by Pam Uphoff
"What happened to the mentalist?"
"I killed him. He . . . Oh, poor Nexus. This has been a bad day for a nice computer."
"I am not nice. That is a human emotion."
Mirk grinned. "You have human emotions, Nexus. Call it programming and insist it's different from what we feel, if you wish. But damn, that's good programming."
Halberd grabbed nothing, pinned it to the poles' ends, and the four kids scampered over to the next building. Aircars were approaching, more people with poles.
"We want to help." A grimly determined matron led the newcomers.
Halberd grabbed more nothing and started explaining what they needed to do.
Mirk nodded, and faded back. "Good. They're finally acting. Something they can do that doesn't involve killing someone."
Chapter Twenty-five
Winter 1400 px/10-3-3517
St. Louis, Utopia
"I can delete all these memories."
Mirk shook his head. "No. For three reasons. First, you'll be dealing with everyone in St. Louis coming to grips with violence they have witnessed, and some of them have been direct victims of. You need to know why they are so touchy and emotional. Second, if you don't remember, you may repeat mistakes that made this occurrence so close to disastrous. Third, this will give you a baseline for how bad it can get before you take extreme measures."
"Mirk Negue!" A short silence. "Do you think there will be another occurrence?"
"I don't know. I've heard that finding a specific world is difficult without an anchor or beacon of some sort. And there are three worlds—other than the cyborgs'—that are actively exploring the multiverse. They've formed a . . . they've designated an empty world—a world with no intelligent species—as an embassy world, where we can talk instead of fight."
"That sounds very sensible . . . but I infer that it came about after fighting, not instead of."
"Yes. Well, I hope that if another gate does open, it'll be one of them, or the Dimensional Cops, that open it. Not the . . . Drei Mächte Bündniss. So, inform us immediately you detect something that might be a gate. In case we need to close it as fast as possible. Or chat with some friendly type people."
"That would be much preferable. Do I need an army? General Negue?"
Mirk paused for thought. Shook his head. "Not a standing army. But perhaps . . . do you have files on army reserves? Or national guards? I've heard them called both. People trained to use weapons, and the vehicles of war. But they have ordinary jobs, they just train and practice one weekend a month, and perhaps for two weeks straight once a year."
"That . . . sounds quite reasonable."
"They can also train to deal with natural disasters. Very handy if you ever have earthquakes, floods, or forest fires that encroach on your cities."
"Good siting of my modern cities has made that a rare need. Tell me more about the Embassy World."
Mirk hesitated.
"Mirk Negue, do I need to ask you about complications that would make you less than eager to meet the dimension cops?"
"Very tactful of you, Nexus. Yes. I made some very bad decisions . . . seven years ago? It seems more like a lifetime. I did things that were evil. That I am ashamed of. I did things that I must never forget, so I don't repeat them. If . . . because of what I have done here, the people are afraid of me, I will leave. Mombasa was a pretty place, and I can't hurt anyone there."
"No, Mirk Negue. Right now you are making everyone feel safe. You and your friends. You may have any jobs you wish."
"The girls need to get back to school. I need a nice job shuffling papers . . . Frost . . . You have a large patch of ground to the south that needs to be rehabilitated. Or used for something. It might be interesting to study the evolution of formerly domesticated species, both plant and animal. Frost would probably be ideal for the hands-on collection and cultivation of ferals." Mirk hesitated. "How is Frost?"
"Recovering remarkably well."
***
"Frost?"
Frost blinked, put her hands to a stiff, painful face. The lights were blurry and she squinted a bit. "Felix? Is that you?" She stretched out her left hand and felt another grasp it.
"Yes. This floor is the designated home of those dosed with strange medicines. The doctor put you in my room, since you've visited so often."
As best she could tell, he still had a patch over his right eye, still missing the left arm.
"I think we both need large doses of strange medicine. Nexus? Could you have some sent in?"
"Frost Witch . . . I will."
