Chapter 9: Fire and Ice

“Playing with fire is bad for those who burn themselves. For the rest of us, it is a very great pleasure.” – Jerry Smith.

York, Great Britain. December 1070

Admiral Ewing stood before Marion, having only just returned from Norway. There, the admiral had stretched the queen’s orders to the breaking point. Although Marion wasn’t angry with Admiral Ewing, she had to stress that it wasn’t the place for military commanders to make strategic alliances. Norway could have quickly become a severe debacle for the British if things hadn’t gone exactly as they had.

“Admiral Ewing, I am deeply disturbed by your actions in Norway.”

“Why, Your Majesty? Norway is now an ally where they were only a trade partner before.”

“Did you know if a major war on another front was threatening them? If there had been and that war broke out, how would you explain to a parent or husband or wife or child that their loved one is dead because we allied with a kingdom that was already looking at war? The only reason you still have your job, Admiral, is that your scheme worked. However, don’t expect to be going to sea anytime soon. You will report to Hull, where you will command the shipyard. Do you understand me, Admiral?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Before you go, I want to make something very clear to you. Only the monarch or their direct representatives can form an alliance, while the most the military commanders can do is make temporary battlefield alliances. Even my husband doesn’t have the authority to form strategic alliances. Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind about having you court marshaled.”

Admiral Ewing saluted and hurried out of Marion’s office, where she literally ran into Luke. Luke was coming to see Marion about the lands she had received from Norway.

“Hello, Admiral. How are you?”

“The queen just assigned me to the Hull Naval Shipyard,” Ewing barely spit out.

“What did you do?”

“She didn’t tell you?” Luke just looked at her. “The queen is pissed over the alliance with Norway.”

“Ah. You’re not going to do something stupid, are you?”

“No, sir. Sir, can you get me back on sea duty?”

“I don’t know, Admiral. The fact is, I agree with the queen. The military cannot be involved in diplomacy, or we would end up like the Roman Empire, with one military leader after another, causing foreign or civil wars the nation cannot afford. You should consider yourself lucky because if I had been king, you would be looking at execution instead of a temporary land assignment.”

“Temporary??” Ewing asked hopefully.

“Think very carefully how the queen phrased her orders.”

“Wait, YOU KNEW!?”

“Of course, I knew, Admiral. It would be best if you thanked Colonel Smiten the next time you see her since she’s the one who convinced the queen to allow you to stay in the military and give you another command. Most people do not get a second chance, Admiral; do not squander it.”

“YES, SIR!”

Admiral Ewing saluted and left while Luke went into Marion’s office.

“Did she do what you predicted?”

“Yep. She wanted me to intervene on her behalf, and I poured cold water on that thought. On the plus side, I don’t think any of your commanders will do something so fucking stupid again. Also, Gabriella is a god to Admiral Ewing since she got credit for saving the admiral’s bacon.”

“Thank you, Luke, for helping me through that mess. Now, what are you really here for?”

Marion noticed Luke wasn’t in uniform, which strongly suggested business or carnal. Luke smiled at her, and Marion gave him the look that said, “Spit it out.”

“Bard and I would like your permission to build a small geothermal power plant in Iceland. We believe this would give the island the boost needed to cement you as the island’s monarch.”

“Granted. Write up a proposal, and I’ll sign it.”

Luke smiled and handed Marion the proposal he and Bard had written. The power plant would enable industry to settle in Iceland and provide jobs to the new British citizens there. The excess heat would be piped to people’s homes so they could heat their homes without wood. Knowing it wouldn’t provide much income, Marion saw through Luke’s proposal and smiled. Luke was using technology to help prevent environmental damage caused by economic activity.

“Are you feeling guilty, Luke?”

“No, unlike the leftist nutcases from my time, I know I cannot change the past and am not responsible for past events. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t take steps now to reduce future damage.”

“I noticed you said reduce future damage, not eliminate the damage.”

“Economic growth and protecting the environment work against each other. The trick is to balance the two because environmental protection doesn’t mean a damned thing if people are starving and jobless. Yet another lesson many people refused to heed. They were all about protecting the environment at all costs when it didn’t hurt them. When those environmental decisions hit their purse, they tended to be much quieter. Once you dug into the numbers, the “environmentally friendly” alternatives were more expensive, less reliable, and less environmentally friendly. The environmental movement was worse when they tried to force people to use certain products but then tied up the proposed mines needed to mine the minerals needed to build what they wanted to force people to buy. Before I was sent back, the environmentalists wanted people to buy electric cars, but then they tried to ban the mining needed to produce the special metals required for the batteries and electric motors.”

