08/21/06:

                Izzy had breakfast ready for us this morning so we could get out on the road. The trip was uneventful and we rolled into Alamosa a little before 7:00 in the evening. The garrison commander was ecstatic to see us and took us to meet the Seneschal. He explained that they keep losing people, so far mostly guards. They report for night duty, go to their assigned posts and are never seen again.

                "So far, large groups are safe, but individuals or small groups are in for trouble. Some people have gotten a look at the thing. It looks like a giant beetle - 30 to 40 feet long, with a hard shell, and ugly. Shots were fired at it, but they had no affect. The thing just growled, pounced on a victim and ate him. We're sure there are more than one, different sizes have been reported."

                Rodrick said, "Well, at least it's not Graboids. Can you show us the sight of the most recent disappearance?"

                "Right now?"

                Olivia said, "Yeah. The attack at night, right?"

                So he got some volunteers together and showed us to the area. There was a hole that had to be six - seven feet wide, but judging by the amount of dirt around the hole that had been disturbed, Rodrick guessed that it was more like fifteen feet wide before it collapsed in on itself.

                While he and Leo were looking at that, Olivia and I looked around and found some bloodstains and footprints leading away. And the footprints were deep, maybe two feet deep. And the distance between them was about fifteen feet or so.

                Rodrick looked at them and said, "This thing only has four feet."

                "So it's not really a bug?" I asked.

                The Seneschal said, "We said it looked like a beetle, we didn't say it was a beetle."

                Rodrick jumped into the hole for a better look; "There's a tunnel down here, heading north."

                Alfred said, "I wonder if blood attracts them."

                Olivia shrugged, pulled a knife and cut her hand open, letting the blood drip into the hole.

                "Are you crazy?" the Seneschal demanded.

                "So leave already," I told him.

                "Yeah, and take your men with you," Rodrick said. "You said only small groups were targets."

                As they were leaving, the radio kicked on and reported that something had attacked a stable a couple of miles from where we were. I summoned the Power and pulled the group and the Seneschal into mist form and let the wind take us there.

                Inside the stable there were three very large holes in the floor, the stalls were completely smashed and the place reeked of fresh blood. There were two horses still alive (out of eighteen, the Seneschal told us) but there were 'chunks' of horse all over the place.

                It looked like there were tracks of four of the creatures. Rodrick picked up a 4X4, "Look at this." It had been neatly bitten in two, with something serrated.

                We got some shovels and cleared the dirt that had fallen into the hole, blocking a tunnel. Once the tunnel was clear we went back into mist form and whooshed along it. But not too fast - I had no desire to get stuck up a giant bug's butt!

                The tunnel angled down about 100 feet and became less stable. After a while, it angled back up and opened into a much larger, better made tunnel. We stopped to look for signs and that was when the smell caught up with us. Smell? More like a stench. It was awful! We didn't see anything so we went back into mist and moved further thru the tunnel.

                Suddenly a section of wall ahead of us started to give way, so we stopped. When the dirt stopped moving, a 'bug' entered and moved towards us. It filled the entire tunnel and we pressed ourselves against the walls to try to stay out of its way, but it just 'passed' right thru us. (Or did we pass thru it?)

                We followed it and it continued on for quite some time. It finally stopped, dug a hole, and regurgitated into it. It covered the hole with dirt and continued on again.

                "Were those horse bones?" I asked.

                "Uh huh," Rodrick confirmed and we followed it again.

                It trundled along for quite a distance, and passed a number of tunnels, looking down them we saw more bugs of varying sizes. Finally our 'guide' led us into a huge chamber with more of the critters in it. Lots of them, in fact, so we stopped.

                The Humans in the group were in total darkness since we didn't dare use flashlights and the Elves weren't doing much better. We could see that whatever these things are, they only have four legs and seemed to be warm-blooded. While we were observing them, a couple of the really big ones got into a fight. It looked like one infringed on the other's territory. While they were skirmishing, another big one entered the chamber dragging a horse carcass. It threw the horse aside where it was swarmed by smaller creatures. (The 'small' ones were probably about eight feet long.) In less than a minute the carcass was devoured.

                The big one turned and left again, via a different tunnel and the smaller ones followed it. So did we.

                After roaming around different tunnels for close to an hour they stopped and the smaller ones began to excavate a clearing while the rest began to dig what Rodrick and Leo identified as 'ambush areas'.

                The big one watched them for a bit and then moved on to another tunnel, this one heading up. We followed it 'til it stopped again, just beneath the surface, we guessed, and there it just sat - waiting. Rodrick decided we couldn't simply wait for it to attack someone, so he opened fire.

