Authors: Lt. Cmdr. Will Keith and Warrior A. Persephone

   As they launched, Pers commented to Zaphyre, *Here we go again...*
   *Yeah, but this is to be expected when soldiering.  I've faced many
rougher, far more tiring flights.*  Following this declaration were
memories, of a famous landmark back at Zaphyre's home: the Wind-Maze over
the Xaranath Range.  The Xaranath was a range of mountains, geologically
unstable in the extreme, where three continental plates had collided.
Tall, narrow peaks, deep valleys, and new formations of many different
types of rock made flight over them a complex experience at calm times, but
for a few weeks each year the shifting temperatures and winds of the season
change made them a three-dimensional labyrinth that the best maps could
only approximate.  She remembered a young dragonet, panting and exuberant,
navigating a course of staggering complexity for hours on end, shifting,
turning, diving and rising as drafts demanded, reaching for oneness with
the winds.  She remembered the triumphant exit on the other side, having
succeeded in an endeavor humans would have considered of Olympic
proportions.
   Zaph noticed the darkening sky.  Her reminiscence had passed the entire
afternoon, and Will was still below.  She called to him.  *Will?  The sun
is setting, and running at night breaks legs.  Your vehicles may have
headlights, but I would not want to approach the Purple Forces camp with a
beacon shining before us.*
   *No problem.  I'll let the HUD give me a sonar display.  A high enough
frequency should yield a decent resolution.*
   *How high do you plan to -*
   The dragon roared in surprised pain.  Persephone, insulated somewhat
since this wasn't a frequency she could really contemplate hearing,
"shouted" to Kit telepathically: *Kit!  Tell him to turn the d!mn thing
OFF!  Zaphyre can hear it!*
   It stopped even before Kit responded conveying Will's reply.  *Good
Lord, Zaphyre, I'm incredibly sorry.  I should have found out before I did
anything like that.  If I can't go on, we'll stop for the night.*  He
thought of something.  *Are you injured?*
   *No...*  The dragon was calming down, slowly.  *No, there's no
permanent damage.  Maybe with a different frequency we could - *  The
dragon caught sight of something.  * - on second thought, never mind.*
   *What?*
   *They're just a few miles ahead of us, and for foot, they're hauling.
We're lucky we caught up to them this late, or I would've been visible to
them.  I'm not /that/ sky blue.*  She glided down until she had about
halved her altitude.  *Now that I'm this close, I can see some stragglers
too.  There's a small group right in front of you, not a mile ahead.*
   *How many?*
   *Ten, maybe a dozen.*
   Will checked his supplies.  *Good, I've got enough energy for the whole
group.  Some Jolt solids for Pers, too, so we can do this faster.  From
this point on it'll probably be mostly Persephone doing the moving.*
   *Understood.*  Zaph landed within a stand of trees, and Persephone
walked out rubbing her arms - the lactic acid somehow got transferred when
they shifted, and mildly tired for Zaph was a dull ache for her.
Fortunately, her proportionally strong human circulatory system got rid of
it considerably faster.  She walked up to stand by Will.
   "Don't worry about the solids, I've got enough ammo on my own."  She
hefted the BurgerMasterBlaster[tm] in her hands, while commenting to
nobody in particular, "I've always wanted to use one of these..."  Will
glanced at her and her choice of weapon, wincing slightly.
   "Wouldn't you rather despongify?"
   "It's an option, but I prefer not to leave tracks I can avoid."
   "It's not like they're going to run back to the Army that enslaved them."
      "Well, I suppose you're right... and it's not all that much more
trouble."  She activated the adaptor she had asked Charc, a friend from
WEDJEE, to include.  "I'll be careful, I promise.  Solids?"  Will handed
over a clip of the crystalline-caffeine-and-sugar goodies that were a
standard despongification tool.  Persephone looked at him in return and
didn't notice a weapon.
   "That mecha have something on it?"
   "Any number of things.  The relevant one right now is the
Metallica/Mozart tightbeam mix."
   "Coo.  Let's free some spongin."  The pair set off north, aided by a
dim, flitting werelight a few paces in front of them.  In a few minutes,
they had reached the stragglers.  Will sent the werelight to hang about
ten feet above the ground and flashed it, startling them.  Pers was first
to make contact, dropping to one knee and firing a Jolt solid directly
into the abdomen of one spongin, and immediately aiming at another to her
left as the first one became jittery.  Will was next, raising a hand and
firing off a fast double-shot of Rondo No. 11 to a couple of sponges, who
were put out of action for the duration - healing by trying to comprehend
the sound.
