Shadow Sun Expansion

by Dave Willmarth

  He began adding subterranean levels. Access to each level was via a ramp that led down from the one above. He just made each level a wide, open space with twelve foot high ceilings, leaving it for later to customize. When he completed six levels, he added an elevator leading down at an angle, like a mine access elevator. The shaft stopped just inside the cliff face, about forty feet above the water. Then, he shifted the rock to create an opening that led out to a twenty-foot wide ledge that he’d spotted from above. The elevator exit was built sideways, so that spray from crashing waves wouldn’t enter the shaft, and it couldn’t be seen from the water below.

  Lastly, he created a wide stone dock pushing out two hundred feet from the beach near the bottom of the slope.

  Satisfied, he accepted the Stronghold and named it Pelican Bay. When the golden light faded, they stood in the middle of the main hall on the ground floor.

  The others had all seen it before, but Kira was amazed. “That was so cool!” she cried as she spun around, taking in the newly built structure.

  “You think so? Come on, I have something to show you.” He led her out of the hall and over to the elevator that led downward. After they’d all piled in, he said, “Push six.” She did so, and they began the descent. It felt strange, because the elevator didn’t drop straight down. Instead, it slid downward at a forty-five degree angle until it reached the sixth level and slowed to a stop. When the doors opened, Allistor led the way. He stepped forward out of the niche he’d created, then around the short stone wall onto the ledge. The others reacted with gasps or laughter as they stepped out behind him and realized where they were.

  “Your comment about walking down to fish got me thinking. Now, even in bad weather, you can get close enough to the water to cast out a line or a net without getting soaked walking back and forth.”

  “Very cool!” Kira gave him a high-five and stepped to the edge to look down. “It’s still a long climb up for anybody looking to attack this place.”

  “Assuming they even know this is here. They shouldn’t be able to see if from down there. And Nigel can always lock down the elevator and collapse the shaft if it comes to that.” Allistor bragged.

  Five minutes later they were all back topside. Allistor chose a spot near the gate and placed the teleport pad. As soon as it was up and active, he asked Nigel to open a channel to Andrea.

  “Took you long enough.” was how she answered his call.

  “Hey, we walked like a million miles in the scorching heat to get here.” he protested, the others nodding in sympathy. “But yes, we’re here, and the Pelican Bay Stronghold is open for business. Send over some guards, crafters, and whoever wants to check the place out. Oh, and ask Gene to bring the girls. We’re going to take a little boat trip while you guys do your thing. Ask Nancy and Chloe, and Sam and Meg, to come as well. There’s a greenhouse to set up, and a kitchen, and I’d like them to watch over the girls while we’re gone. They can learn some gardening skills or whatever.” He looked at Kira, who nodded her agreement.

  “Also, I need one of the Juggernauts brought through, and I’m giving you access to modify this place. Add some cannons, a shield dome, the usual. And bring through whatever I’m forgetting to tell you to bring through.” He winked at Helen, who rolled her eyes.

  While they waited for the reinforcements, Allistor led Helen and Kira up into the tower with the flat top. He’d set up the top level as a guard-slash-lookout post, intending to have people there in case a hostile ship landed up top. Below that he set aside a floor for the quarters he’d share with Amanda. The level below that he split in half into two quarters. A smaller one for Helen, with a master suite, an office, one guest suite, and a sitting room. The rest of the floor was for Kira and family. The same layout, except with a master and two guest suites, and a small kitchen-slash-dining area in addition to the sitting area and office.

  “Kira, I’m putting you guys here so that you’re close to the landing pad if you’re needed quickly. And Helen’s room is never far from my own. Fuzzy likes to be able to visit her and mooch snacks.” He smiled at Kira as she explored her new quarters. “I don’t mean this to be your permanent home or anything. This is just for when we’re here, for whatever reason. You’ll have similar quarters at the Citadel, and Wilderness.”

  “This is… so much.” Kira’s voice was filled with wonder. “Why?”

