CHAPTER 14

To call it a walled city would be inaccurate. The first thing that Bob Isaacs noticed about the capital city of the Feyland Empire, Cheau-Gan, was the lack of exactly what the elf’s liked to talk about. Bob figured it simply lost something in translation. There was no wall but, that was not to say the place lacked defenses. The word that Bob would have used to describe, what he had seen, was fortified. The Fey’s had plenty of defensive works, along the road, only they had one major weakness. It was how obvious they all were.

As the embassy car drove past the multiple layers of security check points, required to get in the city, he thought about the military usefulness of what he was seeing. He came to an inescapable conclusion. The US Army could take it down with little trouble. The US had guns that could accurately take out all of their bunkers, obstacles, and check points. The army could also do it at a range so far out that the elves could never hope to shoot back.

Apparently, General Garret had come to similar conclusions long before now. The guy did have the advantage of having visited this place before. He saw Bob’s eyes, read his face, and almost laughed until he posed the question, “you’re assuming they’re here to stop an army.”

Bob’s mind snapped back to reality, “what was that General?”

Now Garret did laugh, “the defenses you were just studying. The Fey didn’t seal off this city from an army.”

Since it was obvious that his boss was reading his mind, Bob gave up any pretense of the fact that he was not spying on their allies. He simply said, “I can see why they’re so hesitant to let any more of us in. They couldn’t stop us if they did.”

“Yeah,” Garret nodded thoughtfully, “that’s a part of it Bob. Unfortunately, it’s only the tip of the iceberg.”

That was really getting old. Bob became somewhat disagreeable with his commanding officer, “mind telling me what the rest of the iceberg looks like before my battalion goes down like the titanic?”

Garret now looked out the window at the Fey city that was passing by them. There was nothing fairy tale about this place. They had their own skyscrapers off in the distance. Garret would also have to note that they were driving on a four lane highway that would have looked completely normal back home. The cars, driving on it, would have looked a little out of place but, that was only an aesthetic. A mechanic could have popped the hood and instantly recognized how it worked. In fact, that was the problem, as far as Garret could tell. Everything looked so familiar and it should not have. He had missed it for months and, so did a lot of other so called experts.

“Elves,” Bob said in response to no question. His eyes were also peeled out the window. Garret waited until the car got off the highway and down on the surface streets. It was much more apparent there. He was kind of impressed that Bob would pick it up so quickly. That was why Garret waited for his Colonel to finally say it, “almost everybody I have seen here, are elves. I can count the other species on the fingers of one hand.”

“Good call Colonel,” Garret replied.

Now Bob looked at the man and asked, “every city I’ve been in, since I’ve been here, has got so many other species I can even keep them all straight. Suddenly the elves let me in to their capital and everything looks so…”

When Bob could not think of a word, Garret gave it too him, “uniform maybe?”

Now it hit Bob and he looked at several passing street corners. He found it ironic that about the only diversity he had seen here, was the uniforms. Some were out right uniforms of the military variety. Others were not exactly that but, they stood out from other groups of individuals who dressed very differently. This was somewhat alarming, “what is all this?”

“Well,” Garret began fixing his pipe, “did you know that one of the biggest crimes in this country is wearing the wrong color shirt, or at least, it is here in Cheau-Gan. They don’t really enforce it too hard in the rest of the country. The point being is that you put on the wrong colors and you get caught, they’ll haul your ass in front of a tribunal so fast that your head will go and spin, right before they chop it off.”

That actually sounded somewhat familiar to Bob and he knew why. He just said it out right, “so they’re like a bunch of street gangs?”

“No,” Garret replied, “nothing here is exactly like back home but, you will run into all kinds of things that do, well, kind of look like home. Don’t get caught pretending that it is, you’ll get hurt.” When that did not quite sit well with his colonel, Garret tossed the man a bone, “but you are right about the lack of different species in the capital. It is very controlled. For the most part, Cheau-Gan is an elf only affair. Oh they do let some workers in, you know, mostly Yangani and humans. They’re a bunch of, um, janitors for the most part.”

Now Bob was laughing hard, “don’t tell me, they have a big problem with elves not reporting their maids on their taxes.”

As Garret was working to get his cigar lit, he stopped and looked up at Bob. Without even hint of humor he replied, “yep.”

Now Bob was completely unsure if he wanted to laugh or cry. He finally decided not too do either. After the big change in attitude he mournfully moaned, “it must be a big hit too their pride, I guess. You know, having us come in like this.”

Now that the general had his cigar burning he said, “more than we realize I’m afraid.” Bob noted the ‘we’ part of his statement and was unsure as to exactly what Garret meant. The general did not give Bob time to ask either. He continued explaining, “the gnomes have a trade council here but, outside of that area you aren’t likely to see any. The only other species that really has what you would call a community here, are the Sh… Shp… I can’t say it, fuck it. Those little dragon guys with the chips on their shoulder.”

