by Pam Uphoff
The Fed's gun barked six times with no obvious effect, then the creature's head flew off, then the legs. Eldon lowered his empty left hand and resumed his strolling pace.
"Pity they're so tough and gamey. They sure are easy to catch."
Kegler lowered his gun. "This is why you suggested rifles."
"One reason. They seem to avoid the camp down there, I think they don't like the fire smell."
The people in the camp were all looking up hill, and a couple of them grabbed a long bundle and headed up. Eldon rocked back on his heels and waited for them.
"Hey, Eldon, you get another one? This is the first we've seen all week. You and your friends hungry?" The two boys looked more like high school students than college. One white, one black. Both with rifles.
"I expect we will be soon enough. Need a hand?"
"Very funny." The black one unrolled something that looked like a fat stretcher, and they rolled the bird onto it.
It took eight men to haul the carcass down to the fire. The girls there attacked it with huge knives and had several roasts spitted over the coals in moments. They hauled the guts down to the river and washed them.
"We're experimenting with sausage making." The elegant black girl explained. She'd had a rifle over her shoulder, but leaned it carefully against a tree before she started sloshing out bird guts.
"You're pretty brave, camping out here with those things roaming around." Phil eyed one of the girls, who couldn't possibly be in college. She was wearing cutoffs, a shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a shoulder holster.
"Oh yeah. Isn't it cool! I shot a wolf all by myself yesterday. And we've got live traps out for the eohippuses. Can you imagine what my paleontology professor is going to say when he sees one?" The young one looped cleaned intestine over her shoulder like a rope and staggered back toward the fire.
There were several more dogs around the camp. Mostly large, a couple of pit bulls and one small fluffy poodle.
"Holy Toledo." Branard shook his head in disbelief. "And you kids are pioneering out here on the weekends?"
"Oh, we live here all the time now. Much cheaper than the dorms. Walk a mile uphill to the tower and gate over for classes. Drives my parents crazy. I had to tell them the apartment building had too much metal in it or something and that was why my cell never works at night." The black girl shrugged. "Sooner or later I'll have to tell them." She eyed their party and wrinkled her nose. "This is looking a bit like sooner. Eldon! They'll be pouring through here in trucks, next."
"Ah, if they ask nicely I'll open another Gate a bit away from here. Maybe this one can be, like, the University's." Eldon looked askance at the intestines. "You don't want those for sausages, you want that thin little outer membrane. Trust me." He glanced back at the cops. "I keep telling them they're going to freeze their asses off when winter sets in properly, and they're definitely in the floodplain, but so far the weather's been mild."
Kegler returned to the Magic Shop long enough to make some phone calls. Phil decided that arresting Eldon wasn't his job and returned to work . . . with frequent visits through the Magic Shop.
Over the next month government people came and went, first through the Magic shop, then through another gate Eldon opened in the University. Scientists with telescopes spent the nights doing something, and then claimed that this World was forty million years younger than their own.
The Feds grumbled about access, and took Eldon away for a day.
"I opened another gate that isn't infested with kids." Eldon said, grinning at the dog sitting attentively at Lanton's heels. The Houston cop had stayed the whole time, apparently under orders to keep Eldon corralled.
Lanton shrugged. "I had a great dane when I was a kid. He reminds me of him."
"The nuisance followed me home one day. Consider him a gift, from me to you." Eldon headed down the slope to the camp.
It had doubled in size and Phil had noticed some bristling between the kids who thought it was theirs and the professors who thought the children should follow orders and be kept safe. And disarmed.
Eldon had a pow wow with the kids and they all started moving. Upstream and uphill to a site with a tall hill to the north, only a quarter mile to the tower and gate. They started stockpiling firewood and constructing something much nearer the tower. Winter coming soon. The blocks they were stacking were fitting together quite well. Must have bought cement blocks or something.
"So, what are you going to do with him?" Phil looked over at Lanton.
"The dog or the pervert?"
"Umm, I was wondering about the dog, actually. He seems pretty smart."
Jerry nodded. "Yep. He's learned everything I've tried to teach him, and I've seen him take down a terror bird all by himself. Eldon made a dog house for him, and then invisiblized it. Stuck it in a 'bubble,' with nothing showing except the handles. 'So I can take him anywhere' he said.
“But I think I should leave him here with the kids. Have you seen their pack of dogs? Every kind imaginable. A couple of them had puppies last week. With a strong resemblance to this guy. Funny thing is, the owners swear they'd been spayed. It reminds me of that mess in Houston with the Demon of Jones Creek. Half the women had implants, a couple were post menopausal, and one had had a hysterectomy."
"You know, I always discounted that stuff on the websites. About the demon."
Jerry snickered. "I'd say only ten percent is true. I keep asking Eldon about stuff. He swears that he can cure cancer, and regrow amputated limbs. All the Federal Agencies are freaked out by his 'potions.' They'll have to be tested and licensed, same as any other medical treatment. The big pharmaceutical companies are worried because he says he mostly copied them. They aren't his own invention. There's got to be something we can do with the man that's more useful than treating him like a criminal, but we've got about seventy rape charges lined up."
