"Everywhere At the Same Time"
Oct. 29th, 2022 03:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dochermes"Everywhere At the Same Time"
10/22/2002
I.
"I am the Unicorn!" Ashley hollered so echoes rebounded from the ceiling beams in the crowded bar. She had hopped up onto a chair in front of the table which had no room on its surface for any more overturned shot glasses. In the smoky haze of that room with its red neon lighting advertising COLD BEER and BIKERS WELCOME, she stood revealed as a gorgeous young woman with long platinum-white hair, perfectly cast features and a slim body displayed in white ribbed sweater and snug white jeans. "There has never been anyone like me!"
"You can say that again, sweetheart," one of the men grumbled. "If'n Reggie wasn't snoring, I'd worry he was dead. Gimme a hand with him, bros." Two other men helped lift the insensate Reggie from his chair and carried him toward a back room which held a broken-down couch. The crowd at the WEST SIDE INN was two-thirds male and one-third female, all ranging from their twenties to early thirties with a few grizzled barflies secluded in the corners. The jukebox had gone silent as everyone became enthralled by the way this tiny blonde gulped down whiskey shots without effect while her challengers inevitably staggered away in defeat. In the center of the table was a plastic bowl normally filled with pretzels but now overflowing with bet money.
Unicorn leaped nimbly down to stand next to her companion. "Hey Science Nerd, how much dough is in the kitty?"
In nearly exact contrast, Megan Salenger had black shaggy hair, olive skin and dark thoughtful eyes. She was wearing a black sweatshirt and dark jeans to complete the reversal. "I count six hundred and eighty-three dollars and eleven cents."
"Well then there now," Ashley laughed. She swung around to face the staring crowd. "Boys and girls, the drinking contest is officially over and as the winner... of course!.. I declare that my winnings will right this minute be donated to the grill. Free hamburgers and sausages and French fries for everyone!"
Megan carefully counted out Ashley's winnings to the two men at the bar. One of them tied on an apron that was less than immaculate and began slapping meat patties onto the steel grill between the shelves of bottles and the cash register. Patrons were jostling each other and calling out their preferences as Megan stepped back away from the cluster of bodies.
A college age redheaded woman, with four piercings in every ear and a baggy sweatshirt with NEVER SAY NOT ONCE handwritten across its front, tugged at Megan's sleeve. "That was awesome. Dude! How can a chick that size pack away so much booze? I caught a buzz just watching."
"Ashley has many talents," Megan answered, disengaging herself. "Excuse me, please."
Back at the show table with its thirty shot glasses and empty bottles, the Unicorn was wrestling into her down-filled ski jacket. "You know, Trom Girl, you could do that much drinking, too. You have the same healing factor I do."
"I don't see the purpose in such an activity," the Trom Girl answered mildly. Megan picked up her waist-length KDF field jacket, which had an internal power source and which would keep her comfortable under worse conditions than a chilly Manhattan night. "Your idea of fun escapes my understanding."
"Aw, I think you'll get it someday, Megs. On the tagra tea diet, our bodies process alcohol the same way we'd process cyanide or botulism. It all just passes harmlessly through our innards, which reminds me, that WAS still a good amount of liquid I gulped down tonight. Let's hit the little girl's room before we split."
Escorting her friend to the two doors marked COLTS and FILLIES, the Trom Girl said, "I will remain out here. Since I did not drink two gallons of whiskey, I do not need to urinate."
Unicorn punched Megan lightly on the bicep. "Aw, we need to go out next Friday night, too. I know this karaoke bar in Tribeca..."
When Ashley re-emerged, she pointed at the wall clock in mock horror. "MAYY-agan! You know we were supposed to leave at eleven, why didn't you say anythng?"
Zipping up her field jacket, the Trom Girl replied, "It was after eleven when we got here."
Seeing the two teammates putting on their coats, a half dozen men drew closer. "Please tell me you two aren't leaving! Break everyone's hearts, why don't you?"
"We are both on duty in four hours and nineteen minutes," Megan replied with a noticeable lack of sympathy.
"At least give us your names," said the tallest one there, a rather good-looking athletic type with a brown ponytail. "A phone number wouldn't be a bad idea, either."
Ashley reached up and touched his cheek. For an instant, her impudence faded and was replaced by a wistful tone. "Don't I wish, cutie. But the Science Nerd and I lead crazy lives and there's no telling when we'll be free again. It's the heavy burden of duty we carry, I guess."
"Goodnight to you all," Megan interrupted, yanking her friend by one arm. "Drive carefully."
Two blocks away, Unicorn stopped in mid-stride and glanced back over her shoulder. "Megan, let's choose two of those guys and bring them back with us. You know, just for coffee. And to talk."
The Trom Girl could not keep disapproval from her voice. "Bringing unauthorized persons into the headquarters building will of course alert our duty officer. That's Sable tonight."
"Drat darn heck. Yeah, that's true. This is worse than trying to sneak a boy upstairs when your dad's on the couch in the living room," Ashley sighed. "Too bad the KDF is such a prude organization."
"It is not an issue of morals. You are an adult and entitled to a personal life. But we have many enemies who want us dead or captured for torture. We have to think of the team's security first." Megan took the blonde's arm again. "I have not given much thought to dating, let alone entering a serious relationship, Ashley. It's difficult for Tel Shai knights like us. The Midnight War gives most people nightmares if they learn about it."
"You're right. I guess. I'll tell you something you mustn't forget, Megs. You're Human. You were raised by those cold, emotionless Trom super-scientists but you're not like them. You have feelings. I'd bet anything that when you tumble for some guy, you're going to be in L-O-V-E Love with little hearts flying around your head."
The Trom Girl did nor answer immediately but, after walking a few steps, she quietly said, "Only time will tell."
As soon as they saw Megan's cherry red Jeep Cherokee parked ahead, both women heard their Links buzz at their belts. "Oh, come ON!" groaned Ashley as she unclipped the flat device and held it up. "Hi, Sable? What's up?"
"Also responding," said Megan into her own Link.
