Crosstime Caper 10 : The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Weird

“So, bat. Have these Americans decided yet whether they will abide by the Covenants?” The speaker was a ferret-femme, with the standard masked face and black-furred hands and forearms. Most of the rest of her fur was hidden under leather breeches and tunic, but her boots were standing in the corner of her quarters, exposing black-furred feet as well.

“This world has something similar, but their Conventions are not identical to your Covenants. It doesn’t differentiate mercenaries from national troops, for one thing, so there is no provision for picking up abandoned contracts. You would be treated as national troops, which means you are to be held in camps, allowed to maintain your normal chain of command, provided food and medical supplies, and are not allowed to be used for forced labor, although you can be required to grow your own food.” The bat was dark gray furred and short, with black skin exposed on his wing membranes, hands, and ears. He was wearing dark blue shorts and a sky-blue tunic open on the sides for his wings. The fabric was a metallic weave and the tunic had epaulettes with four silver diamonds, obviously some sort of uniform - but native to neither Earth nor Orterra. “The Americans in particular pride themselves on not needing conscripts or mercenaries, so there is little chance they will offer you a contract.”

“Not even for espionage?”

“To be honest, it’d take you years to learn enough about this world to be able to be an effective spy. You don’t even speak the languages yet. And while information about Orterra might be useful to them, the hyenas are babbling about their homeland for free.”

The ferret frowned at him. “So if you are not here to convey their offer, just what -are- you up to?”

The bat grinned. “Why, to convey -my- offer, of course. You have abilities we could use in the Patrol. There are many worlds similar enough to yours that the languages you know are fine. We could return you to one of those, set you up as a merchant or whatever you would prefer, to watch for the rise of the Master or those like him. Or you could become a free agent like me, learn the nature of the multiverse and explore new worlds. You don’t have my ability to move between them naturally, but we have ways to work around that. There are very few who -can- move between worlds without the aid of magic or technology.”

The ferret chuckled. “And the Bureau would be happy with this, Skydancer?”

“Probably not, Marwyn. But you would be gone from here, and they can’t really object to that. And even if they did, there’s nothing they could do about it. They have no ability - well, no reliable ability - to cross between the worlds, even though they are aware of it and it has happened accidentally.”

“And what about my fellow prisoners?”

The bat shrugged. “None of them are a problem if you wish to sponsor them to the Patrol. Or they may stay here until hostilities are resolved with the Master.”

“That would be forever. He will not rest until he regains the Orb, and killing him, I suspect, would only be a temporary solution. They were very lucky. There are few who can touch it safely - it’s said that it won’t abide the touch of living flesh.”

“Lovely. Well, the Ferric kid and this Disruptor fellow seem to be able to manage it. And the rest of the Bureau here are warned. So, there is my offer. Just ask for me when you want to talk more about it.”

“And if my jailer does not want to pass it on?”

The bat just raised an eyebrow. “I’ll know without their help. And we -both- know you don’t have to stay here if you don’t want. They never did find your weapons.”

The ferret mimed a sarcastic curtsey. “Touche. But it is a more comfortable captivity than trying to live on the run in a strange world would be, so I have no objection to humoring them.”

*  *  *  *

In another time and place, three American superheroines stared at a medieval city standing on a site that looked… familiar. “That’s Randall’s Island.”

The mink was dressed in city camo with a Bureau logo patch on the shoulder. An oversized raccoon with metallic fur looked at her. “You recognize this place?”

Exit nodded. “Aye, I do. I -thought- the river looked like the Hudson, but I’m used to seeing it with a lot more buildings and bridges. Randall’s Island is a lot less developed in our world.”

A violet-haired opossum nodded. “So the one off to the west…?”

“Is Manhattan.”  

Lady Carlotta looked at them curiously. “This is a place you recognize from your home?”

Exit nodded, and gestured to the west. “That is an island, as well, correct?” The muskrat nodded. “There are differences, but yes. We call that island Manhattan, and it is the core of our  city of New York.”

“I suppose there are similarities, then. Hesperos is the largest city on Orterra. Nearly three hundred thousand souls.”

Exit nodded. “New York covers that entire island, and several others besides. But our city is home to eight million people.”

The head of their escort, a young rabbit in partial armor and a red uniform, pointed down the hill while the muskrat boggled at the number. “Our ferry is waiting for us, Lady Valerie.”

Exit smiled. “Then by all means, Sir Gerard, let us finish our journey.”

Endopossum sighed. “Finally. If I never have to ride another horse, it’ll be too soon.”

Ferric snorted. “At least you got to sit down. I had to jog the whole way.”

Endopossum groaned. “Believe me, if I coulda traded you for it, I would’ve. I know now exactly what saddle sores are. And I definitely coulda done without that.”

The rabbit chuckled. “Then you’ll be happy to know that we leave our horses here, Lady Maxine, and walk from the jetty on River Island to the Collegium.”

Endopossum winced. “I’m not sure how good I’ll be at walking, either. Ferric, would you mind…?”

The raccoon grinned. “Are you sure you want to sit on -my- shoulders? My fur makes horsehide feel like silk. Just think of steel wool on your saddle sores. I suppose I could sling you under my arm like a sack of potatoes...”

“I’ll walk! I’ll walk!”

*  *  *  *

The ermine had started her career in the Master’s intelligence service as a courtesan in Imperial Tangshi, gathering tidbits of useful information in the pillow talk of furs who were more concerned that people knew how important they were than with security. She still found herself bemused by this tendency of mels now that she was the head of the Northland’s entire Intelligence service, and her operatives still used it to good effect. <Granted, the Lady of Secrets provides spells that enhance that tendency, but still…> She still took pride in her appearance, and gave General Gustav a smile that made the bear squirm as she passed him in the corridor. The Master’s guards passed her through to him almost immediately when she arrived.

The mouse smiled at her as she entered his offices. “Success, I hope?”

“The beginnings of it, Master. We have a report from one of our sources that they were seen travelling south toward Hesperos with a squadron of cavalry. An attempt to waylay them was unsuccessful, but the descriptions matched and the report included a rather… pungent… account of how the attack foundered due to the use of one of the outworlder’s thunder-slings and the raccoon’s ability to shrug off arrows. These were details not provided in the request that was sent out, so I believe this is an accurate sighting.”

