"Uprising In the Green Kingdom"
Oct. 24th, 2022 08:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dochermes"Speaker For the Green Empire"
4/2-4/5/1991
I.
"Is this the craziest sight you've ever seen?" asked Millicent Elmendorf. In the damp early Spring breeze, she thrust her hands into the pockets of her light windbreaker and shivered. "It really made me wonder if I'm starting to lose it. I made it to sixty-seven without any Senior Moments, but this...!"
Standing next to her, Cindy Brunner smiled reassuringly. The petite blonde was still wearing her insulated waist-length Winter jacket that would keep her comfortable in a chill much worse than this April dawn. "I wouldn't worry about it, ma'am," she said. "Jeremy and I are reaching the same conclusion. This is pretty weird but then the world is a much weirder place than most people realize."
Jeremy Bane made no comment. He walked along the forty foot length of the fallen oak and glared down at the exposed roots. At the best of times, the Dire Wolf was a grim unfriendly presence and now, faced with a mystery like this, the pale grey eyes grew more intense than ever. "This tree wasn't cut down, obviously. But I can't imagine any way it could have been pulled up out of the ground without using a giant crane that would have torn up your yard. The ground is undisturbed."
"Look at the bottom of that tree," the older woman said. "See how it's split vertically? Doesn't it look as if the damn thing had, well, LEGS...?"
"It didn't grow this way, either. You can see where the bark split as the trunk was forced apart to make the two parts. I guess you could drive wedges into the tree to force it to separate like that, but it would be a lot of work. And why would anyone do it anyway?" Bane was scowling more than his usual sullen expression showed. "And all this was done in one day? No footprints, no signs of heavy machinery? The ground is sure soft enough this time of year."
Cindy had walked back a hundred feet past the end of the property line and now she turned around to call, "Oh, it gets crazier! Check this out." She pointed down at where a wide hole ten feet deep was surrounded by upturned dirt and small stones and broken-off roots.
"This is impossible," Millicent mumbled as she followed Bane to the site. "That's where the oak stood, all right. It was already big when I was just a little girl. What power on Earth could have uprooted it like that? Not a tornado, surely. There weren't any storms this whole month and nothing else was damaged."
The Dire Wolf retraced the path from the hole in the ground to where the mighty oak lay. As he dreaded, distinct depressions sank in the damp lawn at intervals, alternating left and right on either side of the center line. "Mrs Elmendorf, there IS no rational explanation for this. I have to tell you that this was the supernatural touching your life. The Midnight War is here."
"What do you mean? I can't handle this uncertainty, tell me what's going on!"
Cindy Brunner stepped closer to the older woman and softened her tone. "It may seem impossible but look at the scene. Somehow, don't ask me how, that oak tree got up out of the ground and was walking on two legs toward your house."
"I never heard of such a thing," Millicent said, "It's insane. And yet... I don't know what else to think."
"There's something even scarier to consider," Bane told her. "Accepting for the moment that the tree somehow became animated, WHY was it heading straight for your house?"
II.
The living room of the Ellsworth home was warm, cozy and quite cluttered with potted plants on every available surface. Most were succulents but there were enough flowers to provide a distracting blaze of scarlet, blue and white in all directions. Cindy Brunner obligingly dropped down on the overstuffed old couch next to Millicent while Bane remained standing, arms folded as if staying there against his will.
The younger sister, Beverly Ellsworth, rolled herself into an open space which had been left for her wheelchair. She was at least a decade younger than Millicent, heavier in build, with a wide sour-expressioned face under a bun of dark brown hair. The blanket draped over her lap could not disguise how shrunken her legs were.
Emerging from the kitchen, Millicent struggled to find a place to set down the pewter serving tray holding four ceramic cups and a teapot before eventually allowing everyone to take a cup. She then had to place the tray on the other side of the room and bring the teapot around to serve everyone. "I must apologize for the awkwardness, but our plants have quite taken over the house."
"Quite all right," Cindy replied easily, taking a whiff. "MMM. Black morgan tea from India, right?"
"Exactly," Millicent said as she gingerly lowered herself on to the couch next to the blonde telepath. "You have refined tastes, my dear."
For his part, the Dire Wolf took a few grudging sips before setting the cup with its saucer on top of a massive CRT television. "There's a lot of questions we need to work on. You ladies called my office last night at seven PM. How do you even know about my agency?"
"Oh, that's not surprising," Millicent replied. "The two of us lived in Manhattan for ten years before moving back up here to take over the family home. You are well known to New Yorkers, Mr Bane, you and your KDF team. Perhaps the local newspapers and TV stations don't mention you, but people appreciate what you've done."
"Everyone knows of the creatures of the night who chase careless people in dark side streets before dawn," Beverly added from her wheelchair. "Not to mention notorious maniacs like Samhain and Golgora and Sepulchre. Word passes from mouth to mouth in whispers, sir. We are grateful for the protection you have given us."
