The Event - Tales of the Triad, Book One

Chapter 17 - Land of the Rising Sun

  Three days later, with another light snow falling through the gray skies, the airships lifted off for the expedition to Japan. Six ships in all, but only two would head out over the Pacific for Japan. Two others would seek out Hawaii and the last two would be mapping the West Coast of the continental US and then head north to Alaska.

  Christine went to the west coast and Joshua would head to Hawaii. It was a good opportunity as the four ships headed over the Pacific would stay in visual contact until Hawaii. Then, if there was an island left, land and resupply before the last two ships continued on their way. In a month all the ships should return, if all went as planned.

  The ships were armed with the new weapons as well, fixed in the nose, with a turret in the tail as well as a left and right waist position. Instead of the six crew originally planned, two additional men were needed for the gun positions, although the term man was not literal. In the new army, women were pressed into combat positions, shorthanded as they were. Most of the women felt it was about time for that last equality anyway.

  With the Wizard and the Japanese tourist, it meant the ships for Japan had ten crew, the ships for the other venture had either eight or nine. Fifty four men and women sent on what may turn out to be a fool’s errand. John was nervous about not being there, but recognized the need for him to remain at the Citadel and run things. It wasn't easy to send people out into harm’s way while he stayed behind, but he had no choice in the matter.

  Three weeks later, Christine returned with the news that California was gone and that glaciers covered everything north of Oregon. They had mapped the new coast as far north as the edge of the advancing ice sheets and brought back eighty six survivors who had agreed to look the place over for a week, then either swear fealty or be relocated.

  Joshua had called in twice and Tasha three times since they had left, with Joshua's last call coming from Hawaii. The main island was there, but only the top few feet of the volcano, which was still spewing lava, with no survivors in the area. Tasha's last report had been when she was leaving the Hawaiian Island area and heading west. That had been the last contact with either team and they had not responded to any calls from John. It was hoped that the crystals simply had range limitations and not that the expedition was lost, but the only way to be sure was to send another team after them and John was not willing to do that yet. Christine was more explicit and more pissed.

  “He just decided to go to Japan with his ships. He won't answer the calls because he knows you will tell him to turn back and I will go after him, catch him and hurt him. When he gets back I will anyway.” Then she went to her room where she could cry in private. Turned out she was right.

  Tasha finally reported in when she was over the remains of Japan. Mountain tops were about all that was left, but there were people still struggling to survive and failing. The earthquakes that Japan had always experienced had increased massively and all the volcanoes had blown their tops. Tsunami had followed and the land sank and the oceans rose. The survivors from the event were crushed by collapsing buildings, drowned by Tsunamis, buried by lava or washed away by rising seas. It took nearly two weeks for the four ships to comb the Japanese archipelago and be sure they had everyone. The two thousand odd survivors the teams found were barely hanging on and the airships were headed back at top speed with full loads of Humanity. They would be at the Citadel around midnight.

  The Japanese community was informed and asked to prepare to assist the incoming survivors. Food, housing and bedding was hurriedly prepared and when the ships finally arrived, the people were as ready as they could be.

  The four ships had all the survivors aboard and were not equipped for that, so there was concern about how many would live, packed into the hold like that. It was necessary however, as the weather was deadly in the Japanese mountains, with the temperature dropping well below zero before dark, with continuous heavy snow.

  Food was almost gone and shelters were continuously being damaged by wind and heavy accumulated snow crushing the roof and walls. Dozens were dying every day and ten died while the ships were being loaded on the last pickup. The rescue teams refused to leave anyone behind, since it was an absolute certainty that they would all be dead by the time a return flight could be made.

  Every home in the town and Down Below was prepared to take in a few of the survivors and care for them until housing could be built. Even so, this would almost double the population and put a real strain on resources for some time to come.

  As midnight approached, John and the remaining Wizards joined the rest of the population near the landing pads, ready to help the people off the airships and take them home for the night. Healing crystals in hand, they watched the sky, straining to see the lights of the returning ships.

