Princess Rescue Inc (89 page)

The
Queen looked wary for a moment then bobbed a slow nod. “I thank you for that
information.”

Wanda
smiled. “It's good to have a little background.” She shrugged at Doc's look.

“Think
he'll stay?” Wanda murmured to Sue as the group broke up.

Sue
looked around to make sure the natives were out of earshot then shrugged. “It's
up to him. The problem is he's so smart he's stupid,” Sue said with a snort.
Wanda giggled.

“Honestly,
he may be giving up the greatest thing in his life to go back to Earth. Sure
it's comfortable, fame fortune...” She looked down for a second. “Here I am
griping about him and I'm not even brave enough to face it myself,” Sue
murmured. Wanda blinked at her.

“How
do you mean?” she asked giving the Doc a wary look.

“It's
just that...” She threw her hands up in the air. “Here I am about to say he's
needed here, and then I just realized... so am I. Hell all of us. We could do a
lot for the people here. Hell we've done a lot already. But how can I give the
man a hard time about being stuck in one hell of a catch 22 situation when I
can't say I'm facing it myself?” she asked. “I'm a doctor, should I walk away?”

“Seems
like you just put yourself in his place too Sue,” Wanda said softly. She sighed
and rubbed her brow. “All of us for that matter. Lieutenant Perry and the
military contingent will
have
to go back. One or two of the scientists
are home sick, and I know that I'd jump at the chance of some decent chocolate
and a hot tub any day.” She sighed shaking her head. The natives had chocolate
but it was the Aztec thing, dark and not at all sugary. Gregory had tried to
make do with it but his pudding had been suboptimal and extremely expensive.
“But you're right. We're needed here.” She patted the doctor's hand.

“Must
we choose?” Doc asked softly.

“I'd
say, let the future unfold as it may. We may not have that choice to stay or
go. If we can't get to the vortex, it's a moot point and we're all stuck in the
bed we made,” Wanda chuckled. Sue nodded.

“I'm
a doctor, sworn to aide those in need of my services,” Sue said softly to
herself. Wanda looked at her then looked away. “Out there is an entire planet in
the dark ages.”

“Look
Doc, no one is going to hold it against you if you stay. You're right, you
could make one hell of an impact here,” she grimaced thoughtful of her own
contributions. “We all could.”

Sue
seemed to shake herself after a moment. “But you're right too, no sense getting
all worked up about it if we can't go back,” she smiled. “At least not yet.”

“First
things first, we've got a war to win. Night Doc,” Wanda chuckled and waved as
they separated.

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

The
morning of the march dawned and it was cloudy and cool for once. They made a
quick start, getting those already prepared out and on the march, with others
to follow. Perry was a bit disgusted by the ones not quite ready, even though
Ryans teased him about some people not being morning people. The sudden impetus
to move and keep up with the others made the last minute feet draggers pick up
the pace.

They
made good time due to the Roman style roads and got to their first way point by
noon. The cavalry changed horses and then rode out again, keeping ahead of the
main army to watch for possible ambushes. The foot soldiers were given an
hour’s rest for food and to check their gear before moving out again.

Perry
commented that they needed to watch out for heatstroke. Ryans nodded. “Ya, that
was a major problem in the old battles like the revolutionary war. Marmoth had
more soldiers dropping from heat stroke and battle fatigue than from wounds.”

Perry
eyes him in surprise then smiled. “Figures you'd know that,” he muttered. Ryans
chuckled.

“We've
got a water train with us. They'll set up nearby,” he waved. Perry looked over
to the wagons with barrels and looked startled. Ryans followed the look and
spotted Deidra with the women. He sighed.

Perry
shook his head. “Well, you didn't expect her to stay behind did you?” Ryans
asked sounding proud but resigned.

Perry
snorted. “You're taking that kinda well. Too well,” he said suspiciously. Ryans
snorted.

