Princess Rescue Inc (44 page)

“When
it is cold and we have snow,” Deidra murmured, eyes narrowed in thought. “The
oceans and coast lines are battered with terrible storms in the summer time. Is
that because of this?” she waved to indicate the model.

Ryans
nodded; glad she was picking it up and no longer bored. “Right. The tides, the
in and out pull of the waves are controlled by your moons and the gas giant.
They constantly tug and pull at each other with gravity. The force that makes
things fall.”

“Ah,”
Deidra blinked looking lost. He held up a spoon then handed it to her. “Drop
it.”

She
blinked again, then did so. It fell to the floor and clattered. “See the force
that pulls the spoon down is called gravity. Every object has it. Even the
suns.” He tapped each fruit. “They are so big and so strong that they pull the
planets around them in a circle or ellipse. Around and around.” He used his
hands to move the planet models around in circles.

“But
this pull also causes weather?” the wife asked.

Ryans
nodded. “Right. As they pull and as the air gets hotter or cooler it moves
around. This moving around causes some of your weather. Also, when the sun
warms the water it evaporates some of the water into the air. This steam rises
into the air and forms your clouds. When the clouds hit cold air the steam
turns suddenly into...”

Zara
grinned. “Rain!”

“Or
snow depending on the season,” the husband said smiling and nodding to the
princess. “Indeed a most illuminating discussion.”

“Yeah,
learning new things is intoxicating,” Ryans smiled.

“How
will this help us?” Deidra asked slowly. She waved to the model on the floor.
The astronomers looked crestfallen.

Ryans
smiled slightly and nodded to her. “Well, for one thing, having a better
understanding of your world and how it works makes it easier to understand and
predict things. How long a winter will be, when weather will peak, and so on.”

“Ah.
So we can predict weather?”

“Well,
if we could get science teams out then you could create an almanac. Later if we
could get satellites up we could launch them to orbit this world to watch the
weather and predict it.”

“Ah,”
Deidra nodded. She wasn't sure what he meant but she had heard of satellites
before. She just wasn't sure what they were and was determined not to ask.

“It
may not be an immediate thing but it will help in the long run princess,” he
said. She shrugged.

“But
in the short run we can look into applying what we know to make better tools.
Both for astronomy and for vision, to see far,” he pointed to the primitive
telescope. The class nodded as one.

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

Some
of the lords in house had heard about the technical wonders. They demanded the
Terrans and da Vincis set up various luxuries in their own castles and homes.
Perry was disgusted by the distraction. “Let's fight the raiders off first
folks, the luxuries can wait,” he snarled in court. His voice was gruff from
his poisoning.

Reluctantly
Duke Rojer agreed. The Queen did so as well. She pulled the Terrans aside and
told them they had a problem. With the King ill the Duke was taking on more and
more power. With their young son dead there was an inheritance problem. “The
succession is in doubt. In short my standing, our standing is in jeopardy.”

Perry
pointed to the princesses sitting in the courtyard below with their ladies in
waiting. The Queen disagreed with a hearty sigh and a flutter of her feathered
fan. They heard swords clashing and looked. Zara, the youngest princess was
practicing. Perry pursed his lips. “Real firebrand you've got there,” he
muttered.

The
Queen chuckled in appreciation. “My thanks. Our daughters have always stood
out. We have warrior women, but the demands of womanhood are different to
manhood.”  In truth her daughters had had only a passing interest in arms
before their recent misadventure. Now both were showing keen interest in arms,
much to her dismay. The distraction was eating into the time they could use to
help cosset and spy on the lords.

He
nodded. “Medieval society, so it’s patriarchal right?” he asked. She looked
confused. “Only the King can rule? They won’t accept you? Even though you’re
the rightful heir?” he asked softly.

She
hesitated and then nodded looking away. “When the King dies.” Her voice caught
and she looked away. She folded the fan and clenched it for a long moment.

“When
Andreas passes the throne passes to our next in line. Since Balthazar is dead
and the girls are not married...” She looked away. “His uncle Duke Rojer has a
claim to the throne,” she said. She sighed, shoulders hunched.

“Which
is bad?” Perry asked. Damn it now he was worried. Rojer was nice to your face but
he'd caught some of the guy's smarmy looks. He was a snake, he'd fit right in
with some of the bottom dwellers.

“He's...
not very good. He's more interested in his own selfish interests than the good
of the people. Or the Imperium,” she hesitantly said. “He's Machiavellian, but
not anywhere near the level he thinks he's at. Court intrigue would swallow him
alive. While he was caught up in it the Imperium would suffer from neglect or
from his cronies' mismanagement,” she said looking away. Perry snorted eying
her. “We need an heir,” she finally admitted and then sighed.

“Are
your girls betrothed?” Perry asked, looking out the balcony once more. The
metal on metal clashing had stopped. Zara was now kneeling at the feet of a
swords master with her opponent. They cleaned their blades while listening
quietly to his critique.

“No,
the betrothals were broken. Zara would have married Günter, but he died from an
infection when he was eight. Deidra was to marry Rojer's eldest son Luthor but
he died in a hunting accident last year,” she grimaced. “It's not good for the
blood to marry so close to the bloodline. I hadn't wanted it but Andreas had
worked out a deal for Rojer's support early in his reign,” she sighed, looking
away and biting her lip.

“It's
put a strain on the family. Rojer wanted her to marry his youngest son, but she
put that down firmly,” the Queen said. She didn't sound like she blamed her
daughter. She shook her head. “I can't blame the girl, after all, being
betrothed to a filius? Quadrimus?” She looked like she was ready to snarl. It
took a moment for the translator to pars that out. A four year old, he thought.
Yeah he couldn't blame the girl. “With her uncle as regent? The babe wouldn't
live to take the throne,” the Queen continued.