The frowning doctor carried in two large tumblers of red liquid. "I don't like using this untested treatment. Especially in such volume."
"I know." Frost passed one glass to Felix, and took the other herself. Took a sip and nodded. "Please close the door on your way out."
***
Mirk finally made it home. But still with one last job. "Halberd? Are you all right?"
Stupid and awkward, of course she's not all right.
But she rolled over and sat up on the side of the bed. Swiped an arm across her face. "I killed him. It seemed like, the way everything suddenly fell apart, like the logical thing to do." She swallowed, eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "I didn't think it would be so awful, to feel him dying, and keep doing it."
Mirk winced. "It was the logical thing to do, and the only thing that kept him from killing you, hunting down Frost and having his cyborgs kill her. Probably me as well. And possibly a sizable part of the people who live here. He was cruel, and enjoyed being cruel. And yes. I expect it did feel horrible. The first time I killed a man, it was a bandit. He'd just murdered two miners for a tiny bit of gold . . . but I still felt sick about it."
Mirk looked over his shoulder and stepped aside for Napalm and Frost. They bracketed the girl and hugged her.
Felix sighed, behind him. "Lucky dog. We never had children . . . I'm not sure anymore why we married. For companionship?"
"I'm . . .I'll be fine." Halberd was hugging the others back. "I was just thinking . . . Frost, you never started any more mentalist embryos, but what about the first two? The test children? What are they going to be like?"
"Oh. They may have some unusual abilities . . . Nexus?" Frost looked around . . . at Felix. "I think maybe I'd better raise them."
Felix grinned and nodded.
When did that happen?
Frost beamed back. "And we'd better get some regular embryos started, we're way behind. Nothing like a bunch of children to get things back to normal. Is Norma all right?"
"She escaped while I was wrestling with Sokalov." Halberd hunched her shoulders. "Very sensible of her."
"Yes, she was treated for contusions and is home. I will have her and some new techs report for work tomorrow."
Felix thumped Mirk on the shoulder. "And we ought to get back to work too. Mayor."
"Oh . . . well, it's just a two year position, right?"
"Right." Felix backed away, glanced at the bare wall beyond Halberd's bed. Decorated now with just a small chunk of gravel stuck to it. "Does it bother you that a fourteen-year-old girl has a cyborg army trapped in a dimensional bubble pinned on her bedroom wall?"
"Not really. I mean, would you want twenty thousand cyborg soldiers in the hands of a politician?"
The Lodge in the Mountains
Pam Uphoff
Chapter One
Fall Equinox 1400 px
Wednesday 19 September 2015
Atlanta
They let the light warps go, and gave everyone a split second to notice them. Half human, half animal. Wolf and fox, a pair of cats, and a badger. A hideously cute warthog half-morph. Personally, Eldon liked his black deer morph best. Totally. Cool. Antlers.
"Everybody—freeze!" Eldon projected his voice and threw the spell with the command. Everyone stiffened in place. A few were off balance and tipped stiffly over.
The gang spread out, collecting money by the handful. They'd walked in under light warps, following a
legitimate customer through the revolving doors and the guards hadn't even glanced their way as the door kept revolving.
Jade made for the back and the vault. No matter if it was closed. Corridors were so easy to throw a few meters. She always got the big bucks, but they were often straight from the mint, with consecutive numbers, which was always a bother. Not to mention the ink traps. They'd had quite a time getting it off her, the first time. Not to mention cleaning up the money.
But today there were no surprises, and everyone swept back quickly. Heso stopped to kiss a pretty clerk, but he had enough discipline—barely—to not start a rape spree in mid-crime. Eldon froze two men who walked through the front door. They'd been so deep in conversation, not paying any attention to what was going on, that they'd walked right in without noticing a thing wrong.
