Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2)

by Hechtl, Chris

  ~~~^~~~

  Paying the drott's bar tab helped to get the old man's attention. The drott seemed bemused, but that might have been his drunkard state.

  Sir Percival was cautious, keeping their conversation vague and out of ear shot of anyone else. He made it clear he just wanted the old warrior's opinion on the chances of retaking their lands.

  That idea seemed to get the drott's attention. He nodded. "Aye, I'll listen," he said, downing another tankard of ale. "As long as your tab holds out, laddie," the drott said, slamming the empty tankard down onto the table.

  Sir Percival took the hint and ordered another round.

  ~~~^~~~

  Zara found herself explaining Terran technology many times each dies . To those who came and bent a knee to her, she went into detail, explaining as best she could about the precious laptop that she had in her custody and how it contained vast amounts of information.

  She had to temper that with caution that none of it was for war, and all of it protected and keyed to her alone. "The Terrans were careful about that. Medicine, farming, industry, the making of some things, yes. War, no," she said during dinner.

  Once the spring planting had been finished and the first harvest in, some of the locals had come to check on the capital. She had welcomed the dominus and domina. Some came to bend a knee while also doing business. She knew they were feeling her out though.

  "Ah. They wish to keep it to themselves. Smart," a dominus said with a nod. He was young, barely a teenager without any whiskers. He had a terrible case of acne. Eudoxia had given him a recipe for cream, but she had no idea if he was using it or not.

  "True."

  "How does it work?"

  "Well, as it was explained to me, this chains the power of lightning within it," she explained touching the battery. Eyes around the table widened at that news. "And yes, it is great power, power to hurt or kill if used improperly."

  Heads nodded over that sage warning.

  "There are things we, excuse me, the Imperium is making. They are made of copper wire and pieces of iron. When they move around each other, they generate small amounts of lightning." She made hand motions as if they were revolving around each other. "In the Imperium, wind or water can spin the blades which causes the iron to move and power to be made. Much like spit beasts turning a spit," she added, noting the dawning comprehension in some faces. "That power moves through the wires to containers. From there they draw on it as needed to do different things. The lights for instance, the video for another."

  "Huh," Siegfried said thoughtfully. "And they can use the thunder of Thor as well?"

  "Yes."

  That made the group blink in surprise and concern. She noted the looks so she showed them a video of the battle and the aftermath. The video included a tour of the medical facilities with the wounded.

  It made for grim viewing but no one complained or said a sound. She noted it was troubling to them. "The Terrans warned us it would be terrible. We didn't believe them. And this is just a small taste of what they can do with weapons of war. They held a great deal back from us. Apparently, they have learned a great deal when it comes to war."

  "Indeed."

  "They hope to not use it here, which is why they are so generous and helpful. They trained our medicus to help save the wounded as quickly as possible. Any who were injured they did their best to save," she said, showing them another slideshow of images from the medical tents from later on. "Many of your people and mine owe their lives to the Terran's desire to temper their ability to fight with healing."

  A few heads nodded. She noted a few looked grim though.

  The idea of showing them the video was mixed, one she'd been looking for the right time to use. No doubt stories of the war had already reached them. She had wanted to set the stories straight while also tempering any desire for revenge. To get them to see both the threat and the desire for peace.

  "The gods smile on them and your people," Sir Percival, one of the newly-arrived dominus ground out. She was still trying to get a feel for him. He kept his distance, however, preferring to stay at a tavern in the capital. Apparently, he had cousins who were rich merchants and was also in the capital on business for them, no doubt checking to see if they still had holdings and if it was safe to do business in the capital or not.

  "And the people of Duluth now since my sister sent me here to you. I have a large tithe of things to teach. And from there more things will come."

  "Generous," a count murmured. The dominus was named Fenton and had a rat-like face pocketed with acne scars.