  The Japanese tourists were at the front of each line, to explain to the survivors what was going on and where they would be staying for a few days. The rest of the people would not be able to communicate with them, so it was hoped that this brief explanation would be enough for today. Later John would have Suki work with the tourists and set up a placement board to determine what skills these people had and where they would fit in, should they agree to stay on at the Citadel.

  Christine approached John and leaned in to whisper to him. “The ships are in sight and Joshua says they will land in a few minutes. They've lost another eight, so far. The people aboard are in bad shape and neither Joshua nor Tasha can heal any more tonight.”

  “We won't heal everyone tonight either, there's too many of them. We need to give them enough to hang on and let rest and food help them recover. We need to keep some strength in reserve for the worst cases, frostbite, exposure and the like. You two girls need to remember that and not wear yourselves down too fast. This is going to be one very long night and we need to pace ourselves.”

  A shout went up from the crowd as the first ship approached the pad. The troops were keeping everyone back, as the air crews were undoubtedly tired and would need a little more room for landing tonight.

  When the side door opened, the troops started helping people out and the tourists began speaking to them as they came out, reassuring them of their safety and that they would be taken care of and explaining over and over that the people would be taking them into their homes until they recovered from the ordeal. Stretchers were needed for many and the most severe cases were healed at least partially by the Wizards.

  When all four ships were on the ground and unloading, it was a scene of orderly chaos. Many voices, strained with exhaustion, babbled in languages the other didn't know, but smiles and hot food, with a quiet tone reassured those who could still walk on their own. There was still some fear of this unknown people and the loss of their home and families but they gained some comfort from the voices and faces of their countrymen.

  By the time the sun was up, the ships were empty, their crews in bed and the survivors had been fed, healed and for many, taken to homes to rest and recover. Several hundred were not yet distributed but when noon arrived, everyone was in a home and the cleanup of the area and ships was underway. Food was released from store houses and sent to the army for distribution and in some cases to be cooked, with a food line set up for the workers who were preparing more housing, as well as the cleaning crews.

  John led the Wizards back to the castle, where they all went to bed. When John woke up a few hours later, both Jenny and Beth were curled up with him in his room. He decided it was time to change the spell on the door, then decided it wouldn't do any good. They could just make the wall permeable and walk through if they wanted too. They had a hold on him, their arms around him and their hands clenching his shirt. Getting out of bed would not be easy, so he woke them up with a gentle shake and asked if they were hungry.

  “You're not mad?” Beth looked concerned.

  “Would it do any good? No, I'm not mad. It just means you are both learning to be better Wizards and that's what I want for you. I can't get mad wh
en you do something I want, can I. Of course, how you use your magic is another story, but I am too tired get excited about that today. Now, I have to go potty, so if you will let go, I can at least have some privacy in the toilet, right?”

  “I suppose so. Even Tricia doesn't follow Christine into the toilet. No guarantees on the tub, though.” Jenny gave him one last squeeze before she let go and got up to head for the toilet herself. John got up and looked back at Beth. “Well, what about you? Hungry?”

  “Yes and I'll leave you alone in the toilet, too. It's probably stinky anyway. I'm going to pee. See you at the mess hall.” She took off through the open door. John headed for the toilet, grateful for that small measure of peace.

  In the mess, the Wizards were all gathering, Joshua with a rather contrite look on his face, for a change.

  “So, you want to tell me about it, or would you rather I let Christine beat you some more?”

  “No, no more abuse. I'm sorry for worrying you all, mostly Christine, no offense. It's a long hard way across the pacific and by the time we got to Hawaii, I had already decided to stay with the other flight. We need something a lot bigger if we do any more long range flights, something more powerful, faster and just plain massive. Even going up the west coast of the US was tough, once they got to Oregon. The winds were murder and the cold was bad, really bad. They had ice forming on the interior walls, even with the heaters going.”

  Christine added her share of comments as well and Tasha agreed with them both. “If it had not been for those people, what was left of the Japanese people, I would have turned back. The only reason I kept going was just in case there was someone left somewhere in the archipelago who needed our help. If it had gotten any worse, I don't think that would have kept me going any longer.”

