Chapter 23

The portal solidified and I was ready. A few seconds later I saw a snout appear and I felt dread. I fired at the head before the animal got in the room. The scream of pain sent a shiver down my back and almost deafened me. Tonno came to the door just as I started pumping buckshot at the animal. The animal flinched at the gun but the pellets never hit. Magic.

Captain Dale ran to the room and charged the animal as I fired at it. The sword had no effect and Dale was thrown aside by a backhand. I moved around and shot slower. The animal's flinching would give me some time to think. I knew that when I ran out of ammo, I would die. One more animal was coming now and this one was wounded before it passed through the portal. The protection had to only exist in this room.

The first animal was sniffing to find me. It would not bring its good eye my way. This reminded me of the perfume and the fish oil. I threw a unlit Molotov at it and the bottle hit the animals thick chitinous shell and broke. I pumped one more round at the animal and threw another bottle thought the portal at the other animal.

The first had sighted me and charged. I came on and I was ready to use the gun butt to better effect when I heard a bellow. The Captain charged at the animal with the stone headed spear that was near the door. It struck the chitin and then slid to a joint and the point slid in but not much. The animal started after Dale now but Tonno stepped beside him with his own spear. The two men were fighters and the animal didn't get close.

The second animal was in the room now and looking for me. I took the remaining Molotov and put the soaked rag to the lamp that should have already been put out. It burned low at first, then got brighter. I threw the incendiary not at the second but at the room it came from. The flames caught and spread into this room. The second then the first animals caught fire but by then I was using broken furniture to stab at them.

Howls came from the portal. When I had a chance, I took a partial keg of oil and threw it into the portal. The flames got a lot brighter and the screaming increased. Four more of the animals raced into the room and I had only enough time to wound one. All were aflame and they were not interested in me, only getting away.

They raced to the door and both the Captain and Tonno had to give way. The animals raced out of the cabin and then two more came through the portal. This had to stop. There was a half kilo brick of C4. I hit the timer and threw it into the room and around a small bend. I went back and then set and threw the remaining three in. Another animal raced out and knocked me over and fled. It had raked me with its claws where my jacket didn't protect me.

I staggered to the doorway and managed to pull Tonno out of the way when the blast shook the ship. I was thrown across the deck and hit three people. They were knocked like ten pins. I got up as quick as I could and looked frantically for a spear.

I found one and prepared for the animals but I didn't see any. "Where'd they go?" I called.

One of the crew women pointed to the ship almost upon us. I saw two of the animals, then a third, climbing the wooden hull. I looked around and found us surrounded on two sides by fire and off our bow was a ship that had its deck two metres higher than ours. They had slowed. If they hit us they may sink too.

I heard grenades going off on their ship. They had to have been prepared with us in mind. But why?

When the last animal climbed the ship, I had a clue. I said to the woman. "Did they all jump in the water?"

I had to shake her a few times until she said, "They were burning and jumped overboard." I looked around and saw the firepots and the smoke and knew that the animals had not fled us but the flames.

There was cannon fire above us and lots more grenades. The screams of men were heard. Muskets fired almost constantly but I knew that this would not harm the animals. I wanted to get away but we were actually under their guns now. The ship in front of us began to lose headway.

The pirates were ignoring us as they fled or fought the fires. Our youngsters came and dragged away the wounded while the rest of us prepared for the return of the animals or grenades from the ship. We only heard the screaming on the ship but even that got less.

Dale came to me using the spear as a crutch. "What do we do now, my King?"

"We attack. Pull in the anchors."

"What?"

We will come under their guns. We can't take it. Let's move while we have some allies."

"What allies?"

"The animals."

"The monsters?"

"Yes, the monsters."

Bringing in the anchors would take too long. We tied juffa cord with wood floats to the anchor chains and then let the chain fall into the ocean. We drifted the same way the ship was moving. A sail had to be set to give us some headway. When we were close enough, I threw a grappling hook and tied us to the ship.

