[Sticks]

Episode VII – Her father’s daughter

What happens when the unthinkable occurs?

We can not really know, because by definition such events are never contemplated. People may set up resilience teams and disaster recovery protocols, but can that really be enough, especially if the unthinkable is personal.

Where is contingency planning then?

For the remnants of the Inter Dimensional Entity Control organisation, the unthinkable has happened. First their ally on the Mystical Realms, the Troll Clan Chief of the Manjura was captured by the Venezuelan government and paraded on television. Then their headquarters vaporised by a tactical nuclear warhead, stolen from the Russians; the organisation dissolved and arrest warrants to be issued for all surviving members of the IDEC in case they are fifth columnists. Now to cap it off, the really unthinkable has happened, the half sister of the Troll Clan Chief, after detonating other tactical nuclear warheads around the world, has levelled Moscow and two island states with stolen Russian hydrogen bombs and demanded that all the governments of Earth surrender to her rule.

+ + +

County Claire
Ireland


Just after the news of the assassination of the president of the United States of America

Commander Mark Johnston and Jenny Green sat with the Shaun and Felicity O’Docherty around the dining room table in the farm house along with the O’Kerry leprechauns as they watched on the television the continuing news coverage of the death of the president of the United States of America in a plane crash.

The twins, Caer and Fidelity and Timothy, the O’Docherty’s adopted children were visiting the Andrews so the adults could talk.

The account of the president’s plane going down was rather sketchy but just as devastating. There being no further news, Felicity turned the television off and returned to the dining room table.

“Tactical nuclear weapons against my home town” Jenny said with tears in her eyes, “London and Dublin and now this?”
“Not to mention the bombs in America, Venezuela and Israel” Felicity added

“Well I’m glad my missus is expecting for more than one reason” Mitch O’Kerry the leprechaun chipped in, “If we had been able to teleport we would be dead along side all the other leprechauns”

“Any word about that troll” Shaun O’Docherty asked Mark

Mark shook his head, “I still have been unable to get a signal” Mark replied, “I’m wondering if the bomb in Caracas was meant to make sure he was dead”

“Who ever it was” Mitch spoke out, “Knew that the Irish Government worked with Leprechauns”
“But why Newcastle” Jenny insisted.
Mark wrapped a loving arm around her and gave her a small hug, “I don’t know love” he whispered, “All the other targets were obvious, if what the president had said was true, that someone was trying to start world war three”

“Maybe” Cherry O’Kerry the female leprechaun who was pregnant piped up, “It is something to do with a certain person who is not here”
“Who are you talking about Cherry?” Felicity O’Docherty asked
“Graeme Andrews” Cherry said defiantly

“But Mr Andrews has been out of the adventuring game for well over a year now” Mark objected
“He still made a lot of people angry when he helped humiliate the Lord Low Troll” Cherry responded
“But Cherry love” Mitch butted in, “It was that Griffin Judge who humiliated the Lord Low Troll when he threw the case against Graeme out, and both that troll and the griffin judge are long dead. In fact don’t you remember it was Graeme along with his lovely wife Angela who helped end a civil war by stepping in as emperor of the trolls”
“But maybe some memories are long Mitch” Cherry protested.

Mark sighed, “Mrs O’Kerry, we read all the accounts of Mr Andrews and I can not see any connection with what has happened. Someone new has come along”
“But it’s the only way the bomb at your lovely fiancé’s home town makes sense” Cherry protested, “I mean with all due respect, Jenny may have been on your special ops team once, but she’s hardly on anyone’s radar”

“Are you saying the bombing of my town’s my fault” Jenny asked the leprechaun with emotion breaking in her voice.
“No my dear” Cherry replied, “Exactly the opposite, I say we get that Graeme Andrews in here to explain himself”
“But he’s had nothing to do with the Mystical Realms since he got back to Earth with that Sarah child he and his wife rescued” Mitch responded.

