Princess Rescue Inc

by Chris Hechtl

  Most of their branch of the army were armed with either muskets or bows right now. They had just over four thousand conscripts under their command in a legion and another five hundred men and women for support and auxiliaries. Another seven hundred were designated as the Silent Knights, the native equivalent of rangers.

  “I'd say the hardest thing we're going though is C&C,” Perry finally said. He darted a questioning look to Ryans.

  “Command and Control?” Ryans asked as Perry opened his mouth.

  “Yeah. More on us than them, we Terrans aren't used to this,” Perry admitted. He waved to the flag bearers and teenagers holding trumpets, drums, and bag pipes. Pennants fluttered in the light breeze. His jaw worked at the sight of the kids.

  “We'll keep them out of the thick of things Perry,” Ryans said softly. He was actually planning on outfitting the captains and senior officers with radios even if he had to beg, borrow, or steal them from the other Terrans to do it. “Besides, I've got an idea for that.”

  “Right. Anyway...” Perry grimaced and looked away. He took a moment then cleared his throat. “Anyway. As I was saying... we've got a lot to adapt. It's like turning back the clock, and getting our own people on the same page while we're still writing it isn't without its own problems.”

  “We'll get over it, even if we've got to use interpreters,” Ryans said, glancing toward the communicators and the general and then back to the mock battle. “After all the general just passes the order to an aide to pass on. It's a lot of filtering that can lead to problems but if it works for them...” he shrugged. “I'm more worried about word getting back to Duluth.” He indicated the growing crowds of spectators along the edges of the field and on nearby hills and rooftops.

  Perry looked around and grimaced. “You'd think they'd have something better to do, I thought they had to work from sun up to sundown to make ends meet?”

  “Everyone has to take a break. Besides, this is new and exciting,” Ryans sighed shaking his head. “Plus their friends and family are out here. Brothers, and sons too. I heard they did it right up to the civil war if you believe it.”

  “Oh I do. I read about it to,” Perry turned a dark look on the crowd thinking about what a stray shot would do, then winced. “You're right though, if I was Duluth I'd send spies out to find out what the capital was doing and when they would march.”

  Ryans nodded. “So would I. We're going to have to wrap this up pretty soon anyway. We're keeping the rifles under wraps for the most part.” He had wanted to test the bazooka Max had made but with the spectators... no it was best to keep that under wraps.

  The bazooka rocket was a recent addition to their inventory. It was crude, a gunpowder rocket with a nitroglycerin tipped warhead. To fire it the three man rocket crew used a steel tube that weighted sixty pounds without the required steel shield. The gunner just aimed, another man lit the fuse and cleared the back blast. Like the mortar it took several people to carry the blasted thing even in pieces. Each was also only good for a few shots before they had to worry about cracks and things blowing up in their faces.

  “Well, we've got a couple more clear days for working up exercises to get the kinks out then we've got to hit the road,” Perry said wincing as a group missed a signal and turned in the opposite direction to what it was supposed to.

  “I bet the Gunny and master Sergeant are grinding their teeth into splinters,” Ryans said.

  “No doubt and storing it all up for a royal chew out later,” Perry snorted.

  “Remind me to miss it,” Ryans replied snorting.

  “Yeah well getting back to the point, we can't delay much longer. Duluth is getting antsy since he's blown through most of his stores and the surrounding countryside. If he breaks out looking for new hunting grounds or his army breaks up into smaller raider groups, we're going to have fun chasing them over hill and dale.”

  Ryans nodded. “Defeat in detail.”

  “Yeah well, it still takes a hell of a lot of time and effort. Easier to smash them when they are all concentrated. Give them enough shock and awe and they will cut and run or fold en mass.”

  A sudden thunderous roar made the entire mock battle stop. A distant field erupted in a welter of dirt ten meters from a three meter tall white bull’s eye. They turned to see an artillery group wave. They turned back to the mock battlefield see the men looking up at the smoking field piece and the distant crater in surprise. Dust and debris were still in the air marking where the round had landed. Some of the animals had bucked and were being chased around the battlefield. A few of the branacks had collapsed in twitching fits. Fortunately the predators were muzzled and their clawed hands bagged to prevent damage from their rampage.