There was a good reason why Garret could not say their name. Bob was not sure he could either and, as he understood it, that was quite normal for any primate. The mouth of a primate and the little dragons were so completely different that neither could speak the other’s language very well. Bob supposed they were lizards or, maybe even dinosaurs, since they weren’t exactly cold blooded.

The one outstanding feature that these dragons had, were the tiny little wings on their backs. They were very sensitive about you commenting on them and even looking at them could start a fight. Bob had figured that these guys could fly even if he never had seen one do it. Then he had learned that the aviation regiment stationed up at Way Out, was almost exclusively made up of dragon pilots. That really got his curiosity and he wondered if it was because the dragons could bail out and not require a parachute. It turned out to be the furthest thing from the truth. The reason they were so sensitive about their wings was for the precise reason that they could not fly at all or, not fly without the aid of a machine at any rate.

The first stop of the day was at the US Embassy. The exact wording of a treaty, between Feyland and US, had not yet been hammered out as of yet but, both sides had already agreed to exchange ambassadors in the hope of getting that treaty formalized. Bob also noted that several other nations had done pretty much what the United States had. He also noted that the British Embassy looked much older than the rest. There was also an embassy with an unrecognizable flag that was flying over it. Bob came to find out, it belonged to the Gnomes. Bob had not realized that the Fey had recognized the independence of anybody else on this world. Apparently he was in error. It was also not the only embassy with a flag that he did not recognize.

As they got out of the car, Bob had to ask the General, “What embassy was the one with the fancy flag that had all that heraldry looking stuff all over it?”

Garret looked down in that direction but, the building was long behind them now and out of sight. He still knew the one that his colonel was talking about even if he did not have and answer, “we don’t know. Ambassador Bunker asked them about it, a year or two ago.”

As they walked towards the front doors, Bob asked, “the elf’s didn’t answer?”

“Yeah they did,” Garret replied as he returned a salute to the US Marines at the front door. After they entered the lobby he told Bob, “it just didn’t make any sense.”

As the two soldiers waited for their security passes, Bob had to ask, “what did they say?”

It took Garret a minute to figure out how to answer and, finally, he just said, “maybe we lost something in translation but, it was kind of like, the Republic of Camelot?”

As they road the elevator down to the operations center, Bob chewed on that and then asked, “have we tried to find out?”

Just before the doors opened, Garret replied, “course we did. Whoever they are, they’re human. We know that much.”

Bob stepped out the elevator door and mumbled to himself, “good to know the CIA is still up to it’s usual speed.”

The woman who was waiting for them on the other side of the door, heard the colonel’s remark and replied with a smile, “fuck you too, Bob.”

As Garret had learned, once he put on his very first star, the god like powers of a General did not extend to every realm. This was most definitely one of them and, he excused himself by saying, “I, um, I guess I don’t need any cliché for introductions here.” He pointed down the hall, “I’m going to get some coffee. See you two in the conference room.”

Bob had always admired Garret for his wise choices when it came to tactics. In this case, the guy knew exactly when to retreat and Bob was kind of wishing he could follow. Instead, Bob forced a smile and then nodded at the CIA officer who was standing in front him. He said, “good to see you again Mary.”

She was not biting, “oh please. You’re anything but.”

“Now you see,” Bob kept his smile, “that’s why you’re so good at your job. You are very perceptive.”

Mary took a step forward and got in his face, “and you have managed to miss most of your children’s life so you could at least call them once in a while.”

“What?” Bob looked as if the woman were insane, “hello? I don’t think there are any phone lines running through the Dell right now. You want to talk about long distance charges if they did!”

Mary was not backing down, “you haven’t been here that long, Bob. Besides that, there is the old fashioned way. Ever think about a letter? Have you even bothered to ask how they’re doing?”

“Um,” Bob still kept his smile, “not since I been standing here, getting yelled at by you.”

“Whatever,” Mary replied. She then spun on her heels and began walking down the hall in a very gruff fashion.

Before following, Bob yelled out to her, “and thanks for the ambush! Reminded me of the old days,” Bob lowered his voice and said, “that was kind of always how sex was with you.” He then walked for the conference room and found the guy he was really here to get ambushed by.

The elf was not dressed exactly like Bob had expected. He had seen their ceremonial garb, all puffed out, covered in bells, also in absurd looking horn like things, draped over, and giving off the impression of a Christmas tree on LSD. This elf was none of the sort. He wore a tan uniform, definitely Noveus-Faeyu, complete with his red beret that was now rolled up and shoved under one of his collar tabs. Bob knew that this guy, Quintescau Ceascu, was some big deal in the Elf government. He was also, maybe, an heir apparent of some kind but, you could never tell that by how he was dressed today.

Quintescau even shook hands with Bob and, as the American colonel had discovered, such greetings were not common amongst the elves. The man seemed generally polite and personable. He was something of a surprise to Bob. As they all sat down the man got right to the heart of the matter, “as my people have led me to understand, Colonel, your basic position is that you cannot accomplish your mission with your given assets. Is that basically correct?”

