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A week or so later . . .
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{{ Okay. Wyrm, can you highlight the areas we’ve ‘investigated’? }} Eliza asked, getting a laugh out of her crew. Her father was staring intently at the portable holographic projector that they had brought with them. He marveled at human technology, particularly when someone figured out how to get it to work on Terra. Wyrm had brought solar panels and a small windmill that was hooked up to the top of one of the towers, all of which powered his small array of technology. It was Terran bafflement in the face of such technology that they had been counting on.
For the last week, Eliza and her crew had been teleporting to a random set of locations around Devlia, concentrating their energies in the types of areas where the Swords of Cleansing might be able to hide. Everywhere they went, they took a number of fancy-looking gadgets and several members of the Palace Guard, just to make the entire expedition to look authentic. With two trolls, two Hybrids (an unknown commodity all by themselves), a succubus, four guards and number of humans, no one seemed willing to pick a fight with them. They talked to everyone they could find, making the locals feel as uncomfortable as possible. Wyrm wandered around, taking miscellaneous readings and then whispering conspiratorially with Eliza. The trolls looked menacing, and Terillia would fly around and stare at things from the air. Then they would gather up their troops and equipment, return to the teleport station and move on to their next target.
{{ Here we go, }} said Wyrm, as a number of brightly colored red blips appeared on the map.
{{ And what do we know about these areas? }} Eliza asked, curious as to exactly what readings her tech-guy had been taking.
{{ Well here, }} he said, pointing at their first hit of the day, {{ the temperature was about eighty-four degrees with fifty-percent humidity and winds from the north at about ten miles per hour. And here . . . }} Wyrm continued to give all sorts of useless data about the places they had visited, including weather conditions, population . . . even the types of insects people had been complaining about. Eliza’s crew wasn’t actually concerned with finding anything. They just wanted to make some noise and give their enemies something to think about. And with the nervousness they had been causing and the fear the locals had about these “foreign contraptions” that Wyrm had devised. At one point, Wyrm had been staring intently at a couple of teenagers, holding a device that was making some kind of noise the youths found “eerie.” In actuality, it had just been his PDA playing an old, old rock song by some group called Lost in Texas that he had found on a classic rock download site.
Suddenly, a messenger arrived at the door and handed a scroll to one of the guards, who then passed it on to Evlidone. Eliza’s father smiled.
{{ It seems that you’re methods seem to be working. We have reports of small groups we believe to be associated with the Swords of Cleansing moving away from the area’s you’ve been checking. }}
{{ Are they moving in a particular direction? Are you picking them up? }} Eliza asked, wrapping her arm around Terillia’s shoulders and giving her young protege a squeeze. “You did good,” she whispered, and the succubus flushed with pride.
{{ We don’t have enough information, }} Evlidone replied. {{ We need some more data. So no, we’re not picking anyone up yet. We don’t want them to hole up where they are. We need them to move, and they won’t if they realize they’re being driven. }} His gaze went back to the holographic projection. {{ Mr. Wyrm, could you put up province boundaries and geographical landmarks? }}
{{ Coming up, }} the tech-wizard said, amused at being called “Mr. Wyrm.” It sounded so formal!
Eliza took a break from Wyrm’s display of his technical expertise and headed down to the kitchen to get a cup of blood. The kitchen was deserted when she arrived. But when she had grabbed her nourishment and turned around, Kalinicia was standing in the hallway, staring at Eliza with a purpose.
“I would have words with you now,” Kalinicia said in her unsure English.
“Very well,” Eliza said. This was another conversation that was a long time overdue. But Eliza had settled things in her head, so she was ready for it.
But Kalinicia sat down on a stool and actually looked a little forlorn. This wasn’t a girl looking for a fight.
“I . . . I was not sure how to feel when I saw you,” the beautiful young vampire maiden said. “I had heard that my grandfather had come to . . . to assist you. And I was told by other trapped . . . refugees that he had died under your command. I wanted to hate you. I tried to hate you.”
“So what happened?” Eliza asked, sitting back and taking a sip of blood.
