Albert grinned as he watched the airship descend towards them. If the guys in North Crook were right, those pesky engineers were inside. He just hoped that blond mongrel was among them.
"Wait until it lands," Albert instructed the others hiding with him. "Then—" he savored what was about to come next "—blow them all to Hell!"
The airship turned to better fit in the space between the buildings. It presented its bow in Albert's direction. That was a pity as he was hoping for a greater surface area. However, others would have that more favorable angle. It slowed and settled gently on the ground. The gangplank extended down.
"OPEN FIRE!" Albert leapt from his cover and unleashed a hail of bullets from his gauss rifle onto the ship.
Blue flares came from every direction onto the hull of the airship as the rattling sound of slugs escaping their barrels. Herps came out of the doors or leaned out of windows to deliver their volleys. The aluminum hull stood little chance to the ferromagnetic-coated lead slugs thrown at them at close to the speed of sound. Each bullet made a round hole in the hull on the way into the interior and anything inside it. Sparks flew in every direction of the ship from the softer metal being sheared away. The windows of the pilothouse disintegrated, though there was a lack of blood from an occupant. Albert ignored this as he kept pumping bullets into it like the others. The only thing spared was the stern where the fuel cell and hydrogen tanks were housed.
They continued to fire. When their magazines ran dry, they replaced them to continue the onslaught. Several thousand rounds had gone through it once Albert held up his fist to cease fire. Even then, the fire was slow to stop. The hull was riddled with holes or even been blown completely open. Nothing inside could survive that.
"Wanna see the carnage up close?" Albert motioned to a group to board with him.
They chuckled and shouldered their rifles as they followed him up the gangplank. Albert had always wanted to see what a few hundred rounds did to a mammal's body. Hopefully something was left aside from bloody smears.
Albert first checked the pilot house. There were only a few tiny shards of glass left in the frames and the controls were smashed. There was no body and no blood either.
"Check down below," Albert snarled.
They descended into the hold. Light came from the countless holes in the hull. However, there was nothing. There was not even blood. "What?" Albert hissed.
He walked into the hold, looking for any evidence of the mammals. "I saw them navigate the ship to land and extend the gangplank. Where are they?!"
"Hello there," he heard a voice say. He turned to the back. They must have hidden in the engine compartment since it would be the one place they would not fire on. It is the kind of cowardly act that should be expected of mammals, hiding where they were difficult to get to.
He threw the door open and looked inside the narrow corridor to access the plants. There was no one. There was just something with a red light. "You were probably expecting some engineers to be in this hold," the device said, "or what was left of them after you blasted it, at least. Well, we guided the ship in by radio control."
"Those miserable mammals," Alfred fumed.
"Since I got your attention," the voice continued, "I want to discuss something. Assuming you made it to high school civics, you might've heard there's a little provision regarding the Cloud Generation Service in the Commonwealth Constitution. It's called Defendere quoquo modo necesse est. The basic translation is "defend by any means necessary.
"Due to the potential damage that could happen if control of our equipment fell into the wrong hands, laws forbidding the government from taking military-grade action against the citizenry of the Drop Kingdom do not apply to the Cloud Generation Service if under direct threat. Should an individual or group conspire or act maliciously against the Service as an organization, its individual employees for being engineers, its equipment and supplies, or any of it its activities related to cloud production—as well as make any attempt to take control of our equipment—they are to be met with a vigorous and unrelenting response until the threat they pose has been neutralized. We're not even restrained by the conventional rules of war when it comes to protecting the integrity of cloud production. So, doing something like…say…try to shoot an airship you know to carry engineers with the intent of murdering them, puts you in a state of total war against us.
"Now, before thinking you've finally got what you've always dreamed of, you should know something about picking a fight with the Cloud Generation Service." The display on the device little up with a red, digital "00:30." "We fight dirty." The display started counting down.
Albert realized what he was looking at. "GET OUT! GET OUT OF HERE!"
He turned and pushed the others behind him out the door. The stumbled up the stairs to get out of the hold. Many just jumped from the hull and ran on all fours away before they got their balance.
"GET AWAY FROM THE SHIP!" Albert screamed. "THERE'S A BOMB ON IT!"
Everyone headed for the nearest door into a building. Others took shelter in a dumpster or anything that looked sturdy enough to withstand the coming blast. Albert just ran, trying to put as much distance between him and the bomb as possible.
Had anyone remained, they would have seen the digital display count down. It ticked down without an audience: 00:04…00:003…00:02…00:01. The display showed "BOOM" and the bomb attached detonated.
