Downtime and Death (Apocalypse Gates Author's Cut Book 5)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “But do you care for her?”

  Alvin considered the question, then nodded. “I honestly do. She is a fighter, and I love a woman who won’t back down. I do care for your daughter, and will treat her as well as my other wives.”

  “That is all I ask for,” Emilia smiled and motioned toward the doorway with her head. “Shall we?”

  “Of course,” Alvin said, guiding the Queen to the door. “I see where your daughter gets her good looks from. That dress is perfect for you.”

  “Oh, gallantly said,” Emilia laughed softly.

  Alvin was surprised to see a wooden closet where the kiosk was meant to be. He made a mental note to ask Gothy about it later, and continued to lead Emilia into the main room where the others were waiting for them. Alvin’s eyes went to Mousie and Desiree first— both of them were dressed in gowns matching Gothy’s, but each dress was carefully fitted to the woman wearing it. A smile filled his face.

  “There he is,” Mousie said. “Hero, gifts for the bride’s family are in the first cabinet behind you. Once you give them out, we can unveil your gift to Desiree.”

  Alvin disengaged himself from Emilia with a smile, going to the cabinet Mousie had indicated. There were four bottles of Bushmills sixteen-year-old single malt whiskey, which he carefully stowed in his bag.

  “Dad, Moms, these are for you,” Alvin said as he came to a stop before them, pulling out the bottles and handing one to each of them. “This is the best we can do on short notice, but I’m sure you will enjoy them.”

  “We have a somewhat lesser version to go with tonight’s meal,” Gothy told their guests. “I hope you will enjoy it.”

  “Dinner will be ready shortly,” Jarvis said from the kitchen.

  “Before that, please follow me so I can show you the gift my soon to be husband has presented to me,” Desiree said, leading them back into the kiosk room and toward a door that was new to Alvin. She opened the door of the new room and ushered everyone inside.

  Most of the Dwarves looked a little puzzled, but Gunther inhaled sharply. Desiree gave him a knowing smile before she said, “I’m sure you’re wondering what this room is for. The answer is simple: my armor.” Stepping over to the far wall, she pressed a button. A Dwarf-sized mannequin came out of the ceiling, and Desiree removed her armor pieces, placing them onto it. She pressed another button and the armor expanded, covering the figure. “This room will repair and upgrade my armor.”

  “It is true,” Gunther whispered. “We noticed this functionality almost a week ago. It doesn’t help us, since we’re able to do repairs faster and cheaper than the room could.”

  “Ah, this was what you were telling me about when we got word of Desiree’s failure to report in?” Mithrilblood nodded. “His gift to my daughter is something that will keep her healthy and prepared to fight... a fine gift.”

  The others agreed that it was indeed a good gift. Emilia’s smile was brilliant, and when she caught Alvin’s eye, she gave him a small bow of her head.

  “Well, he has certainly completed all the rituals required to ask for her hand,” Mithrilblood said.

  Alvin took that as his cue. Turning to Desiree, he took her hand in his. “Desiree Brightblood, will you join me, Gothy, and Mousie?”

  “Yes,” Desiree replied, grabbing him and pulling him down for a kiss.

  The room exploded in cheers, which grew louder when Desiree released Alvin only to grab Gothy and do the same to her, and again when she finished by kissing Mousie.

  “Well, they will be a close family,” Gerta laughed. “Reminds me of our youth, doesn’t it, Emilia?”

  “Certainly,” Emilia agreed. “Those who can care for and support young should have as many wives as they can handle to help spread their line as far as they can.”

  “Dinner is served,” Jarvis’ voice came from the main room.

  “Welcome to the family, Hero,” Mithrilblood laughed, slapping Alvin on the back.

  “Thanks, Dad,” Alvin returned. “My name is Alvin, by the way. Not Hero. That’s just what they call me.”

  “Why do they do that?” Lady Steelblood asked.

  “Well, probably because Hero has rescued me multiple times,” Gothy replied. “Starting with the very first time we met…” Gothy launched into storytelling mode as they made their way to the dinner table.

  Chapter Fifty

  Pushing his plate away, Alvin sighed happily, “Damn, Jarvis... you keep feeding me like this and I’m going to have to marry you, too.”

  “No thank you, sir. If I know anything, it is that I’m happily not interested in you.”

  Gothy laughed, “First one to turn you down, Hero.”

  “Means more for us,” Desiree smiled.

  “Which we are grateful for,” Mousie finished.

  “We’re done with what we came to do,” Alvin said. “We need to get the best runes we have on Desiree’s armor before we head out. Maybe hand her the old handguns too, so she has something to work with besides her armor.”

  “I can handle the gun on the Turtle,” Desiree said.

  “Not without a radio,” Gothy said. “We’ll get you one. You can unequip it for your armor when you need to, but the radio is the only way the gunner can hear the driver easily.”

  “Before you all run off,” Sammi said, appearing beside the table, “let me first say that adding more people to your group does not make my job any easier.”

