07/07/06:

                The sun was well up by the time we all agreed on the wording; "Success at Havasu, Mojave and Martinez. Avoid Havasu City for now. Have allies at Mojave. Possibly Yuma next. Representative from true Aztlan government. Advise Malcolm." I sent the message and waited for a reply. It took a few moments, but I finally 'heard' Caesar - he was yelling, "…how does this thing work again? Oh right. Glad you're okay. Find out who is in charge there. We'll negotiate at a later… " and he was cut off.

                It was just so very Caesar. I laughed until I remembered that I was the only one who'd heard it and everyone was staring at me. I repeated Caesar's response for them. There was a lot of head shaking. Olivia and I shooed everyone off to get some sleep and then we went back to the Commandant's office to hang out and ask any questions that came up.

                And who was the first to show up? A member of the original council, one of the men we had spoken to when we had first been here back in February of last year. With him was a small group of people. They all to be about the same age group and just as uptight. This was going to be unpleasant. He didn't recognize us (of course) and we had no intention of telling him we'd met before. He introduced himself and the others and said, "We're what's left of the original leadership, and we're in charge here."

                "Oh, no you're not," I said. "For the moment we are in charge. That will change as soon as the people can be gathered and they decide 'who's in charge'."

                He continued, undaunted, "Look, we appreciate what you've done for us…."

                Olivia cut him off. "No. You look. We have had five, maybe six hours of sleep in the last three days. We have liberated a total of four communities in that time. We're tired, we're dirty, and we're cranky. Consider this the worst case of PMS you've ever seen and don't finish that sentence with 'but now leave'!"

                I don't think he heard a single word of it. "We really do appreciate what you did, but you need to leave," he said.

                I was getting ready to let them have it when we noticed that the Eagle Knight had slipped into the office behind them. He cleared his throat and they turned to look at him. He sort of waved to acknowledge their attention and said mildly, "Be agreeable."

                "Yes," the spokesman said, "we'll be agreeable." What the Hell?! All of a sudden they were all nodding in unison.

                Olivia told the 'leader', "Leave us alone now and we can discuss this later."

                He nodded, "Of course, we'll leave you alone now. We'll discuss this later." With that, they all turned around left! We looked at the Eagle Knight in wonder.

                "That was great! How did you do that?" I asked.

                "It was a simple thing really, but we need to speak of important matters," he said.

                "Of course, but we haven't really met yet." I introduced Olivia and I as Vizier and Councilor to Malcolm, King of the New Outlands and he introduced himself as Mixah, Eagle Knight and representative of the Revered Councilor of the Empire of Aztlan. He continued, "These people will debate endlessly, so while they do, we need to decide what's going to happen next. Once we know that, then we tell them how things are going to be." We discussed some of the options and he said something about all of this happening not too far from his government's northern most boundaries.

                "Yuma?" I asked.

                "No," he said, "Chihuahua. We've never thought of Yuma as anything more than a trade city en route to Vegas."

                Olivia asked him about Thoreau and the organ harvesting. Mixah looked puzzled and she explained to him what we suspected was going on in Thoreau.

                "As far as I know, that has nothing to do with us," he said. I looked to Olivia and she gave a slight nod; he was being truthful. He continued, "You do know, however, that we do sacrifice our prisoners to the Sun God."

                "Yes," I said. "And we understand that is you religious and historical heritage and we don't have any real problems with it."

                "But setting up a town as a 'farm' to supply victims," Olivia said, "that we have a problem with."

                Mixah nodded his agreement and explained how in the 'old days' sacrificial victims were treated with great reverence but later it all turned into a spectacle - a public circus. "That is not what we're all about," he said. "We see this as a chance to restore the Great Aztecan Empire."

                "You've been to Vegas?" he asked with a sudden change of subject.

                "Yes, we've spent the last few months there."

                "Do you have any idea what the leadership there wants in this region?"

                "Control," I said.

                He nodded as if he had expected that answer. "The Revered Councilor has told me to find a neutral area where we will expand no further north and where Vegas will expand no further south. Do you think that Vegas would be receptive to that?"

                We told him that we thought they would be. "But I'd like to let Alfred sleep a little longer." Olivia said.

                "He has contact with the Overlords?" Mixah asked.

                "Both he and another man with us are Overlords," she said. "They can't speak for the Cats, but…"

                "They're not cats?" he interrupted me. "How did this happen?"

                We explained it all to him.

                "And how does your Kingdom fit into all of this?" he asked. He was still confused, obviously. We have that effect on people, it seems.

                "We have an alliance with Vegas and some of the other stronger groups; Kansas Coalition, New Ectopia, Ventura."

                "President Ventura is still alive? We heard that he was dead, that Air Force One had been shot down."

                So we set him straight on that, too. "Too bad we couldn't contact you earlier. We could have included you in the big Summit that we had awhile back," Olivia said. Another blank look, so we told him about the Summit and the results.

                Then Mixah told us that they'd had reports of a dragon somewhere in their northern frontier. We asked where that might be and he showed us on a map - they take up most of northern Mexico. He didn't say how far south their empire stretched, but he did make a comment about how "Tenochtitlan has ordered all trade caravans halted until this menace can be assessed."

                "The First Empire had trading routes that reached as far as the Mississippi," he said. "Even if the dragon poses no problem, will we be allowed to trade in those regions?"

                "That should be no problem at all," I said. "In fact, we're supposed to be out setting up trade agreements right now. If we ever finish our work here, we're headed for New Ectopia to set up an agreement with them."

                Mixah got pensive for a while and finally said, "Not long ago I was in the desert and found an old man. He was taking wrecked cars and 'sculpting' them into a pair of gigantic feet. When I asked him why he was doing that he said to me, 'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Then he turned his back to me and went back to work." He sighed and said, "We will never be able to rebuild what was, but we have to work our hardest to make what we build the best possible."

                He paused for a bit more, then asked, "Are you going to press on to Yuma?"

                "Yes, as soon as we get rested up," I said.