   The remaining spongin recovered from their surprise and reached for
weapons.  Between Persephone's Blaster[tm] from outside the battle
lines and Will's mecha within the group, though, the few shots that were
fired either missed or were easily absorbed.  Within minutes, the group
lay about in various stages of shock.  A couple were injured - no
fatalities or cheeseburgers.
   Pers stood up and joined Will contemplating their fallen foes.  "Are
you thinking what I'm thinking?"
   "Oi think so, Pers, but who' would we do with a mile-long liverwurst
afterward?"  She looked at, him, startled, and got the joke.  "Seriously,
I think we both decided this would be a good place to get a uniform for
infiltration purposes.  This lady's uniform would fit you pretty well."
He pointed to a middle-aged female sponge, a little taller than Pers but
otherwise reasonably proportioned, on the ground.  "As for me..."  He
looked around.
   "I'd probably be a good choice."  A shaking (former) sponge walked out
of the shadows, a bulky man more fat than large who had taken a double
dose of solids to compensate for his body mass.
   Will nodded.  "Good enough.  Pers, this guy and I will go exchange
uniforms behind those trees.  Umm...  I had to hit the lady to keep her
from shooting at you.  Could you wake her up?"
   "Sure."
   "O.K."  The two men moved off.
   Pers knelt by the unconscious woman.  *Let's see...  There'll be a
pretty bad bruise, but no concussion.  Good.*  She reached "in," trying to
wake up the sleeping mind.
   Zaph prodded, *Better idea.  She sleeps to heal; don't wake her up,
just talk with her on a deeper level.*
   Pers did as requested.  *Lady?  A word?*
   Fuzzy thoughts responded, shaking off minionism, running a healing
process, and trying to communicate all at the same time.  *Whaatttt?*
   *I need to ask a favor of you.*
   *Who... you?*
   *One of the two who freed you from your servitude.*
   *Jihaddi?*
   *Yes.*
   *What... need?*
   This being a complex request, Pers flashed an image of the lady and
herself, switching clothes like paper dolls.
   Confusion came back.  *Why?*
   *Intelligence operation.*
   Comprehension.  A surge of modesty.  Pers assured her that no males
were awake to see the transfer.  Permission.  Pers pulled out.  She
hastily donned the lady's uniform, tight around the breasts and long in
the leg and sleeve but otherwise decent. For the lady's sake, Pers dressed
her in her own uniform(minus rank insignia - she had strong ideas about
earning those).  She got finished just as Will and the man returned.
   They had fared better than she, Will's TRES casuals being loose enough
to fit the fellow a bit closely, and the sponge uniform hanging a bit
loosely around the waist on Will before he tucked it in.  He turned to the
fellow.  "It's going to get cold before morning, but you will stay around
until everyone has woken up, right?"
   "Yes, sir."
   "Good.  The nearest town is..."  He looked up.  "Cripes.  I don't have
the faintest idea.  Hang on."  He stood still a moment, then muttered,
"Kit, I'm not going to argue with you on this.  It'd only be a few
minutes."  Then, "Good."  He faced the man again.  "In a few minutes a
being will contact you in your mind.  He'll give you directions to the
closest habitation and leave as soon as he's sure you understand.  Bring
the group there.  Got it?"
   "Yes."
   Good."  Will turned to Pers.  "Kit is gone, so I'll be without
telepathic contact for a while.  Nevertheless, we're going to have to
hustle to catch up."
   "We'd best hurry quite a bit.  That they're traveling by foot this late
signifies that they're almost to their destination."
   "In which case, we should travel faster until we're almost there."
Will went through the activation sequence for the Blaze again.
   "Nice try, Will, but how am I supposed to travel with you?  Zaph's out
of the question this close."  Will offered his hands, in a clearly
supportive position.  "Oh no."  Pers shook her head.  "Not a chance."
   "We need the speed, Pers."
   "It's undignified."
   "It's necessary."
   She continued to resist for a moment, then sighed.  She walked quite
poisedly to Will's left front, then primly sat down and leaned back, arms
crossed over her chest.
