"I'm only following orders, Bean. But we do need to talk. You have to stop mixing personal hobbies with our operations. I know what you've been doing. Over."
"Jak, I used to wear a shawl when I was younger and that got me raped because of people like you. So I'll continue to enjoy my personal hobby in spite of what you think. I'm resigning from the Scandinavian military forces effective immediately. Jak, you're resigning too."
Bean held the WT's Send button down for a full ten seconds.
"Over and out, Jak."
The Safe Haven management team found Bean's explosion impressive. I did tell you that that they had stopped fretting after Beanstalk contacted Jak.
The Wilizy would determine later that Jak had died when an explosion blew her head open and a small fire burned her body almost beyond recognition. Marie would have been pleased. The murdering servant of an assassinated queen was now dead from a fire and an explosion. Voodoo curses can be effective through a TiTr sling after all.
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Chapter 35
Monday morning's battles in North Dakota were as successful as the previous battles. Once again, there were no casualties to the slaves. I have only one difference to note. Theo became directly involved in herding the bosses the last day of the war. Nary was complaining bitterly that Contrary was being very contrary. "She must be in heat or something. I was fighting with her the whole time we were working on the last ranch yesterday."
"OK if I take your place?" Theo was feeling good about his chances of managing Contrary's moods. She had been very obedient the last time he was inside her head. He called her to him and his confidence was confirmed. He found the evening exhilarating and he and Contrary were perfectly attuned to each other.
# # # # # # # #
After three mornings of fighting the same battle seventeen times, the Wilizy had become very efficient. They finished the last battle, and the war, at 2:30 in the morning. A celebration could wait. The Warriors just wanted to go home and sleep. So they did. All but two of them. Theo and Nary said that they'd sleep in the open prairie. Liset and EmmaGee were the only two Wilizy who didn't know why they were doing that.
Perhaps sleeping in comfy beds might have been a better idea. They'd have slept better. Theo found himself in an intense dream. One where he was inside Contrary's head and body and she was chasing something. He probably fell into the dream because of the boss herding that he had done earlier. But instead of chasing bosses, he was chasing something else. It started with an aroma. An aroma that could not be ignored. Contrary ran at full power, following the scent, twisting and turning, getting closer and closer. Then the catch. A fight. But no kill.
Theo awoke to find Nary bolting up off her sleeping pad like he had just done. "I had the most amazing dream," Theo blurted. "Erotic. Sexy."
"I did too," Nary admitted.
Theo looked at Nary. Nary looked at Theo.
"You wanna?" Theo asked.
"You silver-tongued devil," Nary replied.
# # # # # # # #
The Wilizy's wrap up meeting isn't due to start quite yet, so let me first give you a little background that will help you understand what happened back in Ranch #4.
Many religions refer to archangels. Pililiani hadn't been able to tell the two boys anything specific about their mom's religion other then she prayed a lot. She did know that their mom's name was Angela, so it would have been consistent for her to name her two boys after angels.
Archangels are the most powerful angels available to fight battles against evil. Archangel Michael is considered the leader of all the archangels. His name represents protection, courage, strength, and truth. I'm not claiming that the Archangel Michael was a boss in Safe Haven Ranch #4. But Boss #1 fit the name well. After the battle, Michael left the area as he said he would. He took the last name Haven to remind himself of his mother and brother.
Uriel is considered one of the wisest archangels. He is full of intellectual information, practical solutions, and creative insight. Yuri did stay on the ranch with Pililiani and tried to make a go of the peach farm. Yuri considered Pililiani as his second mother and cared for her for the rest of her life.
# # # # # # # #
The Wilizy debriefing meeting was scheduled for noon on Monday July 1 and they held it in the recreation center, as usual. Yolanda's first impulse when the Warriors started drifting into the home compound on Sunday was to tell Hank, and perhaps others, about Bean, the attack on the compound, and EmmaGee's real identity. But Hank needed his sleep, so she put it off. There'd be time later. In the meantime, Yolanda left the compound for a Sunday of "me time."
