Princess Rescue Inc (51 page)

“So
you have to ask yourself, are you doing this for Queen and country or for the
man? What's best for you and for him? If you really care about him, about what
he thinks and feels then you have to ask yourself, is it right to take this any
further?” Charlie echoed. Deidra sat back as Zara turned to stare at her. She
squirmed, thoroughly uncomfortable and dismayed by the blunt question. Charlie
and the others looked at her intently for a long moment. She ducked away and
bit her lip.

“Yeah,
that's what I thought,” Charlie said quietly. She got up and brushed her pants
off. “I've got a long day tomorrow, we've got more yeast and penicillin to get
off to you Sue so I better hit the hay. Night all,” she said with a wave. Sue
and Wanda followed murmuring excuses as well.

Zara
looked at Deidra but she was far away, thinking. Finally she hugged her sister
and then went to bed herself.

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

Later
the next morning Sue pulled Charlie and Wanda aside in the camper before they got
too busy with their day. “We need to talk,” she said quietly but firmly. They
could tell from her no nonsense attitude that she meant something serious.

“Thought
we did that already,” Wanda said. She finished washing her hands and then
flushed the toilet and came out of the tiny camper bathroom drying her hands
with a towel. “Tell me again when they're going to get a decent toilet in this
dump?” she asked plaintively. “I'm sorry but having to run down three flights
of stairs and across the courtyard every time I gotta go isn't working,” she
growled.

“Getting
plenty of exercise,” Charlie teased passing her to go in and do her business.

“Funny.”

“Well,
maybe you should plan better,” Charlie said with the door closed. There was the
usual echo to her voice. “Or go more often,” she said.

“Cute,”
Wanda sighed. “So what's this about?” she asked turning to Sue. Sue frowned.
She looked over to Patterson. By coincidence she had the morning off. “Or
should we wait?” she asked.

They
heard the toilet flush and then Charlie turned the faucet on. In a moment she
came out. She took the towel from Wanda. Sue sighed. “I think Ryans is right.”

“About
what?” Charlie asked, genuinely curious.

“About
the soap opera,” Sue said, using air quotes to frame soap opera. “I hate to admit
it but we are giving the enemy information. intel,” she said cutting her eyes
to Patterson. Patterson frowned and got up to come over. She crossed her arms.

“You're
talking about my conversations with Princess Zara?” Patterson asked.

Sue
frowned and then nodded. She brushed her hair out of her face. “You, me, Wanda,
Charlie, all of us. They're pumping us for information, trying to get to him.”

“It's
not working is it?”

“Did
you ever think about what else they could use this information for? We're
talking about the Queen here. The woman who could rip that piece of paper up
and have us all tossed in the dungeon,” Sue said. “Or worse. She may smile to
your face but she's a viper.”

“Surer
than shit she is,” Patterson agreed with a nod. “I heard some stories from the
guards. They were wondering why she didn't have Ryans tour the dungeons and the
torture chamber after their little spat,” she said.

“You
see?”  Sue demanded as Charlie paled. “There's an old saying. Put not your
trust in princes. I'm not sure where it's from,” the doctor said.

“Psalms
146:3,” Patterson supplied. She smiled at the doctor's look of surprise.
“Sorry. I get your point though. We're giving information to a potential
enemy,” she said.

“But
if he only saw the potential!” Wanda said stubbornly.

“You
think a master strategist like him hasn't?” Sue asked patiently. “He's a bright
guy Wanda. He can see that. But he's also weighing the pros and cons. Probably
not very objectively but you aren't either are you? You're dismissing his
concerns because you're so enamored with the idea of a storybook romance.”

“I...”

“I
think we all were,” Charlie said quietly. Wanda turned to look at her in
surprise. Charlie nodded to Doc. “I thought it was fun to help in seducing him.
No harm right? Better to ask for forgiveness than permission right? But he's
dug in his heels and said no and we need to respect that.”

“Damn
right we do,” Sue said. She looked at Wanda. “Right?” she demanded.