                The bullets just bounced off its shell. Olivia pulled a wand and launched a volley of Acid Arrows. Those had some affect, but not much. Rodrick opened fire, in bursts this time, and some of the bullets managed to pierce the shell. I called a Flame Strike while Leo opened fire alongside Rodrick.

                The thing whirled and bit. First Alfred and then Olivia, she was also hit by one of its claws as it whirled. Once they were out of its reach, Alfred opened up with an assault rifle, hitting it a couple of times. Rodrick let loose with another burst, hitting it dead center between the eyes and it dropped like a stone.

                In the silence, someone said, "We need bigger guns."

                We were still for a few moments to see if we could hear anything coming our way. We didn't - but we felt something (or several somethings) headed towards us. So we moved past the dead creature to where the tunnel ended and started to dig. Fortunately there was less than a foot of dirt between us and freedom.

                On the surface we found ourselves in the middle of a cornfield. A big one. Corn as far as we could see in all directions. Olivia used another wand and fired off some Fireballs down the tunnel while I used my wand of Healing on her and Alfred.

                "Time to run now?" I asked.

                Rodrick said, "Leo - time for a strategic retreat?"

                Leo nodded, "Hell yes, we need reinforcements."

                So we took off between the rows of corn. Olivia was leading the way and I was bringing up the rear. We hadn't gotten very far when the ground in front of Olivia exploded. A bug jumped up out of the ground and landed pretty much in the middle of the group. Olivia turned and cast a Web of Pain up at the thing's head while it lashed out and caught me with one leg.

                Rodrick dove, rolled and came up firing, hitting it a couple of times. Leo also opened fire but tripped over something and managed to shoot - me! Repeatedly. I fell to the ground and sent a plea to Corellon and He sent a wave of Destruction at the thing.

                But somehow, it deflected most of it. It was hurt though, I could tell.

                Olivia managed to pull enough Power to send another Web of Pain towards the bug. It roared and fell to the ground, sending us all scrambling to get out of the way. Someone grabbed my arm, hauled me to my feet and we were running again. We heard the corn rustling as bugs moved in on us from multiple directions.

                Olivia yelled out, "Jazz! Wind-walking!"

                Fortunately, I was able to summon enough control to get us up and out of the bugs' reach. We had just gotten to a high enough altitude when the biggest bug we'd seen yet, burst from the earth. We took a moment to get our bearings and figured that we were several miles from where we started. Dawn was breaking and we let the wind take us back to Scooby.

08/22/06:

                Once we got back to Scooby, we took a moment to catch our breaths and then we drove back to the stables, hoping the Seneschal would still be there. He was, pacing impatiently. "What did you find? Where did you go? Is it dead?"

                Olivia spoke for us. "We killed two of them - but you guys are screwed. There's a regular infestation down there."

                "Infestation? There are that many of them?"

                Rodrick said, "Yeah. Thirty, maybe thirty five."

                "And the way they move thru the earth, who knows how many more we didn't see," I added.

                The Seneschal nodded, "So how are you going to fix it?"

                Olivia snorted a slightly hysterical laugh, "With a really big bug-bomb? Do you guys have an exterminator around here?"

                One of the Seneschal's men was rudely skeptical about what we had reported, challenging that the size and numbers couldn't possibly be correct.

                "We left a rather large corpse in a cornfield. Would you like to do take a look?" I asked.

                The Seneschal glared at his man and said, "I would."

                Leo pointed out that it was still too dark to have a good look around.

                "You're right. And Sir, we're tired, hungry and hurt," I said.

                While the Seneschal arranged for some food, we retired to Scooby. Olivia healed herself and Leo (I was still cranky with him for shooting me) while I Healed Alfred and myself. We washed up, changed clothes and rejoined the Seneschal for breakfast.

                His man started lipping off again. This time he said something about "mercenaries trying to jack up their prices." Olivia glared at him and pointed out that we're not getting paid at all, but the man wouldn't give up. "Then you're trying to fool us into thinking we need your King's protection and help."

                I was disgusted now, "Okay, the sun is up, let's go see this thing." I called on the Power again and hauled Mr. Skeptic and the Seneschal up and out to the cornfield. I put us down near the dead bug. In the daylight, up close, it looked a lot less bug-like; more like a cross between an armadillo and a snapping turtle the size of a Buick. I shoved Mr. Skeptic closer to it. "Do you believe us now?"

                "How do we know that thing is real?" he actually asked.

                The Seneschal had had enough. "Shut up! The only reason I let her bring you out here was to shut you up. I need your administrative advice, not your damned whining." He politely thanked me and asked me to return us to the stables.

