Myths and Legends - Amazons Ch. 12

"I was just being nice! It was the right thing to do!" Andy snapped. Sighing again, he sat back in his chair. "For all the good it did," he grumbled. "Sorry, Bill. I know you're just as upset about having to spend your remaining days before retirement shadowing me on this. For what it's worth, I appreciate it."

"You're right, Andy," Bill replied. "But I learned a long time ago to at least attempt to swing at the curve balls the bosses send my way. Besides, the more I learn about these women and their unhealthy attraction to our colonel, the more I'm intrigued by the mystery of it all. I mean, actual Amazons from ancient history? As well as an island purportedly preserved through the changes of time? The history and geological nerds are going to be foaming at the mouth to gain access when they find out. If it's indeed true, that is."

"That's an excellent idea, Bill. Thanks!" Andy replied. "That gives me that much more leverage in the negotiations."

"You're welcome, Andy," Bill replied with a smile. "Now let's get to work."

~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~

"Why do we remain on the island, Dikos Mou?" Sestia asked Jake. "It has been three days since our sister left us. Why do we not go with her?"

"That rickety-ass boat doesn't have enough fuel to get us anywhere near land or another vessel," Jake answered. "Even if it did, it would take days to get anywhere of note. Not to mention there's no room for Bitch to ride. Essentially, we're just waiting for my government to make a decision."

"How long will that take?" Tatiana asked.

Jake shrugged noncommittally. "Could take days, weeks, even months. These people tend to sit on their hands when it comes to important decisions for the country, yet stupid, non-sensical bills get sent immediately up the chain to be voted on."

"How long will we wait?" Sestia asked with a grin, knowing Jake wouldn't wait weeks or months.

Jake grinned. "A few days. A week, at most. We'll put our trust in Jessie and see what she comes up with. For now, we enjoy this amazing food that's been dropped in our laps."

When Jake woke up after bonding with Jessie, he found that someone had been kind enough to provide them a care package of sorts. A fairly large crate had been dropped in their village with quite a variety of non-perishable food. Alongside the food, they found cast-iron camping cookware, complete with cooking utensils and knives. Spices and seasonings were also included, along with silverware for dining and durable paper plates, which could be conveniently burned after use. There was even a small table and folding chairs so they could sit at a table to eat if they wanted to.

In addition to their culinary supplies, the crate contained a few basic tools, including a shovel, axe, bowsaw, and pickaxe for aide in building. It also contained a hoe, garden rake, pruning shears, and even a large watering can to aide them in gardening their crops.

A small amount of emergency medical supplies had been added to the crate, but Jake and the girls dismissed them mostly because they didn't feel the need for them with their accelerated healing.

A small amount of clothing was added to the crate as well. Namely, various sizes of female undergarments for the girls, some basic t-shirts and shorts for all of them, and footwear. Amazingly, someone had gotten lucky when packing hiking boots for the women because, while they didn't fit perfectly, they fit well enough to not be a hindrance during normal activities.

Additionally, various personal hygiene items, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, soap and shampoo, and even various feminine hygiene products were added to the crate.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Jake laughed happily as he pulled the last items out of the crate. "It's going to be so great not to have to sleep in that drafty hut anymore."

Jake pulled a large tent out of the crate, so large that it was about the same size-- if not bigger-- than the hut that had been blown up. A plethora of bedding was added, as well as a bigger than king-size mattress pad for them to sleep on at night.

While they spent the day getting the camp set up for daily use, Jake found time to be intimate with each of the women when the mood struck him, which was more often than not. The women readily welcomed his advances, eager for the chance to be pampered by his affections.

As the sun began to sink low on the western horizon, Jake created time for training his dino dragon. He practically had her wrapped around his little finger by this point, the only remaining challenge being attempting to ride her. Jake was confident he'd be able to by the next day or the day after.

~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~

"You're aware that making idle threats accomplishes nothing during a negotiation, right, Mr. Larson?" Xāda replied. "Firstly, because you can't Court Martial a dead person. You, I, and everyone else privy to the situation involved knows that Colonel Jacob Blackburn, USAF, was declared MIA twenty-four hours after his disappearance and KIA six days after that."

