I think you should write home to tell Mom


    what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said Jack. He turned the corner and headed for a building with


    a line in front of it.


    ¡°So a soft no,¡± said June. She walked in step with him, frowning at the line of people.


    ¡°I said what I said,¡± said Jack. A trace of irritation crossed his face. ¡°I¡¯ll think about


    it. When I figure out what I want to do, I¡¯ll hand Josie a letter to send home. That¡¯s


    how it is.¡±


    ¡°You can do better than that,¡± said June.


    ¡°But I¡¯m not,¡± said Jack. He went to the head of the line. He exchanged a few words


    with the door men before stepping away from the door. He waved a farewell as he


    started down the street.


    ¡°What was that?,¡± asked June. She pointed behind them with her thumb.


    ¡°Gambling house,¡± said Jack. ¡°One of our partners owns it.¡±


    ¡°Partners?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°We have eighty five women and an unknown amount of soldiers that we are going


    to have to operate on,¡± said Jack. He kept moving, walking through the dark streets.


    ¡°He¡¯s helping us get the necessary space for when I pull them back to the real world.¡±


    ¡°Eighty five?,¡± asked June. ¡°I thought you guys had things under control.¡±


    ¡°The neighboring country decided to try to create a zombie plague,¡± said Jack. ¡°So


    we had to deal with it. That¡¯s the new job. Our boss gives us a job, and we have to


    figure out where the action is going to be and handle it. We got by with some luck


    and Josie and I basically murdering anyone in our way. It¡¯s not clean, but something


    has to be done to deal with these screwheads.¡±


    ¡°The dragon is one of your jobs?,¡± said June.


    ¡°He was going to drain the elves¡¯ kingdom, so I had to put him in his place,¡± said


    Jack. He veered along, looking for the street sign he wanted. ¡°For some reason, he has


    taken to Matilda.¡±


    ¡°You not worried about that?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°Matilda likes him, and he likes Matilda,¡± said Jack. ¡°When she is an adult, and doing


    her own thing, I imagine he will still be hanging in there and trying to get back to his


    full size again.¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± said June. ¡°There was some talk about a curse, but I wasn¡¯t paying


    attention.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be dead long before the shrinking wears off,¡± said Jack. ¡°The things we¡¯ve faced,


    some of them could have gone worse. At least I didn¡¯t have to cut Elaine¡¯s arm off


    to save her life.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad about that,¡± said June. ¡°She wouldn¡¯t stay on if you did that.¡±


    ¡°So are you going to stay with us, or do I have to put money down for an inn?,¡± asked


    Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯re still mad about me coming over,¡± said June. ¡°I can see that.¡±


    ¡°It was a surprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll put you up in the Hangar. That way you can


    have a whole spot to yourself until the morning. I¡¯ll show you how to use the gate


    back and forth. It¡¯s empty since the quinjet is on the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°The quinjet?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I made a jet before I made the Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°We left it aboard the


    Enterprise and used the transporter to come down.¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you built a replica starship with magic,¡± said June.


    ¡°I had to destroy a small town and a bunch of trees,¡± said Jack. ¡°The engine is being


    run by natural life energy so I don¡¯t know if it can leave orbit. It is sitting high above


    us so we can call on it and use it as a transport.¡±


    ¡°What else are you going to build?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°Josie asked me to tone it down,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could have built a Tardis but I didn¡¯t


    think about it before the embargo came down.¡±


    ¡°I think the Enterprise is a lot for this backwards place,¡± said June.


    ¡°We¡¯ve dealt with some things,¡± said Jack. ¡°The city could have been destroyed if we


    hadn¡¯t been here. There are things underneath that are worse than back home, unless


    there are people back home doing what we are doing and stamping things out.¡±


    ¡°That bad?,¡± said June.


    ¡°We could have lost the country just on the zombie job,¡± said Jack. ¡°And we have


    no guarantee that the government involved will take the warning seriously and stop


    what they are doing.¡±


    ¡°Do you need a hand?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in charge of that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Old man Warner got a watch too, but he didn¡¯t


    put it on. Josie sent him a letter to let him know what happened to us, but we haven¡¯t


    seen him yet. He might be scared of getting quests again.¡±


    ¡°The comic book guy?,¡± said June.


    ¡°Apparently he was the guy in charge before we got the job,¡± said Jack. ¡°I found his


    ring and am working on letting Bea have it after I make sure it is safe.¡±


    ¡°What about the other girls?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I have some ideas,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s head home, and I will show you how to get to


    the Hangar. Then we can get you some blankets and stuff so you can have a pad.¡±

 Guest Room

    Josie looked at the others as the door opened. Alicia¡¯s A was a no brainer. Laura¡¯s


    dove fitted with her ability to fly and to push things. The other kids and Elaine were


    still deep in the catalogues. She stood, hand on her watch as she walked across the


    living room.


    She kept her neutral expression as the siblings entered the foyer leading to the dining


    room. Neither looked happy about what they had talked about while on their walk.


    ¡°Do we have some spare blankets?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°June is going to bed down at the


    Hangar. I am going to show her how to get back and forth, get her some water and


    biscuits, set up a place she can sleep without worrying about someone trying to get


    at her with the ring of fear around the Hangar.¡±


    ¡°Water and biscuits?,¡± said Josie. ¡°She¡¯s not a dog.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have an ice box to keep sandwiches and stuff in out at the Hangar,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°I thought about putting a ready room out there, but it slipped my mind after I


    covered up the quinjet.¡±


    Josie looked at the siblings. They weren¡¯t quite mad at each other, but they weren¡¯t


    getting along like she thought they would. Something was going on, but neither


    wanted to talk to her about it.


    ¡°What am I missing?,¡± she finally asked after a few moments of frowning at them.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said June. ¡°The space is smaller than I thought, and Jack has offered me


    a spot. He promised to get me a room if I want to visit after my fight. I¡¯ll be retired


    and at loose ends.¡±


    ¡°Is this something I am going to have to fix with a hammer?,¡± asked Josie. She could


    feel an ache where her teeth were grinding together. ¡°Because the both of you know


    better, and the both of you know what will happen if it comes to that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re fine,¡± said Jack. He held up his hands to protect his face. ¡°June wants to move


    here after her retirement. I told her I would look for a house for her.¡±


    ¡°Lie to me one more time, and we¡¯re fighting,¡± said Josie. She knew it was a half-


    truth by the way he was acting. In her opinion, it was better to call the whole thing a


    lie and let him show her what the real truth was.


    ¡°It¡¯s the truth,¡± said June. ¡°I was hoping to move here, maybe get some superpowers


    too.¡±


    Josie frowned as she studied the older Lee. She squinted as she thought about the


    proposed situation.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s too much of a risk.¡±


    ¡°Really, Jo-jo?,¡± said June. ¡°I can do it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if your mother vouches for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°The answer is no. One Lee


    building a starship to lord it over the planet is one too many. A visit is okay, but


    getting yourself killed isn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I would like a shot,¡± said June. ¡°And Jack needs someone to look over his shoulder.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we got the lizard for,¡± said Josie. She shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s bad enough


    that Jack could get killed and I will have to explain to your folks what happened. I¡¯m


    sorry, Mrs. Lee. Your son died to a flock of killer sheep. Oh yeah, while we¡¯re


    talking, I got your eldest daughter¡¯s legs ripped off by a jackalope. How do you think


    that looks?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re giving the kids superpowers,¡± pointed out June. She waved at the other


    room.


    ¡°They live here and need them because of what we¡¯re doing,¡± said Josie. ¡°You don¡¯t.


    Don¡¯t try that with me. It didn¡¯t work when we were kids, it won¡¯t work now.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Juni,¡± said Jack. He waved his sister to follow him. ¡°Let¡¯s get you out to


    the Hangar. Then we will get you some snacks and bedding.¡±


    Josie frowned at the two of them. There was something wrong with them. Jack didn¡¯t


    want his sister around, and June wanted to stay. That was the opposite of how they


    usually acted.


    She rubbed her face. She needed to pry into this. They were both keeping things back


    because they didn¡¯t want her to know what was going on with them.


    She decided the least she could do was put together the case files. June could read


    them while she considered the attempt to throw herself in front of a bullet.


    Elaine appeared at the door to the dining room. She looked over her shoulder. She


    still wore her date night dress.


    ¡°Is something wrong?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°Juni wants to hunt monsters with us. I turned her down


    flat. Something is up, but I have no way to pry them open without force.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°They are good with obfuscating their motives, much like


    Aviras.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to like him more and more,¡± said Josie. She rubbed her face. ¡°I need to


    get the case files together so we can show June what she is getting into.¡±


    ¡°You think she is hiding from something back in your world?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to get ready for tomorrow. We have to think about the


    process we want to use to get the Goblin Tree victims out of the Enterprise


    transportation buffer, and get to work on that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the spare quilts and blankets from my room,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We¡¯ll get her


    settled in.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t take any crap from them,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll get the case files together and then


    help you out.¡±


    She went up to the office and looked around the room. Former work had been put


    away on shelves. The model still marked Montrose workers wandering around. She


    planned to do something about those red dots sooner or later. They were marking


    borrowed time as far as she was concerned.


    Josie pulled on Zatanna. She concentrated on the desk. She wished for paper and


    pictures to appear and bind everything into seven notebooks. She looked through the


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.books and nodded that they were as accurate as she could remember.


    She let the persona go and picked the notebooks up. She paused and put the books


    down. She called up Zatanna again and duplicated the books twice more. June could


    keep one set to take home, one set could go with Mister Warner if he asked for them,


    the last could go on a shelf for Jack and her to look back on when they needed to


    review their procedures.


    She let the persona go and grabbed one set of books. She left the office and headed


    back down to the living room.


    Elaine and the kids had folded blankets and a couple of thick quilts gathered in front


    of the gate. Melanie had pillows in her hands. Angelica had a covered plate and a


    covered cup for June to snack on while she was getting ready for bed.


    Jack stepped through the gate and smiled when he saw the gathered supplies. He


    looked around and seemed to be gathering his thoughts for what he wanted to carry


    through to the Hangar first.


    ¡°Take these,¡± said Josie. She handed the set over. ¡°These are the case books for all


    the official quests we have completed. June can take these home to your folks when


    she goes home.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He flipped through the pages. ¡°This is nice.¡±


    ¡°I have another set for Mister Warner if he returns our letter,¡± said Josie. She looked


    around and nodded.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I took a moment to make a room off the main hangar deck. It


    should be okay for the next three days. Let¡¯s get things going.¡±


    Josie urged the girls through first. She hoped Jack hadn¡¯t performed some kind of


    shenanigans. He had probably built a room inside of a closet to try to get around her


    no liminal spaces for the girls¡¯ rooms. She stepped through the gate door before it


    closed.


    Jack had hollowed out a space in the wall. It was under the steps leading to the surface.


    It looked as big as her own room so she couldn¡¯t complain about the size of it.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. She dropped the blankets on the floor. She dropped more


    blankets and quilts on top of that. She propped the pillows against the wall at one end


    of the room. June stepped back to let her work. Her bag went against the wall against


    the door in case she had to pick it up in a hurry.


    ¡°There is a lever to open the roof,¡± said Jack. He pointed across the room. ¡°I


    wouldn¡¯t, but if you want to look around at a bunch of trees, it¡¯s there. These are the


    quests we¡¯ve completed for the Society. Personal stuff is still personal.¡±


    ¡°We have a tray full of sandwiches for you,¡± said Angelica. She looked around for


    a place to put it.


    ¡°I got it,¡± said June. She took the tray in her hands and put it next to the pillow. She


    smiled at them.


    ¡°If you have to go, and you don¡¯t want to go outside,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go back to the gate,


    bathroom is next to the living room. Shower, toilet, the usual. Casebook for you to


    read.¡±


    ¡°If you want to retire here, June,¡± said Josie. ¡°That would be fine. We have enough


    to set you a house somewhere in the city, or pay passage for you to another city, or


    help you get an adventurer¡¯s license if you can pass the test. If you want to do what


    we do, you are going to have to take that up with the Society. I don¡¯t want to explain


    how you were ripped to pieces by something from beyond to your mother. We don¡¯t


    know how cold the Hangar gets, but I¡¯ll check to make sure the air is toasty for you.¡±


    ¡°How bad could it be?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°Fish people, Juni,¡± said Jack. ¡°Fish people who now hate us for making it where


    their fish god can¡¯t show up and eat everything in sight.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to get turned in. We still have obligations to take


    care of, and Jack and I will have to do something about the infected people on the


    Enterprise. Is there anything else before we call it a day?¡±


    ¡°Jack has to tell us what the show was about,¡± said Beatrice. She smiled at his


    expression.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Elaine tell you?,¡± said Jack. He looked at his beloved.


    ¡°She said that you had some ideas on how to make the show bigger and better with


    fake monsters,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Break that down for us, Jack,¡± said June. She sipped from the covered cup. ¡°This is


    some good hot chocolate.¡±


    ¡°If you do start living here in your retirement, you are not allowed to put me on


    the spot,¡± said Jack. He frowned at his sister. ¡°Okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said June. She smiled.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to cheat a little. Get ready to take notes.¡±


    Jack pulled on Mister Fantastic, gold overall gleaming in the light from the overhead


    light. He broke into a long speech about where they sat, who he could see, began


    performing for each player as they entered the scene, inserting notes he had thought


    of to make the fake monsters more real as the main star performing as Hurley went


    about his business of monster hunting with his enormous strength and good cheer.


    He was a cool Hercules type hero, just doing his thing. And then the last act of Hurley


    being betrayed out of nowhere and dying with his friend at the top of the Mountain


    of the Heavens, home of the gods. His watch ran out of power and he reverted back.


    ¡°That was crazy,¡± said June.


    ¡°Does that show that Elaine and I did watch the play and we did not get up to


    things?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Which I wanted to do, but Elaine said I was too loud for the


    theater.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t put me on the spot,¡± said Elaine. Her face flushed red.


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Josie as June tried to stifle a laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t put Elaine on the spot.¡±


    ¡°The folks will welcome you with open arms, Elaine,¡± said June.


    ¡°Is there anything else?,¡± Jack asked the assemblage. He scratched his head. ¡°I¡¯m


    feeling rundown and cranky.¡±


    ¡°I think that will be all,¡± said Josie. ¡°Shall we leave our guest?¡±


    ¡°Fish people, Jack?,¡± asked Juni. She sat down next to the tray of sandwiches and


    the notebooks.


    ¡°It¡¯s all in there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie somehow even got pictures for you to look at


    while you read. I¡¯ll see you in the morning. There¡¯s no much entertainment around,


    but maybe we can do some stickball out in the street or something.¡±


    ¡°We can take everyone up to the Enterprise tomorrow night,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe


    show them how the holodecks work.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no furniture,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s pretty empty right now.¡±


    ¡°We can show them what everything is supposed to be,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then if we


    ever put together a small population that wants to solve problems away from the


    planet, we will be able to do that.¡±


    ¡°The Enterprise should be able to replicate the Federation¡¯s tech so we can build


    colonies on any of the moons, or other planets,¡± said Jack. ¡°I kind of like that as


    a goal.¡±


    ¡°Also June is going to need a band,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t want her causing trouble


    and not be able to call for help.¡±


    ¡°I would never do that,¡± said June, looking up from her reading.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. She wasn¡¯t convinced that June wouldn¡¯t pick up some guy


    and use him up when she was supposed to be watching the girls at practice.


    ¡°Remember you have to take the girls to practice the next three days. Don¡¯t get


    into a punching match down at the Hall because some guys said something.¡±


    ¡°I am in training,¡± said June. ¡°I can¡¯t risk anything until after the fight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you a com band in the morning, June,¡± said Jack. ¡°You will be able to call


    us in case of emergency. As soon as we get done, we¡¯ll look things over on the


    Enterprise and try out one of the holodecks. The girls will have to practice their


    reading and numbers when we are done with that.¡±


    ¡°Would it be okay if I looked for a spot to settle in if I come back?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°We actually don¡¯t know any of the dangerous spots around town.


    It would be better if you found some place where you didn¡¯t have thieves breaking


    in all the time. We were warned the local police don¡¯t really solve crimes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nothing new,¡± said Juni. ¡°Bog hound?¡±


    ¡°I will introduce you before we send you home,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to check on the


    treasure I put out there as bait anyway.¡±


    ¡°The light switch is over by the gate home,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you going to be okay


    out here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± said Juni. ¡°My clock is off, so I might still be up by the time you guys


    get up.¡±


    ¡°I think that¡¯s everything,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get to bed. Tomorrow will be long.


    Hopefully there will be no quests while we try to fix the rest of this for good.¡±


    Josie waved her children, and friends back through the gate. She called on Zatanna


    one more time to make sure the Hangar remained at a steady seventy degrees despite


    what the outside did. She let the persona go, and waved to Juni before she


    stepped through the gate herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m beat,¡± said Jack. He checked his watch. ¡°Thank you for taking me out to the


    show, Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for taking me,¡± said Elaine. She kissed him on the cheek.


    ¡°You two get a room,¡± said Josie, as she headed for her own room at the back of the


    second floor.

 Fourth Watch

    Jack found himself standing in what he now considered his everyday clothes of


    Deadpool shirt, jeans, and sneakers. He needed to change his look. Maybe he should


    go with the black suit all the time.


    Elaine stood beside him, wearing a simple white tunic with a symbol on the front. She


    looked around, hand pushing back her dark hair from her face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember seeing this in your wardrobe,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I gave it up,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I couldn¡¯t follow the calling any more.¡±


    ¡°Why are you two in my dreams?,¡± asked June. She wore her track suit and running


    shoes.


    ¡°I think we are in each other dreams,¡± said Aviras from above them. ¡°This is my


    rightful size, but I don¡¯t usually casually sleep.¡±


    ¡°Pick me up,¡± said Matilda, holding up her arms. ¡°You are so tall here.¡±


    ¡°I thought Jack was exaggerating,¡± said Beatrice. She crossed her arms and looked


    up at the blue dragon towering above them.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that,¡± protested Jack.


    ¡°Ha,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Where are we?,¡± asked Melanie. ¡°Why are all of you in my dream?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sharing the dream,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°I guess the Society wants to meet all of you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe talk about the


    Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they want to talk about the great big starship in orbit overhead?,¡±


    asked Josie. She rubbed her face. ¡°This is great.¡±


    ¡°Hello, kids,¡± said a resigned voice. ¡°You are supposed to do the jobs and go home,


    not hang out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Mister Warner, Josie,¡± said Jack. He put on his grin as he looked at the shopkeep


    and former champion of order in his bowtie and jacket. ¡°I didn¡¯t think they could


    reach Earth to pull you into a dream.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not on Earth,¡± said Warner. He gave Jack an irritated look. ¡°You¡¯re smarter than


    that.¡±


    ¡°You came here after I sent the letter?,¡± said Josie. ¡°You could have sent us a reply.¡±


    ¡°Looking old, Mister Warner,¡± said June.


    ¡°What are you doing here?,¡± asked Warner. ¡°Don¡¯t you know this world is dangerous


    for dumb people?¡±


    ¡°I invited her to talk to Jack, but nothing seems to have gone right with that


    decision,¡± said Josie. ¡°Instead I have two people keeping secrets instead of just


    coming out with it and sparing me the headache. And I got Pete¡¯s Dragon on top of


    that wanting to steal all the ice cream in the city.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want all the ice cream,¡± said Aviras. He picked up Matilda and put her on his


    head for once.


    ¡°What are all these kids and a priestess of Kord doing here?,¡± said Warner. He


    gestured at the Ducklings and Elaine.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been a priestess in a long while,¡± said Elaine. Her face firmed up under the


    question.


    ¡°And these are Josie¡¯s kids,¡± said June. She almost had a grin to match Jack¡¯s as the


    old man¡¯s frown deepened.


    ¡°They are my adopted sisters,¡± said Josie. Her tone spoke the volumes of


    unreasonableness she was about to invoke. ¡°And they are great.¡±


    A door opened in the cool night air. Twelve people in suits came out and took their


    places at the stone chairs forming a semi-circle in front of the group. They sat down


    as the door closed.


    ¡°This is the Society,¡± said Jack. ¡°Society, you know Josie and Mister Warner. This


    is June, my sister, Beatrice, Laura, Melanie, Angelica, Alicia, and Matilda. The


    dragon is Aviras. I don¡¯t why he is so big, but he¡¯s smaller in the real world.¡±


    ¡°We have several issues that we wish to address,¡± said Center right. He rubbed his


    chin as he regarded the crowd. ¡°We thought it would be more reasonable to deal with


    everything all at once.¡±


    ¡°Before we get into all that,¡± said Jack. ¡°You know you guys are invited to the


    wedding when we have it?¡±


    ¡°We will consider it,¡± said Center left, exchanging a glance with Center right. They


    looked like a married couple to Jack.


    ¡°I just wanted to come by to talk to the kids,¡± said Warner. ¡°After I am done, I am


    going back into retirement.¡±


    ¡°The watch will remain yours,¡± said Center right. ¡°It won¡¯t work for anyone else. We


    learned our lesson with your ring.¡±


    ¡°We could take some years off of you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have been wanting to experiment


    on some things in the back of my mind.¡±


    ¡°I think I will take my chances,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Jack did turn a guy into a baby,¡± said Josie. ¡°He might have refined the process


    enough to be useful to you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it,¡± said Warner. ¡°I¡¯m about a day out from Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°We have an airship,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can pick you up.¡±


    ¡°That was a nice piece of engineering if I say so myself,¡± said Hap.


    ¡°I thought so,¡± said Jack. He stuck his tongue out at Josie.


    ¡°I will rip it out of your head,¡± Josie whispered. The glare was easily readable by


    everyone involved.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back on track,¡± said Center right. ¡°Oliver, if you want to visit and help out,


    it would be appreciated, but we will let you stay in your own world if you want. Now


    let us talk about these children and the dragon.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to talk about,¡± said Josie. ¡°They are under my protection until the


    end of time.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Center left.


    ¡°They have helped with our quests, and Aviras is turning into an all right counselor


    when he isn¡¯t trying to get ice cream,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not turning them loose into the


    city to fend for themselves.¡±


    ¡°We can send you back to your world, and cut you off,¡± said Center right.


    ¡°You do you,¡± said Josie. ¡°The kids are staying with me until they are ready to leave


    on their own.¡±


    ¡°And the dragon?,¡± said the bow lady.


    ¡°He¡¯s mine,¡± said Matilda from the top of Aviras¡¯s head. ¡°I am taking care of him as


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.best I can.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s ours,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°That¡¯s just the way that is.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to look at Jack. He grinned back, hands in his pockets. He


    decided that if Josie could stand up like a momma bear, he could ease back and try


    to change topics to something no one could argue about.


    ¡°We still have to fix all these women that we have aboard the Enterprise,¡± he said.


    ¡°Any suggestions?¡±


    ¡°You could try to separate their base form from the added goblin tree taint with the


    transporter,¡± said Hap. ¡°I know you did something like that with your magic form.¡±


    ¡°I guess I was hoping for something easier to use,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could set up an area


    to just PET scan them and then zap anything that looks like a fungus.¡±


    Hap nodded.


    ¡°We still need to set up housing for them,¡± said Josie. ¡°Guin and Jane were supposed


    to look into that. I need to call them.¡±


    ¡°Would it be okay if I signed up to be a champion of order,¡± said June. ¡°Josie said I


    should talk to you about the job.¡±


    ¡°Why would you want to complete quests for us?,¡± asked the sword man. He tapped


    his blade against the sole of a boot.


    ¡°I¡¯m having some problems back home, and I am taking on my last fight,¡± said June.


    ¡°I thought I could come here and start over.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said hat man. Jack thought he saw some of the wings move as he fiddled


    with the hat in his hands.


    ¡°Juniper Esmeralda Lee,¡± said Center right. He leaned forward in his stone chair. ¡°To


    be our champion, you would have to be little more honest, a little more willing to


    fight for others. Do you really think you can do the same thankless work we drafted


    Oliver Warner, Josephine Fox, and your brother to do?¡±


    ¡°We know about the debts,¡± said hat man.


    ¡°I can do the work, and I owe a lot of money,¡± said Juni. She frowned at the way


    things had been exposed. ¡°I can be more than one thing.¡±


    ¡°I think we shall put your assertion to the test,¡± said Center right. ¡°Hap, we will need


    a watch for three personas. Juniper Lee, you can pick three personas to put on the


    watch. You will have the three days you were going to hide out fulfilling the quest.


    If you are not successful by the time the sun goes down on the third day, you are to


    go home and take your punishment.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said June. ¡°I¡¯ll have Jack and Josie to help me. It will be a snap.¡±


    ¡°You will do this alone,¡± said Center right.


    ¡°Sir,¡± said Jack. He didn¡¯t know why he was sticking up for his sister. This was what


    she wanted, but he knew that she needed help just to get started. ¡°In the interest of


    fairness, June is going to need someone to show her how to navigate the world.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think so?,¡± said Center right. ¡°You didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I have been trained by the Army to make things work out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I spent time


    chasing around strange places, talking to strange people, trying to complete strange


    objectives. June is a weak gladiator. She can¡¯t handle what I can.¡±


    ¡°I am not¨C,¡± started June.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are about to wreck yourself.¡±


    ¡°I think one of us should be there to give her some coaching,¡± said Jack. ¡°We had


    already decided to give her a com band so she could keep in touch in case of trouble.¡±


    ¡°That would be fair, I suppose,¡± said Center right. He smiled. That made Jack smile


    on the inside. He was about to get June out of this mess since the three champions


    present could easily do any quest. Three days wasn¡¯t a lot of time, but he could do it.


    ¡°Matilda Raylen of Karieda, step forward.¡±


    Jack felt everything going sideways like a crashing plane.


    ¡°Me, sir?,¡± asked Matilda. She indicated herself with a thumb.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Center right. ¡°Come here.¡±


    Aviras put Matilda on the ground and the two of them advanced. Fire played on his


    snout.


    ¡°In this next quest, you are responsible for making sure that Juniper Lee is coached


    to her goal,¡± said Center right. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to, we will send her home to deal


    with her problems like the responsible adult she is.¡±


    Jack covered his face with a hand. He turned a glare on his sister. She didn¡¯t look too


    happy about what was going on, but he didn¡¯t care. He knew this was going to be


    trouble.


    He knew it.


    ¡°This is a test, isn¡¯t it?,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Not of Juni, but of me and Aviras. You don¡¯t


    think Aviras is a good guy, and you want to see what he will do with someone who


    doesn¡¯t know him. You know I can¡¯t stop him from causing problems, but you want


    to see what he will do.¡±


    ¡°We also want to see what Mistress Lee will do with unlimited power,¡± said Center


    left, a small frown on her face. ¡°Some will give in and become more horrible than


    they ordinarily would.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Matilda. She looked up at Aviras. She patted his leg. ¡°We can do


    this depending on the quest. Aviras is really smart, and I am a good reader.¡±


    ¡°So you will undertake this quest?,¡± said Center right.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to consult with Josie and Jack first,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Then we will start on


    what you need us to do.¡±


    ¡°We will give you five minutes for a consultation with Master Warner present,¡± said


    Center left. ¡°After that, your task will be started because the sun will be coming up


    in the waking world.¡±


    Jack waved everyone into a huddle. He turned his gaze on his sister. She winced at


    the furious look he gave her.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± he asked. ¡°How could you drag Matilda into this?¡±


    ¡°Focus,¡± said Warner. ¡°You can be angry later. We need to get June kitted up with


    something she can use since the watches don¡¯t give exact matches for abilities.


    We need a mage, a fighter, and a backup. Any animal hero will be the animal.¡±


    ¡°Can she get a subset of our abilities?,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can give her a version


    of Zatanna, or Zatara. They operate with wish magic instead of backwards talk.¡±


    ¡°Ask,¡± said Warner. ¡°Think about what you are familiar with, June.¡±


    ¡°Can she get characters from our watches to use for this quest?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Center right. ¡°We don¡¯t want to duplicate powers.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Warner. ¡°That cuts all Marvel, DC, and the public heroes used


    by Dynamite.¡±


    ¡°It cuts the licensed books from those companies too,¡± said Jack. ¡°No Joes,


    Transformers, most of Dark Horse and IDW.¡±


    ¡°That leaves Image, and anyone who went out of business except for Charlton and


    Fawcett,¡± said Josie. ¡°Except for maybe Ditko¡¯s guys like Static.¡±


    ¡°That gives us Archie, Dell that Shooter turned into Valiant, First, Comico, maybe


    Pacific, maybe Broadway, maybe Moore¡¯s ABC, maybe Malibu,¡± said Warner. ¡°The


    Turtles, and the Tick.¡±


    ¡°Harvey,¡± said Josie. ¡°They had superheroes too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with Image, especially Astro City, and Valiant,¡± said June. ¡°I know a


    little about some of the rest.¡±


    ¡°Does Image count as a universe as a draft?,¡± asked Jack. Everyone gave him blank


    looks. ¡°Hey, does Image count as a universe, or is it studio to studio with them?¡±


    ¡°Studio to studio,¡± said the owl woman. ¡°Also universe to universe.¡±


    ¡°Crap,¡± said Jack. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    He took a moment. They could still use Image, but it would be a little tougher than


    he had thought.


    ¡°Three minutes left,¡± said Center left.


    ¡°We can¡¯t use the original universe for Image,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can only use the


    individual books. So we can get Invincible, but nothing from Liefeld, Top Cow, or


    Spawn.¡±


    ¡°I could get Astro City,¡± said June. ¡°I know a lot of the characters.¡±


    ¡°They won¡¯t be the same,¡± said Josie. ¡°And you only get three to pick for this one


    quest. Winged Victory would probably be the closest to the original, but Samaritan,


    the Gentleman, Cleopatra wouldn¡¯t be the same.¡±


    ¡°We have to gamble,¡± said Warner. ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but the only other universe that


    will give us a wizard out the gate is Archie. Shooter didn¡¯t use magic in Valiant or


    Broadway, and we might have the same problem with Pacific, Comico, and First, that


    we have with Image.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about the Crusaders,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Warner. ¡°Can you think of a mage from Astro City? That will be the


    fastest way to find things and complete the quest.¡±


    ¡°Simon Magus,¡± said June. ¡°He was in the story where the aliens infiltrate the world


    and start rounding up the heroes.¡±


    ¡°Simon Magus, Winged Victory are two,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who do we get for the third?¡±


    ¡°Two minutes,¡± said Center left.


    ¡°None of the animal heroes like Nightingale, Flying Fox, or G-Dog,¡± said Josie. ¡°We


    need a movement specialist. If we get M.P.H., will it give June his super speed?¡±


    ¡°If I pick the Hanged Man, will it give me his ghost powers?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Warner. ¡°Also there is a charge issue that we didn¡¯t cover.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time now,¡± said Jack. He considered all the heroes from Astro City


    they could use. ¡°Matilda will have to massage things with her brain power and help


    Juni get done.¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Matilda. ¡°And Aviras will be my assistant and he is way smarter


    than I am.¡±


    ¡°June will have to test this limited watch,¡± said Aviras. ¡°She will be the one whose


    life depends on being able to use it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. She clapped her fists together. ¡°I think we¡¯re ready to go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really mad at you right now,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not going to sabotage you over


    this, but there were better ways of doing things. I could have built you a custom


    watch given enough time.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re in trouble and you hid it,¡± said Josie. ¡°We would have helped you


    without concern if you had leveled with us. And you dragged one of my kids into this


    too. I¡¯m close to wringing your neck right now.¡±


    ¡°You guys are missing the point,¡± said Warner. ¡°This is more than a test of character.


    I don¡¯t think they are going to give June the character base she wants. I think they are


    going to give her the characters they want her to have and dare her to overcome the


    obstacles.¡±


    ¡°So even if she picks three, she might get someone like Jack in the Box,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She might get three random characters from the Ultraverse,¡± said Warner. ¡°What is


    she going to do with Solitaire?¡±


    ¡°Oh crap,¡± said Jack. He could see that everyone didn¡¯t know what that meant but


    they knew it was bad for Matilda and they didn¡¯t like it.


    ¡°Time¡¯s up,¡± said Center left. ¡°Step forward, Juniper Esmeralda Lee. It¡¯s time to start


    you on your quest.¡±

 New Champion

    Josie clenched her hands into fists. She could feel her knuckles crackle as she


    watched what was going on. She felt a presence at her side. She glanced over. Warner


    stood at her side with a frown on his weathered face.


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to go like she thinks,¡± said Warner. ¡°Zu is not going to make things


    easy. That¡¯s not how he likes to do business.¡±


    ¡°You look like an old Matt Smith as the Doctor,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Not enough chin,¡± said Warner. ¡°We¡¯ll be able to talk in a few hours. What are you


    doing here?¡±


    ¡°You are going to have to be a bit more specific,¡± said Josie. She kept her eye on the


    proceedings.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t supposed to stay here after you get done with your quests,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m at war with the local nobility,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to go home.¡±


    ¡°These kids?,¡± asked Warner, gesturing at the girls around them.


    ¡°Adopted when I went to war,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The dragon?,¡± asked Warner. He waved a hand at the giant beast standing beside the


    youngest girl.


    ¡°Jack brought him home,¡± said Josie. She huffed at the memory of finding the girls


    chasing Aviras around the living room. ¡°Some of this is in our case files which I


    would have sent you if you had answered my letter.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to see for myself,¡± said Warner. ¡°I already knocked out two of the quests


    given me when I put on the watch. I planned to talk to you, then knock out the last


    one.¡±


    ¡°We wanted to talk to you about your old quests,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have something


    that we can use to pick you up and ferry you to Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°Send me a letter when you wake up,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Juniper Esmeralda Lee,¡± said the leader of the Society, Zu. He smiled. ¡°This is your


    watch. Please put it on.¡±


    The ugly guy Jack called Hap held out a tray with a band much like the one the other


    champions wore on a pillow. Violet light sparked around it. Juniper took it and put


    it around her thick wrist. It glowed with the locking of the clasp.


    ¡°Let her pick her three choices,¡± said Zu. He leaned back in his stone chair.


    Hap took the tray away, and limped back with a transparent jar full of jewels. He


    smiled as he held the jewels out. Josie frowned that she couldn¡¯t read any lettering on


    the jewels.


    ¡°This is where the trickery will be,¡± said Warner. ¡°He didn¡¯t ask what Juniper wanted


    to draw on for her watch.¡±


    ¡°She might not be getting Astro City at all,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to warn her.¡±


    ¡°If we interfere, she won¡¯t get a chance,¡± said Warner. He held an arm up to keep


    Josie back. ¡°We have to let this play out. Your girl isn¡¯t the one that is going to be


    trying to do the quest.¡±


    ¡°Jack will lose his mind,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to keep him on a leash until this is over,¡± said Warner. ¡°A lot


    is riding on how smart June is, and how smart her coach is. This could change both


    their lives, but if we interfere, June will get sent home with no money, and having to


    face whatever she is trying to avoid.¡±


    ¡°Grab three,¡± said Hap. ¡°They slot into the face of the watch.¡±


    June grabbed three of the marbles randomly. They had three different colors that


    gleamed under the night sky. She carefully placed each one in their slot. She looked


    up from what she saw on the watch face.


    ¡°Good luck,¡± said the lady on the left.


    June vanished in a pop like a bubble.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t look happy with what she got,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I noticed,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Matilda Raylen,¡± said leader of the Society. ¡°This is the quest.¡±


    He reached down and touched her forehead. She blinked her eyes.


    ¡°I know we can¡¯t get Josie and Jack to carry us,¡± said Matilda. ¡°But we can ask to use


    some of their resources?¡±


    ¡°Whatever exists right now other than a communication band that needs to be made,¡±


    said Zu.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Matilda. ¡°That will make things easier.¡±


    ¡°Good luck,¡± said Zu. ¡°I think you will do a good job, you and your dragon.¡±


    Matilda and Aviras popped out of existence.


    He looked at the rest of the girls glaring at him.


    ¡°You can all go home,¡± he said. He waved his hand and dismissed the Ducklings.


    ¡°Oliver, I will try to have a meeting with you before you go home,¡± said Zu. ¡°It was


    good to see you again.¡±


    ¡°I am going to talk with the kids and check on this last quest,¡± said Warner. ¡°I doubt


    I will be on the field more than a couple of days.¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Zu. ¡°You¡¯re not as spry as you used to be.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little smarter,¡± said Warner. He smiled. He nodded at the members of the


    Society, pausing at the most beautiful woman alive before he woke up in his shelter


    in the woods northeast of the city.


    ¡°Jack, and Elaine Numera of Karieda,¡± said Center right. ¡°I don¡¯t know where to


    begin with you, Jack.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a little miffed that you let my sister horn in on my action,¡± said Jack. Josie


    covered her face in dismay.


    ¡°I¡¯m a little miffed that we told you to cut back and you built a city in the sky,¡± said


    Zu. ¡°That seems the opposite of our agreement.¡±


    ¡°I considered it the lesser of two evils,¡± said Jack. ¡°And thanks to Elaine and Aviras,


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.the job was done with no loss of life on my side.¡±


    ¡°What was the greater evil?,¡± asked the second in command.


    ¡°I was going to nuke the country until it glowed for the next five hundred years,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Luckily, my support team and my partner came up with something better.¡±


    Josie paused. She had thought Jack was having problems, but he was really a little too


    casual about killing thousands, possibly millions. with a push of a button.


    ¡°Nuclear warfare is something we would like you to refrain from engaging in,¡± said


    Zu. He frowned at his champion.


    ¡°I am willing to let things lie,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t have a preference on how I do the


    job.¡±


    ¡°No time travel,¡± said Josie. She frowned at her partner.


    ¡°I said I wouldn¡¯t,¡± said Jack. He gave her a look. ¡°I will stick with what I got.¡±


    ¡°I think multiversal travel should be off the table too,¡± said the owl woman.


    ¡°Otherwise I think you will get an idea about how many Elaines you can assemble as


    your wives.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have that idea before now,¡± said Jack.


    Elaine shook her head.


    ¡°Shall we be serious?,¡± she asked quietly.


    The second waved her hand in a go ahead gesture.


    ¡°I admit that Jack is a little rough around the edges, but he is doing what you asked,¡±


    said Elaine. ¡°I understand that you are uncomfortable with his view of things and his


    unorthodox ways, but we still have injured that Jack and Josie have enabled to be


    cared for, and the victims on the Enterprise itself. We had no other way to save the


    ones we could without the Enterprise. I think that merits some consideration.¡±


    ¡°Would you like for us to ask Kord to come to the wedding?,¡± asked Zu.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We will put in a word for you,¡± said Zu. ¡°Keep a lower profile, Jack. We will


    consider the matter of the Enterprise. Work on getting the injured cared for a little


    faster.¡±


    Jack and Elaine popped out of existence. Josie frowned at being alone, but she always


    seemed alone more than she was with others.


    ¡°Josephine Antoinette Fox,¡± said Zu. He frowned at her. ¡°You have declared war on


    the world. How do you expect to continue?¡±


    ¡°One step at a time,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s how the mortal world does things.¡±


    ¡°Do you oppose us?,¡± asked the head of the Society.


    ¡°If you get in my way,¡± said Josie. ¡°You called me, not the other way around. If I


    didn¡¯t have the girls, I wouldn¡¯t stay in your backwater longer than I had to.¡±


    ¡°You are fond of your Ducklings,¡± said the second in command. ¡°And they are fond


    of you. They will be carrying on your legacy until their children take over from them.


    You have done a good thing for the world just by being you. Can you continue on the


    path you have selected for yourself?¡±


    ¡°Some of this is Jack¡¯s fault,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you want to let me in on what¡¯s going


    on with him and his sister?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask them?,¡± asked the bow woman.


    ¡°Because they will lie like rugs,¡± said Josie. She crossed her arms over her Mage


    lightning bolt. ¡°I read enough Phantom Stranger to know when someone is


    obfuscating around a question. I understand if you don¡¯t want to get into it being who


    you are, but I would like a straight answer to a straight question. Mystery has its


    place, but not when I want to know something.¡±


    ¡°You know who we are?,¡± asked the owl woman.


    ¡°I¡¯ve read Percy Jackson too.¡± said Josie. ¡°So you want to tell me what¡¯s up so I don¡¯t


    have to take a hammer to the knuckleheads.¡±


    ¡°Jack hasn¡¯t been in contact with his family since his discharge from his Army,¡± said


    the bow man. He could be the male twin of the bow woman. ¡°He was hurt and doesn¡¯t


    want to pick at the scab.¡±


    ¡°This girl he said stepped on the explosive,¡± said Josie. ¡°I thought he was joking.


    Juni?¡±


    ¡°She has been fixing fights,¡± said the hat man. ¡°And not doing it well.¡±


    Josie wondered why her eye had a sudden pain in a dream.


    ¡°They¡¯ll realize you cheated,¡± said Josie. ¡°Especially if Jack uses his persona to look


    at the memory again.¡±


    ¡°Cheated?,¡± said Hap. ¡°I would never do that.¡±


    ¡°Your face isn¡¯t built for lying either, Jimmy Jack Crack,¡± scoffed Josie. She looked


    at the twelve personalities on their thrones. ¡°I appreciate that all of you are trying to


    maintain the greater good, and are empowering Jack and I, and Mister Warner, and


    Juni if she passes your test, to do that. I appreciate that you have some concerns about


    how we do our business. I appreciate that you can¡¯t get involved in mortal things


    since that isn¡¯t your reputation where I am from.¡±


    She took a moment to scowl at her nominal bosses.


    ¡°On the other hand, I have a job to do and I don¡¯t need you guys getting in my way,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°If you have some concerns, send me a letter and I will do what I can to


    address them. I already talked to Jack about building the Enterprise. I will try to keep


    him on the straight and narrow. Anything else will be handled as well as I can without


    actually setting someone on fire.¡±


    ¡°And if you deem you have to set someone on fire?,¡± said the sword man.


    ¡°Then there will be some frying tonight,¡± said Josie. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Zu. ¡°Try not to break reality.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t promise anything beyond the next few days,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are you coming to


    the proposed marriage?¡±


    ¡°It is something to think about,¡± said the second. ¡°We haven¡¯t had a celebration in a


    long time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how celebratory it actually is,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to go and get my


    knuckleheads in line. This has been something.¡±


    ¡°It has been something for us too,¡± said Zu. ¡°We don¡¯t usually have a meeting like


    this.¡±


    Josie woke up. She pulled on her clothes. She expected the others to be getting up and


    arguing about what happened. She decided not to tell the others how the Society had


    cheated.


    Juni would be demonstrating what they had given her soon enough.


    She expected Warner, or Jack, to realize what had happened, but she wasn¡¯t going to


    tell them.


    Warner already knew their bosses would do whatever they could to accomplish their


    objectives through their agents, and Jack would either think it was fair, or foul,


    depending on his mood.


    Bea came out of her door as Josie started for the steps. The eldest rubbed her face to


    get some of the remaining sleep out of her eyes.


    ¡°We have a long day ahead of us,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you get the girls up and running?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I thought Jack was fooling about his dream talks.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think they would talk to us at all either,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to check on June.


    Then we can see how bad things really are.¡±


    ¡°I will get the others together,¡± said Beatrice.


    Josie nodded before heading downstairs. She kicked Jack¡¯s door as she went by.


    Elaine would get him up and ready for the day. She had to deal with Juni before she


    started the rest of their day.


    She hoped the Society would not load them with more quests while they were trying


    to work out the aftermath of what she was going to call the Lich Queen-Enterprise


    War.


    She put in the number to open the gate and stepped through to the Hangar. The air


    was toasty. She crossed the empty space. She felt bad that the quinjet wasn¡¯t in its


    cradle where it belonged. She found June still asleep in her cocoon of blankets and


    quilts.


    She knelt quickly, pulled back her hand, then dealt the hardest slap she could to


    June¡¯s face. The fighter lurched up, one hand to her face.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Josie. ¡°You have less than sixty hours to get your act together. Time


    to rise and shine.¡±


    ¡°Was that necessary?,¡± asked June. She pushed back her blankets.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. She stood and headed back toward the gate. ¡°We¡¯re having breakfast


    as soon as I can cook it. After that, you are going to have to start on your quest.¡±


    ¡°Give me five,¡± called June.


    Josie stepped through the gate and crossed the living room. The ambient noise was


    high while the girls and Elaine and Jack tried to get themselves together. Aviras


    sat on the dining room table and watched the movement around him.


    ¡°Breakfast, and then you and Matilda are going to have to get ready,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m always ready to bite off someone¡¯s face,¡± said the dragon.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I like to hear,¡± said Josie. ¡°Keep Matilda safe. I don¡¯t care about


    anything else. The Society doesn¡¯t want us birddogging this, but if anything  comes


    close to hurting her, I expect you to call me. Got it?¡±


    ¡°I understand and do not want cancer,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to get my coffee and plan out my day. Then we¡¯re


    going to do what we got to do to clear everything we have on the list.¡±


    ¡°Can I have ice cream?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°If June gets through the next three days and Matilda is not hurt,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    will give you Jack¡¯s weight in ice cream. Until then, no.¡±


    ¡°How much does Jack weigh?,¡± asked Aviras.


    Josie went into the kitchen. She got her first cup of coffee for the day. Once she


    finished that, she got another and sipped at it while considering what they had in the


    icebox she could cook and feed everyone.


    She decided on toast and bacon to get started. Water and ice went into mugs for the


    girls to drink. If Jack wanted coffee, he would have to make it himself.


    She loaded everything on a big tray, grabbed a stack of plates. She wished for


    everything to be on the dining room table. The food vanished in a cloud of steam.


    She thought she heard Aviras curse but she ignored it.


    He would have enough reason to curse in the next few days in her opinion. She


    carried her coffee into the dining room.

 Breakfast

    Jack hugged Elaine close as they sat at the dining room table. He started making his


    breakfast into a sandwich. He frowned at the mug of water, but if he wanted coffee


    he would have to make it himself.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to get things sorted out,¡± said Josie. She looked around the


    table, holding her cup of coffee in hand. ¡°Beatrice and Laura, please take the girls


    except for Matilda down to the Hall for practice. Advise Sally that we might have to


    hire the adventurers to help us out with the goblin tree patients after we make sure


    they are safe.¡±


    ¡°Yes, missus,¡± said Beatrice. She nodded.


    ¡°You might as well tell Sir Harp that Old Man Warner is back in town,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He may want to see his old friend before the guy takes off again.¡±


    ¡°Elaine, I need you to talk to Jane and see how she did with the buildings,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We need to know if we have a viable hospital in place.¡±


    ¡°She might still be haggling with the Exchange over the deed,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We


    moved fast to nip the initial problem, but bureaucracy will have slowed her end


    down.¡±


    ¡°Tell her that I will front her another brick of gold to get the job done,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Once we have the women off the Enterprise, that will prevent problems for them that


    might happen if the transporter goes down.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Star Trek transporters turn matter into energy and back into matter again,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The pattern is stored on a buffer so that anything that gets taken apart can be put


    back together. If the buffer goes down for any reason, we could lose everyone we


    have stored. I don¡¯t foresee that happening here, but another frog god might be


    enough to knock the Enterprise for a loop.¡±


    ¡°Another frog god might be enough to make the Enterprise come to life in the most


    horrible way we can conceive,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Is it not already alive?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°It has a machine that responds to our voices and carries out our


    commands, but it doesn¡¯t have anything that lets it take any initiative.¡±


    ¡°And I don¡¯t think we want to find out what would happen if the Enterprise turned


    into a flying monster,¡± said Josie.


    Jack considered the question. Without a crew, the Enterprise would run out of


    torpedoes quick, but the devastation would be tremendous. Hawk Ridge would lose


    most of itself in the explosions.


    And the phasers were unlimited ammunition line of sight weapons that could


    punch through most of the fortifications he had seen on the planet so far.


    ¡°I have two jobs for you, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you to make a band for June so


    she can call Matilda, or us. And I want you to find Mister Warner and pick him up.¡±


    ¡°The model will make finding him easy enough,¡± said Jack. He shrugged. ¡°It depends


    on what he¡¯s using on how tough it will be to pick him up.¡±


    ¡°Can you find anyone with this model?,¡± asked June.


    Jack opened his mouth to answer. He caught the warning glare from Josie and paused.


    ¡°Are we allowed to answer that?,¡± he asked instead. ¡°If I do, does June immediately


    get booted home?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say she does,¡± said Josie. ¡°Which is why we are not going to foul up June¡¯s


    chance to fix her problems.¡±


    ¡°We can use resources,¡± said Matilda. ¡°We can use the model for the quest.¡±


    ¡°You will be allowed to use the model for the quest,¡± said Josie. ¡°But you will have


    to do it on your own after we have our talk. Comprende?¡±


    ¡°We got it,¡± said June. She tucked into her food. ¡°Could I have seconds?¡±


    ¡°I will get you some more,¡± said Josie. ¡°Does anybody else want anything?¡±


    ¡°Could I have some coffee?,¡± said Jack. He turned his glare on his sister.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. She took some more orders, but he wasn¡¯t listening. ¡°We need


    a way to call the Enterprise from the ground.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do that when I make Juni¡¯s band,¡± said Jack. He looked up. He hadn¡¯t thought


    about having to call the Enterprise with a band. That had been a terrible oversight on


    his part.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. She vanished into the kitchen with her cup.


    ¡°So the quest says we have to find this Russ guy,¡± said June. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because he may be a threat to humanity,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Or he might be capable of


    causing problems at the lower end of the line.¡±


    ¡°Or he¡¯s just missing and needs to be found,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society doesn¡¯t get into


    why they form quests but the ones we have taken have been some things.¡±


    ¡°I read through the casebooks last night,¡± said June. ¡°Aviras is all over the one as a


    major threat.¡±


    ¡°And now he is your coach¡¯s assistant,¡± said Jack.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°And I will be a major assistance,¡± said Aviras. ¡°How much gold do you owe?¡±


    Jack leaned back. He had wanted to ask about what was going on, but the dragon


    had beat him to the punch.


    ¡°A little,¡± said June. ¡°It¡¯s not how much I owe, but whom I owe it too.¡±


    ¡°Does Dad know?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said June. She pulled a face.


    ¡°Maybe you will be able to repair your finances with your watch,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I have to check to see how that works,¡± said June. ¡°I never had a magic watch


    before.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t work like it¡¯s supposed to except if the name is specific,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    don¡¯t know how much I can get into it until the challenge is over. I don¡¯t even know


    if I can tell Matilda and Aviras anything without sending you home.¡±


    ¡°I think you can show us something since we are looking to use the resources we


    have available,¡± said Matilda. ¡°It will give us some idea on what to expect.¡±


    Jack frowned. He had promised not to sabotage his sister. On the other hand, he


    wasn¡¯t really invested in that promise. He had broken his word to people he liked


    more over less.


    ¡°I think you can show them something,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Then June will have to practice


    with what she has.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°The first thing to realize is that whatever you got is not going


    to be the same as what you are familiar with so the Falcon is like a guy with wings


    but on the watch, he is a bird.¡±


    He changed into a bird for a second before changing back.


    ¡°Most animal heroes are animals,¡± said Jack. ¡°The second thing is some of the heroes


    are close to what you want based on the name.¡±


    He changed into his werewolf form which didn¡¯t quite match up with Jack Russell.


    It was close enough to demonstrate his point. He released the persona.


    ¡°What was that?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Werewolf by Night,¡± said Jack. ¡°He was created in the seventies when Marvel


    was doing their horror, kung fu, and blaxploitation phase. They had a lot of books


    based around monsters, hand to hand fighters, and black people. As a werewolf, he


    didn¡¯t have a lot of control at first, and seemed to be facing off against monster


    hunters and other monsters a lot.¡±


    ¡°I wonder why,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Now the third type is a hero with a name that is changed into something completely


    different,¡± said Jack. He turned into Quicksilver just long enough to be a mass of goo


    before letting it go.


    ¡°Who was that, Jack?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°Quicksilver,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s the reason I use Makkari all the time as my speedy


    travel guy.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said June. She looked at her watch and twisted her settings around. ¡°I don¡¯t


    know any of these guys, unless Bond is James Bond.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll go out to the Hangar and test it,¡± said Josie. She put Jack¡¯s coffee on the table


    by his hand. Food appeared in front of the crowd. ¡°What¡¯s the quest?¡±


    ¡°I have to find some guy named Boim Russ,¡± said June.


    ¡°Mine is to help her find Boim Russ,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how to use whatever you got to find him,¡± said Josie. ¡°Knowing


    the Society, he will probably be dangerous, Juni. Do you want to keep with this?


    I can send you home with enough money to cover your debt and get you out from


    under.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not enough money for that,¡± said Juni. ¡°It¡¯s not about the money anymore.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Eat up, and we¡¯ll head out to the Hangar to practice. I think


    you could put the archery range out there too, Jack. Alicia can go out there and


    practice as long as she stays in the fear ring.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Number Two?,¡± asked Jack. He turned his grin on her. She


    looked at him with an emotionless face, and raised a fist.


    ¡°Archery!,¡± she said.


    ¡°You damn skippy,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She smiled as she sipped her coffee. ¡°I have to write a letter


    to Warner. Then we go.¡±


    ¡°I have to start on the com bands,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think the regular coms have a


    chance to call upstairs.¡±


    ¡°It will be a couple of hours before we have to go to practice,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°And the flight over is fast,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let anything happen to your sisters,¡± said Josie. ¡°If there is trouble, call me.


    I¡¯ll straighten it out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone at the Hall who knows who you are is going to bother us,¡± said


    Laura.


    ¡°There is always some clown trying to ice skate uphill,¡± said Jack. He smiled.


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Even though, Josie has a bad reputation, there is always going to be someone who


    will try to do something because they don¡¯t believe the stories,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It¡¯s


    human nature.¡±


    Jack grinned and raised his hands to present Elaine to the room. He knew he had


    found the right woman at the right time.


    ¡°We all know she is smarter than you,¡± said Juni.


    ¡°You looked great for your date night,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Bea. ¡°I was jealous.¡±


    ¡°I guess we have to clean up before we go?,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°Juni, Matilda, and Aviras. Shall we go?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call when I have the bands ready,¡± said Jack. He took his off. He should have


    thought about a need to call the Enterprise for future work.


    ¡°We¡¯re just going to see what Juni can do,¡± said Josie. ¡°I still have to write the letter


    to Mister Warner. We should be back in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting,¡± said Jack. He leaned over and kissed his beloved on the cheek.


    ¡°I love you,¡± he said. ¡°You were great standing up to the Society. I thought this


    woman is too good for me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right about that,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°I should have told you about some of what was revealed,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I didn¡¯t think


    it would come out quite like that.¡±


    ¡°We can talk when there aren¡¯t so many nosy parkers in our business,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    don¡¯t imagine Josie will take long with her coaching, so I have to get my part in this


    done. So to the office.¡±


    ¡°Not nosy,¡± declared Alicia.


    ¡°Not tall either,¡± said Jack. He stood and picked up his com band. ¡°Since some of us


    have to clean up this mess before the Wicked Witch gets back, elbow grease should


    be applied rapidly to the process.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Milord,¡± said Beatrice. She stood. ¡°Is Matilda going to be safe?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on her while I¡¯m doing things. I might be able to


    con Old Man Warner into actually helping Juni with the quest. He might not be on


    the restricted list.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re counting on you,¡± said Beatrice. She waved her hands at the other girls to get


    them moving.


    ¡°Archery,¡± said Alicia happily. She hugged Jack before taking her plate into the


    kitchen to be cleaned.


    ¡°I should see if Jane is up to be called,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯m sure she will need more


    help with what we proposed.¡±


    ¡°If you need me, I¡¯ll be up in the office working on the com band stuff,¡± said Jack.


    He examined his band as he headed for the stairs. He passed Bea¡¯s room, his old


    room, and entered the office. He sat down behind the desk and looked at the band as


    he thought about what he needed.


    He would have to do the same with Josie¡¯s band too. Elaine¡¯s might also need to be


    altered. He doubted he wanted to give that much access to the kids, and Aviras didn¡¯t


    have a band yet.


    He should make the dragon a band so he could call Matilda at least.


    Juni¡¯s band would just go to him, Josie, and Matilda. When the challenge was over,


    he would think about expanding her call list. And he would have to put on a button


    for her so he and Josie could call her to see how much trouble she was in.


    Did he have to go home to straighten out her problems? Would the Society even


    allow him to put his list on pause until he fixed her thing? If he got a chance to ask,


    he would.


    Until he knew if he could, he would have to act to make her a place in his new home


    no matter how much he didn¡¯t like it.

 Three Bodies Problem

    Josie led the way through the gate. She walked over to the lever and opened the lid.


    They climbed up the stairs to get out on the grounds.


    ¡°What used to be here, Jo-jo?,¡± asked Juni as she looked around. She had geared up


    in jacket, Gold¡¯s Gym t-shirt and loose pants. The local culture wasn¡¯t ready for her


    in yoga pants in her opinion.


    ¡°A mansion,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack tore it down to build the quinjet. There are some


    things you need to know that aren¡¯t in the casebooks, and there are some things that


    you should think about right now at the outset. You ready?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said June.


    ¡°The one thing you might not need to know unless you pass is the quest system


    sets goals for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°They are a constant reminder that you have agreed


    to do something, and that you should get it done. Be careful about what you think


    you can do from now on until you stop wanting to quest.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said June.


    ¡°The first day I was here, some people locked me up in a cell and threatened to rape


    and sell me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I declared war on those people. I have a reminder that there


    are still a hundred thousand plus people I need to find and deal with in the middle of


    everything. The quest system formed the quest and is keeping tabs on how many more


    targets I have to get rid of before it¡¯s done. If you win the job, that¡¯s something you


    will have to be mindful about while working here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where she met us,¡± said Matilda. She patted Aviras on her head. He hugged


    her skull as well as he was able with his short legs.


    ¡°That¡¯s not in any of the casebooks,¡± said June.


    ¡°It¡¯s personal business,¡± said Josie. ¡°The quest system doesn¡¯t care if it¡¯s personal,


    or for the Society. It just marks down the goal.¡±


    Josie saw one of those numbers fall again. The hunter was still out there helping


    them.


    ¡°The second thing you have to know is the Society does not tell you how dangerous


    a quest is,¡± said Josie. ¡°Even though they want you to find this guy, there is a better


    than even chance that he is involved in something that is a threat to wherever he is.¡±


    ¡°So if I run up on him, I have to be ready to put him down,¡± said June.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to be ready to kill him if you have to do that,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Kill him?,¡± said June. She looked at Matilda and Aviras. They looked back at her.


    They didn¡¯t look as shocked as she felt.


    ¡°These people are not going to play with you, Juni,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s part of the


    reason why I gave you the casebooks. You want in on something where you will have


    to be ready to fight to the finish. There¡¯s not a lot of people who are ready to do that


    unless they are pushed in a corner.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t kill the dragon,¡± pointed out June.


    ¡°Jack made the call,¡± said Josie. ¡°And Aviras is stopped from killing all the elves.


    Mission done.¡±


    ¡°So I don¡¯t have to kill anybody,¡± said June.


    ¡°You have to solve the problem with whatever is at hand,¡± said Matilda. ¡°You might


    have to kill somebody to solve the problem. The main problem with a quest is they


    don¡¯t tell you enough about what we should be doing. They are letting us make the


    decision as long as we are in the guidelines.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re Team Machine,¡± said Josie. ¡°And all these quests are irrelevant numbers. It¡¯s


    up to us to figure out how to handle the problem and apply the solution. Killing


    someone is not always the way to go, but there is no criminal justice system above


    barebones patrol cops. Anyone we stop is not going to face justice outside of what


    we have to apply to clear the quest.¡±


    ¡°Beatrice¡¯s courter poisoned her,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Aviras had to save her life.¡±


    ¡°And he didn¡¯t make it back to the city to stand in front of a judge,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Eventually, his cult is going to be put back on the quest list, and Jack and I will have


    to deal with whatever they think they are doing trying to call up Elder Gods to grant


    them power.¡±


    ¡°Since all I have to do is find the guy, I probably won¡¯t have to fight anyone,¡± said


    June.


    ¡°If you do have to, be ready,¡± said Josie. ¡°Show us what you got on the watch.


    Matilda and Aviras need to know what you have to give you better advice. I might


    be able to give you advice about use of them.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t that get her sent home?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°She¡¯s not my sister who lied like a rug,¡± said Josie. ¡°And if she gets killed, her


    mentally disturbed brother will have to tell her poor elderly parents how she died on


    a job interview. So let¡¯s see what you got.¡±


    June frowned at her watch face. She twisted it to light up the proper name in her mind


    and pressed the execute button. A vision of pink floofiness took her place on the


    grass.


    ¡°Card Captor Sakura gives me one random spell,¡± said Juni. She looked down at the


    suit of pinkness. ¡°I guess FLY is okay.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have anything else?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Juni. ¡°Am I supposed to?¡±


    ¡°There might be something hidden about the persona,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s look at the


    other two.¡±


    ¡°Bond,¡± said June. She turned into a large sheep dog. She sat down and looked


    around. ¡°This is lovely.¡±


    ¡°You look like the dog from the Loony Tunes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Is that all there is to it?¡±


    ¡°But I have a gun,¡± said June. She reached into her fur and pulled out a pistol. ¡°I


    think I have a lot of concealed weapons in my fur.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s strange and on point at the same time,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you have a weapons


    skill with it?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said June. She put the pistol away. ¡°I think I am carrying an arsenal.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see the third form,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I am going to talk to your coaches.¡±


    June let the dog go, and dressed herself in green with green hair. Pale gloves and big


    construction boots finished her ensemble.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°Deku?,¡± said June. ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything. It just says I can.¡±


    ¡°That might be the fall back if the others can¡¯t get things done,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead


    and practice. You need to be able to pick the body you need the most. We¡¯re going


    to talk and then I am going to send the letter to Mister Warner.¡±


    Josie gestured for Matilda and Aviras to follow her to the stairs. She considered what


    she could say to make their job easier.


    ¡°Bond might be a good front guy if he really does have an arsenal in that fur,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°The other two seem to be on the tricky side.¡±


    ¡°Fly might be something to duplicate what Jack¡¯s flight pack can do for me and


    Laura,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°It would help if we had more information,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I don¡¯t like that Deku


    doesn¡¯t seem to have a skill associated with him.¡±


    ¡°There might be something hidden there,¡± said Josie. ¡°Make sure she works each of


    the forms before you try to use the model. I forgot about the time limit. I should


    explain that before I have to get started on my day. Make sure she gets a com band


    like the rest of us so we can call her.¡±


    ¡°Should I ask for one too?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯ve proven your worth. It¡¯s time for you to be able to call


    us if you need us.¡±


    ¡°June!,¡± called Josie. ¡°Come here for a minute.¡±


    June ran over in her Deku form. She smiled slightly.


    ¡°This one enhances me somehow,¡± said June. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much.¡±


    ¡°There are two things I have to tell you before I have to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°The first


    is there is a time limit on how much you can use the watch. Jack and I basically dip


    into the use, and then cut it off when we don¡¯t need it so the watch can recharge.


    Everything I did this morning was like five minutes of real use.¡±


    ¡°Like Ben Ten,¡± said June. She nodded at the implications of running out of power


    when you needed it the most. She let Deku fade away.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie. ¡°The com bands are push button no frills.¡±


    She showed June hers.


    ¡°You push the book, you talk to Matilda,¡± said Josie. ¡°The lightning and Deadpool


    symbol are me and Jack. The band doesn¡¯t work when you activate the watch. Any


    time you need to call for advice, you will have to be normal.¡±


    ¡°The range is only three days ride,¡± said Matilda. ¡°If the quest is outside of Hawk


    Ridge, we will have to go together to wherever it is.¡±


    ¡°And the fastest thing around is Aviras,¡± said Josie. ¡°Everything else is horses.¡±


    ¡°I kind of figured that,¡± said June. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t put the quest on the other side of


    the continent, would they?¡±


    ¡°Did you not see who you were messing with?,¡± said Josie. ¡°They don¡¯t care about


    distance. They don¡¯t care about how you do the quest. They only care that the quest


    gets done. Now, I think that is all. I¡¯m going to write this letter to Mister Warner to


    tell him we¡¯re coming. Practice for a bit to give Jack time to build your band and to


    make sure you know what each persona does, then figure out how to get started.¡±


    ¡°What happens if the quest is done?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°You go home,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Society will give you another quest they will expect


    you to get done in a timely manner because they think the threats are dangerous to


    towns like Hawk Ridge. They don¡¯t seem to care if you amass any wealth to take


    home with you.¡±


    ¡°You and Jack are staying here,¡± said June. ¡°How are you doing that?¡±


    ¡°We have personal quests that we devote our time to so that we are actually helping


    people as we go,¡± said Josie. ¡°The people I have to murder are human traffickers and


    enabled the Lich Queen to start. I have to go. You guys think about what you need


    to do and how you need to do it. If you have any questions, Matilda should be the one


    to make the call to keep you from asking for too much assistance.¡±


    ¡°I already have some ideas on how to proceed,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I will talk to Matilda


    to see if she agrees. Then we will get started.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She pulled out a piece of paper from her messenger bag. She


    headed down the stairs. She hoped she wasn¡¯t making a mistake trusting June to look


    after her littlest sister.


    Josie decided she had to let June fly or crash on her own as much as possible. Her


    wanting to start over in the fantasy land that had drawn in her brother seemed


    questionable, but the champion of order wasn¡¯t a gatekeeper.


    And the visit itself was her idea and that made June her responsibility up to a point.


    Josie went through the gate and settled at the dining room table. She wrote out a note


    for Mister Warner and sent it with the help of Zatanna. He appeared a few seconds


    later, letting some tuxedo wearing persona return to the void as he looked around.


    ¡°This is your place?,¡± asked Warner. He pulled on the front of his jacket.


    ¡°It used to be a dungeon,¡± said Josie. ¡°Please sit. I can get you some breakfast and


    coffee.¡±


    ¡°Have you talked to June yet?,¡± said Warner. He settled at the table. He looked


    around, taking in everything.


    ¡°She got three characters from anime from the looks of it,¡± said Josie. ¡°She¡¯s


    practicing. I have our casebooks for you up in the office.¡±


    ¡°I can whip up copies of my quests with Marvello,¡± said Warner. ¡°It should be a snap.


    Is there anything not in the casebooks I should know?¡±


    ¡°We are at war with human traffickers that have no problem enslaving women and


    girls to be experimented on,¡± said Josie. ¡°So far we have only put a small dent in their


    operations.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to stay here full time,¡± said Warner. ¡°But I can give you a hand until I


    finish this third quest.¡±


    ¡°Can you walk Juni through her quest?,¡± said Josie. ¡°She supposed to find this guy.¡±


    ¡°I think that would be a bad idea for her,¡± said Warner. ¡°That might lead to her


    disqualification.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever seen anything like this?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°My first quest taking over for Summerland was like this,¡± said Warner. ¡°I had a ring


    then.¡±


    ¡°Jack found it,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s working on it to give to Bea.¡±


    ¡°How did he do that?,¡± asked Warner. ¡°I thought I had got rid of it for good.¡±


    ¡°Some guy trying to wake up the Dark Rider had it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack took it from


    him while doing the quest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad he stopped the Rider,¡± said Warner. ¡°That guy was always spouting off by


    his forgotten kingdom. I never figured out how to stop him for good.¡±


    ¡°Apparently he had a secret power source that kept bringing him back,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Jack found it and ripped it up.¡±


    ¡°Good for him,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°Why did you stop?,¡± said Josie. She leaned back in her chair.


    ¡°This kind of work wears on you, Jo,¡± said Warner. He stared at something in the


    distance, before snapping back. ¡°You are in charge with protecting most of a planet,


    and you see a lot of suffering and unfixable problems while doing what you can. And


    after a while, you have to put it down and let other people do the work.¡±


    ¡°I know about Harp and his arm,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I blew that,¡± said Warner. ¡°I should have been more thoughtful but he was going to


    die.¡±


    ¡°Jack gave him a new arm,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You¡¯re joking,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Just like Cyborg,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s the girls¡¯ sword teacher.¡±


    ¡°I would have thought the Guild wouldn¡¯t let him do anything with one arm,¡± said


    Warner.


    ¡°They gave him up because I was threatening the livelihood of the adventurers in


    Hawk Ridge,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What are you doing here, Josie?,¡± asked Warner.


    ¡°She¡¯s practicing her Wolverine imitation,¡± said Jack as he appeared on the stairs.


    ¡°You could have told us you were the Green Lantern of this place even if you knew


    I hate the Green Lantern.¡±


    ¡°The story sounds too crazy to tell people who don¡¯t know,¡± said Warner. ¡°June must


    have been desperate to come here.¡±


    ¡°I think the fight game has decided to try to get its pound of flesh from her,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°Do we go back to fix her problem in that world when we still have work to do in this


    world?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Can we go back while we still have quests to do?,¡± said Josie. She glanced at


    Warner. He shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask the Society the next time we have a town hall,¡± said Jack. ¡°They never did


    that before.¡±


    ¡°They like to keep things low key,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m a low key type of guy,¡± said Jack. He grinned at their visitor.


    ¡°You are so full of it,¡± said Warner. He shook his head. ¡°You haven¡¯t been low key


    since that thing with the clowns.¡±


    ¡°I was six at the time,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a right to hate clowns now.¡±


    ¡°Did you get Juni¡¯s band ready?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes, I did,¡± said Jack. He handed over a band with four buttons on it. ¡°I also


    modified my band, and Elaine¡¯s. And I have a tiny band for Aviras.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She leaned over and looked at his com band. There was three


    more buttons on it. One was the Trek badge. One was a flame. The last was a flower.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t consider a band for you, Mister Warner,¡± said Jack. ¡°But it won¡¯t take me


    a minute to whip up another so you can have one.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± said Warner, holding up his hand. ¡°I won¡¯t be here long.¡±


    ¡°If you decide to stay after you get done with your last quest, I can make you one,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Do you need help with it?¡±


    ¡°Zu has me down to look at some goblin thing in the south,¡± said Warner. ¡°Coming


    through Hawk Ridge was the fastest way to get down there and look around to see


    what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°We can use the Enterprise to get down there,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can¡¯t do much here


    until we have the hospitals ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Let me check on Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can take a look at the model.¡±

 Sail Away

    Jack took Josie¡¯s band. He pulled some coins out of a pocket and laid everything on


    the table. Then he pulled on Magik, and looked at the pieces he needed to put


    together in a new construction.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this, Jack?,¡± said Warner. He frowned at the flow of numbers and letters


    pretending to be a human body.


    ¡°Magik, Colossus¡¯s sister,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was using the Scarlet Witch, but then I


    realized her hex power was limited in a lot of ways.¡±


    ¡°So you picked someone who can really do magic,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. He picked up the coins and concentrated on them, forming them


    into discs with holed centers. He picked up the band. He fit the discs against the


    surface of the thing, shrinking them to fit into place. He concentrated to add the


    markers on the new buttons. ¡°Here you go. Try it out.¡±


    Josie pressed the button for the Enterprise.


    ¡°This is Josie, Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°Status?¡±


    ¡°Optimal,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°In stationary orbit over Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might be heading south to look at some goblins in a few,


    maybe use the transporter to get around town. We¡¯ll call to let you know.¡±


    ¡°Sounds just like Majel Barrett,¡± said Warner. ¡°You built that?¡±


    ¡°I admit that Aviras reminded me of the possibility,¡± said Jack. He let the persona


    go. ¡°If he hadn¡¯t, I would have done the work of the gardener and wrecked


    Shemmaria.¡±


    ¡°The whole country?,¡± said Warner. ¡°Is that even possible?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. He pulled out a thin strip of metal and some more coins. He worked


    on them while he thought. ¡°All you need is the ability to propagate your spell until


    it is wide enough.¡±


    ¡°And then you can do anything you want?,¡± asked Warner.


    ¡°Not anything,¡± said Jack. ¡°The spell is a single use summons.¡±


    He worked the coins and strip until he had a new band. He checked against his band


    and Josie¡¯s. He put it down, and a ring beside it.


    ¡°Josie said you made a bionic arm for Darry Harp,¡± said Warner. ¡°Is it the same


    type magic as these communication bands?¡±


    ¡°This body allows me to do transformations that won¡¯t change back after the spell


    is done,¡± said Jack. ¡°The formulae in my heads allow me to see things, and how they


    work.¡±


    He turned the persona off.


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to give me a lift to the south of here?,¡± asked Warner.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°We haven¡¯t really flown the Enterprise much. Something the size


    of a planet isn¡¯t that much of a challenge for her to cross.¡±


    ¡°I think Jack and Aviras were arguing about exploring the solar system,¡± said Josie.


    She hid a thin smile at their reactions.


    ¡°We weren¡¯t really arguing about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°We were arguing about the


    propulsion systems.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°We were arguing about the use of impulse and warp power versus the jump drive


    and gravity stuff Star Wars uses,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some Stargate stuff too. We thought we


    might need a working model. And then we got the quest and I built the Enterprise out


    of the enemy¡¯s labs. We still might have to go back and drop a torpedo on some of


    those goons so they don¡¯t try anything else stupid enough to endanger the world.¡±


    ¡°There is always going to be someone stupid enough to endanger the world,¡± said


    Warner. He sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s see this model.¡±


    ¡°I have to talk to Elaine first,¡± said Josie. ¡°If Jane can¡¯t get a big enough building, we


    might have to use a touch of Mary Poppins on a cleared piece of ground.¡±


    She checked the kitchen before heading upstairs. Elaine used the office more than


    they did.


    ¡°Are you okay?,¡± asked Warner. He kept an eye out in case Josie came back and


    interrupted their talk.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t need a therapist.¡±


    ¡°Who said anything about a therapist?,¡± asked Warner.


    ¡°Nobody,¡± said Jack. He put on his grin. ¡°Forget I mentioned it.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything I can do for you before I go home?,¡± asked Warner. ¡°You seem to


    be having a lot of emotional things going on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°This has been good for me for the most part. The magictech


    is a major escape for me at the moment. I was thinking about building one of those


    cities in the sky like Asteroid M, but now I have one. I have to think about turning it


    into a real station instead of a makeshift one.¡±


    ¡°Have Josie send me a letter if you need me to drop by,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wish I could get my collection out of storage and sent here,


    but that¡¯s going to be hard without any magic there to do the deed.¡±


    ¡°Give me a couple of hours and I¡¯ll think of a way to fix that,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Jack. He felt a real smile on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m not guaranteeing anything,¡± said Warner. ¡°I don¡¯t see why I can¡¯t come up with


    something.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Jack,¡± said June. She carried Matilda and Aviras as she jogged into the dining


    room. ¡°Mister Warner. We have some things to look at so we can get started.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s your band,¡± said Jack. ¡°This one is yours, Aviras. Put them on. I already


    tested them so I know they work.¡±


    ¡°I only have four buttons,¡± said June.


    ¡°I only gave you a button for Matilda, Aviras, Josie and me,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you


    stay, I may give you buttons for the rest of the girls. Do not abuse the privilege.


    Do you need to know anything about this?¡±


    ¡°Josie showed me how they work,¡± said June. ¡°And my coaches will remind me


    on how it works if I forget.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this, Juniper?,¡± asked Warner. ¡°Saving the day takes a lot


    of work.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m hoping that I qualify enough that I can stay here and avoid problems at home,¡±


    said June. ¡°If I am missing, my creditors might write everything off.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to deal with some goblins, and then I am on my way home,¡± said


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.Warner. ¡°Do you need me to give a message to your folks?¡±


    ¡°Can I write something down for you to take home?,¡± said June. ¡°Matilda and


    Aviras think they have a foolproof plan that I can use to finish my quest.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far,¡± said Aviras. ¡°But if it works, we might be able to finish


    June¡¯s quest today.¡±


    ¡°I like a dragon with some confidence,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his not so tiny


    friend.


    ¡°My ring doesn¡¯t seem to work,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I don¡¯t see any buttons.¡±


    ¡°Yours is voice activated,¡± said Jack. ¡°You have to say call person with band.¡±


    ¡°Call Jack,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Hmm.¡±


    His hum came from him and Jack¡¯s arm.


    ¡°Echo,¡± said June.


    ¡°Then you say end call to cut the call,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°End call,¡± said Aviras. ¡°This will be useful. Thank you, Jack.¡±


    ¡°No problem,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m like Q from the James Bond movies.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell us about them?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°We¡¯re on a schedule,¡± said June. ¡°If things work out, I will tell you about them. I


    will try to get you copies of the movies if things don¡¯t work out.¡±


    ¡°I can ask the head cheese to be let to go home and fix your problem like a quest,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°I got it, Jack,¡± said June. ¡°Send a letter home to explain things. The folks would love


    that.¡±


    ¡°I will think about it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, kids,¡± said June. ¡°We have our gadgets. It¡¯s time to do the mission.¡±


    They rushed up the stairs.


    ¡°They must be headed upstairs to look at the model,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will paint targets


    and Aviras and Matilda know that.¡±


    ¡°If the target isn¡¯t in Hawk Ridge, how are they going to get there,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a clue,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe one of June¡¯s bodies can fly really fast.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Warner. ¡°I can see that.¡±


    ¡°That reminds me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have your old ring. I think I can alter it to take voice


    commands for Bea.¡±


    ¡°Josie said you took it off some guy trying to raise the Dark Rider,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Donald Corle,¡± said Jack. ¡°He was going to sacrifice Jane and her initial crew to do


    it.¡±


    ¡°Jack!,¡± called Josie from upstairs.


    Jack jumped from his seat and ran upstairs. He found an angry Josie and a dismayed


    Elaine in the office. He didn¡¯t see the three stooges anywhere.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Where¡¯s Matilda and the others?¡±


    ¡°Aviras called the Enterprise and beamed them aboard,¡± said Josie. She said it


    with the face that she put on to keep her anger in check. He stepped back out of fist


    range.


    ¡°Call and tell the Enterprise to beam them back down,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The Enterprise is not answering the call,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible unless Aviras told the ship to ignore us,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Of course he did,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you find them and get them back?¡±


    ¡°Finding them will be the easy part,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I never thought he


    would shut us out of the system. I might have to revoke his officer status.¡±


    ¡°They used the model first,¡± said Elaine. She pointed at the black dots moving


    around. ¡°All of these dots are Boim Russ.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s six, or seven, guys there,¡± said Jack. ¡°It looks familiar somehow.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me call up Mister Fantastic.¡±


    Jack called up his genius persona and looked at the model. He flicked back through


    all the other times he looked at the model to find things. He frowned at the


    associated memories.


    ¡°Todd Fain did this,¡± said Jack. He let the persona go. ¡°When I asked where he was,


    the model gave me two Todd Fains. The other one was about where this Russ is


    now.¡±


    ¡°Do we fly at this?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Will that disqualify June if we do?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Do we care if it disqualifies June?¡±


    ¡°We need to figure out which Russ they thought was the one they needed to hunt


    down, and we need to catch up with them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They came in and looked for their target,¡± said Elaine. ¡°June changed into one of her


    other forms. She looked at the model for a second. Then she picked the one farthest


    away. Then Aviras called the Enterprise and they left.¡±


    ¡°They picked the one where the other Todd was?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I am sure of that,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°So we need to get out there and do something about them commanding the most


    powerful force on the planet,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this.¡±


    ¡°I got it, Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Nothing will happen to Matilda.


    What do you have to do here?¡±


    ¡°Jane was able to do arrange to buy the first building we emptied over the Pears,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°She said they were working on how much. Everyone we already sent is non-


    responsive and set up in a small tent city on the lawn until they can move them into


    the first building. They don¡¯t know who owns the second building so we can offer to


    buy it from the member of the Montrose using it for a hold point when we find them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mister Warner has to deal with some goblins before he can


    go home. I already said we would help him with that. I had thought we would use


    the Enterprise, but first we have to get it back. You two go ahead and sort the


    building things out with Jane. I¡¯ll get the Enterprise back and help Mister Warner


    with his quest so he can go home.¡±


    ¡°I would like his old quests before he goes home,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some of our problems


    might have been some of his problems.¡±


    ¡°We will work on that between the other stuff,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°Don¡¯t


    worry. Whatever else goes down, Aviras will protect Matilda with his tiny little


    body.¡±


    ¡°He better,¡± said Josie. She rubbed her face for a moment. ¡°All right. What do you


    need to get out there and get them back.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine, would you like to go out to that


    restaurant again when I get home?¡±


    ¡°Another date night?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Maybe not a full on date, but at least some food and maybe some stealth hugging


    in the dark somewhere,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Stealth hugging in the dark?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know anything about the mighty stealth hug,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I know it will be hard to hug someone if I rip both of your arms off, buddy,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°That¡¯s some basic anatomy right there.¡±


    ¡°I will be glad to do some stealth hugging in the dark after we take care of our


    obligations,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He took one more look at the model to make sure he knew


    where to go. ¡°Let¡¯s get dangerous.¡±


    Jack leaned over and gave Elaine a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room. He


    knew where to go to look for his sheep. He didn¡¯t know what Juni had done to pick


    that Russ to be the prime target over all the others, but he could find that out when he


    caught up with them.


    Then he might have some harsh words for his adopted cousins and natural sister. He


    didn¡¯t know what to say as he wondered which hero he could use to cover the ground


    to the northernest part of the continent.


    He was impressed that one of them had thought of shutting out anyone else from


    taking over the Enterprise until they got to where they were going. He never thought


    any of them would think of that.


    He would have to fix that loophole in the chain of command.


    ¡°What happened?,¡± asked Warner. He had dug up a plate of food and a glass of


    juice from somewhere while Jack had been upstairs.


    ¡°One of our trio of misfits figured out how to steal the Enterprise and fly at their


    target across the map,¡± said Jack. ¡°My money is on Aviras since I made him third


    in command in case something happened to me and Josie. Josie is mad about it


    since we were going to try to offload the injured goblin tree victims and the infected


    Shemmarians we picked up.¡±


    ¡°June might have come up with the idea,¡± said Warner. He sipped his juice. ¡°She


    knows about the Next Gen just like us.¡±


    ¡°Either way, it¡¯s going to cost a little time to deal with your goblins,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Josie said to remind you to leave your books for us to read.¡±


    ¡°Not a problem,¡± said Warner. ¡°Do you want me to show you how things are done in


    the evil fighting business?¡±


    ¡°I doubt you can show me anything in that regard,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the older


    man. ¡°But I am always willing to take whatever someone leaves for me to better


    myself.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if I have some of the old juice left,¡± said Warner. He touched his watch and


    became a younger looking version of himself in a tuxedo. ¡°All right. This will take


    me a couple of minutes.¡±


    He made a hand gesture and pages fell out of his sleeve and dropped on the table in


    a stack. He waited for the rain of paper to stop before making a gesture and letting


    strips of metal clip the whole thing together like a book.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Warner. ¡°That should do the trick for you.¡±


    ¡°Josie¡¯s looks a lot better,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Warner. ¡°There are a lot of memories in that pile of paper. Not a lot


    of them are pretty either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°Anything I made would look a lot worse. Let¡¯s see what


    we can do about our stolen star ship.¡±


    ¡°It makes sense if June didn¡¯t have anything with fast travel,¡± said Warner. He let


    the persona go. ¡°I have Skyman so we can get there pretty fast if we want.¡±


    ¡°Skyman?,¡± said Jack. ¡°How fast are we talking here?¡±


    ¡°Pretty fast,¡± said Warner. ¡°I can get us to the Ell Zee in two hops maybe, depending


    on where it is.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I had an idea to get out there, but yours seems faster to me.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Warner. ¡°Let¡¯s step outside and I will show you what a true dial


    can do.¡±


    ¡°I would love to see this,¡± said Jack.


    He led the way outside. He checked his watch, and it was almost full. If Warner


    dropped him, he had enough time and power to save himself.


    ¡°Here we go,¡± said Warner. ¡°Just remember, you might have to do the heavy lifting


    at the other end.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°How much trouble can Juni get into?¡±


    ¡°You know better than to tempt fate like that,¡± said Warner. ¡°Skyman.¡±


    Warner vanished in the air. Something invisible picked Jack up, retaining a grip


    around his middle. Then he soared out of Hawk Ridge to the farthest point north you


    could go unless you decided to sail to some other northern destination on the other


    side of the globe.

 The Start of The Day

    Josie fumed silently. She took a moment to take a deep breath. She exhaled her fury,


    letting the anger drop to acceptable levels.


    ¡°Do we wait, or do we go ahead with our plans?,¡± asked Elaine. She seemed calm


    enough. She definitely was the steadier of the two of them.


    ¡°We go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can¡¯t do anything without proper housing, and I don¡¯t


    think Jane has the room for more people to be laid out at her mansion. We have to


    secure the buildings and try to set up a staff until everyone is better.¡±


    ¡°How do we get started?,¡± asked Elaine. ¡°I have already talked to Jane. She said the


    Exchange is doing a deed search for the original building we want to use.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She saw the makings of a plan in her mind. ¡°We can¡¯t do


    anything until Jack and Mister Warner get the Enterprise back. So let¡¯s talk to Jane,


    and then we¡¯ll swing by and talk to Guin, or Linus. If either one of them found the


    owner of the second building, we¡¯ll talk to them next.¡±


    ¡°Laura has a good command of her flight power,¡± said Elaine. ¡°She¡¯ll be able to get


    everyone to the guild hall without us.¡±


    ¡°If we can hire adventurers to supplement our manpower needs, that will take some


    of the load off of us,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need caregivers for everyone too.¡±


    ¡°Some adventurers have some battlefield experience,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We should talk


    to some of the temples. Maybe they can lend us some of their clerics to nurse our


    victims.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you know anyone here?¡±


    ¡°Not here,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I left the sisterhood a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to talk about it?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Not now,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Maybe some time when we aren¡¯t chasing our youngest and


    her dragon across the world.¡±


    ¡°That is a sentence I never thought I would hear ever,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°So let us go about our day,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I doubt that Guin will be at the Coin this


    early in the morning. Do you know where he lives?¡±


    ¡°I can find out,¡± said Josie. ¡°So we hit him first, swing by Jane¡¯s, try to find the


    owner of the second building, and then have lunch, and check in with Jack and Mister


    Warner. Then we go by the Hall and see if Sally could get us some bodies to help


    move our patients.¡±


    ¡°I think that is a good plan,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We will also need to be ready to help Jack


    if he needs it wherever he winds up.¡±


    They looked at the model. Elaine almost put her finger on the black and red dot that


    was Jack soaring through the air.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She nodded. Jack should be able to handle his sister and a


    couple of tagalongs. She asked for the Enterprise and their lost sheep. Various dots


    put them close to each other.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me put up one more spell in case I have to go out there.


    Then we can go out in the city.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What do you plan to do?¡±


    ¡°I figured out how to do long range teleportation,¡± said Josie. ¡°Matter of fact, I can


    do that inside the city to help us get around faster.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I need my notebook and coin pouch. I will be ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and get them,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will send out the bird to keep an eye on


    things, and then I¡¯ll send out another to take us over to Master Guin¡¯s place.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go without me,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be waiting at home when I can


    be doing something.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to sort things out with the city, and


    anyone else who wants a piece of the action while Jack and I run around and fix


    things.¡±


    Elaine nodded and headed downstairs.


    Josie turned her attention to the model. She should have went and stuck Jack with all


    of this infrastructure crap. She could have already been there. She wondered what he


    was using. He was flying fast across the continent.


    She turned into Zatanna and sent out the bird she wanted to use to get to the


    Enterprise. It was a safe harbor, and she was the first officer. That should be enough


    to give her back command of the ship.


    And then two people were going to be grounded for a while after this all shook out.


    She sent another bird to Guin. Once she tripped it, it would set her and Elaine down


    on the street outside where he was. Then she could just ask to speak with him and


    then go about the rest of her day.


    If they knew who owned the second building, she could make them an offer they


    couldn¡¯t refuse.


    She let the persona go and headed downstairs. She wanted to do one last check on the


    rest of the girls. Then she could really get started.


    Anybody getting in her way today was getting a fistful of knuckles.


    She spotted the pile of bound paper on the dining room table. She read the top of it


    and almost smiled. Mister Warner had come through with his case work. She hoped


    it was interesting reading.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Elaine. She shrugged into a jacket over her normal dark green dress


    and boots.


    ¡°Girls?,¡± said Josie. She looked around for her sisters.


    ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± said Beatrice from the living room. ¡°We still have an hour before we


    have to take off.¡±


    ¡°Elaine and I are heading out,¡± said Josie. ¡°If Matilda, Aviras, and June get back


    before we do, tell them they are all grounded. No books, ice cream, or roadwork.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Beatrice.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Josie took Elaine¡¯s hand and activated the first bird. They popped out of the dining


    room, and popped back in down the street from where a walled mansion stood in the


    middle of its grounds.


    ¡°That was a lot smoother than the other means that you have carried me,¡± said Elaine.


    Josie switched back to let her watch recharge as they walked up to the gate. She


    didn¡¯t know if it was smoother than her usual teleportation, but it had longer range


    since she could send a bird anywhere and it would wait until she needed to use it.


    ¡°If I get a call from the Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will be able to transition out there


    as soon as the bird is on station. Then we¡¯ll see if June and her coaches were on the


    right track.¡±


    ¡°We might need to remodel the buildings into something we can use,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The one definitely,¡± said Josie. ¡°It was just an open space filled with cages.¡±


    They paused at the gate leading up Guin¡¯s house. Two toughs on guard regarded


    them. No solicitation was the rule.


    ¡°Is Guin or Linus in?,¡± asked Josie. She wondered how fast she needed to be to reach


    through the gate and pull the first sentry¡¯s face into the bars.


    She thought she could do it depending on how much adrenaline she dumped into her


    system in preparation to fight.


    ¡°Who should I say is asking for them?,¡± asked the sentry. She frowned at his


    expression. It said he was going to say no unless she was on a short list of visitors.


    ¡°This is Elaine Numera,¡± said Josie. She gestured at the taller woman. ¡°I¡¯m Josie


    Fox.¡±


    ¡°Jack¡¯s friend?,¡± said the sentry. He looked at his partner. The thousand thoughts


    running through his head clearly said don¡¯t get killed in a horrible way.


    ¡°We just wanted to check in with them about a building we are hoping to buy,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We¡¯re not here to hurt anybody.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we have Jack for,¡± said Elaine.


    Josie glanced at her. She had said that so deadpan she could have been Spock. She


    shrugged and turned her attention back to the gate.


    ¡°I will go up and see if Linus will come down and talk to you,¡± said the sentry. The


    decision meant he was leaving his partner in the clutches of the meanest witch in the


    city. He was okay with that. He hurried off.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know who we could hire for some manual labor?,¡± asked


    Josie. ¡°We might have to move some bodies around.¡±


    ¡°Not off hand,¡± said the other sentry. His expression said he hoped she wasn¡¯t


    planning on moving his dead body around.


    Linus came out of the mansion before Josie could ask more questions. He had a


    napkin tucked into his collar. Evidently they had caught him at breakfast.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the loon?,¡± he asked in his grumbling voice.


    ¡°Jack¡¯s sister applied to the Society, and he went out of town to make sure she wasn¡¯t


    blowing things up,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the eyeroll that engendered. ¡°I know.


    You will have two loons to deal with in the future if she passes. I can hook you up.


    June loves big guys.¡±


    ¡°I think I will avoid that trap,¡± said Linus. ¡°Cutton says you came by about the


    building you wanted.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re on the way to talk to Jane and check on the women we already dropped in her


    lap, and then we were going to go by the bank and help with that if we could,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°If we get the first building ready, we¡¯ll move those people out of the House


    and get them settled there. I think I can move them all myself, but we are going to


    need people to watch out for them while they are recovering, if they recover.¡±


    ¡°There are always people we can hire,¡± said Linus. ¡°Most of them will be thieves


    looking things over.¡±


    ¡°See if you can get a bunch of alchemists and any doctors and nurses together,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll have to hire them to help Jane out. She is going to have oversee the


    charity and the hospitals at the same time. That¡¯s going to be a lot of work for her.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Linus. ¡°I know some people I can put on the ground for you. How


    serious is this?¡±


    ¡°We have a lot of people in cold storage,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have a lot of people I


    already dumped on Jane. Once they start recovering, we can send them home if they


    have a home to go home to after all this. The Montrose doesn¡¯t seem to care why they


    take anybody as long as they get paid. I¡¯m going to talk to Eric and see if I can be


    more active.¡±


    ¡°Jack killed a lot of them in the city at the old Duke¡¯s place,¡± said Linus. ¡°Anyone left


    is going to be at bottom of the chain.¡±


    ¡°They probably don¡¯t know we hit two of the depots,¡± said Josie. ¡°On one hand,


    better communications would allow them to counter what we do better. The way it


    is now, the organization might notice a chunk is missing when they aren¡¯t getting


    money from Hawk Ridge anymore which gives me more time to do what I want to


    do.¡±


    ¡°Master Guin has been able to negotiate a takeover of some of the territories around


    ours,¡± said Linus. ¡°Some of the bosses were in the syndicate like Corle and got caught


    up in the whirlwind.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°As long as you guys are doing good, we¡¯re doing good. If you


    want a woman who can carry you around in her bare hands, I will intro you to June.


    She might need a big guy to take her around and show her things.¡±


    ¡°I would rather not,¡± said Linus. ¡°A visit from Jack is bad enough without letting his


    relatives marry into my family.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything about marriage,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That would just make things worst,¡± said Linus. ¡°It was a pleasure to deal with you


    again.¡±


    ¡°Before I forget, do you know who owns the second building?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°A local lord named Endwright,¡± said Linus. ¡°The staff have turned away our


    messenger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to him,¡± said Josie. ¡°He was sick when we blew through there. Hopefully,


    he has gotten better since then.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Linus. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything off hand,¡± said Josie. ¡°This has been a busy few weeks.


    We¡¯ll look back on this and say where did the year go.¡±


    ¡°Call when you need the men,¡± said Linus. ¡°I¡¯ll send the word and direct them where


    they need to go.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Linus,¡± said Josie. She waved at him, and the two sentries. She and Elaine


    started off down the street.


    ¡°The other two think Linus is brave for talking to you like he did,¡± said Elaine. ¡°He


    is telling him that you are not that dangerous, and not to be scared more than they


    would running into a wolf pack in the forest.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t know my reputation was that bad.¡±


    ¡°It will be a long time before you have a reputation,¡± said Elaine. She smiled. ¡°Right


    now, you just have people who know you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder if that is what happened to Mister Warner. He


    didn¡¯t stay, so anyone not associated with him would just think he was a phantom


    messenger of the gods.¡±


    ¡°I am glad that he left us his case book,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That was a book Jack will need


    to move with his watch.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who do you want to visit next, Jane or Endwright?¡±


    ¡°We should visit Jane,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We should check on her even though I called.


    Then Endwright. He is a noble. He might be harder to see than our friend.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wish Jack would call. I want to know what¡¯s going on. As


    a reserve, it gets on my nerves not to know things.¡±


    ¡°Patience,¡± said Elaine. She smiled. ¡°As Jack¡¯s grandmother says there are two kinds


    of people in this world: patient winners and impatient failures.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get started on that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I met Grandma Lee. She was a gem.¡±


    ¡°I hope she will come to the wedding,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°She can¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°She died while we were still in school. She came down with


    some kind of pneumonia. The family found her in her bed when she didn¡¯t come to


    get breakfast.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Talk to me about this priestess of Kord thing while we¡¯re walking,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    don¡¯t think Jack has ever dated a religious figure before.¡±


    ¡°I would rather not,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think that I am going to allow that to stay in the


    past except where I have to sort things out with Jack. He hasn¡¯t really asked me


    anything about myself. I find it odd, but charming. It¡¯s like a fresh start.¡±


    ¡°He is definitely better with you,¡± said Josie. She called on Zatanna and sent a bird


    to Jane¡¯s mansion. She could have just whisked them, but she liked the bird better.


    It was less draw on her resources and the ride was smoother when she popped along.


    They arrived at the gate and the gate woman from the other evening was on duty. She


    smiled at the pair of them as she opened the gate.


    ¡°Does she rip ears off too?,¡± asked the sentry.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°She makes sure Jack bites the right person on command.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a valuable talent,¡± said the sentry.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. She led the way on the mansion¡¯s grounds. ¡°Is Jane around?¡±


    ¡°I saw her at roll call,¡± said the sentry. She looked at the tent covered yard. ¡°She


    should be in there somewhere.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll look for her,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to see if we can get these people moved


    out of here today, and if we can hire people to watch over them until they get better.¡±


    ¡°That would be great,¡± said the sentry.

 Frankenstein

    Jack spotted the Enterprise in the distance. Whomever Skyman was, he was fast. His


    own flying hero, Ikaris, might be just as fast but it was hard to say.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack, into his com band. ¡°This is the captain, open the hangar deck.


    I¡¯m coming aboard.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The back of the Enterprise opened. A force field


    snapped on to keep the air inside.


    ¡°Secure all individuals onboard in the brig,¡± ordered Jack. ¡°I want to talk to them


    before Josie decides to do something to them.¡±


    ¡°Officer Aviras and guest are secured in the brig,¡± said the machine.


    Jack touched down in the hangar. Mister Warner returned to normal at his side.


    ¡°That was faster than I thought,¡± said Warner. ¡°So we are talking to Aviras first?¡±


    ¡°Is June Lee onboard?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°They already put her down on the ground,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s talk to our prisoners.


    Then we¡¯ll check on June.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should call Josie and let her know her duckling is okay,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Good idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, which brig did you put our prisoners in, and can


    you call Josie?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Officer Aviras and Passenger Matilda are in the


    brig on Deck Forty Two.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you switch us to that deck, please?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. Jack felt the tingle of transportation before stepping


    on Deck Forty Two. He went to a station and asked for the location of the brig. The


    screen pointed him toward the edge of the saucer.


    ¡°You built this?,¡± asked Warner. He had his hands in his pockets as he looked around.


    ¡°Transformed it from a bunch of material,¡± said Jack. ¡°It has been a good resource the


    short amount of time we¡¯ve been using it. I still need to get the infected out of storage


    and cure them. That¡¯s what Josie was working on when we left.¡±


    ¡°Medicine here is still almost at the leech level,¡± said Warner. ¡°I¡¯m surprised they


    even invented ways to do things with Alchemy.¡±


    ¡°Maybe the effects are simpler when you use monsters for ingredients,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the brig,¡± said Jack. ¡°Shall we?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this so we can move on,¡± said Warner. ¡°I still have the goblins to deal with


    before I can go home.¡±


    They entered the brig. Matilda and Aviras sat on the bed. They winced when they saw


    Jack grinning, and Mister Warner looking grumpy.


    ¡°You know they cut people¡¯s hands off in some countries for thievery,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    wondered which hand you two want to lose.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t,¡± said Matilda. She shared a look with her dragon. ¡°I need my hand.¡±


    ¡°I can make you another one,¡± said Jack. ¡°So who came up with the idea of stealing


    a city in the sky and the hospital full of sick people?¡±


    ¡°We were guaranteed uses of resources,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°You stole the resources,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s try again. Who came up with the idea, and


    then we¡¯re going to let you explain everything to Josie, and she will talk to you about


    which hand you want to lose.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s never better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission,¡± Mister Warner said.


    ¡°People who do that can¡¯t be trusted.¡±


    ¡°We discussed it,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I made the decision to take the Enterprise so we


    could help June get through her trial.¡±


    ¡°You made the decision?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I did,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I used Aviras to get access and the Enterprise carried us to


    where we could look for Russ in the city below.¡±


    ¡°Is this true, Aviras?,¡± said Jack. He turned his gaze on the dragon.


    ¡°Some of it,¡± said Aviras. ¡°We discussed the situation and how we could get across


    the country if we had to, and I stated that my status would allow us to cross the


    country faster. I helped them to carry out the scheme.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I would like to keep my forelimbs,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You can have a rear leg if you


    want it.¡±


    ¡°Really?.¡± said Jack. His eyebrows raised up to his forehead.


    ¡°I will make the payment for Matilda,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°You can¡¯t,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Don¡¯t take Aviras¡¯s leg. It¡¯s not his fault.¡±


    ¡°How old are you two?,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m eight,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I think I am five hundred years old,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly. Why?¡±


    ¡°Jack isn¡¯t going to cut anybody¡¯s limb off,¡± said Warner. ¡°You¡¯re too young and


    inexperienced to know that.¡±


    ¡°Do I really look like a guy who will pull out a chainsaw and get to work?,¡± said Jack.


    Stolen story; please report.He frowned at them.


    ¡°This is a trap,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I prefer it when you are cold and menacing, instead of


    all smiles and hi-ho.¡±


    ¡°Points for you, dragon,¡± said Warner. ¡°People who try to be funny all the time tend


    toward an emotional state called depression and try to hide what they are really


    feeling.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not depressed,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am really this happy most of the time when Josie¡¯s


    youngest sister and her familiar are not stealing my stuff.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Warner. ¡°Are you going to keep your thieves in jail until we get back to


    Hawk Ridge?¡±


    ¡°Would you like to get out of jail?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Have you learned your lesson?¡±


    ¡°I will never steal another flying city again,¡± said Matilda. She held up her hand in


    a way that he took was close to the girl scout salute.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going up to the bridge. We¡¯re going to find June and figure


    out what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°This was actually smarter than I thought you would come up with as transportation,¡±


    said Warner. ¡°Who told the Enterprise not to answer calls?¡±


    ¡°June suggested it so we could get across the country without being recalled,¡± said


    Matilda.


    ¡°Score one for you,¡± said Jack. He pushed the button to drop the glowing field door.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Josie from his com band. ¡°The Enterprise pinged me.¡±


    ¡°June is on the ground somewhere,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to go up to the bridge


    and look for her.¡±


    ¡°Matilda?,¡± said June from the girl¡¯s band. ¡°I need some suggestions here.¡±


    ¡°Speak of the devil,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What do you need, June?,¡± asked Matilda. She looked at Jack and Warner. Jack


    nodded for her to go ahead with whatever she needed to do.


    ¡°Is it normal to find limbs in boxes of ice?,¡± said June.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Matilda. She frowned at her com band.


    ¡°There is a set of work rooms,¡± said June. ¡°One has a set of boxes with different body


    parts on ice. Is that normal here?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°June, I want you to get out of there. Mark the building from the


    outside. I think this might be worse than what we were led to believe by the Society.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Juni. ¡°Unless Russ is one of the people cut up and put in a box


    somewhere.¡±


    ¡°You will be hanged if you are caught in the house by anyone else,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get


    out so we can evaluate what you found. If Russ isn¡¯t there, then there¡¯s no reason for


    you to stay. Just find a spot to watch the place from the outside.¡±


    ¡°I can take this guy,¡± said Juni. ¡°I have Bond the spy dog.¡±


    ¡°As your coach, I ask you to get outside if you can without being seen,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know what this fiend looks like. It could be a monster. We need to know


    before you can do anything.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said June. ¡°I¡¯m backing out.¡±


    ¡°Did she say limbs in boxes?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Warner. ¡°There was a thing years ago. A serial killer.¡±


    ¡°More of Todd Fain¡¯s organization?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m taking a personal hand in this. This is more


    important than a job interview.¡±


    ¡°Do you need me to come out there?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m just going to do a little snooping and dig up who¡¯s


    responsible. Juni might have stumbled on someone else doing their business while


    she was supposed to be looking out for herself.¡±


    ¡°Someone is in the building with me,¡± said June. ¡°I¡¯m going to use Deku and try


    to get out of here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m coming down, June,¡± said Jack over his band. Her watch cut him off. ¡°Dang it.¡±


    Jack looked around. He frowned at being with the kids, one kid and dragon.


    Shouldn¡¯t there be another man dressed like the eleventh Doctor on the bridge with


    him?


    ¡°What happened to Mister Warner?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He turned into ectoplasm and sank through the floor,¡± said Aviras. He leaned against


    Matilda.


    ¡°I guess I am going to be the last one in line,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, can you show


    us what¡¯s going on down there.¡±


    The city street appeared on the big screen. One of the walls of a house flew out


    in the street. Deku appeared on the street, landing on her back.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t look good,¡± said Jack. He started to reach for his watch. He paused


    when a giant flew through the hole. He landed on the street and tried to push himself


    off the ground. ¡°Close up on that guy, please.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°What are all those scars?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°I need to get down there,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might be looking at some kind of golem.


    You two stay up here and out of the way.¡±


    A column of flame wrapped around the giant. The body blasted upwards in a burning


    trail like a meteor.


    ¡°What was that?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Talk about the Human Torch.¡±


    ¡°What happened, Jack?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Mister Warner turned into a gold body of fire and blew up a Frankenstein monster


    in the street,¡± said Jack. ¡°Everybody all gangster until an old man pulls out a big


    gun.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say,¡± said Aviras. Matilda nodded in agreement.


    ¡°So you don¡¯t need me?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Maybe later,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to sort things out in the next few


    days.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Matilda, Aviras. Can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, missus,¡± said Matilda. She frowned at the coming doom she sensed on the other


    side of the com.


    ¡°You two are going to be grounded,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will think of something horrible


    as punishment. This joy ride had better be worth my wrath.¡±


    ¡°I think June has found something horrible,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might need Matilda and


    Aviras to help me with the rest of this.¡±


    Josie¡¯s bird sitting in her chair screeched at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mistake my kindness for mercy,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have either,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you know that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to hang up. Enterprise, call me if


    they blow things.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said Enterprise. Jack frowned. Was the faceless machine taking some


    kind of mirth from this?


    The fire bird hopped on the seat, watching everything. It wasn¡¯t going anywhere until


    its creator needed to be on the Enterprise in a second. Then it would pop and drag her


    across space.


    June reverted to normal as she looked up in the sky. Her com lit up again.


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°That was not Russ. Suggestions?¡±


    ¡°Go back inside and look around for clues, dopey,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯ve seen Scooby


    Doo.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Mister Crankypants,¡± said June. ¡°Good job, Mister Warner. What was that?¡±


    ¡°The Flame,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Jack is right. We need to take another look around


    and see if we can find Russ.¡±


    ¡°He was alive when we came here,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Has your quest cleared?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said June.


    ¡°The giant monster man wasn¡¯t Russ,¡± said Matilda. ¡°See if you can smell him and


    track him down.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said June.


    ¡°You are still in your trial,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Mister Warner helping you has not stopped


    you. You have to go forward if you want to succeed. You have to figure out a way to


    find Russ from this house that we found through the model. You can do it.¡±


    ¡°We are getting grounded,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Make it worth that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, young lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°Make their sacrifice worth it because Josie sounded


    like she was thinking about hard labor for the three of you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m older than you,¡± said June. ¡°Shut up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m your boss now,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can totally fire you. Think about that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding,¡± said June.


    ¡°What you should be considering is what Josie is thinking about doing,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be worse than a firing.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Warner over the radio. ¡°We have a lot of diagrams, boxes full of


    body parts, and some stuff out of Breaking Bad. I am going to say our guy is an


    alchemist in his day job.¡±


    ¡°Trying to make a perfect woman?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Looks like,¡± said Warner. ¡°It smells something like a skunk. Doubt it¡¯s weed.¡±


    ¡°Get to work, June,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Find that skunk.¡±


    ¡°You heard her,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get to work.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°Bond should be able to do it.¡±


    The large sheep dog leaped out of the house and started walking down the street, head


    down and sniffing the sidewalk. Warner stepped out of the hole in the wall and


    gestured for a man to come over. He pointed at the house and asked the man to get


    the watch before following the persona.


    ¡°Where is Russ?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°I think Mister Warner is right,¡± said Jack. ¡°He could be at his alchemy shop and


    mixing ingredients for sell.¡±


    ¡°Why did he have body parts in boxes?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Maybe he was working on another golem,¡± said Jack.


    Matilda opened her mouth to ask him why again. She stopped when she saw his face.

 Ultrasound Thoughts

    Josie nodded as she looked around the tent city. Elaine and Hilda were talking on one


    side. They still hadn¡¯t found Jane, so Jack and Mister Warner were doing better with


    their thing than she was.


    She had flashed some of the women with Doctor Occult and they were in stasis as far


    as she could tell. She had to think of some way to get these people on their feet and


    moving out of here.


    ¡°What do you think, Ear Ripper?,¡± said Hilda.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done it enough,¡± said Josie. She frowned at Jane¡¯s second. The blond


    woman smiled at her.


    ¡°Matilda?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°June found something,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack and Mister Warner are there. Apparently


    Mister Warner took a hand in things and showed them why he was the champion of


    order for so long.¡±


    ¡°Even your children are dangerous,¡± said Hilda.


    ¡°Every kid is dangerous,¡± said Josie. ¡°The question is how dangerous are they.¡±


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± asked Hilda. She turned her gaze across the tents.


    ¡°I am impressed with the work that has gone in,¡± said Josie. ¡°How long can you hold


    them here before there is a problem?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to worry about additional food yet because they aren¡¯t eating,¡± said


    Hilda. ¡°We have water supplies we are giving them. They aren¡¯t doing anything. We


    have a midwife who is supervising everything, but she says they aren¡¯t doing any


    normal functions like sweating.¡±


    ¡°Could they still be infected?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can go back up the line and check on our


    gardener friend since he knew everything about goblin trees.¡±


    ¡°Massa is here,¡± said Hilda. ¡°I can get her so you can talk to her.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we can¡¯t wake them up, all we are going to be able to do


    is warehouse them until they die.¡±


    Hilda strode off to look for her midwife. She talked to people who were in her way.


    Nods and questions were exchanged as she moved through the makeshift shelter.


    ¡°Opinions?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°You might have to cast some kind of spell to wake them up,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It is


    unnatural that these women are doing nothing. I would expect they would need to be


    cleaned up at least.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking the same thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did we just stall the problem and bring it


    home so it could hit us here? Are these women trapped in their own bodies? I don¡¯t


    like any of this and I don¡¯t like the feeling that this is some kind of trap.¡±


    ¡°If there is a danger, wouldn¡¯t the Society say something?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Right before it¡¯s too late,¡± said Josie.


    Hilda returned with a heavy woman with a cloth to cover her gray hair, large hands,


    and a small scar on her round chin. She frowned at Josie and Elaine.


    ¡°Ear Ripper, this is Massa Oryne,¡± said Hilda. ¡°Massa, this is Josie Fox, and Elaine


    Numera.¡±


    ¡°Madame Witch,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°The Ear Ripper thing is old and I¡¯m not a witch,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the


    taller women. Hilda gave her a Jack grin in return. ¡°Hilda said you haven¡¯t seen any


    signs of life in any of these women.¡±


    ¡°They breathe, a check of their eyes shows the eyes moving in their skulls, but they


    don¡¯t move at all,¡± said Mass. ¡°I have never seen anything like this.¡±


    ¡°They were being used to try to perfect a way to grow goblin trees,¡± said Josie. ¡°We


    destroyed the laboratory when we got them out.¡±


    ¡°Goblin trees are a rare thing,¡± said Massa. ¡°My limited reading indicates all these


    women should be dead and coming back to life as monsters.¡±


    ¡°That was my reading also,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I was a bit surprised when Matilda said


    they were a type of monster mushroom.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard that before,¡± said Massa. ¡°A mushroom?¡±


    ¡°A fungus,¡± said Josie. She went into the nearest tent. She sat down on the ground


    next to the cot keeping the patient off the ground.


    ¡°What are you doing, Josie?,¡± asked Elaine. She stood in the entrance of the tent.


    ¡°I¡¯m having a Jack moment,¡± said Josie. She stared at the sleeping woman. This


    woman had a hard life before she had been taken from the Shemmarians. Would


    waking her up be a mercy?


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound good,¡± said Hilda. She looked over Elaine¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Come in,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m still thinking.¡±


    She had the most powerful tool on the planet. She had a brain with forgotten facts that


    she could access at any time. She had millions of examples of powers being used to


    do the impossible. All she needed was an inspiration.


    ¡°The scan with Doctor Occult revealed nothing,¡± said Josie. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean


    anything. It might have classified whatever is going on here with a natural process.¡±


    ¡°So all these women might still have goblin tree seeds inside of them?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°And that would make them a threat to us,¡± said Hilda.


    ¡°Not just us,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine, step here. Hilda, you and Massa, stand beside


    Elaine. I have a small idea.¡±


    Josie got to her feet. She stepped back so she could see all four women at once. She


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.wondered if her idea would work as she called on Doctor Occult again. She told the


    scan to compare the four women and tell her what she was missing.


    The scan registered her targets as pictures down to the core of their beings. Then it


    layered on muscle, arteries, veins, the gastrointestinal tract, bones, and flesh. Hilda


    and Elaine registered as normal. Massa had several growths around her spine, and


    what looked like a tumor on her liver. The comatose woman had streaks of growths


    in her brain and along her spine.


    The scan said they were all healthy.


    She let the persona go. She wanted the watch to be recharged before she actually went


    to work. And Massa had to be the first to be worked on.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hilda, Elaine. Could you grab up everyone who is working


    on these women. Grab Jane if you can find her. I think I need to have a meeting.¡±


    ¡°How bad is it?,¡± asked Massa.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just want to talk to you for a moment. You are in charge


    here and you are going to have to figure out what you want to do.¡±


    ¡°Josie won¡¯t let anything happen to you, Massa,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Inside that cranky,


    frowny, crunchy shell is a center made of butter.¡±


    ¡°That will rip your ear off,¡± said Hilda. She clapped the other woman on the shoulder


    as she left the tent.


    ¡°She won¡¯t rip your ear off,¡± said Elaine. She left after their boisterous comrade.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think you have been exposed to the goblin tree seed. Are


    you having problems feeling things?¡±


    ¡°I had a pain in my side, but it stopped after I started working to help these women,¡±


    said Massa. ¡°Are they a threat?¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t stop what¡¯s going on, but we are going to stop it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going


    to show you a couple of pictures. I want to know what you think.¡±


    Josie changed into Zatanna. She produced a picture like an x-ray. The streaks in the


    sleeping body were highlighted in red. She handed that over.


    She produced another x-ray with the colored markers on it. This one had the tumor


    in yellow. She let the persona go.


    ¡°What is this?,¡± asked Massa. She indicated the first x-ray.


    ¡°This is the inside of the sleeping woman,¡± said Josie. ¡°All the marked areas are not


    supposed to be there. They are on her brain and spine and might be shutting down the


    signal for her to do anything. This one is yours.¡±


    She handed over the second picture.


    ¡°I have the same growths on my spine,¡± said Massa. ¡°What is this yellow thing?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a tumor on your liver,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to say you had it before this other


    stuff started spreading around.¡±


    ¡°This tumor was why my side hurt?,¡± asked Massa.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°It might be doing things to your liver which is telling the rest


    of you to help it. And I will. Now that I know what to look for, I can fix this today.


    Then I can get these people out of here and wake them up and let them get back on


    their feet.¡±


    ¡°You want to see if you can fix this in me before you try on someone else?,¡± said


    Massa.


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one awake,¡± said Josie. ¡°I understand if you want me to try on her


    first. I would be scared to have someone trying to pull something out of me no matter


    how much it was supposed to help me in the long run.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to do?,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°I would like to build a machine that we can move around to pull this stuff out,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°When we do that, things will get messy and you will have to keep everything


    clean.¡±


    ¡°Can you do that?,¡± said Massa. She looked suspicious as such a statement.


    ¡°If I can¡¯t, I will call Jack and get something from him,¡± said Josie. ¡°He did the


    original seed extraction with his device.¡±


    ¡°The two of you are the strangest people I have ever seen,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°I always thought I was normal,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack is the strange one.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± said Massa.


    Amazons began gathering at the door. Jane pushed her way to the front. She looked


    around. Elaine arrived next, and joined Josie inside the tent. Hilda directed the people


    into an orderly crescent around the entrance of the tent.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Josie?,¡± asked Jane. She glanced at Massa.


    ¡°This is a picture of this woman,¡± said Josie, handing over the x-ray of the patient. ¡°I


    think the growths are keeping her asleep. Show her yours, Massa.¡±


    The midwife handed over her picture.


    ¡°She has the same growths, only not so much,¡± said Jane. She glanced at Massa.


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I think these sleepers are exuding something,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want to try to pull out


    all of these growths so your people are safe. First, I have to check everybody.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. She looked over the group of women. ¡°Is everyone here?¡±


    ¡°There is the second shift,¡± said Hilda. ¡°They are asleep in their rooms as far as I


    know.¡±


    ¡°We can start with the women here,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can work on the sleepers.


    I¡¯ll have to work on a way to extract any growths I might find. When I get done with


    them, they¡¯ll have to be kept clean and hopefully will wake up so we can start moving


    them out of here.¡±


    ¡°The Exchange is searching for the deed for the building you cleared out,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°They are going to send a messenger when they find it.¡±


    ¡°Elaine and I are going to take a run at the owner of the second building,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The kids were supposed to ask for adventurers to help us move these women and


    look out for them.¡±


    ¡°How do you want do this search part?,¡± said Jane. ¡°I think it will be a bit premature


    to wake these women if we have no place to send them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can check your nurses before I head out.¡±


    ¡°Can you give us something we can use to check people here?,¡± asked Hilda.


    ¡°Something permanent?¡±


    ¡°Jack is the expert, but let¡¯s see what I can do,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you want it here?¡±


    ¡°We should put it next to the house,¡± said Jane. She pointed out the direction she


    meant. ¡°Once we know how many of our women are infected, we can think about


    how to clear things out.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She wondered how hard it could be to make a scanner to show


    problems.


    If she could solve this, she would be able to step into Jack¡¯s area of expertise.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°We¡¯re going to move this riot over to the house. Someone


    get the others. We want to do everyone at the same time. Go ahead.¡±


    The group headed out, Hilda talking to one of the women. Josie, Elaine, Massa, and


    Jane remained at the back of the pack.


    ¡°Do you think you can put a selection board up for us?,¡± asked Jane. ¡°I know that you


    don¡¯t usually do anything like this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to think about how we can do this,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think I can put up


    something like an ultrasound so we can look at things in real time.¡±


    ¡°An ultrasound?,¡± asked Massa.


    ¡°Where I am from, medical science has invented things to see through the human


    body,¡± said Josie. ¡°One is an x-ray based on radium that shoots through the body and


    can be used to form a static picture like I did for you. Too many will cause problems,


    but that won¡¯t matter here for a while if ever. The other is an ultrasound that uses


    sound to bounce against the body and produce a picture. Women routinely get them


    to check on their babies when they are pregnant.¡±


    ¡°So a sound can be turned into a picture?,¡± said Jane. ¡°How does that help us?¡±


    ¡°We set up a machine that will take a picture of anyone stepping in front of it and use


    it to check for the growths,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once we know how many of your Amazons


    are infected, I can come up with a way to cure that. And once I have a cure, I can use


    it on the sleepers.¡±


    ¡°If the second building is too far away, we might have to put housing up for our


    people to help these victims,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I will put up another two bricks of gold to help with that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t worry


    about the money. Worry about the manpower that we need to take care of these


    people when we start placing them. We are going to need their names and if they have


    a place to go outside the city so we can send them away if we can.¡±


    ¡°Two bricks of gold?,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°When I asked Jane to help us sort through the victims from Montrose, I guaranteed


    enough money to do the job,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I have the means to stand by that. You


    guys are directly under our wing, and we need you to help the people we can¡¯t. Jack


    and I are stomping out fires, but neither of us can just drop everything for a stranger


    who needs constant care.¡±


    ¡°You did for me,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You are Jack¡¯s beloved,¡± said Josie. ¡°You don¡¯t turn away your best friend¡¯s


    beloved.¡±


    ¡°And we,¡± Jane gestured to cover the whole yard they were walking through, ¡°plan


    to be at the wedding.¡±

 Boim Russ

    Jack sat in the command chair. Aviras and Matilda had the counselor¡¯s chair to his


    left. Josie¡¯s bird sat in her chair. It looked the unhappiest of the small group on the


    bridge.


    ¡°How does this screen work?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°The Enterprise has a number of scanners that convert light to signals that it sends to


    the screen. The screen turns the signals into a picture,¡± said Jack. ¡°If something were


    to take out those scanners, the ship would be blind.¡±


    ¡°Could anyone do that without magic?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is a long way from how things started.¡±


    ¡°How did it start?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Pictures,¡± said Jack. He pulled out his phone. He frowned at the small amount of


    charge he had left. ¡°Hold on.¡±


    He pulled on Magik and formed a small ring in the palm of his hand. He put the


    phone in it. He nodded as the battery filled. He cut the persona off when the phone


    was full.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is a more advanced thing similar to the com bands I


    made. You can take pictures with it. I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    He snapped a picture of the two of them. He showed them the picture of them in the


    chair. Matilda held her hand up to her face.


    ¡°Do I really look like that?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯ll look different as you get older. You wouldn¡¯t believe Juni


    was a cute kid when she was your age. Look at her now.¡±


    ¡°Looks like a blacksmith?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have put it like that,¡± said Jack. ¡°But sure. Do you want muscles like


    that? It takes a lot of work.¡±


    ¡°Is she a gladiator?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Gladiator adjacent,¡± said Jack. ¡°People are paid to fight. There is a small amount of


    celebrity to it. Nothing life threatening dangerous unless someone gets hit in the face


    too hard.¡±


    ¡°But people do get hurt?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Two people as close to being the same weight and height get in a


    space roped off from the public. A referee is in the ring with the two fighters to make


    sure they don¡¯t do anything shady, and to break up the fight if things get out of


    control. Then the fighters have to fight how many rounds of three minutes until they


    get to the end, or one knocks the other out. If neither is pushed to where they can¡¯t


    fight, then a panel of judges decides the winner on technique, hits given and taken,


    knockdowns, that kind of thing. Things have been known to happen despite the pads


    and gloves.¡±


    ¡°Is June a good fighter?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society is not happy with the idea that she has been


    less than honest in her dealings. I don¡¯t know if they will let her stay unless she can


    prove that she is better than I think.¡±


    ¡°Matilda?,¡± said June. ¡°I think I found the alchemy shop. I am going in and looking


    around.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Full scan on that building.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The building June headed for was on a corner facing other shops of different goods.


    A glance gave him life signs. Two normal signs showed and two colder spots.


    ¡°Where is Mister Warner, Enterprise?,¡± asked Jack.


    The ship pinged the former champion of order strolling down the road. He had his


    hands in his pockets as he headed for the shop.


    ¡°Hold the channel open, Matilda,¡± said Jack. ¡°There are four other signs, Juni. We¡¯re


    going to be silent, but listening.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°Let¡¯s see what I can do.¡±


    Jack watched the screen. The Enterprise pinged the signs in the shop. He was tempted


    to pop the top of it with a torpedo just to see what would happen.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said a woman¡¯s voice. ¡°How can I help you today?¡±


    ¡°Hi,¡± said June. ¡°I¡¯m looking for Boim Russ. I was wondering if he was here so I


    could talk to him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Boim Russ,¡± said the woman. ¡°I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve met.¡±


    ¡°Some friends of my brother asked me to look for you,¡± said June. ¡°Something about


    the boxes of body parts in that house.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± said the woman. ¡°I think you should leave


    now.¡±


    ¡°I think you are lying,¡± said June. ¡°I know you are not Russ. Let¡¯s try again.¡±


    ¡°Gilbert, get rid of this woman,¡± said the shop owner.


    ¡°All I want is Russ,¡± said June. ¡°The rest of what you did is on someone else. I can


    tell you that there is a hole in middle of your house.¡±


    ¡°What did you do?,¡± said the shop owner.


    Jack shook his head. This is where the fight was going to start. Should he go down


    and take a hand in this? Should he let June handle some of this on her own?


    ¡°I took out your monster and blew a hole in the middle of your house,¡± said June.


    ¡°That¡¯s how I found you here. I know you¡¯re not Russ. Who are you, and where is


    he?¡±


    ¡°Gilbert!,¡± shouted the woman. ¡°Dulf! We need to deal with this woman and get out


    of here.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?,¡± asked June. ¡°I don¡¯t have a reason to fight you,


    but I will so I can pass my entrance test. You can just walk away after I get what I


    want.¡±


    Jack facepalmed. He shook his head. The Society probably wouldn¡¯t like that. They


    had to plow on before something bad happened.


    ¡°Kill her,¡± said the woman. ¡°We have to get out of town.¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    The sound of her watch activating cut the band off.


    Jack stood. He had to get down there and do something about this. Maybe he was


    having problems with his sister, but he couldn¡¯t let anything happen to her over some


    stupid test.


    ¡°No,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Don¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°If you step in now, then she won¡¯t pass,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Please sit. We will go down


    for you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, young lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am not about to explain how you got hurt.


    I don¡¯t think she cares that much about Aviras, but she would have my hide if I let


    you go into danger.¡±


    ¡°She is very protective,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Still something must be done. If Mister Warner


    had a band, we could let him know June is in the middle of a fight.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Jack. He whisked Aviras around in a circle before plopping him back


    on his seat. ¡°Good idea.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said the dragon. ¡°I came up with it.¡±


    Jack pulled up Nate Grey, the X-Man. He nodded as he touched some basic telepathy


    skill. Did he have the range?


    ¡°Mister Warner,¡± he sent with the telepathy. ¡°June is fighting in the shop. She might


    need your help.¡±


    ¡°Telepathy is okay,¡± responded Warner. ¡°Don¡¯t get a nosebleed.¡±


    Jack let his persona go as he watched the screen. He nodded as Mister Warner


    exchanged his jacket and bow tie for an ancient roman soldier. The old man pointed


    at the window of the shop, and then he was inside.


    June¡¯s channel lit up again.


    ¡°You staked her like a vampire,¡± said June.


    ¡°She was trying to set the shop on fire,¡± said Mister Warner testily. ¡°She got better


    than what she deserved.¡±


    ¡°There is another life sign in the shop with you, guys,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°He must be in a hidden room,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Maybe behind one of the supply


    shelves.¡±


    ¡°He is about thirty feet from the window you blew up,¡± said Jack. ¡°On the other side


    of the two cold spots.¡±


    ¡°There is a supply shelf,¡± said Warner. ¡°Do we rip it out?¡±


    ¡°I think Bond has some kind of thermite we can use to cut through whatever is there,¡±


    said June.


    ¡°I have the Sword,¡± said Warner. ¡°Let me try that first, then I have Samson. He¡¯s got


    super strength.¡±


    ¡°Natch,¡± said June.


    ¡°Get ready in case we are going into another fight,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m always ready,¡± said June. ¡°Those two goons were strong, but Deku is something


    that keeps building me up.¡±


    ¡°The more you try, the more you can do?,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said June.


    ¡°That sounds like Thunderbolt,¡± said Warner. ¡°Let me see what the Sword can do


    before I try Samson.¡±


    The sounds of wood chopping filled the channel. Jack imagined the Sword was like


    his Blade. He hoped Mister Warner didn¡¯t chop their hidden captive apart by


    accident.


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°There is someone inside there. Looks like a girl. Are you


    Boim Russ?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said another voice.


    ¡°Quest cleared,¡± said June. She sounded happy over the band.


    ¡°What are you going to do with this girl?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What?,¡± said June.


    ¡°You are responsible for the rest of this,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°How are you going


    to handle it?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said June. ¡°You guys are kidding.¡±


    ¡°This is where the real investigation starts,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Miss, do you have


    somewhere to go?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Russ. ¡°I¡¯m from outside the city. I don¡¯t know anybody here.¡±


    ¡°So what do I do now?,¡± said June. ¡°Do we talk to the Guard to figure out where she


    can go?¡±


    ¡°Bring her aboard,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you are moved in the probie slot, then we¡¯ll work


    out something. Right now, she can stay at Jane¡¯s until we figure out something.¡±


    ¡°Did you hear that, Miss Russ?,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°You want to take me with you?,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°I am as much of a stranger that you are,¡± said June. ¡°My brother and his beloved are


    in the south. They know more about everything than I do, and they are better suited


    to helping you back to your family if you want to go, or helping you figure out what


    you want to do.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t do things to me?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°We won¡¯t hurt you,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to take you in, let you get back on your


    feet, and then let you decide what you want to do after you think you are better. Jane


    has been sheltering people for us and giving them second chances.¡±


    ¡°I think I would like that,¡± said Russ. ¡°I think this has been horrible for me. I think


    something inside is broken and I don¡¯t know how to fix it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do what we can for you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, beam them up. We have to


    get back to Hawk Ridge to drop our pirates off, and then we have to look at these


    goblins.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Energizing.¡±


    Jack smiled. Someone was alive, and a monster was dead. That was good enough for


    him. Anything else would be gravy.


    ¡°Take us to the orbiting point over Hawk Ridge and look for Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°We


    can drop everything into her lap before we move on.¡±


    Mister Warner led the way out of the elevator a few seconds later. Russ looked


    around in dismay. She paused at Aviras and Matilda in their chair. Matty waved at her


    with a smile.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to be over Hawk Ridge in a second,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to drop you


    troublemakers with Josie. I don¡¯t how you got done with this alive, but you are surely


    dead now. Miss Russ, if you will. I have some questions.¡±


    ¡°Mangling Steve Earle isn¡¯t cool, Jack,¡± said June.


    ¡°Do we want to get into this?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Because we can get into this. Sit at the


    helm and touch nothing. As soon as I talk to your rescuee, we will drop all of you on


    the ground. Then the three of you will be echoing Sam and Dave. Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°Sam and Dave?,¡± said June.


    ¡°On the chain gang,¡± said Mister Warner. He rubbed his eyebrow with a finger.


    ¡°Chain gang?,¡± said Matilda.


    Jack ran his finger across his neck.


    ¡°Miss Russ,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you please.¡±


    He gestured for his guest to precede him to his office. She paused at the door. It


    opened for her. Jack waited for her to go first, then he walked around to sit


    behind his desk. He gestured for her to sit in the visitor¡¯s chair.


    ¡°The little girl? And the dragon?,¡± asked Miss Russ. She gestured at the bridge door.


    ¡°My partner¡¯s sister, and her friend,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you have any objections to going


    to Hawk Ridge? I can put you down anywhere on the continent with the right


    directions.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t have anywhere else to go,¡± said Russ. ¡°I have already spent my last


    coin.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re in the middle of a small crisis,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I put you down with Jane, you


    are going to have to work for her, or find another place to go inside the city. I don¡¯t


    know what the salary is, but you will be paid for anything you do. Are you okay with


    that?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t have to do anything bad?,¡± said Russ. She pushed her hair back from her


    face.


    ¡°Jane won¡¯t allow anything to happen to you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is there something I should


    know?¡±


    ¡°I had to steal things and sell my body,¡± said Russ. ¡°Will I have to do that at Jane¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie would lose her mind over something like that. Jane knows that


    and will do nothing to attract that attention. And Jane and Hilda are good


    people. I ran into them on a job, and they agreed to help us out.¡±


    ¡°How will I get home if I want to go back?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°Jane will put you in a caravan and send you home surrounded by guards,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Russ. ¡°They were going to cut me apart. She wanted my eyes.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say we can fix everything for you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will say that I will try to fix


    some of it.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Why what?,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to narrow things down.¡±


    ¡°Why were you looking for me?,¡± said Russ.


    Jack sat back in his chair. He tapped his desk with a finger. He ignored the clouds


    floating outside his window.


    ¡°My sister, June, asked to do what Josie and I do,¡± said Jack. ¡°The old man out there


    retired from doing the job, then we came along, and now June wants in to avoid her


    problems at home. Our boss gave her three days to find you as a test to see if she


    could do the minimal amount required before taking her on permanently. I think now


    that there is a second part to the test that we weren¡¯t told. Now that she has found


    you, what do they want her to do to keep you on the rails?¡±


    ¡°They want to make sure that June makes sure nothing happens to me until I get back


    on my feet?,¡± said Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t see how that makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Tests of character are important to the people giving them,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think they


    don¡¯t want Josie and I to put our hands on things, but we will if you need it.¡±


    ¡°I will do what I can to help out,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s see what we can do to make a place for you,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Enterprise


    should be over Hawk Ridge, and I can drop you off.¡±


    He stood up and gestured for her to leave the ready room. She looked at the pictures


    on the wall as she walked out of the room. He made a note that he needed a picture


    of June on the wall. He stepped on the bridge.


    ¡°June,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to need a casebook from you. You guys will have to


    face Josie. Mister Warner and I will have to look at these goblins. Miss Russ is your


    obligation until we know something from the Society, June. Don¡¯t let anything


    happen to her until we figure things out.¡±


    June nodded.

 Scanner

    Josie followed the crowd up to the edge of the tent city. She spotted a clear spot next


    to the house. It would be fine for the nurses, but not for the patients. They might need


    to move the device later so they could make sure the patients were clear and move


    them off site.


    They might need more than one of the devices she was thinking about making with


    Zatanna.


    ¡°I think right here would be all right,¡± said Jane. She indicated a space next to the


    door. ¡°Anyone going on shift can be cleared. Anyone going off can be checked for


    the growths when they are done.¡±


    ¡°We might have to move this so we can check the women to make sure they are clear


    when Jack and I get done fixing people,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We might need something smaller once we get started,¡± said Jane. ¡°For now, all we


    need is something to check the helpers. We can come up with other tools when the


    moving starts.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She frowned. ¡°Moving all these women is going to be the


    biggest thing we have done.¡±


    ¡°Missus,¡± said Beatrice from Josie¡¯s band. ¡°Sally said we can post a job on the board.


    It will be up to the adventurers if they want to support us.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Josie. ¡°Post a note to say that we are looking for help and we will put


    up a notice when we will start. We still have to secure the buildings for our sick.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Laura is talking to Sir Harp about his friend.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let Mister Warner know when I see him,¡± said Josie. ¡°He might duck out without


    stopping going by his history.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Any word?¡±


    ¡°Jack and Mister Warner caught up with the Enterprise and made sure Matilda was


    safe,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m waiting for them to come back here so I can express my


    displeasure.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t rip off her ear,¡± said Hilda.


    ¡°I will give her an appropriate punishment,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I have to go, Missus,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°There is a fee for the board posting. I already


    told Sally you will cover it.¡±


    ¡°We will go by there as soon as we are done with the rest of this,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Thanks, Bea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± said Beatrice before she cut the call.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me get started with this. Anybody who has the growths


    in them should step back until we start working. If you don¡¯t want to do that, I


    suggest you cover your nose and mouth with a cloth, and wash your hands while


    working on these women. When we start moving these women out of here, we are


    going to cure the nurses and helpers first, then the women. If things start getting


    worse, tell Jane to call me back and I will come up with something on the spot even


    if it is just ripping everything out with my bare hands. Okay?¡±


    ¡°The lump on my liver?,¡± asked Massa.


    ¡°If you have anything wrong other than the growths, I will fix that too,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do everything at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Are we in agreement with this?,¡± asked Jane.


    The women slowly nodded or said yes. Some of them looked like they didn¡¯t want to


    be around magic, but Josie and Jack had saved a lot of them from being tortured and


    murdered. They were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.


    ¡°Elaine, I need you to hold this paper and pen,¡± said Josie. She reached into her bag


    and pulled out the items. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to copy Jack¡¯s portable sensors.¡±


    ¡°In what way?,¡± asked Elaine. She took the paper and pen. She stepped back out of


    the way.


    ¡°We need a sensor that will do a full body scan for the moment,¡± said Josie. ¡°When


    we get them set up somewhere else, we¡¯ll need mobile units to check people to see


    how they are doing. Medicine is a big branch of stuff where I am from, but Jack and


    I don¡¯t have a lot of training with that. Our watches are helping us to fix any sick or


    hurt person we come across.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine.


    Josie decided she needed to plan the machinery before she did anything else. Once


    she had a sketchy blueprint, she could use Zatanna to bridge the gap. Then she could


    copy the thing into smaller devices to be carried around by the staff.


    Josie wondered if Supergirl would help her with this. Jack was using Mister Fantastic


    for his knowledge base. Could she do the same with the list of skills she gained from


    the persona? It had given her a lot of options while she was in the air facing certain


    death.


    She called on the persona. She smiled. The pseudo alien gave her a list of ideas she


    could use later if she wanted. She concentrated on the medical scanner she wanted,


    comparing it to an MRI. She held out her hand for the paper and pen. She held the


    paper against her leg and sketched everything down in a few seconds. She nodded


    when she was sure she had what she wanted. She handed the paper back to Elaine so


    she could switch bodies.


    Josie called on Zatanna. She took the paper back and examined it for a moment. She


    nodded at the drawing and list of needs. She could make a medical scanner that


    worked like the security scanner from Total Recall.


    She needed material to build her device. She could build it out of nothing but if the


    air changed, it might collapse. She nodded at the thought that was how Jack did


    things with his own magic user.


    She grabbed a bush in decline off the paved walk. She exerted her will and it came


    out of the ground. She placed the uprooted plant in front of the mansion¡¯s side door.


    She consulted her drawing. She wished the plant would become an arch in front of


    the door.


    She added in features, extending the sides of the scanner for three more feet. She


    made sure to add a mana battery to keep it running off the energy in the air. She


    stepped back and let the persona go when she was done.


    The scanner came to life with a hum. It sounded like a large angry bee.


    Josie walked around the scanner. She rubbed her chin. It looked good, but did it work.


    She needed to test it. She decided to step inside and walk down the aisle. She reached


    the end and heard a ding.


    She probably shouldn¡¯t have added a sound notification to the scanner.


    ¡°You have a problem with your liver,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I used to drink a bit,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Used to?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°I had to give it up,¡± said Josie. ¡°Massa, would you walk through. We already know


    what we should see when you are scanned.¡±


    Massa walked through. She quickly went around the end to look at her own results.


    The jargon was a bit much, but the picture matched the earlier one. She nodded in


    agreement with the finding.


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°We need someone else to give us another reading,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I have to go


    back to work.¡±


    Hilda stepped through. Josie and Massa looked at the reading, then at the blonde


    Amazon. She looked at their expressions. She wondered what was wrong. What had


    they seen?


    ¡°Bad news?,¡± asked Hilda. She smiled. ¡°Is my liver bad too?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you want to get into this right now,¡± said Josie. She glanced at


    Massa. The other woman nodded in agreement. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this is good news for


    you, or not.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t like you, Ear Ripper,¡± said Hilda.


    Josie glanced around at the women in the crowd and stepped close enough to whisper


    in Hilda¡¯s ear. She stepped back as the taller woman reeled in shock. She handed the


    Amazon her readout, indicating the relevant entry on the paper with her index finger.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been with anyone since Corle locked me up,¡± said Hilda. ¡°Are you sure


    about this?¡±


    ¡°I can check with Doctor Occult,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you want me to do that? It will


    prove the machine is working right.¡±


    ¡°I want to make sure,¡± said Hilda.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°We¡¯re making sure that the machine is working right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hilda will talk


    to you about it when she¡¯s ready.¡±


    She called on Doctor Occult and ran her scan over Hilda. She nodded at the report the


    scan gave her. The machine had been right. She hoped her friend didn¡¯t take this the


    wrong way.


    ¡°The machine is working right,¡± said Josie. She turned the doctor off. ¡°How do you


    feel?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Hilda. ¡°I¡¯ve never thought about this. I never thought this would


    come up.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to hang out with us until you get things straight in your mind?,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We still have work to do today.¡±


    ¡°I need to be alone for a bit,¡± said Hilda. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget we¡¯re there for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°But don¡¯t ask me about diapers. I


    don¡¯t know a thing about kids.¡±


    ¡°I can see that with your dangerous kids, Ear Ripper,¡± said Hilda. She hugged Josie.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Josie patted her back. She didn¡¯t know what to say about this. She pulled away.


    ¡°The machine is working,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead and run your women through it.


    Massa will be able to note any problems on the read out. Elaine and I have to deal


    with the owner of the second building.¡±


    Josie turned into Zatanna and called for a book of medical terms. She handed that to


    the midwife. She turned the persona off.


    ¡°If you see something that doesn¡¯t have a clear name,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can look it


    up and get an explanation.¡±


    ¡°You could change the world with this,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t know me, and Jack, would you risk it?,¡± asked Josie. She nodded at the


    thoughts flowing across Massa¡¯s face. ¡°Look after things, keep Jane in the loop. As


    soon as I can arrange for better housing, we¡¯ll make a plan to do the rest.¡±


    She turned and waved at Elaine to walk with her. They still had to go over to the


    Endwright house and see if they could talk to the lord. If they could get that second


    building, they could start moving people. They would have to come up with some


    kind of wagon train so they didn¡¯t have to use the transporters to move things across


    the city.


    ¡°So we are going to Endwright?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°He was pretty sick, and his wife was deep in with the Montrose,¡± said Josie. ¡°He


    might not be able to see us. We can ask someone on the staff if we can get permission


    to at least rent the building I want to look into. Anything else is anybody¡¯s guess.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you talked about this,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The wagon guy we let go ran to talk to their boss, Endwright¡¯s wife,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She was deep into the trafficking, but also in the landgrabbing part of their


    operation. If she hadn¡¯t tried to grab the Hole in the Wall, she would be on the back


    burner. Instead she moved up to the number one slot with a bullet. Jack did something


    to get the Lord back on his feet, and we let the staff take over.¡±


    ¡°And now we know he owns the second depot you cleared out,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he knows it, and I don¡¯t think the wife came by it honestly,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think she seized it and ran her operation out of it. And then I seized it. As far as I


    know someone else from the Montrose might have moved back in without thinking


    about where the women and their guards are.¡±


    ¡°And you will have to clear it out again,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°That will be the easiest part of all this,¡± said Josie. ¡°The hard part is a contract where


    we, Jane¡¯s House, own the building, and can turn away anyone who wants to take it


    back from us.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°This seems like a lot of work.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that or give up the fight,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not willing to do that.¡±


    ¡°What was wrong with Hilda?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°She¡¯s pregnant,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Hilda is pregnant,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°It¡¯s a basic fact of human biology,¡± said Josie. ¡°You do know how babies are made,


    right?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I just never thought of Hilda as a mother.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not our problem until it becomes our problem,¡± said Josie. ¡°When Hilda is ready,


    we¡¯ll probably have to be there in case she needs help.¡±


    ¡°I never considered children at the House,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Hilda is just the first,¡± said Josie. ¡°But some of the women there were hurt


    badly. They may never get to where they can trust anyone again even with work.


    Some of them were betrayed by their loved ones. That¡¯s bound to leave scars.¡±


    Josie checked her watch. She decided when it was full, she would use a bird to drop


    them at the Endwright estate. They would check on Endwright, and ask about the


    building. Then they would check the building itself to see what they should do to


    clean it out for the beds they would need.


    In the back of her mind, she had decided that Matilda, Aviras, and June would help


    clean it out.


    ¡°Jack and Matilda?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°They are helping June with Mister Warner and Aviras,¡± said Josie. ¡°I expect he will


    call back when he has news. I don¡¯t know if the Society planned on June being done


    today, or if they are going to wait the full three days of her trial before making a


    decision.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they will take her on?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t even know if June is right for the type of things


    we do. We help the helpless, Elaine. I never thought June would even try to do that,


    but I could be wrong.¡±


    ¡°So she might take your places,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Only if we¡¯re dead,¡± said Josie. ¡°June might be older, but that doesn¡¯t make her


    better.¡±


    Josie heard the ding of a full watch, and turned into Zatanna just long enough to send


    a bird out to their destination. They arrived just outside of the gate. She opened the


    lock and they strolled up to the door of the large house she and Jack had cut through.


    She nodded at the fact that you couldn¡¯t see any of the damage they had inflicted. Her


    birds did good work as far as that went. She knocked on the door and they waited on


    the wide porch.


    When no one came to the door at the first knock, she changed into the Martian


    Manhunter and knocked a little louder. She changed back to her normal self so she


    didn¡¯t scare whomever came to the door.


    ¡°That¡¯s the strangest form you wear,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Martians,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who knew?¡±


    The door opened. The butler stood behind the door. Josie remembered him from when


    she was throwing bullets through guys getting in her way. He remembered her too.


    She could tell by the sudden tensing of his face, and the way he was about to shut the


    door in her face.


    ¡°Hello, Jeeves,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to talk to Lord Endwright.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been taking care of him as we promised,¡± said the butler.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is a straight deal about a building he owns


    that I want to buy. Is he okay?¡±


    ¡°He is doing better after what your friend did,¡± said the butler.


    ¡°Any problems?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We have had some visitors,¡± said the butler. ¡°I turned them away.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to Endwright. This is my business manager.


    She will be ensuring that he gets the money if he agrees to sell, or just rent us the


    place until we don¡¯t need it any more.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you want to come in,¡± said the butler.


    ¡°Unless you want to wheel him out here so we can talk,¡± said Josie. She gestured at


    the large porch. ¡°I¡¯m good either way.¡±


    ¡°Come in,¡± the butler didn¡¯t look pleased as he stepped back. Josie was used to that.


    They headed upstairs to where Endwright still laid on his bed. He looked better after


    Jack¡¯s treatment. He rested against a stack of pillows, clear eyes looking at the door


    as the group entered the room. The butler went to stand between Josie and his boss.


    That wouldn¡¯t stop her if she wanted to do something, whether she used the watch or


    not.


    ¡°Sir, this is Madam Witch and her business manager,¡± said the butler. ¡°They asked


    to talk to you about a building you own.¡±


    ¡°My name is Josie Fox,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Elaine Numera. I have a problem and


    your name came up so I decided to talk with you before trying to find another


    location.¡±


    ¡°Marl said my wife had poisoned me and my son,¡± said Endwright. ¡°That two witches


    had saved me because of a vendetta with her. He also reported that you had


    extended a shield over me until I could look after myself.¡±


    ¡°Jack does that,¡± said Josie. She sat in a chair next to the bed. She interlaced her


    fingers as she thought. ¡°I have a lot of sick people that I need to house until I can cure


    them and get them on their feet and back in the world. Apparently you own the


    building I want to use for this. I would like to buy that building, or rent it for a fair


    price until I don¡¯t need it any more.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea of what was acquired while I was infirm,¡± said Endwright. He looked


    at his hand as if he had tried to use it but it wouldn¡¯t work like he wanted. ¡°My


    solicitors and accountants are filing a report for me. I will be glad to loan you the


    building until I know what has actually happened to my finances.¡±


    ¡°We will pay you fair rent for it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine will write out the receipt for you.


    Jane¡¯s House will be handling the actual care of these people, so if you need


    something, or want to talk to someone managing things, she is the one to go to.¡±


    ¡°Your friend didn¡¯t have to help me,¡± said Endwright. ¡°You could have just taken my


    wife and nothing else.¡±


    ¡°We help the helpless,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s all that matters.¡±

 The Other Boim Russ

    Jack looked down on Hawk Ridge from just out of visual range from the ground. The


    ship was surrounded by a cloudscape, but the sensors cut through that. He glanced at


    his passengers.


    Aviras had been onboard before, and seemed to like his own chair. Matty hadn¡¯t but


    she shared the counselor seat with her dragon and hugged him around his long neck.


    June and Mister Warner had seen the bridge on television enough that they were


    familiar with it and the computer controls so they were more interested in the city


    below, and their own goals. Boim Russ, a thin, blond girl in what Jack would


    consider peasant clothes, looked at everything like it was a dream that would vanish.


    Jack put on his grin. It was time to offload his passengers and take Mister Warner


    south to his goblins. That should be a good distraction from the work he would have


    to do later.


    He hoped Josie had been able to find and buy the building they needed. That would


    complete stage one pretty fast.


    ¡°Officers Fox and Numera have been located,¡± said the machine. The screen pinged


    the two walking toward what looked like the Adventurers¡¯ Hall.


    ¡°Enterprise, call Josie,¡± said Jack.


    He paused at the wince that Matilda and her dragon gave him, but stealing a ship was


    not something he wanted them to do unless they had to other than helping his sister


    out.


    He didn¡¯t mind June walking the distance between cities.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Any news?¡±


    ¡°I have your scalawags, Mister Warner, and Miss Russ onboard,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m


    getting ready to put them down on the ground. Any preference?¡±


    ¡°Put them down at the Hall,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m dropping by there to pay the board


    posting fee. Harp wants to talk to Mister Warner before he leaves.¡±


    Mister Warner shook his head slightly. He just wanted to do the quest and leave now


    that he was sure things were going okay. He didn¡¯t want his old comrade to see him


    as old as he was now.


    ¡°I¡¯ll drop them all off,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his predecessor. ¡°Mister Warner


    loves the idea.¡±


    ¡°He does not,¡± said Warner. ¡°But let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m glad that is decided. Endwright is going to let us rent the


    second building. It¡¯s going to be a long haul from the House to it. I¡¯m thinking about


    buying up some of the nearby buildings and turning them into places for the Amazons


    to live close by while they are working.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might have a district of people that we are taking back from


    the Montrose if you buy up enough land.¡±


    ¡°The only other solution I can think of is a train line through town,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    don¡¯t know if the Duke will go for something like that through his center of


    operations.¡±


    ¡°I can see where that might be a problem,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me put everyone down on


    the ground, Mister Warner can see Harp, then we¡¯ll get together with Jane and have


    some kind of call on how we want to handle what we can. June¡¯s quest is complete


    so we¡¯re just waiting on her callback. I asked her to look after Miss Russ until we


    know something, one way or the other.¡±


    ¡°I still have my third quest,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°We¡¯ll fit it in between your visit with your friend, and talking to Jane,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The Enterprise can get anywhere on the planet almost instantly without the main


    drive going, so we have time.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the former champion of order.


    ¡°Matilda, could I talk to you for a second in the ready room,¡± said Jack. He waved for


    her to follow him.


    He walked to the replicator and asked for a piece of paper and a pen. He went to his


    desk. He wrote out a quick note and folded it up as Matilda examined the room. She


    smiled at the picture of her and the other girls, and Josie changing into Shazam. She


    settled into the visitor¡¯s chair.


    ¡°I want you to give this to Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think the test is still on. Don¡¯t tell


    June. I could be wrong, but we might be in the middle of a secret test. So act normal,


    keep your eyes open.¡±


    ¡°Act normal?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Act like you aren¡¯t being watched for a character flaw,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could be


    wrong, but we still have two and a half days before the deadline of the test. Maybe


    you and Aviras went off script when you stole the Enterprise. Maybe that was taken


    in account. We won¡¯t know until they give Juni her score.¡±


    ¡°So we keep an eye on Juni?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°And Russ,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe Juni was given a poison pill. Again we won¡¯t know


    until something goes wrong.¡±


    ¡°We thought we were rescuing Russ, but what if she was really the problem all


    along?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Sounds convoluted when you put it like that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just keep an eye out and


    see how things go. Don¡¯t let Juni get into trouble using her watch for her own ends.¡±


    ¡°I will try,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I will have to ask Aviras to help me a little. I don¡¯t think


    I can watch the both of them all the time.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t let Juni know,¡± said Jack. ¡°She will be on her best behavior if she thinks


    the Society is watching her every move.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I will do my best.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me get you to the ground so you can take your


    punishment. Don¡¯t let Juni put her share on you and Aviras.¡±


    ¡°I definitely will not allow that,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Good,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get started so we can get things done.¡±


    He stood and gestured her toward the door. She looked at the shelf of knick-knacks,


    pausing at the shield with its stripes and star in the center. The look of wanting to ask


    about the things crossed her face.


    ¡°I will talk to you about them when we have time,¡± said Jack. ¡°They are all fictional,


    so they don¡¯t have any of the attributes their counterparts have, but I wanted


    something to spruce up the wall.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Matilda. She smiled at him. Then she put on her serious face. She


    still had to be responsible. ¡°I will look after things.¡±


    ¡°One day, the Enterprise will be yours,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to be able to do a good


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!job with it.¡±


    Matilda looked around as she stepped out onto the bridge. She held up her hands to


    encompass the whole room.


    ¡°All of this?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°But you will have to take care of it, and keep up repairs so she will last you until


    your children¡¯s children if you have children,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s a responsibility,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Like keeping your dragon out of trouble,¡± said Jack. He smiled.


    ¡°Aviras is excellent,¡± said Matilda. ¡°He will be a good first mate when I can sail the


    skies.¡±


    The dragon looked like he was beaming in his chair. He seemed to mouth the word


    excellent as he pulled himself straighter.


    ¡°He is a good dragon,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°Now go down to Transporter Room


    One, and I¡¯ll drop you off. Mister Warner, get Josie to call when you are done with


    your visit.¡±


    He ushered them off the bridge with both hands. He waved at them as the lift doors


    closed.


    ¡°Enterprise, run scan on Boim Russ,¡± said Jack. ¡°Put the results on the main screen.


    Compare to base line humans.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. A second later, an outline with a list of differences


    appeared the screen.


    ¡°So definitely not human,¡± said Jack. ¡°Not a frog. Maybe not an elf. What do you


    think, Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°Unknown,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°No record of life form in memory.¡±


    ¡°We need to hook you up with a library so you can have a real base of knowledge,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I will work on that when I try to get the internet connection for the girls.


    I have a feeling that we are seeing the Society¡¯s real test. What do they want June to


    do other than finding this girl?¡±


    ¡°Unknown,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I expect this girl to turn into some kind of monster,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I need to


    figure something out in case she goes rogue.¡±


    He sat down in his chair and considered the schematic on the main screen. He hoped


    Josie came up with something that saved the situation with some kind of genius idea.


    He thought about the other Boim Russes that had come up on the model. Was there


    a connection? Is that something he should check on? Should June have checked on


    the other individuals?


    Could he run a scan to find anyone with the same layout in a city full of humans?


    ¡°Enterprise, can you use this to find any other similar lifeform on the ground?,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It shrank the schematic to an inset in the corner. The


    continent replaced the bigger picture. Diamond pings lit up. They stayed where


    they were, moving just enough to be active as if walking across their cities.


    ¡°So we have six other demihumans walking around, going about their day,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°We have one hanging out with my sister and the others. We need more


    information. I wonder if I have one of those clairvoyant characters on my watch that


    lets me read someone¡¯s character in an instant.¡±


    The machine held its own counsel. It didn¡¯t make command decisions, it executed


    them.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can¡¯t do anything about this until we learn something. It¡¯s


    her move. Either she is a traumatized waif that we rescued from being cut to pieces


    and used for spare parts, or she is some kind of monster, or she is both. We will have


    to give her the benefit of the doubt until she does something. Can you give me a


    visual on any of the other Russes.¡±


    The mapping moved to the inset above the life sign diagram. The main screen


    closed down on a village in the middle of nowhere. A woman walked down a road


    with a basket in her arms. She glanced around as if aware that someone was watching


    her. She looked up at the sky with a frown.


    ¡°Can we talk with her?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Will have to shift position,¡± said Enterprise.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe this one will give us some information about what


    is going on.¡±


    The Enterprise took a few seconds to shift position to drop down so the woman could


    see it, and Jack could talk to her through the outer speakers. She looked aghast


    at the giant silver bird above her.


    ¡°Boim Russ?,¡± said Jack, after being assured the speakers were on. ¡°Can we talk?¡±


    ¡°You have me at a disadvantage,¡± said Russ. She put down the basket to look


    up at the Enterprise with a shading hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come down and talk to you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hold on.¡±


    He made sure the speakers were off. He didn¡¯t want her to know he was setting up a


    dead man¡¯s switch.


    ¡°If it looks like I am being mind controlled, stun her with the phasers,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go down and talk to this lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°Keep an eye out and run


    security for us. Then we have to get back to Hawk Ridge to pick up Mister Warner.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack went down to Transporter Room One and beamed down to the surface. Russ


    blinked at his sparkling appearance on the ground.


    ¡°My name is Jack,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°I have some questions, and I am


    hoping you can help me.¡±


    ¡°What kind of questions?,¡± said Russ. Her face closed up. She knew something was


    up, but not what exactly.


    ¡°How many versions of you are there stands out,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then there is the fact


    that you look the same as the girl my sister rescued and is looking out for in the south.


    And there is the fact that you aren¡¯t baseline human, but you don¡¯t look like an elf


    either. So I have a lot of questions, and since my sister is undergoing a test of


    character where I can¡¯t ask the other you what is going on, I thought I would ask you


    when I saw that you look exactly the same and are using the same name.¡±


    ¡°How do you know any of this?,¡± said Russ. Fear and anger warred on her face.


    ¡°I¡¯m the champion of order,¡± said Jack. ¡°One of them anyway. So I dug some of this


    up. No one knows your secret yet, but my partner will find out as soon as she starts


    looking. You want to tell me what¡¯s going on? It will establish some good will and


    make it easier to look after the other you.¡±


    ¡°You want to look after the other me?,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°The Society wanted the other you rescued,¡± said Jack. ¡°So they put June on it. So we


    are looking after her at least until June gets certified. Maybe longer if she wants to


    stay with us. On the other hand, I don¡¯t want something dangerous loose in my city


    and Josie will tear her apart if there is danger to her Ducklings. Anything you can tell


    me will help with any of this. Then you can go back to doing what you are doing


    without a problem.¡±


    ¡°I could kill you with my mind right now,¡± said Russ. ¡°Your partner will never know


    what happened.¡±


    Jack laughed. He tried to hold it in, but it exploded outwards in a small gale. He


    coughed to a stop after a minute. Russ frowned at him.


    ¡°My partner not only would know what happened, she will rip you apart,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She is the most dangerous person on this planet at this moment. All of your other


    bodies would follow in a second. I understand you want to keep secrets. I keep secrets


    myself. Just don¡¯t start with threats. Let¡¯s keep everything friendly and I will work


    out a deal with you.¡±


    ¡°What kind of deal?,¡± said Russ. She didn¡¯t keep the suspicion off her face.


    ¡°What can you tell me about all this?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will keep as much of it as hidden


    as I can barring what I have to tell Josie, and Elaine. Obviously, I can¡¯t tell June


    anything until after the test, and I don¡¯t think she needs to know. As I said, we are


    looking after your other seventh, and we are going to keep doing that as much as we


    can as long as she¡¯s not some kind of hidden menace that needs to be put down.¡±


    ¡°So you know how many of us there are?,¡± said Russ. ¡°I guess I shouldn¡¯t be


    surprised. Do you want to talk here on the road?¡±


    Jack looked around. He could see people walking off the road. Some of them were


    looking at them talking on the road.


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk,¡± said Jack. He picked up the basket. ¡°We can talk while we go.¡±


    ¡°An alchemist created us,¡± said Russ. She frowned at Jack carrying her supplies on


    his shoulder. ¡°He wanted a harem to fulfil his needs. He didn¡¯t quite understand what


    he was doing. So instead of wives, he created daughters who had to be raised to be


    wives. He died of old age before his plan could work out. And then we scattered from


    our birthplace.¡±


    ¡°The extra organs?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°They let us do things,¡± said Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t think you need to know what things.¡±


    ¡°I imagine some kind of power, maybe with some chemical component,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe some kind of telepathy but that didn¡¯t work because your sister was locked


    in a cabinet and you aren¡¯t on your way to rescue her.¡±


    ¡°What does a champion of order do?,¡± asked Russ, ignoring his questions.


    ¡°We solve problems for the Robby Reed Appreciation Society, fix the unfixable, help


    the helpless, destroy evil,¡± said Jack. ¡°The usual things that people do.¡±


    ¡°The usual things?,¡± said Russ. ¡°I doubt it.¡±


    ¡°If your sister reveals any of this, that¡¯s up to her,¡± said Jack. ¡°Your secret is safe


    with me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll keep her safe?,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°You have my word that I will keep your origin secret, but the fact that there are


    multiple yous is already known,¡± said Jack. ¡°We just put it down to different people


    with the same name, and not one person being copied.¡±


    ¡°Why are you talking to me instead of burning me for being a witch?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°I like to talk,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°It makes me feel like I care.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Russ. ¡°This is my lane here.¡±


    ¡°I am going to look after the other you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you have something you want


    to tell her?¡±


    ¡°I will talk to her tonight,¡± said Russ. ¡°Thank you for carrying my groceries.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. He put the basket down. He triggered his com band. ¡°Enterprise?


    Beam me up.¡±


    He faded away in a cloud of blue sparks.

 The Adventurers Hall

    Josie waited on the yard for her scalawags to appear. The brick block of the Hall


    stood behind her. Elaine tried to look grim by her side, but satisfaction of things being


    done prevented her from scowling.


    The party appeared in a cloud of blue sparks with their varying expressions. Matilda


    walked over ahead of everyone else. She handed Josie a piece of paper and stepped


    back.


    ¡°Jack said to give it to you when we landed,¡± said Matilda.


    Josie unfolded the note. She glanced at the writing. She frowned. She folded the note


    and put it away in her messenger bag.


    ¡°Did he say why?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The test might still be running,¡± said Matilda in a whisper.


    Josie huffed in exasperation. She could see that. They still had to get through their


    day.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to take care of some things. Matilda, take your party


    in to find the girls. Sir Harp will want to have some words with his friend. Boim


    Russ?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the waif.


    ¡°Are you staying with us, or do you need separate lodging?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°She can hang out with me at the Hangar,¡± said June. ¡°She doesn¡¯t have anything but


    the clothes on her back.¡±


    ¡°No home where Jack picked you up?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No, madam,¡± said Boim. ¡°I was living on the street.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to go by and talk with Jane again. I am sure she will


    put you up. I have a building we can use for our project, and I need to work out how


    we are going to move and cure everyone involved. I might need to buy up houses


    around the new hospital to house people. The plan is fluid at the moment. June,


    Matilda, and Aviras, you three are grounded until otherwise. No books, no ice cream,


    no wandering around. I have plenty of work to be done, and I expect you to do it


    without complaint. Now go ahead. I will have jobs for you the next few days.¡±


    ¡°Who made you the boss?,¡± said June.


    ¡°My seniority, my intelligence, and my fist,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now go ahead before this


    turns into something you know you are going to lose.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Miss Russ,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Aviras and I will introduce you to the


    Ducklings. They are really great, even if Melanie is lazy.¡±


    Matilda made sure Aviras was perched on her head as she walked to the Hall. June


    frowned at Josie, before she gestured for Miss Russ to follow their guide. Mister


    Warner hung back, frowning at the future, or his meeting with his old friend.


    ¡°What was on the note?,¡± he asked. He nodded at the girls when they looked back to


    see what was taking so long.


    ¡°X-Files,¡± said Josie. She matched his scowl with one of her own.


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Jack¡¯s way of warning me,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go talk to your friend. If you want, I will


    deal with the goblins after I sort out the medical setup here.¡±


    ¡°Anyone can handle goblins,¡± said Mister Warner. He strolled to where Matilda was


    waiting on him to catch up.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand the reference,¡± said Elaine. She watched the group disappear


    inside the building.


    ¡°No one here would,¡± said Josie. She looked at the building. ¡°Jack thinks something


    is wrong with this situation and he didn¡¯t want June to know. I guess he expects me


    to run a book of knowledge on Russ to see what is wrong with her since he doesn¡¯t


    seem to have any skill with personal divining as his magic user.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The two mottos for the X-Files were ¡®I want to believe¡¯ and ¡®Trust no one¡¯¡±, said


    Josie.


    ¡°So we could have another Todd,¡± said Elaine. She frowned.


    ¡°I will do a reading as soon as I get everything together,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to check


    on a way to arrange for transportation for Jane and her ladies, or figure out how much


    I have to buy up around Endwright¡¯s building for housing. They¡¯re helping me, so I


    have to do something to make the job easier.¡±


    ¡°And we have to figure that out so we can arrange for adventurers to help us with the


    move,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie. ¡°You know, when Jack and I arrived, I never thought there


    would be so much logistics involved in helping people. I always thought it would be


    one and done.¡±


    ¡°When Jack is done with helping Mister Warner, he will be able to help us with some


    of this,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I imagine he will want to put a stargate from the hospital to the


    House. That will take care of transportation needs of staffing.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡±


    ¡°Because we are still gathering threads, but we haven¡¯t woven a tapestry yet,¡± said


    Elaine.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. ¡°That should be something that we do when we circle back


    to Jane¡¯s. We need a chart to make a plan to execute. Once we clear out the tent city,


    then we can start on the infected on the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°You may have to put a spell on Shemmaria to deal with some of the additional


    effects from the goblin trees,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The Shemmarians fell for the gardener¡¯s line of bull like a rock,¡± said Josie. She


    started walking to the building. ¡°What were they thinking?¡±


    ¡°Possibly they would have a superhuman army to conquer their neighbors and do


    what they wanted,¡± said Elaine. ¡°They forgot the two most important things to


    remember in a situation like that: how did they administer their expanded nation, and


    what did they do if the new army turned on them.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think about that,¡± said Josie. She opened the door so they could go inside.


    ¡°I was more concerned with what happened if a zombie plague expanded out of


    control and killed every living thing on the continent.¡±


    ¡°I doubt it would have killed every living thing even if you and Jack had to meet them


    on the border and fight them while they kept trying to expand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You


    have shown yourself ready to do things to save the day that others would not have


    considered.¡±


    ¡°A lot of people would have still been killed if we hadn¡¯t thought of something,¡± said


    Josie.


    Elaine smiled. They had averted a disaster with her help. That was enough for her.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Josie checked the board as they passed. A notice of a pending job for her was on it.


    She nodded. She had to pay Sally for the note, and then tell her they planned to


    change the notice when they were sure about what they were going to do.


    Then whomever they could get would help them move the patients out of Jane¡¯s


    House to Jane¡¯s Hospital.


    She needed to think of better pay for everyone involved until this was settled.


    She added the better pay to the list of things she wanted to talk to Jane about.


    Elaine paused by the staff counter at the end of the long central hall. Sally came down


    to talk to her. Josie finished her walk as they talked about the job, and what Sally


    could tell the adventurers.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t decided on what we are going to pay yet,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We are still


    trying to figure out what we are going to do now that we have a building.¡±


    ¡°No major threats, just work, basic nursing needs,¡± said Sally. ¡°It seems simple


    enough.¡±


    ¡°Do adventurers have their own housing here in the city?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The locals do,¡± said Sally. ¡°Pass-throughs have to use inns until they get back on the


    road.¡±


    ¡°When we have the details hammered out, we will change the notice to an active job


    with what we want,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am hoping to get some help from local citizens


    looking for work so we can keep an eye out until we have all of these people cured.


    We don¡¯t know how long the process will take at the moment.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Sally. ¡°Thank you for helping us the other day. It would have


    been a disaster not to have been able to honor the bounties and necessary


    accomplishments.¡±


    ¡°Heard anything about a new manager?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We had one named Todd, but he disappeared,¡± said Sally. ¡°Right now I am the


    manager.¡±


    ¡°Good for you,¡± said Josie. She smiled.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Sally. ¡°It looks like the old manager was dipping into the funds. I


    sent a report in, and then we got Todd, and now I am back to waiting.¡±


    ¡°Everyone likes you, Sally,¡± said Josie. She glanced at Elaine to see a nod of


    agreement. ¡°You are the best manager this place will ever have. If you need help with


    the books, I can do something after hours if you want me to.¡±


    ¡°Right now, we are operating at a loss,¡± said Sally. ¡°If you have any ideas to help the


    guild, I will pass it along when I ask to use them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll think of something,¡± said Josie. ¡°This hospital job will be the biggest thing I


    can forsee in the near future.¡±


    The Ducklings appeared. The news that one of their own had handled a quest had sent


    some excitement rushing through their veins. Josie smiled as Laura juggled Matilda


    around with her flight.


    She didn¡¯t see Harp, or Mister Warner with the small crowd.


    ¡°How was the practice?,¡± said Josie. She crossed her arms. Laura put Matilda down


    with a small thump.


    ¡°Alicia is still the best of us,¡± said Beatrice. She pushed her hair back with a hand.


    ¡°Sir Harp and Mister Warner are still talking about old times.¡±


    ¡°We have to go back by Jane¡¯s before we come home,¡± said Josie. ¡°Is the Rick giving


    you your archery lesson today?¡±


    ¡°Not today,¡± said Alicia. Her flat voice expressed disapproval over her archery


    teacher missing a session.


    ¡°He sent a message to let us know he is hunting something for the Duchess,¡± said


    Beatrice.


    ¡°All right, then,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to have this meeting and then come home.


    Jack is supposed to help Mister Warner with the goblins, then he will be coming


    home. Is there anything else I need to take care of before I get home?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re short on supplies, missus,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Can I trust you to get groceries?,¡± said Josie. She looked at June.


    ¡°I swear you take the car once, and they hold it against you forever,¡± said June.


    ¡°Adults are like that,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Beatrice, you are in charge,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°As usual,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°You are the most adult of us,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Almost the most trustworthy,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°And kind,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°All right then,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am glad that is settled. Elaine will give you the money


    for the supplies. Bring back the change.¡±


    ¡°I think Jack would like an apple pie for desert,¡± said Elaine. She dug out her


    notebook and a bag of coins. She wrote down the amount of coins and handed them


    to Beatrice. She put the notebook back in her jacket pocket. ¡°Be careful.¡±


    ¡°We have June to protect us from bullies,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°And if we give Alicia a rod


    to simulate a sword, she is fairly dangerous in her own right.¡±


    ¡°I will think about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead. I don¡¯t know how long this will take.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you the Hangar when we get home,¡± said June. ¡°Jack might be able to


    carve you a guest room.¡±


    ¡°That would be nice, I guess,¡± said Boim. She didn¡¯t seem convinced.


    Josie changed into Zatanna and asked for a book to fill up about their newest guest.


    She let the persona go as the group flew away, carried by Laura¡¯s grip.


    She glanced through the pages, frowning at her own handwriting. She rubbed her


    face. Jack had been right about something being odd about their guest. Was she


    planning something nefarious?


    What did she want to do about this?


    She pressed the button for the Enterprise. She needed to talk to Jack about this. No


    wonder he had sent her a message to trust no one.


    The com band clicked to let her know her call had connected.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to talk to Jack.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Jo,¡± said Jack. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°What do you know about Boim Russ?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°Just what I dug up,¡± said Jack. ¡°Those other Boims on the map are all different


    versions of her. That¡¯s why they all lit up.¡±


    ¡°You dug that up from the Enterprise?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is she around?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just Elaine and me,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°The quick version is the seven Russes are vat kids. They split


    up when their creator died. Our Russ was living on the street. The other one I talked


    to is living out in the sticks. They are mildly telepathic. I don¡¯t know how much they


    can gather in. I am going to say at least some kind of danger sense.¡±


    ¡°But our Russ was taken captive despite that?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They might not share the talent,¡± said Jack. ¡°We do the same thing, but I have


    Marvel and you have the distinguished competition.¡±


    ¡°So we let her roam around?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I told the other Russ that we would look after her sister under our mandate,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°And it is Junie¡¯s test run. I don¡¯t know how she would have dug any of this up


    with her three personas, but there might have been something obvious that she


    missed.¡±


    ¡°What is it with your family bringing home monsters?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Hey,¡± said Jack. She could hear him grinning. ¡°We took you in.¡±


    ¡°Exactly my point,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re letting this ride?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t see the plan here,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society gave Junie until the day after


    tomorrow. I think we can hold back at least that long before we have to lay things


    out.¡±


    ¡°They like to talk to us in dreams,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might see a resolution tonight


    after lights out.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t count on that,¡± said Jack. ¡°There is something going on here that we¡¯re


    missing. I think we¡¯ll have to wait until the day after tomorrow before we see how


    things lay.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have the building. I am going to meet with Jane to lay out


    a plan. Elaine said you should put a stargate between the new hospital and the House


    so we can cut down on transportation and having to buy up the houses around the


    warehouse.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with that,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we are going to start with moving


    the ill at the House?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we pull out the people on the Enterprise and handle them


    one at a time. Maybe by then, we¡¯ll have the other deed from the Exchange for the


    other building.¡±


    ¡°I have some ideas for things from what Hap said,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might be able to


    put something in that automatically cleans the women so they can get normal care.¡±


    ¡°They have growths on their spines and I think that is keeping them from waking up,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°We are going to need to test your machine against that.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Whenever you give the word, I am ready to go.¡±


    Mister Warner and Sir Harp came out of the Hall. They were still deep in whatever


    conversation they had started.