  “Looks like it's not just the Duluths that will be surprised,” Ryans snorted. He shook his head. “I think we need to get the animals used to loud noises. Condition them like we did with horses and traffic noises. Maybe a playback or something?”

  “I'll look into it,” Perry said waving as he left.

  <==={}------------>

  The biologist Nate was disappointed they hadn't run into new animals. He complained at breakfast that he had sampled everything in town and had worked through the backlog of materials. Charlie and Wanda both snorted in amusement. “Speak for yourself. The tissue samples are going to take years to process you know,” Charlie growled. Nate was a pain in the ass, demanding she focus on that and not on the war and other projects. Ryans had finally had to be called in on it to mediate. He'd come down on Nate, reminding him that the samples could wait. Nate had been a sullen pain in the ass for a week afterward.

  Nate sighed. “Be that as it may, we've got a couple more months to a year here; it behooves us to stick to our primary mission. To gather data.” He gave Ryans an imploring look. “We've only just scratched the surface on the biota here.”

  “I've had the jockeys run every one of their creatures on that race track. I've got plenty of film from different angles so we can do studies on behavior and body mechanics later,” Nate said and then smiled. “But it's only the creatures here.” He shrugged.

  Ryans nodded. Deidra came in and gave him a peck on the cheek. Nate and the others greeted her warmly. She smiled politely, looking around the group as she took her seat next to Ryans. Wanda gave Nate a look and then asked Deidra if they had a zoo or local preserve... or book on animal wildlife. She shook her head then asked if they had seen her father's den and study. Nate was instantly confused.

  “What does that have to do with it?” he asked wrinkling his nose.

  Wanda smiled. “I bet you'll be surprised Nate, we'll check it out princess. As long as Nate here doesn't do any damage,” she cautioned giving the biologist a warning look. Nate frowned.

  After breakfast they all trekked to the den. The walls and furniture were covered in animals, heads, furs, scales, skeletons, horns... and paintings of kills. Nate was ecstatic, a real kid in a candy store. He took samples and images, then measurements and laser scans.

  Wanda was intrigued by a skull. She commented about its shape. Deidra told her it was from a wyvern. The animal had a streamlined body, six limbs and was poisonous. She warned them to be careful of the fangs.

  Carefully Nate checked it out. The skull was a recent addition. Deidra told him how the taxidermist in town had created hinges for the teeth and fangs out of gold. Nate picked it up and the jaw opened. “Like a snake,” he murmured, seeing the teeth articulate. He fingered one. “This is from that recent dragon mess?” he asked. Ryans nodded.

  “Careful!” Deidra cautioned making the others look up. She pointed out that the front fangs were poisonous. Nate looked, running a rubber tipped glove over the side. He carefully turned the head over and aha-ed thoughtfully.

  “Hypodermic. It's like a snake. And the jaw articulates in two places so it can dislocate to swallow large meals. Odd. Why would a flying reptile want to eat so much? Wouldn't it be too heavy to fly?” he mused, rubbing his chin.

  Deidra nod
ded. “But the wyvern has to, it doesn't have the teeth to chew,” Nate murmured.

  “Perhaps it bolts its food to keep it from getting scavenged by others,” Ryans suggested. “They're normally scavengers.”

  Nate harrumphed in annoyance. “There are those smaller scavengers. We need more data for comparison.”

  “It's just a suggestion Doc,” Ryans chuckled. “You going to be okay in here Nate?”

  The biologist nodded. “Oh just ducky.”

  Doc giggled. “I think he means damn skippy.”

  Ryans shook his head, lips puckering in a smile. “All right then, if you'll excuse me, we've got a campaign to finish,” he said firmly. He nodded to the princess who nodded back, suddenly serious. “Oh and Nate...” The biologist looked up but his eyes were unfocused. “Nate remember this...” He flicked his fingers to the room. “Belongs to someone else so be as nondestructive as ever. Got it?” The biologist sighed then nodded. “Consider it a sampling of what's out there Doc, a preview of what's to come,” Ryans said, trying to sound encouraging to him. The doctor nodded again, enthusiasm returning.