“That does sound like the real thing. Pay them, and give them a bonus if it is confirmed.”

“Of course, sir. I have our people in Hesperos working on that right now.”

“Excellent. Keep up your efforts. I’m afraid I’m going to be indisposed for a few days.”

The ermine was one of the few the Master trusted with his secrets. Her tail twitched at hearing this. “You need to conduct a Renewal already?”  

“Aye. The raccoon caused far too much damage. -Three- of my Donors died, Drusilla. If she had succeeded in doing that on the other side…?”

She shook her head. “That could have been very bad indeed. Could you have drawn on your Donors from that far away?”

“Weakly. I might have drained all six and not had enough to sustain me. I must set up new ones as soon as possible.”

“You must be more cautious in your next attempt to retrieve the Orb, then, sir. If the magic-eater that Vanya and Heikio reported should…” her voice trailed off at the expression on his face. <So that is what he looks like when he’s afraid.> She cleared her throat and changed the subject. “I have candidates in line for your next Renewal. I’ll make the arrangements immediately, then?”

“Please do so.”

*  *  *  *

In a place that exists only because the Realities need to be separated by Something, two entities interacted. It was not exactly a conversation, nor precisely a negotiation, and probably not a battle. The entities themselves were not something that the inhabitants of any of the Realities could comprehend and maintain their sanity. In a way, the reverse was also true, but neither of the entities could be considered sane in the first place. After something akin to an interval of time, they returned to their respective regions of Non-Space, satisfied with their arrangement.

*  *  *  *

“So this is what Manhattan looks like without all the buildings? It’s hillier than I expected.”

Exit chuckled. “You don’t notice it when you’re riding a bus, chica. But those hills to the south are the upper end of Central Park, and that ridge to the north, with the castle on it? That’s City College on our side. Looks like this Collegium of theirs is on Mount Morris.”

Sir Gerard and a mixed squad of his own cavalryfurs and infantry soldiers were escorting the mage and the three outworlders from the docks to the Collegium. Lady Carlotta was listening to the trio with fascination as the mink, apparently a denizen of the city in her world, compared it to her own. Sir Gerard was playing tour guide. “That’s not really a castle, Lady Valerie. It’s fortified, of course, but that’s the Armory. Barracks and equipment manufacturing for the Hesperian Navy. The towers on the north end are where the Admiralty headquarters are located.”

Endopossum looked up at that. “I’ll have to talk to their version of ONR while we’re here, then.”

The rabbit buck was at a loss to decipher this statement, even through a translation spell. “ONR?”

“Office of Naval Research. Or the Design Bureau, or Maritime Architecture, whatever you call it here.”

“I’m still not sure I understand, Lady Maxine. They use standard military galleys. We’ve known how to do that for centuries. Why would we need to worry about how to build one?”

“You haven’t changed the design in... oh, my, You lot -do- need shaking up, don’t you?”

Exit snorted. “They don’t have cannon, Maxie. A galley is your best warship without cannon or steam engines, and they’ve probably optimized the design long since. Don’t worry about their ships until you get their weaponry upgraded.”

Endopossum dismissed this with a wave of her hand. “Pff. I’ll bet they haven’t. The merchant ships in their harbor? Clinker-hulled cogs and carracks. If they’ve been doing that for centuries, they aren’t exactly a hotbed of new ideas. Have to take a look, they might not even have dromons.”

“We don’t even know if steam engines will work here, or if they even have coal to fuel them. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Of -course- they have coal! What do you think I was using at the Hartsdale forge?”

“Oh, right. Still, you’d have to see if steam expands the same way it does at home. Or if black powder works. What if...”

Ferric cleared her throat to distract the rabbit from the argument. “You’ll have to forgive them, Sir Gerard. Valerie is an expert in our weapons, and Maxine works with machines in general. Part of their type of magic, I suppose you could say. Your ships and weapons are things from our history, and they’re just arguing about how best to give you better tools. The real question is, how much of that would even work here, and they don’t know that yet any more than I do.”

“I am pretty sure we have dromons. That word translated properly.”

The raccoon chuckled. “Fair enough. If the term exists in Common, then you have the concept.” She dodged one of the few bits of manure lying on the cobblestones. “I will say, I’m impressed by how clean your streets are.”

“We try to keep the number of draft animals to a minimum in the capital, and it’s collected every night. You may have noticed that there are very few riding beasts?”

“I was wondering about that. Even you and your cavalry troopers are on foot here.”

“By order of the Council. Keeps the congestion down, and the mess, and the amount of animal fodder that has to be kept here.” He grinned. “It -is- an island, after all. You can have them to pull cargo wagons, but if you want to ride in the city, either on horseback or by carriage, you’d best have a good reason, and the money to pay for the permits.”

“Even the rulers?”

“Especially them. One of the clauses in the Charter is that the Council cannot pass laws that apply only to nobles, or only to the commoners, or even only to foreigners.”
 
“Very wise. There are always loopholes in rules like that, but you have to find them on purpose.”

The rabbit chuckled. “Haki does not approve of lawyers who spend their time looking for ways to flout the spirit of the law. They tend to come to bad ends.”

“Haki…?”

Sir Gerard frowned, and his ears went back. “The Lord of Justice. Do you not honor the Gods of Light?”

“We don’t -know- the Gods of this world, Sir Gerard. Not yet, at least. But I am a Christian, and our God is the God of Light for our world. Do your Gods ask that you practice honor, and fidelity, protect the weak, help the helpless, and not hurt others except to defend yourselves? To forgive those who repent?”

The rabbit’s ears went back up, and he nodded thoughtfully. “That... is a good summary. Your God and ours are on the same side, then.”
 
“Considering what we are both fighting, I would hope so…” The raccoon shrugged. “We have a saying. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ No matter what disagreements we may have, Sir Gerard, I would hope we could cooperate on that basis, at least.”

