CHAPTER 09              

The noise came as a quick and steady rhythm. As General Shlendon walked amongst the hordes of carpenters he started whistling a little tune to the rhythm of the sanding planes. Today was a joyous day. The sun was shining, the skies were blue, and an army was assembling. It would be his army. After the demise of General Dunkis of the Southern Region, it was only natural that Shlendon would get the next major command. After all, he had been the second highest-ranking field officer in the Unified Command of the three republics. Dunkis had been the first but he was primarily rat droppings now. This made Shlendon happy.

Colonel Rizen walked into the barracks courtyard of the Tallos garrison and he found the level of activity amazing. As Rizen searched out his General he noticed that civilian carpenters were doing the vast majority of work right now. They were sawing, and scraping, and doing the things that carpenters do before they tossed the finished products onto an ever-growing pile.

Rizen found his commanding officer and stopped two paces behind the man. After listening for a moment to the bizarre tune coming from Shlendon, Rizen finally announced his presence,  "I can see that the level of hysteria is as great as some claim."

Life in the city of Tallos had gone on with all the air of normalcy in the face of the present crisis. The papers would have you believing that everyone was running in terror. The facts were that most people believed that the war, and now it was being called that, was going on way down in the South. There were, of course, rumors of girls castrating their masters late at night and like most such tales it appeared to be more sensationalistic babble than anything else. What was open to question was what the common man out there on the street really believed. In the sight of these piles of wood Rizen began to wonder.  

Was the Nation's leadership worried? Men who had instigated a successful revolution were now facing one themselves. Did they remember all that they had done to obtain those rooms in the legislature, to wield real power, to have real privileges. They were obviously now scared of having the same things done to them that they had done to others. The military call up seemed to indicate this. They were mobilizing every unit within three hundred miles of Tallos. They were dusting off cannon that had not seen action in over three years.  

Rizen handed Shlendon his morning paper and dispatches, with a comment, "Do you really think that we need this many?"

Shlendon smelled the fresh cut wood. He ran his finger along the shaved timbers. "When they defeated the cavalry of Dunkis they had near five thousand in strength. That was at best, by our estimates. From what the patrols found on the battlefield the rebels must have suffered nearly fifty percent casualties. Yet when my scouts watched them cross the river into the middle republic they saw columns twelve to fourteen miles long. I estimate their strength to now be at somewhere near thirty thousand."

"My God," said Rizen. He had just handed Shlendon the official reports from the General Staff and they said nothing of this! They did not even know that the women rebels had crossed the border! They had not estimated strength at anywhere near that amount either. "At the most, the Imperials had only massed an army of forty thousand, and that was spread out over a front of nearly a thousand miles. Where did they get the weapons? Are they even all armed?"

"Oh yes," replied Shlendon. He opened his paper and looked at the front page. The long dark headed woman they were calling the Virgin Mary had her picture right there and it was a captivating sight. Shlendon found himself admiring it.  

Shlendon smiled, "They have captured weapons arsenals in every city they have taken. They have captured more than one munitions train. Do you realize they are now strong enough to overrun practically any garrison they choose.” Shlendon was now beaming, “so they have done."

"If they crossed the border are they headed here?"

"I should hope so," replied Shlendon as he strolled through the creations of his carpenters. "I will soon have an army of fifty thousand.  I think this city is as safe as I choose it to be."

Rizen let the comment pass. He had been on Shlendon's staff ever since they were both Imperial Officers. He realized that his boss had a unique way of putting things. "Still sir, do you think that we will take this many prisoners?"

Shlendon looked at the piles and piles of impaling stakes. There were multitudes of them, all stacked higher than two men could stand. Shlendon laughed, "who said they are all for our lady friends. Besides if our friend the Virgin Mary was so successful at keeping her former masters from defiling her. What makes you think that she will allow a wooden pike?"
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The main dining hall was the only real chamber that could fit them all. For the first time since Joe could remember every legislator in the Peninsular was here. Never before had the debate been this serious. Never before had it really mattered. Circumstances had never called for this kind of thing before. People were enraged right now and demanding action. They were terrified as well. The level of debate was a mirror of the public's feelings. As Joe stood there, in the crowded and noisy room, he amused himself with the idea that this too was probably a first.

