Chapter 18:
"I worry about him," Olesia murmured. He wasn't sleeping. William had left them sometime in the night, much as he had done repeatedly over the last week or so. She could hear him talking on the phone to somebody. On the surface, everything was fine, but that was the problem. It was on the surface only. They would come back from another round with the Matriarch, though that business was getting a little easier. Her people were now forthcoming with what they knew about the Bandit Princess and her operations. The trio would have dinner, and William had twice taken them dancing. He was doing what he could to maintain something like normalcy.
Then he would leave them in the middle of the night. He'd be up hours before they were.
Olesia was worried this was killing him. She was worried about what the stress was doing to William. Nieve snorted derisively. "We're women, Olesia," she said. "Imagine how hard it would be if we're upset that he's giving us no attention." The elemental goggled at her. Running her fingers through her hair, Nieve then scratched and stretched as she remarked, "you do a better job with it, but I'm honest about what I am. I'm a woman. I need attention. This... it's what a man does." She'd come to see that. Most men weren't very good at multi-tasking, to be honest. They were either very good at the nurturing and then fell down on the job of providing, or they were good at providing, then fell into the habit of ignoring who they were providing for.
Laying her head back on the pillow and turning to face her nominal rival and new-come best friend, the Muscle Princess said, "he's what a man's supposed to be, dear." Forcing the irritation out of her voice, Olesia retorted, "he's getting burnt-up, Nieve." Nodding, soberly, the young hard-body replied, "yes, dear. He is. That's where we come in. Synergy. We're supposed to be compliments, yes?" Leaning over, Nieve kissed the other girl's cheek and said, "we'll spoil him tonight. We'll make sure he gets a good night's sleep." The Muscle Princess wagged her eyebrows suggestively, telling Olesia how she planned to do that. They were going to give William a heavy dose of the cookie. It made her face go warm.
The pair climbed out of bed as Billy's phone conversation wound down. Heading out to the parlor, they found the big man staring down at the pages and pages of notes he'd been making. He'd been doing his best to put together a picture of what Peihong had been doing over the last few months. Some of it seemed clearly related to the death-weapon. She'd been buying alcohol by the shipload. Other things seemed less sensible. She'd tried hiring a wizard from the court six times, primarily for the purpose of dream-casting. None of it made sense at all.
Shoving the papers aside, Nieve occupied his right knee. As if on cue, Olesia occupied the left. Billy's face snapped up as both women snuggled in against him. His face went hot. He'd been sleeping with both girls since they'd come back here, but that was really all they did. Sleep. He wanted to bang either or both of them. He was thirsty, and he knew it. The Matriarch was behaving–no longer playing games of hurry-up-and-wait. They had a little time. He had ideas about taking Nieve to the shower and screwing the shit out of her and then maybe getting some of Olesia later. As he was resolving to do just that, knocking at the door announced that maybe they didn't have any time at all.
A disappointed Olesia climbed off his lap. A beat late, Nieve did the same. Climbing to his feet, Billy headed to the door, dagger in hand, announcing, "yeah?" "It's us," Nina announced. An irritated Billy opened the door for the Pirate-Princess and her kid and motioned them in. Nina goggled at the size of what was in the big man's boxers, but Morgana, all business, brushed past.
"Bitch's on d'Island o'Death," announced the Pirate-Princess, as she stepped to the center of the room. Billy's face snapped up to hers. His eyes asked the question. How did she know that? Laying her map on the table, Morgana observed, "funny thing about d'em fellers floatin' around up d'ere..." She meant the various airship crews among the wax-hustlers and Grid-Face People. "Dey learnt dey tricks from us sailors," Morgana explained. "Biggest ticket is ye always tryin' leave from a landmark if ye can." Billy blinked. He hadn't known that at all. That was... profound.
Shutting the door, the big man came back to the table and sat himself before the map to look at what his guest had found. Grinning a toothy grin, the Pirate Princess pointed, "y'er great-great-great-grandpappies... they built sometin' on d'at island, big man. Ye can see it from up above. I've used d'island t'go and come from o'er the ocean, and d'machine people... they do d'same. D'at machine... dey tell me it been always half-covered by d'trees... until just a a few weeks ago..." Billy's face showed his alarm, and Morgana thought he understood exactly what she was telling him.
