Deadly Wands (52 page)

If someone had told Genghis that the guy
impersonating the Red Baron sent home those forty-five battalions,
Genghis would not have believed it. Nor would he find convincing
the idea that they only fought as long as they did precisely
because they were promised they could return home -- with all the
wealth that they could carry -- as soon as Genghis Khan entered the
Stans.

Genghis would have found the idea
unfathomable. But there it was. The Baron, in his flaming red suit,
harassed his armada with just five thousand quads. Really good
ones, certainly, but where was he hiding the others?

Five thousand quads punishing five hundred
thousand humiliated the Khan. His hatred of the Baron kept him from
sleeping at night, which made dealing with him dangerous. His staff
walked like the ground was full of eggs they didn’t dare break.

His head jerked up when wands sang out.
Another scout came in to give the latest.

"Nothing to the north, sir, although an enemy
company was seen a few days ago escorting a large number of
civilian air mules to Finland."

The khan cursed softly. He felt like pulling
his damn beard out.

"Then where the hell is he? Marathoners don't
just beat everything around them for months, then disappear when
they run out of resistance. He murdered my wife, sacked my cities,
and slaughtered half of my armada because he wanted a fight. Why
won’t he fight?"

Russia, Scandinavia, Prussia, Persian, and
Turkish air forces tracked him from a safe distance. To the west,
American Jack organized what the news reports called a European Air
Force numbering several hundred thousand, so he assumed the Baron
was setting up a massive attack from all sides. At times he felt
like he didn’t need enemies to do him in; the damn stress may just
do it for them.

But the Big Day never happened. Team Red, as
they called themselves, attacked constantly, but everyone else
stayed away. So Genghis sacked the first city in Europe that he
came across. Just to bring about the climatic battle he assumed was
coming. Looking back, he regretted not targeting Moscow. But he had
so many regrets.

A warning from the sky shrieked and Genghis
rushed outside. A single exhausted quad descended, dozens of wands
tracking him. He landed well away from the Khan, tapped his vocal
cords, then gave the bad news as soon as he could catch a
breath.

"The Baron somehow raised a huge force of
foreign quads," he cried out. "The Americans and Koreans wiped out
Mongolia, while a million foreign quads swept China with several
million Chinese."

The Immortal walked closer. "Jirko?"

Everyone knew the Khan’s son-in-law because
of the Millennial Wands the emperor gave him.

People assumed that the Khan killed everyone
who could blast with their boot wands, but only his descendents had
ever displayed this ability, so he only killed potential
troublemakers. The rest lived far away to avoid having a fatal
accident.

About once every decade Genghis fathered a
child who stole his heart. His most recent beloved daughter,
Khutulun, was as beautiful as she was powerful, and blasted with
her boot wands stronger than Genghis Khan himself. Yet she would
only agree to marry someone more powerful, so Genghis let her roam
the world to find her mate.

And that’s how she found Jirko, the heir to
the Siamese Empire, who could also use his boot wands for more than
propulsion. The clever couple even planted a seed that was too
entertaining to dismiss: that one of their children could one day
inherit both kingdoms, uniting the Mongol and Siamese empires.
Without bloodshed. Genghis had dreamed of that for two hundred
years.

Then what happens? The Baron destroys the
Siamese Empire and slaughters Jirko’s entire family. On the one
hand, Genghis just lost a powerful ally when Siam went under. But,
on the other hand, his champion now hated his arch enemy as much as
he did. So it wasn’t all bad.

Jirko set a new world record for one thousand
kilometers at the Olympics several years ago, only to be beaten by
the Boy Wonder. Who the hell sets a new record, only to get the
silver? Genghis remembered inviting Jirko to a public feast where
he showered the depressed champion with praise to cushion the bad
jokes.

Genghis handed Jirko a water sack. While
drinking, Jirko played the video of the Baron doing his scream and
fire dance. Genghis had learned to distinguish between the true
Baron and the imposters, and knew this was the real one.