Joe stood out of his seat and in between the shouts of others he yelled, "They burned out a citizen in my town. Killed a two year old boy!"  

There were more shouts after that. Others were yelling their own horror stories. What really made Joe wonder was why some idiots were actually screaming in favor of the armies that were suppose to be descending on Zeatland. The emperor had called for twenty five thousand reservists to make up an occupation force to maintain order in the Peninsular. What was worse was he had ordered this assembled body of men to pay for it. That alone had determined the course of action they would take.

A vote for independence was called. The raised hands were too many to worry about counting. There was hardly anyone who didn't raise a hand. After the vote Joe jumped up on a table and yelled, "I put forward the motion for debate of ending the practice of human chattels within the boundaries of the new Republic!"

There were heated shouts in a room that was already loud. A few chairs got knocked over and at least one fistfight broke out. Someone else yelled out, "I put forward the motion for debate of lawfully allowing this assembly to levy taxes and collect the monies for dispersion as this body sees fit!" There were cheers.

Joe sighed in resignation. He was not quite there yet.


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Dee put her pencil down. She looked at the paper on the table. She hated not having a calculator and right now she could not even use the one on the computers! Vitosk and Saiid had every one of them occupied. They were using up every last bit of available memory and now even Dee’s big computer in the sky was telling her that there was no room. She ran a file search and there was just no way that could be possible. Dee added the figures up again. It was wrong! There was just no way!

Dee punched up her commands list again and hit the send button. She waited while a small window counted down the send time. Dee had just been trying to down load the latest weather photos from their satellite. The only problem was the files were not there. At first Dee panicked. She was afraid that her little eye in the sky was dying. Then she ran a systems check. The power cell was fine and should be so for at least the next couple of centuries. Nobody built them like Uncle Isaac. The motherboard on the satellite computer was also fine. All Dee could figure was that all of the available data storage was just used up!

The only problem with this theory was that it was impossible. Dee had already checked the logs twice and added up gig after gig. The geological survey, the weather readings, the communications logs, and the other assorted minor functions were not even taking up one percent of the available memory. Yet Dee's morning weather log was dumped for insufficient space. Why? Was there a hardware error that remained undetected? The drive scan had turned up nothing. Dee dropped her head on the table in defeat. She closed her eyes to relax her brain. What was she missing?

A pair of hands began rubbing her shoulders. Dee moaned, "ohhh, that feels good Jack."  

She rose up and tilted her head back. She left her eyes closed as she felt his warm lips on her neck. He worked his way up and began lightly chewing on her ear lobe. She giggled at that. What had gotten into him lately? All these years of good old Marine regulation sex, hit and run, and suddenly now he decides to get romantic? Dee hated to admit it but Jack had never been quite that good. Not that Dee really felt like complaining. He was special, if not particularly talented, which meant that when he held her it was special too. It was just that sometimes Dee wished he would get exciting. Do something romantic, or different, or whatever to spice it up.

Right now he was getting off to a very good start. It was almost like back in Boston with....  Dee jumped to her feet,  "GARY!"

Gary collected himself and stood back. "I... I'm sorry Dee. I just saw you sitting there. You know, like... like back in our study. Remember how you used to work all night long. I would come in and find you asleep at your desk. Then you remem..."

Dee held her hands up, "I remember! OK! What the hell are you doing in my cottage like this? Without knocking even!"  

Dee had to shake herself out now and she grabbed a towel to wipe her neck while she was at it. Gary was not going to do this again and get away with it. Sure she used to like the way he came into her study and did those kinds of things. What he didn't bring up was why he had come in and found her in the morning. That reason being because he had not been there at night.

