Nicole turned and ran. She heard the Gator yell after her. "Hey, wait! Get back here!" After a pause he said, "Ma, mind the fire!"

Nicole pushed her way through the brush and drapes of Spanish moss. She heard the whir of an engine behind her and to the side. She turned to try to put it behind her.

She came to a clearing, but the ground seemed to become jelly under her as it swallowed her feet and sucked her down. She thrashed to escape as the quicksand consumed her. Her legs sank to her knees and then thighs. She sank to waist deep and then chest deep. She was terrified for the princesses now trapped in her pockets as they approached the sand.

The airboat slid onto the quicksand in front of her with the man and the two children sitting on it. "Stop thrashin'! It's what's makin' you sink!" the man said.

Nicole did as he said, and the sinking stopped. The man picked a long, wooden pole with a hook on the end. Nicole winced and shielded her head from him using it to strike her. "Grab on!" he shouted.

Nicole looked up at the pole held within her reach. She grabbed it and the three Gators pulled up. "Now kick your legs."

Nicole did so. It loosened the sand to allow her to be lifted up from the Gators pulling. Her feet emerged, thankfully still in her shoes. They helped her up onto the boat.

"Merci," Nicole said the more natural word for her gratitude after all the excitement. "But, you're not going to hurt me or give me over to Geronita?"

"Geronita?" the man asked. "It's a good thing we fished you outta there. If you're gettin' away from Geronita, then you're a friend of ours."

"I think I need time to absorb all this," Nicole said. She reached back and wiped the mud and sand from the seat of her skirt that crumbled away now that it had had a chance to dry. She sat down on the forward seat

"Well, spend it with us as we get you cleaned up and warmed up." The man sat on the chair in the back with the controls and took them off the patch of quicksand.

The airboat was quite a versatile craft. It was perfectly suited for the water with almost no draft and could even go over grassy flat areas of land for surprising distance.

"I'm Andre," the man said, "and these are Marie and Jean. Charlotte is back at the fire with little Robert." The "t" was silent in Robert's name.

Nicole was surprised to hear they had French names. There had been a few in Saginaw City. Apparently, the swamp was a center of Francophones as well. Though, it was a unique dialect unlike what was spoken back home or up in the Drop Kingdom's capital.

"I'm Nicole," Nicole said. She decided to keep her surname and title a secret. The group seemed gregarious enough, but she was not ready to completely trust them.

They got back to Charlotte and the fire. Andre cut the engine and hopped from the boat. "We had to fish her out of a quicksand patch."

He helped Nicole from the boat. She felt the ground to make sure it was solid before putting her weight on it.

"This is Nicole," Andre said as they sat on logs around the fire. The fire was warm, its flickering and cracking were welcome compared to the inky darkness and strange noises around them. Though, even they seemed less imposing now that she seemed to be around friends.

"She escaped Geronita and her miserable excuse for a militia," Andre explained. "That's why she ran when she saw us."

Andre picked up a bar of soap and a washboard. "I can clean your dress for you."

"Thank you." The sand had fallen away with a flick of her clothes, but the seat of the skirt still had some mud on it. Nicole took off her medallion and undid the ribbon of her mantelet to take it off gently. She set it next to the log but behind it from the fire. She took off her main dress—discretely removing Milro's watch to place with her mantelet—and taking out her fan. She gave it to Andre. He headed to the lake nearby.

She sat down in her petticoat and took in the heat of the fire.

"You poor dear," Charlotte said as she slid more wood into the fire under the large pot with steam escaping in puffs from under the lid. "I hope those brutes didn't hurt you."

"I think they ended up getting the worst of it in the end," Nicole said.

"Your dress is pretty," Maria said.

Nicole looked down at her petticoat and lifted the soft, lightweight skirt. "This is technically underwear, but it works great as a nightgown when you're too tired to change."

Robert yawned in Charlotte's arms. The little Gator had bands of yellow around his body which was slimmer than the older members of his family rather than chubby like was typical for mammal infants. "You've had a big day, haven't you?" Charlotte cooed to him.

"How old is he?" Nicole asked.

"He hatched last summer," Charlotte answered. "This is his first crawfishin' season." She motioned to the pot. "That's what's cookin', by the way. We have plenty if you want some."

"Thank you," Nicole was quite hungry.

Robert wriggled in Charlotte's arms. "I know it's gettin' cold."

"Maybe I can warm him up." Nicole held out her hands.

"Thank you, kindly." Charlotte handed Robert to her. The little Gator struggled at first from being placed in a stranger's arms and he was quite cold. However, once in Nicole's warm arms, he relaxed. He gripped her petticoat and laid his snout across her chest to maximize the surface area he had in contact with her. The petticoat and her camisole were not insulating like the main dress, so her body heat was able to reach him.

Charlotte put some rocks next to the fire. "You're a natural. I bet you have a lot of siblings."

