by Pam Uphoff
They stayed out late, to give him plenty of time to finish.
In the evening, Ebsa and Ra'd circled up with the Chief and five of his crew to demonstrate the insect control spells. Then a small square with Acty and Okli. Neither of whom really knew how to co-ordinate. But they did manage a small area. Again with Ultimate and I-do. Even less ability, but they did manage the insect push.
Ollie and Pixy watched, arms crossed and glowering.
Ebsa felt Ra'd's nausea at the thought of merging with them. "I'll take this alone."
Ra'd's jaw tightened, but he backed away.
The new man looked relieved to be left out. Ra'd's replacement, poor sod.
Pixy grinned and held out his left hand, Evil held out his right.
Ebsa gave them his most innocent look and took them both.
Power circled. Ebsa watched it, held it level as it passed through him.
Felt the thoughts and emotions of seven other men, and lowered his outer mental shield. Strong men, highly magical, well trained, but still somehow blunt and crude. Depending on their strength to do what was needed.
Ebsa sank into the merge.
:: This won't take much power, just a bit of finesse :: ::Ooo! finesse :: :: It starts with a very soft, but widespread push. :: Ebsa felt the others gathering power to put behind a push spell . . . :: No. Soft. Like this :: He dived into their spell and spread it out to a gossamer dome, close around them, then opening slowly, like a soap bubble, to cover the whole camp. ::Shit. That's easy :: Ebsa couldn't tell which one that was from, the merge was light, but still a close mental communion.
::Now the shield comes right behind the push. A physical shield, but think of fine mesh :: :: Hehehe! Fishnet stockings, garters :: A wave of lust rolled through the compass, a tinge of red violence around the edges. Ebsa rejected the feelings. :: Finer than that. A window screen, to keep bugs out but let a breeze through, soft enough that a larger animal, a bird, can fly right through it :: Ebsa wrapped his bug shield around the group and let them feel it. :: That's as stupid as the sweet gentle witto pushie :: Ebsa suppressed a laugh, but let them feel his amusement through the team link. :: he lifted the shield up and started expanding it. :: Usually we do it so soon after the Push that we just open it large. :: :: Fuck the lecture you Closey Upcomer Bastard :: The team shoved the shield out hard. Ebsa shoved it upward hard.
Cut the merge and took a quick look. Everyone but Ra'd looked alarmed. Ra'd was grinning and made a horizontal sweep of his hand above his head.
:: Just missed. ::
:: Ready to shield, were you? ::
:: With them? Of course. ::
"Well. Not bad, but you guys need to work on your subtlety." Ebsa strolled off. :: Nasty. No wonder you beat them up. ::
Grins on Team forty-eight's faces, an impression of seven daggered glares at his back. Ebsa cranked his shields up tighter.
Pie leaned close and whispered. "Everyone was listening in. And we all really enjoyed that."
Rigging the electrical system took half the day and a fair amount of swearing. And then the camp was finished.
"Beats the hell out of living in those crawlers. No offense, guys!" Dr. Ably hauled his gear off to his new home.
The team looked around. "Drat. We have to send those two crawlers back, don't we?"
"Yep. And the Action as well. So don't get any ideas about spreading out." Acty looked over at Pie and Howl. "Sorry, but the budget is screaming. And . . . the beat up crawler is cheap, and perfectly nice inside."
"The Chief is sending eight flats and a crawler back tomorrow. I wonder if he has any extra drivers he's sending along with them, or . . . " Ebsa looked at the women.
They both shook their heads. "We don't want to go back. And you guys need the help—we're going to have to take over the night watch. And still run the side trips."
"Is the flat going back as well?" Ebsa winced at Acty's nod. "Well, it's a late gate, so perhaps we ought to bring in some more wood."
Nods all around. "We're getting used to you two's weird ideas about scientific expeditions."
Chapter Six
26 Jumada 1405 yp
World EM 0925
"To be frank, I'm shocked that we finished the whole thing in a week." The Chief looked around their redoubt and shook his head. "I hate to leave you lot alone out here, but I suppose that's just for a week or two, until they get the permanent gate installed."
Acty managed a sickly grin. "Oh, we have Ebsa and Ra'd to save our asses."