    ¡°Mister Warner is here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I guess he is ready to go.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll handle his goblin problem and I will be home to help with everything else,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°Be careful, Jack,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t plan to leave the bridge,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s Mister Warner¡¯s quest. I plan to let


    him handle it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you think the Russes are a danger?¡±


    ¡°Everyone is a danger,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some are more dangerous than others.¡±


    ¡°I just sent her off with the Ducklings and June,¡± said Josie. ¡°So I need some


    assurance I didn¡¯t make an extremely bad mistake there.¡±


    ¡°I think if she is going to make her move it will be after we lower our guard,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°On the other hand, we might just be paranoid, and she might be harmless.¡±


    ¡°Jack could have done a better job on this arm,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°It was my first one,¡± said Jack. ¡°Ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Mister Warner. He vanished in a cloud of blue sparks.


    Josie cut the connection on her band.


    ¡°It¡¯s been years, and he has just grown crustier with the time,¡± said Harp. He smiled.


    ¡°Old people,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who knew? We have to work out this hospital thing with


    Jane. Then we¡¯re going to have to make a move. You¡¯re welcome to sit in on this with


    your knowledge of the city and the people.¡±


    ¡°I will have to send a message home to my wife,¡± said Harp. ¡°She will be


    downhearted that she missed Oliver¡¯s visit. She had some things she wanted to say.¡±


    ¡°Ask her if she wants to sit in with us,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need all the help we can get.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Harp.

 Survivors

    Jack waited on the bridge, eyes on the city below. How many people were going to


    have a better day because he had done something? He had no idea. He doubted the


    Society wanted him to do a poll of survivors of monsters he had saved.


    Things were objectively better with some of the more corrupt elements gone from the


    top. He still had to work on some of the middle managers of evil to really allow for


    some sprucing up.


    He wondered how Russ Two was taking her secret being known. Would they decide


    to get rid of him and Josie? Did they want to go in as honorary Ducklings? Seven


    identical girls running around in the same city as they were would be nothing but


    confusion and trouble.


    If he hadn¡¯t met Elaine, he could see hooking up with seven identical girls would


    have some sort of appeal to a guy who had more stamina than he did.


    Mister Warner walked on the bridge with a whooshing of the elevator doors. He


    turned his frowning face on the screen. He paused in what he was about to say as


    Josie and Elaine popped from the screen.


    ¡°Where are your goblins?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°They¡¯re in the south,¡± said Warner. ¡°They have a sort of cavern system built down


    there. I don¡¯t know why they would come up to the surface. They have a sun


    problem.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they got sun screen,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the expression that got him.


    ¡°It worked for the vampires in Blade.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t have,¡± said Warner. ¡°Goyer has a bad habit of that.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Vampires are monsters fueled by curses,¡± said Warner. ¡°They¡¯re ghosts who walk


    like the Phantom. They don¡¯t have DNA to exploit so building a better vampire with


    genesplicing is out. People just ignored that because they had a better type of vampire


    that stills get wiped out by sunlight.¡±


    ¡°I take it you didn¡¯t like Blade,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The first two with Kristofferson were excellent,¡± said Warner. ¡°The one with Ryan


    Reynolds and Jessica Biel was iffy at best.¡±


    ¡°Blade versus Dracula was a given,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Warner. ¡°Maybe bringing in Jack Russell would have been better,


    expand the turf a little. And everyone just assumes werewolves have DNA, when they


    might only have some depending on their origin story.¡±


    ¡°They might not have had the rights to Werewolf by Night,¡± said Jack. ¡°Movie stuff


    gets complicated compared to publishing rights.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Warner. ¡°I remember the Aquaman embargo. How long will it take for


    you to take us down to this invasion site?¡±


    ¡°A couple of seconds,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, set course south. Scan for non-humans.


    We are looking for something that looks like a warren.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack watched the small screen built into his chair. He noted various signatures, but


    not a species marked off from humans. All he saw were singular examples out in the


    wild.


    A lone orc, or ogre, wandering around wasn¡¯t his problem until it became his


    problem. Then he planned to let Josie handle it.


    The Enterprise came to a stop over a hole in the side of a hill. Several nearby villages


    had been torched. Bodies were not present on the screen. Either the villagers had


    escaped, been torched, or taken for some later use.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you scan for humans underground? I would like to


    check for prisoners.¡±


    A series of pings went to the main screen. They were deep underground according to


    the readings. The transporter should be able to reach in and bring them out without


    a problem. They didn¡¯t have anywhere to go with the goblins waiting to attack again


    at night.


    ¡°See if you can get the people out,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I¡¯ll go down and close the


    warren up. They¡¯ll be able to make an exit somewhere else, but that should stop


    things for a while.¡±


    ¡°What do we do with the survivors?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°They won¡¯t be able to live here


    with their crops burnt to the ground.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Warner. ¡°I guess we can ask another village to take them in, but


    there might not be enough food to go around.¡±


    ¡°We need something like the Red Cross for this,¡± said Jack. ¡°Would a garrison take


    them in?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Warner. ¡°I think if we don¡¯t do something, we might lose them


    to the goblins.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, lock on to all the human lifeforms we can detect,¡± said Jack. ¡°Beam them


    up to the transporter in the cargo bay. I¡¯ll have to talk to them and find out what they


    want to do. I could maybe make a town with walls if they want to stay out here.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Energizing.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to them before we start on the goblins,¡± said Warner. ¡°I don¡¯t relish going


    into those tunnels and rooting them out.¡±


    ¡°Tunnels are the worst,¡± said Jack. ¡°But we can flood them out. I have a thing. All I


    need is extra water from somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to the survivors,¡± said Warner. ¡°They might not consider this a rescue.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He pressed a button to trigger the intercom. ¡°This is the captain


    to passengers. I¡¯m coming down to talk to you. Please remain calm. I plan to drop you


    off at the nearest fort so you can try to rebuild. If you need anything else, think about


    it while I am on the way.¡±


    He cut off the intercom.


    ¡°There is only so much we¡¯ll be able to do to help them,¡± warned the retired


    champion of order.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need to make sure there weren¡¯t any transported away


    before we got here. We can still try to rescue them if there is some hope. I plan to do


    something, even it¡¯s just dropping torpedoes on top of that cave system and blowing


    the roof off so I can get in there and use Blade.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Warner.


    They took the lift down to the designated deck and let the door open. The survivors


    were shocked after the events of the night and the sudden rescue in a cloud of blue


    sparks. They didn¡¯t have enough left to glare at the new arrivals.


    ¡°I¡¯m the captain, Jack,¡± said Jack. He looked the crowd over. He doubted any of the


    people here wanted him to turn into Doctor Strange and work them over. They all


    looked like they had had enough of monsters. ¡°Is there someone here I can talk to


    about making arrangements to put you back in human territory?¡±


    ¡°We were in human territory,¡± said one of the women. She was covered in scratches


    and bruises. Pieces of her clothes had been ripped away. ¡°Those things burned our


    house down. They ate Mormiman after they stabbed him. I had to watch that. They


    have to pay for what they did.¡±


    ¡°The border is still two-three days ride south of here,¡± said an older man. He had been


    burned when they took him. Someone had covered his wound with a bandage made


    from the sleeve of his shirt. ¡°We had heard news that there was some unrest, but it has


    been a long time since the goblins have raided like this.¡±


    ¡°There is a cavern entrance in the middle of your three villages,¡± said Warner. ¡°Did


    the goblins mention what clan they were from?¡±


    ¡°Iron Teeth,¡± said a young girl. The goblins had let her keep her stuffed animal, and


    not much else. ¡°I heard them say that. They ate Yoff. He tried to protect me. He was


    the best dog. They killed him and ate him.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re safe here for the moment. I can check you out for


    injuries upstairs. I can give you temporary quarters but there isn¡¯t any furniture. I can


    get you new clothes. I can get food for you. I can give you transportation to a


    settlement further from the border so you can start over. I can build something on top


    of one of your old places, but everything looked burned down so you won¡¯t have


    food, or time to bring in a new crop yield. You¡¯re safe here until you figure out what


    you want to do.¡±


    ¡°What about the goblins?,¡± asked the woman. She looked at the other injured


    villagers. She didn¡¯t know how they had made this miraculous escape, but it was


    obvious they were dealing with magicians.


    ¡°What about them?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°They have to be punished,¡± said the woman. ¡°They were going to eat us.¡±


    ¡°Whatever happens to the goblins won¡¯t be your concern,¡± said Jack. ¡°Take a


    moment. Look around. You have a chance to start over. It¡¯s not a lot right now. The


    pain will lessen until you will barely feel it, but it will be more bearable than right


    now.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about it?,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°Because I lost my future and I took my ten pounds of flesh for it,¡± said Jack. ¡°And


    it still hurts. I know a lot about it. But I decided to try to start over, and build a new


    life. Every now and then I have a thought like I should kill part of a city to show


    people they shouldn¡¯t fool around, but I decide not to so I can keep working on


    myself without having to reexamine every decision I make. It¡¯s a process like


    bringing in crops or making a blanket. You don¡¯t just voila something out of nothing.


    You have to work on it.¡±


    The woman looked away. She sobbed. One of the other survivors hugged her.


    ¡°So the first thing to do is point you to places where you can clean up,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    can bring blankets down here for you to sleep here or let you have guest rooms. I can


    heal part of your injuries so you can get back on your feet. I¡¯m going to walk outside


    and let you talk and decide what you want to do.¡±


    The champions stepped through the door into the corridor outside the hangar. Jack


    could have asked for the Enterprise to relay everything said to him but he wanted to


    give them a chance.


    ¡°You can¡¯t voila something into existence?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°What do you think is going on?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°A new clan sprouted up and decided to test itself,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°They might


    want to draw more clans over the line. After all, they have a tunnel under the


    Southern Picket. All it needs is for a bunch of people to start killing goblins and the


    clans will join up, and we will have a war on our hands.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to do about it?,¡± asked Jack. He was good with letting the


    Enterprise drop some munitions on site to see what happened.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to go down there and ask some questions,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Maybe close the tunnels up. I have some guys who could do the job. I don¡¯t like they


    decided to eat anyone they snagged up. Goblins don¡¯t usually do that.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for you to go down there alone,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I


    should go down with you and be ready with Gravity, or Blade.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need someone to hold my hand,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Josie will have a fit if her favorite comic shop owner gets taken out by Gringott¡¯s


    cousin,¡± said Jack. ¡°So let¡¯s both go down, find the goblins, and close the tunnels


    off before they lead an invasion of the nearby lands.¡±


    ¡°This is just going to be a friendly chat,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I haven¡¯t had to clear


    out tunnels in a long time.¡±


    ¡°I did right before I got out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think we can flood the thing if we had


    some extra water from somewhere, like clearing out gopher holes.¡±


    ¡°What do you think the villagers will do?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°Some of them will want to start over, some of them will want to kill themselves,


    and some of them will hate and want to kill goblins,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t make


    them pick what I want. I could, but I think it would be crossing a line I¡¯m not


    ready to cross yet. I¡¯m going to let Josie handle the mind control for our partnership.


    She has a better handle how she wants to curse people than I do.¡±


    ¡°She always did,¡± said Mister Warner. He smiled.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°She could teach senior sailors and drill instructors some things.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to help these people?,¡± asked Mister Warner. ¡°As soon as I break


    this invasion, I¡¯m back to the real world.¡±


    ¡°You could stay and help them out,¡± said Jack. ¡°They¡¯ll need someone to protect


    them while they get their lives back together.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think I would be good for something like that?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a babysitter.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying you could stay on just long enough for them to build themselves back


    up,¡± said Jack. ¡°When they don¡¯t need you, you can go back to retirement.¡±


    ¡°No more saving the world, just the town,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I don¡¯t see Zu going


    for that. I was surprised he took June up on her ask. That¡¯s why I think something is


    up with the quest.¡±


    ¡°She might be stuck in one town, doing a small job?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can see that.¡±


    ¡°Three personas is not enough to handle everything unless one of them is a


    superhuman Doctor Strange,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°They might want her to earn her


    personas instead of just giving them to her like they did us. Maybe they don¡¯t trust


    her with the power.¡±


    ¡°I know I don¡¯t,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what the survivors want to do,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Then I have to start


    on the rest of this.¡±


    Jack led the way back on the hangar deck. He looked the group over. They were


    calmer, and had expressed their emotions enough to have things under control. He


    wondered what they would want to do.


    ¡°Did you guys decide what you want to do?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We want to rebuild our villages, but we only have enough people for one village,¡±


    said the chosen spokesman, the man with the burn. ¡°We need help rebuilding our


    designated town away from the cave. We want a wall around the village for


    protection.¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can head out somewhere and bring you a supply of food


    that could last for a while, maybe long enough for you to farm for a season.¡±


    ¡°We will have to be near a main road to the capitol,¡± said the spokesman. ¡°Hopefully


    traffic will bring us something.¡±


    ¡°Let me deal with these goblins,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Then I¡¯ll talk to the Society


    about staying on long enough to shepherd you back up to where you were. Is Kaile


    still the high king?¡±


    ¡°His son was elected,¡± said the bitter woman. ¡°He has been the high king for a few


    years now.¡±


    ¡°Kyle,¡± said Mister Warner. He made a hmph noise. ¡°Can all of you walk?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the spokesman. ¡°Some of us have been wounded in the leg so it¡¯s hard.¡±


    ¡°I can handle that part,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we have enough beds for you


    guys, but I can get you to sick bay and start working on your bodies. I¡¯m not that


    great with mental problems.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going down to deal with the goblins,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Zu about


    helping you guys after I am done with that quest.¡±

 Janes Hospital

    Josie and Elaine arrived back at the converted house. They waved at the gate woman


    as they entered. They needed to really start planning instead of running around like


    their butts were on fire, and their heads were catching.


    The first thing they had to do was get Jane to the building, maybe Massa also, and


    figure out how it needed to be changed to accommodate their patients. Once they had


    a list, Josie could do the rest with Zatanna.


    Jack could add his own touches when he got back to town with the Enterprise. A


    stargate would be exactly what they needed to bridge the gap between the House, and


    the Hospital.


    Once they had the preliminary stuff out of the way, they just had to move everyone


    to the site to get started on a cure. The machine would have to be set up close to the


    door so they could look at everyone before moving them into their new rooms.


    The main thing would be Jack and she would have to do most of the medical work to


    clear out the growths. It would be up to anyone they could get to make sure the


    women were taken care of until they could be released.


    Setting up the phantom chefs might be a good idea so they could feed people without


    worrying about who was running the kitchen.


    They had done a great job at the dinner. They could feed the people here with the


    right tools and enough supplies.


    She saw Massa talking to a woman. They seemed to be discussing the picture the


    woman had in her hands.


    ¡°Let¡¯s ask Josie,¡± said Massa. ¡°She surely will know what the codes are better than


    I.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± said Josie. She held out her hand for the picture. She glanced


    at it, then the sheet of codes on top of it. She frowned as she went over it again.


    ¡°When did you take this?¡±


    ¡°A few minutes ago,¡± said the woman. ¡°I work the night shift and keep an eye on the


    wall, and make sure nothing can get into the tents. What¡¯s wrong with me?¡±


    ¡°The sheet says you are going to have twins,¡± said Josie. ¡°The problem is your


    pregnancy will kill you if you try to have the babies.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?,¡± asked the woman. ¡°I haven¡¯t had sex since before I was taken. I


    don¡¯t know who the father is.¡±


    ¡°You have time to make a decision,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will put this on the chart the same


    as Massa¡¯s liver. At least you don¡¯t have the growths on your spine to interfere with


    things before we can do something about it. We have a building now, and we can start


    moving these women out of here and getting things back to normal.¡±


    ¡°Can you help me?,¡± said the stranger.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you to know that I might have to consult Jack, and he


    is not known for his understanding of anything. Between the two of us, we should be


    able to come up with something to help you, but there are things you should look for


    like bleeding and pelvic pain. If anything like that starts, we might have to do


    something to save your life first, then your twins. Understood? I¡¯m not having Jane


    try to come at me over this. You take it easy, and you look for the signs. If you think


    for a minute that you might be having problems, you go right to the machine and get


    coded out. Then you have Jane call me, or Jack.¡±


    ¡°How long do I have?,¡± asked the woman.


    ¡°In this case, that doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said Josie. ¡°You could have a premature birth right


    now according to this. If that happens, and I can¡¯t fix it, you are dead. So do what I


    tell you, and if anyone gives you a problem, tell them I will rip their ear off like Carol.


    Got it?¡±


    ¡°You heard the Ear Ripper,¡± said Massa. She smiled. ¡°Take it easy until we start


    working to help you.¡±


    ¡°I could have a problem at any time,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to move these women out of here,


    work on anything that needs to be worked on for the Amazons, and try to set up to


    help the citizens of Hawk Ridge. If in the middle of that, something happens, we will


    put you at the top of the list and fix what we can before you die. That is my word. I


    will put someone¡¯s head on a pike to keep it.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see that,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It¡¯s messy and gross.¡±


    ¡°Now go about your business,¡± said Josie. ¡°Stay close to the house in case I have to


    find you, and don¡¯t try to exert yourself until we have things back in line.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Madam Witch,¡± said the woman. She took the picture and receipt and


    headed back to the house.


    ¡°I will never get rid of that label,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I like Ear Ripper a lot,¡± said Elaine. She smiled slightly. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to tell the


    Ducklings.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m putting my foot down. It¡¯s bad enough that Hilda started that


    here. I¡¯m not letting it get out in the city so everyone and their mother covers their


    ears when they see me coming.¡±


    She frowned at the two smiling women standing across from her.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t rip my ear off,¡± said Massa.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Why are you asking for it?,¡± said Josie. She took a breath. ¡°This isn¡¯t getting our job


    done. I have the building, and I need you to think about what it should look like to


    house all these people. As soon as we find Jane, we¡¯re going to look at it and then I¡¯ll


    take whatever list we have and reshape the building. We¡¯ve asked Jack to put in a


    gate so we can expedite movement. That will probably be the last thing we do after


    everything else.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Massa. ¡°You have no time for hi-jinx.¡±


    ¡°There is Jane,¡± said Elaine. She pointed at the object of their search.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We can handle the building today and open it for


    business. Then we can start moving these women out of here, and then start taking


    our victims off the Enterprise.¡±


    They closed on Jane. She was supervising some watering project. Putting in a well


    could only help the Amazons in their self-sufficiency.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to borrow your brains.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t have them,¡± said Jane. ¡°I need them more.¡±


    Josie frowned at her. She triggered Zatanna and flung a bird across the city. When it


    reached its destination, the group of them teleported to an empty warehouses full of


    cages. They looked around while the sudden shifting of reality wore off.


    ¡°When I did my raid, these cages were full of women,¡± said Josie. She waved at the


    stacks. ¡°Guards had them locked down to prevent escape. I expect now they were


    going to be put in a caravan and put on the road when the guards thought they were


    ready to be moved.¡±


    ¡°The guards?,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I let them go to the other side of the wall,¡± said Josie. Jane nodded. ¡°What do you


    think? What can we do with this?¡±


    ¡°First, we are not going to be able to put everyone on this floor,¡± said Massa. ¡°We¡¯re


    going to need at least two times more flooring, especially with eighty five more


    bodies that will need to be housed.¡±


    ¡°Once you put in floors, you will need steps to allow us to reach the beds on the upper


    floors,¡± said Jane. ¡°Maybe a ramp so we can roll beds up and down when we need


    to.¡±


    ¡°The machine should be either by the door so we can roll people through it when they


    arrive, or in a space out of the way so we can do the exam and then assign a space,¡±


    said Massa. She pointed at the wall next to the door.


    ¡°We need desks so we can keep our paperwork on the women if they wake up,¡± said


    Elaine. ¡°I feel they should be at the end of the staging areas so the nurses can make


    notes about the women as they help them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where should any supplies like clean blankets go?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll need closets near the desks,¡± said Jane. ¡°We¡¯ll also need privies at the ends


    of the halls next to the nurses in case they need them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have Jack work on that,¡± said Josie. ¡°He put in an internal bathroom for us that


    works wonders.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can do any of that?,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I can make alterations,¡± said Josie. ¡°All these cages gives me enough material I think


    to do some of it. Let me write down what we want so we can do this. The next step


    after is moving people from the tent city to here after we wake them up.¡±


    ¡°And some of the women will have to be looked after now that we know they have


    problems like the women we are taking care of,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Back home, a big hospital would have different floors for


    different problems, but everything is specialized. You wouldn¡¯t call a heart doctor for


    a broken leg. We are not going to have that luxury until we have been in existence for


    a while.¡±


    ¡°This is turning into a bigger enterprise than I thought when we started out,¡± said


    Jane.


    ¡°Who knew a government was kidnapping women to turn them into the walking


    dead?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°A fair question,¡± said Jane. She smiled. ¡°Some of the women are finding love and


    thinking about leaving. We might not be as strong later as we are now.¡±


    ¡°I wish them the best of luck on that,¡± said Josie. She sat down on the dusty floor. She


    pulled out a piece of paper and pen to write down her wishes for the building. ¡°Lord


    Endwright is renting the building to us. Elaine has a copy of the documents.


    Apparently his wife acquired things with his fortune while he was asleep. His


    accountants are still going over what she owed, and whom owed her. If he evicts us,


    I will have to go with the other building as our primary operation. This one will be


    sanitized to remove all the alterations.¡±


    ¡°So if we have problems, the building goes back to this?,¡± said Massa. She waved her


    hand at the empty space.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Josie. She changed into Supergirl. She wrote down everything they had


    talked about with other things added on. Anything else would have to be changed


    later after the building was in use. She couldn¡¯t think of everything, but she had what


    Jane wanted, what Massa wanted, a small knowledge of the hospitals back home, and


    fictional hospitals that she had read about, or seen. She doubted her list was


    comprehensive, but she had to trust her wish magic to help her carry the burden.


    It had to work.


    She let Supergirl go. She stared at the list and nodded. She could do this. She knew


    she could. She might have to steal some from the buildings around her, but she was


    prepared to do that.


    She wondered if this is what Jack felt when he built the Enterprise. She decided to ask


    him when they caught up with everything.


    ¡°Give me a minute to charge up,¡± said Josie. She looked at her watch. ¡°Then we¡¯ll see


    what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Do you want us to step outside?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t move,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to do the same thing Jack did to build


    the Enterprise.¡±


    She waited for the ding so she could start at full power. She doubted this was what


    the Society wanted her doing when she wasn¡¯t fulfilling quests, but she had earned


    some self-government and she was ultimately going to help the city with her creation.


    She hoped Jane and her Amazons were ready for the amount of responsibility she was


    going to ask them to take on.


    ¡°Like Jackie Gleason used to say,¡± said Josie. She called on Zatanna. ¡°Away we go.¡±


    She built thousands of birds in a second. They swept out and picked up anything they


    thought she would need for the alterations she wanted. Empty houses abutting the


    warehouse were seized. Their owners were gone one way or the other. She supposed


    she was stealing from the duchy but she didn¡¯t care. The cages came apart under the


    passing of her birds as they searched for material.


    The birds came back and popped as soon as their mission was done. The building


    changed under their administrations. Elaine gripped Jane and Massa so they wouldn¡¯t


    move in the maelstrom of power throwing material around in the confined space.


    Josie snapped aware when the last bird had done its mission and faded away. She sent


    out a search for any problems. Everything came back with an all green.


    The women looked around with various expressions, but the space around them had


    been changed into a foyer with a desk for anyone who could man it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look around and see if it looks good,¡± said Josie. ¡°Tomorrow, we work


    on getting the Amazons used to it, and the day after we start fixing whomever we


    can.¡±


    ¡°I can see why everyone calls you Madam Witch,¡± said Massa. She looked up at the


    ceiling. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t believe it if I hadn¡¯t seen it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll sit down with everyone and work on a schedule for everything,¡± said Jane. ¡°This


    is something else, Josie. I can see why Jack is scared of you.¡±


    ¡°Good job,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at her friend.


    ¡°This part was the easy part,¡± said Josie. ¡°The rest will require a human touch to care,


    and a brain to figure out any problems.¡±

 Sick Bay

    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Give all of us a point to point transport from here in the


    cargo bay, to Sick Bay.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack decided that using a transporter was not as good as his own ring gates, or Josie¡¯s


    bird. There was a noticeable snap.


    ¡°How did you do that?,¡± asked the woman. She looked around at the beds, the


    screens, and the racks of equipment.


    ¡°The Enterprise can move things around by turning it into energy, loading it in a


    storage space, and then it puts the things back together somewhere else by turning


    it back to whatever it was,¡± said Jack. ¡°The point to point we just did came later. The


    initial idea was you couldn¡¯t transport anything except by pads like the ones in the


    cargo bay.¡±


    ¡°So it is magic?,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hopefully it will be something as common as water. Right


    now, it was an idea I stole to do my job, and I haven¡¯t quite figured out how much


    I want to push this world to where you can fly through the sky, sail under the sea,


    see what¡¯s above the sky. I think it would be cool, but my partner thinks I have my


    head in the clouds.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine why,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°She¡¯s just bitter,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the woman. ¡°You guys climb on the beds.


    I will go by and look at things and see what I can do to help you. Enterprise, I am


    going to need some help with this.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Mister Warner vanished while Jack roamed around. There was no need for a transport


    when he could just turn into a ghost and fly down to where he needed to be.


    ¡°Have you done this often?,¡± asked one of the patients, a slim man who had been


    stabbed in the ribs, but was still holding on. The blade had broke during the action


    and had helped seal the wound.


    ¡°Can I be honest?,¡± said Jack. He ran a scanner over the wound, getting a look at the


    shape of it.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said the patient, waving his hand. ¡°It¡¯s not like I would know you¡¯re


    lying.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t really treated anyone here on the Enterprise,¡± said Jack. He put the scanner


    away. They would have to do surgery. He wasn¡¯t keen on that. ¡°Usually I would just


    turn into someone else if I was on the ground and do the work, but that someone else


    looks like a monster. I don¡¯t think you guys would appreciate having a doctor with


    too many eyeballs and tentacles working on you after what you just went through.¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯re lying,¡± said the guy. ¡°Not about working on people, but the other


    thing. No way.¡±


    ¡°You are a bit clumsy with things,¡± said the bitter woman. She looked better after


    some bandages. ¡°And that voice is telling you what to do most of the time. A monster


    healer is a bit much.¡±


    ¡°If I were to use my other self, I could work on you faster,¡± said Jack. ¡°But it¡¯s


    personally embarrassing for me, and I don¡¯t think you would like the look of it. Only


    four people know what it looks like. Everyone else, I put to sleep so they couldn¡¯t


    see me.¡±


    ¡°That bad, eh?,¡± asked the slim man.


    ¡°The problem is you have a knife blade inside of you and I will have to open you up


    to get it out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not proficient enough with the Enterprise¡¯s equipment


    to do it like this.¡±


    ¡°Cheap goblin blades,¡± said the man. ¡°They snap if you look at them funny. Go ahead


    with your monster healer. I would love to see this after what we went through.¡±


    ¡°Look away,¡± said Jack. ¡°You won¡¯t like this being so close and working on you.


    Trust me on that.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the slim man. He turned his head to look at the wall at the other end


    of the room.


    Jack turned into Doctor Strange. He got a lot of gasps, and one cute from the little


    girl who had lost her Yoff. He activated his screens and frowned at the position of


    the knife. He would have to close up a lot of tissue when he pulled it out, and it


    looked like it was stuck on a rib.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to numb your side. And then I am going to shift


    you so I can cut. If you feel anything let me know because you are not supposed to


    feel anything until I am done. Understand?¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the patient. He kept his face pointed away from his doctor. The


    voice was different somehow, but he wasn¡¯t going to dwell on it. A small prick


    entered his side, and then freezing chill followed. He couldn¡¯t feel anything a few


    seconds later.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He had plenty of time, even with the slow charging on the


    Enterprise. ¡°I am going to cut in and pull the blade out. After that, I am going to have


    to sew everything up. I¡¯ll let you know when I am done.¡±


    A few seconds later the slim man heard something rattle on a tray. He didn¡¯t turn to


    look at the doctor. He felt a small amount of discomfort and tightness in his side, but


    that faded in a minute.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He let the persona go. ¡°You are going to have to take it easy,


    and try not do anything to pull on your side for three days. I have some stitching


    inside of you that should be okay, but I don¡¯t want you to strain it before the muscles


    and blood vessels grow together. Barring a problem with that, you should be okay


    for the rest of your life.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t lying about the ugliness of the other body,¡± said the bitter woman. ¡°But


    that was fast work.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°The rest of you don¡¯t have pieces of metal in you, and


    everything looks okay. Stay in bed and rest up. I¡¯ll get you some sandwiches and tea.


    And I have to check on Mister Warner. He should have come back already.¡±


    ¡°Can you really help us rebuild out here,¡± said the man with the burn. Jack had been


    able to treat it and put a bandage on it with minimal problems. If he had used Strange,


    he could healed the burn so fast that a scar would not have been left.


    ¡°The rebuilding part should not be that much of a problem,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mister


    Warner said he was going to talk to the Society about staying with you until you don¡¯t


    need him any more. If that happens, he will help you with whatever comes up. It¡¯s


    not like him to take an interest in people he¡¯s pulled out of bad situations, but Josie


    and I have our own fish to fry and we¡¯re not going to be able to keep an eye on things


    like you might need for the next little while.¡±


    ¡°That old man?,¡± said the bitter woman. ¡°What can he do?¡±


    Mister Warner stepped into Sick Bay. He looked around. He didn¡¯t smile at what he


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.saw, but he seemed less frowny.


    ¡°The tunnels are closed,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°The quest is still live. We¡¯re going


    to have to go south over the Picket. I may have to borrow a torpedo. Do you mind?¡±


    ¡°You collapsed the tunnels?,¡± asked the man with the burn. He exchanged a look with


    the woman.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy to do when you know how,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Take us south. Any spot in particular?¡±


    ¡°There is a place called Bright Rose Point,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°It¡¯s a hill


    surrounded by a bunch of reddish orange flowers. There should be a circle of flags


    on poles.¡±


    ¡°Can you find it, Enterprise,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I still need to feed everybody, and then we can finish the rest


    of the quest. Also I agreed to house everybody and start a new village when we settle


    things down.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t Sick Bay have replicators?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°I think Dr. Crusher¡¯s office had one,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t remember any others. Let


    me check.¡±


    Jack looked around the room. He made a happy face when he saw the office standing


    by itself in one corner. He found a replicator on the wall. This would help him with


    the food and drink thing. All he needed was a tray to serve it on.


    He also needed new clothes for his patients. He doubted they wanted to run around


    in their rags. The replicator should be able to do that too.


    He wondered idly if he was starting another Jane¡¯s House without intending to do


    that. He put the thought aside. He had a job to do and he needed it. He could reflect


    on consequences later.


    He got a glass of Cheerwine and drank it down. He turned into Magik long enough


    to turn the glass into a wooden serving tray. Then he ordered enough sandwiches to


    feed everyone. Then he ordered twenty drinks to go with it. Everything went on the


    tray and he carried that out into Sick Bay proper.


    ¡°If you need more food,¡± said Jack. He put the tray on a cart. ¡°Just go in the office


    and ask for whatever. There is a private shower so you can get cleaned up. Try not


    to get your bandages wet. I think the replicator will also get you new clothes to wear.


    Enterprise, take measurements of guests and let the replicator outfit them when


    ready.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°So I go in and ask for a dress, and the Enterprise just makes it?,¡± asked the bitter


    woman.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Will it get me another Yoff?,¡± said the girl. She clutched her stuffed animal.


    ¡°It won¡¯t make anything living,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about that.¡±


    The girl tried to hold back her tears. She hugged her animal harder against the


    reopening of her wound. The bitter woman got off her bed and walked over and


    hugged the girl.


    ¡°What are you going to do?,¡± she asked, turning her gaze on Jack and Mister Warner.


    ¡°I am going to break this invasion,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°That¡¯s the job I have been


    given, and I plan to carry it out. Anything that gets in my way will be flattened. That¡¯s


    how I like to do business.¡±


    ¡°And how are you going to do that?,¡± asked the man with the burn.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask for a parley,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°That¡¯s how we used to do it


    in the old days.¡±


    ¡°A parley?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Isn¡¯t that some kind of fancy Musketeer talk for stabbing


    people in the back?¡±


    ¡°Pirates too,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I would like to see how this parley goes,¡± said the man with the burn.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you sure you are up for something like that?¡±


    ¡°I think we all want to see how things go,¡± said the bitter woman. She still had her


    arm around the girl¡¯s body. The girl nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Eat your food, get cleaned up, and get some new clothes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then come up


    to the Bridge. We¡¯ll be able to watch things from there.¡±


    ¡°Come up to the Bridge?,¡± asked the man with the burn.


    ¡°When you are ready, go down to the end of the hall,¡± Jack pointed in the direction


    he meant. ¡°There will be a set of doors that will open for you. Just step in the room


    and ask for the Bridge. The room will take you to us. Then we can see what we want


    with the big screen.¡±


    ¡°These meat and bread things are good,¡± said the knifed man. ¡°Try them out.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°It¡¯ll take some time before the tribes answer the


    challenge. You might as well do what you can to build your energy up.¡±


    ¡°Will they answer the challenge?,¡± asked the man with the burn.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°What¡¯s important is the challenge is made. They can¡¯t


    not answer it. It¡¯s the way everything is settled inside the clans. They all meet at


    Bright Rose to settle disputes. We¡¯ll see how many have thrown in with the Iron


    Teeth and have to be eradicated.¡±


    ¡°Eradicated?,¡± said the bitter woman.


    ¡°Eat your food,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°We might be looking at a power grab that


    needs to be nipped in the bud. The rest of the goblins might not know what happened


    to your villages. The ones that do will have to pay.¡±


    ¡°Remember to come up to the Bridge when you are ready,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Little girl,


    what kind of dog was Yoff?¡±


    ¡°He was a small badger dog,¡± said the girl. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°A Scottie, or a Corgie,¡± said Mister Warner to Jack¡¯s questioning look. Jack nodded.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to need another protector when we put you on the ground,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Are your parents here?¡±


    ¡°They both died from sickness,¡± said the little girl.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look out for her,¡± said the bitter woman.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I asked people to come to your new village, would you look


    out for them too?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked the bitter woman.


    ¡°My partner and I have been taking stolen people back from their takers,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Some of them don¡¯t have any place to go, so we have founded a place to help them.


    If we freed people close to your village, would you take them in too?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°What do you want for that?,¡± asked the woman.


    Jack made a gesture that said what do you think I need since I already have a flying


    battleship that will give me all the creature comforts I want.


    ¡°What can we give you in exchange for this favor when you obviously need nothing


    from us and have already gone out of your way to be kind when you didn¡¯t have to


    be is what I think she means,¡± said the man with the burn. ¡°After all we have nothing


    to give other than our bodies and minds.¡±


    ¡°You have more than that,¡± said Jack. ¡°You have experience. Some of the people I


    will send to you will be hurt just like you, maybe more so. They will need a kinder


    hand than what I have. They will need some looking after until they are ready to walk


    on their own again.¡±


    ¡°So you want us to take them in because we¡¯ve been hurt?,¡± said the bitter woman.


    She glared at Jack.


    ¡°I want you to take them in because you are going to need bodies to help with the


    farming and so forth that you will need to keep going out here in the middle of


    nowhere, and they will need places to stay because their lives have been ruined and


    they need a fresh start,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°It¡¯s like making a blanket but


    with people.¡±


    ¡°No one likes you, do they?,¡± said the bitter woman.


    ¡°My partner¡¯s youngest sister¡¯s dragon loves me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Tolerate is my expectation.¡±


    ¡°You like me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°In small doses,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Maybe this is why they let June try out. They


    want to see if they can field someone else to replace me, so there are three champions


    here after I buy the farm.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go up and see if the Enterprise found your rallying point,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we


    can go about our business.¡±


    ¡°Eat your food, clean up, get ready to go,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°The powers that be


    might not let me stay to protect you. If they don¡¯t, you are going to have to think


    about going to other villages, living on your own, moving in with relatives if you


    have them. If they do, I will still have to run quests to protect others so there will be


    times I am out of town. It will be up to you to look after yourselves.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to get us swords and shields?,¡± asked the slim man.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°If I¡¯m not there, I want you to hold out until I am there.


    When I talk to Zu, I will work something out with him. There¡¯s a trainee who wants


    the work. He might decide to stick her in the South instead of letting me do it.¡±


    ¡°How good is this trainee?,¡± asked the bitter woman.


    ¡°She is still in her trial period,¡± said Jack. ¡°She might not make it out of the three


    days.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand any of this,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°I¡¯ll work on a good explanation for when you come to the Bridge,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll


    be waiting.¡±


    He took the exit, glad that he had helped a little. Mister Warner caught up with him.


    They rode the elevator silently.


    ¡°Are you sure about this parley?,¡± asked Jack. He waved to Josie¡¯s firebird before


    taking his own seat. ¡°Enterprise, lock any door that non-essential personnel should


    not be able to get into such as Engineering.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°The guy who led the raids was an ogre,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°The guy I questioned


    said the Iron Teeth are welcoming any exile they can to swell their ranks. So all the


    criminal goblins are flooding to this banner. They aren¡¯t enough to take on the other


    clans yet, but the peace here in the South is fragile. All it takes is for word to get out


    that goblins are on the move, and the High King will be pressured by the Lower


    Kings to do something about the problem. A lot of blood will be spilled unless we nip


    this in the bud.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll back whatever play you start,¡± said Jack.

 Administration

    Josie checked the doors at the ends of the halls. She found closets on one side of the


    narrow end of the first floor hall, and a half bathroom with its own sink and toilet on


    the other side. She smiled at that. She didn¡¯t think the magic would build a plumbing


    service into the place.


    She should have known her magic wouldn¡¯t have left out the most important feature


    in her opinion.


    ¡°Is anybody here?,¡± asked a voice behind their tour group.


    ¡°We¡¯re looking around,¡± called Josie. She walked back to the lobby.


    Sir and Madam Harp stood in the door. They looked at the tiled floor and clean walls.


    This one room was probably richer looking than any other medical facility they had


    been.


    ¡°This is magnificent,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°I have never seen a healing temple as nice


    as this.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call it a temple,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re looking around to see how we want


    to use it.¡±


    ¡°It looks good, Josie,¡± said Sir Harp. ¡°How do you expect things to go?¡±


    ¡°We hope to set up so we can bring in the women from the tent city, wake them up,


    nurse them back to health, either send them home, or find a place for them here,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to lose some of them because they won¡¯t trust us, or their home


    is not there any more, but we have to try to do the greatest good for the greatest


    number at the moment. Also some of Jane¡¯s people are sick and need to be worked


    on too. So we need to train them up, get them working, maybe help the surrounding


    city. If I can get the other building, we can set up another place there to do what we


    need on that side of town.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you are trying to hire adventurers?,¡± asked Harp.


    ¡°We are going to need crew,¡± said Josie. ¡°Either we get a lot of temporary workers


    that we can let leave when they want, and can cycle through to get new bodies, or


    we need people who will stay and help until we don¡¯t need them any more.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can find people who want to switch work,¡± said Harp. ¡°Adventuring


    is a dangerous job. Looking after people might be a welcome change.¡±


    ¡°I doubt the Amazons will want to do this for long, but it¡¯s the best solution I have


    right now other than just making a million birds and changing reality for the city,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think the Society would appreciate that.¡±


    ¡°I can see why they wouldn¡¯t since they seem enamored with keeping the peace,¡±


    said Harp. He smiled. His wife shook her head.


    ¡°Oi, Ear Ripper!,¡± called Jane. ¡°What are these little rooms with the buttons?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re elevators,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡±


    She gestured for the Harps to follow her as she joined the rest of the group standing


    beside the elevator doors. She smiled at the picture of Doctor Strange on the wall.


    Jack would love that.


    ¡°So say we have a woman that needs to go on the fourth floor, or we have visitors but


    one can¡¯t navigate the stairs,¡± said Josie. ¡°You press the button to call the cab down.¡±


    She pressed the button.


    They listened as the cab moved in the shaft, dropping toward them. The doors


    opened. Josie stepped inside first, turning to reach for the control panel. The others


    stepped inside behind her. She pressed the button for the fourth floor. The cab started


    moving.


    ¡°Now you wait out the ride,¡± said Josie. ¡°The doors should open on the fourth floor.¡±


    ¡°They should open?,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°Sometimes elevators are disabled, and if the building is on fire, they¡¯re not safe


    to use,¡± said Josie. ¡°A cable on a pulley is all that is lifting us. If it catches fire, the


    elevator could drop in the shaft.¡±


    ¡°I think you have been taking lessons from Jack,¡± said Madam Harp. She smiled to


    offset the sting of her words.


    ¡°I hope not,¡± said Josie. The doors opened on the fourth floor welcome center that


    would have nurses to greet them when the place was open. ¡°So that¡¯s how that


    works.¡±


    She checked each room, the doors for the closets and bathrooms. Everything looked


    all right. The rooms needed beds, and they would have to come up with equipment


    if they needed some for the crazier conditions that she foresaw.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have anything for surgeries here,¡± said Josie. ¡°And we don¡¯t have anybody


    trained to do that kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°Marla¡¯s twins,¡± Massa reminded her.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll have to train people in basic medicine if we can recruit


    anybody to help us. I¡¯ll have to take care of Marla myself before there is a problem.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Marla?,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°She has twins,¡± said Josie. ¡°They could kill her if things go wrong, and the scanner


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.is saying things could go wrong. Now that we have the place here, we need to start


    thinking about helping her before we help anybody else. I¡¯m not sure either one


    of us is ready for it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the worse thing that could happen?,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°We lose her and her kids before we even start working on them, we lose all three


    while we are operating, we lose all three after we operate to save her life,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Naturally, the best case would be we save all of them.¡±


    ¡°Can we do it today?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°With the six of us?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe, but the babies are premature. If we take


    them out, we¡¯ll have to put them on life support until they are ready to fend for


    themselves.¡±


    ¡°Does Marla know?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if she knows she could die, but I warned her to message you if she


    had any unexpected pain, or bleeding,¡± said Josie. ¡°If that happens, the babies might


    have started to miscarry, or they ripped something loose inside of her so she started


    bleeding on the inside.¡±


    ¡°We should do something about it now, rather than later,¡± said Jane. ¡°Chance could


    take a hand and turn everything bad for her.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll need the life support for her kids, the operating theater,


    and I¡¯ll need some extra hands. Some of it will be easy enough to do, but she¡¯ll need


    someone to watch out for her after the surgery.¡±


    ¡°I can do that part easy enough,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°We¡¯ll help with the surgery,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°Both Darry and I have had


    experience enough.¡±


    ¡°Marla is my responsibility,¡± said Jane. ¡°Are you sure you can do this?¡±


    ¡°I can do things,¡± said Josie. ¡°The problem is I can¡¯t guarantee what happens


    afterwards. So we try things out, maybe show you how to do things, and then let


    you show others. Once you are satisfied that you and your trainees are doing the best


    you can, then we can train others to take over from the guys you trained.¡±


    ¡°I am only doing this for Marla,¡± said Jane. ¡°Everyone else will have to depend on


    Massa since she is our medical authority.¡±


    ¡°I am a midwife,¡± said Massa. ¡°I don¡¯t have enough to run everything.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might need locks on the doors until


    we can hire guards to keep the thieves out. We can¡¯t let our equipment walk out


    the door.¡±


    ¡°More jobs for adventurers will be what the Guild needs at this point,¡± said Harp.


    ¡°So we have a plan,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s do this now before something calls me away.¡±


    ¡°So the first thing we need is Marla,¡± said Jane. ¡°Then we will need the operating


    theater, with this life support you were talking about.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll need a scanner so we can see what we are doing,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can do this


    with my watch, but we are going to need some kind of encyclopedia that our trainees


    can use during their own operations.¡±


    ¡°Like the code book,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t want people worked on for the wrong conditions.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it. Massa and I can run people through tomorrow


    and show them everything.¡±


    ¡°Can all of the women read and write?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°You are going to need a scribe to keep records for what potions you need, and


    payments in to the hospital, and out to your suppliers,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°This is getting so complicated,¡± said Jane. She made an ewww noise.


    ¡°Heavy is the head that wears the crown,¡± said Josie. ¡°One day, you will look back


    at this and say I should have punched Jack Lee in the face when I saw him.¡±


    ¡°That is so true,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I think a meeting with the Amazons should take place, and then we bring everyone


    over to do the tour, and then figure out who can do the work, and who can¡¯t,¡± said


    Elaine. ¡°And then we start rotating the staff.¡±


    ¡°Elaine, I would like to hire you to run this place,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°If I did that, I couldn¡¯t keep the city safe from Jack,¡± said Elaine. She smiled. ¡°There


    are things we talk about that would burn your ears off your head.¡±


    ¡°And she works for me to make sure the city is safe from me,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let Hilda


    run things. She¡¯s your number two.¡±


    ¡°Hilda is thinking about leaving, and going home,¡± said Jane. ¡°We talked about it


    before you went to talk to Endwright. She hasn¡¯t made up her mind yet.¡±


    ¡°What about Madam Harp?,¡± asked Massa. ¡°She said she¡¯s done this work before.¡±


    ¡°Oh no,¡± said Madam Harp, holding up one hand. ¡°I worked on the battlefield. That


    is a lot different from running an actual healing institution.¡±


    ¡°How?,¡± asked Josie. She crossed her arms as she gazed at the older woman.


    ¡°Things were done for expediency, there wasn¡¯t much care for records or treatments


    after the fact, you were there to move people away from the line,¡± said Madam Harp.


    She waved her arms to encompass the whole building. ¡°This is an institution that will


    need proper procedures and handling.¡±


    ¡°The time has come for you to rise above the best and prove your spirit never dies,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t turn away now.¡±


    Madam Harp looked at her husband. He smiled at her.


    ¡°You know you can do this job,¡± said Sir Harp. ¡°You¡¯ve done similar things before.¡±


    ¡°It will take up a lot of my time,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°I don¡¯t like that.¡±


    ¡°Get yourself a bunch of Elaines,¡± said Josie. ¡°But not my Elaine. I wouldn¡¯t know


    who to set on fire without her.¡±


    ¡°I highly doubt that,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°How do you want to do this, Jane?¡±


    ¡°We have the meeting, introduce you to the others, get as many as we can who can


    take up the burden, get any who can act as scribes to set up our record keeping, and


    then deal with Marla. Then we set up a schedule to empty out the yard, and move


    everyone here. Then we see who we can hire to help us,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°Should we have them watch Marla¡¯s operation?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some people don¡¯t get


    what they are getting into until they actually see what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jane. ¡°I¡¯ll ask her. We definitely are going to need cooks to feed these


    women if they wake up and return to normal.¡±


    ¡°You are also going to need laundry people, and cleaners to keep the building clean


    while you work,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make a list,¡± said Madam Harp. She looked out the fourth floor window at their


    end of the hall. She shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think of it as a responsibility,¡± said Josie. ¡°Think of it as stopping Jack from


    extending his shadow across hundreds of lives that need not ever know he was there.¡±


    ¡°You two say the same things about each other,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°Neither of you


    are as bad as you make each other out to be.¡±


    ¡°We can be,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jane, I¡¯ll have Jack place a stargate down in the lobby so


    your women and hirees can move back and forth from the House to here.¡±


    ¡°That would be appreciated,¡± said Jane. ¡°It would save on walking across the city.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me send you guys home, and then I will have to ride


    herd on my girls. Hopefully June isn¡¯t being a bad influence.¡±


    ¡°We should all go to the House,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°The quicker we can get done


    with that part of things, the better.¡±


    ¡°Plus we need to show you the scanner so you can see how we are seeing how people


    are sick,¡± said Massa. ¡°That will help with the decision making.¡±


    ¡°If Hilda does want to leave, we¡¯ll carry her wherever she wants to go,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s the least we can do for her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell her,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to everyone and ask Marla what she wants to do,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we


    can get started.¡±

 Parley

    Jack greeted his passengers when they came up to the bridge. They had cleaned up


    and got new clothes. The manual controls were still on lockdown so he wasn¡¯t afraid


    of them crashing the Enterprise into the goblin warrens below. He should have asked


    them their names, but decided that since he was putting them down on the ground in


    a few minutes to an hour, he didn¡¯t need to know them that badly.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± asked burn man. He gestured at the screen taking up the wall.


    ¡°We¡¯re waiting,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mister Warner went down and lit up the signal fire. He


    said someone should be watching and would start spreading the word. He doesn¡¯t


    expect any of them to show up before night fall because they are sensitive to sunlight.


    That reminds me, I have to call my beloved. Hold on.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, ping goblins, and call Elaine,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°This is a strange bird,¡± said Yoff¡¯s girl.


    ¡°It¡¯s not real,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It looks real,¡± said the bitter woman. She tried to touch the bird. It made an angry


    noise and hopped away in the chair.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Hi, hon,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to be held up some time on this job. I¡¯m waiting on


    some goblins to talk to Mister Warner. I have a bunch of refugees that I am going to


    help regain as soon as Mister Warner decides what he wants to do. It looks like we


    might be out here the night, maybe part of tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Elaine?,¡± said Yoff¡¯s girl.


    ¡°She is the best, smartest, most beautiful woman I have ever met,¡± said Jack. ¡°She is


    my beloved.¡±


    ¡°Must be blind,¡± said the bitter woman.


    ¡°But not deaf,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We almost have the hospital set up here. We are going


    to try to give it a trial run tonight. The Amazons and Madam Harp are working on


    their wants right now.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± said Jack. ¡°Still need a gate?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The new facility is halfway across the city. A gate would make


    travel easier for the people working at the hospital to get back and forth from the


    House. As soon as we have everything worked out, we¡¯re going to have to an


    emergency cure and hope we don¡¯t kill the patient. After that, we will have to go


    home and shore up our reserves.¡±


    ¡°June?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°None of the girls have called us, so we are assuming they are still alive and haven¡¯t


    had any problems,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will check in with Beatrice as soon as we are done


    talking.¡±


    ¡°What are all these red marks on the window,¡± asked the slim man. He had brought


    part of his food on the bridge and was pointing at the red diamonds starting to gather


    together around the rally point.


    ¡°Goblins,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, shoot on stun if they try to take Mister Warner. I


    am not explaining any problem he might have to Josie.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± agreed the machine.


    ¡°Each of these marks is a goblin?,¡± said the burned man.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°I thought that only a few would show up to talk.¡±


    ¡°Do I have to come out there?,¡± asked Josie over Elaine¡¯s line.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll handle it.¡±


    ¡°Remember no nuking,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes, Mom,¡± said Jack. The crowd on the bridge gave him a look. ¡°I promised that


    I wouldn¡¯t. I do wonder about the many Elaines idea.¡±


    ¡°One of me is enough until you build up your stamina,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I will work on that,¡± said Jack. He looked at the passengers. The varying expressions


    told him that his face showed his embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯ll see you when I get home.


    Everybody say goodbye Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye, Elaine,¡± said the small mob.


    Enterprise cut the call. Jack resettled in his chair. He shook his head.


    ¡°Do you think your Warner can handle all these goblins?,¡± asked the burned man. He


    tried to see if there were more pings to either side of the screen. It was a window so


    he should be able to see more of the view.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, shift view and give us more of an expanded look.


    Let¡¯s see how many goblins we can pick up.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The view pulled back so that they had a great view of the boundless forest leading


    toward the southern coast. The Picket, manned by human soldiers, ran across the top


    part of the screen. Red diamonds marked every goblin the Enterprise could pick up


    from the air. The vast majority were staying in place, but more than a few had been


    alerted to the parley smoke and had started toward the point.


    Jack wondered what Mister Warner could say in the face of this number of innocent


    bystanders. Sorry, a very bad few have made it where I have to burn innocent people


    to prevent a war. I need volunteers to put their neck on the block.


    He wondered if Mister Warner had a version of Josie¡¯s birds. That would make it


    easier to find the real culprits within the mass circling the hill of flowers. Then he


    could just pluck them out with fire.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    That would make things easier for everyone involved.


    Some of the diamonds broke off and rode out to meet Mister Warner. They went to


    the separate banners that were marked for their clans. Mister Warner waited patiently


    for someone to make the first move.


    Jack had his eyes on a small pack of diamonds off to one side of the proceeding. They


    seemed to be ready to rush the hill. He didn¡¯t like their positioning drawing them


    closer to Mister Warner.


    He decided that if had to make an example of someone today, it would be that crowd.


    ¡°Can we hear what¡¯s going on?,¡± asked the burned man.


    ¡°Enterprise, open the mike so we can listen,¡± said Jack. He leaned back in his chair.


    He might have to get down there fast. He wondered what he had to use to teleport


    other than the transporter¡¯s beam, or Magik¡¯s stargates. ¡°Lock on to that crowd


    separated to the southwest of Mister Warner. They seem to be holding back too much


    compared to the rest.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative.¡± said the machine. A targeting reticle appeared on the crowd of


    diamonds standing alone.


    Maybe they were the big cheeses and didn¡¯t want to mix with the riffraff. Maybe


    they were thinking about setting up an ambush on neutral ground. Maybe they were


    waiting to see what was going to happen.


    If they did anything Jack didn¡¯t like, he planned to give them an explosive retaliation.


    ¡°Greetings, Au Kineth of the Blade Hands, Au Ben of the Night Claws, and Au


    Stinek of the Sparkling Rose,¡± said Warner. He stood casually beside the fire


    pit throwing green smoke in the air.


    ¡°Greetings, clanless human,¡± said rumbling bass. ¡°I see that you have summoned us


    from inside our territories which is forbidden to humans by treaty. Why should we not


    judge you, and judge accordingly?¡±


    ¡°Two reasons,¡± said Mister Warner. He held up his hand. ¡°An outbranch of one of


    your tribes destroyed three human villages, ate the humans and their animals, and


    imprisoned the survivors to be eaten later.¡±


    A stir went through the mob. The clan by itself looked displeased by what was being


    said. The scanners revealed they seemed to be readying weapons.


    ¡°That is troubling if true,¡± said the bass. ¡°What is the other reason for us to hold our


    hands against you?¡±


    ¡°My friend is the new appointee for the Faceless,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I¡¯m trying


    to show him how to negotiate peacefully without killing everything he sees. He still


    has problems with that.¡±


    Jack pulled out his phone. He knew he should have given Mister Warner a com band


    despite what the old man said. He put down the phone long enough to change into


    Magik and tell it to dial Mister Warner¡¯s phone. He nodded when the other man


    started playing Holding Out for a Hero with a Bonnie Tyler mouse voice.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said Mister Warner. He pulled out his phone and flipped the top open.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°There is a crew arming up southwest of you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Tell your guys not to run.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?,¡± asked Mister Warner. He turned to look at the variety of trees


    beyond the flags and flowers. ¡°They aren¡¯t in the talking ring.¡±


    ¡°So they aren¡¯t there to parley,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m shooting some phasers down in there


    to see what I can flush out. Tell the bigwogs what¡¯s going to happen so they don¡¯t


    think I will start shooting at them next.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Grand Chiefs, do any of you have anyone in those


    trees over there?¡±


    He just nodded while holding the phone to his ear. He didn¡¯t want to give the whole


    game away by pointing.


    ¡°No,¡± said the bass. ¡°The members of the clan I brought are in the flowers.¡±


    ¡°I think all of our people are in plain view,¡± said one of the others, a moving of


    musical notes on the wind.


    ¡°Enterprise, shoot phasers on stun into that stand,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see if they run.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. Pulses of energy blasted into that stand. The crowd


    on the bridge watched as some of the bodies were shocked into flight by the


    transferred energy. Some ran as the ship blew away their cover.


    Soldiers from the parley party gave chase to the shocked ambushers clearing the trees.


    Their monstrous beetle steeds covered ground as fast as any horse.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill the ones in the trees,¡± said Jack. ¡°They¡¯re down so they can be picked


    up until they wake up and slink away if no one does anything.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°We¡¯re watching this,¡± said Jack. ¡°It could be torpedoes the next time I shoot.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t shoot me,¡± said Mister Warner. He closed his phone and put it away.


    ¡°There are some more in the trees. My associate said they should be alive but


    sleeping.¡±


    One of the chiefs waved at one of his men and directed him into the trees. A group


    broke off and rode over to round up their prisoners.


    Jack let Magik slip away, and put his phone up. He nodded as the ambush group was


    rounded up and dragged to the parley point.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you kill them?,¡± asked the bitter woman.


    ¡°Never confuse kindness for mercy,¡± said Jack. He frowned at the screen.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said the bitter woman.


    ¡°What do you think is going to happen to a group of goblins who stood outside of


    neutral ground with weapons drawn while the big chiefs of their clans were talking


    over something?,¡± said the slim man. ¡°We¡¯re talking about an act of war among the


    clans.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re talking about an annihilation of the clan in question by the other clans,¡± said


    the burned man.


    ¡°Nil Comer,¡± said the bass. ¡°I recognize you. You are supposed to be on the coast,


    exiled from the hunting grounds.¡±


    ¡°This one went to the Island,¡± said the musical note. ¡°I see someone brought you


    back.¡±


    ¡°We demand a right to parley,¡± said one of the captives.


    ¡°I would like to ask three questions first,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Then we will barter.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you have the right to that?,¡± said the bass.


    ¡°I am the aggrieved party, and a former champion of the Faceless,¡± said Mister


    Warner. ¡°I am ready to enforce my right in the here and now, with the force of arms


    of my army. I am not here to declare open warfare which the Nation would lose. I am


    here to make sure criminals are punished and good will is kept. Three villages above


    the picket line were attacked and destroyed. They ate a cub¡¯s pet in front of her. I will


    see something out of this, one way or the other.¡±


    ¡°He is right,¡± said a voice that seemed lighter than the other two with a burr of motion


    in the sound. ¡°Who wants to beg at the picket line to the humans to repay what is


    owed?¡±


    The other two chiefs were silent, but Jack nodded at their agreement to the words of


    the third chief.


    ¡°Where can I find the Iron Teeth Clan?,¡± asked Mister Warner. ¡°Is the chief an orc?


    How did you dig under the picket line?¡±


    ¡°I would suggest you answer the questions,¡± said the third chief. ¡°This human might


    be merciful and spare you. That is something for you to barter for if you answer with


    the truth.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t betray my clan,¡± said the unnamed goblin.


    ¡°We have nothing to say, or to barter,¡± said Nil Comer. ¡°I would like to go back to


    my exile.¡±


    ¡°There is no exile for you, Nil Comer,¡± said the bass. ¡°To come back to the hunting


    grounds, and try to attack a parley in progress, you know better than that.¡±


    Mister Warner changed into a younger version of himself in a tuxedo and mustache.


    He let his cape settle around him.


    ¡°I repeat my three questions and you will answer truthfully with as much knowledge


    of the subject as you can,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Where can I find the Iron Teeth


    Clan? Is the chief an orc? How did you dig under the picket line?¡±


    ¡°There is no place to find the clan because we wander around,¡± said Nil Comer. ¡°The


    orcs are a branch of our chief¡¯s sister line. I don¡¯t know where. We found a route


    under the picket and began hunting there. The clan might be there now.¡±


    ¡°They might be there now,¡± said Mister Warner. He let the persona go.


    ¡°What do you wish for your barter?,¡± asked the third chief.


    ¡°This clan is trying to draw the Nation into war,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I am going to


    try to stop it. I would like for you to help me on this end of things.¡±


    ¡°We will spread the word that the Iron Teeth should be hunted,¡± said the bass.


    ¡°I will hunt them on the other side of the picket line,¡± said Mister Warner. He


    changed into a phantom and flew up to the Enterprise. He let the persona go when he


    arrived on the bridge. ¡°We have to go.¡±


    ¡°Take us north, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can find our villains.¡±

 C-Section

    Josie had built an operating room in the hospital without realizing it. She shook her


    head when her bird pointed the space out to her. She had even built an observation


    deck which she was sure was a thing out of television instead of how real hospitals


    did things.


    The meeting had gone as well as expected. The Amazons divided themselves into


    sections. One section would stay at the House and keep it up and guard the land from


    outsiders. They would also keep watch in case the mushroom people woke up and


    wanted help.


    One section would do both where they would help clear the sleepers off the yard and


    put things up and keep the supplies going for the new facility. They formed the spine


    of the support group that both sides needed.


    The third group would be the primary caregivers for the sleepers after they wake up.


    They would operate the scanners, check for anything wrong, take care of anybody


    trying to use the hospital in the neighborhood. They would be the ones that would


    have to splint broken bones, give aspirin, test for diseases.


    Jane was going to run everything with Hilda as her number two at the house and


    running support for the House until she decided to leave or not. Jane had asked her


    to pick someone to be her number two to take over for her if she did leave.


    Madam Harp and Massa were put in charge of the Hospital, running the day to day,


    and asking Jane for important decisions. They were in charge of picking shift leaders


    to run the floors and make sure everything ran smoothly with potions, food, and


    support services.


    Josie and Elaine were the Amazons¡¯ outside consultants, and primary clients. They


    funded everything, but they could only ask for certain things, and if the group needed


    extraordinary help, then the champion of order would have to step in.


    Jack was her number two.


    Josie had remained as quiet as possible at the meeting with Sir Harp at her side. He


    had started giving lessons to the Amazons in sword fighting since the dinner. He


    nodded at his students as they recognized him.


    ¡°Everyone who is working here can take the tour one at a time, or as a group as we


    get set up,¡± said Jane. ¡°For now, you are going to have to guard the estate, and make


    sure none of our possible plague carriers is taken from us. You are in charge, Kara.¡±


    ¡°The house will still be here when you get back,¡± said the gate woman with a mock


    salute.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°Map, please.¡±


    Two women hung a map of the city on the wall. They stepped back to give their


    leader room to move.


    ¡°This is the Hospital,¡± said Jane. She indicated a dot in the northeast quarter of the


    city. ¡°This is us.¡± It was another dot in the northwest. ¡°Jack is going to put in doors


    to let us move across this space instantly. That way we don¡¯t have to worry about


    traveling across the city unless we want. There will be a code on the door so that no


    one but us can use the door at either end. Even though we are helping Jack and Josie,


    we have to protect ourselves.


    ¡°We are going to be hiring adventurers to help us. They will be acting as guards and


    orderlies. I don¡¯t mind you getting involved with them, but if there is trouble, that


    adventurer will be kicked. I want things to run smooth so the less problems we have,


    the better I will like it.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t, or don¡¯t want to do the work involved, I will grant a severance. I do not


    say this lightly. I need all the help I can get. On the other hand, dissatisfaction causes


    problems and I would rather smooth things out while we are getting started than being


    halfway into things and having a bunch of you pull out.


    ¡°Before we move on, are there any questions?¡±


    ¡°Why are we doing this?,¡± asked a woman in the back.


    ¡°Josie?,¡± said Jane. She looked at the champion of order standing by herself.


    ¡°I asked Jane for help,¡± said Josie. She looked at the woman in the back.


    ¡°So we just stop what we are doing to help you?,¡± said the woman in the back.


    The crowd separated from the woman so they wouldn¡¯t get caught in anything like


    lightning, or dragon¡¯s breath, or anything that looked like being turned into a toad.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°There are a hundred million real reasons that you should help me.


    There are a hundred million reasons why you should help anyone. I need the help to


    move these people out of here just like I, or Jack, helped you when we didn¡¯t have to.


    We expanded our mission statement since the Society only cares about you as a side


    issue to whatever mission they want us to do. As far as they are concerned, you could


    be on your way to anywhere in chains, waiting for something bad to happen to you.


    They could care less as long as their goals are met. What are the lives of a few women


    worth in the grand scheme of things compared to the rest of the world? If you don¡¯t


    want to help, that is fine too. I don¡¯t rip people¡¯s ears off no matter what Hilda says.¡±


    ¡°And Josie is paying us to do this,¡± said Jane. ¡°So while she is not trying to hold that


    over our heads, she is making sure that we can stay and have enough to eat without


    having to beg in the streets, or go back to the houses, or try to find a place to live with


    no money to do that. Are there any other questions?¡±


    ¡°Are we going to help people from the streets?,¡± asked another woman.


    ¡°Madam Harp?,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°The mission profile is help anyone we can for pay,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°Massa and


    I are hoping that we can help people and then send them on their way. We know a


    couple of alchemists that might help us with potions, and we know some healers that


    we can ask to help out. They will have to be trained like we will have to on how to


    use the tools the building has.¡±


    ¡°Cleaners and scribes? Please raise your hands,¡± asked Massa. She nodded at the


    sections lifting their hands. ¡°Cleaners, you will have to handle the dirty linens, and


    make sure the worst parts of things are destroyed. If someone is sick, their bedclothes


    can carry their disease to other people. You have to be careful in how you do things.


    ¡°Scribes, you will be responsible for making sure to keep records of all of our bills


    that are sent out, what we did for each patient, the patient¡¯s name, any taxes for the


    city and duchy, expenses. I know that it is normal to skim some of the coins moving


    around, try to keep that to the minimum. Understood?¡±


    Some of the faces looked indignant at either the implication they were thieves, or that


    they should be called out in front of everyone else.


    ¡°Nurses?,¡± asked Madam Harp. She looked at the women who raised their hands.


    ¡°The hospital is equipped with the body scanner. We will have codebooks for you.


    We hope that you will go from taking care of people in their rooms to directing new


    people according to the tools we can give you at the moment. You may have to learn


    things about potions, healing bone breaks, stitching up injuries, and so forth. Massa


    and I will be learning right beside you so don¡¯t be afraid to ask questions about


    things.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything else?,¡± asked Jane.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    The women reacted in the negative.


    ¡°Step forward, Marla,¡± said Jane. The slight woman did so. ¡°We¡¯re going to operate


    today. We¡¯re going to try to save your twins.¡±


    A hum went through the crowd. There were some comments that made Marla cringe.


    ¡°So everyone on duty is going to go to the hospital right now,¡± said Jane. ¡°We are


    going to look everything over, check everything. Cleaners, scribes, nurses, general


    support, I need you to look over your stations, figure out what you need to operate,


    and then put together a list of things. As soon as we can get the alchemists, we can


    dispense potions to people who need them. Marla is going to be the first patient. Then


    everyone who has the growths will be next until they are clear. Then we will start


    waking up our sleepers. Once we clear the lawn, Jack is holding more victims in cold


    storage that have to be worked on and moved out. Either these new women join us


    after we get them back on their feet, or they are moved out to wherever they want to


    go. Once we are done with this giant task, we will decide if we should close the


    Hospital and disperse everything. Josie, start moving us so we can walk around and


    figure out what we are going to do.¡±


    Josie nodded. She called on Zatanna. She hooked all the women helping her to fire


    birds that she sent across the city. The hospital staff burst on the manor grounds one


    by one as each bird reached its destination, the lobby area with its information desk.


    Josie and Sir Harp were the last to disappear from the lawn.


    Madam Harp and Massa led the crowd through the ground floor. A cafeteria, offices


    for the scribes and administration, a set of rooms marked Emergency, and another set


    marked Operating Rooms were at the end of the long hall. Portable scanners were on


    the walls, lines indicating direction were on the floor. A picture of Steve Austin¡¯s


    profile caught Josie¡¯s eye as she walked at the back of the crowd.


    One of the cooks broke off and checked the kitchen. She shook her head at the lack


    of ingredients. The first thing they would need was supplies so the Amazons could


    eat.


    ¡°What is the Emergency section for?,¡± asked one of the nurses.


    ¡°If we have someone hurt from the street, we bring them in, and tell them what¡¯s


    wrong,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°If we can fix their problem, we do that. Scribes will have


    to get their name and home so we can collect our due from them.¡±


    ¡°If they have to stay, we move them into a room until they can move out on their


    own,¡± said Massa. She pointed at the elevators.


    ¡°Operating Rooms?,¡± said another woman.


    ¡°They are for taking things out of people that shouldn¡¯t be in them without killing


    them,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°We might not be successful, but we are going to try.¡±


    ¡°This is where we are going to work on Marla,¡± said Josie from the back. ¡°Let¡¯s see


    the room.¡±


    The crowd filed into the room, circling the sunken area where the bed would be rolled


    in. A scanner and an equipment rack stood to one side. Space for more equipment was


    marked by spaces in the floor.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need disposable gowns too,¡± said Josie. ¡°That way we can dress our


    patients in things we can burn when we don¡¯t need them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll put it on the list,¡± said Hilda. She brushed her mane from her face.


    ¡°Marla, we¡¯re going to get you a bed,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we¡¯re going to get started.¡±


    She looked around. She pulled out a piece of paper, and pen. She wrote down what


    an artificial womb should have in it with the help of Supergirl. She made it big


    enough for growing twins. They were going to be very premature, and she hoped this


    would be enough to do the job.


    Elaine and Massa came in with a rolling bed. They locked the wheels in place when


    the thing was under the scanner¡¯s awning.


    Josie turned into Zatanna and wished for the artificial womb to build itself from the


    paper and idea of a machine. She made sure to add whatever coins she had in her


    pocket to add to the material.


    She didn¡¯t want the thing to collapse if the mana fled the air.


    She changed back as soon as the spell finished.


    ¡°Get up on the bed,¡± said Josie. ¡°This isn¡¯t how I would like to do things, but


    everyone is going to want to know that I didn¡¯t turn you into a puppet and send you


    back to them.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Marla. She climbed on the bed.


    Josie turned on the scanner, checked the equipment rack. She could do the job if she


    knew how to use the equipment. There were no pain blockers, or any drugs. She


    would have to make her own with Doctor Occult.


    ¡°There is a reading from the scanner up here,¡± reported one of the nurses. She pointed


    at a screen that popped out of the front of the theater to show what was going on with


    Marla, and her kids.


    ¡°Codebook?,¡± asked Massa.


    The nurses looked around. One of them found one. Then another.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°Marla,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is going to be easy, because I am going to be using Doctor


    Occult. Ordinary healers won¡¯t have it as easy as I am going to make it look.


    Everybody ready? I want to make this fast. The twins will need to be put in the false


    womb as soon as we can so they don¡¯t die during the operation. I don¡¯t want you to


    be scared.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t rip my ear off,¡± said Marla. She smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best,¡± said Josie. ¡°Everyone wash your hands. We don¡¯t have latex gloves


    to cover them, but we can at least wash up first. Clean hands will help keep germs


    from making Marla sick after we are done.¡±


    The ladies washed their hands in the ready room just outside the operating theater.


    Josie hoped this wasn¡¯t a big mistake. They reentered the area. She spotted the future


    nurses going over the codebook for the scanner.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°The first thing we are going to do is put Marla asleep and


    numb any pain she might feel. Then we are going to operate and take the twins out.


    Once we have them safe in the womb, we will reverse everything and make sure that


    she comes out all right. Marla, there is going to be a small risk to you and the babies,


    but we will do what we can to save all three of you. I want you to close your eyes and


    start counting.¡±


    Josie checked the area one more time. She preferred blowing people up over trying


    to do medical procedures. Madam Harp and Massa stood on the other side of the


    table. Madam Harp nodded that they were ready. Jane and Elaine stood on her side,


    ready to help where they could.


    She listened to Marla counting.


    She hoped she was doing the right thing. She called on Doctor Occult.


    Josie extended her scan to overlap what the machine was doing. She picked out a


    thousand spots that needed to be fixed. She didn¡¯t have time to do all of them. She


    had to concentrate on the babies so they didn¡¯t kill their mother trying to get out of


    her womb.


    She put Marla to sleep, and shut down the pain receptors in her head. She nodded


    when the scanner agreed with her assessment. She pulled Marla¡¯s tunic out of the way


    before she took a bottle of iodine from the equipment rack and covered the sleeping


    woman¡¯s stomach to kill any surface germs. She pulled a scalpel from the rack and


    cut the skin where her scan said she had to. She frowned as she asked for Madam


    Harp to help her hold the skin back.


    The scanner gave a lot of recommendations on what should be going on. It had


    detected the magic in use with the results, but not the actual cause. Some of the


    crosses turned to checks as Josie, Madam Harp, and Massa worked.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need the life support womb, Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°Open the door for


    me. I will have to put each girl in its place so it can grow big enough not to need it


    any more.¡±


    ¡°Ready,¡± said Elaine. She stood beside the door, ready to close it when the babies


    were put in.


    ¡°We¡¯re ready to cut and clamp everything,¡± said Madam Harp. Massa nodded at her


    side.


    ¡°I¡¯m never having children,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a lot of time,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do before I time out.¡±


    The women worked as quickly as they could to take the twins from the womb. Josie


    used Doctor Occult to keep them safe until she had them put in their protective


    place. The scanner in the machine gave codes on the girls as they floated in its care.


    Elaine nodded as she looked at the codes.


    Josie and her assistants put Marla back together as rapidly as possible. She kept an


    eye on the watch as she worked to make sure her patient didn¡¯t bleed out. They made


    the last stitch just as her persona wore off.


    ¡°The scanner is not quite saying she is clear, but there are a lot less codes present,¡±


    said Massa. ¡°You saved her life.¡±


    ¡°You did that,¡± said Josie. She took a breath. ¡°We need to clean up. Marla and her


    girls need to be wheeled to a room. I don¡¯t remember if we set aside room for babies


    here. Massa, the machine has to be plugged into the wall of her room. I gave it a


    battery charge, but if the power goes out, it will kill the twins.¡±


    ¡°Any volunteers to take Marla and the babies up to her room?,¡± said Jane. ¡°Someone


    will have to sit with her, and we are going to start our paperwork with her. Cooks and


    support, make sure we can start feeding people in the next few days. I doubt we will


    need more than soup at first.¡±


    ¡°She is going to need a change of clothes for when she wakes up,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I will handle it,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°Before we break up, do any of you think you


    can copy what we did? Do any of you want to work on learning how?¡±


    Three women stepped to the front of the overhead deck.


    ¡°You are our new midwives,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°We expect you to serve in rotation


    when we don¡¯t have any mothers present. Until then, I want you to take care of Marla


    and make sure her life supporting machine for her twins is plugged in. You might as


    well think about what you need for the hall while you are there. I am going to let you


    make up your schedule right now until Marla is back on her feet. I will ask Josie to


    get you some material to help with your training. The midwives will need a dedicated


    scribe. I need a volunteer.¡±

 Flying Death

    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.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°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.¡±

 Homework

    Josie and Elaine walked into the Hole in the Wall. They looked around the apartment,


    but the Ducklings and June were missing.


    Josie groaned.


    If they were getting into trouble, she was going to choke someone until their eyes


    bugged out.


    ¡°I wonder where everyone is,¡± Josie said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call Beatrice and ask her what¡¯s going on,¡± said Elaine.


    Josie nodded, deciding that she need a cup of coffee and maybe a sandwich after what


    they had done for the sleepers.


    At least Mister Warner was keeping Jack out of trouble in the south.


    ¡°Beatrice said they are out at the Hangar,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Do you want to go out and


    round them up?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let them play while we take a moment to refuel our mental


    batteries, and think about what we can do until Jack comes back to put the stargate


    in, and give us something to take the spines out of everyone without having to slice


    them open like fish.¡±


    ¡°Madam Harp and Jane seem to have everything in hand,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We are dumping a lot of responsibility on them,¡± said Josie. ¡°I hope they don¡¯t


    break.¡±


    ¡°They are tougher than that,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°So we have a hospital, we have a partial staff, and they are getting used to the


    building,¡± said Josie. ¡°The next problem is making sure we can transport everyone


    across the city, checking and healing everyone on staff, and then moving the sleepers


    in the tent city out as we work on them.¡±


    ¡°And then we have to work on the injured on the Enterprise,¡± said Elaine. ¡°That will


    present challenges of its own.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a separate but related problem,¡± said Josie. ¡°The main considerations are the


    same, but the locations are different with a different time margin on it.¡±


    Josie found some ingredients that she could turn into sandwiches to eat. She worked


    on that, before she whipped up a cup of coffee to drink.


    Elaine cut herself a piece of pie and put some ice cream on it. She nodded at the light


    snack on its plate. She poured herself a glass of tea to go with it after stoking the


    cooking fire and warming the water.


    ¡°Jack and Mister Warner are handling the goblins with the Enterprise,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They haven¡¯t called for help, so I think we can assume they are handling things well


    enough they think they don¡¯t need oversight.¡±


    ¡°They picked up passengers,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Handling that might be part of their


    problem at the moment.¡±


    ¡°We should write some of this down on the Office board,¡± said Josie. ¡°There¡¯s a


    small chance that Juni passed her test. How do we handle that?¡±


    ¡°It depends on what Boim Russ decides to do in the next few days,¡± said Elaine. ¡°She


    might not want to stay with us, or June may be repositioned somewhere else.¡±


    They ate in silence for a moment, thinking about the future. June, as an auxiliary


    watchwoman, could handle smaller quests if she had the means to investigate


    problems.


    If Mister Warner stayed, they might be able to foist her on him as an apprentice. He


    had the means to investigate and find things with his watch. And he knew the lay of


    the land better than they did.


    They might be able to give him a copy of their model to help him find people that


    needed to be located to clear quests.


    He already could teleport like Josie. Showing him how to do a stargate, or the


    migratory firebird, should be a snap. Then he could cross the continent without their


    help, or the Enterprise.


    Josie frowned at the thought they still had to track down the rest of the Montrose


    while dealing with the remains of the undead army. On the other hand, the Enterprise


    could knock down some massive doors for them.


    And they had to be ready for new quests while working on everything else.


    ¡°If Mister Warner stays, maybe we can foist June off on him as his backup,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°He has a good lineup, and can cover for anything she messes up while trying


    to do the quests.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the Shemmarians will still try to create super soldiers for their army?,¡±


    asked Elaine.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°They outfitted their guys with spell books of some kind.¡±


    ¡°So we might have to look at how they did that,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Are we cutting them


    off from their source?¡±


    ¡°We might have to,¡± said Josie. ¡°As long as they are just a special unit, assassination


    may be the only thing they can do. Once they have enough of those books to outfit


    the majority of their army, they become a real threat to the rest of the continent.¡±


    ¡°And you would get a quest to look into it like the goblin trees,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°It would be better if we could see what the right decision is before we made it, but


    what happens then?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We go through life like we do now trying to make the best decision we can with


    what we have,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Even if there isn¡¯t a good decision.¡±


    Josie nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Should we talk to Jane about expanding the House?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We should wait for Jane to say something. She has a lot


    of responsibility. If she is right about Hilda, she will need a new assistant to help


    her.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll need a fleet of assistants,¡± said Josie. ¡°She might be able to arrange for more


    managers to help her carry the load out of the people we are sending her.¡±


    ¡°She might be able to get some people from the city if they want to work for her more


    than Duke Hent,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Maybe we should cast out a net,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s another thing we will have to


    talk to Jane about. I don¡¯t know how the Duke will take it that we are setting a


    mission up in the middle of the city to take in all the sick we can.¡±


    ¡°We are going to have to ask him at a certain point,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I doubt he will


    interfere, but a hospital will have to pay taxes and things will have to be assessed for


    the Duchy.¡±


    ¡°The Society should have given you a watch,¡± said Josie. She took the cleared plate


    into the kitchen and put it next to the sink. She made herself another cup of coffee.


    Elaine worked on the rest of her snack. She frowned at the melting ice cream.


    ¡°I think you and Jack are the exceptions to the rule,¡± she said as Josie settled into her


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.chair. ¡°I don¡¯t think they ask for people who live here to be their champions because


    we might do like the Shemmarians and become menaces, but they don¡¯t want their


    champions to live here for the same reason.¡±


    ¡°The more involved we are, the more we want to fix our way?,¡± asked Josie. She


    sipped her coffee.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The Society as a whole seem fine with the way you are doing


    things, but I think other champions have stayed and that is the basis of these stories


    that we have like Gowan Hand.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t have any reason to go back home. I don¡¯t think


    Jack has a reason. I can¡¯t say the same for Juni, and Mister Warner. Juni has her


    fighting until she gives it up, and Mister Warner has his shop. Juni coming here might


    be seen as a fresh start by her. Mister Warner has kept a lot of his moving back and


    forth secret so it might take something to have him move here after so long in the


    other world.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Jack will be a good husband for me?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°You are asking the wrong woman about that,¡± said Josie. She tried to smile in


    reassurance. ¡°I think he hid something inside, and he is coming to terms with it. I


    don¡¯t know how that will look in the next twenty years. I think you are making him


    better whether he knows it or not. And I think he is making you better in some ways


    too.¡±


    ¡°You never thought about finding someone?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I thought I had, but he got screwed up by his lifestyle,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll find someone


    else one day. Until then, it¡¯s okay if I walk alone.¡±


    The stargate buzzed in the living room, and the women looked up. They went to see


    their Ducklings coming home. There was some debate as they emerged one by one


    from the door.


    ¡°You cheated,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°No one said I couldn¡¯t use the watch,¡± said June. She grinned at the middle girl.


    ¡°Cheat,¡± said Alicia. She walked by with her stoic mask, waving at Josie and Elaine.


    ¡°Laura didn¡¯t cheat,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°What happened, girls?,¡± asked Josie. She hid her smile as she stood by the door.


    ¡°She cheated,¡± said the girls.


    ¡°Did not,¡± said Juni. Her smile said otherwise.


    Boim and the other three girls came through the stargate. Aviras rode on Matilda¡¯s


    head as usual.


    ¡°Hello, Missus,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°How did things go?¡±


    ¡°We have a basis for things,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think all of you should see the place in


    case we need you to work there after lessons. So Juni cheated?¡±


    ¡°She turned into her dog form to chase us down during Seek,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Then


    became invisible when we were seeking her. Then when Aviras figured out where she


    was, she turned into her fighter and used the trees to get away by bouncing between


    them.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a cheater to me,¡± said Josie. She almost smiled but the girls were in


    high dungeon, and she didn¡¯t want to cause a fight.


    ¡°Turned invisible?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Card Captor Sakura changes spells every time I use it,¡± said June. ¡°I don¡¯t know


    what the mechanism is.¡±


    ¡°I knew there was some kind of trick to that one,¡± said Josie. ¡°All right, so it


    exchanges powers. That¡¯s good to know, but it leaves a hole that you will have to


    work around if you get approved.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the randomness factor,¡± said June. ¡°I know. It¡¯s a Ben Ten situation.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Mistress Russ?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You have a nice place here,¡± said Boim. ¡°Can I stay here for a bit? I need to


    find a job so I can support myself.¡±


    ¡°So does June,¡± said Josie. ¡°We are waiting on Jack at the moment to get done. I


    think you guys should go over your letters and numbers after I take you over to the


    hospital to look around in case you guys will need to do something there in the future.


    Then you guys will have to get ready for dinner.¡±


    ¡°Jack can carve out another room at the Hangar,¡± said June. ¡°I could if I got the right


    spell, but I don¡¯t know how many times I would have to switch back and forth.¡±


    ¡°Jane will also need a gate back and forth from the House to the Hospital,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What¡¯s next?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°We have to get Jane¡¯s Amazons cleared of any infections, get the goblin tree victims


    cleared from the growths inside of them, clear the victims and Shemmarians off


    the Enterprise, decide what to do about June if she doesn¡¯t get the job of provisional


    Champion of Order, go through Mister Warner¡¯s archives, take more Montrose


    targets, and help anyone who needs the help, and answer quests,¡± said Josie. She


    glanced at Elaine. ¡°Did I miss anything?¡±


    ¡°We need June to start her own archive for this first quest,¡± said Elaine. ¡°And we


    need to know the result of Master Warner¡¯s quest.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Josie with a snap of her fingers. ¡°We need a report for the use of the


    stolen Enterprise by our guest and our youngest.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to make me write a report too?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Josie. ¡°Aviras too.¡±


    ¡°I have no thumbs,¡± said the dragon with a lizard smile.


    ¡°You are too blue to be such a weasel,¡± said Josie. ¡°Understand?¡±


    ¡°I will need help,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I will help you,¡± said Boim. ¡°I know how to read and write.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°How long does this report have to be?,¡± asked June.


    Josie gestured at Mister Warner¡¯s stack of paper still on the middle of the table. That


    elicited three groans, and a murmur.


    ¡°If I were you, I would not shoot for size, but completeness,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You have


    Josie¡¯s book of knowledge ledgers from her quests. You should be able to use those


    as a base of comparison.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Juni. ¡°Let me get one for us to look over.¡±


    ¡°Do not use my capture as the example,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± said Juni. ¡°I will be right back.¡±


    She went through the living room, the gate, and across the Hangar to her guest room


    to get one of the books.


    ¡°I am going to take the Warner Archive upstairs,¡± said Elaine. She scooped up the


    pile of bound paper. ¡°We might need to section this out.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can load it up for easy searching,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack has been wanting to


    recreate the Internet. He just needs an idea on how to do it.¡±


    ¡°The Internet?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°At once the greatest and worst tool of communication from our world,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Girls, get cleaned up and I will take you over to the hospital. We can do the tour, and


    show you around. Then you will have to do the rest of the day¡¯s chores.¡±


    Beatrice gestured for the others to get cleaner clothes and start washing their faces as


    she went upstairs to get a clean set of clothes for herself.


    ¡°Thank you for helping Aviras, Mistress Russ. I will take you four to the hospital


    tomorrow when we start trying to clear the Amazons,¡± said Josie. ¡°When Juni¡¯s


    situation is resolved, we will have a better read on what the Society expects her


    to do.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they will let her stay here?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°They will let Juni know if they let her keep the watch.


    The tour shouldn¡¯t take that long. Juni has to do her own work. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Missus,¡± said Matilda.


    The other girls assembled as Juni arrived with the casebook from the first completed


    quest in hand. She put the book on the table so her group could read it.


    Elaine arrived with pens and paper for the four scribes. She placed one ink bottle


    close enough so everyone could reach it.


    ¡°It would be better if the reports didn¡¯t look like Mistress Russ wrote everything for


    Aviras,¡± said Josie. She gave Jack¡¯s sister the eye. ¡°Cheaters never prosper.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t copy the work,¡± said June. She squinted back.


    ¡°Good,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°Do what you can while I give the girls the tour. If


    there are any questions, Elaine should be able to call Jack, or the Enterprise, for an


    accurate reading of the facts.¡±


    ¡°When did you know Josie was your boss?,¡± asked Aviras. He sat in the middle of the


    table, looking at June.


    ¡°She¡¯s not my boss,¡± said June. ¡°But when I was twelve and she was nine, she pushed


    an old lady down a flight of stairs. That was when I knew to not get caught on a flight


    of stairs with her when she was mad.¡±


    ¡°Then I have taught you well,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go, girls. If you see anything that


    needs to be adjusted, write it down and let me know.¡±


    Josie turned into Zatanna and whisked the majority of her Ducklings across the city.


    ¡°Did she really do that?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°And then beat her with her own wheel chair,¡± said June.


    ¡°What¡¯s a wheel chair?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Where I am from, some people might have problems walking,¡± said June. ¡°So the


    medical people invented a chair on wheels so they could push the wheels and move


    around. We have a lot smoother roads and walks for pedestrians so it¡¯s a small


    concession to the minority to make their lives easier.¡±


    ¡°Josie did that?,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°She was nine,¡± said June. She opened the case book and started reading it. She made


    notes on the top sheet of paper as she went. ¡°Kids get angry.¡±


    She passed the book to Matilda and Aviras. She started writing out her account of


    her first quest in a free flowing hand. She referred to her notes to keep the general


    feel of the book without copying it completely.


    Boim walked around the table to read the casebook over the young girl¡¯s shoulder.


    She looked up at the mention of the fish people and their fish god.


    ¡°Fish people?,¡± said Boim. She frowned at June.


    ¡°At least one, they didn¡¯t confirm if the whole town was fish people,¡± said June. She


    paused in her writing. ¡°The description of what was coming through the gate is fairly


    Lovecraftian so they might have lost a good section of the planet before something


    happened to turn the tide.¡±


    ¡°A section of the planet?,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°Worse would have been the changes in reality from corruption,¡± said Aviras. ¡°They


    don¡¯t see things the way other powers do. And their touch has a way of changing


    what is touched in ways they weren¡¯t meant to be.¡±


    ¡°That could have been an ongoing problem,¡± said June. ¡°No one wants grass that tries


    to eat you.¡±


    ¡°Can I see your notes?,¡± asked Matilda. She pushed back her frizzy hair. ¡°That will


    make things easier for me.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said June. She handed over the notes. ¡°This is like being back in school,


    writing papers for a stern teacher.¡±


    ¡°That will push you down a flight of stairs,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°What teacher hasn¡¯t wanted to do that?,¡± asked June. She grinned at the group.

 Yoff

    Jack spent some time in his ready room working as Mister Warner and the survivors


    wrote down what they wanted out of their new village. He had ordered the Enterprise


    to find a place close to their criteria of needs so the machine had started picking out


    places to place the new village.


    Jack had also told them to pick someone to be the mayor and answer to the local


    government when the new place went up. There might be a question of taxes.


    The Low Kings claimed the land and everyone worked for them. They paid the High


    King until he died, or was deposed, and then they paid the new guy. The Low Kings


    in the south tended to be on the war-ready side of things with a lot of their forces


    being directed at the Picket constructed to keep the humans and goblin clans separate.


    That didn¡¯t always work out from what some of the things were being said during


    dinner in the lounge.


    Jack didn¡¯t imagine a mixed parentage from any of those unions had a good time on


    either side of the wall.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Mister Warner over the intercom system. ¡°I think we¡¯re ready to go.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be right down and then we can pick out the spot at the


    lounge. Then we can build everything tonight and get everyone settled in.¡±


    ¡°They will need supplies,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I will magic some stuff up for them while I am building the village,¡± said Jack. He


    checked his watch. ¡°Do you have the list ready?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°All we need is to do it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be right down.¡±


    He picked up two cases sitting on his desk and headed down to the lounge. The


    Enterprise was too big for one man, but it was so useful to do some of the things that


    he needed to do.


    He walked into the lounge and looked at the people waiting on him. They all had


    name tags now. He supposed Mister Warner had tired of going hey you to everyone.


    He paused when he saw the little girl¡¯s name was Elena. He kicked back in gear and


    walked to the bar.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He placed the cases on the bar. ¡°I am going to set up a screen.


    The Enterprise will show you all the places it has picked out based on what you


    wanted, unless you want to rebuild where your villages were destroyed.¡±


    ¡°I think we want a fresh start for all of us,¡± said the burned man, Ropel. He looked


    at the crowd. They all gave him gestures of agreement.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me set up the screen. Then I have some things for you to


    drink and take. Who¡¯s going to be the mayor?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± said Ropel.


    ¡°Who¡¯s going to be your second?,¡± said Jack. He looked the crowd over.


    ¡°I was asked to do that,¡± said the bitter woman, Dorotea.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± said Jack. ¡°You two come here. Elena, come here too.¡±


    The three approached the bar. Jack took three potions out of one case, and three tiny


    boxes out of the other. He handed one each over to his test subjects.


    ¡°What are these?,¡± asked Dorotea.


    ¡°Either they are the best thing I can do for you, or they kill you,¡± said Jack. He


    reached into the box of boxes and pulled out a collar. He handed that to Elena. ¡°Either


    way, it¡¯s a wild card that depends on your mind.¡±


    ¡°This looks like Yoff¡¯s collar,¡± said Elena. She examined the hoop in her hands.


    ¡°Where did you get this?¡±


    ¡°I built it in my ready room,¡± said Jack. He had stolen the look of the collar and the


    dog from her mind. She didn¡¯t need to know that, and he didn¡¯t think the others


    would like knowing he could violate their privacy any time he wanted.


    ¡°Take the pills, then drink the drink,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you don¡¯t blow up, then


    everything should be okay. I¡¯m going to get the screen and bring it in to set up so we


    can look at what the Enterprise found.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re asking us to trust you to take some alchemy you mixed together,¡± said


    Dorotea.


    ¡°There may be some side effects,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie about that. I have


    to go get that screen.¡±


    Jack left the lounge. He went into the room next to it. He turned into Magik and


    formed a screen from a piece of carbon from the room¡¯s replicator. He turned back


    and lugged the thing back into the lounge. Mister Warner turned into a big guy in a


    robe and yamaka and helped him set it up on the bar.


    The girl chased a dog around the lounge. It looked like a corgi mixed with a scotty.


    It barked quietly as it ran around.


    ¡°You gave us spells,¡± said Dorotea. She hung on the bar with both hands.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I gave you a power ran by your mind. Are you okay with that? I can


    take it back.¡±


    ¡°I think this is what we need to hold an edge,¡± said Ropel. His eyes glowed softly.


    ¡°My arm itches. When I look, it will be completely healed. How do you know we


    won¡¯t misuse this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would appreciate if you didn¡¯t, but I know that will be a tough


    call.¡±


    Ropel looked at the sixteen other survivors. His vision lit them up when he touched


    certain boxes. He nodded to himself. He was seeing a version of the future showing


    him a good way to advance. A lot of the crowd didn¡¯t have a reason to trust him, but


    he thought they would once he made a few good decisions.


    ¡°You are a mad man,¡± said Dorotea. ¡°No one sane would give us a way to get


    revenge.¡±


    ¡°Your revenge is done, Dot,¡± said Jack. She frowned at his nonchalance. ¡°What I


    have given you is a way to move forward, heal wounds, and look after Elena. I gave


    you an ability that will expand your skill set to improve your life and those around


    you. I know that you can go after the surviving goblins over the picket line. I also


    know that your comrades need your gift more, and they will help build your blanket


    of people.¡±


    ¡°We do need you more, Dot,¡± said Ropel. ¡°You can mother hen us while we are going


    about our daily lives.¡±


    ¡°I will stab you,¡± said Dorotea. ¡°In the face.¡±


    ¡°Everyone, gather around,¡± said Ropel. ¡°I am going to match you with the boxes.


    Then Dorotea will give you the elixir. There will be a moment of vertigo. Just ride it


    out. Everything will settle down in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what you are doing?,¡± asked Mister Warner in a whisper. He had given


    Stolen story; please report.up Samson to frown at the younger man.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his mentor. ¡°I have one bottle for you too.¡±


    ¡°I already have my watch,¡± said Mister Warner. He held up his arm to emphasize his


    point.


    ¡°Just drink it,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might fix your arthritis.¡±


    Mister Warner took the bottle and drank it one gulp. He gagged at the taste. Then he


    noticed his fingers changing in front of him. He held up a hand for a closer look.


    ¡°What have you done?,¡± asked Mister Warner. He turned the hand in front of his face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± said Jack. He turned on the screen and


    made sure it could read the scans from the Enterprise. He looked at the survivors.


    Some of them looked overwhelmed by what they had been given.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to show you guys some pictures of where I can set


    up a new village for you. I want you guys to think about each of them, and when you


    have agreed on which one you want, I will build the village there. Don¡¯t worry about


    clearing the land, or anything like that. I will do that in the process.¡±


    ¡°We are going to need a wall at the very least,¡± said Ropel.


    ¡°I will add that in the process,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me start the slide show. Once you have


    a spot, I will be able to put it up in a few minutes. The rest will be getting you


    supplies to live off of and tools to do what you need to do. Everyone ready?¡±


    ¡°Show us what you have,¡± said Barnie, the skinny man stabbed in the side by his


    goblin captors.


    ¡°Enterprise, show us the spots you picked out on the screen in the lounge,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. A picture of a meadow surrounded by woods


    appeared. The crowd went through the ten images slowly. Ropel stood back, and


    watched everything. He nodded when he saw one picture in particular. He waited to


    see the rest before asking the Enterprise to go back to that one image. Jack confirmed


    the request.


    ¡°Where is this?,¡± asked Ropel.


    ¡°It is here,¡± said the machine. It displayed a picture of the lower part of the continent


    with a diamond to mark the site. They could see the picket line close, but not too


    close to the site.


    ¡°Where were our old villages?,¡± asked Ropel.


    The three diamonds marked burned areas within a few days travel south of the


    proposed site.


    ¡°You said you could build a village in this?,¡± said Ropel. He gestured at the trees


    blocking the sky from the ground.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can put you on the ground right now, and you will have beds and


    your own places a few minutes after that.¡±


    ¡°We will need some things,¡± said Ropel. He looked at his group. ¡°Can you give us


    those things?¡±


    ¡°Have you got a list of what you need?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I can drop the gear with you.¡±


    Mister Warner pulled out a pad and pen. He handed the paper over after showing


    Ropel how to use the pen.


    ¡°Come down to the hangar and we will make your stuff down there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then


    we will do the rest so I can be with my beloved before the night is over.¡±


    ¡°What did you do to me?,¡± Mister Warner whispered to Jack as he stored the empty


    boxes down under the lounge¡¯s bar.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going down to the cargo bay. Can you sheep dog these


    guys when they are ready? Good job with the name tags.¡±


    ¡°I thought so,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°You look younger,¡± said Elena. She and Yoff looked up at the two men. ¡°Can I walk


    down with you? I don¡¯t really know what I should get. I think Dorotea will look out


    for me as far as that goes.¡±


    ¡°Come along,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can get you a wardrobe as far as that goes. How do you


    like the dog?¡±


    ¡°I love him,¡± said Elena. ¡°He¡¯s perfect.¡±


    Jack led the way out of the lounge. He waited for the odd couple to follow him to the


    lift. Yoff sniffed the halls as they went.


    ¡°What do you think of Dot taking you in?,¡± asked Jack. He triggered the lift as he


    waited for an answer.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Elena. She pushed back the strands of blond hair from her face.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I lived with someone else. I just don¡¯t see her as a


    mother.¡±


    ¡°She might see you as a daughter,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t hold it against her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± said Elena. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you and Master Warner are helping


    us.¡±


    ¡°Part of it is because it is our job,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some of it is because we can. Some of


    it is because it makes us happy inside and flatters our ego.¡±


    ¡°But you have all this power,¡± said Elena. ¡°The powerful never help the weak.¡±


    ¡°Some people with power never help the weak,¡± said Jack. He headed down the hall


    to the entrance to the cargo bay. ¡°Some people say with great power comes great


    responsibility. You have a power now too, even though you need to practice with it.¡±


    ¡°What power?,¡± said Elena. She hurried to keep up with him.


    ¡°Yoff is a creation of your mind,¡± said Jack. ¡°He will be able to do things like you


    would never believe when you get older.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a power?,¡± asked Elena.


    ¡°Think of Yoff as big, bigger than you,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡±


    Elena closed her eyes. She imagined her dog as big as a horse. She kept that idea in


    mind. He was big enough to ride around on. She opened her eyes. Yoff stared into


    them with a tilted head. He licked her face with a tongue like a bath towel.


    ¡°Down,¡± said Elena, stepping back with a wet face. She looked at Jack. He grinned


    at her. She smiled. ¡°Lick Jack.¡±


    She laughed as the giant dog chased after the human with its disproportionate legs.


    He barked as loud as a cannon as he tried to chase his quarry down. The champion


    of order doubled back to keep her between him and the dog.


    ¡°Down, Yoff,¡± said Elena. She continued to laugh on the floor. The dog settled next


    to her.


    Jack got her a towel from the replicator to wipe her face. He grinned at the dog as it


    seemed to grin at him.


    ¡°Now do you believe me?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elena. She wiped her face before burrowing into the fur of her beast.


    ¡°Thank you for this.¡±


    ¡°It seemed like something you needed,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you make him small again


    so you don¡¯t scare everyone else?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Elena. She held out her arms and compressed her companion into


    his familiar size in her arms, against her chest. ¡°When we get down to the village, we


    will run all day and night.¡±


    Mister Warner led the villagers into the hangar. He had five sheets of paper in hand.


    He handed the list over and stepped back.


    Jack looked the list over. He looked at the crowd. They looked back expectantly.


    ¡°Is this all you need?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Our abilities should help with the rest,¡± said Ropel. ¡°Can you help us?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. He read the list to the Enterprise and instructed that everything


    should be put in cases for protection and packing. Ten pallets appeared with a variety


    of supply boxes on them. He made sure the boxes were strapped in for the long drop


    to the ground.


    ¡°Everybody ready?,¡± Jack asked. ¡°Elena, hold on to Yoff. I don¡¯t know if I can carry


    him as Gravity.¡±


    ¡°We can beam down,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°And what did you do to me? My teeth


    grew back in.¡±


    ¡°Who wants to do something as boring as that?,¡± said Jack. He grinned. Then he


    called for the group to surround the care packages. ¡°Enterprise, open the hangar door.


    Let¡¯s fly.¡±


    He pulled on Gravity and tried to yank everyone and their new belongings out of the


    hangar. He didn¡¯t have the strength to carry the weight. So he tossed the gear out first


    and then pulled the people behind him as he sped toward the ground.


    Jack juggled the boxes and people so he could put them down gently instead of letting


    them crash to a stop. He let Gravity go as he did a quick check on everyone.


    ¡°That was great, wasn¡¯t it?,¡± he said to Mister Warner.


    ¡°I would rather be taken apart and put back together atom by atom,¡± said Warner. He


    brushed his graying hair back. ¡°Next time, we use the transporter.¡±


    ¡°Nag, nag, nag,¡± said Jack. ¡°All I hear is nagging. The dog loved it.¡±


    Yoff ran around in a circle. He fell over on his back, and kicked his feet in the air.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think we need shelter before the moons start coming up,¡± said Ropel, cutting into


    the debate. ¡°Then we need to think about how we are going to do things for the next


    few days.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me see what I can do.¡±


    He checked his watch as he went to the center of the target zone. He started humming


    to himself as he looked around. He had the packages around him. He could do things


    with this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t unpack anything,¡± said Ropel. ¡°We¡¯ll do that ourselves in the day time. Just


    make sure they are safe here until we can get to it.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t move until I¡¯m done,¡± said Jack. He started humming again, checking his


    watch. He pulled on Magik, smiling as the formulae of his body shifted with his


    intent. ¡°I am the color of boom that is never arriving. You are the pay raise that stays


    just a touch out of view. I am the color of BOOM!¡±


    The grass at his feet formed an iron ring around him. It expanded outwards,


    destroying grass and trees, flattening the ground into a plain of dirt. It stopped when


    he judged he had enough room for the rest of the plan.


    The ring spun in place. A wall went up inside the ring, a gate forming on either side


    of where the town would stand to allow travelers to pass through. Fields of vegetables


    and fruit trees sprang up in sections inside the wall. It would be a while before they


    were able to supply the town with food but they were there for anybody with a


    farming talent. Houses sprang up inside the inner fruit ring to surround a clock tower


    on top of the town¡¯s official center. A small market and inn for travelers took up


    space in front of the town hall.


    ¡°That was incredible,¡± said Ropel. He looked at the buildings around his group.


    Jack let his persona go. He looked around and nodded. The magic had done what it


    wanted outside of the general list he had been given. He hoped the survivors liked it.


    ¡°If you want to expand, you are going to have to build a new wall beyond the ring,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to put a gate down, and then I will put the other end down when


    I get back to Hawk Ridge. If you have problems, just use that to get out of town if you


    have to.¡±

 Agreement

    Josie walked the girls through the tour. They were impressed by what she had done.


    They checked on Marla and her twin girls. The other woman was asleep. The midwife


    on duty said things were going as well as expected according to the scanner and the


    patient herself.


    They didn¡¯t have any medicine for pain, or for conditions they couldn¡¯t treat by


    cutting something away.


    Josie put that down as something they would have to iron out when they had a few


    alchemists onboard.


    She put down an idea for a replicator the nurses could use to pitch to Jack. He had the


    Enterprise. Maybe he could make that technology work for them like the com bands.


    Josie whisked the girls back home. She still had to make plans to carry out in the next


    few days.


    And she wanted to make sure her pirates were writing up their adventure.


    ¡°You said you were going to try to build another place like that?,¡± asked Laura, as


    they finished popping into existence at the Hole in the Wall.


    ¡°The other building Jack and I cleared out is owned by the bank according to Guin,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°They were trying to clear the deed. I have a feeling that the owner stepped


    in front of Jack at the wrong time.¡±


    ¡°Dead,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Have a shooting range now.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Juniper set up a target for Alicia with her magic,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°She can practice


    at the Hangar if she wants.¡±


    ¡°I take it you want to go out and shoot some before dinner,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you have


    the equipment?¡±


    ¡°Need a bow, and some arrows,¡± admitted Alicia. ¡°I hope that The Rick will help me


    with that tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will go out and assess the build so you can shoot without


    having to worry about monsters. That way you can practice on your own without


    having to have someone watch your every move.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°She also put out a practice dummy for herself,¡± said Laura. ¡°She showed us some


    punching and grappling maneuvers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Josie. ¡°You do need to know stuff in case you can¡¯t cut someone


    to pieces with a blade.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Jo-jo,¡± called June. ¡°We are done with our reports.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can start cooking dinner.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said June.


    ¡°You¡¯re on Kay Pee duty until things are over,¡± said Josie. ¡°So the three of you need


    to get started. It¡¯s not like we have a microwave.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to cook,¡± admitted June. ¡°Especially not with what passes for a


    kitchen here.¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Matilda. She grabbed June¡¯s much bigger arm and pulled. ¡°I will


    show you how to do it.¡±


    ¡°Missus,¡± whispered Angelica. ¡°Is it okay if I help them?¡±


    ¡°Lessons?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I will go over everything after dinner,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Please, Missus. I don¡¯t want


    to be poisoned by bad cooking.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie.


    Angelica split from the girls and headed into the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves.


    ¡°Everyone else, I guess you should get started on your lessons,¡± said Josie. ¡°Aviras,


    where are your reports?¡±


    ¡°Dining room table,¡± said the dragon. He watched the cooking from his perch on


    Matilda¡¯s head.


    ¡°Miss Russ,¡± said Josie. ¡°Could we talk privately while everyone is doing everything


    else?¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± said Miss Russ. She pushed back a strand of hair from her face as she


    looked for a place to go.


    ¡°We can talk out at the Hangar,¡± said Josie. She gestured for their visitor to precede


    her to the living room and the gate. ¡°We¡¯re waiting on June¡¯s status, and what the


    Society thinks of her. After that, things will have to be decided. It¡¯s better to consider


    things now while we can before we have to deal with things in the middle of a crisis.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Boim. She turned and walked to the gate.


    Josie followed, pausing to pick up the handwritten reports on the table. She would


    read them later when she was done. They went through the gate and paused in the


    closed Hangar. She let the exit door remain closed. She could look at the target


    dummies later.


    ¡°What do you want to talk about first?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with what you want to do,¡± said Josie. ¡°June may get moved out of Hawk


    Ridge. If she does, are you going to want to move to Jane¡¯s, go with her, or go back


    out on your own?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay here?,¡± asked Boim. She gestured at the Hangar.


    ¡°You can if you¡¯re honest,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack told me he talked to your sister. I¡¯m


    wondering why you aren¡¯t trying to live with her until you get back on your feet.¡±


    ¡°He talked to my sister?,¡± said Boim. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I assume he asked the Enterprise to look for anyone who looks close to your genetic


    profile,¡± said Josie. ¡°The scanners would do the rest. He told her he would look out


    for you, which means I am looking out for you at the moment. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t


    want to have this talk in front of the girls, or June, since they don¡¯t know. So you


    aren¡¯t asking any of your six sisters for help. I get that you don¡¯t want to, or can¡¯t. But


    we can place you with one of them in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°We agreed to split up because we look alike,¡± said Boim. ¡°Because of how we were


    made. How much do you know?¡±


    ¡°I have a broad overview of your history, and a knowledge base about some of the


    subjects involved even if it isn¡¯t quite up to what a scientist would know about


    specifics,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack can probably find your sisters if he wants to, or has


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.already talked to one, and can find the others is what I should say. I¡¯m not worried


    about your history. I am more concerned with your present and future. I don¡¯t want


    an unknown threat close to my girls, and what happens if things go wrong for you.¡±


    ¡°I am not a threat,¡± said Boim. ¡°I don¡¯t know why your Society asked June to rescue


    me. I¡¯m not anyone important.¡±


    ¡°This could be part of June¡¯s provisional test,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know how they


    think she could figure out what you are unless Sakura gives her something that


    detects for non-human life.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t tell her?,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°I said I wouldn¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°My word is good. How did you wind up in the secret


    prison?¡±


    ¡°The woman that June killed approached me on the street,¡± said Boim. ¡°She said her


    husband wanted something extra for his birthday. I told her I would do it. I needed


    the money and selling my body was fine enough work. Then when I got in the


    carriage, they took me and put me in that hole.¡±


    ¡°Did you see the husband?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Boim. ¡°There was a lady, and three large men. None of the men acted like


    husbands. They all acted like servants. They had scars on their arms and necks from


    what I could see.¡±


    Josie frowned. She didn¡¯t like the stray thought that roamed around in her brain. It


    meant putting Matilda at risk again, and she didn¡¯t like that most of all.


    She flipped through June¡¯s eyewitness account. She decided to flip through it again


    as Grundy. She frowned at the description of body parts in the boxes. June hadn¡¯t


    been specific about what kind of parts.


    Maybe the husband had been a lie to draw in the victim. There didn¡¯t have to be


    someone else out there. If there was, he was going to be mad that Mister Warner had


    blown up their operation and put a hole through his wife.


    But June hadn¡¯t checked to make sure they had taken them all. Neither had Mister


    Warner to be fair.


    What happened if they had missed someone cutting people up?


    Could June find anyone else if she went back and looked around?


    Matilda had reported that there was no one else at the shop when the Enterprise


    scanned it. That was how they had found Russ in the bolt hole behind the shelf.


    Should they take another look at things?


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°According to June, and Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Mister Warner and June accounted for a


    woman and three golems at the scene. So that should be the whole group. It bothers


    me that she didn¡¯t get one of the golems to pose as a husband.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anyone else,¡± said Boim. She gestured in her puzzlement.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s put that aside for a moment. June might need a guide.


    If she gets stationed somewhere else, could you do that?¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Boim. ¡°I never thought of professionally helping people. I have tended


    to avoid anything like the Guard where possible.¡±


    ¡°I understand that,¡± said Josie. About three quarters of the Guard she had run into in


    the city had been corrupt, and then dead. ¡°We¡¯re going to look out for you until you


    decide what you want to do, and your sisters by extension. Only Jack, Elaine, and I


    know about this as far as I know. I would not bet against Mister Warner doing his


    own check out, and just not saying anything because it¡¯s not mission critical. I will


    be irate if you try to stab us in the back to keep your secret. The Society knows but


    they won¡¯t tell anyone about it, and I don¡¯t think you can hurt them where they live.¡±


    ¡°I will agree to this,¡± said Boim. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you don¡¯t treat me as a


    monster.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not from here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have a different standard that applies to monsters.


    I will take you by to meet Jane, or Hilda. If anything happens to Jack and me, they


    will be able to take you in and let you blend in with others. I have a lot of work to do


    in the next few days, and you are going to have to be part of that until we get things


    straightened out and have some kind of final disposition for June, and Mister Warner.


    You¡¯re going to have to pull some of the weight even as a guest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to help out,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you need anything?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Boim. She smiled. ¡°My sisters are all on better footing than I am. I never


    thought I would have a guardian extending a hand to me.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s what I felt when I met Grandma Lee, and her extended family,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We should help with the chores before Jack gets back. We¡¯re burning


    daylight.¡±


    ¡°It feels good to have something,¡± said Boim. ¡°All of my sisters have things to do, or


    they want. I wasn¡¯t made with their ambition.¡±


    ¡°If you can keep June out of trouble, that will be a big enough ambition for seven


    sisters,¡± said Josie. ¡°Good luck with that.¡±


    ¡°She pretends to be rough, but she is good,¡± said Boim. ¡°Do you really think there are


    other body choppers?¡±


    ¡°We had a run in with a guy representing a cult that wants to destroy the world with


    human sacrifice,¡± said Josie. ¡°We didn¡¯t get all of his friends. This might be an


    offshoot, or another group doing their thing. I¡¯m wondering if I should go to your


    town and look around.¡±


    ¡°There were rumors of people vanishing,¡± said Boim. ¡°There are always rumors and


    the Guard do check, but if someone is taken and chopped up, only family and friends


    would notice unless it grew so large that someone would sound an alarm.¡±


    ¡°I have a feeling we have seen the surface part of this,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wish the Society


    would just come out and say what the goal is. Some of these quests are mysteries on


    mysteries.¡±


    The women stepped back through the gate. Josie nodded as the older and middle girls


    were working on their lessons. Matilda and Angelica should be in the kitchen. She


    wondered if they had time to deal with more quests while trying to clear the sleepers


    out of the way.


    Should she check on Jack? She decided to let it go. He would call if he needed help.


    And Mister Warner was out there with him, and according to the reports was just as


    good with his watch as they were.


    She hoped she didn¡¯t have to talk Jack out of giving Alicia explosive arrows to use


    with her bow when she got one.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Missus,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Milord will be home soon with some new


    story to raise the hair on the back of your neck told in three sentences.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what has me worried,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you think we will see the Society again?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°Do we want to see the Society again?,¡± asked Melanie. ¡°I can do without talking in


    my sleep.¡±


    ¡°I think if they call all of us again, it will be to talk about June¡¯s disposition,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°She still might not have passed because Jack and Mister Warner interfered in


    some of her quest.¡±


    ¡°Cheaters,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°A job interview is a job interview,¡± said Josie. ¡°We were lucky they allowed June


    to use the Enterprise, or we wouldn¡¯t have Miss Russ as a house guest. As soon as


    Jack gets back, I will put him on building the gates we need, and the machine to expel


    the spine growths in the Amazons. Then we can start sorting out the sleepers we want


    to move. I¡¯ll ask him to get you a bow from the Enterprise, Alicia.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Missus,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Let check on dinner,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can settle in for the night.¡±


    ¡°I will still need a room,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°I will build one for you at the Hangar,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need to get the Quinjet back


    from the Enterprise as soon as we have things straightened out.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to show June how to fly it?,¡± asked Beatrice. She had a raised


    eyebrow at the thought.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have a couple of hours until sundown. What do you guys know


    about what you are reading?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m struggling,¡± admitted Beatrice. ¡°I think this version of Hurley¡¯s legend has a


    different ending than Jack and Elaine¡¯s play.¡±


    ¡°I am reading a mystery about Counton Mansion in the north,¡± said Laura. ¡°Some


    wizard doing bad things in the dark.¡±


    Boim firmed her lips to hide her surprise.


    ¡°I have a travel book,¡± said Melanie. ¡°There is an inn in the west with its own hot


    springs.¡±


    ¡°I found a journal,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I think it is about someone on campaign in the south.


    They are fighting goblins from what I can make out so far.¡±


    ¡°Miss Russ and I will check to make sure Angelica hasn¡¯t strangled her help while


    fixing dinner, and then we will ready to sit down,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you guys think you


    can write your reports on your books?¡±


    ¡°I am still having problems forming letters,¡± admitted Beatrice. ¡°I can do it but it will


    be ugly.¡±


    ¡°I am with Beatrice,¡± said Laura. ¡°Matilda is the only one of us who seems to have


    a grasp on the handwriting part of things. It¡¯s almost like she was locked in with a


    bunch of books and told to read or die.¡±


    Josie frowned. The other girls agreed with Laura¡¯s assessment from their expressions.


    She didn¡¯t doubt that Matilda could have had something like that happen to her


    before she was swept up with the rest of the Ducklings.


    ¡°Practice while you can,¡± said Josie. ¡°Responsibilities will come along soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Do we really need this?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°One day, god willing and the creek don¡¯t rise, you are going to have to run your own


    household,¡± said Josie. ¡°And when that day comes, you are going to have to figure


    numbers for bills and how much is fair and what isn¡¯t. Part of that is being able to


    write a letter to complain about conditions imposed by your landlord if you have one.


    So you will need it eventually. Learning it now is better than trying to learn it then.¡±

 Goodbye Villagers

    Jack looked the village over as the new residents picked out the places they wanted


    to live. Mister Warner grabbed a house next to the town center. He looked at it with


    a nod.


    Ropel had picked a place close to where the ground had been turned into rows of


    vegetables for them to eat in the coming months. He had a view of the south gate


    from his porch.


    The others had scattered away from the center to look around, but Dorotea and Elena


    had grabbed a place close to the new inn. Maybe she intended to run it if they got


    visitors to the village.


    Jack hoped things worked out for them after the disaster of the last few days.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to stay down here?,¡± Jack asked his friend. ¡°I can still fix


    you up a place in the city if you wanted to stay here permanently.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I have moved, Jack,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Helping out has


    reminded me why I took the job in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Probably what the Society intended in the first place,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to go back and shut my shop down, and sell everything,¡± said Mister


    Warner. ¡°I don¡¯t have anyone to leave it to.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I put the gate down in the town hall.¡±


    He pointed at the clock tower above the village.


    ¡°As soon as I get back to Hawk Ridge, I will put the other end down at the Hangar,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°It will be outside of the city proper and no one will see you guys coming


    up north.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°If I get any more quests, do you want them


    archived?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie will probably want to go through everything so we can


    improve our rating.¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± said Mister Warner. He touched his watch and became Marvello. He


    produced a three page report, and then copied it. He let the persona go. ¡°This one¡¯s


    yours.¡±


    ¡°Keep an eye out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t want to come back and find out one of these


    yahoos killed you for your watch.¡±


    ¡°Especially since Zu said it only works for me,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°That would


    make things that much more worthless.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m heading up north,¡± said Jack. ¡°I fixed your phone to use the Enterprise to relay


    phone calls to us if you need us. I don¡¯t know how June is going to work out, but if


    she does I doubt they will send her down here to be your apprentice.¡±


    ¡°You can never tell what they are going to do,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I didn¡¯t think


    they would give June a test run.¡±


    ¡°Neither did I,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I have to go. Josie probably is worried that


    I set the whole Southland on fire by now.¡±


    ¡°If you need to talk, I will be here for a while,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Then I have to


    handle my concerns and come back. I don¡¯t know what was in that drink you gave


    me, but I know I feel younger.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it will last on Earth,¡± said Jack. He shrugged. ¡°It was the best


    I could do for you without moving time back. I have to go say my goodbyes and


    then take off. Remember to call if you get into big enough trouble, take care of


    yourself, and take some time to smell the roses.¡±


    ¡°Hercule Poirot didn¡¯t take the time to smell the roses,¡± sniffed Mister Warner.


    ¡°Poirot wound up killing someone he suspected of murder because he couldn¡¯t prove


    the guy did it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t use that as your example, okay?¡±


    ¡°He should have taken more vacations away from other people,¡± admitted Mister


    Warner.


    ¡°Get settled in,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll send Josie and June down to look the place over.


    They might think it¡¯s quaint.¡±


    ¡°I will see what I can do with the orchards and fields you planted,¡± said Mister


    Warner. ¡°We don¡¯t have enough people to need such a big harvest.¡±


    ¡°Sell the surplus to your neighbors,¡± said Jack. ¡°The only other thing I have to


    tell you is that we are at war with some human traffickers. We marked them with


    tattoos of names. I sent one of their spotters down this way with his daughter


    so Josie wouldn¡¯t kill him. His name is Ken.¡±


    ¡°Why did you do that,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°They poisoned his kid to keep him under control,¡± said Jack. ¡°The hex marked him


    because he knew he was doing wrong and did it anyway instead of sacrificing his


    kid.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like an ethical problem that I don¡¯t want to get near,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out.¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to warn you in case they came down here and took some of the


    women,¡± said Jack. ¡°They were supplying Shemmaria with test subjects until


    we shut things down.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep my eye out,¡± said Mister Warner. His eyes wore a sharper frown. ¡°Go on.


    Your beloved is waiting for you.¡±


    Jack grinned. He opened his mouth to say something else. Mister Warner cut him off.


    ¡°I know we¡¯re all invited to the wedding,¡± said Mister Warner. He flapped his hand.


    ¡°Shoo. I have to think about where I want to put my books and things.¡±


    Jack walked away. He hummed to himself as he went. He just had to make sure Ropel


    and Dot knew how to use the stargate, maybe check on Elena, then he could have


    the Enterprise beam him up and he could head north to his new home.


    He found Ropel and Dot talking to another two guys that he hadn¡¯t dealt with other


    than fixing them up. They were concentrated on the fields that had been planted.


    ¡°I am about to head out,¡± he said. ¡°You guys set?¡±


    ¡°We are discussing grow times,¡± said Ropel. ¡°It will be a few months before we get


    edible supplies and the winter will be coming on.¡±


    ¡°Your plants seem to be growing twice as fast as normal, and we are trying to


    estimate how long we have until we can harvest them,¡± said one of the appointed


    groundskeepers.


    ¡°We think we can speed up the process,¡± said the other groundskeeper. ¡°We don¡¯t


    know if that will hurt things.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t really considered the seasons when I planted,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you should


    concentrate on one plant and see if you can make that grow without exploding.


    Maybe one of the fruit trees also. If those work out, you can try to expand outwards.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we are trying to decide on,¡± said Ropel. ¡°You¡¯re leaving?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°You guys seem to have things nailed down, and Mister Warner


    says I¡¯m getting in his way. I have the end of the gate down in the city hall. I


    am going to put the other one down in a piece of wilderness I took over about a few


    minutes ride from Hawk Ridge up north. I have a space hidden there, and set


    up a fear ring to keep people away from it so you should be safe from people


    up there until you move out of the ring.¡±


    ¡°I still say you are a mad man to give us these gifts,¡± said Dot. She grimaced at him.


    ¡°There are things in this world, Dot, that I can¡¯t change,¡± said Jack. He impersonated


    a ringmaster for a moment with a wave of his arm. ¡°I can¡¯t bring dead people back to


    life, I can¡¯t tell the government not to tax a man¡¯s work, and I can¡¯t alter the direction


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.of the sun. But there are some things, I can. I can help someone get back on their feet.


    I can stop a bully. I can chase monsters and hack them apart. Don¡¯t think of it as


    madness. Think of it as charity, and a small bit of compassion.¡±


    ¡°Madman,¡± said Dot. She smiled. ¡°Your Elaine is probably just as mad to put up with


    you.¡±


    ¡°She is keeping me from doing things that people wouldn¡¯t like,¡± said Jack. He


    extended his hand to Ropel. Then he shook hands with the other two. When he


    extended his hand to Dot, she hugged him for a second.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem,¡± Jack said. ¡°Mister Warner can call me if you guys need


    something. I will be glad to come down and light someone up if he can¡¯t handle it.¡±


    ¡°Good luck, champion of the Faceless,¡± said Ropel. ¡°Our home is always open to


    you.¡±


    ¡°You guys are invited to the wedding when we set the date,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°I have to say goodbye to Elena, and then I have to go. Good luck, guys.¡±


    Jack wondered away. He changed into Vision for a second and scanned the village


    for the little girl and her phantom dog. He smiled when he found them in the orchard.


    He turned into the Falcon and flew over to land under a tree. He turned off the


    persona.


    ¡°Jack!,¡± said Elena. She waved her hand at him. The dog ran around her legs. ¡°I¡¯m


    teaching Yoff some tricks.¡±


    ¡°I came to say goodbye,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to head home and help my partner fix


    things back in the city. I didn¡¯t want you to think that I would forget about you and


    your dog.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re leaving us?,¡± asked Elena.


    ¡°For a bit,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a few responsibilities as much as I don¡¯t really want


    them. I have to take care of those things just like I have to watch out for you and the


    others now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for everything you have done,¡± said Elena. ¡°This Yoff is the greatest gift


    anyone has ever given me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°Look out for everyone, look out for Dot.


    Mister Warner will be here to help protect you, but he can¡¯t do everything by himself.


    Eventually he is going to need an assistant, maybe someone with a fearless canine


    companion.¡±


    ¡°Are you fearless, Yoff?,¡± asked Elena.


    The badger dog looked up at her with a grin.


    ¡°I think that you are,¡± said Elena. She rubbed the dog between the ears.


    Jack grinned.


    ¡°I have to get back to work,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re a good kid, Elena. I¡¯ll bring Josie¡¯s


    sisters down so you have someone to hang out with when I have a day.¡±


    ¡°Will they like me?,¡± asked Elena.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Will you like them without meeting them? They don¡¯t


    have a wonder dog. I can tell you that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Jack,¡± said Elena. She hugged him. ¡°Thank you for helping us, and thank


    you for Yoff.¡±


    Yoff threw himself on Jack¡¯s lower leg.


    Jack spun them both around in his arms before putting them back down.


    ¡°Just remember with great power comes great responsibility and you will do all


    right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be around sooner or later. On the other hand, my sister Juni


    might have to apprentice to Mister Warner. You¡¯ll have someone who needs a lot


    of looking after if that happens.¡±


    ¡°I will do what I can,¡± said Elena. Yoff barked in agreement.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to go. And you should think about hitting the hay and


    getting ready for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yoff and I are on the north wall when the sun goes down,¡± said Elena. ¡°We have


    to keep watch until we are relieved.¡±


    ¡°Then you better head over to your position,¡± said Jack. He squinted at the sky.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Elena. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Yoff.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t fall asleep,¡± said Jack as she turned and headed away from him.


    ¡°Time to go,¡± Jack told himself. He activated his com band. ¡°Enterprise? One to beam


    up.¡±


    A cloud of blue sparks dropped him in Transport Room One. He stepped off the pad.


    He wondered how everyone else was doing as he headed up to the bridge. As long


    as the Enterprise was on voice control, he could technically fly it from anywhere on


    the ship. He preferred the bridge for the big screen so he could see what he was


    doing.


    He expected Josie to have everything locked down on her end. He still had to write


    out something to show he had helped with the quest. He thought about what he


    had done with the villagers. They had needed the help. Even with Mister Warner


    helping them, they needed the extra assistance that he couldn¡¯t provide without


    dropping some, or all, of his other responsibilities.


    The watch, and the Enterprise, let him do a lot of things. It didn¡¯t let him split off


    different versions of himself like Madrox to keep an eye out for people everywhere


    he helped someone.


    He needed to test the Multiple Man persona when he wasn¡¯t running around putting


    out other fires.


    Peter David¡¯s take had been interesting at first, but looking back, giving Madrox¡¯s


    clones different personalities, so that one ran away because it didn¡¯t want to be


    absorbed seemed counter to how the power had worked at first and just more of


    David trying to add personality flaws to the characters he was writing.


    Jack settled into his chair on the bridge and decided that he had got old without


    realizing it.


    ¡°Enterprise, take us to orbit over Hawk Ridge,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to put the other


    stargate down at the Hangar, and then check in with Josie.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the Enterprise.


    The screen showed an empty sky as the ship sailed across the continent. It moored


    itself high above Hawk Ridge. A beep told Jack he was on station.


    At least they had two places to retreat to if they had to leave Hawk Ridge.


    ¡°I¡¯m going down,¡± said Jack. ¡°Remain on standby, call if there is a problem with


    operations. Josie¡¯s bird is still in her chair so she should be able to board instantly


    from wherever she is.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I think if Josie and Elaine have their hospital set up, the next steps will be moving


    people out of the transporter one by one, and putting them on the ground,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I will let you know when we come up with a time table for all that.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°Keep an eye on the village for me,¡± said Jack. ¡°If they need help, I want to be


    able to swing by and drop a torpedo on someone.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m off,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t just stay up here and avoid responsibility all my life.


    Josie would come looking for me.¡±


    Jack left the bridge and went down to the cargo bay. He opened the doors and


    stepped out, falling fast, just like his arrival in this new world. He activated Gravity


    after a few moments and floated gently down to the Hangar¡¯s cleared space. He


    frowned at the archery target dummy on one side, and the wooden punching stand on


    the other side of the space.


    They were still inside the ring of fear. No one was going to come up and see the


    dummies unless they spotted them at a distance and wondered what was going on.


    The surrounding trees should block some of that off from the road.


    Jack decided to put the stargate down in a space inside the Hangar. If the villagers


    had to retreat, then they would have a roof over their heads when they arrived.


    He also had to put down a stargate line from Jane¡¯s House to the Hospital. He could


    put a stargate for them too, but he would have to put two gates at the Hospital, and


    two gates at Jane¡¯s house.


    Did he want that?


    He appreciated the dial up procedure now that he was looking at the problem. It also


    gave him a solution.


    He entered the Hangar. He found a wall he could put the stargate on. He used


    Magik to fashion it out of the left over iron rods from the Hangar shaping, and made


    sure it was empowered and placed. He activated the ring and marked the event


    horizon. Then he stepped through and was back in the village. He waved at Ropel


    before stepping back through to the Hangar.


    Everybody would have access to the Hangar, and the Hole in the Wall. He decided


    to put a lock on the Hole in the Wall¡¯s gate from this side. Once he was done with


    that, he stepped through to his living room.


    Now all he had to do was set up the gates for the hospital, and set up the Hole in


    Wall¡¯s pad to go to the different gates. Those other gates could not lead back to the


    Hole in the Wall.


    He should put a lock on the gates at the village, and the Hangar. He would talk to


    Ropel about it when he had things set up a little better.


    He walked into the dining room. He stood behind Josie and looked at the small spread laid out.


    Elaine smiled when she saw him, pausing in what she was saying to their


    houseguests. She stood.


    ¡°I see everyone got started without me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You were taking too long, bro,¡± said June. ¡°How did things go? Where¡¯s Mister


    Warner?¡±


    ¡°He stayed behind,¡± said Jack. He walked around the table and hugged his beloved.


    He didn¡¯t care that Alicia said mush at the sight.


    ¡°How did things go, Jack?,¡± asked Josie. She realized that the table wasn¡¯t big


    enough for him to sit with them.


    ¡°Pretty excellent as Bill and Ted used to say,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s tubular then,¡± said Josie. She ignored the puzzled expressions her


    comments gained her. ¡°We¡¯re going to need something to pull the goblin growths out


    of our nurses, and then the sleepers at Jane¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Can I work on that tomorrow?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Tonight I want to be home with my


    beloved.¡±


    ¡°I suppose,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ve done a lot of things and there¡¯s no telling how the


    Duke will take it.¡±


    ¡°It will be okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°We still have two days before June¡¯s trial runs out. Let¡¯s


    make the most of it before we have to send her back home.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We should take some time and go fishing up at Lake Myra,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can sit


    around and fish and drink beer and eat cheese while we try to catch our dinner.¡±


    ¡°Take a day to relax?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Because we have a lot of people whose lives are on hold until we get their things


    sorted out,¡± said Josie. ¡°A day to relax is for other people. We¡¯re too responsible for


    that.¡±


    ¡°I did promise to take the kids up to the village,¡± said Jack. ¡°They only have one


    kid, and she needs some company.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s her name?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Elena,¡± said Jack. ¡°And she has a floofy dog.¡±


    ¡°Can we go?,¡± asked Matilda. ¡°Aviras and I would love to look around.¡±


    The dragon didn¡¯t look like he wanted to meet someone¡¯s pet.


    Josie looked at her sisters. She saw they were middle of the road about it. It might do


    them some good to get away from the city for a bit.


    ¡°They are still settling in, right?,¡± said Josie. Jack nodded his head. ¡°I will send


    Mister Warner a letter that we will be coming by after June¡¯s evaluation.¡±


    ¡°I can just call him,¡± said Jack. He pulled out his phone and pushed the contact


    button. ¡°Sorry to call, but your gate is set up to open at the Hangar, and Josie is


    bringing the kids by after June gets sent back home. Maybe they can help out down


    there while they are visiting. Just get some jobs for them to do. They would love


    that.¡±


    Mister Warner heard the groans before he hung up.

 Break Point

    Josie stood. She picked up her plate. She gestured for Jack to sit down in her place.


    He raised an eyebrow at her.


    ¡°You can eat with us,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Already ate,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to make some adjustments to our gate, and create


    a lock from the Hangar so the villagers can¡¯t just come through to here if they are


    running from someone on their end.¡±


    ¡°Can you make a room for Miss Russ?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°We¡¯re letting her stay out at


    the Hangar.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with that,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°I can do that after


    I put the lock on.¡±


    ¡°Are you okay?,¡± asked June. She frowned at her brother.


    ¡°Just a little tired,¡± said Jack. ¡°I gave out some powers and I hope that doesn¡¯t go


    wrong with Mister Warner in the middle of it. That reminds me I need to finish the


    tools for you kids. I think I have Bea¡¯s ring ready to go. I can get Alicia a magic


    arrow like Yondu. That will make archery a snap for you unless you want to go the


    Hawkeye route.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know those names,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Sit down, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Take a load off. I can handle this with Zee.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He took her seat. He didn¡¯t know why he was tired, but he had


    worked hard on the potions and powers he had handed out.


    Josie finished her plate, standing up. She took her plate into the kitchen and put it


    in the sink. She took some water from the pump and rinsed the plate off. The kids


    could wash the plate later.


    She walked back into the dining room. The kids were almost done with their dinners.


    She checked her watch. She had more than enough time to create a picture, or two.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t really follow Marvel, but I saw the Guardians of the


    Galaxy at the theater. And I know Hawkeye a little. I should be able to show you


    them, the Green Arrow, maybe Hank from the old D&D cartoon. Ready?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the Guardians of the Galaxy?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°What is a galaxy?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°The Guardians are an old adventuring party that travel through time that were set up


    in the current timeline,¡± said Jack. ¡°A galaxy is a network of stars that are grouped


    together. The Guardians try to keep the peace in the same section of space that they


    are based in, and defend that space from other galaxies.¡±


    ¡°This is the version of Yondu I am familiar with,¡± said Josie. She changed to Zatanna.


    She created an image of Michael Rooker in his alien makeup. An arrow flew around


    him.


    ¡°That looks like a version of what Mister Warner was using when we rescued Boim


    from her box,¡± said June.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t see the movies, did you?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I only liked the Doctor Strange ones,¡± said June.


    ¡°What are the other ones?,¡± said Alicia. ¡°This has no skill except from the mind.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Hawkeye, and Green Arrow.¡±


    Images of the two ace archers appeared to replace the alien. Arrows with the strange


    tips they used appeared in close up.


    ¡°These guys are shooters for their teams,¡± said Josie. ¡°They use special arrows to do


    things like netting people, setting fires, putting fires out, and knocking people out.¡±


    ¡°Show her Hank, Jo-jo,¡± said June.


    Josie let the images fade. She waved her hand to show Hank the Ranger, and his


    magic bow.


    ¡°This is Hank,¡± said Josie. ¡°He and his party was dragged across the line from his


    place to another place. The person responsible gave him an artifact that could shoot


    arrows of light that did different things that he needed done.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Number Two?,¡± asked Jack. He leaned back in his chair.


    ¡°I need to think for a few minutes,¡± said Alicia. ¡°This is a lot.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are other examples out there. Maybe you and


    Matilda can find something in her books that will spark something. Bea, if you would


    come with me, I will fix you up with Mister Warner¡¯s ring. Then I need to place the


    gates Jane needs to work.¡±


    ¡°Will I be able to fly on my own?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Sure, sure,¡± said Jack. He stood.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie. He looked too tired to do any more work. ¡°Maybe you should wait


    for tomorrow. You look out of it.¡±


    ¡°I can put it on the to do list,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll make the room for Miss Russ, and then we are going to


    get ready for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you ready for your eval, Juni?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said June.


    ¡°The other gate is to the village,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t go down there and scare Mister


    Warner. He might set you on fire.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said June. ¡°I am not completely incompetent.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    Josie let Zatanna go. She looked at her kids, her friends, and her guests. They had


    things to kick into gear. She could fix Boim¡¯s room up for her.


    ¡°Girls, could you clean up?,¡± she asked. She made a gesture at the table. ¡°Elaine,


    could you take Jack and put him down for the night. We¡¯ll need him for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. She grabbed her beloved by the hand. ¡°Come along. You can tell


    me about your adventure while I get ready for bed.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Jack. He handed Josie a rolled up sheaf of papers from his back pocket.


    ¡°Mister Warner¡¯s write up on the goblin chase.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll read it before I turn in. Go get some sleep while you can.


    The next few days are going to be busy as crap.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be ready,¡± said Jack. ¡°Remind me, and I will adjust your smart phone like I did


    mine and Mister Warner¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She wondered what he had done with his phone. ¡°Get some


    sleep. I think we can handle the rest of this.¡±


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you in the morning,¡± said Jack.


    Elaine pulled him into their room off the dining room and closed the door. She


    whispered in his ear. He nodded.


    ¡°All right, Juni and Boim,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s look at a guest space, and put down


    some blankets. If the spell is still working, the air should still be warm.¡±


    ¡°No problem, Jo-jo,¡± said June. ¡°I wonder if I will get to stay.¡±


    ¡°If you do, do you want to set up in your own space?,¡± said Josie. She led the way


    to the gate.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said June. ¡°The three guys I have don¡¯t lend themselves to building


    things like you guys have.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they will give you the Astro City watch once they are sure you won¡¯t magick


    up some monster and set it loose wherever you are working,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you really think so?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°Heck no,¡± said Josie. ¡°They probably don¡¯t want you to touch anything like that. I


    sure don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said June. ¡°I can handle it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Josie. ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°What are you implying?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she is implying anything,¡± said Boim. ¡°She just won¡¯t say it plainly to


    spare your feelings.¡±


    Josie smiled as she led the way to the Hangar. She made a note of the other gate.


    They might need to go down there at some time. The gate would make that so much


    easier.


    ¡°Where do you want your room set up, Miss Russ?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I would like it next to the gates in case I need to run one way, or the other,¡± said


    Boim. She gestured at the blank wall between the two doors.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She looked at the space. ¡°I think I can do that.¡±


    ¡°Could I turn this into my secret base?,¡± said June.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to pull down the Quinjet and house it here when we


    get the time. You are going to have to build your own flying machine.¡±


    ¡°Aww, Jo,¡± said June.


    ¡°I suggest you learn to ride a horse,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now let me concentrate and work


    this out.¡±


    Josie had a guy on the watch that should be better to move earth around than Zatanna.


    She selected Geomancer and hoped for the best. She smiled at her transformation.


    She reached out with her new power and felt the wall.


    She pulled out a cube of dirt from the wall. She expended the effort to keep the cube


    together. The block floated above the ground.


    ¡°Open the roof for me, Juni,¡± said Josie. She could get rid of the excess outside, then


    try to make the room livable.


    June rushed over and pulled the lever. The roof slid out of the way. The dirt flew


    through the opening when it was wide enough. Josie made sure the dirt spread out


    as it landed on the grass and trees outside the fear ring.


    Josie looked at the room. She reached out with her mind. The walls, roof, and floor


    hardened into something like concrete with a thought. She looked around at the space.


    It needed some light, lamps, for Boim.


    She needed to get blankets in case Boim got cold in her room.


    ¡°I can¡¯t put in windows since the Hangar is underground,¡± said Josie. ¡°The last thing


    we need is skylights. Let me get some blankets and a pillow for you. I can put some


    lights in for you.¡±


    ¡°This room is better than most of the places I have lived in the last few years,¡± said


    Boim. ¡°This will be fine.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She put on Zatanna and hung a light on the wall. The mana


    charger sped up the charging of her watch. She looked around. She thought about


    putting in a ready room there. She duplicated June¡¯s blankets and pillows and laid


    them out in a pallet. ¡°If you guys stay, we¡¯ll get you beds.¡±


    She let the persona go.


    ¡°Do you think the Society will allow that?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°You guys did find Boim faster than I thought you would.


    Maybe they will be impressed with that.¡±


    ¡°I sense a but coming,¡± said June.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°They may say that you didn¡¯t get the job done on your


    own because Mister Warner and Jack took back the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°I hope they decide tonight,¡± said June. ¡°I would like to know so I can make a plan.¡±


    ¡°I already told you that I would pay whatever you owed,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can make


    enough gold for that.¡±


    ¡°I have to fight,¡± said June. ¡°I can¡¯t back out now.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Hangar might become a secondary hub. We should have


    thought about an ice box, or some kind of break room.¡±


    ¡°We can raid the kitchen at will from here,¡± said June.


    ¡°If something comes through from the village, you are the first line of defense,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°You¡¯re responsible for that until you move out.¡±


    ¡°I can handle it,¡± said June with a grin.


    ¡°All right, ladies,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to read through Mister Warner¡¯s archive and


    see if there are any problems that he took care of that might still be ongoing. If you


    do go home, Juni, make sure to pack up what you want to bring back with you.


    Maybe Jack can get a computer to work, but without the Internet, it will only be good


    for personal files and such.¡±


    ¡°It will help me write up my quests since I don¡¯t have a casebook maker like you and


    Mister Warner,¡± said June.


    ¡°The Society might change their mind and give you someone with real power,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Someone from the Demon Slayers, or Sailor Moon, or maybe Inuyasha. I think


    they expect you to do a little better first. I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t appoint guardians to


    help a population under my protection.¡±


    ¡°I need someone who can do a piece of real magic so I can find the sources of the


    quests faster,¡± said June. ¡°If they use mangas as their guideline, I might get someone


    like Sayako, the overpowered psychic.¡±


    ¡°As long as Matilda is not exposed to any danger, whatever you get will be fine,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°And the three of us will be here to help you out if you need it. You¡¯re not


    going to be alone.¡±


    ¡°And I agreed to help you,¡± said Boim. ¡°My sisters can give us a small amount of


    resources if we can persuade them about the need.¡±


    ¡°So I am going to settle in for the night,¡± said Josie. ¡°Tomorrow, we work now that


    we have Jack back. The day after, we might hang out at the lake.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°We will be frying that night.¡±


    ¡°I will see you bright and early,¡± said Josie. ¡°Be ready to go.¡±


    ¡°We will be,¡± said June.


    ¡°Good night,¡± said Josie.


    She went back through the gate and into the living room. She paused as she tried to


    decide what to do next. She checked on the girls. They had cleaned things up.


    Beatrice was shepherding them through the night ritual of closing down. Aviras sat


    on the dining room table, watching everything.


    ¡°I am going upstairs to read,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are more than welcome to sit with me


    until I turn in.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the dragon. ¡°I don¡¯t sleep like this, so just being company will be


    fine.¡±


    ¡°What do you think about a mechanical sorting for the archives?,¡± Josie asked. ¡°We


    might have some repeat offenders in the paperwork.¡±


    ¡°I think it might be necessary, but some of the information, maybe most of the


    information, would be out of date,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I know, but everything helps out,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t know how Duke Hent fits


    in with things, and who above him we can use to accomplish what we want. I doubt


    the King wants me to keep writing letters to him about problems.¡±


    ¡°Eventually he might see you as a threat to the kingdom,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Where would


    we be then?¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get started after the kids go to bed. Maybe we will have


    a sorting machine for our archives tomorrow. Then all we will have to do is load


    reports in and let it sort the information.¡±


    ¡°It sounds out of place here,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It sounds out of place, but isn¡¯t as exotic as a castle flying through the sky,¡± said


    Aviras.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that we agree on that,¡± said Josie. ¡°The main problem with this is what


    happens to the stuff after we are gone? What happens to the girls?¡±


    ¡°They will be all right,¡± said Aviras. ¡°They are smart, and with Jack¡¯s gifts,


    dangerous. I will be here also until Matilda no longer needs me.¡±


    ¡°She could do worse for a companion and friend,¡± said Josie. She picked up the


    dragon and put him on her shoulder. ¡°You could do worse.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Dragons don¡¯t make many friends. It¡¯s not in our nature. I


    think Jack implanted a mind command when he put the curse on me.¡±


    ¡°I think you are seeing things from a new perspective and you like it other than the


    ups and downs of life that come with it,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s not easy being blue to


    paraphrase Kermit the Frog.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± said Aviras. ¡°What does a frog know about a cursed dragon¡¯s troubles?¡±


    Josie tried not to smile as they walked upstairs to the office. She looked at the stack


    of paper on the desk and placed the newest entry brought home by Jack beside it. She


    doubted she would get through all of it before she went to bed, but she didn¡¯t see any


    reason not to try.


    She glanced through the top of the stack. Mister Warner¡¯s archive read like an


    episode of Dragnet. She had seen episodes on Nick, and looking at the first few pages


    of his quest archive gave her the same feeling.


    ¡°This is the city, Hawk Ridge. An outpost of twenty thousand people surrounded by


    a wall of stone and bad intentions. In a place that size, monsters attack, people do the


    wrong thing, a hospital needs to be built. When a problem needs to be solved, I go to


    work,¡± said Josie in the dryest affection she could muster. ¡°I¡¯m Josie Fox. I carry a


    watch.¡±


    ¡°I take it that is from another of your shows,¡± said Aviras. He hoped down to the


    desk.


    ¡°Dragnet,¡± said Josie. She sat down at the desk. ¡°Mister Warner¡¯s paperwork


    reminded me of it.¡±


    ¡°Dragnet?,¡± said Aviras. He flipped open the goblin quest and started to read it.


    ¡°Jack and I and a couple of his sisters used to watch all these old shows,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Dragnet was one of them where two guys from the Watch go around and chase


    crimes, trying to solve them. Jack Webb had access to the archive for the Los Angeles


    Police Department, and they let him dramatize cases that made them look good


    with his own characters as the detectives. He was good for their image.¡±


    ¡°I take it they needed that,¡± said Aviras.


    Josie nodded as she started on the first quest.

 Seven Russes

    Seven Boim Russ met on a mountain top. They ignored the scenery. They were in a


    debate over what they should be doing. One wearing a Shemmarian uniform declared


    that the Russ staying with Jack and Josie should kill them and their kids and take


    what she could and bring their watches to Shemmaria for better use.


    She pointed out that only the champions of order could use the watches. It would not


    do any good for Shemmaria.


    Killing the champions of order would still do something good.


    The Shemmarian Russ didn¡¯t see the blue dragon looming above her. The other Russ


    moved away from the oncoming doom. She tried to turn around at the sight of the


    shadow on the ground. A giant paw wrapped around her and picked her up.


    ¡°Are you threatening Matilda?,¡± asked the dragon, holding the Russ in front of the


    blazing front of its maw. ¡°I would like confirmation before I bite your face off.¡±


    ¡°Aviras?,¡± said June¡¯s Russ. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill my sister. She wasn¡¯t thinking


    clearly.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Aviras. He slightly turned his gaze on the group of identical women


    and their different clothes. He exhaled a small bit of flame. ¡°Are you thinking clearly


    now?¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± said a little girl riding on top of the dragon¡¯s head. ¡°Aviras is really


    protective of me.¡±


    ¡°Should we do something?,¡± Jack asked Elaine. His arm was around her waist.


    ¡°I think Aviras would listen to you, or Josie,¡± said Elaine. She frowned at the scene.


    ¡°So these are the sisters.¡±


    ¡°Here is June and Mister Warner,¡± said Jack. He released her. ¡°Let me see what I can


    do before Josie gets here and decides we only need one of them.¡±


    Jack walked up to Aviras¡¯s leg. He slapped the leg a couple of times to get his


    attention. He looked up at his angry counselor.


    ¡°Hey, bro,¡± Jack said. ¡°Hold her away from you when you pull her head off so the


    blood doesn¡¯t fall on Matilda. Got that? Hold her away, then pop.¡±


    He demonstrated with his own hands.


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I was wondering if I should eat her.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you eat raw food? I thought you would cook her a


    little first.¡±


    ¡°Jack,¡± said the country wife Russ. ¡°Is this your protection?¡±


    ¡°Your sister apparently was advocating for the murder of my partner¡¯s youngest


    sister, along with my murder, and Josie¡¯s,¡± said Jack. ¡°The watches don¡¯t matter


    because they don¡¯t work for other people so stealing them means nothing, and the


    Society will just arm some other bozo to take care of things. Technically we might be


    talking about a violation of guest rights at the very least.¡±


    ¡°I would not do that,¡± said Houseguest Russ. ¡°Please don¡¯t kill Four. She is stupid


    and not good with people.¡±


    ¡°What do you say, Aviras?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you really want Josie to catch you going


    back on your parole. She will be a tiny bit upset.¡±


    Aviras focused all of his attention on Four. He exhaled another bit of flame. He


    nodded to himself before he dropped the woman to the ground.


    ¡°She will be even more upset that someone wants to kill her Ducklings,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°It will make being eaten by a dragon look merciful.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Jack,¡± said Houseguest Russ. ¡°Thank you, Aviras.¡±


    ¡°You have six identical sisters, Boim?,¡± said June. She frowned at the gathering.


    ¡°Septuplets,¡± said Mister Warner. He frowned at the women. ¡°Not unheard of, but


    strange.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± said Jack to Four. ¡°I don¡¯t want you doing anything that will get you


    set on fire before this meeting is over.¡±


    Josie joined the assemblage silently. She frowned at the scene. She crossed her arms


    for a moment of consideration before she decided to get answers about why one of


    the Russes had scorched hair, Mister Warner looked twenty years younger, and


    Aviras was a touch angrier than usual. Elaine would be the one to give the straightest


    answer in her opinion.


    ¡°What is going on, Elaine?,¡± asked Josie, attracting everyone¡¯s attention to her.


    ¡°Apparently one of the Russ sisters wanted the Russ staying with us to kill all of us


    and take your watches,¡± said Elaine. She gestured at the Russ on the ground. ¡°Aviras


    overheard the talk and decided that any threat to Matilda was not acceptable. We


    arrived just in time for Jack to say something to keep the bloodshed to a minimum.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a first,¡± said Josie. Jack grinned at her. ¡°Shemmarian. What is it about


    Shemmarians?¡±


    ¡°I told her I wouldn¡¯t do it,¡± said Houseguest Russ. She frowned at Josie. ¡°She is in


    the chain of command for their army. They are always looking for things they can use


    against other countries.¡±


    ¡°Like goblin trees, for example?,¡± asked Josie. She turned the full weight of her


    attention on the Shemmarian Russ.


    Josie heard she¡¯s making the face, and noted June pulled their Russ back out of the


    way with a hand on her shoulder. She just filed the motion because a small amount


    of murder was running through her mind.


    ¡°She¡¯s not with the Montrose,¡± Jack pointed out. ¡°She doesn¡¯t have the Makeover.¡±


    ¡°Neither did a lot of the soldiers we killed,¡± said Josie. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean she¡¯s not


    involved.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?,¡± said one of the Russ dressed in black with a small


    array of blades holstered on her person.


    ¡°Shemmaria kidnaped women from across the continent so they could experiment on


    them to create an army of monsters,¡± said Jack. ¡°We are trying to help some of them


    back to normalcy right now.¡±


    ¡°You were doing what?,¡± said Housewife Russ. ¡°What were you thinking?¡±


    ¡°Something happened to the operation,¡± said Four Russ. ¡°The capitol was attacked.


    Some silver bird in the sky told the entire capitol they had taken the source trees and


    the personnel and they would bring the people back eventually.¡±


    ¡°The Society wanted it shut down as a danger to humanity,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we shut


    it down.¡±


    ¡°You shut it down?,¡± said Four.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    ¡°We shut it down,¡± confirmed Jack. ¡°Your stupid operation would have unleashed a


    tide of almost unstoppable monsters on your own stupid country and killed your


    whole population and that of your closest neighbors, maybe the rest of the continent.


    So we were tasked with shutting it down, and we did.¡±


    ¡°This is the Lich Queen job I read about,¡± said June. ¡°The thing with the monster


    mushrooms.¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Shemmarians listened to some guy who wanted to destroy the


    country, and went along with it without thinking about what would happen if things


    got out of control.¡±


    ¡°How could you, Four?,¡± said one of the other Russes. ¡°You know better than this.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have anything to do with this,¡± said Four. ¡°I just know about the operation


    from the post briefings.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you,¡± said Ninja Russ. ¡°Try again without lying, or we let the dragon


    have you.¡±


    ¡°I like her,¡± Jack whispered to Elaine.


    ¡°Oh?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t hold a candle to you,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The Committee authorized several operations that I am aware of in my position,¡±


    said Four. ¡°That was just one of them.¡±


    ¡°We are getting distracted,¡± said Josie. She seemed to have decided that murder was


    off the table for now. ¡°The monster army was a scam, Four. Accept that and move on.


    We have your personnel. We are going to clean their infections out and return them


    now that we have a place to do that. I want you to understand something, and hold it


    dear to your heart. If something happens to my kids, or anyone I associate with, and


    I trace it back to Shemmaria, I will authorize Jack to burn your country to the ground.


    Every man, woman, and child will be reduced to a cinder. I am not your judge, I am


    your judgement. Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t mean that,¡± said Four.


    ¡°Am I understood?,¡± said Josie. She concentrated on the Shemmarian.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Four. She looked like she didn¡¯t want to say the word.


    ¡°Are we supposed to be meeting like this?,¡± asked one of the other Russes. She wore


    something like the tunic Elaine had worn to her first meeting, with another symbol


    on it. The color was a shade of gray.


    ¡°The Society called the meeting,¡± said Josie. ¡°They will be along in a minute. This


    is probably about June¡¯s evaluation for saving your sister.¡±


    ¡°Seven, what were you thinking?,¡± said the Housewife.


    ¡°Seven?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I am the last, the seventh,¡± said Boim. ¡°So Seven. I wasn¡¯t thinking about winding


    up in a box with some other person using my eyeballs because of the way they


    looked.¡±


    ¡°The question is what are the rest of you doing here?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°We talk across distance while we sleep,¡± said the priestess. ¡°We catch each other up


    on our days. Apparently some of us were hiding things from the rest, but that is


    something we shall have to work on outside of this conference.¡±


    ¡°You look younger, Mister Warner,¡± said June. ¡°Dyed your hair?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Jack came up with some kind of alchemy to smooth out


    the wrinkles.¡±


    ¡°I just came up with a standard healing potion,¡± said Jack. ¡°Yours just had a lot more


    healing in it.¡±


    ¡°Will I turn into a baby?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    A door opened in the air. Twelve figures in suits stepped through and took their seats


    on thrones that appeared when they arrived. Zu frowned at the assemblage as he


    settled.


    ¡°How do we start?,¡± said the center right leader of the Society. He tapped the arm of


    his giant stone chair.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the Russ sisters,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I don¡¯t think they have


    dealt with you yet, and they might like to see how you operate up close and personal.¡±


    ¡°Step forward, Russes,¡± said Zu. He gestured for the seven to approach his throne.


    ¡°How do I get started with you? Number Four, your adopted country is about to


    unleash an apocalypse on the world again. The books that you are putting together


    unlock things you don¡¯t want unlocked. I doubt that you will be able to deal with it,


    but quests will go out about this. I would look for a way to cut this research off in the


    future.


    ¡°Number One, Miles Counton is looking for you again. It is up to you how you want


    to handle things.


    ¡°Number Three, your friend is still alive. You have the means to find her right here.


    I think you know that now.


    ¡°Number Five, the rogue goblins were dealt with by Jack and Oliver. There are other


    things about. They aren¡¯t dangerous to you yet, but your position is becoming


    untenable.


    ¡°Number Two, your church will close down because of the misuse of funds. You will


    have to think of a way to keep your flock together.


    ¡°Number Six, there is no way to get a cure for your employer. He will die. You will


    be blamed.


    ¡°Number Seven, at the moment you are being considered as an auxiliary champion


    of order. How do you feel about accepting this position?¡±


    ¡°Say yes so I can move my big lunk of sister out of my house,¡± said Jack. His big


    lunk of a sister swatted him on the back of the head. ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°Josie and I talked about this possibility,¡± said Seven. ¡°What does this work entail?¡±


    ¡°You will be expected to carry out the quests we give to you, aid the provisional


    champion or any other champion to carry out their quests, and look out for the well


    being of others as well as you can,¡± said Center left.


    ¡°You have already shown some glimmerings of being able to take up the


    responsibility,¡± said Zu. ¡°And we would like for June to move north, nominally out


    of the shadow of her brother so he has to make an effort to interfere in her quests.¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Seven. She looked around. Her sisters looked aghast, but June and


    Jack grinned at her. Mister Warner frowned with a smoother face. Elaine smiled, and


    Matilda nodded from the top of Aviras¡¯s head. Josie stood with her mask of placidity


    on.


    ¡°The future is up to you, Russes,¡± said Zu. ¡°Think about it when you wake up.¡±


    The seven sisters vanished from the mountain top.


    ¡°Matilda Raylen, and Aviras,¡± said Zu. ¡°Come here.¡±


    Aviras took one giant step to approach the throne. He towered over it, but knew in


    this world of dreams he was oddly vulnerable.


    ¡°You both have carried out your responsibilities a little roughly, but they were done,¡±


    said Zu. ¡°You are also being considered as replacement champions. If that day comes,


    we will call on you for your decision.¡±


    ¡°We will be able to do magic?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°It will be considered,¡± said Zu. ¡°Try not to go overboard and build another


    Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°I will be ready,¡± said Matilda. She vanished.


    ¡°I also will be ready to assist Matilda,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Keep her out of trouble for next two decades,¡± said Center left. She smiled at the


    blue dragon.


    ¡°I will do what I can,¡± said Aviras. He vanished.


    ¡°Juniper Lee, it is your turn,¡± said Zu. ¡°Come forward.¡±


    June approached. There were a million questions on her face. She didn¡¯t know which


    one to ask first.


    ¡°You will be allowed to emigrate here, and allowed to settle quests from the north,¡±


    said Zu. ¡°It will be up to you how to handle the problems. We expect more discretion


    from you than your brother has shown. Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said June. ¡°I was wondering if you had something that would help me find the


    quests better. None of the bodies I have actually helps investigate things.¡±


    ¡°We will give you a sensor,¡± said Zu. ¡°We expect a certain amount of honesty in your


    dealings.¡±


    ¡°I have to get into the ring for this last fight, then I will be ready to come back and


    start working,¡± said June.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose,¡± said the hat guy. The sword man nodded from his chair.


    ¡°I will do what I can,¡± said June. She grinned at them.


    ¡°Hap?,¡± said Zu.


    The wrecked smith limped forward in his braces with one glowing crystal ball in a


    small box. He offered it to June, before stepping back with the empty container. She


    slotted it into her watch.


    ¡°We will do an evaluation every quarter,¡± said Center left. ¡°Your privilege can be


    revoked, so do your best.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said June. ¡°Thank you for the chance.¡±


    She woke up a second later with a fourth name on her watch.


    ¡°Oliver,¡± said Zu.


    ¡°I have to close down the shop and sell my things, before I can move here


    permanently,¡± said Warner. ¡°Then I plan to use the village in the south to do any


    quest I am given.¡±


    ¡°We understand,¡± said Zu. ¡°When you have made your arrangements, your first return


    quest will be given.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it will take me to break my lease, but as soon as I am done,


    I will be ready to operate,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°And we will be ready with problems that need to be solved,¡± said Center left.


    ¡°Elaine Numera, Josie Fox and Jack Lee,¡± said Zu, after Mister Warner returned to


    his new home. ¡°There were some bumps in the road as far as June¡¯s quest went, but


    for the most part you handled things well enough. I do have one question, Jack.¡±


    ¡°Shoot,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his boss, who didn¡¯t seem happy with him.


    ¡°Why did you hand out these powers and give Oliver an experimental youth potion?,¡±


    said Zu.


    ¡°They needed it,¡± said Jack. ¡°The villagers didn¡¯t have enough to survive without me


    providing for everything, so I made it where they could.¡±


    ¡°You made them your assistants, just as Josie has the Ducklings,¡± said Center left.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far,¡± said Jack. ¡°They¡¯re Mister Warner¡¯s assistants if you want


    to be technical about it.¡±


    ¡°I feel that I need to implement rules of engagement for you so you don¡¯t do things


    like this again,¡± said Zu.


    ¡°Just think of it as a possible pool of future candidates for my replacement,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°I will,¡± said Zu. ¡°Your new quests will be coming in the next few hours. Take June


    with you to do things before she goes home.¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°It was a pleasure to see you again.¡±


    They snapped back to reality.

 The North Coast

    Josie snapped awake. She pulled on her clothes and headed out in the hall. She found


    Aviras sitting in the office on the way down to get her coffee. She needed that to get


    ready for the day.


    He had a paw holding part of Warner¡¯s casebook open as he read the summary of the


    action taken. He looked up as she passed. He went back to reading.


    Josie wanted the next few minutes to herself. She needed it to partially plan out the


    day. The warning about the quests meant that she had to get things set up with Jane


    immediately before they were pulled away.


    She had a feeling they were about to get pulled back to Shemmaria again to deal with


    Four Russ about whatever she was doing. She didn¡¯t seem to understand that some


    things weren¡¯t meant to be played with by people.


    ¡°Miss Josie,¡± said Boim Russ. She stood in the kitchen door, wearing some of June¡¯s


    clothes to replace the rags she wore when they had rescued her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about my


    sister, but my other sisters asked for me to impose on you.¡±


    ¡°Which ones?,¡± asked Josie. She used Zatanna to make herself a cup of coffee.


    ¡°Three, Six, and Two,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°Not Four?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Boim. ¡°She cut us off. She cut me off at least. I don¡¯t think she liked that


    I refused to hurt anyone and then accepted being June¡¯s aid.¡±


    ¡°Family problems,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who knew? What do the other three want, and why


    should I help them?¡±


    ¡°Three wants to find her friend, Six wants to see if you can help her employer before


    he dies, and Two wants some way to keep her temple open, but she doesn¡¯t have


    control of how to do that,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°So they are taking Zu seriously?,¡± said Josie. She sipped her coffee.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the guest. ¡°And he implied that you or Jack could do something about


    their situations as well as interfere in whatever Four¡¯s government is doing. They


    want that help desperately.¡±


    ¡°We are going to get quests on that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are you sure you want to be


    involved against your sister?¡±


    ¡°I read the casebooks,¡± said Boim. ¡°I know what they were trying to do. We need to


    do something. Four will either have to stand aside, or change her mind. We can¡¯t let


    them complete anything that might endanger everyone because they want a weapon


    against the rest of the governments in the world.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with Six,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you know where she is?¡±


    ¡°She is living off the coast on the other side of Shemmaria,¡± said Boim. ¡°It¡¯s some


    kind of fishing village.¡±


    ¡°Can she read?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Boim. ¡°We all can.¡±


    ¡°Go upstairs to the office and get a piece of paper and a pen for me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    want to enjoy my cup of coffee before I have to do any more moving around.¡±


    ¡°Can you help her?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will look at her problem and see what I can do to


    mitigate anything bad for her.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Boim.


    She hurried away.


    Josie finished her cup, and made another one before Boim returned. She sipped the


    liquid as they went to the dining room. She put the cup down and took the paper from


    her guest.


    ¡°Aviras still angry?,¡± asked Josie. She sat down in her place at the head of the table.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Boim. ¡°But he didn¡¯t threaten to bite my face off, so we have a truce at


    the moment.¡±


    Josie nodded. She took the ink and quill and wrote a fairly short letter. She waited for


    the ink to dry before folding the paper together and writing Boim Russ on the outside.


    She turned into Zatanna long enough to send the letter on its way.


    She sipped her coffee as she waited. If they couldn¡¯t save the guy¡¯s life, she could


    send Jack down to find out what happened and fix that. He wasn¡¯t good at most


    mysteries, but he had a way of looking at things that he could use to just blast through


    any obstacle in his way.


    And the Enterprise would allow him to take Six if he wanted to, and she was innocent


    in his own mind.


    A letter appeared on the table. She picked it up and read it. She nodded.


    ¡°Your sister says her boss is lingering, and she doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with


    him,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we can get to him with the Enterprise, we can use the scanners


    to see if whatever he has is fixable.¡±


    ¡°Can you save his life?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can try. Let me talk to Aviras. Then we¡¯ll go out and


    look at things.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll go out?,¡± asked Boim. ¡°What about Jack?¡±


    ¡°Aviras will let him know we¡¯re doing things before we handle the rest of whatever


    we have to do,¡± said Josie. ¡°And we need to do this now before the quests against


    Shemmaria come in. We won¡¯t have time after that.¡±


    ¡°And her employer could die at any second,¡± said Boim. ¡°I understand. We need to


    operate faster than usual.¡±


    ¡°And Aviras might be able to keep Jack on track helping the Amazons,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They are going to need those gates, and something to get rid of the spines growing


    in them. Jack is a brain with those things.¡±


    ¡°I am ready,¡± said Boim. She stood.


    ¡°Think of it as a test run for keeping June from blowing things up in her face,¡± said


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.Josie. She finished her cup of coffee. She could miss breakfast for once. She hoped


    Aviras would take this in stride and not hold it against her.


    She headed upstairs to the office. The dragon looked up from his reading. She


    imagined him wearing glasses as he perused the pages.


    ¡°I am going to help Boim¡¯s sister with her sick boss,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re probably


    going to take the Enterprise. As soon as I figure out what to do, I will come back and


    we can start on the things for Jane. So I need you to pass the message along and help


    keep Jack on task.¡±


    ¡°Why must you always insist on the impossible?,¡± said Aviras. He made a gesture


    with his front paw. ¡°I will let him know that you went out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. She checked the model, marking the Russ she needed to


    find. ¡°I have a feeling we are going to get a quest to do something to Shemmaria. I


    think they won¡¯t stop looking for dangerous things until there is a change in their


    regime.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I didn¡¯t like that Boim¡¯s sister said to kill Matilda. I might


    have done something rash if not for Jack.¡±


    ¡°You stopped him from blowing up a country,¡± said Josie. She gave the dragon a rare


    smile. ¡°It was the least he could do.¡±


    ¡°Would you have blown up Shemmaria if they authorized murdering Matilda?,¡±


    asked Aviras.


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I think you are more ruthless than I first thought when we met,¡± said the dragon.


    ¡°I¡¯m probably even more ruthless than that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Luckily for you, you don¡¯t


    have any ears for me to rip off.¡±


    ¡°Thankfully,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I have to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will be back in time to help Jack with everything else.


    Then we can see what these new quests are when they come in.¡±


    ¡°I will be here and ready to deal with things,¡± said Aviras.


    Josie nodded. She checked the model one last time. Then she headed to her room to


    get her bag and poncho. She pulled them on before heading back downstairs.


    She found Boim eating a piece of bread with jam. June¡¯s assistant hurriedly finished


    the half of a sandwich when she saw her host coming down the stairs.


    ¡°Ready to go?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Boim. ¡°Six should be awake by now, but I think it is still dark where she


    is. We talked about the difference in time once.¡±


    ¡°It comes with the movement of the sun since that works the same here as back


    home,¡± said Josie. She triggered the button on her band to call the ship overhead.


    ¡°Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°Contact acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°This is Josie,¡± she said. ¡°Two of us to beam up. Boim Russ and I.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Josie had been worried that the machine would transport Jack instead of Boim and


    drop him on the pad while he was still asleep.


    She blinked as Transporter Room One snapped into focus around her. She nodded.


    Time to head up to the Bridge and get the bird moving.


    ¡°This is exactly the kind of thing Four¡¯s people want,¡± said Boim. She ran her hand


    along the wall as they headed to the elevator to the command deck.


    ¡°Why are they aggressive?,¡± said Josie. She waited for her companion to board the


    elevator before demanding to go to the Bridge. ¡°I don¡¯t see much need for it with the


    lack of transportation and communication technology.¡±


    ¡°Shemmaria is the youngest of the kingdoms and forged from three lesser kingdoms


    joining together into one,¡± said Boim. ¡°They established their borders to keep their


    people in and other countries¡¯ people out. And they have a history of trying to add


    more territory to their central mass.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something to worry about another day,¡± said Josie. ¡°We are going to deal with


    Six, maybe talk to the other two about their problems, then start putting the hospital


    staff together. When the quests come in, we will do those. I will try to spare your


    sister, but I can¡¯t make any promises if we have to stop this book thing.¡±


    ¡°She lied about the goblin tree army they were trying to build,¡± said Boim. ¡°We know


    when we are lying to each other, even if we don¡¯t know what the actual lie is. She was


    involved somehow in the planning, or execution of the thing. She was not supposed


    to be anywhere close to anything like that.¡±


    ¡°You think she set up everything we destroyed?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I would not be surprised if she did, or if she was in charge of supplies to the site,¡±


    said Boim.


    ¡°We will deal with that another day,¡± said Josie. She stepped on the bridge and went


    to the command chair. Her bird glared at her for coming aboard without using it. ¡°I


    have a guest I couldn¡¯t leave behind.¡±


    Boim waved at the bird as she took the counselor¡¯s seat. It made a cawing noise at her


    before settling back down to wait to be used by its creator.


    ¡°Enterprise, we are heading to the coast northeast of here,¡± said Josie. ¡°We are


    looking for Miss Russ¡¯s sister, Six. Can you find her with the scanners?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°This will take us to coast?,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°We are probably already there,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Enterprise can¡¯t go full speed this


    close to the planet. It would create a storm that would whip across the surface and do


    a lot of damage to the buildings below.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°The technology is imaginary, but it is based on the ability to surround the ship with


    a bubble of another universe that multiplies the speed of movement,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Everything inside the bubble remains normal, but anyone on the outside would see


    a streak of light if they saw it at all with the naked eye. Where we are in my world is


    nowhere close to anything like that. We are still using chemical burning rockets to


    leave the atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°Leave the atmosphere?,¡± said Boim. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The countries of my world have created agencies that regularly explore outside of


    our surface reach,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have visited most of the planets in our system, and


    sent what amounts to machines to send back images of what they are seeing outside


    the system.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Boim. ¡°It sounds fanciful to me.¡±


    ¡°First, it was imaginary,¡± said Josie. ¡°And then the responsible people made it with


    a lot of brain power and man hours of work.¡±


    ¡°All this?,¡± said Boim. She waved her hands to indicate the bridge.


    ¡°Imaginary, then Jack built it from your sister¡¯s zombie operation,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Four will love to hear that,¡± said Boim.


    The Enterprise quieted. Josie realized the hum had vanished during the talk. She


    looked at the pad on the command chair¡¯s arm. The script said the operation was over.


    ¡°Enterprise, can you show us Six¡¯s location?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The screen showed a cabin close to the edge of a


    cliff. A path led down to a cove with a narrow strip of beach. A town stuck out of the


    surrounding trees a few miles away. Another town stood further up the shore with


    docks for boats to head out in the ocean.


    ¡°Do you have any way to call your sister while you are awake?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Boim. ¡°We will have to go down and find out what is going on ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie. She stood. She had set her course. It was time to see where


    it led. ¡°I expect Jack to call to check in at the least. Tell him that we are carrying


    out a look and see. We will be back to the city as soon as possible. Remind him of


    the gates for the hospital and house, and we need the machine to help with the goblin


    tree victims. He and Elaine should get with Jane to organize things. Can do?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°We are going down, maintain station out of viewing range from the ground,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I will call if we need you.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Josie gestured for Boim to follow her down to the transporter room so they could


    teleport to the ground. She had an idea of what Six¡¯s problem was. She hoped it was


    an easy fix.


