It's a Dead Man's World Ch. 01

“Back inside!” the Captain yelled before the helicopters got within shooting range. The soldiers scrambled through the opening in the cargo dock and back into the prison, slamming the steel door behind them. Three X7 gunships came blasting over the island from the other side. “Crap those things are fast,” he screamed over the noise and the wind. “I kind of wish we hadn’t designed them.” Then the choppers started to turn back towards them.

“Veronica, GO!” The blonde envoy took off back towards the prison, with Eliza and the Captain right behind. The Captain overtook the lead. Then Veronica tripped, her ankle apparently injured. Eliza grabbed her and pulled her along the ground until they were behind a rock. One of the choppers swung in low and tried to navigate around, but there was a grove of trees just behind that rock that made it impossible. So the X7 just hovered there, waiting for someone to poke his or her head out. Then, it exploded.

Materializing from the brush behind them was Thug, who camouflage fell away as he leveled, aimed and fired his single-shot cannon at the low-flying, sitting-duck helicopter. The fire and wreckage was actually quite pretty. As Thug reloaded, Eliza grabbed her headset out of her pocket and put it on.

“Wyrm!” she shouted into the mouthpiece. “How close are the foxes to the hens?”

“So close behind that they’re about to get egg on their faces!” Wyrm was far too impressed with his own joke. “You can thank me later. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pilot ten hydrofoils by remote? Even with these kick-ass algorithms . . .”

“Just blow the damn things!”

“Yes ma’am,” he returned with feigned meekness.

“These poor souls really ARE creatures of habit,” she said to Veronica, whose ankle had “miraculously” healed. The two of them listened to explosions off in the distance as those identical wooden boxes, all of which had a large quantity of explosives, were remotely detonated, taking their pursuers with them.

It had been an expensive trap, but Eliza thought it was worth it. Wyrm had been right. She had needed to put herself out there where she could be seen. She had been so blind. She had been so busy preparing for war that it hadn’t occurred to her to actually lay a trap. She knew that the Purity would rather make a play on the prize while it was on the move. They had fallen prey to the fallacy that just because something worked once that it would work again. This time, the “emergency evacuation” had been a decoy. She had forced the Purity to move before they were ready. She, Veronica and Captain Corbin had to be out in the open to make the enemy believe that they were actually leaving, but she had carefully measured the distance from where they were going to be standing to this rock next to these trees. Then they had to find a way of bringing at least one of whatever air support the Purity had in close. A second gunship was being peppered by sniper fire from Dennis is one tower. Even his rifle was no match for the chopper’s armor, so it was good that he had evacuated by the time the aircraft rained down ammunition and reduced the tower to rubble. While it was distracted, however, Allyson had maneuvered behind it. The chopper had been brought down low enough that she was able to toss a grenade high over the blades. She ducked back behind a protective wall before it exploded, sending the craft crashing to the ground. The last gunship had laid aim at Thug and fired. The troll was quickly riddled with bullets and went crashing to the ground.

“Oh my God!” Veronica screamed. Eliza actually had to restrain her from opening fire with her ineffectual sidearm. Veronica realized that the vampire was surprisingly calm for someone whose best friend had just been killed. As the chopper approached, Thug sat back up and shot it. The chopper blew up nicely.

“Everyone thinks to research vampires,” Eliza said almost tiredly, “but they KEEP forgetting about the troll. If you don’t use fire, you can’t stop them from regenerating. But he’s going to be REALLY cranky for a while as he works the bullets out of his body.”

The island was suddenly covered with smoking debris. The Purity troop transports turned around when the realized that their attack boats and air support was all destroyed. It didn’t matter. A decent amount of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was on their way. Eliza DID want to get the jewel of the island, but she was going to do it under her terms. It would take far too long for the Purity to regroup and try again. She and her compatriots would be long gone by the time they were ready, and next time it would be Eliza choosing the location.

Dennis and Allyson showed up, dragging a soldier along with them. The soldier was bound and had apparently been shot in the leg.