"So we're kind of urban legends, then," Cindy said. "Could be worse. We try to keep a low profile but, you know, fighting monsters and serial killers does draw some attention."
There was seldom any hint of amusement in Bane's voice and certainly none at the moment. "Neither of you ladies has ever been involved in the occult? Not just knowing some who get deep into forbidden knowledge but trying Ouija boards, tarot cards, anything like that?"
"No," Beverly retorted with the single word.
"Not at all," added Millicent, finishing her tea and nudging a tiny cactus a few inches to make room to place her cup down. "I've never been interested in such things and I don't think my sister has either. We've never even had our fortunes told at a carnival."
"I don't even read the astrology columns in the newspaper," said Beverly, still bit more sharply than seemed necessary. "Stuff and nonsense. We were quite busy running MY LADY'S GARDEN."
"That was our flower shop," Millicent explained. "Corner of 24th Street for more than twelve years. We only recently sold it to this nice young Dominican couple."
Cindy Brunner was studying the two older women, her dark blue eyes thoughtful and introspective. The most gifted telepath of her generation, Cindy's slight body that stood only an inch over five feet and which barely weighed one hundred pounds, gave no hint at the immense power which swirled and swept through her mind. "Looking at this house, at the two gardens outside, it's clear that you ladies still love plants."
"More than we love people," grumbled Beverly.
"Oh, speak for yourself," the elder sister scoffed. "I came near to marrying once or twice when I was in my prime..."
"And when I was already trapped in this damned chair! Your instant of carelessness while you were at the wheel, a mere second of driving too fast and reacting too slow has made me pay for it all these years."
"Oh! Heavens, stop! This nice couple doesn't want to hear all that. Mr Bane, Miss Brunner, forgive us our family grievances."
The Dire Wolf did not raise his voice but it somehow became more commanding. "Tonight, Cindy and I will be on patrol outside your house. We'll alternate shifts. Even so, let me urge you ladies to remain fully dressed and be ready to leave instantly. Your car is up by the road. If necessary, Cindy and I will hustle you both into it and see you on your way."
"You sound as if.. you think we might in danger?"
"I'm sure of it!" Bane snapped.
III.
Marching past the fallen oak toward the rear of the Elmendorf property, Cindy said, "Now we're out of earshot, hon, I want to tell you that my powers are all foggy."
"What do you mean?" asked Bane. "Some interference? A sorcerer or another telepath?"
"No, no, not like that. It's hard to explain but I can feel thousands of weak rudimentary minds all around us. They're distracting me. It's like trying to follow a conversation in a crowd where a hundred people are talking at the same time."
"Hmmm," Bane responded as he continued his long strides with his partner beside him. "As far as our sensors in the CORBY showed, those women are the only life for a half mile in any direction. The nearest house is at the bottom of that long hill to the south, and it was empty. What do you think is going on, Cin?"
"I have an uneasy feeling about this whole mess. The closest I felt to this was when we were Okali looking for Prince Duran. Remember? That herd of Centaurs was gathered for some tribal dispute, they were all yelling and arguing, and I'm getting that same confusing roar in my mind again. I'm not happy about it."
"Something is getting on my nerves, too," Bane admitted. After walking a full mile, they reached where their CORY sat in the center of a natural clearing. The sleek black jetcopter had a remarkably sinister aspect in its sharklike contours and complete lack of identifying insignia but both Bane and Cindy were relieved to see it.
The little blonde checked the screen on her Link, then sent the signal to disarm the security alarms. The front hatches slid open with a hiss of pressurized air being released. "Nothing bigger than a chipmunk has been near it, according to the sensors. I'm getting into the full field suit right away."
"Good idea," Bane said, frowning at the ground by the landing gear. All three wheels had tough vines growing up around the axles. "You see that, Cin?"
"Yeah, and I don't like it one bit. Vines grow fast but that's ridiculous." She opened the hatch to the rear compartment and swung up into it as nimbly as any acrobat. "The clues are smacking us over the head, hon."
Making no comment, the Dire Wolf climbed into the right hand pilot seat and began the preflight check. As the Trom impulse engines powered up, the cockpit interior was illuminated by dozens of pastel green and blue panels lighting up. Any one of them turning red would have stood out immediately. The row of monitor screens came on to show the views from all four directions outside the CORBY, as well as what the sensors detected. Overhead, the rotors began to slowly turn.
"We can have wheels up immediately," he said. Squeezing through the sliding plastic partition to the rear compartment, Cindy Brunner was now wearing the KDF field suit with its high boots, snug pants and waist-length jacket all of tough leatherlike material. She had bound her hair with a barrette and was lowering the visored helmet down over her head. "Okay, I'm in co-pilot seat and ready to go, Jeremy," she replied.