  “Hey, Sammi. Welcome home,” Alvin chuckled.

  “Think she’ll stay for second breakfast?” Gothy asked with a flirty wink at the dev.

  “Who is this?” Desiree asked, not sure if she should be alarmed that someone just appeared or welcome the newcomer.

  “Sammi, meet my new wife, Desiree Brightblood. Desiree, this is Sammi. She’s one of the people who changes the worlds around; we call them devs.”

  Desiree blinked, shocked, “She is a god?”

  Sammi flushed, “N-no! I’m not a god.”

  “Sammi, Sammi, Sammi,” Alvin tsked. “Remember the first rule… If someone asks if you’re a god, you say: ‘Yes!’” Gothy joined Alvin on the last word and began to laugh.

  “Breaking out that old line?” Sammi sighed, pulling out a chair and sitting down. “I mean, sure, it’s a classic, but come on.”

  “I don’t know this one,” Mousie said.

  “Me, either,” Desiree agreed.

  “We’ll show you two the movie tonight,” Alvin said. “Okay, Sammi, what’s up?”

  “I swear to...” Sammi began before stopping and taking a deep breath.

  “Coffee, miss, as well as something to help with your blood sugar,” Jarvis said, placing a cup and plate before her.

  “Thank you, Jarvis,” Sammi replied, absently sipping her coffee and taking a bite of the pastry.

  “You’re welcome, miss,” Jarvis replied with a twinkle in his eye.

  “Jarvis, you take such good care of our fourth wife,” Gothy smiled.

  Sammi barely managed to swallow before she started coughing, “Assholes! You’re all assholes!”

  “Well, we are Team Asshole,” Alvin laughed.

  “I fucking swear to motherfucking god, you all deserve each other!” Sammi yelled, slapping the table and making her coffee slosh out onto the white tablecloth. “Oh, no,” she abruptly became contrite, clearly flustered as she tried to sop up the coffee. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It is fine, Sammi. I shall be doing the laundry later, anyway,” Jarvis said softly. “I also apologize for my inadvertent part in the joke that was just made at your expense.”

  “Traitor,” Gothy chuckled.

  “I don’t even know why I talk to you all. At least Alvin was civil last time,” Sammi muttered.

  “Okay, we’re sorry... at least a little bit,” Alvin said, trying to stop his laughter. “What’s up?”

  “I have a list of envoys from the settlements, but I still need the Dwarves’,” Sammi grumbled. “I’m in a little bit of trouble. My supervisor thinks
information I gave you helped you get more out of the Dwarves than you should have been able to.”

  “I could have taken them for a lot more, actually,” Alvin said simply. “Only reason I didn’t was because of Desiree.”

  Desiree smiled at him, “We knew you had us over the anvil. Dad would have paid more if he had to to get what we did. Before they left last night, he told me he was glad I had married such an honorable man.”

  “He clearly doesn’t know Alvin very well,” Sammi sniped.

  “What?” Desiree asked angrily.

  “No,” Gothy said, placing her hand on Desiree’s arm, “she isn’t wrong. Alvin isn’t honorable... well, not like most people view it. He’ll do anything he has to for those he loves, but fuck everyone else.”

  Desiree looked to Alvin, who nodded. “That was before I asked you…” Desiree said slowly.

  “I was already swayed by your charms,” Alvin smiled. “Gothy wanted you to stay with us really bad, and I have to admit that I was leaning that way myself, so I took it easy on your old man.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m still getting reamed over it,” Sammi complained. “What are you going to do with all that XP?”

  “Buy some powers, since they’ve been reinstated,” Alvin shrugged. “Gothy is going over the list of what’s available and will let me know what she thinks is the best use of our XP. You should remind them that I would be netting way more if you weren’t changing things up again.”

  “I did, and I hope they see that in another week after the envoys have had a chance to settle in. Until then, I’m getting flack. Can you please get me the names of the Dwarven envoys and send a letter to Queen Night asking her for a list of envoys she’s sending? Once I have the names, I’ll get it done. The Elves and Dwarves will have to do it the hard way to get their envoys to each other, though.”

  “Sure. Just for you, Sammi,” Alvin said honestly. “If any of those other fuckers think they can do better than you, have them come say hi.” Alvin’s eyes were cold by the time he finished with, “I’m sure to give them a warm welcome.”

  Sammi shuddered, “Yeah, that doesn’t seem like the best idea.”

  “Or they can back the fuck off, and we won’t make their lives even more hell than they already are,” Gothy added.

  Sammi’s lips twitched into a smile for a fraction of a second before it vanished. “I’ll make sure that message gets passed along. That’s all I came for,” she sighed, taking another bite. “Thank you for the food, Jarvis. I wish it was real for me.”

  “You are very welcome, miss. Have the secondary plans for the simulation gon—” Jarvis cut off abruptly.

  “Jarvis,” Sammi sighed, snapping her fingers, “don’t ask those questions.”