  <==={}------------>

  “I'm curious about your religion, and your world view princess,” Sue said as she folded a blanket. The princess looked up from the paper she was reading.

  “I don't know what you mean. Religion?” she asked looking over to her sister Zara, and then to her mother the Queen.

  “Well, medieval societies were strictly religious, most western European societies were catholic,” Sue replied sitting in a deep arm chair and crossing her legs.

  “We have... many people’s here. From many places from Patria... I believe you call it Earth?” the Queen asked hesitantly. Sue nodded. “Ages ago, when our ancestors came through the vortex we were mixed together. Our ancestors had to work together to survive the creatures here,” she waved. Sue nodded again, this time thoughtfully.

  “Yes, I noticed there aren't many Terran animals, some cattle, a few horses and dogs, but no cats, or goats... or sheep.” She ran a hand over the blanket. “If this is some sort of wool where does it come from?”

  “From the back of a shek'nar beast,” Zara answered. “Everyone knows that.” She gave the doctor a smile. “You have them on Earth right?”

  Sue shook her head. “Actually no, which brings up my other point. You know you're on another world right?” All three women nodded. “And you know this world isn't flat it's a sphere?” she asked. Blank looks answered that. Slowly Zara nodded. She remembered the lecture Ryans had given them and the astronomers a month ago. Sue sighed and then picked up a ball of yarn.

  “See each world is round like a ball. Even the sun is round right? You see it in the sky,” Sue explained. They nodded at this. “Now each planet spins.” She spun the ball of yarn. “And when it does you have day...and night.” She held the ball up to the window. “See the side facing the sun has a day, while this side.” She pointed to the back side in shadow. “Has a night.” She looked up to them to see if they got it.

  Zara looked intrigued; she took the ball of yarn and tried to rotate it slowly. “I see! This is what Ryans was talking about with the astronomers!” she said and then smiled. Sue chuckled.

  “Right. Now, Earth has only the one moon. You've got three small moons and then there is the gas giant.” She picked up another ball. “Your world is what we call a dwarf planet. It's technically a moon of the gas giant. But since it is nearly as large as Earth we'll stick with planet.” She noted her audience was patiently trying to grasp what she was saying. She cleared her throat. “Now, Your world rotates around the gas giant. Each of your tiny moons orbits around this world.” She used her fingers to describe the orbit around the sphere. “They cause the tides to come in and out, and the some of the weather to change.”

  The Queen slowly nodded. “Are they the same size as our world? Our suns are quite small how can that be?” she asked.

  Sue shook her head. “It's an illusion. When something is far from you it looks tiny right?” She pointed out the window to distant figures. “But up close they're larger. It's the same with the sun. The sun is large. Very large. But it is far, far away. The moons however are closer so look much bigger.”

  Deidra nodded. “Ryans used that very thing to explain it to us,” she replied. She glanced to her sister. “I have heard you walked on the moon? On Earth's moon?” she asked tentatively. The Queen looked astonished.

  “Oh not me personally,” Sue chuckled sitting back. The others relaxed. “But yes, my people did go to the moon years ago. We've built craft that can travel into the void between worlds.” Each of the royal family’s eyes were wide at that outlandish idea. Sue pulled up her laptop and typed for a minute.

  “See, we've built rockets. Not the ones you've seen the army using, these are much, much larger.” She used her hands to indicate the room and then pointed to a tower outside the window. “They have liquid fuel and propel men in metal ships into space. About, oh, fifty years ago we sent a team of men to Earth's moon.” She smiled as she found the file in the network and downloaded it.

  “Here see?” She turned the laptop so they could see it easier. The video played, showing a Saturn five rocket taking off, then clips of the Eagle landing and the astronauts on the moon. Zara came closer, kneeling in front of the laptop, then when her mother grunted, moving to one side so the others could see.

