Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2)

by Hechtl, Chris

~~~^~~~

  Sue had a free medical care booth. Her students were getting a crash course in care, everything from dental surgery to general care. Their free clinics had barely prepared them for the turnout.

  There was a section for midwives and medicus to attend where they learned new techniques. Some were given tours of the medical college.

  Sue made sure to have various booths. They had a small vaccination one for children. She also had one teaching something as simple as washing one's hands in soap and water to avoid spreading diseases and infections. She had full displays about how basic sanitation in the kitchen, bathroom, around ill people and in general could help them stay healthy. It was a thoughtful display; one she wasn't sure was getting through to everyone.

  The good news was that Max had gotten her the first refrigerators and she had introduced mandatory vaccinations to all children. Many of the vaccines needed to be chilled for long-term viability. She was still petitioning Eugene to allow her to take the camper and have it outfitted as a mobile medical clinic to visit the lords in the following year. The small fridge would be perfect for medications and vaccines … as long as someone didn't mix them with the food.

  ~~~^~~~

  Max enjoyed the expo on machinery with the small models of cranes and other devices. Many of them were hand cranked; his students had managed to build a couple of ride-on toys for the kids. The crane one had a hand-cranked crane. The fire engine had a ladder.

  The farming expo was a very big hit as was the farmer's market. The planters were as popular as the combine harvester. There were demo models of each. Some of the dominus put in orders. Others who were less well-off complained. They took their complaint to the House of Lords where, after a bit of back and forth, Eugene suggested they take out loans or band together to purchase the equipment they needed or lease it from their neighbors. That seemed to mollify some people.

  But the real fun was the plumbing section. People seemed fascinated by the concept of the cross-section toilet with the clear glass side. To Max's annoyance and amusement they put all manner of small objects and trash into it and then watched the flush as it flushed the object past the S curve and down the drain.

  “I never thought a potty would be so interesting,” he murmured.

  “Please, no potty humor, I get enough as it is,” a familiar voice complained. He turned to see Charlie near him.

  He snorted. “No promises.”

  “In that case, I'm so out of here,” she said.

  “Go ahead but remember to flush and wash your hands before you go,” he called out with a grin. She shot him a glower and a hand-cranked, one-finger salute, reminiscent of a scene from a movie. He chuckled and shook his head.

  ~~~^~~~

  Twice during the week they had a movie night. There were two movies each night; one was video shot from the surrounding area edited together into a montage. It included footage of Duluth. Eugene considered it a power piece, something to inspire them on what their country looked like and where they were going next. It was definitely a hit.

  The second movie was a montage of material from Earth. The videos were projected onto a screen hung from the side of the castle. They were big hits. Vendors came around and sold food.

  On the second night, they had an abbreviated montage explaining where they were going and then a Terran movie translated into their language. One of Charlie's students had taken a shine to the comedy movies in Eugene's collection. She had worked with a group to translate one of the movies. They had focused on a Monty Python movie. The clippety-clop scene earned a chuckle. A lot of the humor was over the head of the audience though.

  ~~~^~~~

  One night Deidra held a pajama party for domina and prominent mothers and daughters. Some of the women were confused by the event; Deidra explained it was from a movie she had watched.

  It took a bit of explaining that it was an informal night in where they could gossip, learn makeup, and try different foods. She was booked solid within an hour, and it turned into something of a mixed hit. The older folks were more bemused by it, but the younger girls got into it over time. They even had a pillow fight.

  They had a few light lessons on deportment and makeup. They watched the movie Cinderella , the Disney live action version. “See the world not as it is but as it could be,” Deidra said to them. For a long time, I didn't understand that. Now I believe that the Terrans see things that way.” She looked at the group. “I'll be honest, at first I thought of them as fools but they delivered. I now understand them. I understand they look to the future, to our own potential and to bring that out in others we touch,” she said softly.