                He nodded again. "Good," he said. "It is one thing to go in and kill a man and another thing to make sure that no one tries to continue his work. I am glad you're here. I was afraid that when I escaped from here I was going to have to kill General Ramirez and as many of his compatriots as possible and then pray that there were enough who had proceeded me to make a Spirit Wind strong enough to lift my soul to paradise."

                We asked him what he knew about Ramirez. Mixah got a dark look and said, "He was once a member of the Mexican army, and in the Secret Police for a few administrations. He once won fame by suppressing and then executing rebels who had incited uprisings in Chiapas." He snorted with disgust. "Rebels! Nothing but farmers wanting a fair price for the crops! The Revered Councilor wants him returned, or executed for justice, whichever I see fit."

                He seemed to be testing us, waiting for a response. "You are most welcome to go to Yuma with us, but either of those options are fine with us," I told him. Olivia started to give him some of her favored methods of execution, starting with the really slow ones...the ones that involved things like rats and acid.

                He was looking at us strangely so we shut up. "You two need some sleep," he said.

                "We can't sleep. We're letting the others rest. But we have had some Super Go Juice, and we are going to hopping around like bunnies on speed for a few hours yet." Olivia replied.

                There was a quick knock and in came Carrick, followed by about a dozen other people. Carrick spoke for them, saying, "We've been talking and each barracks has selected a representative to speak for them. The people, on the whole, fear that we have just exchanged on set of chains for another - will you come speak to them?"

                "Of course," we said, and followed him back outside.

                There were about 70 people gathered under some hastily erected shade pavilions and as we joined them we were given breakfast. I started things off by saying, "Good news people! The previous management has already graciously come forward to say that they are ready to step back into control." There was some nervous laughter. "I'm serious. They were just in talking to us about it. So you people had better make a decision and stick to it."

                Olivia said, "Are there any questions we can answer for you?"

                Several people repeated the now familiar phrase; "We appreciate your help, but………."

                Another just blurted out; "You're from Vegas!"

                I 'turned on' the 'Trust Me' aura and said, "No, we're from Colorado, the Kingdom of the New Outlands." Once I had them, I explained to them who and what we are and gave them a list of options. I saw Mixah giving me a look out of the corner of his eye - apparently he 'sensed' what I was doing. He didn't seem at all upset by it, but sort of amused. When I was telling them about some of the benefits they would receive from Vegas they were real interested.

                "Electricity?" someone asked.

                "Medicines?" someone else asked. They all got quiet as they thought about that.

                "Yes," I said, ask Duke Carrick here, he'll tell you. He's been there." The crowd all looked around for a moment, while I desperately wished I remembered Carrick's Mundane name. No problem, he stood up and confirmed that Vegas did, indeed, have water, power, and at least some health care.

                We were answering questions about Kansas, Jesse, and Vegas when Mixah tensed and drew a sword - another tattoo, I think. Olivia and I looked around the area. I saw nothing, but Olivia pointed out a young girl in the group. With her mage sight she was able to see that everything about the girl was blazing with magic. The girl must have sensed the attention and she began to lose focus. Suddenly she changed shape and instead of an 8 or 9-year-old girl there was a 70-foot long dragon standing there!

                Since there wasn't much else we could do, I said to Mixah, "Um, you were right about that dragon."

                "Indeed," it rumbled. People began to scramble.

                "So are you here to talk?" Olivia asked.

                "Hard to talk like this," it said.

                "So change back."

                It did, and this time it took the appearance of a grown woman. "Is this better?" It was; the panic seemed to quiet.

                "I have an offer for these people," she said. "I'm going to offer you freedom and protection in return for tribute. Place my sign at your gates, set food aside for me, gain wealth and set some aside for me, gain knowledge and copy it for me. Accept my protection and a few small rules and you and your children will prosper."

                The representatives were silent. Mixah stepped forward and said, "Well, it sounds like you people have got a decision to make, but Ms. Dragon, if you're going to protect them, that means you have to take care of the threat from Yuma. My orders are to get one man; that leaves the rest of the city for you."

                The woman began to loose focus again, and this time the change was back to the little girl. She stomped her foot and said, "Darn it!" Then she changed again and the dragon was back, but this time, much smaller - only 20 feet or so long.

                "You're a young dragon aren't you?" Olivia asked.

                This time when she spoke it was with the high, clear voice of a young girl, "I'm a DRAGON!"

                "Of course you are," I said.

                Someone in the crowd said, "I don't believe it! It's a baby dragon!"

                Ooooh! That made her mad! She whirled around and loomed up over the offender. "I am NOT a baby!"

                "No you're not," said Olivia, "What's your name?"

                "Mitzi."

                I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

                "So, Mitzi, you'd need a little help with Yuma, wouldn't you?" Olivia asked her.

                "Yes." She sounded so sad! She plopped down on the ground and looked totally put out - like someone had just told her she couldn't have the Barbie doll she had been mooning over. I had to stifle a grin.

                I said, "Maybe you could just live here with these people and help them out."

                "But I'm a dragon! People are supposed to give me tribute!"

                We spent some time 'negotiating' with her and she finally agreed that it would be best for everyone if she were to take up residence here. In return for her assistance in certain 'matters' the people would help supply her with food and the occasional bright and sparkly trinket.

                Mitzi sighed and said, "But I'm hungry now."

                One of the barrack representatives approached her and said, "There are some fish drying down on the dock that you could have."

                Mitzi brightened right up and took off for the lake.

                "Well, now you've got her to worry about," I said.

                Someone said, "We could do worse."

                That's when I remembered! "Wait a minute," I said. "You people now have an ace in the hole! The Cats can't work their mind control on dragons."

                It took a moment for that to sink in.

                "So now you have a leg to stand on for negotiating," Olivia said.

                Mixah was muttering, "This is a good spot…I wonder though."

                "Wonder what?" I asked.

                "The reports of a dragon in the Northern Territories must have pre-dated her. Let me go talk to her," and he headed for the lake.

                One of the representatives asked if Vegas would really negotiate with them. "What do we have to offer them?"

                "Fish," I said. "Location. As an ally you could be a security buffer. And what about the land around here? Is there any good farm land?" A few people nodded, unconvinced.

                "There you go. They'd be willing to trade electricity, medicine, and who knows what else for produce and fish from the lake," Olivia said.

