The North Hickory Reservoir was a quick run of a few kilometers over the soggy terrain for the engineers and Axe. Rex rode his dogerpillar while all thirteen princesses had piled onto theirs. Fortunately, Milro and Sophie were so small that easily fit between Julia and Joiner.
The dam in question was a barricade of dirt holding back the reservoir. Covered in grass, it looked like another sizable hill. They climbed its steep slope to the top. An expansive lake spread in front of them as they came to the top.
Bret looked to the dam where the water was within centimeters of the top. "I don't think the water is supposed to get that high."
Axe got the attention of a Molmo worker. "What's happening?"
"We've opened all the spillways, sir," the worker reported. "However, the water levels keep rising. They just can't rid of the water fast enough."
Lee held his hand out into the moderate rain. "It's not raining that hard."
"It's not just the rainwater," Axe said. "This reservoir is being fed by snowmelt off the Meridian Mountains as well."
"We could handle it, but the main submerged spillway stopped working this morning," the worker said. "We opened it up, but almost no water's coming out."
"It must be blocked," Axe mused.
"I don't see where it is." Spigot surveyed the reservoir.
"It's at the bottom of the bed, of course," Axe declared. "Where else would it be?"
"Why did I expect anything different?" Spigot grumbled.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Axe shot back.
"A bell-mouth spillway should be a tower at the desired height of the reservoir," Spigot retorted. "Thanks to your piss poor engineering, it's down at the bottom of the reservoir where it could be plugged and out of your reach."
"Well, sorry for not having the resources to build mammoth structures like that," Axe snarled.
"Enough arguing-dané!" Rex shouted at them. "What's gonna happen-dané?"
Spigot stared at the crest of the dam barely above the water level, some waves lapping over it. "If the dam is overtopped, the water will wear it down in a positive feedback loop. The collapse will allow more water to escape which will take more earth with it."
"How long would that take-dané?" Rex asked.
"Once things get going, a matter of minutes," Spigot said. "It'll empty the entire reservoir onto everything downhill from here in a massive, fast-moving wall of water."
Ophelia looked out at the reservoir. It was more than a kilometer wide at its widest and several kilometers long. "How much water is in the reservoir?"
"Right now, it's approaching a hundred million cubic meters," the worker answered.
Spigot closed his eyes and held the bridge of his muzzle. "My God."
"That sounds like a lot," Sophie said.
"It's enough to cover four hundred square kilometers in two and half meters of water," Spigot explained. "It'll be ten times as bad as the levee breach two nights ago."
"Only it'll be the heart of the Seed Kingdom's biggest population center," Julia said. "More than half a million people live directly downhill from here."
"What if we got Fine and Rein to help?" Harney suggested.
"Yeah, about that." Lee rubbed the back of his head.
"They're kind of out of commission for the rest of the day," Ophelia added.
Milro looked down the canyon straight at the Mother Tree. The surrounding villages were just specks of color, but numerous. Each represented the home of a family. She turned to the worker. "Do you have any idea why it won't work?"
"We have no idea, Your Majesty," the worker said. "We figure it's a problem with the spillway opening, but its fifty meters below the water. There's no way to reach it even if there was a way to fix it."
"We'll need to evacuate the villages immediately-dané," Rex said.
"But can we get everyone out before the dam goes?" Ichele asked.
"I…I don't know-dané," Rex admitted.
Milro thought. There had to be some way to get down and unplug it to save those people. She looked at the reservoir and the water it contained, and then to Lee and Ophelia and specifically their gill slits. An idea came to her. The people of the Seed Kingdom might not be able to reach it, but…
Milro turned to the worker. "You might not be able to reach it, but we can."
She turned to Ophelia and Lee. "Head down into the reservoir to see if you can find the problem and fix it."
The two Tritons saluted. "We're on it, Princess."
They moved items to their jacket and mantelet pockets. Lee discarded his hat and jacket and set his weather sensor on top of them while Ophelia took off her mantelet and bandanna. They jumped into the water and disappeared below the surface.
Rex hopped off his dogerpillar. Julia helped Milro and Sophie down. They stood at the water's edge.
"How long can they work down there?" Rex asked.
"Indefinitely," Spigot answered. "They can breathe water like fish."