    They stepped on the pad, waited for the cloud of sparks to clear, started walking


    to the porch of the house. Boim used the knocker on the door to let her sister know


    they were there.


    The other Russ opened the door. She smiled when she saw her sister, frowned at


    Josie. Josie didn¡¯t mind. A lot of people frowned at her.


    ¡°What is going on, Six,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°Master Karney is sick, Seven,¡± said Six. ¡°Nothing I do helps him. The warning last


    night from whatever that was we saw is what made me think of asking for help.¡±


    ¡°Show us,¡± said Josie. She gestured for Six to lead the way. ¡°Maybe I can help him.¡±


    Seven nodded. She smiled.


    ¡°Josie is a miracle worker,¡± said Seven. ¡°Let us look at him.¡±


    The other Russ led them through a house of old things, up stairs to a small hall that


    led to a large bedroom. An older man lay in bed, coughing and moaning. Russ had put


    a cloth on his head to cool it down from the obvious fever he suffered.


    Josie thought maybe they had arrived in the nick of time as she reached for her watch.

 Beatrice, the Ring Bearer

    Jack woke up on time, his internal alarm telling him it was sunup. His head was on


    something soft but firm at the same time. He could hear the sound of a faint drum. He


    thought he could stay like this the rest of the day.


    ¡°You are going to have to move, Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I can¡¯t spend the day with you


    attached to my breasts.¡±


    ¡°We can try,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think that is a wonderful idea to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t set a bad example for your sister,¡± said Elaine. She touched his head, brushing


    his hair with her hand. ¡°We have work to do.¡±


    ¡°One day,¡± said Jack. ¡°We are going to shoo everyone out and not leave the bedroom


    until we are sick of looking at each other. That will never happen, because you are


    great to look at, and touch, and kiss.¡±


    ¡°Until that day comes, we have to untangle ourselves from each other, and do things


    like work,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Shall we get started?¡±


    ¡°The tangling is the best part,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It is for me too,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Give me a kiss, and then we have to get started.¡±


    Jack lifted his head. He was lower on the bed than she was. He lifted his body up and


    moved up in position to kiss her while she kissed back. They broke apart.


    ¡°I¡¯m not ready to deal with the others right now,¡± said Jack. He kissed her again, fast


    and light.


    ¡°We have to get to work,¡± said Elaine. ¡°And when we are done, we can do some more


    enjoyable things.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we should move up to the Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯d have plenty of space


    to ourselves to do things.¡±


    ¡°I think we would have to fight Josie for that,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Come on. I will give you


    one more kiss to buy your cooperation. Then we have to get started.¡±


    ¡°I am worth more than one,¡± said Jack. They kissed again.


    ¡°I will have to owe you the rest,¡± said Elaine. She slapped his butt. ¡°Let us be up and


    about.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. His face would have been called a pout if he was a child. ¡°I¡¯m


    going.¡±


    He moved so he could roll out of bed without causing Elaine problems and stood up.


    He dressed quietly in his jeans and Deadpool shirt. Cleaning the clothes before he


    went to bed seemed the best thing to do.


    He watched Elaine pull herself together. How had he been so lucky to meet this


    woman? He decided to put that thought aside. It would stroke Elaine¡¯s ego, but


    flattery would get you nowhere with her.


    Elaine smoothed out her hair and pinned it out of the way with a set of hair combs.


    She checked her appearance in the mirror Jack had placed on the wall. She nodded


    to herself.


    ¡°I am ready,¡± she declared. ¡°You look passable, but not quite ready to handle the


    day.¡±


    ¡°I just need some coffee, and I will be charged up enough to do the first few things


    we need to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°Part of that will be building a dial so we can go to Jane¡¯s


    headquarters or the hospital with our gate without anyone being able to use their gates


    to get back to here. Then I can start on looking at the machine the Amazons need to


    get things started.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°They will need a lot of help to move the sleepers from the


    lawn to the hospital. Getting that other building will be a big help.¡±


    ¡°Maybe Josie can do something to get the Exchange moving on that a bit faster,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we have for breakfast so we can cook before our stomachs on


    legs arrive.¡±


    ¡°I am ready,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at him.


    They exited the bedroom, and split apart. Jack went into the kitchen to make a cup of


    coffee for himself, and look at what was in the ice box he could cook for Josie¡¯s


    minions and his sister. Elaine went upstairs to the office to check her notes about the


    women Jane was holding and protecting.


    ¡°Josie has already started,¡± said Elaine when she came down with her notebook and


    pencil bag. ¡°Boim Russ, our Russ, asked Josie to help her sisters in need. So they


    took the Enterprise to see what they could do. Josie left Aviras with a list of


    reminders to give you.¡±


    ¡°So we have to work while she gets to sit back,¡± grumbled Jack. He smiled when he


    saw that he had enough ingredients to cook with for the horde. ¡°Typical.¡±


    ¡°She is helping the Russes,¡± said Elaine. She gave him a stealth hug as she started the


    fire to boil water for tea. ¡°I doubt that she is just gallivanting around on the Enterprise


    because they can.¡±


    ¡°I would,¡± said Jack. He took a breath. ¡°All right. They will have to get their own


    food if they don¡¯t get back in time for the feeding. That makes things easier for us.


    Let¡¯s get started.¡±


    Jack started work on breakfast, using his watch to switch around as he used the


    different personas to put together plates for everyone. He made enough extra to give


    June two plates. She was a big eater usually.


    They drank their tea and coffee as everyone else woke up and got ready for the day.


    They assembled at the table, with Aviras coming downstairs to take a spot at


    Matilda¡¯s elbow. June came in from the bathroom. She grinned at the Ducklings and


    her brother.


    ¡°Josie took off to help Boim Russ,¡± said Jack. ¡°So you guys are stuck with me until


    we get what we can done.¡±


    ¡°So we are going to be moving the sleepers off the House grounds?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°The first thing will be to check on the Amazons and make a machine, or a simple


    automaton that will remove the spines growing in them,¡± said Jack. ¡°Actually the first


    thing will be to build two gates for them to get across the city, and linking our gate


    to that without letting them able to get here while letting us visit either one of them


    at will.¡±


    ¡°We still have practice,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°And we will have to help Jane and Madam


    Harp.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget the quests are coming in according to the big boss,¡± said June. ¡°We


    might have to deal with Shemmarian Russ before the day is out.¡±


    ¡°I had forgot about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some of that we won¡¯t be able to do anything


    about until we get the Enterprise back.¡±


    ¡°So we do the best we can, and hope for the best,¡± said June.


    ¡°You ready for your fight?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said June. ¡°I even have the Society¡¯s approval.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I heard,¡± said Jack. ¡°I heard don¡¯t disappoint us, or else.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree with Jack, June,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The exact words were ¡®Don¡¯t lose.¡¯¡±


    ¡°I can take this muffler sniffer,¡± said June.


    Jack let his sister explain what a muffler sniffer was as he sat back in his chair. Their


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.conversation had carried them through the eating of breakfast. As soon as they were


    done, they would have to start moving.


    He decided that he could give Beatrice the ring and have her practice with it. She was


    smart enough to use it without blowing her head off. And there would be two


    Ducklings able to fly and carry the rest.


    ¡°Are you done, Bea?,¡± Jack asked. He had wolfed his own serving down like a


    starving man.


    ¡°Almost,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Do you think I could be an adventurer? Laura and I have


    been talking, and I am almost old enough to take the test for the license.¡±


    ¡°I still have a couple of years,¡± said Laura. ¡°Part of it is written, so having Matilda


    help us learn to read and write has been a big help.¡±


    ¡°Do you both want to go in that line of work?,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    ¡°I think we can do it, but we will both have to be apprenticed to someone after we get


    our licenses,¡± said Beatrice. She shrugged. ¡°I thought about asking Sir Harp for a


    recommendation for a teacher we can trust.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not my place to stand in your way,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you guys do get on a party, and


    need help, I will do whatever I can to stop anything bad from happening to you.¡±


    ¡°We should be calling you Uncle Jack,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Jack. June grinned at him. ¡°You¡¯re Josie¡¯s kids. If anything,


    you guys should be calling her mother. Come on, Beatrice. We should go out to the


    Hangar so you can practice before you go to class.¡±


    ¡°I would love to see that,¡± said June. She finished her extra serving. ¡°It might bring


    a tear to Jo-jo¡¯s eye.¡±


    Jack led Beatrice and June to the Hangar. He had no doubt that Elaine would get the


    girls to help her clear the table. Then they could really start on the day.


    ¡°This is Mister Warner¡¯s ring,¡± said Jack. ¡°Put it on, Bea. Then I will show you how


    to activate it, and work it.¡±


    Beatrice put the ring on her middle finger. She frowned at the emerald glowing in its


    gold setting.


    ¡°You might not want to point it at your face,¡± said Jack. ¡°It is a weapon capable of


    blowing your head off.¡±


    Beatrice jerked her hand out of line with her face at that. She glared at him. He


    grinned back at her.


    ¡°The original build for this worked on imagination and determination,¡± said Jack. He


    gestured for Beatrice to line up with the archery dummy June had constructed. He


    waved for his sister to get next to him so she wouldn¡¯t be caught up in any mistakes.


    ¡°This build works on voice commands,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°So I tell it what I want it to do?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might want to name it so no one knows you are talking to an


    object they can take off your hand if you get taken by surprise.¡±


    ¡°Show us what you got, Bea,¡± said June. ¡°This could be a Green Lantern ring.¡±


    ¡°It used to be a Green Lantern ring,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now it¡¯s more like Aladdin. I¡¯m sure


    Josie knows a bunch of guys that have the same thing going on. So you don¡¯t have


    to point it, just say something.¡±


    ¡°Ring,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I am going to name you Aladdin. Do you accept?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I rigged out a way for it to talk,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I hear it with my mind,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°It said designation accepted.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you got.¡±


    ¡°Aladdin, punch a hole through the target dummy,¡± said Beatrice.


    A small explosion of wood marked a phantom bullet passing through the target


    dummy¡¯s head. Jack walked over and stuck his finger in the hole. He backed up.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Jack said. ¡°You are going to make Alicia jealous.¡±


    ¡°You are a loon to give someone like me something like this,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I could


    kill someone by accident.¡±


    ¡°You could have killed someone by accident the way it was originally set up,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Now, you have to say the name of the target and what you want. I wish Josie


    was here to show you the Green Lantern in action.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said June. ¡°That¡¯s what I got from the big wigs. I need to experiment with


    it to see what I can do, but I think I can handle this if you want.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He stepped back. ¡°Show us what you got.¡±


    June dialed her new form. She became someone wrapped in robes of white with red


    lines at the cuffs of her sleeves and pants. She had a tall hat, and a staff that held a


    star on one end. She smiled as she took in her new, slender body.


    ¡°Sakura has a spell that changes with every transformation, cycling through what she


    holds,¡± said June. ¡°This is Kami. She is a ghost, but with a lot of control over the


    world around her. Everything has a spirit and she can use that to make magic


    happen.¡±


    ¡°So you can make spells?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Not like your Magik, or Josie¡¯s Zatanna,¡± said June. ¡°It¡¯s like that book with


    Maxwell¡¯s Demon. He can do a lot, but only in a small space.¡±


    ¡°Maxwell¡¯s Demon?,¡± asked Beatrice. She frowned at the both of them.


    ¡°It¡¯s imaginary,¡± said Jack.


    Beatrice gestured at his sister.


    ¡°Even more imaginary than that,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°You ready to


    demonstrate what you got, Juni?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said June. She pointed her staff at the ground. Parts of it separated and


    became a doll floating in the air. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to change colors yet, but imagine


    this little guy is wearing a green and black costume, with a green ring that makes a


    green light.¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°So the ring runs on imagination and will,¡± said June. ¡°Whatever the Green Lantern


    thinks about and imagine, he can create it with his determination to do the job.¡±


    The doll floated around, lifted up a piece of the ground with a giant hand, punched


    a hole next to Beatrice¡¯s shot with a green bolt.


    ¡°That was how the ring originally worked for Mister Warner, I assume,¡± said June.


    ¡°And the guy who found it, but he didn¡¯t seem to know how to fly with it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The changes Jack made makes you more like this guy, Beatrice,¡± said June. ¡°He¡¯s


    the hero of an old story who gained command of a djinn, lost it through the


    carelessness of his wife, and gained it back.¡±


    Another doll appeared. A whirl of dust followed as it walked along the grass. Beatrice


    saw the doll had a ring on its hand as it moved.


    ¡°You need a sandwich, you go get me a sandwich,¡± said June. The whirlwind left the


    second doll, ran over and grabbed a sandwich from another doll popped out of the


    ground. ¡°It just gets you the closest sandwich, whether it¡¯s right, or wrong. If you


    command it to carry you, it will, but remember always that it is mindless and if you


    tell it to drop you high in the air, it will. It only has loyalty to whomever holds the


    ring, and it doesn¡¯t think about anything but the quickest way to do something.¡±


    ¡°So if I said I needed some gold, it might rob someone down the street, a store, or


    even the Duke,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°You are a loon to give me something like this.¡±


    ¡°I think highly of you, Bea,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I and Elaine have kids, I want them to be


    as cool and level headed as you are. This is my way to try to make sure you do stay


    alive until I do have kids.¡±


    ¡°Ring, carry me home,¡± said Beatrice. Nothing happened. ¡°Aladdin, carry me home.¡±


    Beatrice floated a few inches off the ground. She flew across the grass at a walking


    pace. She said something else, and the ring sped up its carrying speed to lift her to the


    road so she could fly home.


    ¡°That was some good puppeteering,¡± said Jack. He gestured at the dolls waiting for


    their next command.


    ¡°I hope she doesn¡¯t kill herself,¡± said June. She let her new persona go. ¡°That was a


    bit weird.¡±


    ¡°So you think you can figure out how to do things with this new face?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It probably won¡¯t be able to get me another Enterprise, but I can do things,¡± said


    June. ¡°Just watch me.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go back and get started with the rest of this. When the


    quests come down, we can do those while we wait for your time to run out. Good luck


    on your fight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my last,¡± said June. ¡°I can come here and retire in peace and comfort.¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°You are just trading one job for another. And this one requires


    a lot more thinking.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I am glad that Boim is staying around and helping me out,¡± said June.


    The siblings crossed through the sunken pit that waited for its aircraft to come home.


    They went through the gate. The other girls had cleaned up their morning mess while


    they were gone. Elaine wiped her hands with a towel as she came out of the kitchen.


    ¡°Beatrice will be home soon enough unless she runs into trouble,¡± said Jack. ¡°How


    are the rest of you doing?¡±


    ¡°We are ready for practice, and to help with the hospital,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Aviras is still


    going through the Warner Archive upstairs.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll have to crisscross the city to hook the gates up. Once I do


    that, I can set up something to help with the spine things you guys were talking about.


    Then I can help move people across town with Gravity.¡±


    ¡°I will tell Sally that we will need any adventurers we can get to help with the nursing


    part,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It is going to be an organizational nightmare.¡±


    ¡°See if you can get Fass¡¯s Fighters to help with that part of things,¡± said Jack. ¡°He


    should know some people we can hoodwink into helping us.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll need a similar setting if we can get that other building from the Exchange,¡±


    said Elaine.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder how long it will take for Beatrice to get home, and


    should we wait on her. I think you guys can head over to the Hall while I start on the


    gates and the locks. Once you are done with practice, we can meet up at the House


    and try to figure out how to move things.¡±


    ¡°What do I do?,¡± asked June. ¡°I feel a little lost.¡±


    ¡°Go with the girls,¡± said Jack. ¡°Find out if the adventurers have maps of that city


    where we found Boim Russ. Since you are going to have to move up there when you


    come back from your fight, you might as well see what you can find out about it and


    how you can figure out the quests. Kami is a game changer as far as general spelling


    is concerned, but don¡¯t be afraid to use your other three bodies if you need to. I will


    come up and coach you on things when we get you set up.¡±


    ¡°You are going to coach me?,¡± asked June, a small mix of disbelief and scorn in her


    tone.


    ¡°I can get Josie to do it,¡± said Jack. ¡°She would love to throw baseballs at you while


    you run around.¡±


    ¡°I would like a gate for a quick escape if I need it,¡± said June.


    ¡°You are going to have to find a house first,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°You are liking this a bit too much,¡± said June.

 Attempted Murder

    Josie put on Doctor Occult and scanned Karney. She frowned at the flu that she


    picked up and the sea urchin poison drowning his lungs. She could do something


    about both of those.


    ¡°Does Karney have any enemies?,¡± asked Josie. She began pulling the poison out


    through his skin. His sweat redoubled, soaking the bed. ¡°You are going to have to


    burn the sheets when I am done.¡±


    ¡°He goes into town once a week to talk at the end of the day with the other old


    fishermen,¡± said Six Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t know if they consider him disposable, or not.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll come back to that in a minute,¡± said Josie. ¡°The first thing is he has the flu


    which I am burning up with the cure for his second ailment. The other thing I detected


    is he¡¯s been poisoned. Did you do that?¡±


    ¡°No!,¡± said Six. She looked at her sister and Josie in shock. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that.


    Master Karney has been kind to me since I came here. Killing him means I would


    have to move on. I like it here.¡±


    ¡°So someone poisoned him with a low dose at this usual talk at the local inn, or


    they put it in the food here in the house,¡± said Josie. ¡°They might have thought


    they could poison both of you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re immune,¡± said Seven. ¡°I think we¡¯re immune. I have been poisoned a few


    times and have never succumbed.¡±


    ¡°So if the poison is here, the poisoner didn¡¯t know about Six¡¯s immunity,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We have had several visits from messengers from other places,¡± said Six. ¡°They only


    stayed long enough for tea, and to wait on a reply before leaving.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get into that when we are sure Karney will live,¡± said Josie. She set the


    process to work by itself until the poison was cleared out, and released Doctor Occult.


    She would need other personas to find the answers she wanted. ¡°What do you want


    to do about this?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Six.


    ¡°Do you want me to find out who tried to kill him, or do you want to let it go?,¡± asked


    Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think my method is going to be accepted by any local court.¡±


    ¡°I would like to at least know,¡± said Six. ¡°I can handle any reprisal on the party


    responsible.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle that part,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the old man. It didn¡¯t matter how


    many enemies the old man had, she could find the right one with her magic. Her birds


    were good for that.


    ¡°So you can find whomever is responsible?,¡± asked Six.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wished that I had brought Jack. He just built healing elixirs.


    We could have used one of those to speed up Karney¡¯s recovery.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s your husband?,¡± asked Six.


    ¡°He¡¯s taken,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t want him to be my husband. But I have


    known him forever, and his sister too. I count on him to do things that need some


    puzzling out.¡±


    ¡°June and I are going to set up our adventuring in Rais, in Solsa,¡± said Seven. ¡°We


    won¡¯t be able to help as fast from there, but with a little planning we might be able


    to arrange some sort of rescue. You will have to buy time for us to get here.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this?,¡± said Six. ¡°You will be adventuring like Three.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t be adventuring that much,¡± said Seven. ¡°We will be helping people


    in need. June will need some practice with it, but I am sure she is good


    enough to solve things.¡±


    ¡°Jack and I will lend a hand when we can,¡± said Josie. ¡°Despite what Zu said, Jack


    is never going to just throw you to the wolves, and I won¡¯t either. You guys will just


    need to come up with your own methodology. Jack and I have a ton of stories we can


    use for inspiration floating around in our heads. June was always the sports girl,


    playing baseball and soccer, learning to fight, weightlifting. She didn¡¯t have much


    time for books and movies.¡±


    ¡°That hurts her how?,¡± asked Seven.


    ¡°This job requires a certain patience and expression of imagination,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m


    worried that June is just looking at the parts where she can hit something, and not the


    parts where she actually has to help people. You might have your work cut out for


    you being her assistant.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Seven. ¡°She would have helped Six¡¯s master, but only after some


    prodding and might not have considered he was poisoned.¡±


    ¡°It depends on what her new face does,¡± said Josie. ¡°Sakura is a grab bag, and the


    other two are physical fighters only. They couldn¡¯t detect for anything out of the


    ordinary, and I don¡¯t think June knows enough to recognize when someone has been


    poisoned.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Seven. ¡°She is bluff and straightforward like Hurley, and not as


    worldly wise as Gowan Hand.¡±


    ¡°And I don¡¯t think she is as ruthless as she sometimes will need to be here,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°The sheets are soaked through,¡± said Six.


    ¡°Let me do a check,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we will have move him off the bed, burn


    everything and put him back on the bed. If the poison soaked through to the mattress,


    we might have to get rid of it.¡±


    ¡°Burn everything?,¡± asked Six.


    ¡°There is a chance this poison will still be in the sheets and blankets after they are


    cleaned,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not an expert on that. I know you are immune, but what


    happens if he touches the sheet again and it puts him back where he is now. The next


    time, we might not be here to help you.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Six. ¡°All right. I can get him fresh sheets from the closet after we


    are done.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me check. Then I will put him on the floor. It¡¯s made out


    of wood so we can scrub it when we are done to prevent any accidents. You guys pull


    the bedclothes and throw them in the fireplace to be burned, or burn them outside to


    keep the fumes from coming back in the room. Then we put everything back together,


    and see if we can find who did it.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°It sounds easy enough,¡± said Six. ¡°We do have a firepit for trash. We use that when


    it is full. Do you think we might have to get rid of the mattress too?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised,¡± said Josie. She pulled on Doctor Occult again and did her


    check. The poison had almost fled Karney¡¯s body. The flu had burned up in the first


    few seconds of the treatment. She made sure she could speed up the rest without


    killing the old man by accident, and then she pulled the last of the poison out of his


    system. She put a timer in him to speed up his recovery, when he was back to normal,


    it would stop and his body would take up its normal healing ability. ¡°Does he have


    another nightshirt? Wait, do you guys have a tub?¡±


    ¡°We do have one,¡± said Six. ¡°It¡¯s outside.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to bathe him to make sure we cleared his skin of the poison,¡±


    said Josie. She frowned. ¡°I should have thought of that before we started.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Six. ¡°I can handle that part well enough.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead and fill the tub and start the firepit fire. As soon


    as that¡¯s done, I will move him downstairs.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Seven,¡± said Six. ¡°We will have to draw water from the well.¡±


    The twins left the room. Josie powered down as she thought about the situation. Who


    wanted to kill this guy?


    She knew she could find the source of the poison. She knew she could find the


    culprit. What did she do after that?


    She needed some kind of public confession to get Six in the clear. Otherwise, the


    town would think she did the deed. And just because one attempt failed, didn¡¯t mean


    the killer would stop. He would just try again when the maid couldn¡¯t call for help.


    Seven and her arrival on the scene couldn¡¯t have been foreseen. How did you plan for


    the Enterprise when a horse drawn wagon was the biggest means of transportation


    around?


    She considered the problem while she waited. Six probably wouldn¡¯t want to leave


    her boss to be a moving target. She definitely didn¡¯t want him to be hurt.


    Six returned after a few minutes.


    ¡°Seven has the fire going, and we have the tub full of water,¡± said Six. She pulled


    on gloves. ¡°We are ready for the rest of it.¡±


    ¡°Go back down and make sure he doesn¡¯t drown,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s going to need to


    be dunked. I¡¯ll get rid of the water afterwards.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Six. She hurried from the room.


    Josie did one last check with Doctor Occult. She switched to Zatanna. She hooked


    Karney to a firebird and sent him down to his bath. His nightshirt and bedclothes


    collapsed in an instant. She folded the bedclothes up, the nightshirt in the middle of


    the bundle, and hooked them to another firebird to send them down to the firepit to


    be burned up.


    She might have been able to separate the poison out from the cloth, but what if she


    missed some of it. This way it was neutralized without problems.


    The stuffed mattress was soaked through, and a shade of burgundy. She compressed


    it, hooked it to a firebird, and sent it to the pit. Karney would have to replace his


    bedding, but she felt that was a small price to pay for not dying.


    She walked out of the room. She headed downstairs. She wondered if Karney had


    retired with some money. He was living in the middle of nowhere. How much did he


    pay in upkeep of the house? How much was he paying Six?


    Maybe this was his summer home, and he flew back and forth to the south like a


    migrating bird.


    Josie decided that some of this wasn¡¯t her business. She didn¡¯t need to pry into Six¡¯s


    privacy any more than necessary.


    The Russes had the victim in the large tub, and was working on him with scrub pads.


    The water was purple. Josie needed another place to put him when they were done.


    ¡°Do you have another bed?,¡± Josie asked. She had turned off Zatanna to let her watch


    recharge. ¡°He¡¯s going to have to sleep the rest of this off.¡±


    ¡°We can put him in my bed,¡± said Six. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have as good a mattress, but it¡¯s


    safe.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Take him out and dry him off, and I will move him to your


    room. Then I will get rid of this poison water, and start looking for the source of the


    problem.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Six. ¡°We can lay him out on a towel, and make sure that we did all


    right.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to burn the towels too,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Six. She placed a towel down on the grass. ¡°Master Karney isn¡¯t


    going to like all of the expense of replacing everything.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better than being dead,¡± said Josie. ¡°Get him out, and I will hook him up.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Six. ¡°Seven?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said the other Russ. She flexed her gloved hands. They were stained too.


    The twins laid Karney out on the towel. They covered him with more towels and


    rubbed him down. Six took the top towels and threw them in the firepit when she was


    sure she had dried him off.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m putting him to bed.¡±


    Zatanna waved a firebird into existence. It flew into the house. Karney vanished


    in a second.


    ¡°He will be so embarrassed when I tell him about this,¡± said Six. She smiled.


    ¡°Go in and make sure he is laying down on his side in case he throws up,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want him to choke on his own vomit.¡±


    Six rushed off at that.


    ¡°Six speaks highly of Master Karney,¡± said Seven. She gathered everything together


    and threw it in the fire, her gloves last.


    ¡°Let me get rid of this poison water and we can move on to finding our attempted


    murderer unless sea urchin poisoning is a naturally occurring thing here,¡± said Josie.


    She concentrated and two extra tubs appeared. She called up two more firebirds and


    one drew all the water into one tub. The other drew all the poison and waste in the


    other. She moved the clear water out to the nearby ocean. She moved the poison into


    the fire and watched it go up in a small funnel of smoke.


    She became Northwind, and blew the smoke out over the water and away from the


    house and villages.


    She returned to Zatanna and made sure nothing remained in the firepit, and the tub


    was cleaned out before she let the persona go. It had been an easy fix so far.


    Hopefully, the rest would come just as easy.


    ¡°Why did Zu warn Six about this?,¡± asked Seven. She followed as Josie walked


    toward the house.


    ¡°Got me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can take a guess. The only way to know for sure is to ask him


    at the next meeting.¡±


    ¡°A guess would be okay,¡± said Seven. She waved her hand for Josie to go on.


    ¡°The Society seems big on keeping the peace and helping people,¡± said Josie. ¡°This


    is probably the first time they have had four guys working for them in a while. Mister


    Warner used to work alone, or with allies, but not with other people who were armed


    up like him. I¡¯m thinking they saw that your sisters had individual problems that


    could be solved, but didn¡¯t want to issue quests for it. So when they coopted your


    dream talking for their meeting, they decided to handle things in a way that your


    sisters could be helped but it doesn¡¯t look like they are buying your help for June.¡±


    ¡°Why not issue quests?,¡± asked Seven.


    ¡°My thought is they consider you important enough to ask as an auxiliary, but your


    sisters are not,¡± said Josie. She searched the house until she found the kitchen. ¡°Their


    problems, except for Number Four, don¡¯t seem big enough to shake the world.¡±


    ¡°And they have already acted against her in an oblique way,¡± said Seven.


    ¡°Not against her specifically,¡± said Josie. ¡°But an army of monsters with no controls


    would have been a major disaster at the source, much less if it had spread to other


    countries before it could be held down.¡±


    She examined the kitchen and thought Six put a lot of work into maintaining it with


    just her and Karney living in the house.


    ¡°Do you think these new quests will have something to do with her?,¡± asked Seven.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe the warning will be enough to get her to change


    her mind.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Seven. ¡°She has always been the most stubborn one of us.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if the old man was poisoned here, or if he took it somewhere else,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Then we can figure out how to expose this menace before he tries it again.¡±


    She called on Zatanna and sent a firebird to look for any signs of the poison in the


    house. She nodded when it went right away to the tea jar on the counter next to the


    sink. She popped open the lid and looked at the bags in the jar. They looked like tea,


    but that didn¡¯t mean anything.


    She sent the tea bags away. There would be some dead fish in the ocean, but the


    poison would separate in that much water and not be a threat to anyone else.


    ¡°So someone put poison tea in the jar,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go ask him why.¡±


    She sent out another firebird. It fled the house and headed for the fishing village


    below. She followed it with her eyes. She was in no hurry to stumble on her murderer


    and give him a chance to take her by surprise.


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk down and see where it landed,¡± said Josie.


    She let Zatanna go and they started from the house on the cliff.

 Gates for Jane

    Jack decided to head to Jane¡¯s House first. He needed a place to put the first gate.


    Then he could put the other gate at the hospital and hook everything up. Then he just


    needed to adjust the Hole in the Wall¡¯s gate to match the rest.


    Elaine and the kids were going to the Hall for practice. She could handle recruitment,


    sort June out, and direct people to the hospital. He expected her to call him once she


    had something lined up they could use.


    He checked on Aviras. The dragon was still reading the massive tome they had been


    given by Mister Warner. A talon marked his place as he read about old adventures


    when the former champion of order had been active.


    ¡°I¡¯m heading out,¡± said Jack. ¡°You want to come along?¡±


    ¡°I think I am going to finish my reading,¡± said the dragon. Sapphire eyes regarded


    Jack. ¡°Some of these things I had heard about second and third hand. It is interesting


    to see an account of what was going on by someone who was there.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know where I will be, but if something comes up and


    you need a hand, call me or Juni to straighten things out. I have no idea when Josie


    is going to be back with the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°I will be fine,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I am solitary by nature, and this is good for me. I do not


    like that we might have to deal with Shemmaria again, but I don¡¯t see any way to stop


    them other than a complete change of their government in some way.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll worry about that when the quests come down,¡± said Jack. ¡°Right now, we


    have to make a place for the people in storage on the Enterprise to be dropped so we


    don¡¯t lose them in case something happens to the ship. I¡¯m more worried about June


    trying to do what we do.¡±


    ¡°She will be fine,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Take care of your things. I will be here with the


    books.¡±


    Jack grinned as he turned away from his houseguest. Who knew you could make


    someone your friend by shrinking them and crushing their ego? Juni and Rose had


    done the same thing with bullies back home.


    Jack decided to use Makkari to cross town in an instant. It wasn¡¯t quite as fast as a


    teleport, but it was the next best thing. He appeared at the gate in front of the mansion


    he had handed over to the Amazons to get them started.


    He waited for the gate women to notice him silently. He didn¡¯t have to fight his way


    inside, and most of the original band knew him by sight at least.


    And he didn¡¯t have an embarrassing nickname like Ear Ripper to live down.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said the gate woman. ¡°Your woman said you might be coming around


    today.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to take the day off, but everybody says I can¡¯t lay around in bed all day,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I have to put in some gates for you guys, and think about some specialized


    surgical stuff for the hospital.¡±


    ¡°Come in,¡± said the gate woman. She opened the gate for him to enter the grounds.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where Jane is. She¡¯s been dealing with paperwork for the Duchy, and


    helping us get things together.¡±


    ¡°Let me look for Jane, and then I will have to visit the hospital,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I can


    get the tough part done today, the rest will be a breeze when I get to it.¡±


    ¡°I will be watching to see what happens,¡± said the gate woman. ¡°Jane has sent us


    through the checker, and it has shown us that we will have to work on ourselves


    before we can help anybody else.¡±


    ¡°Josie will make sure everything comes out fine,¡± said Jack. He walked toward the


    mansion. He pushed the button for Jane so he could talk to her on her band before he


    actually spotted her.


    ¡°Hello?,¡± asked Jane. She was working. She didn¡¯t have time for small talk with the


    people that were piling the work on.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Jane,¡± said Jack. He kept walking, ignoring anyone staring at him. ¡°I¡¯m here


    about the gates.¡±


    ¡°Come up to the side of the house where Josie¡¯s scanner stands,¡± said Jane. ¡°We can


    put it up there.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He cut the call and headed to the house. He spotted the machine


    standing out like a sore thumb. He nodded. The gate could go behind it and then he


    just needed to set up the other end.


    He paused at the wall. It was the same type of brick used all over the city. It had been


    painted white, but had a lot of dust covering it from the work the Amazons were


    doing.


    What did he need for the gate? He needed inscripted iron in a ring set in the brick.


    Where did he get it? He saw one of the bushes was gone. Maybe he could use the


    other one for his purposes.


    He nodded as his thoughts lined up with what he thought he needed. He could pull


    it out with the transformation. Then he could sink it into the brick. Then he could


    power it up with the spell he needed.


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± said Jane. She appeared in the side the door of the mansion.


    She frowned as she studied him.


    ¡°This is an easy job for me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will have to put the other end up at the


    hospital so you can go back and forth. Are you ready to take up this responsibility?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes I regret taking your hand,¡± said Jane. ¡°You ask for a lot for the little you


    did.¡±


    ¡°I saved the city,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°That means you saved the city by proxy.


    It¡¯s something you should be proud of. You should have it on the outside wall.


    WE SAVED THE CITY BY PROXY in a metal plaque would be a good decoration.¡±


    ¡°That and a copper won¡¯t get me a mug of beer at the local tavern,¡± said Jane.


    Jack smiled at that.


    ¡°I know that we are asking a lot, and are asking you to be our assistants, and are


    asking you to look out for a city that doesn¡¯t know what you did, and how great you


    are,¡± said Jack. ¡°But if we could get a million more of me, we wouldn¡¯t need you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Josie would want that many of you around,¡± said Jane. ¡°I don¡¯t think


    Elaine would want that many of you around.¡±


    ¡°I am pretty awesome,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°If you say so,¡± said Jane. ¡°Do you need me?¡±


    ¡°I think you should know where the door to your installation is so you can show


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.others and spread the word,¡± said Jack. ¡°More jobs are coming down and we have


    to get what we can done before we have to put things on pause.¡±


    ¡°How bad will it be?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. He smiled at her. ¡°Any way, Josie is out of town on


    something else, so the jobs will get done as soon as she gets back.¡±


    ¡°That makes me feel better,¡± said Jane. She waved at him. ¡°Let¡¯s get this done. I have


    a million things I have to look at before the day is done.¡±


    ¡°First,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to sacrifice your bush.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said Jane.


    Jack became Magik. He grabbed the top of the bush next to the crater in the ground.


    He pulled and it changed shape in his hand. He placed that against the wall and


    pushed. The metal sank into the brick with a spinning motion. It glowed as it


    activated. Jack let the persona go after a quick inspection to make sure the gate would


    work when he had the other end online.


    ¡°I need to set up the other end,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come on. We¡¯ll fly over and look at the


    spot we need.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean fly?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°Fly like we did when you got to town,¡± said Jack. He turned into Gravity and pulled


    them both in the air. He set course upwards so he could see the city from above.


    ¡°Which way to the hospital?¡±


    ¡°That way,¡± said Jane. She pointed in the direction they needed to go. ¡°I really hate


    this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. He grinned as he pulled them through the air. ¡°I haven¡¯t


    dropped anyone accidentally ever. My safety record is great.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you,¡± said Jane. She pointed again. ¡°You see that gleaming white


    building? That¡¯s the hospital.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Jack. He increased their speed until he was sure he was close enough


    to start slowing down. He brought them down gently to a landing outside the front


    door. A stout metal and brick sign said that this was JANE¡¯S HOSPITAL.


    ¡°Josie insisted on that,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°People will see this as a landmark,¡± said Jack. He let Gravity go. ¡°Let¡¯s see where


    we can put the gate, and make sure it works. Then I have to work on your machine


    so you can get started cycling people through here.¡±


    ¡°We should put the gate in the center of the building,¡± said Jane. ¡°That way we can


    just spread out to our duties from there.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°Where do you want the machine?¡±


    ¡°We should have it in a work area close to the Operations and Emergency area,¡± said


    Jane. ¡°We roll them out of the gate, through the machine, then to their rooms to be


    monitored and checked on until they can leave, if they can ever leave.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Show me around. It looks nice enough


    from the lobby.¡±


    ¡°Josie did all this with her birds,¡± said Jane. ¡°It was a dismal looking place before


    she got started. Follow me down to the Operation Rooms. I have to stop in and see


    if we got any food to feed the people we¡¯re going to have work here. I¡¯m proud they


    all volunteered.¡±


    ¡°People will think this is a magical place,¡± said Jack. ¡°You will have people from all


    over trying to get their ills fixed.¡±


    ¡°If the Crown takes an interest, there could be problems,¡± said Jane. ¡°The King could


    see this as something valuable to the kingdom, and cut the commoners out.¡±


    ¡°He can try,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°He might wind up pushed down a flight of stairs


    if he does.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Jane. ¡°We might need another house if things expand.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your call,¡± said Jack. ¡°The main problem here is communication technology. I


    doubt I am supposed to be handing out com bands to everyone I am attached to so I


    can call them to see what they are doing. The Society thinks I am doing too much at


    the moment.¡±


    Jane waved her arms at the building above them as they walked across the lobby.


    ¡°You know what I mean,¡± said Jack. He smiled at a familiar face hanging on the wall.


    ¡°Nice Doctor Strange. I mean I think they are letting me get away with it because


    you are helping us, and are by default Josie¡¯s assistants and minions. I don¡¯t think


    they want me to set up a stall at the market and just hand them out to the people.¡±


    ¡°It would change a lot of the ways things are done,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how the Society likes to do their business,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Do what we tell you and don¡¯t make a fuss?,¡± asked Jane. She smiled at him. The


    two champions she had dealt were the opposite of that from what she had seen.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°We need the gate here,¡± said Jane. ¡°The elevator is behind us, the Operations and


    Emergency section is ahead of us. The Cafeteria and kitchen for the residents, the


    offices and archives are to our left.¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Jack. He measured things with his eyes. ¡°We¡¯re going to need


    a marked out place so people don¡¯t stand close in front of it when it opens.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°How far out should people walk around it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I should have brought something to transform into the


    gate. Let¡¯s see if the kitchen has something we can use. Then we can set the gate up


    and test it.¡±


    They walked into the cafeteria. Tables and booths had been put in so people could


    enjoy a small meal while working or visiting patients. A small kitchen staff worked


    behind a counter at the back of the room in a second section devoted to cooking.


    ¡°Hello, Ellen,¡± said Jane. ¡°How goes things?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a mess, Jane dear,¡± said Ellen. She looked like she had been heavy at one point,


    been starved thin, and was slowly gaining the weight back. ¡°We should be ready to


    start when the place is open.¡±


    ¡°Ellen,¡± said Jane. She indicated Jack with a hand move. ¡°This is Jack, Josie¡¯s


    minion. He is putting in the portable doors for us. Do you need him to do something


    for you while he is here.¡±


    ¡°I am not a minion,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m Josie¡¯s boss.¡±


    ¡°Does she know that?,¡± asked Ellen. She smiled at him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°That is besides the point. I can put in a cold


    storage for you to store stuff longer from the market.¡±


    ¡°We have one of those,¡± said Ellen. ¡°It¡¯s great.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°How did she overcome the lack of electricity to run it?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Ellen. ¡°But it is icy cold.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for that,¡± said Jack. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have a spoon or


    something weighing about ten pounds that you don¡¯t want back?¡±


    ¡°We have some spare pans we can give you,¡± said Ellen. ¡°Wait here.¡±


    She bustled off and came back with a sturdy iron pan. She handed it over with a


    smile.


    ¡°What are you going to do with that?,¡± she asked with a gesture at the pan.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to use it to form a gate so you guys don¡¯t have to walk across town from


    the House,¡± said Jack. ¡°Once I test it, you will be able to get back and forth that much


    easier with fewer problems.¡±


    ¡°That sounds lovely,¡± said Ellen. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just part of the job,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    He waved at her before heading out of the cafeteria and back to the spot Jane had


    designated. He thought he had enough iron for the job in hand.


    He pulled on Magik again. He grabbed the pan with both hands, one on the handle,


    the other on the opposite side rim. He pulled the metal out of shape, expanding it into


    a ring. He pushed the ring into the wall and spun it to life.


    He didn¡¯t have anything to form into a lock for it. He could probably use a coin if he


    wanted. He let Magik go so he could think about what he had in his pockets. He could


    use something to form a pad to keep people from just stepping through the gate


    anytime they wanted.


    He still had his wallet. He took it out. He smiled. He still had some bills, his license,


    and his bank card. He doubted any of that would be useful where he was now, but he


    might need it when he went back home. He decided the five could be useful at the


    moment.


    That would be the cost of the pad.


    He placed the five on the ground, turned into Magik, picked the five up. He twisted


    it in his hand to form the activation button for the gate and placed it in the wall.


    He formed a thread between the two of them.


    ¡°So push eight one one to go back to the house,¡± said Jack. He let the persona go.


    ¡°Then push that on that end to get here. Push nine nine nine to lock the system up to


    keep people from using it.¡±


    ¡°So the machine for the growths?,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I will do it next,¡± said Jack. He punched in the number and the gate activated. He


    stepped through to the house grounds. He pulled a few leaves from some of the


    nearby bushes and used Magik to turn them into another key pad next to the original


    gate. He cut a line the right distance from the gate before stepping back to the


    hospital. He drew a line in the floor there and marked the section as a danger.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now we can look at where you want to put the machine.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk down to the Operations area,¡± said Jane. ¡°We can put the thing there


    since it is only going to be used for taking the growths out, and we don¡¯t know how


    serious that will be. Some of the nurses might be down before we can get the real


    reason we set this place up going.¡±


    ¡°I am not going to build something that will rip their spines out of them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We need something that will be painless but fast,¡± said Jane. ¡°And we can¡¯t have


    a lot of afterwards either.¡±


    ¡°I might have to look at one of the women with the spines,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe I can


    cure this with an elixir instead of technobabble.¡±


    ¡°I think I would prefer that too,¡± said Jane. ¡°And Massa should be here organizing


    things. We can talk to her first.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that,¡± said Jack.

 Life on the Ocean

    Josie and Seven Russ walked along the path. They remained silent. Seven peered at


    the town, sorting things with her eyes. Josie had her eye on the firebird moving from


    one roof to another, leading them to an end goal.


    They reached the lower fishing village. They were strangers, but Seven looked


    enough like her sister that people waved at her as they passed. Her clothes, one of


    June¡¯s shirts and sweat pants, drew looks, but no one approached to say anything to


    her about it.


    Josie wore her poncho and jeans and was close enough to normal that she didn¡¯t draw


    looks for that. She was a stranger and that was enough to be suspicious.


    She thought someone should be asking her questions about why she was in town.


    She put it down to no one wanted to interfere in what they thought of as their Russ


    and what she was doing.


    ¡°It looks like we¡¯re heading for the tavern over there,¡± said Russ. She nodded at the


    building bordering the piers where the fishing boats were moored.


    ¡°They must have some good fish cooking,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder what the chowder


    is like here.¡±


    ¡°Probably poisonous,¡± said Seven.


    ¡°Good one,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the tavern¡¯s door. ¡°The bird seems to be


    waiting on us to go inside. Let¡¯s go in and see who it picks out. Then I can ask some


    questions. It should be a snap to prove the poisoner did the deed.¡±


    ¡°Have you done anything like this before?,¡± asked Seven.


    ¡°I made someone admit to framing a princess for a crime she didn¡¯t do,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I got her a duchy since I couldn¡¯t get her the princess slot back.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Seven.


    ¡°Lori might be at Jack¡¯s wedding if he lives that long,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can meet her


    then.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t met a princess before,¡± admitted Seven.


    ¡°They put their dress on the same way as everyone else,¡± said Josie. She pushed


    the tavern door open. ¡°They just have more helpers with it usually.¡±


    ¡°Boim Russ?,¡± said one of the slim waitresses working the room. ¡°What brings you


    by without Old Karney?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Seven. ¡°I¡¯m Boim¡¯s sister, Seven. This is Josie Fox, my new


    employer¡¯s manager.¡±


    ¡°How do you do?,¡± said Josie. She examined the room with what could be stern eyes.


    ¡°Boim is up at the house. Master Karney is sick. We came down to look around while


    she tried to get dinner together. We arrived out of the blue, so to speak.¡±


    The firebird flew into the room and settled on a man sitting with a group of others.


    They were all older, looked weather worn, and had been talking about Boim Russ


    until they realized they were talking about the wrong Russ.


    Josie smiled as she approached the table. She had her hands under her poncho. She


    regarded the bird as it hopped on the man¡¯s head. She pulled an empty chair up to the


    table and sat down.


    The firebird vanished as the spell acknowledged she knew which one had put the


    poison tea in the jar in Karney¡¯s kitchen. She wondered idly when he did it.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± Josie said. ¡°I see you guys are playing cards. How does the game


    work?¡±


    Russ talked to the waitress. She didn¡¯t know if they were eating, or just getting a


    drink. She asked the waitress to wait. They might not be eating or drinking anything


    for a bit.


    ¡°Why are you butting into our business?,¡± asked one of the old men, not the poisoner,


    but just cranky and devoid of charm.


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of my job,¡± said Josie. She leaned over to look at the hand of cards in her


    neighbor¡¯s hand. He pulled the cards close to his chest so she couldn¡¯t see what he


    had. ¡°You know how it is.¡±


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t,¡± said the poisoner. He put his cards face down on the table. He looked


    at his friends for support. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s part of the job,¡± said Josie. ¡°You see I work for the Robert Reed Appreciation


    Society. They have tasked me with doing away with monsters and villains. So to


    do that, I have to make sure I don¡¯t kill the wrong people. You know how that is.


    They make you fill out all these forms like a tax auditor wanting to know how


    much fish you bring in every day if you kill the wrong guy. Now the problem I have


    here is that one of you poisoned old man Karney with some kind of sea urchin and


    I have to figure out which one of you did it, and then punish that person.¡±


    Josie smiled at them.


    ¡°So you can see that I have to ask questions, so I don¡¯t kill the wrong guy,¡± she said.


    ¡°So does the guilty one of you want to admit they did it so I can move on with my


    day, maybe give out some leniency? Or do I have to burn your boats and hope that


    one of you cracks to save the others?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?,¡± asked another of the men at the table.


    ¡°Karney was poisoned,¡± said Josie. ¡°The only people he talked to was you people


    here at the tavern. One of you poisoned him. All I need is an admission of guilt. Then


    I do my job, and the rest of you go on with your lives unless I have to come back here


    over some other problem.


    ¡°Sea urchins aren¡¯t in the waters around here,¡± said Josie¡¯s neighbor. ¡°You have to


    go south of here to get one of those, unless it¡¯s some kind of ingredient like for an


    alchemist.¡±


    ¡°How would you know that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Been fishing these waters for longer than you have been alive,¡± said the man. ¡°Never


    seen a sea urchin. I caught a needle fish once which is close, but I got rid of it before


    it could poison my catch of the day.¡±


    ¡°Do they do that?,¡± asked Josie. Her suspect had broken in a sweat. He wanted to


    jump and run, but he didn¡¯t have an excuse to run out of the room.


    ¡°Needle fish will poison your whole load,¡± said one of the others. ¡°Little Micky lost


    a whole catch because he had two of them in his net.¡±


    ¡°Almost poisoned the whole town,¡± said the cranky talker. ¡°I remembered that. A lot


    of people were sick, and we lost Gilles, but it was pure luck no one else died.¡±


    ¡°Micky killed himself,¡± said Josie¡¯s other neighbor. ¡°He hung himself in his catch


    stall.¡±


    ¡°Hugh got his boat,¡± said the cranky talker. He indicated the sweating fisherman. ¡°We


    thought it was bad luck, but he has done well with it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Hugh. ¡°I have had it for years.¡±


    ¡°So none of you has a reason to kill Karney?,¡± said Josie. She leaned back in her


    chair.


    ¡°Everyone has a reason,¡± said the cranky talker. ¡°I don¡¯t think any of us would


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.poison him. I can still swing a hook.¡±


    Josie would love to let June come in here and throw some punches. That was her


    thing. She just wasn¡¯t as scary to people who didn¡¯t know her.


    The people who did know her knew she was capable of things most people wouldn¡¯t


    do to accomplish some goal.


    ¡°So Hugh got Little Micky¡¯s boat,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who got the rest of his stuff?¡±


    ¡°Most of us split it,¡± said the cranky talker. ¡°I got some of his nets, Kell got the


    other part of his nets, Bord got some of his sails, Cranew got his stall to pack his


    catch, and Karney got a ring.¡±


    ¡°A ring?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Cranew, Josie¡¯s right hand neighbor. ¡°It was a simple thing of gold. It


    was the only thing he wanted. He said he didn¡¯t need the gear since he was getting


    ready to leave the sea.¡±


    ¡°And he did leave,¡± said Kell, the left hand neighbor. ¡°We always wondered how he


    hired Boim to be his maid.¡±


    ¡°She works for room and board,¡± said Seven. ¡°We¡¯ve talked about it before. She told


    me that Master Karney suffered something at sea and decided not to sail any more.


    She wondered why he didn¡¯t move from the coast, but is too afraid to ask.¡±


    ¡°Where could he live?,¡± asked the cranky talker. ¡°He might have money saved up, but


    he gets a lot here just on credit. He takes to the sea and comes back enough to pay


    that credit down, but he doesn¡¯t really fish any more.¡±


    ¡°And starting over in another place is hard enough,¡± said Kell. ¡°What would he do


    if he ran out of a way to pay for his food and shelter?¡±


    ¡°And his age might be a factor,¡± said Josie. ¡°Starting over as a farmer is a young


    man¡¯s game.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Bord, the man between Hugh and the cranky spokesman of the group.


    ¡°Karney would be a poor farmer compared to the good sailor that he was.¡±


    ¡°So none of us had a reason to kill Karney,¡± said the cranky talker. ¡°Do you mind


    moving off?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I already know who and how,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I had to think


    about a motive, I would say it was about the ring.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said the men at the table.


    ¡°Seven, get us some beer, water for me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need it to wet my whistle.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Seven. ¡°Do not kill the murderer before I get back.¡±


    Josie waved her off. She smiled, but her eyes had taken on the look of a cat about


    to pounce. She pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her messenger bag and


    put them on the table.


    ¡°A mystery is a type of story where a crime is committed and the hero of the story


    tries to figure out what happened,¡± said Josie. ¡°They fall into a lot of types: the fair


    play, the locked room, the procedural, the whodunnit, the howdunnit, the reverse


    whodunnit.¡±


    ¡°The reverse whodunnit?,¡± said the cranky guy. ¡°What is that? What is any of that?¡±


    ¡°They are types of mysteries,¡± said Josie. ¡°The reverse is where the audience knows


    who did the crime, and watches him try to evade the Watch. My favorite stories were


    Columbo and how he would harass the murderer until they gave him enough evidence


    to take them to jail. Now here we have a standard procedural which is basically the


    Watch collects facts and assembles enough to pick the suspect out of a line up of


    similar suspects.¡±


    She wrote the crime down on her sheet of paper.


    ¡°What we have is attempted poisoning,¡± said Josie. ¡°The maid didn¡¯t know what she


    was dealing with when we arrived, but I had an elixir to fix the problem for the


    moment. Karney is sleeping it off.¡±


    ¡°Now I have a group of suspects,¡± said Josie. She wrote their names down on the


    paper next to the crime. ¡°Anybody in town could have poisoned Karney, but you


    people were the only ones he talked to regularly according to the maid, and you


    are all fishermen, and know what sea urchin, or its relative needle fish, can do.¡±


    ¡°There are other fishermen,¡± said Hugh. ¡°Karney knew all of us at one point, or the


    other.¡±


    ¡°How many gave him gifts?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°That¡¯s where the poison was.¡±


    The men turned their gaze on Hugh. He tried to put on his poker face. Sweat betrayed


    him again.


    ¡°So I come into town to see what I see, and I find you guys are at your table, with an


    empty space for Karney,¡± said Josie. ¡°It suggests that he came down to talk and play


    cards with you regularly. Talking to you reveals that one of you had possession of a


    source of the poison that no one else knew about.¡±


    ¡°Little Mickey¡¯s boat,¡± said Cranew. He frowned at Hugh. ¡°Needle fish poison can


    sink into wood if a barb gets stuck.¡±


    ¡°That was years ago,¡± said Kell. ¡°A barb wouldn¡¯t still be potent, would it?¡±


    ¡°Is the ring the motive, Hugh?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°It¡¯s the only thing I am not sure about.


    I doubt the maid wanted to leave the house for you, and I don¡¯t see anything in it


    for you to get the maid, or the house.¡±


    Seven returned with the drinks. She put each cup of beer down in front of the men,


    and the water in front of Josie. She stepped back with the serving tray under her arm.


    ¡°I found something on the boat,¡± said Hugh. ¡°I asked Karney for the ring to test what


    I had found. He tried to extort me for half of whatever was there. I turned him down.


    Why would I give him half of what could be a fortune?¡±


    ¡°So you decided to poison him and get the ring that way,¡± said Josie. She sipped her


    water. ¡°What if he had left it to his maid? Were you going to kill her too?¡±


    ¡°I was going to ask her to give me the ring for a paltry sum,¡± said Hugh. ¡°Then open


    the vault that I had found.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go see this vault,¡± said Josie. She stood. ¡°You¡¯re not going to need it where


    you¡¯re going.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t have it,¡± said Hugh. He jumped up and reached for the knife hanging


    at his belt. The edge of the serving tray hit him in the face, staggering him. Then an


    angry Josie started beating his face with the heavy cup. The water flew as she


    hammered him to the floor.


    The fishermen had stood at the first sign of violence. They paused as Josie


    straightened and pulled her clothes back to neatness. Some blood covered her hands


    from the impacts.


    ¡°Good throw with the tray,¡± said Josie. ¡°Captain America would have been proud.¡±


    ¡°I see that June was right,¡± said Seven. ¡°You are a woman that would push another


    woman down a flight of stairs.¡±


    ¡°How did he get the poison?,¡± asked Cranew. ¡°The fact that he as much admitted to


    the crime, there is no question that he did it. The only question is how did he get the


    poison to use on Karney.¡±


    The other patrons in the tavern had stood at the almost fight. They settled back down


    when the old men picked up their fallen comrade and bound his hands behind his


    back. They left his knife on the table with their cards. They picked up the money, and


    divided Hugh¡¯s stake between them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can find the source of the weapon,¡± said Josie. She looked at the


    tavern looking at her.


    They seemed shocked that a stranger had beat an old man in front of them.


    The group went down to the docks, and walked along the wooden slips until they got


    to Hugh¡¯s boat. They climbed aboard and lifted their captive over the side so he could


    point them to his hidden treasure if he wanted to cooperate.


    Hugh sullenly remained silent under the mask of bruises that was his face at the


    moment.


    ¡°Where do we start?,¡± asked the cranky fishermen. He glared at the attempted


    murderer. ¡°Do you want to tell us, stupid?¡±


    ¡°Give me a second,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t actually need him any more.¡±


    She became Zatanna long enough to send out a bird for the poison and one for


    the vault. She followed the poison bird to the galley. She found a stone cup and rod


    on a shelf. The inside of the cup was purple. She showed it to Cranew who nodded.


    This was the same color they had seen at Micky¡¯s outbreak years ago.


    ¡°Josie!,¡± called Seven. ¡°We found the vault.¡±


    Josie and Cranew joined the others. She had the poison cup in her hands. She looked


    at the steel door in the cabin wall. She frowned at it. Instead of a key hole, or a dial,


    it had a slot above the lock handle. She realized that the ring went into that slot and


    opened the lock for anyone who had it.


    ¡°We think this is the cup he used to poison the tea Karney had,¡± said Josie. She


    handed the cup to the cranky spokesman. ¡°I am going to open this thing just to satisfy


    myself about what¡¯s inside. I suppose we can split everything, and I will give Karney


    and Boim their share.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s mine!,¡± shouted Hugh. ¡°You can¡¯t have it!¡±


    ¡°Be quiet,¡± said the cranky fisherman. ¡°You have admitted to poisoning your brother.


    The poison has been found on your boat by an outsider and Cranew, the slowest man


    here. If the magistrate was here on his circuit, you would be hanged tomorrow with


    what we now know. You didn¡¯t need the ring. We could have had Aldous open it with


    a hammer and chisel if you wanted it badly enough.¡±


    ¡°We would have spotted you the smith money, Hugh,¡± said Kell. ¡°It would not have


    been that bad.¡±


    ¡°Open this vault, woman,¡± said the cranky fisherman. ¡°Let¡¯s see if the contents are


    worth all of this.¡±


    Josie changed into the Locksmith and opened the door gently with a probe from her


    gauntlet. She stepped back. A box of coins rested inside the vault. The fishermen


    looked at Hugh.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bag full of tin,¡± said Kell. ¡°You almost killed someone over a bag full of


    pennies.¡±


    ¡°I think we will let Hugh have his treasure,¡± said the cranky leader of the group. He


    closed the door on the treasure.


    ¡°He can¡¯t stay here,¡± said Bord. ¡°That would be too much of a problem.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to live?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Hugh. He looked at his former friends, and this stranger. They all glared


    at him. ¡°I want to live.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. ¡°Everyone else, get off this tub. You don¡¯t want to be on it when


    it leaves.¡±


    The fishermen and Boim jumped to the dock. They turned as a wind kicked up,


    running counter to the breeze they felt from the dock. The ropes snapped and the


    anchor line snapped. Josie stepped off the boat. The sails unfurled and the boat left


    the slip like a race horse out the gate.


    ¡°What did you do?,¡± asked the spokesman. He watched as the boat sailed for the


    horizon.


    ¡°I let him live,¡± said Josie. She took the poison cup from his hand. ¡°Now, I have to


    check on Karney, and then I have other things to do with my day.¡±


    She gestured for Seven to join her as she walked toward the house on the cliff.

 Pill Popper

    Jack toured the bottom floor of the Operations area. He liked the layout. Josie had


    done a good job in his opinion. He nodded at the scanner set up for the patients.


    Jane found him looking over instruments for surgery. He grinned at her and her


    companion when they came into the room. He straightened and flexed his hands.


    ¡°Jack, this is Massa,¡± said Jane. She gestured at the midwife. ¡°I told her that you


    wanted to be shown how the scanner works.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to meet you,¡± said Jack. He waved at the operating theater. ¡°Jane said you


    needed a machine to take out growths in you without causing too much fuss. I wanted


    to look at them and see what I could do to spark an idea.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that is all right,¡± said Massa. ¡°How do you want to get started?¡±


    ¡°Show me how to use the scanner, and then show me the reading,¡± said Jack. He


    looked around. ¡°I may have to use someone a bit ugly. You might want to close your


    eyes while I am running my lookover.¡±


    ¡°You cut on the machine,¡± said Massa. She flipped the switches that powered the


    scanner up. ¡°You lay down for this one. The other at the House, you just have to walk


    through. It takes a picture of your body, and then it gives you a code for what it thinks


    is wrong with you.¡±


    She lay on the table. A light crossed her body like the light in a copier. A picture


    printed out. Then a code sheet printed out.


    ¡°We used this for Marla,¡± said Jane. ¡°Her babies were causing problems for her.¡±


    ¡°So we know this works,¡± said Jack. He nodded. ¡°All right. What I need to do is


    going to be similar but different. I might have to touch you. Are you okay with that?¡±


    ¡°Touch me?,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Jane will be right here. I am not going to do anything inappropriate


    but I am going to have to look at your back with my bare eye, and touch you. Are you


    okay with that?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Massa. ¡°What does this have to do with building a new machine?¡±


    ¡°Anything I build that does an auto surgery will cost days of work and pain for


    anyone who gets operated on,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want to do something that won¡¯t hurt


    anybody, and you don¡¯t have to cut anybody up. Downtime ideally would be a day,


    maybe two.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about an elixir,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°Ideally,¡± said Jack. ¡°But it will have to be checked against what we want to fix.¡±


    ¡°If you can fix me, I can help Madam Harp move our women through this that much


    faster,¡± said Massa. ¡°If you can¡¯t, someone can take my spot until I feel better.¡±


    ¡°I am going to turn around so you can take the top of your dress off,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Then I need you to lay facedown on the bed. I want you to look away from me until


    I get this done. The persona I am going to use is not good looking.¡±


    He turned to look away. He still felt creepy and wondered how doctors could deal


    with this day in and day out. He supposed modesty and a lack of respect for personal


    space was the first thing to go in medical school.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°She is laying down.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He turned around. He looked at the freckled back with a frown.


    ¡°I am going to put the picture down on your back so I can compare looks. That¡¯s what


    you are going to feel.¡±


    He placed the picture and code page on her lower back.


    ¡°I am going to change,¡± said Jack. ¡°Please don¡¯t look at me while I am working.¡±


    ¡°Is it that bad?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t need you as a witness, I would ask you to turn away too,¡± said Jack. ¡°This


    doctor is ugly and monstrous looking. The last thing I need is problems because of


    the way it looks.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Jane. ¡°You are still you, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s just the worst looking of the bodies I have been using so far.


    I don¡¯t like displaying it unless I have to.¡±


    ¡°I think I am more embarrassed than you will be,¡± said Massa. ¡°I¡¯m laying here


    without a cover. Get on with whatever you are doing, but I will tell Josie if you do


    something inappropriate.¡±


    Jane waved her hand in agreement.


    Jack called on Doctor Strange. Jane made a sound but stifled it with her hand. He


    shrugged with some of his tentacles to say ¡®see what I mean?¡¯. He called on the


    screens he used for his diagnostics.


    ¡°All right, Massa,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to poke your back with a needle. There


    might be a stinging. It should feel like a bee sting.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Massa. She closed her eyes. She tried not to flinch at the stab in her


    back.


    Jack placed his sample inside his body. He watched the screens as the sample was


    analyzed. He blinked six of his eyes when numbers and symbols popped up.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to stab you again. Then I am going to need you to


    wait for a minute while I compare the two samples.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Massa. She felt another stab in roughly the same place. She


    closed her eyes at the sudden sting, but said nothing.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He watched the other sample break down into numbers. He had


    a possible cure for the spine growths in his sample. All he needed was something to


    make the cure so he could move on with his day.


    ¡°What do you think, Jack?,¡± asked Jane. She had fought herself not to try to interfere


    when one of the tentacles had produced a needle to stab her subordinate in the back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to teach hippos how to dance,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was never good with


    animals.¡±


    ¡°What do you think about Massa¡¯s spine growths?,¡± said Jane with an irritated huff


    at the end of her sentence.


    ¡°I think I have part of a cure according to these numbers,¡± said Jack. ¡°I won¡¯t even


    have to operate. The problem is we¡¯ll have to test it, and see what happens. The cure


    is no good if it kills the patient before the problem does.¡±


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Jane and Massa at the same time.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to put together something that will produce a small


    elixir to cure the growths. When I do that, someone will have to be used to be tested


    and watched for side effects.¡±


    ¡°Side effects?,¡± asked Massa. As the number two for the hospital, she was responsible


    for anyone they used as a test subject.


    ¡°Ideally, we mix things together and you only have something like mild gas,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°But I can see this going with your body trying to release everything in your


    intestinal track at the same time.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like the effects of food poisoning,¡± said Massa. ¡°I don¡¯t think that will


    be pleasant for anybody.¡±


    ¡°I can go with a lower dosage and see if that cuts the stuff down with a small amount


    of discomfort,¡± said Jack. He grabbed a cup with a tentacle and dropped some fluid


    into it.


    ¡°A lower dosage means more time,¡± said Massa. ¡°But it also means a smaller shock


    to the system.¡±


    ¡°I think it would be better for morale if we didn¡¯t kill the first people we worked on,¡±


    said Jane.


    Jack took one last look at his screens before he dismissed them, and his persona.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am turning away so you can pull your dress and shirt


    together. The rest is going to be some mechanical work, and then I will need a test


    subject to use the first dose on. Do you guys have someone expendable we can try


    this out on?¡±


    ¡°It will be me,¡± said Massa. She sat up and pulled the front of her dress together and


    buttoned it up. ¡°If I am afraid to do it, no one else will.¡±


    ¡°Make sure to exclude the pregnant women,¡± said Jack. He didn¡¯t turn to argue with


    her. ¡°We don¡¯t know what this formula will do their babies. I will have to come


    through and do something else for them.¡±


    ¡°I agree with that,¡± said Jane. ¡°When we start training, they will be told about the


    potential problem.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to need to get some stuff to make the device and


    more of the formula. I am going to put this in the ice box for preservation until I get


    back. Do not drink it straight out the cup. First, we test the lower dose to make sure


    it doesn¡¯t kill people, or eat all of their bones at the same time, or whatever. Then we


    produce enough to start moving everyone through and healing them up.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jane. ¡°We will wait for you in the offices next to the cafeteria. I will


    get some of the nurses so they can start their training with this.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± said Massa. ¡°If I can¡¯t do anything while this is going on, I will


    need someone to watch out for me. And then they can train the new ones as they  go


    through the process.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be back in a few minutes.¡±


    He picked up the cup and walked back to the cafeteria. Ellen and her crew were


    putting together a dinner for people to pick up when they came through. She smiled


    when she saw him coming through the room.


    ¡°I need to put something in the ice box until I get back,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is that okay?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Ellen. She pointed him to the giant metal door of the thing in the back


    of the kitchen. ¡°What are you working on?¡±


    ¡°I hope that I have an idea to clear the growths some of the Amazons are suffering


    and the women sleeping on the yard at the House,¡± said Jack. He walked back to the


    walk-in and opened the door. ¡°If it works, we can start clearing everybody and send


    people home.¡±


    ¡°Do you know who is getting the first dose,¡± said Ellen.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be tested to make sure it doesn¡¯t make a person¡¯s guts fall out of their


    nether regions,¡± said Jack. ¡°If it works, then the machine I make will be able to make


    more on demand.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Ellen.


    ¡°I know it doesn¡¯t sound like much, but we do need our insides to stay inside and not


    liquify and fall out our butts,¡± said Jack. He stepped inside and put the cup on the


    tallest shelf he could find. He stepped out of the walk-in.


    ¡°I think it would be good if someone else was experimented on before I take the


    solution,¡± said Ellen.


    ¡°I agree with you a hundred percent,¡± said Jack. ¡°Once the bugs are worked out, then


    we can make sure everyone gets a dose without any fear of harm.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Ellen. ¡°I will be waiting.¡±


    Jack grinned at her before he left the kitchen. He still had things to do. The next thing


    was to make sure his sample did the job, and he had a way to make more without


    actually supervising the whole process.


    He hoped that he wasn¡¯t giving the Amazons a fast way to kill themselves


    accidentally.


    He needed materials to shape into a machine to create the elixir pill that he wanted


    to make. He decided that a small factory with its own legs would be the thing he


    needed. He didn¡¯t want it to make a really powerful medicine, just enough to clear out


    the growths without killing people.


    He went back to the Operations theaters and found Jane and Massa talking. They both


    looked at him.


    ¡°I need to get some stuff together,¡± said Jack. ¡°The stuff is in the freezer until I need


    it. I am thinking that we should test the cure at the lowest power that we can. I don¡¯t


    want to cripple anyone trying to fix the problem.¡±


    ¡°Are you coming back today?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°This will take a few minutes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Most of that will be in the planning. I need


    to know where you need the hypothetical dispensary I am going to make for this.¡±


    ¡°We should probably put it in one of the supply closets near the elevators,¡± said


    Massa. ¡°We will need to make sure the door is locked against bystanders.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be back to find you in a few. I have to get some metal


    and some other things. Then I will put this thing down so you can draw out a few


    pills at a time to use them.¡±


    ¡°How strong will you make these pills?,¡± asked Massa.


    ¡°Maybe .5 milligrams in each one,¡± said Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t want them too strong at


    the start. We need to see how they will perform. If they need to be boosted, we can


    up the dosage.¡±


    ¡°And we need to know what will happen to anyone who takes the cure,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°I approve the discretion.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me get my gear together. You pick out a room you want


    to stay in until the cure passes. Send someone to get you something to look at while


    you wait to get out of bed. Then we¡¯ll see how everything goes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you by the gate,¡± said Jane. ¡°We¡¯ll have everything organized by the


    time you come back.¡±


    Jack nodded. He went to the gate and punched in six sixteen. He stepped through the


    gate and out in the Hangar. He pulled the lever to open the roof so he could gather the


    bushes he was going to turn into his device.


    He found three good samples of what he needed just outside the fear ring. He changed


    into Magik and pulled them out of the ground, transmuting them into iron bars. He


    dropped the persona and carried them back into the Hangar. He shut the roof and


    punched in the three digit code for the hospital. He realized he had made a mistake


    when he stepped out in the House yard. He punched in the code again, and this time


    he went to the hospital like he wanted.


    ¡°That was quick,¡± said Jane. ¡°Massa and her future nurse just went upstairs.¡±


    ¡°Show me the closet, and I will do what I can,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need the sample from


    the ice box. Let me get that too.¡±


    ¡°What happens if you are wrong?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°Massa¡¯s skeleton turns into liquid and escapes every hole in her body at the speed


    of a snapping of fingers,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°That¡¯s why we are going to try


    out a small dose first so she only loses her spine.¡±


    ¡°I think you like scaring people a little too much,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there is any such thing,¡± said Jack. He gestured for her to lead on.


    They walked down to where the closet waited. Nurses in green shirts pulled towels


    and wash cloths out of the way. They stacked them on a nearby desk as he surveyed


    the space.


    ¡°I need to get the sample,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be right back.¡±


    He placed the rods on the floor in front of the closet and ran back to the cafeteria. He


    grabbed the jar from the ice box and went back to the closet. He put the sample down


    to be used later.


    He turned into Magik and grabbed the first rod in his hand of letters and symbols. He


    molded it like wet clay into the rough shape he wanted. He put that hexagon on the


    floor of the closet, and solidified it into a solid shape. He picked up the second rod


    and formed a tube. He jammed that down into the base to form a body.


    He took the last rod and pinched it in various places between thumb and index finger.


    He swung it back, then whipped it forward. The rod became a stream of gears and


    rods that built themselves into an assembly line that punched through the body


    already constructed to hold it.


    He realized he needed one more thing. He looked around. He grabbed one of the


    folded towels and shook it into a grill over the top of his device. He slapped it and the


    thing became something fantastical but realistic as if built by a factory somewhere


    that specialized in strange machinery.


    He let the persona go as he inspected the machine. Did it work?


    ¡°I need some water so we can start building the pills,¡± said Jack.


    One of the nurses presented a pitcher full of water. He poured the contents into the


    top of the machine. A line told him when to stop. He pressed the button. The machine


    hummed, then spit out a blue pill into a shelf at the base of its body. He dropped that


    into the sample cup. The substance inside the container broke down to a cloud of


    particles that danced in the air.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what it will do to Massa,¡± said Jack. He pushed the button to get another


    pill.

 Caravan Raid

    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.

 Temps

    Jack waited for the medicine to kick in. He didn¡¯t want to leave Massa in the lurch


    when he wasn¡¯t sure what would happen. He decided to walk around the hospital.


    He let Jane know that he would be around, and if things went worse than he thought,


    he could get there fast and call on Doctor Strange to create a counter agent.


    He found himself walking around the outside of the building, wondering how they


    were going to keep the bricks white. Josie had done a good job, and the cleaner who


    was stuck cleaning it needed more than one silver to do that. He thought about


    creating a mana battery to help people get better faster.


    Jack wondered how many people needed to use such a thing in the city. He expected


    more than what he could number.


    Elaine and the kids arrived with a group of people in plain clothes and armed. He


    smiled at her.


    He raised his eyebrows when he saw Eric Fass and his second in the crowd. They


    must have used their influence to get this many people together.


    Fass didn¡¯t look happy when he saw Jack inspecting some flower beds in front of the


    hospital.


    Jack grinned at the crowd as he approached. He didn¡¯t understand the lemony look,


    but he was used to it. He had done some things to make Fass wary of him. Eric had


    been there when he had created the Enterprise after all.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I brought over all the adventurers we thought we could use as


    orderlies to help out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hey Eric, Budd. Good to see you again.¡±


    ¡°This is Jack?,¡± said one of the women. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look like a madman.¡±


    Jack noted the Ducklings, except for Alicia, roll their eyes at that. He supposed they


    knew better.


    ¡°This is my wife, Eileen,¡± said Eric. ¡°She wanted to see the building.¡±


    The words seemed muted to Jack. He supposed Fass had wanted his wife to be kept


    separate from the various things that the champions of order had going on. He could


    accept that with good grace.


    What they did was not something the ordinary people of the world would want to get


    involved in.


    Saying with great power came great responsibility was different when you had to live


    it.


    ¡°Hello, Madam Fass,¡± said Jack. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you. You are just as


    beautiful as Eric said.¡±


    ¡°You are a good flatterer,¡± said Madam Fass. ¡°I know Eric said no such thing.¡±


    ¡°He could have,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°Jane is around, keeping an eye on our


    test case. Maybe I can get her to give you a tour. Are all of you going to be working


    here?¡±


    The group gave him various notices of assents.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call Jane and ask her to send someone down to give you the tour,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    am waiting in case I have to do some kind of emergency intervention.¡±


    ¡°How do we fit in?,¡± asked Budd.


    ¡°The first thing we are doing is making sure that the Amazons are clear and healthy,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Then we are going to start moving the initial women that Fass¡¯s Fighters


    saved from Jane¡¯s House to here and cure them enough to at least get them back on


    their feet, and sent home, or integrate them into the Amazons. Eventually we will take


    people in and help them with their injuries and illnesses. I suppose if an adventurer


    gets hurt on the job and can make it back to the city, the Hospital will fix them.¡±


    ¡°And how do we fit in?,¡± asked Budd.


    ¡°The Amazons can¡¯t handle all the work themselves,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need people to


    move the sick, make sure the rowdier elements stay out of the Hospital while they are


    working, gophers, the usual. It¡¯s not going to be like delving a dungeon to get a


    treasure, or killing some rowdy monster. It¡¯s going to be slow but good work. And


    you get free help while you work here for your injuries and sicknesses.¡±


    ¡°Administration?,¡± said Madam Fass.


    ¡°I have no idea other than Jane is running things, and her number two and three are


    Madam Harp, and Massa,¡± said Jack. ¡°One of them should be able to point you to


    whomever is in charge of whatever thing needs to be done.¡±


    ¡°Is it good work?,¡± asked Madam Fass.


    ¡°You will be dealing with the injured and sick,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know how good


    that is, but someone will be helped.¡±


    ¡°What is the pay?,¡± asked an adventurer Jack didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Whatever Jane tells you,¡± said Jack. He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m getting nothing.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°My pay is not monetary,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to call Jane. She¡¯ll come down and


    walk you through the scanner to show you how it works and give you the tour. I


    imagine she and Madam Harp already know how they want to use you. Do not give


    her any guff. It will just irritate Josie, and that will be bad.¡±


    He saw a small shudder pass through the crowd. He grinned at them.


    ¡°Give me a second,¡± said Jack. He walked off to be alone to make his call. He


    triggered the com band. ¡°Hey, Jane.¡±


    ¡°What is it now?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°Your adventurers have arrived,¡± said Jack. ¡°I told them you would give them the


    tour and set their pay. Eric¡¯s wife seems interested in helping to run things. It¡¯s up to


    you if you think she can do any good.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°Massa has been stuck in the water closet for a while. She says


    that it is embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Portable scanner?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The growths on her spine are disappearing, and the tumor on her liver is shrinking,¡±


    said Jane. ¡°Your elixir is doing the job. The problem is how it is doing the job.¡±


    ¡°Tell Massa and her nurse if she has one to look out for her, that she needs to drink


    water until she feels better,¡± said Jack. ¡°She is probably flushing out more than the


    spines and things. If you can get the adventurers set up, a lot of the actual work will


    be easier to do.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°She wants to know why so she can tell others going through


    the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Her body is acting like it is under heavy heat and spoiled food,¡± said Jack. ¡°It is


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.flushing out good water along with the bad. She needs more water to replace the good


    water until she stops getting rid of the extra stuff.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell her,¡± said Jane. ¡°All right. She is going to make a note to pass on to the


    nurses on what to expect when they take the elixir. I am glad we started with a lower


    power. I hate to see what would have happened if you had mixed the pill higher than


    this.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been pleasant,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come meet your temps, and show them


    around.¡±


    ¡°Let me tell Massa,¡± said Jane. ¡°If this Eric¡¯s wife is any good, we can use her to


    assist Massa, or the bookkeepers.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your show,¡± said Jack. ¡°You make the call.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°I¡¯ll see what kind of chaff we have to work with, and do what


    I can.¡±


    Jack nodded as she cut the call.


    He walked back to where the adventurers were talking. None of them seemed ready


    for the amount of things they might have to cover for Jane. Eric, his wife, and Budd


    talked about things a little away from the rest. The Ducklings and Elaine were in their


    own bubble too.


    ¡°Jane is coming down to talk to you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you guys to be on your best


    behavior. She is having a bad day, and we don¡¯t need to add to the load. Madam Fass,


    I did tell her that you wanted a position, and she said she will talk to you about it. If


    you need anything fixed that isn¡¯t life threatening, we will put you on the list. If you


    need something fixed right away, we will give you a room until we fix it. Some of this


    will be easy work, but some of it will be hard. Do your best.¡±


    He walked over to Elaine and hugged her. He had wanted to do that since he had seen


    her with the crowd, but knew he had to get things moving with the adventurers.


    ¡°How did you get all these people here?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Eric did it,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Everyone knows he had a major payday working with


    Josie, so they want one too.¡±


    ¡°Unless the Hospital comes under attack, they are going to be greatly disappointed,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°But if it does, they will earn their keep until Josie uses the Enterprise to


    vaporize her enemies.¡±


    ¡°I am sure the city will not be ready for anything like that,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Can we go home?,¡± asked Matilda. ¡°We left Aviras alone.¡±


    ¡°He was reading the Warner Archive when I left,¡± said Jack. ¡°I doubt that he got into


    any trouble in the few hours that we have been out and about.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about him,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I guess you guys don¡¯t need to be here,¡± said Jack. ¡°Laura? Bea?¡±


    ¡°Beatrice can enhance my flight,¡± said Laura. ¡°It was terrific.¡±


    ¡°The ring is a great weapon,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I still say you are a loon. Nothing will


    change my mind on that.¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t a weapon,¡± said Jack. He paused. ¡°Technically, it is a weapon, but it is also


    a tool that you can use to do things. It won¡¯t allow you to build a mountain of candy


    somewhere, but it will allow you to build a gumdrop out of air.¡±


    ¡°Is that the point of Maxwell¡¯s Demon?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°As long as you keep an eye on things, it


    will help you. You guys go ahead and head home and do your chores. Elaine and I


    will be home once we straighten this noodle soup into lines.¡±


    ¡°I would like to talk to you about this moving thing,¡± said June. ¡°I have a rough map


    of the city. I don¡¯t know where the quests will go down, but I think the Frankenstein


    factory that Boim was at is almost in the center.¡±


    ¡°Let me get through this thing with the adventurers, and then we will talk,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°When Josie comes back with the Enterprise, we will see about going out there and


    looking around. You will be a little closer to Shemmaria, so you will have to keep


    your guard up a little more.¡±


    ¡°If there is more of those murderers there, what exactly am I supposed to do?,¡± asked


    June.


    ¡°Do the best you can,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to do a miracle, or anything.


    You and Boim will have to figure things out. Maybe you can put a curse on them to


    make them doctors, or something.¡±


    ¡°Just be on the lookout for the tattooed men,¡± said Elaine. ¡°They take women and


    make them slaves, or worse.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June.


    ¡°Ask Aviras if he has seen any monsters that have repeated in his reading,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That¡¯s also something you might have to look out for while you are protecting the


    north.¡±


    ¡°So I should write them down?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I was thinking of pinning them on the map, but writing them down would be good


    too,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°I can do that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you guys when I get home,¡± said Jack. ¡°Stay out of trouble, or keep June out


    of trouble since she is the biggest troublemaker of them all.¡±


    ¡°I find that hard to believe,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Archery?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°Chores first, young lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°Where did you get a bow?¡±


    ¡°June,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°This is exactly what I was talking about,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be anything fancy that shoots around corners,¡± said June. ¡°It¡¯s just


    a straight ahead bow for her to practice on.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s next?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Teaching Angelica how to make talking cakes?¡±


    ¡°That sounds like something I would never want to know how to do,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°But if you could, it would be something the town would talk about for years,¡± said


    Melanie. ¡°After they burn you at the stake for messing with people¡¯s food.¡±


    ¡°I think we should go before Milord thinks of some other ill-advised use of


    skillcraft,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Laura?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Laura. She smiled. She exerted the power given her. ¡°We will have


    our schoolwork done by the time you two come home. I will watch out for Alicia at


    the range.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°This shouldn¡¯t take too much longer.¡±


    ¡°Can I get a ring like Beatrice¡¯s?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°You will have to work a little harder,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Bah, work,¡± said Melanie. She flew into the air with the rest of the Ducklings.


    ¡°I think she needs something like karma to keep her being a positive influence on


    herself and others,¡± said Jack. ¡°And it goes well with the fact that she is lazy.¡±


    ¡°Karma?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°It¡¯s a religious thing that has been turned into a way to explain certain types of skill


    sets or powers,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think it is something Melanie needs since anything else


    will be unused or abused to satisfy her craving to not move from the couch except to


    get food.¡±


    ¡°She will resent it,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I know, but I think it would be good for her in the long run,¡± said Jack. ¡°But it could


    also be a curse that she never learns how to redirect. No one wants bad luck to follow


    them around forever.¡±


    ¡°I think you should talk to her and figure out what would be best for her,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°A skill that grew as she used it would probably be better than something she has no


    control over.¡±


    ¡°What do you think I should give Angelica?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I do like the idea of singing


    cakes.¡±


    ¡°I think that would be exceptionally bad,¡± said Elaine. She shook her head. ¡°No one


    likes talking food.¡±


    ¡°It would be like Calvin and Hobbs where Calvin is looking at the meal on his plate


    and it starts singing,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°Calvin chows down to stop it.¡±


    ¡°Exceptionally bad,¡± Elaine repeated.


    While they had been talking to the girls, Jane and Madam Harp had arrived. They had


    the adventurers enter the building in a line and ran them through the scanner. Pictures


    and sheets were given out to show if anything was wrong with the men and women


    who had arrived to help out.


    Some had conditions that would need to be treated sooner or later. Madam Harp


    assured them the things would be fixed as soon as the Hospital was up and running


    in a systemic way. The tour started for the group.


    Jack and Elaine walked at the back of the crowd. She had already been shown


    everything and helped with Marla¡¯s babies. He only cared since he was at her side.


    Work would carry him away soon enough. Until then, he planned to bask in her


    presence as much as possible.


    ¡°What do you think the new quests will be?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Probably something to do with Shemmaria,¡± said Jack. ¡°If the Society wants June


    to help out, they only have the rest of the day and tomorrow to issue the quests.¡±


    ¡°Do you think she will be good at this?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of decisions that you have to make and half


    the time you are dealing with the rest of people¡¯s lives. It is so easy to mess that up.


    I¡¯m hoping for the best, but expecting the worse.¡±


    ¡°I think she will surprise you and do better than even she thinks she can,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I will be happy if she finds a place she likes, and does what she can,¡± said Jack. ¡°It


    took her a while to get into the fight game, and win against other women. There¡¯s a


    short life in something like that. June has told me stories of women who went into the


    grinder and came out with nothing at the end of it. This could be the same thing for


    her, and we¡¯re her means of not being destitute and living on the street.¡±


    ¡°Are you fine with that, if that is all her arrival is?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie and I have made plenty of enemies that we can share with


    June and Mister Warner.¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean, Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Are you fine with her using you to run


    away from whatever is in your world that she doesn¡¯t want to deal with?¡±


    ¡°What she doesn¡¯t want to deal with is being alone and old,¡± said Jack. ¡°She has the


    rest of the family, but she is the oldest and our mother has expectations that Juni


    never fulfilled, and doesn¡¯t want to. Her coming here is a nag for me, but it¡¯s a fresh


    start for her. I am willing to let her try to do what I do just to see if she can do it


    better.¡±


    ¡°You sound like you want to shuffle the work off on her like Melanie would,¡± said


    Elaine.


    ¡°I can be more than two things,¡± said Jack.

 Northern Exchange

    Josie followed Three Russ through the streets. She kept her hands in her pockets. She


    had a clear goal in mind, but she didn¡¯t know how much pressure she could apply to


    the homoculus to do her bidding. This was a big favor she was asking for what she


    had done.


    She could not expect to win the other woman over just because of doing something


    any group of mercenaries could do faster than what was considered possible on the


    planet.


    Three paused at the next corner for Josie to catch up. She nodded at a block of a


    building over in the next block.


    ¡°I guess they build these things from the same plan,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder where the


    central branch is.¡±


    ¡°What do you really want?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°Peace and love,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the look that got her. ¡°Barring that, being


    left alone to do what I do is high on my list.¡±


    ¡°What do you want with me and Seven?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°Seven has adopted June as her pet project,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m hoping they don¡¯t get


    killed working in the city they will have to protect. I¡¯m letting them fly on their own


    with an eye to help them with what I can.¡±


    ¡°And me?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°Seven trusts you, and I need someone here in the north to help people I can¡¯t because


    Jack and I have to kill monsters that threaten the world instead of changing the


    infrastructure to support the helpless,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think you could be that person,


    and if I could get the other sister you mentioned to go in, I would.¡±


    ¡°Four?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°I will do what I can, but if she causes a threat like the Lich Queen, I might have to


    do something to stop her doing that,¡± said Josie. ¡°In the end, if the Society issues a


    quest, they expect us to do it as their agents and most of their quests protect large


    masses of people from harm.¡±


    ¡°Why the quest to help Seven?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°They don¡¯t tell me why. We¡¯re going to go in and open


    an account for you to draw money. Then we¡¯re going to find a bigger place for you


    to live. The charter is for you to help people in the city, and surroundings. I don¡¯t


    expect you to just give the money away, but if you have to support people, then I


    don¡¯t have a problem with that.¡±


    ¡°This mission will let me do that?,¡± said Three. ¡°You won¡¯t be looking over my


    shoulder?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Make Frenda your number two and let her carry some of this. It¡¯s


    obvious you are in some kind of romance. I doubt she will let you struggle alone.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t told her about myself,¡± said Three. ¡°She just thinks I am an adventurer


    working from the Guild in the city.¡±


    Josie shrugged. Everyone was allowed secrets. That was what made them human after


    all.


    ¡°I need to make some money,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we¡¯ll walk over to the Exchange and


    open an account for you. Once we do that, we¡¯ll look for a place where you can set


    up your new charity. I¡¯ll ask Jack to try to build something where you can talk to the


    rest of us so we can help you in case of trouble. At the very least, I want you to be


    able to talk to Seven and June since they will be closer, and able to help you faster


    than we will from the south. Mister Warner is setting up even further that way than


    us so I don¡¯t know how long it would take for him to fly up here to help with your


    emergency.¡±


    ¡°Make money?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°They won¡¯t open an account if we have no money to give them,¡± said Josie. ¡°As


    a person with access to magic, I now understand why all the magicians I used to read


    about had no problem with living expenses.¡±


    ¡°Because they could make money,¡± said Three.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the roll of the eyes that got her.


    She walked over to a nearby cafe and bought three of what looked like honey buns.


    She handed Three one of the buns, while chewing the other one. She held the third


    in her hand while she watched the Exchange.


    ¡°What am I supposed to do with this?,¡± said Three. She examined the bun.


    ¡°Eat it,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s good. I needed a snack after all this running around I have


    done.¡±


    Three hesitantly bit into the bun. It wasn¡¯t poisoned like she thought.


    Josie finished her bun. She chewed while she put the third bun down on the alley


    floor. She changed into Doctor Alchemy. She changed the bun¡¯s bread into a gold


    statue of itself. She exchanged that body for Zatanna long enough to change the shape


    of her newfound wealth from a round ovoid into a small bar. She let the persona go


    and picked the bar up.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Three. ¡°I see why you wouldn¡¯t have to worry about money if you


    can do that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the opposite worry,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I make too much, I can make people¡¯s


    coinage worthless. I just want enough to finance my enterprises, but not enough


    to tank the economy.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Three. ¡°I have never had enough money to consider anything like


    that.¡±


    ¡°Most people don¡¯t,¡± said Josie. She put the bar in her bag. ¡°Let¡¯s go over and open


    the account. Don¡¯t kill anyone unless I start killing people.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°You¡¯ll understand once we¡¯re inside the building,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you to just


    stay on guard. If things go bad, I will protect you as much as I can.¡±


    They walked over to the bank. The two doormen outside glanced at them with more


    than casual interest. They decided that Three was more dangerous with her array of


    blades visible on her person.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to open an account with the Exchange,¡± said Josie.


    The doorman on the left opened the door for them to step inside. Josie did so, hand


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.on her watch. If she had to resort to violence, she had already decided to call


    Bulletgirl and start putting holes in the Exchange personnel.


    She would upgrade to Shazam if she had to do more than that.


    ¡°Their faces,¡± whispered Three after the door shut behind her.


    ¡°Just keep an eye out,¡± said Josie. ¡°We set you up and then we walk out without


    killing everyone. The floor staff don¡¯t seem to be involved.¡±


    ¡°Involved?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°In what the Exchange finances,¡± said Josie. She put on a smile and walked over to


    the counter. She gestured for Three to keep up. The clerk turned a smile on her but


    didn¡¯t seem interested in helping her. ¡°Hello, I am setting up a small business here


    in the city, and I need to open an operating account.¡±


    ¡°Do you have an account with us already?,¡± asked the clerk. She pulled out the


    paperwork needed for Josie to sign.


    ¡°I have one with the Hawk Ridge branch,¡± said Josie. ¡°My name is Josie Fox. This


    lady will be my local manager and will need access to the account while the business


    is running.¡±


    The clerk pulled out a ledger of a different color than the ones Josie had seen in Hawk


    Ridge. She opened it and wrote in some particulars. She handed the paperwork and


    a quill in a inkpot to Josie to fill out.


    ¡°Your name, mistress,¡± asked the clerk. She looked at Three, quill in the air to fill in


    some of the blank spaces before her.


    ¡°Boim Russ,¡± said Three. She leaned against the counter, watching the guards without


    trying to seem like she was watching them.


    ¡°How much are you going to deposit to open your account?,¡± asked the clerk.


    ¡°This brick of gold,¡± said Josie. She signed the last line of the paperwork and placed


    it and the brick on the counter. ¡°I understand you will have to assay it. Go ahead.


    We¡¯ll wait.¡±


    The clerk looked shocked. She picked up the gold bar and took it to the back. Josie


    and Three waited with an eye on the guards. If something were to happen, it would


    happen now that they had given up a substantial amount to the staff.


    Josie doubted anything here could stop her from calling on Shazam and just knocking


    a hole in the wall.


    ¡°What are they doing?,¡± asked Three after a few minutes of waiting.


    ¡°A few things,¡± said Josie. ¡°They are testing the metal to see if its real gold. They are


    calculating how much money it would be as silver pieces. They are figuring how


    much they can rip me off before I have to ask for the gold back. They want


    continued business to get more gold like that so they are trying to figure out how to


    flatter me into investing more gold into the Exchange for them to use. I don¡¯t think


    they have connected me with what has happened in Hawk Ridge, but if they do, they


    might become violent.¡±


    ¡°Which is part of the reason I am here,¡± said Three. ¡°I understand that much.¡±


    ¡°Also you need access to the money so you can use it,¡± said Josie. ¡°So they needed


    to see your face and get your signature so you could sign for any money withdrawal.¡±


    ¡°What happened in Hawk Ridge?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°Jack cut the manager down and instituted a change,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think


    he did it on purpose but the man was in the wrong place at the wrong time.¡±


    The clerk came back to the counter. She glanced at the other clerks who had shied


    away from the conversation. She did not have the gold brick in her hands.


    ¡°Master Mers has authorized me to tell you that the gold bar is worth fifteen thousand


    silver pieces,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°That is fine,¡± said Josie. ¡°Is everything squared away?¡±


    ¡°What will be the name of your business?,¡± asked the clerk. ¡°That¡¯s the only thing we


    need on the paperwork for a new venture.¡±


    ¡°Russ¡¯s Helping Hands,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will inform you where to send the


    statements when we have something more concrete to offer you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the clerk.


    Three mouthed the name to Josie in disbelief.


    Josie smiled back.


    ¡°When the account reaches the last quarter mark, send word to the Exchange branch


    in Hawk Ridge and I will return to put more gold in it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make a note, Mistress Fox,¡± said the clerk.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s see about the headquarters we need, Three.¡±


    She turned and walked away from the counter. She pretended to not notice the looks


    that passed through the guards. This was almost the same thing that happened when


    she and Elaine had put the first brick of gold in their Hawk Ridge account.


    Would the guards do the same thing?


    Would they send corrupt tax officials to try to get the rest of the gold from the


    helpless women?


    The women stepped out on the street. Josie paused before turning left and walking


    away from where the small group were waiting for them to return. Three followed,


    hand on her sword.


    ¡°You never said what the Exchange is involved in,¡± said Three.


    ¡°The people who took Frenda work for the Exchange,¡± said Josie. She paused at


    a fruit stand, picking up an apple and paying for it. ¡°They cover the continent.¡±


    ¡°The people I have been hunting work for the Exchange?,¡± said Three. She glanced


    back over her shoulder but kept walking to keep a station next to Josie. ¡°A couple of


    the guards from the Exchange are following us.¡±


    ¡°They want the rest of my gold,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the left.¡±


    ¡°What are we doing?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°We¡¯re letting them follow us around until I decide I want to get rid of them,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°The Exchange, some of the nobility based out of the south, some others, the


    government of Shemmaria, take and sell women. We marked the organization, The


    Montrose, so we can hunt the individual members down at our leisure. One of the


    reasons I am imposing on you to be my assistant here in the north is so I can expand


    my reach and hunt them down. There is a lot of them, and only me and Jack hunting


    them.¡±


    ¡°Four¡¯s government is involved in this?,¡± said Three. ¡°Does she know?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Shemmarians were using their captives to try to


    create an army of monsters that would do what they wanted.¡±


    ¡°She must have known, and now she knows who you are,¡± said Three. ¡°They will


    try to assassinate you to steal whatever power you have for themselves.¡±


    ¡°Luckily it only works for the people the Society has chosen to do its dirty work,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°I suppose Jack could build something for them, but I think that is doubtful


    considering the fact he was thinking of some way to destroy the country before he


    created the Enterprise from their operation.¡±


    ¡°Could he do that?,¡± said Three.


    Josie shrugged.


    ¡°That is not very comforting,¡± said Three.


    ¡°We need a place for your new venture,¡± said Josie. ¡°It probably should be something


    like a fort at first.¡±


    ¡°The guards are speeding up,¡± said Three. ¡°I guess they got tired of letting us walk


    around.¡±


    Josie turned around. Her pivot didn¡¯t cause their attackers to slow the motion. She


    called on Richard Dragon. That did cause them to pause as the giant lizard in its


    karate gi fell into a guard position which turned into a punch from an arm longer than


    the space between them. The man hit flew through the air.


    The three other men tried to run away from the giant fighter. Three flew into them, slicing


    with her sword five times stronger than a woman of her slim build should be. Two of


    the men went down immediately from strikes across their bodies. The third blocked


    her as he retreated. A giant scaly fist wrapped around him and threw him as far as a


    dragon could manage. His scream trailed him like the tail of a comet until he hit the


    ground out of sight of the fight.


    ¡°Will they live?,¡± asked Josie. She let the persona go. She frowned at the two guys


    Three had cut to ribbons.


    ¡°One of them, maybe,¡± said Three. ¡°The other is good as dead.¡±


    ¡°One of mine is down, the other died when he hit the ground,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m


    wondering what I should do with him.¡±


    ¡°Execution is good,¡± said Three. ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with it. A dead enemy never


    does anything else.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to make an example of someone. Trying to rob two


    helpless women while they are just walking around should cost more than a beating.¡±


    ¡°So stab him and let¡¯s go,¡± said Three. ¡°We can¡¯t hang around here all day.¡±


    Josie pulled on Zatanna. She thought about what she wanted to do. She brought the


    spell into being and placed it in her survivor. She let the persona go.


    ¡°What did you do?,¡± asked Three. The two men at her feet had stopped breathing.


    ¡°I gave him a curse,¡± said Josie. ¡°I felt that I needed one person to be an example


    for the rest.¡±


    ¡°What kind of curse?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°The kind that makes you feel something when you normally don¡¯t,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. The rest of the guards at the Exchange are going to wonder what happened


    to these before too long, and look for them.¡±


    ¡°Why is my sister allying with you?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know really,¡± said Josie. ¡°June and Mister Warner pulled her out of a closet


    of a mad alchemist who was cutting people up and putting them back together like


    she wanted. You would think that would be a reason not to run into trouble.¡±

 Dragon Boat

    Jack finished the tour with Elaine at his side. He hung back behind the crowd of


    adventurers who were sorting themselves out into what their jobs would be. Jane took


    some of them through the gate to the House to show them where the women were,


    and how to move them.


    Any question was answered with Josie did it. That was enough of an answer that


    further questions were stopped.


    Jack diverted Elaine to the Cafeteria. They could get some tea before going home and


    wrangling the Ducklings, and June.


    The Fasses and Jane arrived as the crowd dispersed with their orders and pay


    schedules. Tomorrow, everyone would be tested and flushed out. Then they would


    start working on the sleepers.


    Jack sipped his tea as they joined him and Elaine at the table they had taken. He


    wondered what he needed to do next. He could see variations of worry on their faces.


    ¡°Budd not sitting in?,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°I sent him to make sure the rest of the party can be ready to go in the morning,¡± said


    Eric. ¡°We have a contract from the Guild to carry out.¡±


    ¡°We are waiting on quests to come down from the Society,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie is in the


    north right now. You guys want her to go with you?¡±


    ¡°The contract is an attack on a fort in the middle of nowhere,¡± said Eric. ¡°We will


    need her, or the Enterprise, to bust it open.¡±


    ¡°She took the Enterprise with her,¡± said Jack. He grinned at their sour expressions.


    ¡°You know, I can bust a wall down. So can Mister Warner now that he is back in


    action. Depending on what these new quests are, one of us can do a fly-by and do


    something depending on how the fort is constructed.¡±


    ¡°You could retire, Eric,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Do you really need to take this contract?¡±


    ¡°My uncle sent me a message for help, and it just now arrived,¡± said Eric. ¡°There¡¯s


    no way to know if he and his party are still alive down there, but I have to know for


    sure.¡±


    ¡°Elaine, could you get June?,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll take her with us. Scope the place


    out.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to help Eric out?,¡± asked Madam Fass.


    ¡°I am going to give Mister Warner a call, and see if he will lend a hand,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°And we¡¯ll look at things. That¡¯s the best we can do right now. If we can, we¡¯ll pull


    the senior Fass out of the fire.¡±


    ¡°I will get June,¡± said Elaine. She stood and kissed Jack on the cheek. ¡°I know that


    it is asking a lot, but be careful.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have Eric as my meat shield,¡± said Jack. ¡°What could go wrong?¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Eric, where is this fort? As soon as Josie finishes her


    business, I will redirect her to the location so she can do what she does best.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think bad language is going to help in this situation,¡± said Jack. He grinned


    at her stormy expression.


    ¡°Keep that up, and you will be sleeping on the couch,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The location?¡±


    ¡°Fort Devermore,¡± said Eric. ¡°It is south of us.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will be back with June in a few minutes. It was a pleasure


    meeting you, Madam Fass. Give my regards to Marla, Jane.¡±


    She swept out of the Cafeteria.


    ¡°I used to worry that Josie would kill you in the night, but now I am not so sure,¡± said


    Jane.


    ¡°She¡¯s spicy,¡± said Jack. He pulled out his phone. He pushed the contact button for


    Mister Warner. ¡°I like that in a girl.¡±


    Eric and Eileen shared a look.


    ¡°Knived down in your bed,¡± said Jane. ¡°What do you think, Madam Fass? Can you


    run the adventurers part of the hospital?¡±


    ¡°I think that we can coordinate actions and move your patients here to be healed,¡±


    said Eileen. ¡°What are you going to do when they recover?¡±


    ¡°Send them home, or adopt them,¡± said Jane. ¡°Some of them might not have homes


    to go back to after however long they have been missing. Some of them might not


    want to adjust to a life where they have been written off and thought dead. Josie


    wants us to help them so we will as much as we can.¡±


    ¡°Adventurers as escorts can be done,¡± said Eileen.


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°We need to talk about the elixir you gave


    me.¡±


    ¡°Josie is out of town, and I am hitting a fort in the next few minutes,¡± said Jack. ¡°You


    want in on the action?¡±


    ¡°What fort?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Fort Devermore,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Harp and I killed some giant spiders there once,¡± said Warner. ¡°The Army put up


    two smaller lookouts after that. I can¡¯t remember their names right now. You going


    in on this?¡±


    ¡°Josie¡¯s adventurer ally has a relative there who sent a note for help,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    thought we could cruise down, take a look around, maybe get a smoothie.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be up in Hawk Ridge as soon as I talk to Ropel and Dot,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°Josie took it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine went to get June. She should be at the Hole in the


    Wall. I¡¯ll think of another way down there before you get to the Hospital.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I will be up as soon as I can.¡±


    The phone went dead in Jack¡¯s hand. He put it away.


    ¡°We¡¯re going down as soon as I can assemble our forces,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t like the


    thought that giant spiders are around the place. This could turn into a bug hunt real


    fast.¡±


    ¡°Is this Warner a doughty warrior?,¡± asked Eileen.


    ¡°He¡¯s a veteran with experience dealing with monsters,¡± said Jack. ¡°He and Harp


    were partners for a while.¡±


    ¡°The Army will probably want to keep the fort intact,¡± said Eric.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be like the Shadow. No one will see me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant,¡± said Eric. ¡°We can¡¯t tear the place down without cause.¡±


    ¡°The Society has said that I can¡¯t do anything drastic,¡± said Jack. ¡°I feel put upon


    because everyone knows if you leave scorch marks, you didn¡¯t use a big enough gun.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means, and I don¡¯t want to know,¡± said Eric.


    ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to time travel either if that makes you feel better,¡± said Jack.


    June walked into the cafeteria. She approached the table as Jack waved at her. She


    smiled at his guests.


    ¡°Eric, Eileen,¡± said Jack. He waved at June as she approached in her track suit and


    sneakers. ¡°This is my sister, June. Juni, this is the Fasses. Eric leads the team that


    helped with the zombie mushroom thing.¡±


    ¡°Good work on that,¡± said June. ¡°I read the file, and was glad not to have to deal with


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.that.¡±


    ¡°It was messy,¡± said Fass. ¡°I¡¯m glad we rescued those women.¡±


    ¡°Elaine said you guys were cashing in the favor,¡± said June.


    ¡°Naw,¡± said Jack. ¡°Eric is our friend and assistant. We pay him to chop people up


    when we can¡¯t. When you head north, he might be able to point you to an adventurer


    up there so you have someone to help you and Seven.¡±


    ¡°I can ask around,¡± said Fass. ¡°Are you working for the Society also?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still in the probation period,¡± said June. ¡°The Society wants me to set up where


    I ran into Boim so Jack isn¡¯t all up in my business.¡±


    ¡°They think June should sink on her own,¡± said Jack. ¡°This will be her first real case


    other than helping her assistant out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Can you do as much as Jack and Josie?,¡± asked Eric.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said June. ¡°They only gave me four names. They didn¡¯t give me a reason,


    but I am going to say I¡¯m new and they don¡¯t trust me yet.¡±


    ¡°They might think Jack¡¯s genius runs in the family,¡± said Fass. He stopped himself


    from saying what he meant at the last moment.


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± said June. ¡°So we¡¯re going to hit this place? Josie still has the


    Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll come up with something when Mister Warner gets here,¡± said Jack. ¡°I doubt we


    have to travel that far beyond the city.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s many days on horses,¡± said Fass. ¡°Flight from either the quinjet or the Enterprise


    would make our travel a lot faster and easier.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said June. ¡°I need something in case a quest heads out of my future


    headquarters. I might as well work on it for this.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure, Juni?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who has seen a movie,¡± said June. She smiled. ¡°Do we have


    a plan?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to go down and look at the place,¡± said Jack. ¡°If Eric¡¯s uncle is still


    holding on, we get him out and away. If he isn¡¯t, we back off and let Josie do her


    thing.¡±


    ¡°Sounds neat and concise,¡± said June. She nodded as she considered the steps that


    will have to go into each step in her mind. ¡°But you know what Iron Mike used to


    say.¡±


    ¡°Nooooo,¡± said Jack. He had heard something once upon a time, but he wasn¡¯t sure.


    He glanced at the Fasses and Jane. They didn¡¯t have a clue either from their faces.


    ¡°Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face,¡± said June. She grinned at


    them, as Jack groaned.


    Mister Warner strode into the cafeteria, frowning as he looked everything over. He


    walked toward the table. His hair was darker, and his wrinkles had faded to almost


    nothing. He looked more like Matt Smith¡¯s Doctor than ever.


    And he didn¡¯t look too happy about it.


    ¡°Mister Warner,¡± said Jack. ¡°Thanks for coming down. We¡¯re going to do an


    extraction from Fort Devermore. This is Eric and Eileen Fass.¡±


    ¡°Fass?,¡± said Warner. ¡°Related to Earl Fass?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my grandfather,¡± said Fass. He smiled. ¡°He¡¯s still living in the Patch.¡±


    ¡°Now that we are all here, we should head out,¡± said Jack. He stood. ¡°June is


    handling transportation for us.¡±


    ¡°This should be good,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Jack, we need to talk afterwards about


    this.¡±


    He pointed at his newer face.


    ¡°It will stop eventually,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now is your chance to chase women and drink


    until you are falling down.¡±


    ¡°Why would I do that?,¡± asked Warner. ¡°I planned to retire because I was old. Now


    I am young again, and I am not sure I like the idea.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s help these adventurers out so we can tell Josie we


    don¡¯t need her telling us what we can¡¯t do.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re on your own, bro,¡± said June. She patted Jack¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°You need Josie to tell you what to do,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°You would founder


    otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go before you guys make me feel worse,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯re going now?,¡± asked Eileen.


    ¡°The Society has warned us that new quests are in the offing,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need


    to do this as fast as possible before we have to look at their new jobs. They want us


    to concentrate on their problems until they are done, and then we can handle side


    issues.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Eileen,¡± said Eric. ¡°I will be well protected while we are looking at the


    place.¡±


    ¡°I will make sure that Eric is well protected while we conduct our business,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Mister Warner is a vet. He¡¯s killed so many monsters, the survivors are scared


    of his name. No one will come close to us as long as he is there.¡±


    ¡°You can stay here, or at the House until they come back,¡± said Jane. ¡°It will keep


    your mind off things until Master Fass returns.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Eric. ¡°Jack is very good in the things I need done. I doubt I will


    be gone for long with his methods in place.¡±


    ¡°Elaine will let Josie know what happened when she gets back in town,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°So if we can hold out that long from any unforseen problem, the problem will go up


    in smoke when she gets there with the Enterprise. You can trust me on that.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Eileen. ¡°I will stay here and get everything I need to do under


    control.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s Massa, Jane?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°She was doing fine when I left her,¡± said Jane. ¡°That elixir was a little rougher than


    we thought it would be.¡±


    ¡°Make sure she has plenty of water until it stops working,¡± said Jack. He gestured


    for the group to start moving. ¡°Show us this transportation, Juni. I would love to


    see what you come up with.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be an Enterprise,¡± said June. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have enough control for


    something like that, but it will get us there fast enough to handle the problem and


    come back to the city to meet Josie and Boim.¡±


    ¡°Boim will like that if she has to bail out her sisters from where you guys set up,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°I know,¡± said June.


    The group walked across the building to the front door. They stepped outside and


    walked to the sign marking the end of the hospital¡¯s territory.


    ¡°Show us what you got, Juni,¡± said Jack. He gestured for her to make with the magic.


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be anything impressive,¡± said June. She reached for her watch.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come up with something better when I need it.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. He had some ideas to use if they needed them. He could build


    another quinjet in a few seconds if he wanted to bad enough. He was going to step


    back and let June shine a little.


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. She dialed Kami. She focused on the world around her, calling


    up spirits for aid. She merged the spirits together, changing loose rock into floating


    wood, carving it into a particular shape that floated above the ground. She made the


    changes permanent, then let the persona go. ¡°Here we go.¡±


    ¡°This looks familiar,¡± said Jack. He patted the dragon head figurehead on the front


    of the floating boat. ¡°But bigger.¡±


    ¡°It will take us to where we have to go,¡± said June. She grabbed the side and swung


    over the top of the hull. ¡°It might be a little windy.¡±


    She reached out a hand to help Eric up, and then Mister Warner. Jack swung himself


    aboard on the other side.


    ¡°Grab a seat,¡± said June. She went to the stern and sat in front of the tiller, as the


    others found seats on benches on the deck. ¡°Take us to Fort Devermore.¡±


    The boat unfurled sails. It picked up speed and headed for the nearest gate out of


    the city. It railed through before the guards could ask what was going on and headed


    south in almost a straight line. Animals and monsters scattered out of its way as


    the dragon blew steam from its mouth.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am sorry I doubted you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fast,¡± said June. The wind pulled on her braid as she looked around. ¡°The rate


    we¡¯re going, we¡¯ll be able to see this fort in an hour or so.¡±


    ¡°Sooner than that,¡± said Eric. ¡°We just passed the mile marker sign pointing back


    to Hawk Ridge. That is at least a day away from the city.¡±


    ¡°There are two more between here and Devermore,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°We should


    start trying to slow down when we see the second one.¡±


    June nodded. She had not considered they should sneak up on the fort in her ask. She


    had decided on pure speed first.


    ¡°Dragon boat,¡± she said. ¡°When you reach the third mile marker, slow down to a


    walk. We might have to stop before we reach the fort.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mistress,¡± hissed the figurehead.


    ¡°You said your uncle was on a delve, Eric?,¡± said Jack. He needed to take his eyes off


    the blurred lines of trees. ¡°What was he looking for?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Eric. ¡°I received the note and asked for permission to mount


    a rescue right before we went to look at the hospital. Sally said she would allow it


    under the rules as an official guild action. Running into you was a stroke of luck.¡±


    ¡°June, stop us about a quarter mile, half mile away from the fort,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can


    look around from there.¡±


    ¡°Dragon boat, please stop us a half mile from the destination,¡± said June. ¡°We will


    need cover.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mistress,¡± said the figurehead.


    ¡°The initial plan is to look around from the outside of the place,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we


    can use the watches to break in and do a quiet rescue. Once Eric¡¯s uncle is out, we


    can use full force on the place.¡±


    ¡°A lot of my guys¡¯ physical abilities are arrow range,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Samson


    will allow me to act as a catapult if we need that.¡±


    ¡°I have a sniper rifle with Bond,¡± said June. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I would be able to


    do with Sakura, but I can put something together as Kami to open the fort up.¡±


    ¡°I have a lot of big gun potential, or something to handle up close crowd dispersal,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t have a lot of blasters that I can use from a distance.¡±


    ¡°Really,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Marvel should be lousy with that kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid of what would happen if I call up someone like Nova, or Firestar,¡± said


    Jack. He made an explosion gesture with his hands.


    ¡°The name change does that,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I guess you could go with


    someone like Yondu. He¡¯s an archer, and his ability shouldn¡¯t be changed around that


    much.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an excellent thought,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t believe Josie got a gunfighter and


    I got a goat with a gun.¡±


    ¡°Goat with a gun?,¡± said June. She grinned at her brother.


    ¡°Hap said he likes to put a trick persona in for his own amusement,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The boat is slowing,¡± said Eric. ¡°We must have passed the third marker while we


    were talking.¡±


    Two of the sails furled as the boat slowed down. The figurehead looked right and left


    for the cover June wanted before deciding on a mass of trees it could squeeze into and


    not be visible from the road. It furled the rest of its sails as it float to a stop the


    required distance from the fort.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let us go to the edge of the trees and look at the place. After


    that, we can take the intel and use that to break in.¡±


    The group hopped to the ground and took a moment to get their land legs. June patted


    the figurehead as she passed. Its grin grew wider at the knowledge of a job well done.


    They paused at the edge of the tree line where grass took over and ran to where


    Devermore stood reaching for the sky.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look,¡± said Jack. He called on Vision and looked across the cleared


    field. ¡°All right, I see five guys walking the wall, one guy in a kitchen toward the


    center, three guys roaming the rooms, and a group under the fort. One guy is down


    separate from them but close. Let me pull back.¡±


    He adjusted his vison.


    ¡°All right,¡± he said. ¡°The group under the fort is in the dungeon.¡±

 The New House

    Josie and Three Russ paused a few blocks away from where they had encountered the


    guards. They needed a place that could be turned into a barracks, but nothing stood


    out this close to the Exchange.


    Josie checked her watch. As soon as it was full power, she planned to send out a bird


    to do the job for her.


    ¡°These Montrose,¡± said Three. ¡°Have you been hunting them long?¡±


    ¡°I ran into them when I first arrived in Hawk Ridge,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack and I have


    been weeding them out ever since. The thing with the Shemmarians was a new


    wrinkle brought on by a quest for the Society.¡±


    ¡°What do you think they will do about the dead guards?,¡± asked Three. ¡°Frenda


    hasn¡¯t learned how to fight as far as I know.¡±


    ¡°I doubt they will do anything,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I were you, I would ask for a teacher


    from the local adventurers, or teach her yourself.¡±


    ¡°I will think about it,¡± said Three.


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you,¡± said Josie. She looked around, feeling lost in the middle of the streets


    they had walked from where they were attacked.


    ¡°What are you looking for?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°A better place to operate from other than that small apartment building you live in,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Do you have any opinion on it?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Three. ¡°The last place I lived before I wound up here was basically


    a closet.¡±


    ¡°Let me throw out a divination, and see where it takes us,¡± said Josie. ¡°Ideally we


    want a house here in the city.¡±


    ¡°I can just walk away,¡± said Three. ¡°I don¡¯t owe you anything.¡±


    ¡°You can,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t stop you. Your sister will say something about it. You


    will be on the run if any of the survivors gets taken and they turn you in, and the


    Montrose finds out. I doubt they will let you live if they can help it.¡±


    ¡°No one knows who I am,¡± said Three.


    ¡°Frenda does, and they know her,¡± said Josie. ¡°And we know you aren¡¯t going to


    walk away from her since you have been hunting her kidnappers for however long


    you have been doing it. I know I am extorting you. No, I am not going to care about


    that. The needs of the many are outweighing the wants of the one.¡±


    ¡°I hope you catch a wasting disease,¡± said Three.


    ¡°One day, I am going to die taking care of things for the Society,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I


    fail with the wrong one, the world is going to be extinct. You might have a few


    seconds to be happy about that. Until then, I am hiring you as my agent to help the


    helpless and defend the defenseless. Hopefully you will be keeping the city safe


    against the minor things I can¡¯t touch from Hawk Ridge. Eventually, I might move


    up here so Jack can have his own spot in the sun with his beloved.¡±


    ¡°Move up here?,¡± said Three. ¡°I don¡¯t want that.¡±


    ¡°You should do a good job, so I pick another city to settle in and make my own if


    I do think about moving,¡± said Josie. She smiled at her companion.


    ¡°That is a piece of extortion too far,¡± said Three.


    Josie smiled again as she moved down the street, frowning when she reached a small


    open court. A statue stood there. It looked like Mister Warner when he was younger.


    It held a fist in the air.


    She sat down at the base of the statue. She gestured for Three to take a seat too. She


    closed her eyes for a second. She wanted the place that would be best for this version


    of Jane¡¯s Amazons.


    ¡°What are we doing?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°I am going to find you a house that we can convert into a headquarters for you and


    anyone you pick up,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you free anyone from the Montrose, it will be a


    place for the victims to get back on their feet and decide if they can go home, or not.¡±


    ¡°Are you comfortable with my hiring people to help me?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be the boss,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you need help, I will come up here from


    the south to help you. Matter of fact, I will leave you a message in a bottle to send to


    me if you need me.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Three.


    Josie called on Zatanna. She thought about what she wanted and threw a bird in the


    air. It dripped fire as it flew away. She let the persona go as she waited.


    ¡°What are we doing?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°Waiting,¡± said Josie. ¡°The bird is looking for a place we can use. When it lands, it


    will let us know so we can look around.¡±


    ¡°How long will that take?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°As long as it takes,¡± said Josie. ¡°How big is the city?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any idea,¡± said Three.


    They popped from beneath the statue and looked around in a dusty room. They started


    coughing. Josie stood, brushing off her pants as she looked around.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Where are we?,¡± said Three. ¡°It looks like no one has lived here in a while.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s going to be exactly what we need,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s find a door so


    we can look at the outside.¡±


    They walked through the gloomy interior until Josie spotted a cracked and broken


    door. She pushed it out of the way. She stepped out on a porch that had seen better


    days. She walked out and turned to look at the beaten house that sagged in front of


    her.


    Three joined her, looking at the neighborhood. She frowned at the cracked houses and


    kids in the street running wild.


    ¡°Are you sure this is exactly what we need?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°You know I can fix this place up?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I would love to see it,¡± said Three.


    ¡°All it needs is a touch of Mary Poppins,¡± said Josie. She smiled at her new associate.


    ¡°Mary Poppins?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°She was practically perfect in every way,¡± said Josie. She pulled on Zatanna.


    She threw out a few hundred firebirds to fix the house up and clean it up.


    She made sure that a regular bathroom was put in as one of the most important


    changes.


    Time rewound as the birds did their jobs, fixing the house, cleaning it, replacing holes


    and running out stray animals and monsters. When each task was done, the bird


    vanished back to where it had come from.


    ¡°So Mary Poppins had a flock of birds as her minions?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s look at it now.¡±


    They stepped inside the house and walked around. Three frowned at the gleaming


    wood, and repainted walls. A picture of her and her sisters hung on the wall in one


    of the rooms. Josie decided to use the bathroom while she could.


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I have never seen a house that looked this good,¡± said Three. ¡°It has a picture of the


    seven of us on the wall in one of those rooms.¡±


    ¡°Probably your office, or bedroom,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think there are some things that


    need to be done, but you can do that while Seven and I finish the rest of our


    business.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea where we are in the city,¡± said Three.


    ¡°Neither do I,¡± said Josie. ¡°We should ask someone for directions.¡±


    ¡°And who would that be?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± said Josie, triggering her com band. ¡°Can you see us?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Can you see the other Boim Russ?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Can you give us a direction to go?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She is ten miles east,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. She cut the call. ¡°Let¡¯s get your group of new friends


    and assistants together and move them in.¡±


    ¡°I have to get my camping gear,¡± said Three. ¡°We left it in the woods when we went


    after Frenda.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send a bird to get it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Three.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me do that right now, and then I¡¯ll carry us back to your place.


    Then Seven and I will have to check on Two, and her church.¡±


    ¡°What is wrong with her church?,¡± asked Three.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. She became Zatanna again long enough to send out birds


    for the gear and the horses they had left on the road. She left the wagons. She made


    one more addition to the house before she let the persona go. ¡°We can go and get


    everyone else. Then Seven and I have to move on.¡±


    ¡°Did you have to put up a sign?,¡± asked Three. She pointed at the plaque beside the


    door.


    ¡°How else will anyone know you are there to help?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Have you ever


    flown before?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Three. ¡°What kind of question is that?¡±


    ¡°You are in for treat,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. She had enough time to fly


    across the city. She turned into Northwind and headed for the destination pointed out


    by the Enterprise. Three flew behind her, trying not to scream at sailing through the


    air in a whirlwind.


    They set down on top of Three¡¯s apartment building. She tried not to throw up on the


    roof. Josie let the persona go, smiling a little.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t so bad, was it?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ever do that again,¡± said Three. She stomped her feet a little. ¡°I thought I was


    going to die.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to the others,¡± said Josie. ¡°They¡¯ll want to know they will have to get


    supplies and clothes to go with their new home.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Three. ¡°Frenda will probably love something like that house and


    making friends with people in a new neighborhood.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to give up your adventuring,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m just asking you to


    focus it a little. The more the Montrose is shut down, the safer women and girls will


    be. I think helping their victims where we can goes toward stopping them just a


    little.¡±


    ¡°I will do what I can,¡± said Three. ¡°I initially started tracking Frenda through some


    log books I found.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go downstairs,¡± said Josie. ¡°Ten miles is a long way to walk for the women we


    freed. I¡¯ll have to carry everything back.¡±


    ¡°Please no flying,¡± said Three. She held up her hands in a warding gesture.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll use the birds to move everything. It should be a snap.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± said Three. She started down the ladder to the floors below, sliding


    through a window near her apartment door. She knocked before she pushed the door


    open. Josie followed.


    Seven and Frenda had packed everything in two bags. Those sat by the door. One


    woman had a jar of tin pennies in her hand. The women looked ready for anything.


    ¡°Tell them your extortion,¡± said Three. She waved at the women.


    ¡°I have prevailed upon Mistress Russ to be your guardian as long as you live at her


    new quarters,¡± said Josie. ¡°I opened an account with the Money Exchange so you


    have money to buy food, clothes, some luxuries. I have asked Mistress Russ to help


    the people in the neighborhood around your base, and any that are saved from the


    Montrose, the tattooed men. If you don¡¯t want to be sheltered, I have the means to


    send you wherever you want to go from here.¡±


    ¡°The place is going to need furniture and some amenities,¡± said Three. ¡°We¡¯ll have


    to get settled in and think about getting them the rest of the day, or tomorrow. Same


    with the food.¡±


    ¡°I would recommend learning how to use a sword, or bow,¡± said Josie. ¡°That will


    allow you to defend yourselves a bit better.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see this new place,¡± said Frenda. ¡°It will be good not to have to deal with


    Master Arlen¡¯s hands.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°As soon as we do this, Seven and I have to go. The rest will


    be up to you.¡±


    Josie pulled on Zatanna and sent out a flock of birds, chaining them to the women and


    their bags. She waited patiently as Three vanished first, then Frenda, then the rest one


    by one. Then Seven went, and she went last.


    She smiled at the talk she heard when she arrived. They seemed to be amazed at the


    house and what they would have to do to make it theirs. She summoned a bottle with


    a small spark in it, and the deed to the house in case the authorities wanted to know


    what was going on. She made two sets of casebooks last.


    ¡°Three,¡± said Josie. She held out the things for the sister to take. ¡°The bottle is to be


    broken if you need help. Put it somewhere safe but easy to get to when you need it.


    The deed is to show you own the house now. One set of books is the official quests


    we have done. The other set is what we have found out about the Montrose in the


    south. I want you to have them so you know what we have dealt with so far. I will


    check on you when I have time to help out if you need it. Don¡¯t forget the defense


    classes. Even if you never need it, it will be a tool in case you do.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for finding Frenda for me,¡± said Three. ¡°It would have taken forever for


    me to do it on my own. She might have been killed by the time I caught up with them.


    I don¡¯t know if I like this other thing, but I will talk with Frenda about it and see what


    we can do with it.¡±


    ¡°Do your best,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s all anyone can do.¡±

 Devermore

    Jack considered options as he let the Vision go. The three of them had enough raw


    power to destroy the fort, and kill all of the enemy between them. The guy guarding


    the dungeon might still be able to get to Fass¡¯s uncle while they were ripping the top


    of the place apart.


    And Eric said the fort was important to the Army and shouldn¡¯t be destroyed over


    something like this.


    How did they do things without letting everything get out of hand?


    ¡°I can get inside and get rid of these bandits easy,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I have


    Phantasmo on my watch. It will be nothing for me to get through the walls with him.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can punch through the gate if I can get close enough, or fly


    over the wall as the Falcon. We have a lot of options.¡±


    ¡°I think the best thing would be to get Eric¡¯s uncle out of the way, and find this


    artifact,¡± said June. ¡°I vote for the phantom infiltration.¡±


    ¡°I also vote for the phantom infiltration,¡± said Eric.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we do then,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you need some kind of distraction with


    this? I¡¯m going to assume you have plenty of time to fight the whole fort.¡±


    ¡°Give me five minutes to get inside and explain to the adventurers what¡¯s going on,¡±


    said Mister Warner. ¡°Then do whatever you plan to do to pull them away from the


    dungeon and toward the gate.¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead. It¡¯s going to take me five


    minutes to walk up so I can talk to someone.¡±


    ¡°What am I supposed to do?,¡± asked June. She frowned at the other champions of


    order.


    ¡°Stand ready with Kami if we need some kind of aid, or use Bond to look at the fort


    from here,¡± said Jack. ¡°He should have some kind of binoculars you can use, right?¡±


    ¡°I think I have a rifle with a scope,¡± said June.


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot me,¡± said Jack. ¡°The rest will take care of itself.¡±


    ¡°I can be a distraction too,¡± said June. ¡°I can be a better distraction than you.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Fine,¡± said June. She took off her jacket to reveal a T-shirt from Gold¡¯s Gym with


    a picture of a weightlifter straining to lift a bar. She handed the jacket to Eric. She


    pulled the front of the shirt out and tied a knot in it. She rolled the bottom of her


    sweat pants up as far as they would go on both legs. She closed her eyes and tried to


    imagine the picture she presented. ¡°Five minutes?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all it¡¯s going to take for me to get rid of the guard in the dungeon,¡± said


    Mister Warner.


    ¡°If something happens, just get out of there,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know Kami can wreck the


    fort, but we don¡¯t want anything like that.¡±


    June ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it out. When she was fighting, she


    bound it in a braid. She hadn¡¯t thought she would need to do that on Reed World.


    ¡°I got it, Jack,¡± said June. She smiled at her younger brother. ¡°You don¡¯t have to


    worry about me.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I do,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She has to know,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°She has to know what this work is like.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to like it,¡± said Jack. He frowned at his sister. ¡°Any real trouble, blow


    up the fort as a distraction. I¡¯ll be there a second later.¡±


    ¡°I got it, worrywart,¡± said June. She smiled. She started down the road toward the pile


    of stones in a jog. She hoped she looked frightened to the lookouts on the wall.


    ¡°My turn,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything drastic. I will be cutting the


    bandits down as soon as I clear the dungeon. June will be safe.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t have to like it.¡±


    Mister Warner touched his watch. He became a legless floating image of a thing. He


    sank into the ground and headed for the fort.


    ¡°This part is the part I hate the most,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She will be fine,¡± said Eric. ¡°They will want to talk to her at length about why she


    was running down the road. Once she is ready, I am sure she can hold off any normal


    fighter.¡±


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to explain all of this to the folks,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s no magic


    back home. They are not going to take June running off and getting killed for a


    organization of do-gooders well.¡±


    ¡°Just keep your eyes open,¡± said Eric. ¡°If things go bad, you can still do something


    from here.¡±


    Jack grimaced as he watched the fort. He spotted men on the ramparts pointing at


    June running toward them. He wondered what Mister Warner was doing. He decided


    that he should keep his watch charging in case he needed something to get to the fort


    fast to help June.


    Mister Warner had already shown what he could do with the Dart.


    June stopped running within shouting distance of the wall. She pointed behind her.


    Jack couldn¡¯t make out the words, but he assumed she was saying something like


    bandits or monsters had attacked in the trees.


    What would they do with that news?


    He doubted they were going to send out a party to investigate the claim. Why would


    they? Only real adventurers would do something like that. Bandits would hunker


    down and hope the other group didn¡¯t make a play for their own temporary


    headquarters.


    ¡°Time¡¯s almost up for Mister Warner,¡± said Eric.


    Three of the five men on the ramparts of the fort¡¯s outer wall fell over the side. That


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.alerted the survivors that they were not alone. It was already too late by then. The


    flying arrow doubled back and took the last two watchmen before they could get


    cover, or throw themselves off the wall.


    ¡°It looks like he took the outer guards,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see if he really took the


    place from the inside.¡±


    Jack stepped out of the concealing woods. He headed for the fort. He felt better when


    the gate lowered to let them in. He doubted any bandit was going to do that unless


    they thought that June was in on whatever was going on.


    And they wanted to express their displeasure about it.


    June edged forward to look in the central courtyard. She paused at the men holding


    weapons at the main hall.


    The group held June at arm¡¯s length. They looked at the dead bodies littering the


    courtyard. Their rescuer had killed them all in a matter of seconds once he got going.


    Jack joined June at the gate as one of the older men took over and arranged a funeral


    pyre for the dead. They couldn¡¯t let the bodies sit where they lay. That would attract


    too many scavengers.


    ¡°Uncle Errol?,¡± called Eric. ¡°I got your message and came to see what was going on.¡±


    ¡°Eric?,¡± said Errol Fass. He looked at his nephew with one normal eye, and one milky


    one. His mane of white hair retreated from the scowl he wore, and the intenseness of


    his gaze. ¡°I thought the messenger hadn¡¯t got through.¡±


    ¡°I was going to come down with my party, but the champions of order agreed to help


    me,¡± said Eric. ¡°Why are you here, Uncle?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a formula for a healing potion,¡± said Errol. ¡°We have a contract with


    an alchemist to look for it here in Devermore.¡±


    ¡°Did he tell you about the giant spiders?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t seen anything like that,¡± said Errol. ¡°There wasn¡¯t anything at the local


    town.¡±


    ¡°I ran into some a long time ago,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°They had a tunnel system


    under the fort. I collapsed part of it down to keep them from surfacing and eating


    whomever was stationed here.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve camped here for a bit, and haven¡¯t found what we¡¯re looking for,¡± said Errol.


    ¡°We were about to call it quits when this crowd showed up and got inside the gate.


    They said they had proper orders from the guild, but when I lowered the drawbridge,


    they attacked us.¡±


    ¡°Looking for the same elixir formula?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Errol. ¡°I¡¯m glad they are dead.¡±


    ¡°Pack up your stuff, and we will give you a lift to Hawk Ridge,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can


    get checked out there and the Guild will put you up until you are ready to come back


    to look again.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to give up like that,¡± said Errol. ¡°It has to be here.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be here,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be anywhere.


    Your alchemist might have hired you for something he knew you wouldn¡¯t be able


    to find.¡±


    ¡°Josie could find it with one of her birds,¡± said Eric.


    ¡°She¡¯s up north,¡± said Jack. ¡°But we can call her and see if she can help us from up


    there. Do you want to try that? If it¡¯s not here, I will be glad to arrange for you to


    travel with us back to Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°This Josie can do what we can¡¯t do without being here?,¡± asked Errol.


    ¡°She is the terror that flaps in the night,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Call her,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Then we can get this show on the road.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He triggered the button for the Enterprise. ¡°Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°Communication received,¡± said the machine.


    Jack paused. How far could he reach the Enterprise from the ground? Was it line of


    sight? Was it some kind of magic wave band?


    ¡°Can you connect me to Josie?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I need to ask her for a favor.¡±


    ¡°Connection opened,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here with Eric Fass¡¯s uncle,¡± said Jack. ¡°He is looking for a secret formula in


    Fort Devermore. I was wondering if one of your birds would be able to find it for him


    so we can pull out of here without doing something drastic.¡±


    ¡°I can try,¡± said Josie. ¡°Secret formula?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me change. I¡¯ll send something to look for it. Hold the


    line open, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    A few moments later, a firebird flew out of the com band. The adventurers had


    expected some kind of magic, but they were still taken aback by the screaming


    phoenix.


    ¡°Follow it, Juni,¡± said Jack. ¡°See where it goes.¡±


    June called on Deku and chased after the bird. No matter how fast it flew, she could


    still chase it because she was faster.


    It led her to a portion of the floor under an empty shelf. She pushed the shelf out of


    the way, and saw the bird descend through the floor. She punched that section of the


    floor and revealed a tunnel. She dropped down the tunnel, using her braced feet to


    slow her descent. She fell into a wide open space and landed with a roll to ride out the


    impact.


    ¡°This can¡¯t be good,¡± said June. She looked around, her vision improving in the light


    from above. She saw tons of cobwebs floating in the breeze. She grimaced at the fact


    that she might be facing the same type of spider that Mister Warner had mentioned


    upstairs.


    The firebird came to rest on a skeleton in a heap next to the cavern wall. It had a pack


    on the ground next to it. The spell burst apart when it knew that June knew where the


    object of its search was.


    June crept toward the bones. She looked in every direction as she moved. The last


    thing she wanted to do was fight giant spiders on their home ground.


    She decided that she needed to switch bodies if she wanted to get out of the cave. She


    would grab the formula and then switch to Kami. The magician should be able to lift


    her out of the hunting ground she was in fairly easily.


    She didn¡¯t like the idea of giant spiders sneaking up on her to turn her into a giant


    snack. That was not something she was prepared to deal with at the moment.


    And she was less prepared to tell Jack he was right about her not being able to handle


    this new job she had talked herself into. He would gloat about it for years. She wasn¡¯t


    going to give him that satisfaction.


    It was better to beat him at his own game.


    June looked around before she committed to searching the pack of the skeleton. She


    found papers and a sample bottle. She backed away from the bones. She could see the


    webs around her shifting. Something was coming to talk to her about her trespassing.


    She jogged over to the opening in the ceiling of the cave. She changed personas,


    causing the papers and the bottle to disappear as long as she was Kami. She needed


    to get out of the hole she was in.


    She talked to the spirits in the webbing surrounding her. She asked them to change


    their purpose enough to help her climb out of the hole. The strands bunched together


    and threw themselves up through the hole in the ceiling. She tugged on the makeshift


    rope she had put together and found it was anchored up on the surface. She asked for


    the rope to pulled her up on its own.


    Something moved as she ascended. She had no doubt she had glimpsed a giant spider.


    It was huge and fast. She might have to turn and fight it. She decided that she could


    just seal it off again.


    She brushed the stone in the tunnel with her hand as she climbed. She willed for the


    stone to defy itself and stretch across the opening below her. That stopped some of


    the danger.


    She had thought the job would be a little exciting, but being eaten by giant spiders


    was a little too exciting.


    She pulled herself out of the hole. She reached out and sealed the floor again by


    grabbing several spirits of bricks and asking them to help her out. She moved the


    shelf back in place and glued it to the spot.


    ¡°I hope you¡¯re worth it,¡± said June, looking at the recovered goods when she let Kami


    go.


    ¡°How did it go, Juni?,¡± asked Jack. He looked around, hand on his watch.


    ¡°The bird went right for this,¡± said June. She held up the items. ¡°There was a skeleton


    down there, and some webs everywhere. I think I saw a giant spider before I made my


    way back up.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get away from this place as fast as we can.¡±


    ¡°How do I know this is the right thing?,¡± asked Errol. His nephew shook his head at


    the question.


    ¡°Drink some of it,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll make sure if your insides rot out that you¡¯ll get


    a decent funeral.¡±


    ¡°What kind of adventurer are you?,¡± asked Errol.


    ¡°The kind that doesn¡¯t chase giant spiders in the dark so they will bite me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Get your stuff together. We¡¯re pulling out of here, and you¡¯re going to Hawk Ridge


    until your fee is collected. Chop chop!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like you,¡± said Errol.


    Ding went Jack¡¯s head. Mister Warner nodded that he had got the same thing. June


    frowned.


    ¡°I have jobs to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get it together. I have to get started on those.¡±

 Twos Temple

    Josie took one last look around her new enterprise, talked with the freed women, and


    asked Frenda to make sure they had clothes and food. She promised to check in with


    the pair when she had time.


    ¡°You will do me proud,¡± said Seven. She hugged her sister. ¡°June will be glad to help


    you sort things out when we are in business.¡±


    ¡°Champion of order?,¡± said Three. She smiled softly.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Seven. ¡°For now I am just an assistant like you, maybe a senior


    assistant.¡±


    ¡°Three is a minion,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are a sidekick which is almost a hero, but you


    are still in a secondary role. We have to look at this thing for your other sister. Then


    we have to get back to Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°I am much better than a minion,¡± said Three. She made a pouty face.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Frenda. She patted Three¡¯s back.


    ¡°Be careful around the Exchange,¡± said Josie. ¡°We gave them a minor bruise, but


    there are more than a few goons running around trying to rob and steal from


    commoners.¡±


    ¡°I know some people that I can use to do things to try to clear them out,¡± said Three.


    Josie nodded. She had to trust in those she was picking to help her. If she had to hire


    adventurers to dump bodies somewhere, she was fine with that.


    ¡°Two is waiting for us to try to help with her church,¡± said Seven. ¡°I will talk to you


    tonight.¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Three. ¡°You can¡¯t do magic yet.¡±


    ¡°I could if Jack wanted to give me something,¡± said Seven. ¡°He is a bit mad, but he


    would to protect June.¡±


    ¡°Where is Two¡¯s church?,¡± said Josie. ¡°We still have a lot to do.¡±


    ¡°The edge of the border with Gracius,¡± said Seven. ¡°She helps people on both sides


    of the border.¡±


    Josie triggered her com to call the Enterprise. It acknowledged the call.


    ¡°Seven and I have to come aboard, Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to visit Seven¡¯s


    other sister.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It activated the transporter and pulled the first


    officer and her guest aboard. It fell back to standby mode as the humans came up to


    the bridge.


    Josie took the captain¡¯s chair. She needed the town where Two lived so the ship could


    sail down and drop them off to look at this last favor.


    ¡°Seven, tell the Enterprise where to go so we can knock this last thing out and head


    home,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Two lives in a temple on the border between Gracius and Marden south-southeast


    of our current position,¡± said Seven. ¡°They put a statue of a winged horse up close by


    the main building.¡±


    ¡°Working,¡± said the machine. ¡°Done.¡±


    ¡°Put it on the big screen,¡± said Josie. She wanted to look at where she was going.


    A wooden building that had seen better days stood beside a pegasus statue. Another


    building sat behind it. Then a small fence went around the whole thing. It looked like


    the temple had some kind of orphanage with it. A symbol decorated the front, and


    Josie took that to be the symbol of whatever faith was followed.


    Josie stood. She wondered what she could do to help out Seven¡¯s sister. Moving the


    people would be easy. Improving their prospects would be hard.


    ¡°Pull back the view so we can see the surrounding area,¡± said Josie.


    The image zoomed out to show the town up the road from the temple. Two forts faced


    each other across a river to what Josie took to be the south. A dirt road hooked all of


    this together.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do,¡± said Josie. ¡°If she is having problems, she might have to


    move and open a temple somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can fix the problem?,¡± asked Seven.


    ¡°Physical problems,¡± said Josie. ¡°If the temple survives on donations, and no one is


    donating, I can¡¯t force them to donate. I could, but as soon as they ran out of money,


    or moved, the only thing I can think of right now would just stop, or switch to another


    temple of the same faith.¡±


    ¡°Financial misuse is what the Society said,¡± said Seven.


    ¡°Maybe someone was using the donations for something else,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go


    down and talk to your sister and see what we can do.¡±


    The ladies went down to Transport Room One and beamed down to the gate. Seven


    rang the bell. At times of worship it would be slid out of the way so the people could


    enter at will.


    A few women in gray robes came out of the temple. They looked at their visitors. One


    of them was Seven¡¯s twin. She frowned when she saw her sister in strange clothes


    with a sword strapped to her hip.


    ¡°Sister?,¡± Two said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would be here for days.¡±


    ¡°We are settling some things before my new work starts,¡± said Seven. She waited for


    her sister to come close enough to open the gate. ¡°Part of that is helping you with


    your problem.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can,¡± said Two. ¡°Let us go somewhere we can talk so the others


    don¡¯t find out what is going on.¡±


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    She led the way down the road toward the town. She rubbed her forehead. She didn¡¯t


    try to engage in small talk.


    Josie maintained her silence. She had an idea that someone inside the temple had


    committed the wrong. Ideally, she shouldn¡¯t have to do anything about that. She felt


    that she would have to just to help Two out of whatever situation she was in.


    Two stopped just out of sight of the temple. She clutched her hands together. She


    didn¡¯t look like she knew where to begin with her problems.


    ¡°This is Josie Fox, June¡¯s mentor,¡± said Seven. ¡°She¡¯s here to help us if you want


    help. We talked about this after the meeting with the Society.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Two. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can help, Mistress Fox. The temple is


    missing funds, and we might have to close up. As the person in charge of the monies,


    I will be dismissed and punished as a thief. I don¡¯t know what to do.¡±


    ¡°How much are you missing?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Almost seven hundred silver,¡± said Two. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to it. I think


    someone was able to break into the vault box where we keep the money and took it,


    but I don¡¯t have any way to prove that and it would be my word against any other


    person in the temple.¡±


    ¡°I can give you the money, and trap the vault box,¡± said Josie. ¡°That will give you


    your thief if he tries to break into the box again.¡±


    ¡°You can do that?,¡± said Two. ¡°You will help me?¡±


    ¡°It should be a snap,¡± said Josie. ¡°Matter of fact, I can trap the box so the trap resets


    when the thief is freed from it. That way if there is more than one stealing, it will


    catch them too.¡±


    ¡°That will be excellent,¡± said Two.


    Josie¡¯s com band beeped.


    ¡°Connection opened,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here with Eric Fass¡¯s uncle,¡± said Jack. ¡°He is looking for a secret formula in


    Fort Devermore. I was wondering if one of your birds would be able to find it for him


    so we can pull out of here without doing something drastic.¡±


    ¡°I can try,¡± said Josie. ¡°Secret formula?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me change. I¡¯ll send something to look for it. Hold the


    line open, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Josie took the band off and handed it to Seven. She changed into Zatanna. She called


    on her firebird and sent it through the band so it could exit the other end and help


    Jack.


    A few moments later, the firebird flew out of the com band. The adventurers had


    expected some kind of magic, but they were still taken aback by the screaming


    phoenix.


    ¡°Follow it, June,¡± said Jack. ¡°Thanks Josie. Got to go.¡±


    ¡°Connection ended,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°Let me throw out another firebird,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll at least know who took the


    money before we lay our trap.¡±


    She flung the bird out. She changed back and took the com band back from Seven.


    She put it on as they watched the bird fly back out to the temple.


    ¡°You said you were missing seven hundred silver pieces,¡± said Josie. She scanned


    the side of the road. ¡°I might as well fix that too.¡±


    She found a limb broken off from a tree. She dragged it back out on the road. She


    broke off about half of the length. She frowned. The parts were still longer than what


    she needed. She could trim it if she needed after she made the changes she wanted.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± asked Two.


    ¡°I am going to finance your missing money,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I am going to trap the


    vault box. When we get back to the temple, you will know who stole the money. The


    trap will just confirm it if he does it again.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I can do if he is a member of the priesthood,¡± said Two.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that part,¡± said Josie. ¡°The trap will fix that for you.¡±


    She pulled on Doctor Alchemy. She wrapped the shorter piece of wood with her


    power. The circle of letters changed the wood into gold. She nodded as she let the


    persona go.


    ¡°The first step into exposing your thief is get more money to be stolen,¡± said Josie.


    She called on Zatanna again. She made a chopping motion with her hand and the limb


    separated into gold coins with the Mage lightning on one side, and Josie¡¯s angry


    profile on the other. She formed a box out of the other limb, polishing it into


    something simple to carry the new coins in. The coins flew into the box. She let the


    persona go. ¡°The second step is to let everyone know that you are replacing the silver


    as bait.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Two. She picked up the box. ¡°I hate to admit that I lost the other


    silver. It will still make me look incompetent.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± said Josie. ¡°The protected box will fix that.¡±


    ¡°So we walk back to the temple?,¡± said Seven. ¡°How long do you think it will take


    to spring the trap?¡±


    ¡°Longer than what we have to wait around,¡± said Josie. ¡°We still have other things


    to do. Still, if the thief takes the bait and returns, everyone will know he did it.


    Whether he can be forced out of the temple, is another matter.¡±


    They started walking back to the temple. Josie and Seven heard a ding and a list of


    quests were given to them as they neared the steps.


    ¡°The Society has given us our next jobs,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s look at this vault box. I


    can do that before we have to leave.¡±


    ¡°Four needs to be stopped,¡± said Seven. ¡°The first quest is obviously what the Society


    spokesman was talking about her stopping her research.¡±


    ¡°We need to get back with the others before we worry about how we¡¯re going to


    handle things,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might have to divide these jobs up and deal with them


    separately.¡±


    ¡°I am ready,¡± said Seven.


    ¡°What is going on?,¡± asked Two.


    ¡°The Society has given us our quests,¡± said Seven. ¡°We will be protecting the world


    from the looks of it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s the bird,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside and put this gold up.¡±


    ¡°The vault is this way,¡± said Two. She led them inside and took them to a set of stairs


    off the lobby of the temple. More winged horses and lightning decorated the walls as


    they walked to a set of offices used by the clerics to take care of their mundane


    affairs. She opened one door and stepped inside. The money box sat on a shelf with


    a lock on it.


    Josie inspected the box. She frowned at the scratches on the lock. Whomever had got


    into it didn¡¯t have a key at least.


    ¡°Who has a key for this?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Myself, and Brother Marius, the head cleric,¡± said Two. ¡°I am not sure if anyone


    else has one.¡±


    ¡°Whomever broke into the box didn¡¯t have one,¡± said Josie. ¡°All right, I am going to


    put the trap on so you know for sure who it was. I am also going to hide the other


    box so only you know where the money is.¡±


    Josie turned into Zatanna. She opened the vault box and dumped the remaining


    silver and copper into her new box. She closed and locked it back. She put her curse


    on it. She took the wood box and pushed it into the floor in front of the shelf. She


    made a cover from the surrounding brick and then tested it to make sure Two could


    open it after they were gone. She let the persona go.


    ¡°The bird will let you know who stole the money,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to have


    to go.¡±


    ¡°When June and I open our office, we will be close enough to visit,¡± said Seven.


    ¡°Also Three has been put in charge of a charity. She might need your help in running


    it.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said Two. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk tonight,¡± said Seven.


    ¡°It was nice to meet you, Two,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hopefully the next time I come through,


    it will be under better circumstances.¡±


    ¡°I might have to call you back when your spell reveals the thief,¡± said Two. ¡°I am


    sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s part of the job,¡± said Josie. She reached for her com band. ¡°Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°Connection opened,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Two to beam up,¡± said Josie. ¡°We are going to need to get back to Hawk Ridge


    as soon as we are aboard.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    They vanished in a cloud of blue sparks. The effect vanished as the door opened.


    Brother Marius poked his head inside the office. He looked around.


    ¡°I thought I heard voices, Sister Boim,¡± said the cleric. ¡°I must be slipping.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± said Two. She smiled. ¡°I had some visitors earlier and they had to go.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Marius. ¡°I still have to look at the roof for repairs.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Two. ¡°Let me know and I will write out a receipt for anything you


    might have to buy in town.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Marius. He withdrew from the room, shaking his head.

 Caroline

    Jack decided not to call Josie back. If he and the others had been alerted, she had too.


    She would be traveling back to Hawk Ridge to meet with them. He had to get Eric


    and the adventurers back north instead of leaving them in the wilderness.


    He doubted Eileen Fass would like him leaving her husband behind because he was


    in a hurry.


    ¡°The Dragon Boat said he can pull a wagon behind him,¡± said June. ¡°It¡¯ll slow us


    down.¡±


    ¡°I can build something lightweight we can use,¡± said Jack. ¡°Part of me wants to leave


    them behind to fend for themselves, but I don¡¯t see that going over well with Eric¡¯s


    wife.¡±


    ¡°Save Princess Caroline?,¡± asked June. ¡°That seems mundane compared to stop the


    book demon legion.¡±


    ¡°Josie can handle that on her own depending on which kingdom where Caroline is


    the princess,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯s a better finder than me.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°How do we get back to Hawk Ridge with all these fogies


    traveling with us?¡±


    ¡°First, we need something to carry everybody like a wagon,¡± said Jack. ¡°Next, we


    need to load everybody on this hypothetical wagon. Then we need to hook the wagon


    to the dragon boat. Then we go like heck back home so we can get started on this.


    We¡¯re going to need the Enterprise to deal with some of this.¡±


    ¡°Try not do anything that will hurt the Dragon Boat,¡± said June. ¡°I promised him that


    much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can,¡± said Jack.


    He nodded as he considered what he wanted to do. The Fasses were arguing away


    from everyone else. He frowned at that, but it wasn¡¯t his job to quell family problems.


    He started the project by making sure all the supplies, horses, and the wagon the


    adventurers had brought with them were in the same grouping. He didn¡¯t want to start


    and have to chase after a horse and place them where they needed to be.


    He pulled on Magik and created a ring to effect the area that he wanted. He formed


    a platform on top of engines that pushed gently against the ground. He caused two


    hooks to extend out of the assemblage on thin shafts. He slotted them on the stern of


    the floating boat on either side of the tiller.


    ¡°Tell it to try to go forward, June,¡± said Jack. ¡°We want to see how much of a strain


    this is on it.¡±


    June petted the dragon figurehead and asked it to float forward as safely as it could


    without losing its back end. It obliged. When she asked how much effort it had to


    exert, it told her it was minute.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving,¡± announced Jack when his sister gave him the nod. ¡°Load up or stay


    behind.¡±


    The adventurers climbed on the floating platform. A couple took seats on the wagon


    to be with the animals so they didn¡¯t do anything stupid while the thing was in


    motion. Eric helped his uncle onboard before he climbed up and took a position to


    one side of the wagon.


    Mister Warner waved from the back of the combination to let them know they could


    get started.


    Jack let Magik go as he climbed on the back of the boat. He helped June over the


    side. She gave directions for a slower pace than what they had used to travel south.


    She made sure to instruct the vehicle to stop if the effort got too much for it.


    Sails unfurled as the phantom wind pushed on the Dragon Boat. Steam escaped its


    nostrils as it started forward. The assemblage flew down the road with the cutting of


    the air.


    ¡°Where do we get started?,¡± asked June. She watched the road from her seat in the


    back.


    ¡°We dump these guys at the Hospital,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we head back to the Hole in


    the Wall, and see if Elaine knows any of this. Then we get the Enterprise back and fly


    at what we think we can fix. I should call her and see if she knows anything about


    Tern.¡±


    ¡°Boim isn¡¯t going to like her sister causing problems like this after she was warned


    off,¡± said June.


    ¡°Not our problem,¡± said Jack. ¡°We aren¡¯t family counselors. We¡¯re problem solvers.


    And Boim¡¯s sister is a problem that we are going to have to solve if we want to


    uphold the peace, and protect the planet.¡±


    ¡°So how do we solve it?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°We turn Josie loose on it and see what we can do after the resulting catclysm,¡± said


    Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°I was thinking of something more concrete,¡± said June. ¡°Something with a little bit


    less explosions and things burning up as they launch for the sun.¡±


    ¡°The first step for these jobs is gathering intel,¡± said Jack. He scratched his scar as he


    watched the walls of Hawk Ridge approach. ¡°We need to be able to see what we have


    to deal with before we can deal with it. Once we have an outline of the problem, then


    we can think about fixing it. Since we know Shemmaria is involved, the first thing


    we will have to do is get the Enterprise and do a flyover to see if we can spot


    whatever is going on and fix it.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we can do that?,¡± said June.


    ¡°I am sure we can do something,¡± said Jack. ¡°Once we are on the job, the rest will fall


    into place.¡±


    ¡°We probably should start slowing down,¡± called Mister Warner from the back. ¡°We


    don¡¯t want to wreck the gate by accident.¡±


    ¡°Slow down to walking speed and then carefully take us to Jane¡¯s Hospital,¡± said


    June. ¡°We will unhook the trailer and then we will have to head to the Hole in the


    Wall.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mistress,¡± said the dragon as it lowered some of its sails to ease up on its speed.


    The dragon boat floated through the gate and used one of the few cross streets to head


    directly towards its goal. It had to make a series of turns and then it was on the road


    in front of the new facility. It slid gently to a stop in front of the sign.


    ¡°Mister Warner,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to unhook the trailer. Then we can leave


    everything else here while we see about these quests.¡±


    Mister Warner waved his understanding. He jumped down from the platform. He


    waved some adventurers over from the door. He told them what had happened and


    how Errol and his group had to be checked out before they could be allowed to roam


    around. A guard for the trailing hauler should be put in place too.


    Errol Fass tried to argue about the disposition of his goods. Mister Warner said


    something to him that Jack didn¡¯t catch. He became his Hulk, stretching in the torn


    clothes he wore. One lift and push freed the hauler.


    Mister Warner waved for the adventurers to go inside and listen to Eric. He had


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.already done his good deed for the day, now he had work to do that an old party of


    mercenaries couldn¡¯t help in any way.


    Jack let his homeless looking monster free. He knew the platform would be easy for


    anyone to steal. It was also unique enough that he could find it from the air if he had


    to search. If it was still there when they got done, he would donate it to the hospital


    for supply runs.


    ¡°Thank you for helping me,¡± said Eric. He kept an eye on his uncle. ¡°Do you need me


    on this quest?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°If it gets bad enough that we need an army of adventurers to


    help us, we¡¯ve probably lost the objective. Enjoy your time with your wife, get the


    hospital to look after you for a bit, get ready for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can have a party for when I go home,¡± said June.


    ¡°Let¡¯s save the world before we think about getting cake and ice cream,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°And now that I am thinking it, I want it. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Nice meeting you, Eric,¡± said June. She waved at him before she asked the Dragon


    Boat to pull up and turn around to go the other way.


    ¡°Fass,¡± said Mister Warner. He straightened his jacket before he climbed on the boat


    and took a seat next to the figurehead.


    ¡°Tell your uncle to test the formula on something other than a human being,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°I doubt someone hired him to find a healing potion when there are already so


    many in use here.¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Eric.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get paid for that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Take it easy, Eric.¡±


    Jack¡¯s com band beeped before he boarded the dragon boat. He saw that it was Elaine


    and opened the channel.


    ¡°Hey,¡± said Jack. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°We have a visitor from the crown,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Duke Hent brought him by.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re on the way back to the Hole in the Wall right now,¡± said Jack. He looked up.


    June nodded her understanding. ¡°We should be there in a couple of minutes.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard from Josie, but I expect she is on the way


    back too. How hard could it have been to help Boim¡¯s sisters?¡±


    ¡°Depends on how much running around she had to do,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re coming.¡±


    Jack climbed on the boat. He looked around. June and Mister Warner were already


    onboard. He nodded.


    ¡°Take us to the Hole in the Wall,¡± said June. ¡°It¡¯s on the southwest wall part of the


    city.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mistress,¡± said the dragon.


    The sails unfurled and the boat floated down the street. It made a few turns and then


    hit a straightaway where it could speed up while dodging people in the street. Jack


    kept the band open as they sailed along.


    The boat slowed as the Hole in the Wall came into sight. Two carriages were in front


    of the bulge they used for their headquarters. Some guys in armor guarded the door.


    Jack recognized two as the Duke¡¯s personal guard.


    They waved at him when they saw the boat coming down the street.


    Jack jumped to the ground when the boat floated to a stop and furled its sails. The


    figurehead huffed out some steam. June patted the dragon as she stood back. Deku


    would be okay in this situation, but Kami would make things much easier.


    ¡°His Grace is waiting inside,¡± said one of the bodyguards. He pointed with his thumb.


    ¡°Some muckity muck from the capitol is in with him.¡±


    ¡°Elaine and the kids?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Had to restrain your dragon from setting someone on fire,¡± said the guard. ¡°Things


    have calmed down now.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s Matilda¡¯s dragon, and he is really protective of her,¡± said Jack. ¡°You know how


    that is.¡±


    ¡°It was a sight to see,¡± said the guard. ¡°I am glad I was outside. This guy represents


    the Crown. Don¡¯t let your friend rip him to pieces.¡±


    ¡°Is Josie here?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie is a ton of magnitudes more protective than Aviras.


    Let me go inside and see what we can do. This is June and Mister Warner. June is our


    new hireling and Mister Warner is like Josie if she was old and a man. They¡¯re our


    replacements if something happens to us.¡±


    The guard nodded at the strangers. The description of Mister Warner as an older Josie


    didn¡¯t relax his guard.


    Jack pushed through the crowd. If he was attacked, he knew June and Mister Warner


    would be on this crowd like rabid monkeys. He doubted his sister would seriously


    hurt any of them, but his mentor had been making good use of the Dart and his flying


    arrow in the last few days.


    He stepped inside the apartment and found his visitors sitting at the dining room


    table. Their guards stood behind them. Beatrice and Laura were on the other side of


    the table, the younger girls behind them. Matilda had Aviras in her arms instead of


    on her head. He looked a little sullen, with flames licking around his snout.


    He didn¡¯t see Elaine.


    She came out of the kitchen with a tray of cups in hand. She smiled when she saw


    Jack taking in the scene.


    ¡°Milord,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. He took the tray from Elaine so he wouldn¡¯t be tempted


    to do something rash. He carried it to the table, and put it down. He began handing


    out the servings of tea. ¡°Duke Hent. How do you do, Your Grace?¡±


    The other man opened his mouth to interrupt, but Jack held up a hand. He knew the


    Duke, fairly liked the Duke, was willing to listen to the Duke first. He didn¡¯t have the


    inclination to listen to someone being rude.


    It was no wonder the man¡¯s surcoat had scorch marks on it.


    ¡°I¡¯m well, Jack,¡± said the Duke. ¡°This is Lord Brant. The King has asked him to


    personally deliver a message to Mistress Fox.¡±


    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you,¡± said Jack. He couldn¡¯t help measuring the guy for a


    body bag. ¡°It always a pleasure to deal with someone from the capitol. I see that you


    have met Josie¡¯s sisters and my beloved Elaine. Girls, have you done your school


    work yet?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Please go ahead out to the Hangar, and get started,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society has


    handed down quests and we have to get ready to deal with them.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Milord,¡± said Beatrice. She waved for the other girls to go before her.


    She leaned over to whisper in Jack¡¯s ear. ¡°Thank you for the ring. Aviras slowed


    these people down when I used it to turn up his flame.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°Everybody¡¯s all gangster until they run into an


    enraged flamethrower.¡±


    ¡°What is the message from the Crown, Lord Brat?,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can speak in


    front of Hent and Elaine. They help us do our jobs.¡±


    ¡°And what is your job?,¡± said Lord Brant. Jack could hear the quotation marks around


    job as he spoke.


    ¡°To destroy evil, protect the innocent, ruin an idiot¡¯s day,¡± said Josie, coming in from


    the living room. Boim Russ was behind her with a sword belted around her waist.


    ¡°Sometimes we do all three at the same time. Hello, Your Grace. It is a pleasure to see


    you again.¡±


    Duke Hent slid back from the table a little, tea cup in hand.


    ¡°It is a pleasure for me too,¡± said Hent. He sipped his tea.


    ¡°Are you Josie Fox?,¡± said Lord Brant.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not, she will be really angry,¡± said Josie. ¡°How can we help the Crown?¡±


    ¡°Princess Caroline is missing,¡± said Lord Brant. He pushed his tea cup away.


    ¡°We can fix that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why come to us at all?¡±


    ¡°The King told me she is being used as a hostage,¡± said the messenger. ¡°He said it


    had to do with the Montrose.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Josie. She pulled out her chair and sat down at the table. Her face


    smoothed over as she thought. It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that the quest came down. She


    wondered what the actual threat the Society had foreseen. ¡°We¡¯re going to have this


    meeting, and then we are going to deal with this. Some people might be killed over


    this. Do you understand that, Lord Brant?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Brant.


    ¡°Does the King understand?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think he is counting on it,¡± said Brant.


    ¡°You have a plan, Jo-jo?,¡± said June.


    ¡°Duke Hent, this is June, and Mister Warner,¡± said Jack. ¡°Guys, this is Duke Hent.


    I owe him a house.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll never get that house,¡± said June. ¡°Jack never pays what he owes.¡±


    ¡°All I need is a site,¡± said Jack. ¡°The rest will be a snap.¡±


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie. She pulled some paper out of her bag and wrote two letters with


    a pen. ¡°Take the Enterprise, go to Shemmaria. Deal with it. Mister Warner, June, Tern


    is yours. I have a feeling this a magical revolving door thing like the thing on the


    lake.¡±


    She changed long enough to send both letters off.


    ¡°Duke Hent, take the princess to the hospital and have her checked out,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Madam Fass is putting the adventurers to work there and there should be some


    Amazons there who can look after her. The Montrose have a history of rape and


    abuse. Take care of her until I get back.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do, Mistress Fox?,¡± asked Brant. He blinked at what he had


    seen in the change, and the sudden coldness filling the room.


    He would rather have the dragon back.


    ¡°I am going to kill as many of them as I can reach,¡± said Josie. Two pieces of paper


    dropped on the table. She picked them up and read them. She nodded. ¡°And I am


    going to start right now.¡±


    Josie changed to Zatanna and sent out a bird to fly toward the center of the country.


    She vanished in a second. A young lady in a ragged dress appeared in her place. Jack


    grabbed her before she could fall over.


    ¡°Caroline?,¡± said Jack. He eased her into a chair. ¡°You¡¯re safe with us.¡±


    ¡°Where did she go?,¡± asked Brant. He stood. The princess was part of his


    responsibility now that she was here and free.


    ¡°You heard her,¡± said Jack. ¡°She went to kill a bunch of people by herself. I wish she


    hadn¡¯t done that, but we have the kid here to worry about, and our own jobs. Do you


    mind taking the princess over to the hospital, Your Grace? I¡¯ll call ahead so Jane will


    have someone waiting on you.¡±


    ¡°She will be safer than in her own home,¡± said Hent. He put his tea cup down and


    stood. ¡°Captain? Let¡¯s carry out this task. If you will, Lord Brant. Young lady, I am


    Duke Hent. We¡¯re going to take you somewhere so a healer can look at you, and


    make you comfortable.¡±


    He held out a hand.

 Execution Bird

    Josie stood in darkness. She raised a hand. A spark of light formed in the palm of her


    hand. She put it on a nearby sconce and grew it into a ball big enough to light the


    room for her to see. She frowned at the cell she occupied.


    She listened. The surroundings were silent. The princess had been in her cell. Her


    captors thought she couldn¡¯t escape. Why hang around if they had other things to do?


    She let Zatanna go after creating a silent alarm to let her know if someone else arrived


    to check on the princess. She had been ready to strike down any guard she found. No


    one present meant she had to wait for someone to arrive so she could do what she was


    planning.


    She pulled out a sheet of paper and looked around for a place to write. She frowned


    at the lack of furniture. The only thing present other than her was a set of manacles.


    She frowned at that.


    She decided to use Zatanna to clean the floor so she could sit down. Then she formed


    a clipboard out of the air. She put the paper on the clipboard. She let the persona go


    so she could pull out a pen from her bag.


    She wrote down a list of things she wanted to do. She planned to do a number on the


    members of the Montrose for retaliation for taking the princess. When she had the list


    together, she put it down so she could think.


    She had no idea what the goal had been, but the Society wanting it stopped when they


    didn¡¯t usually care about personal strife pointed to something larger on the horizon.


    She could see leverage being used on the king to force him to send armed forces into


    neighboring kingdoms, or to ignore their own wrongdoing, or any number of things.


    It was a good thing she was there to put a stop to it.


    She hoped the others were up to putting out the other fires without her. She had


    already answered the quest, but wanted to make sure that the Montrose knew she was


    there to rip them up any time they did something. She wanted them fleeing the


    continent from her wrath.


    And this war was something that was growing beyond her personal vow into


    something of a holy war.


    Her watch dinged to let her know it had recharged while she had been sitting in the


    cell. She wondered when they would arrive to check on the princess. She wondered


    if they even thought of that.


    Had they decided to let her starve or run out of water in this dreary hole while telling


    her father she was still alive?


    That would be something expected from them.


    Josie decided that she would give the guards five minutes to check on the princess,


    and then she would go ahead with whatever she could find in the neighborhood.


    She had promised the king to swing by the capitol and clean some of that out.


    As the time limit was about to run out, she heard stomping outside the room¡¯s door.


    She looked at her list on the clipboard. How many was she prepared to kill?


    It was time for her to get started.


    She sat down and called on Zatanna as the footsteps approached the door. She hoped


    whomever it was belonged to the Montrose. Otherwise, she would have to divert


    some of her energy to deal with the guard while carrying out the rest of her business.


    The door opened. A face covered in tattooed names looked in the room, blinking


    against the light on the desk.


    ¡°Who are you?,¡± said the guard. ¡°Where is the princess?¡±


    ¡°My name is Josie Fox,¡± said Josie. She carved out an array in the floor to boost her


    coming spells. She should have thought of all this sooner. ¡°The princess was sent


    away where her father can pick her up when he wants. Those questions are


    reasonable, but not what you should have asked.¡±


    ¡°What should I have asked?,¡± said the guard. Another man joined him, looking over


    his shoulder.


    ¡°If the princess is rescued, will the rescuers allow me to live?,¡± said Josie.


    The guard pulled the door shut. That was smarter than she had thought. Too bad


    magic didn¡¯t care about that unless it was another magic spell that tried to block it


    from moving things around.


    Josie unleashed a hoard of her firebirds in the room. They blasted through the wall.


    She heard twin pops and the thumps of weight hitting the floor next to each other. Her


    watch timed out, and she returned to normal. She wondered how many corpses she


    had just made with that one simple action.


    She watched the timer on the watch climb. As soon as it was full, she would do


    something to clean up the bodies.


    Vultures had to eat, but it would take a mess of vultures to clean up what she had


    done with the array and her birds.


    People were going to be afraid of her after what she had done, but she had chosen the


    method to expedite her quest and to pay back the monsters for the king. She could


    have captured them all, but they would have been sentenced to execution as soon as


    they stood before the throne.


    She didn¡¯t have a problem with that.


    Her watch dinged to let her know she could do the second spell to clean up the


    corpses. She pulled on Zatanna and sent out her second wave of birds. It wasn¡¯t as


    energy intensive as blowing people¡¯s skulls apart so she didn¡¯t automatically time out.


    She let Zatanna go so the watch could recharge again.


    She had to make sure that she hadn¡¯t trapped helpless women on the road with her


    message. Then she could move on to the next step.


    What could she do with a larger array? Did she want to find out? The Society was


    already angry with Jack over his abuse of power. Did she want to walk the same path?


    Did she have what it took to build a city for all the people who needed help and


    couldn¡¯t get it? Did she want to use this place as her base stop, wherever it was?


    How much did she want to change the world?


    She decided to hold on to the thought until she talked with the Society again. She


    didn¡¯t want rules of engagement imposed on her just because she had created a city


    out of nothing.


    It was better to get their opinion first before she took such a drastic step which


    seemed counter to what they wanted their champions to do.


    The idea didn¡¯t flee from her, but she admitted that anything like that here would be


    like Camelot and doomed to failure.


    And it was something she would have to defend for the rest of her life.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    She put the idea away. Maybe one of the girls could think about it when they were


    older.


    Aviras would like being the official dragon if they did follow through with her


    thoughts.


    Her watch dinged, and she sent out the third wave of birds to free any captives and


    transport them to where she was. She needed to do something about that. Killing their


    guards meant leaving them to die if they couldn¡¯t get out of their wagons.


    She stood when she heard voices out in the hall. She let Zatanna go so the watch


    could recharge. If she needed it in the next few minutes, she had enough juice to be


    the Human Bomb for a second.


    She decided to step out in the hall. She saw a crowd of women and girls in rags and


    dirt looking around. She heard some of them ask if they had died and if this was


    where they were supposed to go and they expected better of the afterlife.


    Josie whistled the highest note she could manage. Some of the women winced at the


    sonic assault. She held up a hand to let them know she had made the noise to attract


    their attention.


    ¡°Everybody,¡± said Josie. ¡°Listen to me. My name is Josie Fox. How many have


    homes to go back to from here?¡±


    The women looked around. They seemed confused about the question. For a large


    part, they were concerned about where they were and what was going to happen to


    them.


    ¡°Ladies,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can send you home if you want to go home. All of you who


    have a place to return to please come to the front of the crowd. I can send you on your


    way in a second. Everyone who doesn¡¯t have a home, please step into the nearest


    room and watch from the door.¡±


    The women shuffled around until Josie felt like they had decided on what was going


    on. She nodded. She could send these people home. Then she had to do something


    with the rest.


    They could come with her to the royal court and she could see what the king could


    do for her.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to send you home. I will heal you as much as I


    can. The only thing I can tell you is you were taken by an organization to be sold as


    cattle, and I killed as many of those men as I could and freed you. If you know where


    those wagons were from where you land, you can send people out to get them, but I


    am probably going to send a group of adventurers to clear the roads. Get ready to go.¡±


    Josie stepped into the cell. She sat down in the array she had constructed. She pulled


    on Zatanna. Firebirds exploded from her body. They flew away to the places they


    needed to be and burst. A woman stepped from the flash of flame.


    She changed back long enough to write a letter to the king and then changed back to


    Zatanna to carry out the rest of her mission.


    She sent the letter first. The king needed to know they were coming. She didn¡¯t want


    some kind of misunderstanding where she had to do something harsh to those


    involved.


    She went to the door and looked at the remaining women and children. She frowned


    at them. She wouldn¡¯t be able to protect them if she cast something massive like her


    first spell.


    She should have brought Jack along to get her the time she needed.


    She decided that she could modify the first spell into the following curse she had used


    on the bank guard she and Three Russ had beaten. It wasn¡¯t a good compromise, but


    it was better than taking a bunch of people into a situation where they could be killed


    by being close to her.


    ¡°Are you ready to go?,¡± said Josie. She was burning energy just by being her persona.


    She needed their decision right then.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said one of the women. ¡°I need help after being carried away in the back of


    that wagon for so long. They made us stay in our own waste as we traveled.¡±


    ¡°I want you to stay close to me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will protect you as much as I can.¡±


    She sent out a bird to prepare a space for them and create an array. Then she sent out


    a line of birds to bring the group to that space with her in the center. Once there, she


    would have to clear the room of the Montrose.


    The castle, and then the capitol would follow in rapid succession.


    She frowned, knowing she was doing the opposite of what the Society wanted. She


    would take any verbal drubbing with grace.


    Josie appeared in the middle of a carved runic circle in the middle of the throne room.


    Guards had started forward at the arrival of the ragged women and children. She


    noted the king standing up and holding up his hand to keep his guards in place. She


    nodded as men and women with the Makeover had been arrested and remained off to


    one side of the room.


    She let her persona go so she could charge up her watch.


    The king frowned at the dirty peasants in his room. He turned his gaze on the people


    with the Makeover. They were going to get the axe whether Josie was there, or not.


    That much was in his eyes.


    ¡°Mistress Fox?,¡± asked the king.


    ¡°That¡¯s me,¡± said Josie. ¡°These people have been hurt and need aid. I plan to ask an


    ally to take care of them and get them back on their feet.¡±


    ¡°Caroline?,¡± asked the king.


