A new voice said, “Yes, I did, Poppa, and it’s an amazing feeling. But I had an instructor with me, the Pokoniry Kaelam.”
V’ming turned to show her gesturing to Kaelam, who entered with her, bowed and stood erect.
“She has flown the machine? The AG car?”
“Yes, she is a quick learner, and did very well,” Kaelam said.
“Of course. Thank you for the loan of your air car, the gesture is most generous.”
The kits began a clamor for an air car of their own, jumping up and about, as the princess embraced her father. He calmed everyone down, calling for refreshments, and asking the Pokoniry about the trip. With snacks and drinks before them, and after Princess Tarija greeted Hunter and Lori, they talked for a while about operating air cars.
“With such a device, there is no place in the kingdom I would not visit, sooner or later. And the kits with me. And you as well, Poppa. You could fly out with me in the morning, and be home by the dim for dinner in you own hall, here at Poinciana.”
“Yes. Well, perhaps soon, when the star travelers return with more. All are gone for now, alas, I hear.
“No, all but one,” Hunter said. “Princess Tarija, we have something for you, a parting gift in appreciation for your hospitality, and in anticipation of the continuation of the wise and honorable ruling of the kingdom of Tajmyr.” He removed a small wooden box from his carry-all, and said, “Nagoryi, will you bring this to you mother?”
Slowly, Nagoryi came and took the box, and carried it to the Princess, holding it high with both hands.
“Oh, what is this, it is not necessary,” she said, shaking her head, as she untied a golden ribbon and cracked open the box. She looked perplexed, her head rose to look at Lori, and then back at the inside of the box again. “And what is this small item, a credit card?”
“No, it is a key,” Hunter said, smiling.
“A key? To what?” the princess asked, holding the thin, narrow slip of plastic in front of her.
“It is the key to the air car you flew here. It is our final gift to you, and to the fair and just King V’ming. May it prove useful to you both in your future travels among your good people,” Lori said.
Her hands began to shake, the princess lifted the card in her right hand as the box slipped from her left, and hit the stone floor with a soft crash. She held it there, frozen in place, staring at the two humans.
“What does this mean, Mommy?” Nagoryi said.
Lori answered, “It means that the air car your mommy flew here is now hers. To keep. And to use, to fly anywhere she wishes. She will need some additional instruction, which Kaelam will provide, but we are sure she will master its operation, and enjoy it...”
The kits began jumping and shouting, calling out to everyone, racing around, and again imploring their grandfather to come and look at the air car, “Their” air car now.
“Well, I guess we should. Princess Tarija, are you able to show us this new gift from the star people?” the king asked.
She said nothing, just nodding, looking at Lori and Hunter, her posture one of speechless, shocked amazement, and as she stood, she went to Lori and Hunter and bowed deeply, rose and said, “Never have I received such a gift, one of such incredible value. I will treasure it, and the memory of those who granted it to me, forever.” She bowed once more, turned, and slowly led the way out of the room, down the corridor, and onto the open terrace where a blue and white air car sat in the sun. King V’ming followed on his floater. The kits raced ahead, and were sitting inside, clamoring for another ride when the rest of the royal party arrived.
Princess Tarija sat in the pilot’s seat, saying, “There is so much to remember.” Kaelam sat next to her, quietly coaching, as V’ming, Hunter and Lori entered and settled themselves. With a look over at them, Tarija lifted the air car, and began flying around the castle grounds. The kits sat next to the open windows, calling out to any and all below them, waving and pointing. Behind, and a bit above, Eagle One followed them.
“Poppa, I don’t think we can fit the floater in here, there isn’t enough room for that,” Sredne said.
V’ming waved a hand. “No matter. With this you can get close enough to anywhere I’d like to go, it will be easy enough for me to get out and stand or sit nearby. Amazing, for sure.” He turned to Lori and Hunter, saying, “Do you have any idea of the value of the gift you give us?”
“Oh, we think we do,” Hunter said. “And that is why we present it to you.”
After a time drifting about here and there in the vicinity of the king’s residence, they returned, to the annoyance of the kits. But the princess shushed them with promises of frequent trips in the brights to come.