"I have a report from one of our observers of an Eldanar warrior woman seen in the city," came the steady familiar voice of their captain. "Seems there's a brawl at the LOST SOULS bar within walking distance of where you two are. No casualties apparently, just some bruises and damaged furniture but I would like to know more. It's winding down right now."
"Got it, we're on our way," Unicorn said. "But seriously, I didn't know the Eldanarin HAD warriors, let alone fighting women. They're so, you know, snooty and dainty and New Age and stuff."
Sable's voice sharpened noticeably, "There's only one in modern times that I've ever learned about. One of Hagen's Seven Swords, an Elf named Perendir."
>II.
Everyone at the LOST SOULS bar thought for a second that a child had wandered in somehow at three in the morning. The tiny figure who closed the door behind her was an inch under five feet in height. Even on a chilly November night, she wore only simple black pants and a bright green long-sleeved tunic with no coat or hat. The gleaming golden hair hung straight down past narrow shoulders. Strangely, a narrow object wrapped in leather was strapped diagonally across her back, a burden longer than she was tall.
But the confidence with which the stranger strode toward the open space between tables assured all the hard-drinking regulars that she was an adult. Her voice rang out, clear and refined but with self-assurance, "I am looking for someone."
"Well, here I am, honey!" called someone from the bar and laughter rumbled for a few seconds.
"I have brought coin of this realm and will pay for information," she continued.
At the table nearest her, a grizzled reprobate with a nose made red and bulbous from decades of booze lurched up to his feet. "Oh come on. Lady, listen to me. A pretty little thang like you dances into this hellhole in the middle of the night, alone, announcing she has money on her? What the Hell? I don't mean you no harm but let's face it, this ain't a room full of choir boys you're looking at. You ain't safe here, go home!"
Strange amber-tinted eyes moved over the crowd with no trace of uneasiness in them. "I have faced worse than a den of mortal Men stirred by lust or greed," she said. "Who knows where Hoppy Reamer can be found?"
At that name, tension crackled in the air to replace the amused interest of a second ago. One man shouted, "Never heard'a him! Nobody here knows him."
"Know that I am Perendir of Elvedal, one of the Seven Swords," the tiny blonde told them, seeing no reaction in their faces. "I offer one hundred dollars of your money to the Human who leads me to Hoppy Reamer."
"That does it," rumbled an aging biker with a greying ponytail to compensate for a hairline up near the top of his head. "On your own two feet or tossed out like an alley cat, you've going out that door right now."
Perendir raised her hand and from it flared up blinding light of the palest gold imaginable, too intense to bear. Everyone gasped and covered their faces. None of the watering eyes in that bar could see the smug smile on her face. "You have not yet earned the blade edge, my son. For the third time, I ask where Hoppy Reamer may be."
Back in the far corner, blinking furiously, a remarkably obese woman with a rose tattoo on the side of her neck fumbled with her cell phone. "Hello? Hello, Sable? It's me, Lydia Buboltz, I hope I didn't wake you but you said to call any time night or day if I spotted any Midnight War craziness going on..."
III.
Coming to a halt in a parking lot populated mostly by rusted Dodge pick-up trucks and SUVS at least ten years old, Megan Salenger said mildly, "There's a rare sight."
"Drat, she's shorter than I am!" Ashley said, vaulting out of the passenger seat. "Finally someone I can see the top of their head."
Perendir was standing in front of a semi-circle of stunned men who were all more than twice her weight. Judging from their low groans and feeble arm motions, none of them were dead or even completely unconscious but they seemed unenthusiastic about any activity for the moment. The Eldanar woman was hefting the leather-wrapped length she had evidently used to concuss the men and she swung around as the Jeep arrived.
"Hey there!" Unicorn called over cheerfully. "Perendir, right? We're from the KDF, you know the Tel Shai knights you met a long time ago?"
"Against the Nine Beast Helmets?" the Eldanar responded dubiously. "I have not met you two before."
"That was, like fourteen years ago," Megan volunteered. "Naturally, there has been some turnover in our team."
"Oh. Yes. Mortal lives are like a candle that burns down in a single night. Sometimes I address one of you Humans as if you are your own grandfather if there is a resemblance."
"Well, yeah, I was like ten when our groups teamed up, so naturally I wasn't there," Ashley said. "Looks like you don't need any help, ha ha."
"Your words are truer than you realize. If you intend to offer we work together tonight, that will not be necessary. I would appreciate no interference." Perendir slung the sheathed sword loosely across her back without buckling the strap. "Give my regards to your Dire Wolf, if he is still alive."
In a voice even more serious than usual, Megan said, "At least let us know what brings you to this world, Perendir."
"I think not." Without further elaboration, the Eldanar turned on her heel and started toward the other side of the parking lot. Megan and Ashley trotted close behind her to stop at a rented SUV as the Eldanar woman was about to open the driver's door.
"Wait a second, please! We'll simply learn from the people in this bar what you were asking about. Why not make it easier for us?"
Perendir considered this for a second, then shrugged. "Very well. I have been sent by my captain Hagen of Androval to bring back a Human named Hoppy Reamer. Much good may that knowledge do you. I am certain Tel Shai knights have their own crusades to pursue while I do the same." With that, she swung up into the front seat and started up the engine.
Stepping back out of the way, Megan shook her head. 'I know my manners are not always correct but even so I do not think she is being polite."
"Aw, they're all like that!" Unicorn snorted. "Eldanarin all act like they're royalty talking down to Human riff-raff. I think it comes from being practically immortal. It doesn't matter. She doesn't know it but we're one step ahead of her."
The Trom Girl regarded her partner with a faint smile. "What have you done?"
"Here, look at our Links," Ashley said. "See that blip? It's the signal from the little tracer I stuck inside her wheel well while she was looking down at her nose at you. We're going to follow her whether she likes it or not."
IV.
Renting the 2001 Chevrolet Blazer had presented no more trouble for Perendir than driving it did. Many exploits in the lands of mortal Men had taught her how to use money and credit cards. The nearly deserted downtown streets offered no challenge to her skills, either. She sped on her way in what should have been sublime confidence that this mission would be accomplished promptly and she could rejoin the other Seven Swords within a day. But encountering those two Tel Shai knights had annoyed her.