  Jarvis shook himself as he unfroze, “Very well.”

  “I am still looking forward to hearing what all of this is about,” Alvin said.

  “Still waiting for the okay.” Sammi took a big gulp of coffee. “See you later,” she said, vanishing.

  “She is going to be joining our family?” Desiree asked curiously.

  Alvin and Gothy started laughing, and Jarvis even chuckled some, leaving Mousie to answer her, “No, or not likely. Sammi gets teased by Gothy, and as you can see, she doesn’t handle it well.”

  “Ah, this I understand,” Desiree nodded. “You tease your friend who blushes, but isn’t interested, because it is funny.”

  “I’m not so sure she isn’t interested,” Gothy chuckled. “I think she is very interested, but she can’t do anything about it. Too bad... I bet she’s a screamer.”

  “Okay, simmer down,” Alvin snickered. “Leave her alone for now. She’s having a bad day. Let’s get things together, see dear old dad, and then head back out.”

  “Sounds good,” Gothy smiled. “Come on, Desiree, let’s go see what runes we have that you can use.”

  ~*~*~

  They took the Humvee to the castle, where Desiree led them through the halls until she came to the door she wanted. Knocking, she waited for a voice to call them to enter.

  “Sire,” Desiree smiled, entering the room, “your honored guests have one last point of business with you.”

  Mithrilblood looked up from the papers on his desk. “What can I do for my family?”

  “We need the names of four Dwarves you would like to send as envoys to the settlements I’m associated with,” Alvin said. “They will be sending envoys in return. This one time, they will be sent via a personal portal to their destinations.”

  “What will these envoys do?” Mithrilblood asked.

  “Set up trade between the settlements. It’s going to be the way trade through the Gates works. I understand there will be discounts and stuff as well, but I’m not an envoy, so I don’t know for certain. On top of these four, you should find a fifth and put together your best team to get them to the Svargax Gate, where the Elves come from. I have a letter of introduction for that one, so they should be welcomed.”

  “Hmm,” Mithrilblood said, stroking his thick beard. “This might be my chance to help the others see that I’m not trying to benefit my clan over any of theirs. Can you rate these settlements for me?”

  “Easily,” Alvin smiled, handing over a couple of pages. “I already have what you want here. I don’t know who the envoys from each place will be, but the ones from Green River and Beatty are your best bets for getting most of the things you want.”

  “When do you need these names by?” Mithrilblood asked.

  “A couple of hours would be nice. We’ll be heading out as soon as we get them.”

  “Please wait here,” Mithrilblood said as he got up. “I’ll send refreshments while I get things organized.”

  “Sure,” Alvin shrugged. “I’ll just open up a portal here and come back in an hour, if that’s fine?”

  “The portals aren’t permanent, correct?”

  “Correct. The old one vanishes when I summon the next one.”

  “Very well,” Mithrilblood left, going to find the people he wanted.

  ~*~*~

  When the four came out of the portal an hour later, Alvin smiled because the room now contained most of the other clan heads. “So who are your envoys?”

  “I have selected Lord Bloodfist for Green River, Lady Steelblood for Beatty, Lord Copperfist for Ely, and Lady Goldenheart for Bridgeport,” Mithrilblood replied. “I have also assigned my son to escort Gunther Brightblood to the Gate you marked on the map.”

  “That is a very dangerous mission, and the Elves are currently at war with each other. Make sure you side with the Queen’s Elves; they have dark skin. Darker than Mousie’s, for the most part.”

  “I shall keep that in mind,” Gunther smiled.

  “Who is taking over as arbiter?” Desiree asked.

  “Your cousin,” Mithrilblood replied.

  “Is there anything we need to do to be sent to our posts?” Bloodfist asked.

  “What is this?” Goldenheart asked. She was staring at something in front of her, turning her head side-to-side to try to shake the invisible thing off.

  “Probably a pop-up asking you if you’re ready to go,” Alvin guessed. “Go gather the things you wish to take, then accept it.”

  “Sire?” Bloodfist asked.

  “Dismissed. I look forward to what you can do for all of us, and not just your clans,” Mithrilblood said.

  The envoys each placed a fist over their heart before leaving the room. Gunther watched them go. “I’m sad I have to make the trip instead of being instantly whisked away. I’m more than willing to, however, as it will give me the chance to learn about the longears and make trade arrangements with them.”

  “You need to do one more thing,” Gothy said. “You need to set your main kiosk to accept items from settlements. That way, the goods you purchase can be teleported instantly to you.”

  “That is good to know,” Mithrilblood said. “I shall make sure it is done by the end of the day.”

  “I actually would like t
o visit one of your kiosks,” Alvin said.

  “Certainly. Father, if you would show them the closest kiosk,” Mithrilblood said. “Bring them back once they are done.”

  “Of course,” Gunther chuckled. “Follow me, please.”

  The closest kiosk was just a few doors down, meaning they were back with the King in short order. What surprised them was that the four envoys were back in the room with him.