"Not a one," Nicole answered, that subject pricking her in the heart. "I don't have any cousins either for that matter."

"Oh." Charlotte sat back and demurred. "I'm sorry. I had just heard Doggles have large families."

"We usually do," Nicole said. "I'm just the rare exception."

Nicole rubbed Robert's shout which made him relax more. "Be careful with your fingers around his mouth," Charlotte said. "He might confuse one for a worm and he hatched with all his teeth."

"Thanks for the warning." Nicole kept her finger on the center of his snout and away from those little but quite sharp teeth.

A thought came to her. "I was in the capital, but I never saw Gators as engineers."

Charlotte shrugged. "The Cloud Generation Service means workin' in saltwater and being active year-round in some of the coldest parts of the kingdom, no thank you. The Beavers and Tritons can have that."

"Some Riri and Kawakawa are also engineers." Andre came into the light with Nicole's clean dress and the washboard tucked under his arm. "Turned out really well, I think. The mud came right out."

Nicole handed Robert back to Charlotte. He wriggled and yelped from losing her body heat. Charlotte picked up a rock that had been next to the fire and held it for a couple seconds before she gave it to him. He held the rock to his chest and relaxed.

Nicole took her dress which was still wet and cold. The seat of the skirt was no longer tinted green and the smell was gone. The fabric was supposedly designed to be easily cleaned, and that thankfully seemed to be the case. "Thank you." She hung it over a branch to dry.

"Nights are still a bit chilly for him, Pa," Charlotte said as Andre sat down.

"Unfortunately, the crawfish ain't waitin'," Andre replied. "The Tritons and Kawakawa get a month's head start as it is."

"Is that why you wear so much black?" Nicole asked, knowing dark-colored clothing heated up in sunlight. "It was what scared me, because the Gators who took me also wore dark colors."

"Herps of all stripes wear dark colors during the early spring because it heats up better," Andre explained, confirming Nicole's reasoning.

"It helps perk us up after a nice, long winter dormancy," Charlotte added. "It has nothing to do with those terrible militiamen." She looked to Robert. "Those thugs give us swamp folk a bad name. Just thinking how they're what people think of us makes my scales crack."

"No reason to get worked up about it, Ma," Andre said. "Most Herps don't like the militias, but we're all so scared of them, we don't speak up."

He turned to Nicole. "The G.C.'s are a soft spot for her because our nephew joined them."

"Why do they do this?" Nicole asked.

"The militias gained popularity in wake of the Sunny Kingdom Crisis and seeing how Queen Yamul struggled with it," Andre explained. "When the royal family is down, the antigovernment types get bolder."

"They have no sense of civic duty and pledge allegiance to ghosts of terrible people," Charlotte fumed. "I'm afraid he'll get arrested or hurt or worse." She looked down to Robert. "I don't get why they cannot see we have a good life here. We're free, we're prosperous, we're treated as equals. Sure, we're limited to the swamp, but it's the perfect niche that gives us everything we need."

"They buy into the 'superior life' crap," Andre said. "It's not enough to be equal to the mammals for them."

"I certainly got that impression." Nicole remembered the slurs hurled at her by Geronita and her henchmen.

"Why did they kidnap you, dear?" Charlotte asked.

"I know why," Andre answered for Nicole. "It's some scheme to control the windmills."

"That's the impression I got." Nicole was going to explain that Geronita intended to take over the windmills and cloud towers. However, that would mean explaining the present state—and location—of the princesses. She should keep it to herself.

Nicole sniffed what was coming from the pot which was a delightful mix of spices and cooking shellfish. "That smells wonderful. Is it ready?"

"It should be just about done," Charlotte took the lid off the pot, and a wave of steam escaped from it. It was tightly packed with red shellfish that looked like miniature lobsters.

Andre took a plate and used the tongs to fill it with crawfish. He handed it to Nicole.

Nicole set the plate on her lap as the others filled theirs. The Gators just popped them in their mouths and swallowed them shells and all.

Nicole picked up one of the crawfish and snapped the head off to expose the meat in the tail. Pinching the tail brought the meat out enough to pull out with her teeth. The taste was more powerful than this expected as she was hit with the spice. She drew in and exhaled breaths and used her fan to bring fresh air towards her. She broke out in a sweat, the heat was so powerful.

"You okay?" Andre asked.

"Yeah." Nicole's voice was a bit hoarse from the hotness she subjected her tongue to. "Here I thought the Flame Kingdom liked spice." She coughed.

Andre handed her a canteen and she drank some water to sooth her tongue and throat. "Spice helps the warm you up. And we just used premade boil sauce. Typically, we add more cayenne and chili pepper when we cook at home."

Nicole exhaled as her body was prepared for the spice. She opened the next crawfish and the spice was still powerful but not such a shock. Growing up next to the Flame Kingdom and spices being a significant portion of the family's business, she had developed some taste or at least tolerance for it. It was heavy on the cayenne and chili pepper as it was. She could not imagine it was supposed to be even hotter.