Mere children! Not even at the bare minimum of one hundred and fifty years that an Eldanar must reach before assuming citizenship. They had not even lived thirty years.. Perendir tried to understand that because Humans had such short lifespans that they had to rush into adulthood but still it seemed folly to her. Except for violence either physical or sorcerous, she could look ahead to a horizon beyond sight. Many Eldanarin had been born before the Darthan Age, thirty thousand years ago. King Elzulang and Queen Linlora had ruled uninterrupted since before the Great Change, when the prehistory known to archaeologists had begun.
b
The neighborhood showed telltale signs of poverty and its companion, crime. Filth scattered on cracked and stained sidewalks. Windows boarded over, stores with simple OUT OF BUSINESS painted on windows, many stray cats foraging in battered garbage cans and soggy cardboard boxes. To Perendir, these alerted her the way a forest suddenly going silent alarmed a hunter. There was the address she had drawn from unwilling drunks back at that bar. A former video rental store that had been closed for years. MOVIES FOR EVERYONE, the crooked sign still read, but not even shelves remained in the empty rooms visible through the long picture window.
Stepping out from behind the wheel, the Eldanar fetched her weapon from the passenger seat and strapped it across her back firmly. Beneath the leather wrapping was the oak scabbard which held the Seeking Blade forged and ensorcelled by Malberon himself so long ago. The hilt stood up behind her left shoulder for ease of draw. Perendir carried no other weapons and seldom wore the plate armor that had been fashioned to fit her precisely. Her trust was in speed and agility rather than brawn, in quick thinking and skill rather than strength. So far, those traits had served her well.
Stalking silently around the corner of the old yellow brick building, the Eldanar was as alert as any woodland creature sensing the nearness of a predator. Cautious footsteps within that building might as well have been drum beats to her ears. Back by the rear of the long-closed video store stood a dark red Toyota Echo. She touched the hood and found the metal still warm. In the gloom relieved by a single street lamp twenty feet away, those delicate lips curved in an anticipatory smile.
Something struck her brutally hard across the back of her head, nearly doing fatal damage. Long experience guided Perendir to stumble forward away from whoever had hit her, both of her hands whistling the Shining Blade free as she wheeled around. But there was no one there. Impossible. Not even the dreaded Brumal were that stealthy. Perendir whipped her sword back and forth before her, crouching, peering into the murk with a mixture of anger and confusion, and she was struck again from behind even harder.
This time, the Eldanar dropped to her knees, breaking her fall with her left hand while still clutching her sword. Her vision was blurred and her ears rang. Perendir tried to rise and was shoved roughly over on to her side. Then she saw her assailant.
Wide and chunky in a dark raincoat that reached to his shins, the man grinned down at her. In his round doughy face, that smile was a white upward-curving crescent. "I got a call some blondie was asking about me at the LOST SOULS. They warned me you might be coming this way."
"The Human called Hoppy Reamer?" demanded Perendir, rising to her feet despite the painful throbbing at the back of her head. "I would have words with you, thief."
"Now, watch the name-calling. Say, you're all kinds of cute, honey. Aren't you freezing with no coat on?"
The Eldanar hefted her sword again and planted her feet firmly. "Worry about your own safety, mortal. Word has reached us that you have stolen a talisman from a Human we entrusted it with. It is in your favor that you did no harm to an Elf-friend or I would be cleaning your blood off my blade even now."
"Ya think?" With a chuckle, Hoppy Reamer clapped his hands together. Then, without crossing the ten feet between them, he somehow was right up against Perendir. He kissed her full on the mouth and instantly was again far out of reach. The ensalir blade hissed through empty air where he had been standing and would have disemboweled him if he had still been there.
"You can't gut what you can't catch!" gloated Hoppy. "I'm too fast for you, babe, I got what you might call super-speed."
"No, you do NOT!" Perendir shouted back at him. "Liar as well as thief. You have stolen one of our travel crystals. It must be hidden somewhere on you at this very moment and I will take it back."
"Hold that thought." Hoppy vanished from sight, only a barely perceptible flicker of blue light showing where he had been. Expecting another blow from behind, the Eldanar wheeled around and was again taken by surprise as a heavy net dropped over her. Tangled in the thick cords, legs together, she fell onto her back. Hoppy Reamer was there again. He wrestled the sword from her grasp and flung it away to clatter on the asphalt far out of reach. Perendir was struggling to free herself but Hoppy knelt over her with a knee on either side to further pin her down.
"Now listen," he said. "I don't want to hurt you. I'm not that kind of guy. But come on, how can I give up this magic talisman? It's amazing. I can pop in and out of any armored car and walk away with a canvas bag of money in each hand. I can vacation in Hawaii or Tahiti for free. Anything I want I can have, literally anything at all." Here his voice dropped deeper. "But the problem now is, you aren't as nice a person as I am. How am I going to keep you from carving me up with that big old sword? What am I going to do with you?"
V.
"There's Her Highness' car!" Ashley said, tugging on Megan's sleeve as they drove past the long-closed video store. The next block down was a strip mall with a 24 hour laundromat still open. Megan swerved in to park at an empty slot next to the laundromat and turned off the engine. "Do you have your Unicorn horn with you?"
"No. Damn, now that I think of it, I should have stowed it in the back of your Jeep but I didn't think I'd need it on what was supposed to be our girls' night out. I am wearing the Trom armor under my clothes, though."
"As am I," Megan said. "My beam projector and gravity shield are secured in the back. And I do have an anesthetic dart gun packed away which you may use."
"Sounds like a plan. Come on, science nerd, let's show that golden girl what real heroes look like."
"Ashley, do not take rash or impulsive action merely because you resent Perendir. Be more objective."
"Who, me? You sound like my mother."
Standing outside the Jeep, Megan Salenger reached into the rear and came up with a round metal disc five inches across, which she fastened high up between her shoulder blades. What looked like a thick rectangular flashlight was next. She clicked a cartridge into place and adjusted two dials. "I am using the neural shock, as it seems the best choice for this situation."