  The princess wasn't sure if that was in truth or sarcasm. She didn't have time to ponder it for others spoke or began to ask questions.

  ~~~^~~~

  That evening dominus accepted Percival's invitation to a late-night drink at the taberna. They discussed the video they had seen as well as the Terran technology. Dominus Fenton made it clear that they must tread very cautiously.

  Percival nodded. He had taken a look around the castle and had noted the odd weapons that the imperial miles had carried. He hadn't understood that they were the feared weapons until he'd seen them practicing with them. They made a terrible sound, like the thunder of Thor, and they could easily destroy the thing they were aimed at. Not at all like a crossbow, though they had some minor similarities. He understood why they were so feared and agreed with the other dominus.

  They had also heard of the stories of the greater thunder in the mountains. The fact that the imperials did have them and had used them to blow apart great boulders in order to free up the rivers in the area was interesting yet puzzling. Some could not fully credit the source of the information, though they couldn't quite argue with the results. The waters were flowing in the proper channels once more.

  The video, especially the loses among their army, drove home the point that they had to move cautiously. They did not want to see their forces routed again.

  He did have a germ of an idea. The thundersticks were good at range, but like a pike they would be unwieldy in close quarters battle. At least, he assumed as much. They definitely couldn't fire around corners or through stout stone.

  Fenton, however, was aware that they were in public so he shifted the topic to other things. He kept it cryptic, throwing out ideas on what they could do and what they needed to do afterward to secure the country from an invading army with better weapons.

  "We need artisans to look upon these wonder weapons. We need ways to copy them," Fenton insisted. "Ways to counter them."

  Percival nodded. "Preferably before we move forward. It is best to know what we can do before we are committed," he agreed.

  "Look before we leap," Fenton agreed with a nod as he took a sip of his drink.

  Chapter 7

  Imperium capital

  Deidra took Sue's advice and took her time recovering from giving birth initially. She had stretched and abused muscles and some torn tissue. Fortunately nothing serious, but given the civilization they were in, they decided to err on the side of caution.

  She insisted on nursing her daughter with breast milk though and disdained the breast pump that Cecily and Max had cobbled up. They'd tried to explain using it when she couldn't wet nurse but she'd insisted on the traditional method. Sue had let the matter drop knowing that nursing was a way of bonding.

  She started to get restless though, so she started to do light work two days after giving birth, mostly getting caught up on paperwork. Sue managed to get her to hold off on meetings for three days. When rumors began to swirl about her having a serious problem, Sue relented to Deidra and allowed light meetings.

  She made sure Deidra knew to keep them light too, low stress. Most of the people just wanted to check in with her at the moment. She tended to tire easily and dozed a lot.

  By the fourth day, she had recovered her energy to become bored with her surroundings. She went for a walk but the nurse and a guard were with her the entire time. She found herself a bit winded as she tou
red the castle. She grew exasperated with those hovering over her but felt better for their company near the end of her walk.

  The walk didn't end her restlessness, but it did help a bit.

  In the afternoon, she had her first cabinet meeting. Everyone welcomed her back. She smiled and sat through the meeting, but when Eugene noted her energy and attention were flagging, he called a recess for her to leave. She only gave token protest. When he warned her he'd carry her to their suite, she rallied enough to stiffly return under her own power. She did like that he worried for her though.

  That evening she learned a new trick; she used the baby to chase some people away. Some of the dominus were just too taxing for her, some of the dominas even more so, cooing and expressing sympathy. Twice she found herself needing naps and time off afterward.

  An offer of a wet nurse to nurture her daughter was flatly refused.

  She looked rebellious when Eugene wrapped her in his arms. "Honey, you have to find a balance between family and work. For the moment, family and your own health take precedence. You are of no use to the Imperium if you get sick or are distracted."

  "Am I making bad decisions?" she asked, sounding annoyed but then seeming to fret over that.

  "Not with us at your back. Are you worried about my taking off? I'm not going anywhere for a few more days. We've got bad weather coming in."

  "Oh," she said softly. "Damn them."

  "Who, the lords?"

  "Them and the pirates and their timing!" she growled. She struggled against him but then stopped. She turned in his arms but secretly felt better at his insistence in holding her. Sometimes she needed that even though she resented it.

  He rested his chin on her shoulder, his breath tickling her ear and cheek a little. "We'll get through it."

  She wasn't sure if he understood the implications or not. For the moment, she didn't care.

  ~~~^~~~

  Max tended to split up the daily and weekly check-ins, sometimes swapping out with Cecily or one of his seconds. He tended to love checking in with the hands-on projects, and Cecily knew he'd spend entirely too much time with them. Sometimes it was good; it could get the design team over a hump. But many times they got sidetracked by something or other.

  Along with the various projects and prototypes, they had to check on the industry going on in the capital. That was everything from the various subcontractors, the production lines, to the public works projects like the roads, sewers, and buildings under various stages of completion.

  She always deferred on the sewers and plumbing projects in favor of checking on the subcontractors. Since she was so good with talking with them and handling issues, Max humored her. Besides, it meant she could putter around the capital and be home for the kids in the evening.

  The subcontractors were still a new concept for some; they were used to cottage industry where someone built a product from start to finish or they built a section and then passed it on to another specialist.