“Just like you said,” Dennis started, “as soon as we said we were leaving, he snuck off.” When Eliza had turned and blinked at the watchtower, Dennis had been watching her. He and Allyson had started counted heads to see who was missing, and Wyrm had been scanning the island. They knew that there had to be a spy amongst the troops and that when he learned that they were leaving, he would somehow contact his people. “He was using a tight-beam transmitter, probably contacting some sort of launch platform for those whirly-birds.”

|| THOSE THINGS HIT LIKE A SON OF A BITCH! || Thug complained bitterly as he approached. Eliza had to translate for Veronica. Captain Corbin also joined them.

“The troops are re-deployed,” he said. “If they had tried to actually land those boats, they would have gotten their asses kicked. I’m impressed Ms. Eliza. Of course, the government is probably less happy about the millions of dollars this operation cost them.”

“They should be thanking me,” the vampire grumbled. “Considering they can take claim for a major blow against an invisible foe that no other nation in the world could even find. Besides,” she said as she turned to Veronica, “we were technically promised that all our expenses would be picked up by our employers. This was an expense.”

“Jesus H. . . . I was talking about transportation, ammunition . . . maybe snacks,” Veronica said with a smile. “But yes, I think things worked out better than we could have hoped for,” she continued, looking directly at Eliza. “We have a live, if wounded, captive and we still have the Dead Man’s World. Are we going to leave that in place for now?” she asked, looking around.

“Yes,” Eliza responded. “It’s not going anywhere until something like . . . oh, say, a battleship arrives.”

The group led the captive up to the prison. Luckily, they had a lot of cells available for him. Thug was complaining the entire walk.

|| ‘Stand in front of whatever they send,’ SHE SAYS. ‘You’ll survive,’ SHE SAYS. ||

“Oh quiet you big baby,” Eliza replied. Allyson and Dennis both laughed, and Veronica and the Captain had no idea what was going on.

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An hour later . . .

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Eliza, Captain Corbin and Veronica double-checked to make sure the Dead Man’s World was were it was supposed to be. It had been completely unguarded, but the mole within the ranks of the soldiers had bought the diversion hook, line and sinker. The World was right where they left it. Just to be sure, Thug agreed to sit in the cell until it was time to go (camouflaged of course). Their OFFICIAL transport would be there by evening, so Eliza went back to her room to pack up most of her stuff. She had an idea of where to move the jewel too, but she wasn’t saying anything until her feet were back on dry land. She had just thrown the last of her spare clothes into her knapsack when she smelled a familiar scent of organic-based body-wash.

“Can we talk?” Veronica asked from the doorway.

‘She smells SO good,’ Eliza thought before turning around. “I’d like that,” she said out loud. ‘Oh, how stupid did that sound?’ she thought critically of herself.

“Is . . . was that supposed to happen?” Veronica asked. “In the tower? I don’t know about you, but . . . I’ve never actually had my perception altered during . . . while making love before.” Veronica closed the door behind her and leaned on it.

“I really wouldn’t know. That was my first time. I’ve heard that it was supposed to be like this incredible rush, but it was one of those really intimate things that was sort of taboo in regards to public discussion.”

“I didn’t think magic worked in our world anymore,” Veronica said softly . . . almost demurely. “But that’s what it felt like.”

“I don’t even know how to find out. It’s supposed to be a little different for everyone, but I don’t have anyone I could ask . . .” Eliza took a step backward as Veronica stepped forward, but kept up her dialogue. “. . . since the whole woman-on-woman thing is pretty much a social and political no-no in my world and . . .”

Veronica stepped forward again but Eliza had nowhere to go unless she wanted to jump onto the bunk. But she was trembling a bit. “Are you alright?” the golden-locked diva asked. “You seem paler than usual.”

“I’m fine . . . I’m fine . . . It’s just . . .” She reached her hands out and put them on Veronica’s shoulders, keeping the other woman at arm’s length. “I can’t do this,” she said.

Veronica looked confused and almost hurt. “Why? You were able to yesterday.”

“And it was the most incredible thing I’ve ever felt,” Eliza said, meaning every word. “But in about eight hours, we’re going to be gone from here. And soon, they’ll figure out what the Dead Man’s World is for, and you’ll be back off to Washington D.C. If we were . . . to be with each other like that again, I wouldn’t want you to leave, and I don’t think I can handle standing around wanting something I know I wouldn’t be able to keep. I’ve done that already.”

