Chapter 19:
These remote airfields were both a boon and a curse for the crews that flew airships around the various corners of Ooo. On the one hand, there was the delight of being able to get off the ship, get some fresh(ish) air, maybe wash or shit somewhere that wasn't a tiny cubicle, and have some fresh food. On the other hand, there were moments where you found the caretakers had forgotten to maintain the shitter, so you had to squat rather than sit on the toilet.
Wiping up, Yevgeny Antonov drew up his jumpsuit and stepped out of the filthy toilet, shaking his head. The food at this particular rest stop wasn't very good either. The babushka behind the counter looked like the type who shaved every coin she got to line her pockets.
If you'd asked Yevgeny what he'd find when he came out of the toilet, a humanoid girl would've been pretty far down the list. She was tall, with long, lean legs, and she came dressed in a sexy little mini-dress in yellow. She was, to coin a phrase, 'most beautiful'.
At her side, was a well-worn roller-suitcase, and the look of her was so familiar and yet so incongruous that a dangerous thought flitted through his mind.
Ghost.
As a cyborg, he was supposed to be wedded to science. At the same time, a corner of his mind knew there were things that existed at the edge of sense and sensation—things that science couldn't yet explain.
"I was given this," the stranger declared, as she extended a hand. "Good for six trips a year to anywhere I wish to go..." She deposited a chit in his hand. When Yevgeny glanced at the chit, the code etched on the surface caused images to appear before his eyes as data flowed to him from the Matrix.
Her brown eyes burned into his, suggesting impatience. Glancing up, Yevgeny agreed, "all is in order. Please come this way."
The minute those words were out of his mouth, the stranger turned and flounced off, dragging that suitcase. She went straight up the ramp, passing Valeri, who stared after her. Yevgeny sent his colleague a burst message, carrying the particulars. :Does she even know where we're going,: Valeri responded? Yevgeny shrugged. Their princess was paying the tab. That was all that mattered.
In the Candy Capitol, a slender figure stepped out of a hired car in front of a dark alley. This space existed as an unsightly blight on the bright, happy capitol of Bonnibel Bubblegum's kingdom. Indeed, it had more in common with the word 'slum' than the idealized world the candy-monarch had striven to attain.
As the figure stood staring into the foreboding darkness, a gust of wind blew through, carrying a strange admixture of urine, garbage, and sugar to the keen nose of the stranger. The slim woman lapsed into a five-minute-long bout of retching.
Such scenes were uncommon in her homeland. Slaves would have been sent in to clean up the filth a long time ago. This strange world seemed much to chaotic and disorganized to hold the power that the King of Ooo wielded.
Fighting through the nausea the filthy miasma induced, the figure stepped off. Wooden heels click-clacking on the stone, she walked into the darkness, one hand clutching a dagger. The voice whispering in her mind directed her, as she took the turns.
Though her sense of smell was spoiled by the wretched scents around her, she could hear other creatures in the darkness around her, causing her heart to beat just a tiny bit faster. Her mother had never had to deal with something like this.
Finally, the slender figure arrived at a heavy iron door. Grasping the knocker, she rapped once on the iron surface and waited.
After a long few moments, where the only sound to be heard was the whispering of the icy wind through the alley, the door snapped open. A hand beckoned, and with only a moment's hesitation, the newcomer stepped inside, the door snapping shut behind her.
Doffing her hood, the slim woman flashed the badge that identified her as the High Lady's representative. The bulky male standing in the hall frowned at it. "He doesn't recognize your badge," a voice announced. "Your authority isn't really valid here, Lady Melosia."
Melosia Castro's grimace of unhappiness was all the reaction she gave as the owner of this establishment stepped into the light. "Claudia Gomez," she inquired? "She was my mother," the woman responded, "since passed away..."
The two nymphs stared at each other a moment, with Melosia doing the calculations in her mind again. The High Lady's power on this side of the great ocean was thin to say the least. She was in dangerously uncharted territory.
Offering the stranger a shallow bow, Melosia declared, "the High Lady needs your help." "Listening," the other nymph responded. "I need assistance in hiring agents to support the High Lady's goals," Melosia explained. "Reward," asked the stranger? Flushing, Melosia responded, "you'll be well compensated for your aid."