    ¡°She is safe,¡± said Josie. ¡°I left her with Duke Hent and Lord Brant. If you want, I can


    ask about her.¡±


    ¡°Right now?,¡± asked the king.


    Josie pushed the button for the Enterprise. The ship might be in combat, but it could


    still be used as a relay back to Hawk Ridge.


    ¡°Communication acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you call Jane for me?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°Jane, did Duke Hent bring a girl to the hospital to be checked?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She is under guard on the top floor next to Massa,¡± said Jane. ¡°I have said some


    things to Hent and the lordling with him about getting in the way.¡±


    ¡°Can you put her on the line?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Her father would like to talk to her.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll take me a few minutes to get up there,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°Tell Eric that I am hiring him to be that girl¡¯s guard until we move her out of Hawk


    Ridge,¡± said Josie. ¡°Tell him I don¡¯t care how many adventurers he has to hire to do


    it. No one goes in or out without him, or one of his party, present. I will pay double


    to any man he puts on the detail.¡±


    Jane stopped to talk to someone in the hall. She made sure that he was to get Madam


    Fass and Eric on the double and have them meet her on the top floor.


    A few more minutes, and Jane engaged with someone who didn¡¯t want to let her pass.


    ¡°Tell whomever that is that he will be scrubbing chamber pots for the rest of his short


    life,¡± said the king. It was loud enough to carry through the band. The guard allowed


    Jane access. She warned him that a bunch of people would be layering on top of them


    and they should be ready for that.


    ¡°I¡¯m Jane Morn,¡± said Jane. ¡°I run this place for Josie Fox. Are you up for talking?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the girl. ¡°I¡¯m Caroline Grecius, the princess. I don¡¯t know how I got


    here.¡±


    ¡°Caroline?,¡± said the king. ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    ¡°Father?,¡± said the princess. ¡°I¡¯m a little hurt. The people here are looking out for me.


    I saw Lord Brant and the local Duke earlier. How are we talking? I don¡¯t know where


    I am.¡±


    ¡°I have an artifact that let¡¯s me talk to Josie,¡± said Jane. ¡°And she is with your father.


    Has anyone talked to you about the scan sheet?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said the princess.


    ¡°Josie,¡± said Jane. ¡°I have to talk to Caroline in private. I am going to cut the call.¡±


    ¡°Jane, we¡¯re in the middle of Society business,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will give the king letter


    paper so he can write to the princess, or you.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°I wish things were better, Your Majesty.¡±


    She cut the line.


    ¡°Mistress Fox?,¡± said the king.


    ¡°Your daughter is safe with Jane,¡± said Josie. She let her arm drop. ¡°I am going to


    give you enchanted paper so you can write Caroline, or Jane. As soon as Caroline is


    feeling better, I will bring her home. These women are going to need you to look out


    for them until I can make arrangements to help them rebuild their lives. Can you do


    that?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the King. He didn¡¯t seem taken aback about the casualness of the


    wording. ¡°The Chancellor¡¯s residence is empty, and there are holes in his staffing, but


    it should do for right now.¡±


    ¡°Can I make that permanent?,¡± asked Josie. She pulled out a stack of paper from her


    messenger bag. ¡°I would like to shelter any I rescue from the Montrose.¡±


    ¡°The Queen and I will discuss this since it is not a normal policy,¡± said the king. ¡°Are


    you seeking this as a favor, Mistress Fox?¡±


    ¡°I can buy a place, but I thought this would save me time looking,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    doubt I need a staff, but I will need someone to help with clothes and food until this


    group can govern themselves.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the king.


    ¡°I just have one more piece of business,¡± said Josie. She placed the paper to one side


    as she sat down. ¡°Then I am going to have to go. I am counting on you to look out for


    these women until I come back. Don¡¯t let me down.¡±


    The king nodded.


    Josie took on her magician form and released enough birds to cover the capitol and


    some of the surrounding landscape. She erased the bodies and checked to make sure


    any captured women were freed, and brought back to the throne room. She enchanted


    the paper so it could be sent anywhere.


    ¡°There are a lot of stray horses and wagons roaming the roads right now, Your


    Majesty,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s up to you if you want to gather them up.¡±


    She split the paper and handed some to the king and some to one of the women who


    looked like she could handle things.


    ¡°Write the name of the person you want to send it too on the top of the page, what


    you want to say, then fold it,¡± said Josie. ¡°The letter will go where you want it to go.


    Everyone, the king is going to house you until I can send whomever wants to go


    home, or I can think of a permanent solution. Look out for each other until I come


    back.¡±


    She reached out for the bird on the Enterprise and vanished.

 Bodysnatching

    Jack didn¡¯t like Josie had run off on her own. He didn¡¯t like he had an out of town


    royal trying to tell him what to do. He didn¡¯t like that he was going to have to blow


    up Boim Russ¡¯s sister.


    He should have nuked Shemmaria until it glowed in the dark.


    ¡°Do you have this, Your Grace?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Princess Caroline will be as safe as houses with me,¡± said Hent. He had heard things


    at the dinner that were the stuff of nightmares. And he believed them. ¡°I will


    personally see that she is looked after.¡±


    ¡°Why are you listening to this commoner?,¡± asked Brant.


    ¡°Because he is a mad sorcerer who has no compunction about turning people into


    babies,¡± said Hent. ¡°And I like my years of experience to remain right where they are.


    One day you will understand that rank is meaningless against someone who can


    destroy everything you created with a wave of his hand.¡±


    ¡°The elves love me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to go. Shemmaria might be trying to destroy


    the world again and I have to look after that. Your Grace, talk to Jane about whatever


    taxes we have to pay for the building we are renting. I think Josie wanted to buy it


    outright but couldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°The owner is looking through his accounts,¡± said Elaine. ¡°He agreed to rent the


    place to us over what Jack and Josie did for him.¡±


    ¡°Taxes are due from the actual owner,¡± said Hent. ¡°I will work out whatever I need


    when this crisis is done and the city is not housing a member of the Royal Family.¡±


    The ding in Jack¡¯s head told him that they had saved Caroline from trouble. He


    wanted to hand her over to her dad, but he had to take care of his quest while she


    healed from her treatment.


    ¡°I have to go,¡± said Jack. He wrapped Elaine in a hug, settling for a kiss on the cheek.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget the house, Your Grace.¡±


    ¡°Dragon boat?,¡± June asked Mister Warner. He nodded in reply.


    Jack called the Enterprise. The machine acknowledged the call. He smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you guys on the other side of things,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, one to beam


    up.¡±


    He vanished in a cloud of blue sparks.


    ¡°There is too many disappearances here,¡± said Brant.


    ¡°It is what it is,¡± said Hent. He helped Caroline to the door. Captain Griff took the


    other side unasked. ¡°They have defended the city and helped clean up some bad


    things that needed to be cleaned up. We¡¯re going to make sure the girl is looked after


    and then we will send a messenger to the King. I am sure Mistress Fox will be talking


    to him in person, but we have to make sure that we are looking after his daughter to


    the best of our ability.¡±


    ¡°Come look at my nifty new ride, Boim,¡± said June. ¡°I think it¡¯s great for a first try.¡±


    ¡°Does it know how to get to Tern from here?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    Elaine watched them all leave. She shook her head. She closed the door and sat down


    at the dining room table. She had her own cup of tea, and sipped from it. She hoped


    Jack knew what he was doing.


    Jack made it to the Bridge and hoped he knew what he was doing. He took the


    command chair, waving at Josie¡¯s bird.


    ¡°Enterprise, we need to be over Shemmaria¡¯s capitol, all sensors up,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We¡¯re looking for any kind of energy transmission that doesn¡¯t belong here on this


    low tech world.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The silver ship took up a position high above the capitol of Shemmaria. It opened up


    every detector it had, starting in the center of the city and working outwards. It


    located a source of energy to the east. It pointed this discrepancy out to its captain.


    ¡°Put it on the main screen,¡± said Jack. He liked the wider view, and didn¡¯t like fooling


    around with the tiny screens at the stations.


    Ruins buried by years of trees appeared on the screen. A transparent marking showed


    where the energy source would be from above. Life signs marked Shemmarian


    soldiers standing in a ring around the central crypt. Visual information on screen


    marked them with black fog.


    ¡°Are you adding that black fog?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine. ¡°It appears to be the same energy from the central


    source.¡±


    ¡°We need an exorcist,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you know where we can get one?¡±


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°It looks like I am going to have to do something. I have no


    idea. I¡¯m glad this is away from a bunch of people. That would have made things


    harder for us.¡±


    The Enterprise remained silent.


    ¡°I think I am going to try to exorcize these things and put them back in their box,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I think I am going to fly down and hope for the best. Any thoughts?¡±


    ¡°There are several smaller populations nearby,¡± said the Enterprise. ¡°This might be


    important depending on how the fog marks humans.¡±


    ¡°So we have to keep them in this area, and unable to run at anybody else,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how this is spreading. Touch might be one way that it¡¯s being done.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do,¡± said Jack. ¡°Stun anybody you think is fleeing from me.


    We can¡¯t let them spread whatever that is beyond this point.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Phasers coming online.¡±


    Jack left the bridge. He didn¡¯t have a ghost form like Mister Warner as far as he


    knew. Ghost Rider might be usable, but it was just as likely to give him a ghost


    calling thing that he couldn¡¯t use in this situation.


    He took the lift down to the cargo bay entrance and opened the doors. He jumped out


    of the back of the ship and fell, copying his first jump to this world from Mister


    Warner¡¯s shop. When he was close enough to the ground, he called on Gravity and


    slowed his descent to a soft landing outside the ring of guards.


    He let the persona go and waited for his watch to recharge to full power. He had a


    small idea of what he could do to slow the surface assault before he went down and


    tried to close everything back up.


    He might even be able to do a group exorcism and return all these people to normal.


    The first step of what he laughingly called a plan meant getting to the center of the


    ruins and laying out his wall. He had to do that without getting infected, or tripping


    over any traplines. If that succeeded, then he could try to move everything back to


    where it belonged and see what he could do about the possessed people.


    He hoped the book demon gave up after the mass exorcism he planned. He didn¡¯t


    want to fight an infection based enemy up close and personal. This was something he


    would have gladly nuked until it glowed if he thought Josie would let him get away


    with the resulting explosive spread of cancerous material.


    He changed into Makkari and ripped through the group of sentinels. He let the


    persona go and dialed Magik. He turned the ruins into a ring of iron that spread out


    and sealed the local area from the rest of the world. They were trapped inside the ring


    with him.


    He cast the invocation built into the ring. Josie had her birds, and he had this. He


    wondered if he should think of something mobile he could use.


    The spell ripped the black energy out of the Shemmarians. They collapsed from the


    sudden loss of motive power. That was fine as long as they were still alive, and not


    carrying any of that black energy.


    The black energy floated in the air, trying to find other bodies to possess. When it hit


    the inner edge of the ring, it was forced back.


    The force turned and reached for Jack in his alternate body. He held up a hand. A box


    with a handle appeared in his hand. The top of the box opened and the black force


    was sucked inside in a blast of white light.


    ¡°Who you going to call?,¡± Jack said. He dropped the box to the ground. He had to


    reverse the book trap now that he had covered the surface trouble.


    He would find a better place to hide the escapees than some old mess of stones in the


    middle of nowhere.


    He had already picked out a place in his mind when he was done with the major parts


    of the problem.


    Jack¡¯s spell had ripped the ruins apart in the making of his ring. That revealed a


    tunnel leading into the ground. He knew that had to be the home of the black energy.


    He wondered if there were more guards that needed to be taken out of the picture.


    He conjured up a bevy of ghost traps and entered the tunnel. He didn¡¯t have a lot of


    time left on his watch. He had to finish this job, and get back to the Enterprise.


    He spotted a black flame ahead after a few minutes of walking. The tunnel had been


    cleared out and maintained from the looks of things. He supposed the Shemmarians


    had done that for ease of navigating the thing to the one room they wanted.


    Jack walked to the edge of the room. Soldiers stood around a ring in the ground.


    Words and diagrams filled the ring up. Twelve books were placed around the outside


    of the ring.


    Black energy marked a failure of his exorcism spell to work in the ground. He would


    have to retry it to knock these soldiers out of the fight. They hadn¡¯t taken notice of


    him, and were chanting in low voices.


    He had to put a stop to the show.


    Jack knelt and put his hand on the floor. He issued a simple command. The floor took


    on a shiny sheen and became one piece of metal. He commanded it to repel the spirit


    forces. The soldiers collapsed as the black energy was ripped from them. He threw


    the ghost traps out and pushed the foot buttons as fast as he could. That cleared the


    room well enough for him to get to the second part of his plan.


    He needed to close the trap up and reset it so it couldn¡¯t be opened again. How did


    he do that?


    He didn¡¯t know how the original trap worked. If he did, that would make things easier


    on him. He needed a version of Josie¡¯s book of knowledge. He didn¡¯t have an idea


    on how to make one of those either.


    If he had waited for Josie to get done, the problem would have been out of control by


    the time they arrived on the scene. He had at least stopped them opening the gate


    wider for the demon legion to come through and start taking over the world.


    How did he put things back the way they were?


    He decided that he needed to close the portal and seal everything. Then he could use


    the Enterprise to try to find any escapees. He could exorcize them, and do something


    with the demon energy.


    Maybe he could make a man servant to bully and be his general gofer. He shook his


    head. He had June for that now.


    He checked his watch. He had time for some kind of temporary measure. He had to


    get rid of the sleeping soldiers so they wouldn¡¯t be in the way. Then he could do the


    real job.


    He waved his hand and floating rings appeared out of the walls of the tunnel and


    carried the men out of the manmade cave. He created a scanner out of a rock. He


    realized then he could have the Enterprise detect magic with a tweak of its sensors.


    It would be a good tool if he needed it in the future.


    And he knew he would need it with all the buried magic laying around for someone


    to find and use it.


    He did a scan. He frowned at the numbers and information kicked back to him. He


    could fix the problem. All he needed was a different rune structure. He hoped he


    wasn¡¯t causing problems for the next guy with his job. That would be awkward.


    He let the scanner disassociate back into a rock. He knelt down on the changed floor.


    The original trapper had locked things and put them in the books left laying around.


    The books were there in case the demon legion was ever needed to be released as a


    weapon against a bigger menace.


    Jack didn¡¯t see a menace bigger than Josie in his future.


    He reached out and changed the books and floor with his magic. The small flame of


    black energy winked out. He nodded at the sealing saying it was good in his mind.


    That just left him with the ghost traps. What did he do with them?


    He had time. He gathered the traps up and stepped outside the tunnel. He switched


    bodies to Gravity and collapsed the whole thing on his working. He wasn¡¯t going to


    need a key, or to find the place again since he had put in a permanent seal over the


    dimensional hole.


    If someone with magic like him wanted to rip that seal off, he knew he would get a


    quest to stop them before they got going.


    He used his ring of entrapment to smooth everything over and erase any sign there


    had been a ruins at that location. Then he let the ring become grass around the area.


    He flew up to meet the Enterprise.


    He reverted to normal in the cargo bay and dropped the ghost traps by the door. He


    knew what he wanted to do with them.


    ¡°Enterprise, take us to the closest moon,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have something I have to


    dispose of before I do anything else.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack waited for the report they were in orbit over the targeted geography. He didn¡¯t


    want the ghost traps to be left where they could be allowed to run free and he had to


    perform more exorcisms to clear things up.


    He wanted a smooth job where no one would be in danger after he was done with it.


    ¡°We are in orbit over Alexis,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to have to step out and do some things. I will be


    back as soon as I can.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack wondered if he had any spaceworthy heroes in his toolkit. He thought maybe he


    had Star-Lord as a possible hero to use in this situation. He tried on the persona and


    found that he could sense information based on the outlay of the stars.


    He needed to switch to Magik, and build himself a suit to wear.

 Border Skirmish

    Josie appeared in her seat on the Bridge. She looked around. Where was Jack?


    ¡°Where is Jack, Enterprise?,¡± she asked. She stood and went to the center of the


    command center.


    ¡°He is on the surface of Alexis,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Show me, please,¡± said Josie.


    The main screen lit up to show a figure in silver raising one hand. A bunny appeared


    out of the local rock. He nodded inside his helmet.


    ¡°I guess he is safe at the moment,¡± said Josie.


    Jack flew upwards and landed in the cargo bay. He took off the suit and let his


    persona go. He closed the doors so he could go about his business.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie over the intercom. ¡°Why are we out here?¡±


    ¡°I needed to get rid of something toxic that I couldn¡¯t dump back where it came


    from,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to talk to Boim¡¯s sister, and then we can help June and


    Mister Warner.¡±


    ¡°I will have to go back to the capitol and sort things out with the King over the


    women I rescued,¡± said Josie. ¡°I imagine some of his nobles were caught up in what


    I did and they are going to need relatives to be elevated before too long.¡±


    ¡°I imagine that has made us a major concern for the Montrose if you knocked out


    most of their command structure in one shot,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°They still have plenty of members left,¡± said Josie. ¡°I could be here for decades just


    trying to clear them all out.¡±


    ¡°We have a lot on our plates,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, mark bunny in memory, then


    take us back to Shemmaria¡¯s capitol, and look for Boim Russ markers.¡±


    The screen changed as the Enterprise acknowledged the command and dropped into


    the upper atmosphere of the planet. It marked out the Russ scan as Jack stepped on


    the Bridge.


    ¡°What is your plan for this?,¡± asked Josie. She wanted to talk to Four Russ too, but


    she also wanted to punch the sister in the eye.


    ¡°I thought we should go down and talk to her about what her country almost woke up,


    and find out what else they are looking for to use as a weapon,¡± said Jack. ¡°And then


    we should take it away from them before we get more quests to do just that.¡±


    Josie considered the idea. It fit with what she liked to do for the most part. And it cut


    down their future intervention while making the world safer at the same time.


    ¡°She¡¯ll be stronger, faster, and tougher than our baseline,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might have


    to call up personas to handle that.¡±


    ¡°I think my Hulk can take her,¡± said Jack. ¡°But you¡¯re right. She¡¯ll want to take us


    off the board so her country can expand.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost like Shemmaria¡¯s rulers want it to be a colonial power, but all the


    countries around it are bigger and have more armies,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we knew the


    source of the sentiment, maybe we could nip things in the bud and get them to cool


    off.¡±


    ¡°I hate to think of assassinating their king, or whatever, but that might be the only


    way to stop things in their tracks,¡± said Jack.


    Josie considered the idea. She wanted to be able to talk to whomever was in charge


    and point out that they had almost twice destroyed their own country. She doubted


    they would be believed despite the Society not favoring one country over the other.


    The quests they had handled had been to protect whomever was going to be in the


    most trouble when things started.


    Her personal quest had brought her more directly in conflict with the powers of this


    world.


    And that had improved the city they made their home, and the surrounding


    countryside.


    ¡°We have to at least try to find out what else they are looking for, and stop them from


    getting anything lovecraftian to use on their neighbors,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can


    check on June and Mister Warner, before I have to gather up the survivors I freed.¡±


    ¡°Finding out the source of those books might be a good thing,¡± said Jack. ¡°The


    soldiers are throwing the equivalent of blaster bolts from their hands when they use


    them.¡±


    ¡°We might as well put that next to finding out where they got the information to dig


    up the legion demon,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Are there any lifeforms with Russ? We want to beam


    down on top of her without having to deal with her other soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Her immediate area is clear of others,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go before she finds herself in meetings over this newest failure,¡± said Jack.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    They walked off the Bridge and headed down to the transporter room. Jack made one


    more check before they beamed down. He asked for them to be put down outside of


    the office when the corridor looked clear. That way prevented Russ¡¯s higher reaction


    time to take advantage of the temporary freezing caused by the transporter beam


    wearing off.


    They could knock on the door and surprise her, or just break the door down for a real


    surprise.


    Josie didn¡¯t have a problem with either thing.


    They appeared in a hall lit by lanterns hanging from posts on the walls. Jack made


    sure he had the right door with the Enterprise before knocking. He changed into the


    Hulk before Russ could open the door. He didn¡¯t want to deal with her unprepared.


    Josie took up a spot behind Jack¡¯s wider back. She had the Karate Kid in hand. It was


    a good defense in the narrow hallway, and it didn¡¯t matter how strong you were


    against someone ready to use your own strength against you.


    Four Russ opened the door. Her uniform jacket was open to reveal a light colored


    shirt and skirt. She saw the giant derelict in her doorway and tried to close the door.


    A giant hand knocked her out of the way with a push.


    Josie walked to Four¡¯s desk and sat down. She looked at the paperwork and raised her


    eyebrows at the supply chains she held.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything rash,¡± said Josie. ¡°You know who we are, and we know who you


    are. I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t give your sisters up to become state assassins with all


    this going on.¡±


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± asked Four. She picked herself up and settled in the wooden


    visitor chair.


    ¡°We want to know how many other weapons your government is looking for, where


    you think they are, and how close you are to activating them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Why would I tell you that?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°Because the two weapons we shut down would have destroyed Shemmaria before


    they even reached the other countries you want to attack,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Goblin


    Trees create monsters that can¡¯t be directed and can only be stopped with big fires,


    and the book demon possessed everyone looking for it, with the intention of


    spreading out of control. So before we get another quest to save you, we want to


    know what else you are looking for so we can destroy those too.¡±


    ¡°What are you saying?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°As of ten, maybe twenty minutes ago, I exorcized everyone on site, and sealed the


    source of the possessing energy so no one could ever open it again,¡± said Jack. ¡°I left


    your soldiers sleeping on the ground instead of letting them die.¡±


    ¡°Why are you interfering with us?,¡± said Four. ¡°We are just looking to protect


    ourselves.¡±


    ¡°From what?,¡± asked Josie. She leaned back in her chair. ¡°None of the other countries


    seem to care about you. I just spoke to King Grecious. You aren¡¯t a blip on his radar.¡±


    ¡°His troops are massing on the border,¡± said Four.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see with our own eyes,¡± said Josie. She stood up. ¡°If they are, we will disperse


    them.¡±


    ¡°We?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°We,¡± said Josie. She triggered her com band. ¡°Enterprise, three to beam up.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The trio disappeared in a cloud of blue sparks and a ruffle of paper.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go up to the Bridge,¡± said Josie. She led the way out of the transporter room.


    ¡°We could use something like this,¡± said Four.


    ¡°You could build something like this with the right knowhow,¡± said Jack. He let his


    persona go. ¡°But that¡¯s not why we are here, is it?¡±


    They stepped on the Bridge. Josie gestured for Four to take Aviras¡¯s chair. He would


    hate that, so it was a good thing he wasn¡¯t there at the moment.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need to move down to the border with Grecious in the


    south. We want a scan and marking of troops along the border. See if you can pick


    out unit signs, or flags for later identification.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The landscape changed as the ship changed position.


    In a second, diamonds marked areas of the trees with forts and control ways limned


    in red. One area held more troops than the rest of the border.


    ¡°The rest of the border seems open, except that one area,¡± said Jack. ¡°I imagine that


    if Shemmaria fielded a large enough force, the Grecians would field one from the


    local forts to try to block any invasion from happening.¡±


    ¡°What is the designation for that area, Enterprise?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Can you read it?¡±


    ¡°The sigil is a black flower,¡± said the machine. ¡°I do not know what unit that would


    represent.¡±


    Josie pulled out a sheet of paper.


    ¡°Do you know, Four?,¡± asked Josie. She wrote a quick note and sent it off with a


    wave of her hand.


    ¡°No,¡± said Russ. ¡°The enemy uses a number of personal symbols mixed in with the


    royal seal.¡±


    A letter appeared in the air in front of Josie. She snatched it out of the air and read


    the contents. She frowned at the new information.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± she said. ¡°Can you give us a magnified view?¡±


    The men at arms moving around the fort popped into close view. Jack and Josie


    both frowned at what they saw.


    ¡°It looks like they have the Makeover,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The Makeover?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°The people that sold you the innocents to use as experimental subjects to turn into


    monsters are the same people that are getting ready to attack your country,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°We should let them,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let the Shemmarians experience some of their


    own terror.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie and Russ at the same time.


    ¡°Who wants to go first?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You can¡¯t let them attack my country if you are supposed to be protecting my


    country,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Your country doesn¡¯t matter with the weight of the whole world on my side,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°We¡¯re not letting them do anything,¡± said Josie. ¡°For three reasons.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°If they become a threat to Shemmaria, we will get a quest to stop them,¡± said Josie.


    She held up three fingers, and folded one as she spoke. ¡°So we might as well do


    it now.¡±


    ¡°They are full of enslavers that have made my list,¡± said Josie. She folded her second


    finger.


    ¡°Third reason?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The king said he doesn¡¯t have an official presence here, so there should not be


    this many men here holding this fort,¡± said Josie. She folded the last finger. ¡°That


    means no one other than the troops of Lord Rail is supposed to be here which is


    red dogs and swords.¡±


    ¡°So we have to drop the axe here?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have to, but I am going to,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go down and deal with this,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I have it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Make sure our guest doesn¡¯t run off with the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of pings down there, Jo,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I learned a new trick,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This will only take a few minutes.¡±


    She became Zatanna and dropped down on the road leading up to the fort. She sat


    down and let the magic write out an array to boost her ability. She clapped her hands.


    Birds exploded from her mouth and eyes in streaks like fireworks heading to the sky.


    Josie watched as the bodies dropped. She frowned at the massive use of lethal force.


    She doubted her kids would agree with the amount of destruction she was inflicting.


    She waited for her watch to recharge before she erased the bodies. The King would


    have to send up replacements when he had time.


    Now what did they do about Boim Russ¡¯s sister and Shemmaria?


    She felt that she should talk to Four¡¯s boss and see what he had to say for himself.

 A Glimpse of the Future

    Jack glanced at Four Russ. She looked amazed. He supposed she had thought she had


    dealt with ruthless people as part of her adopted country¡¯s army, and none of them


    were as ruthless as Josie Fox.


    He understood that feeling.


    ¡°She killed all of them like that,¡± said Four. ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Magic,¡± said Jack. ¡°Your country is causing problems. We want your country to stop


    causing problems. How do we do that?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Russ. ¡°My orders are to secure supplies and send them where


    the army wants them. Some of these projects are out of my purview.¡±


    ¡°Who would know?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°General Haslet,¡± said Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t know where he is stationed right now.¡±


    ¡°We can find him now that we have a name,¡± said Jack. ¡°We promised your sister that


    we wouldn¡¯t harm you, but we can take you out of the picture. We don¡¯t want to keep


    coming back to Shemmaria to deal with whatever the next doomsday weapon the


    army wants to use is. We would rather devote your time to science and improving


    things in your kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Why should we do that?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°So Josie doesn¡¯t show up in your central castle and do what she just did to those


    guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°Wake up a little bit. The more peaceful you are, the more you can


    just buy up additional land. You don¡¯t even have to invade anything.¡±


    ¡°Just buy the land?,¡± asked Russ.


    Josie appeared on the Bridge. She let her persona go. There might have been


    survivors left in the fort, but they didn¡¯t work for the Montrose so they didn¡¯t have


    their heads popped from the inside by the firebirds.


    ¡°It¡¯s called capitalism,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s using economics to use money to get what you


    want.¡±


    ¡°I think we should look over any other special projects,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I have to


    deal with the King over Caroline and the women I rescued.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t allow you to sabotage our plans,¡± said Russ. She jumped to her feet and went


    for the dagger at her belt.


    Jack pressed the activation button on his watch. He changed into a scarecrow wearing


    the flag with an eagle¡¯s head for his head. He vaulted from his chair with a push off


    with one hand. He had Russ pinned face down on the floor before she could complete


    her move.


    ¡°What are you thinking?,¡± Jack asked. He took the dagger before letting the Captain


    go. ¡°You just kill us and take the Enterprise when it won¡¯t answer to you? Smarten


    up.¡±


    ¡°I got this, Jack,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. ¡°We want her to stop trying to


    advance the army¡¯s goals. I¡¯ll just show her as soon as I¡¯m charged up.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It will be a breeze,¡± said Josie. ¡°She needs to know the consequences other than


    what we are saying. I wouldn¡¯t trust us either.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He wondered what Josie had in mind.


    Josie turned the dial on her watch and called on Chronos, a creature made of watches


    and clocks. She grabbed Russ¡¯s arm and they vanished. They were gone for two


    seconds. When they reappeared, Russ was covered in blood and ash.


    ¡°Are you okay?,¡± asked Jack. He snapped his fingers to attract Russ¡¯s attention. She


    looked at him. She grimaced.


    Josie let Chronos go. She stood placidly out of arm¡¯s reach of their passenger.


    ¡°The kingdom was gone,¡± said Russ. ¡°Some kind of giant snake had laid eggs and its


    children were roaming the streets. Then we visited myself on the Enterprise, but I was


    trapped up here. And I had been for a long time. Then we saw a giant flare from the


    sun. Then we saw an evergrowing hoard of monsters expand from the capitol but they


    had on army uniforms. People died all around us. I tried to help at one point. I


    recognized some people. They all died.¡±


    ¡°You want to save your friends, you have to help change the future, Four,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°How likely were any of those futures?,¡± asked Jack. He thought maybe he had a time


    traveler himself, or could build a time machine. He wanted to know what the rules


    were so he could abuse them.


    He grimaced at the prohibition against time travel and the threat to reality he had


    picked up from the Society.


    ¡°The giant snake is more likely than any of the rest at this point,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Apparently some of their people think that they can harness monsters to do their


    bidding.¡±


    ¡°So what happens if it gets loose?,¡± asked Jack. He had an idea from a lot of monster


    movies he had watched during his life.


    ¡°Nothing at first,¡± said Josie. ¡°It hides underneath the capitol, and eats random


    people. Then it lays eggs. When the eggs hatch, they start pushing out and eating


    anything in their way.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like something I would expect to happen,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we are going


    to stop that too?¡±


    ¡°That and the flare,¡± said Josie. ¡°Apparently they found a way to nuke themselves.¡±


    ¡°Of course they did,¡± said Jack. He rubbed the scar over his eye. ¡°How did they do


    that?¡±


    ¡°They found a ritual that worked,¡± said Josie. ¡°They thought it would make the


    weather pattern better for crops and seasonal work. Only it opened the door to the


    sun, or something.¡±


    ¡°The rest of it?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°We can wait on quests if the high command don¡¯t change their plans,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The future is fluid from this point on. If we don¡¯t intervene, the snake escapes, kills


    people in the city, releases more snakes to overrun the nearby countryside and force


    the Shemmarians to barricade their city and the surrounding land for years while they


    engage in war with the monsters they set loose. If we do intervene, none of that


    happens, and the country is spared to keep doing what it is doing.¡±


    ¡°The same thing with the gate flare cooking everything?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Except the flare will wreck this part of the world all the way to Hawk Ridge,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Maybe farther than that depending on the weather.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°How big was the ritual drawing?,¡± asked Jack. He frowned at that. Josie was talking


    about a heavy atmosphere burn with a major loss of the air on the planet surface. He


    knew enough from how his own magician worked that a ritual would have to be


    enormous to channel that much energy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°The city vanished.¡±


    Jack closed his eyes in thought. He pictured the city below. Then he pictured a


    column of flame big enough to wipe that city out. The drawing would have to be


    bigger than the city by so many yards, maybe up to a mile away.


    The initial spell cost would be as enormous as the spell.


    It could be the same as the ring in Accordly.


    ¡°We can deal with this and keep Shemmaria on track,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do we want to?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Four. ¡°I think that would be good for the country.¡±


    ¡°Would it be good for the world?,¡± said Jack. ¡°If Shemmaria ceased to exist, so would


    a lot of the problems that it could cause. We wouldn¡¯t have to fix those problems. It


    would save us time and energy.¡±


    ¡°I think we should stop these two threats at the least,¡± said Josie. ¡°Any beam of light


    that can reach Hawk Ridge from here is a threat to the continent. Then we can worry


    about anything else after we talk to whomever¡¯s in charge.¡±


    ¡°I already have an idea about the flare,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could be wrong, but if I¡¯m right,


    it¡¯s a natural disaster that we can prevent.¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Remember how we had to stop that thing in Accordly,¡± said Jack. ¡°This might be the


    same thing. So it¡¯s out there powering up as we speak. When the time is right, it will


    explode.¡±


    ¡°So we just have to locate the circle,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can do that with a bird.¡±


    ¡°I could be wrong and the government found a way to draw a ritual circle for miles


    like the Nazca signs,¡± said Jack. ¡°But that could be something that we are going to


    get a quest for that we can stop before it happens.¡±


    ¡°The snake?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°If the government has it already, we can do away with it before it escapes,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°If they don¡¯t, we can do away with it before it gets captured.¡±


    ¡°What will you do to me?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Jack. He glanced at Josie. Her frown could mean anything. ¡°Except


    for a select few people that we have to hunt down like dogs, we¡¯re not actually here


    to hurt people just because we want to. We¡¯re here to do whatever we can to help


    people along. I know you want to protect your country, but someone at the top is


    trying to inflict damage on all the other countries to get a grip to expand the borders.


    At some point, the Society is going to issue some kind of quest based on that which


    might include a bit of collateral damage to the city. Do you really want us coming


    back over and over to cut away whatever dumb idea your planning guys might come


    up with to spark an invasion?¡±


    ¡°Some of the planning council is missing,¡± said Four. ¡°They disappeared when you


    first appeared with the Enterprise. The head of the group is still in the city. His name


    is Morn Hax.¡±


    ¡°Some of the people working with the Goblin Trees were infected,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re


    holding them until we can cure them and bring them back.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°The monster mushrooms your country were feeding to the women that were


    kidnaped like Three¡¯s friend cause growths in the spines of anyone working close to


    them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Three¡¯s friend?,¡± said Four.


    ¡°She was picked up by the Montrose, and carried across the country,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    picked up the trail and got her back. Three knows that Shemmaria was buying women


    to use as experimental subjects.¡±


    ¡°I suppose she is angry with me,¡± said Four.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You want us to take you up to where she is?,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can do that.¡±


    ¡°I think I need to think about what I want to do,¡± said Four.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see about these future problems and fix them before they


    become something horrible.¡±


    ¡°We do need someone to help us here, and to help June and Seven,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Think about it.¡±


    ¡°Why would you want me to do that?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°Because Shemmaria could be something more with the right person helping to guide


    things,¡± said Josie. ¡°You could be that hero.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± said Four. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You could be with some help,¡± said Jack. ¡°And we are that help.¡±


    ¡°I think you are mistaken,¡± said Four.


    ¡°Just think about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can make a brighter future for Shemmaria with


    the right decisions.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Four. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    ¡°We put you back in the city,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we talk to your boss and see if we can


    find out why he wants all these monster weapons, and shut down the oncoming


    burning death of everyone. If the snake is still in the wild, we might just let it alone,


    or we might have to kill it depending on where it is.¡±


    ¡°If your boss has the Makeover, he will have to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°He can¡¯t be allowed


    to help an organization of human traffickers just because he is an officer in your


    military.¡±


    ¡°There are a few candidates ready to take his place,¡± said Four. ¡°I have no idea if they


    will continue to try to accrue assets.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s deal with the potential burning country thing first. We


    can worry about the snake if it shows up. I still think we should talk to Four¡¯s


    commanding officer before we check on Mister Warner and June.¡±


    ¡°I still have to deal with the refugees I rescued,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t just run off with


    some excuse that I had to save the enemy of humanity from itself.¡±


    ¡°That could be awkward,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Four. ¡°How do we save the city?¡±


    ¡°I think we should try to find out if there is a ritual circle to power such a spell,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°If there is a routing, we can find a lynchpin and pull that. That will stop the


    buildup.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s do that before something else happens.¡±


    Josie checked her watch to see how much power she had. Being on the Enterprise


    slowed the charging down, but she had enough to create a bird to point them to the


    right spot.


    She changed just long enough to do that. The bird dropped through the ship and


    sailed down to the ground. When it was low enough, it cast out a light that lit up an


    array of lines that circled the city. A spot glowed in the center of the drawing.


    ¡°I am going to assume that is the trigger of this gun,¡± said Jack. He looked at the


    array. ¡°We can change this like we did Accordly. All we need to do is pull the control


    panel out of the center.¡±


    ¡°We should wreck a couple of the lines so we don¡¯t have a misfire,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Why is this here?,¡± asked Four. She waved at the complicated diagram lit up by the


    firebird.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Better question is it supposed to fire a giant piece of fire


    from here and burn off part of the planet, or was it supposed to do something else but


    does the other thing now because the lines moved.¡±


    ¡°A better question than that is how do we disable it?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°You got me there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Four?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°You two should be a comedy team like Oates and Garfunkel,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will go


    back down and disrupt it. You two find the giant snake and see if it is in the city


    already.¡±


    ¡°I think the Enterprise can do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°How big a snake are we talking


    about?¡±


    ¡°That snake in Anaconda,¡± said Josie. She pulled on Zatanna. ¡°You know. Big


    enough to eat people.¡±


    She wished herself down to the ground.


    ¡°Big enough to eat people,¡± said Jack. ¡°What could you do with a snake big enough


    to eat people? There¡¯s nothing big enough to fly to carry it to a target. I suppose


    you could put it in a wagon and transport it to a front. Then what?¡±


    ¡°You try to get it to enter the war and eat your enemies from within,¡± said Four. ¡°I am


    also having problems trying to reckon how you could do that.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He put his grin on. ¡°It might not be that big now, depending on


    how far into the future you went. Enterprise, we need a wide scan of this part of the


    planet for any large reptiles between ten and thirty feet long. If we can¡¯t find it, then


    it might be in route from some other part of the world.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°There might be two,¡± said Four. ¡°Snakes need males to breed their eggs. If it had


    children, then how long is the breeding process?¡±


    ¡°Negative results of scan within perimeters,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Take off the size restriction and see how many reptiles you can find in the area,¡± said


    Jack.


    Pings lit up the main screen and its view of the area beneath them. A quick view of


    each one showed that the reptiles were too small, or the wrong kind.


    ¡°Maybe we averted that future,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can see why the Society said I¡¯m not


    supposed to use time travel. I might be messing around all day trying to find the right


    pin for a thing.¡±


    ¡°Officer Fox said you would destroy reality,¡± said the Enterprise helpfully.


    Four frowned at the madman she was standing next to.


    ¡°She was exaggerating,¡± said Jack.


    Josie appeared on the Bridge.


    ¡°I have the flare thing taken care of,¡± said Josie. ¡°The snake?¡±


    ¡°The Enterprise couldn¡¯t find anything big enough to match the description,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Either it isn¡¯t here yet, isn¡¯t big enough, or we averted that future


    somehow.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to Four¡¯s commanding officer and see what we can do about the direction


    of these special projects,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe you should get cleaned up first, Four,¡± said Jack. He waved at the Ready


    Room door.

 The Stick

    Josie walked Four to the private bathroom next to the Ready Room. She showed the


    clone how everything worked. She replicated a new uniform for her with the help of


    the Enterprise. She withdrew to give their passenger some privacy.


    ¡°How do you want to do this, Jo?,¡± asked Jack. He sat in his chair, eyes closed.


    ¡°The easiest way is to get this Hax and Haslet together and just have a chat with


    them,¡± said Josie. She considered her questions and the goals of such a conversation.


    ¡°Then try to see if we can modify their monster army strategy into something that


    could be used peacefully so we don¡¯t have to keep coming back here and doing


    things.¡±


    ¡°They could have a Pokemon Kingdom with the right incentive,¡± said Jack. He


    grinned at her.


    ¡°I think that would dip back in the direction of Project M and the Creature


    Commandoes which we are trying to discourage,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Is that like Fury¡¯s Howling Commandoes?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Government agency uses monsters to carry out special missions?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I guess they fall into that same niche like the Monster Squad, or the Drac Pack¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t care about losses, monsters could be sent in to mess up someone¡¯s C


    and C, or supply lines,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know how they would be useful in a siege


    unless the monster was smuggled inside a target building, and set loose on the local


    defenders.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the Lich Queen was their first try at a smart monster to use against


    other countries?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yeah, but they didn¡¯t put thought into it,¡± said Jack. ¡°If they had realized that their


    dead subjects would start moving after a bit of time, they might have placed the


    bodies in some kind of corral to make it hard for them to get out and start eating the


    garrison.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering about the aggressiveness,¡± said Josie. ¡°None of the other countries


    we have visited seem that much out of control.¡±


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t tell you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe we¡¯re seeing some kind of personal feud being


    fueled by nationalism.¡±


    Four came out of the Ready Room. She had cleaned up and changed into the new


    uniform. Her hair have been tied back into the long braid she affected. She nodded


    to let them know that she was ready for whatever was to happen next.


    ¡°We would like for you to take us to this Hax¡¯s office,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to


    talk to him and Haslet, see if we can defuse things so we can put a stop to the monster


    making. Once we do that, I have to talk to King Grecious about his daughter and the


    women I rescued. Then we have to check on Mister Warner and June. If you want us


    to leave you out of things, we will.¡±


    ¡°Can we really change the future?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°We already have a little bit,¡± said Josie. ¡°Eventually the countries of this planet will


    merge into one organization. It will take a lot of work, and it will take a lot of


    patience for that to happen. There will still be the same problems people have now,


    but maybe with a better support system to help everyone.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see that day,¡± said Four.


    ¡°So would I,¡± said Jack. ¡°But before all that, we have to deal with this monster


    wrangling. Shall we?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go down to Hax¡¯s office,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I can gather up Haslet. We¡¯ll talk


    with them, and then move on.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Keep an eye out for that snake, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Josie changed long enough to summon birds to carry them down to where they


    wanted to go. They landed in an empty office full of stacked reports on a desk. A


    portrait of a man in a uniform hung on the wall. A separate smaller desk was placed


    in the middle of the room.


    She noted that there were no visitor chairs. Maybe Hax didn¡¯t get a lot of visitors in


    his office. Maybe he wanted them to come in, hand him a report, and leave. What did


    he do when a superior arrived? Give up his own chair?


    Josie sat down behind the desk. She began reading the reports. She frowned at some


    of what she read. Evidently monsters needed a lot of cows to eat.


    Unless cows were a euphemism for people.


    She put the papers back together. Russ and Jack had brought in two chairs for their


    guests. She nodded at the silent signal to get started.


    She pulled on her magician and sent out summons. She changed back as two men in


    uniform appeared. They were both fit, but one was heavier and had a few more


    decorations on his uniform. They had the same muttonchops that Shemmarians


    seemed to prefer over beards, or goatees. They looked around at the office, the


    slimmer one recognizing it as his own.


    ¡°Sit down, gentlemen,¡± said Josie. She waved at the guest chairs. ¡°I would like to call


    this meeting to order and see if we can work out some kind of agreement so we don¡¯t


    have to meet again.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think you are?,¡± asked the slimmer man. ¡°This is my office.¡±


    ¡°It will be your replacement¡¯s office if you don¡¯t sit down,¡± said Josie. She gestured


    at the chairs. ¡°And I will talk to him about cleaning up the bloodstains off stone.¡±


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Threatening is something I need to work on,¡± whispered Jack to Russ where they


    stood by the door. ¡°I always seem to have to hurt people before they believe me.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine why,¡± said Russ. She frowned at the man in his strange clothes and


    smiling mask of a face.


    Josie decided to wait for a few seconds before she called on Bulletgirl and put a hole


    in Hax to get her threat across.


    The general sat down first. He folded his hands together. He frowned at Josie, but


    kept silent. He was waiting for what Josie would do to enforce her threat.


    Hax looked at the room. He sat down when he saw that the woman officer in the room


    was not going to try to help him.


    ¡°Gentlemen, my name is Josie Fox,¡± said Josie. ¡°I represent the Robert Reed


    Appreciation Society. In the last month, I have discovered that this office has engaged


    in kidnaping women and children from across the continent, had them shipped here,


    and used to grow monsters. I have discovered that this office has almost destroyed the


    country of Shemmaria, and its neighbors twice, with a third attempt ongoing to render


    the capitol uninhabitable by humans.


    ¡°As a representative of the Society, it is my job to ensure peace and the preservation


    of the people under my wing. Since I have stopped the Goblin Tree and the Demon


    Possession experiments, I would like to ask you two to go over any future projects


    and stop being stupid.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean kidnaping women and children?,¡± asked Haslet. He glanced at


    Hax in a less than a friendly way.


    ¡°This office needed subjects for their Goblin Tree experiment to create a perfect


    army,¡± said Josie. ¡°They decided to take people criminally enslaved in other countries


    and subject them to forcing the plant on them which then creates an expanding race


    of beast people who attack anything that moves.¡±


    ¡°How do you know this?,¡± asked Hax.


    ¡°Because I and my partner have been killing members of this organization almost


    since we were picked to do what we do,¡± said Josie. ¡°We tracked the shipping of one


    such wagon of prisoners to the site of the experiment with a party of adventurers, and


    razed it to the ground.¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t kill all the troops there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some of them were left alive to report


    back.¡±


    ¡°Unless they dropped dead and became new Goblin Trees to make monsters that


    require a huge amount of fire to get rid of and attack anything that moves so it can


    spread,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And you used this on people, Hax?,¡± asked Haslet. ¡°What were you thinking?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m protecting Shemmaria,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°The people you went in with planned to attack Shemmaria from Grecious and blame


    Grecious for the attack,¡± said Josie. ¡°We put a stop to that on the way here.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± asked Hax.


    ¡°So I want to make my position clear so you understand the agreement I am going to


    put forward,¡± said Josie. ¡°No more monster making, no more searching for ancient


    curses to use as weapons, no more readying attacks on your neighbors. A certain


    vigilance is expected, and understood, but once we cure the soldiers that were


    infected with the goblin tree, we only want to visit the country to appreciate the way


    things are done. If we get another notice from the Society that you are still


    intentionally, or accidentally, trying to destroy this part of the world, I will be angry.¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t want to see her angry,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Why should we agree to this?,¡± said Hax.


    Josie saw Jack grinning behind Hax, and Russ holding her face with her hand.


    ¡°Do you want a practical example of what will happen?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Haslet.


    ¡°Yes, I want to see what the stick is,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°Are you stupid?,¡± asked Haslet.


    ¡°At least too big an ego not to know when to fold,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°General Haslet, Captain Russ, I am putting you in charge of


    the people who will be arriving in the next few minutes. They will need help for their


    wounds and ills. Some of them might need a way to get back home. I expect you to


    treat them better than your own families.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?,¡± asked Haslet.


    ¡°The organization that Shemmaria uses to procure their test subjects are marked,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°We marked the members so we could hunt them down.¡±


    Josie changed into Zatanna. She carved the booster into the floor of the office,


    surrounding everyone. She released her birds to do what they wanted to do. She


    immediately lost the transformation. The sounds of small bangs filled the air outside


    the office.


    ¡°What was that?,¡± demanded Hax. He looked around as more of the sounds filled the


    air.


    ¡°People¡¯s heads exploding,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Open the door, Captain,¡± said Haslet.


    Russ opened the door and stepped out of the way. She grimaced at the dead body in


    a suit in the hall. She hoped it wasn¡¯t anyone important.


    ¡°If I have to come back here,¡± said Josie. She stood behind the desk. ¡°I am sure you


    will understand the following event that will occur.¡±


    A woman screamed out of sight down the hall. Footsteps ran as everyone sought


    shelter after the mass murder.


    ¡°There are going to be helpless people appearing soon,¡± said Jack. ¡°And they are


    going to need your help. I think you should get started organizing for that.¡±


    ¡°We can use the courtyard outside this building,¡± said Haslet. ¡°Russ, start gathering


    troops to help us move these women.¡±


    ¡°General Haslet,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the general. He held anger in his eyes.


    ¡°Some of the women and children will need healers,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I will look after it,¡± said Haslet.


    ¡°Mister Hax,¡± said Josie. She folded her hands on the top of the desk. ¡°I want you to


    understand that if you don¡¯t change your ways, your successor will have your office


    in due time. Shemmaria could be a nation of the future that all others want to be like,


    but not by creating monsters and setting them loose on your neighbors.¡±


    Josie glanced at her watch. The diagram in the floor was speeding up the charging


    process. She nodded. Soon enough she would have enough to clean up the bodies,


    and bring any captives to the courtyard for General Haslet to protect.


    ¡°On the other hand, if you have a problem with a monster that you can¡¯t handle,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Send a message to the king of Grecious and we will look into it for you. If the


    threat is dangerous enough, the Society will ask us to look into it like we have been


    doing.¡±


    ¡°Why the King of Grecious?,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°Because he is going to be operating a charity for us,¡± said Josie. ¡°Just like we hope


    you will.¡±


    Josie changed once more and sent out more birds. Bodies began disappearing from


    all over the city. Women and girls appeared next to Haslet as he began issuing orders.


    He frowned at the condition of the people being placed in his care.


    ¡°We will check on you in a few weeks,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do us proud.¡±


    ¡°I could be considered a traitor for agreeing to anything without permission from the


    Council,¡± said Hax. He looked at the two of them. ¡°So could Haslet and Russ.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a monarchy here?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Hax. ¡°The government is run by a council of officials in charge of their


    departments.¡±


    ¡°When you report this,¡± said Josie. ¡°Tell your Council I will be glad to come back


    and do a repeat performance for them. You are my assistant now, Hax. If something


    were to happen to you, or Haslet, or Russ, it would be bad for them. They won¡¯t have


    to worry about being invaded at the very least.¡±


    ¡°Also one of your projects involves a giant serpent,¡± said Jack. ¡°We think he or she


    might escape into the sewers under the city and start eating people.¡±


    ¡°You might want to make sure if you are trying to experiment with something like


    that, it can¡¯t escape, and it isn¡¯t in the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°We look forward to working


    with you in the future, Mister Hax. Your help will allow us to protect the continent


    and stop problems before they get out of hand.¡±


    ¡°Serpent?,¡± said Hax. ¡°Oh no.¡±


    He ran from the office.


    ¡°I think we can go now,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Two to beam up, Enterprise,¡± said Jack into his com band.


    Blue sparks carried them away.

 Rickard and Lois

    Jack took the command chair. He closed his eyes for a second as he reviewed their


    plans. He should check on Juni and Mister Warner, but he knew Josie would like to


    check on the freed women with King Grecious.


    ¡°That was an impressive trick with the birds,¡± he finally said.


    ¡°The range and power pull is not that great,¡± said Josie. She stood in the middle of


    the Bridge. ¡°It¡¯s a single shot destructive spell using the scrying that I have already


    been doing. It¡¯s the same as the mass transport spell I came up with before we hit that


    camp on the way to the Goblin Tree lab.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Hax will modify his behavior?,¡± asked Jack. What Josie had done to


    their city had probably poked holes in every scheme for power they had come up with


    before they had turned to monster soldiers.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see with the next few quests we get dealing with Shemmaria,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe we convinced them to be a little less combative.¡±


    ¡°Where do you want to go to next?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I have to deal with Grecious to make sure he is taking care of the women I freed,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Once I have them set up, we can check on Juni and Warner, then home.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, take us to the Grecian capitol,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see how you


    explain all of this for the archive.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°You stopped the Book Demon from escaping,¡± said Josie. ¡°You have to fill out the


    paperwork. I¡¯ll fill out what I can for Caroline.¡±


    ¡°Do you think she is all right?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Jane did a scan,¡± said Josie. ¡°She cut us off to talk to Caroline. It might have been


    bad news.¡±


    Jack frowned. Caroline could have been brutally tortured while in captivity. They


    didn¡¯t have to keep her alive, if they could fake her handwriting. He was glad that


    Josie was exterminating the human monsters when she could.


    He had freed Elaine from the Montrose. He never regretted throwing the guy at the


    inn from the window. If he hadn¡¯t been in a hurry, he might have done worse.


    The big screen showed the capitol below. It looked like a nice place. Josie hitting the


    place like a tidal wave might have punched holes in the infrastructure that the


    monarchy would have to fix. He didn¡¯t mind hoisting extra work on someone else.


    ¡°How do you want to do this?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to go down and make sure that the rescued can look after themselves, deal


    with the King about a fund, and answer any reasonable question,¡± said Josie. ¡°It


    should be a snap.¡±


    ¡°I can call Mister Warner through his phone to see if he needs help,¡± said Jack. ¡°If


    you want, I can come down and look around to make sure the King is okay with us


    stepping into his business.¡±


    ¡°You can call Mister Warner?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I fixed our phones so we can call each other without the bands,¡± said Jack. ¡°I sent


    you a text message. You might have to charge it up with magic, but it should work


    fine across the continent.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°Now I have a reason to carry it around.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re going down?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I might need someone to watch out after what I did on my last visit,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, we¡¯re going down. Stay on station and try to be as


    unobtrusive as possible until we need your phasers and torpedoes.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack stood. He had to give Juni and Mister Warner room to move. If they needed him,


    they could call him as long as he wasn¡¯t wearing a persona.


    ¡°I¡¯ll carry us down there,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know if the king will want me to clear


    out other cities like I did here, but it might be something we can use to bargain with


    him.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s going to want to talk to Caroline again,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s something we¡¯re going


    to have to address.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do what we can with what we have,¡± said Josie.


    She pulled on Zatanna and sent out a bird to take them to the King. She waited for the


    bird to land, then they snapped across the space.


    Jack grinned as he looked around at the throne room. The local knights reached for


    their swords. He wondered if he should call on Blade and show them something.


    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± said Josie. She let Zatanna go. ¡°This is my partner, Jack.¡±


    ¡°Pleased to meet you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have never been in such a good looking room.


    It looks like you paid your interior designer well.¡±


    ¡°The Queen will be pleased by your assessment,¡± said Grecious. He frowned at the


    commoner before him. ¡°What do you want from me?¡±


    Jack put his hands in his pockets. He thought the king was in good shape. He might


    have been a good fighter when he was younger. His hair had grayed in places but he


    still had most of it. He wore some jewelry, but it was understated as far as that went.


    He looked a little angry, but holding it in.


    Josie had probably shown him a small amount of real anger when she had first visited.


    Or some ruthlessness he had never seen before from any kind of slender woman


    dressed like a vagabond.


    ¡°I need to sort the women I rescued, I need to check on my comrades to make sure


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.they stopped the end of the world, and I need to check on my girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will


    be glad to pay you for the assistance that you have already rendered to me.¡±


    ¡°Caroline?,¡± asked the king.


    ¡°Jane is taking care of her,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can bring her back at any time, but Jane


    made it clear she was hurt more than we thought when I freed her. I can take you to


    Hawk Ridge to visit her if you want. I don¡¯t have a problem with that.¡±


    ¡°Actually, we might be able to speed up how long she had to stay in a bed and


    recover,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Hospital has exceptional tools, but we are personally better


    than they are.¡±


    ¡°And what would you want for that?,¡± asked the king.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Jack. ¡°My beloved and I are eventually getting married when we have


    things worked out the way we want them, so you can come by for that if you want.


    I¡¯ll arrange a transport service for you and your guests.¡±


    ¡°Not me,¡± said Josie. She held up a hand at his glance. ¡°I don¡¯t plan to ever get


    married. We can take you to see Caroline and bring you back before the end of the


    day.¡±


    ¡°The Ducklings would love to meet a real king,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his friend¡¯s


    disgruntled look. ¡°The best they¡¯ve met is the Duke, and whatever Brant is.¡±


    ¡°The Ducklings?,¡± said Grecious.


    ¡°They are my adopted sisters,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m hoping to let them grow up and make


    their own horrible life choices.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait until they start dating,¡± said Jack. ¡°The boyfriends can¡¯t all be Todds.¡±


    ¡°They can wind up like him,¡± declared Josie.


    Jack grinned at her.


    ¡°Go check on your new Wild Bunch,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll call Mister Warner to make sure


    he is not setting the coast on fire. When you get back, we¡¯ll go. Your Majesty, if you


    want to stay overnight in Hawk Ridge, I will be glad to put you up. If you want to


    take the Queen, I can wait to take her with us. One extra person is not going to make


    that much of a difference.¡±


    ¡°I will need to take a contingent for security,¡± said King Grecious


    ¡°I am not putting them up,¡± said Jack. ¡°The place only has room for two more if they


    take the couch. Any more than that, they have to find an inn to sleep in.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t leave without me,¡± said Josie. She pulled on her magician and went off to


    search for her rescued slaves as he said never.


    They both knew he would take off if he felt the urge to do so, and say sorry later.


    ¡°I will tell my wife that I am leaving,¡± said Grecious.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right here,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll be glad to bring you back at the end of your


    visit.¡±


    The king nodded. He left the room through a door behind his desk. Jack thought it


    might lead to a private hall to his quarters. He was curious but not curious enough to


    follow.


    The guards remained in the office with him. He supposed he was the most dangerous


    person in the castle depending on where Josie was which made their behavior fair.


    ¡°I have to make a call,¡± Jack told the guards. ¡°You¡¯re allowed to listen, but don¡¯t say


    anything. Mister Warner is a cranky, old man.¡±


    The guards looked at him with a certain amount of fear in their eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°He won¡¯t even know you¡¯re here if you¡¯re quiet.¡±


    He pulled out his phone and pressed the call button. He frowned at the charge display.


    The Enterprise must be draining the battery when he is onboard.


    ¡°What do you want, Jack?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°Have you stopped whatever is going on at Tern yet?,¡± asked Jack. He knew they


    hadn¡¯t because the all clear ding hadn¡¯t been sent.


    ¡°No,¡± said Warner. ¡°I think we¡¯re about halfway there. We¡¯re scaring every type of


    animal between Hawk Ridge and the coast the way we¡¯re going. We must be


    skimming along at a couple hundred miles an hour.¡±


    ¡°Is Boim there?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Warner. ¡°Do you want to talk to her?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°We went up and talked to her sister. Josie put a warning down for


    her government.¡±


    ¡°Do I want to know what kind of warning?,¡± asked Warner.


    ¡°The heads will roll if you don¡¯t straighten up kind of warning,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think


    she cleared the city of Montrose too.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Warner. ¡°We¡¯re going to clear this, and head back to Hawk Ridge.


    We¡¯ll be down in Goblin territory somewhere. I don¡¯t remember which clan off


    hand.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Juni marry into the tribes,¡± said Jack. ¡°She¡¯ll be running the place before


    you know it.¡±


    ¡°June!,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Jack said don¡¯t be a goblin,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°I will get even with you for that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I owed you for the hair, and new teeth,¡± said Warner. He cut the connection.


    ¡°I¡¯ll still get even,¡± said Jack. He put the phone away.


    A couple of the guards were trying not to laugh at him.


    ¡°Old people,¡± said Jack. He shrugged.


    ¡°How does that work?,¡± said one of the guards. ¡°We clearly heard a voice coming


    from that box.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know a lot about electronics,¡± said Jack. ¡°But the simple explanation


    is that the box turns sound into another form of energy, sends it out to another box


    which changes that energy back into sound. Back home, there are a set of antennae


    that direct the signal. Here I had to improvise my own antenna.¡±


    ¡°You could change the face of the world with that,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°It did back home,¡± said Jack. ¡°It allowed for messages to be sent in minutes instead


    of weeks. That changed the course of history.¡±


    ¡°We could use something like that here,¡± said the guard. ¡°The princess would never


    have been in danger.¡±


    ¡°Doubtful,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°The only thing that would have changed is that Caroline would have been missed


    faster,¡± said Jack. ¡°If her own guards were in on it, no one would have known at all


    whether you had a better communication network, or not. On the other hand, we


    won¡¯t be able to ask the people involved because they obviously ran into something


    that punished them before we could ask them questions.¡±


    ¡°Bursting heads was too quick for those people,¡± said one of the other guards.


    ¡°I am wondering how she decided on that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask her.¡±


    The king entered the chamber with a woman on his arm. She matched his age, looking


    like an older version of their daughter. She wore a plain green dress and cloak. Her


    graying hair was long and braided down her front.


    ¡°Rikard said that you are taking him to see Caroline,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°And you want to go?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the Queen. She frowned at his smiling face. It had been a long time since


    any commoner other than her maid had said something to her face about refusal.


    ¡°The same conditions apply to you,¡± said Jack. ¡°You get the couch, you let Jane do


    what she needs to do, and you keep things under control. I know how hysterical


    moms can get. I don¡¯t want to have to deal with that.¡±


    ¡°And who are you to say that to me?,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°With all apologies to Steve Earle and Chuck Yeager, I¡¯m the fastest man alive,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°And I don¡¯t have to take you along if I don¡¯t want to, missy.¡±


    Josie appeared in the greeting room. She looked around as Zatanna faded. She didn¡¯t


    like the expressions that she saw.


    ¡°Problems?,¡± she said.


    ¡°They want to use our couch,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to use the couch,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°You can use the couch if you want,¡± said Josie. ¡°Just don¡¯t actually use it if you


    know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said the Queen.


    The King looked like he didn¡¯t know whether to be offended or laugh.


    ¡°Enterprise, four to beam up,¡± said Jack into his com. ¡°Energize.¡±


    The guards paused as the group vanished in a cloud of blue sparks. How were


    they going to explain this? A letter appeared in the middle of the room, and floated


    to the floor. The chief man at arms picked it up and read it. He shook his head.


    ¡°We are to wait for the Royalty to come back,¡± he said. ¡°They plan to be back by


    sundown. His Majesty wants someone to inform General Mintz that he has to


    reinforce Fort Hern on the Shemmarian border. Who wants to do that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it, sir,¡± said one of the guards.


    ¡°If the General asks, tell him that the King and Queen went on a small trip to figure


    out what they are going to do about Caroline,¡± said the chief. ¡°That¡¯s close enough


    to the truth that we won¡¯t have to answer to the nobility if they start inquiring about


    their personal projects.¡±


    ¡°Understood, sir,¡± said the guard. He turned and marched away.


    ¡°All the rest of us have to do is wait,¡± said the chief. He didn¡¯t like that at all.


    Jack led the way to the bridge. He took the command chair. Josie took her seat at the


    first officer¡¯s place. The King and Queen stood. They looked at the strange room with


    some awe.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Enterprise will have us over Hawk Ridge in a few


    minutes.¡±

 Young Love

    Josie frowned at Jack¡¯s showing off. Their guests looked scared enough to actually


    try to take the Enterprise. That would be a disaster.


    ¡°What kind of fiends are you?,¡± asked the King. His hand was on his sword.


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s step into the Ready Room. Jack, hover for us. When we


    get done talking, we will go down and talk to Jane about Caroline.¡±


    She gestured for the couple to precede her to the doors on the side of the bridge. The


    panels slid out of the way before the King could push on them. She walked around


    them to take Jack¡¯s chair at the desk. She gestured for them to sit in the guest chairs.


    The Queen paused at the pictures on the wall. The King stopped at the false weapons


    on the other wall. They looked at Josie.


    ¡°The pictures are of people Jack knows, and the things are facsimiles of objects from


    our childhood,¡± said Josie. ¡°Please sit.¡±


    The couple took the chairs. They didn¡¯t relax with the sunlight shining down on them.


    It was late afternoon outside.


    ¡°Ordinarily, I wouldn¡¯t feel like I have to explain myself to others,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack


    definitely wouldn¡¯t. You can¡¯t operate the Enterprise, so trying to hurt us would get


    you nothing. If you succeeded, and the Enterprise didn¡¯t trap you on the bridge, the


    only way off the ship are the transporter rooms which you can¡¯t operate, and the cargo


    bay where you could possibly jump to your death if you could get the door open.


    ¡°We¡¯re only using your kingdom as a base out of luck. Hawk Ridge is where we first


    arrived, and the jobs we had were mostly centered around the city. I ran into the


    Montrose my first day here. And I decided they all had to die.¡±


    She gestured at the pictures on the wall.


    ¡°The girls in that picture, and Jane and Hilda,¡± said Josie. ¡°And Elaine were all taken


    from the Montrose¡¯s hands, just like Caroline, just like the women I brought to the


    keep when we met.¡±


    Josie put on her placid mask. She frowned at her guests.


    ¡°We¡¯re not here to take over your kingdom, kill you unless you do something that


    needs to be dealt with, or cause you problems with how you do things,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We are doing quests for the Society, like our predecessor, and like Jack¡¯s sister will


    be doing in the north when she gets set up. We are keeping the peace as much as we


    can.¡±


    ¡°Duke Hent?,¡± asked the King.


    ¡°He decided that it would be better to try to enforce a false tax bill so he could take


    my girls and Jane¡¯s Amazons for the Montrose,¡± said Josie. ¡°I disagreed with his


    assessment, and then Jack met with him face to face.¡±


    ¡°Jack met with him?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let him fool you,¡± said Josie. ¡°He built the Enterprise because we needed a


    cold vault to store the survivors from the Goblin Trees, and a source of firepower. I


    am glad he didn¡¯t decide to build a berserker, or something else equally massive. The


    side effects might have cost more of Shemmaria than what I am willing to calculate.


    So we¡¯re going to go down and talk to Caroline. I asked Jane to keep her secure, and


    Hent will have members of the Watch there too. She may be damaged more than what


    Jane was willing to confide to us over an open line. Jack and I may be able to heal the


    damage once we know what Mister Warner and June have done about a quest we


    have for Tern. I will be glad to give you a copy of our archives for your reading, and


    of Mister Warner¡¯s. I promised we would bring you back to the capitol at sundown,


    but obviously Caroline is not going anywhere until I am satisfied she can move on her


    own.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that,¡± said the King.


    ¡°I can do that, and depending on how bad Caroline is hurt, she might die if I send her


    home,¡± said Josie. ¡°So I am going to hold her until she can at least survive the trip


    back to the capitol. That¡¯s how that¡¯s going to be.¡±


    ¡°We can make your life miserable,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°Jack and I can go home and let the next attempt on your daughter succeed,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°The Society might not like it if we retaliated wholesale on your entire country,


    but they won¡¯t care if we decide to go home and only come back to do jobs. If we do


    that, things will get worse quickly while we¡¯re sitting it out. I have a much bigger


    stick than you.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t abandon the women we are housing in the Chancellor¡¯s mansion,¡± said


    the King.


    Josie transformed into Zatanna. She summoned two books of knowledge. She handed


    one to the King. She duplicated the other one. She wrote Haslet on one, and Russ on


    the other, before she sent them on their way. She let the persona go.


    ¡°I killed that many people before I knew any of those women,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do


    you think I will do now that I am protecting them?¡±


    ¡°Hey, Jo,¡± said Jack from the intercom. ¡°Routing the city¡¯s image through to the desk


    pad. The big white building is the hospital from up here.¡±


    The image popped on the screen. Small pings marked lifesigns from the residents.


    Josie nodded.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s talk to Caroline. You only have a few hours to sunset


    back up north. I¡¯ll leave it to you to decide which one wants to stay.¡±


    ¡°Why one of us?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°One of you is going to have to keep the government running, fix the holes I punched


    through dealing with the Montrose, and check to see if the treasury has been robbed,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°The other can stay at the Hospital with Caroline, or with us at our place.


    Lord Brant and Duke Hent will probably be hanging around until I am sure Caroline


    can be moved and I don¡¯t want to deal with either one of them unless I have to set


    them on fire.¡±


    ¡°We will sort that out after we check on Care,¡± said the King.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Shall we go?¡±


    She ushered the nobility out of the Ready Room. She nodded at Jack already standing


    by the lift. He held the door for them to step in the cab.


    ¡°I already let Elaine know we¡¯re back in town,¡± said Jack. ¡°She said everything was


    okay at the Hole in the Wall.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    The group made its way to Transporter Room One, then down to the surface. Jack


    paused just long enough to talk to Eric¡¯s grumpy uncle, before they walked into the


    hospital. Muted murmurs of Madam Witch and Ear Ripper followed Josie around as


    she asked Jane which room the princess was in. They took the elevator to the hall, and


    was stopped three times before they stepped into the room itself. Case and Caroline


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.moved away from each other as Josie stepped in the door.


    They looked guilty to her.


    ¡°Caroline,¡± said the King. He paused when he saw her laying in the bed.


    ¡°Oh,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°This is Case,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s part of Fass¡¯s Fighters. How¡¯s it going, Case?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Jack,¡± said Case. ¡°Your Majesties.¡±


    He bowed to the visitors.


    ¡°Case, step into the bathroom with me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would like to talk to you in


    private for a moment.¡±


    She let him lead the way. He glanced at Jack. The loon grinned back at him.


    She glared at Case as she closed the door. He thought that wasn¡¯t a good sign. He


    wondered what kind of magic she would use. He might be able to push her out of the


    way and flee the room. He doubted Jack would try to stop him.


    ¡°Case, if you lie to me, I will flay you alive and pour hot molten ash into the surface


    left over, and then I will hang you up as an example to everyone else who should


    know better but don¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°Am I clear?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Madam Witch,¡± said Case. He tried to control his expression. He had seen what


    both of the watchbearers could do in close combat. He didn¡¯t want to be trapped in


    an enclosed space with one of them, especially not the one known as Ear Ripper by


    the Amazons who worked in the Hospital getting it ready for the next big task.


    ¡°Are you trying to get inside the princess?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We were just talking about going out and looking at the city,¡± said Case. He looked


    away. ¡°Maybe see a show when she feels better.¡±


    ¡°Case, she was violently attacked from the looks of things,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why would


    she want to go out with you?¡±


    ¡°We were just talking,¡± said Case. ¡°It¡¯s not like she agreed to anything.¡±


    ¡°It makes it look like you¡¯re trying to take advantage of an injured woman,¡± said


    Josie. She rubbed the sides of her head with her hands. ¡°And that doesn¡¯t even


    include the fact that she is an important noble.¡±


    She frowned as she thought about her options. At the very least, she might have to


    pull Case off the roster.


    She needed to talk to Caroline about what she wanted.


    ¡°If you¡¯re trying to date her, you might as well make your case to her father,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s such a good idea,¡± said Case.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late to be a chicken,¡± said Josie. ¡°You should have thought about that before


    you started holding hands.¡±


    She stepped out of the bathroom. The Queen and Caroline were talking in low voices.


    The King stood by the window looking out over the city. Jack stood by the door,


    smiling as he took things in.


    ¡°Caroline,¡± said Josie, breaking into the conversation. ¡°Case tells me that he is


    interested in you. I wanted to know what you thought before I pulled him off your


    protection detail.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that,¡± said Caroline. ¡°He¡¯s done wonders for me. Jane said I might not be


    able to walk again. They gave me a potion, but the damage is not healing. It¡¯s obvious


    that he is trying too hard, but I like it.¡±


    ¡°But,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°No one is going to want me now, Mother,¡± said Caroline. ¡°Once they find out what


    happened, they will just use me for the title. I¡¯m unclean. Case is an adventurer that


    can retire and not work another day in his life. And he doesn¡¯t care about my


    injuries.¡±


    ¡°Madam Witch,¡± said Case. ¡°I would like to stay.¡±


    The King and Queen started arguing with Caroline about her choice in men. She took


    the position that Case had never been with another woman, and he was not going to


    try to hold things against her. Case tried to assert a claim for lost virginity, but none


    of the other three were listening to him.


    And the ruckus was giving Josie a headache. She decided to step in and do something


    about the noise level. She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled the highest note


    she could manage. The four debaters paused as the sound cut through them.


    ¡°Jack, take Case and His Majesty downstairs to the cafeteria and figure out the man


    part of this,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will call you when I want to talk to you.¡±


    Jack opened the door for the other two.


    ¡°Come on, Rick,¡± said Jack. ¡°You don¡¯t want to be in the middle of a female


    powwow.¡±


    ¡°All right, ladies,¡± said Josie, after the men had cleared the room. ¡°Caroline, what¡¯s


    going on? What are you trying to do with Case? He deserves some kind of honesty


    about your motives. And don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s love at first sight. I have only seen that


    once and it didn¡¯t bloom over the course of a few hours.¡±


    ¡°I want someone who doesn¡¯t want to use me for their own ends,¡± said Caroline.


    ¡°Despite his talk, I doubt that Case has even been with one woman, and he has seen


    me at my lowest. The men Mother wants me to accompany see me at my best, and


    they all want to be the consort to the queen. Case just doesn¡¯t seem to care about that.


    I like that.¡±


    ¡°Objections, Your Majesty,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°There are laws in place that members of the royal family have to marry nobles,¡± said


    the Queen. ¡°Case could never marry into the royal line, much less further it.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to do that either,¡± said Caroline. ¡°They hurt me on the inside. I won¡¯t


    be able to have children. When I die, Cousin Rustam, or one of his children will be


    the next king.¡±


    Caroline took a breath to avoid crying in front of her mother. She kept the sob mostly


    down, but she shook a little.


    ¡°Does Case know?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t say so, but he was here during some of the checks by the healers,¡± said


    Caroline. ¡°He must have heard some of it.¡±


    ¡°I am so sorry,¡± said the Queen. ¡°I am so sorry.¡±


    She hugged her child, crying silently.


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t hurt, would you still take a chance on Case?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Caroline. She patted her mother¡¯s back with one hand. ¡°It would


    depend. I assume he took a gentler approach than what he usually does when he is


    trying to get a woman to sleep with him.¡±


    ¡°He tried to pick me up when I started trying to get the Ducklings a sword instructor


    and I dropped him on the roof of the Adventurers¡¯ Guild hall without his clothes,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Maybe his approach works better for women who don¡¯t have things to


    do.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me about that,¡± said Caroline. She smiled. ¡°That sounds so funny and


    embarrassing at the same time.¡±


    ¡°I had already decided to help you recover, Caroline,¡± said Josie. ¡°I suppose I can


    enable this romance. I have no idea how to do that. I want the two of you to talk about


    this and give me some options I can give to Case and your father. Chaperoned


    outings, shows, tours, whatever. You might have problems being with a man after


    what happened. I don¡¯t think Jack or I can fix that. You are going to have to set a line


    so things don¡¯t turn bad and make you bitter, and hurt yourself and Case.¡±


    ¡°Why would you do this?,¡± said Caroline. She looked at her mother.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the question you should be asking,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What should I be asking?,¡± said Caroline.


    ¡°Are you moving here, or does Case have to move to the capitol so you can try out


    this romance?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Think about that. This new courting thing can founder


    just on that. What are you prepared to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Caroline. ¡°Everyone else who has tried to court me have all been


    at the Castle.¡±


    ¡°You two figure out which you think will work better. If you want to stay here, I


    suppose we can give you June¡¯s room when she moves to her new place,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Is it safe?,¡± asked the queen.


    ¡°I think so, but I am in the business of protecting the planet and doing away with


    malefactors,¡± said Josie. ¡°We at least have a cursed dragon to make sure Caroline


    doesn¡¯t have any problems while she and Case are trying to figure out their business.¡±


    ¡°Cursed dragon?,¡± said the ladies with varied pitches of excitement.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie as if that explained everything. ¡°I normally wouldn¡¯t involve


    myself in anything like this, but Case is my employee, and Caroline is at the crux of


    my responsibility. I will prevail on Jack to help you which he would have done


    anyway, and then we will sort living arrangements out. I am going to step outside,


    and talk to Jack. I want a plan to move forward, and I want you to consider everything


    and what options you need down the road. I will arrange for some kind of chaperone


    at least the first three dates so you can talk and do things together without trying to


    get physical. After that, you can figure out if you want to be alone, or what.¡±


    ¡°Can you help her?,¡± asked the Queen. ¡°All this magic?¡±


    She waved her hands to indicate the whole building.


    ¡°There are practical limitations,¡± said Josie. ¡°Things have to be built from other


    things. Human flesh can only be changed so much before it isn¡¯t human any more.


    We¡¯ll talk to Jane, and set up to look at how badly things are broken, and then we will


    see what we can do to get Caroline back to normal as much as possible. I can¡¯t


    promise anything more than that. And Jack has built elixirs that can help after


    everything is said and done.¡±


    ¡°Would you do this if Caroline wasn¡¯t important?,¡± said the Queen.


    For a moment, Josie¡¯s eyes were fire inside the mask of a face she maintained. Then


    it vanished.


    ¡°Jack has a motto he has been using to teach his dragon responsibility,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°This motto comes from a set of story books where the hero is a member of the Watch


    who solves murders. He uses it to justify why he chases murderers. Everyone matters,


    or no one does. From the Queen, down to the urchin in the street, either you chase


    evil or you do something else and move on. Everyone matters. Now I am going to call


    Jack, and we¡¯re going to get on with the rest of the day before we have to take


    whichever one of you that has to keep an eye on the government home.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said the Queen.


    Josie waved her off.


    ¡°Figure things out,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will talk to Case and your husband about this.¡±


    She left the room.

 The Dad Talk

    Jack took a moment to check in on Massa, and her nurse. They were in agreement that


    the growth were vanishing from her spine and central nervous system. Massa was not


    happy with how that was happening.


    Jack told her he would work on the formula so it wouldn¡¯t be so violent.


    He gestured for Case and King Rickard to get on the elevator so they could go down


    to the cafeteria. He led the way to the counter, and got three glasses of water. He


    handed the other two glasses to his companions while he took a moment to change


    his to a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. They took an empty table away


    from the door.


    Jack sat with his back to a wall, and where he could see the door.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Before Josie comes down and literally rips your heart out of


    your chest, Case, do you have something to say to your future father-in-law?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the King. ¡°Do you have something to say about this? Let me guess, you


    were going to tell me when the time was right.¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t figured out how to tell you yet,¡± said Case. ¡°We were mostly


    concentrating on what we could do when she was healed.¡±


    ¡°And what was that?,¡± asked the King.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t know,¡± said Case. ¡°The potion they administered doesn¡¯t seem to be


    doing anything.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll check it,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might be a low grade mix. The alchemist probably didn¡¯t


    want to sell his good stuff. I¡¯ll tell Jane, or Mistress Harp, and let them handle it.¡±


    ¡°Can you heal her?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. He blew the steam off his cup. ¡°The problem is what do


    you do if I can¡¯t? Are you going to dump her and move on because she¡¯ll be in a


    wheelchair all her life? Are you going to move to the capitol and take care of her like


    the semi-baby she will be? What¡¯s the plan here, Case? Did you think about it, or


    were you listening to the smaller head?¡±


    ¡°I think I like talking to Madam Witch better,¡± said Case.


    ¡°I never heard that before,¡± said Jack, in a tone that conveyed the opposite. ¡°Don¡¯t


    tell me you were planning to run off with the princess like the idiots in the stupid


    romance books my sister Rose used to read. That¡¯s not really a plan.¡±


    Case¡¯s face scowled at his gadfly, confirming the truth.


    ¡°No wonder Josie saw through you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to give you the best


    advice I can ever give you. Don¡¯t gamble. You will lose everything against everyone


    else.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting far afield,¡± said the King. ¡°As Caroline¡¯s father, I would like to know


    what you bring to any joining of our lines.¡±


    ¡°As Case¡¯s advocate, I can truthfully say that he is moderately wealthy with a chance


    to grow it into something vaster, and he has potentially helped save the continent


    from a monster infestation,¡± said Jack. He sipped at his cup of chocolate. ¡°And he


    will never be able to successfully lie to you, or your daughter. Plus Josie will kill him


    if he can¡¯t work this out.¡±


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Have you really looked at this Josie?,¡± asked the King. ¡°She is more ruthless than


    most of the criminals I have sent to the gallows. I think that if Caroline had not


    spoken up for you, you would have been burned alive in an instant.¡±


    ¡°She really loves that head popping thing,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to ask her how she built


    it so I can use it.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± said Case. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I had hoped to do. I had thought


    Caroline and I would be able to feel things out before we said anything to you. Some


    of our discussions were about what we could do, and where we could go. I planned


    to join the expedition to take Caroline back to the capitol when that happened.¡±


    ¡°As a commoner, you would never be able to marry her,¡± said the King.


    ¡°I was going to talk to Eric and see if there was a way to get a title,¡± said Case. ¡°We


    hadn¡¯t really talked about marriage, but we talked about that. We don¡¯t even know


    if we like each other yet.¡±


    ¡°Josie can get you a title the way she cuts through things,¡± said Jack. He ran a finger


    across his throat.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± said the King. He pulled out the book Josie had given him and flipped


    through it. ¡°I count six titles that will have to be reinvested right here. Some of them


    will go to relatives, but there is a chance you can buy one which will bring you closer


    to being able to marry Caroline if you can work that out with her.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet,¡± said the King. He put the book away. ¡°Despite this rocky try


    at subterfuge, you seem honest enough. Lois, the queen, will take a few minutes to


    calm down. This is a shock for us. Usually we have the lords ask to try to have their


    sons win Caroline¡¯s hand.¡±


    ¡°You need a promise ring,¡± said Jack. ¡°Not quite an engagement ring, but something


    to say you are serious and you are giving up your womanizing ways.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Case. ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought of that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to get one for Elaine so she knows I¡¯m serious about


    our relationship working out.¡±


    A ding went off in his head.


    ¡°I can make you two,¡± said Jack. ¡°One for you, and one for her.¡±


    ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t work out?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°Get the ring back, and give it to the next girl,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I would suggest you think hard about the nature of your question,¡± said the King. ¡°If


    you are having doubts now, you will have more as the learning period becomes the


    knowing period.¡±


    ¡°I need to be around Caroline where we are on equal ground,¡± said Case. ¡°Then we


    can figure some of this out for ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid to ask for advice,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some of it will be good, some bad.


    Eric and Harp seem to have a grasp on their married life. Maybe you can get some


    pointers from them when you need it.¡±


    Jack glanced at the door and leaned in and whispered, ¡°Act natural. Hurricane Josie


    is looking for us. Don¡¯t run, Case. She can smell fear. Just act like we have been


    talking about football the last few minutes.¡±


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Football?,¡± asked the King.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked,¡± said Jack, grinning and leaning back. ¡°Green Bay does okay,


    but they need another Favre, or they will never get into another Super Bowl.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine why,¡± said the King. He glanced up as a looming shadow appeared


    over the table. ¡°Madam Fox.¡±


    ¡°Caroline and her mother are talking about what the plan going forward will be,¡± said


    Josie. She pulled up a chair and sat down. ¡°I¡¯m disappointed in you, Case. I feel like


    I should pull you off the guard detail whether Caroline likes it, or not.¡±


    ¡°You will have to arrange for a chaperone if you don¡¯t,¡± said Jack. ¡°They might get


    all touchy feely if you leave them alone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± said Josie.


    Case blushed at the implication.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said the King. ¡°His face is an open book.¡±


    ¡°Madam Witch,¡± said Case. ¡°I do apologize for failing at this task. I do like Caroline,


    and I do want to see how things go from here.¡±


    ¡°We were discussing whether or not Case could buy a title,¡± said Jack. ¡°Rick says that


    he has some Josie type openings in the ranks.¡±


    ¡°Rick?,¡± said the King. ¡°A touch more respect would do you some good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll work on it,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you think of that as an option, Jo?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I offered Caroline June¡¯s room when we move her out


    to Russ¡¯s home town. If she agrees, the actual getting to know you part will be a lot


    easier to handle, and I won¡¯t have to chase Case that far if he screws up.¡±


    ¡°I promise I will look after Caroline,¡± said Case.


    ¡°I want you to understand, Case,¡± said Josie, she leaned forward on her forearms. ¡°If


    you can¡¯t make this commitment, now is the time to say it. Once you are in, I expect


    you to be as loyal as a hunting dog. If you and Caroline can¡¯t make it work, then I


    want you to be honest about it and say we can¡¯t do this any more. I will be extremely


    angry if you just throw Caroline aside for another woman after all this trouble I am


    going through for you. Am I clear?¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Has Caroline agreed to stay with us?,¡± asked Jack. He slurped the rest of his hot


    chocolate.


    ¡°They¡¯re trying to decide,¡± said Josie. ¡°If not, we will load her up on the Enterprise


    and take her and Case to the capitol. It will be easier for a house retainer to keep tabs


    on them for the king, but any bird I send will have to reach across the country if Case


    runs.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t run,¡± said Case. ¡°I promise you that.¡±


    ¡°So what do we need?,¡± asked Jack. He held up his hand to forestall the king and


    Case offering different suggestions.


    ¡°Caroline and her mother are coming up with a date plan for Case to escort her


    around with a chaperone for the first three dates,¡± said Josie. ¡°We need to know if


    Caroline is staying here, or going home. We are assuming that Case will do whatever


    Caroline wants as far as that goes.¡±


    Case nodded in agreement.


    ¡°I have stipulated that they should be able to have one date after the three chaperoned


    dates on their own,¡± said Josie. ¡°With a curfew, so they can¡¯t spend the whole night


    on lover¡¯s lane.¡±


    ¡°Like that has ever stopped anybody,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± said Josie. ¡°The first real impediment is Caroline¡¯s condition. We have to


    take a look at what the Montrose did, and fix what we can.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Other than not having your girl child going off with an idiot,


    what do you want to add to this, Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°Case has to get a title, and land,¡± said the King. ¡°That part is the law if he wants to


    marry Care some time at the end of this. He has to be ready to collect taxes, and run


    part of the government wherever he gets a title. Obviously, unless he is a noble in


    disguise, that will present an outlay of money.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Case.


    ¡°I was kind of expecting no kiss on the lips, no groping, none of that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Okay, I will take that as a win.¡±


    The King glared at him, but shook his head after a minute.


    ¡°Caroline might not want you to touch her, Case,¡± said Josie. ¡°Not at first. You¡¯re


    going to have to deal with that while and after she is healing. She¡¯s lucky she didn¡¯t


    die from what happened. You are going to have to give her time to adjust. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Case. He nodded.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get you those rings,¡± said Jack. He stood. ¡°Don¡¯t look so worried. This won¡¯t


    be harder than getting your license.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel that way,¡± said Case. He stood.


    They walked over to the counter and Jack took two forks from the cubby. He handed


    them to Case so he could transform into Magik. He took one of the forks back and


    warped it in his hand, forming a plain silver ring. He exchanged that for the other


    fork. He quickly turned that into a ring.


    ¡°Do you have any coins on you?,¡± he asked.


    Case took out his money pouch and checked inside. He pulled out two silver pieces.


    He handed them to the outstretched hand.


    Jack squeezed the coins until they were small jewels. He jabbed each jewel into the


    surface of one of the rings. He shined them until they glowed under the light. He


    handed them back to Case.


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they be decorated?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°These are promise rings,¡± said Jack. ¡°You can get your wedding rings decorated how


    you want. These get what I give them, and that¡¯s all. Let¡¯s show the king, and then


    we can go back upstairs so you can give Caroline hers.¡±


    He let the persona go. He would talk to Elaine about what kind of promise ring he


    could get her.


    ¡°Jack made these for me and Caroline,¡± said Case. He showed Josie and Rickard the


    rings. ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of gems these are.¡±


    ¡°One is a ruby, the other is an emerald,¡± said Jack. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡±


    ¡°We look at Caroline and do what we can for her,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we sort out


    if she is staying here, or going home with us, or going back to the capitol. Wherever


    she goes, Case will have to go if he wants to have a chance of making this thing


    start.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to try before we have to take the King home?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t want


    an audience when I use Doctor Strange.¡±


    ¡°Jane will have to be there to help us,¡± said Josie. ¡°We trade like we did for Bea?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Operating theater?¡±


    ¡°It will be easier than doing it in her room, and there is a scanner we can use to help


    us,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I like it. Case said the healing potion doesn¡¯t seem to be


    working that well, so we¡¯ll have to check if we need to flush it while we¡¯re working.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Before we go upstairs and talk to the Queen, is there any


    other concerns we need to deal with right now before we get started?¡±


    ¡°I will have to talk to Hent and Brant before I go,¡± said the King. ¡°Everything else


    seems clear.¡±


    ¡°When we start working on Caroline, Case,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to take your


    future in-laws for a walk. Take them down to the Guild Hall, wherever. Josie will


    send for you when we are done.¡±


    ¡°I can ask some of the adventurers to come with us as security,¡± said Case. ¡°They


    know that Madam Witch is paying our fee to the Guild.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we are as ready as we can be.¡±


    The group went to the elevator and rode back up to the top floor. Jack pushed open


    the room door for them. He smiled at the guards on the door.


    ¡°You guys are going to follow Caroline¡¯s parents around for a while,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let anything happen to them.¡±


    He did a hand gesture of something exploding.


    ¡°What was that?,¡± said one of the guards.


    ¡°What Josie will do to your head if you let her down,¡± said Jack.


    He stepped inside the room and let the door close.


    ¡°I would like to stay here,¡± said Caroline. ¡°Mother and I talked about it. I would love


    to meet a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Aviras is a grumpy sort,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m sure he will at least talk to you for a bit.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to take you down to the operating theater and do what we can,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Case is going to take your parents for a walk, get them out of our hair until we


    are done. You might have to stay here for another day, and then we will transport you


    to our place. Tomorrow, June and Boim are moving out, so you can have their room


    at the Hangar.¡±


    ¡°The rings,¡± Jack whispered into Case¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Jack made rings for us to wear,¡± said Case. ¡°Promise rings until we can have a


    proper engagement.¡±


    He showed Caroline the two rings. He handed her the emerald so she could put it on


    her index finger. He put his on his ring finger. The light from the window caused a


    slight spark between them.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s clear the room and get someone to help us transport


    Caroline downstairs. Case, take the Royals for a walk. I will let you know when they


    can come back.¡±


    ¡°Can we watch?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°We are going to be cutting into your child,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea


    for you to be around. Let us do what we have to do, so you can do what you have


    to do.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for earlier,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°I can¡¯t protect everyone everywhere every time,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to settle for


    what I can do. You¡¯re right to be concerned, but part of our job is to rebuild what


    we can after the action is over. We¡¯ll look after Caroline.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Jack. ¡°Part of this could be healed faster with a better healing


    elixir. I can make one of those in my sleep. Your little girl will be on her feet in no


    time.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Lois,¡± said the King. ¡°We can talk to Case about his qualifications while


    we tour the city.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll will wait on you,¡± Case said. He held Caroline¡¯s hand before they were all


    ushered out and told to wait for news.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do to fix you up,¡± said Jack.

 Healing

    Josie had a nurse help her with a rolling bed. Jack lifted Caroline to the bed with


    Gravity before switching back.


    ¡°How would you like to go skydiving for your first date?,¡± Jack asked as he pushed


    the bed out in the hall.


    ¡°Skydiving, Jack?,¡± asked Josie. She couldn¡¯t believe what she was hearing. ¡°Are you


    crazy? Don¡¯t answer that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that it will be supervised and it will be a way for her to be close to


    Case without being indecent,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What is skydiving?,¡± asked Caroline.


    ¡°Where we are from people are able to use machines to fly,¡± said Jack. ¡°And they like


    to jump out of them with a safety device and float to the ground.¡±


    ¡°It is dangerous despite people saying that it is safe,¡± said Josie. ¡°People can get hurt


    if they jump too close to the machine, or the device doesn¡¯t work like it should.¡±


    ¡°I did it,¡± said Jack. ¡°It was easy.¡±


    ¡°You skydived?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I was in the Army,¡± said Jack. ¡°They train you to do it. And you have to have so


    many hours. So yes, I can skydive, and show others how to skydive. It¡¯s even easier


    now that I can fly. Plus I took all those goblins skydiving with me, and Elena¡¯s


    villagers.¡±


    ¡°They trusted you with that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Not the goblins,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°Could you take us skydiving?,¡± asked Caroline.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll jump out and walk home. That will give you and Case some


    alone time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not supposed to be giving them alone time,¡± pointed out Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the kids,¡± said Jack. ¡°I should be able to juggle them all. And Laura and Bea


    will be great backups for me in case I drop someone, then we can go fishing like I


    wanted.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I like this plan at all,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It will give you a chance to take a day off,¡± said Jack. ¡°Unless you want to go


    skydiving too.¡±


    ¡°Why would I want to do that?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Besides we can fly.¡±


    ¡°You can make sure that I don¡¯t drop one,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe it would be good to take a day off,¡± said Josie. She thought about being alone


    at the Hole in the Wall. ¡°I think that you should take Elaine with you. She doesn¡¯t like


    to fly, but maybe she will want to fish with you guys.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Caroline?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Ever been fishing with six kids and two


    adults that just want to take it easy?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Caroline. ¡°Could we do that?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll call the kids and we¡¯ll do it.¡±


    ¡°Not today, maybe not tomorrow,¡± said Josie. She frowned at her partner. ¡°We still


    have to take the king home, let the queen sleep on the couch, and move June out. And


    we don¡¯t know how strong Caroline will be tonight after we go over her injuries.¡±


    ¡°Have you thought of your other two supervised dates with Case?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Caroline. ¡°I thought about going to a show.¡±


    ¡°Elaine and I went to one about Hurley the Hurler,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it is


    still running.¡±


    Their talk had got them through the elevator ride downstairs. Josie held the door


    while Jack rolled the bed out and toward the operating theater where Josie had


    worked on Marla, and Jack had took his samples of Massa¡¯s growths.


    ¡°Madam Witch said that you are teaching your dragon responsibility,¡± said Caroline


    as they navigated the doors.


    ¡°She likes Ear Ripper better,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her frowning face.


    ¡°Do not,¡± said Josie. She tried to make it clear that she was warning them with those


    two words. ¡°Josie is fine.¡±


    ¡°And Matilda is teaching Aviras,¡± said Jack. ¡°If anything happened to her, we might


    have a dangerous beast on our hands. He just puts up with us because I cursed him,


    but that wouldn¡¯t stop him from doing things to get even if he wanted to enough.¡±


    ¡°Here we are,¡± said Josie. She opened the doors for Jack to wheel Caroline into the


    room. Jane and Madam Harp stood inside the room.


    She agreed with Jack about Aviras. He was smart enough to get onboard the


    Enterprise and use his authority to blast anything that had hurt Matilda.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to look at Caroline and see if we can get her on


    her feet. I recommend the nurses that have to have the Goblin Tree spines cleared out


    either don¡¯t eat twenty four hours before they take the first pill, or they take half the


    dose at first. That might limit their time in the latrine.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pass the word,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°How are we doing this?¡±


    ¡°Just like your husband¡¯s arm,¡± said Jack. ¡°I change into Doctor Strange and start


    doing what I can, Josie changes into Doctor Occult and follows up when I run out of


    power. Case said the healing potion that you gave her doesn¡¯t seem to be helping that


    much, so we¡¯re probably going to have to flush it and give her something I make on


    the spot.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send Hilda to talk to the alchemist we used,¡± said Jane. ¡°We might have to cut


    him off.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get started. We¡¯re going to have to check on Mister


    Warner and June after we take care of this. Maybe a day off will do me some good


    after all.¡±


    Josie doubted she would take that time. There were still too many things she needed


    to do to finish her quests. She could take a day without other people around to figure


    out how to clear what she had.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°The scanner is on. This is a lot.¡±


    Josie looked at the screen. It was covered with red indicators pointing at injuries up


    and down Caroline¡¯s body. Some of the smallest cracks in her bones filled in while


    she was looking.


    ¡°Okay, the healing potion is working,¡± said Jack. ¡°But it is healing small sections at


    a time. It¡¯s just enough to make sure Caroline¡¯s organs don¡¯t fail, and her skeleton


    doesn¡¯t come apart. We can do better than that.¡±


    ¡°Start with the organs, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can work on the skeleton. It


    doesn¡¯t look like we¡¯ll need to put in pins. They are cracked but not completely


    broken.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to put you to sleep, Caroline,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to cut


    to fix some of this despite what I thought at first. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Case has told me stories about you,¡± said Caroline. ¡°So have the others. Budd, and


    Emily. They say despite being terrifying, you will help more than you hurt. They told


    me about the arm you built on a whim.¡±


    ¡°And it still works,¡± said Madam Harp. ¡°Darry is happy about that.¡±


    ¡°Told you,¡± said Jack. He smiled at Josie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky,¡± said Josie. ¡°That always leads to a Gibbs slap.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Turn your face, Caroline. And close your eyes. I don¡¯t want


    you to see the body I have to use, and I need to put you to sleep.¡±


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°Why not?,¡± said Caroline. She turned her head.


    ¡°Because it looks like Jo¡¯s mom,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s true, you are about to get punched,¡± said Josie.


    Josie shook her head as Jane and Madam Harp smiled. They had seen Doctor Strange.


    They knew how bad it looked. Nobody would trust Jack working on them if they saw


    that squamous horror.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get started. I can feel Mister Warner leaving Juni to be


    monster bait from here.¡±


    He called on Doctor Strange and opened the various floating screens he used to check


    things. They were magical versions of the scanner Josie had built, but information


    was sorted to different screens so he could look at everything with his many eyes.


    He put Caroline to sleep with a drug produced by one of his tentacles. He examined


    the damage, unsure where to start his repairs.


    ¡°There is just so much here,¡± said Jack. ¡°She really is lucky to be alive.¡±


    ¡°Where do we get started?,¡± said Josie. She wanted him to stay on track. The longer


    he took, the quicker his watch would time out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with these cracks in her skull, and the bruising on her brain,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°She might feel different about Case once we clear those up. Then we¡¯ll work down


    to these cracks in her collarbones and the hyperextension in her upper arms and


    shoulders, then lower.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the scanner. ¡°Her lower body has a lot of


    evidence of rape.¡±


    ¡°Typical Montrose,¡± said Jack. He began to implant healing tabs in Caroline¡¯s scalp


    with needles at the end of his tentacles.


    ¡°As if I needed more reasons to blow them up,¡± said Josie. She watched the scanner,


    and how it tracked the reversal of damage in Caroline¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯m glad Hax pushed


    me now.¡±


    ¡°I bet he¡¯s not,¡± said Jack. A showing of fangs imitated his natural grin.


    ¡°I bet,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t know how many of the Montrose were in Shemmaria¡¯s


    government when she attacked, but they weren¡¯t living in the capitol anymore.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Her heart and lungs seem okay, but her rib cage and upper


    spine are both chipped. The lower organs are bruised. The intestines are bruised


    almost perforated. Some of it looks like it has healed over.¡±


    ¡°When did you guys give her the healing potion?,¡± asked Josie. She looked at the


    perforation marks on the scanner.


    ¡°Almost as soon as we took her to her room, and I talked to her,¡± said Jane. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You saved her life,¡± said Jack. He produced some more healing elixir and injected


    it in Caroline¡¯s stomach. He stepped back and let her system start spreading it on its


    own.


    ¡°The potion is crap at widespread healing,¡± said Josie. ¡°But it made sure her


    intestines didn¡¯t leak poison to the rest of her body.¡±


    ¡°So we saved the princess,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°You did.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you,¡± said Jack.


    His transformation faded as he checked his scanners. His elixir rolled through


    Caroline¡¯s system on its own. It would fix what it could when it reached those


    sections.


    ¡°Josie is not the only one who can punch you in the face,¡± said Jane.


    Jack grinned back at her.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°My turn. Maybe I can take this elixir and speed up the healing


    process.¡±


    She touched her watch and Doctor Occult threw out her scan to take over Caroline¡¯s


    bodily functions. She sped up the elixir, making sure it touched everywhere. She


    stopped any cancerous growths that looked like they might appear. She fixed wounds


    in Caroline¡¯s lower torso from where she had been assaulted. She changed back after


    watching the elixir work down to her patient¡¯s toes and fixing those.


    The bruises on Caroline¡¯s skin, the swelling in her face, the patches where hair had


    been pulled out, healed in a matter of seconds as they watched.


    ¡°If you ever give up killing monsters, you can be a healer and save lives like that,¡±


    said Madam Harp as she watched the scanner.


    ¡°Killing monsters is easy,¡± said Josie. ¡°Fixing people is harder. I¡¯m glad the both of


    you, and Massa are helping me with this. This hospital will be more important to


    Hawk Ridge long after Jack and I are dead and gone.¡±


    ¡°She is probably going to be hungry when she wakes up,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s roll her


    up, make sure we have people watching her, and then find Case and the parents. Then


    we can sort the rest of our day out.¡±


    Josie looked down at the sleeping princess. She looked so much better than when she


    had exchanged her from her prison with a bird. She was going to live a little longer.


    She was going to have kids now.


    That will be a big surprise for her if she and Case spent some quality time together.


    ¡°I think we did something good here,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to celebrate when I have


    time. Thanks, Jane, Madam Harp.¡±


    ¡°Just part of the job,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°How long will she be asleep?,¡± asked Madam Harp.


    ¡°A few hours,¡± said Jack. ¡°The elixir will flush out on its own.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°Let¡¯s get her back up to her room, and let her sleep.¡±


    Josie wrote a letter and sent it to Eric Fass. She still wanted someone to watch


    Caroline other than random adventurers in the hall. She thought about putting a ward


    on, but she couldn¡¯t figure out how to do it other than putting a bird in the room and


    popping people¡¯s heads.


    They placed Caroline on the rolling bed, and Jack rolled her to the elevator. He rolled


    her inside and waited for Josie to push the button. They rode up to the room in


    silence. When they got to the proper floor, two more adventurers waited with Emily


    at the door.


    ¡°How is she doing?,¡± asked Emily. ¡°She looked rough when she was brought in.¡±


    ¡°We took a look at things and straightened it out, Em,¡± said Jack. ¡°How¡¯s your


    brother?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s okay,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°He¡¯s needs a better haircut,¡± said Josie. She frowned at Emily. ¡°We have to round


    up her parents, and check things out. Caroline is going to be staying with us when she


    gets out of here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Elaine will love that,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°Don¡¯t rub it in,¡± said Josie. ¡°We want you to take over for us. If there is a problem,


    just hold out until we can get back. I have added some new tricks with the firebirds.¡±


    She pulled out some paper and a pencil. She enchanted the paper and handed it over.


    ¡°Is this necessary?,¡± said Emily. She tucked the paper and pen in her belt.


    ¡°The Montrose went after her once to use her as a hostage,¡± said Josie. ¡°If they come


    back, I want to let them know that Hawk Ridge is my city, and I won¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°Eric is collecting the pay sheets,¡± said Emily. ¡°He said he will hold them until he


    sees you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Emily,¡± said Josie. She opened the door so they could roll the princess


    inside the room. Jack lifted her over to her regular bed and covered her with the light


    blanket used by the hospital. ¡°Don¡¯t let Case stay with her by himself.¡±


    ¡°What did he do?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°He proposed,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her expression of disbelief. ¡°And she said


    yes. The parents are less than impressed and may want Case to fight some giant


    menace on his own to prove he can be a good husband.¡±


    ¡°Save me from fairy tales and the Brothers Grimm,¡± said Josie. ¡°In any case, he is not


    to do any more than hold her hand at the moment because I don¡¯t want him facing a


    rope if I happen to be called away.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll pass the word around,¡± said Emily. Her grin matched Jack¡¯s for a moment. ¡°I can


    already hear Eric groaning from here.¡±


    Josie could too.


    ¡°All right, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s rescue Case from his future in-laws. Then we have


    to do something about Mister Warner and June.¡±


    Jack left the room, talking to the guards on the door. Josie ignored it for the moment.


    ¡°If anyone other than Jane, or Madam Harp, try to take Caroline from this room,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid to cut them apart. Only people I can trust are allowed to do


    anything with Caroline until I can get her and Case through this courting thing.¡±


    ¡°Other nobles?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°Especially other nobles,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Montrose tried to use her for a bargaining


    chip. They might have struck deals with others that don¡¯t have the Makeover. I¡¯m not


    going through all this trouble for Case to have someone like Lord Brat get in my way.


    I don¡¯t care how noble he is.¡±


    ¡°You are soft on the inside,¡± said Emily. She smiled at the shorter woman.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t help people I hate,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll check in when I have all the rest of


    this sorted out.¡±


    ¡°The princess and I will still be here,¡± said Emily. She gave Josie a small wave.


    Josie nodded. There was a small chance that the King and Queen would want their


    child closer to home, but she was ready to fight that if she had to. It was better to get


    this romantical nonsense with Case out of the way so Caroline can look for someone


    else if she wanted to do that.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She waved at Jack to follow her. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    ¡°We let Case and his in-laws get to know each other while we check on Mister


    Warner,¡± said Jack. He pulled out his phone. ¡°Then we take Boim up north to inspect


    their house.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She had no experience with other people¡¯s parents other than


    Jack¡¯s. The Lees were atypical of other people as far as she knew.


    Jack pushed the button to call Mister Warner. He waited for the retiree to answer.


    ¡°What is it, Jack?,¡± asked Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m just checking in on you,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ve done some running around and we


    are getting ready to head up north and try to find June a house. How are things?¡±


    ¡°We made it to Tern, and we¡¯re trying to divine what is going on,¡± said Warner. ¡°We


    haven¡¯t found any magic circles, or cryptic signs.¡±


    ¡°No stargates?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No stargates,¡± agreed Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come down there and look around,¡± said Jack. ¡°Wait, Josie is waving to me.¡±


    Josie held out her hand. She took the phone.


    ¡°Mister Warner,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m going to send you a bird to point you to the thing you


    are looking for down there. Just follow it.¡±


    She handed the phone back to Jack and made sure that he had the speaker pointed at


    her. She transformed into Zatanna, and released a bird. It flew into the phone. She


    almost smiled at the outcry from the other end. She changed back.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°The bird flew into the cliff side. It looks like there¡¯s


    an opening hidden there. Hold on, we¡¯re going to take a closer look.¡±


    Josie wondered what could be there. She grimaced at the thought there could actually


    be a door there on the shore. What did it mean if the door opened? Did they want to


    find out?


    She hoped Mister Warner and June could handle any problem with their watches.


    Mister Warner had a lot more experience dealing with things, and June could form


    things out of the air with the Kami. With more time, she might be able to do more


    things with her spirit magic.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°We have a hulking big door here in the cliff side.


    It looks like something has been pounding on it from the inside. Something big.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll get the Enterprise, and come down there with a mess of


    firepower.¡±


    ¡°Better hurry,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I can hear whatever it is pounding away on the


    other side of this thing.¡±


    He cut the connection.


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet you down there,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to take the bird express.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder what was stashed down there.¡±


    ¡°Probably some kind of Godzilla designed to protect the inner world,¡± said Josie. She


    became Zatanna again and sent out another bird. ¡°Giant monster that shoots flames


    everywhere.¡±


    ¡°Cool,¡± said Jack.


    She shook her head, before she was yanked out of the hospital and across the


    continent.

 The Door of Tern

    Jack wished he had a long range teleport like Josie. He would have to settle for using


    the Enterprise to get where he had to go.


    He peeked in the room. Emily looked at him from the window.


    ¡°Have to go,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some giant monster is tearing up the south. We¡¯ll be back


    as soon as we can to deal with the rest of this.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll still be here,¡± said Emily. She shooed him out of the room.


    Jack nodded and retreated into the hall. He headed for the elevator. He needed to get


    up to the Enterprise. Then he needed to head south to Tern as fast as possible.


    He triggered his com band as he ran.


    ¡°Communication opened,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Beam me up, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we have to head south. There¡¯s trouble


    brewing down there.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    A cloud of blue sparks surrounded Jack as he paused at the elevator door. He


    vanished from the hall.


    Jack ran to the lift to the Bridge as the Enterprise¡¯s engines engaged. He couldn¡¯t feel


    the ship turning but he knew that was happening. He hoped he could bring the big


    guns to bear before the others were wrecked.


    He made it to the command center and descended to his chair. The big screen was


    momentarily blacked out as the ship rushed across the sky.


    ¡°Bring up torpedoes and phasers, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. He sat down. ¡°We need to


    head to Tern on the southwest coast of the continent. Mister Warner and Juni found


    a giant door in a cliff.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    It was probably a good thing they didn¡¯t have a crew manning the Enterprise yet.


    Most people would lose their minds if you told they were going to have to fight a


    giant radioactive lizard spraying nuclear flame everywhere.


    The Enterprise¡¯s AI was I have five rounds rapid for the brute, sir.


    Jack liked that in his machine.


    ¡°Position marked,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°I am taking station above the water.¡±


    ¡°Need a picture of what¡¯s going on,¡± said Jack.


    The big screen snapped on. A horde of snake heads fired bolts of flame at the three


    humans on the ground. A cloud of sand became a wall of stone to stop the onslaught.


    Smaller beasts rushed from the cliff. Some veered from the fight and ran to get clear


    before they became targets too.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Our forces are standing too close to use torpedoes. Can you


    fire phasers at the snake heads?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Pulses of golden light started picking out the fast moving targets. The energy blew


    the heads up on contact. Jack smiled until he noted something happening to the


    stumps left over from the shooting.


    Two heads grew out of some of the stumps, dividing from the injured necks.


    ¡°It¡¯s a hydra,¡± said Jack. ¡°Great.¡±


    He thought about what he could about it from where he was. He needed to do


    something from the ground. What could he do?


    He had an idea what he could do. He had already used it once. All he needed was


    a little bit of time.


    He couldn¡¯t call the others. They were all using their personas to fight the beasts


    trying to escape the cave in the cliff. He had to go down and rig up that kind of


    surprise.


    It meant getting close to those dragon heads while they were spraying death across


    the stony beach. He didn¡¯t like that at all. He frowned. He needed to get to it if he


    wanted to save the day.


    He could gloat about this for years if he lived.


    Josie would be tired of it after the first five minutes. That made it all the sweeter.


    ¡°Enterprise, I want you to stay up here and shoot at any moving target, go for body


    shots on the big one,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to go down there and try to save the day.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The sound of phasers firing filled the hull.


    Jack took the lift down to the cargo bay. He didn¡¯t want to use the transporter. He


    might beam down and get struck by his own side by accident. It was better to dive


    from the cargo bay and drop to the edge of the battle.


    Then he could inflict his surprise move.


    He jogged over to the cargo bay exit and triggered the massive doors to open. He


    slipped through the shield that snapped into place by the glowing lights on the edge


    of the door. He became Ikkaris and headed toward the ground as fast as he could.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    He watched as June used Kami to create sand and rock hands to grab any of the


    monsters trying to break free. Mister Warner had turned into a green giant and


    wrestled with the hydra while Josie tried to keep the heads from biting him or setting


    him on fire with her birds.


    It was time to add his ability to the mix and stop the problem where he could.


    Jack dropped Ikarris. He had one chance to do this. He didn¡¯t know if he would be


    able to create the spell fast enough before his watch timed out.


    No guts, no glory was what everyone said back in Basic. Did he still have any after


    coming to this place? He smiled.


    You had to have plenty of guts to keep up with Josie Fox.


    He summoned Magik. He drew a circle in the pebbles to create the basis for his ring.


    He transformed the raised edges into a fragile thing of iron. He grew it on the beach,


    expanding it to take in the fighting group. Then he contracted the ring. A much


    smaller hydra looked up at him from his feet. He watched as the flames hit the air


    above the ring and stopped.


    ¡°This is how I like to do things, little guy,¡± said Jack. He let his persona go so he


    could recharge his watch.


    ¡°We¡¯re not bringing that home,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Juni?,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his sister, who was huffing in her persona.


    ¡°There¡¯s not a snowball¡¯s chance in Hell I¡¯m bringing that menace to my new house,¡±


    said June. She pointed at the lizard still blasting the invisible wall around it.


    ¡°No,¡± said Mister Warner from his height looking down. ¡°We still have to round up


    these other things before they make it off the beach.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it,¡± said June. She sent out a multitude of puppets to latch on to the monsters


    trying to flee. She pointed at the cliff face so the rock golems knew where to take


    their burdens.


    ¡°I¡¯m about to time out,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me see if I can get the others who ran away


    back.¡±


    She sent out a flock of birds to match with the beasts running down the beach, some


    of them headed for the water. The birds popped and the monsters appeared inside the


    cave just inside the mouth. They fled back into their prison in front of June¡¯s golems.


    Mister Warner let the giant go, and shrank to his normal height. He looked at the


    damaged door. The hinges had eventually given way. Then the thing had been


    knocked out of place by the giant hydra. He could fix it with a touch of Marvello.


    ¡°How much power do you have left, June?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°I have enough for one, or two, more spells,¡± said June. ¡°What do you need?¡±


    ¡°I need you to pick up the ground under the hydra and place it back into the cave,¡±


    said Mister Warner. ¡°Then we close it back up.¡±


    ¡°Got you,¡± said June. She flexed her hand and yanked. The ground around the ring


    separated into a floating platform. She moved her arm and sent it into the cave.


    ¡°I have enough to fix this exit,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°It will be temporary until we


    can recharge and use our full resources. It should be enough for the five minutes we


    need to recharge.¡±


    June timed out. She groaned. If the monsters got around her still moving creations,


    they would have to resort to thrown rocks to defend themselves for the necessary


    recharge time.


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Mister Warner. He pulled on Marvello. He grabbed the metal door. It


    straightened out. He flung it back into its space. He jammed pins summoned from the


    stones into the hinges to keep the thing in place. He sealed it with his own signature


    magic rune.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty good,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It will be all right until they get smart and figure out they can dig out through the


    walls,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Then we will be dealing with this again.¡±


    ¡°Matilda and Aviras will be dealing with it by then,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Boim?,¡± said Josie. ¡°She didn¡¯t get hurt, did she?¡±


    ¡°No, we left her on the top of the cliff,¡± said June. ¡°We didn¡¯t want her coming down


    here and getting into danger with us when someone might have needed to go back to


    Hawk Ridge and tell you guys we screwed up.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a minute to recharge before we have the Enterprise beam us up, and we


    head for home,¡± said Jack. He took a deep breath. ¡°The watches will be slowed down


    by the Enterprise¡¯s engines.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a path we can walk up to get to the top,¡± said June. She pointed at the side


    of the cliff. ¡°We can use that to get back to Boim, and the Red Lion.¡±


    ¡°Can you drop me off at the village on the way back to Hawk Ridge?,¡± asked Mister


    Warner.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. He frowned as he looked at the top of the cliff. He checked his


    watch. He waited for it to tick one more time so he could call on Magik again. ¡°That


    was a cool giant version of you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a guy known as the Green Giant,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°He was around in the


    first wave of heroes that became public domain. I think he had gigantism that was


    always on.¡±


    ¡°That would be a terrible disadvantage as proven by Susan,¡± said Jack. He grinned


    as his mentor rolled his eyes.


    He transformed into Magik, and raised his hands. He pushed the rock wall that


    formed the mouth of the cave over the door. He slapped the air and more rock


    covered the whole thing and made it look like a more natural cliff face that always


    stood there.


    ¡°I think that will hold them for a while,¡± said Jack. He let the persona go. ¡°Let¡¯s get


    to the top of this walk and we can rest for a moment before we have to get back on


    the road.¡±


    ¡°How did things go with the other two quests?,¡± asked Mister Warner. He matched


    Jack¡¯s casual amble so they walked at the back of their little group.


    ¡°Princess Caroline is at the hospital being watched over by Fass¡¯s Fighters,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°One of his guys asked the princess out. Josie said we would help enable that.¡±


    ¡°The king must love that,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°It¡¯s Case,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s never met a girl he hasn¡¯t asked out.¡±


    ¡°The other thing?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°Shemmaria found something so I swooped in, yanked it out of the soldiers on duty,


    sealed the original hole, and buried what I yanked out on the moon,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Sounds okay,¡± said Warner.


    ¡°And then Josie had a meeting with Boim¡¯s sister¡¯s boss and told him that if he didn¡¯t


    cut things out she was going to put holes in his head, and everyone else she could


    reach, and then she arranged a practical demonstration to show them the meaning of


    the words coming out of her mouth,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yikes,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Hopefully she won¡¯t have to go back and talk to them, and the rest of their


    government again over a job from the Society,¡± said Jack. ¡°Except if they have a


    problem they aren¡¯t causing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad I live south of all that,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°How¡¯s the village life?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Simple,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I like it, and it keeps me out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°You want to go up with us to see if we can get June some place to live up north?,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I want to rest my regenerated bones on my new couch.


    I¡¯m going to have fun wearing it in.¡±


    ¡°Tell Elena and Yoff I said hello,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was thinking about taking the kids


    fishing. I should ask her if she wants to go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask her,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°She¡¯s the only kid in the village. She might jump


    at the chance.¡±


    ¡°Any trouble with the local authorities?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can swing by with the


    Enterprise and blow something up.¡±


    ¡°I think that is the last thing I need at the moment,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Rope


    and Dot have things under control. I just have to lend a hand a little. They are


    slowly rebuilding with what you gave them.¡±


    ¡°They were in a tough spot,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who else was going to help them if not us?¡±


    He smiled slightly.


    ¡°And it was my pleasure.¡±

 Attempted Coup

    Josie crested the top of the path. She paused at the bodies of several monsters with


    stab wounds. She looked around cautiously.


    ¡°Boim?,¡± called June from the path. Both women placed their hands on their watch


    faces. The walk up from the stony beach had given the artifacts time to partially


    recharge.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, June,¡± said the slender woman. She waved from behind the floating boat.


    ¡°These things came up the path and I had to fight them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said June. ¡°We got a little overwhelmed at the bottom. We should have


    planned better for what we might have found.¡±


    Josie remembered Boim saying the Russes were trained with swords. She hadn¡¯t


    asked which one was the best out of the seven. She had assumed it was Number


    Three, the adventurer. Maybe she had been wrong.


    ¡°Are you hurt, Boim?,¡± Josie asked. She could summon Doctor Occult in a few


    minutes to deal with any injury.


    ¡°No,¡± said Russ. ¡°I lost my shirt. It¡¯s embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Give me a second, I will make you another one,¡± said Josie.


    She checked her watch. She had enough juice for one shirt out Zatanna. She changed


    form and summoned a baseball jersey with a large seven on the back, and GIANTS


    on the front. She changed back and walked to the stern of the boat and handed it over


    before turning around and walking back to the start of the path.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± Jack asked from the head of the path, looking at the chopped


    monsters there.


    ¡°Boim is changing shirts,¡± said June. ¡°She killed these guys when they rushed up here


    to get away from being put back in that vault.¡±


    ¡°Good work,¡± said Jack. ¡°We should do something about these bodies.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s recharge first,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Then I can burn them up with the Flame.


    Then we can head home.¡±


    ¡°I am presentable,¡± said Boim. She was covered with purple blood, and her new shirt


    was stained, but she was not running around half-naked which was the most


    important part to her.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t quite say that,¡± said June. She smiled.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Boim. ¡°Thank you for the new shirt, Josie.¡±


    ¡°Can you give us a second to recharge?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would also appreciate it if you


    didn¡¯t tell your sister about the vault. Shemmaria will probably want to seize all the


    monsters and use them for shock troops the way they have been acting.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Boim. ¡°Four should know better than that. I don¡¯t know why she


    would agree to help in such a way.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We still need to do a ton of stuff. It¡¯s a good thing I whipped


    up the Enterprise, despite what the Society said. We couldn¡¯t do any of this in a


    timely manner without her.¡±


    Josie silently agreed. Despite the fact that Jack had done the deed out of spite and


    anger, it had been the right decision at the time and had helped them a lot with their


    quests. June would never have been able to rescue Boim without Matilda and Aviras


    helping her steal it and giving them transportation from Hawk Ridge to that city in


    the north.


    It wouldn¡¯t been possible with what they had given her unless Deku was


    superhumanly fast.


    Maybe they had counted on that when they made Matilda and Aviras her coaches.


    She checked her watch. She had enough for a basic cleaning spell. She changed into


    Zatanna and sent out a bird to get rid of the stuff covering Boim, and clean her


    clothes, get rid of the monsters and their spilled guts, and to make sure the signs of


    a battle were erased from any locals who might come down to see what had


    happened.


    She changed back as the firebird did its job.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Boim. ¡°This is much better.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She surveyed her crew. ¡°I think we can go ahead. The


    Enterprise will slow any charging of our watches, but we are going to need to get


    back to do our duties and we need to find you guys a house to move into from Hawk


    Ridge.¡±


    ¡°Not the monster house though,¡± said June. ¡°I don¡¯t want to live where people were


    being cut up for spare parts.¡±


    ¡°We only have a couple of days to handle things,¡± said Josie. ¡°Sunset tomorrow is the


    end of your trial period, and you go home.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the easy stuff first,¡± said Jack. ¡°First, we need to head home. Mister


    Warner wants to be dropped off in the village. Then we have to get the Royals


    together until the sunset deadline for the King. Then we have to settle the Queen in


    at the Hole in the Wall. I think we did a good job on Caroline so she will look and


    feel a lot better. She might renege on Case at this point and that whole straightening


    out thing might be moot. June and Boim¡¯s house is going to have to be put in with all


    of that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to split up,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll take the girls north and look for a


    house. You drop off Mister Warner, and look out for the King and Queen.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll need a place for Red,¡± said June. ¡°He has done a good job getting us here on


    time.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll look for a place with a garage or courtyard for him,¡± said Josie. ¡°Besides


    we¡¯re probably going to need him to move around your new town, unless I teleport


    us everywhere.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re splitting up?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°Try to keep Case out of trouble. Don¡¯t forget your writeup


    for the demon book thing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mrs. Lovelace,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will do the homework.¡±


    ¡°She was the best English teacher ever,¡± said June.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I used her class to catch up on my sleep.¡±


    Josie frowned. She had been neutral with Mrs. Lovelace in school, and didn¡¯t


    remember much about the woman except she liked to wear pink a lot.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°As soon as we find a place for June and Boim, I will bring


    them back so they can meet the Queen and have dinner with us.¡±


    ¡°Dinner with the Queen?,¡± said June. ¡°I never did anything like that before.¡±


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Do you want to continue helping us, Boim,¡± said Josie. ¡°The future will be just as


    dangerous as today.¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Boim. ¡°I think this secondary position is good enough for what I


    want. Maybe in the future, I might want to stand more on the front line, but for now


    I can be more like Elaine and assist.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She checked her watch. ¡°I am about half full, so I am going to


    transport us. I wonder if there is any real estate agents there.¡±


    ¡°It would make our job a little easier, wouldn¡¯t it,¡± said June.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have just been seizing property with the force of our


    arms. I don¡¯t know if we should keep doing that. It has to fail at some point.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack into his com band. ¡°Mister Warner and I need to come aboard.


    Then we need to set course for his village. Does the village have a name yet?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°The survivors will name it eventually, or some


    traveler will name it and spread the name around so it can be added to the maps.¡±


    ¡°Call from Officer Elaine,¡± reported the Enterprise.


    ¡°Open the channel,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Elaine¡¯s voice. ¡°Someone is trying to open the shutter on the door.¡±


    ¡°Are the kids and Aviras there?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Go to the Hangar,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be right there. Don¡¯t confront them. Just get out


    until I can get there.¡±


    A letter dropped into Josie¡¯s hands. She read it. Her face became placid as she


    considered the implications.


    ¡°Someone is trying to move on Caroline¡¯s room,¡± she said. ¡°Case?¡±


    ¡°He said he would take some extra bodies,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Jack, Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°June, find Case and the Royals. Keep them safe. Can


    you go with her, Boim?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with June,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°We¡¯ve made an all right team so far. I can


    get back to the village when this is over.¡±


    ¡°Red Dragon,¡± said June. ¡°Can you navigate back to Hawk Ridge without me and


    Boim?¡±


    ¡°Yes, mistress,¡± said the figurehead. Steam blossomed from its nostrils.


    ¡°I will meet you at the hospital,¡± said June. ¡°Go.¡±


    The floating boat unfurled it sails and spun in place. It started the long journey


    north as quickly as possible.


    ¡°Enterprise, beam me up,¡± said Jack. ¡°Set course for Hawk Ridge. I want to be over


    the Hole in the Wall as fast as possible.¡±


    He vanished in a cloud of sparks.


    ¡°I am going to throw birds out for you three,¡± said Josie. ¡°Case might be a little


    jumpy. Just tell him that you¡¯re Jack¡¯s sister, June, and there¡¯s trouble.¡±


    Josie felt that if their enemy had gone after the Hole in the Wall and Caroline, then


    they would go after the royal couple too. She didn¡¯t like sending June into such a mix,


    but hopefully Mister Warner would keep her out of trouble.


    She changed into Zatanna and sent out birds to carry the three of them to wherever


    Case and his future in-laws were walking. She hoped she wasn¡¯t making a mistake,


    but she had guaranteed Caroline¡¯s safety. And if she couldn¡¯t do that, she would at


    least avenge her.


    The trio vanished a second later.


    She sent out her own bird and waited for the transition from the shore and cliff over


    the sea to the hospital room. She felt the pop and blinked. She nodded at Emily.


    A group of adventurers and men in livery held each other at sword point. If anyone


    moved, a fight would break out in the room. Emily had taken a position at the end of


    the bed, ready to use the door as a choke point.


    ¡°These men were trying to take Caroline against your wishes,¡± said Emily.


    The adventurers nodded at the statement. She didn¡¯t know all of them, but some of


    them knew her. And they knew her word was the law despite what anyone else said.


    ¡°Who is in charge of the adventurers?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I am, Madam Witch,¡± said one of the more weathered men. He had a shaved face and


    his hair was cut in what Josie thought of as Marine normal. ¡°Harby Strick.¡±


    ¡°Mister Strick,¡± said Josie. ¡°Has anyone shown you where the dead bodies go here


    at the hospital?¡±


    ¡°No, madam,¡± said Strick.


    ¡°I am going to count to three, and if these intruders don¡¯t drop their weapons, you


    will get your chance to see it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I was hoping we would see the thing your brother used on the camp,¡± said one of


    the other adventurers. ¡°One of the guys on your expedition said he made people


    drop dead in the middle of an open field.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know how he did that. I have mainly learned how to mass


    execute people by putting holes in their heads.¡±


    ¡°That will be just as good in my opinion,¡± said the adventurer.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She held up a hand. ¡°One, two...¡±


    The intruders dropped their weapons. They held up their hands. They might be


    executed but they would have months of life ahead of them instead of instant death


    in the next few seconds.


    Josie changed her head popping spell for manacles that wrapped around her targets.


    ¡°If something has happened to Elaine, you people will wish you were dead when


    Jack gets to the hospital,¡± said Josie. ¡°Good job, Emily. Mister Strick, I want you to


    take these prisoners to a room off of this floor. I want you to guard them until I come


    back for them. Tell Eric that I will pay combat bonuses for this. Also double the guard


    on the princess until I can move her out of here. I don¡¯t want anything like this to


    happen again.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Strick. He gestured for some of his men to take the prisoners.


    ¡°I will pass the word to the other parties. We will lock this building down tight.¡±


    ¡°I had hoped that you would just have to bring people in and help them out,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about someone wanting to take a chance and change the


    government.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s always someone doing something stupid,¡± said Strick. ¡°It¡¯s a rule


    somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the help,¡± said Emily. ¡°I appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°I repay,¡± said Strick. He gestured for the group of adventurers to escort their prisoners


    to the elevator. After that, he would ask someone on the ground floor where


    they could keep a surly group who was going to be locked away until Madam Witch,


    or the King, took their pound of flesh.


    He expected summarily executions to be handed out for threatening the royal princess


    after what had already happened. And if Madam Witch was as vengeful as people


    said, the malefactors might not even make it out of the hospital.


    ¡°Eric and Harby go back,¡± explained Emily. ¡°They were in the same party before they


    started their own.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for holding on, Emily,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to check on the parents and Case.


    I sent June and Mister Warner to protect them. I don¡¯t want to tell Jack¡¯s parents I


    got June killed.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Emily. ¡°I will stand here until you come back.¡±


    ¡°Josie?,¡± said Jane. A group of Amazons were with her. They were armed with


    swords. ¡°We just saw some adventurers dragging some men away in chains. Norae


    came down to the office and let me know something was wrong.¡±


    ¡°Someone tried to take the princess,¡± said Josie. ¡°Mister Strick is arranging for more


    guards for this room until we can move Caroline out of here.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°I will call the others together in Massa¡¯s room and discuss


    security going forward. I don¡¯t want any of my people hurt if we can avoid it.¡±


    ¡°I have to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°They went after the Hole in the Wall too, and maybe Case


    and the Royal couple. I sent Jack to look after Elaine, and June and Mister Warner to


    look after the others. Emily and Mister Strick will be able to tell you everything that


    happened.¡±


    ¡°Go,¡± said Jane. ¡°We¡¯ll fix what we can here.¡±


    Josie sent out another bird. She flipped across the city. She let the persona go


    as she walked to where June and Mister Warner stood over some beaten men


    in tunics and surcoats.


    "The hospital?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°Caroline is safe,¡± said Josie. She looked at the beaten men. ¡°Went after the King and


    Queen?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said June. ¡°Their escort was holding them back before we got here. We tore


    them up from behind. Boim is checking to make sure no one is seriously injured.¡±


    ¡°We let them live so we could find out who¡¯s behind this,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Three coordinated attacks at the same time is not unheard of, but shouts conspiracy


    to commit a coup.¡±


    Josie nodded. She walked into what could have been some kind of tea house. Boim


    had wrapped a piece of cloth around Case¡¯s arm. The King and Queen looked fine.


    He cleaned his sword with a cloth so he hadn¡¯t been sitting around while Case and


    the three other adventurers had protected them.


    The other men, she didn¡¯t know them, but they looked a little dinged up after what


    happened. They nodded when she came into the restaurant to find out what happened.


    ¡°Madam Fox,¡± said the Queen. ¡°Caroline?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s safe,¡± said Josie. ¡°Her guard held some kidnapers off until some adventurers


    arrived to hold them at bay. A man named Harby Strick was leading the adventurers.¡±


    ¡°He leads Strick¡¯s Strikers,¡± said Case. ¡°He¡¯s good.¡±


    Josie nodded at the declaration.


    ¡°I am going to take you back to the hospital and get you checked out,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Then I have some questions that I need answered.¡±


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°Jack either has prisoners, or left scorch marks in front of the Hole in the Wall,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We have to uphold our end of things.¡±


    Josie was betting on scorch marks because Jack had shown he was just as protective


    of Elaine as Aviras was of Matilda. She doubted he let anyone escape his attention.

 Bolt From The Blue

    Jack arrived over the Hole in the Wall within a minute of boarding the Enterprise. He


    didn¡¯t leave the transporter room since he was going back down as soon as he arrived.


    ¡°Enterprise, call Elaine, please,¡± Jack said. He needed to know she was safe before


    he unleashed his power on the city. He didn¡¯t know how Josie did her head popping


    thing, but he could figure out something just as lethal with his own magician.


    And he had Death on his dial if he wanted to use that.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I¡¯m safe. I¡¯m out at the Hangar with the girls.¡±


    ¡°Ask Bea to send her creature out to make sure no one is close to the place,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°I am above the Hole in the Wall, and I am going to talk to our would be


    burglars.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s clear, Milord,¡± reported Beatrice. ¡°Alladin says the only thing close by is a wolf


    pack and a bearsh.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Bea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Look out for your sisters. I will come pick you up when


    I am done.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Jack?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Someone has decided to try to take the Royal Family, and the Hole in the Wall,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Josie, and the others are dealing with the ruling family. I am going to deal with


    this.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We can come back and help.¡±


    ¡°Elaine, I love you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I love you more than I love myself. I want you to


    hold up out there until I am done. I don¡¯t want you to see this. I don¡¯t want you to see


    this part of me.¡±


    ¡°I think you should try some of the hi-ho,¡± said Aviras. ¡°That is the better part of


    you.¡±


    ¡°The hi-ho?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think he means the loon,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I do mean the loon,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You are not good with anger. You are better with


    the talking. Let Josie have that other. She is better with it than you are.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should be offended, or pleased,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°Be pleased,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°But most of all, be safe,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I want to have a big wedding when we are


    ready for it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can send these jokers away with a warning.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make us come looking for you,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°We¡¯re going skydiving, and then fishing with the princess,¡± said Jack. He grinned


    at the silence. ¡°All I need to do is move my lunk of a sister out of the Hangar, and


    then set the time. You guys better get some poles together.¡±


    He told the Enterprise to cut the call so he could go about his business. Josie probably


    already had her victims in a toe tag sack. He should do what he had to do and get it


    over with before Elaine called back.


    ¡°Enterprise, put me down on the corner north of the Hole in the Wall,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That way I can walk up and evaluate what I need to do.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It energized the transporter and put Jack on the


    street.


    Jack put his hands in his pockets and walked down the street toward the apartment.


    One of his neighbors stood outside his house, looking at the small group. The old man


    had come by the dinner, but the champion of order couldn¡¯t remember his name.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°All right, I suppose,¡± said the old man. He had crooked fingers and a crooked spine.


    He had lucked out and not suffered from his conditions as much as he could have.


    ¡°There is a place set up over on the north side where you can get your hands looked


    at,¡± said Jack. ¡°I know the people running it.¡±


    ¡°I think you should worry about the men trying to break into your place,¡± said the old


    man. ¡°What are you going to do about that? Set them on fire?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more of a Josie thing,¡± said Jack. He looked at the group. ¡°Let me see if I can


    talk some sense into these goons. Elaine said I shouldn¡¯t give in to my inner voice of


    rage and ruin.¡±


    ¡°She is a pleasant lady,¡± said the old man. ¡°The wife and I think you could do worse.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you agree with me,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his neighbor before


    sauntering to the back of the crowd. ¡°What you guys doing?¡±


    ¡°You should move on,¡± said one of the men in the back of the group.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°But that is the Ear Ripper¡¯s place, and she is not known for


    taking it easy on people.¡±


    ¡°The Ear Ripper?,¡± said the guy. Some of the other men half-turned to listen to this


    newcomer.


    Jack grinned as he demonstrated what they could expect with his hand.


    ¡°They told me once she yanked so hard, the guy¡¯s face went around to the back of his


    head,¡± he said.


    ¡°We still have a job to do,¡± said one of the other men, turning to face Jack. He


    frowned at the resident in his odd clothes. ¡°We still have to secure whatever women


    and children we find.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to tell you your business, but the Ear Ripper will do things to you if you


    go inside there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Your head might be placed on a post to warn off the next


    guy that breaks into her place.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t stand so close to the door,¡± called the neighbor. ¡°Those scorch marks on


    the ground used to be tax collectors.¡±


    Jack waved his hand at the fan of black reaching from the door, out into the street.


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Most of you are standing too close to the door.¡±


    ¡°You two need to mind your own business,¡± said the leader of the break-in squad.


    ¡°We¡¯ve done this before.¡±


    ¡°Have you done it against an angry witch, and her angry dragon?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°That


    could make all the difference. Why don¡¯t you leave, tell your boss they weren¡¯t here,


    and do something else with your day? It¡¯s not like he can prove you didn¡¯t try to get


    through the door.¡±


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Who wants to be reduced to smelly ash?,¡± said the neighbor.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Move on,¡± said the leader. ¡°If they aren¡¯t here, then that is one thing. We still are


    required to try.¡±


    ¡°I guess that is okay,¡± said Jack. He stepped away from the group and joined the old


    man across the street. He pushed the button on his com to call the Enterprise. The


    machine answered the call immediately.


    ¡°Enterprise, I¡¯m going to need you to lock on the guys trying to break into the Hole


    in the Wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I want you to put a stun bolt into one at random. Maybe


    chase them out of the neighborhood.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that?,¡± asked the neighbor.


    ¡°I built a sailing ship in the sky,¡± said Jack. ¡°I needed a place to keep these sick


    people without them becoming monsters before I could fix their problem. My boss


    didn¡¯t like it, but it helps me with my job, and with people who should know better


    but don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the neighbor.


    A bolt of gold descended from on high. It struck one of the men at the back of the


    group. He flew into the air and landed in a crumpled heap on the cobble stones. The


    group looked up en masse, wondering what happened.


    ¡°Good ragdoll,¡± said Jack into his com.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. A whine escaped the com band as another bolt of


    light exploded against one of the other men. He hit the wall and stayed there.


    ¡°Bad luck on that shot,¡± said Jack.


    The men started running. Gold light struck down at them, harrying them as they ran


    for cover amidst the houses and shops in that part of the city.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do property damage,¡± said Jack. ¡°But don¡¯t let them forget you are still up


    there.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°So your sailing ship will keep firing those lightning bolts at the rest of them?,¡± said


    the neighbor.


    ¡°Only as long as they are in the open,¡± said Jack. ¡°Eventually, I am going to get


    another job, and we¡¯ll have to sail out of Hawk Ridge. Until then, my baby can use


    the target practice.¡±


    ¡°I think you maligned Mistress Fox on purpose,¡± said the neighbor.


    ¡°I was going to do things, but Matilda¡¯s dragon told me that I shouldn¡¯t just let my


    anger cause me to explode,¡± said Jack. ¡°I should lean back so it didn¡¯t eat me from


    the inside. Josie is really the angry person, but maybe Aviras is right. Maybe I should


    step back a little before I do something rash.¡±


    ¡°Wise words,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°Go over to the hospital and see what they can do about your hands,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe they can be fixed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said the neighbor. ¡°What are you going to do about the two your


    ship shot?¡±


    ¡°I guess Jo is going to want to talk to them about why they thought it would be a good


    idea to raid our place,¡± said Jack. ¡°Those stun bolts hit a little harder than I thought.


    I might have to ask the Enterprise to tone it down some.¡±


    ¡°I think the Duke will want you not to let your ship throw lightning across the city,¡±


    said the neighbor.


    ¡°He will have to stand in line,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the older man. ¡°Enterprise,


    can you put these two guys you downed in the brig.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It activated the transporter and placed the stunned


    men at arms in the same brig used to hold Matilda and Aviras.


    ¡°If you want to have your placed spruced up, I can get the girls to do it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°My place is just the way I like it, thank you,¡± said the neighbor. ¡°Try to stay out


    of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Trouble is my business,¡± said Jack. ¡°That always sounded better on the page.¡±


    ¡°I wager so,¡± said the old man. He gave Jack a wave before retreating to his house.


    ¡°Enterprise, can you connect me with Elaine again,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to update her.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The apartments are clear,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Enterprise is chasing them off. Whomever


    put them up to the job wanted to take you and the girls prisoner. I guess someone told


    them you guys would be the best leverage they could get.¡±


    ¡°They have never seen Josie going about her business like we have,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I guess not,¡± said Jack. ¡°Until you put your hand in a cuisinart, you don¡¯t really


    think those blades will cut off your fingers.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Are you still angry?¡±


    ¡°A little,¡± said Jack. ¡°But Aviras is right. I¡¯m better with a more laidback approach.


    Just popping heads is a Josie thing.¡±


    ¡°She will be glad that you are not trying to take her spot,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°We were going to try to move June out of the Hangar today,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe


    we should all go together until we take the King back to his capitol building.¡±


    ¡°Is the Enterprise shooting at something?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Stun only. I told it to keep the property damage down.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Duke Hent will appreciate that,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°He will appreciate it less when he learns that someone tried to kill the Royal Family


    on his turf, and rile up the Ear Ripper to go about her business as only she can,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°I think you should either gather up these men, or let them go,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I


    doubt having the Enterprise shoot at them is the way we want the city to look


    at us.¡±


    ¡°And you are going to have to turn them over to the King anyway,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I


    doubt he will want his enemies tormented before he can bring them before his throne


    to administer his own justice.¡±


    ¡°It was fun while it lasted,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, can you gather up your targets and


    put them in the brig?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The golden fire from its guns stopped raining down


    on the city. ¡°Prisoners captured.¡±


    ¡°Hold them until we have some kind of disposition,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I guess we can pick you guys up,¡± said Jack. ¡°This has put a crimp in our plans for


    sure.¡±


    ¡°I know, but it is better they tried now than when you were both out of reach up


    north,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Mister Warner is competent, and June is trying, but they are


    worried about other things than our safety.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll swing by with the Enterprise, and pick you up,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we¡¯ll hook up


    with the others and get this part of things settled down. I still have to take the king


    back to the capitol and introduce you guys to the queen and Caroline.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think the mocking menace fits you well.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, honey,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be by in a few. We¡¯ll see what Josie has to say


    about all this.¡±


    ¡°Probably something caustic,¡± said Aviras.


    The line cut as Elaine stopped the call.


    ¡°Beam me up, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see what Josie has to say about this. I


    agree with Aviras. It will probably be something caustic.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. Jack didn¡¯t know if it was agreeing to his order, or


    agreeing with his opinion about Josie. He decided that it was agreeing with his


    opinion.


    He may have created a sarcastic machine to go with his own personality. He wasn¡¯t


    going to tell anyone that. It would invite trouble from his extended family.


    He walked out of the transporter room and headed up to the bridge. He needed


    to check in with the others while he was on the way out to the Hangar.


    ¡°Call Josie, please,¡± said Jack. He settled into his command chair.


    ¡°Line open,¡± confirmed the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is a mess.¡±


    ¡°I caught some guys breaking in to our place,¡± said Jack. ¡°I let the Enterprise use


    them for clay pigeons for a bit, but Elaine said it would be better to hand them


    over to the king.¡±


    ¡°Is that what the Enterprise was doing?,¡± asked Josie. He heard the frown in her


    voice.


    ¡°They were running around like their heads were on fire and their butts were next,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°The girls and Elaine?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They¡¯re safe at the Hangar,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to pick them up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at the hospital,¡± said Josie. ¡°The king wants to deal with this before


    he goes back north.¡±


    ¡°What do I do with my prisoners?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can show them how to sky dive


    without a parachute.¡±


    ¡°Bring them,¡± said Josie. ¡°They might as well face the music with their master.¡±


    ¡°Is it going to be cheerful circus music, or the Imperial March?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°Bring your prisoners down to the operating theater.¡±


    ¡°Why there?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s where I will be operating,¡± said Josie. She cut the call.


    ¡°Something tells me the operation will be painful and full of sharp instruments and


    sharper words,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Call Elaine. We need her to know when we are overhead and


    are about to bring her and the Ducklings on board.¡±


    ¡°Channel open,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Elaine, I am going to bring you and the kids onboard,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get ready.¡±


    ¡°We are,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Energize,¡± said Jack.


    He smiled as the doors opened on the bridge and his beloved stepped out of the lift.


    Before he could say something, Aviras plopped down in his counselor¡¯s chair with


    a spread of his wings. The Ducklings stepped out on the Bridge.


    ¡°Enterprise, take us to the hospital,¡± said Jack. ¡°These are the Ducklings. You already


    met the youngest, Matilda.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I can see why your Society complained about this thing,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°It¡¯s miles


    long.¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°It just feels that way. I¡¯m sorry there aren¡¯t any more chairs.


    Josie wants me to bring my prisoners to the operating theater at the hospital.¡±


    ¡°No doubt because it is the biggest chamber in the hospital other than the cafeteria,¡±


    said Elaine. ¡°I can¡¯t see Josie wanting to hold any court in that much of a public


    place.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see when we get there,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a feeling someone is about to get


    an unpleasant surprise.¡±

 Trial

    Josie looked at the people in the operating theater. She thought maybe she should


    have popped the villains¡¯ heads before having to put up with this. Mister Warner was


    covering the other exit.


    Anyone trying to get through him would get a face full of whatever he had used to kill


    Boim¡¯s captors up north. She could see it in the way he watched things.


    Fass, Strick, and two other men she didn¡¯t know had a guard detail in place. It was


    overkill with her and Mister Warner on duty, but she wasn¡¯t going to deny them.


    Jane, and her assistants were in the seats above the operating room. They had talked


    about how the men had tried to kill Caroline on their watch. They were not pleased


    with the attempt.


    Elaine brought the girls in to sit with Jane¡¯s group. She frowned at the proceedings


    so far. Someone had thought it would be a good idea to try to use the Ducklings


    against their big sister.


    Jack and some adventurers brought in their manacled prisoners from where they had


    been kept.


    Emily, Case, and the guards for the royal family escorted Caroline and the Queen to


    seats with Jane and Elaine. Introductions were given between them.


    Case stepped behind Emily as the Ear Ripper¡¯s gaze focused on him. He had better


    not let her down.


    The King, Duke Hent, Captain Griff, and a platoon from the Watch arrived. They


    spread out to layer over the adventurers already present. It formed two lines of


    fighters inside the walls of the room.


    Lord Brant was not present.


    ¡°Shall we call this meeting to order?,¡± said the King. ¡°I have talked to Duke Hent,


    and after this trial is over, you men will be locked away for a small amount of time.


    We only need a few of you to testify against any others in your conspiracy. Anyone


    we don¡¯t need will be hanged at a time convenient for the job. Are there any questions


    about this proceeding?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s in it for us if we name names?,¡± said one of the men who had been stabbed


    by Case.


    ¡°You will not be hanged for one thing,¡± said the King. ¡°I am willing to let the ones


    who cooperated go to the dungeon under the Capitol.¡±


    Josie stood back. She called on Zatanna. She called a book of knowledge into


    existence. She scanned it briefly before handing it to the King. He looked at the


    pages. He nodded at two of the names marked down. He knew that any attempt on


    Caroline needed a motive other than she was thinking about being courted by an


    adventurer.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to call a couple of people to watch this,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can get


    really started.¡±


    Josie changed long enough to send out some transportation birds. After a few


    minutes, three people in Shemmarian uniforms appeared. They looked around at the


    crowd around them.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad I wasn¡¯t doing anything important,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°General Haslet, Captain Russ, and Mister Hax,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is King Rickard


    Grecious. I need you to listen to what¡¯s going on. Russ, if you would join your sister,


    she will explain things.¡±


    ¡°You know I am a major?,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°For how long?,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you stick around long enough, you might make


    general eventually.¡±


    ¡°Or you might wind up like the dead people back home,¡± said Haslet. ¡°Thank you for


    the identification book.¡±


    ¡°General Haslet,¡± said the king. ¡°I have heard of you. This is partially about Fort


    Hern on the northern border. Everything will be clear in a few minutes.¡±


    The General nodded. He looked around. Russ grabbed his arm and indicated the


    raised seats around the central platform. Her sister waved at her. She blanched at the


    dragon breathing fire on Matilda¡¯s head. He was smaller in the real world, but still


    looked angry.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Aviras,¡± said Josie. ¡°It will be fine.¡±


    Jack gestured for them to come around the group in chains. He said some words to


    Four before directing her trio where they needed to go.


    ¡°We need two other people,¡± said the King. ¡°Then we can really start.¡±


    Josie worked her magic again. Lord Brant and an unknown man appeared at the head


    of the crowd. The unknown man had the Makeover and dressed in the fine tunic and


    pants that the nobles liked. He had a small cloak over the ensemble.


    ¡°Greetings, nephew,¡± said the King. ¡°We are about to have a talk about your recent


    activities.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Rustam.


    ¡°You,¡± said Brant. He reached for his sword. He could at least cut this witch down.


    He heard the sound of many swords being pulled all around him.


    ¡°If I were you, I would unbuckle the belt and kick it away,¡± said Fass. ¡°Madam Witch


    has hired us to protect this building and everyone in it. If you so much as clear


    leather, you will be chopped down before you take three steps.¡±


    The king pulled his own sword. He held it point down before him.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°If you want to attack, go ahead,¡± said the king. ¡°I cut down some of your hirelings


    earlier. It would be nothing to cut you down too. I still have that much left in my


    arm.¡±


    Brant unbuckled his sword belt and threw it off the stage. He snarled at the king.


    ¡°Your sword, Rustam,¡± said the king. He stared at his nephew.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have one, Uncle,¡± said the prince. He opened his cloak to show he was


    unarmed.


    ¡°Then you won¡¯t have to worry about being executed right here and now,¡± said the


    king. ¡°You are stripped of your holdings, and everything you possess. That will go


    to Illheim. I will sign the papers for the transfer when I get home.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t,¡± said Rustam.


    ¡°Nephew, when did you think it would be good to wage a secret war against


    Shemmaria, take part in crimes against commoners, and have your cousin attacked


    and tortured?,¡± said the King. His face took on a Josie placidity that everyone knew


    was bad for whomever it was aimed at. ¡°I know that you went in with Exsua. I know


    that was the only way to get at Caroline, someone in the castle. You had a phantom


    government hurting the people you were supposed to protect. I think that is going to


    end.¡±


    Rustam started to cry, but remained silent. He wiped his eyes with the back of his


    hand.


    ¡°Brant, you took part in this, trying to kill me and my family,¡± said the King. He


    turned his face on the lord. ¡°Your properties will be stripped from you and put in a


    trust. Your staff will continue to work the land until someone else is put in charge of


    your land. I hope all of this was worth it.¡±


    The King surveyed the chained fighters, then his nephew and the former noble. He


    frowned at them all.


    ¡°I should have you all executed for treason and the various crimes you are guilty of,¡±


    said the King. ¡°I am not. Instead I will have you transported to the Pygchos Delve


    where you will work for the next thirty years.¡±


    A small uproar escaped the crowd. An axe was better than the Pygchos Delve. They


    started to tell him what they thought of him in loud voices.


    ¡°That is worse than death,¡± called one man in the middle of the crowd.


    ¡°Do you think I should be more merciful?,¡± said the King. ¡°Do you think I should


    excuse your complicity in plunging countries into war, rape and murder, unknown


    thievery, the ruining of lives and the worsening of life in general? The only mercy I


    am giving you is none of you will have to walk back to the capitol.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t I have a right to defend myself?,¡± said Rustam.


    ¡°What is your defense?,¡± asked Josie. She stared at him, eyes virtually glowing in


    the operating room lights. ¡°I would like to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?,¡± asked Rustam.


    ¡°Go ahead and speak,¡± said Josie. She glanced at the people in chains before her.


    ¡°His Majesty has a right to know if the crimes you have committed are true.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said Rustam. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Does it matter?,¡± said Josie. ¡°You said you wanted to defend yourself so you can


    escape the mercy being handed to you. I would like to know what the defense is. You


    might be able to escape the royal decree if it is good enough.¡±


    Duke Hent took the king¡¯s arm and gestured for him to step back. He had seen the


    signs and didn¡¯t want to be covered in blood.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try something else, Mister Rustam,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am the one who marked your


    face. I marked all of your organization¡¯s faces. I have killed a great number of your


    members, and associates. My partner, and Master Fass¡¯s group have helped me. I


    want to know if you really want to trade what the crown is giving you for what I


    will.¡±


    She turned her gaze on the other prisoners in the impromptu courtroom.


    ¡°Do any of you want to trade the future you have been given for what I will do to you


    right now?,¡± asked Josie.


    The grumbling and dissent stopped at the question. A small group had been shot at


    with lightning. They knew the question was a trap just by the very nature of it.


    ¡°I am willing to let you live as His Majesty has declared, but if I were you, I wouldn¡¯t


    come back to Hawk Ridge when your sentence is over,¡± said Josie. ¡°The second time


    will be less merciful to you.¡±


    She called on Zatanna and manacled Rustam and Brant. She let the persona go. She


    had wanted to do something else while calling on the chains. She had decided not to


    in face of her allies.


    ¡°Captain Griff,¡± said Duke Hent. ¡°Please take the prisoners away and get them loaded


    up to be sent to the Capitol.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± he exhaled a breath he had been holding. He knew that things had been


    close to becoming a blood bath in the operating theater.


    ¡°Hent,¡± said the king. ¡°I will push back your audit. That will give you time to recover


    some of the stolen tax money. Thank you for being honest about that. It¡¯s obvious that


    the Chancellor sent people to fix the audit so he could split things with your uncle.


    I don¡¯t know how to fix things at the moment. I am going to have to do an


    independent audit on my end.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty,¡± said Hent. The loss of the money and having to replace


    it had weighed on his mind.


    ¡°I think I will have to send out a notice to all my holdings for them to do audits on


    their books,¡± said the King. ¡°Thank you for watching out for Caroline and for hosting


    us.¡±


    The chained prisoners jangled out of the room under the watchful eyes of Captain


    Griff and Fass. If they were going to try to make a break, now would be the time.


    ¡°Eric,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want a party of adventurers to travel with the prisoners until


    they get to the capitol. I will pay the time for it. I don¡¯t want anything to happen to


    them, nor do I want them freed before their sentence is carried out.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Fass. He started talking to the other adventurer leaders as they


    joined the escort out of the operating theater.


    General Haslet¡¯s party came down to the operating theater. They watched the


    prisoners being pushed through the exit.


    ¡°Why did you need us?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°The last two men who joined us were responsible for the build up of forces to Fort


    Hern to attack your country,¡± said the King. ¡°They have built a network of forces in


    the country to do things, and make money off of raiding other countries, or my


    people. It was best that you knew that before your intelligence people sent word back


    to you about what was going on.¡±


    ¡°They are responsible for the men Josie killed?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°And possible other things,¡± said the King. ¡°I will send a copy of the book Mistress


    Fox put together by messenger when I get back to the capitol. There will be time for


    you to let someone know that I am sending you the intelligence gathered so you are


    not thought of as traitors.¡±


    ¡°Why do this?,¡± asked Hax. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to.¡±


    ¡°Because I want you to be ready in case there is trouble,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some of the


    things the Montrose are doing directly affect you, Mister Hax, and your department.


    I want you to be ready when they try to take your efforts from you.¡±


    ¡°And some of the people Rustam dealt with might still be there to harm things,¡± said


    Haslet. ¡°We will have to verify whatever you send us, but I will ask for a meeting to


    see how much is actionable.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to send you back so you can report this. What is


    going on with the women I sent to you?¡±


    ¡°We have them billeted down just outside of the capitol,¡± said Russ. ¡°We have


    arranged army healers for them. Some of them were barely alive.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re holding them until they are healthy enough to travel home,¡± said Haslet. ¡°I


    have dailies on my desk from the doctor in charge.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will be by at the end of the week to see if there is anything


    I can do.¡±


    ¡°Would you have granted Rustam a lesser time if he had been able to defend


    himself?,¡± asked Hax.


    ¡°I would have granted him the full extent of my mercy,¡± said Josie. She called on


    firebirds to send her three minions back to where they belonged.

 Mention of a Lunch

    Jack hugged Elaine as the prisoners were taken away. She hugged him back. They


    would have kissed but everyone in the operating theater was watching and that made


    Jack nervous.


    ¡°Mush,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°I think it shows a better side of life,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Ugly hero and beautiful maiden


    falling in love and trying to make the world a better place.¡±


    ¡°Still mush,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about your love interest when you are older,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will practice


    my dad talk for him.¡±


    ¡°Please, no,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I think Alicia can do without that.¡±


    Josie, the King, and Duke Hent joined them on the observation deck. They had


    varying expressions of I¡¯m glad that¡¯s over on their faces. Jack grinned at them as he


    kept hold of Elaine with one arm.


    ¡°I think we still have a lot of work ahead of us,¡± said Josie. ¡°There is no time for


    slacking now.¡±


    ¡°But it is time for lunch,¡± said Angelica. She looked at the small crowd. ¡°And we


    should have it.¡±


    ¡°Ladies, would you like to eat with us?,¡± asked Jack. He turned his smile on Jane and


    her seconds. ¡°Angelica has been working on a recipe good for more than two people.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jane. ¡°We are starting our nurses that need it on your pill. We are going


    to be busy with that.¡±


    ¡°Remember to tell them to only take half a pill at the start and see how that goes,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°If they have to take the other half, then they can do that. Also don¡¯t let


    anyone pregnant take the pill. Just pull them off coma people duty altogether and let


    them do something else. I don¡¯t know what the pill will do to their unborn babies, and


    I¡¯m afraid to find out. I¡¯ll look for a way to help them when I have some of this other


    stuff sorted out.¡±


    ¡°Sounds doable,¡± said Jane. ¡°Massa looks good to come back in the morning and start


    getting that part of things organized.¡±


    ¡°Madam Fass,¡± said Josie. ¡°How are the adventurers doing as helping hands?¡±


    ¡°Some of them excel at what we are asking of them, some of them don¡¯t,¡± said


    Madam Fass. She smiled. ¡°I am doing what I can to get them all work.¡±


    ¡°If you have to, tell them to patrol the local area,¡± said Josie. ¡°We want the people in


    the hospital safe, but I am willing to pay to help the people neighboring us too.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Madam Fass.


    ¡°Your Grace,¡± said Josie. ¡°Thank you for going along with this. We didn¡¯t receive a


    clearance for the shadow board. There has to be someone out there who can still use


    it to order commissions from the Watch.¡±


    ¡°Captain Griff and his staff found ledgers in the two judges¡¯ domiciles when they


    conducted their raid,¡± said Hent. ¡°That pointed to a large amount of the money going


    to my uncle. We haven¡¯t found where he sent it from here, if it left his hands.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t in his house,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°I ripped that place apart. There was


    nothing left when I got done. A huge amount of liquid money would have popped


    right out when I ripped the walls down before it got converted to something else.¡±


    ¡°Can you give me a day, or two, Your Grace,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to move Jack¡¯s big


    lunk of a sister and her smarter assistant out of the secondary quarters we have, and


    set up Caroline there, and deal with a hundred other things at the moment. Luckily,


    our official quests are done, so we can concentrate on our local problems again. I can


    send a marker out to see if I can find the money. It might have been moved through


    the Exchange.¡±


    ¡°And I have some ideas about the house I can build for you,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    He pictured the weirdest house he could think of in his mind, but could only say,


    ¡°Maybe a tower fifty feet tall with a ton of rooms that you can only traverse with


    swing ropes.¡±


    ¡°I think that would be a bit much,¡± said Hent. ¡°I have to get the Duchy¡¯s finances in


    order before I can worry about a magic house.¡±


    ¡°No liminial spaces,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. He waved his arms around in a I don¡¯t need to be reminded way.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want the rooms to suddenly vanish and take the Duke with them.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Thank you for your foresight, Mistress Fox,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Also it would be good


    if you didn¡¯t shoot lightning inside the walls, Jack.¡±


    ¡°I warned them about the dangers of crossing the Ear Ripper first,¡± said Jack. He


    grinned at the sound escaping his friend. ¡°They refused to listen.¡±


    ¡°So you shot them with lightning,¡± said Duke Hent. He frowned at the other man.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Enterprise shot them with a line of charged particles caused by


    light being radiated and passed through several different mechanisms.¡±


    ¡°I fail to see how this is not your fault, and I know weaseling when I hear it,¡± said


    Hent. He shook his head.


    ¡°I suppose I could have done something else, but you should have seen the rag doll


    on that first shot,¡± said Jack. He grinned as he traced the arc in the air with his hand.


    ¡°It was almost perfect.¡±


    ¡°You know better,¡± said Hent. ¡°Don¡¯t make a habit of shooting your attackers outside


    of the street where you live. It scares some in the city.¡±


    ¡°I will do better,¡± said Jack.


    Will do better rag dolls.


    ¡°Am I carrying everybody across the city?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll use the gate home, and then call the Enterprise so we can


    take the King home. Then we have to look for a place for June.¡±


    ¡°I think Caroline will be safe here in the hospital until we have June¡¯s room cleared


    out,¡± said Jack. ¡°I assume you are going to want to stay with Caroline, Case. Do you


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.want me to look at your arm and fix it up.¡±


    ¡°I already took one of the potions,¡± said Case. ¡°It is healing up faster than what


    Caroline¡¯s did.¡±


    ¡°I will be here to make sure he doesn¡¯t do any inappropriate touching, no matter what


    the Princess says,¡± said Emily. ¡°They will both be safe as long as they are here.¡±


    ¡°More mush,¡± said Alicia.


    Case¡¯s and Caroline¡¯s faces turned red at Emily¡¯s words.


    ¡°You¡¯ll understand one day,¡± said Emily. She smiled at the middle girl.


    ¡°So we are going home?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will have lunch with the Royal couple, and then we will try


    to find a place for June up north. I think that is the most pressing thing now that we


    have some of this out of the way. Caroline is going to stay with us while she and Case


    work out their relationship.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they can?,¡± asked Matilda. ¡°It would be like a story in a book.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I forsee things crashing and burning.¡±


    ¡°Hush you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to put the effort in to get this lame duck off the


    ground, or strangle someone. One or the other.¡±


    ¡°I know exactly how you feel,¡± said the King. He grabbed his wife¡¯s hand. ¡°Are you


    sure you don¡¯t want us to stay overnight with you, Care?¡±


    ¡°I will be fine,¡± said Caroline. ¡°I am making friends with my bodyguards, and Case


    will be here some of the time until he is called away. Tomorrow I will be looking at


    my new room. The day after that, Case and I will figure out how to proceed.¡±


    ¡°I have to transfer those holdings and start the audit,¡± said the King. ¡°We might have


    lost millions in taxes thanks to Rustam and Exsua. And I have to send independent


    auditors to all of the duchies in the kingdom to make sure their books are right.¡±


    ¡°Exsua?,¡± asked Jack. He wondered who that was.


    ¡°He was the former chancellor,¡± said the King. ¡°His manor is where we are housing


    the women Mistress Fox brought to the capitol when we met. He was also a key


    figure in the country¡¯s finances.¡±


    ¡°Let us know how that goes,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we can keep the country stable, we¡¯ll try.


    Maybe we can trace the money somehow.¡±


    ¡°Would you to have lunch with us, Your Grace?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°One extra person is


    not going to slow us down.¡±


    ¡°No, I have work to do,¡± said Hent. ¡°I have proposals for new rules and projects that


    need to be looked at and approved with the limited resources available to me. Some


    things will have to wait, while I try to improve other things.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s break this up and go about our business.¡±


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to take the Enterprise and June and Boim up north to


    look for a place after lunch. I am going to take the King home. Are you still going to


    stay with us overnight, Queen Lois?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°You and Elaine should show Her Majesty around the neighborhood,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe let her see where her daughter will be staying.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be too much trouble,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can show her the Hangar, maybe the


    Village if she wants to go south.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon should be out front by now,¡± said June. ¡°We¡¯ll have to take it with us


    up north.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can load him up on the Enterprise so you can take him


    with you. Before you kids go home, let me show you what June made on her first try.¡±


    ¡°Jack!,¡± said June.


    ¡°He¡¯s really great, and fast,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come on. If we didn¡¯t have the quinjet, or


    the Enterprise, this would be a good second choice.¡±


    ¡°The Dragon is fast, June,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°We reached Devermore in almost


    twenty minutes. That is stock car fast in my opinion.¡±


    Jack ushered the crowd of women, the royal couple, and one cranky dragon and one


    cranky mentor out of the operating theater. He waved at the people they were leaving


    behind, nodding as Case and Caroline had started holding hands again.


    He smiled as he joined Elaine at the back of the crowd and wrapped an arm around


    her.


    ¡°Rag doll, Jack?,¡± she asked. She smiled a little.


    ¡°That¡¯s what you call someone flying through the air without control,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Thank you for keeping me on the rails.¡±


    ¡°Shooting lightning into the city would have been the mildest thing you were


    thinking, wasn¡¯t it?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I admit I wouldn¡¯t have dropped a torpedo on our door if I thought I couldn¡¯t fix it,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t do that,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The girls are talking about this fishing


    trip. Where did that come from?¡±


    ¡°It was out of the blue,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some of it is we need to take moment away from


    saving the world and just idle for a day. Some of it is Case and Caroline need a


    chance to get to know each other. A day at the fishing hole usually helps with that.¡±


    ¡°If they can¡¯t stand to be around each other fishing, then what else is there?,¡± asked


    Elaine.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack. ¡°How do you want to do this big wedding?¡±


    ¡°I thought we should find a place we liked and ask for a joining,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We


    could have the reception dinner in a place reserved for us.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll have a lot of invites to send out,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can use Josie¡¯s air mail for


    that.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to ask your family to come over for it?,¡± asked Elaine. She made a


    gesture to indicate that she wouldn¡¯t mind meeting the in-laws.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°June asked me to write home. I¡¯m having


    problems thinking of ways to explain all of this.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Mom will never believe I met the most beautiful woman in the world and I fell in


    love with her and we¡¯re getting married,¡± said Jack. He smiled at his beloved. ¡°She¡¯ll


    think I¡¯m lying.¡±


    ¡°That is a lot of hi-ho,¡± said Elaine. She smiled back. ¡°I don¡¯t think of myself as


    beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Trust me,¡± said Jack. ¡°A man would have to be blind not to see it. Women who


    didn¡¯t like other women would change their minds in your presence.¡±


    ¡°I think you are exaggerating,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Have you ever fished before?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°We used to do it in the Army all the time. Fish is a good resource


    if you can get some to carry to a camp site and then cook.¡±


    He didn¡¯t talk about having to eat it raw because you couldn¡¯t set a campfire up, or


    having to go without because sometimes there were no fish.


    ¡°So we will be cooking the fish too?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I honestly thought Angelica would see it as a challenge,¡± said Jack. ¡°Another day,


    or so, and we will be hitting the beach and taking it easy.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I like the skydiving part,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Flying around like a pixie is bad


    enough.¡±


    ¡°People surf where I am from,¡± said Jack. ¡°But that¡¯s a little advanced for our crowd


    of crows.¡±


    ¡°Surf?,¡± asked Elaine. She had his hand in hers, watching the girls and Josie arguing


    with June over what her house should look like.


    ¡°People looked at skydiving and surfing and combined them,¡± said Jack. ¡°They jump


    out of planes and use the boards to move around in the air and do tricks. Some of


    them film what they do. We just want to make sure our kids can hit a bull¡¯s eye


    without breaking their legs.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think this is a little dangerous?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Nah,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll be there with Gravity, and both Bea and Laura can fly on their


    own, as well as catch the others. I am more afraid that we will get scattered and run


    into wild animals in the woods.¡±


    ¡°A wolf pack would have light eating with our girls,¡± said Elaine.


    Jack grinned at her.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see you in a bikini,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I will ask Josie what that is before I wear it,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think there are levels


    of modesty that must be adhered to at least in front of the girls.¡±


    Jack leaned in and kissed his beloved.


    ¡°You cannot bribe me with kisses either,¡± said Elaine.


    They followed their herd out the front door of the hospital. The Red Dragon sat in


    front of the place, eye watching for his mistress to appear. He seemed to smile a little


    wider when he saw her stepping into the open in the middle of the girls.


    ¡°Hey, Red,¡± said June. ¡°We¡¯re going to take you up north so we can find a place we


    can use for our future headquarters. So Josie is going to give us a lift up, and you will


    have to carry us around until we find something for us.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mistress,¡± said the dragon.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± said June. ¡°We¡¯re going to the Hole in the Wall first so we can eat, and


    Boim and I can pack up our things. Then we¡¯re going to fly up there on the


    Enterprise. You¡¯ll have to carry us around on the ground when we get there. You


    ready for that.¡±


    The dragon looked at her for a long moment. A puff of steam escaped its nose. Then


    it said, ¡°Yes, mistress.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°Everybody get onboard, and we¡¯ll sail down to the place.¡±


    ¡°I have to take Mister Warner home,¡± said Jack. ¡°You guys go ahead.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°We won¡¯t wait the food.¡±


    ¡°Not as much as you eat,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Jack, you are coming home?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Case reminded me I have to do something first, and taking Mister


    Warner home is just a side issue. I will be home as soon as I can get him through the


    gate system.¡±


    ¡°I will be waiting,¡± said Elaine.

 The Village

    Josie watched her kids as they scrambled onto the dragon boat. She smiled at their


    excitement.


    ¡°We can¡¯t go too fast here in the city,¡± she told June.


    ¡°I know,¡± said June.


    ¡°I know you like to speed,¡± said Josie. ¡°Ninety five in a twenty five.¡±


    ¡°One ticket,¡± said June.


    ¡°No license,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I will ask Red to keep it down,¡± said June. She grumbled for a moment. ¡°Everyone


    onboard?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± said Bea.


    ¡°Red, Miss Daisy would like for us to take a sedate pace to the Hole in the Wall,¡± said


    June. ¡°So let¡¯s make our way to the southern part of the city, to the edge of the


    wall, and then we¡¯ll have to turn left or right depending where we are on the streets.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mistress,¡± said the figurehead. The boat unfurled its sails and they began to


    move through the streets. The dragon growled at slower moving objects in its way


    as it floated along.


    When they reached the wall, they turned to follow it until they saw their


    neighborhood and the bulge of the apartment sticking out from the base of the


    protective structure.


    ¡°Pull up to the door, Red,¡± said June. ¡°We¡¯re going to be here for a while, and then


    we¡¯re carrying you north.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mistress,¡± said the dragon. It furled its sails and coasted to a stop in front of the


    door.


    ¡°Thanks, Red,¡± said June. ¡°Do you need anything before we go inside?¡±


    ¡°No, mistress,¡± said the boat.


    ¡°Lunch,¡± said Angelica. She hopped over the boat¡¯s sides first.


    The others followed at a calmer pace while she waited for someone with the key to


    unlock the door. They went inside after Josie opened the place up with her key.


    ¡°It¡¯s small,¡± said Josie. She ushered the king and queen inside while her girls took


    care of themselves. ¡°Is anyone helping Angelica with the lunch?¡±


    ¡°I have it, missus,¡± said Matilda. She carried Aviras on her head as she went into the


    kitchen.


    ¡°No ice cream,¡± said Josie. ¡°You two are still grounded until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± answered Aviras from the kitchen.


    ¡°Your dragon seems a bit tumultuous,¡± said the King.


    ¡°He¡¯s Matilda¡¯s dragon, and he should know better,¡± said Josie.


    She took a breath as she surveyed the space in front of her. She had never thought to


    give a tour to strangers before.


    ¡°Obviously this is the dining room,¡± said Josie. ¡°The kitchen is over there. The doors


    on the left are for the girls¡¯ rooms. That door is Jack and Elaine¡¯s room. The steps


    lead up to Bea¡¯s room, our office and my room.¡±


    She led them across the dining room.


    ¡°This room is our living room/parlor,¡± said Josie. She pointed at a door to the right.


    ¡°That¡¯s our bathroom. Which someone is already using. Let me show you the Hangar


    where Caroline will be staying.¡±


    She worked the key pad on the wall and ushered them through the glowing circular


    door that appeared.


    ¡°That was unpleasant,¡± said The King.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know why it does that.¡±


    She surveyed the Hangar. June and Boim were in their rooms packing up their meager


    belongings.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°These are our guest rooms. We had to add them on when June


    showed up, and when Boim came to live with us. At one point, we had a smaller


    aircraft here, but it is on the Enterprise right now.¡±


    ¡°You had an aircraft in here,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°Those things sticking out of the ground are a cradle for it,¡± said Josie. ¡°There is a


    roof access. The roof rolls out of the way so the jet can leave. There is a fear ring


    according to Jack around the property to keep people and animals away.¡±


    ¡°So Caroline is safe here?,¡± said the King.


    ¡°The only people who know about this are us, and Mister Warner¡¯s villagers,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Jack is allowing them access in case of emergency where they are after what


    happened.¡±


    ¡°What happened?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°Some goblins burned their villages to the ground and were planning on eating them,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°Mister Warner and Jack went down and handed the surviving goblins


    over to the peaceful goblins for punishment.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to go,¡± said June. She came out of her room with her bag in one hand.


    ¡°Did you clean the room?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes, mom,¡± said June.


    ¡°Did you write up the quest for the door of Tern?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said June.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you do that?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°It will be good reading for the Royal


    Couple.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°Let me get some paper and a pen. This is just like being in


    school again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a copy of our archive and Mister Warner¡¯s old quests book,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You can look at it to see if we missed anything.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the King. ¡°You said that other door goes to this village?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°They are far in the south from what Mister Warner and Jack said.


    They only have one child. Jack was talking about inviting her along on his fishing trip


    with the girls and Caroline.¡±


    ¡°We would like to meet these villagers,¡± said the King. He glanced at the Queen. She


    nodded.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know them, but maybe they will give me the time of


    day just based off knowing Mister Warner.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Boim. She had a bag of stuff on her shoulder, sword tucked across


    the top of it.