Veronica stopped pushing on Eliza’s hands, then stepped back. That look of hurt was still there, but it softened a bit. “I don’t get you. I saw you out there. You can take risks with your life, so why not with your heart? God that sounds corny, but it’s true. I don’t know where this is all leading. I can’t guarantee it would turn out to be some grand and powerful love. All I know is I don’t want it to end. I at least want to try.” She sighed. “But I can’t make you do anything, and I shouldn’t need to. I’m going to go back to my room. If you want to join me, even if it’s just to talk, that’s fine. But you ARE going to have to take the next step,” she finished. Veronica paused for just a moment, hoping the other woman would say something. Eliza just crossed her arms and glanced away. Then Veronica turned and left the room.

Eliza kept berating herself for minutes after she found herself alone. ‘What are you thinking?’ she asked of herself. ‘What more do you want? There are no sure things, but there are some things you just have to take a chance on.’ That was what the passionate side of her mind was telling her. The rational side reminded her that her dreams of a perfect love could never happen with a human woman. Humans were too short lived. Besides, Eliza had already pointed out that this woman would be leaving for her job fairly soon, probably to be sent off to some distant land. Did Eliza really want to be in a position where she only got to see someone a few times a year? She lay down on her bed, trying to convince herself that what she had done was for the best.

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Noon, the next day . . .

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‘Amazing,’ Eliza thought, ‘there IS a less comfortable way of being transported than by standard military transport.’ The defenders of Last Mile Prison had just arrived off the Port of Springfield in a loud and out-of-date battleship that had been recommissioned just to pick them up. They were going to be taken to shore by helicopter, which Eliza was less than thrilled about. She was somewhat unenthusiastic about humans’ concept of ‘airworthy.’ They were going to have an escort of about twenty heavily armed military helicopters, so she wasn’t worried about getting attacked. She was more worried about the headache she was going to have when they landed. Their gear would be brought over separately, so the only thing going in on her chopper was her crew, the Dead Man’s World and Veronica. Eliza had talked to Veronica since the human had left her room the day before. At one point, Eliza had actually walked up to the door, raised her hand as if to knock, then walked away. Now, Veronica just sat there being beautiful and staring out the side of the chopper as it lifted off the deck. Eliza had almost been hoping for a smile or something to let her know that Veronica didn’t hate her, but she got nothing.

‘What were you expecting?’ Eliza thought. ‘For her to sit around pining for you? As if you’re that special. You shot her down, so she’s moving on.’ Again, Eliza tried convincing herself it was for the best. She failed utterly.

Finally they landed. There was a sizeable military escort waiting there. Eliza wanted to move the Dead Man’s world to an abandoned military based just north of town called Fort Crass. Eliza had been out there once off-roading with Dennis, and she felt it had a lot going for it in terms of defensibility. She and her crew would remain in charge of the World’s defense for a little while longer. On the docks, while waiting for their gear to arrive, they had a little meeting.

“Give me a list of what you’re going to want and I’ll go talk to my superiors,” Captain Corbin said. “We should be able to get any military equipment you need.”

“Dennis Murgo should already have one,” she said. “Mostly I’m worried about the fencing and the anti-aircraft capabilities. Those are the rush items.” The Captain turned and started conversing with Dennis, and Veronica suddenly appeared within view.

“I also have to contact my superiors. I’ll be joining you again at the Fort in about four days. I have to fly to Washington and meet with our researchers. Word has it that they might have found something.”

Eliza felt her heart leap in her throat, but the envoy wasn’t done.

Veronica was trying with all her might to keep her visage and voice under control. She had been trying for hours NOT to look at Eliza, afraid that her resolved might weaken. ‘I can’t break down,’ she thought. ‘I’ve got to hold my ground here.’ “You’ve done a wonderful job thus far, which I intend to report . . .”

The vampire had been listening to Veronica but hadn’t actually heard a word. She had just been watching those lips move. She was pretty sure she was getting thanked for something, but she didn’t know for what exactly. Eliza REALLY liked those lips. So she kissed them. In front of her comrades, about one hundred of Captain Corbin’s soldiers, their military escort and a chopper pilot, she kissed Veronica Adams like she had never kissed anyone before.