  “Tis a wondrous thing,” Zara breathed, eyes round once more.

  “Careful sister or your face will freeze like that,” Deidra teased, smiling.

  “Oh to be in such a world!” Zara smiled.

  “But the risk...” the Queen murmured. “The expense,” she said. She shook her head. “What came of it?” she asked suddenly intent.

  “Well, prestige for one. There was a race between many of the nations to see who could get there first. Also a great deal of science was learned. Information that has affected how we think of planets and our moon,” Sue shrugged.

  “Also a cornucopia of technology,” a voice said from the entryway. The women looked up to see Ryans smiling from the doorway. “We had to invent many things to do that, and a lot of people were employed looking for new things, or making them,” he explained. He shrugged. “A lot of fields were affected by it. Medicine, weather prediction, material sciences, safety, electronics, and so on.” He shrugged.

  “It also inspired people. People looked up into the night sky or watched in awe like Zara did and thought of about what they themselves could do. Children wanted to become astronauts, or as they grew up later, other careers. It opened their eyes to their own potential. If we can do this...” he smiled. “Then we can do anything.” He cocked his head at Sue who nodded.

  “I see your point,” the Queen nodded sagely.

  “Does it ever end?” Zara asked, eyes wide.

  “I hope not. Learning new things, exploring, building, improving ourselves and the lives of our children... No, something like that should never end,” Sue said softly, smiling.

  Ryans nodded. “Which,” he said smiling as the ladies looked to him. “Is why we came to your world. To learn, explore, and then bring back such knowledge to our people to inspire the next generation and beyond.”

  “Ah,” Deidra said. She looked troubled though. She glanced at her mother. The Queen's eyes flitted to the laptop and then away.

  <==={}------------>

  “Ah, Mister Ryans do you have a moment?” Nate asked. Ryans looked up from the papers he was studying. He smiled. He was actually surprised that Nate had come up for air so soon. He'd only been in the den one day.

  “Finally got your head out of the taxidermy den Nate?” he teased, watching the British naturalist grin.

  “For the moment, I wanted to share with someone some of my discoveries.” He seemed excited, but then something tempered that. “That is if you’re not too busy. I don't mean to interrupt.”

  “Interruption is a good thing in this case. I'm going stir crazy trying to read reports,” R
yans said in disgust. He tossed the papers aside then took a sip from a nearby glass. “Lay on Mcduff.”

  “Okay, I've got a better look at the sociological changes that the inclusion of native species have wrought on the peoples here.” He shrugged pulling out his laptop. “In essence they have domesticated many of the native species to fill niches that would have been taken by equivalent Terran species on Earth.”

  Ryans tried hard not to roll his eyes as Nate stated the obvious. He knew the biologist was laying a foundation so didn't say anything. Nate tapped for a moment at his laptop and then showed Ryans an image. Ryans looked closely, then pulled out his tablet and linked it to the laptop and downloaded the files.

  “Okay what am I looking at? I take it everything here evolved with the hexapod arrangement?” he asked. He looked up. “So this is a native equivalent?”

  Nate nodded. “Exactly so, this is their equivalent of a canid, a dog. They call it a dog lizard for some reason.” He shrugged.

  “I've seen them in town I believe, also in the castle. They look like six legged komodo dragons Nate. Our boys are running into the mastiff version in combat,” he said.

  “Ah, but they weren't always that size. Behold,” Nate said and typed again. “The original species was stockier and quite a bit larger. The people here have used selective breeding to make a leaner, more active creature. One that they use for a whole host of purposes. Physical labor, hunting, and even war.” He played a slide show of the animals in various activities. Ryans froze the image at the war beast. He'd got the reports but hadn't had any video or images to go with them. Now he did.

  “Interesting. If I remember right, medieval society had mastiffs and other dogs bred for war... I take it they applied them for that purpose as well,” he murmured. But, he realized, the Imperium didn't use them, or at least not in the numbers that the Duluth did.