    ¡°Go ahead and write up your thing, June,¡± said Josie. ¡°Angelica will probably have


    lunch ready for you two by now.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Jack will build us a house?,¡± asked Boim.


    ¡°We¡¯re not doing that,¡± said June. ¡°Jack would do something like make any stairs go


    the wrong way, or something.¡±


    They entered the gate and stepped out in the living room.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Shall we?,¡± asked Josie. She went to the other door and triggered it for the royal


    couple. She ushered them through and stepped through the unpleasant needling of


    travel.


    ¡°Hello,¡± said a woman standing on the other end. ¡°I¡¯m Dorothea. You must be Josie.


    I expected someone with a black hat and a black cat from the way Jack talked.¡±


    ¡°He talks too much,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Rickard and Lois. Their girl is going to be


    staying with us on the other end. They wanted to see what the village was like


    because they are worried about her, and any possible security concerns.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Dorothea. ¡°Let¡¯s go upstairs.¡±


    She led them to a set of steps that led up inside a tower. At the top, she gestured for


    them to look out the windows.


    Josie spotted Jack and Mister Warner talking to a man on the ground. The stranger


    pointed up at the bell tower as she looked out. Jack turned and waved at her.


    ¡°Did your people build this?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°No,¡± said Dorothea. ¡°Jack did. The renegades burned down our original homes south


    of here.¡±


    ¡°Jack built all of this?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Dorothea. ¡°There were a bunch of trees here before, but he cut them all


    down and put up the houses in a second.¡±


    ¡°Any problems with the locals?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Dorothea. She shrugged. ¡°Kyle will eventually assess the village for


    taxes when he discovers we are here.¡±


    ¡°I liked dealing with his father better,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Who didn¡¯t?,¡± said Dorothea.


    ¡°Could Caroline stay here?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°I suppose,¡± said Dorothea. ¡°I would have to see what Ropel says about it. He¡¯s the


    mayor here, and is doing a good job of it for someone who doesn¡¯t seem to have


    much chances to lead anyone. He might say no just to cut off any type of danger. He


    is more cautious than anyone I have ever met.¡±


    ¡°Is he the guy talking to Jack and Mister Warner?,¡± said Josie, indicating her window.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Dorothea after she took a look out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk to him,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Will she be safe here?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°Right now, Ropel¡¯s biggest worry is the crops and the taxes,¡± said Dorothea. ¡°We


    don¡¯t foresee any more goblin attacks, or bandit attacks, and we have someone who


    can keep an eye on the local monsters for us.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go down,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe this is a better idea than letting Caroline stay at


    the Hangar.¡±


    ¡°No one will know she is here,¡± said Rickard. ¡°That will keep her safe. Her meetings


    with Case will be the weak spots to watch.¡±


    ¡°She will be with Jack or me,¡± said Josie. ¡°Anybody who tries to take advantage will


    have problems.¡±


    ¡°Did you really rip someone¡¯s ear off?,¡± asked Dorothea.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I made a threat, and somehow Jack found out about it and is telling


    everyone he knows. He is just doing that to be annoying.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like Jack,¡± said Dorothea.


    ¡°If I say something about it, he will just double down to be contrary,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    can ride this out until I think of something embarrassing to use to pay him back.¡±


    ¡°Known him long?,¡± asked Dorothea.


    ¡°All my life,¡± said Josie. ¡°And most of his extended family too.¡±


    ¡°Are they all loons?,¡± asked Dorothea.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Just Jack and a couple of his sisters. June, whom we¡¯re pushing out


    in the next day or so, and Rose. The rest seem okay. He did have an uncle with


    dementia. I don¡¯t know if that counts for this.¡±


    ¡°Dementia?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°Disease where your mind stops making connections,¡± said Josie. ¡°It usually happens


    in the older members of the population, but there have been cases of young people


    suddenly not being able to function, and slowly losing the ability to remember


    things.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Memory trapping. Rustam¡¯s father had that. He had to step


    down so Rustam could take his place.¡±


    They reached the bottom of the tower and strolled through the building. They stepped


    out on the lawn and crossed to where the trio were talking.


    ¡°Rope, this is my partner, Josie Fox,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. He had something


    in his hand that he put in his pocket.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t look like a firebreathing monstrosity,¡± said the mayor of the village in


    a flat tone.


    ¡°I can be,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Lois and Rickard. We are going to be watching their


    girl for them. They were wondering if she could stay here.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be good for her,¡± said Ropel. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be good for the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°In a few years, even with Jack and Josie helping you, your kingdom will be facing


    a problem caused by your uprooting of the corruption that has been exposed,¡± said


    Ropel. ¡°Caroline is going to need to be seen as taking an active part in this battle so


    she can succeed you when you wish to leave her the throne. The nobles won¡¯t respect


    her if she is seen to be hiding from her responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°How do you know this?,¡± asked Rickard. He glanced at Jack, who shrugged.


    ¡°Jack gave me the ability to see how the future shifts,¡± said Ropel. ¡°It is helping us


    to rebuild, and it is helping us foresee problems down the road. If someone else had


    been asked to lead the village, Jack would have given them the ability to see the


    future.¡±


    ¡°You gave someone powers?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I think this is the opposite of what the


    Society wanted.¡±


    ¡°They were going to die out here without the help,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°Now they can protect Mister Warner while he is lounging around drinking beer.¡±


    ¡°I do plan to do a lot of that between quests,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°We are not protecting Oliver at all,¡± said Dorothea. ¡°We have our own worries.¡±


    Josie felt her eyebrows go up. Maybe Cupid was a real thing here. Maybe she was


    seeing things.


    She decided that Mister Warner was old enough to mind his own romance if he


    wanted it.


    ¡°Is it all right if she visits?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Ropel. ¡°And the Ducklings. We will look out for her and them as well as


    we can while doing our own duties. And we might need the extra hands in the next


    month or so.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Good luck, Your Majesties,¡± said Ropel. ¡°A little luck, some good judgement, hard


    work, and lightning from the sky will get you through your problems. And your


    grandchildren will think of you fondly when they arrive.¡±


    ¡°Grandchildren?,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°I said too much,¡± said Ropel. ¡°Just let things go like they are for the moment. You


    have a lot of work ahead of you. And Kyle will not like your daughter being here on


    his territory without his knowing which will also cause problems other than the


    originals that I foresaw.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Kyle always had a jealous heart.¡±


    ¡°It was a pleasure to meet you,¡± said Ropel. ¡°Dot loves giving the tour and talking to


    people.¡±


    Dot made a face like giving tours was the last thing she wanted to do.


    ¡°Some of us will be at the wedding,¡± said Ropel. ¡°I don¡¯t know who yet. Take care


    of Elaine. She is the only thing keeping you in check. That¡¯s what the world needs.¡±


    ¡°You make it sound like I¡¯m some sort of menace,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You are,¡± said everyone else.


    Jack grinned at them.


    ¡°But you are decent enough, and are trying to do the right thing,¡± said Dot.


    ¡°Thank you, Dot,¡± said Jack. He gave her a smile.


    ¡°June will have ate our lunch by now,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we need to get a move on.¡±


    ¡°She has been eating for two since before I was born,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elena, two days,


    fishing and swimming.¡±


    ¡°She will be ready,¡± said Ropel. ¡°We can spare her and Yoff for that amount of time.¡±


    ¡°Bring her back in one piece,¡± said Dot.


    ¡°It¡¯s fishing,¡± said Jack. ¡°How hard can it be?¡±


    Ropel and Dot exchanged glances.


    ¡°Yoff?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Elena¡¯s dog,¡± said Jack. ¡°See you tomorrow, Mister Warner. How long do you think


    it will take to cut ties?¡±


    ¡°I might just hire a lawyer to do it for me,¡± said Warner. ¡°That way it can be done


    without me. I can get back to the village faster.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then,¡± said Jack. He looked up at the darkening sky. ¡°We¡¯re burning


    sunlight.¡±


    Jack led the way back to the gate.


    ¡°Did he say grandchildren?,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡±


    Josie let the lie pass. She didn¡¯t want to get into it about Caroline and Case having


    babies when the future could change just based on knowing they could have kids.


    ¡°I hope Angelica did up some steaks,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am hungry.¡±


    ¡°What did you put in your pocket?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Something for Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Nosy.¡±


    ¡°Is Kyle a bad king?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Here in the south, they have a council of low kings,¡± said Rickard. ¡°What would be


    dukes in my kingdom. Every ten years, the low kings pick one of their number to be


    the high king. He listens to them and plans for his kingdom based on the low kings¡¯


    assessments of things. If they have to treat with other countries in any way, the high


    king is the one to do that. Kyle¡¯s father ruled for three terms. Kyle has just been


    elected and looks like he doesn¡¯t want to give up his throne if he is voted out.¡±


    ¡°So if he came north, we would have to meet him between here and Hawk Ridge?,¡±


    said Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the two of you could do against an army, but


    I would appreciate any assistance.¡±


    Josie thought if things went bad, she would get a quest and she would have to pop


    heads until she had to withdraw.


    ¡°The village would be leveed against,¡± said Jack. ¡°If Ropel didn¡¯t want to send his


    people to war, I would have to come down here and do something. And there¡¯s no


    telling what Mister Warner would do if someone tried to break down the walls to get


    in to do something to them. I doubt he would just stand there.¡±


    ¡°That thing with the arrow might be his first choice of action,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Gives Yondu a run for his money,¡± said Jack. He opened the gate for them and


    stepped through.


    Josie let the Royals walk through before she entered the gate herself. She walked out,


    thinking about future Cases and Carolines.


    ¡°I admit the Hangar isn¡¯t like a small cottage in the woods, but we didn¡¯t need it for


    guests until June came along,¡± said Jack. He turned on the other gate and led the way


    through.


    Josie trailed along, looking at the vast empty space surrounding the quinjet¡¯s cradle


    one more time. There had been signs of torture and pain before Jack had ripped it out


    of the old Duke¡¯s grasp.


    She would have done the same thing in more horrible ways.


    She heard lunch is served as she crossed the living room. Her extended family had


    taken places at the table with the royals taking the far end. She smiled at everything.


    Jack leaned over and handed Elaine the thing from his pocket. Her face lit up at what


    she held in her hand. She put the ring on her ring finger, before leaning over and


    wrapping him in more than a stealth hug.

 Alone Time

    Jack smiled as Elaine pulled back. She didn¡¯t often break her reserve. She almost


    glowed.


    ¡°What is that?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°It¡¯s a promise ring,¡± said Jack. ¡°Talking with Case made me think I should do the


    same.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Jack,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°It looks nice,¡± said Laura. ¡°You could be a jeweler if the Society ever lets you retire


    like Mister Warner.¡±


    ¡°Shiny,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time you gave her a token of your love,¡± said Aviras. ¡°She is the better


    part of you.¡±


    ¡°He has been giving her tokens of his love,¡± said Bea. She smiled as Elaine flushed.


    ¡°We still have work to do,¡± said Josie. She smiled like a big cat at her end of the


    table. ¡°It looks like your mother will get the perfect daughter she always wanted,


    June. Let¡¯s clean up so we can go. The King has to get back to the castle, and we have


    to find June and Boim a new place to stay.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the clean up,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to check back in with Jane to make sure the


    elixir I came up with is working right, and I¡¯m thinking about changing the Hangar


    into something more suitable for a guest.¡±


    ¡°Can you supervise him, Elaine?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll have the Enterprise so he can¡¯t


    shoot phasers down into the street, but I want the city to still be here when I get back


    and I don¡¯t want this guest house to be some kind of Fate¡¯s Tower.¡±


    ¡°Fate¡¯s Tower?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain while we are looking around for a new house,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I promise that I will not fold space and time for a guest house,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The promise is I will not fold space and time ever,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I expect you to


    hold to that.¡±


    ¡°Yes, mom,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    She gave him a look of annoyance, but he just eased back in his chair and held


    Elaine¡¯s hand.


    ¡°One day when you least expect it, I will get my revenge,¡± she said.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I am avoiding stairs,¡± said Jack. He waved his hand at her. ¡°Go on. I


    want to take advantage of the quiet, and of my beloved.¡±


    ¡°I would like to talk about the possibility of grandchildren,¡± said Lois. ¡°Could that


    happen?


    ¡°It¡¯s not my business, and not my problem,¡± said Josie. ¡°Caroline and Case will have


    to work that out if they get that far. I¡¯m not going to show them how that works. I


    have six kids of my own that I need to worry about more.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a kid,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°And neither is Laura.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll always be a kid,¡± said June. ¡°That¡¯s how things work out.¡±


    June grabbed her bag, handing a notebook to Jack. Boim stood with her bag in hand.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The writeup for the Door of Tern,¡± said June.


    ¡°I¡¯ll put it upstairs,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget the write up for the book thing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I will add it to the archive,¡± said Jack. Then in a lower voice, ¡°Eventually.¡±


    Josie gave him a look which he took to mean he had heard him and disapproved. But


    she was leaving, and he was going to have some time with Elaine, so he didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie into her com band. ¡°I need you to beam up myself, the


    Ducklings, June, Boim, and the Royals. We also need to take the dragon boat outside


    aboard too. Put it in the cargo bay.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It energized the transporter and the eleven of them


    vanished in a cloud of blue sparks.


    ¡°Finally alone,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now we can do some things without worry of being


    interrupted.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?,¡± said Elaine. She hugged him again. He hugged back.


    ¡°I have been working on my stamina,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think I can give you five minutes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°After that, we have to get back to


    work.¡±


    ¡°Five minutes?,¡± said Jack. He frowned. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°To be young and carefree is not for us,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It is for children and


    layabouts.¡±


    ¡°I can layabout with the best of them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Elaine. She smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you,¡± said Jack. He grabbed her hand. He swept her in a spinning hug, and


    then carried her into their bedroom. ¡°I¡¯ll show you five minutes, woman.¡±


    It was one of the best hours of Jack¡¯s life, and if he didn¡¯t have his beloved swatting


    his butt to get him moving, he would stayed in bed for the rest of the day.


    ¡°You have been working on your stamina,¡± said Elaine. She smiled as she worked to


    make herself presentable.


    ¡°You¡¯re worth working for,¡± said Jack, starting on putting his clothes back on. ¡°I


    guess I should clean the dishes and then check on the Hangar. Maybe we can do


    something to make it more usable by guests which I admit I never thought we would


    have.¡±


    ¡°What do you plan to do?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Want to come along and point out the flaws in my


    thinking?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Let¡¯s clean up first. We can¡¯t have the others think we were


    playing when we should have been working.¡±


    ¡°They will never let it go,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°You two should wait until after


    the table is clear before you start fooling around.¡±


    ¡°Does Josie know you can imitate her?,¡± asked Elaine. She smiled.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I think you should show her,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Jack. ¡°I like my ears right where they are.¡±


    Elaine smiled. They came out of the bedroom. The mob hadn¡¯t come home yet. That


    was good.


    Jack gathered all the dishes together and carried them to the sink he had created to go


    along with the kitchen. He placed them all inside the sink. He pumped a bucket of


    water from the well to pour into the sink. He called on Magik and used the water to


    erase everything but the plates and spoons underneath. He shut off the spell to pull


    the stack out and put the cups in. Then he did the same spell for the cups. He pulled


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.them out and put them upside down on the sideboard. Then he got rid of the water.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let Melanie see you do that, or she will want you to wash dishes all the time


    when you are home,¡± said Elaine. She dried off the plates with a towel and put them


    in a rack to sit.


    ¡°Grandma Lee always said there are two types of people,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hard workers


    and lazy bums. Let¡¯s go out to the Hangar and see what we can do.¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We need a better place than a hole in the ground for our guests,¡± said Jack. ¡°But it


    has to be next to the Hangar. I don¡¯t want it over the jet storage unless we can move


    the guest house out of the way, or I build a tunnel to exit from like Swat Kats.¡±


    ¡°Would a tunnel be better?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Only if we controlled the other end,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could construct a stargate for the


    quinjet to use. Right now, I don¡¯t know if we want to house the jet down here, or keep


    it on the Enterprise where it is safe from other people trying to use it.¡±


    ¡°But you can build a guest house?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I could reconstruct the Duke¡¯s whole mansion if we wanted to move out of the Hole


    in the Wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just don¡¯t know if Josie will want a change that big. The


    Hangar is a few miles from the wall, and then actual travel across the city would be


    added on.¡±


    ¡°But you could change the Hangar into a living space, and keep the Hole in the Wall


    as a foyer?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Sure, I could do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could probably do the same thing Josie did to


    make the hospital.¡±


    ¡°So the actual house would be where the Hangar is now?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°We probably don¡¯t want an actual house,¡± said Jack. ¡°That would make it too


    easy to find. Maybe we should dig down like gophers and the Joes.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand the Joes, but you are talking about making a warren under the


    Hangar?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Yep,¡± Jack grinned at her. ¡°Josie and I talked about expanding down here in the


    city. She didn¡¯t want me creating other dimensions where the girls could be trapped,


    but she did say she didn¡¯t mind me adding floors going down. Maybe instead


    of doing that here in the city, we could do that in the Hangar. Let the Hole in the Wall


    become our public face.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that will be too big a change?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°What would you suggest?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking that maybe we should start small,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Maybe we should


    talk to the girls first. They might want rooms to themselves, but they might not want


    to live underground.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s at least go out and look at it. Maybe we will come up


    with a better idea. Anyway, you are going to need some practice on your new


    abilities.¡±


    ¡°What new abilities?,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°I gave you something with the ring,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come on.¡±


    She looked at her hand, as he picked her up and carried her to the gate. He hit the pad


    and took them through to the Hangar. He hit the lever to open the roof and carried her


    up on the surface. He carried her to Alicia¡¯s target dummy with the holes in the head.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I felt like you needed to be able to defend yourself with


    something more than your crossbow.¡±


    ¡°I can use swords, and know some hand to hand things,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I learned at


    the Temple.¡±


    ¡°Oh?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Kord is known as the shield of Karieda,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Most of his acolytes are


    taught some to defend themselves against harm.¡±


    ¡°You should be teaching the kids,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I am a horrible teacher,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I was much better as a student before I


    left the Temple.¡±


    ¡°I know how that is,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m horrible too, but hopefully I can show you how


    to use your inner power enough that if someone else comes to the Hole in the Wall


    you won¡¯t have to depend on Aviras setting them on fire.¡±


    ¡°He loves that,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he does,¡± said Jack. He put on his imperial gruff voice. ¡°Today was the day


    your face was eaten, but for me it was Tuesday.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you should do that around him, or he will give you a practical example


    of his anger,¡± said Elaine. She smiled slightly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move on to the lesson,¡± said Jack. ¡°The others will be back soon. How long


    can it take to find a house?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You said inner power.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Close your eyes. I want you to listen. What do you hear?¡±


    ¡°I can hear my heartbeat,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I can hear your heartbeat. It¡¯s much slower


    than mine. I can hear the air moving in the trees and grass. There is some kind of


    animal beyond the target dummy. I think it is small like a squirrel or rat, maybe a


    rabbit.¡±


    ¡°What do you feel?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I can feel my clothes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I can feel the air on my face, the sun but it is


    moving toward the horizon, I can feel you standing there.¡±


    ¡°The target dummy is directly behind you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to concentrate on


    moving the air with your hand. Then I want you to chop it. Straight up and down


    motion with your arm.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. She turned and closed her eyes, resetting the strange feeling


    from listening earlier. She raised her arm, and brought it down like starting a race.


    A surge went through the air, pushing the dummy on its post. She opened her eyes.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°That was you, Hon,¡± said Jack. ¡°I built you something to control the elements. With


    a little practice, you will be able to do more than create a wind push.¡±


    ¡°This is way too much,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What would I do with this?¡±


    ¡°Most of the time, probably nothing,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is for the times that you need


    a shield and I can¡¯t be there because I am settling the Society¡¯s quests. Those are


    dangerous enough on their own. I don¡¯t want to leave you vulnerable to another Brant


    sending people to try to grab you.¡±


    ¡°There was always a danger of that,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I know, and I should have come up with something sooner,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just failed


    on that part.¡±


    ¡°We have had something of a whirlwind romance,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I should have looked out better from the outset. I¡¯m sorry that


    I didn¡¯t.¡±


    She hugged him before he could do anything.


    ¡°I knew you were the right one,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You did, did you?,¡± said Jack. He smiled down at her. His heart was running a little


    faster to her.


    ¡°Yes, I did,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I didn¡¯t trust my feeling about it, but you have shown


    me thousands of proofs. I wish I had met you sooner.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you would have liked me all that much when I was in,¡± said Jack. He


    hugged her back. ¡°Now let¡¯s look at what we can do to fix the Hangar into our home,


    and turn the Hole in the Wall into our guest house.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± said Elaine. ¡°It will be a big change, and the girls might


    not like it.¡±


    ¡°I am more worried about Josie not liking it,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°They don¡¯t call


    her the Ear Ripper for nothing.¡±


    ¡°She will get revenge for that one day,¡± said Elaine. ¡°She is biding her time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think you should be,¡± said Elaine. She took his hand and pulled him down to


    sit with her in the grass. ¡°What do you think we need for this project?¡±


    ¡°Obviously, we are going to need our room with a pool and a jacuzzi,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe a bar of some kind. I don¡¯t know. Then the girls are probably going to want


    to have their own rooms, especially Bea. She might want exclusive use of the Hole


    in the Wall for any future boyfriends she might pick up. Work on his stamina without


    us old fogies around. We are going to need a version of the office so we can keep


    track of things. Maybe a connection to the Enterprise so we can use it to look around


    outside of Hawk Ridge. We can remodel the Hole in the Wall to be more like an inn


    for our guests.¡±


    ¡°Josie might want us to keep the Hole in the Wall, while she has your pool and


    jacuzzi out here,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We have the original place to ourselves, and she and


    the Ducklings have this new place.¡±


    ¡°Either way, whomever gets stuck with the Hole in the Wall will have people moving


    back and forth from out here to Hawk Ridge,¡± said Jack. ¡°On the other hand, we


    could always move up to the Enterprise, get some furniture for our quarters and not


    have to worry about other people at all.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be good for us,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think that we would start


    fighting if we were around each other all the time with no chance to do other things,


    talk to other people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good point,¡± said Jack. ¡°Cabin fever can be a real thing.¡±


    ¡°If you were to build on to the Hangar, what are your thoughts on how to do it right


    now before you talk to the girls and Josie?,¡± asked Elaine. ¡°How would you get


    started?¡±


    ¡°I think I need a list of the rooms we need, any special features,¡± said Jack. ¡°I almost


    guarantee that Alicia will want a better archery range. Then I would need to create a


    ring that would excavate the dirt out of the ground under the top level of the Hangar


    where the Quinjet is supposed to sit. I think a elevator and stairs should go in about


    where June¡¯s room is so we can get up to the gate to get back to the Hole in the Wall.


    On that end, we can brick up most of it so anyone breaking in would just have maybe


    the guest room where the guests are staying and the other end of the stargate from the


    Hangar.¡±


    ¡°We could shrink the Hole in the Wall down to three rooms, with the stargate being


    in one of those rooms,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°The problem then becomes anybody who knows the security


    number could come out here to the Hangar without any warning unless I put in a


    noise maker to show the gate is in use. That¡¯s something I should have thought of but


    didn¡¯t because I didn¡¯t consider anyone figuring out what the gate does.¡±


    ¡°But now people outside of our realm of control know,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°And if the girls want to sneak their future boyfriends in, then they will naturally tell


    their boyfriends the code,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Naturally,¡± agreed Elaine.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t want to put a public house out here,¡± said Jack. ¡°That would just let


    people know we¡¯re here and this is where we keep things.¡±


    ¡°And it would invite a certain amount of trouble,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°So we have a discussion about what we can do with this,¡± said Jack. ¡°And then


    I do the altering.¡±


    ¡°Beatrice and Laura might want to split the Hole in the Wall for their own use,¡± said


    Elaine.


    ¡°So we have to look forward to wild parties that go on all hours of the night?,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°I think you are already doing that,¡± said Elaine. She kissed him.


    ¡°I can give you five more minutes,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think you will have to hold on until later tonight,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We should be


    getting ready for dinner, and the return of our charges.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He levered himself up, then held out a hand for her to use to


    stand. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get rid of June even if it is a temporary thing. Then we can take


    off and just relax until we get something else to do. We¡¯re just waiting on Jane and


    her crew at this point.¡±

 House Hunting

    Josie could see why Picard liked his chair so much. She liked it a lot too. Maybe she


    could wrest the Enterprise away from Jack if she wanted to abandon the planet in the


    future.


    At this moment, she had responsibilities that she had to discharge so she could settle


    her world down.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We are over the capitol. Your Majesty, I will put you down


    in the throne room. I will bring the Queen home tomorrow, and look after Caroline


    as if she was my own.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine, Rickard,¡± said the Queen. ¡°It has been a long time since I have been


    able to walk around without notice. Things will have to be done if you are really


    stripping Rustam of his lands and titles.¡±


    ¡°There was a moment where he was about to receive more than a stay at the delve,¡±


    said the King. He hugged his wife. ¡°I will wait on word.¡±


    Josie agreed with that statement. Rustam and Brant had chosen well not to take up her


    offer.


    ¡°Do you still have some of the emergency paper?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the King.


    ¡°You can check on Lois and Caroline with that,¡± said Josie. ¡°They will just have to


    write a reply and send it back to you.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the King. ¡°I feel better about working.¡±


    ¡°Things have to be done,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get you home. I want a place for


    June to move to so I can be a little bit happier.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll never happen,¡± said June.


    ¡°Shut up, you,¡± said Josie. She stood and gestured for Rickard to precede her to the


    elevator.


    ¡°I am going to tell the girls embarrassing stories about you while you are gone,¡± said


    June.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget the time you fell down a flight of stairs,¡± said Josie. She and the King


    stepped in the cab as soon as the doors opened.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t fallen down a flight of stairs,¡± said June.


    ¡°Yet,¡± said Josie as the doors closed on her.


    Josie led the way to Transporter Room One. She gestured for the King to step on the


    pad.


    ¡°Will Case give us grandchildren?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°Not my problem,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think that will be the least of your worries. Rustam


    might have been a top enemy. People won¡¯t be happy that you stripped him of his


    titles. You are going to have to contend with some rebellion at the notion.¡±


    ¡°I have seen how you do business, Mistress Fox,¡± said the King. ¡°Rustam was lucky


    to come away whole in the dealing. I can see why the people at the hospital would


    believe a story enough to call you Ear Ripper.¡±


    ¡°It is what it is,¡± said Josie. ¡°Enterprise, King Rickard has to be put down in his


    throne room. Keep an eye on him in case of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The transporter engaged with a whine, and then the king was standing in his throne


    room. His guards were happy to see he was back. They were less happy with the


    absence of the queen.


    ¡°I would like for the command staff of the army to be summoned,¡± said Rickard. He


    nodded at the guards getting themselves together in his unexpected presence. ¡°I also


    need the heads of the Exchequer. And I need someone from the ministry department


    on titles, and a judge. Please send for the ambassadors of the other countries. Tell


    Cook that we will need a large dinner prepared and for everyone to meet me in the


    planning room. We have a long night ahead of us.¡±


    ¡°Her Majesty?,¡± said the captain of the guard.


    ¡°She is staying overnight in Hawk Ridge, then will be back tomorrow,¡± said the King.


    ¡°Caroline has picked a suitor, and a protector as dangerous as anyone in the kingdom.


    Let¡¯s get started.¡±


    The guards left the rooms to get the summons flowing for the crown.


    Josie stepped back on the bridge. She was unamused that June was sitting in her


    command seat, talking about something that had happened when they were kids. She


    frowned at the group hanging on her words.


    They should know better than that.


    ¡°Why are you sitting in my chair?,¡± asked Josie. The girls and the queen jumped. She


    supposed they hadn¡¯t heard the elevator doors opening. ¡°Enterprise, take us up to


    Solas. We want to be over where we picked up Boim Russ after Mister Warner saved


    her and June.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t save me,¡± said June.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what the archive said,¡± said Josie. She made a get up gesture. ¡°The


    obvious thing to do is take over the Frankenstein house. No one else will want to go


    near it.¡±


    ¡°There were boxes of body parts on ice,¡± said June. She pulled herself out of the


    chair. ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to live somewhere that creepy.¡±


    ¡°It will be your chance to improve the neighborhood,¡± said Josie. She sat down.


    ¡°They don¡¯t have realtors here. It¡¯s not like we will be able to find someone to just


    sell you a house.¡±


    ¡°You could talk to a solicitor,¡± said the Queen. ¡°They should have a list of properties


    for rent, or sell.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Enterprise, can you locate a solicitor and put their office on


    the main screen for us to look at.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The big screen lit up with a picture of the city from


    an overhead angle. Marks were added to indicate the confirmed solicitor building.


    There were two close to the house June and Mister Warner had invaded.


    ¡°We¡¯ll go down and talk to those two and see if we can get a list of properties,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°The sun will be going down soon, and we need to get this done before June


    goes home.¡±


    ¡°And if we can¡¯t find a house, Jo Jo?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I¡¯ll cut Jack loose on this,¡± said Josie. ¡°He would love to give you a house.¡±


    ¡°He does like to build things,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°You might have five rooms sharing the same space in different parts of the city,¡±


    said Matilda.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I am afraid of,¡± said June.


    ¡°Jack could build you another Enterprise that doesn¡¯t fly,¡± said Melanie. ¡°It would


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.defend itself while giving you a place to stay. It would be a fort in the middle of


    things.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good, but not something as big as the Enterprise D,¡± said June. ¡°Maybe


    something like Devermore, a small castle.¡±


    ¡°I think we should look at what the city has to offer since the Society is going to


    frown on anything like that,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I am supposed to be keeping all of you


    on the straight and narrow. Laura, I want you to take June and Boim since you can


    carry them. I will take everyone else. One group of us goes to this solicitor, the other


    goes to the next closest. Keep your eyes open because June and Boim will probably


    have to help the locals with their problems.¡±


    ¡°What makes you say that?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°With the Society comes the policing,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the condition


    of the building, I can fix that, or June can practice fixing that with her magician. What


    we want is something near the center of town, sitting by itself, no other people living


    there.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± said June. She glanced at Boim. The other woman nodded.


    ¡°Do you want to shepherd all the rest of us around, missus?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Take the youngest,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will split our list. Aviras can call on the


    Enterprise if you need it.¡±


    Beatrice seemed surprised that she had been given responsibility of her youngest


    sisters. She smiled after a second. It felt good to be able to wander without oversight


    despite having to do a job.


    ¡°We¡¯re strangers here, so be careful,¡± said Josie. ¡°Enterprise, you are on overwatch


    in case of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. Josie didn¡¯t hear the hum of phasers charging, but


    she expected golden rods burning the sky if there was trouble.


    ¡°Remember to look for something I can use to house Red,¡± said June.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and do this,¡± said Josie.


    They split up into their groups and took the elevator down to Transporter Room


    One¡¯s deck. A quiet walk over, and they were beaming down to the city beneath them.


    Josie led the way into her target office. The secretary looked up at her and her small


    platoon of followers. He seemed unprepared for so many females in his foyer office


    at the same time.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he said. What could this woman want?


    ¡°I am looking for a residential place for my partner¡¯s sister,¡± said Josie. ¡°I was


    advised that solicitors kept a list of houses for rent, or sell.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to talk to Master Crowl about this?,¡± asked the secretary.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°We just want to find the house we need at the moment. If we find


    one on your list that we like, I will put up the funds to buy the place.¡±


    ¡°You will put up the funds?,¡± said the secretary.


    ¡°That is what I said,¡± said Josie. She drummed her fingers on the counter top between


    her and him. She thought that she could pull him over the counter and start kicking


    with a bit of leverage.


    ¡°Master Crowl may want to talk to you about this,¡± said the secretary.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m hoping to find something today. So can you give us a


    copy of your list?¡±


    The secretary went to a filing cabinet and pulled out a sheave of papers. He handed


    them over.


    The queen looked over Josie¡¯s shoulder. She frowned.


    ¡°Some of these prices are banditry,¡± she whispered.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the prices, but the locations,¡± said Josie. ¡°Are all these places within walking


    distance of your office?¡±


    ¡°Most,¡± said the secretary. ¡°We have some that are further afield than we like.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I find something that I like, I will be back to get the deed


    and hand over the money.¡±


    ¡°I will inform Master Crowl that you are interested in his properties,¡± said the


    secretary. ¡°I think he will be delighted to sell one of these places.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. She scanned the sheets of paper as she headed for the exit


    door. Her troops fell in behind her.


    ¡°He¡¯s lucky if he sold one of these to someone,¡± said the Queen once they were


    outside the office. ¡°The prices are much too high.¡±


    ¡°He might be expecting to haggle over the final payment so has put up the highest


    price he can expect to get money for while the customer tries to haggle the price


    down,¡± said Josie. She split the papers and handed a few to Bea.


    ¡°You guys see one you like, mark it down,¡± said Josie. ¡°Be careful. If you have any


    trouble, call me. I¡¯ll use a bird to find you.¡±


    ¡°If there is any trouble, Aviras will protect us,¡± said Bea. She glanced at her part of


    the list. ¡°He is a great defender.¡±


    Josie saw the dragon puff up at the praise. Would he reach his full strength under


    Matilda¡¯s care? She decided that was for a future where she wouldn¡¯t be around


    to find out the answer.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°The faster we get this done, the faster we cut down our


    need for more food supplies.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s find this first place, and see what it looks like,¡± said Bea. She mentally


    commanded her ring to lift them up and carry them down the street.


    ¡°She is going to get tired of doing that,¡± said Josie. ¡°All right. We should get


    started too.¡±


    The next hour was a whirlwind tour for Josie¡¯s group. She used her birds to carry the


    three of them to the addresses. They spent a few minutes looking at the houses, or


    apartments in some cases, and moved on. She marked all the apartments and some of


    the houses as unsuitable.


    The list had been winnowed down to three maybes, depending on what June and


    Bea had found with their searches.


    ¡°Most of these houses are ramshackle at best,¡± said the Queen. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder our


    solicitor friend can¡¯t do anything with them.¡±


    ¡°I doubt he wants to lay out good money to fix them up when he can just sell them


    and let the new owner take care of it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you think the others found something better?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°We should check in with them,¡± said Josie. ¡°We should at least make sure that


    Aviras hasn¡¯t set someone on fire.¡±


    ¡°He seems even tempered enough,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°For some reason, he has adopted Matilda,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think he would die before


    he let something happened to her. I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Matilda was the first person to show him kindness,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Jack might have


    brought him home, but we have seen his real stature. It¡¯s nothing like he is now. And


    when Matilda said she wanted to keep him around, he knew she was sincere


    about it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good analysis,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t think of it that way.¡±


    ¡°He might also be waiting to get his revenge on Jack when he is big enough,¡± said


    Melanie.


    ¡°I think revenge is the farthest thing from his mind,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think you are right


    about the first thing. Let¡¯s call the others and see how they are doing. We might need


    to regroup.¡±


    ¡°This has been a fast search,¡± said the Queen. ¡°We¡¯ll be back in Hawk Ridge before


    the sun goes down.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably already close to being down in Hawk Ridge,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know


    what the time differential is, but it¡¯s probably close to three hours.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°For some reason, the sun rises in the south where the Village is, passes Hawk Ridge,


    then the Capitol, and then sets north of here,¡± said Josie. ¡°The passage is marked by


    different start times. So dawn in the south would be the morning bell. It will be


    another hour before dawn in Hawk Ridge, then two more before the sun reaches your


    castle, and then three more before it reaches here. Even though it is moving into late


    afternoon for us here, the Village is already setting up their nightwatch, and bedding


    down.¡±


    ¡°So by the time we get done with this, it will already be dark in Hawk Ridge?,¡± said


    the Queen.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the difference in time is.¡±


    ¡°The Enterprise would know,¡± said Melanie. She smiled at the thought. ¡°It¡¯s high


    enough to see the sun with its magic eyes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. ¡°You have been hiding this, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°You know exactly what I mean,¡± said Josie. ¡°You have been hiding this brain power


    of yours so you can slack off and get the other girls to cover for you.¡±


    The Queen raised an eyebrow at the sudden turn of discussion.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t exactly say that,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°You already know how to read and write, don¡¯t you?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°A little,¡± said Melanie. Honesty was the best policy now that her big sister knew she


    was doing some minimal effort not to expend more energy than she had to on


    her chores.


    ¡°All this time you have been shirking,¡± said Josie. ¡°The other girls are not going


    to let this slide, Mel.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t know, and I would appreciate if you didn¡¯t tell them,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I like not having to work so hard because people think I am useless,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°You should do your fair share, and you should work a little harder,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Will you keep this between us?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°You¡¯re going into melee against Jack in the next few days,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you


    expect me to keep silent, I expect you to win.¡±


    ¡°Jack is a lot better than all of us,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Only Alicia can keep up with him.¡±


    ¡°Do your best,¡± said Josie.


    Josie regarded her middle girl. Melanie was old enough to go out on her own by the


    local standards. She wasn¡¯t sure that was something good for the girl. If she got


    caught in the middle of something, she would have to fall back to the Hole in the


    Wall.


    She admitted she had been fooled by the whining, and the slackness of her sword


    training. Harp had been fooled by her effort.


    ¡°You think I made a mistake,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Do I?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hiding yourself was what you wanted to do. Do you want to


    keep hiding yourself? It will make things more difficult for you in the future.¡±


    ¡°I like the way I am,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I don¡¯t mind no one knowing.¡±


    ¡°No more whining for free rides,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now that I know you can walk, it¡¯s


    time for you to show me how far you can go.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get our flock of ducks together so we can figure out


    what to do.¡±

 Book Reader

    Jack sat on the couch in the living room. Josie and the others weren¡¯t home yet. He


    had a coffee table set up in front of the couch. He had set up a ring to project an


    image of what the Hangar could look like if he went ahead with his plan.


    Some of it would have to change. The quinjet would have to be decided on for where


    they wanted to store it for one thing. That meant the top floor had to be for that. The


    gates would have to be moved so people didn¡¯t walk through and run into the jet


    taking off by accident.


    He didn¡¯t want to cook one of the kids with the engines.


    The rest of the model showed him where rooms, elevators, and stairs should go. He


    put most of the public spaces on floors below the quinjet deck. That meant a dining


    room, kitchen, living room, library, the office, a gym and pool area, laundry room,


    and a couple of empty spaces that could be guest rooms were there.


    He placed their personal spaces below that. So every girl had a bedroom, and bath.


    He was undecided about a closet but wasn¡¯t opposed to it. The rooms formed a circle


    around the edges of the central area.


    Josie had her own floor below that. He gave her a bigger bath, her personal ready


    room off to one side, and a small space to work with in creating spells like the magic


    model in their office. He made sure to put a mana booster around her floor so her


    watch would charge faster.


    He put his and Elaine¡¯s room at the bottom of the warren. The space was twice as big


    as the other floors. He put in a private bath and pool for them. He put in two offices


    for them so they could have their own places to work. He really didn¡¯t have any long


    term plan to work on, but it would be nice to have a space where he could draw


    something up and build it.


    He also planned a mana booster for his floor too so his watch would recharge faster.


    The only real obstruction to his plan was how far could they drill down. How many


    underground tunnels were there? Would he be opening the Hangar to a monster


    invasion if he did do this?


    He didn¡¯t want another Door of Tern in his backyard.


    And he still had to build a small intranet for them to use, and connect to the


    Enterprise.


    Maybe he could take any books they bought and load it into a memory with a scanner.


    Then all he needed to do would be able to put an input/output device to get that


    information back out.


    He thought about that. Was it a good way to approach things?


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± Jack called. ¡°Do we have any books?¡±


    ¡°I think Matilda has a small set of things next to her bed,¡± called Elaine. She was in


    the kitchen, putting things together for when everyone came home. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking about putting something together to hook to the Enterprise for future


    use,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you want me to help with the cooking?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I am putting together something that will slow cook while we are


    waiting for everyone to come home.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you need me, I will be here working on this.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine.


    Jack set up another ring and put up a visual map of the Hole in the Wall. He moved


    things around with an eye on the other image floating in the air. He thought that the


    Hole in the Wall could actually be better as an outpost with the library and office set


    up instead of having that space out of the Hangar.


    He could seal the door, but knew they would need it if they wanted to have their own


    entrance through the wall. Maybe he could seal the door and put in a stargate to allow


    them to step outside into the street.


    He thought he might have to close the windows so the wall looked more normal than


    like a sodbuster¡¯s house built into a hill somewhere.


    He moved the rings over to one side. If he did both of them, he thought the only weak


    point was the stargates into the apartment, and the stargate out to the Hangar, and the


    Hangar¡¯s roof. He was reasonably confident that nothing close to Hawk Ridge could


    get through the door he had installed over the space he had taken.


    He wondered if he could build his intranet before the Ducklings came home.


    He thought that he could borrow one of Matilda¡¯s books for his experiment.


    Then they could start putting together a library for Matilda to read, and to store in the


    Enterprise¡¯s memory.


    He had June¡¯s notebook from earlier. He had left it on the dining room table. He got


    up and went to get it. He could use that to test his device when he had it ready.


    What he proposed to do would take a lot of work. He should figure out some way to


    rope the kids into helping him. Maybe he could say he was doing it to build a card


    catalogue for a new library.


    He grinned at the thought.


    He turned into Magik and formed a ring to take the information from a piece of scrap


    paper. He took another piece of paper and formed another ring. It gave off the


    projected image glow of his models. He put June¡¯s journal in the first ring. Nothing


    happened in the second ring.


    He needed a connection.


    He let Magik go and stood. He needed something to make a bridge between the two


    rings.


    Then he would have to make the link to the Enterprise.


    He walked into the kitchen. He hugged Elaine as she observed her veggies boiling


    over the kitchen fire.


    ¡°Do we have some string?,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Elaine. She leaned into the hug. ¡°You have been silent for a while.


    What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking we can load books into a viewer and then use that to search them for


    things,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am trying to build a test model so I can present it to the girls and


    enlist their aid in filling it.¡±


    ¡°A small library?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might have to go book shopping. I¡¯ll get Case and Caroline to


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.help me with it.¡±


    ¡°I do have a question,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Why is Josie helping them?¡±


    Jack considered the question, thinking about everything. He finally decided the only


    answer he could give.


    ¡°Deep down, under all that crustiness, and fury, and murderous intent, Josie is a soft


    touch and natural matchmaker,¡± said Jack. ¡°It makes her happy that others are happy.¡±


    ¡°And you?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I just want to see if Case crashes and burns,¡± said Jack. He grinned and stole a kiss


    while she frowned at him.


    ¡°I think you are just as invested in this as Josie,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You just don¡¯t want to


    admit it.¡±


    ¡°I assure you there is only one love that I think about all the time,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m


    only invested in Case and Caroline because Josie is invested, and I don¡¯t really


    understand why she is so invested since she usually takes after her mother.¡±


    ¡°What was Josie¡¯s mother like?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t get along,¡± said Jack. ¡°She was unpleasant.¡±


    ¡°Can you give me an example?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°When we were kids, Josie¡¯s mom didn¡¯t like us hanging out with each other,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°She wasn¡¯t that great with Josie hanging out with my sisters either. One time


    I was walking Josie home, and she sprayed me with bear spray, and called the Watch


    on me. She told the cops I was molesting her girl.¡±


    ¡°Were you?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie punched her mom in the face for that. She had to sit through


    hours with the Watch to clear me. That¡¯s when she started living on the street.¡±


    ¡°Her mother look for her?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. We, my sisters and I and Grandma, sort


    of quasi-adopted her. So even though she didn¡¯t want to stay with us, we made sure


    she could live as well as she could on her own. When I turned eighteen, I joined the


    Army. She joined her band. We still kept in touch even then. June wrote me and said


    there were problems but Josie wanted to handle it on her own. When I cashed out, I


    came home to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°And then you both came here,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Luck,¡± said Jack. ¡°The watches were in a box at Mister Warner¡¯s shop, and that was


    when we were drafted.¡±


    ¡°Do you regret it?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t do things I regret later.¡±


    ¡°Never?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Never ever,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I made mistakes, but I don¡¯t regret


    them. They are just things I screwed up.¡±


    ¡°We are far afield from your string,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Are you sure this will work like


    you want?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s just a shortcut.¡±


    ¡°How so?,¡± said Elaine. She went to a drawer full of odds and ends. She found a ball


    of string in it. She idly wondered where that had come from.


    ¡°Say we have the archive put in the reader,¡± said Jack. He inspected the string. ¡°We


    would only have to tell the reader to search for one thing. Then it would show us the


    context of the thing and maybe adjoining pieces of information that might be


    important.¡±


    ¡°The fish people in Accordly for example,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The reader would search every mention of them in our archive,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we put


    in Mister Warner¡¯s, it would search his too.¡±


    ¡°And what do we do with this information,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We use it to get through any quest that much faster,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I can hook the


    reader to the Enterprise, the artificial brain on board will be able to give us a partial


    solution in seconds.¡±


    ¡°I like that,¡± said Elena. ¡°If we can get copies of the histories, we could load that so


    you know how things shaped the kingdoms the way they are now.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to do when the kids take over for us?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What happens to you when that happens? Will you still


    be able to use your watch? Will you want to move to some quiet village and watch


    the world move without your hand at the rudder?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking that we could explore and see what other places held for us,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°We can see what the other planets in this system looks like,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe get


    them ready for expansion from this planet and set up colonies for people to live on


    those other planets.¡±


    ¡°That is a strange idea,¡± said Elaine. ¡°No one will want to live away from Gaia.¡±


    ¡°I am hoping that people will want to explore and look around,¡± said Jack. ¡°I admit


    that the reason we went into space back home was competition between nations


    to see who could do it first.¡±


    ¡°The King might agree to this if there was some kind of financial reward for him,¡±


    said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t think he wants to govern more territory.¡±


    ¡°Exploration isn¡¯t a big thing here, I take it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°A lot of places have already been mapped out, and trade has been established


    beyond the sea,¡± said Elaine. ¡°No one has imagined moving beyond the edge of


    air as far as I know.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can put that idea on hold,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s still a worthy idea,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It will probably be something our children will


    be interested in when we have them.¡±


    ¡°How many kids?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°As many as your stamina will allow,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I will definitely work extrahard to bring that up,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me see if my idea


    will work. Do you need help with the cooking?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think it will be close to done when everyone gets back.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to take this string and see if I can make this recorder


    prototype work well enough to make a better one to hook to the Enterprise. Then


    I can load up the archives, and plan a library raid.¡±


    ¡°I think Matilda would be exceptionally happy to go on such a thing,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯ll send Laura down to the Guild to see if she can get maps and things,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That will help with the Enterprise¡¯s navigation.¡±


    ¡°When you first came here, did you see doing any of this?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about finding a woman who loved me as much as


    I loved her at all. I was thinking I would be alone until I went home.¡±


    ¡°Flattery will get you another five minutes,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at him.


    ¡°I will be ready,¡± said Jack. He kissed her before going back to the living room.


    He tied the end of the string to the reader. He pulled it out until he could wrap the ball


    part around the projector. He cut the ball with the rest of the string loose with his


    pocket knife and put it to one side.


    He called on Magik and formed the string into a link between the two devices. The


    book in the reader became a page in the projector. That had worked out like he


    planned.


    ¡°Show me Mister Warner,¡± said Jack.


    Windows popped up in the projector to show every mention of Mister Warner by June


    in the report. A small sense of excitement ran through Jack. They could gather the


    information and sort it instantly.


    Jack let Magick go. He took the archive notebook out of the reader. The image


    disappeared. He frowned. He needed a memory storage unit to hold the information


    after it was read. He should have known.


    That was something else he needed to build and link to the projector.


    And he stilled need to check if the Enterprise could use the projector and reader.


    He still had time to figure things out. Josie and the kids probably wouldn¡¯t be home


    for another hour or so. He could put the memory storage in place before they got


    home.


    He needed a room at the Hangar for the memory banks. He didn¡¯t want to build


    something small only to have it fill up after two notebooks.


    If he could make this work, it might be the kind of help they needed to accomplish


    their goals. It would be on par with Josie¡¯s model of the country.


    ¡°Add a space for memory storage banks in the new Hangar,¡± said Jack.


    His model extended a side room off the library and filled it with vertical lines to


    indicate shelving.


    He still needed a small memory board to run his small gadget.


    And he needed material to build it.


    He got up and went back to the kitchen. Elaine glanced at him. She waited for him to


    tell her what was on his mind.


    ¡°I have to go out to the Hangar,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need some raw materials.¡±


    ¡°How did your device work?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°It reads the book, shows you an image of whatever you are searching for, but as soon


    as you take the book away, the image shuts down,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to give it a


    memory so it will remember the book so we don¡¯t have to load them up every time


    we need to do research.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°How will you do that?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking that I need to make something to hold the memory,¡± said Jack. ¡°So


    I am thinking now that I should go out to the Hangar, and grab one of the plants and


    turn that into something that I need. Then try to hook everything together.¡±


    ¡°Do you need me to go with you,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Do you want to?,¡± said Jack. ¡°This will only take five minutes.¡±


    ¡°Everything is next to done,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I can let it sit by itself that long. We


    should do this and then call Josie to make sure she is coming home with the


    Ducklings.¡±


    ¡°I doubt Josie is going to stay up north,¡± said Jack. ¡°But you¡¯re right. We should get


    this done, and then come back.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The faster we do, the shorter time it takes us.¡±


    Jack took her hand and they walked through the apartment to the gate, and then out


    to the Hangar.

 Home Again

    Josie gathered her crowd. Her small group hadn¡¯t found anything she thought was


    useful. She had found one that she could shape into something better, but held out


    hope that the others had found something better.


    ¡°Beatrice?,¡± asked Josie.


    She looked at her younger sisters. They had a list that they handed over. Three house


    addresses were marked down as possibles.


    ¡°What did they look like?,¡± said Josie. She tried to think where the addresses were.


    ¡°They were dilapidated,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Some looked like they had been empty for


    a long time.¡±


    ¡°I can fix that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did you find anything, June?¡±


    ¡°Two,¡± said June. ¡°They both looked okay from the outside, but that doesn¡¯t mean


    anything.¡±


    ¡°So let¡¯s look at these places in person and see if we can get one June likes,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Then we¡¯ll buy them and fix them up.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± said June. ¡°Do you want us to stay in them tonight?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°That way I can move Caroline out of the hospital tomorrow. Then


    we¡¯ll do your goodbye dinner at sundown tomorrow. Boim is going to need to get


    used to living on her own for a bit until you come back.¡±


    ¡°We should take stock of whatever neighborhood we settle in so we know where to


    get supplies,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what these five houses look like,¡± said Josie. She sent out a network of


    birds with a minimum use of Zatanna. They looked at each house in turn. The places


    were wrecks on the inside, but fixable.


    ¡°Which one do you think is the best?,¡± asked Josie.


    Most of her contingent agreed on the one house on June¡¯s list that had a short fence,


    and a garret. A few of the windows had been broken out, and trash was everywhere,


    but it had a yard for the Dragon Boat to rest in.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°This looks like an okay neighborhood, but you guys will have


    to watch out for yourselves.¡±


    ¡°We can do it, Jo jo,¡± said June. ¡°We¡¯re not kids.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Really real,¡± said June. She smiled at the younger woman. ¡°I¡¯m like your big sister¡¯s


    big sister.¡±


    ¡°And half as responsible,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go in and see what we can do about


    making this place livable.¡±


    Josie led the way inside, pushing the unlocked door out of the way. It looked like


    someone had pushed the door in at one point. The inside of the place looked almost


    as bad as the outside.


    At least there wasn¡¯t a giant hole in the floor along with everything else.


    ¡°Nothing a little magic won¡¯t fix,¡± said Josie. She rubbed her hands together.


    She became Zatanna and summoned her army of birds to inspect the house and fix


    everything so that it would be livable. The place glowed with cleanliness after she


    was done. The defects fixed themselves as parts of the grass outside was used for fuel.


    Josie let her persona go when the last bird popped out of existence after handing her


    two keys for the door.


    She handed the keys over to June and Boim.


    ¡°Go ahead and sort out you situation,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will see you tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be there,¡± said June. She held out her arms for a hug.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll get Jack to get Boim a band so you guys will be


    able to coordinate about problems. We should have thought of it before this.¡±


    ¡°I got here the day before yesterday, spent yesterday helping Boim, and then we did


    the three quests today,¡± said June. ¡°I think we can be forgiven for a little gear


    slippage.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will see you at sunset tomorrow before you go home.¡±


    ¡°We will be there,¡± said June. She glanced at Boim, who nodded in agreement.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She hated leaving June on her own in the north. She felt like


    she was going to have return to Solas to bail her friend out.


    ¡°We will be fine, Josie,¡± said June. ¡°I survived the world long before you were born,


    and I will survive it long after you are gone.¡±


    ¡°Three years means nothing,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will talk to Jack about putting in a


    stargate so you can retreat if you need to, or we need to send Aviras and Matilda to


    bail you out.¡±


    ¡°We will save you,¡± said Matilda. The look on her face was serious.


    ¡°You do need to be overlooked,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Even the munchkins are giving me grief,¡± said June. She grinned at the youngest


    Duckling, and her dragon companion.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose,¡± said Josie. She held up her fist.


    ¡°Never,¡± said June. She bumped her fist with her own.


    ¡°I will file the paperwork for the deed,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we have to get home.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said June. ¡°Jack could be making a giant monkey to mix drinks for him and


    Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Never say anything like that again,¡± said Josie.


    June laughed at her reaction.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Josie. ¡°Enterprise, can you send down the Dragon Boat. We¡¯re


    getting ready to go home.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. A cloud of blue sparks turned into the sailing boat


    floating on the lawn in front of the house.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°I think you are missing a chance not to have a wizard¡¯s tower,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Jack would love to do something to show off,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°I like a plain house with a plain wall,¡± said June. ¡°It probably needs bars on the


    windows. I¡¯ll work on that before we go shopping for food.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, eight to beam up,¡± said Josie. ¡°We should get home to see what we can


    do next.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Josie snapped her eyes open to see the transporter pad around her. She stepped off the


    pad.


    ¡°Are we really leaving her on her own?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°She has Russ,¡± said Josie. ¡°Hopefully, Seven will keep her on the rails. That was


    probably one of the reasons she was picked as an auxiliary.¡±


    ¡°So if June crashes and burns, someone will be able to tell you what happened?,¡± said


    Laura.


    ¡°Remember, the Society doesn¡¯t care who goes in the grinder,¡± said Josie. ¡°They only


    care that their jobs are getting done. The rest is on us.¡±


    She turned to look at her girls. She scanned them all one after the other silently.


    ¡°The condition we work under as champions of order and protectors of the planet


    means that no matter what,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to accept that we might be killed


    in the line of duty. The Society will pick someone else to take up our job if that


    happens. Am I happy that June will have to figure things out on her own? No. Is there


    any way for me to change her mind now that she has a position and has to be


    responsible for people other than herself? That is a no too. When I invited her here,


    it was to get Jack back on the rails. I had no idea that she was running away from


    trouble. Now that she is here, it¡¯s up to her to do the best she can. When each of you


    decide to make your way out in the world on your own, I will be unhappy, but I will


    also be ready to lend you a hand when you need it. But you will all be doing the same


    thing June is doing now, figuring out what to do, and what you want. June has already


    done this once, and is doing it again now. It is my intention that she succeeds without


    the abuse of power that could happen.¡±


    She looked her six adopted siblings and dragon over one more time.


    ¡°The day is ending,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we should head home and see if Jack did


    something that we will have to fix before we turn in. We have to get ready for


    tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Missus,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°You¡¯re right to be worried, but we have a lot to worry about,¡± said Josie. ¡°June will


    have to take care of herself in the face of settling in to some place new, and taking on


    new responsibilities. All we can do is help her if she will give us a chance.¡±


    ¡°She will be fine,¡± said Melanie. ¡°If the gate gets installed, we can visit and see how


    she is doing with her quests.¡±


    ¡°We could help,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°We are good assistants,¡± said Aviras. ¡°But I am supposed to keep you out of trouble


    for the next two decades.¡±


    ¡°Good luck on that,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head for home,¡± said Josie. ¡°Enterprise, set course for Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    They waited in the transporter room until the Enterprise alerted them that it was on


    target.


    ¡°Jack, we¡¯re back,¡± said Josie into her com band.


    ¡°Great,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine has been slaving over the cook fire to get you guys


    something to eat.¡±


    ¡°And what have you been doing?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Nothing, really,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You worked out a way to make that singing cake, didn¡¯t you?,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Even


    after we said it was ridiculous.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. They heard him grin over the line. ¡°I have not done anything like


    that.¡±


    ¡°You guys go ahead and see what he did,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to secure June and


    Boim¡¯s lease before I come down.¡±


    Josie walked to the elevator to ride up to the ready room. She should have done this


    before she left Solas, but now was doing it as a way to get a grip on her turmoil. The


    transporter had put her girls, dragon, and the queen down at the Hole in the Wall. She


    imagined Jack telling them some story while they got ready to eat.


    She talked to herself as she walked around the desk and sat down. She could already


    see Jack making some kind of excuse for what he had done. She steeled herself to


    fix whatever thing he had come up with while they were gone.


    She smiled as she shook her head. How many other times had he jumped into the fray


    to risk himself when he could have just left her in the lurch. Whatever excuse he


    made would be something to behold.


    He was better suited for this new life as a heroic figure than she was.


    Josie took a moment to draw on Zatanna. She sent out a bird with the payment for


    June¡¯s house. She sent another bird to file the transfer of property. Then she sent the


    deed to June¡¯s new house and hid it under a shelf in the pantry.


    She should have set up a fund for June and Russ to get simple gear when they needed


    it. She shook her head at the gear slipping.


    At the very least, she had to let June know she had ownership of her place.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± Josie said. ¡°Connect me to June Lee.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The line hummed as it opened and connected Josie to June most of the continent


    away.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°I secured your deed,¡± said Josie. ¡°It occurred to me that you might not have any of


    the local money. Can Kami make gold for you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can change elements,¡± said June.


    ¡°Remind me before you go home to give Russ money to set up,¡± said Josie. ¡°Also tell


    her to stay away from the local Exchange until I come by to open the account.¡±


    ¡°Why should I stay away the Exchange, Josie?,¡± asked Boim over the open line.


    ¡°The Exchange funds the Montrose which means they are behind some of the


    corruption we have encountered since we got there,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you to stay


    safe until June comes back from home.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Boim. ¡°I will wait.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you both tomorrow,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t forget.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be ready,¡± said June.


    ¡°See you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m done.¡±


    The Enterprise cut the line. It remained silent as it waited for a new order.


    Josie sat back in the chair. She looked around the ready room. She smiled quietly.


    Despite the flack Jack caught for building the giant ship, it had been a good thing


    in the long run. It had saved them a lot of travel time saving the world.


    ¡°You have been excellent, Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°Keep up the good job.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Josie tried to think of anything else she had to do. She firmed her face. It was time


    to get the rest of things done.


    ¡°I have to get downstairs and fix whatever Jack did,¡± said Josie. ¡°I hope it was


    singing cakes. We are planning to take a fishing trip in the next few days. I guess


    be ready for that.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Josie got up and headed down to the transporter room. She asked the machine to


    teleport her down to the Hole in the Wall. When she cleared her vision, she found


    herself standing behind Elaine, who was standing behind the group in the living


    room.


    She tapped Elaine on the shoulder. She tried not to smile as the taller woman jumped


    at the touch.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Jack is showing the girls the proposed changes to the Hangar and the Hole in the


    Wall,¡± said Elaine. ¡°He built models of the things.¡±


    ¡°I thought he had caused an explosion, or something,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is better than


    I expected.¡±


    ¡°He also has developed a partial reader for books,¡± said Elaine. ¡°He calls it a search


    engine.¡±


    ¡°The next thing he needs to do is build a com band for Boim,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Are they ready?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie.


    She pushed into the living room, and circled the group of girls and the Queen. Jack


    grinned when he saw her, pausing in his explanation of everything he had thought


    about since they were gone.


    ¡°As you can see, if the Hole in the Wall is bricked up, we can use the Hangar as


    our main headquarters and the Hole in the Wall as our guest house. That way all


    we have to worry about is transiting from the Hangar to here, or the hospital without


    having people trying to break in here again,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Exits from the Hole in the Wall into the city?,¡± asked Josie. She regarded the models


    Jack had built out of light.


    ¡°I can put a stargate on the wall to let us out in the street,¡± said Jack. ¡°That way


    anyone trying to get at the kids would have to either know how to work the gate,


    or knock the wall down.¡±


    ¡°Is there any open caverns under the Hangar?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I think we need to


    know that after dealing with the goblins and the Door of Tern.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t looked at it yet,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was waiting for you guys to get home to get


    approval before I just ripped everything up.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like Elaine,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just looked at it, saw that I might have to expend a lot of work


    into shaping everything, and hit pause.¡±


    ¡°What is this other thing?,¡± asked Aviras. He pointed a claw at the set of objects


    standing by themselves. It was two rings, and a box, hooked together with string.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a book reader,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    He waved his hand in dismissal.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Matilda.

 Remodel

    Jack helped Elaine set the table. He smiled as he moved around. The models were


    good enough to build from, but he did need to check to see if he was going to dig


    down into an underground maze.


    The last thing he wanted was a giant hydra bursting through his floor while he and


    Elaine were enjoying their private time.


    ¡°Do you think you can do the changes tonight?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Do you want me to?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°It would mean some work and getting used to


    while we have Lois as our guest.¡±


    ¡°She will be able to have a bigger guest room to herself if you can do it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What do you think, Lois?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think that if Care is going to live here even temporarily, she might not want to


    sleep on a couch,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to hold off on the door too,¡± said Josie. ¡°She might be the type to try to


    sneak time with Case while we are supposed to be watching her.¡±


    ¡°What human female hasn¡¯t done that?,¡± said Aviras. They had cut his meal up for


    him so he could snag pieces of meat and vegetables off his plate without struggling


    to cut it himself.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± said Josie, and Elaine, at the same time.


    ¡°Jinx,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Two exceptions don¡¯t break the rule,¡± said the dragon.


    Jack looked at Beatrice. She had her face down, looking at her plate with


    concentration. This was a conversation she didn¡¯t want to have after Todd.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember you ever having a boyfriend to sneak around with, Jo,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I met a couple of guys,¡± said Josie. ¡°They didn¡¯t last long.¡±


    ¡°Wore them out?,¡± he said.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t want to date one woman,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I am not into friends with


    benefits.¡±


    ¡°Friends with benefits?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain the concept when you¡¯re fifty,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s forty two years away,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Then you have something to look forward to when you¡¯re older,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Bah,¡± said Matilda, carrying the same tone as her dragon.


    ¡°Do you guys want to give this new look a tryout?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if


    different is better, but it will be different.¡±


    ¡°I would like for the guest quarters to be above a public office, but sealed off,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°In case we have to meet Hent, or go over things with Eric and Jane, I would


    like for this space to be our public conference area, and the space upstairs where mine


    and Beatrice¡¯s rooms are changed to where we can have guests stay.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re promising us our own rooms?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not willing to promise anything.¡±


    ¡°Can you put everything back if you screw it up?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Do you girls want to try it out?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Kitchen and supplies?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°I will transport them across the space and I will have a thing called an oven that you


    can use to cook,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will be experimental, but it should work fine enough.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have seen one of those before,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°Probably not,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s finish eating and then we¡¯ll start with the Hangar.


    I¡¯ll do the guest quarters for the Queen, and then we can get ready for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Will this be like the quinjet?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°The motivation will be the same,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you girls want anything specific, tell


    the model. I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Archery range,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Already put it in,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s next to the practice room, and the weight room.¡±


    ¡°The weight room?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°If you want arms and legs like Juni, you have to lift weights for hours in a day,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°The muscles will tear down and grow back bigger to take the stress.¡±


    ¡°She does have blacksmith arms,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°That¡¯s what blacksmiths do,¡± said Jack. ¡°They lift heavy metal to shape it, and


    pound on it for hours. It helps if they were big to start off with.¡±


    ¡°Are we pulling the quinjet down to the Hangar, or leaving it on the Enterprise,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°I think at some point we are going to have to split up to do the next quests,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°One of us might need another fast transport. Plus I already planned to use it for


    our fishing expedition.¡±


    ¡°So we bring it down and put it back in place,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Unless you want to launch from the Enterprise every time we have to split up,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°Tell me about the book reader,¡± said Matilda. ¡°How does that work?¡±


    ¡°The same as any book reader,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°I¡¯m thinking about


    using it to build a search base. It¡¯s just a toy at this stage.¡±


    ¡°Tell her how it works, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t want her staying up all night


    figuring it out.¡±


    ¡°You place a book in the right hand circle, it sends the information to the imager, the


    left hand circle, and the box remembers what was sent,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then you can ask


    the imager to search for the relevant thing you want.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem that useful,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°It¡¯s only useful to search for things if you don¡¯t have the time to read the book


    itself,¡± said Jack. ¡°I used June¡¯s book for the Door of Tern for my sample.¡±


    ¡°And?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°The search engine can show me everything I can ask about from June¡¯s point of


    view,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think they need a demonstration,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He pushed his plate back from the edge where he was sitting


    and got up. He went into the living room and came back with his machine. He


    plopped it down on the table. ¡°Juniper Lee¡¯s report on the Door of Tern.¡±


    An image appeared in one of the rings. It resembled the notebook June had put


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.together before they had gone north to find her a house.


    ¡°Red dragon boat,¡± said Jack.


    Three tabs appeared, the page numbers in the top corner. He asked for one page


    number to open. A passage marking how June¡¯s boat had been left at the top of the


    cliff appeared for them to read.


    ¡°See?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I thought about raiding a bookstore and getting all the historical


    stuff I could and loading it up. Then connecting this to the Enterprise so we have a


    sorter to figure out what was relevant, and what wasn¡¯t while we were on the job.¡±


    ¡°So you wouldn¡¯t have to read any of this?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Only the stuff relevant to your search,¡± said Jack. ¡°It won¡¯t give you a synopsis


    unless I add that on to the reading ring.¡±


    ¡°Which means we still have to finish reading our books and write the report,¡± said


    Beatrice.


    ¡°It would be cheating if you tried to use the engine to skim everything,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°And none of you are cheaters.¡±


    He grinned at them. He figured all of them would cheat in some way if they could,


    except for Alicia. She was a grinder. She kept on whatever job she was given with a


    determination and will that was frightening in an eleven year old.


    ¡°Do we want to try this new layout?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°It would be a big change in the


    middle of taking on Caroline and Case. Can we handle it?¡±


    ¡°Can we look at the models again?,¡± asked Melanie.


    Josie nodded.


    The girls got up from the table and headed for the living room. They held a mild


    debate about what they wanted as they went.


    ¡°Can you actually do what you say?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°Some of it will be easy,¡± said Jack. ¡°Rearranging the Hole in the Wall should be a


    snap. The upstairs are already living quarters with Josie¡¯s and Bea¡¯s rooms up there.


    I just need to pull the office down here, erase the staircase so people will have to dig


    through the ceiling to get up to any guest we might have, then move the living


    arrangement to where the gate is and seal that. Digging down under the Hangar might


    be harder but I can use the rock and stone I excavate to build walls and supports as


    I go.¡±


    ¡°The main problem is if there is anything under the Hangar when we dig down,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°That might open a ton of surprises that we don¡¯t want to open.¡±


    ¡°Josie¡¯s right about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mister Warner stated that the goblins live


    underground in the south, and three of our quests have been about things being buried


    coming back up to the surface. So I will have to inspect the ground to make sure


    nothing can get into the Hangar from the bottom, or sides.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a plan for the search engine?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I want to send the girls out to get me all the historical books and maps that they can


    so we can load it to the Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then the Enterprise can help plan


    solutions to our problems and give us better estimates on what we are doing, and


    facing. It¡¯s good to shoot phasers at something, but sometimes you need better


    information to help figure out what is actually going on.¡±


    ¡°If we build a library on the ground first, then we check to see if we can load it up to


    the Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want a living machine running around.¡±


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s fair,¡± said Jack. He sat back in his chair. ¡°That could be a problem with


    the magic floating around.¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t need a giant Terminator capable of making more


    Terminators and dropping them to the ground since that is counter to what we are


    supposed to be doing.¡±


    The girls came back into the dining room.


    ¡°Aviras would like his own space,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I give him one,¡± said Jack. ¡°Wait. I might have just assumed he would want


    to bunk in with you. My fault. I can add a room for you, buddy. It should be a snap


    with all the rest of the stuff I am going to be doing.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°So we¡¯re going to do this?,¡± asked Jack. He looked at the serious faces around him.


    ¡°No danger rooms,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°But those are the best parts,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It might be great for Bea and Laura, maybe Alicia,¡± said Josie. ¡°But Matilda would


    get murdered and Angelica and Melanie don¡¯t have the right skillsets for it. No


    danger room.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He grinned. He hadn¡¯t planned on a danger room, but this made


    him look more dangerous than if he had actually been trying.


    ¡°Thank you, missus,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Put that down with singing cakes.¡±


    ¡°Are you guys ready?,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can ease into things before I just rebuild the


    whole enchilada.¡±


    He looked around the room. The expressions he got showed him that he might be


    teasing too much.


    ¡°I can build things in stages,¡± he said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this done,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will help you with Zatanna. The work should be


    done twice as fast.¡±


    Jack put his hand over his watch.


    ¡°Should we have one guestroom, or two?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Two,¡± said Josie. ¡°So if Lois and Rickard want to visit while we are taking care of


    Caroline, then we have space for them too.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your consideration,¡± said Lois. ¡°That would be splendid in my


    opinion.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s head out to the Hangar,¡± said Josie. ¡°The faster we get this done, the faster the


    kids can do their lessons, and then we can all sleep. Lois, you are welcome to stay for


    our goodbye dinner for June and Mister Warner. They have to fix things back home


    before they can settle here so we plan to give them a good sendoff.¡±


    ¡°Good point about the Hangar,¡± said Jack. ¡°That is the bigger job. Beatrice, if you


    and Laura, can grab the models, we¡¯ll get this started.¡±


    The group grabbed the rings with the new version of the Hangar glowing inside of it.


    Jack grabbed the search engine. It was going to be at the center of their new library.


    They used the gate to cross over to the Hangar. Jack put the search engine down on


    the ground. He directed the girls to hold the models in front of them.


    ¡°We¡¯re in a mana charger,¡± said Jack. ¡°That should boost up our magicians like that


    thing you use when you call your birds.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to dig straight down, and we¡¯re going


    to need to make sure nothing can get through the walls from the dirt side of things.¡±


    ¡°Should be a cinch,¡± said Jack.


    He called on the Vision and scanned the ground under the floor. He made sure to


    make several observations before ending his survey.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything within range of my power,¡± said Jack after he reverted back.


    The mana charger sped his watch back to full power. ¡°It looks clear to me.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Everybody stay close, and don¡¯t move until we¡¯re ready to


    go.¡±


    ¡°Power up,¡± said Jack. He grinned as he pushed the button for the Magik name and


    became exotic formulas resembling a human body.


    Josie called on Zatanna, dressed in her black suit, and top hat. She checked her watch,


    nodding as the charger started replacing the charge she was using up as her other self.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me get started, and you can fill in whatever you think we


    need with your wish magic.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°A job this big will run our watches out before we¡¯re done if


    we don¡¯t hurry.¡±


    Jack grinned as he formed a ring to push out beyond the charger. That ring began to


    sink into the ground, carving out the space they needed while fortifying the walls and


    putting separate floors.


    Josie sat and flung out birds like she had to fix up June¡¯s place. They whipped


    through the excavation adding personal touches to the proceedings. She lost power


    as the birds did their jobs and vanished. She took a deep breath as she waited for her


    watch to recharge.


    Jack remained in his persona for a bit longer. He reverted back, and nodded to


    himself. It was a job well done in his opinion.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take the tour and see what happened,¡± said Jack. He doubted his magic had


    played him wrong. It had always filled in the gaps before, and Josie¡¯s birds should


    have been okay to run alongside his ring.


    The guest rooms for June and Boim were gone. The wall had been sealed up. The


    gates had been merged into one gate. Getting to the Hole in the Wall, or the Village,


    was a few key strokes away.


    A small ready room sat next to the gate. They could come back from a meeting, and


    pause there before going downstairs.


    Jack pointed out the elevator. They needed to go down to see what the rest of the


    structure looked like. It stood next to the ready room. He opened it and pushed the


    button for the next floor.


    The next floor held the kitchen/dining room/living room/library/gym area that he had


    envisioned. He nodded as he walked around. The pool had an automatic cleaner for


    the water from the looks of things.


    ¡°Why do we have a giant bath here?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°It¡¯s for swimming,¡± said Jack. ¡°It has a small diving board on one end. That¡¯s for


    jumping and diving into the water.¡±


    ¡°What is this path around the inside?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°It¡¯s for running when you don¡¯t want to go outside,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The kitchen?,¡± asked Angelica.


    They walked over to the kitchen and food supply space that had been paired with the


    dining area. Angelica went over the icebox, and cabinets. She nodded that they


    had the same supplies from the apartments.


    ¡°This is the stove and oven I was telling you about,¡± said Jack. ¡°The dials on the top


    are for cooking on these circles. The oven dial is for cooking inside the thing. I¡¯ll


    show you how to do all that. You might need to practice for a bit before you can get


    it down just right.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go down and you can look at your rooms,¡± said Jack.


    Everyone looked overwhelmed at this point. The space was already much bigger


    than the Hole in the Wall.


    The next floor had the girls¡¯ personal spaces around the rim of a small living room


    area. Each door was marked with their personal symbol. A smaller door was blue and


    marked with the flame of Aviras.


    ¡°No more listening to Alicia snore,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°You girls take a look around while I take Josie downstairs to look at her space,¡±


    said Jack. He waved them off.


    ¡°This is incredible,¡± said the Queen. ¡°You could change the kingdom¡¯s building


    projects in a second.¡±


    ¡°If I started doing that, the Society would get someone like Mister Warner to handle


    their jobs,¡± said Jack. ¡°And if that happened, only what they wanted would get done,


    and all the other stuff we have been dealing with would be allowed to fester until a


    hot lance had to be applied to the boil.¡±


    ¡°Care would have been rescued, maybe healed,¡± said the Queen. ¡°But Rustam would


    still be trying to take over the kingdom and fomenting war with the other kingdoms.¡±


    ¡°Unless his name came up in the lottery,¡± said Jack. ¡°How likely is that?¡±


    ¡°I see your point,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°All right, Jo,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s let you look at your space, and then I¡¯ll talk to Elaine


    about any changes she wants to ours, and then we do the Hole in the Wall.¡±


    ¡°This is some fancy work,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is a good job.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Jack.

 The Hole in The Wall

    Josie stepped off the elevator alone. She stood in a foyer. She looked over her


    shoulder. Jack waved at her with a grin on his face.


    The door closed on his expression.


    She frowned as she opened the inner door. She stepped into a round room with a


    round bed on one side. Closet doors stood next to the bed. She opened them,


    frowning at the dresses and shirts hanging on hangers. A box on one side of the closet


    said dirty. A matching box on the other side said clean. She counted three different


    types of shoes and boots on the floor of the closet. She looked at the shirts with the


    back of her hand as a divider. They all had her lightning bolt on them.


    She looked at some of the dresses. They resembled Mary Marvel¡¯s costume. She


    frowned at that.


    Red and gold were okay, but she wasn¡¯t exactly a dress wearing woman.


    She found a giant bathroom opposite the closet. She wondered what a bath would


    look like after all this time. She sniffed the soap and thought it smelled like Irish


    Spring.


    She planned to give the sunken tub a workout when she was done with all of this.


    She walked over to the other door off her bedroom. She found an office with a desk


    and chair. A picture of Captain Marvel hung on the wall beside a picture of Robby


    Reed from his heyday. She had a picture of the night sky beside those two. She


    paused as she watched a cloud gently move at the edge of the scene.


    She wondered if Jack had made window screens to look out of the Hangar despite


    being underground. It seemed like the kind of thing he would do.


    She sat down at her desk. She noted it was the right height for her. She wondered if


    she should get a book reader too. She mentally put it down as convenient but not


    really necessary.


    She smiled at the red and gold walls. Jack had done a good job with this remodel. She


    had thought he would make everything like a hamster warren. She had


    underestimated what he could do.


    She stood. Her eyes fell on a black case on the side of her desk. She opened it, and


    smiled. Jack had transported her guitar from her former quarters.


    Or he had built one from scratch and left it for her.


    She shook her head. She had to get back to the Hole in the Wall so they could reshape


    it for the Queen. This has been a long day and she was ready to get some sleep before


    the morning arrived and she had to get ready to send June home for her fight.


    She needed to go down and get Jack moving. He and Elaine might already be using


    their new bedroom. She hated to cut into their personal time, but she didn¡¯t want


    to waste time when they needed to get the rest of the thing done before they could


    rest.


    She went to the elevator and went down one floor. She found Her Majesty standing


    outside the foyer door. She paused.


    ¡°I think they are arguing,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine usually has Jack wrapped around her little finger. I


    wonder what they could be arguing about.¡±


    She knocked on the door in her best policeman style. She had used it a lot when she


    had to get the band up and moving. Nothing gets things going faster than police are


    at the door, and they want your drugs.


    The door slid open and Jack blocked her view, while looking over his shoulder.


    ¡°What can I do for you, ladies?,¡± Jack said.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± asked Josie. She squinted at him as he scratched the scar over


    his eye.


    ¡°Elaine is miffed at one of the pictures that showed up,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was trying


    to explain it isn¡¯t my fault.¡±


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± called Josie. ¡°Can we see the picture?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It is embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Then take it upstairs and burn it,¡± said Josie. She wondered what the picture showed.


    She decided not to indulge her curiosity. ¡°If it is too embarrassing to look at, then


    it is too embarrassing to keep around.¡±


    ¡°I think that will be good,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We will never speak of this picture again.¡±


    ¡°Lois and I didn¡¯t even hear of a picture,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I agree wholeheartedly, Elaine,¡± said the Queen.


    Jack was silent.


    Josie kicked him in the shin out of annoyance. It was a light kick. He jumped and


    rubbed his shin with a hand.


    ¡°Josie¡¯s right,¡± said Jack. He made a face at her. ¡°Burning it is the right thing to do.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Help me fold it up, Jack. I don¡¯t want the girls seeing this.¡±


    Josie guessed the picture would not be approved by the Comics Code Authority from


    that comment. She felt her eyebrows go up.


    Jack stepped back in the room, and let the door close.


    ¡°What do you think is in the picture?,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°I have no idea, and I have a feeling that I don¡¯t need to know,¡± said Josie. ¡°It would


    probably be better for me to have never had the conversation we just had, so I am


    going to do my best to forget it.¡±


    Josie had several guesses, and she decided to put them out of her mind. If Elaine


    wanted her to know, she would tell her.


    ¡°Let us dispose of this,¡± said Elaine as she came out of the bedroom. She had a board


    broken in two and folded under her arm. ¡°It is a good thing that we are getting


    married, or we would be having a talk.¡±


    ¡°Yes, hon,¡± said Jack. He looked embarrassed.


    Josie had never seen him embarrassed before. She squinted at him. What kind of


    picture had his magic made for them.


    They took the elevator up to the hangar part of the Hangar, and then the steps to the


    open sky. The moon lit the grass and trees around the open hole. Elaine marched to


    a spot away from the training dummies that June had put up. She put the board on the


    ground.


    ¡°Stand back,¡± said Jack. He turned into the Human Torch and set the boards on fire.


    He let the persona go as the picture went up. He watched as the flames reached for


    the sky.


    ¡°That is good,¡± said Elaine. She took a deep breath. ¡°It was a touch too much, Jack.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Jack. ¡°You looked beautiful in it.¡±


    Elaine started to say something, but looked at Josie and Lois standing off to one side.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.She leaned over and whispered in his ear. He smiled.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You still have to work to do, lover boy,¡± said Josie. ¡°Put out this fire, and let¡¯s go


    about our business. Also why the Mary Marvel dresses?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. He called on the Human Torch again. He reached into


    the flame and pulled it into his body. He let the persona go when the fire amidst the


    ashes of a picture were out.


    Josie covered the remains with her Geomancer. Then she ushered them back down


    in the Hangar with her hands. She could feel the new bath calling her to be used.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the rest of this done,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to trying out the


    new tub.¡±


    ¡°So are we,¡± said Jack. ¡°Not your tub, ours.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did you put the windows in all the rooms downstairs?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°The magic did all the heavy lifting.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She made sure the top of the Hangar was closed down. ¡°We


    don¡¯t have a lock for this to keep people out.¡±


    ¡°The fear ring should keep people away, but maybe it won¡¯t work on everybody,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll put a lock in as soon as we¡¯re done with the Hole in the Wall.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll let the girls know about it so they know to lock after themselves if they go


    out,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you think the city wall can take an extensive change?,¡± asked Elaine. ¡°I


    remembered thinking no way were there rooms when Jack first showed me the


    apartments.¡±


    ¡°The magic will buttress things,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re right about the place. How


    did the Montrose install their own dungeon there inside an outer wall like that?¡±


    ¡°They could have openly smuggled women and girls out of the city since the Duke


    and others were in on the trade,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wonder why they would bother with


    a way station like that. I didn¡¯t ask Snidely about it. I was too angry to worry about


    questions.¡±


    ¡°It always bothered me that Guin was extorting them for money,¡± said Jack. ¡°Why


    didn¡¯t the Duke crush him?¡±


    ¡°Maybe we missed something,¡± said Josie. ¡°We know Guin didn¡¯t have any other


    dealings with them. Maybe he¡¯s a bigger wheel than we thought.¡±


    ¡°Or maybe some of the Montrose were doing things that allowed them to be extorted


    by local criminal syndicates so they wouldn¡¯t face problems,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have no


    problem believing that Guin would have arranged for an accident to happen, and his


    most direct competition was the guy I took out.¡±


    ¡°You could ask Guin since he is helping you,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°It can go on the back burner,¡± said Josie. ¡°As long as Guin is helping us and not


    hurting too many people, we can let some of his thing slide. I think he knows where


    the line is. And we can¡¯t pull him up, just like we can¡¯t pull up the Exchange. I mean


    we can decimate his whole organization, but do we keep doing that to everybody who


    steps in his shoes?¡±


    ¡°I have a feeling that he isn¡¯t going to like the King being focused on Hawk Ridge


    for the next few months while we negotiate this princess romance,¡± said


    Jack. Josie made an irritated noise as Jack grinned at her annoyance.


    ¡°I think our talk with Ropel has exposed more than what we thought was going on,¡±


    said Lois. ¡°And the meeting with the Duke indicated that the Royal Auditors have


    been suborned.¡±


    ¡°So more than one duchy has been diverting money from the treasury?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think that is what Rickard believes,¡± said Lois. ¡°I have a feeling that we are going


    to see a huge bubble of corruption that will need to be lanced by the end of this.¡±


    ¡°The Society will give us quests if it gets too out of control,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°But not for ordinary corruption,¡± said Josie. ¡°It has to be something major like a war,


    or a disaster. I think we are changing things with our methodology and quests we


    would have picked up are things we are already doing.¡±


    ¡°So we might be right about stalling the Shemmarians?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I like it as an explanation even if it¡¯s wrong,¡± said Josie.


    They stepped through the gate and back at the Hole in the Wall. Josie took a moment


    to breathe in the air. This was where they had started things. She hated that she had


    been chained to a wall, but she didn¡¯t regret the killing spree she had started her


    campaign with.


    ¡°Let¡¯s change this for Lois,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we have to get ready for tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Compared to the Hangar, this should be a snap,¡± said Jack.


    Josie checked her watch. She nodded at it being at full power.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this show on the road,¡± said Josie.


    Jack took on his persona, becoming human formulae. She pulled on Zatanna. She had


    gotten so much better with her magic since she had started. Adding the birds to help


    her aim had improved her targeting.


    They sent out their magic to shape things the way they wanted. The office came


    downstairs with the model and archives being copied for use at the Hangar. The stairs


    were moved to the other end of the office before the space was sealed up from the


    rest of the apartment. The space upstairs became two rooms with full beds and


    cabinets. The living room became a small dining room and kitchen. The bathroom


    remained in place next to that.


    The birds made sure everything was cleaned for their guest before they vanished.


    ¡°I think we should look the place over,¡± said Josie. ¡°If the front door and window


    shutters still work, we can pull them down for protection for the Queen.¡±


    ¡°We should ask Eric to send over some guards,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Josie. She led the way upstairs. She checked both rooms. They were


    in the front with windows facing the city. She didn¡¯t know which way the sun would


    be rising, but if the windows were facing the right way, it would be shining into the


    rooms and lighting up the beds.


    She tapped the window with her fist. She nodded at the sound that came back. She


    thought that they could break through easily enough, but the normal weapons of the


    time would need some effort to break the glass.


    ¡°Bulletproof,¡± said Jack. He nodded at her expression. ¡°If Caroline is staying here


    on her own, I didn¡¯t want any Joe Schmoe breaking in.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Lois?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ve slept in worse places,¡± said the Queen. ¡°What about these boxes in the closest?¡±


    ¡°You put your dirty clothes in the dirty box,¡± said Jack. ¡°You pull your clean clothes


    out of the clean box. It¡¯s my way of getting around doing laundry.¡±


    Lois¡¯s eyes flickered to the portrait of her and Rickard holding hands, and grave


    expressions.


    ¡°Let me put down security,¡± said Josie. ¡°They won¡¯t do anything but keep people


    out of the Hole in the Wall, but that should be enough for you to open the gate


    and come back to the Hangar if there is trouble.¡±


    ¡°Do you think there will be?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°You are under our protection and I would rather be ready for another Brant, than get


    caught off guard,¡± said Josie. ¡°And if someone did break in now, they are either after


    you, or us. Either way, they will need to be dealt with in the course of things.¡±


    ¡°How did you decide on exploding heads?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Put in a doorbell that reaches the Hangar,¡± said Josie. She shook her head. ¡°The idea


    came up with a talk with Eric.¡±


    ¡°And?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I was thinking about guided missiles,¡± said Josie. ¡°Doorbell? I am going to put in


    the security after that is done.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He shook his head. She thought she heard him muttering


    guided missiles under his breath as he went downstairs.


    ¡°Make sure you put a push the button and talk sign on it,¡± she called after him.


    ¡°Yes, Mom,¡± he called back.


    ¡°What was the picture, Elaine?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I will take that secret to my grave,¡± said Elaine. She made a chagrined face.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She put the matter aside. Maybe she could find out from Jack


    later. She checked her watch. ¡°Let¡¯s put down our sentries, and then we can get some


    sleep and get ready to move Caroline in and June and Mister Warner home for the


    time they need to get things done.¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Birds,¡± said Josie. ¡°Watch birds.¡±


    She pulled on Zatanna. She inscribed runes at the windows and at various places


    around the office. She put two more at the gate. She let her persona go as the devices


    said they were on watch and ready to go.


    Anyone breaking in would have to deal with their face exploding. It would be loud


    and messy, but as fatal as she could make it.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to head back to the Hangar, Lois,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll pick you up and


    take you to the hospital tomorrow, and you can help us move Caroline, and maybe


    hang out with Case. Like I said, you can stay for June¡¯s send off, or I can send you


    home so you and Rickard can watch things develop from afar.¡±


    ¡°My presence would be a nuisance, wouldn¡¯t it?,¡± said Lois. She gave Josie a stern


    look.


    ¡°If you want your daughter to break up with Case, you have to let them work that


    out,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some people can¡¯t make things work no matter how hard they try.


    That might be the case here. On the other hand, outside pressure might be enough to


    push them together in opposition to what you want. I don¡¯t want a quest to find


    Caroline every time she gets into trouble because she ran away from home and her


    responsibilities. I want to grow this enough that they decide what they want to do, and


    they are off my hands. After that, it will be on them to make it work.¡±


    ¡°If Case becomes the king?,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°Then he knows better to cross me on a bad day,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re leaving you on


    your own. The kitchen should have food in it if you get hungry again. Please stay out


    of trouble until I can get you back to the capitol.¡±


    ¡°I do expect some kind of news,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°I will ask Caroline to write you every night,¡± said Josie. ¡°She might be able to teach


    the kids some things.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Lois. ¡°I would appreciate that.¡±


    ¡°Remember, if the security goes bad, come down to the gate and step through,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°The birds will buy you enough time for that. Then Jack will take care of the


    rest.¡±


    ¡°Doorbell is done,¡± said Jack. ¡°Even tested it.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± said Josie. ¡°Good night, Your Majesty. We will see you in the morning for


    breakfast. Then we will get started with the day.¡±


    A letter appeared in the Queen¡¯s hands. She read it silently.


    ¡°Rickard is asking for the armies to be deployed to shut the borders,¡± said Lois. ¡°He


    is thinking about putting a bounty on these tattooed men.¡±


    ¡°That will make the adventurers happy,¡± said Josie.

 Dawn

    Jack listened. Elaine slept next to him. He brushed her hair away from her face. He


    marveled that she accepted him.


    He slipped out of bed and stepped into the closet. He had a new wardrobe hanging


    there. He pulled on an X logo shirt, sweat pants, and running shoes and headed


    upstairs.


    He looked at the main floor of his new home. The magic had done some good work


    as far as he was concerned. Even the destroyed picture had been good.


    He did some stretches and started running around the track. He didn¡¯t devote too


    much time wondering why the magic had installed a running path along the inner


    wall. He concentrated on moving smoothly along.


    The kids, Josie, and Elaine would be up soon enough to distract him. He wanted to


    be ready so he could concentrate on what needed to be done.


    They would be running around today, but tomorrow they would be fishing. Nothing


    was lazier than fishing.


    A lot depended on whether they got quests before they could get Caroline settled in


    as their guest.


    He reviewed everything that had undergone in the last few weeks. There were odd


    things that stood out. He wondered if he was going to get a quest to deal with Guin


    at some point. It seemed small potatoes, but Sawtooth had been close enough to touch


    before they had dealt with him.


    He felt they would eventually have to deal with Sawtooth¡¯s friends in the cult before


    they unleash something hidden in the bowels of the north.


    And he had to get a band for Russ.


    He paused after about ten laps around the inside of the living area. He felt his breath


    running away, but he seized it and took a moment to let his heart calm down for a


    moment.


    He stretched and felt things return to normal. It had been a long time for him to run.


    He used to do it all the time when he was in, but now it had been at least a month


    since his last run.


    He wondered if he could get the kids to start running. Maybe not Melanie, he decided.


    He still didn¡¯t know what kind of gift to give her.


    He decided to raid the kitchen. Then he could get a shower and work on the new com


    band. Then he could wait for everyone to wake up and they could get started.


    He walked over to the kitchen. He looked around the new setup. He hadn¡¯t put in a


    fireplace. He had put in a magical oven to go with the walk-in icebox. The mana


    charger on the floor would power them forever.


    He made himself a bowl of cereal and took that to the kitchen counter. He ate while


    he thought about what he could do to help out. He hoped June knew what she was


    doing up north. He would rather have her in Hawk Ridge where he could keep an eye


    on her.


    He supposed they wanted her to fly on her own, but he didn¡¯t like that he would be


    responsible for telling his parents that she had bought the farm. How did he explain


    something like that?


    Mom, June got killed chasing a slime under her new home with her new girlfriend


    while I was trying to save the rest of this other world from killer tomatoes.


    That won¡¯t go over well as far as he could see.


    ¡°Maybe I can get Josie to write the letter,¡± he told himself. ¡°She was always better at


    breaking bad news.¡±


    And he thought his parents liked Josie better.


    He decided that would be the way to go if June got killed.


    He put his dirty bowl and spoon in the sink. He washed it out with a little soap and


    water in it. He put the clean things on the drying rack.


    He headed back downstairs and took a shower and put on a Mar-Vell shirt and jeans


    before walking into his office. He sat down at his desk, and leaned back in his chair.


    The picture Elaine had wanted burned had sat on the wall over his desk, along with


    a picture of their group as Avengers. He smiled at Josie as the Scarlet Witch. He


    looked at the window, and noted the sun would be coming up soon.


    He had to get to work.


    The magic had put a parts box next to his desk. He opened the various drawers. He


    pulled out a flat piece of metal and some metal buttons. He turned into Magik and


    spent a few minutes creating the com band. He tested it. He added a button for Russ


    on his band.


    He would have to do the same for Josie, and Elaine. Otherwise, if Russ got into


    trouble, she had no one who could talk to her but him.


    He checked his window. The sun was coming on. He supposed Josie would be up in


    a few to get the rest of them started on their chores for the day.


    He wondered what he should do for Angelica and Melanie. He thought Angelica


    would want something to do with her cooking. He didn¡¯t want to make it too easy for


    her. That would take the fun out of it.


    Melanie would want something that helped her laziness. Maybe a variation of Laura¡¯s


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.flight would be useful for her. He sat back and decided to ask her if she wanted


    something like that.


    He smiled at that. She would love something where she could grab things from across


    the room without moving.


    He decided to ask her. Maybe she would surprise him.


    The Ducklings as a whole had surprised him more than he thought they would.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°In my office.¡±


    She stood in the door. He looked at her and took a breath. Every time he saw her, she


    was more beautiful to him. He smiled at her.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°I had to work on Boim¡¯s com band so she could call for help while June is back


    home taking care of her business,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need to add a button for her on your


    band, and Josie¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°I overreacted about the picture, didn¡¯t I?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°You were embarrassed by it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I get it. I think I might be embarrassed by


    ten naked versions of me too.¡±


    Elaine smiled. She stepped into the room and kissed him on the cheek.


    ¡°I think if you saw ten versions of yourself in a picture, you would make it as big as


    possible and hang it in the most prominent place you could,¡± said Elaine. She smiled


    at his expression. ¡°But I appreciate that you don¡¯t do that, because some things should


    remain between lovers and not shared.¡±


    ¡°And Josie would be irritated about it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That goes without saying,¡± said Elaine. She took off her band and handed it over.


    ¡°Obviously,¡± said Jack. ¡°I just like to because it annoys her.¡±


    Elaine smiled.


    Jack worked on her band, adding a button with a seven on it. He handed it back when


    he was done.


    ¡°Hopefully, you won¡¯t have to do anything, but Russ will be on her own until June


    comes back, and she might need advice,¡± said Jack. ¡°And you know more about the


    basic living stuff here than either Josie, or me. I have to put a button on Josie¡¯s band


    just in case.¡±


    ¡°I doubt there will be anything I can do but advise her unless I take the Enterprise and


    try to figure out her problem in person,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I trust you enough to fix anything, even if you have to torpedo someone,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That is a lot of trust,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°If we get kicked out of here,¡± said Jack. ¡°You and Matilda are the only ones I would


    trust the Enterprise with. You are better than me in every way. You can solve


    problems, and you won¡¯t go overboard and overcommit. And everyone looks up to


    you, so you would have support to do things.¡±


    ¡°You are the most precious loon I have ever met,¡± said Elaine. ¡°And I love you for


    that.¡±


    ¡°How do you want to start the day?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°We could work on my stamina,


    enjoy the Jacuzzi, or let you enjoy a massage, or do all three.¡±


    ¡°I think we should get ready, get prepared, and start on our tasks,¡± said Elaine. She


    smiled. ¡°We can¡¯t just lock ourselves away in our lair and enjoy ourselves. We still


    have to work.¡±


    ¡°When you put it like that, it makes me want to hide in our lair and enjoy ourselves,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°I have to get ready,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You should be ready to show Angelica how to


    cook with your new stove and oven.¡±


    ¡°What would be a good recipe for a gang of kids, a surly adopted big sister, and the


    queen?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Maybe I can scramble some eggs and cheese.¡±


    ¡°Maybe toast should be added for flavor,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Different shirt?¡±


    ¡°I have a bunch of them now,¡± said Jack. ¡°Magic. Who knew?¡±


    ¡°At least you didn¡¯t present me with something immodest to wear,¡± said Elaine. She


    waved at the picture on the wall.


    ¡°But I did,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Elaine. ¡°All I saw were my dresses and boots.¡±


    ¡°Come with me,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. He led the way into the closet. He


    searched the shelf and found a case marked swimwear. He pulled it down by its


    handle. He put it on the floor and opened it. Pieces of cloth were packed inside.


    He pulled out a full body suit and flipped it so he could hold it in both hands to show


    her.


    ¡°This is a wet suit for long swims in a cold ocean, and surfing if you ever take that


    up,¡± said Jack. He handed her the clothing before pulling out the next piece. ¡°This is


    a regular swimsuit. As you can see, it¡¯s mainly for torso coverage.¡±


    ¡°This looks like the clothes in your picture of us,¡± said Elaine. She took the suit and


    added it to the wet suit on her shoulder.


    ¡°Costumes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Someone once told me they were based on circus outfits back


    before I was born, and they became a tradition. Now these are bikinis. They are for


    sunbathing and swimming.¡±


    He pulled out two sets of bikinis, one after the other, and displayed them for her.


    She frowned at them.


    ¡°These are almost not acceptable in public,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Two strips of cloth?¡±


    ¡°One goes on your chest, the other on your hips,¡± said Jack. ¡°There are tinier versions


    just for sunbathing, but I didn¡¯t see you doing that.¡±


    ¡°You would have been right about that,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Women actually wear this


    where you are from?¡±


    ¡°Some don¡¯t wear anything,¡± said Jack. He pulled out the last piece in the case. ¡°This


    is a slingshot.¡±


    Elaine looked at the two straps connected at the bottom. Her face flushed.


    ¡°Obviously this is a bit daring, and probably should be worn in private,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ll say,¡± said Elaine.


    Jack waited for her opinion. He put the slingshot back in the bottom of the case.


    ¡°Is this really what women from your world wear?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°The most common are the body suit and the types of bikinis,¡± said Jack. ¡°The


    slingshot is usually worn in tropical places where people don¡¯t usually wear that


    much because of the heat. The full body is for people who are going to spend a lot of


    time in cold water. Surfers use them because they ride the top of the water, and they


    have to contend with cold water and the wind blowing on them.¡±


    He took the clothing back and folded everything and put the pieces back in the case.


    He put the case back on the shelf.


    ¡°Most women here wear chemises if they swim in mixed company, or nothing at all


    depending on the situation,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Sunbathing is not something I have heard


    of done here.¡±


    ¡°It requires time and a spot to lay and relax,¡± said Jack. ¡°The goal is to expose as


    much of your skin to the sun as you can so it tans up.¡±


    ¡°And women do this on purpose?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Men too,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have some leisure time to just smell the roses, but a lot


    depends on how much money you have, and where you live. Some countries require


    women to conceal what they look like with a robe and veil.¡±


    ¡°No swimsuits?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think they have to wear the robe and veil the whole time, even if


    they do get in the water.¡±


    ¡°Sounds cumbersome,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Let me get ready and we can go upstairs.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I will try on the slingshot tonight to see how it looks,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The sun going down cannot come fast enough,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I am sure,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Go on. I think we will be delayed until the others wake up


    if you try to help me get dressed.¡±


    ¡°I will go up and look at what we have for breakfast,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might need


    some supplies.¡±


    ¡°I will figure that out when I come upstairs,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Then you can show me


    how this stove is supposed to work.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully it won¡¯t blow up,¡± said Jack. He smiled at her. ¡°I guess I should see what


    I can do before I have to face our surly flock of ducks and their even surlier mother


    goose.¡±


    ¡°I think the real danger will be their most surly dragon, and a lack of ice cream,¡± said


    Elaine.

 Magic Mottos

    Josie snapped awake on her new bed. She listened. She heard nothing but the sound


    of her own breathing. She closed her eyes. She had to get ready for the day, but she


    also wanted five more minutes to just lie there and think about nothing before she had


    to wrangle her crew into getting things done.


    At least she had Elaine to help her with Jack. She briefly wondered what had been on


    the destroyed picture. She decided that she could let it go. She had other things to


    consider.


    She rolled out of bed and went into the closet. She took one of the black shirts and


    jeans off their hangers and a fresh change of underthings from a drawer. Then she


    went into her gleaming new bathroom and went about cleaning up and getting ready


    for the day. She emptied out her pockets and dropped the dirty clothes in the dirty


    clothes box. She paused to look for her messenger bag and found it on her desk. She


    pulled it on, and then threw her poncho over a shoulder.


    Time to get to work.


    If Case embarrassed her, she was going to make him pay tenfold.


    She headed upstairs to look for something to eat before her locusts burst from their


    lairs to take everything. She found Jack and Elaine already working on the new stove


    constructed by Jack¡¯s magic.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. He had a pan on the stove. He had a tray of eggs on one


    side as he considered what he wanted to cook. ¡°We¡¯re trying to get breakfast together.


    Any preference?¡±


    ¡°Coffee,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s what I demand.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± said Jack. ¡°The coffee machine is still brewing your lifeblood.¡±


    Josie squinted at him. He was cheerful. He was cooking. His cooking had improved,


    so that wasn¡¯t so bad. He seemed to be whistling.


    What was wrong with this picture?


    ¡°New shirt?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°An original Captain Mar-Vell shirt. Magic, who knew?¡±


    ¡°My closet is full of variations of Captain Marvel/Kevin Matchstick lightning bolts,


    and you got a new wardrobe?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Magic,¡± said Jack. He gave her his habitual grin. ¡°Who knew?¡±


    ¡°Say that one more time and I will punch your face in,¡± said Josie. ¡°That is my


    warning that you are approaching the no coffee line, buster.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s your cup of coffee,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Sugar is behind you. We don¡¯t have any


    cream.¡±


    ¡°Black¡¯s fine,¡± said Josie. She paused at the writing on the cup. ¡°The World¡¯s Surliest


    Dragon Master?¡±


    Jack held his cup up so she could read it. His said Oh, What A Loon I Am.


    ¡°What does your cup say, Elaine?,¡± asked Josie. She sipped her coffee. The caffeine


    pushed some of her lethargy away.


    She held it up so Josie could read it. Practically Perfect In Every Way ran across the


    middle with an umbrella to act as an exclamation point at the end of the phrase.


    ¡°I refuse to believe this is my cup,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°There are six more and a guest cup on the shelf,¡± said Elaine. She pulled them down


    for Josie to look at them.


    She frowned at the phrases on each cup, and the guest cup simply said guest in small


    letters across the middle. She put them back in one at a time after she read them.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t say magic knows what it is doing.¡±


    Jack simply grinned and cracked all the eggs into the pan. He stirred the eggs up with


    a spatula. Scrambled was the easiest to make, and the easiest to parcel out. He added


    slices of cheese from a tray in the refrigerator. Then small pieces of meat went in on


    top of that.


    ¡°I have Boim¡¯s com band ready, and I already added buttons on mine and Elaine¡¯s to


    talk to her,¡± said Jack. ¡°The distance involved will mean we will have to call the


    Enterprise and have it relay the call there, she won¡¯t be able to call us from up north.¡±


    ¡°I will give her some emergency paper,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t like the Society asked


    them to set up so far away, especially now, but there¡¯s nothing we can do about it.¡±


    ¡°I get it,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can get there in seconds, but the fight might have been lost


    in that amount of time.¡±


    ¡°Also Rickard is gearing up to fight the Montrose,¡± said Josie. ¡°There¡¯s bound to be


    consequences, Society type consequences.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully that will wait until after our skydiving and fishing trip,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want


    a day we can schmooze without having to chase monsters underground.¡±


    ¡°So we get the kids up, get them ready for lessons, we go over and get Caroline, set


    up to have dinner with June and Boim, drop the Queen off, put Caroline up in the


    Hole in the Wall, make sure the King doesn¡¯t need us,¡± said Josie. ¡°Sound about


    right?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need supplies if we are going to feed June one more time,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I already have a list of food we might need,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can help you with that.¡±


    ¡°I think Lois would like it better if you escorted Caroline to make sure she doesn¡¯t get


    up to funny business if you know what I mean,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I can do both,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And take Lois home?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I can manage my time,¡± said Josie. She found herself out of coffee. She looked


    around. Elaine gestured at a carafe in a slot in the wall. ¡°I didn¡¯t need the Army to


    teach me that, slackerjack.¡±


    ¡°I still need your com band to set it up for Boim,¡± said Jack. He stirred the eggs and


    meat together in the cheese.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Josie. She took off the com band and handed it over.


    ¡°Could you?,¡± said Jack. He stirred the eggs one last time with the spatula.


    Josie poured herself another cup of coffee and took his place as he took the com band


    to the counter.


    ¡°I thought about trying things to overcome the distance,¡± said Jack. ¡°But the best I


    can think of is disguised antennae. I don¡¯t want June to have some kind of access to


    the Enterprise, even through her friend, especially now that she has a magic user.¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like she can override your command,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Magic can do some stuff,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t want her awakening the spirit of the


    ship and letting it run loose. That would be the type of disaster we are supposed to


    prevent.¡±


    Josie considered the situation. She sipped her coffee. She agreed with Jack. Aviras


    was on the edge of being trusted with a machine that could devastate the surface of


    a planet. There was no telling what June would do if she got command.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Letting June have even restricted use of the Enterprise


    without one of us present might lead to a bad future. So we try to keep an eye on her


    when she is onboard.¡±


    ¡°I know Seven is June¡¯s auxiliary,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you think she is trustworthy?¡±


    Josie considered that question. She got a serving bowl and put it on the counter.


    ¡°I think she is more trustworthy than some of her sisters,¡± said Josie. ¡°The three


    others I met seem happy with what they do, and even Four seemed happy with the


    Shemmarians until we came along.¡±


    ¡°Here you go,¡± said Jack. He handed back the com band. ¡°I think we need to take the


    toast out of the oven.¡±


    Elaine handed him a plate from a cabinet. He opened the oven. A cookie sheet held


    twelve pieces of bread. He pulled the tray out and put the bread on the plate. He


    smiled at the brownish yellow crust.


    ¡°All right, let me get the kids up and see if they can get ready,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Probably throw some oatmeal on while we wait,¡± said Jack.


    Josie nodded as she poured a third cup of coffee in her cup and headed for the


    elevator. She sipped the brew as she went down a floor and knocked on the doors.


    Aviras was the first to appear, hovering as his sliding door opened for him.


    ¡°Jack¡¯s cooking,¡± said Josie. ¡°Better grab some while you can.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t work the elevator,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°We should have thought of that,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will help you so can get a headstart.


    The girls will just have to grab what they can after you.¡±


    She walked back to the elevator and opened the door for Aviras. She pushed the


    button to carry him upstairs. She stepped back to let the door close.


    The girls came out of their rooms. They wore t-shirts and shorts that must have been


    in their wardrobes. Josie noted that Alicia had an arrowhead slicing across the front,


    and Laura had Samaritan¡¯s dove. Beatrice had wound up with the Disney castle


    silhouette that used to be on their movies before they started adding the CG castle and


    river. Matilda¡¯s had Einstein¡¯s famous equation on the front.


    She probably didn¡¯t know what it meant, so Josie was ready to provide an answer if


    she asked.


    That was better than trying to answer the adult questions Matilda had asked.


    Angelica had a singing cake on her shirt. It seemed to be trying to reach a high note


    from the way it was bent from the vertical stance.


    ¡°All of my clothes have this embossed on it,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I am not happy.¡±


    ¡°I will change your wardrobe to something plainer if you want,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes, please,¡± said Angelica.


    Melanie passed on the way to the elevator, and Josie shook her head at the spider on


    the back of her shirt. The girl rubbed her eye with the back of her hand as they piled


    in the cab to head for breakfast.


    ¡°Aviras?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Probably eating your share right now,¡± said Josie.


    They rode up and found Jack and Elaine had set places for them at the rectangular


    table in front of the cooking area. Eggs smothered with cheese, toast, and oatmeal


    waited on them. Cups of water had been added to one side of the plates.


    ¡°High Flier?,¡± said Laura. She turned the cup to read the inscription.


    ¡°Mine says Kiss the Cook,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Brains Of The Outfit,¡± said Matilda. She showed the cup to Aviras, who


    made a gesture with a forepaw.


    Beatrice looked at hers and then turned it away from the rest of the girls.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand mine at all,¡± said Melanie. She showed the word to Josie and Jack


    as they took their own places.


    ¡°Hyouka,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s from another country back home. It¡¯s the title of a story.¡±


    ¡°What kind of story?,¡± asked Matilda. ¡°Is it full of heroes and such?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about a young man tricked into making friends and solving problems against his


    better judgement,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s incredibly lazy, but also incredibly smart.¡±


    ¡°Tricked into making friends?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°His older sister asked him to join the literature club to keep it alive supposedly, but


    it was a trick into manipulating him into dealing with people since he was anti-social


    and preferred to mope around at home,¡± said Josie. ¡°His new friend decided that he


    had to help solve mysteries and problems with the club despite what he wanted to


    do.¡±


    ¡°Brilliant but lazy?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Magic,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who knew?¡±


    Melanie flushed and turned the cup so she couldn¡¯t see the word impeaching her in


    front of her sisters.


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Did you get writing on yours?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I got a motto from a cartoon character, Elaine got the description


    of the best nanny ever, and Josie¡¯s says she¡¯s surly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fitting,¡± said Melanie.


    Alicia ate her eggs and toast quietly. She didn¡¯t say anything about the words on her


    cup. She sipped the water between bites.


    ¡°What do you think, Al?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Magic mottos,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Can I have another serving, Milord?¡±


    ¡°Not impressed?,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°They don¡¯t make my water sing, so no,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Tough audience,¡± said Jack. ¡°Give me your plate, and I will get you some more.¡±


    He stood to reach the bowl of eggs and dipped some more out with a ladle. Oatmeal


    was asked. A nod got another serving of that for the girl.


    ¡°No cup for me,¡± complained Aviras. He took a sip from a bowl set for him.


    ¡°I will get you a cup as soon as you have hands,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think that is fair.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± said the dragon.


    ¡°After breakfast, ladies,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to clean up, figure out what we are


    going to do, and do all the running around that we can before we send June home for


    her fight. I am going to have to work on my wardrobe at some point since all I have


    are things with lightning bolts on them.¡±


    ¡°It becomes your temperament,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her irate expression.


    ¡°Tomorrow, Jack wants to take you fishing, so the more we can get done today, the


    less we¡¯ll have to do before you guys go out,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Matilda. ¡°What do these runes mean?¡±


    She held out the front of her shirt.


    ¡°It¡¯s a famous math equation,¡± said Jack. ¡°It changed the way we look at the world


    since we don¡¯t have any magic, or monsters, there. E is energy. M is mass. C is the


    speed of light squared which is the speed of light multiplied by itself. So energy is


    what makes something up times the speed of light times itself. It leads to the


    destruction of matter becoming energy like when you burn wood, you get a fire from


    destroying the wood.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Neither do I,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m just a lowly ex-infantryman. They would never let me


    touch anything having to do with an equation like that.¡±


    ¡°I expect that is for the best,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I think we should finish eating, and collect the queen so we can go,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t make her breakfast,¡± said Jack.


    Josie looked at him. She decided he was right.


    ¡°Make her a plate, get this cleaned up and then we will start portioning jobs,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°If you are finished, girls, get ready. Angelica, I will do something about the


    singing cakes once I figure out what to do about it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Missus,¡± said Angelica. She turned her glare on Jack. ¡°This has your


    hand written all over it.¡±


    ¡°I would never,¡± said Jack. He shrugged. ¡°Sometimes things happen.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Before you get mad, let me show you how the stove and oven work,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That is the only thing keeping me from beating you with a stick,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Come on, then,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be glad to show you how to do things.¡±


    Josie waited for the crowd to disperse before she touched Beatrice¡¯s hand. The girl


    looked up from her half empty plate.


    ¡°Do you want to talk?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°No, missus,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you want to trade cups?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°What does yours say?¡±


    ¡°Surliest Dragon Master,¡± said Josie. ¡°I know yours says Somebody¡¯s Beloved. I will


    trade with you in a second.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I was never anybody¡¯s beloved,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°This is something random that popped up in the building, isn¡¯t it?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Yes, but it has just enough of Jack¡¯s personality to be irritating,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have


    to fix Angelica¡¯s clothes. If you want to talk, I¡¯m will be here.¡±


    ¡°Singing cakes,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Just enough to be irritating, and nothing more,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What do you think of Princess Caroline staying with us?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°I would have liked it better if I didn¡¯t have to chaperone her love connection,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Stupid Case. Anyway, she¡¯s going to be hanging out with you kids. You¡¯re the


    ones that are going to have to treat her like she is healing. The adults, Elaine and I,


    will be too busy helping Jane move the goblin tree people out of the hospital and back


    where they can live their lives again.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I would be a good chaperone,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I think you would be excellent, but a lot is going to depend on if we can send June


    and Mister Warner off without problems and if we get more quests,¡± said Josie. ¡°We


    have to take advantage of this downtime to solve whatever problems we have.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I am somebody¡¯s beloved?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Do you think I am surly?,¡± said Josie.


    Beatrice paused at the nature of the question. She didn¡¯t want to say yes. On the other


    hand, she didn¡¯t know how to disagree.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± said Josie. ¡°I know what I am. Finish up and get ready for the day.¡±

 Morning Rush Hour

    Jack smiled as he showed Angelica how the stove and oven worked. She nodded at


    the temperature dials and the safety precautions he was showing her.


    ¡°Do you think you can cook on this?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°It will be different than what I am used to with the open fire, but it should be


    doable,¡± said the girl. She frowned as she looked everything over again. ¡°How long


    did you say it takes to cool down again?¡±


    ¡°The burners will take a couple of minutes, the oven will take more than that,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°To let that cool down faster, you¡¯ll have to leave the door open.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I got it. I am not happy about the singing cakes.¡±


    ¡°Magic,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Josie said she would punch you in the face,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at his grin.


    ¡°What would you like for an enhancement?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I think I could do


    something cooking related.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I would like to think about it a little more. What are


    you doing for Alicia and Melanie?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think something archery related for Alicia. She might


    have changed her mind into something more widespread weapon mastery. She is


    already almost decent with a sword with her practice, and I think she can hit a target


    with an arrow most of the time depending on the range.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Angelica. ¡°How long do I have to think on things?¡±


    ¡°Until we¡¯re replaced,¡± said Jack. ¡°After that, it will be anybody¡¯s guess if our


    replacements will look after you.¡±


    ¡°I do have one question,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Why are you doing this?¡±


    ¡°Because I can,¡± said Jack. ¡°We won¡¯t be here forever. The future is going to need


    you and your sisters. I think the queen is going to want her breakfast. You ready to


    talk to her?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not dressed to talk to the queen,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Why are you a loon?¡±


    ¡°Poor family relations and four sisters,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let me get dressed,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I need to see if the Missus is ready to fix my


    clothes. No more singing cakes.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will talk to the queen without you.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I will need to practice with this new stove thing.¡±


    ¡°You can cook as much as you want,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead. Tomorrow, we fish. Be


    ready to cook by the water.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Milord,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Be ready to catch some, or we don¡¯t eat.¡±


    ¡°I can catch as much fish as I want,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that,¡± said Angelica. She headed out of the kitchen to go back to her


    room to get regular clothes.


    ¡°Can you catch as much fish as you want?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s feed the queen and get the rest of this show on the


    road. Could you do me a favor?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t dance nude in the kitchen with the children cleaning the dirty dishes,¡± said


    Elaine.


    ¡°That would be a sight to see,¡± said Jack. He paused as he let his imagination run


    away for a second. ¡°I need you to raid as many book stores as you can. Get Matilda


    to help you after her practice. Also let Harp know we¡¯re skipping tomorrow so he


    knows he won¡¯t have to show them any moves.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°You are going to add to the library?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want to make sure I don¡¯t have magic books everywhere. I¡¯ll take


    the queen over to move Caroline here. That part should be a snap. The rest is going


    to require steps to get done.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will supervise the girls and get everything ready while


    Josie fixes Angelica¡¯s clothes.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if Angelica would be a good alchemist, to go with her chefry,¡± said Jack.


    He picked up the tray of food for their guest.


    ¡°I think she would,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t know what she wants to do in that way.¡±


    ¡°Neither do I,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    Jack took the tray of food and the guest cup through the gate. He hoped the tunnel


    didn¡¯t ruin the taste. He walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.


    ¡°Breakfast if you want it,¡± he called through the door. He put the tray down outside


    the door. He headed back to the gate. Maybe he should ask for cook books if they had


    those here.


    He thought he could use the Enterprise to go north, and then bring June and Boim


    back for their dinner. Mister Warner could come up from the village at any time.


    He found the dining area clean, and the kitchen also clean. He smiled as Elaine sipped


    her tea while she waited by the sink. He wondered if she wanted six girls of her own,


    but didn¡¯t say anything. He didn¡¯t want the romance to fail because of considerations


    of the future.


    One day, they would have a talk about that. Elaine would want to know where he


    stood, and he wanted to know about her plan in advance. Their relationship could


    founder on the plans they made.


    He grimaced at the ding in his head. Apparently the quest system wanted to make sure


    he had that talk no matter what. He put it out of his mind. He still had a number of


    things to get done before the day was out.


    ¡°Josie is fixing Angelica¡¯s clothes, and her own,¡± said Elaine. ¡°The girls are getting


    ready for their practice.¡±


    ¡°As soon as the queen gets moving, we can start with Caroline,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll do


    our day trip tomorrow. Then we have to get back on the grind and figure out how we


    can help the city.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you, or Josie, can find the missing funds?,¡± said Elaine. She washed


    out her cup and placed it on the sideboard.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Jack. ¡°Jo has that divining bird summons she used to show the Duke


    the early question of how much was missing.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°So you might be able to find it given enough time?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The problem is where was the money sent,¡± said Jack. ¡°We could maybe cut a trail,


    but we might not be able to follow it to the end. At a certain point, we might only be


    able to tell the Duke, and the King, that we know the money flowed in one direction


    and not both ways.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Elaine. ¡°So that part is an impasse.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think of something,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mom wanted me to be an accountant but I didn¡¯t


    have a good knack for numbers. I had just enough to get out of school and pass the


    Army tests I took.¡±


    ¡°I think the Ducklings are ready for you in their melee test,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Nobody is ready for me,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°I¡¯m a one man army.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Elaine. The look on her face said she didn¡¯t believe that at all.


    The queen arrived with the tray in her hands. She put it on the kitchen counter. She


    had taken the time to make herself presentable without calling for help.


    ¡°Another guest cup didn¡¯t come with the rest of the furnishings,¡± said Jack. ¡°Would


    you like some more tea?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going back to the hospital?,¡± asked the queen.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was kind of waiting on Josie and the kids, but if you want to pick


    up Caroline now, we can. See if you can get us some cook books too, Elaine. Maybe


    that will make up for the cakes to Angelica.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she will be ready to try some things out,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will arrange for a


    cart to bring everything back to the Hole in the Wall.¡±


    ¡°Do you need anything from me, hon?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I want you to be careful,¡± said Elaine. ¡°More conspirators might be out there.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I should escort you and the girls around,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t want anything


    to happen to you.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will have Aviras with me. I think it would be good to


    use him to practice with while we are together.¡±


    Josie and Beatrice appeared in the kitchen. The eldest Duckling had changed into a


    set of leather breeches, boots and a cotton shirt with a blue mark that might have been


    a star on the upper chest area. She had knotted her longish hair back in a sort of pony


    tail.


    Jack thought they could really be sisters.


    ¡°Ready to go?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Coming along, Bea?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Milord,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°The missus thinks I should keep an eye on Caroline


    while she is here. Laura is going to be looking after the youngest.¡±


    ¡°Remember, Bea,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t take any guff. Just because she is the heir


    apparent doesn¡¯t mean she gets her way. There will be plenty of time for her and Case


    to do things when we have some of this sorted out.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine, Missus,¡± said Bea. ¡°She can¡¯t be worse than June.¡±


    ¡°Point for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Jack kissed Elaine on the cheek, giving her a stealth hug before pulling away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will have Laura and Aviras with me, and I have some


    communication with the Enterprise. We¡¯re ready.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who wants to get June for dinner?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Caroline can go to the girls¡¯ practice, and help with the book


    and food hunting Elaine is doing.¡±


    ¡°I forgot to mention we might need some cookbooks if they have any, Elaine,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°I will add it to the list,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He hoped things worked out all right, but he could see so many


    problems in the days ahead. He was going on that fishing trip even if he had to kill


    someone. He got another ding. He silently laughed at himself. He should know better


    than just thinking up quests for himself.


    ¡°Jack, we¡¯re going to need you to put a stargate down for June and Boim. I know the


    Society wants them to work on their own, but I will feel better if they were more of


    a satellite office instead of a separate branch,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I wonder if I can do a com signal through a gate like in the show,¡± said Jack. He let


    the world vanish as he considered the signal, and how to map it.


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Josie. He came out of his reverie.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a thought,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll need to test it to see if it works.¡±


    ¡°So we could potentially talk to them in their city?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°If I put a gate down, it will be like stepping into their living room from their


    kitchen,¡± said Jack. ¡°If the gate was open, we have a potential second way to talk to


    them from the active radius around Hawk Ridge to the active radius around their


    home base instead of calling from the Enterprise and letting them answer. And they


    would have a way to call us since they can¡¯t call the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Which means we can launch a rescue faster because we¡¯ll know they¡¯re having


    trouble faster,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The problem is the gate would have to be open at both ends,¡± said Jack. ¡°And if they


    get overwhelmed on their end, intruders can get into the Hangar.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯ll have to think of a workaround where nothing but sound can get through,¡±


    said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said Jack.


    He thought that maybe he could install two gates, one for June and Boim to travel


    through to Hawk Ridge, and one for only things two inches across like bugs. That


    should be wide enough for a com band signal if the gate would pick something like


    that up at all.


    The worry that someone breaking into their house and using the gate to attack the


    Hangar was uppermost in his mind. He had put a lock going from the hospital and


    Jane¡¯s house. That didn¡¯t mean someone wouldn¡¯t try to use those gates to get past


    their defenses.


    ¡°You know, I, all of sudden, understand why they put lids across the main stargate


    now,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°To keep people out?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°A Get Smart set of doors wouldn¡¯t be excessive if we want to guard from trouble


    from June¡¯s end,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might want to give her a link to the library


    at some point.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She looked over her crew. ¡°Are we ready?¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re not, then we¡¯re in trouble,¡± said Jack.


    Jack gave his beloved one more kiss before he led the way upstairs to the gate. He


    thought about doing too much for the people around them. He decided they had


    committed in the worst way possible. Now they had to follow through and not drop


    the ball.


    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind, Jack?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying not to face what¡¯s become of me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You¡¯re not near as hopeless as you pretend,¡± said Josie.


    He gave her a grin as he stepped through the gate and out in the Hole in the Wall. He


    looked around as he stepped out of the way. Everything seemed in place. The ladies


    stepped into the room behind him.


    ¡°I really need to put in a klaxon for the gate,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Rickard has sent me posts through the night,¡± said Lois. ¡°He has given Rustam¡¯s title


    to his brother, and put Brant¡¯s holdings in a trust. He is sending out auditors to the


    cities and villages in the kingdom. He has also declared the Montrose as an enemy of


    the state. There will be fighting. He is sending out a bounty through the Adventurer¡¯s


    Guild.¡±


    ¡°Does he need us?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Lois. ¡°He has informed the ambassadors of the other nations so their


    heads will also be informed of our actions and why we are doing it. He is sure that


    some of those nations will give shelter to our enemies. We can¡¯t do anything about


    that.¡±


    ¡°Eric Fass said there were two targets he wanted to hit to the East,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe I can do that while everyone else is off fishing.¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°You are not doing that.¡±


    ¡°And why not?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Because we still have to crack the shadow board here,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to turn


    your wisdom of Solomon on that problem. There is still someone in the city that can


    use the Watch to threaten the kids. I want you to find them.¡±


    ¡°You were paying attention,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you lied like a dog.¡±


    ¡°I always lie,¡± said Jack. ¡°Shall we, ladies? I can hear the fish calling me from here.¡±


    He gestured for them to use the gate to get to the hospital. He looked around the


    living area before following them through to the hospital. He smiled as he looked


    around.


    ¡°The Doctor Strange picture was a nice touch,¡± he said as they went to the elevator.


    ¡°Magic,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who knew?¡±


    They took the lift to the top floor. The guards on the door nodded at the group. One


    said Madam Witch in acknowledgment.


    ¡°We¡¯re checking on the Princess to see if she is ready to be moved, then we¡¯re


    moving her,¡± said Josie. ¡°Any problems?¡±


    ¡°No, Madam,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°Everything has been smooth since we got rid of


    those people from the Capitol.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°As soon as we pull Caroline out of here, inform whomever


    is running the adventurers, take a day, then come back. If you want, see how the local


    patrols are doing. I want to keep the neighborhood around the hospital safe too.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the one adventurer. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It keeps Jack from shooting lightning down in the city which makes the Duke


    happy,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is why we got Elaine to supervise him so he doesn¡¯t do


    anything like that in the first place, but like a toddler as soon as he is out of view, he¡¯s


    causing problems.¡±


    ¡°One time,¡± said Jack. He held up his index and middle fingers. ¡°Who hasn¡¯t wanted


    to shoot someone with lightning? You just can¡¯t pass up an opportunity like that


    when it just falls in your lap. You see someone flying through the air with their hair


    on fire, it makes your day a little brighter.¡±


    ¡°I imagine it¡¯s not that great for the person on fire,¡± said the adventurer.


    ¡°I gave him a chance to walk away,¡± said Jack. ¡°But never mistake kindness for


    mercy.¡±

 Sorting Paperwork

    Josie led the way into the hospital room. She looked things over, nodding at Emily


    Budd who stood by the window. Caroline sat in her bed. She looked bored.


    She didn¡¯t look like she had been assaulted and tortured for an unknown amount of


    hours.


    ¡°Madam Witch,¡± said Emily. She nodded back at Josie. ¡°Eric has asked me to go with


    Caroline wherever she goes.¡±


    ¡°You can skydive with us tomorrow,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you fish?¡±


    ¡°I have done so,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°Great,¡± said Jack. ¡°Angelica is going to need help cutting the heads of the fish


    tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to do that?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°That¡¯s women¡¯s work,¡± said Jack. He held up his hands. ¡°I can¡¯t soil my delicate


    fingers like that.¡±


    Josie rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be irritating now,¡± said Josie. ¡°Has the nurse checked on you, Caroline?¡±


    ¡°They said I¡¯m doing better than they expected,¡± said the princess. ¡°I think they were


    surprised.¡±


    ¡°I do good work,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°When you work,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go check on Massa. If Caroline is good to go, we¡¯ll


    send her off with Beatrice to the training.¡±


    ¡°Um hum,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°And her illustrious bodyguard,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I should make sure the dosage is working right.¡±


    He left the room. Everyone else sighed.


    ¡°Caroline, you¡¯ve met Beatrice,¡± said Josie. ¡°She is going to escort you and keep you


    out of trouble while you are staying with us. Since she is going to be responsible for


    you, I expect you to listen to her and not cause trouble. Am I understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Caroline. ¡°Hello, Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Do you have any clothes?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Just the shift the nurses gave me when I arrived here,¡± said Caroline.


    ¡°I guess I can make you a dress and boots to wear until we can set you up a


    wardrobe,¡± said Josie. ¡°Lois, please make sure the men stay outside until I can get this


    done. Then Beatrice is going to take you to the girls¡¯ practice, and then you have to


    help Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to do magic?,¡± asked Caroline. ¡°Emily and Case have told me some


    things.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She glanced at Emily. The bodyguard smiled. ¡°All right, this


    isn¡¯t getting you dressed.¡±


    Josie pulled on Zatanna. She sent out a bird to wrap Caroline in fire. When it faded


    away, she was wearing a pink dress with a medallion marked with a mushroom


    hooked to the front. She swung pink booted feet off the bed.


    Josie switched to Doctor Occult to make sure Caroline wouldn¡¯t die on them if she


    moved around. The scan said she was doing better than her average.


    Josie let the persona go.


    ¡°Pink?,¡± said Caroline. She looked at the skirt of the dress.


    ¡°Magic,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you want fighting clothes, you are going to have to scavenge


    it while you are out with the girls. But the scan says you don¡¯t have any physical


    problems. You may have panic attacks, or unknown fears, but I don¡¯t want to tinker


    with that unless I have to.¡±


    ¡°I have had some night terrors,¡± said Caroline. ¡°I¡¯m hoping to fight them until they


    are gone.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead and take them, Beatrice. Remember we can fix a


    knee if that¡¯s what it takes.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Missus,¡± said Beatrice. She gestured at Caroline and Emily to follow her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t fly high enough for you to get hurt if I drop you.¡±


    Josie shook her head as the three young women left the room. Emily exchanged


    words with the outside guards as they went.


    ¡°All right, Lois,¡± said Josie. ¡°The next thing on the agenda is to send Jack up to talk


    to June. Then we have to talk to Eric and Jane about the pay for the adventurers. Then


    we have to talk to the Duke.¡±


    ¡°Will Caroline be safe?,¡± asked the Queen. She watched as her girl went off with


    strangers.


    ¡°She is safe as she can be without being put in a cage for the rest of her life,¡± said


    Josie. She became Zatanna again, and sent out a bird. She let the persona go. ¡°Emily


    is a proven fighter, and Beatrice needs the practice. Between the two of them, they


    will make sure Caroline is kept out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°If they can¡¯t?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°Then there will be a lot of dead people afterwards,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m more worried


    about Jack deciding to light muggers up just to see how far they can fly from the


    phaser bolt.¡±


    ¡°He might even have a competition to see who he can fling the farthest,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°Please, do not ever say anything like that in front of Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°He would


    love to do something like that.¡±


    Lois smiled at the younger woman.


    The guards had started away from the door with their duty done.


    ¡°You guys know where Jane or Eric are?,¡± Josie called.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen them,¡± said the left guard. ¡°I imagine they will be downstairs if they


    are here.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Josie.


    They followed Jack¡¯s voice to Massa¡¯s room. He seemed to be asking questions about


    how she felt. Josie imagined that being stuck on the toilet for a day and a half had not


    been the brightest part of her life.


    ¡°Everything is fine,¡± said Massa. ¡°I have one more day, but the spines are gone, and


    I am just riding out the rest of the dose. I will be back on my feet in a couple of days.¡±


    ¡°The others?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Some of the nurses have already started on the treatment,¡± said Massa. ¡°Madame


    Harp and Fass are keeping me informed.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°If things start going bad, have Jane call me. I¡¯ll fly down and


    see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°It is fine,¡± said Massa. ¡°Madam Harp has stated that they might be using a quarter


    of your pill elixir to make sure we aren¡¯t causing too many problems as the growths


    are broken down and expelled.¡±


    ¡°I like that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m glad we didn¡¯t have to double up the dose.¡±


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Jack, can you set up June¡¯s gate?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Lois and I are going to talk to Eric


    and Jane, and then the Duke. We have to make sure the adventurers are covered, and


    I think you are right about seeing what we can do about the shadow board before the


    auditors show up.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem to fly up and do what I have to do.¡±


    ¡°Once you have the gate in place, they can visit us any time,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might


    have problems with the Society. What¡¯s our secondary approach?¡±


    ¡°We teach June how to make her own gates,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s the only other thing


    we can do if they forbid us setting up to help her.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°Beatrice and Emily have Caroline. Elaine has the rest of the


    girls. Emily said Eric wants her to stay with Caroline until we sort this out, so I guess


    the second room is going to be used whether we wanted or not.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s precedent,¡± said Lois. ¡°I assumed the Duke would lend members of the local


    Watch to guard Caroline.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better if they¡¯re not involved,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be back to check on you either


    today or the day after tomorrow, Massa. Tomorrow, I¡¯m fishing.¡±


    ¡°I plan to be helping out by then,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to drink water until everything gets back to normal,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± said Massa. ¡°Now is not the time to be a worrywart.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead, Jack,¡± said Josie. She waved him on. ¡°If you can get things set up fast


    enough, you can get with Elaine and help her with the supplies.¡±


    Jack waved before he left. He whistled as he went.


    ¡°I wonder where he picked that up,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the empty space. ¡°If


    you need anything, have Jane call me. I¡¯ll do what I can.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Ear Ripper,¡± said Massa. She smiled. ¡°I won¡¯t besmirch your reputation by


    suggesting anything like compassion or charity.¡±


    ¡°Best not,¡± said Josie. ¡°Take care, Massa.¡±


    Josie nodded at the Queen to follow her. She stepped in the hall. The best thing was


    to call Jane. Then they could use that to find Eric, or Madam Fass.


    ¡°Jane?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Josie?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°I am checking on the finances for the adventurers,¡± said Josie. ¡°Have you seen Eric,


    or Eileen?¡±


    ¡°Eileen is here in the administrative,¡± said Jane. ¡°I just saw her go into her office.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you need anything?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jane. ¡°The cure seems to be working. Once our women are through the


    program, barring any that are pregnant, we will start clearing the yard piece by piece.¡±


    ¡°If you have to expand the facility at the House, let me know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will put


    Jack on it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jane. ¡°I will get with Hilda and a few of the others and see what we


    would need if we have to take in more of your foundlings.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Jane,¡± said Josie. ¡°Elaine is keeping our books. Let her know if you need


    more funds to operate. You probably won¡¯t make anything off the hospital for a


    while.¡±


    ¡°We are treating people the adventurers have found around the hospital,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°We are making pennies, but Madams Fass and Harp seem to think we are gaining


    ground as far as helping people.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie.


    The conversation had taken them to the elevator. They descended down to the ground


    floor. Josie looked around until she saw the sign for the offices. She led the way to


    where scribes worked on bills, settling accounts. Nurses came on and went off duty


    in one ready room where a scribe kept track of their hours. Another room was set up


    for adventurers. And then there was a big office that Jane¡¯s number twos shared and


    discussed things.


    Josie saw a sign that said Jane at the end of the hall.


    Josie knocked on the door frame before she stepped into the room. Madam Fass sat


    behind her desk with a set of ledgers in hand. She had a pen, ticking off what she had


    added up in another book.


    ¡°Hello, Eileen,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Lois. She is guesting with us for a bit. I came by


    to check on what I owed the adventurers for protecting the hospital and the


    neighborhood. Are there any problems I need to look at before I move on?¡±


    ¡°I think everything is going smoother than it should,¡± said Madam Fass. ¡°Strick¡¯s


    Strikers and the Rangers went with the prisoners to the capitol. We will get a bill from


    the local hall to pay what the capitol hall paid them to ride as guards on the prison


    train.¡±


    ¡°I will pay that as soon as it comes in,¡± said Josie. ¡°Any word from the Duke about


    our tax situation?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Madam Fass. ¡°Jane said that we are renting the building. The owner


    will be liable for the tax.¡±


    ¡°Send an adventurer over to Lord Endwright with a note that I will pay the bill when


    it comes in,¡± said Josie. ¡°When I talked to him, he wasn¡¯t sure he owned the building.


    Apparently his wife seized the building first before I cleared it out.¡±


    Eileen Fass lifted her eyebrows.


    ¡°There are probably a lot of buildings in the city that were probably illegally seized,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°I just so happened to seize this one back before I knew it belonged to the


    Endwrights. Now that I am renting it, I am thinking about buying it if Lord Endwright


    has the paperwork.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Madam Fass. ¡°I will make sure to include that in the note.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Eileen,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to talk to the Duke. Jack asked me to crack


    the shadow board before we get busy again. If I can do that, maybe we can clean up


    the Watch.¡±


    ¡°I never thought I would see anything like that in my lifetime,¡± said Eileen. ¡°If you


    can do that, maybe you will make a lot of people happier and safer.¡±


    ¡°I only care about my girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°The rest is ancillary.¡±


    ¡°Sir Harp¡¯s arm?,¡± said Madam Fass.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie as if that explained everything.


    ¡°Eric told me how Jack was trying to matchmake you with him,¡± said Eileen. She


    smiled at Josie¡¯s rueful expression.


    ¡°You should have come to the dinner,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would have picked you up.¡±


    ¡°Eric brought some of it home,¡± said Eileen. ¡°It was delicious.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sending June home to settle her business,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re welcome to


    come by to eat with us.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to Eric,¡± said Eileen. ¡°I know Thad would love some more of that cake.¡±


    ¡°Also assure Eric that I am going to hit those targets he wanted done,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Lois said King Rickard is thinking of putting a bounty on the Montrose. Some of the


    problem will be cleared up by that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let him know,¡± said Eileen. ¡°Eric is dealing with his uncle at the moment. The


    old man is obdurate about adventuring when he should be trying to find a place to call


    his own.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I should send him up north to be June¡¯s minion,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll think about


    it. June knows him. Maybe she can give him something to do that isn¡¯t too


    dangerous.¡±


    Josie looked around the office. She took a deep breath.


    ¡°Send the adventurer bill over to the Hole in the Wall,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will pay their


    wages as soon as I get it. Make sure that you keep protecting the neighborhood,


    and keep the patients safe. I don¡¯t want to replace the Watch, but I don¡¯t want anyone


    stabbing anyone if we can stop it.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Eileen. ¡°We have a representative for the Watch that we can talk


    to in the district. He has been helpful to us so far.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to talk to the Duke. We¡¯re sending June off at


    sundown. I don¡¯t know when she is coming back.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to Eric,¡± said Eileen. ¡°It was a pleasure to meet you, Lois.¡±


    ¡°I am impressed by what you are doing here and the necessary work you have to


    do,¡± said the Queen. ¡°I don¡¯t think the Crown can duplicate the effort on its own.¡±


    ¡°In a few decades, you guys will be able to do the same thing on your own,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°It¡¯s just no one has needed it here until now.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Lois. ¡°Why in a few decades?¡±


    ¡°Jack and I will have retired and the next generation will be taking care of the


    planet,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to see the Duke and figure out what we need for his


    problems.¡±


    Josie nodded to Eileen as she led the way out of the office. She changed long enough


    to whisk them across the city to the small building where the tax ledgers were. The


    Duke had taken a small office in a corner where he could look outside in an alley. His


    desk was covered with books, and a tea set full of cold tea. He nodded when Josie and


    Lois plopped down in his visitor chairs.


    ¡°Ladies,¡± he said. He took another look and stood and bowed. ¡°Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Lois is with me while Jack and the kids figure out who they want to threaten,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Have you thought about what kind of house you want from Jack?¡±


    ¡°Please sit, Your Grace,¡± said Lois. ¡°This is an extension of our business with


    Caroline and nothing more.¡±


    The Duke sat. He looked around.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t have anything to offer for refreshments,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Please


    send notice in the future. These surprise visits are a fright.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t feel sorry. She wondered if that was how Jack felt


    when he was scaring someone. ¡°This is Lois, my aide for the day. The King has sent


    her news, which I think you should know. Then we can get into the reasons for the


    visit, and no, it is not to bother you about taking a house from Jack because I am


    aware that you are scared of us, and what we can do. We still have personal markers


    for the shadow board which means it can still be used, and Jack is going out of town


    to fish and he wants me to figure out how to nullify it, or figure some kind of wedge


    and let him shoot lightning at it either before he leaves, or after he comes back.¡±


    ¡°Lois?,¡± said the Duke. He sat back in his chair.


    ¡°Not many people call me that anymore,¡± said the Queen. ¡°Rickard is sending


    auditors to every duchy in the country to inspect the tax records. He is also declaring


    all of the Montrose criminals. He is going to be sending official word soon to you,


    and to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to secure manpower to arrest anyone marked out


    like Rustam. Any records and ledgers you can seize would be good.¡±


    ¡°Jack didn¡¯t say why the interest in the shadow board, but I think he feels that it


    partially served the Montrose so they can steal from the Duchy,¡± said Josie. ¡°And


    most of the top ranks were at your uncle¡¯s party and he mowed them down. Who¡¯s


    left in the city who could activate it and use the Watch?¡±


    ¡°It would have to be someone inside the local government, wouldn¡¯t it?,¡± said the


    Duke. ¡°These papers are reports on our ledgers from the independent auditors I hired.


    There are hundreds of false tax claims here. They are still looking and compiling the


    reports for me. Most of it confirms what you found with your birds.¡±


    ¡°The King thinks they stole from the whole country to weaken it for war against your


    neighbors,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where did the money go?¡±


    ¡°Their own army,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Their own supplies to get ready to start a


    rebellion.¡±


    ¡°Your Grace,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you mind if I take a crack at this?¡±


    The Duke waved his hand in a go ahead gesture.

 Gate in the North

    Jack frowned as he left the hospital. Things were going all right. He wondered when


    it would go wrong as he walked in the street. He needed to fix June¡¯s gate. Gloom


    and doom was Josie¡¯s province. He shook off the feeling.


    He had work to do.


    A simple gate seemed simple enough to do. He had already set up more than a few.


    He wasn¡¯t worried about the range. Mister Warner¡¯s village was just as far in the


    other direction.


    He still wasn¡¯t sure if he liked June moving to their responsibility and taking on real


    danger. He wished he could have just given her some gold coins to settle her debt


    and let her go back to the real world.


    He paused at a street corner. He needed to go ahead. Once he was done, he could


    come back and get ready for dinner, and then fishing tomorrow.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± Jack said in his com band.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I need to come aboard and then we¡¯re flying up north,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to make


    sure that June and Boim can retreat if they get in trouble.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It worked the transporter and Jack stepped off the


    pad in Transporter Room One. He headed up to the Bridge as he thought about his


    task.


    He knew he would have to go right back down but he wanted to look at the lay of the


    land before he jumped down and went to work.


    He settled in the command chair as the big ship waited for his command. Hawk Ridge


    lay below him. He wondered how long it would take him to walk across it. Did he


    want to do something like that?


    He imagined the girls were a lot happier now that Laura could carry them to practice


    every day. It was like having a sibling old enough to drive you around.


    ¡°Plot us a course up to Solas,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think it will be okay for you to hover over


    June¡¯s house. Her boat will be outside.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The screen went black for a second as the ship broke its orbit and flew north. It put


    June¡¯s new city on the screen as soon as it established a safe orbit above. A marker


    showed the dragon boat floating on a pool of water in a walled holding.


    ¡°What do you think?,¡± said Jack.


    The machine remained silent.


    ¡°Tactical assessment,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Phasers can punch through the roof of the house and attack the lifeforms inside. One,


    two, torpedoes will destroy the vehicle outside,¡± said the machine. ¡°Ground forces


    can then blow a hole through the gate with tactical gear and enter to secure any


    intelligence necessary.¡±


    ¡°So you think it needs a shield to stop you,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let June know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I hope she can handle this job.¡±


    Jack stood and took one more look at the city. He wondered how many other


    bodysnatching no goods were down there and needed to be dealt with the Warner


    way. He didn¡¯t think June would be able to do that herself.


    He went back down to Transporter Room One. He told the machine to put him on


    the ground. He appeared inside the wall. He waved at the Dragon Boat before


    walking to the door. The figurehead blew out steam, and turned to keep him in sight.


    He knocked on the door. He waited on the doorstep. Hopefully, June was home. He


    might have come at a bad time. All this fast travel would probably wreck people¡¯s


    inner clocks if they had to settle then move then settle again.


    He remembered the few cases of jet lag he had picked up traveling for the Army. It


    had taken a few days for his clock to get used to the new time zones he operated in.


    Until he had, he hadn¡¯t been a happy camper.


    June opened the door in a t-shirt and sweat pants. Her hair was a mess. She glared


    at Jack, before looking at the dark sky behind him.


    ¡°What are you doing here?,¡± asked June. She pulled her hair out of her eyes and


    knotted it at the back of her head.


    ¡°Josie asked me to put in a gate so you can come back to Hawk Ridge if something


    goes wrong,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was like nothing will go wrong. Boim can handle it fine.


    But Josie insisted.¡±


    ¡°At zero dark thirty?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°It¡¯s almost nine down south,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ve already had breakfast, visited the


    hospital and got the girls ready to go to their practice. Elaine was going to pick up


    supplies for your dinner on the way back.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said June.


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit I forgot about the time differential,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I had remembered, I


    would have went with Elaine, and then come up here.¡±


    ¡°Come in,¡± said June. ¡°I need some coffee.¡±


    ¡°Any emergencies yet?,¡± asked Jack. He stepped inside after June stepped out of the


    way. She shut the door behind him and led the way to the kitchen.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said June. ¡°Some guys tried to break in, but Red ran them off.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you have anything else to defend the house? Shutters for


    the windows, super locks for the door, minefield?¡±


    ¡°I put bars on the windows, have a lockbar on the door for when we are home, and


    I thought about doing something like Red to walk the yard when we¡¯re not home,


    but I haven¡¯t made up my mind,¡± said June.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think Josie put in some kind of spell at the Hole in the Wall


    to keep people out since Caroline is going to be staying with us.¡±


    ¡°What do you think about that?,¡± asked June. She went to some cabinets in the


    kitchen and got out a tea pot and tea. She started a fire in the fireplace and drew some


    water to put in the boiler. She hung the metal pot over the fire to warm up the water


    while they talked.


    ¡°Caroline could make a worse choice for a potential boyfriend,¡± said Jack. He


    shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know why Josie thinks we should help them, but I¡¯m willing to


    go along to get along. Ready for your fight?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± said June. ¡°I¡¯ve been ready. I wish I could have had it before I came here so


    I could have a clean break of it.¡±


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Are you ready for this work?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I read your log, and Mister Warner¡¯s,¡± said June. ¡°I have two quests under my belt.


    It wasn¡¯t what I expected, but I think I can handle my business.¡±


    ¡°Part of the reason we¡¯re setting up the door is so we can help you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t


    get in too deep before you ask for it.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± assured June. ¡°I know that I¡¯m the new guy. I plan to practice every day


    with my powers, and learn some sword stuff from Boim. I even have a running route


    picked out through the neighborhood.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to tell Mom?,¡± asked Jack. He transformed himself long enough


    to make a hot chocolate in a cup from the cabinet.


    ¡°What are you going to tell Mom?,¡± asked June. She sat at the kitchen table. She


    waited for him to scratch his scar over his eye as he thought.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have too many issues going on at the moment. What do


    you think I should say about this?¡±


    June paused in thought. She couldn¡¯t remember the last time her brother had asked


    her for advice.


    ¡°I think some part of the truth would be okay,¡± said June. ¡°I know you have been


    keeping whatever is going on with you secret, so I¡¯m not going to tell you to spill


    your guts in one go, but something simple should do for right now.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He sipped at his chocolate. ¡°I¡¯ll get some paper and write out


    a letter for you to take home.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about Maria,¡± said June.


    ¡°It is what it is,¡± said Jack. ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t found my Elaine if that is what you¡¯re asking,¡± said June. ¡°I run around,


    get ready to fight, fight, recover, and then get ready for the next fight. Maybe I can


    find someone here eventually. But we both know true love is hard to find.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°There is something in the air here. I need to get started


    on the gate. I¡¯ll let you know if we can install a link to the library from here. Where


    do you want the gate?¡±


    ¡°Library?,¡± asked June. ¡°What library?¡±


    ¡°Josie and I put in a library at the Hangar,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine is getting us books to


    put in it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re joking,¡± said June. ¡°You give me a little space in the wall, and then you put


    in a library as soon as you make me leave.¡±


    ¡°If the Society hadn¡¯t wanted you to work on your own, I would have put in a bigger


    room for you next to the girls,¡± said Jack. He used his nearly empty cup to hide his


    smug expression.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you,¡± said June. The tea pot whistled its own complaint.


    ¡°I offered to build you a house,¡± said Jack. He put the cup down. ¡°Oh, before I forget,


    give me your com band. I need to put a button for Boim on it.¡±


    ¡°Here,¡± said June. She handed over her band. She went about making herself a cup


    of tea as he looked at it and Boim¡¯s. She sat back down and watched as he worked.


    Jack transformed and pulled out two coins. He used one to put a button marked with


    a seven on June¡¯s band. He put June¡¯s juniper on Boim¡¯s band. He examined them,


    then hit the buttons to make sure they worked before he handed June¡¯s back to her.


    ¡°Josie wanted to make sure you could talk to each other, or call us,¡± said Jack. He


    let go of the persona. ¡°I thought about testing to see if you could call us through the


    gate, but do you have your phone?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in my room,¡± said June. ¡°I¡¯ll get it.¡±


    She picked up her cup and took it with her. Jack looked around the kitchen. He


    nodded. He could see Josie¡¯s fingerprint on the work. She had done a good job in


    his opinion.


    June returned with her phone. She handed it over.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He put the phone on the kitchen table. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to hook


    it to my phone so you can call me directly like that from any distance. You¡¯re just


    going to have to keep the phone charged so you can use it.¡±


    ¡°Can you really do that?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°It worked for Mister Warner¡¯s phone,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t see why it wouldn¡¯t work


    for yours. Matter of fact, I can make a mana booster around the house and that will


    help charge the phone for you.¡±


    ¡°A mana booster?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°It¡¯s how I power the Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess I could explode antimatter like


    the real Enterprise, but what happens if it crashes?¡±


    ¡°You got me there,¡± said June.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a question the Society doesn¡¯t want answered,¡± said Jack. ¡°I definitely


    wouldn¡¯t want to be around to see what happened.¡±


    Jack transformed again and picked up June¡¯s phone. He flattened the cup he had been


    drinking out of into a ring of metal. He put the phone in the ring. He picked up his


    phone and looked to see if he had June¡¯s number. He frowned in cascading numbers


    when he didn¡¯t.


    ¡°What¡¯s your number?,¡± he asked. He grimaced at his voice. It had a stutter. He


    wondered why.


    June gave him the number as she watched him work.


    Jack dialed the number on his phone. He waited silently. June¡¯s phone started playing


    the electronic beat of Hit The Road, Jack.


    He put his phone down after ending the call. He picked up June¡¯s phone and dialed


    his number. He hung up when his phone buzzed. He tried Mister Warner in the south


    just to see what would happen.


    ¡°Who is this?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m testing June¡¯s phone,¡± said Jack. ¡°Thanks for answering.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± said Mister Warner. He hung up without waiting for a reply.


    ¡°You see,¡± said Jack. He let Magik go. ¡°Easy peasy.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June. ¡°You have this magic thing down. Can I get my cup back?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need it for the greater good.¡±


    He handed June her phone back. He picked up the ring in his other hand.


    ¡°Show me where you want the gate, and I¡¯ll do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I have to help


    Elaine and the kids with the cooking and unloading the supplies and such.¡±


    ¡°I want it in the office,¡± said June. ¡°If we have to fight our way out of here, that¡¯s


    the most defendable room in the house.¡±


    ¡°And the gate will give you an exit if you can¡¯t win,¡± said Jack. ¡°I like it.¡±


    ¡°Let me show you,¡± said June. She picked up her cup and led the way out of the


    kitchen.


    He followed her down a short hall and to a room he thought was toward the middle


    left of the house. A window marked one wall. He saw bars on the inside of the


    window and nodded to himself. A desk and chair set up was underneath the window.


    A shelf holding their archive of their quests marked one wall. A map hung on the


    blank wall behind the desk.


    ¡°I guess we need to put the gate next to the map,¡± said June. She indicated the wall


    with her cup.


    ¡°I have an easier idea,¡± said Jack. He transformed and expanded the ring to surround


    the map. Then he pushed the ring into the wall. He activated the spell and made sure


    to make the gate only usable by him and his associates.


    He expanded that command to include the other gates with the exception of the


    hospital and Jane¡¯s house. Those gates could be used by the staff, but only he and


    Josie, and the Ducklings could go back and forth to the Hole in the Wall. Everyone


    else was locked out of the Hangar and Hole in the Wall through the gates.


    Then he added an alert sound to tell him someone was using the gates to travel.


    The Village could visit the Hole in the Wall, and not their home at the Hangar.


    He powered down to let his watch recharge.


    ¡°I need to try this and come back,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind getting that paper


    for me, I¡¯ll write out the letter I want you to take home with you.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said June.


    Jack placed his hand on the map. He stepped through to the Hangar. He smiled. It had


    worked perfectly. He stepped back through.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have this keyed to the Hangar. If you need to get Boim to


    the hospital, I guess you are going to have to tell it to do that. Okay?¡±


    ¡°What if I need to go to the hospital?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°Boim isn¡¯t going to be able to carry you,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°Oh, a weight joke,¡± said June. ¡°Ho, ho.¡±


    ¡°And a weak woman joke too,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can do more than one.¡±


    ¡°I have the paper,¡± said June. ¡°What are you going to say?¡±


    ¡°Probably the same as you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a new job, I met somebody, we¡¯re


    living together, and I hope to get married and have children at some point. Don¡¯t


    worry about me. Josie is here to make sure I don¡¯t go off the rails.¡±


    ¡°I suppose we shouldn¡¯t tell them we are working for Mister Rourke from Fantasy


    Island,¡± said June.


    ¡°Josie is almost taller than Tattoo,¡± said Jack. He grinned.


    ¡°You are asking for a beating,¡± said June. She sipped her tea. ¡°I¡¯m glad you found


    something. I¡¯m not going to be a nag about the not calling when you know you should


    have so Mom wouldn¡¯t be worried. I am going to say you could have picked a worse


    job to take after you got out.¡±


    Jack nodded. He gave his sister a hug before sitting down at the desk and writing out


    a letter to explain as much as he could before he let the ink dry and folded it up. He


    took another piece of paper and folded it up around the letter and wrote Kim Lee on


    the outside.


    ¡°This job is dangerous, Juni,¡± said Jack. He stood up. ¡°You¡¯ve seen a glimpse of what


    could happen if you mess up. If you need help, don¡¯t be afraid to call me, or Josie. We


    will do whatever we have to do for you.¡±


    ¡°I know, bro,¡± said June. ¡°I have to get ready for my own problems.¡±


    ¡°If sundown is the cut off point,¡± said Jack. ¡°Be at the Hangar before then so we can


    eat together before you go home. Make sure to get some emergency paper from Josie


    so we can pull you back if you don¡¯t automatically come back on your own.¡±


    ¡°Which sundown?,¡± said June.


    ¡°Ours,¡± said Jack. He made sure to leave Boim¡¯s com band on the desk. ¡°Let Boim


    know she can call us if the gate is open. Let me check that to make sure. Then I will


    put a booster around your house and then I have to take the Enterprise back south


    of here.¡±


    He conducted his experiment, satisfied that he had been right. When the gates were


    open, you could call from Hawk Ridge to June¡¯s house with the bands. That was one


    less worry on his mind.


    ¡°Now let me do the booster, and then I have to go,¡± said Jack. ¡°Say hello to Boim for


    me.¡±

 Unsolved Mysteries

    Josie asked the Duke for a clear room to work. She wanted something big to write on.


    He took her and Lois to an unused office down the hall from his. They lit a lamp and


    pushed the desk and chair next to the wall and she nodded at what she had to work


    with.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°So we know there were three judges involved in the fake tax


    bills.¡±


    ¡°What does that leave us?,¡± asked the Duke.


    ¡°There has to be a fourth man involved at least,¡± said Josie. ¡°The quest system


    imposed on Jack and me works as a constant reminder that we didn¡¯t get something


    done. Until we figure out who this other man is, we will have a reminder that the


    board is still there and capable of being used to attack the citizens with false claims.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°So the first thing we have to do is sort out the claims the three judges filed that led


    to the missing treasury money,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°For the sake of argument,¡± said Lois. ¡°How do you know the gold is missing?¡±


    ¡°Jack and I got involved when two separate groups of tax collectors came down to


    the Hole in the Wall to arrest everyone living there for nonpayment of taxes,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°The first group I set on fire, the second I cursed to be better Watchmen. Some


    of the survivors of the first group I handed over to the elves to shape into better


    people.¡±


    ¡°Which group caused you to visit me?,¡± asked the Duke.


    ¡°The second group,¡± said Josie. ¡°The first group caused Jack to visit your uncle and


    his friends.¡±


    The Duke nodded. The information was what he had expected in the chain of events.


    ¡°So Jack and I visited the Duke after the second group came down to the Hole in the


    Wall and broke in and ripped up our place,¡± said Josie. The Duke blanched at this,


    realizing how close he had been to joining his uncle. ¡°He allowed me to go over the


    books and there were huge discrepancies into the amounts coming in and going out.


    That is how we found the first judge, Lewn. The other two were pointed out by Eric,


    Eileen¡¯s husband, and an associate of ours named Guin.¡±


    ¡°Captain Griff arrested the other two, and we found records of payments for services


    rendered after a search,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°But the quest board reminder is still there,¡± said Josie. ¡°So someone is still there and


    capable of activating the Watch to go after a target.¡±


    ¡°What happened to Lewn?,¡± asked Lois. She expected a horrific end the way the


    Duke rubbed his face.


    She had already seen what Josie was capable of in the way she had cleared out the


    capitol of her enemies.


    ¡°Jack turned him into a baby,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Excuse me?,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°Jack made a deal with him to stop the warrant against the Hole in the Wall and to get


    back some stolen property for someone he met,¡± said Josie. ¡°The judge wanted to be


    younger and to start over, so Jack made him younger and let him start over. We left


    him in the care of his butler.¡±


    ¡°But the quest board didn¡¯t go away, and the King knows that the duchy has lost a lot


    of money,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°Every duchy has lost a lot of money,¡± said Lois. ¡°The Montrose suborned the


    Exchequer to keep Rickard unaware of what was going on.¡±


    ¡°Which brings us back to you, Your Grace,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we can permanently shut


    down the board, the city and duchy will be better, and it will be something to show


    to the auditors that are coming to check the books. The one lady that we knew was


    taking advantage and wasn¡¯t at the party is gone. So is her lover. So are most of the


    Montrose that were with your uncle at his party. If we can straighten this out, it will


    put you back on good footing to look after your responsibility without a lot of the


    people who were using it to make things worse for everyone else.¡±


    ¡°So how do we get started?,¡± asked the Duke.


    ¡°We start with Lewn,¡± said Josie. She turned into Zatanna. She waved her hand.


    Writing appeared on one of the walls. She switched back as she read the entries. ¡°I


    only went back a year. I¡¯m sure if all of the tax ledgers are looked at, there are


    problems the whole of your uncle¡¯s tenure, Your Grace.¡±


    He nodded.


    This had been an ongoing problem that had never been addressed because the person


    who should have been addressing profited off of it.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s throw the other two judges on the board and see what


    pops out.¡±


    The other judges¡¯ names appeared. More casefile numbers appeared under them. They


    had almost enough to equal Lewn between the two of them, but he was the most


    active land stealer in the group.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put what¡¯s left over here,¡± said Josie. She pulled the numbers from the files


    without an identity on top of the bills. She saw two more active members of the ring,


    but they were not nearly as bad as the other three.


    She also had no idea who they were, or how to find them.


    She supposed she could throw out a bird and see if that would lead her to the targets.


    The Duke flipped through the papers until he found something to match with what


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.Josie had thrown on the wall. He frowned.


    ¡°That bill wasn¡¯t signed,¡± he said. ¡°I have it listed as an estate tax.¡±


    Josie let the persona go so her watch recharged. She looked at the two lists of unsigned


    bills.


    ¡°Do you mind if I check with the auditors?,¡± said the Duke. He handed the pages to


    the Queen. ¡°There is something wrong with those two lists.¡±


    ¡°Please do, Your Grace,¡± said the Queen. ¡°We¡¯ll wait for you to return.¡±


    He stood and bowed to her before he walked out of the room. He closed the door


    behind him, before walking away down the hall.


    ¡°Estate tax?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°In Grecious, we have a law that when you die, your relatives have to pay a tax on


    anything they inherited,¡± said the Queen. ¡°It¡¯s usually something like two percent of


    whatever the estate is calculated to be worth. You can defer the payment if you don¡¯t


    have the funds for two years. That gives you a chance to sell everything and then pay


    what you owe.¡±


    ¡°So if the estate is only worth one gold piece?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°You would only have to pay some tin to clear the tax,¡± said the Queen.


    Josie looked at the lists. What had the Duke seen? It had to be something she had


    missed because of her lack of information about the city and the country.


    He returned with a couple of sheets of handwritten notes. He compared the notes with


    the entries on the wall. He frowned at them.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The king is going to have me beheaded,¡± said the Duke. He sat down. ¡°I can¡¯t


    believe this.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem, Your Grace?,¡± asked the Queen. He handed her the papers to


    look at. She did, but didn¡¯t understand the information.


    Josie walked over and slapped his face hard. He looked up at her. Anger flowed


    across his face. He paused when he saw real danger looking back at him.


    ¡°We can¡¯t help you if you don¡¯t talk to us,¡± said Josie. ¡°What is wrong?¡±


    ¡°Both of these lists are estate taxes payments,¡± said the Duke. ¡°The one on the left is


    also the sites of some gruesome murders here in the city, almost monster attacks. The


    ones on the right are abandoned properties. No one knows what happened to the


    owners.¡±


    ¡°How do you know this?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The auditors I hired have been going over the properties that were seized as they go


    over the paperwork,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Several of them reported that the owners of the


    properties of record had been killed according to the neighbors. I asked Griff to verify


    the information and there are Watch reports, but no one has been caught. We don¡¯t


    know if it¡¯s a monster, or not.¡±


    ¡°And the other list is confirmed abandonment?,¡± asked Josie. She eyed both lists.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the Duke. ¡°There are no orders for these because if the tax isn¡¯t paid, they


    automatically are collected by the Duchy to be resold.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°The board is still active, and we think someone used the commission process to


    commit murder on these two lists,¡± said Josie. ¡°Is that what you are thinking, Your


    Grace?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± said the Duke. ¡°How do we stop it?¡±


    ¡°Ordinarily I would turn Jack loose on this and see what he stirred up,¡± said Josie.


    She ignored the blanch that got her. ¡°I think we are going to look into this ourselves.


    Let me send a note, and see if we can get help.¡±


    ¡°Ourselves?,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°Someone in your Watch is killing people for money,¡± said Josie. ¡°If we pick the


    wrong man, he might kill us as soon as he knows we¡¯re on the trail. I promised the


    King that I wouldn¡¯t let anything happen to Caroline, or Lois. So I am going to ask


    for an extra set of eyes, and we¡¯re going to see what we can find out. Hopefully, it¡¯s


    not Captain Griff.¡±


    ¡°It would be a relief if it wasn¡¯t,¡± said the Duke.


    Josie fished some paper out of her messenger bag and a pen. She wrote a quick note,


    waited for the ink to dry, then folded the paper. She wrote a name on the outside


    before turning into Zatanna long enough to send it on its way.


    ¡°We could have asked for adventurers,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°The person I asked for knows how the board works,¡± said Josie. ¡°He might not know


    anything about these killings, but he might be able to point us in the right direction


    before I throw a bird out over the city to hunt the man down. We want to be able to


    prove things without magic. Magic can alter evidence to give us what we want which


    wouldn¡¯t be good for the interests of justice.¡±


    ¡°So we need the bloody knife in hand,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°We need to gather enough evidence to point to one man out of however many people


    are living here in the city, and the Duchy beyond,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think that is


    something we can do.¡±


    A soft glow built into a ribbon of light and two armored figures stepped into the


    office from beyond the natural veil of things.


    ¡°I brought the man you asked for, Ear Ripper,¡± said Sir Robert. He smiled at the


    expression that netted him.


    ¡°Bob, this is the Duke Hent, and my temporary assistant, Lois,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is


    Sir Robert of the Dire Woods, principal knight for Duchess Lorelei. How¡¯s Lori


    doing, Bob?¡±


    ¡°She is much interested in this mystery,¡± said the elf knight. ¡°She is also going to


    want to trade favors. We took your malcontents, and Jack took our dragon. For the


    use of Master Gall, we reserve the right for a future favor that is not a quest by your


    Society.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I won¡¯t go against my own interests.¡±


    ¡°I doubt anything that Lori will ask will touch the human world,¡± said Bob.


    Josie gave him the look.


    ¡°She might want to go fishing,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going, so I am not sure you should be asking me at all,¡± said Josie. She


    crossed her arms. ¡°Don¡¯t you have fishing spots in the Dire Woods?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Gall. ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s dire.¡±


    Bob nodded in agreement.


    ¡°You can ask Jack yourself,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He is a madman,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°And he had an angry dragon with him,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°The dragon took up with the youngest,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s become friendly.¡±


    ¡°He set one of Lord Brant¡¯s men on fire,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°You should see him when he is angry,¡± said Josie. ¡°But that isn¡¯t moving this along.


    I have about eight hours before the sun goes down, and I want to have a handle on


    this before June goes home. Mister Gall, I want you to tell us about the shadow board


    again, and how it related to your duties.¡±


    ¡°I was a patrol watchman in the South District Two,¡± said Gall. ¡°We have a barracks


    just down from the Southern Gate. I have a separate home north of that. My


    commanding officer would pick up warrants and gather a squad to serve them on


    people. The usual thing was to arrest them and bring them back to the barracks to be


    handed over to a calvary unit which would hand them to the old Duke.¡±


    ¡°You were collecting fraudulent taxes when I met you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did you have to


    kill people in the service of these warrants?¡±


    ¡°Some of the people Aile arrested were beaten severely,¡± said Gall. ¡°But if he killed


    anyone, if was after they went to the barracks, after the rest of us were sent home.¡±


    ¡°I want you to look at this list of cases on the wall,¡± said Josie. She pointed to the


    monster attack list. ¡°What can you tell me about them?¡±


    ¡°They are all in the south, in the districts across from where we tried to raid your


    place in the wall,¡± said Gall. ¡°Do you have a map?¡±


    ¡°I can make one,¡± said Josie. She pulled out a piece of paper from her bag. She


    transformed and a picture of the city appeared on its surface. Marks indicated the


    places she had been since she had arrived in town. She pulled the paper to the size of


    a Universal map from back home.


    ¡°Can I have something to write with?,¡± asked Gall.


    Josie handed him her pen.


    Gall folded the map so the north side was cut off. He marked in the properties for the


    dead people houses one by one. He handed the map back, the ring of houses circled


    a couple of blocks in the center.


    ¡°Can you mark out the other list, please?,¡± asked Josie.

 Somebodys Beloved

    Jack placed a mana booster around the whole property, so the house and Red¡¯s pool


    would both be included. He didn¡¯t know if the dragon boat liked it, but as long as it


    wasn¡¯t hurt by the mana being pulled into the yard and house, it should be fine. He


    boarded the Enterprise after saying his goodbyes and headed home.


    He wondered where Elaine was at the moment. He could catch up with her and enjoy


    the rest of the day with mundane things until June and Boim arrived. Then they would


    have the send off, and he and Elaine could enjoy some private time.


    The next day he could enjoy pushing the kids out of the Enterprise and teaching them


    to swim and fish.


    He might be able to get Elaine into one of the bikinis so he could admire her from


    close by.


    He wondered if Lake Myra had monsters swimming around in it. He would have to


    keep an eye out and be ready to defend the girls from danger.


    If anything happened, Josie would rips his ears off.


    ¡°On station,¡± reported the machine.


    ¡°Can you find Elaine, or Aviras?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I told her that I would help with the


    supply runs.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It put a picture of Aviras with Matilda on the big


    screen. They were moving fast across the city.


    ¡°Can you put me down ahead of them?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Transit will render any transport moot by the time you


    materialize.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m better off waiting until they land,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m going down to the transporter room,¡± said Jack. ¡°Send me down as soon as they


    stop. I¡¯ll take it from there.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack went down to the transporter room. He thought about the next things on his


    agenda. All he wanted was two more days of peace and quiet. Then he could go back


    to war.


    He stood on the pad and waited. When the group stopped flying, the machine would


    activate. He didn¡¯t have to do anything else unless an alert went out because the


    Enterprise had been attacked. He couldn¡¯t see that happening unless a dragon showed


    up and tried to take his baby on.


    He doubted any reptile could take all of the torpedoes down in the launch bays at one


    go. And if it did, he would be glad to interfere in any fight with his watch.


    The transporter activated and he was on the yard of the Adventurers¡¯ Hall. He looked


    around, but didn¡¯t see the girls. He decided to wander around inside. He wondered


    how many were working for the hospital now.


    He wondered how much of their cash they were going through to pay the adventurers


    as guards and helpers.


    Josie could make more if she had to do that. It wasn¡¯t his problem unless she got put


    out of commission and the Fasses needed that money for the hospital right away. He


    thought he could change things to gold like Josie. He just hadn¡¯t yet.


    He did have the Molecule Man on his watch. Of course with his luck, the persona


    might only be able to shrink things instead of changing their composition.


    He walked down to the training hall. The girls and Caroline were practicing their


    moves. Elaine, Emily, Budd, and Case stood to one side. She had Aviras on her


    shoulder, letting him watch the training. Sir Harp walked among the Ducklings,


    pointing out problems with his stick. He stood behind Elaine and watched over her


    shoulder, hands behind his back.


    ¡°How much longer do they have?,¡± Jack asked quietly.


    Elaine jumped, and Aviras spun around on her shoulder. A small flame escaped his


    snout.


    ¡°Don¡¯t set my girl¡¯s hair on fire,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the adventurers, noting


    how they had went for their swords in their surprise. ¡°What are you doing here,


    Case?¡±


    ¡°I was collecting my pay, and ran into Thad and Emily,¡± said Case. He gestured at the


    siblings.


    ¡°Were you collecting your pay too, Thad?,¡± asked Jack. He had noted that Thad had


    been only watching one of the girls. Maybe Beatrice¡¯s cup had been more right than


    they had known. How did he test that? ¡°You can just ask Bea out. It¡¯s not like Josie


    will skin you alive and hang your screaming skeleton on her office wall to remind her


    every day how she likes to do things.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that statement at all,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°Interested, are you?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Thad. ¡°I don¡¯t think she will be interested in me, and the manager was


    courting her. You met him at the party.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t come up to snuff,¡± said Jack. ¡°You want to take one of Josie¡¯s girls out on


    the town, you better come with your heart in one hand, and your tongue in the other.¡±


    ¡°Are you being scary just to be scary, or are you being serious?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Here, let me show you how it¡¯s done.¡±


    He got down on one knee in front of Elaine. He took her hand. He kissed it lightly.


    She smiled at him.


    ¡°Elaine, star of the night, rainbow of the day,¡± said Jack. He wore his serious face.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.¡°Would you grace me with your presence at dinner tonight? It would enhance


    everything from the soft candle light, to the well done steak and potatoes, to the soft


    music playing in the background. Please say yes because I love you with all my being,


    and always will.¡±


    ¡°How can I say no to such a request?,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I would gladly share everything


    with you.¡±


    Jack bounced to his feet. He made a gesture to say that¡¯s how it is done.


    ¡°And Beatrice is Caroline¡¯s monitor, so you can arrange a double date as long as Case


    can keep his hands to himself,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I will have to go along,¡± said Emily. ¡°It¡¯s already bad enough that I have to keep an


    eye on this woodchuck, why are you dragging my brother into this potentially


    dangerous thing?¡±


    ¡°Woman,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Do you not know who you are talking to? He only has one


    reason for this, and one only. He wants to poke Josie to see what she will do.¡±


    ¡°And if I get killed?,¡± asked Thad.