Hunter and Lori soon took their leave, he studying the requests the king had handed them, and ranking them in an order to review, and perhaps pass on to others in the expedition. He choose only one for he and Lori to handle themselves.
Two days later, the loadmaster messaged Lori, and she called him for an explanation.
“Well, we had to do some rearranging here in the main hold. That container that princess shipped up here was larger than most of the others–didn’t fit well without moving some of the others around. It’s getting pretty tight...”
“What container? We didn’t expect anything else from below. What was in it?”
“You didn’t expect it? We’ll check it again, though security gave it a clean bill of health. It’s full of wine and liquor. Boxes and boxes of it. Pretty fancy stuff, from the names and the producers. Some are known to us, others not. But all are first class, no doubt. Want us to send it back?”
“Oh, no, no, it’s OK. A parting gift, bon voyage, I guess, from their royal highnesses. A big container, you say?”
“Yes. The stuff’s worth a fortune. What’d you trade for it, anyway?”
“Oh, another fortune, to them. Though I didn’t think they’d respond in any way...”
“Well, shows what we don’t know about them, ‘cause they surely did.”
“Good. First, send up a representative sample of what’s inside. Then make sure it’s well secured.”
“Oh it is, we did.”
Hunter looked up at her, hearing only her side of the conversation. She smiled and said, “Seems like the princess has taken my breath away, with an impressive gift of wine and various liquors, from the planet below. I didn’t expect that.”
“Hmm. Maybe we should break open a bottle or two, and sample it. But it doesn’t surprise me. They are royalty, after all.”
Chapter 30 - Oxbow Battle
As predicted, requests from numerous provinces arrived, each seeking the audience of the Sky Lady, each offering to outdo the others in welcome, honors, and gifts. Early on, Lori muttered, “We can be here for years at this rate,” and began delegating visits to all the other races, including the illi-illi. Especially the illi-illi, who, here on this planet, at least, even as perhaps the strangest of a strange lot of aliens, but one of them anyway, were equally accepted, and played their part with serious enthusiasm, dignity, and honor. They could not visit the colder areas, and much of the northern-most portions of the planet remained frozen in a lengthy winter, but traveled widely elsewhere, leaving the arctic-like areas to the other races.
Lori sent a holographic greeting with each ambassador, and as many gifts as could be produced from the dwindling stocks left on the ships in orbit. Little remained of any AG technology, and of course that was the prized item in most demand. Next came the technology itself, and by long tradition, and on-going consensus, it was denied by the travelers. Each planet needed to discover that for itself, as a standard by which to measure its ability, and readiness, to use that great technology to travel to and among the stars. But since demonstrating AG equipment, and vehicles, the sky people proved its existence, and that provided the clue, and the incentive, for the scientists, mathematicians, physicists, experimenters, tinkers, and inventors to proceed, and discover it for themselves. And then to in
tegrate it into the lives and cultures of the planet Magadana. And beyond.
Within a few weeks, four ships departed, headed back to their home planets, loaded with goods, and much mail, three from Earth, the Chinese ship Zhao Jian, the Arabella, from Brazil, and the Victor Trochkov, from Russia, along with the Nanus, from Florez. All but the Russian were basically cargo vessels, and not large at that. Most of the others would soon follow.
Pressed by the remaining ships as to her personal appearances, Lori, with Hunter and often Tarue, and Tari, made whirlwind tours, visiting several provinces in one bright, for brief, if memorable, stops. She made Tajmyr, and V’ming’s castle of Poinciana, a headquarters of sort, but stopped in at Val D’or in Cerskogo whenever in that area.
With the human days on the planet winding down, she returned again to visit King Angara and Queen Sayan one last time, landing beneath a clear, cold sky of crystalline blue. Greeted warmly as always, King Angara told her she should remain for a while more, as the long awaited spring approached rapidly, and he pointed to green sprouts poking through the soil close to the thick walls of the castle.