When fully immersed in water, a Triton's body undergoes several changes to go from breathing air with their lungs to water with their gills. Muscles in their tracheas closed off the passage to their lungs while opening the passages to their gills. The mucus membrane that protected their gills on land withdrew and let them float freely as muscles pulled on their cartilage plates to open and close them. Their sinuses were pouches that would expand to draw water in through their nostrils and mouths and then contract to force down their throats. Nictating membranes spread over their eyes, a translucent barrier to protect their eyes from the water. There were even more internal changes, like valves in the pulmonary arteries and veins closing off flow to the lungs while opening it to the gills that was felt by the warmth of blood flow changing its location. Within a second, Lee and Ophelia had gone from terrestrial to aquatic lifeforms.
They swam down towards the rocky bed of the reservoir. It was littered with boulders, many of them quite large. They oriented their bodies to sink so their feet set down.
The female Drop Kingdom engineer uniform had a unique feature in the form of raindrop-shaped ornaments attached to the hem. They looked strange and impractical while on land, waving as the wearer walked and the bloomers were in part to keep them from striking the shins. However, it was underwater where their very practical purpose was clear as they weighed the skirt down to keep it from floating around. They gave Ophelia's skirt extra inertia to stay behind her as they swam and never got past her knees as they descended feet first. As she came to stand on the rocks, it assumed pretty much its normal shape.
Ophelia braced herself on a smaller boulder, her cheeks expanding and contracting visibly and her gills flaring and closing in quickly succession. It would be like trying to catch one's breath in the air.
"Are you all right?" Lee asked. Talking reversed the flow through his lowest pair of gills so the water passed through his larynx.
Ophelia waved him off. "Yeah. I just need a moment to get use to the fresh water." Her cheeks puffed up to their fullest and then her lungs flared for a few seconds, similar to taking a deep breath and exhaling it in air.
Tritons were more suited for saltwater, but could breathe freshwater just fine with their excellent osmoregulatory abilities. However, it took more work to breathe freshwater—those who lived in it full-time were known to sleep at least an hour or two more than Tritons in salt water or air. Some, like Ophelia, also needed a little time to get acclimated.
Ophelia looked around, already seeming stronger. "What are we looking for?"
"The mouth of a spillway looks like a giant trumpet horn on top of a tower," Lee said, surveying their surroundings. "Only, it now in the bed somewhere."
"In other words," Ophelia said, "we gotta search." She exhaled again, but seemed stronger as her body adjusted.
Lee swam around, looking at the bed for some kind of artificial structure. He came to a large boulder sitting on a large mound in the bed, seemed perfect to survey the area. As he approached, he felt flow.
Lee felt around the bottom of the rock, and there was definitely a flow under it. "I think I found it!"
Ophelia seemed adjusted as she swam with him to the mound coming about a meter and a quarter out of the bed.
"Water's flowing down under this boulder," Lee said. "But, how did it get all the way up here?"
"The more pressing question is how do we get it out," Ophelia said.
They tried to push it. Despite their slender frames, Tritons had three to five times the strength of a Human of the same size and build—their bones and muscles were stronger for their volume to withstand the crushing pressure of hundreds of meters of water. However, even with that strength, the boulder refused to move.
"It's too heavy," Ophelia wheezed.
"We're also fighting the current," Lee said. "Also, is it a good idea to unblock this thing while it's open?"
"Good point." Ophelia pointed up. "Go to the surface. Tell them to close the spillway, and get the others to help."
Milro watched the surface, but glanced to the crest of the dam that was barely above the water. She was not sure if the water was rising, or if she was just thinking about. The tension was pressing down on everyone for some evidence the twins had done something.
"Anything?" Axe yelled to the worker next to the edge.
The worker stared down the crest, a better view of it. "It's still rising, sir!" he shouted back.
Many of the workers had taken their leave, rushing back to get their families to safety should the worst happen. The Molmo at the edge and the Seed Person in the switch house for the spillways. However, they too were getting antsy as it felt like the dam would be overtopped at any second.
Lee breached, taking a loud breath in as his body switched back to air into his lungs.
"What did you find?" Spigot asked.
"There's a giant boulder stuck in the spillway," Lee answered. "Close it off, and we help dislodging it."
"You heard him-dané!" Rex shouted to the worker in the switch house. "Close it off-dané."
"By your command, Your Majesty," the woman said. She pushed the switch forward.
"Alright, everyone," Spigot said. "Get in the drink."
The Beavers removed sensitive items into their articles of clothing they discarded before heading into the water. Lee dove down and the others disappeared below the surface.
"Good lucky, everyone," Milro said.
Lee led the team to the mound and the boulder sitting on top of it. Beavers—even half-Beavers like Bret—could hold their breath for up to fifteen minutes, even when doing strenuous work underwater. They also had nictating membranes and webbing on their feet but not hands. However, due to holding their breath, verbal communication was impossible for them. Beavers had a language of tail gestures, but it had a limited vocabulary of simple commands and responses for underwater work. Using sign language had become the preferred method of communication underwater.