Nodding, the stranger said, "stand aside, Claus." The mountain of a man before Melosia stepped aside. Jerking her head towards the door she'd emerged from, the stranger said, "come."
As the sun rose over the Candy Kingdom, the King of Ooo slipped out from between last night's paramours. With a groan, Breezy burbled, "what time is it?" "Seven," Finn sighed. With a groan, the Queen Bee murmured, "drat. I have to go home today."
Rolling over, she draped herself across his back. Long tongue flicking out, she teased his ear. "Remember," she said, "the council's expecting you to come back."
Finn blushed. They were supposed to get married. It was apparently bad news for the Queen to have a baby-daddy instead of a husband. "I'll get with Beeps and pull together some kind of announcement," he responded. "I have to get through the rest of the formal opening of court and deal with any fallout before I can set a date to come out."
The Queen Bee hugged him. Nibbling at his ear, she opined, "I think a formal announcement will satisfy them. We can dot the i's and cross the t's later."
Just then, Finn's phone began to ring. Muttering curses, the big man strode across the room. Snatching up the phone, he took a good look at the name there. "Gotta' take this," he sighed. With no further word, he stepped into the outer room.
"Go," Finn rumbled. Immediately, Star announced, "Bonnie had Enzo drawn and quartered yesterday evening, so there's not a lot I can get out of him..." Finn grimaced. He'd have to have a chat with his two little fiends. That was getting out of hand.
"What do we have," Finn asked? "We've got this factory, such as it is," Star replied. "He was waiting on some dudes they kidnaped out of Truth Kingdom... couple of eggheads who know about electronics. They were supposed to get the machines running to make the electronics..."
"They're probably still on their way," Finn surmised. "I want Orzsebet on the job of tracking them back to where they were kidnaped. What else do we know?" "We got the box that they stole," Star responded. "Grandma's gonna' look at it this morning. I've had Cerelia arrested. I'll be having a chat with her this afternoon." "Ok," Finn agreed. "Keep me posted."
Hanging up, Finn turned towards the bathroom, where the shower was already going. He had a little time to get cleaned up before the car arrived to take him back to the Candy Palace.
The Royals were just shaking themselves out for the day's business when the limo rolled up on the Candy Palace. It was good to see things were starting to go a little bit smoother. Minerva and Betty's advice about transitioning away from crisis-mode was starting to pay dividends, giving Finn hope that the madness wouldn't consume all his people.
For the King, the first item on the agenda was a discussion about where the next reactors were going to go. The machine for Sonbong was on its way. Nadia was assembling a train of airships to move the components east. And they already had the first shipments of gold in hand from the machine at Clusone. In spite of the antics of Lord Enzo, his decision on a placement for the machine appeared to be sound.
An hour later, the King of Ooo strolled into a small room on one of the upper floors of Bonnie's castle, whistling a tune. Seeing Breezy had put a smile on his face. Inside, he found a handful of pretty faces waiting on him and a couple of sour ones.
Gemma was front and center, wearing her unhappiness like a coat, with Apolline and Clarice flanking her. Grace was a bit of a surprise addition. She'd been somewhat avoiding him after the unpleasantness with her ex-servant.
Alongside them, he found his son's wife, Davina, looking natty in a chainmail dress with links so fine that it looked like it was made of silk. One row back sat the Purple Princess, Crab Princess, Desert Princess, Strudel, and Laurel Princess.
"Hey," he greeted them. Moments later, Nadia and Abeiuwa arrived. "Alright," said Finn, as he sat himself. "Let's get started."
Uncrossing and crossing her legs, Grace started things off with, "I've already shown you how much the Suncoast can put in the Royal Coffers, Your Majesty. I believe that if there is another reactor made available, it should be in my kingdom."
"You have the dams in the mountains," Crab Princess interrupted. "You don't need a reactor, but I could use one to help with the kelp harvest." Rolling her eyes, Noemi remarked, "those are my dams, and I'd gladly rid myself of them. They're trouble, and I'm tired of burying my people when one of them gives way."
Finn grimaced, as he realized that this meeting was going to be a helluva lot more difficult than he'd first imagined. When Clarice rose and presented him with a detailed 'study' about how much the Grey Forest would improve with the addition of a reactor, he knew he was in trouble.
