Princess Rescue Inc (60 page)

Charlie
held up one hand. “I'll go,” she said quietly. They looked at her in surprise.
“What, we've all got medical training remember? I'm the backup paramedic...”
She shrugged. “One of them anyway. Give me a crap load of biofoam and a first
aid kit with a book and I'll get by.”

Perry
frowned and then caught the small shake from Ryans and then sighed. “Sorry
Charlie, but we need you here more, Doc too.” He turned to nod his chin politely
to the still fuming Sue.

Doc
nodded. “All right, I'll send Xanthus and Senji. I'll ask them to volunteer,
maybe ask one of the nurses too. Both are about paramedic level. Give me a
couple of hours to get a kit together and a nurse for them,” she said coldly. 
She turned to Charlie. “The biofoam is a good idea; I'll send some along and
make sure they can use it. Can you make...” Charlie grimaced and shook her
head. “Thought not,” Sue sighed.

“One
thing at a time Sue. They do have glue. We're talking to the plywood industry
about that. Maybe we can make a basic glue that will work like biofoam?” he
asked glancing at Wanda and then Charlie. Both women shrugged.

Perry
nodded ignoring what Ryans said. “Have them meet in the western courtyard in
three hours Doc, dressed in dark colors for a hard ride,” he ordered. She
nodded and left.

“This
going to work?” Charlie asked.

Perry
shrugged. “It's a start.”

“Doolittle
raid,” Ryans said.

“Yeah,
do little all right. Just going to stir up a hornet's nest before we're ready,”
Charlie echoed.

Ryans
frowned. “No, I mean Colonel Doolittle, W-W-two. He and a group of aviators
flew Mitchell bombers off carriers just after Pearl Harbor to bomb the Japanese
isles. It was a morale building effort,” Ryans explained.

Perry
nodded. “This is also to get some field training in. Some of my people are
green and need the confidence. I'll have them stop and help the villages and
towns in the area on the way back if they aren't chased. Have them set up
militias and do a health and welfare check up if possible.”

Charlie
nodded. “And you’re going to kill as many officers as you can too.”

Perry
frowned, and then looked the way Doc went then nodded. “As many as we can.
Taking out the leadership is an accepted military practice in our time. Put enough
holes in the chain of command and they break.”

“Not
in theirs though,” Charlie nodded to the courtiers nearby.

Perry
looked then shrugged. “They're desperate so they'll have to learn to deal. Like
it or lump it,” he said gruffly. His Silent Knight commandos were all new
recruits. Well, with a few gaijin like Lance Corporal Newban, Private
Schneider, to stiffen them up. Ryans nodded. They needed to do this, so they'd
make it happen and deal with the consequences.

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

When
the meeting broke up Ryans joined Perry and Waters for a delayed calisthenics
work out. It was brief, a warm up, a hundred pushups and sit ups, jumping
jacks, and then a three lap jog around the castle. Ryans nodded to Zara in
passing as they jogged. Zara smiled shyly and waved her fingers to him. Perry
caught the motion and snorted. Ryans rolled his eyes but sobered when he caught
Deidra looking as well.

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

Charlie
grinned at Sue as she came in and flopped down on a padded stool. “Make
yourself at home why don't you,” Sue murmured, not looking up.

“Don't
mind if I do,” Charlie said with a grin, snagging Sue's coffee cup and downing
it. She grimaced. “What the hell?” she looked at it.

Sue
snorted. “Berry juice,” she said. “The natives use it in place of coffee.”

“It's
bitter enough,” Charlie said, still soured as she put the cup carefully down.
Sue smiled a little.

“Serves
you right for taking without asking,” she teased.

“Hey
you said make yourself at home you know,” Charlie replied. Sue snorted.

“What
do you want Charlie, I'm kind of busy here,” Sue said, setting the tablet down
on her desk. She had a sort of office now, a cloth walled area with a small
desk and stools, to go over papers and discuss treatments with the staff. It
wasn't much but at least it was a start.