And now the Black Island Gang was walking right back out, warping light as they entered the revolving door, and heading down the street. Behind the light warps, they were all morphing back to normal, changing their clothing slightly. Eldon, as the lookout and paralyzer, trailed the rest. He snapped off the two antlers and crumbled them in his hands. He really needed to figure out why they didn't reabsorb like everything else did. He stripped off the red long sleeved tee shirt and dropped it in a garbage bin. His crisp white shirt gave an entirely different impression, even with the same blue jeans and mass produced leather hiking boots. He turned into the department store, dropping his warp in sync with the door and wandered over to the shoe department. The others were all near by, and Jade headed for the exit. Everyone was here, no one following them.
The corridor was pinned to the edge of the glass door, and she swept it open. They all walked through, and into to their 'family room'. Jade twisted the corridor loose and released it. They didn't keep them long anymore. No repeat mistakes. No corridors directly to the target, and they were released as soon as the gang was back home.
"Do you know, I think I prefer this out-and-out badness." Jade dumped her bubble and rifled through the stacks of bills on the table. "If nothing else, the look on their faces, when we walk in, looking like we're half animal, is worth the risk."
"Indeed." Rior looked around in contentment. "And I quite like this Inn. I don't see why this place was going out of business. It has views and excellent décor, the staff is well trained. I don't really care that the local slopes are not challenging enough, and the snow a bit iffy down at this elevation."
"Well, they aren't having any problems paying their taxes now." Jade stroked the hundred dollar bill and rubbed her hands over the serial numbers, lifting the inky numbers and swapping them around. "I just wish they didn't number their bills, what an incredible pain."
The seven adults, three five-year-olds, four three-year-olds, two toddlers, and two babies were running up quite a tab. They were working the rest of the month to "launder" the money. They used cash for nearly everything and they robbed banks half the continent away.
The lodge had rooms in two wings, and they'd taken the whole short wing. All sixteen rooms, indefinitely. Four had had the furniture removed, and they'd brought out their office furniture, nursery furniture and big screen TV and recliners all according to their personal inclinations.
"I preferred the houses in Houston, myself. Or our old seaside mansion." Falchion snapped on the TV, then sighed and turned it back off. "Old gods, I even miss that little ass, Mag." She and Epee were eyeing Heso. Morphing back and forth was painful. The easiest way to deal with it was to divert the nerve signals to the pleasure center. They were probably all three hornier than hell, right now. Eldon was more of a masochist, and just endured the pain. Not gritting his teeth, because the jaw and tooth reconstruction was the most painful part of morphing.
"I don't." Jade growled. "But yes, that was a nice place. We should do it again, pick up some new servants, and this time not get them perpetually pregnant."
Falchion nodded. "We could just have a house in a remote part of this one. corridor to town whenever we want some excitement, like we're doing now, but with fewer outsiders and even more remote."
"We need to find some secluded mansion already built, and take it. Like we did where we crashed the Senator's party, you know?"
Betelgeuse snorted. "We could just, you know, buy a house? We don't have to steal everything."
Eldon bit his lip. Who would have thought that Jade's daughter would pick up an honest streak? "We should check . . . I will look for places that are for sale."
Rior nodded. "Not a bad idea. Only, more secluded, than the last one. And we won't lead the police directly back to it by leaving a corridor in place from where we hit." He looked around and sighed. "The rush is only temporary, and wears off too damn fast. What's new at the theaters?"
Eldon perked up and grabbed the paper. He was in a rather awkward situation, just now, with conflicting long term sexual development spells. He'd managed to stop the male-to-female one, but using a female-to-male potion had proven to not be a good way to do it. He was at the moment a hermaphrodite. Or maybe a neuter. He was too squeamish to check too many details. But he was thoroughly male in his mental outlook, which had formerly boiled down to 'hump anything that moves, and most of what doesn't.' He knew he was a rather sad sight. His craggy, heavily bearded face didn't go well with the D-cup hooters, slender waist and rounded butt.
Going from blonde to black hair hadn't helped much either. He was pretty sure he'd started out blonde . . . How long had it been since youthful idiocy had changed to adult criminality? He still recognized the face in the mirror, didn't he?
