by Chris Hechtl
With only arrow slits on the lower three stories the trapped people who had yet to succumb to the intense heat and smoke were forced to upper floors to get to windows for air. Many were sick and just couldn't make it up the stairs. Some fell back, blocking the way for others. Gently but firmly the Queen urged them on, ever higher, coughing. No one could get close to the tower, apparently the people inside were tossing out anything flammable. Of course that left the floors and roofs and stuff too big to get out the window. “They're doomed!” a female spectator cried horrified. Her hands were on her face, cringing in horror.
“The hell they are!” Ryans bellowed. He turned to the crowd. “Get tarps, bed sheets, blankets, anything that we can use and get them here now!” he ordered. People who were not helping with the water turned and rushed off. Answorth came up first with a tarp.
“All right folks, you lot come over here,” he ordered. He pointed to a group of men and women nearby. “Grab a side. Remember that game you did where you tossed people in the air with a blanket? Well we're going to reverse it.”
Grimly the group got organized and had the tarps set up. They called up to the people hanging out the of the tower windows. People hanging out the windows coughed, looking terrified at the ground and people below. One man climbed out on a ledge, edging away from the window and clinging to the stone behind his back with his fingers. They yelled for him to jump but he just kept shaking his head no. A woman toppled out of a window. The team below managed to catch her.
“She's not breathing. Doc!” Ryans called. They rolled the girl off the sheet and then held it up for another catch.
They tried to use tarps to catch people jumping from windows with mixed results. A few were injured, breaking arms or legs in the landing. One man landed head first and snapped his neck and was killed. The Queen remained behind to the last, succumbing to the smoke.
When no more people came out of the windows Ryans looked up anxiously. He wasn't sure if the Queen had made it or not, she might have come out another window. “Clear this,” he said, waving to the jumble of debris. “Before it spreads,” he ordered. Grimly men and women of every rank and station got to work on the piles, pitching the smoldering debris into the moat or stomping on it.
Grimly Sergio arrived with fire gear and an ax. He batted down the remains of the door and went in, tossing things out of his way. Max arrived with the engineering hummer. He jumped out with Scooter and went to the back. Scooter opened the cabinet built into the side of the truck and pulled out a hose and ran off with it over one shoulder. Max pulled out a pump and set it on the ground then found another hose and added it. “Hurry up with that water!” he snarled over his shoulder.
Scooter came back empty handed and grabbed another length of hose. “Last one!” Max warned him. Scooter just kept going. He linked the hose to the one he'd dropped into the moat and run to the midpoint and then ran the second hose the hundred yards to the pump. Frantically they locked the hose on and turned the pump on.
Anxiously Ryans turned to the hose, watching it slowly inflate with water. He hoped the thing would do some good. He turned back to the fire in time to see Max turn the nozzle and a spray of water came out. People cheered. “Keep the buckets going!” Max ordered, getting the hose as close to the flaming tower as he could. Debris was raining down around him. Some of it was still on fire. Sergio was tossing anything flammable out the windows.
Deidra came out, mouth open, hands to her chest anxious as the rest of them at the sight of the tower and trapped people inside. Most of those that could jump had done so. She went through them, coughing and asking about her mother. They were soot stained and scorched. Many were on the ground crying or barely breathing as others tended to them.
“Boss,” Sergio called over the radio when the smoke turned color and the flames died down. “I've got bad news,” he said. His voice was muffled by the face mask he was wearing. Ryans paused, hand going to his earpiece.
“How many?” Ryans asked, not sure he wanted to know. He looked over to Max. The machinist had gotten the pump as close to the wall as possible. Scooter had slapped a helmet on the machinist's head. Waters and Paris were near, using the soldiers as crowd control now that the scene was getting under control.
“A lot. That's not what I'm calling about. Or the only thing,” Sergio said. He cleared his throat. “Tell Zara and Deidra I'm sorry. I couldn't make it in time,” he said quietly. Ryans closed his eyes in pain, clenching his fist. He turned to Deidra and opened his eyes.
