The Woodward Academy, Year 8

Chapter 8: January

"Waren dawurl discar mensandy aygo," David said for the fifty-seventh time.  He was standing outside a small village, just west of Knolocley, called Daffiduk.

Or he would have been, if he was in Dugerra.  Unfortunately, he was in Haven.

Fifty-six times, in various places, over the course of four days, David had cast this spell.  Fifty-six times, nothing had happened.

This time, a beam of light shot out of his wand, and pointed him in a specific direction.

"About fuckin' time," David muttered as he quickly followed the beam.  In just a few more minutes, it led him where he was trying to go.

"Do you have any idea how hard you were to find?" David demanded.

"Nice to see you, too," Joe said.

The two men embraced for a long moment before finally separating.

"Decided to come home, huh?" David asked.

"Couldn't think of anywhere else to go," Joe admitted.  "Not supposed to hang around anything recent, so..."

David nodded.  "Could have gone up to the school," he said with a mischievous grin.

"Asshole," Joe said with a corresponding smile.  "It's good to see you, David."

"Good to see you, too.  How... dumb question, how have you been?"

"Dead," Joe replied.

David chuckled.  "I deserved that.  Are you adjusting?"

"As best I can.  Tell me, how long have I been dead?"

"You don't know?" David asked incredulously.

"I haven't bothered to keep track."

"It's been about eight months.  It's early January."

"Oh.  Damn.  Seems longer."

David frowned.  "I'm sorry, Joe."

"For what?"

"Getting you killed."

"Hey, I told you back then.  You didn't get me killed.  You wanted to leave me back at base.  If anything, I got myself killed by not being in good enough shape to keep up with you."

"If I'd made better choices, it wouldn't have been necessary for us to run in the first place," David groused.

"There wasn't much you could do, David.  We had to get back to base."

"There were things I could have done.  Unfortunately, I only thought of them after I got back to base."

"Hindsight's always 20/20," Joe said with a shrug.  "You did the best you could at the time."

"Sure," David said, not believing him.

"If you're here to apologize, shouldn't you have come during Yuletide?" Joe asked with a smirk.

"I was busy apologizing for a different fuck-up," David said.

Joe frowned.  "The war still going on?"

"Yeah.  How can you not know that?  I mean, you're still seeing Dugerra..."

"Look out there.  Do they look like they're in the middle of a war?  It's one of the reasons I came back here."

David had to admit that Daffiduk was a very quiet village, and there were no signs of the craziness going on to the north.

"Wish I could run away from it that easily," David groused.

"Sorry.  Is it bad?"

David nodded.  "Lise is dead."

"I'm sorry, David.  I know she meant a lot to you."

"Yeah."  David coughed, to try to get control of himself.  "In any case, I didn't come here to apologize.  I just figured I should start with that."

"Oh?  Why are you here, then?"

"Zyla."

Joe flinched, as if he'd been slapped.  After a deep breath, he asked, "What about her?  She hasn't been..."

"No, no, nothing like that," David assured him quickly.  "She's fine, physically."

"What is it, then?"

"I'd like you to come see her... or, well, meet her somewhere.  Probably not a good idea to go back to the house."

"No, I couldn't handle that.  I'm not supposed to interact with Zyla anymore, David.  Why do you want me to go back?"

"For her sake."

"What's wrong?" Joe asked.

"Do you remember the last time you saw her?"

Joe thought hard for a long moment.  "Honestly?  No."

"She does."

"Did we have a fight or something?  I would think I'd remember that..."

"No.  But she didn't get to say good-bye to you.  She was busy with Grace."

"Wait... okay, yeah, now I remember.  Grace was being a little brat that day."

"Hey!  Don't you call my god-daughter a brat!" David growled.

Joe smirked.  "You know how she gets."  David nodded.  Grace could be very troublesome, especially near the end of the week, when the treatment for her Frederick's Syndrome was wearing off.

"Anyway, Zyla was trying to get her under control, and I was already running late.  I mean, we said our I love you's... why is it bothering her?"

"Really, Joe?  Did your brain discorporate already?" David said.  "It was the very last time she saw you, and she barely paid any attention to you as you left.  She feels very guilty about that.  I think it would really help her move on with things if she could say a proper good-bye to you.  I mean, she didn't even get a funeral, since there was no body to bury..."

"Oh.  Well, yeah, I want to do anything that's going to help her.  How is she handling things?"

"Not as well as she could be," David admitted.

"Isn't there anything you can do to help her?" Joe asked.

"Umm," David said hesitantly.

"You are keeping in touch with her, aren't you?" Joe demanded.

"Of course I am.  You should know better than that," David replied somewhat hotly.

"Then what's the problem with you helping her through this?"

"Look, Joe..." David said, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.  "There was kind of an incident between Zyla and me.  We-" David stopped, because Joe raised his hand.

"David, I don't want to know.  Does whatever it is, mean you're not going to look after her anymore?"

"Definitely not," David said strongly.

"Then it's not important."

"You might think differently if you knew what it was," David pressed.

"Maybe, but that's the point.  I can't let it be important.  I'm dead.  It's not really any of my business anymore."

"I have to say, Joe... no offense, but you seem kind of cold about everything."

"I'm dead," Joe said in reply.

"Yeah, but c'mon, I've dealt with a lot of ghosts over the last few years.  Penny, Lord Woodward, Several other ghosts up at the school... They're not like this..."

"Maybe they've just finished adjusting," Joe said, shrugging.  "Maybe I just don't do dead very well.  Truth is, I've come to the conclusion that nothing I did really matters.  Nothing I'm going to do matters.  Nothing you did, or are going to do, matters.  It's all a bunch of bullshit."

"Come on, Joe.  You mattered.  You were important to people.  You're still important to some of us..."

"Thanks, David.  Really.  It's just hard to see it from this side.  I mean... everyone who dies ends up here.  Everyone.  King, peasant, good, bad, pretty, ugly, smart, stupid... we all end up in the same place, in the same condition, doing the same damned thing.  So what the fuck difference did it make whether we lived a good life, whether we made a contribution?"

"You helped out those who are still there," David offered.

"So what?  When all is said and done, They will all be right here, too!  Doing the same damned thing, which is nothing!"

David frowned.  The truth was, he understood Joe's point all too well.  Certain enemies of his had suffered terribly before their death precisely because of the point Joe was making: the time after death was the same for everyone.  Finally, he said, "All the more reason to try to make the part where people are alive, better."

"Why bother?" Joe demanded.

"Because otherwise, your entire existence is miserable."

"Hmph," Joe replied.

Searching for something to say that would at least distract Joe from this line of thought, he asked, "Hey, I've been wondering something over the last few months.  Whatever happened to your parents?"

"Nothing, so far as I know.  Why?"

"Well, I've never met them.  I kind of figured they'd at least come up to visit with Zyla... or hell, to see Grace..."

"They don't travel.  They've never once left Daffiduk."

"So, they're here?"

"Someplace, I assume."

"You haven't looked for them?"

"Why?  What would I say to them?  'Hey, Mom.  Hey, Dad.  Look what you have to look forward to in a few years!'"

"You could at least check in on them, make sure they're doing okay..." David said.

"It doesn't matter, David.  None of it matters."

"Okay, okay.  What about your sister?  Where does she live?"

"In Minayers."

"Wow.  No wonder I've never met her or your nephew."

"Yeah... You wouldn't like her, anyway."

"Oh?"

"She's a bureaucrat, and proud of it."

"Oh.  Well, no family's perfect," David said with a smirk.

"Yeah."

For a long moment, there was silence.  David cast about for something to say, but talking to Joe was turning into a very depressing experience.  Finally, he decided to get out before things got any worse.

"So... will you come to see Zyla?"

"Where?"

"How about that park where you were attacked by The Clan?"

"Want to reminisce, do you?" Joe said, finally grinning.

David snorted.  "No, it's just close to your house, so she won't have to go very far."

For a long moment, Joe didn't say anything.  Finally, he said, "Okay, I'll come.  When?"

"Your anniversary is on the 22nd.  If she's going to do this, might as well do it on a day when she's already going to be obsessed with your memory."

"True.  What time?"

"As soon as it gets dark."

Joe nodded.

"You... will be able to figure out when it's the 22nd, won't you?" David asked.

"I'll make my way up there within the next few days.  You show up whenever you like," Joe said.

"Okay.  Thanks."

"Anything to help her move on.  She's still stuck with life.  Pointless or not, you're right; it's the only time she has any chance of being happy, so she shouldn't waste it missing me."

David just kind of stared at Joe for a long moment.  Finally he said, "I'll, uh... see you in a few weeks."

"Yeah," Joe said, then nodded and began to wander off.

David stared after him.

Shit, maybe I shouldn't bring Zyla to see him.  He's fucked up...

Sighing, David turned and headed for home.

 "Here, Gracie, let me lift you up so you can put his hat on," David said.

"Yay!" Grace said.  She held the hat as David picked her up.  The hat wasn't a top hat, but was, in fact, the old fedora that David had given Joe shortly after they'd first met.  Grace jammed the hat down on top of the snowman's head, making sure it would stay put.

"That's better," David said.  He held Grace against him.  "Now what do you think of him?" he asked her.

"He's fat," she said.

Zyla giggled.

"He's supposed to be fat," David told Grace with a smile.  "He's a snowman."

"Oh," she said.

David hugged her, then set her down.  As he was straightening up, he heard a shrill whistling sound.

"What in the world is that?" Zyla asked, worried.

"An annoyance," David grumbled.  He simply stood and waited until the falconswift landed in a nearby tree.

"A birdy!" Grace cried.

David went over to the bird and retrieved the message.

"Thanks," he said.  It was all he had time for, as the bird was back in the air as fast as he had landed.  In seconds, he was completely out of sight.

"Bye, birdy!" Grace called out to the sky.

"What is it?" Zyla asked David.

"Nothing good, if it couldn't wait for a day and a half for me to get back to base," David said.  He opened the tiny capsule, and a parchment bulged its way out.  David unfolded the parchment and read it.

"Well, shit," David said, forgetting about Grace for the moment.

"Is it bad?"

"Dikko went and got himself captured."

"Oh, no.  Is he... dead?"

"Probably not.  I'd leave his sorry ass with the Vrudenans, but apparently his troop has some information we really need, so we're going to have to go rescue them.  They want me back at HQ immediately."

"But I thought the king had given you leave until Sunday," Zyla objected.

David grunted.  "Yeah, well... what is it they call that?  Oh, yeah.  The 'exigencies of war.'  Apparently someone's worried the Vrudenans are going to kill them."

"Do you think they will?"

"Depends on whether Dickless can keep his mouth shut," David replied.  "So... yeah, probably, because I've never known him to know when to shut up."

Zyla frowned.

"I've got to pack," David said, and he headed back into the house.  Zyla and Grace followed soon after.

