We Are Not Prey

by Taki Drake

  Pawlik responded, “We are holding a preliminary hiring fair. This is my Lady Consort, who is also the Lady Mage. She is recruiting for inner keep forces, and I am recruiting for outer keep and naval forces.”

  “What size of service will you need for the Navy?” Lauren asked. He could not conceal his amazement when both Pawlik and Ruth informed him that they had no idea. Freely admitting their lack of skills and knowledge in massive fleet deployment, they were unsure of how to staff and control that many ships.

  Lauren’s interest was piqued, and he and Pawlik started a spirited discussion on the general challenges of building a military service for a space navy. Ruth was quite amused that they talked about generalities, but no one in the room had asked about the exact number of ships that were involved. As the men spoke, some of the stress lines disappeared from Lauren’s face only to reappear when the time struck midnight.

  Exactly at one second past midnight, every Marine in the room had their communicator issue an alert tone. The message that followed notified them formally that Arkken’s Space Navy and Marine Forces were officially disbanded. All former active-duty officers and enlisted were advised that they were terminated and that anyone who had not completed a full 20 years of service had no pension. They were ordered to surrender all Marine property to the collection parties on pain of substantial civil and criminal charges. The announcement ended by reiterating that the statement was authorized by the head of the Council.

  Stumbling to his feet, Lauren urgently said that they had to activate the action tree. Otherwise, everyone would be taken by surprise. Clutching Pawlik’s arm in concern, Lauren gasped, “We can’t let any of the AI weapons get into the hands of Councilor Fergali!”

  Ruth looked him in the eyes and said that it had already been handled. As Lauren watched in amazement, two groups of men came into the bar. One was a group of inactive or former Marine officers, while the other group consisted of officers still wearing active-duty uniforms and accompanied by enlisted personnel.

  The officers bearing intelligent weapons all jumped as their AI weapons began talking to them urgently. Making a beeline for the Mage and the pile of gems on the table in front of her, they quickly accepted the offer of employment and received their green gem. Those that had already been through the transfer and arming process escorted the new Mage Corps employees upstairs, taking both officers and enlisted men. A steady stream of people going up and down the stairs soon developed, with Marines in the gray of Arkken’s services going up and people in one of the Mage Corps uniforms coming down.

  It was a busy hour as all but one of the intelligent weapons were brought into the bar, transferred into one of the green gems, and then into a new smart gun housing. It was Ruth’s suggestion that the AIs leave a backup copy of themselves in the green gems even after transferring into the new weapons platform, just in case something catastrophic happened. All of the AIs and their bonded officers agreed with this strategy. Jenna, Margot, and the first people that had received new weapons made sure to create their own backup gem. Ruth promised them that a safe place would be found to store those and that no one else would be able to access them other than her and the Arkken partners.

  Lauren was busy on his communicator talking to the Navy command structure. He was getting increasingly frustrated with the slowness of the call so Ruth suggested that he do a larger call with visual display. The bartender apologized, saying that only rudimentary communications facilities were available in the tavern. Nodding her understanding, Ruth informed him that if he had a closed area or party room that she could create a magical replacement of the conference wall on the Dragon Flame so that Lauren could speak to a larger number of people simultaneously.

  The bartender escorted Ruth and Lauren into the back room, turning on lights, opening doors, and showing them around. Lauren looked up just as Ruth threw red and white light streamers at one wall of the room. A high-tech appearing wall emerged, pulsating softly. Ruth told Lauren to hand her his phone which he did. At Ruth’s gesture, a tendril of twisted red and white light entered his phone before she handed it back to him. The Mage told him to call out the name or the number of whoever he wanted to contact, including any group lists that he had stored. She promised him that a real-time image of those people would appear on the wall.

  Glancing at her in doubt, he looked at his phone and said “Command group.” The wall was instantly populated with 62 images. All 62 faces stared at him in amazement, many of them talking over each other. Lauren straightened and ordered them to be quiet. He turned and bowed his head to Ruth and said, “Thank you, Lady Mage. Is there anything else we need to do before I brief my former command?”

