Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2)

by Hechtl, Chris

"Imagine a ship with a radio, able to call in a warning about weather or a call for help. The same for communities. And the reverse too, if we get a report of poor weather, we can warn people. If a bad hurricane is coming, we can warn people to batten down the hatches. Further inland they can rush to get crops in before a blizzard."

  "Ah." She nodded at the wisdom at that and then poked him. "You don't need to sell me on this; I already knew it."

  He smiled and kissed her forehead. "I know. It's just nice to be on the same page."

  "True."

  ~~~^~~~

  The Flying Legion was ready to deploy in the morning. Eugene would be traveling with the unit, but he deferred to Decurion Licinius Crassus since the officer had trained the unit and knew it intimately.

  The decurion had a Roman nose and solid attitude, even though he was remarkably short and wiry. He had the build of a racing jockey but could hold his own in the salle when required. Eugene had trained with him a bit. The decurion was eager to get moving in order to join up with the squads he'd already deployed to the coast.

  Eugene checked his gear and then received another kiss from Deidra. She knew he wanted to take the vehicles but they were more useful in the capital, so, he was stuck riding a branack. Fortunately, he had it down by now. Each rider had a spare mount. They also had a pack train that had left ahead of them. They'd pass them soon enough. He'd also insisted that everyone who rode one of the beasts wore a strap-on helmet.

  No one was immune from the rule, not even him—especially him given the queen's edict. He had a helmet too and made sure to put it on.

  Having a helmet hadn't stopped injuries but it had helped to prevent a lot of head injuries and at least one death since they had become mandatory. The soldiers had learned to take the helmet in stride. It only took one good fall for them to realize it was for their own good.

  Of course a helmet didn't protect a rider from breaking an arm, leg, their back, or neck or getting trampled. But it was a start.

  "Come back safe?" she murmured, eyeing him and then looking away.

  "Well, I don't know about that . Come back definitely."

  "Oh?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

  "I don't know if I'm ever safe around you," he said with a teasing smirk.

  She rolled her eyes but kissed him.

  When the kiss broke, he grinned again. "See what I mean?"

  She smiled back.

  "Better get more stock in Aloe or whatever passes for it here," he said as he climbed up onto the beast.

  "Aloe?"

  "A cream from a plant that helps sore skin and makes it soft," he said.

  "Why will you need it? I mean, you tease me about such things …"

  "Because, by the time this is over, I'm going to not want to sit for quite a while. Remind you of any time recently?" he teased with a grin.

  She blushed. He snorted as she waggled a stern finger at him. He managed to catch it, pull her hand up, and kiss it gently. "Until I see you again, love."

  "Yeah," she said, voice going husky. "Protect my people."

  "Yes, ma’am," he replied, gently letting her fingers go. Her hand was held outstretched for a moment before she let it drop.

  He turned his mount with the others and then fell into his designated spot. The watching crowd cheered mutedly as they moved out.

  Eugene looked over his shoulder once they were through the gates. He saw his wife's figure from the ramparts, waving. He waved back and then focused on the ride.

  ~~~^~~~

  Decurion Licinius Crassus waved or kept his hands on his pommel and nodded as they made their way through the capital to the outskirts. People lined the streets, waving or cheering. A few of the ladies darted in to give a flower or favor to one of the men. He made sure they didn't linger long.