'I'm sorry Dee. I was just... I was hoping that... Never mind, I'll leave now."

He went for the door. "Wait a minute Gary. Where the hell have you been all this time?"

Gary rested his hand on the doorknob and replied, "I've been all over Dee. Seeing this marvelous planet. Talking with people. Meeting with people. I guess trying to find myself somewhere in the process."

Dee put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at him, "Oh that's original."

"No, please, hear me out Dee. What I found was that in finding me, I found what I really wanted out of life. I wanted you. I need you Dee. Please come back to me?"

He was a handsome man. He was actually very sexy with a charm that could thaw an iceberg. Dee could remember why she fell for him. She also knew that there were things about men that she found far more important now. Gary was a better a lover than Jack. Gary had a better career than Jack. He had more money than Jack. Supposedly he would be a far better catch. Yet Dee had caught him and threw him back once already and she had no desire to do it again. What he didn't have was Jack's soul.

Dee pointed to his hand, "Where's your ring at Gary?"

Gary looked at his hand.  "With my things."

"Get out Gary!"


Jack hated the day when the last of the coffee had been finished off. He had tried to make do with the local brew but it was dark, it smelled funny, and it was too awful to taste. Jack forced his cup down as he sat in the big lab tent watching Vitosk, Saiid, and Harry working with the computers. Jack shook his head, "You know something guys. You're wasting your time on that. I think we got more immediate problems."

"Oh really Jack," replied Vitosk as he slapped Saiid's hand away from the keys once again and telling him, "I want that in the program.”

Vitosk went on, “Jack I thought we agreed that the immediate problems of this planet were not ours. Look at what has happened up till now."

"Prime Directive Rules," added Saiid. He was not exactly his old self but comments like that were at least a ray of hope. Jack was worried that Saiid would probably never be quite the same again. His comment, while sounding like the old Saiid, lacked that stupid little laugh he always made afterwards. His voice sounded rather flat and that fire that had always been in his eyes was gone.

Jack tossed out the brew and resigned himself to the fact that he was tired of even pretending it tasted good. "I don't know Vitosk. Like this rebellion in the east. I would love to take credit for that. Can you honestly say that you aren't on the side of those girls?"

"How do you know we're not Jack," replied Vitosk. "How do you know that our influence has not somehow filtered over. Your visits there could have set in motion a chain of events for all you know. Maybe people we know here passed things along. How do we even know that maybe Julia did not orchestrate this entire thing?”

That drew a laugh from both Jack and Harry. Jack shook his head, "Julia didn't have the back bone of a mollusk. Besides, you said yourself that these people were on their way to all this before we got here."

"Yes," replied Vitosk. He stopped his work and devoted his full attention to Jack. "May I point out something to you? You Americans have many racial problems between the black and other communities in your nation. Speaking as an outsider, the solutions that you people do not see are obvious to the rest of the world. Your black community has a deep-seated resentment due to injustices done to them for centuries. They continuously lag behind the rest of your population in so many things. Their community leaders seek to keep the circumstances exactly the same. It is very obvious that one of the basic causes of this is that they were freed too fast. No planning, no forethought, just in a second they were free."

"So are you defending slavery here Vitosk," said Jack. "That sounds so un-communist of you."

"Another perfect example Jack. My nations October Revolution. While revolutions are sometimes justified such as with your first civil war, and my revolution, they seldom do what they set out to do. All to often, in our history, they leave someone else in charge. A someone who did nothing more than fill the vacuum created by the two belligerent parties. They try and solve massive social problems with quick fix solutions. You know the kind of solutions that are most common while someone is shooting at you. The worst problem is that wars create large numbers of opportunities. That is an environment that is best suited to opportunists and they are rarely idealistic enough to actually start revolutions."

"So where are you going with this sermon Yurgani?"

"Haven't you figured it out Jack. It should be obvious even to you Americans by now. There is nothing on this world that is what it seems to us. The actions these people take may be the same as ours but, they do them for entirely different reasons. It is these misunderstandings that have incurred our casualties so far."