Nicole managed to finish her plate except for one she slipped behind her when the Gators were not paying attention for Milro and Sophie. They felt hot in her stomach, and she suspected there was a trip to the bathroom she was going to regret in the near future. Note to self: Sinker Swamp food is somehow even hotter than Flame Kingdom food, she thought.

She stood up and felt her dress which was dry enough. She took it off the branch and slipped it on. She pocketed the crawfish as she did up the buttons.

"It's gonna be a good year," Andre said. He then released a mighty belch. "We'll clean up and head back home."

Nicole did her last button. "Where's home."

"North Crook is just a few kilometers down river," Andre answered. "You should be able to get a boat to Firmland. You can contact the authorities there."

Nicole put on her Mantelet and picked up the watch, careful to not disturb Sophie and Milro too much. "I need to heed nature's call. Excuse me."

Nicole walked briskly from the fire towards a large tree that should be out of earshot. She slipped behind it and unbuttoned her mantelet pockets. Sophie and Milro poked their heads up.

"You two all right?" Nicole asked as she slipped Milro's watch back into her pocket.

"We've been great," Sophie answered. "And that family seems really nice."

"My kingdom is so complicated," Milro murmured.

"That's what'll make ruling it so much fun," Sophie said. She looked up to Nicole. "So, what's the plan?"

"First, I saved you a crawfish." She held it up to Sophie for her to pull meat from it. "Careful, it's hot in more ways than one."

She held the crawfish to Milro. "Do you eat meat, Princess Milro?"

Milro pulled meat from the crawfish. "I usually don't, but I don't think we have much choice."

"They want to take me to a town," Nicole explained as she tied her ribbon in a bow. "They seem to be against Geronita, and I'm hoping I can find some help there. Though, I'm not sure if I can trust going with them."

"We're lost out here," Milro replied. "We really don't have a choice. I also can't imagine Geronita will just leave us down here. The longer we're in one place, the more likely they'll find us."

Nicole heaved a sigh. "You're right, Princess." She straightened and evened out her bow.

"You ready to go?" Andre called out.

"I'm coming," Nicole answered. Milro and Sophie ducked down and she snapped the pockets closed.


The airboat was quite fast going over the water, slowing down only when a stretch of land needed to be crossed. It was perfect for a place where the water could be as little as ankle deep. Nicole could see why it was the preferred mode of transportation in the swamp.

Jean had night vision binoculars, watching ahead of them. He scanned for other craft. Geronita had to have people out looking for Nicole. They needed to keep an eye out so they would not be caught unaware.

Jean took the binoculars from his eyes. "There's a boat comin', Pa! It's got warm-blooded passengers!"

"Fellow Cajuns, thank God." Andre picked up a floodlight and shined it in the direction of the approaching boat a sequence. Nicole wished she had paid more attention to learning Morse Code."

Andre slowed them down as the other boat slowed to come alongside. The driver was a Bullfrog while the passengers were a Triton and a Kawakawa couple.

"Where are you headed?" the Bullfrog asked.

"We're gonna check some of our traps and head for home," Andre answered.

The Bullfrog looked to Nicole in particular. "You ain't headed to North Crook, are you?"

"We are," Andre said. "Why?"

"The G.C.'s are looking for a half-Doggle girl with long, blond hair wearing an engineer uniform," the Bullfrog answered. "Your passenger fits that description to a 't.'"

"Oh no," Nicole gasped.

"We won't let them get you, my dear," Charlotte said.

"We sure as Hell won't," Andre declared.

"But, I don't want to cause you anymore trouble," Nicole said. She looked to little Robert and could only think of how terrible Geronita and her henchmen were. She did not want this family to suffer any of that.

"We can take her," the Triton said. "We got a hidden compartment in our boat."

He and the Bullfrog took a panel off the floor of their boat to reveal the compartment along its length. "It's insulated, so they can't use thermal imaging to find you by your body heat," the Bullfrog explained.

Nicole stood up and turned back to the family. "Thank you for being so kind to me."

"No thanks necessary, dear," Charlotte said. "The world could use more kindness, especially down here in the swamp."

"We'll go with you anyway," Andre said. "Those bullies are less likely to harass two boats together."

Nicole stepped from one boat to the other and stepped into the compartment to lie in it. It was unsettling the dimensions were similar to that of a coffin, especially as they put the panel over it and banged the corners into place. There was a small hole for air, but she was otherwise sealed in. She tried to get comfortable as the boat started moving.


The other boat came around and Andre followed them back towards North Crook. Jean had the binoculars glued to his eyes as everyone tensed. It would not be the first time they had been hassled by G.C.'s and sadly not the last.

Typically, they would take their catch and make off with it into the swamp. They made sure these shakedowns happened well enough away from any village that the local authorities would not care. Sinker Swamp was short on population and long on territory that was difficult to navigate. It was a bandit's dream.