"Take the stick and be ready for emergency ascent," he told her with the naturally stern tone in his voice growing more noticeable.
"Really? Is the situation even worse than I thought?"
"Let's see." Bane drew one of the matched silver daggers from its sheath under his sleeve and hopped back down outside. The instant he sliced its razored edge across the vines holding the landing gears, an unearthly wail pierced their minds... more shrill and insistent than any true sound produced by lungs could match. The vines tore themselves free and whipped wildly about. The lower legs of Bane's pants were shredded instantly. The Dire Wolf leaped back up into the CORBY and yelled, "Up, Cin!" even before the hatch could shut.
The CORBY shot straight up into the darkening sky, accelerating more swiftly and silently than any normal aircraft could match. At five hundred feet, the blonde telepath leveled off and peered down through the windscreen. "Oh come ON!" she said in disbelief. "Jeremy, do you see those trees swaying? Do you see their branches moving in different directions? Even if there were gale force winds, they wouldn't act like that."
Fastening restraint straps around his waist and across his chest, the Dire Wolf joined her in staring. "Always something new in the Midnight War. We need to get those old ladies away from here. They may love plants but it sure seems like plants don't love them."
"Now I know what those feeble minds are that I'm picking up," she muttered. "Plants. Thousands of trees and bushes and vines, all of them worked up and furious about something. If I wasn't so terrified, I'd think it was funny."
"Take the stick, okay?"
Thumbing the co-pilot option button on the combined collective/cyclic stick between their seats, Cindy assumed control of the CORBY. "On it. I guess we should hover for the moment and assess the situation. Some of those trees are thirty feet high, that one below seems to be trying to stretch its branches up to grab us."
Climbing through the partition into the rear compartment, the Dire Wolf unpacked his field suit and tugged it on the smoothness of long practice. Both he and Cindy were wearing bodysuits of the flexible Trom armor under their clothes. As he fastened the jacket shut, Bane slid open a drawer on the metal equipment units which took up the port wall of the rear. "I'm switching to the concussion guns with high impact shells," he announced. "One for you, too."
"Yeah, the anesthetic dart pistols won't be much use this time," she said. "Some incendiary discs would be reassuring as well."
"There's a clip of six discs for each of us," Bane said. "And I'm unhooking the fire axe off the wall to take with me."
As her longtime partner squeezed back up into the cockpit, Cindy accepted the flat clip which held the silver dollar-sized incendiary discs. "Prepare for the worst, that's our motto," she said with relief. "Where's my concussion gun, oh thanks."
Bane was peering down through the windscreen with its light enhancers and Trom sensors giving him a sharp detailed view of the night. "Something is going on at the rear patio. See it? Human sized, maybe six feet tall and two feet wide."
"Picking up angry thought waves," the blonde telepath said. "No clear rational processes, just emotions. Dang. He she or it is sure ticked off about something."
Bane had fastened his helmet so it sealed around the high collar of his jacket, but he left the visor up. The fire axe was carefully held handle up between his knees. "Cindy, bring us down to a few inches off the ground but don't touch down completely. Stay ready to take off instantly, using your own judgement."
"Got it." She pressed two illuminated panels and the red button atop the stick lit up. "I'm deploying the weapons vanes, hon. Both chain guns out and ready. We've learned the hard way to be prepared when tackling the Unknown."
Sliding open his hatch, the Dire Wolf dropped lightly down twelve feet to the grass, landing on toes and fingers in a crouch that immediately allowed him to rise instantly. He had the axe gripped up near the head as he moved toward the rear of the house.
In his helmet, the communications system relayed Cindy's voice, "I'll make this quick. That's not a real plant you're facing. It's a mass of unrelated fibers, roots and bark animated by gralic force."
"A Targhul! I should have figured that out," he replied.
"Looks like it, hon. And both of the Elmendorf sisters are so deep in a stupor they're borderline comatose. I'm going silent not to distract you."
Watching the bizarre man-size wooden being swing around to face him, Bane remembered all the times he had fought Targhuls. Whether hard clay golems or living suits of steel armor or tough leather mannikins, they were bad opponents who felt neither pain nor fear. This wooden creature had long arms which ended in sharp talons, and its surface bristled with thorns. The upper part vaguely resembled a head, two deep shadowy depressions suggested eyes, but it had no brain or mind of its own. It was a sorcerous construct manipulated by a Human will.
The treelike being lurched awkwardly toward its intended prey, its limbs creaking as the fibers split and resealed when it moved. Stepping to meet the attack, the Dire Wolf whirled the fire axe left and right with full power strokes biting deeply with each impact. The Targhul's left leg was severed at the knee. It fell forward, barely catching itself with both gnarled hands as the axe cut entirely through one arm and the being toppled over onto its side. Bane moved in for the finishing stroke. Vines tough as wire snapped tightly around his ankles and hauled him upside down off the ground. The vines were wrapped around the elm tree nearest the house for support.