                He asked if we could move the meeting to Scooby, so we could speak without interruptions. The first thing we said was, "We need bigger guns." Then we did some brainstorming.

                Olivia suggested the rocket launchers we 'liberated' during our road trip.

                "Too heavy to get into the tunnels," Rodrick pointed out.

                I said, "Larger weapons from Cheyenne Mountain?"

                "Daisy Cutter?" said Rodrick

                "Gas?" Leo suggested.

                We didn't come to any decisions and the Seneschal asked us to return him to his offices in Alamosa. We drove him there and he summoned his advisors. He told us, "This will take awhile, let me get you some rooms so you can get some sleep."

                We were wakened when everyone was present. It was late afternoon and we were pretty well rested. Rather than sit thru a long, boring meeting, Rodrick volunteered to inventory and analyze the armory. The Seneschal thanked him and had an aide escort him to it. Clever bastard. I'm calling dibs on that job next time. Anyway, the Seneschal called the meeting to order, briefed everyone, and the discussion turned to methods of 'extermination'. Someone suggested a fertilizer bomb.

                "No, that would destroy quality land and the crops on it," the Seneschal objected.

                I asked, "Didn't I read that mustard gas was actually good for crops? Could we make some?"

                "We'd have to evacuate people from the area," someone said.

                The Seneschal said, "Yes. And we could have people posted at the exits we've found to make sure none escape."

                "They can make an exit anytime, anywhere they want," I said.

                Olivia said, "Leo, you're military. Where can we borrow what we need?"

                "You mean 'steal'. You're not going to return it."

                "What about Jesse?" she asked.

                Leo said, "You can't simply call the President and make demands!"

                She and I said together, "Sure we can."

                He just shook his head. We left the room and radioed back to the House and asked for Malcolm and Walter. A few minutes later Malcolm asked for an update.

                "Really big fucking bugs," I said. "They kicked out butts."

                "Fatalities?"

                "Sixteen horses, two of them, none of us."

                "They really do have a bug problem?" Walter asked.

                "Big bugs. Huge."

                Olivia asked, "Walter, do you have any poison, gas or bombs we can use?"

                "Sure, he said, "let me pull that right out of my ass."

                "Jesse, maybe?" she asked.

                Malcolm said, "No. We need to handle this ourselves."

                Walter hemmed and hawed and finally said, "The kind of item you need you're not going to find in a US arsenal. At least, not that I'd be willing to divulge to you. What there is, is Federal property and I can't allow it to fall into your hands or anyone else's. Sorry."

                "OK, do you know where we might find such items outside the US?" Olivia asked.

                "Well now…our friends in India had a little problem with Pakistan, and along their mutual border they both kept quite a supply of whoop ass." He admitted that he'd never actually been there, but he'd seen intelligence reports. We thanked him for the suggestion and signed off. We returned to the council room and passed the idea on.

                Olivia was thinking out loud and said, "We could use the crystal ball and scry for someplace to teleport to."

                One of the council said, "Um…excuse me. I was stationed in Pakistan for a time. I've got some photos, if that would help." The Seneschal told him to go get them immediately. When he returned he showed them and explained what they were, "This building here was off limits to everyone. We could only speculate what was kept in it, but we had a pretty good idea." The Seneschal volunteered the man to accompany Olivia.

                "I'll go with them," Leo said.

                Olivia nixed that idea, "We might have to bring back a heavy load and the ring's not capable of moving that much. Don't worry, we'll be fine." So she and the man, Brett, armed up and took off.

                They arrived outside of the building he'd shown Olivia and it was mostly intact, but the entire compound was showing a lot of damage and there were hundreds of long dead bodies. They entered the building and found more bodies inside but no sign of anyone alive. Olivia cast a magic to let her translate the signs and they followed them to a large storeroom. Brett led her to some nerve gas projectiles and the two of them managed to carry eight of them out to a staging area.

                Brett said that they would need detonators, but as they searched for some, they heard some noises and decided to get out of there. They returned none too soon; Leo's pacing was getting on my nerves. They showed us what they had brought and Brett said, "Sorry we couldn't get any detonators."

                Olivia asked Leo if there was anything he could do. He pulled out an all-purpose tool and popped the cover off one of the devices. He poked around and muttered to himself.

                "Leo…do you know what you're doing?" I asked.

                "Oh yeah - no sweat, I'm going to need some things."

                "Like?"

                "Some spare parts for remote control airplane to begin with."

                "There was a hobby store in town," the Seneschal said.