"Ouch. Well, the Demon of Jones Creek . . . " Phil trailed off.
"Yeah. Most of his victims were out trolling for the demon, and put the 'rape' pictures up on the internet. But a few of the early charges are from women who were just out jogging. Except a lot of them went back for seconds and thirds.
“The one woman who's got the best case against him won't cooperate. She had cancer, and a hysterectomy when she was twelve. She got out of his magic love spell or something, fought him, kicked him and ran away. But now she says it was a miracle, her baby girl's a miracle, and no way in hell will she help put Eldon behind bars.
“So we don't have much of a court case against him, but he really is a rapist." Lanton turned to watch as the dog trotted off, nose in the air. "And he's been horribly cavalier with the kids' safety. Speaking of which, I think there's been a bit of a seasonal migration, we've had an influx of predators this last week."
"What about the Denver jewelry robberies?"
"The leader, Brian, and several other guys. Not Eldon, Heso or the four women."
Phil snorted. "Glad to hear that. The, umm, semi-riot and orgy here was a lot like the stuff on the internet about the Demon of Jones Creek. People catching him, and then finding it's actually the other way around. They figured they'd make a killing with his 'magic' potions. Instead they got samples."
Lanton grinned. "And it never occurred to them that they might not be able to duplicate them. For my sins, I let him talk me into trying some. Just about blew the top off my head. Definitely not safe to drive while under the influence of."
Phil nodded. "I was one of the second wave of responders to the orgy. Got pulled into a fountain in front of the house, swallowed some water while trying to not drown, and then it was party time. All the tests since claim it's just plain old water. Brenard drove me home, and I forced him to drink some of my fountain water, and then my wife . . . Brenard was in the process of selling everything he owned, before checking into a hospice. Now his doctor can't find a trace of cancer anywhere. I think we need to track Eldon home and introduce ourselves to the non-criminal people over there."
/>
Lanton nodded. "Some government people have suggested that I keep my eyes open for pretty much exactly that opportunity. Eldon seems to think they can find him."
***
Xen stepped through his gate carefully.
I ought to have checked out this world last month. If it's the smuggler sisters, no problem. The Hors? I need to find out what they're up to. Because there are three gates now, all between the same two worlds.
Two of the unknown gates were moderately near. Pig and Barracuda were looking around for their new friends and looking disappointed.
"Sorry, next week we'll be back to work with the Oners. Until then we're hunting down a gate that's here . . . probably less than a hundred miles. This is as close as I could get without risking landing right on top of it." He opened another bubble as he talked, letting Pyrite out. "So. Lots of dangerous animals around, and possibly the Hors de Combat."
Pyrite nodded and looked around. :: Pretty world. Let's go find the gate. ::
The four of them were apparently scary enough to keep the predators away. But Pyrite had to stop and watch the eohippus proto-horses. :: Can I have one for a pet? ::
:: Like some people keep monkeys? ::
:: Weird little horse-like things are funnier. But I'm kind of busy. :: The horse shook his mane and galloped on.
Xen picked up human mental activity and they slowed. Warped light.
Young. Male and female, camping along a river. Lots of guns and modern camping equipment.
"Wait till Eldon sees this one!" A boy held a spear aloft. The point was metal, and there was a cross piece . . .
:: Eldon. Damn . . . but . . . what the heck are they going to do here? Another way-point from which to raid? ::
:: They don't look like bad guys. :: Pyrite snorted and the dog sniffing at his invisible hooves backed off to bristle and circle Pig.
:: No they don't. The gate is mile away up the hill . . . I'll bet it's in that tower. Let's go see if its got bad guys. ::
It was empty. Except for the gate to another world.
He bubbled the horse and dogs before he slipped through and into a small room full of magic charms. Xen felt a few. Nothing objectionable. Eased out into an alley, down to a moderately busy city street.
He closed his eyes and took a long hard look.
No other gates. But then they probably realize we can see them.
He pulled out a strong unnoticeable spell for a walk around . . . or better yet backing into the alley and waiting for the familiar figure he'd spotted down the street.
Eldon ambled down to the magic store and shrugged to find it unlocked. He propped the door open and set out a sign. Sat cross-legged on the floor for meditation. Then moved behind a desk and started some fumbling attempts at mage exercises.
Lots of power, piss poor training. Lots of power.
Xen leaned on the wall and watched for a long moment. "Well, you don't look like you're planning a crime spree."
Eldon froze . . . closed his eyes, opened them. "Still can't see through your spells. Hi, Xen."
Xen snuffed the unnoticeable spell.
"So what are you doing here?"
"Watching football. Then we got bored—me and Heso—so we figured we'd, you know, do something that would keep us from getting dangerously bored."
"What about Rior and Jade?"
"Eh. None of my business. Falchion made a gate for us, then closed it. I . . . should never go back . . . but . . . "
"But the Hors de Combat are all you've got?"
"Pretty much."
"So . . . what about this gate?"
"I made it." Eldon's pride faded into uncertainty as he eyed Xen.
Xen pinched the bridge of his nose. Eldon. Making gates. He eyed the younger man. "And the other two?"