"Some day you're going to put in the disintegrator beam by mistake and make a couple of bad guys evaporate," Ashley said. "Where's my dart gun?"
"Here." The Trom Girl handed over a clip-on holster holding a handcrafted pistol with an extended needle-thin barrel. "A full magazine of twelve anesthetic darts in the grip."
"Thankew." Unicorn fastened the holster to her belt directly in front of her torso, leaving her ski jacket unzipped for easy access. "Suppose you waltz right on to the scene while I sneak around in back and creep up on everyone."
Megan sounded more dubious than usual. "Ashley, you are wearing all white and have blonde hair. I believe it would be easier for me to approach unseen in the dim light."
"Oh, okay. I suppose. Why don't you fly up onto the roof of that building and keep an eye on things." With that, Ashley spun on one heel and sprinted off into the darkness while her partner restrained an exasperated sigh.
Megan had decided not to use the gravity shield on this case unless there was urgent need. She had been reprimanded by her superiors for revealing too much Trom tech to Humans, and the council's mild expression of disappointment carried the weight of a furious screaming fit to her. Orphaned at birth, she had been raised from infancy by the Trom and winning their approval was her main motivation. Lately, Aashley had been telling Megan that sooner or later she was going to rebel a little because she was fully Human and not from a Race that had been breeding emotion away for ages. The notion was appealing to her more and more.
For the moment, she had to focus. With the bean projector in one hand, she pressed up against the side of the cold brick building and edged along until she could peek into the tiny back lot. She observed and analyzed instantly. There was Perendir on the ground wrapped in a fishing net but unharmed judging by her struggles. There was a man in his late forties, in poor physical condition and wearing old worn-out clothing, and she tentatively identified him as "Hoppy Reamer." And there was Ashley as expected, swinging around into view and covering the suspect with her dart gun.
Getting Hoppy's attention with her abrupt entrance, Unicorn snapped, "Stay right where you are."
This provoked genuine laughter. "Oh, that's rich. I'm the one person on Earth you can't tell to stay put!"
"Whatever. Step a little away from the victim."
Instantly, Hoppy was standing twenty feet further back, touching his car. "How's that?"
"He's a teleporter!" said the Trom Girl as she moved into view, extending her beam projector the way someone would point a pistol. In less than a full second, Unicorn yelped in pain as her dart gun was yanked from her grip and Megan slumped face down to the freezing asphalt.
"Oh my God, oh my GOD!" yelled Hoppy. "I didn't mean to shoot her. Honestly I didn't. I just wanted to get her to drop her own weapon." He was crouching over the limp form, lifting a wrist but apparently not being sure how to check a pulse.
From where she was standing, Ashley called, "Aw she'll be fine. We use anesthetic darts. They're like the tranquilizer guns they capture dangerous animals with. In an hour, she'll start groaning and complaining." In fact, because of their enhanced healing, Megan would revive in ten minutes or less but Ashley saw no reason to enlighten Hoppy about that. During the seconds that the man had been preoccupied with examining Megan, Ashley had unobtrusively dropped a small object onto the net-entangled Eldanar.
"Really?" asked Hoppy. "Well, that's a relief. This IS a funny-looking gizmo at that." He stood up and pointed the dart gun at the small blonde. "Who are you guys anyway? Since when do the cops send three good-looking young women to bring someone in?"
The Unicorn had been judging distance and reaction times. There was no way she could close in on this dude before he planted a few darts in her or more likely blipped out of reach. She tilted her head forward and flashed her most ingratiating smile, even though the dim light would cancel its hoped for effect. "We're not with the police. We are, um, specialists in the occult and supernatural. Ghostbreakers, you might say. That jewel you stole is dangerous."
"Oh this thing again?" Hoppy Reamer tapped the center of his chest with an index finger. "Forget it. Nobody's getting it away from me. I was telling the chick with the pointed ears what a lush life I'm going to be living from now on. I can go anywhere in a blink. It's like being everywhere all at the same time."
"Not really," Ashley said. "You're stuck at ground level. You couldn't touch that lamppost for example."
"Oh yeah! Just watch." With the faintest of blue shimmers left behind for an instant, Hoppy appeared up by the bulb but immediately realized the magnitude of his mistake. He plummeted straight down to land with a soft squishy thump on the ground. Unicorn was already racing over to yank up his shirt and grab the Eldanar talisman from where it had hung on a leather cord around his neck. It was the smallest travel crystal she had ever seen, a pale blue faceted gem two inches across in a silver setting.
"You fell for it and I mean FELL!" Ashley said as she pocketed the talisman. "Got the wind knocked out of you, huh? I'll take my dart gun back if you don't mind."
Hoppy Reamer tried to sit up but cried out and sank back down again. "My leg. My leg. Is it broken?"
"Could be, it's bent kind of funny. My partners and I will call an ambulance before we leave. Although I dunno what kind of story you're going to tell them about how you fell off a lamppost..." She broke off as she sensed movement behind her.
Megan and Perendir were standing side by side, regarding the situation with wry amusement. The Eldanar woman handed Ashley's multi-tool back to her. "I thank you for this bladed device, it was most useful in freeing myself."
"No problem, princess."
"I am not royalty," the Eldanar replied. "Our Princess Halestril has not left Elvedal for thousands of years."
Reaching into her ski jacket, Ashley brought out the travel crystal and handed it over. "I kind of hate to give it up. The thought crossed my mind I should keep it and act like I didn't know what this Hoppy guy did with it."
"You are a more noble person than you pretend to be, Tel Shai. I do not think you would ever hold on to what belongs to the Eldanarin."
Megan was rubbing the side of her neck where the anesthetic dart had broken the skin.
"That man's left tibia has a simple fracture. Look at the angle. He needs medical care."
"I told you my leg was broken!" Hoppy complained.
"Oh, hush," Unicorn told him. "We're going now. There'll be an ambulance here right away. Just be glad this Eldanar warrior doesn't cut your head off before she goes."
To Ashley's shocked surprise, Megan Salenger made her first joke. "Since he will be on crutches for several weeks, his nickname 'Hoppy' will be appropriate."