Cherry was quiet for a moment as the room descended into an awkward silence, then she spoke again, “Then it has to be related to the Lord Low Troll” she insisted

“Come on dear” Mitch insisted, “We’ve been over that ground”
“You’re forgetting the Jerusalem bomb” Cherry insisted
“To make us think the Russians had given nukes to the Arabs” Mark suggested.
“NO!” Cherry snapped, “The first time the Lord Low Troll was humiliated was ten years before Mr Andrews was arrested. The late lamented Guardian of Mortal Struggle used to regularly visit Israel, he was tried by him on the same law and he beat that rap”
“And your saying my home town was bombed because Angela’s husband humiliated that tyrant?” Jenny asked
“He didn’t” Mitch insisted, “It was that Griffin judge and the Lord Low Troll’s stupid fault for not knowing the law”
“I’m talking about perception here” Cherry retorted, “And it would make sense of the Caracas bomb”
“Because Venezuela humiliated his son” Mark ventured
“Exactly” Cherry replied

“The one problem with that my dear” Mitch said to his wife, “The Lord Low Troll is long dead, we know of no other relatives alive save for his son, who never saw eye to eye with his father anyway”
“Plus you’re forgetting” Mark added, “The Clan Chief of the Manjura is friends with the Andrews, in fact their eldest daughter Sarah and the clan chief are pen friends”
“That’s news to me” Jenny cut in, “Angela told me that Graeme said he wanted to have nothing to do with the Mystical Realms” Then Jenny thought for a moment, “He was delighted to hear that Angela had given birth to a son when I first met him”

“So what happens now” Shaun asked, “When do you need to fly to Chicago”
“Our tickets are booked for the day after tomorrow” Mark replied, “I had hoped we could have got to see more of County Claire before we left”
“Well we do not have any bookings for your cottage until next month” Felicity told them, “If you need to stay on that is”
“And do what?” Mitch asked
“That’s rude Mitch” Cherry chided

“He has a point” Mark interrupted, “We have been attacked, and as Mrs O’Kerry points out there is a suspicious connection to the former tyrant and possibly the clan chief. The question, if this is related to the Mystical Realms is what can we do here?”
“Well we don’t have a headquarters anymore Mark” Jenny mentioned, “And we can’t raise Sam so where ever we are we are stuck”
“Well I can still show you off to my folks in Chicago” Mark replied and then placed his hand on Jenny’ abdomen, “I want them to meet the mother of my child”

“Is there anyone else you can call?” Felicity asked Mark
“The only person I can think of is Sue-Lim’s father” Jenny suggested
“If he’s still alive” Mark replied

“Who’s this?” Shaun asked
“He is officially the deputy chairman of the IDEC” Jenny explained
“We don’t know his real name, we just know him as Mr Vee, I think he is either ex NSA or CIA” Mark added, “He was originally responsible for appointing Mr Blue at the Facility”

Shaun shook his head, “So he appointed that monster” Shaun growled angrily
“Maybe this Mr Vee person didn’t know what Mr Blue would end up doing” Felicity suggested
“From what I heard Felicity” Jenny replied, “I doubt that”
“Come on Jenny” Mark told her, “He did countermand the order by his aid to have you terminated”
“Only because Mr Davies was going to have Sue-Lim his daughter killed at the same time” Jenny countered, “And if it was someone from the Mystical Realms who did this, it will just give more ammunition to him and his other cronies”

“I’m missing something here” Cherry piped up, “Who is this Mr Blue?”

This time it was Mitch’s turn to shake his head, “How long have you been G2 and you don’t know who Mr Blue was”
“I wasn’t a field op like you Mitch” Cherry answered, “I looked after the filing”
“And you never read any of it?” Mitch asked.
“I never had time” Cherry replied

“Mr Blue was that director of that place in London called The Facility” Shaun growled, “He’s the one that tortured and beat Fidelity our daughter”
“That was the old management” Mark chipped in, “during our time there before it was destroyed by the Magnus Timor cult we never did any of that”

Jenny Green was going to mention about the time she and Mark dealt with the transforming of a four year old minor spirit of virtue in a humane manner when she was interrupted by the sound of a distant explosion.