"This is not an idle threat, Miss Duplantis," Andy replied, trying to keep his calm. "The State Department is fully prepared to correct Colonel Blackburn's status, acknowledging that he is not deceased, but alive. He would no longer be considered KIA, but his records would be updated to reflect his current status. They will then proceed to Court Martial him for not only desertion but also for withholding Top Secret information, which, in their eyes at least, is what he's doing."

"No, he's not," Xāda countered. "He's withholding information about the island, my people, and historical artifacts from those same people accusing him of extortion who would do the same with the information he has. You and I both know that."

"I think maybe we all should take a step back and reevaluate our positions," Bill Anderson said, gently inserting himself into the conversation. He had kept quiet up until this point, but the tempers flaring from Andy and Xāda required a mediator with a cooler head. "Both sides of the argument have established their positions and demands. Truth be told, the only reason the State Department is playing ball this hard is because they want to debrief Colonel Blackburn about their newest spy plane. That's it. That's the only reason a recovery status was mentioned, for no other reason than to inform you of how far they're willing to go.

"Personally, I agree with you that Colonel Blackburn is willing to offer that information voluntarily. However, the State Department has no such assurances. As far as they're concerned, because he refused to return with the extraction team, then he's unwilling to debrief without some sort of recompense."

"Which is absurd," Xāda scoffed. "All they have to do is send someone to Theros and Jake will give them every scrap of information he has."

"But they can't do that because Theros isn't a secure environment," Andy countered, much calmer than he had been.

"It's in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," Xāda replied. "How much more secure can you get?"

"Okay, let's simplify this a bit," Bill said as he ticked off bullet points on his fingers. "This is what the State Department wants. They want Colonel Blackburn to return so he can debrief them about the SR-80. They want to know about the flight and how it went, as well as how it seemed to be totally destroyed when there exists an indestructible black box that's supposed to contain data about the crash and the plane's malfunctions.

"They want to debrief the women on the island about who they are and how they got there. They want to send a team of scientists to the island to take geological and wildlife samples. They want more information about this... Grak'gull? Did I say that right?" Xāda nodded. "Considering dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago, they're insanely curious as to how this one still exists.

"Lastly, the want to know why you all are as strong as you are," Bill concluded. "Why you are, for lack of a better term, Supermen, er, people."

"That's it?" Xāda asked.

"That's the extent of it, yes," Andy replied.

"Very well," Xāda replied. "For the first part, as I've already stated, Jake is perfectly willing to volunteer that information without asking anything in return. That was information he learned while in the course of his duties as a test pilot in the Air Force. He would never forsake that duty as his sense of honor and integrity wouldn't allow him to do so.

"However, his reticence upon returning to the states falls under one small, yet potentially dangerous category. The Grak'gull. As king of our people now, not only does he have a duty to us, but to our potential mounts as well. Before you ask, no, I don't know the details of how they became our mounts. You'd have to ask him that. All I know is that he's not leaving the island without the beast.

"What he is asking for is transportation for the Grak'gull and land enough to contain it should something happen and he isn't able to immediately control her actions. Understand, Jake isn't refusing to be debriefed about the SR-80. He's simply refusing to leave the island without his new pet.

"Additionally, until the barrier on the island failed, our people were infertile. We couldn't have children. Neither could the Grak'gull procreate either. That's how my sisters on the island were able to whittle them down to only the one we have now. Now, I have no proof of this, but I'm guessing that since the barrier is gone, so is our infertility. As our ability to procreate will potentially return, so will hers."

"But without any males of her species, how will she fertilize her eggs?" Bill asked.

"The Grak'gull have the ability to produce multiple clutches of eggs from one single mating event," Xāda explained. "That's how they're able to reproduce so quickly. I forget the actual terminology, but they are able to store the sperm from the male at intercourse and fertilize eggs throughout her lifespan from that single sexual act. So, if she lays eggs and they begin to hatch, we're going to need enough land to contain them all."

"Jesus," Andy exclaimed in a whisper. "Suddenly a hundred-thousand acres doesn't seem big enough now."

"Exactly," Xāda agreed. "Now you see why Jake is asking for this. It's not because he wants to try and 'stick it to the man' so to speak. He wants to make sure that humanity is safe as well as our people and the animals we care for.

