Hostage Rescue (Princess Rescue Inc Book 2)

by Hechtl, Chris

  Zara gladly gave up her suite for the moment. She was still dealing with what had happened, searching for answers. Euphrosyne had been confirmed among the dead. Freydis and her husband had not been found. That news troubled Zara.

  Other familiar faces were also lost. Some might have fled; others might have died during the fighting or during the lynching afterward.

  She had been incensed that her belongings had been stolen. She'd fumed for some time over that and not even the return of some of her things had helped cool her ire. She had been relieved to see Herb alive. She made it clear he was pardoned for his role in things.

  He gratefully got back to work. When Tacitus showed up, he dived into the work but had to stop when the trials began.

  ~~~^~~~

  The trials were relatively quick, though there were a lot of them. Finding an impartial jury was nearly impossible. Zara made them up of a mix of Imperial and Duluthians. Eugene was strictly warned not to interfere. He did not, though he did observe.

  Deidra asked about his thoughts, and he said he was for capital punishment, just as long as it was humane. He admitted he understood the need for a deterrent.

  The sheriff was dead as were many supporters. Stephan and his wife were missing, but others of the leadership were brought before the court in chains. The mob leaders were also brought forth.

  Deidra watched her sister pronounce sentence. Death was pronounced for most. Fenton's wife begged to spare her husband; he had been blinded and partially deafened by the flashbang. That mercy was denied. Deidra nodded in grim approval. Her sister had a second brutal lesson in growing up; one she wished she could have spared her.

  Each was given the right to appeal to Deidra as imperatrix. She held each capital sentence up. The executioner square in the capital ran red and black with fresh blood. The bodies were drawn and quartered, the parts sent to distant parts of the kingdom as a warning against further treason. It was a gruesome fate for many. Some of the local lords came to witness it. Dominus Berg had been freed; she made a point of smirking and waving her fingers in goodbye to Domina Rasmussen when it came for her time.

  Siegfried's trial was the longest of the dominus trials. He made it clear he didn't participate in the coup. Multiple witnesses agreed. Even Zara was forced to agree. He was guilty of association though, and he did not hide his aiding it afterward, though he tried to excuse it as a way to remain close and support the people. Augustus reluctantly testified that the lad had provided fresh meat to them. Zara reluctantly agreed.

  He was the only dominus to get a life sentence in the mines rather than the death penalty. He hung his head in shame over it when it was pronounced. His family was spared losing their lands and titles; instead, it would pass on to the cadet branch.

  ~~~^~~~

  Rassmusen was marched up to the execution stage and shivered when she saw the grim crowd. If they could have thrown something, they would have. A few sneered or jeered; most were silent. She shivered again when she saw the men waiting to tear her body apart. What little fluid she had in her bladder let go then and she had to be dragged up on stage in hysterics.

  A look of raw appeal on the imperatrix and princess was lost. Her lower lip quivered as she looked around to the sea of angry faces and beyond to the Imperial troopers in new armor and weapons. Only then, when she saw them, did she realize that everything had been for nothing. There was no way her people could stand against that; they'd been fools to try.

  One misstep, that had all that had been needed. She'd let her impatience get the better of her. She shook, sobbing as they began the gruesome last act, lashing her down to the blood-soaked blocks.

  She hoped and prayed it would be quick.

  ~~~^~~~

  Zara watched each trial and each execution. Not for herself but for those she lost along the way. She had been burned, again. She had taken Eugene's counsel to heart but had forgotten the harsh reality of her own kind.

  "Right where we started," Tacitus said. He and the others had been flown in over time.

  Agnes had been shocked and dismayed by Emma's betrayal. She'd watched the girl's hanging though.

  "No, we lost some good people along the way," Zara replied, looking at her supporters. She felt good at the sight of some of them but was deeply troubled at how thin and sickly looking some still were. "And we know who our true friends are," she said with a regal nod to a few who had helped take back Duluth.

  ~~~^~~~

  Eugene noted that there was a stick but also a carrot that Deidra and Zara used. The guilty were punished as well as those whom supported them. Their punishment was permanent, capital punishment for treason.

  But the sentence also had a three-fold second part, one that could be seen as even more harsh to some, a warning to others, and a reward to those who helped to defeat them. Maybe a fourth in that it was an incentive to many to remain loyal.

  The conspirators and their supporters were stripped of their titles, lands, monies, and in the case of some of the merchants, their businesses. It was the harshest punishment, to see not just their own punishment but their families as well. It was the ultimate deterrent against future acts of treason.

  It was also an incentive to those who were loyal to the crown. Gunnar was rewarded and given additional lands. His wife was coldly aloof, but Gunnar thanked them.