The rabbit chuckled. “We have a similar one, Lady Sally. I think we can certainly work together against the Necromancer. But we’re almost there.” He pointed ahead. Rising abruptly from the city was a steep rocky hill, with buildings clinging to the slopes, a tower rising from the peak, and a wall that ran around the base of the hill, surrounding the entire ten acres of the complex. There was a closed gate at the end of the street they were on, but no guards were in evidence.

Exit nodded. “Mount Morris Park, in our world. Here... ?” She looked questioningly at Lady Carlotta.

The muskrat smiled. “Here, it is Wizard Hill, and the site of the Collegium of the Alithea.” She turned to Sir Gerard. “I thank you for your escort, milord lieutenant.” She took out a small but obviously heavy pouch. “If you would be so kind as to distribute this among your squadron as a thank you, I would be obliged. And... “ Her face went very serious. “Please have the families of those who died contact us. The Alithea is responsible for their welfare now.”

The rabbit saluted, equally grave. “I shall see to it, milady, rest assured.” He called his men to order and started to turn to depart the way they had come.

Exit interrupted. “Sir Gerard?”

He turned back. “Lady Valerie?”

She came to attention and saluted. Behind her, Ferric and Endopossum produced somewhat sloppier versions of the same gesture. She raised her voice to carry to the entire squad. “Troopers and officers of the Silver Company. It was an honor to fight as your companions.”

The rabbit smiled, and did his best to copy the American salute in return. “Agent Miller. Agent Clarke. Cadet Yaeger. The honor was ours. I think we all learned why you are champions in your own lands. May the Gods go with you.” Behind him, the troopers cheered.

“And with you and yours, Sir Gerard.” She turned back to the mage as the soldiers marched off with their officer. “And we are here. How do we get in? There don’t seem to be any gatekeepers.”

The muskrat grinned. “Not living ones, no. But the gates know who is supposed to be here.” She led the way, and the gates swung inward to admit them. The outworlders didn’t bat an eye, leaving her feeling vaguely disappointed. She had been much more startled the first time she’d seen it, and had been looking forward to surprising them.

A rather nervous young otter girl met them halfway up the hill. “Senior Apprentice Carlotta? Archon Meredith is waiting to talk to all of you as soon as you’ve had a chance to refresh yourselves. I am to conduct our guests to their rooms and guide them to his office at nones.”

Carlotta nodded. “They’ve been given quarters on the ground floor, as I requested?”

“They have, Senior. And I’ve been instructed to act as their attendant while they are here. Where is their luggage?”

Exit chuckled at that. “We’re wearing it. We didn’t have a chance to pack before we arrived here.”

The youngster blushed. “I’m sorry, milady. I… I didn’t know.”

Endopossum shrugged. “No reason you should have. What’s your name, kit? If you’re going to be taking care of us while we’re here, I don’t want to keep shouting ‘Hey, you!’

“Renee, milady. If you would follow me, I’ll take you to where you’ll be staying. Would you like… errr… more appropriate clothing while you are here? Or would you prefer to have me clean what you are wearing?”

Ferric chuckled. “Well, it definitely needs cleaning. But we’ll need something fairly quickly. Nones is mid-afternoon, if I recall correctly. Whatever is faster.”

The otter nodded. “I’ll take care of it, milady.”

*  *  *  *

Battles in two worlds and five days in Orterra, working as farmhands and travelling on horseback, had left the trio - and their clothing - rather more fragrant than any of them were used to. The chance to take even a primitive bath was not to be passed up, and in the event it was not as primitive as they’d feared it might be. “At least it was hot water.” Exit had spent nearly an hour soaking before finally emerging from what was literally a bathroom - a room with a bathtub and a bench for clean clothing and towels. “The soap left something to be desired, though.”

Ferric grinned at the mink. “Speak for yourself. I -like- lye soap. I get rusty fur if the soap is too mild.”

“You, chica, are a special case. But it does feel good to get the trail grime washed off.” She looked around their suite, and settled her gaze on their local assistant. “So what kind of appropriate feminine clothing did you bring us?”

The young otter looked nervous. “We didn’t have enough time to have you properly fitted, miladies. I did some cleaning cantrips on your clothes for now.”

Endopossum nodded. “They’re not exactly fresh, but most of the crud is gone. She even managed to patch the tears in Sally’s jumpsuit. I’m afraid her boots are past saving, though.”

Ferric chuckled. “They held up as well as most ever do. They don’t make steel-belted radial footwear, and anything less tends to wear out rapidly under my weight.”

Exit was more interested in the other half of the comment. “She patched Kevlar? How did she manage that?” She looked at the otter with even more intensity.

Renee squirmed under that gaze. “T’was… t’was just a simple mending cantrip, milady. It matches the cloth that is already there, and though this… Kevlar?  It was the strongest fabric I have ever seen, but it was not magical.”

Exit shook her head. “Pity Mystic Cat or Warlock aren’t along. We could use a spell like that.”

Endopossum chuckled. “Well, maybe they can figure out how to do it if we tell them it’s possible.” She stretched and stood up. “So, when do we head off to this meeting?”

“Whenever you are ready, milady.”

*  *  *  *

Carlotta reported directly to the Archon after Renee took charge of the outworlder guests. His door opened before she could knock. “I’m back, sir. Did you want to see me before meeting with them?”

The old sea otter nodded. “Briefly, my dear. You’ve now spent a couple days with them. What are your impressions? Are they what they seem to be?”

“I believe they are actual outworlders, Archon, and truly opponents of the Necromancer. They carry… unique devices, which in that one’s hands would give him serious advantages. I cannot believe that he would throw such things away to infiltrate a few spies among us. More to the point, neither did Sir Gerard. His evaluation of the mink’s weapons and other devices from a military perspective…” She shook her head. “Envy is not a strong enough word. And the opossum, Agent Clarke, showed the villagers in Sand Hills better ways to make ordinary farming tools in the brief time she was there. Baron Guillame came down to see them himself on his son’s recommendation, and said that he would order his smiths to start using her designs. A lot of little things like that. I doubt the Enemy could have made up an entire language just to fool us about their origin, and the opossum is… unique. Her spine glows through her skin, and her blood has healing magic in it. She mixed it with a powder she carries, and saved two troopers who would otherwise have died.”