                Connors approached and indicated that she needed to speak to us in private. We told the people to consider their options; we'd be back.

                Connors told us that Vegas had radioed - Caesar and Lucifer were on the way. And they were bringing the Lake's new Overlord. It was Antonio, the big tiger who had given Alfred such a run for his money during the battle for the Excalibur. Olivia was pissed! "I don't like feeling like a pawn of the Overlords! Vegas should not be reaping the fruits of our efforts."

                Connors told us she'd been told that the only reason that Fort Mojave and Havasu weren't getting Overlords was because none wanted the area. I suggested we have a quick talk with Mitzi. If we could get her to cooperate and with a little 'help' from Olivia in the form of an illusion of a much larger dragon, I figured we could just scare the cats away.

                But it was too late; we could already hear the incoming helicopters. And then, there they were, with that freakin' Azrael leading the way. Dallas and Alfred joined us as we went to meet them. Two helicopters newly painted with Caesar's colors landed while the Azrael circled overhead.

                We were exchanging pleasantries when Mitzi came bounding up (still chewing some of the fish. Yick!), "Hey! What are they doing here?" she demanded.

                Olivia did the honors and introduced Mitzi as an ally of the Lake. Caesar and Lucifer were quite annoyed. "You didn't mention this in your briefing," Caesar said.

                "It was a late development," I said. "She didn't make her presence known until just a hour or so ago."

                Antonio drew himself to full height, and we could feel the struggle as he tried to enthrall Mitzi. It didn't work. Then he bared his fangs and started snarling. Mitzi, Corellon Bless her, stood her ground. Before things could get out of hand, Caesar ordered Antonio to stop.

                One of the braver representatives stepped forward and said, "Lord Caesar, we need to talk."

                Caesar was dumbstruck. He looked at the rep, then us, then the rep again. He whirled on me, "I thought you said this area was pacified!"

                "We reported that we'd liberated them from the raiders," Olivia said.

                I pulled out the paper I'd used to compose the message I sent, "This is exactly what I reported and I never said they were 'pacified'!"

                Antonio spoke up. "You promised me a territory!"

                He was making me mad, "Well then, I guess your just going to have to fight Mitzi for it!" Mitzi would have him for lunch. Literally!

                "Fine with me," he yelled and started towards her.

                Olivia pulled a neurogun and dropped him. Caesar was VERY unhappy with her. "What are you doing? You know what the penalty for assaulting an Overlord is! Have you lost your mind?"

                Olivia gave her neurogun a gunslinger's twirl around her trigger finger before sliding it back into its holster. "You need to start working with people," was all she said to him.

                Caesar looked at me. "Can you wake him?"

                I agreed and while Alfred stood ready with another neurogun, I neutralized the toxin. When Antonio came to, Caesar restrained him. "These people seem to have made a decision," he said.

                A woman said, "No decisions yet; we're still talking, weighing our options."

                When Antonio agreed to behave, Caesar released him. Lucifer gestured for Caesar to join him. We were on a small hill, overlooking the lake. Lucifer waved out over the whole expanse of it, glittering in the morning sun, and said, "Caesar. Look at all those fish. Look at this land. This could be a paradise." Caesar contemplated it for a while. He's not the sharpest sword in the armory, but he does have the welfare of his people at heart, and he is not a fool. Finally he nodded slowly.

                When they turned back, Mitzi bounced up to Caesar, prancing like a 10-ton Chihuahua. "Is it true? Do you really have TV? And cartoons?"

                "Ummm, yes we have TV. And some cartoons," he answered, looking at us for an explanation. Olivia held up eight fingers to indicate that Mitzi was just a child. After a moment or two, he caught on. "We have some cartoons, but not many, dear," he said.

                Mixah stepped forward and introduced himself. Caesar gave Olivia and I a 'look', we both nodded and Caesar said, "Excellent! We must speak later." Caesar gestured towards the representatives and asked, "Are these appointed representatives of the people of Martinez Lake?"

                "They are."

                "Good." He walked over to the representatives and gave them a respectful nod. "Good morning. I, as you probably know, am Caesar, ruler of Las Vegas. You are the representatives of this settlement. Let us make peace and forge an understanding between our two peoples." He began to pace back and forth, just as though he were filming an episode of 'The Palace'. "Las Vegas needs food and places to send people who need work. In return for food I offer you electricity. If you are interested in medical or security assistance, we can work something out." Then he turned to Antonio, "These people do not wish an Overlord, but I will need someone to oversee our trade agreements."

                "I can do that," Antonio said. (I shook my head - this guy was a total doofus. I looked at Olivia, Alfred and Connors and they all had the same look on their faces.)

                "Yes!" I said. "A trade emissary, very important." I felt like I was talking to Mitzi again, and I said under my breath to Olivia, "Does that come with a tiara?"

                Damn cats! They hear too well.

                "Yes! I want a tiara!" Antonio bellowed. Caesar glared at me.

                Mitzi said, "I want a tiara, too. And tribute!"

                "Yes! Tribute! I want tribute!" Antonio bellowed. It was getting increasingly difficult to keep from laughing out loud!

                Caesar told Antonio, "No, no tribute. But as trade emissary, you will have to collect taxes and tariffs."

                The representatives had been conferring and one stepped forward to say, "Okay, it's agreed. We will adopt Mitzi as our protector and give her 'tribute'. As for the Las Vegas trade emissary, we shall find an appropriate place befitting his station, for his new residence."

                Then Carrick stepped up, "And since it wouldn't be appropriate to ask Las Vegas to protect non-Las Vegas assets, we will create our own security forces." Maybe he has learned a thing or two!

                Antonio was all over that idea. "Yes! You will. We can not be bothered with such matters."

                This time I whispered to Olivia, "First real cold snap, this guy's gotta' go on a snipe hunt."

                Damn it! He heard me again! "Snipe hunting?"

                "Yes," I said, "snipe hunting."

                "In the cold?"

                "Yes. They're the opposite of bears. Bears hibernate in the winter, but snipes like the cold and hibernate all summer."

