The Prime Meridian ran through roughly the middle of the continent. It represented the line the dead center of the Blessing of the Sun crossed at the moment when clocks struck noon in the Sunny Kingdom. Zulu time—the time zone centered on it—was also known as Sunny Mean Time or S.M.T.
Meridian was the common name for landforms on and near the line. There were the Meridian Mountains that separated the Seed Kingdom and the Windmill Kingdom. South of that was the Meridian River that separated the Flame Kingdom from the Seed Kingdom and most of the Moon Kingdom, though it jogged significantly to the east before reaching the ocean and the Moon Kingdom claimed Mount Numeral despite it being to the west of the river.
Then there was the Meridian Prairie between the Drop Kingdom and the Jewelry Kingdom. Unlike the others, it did not mark a natural boundary, just being open plains stretching into both of them. A ramshackle and poorly maintained wall built by the Jewelry Kingdom served as the only physical divide between the kingdoms.
The prairie itself was more notable for what lay beneath its grasslands. A massive deposit of platinum and palladium sat almost entirely on the Drop Kingdom side towards the north and equally rich deposits of rare earth metals were in the south that extended into the Windmill Kingdom's highlands.
Mines snaked below the ground to extract these vital minerals. The only evidence of their existence was the multiple access points to the surface and the cluster of buildings around them.
It was through this landscape the engineers drove down a mostly deserted road in their rented van. Looking out of the window, Otto felt like this was the "loneliest" place this trip had taken them—even more so than the deserts.
Perhaps it was just how featureless it was. It was a sea of grass and about as flat as the world could get. The light bending was apparent as there was no other reason for there to be a horizon. The buildings that did appear were also little more than boxes to serve as enclosures away from the elements. The roads were desolate, only the occasional truck or car sharing the strips of pavement with them. Even New Saskatoon, the city they had landed in, felt small and isolated compared to the plains that surrounded it despite having a population greater than that of the entire Sunny Kingdom.
"I've been in your Snow Mountain Province twice in as many days," Otto said. "And I've yet to be on a mountain or seen much snow."
"Don't say that in front of the locals here," Spigot said. "There's a fringe movement for the Meridian Prairie to break off and form their own province."
Otto had been informed of the tumultuous politics of the Drop Kingdom. Things like breaking up counties, much less duchies—which were the equivalents of the Drop Kingdom's provinces—would be unheard of in the Windmill Kingdom. Democracy at its finest, he thought.
They eventually reached their destination: the Abominable Snowman. It was a box of a building like everything else out here, but with the front wall being made of mostly large windows. They pulled into the patch of gravel in front of it that served as a parking lot.
Otto surveyed the area as he got out of their vehicle. Outside of the bar, the landscape was even more featureless. The road had been five lanes, a main thoroughfare even if barely traveled. That sorry wall was in the distance, a few kilometers to the west of them. Otherwise, it was grass as far as the eye was allowed to see.
The building itself was a flat-roofed establishment. Its name was stated with a lit sign as well as an image of a snowman that had the coals of its mouth lopsided in a smirk and twigs diagonal over its coal eyes to complete the effect. It held a mug of foaming beer with one stick arm while holding up there other—the stick having nubs on either side of the main branch pointed straight up like it was giving the middle finger.
"Charming," Otto said.
Lee held up his weather sensor, letting it warble until it chimed. "Temperature twenty-three degrees Celsius even, humidity fifty-two percent, pressure one thousand four point seven hectopascals, and the winds are out of the southwest at eleven point nine kilometers per hour." He took out his notepad to write down.
"Does he have to do that literally every time?" Otto asked.
"It's his thing and it's not like it's hurting anyone," Ophelia said.
"Did we beat 'em?" Tammy asked.
"Hog Hell's already here." Franklin pointed to the window.
There were several motorcycles lined up in front of the building. There was also a black flag hanging inside to be seen out the window. It featured the white, pig-like face of a Bubu glowering with black, empty eyes and its nostrils were fashioned as Gothic H's. Wrenches were crossed behind it between the arms of a Maltese cross stating "HOG" and "HELL" above and below and "MOTORCYCLE" and "CLUB" on the sides.
"Let's head in and get settled before their trading partners arrive," Spigot said.
Their entering was announced by a bell clattering as the door triggered its mechanism. The interior was decorated to elicit the feeling of "Americana," the supposed style of the region of Old Earth most peoples of the Drop Kingdom were descended from. It was supposedly a vast country that stretched the width of the continent: diverse in its terrain, rich in its resources, extreme in its weather, and turbulent in its politics. In other words: the exact same thing they created the Drop Kingdom to be here and now.
Pictures of roads through remote and varied terrain filled the walls along with signs, hubcaps, and other road and vehicle-related paraphernalia. Perhaps the most on the nose fixture was a 54-star, Tricentennial United States flag ("1776 – 2076" sewn on the onto the center, red stripe was the clue to it being specific to that anniversary) serving as a curtain separating behind the bar from what was likely the kitchen. It was probably a reproduction because an almost seven-hundred-year-old relic would not be treated as such, especially if it was still in that good condition.