"I don’t see it that way," commented Saiid in a very cold tone.  

Dee came running into the tent. It was a diversion they all jumped on. Dee was overexcited and could barely stand still, "Guys, you got to come back with me! You won't believe this!"


They all filed into the cottage. Dee pointed to the screen of her Satellite Communicator. "I couldn't figure out why I didn't have any room in there. I found this communications log from five years ago that was buried down at the bottom of the list. It was the exact date that we had to abandon the Hermes."

"Well who sent it," asked Jack. "We weren't transmitting to the satellite then."

"The ship did!" exclaimed Dee. "You know it was suppose to do a core dump when you ordered abandon ship. Transmit everything back to Earth. Well it sent it to the satellite too! Guys! We got the main computer back!"

Vitosk showed a very uncharacteristic display of pleasure, "Good Lord we have everything?"

Dee was still wide eyed, "It looks that way. I mean I need Saiid to start going over it with me. So far though, it looks like it's all there. Libraries, logs, engineering records, schematics, we got 'em...... yeah!"

Saiid sat down at the chair and touched the transmitter's keyboard. Dee slapped his hand away. "Not right now guys. I still have a few things I've got to do here."

"I want to..."  replied Saiid.

"Shoo! All of you! You'll get your turn. Now, right now leave me alone."  

Dee ran all of them out the door. She reached and grabbed Jack by the arm before he could leave. She yanked him in and slammed the door shut. Dee pinned him against the wall and began kissing him. She started with the lips and then moved down his neck.

"What's got into you," asked Jack. "I kind of like it though. Maybe you should discover hidden files more often."

She unbuttoned his shirt and pulled his tails out from his pants. Dee ran her tongue down his chest, "Shut up Jack."

"Feisty too."

Dee unbuttoned his pants. She circled her tongue slowly down his abdomen. Dee dropped down on her knees. "What do you think of that? Where do you think I might go next?"

"UH... I'm still trying to figure out the first part."

Standing up, Dee leaned her head on his shoulders. She shook her head back and forth.  "Jack...  Jack... Jack..."

"Hey now," replied Jack. "Did I say I didn't like it?”

Dee looked up at him. An idea came to mind. "I know!" She thrust her neck in his face, "Nibble on me some."

"Huh?"

"My ear you idiot. Don't you know how to nibble on a girl's ear?"

Jack shrugged. He slipped his arms around her waist. He tilted his head and began chewing. Dee let him. He slipped his hands lower down her back and over her cheeks. He squeezed. Dee jumped. She stepped back. "No Jack!"

Jack went over and sat down on the bed for a second. He watched Dee pace. She had her hand on her chin. "Something that's you. Got to have something that is Jack Kelly. Let's see, you're a Marine. No, damn it there's no beaches near here. You're a pilot but I don't think that gets me anywhere."

"Dee," said Jack buttoning up his shirt. "I'm going back to work darlin’. When you figure this out. Let me know."

Rushing over to the bed, Dee flung herself on him. She pinned him down, "You're not going anywhere till I'm through mister."

Jack relaxed. Dee could feel his muscles beneath her inner thighs loosening up. It was something anyway. He needed to do that more often. With everybody else he was so laid back why couldn‘t he do that with her more often? As soon as they got in bed he always tensed up, the wrong parts anyway. She rubbed his chest, "Does that feel good?"

"Why shouldn't it?”

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!" Dee beat on his chest. She caught her breath. She tried a logical approach. "Now Jack, listen closely here. This is a test. What do you want to do right now? Hold on! Think before you answer all right. Just let yourself go and tell me. What do you feel like doing?"

"Sending you to a psychiatrist."

Dee rolled off of him. She gave up. She lay there limp. Jack did the same. Finally he said, "What’s going on Dee?”

"Did you know Gary came back?"

"Yeah, I saw him ride in earlier this morning. What about him?"