    ¡°You¡¯re not my friend,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the younger man. ¡°I will be glad to


    drink a beer in your name.¡±


    ¡°Be brave, Thad,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Don¡¯t let Jack take the decision out of your hands,


    and ruin the moment for you. Just ask her. It will make things awkward if she says no,


    but at least you tried and can move on to ask some other girl.¡±


    ¡°Be true, buddy,¡± said Jack. He clapped Thad on the shoulder. ¡°Or you will wind up


    like Todd.¡±


    ¡°He got what he deserved,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I¡¯m glad I set him on fire.¡±


    ¡°So am I,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Rematch,¡± called Alicia. She pointed her wooden sword at Jack. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to fight anyone.¡±


    ¡°We have adventurers to help us,¡± said Caroline. She smiled at Case.


    ¡°Your girl is trying to get us killed,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°Sure, we¡¯ll help out,¡± said Case. He smiled back.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°Go ahead and get some pads, and helmets,¡± said Jack. ¡°Caroline, come over here and


    cheer your turtle dove on from the sidelines. Beatrice and Emily don¡¯t need the hassle


    if you get clocked and they have to explain to Josie what happened.¡±


    ¡°We definitely don¡¯t need that,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°You want in on this, Em?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think I will watch from the side,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He went to the storage bin and found a padded chestplate and


    helmet to put on. The Ducklings and the older minions pulled their¡¯s on as he sized


    them up. He shook his head as he got ready mentally. He wouldn¡¯t be able to play


    around with the adventurers on the board. He would have to go for the throat.


    ¡°Offense, line up on this end of the mat,¡± said Harp. He pointed at where he wanted


    them to go. ¡°Defense, take the other side.¡±


    ¡°No powers?,¡± asked Jack. He whisked the practice sword around in the air in front


    of him.


    ¡°No powers,¡± agreed Harp. ¡°The rules are the same as last time. Offense has three


    minutes to push Defense off the mat. Defense has to defend himself from the group.


    Matilda, I would stay at the back if I were you. Is everyone ready?¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you guys want to do this?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°There¡¯s no shame from


    retreating from a superior force.¡±


    ¡°We will win the ice cream this time,¡± declared Alicia.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s a yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°When you go down, don¡¯t get back up. I want to


    knock this out so we can do the rest of the stuff on our list.¡±


    Elaine motioned Caroline and Emily further back from the mats.


    ¡°Ready?,¡± asked Harp. He held up one hand as he looked at the single fighter against


    the mixed group in front of him. He waited for everyone to say ready. He dropped his


    hand to signal they should fight.


    Jack wasted no time waiting for the group to converge on him. Instead he went right


    at Case, sword held in front of him, point pointing at the ceiling. The adventurer


    raised his sword in a ready blocking position. Jack shifted, and juked to the outside.


    The following exchange of blows dumped Case on Thad, with Jack snatching up his


    sword so he had two instead of one.


    The next few minutes were a nightmare for the Ducklings and Thad. Jack had two


    swords and used one to break defenses while striking with the other. At one point, it


    was just him and Alicia, with Matilda using the older girl for cover. The girl grabbed


    another sword for her own. They began swinging their swords so fast that the blades


    were flickering in the air. The clacking of the exchange sounded like a drunk using


    drumsticks on a wooden block.


    Jack finally was able to slice a backhand blow through her defenses. He winced as


    she fell on her back. He stabbed her with the blunt end two, or three, times to show


    he could do it.


    ¡°I yield,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to take a minute to catch my breath,¡± said Jack. He pulled off his


    protective helmet. ¡°Thad and Case want to take out Beatrice and Caroline. I am going


    to let them talk to Josie about that and practice my dad talk in case she says yes. Thad,


    you can go skydiving and fishing with us tomorrow. Gather up your stuff and put it


    back in the box. Sir Harp, I am taking the girls out tomorrow so they won¡¯t be here


    for practice. I don¡¯t know if anyone told you.¡±


    ¡°Thad wants to take me out?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Mush,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be jealous, Number Two,¡± said Jack. ¡°By the time you get a boyfriend, I will


    have my dad talk perfected. Now go ahead and clean up.¡±


    Aviras landed on Thad¡¯s puffy hair. He leaned over to look the adventurer in the eye.


    ¡°Now do you understand the monster within?,¡± the dragon asked. ¡°I suggest you gird


    up your loins and tell Beatrice something kind and lovely.¡±


    He flew off to land on Matilda¡¯s head, and gave directions.


    Jack gave Elaine a stealth hug before leaving the room. He walked out in the hall and


    took deep breaths to steady himself.


    Beatrice came out of the training hall as Jack was complaining to himself about how


    he was too old for this. She grabbed his arm to get his attention. He turned to look at


    her, eyebrow raised.


    ¡°Can we talk, Milord?,¡± she said. She gestured at some nearby benches for people


    waiting to use the hall. ¡°I want to know if you¡¯re serious.¡±


    ¡°Almost never,¡± said Jack. He sat down on a bench. He made room so she could sit


    down next to him.


    ¡°Were you serious about Thad Budd wanting to court me?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Did you ask him?,¡± asked Jack. He gestured at the training hall. ¡°He was right


    there.¡±


    ¡°You sprung this to see what would happen,¡± accused Beatrice.


    ¡°He¡¯s afraid to talk to you,¡± said Jack. ¡°He would rather admire you from afar rather


    than take a chance on being turned down.¡±


    ¡°You think he¡¯s afraid of the Missus?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost afraid of the Missus,¡± said Jack. ¡°Anybody who has seen Josie in action


    is afraid of her. And Thad has seen her in action before she came up with the


    exploding head trick that makes her even more dangerous now than what she was.


    What do you want to do about this crush?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I don¡¯t think I am good with suitors.¡±


    ¡°Just because Todd had ulterior motives doesn¡¯t mean Thad does, except for getting


    in your skirts,¡± said Jack. ¡°The real question is will you let him try.¡±


    ¡°I am not a maiden,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Not my problem,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Do men prefer women who are maidens?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°The easy answer is men prefer women who give them attention,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some


    men prefer women they have to attend. Why don¡¯t you ask Thad what he wants?¡±


    ¡°What if he says no?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Do you want me to do it for you?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°It¡¯s not something I am an expert


    in, but I am willing to say something to him.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think of something,¡± said Jack. ¡°I love the dad talk more than I should. I think


    about it as practice for when Elaine and I have little girls.¡±


    ¡°I think you like it too much,¡± said Beatrice. She shook her head. ¡°Let me do this.


    You¡¯ll just mess it up.¡±


    Jack made a go ahead gesture. Beatrice stood, and then he did too. He smiled as he


    followed her back into the training hall. The other girls except for Alicia were


    haranguing Thad. So was Case and Caroline. He stood in the door and watched


    Beatrice draw Thad away from the crowd. They talked quietly in the corner of the


    room.


    Jack smiled as he watched. He hoped this thing went right for Bea.

 Auction Houses

    Josie looked at the map of crossed off houses. She frowned at what it told her.


    Someone had murdered people in a circle and the Watch had not figured out how. The


    other was a diffuse cloud of abandoned properties. She thought about it. There had


    to be a way to track both of these things down if they were artificial.


    ¡°There has to be a way to track both of these down if they are connected to the


    Watch,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°These murders have no warrants associated with them,¡± said the Duke. ¡°That¡¯s why


    they are listed as estate tax seizures.¡±


    ¡°What if a notice is sent out instead of a warrant?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then the killer just


    has to pick up his address, clear the property, and then wait for the seizure.¡±


    ¡°All of these properties were auctioned off for their taxes,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I suppose


    we can look for a common link with the buyers, or sellers.¡±


    ¡°You said there were Watch reports?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you give them to Bob and


    Gall? Maybe they can find something we don¡¯t see from this. The two of us will talk


    to the auction people.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to see who bought the houses?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think we have two different things going on here. Solving one


    won¡¯t solve the other.¡±


    ¡°If we solve them both?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°Then we will have two different people in our grasp,¡± said Josie. ¡°The ring in the


    south is obviously one man murdering anyone in his way. The clouds are people


    disappearing. The effect is different, even though both groups of properties are being


    confiscated. So that¡¯s how we will attack this. Bob and Gall will go over the reports


    and put together a list of similarities. Maybe they will stumble over some kind of sign


    that the Watch missed. We will go to the auction houses and see how many of these


    houses were sold, and who bought them. Then we will have to ask them some


    questions if we can.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think the fake monster attacks are because of the commission board at all,


    do you?,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°Mister Gall,¡± said Josie. ¡°If anyone was killed in your raids, you said they would


    have to have been killed at the Barracks. I suppose your men didn¡¯t have a habit of


    ripping people apart. That means someone outside the Watch are doing these crimes.


    Or if a Watchman is doing these crimes, it¡¯s not for the money.¡±


    She gestured at the other list.


    ¡°These others could have been done by a Watchman, or Watchman adjacent


    criminals,¡± said Josie. ¡°Since we don¡¯t know what happened to the people yet.


    Someone might have asked for the missing people to be driven out of their places, or


    killed and buried somewhere their bodies will never be found. The problem is we


    don¡¯t know how the board was used.¡±


    ¡°A notice could have been posted,¡± said Gall. ¡°I don¡¯t know who would take it if


    there wasn¡¯t some kind of official paper with it.¡±


    ¡°How does that work?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°This is just a guess,¡± said Gall. ¡°But if a notice went up about a house, someone


    might have taken the job to clear it. I don¡¯t know who would post it. Most of what I


    saw was official paperwork that Aile used with signature. Something like that would


    have to be anonymous.¡±


    ¡°Who posts the notices?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I assumed the clerks from the Court,¡± said Gall.


    Josie thought for a second. She looked at the lists.


    ¡°Your Grace, can you get us a list of all the clerks for the Court, especially any that


    worked for our three malcontents?,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you could also supply Bob and


    Gall with the reports they need to get started, that would be good. Lois and I will talk


    to the auction people.¡±


    ¡°We only use two,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Bins, and the Furn Brothers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where we¡¯ll get started,¡± said Josie. ¡°Our fourth man might have directed


    sales through another house to avoid being suspected.¡±


    ¡°Just like he used the commission board to hide his identity?,¡± asked Gall.


    ¡°Back home, you can find people just by looking up their tax number,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Here, you can be anyone you want because there is no way for anyone to prove you


    aren¡¯t that person.¡±


    ¡°And he could say the order came from any judge that signed a paper, if it is a clerk,


    or even a high enough member of the Watch,¡± said the Duke.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the lists and see if Lois and I can find a common seller inside the system,


    or at least try to find a clue,¡± said Josie. ¡°There is also a possibility that our werewolf


    is also working for this hypothetical suspect, only he didn¡¯t get the memo to be neat


    and tidy.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Josie,¡± said Bob. ¡°This is just a smarter type of monster, and we have


    been hunting them forever.¡±


    ¡°Let me send a runner for the things we need,¡± said the Duke. ¡°Then we can get


    started on our end of things.¡±


    Josie transformed and sent out birds to carry her and Lois to the first auction house.


    She snapped through to a place not far from the Endwright estate. She looked at the


    columns supporting a portico in front of the building. She thought the architecture


    was out of place with the rest of the city planning.


    ¡°You burned up tax collectors?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°For some reason, they thought I was going to let them take my girls,¡± said Josie. She


    tried the door and found it locked. She hammered a dark wooden panel with a fist.


    She didn¡¯t know if the sound was penetrating into the building. ¡°The same with


    Jane¡¯s Amazons. They were wrong.¡±


    Josie waited for a few seconds, then she hammered the door again.


    ¡°I take it the order was signed by Judge Lewn, the judge who got turned into a baby,¡±


    said Lois.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°But we didn¡¯t talk to him until the second group broke in. That


    was when we found out the commission was still out.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t know what had happened to the first group?,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°News doesn¡¯t travel as fast here as it does back home,¡± said Josie. She glared at the


    door. She was about to turn into the Martian Manhunter and go about her business


    when a slot for an eyehole opened up.


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± asked the doorman.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°Official business from the Duke,¡± said Josie. ¡°Open up, or I will knock this door


    down.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see your warrant,¡± said the gatekeeper.


    ¡°Sir,¡± said Lois. ¡°We are investigating some suspicious deaths. We would like to


    come in and talk to the head of house for a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said the gatekeeper. He shut the eyehole cover in their face.


    ¡°Knock it down,¡± said Lois.


    Josie changed into the Martian Manhunter. She brought some of her more massive


    fists down on the wood. The door broke into halves and fell in at her feet. She


    switched back as the gatekeeper tried to back up out of the way.


    ¡°If you move, you will wind up like the door,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who¡¯s in charge?¡±


    ¡°Everyone is out searching for the properties for the next auction,¡± said the


    Gatekeeper. He gestured with wide hands at the damage. ¡°How do I explain this?¡±


    ¡°Tell them that the Ear Ripper arrived with the authority of the Duke and the Crown,


    and you didn¡¯t open the door,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are lucky to be alive. Where do you


    keep your records?¡±


    ¡°Upstairs, in the office,¡± said the Gatekeeper. He pointed at the ceiling.


    ¡°I expect that you are frightened,¡± said Lois. ¡°Sit down in your spot, and wait for us


    to come back and talk to you. We might have questions.¡±


    Josie led the way upstairs, pushing past the Gatekeeper. She searched until she found


    an office. She opened the door with the Locksmith and stepped inside. She frowned


    at the rugs and whatnots on display.


    ¡°Let¡¯s pull out the files we need,¡± said Josie. She transformed and sent a bird to look


    for any of the properties on her list. Nothing happened.


    ¡°So they didn¡¯t handle anything for the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s try the other one, and


    then we will have to hit the smaller ones until we find someone who sold the


    properties.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to fix the door?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to leave it as a warning for the next time I have to visit


    this place.¡±


    They went back downstairs. Josie looked at the man sitting in his chair next to the


    door. He was slumped, looking at the damage.


    ¡°Next time, open the door,¡± said Josie. She transformed and used a bird to fix the


    door. She led the way out of the building.


    ¡°You are soft,¡± said Lois. ¡°Ear Ripper.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t start,¡± said Josie. She glanced at the older woman smiling at her. ¡°Let¡¯s try the


    Furn Brothers.¡±


    She whisked them across the city. A knock on the door got them immediate access


    to the inside of a square block of a building. There was minimal decoration, just


    enough to make buyers comfortable in staying, but not much more than that.


    They were escorted to an office on the top floor. It resembled a cubicle farm. Josie


    wondered at that as they were escorted to an enclosure in the back of the room. A man


    with a clipped ear, droopy eye, and curled mouth looked at them.


    ¡°How can I help you?,¡± asked the man. He gestured for them to sit in visitor chairs


    on their side of his desk.


    ¡°The Duke has asked us to look into a series of disappearances here in the city,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We need to know if you sold these houses for the city.¡±


    She gave him the list of properties.


    ¡°Estate tax sales?,¡± asked the man.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We have two men who specialize in them,¡± said the man. ¡°I will call them to the


    office right now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your assistance,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Sales for the city make up the bulk of our auctions,¡± said the man. ¡°I can¡¯t allow any


    damage to our reputation. Clearing this up will only help us.¡±


    He went out and walked down among the cubicles. He talked to two people for a few


    seconds and gestured for them to come up to his open office.


    The two men were younger, thinner, and wore what she had come to think of as office


    casual. One concentrated on Josie, and Lois. More on Lois, thought Josie. Maybe he


    liked older women.


    The other refused to look at either woman, keeping his eyes on the enclosure walls.


    ¡°These are Kiln and Moke,¡± said the manager. ¡°They handle all of our estate sales


    from the city, and the greater Duchy beyond.¡±


    ¡°What can you tell me about these sales?,¡± Josie said. She handed over the lists of


    disappearance houses.


    Kiln examined the list. He scratched his head for a moment. He handed the list to


    Moke before looking at the women again.


    ¡°I sold some of those houses,¡± said Kiln. ¡°They came in a batch lot from the


    Judiciary.¡±


    ¡°Who signed for them, Master Kiln?,¡± asked Josie. She had an eye on Moke. He


    didn¡¯t look at the list. He handed it to Lois, and stood back.


    ¡°The Clerk, Litt,¡± said Kiln. ¡°He signed for that one bundle. I am sure of that. If I go


    through my records, I might find more. I know I got that bundle because Moke was


    out sick. I covered for him to secure the auction so we could get rid of the houses.¡±


    ¡°What happened to the money?,¡± asked Josie. She put the list in the messenger bag.


    ¡°Money from auctions goes back to the backer,¡± said the manager. ¡°In this case, we


    would have sent the paperwork to this clerk to have the judge sign for it.¡±


    ¡°Once we have the order from the judge, the property is released,¡± said Kiln.


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Josie. ¡°How many people did you help kill, Master Moke?¡±


    The other man stirred under the direct question. He paused to gather his thoughts


    before he thought about protesting his innocence.


    ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said Josie, standing. ¡°As soon as the Duke has Litt in his


    hands, the rest of you will follow. I expect charges of murder will be filed against


    you, and then you will be hanged, or beheaded, or whatever they do to murderers


    here.¡±


    ¡°What do they do to murderers where you are from, Josie?,¡± asked Lois. She stood


    also, moving behind Josie in case something bad was about to happen.


    ¡°Depends on where you are,¡± said Josie. ¡°Different places have different rules.


    California has stopped death sentences as far as I know. Other states use the electric


    chair, or lethal injection of poison. Other countries that aren¡¯t my country do different


    things.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± said Moke. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything wrong.


    Litt filed the paperwork and I did the auctions. That is all.¡±


    ¡°We think Litt killed the people in those houses so he could auction them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The Duke¡¯s own auditors and auditors from the Captiol will be looking at these


    auctions again. If they uncover your involvement, the king will not look away from


    you just because you¡¯re a cog.¡±


    ¡°I swear I don¡¯t know anything about that,¡± said Moke. ¡°I swear. I just handled the


    trade part, and made sure he got his cut before the rest was sent to the Duchy.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to live, Mister Moke?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°What?,¡± asked the auctioneer.


    ¡°Do you want to live?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°It¡¯s a simple question. Do you want to live?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Moke.


    ¡°I want you to go back to your desk, and write down everything you know,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I am going to send some adventurers to take you into custody, and I want you


    to stay with them. Litt will probably have you killed once he knows you gave up his


    name. So I want you to stay here, wait for protection, and then go with the


    adventurers when they get here.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know anything else,¡± said Moke.


    ¡°Villains, when they want to make a clean break, usually start by clamping off anyone


    who can lead to them,¡± explained Lois. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t know anything, Litt won¡¯t


    be able to take a chance about what you could know.¡±


    ¡°And since he prefers to use the Watch to do his dirty work, guess what happens if


    a Watchman takes you in before we grab Litt and anyone else involved,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Wait on the adventurers. Don¡¯t leave.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait with him,¡± said the manager. ¡°Our reputation demands it.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Duke will probably keep doing business with you. Thank


    you for your help.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for exposing this traitor,¡± said the manager.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Lois,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to track Litt down and try to find his crew


    before they realize they have been discovered if they aren¡¯t getting ready to break


    with the audits coming down.¡±


    They headed out of the auction house. Josie triggered her com band. She had a group


    of adventurers as her minions. She might as well use them.


    ¡°What do you want now?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°What if I told you that I uncovered a conspiracy by a bunch of murderers to kill


    people and sell their houses?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Tell me something I haven¡¯t heard before,¡± said Jane.


    ¡°You are a tough sell,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can see why everyone of the Amazons look up


    to you with that no nonsense way of thinking.¡±


    ¡°They look up to me because I am paying them,¡± said Jane. ¡°Do you really have a


    conspiracy of murderers, or are you pulling my leg?¡±


    ¡°I have an accomplice at Furn Brothers Auction House,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need some


    adventurers to swing by and pick him up. Tell them it could potentially be dangerous,


    and if any Watch try to stop them, they are to follow the Watchmen wherever they go


    and report back.¡±


    ¡°The Watch is involved?,¡± asked Jane. ¡°Of course, the Watch is involved.¡±


    ¡°Only some of them,¡± said Josie. ¡°But since we don¡¯t know who, we have to act like


    all of them are involved. We¡¯re going to get Bob, and see if we can pick the money


    man up. Maybe he will give us the rest.¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Jane. ¡°I think Jack will shoot more than lightning into the city if


    you get hurt.¡±


    ¡°Doubt it,¡± said Josie. She cut the call.


    She transformed and placed a bird on top of the auction house to keep watch.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get Bob, and Gall,¡± she said. ¡°Then we can see if Litt will lead us to the rest


    of our rats.¡±


    Lois nodded.

 Shopping

    Jack walked at the back of the group, one hand holding one of Elaine¡¯s. He smiled as


    the girls grilled Thad about his intentions. He tried to answer their questions, but


    glared at Alicia when she asked if he was going to wear a raccoon on his head


    forever.


    Emily fell back to walk with the older adults, shaking her head at the assemblage.


    ¡°Why are you such a troublemaker?,¡± she asked Jack. He grinned back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± he said. ¡°I am a simple magical


    technological entrepreneur who specializes in fixing broken archaic machinery.¡±


    ¡°How do you put up with this loon, Elaine?,¡± Emily asked. She gestured at the loon


    in question.


    ¡°I ignore most things that aren¡¯t an actual physical danger at the moment, and allow


    him to do things that make me happy in the privacy of our chambers,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Occasionally I advise him not to do things that other people will regret.¡±


    ¡°And the kids love me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What am I going to do about this courting by my brother while I am supposed to be


    guarding the princess?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°If I were you, I would start with where Case has his hands,¡± said Jack. ¡°And work


    my way out.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to talk about this no matter the distraction,¡± said Emily. She picked up


    speed and closed on Case. He didn¡¯t have time to look up before she had grabbed him


    by the neck, and asking him what did he think he was doing.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad she¡¯s not one of my sisters,¡± said Jack lightly.


    ¡°I think we need to break this up so our love birds don¡¯t make Emily do something


    they will regret,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I have a plan,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see it,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Everybody,¡± said Jack. He waved to attract their attention, and get them to pause


    their walking. ¡°We¡¯re going to split up. Beatrice, Laura, Caroline, Emily, Matilda,


    Melanie, you are on book patrol. Concentrate on history, cooking, and some leisure


    reading. Elaine has the money for that. Budd, Case, Angelica, and Alicia, you come


    with us to the market to get supplies. We¡¯ll meet back at the Hole in the Wall. How


    long should we give them, Elaine?¡±


    ¡°I think two hours should be good enough,¡± said Elaine. She pulled her change purse


    and notebook from the belt of her dress. She shook out fifty silver, and handed that


    to Beatrice. She wrote down the amount, then placed her things back in place.


    Case opened his mouth to beg to go with his newfound girl. Jack held up a hand to


    stop any whining.


    ¡°Josie will be glad to handle any complaints,¡± said Jack. ¡°But since I am here, and I


    plan to get my ice cream, and enjoy my day, and maybe enjoy my night too, I think


    now is when you learn the value of not being into each other¡¯s business when you


    can¡¯t be in each other¡¯s business. I expect that you honor this so things can proceed


    at a much more rapid pace and you can talk to your girl at dinner.¡±


    ¡°Will this count as one of our supervised dates?,¡± asked Case.


    Jack grinned at him.


    ¡°I respect a brave man, but there is a limit on when bravery becomes stupidity,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°You are almost at the line. Go get us a cart.¡±


    Case looked at him.


    ¡°Cart for the groceries,¡± said Jack. He waved his hand. ¡°Go get one.¡±


    ¡°Come on, Case,¡± said Thad. ¡°You¡¯re making a bad impression. We¡¯ll talk about this


    while we get the cart.¡±


    ¡°Ladies,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you need a cart, don¡¯t hesitate to get one. We¡¯ll see you when


    we get home.¡±


    Beatrice shook her head. She and Laura started floating the girls down the street,


    consulting with Matilda about where they should go.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get my ice cream while we are waiting for the trouble


    twins to come back.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Problems, Number Two?,¡± said Jack. He expected a short list. Alicia¡¯s cup had said


    To The Point after all.


    ¡°Case is nothing but trouble,¡± said Alicia. ¡°His brain is full of mush.¡±


    ¡°That is a short but valuable analysis,¡± said Jack. ¡°I like the concise and neat turn of


    phrase.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of me,¡± said Alicia. She glared at him.


    Jack wondered where the anger was coming from. Alicia was the most stoic person


    he had ever met. He decided that maybe she was mad at Case, and didn¡¯t care about


    not spreading it around.


    ¡°Do you need a hug?,¡± Jack asked.


    ¡°No,¡± said Alicia. She turned her face away.


    ¡°Mad about the ice cream?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°Blaming Case?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in blaming Case,¡± said Jack. ¡°You guys just aren¡¯t good enough


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.without powers yet. You¡¯ll get there.¡±


    ¡°I want to be there now,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°And then what?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°You just keep trying to beat the next guy in your


    way?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want,¡± said Alicia. She turned her gaze on Jack. ¡°I want to be the best


    fighter in the world.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°So I can save people too,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°There are lots of ways to help people without being a fighter,¡± said Jack. ¡°Have you


    thought about any of those?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you want to try one of those first before going all in on fighting?,¡± asked


    Jack.


    ¡°No good with any of them,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°You could learn some of them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Fighting is all I know,¡± said Alicia. ¡°The schoolwork is hard for me.¡±


    ¡°If you want to go into adventuring, you¡¯ll have to learn skills,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess


    I can take you camping to see how well you do.¡±


    ¡°Beatrice and Laura also want to be adventurers,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Beatrice wants to


    study and pass the licensing test.¡±


    ¡°So at the very least, there is going to be a written exam,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s on you to


    learn enough to pass it, Number Two.¡±


    ¡°What about you, Angelica?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯m good enough to just be the best cook in the world,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Without


    singing cakes.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have singing cakes, how will you fight the killer tomatoes?,¡± asked


    Jack.


    ¡°I will be fine without dealing with living food,¡± said Angelica.


    Thad and Case arrived with their rented cart. Case smiled from the bench.


    ¡°All right, Alicia,¡± said Jack. ¡°Ride on the bench and ask Thad what you need to be


    an adventurer. He¡¯s Eric¡¯s assistant. He should know if anyone does. The rest of us


    will ride in the back.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll help me?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine and I will help with anything.¡±


    Alicia reached up but couldn¡¯t reach the bench to pull herself to the seat. Jack


    grabbed her waist and lifted her so she could sit on the bench. She settled in between


    Case and Thad.


    Jack helped Elaine and Angelica into the back of the cart before climbing in himself.


    He settled next to Elaine with his back to a sidewall.


    ¡°Take us to the market, Thad,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡±


    Alicia plied the two adventurers for information. She absorbed what they told her,


    evaluating it. She asked about the tests, and what she would have to do. The Guild


    believed that adventurers should be able to live off the land, exercise good judgement


    and be ready to fight if they had to do that when things went bad. The two of them


    thought she had the fighting part down, and with some age and experience, she would


    be unbeatable by other fighters.


    Alicia thought about that. She looked at her hand. Could she be unbeatable?


    She needed to ask Jack if he could help her with that. She looked over her shoulder.


    The loon looked like he was napping with his head on Elaine¡¯s shoulder. She turned


    to face the front.


    The adventurers exchanged tales with Alicia. She didn¡¯t have much to say about


    herself. They told her about some of the things they had done, and about other groups


    raiding in the countryside. She told them how Josie had rescued them from being


    chained to the walls in the Hole in the Wall when it was a dungeon and not their


    home.


    The adventurers frowned at the information even though they had seen part of it in


    Shemmaria.


    Thad guided the cart into the edge of the market. He pulled the horse up and set the


    brake on the wheel.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± he said, looking over his shoulder.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°You guys get the stuff. I¡¯ll watch the cart. We still have an


    hour and forty five minutes before we have to meet the girls.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about buying food,¡± said Case. ¡°Comp and Lou are the expert


    cooks in our party.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you how to do the shopping part,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I¡¯ll need you to carry


    everything back here to the cart.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll show us?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Angelica. ¡°When you¡¯re the king, you are going to have to know this so


    you can tell when your cooks are paying themselves instead of getting good food for


    the pot.¡±


    ¡°You expect him to be the king?,¡± asked Thad. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because he is a pudding head, and easily manipulated by women,¡± said Alicia.


    Jack winced at that. On the other hand, it was exactly the type of thing Alicia would


    say in her nonjudgmental, neutral way. He couldn¡¯t even disagree with the


    pronouncement.


    ¡°A pudding head?,¡± said Thad. He grinned at the other man.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Alicia.


    Jack frowned. He needed to cheer Alicia up and bring her out of this mood. His


    inclination was to rub it in about the ice cream. He scratched his scar in thought.


    ¡°You guys can call Case names later with the provision that you remember he is


    going to be your ruler one day if he and Caroline can work things out,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Calling the future king a pudding head might not be the brightest thing to do,


    definitely not the nicest.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right, Alicia,¡± said Angelica. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t call names because you are mad


    at losing.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Alicia. She turned her mask of a face to her adopted sister. ¡°I can¡¯t


    help it.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t win every fight,¡± said Thad. ¡°That¡¯s something that you will learn when


    you get older.¡±


    ¡°I want to,¡± said Alicia. She held up her hand again.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the shopping done,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I need to practice on this stove, and


    we have to serve a lot of people.¡±


    Jack noticed that Angelica didn¡¯t have a singing cake on her shirt as she turned to


    start walking the market. She had crossed knives like the bones of the Jolly Roger.


    She didn¡¯t have a skull so she wasn¡¯t a pirate yet.


    Maybe fish would be good practice for her.


    He waited quietly on the bench of the cart. He spotted Elaine walking around at


    several points. He should have gone with them. He held himself to the bench.


    No one wanted someone in their business every time they were doing something. If


    Elaine, or the kids, needed him, they would call. Then he would turn into Captain


    America and clear the crowd as fast as possible.


    The group rapidly filled the cart with boxes of fruits and vegetables. Thad and Elaine


    had secured some dead birds and a small piglet that would need to be disassembled.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Take the cart down to the edge of the market. I want to get a


    dessert for us. Then we can head back.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. He pulled the brake, and asked the horses to go forward. He


    nodded as they ambled through the crowd, trying to avoid stepping on anyone.


    Thad and Case walked on either side, watching the crowd. He didn¡¯t know if that was


    habit, or if they had seen something out of place and was getting ready for it.


    Elaine and the girls mounted on the back of the cart. They sat with their feet dangling


    off the wagon.


    They found the place Elaine wanted. She hopped off the cart and walked inside the


    tent set up as a store. An exchange of money got three pies to be added to the rest of


    their takings.


    Jack directed the cart toward the Hole in the Wall as soon as she was on the back of


    the cart again.


    ¡°The girls are probably already at the Hole in the Wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder what


    they got for us.¡±


    ¡°Will the information inside the books be worth it?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Only if it teaches Angelica more recipes for meals,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get this stored


    up before the queen gets here.¡±


    ¡°I forgot she was here visiting Caroline,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Her?,¡± said Jack. ¡°No, I¡¯m talking about Josie. We need to get ready before she is


    tempted to do something to you guys.¡±


    ¡°Basted up like a chicken,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Don¡¯t scare them,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t wait until Josie learns she might have a


    brother-in-law.¡±


    ¡°I am sure she won¡¯t punch a hole in Thad¡¯s head,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°How fast can you run?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I might need to know that later.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure I will have more room for tolerance than Case,¡± said Thad. ¡°Madam Fox


    will not kill me because I am trying to court Beatrice.¡±


    ¡°I like your confidence,¡± said Jack. ¡°It reminds me of me before I went into the Army.


    I was so young and carefree. I didn¡¯t really know about stray free fire, civilian


    casualties, the effect of burning metal in the air.¡±


    Jack sighed.


    ¡°Those were the days,¡± said Jack. ¡°Good luck, buddy. Don¡¯t look her in the eyes. She


    can sense fear.¡±

 Shooting

    Josie and Lois appeared in the office they had commandeered with the help of the


    Duke. Stacks of paper were on the desk. Bob and Gall were talking about some of the


    scenes described.


    Josie had caused too many such scenes on her own to be moved by the descriptions


    she was breaking into.


    ¡°We have a lead,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where¡¯s the Duke?¡±


    ¡°He was called away by one of his functionaries,¡± said Bob. ¡°You cut a trail?¡±


    ¡°We found a clerk taking money from the sales of the house clouds,¡± said Josie. ¡°One


    of the clerks at the Furn Brothers was making two payment bundles, one for the clerk,


    one for the Duchy.¡±


    ¡°So he might been using the Watch to clear these houses with notices?,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s a real estate scheme. I need to find this clerk, and whomever


    he is using to clear the houses. I feel that he has a reliable crew since no one else


    knows about this.¡±


    ¡°Master Moke admitted that he had been separating the money,¡± said Lois. ¡°So the


    Crown already knows he is guilty of defrauding the Duchy.¡±


    ¡°Where would the clerks be at this time of day?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Probably lunch,¡± said Gall. ¡°It is almost lunchtime.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°The man is named Litt. I don¡¯t know who he clerks for.¡±


    ¡°The Duke did procure a list of people in the Judiciary,¡± said Bob. He went to one


    of the stacks. He pulled out a set of papers and scanned them. He smiled when he


    saw the name. ¡°He is an independent clerk according to this.¡±


    ¡°Independent?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He files the paperwork on judgments,¡± said Gall. ¡°He works in the tax office.¡±


    Josie smiled. Everyone else stepped back.


    ¡°Do we call him here, or go get him?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Either is good for me.¡±


    ¡°I would like to walk over and put hands on him,¡± said Bob. ¡°He might have records


    in his office that we will need for the humans to put him in the docket.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might have to deal with his crew too.¡±


    ¡°Gall and I have worked on our fighting ability almost every day,¡± said Bob. He


    smiled. ¡°I doubt you will have to turn into a dragon to help me now.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. She changed long enough to send out a bird and a letter to


    the Duke to let him know what was going on. ¡°We should grab something to eat


    while we walk over. How do we get the people he has been using?¡±


    ¡°If they are part of the Watch, they might already know that you are looking for


    them,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°They probably know everything that happened with the Royal Family,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Some of them might have been there when Lords Brant and Rustam were put on


    the wagon to go to this delve. So they will know the Crown are already looking for


    them. They might not realize that I am looking for them, and can find them faster.


    I did let this slide so the Duke could figure out his end.¡±


    ¡°So you looked at this today, and found this fourth man in an hour?,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°We found the first judge the first day we looked when we first heard about the


    board,¡± said Josie. ¡°The other two came from some of my friends going over the


    paperwork. Then we looked at the last two things today. We should have finished


    the first day. I guess I thought we couldn¡¯t help anyone at the moment, and we could


    potentially let this wait while we did other things.¡±


    ¡°You think that was a mistake now?,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°We should have rounded these people up to be executed before Bea was sick,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We could have cleared this out in two days if we had thought about it.¡±


    ¡°I think handling the problems with Shemmarria was a touch more important than


    this,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°Practical limitations,¡± said Josie. ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel better.¡±


    The group made their way through the halls to the outside. The summoned bird


    waited for them to join it before leading them toward a building with a scale in front


    of it. People moved up and down the steps to the main entrance.


    ¡°There is a food cart,¡± said Gall. ¡°We can get something there. Then we can go in and


    find our man.¡±


    ¡°If we are lucky, Litt will be holding a meeting with his minions and we can swoop


    them all up at the same time,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Never been that lucky,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°I agree,¡± said Bob.


    ¡°Don¡¯t crush my hopes,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s my job.¡±


    Bob smiled at her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat,¡± said Lois. ¡°Then we can settle this. I would like to enjoy some time with


    my daughter before I have to go back to the capitol. Caroline looked so much better


    when she left the hospital.¡±


    ¡°They were going to kill her,¡± said Josie. ¡°It was only a matter of time. I¡¯m glad that


    I got the quest, and I am glad it allowed me to deal with people that needed to be dealt


    with permanently.¡±


    Lois nodded. She had seen Josie at her business at home. What she had done was


    faster than the legal process that would declare a person guilty of treason and hung


    in the castle courtyard under the execution tree.


    They got their food which looked like a chalupa to Josie. She took a moment to make


    sure the food the was safe to eat before they chowed down. As soon as they were


    done, the bird led them into the building to show them the way.


    They walked through the offices, Gall clearing the way with a password. They found


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.the independent clerk¡¯s office in the bottom of the building. A sign marked out who


    was supposed to be assigned to the office.


    Josie entered the office. She looked at the clerks working on their orders at their


    desks. She nodded at the ten men and women on duty. She didn¡¯t see identifying


    signs on the desks.


    ¡°We would like to talk to Clerk Litt,¡± said Josie. All eyes turned to the back of the


    room. The subject of their gaze stood up. The firebird behind him vanished.


    ¡°How can I help you?,¡± asked Clerk Litt. He wore the Duke¡¯s livery, ink stains on his


    hand, a permanent squint in his eye.


    ¡°We are here to arrest you for murder,¡± said Josie. ¡°Would you come with us?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill anyone,¡± said Litt. ¡°You can¡¯t do this. You are not the Watch.¡±


    ¡°I am the Watch,¡± said Gall. ¡°We know about the houses you have been selling


    for the estate taxes. If you can produce the people who lived in those houses, we will


    think about dropping the charge.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to do with that,¡± said Litt. He looked at his coworkers who


    were clearing the way for him to be dragged out by his neck.


    ¡°How did it work, Master Litt?,¡± said Lois. She stood in the back of the group.


    Bob might be able to protect her from any harm, but Litt seemed the obvious danger.


    ¡°The Watch called me to issue the notice, and collect the money for them,¡± said Litt.


    ¡°I sent the houses down to the Furn Brothers. That¡¯s the extent of what I did.¡±


    ¡°How did they do that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°They used the commission board,¡± said Litt.


    ¡°Who are they seems the most important question,¡± said Lois. ¡°Who do you work for,


    Master Litt?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that,¡± said Litt. ¡°They will kill me.¡±


    ¡°Take him back to the office,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t really need him to find the others.


    I just thought the Duke would like it if he had everything tied up neatly.¡±


    ¡°If you come along peacefully,¡± said Bob. ¡°You will be held in a room to await


    your dispensation. If you want to fight, I will dispense you now if you are not going


    to help us.¡±


    ¡°We will get you a sandwich at the vendor outside,¡± said Gall. ¡°We¡¯re going to


    need any weapons you might have.¡±


    Litt pulled a dagger from his belt and dropped it on his desk. He came around the


    furniture. He kept his gaze on the floor.


    ¡°It¡¯s best you don¡¯t tempt the Ear Ripper,¡± said Bob. ¡°She once threatened the king


    of the elves. You don¡¯t want to get mixed up with anyone like that.¡±


    Josie frowned at the knight. He smiled back.


    ¡°You and Jack do this on purpose, don¡¯t you?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do what?,¡± asked Bob innocently.


    ¡°Get on my nerves,¡± said Josie. ¡°Just take him. There is no point in putting a hole in


    his head. I¡¯ll round up the rest by myself. Take Lois with you so she can swear a


    statement for the Crown in case we have to send him to the capitol for the King.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to round up the rest?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°I am going to try,¡± said Josie. ¡°I guess be ready for angry Watchmen showing up out


    of the blue.¡±


    ¡°Then we hunt the wolf?,¡± asked Bob.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Josie. ¡°He can¡¯t be allowed to eat people either.¡±


    ¡°Clerk Litt,¡± said Gall. ¡°The Duke and the Captain will probably have some


    questions. You are going to have to explain everything if none of your accomplices


    can be brought in alive.¡±


    ¡°Your testimony will also be handed to the Crown for the auditors to use for similar


    crimes,¡± said Lois. ¡°You might become famous out of this.¡±


    ¡°You might even live the rest of your natural lifespan,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything


    stupid now.¡±


    Josie watched the group leave the office under the eyes of the other clerks. She


    transformed long enough to create a book of knowledge from Litt. That held the


    names of the people he knew were clearing the houses. Now all she had to do was


    track them down to capture them.


    She knew that she couldn¡¯t send a request through the board, and she didn¡¯t want to


    just pop their heads because the Duke needed to know, and the legitimacy of doing


    things to protect the city. And she was tired of the crooked members of the Watch


    thinking they were protected by their authority. She wanted to send a message that


    Hawk Ridge was the seat of her power and she wouldn¡¯t tolerate it. That meant


    putting people on trial so the city knew what was going on.


    So she had to take them alive in such a way that everyone knew about the arrests.


    She sent out letters to each of the men known by Litt. She didn¡¯t know if they all


    could read, but thought it was probable. She asked them to meet her at one of the


    inns next to the hospital. She told them the Duke was looking into the houses and


    may be on to Litt and his connection.


    She sent out birds to tell her where the men were and where her party of helpers were.


    She didn¡¯t want Bob to have to defend Lois. He wasn¡¯t responsible for her and may


    not take the duty seriously.


    And if something happened, she wanted to be able to pull the queen out of immediate


    danger with a thought.


    She walked over to the inn in question. She could feel her spells coming closer. If she


    could capture all of them, and turn them over to the Duke, that might be enough to


    break the board.


    Dealing with the werewolf would be the next thing to do before she caught up with


    the kids. She had no fear that she couldn¡¯t handle that with her personas.


    She kept herself from calling. Elaine would call if something started. She could count


    on that.


    Josie wondered what her assistant saw in Jack. She didn¡¯t seem affected by power,


    or money. That also led to the question of Case and Caroline. She still had no clue


    what to do about them.


    She decided that she could only handle the problem in front of her. Case and Caroline


    would have to wait until she had Hawk Ridge on a better footing for the audit.


    Josie found the inn. She saw a couple of adventurers she knew by sight at one of the


    tables when she entered. She went up to them so she could tell them what was going


    on.


    ¡°Madam Witch,¡± said one. He raised his cup to her.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be arresting some people for the Duke,¡± she said. ¡°You guys might


    want to eat and leave so you don¡¯t get into any trouble.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us, Madam,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°We are ready to help. Patrol


    has been boring this morning.¡±


    ¡°Boring for you,¡± said the other man. He turned a little so Josie could see his face. He


    had a black eye. ¡°Old lady with a pin.¡±


    ¡°Get that looked at,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s what a hospital is for.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°This isn¡¯t my first black eye.¡±


    ¡°Get that looked at or I will rip your eye out of your skull,¡± said Josie. ¡°Am I


    understood?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve been personally threatened and aren¡¯t dead, Markus¡± said the first


    adventurer. He smiled. ¡°You will be famous.¡±


    The talk around them died down as the door opened. Josie turned to face the door.


    A group of Watchmen examined the room. They didn¡¯t see the person they were


    looking for among the crowd.


    ¡°You guys stay out of my way,¡± said Josie. She patted Markus on his shoulder.


    She took a position in the middle of the room. She waved people out of the way so


    they would clear the bar.


    ¡°Litt is with the Duke, answering questions about your operation,¡± said Josie. ¡°You


    can come along quietly, or you can get hurt. I don¡¯t have a preference.¡±


    ¡°Who are you to talk to us?,¡± said the lead Watchman. He examined the crowd.


    No one seemed ready to jump in to help this girl.


    ¡°I would have said I am your judgment,¡± said Josie. She touched her watch. ¡°But the


    Duke wants to make sure you are hung for your thievery and murder.¡±


    Bulletgirl pointed hands at the Watchmen. They were in the door, and unable to


    get out fast enough, or charge her with swords drawn before she could start shooting


    segments of round shot at them. Wounds opened up in their legs, felling them before


    they could flee.


    Josie advanced, dropping her targets as they tried to get away from her. She shook


    her head as she reverted to normal. She called on Zatanna to get a book of knowledge


    together to make sure she had the whole group to hand over to the Duke.


    ¡°That was good,¡± said the first adventurer. He stood at Josie¡¯s side, cup in hand. He


    took a sip. ¡°Nobody likes the Watch.¡±


    ¡°You know how I hired you to protect the hospital and the neighborhood?,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s how Markus got his eye,¡± said the adventurer.


    ¡°They were stealing people¡¯s houses and leaving their bodies somewhere for the


    animals,¡± said Josie. ¡°The only reason they are still alive is the Duke needs them


    for the King. Otherwise, I would have done something else.¡±


    ¡°I guess we should take them over to the hospital and put them under guard,¡± said the


    adventurer. ¡°Markus can get his eye looked at the same time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need it to be looked at,¡± said Markus. He hitched his belt on Josie¡¯s other


    side. His unmarked face looked concern about how he was going to stop the bleeding


    of the wounded.


    Josie punched him in the unhurt side of his face. He looked surprised. His partner


    laughed at him.


    ¡°I command you to get your face looked at as your commander, dipstick,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me tell you again. Now let¡¯s get to work.¡±

 Shipping

    Jack smiled when he guided the cart to the Hole in the Wall. He waved at his


    neighbor. The man still hadn¡¯t got his hands fixed.


    It wasn¡¯t Jack¡¯s job to force him to help himself.


    He pulled up the horses and set the brake.


    ¡°Let me offload this,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then you guys can take the cart back. When you


    get back, you will have an undisclosed amount of time to be with your ladies until


    Angelica gets done cooking.¡±


    ¡°Remember that Josie and Her Majesty will be arriving whenever they get done,¡± said


    Elaine. ¡°Do not start anything that will cause you problems with your futures.¡±


    ¡°Your very short futures,¡± said Jack. He grinned at them. ¡°Do you understand the hint


    I am giving?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Budd. ¡°I would like to not to have an extra hole in my head.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think of it as an extra hole,¡± said Jack. ¡°Think of it as ventilation for your


    brain.¡±


    ¡°I can do without that too,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me get the stuff. You can eat with us if you keep the


    complaints to a minimum. We¡¯re seeing June off with this dinner, and tomorrow we


    fish. Do you guys need to know how to swim?¡±


    ¡°I think we can handle that,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°That¡¯s one of the things adventurers get tested on in the exam,¡± said Case. ¡°If you


    can¡¯t swim, you can¡¯t pass the physical.¡±


    ¡°Can you swim, Number Two?,¡± asked Jack. She seemed to consider the question for


    far longer than he liked.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this done before our time runs out,¡± said Thad.


    Jack transformed into Gravity. He caught up the boxes and dead animals and lifted


    them with his influence. He pulled them behind him as he walked to the office door.


    He paused when he realized he couldn¡¯t use his key to unlock the door.


    ¡°I have it, Jack,¡± said Elaine. She stepped around the floating boxes and opened the


    door for him.


    ¡°Come back as soon as you can, guys,¡± said Jack. He waited for the ladies to proceed


    before pushing the boxes inside the opening in the wall. ¡°Just ring the bell when you


    get back. Josie rigged up some watchdogs for people trying to get in.¡±


    ¡°What kind of watchdogs?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t say, but she has gotten fond of that head exploding thing she has been


    using,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it was some kind of automatic version


    of that.¡±


    ¡°Automatic?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°You know,¡± said Jack. ¡°You try to sneak in and a spell attacks on its own. We burn


    the body when we find it the next day. Take the cart back. I might need one of you


    to test the gadget I am going to try out tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Test the gadget?,¡± asked Thad.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t have the thing fail with all of you falling from the


    Enterprise. I might miss. Then where would you be?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to know,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have to help Angelica with the cooking if the other girls


    aren¡¯t home yet.¡±


    He closed the door and carried his load through the office to the concealed door he


    had set up. It opened to let him through. He floated over to the gate. It activated to let


    him pass. He pushed the cargo through before powering down and stepping through


    himself.


    He powered back up, glad that the mana boosters built in the Hangar charged his


    watch faster. He carried everything to the elevator and hit the button to go down to


    the general quarters. Once he handed everything over to Angelica, his job was done.


    He would ask about helping out. He doubted Angelica needed him. Cooking was her


    life. If she couldn¡¯t handle things, then no one could.


    The other girls were present. He could hear them in the library. He nodded as he


    carried his cargo to the kitchen. He wondered what they were talking about.


    He decided to concentrate on what he was doing. If they wanted him, they could come


    out and find him.


    ¡°Milord?,¡± said Bea, poking her head out of the library. ¡°We have the books you


    wanted. There aren¡¯t many. The cost was higher than what we expected.¡±


    ¡°Let me put this down, Bea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Case and Budd are returning the cart.¡±


    ¡°Can we talk?,¡± asked Bea.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jack said. He carried the food into the kitchen. He placed everything on the


    counter. Angelica made a shooing motion at him, as she began to sort things for use.


    She handed some vegetables to Alicia to be cut up. He let his persona go now that it


    was no longer needed.


    Melanie and Matilda had joined the kitchen patrol, and were helping Elaine put things


    up that weren¡¯t going to be immediate dinner. He smiled at her as he backed out of


    the kitchen.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go upstairs and out on the lawn,¡± said Jack. He pointed with his thumb. ¡°We


    can talk there without too much of a hassle.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Bea.


    They took the elevator up to the top floor. Jack opened the roof and they walked up


    the stairs to stand on the grass. June¡¯s practice dummy stood on guard.


    ¡°What do you want to talk about?,¡± asked Jack. He sat down on the grass.


    Bea paused at him sitting down. She sat down too. She pushed some loose hair from


    her narrow face.


    ¡°Thad wants to take me out without Case and Caroline,¡± said Bea. ¡°I am thinking


    about letting him. I think I am a little scared after what happened with Todd.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a good relationship advisor,¡± said Jack. ¡°Usually I drive women away. Maria


    took me for what I am, and Elaine has been good to me and for me. You might want


    to ask Elaine about these questions of yours.¡±


    ¡°Would you court me if you didn¡¯t know me?,¡± asked Bea. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be


    courted because Josie adopted me, and she¡¯s famous now.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that is what is going on with Thad?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I¡¯m afraid if it¡¯s true. I just want to be loved for


    myself, not what I can do, or who I know.¡±


    ¡°Like Caroline,¡± said Jack. He knew he had hit the button when she looked away.


    ¡°Case is too stupid to look at her as the third most important person in the


    government. He just sees a girl he¡¯s trying to sleep with. And that¡¯s what Caroline


    wants. Everyone else seeking her hand just wants to ally with the King.¡±


    ¡°But Thad isn¡¯t,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t be Eric¡¯s number two if he was an idiot,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think Thad


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.knowing Josie works against your relationship. Probably the fact he knows me is


    scary enough. You are going to have to talk to him about what you want and be


    honest about it. It will be up to him whether he will give you that. If he won¡¯t, there


    are other fish in the sea.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he will be honest with me?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°There are things you already know about him to help your assessment,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You know he¡¯s rich, okay looking despite the thing flopping around on his head,


    smart, a capable swordsman and adventurer, and brave enough to ask the Ear Ripper¡¯s


    sister out. He has no reason not to be honest, and every reason to run.¡±


    ¡°Would you?,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Me?,¡± said Jack. He indicated himself with a thumb. ¡°Run from Josie Fox?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°In a second,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You are such a liar,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Trust me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have run from Josie in the past. If you want to go out with


    Thad, I will support you. I think Josie will support you. I think if you do want to be


    an adventurer and do jobs, Thad will set you up in a party with him, or with someone


    he trusts.¡±


    ¡°What happened with Emily¡¯s party?,¡± asked Beatrice. ¡°Didn¡¯t he set her up with her


    party?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°He wanted her to come in with him, but she picked her own path.


    It backfired on her, but we got her back before she suffered too much.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I am ready to take quests full time, but I would like to travel and see


    things,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Do you think Thad will let me do that?¡±


    ¡°I think you should ask him if he will form a party with you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe


    Laura, and Emily too, after this thing with Case and Caroline is settled one way, or


    the other. I think if they actually get their act together, Case will be stuck as a


    governor somewhere and be out of the adventuring game. Eric seems to be trying to


    settle down, and that might be the end of his party. If Thad wants to keep going, he


    might need people to help him.¡±


    ¡°The rest of the Fighters might be out too,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I will ask him, and ask him


    to think about it. Laura and I still have a couple of years to get ready for the license


    tests. Maybe we can get Alicia in. She is almost as good with a sword as you now.¡±


    ¡°She still has a few more years before I have to worry about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°My real


    concern is Melanie. She doesn¡¯t want to be an adventurer like you, Laura, or Alicia.


    She doesn¡¯t have interests like Angelica and Matilda. I want to give her a skill like


    your ring, but I want it to be special for her.¡±


    ¡°Maybe she doesn¡¯t need a talent,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°She is lazy.¡±


    ¡°Everybody needs something,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we talk to Budd, maybe let you go out


    on the town with him, and see if he will want to sponsor you in the next two years.


    Sounds doable.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Josie will say anything,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Probably something like bring my sister back in one piece,¡± said Jack. ¡°Or you will


    know the meaning of snicker-snak.¡±


    ¡°Snicker-snak?,¡± asked Beatrice. She knew he was referring to something from his


    own land, but it was close enough for her to try to guess what he meant from the


    context.


    ¡°It¡¯s the sound of Josie deciding a guy doesn¡¯t need to make children anymore,¡±


    said Jack. He worked the fingers of one hand like scissors.


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Oh no.¡±


    ¡°Oh yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can get the lover boys here so you can get your


    part figured out. Then I¡¯ll talk to Melanie and Alicia while you are doing that.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I will send them up when I go downstairs.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Contact acknowledged,¡± said the machine from high overhead.


    ¡°Do you see Thad Budd and Case in Hawk Ridge?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°As soon as they start walking back toward the Hole in the Wall, pick them up and


    drop them at my location with the transporter,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    A minute later Thad and Case appeared on the lawn next to the archery dummy. They


    froze at the sight of it. They looked around. Jack waved at them from where he and


    Beatrice sat.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Beatrice is going to take you downstairs so you can


    help the girls cook. Don¡¯t give Elaine any trouble. Budd, I don¡¯t know what Josie will


    say about the dating thing, probably the same thing she said to Todd and Case. If you


    are courting Beatrice, don¡¯t court another woman. If you start looking at other women


    and want out, just say it. At this moment, Bea doesn¡¯t have a place to live other than


    here, so that might have to go up on the board as something to figure out between the


    two of you.


    ¡°I can build, or renovate, a house for the both of you if you get that far about moving


    in together. I don¡¯t really mind the two of you dating, but as Bea¡¯s adopted godfather


    I want Bea to be happy, and God knows what Josie will think about all this. Now is


    the time to plan out things instead of trying to wing it. Go ahead and go. Bea, if you


    could send up Alicia and Melanie when you get downstairs, that would be good.¡±


    ¡°Adopted godfather?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°If something were to happen to Bea, and Josie couldn¡¯t deal with it at the moment


    because she¡¯s busy,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would have to do something ugly about the


    situation. Elaine and Aviras told me I should be a gentler Jack, and not furious


    monster lightning from the sky killing everything Jack. So that is the approach I am


    using. And being the godfather makes me a friend of the Fox family. When Elaine


    and I get married, she would be the adopted godmother.¡±


    ¡°What about June?,¡± asked Bea.


    ¡°Not my problem,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go ahead. The sun is heading down to the horizon. We


    want to be ready.¡±


    ¡°Come on,¡± said Beatrice. She got to her feet, and took Thad¡¯s hand. He seemed


    amazed at the gesture. ¡°We¡¯ll talk about what we want to do tonight. Case can talk


    to Caroline while everything is going on.¡±


    The three of them walked down inside the Hangar. Thad and Beatrice had their heads


    together.


    Jack wished them the best of luck. He had lucked out himself meeting Elaine. Others


    should be able to do the same thing.


    He couldn¡¯t wait until Josie found someone she liked. He would be rode hard and put


    up wet.


    Melanie and Alicia came up out of the hole in the ground. They looked at Jack sitting.


    A question was in Melanie¡¯s eyes, but Alicia was stoically neutral.


    ¡°Sit down, please,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want to talk to the both of you, and I figured I should


    do it now. Alicia, we talked about the archery and things, and it is clear that you are


    only interested as a way to fight, or show mastery in something. I am going to give


    you a set of skills other than powers. You¡¯ll have to grow into them, and practice


    them until they are the best they can be. I will ask June to get you some books, or


    pictures on fighting. I might be able to get her to give you some lessons.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Alicia.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to work on them,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you don¡¯t, you won¡¯t be able to beat a


    mouse.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will have to make your thing for you. Remember it will only


    work while you have the energy to feed it, so it won¡¯t be active all the time. You¡¯ll


    still have to work on defending yourself without it.¡±


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Go ahead then,¡± said Jack. He waved her off. ¡°Quit calling Case pudding head.


    You¡¯re better than that.¡±


    ¡°I will think of something else to call him,¡± said Alicia. She got to her feet and


    strolled back to the Hangar¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant,¡± Jack said to himself.


    ¡°Will you give me something too, Milord?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°I thought about giving you karma, but Elaine said you couldn¡¯t use it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What is that?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°It¡¯s a power, but it gives you bad luck when you act badly,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine said


    you wouldn¡¯t be able to use it because you never do anything. I have to agree.¡±


    ¡°What does it do if you act goodly?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°It gives you good luck,¡± said Jack. ¡°But you have to be altruistic. That¡¯s not for


    you.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I can be altruistic?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°It requires you to help others for no benefit,¡± said Jack. ¡°You hardly help out around


    the house without prodding from your sisters.¡±


    ¡°I can be altruistic,¡± said Melanie. ¡°But the downside seems a bit much.¡±


    ¡°So if you wanted to be enhanced, what would you want?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°A copy of Beatrice¡¯s ring,¡± said Melanie without hesitation.


    ¡°Why would I do that?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not the loon you take me for.¡±


    ¡°I thought I could slip it by so I could be lazy and never leave my room,¡± said


    Melanie.


    Jack thought about the cup she had been given. He had liked Hyouka when he saw


    it. It was too bad any more animation would have to be handled by another studio if


    it ever got another season. Brilliant, but lazy had been the remark then. His


    impression of Melanie shifted even though his memories weren¡¯t exact.


    ¡°I wonder if that is what you need,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± said Melanie. She didn¡¯t like the speculative look in his eye.


    ¡°I wonder if Elaine is wrong, and you need a jinx to motivate you to do things other


    than sitting and eating,¡± said Jack. ¡°It might be good for you. Build character.¡±


    ¡°No, wait,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. I don¡¯t want my character to be built up that


    much.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think that is exactly what you need.¡±


    ¡°I saw something in the catalogue that I would like if I can get that,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°What catalogue?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The clothes catalogue,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Could you give me a way to move around


    like the Spot.¡±


    ¡°The Spot?,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Spider-man villain? How do you know about Spider-


    man?¡±


    ¡°I saw his various designs in the catalogue, and then I saw the Spot,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°There was a small thing at the bottom to tell you about him.¡±


    ¡°You want me to give you teleportation so you can be even lazier than you are now?,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Is that what I am hearing?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say lazier,¡± said Melanie. ¡°It means Laura and Beatrice wouldn¡¯t have to


    carry me around.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you have already thought of ways you can use this to steal from people,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Melanie. He saw that she had decided to tell the truth instead of lying by


    the way her eyes moved.


    ¡°If I trust you with this, how do I know I won¡¯t get a quest to take it back?,¡± asked


    Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I¡¯m not that good a person to be honest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a tiny portion of the power. It will be up


    to you to build it up into something you can use. That way you won¡¯t kill yourself


    right out the gate. And it will teach you about hard work.¡±


    ¡°How much of a tiny portion?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll get it ready for you to use. Like I said, it will be up to


    you to build it up into something you can use to get across the room.¡±


    ¡°Work?,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Bah.¡±

 Werewolf Tonic

    Josie had Jane send more adventurers to grab the wounded Watchmen up. She could


    have healed them with Doctor Occult, but decided they should remain wounded until


    the Duke had his say.


    What was the point of healing them for their hangings?


    She made sure Markus got his eye looked at too despite him wanting to get out of the


    hospital as soon as they handed everybody over. He grumbled about it, but she just


    said she would be glad to give him a real reason to be in the place if he kept at it.


    The way things were going, they were going to have to create some kind of


    ambulance service to bring the wounded from their fights in to heal up and get sent


    to the local jail.


    A call center would be next the way they were going.


    She checked in with Eileen to give her the names of the adventurers that had helped


    her out, then she headed back to her commandeered office.


    They had missed something, but she didn¡¯t know what. Maybe the serial killer was


    also using the board somehow. When they rounded him up, maybe that would be the


    end of it.


    The other possibility that came to mind was everyone on the Watch was using the


    board for things that weren¡¯t kosher, and that needed to be cleaned up with some kind


    of internal policing.


    She doubted the Watch had any kind of equivalent of Internal Affairs with the way


    they had been operating.


    And she knew even with departments with that division, that cops tended to do things


    they weren¡¯t supposed to do just because they thought they could.


    She decided that the Duke and his Captain could handle that part of things. She only


    had to close the board. If it needed some kind of longer term thing to be done, she


    would make a plan and do what she could.


    Or she would tell Jack to put the Enterprise on watch and let it shoot lightning at


    anyone it caught breaking the legal code.


    He would love something like that.


    Lois, Gall, and Bob were going over paperwork in the office. They looked up when


    she appeared in the office.


    ¡°The Watch are in the hospital, waiting on the Duke,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you guys have


    anything useful?¡±


    ¡°We believe that we have to see the ground for ourselves,¡± said Bob. ¡°Master Gall


    and I are sure that your killer lives inside the ring he has built.¡±


    ¡°Sounds reasonable,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have about three hours left. Let¡¯s see what we can


    do in that amount of time.¡±


    ¡°Do you think we can solve this?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°We¡¯re looking for someone who can blend in to the neighborhood, lives there, has


    some way to increase his strength, and is prone to fits of rage,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can


    at least mark out people who should be looked at in the neighborhood, and then I can


    take a closer look tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°The increase in strength seems like some kind of alchemy at work,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°So we might be looking at some kind of


    addict who can¡¯t stop using his drug of choice.¡±


    ¡°How many can that be?,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°Hundreds,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get started. The board is still active. If we take this


    guy, and the reminder is still there, I will have to reassess what we have been doing.¡±


    ¡°The Duke was happy to have Litt, and unhappy the Watch was involved as the


    instigators of this plan,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°They are supposed to be protecting the city instead of getting rich by murdering


    people,¡± said Josie. ¡°There are hundreds, thousands, working for the Watch. It is


    inevitable that some would be corrupt, and try to draw in others to help them. We are


    at a practical limitation on our abilities here. Yes, I could kill every Watchman in the


    city, but what does that get us? Hiring adventurers could be a stopgap, but how long


    would it take before the adventurers start doing the same thing the Watch did? There


    are very few people cut out for that kind of work, and it doesn¡¯t take long to burn


    out.¡±


    Gall shifted uneasily. He had been caught up in such an operation. He had worried


    more about supporting his family than standing up for strangers.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do what we can,¡± said Josie. ¡°After that, we are going to have to go our


    separate ways and take care of our other commitments. I will do what I can about the


    rest of this when I can, or turn Jack loose on it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the Duke will love that,¡± said Lois.


    Josie made a report of what they had done, and what had happened to the Watch


    members she had taken in. She put that on the desk for the Duke. She whisked her


    party across the city.


    ¡°I brought us to the scene of the first murder found,¡± said Josie. She looked at the


    street around her. Winding streets like most of the city, blocky buildings with some


    mixed housing and stores, kids in the streets, women and men talking about this and


    that. Two Watchmen keeping an eye on things.


    Some of the kids talked about Bob¡¯s and Gall¡¯s armor shining in the sun.


    ¡°There were two murders in this building,¡± said Bob. ¡°They were committed


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.separately.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can find,¡± said Josie. She tried the door. This one building seemed


    to be nothing but apartments with a central foyer. She led the way inside.


    ¡°The murders took place in the same apartment,¡± said Gall. He pointed up a staircase


    that ran around the inside the of the central square. ¡°Morvi and Lana Kral. Mother


    and daughter. The daughter was killed first, then the mother a few days later. The


    apartment was wrecked the first time, and then the Watch found the second body after


    reports were filed with the local sentry.¡±


    ¡°Which door, Master Gall?,¡± asked Josie. She started up the stairs.


    ¡°Twenty six,¡± said the Watchman.


    Josie walked up the steps until she found the twenties floor. She stepped on the


    landing and walked down until she found twenty six. She frowned at the broken door


    barely hanging in place.


    ¡°Looks like it was hit with something blunt,¡± said Bob. He looked up and down the


    landing. ¡°Someone must have heard both murders.¡±


    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have come out unless they were armed,¡± said Gall. ¡°No point in


    defending someone else when you have nothing to fight with.¡±


    ¡°If they thought it was a monster, they might have thought they would have stood no


    chance,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why didn¡¯t they hire adventurers?¡±


    ¡°Lack of funds?,¡± asked Lois.


    ¡°Or they knew the Watch would interfere,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s knock and see if


    someone is inside before we walk in and look around.¡±


    Josie knocked and waited. Nothing stirred inside the apartment. She gently pushed


    the door aside. She was glad Bob and Gall were ready with weapons in case they


    needed them.


    She took a moment to look around before she entered the place. No one had tried to


    clean it up. Blood and decayed pieces of flesh had spattered everything. Whatever had


    done this would have been covered in blood and organs when they fled.


    It was the kind of scene she expected from an axe murderer.


    ¡°The reports said the Watch talked to the people here,¡± said Bob. ¡°No one admitted


    to seeing, or hearing, anything.¡±


    ¡°Why would they?,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Watch are just another gang of criminals to the


    people they deal with here. Even a monster attack wouldn¡¯t cause the average local


    to speak up about this and try to help out with what they saw. That goes double if they


    saw someone in a Watch tunic.¡±


    ¡°It would have to be a strong man indeed to do this much damage,¡± said Bob. ¡°It


    would take me minutes to do something like this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still leaning toward someone boosting his strength with alchemy,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°All the scenes were like this in the reports?¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± said Gall. ¡°Some of the reports stated the damage to the scene varied,


    but was still close enough to make them think it was the same man.¡±


    ¡°I can send a bird out and find the guy from here,¡± said Josie. ¡°But it would be my


    word against his that we found the right guy for all this.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and do that,¡± said Bob. ¡°We don¡¯t need to prove anything yet. We just


    need to know who it is. Then we can think about ways to tie him to the murders he


    committed.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he will confess and spare us a lot of trouble,¡± said Gall.


    Lois nodded her head in agreement.


    ¡°Anyone doing this to a portion of the community has to be stopped,¡± said the queen.


    ¡°And it falls on the Crown, and all of its servants to do that as part of its duties.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡±


    She changed into Zatanna and sent out a bird to locate their murderer. If he was still


    in the district, in the city, they would know soon enough. She changed back to let the


    watch charge as the spell flew out of the apartment in search of the person she


    wanted.


    She gingerly walked to the window and looked outside. The bird had descended on


    the Watchman in the street. She frowned at that, and then thought obviously a


    Watchman had to be involved in this.


    ¡°Gall,¡± Josie said. ¡°Do you know that Watchman down there?¡±


    ¡°His name is Shek,¡± said Gall. ¡°He sometimes helped us serve tax warrants. Aile only


    used him if he expected trouble. He likes to hurt people.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go down and talk to him,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe he can tell us what we need to


    know about this.¡±


    ¡°You want him to confess to the murders, don¡¯t you?,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°It would be nice,¡± said Josie. ¡°But this might lead into vigilantism, Master Gall. You


    might want to stand back and protect Lois in case of trouble. I think your help might


    be enough to secure your release from your service.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how this fight goes first,¡± said Bob. ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem if Infantryman


    Gall stays on his path.¡±


    Gall saluted at attention.


    Josie led the way out of the wrecked apartment. She saw people peering at her, and


    then her companions. They were afraid of the monster who had done this wreckage.


    They weren¡¯t going to help her without some cause.


    That was fine. It was better if they stood out of the way and let her work.


    Josie reached the street. She started walking after the patrolling Watchman. What


    could she say to get him to confess? She wondered if she could make him angry


    enough to drink one of his potions.


    ¡°Shek?,¡± she called. ¡°Why did you kill the Krals?¡±


    The Watchman paused at the accusation. He saw a slender woman in a shoulder cape


    and blue pants coming at him. Two knights in armor followed her, one carrying a


    pike. They looked like they were coming for him in a group. People watched the


    altercation brewing in front of them.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Watch,¡± said Shek. He tried to dismiss the assault.


    ¡°I¡¯m your judgment,¡± said Josie, still striding forward. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay for what


    you did.¡±


    Shek reached into his wallet hanging on his belt. He pulled out a bottle of blue light.


    He popped the top and drank it down. He swelled up in his tunic, growing more hair,


    eyes turning yellow. He growled as he ran toward the woman. As soon as he was


    done with her, he would kill the knights too.


    Josie turned the dial on her watch until she had the name she wanted in the face of the


    maniac running right at her. She pressed the button. Lightning wrapped around her,


    clothing her in red and gold. She exploded forward ten times as fast as Shek was


    running at her.


    People watching heard a thunderous shout of SHAZAM! before the transformed


    Watchman was slung across the city like a rock from a catapult. He flew away so fast


    that he appeared to vanish.


    ¡°Good job, Ear Ripper,¡± said Bob. ¡°I didn¡¯t see where he flew.¡±


    ¡°Neither did I,¡± said Josie. She let the lightning go. ¡°I need to find him to make sure


    he can¡¯t hurt anyone else. Hopefully that knocked the fight out of him so we don¡¯t


    have to worry about him ripping anyone trying to arrest him apart.¡±


    ¡°If he survived that, he is strong enough to do the damage we saw,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see where he landed,¡± said Josie. She called on Zatanna and sent out a bird.


    When it reached the impact point, it yanked the four of them across the city in a


    blink of an eye.


    Watchman Shek lay in a broken heap on the ground. People had gathered around


    him. He tried to move his hand. His serum worked to fix the massive damage that had


    been inflicted on him.


    ¡°Still alive?,¡± said Josie, pushing her way through the crowd. ¡°Why kill all those


    people, Shek? Because of the elixir?¡±


    ¡°Kill you,¡± said the werewolf.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. She looked at the gathered crowd around her party. ¡°You people


    might want to move back.¡±


    She transformed into Doctor Occult as Bob and Gall directed people away from the


    impact point. She shut the elixir off. That was enough to cause a catastrophic


    organ failure inside the Watchman. He gasped as his lungs couldn¡¯t draw in air


    anymore like a fish out of water. Then he breathed his last.


    She searched his body and found three more of the bottles miraculously intact after


    the high speed impact with the ground. She placed them in her bag as she heard a


    ding of completion go off. She stood.


    ¡°We have to talk to the Duke,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we¡¯re done with this.¡±

 Enhancements

    Jack followed Melanie down to the living space. He smiled when he saw the four


    lovebirds talking in the central area. He looked for his lovebird. He spotted Elaine


    moving in the kitchen.


    She was busy, and didn¡¯t need him. He decided to go down to their bedroom and


    work in his office. Now that he had a clear idea for Melanie, and Alicia, he needed


    to work on their mana machines to give them abilities.


    He hoped that he was doing the right thing in giving Melanie worm holes. He


    wondered how much she actually knew about the concept other than the stargates he


    had created.


    Brilliant but lazy seemed to apply. He wondered how brilliant she actually was. He


    already had an idea on how lazy she was.


    Jack smiled as the elevator door opened on his room¡¯s foyer. He stepped in the


    bedroom, and headed over to the space set aside for his office/workroom. He sat


    down at his desk and looked at the picture on the wall.


    He wondered why his magic worked like it did, but the Ducklings and Josie dressed


    as the Avengers amused him no end.


    He pulled out the pieces of metal he needed to make the machines for the girls. He


    already had an idea for Matilda, and Angelica. He hoped the four of them liked their


    gifts as much as Laura and Aviras.


    He worked for an unknown amount of time. Melanie¡¯s gift was the simplest to make.


    She needed a wormhole generator. He could make one of those in his sleep. He put


    that aside when he was done. Angelica, Alicia, and Matilda needed what he thought


    of as living encyclopedias to do what he wanted them to be able to do. Those were


    a little harder for his magic to make.


    He set up a base and loaded them with starter skills. The girls would have to work to


    expand the encyclopedias to make them better at what they could do.


    A ding went off in the middle of his working, but he disregarded it. He could check


    the quest reminders when he had things ready. He wanted to give the girls something


    since they were celebrating June going home.


    He hoped they liked the gifts.


    He put the four machines in tiny boxes when he was done. He scooped them up and


    put them in his pockets. He wondered what time it was. He missed having clocks on


    the wall. He did have his phone, but he didn¡¯t know if the time on it coincided with


    the time in Hawk Ridge.


    He decided to go upstairs and see how things were going.


    He wondered if he should go home with June to make sure she got through her fight


    without trouble. She needed to win if she wanted to come back. The Society had


    made that clear enough.


    It wouldn¡¯t be the first time he had helped her out.


    He took the elevator upstairs to the common room. The girls and their guests had


    surrounded the table. Plates and cups had been set out for dinner. The smell of


    cooking filled the room from the kitchen.


    ¡°Josie back yet?,¡± he asked.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Elaine. She joined him by the door. ¡°What have you been doing?¡±


    ¡°Making stuff for the girls,¡± said Jack. ¡°How¡¯s things here?¡±


    ¡°Dinner is almost ready,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Thad gave Alicia some help with her sparring


    so she would quit talking about his hair.¡±


    ¡°Still calling it a raccoon?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Do you think they will miss us if we go upstairs,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could use some


    snuggle time.¡±


    ¡°Snuggle time?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s where we lay on the grass and hug to be close knowing we


    can¡¯t do anything else because Josie and June might be here soon to stop us.¡±


    ¡°That might be nice, but I think you should join us here at the table and see what


    everyone thinks,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯ll give me a chance to practice my dad talk. Wait, I promised


    to test the falling device on Case, or Budd.¡±


    ¡°I think you can do that later,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I doubt either one of them want to go


    first.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right,¡± said Jack. He took her hand. She smiled at him. ¡°I feel tired.


    I guess the watch uses a lot when you are working with it.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you should give the girls their gifts so they can practice with them,¡± said


    Elaine.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good thought,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe that will get us the couch so we can do


    our snuggling in style.¡±


    ¡°Maybe a little more than that,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°You¡¯re naughty,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I like it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to clear the room,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I hope they like them,¡± said Jack. ¡°Melanie said she wanted the ability to open gates.


    I told her that she would have to start small. I¡¯m hoping that this is something I won¡¯t


    regret.¡±


    ¡°Melanie won¡¯t let you down,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I hope she won¡¯t,¡± said Jack. ¡°The future is going to need her when she wants to


    help out.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and get this done before Josie comes home,¡± said Elaine. ¡°She will be busy


    dealing with Thad and Case, and may not get a chance to help the girls if we wait on


    this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Jack. ¡°And they will need to practice anyway.¡±


    He metaphorically flipped the switch in his brain to put his doubts aside. It was time


    to go to work.


    ¡°Angelica, Alicia, Melanie, and Matilda,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come on upstairs. I want to


    give you your things so you can practice with them.¡±


    He stepped inside the elevator and went upstairs to the top floor. He opened the roof


    door and walked outside. He stood on the grass. The sun was going down. June would


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.be there in a few.


    Maybe he could ask her to show Alicia some moves before she went home.


    The girls arrived, looking confused. They had no idea why he had asked them to


    come up to the surface. He smiled at them.


    ¡°I made you guys gifts,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to try them out and tell me what you


    think.¡±


    ¡°What kind of gifts?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Melanie wanted something to use like the Spot,¡± said Jack. ¡°Alicia wants to be a


    better fighter. Angelica wants to be a better cook. And I am going to give you an


    intelligence booster, Matilda, so that everything you read and learn can be used to


    better yourself faster than the people around you. These gifts will make you stand out


    to others, and they can isolate you because it will be like magic, and not a lot of


    people like magic that doesn¡¯t work for them.¡±


    ¡°So we could be targets?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Already are,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°What?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°I think she means that just being sisters to the Missus makes us targets for people


    who don¡¯t like the Missus,¡± said Matilda.


    Alicia nodded.


    ¡°And she¡¯s right,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°And there are a few people who know about the Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Only four


    people can control it, but that won¡¯t stop people from trying to get onboard and take


    it from us.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°So I am going to give you these things and hope they will take care of you when


    Josie and I aren¡¯t around,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want you to use them with responsibility so


    you can make things better for yourself and those around you.¡±


    ¡°So I can¡¯t raid the Royal Treasury?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°Not funny,¡± said Jack. ¡°And not good with the Queen visiting us.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with. I don¡¯t want my bird to burn


    while I am doing this.¡±


    ¡°Just remember, you are going to have to practice with what I give you until it feels


    natural,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then you can try to expand the talent out to where it does what


    you want.¡±


    ¡°We understand,¡± said Melanie. ¡°And I won¡¯t make any more jokes about robbing


    places. I won¡¯t need to with the ability to travel.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll need to practice with it until you can move yourself across any distance,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°The same goes for the rest of you, even though I am giving you skills and not a


    power,¡± said Jack. ¡°You will have to practice with it to make it better and easier for


    you to use.¡±


    The girls nodded.


    ¡°Turn around,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am going to put these in you, so you can get started.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°You want to use the machines, they have to be inside you,¡± said Jack. ¡°It only takes


    a couple of seconds, and they will show up on the scanner the hospital uses.¡±


    ¡°This is so bad,¡± said Melanie.


    The girls turned around. Alicia swept her arm in front of her.


    ¡°I am going to have to touch the backs of your necks,¡± said Jack. ¡°There will be a


    stinging sensation. That will go away as the machines come online. You will have a


    small amount of vertigo, then things should start working.¡±


    He put the four boxes on the ground. He changed into Doctor Strange and started


    work. It took a few seconds for each girl, but each machine was locked in place.


    ¡°How do you feel?,¡± asked Jack. He let Doctor Strange go.


    ¡°Dizzy,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I¡¯m seeing dots.¡±


    ¡°I can see slots on one side of my vision,¡± said Angelica. ¡°There is a number at the


    bottom. It looks like a seventy nine.¡±


    ¡°Probably Fahrenheit,¡± said Jack. ¡°So the first obvious boost is you can see the


    temperature of the air.¡±


    ¡°How would I know for sure?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°When we go back downstairs, look at the inside of the icebox,¡± said Jack. ¡°The cold


    air should be at thirty or forty degrees. If the number falls to that, then you know


    that¡¯s what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Alicia. ¡°Something is wrong with Matilda.¡±


    ¡°Aviras will bite my face off if something has gone wrong with her,¡± said Jack. He


    moved down to examine Matilda. ¡°I don¡¯t even want to know what Josie will do.¡±


    Matilda stared into space. He could see pinpoints of light in her eyes. She smiled


    suddenly. He waved his hand in front of her eyes to see what would happen.


    ¡°I know what friends with benefits means,¡± said Matilda. She smiled even wider. ¡°No


    wonder Josie didn¡¯t want to talk to me about it. I¡¯m too young. I don¡¯t even have a


    boy yet.¡±


    ¡°How old are you?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m eight,¡± said Matilda. ¡°It will be a while before boys will start looking at me. The


    best I could do now are weird old men.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I based your gift off a show called Limitless. Take it easy. At


    some point, you will be able to remember everything you have ever seen, or done.¡±


    ¡°Like when you did the recitation for the show?,¡± said Matilda. ¡°You had the whole


    thing memorized and had notes for what you thought of as improvements.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a function of Mister Fantastic,¡± said Jack. ¡°Eidetic memory.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I can see the whole world in a different way. I¡¯ll have


    to hide it.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Melanie. She frowned at the younger girl.


    ¡°The same reason you hide how smart you are,¡± said Matilda. She closed her eyes. ¡°It


    all makes so much sense. I think I need a lie down.¡±


    ¡°How do you feel, Number Two?,¡± asked Jack. He grabbed Matilda and lowered her


    to the ground.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Alicia. She clenched her fist. She fell into her sword fighting stance,


    moving as if she was holding a sword in her closed hand. ¡°The movement seems a


    little smoother.¡±


    ¡°What did Matilda mean?,¡± said Angelica. She looked at Melanie. The older girl


    pushed her dark hair back from her face as she stepped back.


    ¡°She¡¯s pretending to be dumb,¡± said Alicia. She looked at her hands. She moved them


    in figure eights. ¡°So she can be lazy.¡±


    ¡°Is that true?,¡± asked Angelica. She didn¡¯t look at Alicia for a facial cue. She knew


    the other middle girl was stoic and neutral most of the time they were together.


    Melanie backed up. She looked at the angry Angelica glaring at her, and the stoic


    Alicia looking at her own hands as they moved through the air. Matilda was down on


    the ground, drooling in the grass. She turned a little to face Jack.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to explain anything to us,¡± said Jack. He held out a hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay.


    I wondered how you got so much better during the rematch. Everyone has secrets,


    Mel. There¡¯s no shame in keeping yours.¡±


    ¡°Everyone?,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Except maybe Matilda,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°She¡¯s not old enough to have


    secrets.¡±


    ¡°I should have known that anything that made Matilda smarter would cause her to


    realize I have been hiding some things,¡± said Melanie. She frowned. ¡°The cup was


    probably the clue she needed to put everything together if she actually does remember


    everything she saw and heard.¡±


    ¡°The cup?,¡± said Angelica. She didn¡¯t hide her confusion.


    ¡°Hyouka,¡± said Alicia. ¡°The lazy student called on to help his friends with their


    problems.¡±


    Jack nodded.


    ¡°I think that Jack¡¯s right,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Everyone has things they don¡¯t want to talk


    about because of the subject, or such. I am willing to let this go if you want,


    Melanie.¡±


    ¡°What about you, Number Two?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my concern,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I¡¯m Melanie¡¯s sister, not her mother.¡±


    ¡°Do we keep this secret from Josie?,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will be dangerous, but doable.¡±


    The girls nodded almost in unison.


    ¡°She knows,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Thank you for saying you would defy her for me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about defiance,¡± said Angelica. ¡°But we¡¯re not tattlers.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s going to take a bit to get used to the new sensory stuff.


    We¡¯ll get through dinner, and then you can sleep the rest of the effect off.¡±


    ¡°Mine doesn¡¯t seem to work,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I can feel the thing wanting to activate,


    but it keeps sliding away.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to practice with it,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might not have enough to


    move anything bigger than a pebble.¡±


    ¡°Try a blade of grass,¡± said Angelica. She bent down and plucked piece of green from


    the ground. She handed it over. ¡°Try to move this.¡±


    Melanie stared at the blade of grass in her hand. She held up her other hand so both


    hands were at the same level. She closed her eyes. The blade fell into a hole just


    above the palm of her hand, and out a hole over her other hand. She opened her eyes.


    ¡°You can move grass,¡± said Jack. ¡°It looks like the experiment was a success.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I have to get back to the kitchen and finish cooking.¡±


    ¡°Angelica, Alicia,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Thank you for not saying anything.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re our sister,¡± said Angelica. ¡°You were literally in the next room of the


    dungeon when we were rescued. You voted to stay together with us. You have looked


    out for us, even when you were complaining about the effort. We would never have


    flown the first time if you hadn¡¯t whined so much. Just don¡¯t be so lazy in the future.


    We¡¯re still going to need your help.¡±


    ¡°Need you for our third try,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have to work a little harder for that,¡± said Jack. He grinned at them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go downstairs, and at least put Matilda to bed so she can sleep off her sensory


    change.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Melanie. ¡°I think you should explain things to Aviras.¡±


    ¡°That will be marvelous,¡± said Jack. He bent down and picked Matilda up. He shook


    his head as he started for the stairs leading down into the Hangar.

 The End of the Day

    Josie sat at the desk they had used for their investigation. She read the report she had


    prepared for the Crown and the Duchy. The board quest was complete. She wondered


    what she should do tomorrow with Jack and the kids gone from the Hangar. Maybe


    she would hang around the hospital and bug Jane and Hilda.


    She wanted to see how the cure would do on the women more affected by the goblin


    tree seeds than the nurses working on them.


    She looked at her group. She had to break them up and get them back where they


    belonged. They had done a good job on keeping her on track, and helping her find the


    criminals involved.


    She had to get things moving.


    ¡°Mister Gall,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to take you home and get things settled with


    your wife, and kids. If you want to work, but not with the Watch, I will hire you for


    the hospital to help protect it.¡±


    ¡°Can I consider it?,¡± said Gall. ¡°I would like to talk to my wife about it.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will help you move so your family is closer to the hospital to


    help you out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Gall. ¡°This has been something.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you can be the first detective here,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Detective?,¡± said Gall.


    ¡°Where I am from, the Watch is divided into uniforms which is most of the Watch


    here who patrol and look for crimes that have just happened,¡± said Josie. ¡°And


    detectives who look at old crimes and try to figure out what happened and who did


    it just like we did with Shek.¡±


    ¡°Maybe the Captain will think about doing something like that,¡± said Gall. ¡°I doubt


    he will assign me to anything like that.¡±


    ¡°It has been an experience, Ear Ripper,¡± said Bob. ¡°I will let Lori know you are


    willing to take her fishing.¡±


    ¡°I will say, Bob,¡± said Josie. ¡°You made everything go a little smoother. It has been


    a pleasure. I will let Jack know to be ready to take her. I¡¯m going to enjoy my day


    without responsibilities as much as I can.¡±


    ¡°Just remember you don¡¯t always have to consult us about a crime,¡± said Bob. ¡°You


    could come by and just have some tea and biscuits.¡±


    He lifted a hand. A rainbow wrapped around him and he walked into the air and


    vanished. The bridge of light retreated with every step he took.


    ¡°The Duke will be happy to have these rings rounded up and dispensed with before


    the audit arrives,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy too since it makes the city safer for my kids,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s turn


    everything over to the Duke. I still have to get ready for dinner and send June home


    for her fight.¡±


    It took them a few minutes to find the Duke. He was in a meeting with some planners


    from the city department. He held up a hand to stop the talk as he looked at his new


    visitors.


    ¡°We captured the people you wanted to talk to,¡± said Josie. ¡°The solo operator is


    dead. He was taking potions to turn him into a strong berserker. The rest are at the


    hospital under guard. Litt is confined under guard. I left a report in the office we


    used.¡±


    ¡°It was a pleasure to do what we could,¡± said Lois. ¡°I am due back in the capitol. I


    will be glad to inform the King that your help was instrumental in solving these


    problems.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the Duke. ¡°I hope to have the tax department ready for the audit.¡±


    ¡°Very good,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°Whenever you want to deal with Litt¡¯s bosses, Jane is holding them at the hospital,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°They won¡¯t be able to walk for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the Duke.


    Josie changed and threw out a set of birds to take them across the city. She let the


    persona go as she led the way to the Gall homestead. She knocked on the door.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Madam Gall. She didn¡¯t open the door.


    ¡°I have some news for you,¡± said Josie through the door.


    Madam Gall opened the door. She took in Josie, frowning at her visitor. Then she


    looked at the older Lois in her traveling dress and boots. Then the man in armor


    behind them, holding a pike.


    ¡°It¡¯s bad, isn¡¯t?,¡± said Madam Gall. ¡°Quiton isn¡¯t coming home.¡±


    ¡°His service is done,¡± said Josie. ¡°He is coming home.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked the woman. ¡°When?¡±


    ¡°How about now?,¡± asked Gall. He raised the visor of his helmet. He smiled at his


    wife.


    She exploded with a laugh, and a cheer. She pushed pass Josie and Lois to hug her


    husband. She wrapped her arms around the armor and tried to squeeze. The elven


    metal refused to bend.


    Children appeared. They took in the scene. They began to scream and jump for joy.


    Then they rushed their parents with hugs of their own.


    Josie changed and whisked herself and the Queen to the Hangar. She smiled as Gall


    tried to answer all the questions being thrown his way.


    ¡°That was something,¡± said Lois as Josie let the persona go.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how things are here,¡± said Josie. ¡°You should be able to spend some time


    with Caroline before we take you home. Then we can see what the rest of the day will


    bring.¡±


    ¡°I think the Duke will have an easier time of things with your help,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°He was never going to pass any audit as long as he had people still on his payroll


    stealing money,¡± said Josie. ¡°It seemed the easiest thing to do to keep the peace.¡±


    ¡°There will still be a lot of problems to press out,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°I only care about my kids, and Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°The rest will have to wait until


    I can turn my attention to it, or harness Jack into taking care of it for me.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Lois. She smiled. She thought the comments about being soft on the


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.inside described her companion well as they walked to the elevator and went down


    to find their children.


    They stepped off the elevator in the main parlor area. Angelica and Elaine were


    fussing with things in the kitchen. The other girls were talking with Thad, Emily, and


    Case. She didn¡¯t see Matilda, Jack, or Aviras.


    ¡°The missus,¡± said Beatrice, so everyone could hear her.


    Case and Caroline separated by a few inches in a hurry.


    ¡°Where is Matilda and Aviras?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Jack took her to her room,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Aviras went with them. She had an


    adverse reaction to the gift he gave her.¡±


    ¡°What kind of adverse reaction?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She is remembering everything that she has seen and done for the last eight years,¡±


    said Melanie.


    ¡°Right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me look into this. Thank you for your help, Lois. You could


    be a good detective with some work.¡±


    Josie strode to the elevator and took it down to the girls¡¯ floor. She walked across the


    central parlor area to Matilda¡¯s room. She paused as she heard voices through the


    door.


    At least Aviras was calmer than she expected.


    She knocked before letting the door slide out of the way. Matilda was on her bed.


    Aviras stood beside her. Jack stood next to the bed. He rubbed his scar as he thought.


    ¡°So what happened?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°Hey, Jo,¡± said Jack. He smiled. ¡°How¡¯s it going? How did things work out in the


    city?¡±


    ¡°Deflection won¡¯t work,¡± said Josie. ¡°What did you do to Matilda?¡±


    ¡°I gave her the ability to remember things and connect them faster,¡± said Jack. ¡°She


    seems to be remembering too much. So we brought her down here so we can wait


    until she comes out of it.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She figured out what friends with benefits means and Melanie is hiding her brain in


    two seconds,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°But she is undergoing a process as her brain sorts things. I already


    checked with Doctor Strange, and she is physically okay. She is sleeping things off


    at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Then why are the both of you here?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°In case something unexpected happens,¡± said Jack. ¡°I might have to take the gift


    back. I¡¯m waiting to see what happens.¡±


    ¡°And I am waiting to bite his face off in case Matilda is hurt,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°What do you need from me?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re just waiting to see what will happen. We¡¯ll call you if


    we need Doctor Occult.¡±


    ¡°Aviras,¡± said Matilda. She still had her eyes closed.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Matilda,¡± said the dragon. He crawled up the bed to be next to her torso.


    ¡°Thank you for your protection,¡± she said. ¡°You are the first real friend I have made.


    Jack and Josie try, but they have a lot of responsibilities, and the Ducklings were born


    out of necessity even though we are more like sisters, than not. Thank you for


    everything. I just wanted you to know how I felt.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Aviras. ¡°It is the same for me. I have never known anyone to


    extend a hand out to me. I appreciate that you did so. That took some courage.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to die,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Matilda. She opened her eyes and smiled. She grabbed Aviras and


    hugged him despite his protests. ¡°I just wanted to have my say before things get


    complicated again.¡±


    ¡°Young lady,¡± said Josie. She couldn¡¯t decide whether she should laugh, or cry.


    ¡°Pranks are for people who need to be shot. Get out of bed and join us for dinner.¡±


    ¡°How do you feel, Matty?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I feel lots better,¡± said Matilda. She released Aviras and let him fly to a place on her


    desk as she swung her feet over the edge of the bed. ¡°It took me a while to sort


    of shunt the memories to a waiting line. It¡¯s working well right now. I think if I have


    some kind of strong emotion, that might trigger a loss of control. This is really


    a marvelous gift you have given me, Jack.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too young for the movie, but maybe I can get June to get a copy of the


    television show,¡± said Jack. ¡°It has some violence and mystery solving. Maybe


    it will give you pointers for what you can do with your gift.¡±


    ¡°Just remember,¡± said Josie. ¡°With great power comes great responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± said girl and dragon at the same time.


    ¡°Better go get something to eat before it¡¯s gone,¡± said Josie. ¡°You two have done


    a good job the last few days. I think we can lift the restriction on the books and ice


    cream.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Matilda. A grin split her face. She exchanged a look with her


    companion.


    ¡°Aviras,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will pay you what I owe as soon as June makes it home.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t welsh?,¡± said the dragon. Fire played around his snout as he thought of


    the prize he was about to receive.


    ¡°I¡¯m not Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will have it in a barrel and put it in your room after


    lights out. Don¡¯t overeat.¡±


    ¡°That will be so good,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Then we should go into the breach one more time,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We should think about giving other people gifts like these,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Can¡¯t,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society frowns on it. I have to settle for what I can give you


    as the future protectors of the planet, and the Village who are Mister Warner¡¯s


    tentative minions at this point. A sudden change like powers for everyone will have


    the Society trying to replace me with someone dumber and useless.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how that¡¯s possible,¡± said Aviras. A small twinkle sparked in his sapphire


    eyes.


    ¡°Everyone is a critic,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the dragon. ¡°But Hank Pym is more


    my friend than yours, buddy.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°No biting,¡± said Josie. She pushed Jack toward the elevator. ¡°No gloating. You¡¯re


    supposed to be setting a good example for the kids.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been a good example before,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s your strong point,¡± said Matilda. She hopped off of the bed.


    She held her hand out for Aviras so she could put him on her head. ¡°You¡¯re more


    like a wild animal that can be friendly as long as food is not around like Igram


    the Bear.¡±


    ¡°Cultural hero?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°He was supposedly a wild bear that a knight from Gowan Hand¡¯s band tamed to be


    a riding animal,¡± said Matilda. ¡°He also attacked the knight¡¯s enemies when they


    were in fights together.¡±


    ¡°A friendly type menace to society does sound like you,¡± said Josie. She put her arm


    around Matilda as they walked to the elevator.


    ¡°Thank you for being worried about me,¡± said Matilda. ¡°You do act like our mother


    instead of a big sister.¡±


    ¡°I am trying to be a good example,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am just not good at it.¡±


    ¡°Would you have gone home if you hadn¡¯t needed to protect us?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know how, and I had already signed the quest board,¡± said Josie. ¡°If things


    had gone different, maybe I wouldn¡¯t have killed the people I have killed, or


    done some of the things I have had to do. Maybe I wouldn¡¯t have dealt with the


    werewolf I dealt with today because of how time splits. But if I went back in time


    and changed things, none of us would be who we are now. I can see why the


    Federation placed a Temporal Prime Directive in effect for their future time


    travelers.¡±


    ¡°Temporal Prime Directive?,¡± asked Matilda.


    The group stepped into the elevator. Jack pressed the button to take them back up to


    the main rooms.


    ¡°The Federation had an order to not interfere with the people they found on their


    travels,¡± said Josie. ¡°Eventually they mastered time travel and put in an order for their


    officers not to interfere with the past beyond fixing something that had already gone


    wrong because of time bandits, tourists, and such. As explorers, it¡¯s their number one


    rule.¡±


    ¡°Plus time is mutable in their setting,¡± said Jack. ¡°Someone traveling into the past and


    doing the wrong thing could destroy their future from that point on.¡±


    ¡°So if we went back and told you about all of this, none of us would be here now?,¡±


    said Matilda.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to jump out of the Enterprise¡¯s cargo door tomorrow,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what would have happened,¡± said Josie. She frowned at Jack. ¡°But


    there is a small chance that you and the rest of the Ducklings would be dead by now.¡±


    The elevator doors opened.


    ¡°Dinner is being served,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead and eat. Then it will be time to head


    to bed.¡±


    Matilda and Aviras headed for the table. She slid in beside Alicia and took her place.


    The dragon dropped down on the table beside her plate.


    ¡°What have you done to Matilda?,¡± Josie quietly asked as she watched the crowd in


    front of her.


    ¡°I gave her an ability like Limitless,¡± said Jack. ¡°In ten years, she will be roaming


    around space and time like the Doctor, and fixing problems before they happen.¡±


    ¡°The Society will have your head for this,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I am more worried that the machine has a side effect that will give Matilda


    dementia,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll see how things go.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious, or being scary?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°What¡¯s this about a werewolf?¡±


    ¡°Watchman was using some kind of potion to get buff and hairy to kill people,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°He was literally ripping them apart with his hands.¡±


    ¡°I take it he didn¡¯t want to be arrested,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°He didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Tough stuff,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess I will test the falling device tomorrow.¡±


    The sound of the Tardis appearing softly filled the room.


    ¡°June must be here,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll go get her.¡±


    He stepped back in the elevator.

 Junes Gone

    Jack stepped out of the elevator. He grinned when he saw June and Boim looking


    around the Hangar floor. He clapped his hands to get their attention.


    ¡°Everybody¡¯s eating downstairs,¡± said Jack. ¡°You might want to hurry if you want


    to grab something.¡±


    ¡°I knew you could have done better when I showed up,¡± said June. She pointed at him


    in mock anger. ¡°You put in an office as soon as you could move us out.¡±


    ¡°I offered to build you a house,¡± said Jack. ¡°It would have been a nice house.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re saying now,¡± said June.


    ¡°Did you get your com, Boim?,¡± said Jack. He led the way to the elevator.


    ¡°Yes, Jack,¡± said Boim. ¡°We¡¯re tried it out to make sure it worked.¡±


    ¡°If you need us, open the gate,¡± said Jack. He held the door for them. ¡°Then you can


    call us from up north.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember,¡± said Boim. ¡°Things seem steady for now.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He pushed the button for them. ¡°Keep your eyes open in case


    there are more body choppers up your way. I doubt we will get quests for it, but I


    might want to swing by and do some things before it¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°What makes you say that?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°The FBI stated once that over fifty serial killers were in operation in America at any


    one time,¡± said Jack. ¡°As soon as one goes down, another takes his place.¡±


    ¡°So?,¡± said June.


    ¡°So it¡¯s a heck of a lot easier for one to operate here than back home,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°And we already found one that liked to chop people up and put them back together


    in the name of science.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said June. ¡°That¡¯s a valid point.¡±


    ¡°I will keep an eye out for anything strange,¡± said Boim. ¡°And I will be armed when


    I am out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Jack.


    The doors opened on the crowd at the table. June looked around the main room. She


    couldn¡¯t stop herself from being amazed. Then she glared at Jack. He grinned back


    at her.


    ¡°Your dinner is getting cold,¡± said Jack. ¡°Angelica is an excellent cook. Dig in while


    you can.¡±


    ¡°You could have done this at any time for us,¡± said June.


    ¡°You¡¯re not a princess,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you two know everybody here. Make


    room for our last guests.¡±


    ¡°You can sit here, June,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Thad and I are going to talk about some


    things now that we are done.¡±


    ¡°Thad Budd,¡± said Jack in his gruff voice. ¡°Beatrice is the oldest Duckling and I


    know she knows what she¡¯s doing, but you best know what you are doing if you


    know what the hot lead pouring down to cut your hair is going to be.¡±


    ¡°I already handled this,¡± said Josie. ¡°And don¡¯t ask for three of his fingers in case


    they want to move beyond this.¡±


    ¡°What about just a pinkie?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Thad knows what the line is, and he will be good for Bea. You can


    practice your finger cutting on Case.¡±


    ¡°I need my fingers,¡± said Case.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need them all,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°Neither does Caroline.¡±


    Case and Caroline blushed at that.


    ¡°Can we be excused?,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I think we need to settle things before Jack


    says something worse than that.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. She smiled slightly. ¡°Thad bring her back before the moons go


    down.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Madam Witch,¡± said Thad. He stood and held out a hand for Beatrice.


    ¡°And stay out of trouble,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack is not the only one who can throw


    lightning in the city.¡±


    Beatrice and Thad went to the elevator to head upstairs. As the talk resumed, the


    sound of the Tardis filled the Hangar.


    ¡°The Tardis?,¡± asked June.


    ¡°We needed a klaxon for the gate working,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wanted a sound that was


    distinctive.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said June. She and Boim sat down and started talking about their day, and


    what had happened in Hawk Ridge since they had moved up north.


    Jack went back to the elevator. He rode back up and opened the roof. He climbed the


    stairs and laid down on the grass. He looked up at the clouds.


    Everything had worked out so much better than he had thought. He was surprised at


    how neat things were at the moment. He wondered what could go wrong.


    He planned to do nothing the next day. Sitting on the lake and just watching the water


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.seemed the best of a break he could come up with since he had no way to play


    basketball with anyone from the neighborhood.


    He hoped the girls liked their gifts. He knew that things like what he had given could


    cause their own problems. He was glad that he hadn¡¯t given Matilda a stroke.


    He should be hanging out with his extended family, but he just wanted to be alone at


    the moment. Later, he would be ready to deal with things.


    This might be better with Elaine. A little snuggling would be nice right about now.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± asked Emily Budd from the stairs.


    ¡°Thinking,¡± said Jack. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°The Queen has Caroline in hand,¡± said Emily. She stepped out on the grass. ¡°They


    don¡¯t need me at the moment.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wonder how long it will take them to get their acts


    together.¡±


    ¡°Case is a skirt chaser,¡± said Emily. She sat down a few feet away from Jack. ¡°I¡¯m


    surprised someone finally said yes to him.¡±


    ¡°All it takes is one,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do you think about Beatrice?¡±


    ¡°I think she is what Thad needs right now,¡± said Emily. ¡°He¡¯s been coasting along,


    helping Eric. It¡¯s about time for him to form his own party.¡±


    ¡°Josie said he¡¯s the one that wanted her to help you out,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I made a mistake,¡± said Emily. ¡°I wanted to go out on my own, and my party


    betrayed me.¡±


    ¡°It happens,¡± said Jack. He turned his gaze back to the sky. ¡°If Thad and Bea formed


    a party, would you want in?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Emily. ¡°Maybe, or maybe form my own.¡±


    ¡°June might need an adventurer to help her when she comes back,¡± said Jack. ¡°When


    this bodyguarding job ends, you could ask her if she wants the help.¡±


    ¡°Do you think she will need the help?,¡± said Emily. ¡°She has arms big enough to


    throw a horse to the ground.¡±


    ¡°She will need someone with combat experience,¡± said Jack. ¡°Boim can chop people


    down, but I don¡¯t know if she has had experience raiding other people.¡±


    ¡°If this bodyguarding job ends, I will talk to your sister about whether or not she will


    need another aide,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t tell her I thought she was helpless, and you should be in like Flynn,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she wouldn¡¯t like her younger brother looking over her shoulder,¡± said


    Emily. She smiled at the shrug that got her.


    ¡°As long as I don¡¯t have to tell my mom she got eaten by a goat, I¡¯m good,¡± said Jack.


    June and Elaine came up the stairs. June grinned. Elaine looked perplexed.


    ¡°What can I do for you two?,¡± said Jack. He gestured for Elaine to sit beside him.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting ready to go home,¡± said June. ¡°I have the letter for Mom, return paper


    in case I need it and it works in the real world, and a list of stuff to bring back. You


    want anything?¡±


    ¡°We need some more books,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mister Warner said he was going to try to


    ship my collection here. You got the Limitless series for Matilda, right?¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said June. ¡°I¡¯ll help with the comic books.¡±


    ¡°The only other thing I really want is my laptop,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s in my space back


    home.¡±


    ¡°At Mom¡¯s?, asked June.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°June, Emily and I were talking. When this thing with Case and


    Caroline gets settled, she was thinking about looking around for another job. I told


    her you and Boim might need help up north. She still has a couple of years before


    Thad can form a party with Beatrice and her.¡±


    June looked down at Emily. She nodded as she thought and made a decision.


    ¡°If you want to come up north and hang out with us when I get back, that will be cool


    with me,¡± said June. ¡°Boim is decent with a sword, but another set of hands might


    make things go smoother. We have a house there. You can stay if you want to work


    with us.¡±


    ¡°What would I be expected to do?,¡± asked Emily.


    ¡°Help us stop bad things from happening,¡± said June. ¡°It¡¯s pretty much my job. Like


    I said, another set of hands who knows how to navigate the lay of the land could be


    useful.¡±


    ¡°All you have to do is keep June from abusing her position,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I suppose as long as she doesn¡¯t bring home a dragon, that would be fine,¡± said


    Emily.


    ¡°Come along, Emily,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I should show you your room so you can get


    ready for bed. June, you¡¯ll always be welcome.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a week at the outside,¡± said June. ¡°This could be what I need.¡±


    Jack watched Elaine and Emily descend down the steps. He sighed.


    ¡°Being in love looks good on you, Jack-Jack,¡± said June.


    ¡°I doubt that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s better than not,¡± said June. ¡°I¡¯ll let the parents know you¡¯re all right.¡±


    ¡°I need you to come back so you can show Alicia your fancy moves,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I thought she wanted to be an archer,¡± said June. She grinned down at her little


    brother.


    ¡°She¡¯s decided to be the best fighter she can be,¡± said Jack. He stood. ¡°I figure if


    you¡¯re retiring, you can teach her something.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just more fighting,¡± said June. She frowned at him. ¡°Are you okay with all these


    people roaming around?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a place to have private time with Elaine. That¡¯s all I


    need.¡±


    ¡°Look out for yourself, and Elaine,¡± said June. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the time


    differential is but I have the fight in two days, and then I have to pack my gear, or put


    things in storage, and arrange for payment, and then come back. It might be as much


    as a month before I can come back, or I might have to do like Mister Warner and


    switch back and forth until I get things squared away.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on Boim, and your new house,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie will probably want


    some of her stuff brought back.¡±


    ¡°Already have a list,¡± said June. ¡°Try to stay on the rails.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°When will you go home? Do you think it¡¯s something


    automatic built into the trial?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any clue,¡± said June. ¡°You know as much as I do.¡±


    A man in basketball casual walked up to them. He wore a hat with too many wings,


    and carried a walking stick. He smiled at the siblings as he came to a stop.


    ¡°It¡¯s time, Juniper Lee,¡± said the visitor. ¡°I¡¯m here to take you home.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± said Jack. ¡°We were wondering what was going to happen.¡±


    ¡°This one time I¡¯m allowed to show her the path of her travels,¡± said the man with the


    hat. ¡°It¡¯s sort of my specialty. After that, the watch will bring her back if she needs


    to move back and forth until she is fully settled in.¡±


    ¡°Look out for her, or I will set Josie on you,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m so afraid,¡± said the man in the hat. He gave Jack an eye roll.


    ¡°Let me get her,¡± said Jack. He stood up with a grin.


    ¡°I think you should say your good byes,¡± said the man in the hat. ¡°We have an


    appointment to keep.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for you, Juni,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come back when you¡¯re set.¡±


    ¡°One fight, some packing, and moving everything here,¡± said June. ¡°How hard could


    it be?¡±


    ¡°You know better than that,¡± said Jack.


    June hugged him before he could step back. She let go. She smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back,¡± said June. ¡°Come on, bud.¡±


    The man in the hat led the way toward Hawk Ridge. June followed, travel bag


    hanging from her shoulder. They vanished in the twilight sky.


    Jack watched the trees silently. He frowned at the sudden leaving of his sister. He had


    just begun to get used to having her around.


    ¡°June?,¡± said Elaine. He turned to see her standing by the opening.


    ¡°She¡¯s gone,¡± said Jack. ¡°I suppose Mister Warner went home from the village


    instead of coming here. He¡¯s used to the shuttle. I have to let Boim know so she can


    wait for Juni to come back.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s unharmed,¡± said Elaine. ¡°She is coming back.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. He smiled at his beloved. ¡°I was just getting used to having her


    around again.¡±


    ¡°I would like to meet the rest of your family,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I would rather chase an axe murderer through some filthy sewers,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s


    settle in to enjoy ourselves.¡±


    ¡°The Queen,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°She has to get someone else to make her happy,¡± said Jack.


    Elaine shook her head.

 Return to the Capitol

    Josie listened to the people sharing the table with her. She let Lois explain what they


    had been doing in the city the whole day. She didn¡¯t say anything about Case and


    Caroline snuggling closer as the queen talked. She had given June a list of things she


    wanted from her place, a copy of her house key, and some emergency paper in case


    she needed it.


    June had gone upstairs to talk to Jack. Elaine had come down with Emily. The two


    women stood on the edge of the crowd for a moment, before Elaine went back


    upstairs.


    Josie wondered how much longer she should give the Queen before taking her back


    up to the Capitol. She would be in just as much danger as Caroline if anyone else


    came out of the woodwork to try to stop the King from doing whatever he planned


    to do.


    She would have guards to keep her safe in the castle. And she would be with the King


    and his guards. Two layers of security should be enough. It hadn¡¯t been enough to


    protect Caroline.


    Should she give the Queen a guard of her own to protect her while things were going


    on.


    ¡°Girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°Please clean up and go over your homework. Aviras, I will get


    you your ice cream after I get things settled with Lois.¡±


    ¡°Yes, missus,¡± said Laura. ¡°We¡¯ll get it done.¡±


    ¡°I wait with anticipation,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Everyone ready for tomorrow?¡±


    A choruses of yeses went around the tables. She nodded at the affirmation. She stood


    at her place. She smiled quietly.


    ¡°I am going to send you home, Case,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is where you kiss the girl until


    you see her tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I can?,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Unless you think she won¡¯t like it,¡± said Josie. She waved her hand. ¡°One kiss


    should be enough for now.¡±


    Case looked at the girls looking at him. He looked at the Queen frowning at him.


    Boim Russ sat with her elbows on the table with raised eyebrows.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t kiss me now, you might never be able to later,¡± said Caroline.


    Case leaned over and kissed her, hugging her close. He broke away after a minute.


    Caroline smiled.


    ¡°Can I kiss you later?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°If you can do it like that,¡± said Caroline. She smiled at his face.


    ¡°Mush,¡± said Alicia. She crossed her arms under her frowning face.


    ¡°It¡¯s romantic,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I wonder if I can find a boyfriend that can do that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re eight,¡± said Melanie. ¡°You have plenty of time for that.¡±


    ¡°I want someone perfect,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Good luck with that,¡± said Laura. ¡°You¡¯ll be lucky to find a boy that survives the


    first talk with Jack.¡±


    ¡°You only get to keep two fingers,¡± said Melanie in a good imitation of Jack¡¯s dad


    talk voice. ¡°You don¡¯t get to decide which ones.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Jack. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could impersonate voices.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Melanie. She blushed.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to take the Queen home by bird,¡± said Josie. ¡°June?¡±


    ¡°One of the Society took her home,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess we¡¯re clear for the rest of the


    night. Did Mister Warner come by?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you think he ran into trouble?¡±


    ¡°It depends on whether or not he was able to use his watch,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can try to


    call him and see what happened. Do you want to hang out here, Boim, or go home?¡±


    ¡°I think I will go home and wait,¡± said Boim. ¡°I will keep an eye on things like I said.


    I doubt that I will be able to locate another chopper unless he is really obvious.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to call for help if you need it,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have the gate, and we


    have the Enterprise. We can be up where you are in minutes depending.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t forget,¡± said Boim. She made a face. ¡°It¡¯s strange how things have changed.


    Four days ago, I was living on the street. Three days ago, someone wanted to cut me


    up for my eyes. Two days ago, I was fighting monsters with the first friends I have


    made. Yesterday, I moved into my first house with a friend. Today, I start waiting for


    my friend to come back. What will tomorrow bring?¡±


    ¡°Tidings of comfort and joy,¡± said Jack. He grinned quietly at his own joke.


    ¡°It would have to, wouldn¡¯t it?,¡± said Boim. ¡°I should go. The dragon boat will be


    waiting on June to come back. I will have to explain that it might be a while.¡±


    ¡°Would you like to take some food home with you?,¡± asked Angelica. ¡°I know June


    can¡¯t cook.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Angelica,¡± said Boim. She stood. ¡°Let¡¯s sort that out while we are


    cleaning up.¡±


    ¡°Say good night, Case,¡± said Josie. She transformed. ¡°Be at the Hole in the Wall in


    the morning if you want to go on this fishing trip.¡±


    ¡°Remember we¡¯re going skydiving first,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°I still have to test


    my gadget.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that is all right,¡± said Case. He bent and kissed Caroline again. She smiled.


    Then he appeared in his quarters. He looked around the tiny room. It had been big


    enough for him at one point. He wondered if he should buy bigger quarters for


    Caroline.


    It was another thing he had to put on his list.


    ¡°We¡¯re next, Lois,¡± said Josie. ¡°I promised the King to get you home before the sun


    goes down in the Capitol.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this, Care?,¡± asked Lois. She looked at her daughter smiling at


    the table.


    ¡°Mother, even if this doesn¡¯t work out with Case, I have people who will protect me


    and help me with things,¡± said Caroline. ¡°It will be fine. Tell Father I love him.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Lois. ¡°This has been strange all around.¡±


    Josie cast out a bird for them. It would take a few minutes for it to cross the miles.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°This place won¡¯t clean itself. You can moon about Case


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.later, Caroline. Also don¡¯t try to sneak him into your guest quarters. The security


    won¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Caroline. She didn¡¯t protest the thought.


    ¡°Maybe when your courting has reached later stages, I will make an allowance,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Right now, anyone coming into the office other than us will have some


    problems.¡±


    The bird reached the castle¡¯s throne room. She felt the spell lock on. She vanished as


    Caroline was asking what kind of problems. She left Jack to explain what kind of


    consequences as she and the Queen appeared thousands of miles away.


    ¡°I will never get used to that,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°I like it, but it is power intensive,¡± said Josie, changing back to recharge. She noted


    her drawing was still in the tile. She stepped on it and her watch started charging


    faster. ¡°Rickard must be working.¡±


    ¡°He has an office, and a planning room,¡± said Lois. ¡°Let¡¯s try them.¡±


    Josie followed the queen as she went to a door behind the throne. She pressed the


    release and the door opened in the wall. They stepped through to a corridor with a


    lamp on the hook next to the door.


    ¡°The offices and administration is that way,¡± said Lois, indicating the direction with


    her head. ¡°We¡¯ll go down and talk to him. Then you can do the next thing you are


    responsible for.¡±


    ¡°Caroline is as safe as I can make her,¡± said Josie. ¡°The girls and Emily will look


    after her.¡±


    ¡°She has always been more sensible than this,¡± said Lois. ¡°Just taking up with an


    adventurer. It¡¯s so unlike her.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because Case seems sincere and is a pudding head,¡± said Josie. ¡°He must be


    good at his job for Eric to keep him around, and he has seen action before the Fighters


    hired me and after so he is decisive enough when his life is on the line. The main


    thing in my mind is what happens if they can¡¯t pull things together. I¡¯m not in the


    business of fixing broken hearts.¡±


    ¡°Will your Society object to any of this?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I doubt it as long as they get what they want. Mister


    Warner was their agent for years, but he didn¡¯t try to live here and settle in. I¡¯m sure


    if they had other agents, some of them did what we are doing. I just don¡¯t know how


    successful they were.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Lois. ¡°We can step out of the corridor up ahead and be in the


    public halls. I will send a page to find Rickard to let him know that I am home.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want to make sure I can hand you off without any more


    trouble from Rustam¡¯s other allies that we haven¡¯t seen yet.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he has other allies?,¡± said Lois.


    ¡°I would be surprised if he didn¡¯t,¡± said Josie. ¡°You might be fighting the nobility


    until Caroline takes over for you.¡±


    ¡°Ropel did say that there was going to be problems,¡± said Lois. ¡°I wonder how


    accurate his foresight is.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully it is good enough to keep the Village out of trouble,¡± said Josie. ¡°If Mister


    Warner has settled in there, he has been showing us his grumpier side, and it wouldn¡¯t


    be good for anyone testing his patience.¡±


    ¡°I saw what happened when he and June arrived to help us,¡± said Lois. ¡°June asked


    him not to kill our attackers so we could question them. It was a near thing. I could


    see it in his eyes.¡±


    ¡°He has been fighting monsters for a while,¡± said Josie.


    She knew that he had put people down just as fast as he had the goblins from their


    quest. June stepping in was probably the only thing that had kept those attackers


    alive.


    They stepped into a corridor full of people going about their business of pushing


    papers and trying to find out the answers to the questions keeping them from finishing


    their jobs. A quiet alert went out as someone noticed the Queen in their presence.


    Everyone started snapping to attention. Josie hung back, eyes examining them for


    possible threats.


    If someone went for the Queen, she had to be ready to do something to stop them.


    The Queen walked to a door that looked like every other door in the hall. She tried


    the handle, and walked in. The office stood empty. She frowned. She had really hoped


    Rickard was here.


    She turned to one of the officials in the hall. He paused when she raised her hand.


    ¡°Your Majesty?,¡± asked the man. He had a clutch of papers in his hands.


    ¡°I was away for a bit,¡± said the Queen. ¡°Do you know where the king is?¡±


    ¡°He is in the planning room, Your Majesty,¡± said the official. ¡°He has asked for us


    to send our reports there. There is a rumor that we will be going to war.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the Queen. ¡°We will go down and talk to him.¡±


    ¡°My pleasure, Your Majesty,¡± said the official. He bowed before walking away.


    The Queen led the way down the halls toward a large room with guards standing at


    the door and messengers going in and out. She paused as the guards bowed their


    heads to her.


    ¡°I would like to go inside,¡± said the Queen. ¡°I have to talk to the King.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a good time, Your Majesty,¡± said one of the guards. ¡°They are


    gearing up for a large operation.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said the Queen. ¡°I want the King to know the Princess is in good hands,


    and is being watched.¡±


    ¡°I will go in and let him know,¡± said the guard. He bowed his head again and went


    into the room.


    Josie saw a bunch of guys in uniform livery, and plain clothes. They were going over


    papers with their planning.


    The King appeared. He smiled when he saw the Queen in the hall. He hugged her.


    ¡°Caroline is doing better,¡± said the Queen. ¡°We tracked down some villainous guards


    and handed them over to the Duke Hent. He is working to get his books in order for


    the audit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure seeing you again, Rick,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to get back. Jack tends to


    be irresponsible when left alone, and I owe Aviras a ton of ice cream. He will be surly


    if he has to wait much longer.¡±


    ¡°Will he be as surly as you?,¡± asked the King.


    ¡°Yes, because I am not surly at all,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am as pleasant as sunshine, and


    flowers in a well-tended garden.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said the King. He tried to school his face not to reveal his impression of the


    mass murderer and vigilante in front of him.


    ¡°Jack is taking the kids fishing tomorrow,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to try to help clear


    the victims from the Goblin Trees from Jane¡¯s lawn.¡±


    ¡°We are shutting the borders with our neighbors,¡± said the King. ¡°We are going to


    start trying to bring in all the Montrose in the country. We are going to try to prove


    they were behind trying to revolt against my rule, and fomenting war against the other


    countries.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much I can help,¡± said Josie. She frowned. ¡°I really don¡¯t know


    if the Society will like the results of this as much as I do.¡±


    ¡°Jack said that you could be replaced by someone not interested in helping out the


    general population,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°Mister Warner only handled missions handed down to him,¡± said Josie. ¡°Unless the


    Montrose came up in a mission, he would have left it alone. Unfortunately I declared


    war and now I am stuck with the results.¡±


    ¡°And if you were replaced, your war would not be carried by the replacement,¡± said


    the King. ¡°I understand the position. They want controlled situations that are handled


    neatly.¡±


    ¡°They never dealt with Jack before they drafted us,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°He¡¯s


    about as neat as a toddler.¡±


    ¡°He did a good job on the Hangar,¡± said the Queen.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I was surprised.¡±


    ¡°Will you help us?,¡± asked the King.


    ¡°I will do what I can,¡± said Josie. ¡°I expect the Society to talk to me eventually. I have


    to get my girls in line. I want you to do the best you can with what you have. If


    something comes up in front of me, I will do something about it. I will try to be as


    neat as I can with the solution.¡±


    ¡°Ropel was right,¡± said the King. ¡°It looks like there is an underlying river of


    corruption. We are sorting it out the best we can.¡±


    ¡°I could send out birds, but that wouldn¡¯t prove anything to anyone but us,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to dig into this, and stay out of harm¡¯s way as much as


    you can. Caroline will be safe with me for a bit. The real worry about her being hurt


    comes down to how things shake out with Case. If they can get together and work


    things out, then Case will have to provide his own security when they move in


    together. If they can¡¯t get make it work, Caroline will be back here under your wing,


    and you will have to get guards that will look after her.¡±


    ¡°The people who were supposed to protect Caroline were paid by the Exchequer to


    hand her over,¡± said the King. ¡°The auditors have already traced the money through


    accounts held by the former chancellor. I think until we straighten this out, Care is


    better off in your care.¡±


    ¡°Have you talked to the women I brought in?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I have sent the heads of the Watch and the home army to interview them,¡± said the


    King. ¡°Most of the reports turned in say the women and girls were taken from places


    to the south. Direction of travel suggests they were going north. Some of them have


    asked to be sent back, and I am arranging it.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if the caravans know that I talked to Shemmaria,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I am closing the borders and arresting any of these caravans my people can find,¡±


    said the King. ¡°If they resist, the armies, watches, and adventurers who are being


    hired have been told that they can use lethal force if they have to stop these people.¡±


    ¡°How many do you think will go back to your nobility?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said the King. ¡°But that is part of the larger problem that has to be


    rooted out.¡±


    ¡°I will hold Hawk Ridge,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have allies there. If you need specific help,


    send me a letter, and I will turn Jack loose on the problem.¡±


    ¡°Will he shoot lightning at it?,¡± asked the Queen.


    ¡°The question is how much lightning will he shoot,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to go. It has


    been my pleasure to deal with you without too much of a fuss. If there are problems


    with the Society, I will let you know.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said the King.


    ¡°Take care of Caroline, Ear Ripper,¡± said the Queen. ¡°It will be my pleasure to visit


    for dinner when all this is straightened out.¡±


    Josie bowed to cover her frown. She changed and sent out a bird to take her home.

 Early In The Morning

    Jack dreamed that he stood in the meeting place where he talked to the Society. He


    wondered about the significance of the mountain top. He decided to put that thought


    away as he watched the city lights below.


    He supposed he was in for another talk about his use of magic. He winced at what


    they would say about what he had done for the Hangar and the Hole in the Wall. At


    least Josie wasn¡¯t there to take some kind of punishment with him.


    The door opened in the night sky, and the Society filed into the dream and took their


    places on the stone thrones they had set up.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± Jack asked. He grinned at them. They didn¡¯t seem that dour to him


    as a group despite individuals frowning at him.


    ¡°Quests are forming,¡± said Center right. ¡°Both Oliver and Juniper are away as


    discussed. It will be up to you and Josie to deal with things.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m just taking a day to relax so I can be sharp as usual.¡±


    ¡°Things are stirring now that we have an agent in the world, much less four of them,¡±


    said the man with the sword.


    ¡°And they will want to eliminate you,¡± said the woman with the owl. ¡°Everything you


    hold dear will be threatened.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will set Josie loose on the bad guys and see how many


    heads she can pop. She¡¯s not known for her gentle disposition, and winning charm.¡±


    ¡°Neither are you,¡± said Center Left. She knitted her fingers together in her lap. ¡°Still,


    as long as you command the Enterprise, you might have a chance. Don¡¯t let us down,


    Jack.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll handle things,¡± said Jack. ¡°King Rickard is proposing a bounty on members


    of the Montrose inside his kingdom. If that works out, we might be able to cull out


    most of our domestic enemies.¡±


    ¡°Some of the rebels will want to free Rustam from the Delve,¡± said the man with the


    sword.


    ¡°I can ask Josie to put down some of her security to repel any attack,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That will keep him locked up unless they open the prison up for everybody.¡±


    ¡°How do you see things going with Princess Caroline and Armand Case?,¡± asked the


    most beautiful member of the group.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack.


    She raised her eyebrows at him.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking,¡± said Jack. ¡° That I can play Cupid and make this


    dating thing turn into a real romance that will lead into a stable marriage and a


    potential dynasty of worldsaving royals. I¡¯m just not that guy. I barely got a grip on


    my own romantic life. I think I am letting Josie handle this, and I think she is for


    letting nature take its course and waiting to see what happens.¡±


    ¡°No interference?,¡± said the beauty.


    ¡°Not from me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think it helps that Bea is trying to snag Thad Budd on


    the rebound. Maybe they can compare notes.¡±


    ¡°You may have to take an active hand in things,¡± said the beauty.


    ¡°Then I will consult with Elaine, and let her make the decision,¡± said Jack. ¡°She


    knows more about this stuff than I do.¡±


    ¡°Obviously,¡± said the beauty. She smiled with ruby lips to diminish the sting of her


    words.


    ¡°We are interested in one more thing before we release you,¡± said the male archer. He


    glanced at his twin for a moment. ¡°How many more powers are you going to hand


    out.¡±


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t really thought about it,¡± said Jack. ¡°I thought I should keep them to people


    I know. Should I be handing them out to the whole city?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Center Right. ¡°We think you should stop while you are ahead before you


    start a crisis where we will have to intercede and pull your agency.¡±


    ¡°I had hoped to give my kids something,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be trying,¡± said Center Right. ¡°Let the people you have already gifted use their


    gifts while they can. If they have children, then their powers will be their legacies.


    Expect someone trying to take advantage of what you have already done and trying


    to force you to make more.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess we wouldn¡¯t want Shemmaria to have any of this the


    way they have been acting.¡±


    ¡°The Russ would be taken apart if they knew what she was capable of,¡± said the


    bowman.


    ¡°Look to the sea, boy,¡± said one of the suits on the end. He held a trident in one hand.


    ¡°You will have new enemies to test the powers that you gave to Fox¡¯s wards.¡±


    ¡°Enjoy your day,¡± said Center Right. He almost glared at the older man with his


    trident and gray beard. ¡°Tomorrow, you will have to work.¡±


    ¡°I do have one question before we break this up,¡± said Jack.


    Center Right waved his hand for Jack to go ahead.


    ¡°Have any of your other agents stayed and lived here, or did they do like Mister


    Warner and move back and forth?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Most only operated here for one quest,¡± said Center Left. She wore regret for a


    moment. ¡°But we have had some that have stayed, and some that moved back and


    forth until they felt their job was done. A majority died while trying to save the


    planet.¡±


    ¡°I knew we were expendable,¡± said Jack. He rubbed the scar over his eye.


    ¡°Not expendable,¡± said Center Right. ¡°But the job we have drafted you to do is


    dangerous in many ways. So keep an eye out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll see you around.¡±


    The Society stood and left through their door in the air. It closed gently behind them.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°At least I know that there were others doing this other than Mister Warner,¡± said


    Jack.


    He closed his eyes in his dream, and opened them in bed. He and Elaine had snuggled


    close together under the light bedspread. He kissed her cheek before sliding out of


    bed. He had to get ready for the day.


    Jack changed into his sweats and went upstairs. He lifted weights for thirty minutes,


    then ran the track for ten laps. When he was done, he went back to his room and


    cleaned up and changed into clean clothes. He went back upstairs and looked through


    the icebox and cabinets for something he could turn into breakfast. He ate alone at the


    table.


    He thought about waking Elaine up for some cuddling, but thought she would rather


    have the sleep until they could get the kids loaded up and moving out.


    And he still had to make the gravity gear to jump with from the Enterprise.


    He headed back to his office after placing his dirty dishes in the sink. He would get


    someone else to clean them before they took off for the day.


    He checked his tool chest for the raw materials he needed. He supposed this was


    something the Society would not like to get out into the world. He saw their point


    about the powers. Even harmless abilities could be turned into dangerous skills like


    killing people with milk.


    He placed two bars, some gears, and a case on his desk. He just had to build one. He


    could multiply that into however many he needed to do the job.


    He grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from a desk drawer. He placed that on the


    desktop, and then changed into Mister Fantastic. He wrote down everything he


    wanted the new machine to do in fast block letters.


    He switched to Magik, and looked at the list. He grabbed the components and began


    putting them together like his list demanded. He smiled at the watch-like device that


    came to life in front of him. He had to make a harness for the device so it could ride


    on the back of its bearers and pull them up at the designated time instead of trying to


    rip off the owner¡¯s arm.


    Josie would lose her mind if one of his inventions pulled a Duckling apart, even if it


    was by accident.


    And he didn¡¯t want the bother to be honest about it.


    He placed a ring made of another bar of metal on his desk. He set his new gravity


    slower in the ring. A hum pushed nine more into existence.


    Magic parachutes would be great if soldiers could be dropped from a great height.


    Jack doubted there were giant birds around to carry fighters into combat.


    He needed to test the device before he could trust Elaine to it. That meant going up


    to the Enterprise and jumping while wearing it.


    He gathered the magic machines, letting his persona go so he could use his com band.


    He triggered the button to open the channel. He hoped he wasn¡¯t waking his beloved


    with his shenanigans.


    ¡°Communication acknowledged,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°I need to come aboard to do a test run of my gravity holders,¡± said Jack. ¡°Could you


    transport me up?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack found himself on the pad in Transporter Room One. He smiled. He walked out


    of the room and headed down to the cargo deck.


    He paused when he reached the cargo deck. He had to make harnesses to put the


    gravity runner on so they didn¡¯t just pull away


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you make me a harness for the machine I am carrying.


    I need to test drive it.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Replicate it down in the cargo bay. The plan is to bring my


    guests up later in the morning and jump from the cargo door. Once we land, I plan to


    come back up and grab the quinjet to do a little fishing, maybe some swimming. Then


    when we are done for the day, we¡¯re heading in and I am dropping off the people I


    need to drop off with the quinjet.¡±


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to get some books for you to read so your knowledge base will be


    expanded,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    Jack stepped into the cargo bay. He smiled when he saw a harness on the ground next


    to the replicator in the wall. He placed his duplicates down next to the harness. He


    picked up the harness, and clamped the device to it.


    ¡°Open the cargo bay door,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think I like this way of leaving the ship. I


    suppose it¡¯s easier to be teleported, but I like flying on my own.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack pulled on the harness, adjusting it to wrap around his body and not let go when


    the device fired. It would be bad for the thing to rip away while he was still in the air.


    He still might be able to call on Falcon or Ikaris as long as he wasn¡¯t punched in the


    head by the thing flying into orbit.


    ¡°Ready for the test run?,¡± Jack asked his mechanical minion.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack jumped from the cargo bay, spreading his arms out to catch the wind. He was at


    the top of the oxygen deprivation layer of the atmosphere. He should have asked for


    the Enterprise to drop down to a safe ceiling. He spun in the air as he dropped.


    He dropped down to the firing line. The device fired, and he floated down as quietly


    as possible.


    He didn¡¯t think it would work the first time. He smiled at the magic proving him


    wrong again.


    He landed in the clearing inside the ring around the Hangar entrance. He had


    controlled the flight down with his limbs as much as possible to touch down on the


    grass.


    The roof door opened. Jack stood still by June¡¯s practice dummy, watching. He


    grinned as a familiar poofy set of hair emerged from the hole in the ground. The


    owner quickly followed. Then his beloved appeared. They kissed.


    ¡°Bea and Thad kissing in a tree,¡± Jack sang out. ¡°Kay eye ess ess eye in gee. First


    comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Bea with a baby carriage.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± said Bea, jerking away and raising her hand. ¡°You!¡±


    ¡°Far be it of me to interrupt the end of your night of debauchery,¡± said Jack. ¡°It is


    kind of a security violation, but I am willing to let it slide for some community


    service.¡±


    ¡°Community service?,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°Community service,¡± said Jack. ¡°My sister, Rose, used to like this actor, Nick


    Mancuso, and his show, Stingray. Now Ray, the hero of the show, worked as a


    professional adventurer like you, but he didn¡¯t work for money. He worked for


    favors.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see where this blackmail is going,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think of it as blackmail,¡± said Jack. He put his grin on full display. ¡°Think of


    it as making it to your marriage on time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not giving you my hand,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°An eye is just as good,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Can we talk?,¡± said Beatrice. The flush of embarrassment had turned to the flush


    of anger.


    Jack waved his hand. This was as good as spot as any.


    ¡°Can we talk in private?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Enterprise, beam me and Beatrice up,¡± said Jack into his com.


    Thad froze in place as they vanished. He decided to wait. He didn¡¯t want to walk to


    town if he didn¡¯t have to.


    Jack stepped off the pad and took up a spot next to the control console that manually


    controlled the transporter.


    Beatrice took a moment to gather herself. She already knew that anger wouldn¡¯t move


    her guardian¡¯s friend. She needed some patience.


    ¡°I would like it if you didn¡¯t torture Thad for your amusement,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I think


    we are getting along, and I think I can make things work out for us. I would


    appreciate it if you didn¡¯t ruin this for me.¡±


    ¡°That was very mature,¡± said Jack. He leaned against the console. ¡°I expected you


    to throw a tantrum.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t do that,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Please tone down the prankishness of your nature.¡±


    ¡°Please?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Please, Milord,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Enterprise, bring Budd up here,¡± said Jack. He gestured for Beatrice to move off the


    pad.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The pad glowed as they watched Thad be put


    together by blue light.


    ¡°Beatrice has asked me to tone down my natural inclination to talk crap,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided that as long as Josie doesn¡¯t find out you were sneaking out of the


    house with her half-naked sister, I¡¯ll keep what I know to myself. I think that is more


    than reasonable.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t going to take my eye?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°This is the kind of behavior I expect out of Case, and you should


    know better. Bea likes you, and I kind of like you so I am willing to let this slide.


    Next time, don¡¯t hang around all night, or things could go worse for you.


    Comprende?¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Thad. Beatrice hugged him. It was like he had passed some secret


    test.


    ¡°Bea, go put some clothes on,¡± said Jack. He waved her on to the pad. ¡°Thad is going


    to help me get ready for our skydiving.¡±


    Bea frowned at the nightgown and robe she wore. She glared at him for the moment


    it took the Enterprise to beam her back to her quarters.


    ¡°Come on, Thad,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have to get this equipment ready.¡±


    They walked out of Transporter Room One.

 Return of the Yoff

    Josie got out of bed and got dressed for the day. She had decided to spend time


    helping Jane with the zombiefied women on the House lawn. That would allow them


    to start moving the people off the Enterprise.


    Shemmaria might want their people back to run some other special monster project.


    She took the elevator up to the general family room. She found her girls getting ready


    for the day, putting breakfast together, and generally talking. No Caroline or Emily.


    They must be waiting for someone to get them.


    She didn¡¯t see Jack either.


    ¡°Elaine, where is Jack?,¡± she asked, cutting through the confusion.


    ¡°He is up on the Enterprise, Missus,¡± said Bea. She sipped from her cup. ¡°He is


    testing the skydiving things he made.¡±


    ¡°Are all of you guys ready for that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We really want to try our hands at fishing,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°I guess I better check if Case is outside the Hole in the Wall,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m sure


    he will want to be with Caroline as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see what¡¯s so special about skydiving,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Laura and Beatrice


    can already carry us around.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t fly with skydiving,¡± said Josie. ¡°You fall to the ground.¡±


    ¡°That seems nonsensical,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°That¡¯s what some people do to get excitement in their lives,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t


    have a lot of magic, or monsters, loose in my world. So people invent ways to keep


    entertained.¡±


    ¡°And jumping from a great height is that?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Some people jump from cliffs to the sea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I personally am going to keep


    my feet on the ground as much as possible. Where¡¯s Aviras?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still in his room, and won¡¯t come out,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I tried to talk to him, but


    he wouldn¡¯t open his door for me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to him,¡± said Josie. ¡°You guys finish up. Laura, could you check on Caroline


    and Emily? If they are going, they need to get their breakfast and get ready with the


    rest of you.¡±


    Josie wondered about Aviras as she grabbed a roll and walked back to the elevator.


    She had given him his ice cream. Had that been a mistake?


    She rode down to the living quarters and knocked on Aviras¡¯s door. The door refused


    to move. She thought about forcing it, but decided to call out the dragon¡¯s name first.


    ¡°Go away,¡± called back the dragon. He seemed in pain from the stress in his voice.


    Josie opened the door with Locksmith and stepped inside the room. It was a circle


    like most of the rooms in the Hangar. Perches had been set up along the wall. The


    barrel of ice cream sat in the center of the room. She didn¡¯t see the dragon.


    ¡°Aviras?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I¡¯m here to see if you are okay.¡±


    ¡°I will be if I am left alone,¡± said the dragon. His voice came from the inside of the


    barrel.


    Josie looked inside the drum. She frowned at a tiny dragon swollen to the size of a


    grapefruit. The dragon pushed a weak piece of flame out, but looked like he could


    barely move.


    ¡°I need to take a picture to show Jack,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Please do not do that,¡± said Aviras. He waved a foreclaw in desperation. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Got a little greedy, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Aviras. He floated in the remains of his ice cream reward.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to tell Matilda that you won¡¯t be able to make the trip with her,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I am going to be at the hospital. If you recover enough to move, you can


    join me there and claim that you are helping me as an assistant.¡±


    ¡°And you won¡¯t tell Jack about this?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Scout¡¯s honor,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me know when you want the barrel taken away.¡±


    ¡°I think you can do it now,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I will lay on my perch until I am ready to


    catch up with you.¡±


    Josie changed into Zatanna and turned the barrel and leftover ice cream milk into


    a fog that evaporated as she watched. She changed back to let her watch recharge


    for the long day ahead.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you,¡± said Josie.


    She left the room, shaking her head. She should have known that Aviras would


    overeat. She should have put the reward into separate packages, and not one big


    barrel.


    Maybe it had taught him a lesson but she doubted it. Some people took longer to learn


    and she thought Aviras was one of those.


    She went back upstairs on the elevator. She still had to get the kids ready, deal with


    Caroline and Case, and maybe shoot over to the Village to pick up Elena for the field


    trip. Some of it, she could leave with Emily and Elaine to get done.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get Elena,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will be right back. Don¡¯t worry about any


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.clean up, I¡¯ll do it before I go to the hospital.¡±


    She paused. What did she tell Matilda?


    ¡°Matilda, Aviras is going to ride around with me today,¡± said Josie. ¡°He is going to


    assist me with the goblin tree thing. As soon as we are done, I will release him for


    your dinner if he isn¡¯t worn out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll take care of him, Missus?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Better than Ezra,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    She went up to the gate and checked for the Village code on the new print checker


    beside it. She opened the door to the town south of them and stepped through with a


    klaxon warning.


    She needed to talk to Jack about the sound. Maybe something else could be an alarm.


    She shook off the pins stabbing her during transit and looked around the city hall. She


    found Ropel standing at the door with a ten year old girl. A dog that resembled a


    badger sat at her feet.


    ¡°Madam Fox, this is Elena,¡± said Ropel. ¡°Elena, this is Jack¡¯s friend, Madam Fox.¡±


    ¡°Josie is fine,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the pair of them. ¡°Saw me coming?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Ropel. ¡°Foresight is a useful tool when combined with the other talents


    here.¡±


    ¡°Mister Warner will be back,¡± said Josie. ¡°Until he is, we will look out for you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us,¡± said Ropel. He shrugged in his jacket and vest. ¡°We¡¯re just


    harmless villagers.¡±


    ¡°If you need us, we will bring the Enterprise to bear,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack loves shooting


    the phasers at moving targets.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Ropel.


    ¡°This is Yoff,¡± said Elena. ¡°He helps me with my chores.¡±


    ¡°Will he help you fish?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He can catch a ton of fish with his mouth,¡± said Elena.


    ¡°I doubt the girls are going to want that since they will be eating what you catch,¡±


    said Josie.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right,¡± said Elena. ¡°But he is a good fisher dog.¡±


    Yoff grinned up at Josie. He looked like any ordinary dog, but Josie thought there was


    a touch of Jack involved in this.


    ¡°The girls are getting ready,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s take you through and introduce


    you. Jack¡¯s heading up this expedition so he will be in charge of things.¡±


    ¡°It will be safe then,¡± said Elena. ¡°Jack is a great blanket. He gave me Yoff.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever heard him described like that before,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Ropel. ¡°I have to supervise some of the gardening today.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for letting me go,¡± said Elena. ¡°I will be back in time to do my night


    duty.¡±


    ¡°I have it covered,¡± said Ropel. ¡°Take care. Bring back some cooked fish for Dot.


    She would love that.¡±


    Josie led the girl through the gate. She noticed that Yoff seem to flicker as she came


    out of the gate. She didn¡¯t say anything. As long as the dog wasn¡¯t dangerous to her


    girls, it wasn¡¯t her business what it actually was.


    She led the way to the elevator. The girl and dog followed and waited for her to


    push the button.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem as mean as I thought,¡± said Elena.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Jack made you seem like ten thousand blades filled with thunder,¡± said Elena.


    ¡°He is prone to exaggeration,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He is a loon,¡± said Elena.


    Josie nodded in agreement.


    They stepped out of the elevator, and Josie slowed at the huge crowd in her living


    room. When had she gathered so many people around her?


    She made introductions. She was pleased that the girls took in Elena as one of them


    without reservation. She noted Caroline and Emily were at the edge of things.


    ¡°Case not here yet?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Caroline. ¡°I was sure he would be here.¡±


    ¡°He might be running a little bit late,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Hole in the Wall is not close


    to the Adventurers¡¯ Hall. And if he had to walk from there, it could take some time.


    I¡¯ll ask Jack to pick him up. While we¡¯re waiting, let¡¯s get done and clean up, I


    suppose. I am going to call Jane in a bit so I can arrange things there.¡±


    ¡°How fast do you think Jack¡¯s elixir will work on the women in the tents?,¡± asked


    Elaine.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. She thought about the growths that she had seen. Massa


    had made a quick recovery, but she hadn¡¯t been overpowered completely yet. ¡°And


    there is a danger that too much damage has been done and they will never wake up.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want to be alone?,¡± said Elaine. She frowned down at Josie.


    ¡°Taking some time to just relax could be good for you.¡±


    ¡°Like the song says I knew I would be the one to work while you all play,¡± said Josie.


    She smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t let Jack do anything stupid like creating waterspouts for the girls


    to ride, or summoning dangerous monsters as companions.¡±


    ¡°I will do what I can,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Be careful while we are away.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me round up Case so you guys can get on the road.¡±


    Josie triggered her com with a push of the fleet symbol button.


    ¡°Communication acknowledged,¡± stated the Enterprise.


    ¡°Do you have eyes on Case?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°Can you find him with your sensors?,¡± asked Josie. He was in the middle of the


    city. She thought all humans looked alike to the sensors.


    ¡°I can visually search for him,¡± said the machine. ¡°There is a chance of an error.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I guess I will have to summon him to the Hangar. I don¡¯t


    really want to do that, but we¡¯re waiting for him to get here.¡±


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Jack still testing his invention?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The captain seems to have everything in working order,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Notify me if an emergency comes up,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    She cut the connection. Was it better to summon Case, or just go to wherever he was,


    and bring him back? She decided it was better to get him and bring him back. There


    was no telling what condition he was in at the moment.


    ¡°Emily,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get Case so we can get this show on the road.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Josie,¡± said Emily. She glanced at Caroline. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything that will get


    me into trouble.¡±


    Josie changed and sent out a firebird to where Case was. When the end anchored


    itself, it yanked Josie and Emily across town. She spotted Case stopping by a fruit


    seller on his way to the Hole in the Wall.


    ¡°At least he is on the way,¡± said Emily. She looked up at the sky. ¡°And he is fairly


    early.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s collect him so we can go about our business,¡± said Josie. ¡°As soon as we¡¯re


    done, you guys can enjoy swimming and fishing for the day.¡±


    ¡°This has been the most relaxing guard duty I have ever had,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down,¡± said Josie. She walked toward Case. The adventurer fell


    in beside her. ¡°Caroline is still a moving target for anyone who wants to stop the


    King. Just because she is embedded with the Ducklings, doesn¡¯t make her safe.


    It just means I will be taking more from whomever attacks than the King.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be any adventurer here in the city,¡± said Emily. ¡°You have built a reputation


    here. And so has Jack.¡±


    Josie almost wanted to ask what kind of reputation she had, but decided to stick to the


    job at hand.


    ¡°Case,¡± Josie said. ¡°We¡¯re here to pick you up.¡±


    ¡°Madam Witch, Emily,¡± said Case. He smiled. ¡°Do you think Caroline will want


    anything.¡±


    ¡°Breakfast has been served,¡± said Josie. ¡°Get something for yourself, and let¡¯s go.


    Jack might want to lay around all day, but I have work to do.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Case. He paid for some apples, and a small piece of bread. ¡°I¡¯m


    ready.¡±


    ¡°Keep your eyes open,¡± said Josie. ¡°There still might be some danger to Caroline,


    especially now that her father is thinking about arresting some of the nobility.¡±


    ¡°I will be as alert as any,¡± said Case.


    Josie frowned as she threw out a bird to carry them back to the Hangar.


    Josie let the persona go as Case and Caroline got together. Emily stood at her side


    with crossed arms.


    ¡°Behold the future king,¡± Emily whispered.


    ¡°I¡¯ll find you a prince when this is all over,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think I can do without the complications,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. She took a moment to look at the complications that surrounded


    her now. She smiled slightly. She clapped her hands. ¡°Let¡¯s go, girls. Those fish


    aren¡¯t going to catch themselves.¡±


    Yoff barked in agreement.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what kind of fiasco this will be,¡± said Melanie.

 Jumpers

    Jack grinned as he checked the harnesses and gravity deployment gear one more time.


    Budd had come through the test run with flying colors. Now he just had to try it out


    on the girls and their guests. Things should go smoothly considering that he and Budd


    had landed within feet of each other.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± Jack said to the air. ¡°Can you connect to Elaine?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Elaine a second later.


    ¡°Are you guys ready to come aboard?,¡± asked Jack. He wanted to enjoy the day. The


    Society made it sound like they would be fighting for their lives in the next few days.


    Keeping the talk from Josie might have been a bad idea, but he wanted her to enjoy


    one good day before they had to go back to the grindstone.


    ¡°We are all here but Aviras and Josie,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Josie said they would be


    working at the hospital today.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to ask Enterprise to bring you aboard, and then


    we can get things sorted out for our jump.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Beam up jump party, Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Drop them off in the cargo bay with


    us.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Blue sparks became an assortment of females and one adventurer. A dog appeared a


    second later. He barked at the cargo bay while sitting by his owner.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He held up one of the harnesses. ¡°This is the gravity deployer.


    I have it set to start resisting gravity at five hundred feet so everyone should drift


    down to a nice soft landing. Bea, and Laura, I want you to keep an eye on everything,


    make sure everyone is heading for the same general landing area. Don¡¯t grab anyone


    unless it¡¯s an emergency. The Enterprise should be able to track us once we hit the


    ground. I will ask for her to pick us back up so we can take the quinjet to Lake Myra


    and fish. As soon as we have enough fish for dinner, we will cook them by the lake


    and eat there. Then I will bring everyone back to the Hangar and send those who


    don¡¯t live there home. I think that¡¯s it for right now. Budd, show Bea how to put the


    harness on. I¡¯ll show Elaine and then we¡¯ll help everyone else.¡±


    Jack grabbed one of the harnesses and walked over to Elaine. He held the harness out


    for her to take, while leaning in close.


    ¡°A skirt would have been better for me,¡± he whispered. ¡°Pants are great too for


    different reasons.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± she said back. She examined the harness. ¡°How is this supposed to


    work?¡±


    ¡°You put your arms through the top half so the machine is in front of you,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Then you buckle the buckles around your torso, and then the straps around your


    legs.¡±


    He watched her do that, then checked the harness to make sure it was not so loose that


    it came away when the machine kicked on.


    ¡°It should be good to go,¡± said Jack. ¡°I wanted to strap you to me but I didn¡¯t think


    you would like that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that I would have if we were the only ones involved,¡± whispered Elaine.


    ¡°I will remember that the next day off I take,¡± said Jack. He kissed her cheek before


    grabbing another harness.


    The group got into the harnesses. Jack checked each one to make sure that if there


    was an accident, he couldn¡¯t be blamed other than taking some novices up and


    dropping them.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give you some warnings before we do this,¡± said Jack. He looked at the


    group. ¡°You know what? I forgot two important things for you guys.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need helmets and goggles for our jump team.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    A pile of goggles appeared on the cargo bay floor. A separate pile of helmets


    appeared.


    ¡°I jumped without these,¡± said Budd, indicating the items.


    ¡°And I am glad you didn¡¯t take a tree branch to the eye,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if


    I can fix that.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± said Budd and Bea at the same time.


    ¡°On the other hand, it would have given you a piratical look to exploit,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Everybody, grab one of each and form up by the door.¡±


    When everybody had their eye protectors and helmets on, he smiled at them. He made


    sure the protections were strapped on without a chance of flying off.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you want to delay heading down, you spread your arms and


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.legs like this.¡±


    He demonstrated the starfish pose.


    ¡°This will allow you to catch the air and glide along,¡± said Jack. He closed his limbs


    together. ¡°You do this for when you want to dive to the line where the gravity defier


    cuts on. Try to stay together. When you land, call me and I will use the Enterprise to


    direct you to wherever I land, or maybe just pick you up and bring you back up here.


    I think the harnesses will only work three times, so if you want to go again, wait until


    someone can jump with you. Do not jump alone. Ideally, don¡¯t jump without Laura


    or Beatrice, as your catcher in case something goes wrong. Once on the ground,


    watch for dangerous animals and monsters until you can be picked up. Everybody got


    that?¡±


    A chorus of assents answered him.


    ¡°Enterprise, lock on to our group in case we have to save them from problems when


    they reach the ground,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then open the bay doors.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± reported the machine.


    The giant cargo doors slid out of the way. A force field kept the thin and chillier


    atmosphere out. Jack waved his crew to the edge of the wall.


    ¡°As soon as I tell the Enterprise to drop the invisible wall, we jump,¡± said Jack. He


    looked up and down the line. ¡°Everybody ready?¡±


    A muffled chorus answered his question.


    ¡°Aim for June¡¯s dummy,¡± he said. ¡°Drop the separator, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine just before it cut off the wall and let the wind in.


    Jack grabbed Elaine¡¯s hand and led the way. He spread out his arms and legs to catch


    the wind as they dropped. He took a moment to spin them around to watch the rest of


    his crew throw themselves out of the spaceship.


    The ground rushed up at them, but one by one the machines came on and slowed them


    down as they crossed the minimum safety line. They drifted the rest of the way to the


    ground, landing lightly.


    ¡°Who wants to go again?,¡± Jack asked after he got the group back to the Enterprise.


    Caroline and Elena both wanted another trip down to the ground. Everyone else


    preferred the cargo deck.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take them down, Milord,¡± said Laura. ¡°Then we can go fishing.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Be careful.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Laura. ¡°I have become an expert flier since you gave me the


    ability. I think I can handle two passengers.¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t drop Elena,¡± said Jack. ¡°I promised Dot she would make it home in one


    piece.¡±


    ¡°Caroline?,¡± said Laura, smiling.


    ¡°Josie¡¯s problem,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let the Missus hear you say that,¡± said Laura. ¡°Or you¡¯ll see how much of a


    problem it is for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Laura. ¡°All right, you two. Let¡¯s see how fast we can reach the ground


    without killing ourselves.¡±


    Laura pushed them out of the cargo bay. She jumped afterward.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need a storage box for the gear. Maybe individual boxes


    for each setup.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. A row of boxes appeared next to the wall.


    ¡°How many of you have fishing rods?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°None of us do,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, I think we are going to need individual stringed


    poles with hooks. I don¡¯t really have a reel setup to show you.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The replicator created poles, strings, and hooks. None of it was put together. There


    was enough to put fishing rods together for everyone.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need a bucket too,¡± said Jack. He switched to Makkari to put the


    fishing poles together in a second. He let the persona go as a bucket appeared.


    ¡°Let¡¯s load up the quinjet while we wait for Laura to call us for pick up,¡± said Jack.


    He gathered everything he could carry, being careful of the hooks, and carried the


    things to the aircraft. Bea opened the ramp for him so he could take everything to the


    lockers in the back. A little help and the fishing rods and bucket were stowed away.


    ¡°Milord, we¡¯re down on the ground,¡± reported Laura over her com.


    ¡°Enterprise, can you bring them back onboard?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    For a moment, Jack thought he would have to issue a specific order, but moments


    later the trio of girls appeared in a cloud of sparks.


    He smiled.


    ¡°Case, show them where to stow their gear,¡± Jack ordered. ¡°Then we can get to the


    fishing part of this expedition.¡±


    He looked around from the lockers. Elaine seemed to be getting their group settled


    into chairs on the upper deck. That was good. It was less work for him.


    He waved the remainder of his passengers onboard. He waved them to seats, thinking


    Caroline and Case wouldn¡¯t mind sharing one. He went forward to the pilot¡¯s seat.


    Elaine joined him moments later.


    ¡°Everybody strapped in?,¡± he called as he checked on Elaine strapping herself into


    the co-pilot seat. ¡°Do you want to take us out?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be safe,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind learning how to fly


    from one spot to the other.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re secure in the back,¡± called Budd.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll get us out of the Enterprise, and then we¡¯ll fly to the lake.


    I¡¯ll let you take the wheel on the way back.¡±


    ¡°I think I can do that,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Society dropped by to let me know quests were coming, a


    threat from overseas. We might have to drop Josie across the ocean and let her burn


    up anything that might think about coming over here.¡±


    ¡°So we have to be ready,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°There¡¯s a threat against the kids and you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Vague rumblings. They don¡¯t


    want me to make more powers.¡±


    ¡°What do we do?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to enjoy the day,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then I am going to think of some way to


    tell Josie without her doing her head exploding thing before we know whose head we


    are supposed to be exploding and wait for June and Mister Warner to come back to


    give us the benefit of having cannon fodder while we sneak around and stab people


    in the back.¡±


    ¡°So business as usual,¡± said Elaine.


    Jack grinned at her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a good time while we can,¡± said Jack. ¡°Tomorrow, we ride.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, do you want me to maneuver out of the cargo bay?,¡± Jack asked his


    creation over the com. ¡°Or do you want to push us with the tractor beam?¡±


    ¡°I will push you out of the cargo bay,¡± said the machine. ¡°I will commence on mark.¡±


    Jack worked to make sure the quinjet was buttoned up. He fired the jets and let them


    idle as the aircraft prepared to hover once out and way from the bigger ship. He set


    the navigation for Lake Myra to the north.


    ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Firing tractor beam,¡± said the machine.


    Something like an invisible hand grabbed the quinjet and pushed it toward the


    cargo door. Once the jet was over the threshold, the grip let go so the smaller jet could


    drift down on hover jets firing from the wings.


    ¡°You are clear, Quinjet,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°Button up and we¡¯ll see you when we¡¯re ready to take on more missions,¡± said Jack.


    He changed the direction of the jets so the aircraft could soar toward its destination.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine as it cut the call.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can do our thing without dealing with a lake monster,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Don¡¯t curse us,¡± said Elaine.


    Jack grinned as he held out a free hand for her to take.

 Spinal Tap

    Josie used the gate to get to the hospital. Things seemed to be running well in the


    public areas. She walked back to the administrative area. She found Massa talking


    things over with Madam Harp, and Madam Fass. They smiled when they saw her in


    the door.


    ¡°I thought I should try to work on one of the women from the lawn,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack


    took the kids out to fish for the day as planned. I want to see if I can speed up the


    process with the spines while I got time to do that.¡±


    ¡°Our nurses are cycling through,¡± said Massa. ¡°I think we have three rooms on the


    second floor that are empty right now.¡±


    ¡°How are you doing?,¡± asked Josie. She crossed her arms.


    ¡°I¡¯m clear of the growths, lost some weight, and feel better in every way,¡± said


    Massa. ¡°Jack¡¯s healing pill even worked on my tumor.¡±


    ¡°We told her she should take another two days, but she won¡¯t do it,¡± said Madam


    Harp. ¡°The nurses that have cleared the treatment did take their days, and will be


    rotated back in.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let me have one of the free rooms, and we¡¯ll grab somebody


    from the lawn to start on. I don¡¯t know how long I will have before more quests come


    in.¡±


    ¡°What will happen to the hospital if you aren¡¯t here?,¡± asked Madam Fass.


    ¡°It¡¯s Jane¡¯s thing,¡± said Josie. ¡°It will be up to her, but she has money to keep the


    place open for a while. If the country starts paying for help, you guys will be set for


    life.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel set for life,¡± said Massa. ¡°I feel like we will be training people on how


    we do things here until we die.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can help this one woman,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can see what we can


    do about clearing off the lawn and trying to get better quarters for everybody.¡±


    ¡°Which one do we use?,¡± asked Madam Harp.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the oldest affected,¡± said Josie. ¡°She¡¯ll be the one trapped with the


    goblin seed the longest. If we can get her back on her feet without any noticeable


    problem, we can do the same for the next oldest and so forth.¡±


    ¡°One room?,¡± asked Madam Harp.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Josie. ¡°I only have today for sure, and might not be able to do anything


    tomorrow. Jack is out of town like I said. Once he is back, we¡¯ll have to come up with


    a better plan to do things. I would like to get that other building for housing of the


    excess victims if nothing else. Jane isn¡¯t going to be able to keep everyone at the


    mansion the way we¡¯re expanding.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit crowded as it is,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°So I am going to grab a couple of adventurers and try to get started before something


    else happens,¡± said Josie. ¡°Things should be fine at the moment.¡±


    ¡°The bill went into the Guild,¡± said Madam Fass. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to go by and talk to


    Sally about that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do that next,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can get this to work. Maybe I can do more


    than one today.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get a nurse to help you,¡± said Massa. ¡°Now that some of them have gone through


    the treatment, they know how rough it is on a body.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you guys have a problem while I¡¯m here, I¡¯ll be glad to


    help out. Also Aviras might be along depending. Just send him to whichever room I


    have.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure your dragon will be most welcome,¡± said Madam Harp.


    ¡°Matilda¡¯s dragon,¡± said Josie automatically. ¡°I don¡¯t like the responsibility animals


    incur.¡±


    ¡°But you adopted six girls,¡± said Madam Harp.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how that happened,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think it¡¯s one thing I can¡¯t blame on


    Jack. Let¡¯s get started.¡±


    The other women smiled as she turned and left the room.


    Massa joined her as she walked down the hall to the cafeteria. They walked along in


    silence until Josie paused at the door of the hospital eatery. She frowned as her eyes


    roved the room. Then she walked to a table where two men sat talking.


    ¡°Are you two lazing around again?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Naw, Madam Witch,¡± said the bald adventurer. ¡°We¡¯ve brought in a granny, and


    handed over two thieves to the Watch. We¡¯re about to head out again. Markus is


    filling out our paperwork for the pay.¡±


    Markus handed her the report. She examined his scrawl for a minute, piecing together


    the letters she could recognize. She handed the paper back.


    ¡°Finish the paperwork and hand it in,¡± said Josie. ¡°You guys are going to be helping


    me the next few hours.¡±


    ¡°Are you shooting people with those rocks again,¡± said the bald adventurer. ¡°They


    worked great except for the blood coming out of the holes.¡±


    ¡°I am going to try to wake up one of the women on Jane¡¯s lawn,¡± said Josie. ¡°Since


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.you are here, you can help out.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like adventuring,¡± said the bald adventurer.


    Markus shook his head in a silent warning.


    ¡°Do you know what you sound like?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Someone with a hole in his leg?,¡± said the adventurer.


    ¡°You are smarter than you look,¡± said Josie. ¡°Most people don¡¯t take the warning for


    what it is.¡±


    ¡°I have been threatened over eight hundred times in my career,¡± said the adventurer.


    He sipped from his cup. ¡°I know one when I hear one.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a problem helping me, Mark?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No, ma¡¯am,¡± said Markus. ¡°It will be a pleasure to obey any order you may give so


    I too can have legs without holes.¡±


    ¡°Why are you adventurers such a sarcastic lot?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Finish up what you are


    doing and meet me at the gate. We have to see which woman we are going to try to


    help before I have to do something for my boss.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s someone in charge of you?,¡± said the bald adventurer.


    ¡°I get jobs just like you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Someone threatens the land, and I have to talk


    to him about his choices. You know how it goes.¡±


    ¡°Aye,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°We do the same thing on a smaller scale.¡±


    Markus finished his report with a flourish of a signature. He signed the other man¡¯s


    signature in blocky letters.


    ¡°All we have to do is hand it in,¡± said the adventurer. He took the papers and started


    walking out of the cafeteria. ¡°I¡¯ll do that while you two get ready with this help


    thing.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the eye?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I took an elixir for it,¡± said Markus. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to punch me. I would have


    done something about it eventually.¡±


    ¡°Baloney,¡± said Josie. ¡°You would have waited on it to heal on its own to prove your


    manliness.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not that stupid,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. ¡°Massa, this is Markus. I don¡¯t know the name of his partner.¡±


    ¡°Vin,¡± said Markus. ¡°His name is Vin.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get on with things,¡± said Josie. ¡°Vin can catch up with us while we¡¯re doing.¡±


    Josie led the way to the gate. She aimed it at Jane¡¯s House, and stepped through. Her


    helpers followed her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see who has been stuck the longest,¡± said Josie. She called on Zatanna to get


    a firebird to show her the right woman to work on. The spell sat on one tent in


    particular toward the middle of the pack.


    ¡°Massa, you said there were three free rooms on the second floor?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the administrator.


    ¡°Markus, go back and tell Vin to meet us on the second floor,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re


    going to move her, but I think we¡¯re going to need help on the other end.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said the adventurer. He hustled to the gate and went through.


    ¡°All right. Let¡¯s get this woman and see if we can move her to the hospital,¡± said


    Josie. She let Zatanna go so the watch could recharge. She would have to move them


    back across town, and then use Doctor Occult to help with the cure.


    She might have to leave things with Massa, depending on how things went.


    They walked over to the tent. Some of the amazons were on duty here, but not a lot.


    They had portable scanners they were using to check their patients for any signs of


    life other than their heartbeats and breathing.


    ¡°How does she look, Kenda?,¡± asked Massa. She indicated the sleeping woman.


    ¡°She¡¯s like the rest, sleeping with no end in sight,¡± said the amazon. She handed


    Massa the portable scanner. The readings showed a coma with a sleeping brain.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She frowned at her patient. ¡°Massa, go back and get ready


    to catch sleeping beauty here. Get Vin and Markus to help you when she arrives. I


    will follow right after and we¡¯ll see if we can snap her out of this.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s going to be bed ridden for the next few days if we can wake her up,¡± said


    Massa.


    ¡°It¡¯s the best we can do,¡± said Josie. ¡°I hope I killed whomever was responsible for


    this.¡±


    ¡°Give me five minutes to get back to the hospital and get to the room,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll try to catch her when she gets there.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She watched the timer on her watch tick down. ¡°Leave the tent


    up until we¡¯re sure this woman won¡¯t be coming back here.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can fix her?,¡± asked Kendra.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want to, but what happens if we can¡¯t? We might not


    be able to wake any of them up if we can¡¯t figure out how we failed this first try.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said the amazon.


    ¡°Time is almost up,¡± said Josie. ¡°Massa and the adventurers have to be ready on their


    end by now.¡±


    ¡°Give them a couple more minutes,¡± said Kendra. ¡°It¡¯s better to be safe than sorry.¡±


    Josie nodded. A few extra minutes meant little at the moment. Once things were


    rolling, then she would need to move faster.


    She nodded when the time ran out. She changed into Zatanna and sent out two birds,


    one after the other. When the first bird reached the hospital, the woman on the pad


    of blankets vanished. When the second one reached its destination, she stood in a


    hall, hurrying to where she could hear Massa making demands. She let the persona


    go.


    Josie pushed open the door. Vin and Markus carried their sleeper between them. They


    worked to lower her on a bed. Massa and a nurse stood out of the way.


    ¡°Not there,¡± said Josie. She pointed at the bathroom to one side. ¡°Take her into the


    bathroom.¡±


    ¡°Get one of the elixir pills,¡± Massa told her junior. The amazon left to go down to the


    machine Jack had built. ¡°This is going to be messy.¡±


    ¡°Messy?,¡± said Vin. ¡°I didn¡¯t sign up for anything messy.¡±


    ¡°You signed up to do my bidding until you die,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get her sitting on


    the toilet. I should have thought about a shower pad for this, but I didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember dying in my paperwork,¡± said Vin.


    The four of them got the woman propped up on the toilet. Massa held her upright.


    ¡°It¡¯s right there under you are my minion until I release you, or you are killed by an


    enemy while following my commands,¡± said Josie. ¡°How long will Jack¡¯s pill take


    once she has it in her?¡±


    ¡°The reaction will be almost immediate,¡± said Massa. ¡°I have no idea how long it will


    take for her flush everything.¡±


    ¡°Hand me the box on the wall, Markus,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to make sure nothing


    bad happens when we give her the medicine.¡±


    Markus took three strides from the small room to the bed. He pulled the scanner from


    its holder and brought it back into the bathroom. He handed it over and stepped back


    outside.


    ¡°I have the pill and some water,¡± said the nurse, coming back into the room.


    ¡°Hold her upright, Vin,¡± said Josie. ¡°Markus, we¡¯re going to need you to help Vin.


    Massa, take the scanner. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Serni,¡± said the amazon.


    ¡°Let¡¯s shift around so Markus and Vin are holding our girl upright,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Massa, watch the scanner and let us know if anything changes. Serni, you are going


    to have to give her the pill and pour the water down her throat so she swallows it. I


    am going to see how much I can speed things up with magic. Everybody ready?¡±


    She nodded back at the nods of agreement everyone gave her.


    ¡°Go ahead, Serni,¡± said Josie. She reached for her watch as the nurse pushed a quarter


    of the pill into the sleeper¡¯s mouth, and then poured water slowly in after it.


    Josie became Doctor Occult in her green scrubs, and hair cover. She raised her hands


    and activated the scan and let it reach out to the sleeper. She watched as the spines


    along the nervous system and brain starting cracking. Small pieces fell into the blood


    and flowed out and away from the woman¡¯s spine.


    She reached in and started chipping at the block with her ability.

 Gone Fishing

    Jack dropped the quinjet on the shore of the giant lake. He picked an area away from


    Accordly. He didn¡¯t want a fight with the fish people. He had his passengers


    disembark with the equipment before moving the quinjet out to the middle of the


    water and letting it float there.


    He changed into the Phantom Detective and passed himself through the ceiling to


    stand on the roof of the quinjet. He should have brought easy chairs.


    Or at least one for himself.


    Laura floated the fishing group to a landing on top of the quinjet. She looked around


    at the expanse.


    ¡°We¡¯re fishing from here?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you guys had brought your bathing suits, you could swim.¡±


    ¡°What bathing suits?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°They were included with your new clothes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elena, Caroline, Emily, and


    the guys don¡¯t have any but you girls do. They are back at the Hangar in your


    closets.¡±


    ¡°We should go back and get them,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± said Jack. ¡°It would make us look bad to go back for clothes. We can


    do without swimming.¡±


    ¡°You can just change our clothes into bathing suits,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Or have the Enterprise make them for us with the thing in the wall,¡± said Elena. Yoff


    barked in agreement.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I should do this, but okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will set up a changing


    booth on the shore so you can change your clothes to bathing suits. Will that make


    you happy?¡±


    ¡°It will be a good use of your ability,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I might even try one of the


    smaller ones.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see you in one of the smaller ones,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would really like


    that. All right, I¡¯ll fix you guys up a changing room if you want. It should be a snap.¡±


    ¡°And how is this plan supposed to work?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go over and put it up on the shore,¡± said Jack. ¡°Laura ferries you guys over one


    at a time, you change, Laura ferries you back. Then we fish, and swim if you want to


    do that.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re not going to change?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I will consider it for you,¡± said Jack. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. ¡°As soon


    as we fill the bucket, Angelica can show us how to prepare fish for an outdoor


    cooking.¡±


    ¡°Should we take some back for the Missus?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°Josie will have to feed herself today,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me get started on this. The day


    is wasting away.¡±


    He changed into the Falcon, and winged over to the shore. He changed back to


    normal and looked for a good spot to put his changing booth. He found a piece of flat


    land in sight of the quinjet. He nodded to himself this was where he wanted to put the


    booth, and maybe a natural dock to use to swim around.


    He changed into Magik. He drew a ring in the dirt with a stick. He embedded the


    spells he wanted into it.


    He walked to the shore. There had to be better people capable of manipulating the


    dirt, but he decided that he could stretch the ground out into the water, even pulling


    up support from the lake floor. He nodded when he was done with the building part.


    He let the persona go and walked back to the ring. He stepped into the ring. His Black


    Panther shirt and jeans became swim shorts. He stepped out and back in to change


    things back.


    That should take care of that.


    He changed back into the Falcon and flew back to the quinjet.


    ¡°Everybody who wants to swim can step into the ring and change clothes,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The pier is to give you something to swim back to while you are in the water. Now


    I am going to fish, and maybe nap.¡±


    He took his pole and stepped down on the wing. He threw the hook into the water and


    leaned back against the engine cowling. It was time to enjoy the peace and quiet of


    the world.


    A few minutes later Elaine settled by his side. She threw her hook on the other side


    of the wing. She settled against him, using him for a brace and pillow at the same


    time.


    ¡°What do you think about just spending the rest of our days like this?,¡± asked Jack.


    He adjusted his upper body to wrap an arm around his beloved.


    ¡°I think the Society would take your watch and send you home if you thought about


    doing such a thing,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at him. ¡°But this is nice. I¡¯m glad that we


    have the time to do this when we could be turning Josie loose on some unsuspecting


    governmental body.¡±


    ¡°Nothing says surprise like some major general¡¯s head blowing up,¡± said Jack. He


    smiled quietly. ¡°What do you want to do in the future? I¡¯ll still have this crazy


    adventuring job, but we can get a place of our own, have kids, maybe try to get them


    to get professions that aren¡¯t as dangerous as mine.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°I thought about having children, but it¡¯s something I never thought I would be


    pursuing,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I don¡¯t think I would be a good mother.¡±


    ¡°I think you would be a great mother,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s my own fatherhood that I think


    will fail.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think so?,¡± said Elaine. She reached up to stroke his face.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I think Springsteen had some words that apply here. If you¡¯re


    rough enough for love, honey, I¡¯m tougher than the rest.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that,¡± said Elaine. She straightened enough to kiss him on the cheek.


    ¡°If only we had the lake to ourselves, there are things we could be doing.¡±


    ¡°Remember that when we have kids,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°My parents say


    that¡¯s a feeling that comes every day.¡±


    ¡°I imagine so,¡± said Elaine.


    Jack¡¯s line tugged. He waited for a bit before pulling a fish out of the water. He put


    it in the bucket to flop around while he unhooked it and hurled his line back on the


    water.


    ¡°So we have dinner for us,¡± said Jack. He settled in, looking out over the water.


    ¡°We will have to catch a lot more fish to feed Josie¡¯s fledglings,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°If I get desperate, I will do something to kill a bunch of fish in one shot,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think that would be considered cheating,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Would you think less of me if I did?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It depends on how hungry I am,¡± said Elaine. She smiled at his expression. Her line


    started hopping around. She waited for the right moment and pulled a fish out of the


    water and dropped it in the bucket. A few seconds later, the hook was floating on the


    surface again.


    ¡°We should be using bait,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to dig up worms to impale on the hooks to catch the fish,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Worms never did anything to me,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You have an unexpectedly soft heart,¡± said Elaine. ¡°It¡¯s one of the reasons I love


    you.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the fishing?,¡± asked Beatrice. She had changed into a swimsuit, and dragged


    Budd behind her as she landed on the wing.