Bob looked to his boss and Garret simply nodded for Bob to take the floor. Bob thought about it for a moment and then said, “we need support assets. Just off the top of my head, given the poor maps that you people have, if you’ll pardon my saying so.”

The elf raised a hand and nodded as he politely stated, “that is only the truth Colonel. We are here to speak frankly, so, please feel free to do so.”

Did the guy really mean that? Bob decided he was going to take him at is word, “fine. We need UCAV’s, um, drones that we have stationed at Coven Hill. They would be very useful given the lack of GPS here.”

Quintescau nodded and replied, “as my people have pointed out, in the past, your drones will not function properly here. I was told you were made aware of this.”

Garret now spoke up, “yes I have gotten a memo or two on that.”

“Begging the General’s pardon,” Bob replied, “that’s not entirely true. We’ve had some success at beating the static problem. I’m pretty sure if we got some guys on the ground here, we could eliminate that problem entirely or, at the least, figure out a work around.”

The elf remained polite and even acted informal as he sat back in his chair and waived his hand in an almost apologetic way, “I’m afraid the deployment of any more combat units is beyond my authority to grant. I will, however, take this matter up with the emperor’s council.”

“Fine,” Bob took that as a polite brush off and he continued, “your medical facilities are inadequate to treat my people. We already had to send one of my guy’s back because he…”

As Bob hesitated, Quintescau filled in, “I have read of the incident Colonel. One of your soldiers unwisely chose to drink some of our alcohol. We had warned you, repeatedly, that this might be a problem. I might add, no more so, than our people trying to eat your chocolate.”

“With all do respect,” Bob shot back, “that’s not the issue here. If I engage in active operations then there is the very real probability that some of my people will get hurt. I want them cared for by our medical people. As you just pointed Sir Quintescau, our biology is somewhat different.”

The elf remained as passive as before and showed no signs that any of these statements had effected him. He simply nodded and told the American, “duly noted and I am sure we can work something out, although, I am somewhat confused here. I was told that your people brought medical personnel with you?”

“Medics,” Bob replied, “they are what we call, uh, first responders. Their job is to get the patient stabilized and keep him alive long enough to reach a real doctor.”

Again, the elf nodded, “very well colonel. That seems a reasonable request. Have that drawn up and sent to my command post. In this matter, I am sure that we can accommodate you.”

Bob went on with his list and the Elf politely listened. When he was done, Bob was not even sure that he had gotten one thing from his list. This high ranking Elf did not really say yes to much of anything. It was enough to frustrate Bob since, as he understood it, reaching an agreement was exactly what this meeting was about. Now Bob was starting to think differently and when Quintescau left with his staff, Bob had the feeling that this was all a monumental waste of time.

If that were a surprise, and Bob sadly had to admit that it was not, then Mary really surprised Bob when she said, “don’t worry, you did fine.”

Garret then asked, “how much do you think our little shopping list is going to cost us?”

Now it was Mary’s turn to be frustrated, “oh, just getting this little meeting cost us plenty. I hate to think what they’re going to be asking for with this. You know there are quite a few of those pointed eared bastards that are not so happy about any of us being here at all, forget the army, I mean any of us.”

Bob had to break in, “excuse me? Let me quote a famous American here by just asking his famous saying, what the fuck? I thought these guys wanted us here, begged us to be here, and they’re charging us for it?”

Garret was not all too surprised or impressed by the question, “oh they want us here Bob, don’t let Quintescau fool you. He’s one of the main reasons we are.”

Mary picked it up from there, “he’s got to save face. The elves are pretty factionalized. He’s got to justify us being here so, any significant moves, that we make, has got to look to others like Quintescau is robbing us blind. If it doesn’t, well, another faction might decide to step up and challenge him.”

Bob grumbled and then told them both, “do we really even understand what is going on here?”

“Honestly?” Mary asked. When Bob did not reply she simply said, “sort of.”

Bob slid down in his seat, “oh that’s just fucking great.” After stewing for a moment he sat back up and said, “has it occurred to anybody, besides me, that we are bottlenecked in here. If the Fey decide to cut us off we’re screwed.”

Garret just shrugged, “why do you think we’re paying what they’re charging?”

Mary shook her head in resignation and then said, “they won’t cut us off, not the Noveus-Faeyu at any rate and, right now, they control the temple. Don’t worry Bob, our supply lines are secure at the moment.”

Bob huffed, “it’s the ‘at the moment’ part that concerns me.”

Garret remained easy going about it, “don’t worry about that Bob. That’s our problem for now. Your list was reasonable and I’m pretty sure we’ll get most of it. It may not look it but, for them, Quintescau is bending over backwards to accommodate us. Your problem is getting your mission accomplished.”

That made Bob sit back and then, he had to ask, “Jim, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Garret nodded, “yes I am. As soon as you feel comfortable with the support assets you can put in place, consider Task Force Toto active. Operation Wind Storm will be considered opscomp and, Operation Yellow Brick will then be a go.”

Mary winced like she had just eaten something particularly nasty, “who named these operations?”

Garret only smiled in return.