The actual bomb was more of an incendiary, needing to get the hydrogen tanks to the temperature needed to ignite the hydrogen. Despite its literally explosive reputation, hydrogen needs an impressive amount of heat to combust, having to reach a temperature much higher than other conventional fuels. A fuel cell does not even burn the hydrogen, instead combining it with oxygen which produces an electric current. However, once Hydrogen goes, it goes in spectacular fashion.
The tanks exploded with incredible force. The entire stern of the ship flew apart with a massive fireball. Much of the hull was reduced to shrapnel. What was left of the bow rose with the envelope, now free of enough of the mass holding it down to float away.
The concussion wave of the blast slammed into Albert from the back, channeled by the brick buildings. It took him off his feet and launched him several meters through the air before he bellyflopped on the ground and rolled to the stop.
His ears rang and he needed to work to catch his breath. He turned back to the blast center. Anything made of wood was on fire in the alleyway and windows were blown in down the whole length. He just laid out as he waited for his sense of balance to return.
Constable Gunther Bohannon pulled over his patrol car. "It's another quiet night," Spencer White said to his fellow officer. The Bullfrog and Skusku stretched, coming to the end of a stretch of graveyard shifts. Both were looking forward day shifts: better sleep cycles and hopefully more activity.
Their patrol car rocked from a powerful boom. Bohannon looked up at a fireball rising into the night's sky.
"That's the BoomBang factory," White said. "What happened?"
"Call this in. Things have been weird over there for the past month." Bohannon turned on the lights siren and sped for it.
Bret stared on at the fires and the broken windows. The brick buildings were unaffected outside of being blackened by soot like the ground. "They didn't expect it go up like that." He smirked. "Franklin's so terrified of a fixed-wing crashing and the only thing that's gone up in this whole adventure is a balloon."
"Just shut up and remember the plan." Tammy brought the truck to a stop.
They got out, and Tammy banged on the side. The doors in the back opened. Spigot led the others out.
"Temperature fourteen point three degrees Celsius, relative humidity seventy-three percent, barometric pressure nine hundred ninety-one point three hectopascals, wind out of the north at eight point nine kilometers per hour," Lee reported the findings of his weather sensor and recorded them.
"Now that we have that out of the way, that explosion is bound to get every constable in Firmland headed here," Spigot said. "Everyone know their assignments?"
"Greene, Frost, and I retake the King Barbardo," Otto stated.
"We'll get Alex, Bonnie, and the princesses." Ophelia motioned to Lee and Nicole.
"That leaves us getting physical and electronic evidence," Spigot said, motioning to Emily and Franklin. "Then let's get cracking."
Geronita stormed into the room. Everyone turned to her and jumped into attention as well as saluted. "What the hell is going on?!" she bellowed.
"The airship was a trap, Commander," a Gator reported. "They rigged it to explode. There are also reports two Doggles are sneaking around the facility, might've found our silver iodide lab."
Geronita's body tensed at hearing this. Those miserable mammals would of course try something like this. That explosion was also going to attract the attention of the authorities.
"They've got to have infiltrated the complex during the confusion," Gerontia said. "Find them and kill them!"
"Yes, Commander!" They all saluted and left,
Geronita grabbed a Bullfrog. "Not you. I need to prepare some contingencies."
Lee clutched the handle of his pistol as he brought up the rear of the three. Ophelia was almost to a corner when she plastered herself against it. Nicole and Lee did the same. A group of Herps ran down the intersecting alleyway from behind them.
"The Commander says engineers are around here somewhere," one of them said. "She wants them taken out."
"Finding Alex and Bonnie is going to take forever," Ophelia grumbled.
"What if you called them?" Lee asked.
"What if—" Ophelia started to say mockingly. She stopped and pointed to Lee. "Good idea."
She took out her phone and pushed buttons to get a number. She held her phone to her ear. "Is that you, Ophelia?" Bonnie's voice came from her phone.
"Yes, thank God," Ophelia said.
"Why don't we do this inside?" Nicole pointed to a door.
Ophelia nodded. Lee pulled the door open; it being thankfully unlocked. He checked inside to see an empty room. They slipped in and sat down below the windows.
"I take it you're in the complex," Bonnie said. "You coulda warned us you were going to blow up that airship."
"We didn't know until we got to the base," Ophelia replied. "Anyway, where are you and do you have the princesses?"
"We got them, and we're on the roof of Building Ten overlooking the King Barbardo," Bonnie answered.
Nicole sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."
"Tammy, Bret, and Otto are headed there," Ophelia said.
"Well, they're in for a hot reception," Bonnie replied. "It's crawling with Herps."