«They closed the spillway off,» Spigot signed to Ophelia.
Ophelia felt around the rock. "I'm not feeling any flow. I think it's safe."
They divided into two groups on either side of the boulder, reaching low to try to pivot it off the hole. They threw their weight into it, trying to get it to budge. They seemed to be moving it oh so slightly when they exerted their full strength in unison, but it settled back into place when they had to relent.
Ophelia huffed. "It's not use." She leaned against it. "It's just too heavy."
Lee slid down against the boulder. The issue was leverage, or a lack of it. His eyes happened upon a long, narrow tree trunk. "But give me a lever long enough and I can move the world."
He smacked the back of his hand against Tammy's arm and pointed to the trunk. They swam to it, and dug it out. It was nice and solid with one end ending diagonally, perfect for a lever.
Milro watched as the Seed Person worker glanced to the top of the dam every few seconds. It was practically gone, hidden by the water. The worker grew more and more anxious.
Finally, she ran out of the switch house to them. "Please, Your Majesty, let me take my leave to save my family." She danced in place, her feet ready to carry her to her loved ones.
"Get them to safety-dané," Rex said solemnly. He turned to Ichele. "You can get her down their faster, Ichele-dané. Also make sure your mother and brother are safe-dané."
"But, Father," Ichele started to say.
"There's nothing you can do up here-dané!" Rex stated. "Look after my people-dané!"
Ichele paused, but nodded. She gave a curtsy. "It will be done, Father."
The worker curtsied to Rex. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The worker climbed into the backseat with Julia and Joiner. The dogerpillar made its way as swiftly as it could manage to the edge. The Molmo worker waved as it disappeared over the edge.
"What about you?" Axe asked the remaining worker.
"I don't have anyone," the worker answered. "I'm with you to the bitter end." He looked to the edge of the water. "Which might be presently. The water is spilling over the edge."
Milro turned to the water with the others. "Come on," Nicole murmured, "you guys can do it."
The team lifted the boulder just enough to edge the trunk under it. It was all they could manage before having to relent. However, it was ready.
«Greene, and O. Pryor,» Spigot signed, «you're on the lever.»
Ophelia and Bret swam to the other end of the lever. Lee was on one side with Franklin. Tammy and Emily were on the other.
«On three,» Spigot signed.
"Three!" everyone said and signed.
Ophelia and Bret pulled down on the trunk to force the boulder up. Spigot joined Lee and Franklin on their side of the boulder and they combined a push and lift. With the leverage of the trunk, the rock pivoted. Lee strained, putting all his strength to keep it moving.
"Please don't break, please don't break, please don't break," Ophelia strained as she and Bret went from pulling to pushing down. There was a bend in the tree between the two conflicting weights, but held for now. Still, it gave everyone the sense of urgency.
The boulder lifted up, its center of mass shifting up and away from the center of the bell-mouth. They had to be careful on the wooden structure to not slip and fall in. They reached the point where moving the boulder got easier. They could get their hands under the bottom and lift it more than push.
Ophelia picked up a rock to balance on the end of the truck for more weight. The boulder was almost there. They walked along the edge of the bell-mouth to get more leverage on it. The center of mass passed the lip of the bell-mouth and tumbled off the mound to rest beside it, kicking up a cloud of slit.
Lee and Ophelia cheered while the others had nonverbal celebrations. Lee and Tammy pushed the tree trunk away, making sure the opening was clear. Spigot pointed up with his thumb, and swam towards the surface. They all followed them.
Milro heaved a sigh of relief at seeing the engineers breach. They swam for the shore, climbing out. "We unblocked it! Open it up!" Spigot shouted.
With the operator gone, Milro and Sophie headed into the switch house. Sophie gripped the lever and threw her weight backward. "I think it's stuck," Sophie said as it refused to move.
"More like we don't weigh enough to move it." Given the difference in proportions and density, they would be lucky to be a tenth the mass of a Seed Person. "Let me help." Milro joined Sophie in pulling it back.
They pulled and pulled, digging the heels of their pumps into the wood and throwing their weight back with all their might. When they made one combined lurch, the lever flew back all at once. They went tumbling backwards, but the clunks and grinding around them told them the gears of the mechanism were working.
They ran out to see what was happening. The remaining worker ran to them. "The water's coming out! Oh boy is it running out! It's an absolute gusher!"
"But were we in time?" Ophelia asked.