                "Okay," I said, "batteries?"

                Leo nodded absently, "Yeah. And some duct tape."

                So Olivia, Alfred and I went shopping. That, we know how to do! The hobby shop had been picked thru and there were no batteries, but we found one of the plane kits on the shelves - still wrapped in plastic. Digging thru the back room we found two more, but still no batteries.

                "Hardware store?" suggested Alfred.

"Auto parts?" I suggested.

                The hardware store was completely empty but there was a line of people waiting to get into the Checker Auto Parts store. We approached the armed men who were watching the line and Olivia told them, "Official Kingdom business, we need batteries and duct tape."

                "Do you have anything to trade?" one asked.

                Olivia asked, "Money or trade goods?"

                "What kind of money?"

                "Kingdom gold," Alfred flashed some and we were allowed in.

                Someone in line complained, "Hey! Why do they get to go in?"

                The guard yelled back, "Because they've got cash, you deadbeat."

                I couldn't believe it, but they had two more remote control kits, so we grabbed those as well as the batteries and duct tape. As we paid for them, the clerk asked, "Are you really on Kingdom business?" Olivia assured them we were and asked if she could get an automatic sidearm. He shook his head.

                "This is an auto parts store, try the Market."

                Back at the Seneschal's offices, Leo had been busy. There were parts spread out all over the place. He took the stuff we'd purchased and told us that the work was going to take a few hours. Olivia went to radio Malcolm to update him and I went to speak to the Seneschal. Out in the reception area, I noticed a large group of people waiting for something and staring at me.

                The Seneschal said, "They have loved ones who are ill and they have heard the stories."

                "What stories?" I thought to myself.

                I said, "Oh, okay," and went to speak to the people. There were young and old, some visibly ill, some with bandaged wounds, but most had colds or the flu, and none of them could afford medicines or proper food. I noticed one young woman, sitting by herself, who was getting the cold shoulder from the rest. I went to her first, "Can I help you?"

                She spoke so quietly I had to lean in close just to hear her, "I don't know. I'm pretty sure I have syphilis. The only work I could find is in the whorehouse."

                I took her hand, "Don't be embarrassed, and don't worry, I can help you."

                A woman yelled at me, "Wait a minute! You're not going to ignore my baby so you can cure that whore, are you?"

                I looked at the woman and said, "Your baby has a cold and can wait for awhile."

                "She's a diseased piece of filth and my baby is an innocent."

                The woman was pissing me off! I put my arm around the poor girl; "She's a human being doing what she has to do to survive - the same as the rest of us - and you can wait your turn!"

                Olivia joined me at that point and took care of the woman's baby to shut her up but then some of the others began to complain. I told them to shut up and play nice or none of them would be helped. Olivia said that she would triage the people. While she did I spoke to the girl who told me her name was Carly.

                I healed her and asked her what she used to do.

                "I was in school. A liberal arts major with an English literature minor."

                "Did you ever think of teaching?" I asked her. I looked at Olivia, "I bet Izzy could use some help with the kids back at the House."

                Carly hesitated, "I don't know…"

                Olivia asked her, "Do you really want to go back to what you're doing now?"

                "Hell no! I never liked doing it before - I really don't like doing it now."

                Olivia pointed to the communications room. "So go in there, get some coffee and wait for us."

                "Okay, thank you."

                A man in line hollered, "And then you can meet me in the parking lot and give me a blow job!"

                Olivia and I whirled at the same time and Olivia snapped, "That's it! Out of line, right now!"

                "But…but my boy is sick."

                Olivia went to look, and his five-year-old son was sick. Olivia warned everyone in the room, again, to remain civil or there would be no healing. She glared everyone into silence and we got to work.

                I was dealing with a 'patient' when a man approached Olivia and pulled her aside. He was whispering, but I was able to hear him tell her that he was a trader and one of his men was very sick back at their camp. He explained that he and his group had gotten into an Army weapons depot and had been exposed to something, something bacterial.

                "Will you come with me? He's really sick," he asked.

                Olivia thought for a moment, "Will you tell us exactly where that depot is?"

                "Anything," he promised.

                Olivia asked me, "Jazz, did you hear that?"

                "I did."

                "Okay, I'll be back."

                "You be careful," I warned her.

                He led her to his camp and then to an area where an 'isolation room' had been set up with some plastic sheeting over a wood frame. They had two biohazard suits that they'd gotten at the depot and the trader helped Olivia get into one. She entered the 'room' and took a look at the man. He was covered with red sores that were leaking pus. Olivia recognized it from an old 60 Minutes story - it was smallpox! She put all her power into a spell to rid him of the disease. Then she backed out of the area and wrestled her way out of the suit.