    ¡°We caught a couple,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s not enough for dinner yet.¡±


    ¡°Budd has asked me to go out with him tonight after we get back,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I¡¯m not running interference against Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°I thought you guys had


    everything worked out. This should be a snap on the permission side of things.¡±


    ¡°Case and Caroline want to go with us,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Definitely not running interference,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine and I were talking about


    having kids. Can¡¯t do that if I cross Josie. She rips off other things besides ears.¡±


    ¡°We were hoping that the two of you would go with us,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°That¡¯s a mighty big hope,¡± said Jack. He frowned at the two of them. ¡°Didn¡¯t you


    guys go to a show last night?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I see,¡± said Jack. ¡°It was that kind of show.¡±


    Beatrice and Budd both blushed.


    ¡°Do we get involved with this, Elaine?,¡± said Jack. He rubbed the scar over his eye.


    ¡°The Society did say someone would be looking for the kids. Should we let them take


    their chances?¡±


    ¡°How serious are you two?,¡± asked Elaine. She sat up straighter, and gestured for


    them to sit on the wing with her and her beloved.


    ¡°I think we are serious for the two days we have been talking,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°We


    have made some plans for the future, barring some unforseen complications.¡±


    ¡°We would love to foster this into something serious,¡± said Elaine. She glanced at


    Jack. He stared into space.


    She nudged him with her elbow.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t we love to foster this into something serious?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°I think this is something beyond our abilities, honey bunny,¡± said Jack. He grinned


    at them. ¡°I think we need a bigger approach.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this at all,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Nonsense,¡± said Jack. He touched his com band. ¡°Enterprise, connect me with Josie


    if you can.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m busy, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°The kids are taking you out tonight,¡± said Jack. ¡°Grab some idiot who doesn¡¯t know


    you and meet them at the theater where Elaine and I went for our show. Don¡¯t worry


    about feeding them. I¡¯ll catch enough fish for that. Just be there to take them in and


    find them seats.¡±


    ¡°Why would I agree to that?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Because I told them it was your birthday so I could get some alone time with


    Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Remember to wear a dress. Cut the call, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Enterprise, do not accept any transferred calls from Josie unless there is an actual


    emergency involved,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°You know she can just come here and talk to you in person,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°And then she can help me fish,¡± said Jack. ¡°Until then, Elaine and I are going to


    relax and watch the water, see how many we can catch on our own since you guys are


    playing. Then we¡¯ll eat and the five of you will meet Josie in town.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I like this plan,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Life is like the surf of the ocean,¡± said Jack. He showed what he meant with his


    hand. ¡°It has its ups and downs. You have to navigate the wave so you don¡¯t capsize.


    You two are smart. I¡¯m sure you can navigate hurricane Josie. Also Bea, be careful.


    The Society said there are people looking for you kids. Keep an eye out.¡±


    ¡°Like Todd?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Or the Montrose, or Shemmaria,¡± said Jack. ¡°It was a general warning, so there¡¯s


    probably nothing in place yet. When there is, I am sure a quest will be given.¡±


    ¡°I understand, Milord,¡± said Bea. ¡°Is it the Missus¡¯s birthday?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Go have fun. Tell Case and Caroline, you are taking them


    out. Might want to tell Emily to take two swords.¡±


    ¡°The Missus will be angry at this ruse,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°You know that, right?¡±


    ¡°If I was scared of all the times Josie could have killed me, I would have never left


    my room,¡± said Jack. ¡°No matter what she says, just take her arm and pull her into the


    show. Make sure you give her a piece of meat first so she won¡¯t give more than a


    token resistance.¡±


    ¡°We will still have Laura and the youngest,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°We will stuff them with fish and drop them into their beds,¡± said Jack. He grinned


    at her. ¡°And then we will have our alone time.¡±


    ¡°That is unexpectedly devious on your part,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°The army teaches you that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I would love to see the army that teaches you to cut your own arm off,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. He made a shooing motion with his hand. ¡°Elaine and I have


    to catch as much fish as we can.¡±


    ¡°Let me help you,¡± said Beatrice.


    Fish flew out of the water. Some of them landed on the wing and flopped around.


    Some fell back into the water. Jack caught as many as he could and dropped them into


    the bucket. He filled it in short order.


    ¡°It looks like we have enough to hand over to Angelica,¡± said Jack. ¡°Kind of defeats


    the purpose of just hanging out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Let¡¯s see how good a cook Angelica really is.¡±


    ¡°Unless she hid some pots and pans in her dress,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s just going to be fish


    on sticks.¡±


    ¡°That will be fine,¡± said Elaine. ¡°This has been a good day out so far except for the


    jumping out of the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°You did great with it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I cheated a bit to be honest.¡±


    ¡°You cheated?,¡± said Jack. He handed the bucket of fish to Budd so he could gather


    their fishing poles. ¡°Say it isn¡¯t so.¡±


    ¡°Channeling air is remarkably easy when you are afraid and falling from a great


    height,¡± said Elaine.


    They stood on the back of the quinjet. The others splashed and played in the water


    next to the dock.


    ¡°I hope you guys enjoyed this,¡± said Jack. He looked in a circle, examining the water.


    ¡°Tomorrow, we go back to work.¡±

 Meet Mrs. Gild

    Josie tried to talk to the Enterprise. The machine intelligence said she was cut off


    until the order was rescinded. She had half a mind to do something to Jack.


    Her four helpers tried to hide smiles at her predicament. She glared at them. Jack


    wasn¡¯t their fault, but she was more than willing to take her anger out on those


    nearby.


    ¡°So we have these three women in these rooms,¡± said Vin. ¡°We don¡¯t have any more


    rooms. What do we do now?¡±


    ¡°I guess we pause,¡± said Josie. ¡°We know the treatment works. We just need to do it


    faster so we can get them back on their feet. We probably are going to need them to


    answer some basic questions to get them checked after they wake up.¡±


    ¡°What about your children taking you to a show?,¡± said Massa.


    ¡°My birthday isn¡¯t for two more months,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can¡¯t believe Jack would use


    that for some kind of excuse to be alone with Elaine. He¡¯s alone with her every


    night.¡±


    ¡°So you think something else is going on?,¡± asked Massa.


    ¡°I know Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°This has all the looks of a practical joke.¡±


    ¡°Take Markus as your date,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said Josie and Markus at the same time.


    ¡°Neither one of you have a sense of fun,¡± said Vin. ¡°You would be great company


    together. And this Jack did say bring someone you don¡¯t care about.¡±


    ¡°He said bring someone who doesn¡¯t know me,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And I have great sense of fun,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°When was the last time you laughed at something funny?,¡± asked Vin. He waited for


    his partner to come out of the cloud of thought he had been plunged into. ¡°Exactly my


    point. You two should go see the show together and make a night of it. Some dining,


    some kissing, some running through the streets naked. That¡¯s how the wife and I got


    together.¡±


    ¡°Which wife?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°Never you mind about that,¡± said Vin. ¡°I think we are done for the day. I am going


    to write up my report. You two get cleaned up and get ready for your show.¡±


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to go to the show?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Come up with some excuse for your children,¡± said Vin. He walked toward the door.


    ¡°Something that won¡¯t make them cry in sadness.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not my children,¡± said Josie to his vanishing back.


    ¡°I am sure it will be a fine time, Ear Ripper,¡± said Massa. She smiled at the younger


    woman¡¯s discomfort. ¡°And maybe your Ducklings will want another man around who


    doesn¡¯t say, or do, scary crazy things.¡±


    She gestured for Serni to follow her so they could leave Josie and her potential date


    alone to work out what they wanted to do.


    ¡°I think you can find someone more suitable for a night,¡± said Markus. ¡°This is Vin¡¯s


    way of embarrassing me.¡±


    ¡°Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?,¡± asked Josie. She crossed her arms.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Markus. ¡°I admit there is a certain awkwardness to this situation


    since we have only met twice, and you punched me in the face one of those times. I


    don¡¯t know you, and you don¡¯t know me.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to know?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Markus. ¡°That¡¯s why this is so awkward. And your children are


    expecting you to be there.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t my children,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t have any children. They are my


    adopted sisters. It¡¯s just I am an old maid, and they needed looking after when we


    met. Just like Jane¡¯s Amazons needed someone to help them out when they came


    back to town. And they are helping me with this hospital thing for the city.¡±


    ¡°Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°Why would I be?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know you.¡±


    ¡°I will be glad to escort you for one night free of quest liability,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°That way you don¡¯t have to pay for it because of my license, and the guild


    agreements,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°What do you expect out of this?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Realistically, nothing,¡± said Markus. ¡°We¡¯re nowhere close to being intimate. We¡¯re


    not even close enough to share a meal at this point. Maybe we¡¯re close enough for


    that, but not some meal in a real restaurant, much less at one of our homes by


    ourselves. Additionally, you have a lot of entanglements I am not sure I want to be


    involved with on more than a surface level. And the fact you are my employer is not


    good either in my opinion. I don¡¯t want to lose my status in the guild because you


    didn¡¯t have a good time with your sisters.¡±


    Josie looked at him with a frown.


    ¡°You¡¯ve thought about this a lot, haven¡¯t you?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°I have had some problems with women before I came to Hawk Ridge,¡± said Markus.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.¡°It¡¯s one of the reasons I try to avoid things like this.¡±


    ¡°That is reasonable,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you want to take in this show?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the right question,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you want to take me to the show, even


    with all that comes with it?¡±


    ¡°How bad could it be?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°It can be as bad as what happened to Caroline, or anyone else that can be used for


    a lever,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s why I think you should think about it before you agree


    to anything like this despite the prodding your partner is giving you for being a shut-


    in.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a shut-in,¡± said Markus. ¡°I just like sitting on my patio, reading my books,


    and sipping my wine. When I am done with quests, I like to relax in the comfort of


    my own home.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t go out courting?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Markus. ¡°Again, I have had a lot of bad luck with women over the years.


    I try to steer clear of them when I can. Vin just thinks everyone should be finding


    their soulmate.¡±


    He put up quote marks for the word ¡°soulmate¡±.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will accept your companionship, but keep your hands to


    yourself.¡±


    ¡°Aw, yes,¡± said Markus. ¡°I want to hug and kiss the most dangerous woman in the


    city while trying to impress her wards. That will end well.¡±


    ¡°We could even get married,¡± said Josie. She smiled at his expression.


    ¡°Could we?,¡± asked Markus. His eyebrows were up in his puzzlement.


    ¡°I have never set a husband on fire,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s comforting to know,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°I think you two should come to an agreement and do that,¡± said the woman in the


    bed. ¡°You will be a lot happier.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re awake?,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re awake. Markus, get Massa.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s Massa?,¡± said the woman as Markus fled the room.


    ¡°She is the head nurse,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you remember?¡±


    ¡°I was taken by some toughs in town,¡± said the woman. ¡°I had to sit in a wagon with


    some other women for days. Then I was taken by some soldiers and strapped down


    to a table. I don¡¯t remember anything after that.¡±


    ¡°Do you remember your name?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Flaione Gild,¡± said the woman.


    ¡°All right, Flaione,¡± said Josie. ¡°My name is Josie Fox. You were rescued by some


    adventurers from a laboratory up north in Shemmaria. They were using you and some


    others to conduct experiments to make superior soldiers. We are testing an elixir to


    clean your body of the Goblin Tree solution they were using. You are in Hawk Ridge


    in Grecious at Jane¡¯s Hospital.¡±


    ¡°How long have I been away from my family?,¡± said Flaione.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°We brought you in about two weeks ago maybe. We just


    now finished testing the elixir on our nurses, and have started working on the people


    we grabbed. You are literally the third person we have worked on today.¡±


    Massa came in the room with Serni. They both looked concerned about this


    development.


    ¡°We need someone to stay with the other two ladies until they wake up,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°They¡¯re going to have to ask questions to make sure they¡¯re all there.¡±


    ¡°I will get some bodies to sit in,¡± said Massa. ¡°At least we know the elixir helps with


    the spinal growths.¡±


    ¡°Can I go home?,¡± asked Flaione. ¡°I have a husband and children back home.¡±


    ¡°Can your husband read?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the woman. ¡°We both can.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s send him a letter,¡± said Josie. She pulled out a sheet of paper, and a pen from


    her bag. She wished she had thought to put in an end table next to the bed, but hadn¡¯t


    considered it since lanterns and wall torches were more common. She pulled a mobile


    table to her, and put the paper down on it. ¡°I¡¯ll send him the basics and see if he will


    write back a reply on a blank sheet of paper.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Flaione. ¡°I hope he doesn¡¯t think I am dead.¡±


    Josie wrote a small letter explaining how they had found Madam Gild, brought her


    to Hawk Ridge, and were nursing her back to health. Eventually, they would send her


    home when she could walk on her own again. A separate piece of paper was included


    for a reply. She showed their patient the letter so she knew what was being sent. The


    watchbearer sent the letter and a blank piece of paper to the address of the Gild home.


    They waited for a reply.


    Master Gild sent back a reply immediately filled with hundreds of questions. He


    wanted to know everything that had happened to his wife. He had thought she had run


    off. That was the story going around town.


    ¡°You should be good to get out of here in a couple of days,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can send


    you home after that. We¡¯re waiting for your strength to build up so you can move


    around on your own, and to see if the growths come back from what we did to fix


    you.¡±


    ¡°Please send my husband that, and tell him I will be home in a week,¡± said Madam


    Gild. ¡°I think you should go out with the young man that was here. Maybe start your


    own family.¡±


    ¡°I have enough family,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t need any more. I will take him out just


    to show my partner that I don¡¯t need his meddling.¡±


    ¡°Never get in a competition over hearts,¡± said Flaione. ¡°They never go the way you


    want.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nothing new,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to get you home. Give yourself a few


    days to get stronger. I work for an organization, and they might call me away at any


    time. I will leave word so that someone will help you travel, or anything else you


    need while here.¡±


    ¡°Am I really in Hawk Ridge?,¡± asked Flaione.


    ¡°Have you ever been here?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said the patient. ¡°I have never seen a big city.¡±


    ¡°I can take you up to the roof,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to see part of the city and


    wall from there.¡±


    ¡°Maybe later,¡± said Flaione. ¡°I think I need to go back to sleep.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯ll let you sleep. I don¡¯t know when they will serve dinner,


    or what they are serving. I¡¯m sure someone will bring you something so you can start


    getting stronger.¡±


    ¡°If you can get me home, I will be happy,¡± said the woman. She closed her eyes


    against the light in the windows.


    Some people will be unhappy if I find out who they are.


    Josie stepped out in the hall. Massa and a couple of nurses talked in a rough circle.


    ¡°She¡¯s sleeping again,¡± said Josie. ¡°She seemed together when she was talking. We¡¯re


    going to have to check her ability to move, and think, before we cut her loose.¡±


    ¡°So the elixir works on people fully under,¡± said Massa. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°Is Markus around?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°If Jack hadn¡¯t called in the middle of things, I


    could have just pushed the suggestion off. Now I have to make a deal about it when


    I don¡¯t want to go to a show.¡±


    ¡°He is waiting by the desk,¡± said Massa. ¡°I think he is scared.¡±


    ¡°If he is scared now, he will be terrified of the girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over


    with.¡±


    Josie found Markus standing by the desk. He watched as the nurses started moving.


    None of the other sleepers were ready to wake up yet. Now they could wake them up


    as soon as they had rooms.


    ¡°Do you want to go out with me, Markus?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I¡¯m okay if you say no. No


    one should be forced to go out with someone if they don¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°Are you really okay with it, or are you saying that so I will lower my guard so you


    can rip my ear off?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°If I wanted you to lower your guard, I wouldn¡¯t tell you,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s a straight


    yes/no question. I can go alone.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m really scared of you, and I don¡¯t know what the best thing to do is in this case,¡±


    said Markus. ¡°I don¡¯t believe in soulmates like Vin. I think he just got lucky and is


    using that to tell people it¡¯s how it¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°I promise that I won¡¯t do anything to you,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll go to the show, tell the


    kids we are not courting, and I¡¯ll take you home so you can sit on your patio and


    drink your wine.¡±


    ¡°And you are okay with that?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s not the first time.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Markus. ¡°We can go out and do a thing. I have had some awful bad


    luck courting.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably not going to get better,¡± said Josie.

 Here Comes the Night

    Jack watched as Angelica worked the fish with a knife she had borrowed from Budd.


    She expertly cut the heads, and tails, off before slicing the fish open to take out the


    organs and spines. She worked fast as she prepared the fish to be put on stakes.


    The rest of the group had gathered around a firepit Beatrice had dug up with Alladin.


    They readied the stakes for the fish to be cooked over the fire.


    ¡°You used to do this in the Army?,¡± asked Angelica. She paused as she gauged where


    she should cut the carcasses so they would be presentable and even for the group to


    cook and eat.


    ¡°We used to eat ours raw,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her expression. ¡°It toughens you


    up.¡±


    ¡°It will kill you,¡± said Angelica. ¡°There are things that live in fish that have to be


    cooked away.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think our training officer cared about that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Then he is an idiot,¡± said Angelica. She sliced the fish into strips for the stakes. She


    had to use a rock for a cutting block, but things had turned out all right from where


    she sat.


    The real test would be the cooking part.


    ¡°What do you think, Angie?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I would like it a lot better if we had thought to bring something to cook with the


    fish,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Some kind of vegetables. Maybe we could have put on a stew.


    This will do for a small dinner until we get home.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re the chef here. Maybe we can stop and pick up


    something from a place on the way home. Bea and Caroline are going out with their


    beaus. So that will be five less to feed in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°The Missus?,¡± asked Angelica.


    ¡°Either she meets them at the theater thinking all of you will be there, or she tries to


    wring my neck like a chicken¡¯s,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°Even odds on that


    bet.¡±


    ¡°She can do both,¡± said Angelica. She shook the knife¡¯s point at him. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t


    be so cavalier with your friend¡¯s feelings. It will bite you one day.¡±


    ¡°Josie has been my friend for so long she probably already expects some kind of


    swerve,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think the band thing went the way she wanted it to, so


    maybe I should have asked to be stationed closer so she had help. I think most of


    these missions and meeting you girls has been a big mental help to her.¡±


    ¡°What about you?,¡± asked Angelica. She gestured for him to pick up the rock.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a therapist,¡± said Jack. He picked up the rock with a grunt, put it down,


    and called for his green monster bum to help him carry the rock closer to the fire.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t warn me about how heavy this would be.¡±


    ¡°I thought you would know,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°I see someone has been working on their prank playing skills,¡± said Jack. He set the


    rock down.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be the only scary one in our family,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Do you think so?,¡± asked Jack. He let the persona go.


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious that you have adopted the Missus, and it¡¯s what June declared while she


    was here,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Therefore you and June are our cousins, as well as Elaine


    if you marry her like you said.¡±


    ¡°How does that work?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s what the law says,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I asked Matilda to look it up for me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something that I would never consider you doing,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m more than just a pretty face and a recipe book,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for that,¡± said Jack.


    Angelica took the prepared stakes and mounted the fish strips. She placed each stake


    in the ground next to the firepit. She hummed to herself as she watched the meat


    cook.


    ¡°We should have prepared for camping out,¡± said Angelica. She used the knife to


    poke some of the fish strips that didn¡¯t seem to be cooking equally. ¡°Still, we should


    have these to snack on, and then we can ready to go home.¡±


    ¡°We should go out too,¡± said Melanie. ¡°Beatrice is going out with her beloved. We


    should take the time to wander around and look for a festival, or something.¡±


    ¡°Are there any festivals now?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Not festivals,¡± said Elaine. ¡°But there are traveling shows that occasionally set up


    near one of the gates to perform for money.¡±


    ¡°And you want to go to one of these carnivals, Mel?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think Alicia can win us all the food we can stand to eat with her bow skills,¡± said


    the middle girl.


    ¡°You think Al can hustle grown men who have been using their weapon of choice all


    their lives?,¡± asked Jack. The group gave him a shaky uncoordinated affirmative.


    ¡°I can shoot anything now,¡± said Alicia. ¡°I can feel it in my bones.¡±


    ¡°And you want to use that to cheat?,¡± asked Jack.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°Would it be cheating?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°I am going to say yes just to avoid having to explain to Josie why five of her sisters


    decided they had to use the skills I gave them to protect the city, the duchy, the


    kingdom, the continent, the world to cheat like old west cardsharps,¡± said Jack. ¡°You


    all know better, and I am appalled at what I have done.¡±


    ¡°Being able to fly doesn¡¯t mean I was going to cheat,¡± said Laura. ¡°I know better.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Laura,¡± said Jack. ¡°That makes me feel so much better.¡±


    ¡°Still, it would be nice to play some games, and maybe look at the acts,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°I think there is some highwire acts around that are pretty daring.¡±


    ¡°And we have to go back to work tomorrow,¡± said Matilda. She put on some puppy


    dog eyes to rival Tiny Tim. ¡°Please, Milord. Please see if there is a show you can take


    us to before you make us work like slaves.¡±


    ¡°That approach might work on Aviras and Josie, but I sold my heart for a carrot and


    sunglasses,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Sunglasses?,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°That cheap?,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Now, we shall eat and disperse,¡± said Jack. ¡°Our couples and their watchdog are


    going to want to change clothes and get ready to go. We could see if there is


    something in town that appeals to the younger part of the flock as long as you don¡¯t


    cheat. Bea, take the guys by the hospital if Josie rips their ears off. I think the elixir


    I put together will grow them back to their skulls if you can do it while the wound


    is fresh.¡±


    ¡°What if we don¡¯t make it in time?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°Then you are going to have a hard time keeping a hat on straight, aren¡¯t you?,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°I will still take you if you lose one ear,¡± said Caroline. ¡°It will make you look like


    a veteran survivor of a monster attack.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll certainly be that,¡± said Melanie.


    Alicia made a pulling motion on her ear with one hand.


    ¡°What do you think about the fish, Angie?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It¡¯s still not hot enough,¡± said Angelica. ¡°We need this fire to be a little hotter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something I can take care of at least,¡± said Jack. He dialed on the Human


    Torch. Flame poured on the fish sticks until Angelica held up her hand. He released


    the persona. She smiled.


    ¡°It should be safe to eat now,¡± said their cook. ¡°We just need them to cool down


    enough to bite into.¡±


    ¡°I can handle that, Angelica,¡± said Elaine. She waved a hand in a circle. A small


    whirlwind blew on the fish sticks to cool them down to be eaten.


    ¡°Thanks, Elaine,¡± said Angelica. She nodded as the sticks reached an eatable


    temperature.


    The group grabbed the sticks and dug in. Jack nodded at the taste of the fried fish. It


    was better than he thought it would be. He saw the others were enjoying the meal


    with him.


    ¡°This is good, Angie,¡± said Jack. He saw the others agreed with him. ¡°We need to get


    you a restaurant so you can serve a huge amount of people other than just us.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a bit much,¡± said Angelica. ¡°Maybe I could work a booth for


    myself. Anything else leads to managing things, and not really cooking.¡±


    ¡°You can cook and hire someone to be the manager,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s how the big


    names do it back home. They do the menu, check the ingredients, train staff, put a


    meal together for however many people are expected. They hire someone else to do


    everything else, preferably somebody who can manage money and time.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good,¡± said Angelica. ¡°I could handle all the cooking, and someone else


    could handle the hiring and firing. We would have to be almost partners for that to


    work smoothly.¡±


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°And you would have to hire somebody that wouldn¡¯t try to take


    advantage of your skill.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot to think about,¡± said Angelica.


    Jack nodded as the girls and their hanger-ons finished their small meal on the rocky


    shore. He looked at the sun going down. It was probably already darkening in Hawk


    Ridge. They had to move if they wanted to get the kids to the show.


    ¡°Police up your trash,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think it would be good if no one knew we were


    here.¡±


    ¡°The dock?,¡± asked Elaine.


    ¡°Can you do something about it?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll get the quinjet so we can head


    home.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I do need the practice.¡±


    ¡°Can you show me how to fly the quinjet?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°In case I need to know,¡± said Matilda. ¡°We might need a pilot if you and the Missus


    aren¡¯t around.¡±


    ¡°Are you already planning to steal it?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I just want to know. I saw some things when you were


    shepherding us around, and I want to make sure I can remember how you did things,


    and if I could do the same thing if I have to fly for us.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that would be good,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine is supposed to fly us back. You


    can sit in the co-pilot chair with her.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s dangerous?,¡± asked Melanie.


    ¡°Elaine can handle it,¡± said Jack. ¡°She has nerves of steel, a will of iron, and a grasp


    of ability unlike anything I have ever seen. She can definitely get us over Hawk Ridge


    with no problem.¡±


    ¡°Can she land us?,¡± asked Laura.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will be fun finding out.¡±


    Jack called on Ikaris and took to the air with Matilda in his arms. He landed on the


    roof of the quinjet with ease. He put Matilda down as he looked around.


    ¡°I should have thought about this more,¡± said Jack. He flipped through his watch,


    checking personas until he had the Doorman. Taking on that persona allowed him


    to gate himself and Matilda into the quinjet. ¡°I need to remember that one.¡±


    They made their way to the front of the floating boat. Jack helped Matilda adjust her


    seat, and strapped her in. She would be able to reach the controls with no problem


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch anything,¡± said Jack. He strapped himself in and looked out the


    window. Elaine stood at the shore end of the dock. She pushed down and the stone


    sank below the waves. ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Milord,¡± said Matilda. ¡°What do we do first?¡±


    ¡°We start with the checklist and hope I didn¡¯t make a mistake dropping the quinjet


    into the lake when I should have landed her on the shore,¡± said Jack. He started down


    each reminder, checking that Matilda was absorbing the information. She called


    everything back to him before he lit the engines and vertically ascended.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to head inland for a minute and land,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re not going to


    go full throttle since we don¡¯t need to do that for a little hop so we can pick up the


    others.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Matilda.


    Jack lifted the quinjet over the campsite. He flew about ten feet more, so the aircraft


    hovered over a partial stone, partial grass, clearing. He extended the landing gear, and


    slowly brought the jet down for a landing. He opened the boarding door for the


    Ducklings.


    Elaine came forward as the crew boarded. She smiled at Jack and Matilda. Jack


    started unstrapping his harness.


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. She held up her hand. ¡°I can wait until after we hand everyone


    back over to Josie. And Matilda could be able to learn everything faster than I can.¡±


    ¡°I am more than willing to let you fly back to the Hangar,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Elaine. ¡°But I think I would plunge the quinjet into the ground. Josie


    would find a way to call us back to the land of the living to get satisfaction for a


    mistake like that.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I doubt that Matilda would ever need to fly the jet, but if


    she does, the crap has hit the fan.¡±


    Elaine nodded.


    ¡°I can do it,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I just need a little experience and some time.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get everyone battened down and you can test out some


    moves on the way home.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll check the others and get seated,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Don¡¯t let the others bully you into


    doing something with the quinjet that you will regret, Matilda. Being a pilot will be


    a responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I wish Aviras was here to see this.¡±


    ¡°At least he is safe with Josie,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me know when you¡¯re ready, Elaine.


    We¡¯ll get this show on the road.¡±


    ¡°Yes, dear,¡± said Elaine. She kissed him on the cheek, and ruffled Matilda¡¯s wild hair


    before retreating to the passenger part of the deck.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get ready to light this candle,¡± said Jack.

 Dinner Date

    Josie decided to clean up and change clothes to one of the Mary Marvel things she


    had in her closet. She would have to do something about that eventually. She liked


    the Marvel lightning, but not enough to have it on everything she wore.


    She dressed quickly, combing her short hair. She took a look in the mirror hanging


    in her bathroom. She looked okay for an outing.


    She went up to the next floor and knocked on Aviras¡¯s door. She barely heard him say


    come in.


    She entered his lair. She found him on a perch. He looked distraught. She frowned at


    him.


    How did she fix this?


    ¡°I¡¯m going back out,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just came home to change clothes. Do you want


    to go with me?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said the dragon. ¡°I should have given more thought to the reward. Instead I let


    greed take over and make me suffer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give you a temporary fix,¡± said Josie. ¡°When I get home, I will work


    on a solution to make you feel better.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Let me do this quick,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack shamed someone into taking me out to a


    show with the girls. I don¡¯t know where I am supposed to meet him yet.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Aviras. ¡°They haven¡¯t come back as far as I know.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to go?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with it if you don¡¯t have


    a problem with it.¡±


    ¡°That would be very kind of you,¡± said Aviras. ¡°And I can meet up with Matilda. I


    hope she had fun fishing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they did,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m hoping that Case and Caroline didn¡¯t try to do


    something illicit before the marriage.¡±


    ¡°Will that be a problem?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Not for me,¡± said Josie. She called on Doctor Occult and threw out her scan. She


    nodded when she saw the problem was too much food trying to digest at the same


    time. She softly sped up the dragon¡¯s metabolism. He started nodding his head. ¡°All


    right. It looks like you should be fine as long as you don¡¯t eat anything for a bit.¡±


    ¡°That will be fine since I have ate too much already,¡±said Aviras.


    Josie slowed his metabolism back to normal to let the rest burn up naturally. She had


    done just enough to ease his discomfort, and nothing more.


    ¡°Maybe any future reward should be your weight in ice cream,¡± said Josie. She let the


    Doctor go.


    ¡°I admit I didn¡¯t know how Jack¡¯s weight in ice cream would be, but now I am ready


    for it,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I will just have to eat slower.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you explain what happened to Matilda,¡± said Josie. She smiled slightly. ¡°Let¡¯s


    go. I have to pick up my date, and find the show.¡±


    Josie¡¯s com buzzed on her wrist. She looked down at it. Beatrice wanted to talk to


    her?


    ¡°Go ahead, Bea,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re at the theater,¡± said the younger woman. ¡°Are you coming?¡±


    ¡°I need to pick up my date,¡± said Josie. ¡°Which theater?¡±


    ¡°The Oblong,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°There is a place where we can eat across the way


    before the show if you hurry.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there in five-ten minutes,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting,¡± said Beatrice. She cut the call.


    ¡°Something is going on,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the door out of the dragon¡¯s den.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll know what it is soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Some kind of trickery?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Jack is involved, so I am going to say yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°You¡¯re welcome to stay here


    if you want.¡±


    ¡°I would like to see what kind of trickery is going on,¡± said dragon. ¡°I have been


    cooped up without anything but gastrointestinal issues to occupy me. Maybe a small


    adventure is due.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She changed into Zatanna. ¡°Let¡¯s see where this takes us.¡±


    She threw out a bird to carry her and Aviras to Markus¡¯s place. She had said she


    would pick him up when she was done changing. She didn¡¯t want a date for the night,


    but maybe introducing him to the Ducklings would give them someone else to rely


    on when she wasn¡¯t there to protect them.


    They appeared outside a small house that had jammed between two other houses.


    Josie let the change fade so she would be recognizable. Markus had seen some of her


    other faces so he would know it was her if he saw Zatanna. She just wanted to put her


    own face forward.


    ¡°The teleportation is smoother,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s because I am sending something to scry ahead for me, and then the actual


    spell kicks in,¡± said Josie. She walked up to the door, dragon on her shoulder. She


    knocked to let Markus know he had a visitor.


    ¡°He might have changed his mind,¡± said Josie. ¡°He said he hasn¡¯t had a lot of good


    luck with women.¡±


    ¡°But he is accompanying you?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s because his partner won¡¯t leave him alone about finding someone,¡± said


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.Josie. She knocked again. ¡°I think he sees this as a transaction where he can silence


    his friend and have nothing to do with me later outside of work.¡±


    ¡°You are the extremely scary one of your cohort,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Even though Jack


    gave me this cursed form, I am glad he showed up to oppose me and not you. I would


    not be alive if you had been there, and I wouldn¡¯t have met Matilda.¡±


    ¡°Matilda might have adopted you in her mind as her brother,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She is my best friend,¡± said Aviras.


    The door opened. Markus couldn¡¯t make up his mind whether to smile or frown at his


    guest and her companion. He decided to fall back to a neutral expression. He stepped


    back out of the doorway.


    ¡°Markus,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Matilda¡¯s dragon, Aviras. He decided to come along


    to protect my honor.¡±


    ¡°I decided to come along because I was bored,¡± said Aviras. ¡°It is a small pleasure to


    meet you. How do you do?¡±


    ¡°I just need to shine my boots,¡± said Markus. He retreated to a room at the rear of the


    house. ¡°If you will give me a second, I will be right there.¡±


    ¡°This is a very neat place,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Soldier?¡±


    ¡°Adventurer,¡± said Josie. ¡°How long have you been an adventurer, Markus?¡±


    ¡°About fifteen years,¡± said Markus from the other room. ¡°I have had a lot of traveling


    so the place is usually left standing alone while I am on escort jobs for the guild.¡±


    ¡°I suppose the hospital work is the easiest thing you have done,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Markus. He came back in the room. He had pulled on an old but


    neat suit in dark green. His boots shined from the treatment he had given them. ¡°But


    I don¡¯t have to leave the city so it is better than some of the jobs I have done.¡±


    ¡°Beatrice called and said they are waiting at the Oblong,¡± said Josie. ¡°There is


    supposed to be a restaurant close by. Are you ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Markus. ¡°How are we handling payment for everything.¡±


    ¡°I will pay for us with the excess money of what I took out to pay Sally for the


    adventurers helping me with the hospital,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you want to pay me back


    later, we¡¯ll talk about it then.¡±


    ¡°I guess that is okay,¡± said Markus. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I have gone to a


    dinner and a show.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to transport us there, and we just have to find the


    girls and see about things.¡±


    Josie pulled on Zatanna one more time to get them across town. They landed on the


    street next to the theater. She changed back, looking for her Ducklings.


    ¡°Missus!,¡± called Beatrice. She waved her hand to attract their attention.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anyone else,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe they are inside,¡± said Markus.


    They started down the street to where Beatrice stood. She smiled at them.


    ¡°Matilda?,¡± asked Aviras when they were close enough. He peered at Beatrice from


    Josie¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Jack and Elaine have her,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°They were trying to find a traveling show


    to visit.¡±


    Josie looked inside the restaurant. She frowned like a thundercloud. Aviras hopped


    to Markus¡¯s shoulder at the sudden change of temperature.


    Beatrice winced. She decided the next time she would do the asking instead of letting


    Jack do it.


    ¡°I can explain,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Please do,¡± said Josie. She turned her glittering eyes on her eldest sister. She made


    a go ahead gesture with one hand.


    ¡°Thad and I were talking about going out, and Case and Caroline wanted to come


    too,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I talked to Jack, and he decided to call you about it.¡±


    ¡°I see where the rest of this is going,¡± said Josie. She turned her frown on Beatrice.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said Markus. He grabbed Josie¡¯s arm. He let go when her glare dropped


    down to his hand. ¡°Can we step over here for a second?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go anywhere, Bea,¡± said Josie. She walked a few feet away and took a breath


    to center herself. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to give up and not see the show?,¡± asked Markus. ¡°You already


    suspected skullduggery, and now you have the evidence of your eyes. I am not going


    to press to go forward if you don¡¯t want it.¡±


    ¡°I feel like I should set someone on fire,¡± said Josie. ¡°I just can¡¯t decide who. I know


    that you have been okay, and I don¡¯t know if I want to throw away the time I took to


    get ready and wear this new dress.¡±


    ¡°And you look lovely in it,¡± said Markus. ¡°You can decide whom you are going to


    set on fire after dinner and the show. That way I will be at home with my feet up, and


    out of the way.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can make a go of it.¡±


    ¡°Feel better?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I should have known this was going to be some kind of


    romantic entanglement thing.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think I am ready to go in.¡±


    ¡°Just let the anger go,¡± said Markus. ¡°You are eating with your sister and her friends.


    It will be okay.¡±


    ¡°I can handle it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go in before I change my mind and decide to do


    something lasting.¡±


    ¡°I will rip Case¡¯s face off for you,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. She took Markus¡¯s arm. ¡°If it comes to that, I want the pleasure of


    doing the job myself.¡±


    They walked over to where Beatrice waited. She tried to put on a smile but decided


    that she should wait a bit before trying to be merry.


    ¡°Take us to our table,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is Markus. He works for me at the hospital.


    Markus, this is Beatrice, my oldest sister.¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°The pleasure is mine. It is good to see the Missus with


    someone.¡±


    Josie thought she heard the dragon choke back a laugh. She didn¡¯t turn to deal him


    a lethal blow to knock him off his perch.


    ¡°We¡¯re not together,¡± said Markus. ¡°My partner told her I was a desperately lonely


    man because I don¡¯t have a wife to go home to like he does. This is more of a


    temporary thing that will end as soon as I head home.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Let¡¯s go in and eat. We have some time, but we want to


    be ready when the theater opens so we can watch the play.¡±


    ¡°A temporary thing that will end as soon as you head home?,¡± whispered Josie.


    ¡°She would have expected us to act romantic with handholding and kissing,¡± said


    Markus in a low voice. ¡°We don¡¯t know each other well enough to take steps that


    far.¡±


    Josie smiled slightly.


    ¡°Would you like to?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± said Markus. He leaned in over the shorter woman. ¡°If I did, I


    would be feared and respected among adventurers in the city. I don¡¯t think I could


    live with a reputation that big.¡±


    ¡°I think that you could,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get through this date with these kids, and


    we can talk about what we want to do for the future. If you want to just keep it to this,


    that would be fine.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to do?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m trying to clear Jane¡¯s lawn, and get the people in the


    Enterprise¡¯s transporter buffer out and back to where they belong. And I will have


    quests popping up sooner or later. I might have to leave the city suddenly.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a lot of work,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°Aviras and the Ducklings are helping me and Jack get things done,¡± said Josie. ¡°And


    we¡¯re waiting on Mister Warner and June to come back to help us out.¡±


    ¡°Markus,¡± said Budd. ¡°How are you? Still working with Vin Sten?¡±


    ¡°We have a patrol route around the hospital,¡± said Markus. ¡°It¡¯s slow and easy like


    I like it. We¡¯re helping the Watch keep the peace around the building and grounds.


    Vin loves it. He has found three new taverns that he can pick up some beer as we go.


    I guess I should thank you for the invitation to the show tonight.¡±


    ¡°So you know these adventurers?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Aye,¡± said Markus. ¡°Emily is the best of them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty good,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Markus. ¡°Are we splitting the cost?¡±


    ¡°Missus?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°We can split the costs,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will cover for Markus until he can pay me


    back.¡±


    Thad and Case pulled out their money pouches. They calculated what they could buy


    with what they had in their hands.


    ¡°You guys don¡¯t have enough?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I do,¡± said Thad. ¡°I¡¯m just calculating the costs for the tickets for me and Beatrice


    to go into the show.¡±


    ¡°I have enough for Caroline and me,¡± said Case. He gave his money to his date.


    ¡°I can pay for myself,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°Keep the receipts and I will add your expenditures to your pay to reimburse you,¡±


    said Josie.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Emily. ¡°What shall we eat?¡±


    ¡°Not fish,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Not fish,¡± agreed the others at the table.

 Burning Unicorns

    Jack held Elaine¡¯s hand with a real smile on his face instead of the fake grin he


    displayed more often. They had an eye on the Ducklings as they wandered around the


    North Gate.


    Jack and Matilda had brought the quinjet down in the Hangar, and left it in its cradle


    to recharge. The kids had taken a moment to get ready to go. Beatrice¡¯s party had


    used the gate to get to the Hole in the Wall to get to the city faster for their double


    (triple, if Josie showed up with someone) date.


    Jack and Elaine had did the same thing except they had used the hospital as their


    landing spot. They led the way in front of the kids out of the Emergency Room exit.


    The next thing was finding a traveling show to watch. A few exchanges with some


    of the roaming adventurers and Watch gave them a small carnival at the North Gate.


    It was waiting on them to spend their money.


    Laura transported them to the Gate so they could see the thing for themselves.


    Walking along, Jack thought the thing was pretty tame. There were basic pony rides,


    plenty of midway games to fleece the unwary, and two, maybe three, food carts. A


    tent to one side promised beautiful women. Another tent promised sights to make


    your eyes scream.


    ¡°Do you want to see the dancing girls, or the fake unicorns?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think I want to see what Alicia is doing with that axe,¡± said Elaine. She frowned


    at the young girl. ¡°Alicia, be careful.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t hit him in the face,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Maybe we should intervene,¡± said Jack.


    They walked closer and found the five sisters regarding a barker behind the counter.


    He had his hands up in front of him.


    ¡°Matilda?,¡± asked Jack. Even the youngest seemed angry.


    ¡°He¡¯s cheating, Milord,¡± said Matilda. ¡°None of the targets will fall over.¡±


    ¡°Are you these hellions¡¯ father?,¡± asked the barker. He seemed to gain confidence


    with an adult on the scene to corral some murderous girls from splitting his scalp.


    Jack laughed until he started coughing. Finally he pulled himself together with some


    hiccupping.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not, thank the Gods,¡± said Jack. ¡°But I tell you one thing, you don¡¯t want


    to meet their big sister. She¡¯s a four out of five on the hurricane classification system.


    The girls say your game is rigged. Is it?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said the barker.


    The axe in Alicia¡¯s hand appeared in a target a few feet in front of her. The target did


    not go down like it was supposed to do. Jack raised his eyebrows at the haft still


    quivering from the impact.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t it fall over?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t throw it hard enough,¡± said the barker. He started looking around for the


    show security to throw this strange man and his strange kids off the improvised


    midway before they did something rash.


    ¡°Can I have a turn?,¡± asked Elaine. Laura passed her an axe. She hurled the axe. A


    piece of wind slammed it on target, splitting the wood front to back.


    Jack¡¯s eyebrows went up.


    ¡°That was good, honey,¡± he said. He held out a hand. ¡°Let me have one of those,


    Laura. Let¡¯s see what I can do.¡±


    Laura held out the axe. A giant hand made of light green muscle grabbed the handle.


    The axe went through the target. Then it went through the stand¡¯s wall. Then it


    stopped in the brick wall of a building beyond that.


    Jack let the persona go as he inspected the still standing bottom half of the target. He


    frowned at the barker.


    ¡°So you¡¯re cheating, right?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Are you going to keep lying?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes the rods don¡¯t fold down like they should,¡± said the barker. ¡°That¡¯s not


    cheating.¡±


    ¡°I guess that is a reasonable explanation,¡± said Jack. ¡°Kids, take whatever prizes you


    want and walk down to the big tents. Elaine, do you want anything?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Elaine. She frowned at the barker. ¡°I think you are about to have a serious


    problem.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t just take my prizes,¡± said the barker.


    ¡°We¡¯re taking what you owe us for cheating,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°If I were you,¡± said Jack, leaning on the counter of the booth. ¡°I would take


    whatever money I had made and run.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?,¡± said the barker. He paused as five of his stuffed animals


    flew into the grips of the girls and they started walking away.


    ¡°I am going to show you what happens to cheaters when they cross my path,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°It¡¯s unlucky for you that the Duke said I shouldn¡¯t use the Enterprise to shoot


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.at people I don¡¯t like.¡±


    Jack transformed into a liquid mass that fell across the booth.


    ¡°This is where I would start running if I were you,¡± he said from the ground.


    The barker grabbed his cash box and fled. He looked back at his booth. It went up in


    a geyser of burning stuffed animals, painted wood, and fire. He watched as the pieces


    fell down on top of where he had been standing.


    Jack put himself back together as he walked down to where Elaine and the kids


    watched the fire on the ground. People rushed to put it out so there wouldn¡¯t be any


    problems for the neighborhood.


    ¡°So this is how Josie¡¯s Human Bomb works,¡± Jack said to himself as he looked at his


    ghost hands. ¡°At least we have something that works the same way.¡±


    ¡°You blew up the cheating toss game,¡± said Melanie, in a flat voice.


    ¡°The Missus would approve,¡± said Angelica. Matilda nodded in agreement.


    ¡°He took our money,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I took his for the next night at least. A lot depends on if he


    has another stand that he can roll into place.¡±


    ¡°I think he will remember that for a while,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°He will remember, but he will keep his cheating to make more money from people


    who won¡¯t notice that his game is rigged,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who wants to see the fake


    unicorns?¡±


    ¡°Are we just going to let that fire burn?,¡± asked Laura. She gestured at the people


    forming a bucket brigade to get things done.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything until I recharge,¡± said Jack. ¡°And I can¡¯t recharge until I put


    myself all the way back together.¡±


    ¡°How long will that take?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are we going into the fake monster tent, or the dancing girl


    tent?¡±


    ¡°I think we should go into the fake monster tent,¡± said Elaine. ¡°No dancing girls for


    someone who would burn up the prizes for little children.¡±


    ¡°I still have you,¡± said Jack. He tried to put his arm on her shoulder to pull her


    forward, but he passed through her.


    ¡°You can hug me when you are yourself again,¡± said Elaine. She smiled.


    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Mush,¡± said Alicia. ¡°The boom was good.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Number Two,¡± said Jack. ¡°That was a good thing with the axe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m able to pick a spot better since you gave me the thing,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°So it is valuable,¡± said Jack. He started gaining color. ¡°I¡¯m glad it worked out for


    you.¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t all be cheating,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Yes, they can,¡± said Laura. ¡°And wrecking one of the stands won¡¯t stop the others


    from cheating people out of their money.¡±


    ¡°We should wreck them all,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°On what grounds?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°They cheated together,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Can you prove that in front of a judge?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°We would have to watch them for a long time to determine if they could be cheating,


    and then we would have to gather evidence to prove we¡¯re right,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Do


    we have a lot of time to do that?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. He became totally real, his watch recharging as they walked.


    ¡°And it¡¯s not our job to ruin the illusion for the people trying to enjoy the rest of the


    midway.¡±


    ¡°Our abilities don¡¯t lend themselves to proving things,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°Bah,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be a goat now,¡± said Jack. He smiled at her. ¡°We¡¯re here to walk around and


    look at things. We¡¯re not the Huckster Evaporating Leprechaun Patrol.¡±


    ¡°The Huckster Evaporating Leprechaun Patrol?,¡± asked Matilda.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Jack. He produced his grin for them. ¡°We¡¯re not the HELP.¡±


    The group moaned at that.


    They stood outside the monster show tent by this time. Jack checked his watch. He


    had a tiny slice of power he could use.


    Jack decided that he could use the power of the watch to do one thing to help after the


    destruction he caused. He wasn¡¯t going to say he had gone overboard, but he had


    done more than he should have.


    He called on Storm, turning into a cloud filling the sky overhead. He directed his


    mental targeting on the burning stand. He poured his rapidly decreasing power into


    a giant drop of rain that extinguished the fire and soaked the closest of the fire


    fighters.


    He slowly resumed his true form as the rain ran out. He strolled back to where


    the woman and girls stood in the shelter of the tent entrance. He grinned at them.


    ¡°Better,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Shall we, ladies?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want to be home in time to hear the lecture Josie is


    going to give me for taking you out and about when you are supposed to be working.¡±


    ¡°Elena is going to be mad that she missed this,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°She had night duty at the village,¡± said Jack. ¡°Rope told her he had it covered,


    but she might not have believed him.¡±


    Elaine paid for the group at the counter set up at the entrance to the tent. They started


    the tour silently.


    Glass cases stood on pedestals along a winding path through the tent. Jack figured


    that it circled around to the front again after people walked through. He put his hands


    in his pockets and waited for his watch to recharge while looking at the specimens on


    display.


    Cards identified the monsters in the cases. Jack wondered about the jackalope and it¡¯s


    local name of horned death, but he did recognize two as things he had ran into in the


    forests north of the city.


    He idly wondered if the monsters were just jazzed up animals instead of the bearer


    of excessive mana that he saw in books. He could see alchemy making what he was


    seeing as an experiment that had become violent and holding a hungry grudge.


    That one bear thing had chased him for a bit before he could use the watch and fly


    away.


    Being eaten had been more on his mind than how did such things work in this world.


    ¡°I have seen a few of these in books,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I wonder how the traveling show


    got the bodies. I had always heard monsters decayed faster than normal animals and


    men.¡±


    ¡°I doubt they are going to tell us that, Matty,¡± said Jack. ¡°That might be a trade


    secret.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Beatrice and Laura will be fighting these if they can pass the


    adventurer¡¯s exam. I want to be able to help them.¡±


    ¡°I will be an adventurer too,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°And I want to be able to help you too,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Monsters have their magic,


    and that makes them harder to kill.¡±


    ¡°Too bad you guys don¡¯t have a monster zoo so you can watch and study the things


    to improve defenses,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°They always break out,¡± said Laura. ¡°There have been attempts to capture monsters


    and hold them. When that happens, they figure out a way to get out of their cells and


    begin hunting the people who are supposed to figuring out how they work.¡±


    ¡°Laura is right about that,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I can¡¯t think of an example where a single


    caged area has held a monster for long.¡±


    ¡°Probably a good thing we talked to the Shemmarians about their stupid plans,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°Do you think you made their government reconsider?,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s hard to know how a political entity will react when


    a fraction of the population drops dead.¡±


    ¡°What if they don¡¯t?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°We¡¯re looking at a possible war,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think the King issuing arrest warrants


    for the Montrose might ease some of the tension since they were working behind


    the scenes to start things off.¡±


    ¡°Saving us might have caused this,¡± said Angelica.


    ¡°Saving you might have saved the world,¡± said Jack. He smiled at them. ¡°Just don¡¯t


    get a big head about it.¡±


    Elaine wrapped him in a stealth hug before leading them out of the tent.

 Love Story

    Josie sat through dinner and listened to the others talk about their world. Aviras sat


    on the table beside her plate. He put in comments about things he wasn¡¯t quite clear


    on.


    Dragons very rarely opted to become companions, or learn the ways, of the lesser


    races.


    Budd quietly edged around what kind of jobs Markus would be interested in after


    working at the hospital. The older adventurer said a lot depended on Vin and his wife.


    They might stay in Hawk Ridge for a while. Simple patrols and filling out the


    paperwork was something that Vin seemed to love doing at the moment.


    They had missed filling out the ranks for the transport train to the Delve by that much.


    A simple run like that was Markus¡¯s and Vin¡¯s type of job when they could get it.


    ¡°How did things go with the fishing?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Jack made a dock for us to swim off of while he took to fishing on the quinjet,¡± said


    Beatrice. ¡°We caught some and cooked them on the shore before we switched


    around.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t been fishing in a while,¡± said Markus. ¡°Where did you go?¡±


    ¡°Lake Myra, I think,¡± said Budd. ¡°How did things go here?¡±


    ¡°We woke up one of the women that had been experimented on,¡± said Josie. ¡°Massa


    said she would put a watch on the other two. We might be able to start moving them


    back home soon.¡±


    ¡°How?,¡± asked Budd.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might have to form trains to take them home, or


    I might send them home by bird.¡±


    ¡°How can we help?,¡± asked Caroline. She held Case¡¯s arm in her arm.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you can right now,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re waiting for the rooms to clear


    so we can enact more of the cure. We¡¯ll need some housing which is why I had hoped


    to get the other empty building I know of to hold these women until they are ready


    to go home, if they want to go home.¡±


    ¡°I would like to pay you back,¡± said Caroline. ¡°I know you are going through a lot of


    trouble for me, and I would like to do something.¡±


    ¡°If we get the other building, I may need extra hands to help with anyone we put in


    there,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will let you know. Right now, the adventurers and the Amazons


    are keeping things under control.¡±


    ¡°What is this show we are going to see?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°The Death of the Dragon, Edelgarde by Homere Cass,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have picked something else to see?¡±


    ¡°We wanted a tragic romance with plenty of fighting,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°The dragon dies,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°The dragon is the hero of the legend,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem much better,¡± said Aviras. ¡°The next time I pick the show we go


    to see.¡±


    ¡°That will be fine, little brother,¡± said Josie. She rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°Let¡¯s


    see this legend in action.¡±


    Josie stood. She waved at the waitress to attract her attention. A few moments later,


    she had the bill settled, and gave the woman a tip. She gestured for her party to get


    to their feet while Aviras landed on her shoulder. They walked out on the street.


    Markus fell in beside her as they walked toward the Oblong. He kept his thumbs in


    his belt as they walked.


    ¡°Have you ever heard of this legend?,¡± asked Josie in a low voice.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Markus. ¡°A dragon falls in love with a princess and dies protecting her


    from her enemies. The villains tend to be usurpers trying to take over her kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She glanced at the small dragon on her shoulder. The sapphire


    gaze watched the buildings around them.


    ¡°Sometimes the dragon¡¯s relatives show up because they don¡¯t approve of the match,¡±


    said Markus.


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°My brothers are not going to come look for me,¡± said Aviras. ¡°They are probably


    glad I am gone.¡±


    ¡°So it would be a bad idea to shrink them down and keep them?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think that you would have a fight on your hands before you could do anything like


    that,¡± said Aviras. ¡°But I would not be surprised if Mister Warner already knew how


    to defeat a dragon. His archive details a lot of monster hunting across the world.¡±


    ¡°At the time he had a ring that allowed him to do virtually anything he could


    imagine,¡± said Josie. ¡°Finding a threat would not have been problem for him since he


    could just imagine some kind of tracking to lead him to the problem, and then shoot


    at it which seems the way he likes to do business.¡±


    ¡°I saw the way he did things when he helped June,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Fast and furious?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He killed these golems in seconds with the persona he was using, the Dart,¡± said


    Aviras.


    ¡°He was always a bigger fan than Jack and me,¡± said Josie. She smiled slightly.


    ¡°Here is the theater,¡± said Markus. ¡°Should we try to get a box, or sit in the crowd?¡±


    ¡°I think Emily is going to want to get a box seat to protect Caroline,¡± said Josie. ¡°I


    doubt standing in the crowd would be considered good security.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree with that,¡± said Markus. ¡°Someone would have to post up across the


    theater to shoot at her with a bow.¡±


    ¡°I hope none of Rustam¡¯s cohorts are here in the city to make such an attack,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Sending him to prison doesn¡¯t seem that good because of his standing. If


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.something were to happen to the royal family, he would be the core to any noble


    revolution against the next viable heir.¡±


    ¡°That would be his younger brother, Illheim,¡± said Markus. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard anything


    for, or against, him. He has kept his head down and avoided trouble as far as I can


    tell.¡±


    ¡°He might go along with deposing the king to get the throne,¡± said Josie. ¡°Or he


    might sit out any revolution and hope for the best.¡±


    ¡°I think your sister is waving at us to hurry up,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°We have two box seats,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to split up for the


    performance.¡±


    ¡°That will be easy enough to do,¡± said Josie. ¡°The women will sit in one box, the men


    will sit in the other.¡±


    Beatrice made a face at being separated from her date on her date night, but said


    nothing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said Josie. ¡°Eventually you and Thad will be able to sit in the dark


    and do things without having Case and Caroline around. Until then, make the best of


    it.¡±


    Markus and Aviras said nothing. One didn¡¯t have any standing to express his opinion,


    and the other was not human enough to appreciate the sentiment of having to watch


    from the crowd while the rest of your group did things in the dark.


    Beatrice led the way up the stairs to the boxes. She paused to let the others know how


    they were doing things.


    ¡°Aviras, please go with Markus,¡± said Josie. ¡°I doubt you want to hear women gossip,


    and he will be able to explain the action better than I can.¡±


    ¡°Come along,¡± said Markus. ¡°We can talk about the women while we watch the


    show.¡±


    ¡°That would be interesting, I suppose,¡± said Aviras. He hopped to Markus¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Stay out of trouble,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want Matilda to come home to find her best


    friend with holes in his hide.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t give Caroline cancer,¡± said Aviras. ¡°I know Jack said you preferred fast


    moving projectiles, but I don¡¯t trust his assessments.¡±


    ¡°You have learned one thing well,¡± said Josie.


    Aviras breathed a small bit of flame as the men walked into their box.


    Josie waved at Beatrice to lead the way to their own box. They walked down and


    entered the balcony. No one could see into the box from the ground, or the sides. You


    had to get a box directly across the theater, and the boxes were offset so none


    perfectly faced the other.


    The younger women were subdued. Emily shook her head as she stood by the door.


    It was hard to talk about your courters with the big sister in the room with you.


    ¡°How are things going with you and Case, Caroline?,¡± asked Josie. She might as well


    get that out there.


    ¡°I think they are going well,¡± said Caroline. ¡°It¡¯s still early. I like the way he pays


    attention to me.¡±


    ¡°How long do you plan on seeing each other?,¡± asked Josie. She settled in a chair


    behind the younger women.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Caroline. ¡°We are still working on things.¡±


    ¡°What about the man you came with, Missus?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°What about him?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He said that you were only together for this one night,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Are you


    going to take him out again without us?¡±


    ¡°What do you think I should do, Bea?,¡± asked Josie. She regarded the younger


    woman with glittering eyes. ¡°He says he has been burnt too many times to want to get


    into a steady relationship.¡±


    ¡°He must like you to come out with you to a show,¡± said Caroline.


    ¡°What makes you think that?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he have said no otherwise?,¡± said Caroline.


    ¡°Not if he was afraid of me,¡± said Josie. ¡°After all, I am his boss at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Markus would have said no if he didn¡¯t want to come,¡± said Emily. ¡°He has turned


    down enough jobs in his time.¡±


    ¡°The adventurers think highly of you, Missus,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°What makes you say that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Everyone at the hall is glad that you are there to give them jobs, and to keep the


    money flowing,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°And most everyone knows you paid Fass¡¯s Fighters


    triple what they should have been on their last job with you.¡±


    ¡°We invaded another country and extracted a group of victims from that


    government,¡± said Josie. ¡°The money came from what we took from the man


    responsible.¡±


    ¡°And it was more than enough for us to retire if we want to do that,¡± said Emily. ¡°Just


    seeing the Enterprise and flying was almost worth the fight.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to pursue Markus, Missus?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°Why would I do that?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to get involved in our


    problems beyond this.¡±


    ¡°I think you need someone,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Someone outside of our group.¡±


    ¡°I have a lot to do, Bea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t really have time for entanglements.¡±


    ¡°I think you should ask him out again without us to complicate things,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Caroline can¡¯t be left alone with Case, and Thad¡¯s sister is here at the moment so I


    can¡¯t have Thad ravish me. Without us, you might be able to do things.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Emily and Josie at the same time.


    ¡°Jinx,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will think about it. I have to clear the rest of the victims off


    Jane¡¯s lawn and the Enterprise. I don¡¯t have time for dating right now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to make time?,¡± asked Beatrice.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Right now, I have too much to do, and not enough time to do it.


    Dating is just not a possibility.¡±


    ¡°There is such a thing as overwork,¡± said Emily.


    ¡°That is for weaker people,¡± said Josie. ¡°I only work enough to take care of my


    responsibilities. Why all this interest in my love life?¡±


    ¡°You just never seem happy,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°Some people aren¡¯t, Bea,¡± said Josie. She smiled for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s just their


    nature. Besides I don¡¯t want Jack to take his harassment to the next level and start


    planning on me getting married and having a thousand kids.¡±


    ¡°That does sound like Jack,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°And I don¡¯t want to share my life beyond what I already have,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°You will be an old maid by the time Matilda leaves on her own,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been a maid in a long time,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will just be old.¡±


    The curtain drew back on the stage below. The talk paused as the dragon met his


    princess, and they began their life together. True love was not meant to be as knights


    arrived to take the princess from the dragon. The dragon turned into a blue firework


    that vanished as the knights told the princess that it was better this way. The princess


    disagreed and killed herself with a knife from one of the knights.


    ¡°I hope Matilda doesn¡¯t do that,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think if Aviras reaches his full size again, that won¡¯t be an issue,¡± said Beatrice.


    She held up her hands to indicate the dragon they had seen talking with the Society


    in their dreams.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. She looked at her sister. ¡°I¡¯m going to take it easy on you two.


    Grab your boyfriends and walk home. Don¡¯t do any ravishings on either side.¡±


    ¡°Emily will make sure of that,¡± said Caroline with a sigh.


    ¡°Have you worked out what title Case will have to buy to marry you?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Caroline. ¡°I need to send a letter to Father to see what is open.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. She waved her hand. ¡°Stay out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do?,¡± asked Beatrice. She stood, looking down at the people


    moving out of the theater on the ground.


    ¡°I am going to collect Matilda¡¯s dragon, and walk Markus home,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then


    I am headed home to the Hangar to finish my day. Tomorrow, I have to work.¡±


    ¡°We will have training with Sir Harp, and the Rick,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I suppose we


    shouldn¡¯t be out too late.¡±


    ¡°I will meet you at home,¡± said Josie. ¡°It was a tragic story like you said.¡±


    ¡°Some versions have the princess die first, some have the dragon¡¯s kin arrive to turn


    the tide, some have them both walk away into the clouds of heaven,¡± said Caroline.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. She smiled at the girls. ¡°Keep an eye out, be careful.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Missus,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°Thank you for coming out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± said Josie. She smiled at them. ¡°This isn¡¯t getting ready for the


    day.¡±


    They left the box in a group, with Emily protecting Caroline¡¯s left, and Beatrice on


    her right. Josie walked ahead, looking for the men, and her little brother. She smiled


    as they came down the hall looking for their dates.


    ¡°The girls are going to walk you home with the expectation that they also be home


    soon,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t abuse the privilege, Case.¡±


    ¡°Why me?,¡± said Case.


    ¡°You are not allowed to ravish me yet,¡± said Caroline, with a smile.


    ¡°This is a lot of stress to live under,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to take Markus home.¡±


    The five younger people descended ahead of their older counterparts. The couples


    linked their arms as they went with Emily walking behind them.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry we had to split up,¡± said Josie. She took his arm and descended the


    staircase beside him. ¡°They all should know better than that.¡±


    ¡°Are we walking to my house?,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°At least part of the way,¡± said Josie. ¡°Would you like to do this again without the


    responsibilities of chaperoning our younger generation?¡±


    Markus¡¯s face took on a thoughtful cast as he looked down at his escort.


    ¡°I think that I would,¡± said Markus.


    They walked out of the theater silently.

 Donuts In The Dark

    Jack sat in the ready room at the top of the Hangar. He had a bottle of conjured soda


    and some donuts that he had put together on a plate. He leaned in his chair so that it


    rested against the wall.


    The gate alarm sounded. He smiled quietly. Beatrice walked by. He waved at her but


    she didn¡¯t see him. He watched as she went to the elevator to go downstairs.


    He went back to munching on his donuts and waiting. He was glad that Bea had made


    it home without problem. That meant Caroline and Emily were in the guest rooms on


    the other side of the gate.


    The carnival had been fun for a walkaround, but he really wanted one with a ferris


    wheel, or a roller coaster. He wondered how hard it would be to build one of those


    things.


    He thought it should be easy enough after all the things he had built. The Enterprise


    was one of the more complicated things in existence. What was a roller coaster


    compared to that?


    The roof opened. He leaned forward in his chair. He smiled as Josie came down the


    steps in her red and gold dress. She pushed her short hair back from her face as she


    descended down to the quinjet bay.


    Aviras rode on her shoulder, glowing a gentle blue in the bay lights. He had his wings


    tucked down against his back.


    She closed the roof door and passed the ready room on the way to the elevator. She


    didn¡¯t see Jack either.


    ¡°Do you want a donut?,¡± he asked. He grinned as she jumped. She turned with an


    angry face as he held up the plate of pastries. The dragon on her shoulder stifled a


    burst of flame.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± asked Josie. She entered the ready room. She didn¡¯t bother


    with the spare chair. She loomed over the table.


    ¡°Eating donuts,¡± said Jack. ¡°Want one?¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Josie. She took one of the pastries and chewed on it.


    ¡°Everyone is tucked in bed,¡± said Jack. ¡°Bea got home just a few minutes ago. I saw


    her heading downstairs.¡±


    ¡°So you just happened to be midnight snacking where I would have to pass instead


    of in the general quarters which I would have skirted around to get to my room,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°To eat donuts with my adopted sister,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her expression.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Aviras in a slightly higher tone of voice. ¡°Could you break me off


    some pieces to chew on.¡±


    ¡°According to Angelica, we¡¯re siblings under the law,¡± said Jack. He quickly tore a


    donut into pieces and put it on a napkin for Aviras. ¡°Who knew, sis?¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Josie. She held up a hand. ¡°How does Angelica know anything like


    that?¡±


    ¡°Apparently she asked Matilda to do the research,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we¡¯re siblings, and


    the Ducklings are considered my cousins.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re messing with me,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And Elaine will be your in-law when we get married,¡± said Jack. ¡°Would you like


    some soda to go with your donut?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I want familial ties with you,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want to inherit your


    dementia.¡±


    ¡°How did your date go?,¡± asked Jack. He munched on one of the donuts. He sipped


    his soda between chews.


    ¡°The dinner was fine, but we had to split up for the play,¡± said Josie. ¡°Bea and


    Caroline were trying to get some time alone without chaperones.¡±


    ¡°I was not happy with the subject matter of the play,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Markus said there


    are multiple stories about what happened, and no one knows what the truth is any


    more.¡±


    ¡°You like him?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He seemed steady enough,¡± said the dragon. He swallowed one of the pieces of


    sugar bread in front of him.


    ¡°But he doesn¡¯t want to date,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t want to date women, or you specifically?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to date women in general,¡± said Josie. ¡°He is willing to give me a


    tryout period. I thought we might do some traveling. I don¡¯t know right now.¡±


    ¡°And I thought Case was impulsive,¡± said Jack. ¡°What kind of traveling are we


    talking about here?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t worked that out yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°I thought we might get a boat and do


    some sailing, or something. Right now, I have to get the goblin tree victims on their


    feet, and sorted. That means I am going to have to go by the Exchange to check on


    that other building we want.¡±


    ¡°My girl is growing up,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for the wedding.¡±


    ¡°No wedding,¡± said Josie. ¡°We aren¡¯t even along to having our first kiss yet.¡±


    ¡°That is true,¡± said Aviras. ¡°But Markus did agree to see another show and have


    dinner.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to do that?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I have been on the scene. I


    don¡¯t think I would make a good girlfriend.¡±


    ¡°I think you are overthinking things,¡± said Jack. He smiled. He frowned at the last


    donut. He split it into thirds, kept one part, tore up a part for Aviras, and passed the


    plate to Josie for her to grab the last part. ¡°You could be a great girlfriend. You could


    take your guy to places he has never been, do things that are for adults only, and


    change his life for the better. You¡¯re just scared.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She squinted at him as she picked up the last donut piece and


    chewed it.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay to be scared,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t remember the last time you talked about


    a boyfriend, or doing something for yourself, or just coming home naked. I think this


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Markus could be someone to change things around for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± said Josie. She wiped her hands together. She leaned over and grabbed


    both sides of his face with her sticky fingers. She rested her forehead against his.


    ¡°Thank you for being concerned, but I have a handle on things. I don¡¯t want to chase


    a guy around, and I don¡¯t need one to be happy. I will see you in the morning, and


    we¡¯ll talk about what we want to do with the Shemmarians on the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°I think we¡¯re going to have quests soon,¡± said Jack. He leaned into the headbutt.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll really be working.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s what I want.¡±


    ¡°What is the meaning of the head contact?,¡± asked Aviras as he worked his way


    through the donut pieces in front of him.


    ¡°I¡¯m asserting my dominance,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to bed. Stay out of trouble.


    Don¡¯t get Aviras into trouble.¡±


    ¡°I would never get my best bud into trouble,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°We both know better than that,¡± said Josie. She straightened. ¡°Don¡¯t set anything on


    fire before the sun comes up if you please.¡±


    ¡°Did you know that Nitro works like your Human Bomb?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Not until you said it,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to hear about what you did while


    I was on my date.¡±


    She quoted date in the air with her fingers.


    ¡°Have a good night¡¯s sleep,¡± said Jack. He leaned back in his chair. ¡°Aviras and I will


    work on how we can improve the quinjet, and stuff like that until I get tired.¡±


    ¡°Avoiding another call from the Society?,¡± Josie said.


    ¡°Naw,¡± said Jack. ¡°I have a lot of things in my head. I thought about setting up a base


    on the moon. The girls would probably hate it since there is nothing there for them.¡±


    ¡°It might be something we can do as an extension of this,¡± said Josie. ¡°After all, the


    League has had a satellite and a moon base for years.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°The Inhumans had that place near the Watcher¡¯s outpost for


    years too. That¡¯s where the Jean Grey Phoenix killed herself the first time before she


    came back as part of X-Factor.¡±


    ¡°Keep a secret base on the moon as a card up your sleeve in case we have to leave


    Hawk Ridge,¡± said Josie. ¡°The people aren¡¯t going to keep being unaware of us if we


    keep rocking the boat.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe we can install a cannon to shoot things here from there.¡±


    ¡°I think the Society prefers a hands on approach to exterminating targets from space,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°You know, to keep the collateral damage down.¡±


    ¡°One beam from a particle thrower is worth a million words,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°And that is why you keep getting asked to tone things down,¡± said Josie. ¡°Good


    night.¡±


    ¡°Good night, Jo-jo,¡± said Jack.


    He leaned back in his chair as she walked away. The dragon squinted at him with his


    sapphire eyes.


    ¡°Are you really thinking about a base on the moon?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. He picked up a napkin and started rubbing the sides of his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s on my list.¡±


    ¡°You have a list?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t everyone?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Aviras. He made a gesture with a forepaw. ¡°At least not about


    living space on the moon.¡±


    ¡°I figure that Josie and I, mostly me,¡± said Jack. ¡°Will help this planet out of this


    stasis that it is in. When we do, space travel and exploration will follow. I want to be


    ahead of the game.¡±


    ¡°It will be a long walk from horses to flying ships, and an even longer walk from that


    to travel between planets,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Right now,¡± said Jack. ¡°The people here don¡¯t even have the ability to build gliders


    to fly. I want to change that.¡±


    ¡°I think you should leave well enough alone,¡± said Aviras. ¡°People will advance at


    their own rate. Your task as I see it is to protect them as they do so.¡±


    ¡°I want my kids to be the first commanders of Star Command,¡± said Jack. ¡°I want


    them to give Buzz Lightyear a run for his money.¡±


    ¡°I think you have to have children before they can be experts in something like space


    travel and community building,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Don¡¯t rain on my parade,¡± said Jack. ¡°How did the date go?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I should talk to you about that,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Josie doesn¡¯t want you


    harassing her to get married and have a thousand kids when she has so much to do


    with her responsibilities and the Ducklings.¡±


    ¡°Does this Markus have a chance in hell?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think the fact that he is calm and ready is a good sign of a good companion,¡± said


    Aviras. ¡°He might be a good restraint on Josie¡¯s temper, just as Elaine is a good


    restraint on you.¡±


    ¡°Elaine is fairly good for me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t have a good history with women,


    but maybe this one piece of luck is just what I needed.¡±


    ¡°Leave Josie alone about Markus, and let her make up her own mind,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Do better than her mother.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right about that,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s hard sometimes. I really like to do


    things.¡±


    ¡°Concentrate on birthing your own thousand children,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I did, but Elaine said I had to spread the trying out instead of trying to do it all in one


    night,¡± said Jack.


    Aviras opened his mouth to say something. He paused to consider. Then he picked


    up one of the last pieces of pastry in front of him and chewed on that instead.


    When he was done, he said, ¡°What are your ideas for a moon base? I assume magic


    is involved.¡±


    ¡°I want to do something like the Inhumans and create a livable space where people


    can build their own homes in the border,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe we can set up some kind


    of launcher to shoot people to the outer planets.¡±


    ¡°And there are other planets above the sky?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°I visited one of the moons already, and took a spot check on the


    system while I was up there. The Enterprise had time to take scans while I was doing


    my business.¡±


    ¡°So travel to other planets is feasible,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°But we don¡¯t know how big the universe is here. I didn¡¯t take the


    time to have the Enterprise take pictures of everything. We might have to deal with


    chtonic entities like Hellboy once we are actively roaming out there.¡±


    ¡°I can see where that would be bad,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°And Star Trek itself was full of super powers posing as gods to destroy the


    universe,¡± said Jack. ¡°That might also be something our proto-Federation might have


    to deal with once we have more than one Enterprise out there looking around.¡±


    ¡°So Star Trek is full of dangers?,¡± asked Aviras.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Jack. ¡°And most of them control energy and matter to do what they


    want. Doctor Who is the same way with less explanations.¡±


    ¡°And you want to uplift the humans here to fight the gods there?,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± said Jack, grinning. ¡°I want the humans here to defend


    themselves from all comers.¡±


    ¡°I can see where your Society might have a problem with this,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°They¡¯re not the boss of me,¡± declared Jack.


    ¡°They literally are your boss,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You are just a bad employee.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s a low blow but fair.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting away from the point of this conversation,¡± said Aviras. ¡°You are


    proposing an insane scheme to send people who have never seen a flying craft into


    space to face unknown dangers without any of the necessary skills. Maybe you should


    work on teaching them how to do things without just summoning the extra


    infrastructure.¡±


    ¡°You are taking the fun out of this,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°You are being lazy,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Shall we start with the basic premise? We want


    people to leave this planet and move out into the solar system, and then the galaxy


    beyond. What do they need to do that without magic doing most of the work for them


    since most people can¡¯t seem to work spells here.¡±


    ¡°We are going to need to improve the metal working skills of blacksmiths, introduce


    an alchemical process to make fuel, build ways to make life support systems to keep


    the crew alive as they go about their day,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°There are probably thousands of other things that we would have to build to make


    your dream come to life,¡± said Aviras. ¡°But this seems to be a good start for you.¡±


    ¡°Just building computers would be huge,¡± said Jack. ¡°I mean they do a lot of the


    calculations in real spacecraft to come home after being out beyond the sky.¡±


    ¡°I saw how the Enterprise worked,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°The Enterprise is towards the middle of things,¡± said Jack. ¡°The startup would have


    to be smaller and possibly unable to fly under its own power in an atmosphere.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked Aviras. He flapped his wings as he settled in to listen to his human


    cohort.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°A writer named Jules Verne came up with an idea that was


    thought about and discarded and then reconsidered and made to work by later


    engineers, chemists, and physicists. Basically, you build a big enough cannon and


    shoot at the moon with a single use rocket.¡±


    ¡°You are joking,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°All of Earth¡¯s space conquest comes from a book where the main


    character built a big gun and fired himself in a shell at the moon and actually hit it.


    Don¡¯t ask me how he got back to Earth. I don¡¯t remember.¡±


    ¡°The humans on your Earth are insane,¡± said Aviras.

 New Quests

    Josie heard the ding in her head and opened her eyes. She frowned at the new


    reminders that she had to get to work. She didn¡¯t quite know where she wanted to


    start the day.


    She cleaned up and looked in her closet of lightning covered clothes. She decided that


    she should change some of the lightning to other things. She pulled on Zatanna and


    asked for different symbols from other heroes she liked. She smiled at the selection.


    She let Zatanna go and pulled a shirt with Kirby Hero¡¯s lion/Superman shield on it


    off its hanger. She put that aside to grab underclothes and pants. She got dressed and


    decided to go up to raid the kitchen before everyone else swarmed in to grab what


    they wanted.


    She stepped off the elevator and frowned that she was the last one at the table. She


    looked over her younger sisters. They seemed less ready for the day than she was.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Jo?,¡± asked Jack. He was in the kitchen, working the stove top.


    Rolling Stones sounded from his pocket. He pulled out his phone and thumbed the


    screen. ¡°Jack¡¯s Kitchen, if you want a singing cake, we¡¯re ready to bake.¡±


    Angelica made a ohh sound at that.


    ¡°Hey, Mister Warner,¡± said Jack. ¡°Yeah, I got the quests. We¡¯re having breakfast and


    getting ready to start. How¡¯s it going back in San Fran?¡±


    He listened for a minute before letting Angelica take over the stove. She waved at


    him to clear out so she could do the job better without his interference.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can handle things,¡± said Jack. ¡°I mean Josie has threatened the


    government of Shemmaria into doing her bidding, or else.¡±


    He nodded as he listened some more.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come ahead when you want. We¡¯ll start working on the


    quests.¡±


    He hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket. He smiled at the assemblage.


    ¡°Mister Warner is going to be dropping by to help us out,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s get


    started. We have a lot on our plate.¡±


    ¡°The phone reaches back home?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Magic,¡± said Jack. ¡°Who knew?¡±


    ¡°I think you did,¡± said Josie. He was way too cheerful for her to tolerate before her


    morning coffee.


    ¡°You want to deal with Kyle?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll leave that for Mister Warner. They seem to know each


    other.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re talking to Caroline¡¯s dad?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let me have my coffee,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can figure out the rest of this. We


    have a little time before the world is plunged into darkness.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine? Coffee for the Queen.¡±


    He leaned into the kitchen. He straightened up with Josie¡¯s cup in his hand. He


    crossed the room to give it to her. He checked the table, nodding at the plates and


    cups.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have breakfast,¡± said Jack.


    The klaxon sounded for the gate upstairs.


    ¡°That¡¯s either Caroline, or Boim,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll check while you guys eat.¡±


    He strode to the elevator and headed upstairs. Josie sat in her spot and sipped her


    coffee. This was the best part of the day as far as she was concerned. It would be even


    better if she was enjoying her coffee alone.


    Jack returned with Boim Russ in tow. She nodded at the girls giving her a bleary but


    fairly warm welcome. He parked her in a seat beside Josie.


    ¡°You are going to have to get your own coffee,¡± said Josie. ¡°This is my precious.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± said Boim. ¡°I received the quests. I thought I should check in with you to


    see what I can do to help out.¡±


    ¡°The first thing we¡¯re going to do is determine if I have to set someone on fire on the


    Shemmarian side of things after giving them their warning,¡± said Josie. ¡°If they aren¡¯t


    doing anything wrong, then we¡¯ll have to figure out what is really going on. Mister


    Warner is coming back. You can take his thing instead of dealing with your sister.¡±


    ¡°Four and I had some words at the brief trial we attended at the hospital,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re on friendlier ground.¡±


    ¡°Let me drink my coffee, and we¡¯ll get started trying to save the world,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Do you think this is another threat from Four¡¯s people?,¡± said Boim.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Josie. ¡°The first thing we have to do is figure out what the threat is


    and how do we handle it.¡±


    ¡°The first thing is eat these steaks and eggs,¡± said Jack. He slid a plate in front of her.


    ¡°Then we start looking around for the causes.¡±


    A plate of food slid in front of Boim. She sniffed the air.


    ¡°I do miss the food,¡± said Boim. ¡°I¡¯m not as good as cook as this.¡±


    Jack whisked Josie¡¯s cup away to the kitchen. He returned with another round of


    coffee.


    ¡°All right, girls,¡± said Jack. ¡°We are going to be out of town for a bit. Stay out of


    trouble, listen to Elaine. I will call if things get bad enough that you need to know


    that.¡±


    ¡°Beatrice?,¡± said Josie. She sipped at her coffee, feeling a little more alive.


    ¡°I have Caroline and will keep her close,¡± said the eldest.


    ¡°We might need help,¡± said Jack.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Should we ask Eric for it?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°He is busy with the hospital. Maybe we


    should take Case with us.¡±


    ¡°He does know the king,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It cuts down on potential problems with Caroline while you are gone,¡± said Beatrice.


    ¡°I say take him.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long this will take, but I guess we¡¯ll be gone


    for the whole day. If you need me, call me. I will be glad to use a torpedo on whatever


    problem you might have.¡±


    ¡°I think we can get along without that,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Maybe we can do some work


    around the hospital while you are doing your job.¡±


    ¡°Girls,¡± said Josie. She took a last sip of her coffee. ¡°There might be trouble ahead.


    I want you to keep an eye out, and be ready. Someone has triggered a quest to prevent


    war along the northern border. We don¡¯t know how much influence is being used and


    if they can reach to Hawk Ridge. Until we do, don¡¯t go off alone, trust no one you


    don¡¯t know, and be ready to use Sir Harp¡¯s training. As soon as we clear this, we will


    be back in the city to help you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re stopping a war?,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°We¡¯re trying to prevent one,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you to keep an eye out. You¡¯re


    famous among the adventurers and the Watch. All anyone has to do to find you is talk


    to an adventurer who didn¡¯t know better.¡±


    ¡°We would be used as hostages?,¡± said Laura.


    ¡°Just like Caroline,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to fix that for you. Be careful,


    keep an eye out, stay out of trouble. If you do get into trouble, try to find a way


    to stall. I will find you.¡±


    ¡°I will look after them while you are gone,¡± said Elaine. ¡°Beatrice, you are going


    to have to be even more careful with Caroline since this will involve her parents.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°I will do what I can not to not let her try to go off and


    fix things on her own when she should be waiting, and fixing things with Case.¡±


    Josie nodded. That was the best they could do at the moment.


    ¡°I think we have to use the Enterprise for this,¡± said Jack. ¡°Fast transport is what


    she is made for.¡±


    ¡°I need to send some letters first,¡± said Josie. ¡°You guys get ready for your practice.¡±


    ¡°See if you can find mention of the Bloodborn afterwards,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might


    need the information.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in Mister Warner¡¯s archive,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I saw the name mentioned with


    some pirate cases he was asked to stop.¡±


    ¡°So Matilda¡¯s extra brain power is already paying back dividends,¡± said Jack. ¡°Good


    one, Matty.¡±


    ¡°We can use the reader for it,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can use the reader, right?¡±


    ¡°I thought maybe we could have Matty pick out the relevant pages with her awesome


    brain power,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°A machine will do it faster,¡± said Josie. ¡°Matilda, can you and Aviras look up the


    relevant things for us while I write my letters. I am going to have to let people know


    what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°It will be easy,¡± said Matilda. She snatched her dragon up and plopped him on her


    head as she jogged to the library.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Jack, help Elaine and the girls clean up while I get this part


    done. Then we can get started.¡±


    ¡°Send a note to Ropel about Kyle in case there is some spillover on the village,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°We don¡¯t want to alarm anybody, but a single village in the middle of nowhere


    might attract trouble I will have to fix with some phasers.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Josie. She headed back to her room where her paper and pens were. She


    would send the warning to Ropel first since he was a noncombatant and had a village


    of people that could be swept up into the trouble ahead.


    She wrote three other letters and sent them after that. She gathered up her bag and


    poncho, throwing them on. The last thing she had to do was call Jane and let her


    know.


    She triggered the band and waited for Jane as she stepped out of her room and waited


    on the elevator.


    ¡°It¡¯s early, Josie,¡± said Jane. ¡°What are you doing to me?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going out of town,¡± said Josie. ¡°I wanted you to be on high alert until we get


    back.¡±


    ¡°Quests for your Society?,¡± asked Jane.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to arrange a meeting with the King, and do


    some things. I just wanted you to know just in case you need help at the hospital,


    and I can¡¯t get there to do something.¡±


    ¡°Did you let the others know?,¡± asked Jane. Her voice was sharper as sleep wore


    away from her brain.


    ¡°I sent a letter to Eric so he could keep an eye on the adventurers and on anything


    that looked strange that needed to be handled,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to assume


    that he will tell his wife.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to her if I see her at the hospital,¡± said Jane. ¡°I will check on your three


    lambs too.¡±


    ¡°I had hoped to clear your yard, and then start clearing the Enterprise,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Best laid plans never go as planned.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± said Jane. ¡°The three you did clear opened a hole for more room


    for the rest. Do your quests, come back to work. Massa said you took an adventurer


    out.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t much of an outing,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m just not ready to date. And neither is


    he.¡±


    ¡°Use your tried and true method, Ear Ripper,¡± said Jane. ¡°Threaten him into marrying


    you.¡±


    ¡°What?,¡± asked Josie. She looked at the com, and grimaced at the line being dead.


    Jane had hung up on her with the last word.


    She gave a thought to calling Jane back and explaining things, but decided she had


    more important work to do. She had to get a move on. She didn¡¯t want Jack doing


    a lot by himself.


    There was no telling what kind of misery he would rain down.


    She took the elevator back up to the common area. The morning¡¯s cooking had been


    cleaned up in the amount of time she had taken to write her letters and talk to Jane.


    She didn¡¯t see Jack, or Matilda. She checked the library and found them poring over


    the relevant pages picked by the reader.


    ¡°Did you find anything?,¡± Josie asked. She couldn¡¯t see the hologram from where she


    stood.


    ¡°They¡¯re zombie pirates,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to burn them down when


    we run into them.¡±


    ¡°Great,¡± said Josie. ¡°Any clues on where they are coming from?¡±


    ¡°The other continent,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The archive says that Mister Warner met them at sea, and burned any boat that


    crossed an arbitrary line,¡± said Matilda. ¡°But he never looked for their source.¡±


    ¡°The Montrose went to that other continent,¡± said Josie. ¡°I had too many to catch


    up to here, but it could have been part of a bigger strategy.¡±


    ¡°I wonder what idiot thought sending people to the Night of the Living Dead was a


    good idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are we going to investigate their source?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do about the North, and Kyle,


    before we worry too much about where the zombie pirates are coming from. We¡¯ll


    have the Enterprise try to find the right boats so we can use phasers on them.¡±


    ¡°I agree with that plan,¡± said Jack. ¡°If they are really like zombies, we don¡¯t want


    them biting anyone here and spreading their biting everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I agree with that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Thank you, Matilda, and Aviras.¡±


    ¡°I could find these Bloodborn and burn them myself,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°I want you to keep an eye on Matilda and help Beatrice protect the rest of the girls,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°None of the soldiers with Rustam had the Makeover. Neither did Brant.


    It suggests that whatever is going on, the part of the Montrose I marked is working


    with other conspiracies to ruin the country. They might have learned about the


    Ducklings and our keeping hold of Caroline. That makes you targets for people who


    want revenge for what I have done.¡±


    ¡°And there is a chance of another Todd trying to do something while we are trying


    to maneuver,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Among other things,¡± said Josie. ¡°I expect Shemmaria is the target of all this, and


    I expect to fix things between the two countries we are going to be talking to through


    their main people, or someone will know the limits of what I am willing to put up


    with.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started before we face the Walking Dead on our own turf,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I will do what I can to protect the city, and Caroline,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°And I will protect Matilda,¡± said Aviras.


    ¡°Get ready to do your duties,¡± said Josie. ¡°When you get home, pour over the archive


    for other threats that might want to take us on.¡±


    ¡°We can do that, Missus,¡± said Matilda.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you both when we get home,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Communication acknowledged,¡± said the machine high overhead.


    ¡°Josie and I need to come aboard,¡± said Jack. ¡°Beam us up.¡±


    They vanished in a cloud of blue sparks.


    Josie led the way off the transporter pad.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± she said as she made her way to the lift to the bridge. ¡°We have to pick


    up a passenger. We¡¯re going to have to head south to Kyle¡¯s capitol city.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The ship soared high above the city, heading away in streaks of air bending around


    it.

 The Kings

    Jack took the command chair. He looked at the display on the arm. They would be


    over the South in a few seconds. He was glad that he had built the Enterprise for days


    just like this one.


    ¡°Do you have a plan?,¡± he asked. ¡°I am going to assume you have a plan.¡±


    ¡°We have to keep Kyle alive,¡± said Josie. ¡°I was thinking that we could just wait for


    Mister Warner to show up and handle things. Now I am thinking that he¡¯s going to


    have to come with us.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m in favor of that. Then what?¡±


    ¡°Then we take care of Shemmaria and Grecious,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then I use a bird to


    figure out who wants Kyle dead. I might have to use a lot of birds if no one likes


    him.¡±


    ¡°Would one bird pick out a conspiracy?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Josie. ¡°I could maybe figure out who the assassin was, and


    then we can sweat him for the details. Either a lone gunman, or a shadow cabinet, will


    come out of that, and we will have to do something to prevent the guy from being


    murdered.¡±


    ¡°Unless we¡¯re the ones who have to murder him,¡± said Jack. ¡°I bet you the Society


    will not like that option being used.¡±


    ¡°Which is why we won¡¯t do that,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Nothing says foiled assassin like already dead,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Stop,¡± said Josie. ¡°Just stop. Let¡¯s concentrate on the part where we keep Kyle alive,


    and running his country.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°How do we find him?¡±


    Jack¡¯s phone rang again. He turned off Can¡¯t Get No Satisfaction with a swipe of his


    thumb.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Mister Warner?,¡± he said. ¡°We brought the Enterprise down to talk


    to Kyle and keep him safe until we figure out what we are going to do. We planned


    to bring him onboard and keep him locked down until we are done with the other


    quests. You didn¡¯t happen to talk to June before you came back, did you?¡±


    He listened for a minute, drumming the arm of his chair with his fingertips.


    ¡°If you think you can get it done,¡± said Jack. ¡°As soon as you give the sign, we¡¯ll


    transport you both up.¡±


    He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.


    ¡°What did he say?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t see June,¡± said Jack. He frowned. ¡°I should have gone with her and made


    sure things went right.¡±


    ¡°Were you planning on punching the other woman out for her?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°You know I¡¯ve punched women before I came here.¡±


    He had done worse than that in some places.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you scan for Mister Warner and put his location on


    the screen.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The sprawling city sprang into view on the main screen. A tiny red diamond flitted


    from one building to the next. It paused for a long moment in what looked like a


    central position in the biggest building of the city.


    Jack¡¯s phone rang with the Rolling Stones again. He thumbed the answer slide, and


    listened.


    ¡°Enterprise, beam up Mister Warner and his passenger,¡± said Jack. ¡°We will meet you


    down in Transporter Room One.¡±


    He hurried to the lift, putting the phone away. He triggered the door. He paused as


    the door slid open.


    ¡°Enterprise, take us to King Rickard¡¯s castle,¡± said Josie. She nodded as the ship


    started coasting north. She joined Jack at the elevator.


    ¡°Do you have a plan?,¡± asked Jack. The elevator hummed around them as they


    descended from the bridge. ¡°Or are we winging it?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have a plan.¡±


    ¡°I would love to hear it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The first part of the plan is to bring Rickard onboard, and then call on his


    counterpart in the Shemmarian bureaucracy,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once we do that, we


    negotiate what we want them to do versus what I will do to settle this quest so we can


    break off and stop the Bloodborn.¡±


    ¡°That seems too reasonable for one of your plans,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I used to plan gigs,¡± said Josie. ¡°I know how to make a checklist, thank you very


    much.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Are we letting Kyle on the bridge?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. The elevator opened and they headed down the hall to the transporter


    room. ¡°We¡¯ll have Mister Warner take him to the lounge. We should have some


    people to help us keep the peace.¡±


    ¡°We can circle around and pick up some people from Eric,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I suppose it will make Rick happy,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°He¡¯s going to get tired of you calling him that,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And I never will,¡± said Jack. He paused in front of the transporter room door to


    straighten his red double d shirt. ¡°I wish I had some red sunglasses right now.¡±


    He stepped in front of the door and let it slide open. He walked inside. Mister Warner


    stood beside a pudgy man in leather armor. The older watchbearer had his strongman


    persona on, and had the other man by the neck, and slightly off the floor.


    ¡°Hi,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are you Kyle?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this is the elected high king of Gurny, the Hound of Worlin, the incredible,


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.inedible Kyle,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Now that we have him, what are we going to


    do with him?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be saving his life,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t think the Society will


    like it if you break his neck by accident.¡±


    ¡°On the other hand, if you do break his neck,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can put him on the


    transporter and put him somewhere no one will ever find him.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Kyle?,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°You want to live, or do you want


    to be given a fiery cremation by being dropped from orbit to the planet?¡±


    ¡°I have never seen a fiery cremation before,¡± said Jack. ¡°Say fiery cremation. The


    Society won¡¯t like it, but I can take one failure against my many successes.¡±


    ¡°I would like to live,¡± said Kyle.


    ¡°Knife,¡± said Jack. He held out his hand. ¡°Give it up and we don¡¯t have to worry


    about you trying to do something stupid.¡±


    Kyle made a face. He reached up and indicated a knife at the back of his neck. Mister


    Warner took it and handed it over to Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Someone wants to kill you. We don¡¯t know why, we don¡¯t


    know who. We have some other business to do, so we¡¯re going to take you around


    with us, and keep you safe until we can concentrate on figuring out who wants to kill


    you. You can cooperate and let us do our jobs without undue problems, or you can


    sit inside the brig until we get around to dealing with you. I¡¯m good with either


    option, but the Society wants to keep you alive, and I¡¯m willing to roll with that


    since I don¡¯t know you.¡±


    ¡°Why would anyone want to kill me?,¡± said Kyle. ¡°I was just elected.¡±


    ¡°It might be a side effect of what¡¯s going on in the north,¡± said Jack. ¡°A proxy war.


    Someone who doesn¡¯t want you to get involved in whatever they are planning. We


    don¡¯t know because we just found out a few hours ago there was a threat. Things


    might change if we can fix the other things going on that we need to deal with.¡±


    Mister Warner let his Samson persona go.


    ¡°So I think we need to come up with a list of people who want you dead,¡± said Mister


    Warner. ¡°You might have some problems coming out of your sexual harassment of


    the maids.¡±


    ¡°I stopped doing that,¡± said Kyle.


    ¡°Some people never forget,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°And they never forgive,¡± said Josie. Her look was a little more grim as she


    contemplated what she wanted from Kyle.


    ¡°Put the maids and their boyfriends at the top of the list you are going to be making,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Mister Warner, if you want to take Kyle down to the conference room and


    get him started on the list of people who want him dead, that would be okay. We¡¯re


    going to be doing some negotiating in a bit, and Kyle can sit in and watch how we do


    things.¡±


    ¡°What kind of negotiation?,¡± asked Kyle.


    ¡°Someone wants to start a war up north between your neighbor, and their neighbor,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°The Society wants to keep that kind of thing down to a low conflict kind


    of thing instead of ruin the continent kind of thing. So we¡¯re going to have a talk, and


    see if we can figure out what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re going to make sure that the people who want the war aren¡¯t the people


    who want to kill you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°If they are, it will make my life a lot simpler, and help yours a lot faster,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What does this Society want from me in return?,¡± asked Kyle.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. He glanced at Josie, and Mister Warner. They didn¡¯t seem


    to have an idea either. ¡°They want to keep the peace and generally protect the planet


    as a whole. I think they want you to do the best you can to help the people around


    you, and make sure any fires on your border with Grecious and with the Goblin


    Tribes are stamped out before they become big things. Maybe be a better person than


    someone who coerces the employees.¡±


    ¡°Maybe don¡¯t be that better person and make us come back to deal with you,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I think I would like that.¡±


    ¡°So Kyle,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the high king. ¡°You might be able to give me that


    cremation slash falling star I never wanted to have before I met you.¡±


    ¡°I think you might want to put Josie Fox at the top of the list who wants you dead,¡±


    said Mister Warner. ¡°Let¡¯s go down and get started on it, right?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let him fall out of the cargo deck,¡± said Jack. He waved at Kyle as he was


    escorted away. ¡°Enterprise, make sure Kyle gets put in the brig as soon as he does


    something wrong, and deny him access to anything except the rooms we put him in.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. Jack could almost hear doors being locked all over


    the ship.


    ¡°Mister Warner seems to have some personal history there,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Probably over a girl,¡± said Jack. ¡°And he is living here. He probably doesn¡¯t want


    Kyle to send his army down to the village. I¡¯m sure he thinks he can take care of


    himself, but Dot, Rope, Elena, everyone else would all be caught in the crossfire.¡±


    ¡°If Mister Warner lived after something like that, Kyle would be deader than Elvis,¡±


    said Josie.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see about the rest of our guests,¡± said Jack. ¡°We need to pick up the King, at


    least, and then we need to grab whomever¡¯s in charge of the army for Shemmaria.¡±


    ¡°We might need adventurers for security,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re definitely going to need our Three Stooges,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s pick up the King, and maybe his chief advisor, and then


    grab up someone from the hospital detail to help us out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m for that,¡± said Jack. He led the way back up to the bridge. ¡°We can pick up the


    adventurers first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll use a bird to go back to Hawk Ridge,¡± said Josie. ¡°Work on the Rick thing.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re practically best friends,¡± said Jack. He grinned at his partner.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he sees it that way,¡± said Josie.


    Jack nodded. He looked out over the capitol. He rubbed his scar. He had to do what


    he had to do.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°If Kyle is escorted to the bridge, he is not allowed to use the


    controls in any way. I don¡¯t want him crashing you by mistake.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± agreed the machine.


    ¡°Let me grab up our adventurers,¡± said Josie. She pulled on her Zatanna and sent


    out a bird. ¡°Try to be less annoying.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the least annoying person you know,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Josie. She vanished a second later.


    Jack rubbed the scar over his eye. He had things to do. He didn¡¯t want to leave Mister


    Warner alone with Kyle, but he couldn¡¯t just sit on the bridge and wait for Josie to


    come back with extra hands.


    He could, but she would give him flak about being lazy while she was doing all the


    work.


    He went back to the transporter and beamed down to the throne room. The guards


    pulled weapons and paused when they saw it was him. He waved at them in turn.


    ¡°Is King Rickard around?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I need to pick him up to do some


    negotiating.¡±


    ¡°What kind of negotiating?,¡± asked one of the guards.


    ¡°I was thinking about having my friend move up here,¡± said Jack. ¡°A new town might


    cheer her up.¡±


    ¡°Your friend, the bird lady?,¡± said the guard. He looked at his friends. ¡°Moving


    here?¡±


    ¡°You should have seen her before we came here,¡± said Jack. ¡°Her social skills are


    way better than what they used to be.¡±


    ¡°I would hate to see what they were before,¡± said the guard.


    ¡°Everyone says that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said King Rickard. ¡°Josie sent me a letter. I have sent for the general in


    command of the north. He will be here in a few days.¡±


    ¡°Come on,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll talk to him in a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the King.


    ¡°Josie went to get some adventurers to help out,¡± said Jack. ¡°As soon as she returns,


    she can find the guy with a bird. I was wondering if you wanted her to move up here


    and settle down. Maybe kick over some rocks for you.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± asked the king. He slightly frowned at the guards behind Jack shaking


    their heads. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Where Josie goes, her kids will go,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine and I will have time to work


    on our own things.¡±


    ¡°Is this part of the issue that we are looking to solve?,¡± asked the King.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s a random thought.¡±


    ¡°I think it will be easier for you and Elaine to move here,¡± said the King. ¡°But I think


    Hawk Ridge is the better place for both of you at the moment. Everyone already


    knows you there, and your reputation should be good with the Duke.¡±


    The guards nodded in agreement with the King¡¯s words. Two dangerous magic users


    inside the city walls were two too many.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will put that on pause. I¡¯m trying to get her to settle down with


    some guy so she¡¯s all grumpy around the Hangar. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have some


    guy you won¡¯t miss if his head explodes, would you?¡±


    The King frowned at the question. His guards definitely didn¡¯t like the thought


    he would even consider having Josie pick one of them out.


    ¡°I will have to think on it,¡± said the King.


    There was an almost audible sigh of relief.


    ¡°I think we should be going,¡± said Jack. ¡°Kyle is onboard with Mister Warner.


    Somebody woke up and wanted him dead this morning. Guess who¡¯s stuck making


    sure he doesn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Your Society is full of surprises,¡± said the King.


    ¡°They¡¯re full of something,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, the king and I are ready to come


    aboard.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. Blue sparks carried them away.

 Gathering

    Josie landed in the guild hall. She walked around and didn¡¯t find anybody she knew


    except for Sally. The pro tem manager had the night ledgers out, and the tills in order


    to be counted. They exchanged a few words before the watchbearer decided to hunt


    elsewhere.


    She visited Thad Budd¡¯s little place next. The adventurer still lived in the same tiny


    apartment he had secured when he had first started in Hawk Ridge. He came to the


    door with sword in hand after the knocking she gave the door.


    ¡°Got a job,¡± said Josie. ¡°Get ready to go.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not mad about the show, are you?,¡± said Budd. He swept his hand back


    through the mess on the top of his head.


    ¡°Quests came in,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need a security element.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the only one you thought of?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to round up some more people,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to need you to


    keep the peace while I negotiate.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Budd. ¡°Let me get ready.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back with Case, then we¡¯ll go over to the hospital and grab two randoms,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°I already tried the hall, but I didn¡¯t see anyone I recognized.¡±


    ¡°Probably too early in the morning for that,¡± said Budd. He closed the door in her


    face.


    Josie went to her next stop and hammered the door of a small house in the middle of


    a few blocks of small houses. She put aside Mellencamp as she waited. She knocked


    again when the owner didn¡¯t come to the door quick enough for her.


    ¡°Madam Witch?,¡± said Case. He quickly put the club he was holding in a basket by


    the door. ¡°It¡¯s early. Something wrong with Caroline?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need a detail for some guests. Get dressed and let¡¯s go. I already


    talked to Budd. We¡¯re going to grab up two more men and get this done.¡±


    ¡°In a hurry?,¡± asked Case. He walked back to his bedroom.


    ¡°There is a potential war that needs to be stamped out,¡± said Josie. She stayed on the


    threshold. ¡°We¡¯re hoping to solve this before sundown.¡±


    ¡°Who else do you have beside Thad and me?,¡± asked Case from the bedroom.


    ¡°No one yet,¡± said Josie. ¡°I had planned to grab two more men from the hospital.¡±


    ¡°What kind of problems are we looking at?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°We¡¯re having a conference,¡± said Josie. ¡°Some of the participants might be


    unfriendly to each other.¡±


    ¡°Not something totally unexpected,¡± said Case.


    He emerged from his bedroom, dressed in his armor with a tunic over it. He belted on


    his sword and dagger.


    ¡°We have some kind of mystery going on,¡± said Josie. ¡°I hope to figure it out and get


    back here before dinner.¡±


    ¡°When can I stop by?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°When we¡¯re sure Caroline¡¯s dad won¡¯t stab you when you are supposed to be


    protecting him,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s pick up Budd and see who we can grab from the


    hospital.¡±


    She transformed and yanked them across the city. She knocked on Budd¡¯s door again


    to let him know they were ready. She had to get moving.


    Budd walked out of his apartment. He clapped his hands together.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Josie. ¡°We still have to grab our extra guys and head north.¡±


    She sent her birds out ahead of them to pull them across the city. They landed in the


    center of the hall. She paused to gather her thoughts.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head down to the offices and see if Jane and Madam Harp have someone we


    can grab up for this,¡± said Josie, letting her persona slip.


    They started pass the cafeteria, but Josie saw a pair of familiar figures arguing over


    cups of tea. She entered and walked up behind them. She paused to listen before


    announcing her presence.


    ¡°If you like her, and she likes you, I don¡¯t see what the problem is,¡± said Vin. ¡°Ask


    her out again and see where that takes you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she really likes me,¡± said Markus. ¡°Besides she¡¯s probably got plenty


    of men chasing her.¡±


    ¡°And why shouldn¡¯t you be one of them,¡± said Vin. ¡°I¡¯m telling you. Just ask. If she


    doesn¡¯t want you around, she¡¯ll tell you.¡±


    ¡°And what if she doesn¡¯t want me around?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°Then at least you tried,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Just like that?,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°Just like that,¡± said Vin. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his drink. He


    paused when he saw whom was standing at their table.


    ¡°Why are you two always sitting around?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t pay you for that.¡±


    Markus exhaled his tea across the table. Vin slid out of the way on the legs of his


    chair.


    ¡°Morning, Madam Witch,¡± said Vin. ¡°To what do we owe the pleasure of your


    company this fine day?¡±


    ¡°I need two guys that I don¡¯t mind getting hurt to be meat shields,¡± said Josie. ¡°And


    here the two of you are sipping tea in the hospital cafeteria.¡±


    ¡°We were going to patrol in a few minutes,¡± said Vin. ¡°Maybe find an old lady to


    hit Markus in the face again.¡±


    ¡°Then you won¡¯t mind giving me a hand,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I have some things


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.to do and I need that overwatch before I can do the rest.¡±


    ¡°As long as I can get home for dinner,¡± said Vin. ¡°The wife is making brisket


    tonight.¡±


    ¡°It will take however long it takes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Shall we go? I have left Jack on his


    own for too long.¡±


    Sure,¡± said Vin.


    Josie grabbed all five of them in the embrace of their birds. She aimed for the


    Enterprise, and they crossed the intervening space in the blink of an eye. They


    appeared in the lounge.


    ¡°You¡¯re back,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Kyle is still working on his enemies list.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I left him getting King Rickard onboard with the plan,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°Position?¡±


    ¡°In route to Shemmarian capitol,¡± said the machine.


    Josie nodded. The Enterprise could cover planetary distances so fast that by the time


    it gave a position, it would have already been miles away from it.


    ¡°Enterprise, where is Jack?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The main conference room,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go down and talk to Jack and see if we gather up our


    guests from Shemmaria.¡±


    ¡°Come along, Kyle,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°We¡¯ll keep you secure while everything


    is going on.¡±


    ¡°What is going on with him?,¡± asked Vin.


    ¡°Someone wants to kill him and we¡¯re not supposed to allow it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t


    know why yet.¡±


    ¡°Why someone wants to kill him, or why you have to protect him?,¡± asked Vin.


    ¡°Both,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go down to the conference room, and we¡¯ll see how the


    rest of this goes. Hopefully it will just be some talk with very little doing on our end.¡±


    ¡°If it isn¡¯t?,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Then we might have exterminate some monsters before the day is done,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s usually how this goes.¡±


    The group walked down to the conference room, and the door opened for Josie. She


    led the way inside and found Jack and Rickard inspecting a table and some chairs.


    They both nodded to Josie as she entered.


    ¡°Had to make us a conference table and some chairs,¡± said Jack. ¡°New faces?¡±


    ¡°This is Vin and Markus,¡± said Josie. ¡°They usually work at the hospital.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the new arrivals. ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t look


    out the windows. The Shemmarians are probably going to want their own security,


    but what we want is for their head of warfare, or whatever, to sit down with us and


    brainstorm. There should be no violence, but if there is, do not get in front of Mister


    Warner if he gets mad. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°If there is violence?,¡± asked Vin. He had the skeptical look of someone who had


    been to many peace talks where swords were drawn.


    ¡°Your job is to move King Rickard, and King Kyle out of the way, and let Josie and


    Mister Warner work,¡± said Jack. ¡°Nothing can happen to either one of them. Kyle,


    because we still haven¡¯t figured out what makes him important, and Rickard because


    he¡¯s Case¡¯s future father-in-law.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations,¡± said Vin. ¡°You couldn¡¯t ask for a better future son-in-law. You


    see, Markus, if Case can get a girl to marry him, so can you.¡±


    ¡°Not now,¡± said Markus. ¡°You can harangue me when we¡¯re not working.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re the guy taking my little sister out?,¡± said Jack, making the connection


    that Josie hadn¡¯t wanted him to make. ¡°Do you want to get married to her, and have


    a thousand kids?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± said Markus. He winced at the words.


    ¡°Not now, Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°Saving the world comes first. And it¡¯s not any of your


    business who I date.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he will pass the Duckling standard,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her.


    ¡°He¡¯s met Beatrice,¡± said Josie. ¡°She thinks he¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°In position,¡± reported the Enterprise, cutting through the brewing storm.


    ¡°Four Russ?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Located,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Someone else on board?,¡± asked Vin, indicating the extra voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s the ship,¡± said Budd. He looked over the room. ¡°Your Majesties, I think the both


    of you should sit at this end of the conference table, next to the door, and away from


    where we can put the Shemmarians so they don¡¯t try to seize control of the ship.¡±


    ¡°I think that is a good idea,¡± said Rickard. ¡°How are you doing, Kyle?¡±


    ¡°This has been like a bad dream,¡± said Kyle.


    ¡°I imagine so,¡± said Rickard. ¡°My dealings with the champions of order have


    included things I wish I hadn¡¯t learned. But they will protect you to the best of their


    ability, and maybe show you a thing or two.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have to get our people in order. I guess I will go down


    to do that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Leave Markus alone. The quests first, then I will work on my


    private life alone.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think you need a whole lot of help on that end.¡±


    Vin made a gesture to his partner that said that¡¯s what I am talking about. Markus


    shook his head in irritation.


    ¡°I will work on it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Alone.¡±


    She pulled on Zatanna and teleported to Boim Russ¡¯s office. The captain sipped some


    tea and read some papers on her desk as Josie let the persona go.


    ¡°You¡¯re here,¡± said Russ. She didn¡¯t look happy about the interruption. ¡°Your letter


    said there was a problem.¡±


    ¡°The Society sent out a quest there was a war breaking out between Shemmaria and


    Grecious,¡± said Josie. ¡°They want it stopped. Who would be in charge of something


    like that?¡±


    ¡°The Ministry of Warfare which includes the Minister, the command structure for the


    Army, and the Intelligence Arm,¡± said Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t have any logistical demands


    for something like that.¡±


    ¡°So it won¡¯t be an official war?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It may be sparked off like the invaders in Fort Hern,¡± said Russ. ¡°A false flag


    drawing both sides.¡±


    ¡°No one would know,¡± said Josie. ¡°All they would see is the uniforms depending on


    which side of the border it happens on.¡±


    ¡°And they can use either uniform to pretend to be friendly until they do whatever they


    plan to do,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do you know where Hax and Haslett are? I think we¡¯re going


    to have to bring them onboard as well as the minister of warfare so we can all be on


    the same page.¡±


    ¡°They should be in their offices,¡± said Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that is where the


    General and Major are, but they should be easily found. They might be getting ready


    for you to give them bad news.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She transformed and sent out birds to locate the other two.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get them together and then we¡¯ll call on the minister to see what we can do to


    fix this.¡±


    ¡°The minister will have to bow to the council,¡± said Russ. ¡°They might not believe


    someone in command of a giant silver bird dragon.¡±


    ¡°Good point,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I have a lot of work to do before I am done.¡±


    ¡°Jack?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°Trying to fix me up with a boyfriend, and generally being annoying,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°A boyfriend?,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°A courter,¡± said Josie. ¡°He¡¯s found Elaine and wants everyone to be happy like


    him.¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy enough with what I have,¡± said Josie. ¡°Not everyone needs someone


    despite what the Blues Brothers said.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that is true,¡± said Russ.


    Josie gathered her three minions together in a whirl of magic. Hax suggested she


    might want to include the head of the Intelligence arm in the discussion. His staff


    would be tasked with gathering any proof Shemmaria might need.


    Josie agreed and after some wrangling got the five Shemmarians on the Enterprise.


    She trusted Russ and Haslet up to a point to generally try to be helpful, and Hax to


    do his job. She didn¡¯t have a read on the older Shemmarians yet, but hoped that


    simple teleportation was enough to get them to believe a little in what she could do,


    and would do.


    The Society wanted her to keep the peace. It didn¡¯t care how she kept it.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going, Russ?,¡± asked Jack when they appeared with a bursting of firebirds.


    ¡°Haslet? Don¡¯t be so down, Hax. I have some chocolate ice cream if you want it.¡±


    ¡°You are nothing but trouble,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°Jack, this is Minister Worldy, and Chief Officer Glunt,¡± said Josie. ¡°They are here


    to talk to us on my reputation so let¡¯s get started and get done early. We still have to


    figure out Kyle¡¯s problem and stop the undead pirates from making land.¡±


    ¡°Please sit,¡± said Jack. He indicated chairs at the conference table. ¡°Obviously you


    guys know Rick and Kyle. The angry guy in the bow tie is Mister Warner, and the


    other four guys are adventurers who will be helping us with Kyle when we figure


    out what we want to do.¡±


    ¡°There is a potential war in the offing?,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Jack. ¡°But the Society doesn¡¯t want that, and they have asked us to stop


    it no matter what. So with your help, we are going to. Enterprise, show us the


    continent please.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The table came to life with a topographical picture


    of the countries involved. Everyone but Jack paused. He grinned at them as he


    gestured for them to sit.


    ¡°How are you doing that?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°The capture of light,¡± said Jack. ¡°So how do we get started sorting things out?¡±

 False Flag

    Jack looked around the room. No one seemed to want to step forward to give him


    something to work with as they studied the hologram. He supposed he couldn¡¯t blame


    them, but they had to get started if they wanted to finish.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the border between the countries,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where is Fort Hern?¡±


    A small indicator marked like a tiny castle popped up.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say one of your generals was going up there, Rick?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes, but there is no way he could have covered that ground on horseback with


    a battalion of troops marching in the time allowed,¡± said King Rickard.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you give us a real time picture of any troops moving on


    the ground to Fort Hern from the south?¡±


    Tiny soldiers were rendered in on the table top, marching north.


    ¡°Russ,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you have any forces in the area?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t answer that question, Captain,¡± said Glunt, standing with a hand raised. ¡°We


    can¡¯t let the enemy know the disposition of our forces.¡±


    ¡°Mister Glunt,¡± said Josie. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. In ten seconds, the Enterprise can mark


    any lifeform in the area and put it on the table. Twenty seconds after that, they could


    all be dead from here. I understand that you want to protect what you can, but don¡¯t


    get in the way. I don¡¯t have the time to fool around, and if eliminating ninety percent


    of your forces this close to the border will avert the threat and clear the quest, I would


    rather do that than extract information from people that Jack is just going to throw


    over the side as soon as he is tired of fooling around. This operation is going forward


    and I would rather it go forward with a minimum loss of life, but if the reverse


    happens, you had a chance to cooperate.¡±


    ¡°Sir, this is how we lost our personnel in the Keep,¡± said Haslet. ¡°I would advise you


    not to push too hard on this.¡±


    ¡°Captain Russ, answer the woman,¡± said Worldy. He had seen the loss of personnel


    in the headquarters of the Army, and the reports from the Goblin Tree farm. He didn¡¯t


    want the same type damage inflicted on his border operations.


    ¡°We have a roving battalion north of Fort Hern, and three forts with cavalry and


    infantry on hand,¡± said Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the exact number of forces are for


    the forts.¡±


    ¡°Captain Russ and I were discussing a false flag operation like the one that initially


    caused me to clear out Fort Hern in the first place,¡± said Josie. ¡°How possible would


    that be to carry out with the right planning?¡±


    ¡°Easily,¡± said Hax. He looked at the other representatives at his end of the table. They


    didn¡¯t seem to like his answer. ¡°The main issue is always going to be communication.


    If an attack was staged, any survivors would say they saw a force from our army or


    the Greciousians. There would be no way to tell the truth after the fact.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s no forensics here.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°Forensics is a science like hunters tracking things,¡± said Jack. ¡°You go out in the


    field with an expert, he can tell you how many men, how many horses, maybe even


    follow them to their destination. Forensics is the same type of thing. You look at the


    area and you have things to be gathered and looked at to show you what could have


    happened.


    ¡°Say someone was murdered, experts would go through the scene and look for


    fingerprints, pieces of clothing that didn¡¯t belong, the way the blood moved, even the


    weather sometimes to try to help figure things out. And once they had someone, they


    could compare what they found on him to what they had found at the scene. It takes


    a lot of time for the testing.¡±


    ¡°So even if we had enough to track an attack back, we couldn¡¯t prove which side did


    anything if the group split up, or hit water, or changed boots and horses,¡± said


    Worldy. ¡°It would be our word that we didn¡¯t do it versus people who saw the Blue


    attacking them.¡±


    ¡°And it would be hard to take that word,¡± said Rickard. ¡°But if we are cooperating,


    how do we sort something that we are predicting instead of it already happening?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in motion,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, paint Russ¡¯s roving battalion and the three


    closest forts to Fort Hern.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Glunt. ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s in motion?¡±


    That table painted figures to show where lifeforms had been picked up by the


    scanners from high overhead. A slow moving force marched toward the fort to the


    right of the reverse triangle.


    ¡°The Society doesn¡¯t hand us a quest because it expects something to happen,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to actually care about consequences all that much. They hand


    us quests because someone decided this is the move I am making and I am making


    it in a small amount of time. So the attack is already in motion somewhere. We just


    don¡¯t know where.¡±


    ¡°What happens if one of those forts fall?,¡± asked Vin. He stood at the back leaning


    lazily against the wall. Jack hadn¡¯t forgot he was there, but hadn¡¯t expected him to


    join in.


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°You have been thinking about an attack and blaming the other side, and Fort Hern


    was cleared out of impersonators this week, I assume,¡± said Vin. ¡°What if the people


    on the other side haven¡¯t got the message they won¡¯t get any support from this side


    of the border yet?¡±


    ¡°What if Fort Hern and one of the Shemmarian forts was supposedly attacked with


    word getting back to the local commanders that the other side had crossed,¡± said Jack.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.¡°I like it, but we need to prove it.¡±


    ¡°The local commander on our side is Lord Rails,¡± said Rickard. ¡°He has been


    informed by fast messenger of what happened. I don¡¯t have his reply back yet.¡±


    ¡°So there is no way that he would believe that the Shemmarians would attack his


    empty fort?,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°If he does, he is more stupid than I would like,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°One of us is going to have to go down and check things out,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe the


    battalion is the right battalion, maybe the fort is still in the right hands. We need to


    make sure and move on.¡±


    ¡°Warner is gone,¡± said Kyle.


    ¡°Enterprise, show Mister Warner,¡± said Josie.


    A tiny figure was rendered in walking to where the battalion was marching to the fort.


    ¡°Enterprise, be prepared to give him cover fire if he needs it,¡± said Jack. ¡°He¡¯s too


    old to be taking these kinds of risks.¡±


    ¡°What can he do?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Dynamite cast, Jo?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s got a heap of blasters, some shapeshifters, and at least one magician,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°He¡¯s too close for us to call.¡±


    ¡°How good can you render this picture?,¡± asked Glunt.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you zoom in and let us look at individuals? Record them


    if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The battalion resolved into men and women in blue coats over armor. They didn¡¯t


    wear helmets. A majority were marked with tiny names written across their skin.


    ¡°The Montrose,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I guess they didn¡¯t like that open warrant you put out on their members,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°A war will sure distract you from that.¡±


    ¡°This is the organization involved in the Goblin Tree experiment?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°They were procuring you women and girls to be used for your monster building,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°That was one of the reasons I asked your government to stop doing it.¡±


    ¡°One of the reasons?,¡± asked Glunt.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Are they part of the military, or are they the false flag we¡¯re looking for?,¡± asked


    Jack. ¡°If they are the flag, where do they go from here?¡±


    ¡°They cross the border,¡± said Haslett. ¡°The word of the warrant has probably not


    made it to them yet. They probably plan to hold up somewhere on the Greciousian


    side and let the damage increase on its own. No local commander is going to allow


    reported Greciousians slip away after a serious assault on one of our installations.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re readying weapons,¡± said Markus. ¡°If they are allowed inside, they could


    destroy any defense before it is brought to bear.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what Mister Warner can do in this situation,¡± said Jack. ¡°We might


    need to do more than start shooting with the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°We wait,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What are we waiting for?,¡± asked Hax.


    The gates started opening on the ground. Jack stood. He saw Josie reaching for her


    watch. He did the same.


    Mister Warner became the Dart as the horsemen started to gallop toward the fort. He


    started cutting the enemy down from behind. Riderless horses stampeded after the


    cavalry to make noise but they were harmless as long as no one got in their way.


    Josie vanished from the conference room as soon as she pushed the button for


    Zatanna. She appeared on the ramparts of the fort. The defenders were in disarray.


    Jack used Phantom Detective to slip through the Enterprise¡¯s hull. He became normal


    just long enough to speed toward the ground. Then he became Gravity and headed


    down as fast as he could.


    Birds erupted from Josie as she stood on the rampart. Jack could feel the heads


    popping as he descended. He landed beside her and broke the charge of horses by


    lifting them off the ground and holding them for a second before turning them around


    and putting them down.


    Josie returned to normal as her power ran out. She took a moment to assess the


    damage as Jack lifted her off the ground in a gravity bubble. He had enough power


    to carry her clear of the explosions of bone and brain that had happened.


    ¡°We¡¯ve talked about this overextending,¡± said Jack. He put her down on the outside


    of the fort.


    ¡°I was doing fine,¡± said Josie. ¡°Besides Mister Warner was here.¡±


    ¡°What are you two doing here?,¡± asked Mister Warner. ¡°Who¡¯s watching our


    guests?¡±


    ¡°The security team I put in place to protect Rickard,¡± said Josie. ¡°I need to gather


    intelligence. You guys go back up and check to see if there is something we missed


    since I didn¡¯t get a quest clear.¡±


    ¡°So we saved the Fort, but it was the wrong fort?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Looks like it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Go ahead. As soon as I get a book of knowledge from one


    of these guys, I will be back up to help figure out what the rest of this was about.¡±


    Jack became normal and waved at the soldiers at the gates. They seemed to be in


    shock. He didn¡¯t blame them. Their own troops had tried to kill them.


    ¡°Enterprise, keep an eye on Josie and shoot at anything that looks like a threat to


    her until she comes back aboard,¡± said Jack into his com band.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± was the reply.


    Jack became Ikaris and flew up to the Enterprise. He landed on the top of the bridge,


    and became Door Man to get inside. He dropped down on the deck and straightened


    from the landing. He walked over to the elevator to head down to the conference


    room.


    Mister Warner was ahead of him, using Phantasmo to get through the hull in a


    few seconds. He stood beside Kyle like he never left.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t get a quest clearance even though the guys on horseback had readied


    weapons and were about to attack the fort,¡± said Jack. ¡°Any ideas why?¡±


    ¡°Maybe you didn¡¯t get all of them,¡± said Kyle.


    ¡°A multiprong assault?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Where do we start looking for the rest of it?¡±


    ¡°Probably somewhere else on the border,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Josie used that bird attack


    to kill all of the Montrose in the capitol when we first met after Caroline was


    recovered.¡±


    ¡°She did the same for Major Hax,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t do it for me,¡± said Hax. ¡°She did it as a warning. I admit I didn¡¯t take it


    as seriously as I do now.¡±


    ¡°No one takes the awesome power of the Ear Ripper seriously,¡± said Jack. ¡°Until the


    one day they have no ears. But that isn¡¯t helping us. So we need a fresh take on how


    to proceed.¡±


    ¡°Whatever is planned has to happen soon,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I have sent word that the


    border has to be closed as much as possible. Any planned attack will have to plan


    around that.¡±


    ¡°Or they planned to use that as the basis of their excuse to attack,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°So how did they put that many men together for one fake attack?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°They hired adventurers?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think the guild is allowed to operate in Shemmaria,¡± said Budd. ¡°They


    want their actions kept to their own forces.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said Vin. ¡°Every other country does allow the guild to operate


    which means this force could have been assembled in other countries and brought


    here to do whatever job they were supposed to do.¡±


    ¡°They were assembled in Solas,¡± said Josie as she walked into the room. ¡°They were


    promised gold to destroy the three outposts here. So we stopped them before they


    could carry out their objective.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?,¡± asked Glunt.


    ¡°I asked the horses some questions,¡± said Josie. She handed Glunt a book she had


    put together. ¡°A man named Orson was their contractor.¡±


    ¡°Where is this Orson?,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°Solas,¡± said Glunt. He ran his finger down the page as he read. ¡°He was at the border


    when the battalion was launched. It doesn¡¯t say if he is still there. He has to be an


    agent.¡±


    ¡°Most of these soldiers handled the human traffic which is why they were marked,¡±


    said Josie.


    ¡°Oh, they might have worked for you on your Goblin Tree thing,¡± said Jack. He


    rubbed his scar over his eye. ¡°Who knew they would bite the hand that fed them?¡±


    ¡°Is that some kind of trick question?,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Jack. ¡°I was thinking maybe we should pull back and see what they


    would do next. It might take them days to realize the plan failed unless they had some


    kind of spotter watching things.¡±


    ¡°Only part of the plan failed,¡± said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s why we still have the quest. We


    need to do something to figure out the rest.¡±


    ¡°You need to talk to Orson,¡± said Kyle. ¡°It seems the next step.¡±


    ¡°I think Kyle is right,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I wonder who runs Orson?¡±

 Orson

    Josie looked over the crowd she had gathered. They seemed to be cooperating well


    enough. What did the quest really entail? Sometimes the Society really liked their


    vagueness a little too much.


    ¡°So the general plan is to go to Solas, find this Orson, and see if we can squeeze him


    for the rest of the Montrose¡¯s plan?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any other way,¡± said Glunt. ¡°If they had been successful destroying our


    three outposts, there would have been a small skirmish that could have escalated into


    a border war before things could have been stopped.¡±


    ¡°There is also the connections to the nobility on both sides,¡± said Jack. He leaned


    back in his chair. He frowned in the same way he had frowned when he had been


    working on Caroline.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have nobility,¡± said Worldy. ¡°We have a republic.¡±


    ¡°Is there a class of people who are wealthier than everyone else and have a greater say


    in how things go?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Some of the citizens are richer than others but they have no more ability to influence


    the government than any other citizens,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. He leaned back in his chair. ¡°How do we approach Orson if that is


    our next step?¡±


    ¡°Someone has to go down, either seize him or scare him into running, and see what


    he does,¡± said Josie. ¡°I doubt he is going to stick around if news gets back of the


    failure before we talk to him.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you can use your truth serum on him,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do we need to know to shut this quest down?¡±


    ¡°We need to know if he knows what the attack is, who is his boss, and maybe the


    general overlay of why they are trying to create a border war,¡± said Glunt. ¡°We might


    need permission from Solas to bring him back across the border and see how much


    we can get out of him.¡±


    ¡°I think I can do that,¡± said Josie. ¡°Vin, if you and Captain Russ will go with me, I


    might need help in case of trouble.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready, Madam Witch,¡± said Vin. ¡°Sitting and drinking is what I do best.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re just questioning him?,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°We just want to gather enough information that we can turn over


    to Shemmaria and Grecious to stop all of these problems so we can move on to the


    next quest.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this, Jo?,¡± asked Jack. He sat looking at the table. ¡°We


    can just beam him up when we locate him and have Mister Warner show him some


    moves.¡±


    ¡°Mister Warner hasn¡¯t had moves since disco died,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Hey,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I will have Russ and Vin with me,¡± said Josie. ¡°If something happens, one of them


    will be able to get free and you can get the details from them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, can you get Captain Russ a sword in a sheath, and


    a green and black coat with a four on the front of it?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    A folded coat, and a sword in a sheath hanging from a belt, appeared in the recess


    in the wall. Russ frowned at the clothing.


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to want to talk to an officer in the Shemmarian army,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Russ. She took off her blue uniform coat and handed it to


    General Haslett. She walked over and took the sword and belted it on. She pulled on


    the green coat over that and let it hang open. ¡°He will expect adventurers, but if


    someone official shows up, he will deny everything.¡±


    ¡°I will try to keep Russ safe,¡± said Josie. She gestured for her away team to follow


    her. ¡°As soon as we get something, we will call and let you know.¡±


    ¡°I would rather do a Frankenstein than go back and tell the Ducklings you got killed


    doing something stupid,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Vin and Russ will protect me,¡± said Josie. ¡°All we have to do is talk to a man about


    a job. How hard can that be?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jack,¡± said Vin. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything that allows Markus to get a


    chance to gloat.¡±


    ¡°Figure out some other angle of attack,¡± said Josie. ¡°You have a group of brains


    here with a lot more experience in this sort of thing than we do. Once we know


    what Orson knows, maybe we can apply it to some other way to close this down.¡±


    ¡°I just made up with my sister,¡± said Russ. ¡°I won¡¯t let her down again.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll keep an eye on the border until we know something.


    You can relay through the Enterprise since we are close to the edge up here.¡±


    ¡°The edge?,¡± asked Glunt.


    ¡°The edge of the sky,¡± said Jack. He stood and waved for the Shemmarians to


    cross to the other side of the room to the big windows behind him. He pointed


    downwards. ¡°You see that blot right there? That¡¯s your keep from up here.¡±


    ¡°Do you see all that land, and the ocean, and the clouds, and everything below


    them, gentlemen?,¡± asked Josie. She dialed up Zatanna. ¡°That¡¯s what we have


    been drafted to protect from the goblins in the south to the people on the ice in


    the north and everyone between.¡±


    She sent out a bird to carry her and her partners to her destination.


    ¡°And we¡¯re going to do that,¡± said Josie. ¡°For my sisters, Jack¡¯s beloved, for


    everyone who deserves a chance to have a better life. We¡¯re going to protect them and


    help them no matter how many monsters we have to put down.¡±


    Josie appeared on a dirt road outside of a small town which was mostly houses, stores


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.and two inns. Russ and Vin appeared on either side of her.


    ¡°No guild hall,¡± said Vin. ¡°Any adventuring group would have to go to one, or both,


    of the inns to see if there was a job. Maybe the town jail.¡±


    ¡°So let¡¯s start with a locator,¡± said Josie. She flung one out. It flew immediately


    to the closest inn on the south end of the town. ¡°That¡¯s where Orson is.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk in and take a look around,¡± said Vin. He loosened his sword in its sheath.


    ¡°Maybe things will be easy.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to be fighting before this over,¡± said Russ. ¡°There are too many


    horses for a town this size. He¡¯s still putting together forces to do things.¡±


    ¡°I have to agree with the soldier girl, Madam Witch,¡± said Vin. ¡°There are a lot


    of horses down there.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Josie. She let her persona go and started walking. ¡°He¡¯s already


    put together one false battalion.¡±


    ¡°Maybe to take advantage of the fighting,¡± said Russ. ¡°If a war breaks out, no


    one is going to notice independent raiders. The blame will fall on the enemy of


    the people raided.¡±


    ¡°Which is something we are not going to allow,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to allow it, Madam Witch?,¡± asked Vin. He smiled as he walked


    along.


    ¡°I have been asked to stop any problem,¡± said Josie. ¡°Since you are my minion,


    you have been ordered to stop any problem. That¡¯s how it goes.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that applies,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°It does if I say it does,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Captain Russ?,¡± said Vin. He gestured at the logistics officer.


    ¡°I have borrowed her from her command which makes her my minion too until


    this is over,¡± said Josie. ¡°She can return to her duties for the Army when I


    am done with her.¡±


    ¡°I am not sure that applies either,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°You know what does apply?,¡± said Josie, turning glittering eyes on him.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid to ask,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°All I am saying is I can drop you from the outside of the bridge of the Enterprise


    a lot faster than the speed we¡¯re walking,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Are you and Markus going out again?,¡± said Vin. ¡°After all, he is my partner and I


    have to look out for him.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think he is sweet on you, and I want to make sure you won¡¯t break his heart


    after one night of passion,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s any of your business,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did Jack put you up to this?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Vin. ¡°Your brother seems okay with your escorting Markus around.¡±


    ¡°I could kill both of you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell Markus you want to break his bones in a good way,¡± said


    Vin. ¡°He will know you¡¯re interested, and return the interest.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m not interested,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have too much work to do to get involved


    with someone I am protecting.¡±


    ¡°Your brother?,¡± asked Vin, gesturing in a vague way at where the Enterprise


    should be.


    ¡°Is not here, and is not the boss of me,¡± said Josie. ¡°Why are you so interested


    in what I do?¡±


    ¡°I just think Markus would be happier with someone instead of just sitting at


    home and moping,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Markus said that¡¯s the way he likes it, and it is definitely the way I like it,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Markus doesn¡¯t want to date. He especially doesn¡¯t want to date me. And


    I don¡¯t have the time for anything like that. I¡¯m barely spending time with


    my kids. Maybe when Matilda is grown up and out the house, I will think about


    taking a guy around. Until then, I don¡¯t have the care for that.¡±


    ¡°Matilda¡¯s the dragon¡¯s friend?,¡± said Russ. ¡°How old is she?¡±


    ¡°Eight,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°She will be a long time growing into an adult,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± said Josie.


    They reached the inn. Groups of people dressed as adventurers stood outside the


    door talking. A fair amount had the Makeover. Some of them tried to keep the


    writing hidden with gloves and helmets. Josie felt her hand twitch toward her


    watch to give the Montrose members a dose of her mercy.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get a drink,¡± said Vin. He gently steered Josie into the inn. ¡°It¡¯s a long


    walk from camp. So we might as well sake the dry throat.¡±


    ¡°Another battalion,¡± said Josie. She pulled away from Vin¡¯s hand and looked


    around the common room. Her bird was sitting on a bald man with a small hunch in


    his back. He had sheets of paper in front of him. He looked up as the trio approached


    his table.


    ¡°What do you want?,¡± he asked.


    Vin settled down in a free seat. He waved at the bartender to get him one of whatever


    the other man was drinking with a smile.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Vin. ¡°You¡¯re Orson?¡±


    ¡°What if I am?,¡± asked the bold man.


    ¡°We heard that you are arranging an attack on the Shemmarian/Greciousian border,¡±


    said Vin. ¡°We were wondering if you were doing this on your own, or if you had


    some backing.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why I should tell you anything about it,¡± said Orson. ¡°Get going.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Yes, really,¡± said Orson. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to say about it.¡±


    ¡°Are your backers here in town?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°I have a message for them.¡±


    ¡°What kind of message?,¡± said Orson.


    ¡°Tell them that their force at Fort Hern and their impersonator battalion have


    been wiped out,¡± said Josie. ¡°Tell them I am looking for them, and when I find


    them, I will kill them too. There will be no war on the border, and soon


    there will be no them either. Am I understood, Mister Orson? I am only letting


    you live to deliver my message. Once you have done that, your use to me is over.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think you are?,¡± said Orson. He stood, reaching for his sword. Russ


    pulled hers first while also standing in a fluid motion that caused him to freeze with


    his hand on the hilt of his.


    ¡°The Montrose is the enemy of man, Mister Orson,¡± said Josie. She stood, looking


    around at the members of the organization surrounding her little group. ¡°I have taken


    on the obligation of wiping it out. I am going to kill as many of you as I can reach.


    There will be no wars fought, no more women and children taken, no more


    taking and breaking of families for money, no more corruption. Tell your backers,


    Mister Orson, that their judgement is looking for them, and I will find them.¡±


    Josie became Zatanna, carving her booster into the wooden floor of the inn. A


    cascade of birds erupted from her. All around them, tattooed men and women dropped


    dead from their heads exploding. The birds reached beyond the building and searched


    the whole town and the nearby roads. People froze in shock at the dead bodies hitting


    the ground.


    Another wave of fiery monsters went out to clean up the dead, erasing them from


    existence.


    Josie reverted back, losing the persona for the moment.


    ¡°If I were you, I would run,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°But remember, Mister Orson,¡± said Josie. ¡°Deliver my message. Tell them to send


    the message back up to the rest of their organization. I will find you all no matter how


    long it takes, and I will kill you.¡±


    Orson stared at her. He backed around the table to get to the door and ran out in the


    street.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± Josie said into her com band.


    ¡°Communication acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I have a single target running from the town where I am located,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Human male, bald, about two hundred pounds, forty to fifty years old, wearing a


    brown jacket over brown shirt and pants. Can you track him and put him on the table


    in the conference room?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Hold for the captain.¡±


    ¡°What is the plan, Josie?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I am hoping that I scared Orson into leaving town, and telling his backers to stop


    doing things,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did he go into any buildings here in town from the inn?


    If they were here, I might have killed them by accident.¡±


    ¡°We have one man rushing for the corrals at the south end of town,¡± said Jack. ¡°He


    is mounting and he is fleeing south.¡±


    ¡°Bald?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Wearing brown on brown?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he is bald,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can¡¯t tell about the color.¡±


    ¡°Keep an eye on him,¡± said Josie. ¡°It might be days before we can follow him up the


    chain of command.¡±


    ¡°Faster travel and communications would help us right now,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will have to look at other ways to deal with this.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± said Jack, before he cut the line.


    ¡°Sending their agent running doesn¡¯t seem to have done anything,¡± said Josie. ¡°I hope


    we didn¡¯t just hit a wall.¡±


    ¡°That was a bit scarifying,¡± said Vin, still sitting at the table. ¡°Good job with the


    sword, Captain. Smoothest draw I have seen in a long time.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Russ. She put the blade away as she looked around. ¡°We cleared


    out another gathering of forces, but I don¡¯t see what it gets us if we can¡¯t put our


    hands on the mastermind.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have no idea where else to look.¡±


    ¡°Maybe the border is not the only place they had intended to cause trouble,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°There has to be other ways to cause fires between the countries.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe you are right about that.¡±

 Ragdoll Tree

    Jack looked at the table. There had to be a way to find out what was going on. He


    watched as Orson rode south from the border into Grecious.


    ¡°Rick, do you know what is along this road?,¡± he asked, tracing the route with his


    finger.


    ¡°It leads toward Lord Rails¡¯s keep, Coldwater,¡± said the King. ¡°Do you think that is


    this Orson¡¯s destination?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°Coldwater is a major fort out here, right?¡±


    ¡°If we were to invade along this route,¡± said Glunt. ¡°We would have to crack


    Coldwater, or leave enough troops to keep it shut in so the forces there couldn¡¯t help


    the rest of the region.¡±


    ¡°The general and forces you sent to relieve Hern is stopping at Coldwater first?,¡±


    asked Jack.


    ¡°They would have to so that Rails could be informed of the orders and what was


    going on formally,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°He owns this section of the country, doesn¡¯t he?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Rickard. ¡°There are four nobles that operate on the border, and are


    expected to hold the line and make sure no one can invade through their territory.¡±


    ¡°The land on the Shemmarian side is held by a consortium,¡± said Glunt. ¡°I remember


    a report from a few months ago that the land was being looked at for resource


    mining.¡±


    ¡°What kind of resources?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Mostly gold and silver,¡± said Glunt. ¡°I don¡¯t remember if there was any follow up.


    Someone at the Resource Ministry might be able to find out what was being


    considered.¡±


    ¡°Would a war over minerals be worth all this trouble?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± said Worldy. ¡°Precious metals would bolster our economy, iron could be


    used for weapons, some things would be good for alchemical purposes.¡±


    ¡°Rails controls that on this side of the border,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Who controls it if Rails is gone?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I assume the next in line to his title, but I don¡¯t know


    who that is off the top of my head.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Lord¡¯s brother, Harlan,¡± said Glunt. ¡°Then it goes to his cousins. I don¡¯t


    know if any of those people are in Coldwater right now.¡±


    ¡°The Enterprise can only lock on people she has seen before,¡± said Jack. ¡°Why is


    Orson going south? Why wouldn¡¯t he head deeper into Solas, or cross into


    Shemmaria? What is in Coldwater that he wants?¡±


    ¡°Maybe his commander is in Coldwater,¡± said Kyle. ¡°He just suffered a devastating


    loss of all his forces. He might want to report that to his master.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good point, Kyle,¡± said Jack. ¡°It will take him days of hard riding to get to


    the city.¡±


    ¡°If he is heading to the city,¡± said Markus. ¡°If he is going to Rails, or his relatives,


    they might be close to the city, but they could also be on some estate outside of the


    walls.¡±


    ¡°How do we find out?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Do we take him and ask him some hard


    questions from the cargo bay? The threat of being dropped from a height tends to


    make people start talking.¡±


    ¡°I think we would be better off befriending him,¡± said Case.


    ¡°We just ask him what¡¯s going on?,¡± asked Budd.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Case. ¡°He¡¯s going to have to start walking his horse in a minute, or watch


    it drop dead from overexertion. Some hunters on the road with him might get him to


    loosen his mouth.¡±


    ¡°It seems simple enough,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess I can do that.¡±


    ¡°Not you,¡± said Case. ¡°If something happens to you, we would be stuck up here until


    Madam Witch returned with the others. It should be one of us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± said Markus. ¡°How hard can it be to ask a few questions if you are


    walking the same way.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I think I can carry it out,¡± said Markus. ¡°We just need a spot where I can intercept


    him without making it look like I am intercepting him.¡±


    ¡°What about those rocks right there before the road goes into the trees?,¡± said Haslet.


    ¡°Enterprise, place Markus down on the road at landmark indicated by General


    Haslet,¡± said Jack. ¡°Monitor the situation for us.¡±


    The adventurer appeared on the table in a cloud of blue sparks. He waved up at them


    as he headed toward the road from the rocks.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get killed,¡± said Jack. Orson¡¯s horse slowed down when he saw someone


    walking down the road going in the same direction as he was.


    The bald man walked his horse toward Markus. He looked around for others on the


    road. He seemed satisfied that they were alone.


    ¡°Good day,¡± said Markus, pretending to notice the horse for the first time. ¡°How are


    things?¡±


    ¡°Not as good as I want them to be,¡± said Orson.


    ¡°Sorry to hear that,¡± said Markus. ¡°I¡¯m heading into Coldwater. I¡¯m glad for the


    company while your horse rests.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m stopping before I get there,¡± said Orson. ¡°It¡¯s a farm a few miles short of the


    city.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, can you give me farm options before the road runs into Coldwater?,¡±


    asked Jack.


    Several places lit up on the map with a house and barn. Some form of cattle or sheep


    were present. Some had rows of vegetables planted and almost ready to harvest.


    ¡°I¡¯m headed all the way into the city like I said,¡± said Markus. ¡°I have a girl waiting


    on me. If I get this job I am looking at, we¡¯ll be set.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the job?,¡± asked Orson.


    ¡°Someone needs a clerk to file his reports for his taxes,¡± said Markus. ¡°My girl will


    be working the next floor down. We can see each other every day, all day.¡±


    ¡°Sounds okay,¡± said Orson.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°What do you do?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°I was acting as a buyer, but something came up and I am on the way south after I talk


    to my employer,¡± said Orson.


    ¡°A buyer?,¡± asked Markus. ¡°A buyer of what?¡±


    ¡°Land up across the frontier,¡± said Orson. ¡°But some bad luck has come my way, and


    I have to quit and head south in case the trouble wants to follow me.¡±


    ¡°I totally understand that,¡± said Markus. ¡°Good luck to you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Orson. He kicked his horse into a weary trot and pulled away from


    his fellow traveler.


    ¡°Enterprise, give me close ups on all the possible locations Orson could be going to,¡±


    said Jack.


    The farmhouses showed people moving around. Only one had a crew made up of the


    Montrose Makeover. Jack almost smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to say that¡¯s where he¡¯s going,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It will still take him a few days to reach it,¡± said Hax. ¡°Do we have the time to wait


    for that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Jack. ¡°The other quests are still there too. Where does he go


    from that farmhouse?¡±


    ¡°What happens if we raid it?,¡± asked Rickard. ¡°Does our enemy just abandon the field


    and return down the road to attack again?¡±


    ¡°We need something we can use to accomplish the quest, stop any thought of a war,


    and protect the border at the same time,¡± said Jack. ¡°A smart planner would make it


    where we can¡¯t go but so far up the chain. We need a different approach.¡±


    ¡°Harassing Orson won¡¯t get us what we want,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Clearing out that farmhouse will help Josie with her personal quest, but it won¡¯t


    solve our official quest unless our mastermind is in that house waiting for news from


    the infiltrators,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, please bring Markus back aboard.¡±


    ¡°We might need to divine where the source of the trouble is so we can fix this without


    too many more problems,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be proof that the person who planned things is really trying to pull it off,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The adventurer appeared in a cloud of sparks.


    ¡°This could be a leftover from Rustam¡¯s scheme against Caroline,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Do you think we can move your general¡¯s relief force up to this house and have him


    take it?,¡± asked Worldy. ¡°If he finds evidence, that¡¯s fine. If he doesn¡¯t, the people


    inside are already wanted for being part of a criminal conspiracy inside your border.¡±


    Josie appeared with Vin and Russ. She looked at the table with the fleeing Orson


    heading south. She frowned.


    ¡°It will take him days to reach anywhere,¡± said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t have that much time.


    How do we speed this up?¡±


    ¡°We think he is heading to this farm here,¡± said Glunt. ¡°What he intends to do after


    that is anyone¡¯s guess.¡±


    ¡°Probably send a message to whomever¡¯s his contact to tell him his forces have been


    destroyed in the field,¡± said Haslet.


    ¡°But we have no way to know who that is,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I would venture it is


    someone inside Rails¡¯s administration, if not Rails himself.¡±


    ¡°We have a way now that we know what we are looking for,¡± said Josie. ¡°We just


    need to know who he wants to tell the news to and follow that person up the chain


    of command. I doubt Orson would be let near the brains of the thing.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s too exposed as an agent,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± said Josie. ¡°He hires the adventurers to do the attack. He doesn¡¯t have


    control of anything beyond that. So we need to start by finding who everyone knows


    and follow that.¡±


    ¡°We need to take the house we think he is going to,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We only have six combatants here,¡± said Case. ¡°Seven if we count the king.¡±


    ¡°We only need the Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°The rest will be seeing who they want to


    talk to when we attack.¡±


    ¡°How exactly is that supposed to work?,¡± asked Case. Budd winced at the question,


    but Jack just grinned.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Get ready, Josie. We¡¯re going to need one of your birds.¡±


    ¡°You do have a plan?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, beam up Orson and put him in the brig. Josie, see if


    you can confirm he was going to the farmhouse. Enterprise, beam me and Case down


    to the road leading to the farmhouse.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± said Case. He vanished in a cloud of sparks. He was holding up his hands


    when he went.


    ¡°Come on, Case,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to show you how to do things. Maybe we can


    impress the king enough, he will forego the need for a title.¡±


    ¡°I should have known this would be trouble,¡± said Case.


    Jack¡¯s com beeped. He pushed the button to take the call.


    ¡°Do you see the bird?,¡± asked Josie.


    Jack squinted at the house. He saw the bird sitting on the roof of the target. He


    nodded to himself.


    ¡°I got it, Jo,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re just going to roust them. When we do, see if you can


    locate the next guy in line. That¡¯s how we¡¯ll find out who is giving the orders before


    the mission runs out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready on my end,¡± said Josie. ¡°Better hurry.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t take a second,¡± said Jack. He cut the call. ¡°Stay here on the road, and look


    like an adventurer, Case. I¡¯ll do the rest.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Case. ¡°I hope you know what you¡¯re doing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a breeze unless the guy isn¡¯t home to take messages, and then we¡¯ll have to


    find him from whomever¡¯s there on watch,¡± said Jack. He put his hands in his pockets


    and walked across the yard toward the house. He walked on the creaking porch, and


    knocked on the door. It seemed solid and heavy to him, a door ready to stop anybody


    trying to use it to get to the owners.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?,¡± asked a rough voice.


    ¡°Got a message from Orson,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to give it to you.¡±


    The door swung open. Three tough guys glared at Jack. He grinned back at them.


    None of them had drawn their swords, so he was ready to back up long enough to


    switch to his Hulk, or Thor.


    ¡°What¡¯s the message?,¡± said the guy.


    ¡°Cover¡¯s blown, operation wrecked, run,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some guys from Shemmaria


    wrecked the town he was recruiting in, he gave me the message and told me to run.


    They might be coming here after me. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m headed into Coldwater, try


    to blend in, you know?¡±


    ¡°What did Orson look like?,¡± said the guy.


    ¡°Bald, hunchbacked, a little shorter than me, wearing brown clothes,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Get out of here,¡± said the guy, starting to shut the door.


    ¡°One more thing,¡± said Jack, holding the door open with his foot. ¡°He said to watch


    out for the Ear Ripper, but I don¡¯t know what that means.¡±


    ¡°Neither do I,¡± said the guy. He waited for Jack to move his foot before he shut the


    door in his face.


    Jack walked back to the road, already calling the Enterprise. He turned to look at the


    house.


    ¡°Enterprise, drop a torpedo with a low yield in the back yard of the place,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I want them to run, but I don¡¯t want them to be hurt just yet.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. A few moments later, a glowing projectile sent a tree


    flying through the air. Dirt and wooden shrapnel hit the house. Men rushed out of the


    house, running for the barn to get their panicked horses and ride out.


    Jack reached the road and urged Case to back away. He seemed stunned by what he


    had just seen. The gang fled from the yard to the road and then headed for Coldwater.


    ¡°They are moving toward the city,¡± said Jack into his com.


    ¡°I think a torpedo was excessive,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It got them moving,¡± said Jack. ¡°Did you figure out where they want to go?¡±


    ¡°He keeps changing his mind, but we think he is heading into Coldwater to meet the


    next guy in the chain of command,¡± said Josie. ¡°If it¡¯s Rails, there is going to be a


    problem according to Rickard.¡±


    ¡°I guess I can see that,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do we do if it is Rails?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to prove he is behind everything and make an arrest,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°A court of his peers will have to be called and be persuaded he¡¯s guilty.¡±


    ¡°Never happen,¡± said Jack. ¡°Nobles flock together like crows.¡±


    ¡°I told Rickard and Worldy I would make the effort instead of dealing with him


    myself,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°What do you think, Case?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°If he is responsible, we should at least try to bring him in,¡± said Case. ¡°But there are


    a hundred ways I can see such an arrest going wrong.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but we will see what happens.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, bring us back aboard,¡± said Jack. ¡°Good work with the tree. You put


    the fear of applied science to those clowns.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Is it agreeing about the tree, or acknowledging the order?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Jack said as they appeared in the conference room.


    ¡°Did you have to shoot at them?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°Are they running?,¡± asked Jack. He looked at the table and the forces splitting up as


    they ran away on horseback.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°But you could have done something else.¡±


    ¡°Instead of judging me,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the others in the room. ¡°We should


    be thinking about how far this goes and if the top guy has ties with the consortium


    that was mentioned earlier. This guy might be trying to carve out his own little


    kingdom between Shemmaria and Grecious.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Glunt. He glanced at Worldy and both men didn¡¯t seem


    to like the idea.


    ¡°Back home, two countries shared a border,¡± said Jack. ¡°It was a river. In the middle


    of this river was an island. Neither side could claim it. At one point criminals set up


    on the island and used the fact that it was in the middle of the border to smuggle


    contraband and violate both countries¡¯ laws. Eventually after many years, the two


    countries banded together and invaded the place. What if we have a similar situation


    here?¡±


    ¡°A war breaks out, a third party claims the land from both sides, and makes his own


    country?,¡± said Hax. ¡°It¡¯s possible as long as the two governments never see eye to


    eye on their border.¡±

 Interrogation

    Josie thought about Jack¡¯s deduction. It made sense. And the Montrose had the


    manpower to carry out such a Bond villain plan. How did they prove it beyond just


    following their runners up the chain?


    ¡°How would we prove this in a court of law in front of a jury?,¡± she asked. She


    crossed her arms as Jack leaned back in his chair, and the others put on thoughtful


    expressions.


    ¡°We would need to know who owns the land on the Shemmarian side of the border,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°Then we would have to check to see if any of those people have money


    on this side of the border.¡±


    ¡°The consortium might not have anything to do with this,¡± said Josie. Despite taking


    an opposing view, she thought Jack was right. Someone wanted trouble to happen


    between the two countries. More than one hot spot snuffed out indicated a human


    mind at work.


    Direct proof about whom would give her what she needed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s say that we have an idea of what is going on,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s say we have


    some rich guys trying to start a war so they can grab the land and make their own


    country. We don¡¯t know who yet. Our only clue is the chucklehead we¡¯re following


    on the ground. Do we keep following him, or snatch him up and ask him some


    questions?¡±


    ¡°How much can he know?,¡± asked Kyle.


    ¡°He will know his contact above in the chain, and below him,¡± said Glunt. ¡°He might


    know general plans. He might know alternate plans now that part of the main one has


    been decapitated.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have anything to lose,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Pick him up,¡± said Josie. ¡°Brig?¡±


    ¡°He will be in there before you guys get down there to break his legs,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Enterprise? Can you pick up the target and drop him in the cell opposite Orson?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Shall we, gentlemen?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°We¡¯re sharing information, and your insight


    will help settle this crisis.¡±


    ¡°Come along, Kyle,¡± said Rickard. He gestured for the other king to join them.


    ¡°Maybe Administrator Worldy and I will be able to help with your problem.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why anyone would want to kill me now,¡± said Kyle. ¡°There¡¯s


    nothing big on the horizon as far as I know. We¡¯re not even facing a goblin surge at


    this point. We¡¯re trading with the tribes along the Wall.¡±


    ¡°Maybe some of your people don¡¯t like that,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to do with that,¡± said Kyle. ¡°The peace was established when


    my father was appointed the High King. So far, the taxes are getting paid, and nothing


    suspicious is crossing back and forth.¡±


    Josie led the way down to the brig. She entered and looked at their prisoners. Orson


    sat in one cell. Their new arrival sat in the other. Neither looked happy.


    ¡°Mister Orson, you will be going with Minister Worldy and Mister Glunt,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I am sure that you will enjoy the Shemmarian justice system to the fullest extent.¡±


    She changed into Zatanna and created a book of knowledge and handed that to


    Worldly. He flipped through the pages, eyebrows going up.


    ¡°That will help you justify any trial you put together for Mister Orson,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°If we want to turn him into an asset?,¡± said Mister Glunt.


    ¡°It would be probably be best if he and I didn¡¯t cross paths again,¡± said Josie. ¡°The


    next time, I won¡¯t need a messenger. I¡¯ll need an example.¡±


    Josie created another book of knowledge for their other prisoner. She glanced through


    it to learn the name of their other prisoner. She handed that book to King Rickard.


    ¡°Mister Cask,¡± she said, as she returned to normal. ¡°You will be handed over to King


    Rickard to do what he wants with you.¡±


    ¡°He will probably join Rustam in digging rocks,¡± said Rickard. He flipped through


    the book, shaking his head at some of the names mentioned. ¡°As well as some of


    these others.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything you would like to say before you are handed over and dropped off


    where you belong?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything wrong,¡± said Cask. ¡°I don¡¯t know why I am here. I don¡¯t know


    this other man.¡±


    ¡°Then you won¡¯t be going with the king,¡± said Josie. ¡°We will drop you over the side


    now and let gravity take care of you.¡±


    ¡°Gravity?,¡± asked Kyle.


    ¡°Mass attracts each other, the bigger the mass, the bigger the attraction,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s part of the reason when you fall, you head down.¡±


    ¡°That is a long drop,¡± said Kyle. He made a gesture to show what he was talking


    about.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be Mister Cask¡¯s problem for long,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think estimated time of


    impact is two minutes.¡±


    ¡°I would take the deal if I were you,¡± said Kyle. ¡°We¡¯re a mountain top away from


    the ground. I imagine there won¡¯t be an unbroken bone in your body.¡±


    ¡°Ideally, you will look like a rotten tomato thrown at a wall,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I would like to change my mind,¡± said Cask. He didn¡¯t hide the grimace that


    statement caused.


    ¡°I would like to know who you were going to in the city to report the mission had


    failed,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I would like to know the rest of it. Why try to start a war


    with Shemmaria at all?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about Shemmaria,¡± said Cask. ¡°I was hired to wait until word came that


    things had happened and we had to move to the next location, and the next part of the


    operation. Once that was done, I was supposed to secure the area with the others we


    hired. The expectation was that neither side would be able to take back what we took


    as we consolidated our grip on the region. They would be too busy fighting. If the


    plan failed, I was to go to the Moon Inn and leave a message that the plan had failed.¡±


    Josie frowned at the man as she tried to make up her mind. He only knew the


    Greciousian side of things. He had no idea who was running things from Shemmaria.


    ¡°I will allow you to live at the King¡¯s mercy,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I want the both of you


    to remember that you might get killed in a town cleaning spell, or if someone wants


    to serve your warrant. I have no way to take the Makeover off, nor do I want to. Once


    you are released I would go somewhere that no one will hunt you for the bounty and


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.retire from this life. Do something else.¡±


    ¡°Master Orson,¡± said Glunt. ¡°Do you have anything to say in your defense?¡±


    ¡°I was hired to do a job, and I was doing it,¡± said Orson. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything


    beyond what Cask told you.¡±


    ¡°Minister Worldy?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°He tried to raise an army to attack Shemmarian forces,¡± said Worldy. ¡°I think we


    should put him in prison, and trace down his known contacts from this book. There


    might be someone there we can turn to our side to uproot this.¡±


    ¡°Gentlemen, when we are done, we will put you in the custody of the nations that


    can keep you,¡± said Josie. ¡°Until then, enjoy the hospitality of the brig. Do not expect


    more than what I am giving you.¡±


    She led the way out in the hall. She frowned at the development. She had a target, but


    was it legitimate target?


    ¡°How do you want to do this?,¡± she asked as she led the way to the elevator.


    ¡°We need to find out what the innkeeper knows,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Unfortunately I


    won¡¯t be able to touch the parts of this conspiracy that are outside my borders.¡±


    ¡°Most of these names are low level mercenaries,¡± said Glunt, going through the book


    of knowledge from Orson. ¡°I think this man, Anull, could be a commander if he


    wasn¡¯t caught up in the destruction you wrought.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think that?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I have seen this name in other reports that have come through my office,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°The description is man of indeterminate age, one eye, some kind of wolf signature.


    Most of these reports are from spies along the border.¡±


    ¡°So if someone had decided to annex that land, he might be the one to call to help


    with the operation,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He might be the most serious force we face in that frontier,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°If he comes up while we are trying to sort this out, I will be glad to snatch him up


    for you,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We have a rough idea of what¡¯s going on,¡± said Budd. ¡°How do we stop it?¡±


    ¡°We need to grab this innkeeper,¡± said Josie. ¡°See if he will lead us to someone


    higher up. Once we have identified the commander of the enemy forces, we are going


    to have to take him if he is in Coldwater. We can¡¯t allow further access to the border


    so he can keep trying to stir things up. Once we have done that, we find whomever


    is on the Shemmarian side of things and take them. After that, if the quest is done,


    we know we did the right thing.¡±


    ¡°I think the consortium has a hand in this somehow, if not directly responsible,¡± said


    Glunt.


    ¡°Madam Fox,¡± said Hax. ¡°Can you put Captain Russ and me back in Shemmaria


    City? I would like to look at the records there.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mister Hax,¡± said Josie. ¡°Will the two of you need help?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Hax. ¡°I just want to poke around for a bit.¡±


    Josie frowned at him. He knew something, or had put something together. He just


    didn¡¯t want to say it in front of his commanding officer.


    She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. She


    gestured for him to turn around. She held the piece of paper against his back, wrote


    on it, and folded it. She wrote her name on the outside. She gave the paper to Russ.


    ¡°Anything happens, you rip the paper in half,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not telling your sister


    I lost you.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said Russ. She tucked the paper in her belt. ¡°Why not give the paper


    to Major Hax?¡±


    ¡°I trust you more,¡± said Josie. She looked at them. ¡°Any problems, you send the


    signal. I will get there. Five minutes later, the Enterprise will be overhead and


    shooting. Got it?¡±


    ¡°I assure you this is nothing more than a record check,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°We understand that you are worried that we might trip some kind of trap with this


    and we won¡¯t have you to protect us,¡± said Russ. ¡°And you don¡¯t like sending people


    into danger. I will send the signal, and I will keep Major Hax alive until you can help


    us.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. She changed into Zatanna long enough to send them on the


    way with birds to carry them.


    ¡°Are you really worried about them?,¡± asked Haslet.


    ¡°When you signed on with me, you became my responsibility,¡± said Josie. ¡°The


    Society doesn¡¯t care if I have to grind every citizen of Shemmaria into a paste to give


    to the fish to do the job, but I do. What kind of protector of the planet would I be if


    I just sent my helpers to their deaths if I didn¡¯t have to?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect any sentimentality,¡± said Haslet. ¡°But I should have.¡±


    ¡°Soft on the inside,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°How do we do this raid on the inn?¡±


    ¡°We turn Jack loose on these goobers,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think the Army taught him to


    love Bond crap a little too much.¡±


    ¡°Bond crap?,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Impersonating people so he can cut throats in the dark,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°He


    also likes to blow stuff up and set it on fire just so he can look impressive.¡±


    ¡°I saw what he did to that house,¡± said Case.


    ¡°And what he did to that town,¡± said Budd. ¡°I¡¯m glad he¡¯s on our side, and not


    running loose.¡±


    ¡°Elaine has been a good influence,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯ll say,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Seems okay to me,¡± said Vin. He glanced at Markus. The other man shrugged.


    They entered the conference room. Jack sipped some hot chocolate as he eased back


    against the window. He smiled at them as they took their places.


    ¡°Our farmer said he had a contact in Coldwater,¡± said Josie. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know


    anyone above that.¡±


    ¡°Hax and Four?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Hax wanted to go home and check the records,¡± said Josie. ¡°I sent Russ with him as


    protection.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the next move?,¡± said Jack. He sipped at the chocolate.


    ¡°I want you to go down and talk to Cask¡¯s contact,¡± said Josie. ¡°See if you can scare


    him into running for the next man in the chain.¡±


    ¡°So we are working our way up the command section of things?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°They want to do the island seizure you talked about that sounded farfetched until


    Madam Fox produced this book from Cask,¡± said Rickard. He showed Jack the book.


    ¡°They want the land, and once they have it, they plan to hold it against both


    militaries, and neither side can do anything because of the risk of losing territory to


    the other.¡±


    ¡°And while they can¡¯t cross between our two kingdoms,¡± said Worldy, indicating


    himself and Rickard with a wave of his hand. ¡°They can cross between Shemmaria


    and Solas.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why Orson put his group together where he did,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of time,¡± said Josie. ¡°I doubt that any of what we have done has


    reached our spymaster.¡±


    ¡°He would have to be using carrier pigeons, or magic, if it did,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess


    we should be thankful that nobody invented the telephone to work for and against


    us.¡±


    ¡°But when nothing happens at the projected time, they will know something threw


    a spanner in the works,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re thinking it¡¯s someone hooked to the government, right?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know,¡± said Rickard. ¡°But I would be surprised if we don¡¯t find some


    connection to resource management.¡±


    ¡°Corporations and capitalism,¡± said Jack. He grinned at them. ¡°It¡¯s like something


    from Cyberpunk 2020.¡±


    ¡°Would you mind talking to the guy and seeing where he goes?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I got it, Jo-jo,¡± said Jack. He put his cup on the window sill and stood. ¡°I can talk to


    anyone. I¡¯ll take Markus down to help me out. We¡¯ll be two broken down adventurers


    looking for a handout. How bad could it be?¡±


    ¡°They try to kill us for asking questions,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°But we won¡¯t be asking questions,¡± said Jack. ¡°We will soak up the local atmosphere


    and carefully let this guy know we¡¯re after him.¡±


    ¡°Do not use the phasers and torpedoes inside the city,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Why must you tie my hands?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°His Majesty would not like you to crack an important building in Coldwater,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°And neither do I.¡±


    ¡°No explosions?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°No lightning from the sky,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No phasers,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you see the bossiness you are trying to date, Markus?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not dating,¡± said Josie. She frowned at him, but he only grinned back because


    he knew he was being annoying.


    ¡°Go ahead, Jack,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°The clock is still ticking despite what you


    guys have already done.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, beam me and Markus down close to the city center,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The two of them vanished from the room.


    ¡°Enterprise, keep an eye on them,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t want Jack wrecking a place


    because he can.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°What are our options?,¡± asked Josie, looking around the table. ¡°Did we stop any


    exterior forces in the region? Are we looking at more bodies that have to be


    dropped?¡±


    ¡°Almost certainly,¡± said Worldy. ¡°We don¡¯t know if there was more than one


    battalion set up to attack the forts, or if the one you destroyed was the only one. An


    attack could still happen while we are chasing threads.¡±


    ¡°And Fort Hern suggests they wanted attacks from both sides of the border,¡± said


    Rickard. ¡°How were the impostors put in place while the normal garrison was


    removed?¡±


    ¡°Someone had to have written orders for the garrison to leave,¡± said Josie. ¡°How


    would that look?¡±


    ¡°It would have to be someone in the regular army administration at Coldwater, or


    someone on Lord Rails¡¯s staff, or Lord Rails himself,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°But Rails already controls the region up to the border and everything in it,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to create a false flag operation when he already runs


    everything.¡±


    ¡°The motive doesn¡¯t have to be profit, even though that¡¯s what we have seen the most


    from the Montrose,¡± said Budd. ¡°Remember the Goblin Tree Man. He just wanted


    Shemmaria to destroy itself creating monsters.¡±


    Josie frowned. She wondered how he was getting on in his alternate future. It couldn¡¯t


    be that bad for him.


    But she hoped it was.

 The Moon Inn

    Jack and Markus walked the streets, having asked directions from a Watchman. They


    should be within spotting the place in a few minutes.


    ¡°So what are your intentions toward my sister?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Madam Witch?,¡± said Markus. ¡°I don¡¯t have any intentions.¡±


    ¡°Not good enough for you?,¡± said Jack. He hid his usual grin.


    ¡°I have only known her for three days,¡± said Markus. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she is not good


    enough for me.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Charm her out of her clothes, steal her money, ruin


    her kids, and then flee into the night?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t plan to do any of that,¡± said Markus. ¡°And if I tried, I am sure you would be


    there with your sailing ship and lightning.¡±


    ¡°The Ducklings would be there, and they would skin you alive,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie


    does need someone to hang out with that isn¡¯t us. You might be good enough for


    that.¡±


    ¡°Have you asked her what she thinks?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°I¡¯m too busy blowing holes in people¡¯s skulls to worry about hanging out and


    getting some beer and pretzels,¡± said Jack. He projected the tone of voice and


    mannerisms enough that Markus stepped back. ¡°I would like her to take a minute and


    smell the flowers.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can help you,¡± said Markus. ¡°That was a good impersonation.¡±


    ¡°You should see my Jack Benny,¡± said Jack. He gestured to say it wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    ¡°I think she does like you. I think you like her. I think the two of you are afraid of


    asking each other out.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason for that on my side,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°Ninety percent of romances start in the workplace,¡± said Jack. ¡°What¡¯s the real


    reason other than fear?¡±


    ¡°I have never had much luck with women,¡± said Markus. ¡°Something always happens


    and I wind up having wasted my time and money on someone who liked someone


    else better.¡±


    ¡°Josie won¡¯t be like that,¡± said Jack. He nodded when he saw the sign of the place


    they were looking to visit. ¡°And she would like it a lot better if you don¡¯t call her


    Madam Witch all the time.¡±


    ¡°That is her name,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°No, that is what adventurers call her,¡± said Jack. He pushed on the batwing doors to


    go inside the pub. ¡°She would prefer Madam Fox, or Josie. Try that on her. Maybe


    she will like you more.¡±


    ¡°What if she doesn¡¯t like me?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like she can kill you more than once,¡± said Jack. He headed for the counter,


    nodding at people like he knew them. Some of them nodded back, taken in by his


    friendliness.


    ¡°What if she could kill me more than once?,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°She¡¯s not going to bother after the first time,¡± said Jack. He waved at the counterman


    to come down and talk to them. The man slowly approached. ¡°Can we have two ales?


    Also we are looking for a guy to send a message up the line from Cask.¡±


    ¡°Cask?,¡± asked the counterman.


    ¡°He got caught and the King is sweating him for what he knows as far as I know,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to come here and send a message up the line through the guy


    he knows, you know?¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with me?,¡± asked the Counterman. He kept his eyes


    moving in case either one of these strangers decided to make a move.


    ¡°He said his contact was here,¡± said Jack. ¡°All we want to do is send the warning in


    case the King¡¯s troops come through here. I mean Fort Hern was cleared out of


    personnel, and something like that happened across the border. If you don¡¯t know,


    that¡¯s good too.¡±


    ¡°Fort Hern was cleared out?,¡± said the Counterman.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Same guy who caught all those guys trying to kill the King in


    Hawk Ridge. And you know where they¡¯re going.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me,¡± said the Counterman. He made a gesture to say quit lying.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°The King¡¯s cousin, Rustam, was behind it. He got sent to the


    Delve with his right hand man, Brat.¡±


    ¡°Brant,¡± said Markus. ¡°Lord Brant, but I expect he has been stripped. You don¡¯t get


    to keep your titles once you are sent to the Delve.¡±


    ¡°Who has them now?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Markus. ¡°Maybe Case if he passes muster.¡±


    ¡°They did say he needed a title if he wanted to marry Caroline,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe


    the King is looking out instead of waiting for Josie to clear out some more


    deadwood.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± agreed Markus. He tapped the counter. ¡°Could we have those ales, please?¡±


    ¡°And some paper for a note too,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll post it so the real agent can take it


    and send it up the line.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the Counterman. ¡°Are you serious about Fort Hern?¡±


    ¡°Anybody trapped inside there with the Montrose Makeover is as good as dead,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°If there were any survivors, and they were smart, they should have bailed by


    now before they got what their friends got.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°How do you know any of this?,¡± said the Counterman. He produced two cups. He


    opened a tap on a keg behind him and filled both cups. He placed them on the


    counter.


    ¡°I know the people the King called to defend the kingdom,¡± said Jack. He tasted his,


    and nodded in approval. ¡°They don¡¯t fool around. Could I have that paper? As soon


    as I post my note, we have to head out. There¡¯s an army coming this way to retake


    Fort Hern and beef up the border. We want to be miles away before we are forced to


    help out.¡±


    The Counterman walked down to the other end of the bar. He went through some


    drawers. He found a sheet of paper in a small stack that he used to write his bills on.


    He brought it back and found Jack had a pen like he had never seen before.


    ¡°What can I say?,¡± Jack asked himself. He tapped the pen against the counter as he


    thought. ¡°Okay, I think I got it.¡±


    ¡°Dear sir, (professional beginning but unsure if we¡¯re actually dealing with a man),¡±


    said Jack as he wrote his words down at the bar. ¡°I regret to inform you that you soon


    will be arrested or dead (depending on if Josie decides to do something other than


    handing this guy over to Rick.) Your mad scheme to set Grecious against Shemmaria


    has failed with the deaths of a majority of your forces and the taking of your agents.


    King Rickard and the Shemmarian administrator of war Worldy know what¡¯s going


    on and have been shown what we as the agents of the Robert Reed Appreciation


    Society are willing to do to keep the peace. I advise fleeing with whatever you can


    grab and hoping we don¡¯t catch up with you before we have to turn our attention


    elsewhere (because we still have to stop the Bloodborn and find out who wants Kyle


    dead.), or you will feel the wrath of the Ear Ripper in all her glory. Yours truly, Jack.


    (should I put Captain Jack at the bottom?)¡±


    ¡°I think Jack is good enough,¡± said Markus. He idly watched the Counterman out of


    the corner of his eye. Every word that Jack uttered seemed to make him more upset


    than the one before. ¡°Ear Ripper?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we call Josie when she is mad,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t think she has ripped


    someone¡¯s ear off yet, so you have nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°Then why call her the Ear Ripper?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°Because it bothers her just enough to get under her skin, but not enough where she


    will take action,¡± said Jack. ¡°Is there a place I can hang this for the guy it needs to


    go to?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it,¡± said the Counterman. He held out his hand for the paper.


    Jack handed it over after folding it. He gave the Counterman a grin.


    ¡°Tell the guy we¡¯ll be back to check on him in the next couple of days,¡± said Jack.


    Jack took another sip of his beer before he led the way out of the Moon Inn. He


    looked up at the sign with the three moons on it as he stepped out into the street. He


    changed into the Vision to look through the wall to keep track of the Counterman


    for the next few seconds.


    ¡°He looks mad,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right, he is calling over some boy and handing him


    the note.¡±


    Jack let the persona go. He motioned for Markus to keep walking.


    ¡°Enterprise, connect me to Josie,¡± said Jack, triggering his band. He kept an eye out


    for people who seemed to be looking at Markus and him a little too hard.


    ¡°We¡¯re here, Jack,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We sent a note up the chain of command,¡± said Jack. ¡°Some boy should be leaving


    the back of the Moon Inn right now to deliver it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got him on the conference table,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think we have trouble, Jack,¡± said Markus. He reached for his sword as a group


    approached them.