"Nothing Jack, it's nothing I guess. You know I get these wild hairs sometimes."

Jack was familiar. He rolled out of bed and started buttoning his shirt. When he finished he watched her lying on the bed with deep concern, "Really now, are you seriously all right?"

Dee was modest again, "Yeah, I'm fine Jack. I guess I better get back to work now. I got a lot to do."



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Joey had jumped for joy when the news came. It would seem that his schools days were coming to an unexpected end. Joey had always figured that it was going to end one day even if that day seemed in a distant not so real future. He never thought that it would be because he was being hastily graduated and given a commission. He was not the only one of course, it was the entire core of cadets. There was quite a bit of revelry on campus the day that the news was announced. It was nothing compared to the day that they were actually officially handed their papers and rank. They were the first brand new officers in the new territorial guard.                        

The local town of Slenton got the fist wave of the military invasion. Former Cadets, dressed in their new and fancy uniforms, flooded the restaurants, shops, and local watering holes. They enjoyed all the fruits of life that were denied them as cadets. Joey was right along in with his former classmates as they blew years of frustration in as many hours.

Joey found it fun and he enjoyed seeing these guys in a new setting. He also found it kind of strange how he suddenly realized that they would all never be together like this again. He was close to quite a few of these guys. None of them would ever replace the bonds he had with those he came with but, as Joey sat around a restaurant table listening to everyone talk he slowly began to realize exactly how much his new friends did mean to him. Even the guys he never liked suddenly felt like family!

Joey had barely even touched his liquor. As the laughing and singing with his inner most circle got only more boisterous he only withdrew. Joey looked at his pocket watch and saw that it was not quite time yet but getting close. He listened to his classmates go on about politics and the war that was surely coming. They were all eager to go fight it.

This was a very patriotic group of boys and the funny part was that some of them were not even from the United Peninsular. They were not from as far away as he was, but then again, Joey was starting to wonder. When he heard about things that happened in Zeat, and West Calden, he cared. Joey looked at his pocket watch again and wondered if he should leave now. He looked down at the table in front of him and at the papers that were his life. There sat the rank he had just earned in an army of a nation that he was not a citizen of, or was he?

If Joey wanted to avoid the war he realized that it would be trivial for him. The problem was that Joey did not want to avoid this. He had earned that rank and he was proud of it. He felt a loyalty to these guys around him. He even felt a certain loyalty to this new home of his. Joey did not want out.  

He looked at his pocket watch one more time and then stood up. This brought a few playful sneers from his former classmates but, Joey shrugged it off and fired back a few jokes. If this was going to be his home he had to start planting his roots here. That was kind of why he had to leave. It was time to take the first steps.      

Ten minutes later Joey was standing at the rail station. He had been here several times already tonight. The only other person around was the station conductor. Joey sighed in frustration. He walked over to the man who was sweeping excess water off the marble platform. It had been raining during the day. It was suppose to be raining again later.  

"Hey mister," said Joey.

The conductor turned around. "You can get your free tickets in the morning son. I ain't opening the box office back up tonight."

"No," replied Joey, "You don't understand. I'm waiting for someone."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Last train has already been through for the night. You know I can't say that I'm not glad to see those Imperial Inspector types gone. I tell you plainly though, them trains ain't run right since they left."

Joey got anxious at hearing this news, "Well did any train get in from Luftmot?"

"Son, all the trains have to go through Luftmot before they get here. Course now you know they had some farmers elephant screw up the rails up that way.  Told you, with the Imperial types gone everything went to hell in a hand basket."

Joey left the station with a less than military bearing. His head was hung low and hands were in his pockets. He was kicking at pebbles on the ground as he went. He stood on the street corner outside the rail terminal and watched the flashes of lightening in the distance. A sudden flash illuminated a cloaked figure standing across the street.

This person started walking quickly towards him, right through the muddy street, with an apparent single minded determination. Walking right up to Joey and tossing the hood back, Finny thrust her arms out of the cloak and wrapped them around him. She had a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous expression as she started kissing him. It took her a while before she stopped.  

