As it turned out, Joe was slick. Pete could see that the man was very calculating in everything he did and much of that never looked to be, on the surface at least, what it really was. Joe did this more than just on the battlefield although he certainly applied his talents there equally as well. Sending Pete to the Cavalry detachment was a good example. The assignment was multi-purposed and all of that served Joe‘s ends. He had given Pete reasons that were, by themselves, perfectly valid but, when Pete reached his new unit he found an old face there that he knew all too well.

The man had first met Pete at the city gates of Ninvey. His name was Pascal. He was not Zeat but, somehow, wound up under Joe. Pete thought the guy was Dottish but, was still trying to figure it out. Pascal was also Pete's commanding officer. The man had obviously been informed some time in advance that Pete was coming. It all made sense now.

Pete just had to put himself in Joe's shoes. The man wished Pete no ill will. At heart, Joe ZeTan seemed descent enough. His troops sure loved him and that was obvious from the moment that Pete had arrived. Still, Joe did not seem to leave himself open either. Pascal was a perfect example of this. He was a man who already had some fore knowledge, and was in a perfect position, to keep an eye on Pete. Pascal did not go out of his way to keep it a secret either but, at least, he was not overbearing in how he did.

After a few brushes, with Raed Cavalry, Pete came to respect Pascal in his own right. The man was a fearless fighter and quick on his feet. His tactics were appropriate to his weaponry and men. In the two engagements that Pete had seen, so far, they had been heavily outnumbered yet still managed to turn back the enemy patrols with few losses. Pete had only wished now that he was doing something besides carrying map cases around and running messages. He had already requested more than once to be allowed to take a line unit. Pascal had told him “no” resolutely on each occasion.

The entire cavalry unit had missed out on the taking of Falon anyway. They were out hunting for stragglers and screening their own forces as Falon fell to the Imperial Army. There was little to no fighting anyway. The Raed's had just abandoned the town. That had seemed so odd to Pete. They had fought hard and long, as vicious as a wild pack of cornered dogs, only then to just up and leave. Pete remembered the final days of his own war. They had made the other people fight for every square inch of ground never once giving anything without taking someone down for it.

Pascal seemed unconcerned about the retreating Raed Army. More important, Joe shared no great concern either. That made Pete feel better. The situation gave him the fist chance to do what he came here for. He rode off from camp and down into the city. Pascal, obviously loyal to his duties, that were owed Joe, followed close behind. They talked the hot topic of the day. That being the hobby of insulting their armies commanding general, a bombastic little fat man named Stromthoth. It made Pete want to laugh. Did every military institution do that? Even on other planets, like this one, it seemed to be the case.

"All of this time. All of these lives and supplies," bitched Pascal as they rode the streets of Falon. "For what? A city that isn't even on the railroad. You know we should have stayed in the north and just continued east right down the lines. Do you know how hard it is to get all of our supplies from a railhead over a hundred miles away? The Raeds sure as hell do. They slaughtered every elephant in the area before we could get our hands on them."

It was an old argument that Pete was well familiar with now. It was also of little concern to him. He stopped his horse in front of the house that he had been looking for. It sat on a street corner and from the looks of it this place was a military hospital of some sort. Then again that was not so unusual. Pete had noticed that half of the buildings in town were serving that purpose right now. Many were still filled with wounded enemy soldiers. Just as many new ones were filled with Imperial troops. This one looked like it belonged to the Raeds. You could tell by the Imperial Guards that were standing out front. It was double what they would give for one of their own hospitals.

Pascal dismounted as Pete did. He lashed his horse to a bush and felt he had to comment, "You know Pete, you're doing exactly what you were back in Ninvey. You are, are you not?"

"Yes." Pete walked up the steps. The guards saluted him as he passed in the doors.

Pascal took his hat off as he entered. He fanned his face. The smell was awful here and the sounds were even worse. "I don't understand your concern for just one woman Pete. Just get you another. I mean here, even if you do find her, do you have papers saying she's yours? Not as easy to prove as back in Ninvey. Not in this place. These people are all born criminals. They know no law except that of a powder charge."