Perry
nodded. “Talk about robbing the cradle,” he sighed in sympathy. “So that’s it?”

She
looked away again, this time at a tapestry, and then seemed to come to a
decision. “There is another law. Newcomers are important. Gaijin like you and
Ryans. Fresh blood for the bloodline is sacrosanct. We need it,” she said with
stubborn determination. He was a little surprised that they were so
knowledgeable about inbreeding. “Coupled with the three rescues... there is
precedence. Vitas Sodalis.” She looked to Ryans as he sat quietly near the
doorway.

“Oh
hell, now we're talking about robbing the cradle,” he said gruffly, looking up
from a paper he had been reading. He had been trying to ignore where the
conversation had been going but that last bit had and a kick under the table from
Perry had drawn his attention to it. Perry gave him a look. “Besides, your
daughter may do it out of duty, but I have
no
intention of remaining
here for long,” he snarled. “I have no intention of being put on the throne,
waiting for someone to stick me in the back or poison me,” he growled, waving
to Perry who winced. “And I don't want to live in a loveless marriage. Deidra
has made it clear she wants no part of me.” He shrugged then got up and paced.
The Queen's lips pursed then she sighed patiently.

“From
our records the portal skips around on both sides. It could end up anywhere,”
she said softly.

Perry
nodded. “The ensign told us that. We'll have to wait and see next year. We've
got some gear to detect it, and a general idea on how to contain it. Besides,
if the others on the other side don't hear from us they'll send help right?” He
looked over to Ryans.

Ryans
frowned and then shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not, it depends on money and
politics,” he said. Perry winced.  He sighed at Perry's disgusted look. “I
know the rule about not leaving a man behind Perry, but the powers that be,
hell even I wouldn't send people through without some intel. For all they know
the next batch could end up floating in space somewhere. Or in the middle of an
ocean, it was sheer dumb luck we ended up on that plateau. If we don't report
back...”

Perry
nodded. “A meat grinder. Like sending good money after bad. I gotcha,” he
sighed running his hand through his hair.

“Well,
I need to talk with the general, we're working on an intel dump, we should have
something of a briefing later today,” Perry said after a moment. He got up and
stretched. Ryans nodded. “Sergeant Waters said some of the guards are coming
along. He wanted to pair them up with some of our boys and girls and do some recon
and hit and run,” Perry said as he gave the Queen a look, and then turned the
questioning look on Ryans.

 Ryans
shrugged, lips twisting into a wry smile. “You're the military expert Marcus,
your shop. If you can do it, do it, but try to get our people back in one
piece. We need them as the core to train and stiffen the army,” Ryans said.

“Yeah,
don't I know it,” Perry said from the doorway. “And Sergeant Waters or the
Gunny will want to go with them,” he said shaking his head at that idea. He sighed
again. “No way in hell. I can't spare them from training and if I'm stuck
behind a desk shuffling paperwork they aren't going to go out and play past
their bed times,” he chuckled at Eugene's grin. “See you.” He gave a jaunty
wave as he left.

The
Queen nodded. “Your people are informal,” she said after a moment turning her
attention to him.

“Most
of us are from a republic.” She looked confused. “Um...” he paused trying to
think of a frame of reference.

“Like
the Greeks and Romans?” she finally asked.  She smiled at him. He cocked
his head.

“I'm
surprised you know of them,” he said surprised.

“Our
Imperium was founded by an escaped Roman slave and many people from many
countries over the past four thousand years and beyond. Why there are tales of
great monstrous beings with mashed up faces that lived in this very valley at
one time,” she said. He blinked at that. “A few survive to this day in the high
mountains or in small enclaves in the woods.” He nodded.

She
must have been describing Neanderthals. If she was it was something he would
have to tell the others and have Nate check on. It would be one heck of a find
to run into a living one. That was if they survived the experience to report
back he thought wryly. She cleared her throat, interrupting his train of
thought.

“Sorry,
wool gathering,” he said then took a sip of wine. “We are a democracy. The
people in our nation elect our leaders and vote on laws. Both small local
governments, state governments, and federal governments.”

She
cocked an eye at this. “And this works?” she asked politely but a little
strained. She fluttered her fan again. He had said such things before but she
hadn't truly believed it.

He
nodded. “For over two hundred years and fifty years, yes. Our country is now
the strongest on Earth. It has the largest and strongest military, with the
strongest economy and technology you can hardly believe,” he said and then
smiled. She looked shaken.

“When
you give people a chance at something, a chance at a better future for
themselves and their children they will excel to new heights and strengths. For
instance farming.” He waved to the distant hills. “Farms in my country are
giant. A handful of people manage farms as large as your entire Imperium,” he
explained. She blinked at that, seemingly shocked. “And we've got thousands of
farms like that.” She stared at him, mouth opening in shock.

He
smiled. “Remember the machines we came in?”

She
nodded. “The metal carriages? The ah, cars?” she asked.

He
nodded in return. “Machines like them have been built to plow fields, harvest
grain, dig for metals, and carry materials from one place to another. We have
many things like that. Our world is crisscrossed with roads, many made of
cement.”

She
smiled. “I would like to see these machines.”

He
nodded. “When your majesty would like to schedule some free time I would love
to show you.” She nodded as a page cleared his throat in the doorway. Her eyes
turn to the young boy and then she nodded to him. “Yes, I see we have other
business. You are dismissed,” she said regally, aware of the audience. He bowed
his head slightly as he rose from the desk and then left.

Sue,
the Queen, Wanda, and Charlie the chemist, the princesses, and the ladies in
waiting got together for a girls night a month after their arrival in the
castle. The natives were a bit confused by the pajama party but Doc used the
opportunity to counsel the princesses. The Queen let her hair down, literally
and figuratively and they girl talked.