  “No, Lauren. I believe you should be all set.” Nodding in acknowledgment at the gaped-mouth people shown on the wall, Ruth left the room, allowing them the privacy that they needed.

  Lauren turned back to the wall and began to introduce his people to the new reality.

  Chapter 16 – Recruitment

  The bar was doing a booming business. As more people entered the tap room and were guided first to an impromptu enlistment and employment desk run by two sergeants, followed by an escorted trip upstairs for arming and provisioning, the number of drinkers increased. The overall tone of the bar was a complex mixture of grief, anger, and excitement. There was no overwhelming sense of rage, primarily due to the well-organized noncom contingent. Sergeants and corporals made sure that troublemakers were handled and that everyone knew that being part of Pawlik and Ruth’s forces was an honor, just as much as it had been an honor to be on Arkken’s spaceforce.

  The door to the bar slammed open, and an armed group of men stamped in, led by a large scar-faced man in a Council guard uniform wearing captain’s bars. Bellowing in a loud and commanding voice, the man roared, “All personnel are required to line up and hand in all of their government assets from past service, no exceptions.” He started to push his way forward toward an older man when the bartender turned bouncer blocked him.

  “You have no right to come into private property without a warrant. This is my bar, and you’re not invited here.” The Council agent snarled and attempted to push the bouncer out of his way, but failed to move the suddenly scary son of a bitch. Gone was the genial bartender and consummate host. In his place stood a retired, but renowned, warrior of many years. A former master sergeant in the world’s Marine assault force.

  Frustrated, the Council guard captain demanded that he be allowed to seize the items on his list. Reading from a document with an official -looking seal, he stated that criminal and civil charges would be filed against anyone that resisted. At the end of his proclamation, he looked up and stared around the room expecting to see dismay. A baffled look appeared on his face as no one seemed to be upset or even very interested in what he had to say.

  One of the older Marines who had just come down from the upper floor dressed in a captain’s uniform for the outer keep forces exclaimed, “I remember you! You signed up with the Council as a guard when you are thrown out of the Marines in your fifth year. If I recall correctly, you were discharged for behavior unbecoming the code and honor of the force.”

  With a vicious look in his eye and disdain in his tone, the guard responded, “Well, we are all former Marines now, and your precious honor is now dead and dust.”

  The older man responded with quiet conviction, “Honor is never dead, even when our bodies have turned to dust.”

  The thug in guard’s uniform was about to make another nasty remark when he was interrupted by the bartender, telling him that his pickup was ready. The bartender added, “Everyone has dropped off the items that belonged to the former Navy service. You and the rest of your garbage-collecting crew should kindly get them out of my bar since they are taking up space.”

  Baffled, the man glanced over to a series of tables close to the door. Piled neatly on the table were sets of belonging. The sets included all items that could be construed as belonging to the spaceforces. It di
d not include uniforms since each person in the former service had purchased their own uniforms. However, service-issued weapons, communicators and other devices were all neatly stacked up. He started to make his stamping way over to the table, only to be blocked by one of the sergeants who had been processing enlistments for Pawlik and Ruth. The man insisted that the Council guard sign a receipt acknowledging the entire list of possessions that were being turned in. Although the frustrated man attempted to contend that he didn’t know that all items were there, he eventually gave in to the sergeant’s insistence that a signed and notarized receipt be received. The final agreement was voiced with a twisted sneer on the guard captain’s lip, apparently thinking of some loophole in the process when a voice from behind him wiped all expression from his face.

  A pair of voices repeated the word “Witnessed.” It was two of the people from the auditor’s team, some of the junior auditors. One of them requested a copy of the receipt from the sergeant and informed the frustrated Council guard captain that it would be appropriately filed. The other auditor took a visual inventory of all the items on the table before both stepped back and indicated that the possessions could be removed.

