Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2)

by Hechtl, Chris

  "I forgot about that," she said as she saw people around the area tossing their cookies. “Find a bush or something people,” she muttered with a shake of her head.

  She checked the truck after the general took a look. She didn't trust the Frenchman as far as she could throw him. Everything looked fine though.

  Ryans, Max, and the others had come up with a shopping list. She had equipment, CNC machines, 3D printers, electronic boards, updates, hard drives, computers, manufacturing equipment, SSDs filled with stuff, not to mention medical supplies, equipment, chemistry gear, some chemicals, and a bunch of other things. Plus, some of her family heirlooms.

  Well, not just hers. Other people who intended to stay permanently had brought their heirlooms too.

  Just about everyone who had been on the first team had come. Whatever happened on Earth, they were here to stay. Now they needed to make a good go of their fresh start.

  ~~~^~~~

  Steward Yellowknife smelled the crisp cold air and looked around. It was a lot like his home in South Dakota on the reservation in many ways.

  He glanced at the fort and natives. He didn't like the looks of them though nor the weapons they carried.

  He might be a Native American but he had the least useful career in the group. He was a lawyer, and he had his own mission. He fully intended to carry it out to the best of his ability.

  ~~~^~~~

  Capital

  Eugene felt Deidra thrash about a bit and then settle. He listened with his back to her. He'd learned not to hold her during those times; it just made her feel trapped and made the nightmare worse.

  He listened to see if her breathing went even but it didn't. Instead, he could tell she had awoken. When she rose out of bed and out from the covers, he was sure of it.

  She went to check on Hermione and then came back to sit on the edge of the bed. He waited but she didn't say anything.

  “Nightmare?” Eugene asked as he rolled over. He'd been up a little late introducing the officers and commando unit to two Terran movies, The Delta Force and Commando . He had wanted to inspire them. He wasn't sure if it had or not; he'd spent a lot of the time explaining things.

  He saw her shoulders shake in the darkness.

  He immediately rose and wrapped himself around her. She started to sob and then turned to him.

  Ever since the news had hit, she'd had a series of nightmares. She wouldn't talk to him about them; he hoped she was at least talking to Sue or someone else. He wasn't sure if she was reliving her rape or imagining something worse for her sister.

  “We'll get her back,” he said. “One way or another,” he murmured.

  She turned to him and hugged herself to him.

  He pulled her back down into the bed and then used a free hand to flick the blankets over them both. She settled down on his chest.

  He tried to rest but something else got his attention. He finally admitted it. “Great, I've got to pee,” he said.

  She chuckled. “Tough,” he said softly. “I'm comfortable.” She even wiggled a bit. He groaned. They had not had sex since the news had broke so it wasn't easy. Some lovemaking, yes, but he wasn't sure if she was up for it or not.

  “Sadist,” he muttered. She chuckled again and patted his chest and then settled herself down to listen to his heartbeat.

  He resigned himself to endure.

  ~~~^~~~

  The Imperium had yet to endure a full harsh blizzard; something everyone was thankful for. The storms they'd endured had been mild compared to what had been expected. Most of it had been light snows during the night or early morning, no more than a foot or so of snow.

  It was still cold though, below freezing. The new winter clothes helped a lot for those that had them. Also, Max's snowplows and simple things like gutters and proper drainage helped a great deal to keep the roads in the capital and around it clear. They even sent road crews out to plow the main roads.

  When the news came in about Duluth Max focused his plowing efforts on the road east to Emory. There were of course teething issues and supply issues to deal with.

  Max left Cecily and others to deal with the majority of them. They had already worked on winterizing equipment. They just had to make some corrections. Some of the equipment that had yet to be finished had to be stood down when he shifted most of his engineers to another more critical task.

  Every engineer who he could spare was with Max as he turned his attention to the hangar where they were building the second prototype long-range aircraft. The model flight tests had worked well, though he was still leery about going up in one.

  The first flight test would take place in a few weeks. The good news was that the hangar was heated with radial steam heating. As long as they kept the doors shut, they could stay warm enough to go without jackets and without gloves. It hadn't taken long to teach people to go in and out the small side door and keep them closed whenever possible. He even went so far as to resort to locking the door when someone got careless and stood in it too long. The door near the offices had a mudroom and mantrap to trap the cold air there rather than let it into the entire hangar and disrupt things.

  He had his people check every connection and do inventories of every tool and part. They torqued parts and marked things with colored paint as they'd been taught. He didn't want any stupid accidents. Something as simple as a loose nut or missing cotter pin could ruin their entire day.

  While they did that, he had others to keep up the supply of material being shifted to Emory and beyond. He had sent a small crew on a truck outfitted with tracks to Emory. It had equipment, supplies, and parts, not to mention two of his aviation mechanics. They had yet to get to Emory, having been forced to bed down in a village when the truck had run low on fuel.

  He'd obviously underestimated the mileage in snow. That was annoying.