Fanning herself, a bored Davina remarked, "not really sure why Connie wanted me to come here. I would've given the grandees a beating for whining about the speed of honey packaging instead of indulging their greed..." The King sighed, as he realized just how long a morning this was going to be.
As if to punctuate the thought, Aerwin came sauntering in, looking the shiznit in a sexy little white dress. "Hello, stepfather," she announced. "Am I late for the meeting?"
Elsewhere on the palace grounds, Cerelia Abramo sat fuming in a cramped room, wondering at why she was being treated to a visit with the King's jailor after being feted earlier in the week. She'd awoken from a pleasant night with one of the pretty boys out of Muscle Kingdom to find soldiers at her door armed with a summons. Now, she was here, cooling her heels, instead of meeting with the various potentates from Engagement Ring Kingdom's garment industry.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the sound of a key turning in a lock announced that something was happening. The curvy woman sat up straight, prepared to read her visitor the riot act.
The cold visage of the King's wood-nymph daughter put paid to the histrionics, as Cerelia felt a chill go down her spine. She'd offended this woman. In the mountains where she'd been born and raised, feuds were frequently started—and blood spilled—over this or that man. Though she'd been coerced by the Bandit Princess's wax-hustler ally, Cerelia feared that meant little to this woman.
The fact that she came dressed all in black set the tone, suggesting that murder was on offer here. The reality that His Majesty doted on his bastard daughter meant that Cerelia could easily find herself searching for her head. Play it carefully, the young woman thought.
Throwing a picture on the table, the nymph growled, "how long was Enzo working for the rebels?" Cerelia frowned down at the picture, forcing herself not to lose breakfast at the sight she'd been presented with. "I don't know what you're talking about," she responded.
Slapping the table, the nymph growled, "he was using electricity from the reactor to support an illegal weapon factory. He was in possession of technology stolen from the far east that had come out of Nagumo's illicit war-machines. How long did you know about this?"
Squaring up, Cerelia responded, "I'm afraid I have no idea..." "You've been entertaining him," growled Star Mertens! Glaring down her nose, Cerelia retorted, "that's how business is done when you're a woman. I would've imagined you knew that, or did your mother hide her dealings..."
The nymph shot to her feet, suggesting Cerelia had scored a hit there. Face clouded in rage, the little woman jammed a dagger into the picture of Enzo's corpse. "Kill me or don't kill me," Cerelia retorted. "I don't know anything about this. Enzo came to me wanting to build a factory. He paid the tithes that the King levied. I dutifully sent His Majesty's cut with my own taxes. That's all I know. If Enzo was doing things he oughtn't, that's the risk of things in my homeland."
The nymph's aquamarine eyes burned into Cerelia's, but the thicc girl didn't back down. Now that she knew what this was about, she had a path forward. Though she knew Enzo was double-dealing, she'd had no involvement and no knowledge of who he'd been working with.
In cool tones, Cerelia remarked, "there's a reason my homeland is known as the Bandit States, Your Excellency. I recall my neighbors crying foul over the decision to locate the machine there. I've endeavored to keep my vassals on the straight and narrow. Perhaps if His Majesty's secret police put a little more effort in, we might prevent a recurrence."
The nymph stood there, half stretched across the table, her eyes burning with hate and rage. Cerelia stared back steadily. "I do not know what Enzo was doing," she repeated. "Perhaps you might've asked him before doing... that."
The nymph straightened, sliding her dagger back into its sheathe with a soft 'click'. In sweet tones, Cerelia inquired, "is there else, Your Excellency?" "You can go," Star muttered. Rising, Cerelia strode out of the room with her head high, giving no sign of the terror the nymph had inflicted or the relief Cerelia now felt.
As the clock struck noon, a relieved Finn stepped out of the little conference room. He'd found himself in a trick-bag once more, torn between giving the nymphs the next reactor and a terror that it would be seen as favoritism. Thankfully, Nadia and Abeiuwa had been the ones to make the decision. The reactor would enable his wife to improve conditions in the Grey Forest and turn the place into a viable kingdom, and Finn wouldn't be seen as the one making the decision.
More to the point, the disparities between the proposals had shown the need to form a committee to get the business out of his hands. Abeiuwa and Nadia had taken the bull by the horns, announcing their intention to do just that.