She had just patted a man servant on the shoulder and felt someone looking at her. She turned to see Ryans there. One glance at the look of pain on his face was enough. He took his hat off and wiped at his brow and then shook his head coming to her.
She stood there, shocked and in pain, pain like she'd never known. The rape, her father, now... her face clouded as anguish ran through her. Blindly her left hand found Zara. Zara looked up and turned. She saw her sister's face and then saw Ryans. She immediately wailed, tearing up and then sobbing.
Stricken with grief Zara broke down in the courtyard at the news, heartbroken over losing both parents in less than a year. Ryans had her put on a litter and carried back to the infirmary. “I'm sorry love, so so sorry,” he said, holding Deidra. She held him fiercely, tears dripping onto his shoulder.
<==={}------------>
Ryans watched as she stared into the fire. Her eyes were lost. He felt a warmth of impotent rage at the situation then sat on the feelings firmly. He didn't cause this sorrow; life could take unexpected turns at unexpected times. Gently he stroked her hair as she shivered. The death toll was grim, hundreds had died of the epidemic, and a dozen had died in the fire. He wasn't sure which bothered her more. The loss of her people or the personal loss.
He kicked himself. He should have watched the Queen, been closer to her, kept an eye on her. But no, he'd been wrapped up in getting more fruit juices and herbs out. Getting blankets out to those who needed it and getting more vaccines out. Tracking down pockets of people and helping the sheriff find and bury the dead.
He should have known she'd visit the girls even though they were sick. She was a mother, that's what a good mother did; she took care of her kids first. He should have checked on her since Deidra and Zara... he bit his lip, fists clenching in pain and self loathing.
She turned, falling into his arms and cried softly. He felt a pang, the anger welling again. How could he deal with this? There wasn't any magical cure he could do, nothing he could say. He sighed softly, stroking her hair and just holding her as she clutched at him.
Deidra clutched at him as she wept. She felt shame, she was a princess of the realm and she was reduced to this. She shouldn't feel so weak. So helpless. Mother would be so... that thought cut off with a fresh sense of loss. The sobs cut off as she coughed. He rubbed her back.
Guilt and anger tore at them both as he gently rocked her. Eventually her breathing slowed into a steady rhythm of sleep. He sighed, feeling his own body urging him to sleep.
He looked over to Zara's cot and frowned. She had her back to them, clutching at her own pillow. In less than a year they had lost their entire family. Their younger brother, both parents, and their treasonous uncle. Their entire world had crumbled and shattered around them. Their civilization was at a crossroads too, and they were just two terrified teenagers caught up in the works with men and women just aching to replace them.
What the hell was he going to do? he thought to himself as he laid there. He knew he couldn't leave them like this. Not now. Anger rose once more, tearing at him. He felt it and tried to set it aside. Damn it, it wasn't fair! He had his own plans, his own dreams. Hell, he didn't want to be stuck in this rat hole the rest of his life. He felt and thought, biting his lip and clenching the sheets with his free hand. He felt a fresh pang of remorse and looked down to her reddish golden hair then over to Zara. He knew he couldn't blame them; it wasn't their fault at all that any of this mess happened.
No he couldn't leave t
hem. He wouldn't. He couldn't just throw them to the wolves of this world. He looked down to his girlfriend and stroked her hair once more. He loved Deidra too much. There he admitted it, he thought, feeling his lips pucker in a wry smile in the dark. He did love her. And he... hell they would have to work it out. Somehow. He sighed softly and then turned slightly, trying to relieve the ache and pins in needles in his pinned arm. She hung on and he sighed, getting as comfortable as he could as sleep claimed him.
<==={}------------>
Doc, Domina Farnsworth, and Charlie isolated the virus and then tapped the blood of the Terrans and those that had been infected and survived. Wanda and Charlie extracted antibodies and injected them into people not affected or the least affected. The antibodies would do little to combat the infection so Charlie and Domina Farnsworth locked themselves away in the lab to further refine the vaccine.