  “You did good Tasha. Two thousand people are alive because of you and Joshua. When we are done here, we need to go help with houses so eat up and get ready for another long day. Joshua, didn't you say once that you got the big tanks at a shipyard?”

  “Yes, not very far north, in Virginia. Of course, it's under water by now.”

  “Do any of you know what I mean when I say 'Steam Punk'?”

  “I do.” Tasha had her hand in the air, like a school girl. “We, the Human Wizards are wearing steam punk style clothing. It's like Victorian England meets science fiction, like Jules Verne or maybe H. G. Wells. John likes Post Apocalypse and I like the Edwardian stuff. Right?”

  “Yes. It's a clothing style, a life style, several video games, a form of fiction and even Anime, Japanese cartoons. There were a lot of movies and TV series about it and even a few made in this country and other places. The point of this is that, in steam punk, they build big.

  “Battleships and aircraft carriers powered by steam and flying through the air with some new technology unknown today. It is an alternate history, like what if Sir Frances Drake flew his ship to the moon instead of the Americas. We have that unknown technology, we have the crystals, we have steam, we have ships, battle ships, aircraft carriers, super tankers. Next year, when the spring comes we can start building and then we can see what's left of the world. It's a big project and we need to consolidate what we have here first, but it is doable, with what we know now.”

  Of course, they all looked at him like he was nuts.

  The Japanese were a mixed group, farmers, fisherman, office workers, engineers, computer geeks, housewives, technicians, shrine maidens and priests, both Buddhist and Shinto. Military and martial arts masters, even a traditional blacksmith and sword maker, potters, singing idols, movie stars, wood carvers, construction workers, two doctors and an electrician. Of course there were a lot of kids and teenagers along with the adults and new classes were added at the Academy, Japanese for English speakers and English for Japanese speakers. A site was located on the new east coast a few miles from the Citadel for a new fishing village and docks were to be built as soon as the weather allowed, with boats soon to follow.

  Any new industry was welcome and a restaurateur from Fukushima, in Honshu, was also a new addition to the town. Surprisingly, spring came in February and planters were caught with their pants down by the early thaw. Everyone made up for lost time and two thousand bodies were put to work in the fields to make it happen. Even with the hard labor, people were happier than they had been for a long time, as they could see the results of their labor and working together, playing together and learning together was a new experience for almost everyone. In the evenings, around large fires, groups would talk of the day’s work, sing, listen to stories about survival and success and make eyes at the opposite sex. Marriage was becoming more popular now that they could plan for a future and not a grave.

  Suki and Tasha tied the knot during the spring planting, as did Joshua and Christine and they did adopt Trisha. Many other couples in the community followed their example, keeping Pastor Brown busy in his new Church building. Kids ran around the fires at night and slept under clear skies, until the late February showers made the cabins more desirable. When the planting was finally done and people went back to school and training, they went more willingly and with actual enthusiasm.

  The tailor was not very happy, as there were also several tailors among the Japanese who did better work, faster and were agreeable with the Guild system, not to mention furniture makers and crafters of all kinds. Several teachers were recruited from that group also and everyone was working hard. Traditional Japanese clothing was added to John's closet, like it was too many others. The Happi and the Yakuta were especially favored along with the Japanese split toe socks. The Dwarfs seemed to like rainbow colored socks with individual toes, something that the Japanese community was happy to make for them.

  Classes in Japanese martial arts were encouraged for all citizens, along with the medieval techniques as taught by John. Another public bathhouse was built and they were becoming so popular, that a third was being planned. A small restaurant was opened. Bento, the Japanese boxed lunch, was introduced to the population, with an American version offered in the same restaurant. The two men who opened it had worked together in the fields earlier and found they had much in common, other than a language.

  Both were cooks, men who had run and owned their own restaurant before, one in Philadelphia, the other in Tokyo. Even with a limited inventory so far, the Tokyo Cheese Steak was doing very well and when the new crops were in, they would expand the menu. John made sure to eat there often, to give them as much of a boost as he could. He also loaned them the capital to get started, at almost no interest and very easy payments.