  He glanced over to the king but the king was playing the game, waving as they moved through the city. It remained to be seen if his training would let the king stay with the pace he intended to set on the open road.

  ~~~^~~~

  Doctor Carter checked in with Deidra the morning after the legion had left. Deidra waved a hand to say she was fine, but Sue was firm about the checkup. Deidra acquiesced with good grace when Sue mentioned she was going to check the baby too.

  "How goes things?" Deidra asked.

  "So far so good with the medical program. I know you don't want to open it up to free tuition," Sue said.

  Deidra fought from rolling her eyes. "The state can't pay for everything. It's great that selling the Terran inventions and licensing their making has helped a great deal. We've managed to really stimulate the economy, and we've gotten a basic education system for grammar school. But we can't have everything."

  "True. But it is limited the number of people who apply."

  "Consider it another filter. If they are truly committed to being a healer, they'll find a way."

  "True."

  "But I did consider Eugene's compromise," Deidra said.

  "Oh?"

  "He suggested two; one is that a person signs up for a military career as a reservist and the state pays for it. They then attend to the needs of the military in some capacity for a set period."

  Sue grimaced but nodded. "Sounds fair. What is the other?"

  "A variation on the first. They sign up for a set period of service to the state in a civilian capacity. Like putting them in an area that doesn't have coverage for a time period or on a traveling circuit or search and rescue, that sort of thing. He said something about getting experience?"

  Sue nodded. "He's right. Exposing an intern doctor to a variety of maladies helps to round them out for the future when they are out on their own."

  "Ah."

  "That covers generalists and some specialists. I'm still critically short on trained dentists though," Sue said as she made a note of Deidra's vital signs and exam results.

  "Ah."

  "We're at the point where we should be able to mimic a lot of what we had on Terra as far as dentistry is concerned, at least up to the eighteenth century. We're nowhere near the point of having dental drills and X-ray machines," Sue stated. She pointed out that even Washington had wood dentures.

  "Who?"

  "Never mind," Sue said with a shake of her head.

  "So, how about it?" Deidra asked as they went to the nursery.

  "You've got my blessing, Angie too. She's been hassled by the lack of properly trained nurses and orderlies. There is as much a call for them as there are trained doctors."

  The queen nodded. She smiled tenderly as they examined the baby. Sue stroked the child and then took her temperature and her pulse with a probe. The sleeping baby stirred but didn't fully wake.

  "Temperature and pulse are good. How is she feeding?"

  "Like a pig," Deidra said with a roll of her eyes.

  Sue snorted. She set the scale up and shifted the baby to weigh her. The baby stirred more. The nanny seemed ready to object but then sighed.

  "You don't need to swaddle her so tight, she needs to move," Sue said. "I know you want to keep her warm but she needs to flex those muscles," she said in an aside to the nanny.

  The girl nodded.

  "Five kilos even. Yeah, I'd say she's doing well," Sue said as they returned the baby to the crib. "Have you tried bottle feeding her?"

  "Eugene got me to try the breast pump. We've worked out a system so they have some on hand and can warm a bottle when I'm busy," she admitted, pointing to the small fridge. The fridge was from one of the vehicles. Max and Eugene had rigged it up for them.

  Sue checked out the formula and took a sample.

  "What's that for?"

  "I'm going to use a microscope to take a look. It's good for me, for her, for you, and for my students," Sue replied.

  Deidra nodded.

  "I'd take a blood sample but next time since I know you need to get back to your schedule," Sue said.

  Deidra nodded again. She paused to stroke her baby gently and then escorted the doctor ou
t.

  ~~~^~~~

  Max winced as a wheel squeaked rather loudly. The cart was one of the heavy-duty ones he'd initially built for the shop. The squeak was rather loud and annoying. He made a mental note to grease it before stopping himself. He'd forget. He sighed and got the grease out.

  Tearing down the axle assembly to get at the wheel was a bit more involved than he'd planned. But it took him out of running here, there, and everywhere and supervising. It got him feeling better, like he was doing something, however small.

  He still wished that he had a better vehicle production line though.

  He checked the bushings and bearings and then put the beast back together to return it to service. When he looked up to see his wife staring down at him, arms crossed, tapping a toe and looking vexed he shrugged. "What?"

  She just shook her head, tapped her watch, and then went back to work with a sniff.

  He snorted and finished up.

  Chapter 8

  Captain Deco grinned as his ship came up to port. The investment in the ship had been risky, but his family had accepted the risk and it was paying off handsomely.

  He turned the wheel slightly to align the ship up to the wharf. Already lines were being thrown on the bow and stern to tie the ship off. Bumpers were placed over the side to protect the new paint.

  Even as some of the crew were attending to that, others were undogging the hatches to the cargo holds where the catch was.

  When his duty at the wheel was done, he used a loop to lock the wheel down so it wouldn't move the rudder and then went to check the hold. He got to the window just in time to see the sailors climb down into the hold with shovels. It was a smelly chore, reserved for the lowest members on the ship. But the holds were full, so they were happy in that regard.

  The boom moved and a net was lowered in. He knew from experience that it would be filled within a minute and then drawn out and then dumped into the waiting chute.

  The ships weren't the only changes to the fishing village. They were coming alive; with the extra money they'd invested in some of the other things that was said to come from Patria . Like the chute that the net dropped its load into. That led to the warehouse where the fish would be sorted, gutted, and then salted and placed in barrels.

  He looked out to the village, shading his eyes as he saw people coming to the warehouse at a trot to work. Some were sharpening knives along the way. They needed to work fast. It was a warm summer day, and the fish could spoil quickly in the heat if they weren't properly taken care of.

  He looked on to some of the buildings where they were getting new roofs or some minor repairs. That was thanks to his hauls and the money that was coming in to pay the workers. They were already halfway to paying their tributerium this year, he was confident they'd make it easily before summer's end, and then some.

  Most of the fish was being shipped out to the nearest town of Kent where they'd be sold. He turned as someone called out a warning and smiled as one of the big fish was hauled out by the tail. It was a big one, a good two paces long and fat. He was looking forward to getting paid for it, and there was a dozen more just like her in the hold. All thanks to the new stronger lines and nets the people of Patria had sold them.