"Then we'll back them up." Ophelia closed her phone. "But, where is Building Ten?"
Lee pointed out the window. "Maybe the building with a ten on it."
Ophelia looked out the window at the large "10" on the next building.
Bonnie closed her phone and peered over the roof. Two Herps stood on the wing leading to the door. More were on the deck and there were surely even more inside. "Otto and Tammy have their work cut out for them," she commented.
"What about Bret?" Alex asked.
Bonnie shrugged. "He's just dead."
"If only there was a way to get them away," Milro mused.
Bonnie thought. "There might be."
She ran to the skylight on the far side and descended into the storage bay. Prying open crates, she had her pick: basic rockets, flares, roman candles, firecrackers, and any other thing that could explode with plenty of sparks and bang. She slipped rockets into her pockets by their sticks and carried an armload of roman candles as she ascended back up to the roof.
Alex took the roman candles from her as she came out. "What are these for?"
"A way to get them away," Bonnie said.
Bonnie took out her fire starter and lit one of the rockets. The fuse sparked and spat as she threw it off the roof. It lit and shot to the side of the wing, igniting in a blast of blue and green. The Gators in the wing ducked and backed away from the explosion.
Bonnie and Alex lit more of the fireworks and tossed them over the roof. A roman candle landed on the deck over the stern, shooting out explosive charges. The Herps jumped from the deck to the ground to escape the sparks that shot in every direction and the candle knocked its self around with its own force.
"Ophelia was right," Alex said. "These are crap."
"It works even more in our favor," Bonnie said.
Bonnie saw Otto leading Tammy and Bret, their pistols at the ready. The Herps were completely disoriented. One of them picked up their rifle. Bonnie stunned him as Alex threw another rocket. A Gator came out onto the main deck, but Otto got him once he had a line of sight.
Bret looked up to them. "Thanks for the cover."
"Wait up there until we secure the ship!" Otto ordered. "Keep them off our backs."
"You got it, Otto," Bonnie replied.
Otto climbed up the wing towards the door. It opened for a Bullfrog to come out. Otto stunned him before he could get his rifle up, and tossed him from the wing. He entered and looked down the hall in one way and then the other.
"I'll secure the bridge," Otto instructed the two Drop Kingdom engineers. "You sweep the ship for other intruders."
Otto headed for the bridge. There had to be someone there. He opened the door to a Gator turning around as its lone occupant. A blast from his pistol sent him crumbling to the floor.
He hit the intercom. "I got the bridge. Frost, I'll need your help when you're done back there."
"The engine room and passenger cabins are clear," Tammy's voice came over the intercom. "Greene's checking the dining and storage facilities. We'll then check the stern lounge."
Otto checked the cameras. Some Herps approached, but a roman candle landed in front of them. They ran as it blasted sparks in their direction.
Bret came from a stairway. "Galley and pantries are clear. All that's left is the lounge."
Tammy turned to the door to the stern and readied her pistol. "Then let's complete this bug hunt."
She burst through the door. The Gator laying on the couch sat up. He stared at them with their pistols and rolled out of the couch. "Don't shoot! Take the ship! I was just sleeping here!" He ran to the window with the glass broken and jumped out.
"Ship's secure," Bret said.
"I'll clean out Otto's bridge," Tammy said, heading to the door. "Watch from here. It's the best entry point with that window out."
Bret tapped his pistol to the brim of his hat.
With all the pandemonium around the King Barbardo, many of the people in the complex were converging on it, leaving the administrative building and the route to it pretty much abandoned.
Spigot led Emily and Franklin towards the obvious office building. They ducked for cover when groups of Herps ran for the commotion. They entered into the lobby, completely empty.
"You sure they'll have data on their cloud seeding here?" Emily asked.
"They have to have the coordinates of their delivery points somewhere," Franklin said. "It's on something not online, and the company's isolated databases should be here."
"I'm giving you ten minutes," Spigot said. "The King Barbardo and the princesses should be secured by then, and we get our tails out of here."
Franklin walked up to a map of the building. There were floor plans and lists explaining what the labels were for. It was mostly office clusters and other facilities expected for an administrative building.
"Data storage, data room," Franklin mused. "There's got to be data something." He pointed. "There: back-up data storage! It's offline and rarely checked: the perfect place to hide their illicit activities."
"I'm trusting your expertise on this," Spigot said, eyeing all the doors around them warily.
"It's on the third floor." Franklin ran to the stairs. "Ten minutes, right?"
"Make than nine-minutes and fifteen seconds." Spigot checked his watch.