So far, these people looked ten times more civilized than the Assur back in Ninvey. Pete had already been to several of their chattel houses and all looked more like dorms than the slave pits that the Assur kept. Pete kept this to himself. He walked around the bottom floor until he found a man who looked like a doctor. Pete tugged at the mans sleeve, "You speak Zeat?"

The man rattled off in a language that Pete had no idea of how to converse in. All that Pete could gather from the guy was his fear. The man was obviously not expecting two Imperial officers to show up at his hospital. He went on and on and fortunately Pascal translated, "He's very concerned about us being here. He says his name is Brisily and he is a non-combatant. Please don't shoot me, blah, blah, blah."

Pete pulled a picture out of his pocket. It was the same one he used in Ninvey. It was a bit more worn now but still in good enough shape to suit his purpose. He showed it to the doctor. Pete felt a sudden burst of joy. The man pointed at the picture, "aspirin."

Pascal was confused, "What language is that?"

"English! Ask him where she went? He's seen her."

After doing just that, Pascal replied, "He said they left here two days before the city fell. They were sold by the former owner of this building. A man from the south bought them. He does not know who or where they went exactly."

After sliding the picture safely back in his pocket Pete walked right out. He stopped just past the guards and sat on the buildings steps. She was alive! He had proof! She was alive!

Pete felt a tear come to his eye. This was the first good news in a long time. It was a day that he was starting to think would never come. Now that it was upon him Pete found himself at a loss. What was he going to do now? How was he going to pursue this further? Pete would have to give this some more serious thought. For the moment he was all out of ideas.

_____________________

For the first time in a very long while Julia found herself actually thrilled to be here. She was a bit shocked to see a train. She was delighted to find out that she was actually going to be riding on it. It was slow compared to what Julia was used to. Even her old crappy car could have out run it. Yet during the day she was quite glad that the train was taking it's time.

She and her companions sat together at a table in the restaurant car mostly. Julia always made sure she could see out the window. The countryside was lush and green with wide open plains that were dotted with clumps of trees here and there. There was also a variety of wildlife that, oddly enough, Julia found herself familiar with. Giant Bison looking animals roamed and grazed almost everywhere. Horses were in abundance here too. The shaggy elephants that she had seen in captivity, roamed wild across the plains mixed in with, packs of dogs, deer, giant cat looking animals, and other creatures that made her almost feel as if she were on an African Safari.

They came to a stretch of mountains finally. These were smaller than the ones Julia had seen back in the dessert. They were rocky and had few trees but they were both a welcomed and a spectacular sight none the less. At one point the train went through a tunnel. When it came out there was a cliff face not far from the tracks. Julia gaped in awe at the giant heads carved into it's side. They were not quite like Mount Rushmore where the figures were more three-dimensional. These were more like simple drawings but still so huge! They were maybe several football fields high but, Julia could not be sure at this distance.

Julia actually got up and walked to the forward section of the car. Tish shook her head in disgust when she saw Julia approach their new master. Whide liked sitting alone and reading his paper or occasionally a book. Tish figured that Merry Can was in for a beating sooner or later. The rumors had gotten around about how she told off a man back in Falon. Her straightforward approach to men was dangerous. It was much like the way she was doing with Whide right now. Then Tish found herself in awe when, surprisingly, Whide answered her questions, politely at that, and Julia came back to the table.

Gurcia looked as if she doubted her own eyes, "What did you ask him? Are you crazy? Don't you know women are suppose to be seen, not heard?”

"I didn't think it was wrong. I just wanted to know who those giant carvings were of?"

"Well did he tell you?" asked Tish. Unlike Gurcia she was genuinely intrigued at how Julia had just gotten away with what she did.

"He didn't know. He said nobody did for sure."

Gurcia let out whistle, "not bad. He even gave you an answer. Do that again an I'll whoop you myself girl."

No sooner had the train cleared the mountains than a giant lake came into view. It was so large, in fact, that Julia first thought it was the ocean until corrected by Gurcia. The city in the distance was sprawled out on its shores and nestled into the mountains to the north. From the train there was a commanding view of it all. The city was not only huge but spectacular as well. It boasted many towers and buildings of incredible art and design. No two even looked close to the other but even with this variety the city somehow all seemed to fit together in a way that was pleasing to the eye.

Gurcia pointed, "My people built that city. Tallos, they say it's just as large as Daltop ever thought of being. Twice as old I hear."

