~

Chapter Twenty-four

~

I was happy to have time to finish breakfast, since the “back up” Ike talked about would take hours to get to the Plain hamlet. A whole troupe of trolls, he’d said.

I’d had a nice exchange with Zia. That troll is really sweet.

I washed and dried the pans I’d used for breakfast and put ’em up, and had my plate, cup, and fork in the dishwasher when my phone rang. It was an unknown caller. Should I ignore it? Expected, “We’ve been trying to reach you about your expired vehicle warranty.”

I hate those stinkin’ people.

Instead, a deep troll voice introduced himself. Piez. Good name. Wonder if my name once had an E in it, since we pronounce the vowel sound the same. Probably.

“We’re about twenty minutes away.” Jeez. Wouldn’t hardly get to touch my email. “Understand ya have humans outside yar townhouse.”

“Two that I saw.” I stuck with Trollish. A troll wouldn’t think that was weird, surely.

He snorted. As though he wanted to ask, ya can’t take care of two humans? Good point. I explained about the two I accidentally hurt. I didn’t use the word, accidentally, so he wouldn’t think I’m a total idjit. Neither was I gonna tell him a shower and breakfast, and catchin’ up with my email, was a priority over takin’ care of the other two.

Still, the hard knock at my door caught me by surprise a bit later. I hurried to put my computer and charger in my satchel. Wasn’t gonna be away from another computer for another four days. The jamb of my door shook good by the time I looked out the peep hole. Had to be trolls. All I saw was a line of wide chests wearin’ Kevlar vests.

“We wake ya?” a troll asked when I opened the door.

That was funny. Wasn’t that slow. “Ya Piez?” He and all his friends wore olive-print special forces-like outfits with a plethora of armor fitted here and there. No pink or purple anywhere. Held riot shields and near-quarters kinds of pew-pew-fast guns. Where did they find helmets to fit trolls? Didn’t know OI manufactures that kind of thin’.

“Nah. The hotshots never break a sweat. Ya know that. Or are ya one of the hotshots?”

Didn’t expect an attitude.

Then he laughed, and his three buddies joined with him. Made the floor vibrate some. Trolls can laugh good, though I hadn’t experienced that much in my life. He extended a hand. “Toniz.” He dragged out the Z a lot, like he’d started to fall asleep. “Pleased to meet ya.”

I shook his hand. My knuckles popped a good dozen times. This was a good, old fashioned troll, not what I’d seen more often come from the North.

“So what are we gonna do now?” he asked.

Uh. That confused me.

“Other than take out those two humans ya say been messin’ with ya?”

Well, of course we, they should take care of ’em. “I agree, that should be a priority.”

The gaggle of trolls laughed again. “We took care of ’em,” Toniz said. “Handed ’em over to the locals. Just pullin’ yar chain.”

I shifted my weight, waitin’ for a new joke. Who knew trolls are such jokers? Those we met in the mines didn’t horse around much. Or, were they pullin’ my chain too, just didn’t confess to it? Never saw Jam, Frip, and Ponwr joshin’ around much. Though they all like to insult me.

“Commander Piez ordered us to get ya safe, then stand ready for anythin’ else interestin’ that might come around. Said he had another team waitin’ to retrieve the three hens that’s worryin’ yar boss some—Then.”

I waited.

“We’re really gonna kick some human back ends.” His buddies hooted a deep, hooyah. Dust floated down from the hallway ceilin’. Maybe they’d gotten tired of bein’ disrespected up North. Didn’t sound good for the humans.

They’d relied on trolls and ogres to keep the peace for a bunch of generations. Huge majority of their military and a good slice of their police. Read that in the news. Which can’t truly be trusted.

“Ya got any food?” one of Piez’ guys asked.

I’ve never cooked for trolls. What I knew of their palates, they like crunchy thin’s. Crickets. Grubs. Centipedes. Scorpions. The joke back home is no porcupines are safe at a troll hoedown. I certainly have no dry-roasted porcupine. Didn’t have any of the other either.