In some ways, the militiamen were even worse towards their fellow Herps than they were towards mammals. Towards mammals, it was basic hatred. They liberally threw slurs at them and treated them as if they were less than. Towards Herps who did not buy into their toxic philosophy, it was utter contempt. They felt free to steal from people like Andre and his family and threaten them, their livelihoods, and even homes and loved ones. It was as if they were traitors to their race because they dared treat their fellow citizens as equals and not be ready to throw themselves into another suicidal conflict in the misguided belief their hoard of personal firearms would win them the day this time.

"Boat's incoming, Pa," Jean said. "No heat, and it's flyin' flags."

Flags tended to mean militia. They fancied themselves as a military, so draped themselves in the trappings of one. Andre tensed and so did the others. Charlotte held Robert close to her as a light shined towards them and the boat headed towards them.

"Here they come," Andre murmured.

The militias used Airboats like everyone in the swamp, but were larger. A boat like Andre's held half a dozen adults. The boat approaching them could hold twice that. It was probably a tour boat originally, but painted in camouflage and flew the tacky flags.

The Green Cypress Militia flag was black with the green cypress silhouette as its sole feature. It reminded Andre of the flags Old Earth pirates and terrorist groups were often depicted as flying and he wondered if the militia made that same connection. The other was the "Stars and Parallel Bars," the standard Herps flew in the Peninsula War but had its origins on Old Earth in another war they instigated and ultimately lost. It was a testament to the Drop Kingdom's commitment to free expression that the colors of its lone military adversary ever were allowed to be flown unironically.

The big airboat came to sit right in their path and shined a powerful flood light on them. A few of the Herps onboard also trained their gauss rifles to dissuade them from trying to veer away. Andre cut his engine and came to a stop.

"You're in our way," Andre stated.

"We're looking for a half-Doggle girl with long blond hair and a wearing a Windmill Kingdom worker uniform," the Bullfrog sitting at the controls said. "We believe she's in the area."

"Why would a Windmill Kingdom engineer be in this swamp?" Andre asked, feeling natural in feigning ignorance.

"And why would you be after her?" Charlotte allowed her contempt to seep—no, rush—into her voice.

Her sneer only sharpened when she saw that Anton, their nephew, was the boat. He looked away, trying to act like he had not noticed they were them.

"That's none of your business!" the Bullfrog snapped. "Have you seen them or not?"

"I already told you we haven't," the Triton stated.

"We haven't either," Andre said. "So, let us be on our way."

"We need to be sure." The Bullfrog motioned to another Bullfrog.

The second Bullfrog held up a thermal imagining camera and scanned Andre's boat. Hopefully Nicole had not left a heat signature on their seat. Her uniform was apparently insulating as he frowned. "Nothing there."

He turned to the other boat. "You scanned us on the way out!" the Bullfrog piloting that boat protested. This only got a couple gauss rifles trained on him and he and his passengers held up their hands.

Andre felt his scales tighten as the Bullfrog with the camera scanned the boat. Hopefully the insulation held up as well as they claimed. They were in open water, meaning an attempt to escape would be literally shot down in short order. He seemed to linger on the boat, only fraying Andre's nerves further.

He finally dropped it to his sides. "The only heat is from the tuber and weasels."

"Kawakawa are descended from otters, you slime-covered imbecile," the female Kawakawa snapped.

A Gator trained a gauss rifle on her. "This says you're weasels."

The Kawakawa backed up behind her male partner.

"How could you throw in your lot with these thugs, Anton?" Charlotte scolded their nephew. "I thought you were raised better."

"We should be better off," Anton answered.

"Exactly," another Gator said. "We should at least have the swamp to ourselves and kick you endothermic interlopers out."

"It's not like your hurtin' for space and resources," the male Kawakawa said. "We can live together easily."

"Can we leave?" Andre asked, not wanting to get into an argument with the need to keep Nicole hidden. "Robert is gettin' restless on this frigid night."

"That won't be a problem for much longer," Anton said.

"No disclosing intelligence to unauthorized personnel, Private!" the Bullfrog at the controls snapped.

Anton saluted. "Yes, Sergeant."

The Bullfrog motioned to Andre's boat. "Those crawfish?"

"On top of all this, you're gonna rob us?" Charlotte huffed.

A Gator jumped on their boat and grabbed their trap. He tucked it under his arm and hopped back onto their boat.

"Don't think of it as theft," the Bullfrog said. "Think of it as contributing to the well-being of your fellow Herps fighting the good fight for our people."

Andre wanted to spit at this, but wanted to get it over with more. The militiamen sat down and the boat sped away. He watched them as them as they disappeared into the night.

The Triton and Bullfrog took off the panel, and the Triton helped her into a sitting position. "Are you all right, Miss?" the Bullfrog asked.

"I am, but those ruffians were absolutely horrid," Nicole said. "How can the Drop Kingdom tolerate such contempt for the law and its citizens?"