Packing didn't take long, and soon David was ready to go.  He dropped his bag at the door, then came back into the living room, where Grace was sitting.

"I've gotta go now, Gracie," David said.

"No!" she demanded.

"C'mon, Grace, you know better.  I wouldn't be leaving unless I had to."

"You be back?" she asked.

"As soon as I can," he confirmed.  "Come give me a hug."

Grace jumped off the couch and ran to him, wrapping her arms tight around his neck.  For a long moment, she held on.  When she leaned back, she then gave him a kiss.  Her aim was sloppy; she nearly hit his nose.  But it was the thought that counted.

"She picked that up quick, didn't she?" Zyla said quietly.

"Don't you wish she learned other things that fast?" David said with a grin.

Zyla just grunted.  She followed him to the door.  They embraced tightly for a very long time before Zyla would finally let go of him.  The two looked past each other for a moment, then their lips met.  The kiss was brief, but heartfelt.

"Should we..." David said, then let his thought trail off, shaking his head slightly.

"What?" Zyla asked.

"Well...  Should we be trying harder to not do that?" he asked.

Zyla blushed, and turned her head.  After a moment, she turned back, and for once was able to look him in the eye.  "I think that line has already been crossed pretty permanently."

"Okay," David said.  Despite having spent several days of the last two weeks together, they had not talked about what had happened on Christmas night.  Many awkward moments like the one they were currently sharing had happened, but neither of them could bring themselves to openly mention it.  David's question was the closest they had come so far.  That they would kiss each other on greetings, good-byes, and good-nights had seemingly become an immediate unwritten - and undiscussed - rule.

"I should get going," David said.  "I've got to pick up Vivian from the house."

Zyla didn't let go of David right away.  "Please be careful."

"I'll try," he told her.  He knew she wasn't just talking about his physical health.

The two kissed one more time, and then she let him go.

"Don't forget about the AutoCAD," David reminded her.

"Believe me, I won't."

"I'll be back as soon as I can, but I have no idea how long this will take."

"Right," she said.

"See you soon," he told her.

"I hope so."

David gazed at her for a long moment, then he gave her one last, brief kiss and headed for the glidetruck.

Zyla watched him go, her emotions highly confused, but the one thing she knew for certain was that she was likely to be staring at his picture a lot until he came back.

 "Why didn't we go get Giendia?" Vivian asked as they were entering the conference room.

"Because we're going to be spending the next day or more trying to come up with a plan.  No point in ruining her last day of leave, too."

"How come you made me come back, then?"

"Like you were doing anything," David said.

"Not the point," Vivian pouted.

"Uh-huh.  Someone has to help me plan this thing out."

"You don't think that's gonna be me, do you?  I can barely keep my own ass out of trouble."

"Hmph.  Well, then sit there and look pretty."

Vivian snorted.  Shortly thereafter, several officers came in the conference room.  Ginger was leading them.

"Here's your planning staff, sir," she said.

"Gone three weeks and I have to retrain you all over again," David sighed.

 Ginger blushed.  "Sorry."

"Okay, first things first.  Do we even know where Troop 13 is being held?"

"No, sir," one of the staff officers replied.

"Do we have a way to figure that out?" David asked.

"Not one we've come up with," the other planner answered.

"Fun.  So, I have to rescue someone I can't stand from a place I don't know about, facing some number of forces about which I have no clue.  Is that about it?"

"Yes, sir," the first officer agreed.

"You were supposed to give me some good news at that point, Vigax," David growled.

"Sorry, sir."

David leaned against the table and stared at the map on the wall.  The others in the room remained silent while he thought.

David suddenly said, "How much weight can a falconswift carry?"

"European or African?" Vivian chimed in.

David picked up a roll of parchment and threw it at her.  She giggled, but the others just looked perplexed.

"Falconswift.  How much?" David reiterated to the planners.

"Not a lot, if you want them to maintain speed.  Anything more than an ounce or so would slow them down."

"Slow them down how badly?"

"That would depend on the weight, of course," he answered.

"Say... three ounces."

"That's a pretty hefty load for them, sir.  I'd imagine they wouldn't be able to do more than half-speed.  Maybe even down to one hundred miles per hour."

"That's... still sufficient.  Now, if we asked one to go find someone... what do they do when they've found them, if we don't have a message for them to deliver?"

"They'll do what they've been asked to do.  If you don't give them any instructions, they'll eventually fly back home... but they'll do it on their schedule."

"So if I told them to find someone, and then keep following that someone..."

"They would do that."

"Okay.  So, we know how to find our troop, so long as they're all together still."  David concentrated for a second, and an item flashed into being in his hand.  He handed it to one of the planners.

"Go attach this to a falconswift, and tell it to find and track Dikko."

"Yes, sir."

"What was that?" the other planning officer asked.

"One of our direction finders.  The other half of it is in my desk.  We'll know how to find the swift, so we'll know how to find the troop."

"Good thinking," Vivian said.

"Of course, until the swift finds the troop, we have nothing to do.  I can't very well come up with a plan for a place I don't know where it even is."

"Yes, sir.  What do you want us to do, then?"

"Go back and do whatever you were doing.  When the direction finder settles down, we'll at least know where we're going.  I'll call everyone back together at that point."

"Yes, sir," the man said, and then they all headed out of the room.

David walked into his office and motioned to Jailla, who flew over to his shoulder.  David walked down the hallway and out onto an external stairway.

"I need you to fly north."

"Where am I going?"

"I don't know yet.  How good is your navigation ability?  I mean, can you determine actual direction, or is it just kind of 'I'm going north...ish...?'"

"I can easily figure the eight main compass points.  Beyond that, it is mostly guesswork."

"Okay.  That should be good enough."  David concentrated some more, and another direction finder popped into his hand.  This time, it was both pieces, because he'd had to conjure it from the store room.

Pulling his wand, David stuck the direction finder to Jailla's back.

"I know that's not comfortable, and I'm sorry about that, but how badly will it affect your flying?"

"It will reduce my flying time by some amount, I imagine.  Just guessing, but perhaps an hour or two.  It shouldn't hamper my speed too much, as long as you don't want me to hurry."

"Pick your best speed for total distance.  Check in with me every so often and I'll give you a direction to fly in.  Your job is to find the falconswift, so that we can have a look at the camp where Troop 13 is being held."

"I understand."

"Good luck.  Don't get yourself hurt.  If you get hurt trying to rescue that asshole, I'm never speaking to you again."

Jailla rubbed his head against David's cheek, then he launched himself into the air.  David watched him go, then turned and went back to his office.  He set the two direction finder anchors on his desk.  The one for the falconswift had numbers that were changing in a blur.  Jailla's numbers were changing more sedately.

I hope they're not too far away.  It'll take Jailla too long to get there.

"This thing again," Vivian grumped.

David snorted quietly.  They were once more staring down at the Vrudenans' supply train.  This time, it was headed back north, with a load of prisoners that included Troop 13.

"They've got to have a full troop of weres on that thing," Vivian objected.  "You expect us to take it with just six people?"

"I imagine we'll probably get some help once we're on board and free a few hands."

"They won't have their wands," Giendia objected.

"You don't need a wand to make an energy ball," David replied.  Looking to his left, he asked, "You ready, Jack?"

Jack quickly looked to his own men, and then back to David.  "Ready when you are."

David motioned with his hand, and squeezed Giendia's sides with his knees.  Giendia leapt forward at a full gallop.  Jack's troop was behind him instantly, the centaur in his troop keeping pace with Giendia.

The two centaurs broke from the trees in the middle of the train.  It was the least protected spot, but there were still werewolves in evidence.  Thankfully, they weren't alert, and didn't spot the approaching danger.

Giendia moved alongside the train, and stayed even with a junction between glidecarts.  Vivian jumped across, and then David joined her.  As Giendia dropped back and turned to go back into the trees, David looked forward, to see that Jack and his partner had also made it onto the train.

David signaled to Jack, who made the appropriate gesture in response.  David turned to Vivian and nodded, then raised his hand, counting down on his fingers from five.

When he reached zero, Vivian yanked the door to the glidecart open.  David dove in, avoiding the energy ball that whizzed two feet over him.  He drew his sword as he came back to his feet, and his first attacker was decapitated less than a second later.

There were still two other werewolves in the glidecart.  Vivian blasted one with valk vitay, and that one was soon rendered unconscious.  David loosed a laser-like blast out of his sword, which engulfed and disintegrated the last remaining werewolf.

David and Vivian made the rounds, removing the bonds holding the prisoners in place.

Once everyone was free, David motioned to five of them to follow him.

"Viv, you go forward and make sure Jack's doing okay.  Take some men with you, just in case.  Once the front end is secure, just hold your position."

"Yes, sir," she agreed, and pointed to five men of her own.  They moved to the front of the glidecart.

To the rest of the prisoners, David said, "Keep an eye out the windows for trouble.  Also, make sure that werewolf doesn't give you any shit.  If he does, don't fuck around, just kill him."

"Yes, sir," the senior officer present told him.

"You ready?" David asked the five men with him.  They all nodded.  "Let's go."

Their moves were repeated in each glidecart, and soon the entire train was under their control.  David moved up toward the front, to find Vivian.  He frowned when he entered the first cart to see Dikko giving orders.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" David asked him.

"Trying to get this cluster-fuck under control," Dikko said.  "Now, what we need to do-"

"What you need to do is shut your mouth.  Now," David snapped.  Dikko glared at him.

"Given that your leadership is what got your troop captured in the first place, I don't think anybody should be listening to anything you have to say."

"Hey, we were doing fine until Capadra-"

"Don't blame someone else for your stupidity, Dickless.  A troop is only as good as the person in charge.  That was you."

"So, what, you think I'm going to take orders from you?" Dikko sneered.

"You've been taking orders from me for two months, shithead.  Who do you think assigns missions in the company?  That would be the charge officer, in case you weren't paying attention.

"But hell, even if I wasn't standing right here, Jack outranks you by seniority.  The guy standing next to you outranks you by competence alone."

"He's only a fucking soldier!" Dikko snapped.

"Right.  But he knows what he's doing.  Now, unless you really like spending time in the stockade, I'd advise you to shut your trap, because my patience only goes just so far."

"Ooh, what're you gonna do, throw me off the train?"

"There's a thought," David said coldly.  "And then, if you do ever make it back to base, you can face a court martial for insubordination.  I'm not fucking around with you, you jackass.  This isn't the Rimohr Office, and I don't have to put up with your bullshit.  Now, sit down and shut up."

"Fuck you," Dikko spat.  "You think you're such hot shit.  Well, I, for one, ain't buying it, and as far as I'm concerned, you can go fuck yourself, Vo-cunt-or."

"Vivian?" David said, motioning with his hand.

Vivian zapped Dikko with a spell from behind.  Dikko screamed in pain and crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Tie him up," David ordered one of the soldiers.