Julia was a little saddened by the fact that the sun had to be going down now. This was the first really neat thing she had seen since being here. It was that time again, however, and Whide came by the table on his way to his quarters. He let the girls know it was time to be on the way to theirs as well. He also added, "now as I understand it girls, the train will be parked in the city overnight. I'm going to make a few calls, that being the case. So stay in your room please. A lot of trouble out there for an unescorted female. I shall bid you well at breakfast, good night."

Julia fluffed her pillow rather hard as she prepared to crawl up into her bunk. The compartments were small and had cubbyholes for beds that stacked three high in the wall. That left them with a little extra room to store their scant baggage but, it also meant that the walkway was almost non-existent. "You know this is the neatest damn place I've been since I came here and I've got to go bed! Bedtime girls. Like I'm a damn kid or something."

Gurcia had already slid underneath the covers, "you worse than that. You a woman. You act like being told what to do is something new."

Tish hopped up in the bunk above Gurcia, "Oh would you two just stop it. I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep."

Before getting in her own bunk Julia knelt down next to Zam. The young girl had been the first to change and jump into the sack. Julia was still feeling sorry for the child. Ever since they left Falon she had barely spoken a word to any of her companions. "You all right down there Zamtha?"

The teenager rolled over to face the wall. Julia took that as a yes. She blew out the lamp and crawled into her own bunk. It had been exciting but, the train ride could take a lot out of you. It was far from smooth and took its toll, slowly, over time, and without you even realizing until it had. Julia found she had no trouble dozing off.

She was not sure what time it was when she was awakened by the scuffling sounds beneath her. It was too dark to see but, Julia heard a good deal of commotion going on in the tiny compartment. Julia was sure she heard Gurcia, "grab that damn leg! She kicked me again!"

By the time Julia found the matches, next to her bunk, and got the lamp lit, the incident looked to be over with. Tish and Gurcia had little Zamtha pinned to the floor. The two bigger girls had been more than a match for the skinny little teenager. When Tish often bragged about fighting Julia had to wonder. She was fairly well formed and walked like she did know her business. She had apparently just proved that every bit of her boasting was true.

"What's going on!" demanded Julia.

Gurcia was busy pulling bed sheets down and handing some of them to Tish. She looked up, "Don't worry we got it covered. This stupid little Calden thought she was going somewhere. If she runs off, all of us would get in trouble. We got her though."

They were ripping the bed sheets and using them to tie Zam's hands and feet. Tish gagged her with another strip. Julia slid down and for lack of room wound up hugging the outside wall. "Let her go Tish. You don't have to do that."

Tish stood up with her feet solidly planted on Zam's back, "are you crazy Merry Can. What if she got out in the city? She does one thing stupid and they might wind up slapping Whide with a fine."

"So what," Julia shrugged, "he gets mad and beats us. Is that what you're saying? Some how I don't think that old man has it in him. Now you stopped her so just let her go."

Now Gurcia stood up. She drove the balls of her heels into Zam's back. Gurcia had the strangest look, "You really don't know what a fine is do you? Least wise the ones we got to worry about. You know, up till now girl, I thought you were just stupid or naive. Just where is this Merry Can you from? Don't sound like no place I ever heard of. Maybe you crazy? That's it, you crazy."

Tish knew better. She had known Julia far longer and knew for a fact that she was not insane. Tish pushed Gurcia, "back off."

Gurcia almost responded with a swing of her arm. Two stern eyes from the largest of the four girls, Tish, ended any thoughts of resorting to any more physical violence. Tish turned her attention back to Julia, "Merry Can, you understand this. They fine Whide, means that they take and kill us. Like those girls in the park that day."

"I thought you said they were runaways Tish?"

Tish held up one finger, "that many was runaway. The rest was fine."

"Oh my god," Julia slumped back against the wall. Her shivers were not from the cool night air. Every time that Julia supposed something was getting better for her another ugly little fact about life on this world would shatter the illusion.

_____________________

It was up or at least close enough. The roof was on it and the walls were four in number, the windows and doors were hung. With the basic cover on, and the fireplace going, they had the essentials. The upstairs was nowhere near complete though. It was just a floor right now, with no walls as of yet, and Jack was going to have to wait on that. He didn't have enough money for them due to an executive decision he was forced to make. That decision's name was Dumbo.

