Princess Rescue Inc (76 page)

“Why
yes. Ah...” The older man bobbed his head then cleared his throat. “We use
different plants and glue to make it. We also glue the short bush tree trunks
together as well. We alternate direction to give it strength.”

“Cool.
Laminar beam,” Max replied and nodded before he handed the piece back. “Plywood
and laminar beams here. Go figure. Good.” He nodded. “It'll work.”

The
carpenter looked relieved.

“But
we'll need a hell of a lot more. And we'll probably need to work on the glue
formula. Tweak it so it can handle more stress and water.”

“This
is ah... traditional... but...”

“But
it can change with time. No time like the present.” Max smiled. “As it happens
Charlie gave me a couple of formulas we can try. They are yours to use and
improve if we use them.” The carpenter blinked at him. He smiled. “Think of it
this way, we need this done now, as quickly as possible. We've been muddling by
with traditional methods but now it's time to improve things. Let's get to
work.”

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

Wanda
shook her head wryly, watching him eat. They were in the main hall, but it was
mostly deserted. He smiled. Sometimes it was nice being important. You got to
jump to the head of the line when it came time to eat. And you could get dinner
reservations and the help would keep the interruptions to a minimum.

“What?”
he asked slightly amused. He turned to her, then to Deidra. “Do I have
something stuck in my teeth?” he asked, using his tongue to probe his teeth.

“No,
just wondering what other mischief you’re going to get into this week.”

He
shrugged. “It's a guy thing,” he said turning to Deidra. She smiled.

Wanda
snorted looking at the princess. “Definitely guy thing.” She knew something was
there, something had changed but wasn't sure if she was on the right track or
not. Both the princess and Eugene were acting strange. Stand offish but quiet
and intense now that they were together.

“That's
right up there with our Y chromosome. You know the one, it has the whole foot
in the mouth thing,” Ryans joked, taking the bull by the horns.

“Ah,
so that's where you keep it. I was wondering,” Wanda deadpanned.

He
grinned. “Yup, right up there with leaving messes, squashing bugs, doing fool
stunts to impress girls and leaving the toilet seat up,” he said. He ticked off
each attribute with his fingers.

Wanda
laughed. Deidra looked from one to the other then smiled politely. “You'll get
it later dear,” Wanda said still giggling. Her hand was over her mouth. She was
aware she was making a scene but didn't care.

“Yup,
one of our many endearing traits,” he said with a knowing smirk.

“Oh
really? I thought it was the whole lifting furniture and killing spiders,” Sue
said coming in and biting into an apple. He stuck his tongue out at her. She
chuckled.

“Hey,
that's better than never being able to make up your
mind
or having to
always be right,” he said magnanimously. “I'm not wrong, I just changed my
mind!” he aped.

Wanda
chuckled but Sue mock glowered at him. “Ah, you remember that whole part about
sticking your foot in your mouth right? I think you're up to your knee.”

He
gave her a mock glower as the other women giggled and nodded. “Hush you,” he
sighed, leaning back. The girls snickered as he got up. “Everyone's gotta be a
comedian,” he said, hamming the line.

Wanda
giggled louder. “Ha!” She turned pointing to Deidra. “Laugh now, but when he
starts leaving his underwear around the suite, or that whole toilet thing...”

“Good
god, don't get me started on that,” Doc said laughing. “I remember dad using
his underwear like a slingshot, shooting it at mom when she was doing laundry
and not looking. She'd let out a god awful shriek and he hot footed it out of
there laughing like an idiot,” she snickered.

“What
did he do the sling shot method?” Wanda asked chuckling. “With a present
inside?” she asked then stopped and shook her head. “Nope, never mind, I can
imagine it,” she said laughing as Doc opened her mouth. Deidra looked
thoroughly confused.

“Hey
we all have to entertain ourselves somehow,” Ryans replied with a grin. “My
favorite is picking up and tossing them with my toes,” he joked. Sue snorted.
Wanda rolled her eyes. “I can usually catch them on the first try,” he mock
bragged, hitching his thumbs in his belt.