Managing the water level of a reservoir is like any other container for a liquid with an inflow and an outflow. It was like Lee's explanation of evaporation and condensation. If the inflow is greater than the outflow, then more liquid is held by the container. If the outflow is greater than the inflow, then the container empties.
This was a case of a delicate balance. The surface spillways were just not enough to keep up with the inflow. With the submerged spillway open, it hopefully put the outflow just past the inflow. Milro watched the edge of the water.
She then saw something different. Here and there, earth emerged from the water. They spread and connected and formed into the crest of the dam.
Cheers erupted. "We did it!" Lee and Ophelia cheered together.
"Get the workers back up here-dané," Rex said to the worker. "Let the reservoir drain to twenty-five centimeters below the crest-dané."
"I will be done, Your Majesty." The worker ran for edge of the dam laughing in his relief.
The engineers gave each other high fives and laughed. "Like this means a damn!" Axe interrupted the festivities.
He pointed at the reservoir. "We're still getting to much rain, and there are plenty of other places under threat. How about you celebrate when you've actually accomplished anything like stopping the rain."
"Axe," Spigot said, not bothering to face him.
"What?!" Axe snapped.
Spigot swung around, delivering his balled fist straight to Axe's jaw. The blow sent Axe spinning and he fell to the ground, out cold. "Shut up," Spigot forced through his clenched teeth.
"You enjoyed that, did you?" Emily asked.
Spigot glowered at her. "Miss Pearce, how can you suggest I'm capable of something so unprofessional and self-serving?"
Emily just crossed her arms in response.
"Of course I enjoyed it," Spigot stated. "He's been asking for it for the past six years."
Lee looked out at the reservoir. "The question is, how did that rock end up on top of the bell-mouth? It couldn't have rolled up on it."
"You're suggesting sabotage," Tammy said. "But, who would do that?"
"Who could do it?" Emily asked. "They'd have to be able to work underwater for extended periods of time."
"And strong enough to roll it up the mound and into place," Ophelia added.
"Cloud seeding over Sinker Swamp and now sabotage of dam that would flood the capital should it fail," Spigot thought out loud. "As much as I hate to say it, citizens of the Drop Kingdom must be to blame."
"I know you said your peoples don't get along," Nicole said, "but you wouldn't do this, would you?"
"We wouldn't do it," Spigot said, "but we don't represent all of the Drop Kingdom. Sinker Swamp in particular is home to all kinds of radical groups. The only question is who would have the means, motive, and opportunity to pull all this off."
Allan sneered at the group of meddlesome mammals on the opposite side of the reservoir from the cover of the brush. After all that work, a bunch of traffic cones just came in and undid it just as the dam was being overtopped. The mistress was going to be very displeased with this. What were Drop Kingdom engineers doing down here anyway?
Through his binoculars, he watched their insufferable celebration. Something caught his eye. The white stuck out against the earth tones of everything. He zoomed is binoculars in to the flecks of bright color. Next to the Seed Kingdom ruler were what looked like Princess Milro and the oldest princess of the Windmill Kingdom.
Allan had to look again to make sure. It was them, but tiny even compared to the diminutive Seed Person they stood next to. He took a picture and then two extras just to be sure he had recorded it. He then slipped into the woods.
Allan was stealthy as he slithered his way through the cover of the brush. He emerged into the open only to slip into the water covering a flooded field to where only his eyes and his nostrils at the end of his were above the surface. He swam for another cluster of trees hiding his small airship.
The airship sat, well hidden by the trees and brush and further concealed by debris he had covered it. He pushed aside some branches to uncover the onboard computer. He plugged in the binoculars and turned on the system. A directional antenna extended up towards the canopy to get a clear line of sight.
The antenna turned to the general direction of north and broadcast a signal. The signal traveled, headed to a point where the curvature of the Wonder Planet brought a specific location on the surface back up to meet it.
Deep in one of the most remote bayous of Sinker Swamp, a lonely riverboat sat where it had run aground decades ago and sat forgotten by most. Yet, the derelict was active. Airboats docked around it and lights came from the windows. No longer a working mode of transportation, it was the main base of operations for the Green Cypress Militia. The transmission was for them as an antenna attached to one of the exhaust stacks received it.
Geronita lounged on the chair she had fashioned as a throne as the headquarters was spruced up after another criminally long winter of dormancy. However, what she was waiting for the most was a signal from the computer terminal. Beau, a fellow Bullfrog, turned from the computer station to her as a button flashed and beeped.
"Our scout in the Seed Kingdom is checking in, Mistress Geronita" Beau reported.