"Yes, sir!" the soldier said.  This particular one had apparently had dealings with Dikko; the glee in his voice was only barely suppressed.

David moved to the very front of the train, where the werewolf who had been driving was being watched.

"How does this thing operate?" David asked sternly.

"Go fuck your mother," the werewolf spat.

David pulled his staff out of a pocket, and elongated it partially.  It was now about two feet long.  David motioned the soldier standing on the were's left to move back slightly.  When she did, David swung his staff down onto the werewolf's shoulder, shattering his collarbone.  The werewolf screamed in pain and collapsed to the floor.

David yanked the were up by his hair, and looked deep into his eyes.

"You don't want to fuck with me, asshole.  I would sooner torture you to death than leave you alive.  The only chance you have for surviving the next two hours is complete and total cooperation.  If you go the other way, you'll be spending the next two hours begging me to kill you."

The were looked into David's eyes and saw... nothing.  There was no rage, no fear, no worry.  There was also not the slightest sign of mercy, compassion, or humanity.

"It works just like a normal glidecart," the werewolf said.

"How do we go back south?"

"The cart at the other end," the were said.  "You can't go backward; you have to go forward with the other cart."

David nodded, and let go of the were, who dropped to the floor.

"Keep an eye on him," David told the soldiers.

"Yes, sir!" they intoned.

"C'mon, Viv," David said, and motioned her to follow him to the south end of the train.  Along the way, he looked out the windows.  Giendia and the other centaur were waiting in the trees, and he motioned them forward.

Giendia came up to a window, and said, "Sir, there's no opening big enough for us to get in."

David nodded, and then motioned her to stay put.  He moved to the front of the cart they were in and took out his wand.  A short spell later, and there was a giant hole in the side of the cart.  He poked his head out the opening and looked back at Giendia.

"Sure there is.  You just missed it," he said with a grin.

Giendia blushed, and then the two centaurs climbed aboard the glidecart.

"You guys stay here and keep an eye on things.  Viv and I are going to get the train headed back south."

"We're taking the entire train, sir?" the other centaur asked.

"Easiest way to transport everyone," David said.  Just then, Jailla flew in through the opening David had just made.  "Oh, hey.  I was wondering where you'd gotten off to.  Where's the swift?"

Jailla said, "Already on its way back home."

David nodded.  "Okay, let's get this show on the road."

David headed forward, and shortly thereafter, the glidecart train was headed south at its full speed.  This was nowhere near as fast as David's truck, but was still faster than it had been moving.

"Maybe this isn't safe?" Vivian asked.

"This is a war.  Nothing's safe.  But they're going to have to work damned hard to try to stop us before we get to the end of the line."

"End of the line... shit, that's right.  This is going to go right to their base!"

"Exactly.  The base that the 36th and 37th Battalions will be attacking in about an hour."

"Those are Ark South groups," Vivian objected.

"You didn't think they were going to stay out of the war, did you?" David asked.  "Ark South started operations a couple months ago."

"Oh," she said.  "We're doing that bad?"

David just grunted.

 "Dikko Antyppis, you've been accused of insubordination.  The vocator's report states that you showed clear disrespect to your commanding officer in front of multiple witnesses.  Further, it says that you implied that you would not follow his orders.  Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Batalisto DeSantis asked.

"Sir, my CO and I have a long personal history.  Our communication on that day was no different from things I have said to him previously."

"Vocator?"

"What he says is absolutely true, sir.  He has shown me great disrespect from the very day we met.  The bandador is, I believe, trying to characterize our exchange as playful or friendly banter.  However, it should be made clear, and I can bring you witnesses to this if necessary, that Bandador Antyppis despises me, and always has.  He resents that he has to work with a demighost, and I think he seriously resents that I now outrank him, given that, as a Rimohr, I was in a junior position to him."

"I thought you were head of the Woodward Precinct," DeSantis objected.

"Sir, the Woodward Precinct only had one officer.  Me.  It was created for the sole purpose of preventing me from resigning.  I was, for most of my service in the Rimohrs, an intern.  Bandador Antyppis has six years in the agency as a full officer.  That he has not yet made Agent is something I will let you interpret for yourselves."

"I see."  Turning to Dikko, the batalisto asked, "Do you have anything else you wish to add?"

"Sir, my comments were made in the heat of a battle.  With adrenaline pumping and lives on the line, sometimes things get... overstated."

"Vocator?"

"Sir, Bandador Antyppis' comments were made after the battle was over.  The Vrudenans had all been killed or captured, and the situation was settling down.  There was, at the time of his comments, no active fighting going on.  In short, sir, his excuse is complete bullshit."

DeSantis smirked.  He turned to the other two officers who were sitting in on the hearing.  "Do either of you have any questions?"

The batalo on the left leaned forward.  "Vocator Stroud, can you give us a characterization of Antyppis' service within the scout company up to this point?"

"Reasonably effective, for the jobs he's been given."

"Care to explain that?" the other batalo asked.

"Neither Vocator Schultz nor I have given Troop 13 jobs that were considered terribly difficult.  The members of Troop 13 didn't receive high marks from their training, and as such, were not depended upon for high-risk missions.  Most of their jobs were low-priority, and low danger level.  But, within those constraints, Troop 13 completed about three-fourths of their missions successfully."

"How does that compare with other troop success rates?"

"The company average is 77%."

"So he's below average."

"Slightly, sir.  His success rating is actually 76%, so I would call it average."

"But you're not willing to let his behavior slide, despite his success rating."

"No, sir, because he did it in public.  Everyone in the scout company's eastern sub-unit knows what he did.  If it goes unpunished, it hurts discipline."

"You understand, if this goes in his record, any chance of career advancement is over?"

"Sir, I assume that, like myself, Bdd. Antyppis plans to leave the army as soon as the war is over.  His career advancement is, therefore, not a huge concern to either one of us."

"Bandador?  Is he correct?"

"Yes, sir.  I have no intention of continuing in the military once I am no longer required."

"I see.  Vocator, what would be your recommendation for punishment?"

"Sir, due to our previous personal encounters, I cannot rationally recommend a punishment."

"Oh?"

"Feeding him to a wyvern is probably more extreme than the situation calls for..." David said with a slight grin and a shrug.

The batalos chuckled.  The one on the left said, "Quite."

DeSantis looked back and forth between the others, asking, "Anything further?"  Neither one had further questions.  "Okay.  This hearing is in recess for one hour."

As the presiding officers shuffled out, Dikko looked at David.  "You're a fucking asshole, Stroud."

David looked at him coldly.  "Dickless, just be glad I didn't do to you what I wanted to."

"Ooh, what were you going to do, bore me to death?"

"It amazes me, with the number of times you have witnessed the level of violence I am capable of, how often you make stupid statements like that one.  No, I would not have bored you to death.  I would have made your nickname accurate," David said coldly, staring him down.

Dikko flinched, because he knew that David wasn't bluffing.  With that, David left the room to get some lunch.

"Dikko Antyppis, it is the finding of this court martial that you are guilty of insubordination in the manner of severe disrespect to a commanding officer, and professing a willingness to disobey orders.

"As such, your sentence is as follows: First, your rank is reduced to Capadra.  Second, you will be confined to the scout company's stockade for thirty days.  Finally, you are to be transferred out of the scout company, to Engineer Company 1 for the remainder of the war."

"Sir, I'm not a builder," Dikko objected as politely as he could.

"One of the many tasks that Engineer Company 1 performs is digging ditches for latrines," DeSantis said.  "I'm pretty sure you're capable of that task.  I'd recommend you not be insubordinate to your CO there.  Finding a worse job for you could be tricky... but we will manage.

"Sentence so ordered, this court martial is adjourned."

Dikko turned to David.  "I fucking hate you, you goddamned freak."

"That's 'you goddamned freak,' sir, Capadra," David replied with a malicious grin.  With that, the two security officers led him away.

The two batalos had already left, but Btt DeSantis was still there, waiting.

"Will you have trouble replacing him as a troop leader?" DeSantis asked.

"Actually, I'm not going to try.  I'll just add his two members to two other troops."

"That will reduce the number of troops we have to carry out missions," DeSantis objected.

"Sir, we're not exactly overloaded.  Most of our troops spend at least one week a month lounging about the HQ or ANFCC-West."

"Should we be asking the command to increase our mission load?"

"I'm kind of assuming that they're already giving us all the missions that our units can actually do.  I think if you ask for more missions, we'll be getting into things that we're not suited for.  That will lead to a lot more deaths, and I'd just as soon not go there."

"Fair enough."

"On another subject, I had a question about this proceeding."

"Oh?"

"Well, of the three officers here, you were the most junior.  How come you were in charge?"

"Because I was his CO.  The CO runs the proceedings, regardless of rank.  It's just a tradition thing."

David nodded.

"Was this really necessary, or did you just want to get Antyppis off your back?" DeSantis asked.

"Sir, when I ordered him arrested, the troopers around him were happy about it.  Do I really need to say anything else?"

DeSantis grunted.  "Not really.  Okay.  I'll let you get back to work.  I have to head back down to Ark North HQ."

"Yes, sir."

 "Where are we going?" Vivian asked.  They were currently driving across the countryside in David's glidetruck.

"To the area outside a village called Benson."

"Okay... why?"

"Because Commandant Potter doesn't like doing his job."

"Who?"

"Cdt. Potter.  new CO of I-Squad.  We're doing another damned investigation for them, because he's too lazy to do them himself.  Or he just knows he's too stupid to figure it out..."

"Oh."

When David pulled his glidetruck to a stop, the field before them still had puddles of blood in it.

"Oh my god," Vivian breathed.

"You can stay here if you need to," David told her softly.  He patted her arm, then got out of the vehicle.  Looking around, he said, "Jailla, check the area.  Make sure we're alone."

Jailla chirped and winged off to circle the battlefield, looking for enemies.  David moved forward, wading into the carnage almost literally.

There were no discernible bodies at the scene.  Body parts were, however, plentiful.  Arms and legs lay mixed together atop piles of human detritus and entrails.

"My god, what the hell happened here?" Vivian asked, surprising David as she came up behind him.

"You okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"I guess," she said.  She still looked a little green.

"Work your way around the edges.  That way, if you get to feeling too sick, you can get out in a hurry," David told her.  "I'll deal with what's in the middle."

"Thanks," she said sincerely.  The two separated, and began the search for clues.  There wasn't a lot to make of the scene.  It would take real forensics to get any clues out of what was left of a company of infantry.

Looking more closely at some of the remains, he realized that many of the victims weren't wearing uniforms.  It was pretty hard to tell, but some of the women, especially, were wearing bright colors which stood out, even when covered in blood.

So, we have dead civilians here.  Obviously these weren't weres in disguise, or they wouldn't be hamburger all over the ground just like the soldiers.  What the fuck happened here?

"David?" Vivian called out.  "I've got something."