Coming alongside him, Grace stroked the back of his hand eliciting a shiver of fear. It helped not at all that some of the people wanting a crack at getting a power source had relationships within his family. Grace in particular was open and honest about the way she got things she wanted.
"I'd like to chat this evening," the curvy woman announced. "I'm in the Continental. We can talk in private." Offering him a sweet smile, she said, "I cleared it with the people in charge." Finn grimaced as she went her way, broad hips wig-wagging. The people in charge. What a delightful reminder of his messed-up situation.
As the King of Ooo fumed, an airship from the far east came wafting out of the skies at the Candy Kingdoms' airfield. Touching down gently on the new cement landing strip, the two pilots marveled at the sights before them. This was much better than what they were used to. Valeri chuckled, "I guess we won't have to buy as much fuel. No need to hover or use the thrusters to get out of here."
More pleasant surprises awaited them, as they found themselves taxiing across a grand concrete apron to a well-made terminal building. Thedya remarked, "I guess Yevgeny can eat something better than the shit he had at that last field."
As they taxied their machine to one of the open unloading slots, the pair had more than a few laughs at their senior crewman's expense. Meanwhile, below them, the source of their amusement was making his way to the door.
After a long flight—and plenty of trips to the toilet—Yevgeny was feeling a little better. Surprisingly, their strange passenger had been quiet, doing little more than sleep. That was a boon for a man suffering the ills of a bad decision. Just now, she was yawning and stretching.
As the ship came to a halt, the strange woman rose unfastened her seatbelts as if she'd done it a hundred times, climbed to her feet, and smoothly took her suitcase off the overhead rack. Watching her move, Yevgeny fumbled opening the door. Though every airship came fitted for passengers, they rarely had very many.
More to the point, most folk were bumpkins when it came to this mode of travel, so the idea that you needed to strap yourself to the chair disturbed them. This woman behaved as if this was something she did every day. Who are you, thought Yevgeny, as he unlatched the door?
The minute the boarding stairs were down, the strange woman stepped off, carrying that case as one who'd done it a million times. Stopping in front of him, their strange passenger studied the cyborg for a moment. Patting him on the shoulder, she said, "never eat gas-station stroganina, tovarisch."
Without a further word, she went strolling down the ramp into the westering sun. Snapping open the handle, she dropped the roller-bag on the ground and started walking, joining the stream of folk headed for the terminal building.
Talia Orlova took in the scene before her, experiencing flashbacks to her old life. The sight of airliners being shunted around, people loading cargo, and passengers waiting patiently for their turns to board awakened long-buried memories. Wonder what Kat thinks of all this, she thought.
When the cyborg-girl had presented her with the chit, she'd had little use for it. Now, having found out that her best frenemy was still somehow alive, she'd been tempted to drop in on Kat for a visit.
Joining the queue, the witch headed out through the terminal and immediately found herself standing stock still inside as she stared around her like the first time she'd gone to the airport in Yakutsk. It was all there—the queues of folk buying tickets, the little restaurants, a handful of uniformed stalwarts providing dubious security.
Fighting the urge to cry, the witch-woman pressed on, rejoining the flow of people heading out through the doors on the far side. Arriving on the far side, she found a queue of somewhat rickety vehicles waiting.
Taxi stand, thought the rusalka. A corner of her mind wanted to see how far her connection to El Presidente stretched. She thought she could stick her pet dictator with the bill for a cab ride. At the same time, she wanted to keep her presence here a secret. Time to see how far a thumb and a pretty face will take me in this age, thought the witch, as she set out for the road.
Stepping off, she began walking towards the road, finding the spring air cool but still pleasant. The sun was high in the sky, bringing a sense of well-being. Billboards by the roadside and cars rushing past gave her a sense of civilization, and she delighted in the strange sights of creatures that would have been considered 'fiction' in the world where she'd been born.
Arriving at the gates of the airport, the slim woman stopped in a good, visible spot. Whistling a tune, she stuck out her thumb to the first passing car and was almost immediately rewarded with a ride. Climbing inside next to a creature that seemed made of living ice-cream, the witch announced her destination, then sat back for the ride into town.
Inside the Candy Castle, the King of Ooo was once more on the hot-seat. News that one of the bandit lords had attempted to build a weapons factory was getting around, with Cerelia fanning the flames in an unsubtle effort to deflect attention from herself. The august beings gathered in the hall were incensed by the duplicity, and the calls to bring in the Elbownians had risen again.