Alex saw Nicole coming with the two Tritons. A Bullfrog and Gator came out of a building behind them. Alex threw a rocket in their direction. It lighted is motor and flew behind the three. They ducked and it exploded in front of the Herps. It gave enough pause for Nicole and the others to reach the King Barbardo safely.
"We just need the master chief, Emily, and Franklin and we're gone," Bonnie said. She looked back at the two rockets and single roman candle they had left. "Hopefully they get here soon, because we're almost out."
"I'll grab more." Alex headed for the far side skylight.
He descended into the storage bay. Rockets were better than the roman candles in stopping the Herps now that it was holding the space around the King Barbardo. He headed to an open crate with rockets.
He grabbed rockets when metal clanging grabbed his attention. Two Gators with rifles barged in. One of them shook off a Gator in protective equipment.
"I knew it," one of the armed Gators snarled.
Alex ducked for cover as bullets flew. They tore into the crates with little resistance. Alex headed behind a thicker stack where the shear about of wood and product would stop them.
An unexpected sound reached his ears. It was an explosion. A box exploded with sparks flying from it. Rockets it contained flew in various directions and exploded. More boxes smoked as sparks caught fire on others.
"You idiots!" the Gator in protective gear roared through his mask. "This whole place if gonna go!"
More rockets shot in random directions. Alex jinked to avoid one that flew into another crate to explode and light more crates on fire.
"Uh…you guys seem to have your hands full at the moment." Alex pointed back with his thumb. "So, uh…I'm just gonna see myself out." He darted for the skylight as the Herps retreated from the exploding fireworks.
Alex slammed himself against the glass to open it and pulled his hat and tail out to make sure they were not caught. He spread his he ears and flew for Bonnie, not trusting his feet to be fast enough.
"Where's the ammo?" Bonnie asked.
"Forget the ammo, we need to split right now!" Alex flew past her.
"Why?" Bonnie asked.
Alex stopped and turned back to point. "That!"
Different colors of light came from the skylight. A rocket exploded on it, shattering the glass.
"Oh." Bonnie took the princesses in her hands and glided down to the King Barbardo.
Alex followed her onto the deck. He rolled onto the wood. Bonnie was more gentle with her landing, holding the princesses. She set her hands down for them to step off.
Nicole came out the door. "Is everyone all right?"
"We're safe and sound," Bonnie said.
A rocket managed to fly out through the skylight into the air and explode in a purple star burst. "But maybe we should indulge in pleasantries below decks."
Alex headed for the bridge. "We need to haul tail out of here!" he said as he entered. "Are we ready to lift off?"
"We're ready, but we're still waiting for the master chief," Otto said.
"Well, we at least need to get away from this building," Alex said.
Otto lowered his brow. "What did you do?"
"Why do think it was my fault?" Alex cried.
A red firework went off overhead. Otto flinched and turned back to the helm. "I suppose we can at least get closer to them, so they aren't exposed trying to reach us."
He pulled back a lever and the King Barbardo lifted.
Lee braced himself on the railing as they lifted from the ground. The line of skylights on the far side of the building were lighting up with bright colors from the fireworks going off within it. They leveled off just above the buildings and drifted towards an office building in the center of complex.
There were other lights approaching in the distance: red and blue. The constables were making their way to complex and there was a bunch of them. The sirens began to fill the night. Below, those Herps that were still around ran from the sound.
There was a canal nearby, and airboats sat parked in it. Herps piled on them and raced into the night.
Lee got out his phone and quick dialed the master chief.
Spigot watched the random fireworks going off and the King Barbardo rising above the complex. As he wondered what had happened—and if the princesses were safe in all that chaos—his phone rang. It was Lee.
"What the hell is going on out there, Mister Pryor?" Spigot asked.
"Well, there's a chain reaction in a storage bay, and we're moving towards you," Lee explained.
"Are the princesses safe?" Spigot asked. That what was important.
"They're perfectly safe and with Lady Nicole," Lee said. "The local constabulary is also heading in and most of the militiamen are booking. Do you have what we're looking for?"
"We're working on it." Spigot turned to Emily and Franklin at a computer. "How much longer?"
"I'm spoofing my C.G.S. work station and copying off compact disks," Franklin said. "This takes a bit of time."
"The local authorities are entering the site," Spigot said. "Once the King Barbardo arrives, we split before we have to answer too many questions."
"I think there are only a few more files that might have what we're looking for," Franklin said.
Spigot turned back to the window. Another thing that concerned him was Geronita. According to the princesses, she was here. Perhaps she was running for the swamp with her followers, but there was no telling.
