by P. S. Power
"Unless... of course, they simply aren't in the Western Kingdom. We need to find out when things are most likely lined up for the perfect ceremony. That might give us a clue as to where they physically are." Gwen didn't wait, marching over to a telestator in the other room, getting everyone to follow her, as if they were more than a little lost.
She didn't have anything to do at all, except call the University and ask how getting the top magical people in the kingdom was going. No one would be there for hours, Grainger assured her, but they were all coming. Everyone that he'd contacted and a few that had simply volunteered.
"Good. If nothing else we can see if they're in on this plot or not." It was a bit dour, perhaps, but instead of seeming scandalized the Doctor on the device, his deep voice coming from the air itself, sighed.
"My thought exactly. I... Can you coordinate that with your other friends?"
Being as tired as she was, it took a while for her to realize that he meant the Westmorlands.
"On it."
That, she decided, needed to be done in person, just in case people could listen in on these telestator conversations. She'd never really been certain if that was a workable thing here or not, but it seemed likely. She bristled a little at losing the time, but then she did something that she hadn't thought possible, the instant she let the link to Grainger go, she spun and looked at everyone else in the room, her face going hard.
"Our first priority has to be stopping the gate from being opened. No matter what else we do. I don't know that we can at this point, but no matter what it takes, we need to make that happen." She stared at Groundling for a minute, then over at Gloria, who made a face at her that seemed worried , but also ready to die if she had to. "We might have to let Ferdinand and the others die. Or even kill them first, to make that happen. We need to ready Westmorlands that can rift and get the codes in place. If our only option to keep this from happening is to destroy the gate or whatever it is, I want that ready to go. They need special codes or something, so I imagine that needs to be gotten into place."
No one spoke for a while, but finally the Duke, seeming very different suddenly than her friend from the loading docks, straightened a little. It was an almost imperceptible thing, but he took a single deep breath and allowed his chin to come up.
"I'll see what can be arranged. I have the authority, in a situation like this to order that done, but it should be the last option tried." He suddenly had a different accent, the same one he used on the telesar earlier. "Not that we have a choice in that. The Westmorland option is always the last one, no matter what. I'd also like strike teams of Special Service to stand ready and..." He flipped his palms up, then looked at Gloria. "We have to be prepared for anything."
That got a nod, but no one seemed to have any idea about what to do, did they?
Things moved in an odd, fast fashion then, with people actually teletransporting in and out of the field in front of the office building. Special Service moved in, wearing armor, to guard the place and Duke Morten, since he was, like it or not, basically the King at that moment, and would be for real if they couldn't get his nephew back.
Gwen hoped they could, if only because she kind of liked them both and knew that Groundling wasn't meant for a position like that. Oh, he'd do the job, and even manage it well, if it came down to it. She didn't doubt that. He'd also hate every moment of it and probably find himself worn down under the pressure in short order. Like with the Presidents in her world, who always aged a lot faster once they took office than they would have otherwise.
There was very little she could do about that. In her mind they didn't have a lot of options really. They had to find where the place was and stop it, if possible. It meant going in with everything ready, if they could do anything at all. First they'd try magic, then force, and if that didn't work, they'd sacrifice some people of their own.
"I need coffee. That and my armor. We don't have time to play around and clearly I need to be ready to move in as well. If I'm the one calling for a nuclear strike... Rifting like this, then I should be there for it." She didn't like the idea, but it did kind of mean that at least someone was going to be on site that would do everything else they could first.
Gloria snorted.
"Curly girl, why would you think that you should go? You aren't even from here. This isn't your problem... Not at all really. We have people for that kind of thing. Ones with actual training and experience."
That was a good point and a thing that actually made sense, except that there was a link that Gloria had forgotten, that or had never known.
"Debussey... She brought me here on purpose, because I'm, in my own world, the version of her there, was my real mother. She wanted to sacrifice me, since that might just help her, I guess. That or she just hates me that much, which I guess could be the real purpose, but it seems like a lot of work just for that, doesn't it? She doesn't seem like the kind to waste effort." That was a real thing too. The woman was enraptured with her own intelligence and thought she could manage anything, but a big part of that was that she was powerful and smart enough to make a lot of things stick that no one else would have ever even dreamed of.
That meant that Gwen, like it or not, needed to stop her, because there was no telling what she might do, not now that she had a weapon as powerful as the one that destroyed the Capital just sitting around, at her beck and call. No place was safe if she won. Or, just as bad, if she started to lose.
There was almost an unlimited number of ways that she could really do a lot of damage, even if her team failed to bring in these beings from beyond. Heck, no one had even really proved that they existed at all yet. If they didn't and nothing happened when she sacrificed the King and the other leaders, she was probably going to break and figure out that she could rule anyway, with enough fear. Destroying a few million people would probably do that, wouldn't it?
It meant that, no matter what happened, she couldn't be allowed to survive.