The small group soon sat in a sunny salon, sharing a light meal, watching the kits play in the shafts of sunlight on the stone floor, Eric in their midst. Part way through the event, a phone chimed, and Tari answered it, stepping away, her back to the party. She turned, eyes on Lori, and approached quickly.
“Sky Lady, trouble in Vorkyta–the lighter is attacked!” she said, handing the phone to her.
Lori gestured to Hunter, said, “On the screen,” and pushed the stud on the phone before putting it to her ear. Now everyone would see, and hear, what was said. “This is Lori,” she said, watching for an image on the flat screen.
Morales’ voice came on, high, excited, troubled, and his image shook on the screen. “We’ve been ambushed on approach to what we thought was a park preserve. It’s a god-damn military area, and they’re throwing everything they got at us. We’re hit, the AG is failing, the gyros gone, we’re going in.”
“Coordinates?” Lori said, “You have the coords?”
“On screen...”
“We’ll get help ASAP. Who’s with you?”
“Three Ixixil hagazzii. They’re taking a pounding, but fighting back...ah, here we go, hard landing.”
The image jarred, vanished, reappeared in tatters on the screen, something bright glowed a moment, someone shouted, “Fire! We’re on fire,” the image broke up again, they heard the sound of extinguishers going, the image came back on, clarified, smoke and CO2 fumes filling the screen. Morales reappeared, his battle cap askew, a cut on his face oozing blood, and he said, “We’re on the ground. In a little clearing, a meadow, or something. Shit is flying all around, but we’re intact. More or less. Still under air attack.” A rattle sounded, stopped. “They’re strafing us now. ETA?”
Lori had her radio out, standing and talking to Eagle One. “You have the coordinates for Morales?”
“Roger. Sixteen hundred kilometers south and a little west.”
“ETA if we leave immediately?”
“Six minutes.”
“Roger, stand by for immediate departure, battle mode,” she told it, and to Morales she said, “We’ll be there in seven minutes, hold on, can you?”
“Yeah, we will. Morales out.”
“Your highness, we must go, there is trouble south, with the Vorkyta...”
“May we help?”
“I don’t know, right now. You have any air power handy? That might be helpful. Tari, take the baby, we’ll send down a shuttle, get back to the Koya immediately, stay there, hear?”
“Yes, Sky Lady.”
“I’m with you,” Hunter said, and she knew it was useless to try to dissuade him, nor did she really want to, so she said as they hurried outside, “OK. You can help, call the fleet, get them moving, anything that flies with guns, get it down here, now, quick.”
“Right,” he said, pulling out his phone. “You think that’ll be necessary.”
“Yeah, I do, the bastards on this planet...Look, then find out where the hell Morales’ other lighter is, too, get it headed to him right away.”
They rushed outside, to see Eagle One sitting at the door, canopy back, floor storage lockers open, battle screens on display. Lori grabbed her flack vest and hat, flipped one to Hunter.
“Put this on and don’t take it off,” she said, buttoning her own. She slung the pistol belt under her arm, pulled the Browning, and chambered a round. Next, she lifted the FN laserifle, and the needle gun, checked the charges, and handed them to Hunter. She looked at the small group standing near her, and said, “We got to go,” caressed Eric’s head once, and hurried into the air car with Hunter, closed it up, and took off.
The air car vanished in a double thunderclap, instantly lost in the clear sky.
King Angara said, “Call my military council, send the air car to gather them up, we meet in the war room immediately. Put all the forces on alert, get the nearest air base scrambled everything they can. We fly to help the Sky Lady. Then call King V’ming, and inform him of developments.” An aide raced off back into the castle. The king lingered for a moment, looking south. “Those idiots in Vorkyta. I wonder if they realize what they have gotten themselves into.” Then he turned, and hurried back into the castle, bringing Tari and the baby with him.
With Eagle One’s radio, Hunter called the Koya, to alert it to developments, and get its help in organizing a relief party for Morales. Lori knew he’d need it. The ship found the second lighter, called it up and back, but it was a quarter way around the planet, couldn’t arrive for a hour or more. “Get it going, anyway. How about the other ships? Anyone got anything handy on the surface with guns?” she said.