  “You’re our best pilot, and your husband is probably our most skilled engineer, in addition to being a pilot, apparently. I told you, I appreciate what my people contribute. The two of you might just lead us off this planet eventually, so that we can take the fight to the evil alien overlords that started this mess.”

  Nigel took the pause in the conversation as an opportunity to speak.

  “Your citizens have begun to arrive, Prince Allistor. Lady Meg is quite loudly demanding your presence in the dining hall.”

  Rolling his eyes, Allistor walked them back to the elevator and down. “Kira, I think you’re gonna like Meg.” he said, as they approached the woman, who was standing with her fists on her hips and tapping a foot impatiently.

  “‘Bout time you showed up, Your Princelyness.” she grumped at him. “Give me access to the damn facility so I can outfit this kitchen properly. And hand over the dragon meat. These fellas already gave me theirs.” She motioned over her shoulder to the sheepish-looking airmen.

  It was almost an hour before Allistor was able to free himself and join Kira, Gene, Helen, and the four airmen for a walk down to the cove. There were two boats moored there, tied to a rickety-looking wooden dock. Another, smaller boat sat high on the sand near the top of the dune. Its hull was caved in and it looked pretty beaten up.

  “Looks like this one broke free and got washed up by a storm, maybe?” Gene observed. Passing it by, he went to the largest of the other two and began inspecting it. He fiddled with the controls for a moment, then said, “No key, I’m going to have to hotwire it.”

  Two minutes later, he had the boat started, but he quickly shut it off again when the engine sputtered and complained. “That doesn’t sound good. Give me ten minutes.” he said before disappearing into the bowels of the boat.

  The others poked around and examined the other boat, which still had a key hanging from a cord on the rear-view mirror. This one started up as well, but didn’t sound any better. Kira turned it back off. They split up and hopped into the water, carefully checking the hulls of both boats, looking for damage. The sides nearest the dock had some serious scrapes and scratches, but no holes that they could see.

  True to his word, Gene appeared in just under ten minutes and restarted the boat. He sheepishly held up a key, saying, “I found it in the galley below. I’ll fix the wiring later so the key works.”

  This time, the engine sounded much healthier. After they all piled in, Gene put it in reverse and backed it away from the dock. Turning it to face the open ocean, he put it in gear and they were off. “It has enough gas to get us to the mainland, but I didn’t see a pump around here. There may be one at another dock somewhere, but we should fill the tank wherever we dock in Santa Barbara.”

  Not wanting to push the engine that had lain dormant for at least a year, he kept to a reasonable speed, and it took them about an hour and a half to reach the mainland. After scanning the shoreline, he pulled them into a marina filled with expensive looking boats that sported a gas pump near the end of a stone pier. Kira hopped out and produced a pump from her inventory. The airmen assisted, and they managed to fill the boat’s tank, and an extra couple five-gallon cans they found in the back.

  Allistor looked at the airmen as he, Helen, Gene, and Kira prepared to leave.

  “Can all of you guys drive a boat?”

  “Doesn’t look that hard.” Bagwell shrugged his shoulders. The others nodded.

  “Okay, it’s going to take a good while for us to get to the airport, pick a plane, and get it flying. So, here’s what I think. You guys fan out, pick some boats from here in the m
arina or close by. At least one of them needs to be a fishing boat. Preferably the commercial type, with nets and cranes ‘n’ stuff. Another can be a sport fisher if you want. And at least one should be a sailboat, in case we need to move quietly for some reason. If you find a rich family’s yacht, great. So search around, find boats with keys. If you want to tie this boat and some other smaller boats to the sterns and tow them, that’s good too. But make sure they have enough gas to get back. Any of you got a pump?”

  Corvin raised his hand. “Had to pump some gas on the last foraging trip. Still have it in my inventory.”

  “Great! Fill up all the boats here before you go. Stick together, don’t go anywhere alone. Be smart, be safe. I’m not sure if our radios will work that far away, so wait here until either we come back, or you see a plane fly overhead. If we fly by, take the boats and head back. You need to get there before dark. And again, stick together. If you have time after you round up the boats, feel free to do a little foraging. I’m sure lots of these boats have some good booze on them.” He grinned and waved at the men as he turned to leave.