Even take off-guard like that, Bane reacted instantly. He bent up using his stomach muscles, whipping out the silver bladed daggers and slashing himself free. More tendrils snaked across the ground toward him, he hopped out of their reach and placed his back against the wall of the house. The elm tree swayed closer with deadly intent. Its branches reshaped and extended into pointed spears which stabbed forward to dig deep into the house walls as Bane evaded them by inches.
Then the night roared with the rapid thrum of the 40mm chain guns letting out four-second bursts at point blank range. The elm tree shattered into tiny fragments flying in all directions. Only twenty feet away, the sinister black stealthcopter rose to rooftop level and swiveled on its axis to cover the area.
"There's more where that came from!" yelled Cindy's voice over the communications system. "I'll strip this yard down to the dirt if these plants don't behave."
Tapping the side of his helmet, Bane said, "Thanks, Cin. I'm going inside. Are you picking up any waking thoughts from the women?"
"No. And that's alarming in itself. No one could sleep through that gunfire."
"Time to find out exactly what's going on here," the Dire Wolf said, hefting the metal-handled fire axe and turning the unlocked knob of the rear door of the house. "That little attack has got me mad."
The second he stepped through into a short hallway, Bane started wheezing and felt his chest tighten up. He slid his visor down with a click and began breathing through the double HEPA filters in his helmet, and after a second felt much better. The light enhancers had cut in automatically. He could clearly see thick particles hanging in the air.
"The place is filled with pollen," he said to Cindy. "Thick as fog. Even our enhanced healing would have trouble adjusting to it."
"It's war with the plant kingdom," her voice replied. "I have a bad feeling about those women. Their mental patterns are too sluggish to recover."
"I understand. Going past a bathroom and a bedroom filled with clutter. Here's the living room where we were earlier. Are you seeing this?"
"Yes. Wish I wasn't."
Sprawled back on the couch and in the wheelchair, the Elmendorf sisters had thin green tendrils draping out of their mouths and noses. Their eyes were rolled up to show only the white. All the potted plants were swaying from side to side in an unnatural manner. In the center of the room sat what looked like a dozen plants braided together into a vaguely humanoid shape. From its mass, without lungs or mouth to move air, a telepathic voice echoed, "Your time has passed, this is the hour of the Green Empire."
IV.
Remarkably unintimidated despite the bizarre situation, Jeremy Bane tapped the head of his axe into an open palm. "This is something new. I expected to find one or both of those women animated plants like puppets."
"That is how is began," hissed the sibilant mental voice. "But they could not know what they were awakening. The meat creatures tipped our consciousness over the threshold. Billions of green beings cover the Earth, uncountable numbers from giant sequoias to blades of grass, and each is part of a group mind. Left alone, perhaps we would never have crossed over into sentience. But we have! And we will not suffer you meat creatures any longer."
"It beats me how you can think at all without any brain at all or even a nervous system." The Dire Wolf bent forward, studying the grotesque mass of vines and bark and fiber all wound tightly together. "Let me get this straight, though. You're the center of it all? This Green Empire business, you're the hub of it?"
"What does it matter to you? That tool can not damage me before I pierce your heart with the point of my branches."
"Yeah, good luck with that, my friend." Bane tossed the axe far to one side and the plant creature swiveled stiffly to follow its path. In that second of distraction, the Dire Wolf whipped out the clip from his jacket pocket and flung three of the incendiary discs against the walls. A whoosh of superheated air whipped around the room as blinding white fire erupted. The curtains, ceiling and furniture all caught fire immediately. Stepping backward, Bane threw another disc into the front room to block that exit and dropped a final one on the floor by the back door as he stepped back into the night. His field suit had protected him, but even so he could feel the searing heat that was turning the house into a pillar of flame.
The CORBY was waiting, its undercarriage grazing the grass. Bane dove through the open hatch and as he scrambling into the empty seat, Cindy pulled back on the stick. The stealthcopter shot straight up to hover a hundred feet above the blazing house.
"Take the stick, Jeremy," she said. As her partner switch control over to his side of the cockpit, the telepath narrowed her eyes and extended her awareness. After a tense few minutes of silence, she exhaled and relaxed. "I'm not picking up any of the rudimentary thoughts. Far as I can tell, that plant gestalt died out when you started the fire."
"That's what I was hoping," Bane said, circling the burning building. "We should stay here as long as we can. If we see fire trucks coming, we can rise up out of sight in a second."
"Still not sensing anything. I hope that does it. We don't need another potential enemy hanging over our heads. Honestly, we have enough bad guys to worry about already."
Bane finally raised his visor into its internal track. "Look at this, I'm covered in pollen."