                "I will go snipe hunting!" His bellowing was giving me a headache. And I noticed a lot of people struggling to keep straight faces.

                "Snipes?" Caesar asked.

                "Oh yes, they're very tasty. Roasted, with some garlic and butter - yummy!"

                "Why have I never been served snipe?" he asked.

                "Um, it's a long story, I'll tell you later," I told him.

                Cesar looked to Alfred. "I have been on snipe hunts," he told Caesar, "But I have never been lucky enough or skillful enough to catch one."

                Dallas was nodding, "I have to say that hunting snipes is the Sport of Kings."

                Olivia saved me from more lies. "So, shall we put this treaty into writing?"

                "First we have to work out the details," Caesar said.

                "And then to Yuma?" Olivia asked.

                Caesar nodded. "All in good time," he said.

                Then Mitzi announced she was hungry and wanted some of the Oreo's that Olivia had promised her. As we escorted her towards Scooby, Caesar motioned for the representatives to follow him.

                Once Mitzi had had her cookies, Olivia and I grabbed some of the pool rafts from Scooby and changed into the swimsuits that Alfred and I had found at the pool store. But before we headed to the lake we asked around and found some people who knew Yuma pretty well. They were able to tell us that General Ramirez's headquarters were at the campus of Arizona Western College and sketched out a map for us.

                So, with some work accomplished and the Go Juice still doing its thing we retired to the lake. We'd been there for a while when Mitzi found us sunning out in the lake. We played with her for a while until she got tired and settled in for a nap.

                Olivia and I left her there and went looking for Mixah. He was sitting at the back of the conference room, watching the negotiations between the Lake's representatives and Caesar. We joined him and Olivia whispered, "So, what's going on?" Mixah looked at us and said, "What are you two doing here? I expected you to be down at the cantina, organizing a wet T-shirt contest."

                Olivia ignored the slam and said, "There's a cantina?"

                He nodded, "I heard that some of the people were looting the officers' quarters to round up all the alcohol they could find."

                "We were just wondering if we could talk to you," I said.

                He shrugged and followed us out of the room. "So?" he asked.

                "What were you talking to Mitzi about? If you don't mind us asking." I said.

                "I was asking about her family," he said.

                "Did they all change?" Olivia asked.

                "No, she was the only one," he said.

                "So, the dragon you heard rumors of isn't a relation?" I said.

                He shook his head, "But she does know of him."

                "And could she tell you where he is?"

                "No, she wasn't sure. She does everything she can to avoid him. Apparently he chased her away from a kill some time back and badly frightened her. But we know, basically, where his territory is - west and south of Yuma - possibly into the Baja area. We - Aztlan, that is - made it our business to find out. It's not a good thing to ignore a dragon in your territory," he said.

                "So far it's worked for us," I said.

                "You have a dragon?"

                "Yeah - up in Denver. He lives in Elway Stadium."

                "He's a red dragon - an exact copy of Smaug. We think he even has the same defect in his armor," Olivia said.

                "Smaug?" Mixah asked.

                "Yeah - you know, Tolkien, The Hobbit?"

                "Yes, I've read it," he said. "I just don't understand how there can be a 'copy' of Smaug in Denver."

                "Well, the girl who created him is a very literal person," I said.

                Mixah gave me look and so did Olivia. Mixah's look said, "I'm confused." Olivia's look said, "Shut the Hell up!" Oops! I forgot - Rhiannon is supposed to be a secret.

                Olivia said, "Ignore her, she's just trying to be funny."

                "Yeah, uh -huh," Mixah said and changed the subject to what was going on in the conference room. "They are being premature in their planning. This camp is only 25 miles from the enemy's center of control. You people have been very busy the last three days and have attracted a lot of attention. Yuma isn't going to sit around and do nothing."

                "We know that," Olivia said, "and as soon as our people get rested up, we'll be on our way to Yuma." She asked Mixah to describe General Ramirez, hoping it might help me to focus enough to do some scrying on the man, but his description was too vague. While he was describing the General, Mitchell arrived and asked what was going on. We filled him in and he asked if anyone had done any reconnaissance of the campus yet. Mixah agreed that it was a good idea and volunteered to do it. He stepped outside and there was a shimmer in the air as he changed into his eagle form. He circled for a few moments, then turned and flew off.

                Mitchell followed his flight for a moment or two then grunted, "Cool." He turned back to Olivia and I saying, "Well, I've got work to do, too." He headed off to see if he could find any more ammunition for Scooby, Velma and his Browning. Before we went back inside, I spotted Jerry coming out of the barracks that had been designated for our people to use and asked him if it was possible to gather all the explosives that he'd disarmed. He said, "Yeah, it's all stored together already. Why do you want it?" I shrugged and said, "Oh just a feeling that we might have to use it in Yuma. Would it be safe to move the stuff?"

                "Oh sure," he said, "I'll box it up for ya'."

                With that taken care of, Olivia and I went looking for Brenda and found her in her barracks. I was trying to find a delicate way to ask Brenda if she wanted me to restore her sight when Olivia (blunt as always) said, "Do you want Jazz to fix your blindness?" Brenda was speechless for a moment, and then cautiously asked, "At what cost?"

                "None." I said.

                Olivia said, "Jazz will appeal to her god and take care of your eyes."

                "So there will be a spiritual burden," Brenda said.

                "Not yours," I said. "If there is to be a burden, it'll be mine, not yours."

                "I tried bargaining with God but gave up a long time ago," she said.

                There was another girl, about the same age, sitting on the bed next to Brenda, she leaned over, poked Brenda and 'whispered', "Say YES!"

                "Maybe our finding you is your answer from God," Olivia said.

                "You know," she said, "things are so different now. People have been changing and some are no longer human - inside or out. Monsters are appearing from nowhere."

                I wondered if she meant the Governor or other 'monsters'. "Yep. Hell of a world, isn't it?"

                She nodded. "I kept hoping that what ever was causing all the Changes would fix me, but nothing ever happened." She took a big, deep breath and said, "What do I need to do?"

                "Not a thing," I appealed to Corellon and was rewarded with a small flash of Power.