“Kyrios Samantha reported that the raccoon didn’t ride, but somehow kept up with the horses?”

Carlotta chuckled. “She’s too heavy for horses. She was almost too heavy for the ferry out to the island. We had to use a cargo lighter, and getting her on and off was… interesting. She was too heavy to use the gangplank. If she wasn’t obviously alive, I’d have thought she was an iron golem. And if they’re telling the truth - and the village priestess assured me they were - she took the Orb away from the mouse unharmed when he tried to steal it from their world, while he was -using- it.” She paused at the expression of mingled dread and amazement on the otter’s face. “What’s wrong, sir?”

“She’s the Iron Maiden…”

“Sir?”

“Get cleaned up, and be back here for the meeting. I think you’ve established their bona fides sufficiently for now.”

*  *  *  *

There were eight furs already seated at the conference table when Carlotta ushered them into the room. Four spaces had been left along one side of the table, one with what appeared to be a hastily prepared stool sufficient to handle Ferric’s mass. Carlotta bowed to the group as the heroes seated themselves. “Milords and ladies, may I present the paladins from Earth. Agent Valerie Miller, battle name Exit; Agent Maxine Clarke, battle name Endopossum; Cadet Sally Yeager, battle name Ferric.”

The elderly sea otter seated opposite Ferric smiled. “Thank you, Adept. If you would be seated with them…?”

Carlotta was doubly flustered. “Sir? Adept?”

“A short mission, but important, and you did well. The Kyriarchs agree with me.” He chuckled. “Not that I wouldn’t have overridden them if they hadn’t. Join us, Adept Carlotta. You traveled with them and probably have a greater understanding of them than any of us do at this point. We expect you to give us the benefit of that experience.”

The muskrat nodded mutely and settled into the last seat at the table. Endopossum leaned over and clapped her on the shoulder. “Congratulations!” Carlotta winced, more from embarrassment than pain, and tried to look inconspicuous.

The sea otter smiled, and rescued his protege from her unwanted position in the spotlight after a moment. “Welcome to Orterra, ladies. I gather that we already owe you and your Bureau of Superheroes a debt that will be nearly impossible to repay, and it is with the most abject apologies that I have to say that we have no way of returning you to your home, at least not yet.”

Ferric leaned over to whisper to Exit. “What got translated as the Bureau was Council of Paladins. I don’t think they really understand how things work on our side.”

The mink flicked an ear in acknowledgement and nodded to the otter. “I can’t say I’m happy to hear that, sir, but I’m not surprised. The only ones who know where we came from, among all the alternate worlds, are working for the other side.”

“Exactly. But let me introduce myself and my colleagues.” He gestured around the table. “For the Alithea, Liu Hua, Grand Archon - he is the head of the Mage Council, you understand - myself, Archon Anton Meredith, and my chief of scrying, Kyrios Samantha Bauer.” The red panda who was introduced as the Grand Archon wore green silk robes embroidered with gold, in the style of dynastic China. The sea otter and the badger also wore green robes, but of a much simpler design. “For the secular side, Admiral General Mateo Kaliaka of the Hesperian Navy,” The storm petrel wore a uniform of gray trousers and blue tunic, with gold epaulettes. “Heyland Carter, Earl Palisades, the Hesperian spymaster…” This one was a red fox, in black with a gold chain and pendant with what seemed to be either a badge of office or perhaps a coat of arms. “And the ambassador from Lakeland, Sir Pierre Mayotte.” The Ambassador was a gray-furred rabbit whose left ear was missing the last quarter of its length, dressed in a maroon tunic, blue breeches, and black leather boots.

Endopossum lifted her right hand. “Pardon me. Lakeland?”

The rabbit smiled. “The realm to the west of Hesperos, Lady Maxine. It extends from the mountains to the Freshwater Seas. We are close allies against the Necromancer.”

“Thank you, Sir Pierre.”

“To conclude the introductions, the third part of the Triad, our ecclesiastical brethren. Sisters, in this case. High Priestess Iringa Mwamba, follower of the Lady of the Harvest.” The priestess was a gazelle, with short black horns and brown fur, her dress a mix of autumn colors. “And the Loremistress, Tessa Cherra.” The bat was ancient in her gray robes, once-black fur now mostly white, and her eyes milky with cataracts. Her blindness did not seem to be a handicap, though - her movements were stiff, but sure.

“Now… most of what we know at this point is that one of you cast a teleport spell that went through the wards around Daxheim Keep like a slingstone through glass, and brought you to a small village in the Sand Hills district.”

The red panda nodded. “And that is why I am here. Every apprentice with any potential for scrying on the continent, if not the entire world, felt that. Did you have the chance to find out anything useful, Kyrios?”

The badger nodded. “We did. The wards around the Enemy’s stronghold were down for nearly five minutes before his minions restored them. I and my subordinates were able to find out a great deal of information about his defenses during that period. They will, I am sure, be changing things around, but it will take time - and if we act quickly we can take advantage of the confusion as he does so.”

It was the bat who spoke next. “All well and good, Kyrios Bauer. But what makes you think that this is a good time to move against the Necromancer?”

She shook her head. “I am not saying it is good or bad, Loremistress. Merely that if it is desirable to do so, we have a window of opportunity.”

The bat subsided with a grumble. The otter picked up the thread of the meeting again. “Some of us here already know part of the situation. The rest of you need to be brought up to date.” He looked somewhat embarrassed and would not meet the Ambassador’s eyes at all. “The story about Roland and the destruction of the Orb of Souls was… not completely correct. The auguries advised against trying to destroy it, so instead it was sent out into the infinite planes of existence, with spells that would conceal it and put it somewhere safe. For five centuries, it worked. But… eventually he found it. If you ladies are willing, can you tell us what happened from your point of view?”

Exit nodded. “This seems fair. Maxie, you were the one who spotted them first. You should start.”

“That was the second visit. There was a probe before that, in Colmaton. Sally, did you hear much about that?” She explained to the locals. “Her home town. Mine’s New York, and Maxie’s from St. Louis.”

“A little. We didn’t know they were from here at the time, of course, but..."  