I climbed aboard with a fresh drum for the shotgun as well as two spears. The deck of the ship was covered with the dead, not all of them Human. There were four dead animals and that left five unaccounted for. The screaming below-deck told me where they were.

There were firepots here. Fire was a good weapon. I called to our ship to throw me some oil. Others were sent to get cloth off of the dead enemy. We made quick torches and then soaked them in oil. They burned well and stunk. The smell was somehow sweet. We started looking for Human and animal enemies.

The passages were wide and the bodies deep. Two of them were animals so we had only three more and I knew where one was.

I came on some men with their backs to me. I just stopped my people and waited. The screaming was louder here. We waited longer and the men ran off to do battle with the last two. Only when I heard the death cry of the last animal did we attack.

Ten minutes later the ship ran aground and both sides were thrown down. I jumped in with my nine millimetre and the 45 because the shotgun was empty. My people followed me and some died in the charge. My vest took the bullets that would have killed me.

Half an hour later the last combatant was found and killed. He would not surrender. The ship had come lose twice and then ran aground again until I found Dale and ordered him to drop the anchors.

We searched for living enemies but found none. We did have some prisoners, though. They were the trainees of the priest. Our wounded were tended as best we could. I searched for another Heart of Opfu or anything similar but found nothing that would work.

When we did all we could do, we searched again for pirates and found none. We began to make repairs to both ships.

The stigga bodies were studied in detail. They were a greyish-brown colour. The chitin on their backs were thick and three to six centimetres wide at the most. It came in bands that reached around to the front but did not meet. This reminded me of an armadillo in a way. The front of the animal did not have these segments but had individual scales like a reptile. Here the colour was a light grey.

The faces of the stigga were fox like but large. Incongruously, they had fur on their faces and a large piece of chitin on the back of their heads. It was difficult to tell them apart by gender. Each had a collar and a medallion on it to get through the portal.

The beings looked peaceful now in death. Their claws had retracted in one individual so this must happen to the rest too. Their paws looked a lot more like six fingered hands with two opposing thumbs.

Any residual shield had left when they died so I cut a few of the beings open. It was not just morbid curiosity but to see where I should aim at some future date to kill or incapacitate.

The crew wanted to put the heads on poles but I didn't allow it. I had seen it done to Humans but that didn't seem as bad for some reason.

It took days to get organised. The Hida was a formidable yacht of a very wealthy member of the Church. He had either been too frightened or too ethical and stayed on the ship to fight to stigga. He had killed five of the animals with a silver weapon that looked like a stylised lightning bolt. There were not enough charges in it to get them all. He left all his equipment as well as three girls. Nine more girls and four boys had died when the stigga attacked.

The ship had been crewed by Anguy but only six were still alive. None of these were soldiers. I figured they would attack as soon as they could stand so they could die honourably.

We had lost twenty seven people so far and four more were doubtful. Tonno was one of the dead. Six of the dead were children that should not have fought or even been close to the fighting. I grieved for each and every one of them.

The Hida was diesel powered. I found some manuals in French and in Ladra. There was a large generator with a big diesel engine providing 550 volts three phase. Some of the lights in the priests room were 220 volts which my transceiver could accept. I searched the dead but found no Earth people that would have tended the equipment. All of the labels on the equipment were removed. I only knew they were of Earth manufacture because it was cast into the metal.

I finally called Shreff and found the girls ecstatic to hear me. They were having problems because they were being attacked from the sea by the Anguy. They had two attacks by the stigga but there were only two or three animals involved. I told them about the use of fire.

The story was long since our last talk and I filled them in on what I did. They cried with me at hearing of Tonno's death. Fillo and Solsa were soon allowed to talk to their family.

Artlam finally came on and asked, "What are you going to do now?"

"Set sail for Shreff. We can do some repairs on the Vecta and the Hida as we travel. When we get close, I'll use the cannon unless you have some shells for the M252."

"Your friend came through and we have some. We can ship them to you."