  Private enterprise had to be successful in order for this town to work. The bathhouse, restaurant, the cobbler, the farms, the fishermen, all needed to feel that they were working not for the government, but for themselves. While it was true that John bought most of the fishing catch and most of the other crops, that was to insure a safe margin of emergency supplies was available and to feed the army and the labor squads. He also ran the cannery, because there was no one else who could make the cans yet except the Wizards, unless they went back to the old method of solder, with the inherent danger of lead poisoning and bacterial contamination. The Crown would always have something under their control, just because there was no one else to do it, but as much as possible, it would be private industry running whatever they could.

  The co-op farmers were doing well with the training and would have a new crop of sod busters ready for next year. The new farmers would still need help, but with their neighbors dedicated to their success, they would have plenty of help and advice.

  Pastor Brown, with the help of a few of his church members, started a seminary and several Catholic Priests and two Rabbis were finally located. They shared the seminary and church buildings for now, spending as much time in friendly theological arguments as they did teaching. The big topic was how to put this event in perspective with scripture. It promised to be interesting.

  By the time summer was over and the first anniversary of
the event had come and gone, the new airship, the Behemoth, was under way. It was a monster of an airship, using the hull of a nuclear attack aircraft carrier recovered from the shipyard in what was Virginia. The gutting and modifications would take place during the winter months when the most labor was available. With luck and hard work, it would be ready for trials by the next anniversary of the event. Multiple steam turbines would power the electrical generators and together with the solar panels would enable the ship to travel the entire world without stopping or landing for fuel.

  The chemist, Charles Benton, had been working for some time now and had come up with a way of processing the gloop from the synthetic breakdown into a fuel, which could be fed into the boilers like fuel oil, replacing wood or coal aboard the airships.

  While it wouldn't yet run an internal combustion engine, he was working with several engineers on getting a small diesel engine modified to experiment with. The new vessel and any future vessels would be able to use either the new oil fuel or burn wood or coal. Smaller ships were also built to be flown off the new carrier, as fighters, scout ships and transports.

  In other areas, a hospital was built and the doctors and nurses were busy training students in health care and in medical research, as Wizards couldn't be everywhere and they did get tired. Silos were in place, barns and root cellars were ready for the anticipated harvest and people watched the rain and the weather and worked on the new skills they would need. People waited for the next disaster to hit, because things were going just too smoothly. It couldn't last much longer.

  Dogg pulled the blade out of the fallen Goblins chest and listened to the sucking sound the lips of the wound made as the steel slid out. He had made one more conquest with this kill, a smaller tribe to be sure, but the fifty members were now his to command, their territory was added to what he already held. He knew that the Human community to the southeast was not as strong as he was, but he was willing to wait until he had them encircled before he moved in on them. He had already made an attack on two other Human settlements in his travel from Atlanta and those prisoners had been an excitement he relished.

  He had killed before, but it was not the same as what he did now. Sarki had been his first taste of the terror he could pull from a Human child and he truly made an art of his hobby these days. As an amoral Human he had been bad, but as a Goblin, he was raised above any standards for filth and horror that a Human could imagine. He let the other Goblins have the adults, but the young were reserved for his personal attention. Reaching down, Dogg dug into the chest and abdomen of the fallen Goblin chief and pulled out the heart and liver, then walked away nibbling on them, as his new followers dug in to the meat feast he left for them.

  The scouts had reported another settlement to the south, but not Humans. They were cave dwellers, but nothing like Goblins. Dogg knew that they were Dwarfs, the first he had encountered and he needed to know how strong the settlement was before he attacked them or the Humans. With over a thousand warriors in his army, he knew he had a larger fighting force than anyone else within a hundred miles, but that didn't mean they were stronger, just more numerous. Dogg had become smarter as a Goblin war chief than he had ever been as a Human.

  Then there was that man who he had met when he was ready to crush Elizabeth's skull in the outskirts of Atlanta. He had thought previously about taking his time with her, but right then he hadn't been thinking clearly and just wanted to watch her brains flow out in the dirt. He didn't even want the dead dog she had found, he just wanted to take it from her, to make her suffer. He would have, too, but that man, he used magic against him and against the pack of dire wolves he had sent to kill him.