  In a frustrated rage, the Council guard captain motioned his men to gather up the items, hurrying them until they carelessly crammed things indiscriminately into large sacks. Impotently, he growled at the people watching and joking within the bar, threatening them with vague and dire consequences. Most of them turned their backs on the posturing man. The disdain that he read in their actions pushed his fury higher and higher. Both auditors touched their chest and repeated “Recording.”

  The captain was a powder keg waiting to happen. What occurred next would be pivotal in the future of Arkken in the next few months. As the Council guard contingent gathered the items, placing them in sacks, and began to carry them out of the bar, one of the rushing men accidentally stumbled into the guard captain. Finding a safer target for his burgeoning rage than the massed Marine audience, the guard captain drew his weapon. As the bar patrons reacted with defensive postures and readied arms, the guard captain spun, slammed the hilt of his weapon into his unfortunate troop’s head, producing the sound of a ripe melon breaking open. The mortally injured man dropped to the ground, brain matter spattering all over his corpse, and the soft murmur of breath witnessed the passing of his life.

  Chapter 17 – Finding Home

  It was early morning and the previous night had been very long and stressful. Lauren was still deep in conversations when they left the bar and headed toward Pawlik’s home. Which was now Ruth’s home also. With the disbanding of the spaceforce, the concern about government sanctioned attacks had lessened, and Pawlik and Ruth agreed that the Dragon Flame could move into closer orbit. The shorter distance made it possible to use the shuttle to move people down to the castle and the proximity of the spaceship’s weapons provided them additional protection.

  Their party had grown into a cavalcade so they took land transport to Pawlik’s home. The inner and outer keep guards accompanied them in force, leaving a skeleton enlistment processing group back at the bar. The bartender had promised to maintain a protective watch over everything and to make sure that someone got a green gem to the one older officer that was unable to come to the bar. Ruth wanted to be sure that none of the AIs from the ITE guns were destroyed or sacrificed to the Council’s ambition.

  The sun was coming up over the horizon when they crested the hill and saw Pawlik’s home. The sun glinted off the walls of the castle in muted shades of gold and beige, turning it to a dreamscape of towers, walls, and greenery. Pawlik turned to Ruth and gently raised her hand to his lips. He said, “Welcome home, Ruth. Welcome to Borachland.”

  Ruth smiled wearily, and responded, “It is beautiful.” As the vehicles approached the closed keep, she straightened suddenly and asked if they would please stop the transport. Pawlik immediately ordered a halt and opened the door for her, handing her out carefully. She straightened up slowly after exiting the vehicle and looked around, her eyes intent. She found herself in a dense grove of trees, the early morning air quiet with only the sounds of awakening sleepy birds to break the peace and calm. The atmosphere acted as a balm to the soul, but something was watching. She could feel it at the back of her neck, in some sense that was just awakening. The instinct that told her a guardian was evaluating her. Opening her mind slightly she called a wordless greeting to that watcher. There was a moment of startled response before a wave of welcome and promise engulfed her.

  She climbed back into the vehicle, smiling, and they continued into the castle proper.

  The entire castle had turned out to greet their Lord and to meet his Consort. Despite the exhaustion of the arriving party, Pawlik introduced the staff, including the existing inner keep staff, outer keep commander, and other key players, including the seneschal and steward. As the new team disembarked, a flurry of activity created a chaotic mixture of people, baggage, and action.

  Ruth was disquieted. Despite her exhaustion, a persistent uneasiness was growing. Looking over at Jenna and Margot, she saw the shadow of her own feelings visible on their faces. A short discussion among the three of them did not provide any further clarification of what their intuition is telling them. None of them were sure why their survival instincts were on alert. Ruth told them to work out a guard rotation and that after some sleep for all of them, they would need to determine an investigation strategy. Dredging up energy from some unknown place, Ruth created several bands of a shadowy gray light. Taking one of those and wrapping it around each of her guard captain’s wrists, she whispers instructions on how to activate the bands. “They should not wear out, they should have no limitation on use. Activating them will allow you to be invisible. My suggestion is that you investigate what’s happening behind the scenes because something “smells rotten.”