                "How long have you been here and where are all your people? Have any of them gone into town?" she demanded.

                The trader told her that they'd been there for three days and that everyone was present, but a couple had been in to the Market yesterday. "We had a doctor, but we lost her at the depot where we found this. She lived long enough to give us the procedures we've been following. He was exposed 10, no, maybe it was eleven days ago, and no one else has gotten sick."

                Olivia radioed me. "Get the Seneschal and clear the room, this is private."

                I did, and she continued, "It's smallpox and I can't tell if anyone else has gotten it, like me."

                The Seneschal said that he has a few real doctors and sent for the best of them. Then he ordered that the whole area be locked down. While we were waiting for the doctors I went out and, after determining that there were no serious cases left, told the rest of the people waiting for healing to come back tomorrow. One man objected - his wife had a gunshot wound and could not be moved.

                I told the Seneschal where I was going and went with the man. At his camp, I was introduced to the man who'd been taking care of the woman. He told me that he'd been a 'medical professional' (whatever that meant). He showed me to the woman. She was delirious with a fever from the infected wound and was receiving a blood transfusion.

                I took my time and called the power and the bullet very slowly emerged from the wound. I then used the Power to Feel what else was wrong with the woman. That's when I Saw that the blood she was being given was the wrong type and was causing the infection! I pulled the needle from her arm and the 'medical professional' got huffy. I told the woman's husband, "Don't let this man touch her, he almost killed her."

                I explained about the blood type and I pulled more Power to clear out the infection. When it was clear, I told her husband she'd be okay now. He thanked me and had someone walk me back to the Seneschal's office.

                The doctor was already there, talking to Olivia. He told her that he seriously doubted that the 'alpha carrier' would be able to survive the extensive systemic damage that he would have suffered. Then he told her, "Wash those bio-suits in bleach. If anyone goes into the isolation room - wash the suit before they get out of it, use more bleach to do that. And keep an eye on the two that went into town. But if it's been a week and a half and they have no symptoms - they probably don't have it. If the carrier does survive - he'll have to be quarantined for at least three weeks. I hope you're not too attached to your clothes"

                "Why?" Olivia asked.

                "Because you're going to have to gather all of their clothes, bedding and such and burn it all."

                "But this is silksteel armor!"

                "It's got to go," he was firm with her, "Everything in that camp is going to have to be destroyed. There are some doctors and Priests on their way to help. All of the people in that camp, yourself included, are going to have to be scrubbed with bleach and then purified by healers. Anyone not healed will be quarantined for three weeks.

                Olivia relayed that the traders were not very happy with the news.

                "Better unhappy than dead," the doctor said. Then he told the Seneschal to tighten the perimeter around the camp. "And if anyone tries to get out, or in, shoot them."

                "Is that your friend out there?" he asked me. "Don't worry, she'll probably be okay."

                Probably!

                He and the Seneschal left and a few minutes later Leo came in, "I'm all done, when are we going to do this thing?" I didn't know what to tell him!

                "Well, it's going to be awhile, something has come up. So why don't you go get some rest?"

                "What?"

                "Well, while you were busy, some people had come in, looking for healing."

                "Uh-huh."

                "And we were taking care of them, but Olivia had to go to a trader's camp outside of town to see a patient."

                "Go on."

                "Well she got busy and she's going to have to stay out there longer than she thought. To help them, you know."

                He gave me the nastiest glare; "You are the worst liar. Where is my sister and is she okay?"

                "Okay! Truth - she's at the trader's camp. The patient has smallpox. Olivia is fine - but the whole area has been quarantined."

                He headed for the door; "I've got to get out there."

                I grabbed his arm, "You can't. The Seneschal has set up a perimeter and his orders are to kill anyone who breaks the quarantine."

                "Well I have to talk to her."

                "Okay, that we can do." I got out one of the communications mirrors and set a scry spell on it to let him talk to and see Olivia. He really chewed her out, but she assured him that she'd be just fine - she had Crom to help her. When she said that, she got an odd look on her face - like something had just occurred to her.

                She said, "Well the doctor just arrived - I gotta go. I'll check in soon."

                The doctor and a nurse had arrived and Olivia told him that she had just had an idea for a Blessing that might save them from having to destroy everything. So they gathered everything into as small an area as possible and Olivia asked Crom for a Blessing to cleanse everything in it. Her request was granted, and a dome of bright, blue-white light formed around her. The doctor watched it all and then set a table half in and half out of the area. Then he set a petrie dish on each end of the table and ordered that they not be touched.