Jock chaired the meeting, but quickly turned it over to Melissa, Mac, and Lucas to summarize the results. The Wilizy gave all three a resounding round of applause for a highly successful operation. Seventeen separate battles; all successful and no glitches.
Momaka asked if she could make a comment and Jock turned the floor over to her.
"I'd like to thank Lucas for including the mystical warriors in this war. We appreciated the opportunity to be fully engaged in the battles." Only Patella and Scapula were physically present to hear the applause, but the Wilizy hoped that Bob, Contrary, and Marie's panther knew that they were appreciated.
One of the satisfactions that the Wilizy had about that war was that they themselves were not directly involved in the justice that followed. The slaves decided what would happen to the bosses and to the owners. Each ranch dealt with them in slightly different ways. All of the deaths were gruesome but quick. That was quite normal for justice on the frontier where any formal judicial system was entirely missing.
# # # # # # # #
The debriefing meeting was ending. Hank advised everybody that they'd hold a full scale Wilizy meeting early the next morning. This series of battles were over. The war with Safe Haven was not.
Wanda had expressed the view that the war had actually become a little boring after a while. Each battle started with a bang – the explosions, Marie floating in the sky, flaming light particles everywhere. But then, the battle became ... routine. The war itself also started with a bang, but it ended with everybody just wanting to go home and sleep.
Doc dredged up an old expression about battle strategies: Start with a bang, don't end on a whimper. But the Wilizy decided that the expression didn't fit. Their war had ended with people going home to sleep. That hardly qualified as a whimper.
Next it was time for Yollie to name the operation. "I haven't been involved in this operation, so it's hardly appropriate for me to name it," Yollie started. "Thanks to Mom's help, I'm feeling better again, but I haven't had the time and energy to do anything. I asked Marie to give the operation a name seeing as how it's really been her war. The Wilizy did a lot of good the last three days, and that's all because of Marie."
So Marie had to stand up and listen to applause.
"Yollie told me the names of some of your other operations. They're really short names. My operational name is wordier. I hope you like it. The operation's name is: I could have sworn Big Momma said BITE ME! So, I did."
They loved the name.
# # # # # # # #
Later that night, Nary and Theo were sharing a cabin on the Wilizy/Asia. Yolanda had actually taken them by their hands and pushed them into a cabin. "Go. Nobody is upset that you're having sex. Not even Marie."
So Nary and Theo officially became a couple, although sex was the furthest thing from Nary's mind that evening. She had to tell Theo something. And Theo had the not so pleasant experience of hearing the word that all bachelors hope they'll never hear. It starts with the letter "P."
"Are you sure?" Theo asked.
"I'm sure," Nary said.
"Mom's going to kill me," Theo whimpered. "If she doesn't, Marie will."
So the war did end with a whimper, after all.
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Other Novels by David J. Wighton
It woul
d be best to read the novels in the Wilizy series in order.
I Got'cha: Book #1 in the Wilizy Series (July 2081 to October 2081
If you think being a teenager in today's world is tough, try being one in 2081. In Alberta's It's Only Fair society, your brain-band will zap you just for chewing with your mouth open. One boy pried his brain-band off to see what living with emotions would be like. Being chased by the entire Alberta army was bad enough. It became worse when another 15 year old kid offered to help him escape.
The Get-Even Bird: Book #2 in the Wilizy Series (November 2081 to April 2082)
Will and Izzy are forced to flee from Zzyk's army. After months away from Alberta, they fly their sailing ship into B.C. thinking that they would be safe there. Bad mistake! Izzy is captured. All Will has to do to save her life is turn himself in for a free brain-band fitting appointment. That's what happens when you wear a Zorro costume to a dance.