"I know that!" Geronita snapped. "Put him through!"
Beau turned to the computer terminal and hit the flashing button. The green silhouette of a Spanish moss–covered cypress tree that served as the militia's insignia disappeared for the image of Allan. The Gator was cloaked in camouflage tactical gear as he stared forward.
Allan made the Green Cypress Salute. "Mistress Geronita, I have a report."
"Did you plug the spillway?" Geronita sauntered to the computer terminal, giddy to hear the news.
"I did, Mistress," Allan reported, but seemed tepid for some reason. "However—"
"'However?'" Geronita stopped, and that giddiness left immediately to be replaced by seething rage. "I don't want to hear 'however.' All I want to hear is the dam was overtopped and Hickory Town is the Wonder Planet's newest lake!"
"The dam was overtopped, but there were these C.G.S. engineers who went down and unplugged it before there was any damage." Allan paused. "My mistress."
"The Cloud Generation Service?!" Geronita fumed. She swung her fist, almost hitting Beau if he had not dodged. "I can't even scheme in other kingdoms without those busybody Beavers and their genetically engineered pets interfering!"
She stomped back to her throne. "We've been doing this for more than a week and one levee breach is all we have to show for it. Well, I'm done trying to make this look like an accident." She spun around to Allan on the screen. "You have underwater demolition charges, don't you?"
"Of course, Mistress," Allan answered.
"Once you can slip into the reservoir undetected," Geronita instructed, "plant all of them along the length of the dam. Then, wait until dark to BLOW IT TO RUBBLE!" she roared the last few words.
That giddy feeling returned. She settled onto her throne. "This might work out even better. A flood at night would be more likely to catch 'em all off guard and maximize casualties. We might even get those flee-bitten vermin in the process."
She just felt the need to let it out. "Once we've flooded out those half-pint hayseeds, we can move in and combine Sinker Swamp with the Seed Kingdom to form our own Herp nation!"
"Pay up," someone whispered, but Geronita about just make out. "That's the hundredth time the boss has explained the master plan."
She glowered at the group as a Bullfrog handed a Gator a wad of cash. Prop bets aside, she was proud of herself for this plan. "The best part is we'll do it all while smearing egg all over Yamul's face."
She stood up and went to a picture of Yamul riddled with holes from darts including the two currently sticking out of it. "Ah, my adversary," Geronita said to the thoroughly vandalized portrait. "You dared criticize the perfection that is my singing, and when I didn't cave to the ludicrous demands of those tone deaf placentals, you cancelled me to the most remote region of Sinker Swamp." Sure, she made personal threats against Yamul and her family, but why get caught up in the needless details?
She allowed herself an indulgent cackle. "Well, you've only made me stronger." She looked at the followers in this room and there were more throughout the boat and beyond to all corners of the swamp. "I have more power and followers down here than ever, and set them back on course to our manifest destiny. I'll have my own kingdom with control over the Wonder Planet's plant life to boot, while you take all the blame." That cackle returned as rolling laughter.
"But, doesn't this seem rather excessive?" as voice asked.
Geronita stopped laughing and flinched at this and looked at the Herps gathered in the room. Everyone backed away from a Gator in a black polo shirt. He was a newcomer: someone she had not learned the name of yet. "I mean, you're doing all this because the queen criticized your singing? And the people of the Seed Kingdom had nothing to do with this, but are bearing the brunt of your plan. I'm just saying it can make you come off as unsympathetic."
Alec took the storm shutter from the window on the lower deck as Buck started to unscrew the other side. The loud crack of a of a chemgun going off from above made them flinch. Before they could turn to see, a mass felt into the water with a loud splash.
Geronita loved chemguns like the reproduction Colt revolver in her hand. Sure, they were pretty much useless in amphibious combat, but they were so satisfying when it was time to remove an irritation. The sharp sound and recoil of the propellant exploding in the chamber to send the slug forward. It gave a sense of visceral power gauss weapons could never convey with their magnetic drivers even if the exit velocity was less. There was also that gentle stream of smoke of that wafted from the end of the barrel she blew away.
She turned to all the eyes on her. "Anyone else have questions?" she asked casually.
Everyone shook their heads in unison.
"Good," she said. She slid the gun into its holster on her waist.
She returned to the computer terminal with Allan still on the screen. "Do you have anything else to report?"
Allan swallowed. "I do you, Mistress." He pressed a button and his image was replaced with a picture of Milro and the oldest Windmill Kingdom princess standing next to the Seed Kingdom king. "These two were with the engineers."