"Do you know what the machine looks like," he rumbled? "A big disc," Nina put in. Shoving the shocking image of that giant dick out of her mind, the curvy pirate strode over to the table, announcing, "d'em fly-fly boys tell my momma over some rum." With pencil and paper, she sketched out what the airship crews had seen. "Mean anythin'," she asked? "A transmitter," Billy muttered. "That... was a transmitter." It was a really fucking big one if they could see it from the air, even with it halfway covered by trees and vegetation. "It's jist tree days sailin'," Morgana said. "Wit a little help from y'girl, I kin get us d'ere in tree days."
Nina took up the thread now. "A littler tougher'n jist walkin' up on d'island, big man," she said. She brought out a second map of the shoreline, showing where the transmitter was likely to be. "Be called d'Island o'Death because o'de skull-eaters," she explained. "Monsters from d'past. Dey touch ye, and y'melt down t'nothin'." Goo-bros, Billy thought. His dad had fought them in the past. Bonnie had eliminated them from the region of the civilized kingdoms, allowing the peeps of Ooo to colonize all the available land there. "I know a way around them," Billy said. He just needed some metal, some wire, and a little help from Blargetha. Rising, Billy gave Morgana a fist-bump, saying, "thanks. I'll call my dad and get some troops together." Seeing the other nasty pirate staring at his bulge, Nieve announced, "but let's get dressed first, husband."
Over in Coca Kingdom, the sun was well up in the sky, and Finn was looking forward to not coming back to his quarters to find Blargetha there. It had been raining over the jungle for days. The slime-princess was not interested in going back to her quarters under threat of getting wet. Period. No amount of coaxing with the umbrella could change her mind. It was driving Finn to distraction because the plush pretty was only too happy to make herself available. It wasn't force exactly. He wasn't forcing her to get naked and screw, but it didn't feel quite right either. It helped not at all that he ended up in the nasty spot each night, and, with Blargetha, the nasty spot was quite the spot. An oblivious Blargetha would just get up, go to the table in the corner, and get to work on her endless drawings of what she was going to do with the former rocket-base.
That last was helping him deal with the angst of what he was doing here. He'd seen what she was working on, and it pleased him. He'd even cautiously shown some of it to Dr. Beto, trying to sound out the witch-doctor on his ideas for fixing things. That last, honestly, had come with a bit of a surprise. He'd actually saved a life. This whole thing had hit a couple of the younger shamans quite hard, with one heading out into the jungle with the idea of hanging himself. Dr. Beto wanted to invite Blargetha to go to one of the tribal ceremonies. If she was to be working on the sacred temple, tradition dictated that she be a member of the sacred band. Finn had been working on how to sneak up on that, or, at least, slide around it.
Standing outside, freshly showered and ready to go, the big man pondered what to do first today. He'd been talking with the tribal elders who owned the beach about setting up a trading post at the shore as a way of selling them on letting him build the docks and piers needed to haul in supplies. Dr. Beto was supposed to help him with that. The lead witch-doctor was very interested in making this work. Finn feared what would happen to the Coca-peeps if they couldn't. Blanca was notable by her absence, and Finn thought she wouldn't survive if the temple didn't get rebuilt.
As he was pondering what to work on first, his phone rang. Taking it out, he found it was his son calling him. InterFone had prioritized their phones, giving them a dedicated channel. There were a lot of pissed-off people who were upset about that, but this was essential. They, of all the people on Ooo, needed to stay in touch. "Go," Finn announced.