Finn was squirming. Not only did he not trust the Elbownians, but the royals were once again talking of executing some royal thievery by stealing from others to benefit those they saw as their friends and allies.
Coming to his rescue, Nadia declared, "the matter is solved." She was using her cyborg-biz to talk over the sea of whining voices. That—and the fact that she was a girl—got her some traction, where the royal bitches wanted to keep whining.
"Lest you forget," Nadia remarked, "I am part owner of the reactor. My people supplied its workings, and we get a say in where it resides and who is given charge of it. I'm satisfied with the Crown of Ooo's efforts to protect the reactor and prevent its misuse. Lord Enzo was unable to do much of anything. Let us have no more talk of dispossessing the folk of Bormio."
The talking mercifully died down then, letting Breakfast get things back under control. Turning to Star, she said, "please finish your statement."
Clearing her throat, the younger woman explained what they knew about Enzo's plan before vaguely laying out what she was going to do next. "The factory's secure," she explained. "The Dowager Queen is looking at the site this afternoon to determine if it can be made into a resource for the Crown."
"Thank you for your time, Princess Star," Breakfast declared. Stepping back from the podium, Star turned to go, as her stepmother announced, "next item on the agenda is the matter of the disposition of the next tranche of reactors."
Climbing to her feet, Abeiuwa stepped down the aisle to the lectern. Adjusting the microphone, she declared, "I've been in negotiation with the guild and the Minister of Science. We have made arrangements for the procurement of fuel for the next three reactors. The first of these will be positioned southwest of the Grey Forest in the former Duchy of Nuts."
Around her, disappointed faces absorbed her words as she discussed how the machine would be moved, when, and to where. Said the Jungle Princess, "the next machine will be delivered sometime this fall. It'll be installed in Purple Kingdom, enabling the wind down of half a dozen poorly constructed and maintained dams."
"And the last location," demanded Henrietta?! Eyebrow climbing, Abeiuwa responded, "the Peanut Kingdom has plenty of power from its wind turbines, with supplemental power from the Candy Kingdom at need..."
Shooting to her feet, Tania Stanek shouted, "I demand my people be given this last machine! It's only fair, since you're stealing our home!" Those words precipitated another shouting match, causing Finn to sink down in his chair. It was going to be a long day.
Outside, a bemused Baba Yaga strolled up to the gates of the Candy Palace to find a piece of candied fruit standing guard there. She'd only been in this town twice before, and she'd mostly been involved in 'business' at the time. Seeing the sights as it were left her both amused and homesick for her flat in Paris, where she'd been able to hit the clubs at all hours and flirt with pretty men to her heart's content.
As she rolled around in her memories, the talking banana stepped in front of her, asking, "how can I help you?" He sounded like one of the rented thugs that often guarded the sets of the various Russian-language movies she'd done back in the day.
While said guards were almost always Russian Mafia and very dangerous to trifle with, this fellow seemed almost laughable. At least he would've been if not for the gun strapped to his hip.
"I'm going in to see a Sarah Mertens," the witch responded. Flipping through the notebook he held, the guard rumbled, "I don't have any visitors on the list for Lady Sarah. I'm gonna' need to see your ID."
Putting on a bemused smile, Baba Yaga waggled her finger in front of him, declaring, "you don't need to see my identification." The weak-minded candy-person responded, "I don't need to see your ID." "I can go about my business," Baba Yaga continued. Nodding, the officious banana waved her through.
You should've done that Star Wars pic, thought the witch. You'd have cleaned up. Shaking her head, she crossed the courtyard, taking note of the flags fluttering from the walls and the neatly parked rows of carriages and limousines. Wouldn't be bad to get a ride back to the airport, she decided.
Now, she made her way around towards the ramp at the rear of the building, taking note of those who might be watching. Fortunately, security seemed to mostly be focused outward. A part of her pondered having a conversation with the gigolo about that.
Strolling down the ramp and into the darkness there, the witch conjured an obscuring mist to let her get past any cameras. Sauntering onward to the bank of elevators she remembered from her last visit, the pretty woman tap-tap-tapped the call button and waited impatiently for the car to arrive.
Down in the sublevels below the dungeon, Sarah Mertens was hard at work. With Blargetha over at the science academy, the android woman was taking the opportunity to work on business of her own without her annoying lab-partner.