"Now, as to the rest, Jake has full confidence in me to give an appropriate response to the requests of the State Department. In the interest of full disclosure, the land and transportation for the Grak'gull is the only thing he requested.

"That being said, in exchange for the scientists visiting the island, we want sovereignty over the island. In essence, we want to form our own country. The scientists can stay on the island for one week. Any flora and geological information they gather for that week they can have mutual rights to. For any fauna native to the island, our two countries will share any monetary profits or notoriety gained from the discovery of new species of animals or bugs."

"Does that include information on the Grak'gull?" Bill asked.

"I can agree to that," Xāda replied.

"What do you mean about mutual rights?" Andy asked.

"For anything not animal or bug related," Xāda explained, "meaning any flora as well as any geological materials, your country would have exclusive rights to any monetary profits, but we would share notoriety for the discoveries.

"After the week is up, the scientists would be required to leave. Any future requests to study the island and its habitat would need to be formally discussed, following the same procedures as formal requests from any other sovereign nation.

"As far as what we want for information regarding my people and how they got to the island, as well as any historical facts relating to my people, what we require is simple. We want a plane."

"A plane?" Andy asked. "What kind of plane?"

"One that is big enough to carry a few Grak'gull with little to no issues," Xāda replied with a grin.

"There isn't one that big," Andy answered. "That thing is way too big to fit in any plane anywhere in the world."

"Hmm," Xāda replied. "Then a smaller cargo-type plane, maybe. One that can fit at least a dozen people, not including the pilots and crew, and some small off-road vehicles. Better yet, just agree to the plane within a certain amount of parameters and I'll give you the details of the specific plane we want later.

"As for that last bit of information, you can understand why we would be hesitant about revealing how we came into our powers even if we could replicate it, can't you?" Xāda asked. "I mean, imagine if someone like, say, Hitler were able to replicate our powers. How devastating to the world would that have been?"

"How did you get powers?" Bill asked. "Will you at least tell us that? You didn't have any of these superpowers before going to that island."

"I'd rather not," Xāda replied, blushing slightly. "But if you really want to know, I imagine you could speculate with some certainty by debriefing any one of the seal team members."

"Not sure we'll be able to just give you a plane," Andy replied. "That's quite an expense for seemingly so little information."

"Mr. Larson, why do you think I didn't want any monetary profit from the foliage and geological surveys your scientists will be conducting?"

"You're projecting much for not having any information about what we might find," Andy replied, almost scoffing.

Xāda leaned forward with her elbows on the table. She fixed the man with a predatory grin. "Mr. Larson, if it will ease your mind somewhat, allow me to enlighten you on something that should have occurred to you already about the island of Theros. It has been in stasis, as it were, for over five-thousand years, perfectly preserved from the elements as well as any and all outside influence. Until Jake Blackburn arrived, that is. Every leaf, every speck of dirt, the tiniest pebble, even the very water on that island will be a veritable gold mine of scientific information. I have no doubt the US will profit greatly from the information it gains from your research."

"Alright," Bill interjected. "Let's table the negotiations for now. Obviously we can't agree to everything mentioned, but it sounds to me like it's more or less even-sided. We'll have to consult the State Department and get back to you with what they decide."

"Oh, one last thing, gentlemen," Xāda added. "And I'm afraid this is non-negotiable, though it shouldn't be too much trouble. Whatever land and assets we acquire, no taxes. Ever."

"That's probably the easiest thing we can agree to compared to the rest," Andy replied. "I'll call you when we can resume talks."

"No," Xāda replied curtly. "Let Mr. Anderson call. In fact, I want to deal with him exclusively from now on."

"Uh, I retire in a week and a half," Bill replied, somewhat surprised at the request.

"If you'll agree, Mr. Anderson," Xāda said, "I'm sure we'll need a liaison from time to time. Consider it a part-time, post-retirement job after whatever agreements are finalized here. No need to answer today. Just think about it, will you?"

Bill sighed. "Sure. I will. And yes, I'll call you when we're ready to sit down again. Thank you, Miss Duplantis. Have a good day."

The three rose from their seats and shook hands before Xāda nodded to the court reporter assigned to the negotiations and walked out.