The Princess and the Wizard
By
UCSbdad
Disclaimer: There are Castles and castles in this, but I own neither. Rating: K Time: 1967 and elsewhen.
Author's note: To get a look at what Castle's unit looks like, go to http colon back slash back slash ctrp dash 3d dash 4thcav dot com backslash troop dot html Click on org chart.
Castle thought for a moment.
"Charlie 10 to all Charlies. The open meadow seems to go in the general direction of the base camp. We'll go that way. Usual formation. Any questions? Over."
There were none and the platoon got moving.
First were two M 48 tanks, then a section of two scout ACAVs, M113 armored personnel carriers with an armored cupola for the .50 caliber machine gun and an M 60 machine gun on either side of the roof hatch. Next came Castle's command track, in the approximate middle of the platoon, so he would be in a position to respond no matter where the threat came from. Then came the infantry squad track, then an M125 81mm mortar carrier, the second two vehicle scout section and finally, the last tank.
They drove down the middle of the open field which got wider and wider as they drove. After a half an hour, Esposito spoke.
"Sir, we should have been to the base camp by now. Hell, we should be to the provincial capital by now."
"I know. I know. If I had any good ideas, I'd sure as shit mention them. But I don't, so all we can do is keep going and hope we run into something."
They did run into something as the lead tank came over a slight rise.
The commander of the lead tank yelled over his radio.
"LT, this is Pappy. We have a person ahead. Maybe a click off. Over."
Pappy Brown had left Mississippi and ended up fighting in Korea in 1950. There he discovered he liked nothing more than being an armor crewman. Over his career he'd deftly avoided any assignment that didn't involve being in a tank. That probably caused him to miss out on promotions, but he didn't care. As it was, Pappy was the oldest man in the platoon and the oldest enlisted man in the squadron.
"Charlie 10 to everyone. Stop and get into a herringbone."
The vehicles turned 45 degrees to the left or right so that their weapons covered as much of the surrounding area as possible. But no one but Pappy could see a damned thing.
"Pappy, this is Charlie 10. I'm coming up to you."
Castle track pulled out and drove up beside Pappy's tank. Castle took out his binoculars and checked out the lone figure standing ahead of them.
"What do you make of that, Pappy?" He asked.
"She sure looks like a round eye lady. A redhead, and she has on a nice red dress. If the VC or anyone else is around, she don't know about it, I'd guess."
Castle thought for a minute. They sure as shit didn't cover anything like this at Fort Knox.
"Okay, Espo, I'm taking the track down to see what she wants, if anything. You get out and get into Charlie 11. If anything happens to me, you're in command."
Espo hopped off the track and Castle explained what he was going to do over the radio to the rest of his platoon.
Paco Iturbide, the track's sole cavalry scout took over the .50 machine gun while Kemper and Doc Mellon took over the M 60 machine guns. Castle sat on the rear deck of the track, hopefully out of the way of the gunners, and where he could see what was happening.
"Okay, Borden. Let's go. Stop about twenty yards from her and nobody shoot at anything unless I order it or I'm dead."
Borden drove slowly towards the woman and stopped twenty yards from the redhead.
Castle stood up and moved to just to the side of the .50 machine gun cupola.
"Hi, I'm Lieutenant Rick Castle, US Army. Where are we?"
The woman smiled coldly.
"You are where I've brought you to. You are now all my slaves and you will help me conquer the entire valley and seacoast, for starters, at least."
"You brought us here and we're your slaves? Sorry, we don't do slavery. And it's illegal where we come from."
"You dare to disobey Meredith the Magnificent, the most powerful sorceress in all of creation? Do you dare do that, little man?"
"Sounded that way to me." Castle said, having trouble not laughing at the woman's odd belief.
"Then you shall suffer for you impertinence." She screamed. She pulled out something on a short chain and began whirling it around her head. As she did so, something that looked like black smoke poured out of it, eventually forming a black circle. Then the circle slowly went towards Castle, settled around his head and then disappeared.
"Thanks, but I don't smoke." Castle said, wondering what that was all about.
"So, you have some magic, do you? It must be some sort of amulet or holy object as I can detect no magic inherent in you. Any of you."
"Magic?" Castle shook his head. "Great, we've come to the planet of the nut cases."
The redhead pulled out another something on a chain and again whirled it around her head. This time the smoke was red. Once again, a smoke circle of red smoke was formed, and once again it moved towards Castle and disappeared once it touched him.
"This cannot be!" The redhead screamed.
"Excuse me, lady, but I have to get going. I have to continue not being a slave."
Castle radioed the rest of his platoon to continue on their way. As the first four vehicles passed Castle's track moved back into its place. The last scout track to pass the redhead hit a large puddle and splashed water on her. She screamed obscenities at the departing platoon. The troops laughed.