Head-down and headphones turned up, the sex-machine was in the groove, listening to some of her favorite music, while she went over the test-results of the soil from Elbow Kingdom. The nutrient mix she'd been working on was working a lot better, giving her hope that they could so something with the burned lands the Dipped had left.
"I would've expected you to plug yourself into that," a voice remarked. Sarah, who'd heard that on occasions too numerous to mention, snorted, "that would miss the point of music. There's more to life than bits and bytes."
Glancing over her shoulder, the android was startled to find the rusalka standing there. Shooting to her feet and inadvertently unplugging the headphones, Sarah babbled, "how did you...?" "Not important, mashina-devushka," said she. "I've a proposal, if you've a mind to listen..."
Slipping the headphones off, Sarah leaned back against the table, offering her visitor a look of puzzlement. "Finn's upstairs," she declared. "He'll be done with the formal audience..." "Don't want to talk to El Presidente just now," Talia interrupted. "We're talking, you and I."
Striding forward, the witch offered, "put your headphones back on. I have something you should hear..."
Puzzled, the android woman raised the headphones back to her head. The witch began to sing, which should've been meaningless, given the headphones were plugged into thin-air at the moment.
Sarah felt a strange surge of something as a stream of audio-data flooded her mind, bringing vertigo with it. As her head swam, the witch murmured, "how do you feel?" Frowning, Sarah murmured, "ok, I think. What did you just...?"
The android girl's eyes were now big as plates as she stared at Baba Yaga. "I wasn't sure that would work," Talia murmured. Frowning, Sarah burbled, "somehow you've given me audio of an event that I don't remember being part of..." With a shrug, the witch declared, "your creator erased your memories at my behest. I've restored them, if only by part."
The witch was already moving on. Said she, "I wanted to weigh in on the gigolo's unhappy little debate, but I like my peace." More likely, she feared letting go of the knowledge of what she had, but Sarah didn't call her on that.
Sarah wasn't sure what was more worrying—that the witch saw/heard the whole business with Blargetha's proposal, or that she had an opinion to raise. As she lay the headphones back on the table, Sarah responded, "for the record, he didn't really want..." "I know what he wants," Talia interrupted. Shaking her head and muttering curses, the witch admitted,"I don't like that nasty snot-rag, but I have to admit she's right."
Sarah sighed. She'd understood Blargetha's argument immediately. The aliens didn't need Ooo to survive to get the Devourer. If anything, blowing up Ooo made their lives a whole lot easier.
The pair stared at each other for several moments. Finally, Sarah surmised, "you didn't come here to confront him..." "No," Baba Yaga responded. "I had what the Brits would've called a 'think'." Reaching into her handbag, the rusalka withdrew a binder full of documents. "It was science-fiction in my time," said the witch, "until the aliens came."
Sarah's jaw came unhinged and then she practically snatched the binder from the witch's hands. "Can you read it," asked Talia?
As she skimmed the first pages, Sarah muttered, "Nadia gave me a Russian-language translator. Is this complete?" "No," Talia admitted. "Some of it was lost in the holocaust. I saved what I could. Can you work with this?"
Sarah asked the burning question, "why give me this?" "I want the bomb gone, mashina-devushka," the witch replied. "I won't leave it for someone else to be stuck with."
Resting a hand on Sarah's shoulder, she shared a conspiratorial grin with the android and said, "and what's more fitting than using the weapon meant to shatter Earth against Earth's enemies." Sarah laughed.
Tapping the binder, Talia said, "we have a way to solve maybe two or three problems at once, Sarah. We can build her an engine with this, something that can power this thing she wants to build. It won't be quick, but maybe it would let you take one of the broken reactors..." "...and swap for anti-matter," Sarah agreed, "and get rid of the bomb all at one fell swoop."
The android offered her a shrewd glance and asked, "you sure you have to leave us? We can sure use the help getting things straightened out again." Talia flushed. "My time is gone, Sarah," Talia rumbled. "It's time I left the stage for good."
A certain human girl is making herself a pain in Finn's butt, while Talia comes to his aide (and her own) with a risky proposition. And Star finds her self-control tested by an encounter with the wench that banged her hubby. :) Oh, and the brief return of Breezy (for now).