Ebsa looked over from unloading firewood . . . "Don't you mean feed you?"
The Chief grinned and climbed up into the cab of the first flat. "Anytime you need something built, gentlemen and ladies!"
They heaved the last wood off the flat and the driver waved before he drove off. The Action Team brought up the rear. With a driver from the construction crew.
They watched the line of vehicles out of sight.
"I wonder how they'll explain the claw marks on the crawler?" Acty grinned suddenly. "And do they realized how much footage I added to my report? They'd better be honest about the mess with the gate!"
Ebsa shrugged. "Well, you're returning two of three crawlers in much cleaner condition than you received them, so hopefully accruing good karma points with the Vehicles Department which will pay off down the road."
Acty sighed. "Minus a few bumps and scrapes. Tyrannosaurus Rex claw marks? Ebsa, I know this will come as a shock to you, but once the Directorate gets its act up-to-speed on their 'special projects,' I have great hopes of returning to the accounting sector."
Ebsa tsked. "That's sad. I'll see about a truly disgusting dessert tonight to cheer you up."
Ra'd looked around. "Well, obviously we'll have to stick to a single night watchman, otherwise we'll run through the whole team every night and be basket cases during the day when we most need to be alert."
Acty glanced between the two of them, then over at the others. "I need you two alert during the day. And . . . well, just the one crawler, now, so either Pie or Howl driving. Okli, I Do, Ultimate, and I will work out a night watch."
Ra'd nodded. "It's not a problem, staying up to two in the morning, then the second shift can take over and stand down to get breakfast. The Action Team, apart from that first encounter with the triceratops, didn't have trouble during the day. I suspect that just having someone here, reasonably alert and armed will be enough. Perhaps whoever didn't have night watch plus whoever isn't driving that day."
Ebsa looked over. "And if you get too tired, I can always just get up early and fix breakfast. Hit the rack a little early the next night, perhaps. There's no need to be rigid about it."
Acty nodded. "Right. And the scientists have almost all settled down to watch all the vid recordings we're making and so there may not even be any more daily trips."
"Don't bet on it. They'll get tired of their offices soon enough." Ra'd snorted. "I hope, otherwise we're going to be bored as hell."
Dr. Wkna walked by. "Don't worry, we'll send you out hunting."
"Wkna! Honestly! You're turning into a savage." Dr. Bayl shook her head. "Really, the Triceratops was horribly chewy. I much prefer fabbed protein."
Ebsa walked out to the rim and leaned on the top edge of the thick metal plate. "The Chief got this at the perfect leaning height. We should turn some of those logs into benches. Make this place into a real resort."
Cuba joined him. "No swimming pool. You Explorers are going to lose your reputation, if you don't watch out."
Acty looked surprised. "I got the impression that these scientific projects tended to get a bit adversarial."
"That's what I've heard too. But now I'm wondering if that wasn't because of the Action Teams that were also along. Leaving them behind in camp was such a relief. You guys are good." Cuba shrugged. "The camp feels quiet and peaceful, now. Roomy, with only a single crawler parked inside tonight."
"Ha! The camp indeed." Yffi walked up. "This is clearly Fort Dinosaur."
He checked all the fabricator connections and started ordering up ingredients.
He glanced at the time. Gate in three minutes. Have a good trip, Chief! He stepped outside and looked a bit south of due west for a few minutes. Ra'd ghosted up beside him. "Expecting the Action Team to shred themselves in transit? No such luck, I'm afraid. And you need to remember your rifle."
"I'm cooking, damn it."
"Then lean it by the door so you can grab it as you leave."
Ebsa sighed. Loudly. "Yes, Nanny."
Ra'd laughed, then leaned and stared toward the dark forest. "Headlights. Someone is coming."
He headed for the ramp controls.
Ebsa stopped at the Junkyard to grab the 12mm. Acty grabbed a shotgun and followed him. Ra'd was down the ramp and walking to meet the small enclosed vehicle. Nothing Ebsa was familiar with, some sort of small truck, with an enclosed back. Dark, possibly black, hard to tell with the twilight sky glow fading.