They went on for several more miles. Once again, Pappy Brown saw someone ahead of them and once again Castle's platoon moved into a herringbone position while Castle had his track move up by Pappy's tank.
They both studied the lone figure through their binoculars.
"What do you think, Pappy?"
"It's another redhead, but this one doesn't have on a nice dress. Looks like she has some sort of armor, a helmet and she's wearing a sword. I wonder if she's looking for slaves, too?"
"This time we'll all go down and ask her. I'll take the point."
Castle's track stopped about twenty yards from the redhead. Up close, he decided she was young. She was also wearing a chain mail shirt that came down over her hips, black leather shorts that ended above the knees and ankle boots. In addition to her sword, she had a fair sized dagger.
"Hi, I'm Rick Castle, First Lieutenant, US Army. Who are you?"
The girl looked at him suspiciously and rested her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Were you brought here by Meredith the Mad to be her slaves and to conquer all of the valley?"
"You mean the crazy redhead? She said something about bringing us here and since we're wherever here is, I guess she did that. As far as being slaves, not a chance. As I told her, we don't do slavery."
"And she just let you leave?" The girl did not sound convinced.
"She made some kind of a smoke ring, but nothing happened. It just dissipated."
"You survived the Ring of Death? What color?"
"One was black and the other was red."
"You survived two Rings of Death? You must be a great and powerful sorcerer."
"No, like I said. I'm a first lieutenant, US Army. And just who and what are you?"
"I'm Alexis the Red, oh, Great Sorcerer. I serve His Serene Highness, James XVII, who rules the Great Valley from the mountains all the way to the Endless Sea. Meredith the Mad is our great enemy. If you will come with me, I'm sure King James will make you welcome."
"How far is this King of yours?" Castle asked.
"By foot, a ten of days. In your magic wagons, I do not know how far."
"These aren't magic wagons, their tanks, ACAVS, a track for the grunts and…." He saw that the girl had no idea what he was talking about. "Anyway, we don't have anyplace to go, so we might as well go see your king. Hop aboard."
The girl seemed to have no idea how to mount the track, so Castle leaned down, grabbed her hand and pulled her on top.
"Sir, "said Doc Mellon. "We didn't have any breakfast since we thought we'd eat at the base camp. How about a chow break?"
"Good idea. Kemper, get on the horn and tell everyone we'll be stopping to eat. And we have a lady with us now, so if someone needs to take a dump, do it behind a track."
Castle then pulled out a carton of rations that was secured to the deck of the track with a bungee cord.
"Let's see what kind of C rats we have today."
The girl made a face.
"See rats? You eat rats?"
"Uh, no. The word rats is short for rations. Food. There have been some accusations, but I assure you, there are no rats in these meals." Castle pulled a small cardboard package out of the box and checked it. "Here we go. Beans and Weenies, biscuits and cheese, and a pound cake. That sound good?" He said as he handed it to her.
She stared at the package and obviously had no idea what to do with it.
Castle took it back, opened the package, then used his P 38 to open the cans, then found a can of Coke ® for her to drink. Then he went looking for his own meal.
Castle and Alexis sat on top of the track, eating while the rest of the crew got out to stretch their legs.
They had just finished eating and Castle was about to tell everyone to get ready to move when a bolt of lightning hit not ten yards from the track. Castle blinked a few times and saw a very large, shaggy looking man standing there, holding a two-handed sword.
"What the hell is that?" He asked.
"it's the Slobberer!" Cried the girl. "It's a Demming and a minion of Meredith the Mad."
"What the hell is a Demming?"
"They're horrible non-human, evil beings."
"And that's Meredith the Magnificent to you, slut." Growled the man.
"What do you want?" Castle demanded, slipping down into the cupola behind the .50 machine gun.
"I have come to take your head for not obeying my mistress, then I shall spill my seed into the red headed whore, and finally I'll take your men into slavery. You cannot withstand me. I have the finest magical sword in existence, Executioner, in my hands."
"Let me see if I have this correct. You plan to kill me, rape her, and enslave the rest?"
"That's exactly what I'll do!" He roared.
Castle moved the barrel of the .50 to cover the man, then pressed down quickly on the butterfly trigger. The machine gun fired three rounds, one a red tracer, and knocked the Slobberer over.
Alexis drew her sword and jumped down from the track. She carefully approached the man, but he was obviously dead. She carefully took his sword and then went back to the track.
"You are truly an awesome wizard. He's dead. He's killed hundreds of men and no one has ever even hit him before. What amazing magic did you use?"
Castle tapped the receiver of the gun.
"I used Ma Deuce here."
"You have a female spirit in that odd looking…weapon?"
"No, it's not female. It's a Model 2 machine gun, also called a Mod Two. Deuce is a slang term for two, so it's a Mod Deuce, and called a Ma Deuce." The girl just stared at him. "Makes no difference. He's dead and not going to hurt anyone. We need to get going."
TBC