*  *  *  *

“... and just in time, too. Sally had just gotten that silly ball out of the transfer circle when the hawk triggered it.”

The whole table was staring now. Even the blind bat had her ears firmly swiveled in Exit’s direction. “She touched it? While he was -using- it?”

Carlotta cleared her throat. “Her whole body is living metal, milords and ladies. Much as Roland’s arm was said to be. And the one she threw it to…?” She gestured back to the mink.

Exit nodded. “Disruptor is a living suppression field. Magic, or what we call powers, simply do not work in his presence, for good or ill. It was not a coincidence that he was there, of course, his power made it possible for him to simply walk through the zombies, who would collapse before they could touch him. So Sally knew that it was safe to give it to him, and would likely stop the zombie attack. We don’t know for sure what happened after we left, but that seems the most likely outcome.” She shrugged. “At any rate, we appeared, apparently in this Daxheim Keep, I shot the hawk before he could do anything else, Sally threw the mouse at one of his minions to keep him busy, and I ‘ported us out. I -think- we arrived at the spot that matches where I would have appeared if we’d been in our world. At home it is a military base. Here, simply a hilltop near a small farming village. And from there, you know what happened. We made contact, you sent an escort, and here we are. I’m afraid we don’t have our passports with us.”

It took a little while to get that concept across. Both the fox and the rabbit looked intrigued by the idea for a few minutes, and then shook their heads. “You’d need whole colleges of dedicated mages to pass information back and forth, and border guards who were reliably literate.”

The mink chuckled. “True enough. At home, we have them, or at least something similar, for the most part. But that is our tale. We have friends who we hope will eventually be able to track us down and bring us home, but in the meantime... what can we do to help you against this Necromancer, or otherwise earn our keep?”

Liu Hua spoke for the first time since the trio had started their tale. “You have already given us an inestimable service by preventing the Enemy from obtaining the Orb, and warning us that he has found its hiding place. That you are more concerned with what more you can do rather than what we might owe you speaks very well of this Bureau of yours.”

Endopossum shrugged. “He’s still up there in his lair, with a whole empire to back him up. It’s not like the job is finished.”

The fox chuckled. “Definitely true. I’ve already picked up rumblings from my operatives - he has put an enormous price on your heads. And unfortunately, he already seems to know that you’re here in Hesperos.”

Samantha snorted. “No real surprise, that. They made an enormous amount of noise when they left Daxheim.”

The response to this was unexpected. “Heeheehee! Such a lot of noise, my little dumpling, such a racket! It attracted all -kinds- of attention.” The giggling voice came out of thin air over the conference table, and was followed by a creature that was obviously female, and which might at one time have been a feline of some sort. She oozed into visibility couchant in mid-air, a tiger-striped centaur with deer hooves, a lion’s tail, and a lynx’s upper torso and head, holding a staff whose ornate decorations of tentacles holding an eye were vaguely disturbing - and seemed to move when you weren’t looking directly at them. The young muskrat, the fox, the petrel and the rabbit all pushed back from the table, ready to fight or flee as necessary from this sudden invasion. Exit and Endopossum were on their feet as well, the mink holding pistols in both hands and the opossum with her sword out and powered up. Ferric was halfway out of her chair and reaching for her staff when she noticed that the senior mages and the two clerics weren’t moving. She gently sat down again.

The gazelle merely sat with her ears perked forward, and the bat grumbled a bit. Liu Hua winced and closed his eyes as if in pain. Meredith just facepalmed. “Eris. What are -you- doing here?”

“My job, dear boy, my job. I -am- the Envoy of Mrrg'lai'sss, after all, and sometimes I have to, y’know, do envoy things.” She turned her attention to the three outworlders. “In this case, it’s you lot. Got a message.” She stepped down from her mid-air perch and reseated herself in the middle of the conference table.

Ferric smiled. “And I think I know who it’s from. I’d recognize that style of giggle anywhere.”

“Sorry, dear. It’s not from your world’s version of me. He’s still looking for you, but he won’t be allowed to find you just yet. Mrrg'lai'sss and Kll’Daarn made an arrangement. You’ll get to go home again, but not until you do a job for Her.”

Exit’s voice was flat. “A job.”

“Yes. A job. She’s getting tired of the self-styled Master of the Northlands. You need to break something of his so he’ll eventually go away.”

Endopossum raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to object to messing with him. Exactly what are we supposed to break?”  
“Tell you? That would take all the fun out of it! It’s not the Orb, though. Breaking that would be messy. And it’s not here anyway. Kll’Daarn is still keeping an eye or three on -that- thing. Zombies are boring.”

Ferric grumbled. “Not the word I’d use.”

The four-footed creature reached out to poke the raccoon’s nose. “You don’t have their perspective.” She grinned again. “You -are- a solid one, aren’t you? Anyway, that’s the message. We needed someone like the Iron Maiden here to be able to touch his stuff safely. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop him from stealing other fur’s life force to extend his own.”

Exit was still frowning. “Okay, that sounds like something useful to accomplish. But what if we don’t ?”

“Then… you’ll be staying here for a while. Either way, it’ll be fun to watch! Good luck, kids!” With that, she stepped back into the air and vanished again. A roll of parchment dropped to the table in her wake, and her voice echoed in the air. “Almost forgot. You might need the map.”

The Admiral just shook his head. “Does that sort of thing happen a lot around here?”

Meredith sighed. “Fortunately, not very often. Although even once is too often. The disadvantage of using a ley line to boost the scrying. Eris seems to be able to use them as if they were high roads.”

The rabbit was still staring at the air over the conference table. “What -was- that thing?”

“You heard her yourself. Eris, Envoy of Mrrg'lai'sss. Whatever that is. She is quite possibly the only living creature who knows the Necromancer’s name. She’s old enough, at least.” He turned to look at the raccoon. “Do you know something about her?”

“Well, not about -her-. But one of our colleagues acts a bit like that. Says that his magic comes from something that lives between the universes. He calls them Lacuneans. And… yeah. He gets a bit odd at times. If this Eris of yours has been working with them for a long time, you’re probably lucky she’s not crazier.”

The sea otter twitched his ears forward. “One of her kind is a member of your Bureau?”