  His ship was faster too, which was why they could make port before the coming storm and still have a good haul. He'd been tempted to leave some of the gear out hooked to the buoys the Terrans had introduced but had decided to pull it in. He didn't know where the storm would toss them to if he'd left them in the seas and didn't want to risk losing the expensive gear.

  He looked down to the hull where some of the teens were scraping at her with long brooms. The waters were boiling with creatures feeding off of the guts from the warehouse and the barnacles. He made a note of one or two of the more daring lads; they might make good sailors soon.

  His ship's hull glittered a bit near the water line. She was a large vessel, the largest to have ironwood struts and copper cladding. The ironwood was a hard wood and didn't float but it was incredibly strong. The new materials that sealed the hull made it incredible.

  He looked up, gauging the weather with his eye and then the rigging. The rigging was different. They had more masts and booms, and the sails were a mix of shapes, some triangles. He had not understood the wisdom of such things until he'd felt the incredible pull and swiftness of the vessel. She didn't cut through the waves so much as sailed practically over them. He loved it.

  At the stern, he had a wheelhouse, raised up with windows made of real glass. They were protected by shutters in a storm. Little things spoke of how the Terrans had changed things there too.

  But one of the biggest changes were the booms midships. They could be used as cranes to haul the nets or move cargo … or be outfitted with weights and serve as outriggers, to be deployed in rough weather to help stabilize the ship.

  To be alive in this time, it was a beautiful thing he thought, fists on his hips. He surveyed his command and then waved for the men to move faster. "Look alive if you want to get to drinkin’ by evening! And mind what you drink, I plan to sail on the mornin' tide!" he called out, spurring them on to action.

  ~~~^~~~

  Jer was careful as he got closer to the jetty and the approach to the warehouse. His knife was sheathed but that didn't prevent a fall on the slime slick wood. The kids scrubbed it, but it still slimed up after a good blow.

  He saw Pasha, and the supervisor waved him in. He smiled in relief. Not that he expected to be turned away, they needed all hands in the warehouse to deal with Deco's catch. That was usually how it went. Only when fishing was light did Pasha get picky about who got work, usually favoring his own kin first over others no matter how fast they were.

  The village was coming alive and not just because it was the usual fishing time. The extra income from Deco's hauls was being spread around; everyone had some extra coin to spend.

  When a ship was not in port unloading, those who stuck to the land did other work to pay for their livelihood. It could be sweeping, working on building a new ship, hauling cargo, making repairs to the homes, or any such thing. Gambling and drinking were light; everyone was too busy at the moment. Winter would be plenty of time for such things anyway.

  The smell of the fish hit him, but he ignored it. He passed the sorting tables and went to the middle line where there was an empty spot. He smiled to Pat, but the woman didn't acknowledge him. She was too busy.

  When he saw the long line, he realized why. "Did he fish the entire sea out?" he gasped, taking his knife out and stropping it on a leather hawse nearby to hone it.

  "Seems that way," Pat said as Jer's practiced fingers reached for a fish and then he began to get to work.

  Occasionally, he heard chatter but everyone was busy. Only when their line slowed and then dried up did he stop to hone his knife again and then wipe at his brow with a rag he kept in his pocket. He was careful to keep one side to his face and the other to his hands. His hands were covered in fish slime, and he didn't want that in his eyes.

  "Going out for a drink tonight?" he asked just as Pasha caught their attention. They looked up to the supervisor who pointed them to the big line. Jer turned to see some big fish on the line being chunked up.

  "Talk later, work now," Pat said as they went to work.

  ~~~^~~~

  Julius the local berger or as Terrans called it, mayor, was in a great mood. His thick fingers touched the new belt buckle he wore. His clothes were relatively new, courtesy of his last visit to the nearby town of Kent. He'd gone there to negotiate better prices for their fish and to get a new steady shipment of barrels.

  No one had believed him when he'd put the order in. He blessed his forethought and attention to Captain Deco and the captain's family. Their investment in the new ship was paying off, both for them, the village, and especially him.

  His hands rubbed together in a sign of his greed. He had skimmed off a bit; it was only right as his place as the local mayor. He intended to skim
off more too. He might even get a bit of bribes from some people though he doubted he'd need it to keep his lifestyle up.

  Well, then again, since his mate wanted to go shopping in Kent again, that might not be true he thought with a pang. There was something to be said about too much from Patria after all, like the new fashions the womenfolk were so intent on. He had to admit, the new linens were nice, as were the new curtains she had picked up.

  "Is it true?" Pat asked another person as they walked out of the warehouse, job done.

  "What true?" Jer asked.

  "Word is there are pirata s off the coast?" the woman asked.