11/4/2022
10/22/2002
I.
"I am the Unicorn!" Ashley hollered so echoes rebounded from the ceiling beams in the crowded bar. She had hopped up onto a chair in front of the table which had no room on its surface for any more overturned shot glasses. In the smoky haze of that room with its red neon lighting advertising COLD BEER and BIKERS WELCOME, she stood revealed as a gorgeous young woman with long platinum-white hair, perfectly cast features and a slim body displayed in white ribbed sweater and snug white jeans. "There has never been anyone like me!"
"You can say that again, sweetheart," one of the men grumbled. "If'n Reggie wasn't snoring, I'd worry he was dead. Gimme a hand with him, bros." Two other men helped lift the insensate Reggie from his chair and carried him toward a back room which held a broken-down couch. The crowd at the WEST SIDE INN was two-thirds male and one-third female, all ranging from their twenties to early thirties with a few grizzled barflies secluded in the corners. The jukebox had gone silent as everyone became enthralled by the way this tiny blonde gulped down whiskey shots without effect while her challengers inevitably staggered away in defeat. In the center of the table was a plastic bowl normally filled with pretzels but now overflowing with bet money.
Unicorn leaped nimbly down to stand next to her companion. "Hey Science Nerd, how much dough is in the kitty?"
In nearly exact contrast, Megan Salenger had black shaggy hair, olive skin and dark thoughtful eyes. She was wearing a black sweatshirt and dark jeans to complete the reversal. "I count six hundred and eighty-three dollars and eleven cents."
"Well then there now," Ashley laughed. She swung around to face the staring crowd. "Boys and girls, the drinking contest is officially over and as the winner... of course!.. I declare that my winnings will right this minute be donated to the grill. Free hamburgers and sausages and French fries for everyone!"
Megan carefully counted out Ashley's winnings to the two men at the bar. One of them tied on an apron that was less than immaculate and began slapping meat patties onto the steel grill between the shelves of bottles and the cash register. Patrons were jostling each other and calling out their preferences as Megan stepped back away from the cluster of bodies.
A college age redheaded woman, with four piercings in every ear and a baggy sweatshirt with NEVER SAY NOT ONCE handwritten across its front, tugged at Megan's sleeve. "That was awesome. Dude! How can a chick that size pack away so much booze? I caught a buzz just watching."
"Ashley has many talents," Megan answered, disengaging herself. "Excuse me, please."
Back at the show table with its thirty shot glasses and empty bottles, the Unicorn was wrestling into her down-filled ski jacket. "You know, Trom Girl, you could do that much drinking, too. You have the same healing factor I do."
"I don't see the purpose in such an activity," the Trom Girl answered mildly. Megan picked up her waist-length KDF field jacket, which had an internal power source and which would keep her comfortable under worse conditions than a chilly Manhattan night. "Your idea of fun escapes my understanding."
"Aw, I think you'll get it someday, Megs. On the tagra tea diet, our bodies process alcohol the same way we'd process cyanide or botulism. It all just passes harmlessly through our innards, which reminds me, that WAS still a good amount of liquid I gulped down tonight. Let's hit the little girl's room before we split."
Escorting her friend to the two doors marked COLTS and FILLIES, the Trom Girl said, "I will remain out here. Since I did not drink two gallons of whiskey, I do not need to urinate."
Unicorn punched Megan lightly on the bicep. "Aw, we need to go out next Friday night, too. I know this karaoke bar in Tribeca..."
When Ashley re-emerged, she pointed at the wall clock in mock horror. "MAYY-agan! You know we were supposed to leave at eleven, why didn't you say anythng?"
Zipping up her field jacket, the Trom Girl replied, "It was after eleven when we got here."
Seeing the two teammates putting on their coats, a half dozen men drew closer. "Please tell me you two aren't leaving! Break everyone's hearts, why don't you?"
"We are both on duty in four hours and nineteen minutes," Megan replied with a noticeable lack of sympathy.
"At least give us your names," said the tallest one there, a rather good-looking athletic type with a brown ponytail. "A phone number wouldn't be a bad idea, either."
Ashley reached up and touched his cheek. For an instant, her impudence faded and was replaced by a wistful tone. "Don't I wish, cutie. But the Science Nerd and I lead crazy lives and there's no telling when we'll be free again. It's the heavy burden of duty we carry, I guess."
"Goodnight to you all," Megan interrupted, yanking her friend by one arm. "Drive carefully."
Two blocks away, Unicorn stopped in mid-stride and glanced back over her shoulder. "Megan, let's choose two of those guys and bring them back with us. You know, just for coffee. And to talk."
The Trom Girl could not keep disapproval from her voice. "Bringing unauthorized persons into the headquarters building will of course alert our duty officer. That's Sable tonight."
"Drat darn heck. Yeah, that's true. This is worse than trying to sneak a boy upstairs when your dad's on the couch in the living room," Ashley sighed. "Too bad the KDF is such a prude organization."
"It is not an issue of morals. You are an adult and entitled to a personal life. But we have many enemies who want us dead or captured for torture. We have to think of the team's security first." Megan took the blonde's arm again. "I have not given much thought to dating, let alone entering a serious relationship, Ashley. It's difficult for Tel Shai knights like us. The Midnight War gives most people nightmares if they learn about it."
"You're right. I guess. I'll tell you something you mustn't forget, Megs. You're Human. You were raised by those cold, emotionless Trom super-scientists but you're not like them. You have feelings. I'd bet anything that when you tumble for some guy, you're going to be in L-O-V-E Love with little hearts flying around your head."
The Trom Girl did nor answer immediately but, after walking a few steps, she quietly said, "Only time will tell."
As soon as they saw Megan's cherry red Jeep Cherokee parked ahead, both women heard their Links buzz at their belts. "Oh, come ON!" groaned Ashley as she unclipped the flat device and held it up. "Hi, Sable? What's up?"
"Also responding," said Megan into her own Link.