Ironic that it was Jirko, of all people, to
bring him the terrible news since it was Genghis who informed Jirko
that the Red Baron killed all seven generations of his family in
Siam.

Genghis Khan lived a hard life. Tatars
poisoned his father to death, then his clan left him to starve on
the freezing steppe when he was just ten. He had to kill his older
brother because he stole food while the family starved. His former
clan enslaved him for the murder. He fought for twenty-five years
to unite the clans, only to have his childhood friend and blood
brother Jamuka become his greatest rival. So he hardened his heart
long ago. But failing to protect millions who counted on him
threatened his sanity.

Without saying another word, he walked to his
personal tent where no one could witness his uncontrollable rage.
To be out-witted at the peak of his power infuriated him. The Baron
humiliated him repeatedly so the rest of the world would stop
fearing him. He had never felt impotent before -- even when the
Baron crushed his genitals -- and it ate him up like a cancer.

But rage did not stop his mind from working.
For months he felt like he was being played. And now he realized he
was. The Baron lured him literally out of Asia to destroy the heart
of his empire.

Genghis could now see that the Baron killed
his Empress to make him personally lead the chase away from the
real target. The Baron suckered him. He never planned on battling
him. He just wanted time to depopulate Mongolia. While his heart
ached and his emotions raged, his mind recognized brilliance when
he saw it. Despite all his efforts, Genghis fell into the Baron's
trap after all.

He felt like such a tool. Now he understood
why he had not received messages from home for so long. He stuck
his head out of his tent and barked his smartest order in months:
“Let’s go home.”

Not that he saw any other option. His
destruction of Krakow scared the Europeans into uniting against
him. The Russians, Scandinavians, Prussians, Turks, Persians, and
even the Arabs looked like they were just waiting for him to lock
horns with the Europeans so they could sodomize him.

As soon as his men started breaking camp,
those five thousand super-quads bombed them again, with one of them
doing the Baron’s scream and dance. Tired of feeling helpless,
Genghis chased them himself, but they disappeared before he could
get close. It unnerved him how fast they flew. He used to be the
fastest, yet he couldn’t even close the distance. It never occurred
to him that those five thousand enjoyed the best wands ever
produced.

Now he understood what returning home would
be like: exactly like the damn trip here. Those bastards would slow
him down as much as they could, because that’s what the Baron told
them to do months ago. That’s why they always seemed to have food,
bombs, and shelter. Because the Baron planned this long ago.

He had to get home to salvage what he could,
so he separated his one hundred thousand best quads, even though
this meant re-forming every battalion, company, and squad.

A week later, in the Stans, millions of
Mongol refugees shared their stories and he finally appreciated the
scale of the disaster. Then he learned that the Red Baron himself
killed his heir and prevented the destruction of the main Chinese
force. Several thousand kilometers from where the Khan was hunting
him.

He resolved to kill the Baron and everyone he
cared about.

CHAPTER 68

When Billy found his American battalion, they
came with a surprise: his wife! Princess didn't fly here alone. She
flew with five thousand super-quads outfitted in world-class armor
suits.

Princess hugged him before he even landed,
sending them tumbling on the grassy steppe. Fortunately they landed
in some bushes where they kissed for the first time in almost a
year. Afterwards she showed him new images of their firstborn,
Elizabeth, and now their son, Harry.

"He's just like you," Princess claimed,
"except with my dark hair, eyes, and skin."

"Yet he's just like me? What, he's small and
skinny?" Billy joked.

"No, because he's demanding, cries a lot, and
tries to pee on me," Prince answered.

"Brother," Billy replied, "I don't care how
much you look like my beautiful wife, I’m not having sex with you.
Anymore."

Prince must have had a good year since he
didn't get all prickly on him. Since Kiev, he, Mali, and a few
others had been dueling across the Empire to build up their flame.
Prince made himself a fortune.

"You're lucky fatherhood has mellowed me. I
have a few dozen kids, and many more on the way. Dear sister has
them milk me like a cow."