Somewhere, deep in her heart, Gwen knew that she should be worried about that. Could she kill her own mother? The problem there was that, no matter how you looked at it, that bitch wasn't that. She might be the copy of her own mega-maniacal mother, but they hadn't known each other at all, had they? Even Billy wanted to just kill her. Did thinking it was a good plan make her a bad person? Probably. It also made sense and in the end she'd rather go in for years of whatever this world used for therapy rather than deal with the death of an untold number of innocent people.
They split up then, with Duke Morten and the rest staying at the airfield, which was about as safe as anywhere at the moment, as well as being familiar to them, which meant safe, at least in perception if not reality, and Gwen taking off back to Park Street. She'd wanted to at least pack her armor along with her, if nothing else. That and fit her lance with a laser sight. She'd been meaning to for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it, what with one thing and another.
It took a few hours to get it all ready, and more than a few cups of coffee. Winslow served it black in tiny cups, but kept filling her back up without being told, until she'd gotten through most of a pot. It left her shaking and warm, but that probably didn't matter. Being awake was more important than being comfortable, she decided, as the faint feeling of sickness that came from having too much caffeine started to kick in.
The lance, a large metal cone of dull metal, looked strange with the little magical radiative connected to the top with a buckled leather strap. The whole thing gave it a feeling of being slightly archaic, even if it was state of the art for this place. A lot of things were like that here. Then, deciding that being proper wasn't worth worrying about for a few days, she got into her base outfit, which was made of smooth and very plain cream colored cotton layers, and wore that with a thick pair of socks and her normal boots. It made her look a little like she was getting ready for a martial arts class, but she didn't care about that. It was, no doubt, scandalous, but if she had to armor up it would save two minu
tes, already having the stuff on.
When she went down to meet with James, who had been resting in the front room, boots off, laying on the floor with a soft looking cushion under his head, she decided that they should eat something.
No one was around for that so she jogged to the kitchen after dropping her armor off which was wrapped up in a bed sheet, since she didn't have any other way to carry it, other than having it on. It was useful in a fight, but she really didn't want to wear it around all day, since it was just a burden for anything else. The bundle was heavy, probably being close to a hundred pounds, but what else could she do?
The kitchen had people in it, as early as it was, and the older woman that she'd worked with there before wanted to make her an elaborate meal, one that would have at least five tiny courses. Normally that would have been fine, but she really needed to be at the University before everyone got in, so she shook her head.
"A few slabs of bread and some cheese or something portable. We don't have time for a real meal. I know it's... Uncouth or something, but it's also an emergency." She was about to try to explain again when the woman made a face and then nodded at her.
"Indeed. One moment." There was a flurry of activity and she was handed a tray with a pile of unrelated foods on it, not even set on plates, before Gwen could say anything else.
Then she walked as quickly as possible while balancing a tray, to find that James was awake and that Winslow was standing in the front room, dressed in a tan work out jumpsuit of very heavy leather and canvas, loaded down with at least half a dozen visible weapons. He looked almost like a Knight, or a fighter from a video game. It was both interesting and a bit unsettling, since she'd never seen anything like it before. Obviously it was combat gear. It didn't take a genius to realize that he figured on coming with her.
That sounded like a plan to her. After all, it was his world, and as Gloria had helpfully pointed out just a few hours before, they had people with training for things like this and Charles Winslow was one of them. She might feel like she had to go personally, but it was clear that it didn't make a lot of logical sense at the same time. For this man to go... That had a feeling of just being correct. Proper.
"Ma'am, I'm coming with you, now I know-" He stopped as Gwen held out the platter in front of her.
"Right. James, I want you armed too. We'll hold you back, if we can, since you have Ella and the kids. If it comes to it, of course, we all have to be willing to die to stop these monsters. Normally I wouldn't even suggest we go at all." Except of course that she really would. Ever since she'd gotten here she'd been doing strange things like that.
Running into situations that really shouldn't have needed her. It was, she suspected, that precognition that Beth and Heather had found during the testing. For some reason it was linked to fighting for her. It probably had been in her world, but since magic wasn't a real thing there, it hadn't been that big of a deal. Here it was pretty powerful in a fight, and other dire situations. Not that it was perfect. Or, if it was, then something else was messing her up, because there had to have been other things she could have done, if only she'd known to.
Stabbing Erin Debussey through the eye the first time they met came to mind for instance. Except, if there were others involved in the whole thing, and there had to be a much bigger collection of people, maybe that wouldn't have stopped anything? It was too much for her to think of, so she grabbed a large chunk of plain tasting white cheese and started eating, making sure James had some too.
The large driver nodded at her, which seemed a little strange, until she remembered what she'd just said. Her mind had wandered a bit.
He grimaced and took a quarter loaf of bread.
"I won't let them kill my family. No man would. Thank you for the consideration however."