Aside from the décor, the area furthest from the door was occupied by pool tables under rectangular lamps. Just inside the door was the bar with stools lined up along it and shelves of various spirits along with a purple sign stating "NEW PROVINCE NOW" in reference to that silly political movement the master chief had mentioned earlier. Next to the door was a bulletin board crowded with fliers with public information or advertising services or items for sale. The long walls had booths along with, some of them wrapping around the table for more room. The remaining space was taken up by round tables with chairs around them.
The inhabitants seemed to be evenly split between peoples of the Drop Kingdom and Jewelry Kingdom—assuming the cosmopolitan Humans were evenly divided. Munjara were giant balls of white fuzz with only their face, hands and feet, coming out of their thick coats: surprisingly, they were apes like Humans and their offshoots. Kawakawa were otter-like people while Riri were descended from arboreal squirrel lineage with the long, bushy tales. There were also several Pokopo, a raccoon-like race from the Jewelry Kingdom.
However, what was most pertinent to them was the group of a half dozen swine-like Bubu sitting at a table. They wore leather or denim jackets bearing the same emblem as the flag. The notable exception was the largest of them who was topless to show off his massive and well-defined muscles. All six wore blank helmets with spikes on top in imitation of helmets commonly worn by the Windmill Kingdom military. They gave the engineers a glance, but quickly turned their concentration on each other.
"I'm surprised they got away with calling this the 'Abominable Snowman'," Bret said. "I would think it would be considered offensive to—"
The flag curtain flew back for a Munjara wearing a red headkerchief to walk out behind the bar. "How can I help you?"
"I swear to God, Bret. Can you ever open your mouth without immediately shoving your foot in it?" Ophelia asked Bret.
The Munjara glanced nervously to the Bubu before making eye contact with the engineers again. "What brings C.G.S. engineers all the way out here?"
"We're just showing some colleagues from the Windmill Kingdom the ropes of storm chasing," Ophelia said. "We stopped in for a bite to eat before we head back to New Saskatoon."
"Ah, storm chasers." The Munjara clapped his pudgy hands together. He made another glance to the Bubu. "Afraid there's not many storms to chase this year. Last year though…" He whistled.
He turned a Munjara seated at a table. "Get them in a big booth and set them up with some menus. I suspect they will want prompt service."
"Sure thing, A.B.," the female said. She stood up and motioned to one of those wrap-around booths. "You can sit right here, ladies and gentlemen."
They sat around the table. Tammy was on one end as Otto took the other.
"Can I get you anything to start?" the waitress asked.
"Just a round of club sodas and a bowl of pretzels, thank you," Spigot said.
"You got it." The waitress left them.
Otto glanced to the Bubu who were giving them an occasional look despite acting like they had not taken any notice. A large carpetbag sat under their table.
Tammy looked back and then faced forward. "I figure that carpetbag is big enough to hold twenty-five kilos of ill-gotten silver."
Otto surveyed the few dozen people throughout the bar. There were an awful lot from the Jewelry Kingdom. "You sure we didn't cross the meridian?"
Franklin looked back and then sat back down. "This is a gap bar."
"Gap bar?" Bonnie asked.
"The wall separating our kingdoms hasn't been properly maintained for more than a century," Franklin explained. "There are gaps where its collapsed or tunnels dug under it for people of the Jewelry Kingdom to sneak onto our side and back without detection."
"And your kingdom just tolerates this?" Otto asked.
"The federal authorities have what they call the "Five Kilometer Rule", as long they stay within five kilometers of the border and don't do anything violent, they're left alone." Franklin looked around them. "Bars like this popped up near the gaps to take advantage of the business. They've been dens for smugglers getting contraband like firearms, alcohol, and cannabis into the Jewelry Kingdom."
He motioned to how A.B. drumming his hands on the bar, his eyes shifting from them to the Bubu to the door. "The bar owner gets a slice of the take for facilitating the trades, but is essentially at the mercy of the smugglers. Old A.B. looks like a snowball in a microwave because us being here could disrupt the deal."
"Again, your kingdom just tolerates people openly breaking the law?" Otto asked. He had heard the Drop Kingdom valued individual freedom, but he thought there was some respect for the law.
Spigot shushed him as the waitress returned. She placed a bowl of small pretzels in the center of the table and a glass of clear soda with two ice cubes in front of each of them. "Know what you're eating?"
Spigot picked the menu. "We're still discussing our options."
"Well, let me know when you're ready," the waitress said before leaving. A.B. was visibly irritated when she came back with them not ordering.
"Smuggling is very rare," Spigot said once the waitress was away. "Mostly, people come to places like this to get drunk and/or high legally and slip back across without having to deal with the border check. Also, Snow Mountain Province has a libertarian streak, especially on the prairie. Sitting on bars like this where ninety-nine percent of the activity is perfectly legal would be frowned upon by the locals."
Why should the locals have a say on upholding the law? Otto thought.
"How do you know so much about gap bars?" Emily asked Franklin. "I thought you grew up in Las Cabeceras."