He took out his pistol and released the safety. There was no reason to not be ready. He rocked it in his hand, even spun it. It was something to release the nervous energy building.
The King Barbardo settled onto the pavement out in front of them. "Alright, collect what you have and we're out of here."
He stopped at the sight of Geronita holding an old-style revolver at Emily and Franklin with their hands in the air and staring at her in horror. He trained his pistol on her without a thought.
"Drop it!" Geronita ordered.
Spigot furrowed his brow and steadied his aim. "I think not. If you shoot them, I've got no reason not to shoot you." He pulled the setting knob on his pistol back to kill. "I'm morbidly curious what an almost two hundred decibel blast does to the cranium."
Geronita was so fixated on Spigot's gun, she did not notice he had a laser pointer in his other fist pointed backward. He clicked it on and off, the motion looking like the twitching of his body being so tense.
Geronita set her jaw on edge. "Nice gun you got there. I wonder how long before it will be on the open market."
"These aren't meant for hunting and personal protection," Spigot said. "I wouldn't be putting in my preorder."
"Pity," Geronita said, "but you never know what manages to get itself out there."
Lee watched the office building's main doors for the master chief as well as Emily and Franklin. "They should be heading down by now," he said.
"Maybe we should head in," Ophelia suggested.
Lee noticed something. It was a green light flashing in a window on the third floor. It was a Morse Code sequence: "S" "O" "S."
"They're in trouble!" Lee declared.
Ophelia turned back to Tammy. "We'll get 'em!"
They ran to the edge and jumped onto the wing. The two ran into the building. Lee looked back up to the flashing light, wondering what was going on up there.
"You're done, Geronita," Spigot stated. "You're cloud seeding outfit is literally going up in smoke, and the constabulary is already entering the complex. You won't slip out of our grasp this time. You're going away for a long time for this."
"I've heard that before," Geronita replied casually. "I'll always get away and always be back. I'm not going to let this opportunity go to waste. You've been exposed as incompetent for all the Wonder Planet to see. I'm just here to point it out. And when you're thrown out as the fools you are, I and my men will do our duty and fill your shoes."
"As delusional as ever," Spigot said. "I have to admit, of all the harebrained schemes you've inflicted on us, this one takes the cake."
"So glad you're impressed," Geronita replied. "Maybe it's opened your eyes."
Spigot furrowed his brow. "To what?"
"The power you yield," Geronita said. "I've never understood why you just take the guff from the other kingdoms. You control their access to freshwater, the single most important resource. You and your friends in the Windmill Kingdom are practically the gods of this planet. Yet, you let everyone walk all over you."
Spigot had an immediate response. "We played gods once. It cost us our home world. Where you only see power, we see an important duty to our fellow sapient beings, including you. And it's not like the tantrums of the rest of the planet change our policy. They can whine while we keep on keeping on."
"You're a bunch of soft-headed fools," Geronita stated. "Everything is about power. You're either an eater or the eaten.
She grinned. "But what is up—or should I say down—with your princesses. You being the only ones with them tells me Yamul doesn't know her daughter is no bigger than a mouse. Given you visiting the Seed Kingdom I'm guessing the rumors of the Mother Tree's powers are true."
"That's none of your business!" Spigot declared, repeating his message with his pointer and wondering how long it would get them to intervene.
Geronita chuckled. "Haven't figured out how to return them to normal size, have you? Is it even possible?"
Spigot remained silent, keeping his eyes fixed on her while his mind was elsewhere.
"I might've gotten what I wanted after all," Geronita said. "If the rodent's spawn wasn't unfit to be our queen before, she certainly is now. I would be doing everyone a favor succeeding Yamul."
Spigot grumbled listening to this. Geronita was as insufferable in person as he imagined. She was so convinced of her supposed superiority. However, the old saying stated that pride went before a fall. She had also provided the perfect opening.
"Princess Milro could be microscopic and still be twice the ruler you would ever be," he said coyly. "Though, leave it to the rudimentary bundle of nerves you call a brain to think strength and stature is what makes a great ruler."
"What did you say?" Geronita snarled.
"You know, for all you and your followers go on ad nauseum about your superior biology, you're all pretty dumb," Spigot said.
"Master Chief, what are you doing?" Emily asked.
"You lionize the Twenty-First Century's most infamous war criminal," Spigot continued, "someone who, by the way, lost in the end and then got ninety-nine percent of his followers killed between failures in your cryotubes and yet another doomed war you were never going to win. You're hated by even your own kind who would love nothing more than to be rid of you. They're just too scared of how unstable you are to do what needs to be done."