                Brenda blinked rapidly and shielded her eyes, "Oh! So bright!" she said. She slowly lowered her hand to let her eyes adjust. "How long have you been blind?" Olivia asked.

                "Seven years," she said. She was reaching out and trying to touch things but her depth perception was still way off.

                "Do you have any family here?" I asked her.

                "No. They're all gone."

                "Do you have any place to go?"

                She snorted a bitter laugh, "Until just now, I figured I'd sell pencils on a corner somewhere." So, I told her about some of the places she could go and told her we would help her get to whichever one she chose. She said she'd think about it. Then her friend asked, "That big tall, guy with you, the dark one - is he single?"

                "No he is NOT," Olivia said firmly. Brenda caught on and took her friend's hand, "Let's go outside so I can practice walking." Her friend didn't get the message and continued, "He is just soooooo cute!" I took her other hand, "Yeah! Why don't you help Brenda outside so she can get used to things?" As the two of them left the barracks, she was still going on about Alfred being a 'dreamboat'.

                We rolled our eyes at the teenagers and wandered down to where all the vehicles were parked to check on Scooby and see if anything needed to be re-stocked. Dallas had joined Mitchell and was helping him with the ordinance. Dallas looked over at us and asked, "Are you two going to get ANY sleep?"

                "We can't," I said," we're waiting for the potion to wear off."

                "And we're waiting for Mixah to return from his reconnaissance flight," Olivia finished.

                The goofy drawl disappeared from his voice as Jim took over for a moment. He nodded seriously and asked, "When are we leaving?" I considered carefully for a moment before saying, "Depends on what Mixah learns." You never know what might set that boy off…

                He and Mitchell had finished what they were doing by then and Mitchell announced that he was hungry. Dallas agreed and the four of us went looking for the cantina Mixah had mentioned. We found it at the end of Martinez Lake Road and greeted the people who were working inside, cleaning it up and taking inventory of items. "Are you open yet?"

                A halfling man looked us over and asked, "For what?"

                "Food!" Mitchell said, looking at the halfling like he had just asked if grass was green. The halfling shrugged and said, "We've got fish. Some eggs and a few vegetables."

                Mitchell sat down at a table and said, "Start frying that fish!"

                "I'll take an omelet," Olivia said.

                One of the men, a human, started whispering to the halfling. All I heard was, "No. You ask them." Finally one of the men cleared his throat and said, "What do you have to trade?" Then he rushed to add, "I hate to ask, but…"

                With a wave, Mitchell dismissed the man's anxiety and asked, "What do you want? What would be of value to you?" "Can any of you fix a refrigerator?"

                "Let me take a look at it," Mitchell said and followed them to the kitchen. I followed them and when they were done showing Mitchell what needed to be done, I asked them if there were any seeds to be had in the area. The looked at me like I was nuts and I said, "I want to start you a garden." That got their attention! We scrounged around and found some carrot and zucchini seeds. We also found some onions and potatoes that were already sprouting. Then someone came up with some garlic and chilies.

                Two of the men followed me until I found a plot of land that was out of the way and unused. I asked them to stand back while I appealed to Corellon to bless the land, then they helped me plant all we had found. When I told them, "At this time tomorrow you can come back and harvest the 'crops'," they were openly skeptical. I told them to make sure to set some of the produce aside so I could do this again for them when we come back from Yuma. They smiled politely and agreed, but clearly didn't believe me. I only wish I could see the looks on their faces tomorrow!

                When I got back to the Cantina, Olivia was creating some freon for Mitchell (since he figured the refrigerator would need a recharge eventually) while the cook was frying up pan after pan of fish for Mitchell. He asked what Dallas and I wanted and we also asked for some of the fish.

                When we all had finished our lunches, Olivia looked over the meager supplies behind the bar and asked them if there was anything in particular that they'd be interested in having more of.

                "Well of course!" the halfling said. "Whiskey, vodka, bourbon, and a nice Chianti would be absolutely lovely!" Olivia ignored the sarcasm and explained that she could create assorted liquids for them. Their attitude changed when they realized that she was serious.

                "You can do that?" they asked.

                "With any kind of liquid," she said. One of the guys got all excited and asked Olivia to follow him out back. He pointed to two large LPG tanks and asked, "Can you do liquid propane? That one's completely empty."

                "Well, I can change water into liquid propane. Can you fill the tank with water?"

                "Is that all? Sure!"

                Mitchell told them to hold on for a minute while he checked the tank and its valves to make sure it was all nice and safe before they started to fill it. Then he stood by to observe it all and to keep his eye on the gauges and dials. When he judged the tank had as much as it could safely hold he stopped them and we watched while Olivia did her thing. We all held out breath - not that it would do any good; if something went wrong, we'd be dead before we knew it. But it went perfectly, and when the magic glow faded from the tank, the dial showed that it was almost full and holding pressure nicely.

                "Consider this a favor from the Kingdom of the New Outlands," Mitchell told them with a wink at Olivia. The men were all very grateful, and the halfling asked, "Is there anything else we can get for you all?"

                Olivia asked me if I had any more of the faerie fire CZ's. "Not on me!" No pockets in that damned swimsuit! So, I gave her the one I always wear. She gave it to them and told them how to use it to 'find' magic items and told them to set those items aside for her and she would trade for them, later.

                Mixah was inside the cantina when we returned, looking tired and hungry. We sent the men to work getting him something to eat. He thanked us and reported that Yuma appeared to be unconcerned; he had seen no real activity in the area at all.

                "They must be awfully confident," Mitchell said. "Could they be counting on that dragon helping them?"

                Mixah said, "I had considered the possibility that Yuma has an agreement with the dragon."

                "Or maybe the dragon just goes after everything on the roads near there," Olivia said.

                Mixah took a long drink of water and said, "I wondered if there was anything that we might offer the dragon to get him to stay out of this. Assuming, of course, that he actually is involved."

                Olivia asked, "Did you see any signs of equipment - tanks, helicopters, etc. - that might already be moving towards us?" Mixah shook his head. "I saw nothing," he insisted.

                Olivia pondered for a minute, then asked, "Is there any chance that things could have been hidden from you using magic? Are you vulnerable to such illusions?"