"I did but—" Franklin started to say, but was interrupted by the bell on the door.
They turned to see a half dozen figures entering the bar. Two were Bullfrogs, an amphibian race with smooth, lime green skin except their pale-yellow lower jaws and fronts and standing at roughly the same height as a greater Beaver but were not nearly as robust in their build. The other four were Gators—archosaurs like the Bird People but radically different from the avian residents of the Great Forest Duchy. The crocodilian race was characterized by a long, blunt snout protruding about twenty to thirty centimeters from their head with their sharp teeth exposed over their lips. They were also far more physically impressive than their amphibian companions: their height approaching two meters and their limbs, trunk, and tail all thick with muscle under their dark green, scaly hides.
Their attire could almost be described as tactical gear. It was black and a very dark olive green in color with bulging pockets and insignia of a green tree or a flag made of five alternating horizontal green and black stripes with seven white stars each in the two black stripes.
They gathered at the bar where A.B.'s face was almost as pale as his coat.
The Drop Kingdom engineers stared at the newcomers with what Otto could only describe as horror. In fact, nothing had gotten this kind of reaction from them since he met them. "Oh my God," Emily exhaled. "They're G.C.'s." They all ducked down.
"What are they doing all the way out here and so early?" Lee asked. "It's barely spring."
"G.C.'s?" Alex asked.
"The Green Cypress Militia," Ophelia said in a hushed voice. "Officially, they're a shooting club in Sinker Swamp. However, they're actually an anti-government militia led by a washed-up entertainer."
"That sounds ridiculous," Bonnie said.
The Drop Kingdom engineers looked to the group of Herps—as the combination of the two races called themselves. They gave them a glance, but seemed more interested in the Bubu who were also looking to them.
"Don't tell me they're the trading partners," Lee whispered.
"I'm actually not surprised," Emily said. "Using cloud seeding to flood the Seed Kingdom is the kind of crackpot idea Mean, Green, and Not So Lean would come up with."
Otto felt the tension build between the three groups. The bikers and these "militiamen" probably intended to conduct their business with no one being the wiser. The other patrons seemed to be actively ignoring them. Yet, they were there, and that created a complication for the parties.
The engineers came straight here after landing, not knowing if they had time. Perhaps they should have disguised themselves. Though, ten unfamiliar people from the Drop Kingdom and Windmill Kingdom would still be suspicious. Regardless, it was too late for that now.
The stalemate was broken by one of the Gators saying to A.B., "You should call pest control," in a heavy drawl. "You've picked up a rodent problem."
Tammy sneered and started to stand. Spigot grabbed her arm, and she sat down.
The Gator turned to them, his mouth forming into a toothy grin. "I didn't think I'd have the chance to congratulate you traffic cones on the bang-up job you're doing with cloud making as of late. You've reached a whole new level of suck."
Chuckles came from the other Herps and the Jewelry Kingdom patrons including the bikers. The Drop Kingdom engineers just looked down except Tammy who leered at the Gator as he came to stand in front of their table.
"We should've expected this would eventually happen when we left making clouds to a bunch of vermin, mutants, and half-breeds." He scanned the table from Tammy, Spigot, Franklin, and Emily to Ophelia and Lee to Bret as he slurred them.
He glanced to Otto. "And we can't forget your canine buddies making wind in the Windmill Kingdom." He swatted Otto's hat from his head, making him have to catch it.
Otto straightened his hat and glared at the Gator who only smirked at him. "Now everyone knows how bad you are at maintaining even the miserable climate you force on us. They should hand it over to a naturally superior form of life to create a proper weather pattern."
Tammy bolted up, not dissuaded by Spigot this time. She glowered at the Gator, but then smirked. "My dad told me there's two ways to know you're dealing with poor green trash."
She flared her nostrils and scrunched her muzzle. "First is the smell." The Herps did have the smell of body odor and decaying plant matter. "However, even more nauseating is the misplaced sense of superiority," Tammy continued.
The Gator's smirk sank into a sneer, his lips rippling and exposing his teeth further as he released a hiss. "You're off the reservation, Sweetheart," he growled. "You looking like the queen doesn't mean a damn down here."
"You're one to talk?" Tammy retorted. "What're you doing this far out of the swamp at the start of April? Couldn't find enough election workers to terrorize?" She did not let him answer. "Do you know why I look like the queen? It's because my people worked our tails off getting this country and its equipment working while scaleheads like you lost yet another war you forced on everyone and now sit in the mud and kvetch about how you ain't on top by default anymore."
The Gator was seething. He clenched his scaly, slightly webbed hands into large fists. "Why you uppity—" he swung at Tammy. She ducked his hook and delivered her fist straight into his celiac plexus.
The Gator doubled over from the blow and wheezed as the wind was knocked out of him, holding his middle and gasping for a breath. Tammy picked him up, lifting him over her head and throwing him in the direction of the Bubu. He landed on their table, breaking it in half.
The Bubu jumped to their feet, tossing their chairs aside. The pearls in their navels turned a bright red. Otto jumped to his feet. He cracked his knuckles as the swine-like bikers charged at them, one of them knocking a Human aside on their way.