  ~~~^~~~

  Licinius Crassus watched his point team check a corner, then go around and then swear at the sound of a soft putt-putt. He shook his head.

  The king was fiendishly clever to set up the shoot house, a mockup of the castle and grounds. They had two, one outdoors and another in one of the warehouses. They couldn't build it to scale, but they could build sections that were important to focus on.

  The king had also worked up something else, something he called paintball guns. Each of the air operated guns shot a round of paint. They stung when they hit, and it was quite embarrassing to be counted as out to the men. Some hadn't understood the concept initially.

  He saw the entire thing as novel and an excellent way to train. He'd heard that the academy had been experimenting with it; that explained why General Tacticus was nearby and occasionally came in to offer suggestions.

  Each of the people involved in the exercise had a face mask of that clear material. Glass yet … pliable. Not glass. He didn't care; it worked. The king had insisted, and it had only taken one hit on a facemask to see how important they were. If the round had hit in the eye, it would have taken the eye out. They wanted people to learn from the experience not be taken out permanently by it.

  Every time he thought he had a handle on things, the king threw him what he called a “curve ball.” He always shifted about, changing patrol patterns and posts where guards were positioned. It was terribly unfair but he understood the reasoning. Grudgingly, he knew that they couldn't count on anything; they had to learn to adapt on the fly.

  He still harbored reservations that the king would want to go on the mission, but he set them aside as the mission ended.

  Once they were clear, he scowled.

  “Fifteen minutes,” he said, using the Terran words. “We can do better. We will do better,” he growled. “Hot wash while I check in with his majesty. Reset,” he said, waving a hand and making a circling motion.

  The men groaned but got to work.

  ~~~^~~~

  Eugene was handed a garbled radio report from a paige. He glanced at it, confused at what he was seeing. It was pretty garbled with a lot
of words missing. The gaps were obvious. The rest just confused him.

  He scanned it once and then shook his head. “I can't deal with this at the moment. If it's routine, just stick it on my desk or handle it,” he said, handing it back to the paige.

  The young man looked startled.

  “But, sire …”

  “Just … it'll keep. Whatever it is, it'll keep for the moment,” Eugene insisted as he turned to watch the training exercise. The Palace Guard had trained with the Flying Legion; in fact there had been a bit of crossover between the two groups. But they'd reserved the bulk of the best toys from Earth for the guard. Now he had to oversee the decurion's efforts to train on the new gear while Max's weapon smiths tried to make copies.

  “Problem, sire?” Licinius asked.

  Eugene shook his head as the paige left. “Something about the gateway guard force. Most likely routine. I'll read it later,” he said with a shrug. “We've got more important things to deal with.”

  “Yes, sire,” the decurion said as he pulled up the map of the shoot house and worked on their next exercise.

  ~~~^~~~

  Gateway Plateau

  A third set of vehicles arrived with the required cold weather gear. There was also a smattering of equipment to replace the damaged gear and to repair the trucks and hummers.

  Doctor Delecroix informed them he would be remaining at the fort to study the gateway. The general considered that but then nodded. It made sense.

  Once his people got the vehicles running again, he got his expedition organized to move out. The legatus offered a guide but he pointed to the old hands like Wanda. "I've got one. Several actually," he said dryly.