"The Drop Kingdom doesn't have much reach down here, I'm afraid," the Bullfrog said. "Even the provincial government is of little help."

"That group also included two local constables and a firefighter," the Triton added. It was a sad fact that even people who had supposedly pledged to protect and serve the people were among those abusing them.

"They've also been unusually hostile lately," the female Kawakawa mused. "They're bad news even on the best of days, but they seem to be goin' out of their way to be offensive."

"There's also the strange flights," her male companion said. "Airships just go up, fly in a straight line with smoke behind them, go back, and land. And what was the one Gator talkin' about cold nights not bein' a problem?"

"I should probably stay hidden until we reach your village," Nicole said, laying down. "No telling if we'll run into more."

The two put the panel over her again and took their seats. Andre pushed aside Anton's boast. The G.C.'s often boasted, and he was sadly fully in their thrall. He looked to his own kids, having hope for their future.

"Now none of you make the same mistake as your cousin Anton," he told them. "They offer nothin' but empty promises."

"You got it, Pa," Jane said, puffing out his chest.

"They sound stupid anyway," Marie said.

Robert only yawned and stretched in Charlotte's arms. Andre took that as an agreement.

"We won't get to the village any quicker sittin' here," the Bullfrog said. "However, another airboat could come around any minute."

He accelerated away downriver. Andre followed him. He hoped this latest fever of Herp nationalism would break soon, especially before they come for his children.


There was a difference to the feel of being airborne in a lighter than air craft compared to a fixed-wing. The speed was certainly different as a fixed-fix had to keep enough air moving over the wings to generate sufficient lift. A traditional airship could drift with the wind or even hold position as the volume of air it displaced was heavier than the ship itself thanks to the light gases contained in the envelope.

"Drift" was a good description of how the King Barbardo was travelling over Sinker Swamp at the moment. They were moving slowly and low with all the lights off to be practically invisible against the clouds and night sky. They were over the dark void of the surface. Like the Seed Kingdom, Sinker Swamp had few light sources. Though, it was a lack of population—rather than an aversion towards technology—that was behind this.

Sinker Swamp Province was easily the least populated in the Drop Kingdom, and the vast majority of those who did live within its borders made their home in and around its capital city. Out here, in the western regions of the province, enclaves of civilization were few and far between.

"Talk about the middle of nowhere," Bonnie commented.

Lee and Ophelia turned to the opposite side of the deck where Bonnie and Spigot watched over the railing.

"It's what makes this place a prime breeding ground for militias and other anti-government groups." Spigot stared down at the blackness below. "They can easily indulge in the fallacy of rugged individualism, hunting and fishing with tools and equipment produced in the cities."

Spigot looked to Lee and Ophelia as he joined them. "We're headed into terra incognita. Forget everything you assume about Drop Kingdom and Wonder Planet. Our position as federal employees makes us a target rather than protecting us."

"A biker bar and smuggler's nest on the prairie, militia training grounds in the swamp. You've taken us to the most interesting places," Bonnie said. "You should write the Drop Kingdom tourist itinerary."

"I know the royal families love to paint that their kingdoms as these lovely places," Spigot said. "However, they all have their seedy undersides if you look in the right places."

Ophelia took out her sonic pistol. "This is why you gave us these."

"Exactly," Spigot said. "I'm hoping we can find some friendly faces down there, but we could just as likely end up in a nest of militiamen and need to fight our way out."

They passed over forest to another lake or a junction of rivers. It was a broad body of water, that was all Lee could tell. Whatever it was, it had light on it. Because conventional construction would sink into the soft mud, villages were built on the water on pillars. Really, they were a network of docks that boats were permanently moored to as homes and businesses. Most of the village was dark except for porch lights, only a section off to the side being fully lit with light coming windows as well as lines draped between boats.

Spigot took out a map and shined his flashlight on it. "I believe this is North Crook. It's the closest village to the Green Cypress's search pattern."


Spigot headed into the bridge. "We've reached North Crook. Take us down."

Bret looked to the screen with the view below. "Down to what?"

"Zephyrs aren't shaped like boats just for show." Otto pushed a lever forward.


The King Barbardo sank towards the water surrounding the village. The wings attached to the hull lifted up as the hull settled into the water. It bobbed as it found its level and motored to a dock jutting from the lit part of the network and with no boats attached. The wing leading to the door settled on the dock as it came to a stop.

Alex and Bonnie flew out with mooring lines. Alex wrapped the line around a mooring several times, and finished with a basic slip knot. He turned to Bonnie about to just tie a big knot in her rope. "No, no!" He flew to her. "You want to tie it into a slip knot."

Bonnie backed off. "A what?"

"The basic sailor's knot." Alex took the rope. "It'll be tightened by the King Barbardo trying to drift from the dock but is easy to pull the rope out of. Watch."