“Sure,
fine, whatever,” Wanda said. “Can we go now?” she indicated the door.

“By
all means,” Sue said with a sigh, knowing she was talking to a wall. “Let’s get
back to work.”

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

Ryans
was introduced to more of the cabinet, the lord of the privy, chancellor of the
exchequer, lord of the privy purse, minister of mining, minister of
entertainment, the list went on and on. He shook his head in disgust. “Way to
many chiefs, not enough indians,” he growled. Perry snorted agreement.
Fortunately many of the ministers like the royal tax collector were out and
about most of the year. Some also had their own estates and families to attend
to and only came to the capital for the summer.

They
met with the minister of cloth; there they found an anorexic woman who was
dressed in the latest fashion. It was silk, a light green, and cut similarly to
the green summer dress Sue occasionally wore. This had definitely had some
Asian influences, with the split up one leg and the cut of the hem and peg
buttons. This woman was by far a better, more forward thinking person than the
unlamented Druzilla. At least she didn't have a gallon of paint on her face at
any rate.

“Domina
Ciara correct?” Ryans asked, holding out his hand. She looked at it and then
carefully took it. He shook it and then kissed the back of it. “My name is
Eugene Ryans and this is my military counterpart Lieutenant Marcus Perry. We're
pleased to meet you,” he said releasing her hand.

Perry
shook her hand and then they settled down on stools. He avoided looking at the
thin woman's face after the first glance. She was one of the few women that
could probably benefit from the gallon of the face paint the natives wore. For
some reason she wasn't wearing much though. She had short black hair, square
cut, with slightly slanted eyes and thin almost skeletal hands that she constantly
moved around.

“I
was wondering, where do you get the silk?” Ryans asked pointing to her outfit.
Perry gave him a look.

Ryans
frowned, rubbing his chin in thought. “We've confirmed Chinese immigrants, but
how could the silk worm have survived? I remember they need the leaves of a
mulberry bush to eat.”

Perry
gave him a curious look and then snorted. “The things people remember.
Discovery channel right?” He chuckled.

“No
actually, Animal Planet,” Ryans replied absently.

“Ah,
that explains it,” Perry snorted. He turned to the minister. “Okay, give?” he
asked. “Otherwise he's going to be like that all damn day and we've got more
important things to be working on,” he said. She brushed her hands.

“It's
quite disgusting really and not really fit for civilized speaking,” she said
haughtily, nose in the air.

“I
don't buy it. Give,” Perry said eying her. She looked nervous then shrugged.

“The
cavern worms,” she finally said, wrinkling her nose. He nodded.

“Silk
worms?” he asked. “Like he said?” He indicated Ryans.

“In
truth quite large creatures, large as a man, they can be dangerous full grown.
They spin silk in the caverns to make nests and catch prey. Some slant eyed
people learned to tame the disgusting beasts and use them for our needs,” she
said. She indicated the cloth.

“Ah.
Okay, it's strong,” Ryans said touching it. “How strong is it? Can it lift a
man? If woven properly could it stop say, a crossbow bolt?”

The
minister looked at them in surprise. “You know, I never explored that. I know
some shipbuilders weave it into their ropes... I'll... hmmm,” She looked
thoughtful. “I'll see if we can set something up,” she finally said and then
nodded.

“Good.
Good to know,” Perry nodded to Ryans who nodded back. He started to unbutton
his shirt.

“What?!”
The woman shrieked making him look up. “A gentleman does not undress in front
of a lady!” she said looking pale. She shrank back from them. He snorted.

“Just
taking the shirt off miss,” he said undoing the last button then pulling the
shirt off.

“Is
that armor?” she asked looking down her nose at him.

He
nodded. He'd started to wear his body armor more often now. Perry and some of
the others were wearing theirs now as well. “Why yes, the very reason I took my
shirt off. To show you that is,” he explained. “You see, this is Dragon skin
two armor. It's like your chain mail, but much more advanced.” He removed the
Velcro with ripping sounds. She looked fascinated.