Otto easily evaded the clumsy punch one lobbed at him and delivered the base of his open palm at the nerve bundle in his shoulder. It was not a direct strike, but enough shock the Bubu grabbed his arm and crumpled from the blow. He retreated and held his arm that Otto had rendered momentarily numb. Otto ducked back as a bottle flew in his direction.
Alex took to the air and sought refuge on one of the lamps over a pool table. The bar descended into chaos as the Drop Kingdom and Jewelry Kingdom patrons began throwing punches, bottles, chairs, and even a table. He was not going to sucked into the middle of that.
"It should be safe up here," Alex said.
Bonnie landed next to him, holding her skirt to carry a set of billiard balls. She let them roll onto the roof of the lamp.
"What's with those?" Alex asked.
Bonnie picked up the 12 ball and looked over the edge. A Bubu grabbed the edge of the lamp, tilting it down to try to get at them. Alex grabbed the opposite end as the lamp was practically sideways. Bonnie threw the ball at him, striking him between the eyes. The Bubu fell backward, out cold.
Alex fell into the lamp as it swayed from being released. Bonnie picked up another ball and watched over the edge. "I'm not taking any chances."
Bret dodged a Bullfrog coming at him, pushing him in the butt with his foot on the way out. "I'll take any of you."
He turned to be staring at the pierced nipple of the largest Bubu. He looked up at the massive hog, a mountain of muscle. A tattoo of sausage links rounded his upper arm. He looked down at Bret, grinning with his tusks protruding from his lower jaw.
The Bubu picked Bret clear off the ground and threw him behind the bar. Bret struck the shelves back first, grunting at the pain shooting through his body from the impact. He landed on the ground and several bottles of various liquor shattered on top of him. He groaned as he ached and reeked of the booze.
Otto held up his arm as a Bubu lashed at him with a chain. He grimaced as it wrapped around his arm. The Bubu pulled it tight and dragged Otto towards him as he was more massive. Yet, all he succeeded in doing was bringing Otto in range to smash his fist into his snout.
The Bubu grabbed his face, giving the opening to attack low. Otto swept his leg to take the Bubu's legs out from under him. He landed on the ground, still preoccupied with his face.
Otto wrapped the rest of the chain around his arm. Gator came for him, mouth with all those teeth wide open. He held up his arm and its new layer of metal armor for him to bite on. The metal took the bite, preventing the pressure from reaching his bone. Gator backed away, holding his jaw from bring it down on the metal. Otto slammed his foot on the Gator's knee, sending him collapsing to the ground.
Lee did not like getting hurt, it was painful. Thus, his strategy towards a fight to avoid fighting. He focused on avoiding all the punches and kicks everyone seemed to be throwing in every direction to make contact with anything as well by things flying around him. Being able to sense electric signals helped in that regard as he could track who was where and even guess people's moves by how their nerves fired.
He found himself facing one of the Gators who had his focus on him. The massive reptile lunged at him with its jaws open, clamping them down on the space Lee occupied before dodging.
He grabbed the Gator's snout, holding his closed. The Gator struggled, trying to open it, but was powerless against Lee's just moderate grip. "What do you know?" Lee said. "It works."
The Gator smacked Lee's arms away. Reaching into his pocket, he slipped a set of brass knuckles on. Light glinted from them. Lee backed up as the Gator approached them, knowing those things were really going to hurt.
He backed into the bar and his hands went into something cold and wet. It was a bucket filled with ice. It gave him an idea. He grabbed the bucket and slammed it mouth first on the Gator's head. Water and ice fell over his head and shoulders.
Stunned from the cold and blinded by the bucket over his eyes, the Gator staggered back. He tumbled onto a table, collapsing it.
Tammy winced as the Bubu landed a punch into her side, but he hit her squarely on one of the bones of her corset. A dull pain shot through her torso, but her adversary got the worst of it. He pulled his hand away, grimacing at his middle knuckle split open. "God, what are you wearing under there?"
"It's a boned corset, loser." She grabbed him by the shoulder and delivered her foot straight to his crotch. The Bubu moaned in a voice a full octave higher than it was originally as he collapsed on the ground.
"Good old corset," she muttered to herself. "You hold up my boobs and protect me from my enemies."
She smacked herself only for it and the other blows she had take to tinge. "Mostly."
Someone backed into her. She swung around, ready to launch her fist into them, to face Lee in a defensive stance. The two were suddenly grabbed.
The giant Bubu pulled Lee and Tammy to him, his massive hands having a tight grip on their uniforms. Ophelia scanned his electric field for that point that served as a junction to the rest of his body. Finding it at the base of his neck, she reached up to pinch there and disrupt it. He dropped them, and collapsed on the ground.
"You've got to show me how to do that," Tammy said.
"Grow a set of ampullae of Lorenzini and we'll talk," Ophelia said.
She detected a Bullfrog coming up behind her. She threw her fist back and sucker punched him right in the face. He collapsed and dropped the bottle in his hand.
"Now you're just showing off," Tammy scolded playfully.