"I have a report from one of our observers of an Eldanar warrior woman seen in the city," came the steady familiar voice of their captain. "Seems there's a brawl at the LOST SOULS bar within walking distance of where you two are. No casualties apparently, just some bruises and damaged furniture but I would like to know more. It's winding down right now."
"Got it, we're on our way," Unicorn said. "But seriously, I didn't know the Eldanarin HAD warriors, let alone fighting women. They're so, you know, snooty and dainty and New Age and stuff."
Sable's voice sharpened noticeably, "There's only one in modern times that I've ever learned about. One of Hagen's Seven Swords, an Elf named Perendir."
>II.
Everyone at the LOST SOULS bar thought for a second that a child had wandered in somehow at three in the morning. The tiny figure who closed the door behind her was an inch under five feet in height. Even on a chilly November night, she wore only simple black pants and a bright green long-sleeved tunic with no coat or hat. The gleaming golden hair hung straight down past narrow shoulders. Strangely, a narrow object wrapped in leather was strapped diagonally across her back, a burden longer than she was tall.
But the confidence with which the stranger strode toward the open space between tables assured all the hard-drinking regulars that she was an adult. Her voice rang out, clear and refined but with self-assurance, "I am looking for someone."
"Well, here I am, honey!" called someone from the bar and laughter rumbled for a few seconds.
"I have brought coin of this realm and will pay for information," she continued.
At the table nearest her, a grizzled reprobate with a nose made red and bulbous from decades of booze lurched up to his feet. "Oh come on. Lady, listen to me. A pretty little thang like you dances into this hellhole in the middle of the night, alone, announcing she has money on her? What the Hell? I don't mean you no harm but let's face it, this ain't a room full of choir boys you're looking at. You ain't safe here, go home!"
Strange amber-tinted eyes moved over the crowd with no trace of uneasiness in them. "I have faced worse than a den of mortal Men stirred by lust or greed," she said. "Who knows where Hoppy Reamer can be found?"
At that name, tension crackled in the air to replace the amused interest of a second ago. One man shouted, "Never heard'a him! Nobody here knows him."
"Know that I am Perendir of Elvedal, one of the Seven Swords," the tiny blonde told them, seeing no reaction in their faces. "I offer one hundred dollars of your money to the Human who leads me to Hoppy Reamer."
"That does it," rumbled an aging biker with a greying ponytail to compensate for a hairline up near the top of his head. "On your own two feet or tossed out like an alley cat, you've going out that door right now."
Perendir raised her hand and from it flared up blinding light of the palest gold imaginable, too intense to bear. Everyone gasped and covered their faces. None of the watering eyes in that bar could see the smug smile on her face. "You have not yet earned the blade edge, my son. For the third time, I ask where Hoppy Reamer may be."
Back in the far corner, blinking furiously, a remarkably obese woman with a rose tattoo on the side of her neck fumbled with her cell phone. "Hello? Hello, Sable? It's me, Lydia Buboltz, I hope I didn't wake you but you said to call any time night or day if I spotted any Midnight War craziness going on..."
III.
Coming to a halt in a parking lot populated mostly by rusted Dodge pick-up trucks and SUVS at least ten years old, Megan Salenger said mildly, "There's a rare sight."
"Drat, she's shorter than I am!" Ashley said, vaulting out of the passenger seat. "Finally someone I can see the top of their head."
Perendir was standing in front of a semi-circle of stunned men who were all more than twice her weight. Judging from their low groans and feeble arm motions, none of them were dead or even completely unconscious but they seemed unenthusiastic about any activity for the moment. The Eldanar woman was hefting the leather-wrapped length she had evidently used to concuss the men and she swung around as the Jeep arrived.
"Hey there!" Unicorn called over cheerfully. "Perendir, right? We're from the KDF, you know the Tel Shai knights you met a long time ago?"
"Against the Nine Beast Helmets?" the Eldanar responded dubiously. "I have not met you two before."
"That was, like fourteen years ago," Megan volunteered. "Naturally, there has been some turnover in our team."
"Oh. Yes. Mortal lives are like a candle that burns down in a single night. Sometimes I address one of you Humans as if you are your own grandfather if there is a resemblance."
"Well, yeah, I was like ten when our groups teamed up, so naturally I wasn't there," Ashley said. "Looks like you don't need any help, ha ha."
"Your words are truer than you realize. If you intend to offer we work together tonight, that will not be necessary. I would appreciate no interference." Perendir slung the sheathed sword loosely across her back without buckling the strap. "Give my regards to your Dire Wolf, if he is still alive."
In a voice even more serious than usual, Megan said, "At least let us know what brings you to this world, Perendir."
"I think not." Without further elaboration, the Eldanar turned on her heel and started toward the other side of the parking lot. Megan and Ashley trotted close behind her to stop at a rented SUV as the Eldanar woman was about to open the driver's door.
"Wait a second, please! We'll simply learn from the people in this bar what you were asking about. Why not make it easier for us?"
Perendir considered this for a second, then shrugged. "Very well. I have been sent by my captain Hagen of Androval to bring back a Human named Hoppy Reamer. Much good may that knowledge do you. I am certain Tel Shai knights have their own crusades to pursue while I do the same." With that, she swung up into the front seat and started up the engine.
Stepping back out of the way, Megan shook her head. 'I know my manners are not always correct but even so I do not think she is being polite."
"Aw, they're all like that!" Unicorn snorted. "Eldanarin all act like they're royalty talking down to Human riff-raff. I think it comes from being practically immortal. It doesn't matter. She doesn't know it but we're one step ahead of her."
The Trom Girl regarded her partner with a faint smile. "What have you done?"
"Here, look at our Links," Ashley said. "See that blip? It's the signal from the little tracer I stuck inside her wheel well while she was looking down at her nose at you. We're going to follow her whether she likes it or not."
IV.
Renting the 2001 Chevrolet Blazer had presented no more trouble for Perendir than driving it did. Many exploits in the lands of mortal Men had taught her how to use money and credit cards. The nearly deserted downtown streets offered no challenge to her skills, either. She sped on her way in what should have been sublime confidence that this mission would be accomplished promptly and she could rejoin the other Seven Swords within a day. But encountering those two Tel Shai knights had annoyed her.