                He shrugged. "As vulnerable as anyone else."

                Mitchell asked, "Was there any sign of another base of operations?"

                "None."

                Olivia was exasperated; "All we've heard is what you didn't see. What did you see?"

                "In the city itself, the streets have all been cleared of vehicles. The campus is pretty far from anything else and the defenses are all concentrated there. Other than what I saw on the campus there was no other activity. But around the chapel on the campus there was a lot of activity. Renovation, not fortification. There were scaffolds all over it, and the workers were repainting it, not armoring it up or anything."

                "So, that could mean two things," I said. "Either they're ready and waiting for us to move on them or they're so cocky they see no reason to prepare."

                Olivia brought up a terrifying possibility; "Maybe they're raising their god to assist them."

                Mixah made it worse, "Or, maybe we're the final sacrifice they need to raise Him."

                "You mean it's a trap." Mitchell said.

                "Like the half-finished Death Star in 'Return of the Jedi'," Olivia said. We get our tactics from only the finest sources!

                Leo and Connors walked in at that point. Olivia asked where Colonel Edwards was. Connors told us that he'd been sitting in on the negotiations, but they had been stopped so people could get some rest, and Edwards was going to try to get some sleep. "But if we're talking tactics, we should get Sari in here."

                Olivia and I agreed and went to get her as Mixah updated Leo and Connors. Mitchell went to get some maps from Scooby.

                In the barracks, Olivia shook Sari awake and almost got knifed for it! Sari damn near had Olivia's throat open before she was even awake. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times before she put the knife away and apologized. "Next time - just call my name a couple times. Conversationally." You got it!

                While she got together we told her that we had some information regarding Yuma and were meeting in the cantina to make some plans. She looked up at that. "Cantina?" she asked. "Do they have anything kosher?"

                "Fish," I told her, "they're frying it up fresh."

                "That'll do," she said.

                We left her to dress and went back to help Mitchell with the maps. Sari arrived and while she ate we filled her in on what we knew.

                Connors said, "This would be so much easier if we had some satellites."

                "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

                Dallas said, "We've got that Azrael here; why don't we just use it?"

                Mitchell snorted at the suggestion, "What? You'd rather sit here and drink while someone else does the work? Where is the honor in that?"

                And before we knew it the two of them had a wager going. The one with the highest body count when we left Yuma would be the winner and the loser would have to call the winner, "Sir". And salute him. Mitchell suggested they complete the deal by going out and finding a couple of women. He almost choked when Dallas told him he already had a woman - back in Vegas.

                "Well, then, that puts me up by one body!" Mitchell declared.

                I suggested that Olivia and I go snoop around the former Governor's office to see if we could find something that would help me really focus in on Ramirez. Leo and Connors nodded absently at us, "Yeah, yeah, sounds good, go ahead."

                In his office I was beginning to lose hope when I found a memo from General Ramirez to the former Governor. The General had signed it and there was a small, dark smear on the edge of the paper. I showed it to Olivia, "Do you think this is what it looks like?" I asked her.

                She took a close look and grinned, "Don't you just hate paper cuts?"

                I sat down at the desk with the bloodstained piece of paper on the blotter in front of me and summoned the magic. In just a few moments I 'saw' Ramirez sitting at a table set for a meal. Around the table there were eight or nine other men; they looked to be priests.

                And then I saw what was on the menu for the day.

                Lying on a huge silver platter, roasted and covered with honey and slivered nuts, was a girl. It was hard to tell, but I'm pretty damn sure that it was a teenaged girl, maybe 17 years old or so. I felt the lunch that I'd just eaten rise in my throat and clenched my teeth to keep from being sick. Then I heard Olivia, standing beside me. She was gagging at the sight as well.

                I jerked away from the sight of the girl and back to the priests. That's when I noticed that they were each wearing a skin - a human skin. Absently, I remembered my Meso-American history professor saying that for some of their ceremonies, the ancient Aztec priests would skin a female sacrifice (always a young girl) and then 'cure' the skin so they could wear it. Or, sometimes, just wear it fresh…

                I concentrated on blocking out Olivia and the sight of the girl so I could hear what was being said. When I finally accomplished that I swore out loud! They weren't speaking English! So, very carefully, so as not to disturb the first magic, I added more magic to let me understand what they were saying. It worked! Right in the middle of a sentence it 'switched' into English, "making preparations soon," one of the priests said.

                Ramirez shook his head and said, "I see no reason to do so. Our preparations are already made."

                The priest spoke again, "I still don't like it. We need to take them in combat, with honor."

                "Don't be an idiot," Ramirez sneered, "Eight months of work is gone! Eight months of planning and preparations! They must die and they must die quickly! The Azrael will be done fueling in a few minutes and then it will all be over."

                Back in the 'here and now' I heard Olivia gasp when he said 'Azrael' but knowing that she wasn't hearing the rest in English I grabbed her arm and squeezed it tight. I didn't want to break the spell, in case there was more to hear. She must have gotten my meaning because she raced out of the office.

                Back in Yuma, Ramirez had put his wineglass down and was speaking again, "My only regret in this matter is that the ring leaders won't be able to 'join' us here for dinner tomorrow. They'll be nothing but ashes." Then he laughed at his little joke.

                Connors told me, later, what had happened after Olivia left the office. Mitchell spotted her first, "Uh, Dallas…" he said.

                "What?"

                "Does she always run around like that?" he asked.

                They all turned just as Olivia ran in thru the doors, "Azrael! Coming! Here!" she yelled.

                Dallas simply said, "So why are you telling us?"

                "So you can DO something!" she screamed.

                "Go tell the guy who controls the other Azrael," Dallas told her.

                "Shit! Fuck! Damn!" and Olivia ran right back out of the cantina to find Caesar.

                Mitchell, Dallas, Leo and Connors all ran to the motor pool. Mitchell started yelling well before they actually got there, "Get those vehicles moving!" When Colonel Edwards's men hesitated, Connors and Sari started issuing more military style orders. Mitchell asked if there were any anti-aircraft weapons available. Someone asked why. "Incoming Azrael," Mitchell said.