“I
came by to tell you I figured out where the parents were getting the calcium
from,” Charlie said smugly.

“Oh?”
Sue asked. She'd wondered about it, had meant to ask a midwife but things had
gotten a little too hectic to ask. “Do tell,” she said, sitting back and
crossing her arms.

“I
sent you an e-mail,” Charlie said with a grin.

“But
you were too eager to wait so you just had to come over and tell me in person
of course,” Sue deadpanned. Charlie chuckled. “So?”

“So,
it's a melon.”

“Really?”
Sue asked in surprise. “I thought it was a mammal? Cow’s milk?”

Charlie
shrugged. “For those that have cows yes. But apparently there is a melon, grows
about the size of a watermelon in the summer and fall. It's got blue pulp that
they squeeze into juice or eat raw. It's sugary and chocked full of vitamin C.
They strain it with cheese cloth and give it to the kids.”

“Ah,”
Sue said nodding. She'd seen a few mothers nursing naturally but hadn't had any
pediatric visits yet. That was interesting.

“Mary's
looking into it now. She asked me to run some tests on it and that's what I
found,” Charlie said smiling. “They love eating it it too, though it's
apparently better in the summer than in the spring.”

“Spring
time it's concentrated but doesn't have time to ferment,” Sue mused.

“Maybe,”
Charlie said spreading her hands. “Well, that's it for that.” She started to
get up.

“Hang
on a sec Charlie,” Sue said. Charlie paused and then sat back down.

“Now
what?”

“I
wanted to know if anyone taught the natives about bacteria and pasteurization
yet,” Sue said, locking eyes with her.

“I
know they use yeast and other things, fermenting of course... I think
pasteurization is a bit beyond them Doc,” Charlie replied, wrinkling her nose.

“Then
it's high time they learned something new, right?” Sue asked, arching an
eyebrow.

“You...
you're not serious Doc!” Charlie said aghast.

“You're
our biochemist. You can help Max. Give him a swift kick and remind him to
pasteurize all the food he's storing.”

“Um...”

“Boil
it Charlie,” Sue said tiredly.

“I
know that,” Charlie replied testily. The doctor snorted. “Anything else?”

“Not
that I'm aware of. Just get on that. Lay the groundwork. I know it's a lot.”

“Yeah,”
Charlie sighed, brushing her bangs back out of her eyes. “You're telling me,”
she said wryly.

“Then
you better get started. I don't want a case of botulism or anything,” Sue said
firmly.

Suddenly
Charlie shuddered. “Yeah, I've had bad clams once in my life, never again.
Okay, I can't make any guarantees but I'll see what I can do Doc,” she said,
slapping her knees and getting to her feet.

“Good,
toodles,” Doc said, picking up her tablet and making a shooing motion. Charlie
snorted and left.

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

Ryans
nodded his chin to the caravan coming in. They were coming in from the South, a
good sign. He turned to a guard. “That the metals we were waiting for?” he
asked from the parapet. The guard turned to shade his eyes and study the
convoy. After a moment he shook his head.

“Tis
sal Dominus gaijin,” he said, turning back to his post. Ryans tasted the word.
Sal... salt. His mouth rounded in an O.

“Sea
salt?” he asked. The man nodded. “Ah. Not from the ground though, from the sea?
The um, mare?” Ryans persisted.  The guard nodded again.

“So
it's for cooking,” Ryans mused. Man and animals, at least Terran animals had to
have some level of sodium in their bodies. He saw the guard nod again.

“The
terra sal is used for the cras in hiems Dominus,” the guard explained. Ryans
parsed that out. The Roman helm the man was wearing and his lack of teeth was
hampering the translator’s ability to handle the language. Terra meant Earth,
sal he knew was salt... he puzzled out the rest and then nodded.

“You
use the terra sal to melt the ice,” Ryans said. The guard blinked and then
nodded. Ryans nodded as well. “Okay, just checking,” he said, returning to his
walk. “Well, at least they don't use it for pay anymore,” he muttered to
himself.