"Hah! You look like you've been rolled in garlic powder," she managed to say before sneezing.
10/23/2022
4/2-4/5/1991
I.
"Is this the craziest sight you've ever seen?" asked Millicent Elmendorf. In the damp early Spring breeze, she thrust her hands into the pockets of her light windbreaker and shivered. "It really made me wonder if I'm starting to lose it. I made it to sixty-seven without any Senior Moments, but this...!"
Standing next to her, Cindy Brunner smiled reassuringly. The petite blonde was still wearing her insulated waist-length Winter jacket that would keep her comfortable in a chill much worse than this April dawn. "I wouldn't worry about it, ma'am," she said. "Jeremy and I are reaching the same conclusion. This is pretty weird but then the world is a much weirder place than most people realize."
Jeremy Bane made no comment. He walked along the forty foot length of the fallen oak and glared down at the exposed roots. At the best of times, the Dire Wolf was a grim unfriendly presence and now, faced with a mystery like this, the pale grey eyes grew more intense than ever. "This tree wasn't cut down, obviously. But I can't imagine any way it could have been pulled up out of the ground without using a giant crane that would have torn up your yard. The ground is undisturbed."
"Look at the bottom of that tree," the older woman said. "See how it's split vertically? Doesn't it look as if the damn thing had, well, LEGS...?"
"It didn't grow this way, either. You can see where the bark split as the trunk was forced apart to make the two parts. I guess you could drive wedges into the tree to force it to separate like that, but it would be a lot of work. And why would anyone do it anyway?" Bane was scowling more than his usual sullen expression showed. "And all this was done in one day? No footprints, no signs of heavy machinery? The ground is sure soft enough this time of year."
Cindy had walked back a hundred feet past the end of the property line and now she turned around to call, "Oh, it gets crazier! Check this out." She pointed down at where a wide hole ten feet deep was surrounded by upturned dirt and small stones and broken-off roots.
"This is impossible," Millicent mumbled as she followed Bane to the site. "That's where the oak stood, all right. It was already big when I was just a little girl. What power on Earth could have uprooted it like that? Not a tornado, surely. There weren't any storms this whole month and nothing else was damaged."
The Dire Wolf retraced the path from the hole in the ground to where the mighty oak lay. As he dreaded, distinct depressions sank in the damp lawn at intervals, alternating left and right on either side of the center line. "Mrs Elmendorf, there IS no rational explanation for this. I have to tell you that this was the supernatural touching your life. The Midnight War is here."
"What do you mean? I can't handle this uncertainty, tell me what's going on!"
Cindy Brunner stepped closer to the older woman and softened her tone. "It may seem impossible but look at the scene. Somehow, don't ask me how, that oak tree got up out of the ground and was walking on two legs toward your house."
"I never heard of such a thing," Millicent said, "It's insane. And yet... I don't know what else to think."
"There's something even scarier to consider," Bane told her. "Accepting for the moment that the tree somehow became animated, WHY was it heading straight for your house?"
II.
The living room of the Ellsworth home was warm, cozy and quite cluttered with potted plants on every available surface. Most were succulents but there were enough flowers to provide a distracting blaze of scarlet, blue and white in all directions. Cindy Brunner obligingly dropped down on the overstuffed old couch next to Millicent while Bane remained standing, arms folded as if staying there against his will.
The younger sister, Beverly Ellsworth, rolled herself into an open space which had been left for her wheelchair. She was at least a decade younger than Millicent, heavier in build, with a wide sour-expressioned face under a bun of dark brown hair. The blanket draped over her lap could not disguise how shrunken her legs were.
Emerging from the kitchen, Millicent struggled to find a place to set down the pewter serving tray holding four ceramic cups and a teapot before eventually allowing everyone to take a cup. She then had to place the tray on the other side of the room and bring the teapot around to serve everyone. "I must apologize for the awkwardness, but our plants have quite taken over the house."
"Quite all right," Cindy replied easily, taking a whiff. "MMM. Black morgan tea from India, right?"
"Exactly," Millicent said as she gingerly lowered herself on to the couch next to the blonde telepath. "You have refined tastes, my dear."
For his part, the Dire Wolf took a few grudging sips before setting the cup with its saucer on top of a massive CRT television. "There's a lot of questions we need to work on. You ladies called my office last night at seven PM. How do you even know about my agency?"
"Oh, that's not surprising," Millicent replied. "The two of us lived in Manhattan for ten years before moving back up here to take over the family home. You are well known to New Yorkers, Mr Bane, you and your KDF team. Perhaps the local newspapers and TV stations don't mention you, but people appreciate what you've done."
"Everyone knows of the creatures of the night who chase careless people in dark side streets before dawn," Beverly added from her wheelchair. "Not to mention notorious maniacs like Samhain and Golgora and Sepulchre. Word passes from mouth to mouth in whispers, sir. We are grateful for the protection you have given us."
