Princess Rescue Inc (119 page)

Scooter
came back empty handed and grabbed another length of hose. “Last one!” Max
warned him. Scooter just kept going. He linked the hose to the one he'd dropped
into the moat and run to the midpoint and then ran the second hose the hundred
yards to the pump. Frantically they locked the hose on and turned the pump on.

Anxiously
Ryans turned to the hose, watching it slowly inflate with water. He hoped the
thing would do some good. He turned back to the fire in time to see Max turn
the nozzle and a spray of water came out. People cheered. “Keep the buckets
going!” Max ordered, getting the hose as close to the flaming tower as he could.
Debris was raining down around him. Some of it was still on fire. Sergio was
tossing anything flammable out the windows.

Deidra
came out, mouth open, hands to her chest anxious as the rest of them at the
sight of the tower and trapped people inside. Most of those that could jump had
done so. She went through them, coughing and asking about her mother. They were
soot stained and scorched. Many were on the ground crying or barely breathing
as others tended to them.

“Boss,”
Sergio called over the radio when the smoke turned color and the flames died
down. “I've got bad news,” he said. His voice was muffled by the face mask he
was wearing. Ryans paused, hand going to his earpiece.

“How
many?” Ryans asked, not sure he wanted to know. He looked over to Max. The
machinist had gotten the pump as close to the wall as possible. Scooter had
slapped a helmet on the machinist's head. Waters and Paris were near, using the
soldiers as crowd control now that the scene was getting under control.

“A
lot. That's not what I'm calling about. Or the only thing,” Sergio said. He
cleared his throat. “Tell Zara and Deidra I'm sorry. I couldn't make it in
time,” he said quietly. Ryans closed his eyes in pain, clenching his fist. He
turned to Deidra and opened his eyes.

She
had just patted a man servant on the shoulder and felt someone looking at her.
She turned to see Ryans there. One glance at the look of pain on his face was
enough. He took his hat off and wiped at his brow and then shook his head
coming to her.

She
stood there, shocked and in pain, pain like she'd never known. The rape, her
father, now... her face clouded as anguish ran through her. Blindly her left
hand found Zara. Zara looked up and turned. She saw her sister's face and then
saw Ryans. She immediately wailed, tearing up and then sobbing.

Stricken
with grief Zara broke down in the courtyard at the news, heartbroken over
losing both parents in less than a year. Ryans had her put on a litter and
carried back to the infirmary. “I'm sorry love, so so sorry,” he said, holding
Deidra. She held him fiercely, tears dripping onto his shoulder.

  <==={}------------>

Ryans
watched as she stared into the fire. Her eyes were lost. He felt a warmth of
impotent rage at the situation then sat on the feelings firmly. He didn't cause
this sorrow; life could take unexpected turns at unexpected times. Gently he
stroked her hair as she shivered. The death toll was grim, hundreds had died of
the epidemic, and a dozen had died in the fire. He wasn't sure which bothered
her more. The loss of her people or the personal loss.

He
kicked himself. He should have watched the Queen, been closer to her, kept an
eye on her. But no, he'd been wrapped up in getting more fruit juices and herbs
out. Getting blankets out to those who needed it and getting more vaccines out.
Tracking down pockets of people and helping the sheriff find and bury the dead.

He
should have known she'd visit the girls even though they were sick. She was a
mother, that's what a good mother did; she took care of her kids first. He
should have checked on her since Deidra and Zara... he bit his lip, fists
clenching in pain and self loathing.

She
turned, falling into his arms and cried softly. He felt a pang, the anger
welling again. How could he deal with this? There wasn't any magical cure he
could do, nothing he could say. He sighed softly, stroking her hair and just
holding her as she clutched at him.

Deidra
clutched at him as she wept. She felt shame, she was a princess of the realm
and she was reduced to this. She shouldn't feel so weak. So helpless. Mother
would be so... that thought cut off with a fresh sense of loss. The sobs cut
off as she coughed. He rubbed her back.

