Simple Things, page 10
part #13 of The Valens Legacy Series
Michelle was in the last truck with one of her own subordinates, who was apparently used to helping her when she engaged in one of these 'midnight requisitions', as she liked to call it. She claimed there wasn't an honest supply sergeant on the face of the Earth, that such a thing was an affront to the laws of nature.
Personally, Jack had always suspected as much, this just served as further confirmation.
"This kitty found someone who knows how to make him purr," Jack said and winked at him.
"The gal in the last truck?"
"Yup."
"So you found yourself a cougar, huh?"
"She's not a lycan," Jack said and, looking over at Stewart, he could see he was smirking at him.
"Wrong type of cougar!" Stewart said and laughed.
Jack frowned at him and went back to driving.
"She's not that old, Stewart."
"So you gonna bite her and make your cougar a real cougar?" Stewart asked, laughing.
"You're not making yourself any friends here, Stewart," Jack growled.
"Another man falls to the wiles of an older woman!" Stewart continued to laugh.
"If I didn't need you…"
"Jack! Chill! Rachel's like ten years older than me, and I married that hot little wolf!"
"Wait, what?"
"Dude, older women rock! Seriously. Buying her was the first smart thing I ever did in my life! If that gal back there is rocking your world, go for it! Bite her ass!"
"I think Sean or Adam might have words with me if I did," Jack said with a sigh.
Stewart snorted. "I'm not so sure about that. Most of the lycans we've been picking up lately are pretty worthless when it comes to fighting. We're gonna have to recruit sooner or later."
"Where'd you hear that?"
"My dad, my real dad."
Jack nodded; he'd had a few of those thoughts himself lately. Not enough of the lycans they'd been getting these days knew how to fight as a unit, and training, real training, took time.
"She told me some of the security troops on the base are thinking of getting infected."
"I'm not surprised. They've seen what we're capable of first hand. They know how tough we are. And now they know we can fight the bad guys and they can't. Only natural, really."
"Ok, we're here. Now, let's play it exactly like I told you," Jack said and, slowing down, he pulled up to the front gate.
"Orders," the sentry said after saluting.
Jack leaned out the window and handed him a sheaf of papers. The sentry took them and started to read them, then Stewart spoke up.
"The papers are all in order. All these trucks are allowed in. You'll forget to log us in, and after we've left, you'll forget you ever saw us. Understand?"
"Yessir!" The sentry said and, returning the papers to Jack, he saluted again, and Jack drove off.
"Damn, I sure could have used you in Afghanistan!" He laughed.
"How'd you end up in the Army, anyway?"
"My best friend joined, and I thought I'd go along to keep an eye on him."
"How'd that work out?"
"It didn't." Jack sighed.
"He get killed?"
"Worse, he married a thot."
"What's a thot?"
"Don't ask," Jack growled and turned them down the street to the main operations building. Parking the truck, he got out, with Stewart following. Thankfully they knew exactly who they had to talk to; Michelle had been up here many times before.
"Yes?" the woman at the counter asked.
"We're here to pick this shipment up," Jack said and handed her the paperwork.
She went through it quickly, then looked up. "Do you have a signed requisition form?"
"It's right there," Stewart said.
"Oh, right! How silly of me. One moment while I find out where your shipment is."
Jack watched as she went to a computer terminal and did something, then came back with what looked like a map.
"Okay, here's where you're going," she said and circled a spot on the map. "Here's the GPS coordinates in case you get lost."
"That happen often?" Jack asked.
"Nah, once a month, tops. Now when you get to the bunker, here's the code to enter for the security door. Don't wander around; security gets angry if they have to drive out there."
"You will disable any alarms for the next four hours and forget all about us after we've left the base," Stewart said.
"Of course!" she said with a smile.
"Thank you, Ma'am." Jack said and, picking up the map, he led Stewart out the door to the truck. The other four were sitting there idling and waiting for them.
"Man, that's freaky," Jack said, looking at Stewart after they'd gotten back in the truck. "You do that often?"
Stewart shook his head. "I really don't like it. My—I guess you'd call him 'step-dad'— loved using shit like that. On people, even on lycans. Probably why he was so good at it."
"You mean you could use that shit on me?" Jack asked, a little worried.
"It's a lot harder to do on magical creatures, and that includes lycans. Besides, the amulet Sean gave you protects you from it."
"Really?"
Stewart nodded. "It's a real sweet piece of work. For a guy who taught himself magic in like a week, Sean's a genius. Yeah, studying under him is a pain in the ass; it's gonna take me a year, at least, to learn all the background stuff before he'll even start teaching me."
"Sounds rough."
Stewart shrugged. "If I can do the kind of stuff he can, it'll be worth it. Besides," Stewart grinned at him, "I'm a lycan now. There ain't no enchanters out there who'll take a lycan apprentice! Not that I'd want to study with any of them now that Sean's taken me on. Like I said, he's a genius."
Jack nodded as he turned them down the road towards the storage shelters.
"How far down this road do we have to go?" Stewart asked.
"Well, looking at this map, I think it's about a mile."