Finally Joey had to catch his breath, "I've been waiting, come on."

"Its nothing fancy," said Joey as he lit the lantern in the small room he had rented. "It's all I could find with the money I had."

Finny had not said a word yet. Joey sat down on the bed to take his boots off. He stopped. Finny was standing in middle of the floor. Her eyes were burning into his very soul. Her arms disappeared back into the cloak and then her head followed. The cloak began rolling form side to side, working it's way slowly up from the floor. She pulled it up over her bare legs as they waved like high grass in the wind. Her entire body was moving like the waves in the sea as she pulled it over the ripples of her belly, across her breasts and finally over her head. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted back, her long dark hair was flowing with her body. She tossed the cloak aside striking a dramatic pose as it hit the ground.

It looked like a slithering snake the way her feet slipped forward and legs rotated around. It was a dance of not only eroticism but of grace. Joey was captivated in just the way she could move in such an odd manner and make it so exciting. It looked as if she had reached the most impossible stance and Joey could not believe a human body could bend like that! Her body snapped back as her eyelids flew open. Those piercing green eyes sparkled in the dim flame of the lamp. Finny spun around and dropped to her knees. Her head flew back and her long dark hair spread out across the bed. She rolled head across the edge and stopped at his knees.  

When Joey figured it was over all he could say was, "Uh..."

Finny slid up beside him. She slid her arms around his waist. She
peered into his eyes. "You know what I just did?"

He knew what she had just done to him. "No?"

"It's our ancient dance that was forbidden all so many years ago. It was for joining ceremonies. When a man and woman became one. I like to dance. I wanted to do that just for you. Today Joey, we have become one. No matter what anybody else says, or thinks, or does, we are now joined forever." There was twinkle in her eye, "You know what comes next?"

Joey looked down at his lap. His face turned red. Finny giggled and ran her finger over his pants, "I think you do. I'm your first aren't I?"  

Once again Joey blushed. He tried to figure a way of answering this without admitting that she was right. Finny solved the problem for him. She popped the first button on his black shirt, "Then I'm going to teach you how to do it right. I want your first time to be a lot more special than mine was."



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The rain was turning the roads to mud. The trampling of thousands of people was turning the mud into quicksand. This was not helping the fact that Julia was in a hurry to get to where she was going. The unexpected had happened and it was now more of a problem than a salvation. In fact, this had to be the biggest she had faced since coming here, since the rebellion, since she was born even!  

After their victory over the army the steady trickle of women had turned into a tidal wave of people. There were more than just women here now, although her own private army was still primarily just that. Men were showing up in ever increasing numbers as well. There were even some rich men who came, bringing guns and supplies. They had owned women but had voluntarily set them free upon their arrival. Several entire communities had even declared their support. They were too far away to be of any help but, it did hold a certain amount of comfort.

They all came to see the Virgin Mary. Julia thought it was sick. Yet every day she had to get up on a wagon and speak to these people. They looked at her like she was some kind of God. Now Julia needed a real staff of people to do things like take care of her schedule and keep up with the times when she needed to get up and speak. It was almost like she barely had time to run her army because of all the garbage that went with it. That was why it was both a relief and a surprise when the first unit of Regular Army Cavalry troopers came riding into their camp by the river. They were not here to fight or even oppose the rebellion. They came to join en masse. Julia put their skills to good use.

She now had a tent, with guards of her own. Tish was running Julia's personal bodyguard at the moment. To Julia's relief it seemed to be unwarranted so far, yet, Tish would never let Julia out of her sight. Tish always had five or more girls within arms reach and to Julia it meant she had gone full circle. She had been fighting for her freedom. It had been forced on her. Now just when she thought she had won it she found herself imprisoned in another way, by her own fame.

In her headquarters tent, a meal was being served for those that her personal staff had informed her were worth talking too. It was far from the way things had been. Several of these people around this table were actually somebody’s. Why did these people do this? What were they looking for in her? Why were they risking everything when all she wanted to do was find a hole in the ground and hide?