“Well, Eldritch isn’t a four-footed chimera, just a normal hybrid fur. Racoon and wolf cross. But yes, he’s a valued member of our organization, even if he is a bit crazy at times. He alerted us to the incursions into our world by the mouse.”

Meredith sat back in his chair. “That… comes as a relief, actually. We didn’t know even that much about her before. Eris is... rather a force of nature, I’m afraid. But if her patron is not something inimical, no matter how strange, it’s one thing less we have to worry about.” He sat up, dismissing the subject with a shake of his head. “But it seems we have a project to work on.” He turned to the bat. “Loremistress? Do we have any idea how the Enemy extends his life? It seems that our new friends are the key to disrupting that. And if he becomes mortal once again, the problem will solve itself in the course of time, without any further effort on our part.”

“Tell me what the map shows.”

*  *  *  *

Vortex had long since gotten familiar with the location of the farm on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, since Sally visited as often as she was allowed to. This was the first time he’d opened this particular portal for someone else, though. As soon as it had stabilized, Morningstar, Eldritch and Coriolis stepped through, moving from the Colmaton base to the remote farmhouse in a single step. Ferric’s parents were waiting for them.

Molly Yaeger, now officially Molly Johnson in her new identity, looked at them with an eyebrow raised. “What’s happened to Sally?”

Morningstar sighed. “We’re not actually completely sure. Did you hear about the supervillain attack at Arlington last week?”

“Aye. The news reports seemed a bit light on details, I thought.”

“That’s because most of the details are classified. We don’t want to start a panic by talking about aliens from space, or things from other worlds or universes.” The bison sighed. “But such things do exist, and Ferric, Exit, and Endopossum are all missing in action as a result of stopping one such incursion.”

Eldritch cleared his throat. “They were taken along when the attackers retreated. I’m working on tracking them down, ma’am. But it’s a rather laborious process, and it will probably take some time. I -do- know that they are in good health so far. I can feel their presence out there, I just can’t nail it down well enough to bring them back yet.”

Ferric’s father was looking speculatively at the three. “And what was she doing there in the first place? I hope you aren’t in the habit of sending children on your missions?”

Coriolis chuckled. “I was giving her and a couple of her friends a tour around the Smithsonian when it went down, sir. She wasn’t supposed to get involved, but… you know her. Once it started, who was going to stop her?”

Molly’s smile was a bittersweet and lopsided thing. “That does sound like my girl. Stubborn as the day is long, and protective to a fault. Got her into trouble at school, too. What about her friends?”

“They’re fine. As are most of the people involved. Just the three of them got caught in the backwash when the bad guys retreated.”

“Exit’s a good one. A bit rough with her language, but she’s the one who got us out of that mess last year. At least Sally’s with someone responsible.”

Eldritch nodded. “And I’m certain we’ll get them back It just… might take longer than we’d hoped.”

“You’re sure they’re all right?”

“So far, at least. I have a connection to them, ma’am. I just can’t pull them back yet.”

Molly nodded. “Thanks for taking the time to tell us. Keep us posted, all right?”

“We’ll do that. We’re sorry this happened.”

“Doesn’t sound like it was really your fault. When you get her back, send her to me. -I will- deal with grounding her.”

Morningstar grinned. “I’ll be happy to let you handle that. And now we have jobs to get back to.” They turned and stepped back through the portal, which closed behind them.

Molly chuckled. “So -that’s- what Bill does in his spare time.”

“I thought that sounded like him. Better not say anything, Molly.”

“Of course not. They’ll have a fit if we let on that we know.”

*  *  *  *

“So what do we have here?” Exit had been conducting most of the offworlders’ contact with the mages, while Endopossum taught improved metalworking techniques and Ferric worked with the alchemists trying to duplicate her alloy supplements and the opossum’s Serum 214.

The badger in charge of the scrying network tapped the parchment in front of them. “What we have is a magicked map. It shows where we are, and where the target is. Comparing that to one of our own maps puts the target location... well, nowhere. There is nothing important there that we know of.”

The mink raised an eyebrow. “Kyrios Samantha, either this Eris is playing a practical joke on us, or there is more here than you know about. If she was trying to get us killed, though, wouldn’t she have set the target location somewhere the mouse has a serious presence?”

“I’d think so, yes. So I’m inclined to go with the idea that she knows something we don’t. In which case... the question becomes, what’s the quickest way to get you there, without attracting attention. Your teleportation is too noisy to be useful to go there -”

Exit interrupted. “Doesn’t work that way anyhow. I can’t go somewhere I’ve never seen, and I can’t keep more than one location in my head at the same time anyway. I’d rather not mess with that here, so no matter where we go, I will be returning to Hartsdale once we’re finished breaking whatever is there. I can bring us home, but I can’t take us there.”     
Samantha nodded. “Just as well. So what we have in mind... there were hidden outposts of the old Daxi Imperial Army all through their territory before -he- took over. They used them as bases against bandits, that kind of thing. The locations were not all recorded, and what records existed were successfully destroyed before the Keep fell. General Bauer escaped-” She smiled at the mink’s raised eyebrow. “Yes, an ancestor of mine. He escaped with a few of his command and their families, and brought the information to Hesperos. There are several that -he- has never found, as far as we know. We’ve occasionally used them to slip spies into the Northlands, and there is one about fifteen leagues from the location shown here. Sixty miles.”

Exit nodded. “Or about a hundred kilometers. Not too bad a march, if we can stay concealed. What do you mean by using these places to slip spies in?”

“They are known underground locations, and we can teleport people in without attracting attention -because- they are underground. We’ve never used this one, since it wasn’t near anything we thought we needed to see. Are you willing to try?”

Exit nodded. “Of course. Even if it wasn’t necessary to do this before we can go home, we’re going to be a target for him back in -our- world unless he’s dealt with. So... is there anything we should know about cross country travel here in Orterra?”

The badger sighed. “It’s not all that safe away from traveled roads. I would suggest you take some of our people with you to assist, steer you away from the worst hazards, things like that.”

“I can carry two more people, as long as they’re not too heavy, along with my colleagues. Who would you recommend?”