"I thought you said this place was small?"
"It's just spread out storage. As bases go, there aren't many people working or living here. Hell, until I started tracking down the shipment, I had no idea this place even existed.
"Here, take the map and start looking for the sign for our turn off."
Stewart nodded and kept his eyes open. He wasn't too worried; he could dominate the mind of any human they came along pretty easily. But he was still surprised by how calm Jack was. Almost like he was bored.
"Here's our turn," Jack said, slowing down and reading the sign. Turning down the side road, he started counting. Bunker, then berm-surrounded vehicle park, another bunker, another park, another bunker, another park, and there was the place. Turning in, he slowed down, then maneuvered around, and backed up to the loading dock.
Loading the trucks was anti-climatic, though it took almost an hour to get it all done. A security car drove by and slowed down for a moment while they were working, but that was about it.
"Now for the long drive home." Jack sighed. "You know, I can't wait until Sean gets back."
"You too? Why's that?"
"'Cause right now he's the only one who knows what we're facing."
"Yeah, he's probably right in the thick of it, knowing him," Stewart acknowledged.
Ξ
"Dear lord, what time is it?" Sean grumbled as someone knocked on the door.
"Just a minute!" Estrella called out, and then gave Sean a push. "Rise and shine sleepy head!"
Sean grumbled and, rolling over, watched as Estrella seemed to almost dance around the room, gathering up her clothing and putting it on.
"Oh, gods, you're a morning person, aren't you?" Sean sighed and, rolling on to his back, he closed his eyes and sighed.
"Come on, Sean! It's a beautiful day outside!" She laughed and came over to give him a kiss.
"Let me sleep," he groaned.
"Nope! Defenses to build and people to kill!" She laughed and went over to the door.
"Yes, Første?" she said, opening the door.
"We were starting to worry, Brune En."
"Oh, why's that?"
"You haven't come out in over a day, and there were many strange sounds coming out of the room."
Rolling over and opening his eyes, Sean laughed; Estrella's tail was sticking straight out, and her ears were down in embarrassment.
"You guys finish the palisade?" Sean called out.
"It is almost done, Sean. Would you like to see it?"
Sighing heavily, Sean sat up. "I'll be out, soon."
"Are you well, Brune En?" Første inquired.
"Oh, I'm well," Estrella said with a smile, getting over her embarrassment. "In fact I'm more than well."
"You could even say she's grrreat!" Sean snickered and ducked as he almost got whacked in the face by her tail. Obviously she'd missed the reference.
"Have Tredje and his scouts reported anything?" Estrella asked Første.
"It appears King Sladd has taken over Ansigt's remaining Storsindet hellige and is moving to take over the lille gates as well."
"King Sladd? What of Ansigt? Did Sladd kill him?"
"No, Brune En, Ansigt did not reform. Neither he nor any of his lords, biskops, ridders, bonde, not a one of them came back."
Estrella stood there a moment, shocked, trying to take it all in, as Sean came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing his chin over the top of her head.
"How can that be?" she wondered out loud.
"I just know that it is," Første said with a shrug.
She thought about what he'd said and recalled something in his words just now.
"What did you mean by 'remaining Storsindet hellige?'"
"The one by Ansigt's castle is gone. Whatever destroyed the castle apparently destroyed the hellige as well. There is only a hole there now."
"I'll be out in a minute; I need to put my armor on."
"Yes, Brune En."
"Did you do that?" she asked Sean, who was cuddling up against her from behind, apparently half-asleep.
"Do what?" he asked and yawned.
"Kill everyone and destroy the hellige!" she said with an exasperated sigh.
She felt Sean shrug. "I pretty much nuked them. When I came to, there was a big smoking hole in the ground where the gateway was, the castle was destroyed, and everyone was dead."
"Nuked? What's that?"
"Oh, right, you've been away. It's a big nasty explosion that instantly vaporizes everyone and everything nearby, then flattens everything else in the vicinity. For like a mile."
"And you did that by yourself?"
Sean nodded and yawned again, giving her another hug. "Yup. That's why I was curious about explosions and all that. I guess I got their 'souls' then, too?"
"I guess you won't be hungry for a century or two! With that much food, you'll be fine indefinitely." She pondered that a moment as she turned around and gave him a hug back.
"That may explain why King Sladd took over. With a pass going on, he didn't want a war being fought over Ansigt's remains. He must have figured anything that could destroy a hellige had destroyed everyone around it."
"Do you think he'll try to push us off this one?" Sean asked, looking down at her.
"Maybe? I don't know. Do you think you could do to him what you did to Ansigt?"
Sean shook his head. "I need silver, and I need a device my father invented to do that."
"Silver? What would you want with silver? It's deadly!"
Sean snorted. "I took care of that—or rather, my father and I did. Unfortunately the magical item I have that protects me from it was destroyed in the blast, and I need a lot more power than the ley line here can give me to make another one."
"What has been going on back home?" She frowned, looking up at him.
Sean shook his head and chuckled. "You won't even recognize the place. Now let's get dressed."
"Give me a moment, I'm enjoying this."