Mere children! Not even at the bare minimum of one hundred and fifty years that an Eldanar must reach before assuming citizenship. They had not even lived thirty years.. Perendir tried to understand that because Humans had such short lifespans that they had to rush into adulthood but still it seemed folly to her. Except for violence either physical or sorcerous, she could look ahead to a horizon beyond sight. Many Eldanarin had been born before the Darthan Age, thirty thousand years ago. King Elzulang and Queen Linlora had ruled uninterrupted since before the Great Change, when the prehistory known to archaeologists had begun.
b
The neighborhood showed telltale signs of poverty and its companion, crime. Filth scattered on cracked and stained sidewalks. Windows boarded over, stores with simple OUT OF BUSINESS painted on windows, many stray cats foraging in battered garbage cans and soggy cardboard boxes. To Perendir, these alerted her the way a forest suddenly going silent alarmed a hunter. There was the address she had drawn from unwilling drunks back at that bar. A former video rental store that had been closed for years. MOVIES FOR EVERYONE, the crooked sign still read, but not even shelves remained in the empty rooms visible through the long picture window.
Stepping out from behind the wheel, the Eldanar fetched her weapon from the passenger seat and strapped it across her back firmly. Beneath the leather wrapping was the oak scabbard which held the Seeking Blade forged and ensorcelled by Malberon himself so long ago. The hilt stood up behind her left shoulder for ease of draw. Perendir carried no other weapons and seldom wore the plate armor that had been fashioned to fit her precisely. Her trust was in speed and agility rather than brawn, in quick thinking and skill rather than strength. So far, those traits had served her well.
Stalking silently around the corner of the old yellow brick building, the Eldanar was as alert as any woodland creature sensing the nearness of a predator. Cautious footsteps within that building might as well have been drum beats to her ears. Back by the rear of the long-closed video store stood a dark red Toyota Echo. She touched the hood and found the metal still warm. In the gloom relieved by a single street lamp twenty feet away, those delicate lips curved in an anticipatory smile.
Something struck her brutally hard across the back of her head, nearly doing fatal damage. Long experience guided Perendir to stumble forward away from whoever had hit her, both of her hands whistling the Shining Blade free as she wheeled around. But there was no one there. Impossible. Not even the dreaded Brumal were that stealthy. Perendir whipped her sword back and forth before her, crouching, peering into the murk with a mixture of anger and confusion, and she was struck again from behind even harder.
This time, the Eldanar dropped to her knees, breaking her fall with her left hand while still clutching her sword. Her vision was blurred and her ears rang. Perendir tried to rise and was shoved roughly over on to her side. Then she saw her assailant.
Wide and chunky in a dark raincoat that reached to his shins, the man grinned down at her. In his round doughy face, that smile was a white upward-curving crescent. "I got a call some blondie was asking about me at the LOST SOULS. They warned me you might be coming this way."
"The Human called Hoppy Reamer?" demanded Perendir, rising to her feet despite the painful throbbing at the back of her head. "I would have words with you, thief."
"Now, watch the name-calling. Say, you're all kinds of cute, honey. Aren't you freezing with no coat on?"
The Eldanar hefted her sword again and planted her feet firmly. "Worry about your own safety, mortal. Word has reached us that you have stolen a talisman from a Human we entrusted it with. It is in your favor that you did no harm to an Elf-friend or I would be cleaning your blood off my blade even now."
"Ya think?" With a chuckle, Hoppy Reamer clapped his hands together. Then, without crossing the ten feet between them, he somehow was right up against Perendir. He kissed her full on the mouth and instantly was again far out of reach. The ensalir blade hissed through empty air where he had been standing and would have disemboweled him if he had still been there.
"You can't gut what you can't catch!" gloated Hoppy. "I'm too fast for you, babe, I got what you might call super-speed."
"No, you do NOT!" Perendir shouted back at him. "Liar as well as thief. You have stolen one of our travel crystals. It must be hidden somewhere on you at this very moment and I will take it back."
"Hold that thought." Hoppy vanished from sight, only a barely perceptible flicker of blue light showing where he had been. Expecting another blow from behind, the Eldanar wheeled around and was again taken by surprise as a heavy net dropped over her. Tangled in the thick cords, legs together, she fell onto her back. Hoppy Reamer was there again. He wrestled the sword from her grasp and flung it away to clatter on the asphalt far out of reach. Perendir was struggling to free herself but Hoppy knelt over her with a knee on either side to further pin her down.
"Now listen," he said. "I don't want to hurt you. I'm not that kind of guy. But come on, how can I give up this magic talisman? It's amazing. I can pop in and out of any armored car and walk away with a canvas bag of money in each hand. I can vacation in Hawaii or Tahiti for free. Anything I want I can have, literally anything at all." Here his voice dropped deeper. "But the problem now is, you aren't as nice a person as I am. How am I going to keep you from carving me up with that big old sword? What am I going to do with you?"
V.
"There's Her Highness' car!" Ashley said, tugging on Megan's sleeve as they drove past the long-closed video store. The next block down was a strip mall with a 24 hour laundromat still open. Megan swerved in to park at an empty slot next to the laundromat and turned off the engine. "Do you have your Unicorn horn with you?"
"No. Damn, now that I think of it, I should have stowed it in the back of your Jeep but I didn't think I'd need it on what was supposed to be our girls' night out. I am wearing the Trom armor under my clothes, though."
"As am I," Megan said. "My beam projector and gravity shield are secured in the back. And I do have an anesthetic dart gun packed away which you may use."
"Sounds like a plan. Come on, science nerd, let's show that golden girl what real heroes look like."
"Ashley, do not take rash or impulsive action merely because you resent Perendir. Be more objective."
"Who, me? You sound like my mother."
Standing outside the Jeep, Megan Salenger reached into the rear and came up with a round metal disc five inches across, which she fastened high up between her shoulder blades. What looked like a thick rectangular flashlight was next. She clicked a cartridge into place and adjusted two dials. "I am using the neural shock, as it seems the best choice for this situation."