“So, what do you hope to prevent in Iceland?”

“The deforestation of the island. By giving people a way to heat their homes using the Earth’s heat, they won’t need to use nearly as much wood. Sure, they will still need wood to cook with, but if they buy those new stoves Bard designed, they will need even less wood. Eventually, I’ll have the time to develop an electric stove.”

“Would something like that work here?”

“Something similar can work; we already have it in the hospital and the palace. Your cooks have already used the stoves since Bard did prototype testing here.”

“Oh.” Marion hated it when she felt stupid. Luke just smiled at her and continued.

“Bard and I are working on starting commercial power production here, but the lack of needed minerals is hampering things. Britain lacks the metals required to mix with iron to make high-temperature steel alloys or powerful magnets. We hope to have something in place by the end of next year to begin wiring Great Britain for electricity.”

“Do you believe you will be able to provide electricity to all of Great Britain by the end of next year?”

“I said to begin wiring by the end of next year, not providing everyone with electricity. We will be unable to provide everyone with electricity for some time.”

“Oh. Is there anything else you want?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it.”

Marion looked up, saw a lustful look on Luke’s face, and got wet. It had been a while since they had screwed in her office, and Marion couldn’t think of anything she had to do that couldn’t wait a few hours. Without thinking further, Marion stood up and stripped while Luke worked on his clothes.

Two hours later, Luke and Marion lay beside each other on her office floor, covered in sweat and having floor burns on their knees. When Marion looked at Luke, they smiled and began laughing. Both looked like they had been dragged through the wringer but were grinning like idiots. They eventually got up and put enough clothes on to be decent. When they left Marion’s office, she wrapped her legs around Luke’s waist and her arms around his neck. She laid her head on his shoulder as best she could, with her increasingly large belly in the way. Meanwhile, everyone in the outer offices grinned at the couple as they passed.

While Luke was carrying Marion back to their chambers to shower, they bumped into a priest who had just returned from the Holy Land, where he had been for the preceding five years. While in the Holy Land, the priest had heard about the new “queen” and dismissed the rumors. He didn’t know who was in front of him, but their behavior disgusted him.

“You two are a disgrace before man and God.”

Marion looked at Luke, who looked confused.

“Excuse me, but are you talking to us?” asked Marion

“Who else would I be talking to, whore?”

Marion looked at Luke and nodded for him to put her down. With pain in his eyes, Luke put Marion down; he enjoyed their closeness. Marion kissed him before turning her attention to the priest.

“So, why are we a disgrace?”

“A man and a woman should never show such affection in public.”

Marion couldn’t stop herself, “So does that mean two women can show affection in public?” Luke had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing at the priest, who was turning red.

“I trust you are not such a vile sinner.”

“Do you know who I am?” asked Marion. She was getting annoyed.

“I do not care who you are! I am going to the archbishop and recommending you face trial by ordeal.”

“For some reason, I do not see that going anywhere. Trial by ordeal was banned by Queen Marion soon after she was crowned queen. As for the rest, you still have no clue who I am.”

“I do not need to know your name, sinner!”

“You might want to make an exception for me because I AM Queen Marion, and this big man behind me is my husband, General Luke MacDougall. The head of the Household Guard, Colonel Gabriella Smiten, is my wife, and the world’s leading doctor, Alice Kensley, is Luke’s second wife. If you dare to try me further, I will sentence you to life in the mines for threatening the queen.”

The priest’s face lost color, and Luke wondered if the man would die right before them. So far, Luke hadn’t said anything since he had more fun watching his wife take care of idiots, but he decided it was time to enter the fray. He reached out, grabbed the priest’s neck, and picked him up before pushing him against the wall.

“Listen, you fucking idiot,” Luke growled, making chills run down the priest’s spine. “I love that woman you call a whore more than anyone, and I will gladly die to defend her. However, since dying is not on my schedule for the immediate future, if you threaten her again, I will hunt you down and slowly kill you while ensuring you suffer as much pain as humanly possible.”

The priest looked at Luke and felt urine running down his legs as his bladder gave way. He had never been so scared as when he looked into Luke’s ice-blue eyes. The priest started slapping Luke’s arms, as Luke’s grip cut off his breathing. Eventually, Luke let go, and the priest fell to the floor as he tried to catch his breath. Marion was almost as stunned as the priest was at Luke’s display. Luke then pointed toward a door that led out of the palace, and the priest took off as fast as his legs could carry him.

