Princess Rescue Inc (11 page)

“Doctor
Roshenko, a moment of your time,” Ryans said looking up. The doctor came out
and adjusted his coat before coming over. “A consult if you please,” Ryans
waved to the sword.

“Interesting,”
the Geologist and Metallurgist said, eying the blade. “May I?” he asked holding
his hands out expectantly.

“By
all means,” Perry said, handing the blade over. The metallurgist studied it for
a moment. “Yes, it does have the hall marks of a katana, note the etching...
it's actually due to clay that they use to coat the back of the blade. It
creates a temperature differential that is used in the final quenching to give
it a hard edge and yet a soft back... two grades of steel are normally used. It's
normally folded in a billet... fascinating... It also gives it that curve...
fascinating...”

Perry
smirked. “Glad he's happy. I'm going to check the perimeter.” He shook his
head, walking off. Ryans shrugged then watched the doctor studying the blade
for a moment, then turned his attention to the doctor and the two survivors.

<==={}------------>

“Their
names are Zara and Deidra. The oldest is Deidra,” Doc said over the link.
“We're making some progress. It's tough though. They are definitely royalty.
Princesses I think.”

“Keep
at it Doc,” Ryans said, looking over to her nodding politely to the three women
and then turning back to check the perimeter. The military personnel were
getting a little nervous about being in such an exposed area. They were going
to need to move soon. He glanced at Perry. They'd need a destination first,
time for another planning session.

<==={}------------>

Nate
the biologist was intrigued by the reptilian beasts that the raiders had been
riding. “Primitive... almost dinosaur... look at the leg structure! The hips
and spines!” He pointed excitedly to one of the bipedal creatures. “They have a
sexapod limb structure. I wonder how their shoulders and hips are arranged...”

“A
what?” Perry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Sexapod,
it means six in Latin,” Nate answered distracted. The girls looked up at them
then back to the doctor.

“Well,
go with hex. It's less... of a problem,” Perry replied, clearly amused. He knew
what his soldiers would think of that whole sex thing.

“Very
well. The animals have a six limb arrangement but are bipedal. The upper two
pair of limbs seems to share a joint shoulder socket. I wonder if it split or
something further back on the evolutionary tree? The skin folds seem to be like
a rhino's... Oh!”

He
stepped back as one of the animals bent forward then went on all fours. It
groaned then lay down in front of him. He looked at it warily. The animal
snuffled then blew a trail of snot. Foam was crusted around its nostrils.

Zara,
the younger girl with the leaf tiara came over giving them an amused look. She
hugged herself as she approached and then passed them to get to the animal's
side. She rubbed its jowls, and then its multi eyebrows. The creature uruphed
and harrumphed at her. That got a slight smile out of the girl. She then patted
its side and touched its small upper arms until she reached the saddle bags.
She untied and flipped the cover up on one, then fished out a treat and fed it
to the creature. She rubbed at its brow ridges until it gave an umbling sound
and multiple eyelids closed. After a moment all six eyes were shut and it was
making snoring sounds.

“Fascinating,
to have domesticated a non Terran beast... It's quite strong too!” Nate said
watching the girl and taking video with his digital camera. Sergeant Waters
snorted. “It moves like a hadrosaur I'm sure,” the Doc murmured. By the way the
Doc was dancing around the camera footage was going to be next to useless later
Waters thought. He shrugged at the thought, it wasn't his problem. He looked
around to the perimeter, checking it instinctively.

Zara
pointed to bluish grass near the edge of the tree line. “Veno. Veno,” she said
something to Nate. He went to get some but she grabbed his hand. She told him
Veno again, shaking her head but he didn't understand. She waved her hands then
made hissing sounds.

“She's
telling you don't touch it Nate,” Ryans said catching on. “That's what you mean
right? Danger?” he asked pointing to the grass then making a slitting motion
across his neck. Her eyes were wide. He pointed again and said her word. “Veno
right?” he asked. She nodded, eyes clearing. “Latin for poison, root word for
venom gotcha,” he said, looking at the tablet.

“Yeah,”
he nodded then touched his throat mike. “Safety tip people, steer clear of the
bluish grass. Toxic.”

Mary
looked up in surprise. “A toxic grass? How unusual!” She went over to the tree
line. Zara tried to warn her but she waved the warning off and then made a show
out of putting on gloves and pulling a sample bag and giant plastic tongs out
of her kit. She took a few samples and then bagged them carefully.

“There,
something to look at when things quiet down.” She looked over to the
lieutenant. “We are moving on soon I hope?” she asked, indicating the animals.
He nodded. A group of soldiers and civilians were burying the bodies of the boy
and his servants in a nearby ditch. The bodies of the raiders were left to rot
for the scavengers.

“Their
base language is some form of garbled Latin or Celtic with a smattering of
Chinese. But a lot of words are popping up as unknowns...  We're getting
about a ten percent proper translation. I'd say the universal translator needs
work,” Sue said as she helped Deidra to her feet. The girl brushed at her
shredded dress in distaste. She didn't shy away from the people around her like
her sister did but she did growl and make it clear she didn't want any of them
especially the men getting any closer to her than necessary.

“The
system's not set up to poll multiple languages libraries at the same time probably.
When we settle down I'll tweak the AI to open the other language libraries,”
Sydney said coming over. “Once we have a base context we can build the database
and it'll be easier. I've set up all our bluetooth’s to translate through our
tablets... as long as we remember to keep them charged.” He gave Doc a dirty
look. She nodded. His eyes were wide as he filmed the scene. “Sorry about Ben,
he was a nice guy.”

“Yeah,
he was,” Perry said nodding. “Stupid though. He should have waited.” Sydney
turned to object but Ryans shook his head.