A former Legislature of the Raed Government, by the name of Inskar, was doing most of the talking tonight, "They are trying to mass an army of fifty thousand at Tallos. We have to strike now before they can concentrate. It'll be some time before they pull them all together. They have to come from hundreds of miles away and we are already here and assembled."

Captain Weschex, one of the officers who defected, pointed out, "the rain will stop us even if their guns do not. Besides, they have siege cannon and real earthworks at Tallos. They were upgraded during the revolution. They are modern, in good repair, and manned. Any frontal assault on the city would be a useless gesture and cost the lives of our men."

"Women," said Julia.

Weschex nodded, "yes, I am sorry. I am just used to saying... you know?"

"Tell us Mary," said Inskar, "how did you arrive at your brilliant battle plan that so handily defeated one of the Republics most experienced and gifted officers?”

It hit again. Mary felt that sharp pain. As the days went by the headaches were coming more frequently now. Everyone was getting used to seeing Julia get them so they all politely waited until the headache passed.  "It was Napoleon. The battle of Austerlitz. You allow your enemy to exploit a weak flank, thereby thinning him in other areas of the field where you strike with your reserve."

ZePure was acting as Julia's main assistant these days. He was never more than a few steps away from her. He didn't know who Napoleon was, or where Austerlitz might be, but he was impressed with the rest. He had never heard her be so concise with military terminology before. She was paying attention and learning well.

Tish came into the tent and shook the rain out of her hair as she walked over and whispered in Julia's ear. Julia stood up, "Excuse me, I have to leave for a moment."

Inskar protested, "but we are not finished with business as of yet."

"I am for the night. Hash over what you want. I'll tell you what I decide in the morning." Julia left.

The rain was only a drizzle so Julia didn't even bother with a hat. She marched through the mud with her entourage in tow, plus one extra. ZePure was going to stop him but Julia motioned for Fescan to follow. They continued to the dilapidated barn just on the other side of this small nomadic city they had created. This was where Julia got her real business done. "What's the food situation?"

Tish stepped up the pace to get beside her, "Lousy, we're not going to be able to feed this many people for any length of time."

ZePure added, "Unless we keep moving. If we can raid through farm country up north of here. Just past the lake on the other side of Tallos we can get all we want. Lot of Bison up there too."

"Gurcia," said Julia, "have you figured out how many people are here yet?"

"What do I look like?" asked Gurcia. "Hell they coming and going every day. Anything I tell you going to be wrong."

"Units Julia," said ZePure. "That's why we got sub units now. Let them keep track of it."

Julia tossed her hands up in frustration just as she reached the barn, "all right! ZePure, do it your way. Gurcia, you get back to scavenging since you're useless at counting. Tish, send out more patrols and start bringing back food. Now leave me alone."

Chree was stretched out on couple of planks inside the barn. A blanket was covering her. She was lying on her stomach with her head sideways. Her eyes were shut. Julia knelt beside her. She gently laid a hand on the young girls back, "Chree?"

Her green eyes came alive, "Julia, I didn't think you would make it. They said you were pretty busy."

Julia peeked under the blanket. She winced and let it fall.  "Not again.  What happened?"

Chree was demanding, "what does it look like? Can you believe it, right in the butt?  Again!"

"And what a heavenly sight it must be," said a male voice.

Julia looked over to a crack in the barn wall. Fescan was pushing one of the boards out of the way and slipping inside. Chree's cheeks became red with fire. “Get him out of here! Julia! Get that man out of here!"

Before Fescan could leave another man came walking in. Julia recognized him at once. She had heard that several doctors had showed up offering their help. Never in her life would she have imagined, "Doctor Brisily?"

The man stopped for a second and looked at Fescan as the painter was still trying to fit through the crack in the wall. Brisily asked, "Do I know you sir?"