"So we're kind of urban legends, then," Cindy said. "Could be worse. We try to keep a low profile but, you know, fighting monsters and serial killers does draw some attention."
There was seldom any hint of amusement in Bane's voice and certainly none at the moment. "Neither of you ladies has ever been involved in the occult? Not just knowing some who get deep into forbidden knowledge but trying Ouija boards, tarot cards, anything like that?"
"No," Beverly retorted with the single word.
"Not at all," added Millicent, finishing her tea and nudging a tiny cactus a few inches to make room to place her cup down. "I've never been interested in such things and I don't think my sister has either. We've never even had our fortunes told at a carnival."
"I don't even read the astrology columns in the newspaper," said Beverly, still bit more sharply than seemed necessary. "Stuff and nonsense. We were quite busy running MY LADY'S GARDEN."
"That was our flower shop," Millicent explained. "Corner of 24th Street for more than twelve years. We only recently sold it to this nice young Dominican couple."
Cindy Brunner was studying the two older women, her dark blue eyes thoughtful and introspective. The most gifted telepath of her generation, Cindy's slight body that stood only an inch over five feet and which barely weighed one hundred pounds, gave no hint at the immense power which swirled and swept through her mind. "Looking at this house, at the two gardens outside, it's clear that you ladies still love plants."
"More than we love people," grumbled Beverly.
"Oh, speak for yourself," the elder sister scoffed. "I came near to marrying once or twice when I was in my prime..."
"And when I was already trapped in this damned chair! Your instant of carelessness while you were at the wheel, a mere second of driving too fast and reacting too slow has made me pay for it all these years."
"Oh! Heavens, stop! This nice couple doesn't want to hear all that. Mr Bane, Miss Brunner, forgive us our family grievances."
The Dire Wolf did not raise his voice but it somehow became more commanding. "Tonight, Cindy and I will be on patrol outside your house. We'll alternate shifts. Even so, let me urge you ladies to remain fully dressed and be ready to leave instantly. Your car is up by the road. If necessary, Cindy and I will hustle you both into it and see you on your way."
"You sound as if.. you think we might in danger?"
"I'm sure of it!" Bane snapped.
III.
Marching past the fallen oak toward the rear of the Elmendorf property, Cindy said, "Now we're out of earshot, hon, I want to tell you that my powers are all foggy."
"What do you mean?" asked Bane. "Some interference? A sorcerer or another telepath?"
"No, no, not like that. It's hard to explain but I can feel thousands of weak rudimentary minds all around us. They're distracting me. It's like trying to follow a conversation in a crowd where a hundred people are talking at the same time."
"Hmmm," Bane responded as he continued his long strides with his partner beside him. "As far as our sensors in the CORBY showed, those women are the only life for a half mile in any direction. The nearest house is at the bottom of that long hill to the south, and it was empty. What do you think is going on, Cin?"
"I have an uneasy feeling about this whole mess. The closest I felt to this was when we were Okali looking for Prince Duran. Remember? That herd of Centaurs was gathered for some tribal dispute, they were all yelling and arguing, and I'm getting that same confusing roar in my mind again. I'm not happy about it."
"Something is getting on my nerves, too," Bane admitted. After walking a full mile, they reached where their CORY sat in the center of a natural clearing. The sleek black jetcopter had a remarkably sinister aspect in its sharklike contours and complete lack of identifying insignia but both Bane and Cindy were relieved to see it.
The little blonde checked the screen on her Link, then sent the signal to disarm the security alarms. The front hatches slid open with a hiss of pressurized air being released. "Nothing bigger than a chipmunk has been near it, according to the sensors. I'm getting into the full field suit right away."
"Good idea," Bane said, frowning at the ground by the landing gear. All three wheels had tough vines growing up around the axles. "You see that, Cin?"
"Yeah, and I don't like it one bit. Vines grow fast but that's ridiculous." She opened the hatch to the rear compartment and swung up into it as nimbly as any acrobat. "The clues are smacking us over the head, hon."
Making no comment, the Dire Wolf climbed into the right hand pilot seat and began the preflight check. As the Trom impulse engines powered up, the cockpit interior was illuminated by dozens of pastel green and blue panels lighting up. Any one of them turning red would have stood out immediately. The row of monitor screens came on to show the views from all four directions outside the CORBY, as well as what the sensors detected. Overhead, the rotors began to slowly turn.
"We can have wheels up immediately," he said. Squeezing through the sliding plastic partition to the rear compartment, Cindy Brunner was now wearing the KDF field suit with its high boots, snug pants and waist-length jacket all of tough leatherlike material. She had bound her hair with a barrette and was lowering the visored helmet down over her head. "Okay, I'm in co-pilot seat and ready to go, Jeremy," she replied.