    ¡°I have to go, Jo,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll try to keep you boyfriend alive.¡±


    He cut her off before she could protest about the state of her affairs.


    ¡°I am going to need you to back up a little to give me some room, and watch my


    back,¡± said Jack in a low voice. ¡°I have a couple of things I can use here, but I don¡¯t


    want anyone trying to get behind me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Markus. He drew his sword and backed down the street, watching


    the gang spread out.


    ¡°You sent a message,¡± said the leader of the gangs. ¡°We¡¯re going to send one back.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s it going to say?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Two guys killed everyone but me? I¡¯m willing


    to let you walk away because my beloved says I should take it easy and not chop


    everyone I meet into cole slaw, but I want you to know one thing about that. It¡¯s a


    kindness, not mercy.¡±


    ¡°So you think you can fight the ten of us and walk away?,¡± said the spokesman.


    ¡°Do we have time for this?,¡± said Markus. ¡°We still have to finish the rest of the job


    we¡¯re doing.¡±


    ¡°Josie has that,¡± said Jack. ¡°The only thing we really have to do is arrest the counter


    guy in the Inn.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think you¡¯re going to be able to do that?,¡± asked the spokesman.


    Jack grinned at them. He touched his watch. He became a thing made of orbiting


    swords that ripped the air as they moved. The gang made an audible sound of fear.


    ¡°If you want to come at me, come on,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to fool around


    with you.¡±


    Markus spun his sword in his hand. He decided that he didn¡¯t need to get involved


    in this. He edged closer to the Inn in case he needed to take cover from the coming


    conflagration.


    ¡°I guess I am going to have to help you along,¡± said Jack. He marched toward the


    group, swords swinging around him. ¡°Josie should have left me the phasers even if


    she didn¡¯t want them fired. Now I am going to have make up an excuse about why I


    had to chop some goobs apart.¡±


    The group broke and ran. Jack watched them go before letting the Blade persona go.


    He wondered if he should have let them be criminals, but decided he had one thing


    to do and he could come back to deal with the gang when he had some free time.


    And he had to keep Markus safe so Josie could have a boyfriend and do things in this


    world without constantly being around work, or shepherding the kids, or trying to fix


    the women at the hospital.


    ¡°Can you believe that?,¡± asked Jack. He looked around. Where had Markus gone?


    He pulled on Vision and scanned the neighboring buildings. Markus had entered


    the Moon Inn. The Counterman didn¡¯t look happy to see him. He let the persona


    go and entered the Inn himself.


    He paused as Markus gestured for the man to come out from behind the bar. The


    Counterman frowned at the adventurer, and then at the watchbearer.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going with either of you,¡± said the Counterman. He reached for something


    under the bar.


    Markus hopped the counter. He had his sword in the man¡¯s face a second later. He


    shook his head.


    ¡°If you move, you will have to talk to the king without an eye,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°That was pretty smooth,¡± said Jack. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have done better myself. What


    do you have under the counter, George?¡±


    Markus reached down and grabbed the item in question. He put a loaded crossbow


    on the counter. He pushed it out of the Counterman¡¯s reach.


    ¡°Nice,¡± said Jack. ¡°Josie has the letter. We can head back upstairs.¡±


    ¡°What about him?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°Ordinarily I would just drop his dead body somewhere someone could find it,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°But the King is wanting people to imprison, and trials, and stuff. Do you want


    to live, George?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the Counterman.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m inclined to do that. Elaine and Aviras say I can¡¯t just


    dice everyone who crosses my path. I should leave that to Josie.¡±


    ¡°What if he had said no?,¡± asked Markus.


    ¡°Then he would be dead as a doornail,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to fool around


    when I have a quest from the Society. And I don¡¯t have a lot of time for mercy at the


    best of times. If you cooperate, maybe I can get you a spot in some other city where


    you have to check in with someone every day. I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I guess that will be all right,¡± said the Counterman.


    ¡°Knife,¡± said Jack. He held out a hand.


    The Counterman pulled a knife from his belt and handed it over.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to let you live,¡± said Jack. ¡°Don¡¯t screw this up. Just answer the


    questions as truthfully as possible, and I will try to make your landing as soft as I can.


    If you start thinking to overcome us, or try to take hostages, or whatever, I assure you


    that you will be dead the moment you try.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said the Counterman.


    ¡°Enterprise, beam up our captive and put him in a cell,¡± said Jack into his com band.


    ¡°Then beam us up.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. A cloud of sparks took the barkeep away. Then the


    two partners vanished from the Inn.

 Major Ston and Associate

    Josie watched the messenger boy head toward the central keep. She frowned at the


    idea that the boy had access to the castle. If he could get in, that meant he knew where


    the note went.


    ¡°Where do you think he is going?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am wondering if he can get into the central keep, or if


    he will have to give it over to a guard.¡±


    ¡°It looks like the head of this is inside Rails¡¯s administration,¡± said Rickard. ¡°We are


    going to have to see how far this corruption has gone.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be Rails himself,¡± said Haslet. ¡°I think that some of my colleagues


    dealt with his knight when there were problems along the border years ago.¡±


    ¡°There are several others in his organization table than Sir Peter,¡± said Rickard. ¡°But


    they stand more in the civilian side of things.¡±


    ¡°So how many suspects do we have?,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°Six viable, seven more on the edges,¡± said Glunt. ¡°Most of them inside the


    administration part of things.¡±


    Jack and Markus came into the conference room. Jack went to his chair and sat down.


    He picked up his cold cup of chocolate and put it back down on the sill.


    ¡°The innkeeper doesn¡¯t know anything except he was supposed to send a note with


    new developments to a Watchman named Larn,¡± said Markus. ¡°Larn sends him some


    coins in payment.¡±


    ¡°There are four other Casks out there that our friend sends messages for when they


    are in town,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Are they working on the border?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°Our guy doesn¡¯t know where they work,¡± said Jack. ¡°He thinks they are given


    private orders, and then asked to communicate back when the job is done.¡±


    ¡°But they are asked to communicate back in a way that no one is supposed to know


    where their reports are going,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°It means no one can point the finger at the guy in charge,¡± said Jack. ¡°Standard


    security practice.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now that I know who to look for, I can find him in a


    second.¡±


    ¡°The letter went to a guard like we thought,¡± said Glunt. ¡°Does he keep it, or move


    it on?¡±


    ¡°Does he put it in an office to be read later?,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s the time


    arrangement on the answers?¡±


    ¡°We could go down and ask him,¡± said Case. Everybody looked at him. ¡°We could.¡±


    ¡°I think we can wait for a bit,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can trace the letter to the end from


    here.¡±


    ¡°The big question is Rails involved?,¡± asked Vin. ¡°Once we know that, what do we


    do?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to arrest him, and turn the city over to the General to handle


    until someone is appointed in his place,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I expect there will be some civil disturbance,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°There is going to be some since the nobility seems to be trying to destroy the country


    from the inside,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Not all of them,¡± said Jack. ¡°But we have got rid of quite a few since we started.¡±


    ¡°The new Hent seems to be a good guy,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much of that


    is natural, or just us using his city as a home base.¡±


    ¡°I think he is scared of you,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her expression. ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t


    be?¡±


    ¡°Who threw the lightning in the city?,¡± said Josie. She crossed her arms as she looked


    at him.


    ¡°I was rebuked for that,¡± said Jack. ¡°He would never do that to you.¡±


    ¡°I would never throw lightning in the city,¡± said Josie. ¡°Especially not over


    something minor.¡±


    ¡°They were breaking into the Hole in the Wall,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s all the excuse I


    needed.¡±


    ¡°You were going to light them up anyway,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t act like you weren¡¯t.¡±


    Jack grinned.


    ¡°The rag doll was great,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°I would like to get a better one, maybe with some ricochet value,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine in agreement.


    ¡°I think that is the last thing either one of you need,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now, let¡¯s


    concentrate on what we have to do.¡±


    ¡°You see, that¡¯s why you need a boyfriend,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What?,¡± asked Josie. Markus covered his face. The last thing he wanted was to get


    involved in family politics.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how to have fun any more,¡± said Jack. ¡°When was the last time you


    went out and had fun?¡±


    ¡°I went out with the kids yesterday,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Because Caroline and Beatrice tricked you,¡± said Jack. ¡°That kid will be an okay


    queen one day.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Rickard. He frowned at Jack.


    ¡°Case still needs work,¡± said Jack. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to take him under your


    wing and show him how to do things.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m that bad,¡± said Case.


    ¡°No one does,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s the Dunning-Krueger effect.¡±


    ¡°What is that?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°Dumb people always think they are smarter than they are,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I think I have an accurate handle on my dumbness, thank you very much,¡± said Case.


    ¡°They all think that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the matter at hand,¡± said Josie. She frowned at her partner. ¡°How


    do we solve Kyle¡¯s problem?¡±


    ¡°As long as he is with us, no one can kill him,¡± said Jack. ¡°On the other hand...¡±


    Josie gestured with her hand for him to keep going.


    ¡°They might not need to kill him,¡± said Glunt. ¡°They might just need him out of the


    way while the scheme is being carried out.¡±


    ¡°So having him here might be encouraging the scheme to go forward,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Or they might be able to improvise around his absence,¡± said Glunt. ¡°Oh no, the tax


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.money has disappeared, and so has the king. Anything like that.¡±


    ¡°That puts Kyle on the spot if we take him back and we can¡¯t prove anything other


    than with our word,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It makes things complicated,¡± said Glunt. ¡°I doubt anyone who has to judge this will


    accept anything like our word for his presence. After all, we live weeks away from


    the south by most of the overland routes that I know of.¡±


    ¡°Anything we do outside of the normal system would be putting a spell on Kyle to get


    our way,¡± said Josie. She rubbed her face.


    ¡°Not exactly, but close enough it makes no difference,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°So we need to know who is involved, and how to break them


    so we get what we want which is ideally a living Kyle. What makes you important to


    the Society, Kyle?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Kyle. ¡°As the High King, I control the combined armies of the


    kingdom if needed, I arbitrate matters between the low kings so there isn¡¯t the threat


    of civil war. I help collect taxes for the kingdom. I meet with a lot of people to create


    laws and answer requests for things like roads and viaducts.¡±


    ¡°What happens if you die?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The country would be paralyzed while the low kings convene a conference and elect


    a new high king,¡± said Kyle. ¡°He would be doing my same duties.¡±


    ¡°So if someone needed to do a policy change, he would have to get rid of you,¡± said


    Budd.


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Kyle. ¡°Or say one of the low kings wanted to do something against the


    general rules, he would need for me to be gone so he could do it.¡±


    ¡°Give us an example, Kyle,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°So we have a peace with the goblin tribes now,¡± said Kyle. ¡°A fortification was put


    up and keeps them from doing free raids for the most part. But the southern kings still


    hate the tribes, and I expect that the tribes still hate them. As the High King, I have


    to enforce the treaty we made with the tribes. If I wasn¡¯t in place, or someone else


    was elected that hated the tribes, we could have a war with them based out of the


    wall.¡±


    ¡°So you being alive is the only thing keeping the peace?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°It goes the reverse way too,¡± said Kyle. ¡°We border Grecious in the south. If


    someone wanted to start something on that border while this was going on up here,


    the first thing they would have to do is remove me and my command of the joined


    armies. Then they could use their own army to invade from that direction.¡±


    ¡°We might be looking at a concerted effort to drive Grecious into the ground,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°A takeover,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°It looks like it, but how do we prove it?,¡± said Jack. ¡°How much are we going to


    have to cut out to solve this?¡±


    ¡°This is what Ropel meant,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I hope he was right that we can solve


    this.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll solve this,¡± said Josie. ¡°Even if we don¡¯t get them all this time, the Society


    will still hand out quests to defend the planet from things like this.¡±


    ¡°Even after we¡¯re gone, and Case is the king,¡± said Jack. He smiled at the various


    expressions of annoyance that got him.


    ¡°And our letter has landed,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°And it looks like it is going to the


    central keep.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see where it goes from the gate,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we¡¯re going to have to look


    into it.¡±


    ¡°If it is Rails, I am going to have to find someone to replace him,¡± said Rickard. ¡°He


    doesn¡¯t have any relatives that I know of.¡±


    ¡°And if he did have relatives, they might be in on whatever is going on,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Something I can¡¯t discount,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be Rails,¡± said Josie. ¡°It just has to be someone in his organization


    who is willing to backstab him.¡±


    ¡°The letter entered the keep and is climbing,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Central


    Administration?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Rickard. ¡°It has been a while since I have visited out here on the


    frontier.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of steps to have to climb,¡± said Jack. ¡°Guy must be in good shape.¡±


    ¡°He stopped about midway,¡± said Glunt. ¡°Maybe a planning level?¡±


    The signal from the note being destroyed reached them. Josie frowned. This was as


    far as their investigation was going to go.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°Can you put whomever¡¯s in that office where the note was


    torn up in the brig?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I think Rickard and I should go down and talk to our new prisoners,¡± said Josie. ¡°See


    if you guys can come up with a way to trace the rest of this.¡±


    ¡°What do we do about the support structure?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Josie. ¡°We might have to engage in an ongoing clash to see how


    much we can root out.¡±


    ¡°Caroline will never be safe,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Neither will you,¡± said Vin. ¡°Neither will any of us. Once they know who we are,


    they¡¯ll come after us to see what they can do.¡±


    ¡°Before we start worrying about that future,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s worry about the future


    where thousands could die on the border because of some criminal machinations and


    what we are going to do to stop it short of crashing the Enterprise on target and telling


    it to self-destruct.¡±


    ¡°Not my baby,¡± said Jack. ¡°I could never replace the Enterprise. She is the


    awesomesauce.¡±


    ¡°Rickard and I are going down to talk to our prisoners,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would


    appreciate it if someone would go over to that office and see if there are any records


    we can use to expose this operation. A membership list would probably be invaluable.


    Once we have taken care of those two objectives, we are going to decide what to do


    to our captives, and how we are going to find the rest of this mob.¡±


    ¡°Seems simple enough,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We might have to fly back to the border and do some things,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m not


    sure what we can do to fix this problem, but once we have more information, maybe


    our perspective will change.¡±


    Josie and Rickard went down to the brig. They found their new arrivals in separate


    cells across from their first captives. The messenger boy was still on the ground


    somewhere. She would pick him up if he turned out to be the mastermind behind all


    this.


    ¡°How do you do?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°We were wondering if you could explain why you


    are trying to start a war with Shemmaria.¡±


    ¡°Who wants to know?,¡± said the man with the better embossed uniform. He had


    waxed his mustache near to death, and didn¡¯t have enough hair on the top of his head


    to do the same to it.


    ¡°I¡¯m the terror that causes screams in the night, I¡¯m the destroyer of all my mother


    surveys,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m the Ear Ripper of Justice.¡±


    ¡°Pretty dramatic,¡± said the uniform, clapping his hands. ¡°I like it.¡±


    ¡°Most people are like that,¡± said Josie. ¡°They don¡¯t take the threat seriously enough.


    They always have to have a demonstration.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said the officer.


    ¡°Almost always,¡± said Josie. She changed into Zatanna. She created two books for the


    King to read. ¡°Wait here, please. We¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    She vanished, dragging the officer with her. They were gone long enough for the


    King to flip through the first section in the first book. He shook his head.


    ¡°Where did they go?,¡± asked the other prisoner.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said the King. He put the first book in his belt, and leafed through


    the second. ¡°I¡¯m sure it was very pleasant.¡±


    The officer appeared in his cell. His mustache had taken a hit. His uniform looked


    ripped in a couple of places. One of his hands had a new cut on the palm.


    ¡°How would you rate your walk on the hull?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to do that ever again,¡± said the officer.


    ¡°Major Ston made a deal with someone with too many tattoos on his face,¡± said the


    King. ¡°He is supposed to be stirring the frontier up until the land grab is executed.¡±


    ¡°He was going to try to con your new relief force to do the job for him,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Any connection to Lord Rails?¡±


    ¡°None that was in your book,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Major Ston? You wouldn¡¯t happen to


    know how to make arrangements to meet this tattooed man?¡±


    ¡°He is supposed to send an emissary with the password and my first cheque to be


    drawn out of the Exchange when the job is done,¡± said Ston.


    ¡°We will have to look at alternate means to find him,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Is there


    anything else, Madam Fox?¡±


    ¡°Where did you first meet this contact?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe we can find out


    something from there.¡±


    ¡°He approached me after a status meeting with Lord Rails about the border,¡± said


    Ston.


    ¡°So he knew you,¡± said Josie. ¡°He knew your function.¡±


    ¡°Somebody in Rails¡¯s administration?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°Somebody who studied the local government at least,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Can you find him?,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I can try,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to keep you guys until the king wants to do


    something to you. You will be safe where you are. Don¡¯t do anything to


    change that status.¡±


    She led the King out of the brig, asking the Enterprise to keep the door locked.


    ¡°Someone from the Montrose contacted this guy anonymously and wanted him to stir


    up the border and help with the invasion of Shemmaria,¡± said Josie. ¡°Who is this guy,


    and who is he connected with? What did we do when we took Rustam in Hawk


    Ridge?¡±


    ¡°We might have cut the core out of this over that,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°And no one knows,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I need a way to spread this across the country somehow,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Too bad you don¡¯t have a news wire,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°A news wire?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°Where I am from, communication is faster,¡± said Josie. ¡°Almost as fast as the


    Enterprise. A couple of businesses have set up to report on events across the world


    and send that back to local reporters to be shared in their own reporting process.


    If you had the concept of printing the news, you could slowly build up such an


    organization to report on things in your country and let everyone know.¡±


    ¡°Maybe my council can come up with something to emulate it,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°How would you spread the news across the country?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We are using messengers and adventurers now,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Maybe we can use


    a new organizational tree to create such a news agency.¡±


    ¡°Maybe start small, like in the capitol,¡± said Josie. ¡°And then work your way out.¡±


    ¡°I will talk to Lois,¡± said Rickard. ¡°She will have better ideas for something like that


    than I do.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Try to keep the corruption to a minimum.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done well on that so far,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Maybe traveling the country


    should be something I should do.¡±


    ¡°Traveling the country is hard for people,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can see the extraneous


    problems that can come up.¡±


    ¡°Tradition is to stay with the noble responsible,¡± said Rickard. ¡°How many of my


    nobles are trustworthy? How much time would I have to spend in a tent because I


    don¡¯t have that much trust?¡±


    ¡°Just think about the army of supporters that would have to travel with you,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°I think one of Jack¡¯s moving houses would be enough,¡± said Rickard. He smiled at


    her visible annoyance.


    ¡°Do not say anything like that in front of Jack,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Society is already


    annoyed at him for what he has already done.¡±


    ¡°I can understand that,¡± said Rickard.

 Shifting Gears

    Jack got another cup of hot chocolate as he considered everything they had learned


    so far. He sat back down and looked out the windows of the conference room. Blue


    and purple fought for dominance in the sky.


    ¡°Could you clear the conference table for a second, Enterprise?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need


    to think out loud.¡±


    The conference tabletop cleared into something that looked like wood.


    ¡°We know that Shemmaria saw a build up of forces at Fort Hern,¡± said Jack.


    A small fort appeared at the center of the table.


    ¡°We know that there are two lesser forts on either side of Fort Hern,¡± said Jack. ¡°We


    don¡¯t know if they got the order to rush the border when the people at Hern decided


    to charge.¡±


    ¡°We know that adventurers were being hired to attack the three border forts on


    Shemmaria¡¯s side of things,¡± said Jack. ¡°Most of them had the Montrose Makeover


    from the looks of things when we got rid of that calvary charge.¡±


    Those three forts went on the map north of Fort Hern.


    ¡°We know the Montrose are for profit and power,¡± said Jack. ¡°They like to make a


    buck, usually doing something illegal like the human trafficking.¡±


    ¡°What did they get out of supplying Shemmaria the women for the goblin trees?,¡±


    asked Budd.


    ¡°According to the file, money,¡± said Haslet. ¡°There may have been some secondary


    considerations since some of the men in charge of putting the thing together were


    murdered by Madam Fox¡¯s city clearing. I have their names in the book she sent me.¡±


    ¡°Where was the destroyed goblin tree experiment lab, Enterprise?,¡± asked Jack.


    A model of the complex appeared north of the three forts.


    ¡°General Haslet,¡± said Jack. ¡°Were any of those names on the other monster taming


    stuff?¡±


    ¡°I see what you are saying,¡± said Haslet. ¡°I don¡¯t know off hand. The book is in my


    office in the central keep.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s assume it is,¡± said Jack. ¡°It means that the Montrose has been doing whatever


    it can to pit Shemmaria against Grecious for a long time while also funneling money


    away from Grecious, and moving women and girls across the continent.¡±


    ¡°This Rustam?,¡± asked Glunt. ¡°The king¡¯s nephew. Was he a part of this?¡±


    ¡°He had the Makeover, so he had some dealing with the Montrose,¡± said Jack. ¡°He


    was part of the plan to kidnap Princess Caroline to force Rick¡¯s hand. And he and


    Brant were together in trying to seize the Royal Family, perhaps to cement his place


    next in the succession.¡±


    ¡°So we can say he either wanted to rule the kingdom, or he was involved in some


    of this trading across borders,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°Or he was doing both,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Exhua was part of the scheme to seize Caroline,¡± said Case.


    ¡°And he was dealt with by Madam Fox,¡± said Rickard as he stepped into the room.


    ¡°He was the first one her birds attacked when she cleaned out the capitol city.¡±


    ¡°The prisoners in the throne room,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I had just heard the demands from his own face when you arrived,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I think your letter is what triggered the attempt.¡±


    ¡°The letter about the Montrose?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Aye,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I had asked some of the people I trusted to look into things.


    When I did that, Caroline¡¯s guards turned her over to them.¡±


    ¡°From the injuries Caroline had, they were going to kill her anyway,¡± said Josie. ¡°So


    I am glad that I cleared out that rat¡¯s nest.¡±


    ¡°If the Montrose were doing the same in Shemmaria City,¡± said Haslet. ¡°You may


    have already killed the major players there.¡±


    ¡°But no one knows it,¡± said Josie. ¡°Communication is slow as dirt here.¡±


    ¡°Do we have any proof any of this affects Kyle?,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°If the cabal


    reaches to his country, could they be trying to create a world war?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question,¡± said Jack. ¡°What do they get out of it?¡±


    ¡°They can steer the conflict, reestablish borders, loot and pillage,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°They can form their own government if they can shatter what is already there.¡±


    ¡°And they have an army of adventurers to help them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Like Emily¡¯s party,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°How many women adventurers were turned on and sold while being put down


    as monster attacks?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I am suddenly glad at what Jack did at that camp,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put all of that in the speculation department,¡± said Jack. ¡°What we need are the


    commanding officers on both sides of the borders. If we take them, can we force the


    rest of this to grind to a halt?¡±


    ¡°Even if we know who they are, we wouldn¡¯t be able to prove they were doing


    anything wrong if they are away from the border,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The evidence will be there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Something like this requires tons of paper


    to carry. We just need another starting point. Let¡¯s take Kyle for example.¡±


    ¡°What kind of an example?,¡± asked Kyle.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if your situation is part of this situation, or if it is a separate thing


    that has come up since Mister Warner and I dealt with those rogues,¡± said Jack. ¡°We


    need to deal with that and find out what is going on.¡±


    ¡°So Kyle¡¯s quest and the border war could be separate things,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Or it could be the same thing, but with a different face,¡± said Jack. ¡°Different


    objectives.¡±


    ¡°It would be easier to find his killer,¡± said Josie. ¡°How much proof would you


    need that this person wanted to kill you, Kyle?¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°It depends on who it is,¡± said Kyle. ¡°A minion generally rates a small trial, a low


    king would need a meeting of all the other low kings, and the evidence would have


    to be overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°And it would have to be provable without magic,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I have an idea, Jo-jo,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re at an impasse since Ston doesn¡¯t really know


    anything.¡±


    ¡°I think we picked the hardest quest to solve first,¡± said Jack. ¡°We did okay because


    we stopped the initial stage in time, but now we are in a lull since both sides are going


    to want to wait to see what happened on the border with the disguised battalion. I


    think if you sent out a bird to locate Kyle¡¯s assassin, we can pick him up and see who


    else is connected.¡±


    ¡°We can actually see if he is part of this,¡± said Josie. ¡°If he¡¯s not, his quest is done


    and we are back to waiting on Hax to get done with his paperwork search.¡±


    ¡°We are stuck,¡± said Worldy. ¡°And this border attack will be harder to prove to


    a government than someone wanting a king dead.¡±


    ¡°So we head south and see what is going on,¡± said Josie. ¡°It seems doable.¡±


    ¡°We are going to have to make a detour first,¡± said Jack. ¡°I need you to locate the


    Bloodborn so we can deal with that on the way south.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We clear the easier quests, offload Kyle, and then deal with


    this border thing.¡±


    ¡°That was exactly my thinking,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°And if we have to find


    the source of the monsters later, we have put off any danger for however long it


    takes for them to get another force ready to send over.¡±


    ¡°The distance involved means it would take months for them to sail from the other


    side of the world,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It puts their invasion on hold if we take care of it right now,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am going to send out a bird. We¡¯re going to need to follow


    where it goes.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Administrator Worldy,¡± said Jack. ¡°If you wanted to do something like invade


    another country, would you need to go through this subterfuge?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Worldy. ¡°I would normally have to wait for an emergency vote of the


    council, and have a declaration in hand. To force a war would mean I would have to


    essentially defy council orders at this time and send a force over the line to seize


    territory.¡±


    ¡°The only way the administrator of the Army is allowed to send forces is if someone


    attacked our borders first,¡± said Glunt. ¡°No one has done that in years.¡±


    ¡°The thing with Pasco,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I think that is correct,¡± said Glunt. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°I was there,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look that old,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Mister Warner as if that explained everything.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back on track before we start down memory lane,¡± said Josie. She


    transformed and raised her hand. ¡°I¡¯m sending the bird, Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    A fire bird leaped from Josie¡¯s hand and headed through the window. The view


    shifted as the giant ship turned to chase the spell across the sky.


    ¡°Give us navigational plotting on the conference table, Enterprise,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The table cleared of Jack¡¯s plotting, and showed a


    picture of the ocean passing below at incredible speed. A small drawn bird


    approximated the scrying spell headed for its target.


    A small fleet of ten wooden ships sailed toward the Enterprise. They were drawn in


    and marked on the table as the bird flew down and landed on one of the bows. It


    exploded back to its mana source.


    ¡°Enterprise, scan the crews and compare them to the baseline human onboard,¡± said


    Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Done.¡±


    ¡°Conclusion?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Not human,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Are there a lot of differences?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Subjects are humanoid with modified secondary cells,¡± said the machine. ¡°These


    modified cells are acting as nerves.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°It looks like we have a goblin tree situation,¡± said Jack. ¡°Except these monsters have


    learned how to sail to their next settlement area so they can spread around.¡±


    ¡°If they land, they start doing what the goblin trees would have done?,¡± asked Case.


    He looked out the window. He couldn¡¯t see the fleet from the angle.


    ¡°Are they infectious?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Unknown,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°They boil if they fall in the ocean,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°It¡¯s one of their


    weaknesses. I expect that salt or something else in the water attacks them.¡±


    ¡°Then why are they sailing toward Grecious?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I always tried to stop them far enough away that


    they couldn¡¯t swim to land before they burned up.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Fire torpedoes and see if we can sink these people.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. Torpedoes lit up the sky as they walked explosions


    on the ships below. The wooden sailing boats burned on the surface of the water. The


    crews went into the ocean.


    The familiar ding told Jack that he had cleared the quest. He frowned. Maybe he


    should have taken a better look at things. He could have arranged for a cure for the


    virus farms.


    On the other hand, if they had landed, they would have been able to infect people and


    spread their parasites around. Then he would be dealing with the aftereffects for a


    long time.


    He didn¡¯t want to leave that kind of work to the Ducklings after he had retired and he


    and Elaine were doing their own things.


    ¡°Some monsters can¡¯t be brought home,¡± said Josie. ¡°We have to deal with Kyle.


    Once we can put him on the ground without worry if he will be killed, then we can


    go back up north and try to figure the rest of this out.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that will be okay,¡± said Jack. ¡°Once we have everything dealt with, what


    do we do next?¡±


    ¡°Markus and Madam Witch can try for a date without shennigans,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°I still have work to do at the hospital,¡± said Josie. ¡°And so do you too.¡±


    ¡°I think taking you out will be better for Markus than getting beat up by an old lady


    with a rolling pin,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Was it an extremely strong old lady with a rolling pin?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°I think this is not the time,¡± said Josie. ¡°And I think I haven¡¯t ripped people¡¯s ears


    off nearly so much since I am still getting harassed about this. Who wants to be my


    example for the rest of the Hawk Ridge adventurers?¡±


    ¡°Not it,¡± said Budd. ¡°I am still getting used to navigating Beatrice¡¯s wants. I need


    both of my ears for that.¡±


    ¡°Caroline said she would take Case even if he was missing one ear,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Would you like to be an example, Case?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I think I like my ears where they are,¡± said Case. He placed his hands over them


    as if that was going to protect them from the Ear Ripper.


    ¡°Enterprise, take us over Kyle¡¯s country,¡± said Jack. ¡°We want to see who wants


    him dead.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The conference table showed them their position as the Enterprise turned west and


    headed back over land. It took up a position over the largest city in the southern


    country.


    ¡°So somewhere in there, someone wants King Kyle dead?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°The problem is this doesn¡¯t have to be political at all,¡± said Jack. ¡°This could be as


    simple as Kyle touching the wrong maid at the wrong time.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t do that,¡± said Kyle.


    ¡°I underestimated you then,¡± said Jack. ¡°I apologize.¡±


    ¡°So how do we get started on this?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Can you light up everyone who wants Kyle dead?,¡± asked Rickard. ¡°I doubt there


    will be that many.¡±


    ¡°I guess,¡± said Josie. She looked at the conference table. ¡°I might be able to change


    the table into a copy of the model back home.¡±


    She exchanged her form for Zatanna and raised her hand over the table. Magic drifted


    into the table. Small dots appeared on the city map.


    ¡°That is more than I thought,¡± said Rickard. ¡°But less than what could be.¡±


    ¡°Three of them are in the central keep,¡± said Jack. ¡°Are they the ones that want Kyle


    dead the most?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to tell,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would have to throw out a bird and find the


    one with divination.¡±


    ¡°I think we need to know if it¡¯s someone important, or not,¡± said Jack. ¡°If it¡¯s


    someone important, we¡¯re disrupting a scheme. If it¡¯s not, then we are saving Kyle¡¯s


    life for some unforseen reason.¡±


    ¡°Probably to keep the region stable,¡± said Josie. ¡°If Kyle dies, it throws everything


    else into a blender.¡±


    ¡°The Society seems big on that,¡± said Jack. ¡°I guess I will go down and handle this.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Come on, Kyle. Let¡¯s turn you into a human target


    and see who tries to take a shot.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this, Mister Warner?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I think as soon as Kyle shows his face, his murderer will expose himself,¡± said


    Mister Warner. ¡°I don¡¯t think this some big thing. I think it is something small that


    can be used to grow something big from the action.¡±


    ¡°If Kyle dies, it will be a free for all,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s why we got the quest,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°That kind of disruption


    could plunge the south into a civil war and make them easy pickings for whomever


    wins the war in the north.¡±


    ¡°That means the Montrose runs everything,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°If they can win it,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°And that¡¯s why we¡¯re going to deal with


    this. We might have to put some kind of guard on Kyle just in case, but otherwise


    once we deal with this, we can concentrate on the rest of the continent.¡±


    ¡°I will give him one of my birds,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do, Kyle.¡±

 Exiles

    Josie crossed her arms as she watched the markers for Mister Warner and Kyle


    wander the wooden castle below them. They passed each of the three marked people


    as they headed for the general administration hall above where Kyle received


    members of his government, ambassadors, and applicants for justice beyond what a


    local judge would do.


    ¡°They¡¯re moving,¡± said Vin. ¡°Maybe they are in it together.¡±


    ¡°It would make things easier for us if they were,¡± said Jack. ¡°Mister Warner has a talk


    with them, and the quest is done.¡±


    ¡°Call Mister Warner, Jack,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t like the way their three subjects


    were vectoring in on the wandering king and his visitor.


    Jack pulled out his phone and opened it. He nodded at the charge on the battery as he


    pushed the contact button for Mister Warner.


    ¡°Yeah?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Your Three Stooges are coming down the steps after you,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you want


    us to step in. I can ask the Enterprise to pick them off from here.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Hold this, Kyle. If I miss, you¡¯ll want Jack to be able


    to pull you back to the Enterprise.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re right outside,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Got it,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Step over by your chair, Kyle.¡±


    The sound of the door slamming open was followed by the thunder crack of lightning


    in a confined area. Josie expected a scream, but maybe the blast had been too sudden


    and overpowering.


    ¡°A little lightning fixes things sometimes,¡± said Mister Warner. The ding told Josie


    the threat to Kyle had been averted. It looked like Jack¡¯s analysis had been right.


    He grinned like he knew what she was thinking.


    ¡°How do you want to do the rest of this, Kyle?,¡± Josie asked.


    ¡°I think we need to know why they wanted to kill me,¡± said Kyle. ¡°Then I have to


    decide what I can do under the law, and what I want to do now that I know there were


    three people willing to rush in and kill me.¡±


    ¡°The quest is gone, so these should be the only assassins wanting to assassinate you


    at the moment,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can leave you an escape if more show up and we can¡¯t


    get to you in time.¡±


    ¡°I wonder why they wanted to kill me,¡± said Kyle. ¡°I don¡¯t remember doing anything


    to these people.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re still alive, Kyle,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Let¡¯s put some manacles on them,


    and then we can wake them up. Once you know why, you can decide what you want


    to do about it.¡±


    There was a snap over the phone as metal appeared at Mister Warner¡¯s insistence. He


    threw some water on his victims from the sound of it.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°You want to tell us what this is about?¡±


    ¡°Why should we?,¡± said one of the captives.


    ¡°Because if you have an understandable motive, you may be able to get off with an


    exile,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Otherwise, Kyle will have to convene a court and punish


    you. So why?¡±


    ¡°So he¡¯ll kill us like his father did our father?,¡± said a younger voice. ¡°What does it


    matter?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know you,¡± said Kyle. ¡°So I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°Sir Kernly Haynes was our father,¡± said the older voice.


    ¡°Haynes was your father?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°What do you know about it?,¡± said the older voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one who put Haynes in the ground for trying to rile up the goblin tribes,¡±


    said Mister Warner. ¡°He got what he deserved.¡±


    ¡°The King said he executed our father,¡± said the female in the mix.


    ¡°What was he going to say?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you,¡± said the older voice. ¡°How can you make such a claim?¡±


    ¡°Your father was raiding the goblins despite the truce,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°The


    Faceless asked me to come down here and sort it out. So I did. Haynes wasn¡¯t the


    only one I killed that day. I killed all of his raiders in one shot.¡±


    ¡°All of them?,¡± asked the older voice.


    ¡°Everyone that took the field,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I assumed that the man had some


    backing from one of the low kings, but I never pursued it.¡±


    ¡°You might should have done that,¡± said Jack over the open line.


    ¡°We¡¯re not here to get involved in political machinations other than erasing the


    people trying to cause harm,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°On the other hand, maybe I should


    have checked for a backer and did something to him.¡±


    ¡°Who was the most likely culprit, Mister Warner?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I would have said Kaus,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°His region was where the raids


    originated from back then.¡±


    A sound came over the line like a sigh.


    ¡°I suppose they are connected to Kaus in some way,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Kaus is dead,¡± said Kyle. ¡°His son was elected as his replacement.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do to us?,¡± asked the female.


    ¡°It¡¯s exile, or the axe,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Which do you prefer?¡±


    ¡°Why would you let us live?,¡± asked the older man.


    ¡°Other than trying to kill me, I don¡¯t really know you, and don¡¯t care about you,¡± said


    Kyle. ¡°If you want to live and not come back, it¡¯s the same to me as having you


    executed. Mister Warner?¡±


    ¡°The quest is done,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Kyle isn¡¯t hurt, and the three of you only


    got some lightning. We can move you up north while we try to sort out the rest of


    this.¡±


    ¡°And we can never come back to Karieda?,¡± said the female.


    ¡°Now that you have been exposed,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°You can¡¯t be allowed to


    stay where you will try to kill Kyle again, and you can¡¯t be allowed to stay where


    someone will kill you to cover up any connection to you. It¡¯s better for you to start


    over somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°And how do we do that?,¡± asked the elder male voice.


    ¡°Pack everything you want to carry with you,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°My associate will


    handle getting you where you have to go.¡±


    ¡°And we should accept this?,¡± asked the elder.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Your father was an idiot,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I¡¯m giving you a chance not to be


    an idiot too. If you want to throw this chance away after you tried to murder the high


    king and split the kingdom into pieces, I will be glad to take that opportunity back


    and let you deal with the royal executioner.¡±


    ¡°I think we should agree to this,¡± said the female. ¡°We are at a disadvantage.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and get your things,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I will arrange transport north


    from here as soon as you come back.¡±


    The table showed the markers leaving the throne room. They headed across the castle.


    Josie thought they were all servants who had infiltrated the castle for this chance.


    ¡°Josie?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m still here,¡± said Josie. ¡°Lightning?¡±


    ¡°I have a version of Lightning,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Can you send them away with


    your birds. I doubt they will stay away from the kingdom, but it might take years for


    them to make their way back so they can get back into position to kill Kyle again.¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± said Josie. She frowned at the air. ¡°Are you sure this is the way you


    want to go with this?¡±


    ¡°I expect they will try to get back here as soon as possible to try again,¡± said Mister


    Warner. ¡°Hopefully, a quest will be sent out to stop them before that happens.¡±


    ¡°I will deal with it so Kyle doesn¡¯t have to worry about them with the regular parts


    of governing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Kyle.


    ¡°They are getting their stuff together, Mister Warner,¡± said Jack. ¡°They should be


    coming back to the throne room in a few unless they run for it.¡±


    ¡°They probably think they can take Kyle and me by surprise so they can do what they


    want,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I have an idea on what to do,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m ready when you are.¡±


    ¡°Let them come back,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°They will probably want to try to catch


    us by surprise before we send them into their exile.¡±


    ¡°You said this Haynes was raiding the goblins?,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°The tribes are mostly peaceful,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°But they could be families of


    bandits in the day. Haynes had a small army he was leading across the Picket. He was


    massacring any goblin, or associated race, while riding through their land. The


    Faceless wanted it to stop before a full scale war broke out between the low kings and


    the tribes, so I stopped it.¡±


    ¡°Any problems since then?,¡± asked Jack. He looked around the room.


    ¡°Not that I know of,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Not until we had to do something about


    the Iron Teeth.¡±


    ¡°The goblin quest you picked up?,¡± asked Josie. Jack had said they had helped the


    survivors rebuild from the raids.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°The goblins haven¡¯t eaten anybody in a long time, and


    then these morons show up.¡±


    ¡°Could this Kaus have been behind Haynes?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Kyle. ¡°He was nothing but trouble the whole time the Picket was being


    built. He kept sending letters to my father to increase taxes so he could fund an army


    of adventurers to clear the land away. We would have been at war with the tribes from


    then to now unless someone like Mister Warner stepped in and did something to both


    sides.¡±


    ¡°The loss of life would have been bad on both sides,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Maybe half


    the tribes would have been wiped out. I don¡¯t know how many humans, but I figure the


    number would have been high.¡±


    ¡°I would have had to secure my southern border in case the goblins tried to march north


    after they destroyed Karieda,¡± said Rickard. ¡°They might have been able to push my


    forces back if there was enough of them.¡±


    ¡°Let me go down and get this part done,¡± said Josie. ¡°The sooner we can wrap this up,


    the sooner we can get back to the last quest.¡±


    ¡°Go with her, Mark,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll take the Enterprise back up to the border and


    try to come up with a new angle. I¡¯m glad this was an easily fixed situation and not an


    extension of a larger trouble.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and sort this out,¡± said Josie. She transformed long enough to teleport herself


    and Markus to the chamber where Mister Warner and Kyle waited.


    ¡°I¡¯ll sort this out, Mister Warner,¡± said Josie. ¡°If there are any more troubles, Kyle,


    Jack and I are based in Hawk Ridge. Send a messenger, and we¡¯ll come down and see


    what we can do.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Kyle. ¡°I doubt Kaus the younger will be happy that I am still alive.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have a talk to him when I am done with this,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Your guys are outside the door,¡± said Jack over Mister Warner¡¯s phone.


    ¡°Come in,¡± called Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t have all night for this.¡±


    Three young people who looked close enough to be related came into the room. They


    carried travel bags in hand. The men still wore their swords on their hips. She supposed


    Mister Warner felt confident enough that he didn¡¯t need to disarm them.


    ¡°I will see you when we¡¯re done, Mister Warner,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Be careful,¡± said Mister Warner. He took his phone back and vanished through the


    roof of the room.


    ¡°It has been a thing, Kyle,¡± said Josie. ¡°Try to stay out of trouble.¡±


    ¡°I assure you that I plan to look at things a little more neater in the future,¡± said the


    king.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m going to send out a bird to find your new home, and then


    we are going there.¡±


    She transformed, carved a booster in the floor to give her bird a longer range, and sent


    it out for them. After a few minutes, it sent back a ready signal. She threw out long


    chains of magic to the bird and used it to reel them across the continent to a dusty room


    with dusty furniture, some of which looked broken. A circular counter dominated the


    center of the room. She cleaned off chairs and gestured for the siblings to sit down.


    ¡°Where are we?,¡± asked the elder Haynes boy. He looked around at the dusty room.


    ¡°This is an abandoned inn at the tip of Agre, almost to the northern coast of the


    continent,¡± said Josie. ¡°If you would like to sit so we can talk, that would be fine.¡±


    ¡°Why here?,¡± said the sister. She did sit. This was the second witch they had


    encountered. Either of them could have blotted them out without a thought.


    ¡°The place needs an inn,¡± said Josie. ¡°I decided to put you here to help improve the


    community. Maybe it will teach you some things while you do it.¡±


    ¡°So you want us to turn this mess into an inn?,¡± said the youngest. He waved his hand


    at the desolation. ¡°We don¡¯t have the money for that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do the heavy lifting,¡± said Josie. ¡°All you have to do is run it and do the best you


    can. I will even make it something of a deal with you so you can end your exile and go


    home.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid we¡¯ll try to kill Kyle again?,¡± said the eldest. ¡°Is that what that


    adventurer is here to do, to guard us?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°Markus is here to remind me to not dump you in shallow graves


    despite promising Mister Warner I wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Her brother says she is overly fond of putting holes through people,¡± said Markus. ¡°I


    doubt I would be able to stop her if she really decided to renege on the bargain you


    struck.¡±


    ¡°Holes through people?,¡± asked the maid.


    ¡°I don¡¯t give that many second chances,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I am willing to give you one


    just on the basis that Kyle isn¡¯t holding the attempt against you like he should.¡±


    ¡°So this is going to be our second chance?,¡± said the eldest.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°Sit down, please. I will tell you the terms of your probation.¡±


    The three sat down in the offered chairs. Josie sat down opposite them. Markus hovered


    aside and behind her, wary of an attack.


    ¡°You three are to run this inn,¡± said Josie. ¡°When you have satisfied the conditions I


    will impose on you, you will be able to go back south. Until then, you are going to have


    to work on things, and yourselves. Let¡¯s start by cleaning this up so you can have a


    home to settle into for your stay.¡±


    She transformed, carving the floor up as flock of birds attacked the building. It changed


    under the fiery touch of the magic, becoming cleaner, adding new furniture, provisions


    in an icebox, kegs of ale that would never empty, and most importantly a bathroom.


    The walls picked up pictures of the three, and the places they grew up in as they tried


    to figure out how to kill Kyle. The last additions were mottos over the door and two


    number boards set to one million each.


    ¡°Everyone matters, or no one matters,¡± said the maid. She frowned at the other mottos.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mistake kindness for mercy,¡± said the youngest. He scratched his head.


    ¡°This is your judgement,¡± said the eldest. He frowned at Josie. He looked around at the


    changed inn.


    ¡°There is a place set up for you to live in outside the inn,¡± said Josie. She nodded at the


    refreshed lamps on the walls. ¡°There are rooms upstairs for guests. These two signs are


    what you have to worry about so your exile can end and you can go home. If you can


    get the sign on the left down to zero, you can leave the city. If you can get the sign on


    the right down to zero, you can get leave the country and go south. I¡¯ll let you figure


    out how to do that.¡±


    ¡°What is to stop us from leaving as soon as you are gone?,¡± asked the youngest.


    ¡°If you cross the line, you will be vaporized into a cloud of ash,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think


    you should think on how you want to run the place until you have enough credit to do


    either thing.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know how to run an inn,¡± said the eldest Haynes.


    ¡°Then I am sure you will have fun figuring things out,¡± said Josie. ¡°Just remember the


    limitations, and soon enough you will have worked them off so you can just abandon


    the place and head back across the continent to get your stupid revenge for your stupid


    father who should have known better but didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t a bandit, he was a knight,¡± said the eldest. ¡°What do you know about such


    things?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I didn¡¯t know your father. I do know the Society. If they


    issued a quest on him, he was doing something to endanger all of Karieda. They just


    don¡¯t send us out to deal with bandits when they don¡¯t have to. You three could have


    caused a civil war and got a lot of people killed for nothing. You think about that, and


    when you want to be better, you can work your way home.¡±


    She took one last look around the inn as someone knocked on the door. She turned her


    cold gaze on the siblings.


    ¡°I think now is the time for you to put aside your excuses and actually be knights in


    your behavior,¡± said Josie. ¡°Never be cruel, never be cowardly.¡±


    She looked at the door as the knock sounded again.


    ¡°I think you have your first guest,¡± said Josie. ¡°Do the best you can.¡±


    She whisked herself and Markus away as the Haynes opened the door and tried to


    explain they were new to the neighborhood.

 Sending a Letter

    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°It¡¯s good to know Kyle wasn¡¯t a part of this other stuff and we


    can concentrate on the north.¡±


    ¡°Call from Officer Numera,¡± announced the Enterprise.


    ¡°Put her through,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Jack?,¡± said Elaine from the air.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Hon,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We had an incident here in the city,¡± said Elaine.


    ¡°Are you all right?,¡± asked Jack. He stood up. In ten seconds, he could be dropping


    torpedoes on the city.


    ¡°He never asks about us,¡± said Melanie, in the background.


    ¡°It¡¯s the weakness in true love,¡± said Matilda. ¡°The only thing important is your loved


    one, not your cousins.¡±


    ¡°Is Caroline all right, Mistress Numera?,¡± asked Rickard. He looked like he was willing


    to approve the loss of some buildings in Hawk Ridge.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Father,¡± said Caroline. ¡°I did get to knock someone in the head with a staff.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my girl,¡± said Rickard and Case at the same time. The king glowered at his


    daughter¡¯s suitor.


    ¡°Josie isn¡¯t here,¡± said Mister Warner, cutting through the noise. ¡°Give us a rundown


    before she comes back.¡±


    ¡°We were accosted while shopping by some unknown adventurers,¡± said Elaine. ¡°They


    wanted us to hand over Caroline and walk away. The girls decided not to.¡±


    ¡°Elaine shot one with her crossbow as a no, Milord,¡± said Beatrice. ¡°The rest was


    helping Seven and Emily scatter the pieces.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be over Hawk Ridge in a few seconds. Then I will come


    down there and do things.¡±


    ¡°We can take care of the rest of this, Milord,¡± said Matilda. ¡°Just keep the missus busy


    until we get done.¡±


    ¡°You can take care of the rest of this, Matty?,¡± said Jack. He frowned at the open air.


    ¡°With Aviras and Beatrice¡¯s help,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I think Alicia wants to practice what


    you gave her more too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sticking my neck on the line for you, Matty,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°If I want to be a champion too, I have to get experience,¡± said Matilda. ¡°The same


    goes for Seven, if she is to stay June¡¯s partner.¡±


    ¡°Elaine?,¡± said Jack. ¡°You are the one in command on the ground. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Our Ducklings have turned into eagles,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I think that Matilda is right. I


    think they can handle any problem as long as they stick together.¡±


    Josie started to appear in the conference room. Jack could see her hand moving as the


    teleport started wearing off.


    ¡°Do what you think best, call for help if you need it,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, cut call.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Nobody heard anything,¡± said Jack. He settled back in his chair.


    ¡°Jack...,¡± said Case as a preclude to some demand.


    ¡°Anything,¡± said Jack. He put a smile on his face as his partner and her guard


    materialized fully. ¡°How did the expedition go?¡±


    Jack tried not to wince inside as Josie evaluated the room. He could tell she knew


    something was wrong. As long as Case remained silent, they could escape murder in


    the conference room.


    ¡°I set them up as innkeepers,¡± said Josie. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    ¡°We were talking about the angles we could pursue about the border situation,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°Which we haven¡¯t figured out yet.¡±


    ¡°Do you think Hax and Russ can find something?,¡± asked Haslet. ¡°They would have


    to search a lot of records for whatever he was hoping to find.¡±


    ¡°And a hand search would take forever,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We should head up north and check to see if they have found anything,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I wonder how much of this consortium is on both sides of the border,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Our enemy belongs to both countries?,¡± said Budd. ¡°Is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Glunt. ¡°It¡¯s even more possible if they are part of the administration and


    trading in their positions.¡±


    ¡°Rails may regulate my side of the border,¡± said Rickard. He gestured with a hand.


    ¡°But private interests can still buy up what they need for an enterprise and make it work


    under the rules.¡±


    ¡°If an interest set up on both sides of the border?,¡± asked Budd.


    ¡°Paperwork and taxes would be the primary interests of both sides,¡± said Worldy.


    Rickard nodded in agreement.


    ¡°So if we knew who ran things on both sides, that would give us an idea on who we


    should be trying to target,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°The Parliament would still like evidence for why I allied with a foreign government


    and investigated this,¡± said Worldy. ¡°Mister Glunt and General Haslet would probably


    suffer some minor career setbacks, but my head would be mounted on a pike.¡±


    ¡°We would never let them do that,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the minister. ¡°Josie would


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.have a talk with your government again first.¡±


    Glunt and Haslet blanched at the suggestion of another flock of firebirds blasting


    through the city, but Worldy just nodded.


    ¡°Thank you very much for your consideration,¡± said the minister.


    ¡°We need to know if Hax and Russ found something,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then we can figure


    out the rest of this.¡±


    ¡°I also have reinforcements heading for the border,¡± said Rickard. ¡°We should do


    something about that.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you put us over the army heading for the border?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The light in the windows changed as the ship headed


    north from Karieda.


    ¡°Will your general recognize your handwriting, Your Majesty?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Rickard. ¡°We hand him a letter?¡±


    ¡°It will have to include everything we have found out, and the fact that he might have


    to launch from Coldwater at any enemy we might unearth,¡± said Josie. ¡°Will he defy


    Rails to follow your orders?¡±


    ¡°My orders supercede anything the local nobility can claim,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get him on the same page with us in case we need more force than the Enterprise


    can bring to bear,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°More force than we can use with this?,¡± said Case. He waved his arms to indicate the


    whole of the ship.


    ¡°I told you,¡± said Jack. ¡°I can flatten a region in seconds, but there will always be a


    need for boots on the ground to make sure. Don¡¯t get me wrong. The Enterprise is the


    biggest crossbow in the air, and a wonderful force multiplier, but it lacks the things to


    replace soldiers for good.¡±


    ¡°What things?,¡± asked Budd. He knew better than to ask, but did it anyway.


    ¡°Hands,¡± said Jack. He wiggled the fingers on his own to demonstrate his point.


    ¡°If this consortium is behind this, how do we prove they wanted to start a war?,¡± said


    Worldy.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to set some kind of trap,¡± said Josie. She handed the king paper


    and pen. ¡°We need to catch them in front of witnesses doing something illegal.¡±


    ¡°What would you do if you didn¡¯t have to prove this in a court?,¡± asked Worldy. He


    ignored the hand waves behind Josie¡¯s back.


    ¡°I would use divination to find the people responsible, and I would have a talk with


    them,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°If Hax doesn¡¯t find anything, we should do that,¡± said Worldy. ¡°We have enough


    evidence to denote a conspiracy. We have prisoners who can explain how everything


    was supposed to work before we got involved. We have witnesses who saw a battalion


    of their own soldiers try to kill them before witches stopped them.¡±


    ¡°And I have seen enough on my own side to hold court and try the people we scooped


    up back at my keep,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°They are bound to keep trying unless we cut them off at the neck,¡± said Josie. She


    frowned at the thought. ¡°How many more people will they hurt if we let this go?¡±


    ¡°I could lose Coldwater in a protracted engagement with Shemmaria,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Those people will be the first ones hurt, as well as the surrounding farmers and


    hunters that keep the city fed.¡±


    ¡°We could lose most of our outposts, and the city of Caldon,¡± said Haslet. ¡°It is not as


    big as Coldwater, but it is a lynchpin to the defense of the border.¡±


    ¡°The letter is done,¡± said Rickard. He folded the paper closed.


    ¡°Jack, if you can deliver it to the general,¡± said Josie. ¡°We can call Mister Hax and see


    if he found something we can use to solve this.¡±


    ¡°On my way,¡± said Jack. ¡°Come on, Case. You can watch my back in case I have to do


    something drastic.¡±


    He took the letter and asked the Enterprise to put him and Case on the ground. He


    nodded at the line of mounts coming their way. Supplies and command should probably


    be in the back of the line.


    He waved the flagbearer down. The young soldier halted his horse off the line to frown


    at the two men standing on the road.


    ¡°The General?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I have a letter for him.¡±


    ¡°He should be in the back with the command staff,¡± said the flagbearer. ¡°Come on. I¡¯ll


    take you down to him.¡±


    He turned his horse to lead them down the line of soldiers and wagons until they


    reached what looked like a large stagecoach to Jack. He supposed it might be some


    kind of mobile command. He hadn¡¯t expected that out of the kingdom.


    The flagwaver knocked on the door, keeping pace with the wagon on the back of his


    horse. Jack and Case walked behind the horse. Soldiers on the back and roof of the


    wagon had hands next to polearms to make sure the visitors didn¡¯t try to hitch a ride


    with their betters.


    A shutter slid open to reveal a window in the side of the conveyance. A surly sergeant


    from the look of it leaned out of the window. He glared at the flagbearer.


    ¡°Message for the general,¡± said the flagbearer. He nodded before riding back to the


    front of the line.


    Jack jogged up to the window. The sergeant seemed to think it was okay to keep him


    running instead of stopping the wagon. The watchbearer grinned at the soldier for a


    moment.


    ¡°I have a message from the king,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you want to stop the wagon, or do


    you want me to stop the wagon?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± said the sergeant. He held his hand out of the window.


    Jack grabbed the soldier¡¯s arm with his hand. He triggered the watch with the other. The


    sergeant came out of the window and slid across the ground fast enough to give him a


    mild case of road rash. Then the green giant smashed through the door with two steps.


    The armed men on the top of the wagon realized they had no way to get into the


    compartment with him without suffering the same fate as the sergeant.


    ¡°Which one of you is the general?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°I have a letter from the king.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m General Kort,¡± said one of the uniformed men. He didn¡¯t hold out his hand for the


    letter.


    Jack changed back. He pulled the letter from his pocket and handed it over. He leaned


    out enough to check on Case. The adventurer was way behind the train of troops, but


    still running after them.


    ¡°Do I need to wait for a reply?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°How much of this true?,¡± asked Kort. He handed the letter to another officer.


    ¡°We¡¯re trying to chase these guys down on both sides of the border, we did track a guy


    down in Coldwater, and you are making the king¡¯s future son in law run behind you,¡±


    said Jack. He grinned at the expressions on their faces. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Case needed the


    exercise. If you could make sure no one is lurking in Fort Hern, that would be okay. We


    might need to use it for a future staging. We don¡¯t know right now since we don¡¯t know


    what their next move is.¡±


    ¡°And there will be a next move?,¡± asked the General.


    ¡°Communication is slow here,¡± said Jack. ¡°I doubt anyone knows we dismantled the


    attacks already. If they don¡¯t know, then they have no reason to change their plans.¡±


    ¡°Which means we could have to contest the border around Hern, leading to Coldwater,¡±


    said Kort.


    ¡°If you can hold on until we can assist, you won¡¯t have to contest it for long,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°It just has to be long enough for my partner to vent her spleen.¡±


    The general raised his eyebrows.


    ¡°I have to go,¡± said Jack. ¡°Sorry about the door.¡±


    He moved to the opened side of the wagon and walked off the small drop as the vehicle


    kept rolling. He waved at the soldiers on top of the thing as it followed the line of


    horsemen out of sight.


    Case jogged to a stop, catching his breath.


    ¡°You left me,¡± said Case. ¡°How was I supposed to help from out here?¡±


    ¡°You should work on your speed,¡± said Jack. ¡°Run laps, that kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°I will ban all running when I am the king,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack into his com band. ¡°Can you connect me to Elaine?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The channel opened up.


    ¡°Hello, Elaine,¡± said Jack. ¡°How are things?¡±


    ¡°I have shown the girls how to set a house on fire,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I have to go. We¡¯re


    in the middle of it.¡±


    ¡°Love you, Hon,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I love you too,¡± said Elaine. She cut the connection.


    ¡°At least we know things are going well there,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now we have to get back


    to work.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be in Hawk Ridge?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be making sure no one breaks the code and turns Josie on us is the better


    question,¡± said Jack. ¡°Caroline is fine. We¡¯re not if Josie finds out that I let the kids


    go ahead when I should have told them to stand down.¡±


    ¡°That seems like a you problem,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Which I can escape,¡± said Jack. ¡°Now which of us has a girl that doesn¡¯t mind him


    losing an ear?¡±


    ¡°I can see why Thad doesn¡¯t like dealing with you,¡± said Case.


    Jack grinned at him.


    ¡°Just so we understand each other,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, the away team is ready


    to come back.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.

 Haxs List

    Josie felt the men in the room other than Markus was hiding something from her. She


    could see it in their eyes, when they looked her in the eye.


    ¡°Does anybody want to tell me what¡¯s going on?,¡± she asked.


    ¡°I think Jack will tell you soon enough,¡± said Vin. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know how


    I can get a beer in this flying house?¡±


    ¡°No drinking until the job is done,¡± said Josie.


    Jack and Case came into the room. Jack smiled. Case looked like he had run too much


    in his armor.


    ¡°The letter was delivered,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if they believed us.¡±


    ¡°If they didn¡¯t, they will after this is over,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°We need to head up north?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°Hopefully Hax and Russ found something.¡±


    ¡°If he found out who is behind the consortium out on the border, that would give us


    something,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Maybe they have a filing in Star City¡¯s tax records.¡±


    ¡°We can look there next,¡± said Rickard. ¡°At the very least, there should be something


    at Coldwater.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Move us over the Shemmarian capitol. Locate Captain Russ.


    Get ready to bring them aboard.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I suppose I can do a record search with my birds,¡± said Josie. ¡°That will single out who


    we need to deal with while we think of a way to prove it without magic.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we can use a rubber hose on them,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Beatings can be done,¡± said Glunt. ¡°They are unreliable at best.¡±


    ¡°The army found that out back home,¡± said Jack. ¡°They gave it up.¡±


    ¡°Captain Russ is located,¡± said the Enterprise. A marker appeared on the table to show


    where she was in the central keep.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go down and talk to her,¡± said Josie. ¡°I suggest one of you be ready to tell me what


    the secret is when I get back.¡±


    ¡°What secret?,¡± asked Jack. He put on his most innocent face that hadn¡¯t worked on her


    since the fifth grade.


    ¡°You know I do what the Fixx talks about,¡± said Josie. ¡°I say what I mean, and mean


    what I say. An ear from all of you will be just as easy as an ear from one of you.


    Comprende?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared of some woman,¡± said Jack. He waved his fingers at her in dismissal.


    ¡°You will be,¡± said Josie. She transformed into Zatanna. ¡°I can make it where you can


    never lie again. How would you like to be Jim Carrey for the rest of your life?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t lie now,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Russ and Hax,¡± said Mister Warner. He shook his head. ¡°You two can work this out


    when the job is done.¡±


    ¡°You are going to spill your guts,¡± said Josie. She cast a bird out, and used that to


    appear outside the room Russ was in.


    She opened the door, ready to defend herself if she had to do that. She didn¡¯t quite trust


    Hax and Four, but there could be others that she would have to deal with in the course


    of things.


    ¡°Four?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re here, Josie,¡± said Russ. She peeked out from behind a shelf full of ledgers. ¡°I


    think we found something.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Josie. She let Zatanna go since she didn¡¯t see any immediate danger.


    ¡°We have a possible list of people,¡± said Hax. ¡°If we can match them with anyone on


    the other side of the border, we might be able to prove they were behind the false flag


    operations.¡±


    ¡°Do you have anything else?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think Worldy will need more than that


    if he wants to keep his office.¡±


    ¡°We think if we can get a list of expenditures, we can prove that the consortium was


    illegally diverting funds to the adventurers,¡± said Russ. ¡°We would have to be in


    their personal files to do that kind of search.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°In this country, it is illegal to hire adventurers,¡± said Russ. ¡°If you need guards, you


    would ask the administration, or the local Guard for candidates for a position. If you


    did hire adventurers, there would be a fine on your business. There is only one


    exception. Adventurers escorting products here can be hired to escort products across


    the border where they aren¡¯t illegal to work.¡±


    ¡°So anyone like this Anull you were talking about would be arrested if caught


    on the job?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°And punished depending on what he was doing,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can compile a list a lot faster than hand searching everything,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°Then we can use that to target who we need to target. We¡¯ll hit Coldwater and


    raid their tax office the same way.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re right?,¡± asked Hax.


    ¡°The job is to stop them from destroying the border, causing suffering, and ruining


    the future,¡± said Josie. ¡°Anything done after that is gravy.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re keeping control of our border?,¡± asked Hax.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°The Society doesn¡¯t care about that, and neither


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.do I.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°That we¡¯re trying to take over?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°How do you feel, Captain Russ?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°My sisters trust you,¡± said Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t know why. I understand Seven since you


    rescued her from being dismembered, but the others also trust you more than I thought


    they would.¡±


    ¡°If June gets killed, your sister might have to step into that place,¡± said Josie. ¡°How do


    you feel about that?¡±


    ¡°I know that you would never let her do anything without help, and that is enough,¡± said


    Russ. ¡°Major, it is okay to be afraid. When I met the Society for the first time, I was


    afraid too. In the end, they are trying to help us, and so are their agents.¡±


    ¡°I can show you the future, Mister Hax,¡± said Josie. ¡°With that knowledge will come


    even greater responsibility and greater fear. If you want to know what you are fighting


    for, I can at least show you that much.¡±


    ¡°I think I will wait,¡± said Hax. ¡°I think I need to look at this from a distance.¡±


    ¡°The offer will stand whenever you want it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Hax. He took a deep breath. ¡°I suppose you have a way to find what


    we are looking for faster.¡±


    ¡°I can send out my minions,¡± said Josie. She changed and sent out enough firebirds to


    cover what she wanted. Sheets of paper began to fall into her hands. The spell ran out


    when the last paper fell out of the air.


    She handed the paperwork over to Russ before changing back. She had no way of


    knowing if the transformation stored things she picked up, and she didn¡¯t need to know


    right now.


    The two officers went over the lists, conferring in low voices. They nodded at the


    confirmation they had received. It would have taken them hours, maybe days, to find


    everything, but the spell had copied some of what they had done and expanded outwards


    sharply.


    ¡°Some of these home residences are across the border,¡± said Hax. ¡°I recognize this one


    as close to Coldwater, but not where exactly.¡±


    ¡°So you were right that people on both sides are egging this on,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say it was my idea,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°Say it is and get promoted,¡± said Josie. ¡°Shall we go?¡±


    ¡°Colonel Hax will sound good as long as you stay out of trouble,¡± said Captain Russ.


    ¡°General Hax will sound even better if we can get you promoted,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°That will never happen,¡± said Hax. ¡°You have to see frontline service to get promoted


    to general.¡±


    ¡°But you are seeing frontline service, Mister Hax,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are having to deal


    with Jack. That should be enough for any promotion committee. And to speed things up,


    I will be glad to have Jack come by and talk to anyone that needs it.¡±


    ¡°I would get demoted if I allowed anything like to that to happen,¡± said Hax. ¡°Please


    keep him away from any promotion investigation.¡±


    Josie almost smiled.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± she asked the com.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°The three of us are ready to come back aboard,¡± said Josie. ¡°Energize.¡±


    Josie looked at the group of men around her as she appeared in the conference room.


    They were hiding something from her. She could crack the silence when this was over.


    ¡°Mister Hax and Captain Russ found a list of names we can check into as the heads of


    the mineral consortium,¡± said Josie. ¡°Mister Hax?¡±


    ¡°We found that a group of people from both sides of the border hold ownership,¡± said


    Mister Hax. ¡°Captain Russ looked through the book of the dead created by Madam Fox


    after what is being called the Bird Attack Event. Some of the owners were on that list.¡±


    ¡°Bird Attack Event,¡± mouthed Jack. Josie frowned at him.


    ¡°Additionally some of the names on the consortium also took monies for supplying the


    test subjects required by Operation Seed,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°Did they know that if the Goblin Trees were successful, it would wreck your country


    first?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they cared about that,¡± said Hax. ¡°The accumulation of wealth and power


    seems more important to them than the possible destruction of the realm where they are


    operating.¡±


    ¡°Plus before they attracted Josie¡¯s attention,¡± said Jack. ¡°They were plundering both


    countries with the thought of using one against the other and then taking over both of


    them after the war was over. No one from the Society was here to try and stop them.¡±


    ¡°One mistake is all it takes,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Can I see your list?,¡± asked Rickard. He held out a hand.


    Hax handed over the compilation. The king went through each name. Finally he


    stopped. He looked up from the paper.


    ¡°Are you sure about this?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°As far as the tax people are concerned, these are the people who own the consortium,


    and have to answer questions from the committee,¡± said Hax. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    ¡°Is something wrong?,¡± asked Josie. She stepped to read over his shoulder. He indicated


    the pair of names he was interested in. ¡°Oh, I see.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°Both of the King¡¯s nephews are on this list,¡± said Josie. ¡°You saw one of them get


    sentenced to hard labor at the hospital.¡±


    ¡°They are both in with the Montrose?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°If they aren¡¯t, Illheim has bought into the consortium with his brother,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We might need to talk to him about this.¡±


    ¡°We need to see if he has the Makeover,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The others on the list?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°Some of them were caught up in the cleaning out of Shemmaria City,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Some of them were here,¡± said Hax. ¡°Or across the border and in Coldwater, or estates


    near Coldwater.¡±


    ¡°Some of this might have been in motion when Rustam and Exhua seized Caroline,¡±


    said Josie.


    ¡°And then we showed up to introduce Caroline to her future fiancee,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°That was a side effect of the spring cleaning I did,¡± said Josie. ¡°How do we proceed


    from here?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have any proof they did anything wrong,¡± said Vin. ¡°We don¡¯t know if they


    are in on what we found out.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to question them and deal with the results,¡± said Worldy. ¡°We


    can¡¯t have a faction fomenting war for profit.¡±


    ¡°What do you think, Mister Hax?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We only need to ask one man if it¡¯s the right man,¡± said Hax. He held out his hand for


    the lists. He glanced at the names when he had the work back. He nodded. ¡°We need to


    ask Minister Shov if he knew what was going on.¡±


    ¡°Why this man?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Because he shouldn¡¯t be on a list like this at all,¡± said Hax. ¡°He works in the


    administration of interior works. This is direct violation of the codes against conflicts.


    And someone with his experience would know it.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± said Worldy. ¡°It would be as if I decided to take favors or money from


    someone I knew to supply the Army with weapons. Or used gathered intelligence to


    secure non-army objectives. The Interior Works handles the use of material for roads,


    buildings, outposts for rangers, and so forth. It is almost a direct conflict of interest


    for someone responsible for managing land to be in a private business where his


    presence could bend the rules in the right circumstances.¡±


    ¡°So we want to talk to him about his involvement?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°We are going to have to do a raid and take every piece of paper he has at his home, and


    office,¡± said Glunt. ¡°If he is involved in this, his arrest will have to go before the


    committee and the administrative inspectors.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to do the same for Illheim,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I have to know how


    involved he is in this.¡±


    ¡°He might be the brains behind this instead of Rustam,¡± said Josie. ¡°He knows that


    Rustam is heading for the Delve?¡±


    ¡°I sent him a letter with the investure of his new titles,¡± said Rickard. ¡°So he knows his


    brother was stripped of his titles, if not everything else depending on if he had


    someone to tell him what was going on in the capitol, and at Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°Would he know about Caroline staying with us?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Possibly,¡± said the king. ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Connect me to Elaine.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?,¡± asked Josie. Maybe now someone will come clean.


    Jack held up his hand to stall any questions.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Jack,¡± said Elaine. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°I need to know if you have any of those adventurers in custody,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Elaine. ¡°We did take some of them alive. Russ and Emily had to kill some


    of them when we made our approach.¡±


    ¡°Hold them,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re coming back to have a talk with them.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Elaine. ¡°I will talk to Beatrice and we¡¯ll make some kind of


    arrangement.¡±


    She cut the call.


    ¡°Does anyone want to tell me what¡¯s going on?,¡± asked Josie.


    Everyone looked at Jack.

 The Younger Brother

    Jack frowned for the first time in a while. He didn¡¯t want to break what could be bad


    news to his friend. He glanced around the room. No one else wanted to do it either.


    ¡°There was a thing in Hawk Ridge,¡± said Jack. ¡°The girls handled it.¡±


    ¡°The girls handled it?,¡± said Josie. ¡°What kind of thing are we talking about here?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°So we agreed to keep it from you while we filled out the


    rest of this problem.¡±


    ¡°You decided to keep it from me?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I will take responsibility for the call,¡± said Jack. ¡°Elaine said everything was okay.¡±


    ¡°Are the girls okay?,¡± asked Josie. She crossed her arms. He could see her hands were


    fists clenching together.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Jack. ¡°Everything is fine. And we have people we can talk to about the


    current mess.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Some out of town adventurers showed up to take Caroline away from the Ducklings,¡±


    said Jack.


    ¡°Someone told them we had Caroline?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°How many people know this?,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°The people in this room, the Queen, the adventurers involved in transporting Rustam


    and his men, the Amazons, maybe a stray adventurer working around the hospital, The


    Duke, and part of the Watch,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am not sure of the numbers.¡±


    ¡°How many would say anything?,¡± asked Glunt.


    ¡°Almost none,¡± said Josie. ¡°Someone working for Rustam, or Brant, must have spread


    the word. So we crack these adventurers? What does that give us?¡±


    ¡°If it connects back to the border, it gives us someone trying to force the war for the


    land with Caroline as a hostage which was the original idea,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we can link


    the rest of the consortium to it, we have a criminal conspiracy against the crown.¡±


    ¡°It will put Illheim beside his brother if we are correct,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°We will need official notice if you can link the Grecious to the Shemmarian side,¡± said


    Worldy. ¡°Then we can pick up the leaders on our side unless they flee when half of their


    numbers are rolled up.¡±


    ¡°There is also the question of the rank and file that will need to be broken,¡± said


    Rickard. ¡°If the network has competent middle managers, they might try this again if we


    do arrest these few organizers.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t speak for the majority of the committee,¡± said Worldy. ¡°The best that I can


    promise is to try to arrest as many people as I can with what we now know.¡±


    ¡°I will send word about the clean up as soon as I am sure we have at least done


    something,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°The girls,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to what¡¯s important.¡±


    ¡°Elaine said they are fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, can you take us to station over Hawk


    Ridge?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°So the cadet royal branch might be behind all of this,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Maybe not all of it,¡± said Jack. ¡°The former Duke Hent seemed to be running Hawk


    Ridge as his own piggy bank.¡±


    ¡°I think we know enough to say most of this started with Rustam and his brother,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°All of this could be their friends trying to take advantage of things.¡±


    ¡°Or we could be seeing a bunch of conspiracies just working together or at odds in


    certain places,¡± said Jack. ¡°We have no way of knowing from the quests we¡¯ve been


    given.¡±


    ¡°What would you need to prove things?,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°A list of members we seized from someone¡¯s house,¡± said Josie. ¡°Something non-


    magical, and in one of our suspects¡¯ handwriting.¡±


    ¡°Like the ledgers we used to mark the Montrose,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°We still have them, don¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°I think they are in the office at the Hole in the Wall,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I gave Guin and Eric knowledge books so they could think about places to hit,¡± said


    Josie.


    ¡°On station,¡± reported the Enterprise.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go down and see what the damage is,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe the kids have a piece


    of the puzzle we can use.¡±


    ¡°It will be good to see Care again,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°It¡¯s only been a couple of days,¡± said Jack. ¡°Have you never had trips without her?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said the king. ¡°She always went where we went.¡±


    ¡°No wonder she went for Case at her first chance,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, locate Seven


    Russ on the ground and then transport our party down. Let¡¯s see what kind of fish the


    kids hooked.¡±


    The machine sent everyone down as it acknowledged the order. The party regained their


    movement in front of a house on fire. Jack scanned the area for his beloved. He smiled


    when he saw her with crossbow in hand in the street.


    ¡°I go out of town on business, and here you are burning places down,¡± said Jack. He


    wrapped her up in a hug. ¡°How are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Elaine. She put on a smile while returning the hug. She made sure not


    to jab Jack in the back with the crossbow. ¡°Aviras started the fire.¡±


    ¡°What happened, Elaine?,¡± said Josie. She had her eye on the reunion of princess and


    king and beau.


    ¡°We came out of practice, and a larger group that these men belonged to accosted us and


    commanded us to hand over the princess, or else,¡± said Elaine. ¡°A general melee broke


    out, and these men broke from the larger group and fled. We tracked them down and


    subdued them as you can see.¡±


    The group of men in question were manacled together on the road. They didn¡¯t look too


    happy about it, and some of them had acquired some burn marks.


    ¡°Aviras,¡± called Jack. He patted Elaine on the back. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do about


    finding out something.¡±


    ¡°Aye, Jack,¡± said the dragon. He rested on Matilda¡¯s head. A small flame escaped his


    snout. The girl carried him to where the adults stood in their small meeting.


    ¡°I might need you to set fire to someone for me,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think Matilda should not


    be part of this.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s right, Matilda,¡± said Elaine. She held out her hand for the dragon.


    ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I¡¯ve seen people hurt before.¡±


    She crossed her arms over her chest. She frowned at the manacled men before her.


    ¡°They tried to hurt Caroline and all of us,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I have no problem paying


    them back.¡±


    ¡°You will,¡± said Jack. ¡°Hurting people purposely hurts yourself on the inside. You will


    be scarred for life.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be the first time,¡± said Matilda. ¡°I can live with it.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re not going to live with this, young lady,¡± said King Rickard. ¡°Sir Dragon,


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.take these girls and women and leave the scene. Madam Numera, I appreciate what you


    have done. The same for you girls. Now it is my time to exercise my will. Gentlemen,


    please escort the ladies home. We will talk to you when we are done.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get to show off my face eating skills,¡± complained Aviras. He hopped to


    Matilda¡¯s head. She stroked the back of his neck.


    ¡°I am sure they are excellent,¡± said the King. ¡°In due time, you could perhaps have


    someone to bite, but not at this moment.¡±


    ¡°Someone to bite is what I long for,¡± said Aviras. ¡°Come, Matilda. It is time for Garion


    the Hammer.¡±


    ¡°Two scoops of ice cream for him if we have it,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°And that is how you become the greatest defender of children,¡± Aviras said. His smug


    look was directed at the Budds.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever had a quest doing that,¡± said Thad.


    ¡°And you never will,¡± said Beatrice. She smiled as she grabbed his arm.


    ¡°Write everything up for me,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will look at your reports later.¡±


    ¡°We defended the princess,¡± said Melanie. She gestured at Case and Caroline standing


    together.


    ¡°Successfully,¡± agreed Angelica.


    ¡°And now you have to tell me how in five hundred words or more,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Bah,¡± said Alicia.


    ¡°Adventurers have to fill out their paperwork, and so do you,¡± said Josie. ¡°And when


    you are done, you can treat yourselves. And how will Emily get paid if she doesn¡¯t have


    anything to show to Sally.¡±


    ¡°We need a magic writing spell so we don¡¯t have to do these reports,¡± said Melanie.


    ¡°I am going to count to three, then someone is getting turned into a frog,¡± said Josie.


    She frowned at her brood and Caroline. The adventurers backed away from the


    threatened area. ¡°So hop to it.¡±


    ¡°I like that,¡± said Jack. ¡°There¡¯s not that many frog puns.¡±


    ¡°Elaine,¡± said Josie. ¡°Thank you for keeping the kids as safe as you did. We still have


    the king¡¯s business to take care of, and then we¡¯ll be home.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting,¡± said Elaine. She gave Jack a short hug. ¡°Laura, Beatrice?¡±


    ¡°But not the loverboys,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I can¡¯t be with my beloved, neither can they.¡±


    ¡°But,¡± said Case. He waved at Caroline who smiled at him.


    ¡°Duty comes first,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then the trouble in the boudoir.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I like you,¡± said Case. He watched as his beloved floated away while


    waving back at him.


    ¡°I will try not to be exceptionally hurt by that,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°We should have let the lizard take a couple of nips,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Aviras was convenient,¡± said Jack. ¡°But we do have Josie. She can shear feet off


    instantly.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever seen anything like that,¡± said Glunt. ¡°I have seen feet chopped


    off, but it was never a clean line.¡±


    ¡°You can torture us,¡± one of the captives said. ¡°We don¡¯t know anything. We were hired


    to do a job. We didn¡¯t know anything about demon children.¡±


    ¡°Someone hired you to kidnap the princess of the realm?,¡± said Worldy. ¡°And you


    didn¡¯t think there should be questions?¡±


    ¡°It was a straight job,¡± said the speaker. ¡°I want to keep my feet.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to let you keep them now,¡± said Jack. ¡°I think it¡¯s time for Blade.¡±


    ¡°Dial it down, Jack,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°What do we need from these mooks at the


    end of the day so we can get back on track?¡±


    ¡°Who hired them, and where he is seems the most important,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°We might need to know how many more adventurers are acting as his minions,¡± said


    Haslet.


    ¡°And we need to know where they plug into the border problem,¡± said Glunt. ¡°This


    might just be a side issue like Kyle.¡±


    Josie transformed and did books for each of the captives, and one more personal one for


    herself. She handed the criminal books over to Mister Warner before becoming normal


    again.


    Mister Warner handed the books to the king. He took a breath.


    ¡°I have a trick of my own,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Josie just wrote a part of your recent


    history down so the authorities can backtrack you, and look for your friends. It¡¯s really


    good.¡±


    He changed into a man in a tuxedo, cloak drifting around him. A mustache covered his


    lip.


    ¡°This is something I used to do when I wanted to hunt people down and I didn¡¯t have


    anywhere to start,¡± he said.


    He held out his hand. A piece of paper formed out of the air. A picture drew itself on the


    sheet while they watched. He handed that to the king before letting the transformation


    lapse.


    ¡°It¡¯s Illheim,¡± said Rickard. He handed the sheet to Worldy. ¡°And what did the prince


    promise you in exchange for your services?¡±


    ¡°A fortune to bring the girl to a place up north and hold her there until he worked out


    whatever he wanted to do,¡± said the speaker.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know where Illheim is, do you?,¡± asked Jack. He held his


    hands behind his back so he wouldn¡¯t be tempted to do something stupid.


    ¡°No,¡± said the speaker.


    ¡°I doubt he would stay in his residence,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I can find him anytime I want,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do we do with our prisoners? Lock


    them up on the Enterprise until we get done?¡±


    ¡°I think we should hand them over to Duke Hent,¡± said Rickard. ¡°After that, I will think


    about handing them to the dragon.¡±


    ¡°Aviras would love that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let me talk to the Duke and arrange for someone


    to pick up these losers before we get back on the road.¡±


    He pulled on Makkari and hurried off at the front of a blowing wind. He returned a few


    minutes later and let the persona go. He gave the captives a grim look.


    ¡°I ran into Captain Griff,¡± said Jack. ¡°He is sending people to take our friends to cells


    under the keep. They¡¯ll stay there until we come back for them.¡±


    ¡°That will be fine for what we want to do,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I will make space for them


    at the Delve when we¡¯re done with this.¡±


    A mass protest went up at that. Jack kicked the nearest man in the body.


    ¡°Shut up,¡± he said. ¡°The only reason why you are not taking a closer look at the edge


    of the sky right now is Elaine came through all right. If she hadn¡¯t, you would all


    understand the meaning of a sudden stop at the end of a long drop, king or no king. I


    still have half a mind to rip you apart piece by piece and throw you over the wall. There


    are no excuses. You signed up to try to cripple the country, and hurt my beloved and my


    friend¡¯s sisters. If the king wants to give you hard labor, I am fine with that, and you


    should be too. The alternative will not be that pleasant for you.¡±


    ¡°Jack is right,¡± said Rickard. ¡°If something had happened to Caroline, a hanging would


    be more the order of the day. A slow hanging.¡±


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Let¡¯s take a walk. Call us when the cops get here.¡±


    The two walked away from the scene. Jack put his face back together to hide his anger


    behind his usually happy mask. Mister Warner wore his Josie frown. He checked his


    regular watch with a pull of his jacket sleeve.


    ¡°What are we doing?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Thinking,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I like to walk while I am thinking. As I got older, the


    walking got harder, but old habits are hard to shake.¡±


    ¡°What are we thinking about?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Rustam and Illheim,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°About what?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°About this situation,¡± said Mister Warner. He sighed. ¡°This is why you don¡¯t live


    where you work. You get too involved with people when you should not be involved.


    Why do I have to explain this?¡±


    ¡°I like living here,¡± said Jack. ¡°You think I was too angry?¡±


    ¡°Not Josie levels,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°But feeding people to dragons is close.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would have only asked for a few scorch marks.¡±


    ¡°Rustam and Illheim,¡± said Mister Warner. He had his eye on people moving around


    them. ¡°What do you think? What do you think they want with Caroline?¡±


    ¡°That part is obvious,¡± said Jack. ¡°Caroline is the next Queen. If she is removed, they


    get the throne when Rick dies. If she is a living captive, she¡¯s a hostage. Either way,


    they control the kingdom if they can control her until another heir is in place.¡±


    ¡°And Illheim gets it all now that Rustam has been stripped of his titles,¡± said Mister


    Warner.


    ¡°All he¡¯s getting is a torpedo,¡± said Jack. ¡°He doesn¡¯t get to live when this shakes out.


    I was okay with Rustam, but Illheim has to go down.¡±


    ¡°What makes him more important?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Some out of towners show up looking for Caroline three, or four, days after she gets


    out of the hospital, and they know where she is and who she is with,¡± said Jack. ¡°That


    means Illheim has eyes on us, and on Hawk Ridge.¡±


    ¡°And now he will know we¡¯re looking for him if his lookout wasn¡¯t among the people


    the girls took,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°A fast messenger can get across country in a week


    of riding if he has a string of horses to ride. They don¡¯t have a pony express here yet,


    but when they do, that will be the model they will be using.¡±


    ¡°How is the mail delivered?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Coach,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Or caravan. Adventurers can be hired for it if it is


    important enough.¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can get Rick to start one here,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Maybe we should get back to Illheim,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°What is our plan other


    than blowing up wherever he is right now?¡±


    ¡°The easiest thing is to let Josie turn a bird on him and find him,¡± said Jack. ¡°Then we


    pick him up and see if we can find enough to pick up everyone else working for him.¡±


    ¡°We might not be able to grab them all,¡± warned Mister Warner.


    ¡°I could,¡± said Jack. ¡°But the Society would flip their collective lid at the extravagance.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°How long have you known that?¡±


    ¡°Since I built the Quinjet,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°How do you think the magic works?,¡± said Jack. He put on his natural grin at the


    expression he received.


    ¡°If you thought you could get approval, how would you do that?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    He wore a questioning look on his younger face.


    ¡°I would pick a spot to put a ring down,¡± said Jack. ¡°It has to be close to where the


    selected targets are. Once down, the ring just expands until it gets rid of the targets. The


    main problem is I will need material to build the ring.¡±


    ¡°Where would this material come from to build this ring?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°Ideally, the targets,¡± said Jack. ¡°But probably I would have to use plants to do it. If I


    did that, there could be a problem at the end of things.¡±


    ¡°Do I want to know what kind of problem?,¡± asked Mister Warner.


    ¡°I have to use something to build the ring,¡± said Jack. ¡°If the targets aren¡¯t close enough


    for me to build it out of them, and I am using plants, I could deforest part of the


    kingdom just trying to reach them.¡±


    ¡°This is why the Faceless want you to slow down on the building stuff,¡± said Mister


    Warner.


    ¡°I think I have a handle on things,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°So did Oppenheimer,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a therapist,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t,¡± said Mister Warner, making a face of disbelief. ¡°I asked you how


    do you feel.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Do you need to take a moment and sit the rest of this out?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Game face?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    Jack grinned.


    ¡°All right,¡± said the once retired champion of order. ¡°Let¡¯s do what we have to do to get


    this done before they make another try for the girls. If someone was watching, and got


    a message off, they¡¯ll know the girls are a weakness.¡±


    ¡°Not a weakness,¡± said Jack. ¡°People will think they are a lever to push us. They just


    don¡¯t know what Josie and I will do in retaliation. Especially Josie.¡±

 Store Run

    Josie wished their captives asleep while they waited for the Watch to arrive. She was


    not pleased that her kids had taken part in an action on their own, but she was happy


    they had flown through danger without getting hurt.


    They needed to take care of themselves if something happened to the rest of the support


    structure she had aggregated around them.


    The officials compared notes from the books to point to other levers in the conspiracy.


    The adventurers compared notes on women. She didn¡¯t try to listen in to either


    conversation, but had heard her name from both sides as she stood alone with her arms


    crossed.


    Four joined Josie once she was sure the officials didn¡¯t need her anymore.


    ¡°Seven said she didn¡¯t expect what she saw,¡± said Four. ¡°Your progeny reacted well


    under pressure.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not my children,¡± said Josie. Her clouded gaze sharpened as she turned


    her attention on her temporary assistant. ¡°They are my sisters. When we first


    came here, we didn¡¯t know how long we had. I wanted them to be ready to live without


    us if we were sent home. Jack gave them bigger edges to make that more possible


    when we do eventually leave.¡±


    ¡°And the Society doesn¡¯t want him to keep doing that?,¡± said Four.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think they are afraid of what would happen if his manufactured


    talents spread out of control like the Wild Card Virus.¡±


    ¡°Is that so bad?,¡± asked Four.


    ¡°Ninety percent of the population that come into contact with it die, ninety percent of


    the remaining ten percent become monsters like the Goblin Tree experiments, the


    remaining one percent becomes a superhuman with a talent,¡± said Josie. ¡°Imagine if


    something like that was dropped in your capitol. I think that is what the Society is afraid


    of happening.¡±


    ¡°That is bad,¡± said Four.


    ¡°Look at your own situation for a moment,¡± said Josie. ¡°Seven made sure to obscure her


    features to your upper commanders. Rickard doesn¡¯t seem that phased by identical


    people existing so twin children have to be known here. What happens if your military


    wants to take you apart to make more vat children? Where do you start drawing the line?


    I think the Society¡¯s line is to keep disruptions to a minimal, and let the countries here


    sort of muddle along as long as they don¡¯t cause widespread destruction.¡±


    ¡°An army of Russes would be an awesome thing indeed,¡± said Four. ¡°But none of us


    want that. It means making people tools. An active rebellion would be the result of


    such a thing in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°And the next thing would be open war between creators and creations,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Anybody caught in the middle would be decimated.¡±


    ¡°We found some things,¡± said Four. ¡°We are keeping it quiet after what happened with


    the last two experiments we were running. Everything seems fine so far.¡±


    ¡°I will let you know if we get a notice,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Society will probably let


    things slide until they turn into an active danger.¡±


    ¡°I am hoping that one of the things we found could be something useful like the


    Enterprise,¡± said Four. ¡°The ministry is not our part of things. It is something new in


    the Interior Works. I found where the artifacts were handed over during a bookkeeping


    review. So far no one knows how to make them work accurately. They just create


    random effects as far as the researchers can determine.¡±


    ¡°And you just so happened to find a log of the tests?,¡± said Josie. She didn¡¯t put a lot


    of sarcasm in the words. She knew the Russ sisters were capable of things most humans


    would have to work to do most of their lives before they could do the same.


    ¡°Military applications are always sent over to Major Hax¡¯s section for review,¡± said


    Russ. She smiled.


    ¡°If you need help, even if it isn¡¯t up to the Society¡¯s bar,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid


    to call. Keeping this world safe is what we are supposed to be doing instead of letting


    the youngest¡¯s cursed adopted dragon eat people.¡±


    ¡°I will have Major Hax send over a request to have you and Jack look at these artifacts,¡±


    said Russ. ¡°At least if we can make them work for the common good, we can defend


    ourselves from our own mistakes.¡±


    Josie nodded. They had already stumbled over natural magic in the air. They knew about


    at least two other species on the ground, and a third in a liminal space. And the book


    demon had been waiting for someone to ride around and spread its grasp over the


    countryside.


    Loose artifacts that might have belonged to former champions were certainly possible.


    The Watch arrived with two cages on wheels. Josie altered Beatrice¡¯s manacles enough


    so each man could be loaded without having to pull the whole chain in at the same time.


    Paperwork was signed and exchanged. King Rickard said he would either be sending


    troops to pick up the prisoners are consulting local adventurers to guard a prisoner


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.transport for them to the Delve. He would have an answer for Duke Hent when he was


    done with his other business in the north.


    Josie watched as the carts rolled away. She would love to give them something to


    remember her by, but she restrained herself. She had plenty of time to extract her


    revenge at some future date.


    And she would extract it. There was no doubt about it in her mind.


    ¡°Do we have a plan?,¡± Josie asked her minions after the Ducklings¡¯ victims were hauled


    away.


    ¡°We think that we should locate Illheim,¡± said Rickard. ¡°We want to grab as many


    records as we can. And we want to see how many people we can link to the books you


    have already given us. I need to check on my general, and see what he has done along


    the border if he made it there yet.¡±


    ¡°Do we go at this all night?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Do you really think it will take that long?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°It takes as long as it takes,¡± said Josie. ¡°The Enterprise doesn¡¯t have anywhere to sleep


    onboard. We¡¯re going to have to go until we have enough to start tomorrow. Then we


    will have to go tomorrow until we wrap things up. I think Mister Hax¡¯s idea is the right


    track and the consortium was put together on both sides of the border to see what could


    be stolen.¡±


    Mister Warner and Jack walked toward them from down the block. They waved their


    hands as they argued about whatever they had going on. Josie pursed her lips as she


    thought about how to cut in.


    ¡°What are you two arguing about?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Can we use hippos as river guards here,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m saying a few thousand of


    those bad boys will keep people from swimming in places where they shouldn¡¯t be


    swimming.¡±


    ¡°I told him it was a violation of the code to bring territorial animals here to act as small


    monsters that will be hunted down by the first adventurers that take the contract,¡± said


    Mister Warner. ¡°Since that is usually what happens to monsters that take up too much


    space.¡±


    ¡°How does that help us with our current problem?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Besides violating the


    multiversal travel rule that got imposed on you so you didn¡¯t try to gather up a harem


    of Elaines.¡±


    ¡°Which I hadn¡¯t even thought of until it was brought up,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Which doesn¡¯t matter,¡± said Josie. ¡°Forget the hippos. We have an idea of a plan. We


    need more information. We¡¯re going to get that information. Then we are going to think


    about if we need to take a break and start fresh in the morning, or keep going.¡±


    ¡°I guess we can do that,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe have some dinner while we look things


    over. I don¡¯t have a problem if you don¡¯t have a problem.¡±


    ¡°I am glad we¡¯re on the same page,¡± said Josie. She shook her head.


    ¡°Could you do me a favor first?,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°What do you need?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Could you send out a bird to see if someone is watching the Hole in the Wall, or the


    Hall?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Someone for Illheim?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He was Johnny-on-the-spot with a crew to try to take away Caroline,¡± said Jack. ¡°I


    would like to know if he has a guy here we need to pick up before we start heading back


    north.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you want to see if he ties in with everything else if there is someone,¡±


    said Josie.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want him still watching us while he¡¯s waiting for orders from his boss who will


    never send them after we catch up with him,¡± said Jack.


    Josie transformed and sent out her minions, two of them, into the air. They curved away


    and sailed over the city. She let the transformation go since the spell would work


    without her.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack into his com. ¡°Josie just sent out two firebirds. Can you see


    where they are going?¡±


    ¡°One is heading for an inn within sight of the Adventurers¡¯ Hall,¡± said Enterprise. ¡°The


    other has taken up residence at a shop two blocks east of your primary office.¡±


    ¡°Two of them,¡± said Jack. ¡°Which do you want?¡±


    ¡°I will take the one at the shop,¡± said Josie. ¡°Mister Warner, could you get our people


    food on the Enterprise while we handle this?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Everybody, we¡¯re going back upstairs to grab some food


    and sit around for a bit before we do our raid.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Beam up the party except for Josie and me. Then pipe whatever


    view of Coldwater, and the border to the Lounge¡¯s screen.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. The assembled party vanished in a cloud of blue


    sparks.


    ¡°Just have the Enterprise beam the guy to the brig when you have it figured out who it


    is,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°How are you going to find yours without divination?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I am going to walk around and see who runs,¡± said Jack. He pulled on Makkari and


    took off across the city in a red blur.


    Josie transformed and flung a bird across the city. She landed on top of the shop where


    her firebird had flown. It looked at her as she went to a ladder and slid down that to the


    street. She took the persona off to let the watch recharge as she walked around to the


    front of the building and found the door inside.


    She walked inside, inspecting the place with her eyes. There were three, or four, people


    from the neighborhood. She recognized the old guy who lived across the street from the


    Hole in the Wall. He seemed to be having problems with which fruit he wanted to buy.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?,¡± said Josie as she slid up beside him. Her bird floated to a staircase


    in the back of the shop. ¡°What is all this?¡±


    ¡°The shop imports fruit across the border,¡± said the old man. ¡°They keep it frozen and


    segregated until it reaches here. Then they thaw it and serve it. My wife loves it, but


    I can¡¯t seem to recall which one she likes the best.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to have problems carrying this stuff home?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I can still walk down the street,¡± said the old man. ¡°Do you cook?¡±


    ¡°Not really,¡± said Josie. ¡°Angelica is usually the one that handles that. She wants to run


    a place when she goes out on her own.¡±


    ¡°Is she any good?,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°I think she knows her way around a kitchen,¡± said Josie. ¡°There¡¯s a place across town


    that will do something about your hands if you want. I know the lady who runs it.¡±


    ¡°Jack said the same thing,¡± said the old man. He looked at the twisted fingers of one


    hand. ¡°I have been living with this for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t live with something that is holding you down,¡± said Josie. ¡°Take your wife too.


    Get looked at, and see if they can help you. If it really needs a lot of work, I will bully


    Jack into doing something.¡±


    ¡°Will you rip my ear off if I don¡¯t?,¡± said the old man with a smile. Some of his teeth


    had deserted him during his long march through his life.


    ¡°Hmph,¡± said Josie. She frowned for a second. ¡°I have been known to do things to


    people who annoyed me. I know you came by for the dinner with our associates. If you


    want to eat like that again, do what I say.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Madam Fox,¡± said the old man. He tried to laugh, but wound up coughing.


    ¡°Give me a second,¡± said Josie. She changed to Doctor Occult. She reached into him,


    frowning at what she found. She worked on the thing growing in his lung, killing it with


    her magic. She let the transformation go. ¡°Go to the hospital, get looked at. You don¡¯t


    have long.¡±

 Pick Up At Number Six

    Jack paused when the tracking spell that looked like a firebird landed on the roof of the


    inn down the street from the Hall. He waved at some of the adventurers he saw heading


    into the building to pick up jobs, or work on their skills.


    He went inside and looked around. A few of the patrons glanced his way, but none made


    a move that looked like someone who knew the jig was up. Maybe the people he wanted


    were upstairs, keeping an eye out for the kids.


    If the watchers had been on the job long enough, they knew the girls weren¡¯t coming


    back unless something happened. They could take the rest of the day off unless they saw


    the dust up outside and decided to take off before they were exposed.


    He thought it would be hard to miss Bea and Laura throwing their powers around at a


    crowd of armed men. If he had seen that, he would have packed his things and started


    looking for a way out of town.


    They were still in the building. Maybe they were still packing.


    His version of Makkari was still a speedster even if he couldn¡¯t break the sound barrier,


    and the girls hadn¡¯t thought about a spy. He, or she, could be packing up while he was


    considering what to do.


    The easiest thing to do was to go upstairs and see if the bird entered a room to let him


    know that was the room he was looking for since he seemed to have struck out in the


    common room.


    If that happened, he could talk to the occupant.


    The counterman had his eye on Jack. He moved to the end of the common room bar as


    this stranger headed for the stairs leading to the rented rooms. He frowned at someone


    not paying, but heading for one of his guests¡¯ rooms.


    ¡°Hey!,¡± he called. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Jack paused and indicated himself with a thumb.


    ¡°Yes, you,¡± said the counterman. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°My friend, Josie, asked me to come down and see if I could find the idiot who set some


    adventurers on her sisters before she came down here and burned the place down,¡± said


    Jack. He grinned. ¡°She might decide to take someone¡¯s ears as souvenirs. You never


    know.¡±


    ¡°Your friend, Josie?,¡± asked the counterman.


    ¡°But she likes Ear Ripper for short,¡± said Jack. ¡°It lets people know what she does


    without having her explain it if you know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s talking about that group of girls with Emily Budd,¡± said one of the adventurers


    at the bar. ¡°The ones who hacked up those out of towners. Sir Darry did a good job with


    them.¡±


    ¡°Did you see what happened?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yep,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°Those clowns from up north accosted Madam Witch¡¯s


    Ducklings and their nanny in the street. Some of us were about to tell them to march on,


    but then the nanny shoots one in the giblets with her crossbow. He won¡¯t ever have any


    kids if he doesn¡¯t by now. Then Em and her friend pulled swords and went at it. Next


    thing I know, bodies are flying through the air, some of those woodenheads are on fire,


    and one of the younger girls was breaking bones.¡±


    ¡°That was my beloved with the crossbow,¡± said Jack. ¡°We plan to get married


    sometime.¡±


    ¡°I advise you not to make her mad,¡± said the adventurer. He sipped his beer. ¡°It won¡¯t


    end well for you.¡±


    ¡°In the giblets?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°The bolt went right through,¡± said the adventurer.


    ¡°You guys wouldn¡¯t happen to know if there is some people from up north upstairs?,¡±


    asked Jack.


    ¡°There is a man and his wife up there,¡± said the counterman. ¡°They have rented the


    room to the end of the month.¡±


    ¡°I have to go up and talk to them,¡± said Jack. ¡°If this is the wrong place; no harm, no


    foul. I¡¯ll just search somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°Do you need a knife?,¡± asked the adventurer.


    ¡°I got one,¡± said Jack. ¡°Which room is our lovebirds in?¡±


    ¡°Number six,¡± said the counterman. ¡°It¡¯s at the end of the hall, on the right.¡±


    ¡°Facing the street?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said the counterman.


    ¡°If they were looking out the window,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°They saw what happened


    to their comrades.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully they won¡¯t see me coming,¡± said Jack. ¡°Thanks for your help.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± said the adventurer. ¡°Everyone knows what happens if they make Madam


    Witch mad. We¡¯ve seen and heard things.¡±


    ¡°Everyone?,¡± said Jack. He looked at the room. The adventurers nodded at his scan.


    ¡°And she helped us get our pay when the manager for the Hall vanished,¡± said the


    adventurer. ¡°She didn¡¯t have to do that, but that kind of thing builds good will from us.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Thanks, guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Josie you think fondly of her.¡±


    He climbed the stairs, whistling an odd tune about giants and sobriety as he went.


    He walked down the hall, listening as he whistled. Most of the rooms seemed quiet, but


    there were people in Number Six, and they were talking about what they should be


    doing.


    He knocked on the door. He might as well let them know he was there to take them in.


    He expected some resistance to the idea of being hung for threatening the princess.


    He wondered if they had an idea about the larger dragon they had poked.


    He was familiar enough with the failure of intelligence to think some recriminations


    were being passed back and forth. Unfortunately he couldn¡¯t just let them fight it out.


    He still had to deal with the rest of the quest he was on.


    Silence answered his knock. He wondered if they were getting ideas and were deciding


    to go out the window and climb down the front of the inn.


    ¡°Hello?,¡± asked Jack. ¡°The adventurers downstairs said you were here. Can you open


    the door? I don¡¯t want to shout through it.¡±


    Jack touched his watch as the door started to open. He slammed into it with a shoulder.


    That was enough to knock the door away from him and send the person opening the


    door across the room.


    ¡°Don¡¯t pull the sword, lady,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m willing to let things go easily, but I¡¯m in


    a foul mood, and I don¡¯t mind taking it out on you two before we talk to the king.¡±


    She dropped the swordbelt she held in her hand. It thumped against the floor. She went


    to her partner, and started looking for any serious injuries.


    ¡°The king is going to want you to testify about how you kept an eye on the princess so


    you could kidnap her again,¡± said Jack. He let his giant in homeless clothes go. ¡°My


    friend may want to put a hole in your heads first for endangering her sisters. And I am


    thinking about doing something since you put my beloved in danger. How do you want


    to handle this?¡±


    ¡°It was just a job,¡± said the woman. She cradled her partner in her arms. ¡°We were


    supposed to send messages back of what we saw. Eventually, if things went right, we


    were to go home after the job was over.¡±


    ¡°Where were you supposed to send the messages?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Coldwater, up on the border with Shemmaria,¡± said the woman. ¡°Some place called the


    Moon Inn.¡±


    ¡°Your contact is out of the picture,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to put you in the brig and do


    something for him before I put him the brig with you. Then the king can make his own


    ruling about what to do with you.¡±


    ¡°So we have a chance to live?,¡± asked the woman.


    ¡°My beloved said I should step back from vengeance related murder,¡± said Jack. ¡°I am


    trying to stick to it.¡±


    She nodded.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I need you to beam this woman to a cell in the brig, and the other and I to Sick Bay,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°I need to take a look at him before he hits the brig too.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The woman disappeared first. Then the Enterprise lit up Jack and his prisoner. He


    nodded when he could move again.


    He changed long enough to put his victim on a table and activate it. The Enterprise


    recommended a couple of drugs to be replicated and he injected them in the arm of the


    adventurer. He nodded as things settled down.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°Please move this guy to the brig with the woman so they can


    be together until we sort this out.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The transporter worked its magic. Jack rubbed his face. He needed to check in with the


    brain trust and Josie. Then they had to get the rest of the job done.


    He had been right about the spies. He wondered if Josie had set her guy on fire.


    The way this was going he would ready for another visit to the lake when it was over.


    Maybe he and Elaine could go on their own. That would be great in his opinion.


    He reviewed the situation in his head as he walked down to the lounge. Maybe the


    others had come up with something they could use to do something. The books Josie


    handed over should give them something as far as contacts up north if these adventurers


    had come down from Coldwater.


    The plan must have been in the works when Rustam had made the first try. Either that,


    or they had put the spies in place when the original Hent had been turned into worm


    food. Maybe they had been put in place as far back as when he and Josie had shown up


    with the bar of gold at the Exchange.


    Josie could figure that out when they had the timeline in hand. Maybe they had been


    noticed the first day when they had run into Ken. He wondered how far the former


    peddler had gone with his daughter. He decided to let it go. He had given the guy a


    chance. That was the best he could do.


    The alchemist had been executed for everything he had done to the city. Jack hadn¡¯t


    forgiven that at all.


    He entered the lounge, admiring the twilight outside the windows. The Enterprise


    was high enough to see the edge of the world. He smiled at that.


    ¡°How did it go?,¡± asked Mister Warner. He had a glass of milk and a ham sandwich in


    front of him.


    ¡°I got a husband and wife team from across the adventurer hall,¡± said Jack. ¡°The wife


    said they were supposed to send their reports to Coldwater. I thought I would let Josie


    have a crack at them.¡±


    ¡°The adventurers that the Ducklings captured were also from Coldwater and Solas,¡± said


    Budd. He had a bowl of soup and some ale.


    ¡°We expect the seat of power for our enemies is also in Coldwater, or just across the


    border,¡± said Rickard. He had steak and wine.


    ¡°Definite locations?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°No,¡± said Glunt. ¡°But the reading so far has pointed to several places we can use to


    secure evidence on our side of the border. At least some of this is going through Interior


    Works and the minister Hax wants to question.¡±


    ¡°So we might have to take him and sweat him for answers,¡± said Jack. ¡°We can do it.¡±


    ¡°It might lead to some political upheaval depending on how things play out,¡± said


    Worldy. He had part of a casserole in front of him.


    ¡°I think Josie will be willing to let you have him with the understanding that this is his


    only chance,¡± said Jack. ¡°If we come across him in the field again, causing problems,


    he¡¯s burned up his one time to go straight. If I thought he had threatened Elaine, I would


    have to take something as a reminder he should not be casting his eyes south.¡±


    ¡°We kind of know everything but the smallest cogs,¡± said Vin. He had chili and some


    kind of cheese roll in front of him. ¡°All we really need is to capture or kill all of them


    and let the court deal with the rest.¡±


    ¡°Illheim being imprisoned will spark some unrest with the nobles,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I am


    glad we are handling things like this rather the usual way you do things.¡±


    ¡°Interior Works being under suspicion for abuse of power will also cause problems with


    the various committees in action,¡± said Worldy. ¡°The fact that he hired adventurers


    instead of using our own forces will quell some of the outrage.¡±


    ¡°If we can¡¯t clear this with legwork,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will be glad to ask Josie to unleash


    her birds on everyone we have already identified. I don¡¯t have a problem with that.¡±


    ¡°Some of this might have to be handled that way,¡± said Hax. He had milk in front of


    him. ¡°Still we have marked out a conspiracy to ruin two countries for money and power.


    If we can stop them, it might secure a peace for a small amount of time.¡±


    ¡°At least until Matilda and her dragon take over for us,¡± said Jack. He grinned. ¡°One


    thing for sure, ice cream will not be safe after we retire.¡±


    ¡°I guess we can protect her too,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°She will be protecting us,¡± said Markus. He studied the piece of cake on the plate in


    front of him. ¡°You will be older than dirt, and I will be naturally seasoned by avoiding


    things like this.¡±


    ¡°Too bad you can¡¯t avoid roller pins to the eye,¡± said Vin.

 Duncan and Gwyneth

    Josie let Doctor Occult vanish. She frowned at her old neighbor. She realized she didn¡¯t


    even know his name.


    ¡°You have some internal problems,¡± she said. ¡°I want you to go to the hospital and get


    looked at by the nurses. There is a chance you could die before you walk home.¡±


    ¡°I think I can take care of myself,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°Are you really going to force this?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can make you go.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s time for me to pass on,¡± said the old man. ¡°I will talk to my wife about it. She


    should know I don¡¯t have that long to live. It will give us time to prepare.¡±


    ¡°I can get you five, maybe ten, more years,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy enough with the time I have had,¡± said the old man. ¡°Prolonging things is


    not as good as most people think. You have your girls to look after, and that jester who


    likes to shock people. That is more important than trying to stop the inevitable.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I will talk to my wife,¡± said the old man. ¡°Maybe she will want that time for herself if


    you can give it to her. Maybe I will change my mind about things once we have dinner.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t wait too long,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to take care of something. If you have any


    more signs, go over to the Hole in the Wall and talk to Elaine. She should be able to


    arrange for you to get looked at by the hospital people until we get our job straightened


    out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your concern,¡± said the old man. ¡°You¡¯re not nearly as snarly as your


    friend, Jack, says.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t confuse kindness for mercy,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have precious little of either. Don¡¯t


    forget to talk to Elaine if you change your mind.¡±


    ¡°I will, Madam Fox,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°What is your name?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°It¡¯s Duncan,¡± said the old man. He smiled a little.


    ¡°I have to go,¡± said Josie. ¡°When I am done straightening this mess out for the Society,


    I will turn my attention to you. I might even have Jack do something. Five more years


    should be under the restriction they put on him so he wouldn¡¯t keep doing things he


    isn¡¯t supposed to do. Hang on until I get back.¡±


    ¡°Is this really so important?,¡± asked Duncan.


    ¡°I¡¯m using it to balance all the ill I have done since I got here,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s not a


    real equivalent exchange, but it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± said the old man. ¡°I have tried to make up for things I did with mixed


    results. Go do your thing. Keep your Jack from throwing lightning down in the walls.¡±


    ¡°That will take the power of the gods,¡± said Josie. She walked toward where her bird


    waited on the railing of the staircase heading up to the building¡¯s brick second story.


    She took a moment to look around and listen before she started up the stairs to the


    apartments taking over the second floor.


    The bird flew to one door in particular and landed in front of it. It wanted to go inside


    and find its man, but knew she would want to talk to the spy first.


    Josie walked to the door and knocked. She didn¡¯t want to kick the door down. She


    would if she didn¡¯t get an answer.


    Half of her mind was on the old man downstairs. Helping him seemed more important


    than protecting entire countries. She supposed her perspective was on the smaller


    picture while she thought about next steps.


    There would be next steps the way things were going. She saw them picking up


    Rustam¡¯s brother at his estate after they nailed some of this situation down.


    It would depend on how things happened if he made it to the Delve to join Rustam, or


    not.


    ¡°Who is it?,¡± asked a male voice on the other side of the wooden barrier.


    ¡°Josie Fox,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m here to ask you if you want to talk to the king and save


    your neck, or do you want to get set on fire. I am good either way.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anything good for me either way,¡± said the unknown adventurer.


    ¡°One way will leave you alive and well for the rest of your life,¡± said Josie. ¡°The other


    will rip you apart. I already know the King¡¯s nephew will be in prison. Be smart this one


    time. Extra hours of life is always better.¡±


    ¡°Life in prison doesn¡¯t seem that good to me,¡± said the adventurer. He seemed to be


    doing something inside the room. She supposed he was preparing his escape out the


    window.


    She called on Shazam. Lightning wrapped her in red and gold. She pulled back one


    of her fists. She punched the door. Her fist went through, and then the rest of her.


    Wooden fragments flew out of her way.


    Her quarry looked at her in shock from outside the window. He had picked the escape


    route to get away from guards trying to force the door. Dropping to the street should get


    him enough room to get to the gate and get through to the South Gate so he could travel


    to the border with Karieda and circle back to the north.


    A bird flying at his face made him step back and fall off the sign he was using for a


    ledge. He tried to regain his balance, but knew he was going to the street in an


    uncontrolled fall.


    Josie crossed to the window in a second. She grabbed one of the flailing arms and


    yanked. The adventurer flew into the room and landed on his stomach. A kick to the


    head rocked him enough to be bound by his own bent sword.


    She let the transformation go. She shook her head. She had the right guy. Now what


    did they do with him?


    She doubted he knew anything beyond his next contact. She figured that there was


    nothing they could do to him for spying. They needed to tie him to trying to capture


    Caroline again, or using the girls as hostages against her, and Jack.


    Hopefully Jack hadn¡¯t killed the spy he had gone after across town.


    She didn¡¯t fault him for wanting to since Elaine was in the line of fire. If his beloved


    had actually been hurt, she expected a rain of torpedoes to fall down on their enemies.


    Blowing a castle up and filling the hole with water so it was a lake was not something


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    she would put past her friend if he was angry enough to do it.


    She triggered her com. She had her opponent gift wrapped. It was time to move him


    where the King could have a talk with him and find out what was going on.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the Enterprise.


    ¡°I have a prisoner I am going to need to put in the brig,¡± said Josie. ¡°Did Jack catch


    anybody?¡±


    ¡°The captain ordered two prisoners beamed up and put in the brig,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°Take this guy. I have to repair a door and clean up before I come


    back onboard.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It worked the transporter and surrounded its target


    with blue sparks. A few moments later and Josie¡¯s captive sat inside a cell across from


    a few others. None of them looked happy about their predicament.


    Josie looked at the mess from the exploded door. She shook her head. She had to fix this


    before she flew back to the castle in the sky. She should check on the old man before


    she left the city.


    Maybe she could get Jack to make some of his Warner Elixer for their former neighbor.


    That would fix a lot in her opinion. Did she want to enable him just handing the stuff


    out? How much chaos would it cause if the hospital made people younger?


    Did she really want to know the answer to that question?


    She decided that just making a fountain of youth for the city would attract too much


    attention. Just easing the burden would have to do. She didn¡¯t like it, but she saw


    the line the Society drew in the sand. While she wasn¡¯t afraid to cross it, she wanted


    to save that for something more important to her personally than upending all of


    the civilizations they were supposed to protect.


    It was a far cry from the rule breaker she used to be.


    She almost smiled at that.


    Josie pulled on her Zatanna persona. She cleaned the mess up and put a new door to the


    room. She let the persona go so she could go downstairs and look for her neighbor.


    She walked down the stairs and looked over the store. She wanted to talk to the shop


    owner, but decided that was something she could loop back to if she needed to


    depending on what she took from their new captives. Once she knew where they stood,


    she could come back to the shop and fix its owner.


    Duncan was by the door, hobbling home. He waved at some of the people he knew


    from the neighborhood with his free hand. He had a bag of fruit under his other arm.


    Josie caught up with him and snatched the bag from him. He glared at her for a moment.


    Then he shook his head at her.


    ¡°What are you doing?,¡± asked Duncan. He didn¡¯t ask her for the fruit back. It was an


    obvious bargaining tool.


    ¡°I¡¯m making sure you get home, and then I am going to talk to your wife about making


    you miserable enough to go get checked out,¡± said Josie. ¡°Or I am going to just take you


    to the hospital whether you like it, or not, and tell the adventurers I hired to protect it


    to rough you up so you need the services for something other than being sick.¡±


    ¡°Adding on a few more years of living just prolongs the inevitable unless you have a


    way to make people immortal,¡± said Duncan.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the Society would love for me to unleash Jack on that,¡± said Josie. The tone


    of her voice conveyed how much she thought they would love it. ¡°Giving you a few


    more years may not change things in the grand scheme of life, but it will make you feel


    better, and it will make me feel better. And getting your wife checked will make sure


    you have those years together.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to take no for an answer, are you?,¡± said Duncan.


    ¡°I will take it after I talk to your wife about what she wants,¡± said Josie. ¡°Then maybe


    I will relent if she says no.¡±


    ¡°I can see why your Society picked you to be their agent,¡± said Duncan. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure


    about Jack.¡±


    ¡°Luck,¡± said Josie. She smiled. ¡°Pure bad luck.¡±


    ¡°I can see that,¡± said Duncan.


    Josie matched her step with his as they walked down the street to the old man¡¯s house.


    He opened the door for them. He gestured for her to follow him inside so they could get


    the talk over with and they could both go about the rest of their days.


    ¡°Gwyneth!,¡± called the old man. ¡°I¡¯m home with the fruit you like so much.¡±


    A stout woman in a plain dress came from the back of the house. She had her sleeves


    rolled up to keep them out of the way while she worked. She wasn¡¯t as gray as her


    husband, but she was getting there.


    She paused when she saw Josie standing there with the bag of fruit. She frowned at the


    knowledge the neighborhood witch was in her house with her fruit.


    ¡°I¡¯m Josie Fox,¡± said Josie. She held out the fruit. ¡°My partner and I took over the place


    in the wall across the street. Your husband is sick. He won¡¯t go get checked out. He


    seems scared at the notion. So I thought I could get you to talk to him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared,¡± protested Duncan.


    ¡°He¡¯s sick?,¡± asked Gwyneth.


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t give him long to live. Maybe the hospital could give


    him a few more years. It¡¯s a slim chance, but better than nothing.¡±


    Gwyneth took the bag of fruit, checking it to see if her husband had brought back the


    right ingredients. She put it down on a nearby table holding up an unlit lamp.


    ¡°What would we have to do?,¡± she asked. ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot we can offer.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can arrange for a ride there, you have


    one of the nurses look you over, and then see if they have something they can use


    to help you. If they don¡¯t, I¡¯ll ask Jack to look you both over and come up with


    something.¡±


    ¡°The Jack who beat up the insurance people?,¡± said Gwyneth.


    ¡°The Jack who shot the lightning from his sailing ship in the sky,¡± confirmed Duncan.


    ¡°He seems like a good person over all.¡±


    ¡°What kind of story is that?,¡± asked his wife.


    ¡°A true one,¡± said Duncan. ¡°I saw it with my own eyes.¡±


    ¡°Before you two start fighting,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will show you something that you can


    talk about for the rest of your lives, even if no one believes you.¡±


    ¡°Really?,¡± said Gwyneth.


    ¡°When you see this, you will see I am serious about the two of you needing to get


    checked out,¡± said Josie. ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Madam Fox,¡± said Duncan. ¡°I doubt I am going to change my mind about that.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to walk the hull with two visitors,¡± said Josie. ¡°It will only be for a few


    seconds.¡±


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    Josie pulled on Zatanna, checking her watch. She had enough time for a short walk. She


    wrapped her guests in protection and an air supply. She did the same for herself. Then


    she used a bird to pull everyone up to the hull of the Enterprise, to the edge of the


    deflector array.


    ¡°Just look around,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know how high we are, but you can see the


    whole city from here.¡±


    ¡°This is too high,¡± said Gwyneth. ¡°What happens if we fall from here?¡±


    ¡°If I, or the Enterprise, didn¡¯t catch you,¡± said Josie. ¡°You would be a smear when you


    hit the ground. Have you seen enough?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Duncan. ¡°The world looks so small from up here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still worth fighting for,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s still worth making better.¡±


    She hurled a bird to the hospital below and sent the three of them to the hospital. When


    they landed, their protective suits went back to being air.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go in and talk to whomever is on duty,¡± said Josie. She went to the door and held


    it for them.


    ¡°I thought you were going to let us talk it over,¡± said Duncan. He crossed his arms.


    ¡°I thought about it and decided I didn¡¯t have time to wait,¡± said Josie. ¡°I still have


    Society business I have to handle.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very high handed, Madam Fox,¡± said Gwyneth.


    ¡°I suppose I get that from my mother,¡± said Josie. ¡°Shall we?¡±


    ¡°What if I say no?,¡± said Duncan.


    ¡°Then I will have some adventurers beat you up so you have to go in and get checked


    out as well as get your other injuries fixed,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I will be right


    here. Nothing will happen to you.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Duncan. He threw up his hands. ¡°Let¡¯s do this so you will quit


    bothering us.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine, dear,¡± said Gwyneth. ¡°I will be right here to take you home.¡±


    ¡°Come on,¡± said Josie. She ushered them through the doors. She walked them around


    to the Emergency area. One of the attendants used a scanner on both of them. She


    printed out papers for them both.


    She consulted a nearby code book. She cleared Gwyneth of anything major from living


    in Hawk Ridge all of her life. Duncan had tumors dotting his torso. The first course was


    an elixir that should break the tumors down.


    If that didn¡¯t work, they would have to think of something else. Most of the hospital


    people couldn¡¯t do more than basic cutting yet. Just scraping his insides out might not


    work.


    Josie told the nurse that she could get Jack to look at it when they had a moment to


    breathe.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to get back to work. Stay here. I will fix this for you when


    I get done. I have time to get it done.¡±


    ¡°What do I do until then?,¡± asked Duncan.


    ¡°I am going to send you home,¡± said Josie. ¡°I want you to be careful until I can work


    on this.¡±


    ¡°I will be careful,¡± said Duncan. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can do anything about this.¡±


    ¡°I can fix it even if I have to rip out your spine and get you a new one from somewhere,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°That¡¯s one of my specialities.¡±


    ¡°I assume setting people on fire is another,¡± said Duncan.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I have been known to put curses on people who annoy me.¡±


    ¡°Curses?,¡± said Duncan.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I can cause a lot of problems with the right set of words. Don¡¯t forget


    it.¡±

 The Head of the Consortium

    Jack agreed with Hax about the minister. Once they had him, they could search for


    connections to the rest of the conspiracy. And the Enterprise reported they had another


    prisoner.


    The way they were going, the brig would be full before they were done with this.


    Josie came into the lounge as he was about to call to ask what was going on. She nodded


    at the assemblage before walking to the bar and ordering herself some tea.


    ¡°Illheim, or Minister Shov?,¡± Jack asked. He felt Josie would take Illheim because the


    idea he might have set people on her sisters would spark her temper.


    ¡°Do you even have to ask?,¡± she said. ¡°I need you to do me a favor after this is over.¡±


    ¡°What kind of favor?,¡± said Jack. He wasn¡¯t averse to lending a hand, but he also


    wanted to be lazy at some point after hours of activity.


    ¡°I want you to look at the old guy who lives across the street from the Hole in the Wall,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°It looks like he is going to die soon, and I feel like we should try to give


    him a couple more years.¡±


    ¡°I can do that,¡± said Jack. He grinned to hide his thoughts. He wanted to ask about the


    concern but decided that would be the wrong move. ¡°How long do you think he¡¯s got?¡±


    ¡°He could die any second,¡± said Josie. ¡°I am hoping he will hold on until we get this


    done.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will take Russ and talk to this Shov. I guess I can drop you off


    to talk to Illheim on the way back north.¡±


    ¡°I got it,¡± said Josie. ¡°I could actually bring Illheim here now that I know who I want.


    I think going down where he is will scare him enough to give us something.¡±


    ¡°I will go with you,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°It has to be done,¡± said Rickard. He glanced at the assemblage. ¡°No one else can arrest


    a prince of the realm. Anything less will be a legal snarl.¡±


    ¡°Case and I will go with you,¡± said Budd. He sipped at his cup. ¡°We¡¯ll protect the king


    in case of trouble.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Jo-jo,¡± said Jack. ¡°What prince can stand up to you?¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯ll talk to him and see what he gives us. Ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Rickard. ¡°The faster we deal with this, the better it will be for the realm,


    and for our neighbors.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need a bird to locate Shov before you go,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Some day,¡± said Josie. ¡°You are going to need to figure out how to make your own


    spirit guides.¡±


    ¡°Why?,¡± said Jack. ¡°I will always have you around to do it for me.¡±


    ¡°Not the way you are going,¡± said Josie. She frowned at his grinning cheerfulness. ¡°All


    right. Enterprise, I¡¯m going to send out a seeker. Keep an eye on where it goes.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Can you give us a view of the site?,¡± asked Worldy.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, when Captain Russ and I commence the operation, please


    show the action here on the screen. I will activate my phone so Mister Warner can let


    you guys hear everything too.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Worldy. ¡°We need a free admission if you can get it out of him. That


    will help us in court.¡±


    ¡°Captain Russ,¡± said General Haslet. ¡°Do not allow anything to happen to you. You


    are a key member of my staff. I would rather send in a platoon of forces, but since I


    can¡¯t, I expect you to come back in one piece.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, General,¡± said Jack. ¡°She is safe as houses with me. And Mister Warner


    will be able to set things on fire in case we run into something I don¡¯t think I can handle


    on my own.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Let¡¯s go with that.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise, take us up to the border,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll drop the bird for you to follow


    while we¡¯re in transit.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    The sky outside the lounge shifted as the ship turned and headed up toward Shemmaria.


    Jack idly wondered what his miles plan would have been like with all of the traveling


    they were doing on the spacecraft.


    Josie switched bodies and sent out her birds. She and her escorts vanished a few seconds


    later. He hoped she didn¡¯t do anything out of line with the king present as her witness.


    He could see her turning Illheim inside out for even thinking about touching the girls.


    He knew he was considering the same for Elaine.


    ¡°On station,¡± reported the Enterprise.


    ¡°Ready, Russ?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I do have one question,¡± said Hax. ¡°Why Captain Russ?¡±


    ¡°Captain Russ might have to cut some people down, and I trust her to do that,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°If there are problems with her testimony, I already have places picked out she can


    go if she needs to leave the military, and Josie thinks she is okay.¡±


    ¡°Josie thinks I am okay?,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Jack. ¡°And the kids like you well enough since you and Aviras have buried


    the hatchet.¡±


    ¡°I was a little out of line,¡± said Russ. ¡°He was right to be angry.¡±


    ¡°It happens,¡± said Jack. ¡°Let¡¯s go and talk to this Shov and see if we can get him to


    admit that he tried to cause a conflict for money.¡±


    ¡°If he does admit anything, you will have to take him alive if you can,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°Any records you can find will have to go to Mister Glunt to be acted on.¡±


    ¡°I think we will be able to get you something,¡± said Jack. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it will be a


    full confession, but once we start talking I hope to have something fall out you can use.¡±


    ¡°Anything is better than nothing at this point,¡± said Glunt.


    ¡°Enterprise, beam me and Russ down to a spot close to where the bird is so we can look


    everything over before we go in,¡± said Jack.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Jack blinked away the stolen time. He took a moment to look around. He didn¡¯t see


    anyone looking his way. The Enterprise had put him down at the base of a wall outside


    of a compound of houses. He heard people moving around, and some kind of dog. He


    nodded at that.


    Russ appeared beside him. He supposed the ship had sent him first in case of trouble,


    and then sent her. Maybe she had seen a moving guard, and decided to wait to send the


    captain down.


    ¡°All right,¡± whispered Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to call Mister Warner and give you the phone.


    Then I am going to check the position of the guards, and get us through the wall.¡±


    ¡°Why do I have to carry the artifact?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°Because the signal will bounce every time I have to call on a power,¡± said Jack. ¡°That¡¯s


    also why the coms don¡¯t work. When I am doing something, they don¡¯t exist. Hopefully,


    if I changed when I was carrying someone, they wouldn¡¯t be sent where the devices go.¡±


    Russ thought about it for a second, then asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because they would cease to exist, and I have no idea if they would just miss time like


    we do when we transport, or if they are harmed in some way objects aren¡¯t,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°And I don¡¯t want to risk killing someone by accident if I don¡¯t have to.¡±


    ¡°Understandable,¡± said Russ.


    Jack grinned as he pulled out his phone. He opened it and pressed the buttons to call


    Mister Warner.


    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Show us on the lounge screen as we work,¡± said Jack. ¡°Captain Russ is going to be in


    charge of the communications while we operate. Be ready to cover us with phasers if


    we need assistance.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Phasers are coming online.¡±


    He handed the phone to Russ.


    ¡°Just put it in a pocket, and let it work,¡± said Jack. ¡°All right. Let¡¯s get started with a


    lookaround.¡±


    He changed into the Vision. He looked through the wall. He frowned.


    ¡°There are two pairs of guards walking around the wall with dogs, sentries in towers at


    the corners of the wall, a roaming patrol through the big house with staffing moving


    around, a couple of guys in an office in the front of the house, a couple of kids in the


    back of the house with some woman,¡± said Jack. ¡°Say fifteen guys to get through if we


    try to force our way through.¡±


    ¡°How do you want to do this?,¡± said Russ. ¡°Are we fighting our way through?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re going to fly over the lawn, and enter through a window on the


    second floor. Then I can drop us into the office from above.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He changed bodies to allow Gravity to carry them over the wall.


    A quick flight dropped them on a ledge outside Jack¡¯s targeted window. He got them


    through the window with Doorman. He let his personas go to recharge his watch for a


    moment. ¡°Give me a second and then we¡¯ll see about getting the rest of it done.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Russ. She went to the door and listened. ¡°We¡¯ve seem clear for the


    moment.¡±


    Jack watched his watch count up. He would need to check with the Vision before he


    used Doorman to get through the floor. Then they needed to hold the office from the


    guards after they were in.


    ¡°Get ready,¡± said Jack.


    Russ nodded. She had her hand on her sword¡¯s hilt. If she had to fight, she was ready.


    The watch dinged. Jack grinned. It was time to go.


    He checked the room below with the Vision. He nodded at the two men going over their


    papers, sorting through their future plans. He saw two other guards outside the door.


    ¡°We¡¯re going,¡± said Jack. He changed to Doorman. He gestured for Russ to join him.


    ¡°There is a secretary at another desk to our right. Target is behind us. Which one do you


    want?¡±


    ¡°I will take Shov,¡± said Russ. ¡°I know him.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. ¡°Opening the floor.¡±


    Russ fell though a patch of darkness. Jack fell down behind her, changing as he dropped


    to the first floor. He grabbed the secretary and threw him to the floor. That got him


    enough time to call on the Trapster and glued the man to the wood surface.


    He turned and Russ had her target against the wall with her blade at his neck.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Russ. ¡°This is Minister Cabe Shov. Minister, we have been ordered to arrest


    you under suspicion of treason and aiding a foreign agent to harm the nation.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous,¡± said Shov. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡±


    ¡°Sit down,¡± said Jack. He waved to the chair at the desk. ¡°Hands on the desktop. You


    don¡¯t want to lose a hand by accident.¡±


    Russ stepped away to let Shov do that. She kept her sword at his neck as he moved.


    ¡°Now,¡± said Jack. ¡°Your name came up in an investigation spurred by an unsuccessful


    false flag attack on the border. Now we don¡¯t have enough to convict you of


    involvement so you don¡¯t have to worry about a life in prison. On the other hand, my


    associate who luckily for you is handling another part of this loves turning people into


    targets with missing pieces in them. She is going to be done in a few minutes, and she


    will be here after that. And then you will be taken apart piece by piece.¡±


    ¡°Is that a threat?,¡± said Shov.


    ¡°Nope,¡± said Jack. ¡°I¡¯m no good at threats at all. People look at me and go ¡®this guy


    wouldn¡¯t hurt a fly.¡¯ I don¡¯t know why. What I am telling you is the more dangerous


    member of my partnership is going to arrive at this mansion, and everyone here will die


    unless you tell me what you know about the border with Grecious and the attack on the


    forts there. We have a lot of it pieced together already, and that¡¯s how we know your


    consortium is involved and you are sitting on the board when you are not supposed to


    be sitting on the board. An explanation of how you fit in would be great.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about,¡± said Shov. ¡°I¡¯m forbidden from sitting with


    any business as long as I am an administrator.¡±


    ¡°Do you have your seal?,¡± asked Russ.


    ¡°Jasek has it so he can finish the reports to send in to Central tomorrow,¡± Shov said. He


    waved at the man glued to the floor behind the other desk.


    ¡°Does he sign your name on documents?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°Sometimes,¡± said Shov. ¡°Not only do I go over the Interior Works projects for Central,


    I have to manage this land for my family, and some of the surrounding land as part of


    my responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°I need a second,¡± said Jack. ¡°Do you mind if I look into your memory?¡±


    ¡°Why would you want to do that?,¡± asked Shov.


    ¡°Someone signed your name on the paperwork forming a consortium with Prince


    Illheim,¡± said Russ. ¡°Then they sent it to the Tax Administration, and Land Rights.¡±


    ¡°Do I have the permission?,¡± said Jack. ¡°If I can clear you, you don¡¯t have to go to


    prison, or be hung in front of your kids. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s worth that?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Shov. He almost waved a hand, but then felt the blade at his neck and


    decided not to move.


    Jack pulled on Professor X. Russ and Shov looked wide-eyed at his form. He supposed


    the mutant mental giant wasn¡¯t as human looking as Patrick Stewart. He touched the


    minister¡¯s mind with his own and searched for any record of what they wanted. He


    found a lot of lesser crimes, but nothing to join him with what they were looking to


    solve.


    He turned his attention to the secretary. A quick rifling laid out the whole scheme for


    him. He shook his head, wondering why it was so heavy all of sudden. He spoke out


    loud so that the people in the lounge could hear what he had found.


    He let the form go.


    ¡°Congratulations,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the terrified administrator. ¡°You are


    officially cleared of any wrongdoing. I would suggest that you stop cheating on your


    wife, but that isn¡¯t an actionable offense yet. Also you might want to go to Central and


    have your name taken off the paperwork so you are not visited by more official law


    enforcement.¡±


    ¡°Jasek forged the tax documents,¡± said Russ. She pulled her sword away from the


    bureaucrat¡¯s neck.


    ¡°He¡¯s hip deep in all of this,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯re taking him. If there is a problem,


    Minister Shov, tell whomever that he shouldn¡¯t have tried to start a war over some


    rocks. I will also be glad to have my partner speak with them.¡±


    Shov glanced at Russ. She shook her head as she put her sword away.


    ¡°The Ear Ripper is covered in blood and rage,¡± said Russ. ¡°You are incredibly lucky she


    didn¡¯t come to talk to you herself.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± said Jack. He frowned at the glue cocoon he had placed around the


    secretary. ¡°How do we get him out of here?¡±


    ¡°You covered him with this slime, and you don¡¯t know how to get rid of it?,¡± asked


    Russ.


    ¡°Sure, I do,¡± said Jack. He grinned at her. ¡°I have just the thing.¡±


    He changed forms to a blank gray slate. He put his hand on the glue. In a second, the


    wrapping had flowed into his hand and vanished. He nodded as he left just enough to


    make sure the prisoner couldn¡¯t use his hands to try to make an escape. He let the


    persona go.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± Jack said into his com. ¡°Three to beam up.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It wrapped the three in a cloud of blue and took them


    away from an amazed minister. They appeared on the pad in Transporter Room One.


    ¡°Let me take this guy down to the brig and put him in an empty cell,¡± said Jack. ¡°You


    can head to the lounge and then we¡¯ll see what Josie has done.¡±


    ¡°The mind reader form is hideous,¡± said Russ. ¡°Can you change it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Jack. He hefted his prisoner to his feet. A sullen expression


    thanked him for his help. ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about it. We have our guy, and now we can


    move on to the next step.¡±


    ¡°This has been a thing for me,¡± said Russ. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have ever seen anything so


    complicated.¡±


    ¡°I think we have a handle on it now,¡± said Jack. ¡°Just leave my phone with Mister


    Warner. I¡¯ll get it back from him when I come up to the lounge.¡±


    ¡°I will,¡± said Russ.


    ¡°Remember Major Russ,¡± said Jack. ¡°As your associates get promoted, so will you.¡±


    She shook her head as she headed for the lounge.

 Illheim

    Josie looked around the empty office. Her bird had dropped her raiding party in a room


    with a view, lit fireplace, and lit lanterns on the wall.


    There was no sign of Illheim.


    ¡°He must have just stepped out,¡± said Budd. He went to the window. ¡°It looks like we¡¯re


    in his private quarters. The rest of the place is to our left.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if he left us something we can use to hang him,¡± said Josie. She went to the


    desk and began searching it.


    ¡°Would he keep damning information in his desk?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°He can¡¯t run a billion gold coin business without some kind of work book,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°He might have a safe hidden in the wall. I will look for that as soon as I make sure he


    doesn¡¯t have his invasion plans in plain view.¡±


    ¡°Illheim might be prepared for us,¡± said Rickard. He started running his hands along the


    books in a shelf next to the fireplace. ¡°He has had time since I sentenced his brother and


    sent the paperwork for him to take over the titles.¡±


    ¡°He has had time, but he hasn¡¯t changed any of his plans,¡± said Josie. She found a book


    in the desk and began reading it. She nodded. She pulled on Zatanna and asked the book


    what it was. It told her it was a ledger full of monies. She changed Zatanna for the


    Calculator. That gave her the extent of the enterprise and it was more than just causing


    a conflict for a land grab.


    He had a plan in motion to take over both countries, and then push on his neighbors


    after he had consolidated his power.


    She admired that amount of long range planning. She could barely get her morning


    coffee without problems.


    Elaine was a godsend, and deserved a better man than Jack as a husband.


    ¡°Illheim and his cronies own half of the kingdom through the bank,¡± said Josie. ¡°Once


    he had the carved out slot like we talked about, he planned to slowly expand his


    operation until he controlled the west-east border of the two countries, and then he


    planned to expand until he had the rest in his hands.¡±


    ¡°Caroline?,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Sacrificed for the greater good of the country,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Naturally,¡± said Rickard. He found a book that didn¡¯t want to come out. He examined


    it, discovering he could only tilt it down. The shelf swung away from the wall for him.


    He pulled his sword and took a nearby lantern off the wall. He stepped inside the room


    that had been revealed. He noted the various maps and notes held to the walls by nails.


    He frowned at the extent of the planning before him.


    ¡°He certainly was trying to cover all of his basics,¡± said Budd, entering the hidden room.


    ¡°Most of this is before the time Madam Witch and Jack got involved with their slaver


    hunting.¡±


    ¡°This section covers the suborning of Caroline¡¯s guards,¡± said Rickard. ¡°And this is


    Exhua¡¯s declaration of the monies he could raid from the Treasury.¡±


    ¡°This is a report about the old Duke Hent and his friends being killed by some stranger,¡±


    said Budd. ¡°This is a report on the new Duke Hent. It looks like they wanted to replace


    him when they could.¡±


    ¡°Jack and Josie taking him under their wing may have saved his life,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I


    think I have seen enough. We should close this up until I can get some people from the


    Army in here to sort everything. We might have stumbled on the main body of a hydra


    that is ruining everything it touches.¡±


    ¡°He certainly wanted Caroline as a hostage, or under his thumb as the queen,¡± said


    Budd. ¡°I¡¯m glad we could help stop that.¡±


    ¡°So am I,¡± said Rickard. He put his sword away and gestured for the younger man to


    leave the secret room in front of him. ¡°I am still not sure if Case is the right man for her,


    but he is better than Illheim.¡±


    Josie leaned back in Illheim¡¯s chair and decided that she might want to keep it after they


    were done with the princeling. She thought about how he could be running the Montrose


    and ruining everything he touched.


    ¡°I think someone is coming,¡± said Case. He stood by the door, listening.


    ¡°Take the other side,¡± said Budd. He pulled his sword and moved to the door¡¯s left side.


    Case nodded and took the other side. He would be exposed when the door opened, but


    hopefully Madam Witch would keep him alive to get back to Caroline. He drew his


    sword.


    The door opened, and the group outside froze as they spotted Case standing there.


    ¡°Come in,¡± said Josie. ¡°Have a seat so we can talk.¡±


    Illheim entered the room with his two guards. They had their hands on their swords, but


    Case shook his head. They weren¡¯t in trouble, so they shouldn¡¯t push things.


    ¡°Hello, Uncle,¡± said Illheim. He frowned at the woman sitting behind his desk. The


    Makeover marred his flesh, marking him as one of the Montrose¡¯s members. ¡°Who is


    this?¡±


    Josie stared at the cousin. She saw a connection that she had never seen before. She


    shook her head.


    ¡°Of course,¡± she said. ¡°They knew all along.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± said Illheim. His eyebrows lifted.


    ¡°I apologize,¡± said Josie. ¡°I¡¯m in the middle of an epiphany. Go ahead and sit. I just


    realized that I could kill your whole organization from here, and I am thinking about the


    ramifications.¡±


    ¡°Josie?,¡± said Rickard. ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°I can clear the continent just like I cleared the capitol,¡± said Josie. She smiled at


    Illheim. She waved her hand at the empty visitor¡¯s chair. ¡°But there are problems if I


    follow through with it.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean cleared the capitol?,¡± asked Illheim.


    ¡°What kind of problems?,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I think our allies would like it if you can do


    something like that.¡±


    ¡°I spotted three major problems with the process,¡± said Josie. ¡°We¡¯re not going to kill


    you yet, Illheim. Sit down.¡±


    Illheim sat down. He looked at his guards. They moved to the back of his chair to face


    Budd and Case. The two adventurers held their swords at the ready.


    ¡°The first problem is the Society,¡± said Josie. ¡°They like to keep things stable. A small


    city worth of people dropping dead all across the continent wouldn¡¯t be great in their


    opinion. If they decided it was too much, you would be stuck with Jack as your main


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    protector.¡±


    ¡°The man who thinks it¡¯s fine to drop lightning inside a city at moving targets?,¡± asked


    Budd.


    ¡°The man who brought home a dragon for his niece because it was blue?,¡± said Case.


    ¡°I was thinking of the man who would murder a nation if something happened to his


    beloved,¡± said Josie. ¡°Let¡¯s go with your two examples of his character.¡±


    ¡°You said there were two other reasons,¡± said Rickard. He had seen how close Elaine


    had come to being killed. He didn¡¯t want to be the man tasked with stopping Jack from


    taking his revenge.


    ¡°The second is your government is going to need an example of what happens when


    someone crosses a line,¡± said Josie. ¡°The nobility won¡¯t like it, and you may be facing


    a civil war, but you have to show you can govern.¡±


    She frowned at Illheim. He could almost see her eyes glow in the lamplight. He didn¡¯t


    like it.


    ¡°The third reason is the most important,¡± said Josie. ¡°If I kill all the Montrose right now,


    what happens to the women they are transporting. I don¡¯t think we¡¯d be able to find all


    of them before they starved to death in their cages.¡±


    ¡°You could find them all first,¡± said Case. ¡°Then you can get rid of all of these tattooed


    men. Then you would just have to gather up the captives.¡±


    ¡°That is a good idea, Case,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Apparently he is smarter than he looks,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°What do you think, Illheim?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°Do you want mercy, or an execution?¡±


    ¡°I suppose I will be joining Rustam,¡± said Illheim.


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I imagine a place like the Delve will give you chances to


    escape and rouse the nobility against me.¡±


    ¡°Give me your hand,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Why?,¡± asked Illheim.


    ¡°So when I need to find you after your daring escape,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will have


    something to lock on.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the royal. He leaned forward, offering his left hand. His right went for


    the dagger in his belt. He stabbed over the desk. This witch would never take a piece of


    him.


    Josie pulled him over the desk. She blocked the arm with her arm like June told her,


    slamming it against the desk top and popping the knife loose. Then she grabbed the


    letter opener and stabbed Illheim in the arm.


    He howled at the pain, but it was enough for her to change forms with a touch of her


    watch. Suddenly, he was in the grip of something made of red lightning holding him by


    the neck.


    ¡°Wrong move,¡± said Josie. She flung him up in the ceiling and let him crash against the


    floor. His guards stirred, but they didn¡¯t move to force their way through Budd and


    Case.


    She switched to Zatanna and drew a booster array across the floor. It would be nothing


    to explode his head with her power, but she decided that she would give the king what


    he wanted and destroy the Montrose at the same time.


    She implanted a small engine of magic inside Illheim. She checked to make sure it


    would work like she wanted. Then she flung him back into his seat with a wave of her


    hand.


    ¡°How do you want to handle the rest of this?,¡± asked Josie, letting the persona go.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to send for some officers to take in this room,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I am going to


    call together all of my nobles. Any one of them that is implicated will have to defend


    themselves from charges.¡±


    ¡°So you are going to live, Illheim,¡± said Josie. She almost smiled. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have


    wanted Jack to come up here after your goons attacked his beloved and my girls to get


    to Caroline. He would have done something horrible to your property and your staff.¡±


    ¡°Something that would last forever,¡± said Budd. ¡°Do we take the bodyguards?¡±


    ¡°You can flee,¡± said Josie. ¡°Matter of fact, rouse the castle, and tell them to flee if they


    have the markings on their face. If you get arrested later, that¡¯s just as good as getting


    arrested now. But if I were you, I wouldn¡¯t hurt anybody else while I was escaping


    justice.¡±


    The guards stood. They seemed torn about what they were supposed to do.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t do as the Ear Ripper says,¡± said Rickard. ¡°You will get an example of why


    they call her the Ear Ripper.¡±


    He waved his hand at them to go.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± Josie asked her com. She kept her fuming to herself as the guards slowly


    walked out of the office.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°We have a prisoner that needs to go to the brig,¡± said Josie. ¡°The rest of us would like


    to come aboard and get a drink and sandwich.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. ¡°Moving to station. Estimated time of arrival is forty


    seconds.¡±


    Josie took the time to wrap Illheim in his chair with a piece of magic. He vanished first


    when the Enterprise arrived overhead. Then her crew. She vanished last.


    She blinked in Transporter Room One.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± she asked the air. ¡°Status of the new prisoner?¡±


    ¡°In Cell One Two Five,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°The other guests?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°The Empty Lounge,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get an all clear,¡± said Josie. ¡°We must have missed something.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you divine an answer?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°Who are you and what have you done with the real Case?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m fairly decent with tactical things,¡± said Case. ¡°I have had adventurer training after


    all.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get something to eat,¡± said Josie. She switched up and sent a bird down below


    before giving up her guise.


    ¡°What was that?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°I forgot to seal up the room so the King¡¯s messengers could gather everything up,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t want someone destroying the evidence before we can show it before


    the court.¡±


    The quest cleared with that statement. She smiled.


    ¡°The war is stopped as soon as news gets out of what Illheim was doing,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to do something to spread it, and we¡¯re going to have to get the


    evidence to a court where it can be used to clear out his supporters.¡±


    ¡°The job is done?,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Except for the wrap-up,¡± said Josie. ¡°The king is going to need reports on what you


    saw and did. I¡¯ll talk to Captain Russ and get her to write something up for whatever


    you want to do, Your Majesty, for the Shemmarians.¡±


    ¡°Illheim, or Rustam, could have become the king if Caroline had not found someone and


    had an heir,¡± said Rickard. ¡°All this effort to bring my family down.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll put him in whatever jail you want him until you send him to the Delve,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°If he had been successful, he would have destabilized the continent for years,


    maybe decades. Jack and I would have been stomping out fires as fast as they sprang up.


    Let¡¯s get everything together and decide what the diplomatic part of this is before we


    break up. Then we can put you down while I take care of one last piece of business.¡±


    ¡°What business is left?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°I have to talk to a man about some orphans,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe make an example of


    him.¡±


    ¡°Do you require us, Madam Witch?,¡± asked Budd.


    ¡°No,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can hang out with the girls after you fill out your statements.


    We¡¯ll drop you off before we take care of this last little bit.¡±


    ¡°So Caroline and I can be together?,¡± said Case.


    ¡°Beatrice and Emily will be there, lover boy,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Hands to yourself,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Ruffian.¡±


    ¡°He likes you, Case,¡± said Josie. ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to show it because you might do


    something stupid and have to be hanged.¡±


    The king made a noise as he forged ahead to the lounge at the front of the saucer of the


    flying castle they were on.


    ¡°Go ahead, Case,¡± said Budd. ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about the minimum I¡¯ve done.¡±


    ¡°Tell Markus and Vin I need something from them,¡± said Josie. ¡°That way I can justify


    their pay to Eric.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said Case. He quickened his pace to catch up with his future father-in-


    law.


    ¡°What you want, Budd?,¡± asked Josie. She had an inkling he was going to ask her about


    Beatrice. She didn¡¯t know what she would do if it was for Bea¡¯s hand.


    ¡°I was wondering if you would mind if I asked Beatrice for her hand,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Why would I mind?,¡± asked Josie. ¡°You seem okay. I think you guys are moving fast


    for only having met a couple of weeks ago. But maybe that is how things are done


    here.¡±


    ¡°I understand if there are others you would like for her to marry,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Have you asked Beatrice?,¡± said Josie. ¡°Maybe she won¡¯t want to marry you.¡±


    ¡°I thought it would be better if I talked to you first,¡± said Budd. ¡°I don¡¯t want my head


    to shatter into a million pieces if you didn¡¯t like the idea.¡±


    ¡°Budd,¡± said Josie. She looked at him, thinking about what she wanted to say before she


    said it. ¡°I will set time aside with you and Beatrice to plan for your future. It just won¡¯t


    be tomorrow, or the next day. But we will talk about this.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re not going to kill me?,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°It¡¯s not on my to do list,¡± said Josie. ¡°When it is, I will be the first person to tell you.¡±


    ¡°That kind of makes me feel better,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°Get a haircut,¡± said Josie. ¡°Now I am going to get something to eat, make sure


    everyone knows what everyone else knows, and has enough evidence to back everything


    up, and then I am going to offload everyone and deal with this other thing. Tomorrow,


    or the next day, come by the Hole in the Wall and we¡¯ll talk about things. If Beatrice


    wants to move out and set up a place with you, that is fine, I guess. She is more than


    capable of defending herself with the right care and caution.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you said something,¡± said Josie. ¡°I would hate that you talked to Jack


    about this before me.¡±


    ¡°I would never ask him for anything like that,¡± said Budd. ¡°He might do anything for


    his own amusement.¡±


    ¡°But he would stand up for you,¡± said Josie. ¡°He would make you miserable while he


    did it.¡±


    ¡°True,¡± said Budd. ¡°Thank you for hearing me out.¡±


    Josie waved him on. She smiled. Beatrice bouncing back from Todd was something she


    was happy about. She had expected Bea to hold it against her for what she had done.


    Worse, for what she hadn¡¯t done to keep Beatrice from being poisoned.

 Dispersal

    Jack sipped his hot chocolate as he sat in his chair. The job was done, everything was


    right with the world, Elaine waited on him to get home, and they had a new mystery


    waiting for them on the other continent.


    Life was good at the moment.


    Putting a stop to the Montrose high command would force the middle managers to take


    their slots, but that forced them into thinking about what would happen when Josie


    decided to drop the axe on them.


    How many more would decide going after the Ducklings was the right thing to do? How


    many more would run into Alicia¡¯s stolid but sharp mental processes? He could already


    see broken legs in some people¡¯s futures.


    How could he encourage Josie and Markus along? Simple badgering wouldn¡¯t do the


    job. She knew him too well for that to work.


    Maybe June would have some kind of solution that would get them together long


    enough for them to figure out if they liked each other. They were in the afraid to do


    something fun stage. They needed to move on to the thinking about life together stage.


    Once there, Josie would either commit, or break everything off.


    He hoped she would commit in some way, even if it was just going out together every


    once and a while.


    ¡°Do we have everything sorted out?,¡± asked Josie. She looked around the room.


    ¡°I have all the reports, the tax records put together by Colonel Hax, and Captain Russ,


    the disposition of the prisoners which I will need to transfer to a military jail until their


    trials, and diplomatic requests,¡± said Worldy. ¡°I have the diplomatic request from His


    Majesty about the disposition of our prisoners, but I don¡¯t know if it will be honored by


    my counterpart in the Ministry of Law.¡±


    ¡°I will meet with my council, show them the evidence against Illheim and any other


    nobles he may have involved,¡± said Rickard. ¡°The requests for any prisoners from


    Shemmaria will be perfunctionary at best, and I may have to call you as witnesses. The


    planning room we discovered will be copied and sent to you to do with what you will.¡±


    ¡°We have the adventurers¡¯ paperwork filled out for Sally so we can get paid for this


    excursion,¡± said Vin. ¡°We have witness statements from the four of us. Budd said he


    would talk to Eric so Markus and I could keep on at the hospital even though we didn¡¯t


    sign out like we were supposed to.¡±


    ¡°Budd, tell Eric that I took them,¡± said Josie.


    Budd nodded at that.


    ¡°I already have a report for the archive written up,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I am ready to


    be dropped off.¡±


    ¡°What about your shop and belongings back home?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°I found an agent to sell everything that they can, and to put the money in an account


    that I can close any time I want to go home,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°So I don¡¯t really have


    to go back unless I need that money and can convert it to the local gold.¡±


    ¡°My stuff?,¡± asked Jack.


    ¡°I talked to your mom and told her that you wanted everything put in a locker that I can


    access from this side of the border,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°So everything but June is wrapped up?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Not your stuff,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to get it for you without a


    key.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send a letter to my roommates to let them know I¡¯m not coming back and they can


    keep the things,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s not like I need my collection here, is it?¡±


    ¡°You might need your collection here,¡± said Jack. ¡°Maybe some of those old romance


    books that Rose lent you.¡±


    He grinned at her expression.


    ¡°Markus and I will have a talk about this relationship stuff some time in the future,¡± said


    Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. Will that get you off my back?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make my little sister cry,¡± said Jack, face looking severe for a moment before it


    cracked into a wide grin.


    ¡°I will try not to,¡± said Markus. He noticed Josie rolling her eyes and decided she would


    make him cry if it came to that.


    ¡°So we can start moving people back to where they belong?,¡± asked Josie.


    The group except for Jack went over everything to make sure they had everything they


    needed. They agreed they were ready to disperse.


    ¡°Administrator Worldy, Officer Glunt,¡± said Josie. ¡°Your help was invaluable as


    someones with the knowledge to indicate where to look. I hope to work with you again


    on things that doesn¡¯t involve preventing a large loss of life.¡±


    ¡°Madam, I will keep you in mind if I need a city wiped out of existence,¡± said Worldy.


    ¡°It was a pleasure to deal with someone forthright with no ulterior motives for once.


    Thank you for your assistance. Your Majesty, it was a pleasure to deal with you. Maybe


    these reports will cool off some of the hotter heads in the committee.¡±


    ¡°Did you guys ever find the giant snake?,¡± asked Jack.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°No,¡± said Hax. ¡°Nothing has happened in the sewer system yet. I am hoping that it fled


    the city.¡±


    ¡°Let us know,¡± said Jack. ¡°It was weird how the Enterprise couldn¡¯t find it. Maybe we


    told it to look for the wrong thing.¡±


    ¡°I will be glad to call you if things go wrong,¡± said Hax.


    ¡°Keep the coat, Captain Russ,¡± said Jack. ¡°And the sword. You might need both more


    than I need to take them back.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Russ. She picked up the sword with its belt, and the green jacket.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go down to Transporter Room One,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will have the Enterprise put


    you on the ground with your material. Then we will send down the prisoners you want


    to take with you.¡±


    ¡°Shall we go?,¡± said Worldy. He indicated for his party to precede him from the room.


    ¡°As soon as Josie gives us the all clear, we¡¯ll drop you off at the castle so you can put


    things together, Rickard,¡± said Jack. ¡°I imagine that you will have to let your general


    know that most of the problem is taken care of and all he has to do is watch out for


    troublemakers.¡±


    ¡°This could have been so much worse,¡± said Rickard. ¡°The room we found had plans


    going on for years with options for various setbacks.¡±


    ¡°Nothing quite prepares you for Josie,¡± said Jack. He sipped his hot chocolate.


    ¡°Whenever you want to visit, let us know and we¡¯ll grab you up. If the fallout is too


    horrible from Illheim¡¯s arrest, I will glad to swing by and light someone up.¡±


    ¡°I am sure that I will feel that is justified before too long, but let me try a smidgeon


    more diplomacy first,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I am going to need to see how many I can uproot


    before they become another problem on this scale.¡±


    ¡°The Enterprise can¡¯t solve every problem, but it does know how to hammer some


    nails,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± agreed the machine.


    ¡°Enterprise,¡± said Jack. ¡°As soon as Josie has dropped the Shemmarian party, take us


    to the capitol and hold station. King Rickard and his prisoners will have to be sent down


    next.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I think I will use Illheim¡¯s estate as a secondary residence,¡± said Rickard. ¡°It appeals


    to me.¡±


    ¡°If he is enjoying the Delve, it won¡¯t be like he is using it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°The four of us are going to be put down in Hawk Ridge?,¡± asked Vin. ¡°I am really late


    for dinner.¡±


    ¡°Tell your wife that I will cook the two of you the best spaghetti and salad you have


    ever tasted,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if she will go for witchy food,¡± said Vin.


    ¡°Jack threw a banquet when we went to get Emily back,¡± said Budd. ¡°It was excellent.


    I would kill someone for the cake he baked.¡±


    ¡°That good, eh?,¡± asked Vin.


    ¡°It was excellent,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°I thought about throwing a block party, but I don¡¯t think the neighborhood would go


    for it,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°If you change your mind, I will be glad to show up,¡± said Budd.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± said Jack. Maybe down the road, a party would be good for things.


    ¡°What happens if we can clear out the Montrose from their positions of authority?¡±


    ¡°Hopefully I will be able to hand to Care a kingdom that is running well, instead of a


    sick mockery,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Illheim and Rustam have hidden their ambitions well.¡±


    ¡°I think Kyle will be an ally in the south, and you might be able to get some of the


    Shemmarians onboard after this gets out,¡± said Jack. ¡°A lot depends on if this does get


    out from the Shemmarians. Their government might just bury everybody that knows


    about this.¡±


    ¡°I will send my diplomatic questions in the hopes that doesn¡¯t happen,¡± said Rickard.


    Josie came back into the conference room. She wore a pleased expression on her face.


    ¡°All right, Your Majesty,¡± said Josie. She pulled a sheet of paper out of her bag,


    transformed to transform the paper, then let the persona go. ¡°Do you have a place for


    your prisoners?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Rickard. ¡°There is a small dungeon underneath the castle for prisoners that


    need to be held while waiting their final sentence.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll send you down,¡± said Josie. ¡°Get whatever guards you need to put in place, then


    I will come down with the remaining prisoners. Then it will be up to you to move them


    to wherever you need to send them.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many of my own guards have gone in with the brothers,¡± said


    Rickard.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you some,¡± said Josie. ¡°Pick out the place, and then we¡¯ll get the rest of this


    together. We¡¯ll keep our eye on Caroline so she can¡¯t be used as a hostage. If you have


    problems, then send a letter to us. I will be glad to sort things out now that we have a


    handle on things.¡±


    ¡°All right,¡± said the king. ¡°I think I can get everything together if you put me down in


    my throne room.¡±


    ¡°Remember to keep the letter paper on you if you need to send an emergency message,¡±


    said Josie. ¡°We don¡¯t know who is really loyal despite clearing out the Montrose earlier.


    Brant was part of the scheme and he wasn¡¯t marked as a member.¡±


    ¡°Maybe because he wasn¡¯t involved in the trafficking,¡± said Jack. ¡°He might have seen


    this as a way to get to the top, and stayed away from the obviously evil stuff so he could


    pursue his ambitions.¡±


    ¡°And Rustam and Illheim are royals,¡± said the king. ¡°If I and my wife were cleared


    away, Caroline would be in danger despite any guard we arranged for her.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you glad we came along and made that an impossibility unless someone gets


    really sneaky from here on end,¡± said Jack.


    ¡°I am glad your sister and Mister Warner protected my wife when things could have


    gone badly,¡± said Rickard. ¡°But yes, your efforts have secured a peace for a time.¡±


    ¡°The main problem is the Faceless might be willing to sacrifice people as pawns to


    secure a better deal in the future,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that when I see it starts happening,¡± said Josie. ¡°Shall we go?¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± said Rickard.


    Jack watched them go before turning his attention to the adventurers left on the


    Enterprise.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have the Enterprise put you guys down at the Hall,¡± he said. ¡°Then we have to drop


    Mister Warner off.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to talk to Madam Witch about Markus?,¡± asked Vin.


    ¡°Josie is old enough to make her own decisions even if I think she can do better,¡± said


    Jack. ¡°I have my own interests I have to look after before I can start meddling in hers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s never stopped you before,¡± said Case.


    ¡°I can talk to Madam Witch myself,¡± said Markus. ¡°I don¡¯t need any meddling from


    outside forces.¡±


    ¡°Can I give you a piece of advice?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    Markus nodded at the grim older man in his strange suit and piece of cloth around his


    neck.


    ¡°Madam Fox, or Josie, will win her over faster than calling her Madam Witch, or the


    Ear Ripper,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°That¡¯s the first step that will get her attention and


    allow her not to see you as an expendable ape.¡±


    ¡°Does she see us as expendable apes?,¡± asked Vin.


    ¡°Who knows?,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°Do I use the gate, or are you dropping me off?¡±


    ¡°We can drop you off,¡± said Jack. ¡°Enterprise, can you lock on the Village from here?¡±


    ¡°Negative,¡± said the machine. ¡°The sensors need a better angle.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do the current drop, and then move us into position to beam down Mister


    Warner,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll put the rest of our guests off last.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°All right,¡± said Jack. He grinned at the others. ¡°It has been a long day, and I will be


    glad to get rid of all of you so I can give my beloved what she wants.¡±


    ¡°What do you think will happen with Illheim and Rustam both being imprisoned?,¡±


    asked Budd.


    ¡°Someone will realize they are in charge and try to run the organization without them,¡±


    said Jack. ¡°And then they will wind up missing pieces of their anatomy.¡±

 Illheims Temporary Home

    Josie escorted Rickard to the cells. He nodded that he wanted to take all the remaining


    prisoners. She nodded and took him to Transporter Room One. She would have the


    Enterprise put them down, make sure there were cells ready, and then put manacles on


    the prisoners and ship them down with birds.


    ¡°Remember to keep the letter paper handy,¡± said Josie. ¡°If there is some kind of


    emergency, I will come up here as fast as I can.¡±


    ¡°If something happens to me,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Do your best to look after Caroline. She


    will need all the help she can get if the Nobility turn on her.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll need all the help she can get with Case as her husband,¡± said Josie. ¡°I will look


    after both of them, and Lois, to the best of my ability. And I think the Society will keep


    a partial eye on them so we might have to keep the peace for them until they can do


    things on their own.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do about Markus?,¡± asked Rickard.


    ¡°Are you going to get on my back too?,¡± said Josie. ¡°I think I can make my own


    decisions about my romantic life.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that you can,¡± said Rickard. ¡°I¡¯m interested because of Caroline, and you are


    becoming a bulwark for the kingdom. It behooves me to ask as the king if you are going


    to be fine with this romance no matter how it works out, good or ill.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how things will work out,¡± said Josie. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I courted


    someone, and looking back I wasn¡¯t very good with it.¡±


    ¡°If you need advice, talk to Lois,¡± said Rickard. ¡°She¡¯s much better at personal things


    than I ever will be.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± said Josie. ¡°Shall we get on with our business? The kids have already burned


    down one house in the middle of the city. I¡¯m afraid that they will continue if I am not


    there to keep an eye on them.¡±


    ¡°They are some fairly dangerous girls,¡± said Rickard. He smiled.


    ¡°I should send them to live with you,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can get Aviras to bite the faces


    off people you don¡¯t like for some ice cream.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Maybe a fearsome dragon is what I need to keep my staff


    in line.¡±


    They stepped on the transporter platform.


    ¡°It couldn¡¯t hurt,¡± said Josie. ¡°Enterprise, beam us down. I need to arrange a landing


    spot for the rest of our prisoners.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine. It sent them down in a cloud of blue sparks.


    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± said one of the guards. They snapped to attention as he looked around.


    ¡°I like flying better than all this vanishing, and revanishing,¡± said King Rickard.


    ¡°It takes a lot of getting used to,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where we are from, teleportation hasn¡¯t


    been invented yet.¡±


    ¡°And when it is?,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°It will need champions of order, but the Society only seems to work sideways on our


    planet compared to here,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Is that good or bad?,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°Where do you want Illheim and his gang put so we can get


    them off the Enterprise?¡±


    ¡°I think the dungeon will be good for now,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Sergeant Mim, I need you


    to summon the ranking commander of the capitol army upstairs to the planning room,


    ready the dungeon until I can transport prisoners to the Delve, and I will need a judge


    and a notary to strip a noble of titles. We¡¯re going to busy in the next few hours. Also


    send someone to tell the Queen I am home, and Caroline is safe with her guardians.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± said Sergeant Mim. ¡°I will get things started.¡±


    ¡°Corporal Len,¡± said King Rickard. ¡°Show us the dungeon while Mim is getting people


    readying to watch the prisoners we have.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± said Len. He saluted before turning and opening the door. He


    waited for Rickard and Josie to follow him from the throne room. They went down the


    hall to a set of stairs that led them down into the ground.


    ¡°Did you find anything in the ground when you dug this out?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°No,¡± said Rickard. ¡°The castle was put up before the nearby country was settled.


    Grecious actually spread out from here. Why?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve found a lot things underground since we started,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°A lot of the histories indicate massive warrens in the south where we left Kyle,¡± said


    Rickard. ¡°Some of it is put down to the goblin tribes, some of it is monsters. As yet, they


    haven¡¯t made their way north.¡±


    ¡°The Delve?,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°So far there has not been monsters,¡± said the King. ¡°The prisoners are expected to mine


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    minerals for the government until their time is up. If they go down too deep, and


    something happens, the chief warden is ordered to shut things down, and move all the


    prisoners to the anteroom until something can be done to help out.¡±


    ¡°Has that ever happened?,¡± asked Josie.


    ¡°Not as far as I know,¡± said Rickard. ¡°The Delve was started by my great granduncle.


    In the four generations that it has been active, nothing has ever been reported as going


    wrong.¡±


    ¡°Not what I expected from a prison,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I try to keep on top of things, and the Delve is one of the more important things,¡± said


    Rickard. ¡°And it is near the center of the kingdom. If something happened there, the


    capitol could be next.¡±


    Len pulled a set of keys from a hook when they reached a door keeping them from going


    further. He unlocked the door and pushed it out of the way. He lit a lantern on the wall


    with flint and steel. A cellblock of cages stood beyond the barrier.


    ¡°Corporal,¡± said the king. ¡°We are going to be housing prisoners here until they can be


    sent to the Delve. I need a guard detail to keep them secure until transportation can be


    arranged.¡±


    ¡°I will set up a squad, Your Majesty,¡± said Len.


    ¡°Set up two,¡± said Rickard. ¡°One of the prisoners is going to be my nephew. I want him


    kept as safe as can be until he is sent to his new home. I want to make sure he can¡¯t


    escape justice.¡±


    ¡°I will have a rotating schedule of guards for approval by the end of my shift,¡± said Len.


    ¡°I will have to secure the detail from quarters.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Madam Fox has to check on her younger sisters after we


    have arranged for Illheim¡¯s arrival.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty,¡± said Len. He hurried from the chamber.


    More soldiers arrived as he left. They wore the uniform armor and tabard to show they


    were on duty, swords to show they were ready to fight.


    ¡°Corporal Len is going to handle setting up the guard detail,¡± said Rickard. ¡°He will


    arrange the schedule. I need you to hold station until we settle our business and the


    prisoners are transported to their final destination. Anyone not put on the guard duty


    is free to go back to their regular duties. Nothing must happen to these prisoners until


    they are handed over to the warden of the Delve.¡±


    ¡°We will handle it, Your Majesty,¡± said the senior man.


    ¡°Madam Fox?,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± said Josie into her com.


    ¡°Acknowledged,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°I¡¯m bringing down Rickard¡¯s prisoners,¡± said Josie. ¡°Don¡¯t be alarmed.¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    Josie transformed and sent out birds to gather up her targets. She waited until the chains


    snapped back and brought each of them down to a separate cell. She let the persona go.


    ¡°What now, Uncle?,¡± asked Illheim.


    ¡°We are going to be moving you out of here in a few days,¡± said Rickard. ¡°Then you


    will be with your brother at the Delve. After that, I hope to see how much of your


    organization I can round up and send with you.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t get us all,¡± said Illheim.


    He winced as smoke drifted up from his hand. He looked at the back of his hand. He


    squinted. Did his skin look a little lighter than it had before?


    ¡°I still have a vow I have to complete,¡± said Josie. ¡°This way, whomever the King can


    put away will survive until I am done with the rest of your organization. After that, I


    might have to talk with you again.¡±


    ¡°And then what?,¡± asked Illheim.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± said Josie. ¡°I doubt it will be pleasant.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°If there are any more problems, send the letter,¡± said Josie. ¡°The next time I will send


    Jack.¡±


    ¡°That is not as comforting as you try to make it sound,¡± said Rickard.


    ¡°I imagine not,¡± said Josie. ¡°I have to go. Good night, gentlemen.¡±


    She transformed and used her magic to get back to the Enterprise as it started south.


    A short walk to the Lounge and she had the last of her passengers sitting at a table,


    talking about things. And thankfully none of it was about her romantic life ahead.


    ¡°I am telling you,¡± said Jack. ¡°A castle on the moon would make all of your friends


    jealous. You don¡¯t even have to live there. You can just get a telescope and show your


    friends from here.¡±


    ¡°Unless it¡¯s on the wrong side of the moon,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°What does that mean?,¡± asked Vin.


    ¡°Some moons are locked in place so you can only see one side from the ground,¡± said


    Mister Warner. ¡°So if the supposed castle was built on the opposite side, no one would


    be able to see it from the ground.¡±


    ¡°I would make sure that wouldn¡¯t happen,¡± said Jack. ¡°I would just need a little bit of


    money for the job.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re rich,¡± said Josie. ¡°What do you need scamming adventurers for a moon castle


    you would never build?¡±


    ¡°But I would,¡± said Jack. ¡°And secure transportation so they could move back and forth


    from Hawk Ridge to their space existence.¡±


    ¡°The Society said no,¡± said Josie. She shook her head. ¡°More importantly, I said no.


    We still have to drop our helpers off, and do one more thing before we can go home.


    Let¡¯s move with a sense of urgency, please.¡±


    ¡°Enterprise?,¡± said Jack. ¡°Can you hit Hawk Ridge from here?¡±


    ¡°Affirmative,¡± said the machine.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, guys,¡± said Jack. ¡°We¡¯ll drop you off at the Hall.¡±


    ¡°Case, and Budd,¡± said Josie. ¡°You can talk to your beloveds, maybe hold hands. Don¡¯t


    make Emily shoot you in the giblets. Vin, I will be glad to get Angelica to cook


    something for you and your wife at a certain point. She is very good. Markus, I will be


    glad to take you out without a chaperone some time in the future. I just don¡¯t know


    when yet. It was a pleasure dealing with all of you on this excursion. I appreciate your


    help.¡±


    ¡°So we can go?,¡± asked Case.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Josie. She waved her hand at them.


    Markus waited for the other three to leave the room behind Jack. He frowned down at


    the shorter woman.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Josie,¡± said Markus. ¡°I can wait until we have things a little more


    settled.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± said Josie. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. ¡°You better


    hurry before Vin starts talking about the inroads you have made on our romance.¡±


    Markus rolled his eyes in a perfect imitation of her own manner dealing with her


    partner.


    ¡°I¡¯m just glad he doesn¡¯t have command of something like the Enterprise,¡± said Markus.


    ¡°He would be even more insufferable.¡±


    He left the room silently.


    ¡°Getting back in the dating game?,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°How about you and Dot?,¡± asked Josie. She crossed her arms against the frown of her


    mentor.


    ¡°We¡¯re not dating,¡± said Mister Warner. ¡°And if we were, I would be a terrible example


    for you to follow.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not dating either,¡± said Josie. ¡°But I am willing to give him a chance. It¡¯s been


    a long time for me, and I¡¯m not sure he would date me if I wasn¡¯t employing him at the


    hospital.¡±


    ¡°I think the watch is a more significant factor,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°No wants to date a witch,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I was thinking about being an ear ripper,¡± said Mister Warner.


    ¡°Jack,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°Your reputation is greater than anything Jack said, or did,¡± said Mister Warner. He


    almost smiled. ¡°Good luck with your romance.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how it goes,¡± said Josie. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything wrong with sitting on my


    patio, sipping some wine, and reading to pass the time.¡±


    ¡°I feel the same way,¡± said Mister Warner.


    Jack came back into the Lounge, smiling quietly.


    ¡°We have to drop off Mister Warner, and then we have to visit someone,¡± said Josie.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready if you¡¯re ready,¡± said Jack.