Sue nursed the princesses through the last stages of influenza. Ryans finally came to grips with staying with the girls as the crisis began to ebb. He didn't say anything to the others; Perry was as subdued as he was. But the lieutenant gave him a knowing look, a look that said he knew what Ryans was thinking about. He patted the civilian leader on the arm and then went back to work.
With the Queen dead and the princesses still recuperating Ryans stepped up fully to take command. A few of the lords still in residence objected but they were still too weak from the outbreak and he ignored them.
Deidra insisted that he needed to help her people rather than stay at her bedside while she recovered. Doc joked that if he was around they'd get worn out playing and she'd never recover. He growled at her and then left. “Thought he'd never get the hint, making calf eyes at a sick woman. Sheesh!!” she chuckled with the girls. Zara looked a little torn when the giggles turned to coughs. “Don't worry about him, Ryans is quite the organizer. He's probably got a plan in mind and was sitting on it because he didn't want to leave,” Sue said. She shook her head.
“The people come first,” Deidra murmured.
“The needs of the many outweigh needs of the few,” Sue nodded. “Star Trek. Also something from triage. But remember that you still need time for yourselves or you're not going to be of any use to anyone,” she smiled tenderly at her friend. “Which means you've got to rest. Paper reports only. Bed rest and lots and lots of fluids,” she ordered. She pointed to the bed. Deidra smiled.
“But since you're here, and the two of you are bored, we can route some reports to you, and you can keep in touch with Ryans via the net.” She held up a laptop. “This is Ben's. I'll show you how to access the movie files and the captioning AI Sydney's been working on. It should be interesting. You can use it to entertain yourselves and the others,” she said, indicating the other sick people around them. She smiled as she handed the laptop over. Deidra nodded.
Zara climbed out of bed then tottered over and laid next to her sister. Deidra turned the laptop on and watched it boot up. “Such marvels,” she murmured, long fingers stroking the plastic bezel around the LCD screen.
Ryans ran all over the Imperium in the hummer or was flown about by Lewis in the airplane. He handled the logistics of the vaccinations and treatment while popping in to the various castles to give advice on various things to help the people. He made notes and sent messages back to the capital. Slowly Deidra, Zara, and the others recovered over the next week.
By the time the princesses were back on their feet Ryans was about done in from travel fatigue. Lewis' little airplane had been a godsend, allowing him to pop in to the various nearby lords in under two hours to talk, shocking them into almost instant compliance. He'd carried the vaccine with him as well as printed directions on treatment.
Sue really should have been the one to have done this but she'd refused to leave the castle. He'd thought about sicking the task on Domina Farnsworth but she'd finally come down with the virus. She'd vaccinated herself so she had only a weak version, Charlie had reported.
Deidra firmly took over the plans for her mother's funeral. Since she was a reigning monarch the House of Lords would have to attend. Fortunately the weather was holding so she planned to have Lewis fly in the nearby lords to attend the funeral.
<==={}------------>
Doc sicked Sydney and the teaching staff to go through the royal library records. Sydney was amazed by the books; he set up his crew with a pair of laptops and scanned all the scrolls and books related to medicine with a portable scanner. Luck was still with them, the snows were light, and holding off. It was cold outside, hovering around thirty degrees Fahrenheit during the day but dropping into below zero temperatures at night.
It turned out the natives had carefully cultured Earth knowledge wherever possible, but many people didn't know how to do more advanced items in the early times. Sydney also found records of plagues, including the Black Death. (Bubonic and neumonic plagues) The illnesses had managed to cross over and wiped out a series of towns when they were infected by a parasite. The parasite bit into the humans when it woke from its hibernation in spring... Automatically infecting them, or so a healer at the time thought. Sydney was fairly certain that this healer was a genius of his time.
Sydney and Doc pulled together a census, they estimated that about twenty percent of the population was infirm or sick due to illness, disease, famine, malnutrition, or genetic malady. Grimly Sue came to a personal decision and then got to work on planning how to correct the list of problems.