Geronita took a few seconds to process what she was looking at. However, once it sunk in, she could only smile. "Well, well, well, the rodent's shrinking violet of a daughter is no bigger than a Seed Person." Her smile only grew. "How poetic."
"The oldest princess of the Windmill Kingdom too," Beau said. "How did that happen?"
"Who cares?" Geronita declared. She walked away, allowing herself a smug grin. "The suffering of the rodent and her spawn is true ambrosia. Let's just relish it."
She sat down in thrown. Her mind started turning over ideas with this new information. "And the more important question is, how can we exploit it?"
Geronita pondered out loud, "They're so small, so vulnerable, and only protected by a handful of traffic cones." She stopped as a thought came to her. "Why waste time trying to take a few rinky-dink river valleys when we can go for the whole enchilada?"
"Why would you trade the Seed Kingdom for an enchilada?" a Bullfrog asked.
"I'm talking about the Wonder Planet, you dolt!" Geronita bellowed, making her followers rightfully cower. "Since the Peninsula War, our people have had plans to take control of the cloud towers and windmills to set the climate to suit our needs.
"We would end winter and dry spells and turn the whole continent into a subtropical wetland perfect for Herp domination," she declared. "We would rule, and mammals would return to their proper place in the evolutionary scheme of things: under our heel!" She slammed down her webbed foot.
"But, the Cloud Generation Service would never stand for it," Beau said. "They'd fight us to the last."
"Not if the rodent tells them to stand down," Geronita said through a devilish grin, "in exchange for, say…the safe return of her daughter. Throw in the Windmill Kingdom princess, and we'll control the Wonder Planet's weather."
Though, she still had her original plans to execute just in case. She turned to Ben. "Our biker beneficiaries in the Jewelry Kingdom should have had enough time to evade the authorities. Arrange our little trade and head to the prairie. I want the rest of my silver."
The Bullfrog saluted. "I'll get right on it, Mistress."
She turned to Allan on the screen. There were some changes to be made. "Forget blowing the dam. I have a new mission for you."
"What is your command, Mistress?" Allan asked.
"Keep an eye on those two reduced royals," Geronita instructed. "I want to know at what points they're the most vulnerable."
"It will be done, Mistress," Allan said. "Shall I try to capture them?"
"No," Geronita said. "I'll be down there at first light tomorrow to have the honor myself."
Allan saluted. "As you command, Mistress." He pushed a button and his image disappeared.
The fabrics Drop Kingdom engineer uniforms were made of materials and weaves to be breathable while not able to get soaked. Sweat would be wicked away, but not dwell in the fabric. Similarly, rain would just run off. Even after being submerged, the water would leave the fabric quickly…but not immediately.
With the rain still coming down, they set up a clothes line through the length of the Hurricane's cabin for the uniforms to drip dry. Heat lamps would help by evaporating the material along with warming them up and drying their underwear.
Tammy took her corset off the line and felt all the areas that took the longest to dry. Everything felt dry and warm. She loosened the laces and wrapped it around her middle over her camisole and under her breasts to button it up. Like many Beaver woman, Tammy's breasts were…sizeable. As she buttoned the last button and tightened her laces, it felt so good for the boning to take on their weight while holding her spine straight. Using the old rule of thumb, she pulled the laces to where the corset was comfortably snug at a deep inhale. She tied the laces into a bow.
"To think, there was a time when corsets were maligned as torture devices," Tammy said. How could such a supportive and comfortable garment gain such an infamous reputation?
"It's because a fad of overtightening them to reduce the waistline was misreported as the proper way to wear them." Ophelia had recently placed hers on. "And they were most ridiculed when women wore things called bras that supported your boobs by putting a metal wire under them and held them up with narrow straps over your shoulders."
Tammy massaged her shoulder at the thought of it. "I don't know where that would hurt more: the boobs or the shoulders."
Otto came out from behind Tammy's dress and petticoat. The Windmill Kingdom uniforms were just as rain resistant, so they were still fully dressed. He looked to Tammy and then Ophelia.
"You're just going to sit around in your underwear in mixed company?" he asked.
Ophelia sat down in a chair. "Yeah. So are the guys."
As if on cue, Lee walked past with his clothes in her arms while only wearing a crewneck t-shirt with the symbology for the different cloud types and a pair of light blue boxers with a cloud pattern. Why would Tammy expect any different. "Excuse me," he said as approached Otto.
Otto stepped aside for Lee to make his way to the front of the plane. He had more skin showing that the girls in their ankle-length bloomers and camisoles.