Guilt
and anger tore at them both as he gently rocked her. Eventually her breathing
slowed into a steady rhythm of sleep. He sighed, feeling his own body urging
him to sleep.

He
looked over to Zara's cot and frowned. She had her back to them, clutching at
her own pillow. In less than a year they had lost their entire family. Their
younger brother, both parents, and their treasonous uncle. Their entire world
had crumbled and shattered around them. Their civilization was at a crossroads
too, and they were just two terrified teenagers caught up in the works with men
and women just aching to replace them.

What
the hell was he going to do? he thought to himself as he laid there. He knew he
couldn't leave them like this. Not now. Anger rose once more, tearing at him.
He felt it and tried to set it aside. Damn it, it wasn't fair! He had his own
plans, his own dreams. Hell, he didn't
want
to be stuck in this rat hole
the rest of his life. He felt and thought, biting his lip and clenching the
sheets with his free hand. He felt a fresh pang of remorse and looked down to
her reddish golden hair then over to Zara. He knew he couldn't blame them; it
wasn't their fault at all that any of this mess happened.

No
he couldn't leave them. He wouldn't. He couldn't just throw them to the wolves
of this world. He looked down to his girlfriend and stroked her hair once more.
He loved Deidra too much. There he admitted it, he thought, feeling his lips
pucker in a wry smile in the dark. He did love her. And he... hell
they
would have to work it out. Somehow. He sighed softly and then turned slightly,
trying to relieve the ache and pins in needles in his pinned arm. She hung on
and he sighed, getting as comfortable as he could as sleep claimed him.

  <==={}------------>

Doc,
Domina Farnsworth, and Charlie isolated the virus and then tapped the blood of
the Terrans and those that had been infected and survived. Wanda and Charlie
extracted antibodies and injected them into people not affected or the least
affected. The antibodies would do little to combat the infection so Charlie and
Domina Farnsworth locked themselves away in the lab to further refine the
vaccine.

Sue
nursed the princesses through the last stages of influenza. Ryans finally came
to grips with staying with the girls as the crisis began to ebb. He didn't say
anything to the others; Perry was as subdued as he was. But the lieutenant gave
him a knowing look, a look that said he knew what Ryans was thinking about. He
patted the civilian leader on the arm and then went back to work.

With
the Queen dead and the princesses still recuperating Ryans stepped up fully to
take command. A few of the lords still in residence objected but they were
still too weak from the outbreak and he ignored them.

Deidra
insisted that he needed to help her people rather than stay at her bedside
while she recovered. Doc joked that if he was around they'd get worn out
playing and she'd never recover. He growled at her and then left. “Thought he'd
never get the hint, making calf eyes at a sick woman. Sheesh!!” she chuckled
with the girls. Zara looked a little torn when the giggles turned to coughs.
“Don't worry about him, Ryans is quite the organizer. He's probably got a plan
in mind and was sitting on it because he didn't want to leave,” Sue said. She
shook her head.

“The
people come first,” Deidra murmured.

“The
needs of the many outweigh needs of the few,” Sue nodded. “Star Trek. Also
something from triage. But remember that you still need time for yourselves or
you're not going to be of any use to anyone,” she smiled tenderly at her
friend. “Which means you've got to rest. Paper reports only. Bed rest and lots
and lots of fluids,” she ordered. She pointed to the bed. Deidra smiled.

“But
since you're here, and the two of you are bored, we can route some reports to
you, and you can keep in touch with Ryans via the net.” She held up a laptop.
“This is Ben's. I'll show you how to access the movie files and the captioning
AI Sydney's been working on. It should be interesting. You can use it to entertain
yourselves and the others,” she said, indicating the other sick people around
them. She smiled as she handed the laptop over. Deidra nodded.

Zara
climbed out of bed then tottered over and laid next to her sister. Deidra
turned the laptop on and watched it boot up. “Such marvels,” she murmured, long
fingers stroking the plastic bezel around the LCD screen.