He maneuvered the rope so that the was held by itself. "You never learned how to tie knots?"

"There aren't many ropes involved in running a windmill," Bonnie retorted.

Alex pulled on the rope to make sure it held firm. He turned back to the King Barbardo and called, "We're secure."

Spigot led the others onto the dock. Their footsteps were hollow on the weathered wood. Despite it being the middle of the night, there was quite a bit of activity. Though, it was not the Herps Alex expected. Among the Beavers and Tritons, there were a couple of Skusku, skunk-like people with white stripes going length-wise through their otherwise dark purple coats and large, bushy tails.

"Well, we didn't get shot when we landed," Bret said.

"Don't jinx it, Bret," Ophelia uttered.

"Herps are solar-powered, especially this early in spring," Spigot said.

"That's good," Alex said, not looking forward to yet another fight where he would be grossly outmatched.

"Though, that means any we do come across are almost certainly Green Cypress," Spigot added.

"That's not good." Alex spoke too soon.

"Temperature sixteen point one degrees Celsius, relative humidity eighty-two percent, barmoetric pressure one thousand two point five hectopascals, winds out of the north northeast at seven point two kilometers per hour," Lee reported and marked down.

Alex had to hand one thing to the Triton. He was dedicated.

The attire of the locals was basic. T-shirts and denim coveralls or jeans were standard for the men while the women wore basic dresses that might have a floral print at the most elaborate. Out here, fashion was probably far from people's minds.

"I'm surprised to see so many mammals," Otto commented.

"We're in Cajun country," Spigot explained. "They're a collection of peoples who have a long history of living in swampy regions. There are Herp Cajuns as well who tend to not dislike the militias as culture dictates their kindship rather than species. They might even help us."

The engineers stood out in their uniforms and caught immediate attention. A greater Beaver man step up in front of them. "Why, hello there," he said in a distinct accent. "I'm Ted, the mayor of North Crook. What brings the Cloud Generation Service out here to our fair docks?"

"We're looking for one of our own," Otto answered. "She was kidnapped by the Green Cypress Militia."

"Green Cypress Militia?!" someone screamed.

Everyone on the dock darted into the nearest boat, slamming closed shutters and turning off lights. In an instant of screaming and scrambling, the dock was deserted aside from the engineers and Ted.

Ted darted his eyes around like he was expecting to be ambushed. He focused on Spigot, his expression sharpening. "Now you listen here. We don't want any part in your trouble with the G.C.'s. They've been actin' weird since comin' outta brumation a fortnight ago, and now they're prowlin' the area around us."

"We're not looking to involve you," Spigot stated. "We just need an airboat or two to look for our friend."

"I'll see what I can scrounge up, but I'm not makin' any promises." Ted turned and walked into a nearby building.

"How many of these Green Cypress guys are there?" Alex asked. The way these people act, it sounded like they were an army.

"They claim to be between three and five thousand," Franklin answered. "However, there may be a thousand in reality judging by their activities."

"A thousand goons playing soldier instill this much fear in people?" Otto asked.

Spigot shrugged. "When there are only a few thousand people per township, it's easier than you would think."

"If we can't get an airboat, then what?" Emily asked.

"Don't like the idea of trying to search from the air," Otto mused. "There's too much cover for a potential ambush."

He glanced to Alex, causing Alex's skin to prickle. "Don't look at us! We're practically blind at night!"

"We can search from the water," Lee suggested.

"Great." Ophelia rolled her eyes. "The only thing better than fresh water is murky fresh water."

"It's no different than the silty water in the kelp forests," Lee said. "It passes right through our gills."

"We'll get a boat," Spigot stated.

"We got a boat," a voice said.

It was the Skusku pair. "It's not much, but a couple of you could search for your friend with it."

"Thank you," Spigot said. "Surprised to see Skusku so deep in the swamp."

"We're collecting swamp grass," the woman explained. "This area has some of the best quality I've found."

The man motioned down the dock. "It's this way."

They followed to two down the dock. People started to open windows and emerge. Still, they turned wary eyes towards the engineers. It made Alex uncomfortable, tugging at his collar as it felt tight and his skin itched everywhere.

"I'm Sam, by the way," the man, Sam, said. "My wife, Susan, and I come down here for ingredients to make smell balls."

"Smell balls?" Bonnie asked.

"They're orbs we can eat that changes the smell of our musk," Susan explained. "We typically use it to make it smell pleasant, but we need swamp grass to make our more…pungent odors."

"As you heard the mayor, the Green Cypress Militia has been unusually active this spring," Sam said. "If they're planning something, we're not gonna be caught flatfooted."

"Planning, they're in the middle of it," Lee said. "They've been seeding the clouds headed towards the Seed Kingdom."

"That's why it's been raining to beat the band down there?" Sam asked rhetorically. "Should've known they would be behind it. Bet it's part of their mission 'to reestablish Herps as the dominant form of life as was always intended.'"