“Literacy and hygiene are the real issues here, less than one in twenty know how to read. The lords and their staff do, well those that handle records,” Sydney shook his head in disgust. “Burgesses, bailiffs, wardens, and local village leaders and elders do, but their levels vary. It's not like they can go to the local library and check a book out to read. Don't get me started on hygiene,” he shuddered. Some of the primitive ideas the natives had tried over the years were just wrong on so many levels.
“Yeah, so public education is going to have to be widespread,” Doc replied, nodding as she frowned. She'd struck out here, she'd hoped for a native herb or something to aid in the recovery. Tau had been wise to offer up that fever reducer, pity he'd died in the second wave, tending to the ill. Half of her healers were dropping now, even masks were no help. She frowned in frustration and then brought herself back to the task at hand. “Education like medicine and science are going to have to be state sponsored. We're going to have our hands full setting that up next year. Just getting the teachers alone will be a mess.”
“Yeah, good luck on that,” Sydney said sniffing. “I've been trying but it's a pain. Teaching the classes I have is bad enough,” He shuddered. His eyes turned haunted. Two of his youngest students wouldn't be returning when classes resumed.
<==={}------------>
Duke Pryor looked up as Ryans entered the room. A nervous looking hunting party looked him over. A few of the soldiers looked grim.
“Something up?” Ryans asked taking a seat. He was still concerned about the girls. Like a lot of people they had overextended themselves in their recovery and had come perilously close to coming down with pneumonia. Sue had her hands full with that, trying to stomp it out. She'd even asked him to declare a holiday week to get people to stay at home and recover. Unfortunately he couldn't do that, one; he didn't have the authority, and two; people needed to eat and care for themselves and their families still. It was a nice idea, but the bills and day to day chores didn't end when you went on vacation, just the source of income.
Pryor gave him a choppy nod. “Grim news. A pair of basilisks have come down into the fields. They are hunting the herds and villagers of county Firth.”
“Crap,” Ryans grimaced. “How bad is it?” he asked turning to the map in the room. Firth didn't seem to be getting any breaks, first the raiders in the late summer and now this.
The Duke shook his head. “Bad enough. Twenty dead. The beasts kill; eat only a little then move out into the fields to attack again.”
“And the fields mak
e natural cover. Like a lion in the grass,” Nate said coming into the room. They looked over to him. “Beaters?” he asked. He'd wondered why he'd been called in for this meeting. Now he knew.
“No,” the count of Firth said snarling. His lip curled. “Such noise makers would be attacked on sight, young man.”
“Ah. Okay, that's out. Trap then,” Nate suggested. He nodded.
“The problem is if we lay a snare it could get ripped out. Or catch the wrong animal,” the Duke said patiently.
“A cable could work, but that's not the trap I had in mind,” Nate said.
“I'll call Edsfield. We'll need directions to the farm,” Ryans said rising.
“You're going?” the Duke asked in surprise.
“Of course,” Ryans said nodding as he glanced at the Duke and then to the count. Firth was doubled over in a silent coughing fit. “I'd delegate it, I'm not too keen on going toe to toe with one of these nightmares again, but I promised Deidra I'd look after her people.” The Duke nodded.
<==={}------------>
Six eyes stared out through the long grass. These hunting grounds were much more fertile than the forests. The two legged prey were soft and weak, easy to ambush. They didn't have a lot of meat on them but they had been plentiful. She had staked out the watering hole, knowing they would come eventually. She'd buried several kills nearby, ready to dig up and feed on when the weather changed.
She rumbled softly, flaring her tentacle mane as the wind picked up. She lifted her muzzle and sniffed at the air. It shifted and she picked up the delicate scent of fear and shit.
Locking in to the scent she turned, then slowly moved through the bush. Her mate should be at her side but it was off bringing a portion of their latest kill to the kits back at the edge of the forest.
Normally she would wait for her mate before making a kill, but this prey hardly fought back. They would eat well before the long cold time came. She crawled to the edge of the grass and then stopped. A screen of grass hid her shape.