“Velcro.
We'll get to that some other time,” he said as he took the armor off. “See the
plates like scales under the skin fabric?” he said flexing the armor. She moved
forward and peered at the armor and then looked up. He nodded as she reached
for the armor.

Her
hands were wrinkled but firm as she touched it. “The outermost layer is a
synthetic silk,” he explained. She looked up to him in surprise. “The silk is
super strong. It acts as a catcher mitt, spreading some of the force when
something strikes.”

She
flexed the armor. “Under that are ceramic and Kevlar composite disks that form
a sort of chain mail. That intercepts even more force,” Perry added. She
flipped the armor over and ran her hands on the other side. “And the other side
is a layer of synthetic silk with a thin Kevlar layer.”

“The
stitching is so precise! And the weave! The silk must breathe nicely, wicking
the odious concoctions a body can produce away,” she murmured. She kept flexing
the armor and ripping and playing with the velcro.

“Yes,
it's also light and so it's easy to wear. A lot easier than the earlier armor.
This...” He tapped the armor. “Is bullet proof. Or at least as close as the
current generation can achieve. It's also proof against shrapnel, fire, arrows,
crossbow bolts, daggers, and even swords.”

Her
eyes were wide at that last statement. “To produce such a wonder,” she
murmured, clearly awed.

“Exactly.
If you could produce something like this, dyed to...oh let’s say the royal or
Kingdom colors, then it would be quite helpful in the future...”

She
nodded, suddenly smiling. Ryans tried to ignore the wart on her chin as she
grinned. “I dare say it would!” she breathed eyes excited at the idea.

“We
thought you might.” Perry said dryly. “That's why we wanted to give you the
plans to better looms and other machinery. To help make better uniforms for the
soldiers,” he said. She nodded, suddenly sobered.

“I
am paying attention now,” she replied.

“Good,”
Ryans replied as he put his armor back on and then his shirt. “I thought this
would get your attention,” he said with a small smile to Perry.

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

“How
are we to pay for all this?” the Queen asked.

Duke
Pyror nodded. “Some can come from levies and the royal treasury, but not all,”
he stated sitting back. Then both eyes turn on Ryans. The gaijin shrugged.

“You’re
asking me? I don't know anything about your country, your balance of trade, or
the current economic situation. The tax code alone is probably beyond me even
in layman's terms,” he said shaking his head. He had enough on his plate as it
was.

The
Queen nodded. “But still...” she said encouragingly. He sighed, reading her
expression and ignoring Duke Pyror and Duke Rojer. Pyror he could deal with,
the guy seemed honest and had a feel about him, a charisma. Rojer just felt
smarmy, he oozed avarice.

“All
right, I have a couple of suggestions. You can use them in whole, in part, or
in combination. It is up to you. The first is a tax rebate. Cut the taxes to
offset any who contribute to the war effort for a period of time. Their
contribution is commensurate with their taxes. In other words the more they help,
the more they don't have to pay taxes for a period of time, or they pay at a
much lower rate. Consider it a form of war bonds which we can get to in a
minute. They take these rebates in lieu of full or partial payment. Keeping
track and keeping corruption to a minimum will be interesting to say the
least.”

The
Duke nodded. “Wise. It's called shield money. A levy paid by lords who lack men
and material to aide in a cause.” Duke Rojer frowned. He didn't like how well
this gaijin handled the situation. He had expected the man to beg off to
consider it over time.

“Ah.
Okay, well, I was thinking you could open that up to merchants as well,” Ryans
said nodding. Duke Pyror nodded his chin. The Queen however was noncommittal,
resting her hands in her lap and not moving a muscle.

“The
second thing is to borrow from neighbors or others. If no neighboring Kingdoms
are available you can borrow from the people by selling war bonds. These bonds
are tax chits that the buyer can redeem later to recoup their investment and
even profit a little. The longer they wait, the more profit they get,” Ryans
explained. “That was one of the methods used to finance wars on Earth.