  Then there was that aircraft. It was silent, fast and big, disappearing into the clouds with his prey. He had looked for that man and his aircraft for a long time and this time, he was closer than ever. The Human settlement was a place the aircraft had visited recently. When he moved against the settlement, the man would return to help them and he would take the airship and the man. Then he would find Elizabeth and show her what he had learned about torture. She would cry and beg and he would take great pleasure in every tear.

  He finished the liver and started on the heart, moving back through the tunnels to where his generals were waiting, planning his next move. He had finished the heart by the time he reached them and waited for them to report.

  “We have found that the Humans are weak, with only forty five men, the rest women and children. They have a strong wall around the village, but the gate is seldom shut until dark and the watch they keep is sporadic, with the few guards sleeping at their posts mostly after two or three in the morning. They have no one checking the guards until after the sun is up and breakfast is ready. During the day only a single person stands in the tower by the gate, sometimes a woman, sometimes a teenager. We can take them at will, in a moment, almost without effort. They are food and nothing more.

  “The others will be hard. They are our old enemies, the Dwarfs and they are many and strong, well defended and alert. Their numbers are almost as many as ours and they are armed with axes, sword, spears, hammers, maces and archers with both long bows and crossbows. They have heavy mounted crossbows shooting a dart almost six feet long and it has a good range. Their cave is only open to the surface; we have found no entrance from below or from any of our tunnels. We have tried to dig below and come through, but we hit water every time and if we dig at the level of their lowest cavern, their listeners and tumblers will be alerted. It is as though they know we are here and are waiting for us.” General Tyler remained on one knee, until Dogg motioned him to rise.

  “We will nibble at them, stab them here, kill one there, until we find a way into the bottom of their hole. Leave the Humans for now, unless one or two become available without alerting the rest. We will finish the enclosure with the next tribe and the Humans will be surrounded and be even easier pickings. Do the Dwarfs have a Wizard?”

  “No Lord. They have nothing to compare to you, no one who can use any magic. We would have seen some sign, something as you instructed us to look for. There was nothing.”

  “We will continue to observe, to find a weakness we can exploit. What of the southern clan, the clan Tiffanie controls?”

  “She continues to expand. She has sent a runner and gifts to swear she has no desire to fight with you. She suggests perhaps an alliance, a hint of something more, in the future. She says she wishes you well and to take all you can. She said, in her message, that between the two of you, the whole of the northeast and the southwest, from the Western Sea to the eastern ocean, could be controlled by your two clans. It is very suspicious, my Lord.”

  “She has a large territory to control and she has more warriors than I do. She wants me to take control, then she will try to wrest control away from me, perhaps in single combat, perhaps through a marriage alliance. Either way, I need more warriors. We will take the Human village, but not kill them. They will breed with us and we will gain females and Trolls through their stock. All the Humans must be taken alive, as long as they are of breeding age or will live long enough to breed. Only the very old will be food. Is this clear? The Trolls will give us an edge over the Dwarfs and the forces Tiffanie may bring against me.”

  All the officers responded. “Yes my Lord.”

  “Prepare to attack tonight, after the watch falls asleep. No one is to be killed. All must be taken alive. All! No mistakes.”

  The officers bowed the knee again and held that position until Dogg left the chamber. Then they left to give the orders and station the warriors.

  Bart was tired. He had been in the field until nearly supper time and now he was on watch till dawn. It wasn't fair. Someone should have reminded him about guard duty. He would have taken a nap or something, instead of playing cards till Miller came and got him, pissed because he hadn't come to relieve him at midnight. Now he was barely awake, standing up only because he had an arm around the post holding the roof up. His eyes shut again and he
nodded, his arm slipping off the post. When his head hit the wall, he woke up, holding his head, kneeling behind the wall until the pain lessened. Slowly, still holding his head, he stood back up, determined not to fall asleep again. He checked his hand for blood and when he looked up, there was someone standing in front of him.

  “Hey, I didn't fall asleep; I just tripped and fell down. I'm awake, OK?”