  Augustus was given a title and lands as were Zane and Tycho. Even Galius and the individual miles in the resistance and in the rescue received a minor grant of land. Tacitus, Eudoxia, and Agnes were each rewarded with a title and lands. It was one of the first times in living memory a title went to someone who was not a descendant from a dominus or someone in the military. But Zara was insistent, and no one was willing to argue with her. She was also amused to see Eudoxia and Tacitus plan to wed.

  Similar deeds were given to some of the surviving merchants and others who had remained loyal to the Imperium.

  Herb was given lands of his own though he tried to beg off. He was more interested in returning to his smith duties like Tacitus.

  ~~~^~~~

  Imperium

  Doctor McEntire and other new immigrants complained when the news of the trials and executions were broadcast. Sydney sighed and reminded them that they were in a foreign land with its own native laws.

  “I have to admit, we've tempered them a bit though,” he said. The fact that the Terrans had gotten them to at least have a trial and gotten them to go more humane on the capital punishment wasn't lost on him.

  “Light? You call this light?”

  “At least they aren't spending a year torturing them and then going through the process of hanging, disemboweling, and then drawing and quartering them anymore. We're making some progress.”

  The doctor stared aghast.

  “Barbarians,” his partner muttered.

  “No, different culture. Or, as we like to say, different strokes for different blokes,” Sydney replied with an indifferent shrug.

  Chapter 51

  The return flight to the capital was uneventful for Eugene and Deidra. Zara insisted on remaining behind with Augustus and the others. Agnes insisted on backing her up.

  “We'll rebuild,” Tacitus said over and over whenever he got the bad news about one project or another.

  For the moment, the Flying Legion would remain in Kattegat as regular troops were shifted north. They would no longer rely on the word of the Duluthians, no matter how well intentioned.

  The coup had thrown the budget in both kingdoms off. Deidra warned that it might be a full annus before she could invest again. And they would do so more cautiously this time with troops to back Zara up.

  When the plane landed, they were met by their Terran and native friends and staff. Deidra was practically in tears when she saw Hermione dressed in a winter outfit. Both parents were cooing as Cecily put the squirming girl down and then let her walk hesitantly to her parents. Deidra knelt and took the baby in her arms with a tearful grin.

  ~~~^~~~

>   The scientists and UN people had been kept abreast of the events in the north. The trials were publicized as well as the executions. The threat wasn't lost on the general or military personnel.

  It washed right over Doctor D'tebensha who complained about barbarians.

  Max reminded them over dinner that they were on another planet in someone else's nation with no writ of immunity. That startled the woman into silence. “Best be on your best behavior,” Max said before leaving.

  That didn't stop the sociologists from making biting remarks over cultural contamination. “There are laws against all of that. America isn't supposed to do that anymore,” Doctor McEntire stated over and over.

  He and Doctor D'tebensha pointed out historical references like Cortez bringing Smallpox and Measles to Mexico and Latin America to Doctor Carter and others. “Don't you understand the gravity of the situation you are in?”

  Sue gently but firmly pointed out that yes, they were aware and had the problem anyway. The Terrans had also brought vaccinations and proper treatments as well as the means to make more. “The cultural contamination you are complaining about? We first didn't know anyone was here. But, when we did, we took steps to try to isolate ourselves. That didn't work. So, we worked on vaccinations and preventive medicine.”

  “But still …”

  “They've had outbreaks before,” she turned to one of the medical students. “Would you care to enlighten the doctor on how some things were treated here?”

  "We were blooding them or letting them just live or die without food or water. Isolation, you called it quarantine. Some were given potions of mercury or other things. That usually ended up killing them."

  "You did that?"

  "Yes. We were ignorant. We know better now, and we're getting better thanks to your people."

  "They aren't our people," Doctor McEntire snarled.

  "But they are from your world," the student said.

  The sociologist glared at the duo and then stormed off.

  ~~~^~~~

  Despite the continuous arguing going on, Sydney drew in some of the scientists to help go over what they found. They were eager to see Nate's new expedition's findings and they debated them. He welcomed them to help process the findings as an independent eye. They then went over the material in the castle and the documentation they had undergone.

  “We're still finding documents and recovering some is hard,” Nate admitted.

  "It's a lifetime of work, scanning everything in the library," Sydney said with a shake of his head. "They are always finding something new. And there are some pieces that have to be preserved carefully. Not just that but cataloging it all."

  That intrigued a few of the holdouts. “Can we stay?”

  "That can certainly be arranged. We need people. We need curators and archivists and scientists, and engineers, and doctors. We're training them, but we need more."

  Doctor Castile laughed. "Slow down!"

  "I'm just saying. Sorry if I'm sounding enthused. I am. We were hoping more people from home would come. We don't care where they came from as long as they are willing to help and teach. Operation fresh start."

  "Well, I can certainly agree to that."