                While they were doing that, the nurse unpacked a crystal ball and cast a spell on it. She and the doctor used it to observe the 'alpha carrier'. The doctor shook his head and told Olivia, "I don't think he'll make it thru the night - there is just too much internal damage."

                "Doctor, look at this," the nurse was looking at something else in the crystal - the man's back (or what was left of it). I caught a quick glimps and had to fight to keep from puking. The doctor called the head of the group over, looking grim. "If you value your friend, go kill him, now. Put an end to his misery."

                "What is it?" he and Olivia asked.

                "The flesh-eating virus. You cured him of it, so he's not a danger to anyone, but it's too late for him."

                "Are you sure?"

                "I am," the doctor said, "If you prefer not to do it, I will."

                The man shook his head, "No, he's my man, I'll do it." He got into one of the suits and took a gun from one of his men. He went into the room and did it. When he came out, the doctor and nurse scrubbed the suit with bleach and helped him out of it. They put it next to the room and the nurse whispered something and the Power surged. She called for a flame strike that engulfed the area and lasted until there was nothing left but a six-foot hole in the ground. He just sat and watched it burn. I'm pretty sure he was crying, but I didn't intrude.

                Two hours later, the doctor inspected the petrie dishes and announced that Crom's Blessing had worked. He instructed that everyone walk thru the area, with all their belongings, and stay in the circle for at least fifteen minutes.

                When Olivia finally made it back to the Seneschal's office, Leo was so relieved to see her. But then he grabbed her and shook her - shook her hard - and he is the ONLY person I know of who will ever get away with that!

                "The good thing about being a mercenary," he said, "is that you don't have to do this altruistic, save a whale, hug a tree bullshit!"

                Olivia simply said, "You're not a mercenary."

                "And neither are we," I added.

                "Yeah - whatever," he mumbled. Olivia hugged him and suggested that we report in to Malcolm.

                He was waiting for us. The Seneschal had told him what was going on. We reassured him that Olivia was fine and the threat of epidemic was taken care of.

                "Good. So now will you go after what's been eating my farmers?"

                "Tomorrow," Olivia told him.

                "Right," I agreed. "We all need some sleep."

                "Very well. But be honest - doesn't this all prove that we have excitement here, too?"

                I said, "Hey! You're the one who assigned us to Vegas."

                "I know. Did you happen to find out where they picked this shit up?"

                "Yes. They told me exactly where," and she repeated what they had told her.

                Malcolm said, "Very good, thank you'll. I'll discuss this with Walter. Be careful tomorrow," and he signed off. The Seneschal showed us to some rooms for the evening and promised we wouldn't be disturbed. "Unless it's an emergency, of course."

                Of course.

                Before I fell asleep, I heard Leo mumble, "You two are going to give me ulcers if you keep this up."

08/23/06:

                At breakfast, Olivia asked the Seneschal if anyone had died last night.

                "One. But it was in a brawl out at one of the refugee camps, there was no sign of our 'friends'."

                Then she turned to her brother, "So, Leo - you were a SEAL dude, how are we going to do this?"

                "Teleport in, leave the bombs, teleport out."

                "Should we do something to make sure they're all in one place?" I asked.

                "Like?"

                "Like get their attention somehow."

                One of the Seneschal's men said, "We've got two horses that are on their last legs, rather than sending them to the mess hall you could use them as bait."

                We thought some more but couldn't think of anyway to get them where they would be needed. Leo decided that Olivia and I would go in with one bomb each and leave them in the big chamber we'd seen. But where? We didn't want to go in blind and land on a bug. So we used the crystal ball to scry the chamber. There were quite a few bugs in it but we found an open area near one of the really big ones.

                The Seneschal gave us each a gas mask and Leo showed us how to activate the bombs, then Olivia had me cast the Wind Walking spell (just in case). She used her ring and moved us to the chamber - right beneath the big bug. We put the bombs down, flipped the switches and Olivia got us out of there and back to the office. We sat down before the crystal ball to see what happened. There was a bright blue flash followed by chaos. It was so dark it was hard to see what was really happening.

                "How long do we wait?" I asked.

                "A few hours," Leo said.

                Olivia proclaimed, "Let's go shopping!"

                The Seneschal asked her to stay, "Something might happen, after all."

                "But I want to go shopping."

                "Oh for Christ's sake," he said, "what do you want?"

                "An automatic sidearm. An Uzi? Maybe a Mac-10?"

                The Seneschal directed on of his aides to go get one from the armory, "And some ammunition to go with it."