Spigot noticed one of the Bubu grab the carpetbag and weave through the fight towards the door. He almost did not notice the Pokopo coming at him with a pool cue. He turned and grabbed the cue as the raccoon-like man tried to bring it down on him and punched him square in the face, sending him falling back.
Spigot used the pool cue to point to the escaping Bubu. "Greene, Jäger."
Bret poked his head up from behind the bar. He jumped over it as Otto ran for the door.
"Make a hole!" Bret shouted.
A Gator and a Munjara separated to provide a path for the two engineers to run for the door as the Bubu left. The two combatants then charged into each other again, the Gator knocking the Munjara over.
Bret pushed the door open and ran to see the Bubu swinging his leg over a bike down the line. "He's getting away!"
Otto pushed the nearest bike with his foot. The bike fell into the next bike and created a domino effect into the Bubu. He squealed as he was pinned.
"I think assaulting federal agents is probable cause," Bret said.
Otto took out gloves as he approached the Bubu. "You trying to crush my legs, you son of a bitch?!" the Bubu yelled at him.
Bret slipped gloves on as he turned to the truck with large Green Cypress and "Stars and Parallel Bars" flags, making clear it was the Herp's vehicle. There was a stack of long, narrow crates under a tarp. He could guess what they contained before he pried one open.
"What were they trading for?" Otto asked.
Bret pulled a long rifle with a thick barrel that exposed the cellular housings for the magnetic coils in sections. "Gauss rifles." He checked for the serial number, but had been filed off. "The serial number is gone. That's a big no-no." There were also extended ammo clips far larger than the legal maximum of six shots, boxes of bullets, and power cells. He turned to Otto wrestling the carpetbag from the Bubu. "What about you?"
Otto wrenched the bag from the Bubu's grasp. "You can't just take my property!"
Otto opened the carpetbag and pulled out a one-kilogram ingot of silver. "Jackpot!" He held it up, showing the Jewelry Kingdom's sigil stamped in it.
The distant cries of sirens rose from the peace of the prairie. Bret looked past their van at the red and blue flashing lights approaching. "Just like the constables to come in after all the action is over."
The constables quieted things down quickly. There seemed to be a gentlemen's agreement against filing assault charges as none were made, so tickets for disorderly conduct were handed out to most of the patrons as they left following brief statements.
The Herps and bikers were not so lucky. Possession of illegally modified firearms with intent to sell and carrying stolen precious metals across the border were serious offenses.
As for the engineers, they avoided any legal trouble thanks to Spigot explaining things to A.B.
"I'm just glad these Cloud Generation Service engineers were able to stop those nefarious hoodlums from using my establishment for their despicable, criminal activities," A.B. told the constable writing in a notepad.
"We'll be assigning a regular patrol to your bar to make sure there's no further smuggling activity," the constable said.
A.B. looked to the leader of the Bubu, the one who had attempted to escape. He glared at the Munjara as he pointed at him and then drew his thumb across his throat as if slashing it before the constable putting cuffs on him pulled it behind his back.
A.B. swallowed. "Glad to do my civic duty, constable."
Because their jaws were a deadly weapon, the Gators were fitted with what looked like a muzzle. The metal cage was spacious to give the jaw plenty of room while preventing them from wrapping them around anything. A constable finished fastening one on a Gator. "Say something," she told him.
"Something," the Gator replied bitterly.
She pushed him towards the van the others were being ushered into. He was sat opposite of the lead Bubu.
"You just had to antagonize them, didn't you?" the Bubu growled.
"Shut up, you over-evolved ham steak," the Gator shot back.
Two constables closed the doors. One smacked the door. The van drove off.
Spigot finished his statement with the lead inspector. "Thanks for breaking the silver theft case wipe open on our side of the border," the inspector said. "This is the arrest of the decade, but why was the Cloud Generation Service involved?"
"Let's just say we believe the silver was related to our operations," Spigot answered, not wanting to give too much away.
"Well, I think this is the last silver crossing our border through this place," the inspector said. He walked away towards the others getting into the cars. "We're done here! Wrap things up and head back to make your reports!"
The Herp's truck and the Bubu bikes were secured on a flatbed that drove off. The other cars drove away, leaving the bar abandoned but for the engineers and the staff.
"I'm ruined, man!" A.B. cried as he went back for the door.
Tammy spun him around to face her. "You have no idea, buddy. Where are the Herps taking that silver?"
"Silver?!" the Munjara squeaked. "I didn't even know it was silver! The bikers would just show up and then those Herps a short time later. The bikers would hand them a carpetbag and both would leave. They gave me a thousand bucks in cash each time to keep it under wraps and not ask questions. That's all I know."
He looked to the border, tapping his fingertips together. "Now my bar is burned and could be literally when their friends find out."
"Then maybe you should be happy the constabulary will be keeping tabs on you," Franklin said.
"And what about my lost customers?" A.B. asked.
"Well, maybe close up and move closer to the cloud towers northeast of here," Emily suggested. "It would kill two birds with one stone, getting you away from Hog Hell and finding new customers."