 Ryans
ran all over the Imperium in the hummer or was flown about by Lewis in the
airplane. He handled the logistics of the vaccinations and treatment while
popping in to the various castles to give advice on various things to help the
people. He made notes and sent messages back to the capital. Slowly Deidra,
Zara, and the others recovered over the next week.

By
the time the princesses were back on their feet Ryans was about done in from
travel fatigue. Lewis' little airplane had been a godsend, allowing him to pop
in to the various nearby lords in under two hours to talk, shocking them into
almost instant compliance. He'd carried the vaccine with him as well as printed
directions on treatment.

Sue
really should have been the one to have done this but she'd refused to leave
the castle. He'd thought about sicking the task on Domina Farnsworth but she'd
finally come down with the virus. She'd vaccinated herself so she had only a
weak version, Charlie had reported.

Deidra
firmly took over the plans for her mother's funeral. Since she was a reigning
monarch the House of Lords would have to attend. Fortunately the weather was
holding so she planned to have Lewis fly in the nearby lords to attend the
funeral.

  <==={}------------>

Doc
sicked Sydney and the teaching staff to go through the royal library records.
Sydney was amazed by the books; he set up his crew with a pair of laptops and
scanned all the scrolls and books related to medicine with a portable scanner.
Luck was still with them, the snows were light, and holding off. It was cold
outside, hovering around thirty degrees Fahrenheit during the day but dropping
into below zero temperatures at night.

 It
turned out the natives had carefully cultured Earth knowledge wherever
possible, but many people didn't know how to do more advanced items in the
early times. Sydney also found records of plagues, including the Black Death.
(Bubonic and neumonic plagues) The illnesses had managed to cross over and
wiped out a series of towns when they were infected by a parasite. The parasite
bit into the humans when it woke from its hibernation in spring...
Automatically infecting them, or so a healer at the time thought. Sydney was
fairly certain that this healer was a genius of his time.

Sydney
and Doc pulled together a census, they estimated that about twenty percent of
the population was infirm or sick due to illness, disease, famine,
malnutrition, or genetic malady. Grimly Sue came to a personal decision and
then got to work on planning how to correct the list of problems.

“Literacy
and hygiene are the real issues here, less than one in twenty know how to read.
The lords and their staff do, well those that handle records,” Sydney shook his
head in disgust. “Burgesses, bailiffs, wardens, and local village leaders and
elders do, but their levels vary. It's not like they can go to the local
library and check a book out to read. Don't get me started on hygiene,” he shuddered.
Some of the primitive ideas the natives had tried over the years were just
wrong on so many levels.

“Yeah,
so public education is going to have to be widespread,” Doc replied, nodding as
she frowned. She'd struck out here, she'd hoped for a native herb or something
to aid in the recovery. Tau had been wise to offer up that fever reducer, pity
he'd died in the second wave, tending to the ill. Half of her healers were
dropping now, even masks were no help. She frowned in frustration and then
brought herself back to the task at hand. “Education like medicine and science
are going to have to be state sponsored. We're going to have our hands full
setting that up next year. Just getting the teachers alone will be a mess.”

“Yeah,
good luck on that,” Sydney said sniffing. “I've been trying but it's a pain.
Teaching the classes I have is bad enough,” He shuddered. His eyes turned
haunted. Two of his youngest students wouldn't be returning when classes
resumed.

  <==={}------------>

Duke
Pryor looked up as Ryans entered the room. A nervous looking hunting party
looked him over. A few of the soldiers looked grim.

“Something
up?” Ryans asked taking a seat. He was still concerned about the girls. Like a
lot of people they had overextended themselves in their recovery and had come
perilously close to coming down with pneumonia.  Sue had her hands full
with that, trying to stomp it out. She'd even asked him to declare a holiday
week to get people to stay at home and recover. Unfortunately he couldn't do
that, one; he didn't have the authority, and two; people needed to eat and care
for themselves and their families still. It was a nice idea, but the bills and
day to day chores didn't end when you went on vacation, just the source of
income.