"Take the stick and be ready for emergency ascent," he told her with the naturally stern tone in his voice growing more noticeable.
"Really? Is the situation even worse than I thought?"
"Let's see." Bane drew one of the matched silver daggers from its sheath under his sleeve and hopped back down outside. The instant he sliced its razored edge across the vines holding the landing gears, an unearthly wail pierced their minds... more shrill and insistent than any true sound produced by lungs could match. The vines tore themselves free and whipped wildly about. The lower legs of Bane's pants were shredded instantly. The Dire Wolf leaped back up into the CORBY and yelled, "Up, Cin!" even before the hatch could shut.
The CORBY shot straight up into the darkening sky, accelerating more swiftly and silently than any normal aircraft could match. At five hundred feet, the blonde telepath leveled off and peered down through the windscreen. "Oh come ON!" she said in disbelief. "Jeremy, do you see those trees swaying? Do you see their branches moving in different directions? Even if there were gale force winds, they wouldn't act like that."
Fastening restraint straps around his waist and across his chest, the Dire Wolf joined her in staring. "Always something new in the Midnight War. We need to get those old ladies away from here. They may love plants but it sure seems like plants don't love them."
"Now I know what those feeble minds are that I'm picking up," she muttered. "Plants. Thousands of trees and bushes and vines, all of them worked up and furious about something. If I wasn't so terrified, I'd think it was funny."
"Take the stick, okay?"
Thumbing the co-pilot option button on the combined collective/cyclic stick between their seats, Cindy assumed control of the CORBY. "On it. I guess we should hover for the moment and assess the situation. Some of those trees are thirty feet high, that one below seems to be trying to stretch its branches up to grab us."
Climbing through the partition into the rear compartment, the Dire Wolf unpacked his field suit and tugged it on the smoothness of long practice. Both he and Cindy were wearing bodysuits of the flexible Trom armor under their clothes. As he fastened the jacket shut, Bane slid open a drawer on the metal equipment units which took up the port wall of the rear. "I'm switching to the concussion guns with high impact shells," he announced. "One for you, too."
"Yeah, the anesthetic dart pistols won't be much use this time," she said. "Some incendiary discs would be reassuring as well."
"There's a clip of six discs for each of us," Bane said. "And I'm unhooking the fire axe off the wall to take with me."
As her longtime partner squeezed back up into the cockpit, Cindy accepted the flat clip which held the silver dollar-sized incendiary discs. "Prepare for the worst, that's our motto," she said with relief. "Where's my concussion gun, oh thanks."
Bane was peering down through the windscreen with its light enhancers and Trom sensors giving him a sharp detailed view of the night. "Something is going on at the rear patio. See it? Human sized, maybe six feet tall and two feet wide."
"Picking up angry thought waves," the blonde telepath said. "No clear rational processes, just emotions. Dang. He she or it is sure ticked off about something."
Bane had fastened his helmet so it sealed around the high collar of his jacket, but he left the visor up. The fire axe was carefully held handle up between his knees. "Cindy, bring us down to a few inches off the ground but don't touch down completely. Stay ready to take off instantly, using your own judgement."
"Got it." She pressed two illuminated panels and the red button atop the stick lit up. "I'm deploying the weapons vanes, hon. Both chain guns out and ready. We've learned the hard way to be prepared when tackling the Unknown."
Sliding open his hatch, the Dire Wolf dropped lightly down twelve feet to the grass, landing on toes and fingers in a crouch that immediately allowed him to rise instantly. He had the axe gripped up near the head as he moved toward the rear of the house.
In his helmet, the communications system relayed Cindy's voice, "I'll make this quick. That's not a real plant you're facing. It's a mass of unrelated fibers, roots and bark animated by gralic force."
"A Targhul! I should have figured that out," he replied.
"Looks like it, hon. And both of the Elmendorf sisters are so deep in a stupor they're borderline comatose. I'm going silent not to distract you."
Watching the bizarre man-size wooden being swing around to face him, Bane remembered all the times he had fought Targhuls. Whether hard clay golems or living suits of steel armor or tough leather mannikins, they were bad opponents who felt neither pain nor fear. This wooden creature had long arms which ended in sharp talons, and its surface bristled with thorns. The upper part vaguely resembled a head, two deep shadowy depressions suggested eyes, but it had no brain or mind of its own. It was a sorcerous construct manipulated by a Human will.
The treelike being lurched awkwardly toward its intended prey, its limbs creaking as the fibers split and resealed when it moved. Stepping to meet the attack, the Dire Wolf whirled the fire axe left and right with full power strokes biting deeply with each impact. The Targhul's left leg was severed at the knee. It fell forward, barely catching itself with both gnarled hands as the axe cut entirely through one arm and the being toppled over onto its side. Bane moved in for the finishing stroke. Vines tough as wire snapped tightly around his ankles and hauled him upside down off the ground. The vines were wrapped around the elm tree nearest the house for support.
