Princess Rescue Inc (12 page)

Doc
slipped each of the girls a couple of yellow pills after they had a drink of
clear cold water and washed up. They asked what they were for in their
language.  Guessing their intent from their faces she told them gently
that one was to prevent infection; the other was to prevent pregnancy. The
princesses nodded after she mimed what she meant. Zara latched onto the Doc,
Doc told them both they needed rape trauma counseling.

When
Zara finished her drink she whimpered a little as they hit a bump. She fumbled
the cap on, surprised that it screwed on and then studied the material, trying
to distract herself. Her legs crossed and she groaned as they hit another bump
and jolted.

“You
have to go again don't you?” Deidra demanded. Zara nodded mutely, one hand
going to her waist. “I suppose I'll have them stop then,” Deidra said. She
waved to the healer. The healer caught the motion out of the corner of her eye
and turned to her. She mimed a stop. The woman shook her head no. Deidra
demanded they stop but the woman again shook her head no. Exasperated she held
up the water bottle with a trickle of water in it and tipped it over to drip
out and then pointed to her sister.

Sue's
face cleared as she realized what the girl wanted. She chuckled and came over
to the girl. She held out a hand and the girl took it. She pulled her to her
feet and then moved her to a cabinet sticking out of the wall further away. She
opened the door and the light came on. She pointed. “Bathroom,” she said.

Zara
stared at the white fixtures in confusion. Sue smiled and flipped the toilet
lid up and down and then turned the sink on and off. The girl blinked at her.
Sue frowned and then pantomimed sitting on the seat. When she did the girl
finally got the gist of the message and had the grace to blush. It was a
struggle to get her poufy but maligned dress into the tiny compartment so she
could close the door but they managed.

She
sat there and regretted her wardrobe choice. She should have worn her day gear
or even her hunting gear. They were... her eyes welled with tears. They were in
the carriage, in the trunks under the wreckage. Ah well, she thought snuffling.

“You
okay in there sister?” Deidra asked quietly. Zara dashed her tears and nodded.

“I'll
be finished here in a moment,” she said and then clutched at the walls and
fixtures as the carriage jolted. “If it's not shaken out of me sooner,” she
said.

“Indeed,”
Deidra said with a chuckle. When Zara came out she took her turn in the
bathroom and then opened the door but stood there staring at it in wonder. Zara
smiled at her. Both girls were amused and amazed by the bathroom. “I wish we
had this in the carriage,” Deidra observed, looking the fixtures over in envy.
They were made out of some strange metal coated in white paint. Paint that was
hard and didn't flake or chip.

“You
and me both,” Zara said from her seat by the door. She still blamed herself for
having them stop so she could go to the bathroom. It was that delay that had
allowed the raiders to catch them she was certain of it. She bit her lip in
pain and guilt.

When
they resumed their seats the healer offered the bathroom to the peasants. Both
took a turn and then sat. The healer pulled out small strange paper rectangles
and offered each of them one. The girl's blinked at her in confusion. They
weren't the only ones.

She
chuckled and then pulled one apart. Inside was a tray of that strange material.
She showed them the food on it. She pulled things off of it and then put the
tray in a white box. The box whirled and then dinged moments later. She took
the steaming tray out and put it in front of Zara.

The
girl stared at it until the healer pulled the clear material off and handed her
a strange eating implement. She looked at it and then down to the thing that
smelled of food. “I think she intends for us to eat,” Zara said.

“With
peasants?” Deidra asked dryly.

“Apparently
so,” Zara replied as the woman handed Deidra a tray and then another to the man
named Bux. The man took it gratefully and immediately started to eat.

The
healer took another tray and handed it off to the driver who picked at it with
one hand while trying to keep an eye on the road. Finally he called something
back to her. She stopped what she was doing and came forward. She took the tray
and handed him a bar that smelled of nuts. He took it and bit off a chunk.

Zara
picked at the food, not really hungry despite her rumbling stomach. The events
of the day were too traumatic for her. All she wanted was for this night to be
over with.

“It's
good,” Bux said. “Bland but good,” he said. “Hot.”

Zara
looked over his shoulder. He had some strange concoction of red sauce and green
noodles.

“Not
bad,” the woman said and nodded.

“I'll
try it,” Zara mumbled turning back to her own tray.

“Come
on, you're not normally the picky one,” Deidra teased.

“No,
that's Balth...” Zara immediately teared up, hands going to her face. Deidra
sighed. The healer rubbed the girl's shoulders soothingly until she settled
down.

The
others had grown quiet while the girl cried. When she stopped they started
eating once more. The healer picked at her tray and then took a bit of brown
goo on her implement and offered it to Zara.

“What
is it?” Zara asked.

“I
don't know,” Deidra said. “Try it and let me know,” she said.

Zara
hesitantly opened her mouth and the woman plopped it in.  She felt sugar
hit her taste buds and she smiled as she ate. “It's heavenly, she said.

“Oh?”
Deidra asked looking up. She used her implement to get some from the healer's
tray. The woman looked disgruntled but then chuckled and shrugged it off.
Deidra tried it and grunted. “It's okay,” she said.

The
healer took the rest of the small dish and gave it to Zara. Zara nodded
politely to her.

When
they were done eating the woman took care of the dirty implements and trays,
putting them in a container in a sink of all things. “This place has
everything,” Zara observed.

“A
bed?” Deidra yawned.

“I
wonder,” Zara said. She looked around and spotted beds just as the woman came
and handed them strange tubes.

“They
must be sickly. Mint is for stomach ailments,” Deidra warned sniffing.