   "Thank you.  Watch for wind."  Will set off "only" about 40 mph in
deference to his passenger.
   Pers soon found she had to tuck her hair under her chin or it blew
everywhere, but she then felt somewhat unstable.  Bowing to circumstance,
she added a measure of security by looping one arm about Will's (well,
mecha's) neck, then the other.
   Will, for his part, was enjoying the silence he'd nearly forgotten from
his days as a mind-mute.  When Pers adopted the more traditional hand
position, he was struck somewhat suddenly by the fact that he was at close
quarters with an attractive young woman, a situation which had not
heretofore occurred often in his life.  Turning her head inward toward him
to escape the wind somewhat, she was... the word "nestled" seemed to
apply.  He found the concept appealing.  He wondered if there was anything
he could do to keep her hair from whipping about so, or make her more
comfortable.  He wished the mecha plates transmitted more precise tactile
sensation.
   That last observation, combined with his admittance that he found
Persephone attractive, made it clear to him that he had interest in her,
more than professionally.  He wondered how it would complicate his life
and to be honest, didn't mind.
   Lights appeared from just beyond the next low hill.  Will slowed and
stopped.  "We're there."  He turned off the mecha.  "Ready?"
   "One moment."  Pers plastered a cheesy grin on her face, eyes going
ditzy.  Will did approximately the same, adding a little sway to his
walk.  They jogged over the hill, waving brightly at the rear guard who
came up to them.
   "Hi you two!" he said.  "Where ya been?"
   "Well, we were slower than all of you so we got left behind a little,"
Pers said.
   "Oh, that's bad," the guard said.  "Everybody should walk the same way
so people don't get left behind."  The inane smile actually lowered a
fraction.  "I wonder why they've been telling us to move so fast.  My feet
hurt."  He dismissed it and brightened.  'Oh, well...  I'm sure they've
got a good reason.  That's why they're in charge, right?"  He waved the
two in.  "Go on, you two, I'm sure you want to be with all your friends."
   "Thanks!"  Will said.  He and Pers went on in, saying, "Excuse me,"
"Pardon us," and the like, until they reached an area between two or three
different contingents.
   "Stop here for a moment," Pers whispered.  "If anybody sees us and
doesn't know us, they'll think we're with one of the groups they're next
to."
   "Good idea," Will replied.  They looked about.  "You think we should
find a place to hear the orders being given?"
   "Command post looks like it's at the front," she said.
   "Let's meander, then."  Making their way up an aisle between two
sections of the force, they managed to ensconce themselves right behind
the leader's vehicle, something like a Jeep or humvee, in which one sponge
and one arrogant man of many years sat as silently as possible among the
constant crowd of spongies asking for advice and help on the smallest
things.
   Several minutes passed without change.  "I wonder what they're waiting
for," Pers whispered.  "Could it already have happened?"
   "In which case they're waiting for something else.  I think we should
at least stay until the crowd starts to disperse, if nothing else
happens."
   Pers nodded and they continued waiting for something to happen.  About
15 minutes later, it did.  A section of the air in front of them
shimmered, and the grey-haired man in the vehicle sat up straighter.  He
called out a phrase which had teeth in it - sharp syllables cracked across
the air, and the shimmer resolved into a set of double doors made of iron
large enough to admit four semis stacked two by two.  Immediately, they
began to swing open.
   As they opened fully, it became clear that behind them was a long ramp,
leading down into the structure.  Only a hundred yards or so actually
protruded above the surface, but the view down led into darkness before it
ended.
   "Good Grimace!"  Pers whispered.  "There could be anything from a
supply closet to a whole base down there!"
   "The area-effect illusion used to cover it is incredibly simple, it's
just grassland and sky with distant horizon.  Not a satellite nor a
wide-range scan would ever have found it."
   "The whole thing could be easily supplied by irregular supply lines
going in all sorts of directions.  It wouldn't look like anything more
than stopping for the night, and that black iron would look like nothing
after sunset.  There's nothing even close to make it likely anyone would
look here.  What the *hell* do they have there?"
   Light from outside began to fall on something coming up the ramp.