                After a few hours, Leo announced that the gas should have cleared enough to not kill, "Not instantly anyway. We should go take a look."

                So Olivia, Leo, the Seneschal and I all donned airmasks and I used the Wind to take us into the tunnels. There were some bodies in the first hundred yards but about four hundred yards in there was a really big one. It had collapsed and blocked the tunnel. We passed thru the thing and found the bodies of several smaller ones behind it. It looked like they'd tried to dig thru the big one before they died.

                In the large chamber, the big one that we set the bombs under was dead - the explosions had blown off most of its head. All the others that had been in the chamber had died trying to get to the tunnels. We counted at least thirty of them. We followed one of the tunnels up and out and then flew around looking for fresh holes or old holes with fresh tracks around them.

                In a field, not too far away, we found the remains of a medium sized bug. The gas hadn't gotten this one, though. It had made it out alive, only to step on what had to be a land mine. There were some people in the field examining the body, so I took us down to speak to them.

                I asked, "Wasn't everyone supposed to be evacuated?"

                The man said, "We chose to stay and protect our land."

                His daughter told us, "We saw this thing stagger out of the hole so I did a tox-screen. It was positive for nerve gas!"

                "Yeah - that's what we used."

                The man hushed her and said, "You should go back to Alamosa now."

                "Papa! Be polite." She said to us, "I've got seismographs set up around our land. I'll keep checking them and radio if anything shows up."

                The Seneschal said, "Please do, and thank you…"

                "Agatha. Agatha Soderburg."

                "Of course, thank you." Then he explained to us, "Mr. Soderburg is not part of the co-op."

                "Godless commune, you mean." The man spat on the ground.

                The Seneschal stayed calm. "If you insist, sir."

                We thanked Agatha for her help and continued our search, but after not finding anything, we returned to Alamosa.

                We reported to Malcolm and he asked, "What about the nerve gas?"

                "What about it?" I asked.

                "I'm afraid we might need it, for a preemptive strike."

                "On what?"

                He paused, "This is an open frequency, perhaps we should use the mirrors?"

                So we switched to the mirrors. "There are reports of a large group of nomads," Malcolm said. "The Sword has sent me a vision, that this group is trouble. Big trouble. Could you check it out?"

                "Where are they?" I asked.

                "Coming up from Texas - I think. But I am sure that there are a lot of them, a few hundred. And the Sword is sure that they're coming here. They're kind of like the Borg. They move into a town and people just 'join' them."

                "Are they like that massmind we saw on our way north from Estrella?"

                "Sort of, but this group is on the move."

                "Humans?"

                "From what I saw, a mix of races. But they have no children with them. And that really creeped me out."

                "Can you narrow it down a little? Where might we find them?" I asked

                "Trinidad, maybe Pueblo."

                Olivia told him, "We'll look into it."

                Leo spoke up, "And the nerve gas, sir? We shouldn't take it with us while we reconnoiter."

                "Leave it with the Seneschal, I trust him."

                "If we end up not using it, he may need it. There's no way of knowing if we got all the bugs, or not. And Corellon only knows if there are any eggs laying around, waiting to be hatched," I added.

                We promised Malcolm we'd be in touch, told the Seneschal what was up and I used the Wind to take Olivia, Alfred, Leo and myself towards the Trinidad area. We were nearing Pueblo when we saw three cars moving north on the highway, very close together. We swooped down lower to get a look. It was weird - there were sixteen people in the three cars and not a sound. They sat perfectly straight, staring directly ahead. There was no music playing, no talking, nothing!

                We rose back up to see if there were anything else coming. About twenty minutes behind them was the rest of the group. They were cars, pickup truck, cargo trucks, busses and big rigs hauling supplies. And it was the same story with all of them - complete silence except for vehicle noises.

                We zoomed back to catch up with the lead vehicles. We found them pulling into a rest area. They got out of their vehicles and began to clean the place up! Some were scrubbing the restrooms while others picked up trash. Soon, the caravan arrived and in perfect formation they pulled in and parked. There was one group of four off by themselves, picking up trash. One of them was a small guy and Alfred swooped down and grabbed him. But before Alfred got back into mist form, the guy collapsed, went totally limp and stopped breathing.

                Alfred quickly 'put him back', but not before the other three in his group had drawn their weapons and demanded, "Return him!" As soon as Alfred set him down, he started breathing and immediately went back to picking up trash - just as if nothing had happened.

                A Drow woman from one of the other groups seemed to acknowledge an unheard command and said, "This one has been designated to speak. You interfered with that one, why?"

                "We simply wanted to ask him where you all are going," I said.