"Some day you're going to put in the disintegrator beam by mistake and make a couple of bad guys evaporate," Ashley said. "Where's my dart gun?"
"Here." The Trom Girl handed over a clip-on holster holding a handcrafted pistol with an extended needle-thin barrel. "A full magazine of twelve anesthetic darts in the grip."
"Thankew." Unicorn fastened the holster to her belt directly in front of her torso, leaving her ski jacket unzipped for easy access. "Suppose you waltz right on to the scene while I sneak around in back and creep up on everyone."
Megan sounded more dubious than usual. "Ashley, you are wearing all white and have blonde hair. I believe it would be easier for me to approach unseen in the dim light."
"Oh, okay. I suppose. Why don't you fly up onto the roof of that building and keep an eye on things." With that, Ashley spun on one heel and sprinted off into the darkness while her partner restrained an exasperated sigh.
Megan had decided not to use the gravity shield on this case unless there was urgent need. She had been reprimanded by her superiors for revealing too much Trom tech to Humans, and the council's mild expression of disappointment carried the weight of a furious screaming fit to her. Orphaned at birth, she had been raised from infancy by the Trom and winning their approval was her main motivation. Lately, Aashley had been telling Megan that sooner or later she was going to rebel a little because she was fully Human and not from a Race that had been breeding emotion away for ages. The notion was appealing to her more and more.
For the moment, she had to focus. With the bean projector in one hand, she pressed up against the side of the cold brick building and edged along until she could peek into the tiny back lot. She observed and analyzed instantly. There was Perendir on the ground wrapped in a fishing net but unharmed judging by her struggles. There was a man in his late forties, in poor physical condition and wearing old worn-out clothing, and she tentatively identified him as "Hoppy Reamer." And there was Ashley as expected, swinging around into view and covering the suspect with her dart gun.
Getting Hoppy's attention with her abrupt entrance, Unicorn snapped, "Stay right where you are."
This provoked genuine laughter. "Oh, that's rich. I'm the one person on Earth you can't tell to stay put!"
"Whatever. Step a little away from the victim."
Instantly, Hoppy was standing twenty feet further back, touching his car. "How's that?"
"He's a teleporter!" said the Trom Girl as she moved into view, extending her beam projector the way someone would point a pistol. In less than a full second, Unicorn yelped in pain as her dart gun was yanked from her grip and Megan slumped face down to the freezing asphalt.
"Oh my God, oh my GOD!" yelled Hoppy. "I didn't mean to shoot her. Honestly I didn't. I just wanted to get her to drop her own weapon." He was crouching over the limp form, lifting a wrist but apparently not being sure how to check a pulse.
From where she was standing, Ashley called, "Aw she'll be fine. We use anesthetic darts. They're like the tranquilizer guns they capture dangerous animals with. In an hour, she'll start groaning and complaining." In fact, because of their enhanced healing, Megan would revive in ten minutes or less but Ashley saw no reason to enlighten Hoppy about that. During the seconds that the man had been preoccupied with examining Megan, Ashley had unobtrusively dropped a small object onto the net-entangled Eldanar.
"Really?" asked Hoppy. "Well, that's a relief. This IS a funny-looking gizmo at that." He stood up and pointed the dart gun at the small blonde. "Who are you guys anyway? Since when do the cops send three good-looking young women to bring someone in?"
The Unicorn had been judging distance and reaction times. There was no way she could close in on this dude before he planted a few darts in her or more likely blipped out of reach. She tilted her head forward and flashed her most ingratiating smile, even though the dim light would cancel its hoped for effect. "We're not with the police. We are, um, specialists in the occult and supernatural. Ghostbreakers, you might say. That jewel you stole is dangerous."
"Oh this thing again?" Hoppy Reamer tapped the center of his chest with an index finger. "Forget it. Nobody's getting it away from me. I was telling the chick with the pointed ears what a lush life I'm going to be living from now on. I can go anywhere in a blink. It's like being everywhere all at the same time."
"Not really," Ashley said. "You're stuck at ground level. You couldn't touch that lamppost for example."
"Oh yeah! Just watch." With the faintest of blue shimmers left behind for an instant, Hoppy appeared up by the bulb but immediately realized the magnitude of his mistake. He plummeted straight down to land with a soft squishy thump on the ground. Unicorn was already racing over to yank up his shirt and grab the Eldanar talisman from where it had hung on a leather cord around his neck. It was the smallest travel crystal she had ever seen, a pale blue faceted gem two inches across in a silver setting.
"You fell for it and I mean FELL!" Ashley said as she pocketed the talisman. "Got the wind knocked out of you, huh? I'll take my dart gun back if you don't mind."
Hoppy Reamer tried to sit up but cried out and sank back down again. "My leg. My leg. Is it broken?"
"Could be, it's bent kind of funny. My partners and I will call an ambulance before we leave. Although I dunno what kind of story you're going to tell them about how you fell off a lamppost..." She broke off as she sensed movement behind her.
Megan and Perendir were standing side by side, regarding the situation with wry amusement. The Eldanar woman handed Ashley's multi-tool back to her. "I thank you for this bladed device, it was most useful in freeing myself."
"No problem, princess."
"I am not royalty," the Eldanar replied. "Our Princess Halestril has not left Elvedal for thousands of years."
Reaching into her ski jacket, Ashley brought out the travel crystal and handed it over. "I kind of hate to give it up. The thought crossed my mind I should keep it and act like I didn't know what this Hoppy guy did with it."
"You are a more noble person than you pretend to be, Tel Shai. I do not think you would ever hold on to what belongs to the Eldanarin."
Megan was rubbing the side of her neck where the anesthetic dart had broken the skin.
"That man's left tibia has a simple fracture. Look at the angle. He needs medical care."
"I told you my leg was broken!" Hoppy complained.
"Oh, hush," Unicorn told him. "We're going now. There'll be an ambulance here right away. Just be glad this Eldanar warrior doesn't cut your head off before she goes."
To Ashley's shocked surprise, Megan Salenger made her first joke. "Since he will be on crutches for several weeks, his nickname 'Hoppy' will be appropriate."
11/4/2022