"I guess I got no reason to be all the way out here anymore." A.B. rubbed behind where his face was. "But, for now, can you at least make some orders?"
The waitress brought out their bags. "Alright, we have three roast turkey sandwiches, two orders of fish 'n chips, a veggie wrap, and four orders of barbeque-flavored aspen branches." She handed them to the group.
She turned to leave, but turned back. She shielded her mouth to one side. "Between you and me, you've done us a favor. That staff's been begging to get out of this armpit of nowhere since A.B. started to let dirty deals happen under our roof."
She turned back for the door. "And get out of here before you cause us anymore trouble," she said loudly to be heard.
Bret came out and held the door open for her to enter. The odor of the liquor had spilled on him was mostly gone, at least no longer overpowering. "Amazing what some seltzer can do." He massaged his neck. "Just wish it could do something about being slammed into a shelf."
Tammy rubbed her side and looked to the twins. "How did you get through that without getting hurt." Aside from his arm, Otto had avoided the clumsy excuse of brawling those bikers and militiamen put up while delivering precise blows to subdue those that came for him. He wanted to tell her that she could have not fought on their level.
"Electroreception, ballet agility, and not giving in to unfocused aggression," Lee said. He might as well point it out.
Tammy glowered at him. Lee retreated behind Ophelia.
What does Nicole see in him? Otto thought.
"Are you well enough to fly?" Spigot asked Bret.
"You bet, Master Chief," Bret said. "I just need to know where."
"We'll figure that out when we get back to New Saskatoon." Spigot placed a twig in his mouth. "Get us moving, Miss Frost."
Tammy finished tying the ribbon of her mantelet and climbed into the driver's seat. Otto sat down and took in the sent of his sandwich. If the smell was any indication, that bar at least had good food.
They drove away from the bar and back towards what served as civilization out here. He dipped the sandwich in the gravy and bit into it. Yes, they did have good food. Though, that did not make up for what they allowed happened in there.
"I don't see why you let people like that run free in your kingdom," Otto said. He went back to eating.
"Hating the kingdom, the queen, or your fellow citizens in and of themselves aren't a crime, even openly stating it," Spigot said. "Most of the anti-government types just bloviate and the dumber ones get pegged when they commit actual crimes like trying to sell illegal weapons for stolen silver."
He paused to think. "Actually, saying it out loud, I think this takes the cake in terms of their schemes."
"So, you'll just let them undermine your authority and government until they cause actual damage?" Otto asked before taking another bite.
"We value personal freedom," Spigot answered. "That means the jerks get freedom too."
"And it's not like we police those who speak against King Randa or any of the nobles," Alex added. "You just got to cool off."
"'Jerks' is being generous," Otto said. "We all know they're out to harm your country. They should be stopped before they get the chance."
"It would be great to lock up the dissenters, wouldn't it?" Spigot's expression sank into a dark glower. "That is, until you wake up one morning to the business end of a gun pointed to your head and the person at the other end declares 'arrest the dissenter.'"
He turned to Otto specifically. "Do you think you'd be here if the Usurper had won the War of Ascension?"
Otto was struck silent by this. He continued to eat, not having a response to that.
"Our peoples endured that as things went to Hell on Old Earth," Spigot said, "and we were facing that same nightmare when the Herps were poised to rule what would become the Drop Kingdom. Do you think we fought the Peninsula War and killed one in five of us for the fun of it?
"We've sworn never again. We pledged to create a society dedicated to real liberty and equality. People like Geronita and the Green Cypress Militia would love nothing more than see us tear it down for them, so we become a nation where they think their bigoted worldview and hoards of guns will put them on top. They may slur and scheme and make a general nuisance of themselves, but every day we wake up and have not become them is a good day.
"Besides, if they are behind the cloud seeding," Spigot said, "then we might finally be able to take down the whole damn militia right up to Geronita."
"Assuming we can find her," Emily said. "She's gone to ground somewhere in the most remote parts of Sinker Swamp. Who knows where she is even at this moment?"
Geronita threw a dark gray cloak and hat on over her typical dress as she left their airship. It would also hide her better in the fading light. She slinked through the brush to the edge of the forest they had hidden in.
The air was delightfully moist but still a bit chilly. Perhaps socking the kingdom in with clouds for a week straight had some drawbacks. However, if she had full control over the clouds and wind patterns, that would be easily rectified.
There was a settlement of what looked like giant carrots with doors in them. It was deserted with the windows dark. Many of them were in standing water.
Water was a weakness for the people of the Seed Kingdom. Neither Seed People nor Molmo were any good at swimming and the former was so small even a garden variety rainstorm was enough to send them running for shelter. It was what made flooding them out so effective…at least on paper. She had underestimated their collective stubbornness and the breaks in their flood controls had not come has frequently as she had hoped. Though, again, new developments might have rendered that all moot.
She adjusted the frequency on her handheld radio, putting it on the frequency Allan used.
"You there, Corporal?" she asked into the radio.
"I'm here, Commander," Allan answered. "I've lured the king and his men away. The local princesses are also off on a relief effort."