  The figure stepped closer and his eyes glowed in the reflected moonlight. Bart drew a breath to yell a warning, but a hand came from behind and clamped down over his mouth. He was bound and gagged in seconds and being lowered over the wall. He could see figures moving into the now open gate and more coming into sight in the dark. He was terrified by the shapes and the silence in which they moved.

  One by one he saw the bound bodies of the rest of the town brought out, carried by two or three of the shadowy figures, until as far as he could tell, the town was empty. Again in silence the bound towns people were carried through the night into the forest and then into a cave. Eventually Bart was dropped, none too gently, in what appeared to be a large cavern with a fire burning in about the center. He could hear the breathing and the sobbing of the other people around him, muffled by the gags they all wore and running water, in the distance. He could hear their captors talking in low voices as they waited, pointing at the prisoners and laughing quietly among themselves.

  A new figure appeared, coming from deeper in the cave, wearing furs and a huge wolf head dress, the eye sockets empty and staring. Around him, other bodies were being dumped, all still living, but tied securely. Their captors filed past, each dropping their burden as they passed, until the cavern was full and the whole town was lying on the floor. Then the wolf headed figure moved through the bound bodies and pointed here and there. Where he pointed, that person was taken to the center of the cave, close to the fire, where they were held until the figure had looked at each member of the town.

  When the selection was finished, wolf head looked through the children and picked up one by the ropes that bound her hands at her back. Bart could see her face and knew her as Amber, a loud eight year old girl who whined all the time. She was crying and choking now, with her arms being pulled at an unnatural and painful angle behind her back, her head and face bouncing along the rough floor. Wolf head kicked a few of the girls as he walked by, in the face, back, stomach, chest or groin, whatever body part was closest to his path.

  Of those first chosen and taken to then fire, one by one, the individuals were stripped, poked and pinch until one was selected out of the seven.. Bart could see that they were all the older members of the town and that the one picked was Jenkins the baker, who was heavily overweight. He was being prepared like a side of beef for the cooking fire, a large spit leaning against the wall next to the butchering area. Bart turned his head, not wanting to see what was happening.

  Bart heard muffled screams from around him and saw figures picking up the girls and women from the floor around him. Once the women were taken, others came for the men, females who picked each man uop as though he was a feather pillow and carried them away.

  Bart was taken by a woman only about five feet tall, but who put him over her shoulder as though he were a feather pillow and took off at a run. Her hair was coarse and long, covered in mud and what smelled like manure. Her shoulders, for all her strength, were bony and dug into his ribs and cut off his breath, which was a good thing because of her smell. It seemed that soap and water had never touched her scaly skin. He passed women and girls he knew, crying and bleeding, some reaching out to him, eyes pleading for help he couldn't give. The men carrying them would punch them when they reached out and laugh hideously, beating them carefully, not wanting to kill them, just make them suffer, until Bart lost sight of them.

  He was thrown roughly to the ground, upon stones and debris and the woman stripped herself and began to fondle him. He tried to escape, but she was stronger than he was and started to punch him like he had seen the girls beaten, until he stopped trying to get away.

  She moved close and he saw her eyes for the first time, glowing in the dark, slit like a cats and red with blood. With the screams and sobs of the women echoing through the chamber, the woman pressed her lips to his and forced her tongue into his mouth, with the taste of rotten meat and filth with it. He gagged and puked and she beat him until he passed out, screaming in the dark.

  “The whole town is just missing? No sign of a struggle, no blood, no bodies? Just an empty town?”

  “Yes, Sir. The tracks are faint and we lost them among the rocks, but there was no sign of any kind of resistance or of a fight. We searched each house and the area around the town for several miles and found nothing. All their possessions are gone, all clothes, pots and pans, everything, except some of the larger furniture.” The Dwarf scout waited for his chief to say something else, but Chief Harold was thinking. “Could they have gone south to the Citadel?”

  “It is possible, but wouldn't King John have sent us word? It doesn't sound like something they would do, either. They wanted to stay here and make their own lives, not that they had much going for them. Lazy and shiftless if you ask me. They didn't want anybody telling them to get to work, that's why they stayed. Maybe they just wandered off and got lost. Wouldn't surprise me.”