  “Courage, kindness, and a tiny bit of magic,” she said with a smile.

  ~~~^~~~

  Eugene listened to the chatter of the dominus as they compared notes about the changes to the military. Some questioned it but did so quietly. Some didn't like the lack of pageantry and of Titans. The shifts were hard to fathom for the old guard. The new weapons were scary though, and the fact that only the imperatrix had them wasn't lost on them.

  He was okay to listen but eventually was drawn into the discussion. He explained that the lack of armor was not unreasonable.

  “We have found that with war there are two sides, offense and defense. Each is trying to find a way to outdo the other. The defense is always trying to find a light but strong way to defend against weapons. The offense is always trying to find a way to penetrate that armor and make it useless.”

  A few heads nodded at that simple wisdom.

  “During the history of Patria, they found that armor was not as effective as one would like to see against rifles,” he explained. “During some time periods, nations would dress up their soldiers in bright uniforms, costumes really.”

  “I bet the imperatrix would love doing a … what did you call it? Fashion show on that?” a dominus asked. The others laughed.

  Eugene smiled indulgently. “True, too true. But we talked her out of it. Anyway, the nations would march their forces out as you used to. They would line up and shoot at each other. Ranks of men would fall like wheat.” They grimaced at that. “And then others learned to add even more terrifying weapons, Gatling guns and artillery that could kill men in very short order. It was a terrible slaughter on both sides,” he said grimly.

  A few heads nodded.

  “From that the nations learned to dig in and fight from protection, much as you do from castles. But that doesn't work well or for long; artillery can tear apart any fortification.” That alarmed a few of the dominus but he kept going. “See, my nation is one of the first that learned that the best way to fight was quickly, seizing the opportunity and fighting in small groups wearing camouflage.”

  “Eh?”

  “As a hunter, you stalk your prey. It isn't chivalrous, but the point is to kill the enemy and come back to your family. To win.”

  Heads nodded grimly over that simple statement.

  “To that end, as weapons evolved and military leaders realized it was too foolish to stand out in the open as a target, they dressed the soldiers in browns and in colors to match the environment they were in. To make them a harder target, both to see and to hit.”

  “Ah!” Dominus Tobin said, eyes alight.

  “Exactly. But as time passed, some learned to make armor out of other material. To make it very light to protect the lives of the soldiers, the miles . After all, each is an investment.”

  A few heads nodded over that statement.

  “That is why we have helmets still. And why we're working on modern style armor too.”

  “But they don't have it,” Dominus Tobin stated.

  “Yet ,” Eugene replied. That earned a nod from the others.

  ~~~^~~~

  “I think Max lost his voice,” Sue said in amusement at breakfast. “It's about time,” she said with a shake of her head.

  “Truly?” Deidra asked.

  “It's only temporary from all that talking. He needs a rest. We
all do,” the doctor stated.

  Deidra nodded.

  “We'll have plenty of that in the winter,” Eugene said. “I give it a month for the novelty to wear off again and then we'll be climbing the walls,” he said. He turned to his wife. “Though I am looking forward to our little one's first snow and first Christmas,” he said with a smile.

  Deidra nodded. She still didn't care for his renaming Saturnalia, also known as the Yule in Duluth after something else. But she knew it wasn't personal. “I too,” she murmured.

  He bumped her. “Hah! You are just looking for an excuse to spoil her and get her hooked on your clothing and fashion itch,” he teased.

  She smiled. She had to admit, she had loved seeing their daughter in some of the outfits and having a children's fashion show had been fun. Her daughter had been quite fetching in some of the jumpers and winter clothes. “And you are looking forward to spoiling her rotten with toys you and Max are spending too much time playing with. I mean making,” she teased right back.

  That earned a mild chortle from Doctor Carter and a few of the others.

  ~~~^~~~

  Both Houses ended their session for the season in a rousing applause. The cheering led to many rising to their feet. Deidra and Eugene were on hand; they applauded with them and made it clear they were proud of everyone for contributing.

  ~~~^~~~

  The end of the season was capped by a formal parade through the main streets of the capital. The weather was still warm, so many people turned out to see the event. Vendors with small food carts made their way through the crowds taking the opportunity of the situation in order to sell their wares.

  The parade was led by a band playing a rousing march song and then the first of the military units. The Flying Legion led the way on their branacks, but they had a LAV towing a cart filled with gear pulling up their rear.

  A fire truck was next; it blared its horn and sirens. That startled a lot of people; they stared at it in awe. Another band followed the red monster vehicle at a suitable distance.

  After that was an infantry platoon. They passed the stands and a VIP booth where Deidra, Eugene, and others were gathered. “So many changes, they probably hardly recognize them,” Deidra murmured.

  Eugene grunted. He had worked hard with the Imperials to continue blending Imperial standards with American. The Imperials might not look flashy in their camouflage but he at least understood the purpose. And he had to admit, they looked like a professional Terran unit, even if their kit was still a little out of date.

  Behind them were gymnasts and performers doing flips and tricks. After that came a group of trick riders and then a cavalry unit. These were replenished in formal uniforms, but they had a mix of lances, swords, and Terran-designed rifles.

  “What did you call this?” Deidra asked.

  “A parade. A passing in review,” Eugene explained. “The US had parades for different times. We rarely ever did a passing in review though. It wasn't needed; we were the best and the entire world knew it.”

  “Oh?”

  “We are doing it here to show the enemy that they don't want to mess with us and to remind certain dominus to behave,” he murmured to her in English.