"Is that why they kidnapped your friend?" Susan asked.

That was exactly why they did, and that was not even the half of it. But their princesses being eight centimeters tall and maybe in Geronita's clutches or escaped from them, was probably best left secret.

"We believe so," Spigot answered, evading the details. "We believe that she managed to escape and is somewhere near here."

"Must be why they've been combing the area," Sam said.

"Speaking of activity, what have they been doing for the last couple weeks," Spigot asked.

"There have been airships flying around just for the sake of flying around," Sam answered. "No one knows why. You think it's to seed the clouds?"

"It has to be," Lee said. "Do you know where they're launch these craft."

"All over the swamp from what rumors I've heard," Susan said. "They have been seen taking off or landing at least a half dozen locations. One's not too far from here."

"Once we find our friend and get her to safety, we'll need to take them out," Spigot stated.

"Just the ten of you?" Sam asked.

"That's what we said." Emily glanced to Spigot.

"Just like they pick on the small pockets of population out here," Spigot said, "we can pick on the small groups that guard these sites. We also need evidence of their cloud seeding operation."

They reached their airboat moored to the dock. It had four seats plus one at the controls. "We can take three of you," Sam said.

Spigot turned back to the group. "Frost and Greene, you're coming with me to search."

"Are you sure you want me?" Bret backed away a step. "Lee or Ophelia are stronger."

"I need your pilot's eyes," Spigot said. "And, if we do this right, we should be able to avoid a fight."

"And if we can't?" Bret asked.

"That's why we're armed, Bret," Tammy stated.

"We also have something just in case." Sam took a small object from his pocket. It looked like a large, green and red marble. "We got three of these each."

Spigot turned to the rest. "Stay here and look after the King Barbardo. Lady Dupré might also manage to get here."

Otto saluted. "Will do, Master Chief."

Tammy, Bret, and Spigot got on the boat with Sam and Susan. Sam hopped into the control chair as Susan untied them from the dock.

"We'll call if we run into trouble," Spigot said as they pulled away. Water shot up behind them as they disappeared into the night.

"So, we're just going to sit around here?" Ophelia asked.

"There's got to be something we can do," Lee added.

"They said airships are taking off and landing from not too far from here," Bonnie suggested. "What if we find them?"

They looked to the docks. Anyone who noticed they were looking at them turned away and walked in the opposite direction. "I don't they're in a talking mood," Franklin said.

"What about finding them on the internet?" Emily asked.

"They go old school communicating within the swamp," Franklin answered.

"You said there are people following their activity on the radio," Ophelia suggested.

"They speak mostly in code," Franklin said. "The only reason the listeners knew about Nicole is because they hadn't had the chance to encode the order."

"What if we can pick up a pattern?" Lee mused. "Since we know they're getting silver iodide and delivering it by airship, we could look for terms that would match activities."

Franklin rubbed his chin as he thought. "You know, that might just work. I'll need to sift through the past two weeks of logs, but we got nothing but time."


As Franklin learned to code, he learned pattern recognition. Every character on a computer screen was in fact a series of 1's and 0's. He could see a wall of them and translate it into the message. He had expanded it into recognizing patterns in everything and decoding their meanings.

Communicating in code was a simple way to transmit data in secret. Even if it is being intercepted, it is junk data outside those who knew the meanings. Yet, while the actual terms were scrambled, the sequence was the same.

Cloud seeding airships would need to do the same activities on a regular basis. They would take off, follow a given flight plan, and land on a schedule. There would also need to be a regular flow of supplies such as hydrogen, helium, parts, and of course silver iodide.

Silver iodide was the best bet. It was likely being supplied from a single location and its encryption would be the most important.

"Find anything?" Emily asked as she sat down.

"I'm trying to filter by communications involving transceivers within twenty kilometers of here," Franklin said. "I'm hoping that will narrow things."

"Do you drink coffee?" Emily asked. "I put on a pot."

"I usually don't." Franklin yawned. "But I might make an exception tonight."

Emily settled in and looked about. "This ship is plush, but I wonder if it is convertible like the Beauty of Aqua. The walls are permanent, but the furniture in the cabins could be switched out."

Franklin scrolled through the logs. It was gibberish to him, a bunch of 1's and 0's. He needed to find the pattern.

"You know, I've never pictured you as the bad boy type." Emily went to another subject.

Franklin stopped. "I was typical rebellious teen from a very traditional family. My family runs a railroad café in Las Cabeceras. They wanted me to be another employee rising through the ranks before I married out of the family.

"I can't cook and was not about to spend my youth busing tables and taking orders, so I got into computers. At first the thought was I would handle our internet presence and the café's computer system, so they supported me. However, I got into hacking, and I just kept pushing and pushing.

"Then I pushed too far. I think what I feared more than prison was the disappointed look on my family's face. I had aggravated them many times, but never disappointed them. Though, the pride they had when I stepped out in uniform made my stomach churn as I knew it was a lie."