"If we get close enough we can open a portal and get them."

"You can?!"

"We learned how."

We talked about the war and then I talked to my ladies. Eventually, I had to sign-off. It was just too hard to talk to them about our losses.

Our former prisoners were asked to make some repairs which they did. When the Vecta was seaworthy I gave the men some of the partially burnt wrecks and their boats along with a good pay in copper. They could now rebuild and go home with a good pay for their efforts. Some had expected death and had not come when we called. The erstwhile pirates were at a loss for what to do so I shook their hands and let them get to work on a wooded island.

We sailed past Drassic but the ships there didn't attempt to follow, even though they looked ready. The Vecta had the guns aimed at them and the Hida's guns were at least twenty centimetres. The Anguy crew of the Hida could have sunk us easy but I suspect they wanted what was on the ship or me, personally.

We now used the radio to coordinate our movements. We were just two days away from Shreff when the final plan was made. A day later the students locked onto the coin I left in Shreff. It was now on top of a hill near the shore. We transported eighty men, seventy women and a lot of munitions to the Hida.

My women arrived first and ran to me. My face was scared from the shotgun and from the stigga. Perhaps the doctors could make me pretty again but my mates didn't seem to care.

Lauren got to me first and hugged me so hard I felt my ribs creak. The rest ganged up and I was swamped. Caiti was there and I kissed her and began to cry at the death of her mother and two sisters.

The wives of Fillo and Solsa were there and just as emotional.

I made a lot of introductions. There was a long story associated with each but it would have to wait for a quieter time. We visited the wounded and some competent physicians looked to see what they could do.

Jonna used the Heart of Opfu on me and I felt much better after only ten minutes. She said, "You can let your body work on that and I will see what I can do that the physicians cannot."

I said mentally, "Thanks, Sweetie." Jonna blushed now and this was odd. I looked more closely at her face and she smiled. In a quiet mental voice I asked, "Are you carrying our child?"

She smiled very wide and jumped at me and I got another killer hug. "You knew. I didn't think you would and you didn't peek."

The girls were all happy now, but two stood back when the rest didn't. I used my mind again but they had a block up. This was unusual. Again I looked close at them and I asked Jonna, "Are your two daughters carrying my children?"

All of a sudden Fislu and Selna opened their minds to me and I knew the truth. I remembered Lomma who had died while carrying my child and I quickly clamped this thought down.

We stayed up to socialise but the bed called. I was tired, but the women needed me. I needed them too and it was not just to relieve the pressure but to simply hold and touch.

I started with Jonna and went slower than usual as if I had to remember each touch and each caress I felt in return. She came violently because she was so much in tune with me. With a promise to return, I slipped into her older daughter, Fislu. She had matured since I last touched her and we could sense each other much more strongly. Her own orgasm sneaked up on her but I was yet to go. She, too, got a promise. Her sister, Selna, was next. She was eager for a strenuous mating but I had to worry about what she carried in her womb.

"Faster, Hugh. I need you."

"I need you, too, but this time it has to be slow and painful."

My mind had to open more for her to understand the sarcasm. It took longer but I finally pushed her over the edge.

Lauren was next and I pounded into her as if I was determined to make her carry my child, too. She read my mind and went crazy with me. She came four times before I filled her.

I had just a short respite before Tiffany got the same treatment. She screamed and screamed that she wanted my child then collapsed when I filled her womb.

I lay there a little breathless and saw Caiti. She was still young and out of bounds. She came to bed with some other expectations but I only hugged and kissed her. At my request, Fislu and Selna worked on her as I started again on Jonna.

The next morning came too early. Camsa, Sonna, and Porta had been introduced before but now I opened my mind to all of them. In moments all three were hugged by my ladies as a way of welcoming them into my family.

We came to the wide Cono River that flowed near Shreff. The tributary called the Witt was very navigable but was protected too strongly for the Anguy to try and expect to survive. Instead, the Church ordered that all the habitations along the major river be turned to rubble.