“Yeah, the bigboys,” and Lori thought, Of course. “And the Pokos, too, maybe one or two. And the illi-illi. We got a few, but nothing handy.”
“Get them all up and going, all of them, pull them off of whatever they’re doing, Expedition Leader’s orders. Tell them I don’t want the embarrassment and dishonor of a military defeat as we near the end of our visit,” Lori said.
“Roger, we’re on it.”
“OK, and I need you to send an air car to Val D’or immediately, to pick up Tari and the baby.”
“We’ll get one right out.”
“We’re almost at the LZ, we’ll keep the channel open for visuals, out,” and Lori saw the smoke ahead, and knew they were almost into the thicket, and it was hot and bad. Several plumes of black smoke rose out of the cloud banks below, and as they watched, something flashed orange in the white, and more dark smoke rose.
They raced in, the screen showing three blue blips, friendly air cars, illi-illi all, and a swarm of orange dots, a maelstrom of color, a lopsided dog fight for sure.
As Eagle One slowed, Lori told it “Eagle One, attack targets of opportunity, your choice, help the friendlies,” she said, letting the air car take its own course.
Instantly, it swung right, and dropped down into and through the clouds, firing the HiE lazer once, and then again and again, dipping and turning, yawing left, and flying past the melee in the air counter clockwise, firing repeatedly, then flew backwards, firing some more.
Lori looked out, away from the confusion on the screens, and saw explosions and fire in the sky, and twisting plumes of smoke arcing towards the ground.
“The illi-illi are regrouping, we’ve helped even the odds, one illi-illi is hit, falling,” Hunter said, relaying what he saw on the screen.
“Eagle One, help the damaged illi-illi,” Lori said, trying to see it in the confusion outside. “Go to it now.” The air car jammed them into the seats with acceleration, zooming past dark pillars of smoke, then braked hard, and circled an air car trailing smoke spiraling downward being followed by two helicopters firing tracers and rockets at it. Eagle One targeted the second copter, and a bright HiE lazer flashed out, cutting it in half, it blew up, they flew through the smoke and debris, looking for the clos
er one. That craft swung around in a tight turn, and two missiles, bright dots, came on and flew toward Eagle One. The air car fired energy rounds at each, leaped upward, and fired at the copter, hitting it in the cockpit, which flashed white, and the copter tumbled over and dropped downward spewing flames and smoke.
They overflew the falling copter, circled and dropped downward toward the illi-illi air car, which impacted as they watched, a glancing hit, followed by a long slide into the dirt, leaving a dark streak of exposed soil behind. Eagle One stopped, not far from the fallen lighter, as dark smoke spewed upward. To their left, a falling copter hit the trees and exploded in a hemisphere of fire. An illi-illi tried to get out of the downed air car, seemed stunned, or pinned inside.
“Land me, I’ll help,” Hunter said, unbuckling his harness.
Lori checked the screen, maybe half the orange blips were gone, the two blue ones flew together, mixing it up with the bandits. “Manual,” she said, and slewed to a stop next to the illi-illi air car, and Hunter hopped out, ran over, and began pulling the canopy back. The pilot struggled, many legs flailing, and two missiles screamed in, both missing the air car, but sending dirt and steel flying all over. Meanwhile, Eagle One dispatched two cambots, they zipped overhead, and separated.
“Eagle One, where’d those missiles come from?” The air car swung around, and highlighted a new helicopter, racing in at them from over the trees, orange flashes at its sides, more missiles, bright dots, aglow against the sky. “Engage, engage,” Lori yelled as tracers flashed by them. Eagle One darted up and to the left, firing the HiE lazer and the energy weapon, and the copter flew right into it. Flames blasted forward toward them, arcing to the ground, and the copter followed them down, crashed and twisted and flipped over, burning hotly a scarce forty meters away.
Lori looked to the side to see Hunter and the pilot crouched behind the downed air car. She flew sideways toward them, stopped, and both jumped inside.
“Damn, Lori, you got to take charge here, you can’t be doing this individual combat...”
T-47 Book II (Saxon Saga 6) Page 59