Geronita pointed her gun at him. "Shut up."
"You're going to put your sluggish reflexes against mine?" Spigot mocked. "We've dodged every bullet your supposedly trained militiamen have lobbed in our general direction. And before that, the goons you sent to pick up your stolen silver are lucky the constables came when they did because they absolutely sucked in a basic bar fight. Maybe you came out of brumation too early for this cockamamie scheme, because you seem to be having a hell of a time shaking off the winter lethargy.
"Either that, or you just plain suck. You honestly believe you could survive let alone win another war with a bunch of poorly-educated bigots and malcontents who think hitting deer and stationary targets and playing in the woods makes them professional soldiers? Though, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Even when you had actual militaries, you were crushed and reduced to a rump culture three times in three half centuries. At some point, one would think you'd take a hint."
The rage was burning in Geronita's eyes. Her entire body was tense to the point of trembling.
"Sorry, one of those centuries shouldn't count since you spent it frozen," Spigot added.
"I don't think antagonizing the deranged domestic terrorist is such a good idea, Jefe," Franklin said.
"I've gone through hell because of you," Spigot stated, ignoring Franklin's advice. "Not just the cloud seeding—though it's been by far the worst—but all your little schemes to disrupt us for the past five years. There was the radio jamming and before that was trying to contaminate our hydrogen reserves and before that was the attempt to take over a vital parts plant. All that time you've sat in whatever hole you hide in while we can only nibble around the edges. Now I see why. Meeting you face to face, I'm not impressed. If anything, I'm disappointed I wasted so much grief on such a pathetic person."
"Why you," Geronita forced through her clench jaw.
"You're just a fat, old neverwas with a voice that makes nails on a chalkboard sound pleasant in comparison," Spigot stated.
"I'll show you what this fat, old neverwas can do; YOU OVERGROWN RIVER RAT!" Geronita roared.
Spigot guessed she would fire at that moment and ducked away as she did just that. The bullet struck the glass, causing the cheap pane to explode from the shock. Spigot's hat and jacket protected him from the shower of glass shards.
He responded by firing at the casement light Geronita had positioned herself under. The glass shield and light bulbs exploded into a shower of glass and sparks she was not as well protected from. She ducked down to shield her head and pointed her revolver in a harmless direction.
Spigot jumped for the revolver and her wrist. He was only the one to attack her as Emily and Franklin sat there in shock. He pulled her arm down and used his weight to hold it, effectively pinning her. She fired a shot, but it went straight into the floor. He plunged his incisors into her arm with full force, cutting through her coat and into her flesh.
Geronita screamed, and dropped the gun in shock. She bashed Spigot against a filing cabinet to get him off. Pain ripped through Spigot from the blow and his teeth came out of her as he had to open his for let the air escape as it rushed from his lungs. He fell to the ground, winded and dazed.
Spigot's ears screamed and his back throbbed. He tried to force air back into his lungs. Geronita went for the revolver, but Tammy and Ophelia jumped into Spigot's hazy view on her. They each grabbed an arm, and her struggles against their superhuman strength were for naught.
Spigot tasted the blood on his teeth and wiped them clean. Emily helped him up and handed him his hat. "You all right, Master Chief?"
"I feel like crap." Spigot placed his hat on his head and straightened it. His body ached which sharpened with certain motions. He was finally getting air into his lungs.
"You just took on an armed madwoman singlehandedly after talking smack to her at gunpoint," Emily said. "Between that and punching out Axe, I'm starting to like this version of you."
"Well, don't use to him," Spigot replied. "He's going on a long and well-deserved vacation." He winced as the pain came in waves. "Preferably with a comfortable bed and heat pad."
He turned to take in Geronita still struggling against Tammy and Ophelia's grasp. "Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty mammals!" She was not as forceful when trying to pull her bitten arm from Ophelia.
"Though, it was worth it to see that," Spigot said as Geronita finally relented and hung her head low in defeat. "It's the most beautiful thing I've seen all weekend."
The constables gathered around the building with colorful light and explosions coming from the skylights and the random rocket flying up and exploding. A few Herps ran from the lights and sirens, disappearing into buildings or just running to places the patrol cars could not reach. Given the tactical gear they wore, they her from a militia, specifically the Green Cypress from their insignia. Preferring to avoid a fire fight, the constables allowed them to flee.
Bohannon pulled up to where other patrol cars had gathered. A few constables ran from a door as explosions filled the room beyond with explosions of sound and color. "The fire suppression's out," one of them reported. "Try the other side."
