Princess Rescue Inc (16 page)

“Ah,”
he nodded trying not to hiss. “I can't sit here though Doc, as much as they'd
like it.” He pointed to the bumper. Doc grimaced.

“Oh,”
she chuckled softly. “Yeah, good point, but go as slow as slow,” she said
waving to Lewis. Lewis looked around nervously then came over, hands on her weapon,
eyes scanning the trees.

“Lewis,
help him get to the camper. The Stryker is too small for him.”

“Yeah,
we need to move,” Lewis said, licking her lips then sticking her hand under his
armpit. “Gunny's checking the perimeter, trying to localize where they're
coming from.” She helped him over to the camper and up the folding steps.

“In
you go. Good work boss,” she said then moved off. He grimaced and passed the
girls then eased himself down at the table.

“You
ladies all right?” he asked hunched over his arm. They looked at each other and
then to him. The oldest, Deidra said something in her native language. He
grimaced, his blue tooth had been knocked into the dirt during the attack or
when Gunny first patched him up. He waved his hands then pointed to his ear.

“Sorry
ladies, I can't understand a word you're saying,” he sighed at Deidra's annoyed
look. “Lewis,” he called. “LEWIS!”

“Yeah
What?” Lewis said at the door.

“Find
my blue tooth. It's near the door. It fell off during the attack.”

“Right.”
She scanned the area around the carcass. “I don't see it. Lots of blood and
crap,” she muttered. She scuffed her boots then looked under the camper. “Got
it.” She came up with the little device and tossed it into the camper. It
bounced off Zara who shrank back.

“Do
you mind?” he asked pointing to it. Deidra glared. Zara looked, then bit her
lip and got the device. She looked it over curiously.

“It's
actually just a transceiver,” he said, forgetting they couldn't understand him.
He pointed to the ear piece. “This goes in here.” He pointed to his ear. “This
you talk into.” He pantomimed talking. “This translates what I say and speaks
your language.” He pointed to the little speaker. “This hears what you say and
turns it into my language and plays it in my ear.” He pointed to the ear piece
again. “Then it told me what to say back.”

Her
eyes were bright, at least brighter than they were after the attack. He
realized the wonder of the unknown device was helping her get over her fear so
he didn't insist on getting it back right off. She fumbled with it, tried it on
then smiled tentatively stroking the hair away from her ear. He nodded patting
her arm. “Looks good on you,” he said. She jerked, hand to her ear, eyes wide.
He chuckled.

“Working?”
he asked. She blinked in confusion. He grimaced.

“How's
it hanging?” the Gunny asked climbing in with an IV kit. “I've got just the
stuff to fix you up. Doc is insisting you at least get a saline drip. Saline we
can replace.” He motioned for Zara to move aside.

“Here,”
he pulled the kit out as Ryans raised his arm palm up. “This won’t hurt a bit,”
he said sticking the needle in and then checking to make sure the stick was
good.

“Nice,
first try,” Ryans smiled.

“Comes
with practice,” the Gunny said.

“Sure,”
Ryans said nodding as the Gunny hooked the IV up. The girls were wide eyed.
“He's giving me fluids to replace the blood I lost,” he explained and then
sighed. He kept forgetting they didn't understand.

The
Gunny turned to the girls and touched his blue tooth. He explained in their
language then waited. The girls looked confused and then nodded. Zara held out
the blue tooth tentatively to him. He took it, patted her on the knee and then
handed it to Ryans.

“Here,
I think you need this more than she does. Don't move that arm or you're liable
to bend the needle. Play nice,” the Gunny said and then left.

“Thank
you princess,” Ryans said nodding to Zara, and then Deidra. Zara smiled again,
running her fingers through her bangs.

Ryans
sighed. “I apologize if I was a little rough with you out there; I was trying
to protect you.”

Zara
smiled shyly again and then nodded in understanding. He touched her arm. She
flinched and then relaxed. “I'm sorry,” she murmured hoarsely.