David moved toward her voice, and found her standing over a dead body.  The body looked distorted somehow, but it was still intact.  The body was lying face down.  David crouched down and carefully took hold of the body.  Slowly, he rolled it over onto its back.

"Oh, god," Vivian gulped, and moved away.  There was a giant hole in the body's abdomen.  It looked as if something had scooped out its organs.  The puddle of blood surrounding the body suggested that those organs were what he was squatting in.

David realized the body was a civilian.  He looked at the wound, and then back over at the main chaos.  His look went back and forth until finally it came to him.

"Booby trap," he growled, standing up.

"Huh?" Vivian asked.

"The goddamned Vrudenans booby-trapped these bodies!  They came in, killed the villagers - after having some fun, I have no doubt - and then used something... a spell, or some kind of object... to booby-trap them.  When the soldiers investigated the bodies, the trap went off."

"But, wouldn't that catch only a few?  I mean, once one body blew up, you wouldn't go touching any of the others..."

David looked around, and then said, "Maybe they set them to work in a chain reaction.  So the explosion of one would set off the others."

"So, why didn't this one end up like everyone else?"

"Dud spell, would be my guess.  I mean, it went off, it just didn't go off properly.  So, dud spell, or dud potion... though usually potions don't go wrong this way..."

"What do you mean?"

"A potion that goes wrong won't usually do what it was intended to do at all.  It will do something completely out of left field.  This went off, it just didn't have enough power.  So... I'm leaning more toward spell, or some kind of enchanted object."

"How do we prove that?"

"We don't, unless someone survived this.  We're much too late for any residual traces to remain.  This all happened yesterday."

"So... now what?"

"Now, we go back and write up a scathing report to the command staff about not heeding my advice."

"What do you mean?"

"I've told them more than once, when you encounter dead bodies, the very first thing you do is vaporize them.  The Vrudenans keep playing this game in one form or another, and we keep getting caught by it!  If they had simply stood on the edge of the field and vaporized the bodies, none of our soldiers would have been harmed."

"Maybe they didn't know they were dead?" Vivian offered.

"Apokolyptivivos," David replied.

"Huh?"

"The life-revelation spell.  Watch.  Apokolyptivivos!" David intoned, pointing his wand at the field.  A black fog covered the ground like a mist.  "See?  No sign of life.  If there had been something living here, it would have flared gold."

"Maybe they didn't know that spell?"

"It's their responsibility to know what they need to know," David said curtly.  Facing the field, he cast another spell, and the bodies present disintegrated.

"No flames this time?"

"Without the... er... illness... less chance of disease," David explained.  "Come on, let's get back to headquarters."

"Portal for you, sir," Toni said.

"Why am I not surprised," David muttered to himself.  "Thanks, Toni," he said, passing her.  She smiled slightly at him and nodded.

David made his way to the comm center, and thanked the waiting soldier before he sat down.

"What's up, sir?" David asked.

Btt. DeSantis snorted.  "I'm pretty sure you know what's up.  This report was... um... rather energetic."

"I was rather annoyed," David explained.

"I could tell.  I'm not sure what it means, David, but Akg Schwarzkopf wants you down here at HQ."

"Eep.  Okay, I'm on my way, sir."

"See you soon."

David nodded to the batalisto, then rose and nodded to the soldier before going back to his office.

He informed Toni and Jolene that he was leaving, and then got together his report materials before heading out.  It was going to take seven hours to get there; he would barely make it before the end of the work day.

"Vocator David Stroud, reporting as ordered, sir!" David said, standing at attention.

"At ease," the arkigo told him.  As David relaxed slightly, the arkigo said, "I have here a report with your name on it, though it has come through I-Squad.  Did you get a transfer I don't know about?"

"No, sir.  I-Squad regularly calls on me to perform after-action reviews."

"Why?"

"You'd have to ask them, sir.  I can only offer a guess."

"Go ahead and guess," the arkigo ordered.

David shrugged.  "My information is that Commandant Potter isn't fond of having to put his name on investigation results.  By enlisting my 'assistance', he can blame me if the evaluation is wrong."

"Hmm.  Is this interfering with your other duties?"

"Not in a significant way."

"Very well.  Now, in your report, you say that the weres booby-trapped the bodies of civilians, so that when our men investigated, the bodies would explode, causing damage."

"Yes, sir."

"And you further stated that this was an avoidable problem?"

"Yes, sir."

"That's bullshit," A batalo on the other side of the room said.  "How are they supposed to know that dead bodies are dangerous?" the man demanded.

David kept his mouth shut, as he hadn't been asked to speak.

Akg Schwarzkopf said, "This is Batalo Clayton.  Commanding Officer of the battalion in question."

"Yes, sir," David acknowledged.

"He raises a fair point, doesn't he?" the arkigo asked politely.

"No, sir, he does not.  Furthermore, I'm sure he knows that."

"Care to explain?" Akg Schwarzkopf asked.

"Sir, I know that I-Squad has sent out several memos regarding the treatment of found dead bodies.  All dead bodies should be considered a threat, and should be disintegrated immediately upon encountering them.  Further, I know that at least one of the memos detailed the necessary spells both for disintegration, and for discovering whether any of the bodies were living, from a safe distance."

"That's bullshit," the batalo said.  "No memo like that ever went out."

In response, David merely opened the folder he had with him, withdrew the memo in question, and handed it to the arkigo.

"Pretty clearly states exactly what Vocator Stroud is claiming," the arkigo said.  "And it's dated three months ago."

Btl Clayton sputtered.  "It never made it to my desk, then."

"Do your officers have a habit of intercepting official memoranda?" Schwarzkopf demanded.

"No, sir!" Clayton replied forcefully.

"Then how would it have not made it to your desk?"

"I don't know, sir."

"Perhaps if he read them before he filed them, he'd have seen it," David muttered to himself.

"What was that, Vocator?" Clayton demanded.

"Nothing, sir," David replied.  "Just clearing my throat."

The arkigo, who had heard David's comment clearly enough, said with a grin, "The vocator thinks you are not particularly rigorous in reading official memos."

"How dare you!" Clayton screamed at David.  "Who are you to question my procedures?"

The arkigo knew what David was thinking before David had to say anything.  "He was dumb enough to ask the question, Vocator.  Feel free to answer him."

David nodded at the arkigo, and turned back to Clayton.  "I'm the one stuck looking at the aftermath of your disasters, sir.  I'm the one who gets to have nightmares about puddles of blood and dismembered body parts.  Have you even stepped foot on a battlefield, Batalo?"

"That is none of your concern, Vocator.  Your job is investigations."

"No, sir, my job is charge officer for Scout Company 1.  I'm stuck doing these after-action reports because, I'm guessing, no one else wants to tell you how you're screwing up."

"Arkigo, are you going to let him talk to me that way?" Clayton demanded.

"Yep," Schwarzkopf replied.

Clayton turned back to snarl at David, but David beat him to the punch.  "What's the matter, sir, you don't like the truth?  I checked.  Your battalion has the lowest success rate in all of Ark North.  Perhaps if you'd pay a little attention when others give you good advice, that wouldn't be the case."

"I do not have time to read every damn scrap of paper that crosses my desk.  I have a war to fight!  I have missions to run.  I have enemies to kill!"

"You seem far more efficient at killing your friends," David retorted.

"If a few dozen men must be sacrificed for the mission, so be it," Clayton said archly.  "My plans are textbook."

David balled his hands into fists, and his lips drew tight.  A dark and dangerous look crossed his face.  He suddenly turned and headed for the door.

"You have not been dismissed, Vocator," Akg Schwarzkopf told him.

Without turning around, David said, "I'm aware of that, sir, but insubordination is the lesser of two crimes I could be charged with.  If I stay, you'll have to charge me with the other one."  Having said that, David walked out of the room and down the hallway.

It took a few minutes, but Btl Clayton found David sitting on a bench, staring at an ugly painting on the wall.

"Think you're hot shit, don't you," Clayton said snidely.  "You've got the arkigo's ear, and you think you can do no wrong.  Well, I'm here to tell you, you're a piss-ant.  A nobody.  A menial underling."

"So you managed to talk him out of relieving you of duty, eh?" David retorted.

Clayton went red in the face.  "How dare you!"  He huffed for a moment, then said, "If I didn't have a mission to plan, I would have you up on charges!"

"Mission, huh?  How many of our soldiers you plan on killing this time?"

"As long as the overall mission succeeds, the number of dead is irrelevant," Clayton replied.

David rose from the bench and stepped toward Clayton.

"Let me tell you something, you self-serving little twit.  Those are people out there.  Sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.  People who expect you to not waste their lives by being stupid.  They expect you to know what the fuck you're doing."

"I know exactly what I'm doing," Clayton replied archly.

"So you admit to committing murder," David growled.

"I made no such statement," Clayton said.

"You just said that you know your plan is going to pointlessly kill people.  That is, at least, negligent homicide.  I should actually have you up on charges."

"So a few menial nobodies get killed.  I don't care."

Clayton felt a sense of foreboding as David stepped closer to him.  He found it hard to see David's face clearly, as if it was in shadow suddenly.

David wrapped his hand around Clayton's throat, and began to squeeze.  He watched Clayton's face closely, enjoying the panicked look as Clayton suddenly realized he couldn't breathe.

"Vocator!  What are you doing?" Arkigo Schwarzkopf demanded, having appeared out of nowhere.

"Saving hundreds of lives," David replied coldly.  Clayton was turning an unhealthy shade of blue as David's grip tightened.  

"Release him.  Now."

"By your order, sir," David intoned flatly.  He loosed his grip on Clayton, who immediately collapsed to the floor.  David stood facing the wall, the shadowing on his face dissipating slowly.

"He could have had you up on assault charges," Schwarzkopf said.

David remained silent, his eyes forward, his jaw set, his hands at his sides in the "attention" posture.

"Luckily for you, I heard what he said to you.  I don't think he's going to talk his way out of it this time.

"You, on the other hand, need to watch your step.  Another incident like this one, and you could lose a rank or two."

David finally turned to look at him, and the arkigo cringed.  David asked, "Do you actually think I care about my rank, sir?  Feel free to bust me back down to soldier.  Let someone else have to deal with this shit.  Sir."

Akg Schwarzkopf stared at him, dumbfounded.

"May I be dismissed, Arkigo?" David asked politely.

Schwarzkopf merely nodded.  David nodded in recognition and respect, and walked down the hallway.

"I'm gonna have his bars," Clayton croaked from the floor.

"Shut the fuck up you asshole.  You're lucky I decided to not let him kill you, because he's right.  You're attitude is a danger to your unit.  You're relieved of duty, effective immediately."

"Sir, I-"

"I said, shut up," Schwarzkopf snapped.  With that, he headed back to his office.  He would have to file a report on all of this.  Part of that report, he knew, would go to the king.