“Shit
happens. Sometimes there isn't anything we can do but get an umbrella and a big
roll of TP. Let's get moving,” he ordered, waving to the trucks.

<==={}------------>

They
buried the dead, righted the carriage, and put the women in it just as a pair
of refugees  came from up the road. They were immediately pressed into
service, as were the horses and reptilian animals of the late raiders. The
princesses rode off without a word. “Well that's some thanks,” Perry said
disgusted. A few moments later they heard an animal's scream and then a
woman's.

“I
knew it was too good to be true,” he said in disgust running to the vehicles.
They rushed off to find the women trapped and encircled by more raiders.

Perry
grimaced and fired a single shot over their heads. The raiders paused and then
looked at him in shock and surprise. He fired a second shot, this time at the
feet of the leader of the raiders. The man looked wide eyed at the dirt kicked
up by the shot. The animals were bucking in their traces, those riding them
were having all they could do to control their beasts, and weapons remained in
their scabbards or on the ground where they had dropped them.

“Think
it over red,” Ryans snarled.

The
red haired, red bearded giant looked around and then snarled something. He
turned his beast to leave. Just as they were about to relax he spun it in
place. He reached for his scabbard but Ryans fired. The man tottered in the
saddle clutching his chest and then fell. The military personnel fired as well,
picking off the other raiders in short one or three shot bursts.

“I'd
say that did it,” Perry said looking at the body. Most of the animals had gone
off into the bush when the weapons fire started. A few were dragging the bodies
of their riders.

“Yeah,”
Ryans sighed, seeing the girls looking at him. He shrugged. The other two
refugees were huddling together on the roof of the coach. They looked from him
to the women and then back. They looked a little pale.

One
of the carriage mounts was dead. That presented a problem he realized. The
ladies apparently didn't want to leave the carriage so they climbed out and
then they ordered the two refugees down.

“What
are they doing?” Perry asked as the refugees dismounted and began to strip the
tack off the dead beast. One of the other mounts nudged them, then its partner,
making mournful noises. The woman cooed, patting its nose then pushing it away.
It looked away and faruped.

“Getting
down to business,” Ryans replied turning away to the Terrans. He was putting
labels on his people, Terrans versus raiders with these native people stuck in
the middle. “We should do the same. It's obviously not safe here.” He looked
around. One of the refugees looked at a wounded mount and said something to the
princesses. The women looked out then climbed out to touch the beast.

It
had cross bow bolts stuck in its side. Its blood was dripping down. It was
trying to pull the bolts out with a hand and its mouth, but was failing. One
clawed hand splintered one of the bolts. It cried out piteously in pain,
throwing its head up and then bellowing.

“That
did it,” Perry muttered as the other animals became restless. “Just what we
don't need, a wounded alien critter.” He started forward drawing his weapon as
the younger woman, Zara came running forward and hugged the huge creature.

She
stroked it for a moment. Perry got to her just as one of the refugees tried to
pull the bolt out. The creature bellowed in agony and threw its body around,
thrashing in pain.

“Look
out girl!” Perry said grabbing the girl and pulling her away as the head
snapped at her. She cried as the animal screamed and lunged forward.

The
others were caught off balance. Startled, with the scent of blood in their nose
and their herd mate screaming in pain the other creatures panicked, lunging
down the trail.

Deidra,
caught off guard fell back from the carriage step into Eugene's arms. He helped
her to her feet. She angrily shook off his helping hands and said something like
unhand me. He grimaced, holding his hands up and backing away. She turned to
the unmanned carriage.

The
carriage bounced down the trail with the refugees yelling and running in hot
pursuit. It hit the bend of the trail and smashed into a pair of trees. Ryans
winced in mute sympathy. The splintered yoke snapped, the animals continued on
oblivious, leaving the wrecked carriage behind them.

The
girls stared stunned, the refugees as well. One was bent over, huffing in
distress, clearly out of breath. Zara threw herself into Perry's arms, weeping
bitterly. He hugged her and patted her shoulders awkwardly. “Well, that
sucked,” he muttered watching the refugees shake their heads and head back. One
kicked a stone in disgust.

“What
now?” he asked looking over to Ryans. He turned as well to see Deidra climbing
into a hummer.

“Guess
they ride with us,” Ryans said dryly as he looked over his shoulder to Deidra,
sitting prim and proper, head elevated, every inch a princess in charge. He
shook his head; he for one wasn't going to argue with the woman. “Come on
folks; let’s get the hell out of here. I for one have had enough excitement for
one damn night.”

“I'll
take care of them,” Doc said softly. “Come on kid, let’s get you fixed up. I've
got a washcloth and a chemical toilet with your name on it... then we can get
you an MRE.” She wrapped an arm over the other girl's shoulder and gently
guided Zara away from Perry towards the camper. Deidra noted their path and got
out to follow.

<==={}------------>

“Where
are we going now?” Zara asked, looking back to Deidra as the healer urged her
into the strange large carriage.

“With
them of course,” Deidra said. The man and woman followed her.

Inside
the metal carriage she looked around in amazement. There were strange torches
in the ceiling, bright white unlike anything she'd ever seen before. The walls
were thin and white with wood paneling on what looked like cupboards. 
There were seats as well, and seats in the front. There was a glass wall,
something she didn't understand. A man was seated in front, behind a wheel. He
said something to the healer.

“Strange,”
she murmured looking around. The healer closed the door and pushed the peasants
into a seat. Deidra and Zara sat in another seat. She turned to the driver and
said something. After a moment the strange contraption rumbled to life and
began to move.

The
healer turned and opened a small door and pulled out clear bottles. She used a
hand to pop the top off one and handed it to Zara before giving another to
Deidra and then finally one each to the peasants.

<==={}------------>