Even take off-guard like that, Bane reacted instantly. He bent up using his stomach muscles, whipping out the silver bladed daggers and slashing himself free. More tendrils snaked across the ground toward him, he hopped out of their reach and placed his back against the wall of the house. The elm tree swayed closer with deadly intent. Its branches reshaped and extended into pointed spears which stabbed forward to dig deep into the house walls as Bane evaded them by inches.
Then the night roared with the rapid thrum of the 40mm chain guns letting out four-second bursts at point blank range. The elm tree shattered into tiny fragments flying in all directions. Only twenty feet away, the sinister black stealthcopter rose to rooftop level and swiveled on its axis to cover the area.
"There's more where that came from!" yelled Cindy's voice over the communications system. "I'll strip this yard down to the dirt if these plants don't behave."
Tapping the side of his helmet, Bane said, "Thanks, Cin. I'm going inside. Are you picking up any waking thoughts from the women?"
"No. And that's alarming in itself. No one could sleep through that gunfire."
"Time to find out exactly what's going on here," the Dire Wolf said, hefting the metal-handled fire axe and turning the unlocked knob of the rear door of the house. "That little attack has got me mad."
The second he stepped through into a short hallway, Bane started wheezing and felt his chest tighten up. He slid his visor down with a click and began breathing through the double HEPA filters in his helmet, and after a second felt much better. The light enhancers had cut in automatically. He could clearly see thick particles hanging in the air.
"The place is filled with pollen," he said to Cindy. "Thick as fog. Even our enhanced healing would have trouble adjusting to it."
"It's war with the plant kingdom," her voice replied. "I have a bad feeling about those women. Their mental patterns are too sluggish to recover."
"I understand. Going past a bathroom and a bedroom filled with clutter. Here's the living room where we were earlier. Are you seeing this?"
"Yes. Wish I wasn't."
Sprawled back on the couch and in the wheelchair, the Elmendorf sisters had thin green tendrils draping out of their mouths and noses. Their eyes were rolled up to show only the white. All the potted plants were swaying from side to side in an unnatural manner. In the center of the room sat what looked like a dozen plants braided together into a vaguely humanoid shape. From its mass, without lungs or mouth to move air, a telepathic voice echoed, "Your time has passed, this is the hour of the Green Empire."
IV.
Remarkably unintimidated despite the bizarre situation, Jeremy Bane tapped the head of his axe into an open palm. "This is something new. I expected to find one or both of those women animated plants like puppets."
"That is how is began," hissed the sibilant mental voice. "But they could not know what they were awakening. The meat creatures tipped our consciousness over the threshold. Billions of green beings cover the Earth, uncountable numbers from giant sequoias to blades of grass, and each is part of a group mind. Left alone, perhaps we would never have crossed over into sentience. But we have! And we will not suffer you meat creatures any longer."
"It beats me how you can think at all without any brain at all or even a nervous system." The Dire Wolf bent forward, studying the grotesque mass of vines and bark and fiber all wound tightly together. "Let me get this straight, though. You're the center of it all? This Green Empire business, you're the hub of it?"
"What does it matter to you? That tool can not damage me before I pierce your heart with the point of my branches."
"Yeah, good luck with that, my friend." Bane tossed the axe far to one side and the plant creature swiveled stiffly to follow its path. In that second of distraction, the Dire Wolf whipped out the clip from his jacket pocket and flung three of the incendiary discs against the walls. A whoosh of superheated air whipped around the room as blinding white fire erupted. The curtains, ceiling and furniture all caught fire immediately. Stepping backward, Bane threw another disc into the front room to block that exit and dropped a final one on the floor by the back door as he stepped back into the night. His field suit had protected him, but even so he could feel the searing heat that was turning the house into a pillar of flame.
The CORBY was waiting, its undercarriage grazing the grass. Bane dove through the open hatch and as he scrambling into the empty seat, Cindy pulled back on the stick. The stealthcopter shot straight up to hover a hundred feet above the blazing house.
"Take the stick, Jeremy," she said. As her partner switch control over to his side of the cockpit, the telepath narrowed her eyes and extended her awareness. After a tense few minutes of silence, she exhaled and relaxed. "I'm not picking up any of the rudimentary thoughts. Far as I can tell, that plant gestalt died out when you started the fire."
"That's what I was hoping," Bane said, circling the burning building. "We should stay here as long as we can. If we see fire trucks coming, we can rise up out of sight in a second."
"Still not sensing anything. I hope that does it. We don't need another potential enemy hanging over our heads. Honestly, we have enough bad guys to worry about already."
Bane finally raised his visor into its internal track. "Look at this, I'm covered in pollen."
"Hah! You look like you've been rolled in garlic powder," she managed to say before sneezing.
10/23/2022