  The smaller group moved up and out of the marina. Allistor had them wait as he walked into the large building at the west end of the main pier that included several restaurants, a maritime museum, and a marine works. “Can’t hurt to have an Outpost here, right? Handy place to gas up the boats, or fix them if necessary?” The others shook their heads as he claimed the place, then put a wall around it. He added the usual features, then instructed Nigel to alert him if anybody approached. There was no way for him to reach the place quickly, but at least he’d know if somebody tried to claim the territory. He put three plasma cannons atop the walls and gave control to Nigel. If somebody wanted this harbor, they’d have to work for it. Lastly, he keyed his radio. “Uh, hey guys? New plan. If you don’t think you can get the boats back to the island by dark, I just put an Outpost at the end of the pier. You can spend the night and head back in the morning.”

  “Roger that, boss. We saw. Not exactly stealthy when you build those things.” Corvin replied.

  Continuing on, they’d walked maybe a block when Gene spotted an old Ford pickup parked in a lot outside a surf shop. “Why walk when you can ride?” he asked. It took him less than a minute to hotwire the truck, and the engine came to life. Kira hopped in next to him up front, and Allistor and Helen climbed into the truck’s bed.

  Kira navigated for Gene as he drove them through the broken and debris-littered streets. Twice they had to stop and find another route because the earthquake had torn wide rents in the street that the pickup couldn’t cross.

  It took them an hour to go the ten miles from the harbor to the airport. And when they arrived, Kira blew out a breath and cursed. “These runways don’t look a whole lot better than the strip on the island. This must have been one hell of a quake. Gene, drive us out there. No point in picking a plane if we can’t take off.”

  Gene did as instructed, and they cruised up and down runways, Kira looking closely at the tarmac. The fourth one they inspected seemed acceptable to her. “This one’s long enough, and if we stay to the left side, should be okay.”

  Gene turned around and drove back to the hangars. It took less than ten seconds for Kira to point to an open hangar with a long, sleek-looking plane parked inside. “That’s our new Baby, right there.”

  Gene pointed to a different plane a couple hangars down. “I like that one. It looks, sturdier.”

  “No reason we can’t take both.” Kira grinned at him. Then she looked at Allistor. “You want to grab a prop plane and make it a whole air force?”

  Allistor shook his head. “I don’t know if I can handle the take-off and landing. Maybe next time.”

  “Might not be a next time.” Kira pointed out. “The aliens come in a few days. I’m guessing this will be prime real estate when they do.”

  Allistor laughed. “You know what, you’re right? Why shouldn’t we have our own air force? I’m a damn Prince, after all. You guys go steal your planes, I’m gonna take Helen and steal an airport!”

  Jogging toward the main building with Helen at his side, Allistor began to voice his thoughts. “This place is unstable. Another earthquake could flatten it completely. I’m not sure it’s fair to ask anyone to come and protect this place. But I can’t pass up the chance to deny it to the aliens when they come.”

  Helen wasn’t as enthusiastic. “This is one of a thousand places we should try to deny them. But there’s a limit to what you can accomplish, Allistor. Especially with just a few days left.”

  He didn’t answer, though he agreed with her. He didn’t need to. As they approached the nearest entry to the main airport terminals, Allistor saw that it was actually in pretty good shape. The place was reminiscent of an old Spanish mission, with arched doors and windows, sporting a tower made to look like a bell tower. The whole thing was built of white concrete and glass, and while the glass was all shattered, the structure itself had held up well.

  Stepping through the side doors and past the rental car counters, with his shotgun at the ready, Allistor immediately opened his interface and tried to claim the structure. A message told him that other occupants had a previous claim.

  “There’s someone or something here, keeping me from claiming this place. We’ll have to clear the building.”