Figures moving in shadow began to resolve.  In the middle, four abreast in
robes strode confidently, one carrying a staff topped with a twisted black
emblem, another the only one with his hood thrown back.  The
self-possession in his face made the troops' leader look a craven.  On
either side, two columns of soldiers flanked the procession.  To the left,
troop transports rumbled up, far fewer in number than could accommodate
the troops milling around the scene.  To the far right, several clerkly
types started putting up large signs - "Squad 1 report to Base Command" -
"Squad 2 to Transport 1" - "Squad 3 to Transport 2" - etc.
   The lines of soldiers continued forward until they stood to either side
of the vehicle.  Some broke off to stand beside the four in robes.  The
message they sent was clear - this man - the man staring down at you over
the hood of a robe you could never dream of wearing - is in control.
   You are not.
   The aged man in the seat apparently got the idea.  He stood with the
help of an ornate cane carved as a climbing vine and bowed almost to the
waist.  "Liaison Rhyn.  I did not expect to meet you here.  It is an
honor."
   Both Jihaddi suppressed a start.  Rhyn was known only by name - one of
the seven Liaison-level Officers of the Purple Forces whose name was
known.  Great cost of intelligence resources had gone into knowing it, and
finding out that two more were still unknown.  Trying hard not to be seen
as particularly observant, Will and Pers attempted to watch his face, to
remember his voice, for future reference.  An obscure mission was already
turning out to be an intelligence treasure trove.
   Rhyn spoke.  "It is indeed."  The voice matched the face.  It was
cultured, rich, and cold and hard as the Canadian continental shield.  "A
most unexpected one, at that - this was not what I had ordered, but this
one here thought he could save some... time."  Two soldiers brought forth
something - someone - which had been hidden behind them until then.  It
was a shackled man, clearly beyond resistance.  Persephone's ankle pulsed
with the tactile memory of one she had worn.  "He thought that instead of
delivering the array element and waiting for transportation to split up
your forces normally, he could bring you here - HERE, to a Regional Base!
-" the voice betrayed its first signs of anger, but recomposed itself -
"and our security would not be seriously compromised for the time gained.
And now I must take extra measures to see that security is not breached."
He sighed.  "I am surrounded by incompetents.  Your first lesson, old man
- this is what will happen to YOU if we find that your troops have
betrayed this location."  He nodded to the man holding the staff.  The
black emblem began to glow green, pulsing irregularly.  It began to lower
toward the shackled man huddled on the ground.  As it grew brighter,
survival instinct awoke once more in the man's eyes.  He turned and would
have fled, but the guards held him in place.
   Will looked away, doing his best to pretend it was a momentary glance
in another direction.  He saw the reflected green flash from Persephone's
face as she was momentarily unable to hold the fake smile.  When he looked
back, the result was being carried back into the base and he forced the
vacuous expression back onto his face.  The old man had blanched, but
taken it stoically.  "Of course, sir.  The utmost measures will be taken."
   "I expected nothing less of you."  A thin smile crossed Rhyn's face and
vanished.  "The squads reporting to Base Command will have their recent
memories wiped.  After completing the mission, your own squads will do the
same."
   "Yes, sir."
   "Very well.  Assign your troops, take the cargo, and leave quickly.  We
have 10 minutes before a Jihad satellite crosses overhead."  Rhyn turned
and vanished into the structure, followed by the three robes.  Soldiers
began to break up.  Squads went to read signs, and personnel generally
went where they were told.
   A sponge tugged on Will and Pers' sleeves.  "Come on, you two!  We're
going to go and get made so we're not dangerous to Barney's security
anymore!"  At their momentary blank looks, he giggled.  "Oh, you sillies.
You're in Squad 1, right?  You must be new since I don't know you.  See?"
He pointed at the triangles on their right sleeves, each containing a big
number 1.
   "Oh yeah!"  Persephone said.  "Let's go!"  She and Will started for the
ramp down with the rest.
   Will pulled her a little off to the side.  "You have an exit strategy?"
he whispered.
   "You want to give a reason for not going where our squad's supposed to
go?" she replied.  Not being able to think of a good reason immediately,
Will continued as well.
   "I'm not liking this, though."
   "That makes three of us, believe me."  She kept to herself the internal
litany of *Underground!  Why does it have to be underneath tons of earth?*
Zaphyre had started up as they crossed the threshold.
   Will cocked his head.  "Four.  Kit just got back."
   Behind them, the doors closed.

TBC...