  “With all their possessions strapped to their backs? That doesn't make sense either. I'll call the Citadel and ask if they have heard anything from the village, just to see if maybe they changed their minds. Post additional guards at all positions until further notice and increase the defenses as much as possible. We haven't seen any of the Goblins reported by Frank, but that doesn't mean they aren't here. Stay alert. Pass the word on your way out.”

  Harold was concerned, not that he much liked the townsfolk, who were indeed both shiftless and lazy, even for Humans. He headed for the desk he kept the battery powered com link John had left when he had visited with Frank and Carl a month age. He had promised to return if they had a need, as had Frank, the other Dwarf leader, and Harold was about to put that to the test.

  The next morning three of the largest airships he had ever seen landed in front of the cave entrance and Frank, Carl, Joshua, John and about fifty others, mixed Humans, Dwarfs and Elves followed and formed a perimeter around the field. Frank led the way and held out his right hand to Harold, the other hand being busy holding a bladed mace about three feet long. Everyone was armed with something deadly and in many cases, beautiful. Weapons were once again becoming works of art and a symbol of the owner’s status. Franks mace was engraved on each blade, the handle bound with a mixture of bright brass, silver and gold, with leather at the grip.

  John still carried Sallie, the spiked mace he favored, but it had been dressed and polished as well and he had a dagger in belt and boot, with an ornate tomahawk in his belt. Armor was much in evidence, plate, scale and mail covering leather gambesons. Firearms, strange weapons looking similar yet different from the assault rifles and automatic weapons of the past, were also in evidence. These were carried mainly by the Human soldiers, in spite of their being offered freely to the Dwarfs. The Wizards also had their wands, in some cases, incorporated into their physical weapons.

  When the greetings were finished, three small ships came out of each of the larger vessels and took off to sweep the area around the town, in a search grid that would leave no stone unturned, as long as it was within a dozen feet of the surface. They would search for ten days and find nothing of the towns inhabitants.

  John lead teams every day throughout the region, as did Joshua and Frank. They had brought nearly a quarter of their available people to search, spread over hundreds of square miles and they found nothing after the first fifty feet from the town’s gate, where the tree line began. Caves were searched, in force, no one willing to risk a small group being attacked in the remote recesses underground, but the caves ended and they were all empty of anything more than bugs, bats and snakes. After the ten days of intense effort, Frank called a m
eeting of the leadership.

  “We will not find them, if what I fear has indeed happened. I think that Goblins took the town prisoner, carried them to their cave and once inside, blocked the passage and disguised it so that it cannot be found. Any Dwarf worth his salt could block an entrance so that it could not be found and Goblins have similar skills. These people were not like the Humans in the Citadel, they were somewhat shiftless, just doing enough to get by and not doing that very well. Joshua, you were in the first contact team, weren't you?”

  “Yes. I agree with your assessment of these people. They were setting a watch when we visited, but most of the time the watch was a single person who took a nap in the early hours. They rarely shut the gates except after dark, raised just enough food to get by, didn't really care who slept with whom and drank a lot more than anyone should. They had more stills going than crops. Why anyone, even a Goblin would waste their time taking these people is beyond me.”

  John, as usual, had an answer. “Take a really big Goblin, cross it with a slob of a Human, add a little black magic from Goblin Wizard and the offspring will be Trolls. Not worthwhile making one at a time, but thirty or fifty, or more, even waiting fifteen years for them to mature, it would be a big advantage to a Goblin clan. Do it twice and the offspring will not only breed true, but will get more and more Trollish with each generation.”

  “What do you mean do it twice?” Christine asked.

  John hesitated before he answered. If a Goblin mates with a Human under dark magic, the offspring is a Troll, but not fully. By mating with a human once again, under dark magic, the next generation will reach full Troll status in fewer generations.”

  “I see why you don’t sleep much. What about the men and kids?”