It stopped and Ra'd stalked to the driver' side. Froze. The driver stepped out. Dark, slender, long black hair . . . Ra'd jolted forward and met her in a hungry embrace.
"What . . . ?" Acty stopped beside him, boggling.
"I believe the Disco representative has arrived. Nighthawk Swishdaut, by name." Ebsa cleared his throat. "An old friend. Umm, I think I'll just go fix dinner. She doesn't seem to be in a rush, bringing vital information or anything."
"They're getting in the truck, so I guess we can just meet them up in, umm, the fort." Acty kept glancing back, but the truck didn't move until they were halfway up the ramp.
Nighthawk parked beside the Crawler, and got out, grinning. "Hi Ebsa! Paer told me that this was your project. Ra'd was a surprise." Tall, slender, and muscled, deep golden brown complexion, silky black hair, shimmery alien glow of magic . . . Everyone came out to gawp at her.
Ebsa cleared his throat. "Nighthawk, good to see you again." And haven't you just gotten better looking and added complexity and strength to your glow over the last couple of years! "Umm, this is Exploration Team Leader Acty Withione, and Okli Withione his second-in-command. Pied Neartuone, Ulte Withione, Howl Withione, Ijdu Neartuone. Dr. Yffi Withione is the head of the Science Project."
Dr. Yffi stepped forward, all toothy smiles. "You must be from Comet Fall. What a fascinating . . . that is, what a pleasure to meet you."
Nighthawk tightened up her shields, and got the glow under control.
Ra'd bristled a little. "Nighthawk Swishdaut is the Disco agent we've been waiting for."
The other scientists crowded in. "You make gates? I'm Ufdy Withione, University of Paris."
"Yes, I can make them now, but I can't tell where they're going to go. It's very irritating. So right now I'm more like one of your beacons. As soon as Q gets back—should be in a week or two—she'll locate me and install the gate. Although I did stop by the Algae World and try to get a . . . well, a feel for it. I might be able to open a gate to it."
"I see." Acty got back to the niceties and introduced the rest of the academics.
Cuba looked a bit concerned. "I think we're out of beds."
"Not a problem, I've got a mattress in the wagon. Oh, and some deliveries, as well." Nighthawk turned back to the "wagon." The back lifted up and she started pulling out boxes. "The administrator said these were tags, with the longer battery life. Ebsa, Paer sent this, she said you were probably short on real spices. And Dr. Oldo? This is yours. And a mailbag."
Ebsa carted his box to the mess, and the rest followed. The contents of the mailbag were distributed while Ebsa started cooking. Eyeing his box occasionally. Paer's back from the field. I . . . am not worried about finding a farewell letter in there. I'm not.
Nighthawk was polite and cheerful all through dinner. Sat between Acty and Yffi. Exchanged many smoldering glances with Ra'd at the next table.
Ebsa put the cake and ice cream out on the bar and sat with a couple of the women to eat.
"Goodness." Cuba murmured. "I believe the pheromone levels are reaching dangerous levels in here. I really didn't expect a Comet Fall lover."
Pie snickered. "Hey Ebsa, you got a hot witch girlfriend too?"
"Nope. Mine's homegrown and twice as hot."
They snickered, and eavesdropped shamelessly.
"The Helaos appear to have pretty standard powered gates. Pity it doesn't seem to have occurred to them to just move. Their population takes a hit with every merge, but the elites in control don't seem to care, so long as they get their merge with a younger victim."
"I don't understand why they merge . . . how it all started."
Nighthawk shook her head. "They don't really know either. Their history books are fascinating. Where most Worlds have some histories of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, with tall tales and myths of older civilizations with some archeological backup to some of them, they've got something like ancient Greece being conquered by 'People from the East' and then a 'Great Cataclysm, when the Stars Disappeared.' There's no proper histories that can identify the invaders." Nighthawk shrugged. "All the historians are having a great time arguing about it, and the physicists are arguing about whether it was a man-made disaster or natural."
Yffi sniffed. "Well, we're well out of it. And glad to be, for my part. I was afraid that in the rush to contain them, scientific projects like this one would be forgotten."
Acty nodded. "Nighthawk, you said the gate would be installed when Q got back? You mean Dr. Quicksilver, right? And where is she? Surely they don't let her do anything dangerous . . . anymore."