Once the priest took off, Luke took a deep breath, turned to Marion, and picked her back up. When Marion looked into Luke’s eyes, she saw nothing but love and laid her head against Luke’s shoulder again.

After Luke and Alice moved back in with Marion, they got married. When Luke and Alice married, Marion also married Gabriella. She was determined that nothing would rip her family apart again.

Elsewhere in York, Bard was busy chasing his wife around their bedroom. Bard had four weeks of vacation per year, and Luke expected him to take all four weeks. When Bard was on vacation, Luke stepped in to keep the business empire running smoothly and keep Bard from falling behind with his work, which was why Luke was making the sales pitch to Marion instead of Bard. While Bard worked for Luke, Ruth kept their estate running smoothly.

Several years before, Bard bought several small estates outside York and combined them into a much larger estate. On the estate, they raised cattle for beef and milk production. Most of the milk was used to make cheese. Bard grew large amounts of alfalfa to feed the cattle during the winter. The alfalfa seeds had been obtained via a trader from southern Spain, and Bard quickly learned to plant alfalfa along streams to keep erosion down. This had the added benefit of helping keep the streams clean.

Luke’s estates also grew alfalfa and planted it in the same areas. They also rotated the alfalfa with more traditional crops like wheat and rye. Many farmers were stunned when they saw significant yield increases in grain after planting in a field that had been alfalfa the year before.

Ruth ran Bard’s estate with a firm but fair hand. She quickly invested in new technology or techniques that increased yields or decreased labor while maintaining the quality of the product and protecting the soil. Often, Bard let Ruth test new methods before deploying them to the other estates he was responsible for. While it might not have been fair for Bard’s estate to be a testing ground, Bard also borrowed technology from the company estates to use on his estate.

While Ruth was one of Britain’s rising businesswomen, Anna Catherine of Snekkeeng was learning to be a doctor from one of the world’s best. Alice had taken on Anna as one of her apprentice doctors. When Anna discovered she had been selected, she was thrilled. Learning from Alice would open every door Anna would need to pass through to be a successful doctor; all she had to do was pass through them.

Magnus was proud of his wife, but at the same time, he was distracted by events in Norway. Since he made his money from trade with Norway, political instability at home had the potential to cost Magnus.

After reading some letters from his sister, Magnus knew what he had to do; he would have to return to Norway and convince the nobility to follow his sister. Ingegerd would also need a crash course in ruling an empire. To help his sister, Magnus was writing letters to every nobleman and priest he could think of, urging them to support his sister.

After spending three days writing letters, Magnus came to a decision: he would return to Norway alone to help his sister get her feet under her. Anna couldn’t go with him because she was buried in classwork.

North Atlantic, south of Iceland. January 1071

Three weeks after giving his proposal to Marion, Luke and Pollyanna were looking at the southern coast of Iceland.

“Ugg,” complained Pollyanna when she saw the shoreline.

“Yeah, I know. Whoever’s bright idea this was should be shot.”

“Okay. Give me your pistol Luke, since, as I remember it, it was your bright idea to come here.”

Luke smiled and bent to kiss her.

“You know,” Luke stated after looking around. “I was here about eight years ago, and only a few trees were on this island. Look at all the trees that are here now.”

“Looks like another lump of rock to me, Luke.”

“It’s what’s beneath the rock that will make this trip worthwhile. This island sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that separates Europe from America, and the amount of geothermal energy available here is impressive and unlimited. It will make it very cheap to smelt metal here or anything else that requires large amounts of energy. Another reason I wanted this island is the area to the southwest; the Grand Banks is one of the world’s richest fishing grounds.”

“So how are we going to tap into that energy?”

“Yeah,” Luke said as he ran his hand over his hair. “That is going to be the problem. We have to drill two holes into the hot rocks and then pump large volumes of water into one of the holes. The hot rocks will heat the water, which will then travel up the other hole. Once on the surface, the steam can be separated, cleaned, and used in a steam engine. After the steam goes through the engine, it can be sent into town, where it can heat people’s homes and warm the streets to keep the snow from sticking. After the heat is gone, the water can be returned and reheated.”

“You have this all figured out, don’t you, Luke.”

“Nope. Only have the big picture figured out; that’s why you’re here.”

“Gee, thanks Luke.”