We received reports by a string of walkie talkies and knew where the two major ships were. We cut speed by furling some of the sails and basically waited for nightfall.

We stayed close to the eastern shore because we had a pilot that knew the river. He had never set foot on a ship this big or with this much draught. The current was not as strong here and our diesel engines pushed us upstream at a slow enough pace that the sound they emitted wasn't loud.

The coin had been moved and Artlam wanted to come aboard. It was such an easy matter that I did it myself. I got a quick handshake and a hug. "You did pick up a few nice ships suitable for trading."

"I was thinking of that when I got them."

"Really? I understand you did the same with the Vecta."

I had to drop the smile and said seriously, "The cost was too high for both."

Artlam got serious as well. "Yes, I know. There is always too much death."

"There will be a bit more, soon."

"Hopefully, not paid by us."

I asked, "Is Mantoya prepared?"

"More than prepared. He has two small ships and a hundred and fifty men in longboats coming down the river."

We looked at the map again and Artlam gave a more recent estimate of where our marines were. We were ahead of schedule and had to cut our power just a bit to make us even quieter. Fillo and Solsa had the honour of setting up the mortar for us. We had to throttle back the engines for ten minutes before we got confirmation that Mantoya was ready.

Fillo was a little too far and the fuze wasn't right. Both were corrected and we fired again. It was perfect and we fired a couple more. We shifted targets and it took two shots to find her, then she got two for effect. The last was very close to the deck. We went back to the first and fired again to take out those that had come on deck. We did the same thing to the other ship.

There were seven smaller ships and they were not fired on. They were of far less concern to us and had been left until last.

I concentrated ahead and found a coin that the priest could not hide with his mind. With a smile I called the men and opened the portal right into his chambers. The men were through in seconds and the priest was twitching from a taser.

More men rushed through the portal as my students tried to do the same thing to the other ship.

The Mair was captured easily with us working from both the inside and the outside. The Tron was more difficult and took one more mortar shell. By morning we had two damaged but repairable ships. I also had another priest and all his equipment. The other ship didn't have a priest in residence though it did have the cabin for one.

Mantoya was amazed at how well the operation went. He had fought the Anguy many times and most of those times his side lost.

Artlam said, "Tell us again what you did and fill in the details. You were gone for a quarter of a year, not twenty four days."

I wasn't a fool so I got Fillo and Solsa to fill in for me while I rested my voice. They were simply interested in everything I did. When I looked at it from one side it did look impressive, but I feared for my life many of the times or feared for those that were with me.

There was a lot that had happened here, too. Besides the assassination attempts, the stigga attacks, the attempted armed incursions, there were naval blockades and shelling. By the way, my two newest ships were new indeed and had auxiliary diesel engines made in France, but no manufacturing tag.

I tried to get those that had sailed with me integrated with the rest. That partially meant that some students had to learn seamanship and navigation.

Loca was either a very good actor or an honest man. I decided to offer him a job again as official map-maker. Apart for the fighting, I think he enjoyed himself.

Matra was the seventeen year-old brainwashed woman. I didn't feel bad about using the silver slave girl on her. She changed dramatically but there was still resistance. She knew more about the books and her absent master and gave the information fairly freely. When questioned by a panel of people, she repeated conversations she had heard that effected us. The Church had not felt this threatened before and was ready to do anything. That was before I completed my trip.

The priest we took on the Mair with the taser was investigated with the Heart of Opfu and some growths were removed. More growths had been deliberately planted. The priest was the youngest one seen in recent years and I wanted to see if I could save his life and possibly convert him. His trainees and slaves reluctantly gave his name as Lord Osston Mogvoy. Apparently he was not eminent yet.

The trainees and slaves of the priests were combined and called section M as a joke, but in a way this was serious business. I was no James Bond but these people were the equivalent of anything he had. They read the books and made notes of what they did and found. Loca was put into this group, though not as their leader. I had a suspicion that he was more than he seemed.