“Apparently
not all,” Zara said amused. She sniffed at a tube the healer woman handed her.
She was also handed a small brush. She examined it. The bristles were soft and
many. It was made out of that strange material. Hard yet flexible she thought
testing it. She went to put it to her hair but the woman chuckled and showed
her it was to clean her teeth. She examined it in awe. She sniffed the tube and
then held it up to Deidra's nose.

“Interesting,”
Deidra replied with a wary sniff. “Apparently they like the smell of mint.”

“To
be fair we do as well sister,” Zara replied.

“True,”
Deidra admitted. She liked mint candy around the holidays, as did her sister
and... She put the thought aside hastily. There would be time to grieve later.

The
driver called to the healer. The healer came forward and then waved to them.
They looked. It was near dawn and a castle was in the distance.

“The
viscount of Monty,” Deidra said eyes dark. “The fool.”

“You
think we cannot find sanctuary there?” Zara asked warily.

“I
think he'll trade us to the Duluthians for a crust of bread,” Deidra growled.
“We must make it clear for them to move on.”

“I
think they are settling here for the day and moving on at night,” Zara said and
then yawned. She looked at the peasants. The couple had been lulled into sleep
by full stomachs and the rocking and thrumming of the metal carriage. “Sleep it
is,” Deidra said as the healer pulled what looked like pillows and blankets
from a cupboard. She looked out the windows of the metal carriage. Some of the
gaijin were covering the vehicles in strange ragged brown cloth while others
either set up to guard or bedded down.

“I
don't think I can,” Zara said fearfully as the healer showed her a bunk in the
back.

“You
will. Just focus on dreams of peace and the barn,” Deidra said soothingly. She
knew she and her sister would have terrible dreams this day, and for many more
to come.

The
next evening they passed a small castle keep in the dark. It was built into a
cliff face. The girls were disdainful of going to it when asked and refused to
leave the camper. Confused Wanda and Sue went to Perry.

“It
might be someone they don't trust,” he replied with a shrug, eying the dimly
lit edifice. He didn't like the looks of it; there was no way to retreat from
it. “Nice use of real estate though, it's built right into the plateau. It must
use a series of caves for the interior.” He noted there were no windows on the
lower ten meters of rock. He wondered if it had secret tunnels and passages.

“It's
like the castles in Turkey,” Nate murmured. Perry glanced his way. “Saw it once
when I was a lad on holiday. Bit like this but more reddish. Course that could
be the light,” he observed and then shrugged.

The
buildings in the walled town around the base of the castle were Asian style
fortresses of wood and red stone. Each had smoke pouring from smokestacks.
“Interesting mix of architectural styles though,” Nate said, nodding then
pointing to a lung chi dragon carved into the ends of the rafters.
“Fascinating. They adapted their Terran cultural references to an alien world.”

“Or
that may be a real animal Doc,” Perry said. The Biologist turned on him. “Alien
world Doc, the lung chi dragons could have crossed over from here to our side
at one point.”

Nate's
eyes went wide as he assimilated that. Perry snorted in amusement. “You know, I
never suspected that...” He heard the biologist murmur thoughtfully. “We'll
have to look into it. I'll cross reference... Oh dear.” He looked around for
his laptop. Their intranet was down while they were on the move.

Perry
snorted again. “You'll have to wait for the next stop Doc; we're not pulling
over here.” He turned to the group. “All right boys and girls, head 'em up and
move 'em out!” he said waving to the road.

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

Doctor
Roshenko looked amused as they bounced along in the camper. Ryans was bored,
they'd spent the past several days staring out at the darkened countryside as
they traveled each night. He'd switched to the camper just to stretch his legs.
He leaned over to the scientist, clearly trying to keep from arriving at
terminal boredom. “What's that?” he asked looking at the chunk of rock in the
man's hands. Roshenko must have picked it up from somewhere but he wasn't sure
where. He nodded his chin to it. “That important?”

“Only
concrete,” The geologist said, smiling with delight.

“Okay.”
Ryans nodded. He didn't get the amusement the geologist was sporting though;
clearly something was significant about that. More significant than what he
considered.

Sydney
looked up, clearly surprised. “Did I hear you say concrete?” he asked. “Here?”

“Yeah
he said that.” Ryans replied looking over to the historian. “That significant?”
he asked. Sydney flipped the laptop down. He was still picking through the
vocabulary database, amused that it was working out but annoyed that it was so
slow.

“Of
course!” Sydney said throwing his arms wide and looking at the ceiling. “It's a
roman thing. Europeans lost it for centuries! We didn't re-invent it until
modern times!”

Ryans
nodded. “Well, it looks like they never lost it here.” Ryans said amused.

“I'll
say,” Sydney said shaking his head. “Where is that from anyway?”

“The
village wall we paused at two days ago. The one near that big empty house,”
Roshenko replied.

“Ah,”
Sydney said nodding. “So if it's there at a serf's hut...”

Roshenko
nodded. “Then it's most likely all over. I wonder if they have rebar?” Roshenko
mused.

“Probably,
or something similar. When the medieval builders made castles in Europe they
used chain for that purpose,” Sydney replied. “Though it probably cost an arm
and a leg. Iron isn't exactly easy to mine with hand tools.”

“Yeah,
but they seem to be doing okay. And that plateau had an iron deposit. You could
tell from the red streaks. And it wasn't mined. Was it Doc?” Ryans asked,
turning to Roshenko.

Roshenko
frowned and then shook his head thoughtfully. “No, no it wasn't. Which
means...” He paused then brightened. “That they've got other mines. Mines
easier to work or closer to current towns!” he said smiling.

“Probably,”
Sydney said nodding. “Any idea on the formula for that?” He indicated the rock.

“No,
not likely any time soon until we've stood down for a good spell to check,” the
Geologist sighed.