Tammy stood up and checked her petticoat. The petticoat of a worker's uniform fit the more class definition of the term. It was a full dress in its own right rather than just a skirt. It was white in the case of the Drop Kingdom and Windmill Kingdom as well as the Flame Kingdom and Seed Kingdom (the Sunny Kingdom's was orange and the Moon Kingdom's was black if Tammy remembered correctly) and made of soft and lightweight fabric to be a layer between you and the main dress as well as hide the lines created by a corset. Lacy trim bordered the collar, hem, and gathered cuffs of the long and rather poofy sleeves.
Tammy's was different. Instead of reaching the wrists, her sleeves ended just above her elbows so they would remain hidden when she rolled the sleeves of her primary dress up. The lace trim was also more open.
"How did you get the custom petticoat?" Ophelia asked.
"I actually modified them myself," Tammy answered. "I cut the original sleeves short and sewed on the new trim." She pulled it on over her head and put her arms through the sleeves.
"It's pretty." Ophelia took her more traditionally structured petticoat off the line. She put it on over her head and let it drape over her as she put her arms through the long sleeves.
"If there is silver in the rain," Tammy said, zipping up the front of her petticoat, "shouldn't you be worried about breathing it? I know it can mess with many species of fish."
Ophelia zipped up her petticoat. "There's so little of it, it's not an issue." She looked towards the front of the plane. "What's the math, Lee?"
"Assuming the one hundred million cubic meters of water volume," Lee said, "even if all of the seventy-five kilograms had been used in cloud seeding—"
"I'd be surprised if tenth of it has been used so far," Spigot said, making Lee look back.
"—and all of it somehow ended up in that reservoir, and all of it has dissolved—"
"Silver iodide is highly insoluble," Alex added, "so that would be quite a feat."
"—mol to mol, there would still be less than one part per ten billion of silver in the water," Lee finished his thought.
Ophelia turned to Tammy and gave a shrug. "And Tritons have a silver tolerance of a several thousand times that. At worst, it might've had a minimal effect on our breathing. And, if we absorbed any, it will just go into our hair follicles and make them imperceptibly bluer for a little bit at worst."
"Only a few kilograms have done all this," Tammy mused as she looked out at the rain. "It's hard to believe."
Otto walked back into the galley. He turned to something and picked it up—a picture frame. "Who are these people?"
Spigot walked in dressed in everything but his jacket and hat. Otto showed him the picture, bending down as Spigot could take the picture. "These are my original crew."
Spigot showed them. The others, having put on their petticoats and pants, gathered. The group was three half-Beavers, three greater Beavers, and five lesser Beavers standing in front of the Hurricane.
One of the greater Beavers was Chantal, Tammy's boss with her name written next to her. The other female greater Beaver had "Tanya" written next to her. The male Greater Beaver, Humberto, was kissing Erin, their shift chief, as she wore a bridal veil in place of her bandanna and held a bouquet. The two other half-Beavers were male: Pablo and Barry. Spigot was the center lesser Beavers, though his signature stated his name as "Jerry." Allison and Iris were on either side of him and Félix and Dean were on the outside. All the other women had small bouquets to serve as bridesmaids while the men other than Spigot had corsages on their jackets.
Spigot turned the frame back to look at it. "This was taken just after the Blessing of the Sun was restored. Humberto proposed to Erin when it looked like the end of the world, and she said yes. Chantal had this planned. She had the veil, bouquets, and corsages ready. I got certification as an ordained minister. As everything seemed lost and the Blessing of the Sun would go out for good, we conducted the wedding." He smiled. "As clichéd as it sounds, just as I got to the part about objections, the gloom parted and the Blessing of the Sun shined down with its full brilliance. We took at as a 'no' and we took this picture as Humberto kissed the bride."
Spigot walked down the length of the cabin, looking at it. Since this began, there was a new look in his eyes. Was it nostalgia? He stopped at the large bank between the science stations and the navigator and flight engineer stations. "This plane was my masterpiece. I mean literally, it and Operation Rainmaker were what earned me my master certification."
"Weren't you already a shift chief?" Franklin asked.
"Yes, but I was a silver star," Spigot said, referring to how engineers without a master certification had silver rank insignia, when worn, while those who did were gold. "I needed the certification for promotion." He heaved a sigh. "I thought I would get a tower, but Marilyn announced her retirement once it was all over and gave me the entire Cloud Generation Service as her successor." He held up the frame and smiled. "I got that news after we returned home from this."
He stared at the frame. "What happened to me? Why am I not the man who administered a wedding for two of my friends and colleagues at the end of the world."