Sean kissed her on the forehead. "Yeah, me too. But I don't think we can afford to waste another day in bed."
"I think I'm still a bit too sore for that," Estrella said, blushing.
"Me, too!" Sean said with a laugh.
Moving apart, they both set about putting on their armor, then went outside to inspect all the work that had been done during their 'absence'. Estrella noticed that Sean had become very affectionate towards her now. Whenever she was near, he would touch her or give her a hug.
She found she rather liked it.
It was getting late in the day, and Sean had helped them finish up the palisade that now surrounded the entire encampment. He was examining the ley line to get an idea of how much work he could do with one, when suddenly he felt his mana levels peak. The level of mana in the ley line had just increased by a factor of ten! Calling up his frameworks, he looked everything over; a gateway had definitely opened up somewhere.
"Stell!" he called.
"What?" she asked, looking over at him.
"A gateway just opened up."
"Well, not here, obviously." She sighed.
"I know this is a stretch, but do you have a wristwatch I could use?"
"A what?"
"Small clock on a wrist bracelet."
"They make such things?" she asked, bemused.
"How about a bracelet? Made out of metal?"
"Why do you want that?"
"I need to make something." Sean sighed. "Do you have one?"
"Hold on, let me check."
Sean nodded. "I'll be where the ley lines cross!" he said and, jogging over there, he started to repair his armor, at least as much as he could using magic. It was getting to the point where it was definitely going to need to go to a dwarven smith.
He'd just finished up with the main body piece and was putting it back on when Estrella strolled up to him.
"One of the gnashers had this. Will it work?" she asked as she handed him a bracelet.
Sean took it and looked at it in surprise; it was some sort of heavy chain bracelet with a solid plate in the middle, and characters inscribed on it that he'd never seen the likes of before. Using his enchanting framework, he examined it; there weren't any spells in it, as far as he could tell, but the metal was definitely one of the transition metals. It wasn't one he was familiar with, however.
"Yeah, thanks," he said and smiled up at her.
"Do me a favor and make sure no one bothers me while I'm doing this?"
"Can I watch?"
Sean smiled at her. "All you want."
With that, he brought up the tar file for the classroom in the watch and took a minute to examine it. He'd tarred off a couple of versions back when he'd made the watch for Stewart, breaking off the magical books into a smaller tarball file. Of course, all the devices he'd created for use inside his classroom were in a series of small tarballs he could easily untar whenever he needed them.
Looking at the power requirements, as well as how much he had available and what he was getting from the ley line, he realized he had more than enough power to run the master tarball file for the watch and the classroom.
"What the hell, might as well go for it," he muttered. Tapping into the ley line, he selected the master tarball and unpacked it into the chain.
The chain got very hot for a moment, and he could feel it as it shifted in shape and reformed in his hand. Channeling that much power had definitely warmed him up, and he started to pant. His own mana level was down to zero, but with the ley line he was sitting on, and the amount of mana now in the air from the open gate, he was regenerating much faster than he normally would.
"What in the hells did you do?" Estrella gasped, dragging his attention back to her.
"Oh," Sean said, still panting, "I made a wristwatch." He handed it to her. "Give me a minute to recuperate."
"What does this do?"
"It tells time."
"Why do you need to tell time?" she asked, looking at him like he was crazy.
"It has its uses, trust me," he said and took a couple of deep breaths to get his panting under control. "But this particular watch lets me do a few things that’ll make fixing your necklace a lot easier."
Shrugging, she handed him back the watch, which, after a quick examination, Sean put on his left wrist.
"Okay, now I'm going to be completely helpless for a while. If you need me, shake me or something. But I'm not going to be able to see or hear anything. Got that?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Nothing much, yet. I need to check my workshop and examine a few things. I just want to be sure everything is working the way I need it to."
Estrella nodded and watched as Sean arranged himself in a cross-legged position and closed his eyes.
Dropping into his 'classroom', Sean was momentarily shocked when his father's image appeared and started to go through the exact same speech it had given him when he'd first worn the original watch. Apparently that was a part of the master spell he'd tarred, and creating a new watch had reset the spell's parameters.
He spent a few minutes going through the books, same as he had the first time, so the spell would trigger to show him the other books. That done, he checked his mana and his connection to the ley line, then untarred his emulator, and loaded the tarball he'd made of Estrella's necklace into it.
He'd been messing with it a few minutes when he realized someone was putting something in his mouth. Something warm, wet, and very flexible.
Shutting down his classroom and leaving it, he opened his eyes to find Estrella sitting in his lap and French kissing him. When she saw his eyes open, she leaned back and smiled at him.
"I thought this would be more fun than just shaking you," she said with a giggle.
Sean blinked. "Where is the real Estrella and what have you done with her?"
"Hmmm?"
"I could have sworn I just heard you giggle. You've never giggled in all the time I've been here!"
"Maybe I just never had anything to giggle about?" she said, looking at him coyly.
Sean paused a moment. This would normally be where the First would say something like 'We need to make her ours.' To which Sean would tell him to sod off, he saw her first.