“What
are you talking about?” Deidra finally asked, hurt that he hadn't so much as
acknowledged her.

“Let's
just leave that as a nice present for later ladies,” Ryans said making his own
retreat. Wanda chuckled at that. Deidra got up and followed. Her sudden angry
look sobered Wanda.

“Something
going on we missed?” Wanda asked Sue. Sue shrugged and bit into her apple once
more.

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

Deidra
caught him before he could get very far of course. They were in a tunnel in
between the outer and inner bailey. Fortunately the area was currently deserted
by the staff and overdressed noble peacocks. He was hesitant to kiss her so she
pinned his wrists to the wall behind him and backed him up until he felt the
cold stone press against his back. “Now what?” he demanded.

Her
eyes glittered in mischief. “Why, you’re my prisoner of course,” she said as he
put up token resistance. Her eyes glittered up to him and she nipped at his
shoulder, the only place she could get her mouth to since he was so tall.

“Oh
I am, am I?” he teased, looking down at her. She smiled up at him. It was a
feral smile, full of promises of what was to come in the evening. “What do I
have to do to earn my parole?” he asked softly.

“Oh
a kiss will do. For now,” she murmured huskily. He chuckled.

“Oh
is that all?” he asked. “Seems a hefty price,” he said leaning forward, eyes
glancing into hers and then down to her parting full lips. “And I guess you
demand it?” he asked. She grinned.

“Oh
you betcha as Wanda likes to say,” she said, and then her lips enveloped his.
He chuckled as her grip tightened on his wrists so he couldn't move. He let
himself go for the moment.

When
they heard footfalls the kisses stopped and she stepped back wiping at her
mouth with a hanky. He smiled politely and nodded to the guards as they passed.
When they were out and around the corner his arms reached out like a pair of
vipers to snag her and pull her into his embrace. “Now, what were you saying
about who is whose prisoner?” he demanded with a leer.

Her
eyes lowered slightly as she blushed and squirmed. “Same parole?” she asked. He
grinned and leaned down. “What do you think?” he murmured. Her twinkling eyes
met his just as their lips did. She couldn't quite smother a giggle though. She
loved sneaking around, she'd loved it in her youth, and it brought out the
passion in the male. This was fun, and even more fun knowing that everyone
expected it, but he was still resistant. Except right now of course, she
thought as their tongues twined.

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

“I
had a thought.” Ryans said looking over to Perry. Perry and Max were his third
stop before the court council. He had a lot to get done before this evening's
meeting.

“Dangerous
that is,” Perry said smiling. Ryans glowered. “Okay, elucidate your brilliance
oh wise one,” Perry said smiling.

“Smart
ass,” Ryans mock growled and then shrugged. “I was thinking about the pass.
We've been trying to figure out a way to get them supplies when there are a
hundred tons of supplies right there for them to use.”

“Ah...
I don't follow,” Perry's brows knit.

“The
cave sir,” Waters said sighing. “I should have thought of that myself.” He
shook his head in self disgust. “Probably put it out of my mind because of all
the useless junk we piled into it.”

“Useless
on the go, not so now,” Max said indicating the castle. “They could use the
construction equipment to rebuild and reinforce the wall for instance.”

“True,”
Waters grudgingly admitted. “So you want to send a scout up the trail to grab
what they can? I'm a bit leery about letting them go digging through all our
stuff. Look what happened the last time we trusted a local yokel with our
gear,” he grimaced. The others did as well.

Ryans
nodded. “True. And it's not easy to find either. I was thinking more along the
lines of sending a LAV up there. Or sending Lewis and Sergio in the
ultra-light. They could land, rest, show the defenders where the gear is, and
then fly back with some supplies,” Ryans said thinking out loud.

Max
shook his head. “Way too far, no way,” he growled. Perry grimaced and nodded.
“The ultra-light has barely the range to go to the front and back. We're
staging it out of a road north of here as it is. The wall is twice as far and
is a bitch to land near.” Lewis had reported a couple of bumpy landings on the
wall road. The strip near the wall was a gravel road, a bit windy and pitched
in two directions making it tricky to land on.