                "This group needs a home," she said.

                "Are you assimilating people?" Olivia asked.

                "If an individual wishes to join this group, they are accepted."

                "Do you force the unwilling to join you?" I asked.

                "That would be contrary to the well being of the group."

                Alfred asked her, "But what if someone lives where you want to settle?"

                "Then we will not stay there. But we have the right to exist, an obligation to live. We will continue."

                "What about Nebraska?" I said, "Or southern California?"

                "Those destinations are too far, we have an optimum fuel supply that will only go so far."

                "How far is that?" Olivia asked.

                "We will not tell you that."

                "Well you can't settle in Colorado," Olivia told her.

                "We will settle where we must. We do not wish confrontation. We want peace."

                "How about eastern Colorado then? Lots of good farm land - practically no people. Just hang a right," I said.

                "You are protecting your settlement?" the woman asked.

                "We are."

                "Where is it?" We showed her on a map

                "And your 'Kingdom' - does it have a policy of discrimination?"

                "No. But we cannot allow you to take land that we need to feed our people," I told her.

                She gestured to the east, "Are you using that land?"

                "No."

                "The other side of that river?"

                "No."

                "Over that horizon?"

                "No."

                She was silent for a moment then said, "Good. Leave now. This discussion has ended."

                Without another word, they all got back into their various vehicles and left. So, we did too.

                Back in Alamosa the Seneschal told us that two live bugs had been spotted and taken care of.

                "What did you find out there?" he asked us.

                "Come listen to our report to the King," I told him.

                We reported to Malcolm and then we held while he consulted with the Sword. He returned and reported that there was no more feeling of dread coming from it, "The crisis seems to have passed. Good job, thank you. Now go get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

                So we retired for the evening to get some rest.

08/24/06:

                Left for home bright and early and got there in time for lunch. The roads had a lot less pedestrian traffic this time. Izzy pulled me aside and gave me a note from Olias - he'd left right after we did.

                The note said, "I'm sure my place is out there, somewhere. I'm sure I'll find it."

                I am so mad at him! He promised me he'd wait.

                Anyway, after we got Carly settled, I had lunch with Henrietta, just to see how she was handling things. She seemed to be more at ease with the idea now. I almost told her about Olias being gone, but it just didn't seem like the right thing to do, so I kept quiet. After lunch, Walter asked Olivia if today would be a good time to go to Nebraska. She said that it was and asked me if I wanted to go along.

                Suddenly, I wasn't so calm about the thought of Leo leaving. Maybe I was trying to avoid the whole 'good-bye' scene, but I offered my 'spot' to Rodrick. Maybe he could find an old friend or two.

                "No thank you," he said, "I've been so busy I've been neglecting my girls. I've got the day off, so it's time to make up for that."

                Olivia asked Walter for a description of Offutt AFB, but he didn't come up with a very clear one so she had to use the crystal to scribe a place to teleport us to. Since we were going to suddenly 'appear' right outside the security gate leading to Jesse's home military base, Leo and Walter donned their best uniforms and Olivia and I kind of, well, hid behind them.

                We appeared right in the middle of the road about twenty yards from the guardhouse. I could hear guns being snapped into position, as someone demanded, "Who goes there? Identify yourselves!"

                Walter did so, adding, "The ambassador to New Ectopia, and my security officer, Master Chief Mitchell, returning to report to the President. We've also brought some friends, Ambassadors Mitchell and Hughes from the New Kingdom of the Outlands"

                Olivia and I leaned out from behind them and waived, "Hello."

                The sentries took it all in. "Password?" one of them snapped.

                Walter sighed and said, "Son, I left here several months ago. I am sure, or at least I hope that it's been changed since then. But when I left, the password was 'Dolly Madison'." That appeared to be the correct answer, but the sentries still didn't know what to do with us and called for a superior. Finally a Second Lieutenant showed up on a small motorcycle.

                Olivia said, "We used to get a much faster response by just being rude."

                Leo glared at her. Before the lieutenant could do anything, the radio in the guard shack announced that we were authorized to enter. The lieutenant objected. "I haven't cleared them yet!"

                "But the General has," the voice said.

                That's when a car showed up to take us across the base. There were rows of aircraft lined up on runways and four Azraels in a hanger of their very own. Next to that there were a couple of mystery-type airplanes. The driver got on the radio to warn them that there were civilians on the base. People suddenly began scrambling to throw camo nets over things and shut doors. "It's a little late for that now," I told him.

                We stopped in front of an admin building and a woman greeted Walter then asked Olivia and I, "And you two ladies are…?"</