It was all that he could think of when they found out that the amount of planks they had were not going to be anywhere near the amount needed. Jack realized that they would not be able to afford any more or, at least, not in the quantities Harry claimed. The blue print for this building, and the three out back, had been changed so many times that it was a wonder that they weren't using steel I beams now. It was the natural effect of having so many geniuses around, all of whom were convinced their ideas were not only better but, just plain right. So Jack went and took a look at the grove of trees on their leased property. He got permission, went and got him an elephant, used his chain saw, along with a few other tricks, and started putting up log walls.

Now that this was over with, Dumbo was still here. He, and now Harry informs everybody that it is actually a she, was harder to resell than Jack had originally thought. What could he say about that really? It was not like he had ever dickered in the used Elephant market before?

So Dumbo was prowling the property, eating the field clean, too clean as it were, and in general living life care free and happy while all her masters tried to figure out how to get the damn harness back on her. Up until this point she had not bothered herself with standing still long enough for anybody to do it.

The banging upstairs was still going. Jack sat at one of his new log tables. The foldouts were now hanging in the buildings supply room. That room was a sixteen by sixteen foot room with a very thick door to close it off. Jack had used something on that room that he had not sold from the miscellaneous crate. It was a very high quality, high security, bolt lock that had been donated by the citizens of Hartford, Connecticut. The room was stocked full of weapons, ammo, and just about everything they owned that had originated from the ship.

"OW!" came a voice from upstairs. Jack had almost thought that maybe Red had actually learned his lesson after such a bad case of dishpan hands, "Shit!" Maybe not.

Harry could be heard soon after, "Well I guess you get my turn tonight."

Red answered, "I'm not the one who let the elephant step on our good hammers."

"What do I look like, a zookeeper?"

The bickering went on and Jack ignored them. He was too busy figuring out the specifics of running this place. He got back to his scratch pad. Every now and then he found himself being interrupted by Finny who was sitting next to him. This time she tugged at his sleeve and pointed at Vitosk sitting across the table. "I talk at him?"

"Sure."

"Why you look at me all time? Why you not know Jack got gun? No look at Jack woman. Why you..."

Vitosk slapped his mug of the local brew down hard on the table. He preferred it to the coffee that they had from the Hermes. He stood up and leaned over the table. Not once did he break eye contact with the young girl. "You are Zeat? No?"

Finny slid closer to Jack and grabbed hold of his arm very tight. "Me Zeat."

"I was just looking at you girl, thinking to myself, funny but she doesn't look Jewish."

Finny got up and ran off into the back rooms of the building. She passed Dee, almost knocking her over, who was coming to the front room with a stack of print outs in her hand. Dee stopped and watched to see how far Finny had ran. It looked to be all the way out the back door as it turned out. Dee looked to Vitosk who was smiling and getting back to his drink. Dee walked over and joined them. "Well Yurgani, I think I've found a use for you after all."

Jack was only half paying attention to his work right now. He kept looking up with one eye at Vitosk. After the Russian had returned he had made a full report of everywhere he had been. Jack thought then, and was still thinking now, that there was something Vitosk had left out. Just the volumes he had learned up until now would keep them all busy in discussion for months.

Maybe Vitosk had just not gotten around to it yet? Anyway it went, Jack was sure that the Russian had omitted a few things. If for no other reason than just by some of the offbeat comments he had made.

It was time to ask, "Yurgani, what exactly did you mean by what you just said?"

"Mean by what exactly? She shut up, did she not?"

Dee slid her color pictures over in front of Jack. It had Isobars running over a satellite picture of the continent. "New front moving in. Lot of moisture and a lot of cold air coming with it. Next week probably, and just about the right time too."

"For what?" asked Jack.

The front door opened. The cold air from outside disturbed the warmth radiating from the fire. Saiid was holding the door open and, of all things, he, Pam, Gina, and Joey were wrestling a tree in with them. After commanding the door closed, Jack stated, "You know the logs go in the wall, not in the building?"