  Cecily made a point of checking things, not just the end products but also the makings of it and safety record. The merchants and budding industrialists had learned that having a good safety record was important. It took time to train someone to do some of the more intricate jobs. Time meant money in the end.

  "Everything okay?" Marcus asked, coming over to her.

  She smiled politely and nodded. "Going quite well it seems. I hope we can get you the next phase upgrade by the next quarter, but it depends on how things go," she said.

  He nodded. They had broken the production plant updates down into phases, though Max tried to plan to incorporate for all of them from the beginning of the building design. Sometimes it worked; sometimes they had to retrofit something or other to make it work. But Marcus had seen enough of Max's results to want to continue to invest in the phase upgrades.

  It wasn't just that it made for a better product. It meant he was keeping up with demand and with the competition. Those two variables were important to him. Keeping his suppliers up to date was also an issue he had to constantly monitor.

  "I hear more industry is coming up for bid soon?" he asked hopefully.

  "We're still trying to get the servo motors sorted out. The building process is trickier than windings on a generator or DC motor," Cecily replied.

  Marcus blinked and then nodded. "But?"

  "But we're hoping to get it sorted out by the end of the year baring any more hiccups," she said.

  "Ah, splendid!" he said with a broad grin. "I'll start putting money away for the auction then."

  "Smart. It is a bit of a different logistics tail though; I can get you a list." He nodded. He always paid attention to her little tidbits. It helped him stay on top of the demanding contracts and line up additional ones.

  Marcus glared at someone who left their post to go elsewhere. The young woman headed into the bathroom with a hand over her belly. "I'll dock her pay," he muttered.

  Cecily grimaced. Getting the merchants to pay an adequate wage was an ongoing struggle. "She may be sick or have her monthly," she warned.

  Marcus glanced at her and then away.

  "You may want to consider paid sick time," she said.

  He turned with a glower. "Now why would I do that?"

  "I thought it strange too, but Doctor Carter and Max explained it to me some time ago," she said, tucking her arm in his to lead him to his office. "If someone is sick and comes to work, they could spread the virus to others. Their work would then suffer. Would you rather be down one worker for a few days or an entire line?"

  He cocked his head. "There is some wisdom in that statement," he said slowly.

  "Think about it. I'll sign off on the inspection sheet. I also have the schedule in my pocket, I can let you know when to come by for a look at the labs to see what we're working on next," she said.

  He chuckled.

  ~~~^~~~

  Once a month, Eugene held a series of seminars. There were different seminars for different subjects. The current topic of conversation were grocery stores; it was the last on his agenda before he had to see the legion off though.

  They were not just focused on a big box store, but the logistics involved that was needed to support a grocery or general store. He had spent the month dredging up memories of what he knew. He had even pulled in the other Terrans into the project as he usually did in order to get their memories and thoughts from them.

  From there he had come up with a basic business plan to pitch to the merchants.

  The Terrans usually joked about Walmart, and he'd teased Deidra mercilessly about wanting a mall, but he focused on a basic store. He explained how a general store worked through history, growing and taking on new stock to keep up with the times.

  It took time to explain having various people working together in one business as a partnership in a one-stop building. Most of the vendors preferred small specialist shops.

  He shifted to explaining about the architecture, how with Terran tech they could keep the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer and how they could keep the food cool in order to make it last longer.

  That certainly sparked some interest.

  Trying to explain how the infrastructure worked, like picking produce before it was ripe and then housing it in special warehouses that kept it that way was tricky. He wasn't at all sure they understood that.

  They did pick up on canning and bottles. Those had been introduced recently and were a hit.

  He knew that many of the merchants and lords who attended were people who just wanted to rub elbows with royalty and a Terran. But he tried to use that to his advantage, to give them some food for thought anyway.

  He saw that in a lot of the crowd at the current seminar. He tried not to let it get to him. He did notice that some of his concepts did fire the interest of a local sausage maker who wanted to expand to the point where he could sell his family's goods to other towns and cities. Eugene catered to that desire, explaining how he could sell in bulk to d
eli chains, inns, and in a grocery store and use marketing to further the family brand. He even got the large man intrigued on the idea of injecting cheese or other items directly into the center of the sausage.

  Some of the audience were not so sure the Terran concepts would work there. He had to admit, they were at least a generation out from it being self-sustaining. But he was laying the groundwork.

  "True, you don't have to follow in Patria's footsteps. You have your own path; we're showing you one that works in parts of our home."

  "Parts but not all?"

  "There are parts of Patria who have different cultures. They use smaller stores or they have other methods to sell food. Some barter for it. Some areas that are very remote are much like what you have here."