As far as Veronica was concerned, playing cool and aloof just went out the window. She was wondering if vampires normally had such long tongues, because that one seemed to be halfway down her throat. Then hands started wandering and clothes were getting ruffled. Finally, Veronica was running out of oxygen. So Eliza gently withdrew, letting their lips touch as long as possible before she took a step back. There were grins and catcalls everywhere.

“Okay,” Eliza said determinedly, “I made the next step. I’ll see you in four days,” she added before turning on her heel and walked to a waiting jeep, adjusting her hair as she went. ‘Holy shit!’ she thought. ‘If I ever see my father again, he’s going to KILL me!’

Veronica was having problems standing up all of a sudden. It seems that it was taking longer than usual for oxygen to return to her brain. Luckily, Captain Corbin was there to keep her from falling over. “Gotta go to . . . where was I going?” she asked of no one in particular. She suddenly wondered if, with Eliza, she might have bitten off more than she could chew.

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Four days later . . .

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Eliza was pacing so much that she almost wore a hole in the conference room. They had spent the last four days fortifying the hell out of the military base. It was to the point that it would require all out war to try and take the place by force. The Purity might still try and be sneaky, but ‘sneaky’ took time. But Eliza wasn’t pacing because she was worried about those religious nuts. She wanted to see Veronica again.

Dennis, Allyson, Thug and Wyrm were sitting around a nearby table playing poker. Every now and then, one of them looked over at their illustrious leader. They were actually keeping track of how many laps around the room she had made. They pretty much found her state of mind humorous. She was normally the one who was prepared for anything, but the pretty U.S. envoy had thrown Eliza for a loop.

The door opened and Veronica walked in with Captain Corbin, both of whom were carrying two suitcases that HAD to belong to the envoy (unless the military Captain had developed a taste for ‘paisley’). She had already let her hair down, and her white blouse was unbuttoned a little far down. While her eyes instantly sought out Veronica’s there was some irritation there. Veronica addressed the group.

“Well, do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Bad news,” Eliza said with a sinking feeling in her gut.

“Bad news is that the researchers found a spell/prophecy regarding the Dead Man’s World. But it seems to be some kind of ‘lasting darkness’ type spell of the unpleasant variety.”

Eliza sat down hard. “So . . . we can’t . . .” She felt heartbreak setting it.

“What’s the good news?” Wyrm asked.

“We think we’ve discovered a pattern. The sorcerer who wrote the Heaven’s Eye spell was mad, but he also lived in the area around where the dimensional gap opened. Another sorcerer who was ALSO insane and ALSO was kept under guard in the SAME area wrote this new ‘spell’. Some of the vampire scholars who were trapped on this side came up with a theory that when the walls of the minds of these sorcerers broke down, they were more greatly effected by the energy from THIS dimension, particularly since the wall there was so thin. So they looked through the records for others who were whacked out of their gourds and lived in that area and found five more spells. All of them seem to refer to stones or jewels identical in size to the Heaven’s Eye and the Dead Man’s World. One of them, which we think might require a huge ruby, talks of ‘building bridges between two shores that aren’t separated by water.’ So we’ve got geologists and archeologists out all over the world. We didn’t think it’s coincidence that the two jewels we DID find were in this dimension, so we’re going based on the hunch that the rest of them are here as well.”

“But how do we cast the spell?” Eliza said, feeling hopeful again in spite of herself. “We don’t have access to the magic over here?”

“Some of your vampire kin have had some luck finding smaller cracks. They aren’t enough to communicate with the other side, but they might be enough to give a powerful sorcerer, or sorceress, enough spark to get the spell rolling. I’ve got a list of what all the spells are and what they require.” She smiled shyly at Eliza. “So don’t give up yet. And just so you know, the government would like to continue to employ you to aid in the security of these jewels as they’re found. And I’ve been requested to continue in my duties as a liaison between the federal government, the military and your security team.”

“Deal,” said Eliza very, very quickly.

“Don’t you want to negotiate our contract?” Wyrm asked sarcastically.