They finally managed to get the tree all the way in but not without some quibbling about the best way to do it and a few false starts after that. It had no needles and as far as they could see no tree on this planet did. However, it looked closer to a pine than anything else they had found so they brought it on home. Gina closed the door, finally, as her three companions wrestled the tree over into the corner of the room. Saiid took a break, and a breath, and proclaimed proudly, "It's our Christmas Tree."

"That's what I was trying to tell you Jack," said Dee. "It's going to snow next week. I can't believe you forgot."

Vitosk got up from his seat. He walked over and examined the tree for a second. Then he looked at Saiid, "You are a Muslim though? Why would you bother?"

Saiid slapped his forehead. If having a child on the way had done one thing for the guy it had built up his self-confidence. He was far more aggressive these days, "I've told you a hundred times Vitosk. Every time you ask me that same stupid question. My family is Lebanese. We're Christians, we're freaking Roman Catholics."

Despite the display, Vitosk just stood there, chewing on his glasses, "Do you have a bible with you by any chance?"

"Uh, well yeah," responded Saiid. “It's out in the cottage with my things."

"Let us go retrieve it then, shall we? I would like to have a look."

Once they were gone out the back door Dee gave Jack the funniest look, "What's with him? Die hard communist converting or something?"

Pam dropped a stack of brown envelopes down on the table in front of Jack. She wandered over to the fire after that and slid out of her jacket, "Lang had those for you up at the big house. I didn't know what they were so I just brought them back."

"Travel all the way to another star and still can't dodge the bill collectors," said Jack as he started opening the envelopes. The first envelope was written completely in Zeat, with a few words in English scribbled across the top. It was from Lang and said "You owe me.”

Jack shook his head, “I'll be damn, it is a bill."

The next three envelopes had English written on the outside as well as Zeat script. They all had Vitosk's name on it. "Well I owe him an apology. Vitosk did write us after all. Here's the letters." Jack tossed them aside and Dee quickly picked them up.

"I thought he said he wrote us two," said Dee examining the envelopes.

"He made a mistake," replied Jack while getting back to his work.

That didn't seem like Vitosk in the least. Dee was about to toss them aside until she noticed the one on the bottom and yelled out, "Hey everybody! It's from Pete!"

The hammering upstairs stopped. Everyone left the fire and braved the cooler air around the table. Jack snatched the envelop out of Dee’s hands and before he could even open it he found himself surrounded and being bombarded by a thousand questions. Jack stopped what he was doing. He held his hands up in the air. "I can't tell you if you don't let me read it."

Jack stretched the letter out before him. He was still being crowded as most everybody else read over his shoulder. He read it aloud anyway, "Hi Everybody, doing just fine. Nobody has come close to even shooting me yet. Doubt they will because all I'm doing is playing errand boy for my CO, a guy named Pascal that I had met in Ninvey."

The next few paragraphs described the day in the life of a cavalry officer. It got laughs, because out of all the people in the group, Pete's riding abilities were probably the worst of all, if not sometimes down right comical. Pete talked a little bit about the war itself and things he had discovered while being out East. Then Jack got to the last paragraph, "I put this at the bottom, because I wanted to you to read the rest. Julia is alive. I found someone who saw her for sure."

Jack stopped reading out loud. He hurried through the tale and evidence that Pete laid out, the things he had pieced together, and what they could do about it. Pete was very good at guessing Jack's thoughts and motivations. Had he not been then Jack would never even be on this trip in the first place. Jack sat the letter down on the table. It was snapped up quickly by Dee who had to fight for control with Harry, Red, and Gina. Everyone else was crying with joy. Pam and Joey were hugging each other, crying real tears.

After rereading the paragraph twice, Dee finally tossed it to the pack of dogs behind her. She slid her arms around Jack’s, "Well what are going to do chief?"

The cheers turned to silence as everyone waited for Jacks response. "Well, we're going to do what our creed is. We know she's alive now. Pete's got it narrowed down to a sixth of a continent for us. What can I say? We're going after her."

There was one loud, "hoorahh!!!" It was followed by more laughter, a few more lesser cheers, and mixed with tears and hugs. Dee leaned up and kissed Jack gently on the cheek. She whispered in his ear, "I guess you didn't see the PS. It said Jack be careful, Finny is General Joes favorite Daughter."

Jack’s eyes opened wide, "What?"