"What about the rodent's spawn?" Geronita asked.
"She, the Windmill princess, and the girl with them are in the Mother Tree the last time I checked," Allan said.
Geronita let a growling croak escape her throat. "The Mother Tree? Of course, they would be in the single most protected place is this whole damn kingdom."
"What do we do now, Commander?" Albert asked.
Geronita fumed. She then noticed movement out in the neighborhood: it was not completely abandoned. A female Molmo worker was checking the homes for something. A young girl strayed from her, making it quite a way before the woman noticed and pulled her back to where she was working. Both were oblivious to their presence. "We'll just have to draw them out."
Milro paced across the floor from the tables around the Mother Tree's branch to the pots along the outer wall. Nicole sat in one of the hanging chairs with Sophie on her lap. They watched Milro as she turned back towards the branch.
"You're going to wear a hole in the floor," Nicole said.
Milro looked up to her, but only sighed as she continued to pace. "I can't help it. I'm worried about Master Chief Spigot and the others. They're going to face people who call themselves Hog Hell and whoever would want to flood the Seed Kingdom. What they're hurt or worse?"
Nicole looked out the window. "I'm just as worried as anyone, but we need to have some faith. I'm sure they can handle themselves."
"I just wish we could do more that just sit here and wait," Milro said.
"Well, you're pacing," Sophie pointed out.
Milro stopped and turned to them. "I just feel so helpless like this." She walked to a table and sat down. "Though, I've felt that way even at normal size. Like, what did I do during the Crisis?"
"Not much like everyone else not named Fine and Rein," Sophie said. "It was not like there was much we could do then just like now. We would've just been in the way."
The door flew open, letting the soggy air blast in. A Molmo woman wearing a worker uniform ran in. "I need your help!"
"Our help?" Milro asked. "What about King Rex and his men?"
"My daughter is trapped!" the woman explained. "I'm not strong enough to get her free, but maybe if I had someone Human-sized."
"We have someone Human-sized." Sophie looked up at Nicole.
"I'm not sure," Nicole said, "I'm not exactly strong."
"You should do, but we need to hurry." The Molmo ran out the door.
Nicole picked up Sophie so she could stand up. She set her down next to Milro. "Maybe I should go alone."
The Molmo poked her head back in. "Oh please, bring the Princesses too!"
They turned to her, and she backed away slightly. "I mean, my daughter is very upset, and they could help her calm down."
"Besides, where you go, we go, Nicole," Sophie said.
"Alright." Nicole bent down and picked the two princesses up to slip into her pocket. "Let's go."
"Just follow me." The Molmo disappeared from view into the dimming evening.
They did just that, following her out of the Mother Tree into the rain and gloom. She led them well away from the villages towards a dark forest. Milro was not as good at judging distances at this size, but they had to have traveled a few kilometers from the Mother Tree. They passed one half-flooded neighborhood of carrot houses, likely the home of the woman leading her and her trapped daughter. The Molmo led them to the edge of the woods.
She pointed inside. "My daughter is trapped in there."
Nicole took Milro and Sophie from her pocket and set them down. Milro looked at the black void between the trees and under their branches. Everything told her it was dangerous, even at normal size. Yet, she pushed that aside with the knowledge a little girl was in need of rescue.
"I'm not sure where she is," the Molmo said. "I'm too small to step over the brush but too big to slip through it."
"We'll find her!" Sophie cheered.
She marches towards the underbrush. Milro reminded herself there was nothing that was a threat to them here in the Seed Kingdom. There were no bobcats or Maine Coons or anything else that preyed on things their size. She followed Sophie under the brush.
The brush was thick, but high enough they barely had to duck for the lowest branches—or rather, twigs—as they made their way through. "Hello!" Milro called out. She cupped her ears and listened for a response.
"We're here to help," Sophie called out, "but we need to know where you are!"
They listened. "I'm over here!" a little girl's voice shouted. "Please, help!"
"We're coming right to you!" Sophie ran in the direction of the voice.
They came into a clear area, and a brilliant light shined down on them. Milro shaded her eyes and looked up. A flashlight shined down on them. It went off, and Milro's eyes adjusted to see a Bullfrog standing over them wearing a dark cloak and hat over an ill-fitting, red dress. A Molmo girl was trapped in her arm, the Bullfrog's hand covering her mouth as she struggled.
Even in the dim gloom, Milro recognized her. A chill ripped through her body far worse than anything the rain could accomplish. "G-Geronita," escaped her lips.
Geronita looked down at her with what would have been a toothy grin if she had teeth. "Hello, Milro," she said in her thick Sinker Swamp drawl.
Milro grabbed Sophie's hand, turning for the cover of the brush. Geronita uttering "Ah, ah, ahh."
She turned back to see Geronita had a pistol pointed at the head of the Molmo girl. "Her survival is dependent on your cooperation. Besides, your guardian can't help you."
"We got 'er, Commander," a voice declared from where Nicole had been.
"I suggest you come peacefully," Geronita said.
Milro did not know what to do, paralyzed.