He
stroked her arm. “Perfectly normal reaction, you've been traumatized enough.
You're a kid, and that scared all of us. We're just faster at recovering.
Remember, next time keep your head. Fall to pieces when it's safe,” he said,
trying to keep that as light as possible so he wouldn't be a downer to the kid.
He smiled lying back. After a moment she nodded.

“Thank
you for saving our lives,” Zara murmured, holding his hands. “Again,” she said
stroking her fingers on his arm. His eyes opened. Deidra looked startled and
then paled.

“No
problem. Now, I think the morphine's finally kicking in so I'm going to nod
off.” He slowly slipped into unconsciousness just as the camper moved out.

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

“He
did it again,” Zara said.

“Again?”

“Saved
our lives,” Zara said firmly. “You and I both know what that means,” she said
stubbornly.

“It...”
Deidra shot the dozing man a look. Whatever the soldier named Gunny had given
him had him sleepy.

“He
may be married.”

“So?”
Zara demanded. “That doesn't matter with gaijin and you know it. You know the
law. They and their bloodline are special and must be protected and encouraged.
The laws of matrimony do not apply to us or to them.”

“But...”
Deidra bit her lip. “I'm certain he's married to the healer. I'm sure of it.”

“So?”

“So
he's not the type to dally I bet,” Deidra said, going out on a limb.

“Perhaps
sister, and perhaps not,” Zara warned. “We don't know for sure. We know little
about him,” she said. “And men like him, heroes must be passed on to the next
generation.”

“I...”
Zara and Deidra talked quietly about him saving them. Bux and Yani watched but
tried to remain quiet and out of the way. Deidra bit her lip. This wasn't going
well, she thought. She looked at him. For the first time she noticed his
rippling muscles. He was well built, not fat like some men. Well-muscled and
tall, well fed and strong, incredibly strong. But oh, this was so wrong. She
turned away in disgust with troubled thoughts.

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

Art’ur
snarled as he watched the men prepare to lay siege to the castle. His efforts
to take the gates had been rebuffed. Now he had to risk his men to cut down
trees for the wood to make the siege engines to break the blasted wall.

He
eyed the wall in savage dissatisfaction. They'd pay he vowed, as men nearby
grunted, pulling up a log. They'd pay for their insolence, in daring to defy
him.

He
turned. Two trebuchets and a catapult were under construction. A shed was also
being put up. Unfortunately the fools he had for followers had torched some of
the nearby villages before being called off, so that ready supply of wood and
material had been lost.

He'd
dreamed of such machines, of a siege like this. It fired the imagination of a
child but he knew what trouble it was. His men were tied down, forced to
encircle the castle to cut it off from support and to continuously harass the
defenders while probing for weak points. Wearing the defenders down through
attrition was one way to break their will but it took time. Time he was afraid
he didn't have.

He
was certain he had some time, the seasons were long here, and this Kingdom
wasn't as far north as Duluth but the planting did need to get done or all
would suffer. He'd come here for the food and if none were planting it he would
be undone.
They
would be undone.

His
family's well placed spies in the capital were beginning to report in. There
was word of strange vehicles on the roads between here and the capital. He'd
heard of them in the attack on the wall but then nothing more so had put them
from his mind. Now he knew what had become of them. He didn't like gaijin
getting away.

Uuôden
approached from behind. He turned to the older man, knowing he had a report but
also knowing it was best to receive it where his men and the enemy wouldn't be
able to hear. “My tent,” he said, motioning for the other man to follow. Uuôden
nodded and followed his King.

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

When
Ryans woke he got a report and then asked the Doc about the princesses. Doc's
assessment of the princesses put them as well fed teenagers. The oldest, the
brunette/blond was a dead ringer for Britney Spears. The younger had reddish
brown blond hair. She was fifteen from the look of her height and build. Her
older sister was easily eighteen or nineteen; the translation was off though so
they weren't sure. The eggheads were also wondering about the year length.