"I guess their building maintenance sucks are bad as their product," White commented. "And the fire crews take forever to get out here."
"At least they'll finally be shut down for this," Bohannon said, backing them up to head around the building. "I can hear the thousands of fingers thanking us."
He and others parked at the front of the building. Another rocket managed to fire through a skylight and explode in the sky above them.
"Think this has to with all the G.C.'s?" White asked.
"Keep your eyes peeled," Bohannon said.
A door was unlocked, and they entered. Compared to the indoor fireworks display on the other side, it was rather peaceful here. Bohannon headed to the end of the building and through a pair of double doors into a large, open room. Green Cypress and Stars and Parallel Bars flags hung from the rafters. There was also a platform in front of a map that had Sinker Swamp joined with most of the Seed Kingdom.
"It's a Green Cypress meeting hall." Bohannon took out his gauss pistol, ready for a fight. No wonder they were everywhere.
"What's with the map?" a Gator asked. It showed Sinker Swamp combined with the lion's share of the Seed Kingdom.
"You're asking for a rational explanation for what the Green Cypress Militia does?" Bohannon asked the young officer. "You got a lot to learn, kid."
The constables formed up in their search. There was no telling how many militiamen were lurking around here. There was also the need to get the fire sprinklers working again. They breached a more centralized room with everything bathed in dim, red light.
"Firmland Constabulary, everyone put their hands behind your heads and freeze!" Bohannon ordered.
The workers in protective gear turned to them and put their hands on the back of their head. Bohannon looked at the equipment and wished he had paid better attention in high school chemistry to know what he got into. Whatever it was, they were in the process of dismantling it.
Another constable hit a switch, and they were bathed in normal lighting. "No!" one of the workers shouted. "You'll break down the—"
Another worker elbowed him hard in the gut. He wheezed and doubled over.
"Break down the what?" Bohannon asked.
"It's none of your concern." Bohannon felt the cold barrel of a gauss pistol against the back of his head. "Drop your weapon."
Bohannon dropped his pistol and lifted his opened hands into the air to the height of his shoulders. He turned back to the Gator officer holding him at gunpoint.
"For the good of our people, you will forget you found this room and arrest the mammal saboteurs lurking in this factory complex," the officer said. "They're Cloud Generation Service engineers attacking this private enterprise unprovoked."
"I have a different plan." A loud expulsion of gas surrounded Bohannon and the Gator with an overpowering stench. Bredon's eyes, nose, and throat all burned as he coughed a wheezed. The Gator doubled over and took the pistol away from Bohannon. He was able to knock it away before he had to duck away to get fresh air.
White turned around from facing his tail towards them. "I got you covered."
"Thanks," Bohannon got out between coughs. "I think."
Two officers grabbed the traitor and held him by his arms.
"Hey!" another constable, the young Gator, piped up. "Check this out."
Bohannon and the others turned to the Gator. He held up a one-kilogram bar of silver. The Jewelry Kingdom's sigil was stamped into it. "Everyone's finding stolen Jewelry Kingdom silver tonight."
Bohannon turned to the workers. "Dammit!" one of them cursed.
Milro jumped at the sharp crack of Geronita's gun, a sound she would never get out of her head. The pane of glass Spigot's signal had come from exploded into a shower of shards. It was followed by some kind of explosion inside. There was another shot from Geronita's gun that exploded in her ears. Milro covered her mouth to hide a gasp.
Then, nothing. Milro's skin prickled with sweat. Sophie and Nicole were quiet.
Emily came to the window. She gave a thumbs up. "We got her!" she shouted. "We captured Geronita!"
Milro relaxed so much, it felt like her knees were about to give out in a faint. However, she managed to keep her legs under her. Sophie grabbing her and hugging her helped support her.
"Outside of the master chief getting knocked around a bit, we're all alive and well," Emily added. "We're bringing her down."
Bret and Otto ran on to the deck. "Did some fire a gun?" Otto asked.
"They managed to apprehend that vile madwoman," Nicole answered.
"Geronita?" Bret asked. He rubbed his chin. "I'll have to remember that one."
They watched the main doors. Milro could not help but think that detaining Geronita would not be so easy. She had slipped her mother's grasp so many times.
Though, it was hard to believe one person driven by so much hate could do so much damage. Along with causing the rain and resulting flooding in the Seed Kingdom, she was behind the silver thefts in the Jewelry Kingdom. That entire front page of Friday's paper was because of her machinations.
She was also the cause—through the flooding—of all that anguish she saw personally in the Seed Kingdom. That poor woman who heckled her was driven mad with grief because of Geronita. All those people were so angry because of Geronita.