                That got people moving! Almost immediately, Colonel Edwards' Abrams and Bradleys as well as the troop transports from Mojave were dispersing. Our people got Scooby and Velma warming up and armed.

                In the meantime Olivia had found Caesar and Lucifer speaking to Antonio. "Get your Azrael in the air!" she screamed at Caesar.

                "Why? What's going on?" he asked. Hello! Like he's ever seen Olivia in a panic before? He couldn't just take her word for it?

                "Ramirez has an Azrael and it's headed this way!"

                And do you know what Caesar said? "That would be bad." Hello? Understate much?

                "It has been refueled hasn't it?" Olivia asked him.

                Caesar got huffy, "That's not my job."

                Olivia said that Antonio, dumb as he is, was all over that and started growling, in the back of his throat. Lucifer inserted himself between them and said to Caesar, "Of course not, but it is your job to know if it's been refueled."

                "Well of course," Caesar recovered, "Let's go speak to the pilots."

                Olivia went with them and saw that the pilots were our two favorite guys. Caesar gave them their orders and they asked, "Who is it?"

                "Just go!" commanded Caesar with a little whammy.

                The pilots asked if Caesar wanted the other Azrael destroyed.

                "There's an option?"

                "It's from the rebels in Aztlan," Olivia said.

                "Those bastards?" they said, and dashed away to take off. God, these guys have issues...

                Scooby had pulled up to the command center then and Olivia asked the Cats if they were going to join the group. Antonio elected to go, but Caesar and Lucifer were going to stay. Mitchell asked Olivia, "Where's Jazz?"

                "She must still be in the Governor's office, scrying." She ran into the office and yelled at me to come out of the trance. While I was coming around, she dragged me into Scooby. Mitchell was saying, "…use this to our advantage. This is the time to attack. The Azrael will be here, not there. They aren't expecting or ready for any kind of attack." Connors and Leo agreed and we took off with Velma right behind us.

                I told the group what had been said that Olivia didn't catch and what had happened after she had left. After Ramirez's joke about the 'ring leaders' he had been gloating about the strength the Azrael gave him. "We will take back what we lost and we will hold it this time. Once we re-establish our strength, we will not make the same mistakes. We will not 'creep' up on Vegas this time. I will send in the Azrael and level every single casino!"

                "He who can destroy a thing controls the thing. We will park the Azrael right at the base of the dam and we will tell them to leave all the technical people while everyone else gets out. If they refuse, we will blow a hole in the base of the dam and everything in its path will be swept away. If I cannot have it, no one can have it." He was almost frothing, in an icily-cold, sociopathic kind of way. He continued, gazing into space at the visions in his mind's eye.

                "And then, we will go to Area 51. It was independent of the Las Vegas power grid, and only a nuclear power plant would be capable of providing the amount of energy that facility would use. I know it's still active, my spies have seen the flights that still leave for there every day. Caesar must be building his forces out there. We will take it all!!" The priests cheered him and with great delight he picked up some utensils and began to carve their victim. Thank Corellon, that's when Olivia interrupted me.

                When I was finished, everyone was looking pretty grim and determined to get theses bastards. Olivia and I changed back into our 'battle gear'. I'm ashamed to admit I had to clean myself up first; I had actually wet myself when Ramirez said the Azrael was headed our way.

                We were ten, maybe fifteen miles from the Lake when someone spotted a really strange contrail pointing towards the Lake. Mitchell reached for the radio to warn them, but Connors stopped him. "An Azrael has remarkably sensitive equipment and would pick up the EM in an instant. They don't know we're on the move and we want to kept that way." Several more contrails appeared. They looked razor-straight but had these weird, concentric rings around them - like insulation on a coaxial cable. And they were just appearing in mid-air in an instant, obviously miles long, crisscrossing each other, but there was no sign of what was causing them. Well, whatever it was, our bet was that the enemy Azrael was responsible.

                Mitchell looked unhappy. "There's got to be some way to warn the Lake," he said.

                "There is," Connors said, looking at me. I nodded and she rattled of something about vectors and directions and velocity, blah, blah, blah. I pulled on some magic and Sent the info that Connors had given me. But I didn't send it back to the Lake - I sent it to Caesar's pilots. Less chance for the information getting screwed up that way.

                They responded almost immediately, "Yeah? You noticed?" Hey, we tried to help! They may have been enthralled, but they sounded really agitated.

                Mitchell had climbed into Scooby's gunnery turret and spotted something. Later, he described it as a 'disturbance' of some kind moving across our path in the distance, keeping low to the terrain. He yelled but none of us saw anything. Next thing we knew he had opened fire with Scooby's .50 calibers and there was an explosion. Then there were a series of impacts, dust clouds, and flying parts scattering everywhere as the thing cartwheeled out of control and into the ground.

                The main radio clicked on, "What the Hell was that? You! In the Mormon-Mobile. Did you fire?"

                "Yes, " Mitchell said.

                Caesar's pilot hesitated for a moment, "Good shot. Splash one."

                Dallas asked them, "Was that your buddies?"

                "Returning to base," was all they said before ending the radio signal.

                There was total silence inside Scooby. We all stared at Mitchell in amazement. Someone finally said, "Oh my God, you shot down an Azrael." We were speechless. He kind of shrugged and flashed three fingers at Dallas.

                There was much rejoicing!

                Soon we were in visual range of the campus and Dallas pulled us to a stop. The chapel was easy to spot. There was construction scaffolding all over it and it was easy to see they were altering the design of the building from Southwestern Mission to that of an ancient Aztec pyramid.

                Mitchell wanted to use Scooby to send a volley of grenades at the chapel. We pointed out that we couldn't do that until we knew who was in there. If they were keeping prisoners we had to get them out first. I said that I could take seven people in using the wind again. We could check it out and then radio back.

                It was agreed upon. I would take Olivia, Alfred, Dallas, Leo, Mixah, and Mitchell. Connors and Sari would bring in the vehicles. And then Antonio demanded that I take him along, too. I was arguing that he had no weapons and we had no idea what stupid things he might do when Alfred said to me in Elvish, "Just think of the collateral damage. The only thing worse than enemy fire is friendly fire."