The response was beeping from one of Franklin's computer bags. Everyone turned to it as Franklin pulled out a laptop and opened it. "Sorry, I had an alarm when one of the users I suspect is involved in the silver thefts is online."
He took his glasses off and apart and watched the screen. "It looks like they're arranging their trade."
"Can you tell who they're dealing with?" Emily asked.
"I don't recognize them," Franklin sighed, "but they seem to be in a hurry. They want to meet in a few hours. The location is…" He pulled up something else and scrolled through it, checking between it and the chat. "The Abominable Snowman: a bar just on our side of the Prime Meridian."
"If we can intercept them," Spigot thought out loud, "we can find out who the silver is for and therefore who is seeding the clouds."
"You're not suggesting we go," Bret said.
"We should leave this to ARM," Franklin added.
"If that silver is being used for cloud seeding, it's become a Cloud Generation Service issue," Spigot stated. "Get dressed. We're headed to the Meridian Prairie."
"Where did this boldness come from?" Emily asked.
"Same place as officiating a wedding at the end of the world," Spigot answered.
Nicole watched as the propellers started to spin on the Hurricane. A part of her wanted to go, but understood why she and the princesses would be left behind.
"Please be careful," she said to the others who had gathered to say goodbye.
"We're just going to get between two criminal gangs in the midst of an exchange of illegal goods," Emily said, forcing a smile. "What could go wrong?"
"Have fun?" Sophie waved while Milro just stood there, concerned.
Spigot poked his head out of the door. "Get on board! We're wasting time here!"
The group turned and boarded the plane. Nicole waved especially to Lee as he disappeared inside. The ladder folded and lifted up into the plane before the door closed.
"You'll be safe here," Ichele said.
"What about the saboteur?" Quarry asked. "What if they're still around?"
"If they are, they'll feel the full wrath of the Seed Kingdom-dané!" Rex declared from his dogerpillar. He turned to the battalion of Seed People soldiers arranged in a 30x30 square. "Ready-dané?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" they declared in unison.
Geronita pressed the flashing and beeping button on the computer monitor for Allan's image to appear. "What is it?"
"Forget about waiting for first light," Allan said. "You need to get down here now."
"What for?" Geronita asked.
"First, they know I'm in the kingdom and are searching for me," Allan answered. "Also, the engineers left but without the princesses. The only one guarding them is a half-Doggle female."
Geronita grinned at this news. "I'll be down presently."
She smacked the button and turned to Alfred and Albert. "Prepare my airship," she instructed the two Gators. "We leave now!"
The two saluted. "At once, Mistress." They scrambled out of the room.
Geronita sauntered out onto the balcony and rested her hands on the railing to stare out at the bayou. The lake was one of thousands throughout Sinker Swamp. Lilly pads dotted its still waters and white cypress grew around its boundaries. It was much like the swamps their ancestors called home on Old Earth and just as limited in area.
For generations, Herps had been relegated to this swamp by the unnaturally frigid climate the mammals insisted on. Their ambitions to assume their rightful place as the superior form of life had been tamped down, told to accept equality with those wasteful beasts and that other races with "specialized physiology" have their niches and regions where they are best suited as well.
Specialized physiology my eye, she thought. Ectothermic life was the rigor for eons. Their old homeworld was tropical for most of its geologic history. It was more efficient, needing a fraction of the energy as those making their own body heat. The recent climate was a fluke like mammals becoming anything more that vermin scurrying through the brush. Things had been finally returning to their proper norms, and those endotherms screamed it was sapient-caused climate change because they were dumping more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They insisted it was something that needed to be stopped and not destiny.
They then came to the Wonder Planet. The fact the mammals expected to create their own new world was of little concern. The Herps would establish the proper order like it should have been. Then the mammals used their usual dirty tricks and political maneuvering to make the world their freezing paradise where only this swamp suited the Herps' needs. Even then, they spent almost half the year in torpor. It disgusted Geronita how so many of her fellow Bullfrogs and Gators had accepted this as the way things should be. They had no pride in their cold-blooded heritage.
It was people like her who kept the flame of Herp dominance burning. Their ancestors did not travel eleven light-years in cryogenic suspension just for them to accept another icy world. They deserved their descendants to seize their manifest destiny. Now, after half a millennium, fate had dropped the perfect opportunity into her lap. By playing her cards right, a beautiful sight like this would be the norm.
"After centuries, you've given me what every real Herp has prayed for, little princesses," Geronita said with a chuckle. "I'll have to thank you when we meet face to face."