A
night of restless sleep did Ryans a bit of good. He felt like he'd been used as
a chew toy. Doc checked, he had a light fever but otherwise didn't have any
sign of infection. He did have a spectacular set of cuts and bruises through.
He was careful when he put a fresh shirt on. He made sure it was a button down,
not his usual T shirt undershirt. Hell if he was going to deal with that for a
while he thought.

They
buried PFC Fairfax's body in a pit his fellows dug for him. They buried him
under a cairn of stones to protect the body from scavengers. The Gunny said
some words from his pocket bible and then the service was complete.

“It
seems wrong but it's the best we can do,” Ryans sighed.

“We'll
come back for him. We don't lose our dead,” Waters vowed. “What about our
hitchhikers?” he asked jerking a scarred thumb to the princesses and peasants.

Ryans
looked over his shoulder to the natives. “What about them?” he asked and then
shrugged. He winced at the pain the shrug caused. He'd not taken any more pain
medication but hadn't skimped on the antibiotics the Doc insisted he take. He'd
take them for a couple of days to make sure he was out of the woods before
putting his foot down and stopping that too.

“Seems
they've decided to continue tagging along despite everything,” Waters said
dryly. The girl's had been talked out of their dresses and into baggy sweats.
They didn't look at all happy about the change but apparently Lisa had persuaded
them by promising to launder their outfits. Hopefully the blood splattered
things weren't dry clean only, Ryans thought.

“Can
you blame them?” Ryans replied with a snort. “Can you imagine going up against
that thing with a spear and a sword?”

“Yeah,
I gotta hand it to the lumberjacks in the area,” Waters replied shaking his
head.

The
girls and the two peasants elected to keep traveling with them. They had
several vehicles, Perry and the sarge acidly commented about a convoy sticking
out like a sore thumb. Then Perry grinned. “If you got it flaunt it,” he
finally said and then shrugged. “We'll make it work. We can still travel at
night I guess.”

They
passed through fields near dawn the next day. They noted people working the
fields, Nate commented about the back breaking labor and the risk of predators.

“Well,
that guy ain't working that hard,” Ginger said pointing to a guy leaning on a
white javelin spear. He had a reddish tunic with silver trim.

Nate
wrinkled his nose, now studying the man. He had the look of a soldier or a cop.
“I think he's the reeve. He's in charge of the group. From the look of it, he's
either guarding them from predators... or because they're prisoners,” Nate
replied studying the group as they passed. Several of the people looked up at
the sound of the approaching vehicles.

“Ah,”
Ginger noted the reeve called out to the group as he spotted the convoy. The
group hefted tools nervously, backing away from the road. “Let's let them know
we're friendly folks,” Perry said over the radio. He waved as the lead LAV
passed. They reached out the window and waved as well. Most of the natives just
stared in awe.

Deidra
saw her subjects and saw the gaijin waving. “What are they doing now?” she
asked.

“Trying
to reassure them,” Lisa said, looking up from her laptop.

“Oh,”
Deidra replied. She settled her shoulders and then opened the window to wave as
well.

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

They
paused near a pond to refuel and ate lunch. Perry put out a guard. They heard
splashing and shouting in the pond and went to check. Perry snorted as he noted
a kid using a rope to swing into the pond.

“Looks
like fun,” he said as the kid dropped into the water.

“For
more than just them, look.” Ryans said pointing urgently to the other side of
the pond as he drew his weapon. A six legged croc like creature humped itself
off the edge of the water and slid into the water. It swam towards the
unsuspecting kids.

“Hey
get out of there!” he called waving his hands and gun. Perry cupped his hands
over his mouth and shouted danger. Edsfield, Lewis, and the Gunny came at a
run.

“Get
the hell out of there what's the matter with you? Can't you understand
English?” the Gunny snarled waving urgently to them. The kids looked at him in
confusion.