  Resolved on their general plan of attack, everyone focused on settling in and getting cleaned up.

  Chapter 18 – Settling In

  The housekeeper was a nervous and fussy woman who ushered Pawlik’s unexpected Consort into the chambers of the lady of the keep. Ruth was reduced to helpless fits of laughter, which intensified every time she caught the eye of one of her guards, both of whom had accompanied her into a frilly pink bedroom. It is so different from anything that Ruth had dealt with for the last six months that she was helpless to stop laughing. The housekeeper was aghast, and not sure what to do. Ruth reassured her, telling her that the early morning sun was beautiful coming into the room and provided a beautiful light and soft glow. Thanking the housekeeper once more, Ruth also stated that she would take care of redecorating the room and dismissed the servant, who scuttled out of the chamber quickly.

  Jenna looked around the ultra feminine room and remarked, “I don’t know how you can possibly sleep in this.”

  Ruth replied definitively, “There is absolutely no way that I can sleep in this monstrosity of a chamber.” Taking a deep breath, Ruth said, “Let’s go look and see all of the bits and pieces, and inspect the rest of the suite of rooms.” Their exploration revealed a variety of rooms for sleeping, dressing, a huge bathroom, a sitting room, an office, and room for intimate entertainment. The rooms were well apportioned, and the structure of the rooms attractive. The decorating reminded Ruth of a Barbie house from Earth. Full of pink and ruffles, she half expected to see a doll collection on the built-in shelves.

  Ruth finally said, “I’ve seen enough.” She opened her mouth to say something else to Jenna when they were interrupted by a knock on the closed door to the sitting room. Ruth called, “Come in!” and the door was opened by Pawlik, looking a bit nervous.

  He glanced around at the room and winced. “No one has really been in this room since my mother died so many years ago.” He examined the room a little more carefully and sadly explained that she was very young when she was married. Ruth touched him comfortingly and asked, “Do you have any objection to my redecorating these rooms?”


  “Any decision on decorating and arrangement in the inner keep is solely under your control, my lady. I certainly don’t see you being comfortable in a pink and white frilly room.”

  Laughing, Ruth agreed and said that the next time he would see the room, it would be much different. He told her that there was a budget for redecorating, at which point she laughed at him and told him that she wouldn’t need to touch the budget. Looking startled, he said, “I keep forgetting you are a Mage.”

  Ruth responded, “You say the nicest things, my Lord.”

  Pawlik told her that he needed to meet with his estate agent and his seneschal to find out what had been happening while he was gone. He would like to meet for lunch, but if she needed him, he would stay. Ruth said cheerfully, “I have plenty of things to do and figure out. We can catch up over lunch and be more effective this way.”

  As soon as Pawlik was out of the room and the door was shut, Ruth pulled a rainbow of light into her hands. She tied the light tendrils into a complicated knot shape and flung the knot onto each wall of the room in turn. The room was transformed. Gone was the fussiness of the pink and white frilly bedroom. In its place were smooth walls, lightly tinted a calming green. The woodwork had been transformed to a rich medium brown with a clear finish, allowing the distinctive pattern of Borachland’s native trees to shine through. The floors were similarly finished with the beauty of the wood contrasting with the luxuriant carpets scattered about. The layered window draping allows light to be filtered by the release of different types and weights of fabric. The beauty of the morning sun shone through the sheer layer which has been released to fall across the windows. Jenna was silent in amazement.

  Gone also was the small, childlike bed. Instead, a massive bed with tree trunk sized posts suspended a canopy of layered fabrics over the mattress. The bed, with its plump pillows, called to Ruth, but she knew that she didn’t dare lie down. She only had an hour and a half before she has promised to meet the housekeeper for a tour of the keep. Falling asleep would be a grave mistake.