"Yeah, the university couldn't get their equipment through the door, and then the Feds wanted one too."
"Be careful . . . and if you need to close a gate, the best method is to grab another fast spinning cone and ram the joined cones."
"Oh . . . yeah that would be handy . . . umm . . . There are these like electric tornado snakes. Are those the powered gates?"
Xen nodded. "Earth and the Empire."
"I keep looking at this weird little world . . . they've got them too."
"Helios. The Cannibal World." Oh bloody Hell! Eldon can see that far? That well? "Don't go there, you wouldn't like the reception."
He shoved away from the wall and rounded the desk. Eldon shoved back, quivering on the edge of doing something. Xen stepped back through the gate and out of the tower.
Eldon edged after him.
"What about the kids?"
"College students. They think it's a great lark. I've thinned out the local predators, and they've got guns." Defensive tones in his voice, worry. But neither guilt nor indifference.
No one killed yet. At least he's doing something to lower the risk.
Xen looked back at him. "The general consensus is that if any of you live honestly and don't force us to take notice . . . we won't."
Eldon winced. "I don't think Rior and Jade can stop. They're . . . twisted."
Xen nodded. "I know. You really ought to find someplace you can belong, without them."
He let the dogs and Pyrite out. Mounted and rode away.
Eldon. Opening gates. All that brute strength, no finesse at all.
Old Gods, Eldon, you'd better stay honest.
Because I think trying to capture you could be very very difficult.
And dangerous.
Chapter Sixteen
Technically speaking, a cross dimensional no-no
10 Muharram 1405 yp
Disco HQ, Embassy
"I'm inclined to do nothing what-so-ever." Lon Hackathorn looked around the table. "But what sort of a precedent does that set? We are, after all, supposed to prevent cross-dimensional raids."
"Hmm, and even raids to prevent more raids." Xen was letting his anger show. "Urfa says they haven't lost any more students—that they know of."
Lon eyed him . . . decided to say it. "And it's not like you haven't blown up a few gates, yourself."
"Pre-Disco. But yes." Xen looked around the table. "As an officer of my nation, and under the express orders of my commander, I have, personally committed cross-dimensional raids. With mass fatalities, in the case of destroying the Earth's gate. After which, the need for diplomacy was very clear."
Lon nodded. "Destroying the Helios's gate was a reasonable reaction to their raids. And Helios is an ongoing problem that we are working on . . . and we have no more moral standing than the Empire in this matter. We have to stop both sides, to stop this escalating into a cross-dimensional war. Does anyone have any new ideas about how to stop the main belligerent party? One with a recent history of killing entire planetary populations?"
Shaken heads all around. Q winced. "Kill all the Helaos."
Lon paused. Shit. They'll all die if their planet merges . . . and there are no people available for them to merge with. And we'll do our damnedest to make sure there are no people they can merge-kill.
He took a deep breath. "And how should we respond to the Empire's actions?"
Chris Hanger snorted. "My world has a method for responding to things like this. We must verbally castigate the One World for this illegal raid, and send them a warning letter written in blunt, harsh language to not do it again."
Puzzled looks all around.
Xen eyed him. "Chris . . . that won't do anything."
"Exactly. But we have made our non-approval clear. Mind you, sooner or later we'll have to smack someone down. But settling a precedent of warn once, then smack would be useful."
Lon leaned back and nodded. "Yes. Pity though, that our first use is going to be against a polity we have no intention of smacking—and will probably wind up helping."
Q shook her head. "That will just show that we've got common sense."
"Right . . . So, let's work on this harsh letter . . . "
>
***
" . . . and then they said that they were sending an observer, and demanded that we give him full access to anything he wants to see." Ambassador Ashe leaned back with a thin smile. "Director Hackathorn said they'd send their top agent—Xen Wolfson."
Urfa blinked. "That's . . . an interesting response."
Orde was grinning. "Brilliant. They haven't ignored a cross-dimensional raid, and they've set a precedent of sending an observer whom we all know can do just about anything he wants. But Hackathorn must know that we trust Xen and doubt he will disapprove of anything further we do."
"Knowing Xen, he'll approve, and like as not help, making it a Disco operation, if we have to do something again." Urfa grinned. "Of course your public response will be to deny that we've done anything wrong and demand that their observer get his ass over here and see for himself."
"And your top agent can keep a sharp eye on him."
Down the table, Rael, being in uniform, didn't giggle. Obviously suppressed a grin. But her eyes were bright.
***
"Tsk, tsk. You've been very naughty." Xen grinned at the reception committee. "Now, are you checking to be sure they don't rebuild? Rhetorical question. If they make much progress, please let me take care of it. Disco needs to not leave ourselves open to charges of favoritism, the next time we give a warning, and then physically block a further attack."
"Block it how?" Ajki looked curious.
"Most likely by taking down gates—Fortunately there are only five worlds that can make their own, so far. In the case of you or the Earth, well, we demonstrated the soft block last year. Disco's never gone for a hard block, but Comet Fall did take out Earth's gate facilities in the worst possible way . . . eight years ago. I'd rather not do it again. So if they start building, I'll take it down before it's operational."