“I would recommend that you discuss that with someone more familiar with this sort of thing than I am. Let’s go talk to the Archon.”
*  *  *  *

The wolverine scowled at the old otter, and from the way his mouth worked, it was apparent that he was suppressing the urge to spit. “You want us to take these three femmes on a mission? You know we work alone.”

Meredith nodded. “I’m aware of that. But you’re the best we have, Fritjof. And the mission requires their presence. We need you to guide them to where they’re going and keep them out of trouble. They’re good in a fight, according to the cavalry troop that brought them here, but they’re not familiar with the northern wilderness at all.”

The wolverine’s companion, a gray-furred cat, shook his head. “Now, now, Fritjof. Let’s hear him out before we decide. He knows we’re the best at what we do, and he knows we generally work together. If he wants to depart from that, it’s most likely -very- important. And if he’s worried about getting them through the Northlands…” The cat looked at the Archon speculatively. “It’s probably worth a lot of money.”

Meredith nodded. “If you are successful, it’s pretty much name your own reward.”

The cat’s ears perked up. “That important?”

“Yes. This mission might be the key to finally getting rid of you know who.”

The wolverine looked interested, but far from convinced. “Then let -us- do it. I respect your mages, Archon, but femmes do not make good warriors.”

The otter chuckled. “These three will probably surprise you.” He sighed. “If I could, Fritjof, I would let you. You’ve never let us down in the past. But young Sally is probably the only one who can do what is needed. You know how -his- craftwork protects itself.” He gestured to Exit. “The mink is your ticket home, because you won’t be able to get out after the mission is accomplished otherwise. And the three of them are a team, as much as you and Leon are.”

The weird-haired opossum spoke up for the first time. “Tell ya what. You don’t think we can hack it? Let’s have a little contest. Armor and practice swords, three rounds, best two out of three. I win, you give me a hundred gold out of your reward. You win, you get a night to show me what you think a femme -is- good for, eh?”

The wolverine snorted laughter. “As if you could beat me in a fight.”

“So you’ll take that bet?”

“Done. Archon, can I trouble you to let us borrow your salle?”

The otter sighed. “As long as you don’t hurt each other too badly. Right now?”

Endopossum nodded. “Sure. Might as well get the issue out of the way. I don’t think he’s going to cooperate until we get this sorted out. Unless you can find someone else as good as this pair?”

The cat just shook his head. Meredith sighed again and got up. “Not quickly, no. These two aren’t unique, but they’re here at the moment. Very well, then. Let’s get this taken care of. When you’re done with all this silly posturing, we can start planning.” He stumped his way to the door and led the way down from the Tower toward the training area.

Ferric was horrified as she walked beside Endopossum. “But what if you -lose-, Maxine? You -know- what he’d want…”

Endopossum chuckled. “Relax, Sally. It certainly won’t be my first time. He might even be good between the sheets. And it’s a win-win. I’m not going to be an easy mark for him, even if he’s as good as he thinks he is, so he’ll be better behaved. If he’s better at fighting than I am, that’s great. And if not, we get some local money and put the fear of the BoS into him.” She grinned. “Hey, I might just take him to bed even if I win. He does look yummy.”

The raccoon was blushing furiously by this point, her ears and muzzle solid black with her dark blood. “That’s… that’s… eeeewww.”

Exit glanced back at the whispering, and shook her head. “Maxine, don’t break the poor girl. You could embarrass a sailor.”

Endopossum stuck her tongue out at her colleague. “Probably. Do you have one handy? We could check.”
*  *  *  *

The training salle was near the bottom of the hill, a simple structure with a broad sand-floored space for practice in all weather, a shooting range burrowed into the hill itself for both archery and spell practice, and arming rooms to one side with wooden practice arms and weighted practice armor of various types available. Endopossum had already sparred with some of the mage-soldiers of the Alithea, and word of the contest had spread quickly. As the wolverine and the opossum stepped out into the arena, they found that they had attracted an audience.  

Exit was amused. “They’re as bad as -our- military people. The grapevine is the only known form of faster-than-light communication.”

The wolverine’s partner sat down beside Ferric. “Mind if I join you? Friji’s a good fellow at heart, but he’s a bit set in his ways. He doesn’t mind mages, but he always acts this way around warrior femmes. Unless they’re fellow wolverines, at least.”

The raccoon chuckled. “I was going to ask about that. He’s lucky Rocka Khan isn’t along on this ride.”

“A friend of yours?”

“Yeah, you could say that. We’ve worked together. She’s a wolverine, too. She’s… I guess you’d call her an earth mage.”

The cat nodded. “Fair enough. Let me introduce myself properly. Leon Dupres, also known as the Gray Shadow. I do my best to keep my partner out of trouble, but it’s an uphill battle.”

“Sally Yeager, code name Ferric.” She offered her hand, and was only momentarily surprised when he grasped her forearm instead of the hand. She completed the gesture a moment later. “Heh. Keep forgetting how you do it here. I’m used to just hand-to-hand as a greeting.”

This produced a curious look. “Interesting. Where -are- you three from? I’ve never seen anyone with hair like hers - or anyone like you, either.”

The raccoon just smiled. “That’s part of the briefing, if we can get your partner to agree to come with us.”

Exit nodded. “Not something everyone needs to know.” She looked back at the practice arena. “Looks like they’re ready.”

The three Bureau operatives had been provided with what the Hesperians considered appropriate feminine clothing, simple blouses and long skirts, but Endopossum had changed back to her fighting uniform for the contest. Her pants, though appearing to be denim, were actually enhanced Kevlar-weave, as was her shirt. Her pseudo-leather jacket was also enhanced ballistic cloth. The shoulder epaulettes had spikes to guard her neck and armor plate beneath them to stop any blows that the epaulettes deflected. She’d chosen to wear her domino mask for the fight as well, which caused stirring in the audience - none of them had seen it before. Her opponent just snorted. “Am I supposed to be worried by you dressing up as a bandit, little girl?”   

The wolverine, for his part, was guarded by a deceptively simple suit of leather armor reinforced by metal mesh. Endopossum could feel the tell-tale tingle of the magics that strengthened it beyond its natural limits. They’d both been provided with wooden practice swords.