"Have you ever told them what really happened?" Emily asked.

"I've been thinking of telling them when my conscription is over next year," Franklin answered.

A knock came at the door. Alex opened it. "Find anything?"

Franklin turned back to the logs. Having not focused on it for a minute, he noticed something. "A transceiver ten kilometers north northwest of here keep having conversations about two thirty-four point seventy-seven."

Alex frowned as he pondered. "I think that might be paydirt." He took off his jacket and then his button-down shirt to reveal his t-shirt with the Periodic Table of the Elements printed on the front. He flew to a mirror and stared at it, using his fingers as he counted under his breath. "I was right, it's the molecular weight of silver iodide."

"It can't be that easy," Emily said.

"If no one knows what they're looking for, you don't need to get too complicated," Franklin said. "Besides, those yokels probably think they're oh so clever for knowing the molecular weight."

Franklin now filtered for the term. The transceivers numbered less than a dozen and the most active was near the BoomBang factory.

Franklin pointed to the transceiver number. "There's BoomBang, like a spider in the middle of a web."

"The others are all over the place, we'll never get them all," Alex said.

"We can get the one closest to us," Emily said. "And we might even be able to use it to get at the factory. When are they scheduled to be resupplied?"

"There's no schedule per say," Franklin said. "However, it's been a while since they were last supplied, so they might be getting a shipment as early as tonight."

"Then, once we get Nicole and the princesses back and to safety," Alex said, "we should rattle their cage."


Spigot held on as the airboat bounced on the water. It had been so long since he had been on one, he forgot that quirk when they got up to speed.

Tammy and Bret looked out to either side, shining floodlights. "What are we even looking for?" Bret asked.

"A half-Doggle woman with long, blond hair and wearing a purple dress of course," Tammy said.

"Even if she's out there," Bret thought out loud, "wouldn't she be scared by the boat?"

"We could ask some of the locals," Sam suggested. "Your friend would stand out enough someone might've caught sight of her."

A sequence of flashes came from ahead of them. Spigot thought for a second and realized it was Morse Code for "W," "A," and "F."

"Whiskey Alpha Foxtrot?" Bret asked.

"'We are friendly,'" Spigot said.

"That's a Cajun boat," Sam said. "They know we're warm-blooded, so they're indicating we're a friend."

"You sure it's not a trap?" Tammy asked.

"The Green Cypress prefer to avoid contact unless they're going after someone specific," Sam answered.

"Answer them," Spigot said.

"With what?" Bret asked.

Spigot thought. "Announce who we are. And have your sonic pistols ready just in case."

He pulled his pistol from its holster under on his jacket. Tammy and Bret did the same.

Bret held up his floodlight and flashed their message. "Charlie…Golf…Sierra."

They sat down and watched as two boats approached them. No shots came at them, which was something. Though, Spigot had to fight back the chill to see one filled with Gators until they were dressed as civilians and just a family. The others were a Triton, two Kawakawa, with a Bullfrog as a driver.

"Hey, the Cloud Generation Service, you came to us," the Bullfrog said.

Spigot was confused. "Uh…what do you mean by that?"

A banging came from the inside of the Bullfrog's boat. "We have something you might've lost," the Bullfrog said as he and the Triton opened a hidden panel on the hull. The Triton helped Nicole to sit up.

Nicole looked to them and her blue eyes seemed to light up at the sight of them. She held up her hands for the Bullfrog and Triton to help her out of the compartment and leapt to their airboat.

"You guys!" she cheered as she hugged Bret. "You're here!"

"We heard you were kidnapped," Tammy said. "How did you escape?"

"Fortunately, this Geronita character doesn't discern for intelligence in her followers," Nicole answered.

Tammy went to hug Nicole. Nicole whispered in her ear, "Not too tight, the princesses are in my mantelet pockets." Tammy hugged her gently.

Spigot heaved a sigh of relief.

"Where are Lee and the others?" Nicole asked.

"Back in town," Bret answered.

"Which is where we should get while the getting's good," Spigot said. The way things were going, he didn't want to take any chances. "We'll drop you off at the airfield, and then we deal with this cloud seeing mess."

"No rest for the weary," Bret sighed.

They all sat down. Sam formed up with the other two boats and headed back for North Crook.

Spigot could not shake the feeling it could not be this easy. Perhaps it was because things had found seemingly every possible way to go sideways these past two days. He felt like they were being watched.


Anton had hoped his hunch about his aunt and her family were wrong. Charlotte was hostile towards the Green Cypress Militia, and it seemed to get worse when he joined. However, even then, she and Andre seemed to want to get out of there in a hurry and were hiding something.

"Good call, Private," the sergeant said. Anton had yet to learn his name. "They must've insulated their boat."

"What are we gonna do?" Anton asked.

"Help them understand they've made a terminal error." The sergeant sat at the controls and paralleled the three leaving boats from behind cover.