“I'm
a bit more sophisticated remember? I know women can fight. We've got a hundred
or so amazons in the ranks.  Hell, I've seen her sword fight remember?
She's good. We'll just have to keep her away from the front lines so she
doesn't get her ass killed doing something foolish.”

Perry
snorted. “Speak for yourself. You and I have to stay out of the thick of it too
you know,” he warned. Ryans nodded.

“Yeah,
I know. That so called duel pointed it out to me. I have no place in a melee
battle when I'm a total amateur. We need to stay where we can direct the entire
battle. I know it's important to lead from the front for some, but being able
to see what's going on and react quickly is vital,” he said. Perry nodded.
“Besides, I'm not exactly all that handy with sharp objects. I'm more likely to
cut myself than the enemy,” Ryans said wryly.

Perry
snorted at the old joke. “Yeah, there's that too.”

He
braced Deidra later. She wasn't in armor though she was in her riding leathers
and had some light armor on along with her sword and dagger. She looked like
she was ready to fight, but his willingness to go along with her being there
seemed to take some of the spark out of her. Her chin was high in a defiant
pose; she was quite willing to give a scolding as good as he could dish out. A
sense of admiration filled him once more. He shook his head with a small wry
smile. “What you expected me to rant and rave and chew you out?” he sighed
pulling her close. “I know you too well dear; I knew you would be here with
your people.”

She
sighed, hugging herself to him. “I've got to admit I'm a little concerned about
your being so near a battle, but I know you wouldn't miss it,” he murmured. She
looked up at him and he ran his hand gently through her hair so he could see
her eyes. “Promise me one thing, you
stay
out of it. You're too
important to get hurt or killed trying to get in the thick of it for revenge or
to lead. I know you have skills to contribute but keep them focused on where
you'll do the most good in the long run.”

“Stay
with the other women you mean?” she asked, eyes sparking. His chest rumbled in
a chuckle.

“Oh
hell no, I've got to stay back too. You can be with me if you want,” he said.
She eyed him again this time curious. “We need to be where we can direct the
battle. If we're in the front lines we can't see squat on the flanks. And
getting one or all of us killed right away would tear the army apart,” he
explained patiently to her. Her eyes widened at that and then she nodded
thoughtfully.

“No,
we need to direct the battle. We've got contingency plans to perfect, and
signals ready if we need them. Perry's drilled the noncoms, officers, and
knights on them and what to do. Hopefully it works. If not we'll have to adjust
in a hurry. We didn't have a lot of time to train, we needed to get going,” he
sighed. “That's something Perry and I agree on, we needed more time to train.
But we've got to shoot from the hip.”

Her
eyebrows knit at that metaphor. “It means fight when you’re not quite ready,
and miss your best shot. This is a gamble. All war is,” he sighed. “The shock
and awe alone should help though.” He waved to the cavalry off on the flanks.
Some of the men had their rifles slung over their shoulders. A few had them
resting across their laps.

He
looked over his shoulder to the artillery train. It was near the rear of the
column, just ahead of the supply train. Each of the giant reptilian beasts
towed a field piece. They hadn't had time to make many, just an even dozen, but
each was going to play hell with the enemy. So would the mortar crews and the
bazookas. There were a dozen of each of them as well, with ten shots each.

Within
the supply train Doc and her trauma surgeons rode with full kits. They were all
determined to save as many lives as they could. Perry had set up a couple of
the convoy units to tow carriages loaded with supplies. The carriages had leaf
springs, something new to the natives. They could move faster than the older
carriages and would be used as ambulances to ferry wounded to the nearest
shelter.

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

Doc
acidly commented during an afternoon break that it would have been nice to have
had more time. Perry snorted. “Sue, ask me for anything but time is a military
axiom. We've got to go with what we got, we'll never get it totally right,” he
explained patiently. He shrugged, not really wanting to have to explain the
obvious to her. “Trust me, every commander wishes he had a few more men, more
supplies, more time to train.” He shrugged again. “We don't have it. From what
the spies have reported Duluth is about to break the siege or leave a
containing force and strike off for greener pastures. We've got to hit him now,
pin him against the defenses of the Emroy castle and smash him.”