"And me like an elephant," Bear boasted.
"Those magnificent wands you gave me have somehow overcome my great
looks, charismatic personality, and elephantine penis. I don't have
as many babies as Prince Charming here but, then again, I don't
have his inferiority complex. And don't get me started on Tiny," he
said, gesturing to the huge American Indian. "We're saving the
biggest ladies for him because this world doesn't have enough
giants."

"Both of our boys look exactly like you," a
radiant Blade pointed out, showing images of their sons. "Because
of the imperial guard attack in Venice, we sent the babies to
relatives for safety. My family in Switzerland is taking back our
kingdom. Your son may someday become king.”

Billy would spend the day watching proud
mothers show him videos of his beautiful babies. He had not been
this happy since his mother died. He didn’t know he even could be
happy since his mother died.

"You look different without all the pent-up
anger," Billy told Blade.

"Better or worse?" Blade demanded, an edge to
her voice.

"Oh, better. Much better. Did you want to
give our sons a little sister?"

"I didn't fly several thousand clicks to hear
your jokes," she said with a smile.

Billy turned to Prince. "Struck out
again?"

"Unlike you, I’m not into lesbians.”

“Yes, I turned him down,” Blade confirmed. “I
still prefer women, so Princess still gets all she wants. And then
some.”

For reasons he had not yet cleared up, it
bothered Billy that his wife -- that’s how he saw her -- slept with
other women. A lot.

"Feeling left out, Grandma?" Billy joked.

“A woman with my passion would break you
little men like a sucked wand. Tiny, however," she said looking up
at him, "doesn’t look too fragile."

Tiny, to his credit, didn't bat an eye. "Just
don't uncork this wine unless you’ll finish the bottle."

Pleasantries over, they gleefully recounted
how they flew rings around the Great Khan, and how he returned home
rather than ravage Europe. Billy blanched when they told him of a
million dead when Genghis sacked Krakow. The super-quads harassed
him all the way home, until they found Americans about to run into
one hundred thousand Mongols.

"Alright, Red," Prince interrupted. "How did
you lose a million Asian quads? And how did you get them in the
first place? They’d have been handy right now."

"Same way you lost yours -- they took their
money and went home. But now powerful neighbors surround the
Empire. I hope they keep Genghis busy.”

"You're not gonna lead their defense?"

"I prefer offense. Waiting for half a million
fliers to attack doesn't appeal to me."

"But we're still gonna kill Mongols, right?"
Prince needed to know. He still thirsted to avenge his parents.

"As many as we can, as fast as we can, for as
long as we can," Billy answered. "All we did these last few years
was drain the swamp. Now we have to turn it into desert.

“Genghis will probably fly to China along the
Silk Road, bringing only the quads with the greatest endurance.
After they pass by, I'd love to bomb his follow-up forces. The Tian
Shan Mountains would be perfect for ambushes if we can find some
bombs."

"After Kiev,” Grandma said, “we sent
trainers, wands, and gold to rebels in India. Maybe we can find
help there.”

Billy started laughing. He told them what
happened at the Bering Strait. “I wonder how many Indians reached
India. It seemed every Mongol unit wanted to punish the
traitors.”

Later that night, Billy took Grandma aside
into a grove for privacy.

“How’s the other Baron?”

Grandma smiled. “I’ve never seen him happier.
I didn’t think he could be happy after losing his third family, but
the ladies drained him at every opportunity, not knowing he was not
the real Baron. He likes the idea of having more children than even
the Mongols can kill. Does it bother you that he has impregnated
hundreds of your women?”

Billy swayed in the wind, blinking hard to
get the images out of his head. “I had not thought of that. All
those mothers will think I’m the father of their children. I may
never know which kids are really mine.”

It surprised Grandma how much she enjoyed his
discomfort. “How does it feel to be a cuckold a thousand times
over?”

Billy shook himself awake. He couldn’t afford
to let himself show his vulnerabilities, so he showed her the new
Millennial Wands.

“I took these from a dying Mongol.”

She stared at them like a ghost, turning them
over in a weird trance. It was the only time Billy ever saw her
unguarded. Several conflicting emotions crossed her face.