 "I'll be back on Monday," David told Toni.  "And I'll be in Bolmont, so if something comes up, just send a swift."

"Yes, sir.  Before you go, sir, this just arrived for you."  She handed him an envelope.  It was an official envelope, so he knew it wasn't another investigation request from I-Squad, as they had never put their requests through official channels.

David opened the envelope and extracted the parchment within.  He read it over slowly, twice, then refolded it and put it back in the envelope.

"Trouble, sir?" Toni asked softly.

"Just bureaucratic crap.  They've placed a reprimand in my file for my behavior toward Btl Clayton the other day.  And they've issued a silver slash citation... for my behavior toward Btl Clayton the other day."

"Sir?" Jolene asked, surprised.

David grinned.  "In helping to reveal Clayton's mismanagement of his unit, I have supposedly aided the war effort.  Not in a big way, or it'd be worth more than a slash."

"But you nearly killed him, you said," Jolene objected.

David shrugged.  "And that's what the reprimand is for.  You of all people should know the army doesn't have to make sense."

Jolene smiled.  "Yes, sir."

"Anyway, you two have a good weekend."

"You, too, sir," Toni said.  Jolene echoed the sentiment.  With that, David headed out.

"You seem to be missing someone," Zyla said, a bit concerned.  David had taken Grace for a walk.  He had left her with Janine.

"She's on a play date," David said.

"Kind of late in the day, isn't it?"

"Yes, but there's somewhere you need to go, so Janine is watching her for a while."

"Oh, David, not tonight.  You know what kind of day it's been for me, this being my and Joe's anniversary.  I'm really not up to seeing people."

"Zyla, you know I don't get pushy about this kind of thing, usually.  Tonight... you need to come with me.  It's important."

Zyla sighed.  "Okay, let me get dressed... how formal is this?"

"What you're wearing right now is fine," David said.  "Though shoes would be a help," he added with a grin, to lighten the mood.

Zyla smirked, and then slipped on her flats.  David held her coat up for her, so she could slip it on.

"Thank you," she said quietly.  David nodded and led her out of the house, to a waiting carriage.

"Where to, sir?" the driver asked.

"Judridder Lake, please," David replied.

As the carriage got moving, Zyla looked at him.  "I thought we were going to some kind of gathering."

"I never said that," David told her with a slight smile.  "I just said it was important you come with me."

"Sneaky.  If you just wanted us to go to the lake, why didn't you just say that?  And... couldn't we have gone in the daytime, when it was a little warmer?"

"No, unfortunately not.  We needed to go now."

"Okay..." Zyla said.  "Why?"

"You'll find out soon enough."  David wasn't telling Zyla that Joe would be there because he honestly wasn't sure that Joe would be.  He didn't want her to be distraught if this idea fell through.  He had another plan ready, just in case.

The carriage dropped them at the lake, and the two entered the park.  Once they reached the shoreline, Zyla said, "It's kind of pretty, with the moonlight."

"Yeah," David said quietly.  He was reaching out with his mind, looking for Joe.  Finally, he sensed him.  "All right, Grumpy, you can come out now."

"Huh?" Zyla asked, turning in the direction David was now facing.  Slowly, Joe faded into existence a few feet from her.

"Hi, Honey," he said quietly.

"Joe!" Zyla cried out, and stepped toward him.  She stopped, not sure she was even able to touch him.  "I've missed you so much," she said.  "Why did you wait so long?"  Turning to David, she demanded, "And why didn't you tell me we were coming to see Joe?"

"I'd rather not answer that question," David admitted.

"Afraid I wouldn't show up?" Joe asked astutely.  Turning to Zyla, he said, "I have to admit, this was David's idea, Honey.  I was sticking by the 'don't visit your family' rule."

Zyla turned to David.  "Then, why...?"

"I just thought you might like a chance to see him one last time... to say good-bye properly."

Zyla reached out and put her hand on David's chest.  "Thank you," she whispered.

"I'll be over here, staring at the moon and not listening," David said.  As he stepped away, Zyla turned back to Joe.

"It's good to see you again," Joe told her.  "You look just as beautiful as the last time I saw you."

Zyla began to cry.  "I miss you so much," she told him.

"I know," Joe said.  "I miss you, too."

"Is it... hard... being... being..."

"Dead?" Joe asked softly.  Zyla nodded.  "No.  It's not hard.  It's just boring.  It doesn't hurt, there's no anxiety or stress."

"That's good.  I hate that you're there."

"I know you do, Honey, but there's nothing to be done about it.  We just have to make the best of things."

"I don't think I'm doing very well at that," she admitted.

"David said you were struggling a little," Joe replied.  "I wish I could help you somehow."  After a long moment, he asked as gently as he could, "Have you considered finding a new partner?"

"I... well... Joe..."

"What is it?"

"I cheated on you, Joe!" she said, crying.

Joe cocked his head.  "Did this happen before I died?"

"No.  Just last month," she said.

Joe smiled slightly.  "Then you didn't cheat on me."

"What do you mean, I didn't cheat on you?  You're my husband!"

"No, I'm not.  I used to be your husband.  But, you'll remember, our vows contained that line about, 'until death do us part.'  Zyla, I love you, but you can't cling to me this way.  I'm dead.  I'm... gone.  I don't want to be cruel, but I can only bring you misery at this point.  Please, don't waste your time worrying over what I think, or how I might react to what you're doing.  Use this thought to comfort yourself: I will never know about whatever it is, so it can't hurt me."

"Joe... I... I..." at that point, Zyla broke down and turned away, stepping toward the spot where David was standing.

David, sensing the conversation was over, or at least at a break point, walked back toward them.  He stopped for a moment next to Zyla, and put his hand on her shoulder.  She looked up into his face, and the pain he saw there broke his heart.  He squeezed her shoulder gently, and he whispered, "We'll go home in a minute."

Zyla nodded to him, and he stepped past her to where Joe was standing.  David motioned him to follow, and the two moved along the lake shore.

"That was cold, even for you," David said quietly.

"I told her what she needed to hear," Joe retorted.

"In the coldest, meanest way possible," David replied.

"Don't you think that's preferable to me fawning all over her?"

"No.  Now her last memory of you is going to be of you acting like an ass."

Joe frowned.  "Maybe I am an ass."

"Yes, I know that.  But you didn't need to act like one just now."

Joe smirked at him.  "Couldn't resist the final dig?"

"Wouldn't want you to think I've changed," David said.

"I did my best here, David, whether you like the way I handled it or not.  And I do appreciate you bringing her here.  It was good to see her again.  I need you to do me one more favor, though."

"What's that?"

"Don't contact me again.  And don't let her do so, either.  This isn't going to help anybody through anything, and it's only going to make my existence even worse.  I feel far worse having to walk away voluntarily than I did having the choice ripped out of my hands."

"You could live with her as a ghost..." David offered.

"Do you actually think that's a good idea?" Joe demanded.

"No, I don't," David admitted.  "But it is an option you have."

"I'm not that selfish.  That would make me feel better, but it would completely ruin her life.  She needs to move on.  Promise me that you will help her see that.  Promise me you'll do whatever you can to help her do that."

"Joe, you realize that, for her, 'moving on' means a new husband."

"I'm well aware of that."

"And you want me to encourage that?"

"Weren't you the one who told me that a person's only chance at being happy is while they're alive?  Do you think I'm such a shit that I want her to spend her life missing me and being miserable?"

"Well... I wouldn't have said so before you died..." David told him bluntly.

"Hmph," Joe retorted.  "Besides," he said after a short pause, "Like I told her, it's not like I'm going to know about whatever she does.  Or whatever you do, for that matter.  I won't know about anything at all, so long as you don't come around and tell me about shit."

"So, what are you asking me to do?" David pressed.

"Help her find happiness.  Whatever that takes."

"Even if-" David started, but Joe interrupted him.

"David, I'm not going to get into the details.  Whatever you know about, whatever you're thinking about, whatever it is... I don't want to know.  What I really want, ultimately, is to be able to forget.  It will be easier for me to let go if I can be fairly certain that she is taken care of.  But I sure as hell won't be able to let go if all this crap is rambling around in my head.  If you know some way to make Zyla happy, then you do that, or you make her do that, or... whatever it is.  I'm leaving this in your hands.  I trust you to do what's right for her."

"Okay, Joe, I'll...  I'll do what I can."

"Good."

The two turned around and headed back toward Zyla.

Mainly to fill the silence, Joe said, "Say, one thing that has kinda been bugging me over the months."

"What?"

"You ever find out whether Dean Lengel was setting you up or not?"

"No.  I've got a couple people at the school looking into it, but they've only gotten bits and pieces, nothing definitive.  Maybe you could go up to the school and look into it yourself?"

Joe glared at David.  "Why you keep trying to get me back at that place?"

"Well, you know, you seemed interested in the case...  It'd give you something to do..."

"Not going to happen.  I'm staying as far away from that place as possible.  I'm not spending my afterlife intentionally making myself miserable.  Misery is easy enough to come by all by itself."

"Sorry about that."

"You didn't create the afterlife.  It's not your fault.  And don't start in with that shit about it being your fault I'm dead, either."

David had, in fact, been going to mention that.  He sighed, instead.  After a moment, he said, "Oh, well... maybe this will cheer you up at least a little bit.  Dikko is now digging ditches in the engineering company."

Joe snorted.  "What the hell did he do to get that job?"

"He was insubordinate to his commanding officer."

"And that would have been..."

"Me."

"You're a commanding officer now?  Damn."

"Charge officer for the scout company."

"Well, I always knew you were going places," Joe said.  "You just have that knack for getting things done."

"Yeah, well, having the king as a friend doesn't hurt your career, either," David said, with a slightly bitter tone.

"You resent that?" Joe asked.

"It kind of diminishes anything I might achieve, because I never know whether he had a hand in it," David admitted.

"I can see that.  On the other hand, knowing him has gotten you out of at least one scrape with your bosses."

"True enough."

They had arrived back where Zyla was standing, and so David stepped away once again.

"Zyla, Honey, it's been good to see you, but it's time for us to go our separate ways."

"I don't want to," she objected.

"I know, but we have to.  This has to be our last meeting.  We have to say good-bye... forever.  You need to move on."

"I don't think I can do it alone," she whispered hoarsely, crying once more.

Joe looked into her eyes.  "You're not alone."

Zyla began to cry in earnest, and Joe hugged her. The embrace, though welcome, was no longer comforting. She could only feel the cold fingers of death surrounding her, and it caused her to shudder.  Finally, Zyla said, "I will always love you.  I will never forget you."

"It would mean more to me if you don't forget to live," Joe said.  He released her and stepped back.  "I love you, Zyla.  Good-bye."

"Good-bye, Joe..." Zyla said, sobbing now.

Joe gave David a serious, meaningful look, then walked off, fading to invisibility as he went.