Doc
grimaced. “I just wish I had more time to train, more supplies.” She threw her
hands up. “Sure the ether will help, god, having an anesthetic alone is a
godsend in this mess. But if Max had managed to make some coolers we could have
put some plasma on ice.”

Perry
nodded. “And if we had more time I could have added another hundred or two of
musketeers, fifty more riflemen, and a dozen more artillery units to this,”
Perry waved. “We've done the best we can with what we've got. We're going to
make sure everyone is hydrated, we're wearing clothes that are clean and every
soldier is carrying a basic first aid kit and was taught how to use it.” He
shook his head as she looked away and bit her lip. “I know. We all do Doc.
There isn't anything we can do about it but hope for the best and plan for the
worst,” he sighed. “You've done a lot Doc, think of what you had to work with,
and what you've managed to do with the people in the past three months. We're
going to do our best.” He smiled a wan smile.

“Opening
night jitters?” Ryans asked as Sue left. From her expression she wasn't happy.

“Yeah,
something like that,” Perry said watching her leave. “She's scared, we all
are,” he sighed. “All but them.” He nodded to the general and the lords
drinking up liquor and telling war stories.

“Still
think playing hay diddle diddle right up the middle with a frontal attack is
the way to go?” Ryans asked sounding amused.

“Best
plan we can do on short notice with what we've got. The shock and awe value
alone should make a huge impact. Besides, our vehicles could out run their
cavalry, but we'd be out of ammo in next to no time if we tried to use them in
a flanking charge,” Perry said.

Ryans
nodded, eying some of the war beasts. “Let's just keep the enemy war beasts as
far away as we can. No sense letting them dent or flip a Stryker if we can help
it.”

Perry
eyed the giant six legged monstrosities himself and then smiled grimly. “I had
a thought about that...” He turned to the stack of ordinance nearby.

Ryans
turned as well, and then grinned. “I thought you would.”

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

When
they made camp the first night Deidra sought him out when everyone was settled.
Ryans however was off on the perimeter of the camp checking things over one
last time. She gave him a curious look when he returned.

“Just
checking the perimeter,” he shrugged. “Perry's job, or one of the guards, but I
can't help it. Restless,” he sighed looking up at the stars. He didn't like
being outside here now that he knew about all the damn alien critters. Then
again they were at the center of about ten thousand men and women, not to
mention a couple of hundred animals. If anything came they'd find out in a
hurry.

“Beautiful,”
she said looking up as well. They could see a purple nebula cresting the
horizon.

“Definitely.
You don't get views like this in the city,” he smiled. “The light pollution drowns
it all out.” He shook his head. “We were going to bring an astronomer, but we
couldn't get one to come on such short notice. None of them believed...” He
sighed and looked down at her.

“Astronomer?”
she asked amused. He smiled as she took his hand. He took his coat off and laid
it over her shoulders. The heat of the day had worn off, it was now cooling
rapidly.

“An
astronomer is a person who studies the stars and objects in space. Like that
couple with the scope remember? They're your equivalent,” he explained. She
nodded. “They warn us of potential dangers, and inspire us to explore more.” He
pointed to a distant greenish light. “I believe that's a planet. That over
there is either a comet or a moon. See your suns aren't the only ones in the
universe. Each of those lights is either a star or a world. Or a star with its
own worlds.”

She
looked at him in stunned surprise. He smiled. “I told you this before remember?
We came from another world remember?” he teased.

She
blinked and then laughed a little at herself. “I had forgotten,” she murmured.
She held his hand suddenly, gripping it tightly. “They're beautiful. Do they
all have people on them like ours?” she murmured then looked to him.