The Molmo girl got one of Geronita's fingers in her mouth and crunched down in on it. Geronita screamed in pain from this, dropping her. The girl picked up Milro and Sophie and forced her way into the brush.
"You little brat!" Geronita screamed after them. A gunshot made them all flinch, but had hit nothing.
The girl almost tumbled from the brush out of the forest. She was right in front of two Gators holding Nicole by her arms and covering her mouth. They all went to the side all of a sudden. A scream came from the girl's mother.
Milro and Sophie hit the soggy grass, water splashing around them. Milro tried to ger her feet under her, but she and Sophie were brought together in a grasp. They lifted up and dropped into a birdcage. A giant, green hand with four fingers slammed the door shut.
Milro had to sit and brace herself as the cage lifted up. She and Sophie huddled together at the sight of the grinning face staring at them with bulbous eyes, filling their vision beyond the bars.
"A pleasure to meet you, Milro and Sophie too," Geronita said. "I wish to thank you for making this so easy. With you two in my grasp, I'll soon control the cloud towers and windmills and with them the weather of the Wonder—or should I say—Swamp Planet." She threw her head back in a maniacal cackle.
The mother helped her crying girl to her feet. "You got what you want, now let us go."
"Sure, sure." Geronita flicked her hand. "You can go in peace."
The two turned and ran into the night. Geronita took out her pistol and pulled back the barrel. "Go in eternal peace."
Nicole kicked Geronita's hand, knocking the gun off target before it went off. It flew from her hand to the ground. The two Molmo ducked, but disappeared into the darkness unharmed.
Geronita swung to Nicole, grimacing at her. "Why you insolent little—"
Nicole managed to get a muffled "wait" through the Gator's hand. He took the hand from her. "You're gonna need me too."
"Why would I need a mongrel peasant like you?" Geronita growled.
"Because I'm actually Lady Nicole Dupré: daughter of Duchess Georgette Dupré of the Pasturelands Duchy," Nicole stated. "My mother has as much power as King Randa over the windmills in our duchy which are the most vital to airmass transport from the Flame Kingdom and therefore temperature control," Nicole said.
Geronita rubbed her chin. "You make a compelling argument, my dear." She held her finger in front of her. "However, if you try to pull anything like that again, you'll discover, the very hard way—" she held up Milro and Sophie in the cage "—MY PATIENACE IS EVEN SMALLER THAN THEY ARE!" She turned away from her. "Bring her along with us and keep an eye on her."
She tucked the cage under her arm and picked up her gun to shove it in its holster. The Gators pushed Nicole forward and she walked with them blocking her off from behind.
Milro looked to Geronita as she carried them to wherever. She had heard from her mother how dangerous this woman was. She never thought—hoped—she would never meet her in person. She worked up the courage to speak. "Y-you think my mother would just hand over control of the cloud towers to you because you have us?"
"Never underestimate the affinity you mangy mammals have for your offspring," Geronita said.
Milro swallowed, not sure what to say in response. A part of her hoped that was true for her personal safety, but for the sake of the Wonder Planet, she hoped her mother would hold firm.
"But how did you know we're here and like this?" Sophie asked.
Geronita grinned as she looked down and pointed to herself. "Who did you think was behind sabotaging that dam and all this rain?"
"But why?" Milro asked.
"Here we go again," one of the Gators murmured.
"At least she telling someone new," the other replied.
"Because I was going to remove the Seed Kingdom's population by hook or by crook, and remake it into a Herp kingdom with me as Queen." She lifted the cage to stare directly at them. "However, you being so small has led me to make some bigger plans." She tucked the cage under her arm again.
Geronita took them to what looked like a house boat with a green, sausage-shaped envelope suspended above it on lines. She walked up the gangplank into the hull. She turned back to Nicole and the two Gators as they entered.
She pointed down the hall. "Lock her in the stern."
The two Gators smacked their right fists on her chests and swept their hands forward with their index fingers extended. They turned Nicole down the hall and shoved her forward.
Geronita carried Milro and Sophie to the pilot house. It was a helm and some other controls and instruments surrounded by large windows. She hung their cage from a hook and took the helm.
"Geronita, you've truly outdone yourself this time, you sly old devil," Geronita said to herself. She chuckled as she flipped switches.
"The girl is secure, Commander," a voice came over the intercom.
"Then we're going back to H.Q. and prepare our demands." Geronita pulled a lever down.
The airship began to rise. Through the windows, the trees dropped away into a forest under the blanket of clouds. Ghostly mountains rose in the distance, almost invisible in the coming night. As they rose into the sky, Milro felt her heart sink as hopelessness set in.
"We're going to be all right," Sophie said, but her voice betrayed her worry, "right, Milro?"
"Of course, you'll be all right, my dears" Geronita said. "In fact, you'll soon be in your mothers'…I guess hands—so long as I get what I want, that is."
Nicole was locked up and the other engineers were in the Drop Kingdom if they were even safe themselves. Since this started, Milro believed she felt powerless. However, now she understood what truly feeling powerless and helpless was. It was this, held by one of her mother's most dangerous enemies and not knowing how they could escape or who could come to their rescue.