 David went over and pulled Zyla into his embrace.  She buried her face in his shoulder, weeping uncontrollably.  Though David, also, was cold, his embrace did not carry the fear and horror of the touch of the dead, and Zyla drew comfort from it. 

After a long time, when Zyla had cried herself out, David said quietly, "Come on, let me take you home."

 David was sitting in his office, staring at the wall when Toni stepped in.  She saw the frown on his face, and was hesitant to add any misery to a troubled life.

For David's part, he was thinking about the previous night.  The meeting with Joe had not been completely disastrous, but it certainly had not gone as well as David had hoped.  He had apologized to Zyla when they'd gotten home, but she'd insisted that she was glad for the opportunity.

How glad she could have been in reality was hard for David to say, given that she spent the entire rest of the evening sitting in his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck, and crying almost non-stop.  It was, in fact, the first time that he knew of Grace having a sleepover, because David just didn't want to bring her home into that atmosphere.

Zyla had seemed a little better in the morning, and she had kissed him good-bye, as had become their custom.  That just made David remember his conversation with Joe, and made him wonder if Joe really knew what had happened between Zyla and him.  On the one hand, some of Joe's comments strongly hinted that he did, and was okay with it, or was faking it for David's sake.  On the other hand, he'd been so vague, he might have simply been imploring David to do anything he could think of.

But, of course, he had not been clear about it, and that just left David wondering, and worrying.

Toni didn't know what David was thinking about, but the worrying was obvious.  And she was only going to make it worse, she knew.

"David?" she asked hesitantly.

David jolted; he'd not even seen her standing there.  "Oh, hey, Toni.  Sorry, I was contemplating something.  What can I do for you?"

"You know that manpower report they had us do last week?" she asked.

"Yeah," David said, leery of what was coming.

"We have to do it again."

"What?  Why?" David demanded, annoyed.

"It kind of got... destroyed."

"Well, what bonehead did that?" he snarled.

Toni's voice was very small when she said, "I did."  Quickly, she said, "I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to!  I was making a copy of it, so we would have one for our files, and... I guess I must have messed up the spell somehow, because all of a sudden, it went up in a burst of green flames!  I thought my entire desk was gonna go with it!  I... I don't know what to say!  I'm so sorry!"

"Goddammit," David growled.  "That stupid thing took us two days to put together!"  He slammed his hand down on his desk, making Toni jump and cringe.  Taking a deep breath, he said, "Well, we'd better get on the damned thing again.  Have them bring all those fucking documents back up here, so we can get started again."

"Yes, sir," Toni said.  She hurried out of the office back to her desk.

David stewed for about five minutes.  When Toni brought the documents into the office, he looked up and saw the distress on her face, and he realized he was being a bit of an ass.  She - obviously - hadn't done it on purpose.  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly while she was arranging files on his work table.

"Toni?" David said.  She immediately turned to face him.

"Sir?"

"Go close the door," he said.  She swallowed hard, but did as she was told.  While she was doing that, David got up and came around his desk, leaning against the front edge.  After she turned around, he motioned her over to stand in front of him.

"I'm about to do something that is highly unprofessional, probably violates regulations, and might even cause high cholesterol, but I think it needs to happen."

"Sir?"

Toni flinched as David stood upright, but remained still as he stepped close to her.  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her gently against him in a warm hug.  She immediately hugged back, resting her head on his shoulder and appreciating his comfort.

After a while, they released each other.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," David said.  "Everyone screws up once in a while, it wasn't your fault, really.  I've got some personal crap going on that's making me irritable, but I shouldn't have let that impact our relationship here in the office."

"It's okay.  I can tell you're stressed."

David grunted.  "Anyway, I just thought we could both use a bit of a positive interaction just then."

Toni smiled softly.  "Thank you."

David smiled back and nodded.  As he stepped back around his desk, he said, "I am, however, going to have to make you redo most of that report yourself.  I have three other things I have to get done by the end of the week, so I'm just not going to have time to do it."

"That's okay, sir.  I remember most of what we worked out.  I shouldn't have to trouble you for more than a few items."

David nodded.  "Well, ask for help if you need it.  And you can work in here if you want.  I don't mind, and there's more space in here to get things done."

"Oh, but won't I disturb you, sir?"

"No more than I'm already disturbed," he said with a smirk.  "I'll be okay.  You're not a singer or a hummer, so you work pretty quietly."

Toni giggled.  "Yes, sir.  I'll try to stay out of your way."

David nodded, and then turned to work on the forms on his desk.

David looked up in annoyance at a disturbance in the outer office.  He looked over at Toni, who was still working diligently on the manpower report.  When he looked back, Jolene was at the door.

"Sir, there's a person here to see you."

"Okay, who is it?"

"Capadra Barclay wants to talk about a transfer."

David grunted.  Jolene stepped over and handed over the transfer request form.  David read down it quickly until he got to the field marked "requested unit for transfer".  David's eyes narrowed, and he set the form down.

"Send the good capadra in," he told Jolene.  "Toni?" David said, to get her attention.

Toni turned.  "Yes, sir?"

"You might want to step out for a minute.  This could get... distracting for you."

"Oh.  Yes, sir."  Toni stepped out just as Barclay was stepping in.  She closed the door behind him.

"Sit," David ordered.  The officer before him was reasonably fit, though a little on the older side.  He sat comfortably, without any signs of fidgeting or excess nervousness.

"So, Mr. Barclay.  Why is it you want to leave our little family?"

"It's all there in the request form, sir," Barclay said stiffly.

"No, what's in the request is a bunch of bullshit you thought would pass muster.  You apparently forgot that, with DeSantis down at HQ, these reports have to go through me.  You might have gotten this crap past him, but I've been out there, and I know the job personally.

"Now, let's try again.  Why do you want a transfer?"

Barclay looked off to one side, chewing on his lip and thinking for a long moment.  Finally he turned back and said, "Because I want to actually live."

"And?"

"And people in this company keep dying!"

"News to me.  We've lost about fifteen people since the start of the war."

"That's nearly ten percent!"

"You have some very odd math skills.  It is six percent, which is nowhere near ten percent.

"So your sole reason for this transfer is you want to be safe.  Is that correct?"

"Doesn't everybody?" Barclay demanded.

"Yes, I'm sure they do, which is pretty much my point.  Why the fuck should I authorize a transfer, when your situation is no different from anyone else's?"

"Look, I just can't deal with the stress!  I just want out!"

"No."

"What?" Barclay demanded.

"I'm pretty sure you heard me.  You don't get to pick and choose when you get to face danger.  You swore an oath to the king, and you swore another oath to the military.  You will do what you're told, when you're told to do it.  Right now, that means you work for me, doing whatever mission I give you."

"This is bullshit!" Barclay demanded.  "No one told me when I took my citizenship oath that I'd have to fucking die for it!"

"Then you weren't paying attention in Civics class," David replied coldly.  "I'm quite sure it was covered fairly thoroughly, what the possible consequences of citizenship were."

"You don't have the right to deny me!  I demand you send my request on to the CO!"

"Okay... fine.  Just one thing.  I will send my own report with it, and it will suggest a different posting for you."

"No!  I want to go to the transport company!"

"Barclay, if we transfer you out of here, it will be to the infantry.  Now, their fatality rate is closer to twenty percent.  So, you still want me to forward this to DeSantis?"

Barclay had paled at David's statement.  "You can't do that?"

"I can.  I will.  You're not special, Barclay.  You get to take the same chances as all these other people.  You think they're not scared?  You think they don't want to be safe?  You think they wouldn't rather be back at home, enjoying a warm meal with their families and listening to music on the mirror?

"Now, get your ass out of my chair, out of my office, and out of this headquarters, and get your mother-fucking ass back to work!" David snarled.

Barclay bolted out of the chair and headed for the door.  He was out of the office in seconds.  It was several minutes before Toni came back in.

"Everything okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, fine.  Just a nitwit needing to be reminded of some things.  How's that report coming?"

"About two-thirds the way through it."

"Good.  Don't let me hold you up, then."

"Yes, sir."

"Sir, there's an off-" Toni started to say.

"Get out of my way!" the batalo said, shoving Toni aside.  She banged into the door, and had to grab for the door handle to stay upright.

"I demand that you discipline one of your officers!" the batalo snapped.

David leaned back in his chair and looked the man over.  The officer in front of him was from the transport company.  David stared at the man, then, leaning aside so he could see Toni, he motioned her over to him.  She came and stood at his side.

"You need your flunky to hold conversations for you?" the batalo demanded.

"Actually, she's here waiting for the same thing I'm waiting for," David said.

"And what's that?"

"Your apology."

"If you think I'm going to apologize to some peon-"

David snapped, "She is a person, not a peon, not an underling, and not a flunky.  She does happen to be my clerk, which still ranks her higher in my estimation than you at the moment.  Now, would you like to apologize for shoving her, or not?"

"I am not apologizing!"

"That's fine.  Toni, could you bring me the incident report form?  And I'll need the separate form to file charges."

"Yes, sir," she said.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" the batalo demanded.

David stared him down.  "Shoving my clerk is assault, under the army code of justice.  It's a crime punishable by six months in the stockade and loss of two rank grades.  It will, whether you are convicted or not, relieve you of your current command, as you won't have time to do that job while trying to defend yourself.  It also has a fairly good chance of ending any and all career advancement, even if you are acquitted.

"I should warn you, however, that as a Rimohr officer, my conviction rate is north of ninety percent of cases I brought to trial.

"Are you sure you don't want to apologize to her?"

David continued to stare at the man, unblinking.

The batalo turned to Toni.  "I'm sorry that I bumped into you, Miss."

"No harm done, Batalo," Toni said.  She gave David a smile, and went out to her desk.

"Now then, what is it you want?" David asked.

"I want one of your officers disciplined."

"Which one?"

"Vigax Jack Lupo."

David nodded.  "Toni?" he called.  "Have Vigax Lupo come to the office."

"Yes, sir," Toni replied.

David returned to doing the paperwork on his desk.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" the batalo demanded.

"My work.  Until Jack gets here, we have nothing to discuss, and this is due by the end of the day.  Maybe you have all day to run all over the place, but some of us have actual work to do."

"You do realize I fucking outrank you," the batalo demanded.

"Yes, sir, I do realize that your rank is higher than mine."

"And you think I'm not going to have your ass for treating me like this?"

"Actually, no, I don't think you will, Batalo.  But, again, there's no point in further conversation until Jack arrives."

"I'm here, Boss."

David motioned him to stand next to the Batalo, and then he leaned back in his chair.

"Now, sir, what is it you wish Vigax Lupo disciplined for?"

"Insubordination!"

David looked over at Jack.  "You been drawing dirty pictures of me again?"

Jack nearly choked trying not to laugh.  "No, sir!"

"Better not.  You got the dick way too small on that last set."

Jack blushed crimson.

David turned back to the batalo.  "The specifics?"