“I . . . before you came over, I was talking with Chancellor Valar. I knew that he was one of the two Terrans who had been there when . . . when it happened. He said how you had asked him to stay behind where it was safe. Like you did with Wyrm. He told me how no one had expected an attack on . . . the fort.” Kalinicia shook her head. “Why did you not avenge him?” she asked suddenly. “You had his killers in . . . in the palm of your hand.”
“I wondered that myself for a while,” Eliza replied. “But I couldn’t beat them by being the monster they thought I was. You can’t always fight fire with fire. Kelik understood that.” She sighed. “I need you to understand something, Kalinicia. I loved that old man. He was like family when . . . well, when I didn’t have my own to rely on. And if I had thought there was ANY possibility that the Purity would’ve attacked Fort Crass, I would’ve moved him out. And to this day, I’d be willing to take his place. But that isn’t a choice I get to make, but I do have to live with it. Kelik was a leader, just like you’re going to have to be. That means making choices that other people may have to pay for. Every day, I have people who put their lives in my hands. I’ve accepted that responsibility. That also means I’ll accept the heartache when I lose one, whether it was in my power to stop or not. Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
“I am not sure,” Kalinicia said, trying to be as honest as she could. She believed Eliza when the woman said she loved Kelik. Kalinicia knew that her grandfather had had great respect for the daughter of the Security Director. There were times when she had been jealous of that. “But I wish to find out. I am supposed to begin living on Earth soon so that I might become more acquainted with its people. I wanted to see what kind of person you were before . . .”
“Before what?” Eliza asked.
“Before I asked if I could come stay with you. Valar suggested that you have opportunities to travel all over the world and . . . and that my grandfather would want me to be under your care.” A tear appeared in the young vampire’s eye. “He wants me to put my faith in you. Just like my grandfather did. And no matter how unfair it is, I’m not sure I can trust you.”
“Well, I can’t make you trust me, and I wish Valar had checked with me before suggesting you come back with us. I’m sure you’ve had some very good . . . training, but I really don’t have time to baby sit . . .”
Kalinicia’s eyes shot open and her nostrils flared. She might have been a little unsure of speaking English, but she sure as hell understood it. [[ I am no child that needs looking after! I may not be a warrior, but . . . ]] She stopped, unsure why Eliza was smiling.
[[ You need to learn to control that temper, ]] Eliza told the younger woman. [[ But at least now, you’re acting like his granddaughter, ]] she added, patting Kalinicia on the shoulder and then heading back down the hall.
Kalinicia sat there for a moment. ‘You’re acting like his granddaughter,’ she thought. It was a thought that finally let her smile.
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Several weeks later . . .
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Eliza was sitting in her father’s study again, a small fire in the fireplace and her father sitting in the chair next to her with Eliza’s mother in his lap. The three of them were enjoying a fine bourbon, which her father had developed a taste for and often had imported from Earth. Evlidone had been “pressured” into a family moment by his wife, who had been far too patient in waiting for her family to reconcile, so she was going to push for these little moments as often as she could.
They were also celebrating what appeared to be the end of the campaign against Swords of Cleansing. After a mass exodus from their individual hidey-holes, the Devlian Intelligence Services were able to triangulate their movements and descended on the main encampment. And they had stolen another idea from Eliza’s tactics on Earth . . . they enlisted A LOT of trolls. Eliza had been willing to go to war with six. When Evlidone gave the word to attack the camp, he sent about thirty trolls, and the amount of destruction they wreaked would be the stuff of legends. Many people were justifiably concerned that if this trend of troll unity continued that they might demand their own land. And no one was willing to step up and tell them they couldn’t have it. The fight at the encampment had gotten ugly, but it had ended fairly decisively, leaving only a few small pockets of fairly weak resistance.
[[ When do you think you might visit again? ]] Alyidana asked pointedly.
[[ It might be a while, ]] Eliza said, looking a little guilty. [[ I have to get back to oversee the new construction in the compound, take on a new job just to let people know we’re still out there for business, and I’m going by Veronica’s parent’s house for Christmas this year. It’s an odd religious holiday on Earth, but it seems important to her somehow that I go. ]] She noticed her father shift a little uncomfortably, but she didn’t say anything. He was just going to have to accept that she was seriously involved with another woman, and that included trips to the parents.