  Helen snorted. “I have a better idea.” She walked to the center of the building, where the ceiling arched high above and a second-floor mezzanine stood directly over her. Tilting her head up, she shouted at the top of her lungs. “Hey! Anybody home? Any monsters in here? We’re in kind of a rush, so come on out! If you’re human, we don’t want to hurt you! If you’re a monster… well, that’s a different story!”

  She grinned at Allistor as the acoustics of the domed ceiling sent her voice echoing through the building. There was a rustling up above, and a human face peered out through what had once been the mezzanine window. It immediately pulled back, and there was silence.

  “It’s alright.” Allistor spoke just loud enough for them to hear. “My name is Allistor. Prince Allistor. You might have seen a system message about me? I’ve come to make this place safe. So no monsters will spawn here. You’ll be able to sleep in safety.”

  The half face reappeared slowly, one eye peeking down at him. This time it withdrew more slowly.

  “There aren’t any monsters anymore. Not since the earthquake. I think it killed them all. Or the aliens decided this place was dead, or doomed, and moved on.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear, I guess. But this place isn’t dead, is it. You’re here. Are you all alone?”

  “No! There’s hundreds of us here! You better leave, or I’ll call them to come shoot you!” The voice was young, and female. Allistor thought she might be a teenager.

  Helen spoke next. “We don’t want any shooting. Every human life is precious. But you go ahead and call to your friends, sweetie. We’d like to meet them. I swear we mean you no harm.”

  The face reappeared, followed by a body. She was maybe sixteen or seventeen years old, and painfully thin. Allistor suspected it had been a while since she had a decent meal, or a good night’s sleep. Looking around, he spotted a dining area with metal tables and chairs, all of which were overturned. Going to retrieve a table, he moved it out from underneath the mezzanine and set it where she could see it. Then he returned and grabbed three chairs. Setting them around the table, he sat, and motioned for Helen to do the same. Then he produced some bbq murder chicken. Helen disappeared for a minute, returning with plates and plastic utensils.

  “Come on down. We’ve got plenty of food to share.” Allistor spoke the invitation casually. “It’s actually pretty good. The meat is from these giant chickens that tried to kill Helen and me. Oh, that’s Helen, by the way. She’s a former park ranger, and now my Minister of Parks? What exactly is your title again?” He looked at Helen and winked.

  “Well, my official title is Minister of the Prince’s Park Service. But my j
ob is protector of his royal fancypants’ butt.” She grinned up at the girl who was still hovering near the broken window. “Ask anybody. He’s terrible at keeping things from biting him. I’m constantly having to shoot monsters that have clamped their teeth in his ass.”

  “Well, not constantly,” Allistor argued. “But it has happened. We’ve had to fight a lot of monsters this year. Just yesterday we killed a dragon out on Santa Cruz Island.”

  The girl leaned forward a bit. “A big blue one?”

  “Yep, that’s the one.” Helen gave the girl a thumbs-up. “Its breath was some kind of paralyzing mist. Killed one of our guys before we got it. Allistor killed it with lightning.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen it hunt. It would swoop down and breathe on cattle or people, and they just fell down. Couldn’t move at all, then their bodies started to twist and bend. The dragon just landed and took its time eating them.” The girl paused, tilting her head to one side. “Did you say lightning? He can control lightning?”

  “Shoots it right out of his ass!” Helen giggled, and so did the girl.

  “I do not!” Allistor protested. Then he grinned. “But that would be cool. What is your name, miss…?”

  “I’m Maggie.” she half smiled as she introduced herself.

  “Well, Maggie, I feel bad sitting here eating while you stand up there watching. Please come down and join us. I swear we mean you no harm. And if you have friends up there, they are welcome, too.” He looked over at the dining area. “There are lots of chairs.”

  Maggie nodded and disappeared. After a couple of minutes had passed, Allistor started to think she’d simply fled. But then he heard footsteps, and turned toward the sound. Coming down the stairs were Maggie and four children. The kids looked slightly healthier than Maggie did, and just as he was noticing this, Helen whispered.