Luke looked at Pollyanna and kissed her again, causing her cheeks to redden as she leaned against him. It made Pollyanna feel good to lean against a man. Since she got rid of Matt, Pollyanna hadn’t felt close to any man. Leaning against Luke woke feelings of lust in her, and she snuggled against him. He glanced at her and chuckled before putting his arm around her. Marion had told him before he left to make sure he took excellent care of all of Pollyanna’s needs. While Pollyanna was gone, Marion’s governess would watch her children.

“There’s a letter for you from Marion in my shirt pocket, Polly.”

She slipped her fingers into Luke’s shirt pocket and found the letter. It was short, and when she got to the end, she sighed contentedly and ran her hands over Luke’s body.

“I can’t wait until we get ashore, Luke. I haven’t been laid since you knocked me up the last time, and I’m horny. A girl has her needs, and this girl needs to get laid.”

Luke chuckled some more and held Pollyanna next to him. He knew he wouldn’t get much sleep once they landed and couldn’t wait. Polly was still a beautiful woman even after three children and one breast had to be removed. She was also intelligent, brave, and funny, the same characteristics that attracted Luke to Marion.

Since the island was sparsely populated, Luke wanted to land near some civilization. Looking over the best maps they could find, Luke chose Reykjavik. The low quality of the maps pissed Luke off to no end, and he told Pollyanna her first chore for her engineers would be to make accurate maps.

As their ship slipped into Reykjavík harbor, everyone aboard the vessel was thrilled to have warm winter clothing since the temperature was hovering around zero Celsius and there was a stiff wind from the north. Their ship was the second in the Explorer class and was named the HMNS Voyager. Aboard with Luke and Pollyanna were a platoon of Household Guards, an engineering company, and a battalion of the 2^nd division. The battalion would form the occupation force until garrison units became available.

In the first boat over the side were several soldiers who spoke Old Norse. It would be their job to smooth things over for Luke. Otherwise, Luke’s battalion would storm the town and take it by force.

Kolbeinn Flosason had been visiting Reykjavík when a small boy ran past, screaming about a sea monster in the bay. Kolbeinn looked at some of his entourage and shrugged; they didn’t have too much that was pressing, so they would have a look. Kolbeinn Flosason was one of the Icelandic chieftains. When they looked out over the bay, their jaws dropped as they looked at the largest ship they had ever seen.

As he and his entourage looked at the massive ship in the bay, they noticed a rowboat approaching the shore. Everyone saw the British flag flying from the stern of the ship and knew who had come calling but not why.

When the rowboat got close enough, Kolbeinn saw it was filled with British soldiers but had someone in civilian clothes at the bow. Nobody on shore moved until the boat was beached, and the occupants waded ashore. Once ashore, the civilian walked up to Kolbeinn, attracted by his more impressive clothing.

Kolbeinn was wary, especially of the soldiers, even though their guns were still slung over their shoulders. Nobody in Iceland had seen a gun before but had heard rumors of what they could do.

“Are you the chieftain here?” asked the civilian.

“Yes, I am. Who are you?” replied Kolbeinn.

“I am Wulfnoð of Thetford, and I am here as the personal representative of Queen Marion of York. She has reached an agreement with Queen Ingegerd Haraldsdotter of the Norwegian Empire. Iceland and Greenland now belong to Great Britain.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Queen Ingegerd Haraldsdotter of Norway signed Iceland and Greenland over to Queen Marion of York as payment for supporting her during the recent Norwegian Civil War.”

“I refuse to be ruled by a queen, British or otherwise!”

“I am afraid, sir, that is out of the question. Iceland belongs to Great Britain now, and in case you think you can resist, there are over 400 battle-hardened soldiers aboard that ship in the bay. Each soldier has a rifle that can kill at over 500 paces, and there are guns on that ship that can shred any other ship to ribbons before you get close enough to do it any harm.”

Kolbeinn looked like a fish out of water as he tried to think of something to say. He wasn’t used to other people telling him what to do, and as he watched, one of the soldiers from the boat pulled out a set of flags and sent a signal to the ship in the bay. Soon, more boats were being lowered and coming to shore with more soldiers. Kolbeinn then understood the British man in front of him was serious.

Over the next hour, the entire battalion was brought ashore. Once the battalion landed, the British outnumbered the Icelanders in Reykjavík by two to one. Kolbeinn withdrew with his entourage into the nearby hills. He had to find a way to fight the British but didn’t know where to start. All he and his entourage knew was they couldn’t resist the British head-on.