  She looked at him for a moment and then nodded. After a moment, she looked back to the parade.

  An artillery unit passed; these were LAV towing mortars. Then another fire truck, this one spraying a fan of water on the crowd.

  After that more entertainers. They threw treats to the children in the crowd.

  “Clowns. Why did it have to be clowns?” Eugene muttered. Deidra looked at him out of the side of her eye but then went back to watching the show.

  Air units flew overhead and then the Terran vehicles brought up the rear. Deidra smiled as the crowd applauded and cheered.

  “Maybe someday we can add floats,” Eugene said.

  “Are you trying to get me to strangle you? Making more work for me?” Max laughed.

  “Oh! I'd love that! I went to the Rose Parade once, beautiful! And so fragrant!”

  “I did too,” Doctor Carter murmured.

  Max groaned and his face with his hands. “The women are trying to kill me,” he said to Duke Emory when the old man came to see what was the matter. Eugene's chuckle made the old man chuckle as well.

  “Tell me a bit about this Rose Parade,” Deidra asked, curious.

  “It is held in Pasadena, California. It's been a tradition for over a century,” Charlie explained. Sue nodded. “They build vehicles and cover them with shapes showing a scene like from a picture book. The outer skin is made from plant material. That's part of the challenge, to make it out of plant material.”

  Deidra frowned, puzzling that out.

  “They are talking about flowers. Imagine a Titan made out of flowers,” Eugene explained. “And they can animate them too,” he said wickedly to Max.

  “Sure, fine, add to my pain,” Max groaned darkly. Sue smirked at him.

  “I think we can look into it over the winter,” Deidra said. Max groaned louder. Sue snorted and looked to Cecily.

  “Such theatrics!”

  “I know. He's looking forward to the challenge,” Cecily said with a grin. “To be honest, I am too. Something … what did he call it? Girly?”

  Her husband gave her a gimlet eye as the others chuckled.

  ~~~^~~~

  Concerts had capped the evenings. They had been held in the parks and public squares, spread out so the crowds wouldn't overwhelm each other. They were a hit, though there was a bit of thievery problems on the second and third night.

  There was a formal ball on the last evening of the session. It was a way to cap everything and help everyone unwind after the tensions of the sometimes heated debates and behind the scenes wrangling.

  A half hour after dark the stewards guided everyone outside for a fireworks show. The weather had behaved itself; the night was relatively clear. The crowd was impressed with the show and the music.

  Baby Hermione wasn't the only child who didn't like the noise and squalled. Deidra was forced to release the baby to a nanny to take her inside and away from the noise. She did find herself tucking her hand into her husband's though.

  Chapter 25

  Duluth

  Zara received word that a herd of beasts had rampaged through a nearby village north of the city, destroying several structures and eating a barn full of grain. The village was two miles distance. She had visited it before, during the vers .

  With the weather clear for the moment, she left Augustus in charge of the castle and capital and took Trey and a handful of guards with her to inspect the village and get the real story. Tacitus was working on the insulation in the castle anyway, adding the new improved insulations where they had enough of it to matter. She didn't want to be anywhere near that mess.

  When she got to the village, the elders were quick to rush to her side. They pointed to the damage and the lackluster cleanup efforts. They wanted permission to slaughter the beasts. They were angry, and rightfully so, at least on the surface.

  She noted their defenses were poor; the animals had been funneled into the village and hadn't been able to escape it easily once inside. The village bordered a river; it had been too high for them to cross. The bridge over the river had been damaged by the beasts when they'd tried to cross.

  She put her time with Nate Billings and the other Terrans to use. She set a detachment of miles to help with the assessment and repairs and then did a little exploring outside of the village.

  Instead of going after the beasts, she had their guide take them in the direction the beasts had come from. She realized from the column that they had been on the move, what Nate would call a migration. That made sense; they were most likely headed south or to areas that had more food.

  “This was their trail,” the guide said, waving to indicate the trail that was slowly being turned into a dirt road.

  “What is that?” she asked, indicating a fork in the road behind
them. One trail to the right led to a narrow pass and the river beyond.

  “That is where they normally come from, but the tracks indicate otherwise,” the guide noted, pointing to the tracks.

  “You said they normally go that way?”

  “Aye, there is a place that is easy to ford the river there,” the guide said.

  “Let's see,” Zara said, reining her mount in and directing them to the pass.

  “Tis blocked, there was an avalanche last vers ,” the guide called out.

  “Ah,” Zara said, finally getting to one of the roots of the problem.

  She noted the avalanche and the tracks. Some had gone to the avalanche site but then turned back. Obviously, the beasts had been forced to take the other track directly to the village.