Nighthawk choked, then coughed. "Sorry. How, pray tell, are they going to stop her? But don't worry. She's just working with a special project of yours. And before that she was on maternity leave. High time, she really needs every bit of advancement she can manage." She looked a bit wistful. "But she used a fast bubble for recovery and baby time, so she could fit in some Disco work. Well, not that she ever stopped working, but she was limiting the really hard magical stuff she did, for a while."
"Fast bubble?"
"Umm, you have those Bags of the Prophets? Ten thousand to one time dilation? We can adjust the time ratio, all the way to about twenty to one the other way. Q's got a whole office in one. She pops out, downloads her mail, goes back in. Fifteen minutes later she pops out, having done five hours of work. Puts her computer on the charger, uploads her stuff, goes for a walk, showers, eats, downloads anything new, goes back in and writes another report . . . And of course she sleeps in there. Even if people do keep interrupting her to open gates."
The whole room sort of boggled.
"And she did most of her pregnancy in there, so it went really fast. She wanted it all done before the next crisis hit, she said. So she's had a year to recover, plus the extra time in the fast bubble."
"You Fallen are really strange creatures." Dr. Arxe looked over his shoulder at her. "And I suppose that being a witch, she doesn't have a husband?"
"That's right. In fact she's a throwback to the old witches and says it's nobody's business who the father is." A quick flash of a grin. "There a substantial betting pool, at Disco, but she just laughs and says it's no one they know."
Dr. Wkna sniffed. "Bad timing, getting pregnant with so much going on."
Nighthawk shrugged. "Because of sudden Oner special projects? For her, advancing was a good idea, especially since she could do a pregnancy so fast. She was already so strong, I can't wait to see what she can do now that she's up another level. If she ever stops doing and gets back home for extra training."
"I've heard that there are Princesses who want to use that wine of yours to have babies and 'advance' as you call it. One more disruption to the settled order, on top of that bioat
tack. Which we will retaliate for, however much we're distracted by everything else going on."
Nighthawk shrugged. "You have attacked us repeatedly, starting forty years ago. I really recommend you stop, before we demonstrate the next weird way we'll fight you."
There was moderate grumbling over what even the government admitted was true, and conversation became more general.
"So . . . these tags?" Ebsa looked at the scientists. "What do they do?"
"Oh, we have an air gun, it shoots the tags into the skin of the subject, and then we can trace its travels." He frowned. "I ordered the type the wildlife people use for elephants . . . "
Ra'd snorted. "We may have to get quite close to get it through the hide of a T-Rex."
Cuba nodded. "Nothing around here is exactly tender skinned."
"We'll have to make a list of what we absolutely need to track." Oldo perked up at the thought.
"I'd like the T-Rex tagged so we can keep track of it." Acty put in.
"Oh yes, definitely the Tyrannosaurus." Yffi—and everyone else—looked at Ebsa and then Ra'd.
They swapped grins. "Dino hunt!"
"That'll keep us out of trouble tomorrow." Ebsa cleared and cleaned . . . opened the box and put all the spices away. Told himself to stop being a coward. Plugged the message chip into his comp, and settled back to watch the most gorgeous woman in the multiverse tell him that he wasn't allowed to feed himself to the dinosaurs, and she wasn't allowed to talk about what she was doing, but it had settled down to not very dangerous, and she couldn't believe she'd only missed seeing him by three days, and she missed him horribly and darn it all, wouldn't see him again until, well, hard to say. "Drat. We knew it was going to come to this, but I love you and told Nighthawk to punch you if you got fresh. So, you behave, and, and, be careful!"
Nighthawk, with Ra'd trailing came in time to hear that, and snickered.
The witch sobered. "I wanted to warn you. The opportunists and the opposition are circling her. It made me want to slap her, a couple of times. 'No, I refuse to just automatically suspect everyone. And they're just friends.' Honestly! Those 'just friends' are all moving in on her, and when you get back, the first thing they'll try to do is break you two up. So I'm warning you, Ebsa. Don't even believe your eyes. Think! Paer needs you, and she's dangerously naïve."