The referee for the match was a grizzled hare. “All right, this is a friendly match. The swords will register when a sufficiently strong blow has been achieved. Best out of three, a loss is either receiving a solid hit or being forced outside the boundaries. May Makali, Lord of Battles, watch over you.” He stepped back, away from the two. “Cross swords, then step back two paces.” When the pair had done so, he nodded. “Begin!”

Maxine took the first point almost immediately. She feinted right at half her normal speed - which was still fast enough to look like a proper committed attack - and then dodged left at her full speed, her sword licking out at a speed that made it just a blur to most of the furs present. It hit Fritjof in the short ribs, taking him completely by surprise. A bell sounded, and the hare called “Hold! First point to Agent Clarke.” He looked at them both. “Do either of you wish to rest?”

Fritjof was frowning at Endopossum. “Nie.”

Maxine chuckled. “I think we can skip it.” She grinned at the wolverine. “It’s not a bandit mask. It’s a tradition of our homeland’s heroes to wear a mask while fighting for justice. We are anonymous in that fight, rather than battling for individual glory.” She crossed swords and stepped the required two paces back again. “Doesn’t mean we’re not good at it, though.” She paused before adding, “Slowpoke.”

The hare cleared his throat. “If you’re quite finished?” He counted down. “Three. Two. One. Begin!”

This time Fritjof was ready for her speed, and Maxine found herself blocked in her initial strikes. They fell into a sort of pattern as the opossum probed the wolverine’s defense, her greater speed countered by his greater reach. The two fought up one side of the salle and down the other, the thock-thock of wooden blades echoing through the building. First one, then the other, would try a maneuver only to be stopped by their opponent. In the end, it was Endopossum who made the first mistake. The wolverine set up an attack while her sword was out of position, low and right, and in order to defend she had to move too quickly. Fritjof grinned as he turned her speed against her, evaded her parry, and struck before she could recover. His smile at scoring was echoed by her own, though. He’d scored, but even before the referee could call the hold, her blade had struck his own chest as well.

“Point to Fritjof.” The hare shook his head, his next words pitched for the contestants only. “Though in a real battle, that would have been a mutual kill. Five minutes rest.”

The hare’s comment was echoed throughout the salle as the more experienced spectators explained what had happened to their neighbors. Leon was no exception. “She’s better than I expected. How long can she keep up that speed, though? I’m surprised she’s lasted this long. She’s got to be getting tired.”

Valerie smirked. “I hope you didn’t bet too much on your friend. Maxine doesn’t -get- tired.”

The cat’s gaze snapped left to focus on the mink. “What do you mean, she doesn’t get tired?”

Sally chuckled. “She means precisely what she said. None of us have ever been able to wear her out. Some of us can -beat- her, sometimes, by luck or skill or sheer strength. But she never gets tired. Part of her powers. She can go flat out as long as she wants.”
  
Leon chuckled. “Well, well… then I guess we’ll have to go on this mission after all. That way I can recoup my losses.”

The mink sighed. “Pity we didn’t have any money to get in on the betting…”

The third round started pretty much the same as the second round had. The two probed each other’s styles, and again the martial ballet moved up and down the room as first one, then the other, had to give way to an unexpected maneuver. After a while, though, the spectators began to notice that the wolverine was giving way more often, reacting more slowly, and it began to dawn on them that the opossum was showing no signs of fatigue at all. Fritjof started to realize it as well. “What are you? You’re not made of iron, like your friend.”

Maxine grinned. “Nope. Just don’t get tired. I don’t have to pace myself. You do, don’t you? And I’ve been pushing you to go full out this whole time. I can keep this up for hours. Can you?”

“You…” Fritjof launched into a complex attack, a triple feint followed by a false opening to lure his opponent out of position. It wasn’t easy to set up, but it had never failed him. This time it did. She took the bait, but recovered and danced back out of his reach before he could complete the combination. “You are not natural.”

She chuckled. “That is truer than you can probably imagine.” Her smile showed fangs, and she launched her own series of attacks as he tried to recover from the failure of his own, and he fell back again, avoiding her thrusts only by retreating. “Keep that up and you’ll run out of running room soon.”

<She’s right. And I don’t think she’s lying. I can’t wear her down, and I’m going to tire soon. Now or never.> He stopped retreating, and launched into an all-out attack. It drove her back on her heels at first, but they hadn’t reached the mid-point of the arena before she began to parry all of his attacks.

“Running out of steam, then?”

“Steam? What does... steam have... to do with... this?”

She grinned. “Figure of speech, where I come from. But you are.” She parried and forced his weapon into a bind, stepped in close and touched her nosepad to his before stepping back and releasing their weapons. He sputtered and brought his sword around to thrust again, but she anticipated the move and refused contact until he’d committed. As he lunged, she did a full parry once more, pushing his sword to the side and setting him up for a thrust of her own.

The crowd came to their feet, applauding as the hare raised his arms to signal the end of the bout. “Hold! Winning point to Agent Clarke!”     
  
Fritjof, for his part, grumbled about the affair as the two were joined by their companions. “I’d have won if you got tired like a normal fur.”

Exit and Leon laughed, and Ferric supplied the straight line. “Normal is not a word that remotely applies to any of us.”

Leon shook his head. “I’d say not. Well, Friji? Are you ready to admit that these particular femmes can hold their own in battle?” The wolverine just grunted. Leon snorted at his companion's attitude. “I’ll take that as a yes. Go get washed up and we can find out just what business they have with you-know-who.”

Endopossum smiled at the wolverine as they headed back to the arming rooms. “You made me work a lot harder for that win than most of my fellows do. What say we call it a draw, and trade prizes?” The two Orterrans looked startled, though Fritjof started to smile after a moment. Exit grinned behind their backs. Ferric just rolled her eyes.



TO BE CONTINUED

A Colmaton Universe fanfic.
The Colmaton Universe is the intellectual property of Train.
The Bureau of Superheroes is the intellectual property of Mojorover
Eldritch and the Lacuneans are the intellectual property of thecanidean.
Endopossum/Maxine Clark property of arvanas_sorrat
All other major characters original to me.