Fescan shook his head, "no," and left. Brisily walked over to Chree and pulled the sheet back. He looked at the gunshot wound. Chree tensed up, "Julia, get him out of here. I don't want any man touching me."

Julia rubbed her red hair, "Sweetheart I know him. He's a doctor. It'll be Ok."

"I think so,” Brisily said while looking at the wound. “Lot of worse places to get shot young lady. We'll patch it and be done."

"You see," said Julia.

"Course," said Brisily, "I'm not half the doctor the you are Julia. When I found out who you really were. I mean the papers just keep talking about this Mary. I read about you in Falon though. I knew it was you. I knew it!"
"I'm glad you're here Doctor. I just didn't realize that I had impressed you so much."

Brisily began swabbing out Chree's wound.  "You don't know how much dear girl. I thought I was a modern medical professional. I never would have believed that you could get medicine from tree bark, or a plant, or anything like that. That day you told me off in the hospital. I think it was the greatest day of my life. It opened my eyes. Until that day I had never thought of women as anything more than what they appeared to be. After that you came and produced what you were talking about. Then later that Imperial Officer showed up looking for you."

"What?"  Julia was confused now. What Imperial Officer would have been looking for her? She didn't know any. "What are you talking about?"

"An officer, well two actually. Only it seemed that one was really doing all the looking. What did he call himself? Um, Pascal? No that wasn’t it. A strange name that one had. Pet or eat or something like that I think it was. Pete! That was it!"

A wave ran over Julia. That name she had not heard in so long. She wanted to gush out in tears right there. She almost felt faint. Julia stood up and rushed out of the barn. She found her way back to her personal tent. It almost gave Tish a heart attack trying to keep up. Tish kept calling for Julia wanting to know what was wrong. Julia just ran in her tent and shut the flap.

She sat in the darkness for a while. She finally decided to light a candle. When she did that the light illuminated Fescan who had probably been sitting in that chair the entire time. She pointed at the tent flap, "What is it with you? Get out!"

"I shall follow your commands gratefully," he got up to leave.  

"Stop," said Julia. "I want you to answer me a question."

"Yes my dear."

"How did you know about Aspirin?"

Fescan reached down and pulled up his shirt. There was a scar across his belly. “My dear, I was your first patient."

"You were in the hospital?"

He lowered his shirt and sack back down, "Yes I was. You treated so many of us with your tender mercies that I doubted that you would remember. I had to find you though. I should be ashamed to say this you see. Other men look down on the likes of me. The kind that would steal property, not by force but by choice. I couldn't help myself Julia. I fell in love with you that day. I don't know what it is about you. I just know that for some reason I, like so many others, are drawn to your presence. So strange that I should be since I am not like so many others."

"I DON'T WANT YOU TOO!!!"

Fescan stepped up next to her, "You have no choice. Fate has brought you to it. For each of us there is a calling and so few actually listen. Even fewer have the opportunity. Do not waste or squander that for which you have been given, and even more precious, allowed to use."

Julia swallowed and controlled herself, "what are you saying? You are telling me that I was born to be Xena the Warrior Queen or something?"

"A leader Julia. You will always be that no matter how far you run."  Fescan stepped back and recovered his jacket.

As he slipped it on he said, "You have tried to hide it all of your life. You have mismanaged it and let it control you."  

Her head turned away. Fescan stepped back to her and took her cheeks in his fingers. He pulled her head back and looked into her eyes, "I see that in you. It has dominated you has it not? You can control it my dear. You are doing remarkably well now. Just don't choose the menial path. If you do, you shall find yourself as what you hold before you. I know for we are of the same blood."

A tear was welling Julia's eye. "Stay with me. I need help."

"Help is something my dear that only you can give yourself now."

Julia's tears began to stream steadier now, "then just stay."

Fescan turned to the tent flap. He stopped for a second to reconsider.  "You know Julia. There was a time when all my thoughts were of nothing but bedding you. Now, looking at my dream. I'm not sure I can." He left.