  Wanda insisted they take a guide anyway.

  ~~~^~~~

  Ginger Lewis looked over to the others. Contrary to what Wanda thought not everyone on the old team had returned. Most of the surviving military personnel hadn't returned, though some had wanted to do so.

  Most of the civilians had come though—Sergio, Fred, Jessie, Gregory and their families. She and Master Sergeant Waters were the only ones who had managed to come on the military side.

  Well, former military. The master sergeant tended to joke about how Veteran Affairs was going to have a hell of a time sending him his retirement checks but he seemed eager for the new beginning. They all had a new frontier to explore. She had finished her contract and hadn't re-upped. The military had let her go, and she'd got out while the getting was good.

  Way out considering she'd signed on to return. Apparently, Ryans had put a codicil in the files he'd sent back with them to let anyone who wanted to return do so, even if it meant the company had to hire them.

  That was fine with her. She was looking forward to checking out the aircraft Max and his people had built. She'd seen the one landing strip. Pity none were coming their way.

  She looked over to the civilian scientists and then to the new group. They kept apart. She was fully aware as to why; the new group had discounted their findings and had been sent to verify them. Some of the original team were there to defend their findings. They were also probably tired of the circus and drama on Earth.

  And then there was that other thing. She shied away from thinking about it.

  She saw the French general wave to get everyone mounted up. She moved quickly; she wanted a window seat. Hell if she was going to get stuck sitting in the middle for the long trip to come.

  Chapter 40

  Capital

  When Eugene returned to the castle, Deidra met him, waving the report. “What's that?” he asked.

  “More Terrans! I sent you a copy; you didn't read it!” she said, punching him in the arm.

  “I did, but I didn't understand it,” he admitted. “And I was distracted.”

  “Excuses,” she said, punching his arm again.

  He tried to grab the report she was waving around but she kept it out of reach. They play fought briefly before he caught her hand and got the report. He scanned it again.

  “Have you briefed the others?” he asked after the second read.

  “Briefed the others about what?” Max asked. Nate followed him in.

  “This,” Eugene said, waving the report. He handed it over to the mechanic since he was closest. Nate read it over his shoulder.

  “Blimy!”

  That earned a smile from Eugene.

  “We've got visitors!” Nate said, turning to call down the hallway. Heads popped out of doors. Sue stuck her head out of one and scowled. “People from Earth!”

  That made Sue's expression change. She came over, belting a robe. Others came as well to hear the news.

  Max read the report out loud for them. Once he finished, everyone asked for more information.

  “What you heard is all we have at the moment,” Eugene said, waving his hands to get them to calm down. “The report came in garbled; the storms are playing merry havoc with the radio waves. We'll get more when they clear.”

  “It never rains but it pours,” Charlie said with a grin.

  “I know. Talk about timing!” Mary said with a grin of her own. “We could use the backup!”

  "Yeah, I'd wonder about the perverseness of that and the universe in general, but I don't want to draw any more trouble on our heads. I mean, any more than we already have," Max said with a shake of his head.

  Sue looked at him for a long moment. "Right," she drawled.

  "Yeah."

  Once the others were gone, Eugene turned to Deidra. When she looked troubled, he frowned. “What?”

  “There was something more,” she said. She quietly told him about part of the report she'd left off the paper. He frowned.

  "The fact that they didn't want the guard force to report into us is troubling."

  "True. What does it mean?" her eyes asked the same question, searching his for an answer.

  “I don't know. We'll find out.”

  She nodded.

  ~~~^~~~

  Max watched the team trek back as they laid a line out to the charge. The snow crunched under their boots as they came to the bunker.

  He turned to look at Charlie. The woman stomped her feet. Her cheeks were red but she looked eager. So did some of the students arrayed around them.

  There were others further out. Only a small selection had been allowed in the bunker. He was surprised that Eugene hadn't crashed their party.

  The decurion kept his arms to his sides, moving from side to side to keep warm. Max watched the techs as they hooked up the lines to the box and then checked things carefully. They then blew the horn three times in warning.

  “Here we go,” Rio said, winding up the crank to the alternator and then pressing the switch before Max or Charlie could say anything. “Fire in the hole!”

  They covered their ears but nothing happened.

  “I thought there was supposed to be a big boom?” Max demanded when nothing happened.

  Charlie snorted. “Wait for it,” she said, holding her hands to her earmuffs.

  He heard that barely and then saw the puff as something sprayed into the air. It was like a fine mist, and then fire lit it in a big boom that knocked trees and things over. It melted the snow and made everyone in the observation post instinctively duck at the bright light and pressure wave.

  “Now that's what I'm talking about!” he roared, pumping a fist. He just barely missed the concrete and rebar ceiling above.

  The students and soldiers nearby were staring in shock.

  “Think we got the mix right?” Charlie asked as she took her hands off of her earmuffs. She watched as a soldier checked the range. The students were still awed. One looked a bit embarrassed.

  “Yup, that'll work,” Max said smugly.

  “Yeah think?” Charlie asked with a grin. “I think I peed myself a little back there.”

  Max chuckled as the soldiers investigated and gave the all-clear.

  ~~~^~~~

  Mary looked up as the ground shook and grimaced as she looked around.
She finally found the plume of smoke rising in the west.

  She looked around the greenhouse to be sure none of the glass had broken. Everything seemed fine. She shook her head again. “Boys and their toys,” she sighed as she went back to work.

  The greenhouse had a variety of plants in it. One planter had lemons. Another had plums. She'd tried to push for mulberries but they'd gotten the wrong ones.

  A series of containers near the door held kumquats. And of course there were a couple strains of apples growing as seedlings. They would be planted in the spring. They were getting a head start in the greenhouse like a lot of the plants.