“Besides,
there's no fuel or electricity on that end for the plane to use for resupply.”
Perry said nodding. “Lewis said she's lucky to get back as it is even empty.
LAV it is then. Now the question is who goes?” he asked rubbing his chin.

“Doctor
Roshenko can go, he's underutilized at the moment,” Waters replied. Ryans shook
his head.

“I
sent him up to the mines two days ago. He's supposed to get them sorted out and
set up a smelter.”

“Oh,”
Waters grunted in irritation. “What about Lieutenant Galloway sir? He's
recovered from his injuries Doc said.” He looked at the Lieutenant in earnest.
“He's a combat engineer too; he could tear into those defenses with a
vengeance. He's given the city engineer enough to mull on for the next decade
here.” He waved to the capital city.

Perry
nodded. “Good point. Him, a pair of locals to thicken things... maybe Edsfield
or Newban?”

“Edsfield
is our top sniper sir. We need him here teaching and when the battle starts.
Newban is leading one of the raiding teams. Silent Knights alpha I believe,”
Waters replied.

Perry
ran his hands through his scalp. “Crap. And everyone else is tasked,” Perry
grimaced in thought. He shrugged after a moment. “Okay, fourth slot can be
another warm native body or additional supplies,” he finally said. Waters
nodded.

“I'll
pass along the orders sir,” Waters replied jotting them down on his tablet.

“I'll
handle Galloway; you get the enlisted for him. And as much gear as that LAV can
safely carry,” Perry said making a note himself. “I'll tell Galloway to just
get the MRE's and weapons. We can come back for the rest when things settle
down.”

“Are
you really going to do what I think you're going to do?” Perry asked, turning
to Ryans. Ryans smiled.

“We've
got the confessions and I've been busy setting this up. I think turning the
baron into an object lesson will prevent a civil war and anyone else getting
any bright ideas. At least for the immediate future,” he said.

“Any
word on the King?” Perry asked. Ryans shook his head. Perry sighed. “I'll back
you up then.”

“Thanks,”
Ryans said with a nod. “Doubt I'll need it but it's good to know,” he said with
a wan smile.

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

Outside
the royal court Rojer distanced himself from the baron. His sources in the
castle had told him this morning that two of the fool's assassins had lived and
confessed. He was certain Muchinson was on borrowed time and did not want
anything splattered on him by association.

“Is
he... is he wearing armor? And armed? In the royal court?” Serena demanded. “Is
he mad?” she said aghast.

“He
is indeed,” Rojer said, holding her tightly and keeping her from going to him.
She looked up to him. He sighed softly. “We must let things play out as they
may my dear. It's too late to put an end to it. Too late indeed,” he murmured.

She
stared up at him for a long moment and then down to the baron. The baron turned
away, alone and sullen. She turned again to see the gaijin leader approaching.
He too was in armor and armed. She bit her lip and looked up to her husband
once more.

He
cradled her hand gently. “Shall we my lady?” he asked, pushing her gently to
the line of courtiers by the door. She bit her lip and allowed herself to be
herded.

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

Later
in the evening Ryans and Perry attended the council meeting. The Queen and
court were there, all recovered from the last night's ball. The Baron caught
sight of him. The Baron's upper lip curled slightly. Ryans studied the man
coldly. Ryans had planned carefully for this encounter; he was wearing his
armor and sidearms under his favorite tan duster. The baron was also armored or
at least wearing chain mail under his outfit. He noted the chain mail when the
man shook hands with someone. His face twisted. “It won’t help him,” Perry
murmured at his elbow. “Glock will go right through that,” he said.

Ryans
nodded turning slightly to the lieutenant. “It's been confirmed? I thought the
silk was pretty strong with it.”  They'd tested the native silk. It was
the equivalent of Kevlar if woven tightly and layered properly.