The doors opened and Spigot led them out. After Geronita seemed like a giant when she loomed over her and Sophie, she seemed small in Ophelia and Tammy's grasp.
"You're not going to leave me for the constables?" Geronita asked as they guided her towards the wing.
"We'll hand you over in due time," Spigot answered. "However, we're first taking you on a little field trip down to the Seed Kingdom where you can face King Rex and the Mother Tree to answer for what you've done to their kingdom. The constabulary can have whatever's left of you."
Milro could not help but think Spigot was hoping the Mother Tree would visit a similar curse on Geronita that she had on her and Sophie.
"Sorry, but—unlike the pathetic excuse for a princess you've foisted on us—I don't wear shrinkage well," Geronita said.
She turned to Ophelia and her tongue shot into her face. She let go to grab her face as she spun back and yelped in shock. Geronita kicked back into Tammy's knee. She let go and grunted. She held her knee and hopped on her unharmed leg.
Geronita ran, holding her right arm. Ophelia and Tammy recovered to run after her. Spigot tried to follow, but stopped and grabbed his back. Geronita and her pursuers disappeared from view for a second or two. The two engineers ran back into view, ducking and holding their necks as the rattling sound of gauss weapons came from the other side of the King Barbardo.
Nicole picked Milro and Sophie up and carried them to the other side. A speed boat sat in the canal nearby. Two Gators helped Geronita out of the water into its back seat. A Bullfrog held a gauss rifle on his shoulder.
"It's like I told you rodents!" Geronita declared, "I'll slip away like always! However, I'll be back! The Wonder Planet will see you for the failures you are, and I'll be there to your place! Just you wait!"
She cackled as they sat and the boat sped into the night, disappearing into the darkness as it left the lights of the complex.
"Should we go after them?" Otto asked Spigot as he limped onto the deck.
"Let her go," Spigot strained. "We should follow suit before the constables start fanning out through the complex."
Geronita sat back as the boat cruised through the water. Slipping by the constables would be an easy task, it always was. Though, there were actions to be taken.
"Send out the order to scrub the seeding sites effective immediately," Geronita ordered the corporal not driving the boat. "We'll go to ground and wait for the heat to die down."
The sergeant cut the sleeve from her jacket to get at the wound. When a Gator bit someone, the teeth were designed to saw the flesh and eventually tear it from the bone. Being bitten with a Beaver's teeth was more like being stabbed with two large knives going in opposite directions. The holes in her arm looked like stab wounds and bled like them. She could move her wrist and fingers—at least he had not severed any nerves or muscles—but tensing caused the blood to pool in the holes.
The sergeant cleaned the wound with alcohol that stung and burned as it came in contact with her open wounds. He wrapped them tightly with gauss. "I can bandage it for now, Commander," he said. "However, you'll need stitches once we get back to base."
She thought of that uppity Beaver. How dare that bark-munching fool believe he could just say those things to her? He thought himself her equal, or even superior? He might have this victory on this night, but it was a minor setback.
"Are there any other plans, Commander?" the corporal asked.
"The cloud seeding operation might have to be aborted, but I've learned some important things from out little venture," Geronita said. "This isn't over, not by a longshot."
While she would not get her kingdom this time, she saw how compromised Yamul and her daughter still were to the political fallout of weather disasters. Perhaps, more importantly, those tales of the Mother Tree's magic were true. That was something that could be of use in the future.
She looked back towards the factory and where those engineers had been. How mouthy was that buck-toothed buffoon going to be when she had the royals—of not just the Drop Kingdom, but the whole Wonder Planet—right where she wanted them?
Nicole sat with Lee as Spigot paced the length of the lounge, his phone to the side of his head. "That's right," Spigot said. He listened. "It was a clandestine joint operation between the Cloud Generation Service and Ministry of Windmill Operations." He paused to listen. The voice on the other end was unintelligible as the ear piece was close to his head and muffled. "The details are sadly classified." He paused again. "I will leave the cleanup to you and your constables." There was another pause. "We'll try being cleaner next time, but I make more promises."
Spigot took his phone from his head and pressed a button. "The constables are off our backs. As far as they're concerned, it was a special operation."
"I'm just hoping this is over," Emily said.
Spigot braced his back as he stood up straight. "You're preaching to the choir."
"Master Chief," Otto's voice came over the speaker. "We've reached cruising altitude. What course should we lay in?"
Spigot walked to the intercom panel. "Set course for the Seed Kingdom and the Mother Tree. We have one last piece of unfinished business to deal with."