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

Doctor
Fred Roshenko was in his glory. The mining, the materials, he had samples
coming out of his ears and such rich metals! He saw platinum sticks stacked
casually in the market and now this. Concrete of all things, he thought,
shaking his head.

Ryans
wanted him and Max to take a stab at overhauling the concrete works, or at
least give the various makers some pointers. Max was busy so he was on his own.
Tentatively he knocked on the plywood door, admiring the paintings on it.

“Yes?”
a surly voice asked. He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.

“Yes,
um, my name is Doctor Roshenko I'm a gaijin. I was um, asked to help teach you
about concrete?”

“We
know all there is to know,” the voice said and then he jumped when something or
someone kicked the door. “Now go away!”

“Um,
I was told to show you new ways...”

“I
said go away!” the voice snarled.

“Okay,”
Roshenko said hands up. “No problem,” he said, backing off the concrete steps
and then turning. “If you'd be so kind as to point out one of your competitors?
I'm fairly sure they will want this knowledge,” he said.

The
lock clacked open and then a small hand and head peeked out at him. The lad
glared and then pointed down a dark alley, opposite the way the doctor had
come. Roshenko nodded. “Thanks,” he said. He started that way and ducked a line
of hanging linen as the door slammed behind him. He turned, looking at the door
and then shrugged. He turned back to the indicated direction and noted the
rather rough looking neighborhood. He felt eyes on him. On second thought, he'd
find a local constable and ask for proper directions he thought.

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

“What's
up Doc?” Perry asked. He ignored the glower as he stood near the others. Most
of the Terrans were assembled in the room once more. Normally they had a
meeting every other morning. For some reason Sue had called a special one this
morning. He'd just finished getting his first squad of Silent Knights off. They
were tasked with recon only, recon for the follow up commandos.

“I
called everyone here to point out a couple of things,” Doc said. She was tired,
and worse, looked it.

“Shoot,”
Perry said, crossing his arms.

“First,
don't drink the water,” Everyone eyed her. “Seriously, I just found out they
use lead of all things to pipe the water into some of the areas in the city and
in the castle. It's also not sterile.”

“We
knew that Doc,” Ryans replied from the back. Everyone turned to him.

“Well,
I didn't,” Wanda said. They turned to her. “Seriously.” She held up her hands.
“Nary a clue here till now. I've been using it for all sorts of stuff.”

“Never
been in a castle or third world country before?” Perry asked amused.

She
shook her head. “Nope.”

“First
time for everyone I suppose,” the Master Sergeant said disgruntled. “Can we move
on, I've got a drill going on?”

“Ah,”
Doc nodded. “Second thing, everyone take proper precautions when having sexual
contact with anyone,” she said firmly. Wanda looked at her. She shrugged.

“I
just diagnosed a case of Syphilis and a case of herpes yesterday,” she said.

“Ah.
Yeah, not good,” Perry nodded rubbing his nose and looking anywhere but at
Ryans.

“Use
a rubber. One of ours, not one of their sheep intestine things,” Sue said,
wrinkling her nose in disgust at using such a thing. They all grimaced at that.
Wanda made a yuck face. “I'd tell you, you can't catch it from kissing, but I'm
not so sure. Blood protocols are in effect. If you’re working on a patient or
blood sample, use gloves. Same goes if you’re handling waste of any sort.
Protect yourselves folks,” Sue said leaning against the wall.

“Good
to know,” Wanda nodded. “On the bright side I just got the simplest form of
bleach done, Adonis has the distribution up and is already processing their
first test batches. We think he's gotten the contamination issue resolved. I'll
have to keep on him for quality assurance.” She grimaced. “I've given the
a-okay for full production and they've been stocking up on materials to do a
full mass production run. Hopefully they will get it out soon. I think my next
priority should be water purification though. Chlorine is a bitch to make
though,” she grimaced, looking thoughtful and annoyed at the same time. “I'll
see if Charlie here,” she said as she turned to the other chemist, “can lend a
hand.” Charlie nodded.