The conversation was brief, but came with terrifying news. It was confirmation of all his worst fears. Not only did Bandit Princess have the means to betray them, but she was actually taking steps to do just that. Billy was clearly feeling the strain. As his father lapsed in and out of silence, the younger man found himself asking again and again if the big man was still there. "I'm here, Bill," Finn rumbled. "I hear what you're saying. I need you to take the Naga and get out to that island to set up watch, ok? Just watch. Do nothing else. I'm on my way there with the troops I have here." Finn hung up the phone and headed up to the control room where he'd been planning to meet up with Thor. The Captain of the Guard had come over on an airship with two-hundred volunteers, all armed to the teeth and ready to go for just such an eventuality. Now it appeared they had a target.
The morning got spent on apprising Dr. Beto and Blanca of where Finn was going. He had to promise to leave Blargetha's sketches with the Coca People because they were, at this point, not very interested in having the slime-person leave their land. She was key to fixing the great disaster right now, but Finn needed her to build the machines that would let him get onto the Island of Death and survive the experience.
As the sun was climbing the sky towards noon, the King returned to his quarters with Thor to find Blargetha hard at work. You might not have thought the rain had stopped. Standing in the door, the big man called her outside. Wearing a strange expression, the curvy princess stepped out the door. "Need you to pack your stuff," Finn said, "we're going on a trip." Warily, Blargetha replied, "where?" She glanced up to the airstrip. There was no airship parked there currently. There wasn't another due for several days.
Finn nodded down to the beach where a cargo ship rode the waves. A thrill of stark terror shot through the plush woman. Shaking her head violently, Blargetha snapped, "I'm not going." "Yeah," said Finn. "You are." The princess stepped back from him. Finn stepped forward, getting right in her face. "This isn't a request, Princess Blargetha," Finn coldly told her. "Gather your things. Thor will take you to the ship." His eyes suggested all the ways he could butcher her, including throwing her in the ocean she so feared. Swallowing hard, Blargetha rushed back inside and began gathering up her notes and papers. "Those will be going to the Coca-peeps," Finn said. "They want to study your ideas while we're gone." Her face snapped around, but Finn's expression showed she better not argue.
The rest of the day got spent getting soldiers and supplies on the ship, negotiating with its captain for the passage to the Isle, and dealing with the assorted other headaches. The big man spent a little while soothing ruffled feathers and assuring the Coca-People that he would be back. He hadn't abandoned them in the hour of their need. Finn was committed to rebuilding the sacred site. As the day closed, the big man finally found himself on the ship, just as they weighed anchor and set the sails to catch the evening tide.
An exhausted Finn spent a little while down in the cargo hold, making sure that Thor and the soldiers were settled in. Then he went upstairs to the officer's quarters to find the little room that he'd been lent. Opening the door, he was confronted with a sight that stopped him cold. Blargetha was laying in his bed, which was shocking enough, under the circumstances, but, like a jilted wife, she was facing away from him.
He'd forgotten about her. His mind had been on the business of getting the troops and supplies on the boat, and he'd only cared that Thor had made sure the rogue princess was safely aboard. This was everything he disliked about his current situation. He was queasy about sleeping with a woman who was, nominally, his prisoner. This wasn't like Maja, who was, more or less, free to go out and put herself at odds with him again if she chose it. Maja had chosen to keep their arrangement. Blargetha was under threat of death. He could kill her any time he chose to do it. She could never escape him, not with Sybil's demon-seed embedded in her chest.
What also couldn't escape him was the hard reality that Blargetha knew the ugly situation she existed in. What if she feared his reaction if she wasn't here in this room? What if she feared being killed for keeping her body to herself? It was a very ugly feeling, and it had him wanting to end this strange liaison as soon as he could. Climbing into bed, the King put his back to his evil mistress and tried to get to sleep.
Finn's phone woke him in the wee hours of the morning. Climbing out of bed, the big man flicked the phone on and whispered, "go." It was Bonnie. The King put her off, in favor of getting some clothes on. Slipping out the door, he left Blargetha laying there in his bed. The slime-person sat up when he was gone. She'd been trying to figure out what to do now. She feared that she'd overplayed her hand. If the whole point of sleeping with Finn was to get pregnant, giving him the cold shoulder certainly wasn't going to help that. He'd done nothing last night, though. He hadn't tried force. He hadn't tried cajoling her. Nothing.