  “The same fate. Regardless of sex, breeding will begin at once and will not stop until the individual dies or they have given birth the second time. They will wait for the kids to reach puberty, using them as slave labor till then.” Carl spoke this time, and he looked as bad as Christine felt. “Trolls. Such an enemy as you cannot imagine. Trolls live in the dark, ten, twelve feet tall, horribly strong and fast for their size; the only saving grace is their stupidity. Inbreeding is common and while this gives them a physical advantage in the first few generations, they pay a price for the rest of their existence. They do not comprehend neither fear, nor mercy and take few prisoners, except for further breeding, food or both.”

  “How do we stop this from happening? What can we do?”

  “Joshua, the only way to keep Goblins from breeding Trolls, is to kill all the Goblins on earth, or kill all the Humans on earth. Any ideas on how to do the first choice?”

  “John, you can't be serious. Is that really the only way?”

  “He's right. Christine, I know that this is a hard thing to understand, but we can't do anything unless we find the Goblins lair, with the Humans. Then, we would have a choice of killing the impregnated Humans and Goblins, or killing the offspring after letting the women give birth. It is likely that the Goblins have moved the captives to a variety of caves and possibly even back to their home caves, around Atlanta.” Frank looked down at the floor.

  “Atlanta? These originated there? It's our old friend Dogg, at it again. We should have stayed and killed him back then.” Joshua grimly shook his head slowly.

  “You know the Clan Chief? How?” Howard and Frank were immediately interested and clutched their weapons tightly.

  “When we first met, Joshua, Cecilia and I stopped in the outskirts of Atlanta to check on movement I had seen earlier. That's where I found Beth and six little kids, being tracked by Dogg. I didn't know who he was; it was in the early days, only weeks after The Day. When I found Beth, Dogg was getting ready to crush her skull with a concrete block, which I shot out of his hands. He ran away and I took Beth and the kids back to the ship. When we got there, Joshua warned me about some dogs and when I looked out the door of the building we were in, Dogg was leading a pack of Dire Wolves into the building and it was touch and go if we were going to get out of there at all. Later we figured out he was turning into a Goblin. We had a chance then and we blew it.”

  “Hind sight is still 20/20, isn't it? John?”

  John looked at Frank, smiling grimly. “Yes, it is. If only, right?”

  “If you'd have stayed and fought it out, would those kids be alive? Would you? What would have happened if you had died then and there? Where would that put the rest of us?”

  John shrugged. No one could answer such questions and he knew it. “We need to go home. We cannot do anything here, if they are indeed spread between here and Atlanta. We could search for months and come up empty. While I am quite willing to kill every Goblin on earth, I am not ready to kill all Humans. These Trolls will be born into Dogg's clan and he will lead them against whomever he wishes. The Human captives will be kept until they have no other use and then they will die. Our options are none. Let’s go home. We must consolidate our positions, fortify, arm and be ready for war. Frank, anything to change my mind?”

  “No. You are correct. We will prepare as well, all the Dwarf holdings. As you said, we will prepare for war. Howard, it was good to see you again. Watch your back and call if you have need.”

  They boarded the ships and left, miserable at their failure to locate the people or the Goblins, or even enough evidence that what they feared actually happened. The ships split up and went to different towns and settlements to warn those without crystals of the new danger. Some believed and some did not, claiming it was a scare tactic to make them move to the Citadel and demanded that they leave. The ships did of course and shook the dust from their collective feet. Others accepted the warning with the attitude that if it happened, they would deal with it, but right now, they were too busy with harvest, or brewing, or whatever they were doing. Few were seriously concerned, unless they were Dwarfs, with their racial memories.

  The ships came across two other empty towns, one with bodies, from some unknown disease. After confirming that nothing lived, they sterilized the town and the land around it with weapons fire from a decent altitude and the second, like the empty town to the north. No sign, no tracks, no bodies. Three months prior, it had been a small town of three hundred and forty five people and now it was empty.

  The ship’s Captain called John and they linked up over the empty town, ran a search over twenty miles wide and long, but found nothing. The next town, only thirty miles away, had no idea their neighbors had vanished, but did not believe the reports of kidnapping by Goblins. When John left, they were mounting an expedition, not to look for the people, but to loot the town. John left with a sour taste in his mouth and a grim resolve to be as ready as possible, when the war started.