It took a while for her to work out that he meant her saying that they'd hold him back from the front lines if they could. She nodded and headed to the front door, the others following along quickly. It was probably going to be a hurry up and wait situation, with people popping in all morning, moving at the glacial pace of this world, even as time ran out for them all. By her estimation they had about seven and a half hours left to actually do something that didn't involve having people blow themselves up.
After that...
Then all bets were off.
She grinned to herself, glad that no one else could see her, and managed to struggle with her armored bundle to the lorrie which was just outside, waiting and ready to leave. She needed help getting it inside the main compartment, but Winslow gave her a hand with it, not even asking what it was. He probably knew that it wasn't a load of pretty dresses and shoes. It clanked too much for that for one thing. He flowed into the seat across from her, his eyes dangerous and dark, his mouth set in a look that seemed to scream to the world that he was about to kill some people. She probably looked ready to attend a college class or something herself. That was due to how young Katherine looked though.
They rode in silence, with James covering the distance faster than normal since there was almost no traffic at all. The sky was just lightening enough to really count as far as driving went so they didn't need headlights, which was good, since she hadn't invented them yet, and as far as she knew, delusions and hallucinations aside, no one else had yet either.
When they got to Western University she had to stop for a few seconds. She'd kind of suspected that the place would be nearly silent, people having either run away to what they thought of as safer places, or still being asleep. Instead the place bustled with activity. There were booths set up near the front with long lines going to them, young men standing there, looking nervous and somehow brave at the same time. There was even one, with a much shorter line, for women. It didn't take a lot to figure out what was going on, since there was a sign on each that told her these were the Army recruiting stations.
It made some sense. Someone had killed tens of thousands of people, or more, and had kidnapped the King. These people, as proper and dapper as they normally were, simply would not let that stand. It made her eyes water a little bit. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to run off and get month's worth of training. If all went well the big battle was going to be in a few hours. If it didn't...
Then they'd all need to be doing other things to try and survive, if it was even possible.
People stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Winslow, who was clearly decked out as some kind of commando. He didn't say anything, just nodding to them all. Others looked at her however, which she attributed at first to her fancy clothing, which certainly wasn't what anyone else was wearing at all. No one mentioned it, just trying to look like they weren't all freaked out and slightly shaking. She was, but that was coffee for you.
After a few seconds she sighed and spoke to them all, which was over a hundred people already, as early as it was.
"You might as well all hold off joining up just yet." How did she tell them it wasn't going to work that way? She didn't even know it for certain herself. Sighing she kept going, looking at some of the faces, all of them seeming so very young suddenly. Too young to die.
At least that day.
"We need to get you all armed and ready to fight, now. Anyone from the radiatives department? Get with James here and set up the new sights for crins. We'll get some brought in, somehow."
Everyone just stared at her as if she was insane, but she thought they could do it. It felt important to her at least.
"One way or the other, the fight is coming today. I can't promise you that any of us will survive it, but know this, no matter what happens, no matter how many of us die, we will not fail. We will not let these abominations pass. We will stand and fall together, and... We. Will. Stop. Them."
Not that she had a clue how they were supposed to do that.
Everyone kept looking at her for a second, then, for some reason, they started cheering.
Chapter sixteen
Gwen had been correct in one way, t
hings were moving too slowly. It wasn't that people weren't trying however, they just had to get in place and even being brought in by Westmorlands, a thing that left more than a few of them clearly upset and uneasy, the Magicians still had to get there and that took time. Grainger didn't wait for them all to get there however, starting the discussion after the first five people were in the room, writing ideas on a large black slate chalkboard.
After less than half a minute people were using terms that Gwen hadn't even heard before, and other than joining words, she couldn't understand what they were saying at all. A lot of the terms were simply new to her too, it wasn't just odd combinations or anything. She tried to follow along anyway, and at least stay ready for whatever was needed.
More people came and most of them ignored her for a long time, until one of them, a woman that looked to be a bit of a hard ass, for all that she was in a pale blue dress that should have looked soft, grimaced at her.
"It isn't enough. If we had the woman's biological child we might be able to do this, but this link is so tenuous that I can't imagine it doing us any good. No more than some random stranger off the street would. What Erin was thinking in the first place..." The lines on the side of her mouth showed that this woman frowned for a living, so Gwen waited to see if anyone else had a different, more helpful suggestion, but for a long time no one spoke.
Finally Grainger, who was at the front, waved his right hand.
"So we move to the next thing. This ceremony must be focusing a lot of power. We should be able to locate it..." That got the whole thing going in a different direction.
It turned out that finding that place wasn't the hard part, since Billy came in with an address not ten minutes later.
"It's in Marduk, we have clearance already, since their people realize that we might need to use the Westmorland option, and will have Teletransport in to the location within the hour. Special Service teams are going in, along with Gwen and I." He said it as if the whole thing just made sense. It really didn't because, of course, they weren't actually needed for anything as far as anyone could see. Still, she knew they had to go as well.