  ~~~^~~~

  Mister Yellowknife was annoyed when Eugene insisted to see printouts of the documents he had been asked to sign. The lawyer insisted that wasn't necessary. He just needed his signatures on the electronic forms and thumb prints, but Eugene insisted.

  If the Native American thought he was going to bury his true intentions in the fine print, he was sadly mistaken. Eugene enlisted the aid of some of the others to pick apart each page of the document, going over them word for word. Some of it was simple; it started off simply enough with selling the rights to their story and allowing a full documentary of his life.

  Things shifted though when they looked at some of the boilerplate. Buried in some of what appeared to be typical cover-your-ass material were statements that Eugene would sign over controlling interest in his company to a shell corporation.

  When he found that, Eugene made it clear by the simple expedite of shredding the papers and burning them what he thought of the effort.

  ~~~^~~~

  When they had an all-hands dinner, it felt like a relief to all concerned. They laughed, talked, and caught up. Over desert Max and Eugene talked a little about the future. Max seemed more relaxed. Eugene definitely was glad to see it.

  “I think Cecily is right; I need to delegate more. And I am. Ginger and Sergio are going to take over the day-to-day operations of your flying circus. I'll check in on the engineering, but they'll handle overseeing the setup of the airfields from now on.”

  Eugene nodded.

  “Fred is handling the mining and foundation issues. Jessie is taking over the electronics and computers with Evan. That's a lot of load off of my shoulders.”

  “Good to hear,” Eugene said with a nod.

  “Of course, that is one less thing for me to worry about … except …,” he turned to look at Sue, Wanda, and Charlie. “These three hyenas want me to build them a theme park now,” he growled.

  “Like Six Flags,” Sue piped up, grinning over her wine glass.

  Ginger grinned. “Four,” she said, raising her free hand and waggling her fingers.

  “Argh,” Max growled.

  “Of course, I could take you three girls up for a flight,” Ginger offered with a grin. “You'll get all the barrel rolls and loops you can handle and more,” she said.

  All three girls went pale, wide eyed, and shook their heads in unison.

  That earned a chuckle from the others.

  Max snorted.

  Ginger grinned, stroking the stem of her wine glass with her index finger. “You're sure?” she asked with a feral grin.

  The trio nodded enthusiastically in unison, earning another laugh.

  “Sure you're sure?” Ginger asked, then giggled as she was pummeled with balled-up napkins.

  “I'd say that is as sure as it gets,” Eugene said dryly.

  ~~~^~~~

  “That was tricky but not the main plot. We're going to have to draw them out. Confront them before the general makes a move,” Eugene said as he played with Hermione.

  “You think they are going to try something?”

  “I think the only reason they haven't is because of the distance to the gate. I'm expecting the general to try to get me to agree to see them off or something. Go to Earth to meet the heads of state or something,” he said with a shake of his head.

  “You think you can get it out of them?”

  “I think the general knows whatever his mission is it's not going to work. He'll try to see it through. I think a confrontation is long overdue.”

  “All right,” Deidra said as the baby burbled at them.

  ~~~^~~~

  When they finally had a time alone, General Periot assembled the sociologists and his officers and met with the king and queen in their court. There he informed Eugene that he was actually on the planet to do something else.

  “I'd kinda figured that part out. You are a general after all,” Eugene said. “So? What is going on? First contact is obviously done. You are military, not a diplomat, so it's not that. So, what?”

  “I have to admit, I am here to arrest you and return you to Earth.”

  “On what charge?” Eugene asked, clearly amused.

  “For tampering with another nation's development and for exporting technology to a foreign country without a license from your own government.”

  Eugene laughed. “On Earth we can order anything off the net and get it delivered from China anywhere. And you are charging me with that?”

  “I still have a duty, but I admit, I don't want to arrest you,” the general stated. “But I will see my duty through.”

  Eugene shook his head in bemusement. "You've got to be shitting me."

  "I assure you, I take my duty seriously." The general turned to the imperatrix. “We have an extradition war
rant,” he said, pulling out a sheaf of papers and holding them up.

  Eugene snorted. "How about that,” he said as he turned to his wife. “Well, honey? Wanna get rid of me?"

  "Don't tempt me," she said with a look of amused disapproval. She turned to the delegation. "No. My husband is not leaving here. He stays with me, period."

  "But, Your Majesty!" Doctor McEntire protested. “We have a legal right to him! You don't understand how this man is exploiting you!” he said, pointing an accusing finger at Eugene. “For one thing, he's nearly twice as old as you!”