Assassination Day: Book #3 in the Wilizy Series (May 2082 to September 2082)
A DPS technician offers to defect if the Wilizy will rescue his daughter from The Citadel – some super smart military people who are friends with Zzyk. Izzy thinks that their new recruit is an assassin, but Yollie insists that he's a decent man. Can assassins be decent men? It will take a hair-raising experience to find out.
Hoist the Jolly Lucas: Book #4 in the Wilizy Series (September 2082 to March 2083)
It's bad enough that Zzyk pins the blame for two assassinations on Izzy and launches a full out assault on their home compound. But then, another enemy takes advantage of a security lapse to get revenge for a war that happened 20 years ago. The Wilizy are left reeling with two key members kidnapped and stashed where they can't be found, let alone rescued. For the family to survive, everybody must enter the battle. The story is as much about the past as it is about the present.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Torpedoes: Book #5 in the Wilizy Series (March 2083 to September 2084)
Mac disappears and doesn't want to be found. Will and Wolf use time-travel to search for her and discover secrets she wouldn't want them to know. The Alaskans attack when Will is finding out what happens to a submarine's air when it is lying helpless on the ocean floor. Between the Alaskans' impenetrable fortress and their bubblegum weapons, life is going to get a little sticky for the Wilizy.
Bob, the Invisible Dragon: Book #6 in the Wilizy Series (September 2084 to May 2085)
Raging hormones as well as Raging Gardeners play key roles when young Wilizy warriors are attacked and the Wilizy's scientific marvels offer no protection. The youngsters' future will rely on a different kind of warrior protecting them. Warning: events at the end of the story will move quickly. They certainly won't drag on.
Nary, Nary, Quite Contrary: Book #7 in the Wilizy Series (May 2085 to December 2085)
Theo and Lucas move to Toronto to live on their own. Both meet girls but neither is brave enough to introduce his new friend to the family. They wouldn't have the time anyway, what with villains trying to assassinate them and Voodoo royalty greeting them as though they were Voodoo gods. At the end of the story, Lucas receives a surprise Boxing Day gift that leaves him speechless.
Maddy's a Baddy: Book #8 in the Wilizy Series (December 2085 to May 2086)
Maddy had escaped from Big Momma only to find herself all alone in the cold and begging for food in Eastern Canada. While she's trying to return to her home in Seattle, the Wilizy have their own problems. Everybody in the family is intent on bringing the judge to justice for what he did to Lucas. It would have been so easy for them to rescue Maddy, but they didn't know anything about her.
Bite Me! Book #9 in the Wilizy Series (May 2086 to July 2086)
Spurred on by Marie's desire to eat a meal with her former slave masters, the Wilizy plan to put Safe Haven ranches out of business. In the process, they encounter two foreign assassins intent on abducting Maddy. Theo and Nary become closer but a red-eyed chaperone does not approve. The Wilizy's war with Safe Haven starts with a bang but ends with a whimper.
Wheelchair Moccasins! Book #10 in the Wilizy Series (July 2086 to November 2086)
A 13 year old girl pretends to turn to prostitution to gain her freedom from her crime boss father. In Wilizy family news, Winnie agrees not to meddle in Mathias' love life. No, the world isn't ending, so long as you don't have a green vegetable for your name. Best advice ever? If somebody wearing moccasins and sitting in a wheelchair offers to sing you to sleep... run!
Yes, there'll be an eleventh book in the series.
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About the Author
David J. Wighton is a retired educator who enjoys writing youth novels when he's not on a basketball court coaching middle-school girls. The books in his Wilizy series peek at how people lived after the word's governments collapsed in the chaos that followed the catastrophic rise in ocean levels and the disappearance of the world's last deposits of oil.
Wighton's novels have strong teenage characters driving the plot and facing challenges that, in many respects, are no different from what teenagers face today. His novels are intended to entertain and readers will find adventure, romance, suspense, humour, a strong focus on family, plus a touch of whimsy. Wighton also writes to provoke a little thought about life in today's societies and what the future might bring. Teachers may find the series useful in the classroom and the novels are priced with that intent in mind.
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