Herzer knocked and entered the room at a bellowed: “Enter!”
“You sent for me, ma’am?” Herzer asked, stopping in shock at the sight of Sheida Ghorbani’s projection. “Majesty?” he added, bowing.
“We’ve been diverted,” Skipper Karcher said. “Her Majesty asked that you be present for the briefing. Your Majesty?”
“Call me Sheida for God’s sake,” Sheida said. “Paul Bowman is dead. The girl who killed him took his Key and escaped to the castle of the Clan McClure in Gael. She has requested that she be extracted by carrier. You’re the closest.”
“Good God,” Herzer said.
“Sit, damnit,” Skipper Karcher said. “You look like you’re about to fall down. We’re…” she did some mental estimation. “We’re at least three days’ sail from the west coast of Gael if the winds hold. And there’s a Destiny carrier somewhere up there. They’re probably closer.”
“That’s why I’m only telling you two,” Sheida pointed out. “She also has information that New Destiny can overcome personal protection fields. I want to make this clear. She is to be protected. Use any means necessary. Get her to safety. She has some other women with her, I’m not sure how many. Pick them up as well as anyone else she wants transported. Protect her as you would me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Skipper Karcher said. “Where are we picking her up?”
“Here,” Sheida said, summoning a holographic map and pointing to an inlet on the west coast of Gael. “The area is near the battle lines with New Destiny. And if they get wind of where she is, they’ll go for her with everything they have. This goes no further, understand?”
“Understood, ma’am,” Herzer said.
“Have you already changed course?” Sheida asked.
“Before Herzer got here, ma’am,” the skipper stated.
“Okay, here is some additional information,” Sheida said with a note of distaste. “The girls are from Paul’s… harem. He considered it a ‘breeding program’ but the first term is closer to reality. Herzer, I know that you have background in rape trauma. This is going to be the same and… different. I’m not sure what you’ll be dealing with, but Megan is probably going to be a little odd at first. Deal with it.”
“Bast is here, ma’am,” Herzer pointed out. “She was one of the first ones to counsel Daneh. She’s very good. She knows what she’s doing in situations like that.”
“Now that’s the first good news I’ve had in a while,” Sheida said with a tired smile. “Other than the fact that we have an additional Key. Well, that’s the orders.”
“Are we to sail directly to Norau from picking her up?” Karcher asked.
“I’m… not sure,” Sheida admitted. “Edmund really doesn’t want to lose you. We’ll have to decide that later. For now, pick her up then head in the general direction of Newfell Base. Oh, the invasion fleet is headed for Balmoran. I’m sending them a warning.”
“Balmoran?” Herzer said. “Rachel is there.”
“Oh, bloody hell,” Sheida said, then disappeared.
“Oh, now I’m supposed to put on my ground commander hat?” Edmund said. “Evacuate the civilians.”
“It’s one of our biggest cities!” Sheida snapped.
“And it’s big enough that it’s indefensible,” Edmund replied with a sigh. “If you won’t evacuate, send messages to have them build breastworks around the whole thing, if they have time. If they don’t then tell them to get the hell out of Dodge. I’ll deal with the invasion as soon as I’ve dealt with the fleet. The ground forces are to stand pat and delay Paul’s forces. My staff has the plans on that one. Second Legion’s in place, First will move to block them from passing up the river. There are defensive positions already prepared. Some of that ‘useless defense money’ we’ve been pissing away.”
“Edmund, we have to try to hold Balmoran,” Sheida said. “That’s important. There’s too much invested in that town. We can’t see it all destroyed.”
“They won’t have time to destroy it all,” Edmund said. “Trust me on this. Burn quite a bit of it, yes. Maybe loot some if we don’t trash their ships, yes. Destroy it all, no.”
“Rachel’s there,” Sheida pointed out.
“I know,” Edmund replied, his jaw flexing. “And she’s a medico with the combat forces. She’s not eligible for withdrawal.”
“That’s… rather cold,” Sheida said.
“She’s my only daughter,” Edmund said, as cold as arctic ice. “I could have sent her back to Raven’s Mill, where the townspeople know that a decent militia is a good idea. Where there are walls building. Where the cream of the Blood Lords would have been there to protect her. I sent her to Balmoran instead. That is for me to live with, Sheida. Understand?”
“Yes, I do,” Sheida said, quietly. “How long until this is all over?”
“Years,” Edmund said. “But if you mean this particular campaign?” He thought about it for a moment. “Seven days. It doesn’t really start for two more.”
“Doctor Ghorbani?”
Rachel looked up from the chart she was annotating and nodded at the duty nurse to wait a moment. The young man on the bed had a face that was twisted with pain from his broken leg. He had fallen from a scaffold and broken his femur. At least that was what the chart said. The only problem was that he was complaining of pains from his hip and lower leg as well. He was in a large cast and it was impossible to examine the rest of the area. Not that there was much she could have done for a broken hip, but the ankle or leg could have been set if the PA on duty had waited to fix the femur until he was conscious.
She noted that it might be necessary to rebreak the lower leg and then patted him on the shoulder.
“I’ll give orders for an increase in pain medication,” she said. “In the meantime just try to rest.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the boy said.
She nodded at the duty nurse and walked down to the end of the ward. “Yes?”
“We just got told that Balmoran is where the orcs are coming,” the nurse said nervously.
“Well, I guess we’ll have our work cut out for us,” Rachel said as calmly as she could. “I’ve upped Robertson to ten milligrams of codeine; make sure that the other nurses check his chart before they administer it and get him another five milligrams now.”
“Yes, Doctor,” the nurse said.
“Our job is to fix people,” Rachel noted. “Let the soldiers and sailors worry about where the damage is going to happen.”
Megan looked at the walls for a while after breaking contact with Sheida, pinching her nose and furrowing her brow in thought.
“Baradur, do you know where the rest of the women are?” she asked.
“Yes, mistress,” the bodyguard said.
“We need to go there.”
Without a word the man stood up and opened the door, stepping through and checking the corridor. One of McClure’s soldiers had been stationed outside the door and Baradur nodded at him as Megan stepped through.
“Where are the other women?” Megan asked the soldier.
“In the women’s quarters by the kitchens,” the soldier said. “The laird said that you were to stay in the turret, mistress.”
“We’re going down there,” Megan replied. “You can lead.”
“Mistress, the laird said…”
“Well, we’re going down there,” Megan replied, smiling thinly. “And you are going to lead. If the laird has a problem with it, he can bring it up with me.”
“Yes, mistress,” the soldier said, turning down the corridor.