With no idea what to do, the cushy princess swung her legs out from under the sheets and sat there a moment on the edge of Finn's bed staring into space. She didn't know what to do with him. He wasn't what she expected of a man. He was supposed to be taking advantage of her–taking what he wanted. Finn seemed almost to be embarrassed to even want to do it at all. He'd been a little angry and rough with her yesterday, and, terrifying as the business with getting in that boat had been, it had seemed almost like he was headed in the right direction. At least until last night where he'd put his back to her and basically ignored her. She wasn't going to get her coveted baby this way.
It was over an hour later that the King returned. He found Blargetha sitting at the tiny desk in his quarters, with her face buried in her notes. Stepping in carrying a couple of bowls of the sailors' breakfast, the big man folded down the table and laid them down before shutting the door. Blargetha looked up from her endless sketching and drawing, her face unreadable. Her expression brought back that queasy feeling.
As a peace-offering, the big man slowly slid breakfast across to her. Showing a little reluctance, the plush princess slowly got up and then, a little faster, made her way across the small space to their table, as Finn sat himself. She stood there a moment, with Finn's eyes sliding all around her, but never quite looking at her. In for a coin, she thought, as she drew the second chair and sat down.
"For the record, Finn said, "I didn't like doing that to you..." "Forget it," she muttered. "What're we doing?" Finn said, "we're going up on the island. I need a copy of the machine Bonnie created to keep the goo-bros away." "I could have built as many as you needed on shore," Blargetha huffed. "You didn't need to drag me along for that." Patiently, Finn nodded, as he stirred the crude oatmeal porridge in his bowl. "There's an ancient machine up on the island, B," Finn rumbled. Her face snapped up. "Bill thinks it's a transmitter of some kind," he said, "like the one Gorg tried to build back in the day." Her breath caught, her eyes coming up to his. "You need to know if she made it work," Blargetha rumbled. Finn nodded. Just so.
For a time there was the strange peace of clattering spoons as the pair worked their way through porridge. Somewhere in the middle, Blargetha said, "you understand what water would do to me..." "I'm well aware, B," Finn said. "Do you understand just how dangerous it is for anybody on Ooo to be playing around with what Bandit Princess is maybe messing with...?" The slime-person gulped. It was funny. She wanted to be valuable to him–valuable enough to be kept alive. At the same time, she was fucking it up. It was a primordial fear. None of her people went out of their caverns willingly.
Reaching out, the big man took her hand and said, "you have kept your end of our bargain, princess. You've kept it and more. I'm not angry at you, B. I don't want you hurt. All our necks are on the line." Flushing, Blargetha said, "I'll... I'll get started right after breakfast." Finn let go her hand. That was good enough. He had to go down to the hold and have a skull-session with Thor and the troops.
Days later, the cargo ship dropped anchor in a sheltered bay off the shore of a verdant green island. The Black Naga was already here, with the jumpy pirates on high-alert with their guns manned and ready. As far as Finn knew, goo-bros couldn't swim. They were safe out here from an attack. Still, it didn't hurt to see Morgana taking this seriously. Finn drew out his phone and put it on 'local'. In short order, he had Billy on the line. "Dad," the younger man greeted his father. "You guys set," Finn asked? "Yeah," Billy responded. A figure on the opposite ship waved, and Finn imagined that was his son, acknowledging him.
"I've got three of the machines," Finn said. Blargetha had been working on a fourth, but they'd run out of time. Billy said, "Olesia went up and took a look around. The antenna's totally cleared off. It's... It's pretty far inland, dad. It's gonna' be a hike." With every step of the way under threat from the goo-bros. There was little help for it. They had to go. This had to get done. More to the point, if Peihong had the ability to come and go from the island, that meant she had a means to protect her people too. That raised the risk that they were being watched. Their foe would know they were coming. The longer they delayed, the better prepared she got.
It appears the walls are closing in on the Bandit Princess. Finn and Billy are at her doorstep. What will our heroes find on the Island of Death?