I waved toward the kitchen and told him to check the cabinets to see if anythin’ looked tasty. I got bumped good as the four passed by me. Probably all the padding, shields and stuff they weren’t used to cartin’ around.

Hmm. About a ten hour drive to the Plain hamlet, from up North. Not a lot of restaurants on the way, I’d guess.

~

Nuel

~

The jerks found a medical kit in the back of one of their little SUVs, but it wasn’t suited for an ogre. I think Darshee got a bit of enjoyment pushin’ together the edges of the hole in my chest and strappin’ a pound of tape over it to slow down the bleedin’. At least hide it from me.

“Ya suppose it hit a bone?” I asked.

Darshee laughed. Wizper thankfully gave her a dirty look. “That caliber? Not to go entirely through ya and then the wall behind ya and ’cross the next two rooms, it hit a couple bones.”

Did not make me feel any better. How many bones does an ogre have in their chest? Once they helped me get my blouse back on, Darshee handed me the ice pack she screamed at the humans to stop and get.

Don’t know why she didn’t demand an ogre-sized med kit too. Or even better. Stoppin’ for a visit at a nearby ER. I guess she asked for what she thought she could get. She’s a level-headed hen, even if a bit emotional. Though I don’t think I ever would have imagined an ice pack would be a priority for dealin’ with a big hole in the chest.

Live and learn.

Darshee now looked about the room we were in. I don’t know what I would have expected, but they brought us to an office buildin’. One mostly shut down it appeared. Company must be human dominated, since Ike is probably shuttin’ down most any human kind of endeavor in the area.

Behind me was a lot of glass facin’ a green area, with ornamental trees, azaleas, a strip of grass brown with the season, which separated us from another wing of the same buildin’.

Boxes filled the wall to my left. Cabinets left and right of the door they locked us behind. Desks and chairs stacked to the ceilin’ to my right. Traditional office lightin’ above. An ad hoc storage room, I’d call it.

Didn’t see much else of the place as they hurried us through a somewhat professional waitin’ area with a front counter. If asked where I was, I’d have to say, duhknow. But I’ve had other thin’s on my mind.

“Ya know where we are?” I asked Wizper.

She uttered an Ogrish word I was raised not to know. But there’s not much ya don’t learn at school from yar chums.

“We’re at a business park,” Darshee said, “finished a couple years ago, about three miles out on the Plain, northwest of the hamlet.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Wizper whispered. “But they probably didn’t have access to a city jail, ya s’pose?”

“Should we break through the glass?” Darshee kind of suggested.

To what end? To get each of us shot?

“How long ya suppose these nuts will keep this nonsense up?” Wizper asked.

“They’re stubborn,” Darshee said. “Could be a while. We’d be on our way up North if they thought they’d be able to get through.”

“Yeah,” Wizper said. “On the radio this mornin’ they reported the airports were already closed. At least for traffic north. And I’ll bet Ike has gotten the highway closed. The rail line never fully opened back up since this began. It’ll be a ghost town now.”

I felt a little dizzy. Ike could make all this happen? He could close down the border between North and South. Separate the North from all the grain, cattle raised on the plains? The South’s robust manufacturin’?

Bein’ from the North, surrounded by the bureaucracy and in-fightin’ which often brought everythin’ to a standstill, a single person, backed by a single clan, yeah, even a powerful clan, could make so much happen, is unbelievable.

And what’s he doin’ in the South? Despite his council’s strength, he’s linin’ up more resources? With the majority of the continent on his side, they could walk in and take over the North in a few weeks, when the markets and groceries had nothin’ but bare shelves.

My mind’s eye imagined the SD card the idjit handed to Ike. What could it contain? And where’d he get it?

Codes to shut down every industry, the grid, water, everythin’?

Blackmail?

List of collaborators, interested in joinin’ forces with the South?

Locations of arms? Units? Strengths? Weaknesses?

Northern battle plans and contingencies?

A secret favorite recipe the key Southern clan leaders wanted for a combined hoedown?

Maybe not the latter.