"Last Friday, we were delivering supplies to an infantry unit.  Your Vigax and his troop were there, just standing around.  I ordered him to help us unload.  He refused!"

"Jack?"

"Yes, sir, I did."

"Reason?"

"We were on duty at the time."

"Completing mission 482-C," David checked, using a code because the batalo was not cleared for their operations.

"Yes, sir."

David nodded.  He then turned back to the batalo.  For a moment, he just stared.  Taking a deep breath, he pulled a piece of parchment out of his desk, and magnified it up on the wall.

David said, "Do you recognize the chart behind me, Batalo?"

"It's the army hierarchical chart.  So?"

"Notice where Scout Company 1 sits?"

"In the Line Unit tree.  Again, so?"

"And where, sir, does Transport Company 1 sit?"

"In the Support Unit tree," the man replied, growing irritated.  "What the fuck is your point?"

"My point, sir, is, your rank notwithstanding, we don't work for you, you work for us.  You have no authority to give orders to line units, as you are not combat-command qualified.  If you wanted help, you should have asked his CO for it... and I would have refused."

"By what authority do you have the ability to refuse a legitimate request that has gone through channels?" the batalo demanded.

"Army Manual of Regulations, Chapter 2, Section 4.  It says, among other things, that a combat unit in the middle of an active mission shall not perform actions that will interfere or delay that mission.  At the time in question, Troop 18 was on an active mission.  Acceding to your 'request' would have been a violation of regulations.  So, no, I'm not about to discipline Vigax Lupo for doing the right thing."

"I will have your career for this crap!" The batalo snarled.

"You're welcome to it, sir.  You want the stress and nightmares that go with it, as well?  Oh, wait, that's right.  You're not qualified to hold my job, despite, what... seven, eight years in the army?  Tsk.  I imagine you've failed the combat quals all three times by now."

"Fuck you, Stroud!" the batalo shouted.

"Don't be raising your voice in my office," David snapped.  "You don't have the right to come in here, assault my clerk, insult my officers, demand things you have no right to, and bother everyone in the building.  Now, sir, my superior's name is Batalisto DeSantis.  He is currently at Ark North Headquarters.  If you wish to discuss this issue further, you may take it up with him.

"We, however, have work to do, so kindly get lost."

"I don't take orders from you, Vocator!"

David nodded.  "Toni?" David called.

"Sir?"

"Was the Batalo cleared through security for level 3 access?"

"I don't know for sure, sir, but I doubt it.  They would need your permission."

"That's right, they would.  Could you call Vigax Dorn to the office, please?"

"Yes, sir."

"What the fuck are you on about now?" the Batalo demanded.

"Well, you see, you're standing in my office.  In order to get here, you need a level 3 clearance.  Now, everyone in the scout company has a level 2 clearance already, so that's not normally a problem.

"You, on the other hand, only have a level five clearance for your job."

"In other words, sir, you've just violated Army Security Protocol, and I am having you detained for debriefing.  Should you attempt to leave without permission at this point, you will be assumed to be committing espionage, and treated accordingly."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning you won't live long enough to make it out of the building.  Sir."

"Your career is over, Stroud."

"Batalo, don't come into my playground and try to scare me.  You have nothing you can reasonably threaten me with.  You're going to take away a job I don't want?  Ooh, big threat.  You can't kill me, as I'm already dead.  Had you walked away when I told you to, this would all be behind you already.  You decided you wanted to get into a barking contest.  Well, sir, you're a chihuahua, and you walked into a den of dire wolves.

"Ah, Vigax Dorn.  The Batalo here has entered a restricted area without clearance.  Could you make sure he is thoroughly debriefed, and re-educated on security protocols?  And Dorn?  Make sure it sticks."

"Yes, sir," Dorn replied, gently taking the arm of the batalo, and leading him away.

"They're going to nail your ass for that, you know," Jack said.

"Probably the same way they got me for that idiot down at HQ.  A reprimand in my jacket.  What the fuck do I care?  I get enough of those, they'll demote me, and you can have my job."

"Hey, now, let's not go getting stupid..." Jack said with a nervous grin.

David smirked.  "So... did you get mouthy to him, or what?  He seemed awfully peeved for just a refusal."

"No, sir.  He snapped his fingers and told us to get to work.  I told him we were already in the middle of another task, and that we weren't allowed to stop what we were doing.  He accused us of jacking off - not his word - and barked at us some more.  Ultimately, I just took my team and walked off."

"So what were you actually doing?"

"Well, sir, you'll recall the last part of the mission was to observe the security of the base.  That's what we were doing.  I'm sure it didn't look like we were doing anything to him, but still."

"Right.  He has no right to be ordering anyone on that base around.  That's what he's got his own men for.  All right, you're dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

"Toni?" David called out loudly.  She came to the door quickly.

"Sir?"

"How's your arm?" he asked.

"Oh!  It's fine, sir.  Thank you for asking."

"You want to press charges?  I'll back you if you do..."

"Oh, no, sir.  That's not necessary.  Your embarrassment of him on my behalf was payback enough for me."

David smirked, and she smiled at him.  He nodded.  "Okay, that's all I needed."

"Yes, sir."

"You had the man strip-searched?" DeSantis demanded.

"It's a standard part of a security debriefing, sir," David replied.  "I didn't specifically order him strip-searched.  Vigax Dorn was merely following the protocol."

"And did you basically tell him to go piss up a flagpole?"

"Yes, sir, I did.  He was out of line, he was abusive, and he was in error."

"But he outranks you."

"And in what way does that change any of what I just said, sir?"

"Junior officers are supposed to tolerate abuse from their superiors."

"This one doesn't," David said bluntly.  "Not unless the superior in question actually knows what the hell they're talking about.  And, in any case, he isn't actually my superior.  He is merely a higher-ranking officer."

DeSantis sighed loudly.  "This will result in another black mark in your record, Vocator.  You're not going to get my job that way."

"How many more black marks do I have to have to make sure of that, sir?" David asked quickly.

DeSantis frowned.  "Not funny, David."

"I wasn't kidding, sir.  I do not want your job.  I don't want my job."

"Well, you're stuck with it, so shut up and do it."

"Yes, sir."

"That's all.  Carry on."

"Yes, sir."

David rose from the seat, nodded to the soldier in charge of that portal, and went back to his office.

"Well, damn, that was pleasant," David said to Toni sarcastically.  "Remind me to have one of those chats weekly."

"Yes, sir," she said.  She looked over at Jolene, who returned the concerned look that Toni had shot her.

David was in the midst of another set of highly annoying forms when a ruckus was raised in the outer office.  David got up from his chair and stormed out into the anteroom.

"What the fuck is going on?" he demanded.

One of the vigaxes from David's planning staff was there, looking around frantically.

"I, uh... misplaced something, sir.  I'm just trying to find it."

"And exactly what did you misplace?"

"Um, what did I misplace?"

"That's what I asked, Vigax."

"It was a, um... a GPS anchor, sir."

"An active anchor?"

"Um... yes, sir."

"You lost a connection to one of our troops?"

"I'm afraid so, sir," the man said, shrinking away from David's obviously growing ire.

David had put up with too many petty annoyances in the last few days, and this was a major screwup.  He exploded.

"What the fuck kind of moron loses something as critical as a GPS anchor for an active mission?  Do you have any idea what could happen if we need to find that unit, and can't, because you lost their location for us?  Do you want to be the one who gets to write the letters home, telling them, 'sorry Mr. and Mrs. Suchandsuch, we couldn't even recover your son's body, because some dipshit in our office lost the locator we had with them!'

"I can't believe you!" David snarled, loudly and angrily.

"Vocator?" Jolene said, "I think-"

David whirled on Jolene angrily, obviously intent on ripping into her, and the look on his face was so irate that she actually flinched, and stopped speaking immediately.  The look on his face was so menacing that tears came to her eyes out of fear and panic.

David saw the reaction, and he froze.  He closed his eyes and took three very deep, very long breaths.  He put his hand in front of him and pressed downward as he breathed out, performing one of the meditative moves that Prof. Phillips had taught him so many years ago.

After a solid thirty seconds, David opened his eyes again, and looked to Jolene.  He moved to her, leaning down close enough that only she heard him.

"I'm sorry.  You didn't deserve that.  It was uncalled for.  You've done nothing wrong, and my reaction was stupid.  I will understand if you report me for that.  If you feel you need to take a break for a few minutes, please go."

"I... I think I could use a cup of cocoa."

David nodded, and kept his voice just as quiet.  "Go on down to the cafeteria, then.  When you're done, please bring me back a cup?"

"Of course, sir."

"Go on," he said gently.  As she got up, he stood back up.  As she was about to leave, David stopped her.

"Oh!  What was it you wanted to say, anyway?"

"Oh, right," she said.  "Look in the Finder box on my desk."

David nodded, and then she turned and left the room.  David went and opened the Sherman Finder Box, and there was the missing GPS anchor.  David picked it up, and closed the box.  He turned to the vigax and slapped it into the man's hand.

"Lose it again, and you might lose something else with it," David warned him darkly.

"Yes, sir!" the vigax replied, and quickly left the office.

David turned to Toni.

"Do me a favor?"

"Anything," she said.

"Contact the florist.  Order three dozen of whatever flower says, 'I'm sorry for being a total jackass', and have them delivered to Jolene.  Then, contact Benny's, make a reservation for her and her husband for tonight.  Tell them to send me the bill."

"Wow.  Benny's is expensive," Toni said.

"Yeah, well... she deserves it.  So do you, frankly.  Both of you are stuck putting up with my shit, and I know it's getting worse as time goes on."

"It's not a problem, sir," Toni said.

"Yeah, right.  It's not nice to lie to your superior, Bandador."

Toni blushed.

"Anyway, please take care of those things for me, okay?"

"Absolutely."

"I'll be in my office.  If any more annoyances show up... hex them."

"But sir... what if the annoyance outranks me?" Toni asked with a grin.

"Hex it twice!" David retorted quickly without breaking stride to his chair.

Toni chuckled, then turned to do as he had asked her.

 David got up from his desk and stretched, then tucked away several confidential folders in a secure filing cabinet.  As he finished hexing the cabinet so that anyone who tried to open it would have their hands turn into spaghetti noodles, Toni came into his office.

"Locking up for the day?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah.  You can head on home.  Jolene gone already?"

"Yes, sir."

"I feel really bad for scaring her like that."

"She knows.  Is it anything special, sir, or is it just the war stressing you out?"

"The war, some personal stuff at home... there just doesn't seem to be any relief anymore."

Toni nodded.  "It sounds to me like you could use another 'positive interaction'."

"If you're asking if I could use a hug," David said with a grin, "I sure wouldn't turn one down.  Not after a day like today."

Toni came over and the two of them hugged tightly in the middle of the office.  They stood for a long moment like that before they finally separated.