                I couldn't believe it! From Alfred! The Overlord! But I shut up and told everyone to join hands. The wind got us there in an instant, and I found a place between the Student Union and the chapel to put us down.

                I kept us in the mist form while Olivia and I snuck thru some open doors into the chapel itself and found some people inside working, painting murals on the walls. We followed our noses to the rectory behind the chapel. There, we solidified and spread out. The door opened and three of the priests stepped out.

                Mitchell was on the radio, "Well?" he asked.

                Olivia whispered, "There are some artists in the chapel, leave them alone. There are three Priests entering the chapel from the back right now."

                The others split into two groups. Mitchell led one around one side of the building while Leo led the others the opposite direction. Dallas - he started climbing the scaffolding. Mixah simply walked thru the front door and said, "Hello." When he had the artist's attention, he 'waved' at them and said, "You're done for the day. Please leave now." They all stopped what they were doing, put down their brushes and walked past him out the door. I have GOT to learn how to do that!

                Olivia and I were in the back of the chapel and saw that some more priests had left the rectory and entered the chapel. Then we saw Mitchell open fire. He had spotted the General thru a window and let loose with the Browning.

                Unfortunately, Leo was on the other side of the wall behind Ramirez.

                Fortunately, he must have also seen Mitchell move into position. He dove out of the way and avoided the worst of the bullets, shrapnel and adobe fragments by going thru a stained glass window and landing in the chapel near the altar - and the rather surprised priests! The priests were stunned, both by the sound of Mitchell's attack and the sight of Leo flying thru the stained glass at them.

                Olivia drew a wand a launched a fireball at them as they stood there staring at Leo. She aimed it to the far side of the priests to keep from hitting her brother. When the explosion cleared she had killed three of them. Before they could do anything I called on the Power and summoned a flame strike on the group.

                When it hit, we could clearly see for a moment the outline of the priests against the flames. When the flames died, all that was left were their charred bodies. I ran to check on Leo, and found that he was okay. More or less, anyway, but at least neither Olivia nor I had fried him. He was bleeding from a few minor wounds; I took the opportunity to take enough time to heal him properly.

                As the four of us left the chapel we heard Mitchell radioing a report that the objective had been accomplished and that Scooby and Velma should move in and the Lake should send in some forces to properly 'clean up' the area. He finished and we all moved towards the quad area in front of the chapel. We saw two dormitories with men outside guarding them; one building had more guards than the other. They all had their weapons drawn but seemed unwilling to leave their posts to investigate what had happened.

                Dallas looked at Mitchell, "So, we ready?"

                "Oh yeah," Mitchell replied.

                "Just to clarify, we're talking total body count, right?"

                "Right," agreed Mitchell.

                "Okay then," Dallas said. And in a single motion, he pulled his sidearm, brought it up to shoulder level, and shot Antonio in the back of the head! "That's one for me," he said as the body bounced in the dirt.

                Once again, there was stunned silence.

                I squealed, (quite the red letter day; first I peed my pants and then I squealed) and gave him a big hug and kiss, "I just love you Dallas!"

                "Please," he said with great dignity, "I'm taken."

                "And I'd hate to have to fight him for you," Leo said with a big wink.

                Mitchell approached Antonio's body and looked at Dallas' work.

                Without warning he fired a few rounds from his gun into the corpse. "That should muddy the waters," he said.

                We turned back to the enemy troops (who must have been really confused by what they had just witnessed) and Olivia yelled to them, "Drop your weapons and we won't blow your heads off!"

                Alfred didn't wait, but fired a grenade at one of the groups. He dropped some of the guards and blew in some doors and windows, too. Dallas had switched his M-16 to full-auto and opened fire, killing five and injuring another.

                The group at the other building looked like they might do something so I sent a plea to Corellon and asked him to send a creature - maybe a giant snake, since serpents figure prominently in the Aztecan religion and culture; I thought that would make an impression on them. Or in them, if necessary…

                But before the serpent appeared, Mitchell opened fire at the same group and killed three. One guy managed to dodge out of the way. He came up from behind a pile of sandbags with a grenade launcher and sent one flying our way. We all dove for cover, but the grenade flew well past us. Mixah did that trick with the tattoo on his forearm and let his dagger fly. It pierced the guy's chest, twisted, carved out a hole in the chest, and then returned to Mixah with the beating heart still attached!

                There was one last guy who was trying to hide behind some sandbags; all we could see was his ass sticking out. Olivia changed wands and used her 'zapper' wand to take care of him. My snake appeared then, looked around angrily and settled in to eat a body or two. I let it swallow a couple then thanked it and sent it back from where it had come from.

                Alfred cleared his throat and said, "We won't have to worry about anyone examining Antonio's body too closely now." We looked at where he was pointing and couldn't believe our eyes! The grenade that had overshot us - had landed right on Antonio. There were tiger parts everywhere! I couldn't help it; I laughed and said; ""Now all we need is someone to piss on him to make it complete."

                Mitchell shrugged, put his gun down, walked over to the remains, whipped it out and proceeded to piss on Antonio's remains. Olivia and I stood in amazement for a moment (And it wasn't the pissing that had us amazed, if ya know what I mean!), and then we recovered our composure.

                When he was done and everything was put away, Mitchell searched around for a while. He finally found what he was looking for and put it in a pocket. When he saw that we were watching him, he kind of shrugged and said, "The claw of an Overlord - could be some good ju- ju."

                We warned him to keep it well hidden, if an OverLord were to ever see it; he'd be a dead man. Then Olivia laughed that scary Olivia laugh and said, "Too bad there isn't enough of his tail to preserve. We could tie it to Scooby's antenna!"

                "That would be a new low for a Pow-wow car," Alfred said. "No snipe for you. One year!"

                Men and women were emerging from the first building by then. They were stepping thru the debris and over bodies with their hands in the air. One or two were waving t-shirts in surrender. A lot of them were wearing remnants of military uniforms; some still had their dog tags. Almost all of them had that military bearing about them.

                One of them asked us, "Who are you with?"

                "The Kingdom of the New Outlands."

                He looked around the area, "Damn!"