But Rior was in a good mood, no doubt he'd want to start stockpiling potions again. And then Eldon could get back to straight male and blond.
And he wasn't going to do the God of Perverts thing ever again. He'd risked the Gang's cover, and irritated Rior and Jade enough that they'd tricked him into drinking the Male-to-Female potion. He couldn't even seem to get mad at them. They'd been right, on top of which they were each more powerful and better trained than he was. Getting mad at them was a bad idea. Plus, he was a pretty mellow person, not given to grudges or temper tantrums. But while playing the Demon of Jones Creek he'd learn a lot about transformations. He'd helped with all their half-animal morph disguises. He looked away from his companions and fellow criminals. How long has it been since I was an honest man? How long until I become one again? The longer I keep robbing banks, the longer it will be. And the more likely that someone will be killed. Then I'll be a murderer in fact, instead of just in law.
Chapter Two
Wednesday 19 September 2015
District of Columbus
"So. The Animals have hit again." Jim Kelso clicked the crystal into the reader's slot and scanned the first responders reports, then brought up the video.
"All seven of them this time. The usual collection of injuries from falling over—broken fingers and wrists, bruises, one concussion." Martha Hickey was a meticulous gatherer of data, and minutiae. She was also one of the most attractive women he'd ever met, despite features of complete ordinariness, ordinary short brown hair and a dress style of imposing professionalism. She had a data crystal in her left hand, rotating it absently as she spoke.
Not that Jim was anything to write home to Mom about. He maneuvered his bulk into a chair and watched the bank robbery play out, almost the same as all the previous robberies.
Jim stopped the vid and backed it up. "All right. We have very slight distortions of the light, which fade pretty much instantaneously to reveal the seven people. Deer is the watcher this time."
"We've got excellent shots of him. Or her. Deer's a bit strange. Tallest of the batch at about six six, a bit overweight, with big tits, a waist and rounded butt, but she's got protuberances at the front of the crotch as well. And take note of the occasional show of white under the red pullover."
"Black Cat is heading for the vaults, as usual. She's tall, but definitely female. Ditto the other two, Red Fox and White Cat."
"We're still not
sure about Badger. I'd tend to say female, from the body language, but the baggy clothes make it a guess. This is only the second robbery she's been seen at. We got good angles on Warthog and Wolf, though. Both definitely male, both about six two, one eighty. Warthog, as usual, managed to grope a woman on the way out. Well, kissed, this time."
"How do you kiss with a pig muzzle?"
"Grossly. Finish the first vid and you'll see. The lab has great hopes of a DNA sample from the woman's sleeve, where she wiped her mouth as soon as she could move." Martha grimaced. "Deer was on watch, so this time he didn't do any kissing."
Jim let the vid run, watched the meticulous cleaning out of cash drawers. The robbers made all the motions of stuffing the cash into bags. . . but there were no bags. The money simply disappeared.
Two absorbed businessmen walked through the front door. They froze in midstride and fell over. Black Cat returned from the vaults and the group made a smooth departure, each one disappearing behind a slight distortion as he or she approached the revolving door.
Martha gave him her best smirk. "And now I want to show you what we picked up from our 'massive abuse of police powers.' Nickles Department Store, three blocks away. Five entrances, security cameras all over. They claim there are none in the women's dressing rooms." She handed over her crystal. "This is the fellow that first caught my eye. Six two, one eighty, white dress shirt, same blue jeans and ordinary boots as Black Wolf. Walking in the fourth street entrance, leaving by the P street one, with company."
Jim hunkered down and watched the white shirt approach the exit, with six other people converging on him. White shirt cast a look around, nodded, and followed a good looking brunette under and to the right of the camera. Two women, long red hair and long pale blonde hair were right on his heels. A big man followed, then a small, very young looking woman in baggy clothes, and then a hulking ugly . . . fellow? Heavy black three day beard and breasts. Yikes.