Reaching up, Toni pulled on the thin band she had tied in her hair.  "Sir, could I get your help with this?  I think the knot is jammed, and it just needs a good tug, but I can't get a good grip on it."

"Sure," David said.  He reached up and took hold of the end of the fabric, and gave it a hard yank.

A soft light washed over Toni's body, which suddenly bore no clothing.

Toni looked down, then looked up at David with a grin.  With an utter lack of sincerity, she said, "Sir, that's not how you were supposed to remove the band."

David smirked.

"You know, it's against the rules to require sexual favors for raises and promotions," she said, her tone still obviously teasing.

"Well, that's not a problem," David said with mock seriousness, "as I have no intention of putting you in for either of those things, no matter what happens here."

"Oh?  Well, that solves that problem, then.  So the only question is..." she said, moving somewhat closer to David and putting her hands on his chest, "How do you want me?"

 David gently pulled her close and kissed her, his tongue sliding wetly into her waiting mouth.  As they kissed, he let his hands slip down her back and rest on her ass, squeezing it softly and causing her to moan.

After a minute of that, David finally let her go.  He said, "Have a seat."

As Toni sank into the chair, slumping into a lewd pose, David started to take off his clothes.  As his pants dropped to the floor, Toni sat up.  Once his briefs hit the floor, she leaned forward.  Her mouth engulfed the head of his dick, and her tongue slid back and forth across it.

"Oh, shit.  This isn't what I had in mind, but damn, that's nice," David murmured.

Toni grinned to herself, then she took more of him into her mouth.  Soon, she was bobbing on his cock, her tongue and lips working together to increase his pleasure.  David was gripping the edge of the desk behind him, trying to stave off his climax, but it wasn't going to work.  In just a few more seconds, he grunted in warning, and then blasted his spunk into Toni's mouth.  She didn't even slow down until his orgasm tapered off.  Finally, she stopped moving, and swallowed his salty gift.  She leaned back slowly, letting her lips give his dick one last, long kiss as it departed her mouth.

David smiled at her as he put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her backwards, until she had returned to her lewd, reclined position in the chair.  He dropped to his knees then, and looked up at her.

"My turn," he said.  "Or your turn, depending on how you look at it."

Toni grinned, but her smile was soon erased by a gasp as David's tongue slid slowly across her clit.  After that, he moved down to her opening, licking around the edge of her hole, and poking the tip of his tongue inside.  Toni moaned in pleasure, her hands resting in David's hair.

David picked up the pace a bit, flicking his tongue across her pussy lips and teasing her opening.  Finally, he slid his finger deep into her pussy, and crooked his finger upward.  He twitched the tip of his finger, and quickly found her g-spot.  Toni gasped, and pushed her hips down at him.  He moved his tongue back to her clit and started to slide it all the way around the little nub.

Toni squirmed and wriggled, her hips rolling, trying to get more contact.  David inserted a second finger inside her, letting both of them massage her special place while his tongue kept up its pleasant torture.

Moans and cries filled the room as Toni ascended toward her peak.  Finally, unable to take any more, she screamed in ecstasy, her body shuddering and her juices flooding over David's hand.

David could tell she was too sensitive for more just then, so he carefully slipped his fingers out of her, and stood up.  Having a moment to think, he decided it would be a good idea to go close his office door.  He saw that the outer door was already closed, but it was better to be safe.

As he returned to Toni's side, he could see that she was regaining her senses.  He reached down and took her hand, and helped her to her feet.  She was a bit unsteady, but managed to stay upright.  He led her over to his work table, which he had cleaned off already in preparation for the end of the day.  He motioned her to bend over the table, and she did, spreading her legs and shifting her hips to turn her pussy upward, giving him all the access he desired.

David put the head of his dick to her opening, and slid home in a single move.  Toni groaned loudly at the feel of him inside her.

"Oh, fuck, yes," Toni murmured.

David took hold of her hips and began to thrust hard.  He was slamming into her full force, and she was grunting with each plunge, her hips shoving back at him in rhythm with his moves.  For long moments, the room was filled with animalistic grunts and the sound of slapping skin.  Soon, Toni's grunts became cries, whose pitch rose with her arousal.  Finally, with a wail of bliss, she came, her pussy clamping down on David's cock and massaging it wonderfully.  David continued to thrust into her, but not quite so hard, until she started to come down from her high.

When Toni seemed to have mostly caught her breath, David slowly pulled out of her, and then pulled her upright, holding her against him.

"Can you handle one more round?" David asked softly.

"Uh-huh," she said, a little dreamily.

David chuckled as he turned her around, and then gently laid her down on the table.  Soon, his dick was sliding back into her, until his hips were resting against hers, her clit buried in his pubic hair.

David leaned down and kissed her as he began to slip in and out of her.  This time, instead of hard thrusts, he kept his movements smooth.  He'd worked out a bit of his frustration; now it was purely about sharing the pleasure.

For a long time, they kissed and fucked there on the table.  Finally, as he could feel his own climax approaching, David broke their kiss and pushed himself up slightly.  He looked into Toni's eyes and smiled at her.  She smiled back.

"Are you close?" David asked her.

"Ungh-huh," she replied, obviously feeling the tingles already.

David sped up his moves slightly, pushing them both toward their finale.  The cries and moans once again reached fever pitch, and the two came together, David's cock blasting its load into her as her pussy squeezed and milked him for every last drop.  For long moments, the two of them shivered and shuddered together, until they descended from the apex of joy they had reached.

After another long kiss, David withdrew from Toni's pussy.  He helped her up, but kept hold of her hand.  He led her over to his office chair, and sat down, pulling her into his lap.  There, they sat quietly for several minutes.

Toni finally said, "Now wasn't that far more positive than just a hug?  It was definitely better than dinner at Benny's..."

David chuckled, but Toni could sense something was a little off.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," David admitted.  "I have this very weird feeling.  I feel...  this is gonna sound weird.  I feel like I just cheated on a woman I'm not even dating.  And that makes no sense."

"You're not talking about me, are you?"

"That would make even less sense," David said with a grin.  "I can't cheat on you with you..."

Toni giggled.  "True.  Do you regret this?" she asked worriedly.

"No.  And despite how I feel, I'm going to ask you for a favor that might make it worse."

"Oh?"

"You got any plans for breakfast?" he asked.

"Nope," she said with a grin, knowing exactly what he meant.

"Good.  I could really use your kind of company tonight."

"My pleasure," she said, wiggling her bottom in his lap.  "Literally, I hope..."

David just smiled at her, and gave her another kiss.

 

"Good luck," the Inuit lady told him.

"Thanks," David said.  He was standing in an abandoned warehouse in a remote Alaskan outpost.  It had taken three planes to get here, and nearly an entire day.  He hoped it was worth it.

The lady left him and went back outside; she didn't want to see him change.  David respected her discomfort, and waited until she had left before fading to ghost form, and then slipping over into Haven.

David shuddered.  Haven had a way of being cold that had nothing to do with temperature, and he hated being there.  It was, however, the simplest and fastest way to get where he was going.

He made his way over to the Dugerra interface, traveled along that edge for several miles, and slipped back into the "real" world.  Despite the -15 degree temperatures, he felt more comfortable.  He wrapped his coat around him to keep the cold out, oriented himself to the right direction, and set off across the snow.  He was supposedly only a quarter mile or so from his destination now.  He didn't want to appear in their midst; he didn't know how they'd react to that.

David came around a large snow drift, and there before him was the settlement he was seeking.  The inhabitants looked at him curiously, with a bit of wariness, but he didn't sense any outright hostility.

One of the weres came up to him.  He gathered it was a woman from the bumps on her chest.  She was about three feet tall, and fairly slight.  She was covered in long white fur that was sleek and clean.  Her small, pointed ears stuck out slightly from the sides of her head.  It was hard to tell, in her hybrid form, just what she was, but David knew that this tribe of weres were arctic foxes.

The were emitted a sound that David was sure was some kind of speech, but it was entirely incomprehensible to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't understand you.  Can you speak my language?"

Another were came up, this one apparently a boy.  "I can.  My name is Rev.  What brings you all the way out here?"

"I was looking for you guys, actually," David said.

"Why?"

"I am searching for information about something called the primal aegis, or the elemental shield.  I was told by some people that your group has a strong connection to the elements, and that you might know where I could find another piece of this shield."

"What does the shield look like?" Rev asked.

"I don't really know.  The pieces I have of it so far are just crystals."

"If you don't know what it looks like, how do you expect to know when you've found it?" Rev asked.

David smiled.  "A good question.  So far, the pieces have been given to me by dragons, and they have told me that they are pieces of the shield.  Of course, they could be lying to me, but I don't think they are."

"And you think we have a piece of this shield?"

"Well, no... that's unlikely.  I thought you might know where a piece might be found.  Or, more accurately, that you might know who it is that has another piece of it."

"Please, come into the circle.  I will tell the elders what it is you want."

David followed Rev into the circle, and sat down where he was invited.  A were female presented him with what looked like a dead vole.  David tried very hard not to look disgusted; the vole wasn't cooked in any way.

"Thank you," David said, bowing to the lady, who bowed back and stepped away.

"Rev," David said, getting his attention.  "Would it be offensive if I, er... cooked this before eating it?  Humans don't usually eat raw meat."

"You may do with it as you like.  It was a gift from Shiwa.  She just wants you to feel welcome."

David nodded.  "Well, tell her I said thank you."  David cast a spell which cooked the meat and burned off the animal's fur and skin.  David proceeded to eat the disgusting little creature, and hoped it wouldn't make him throw up.

Rev turned to him after several minutes of discussion.  "I'm sorry you have come all this way for nothing."

"Meaning..." David prompted.

"We do not know where you can find this shield.  Or any pieces of it.  Our eldest member, however, strongly suggests you go talk with the ice dragons, in the east."

"Will they know where to find a piece of the shield?"

"I don't know.  It's only a suggestion.  But he has been around the longest of us."

"How long is that?"

"Fifteen years."

David's eyebrows shot up.  "How old are you, then?"

"Four."

"Are you considered an adult?"

"Yes.  For a couple years now."

David nodded.  "Okay, well... Please thank them for their time.  Thank Shiwa for the snack, and thank you for your help."

Rev nodded to him.  "Good luck with your search."

David rose, and then looked back down at Rev.  "Are you even aware there's a war going on?"

Rev nodded.  "We hear things.  It's none of our business.  The southerners do whatever the southerners do.  They don't come up here to bother us, so we don't really care."

David nodded.  "Well, I'll be on my way.  Have a pleasant... uh... day?"

"For another hour or so," Rev said with a grin in his voice.  They were above the arctic circle; the sun was already near the horizon.

"Farewell, Rev."

"And to you, stranger."

David walked back around the snow drift, and faded back into Haven.

Dammit.  This trip was an entire waste of time.  And I don't know when I'll be able to go see the Ice Dragons...

Shit.