“Oh my G_d” Felicity cried out, “Their starting again”

“That’s not a nuke” Mark said and got up and headed for the front door followed by Mitch the leprechaun.

They got outside and looked around.

“Over there” Yelled Mitch as he pointed to the sky.
Mark peered into the night and could just about make out several green dots in the distance flying in formation like birds. Then he traced a line back down to the ground, and in the distance were the burning remains of an army Chinook helicopter that had crashed just over a mile away.

“I can’t believe they have been released” Mitch muttered.

By this time Jenny and Shaun had joined them outside.
“Whose been released?” Shaun asked
“Gremlins” Mitch replied
“As in the films” Shaun asked
“No!” Mitch shouted, “As in the original sense, creatures that attack and destroy aircraft. I remember that was the one time we worked with that tyrant to capture every last one of them that had escaped to Earth”
“So that’s how they took out Air-force One” Mark said as he watched the blazing wreck
“And now no aircraft is safe” Mitch added, “Who ever released them for that hit was grossly irresponsible
“Or they want to deny us air superiority” Mark commented
“Oh why would someone want that?” Mitch asked
“Why did someone want to take out the G2 Leprechauns?” Mark asked in response
“I take you point” Mitch responded, “Something is seriously up”
“That’s an understatement if ever I heard one” Jenny chimed in
“I suppose that means your trip to Chicago is off” Shaun suggested

+ + +

A wilderness cave
The Walong Mountains
The Mystical Realms

The old figure felt ill at ease as he sipped some Targron berry wine in the quiet of his cave. He was still waiting for his former servant and minion, Meetal the kobold to arrive. However earlier when he had looked out of his cave, a while after the strange thunder, he had seen a fast rising cloud way in the distance, behind some hills in the wilderness desert.

He kept thinking it looked familiar, but it was nothing he had ever seen. Maybe something he had heard about. That was it, but what. It was way off in the distance so why should he care, but annoyingly he did.

He looked at what passed off as a library, a few old legal scrolls, histories of their world and some journals, some of them written by him in his solitude. There were even a few books acquired from the world of the humans which was originally called the Realm of Mortals, although why it was called that he was never sure as inhabitants of his world were just as mortal. Maybe there might be something about that cloud in one of them.

Meetal’s master put his goblet down, got up and looked at the collection of Earth books, some of them were cookery books, a few were called novels, stories made up by human story tellers and written down. He even had copies of Earth’s religious texts, one a King James Version of the Bible, a copy of the Koran in a language called English and a copy of something called the Talmud. Lastly in his collection of human books was a copy of The Chambers dictionary.

Meetal’s master pulled out a cookery book and flicked through the recipes he could never cook unless the ingredients could be brought to this world. Then he stopped. The recipe was for mushroom soup and the pen drawing of the mushroom was almost like the shape of that mysterious cloud he had seen earlier.

Slowly the lone figure placed the book back on the shelf and looked up mushroom in the dictionary. The entry detailed mostly about the mycological details of the particular fungi and other related flora. Then he noticed the term, “Mushroom Cloud” and on reading its description was certain that this was what he had seen. But what was an atomic explosion doing on his world?

He sat down and once again picked up his goblet of targron wine and contemplated the news he had heard from Meetal. The disgraced Ghetto clan was still around and in league with bug bears. This was indeed serious news, but so long as they left him in piece in his wilderness did it really matter. Hopefully Meetal would arrive in a day or two to report what he saw at the Port of Faldon. There was only so much after all you could write on a note in invisible ink.
As he stared into the fire from his chair, his thoughts went to that of his son, somewhere out there in the world. To Meetal’s master, his own son had been a bit of a disappointment, why he should have had younglings of his own when the civil war came, but he had none He had never been interested in any of the consorts he had sent his way, preferring the company of male trolls. His son had also not inherited any of his aptitude for ruthlessness that had made him great in the glory days, maybe that was how this new generation did things, but it certainly rankled.

“I am getting old” Meetal’s master sighed, “You were more like a son to me Meetal than my own son was” he said to the flames of his hearth.

And then Meetal’s master lay back in his chair and drifted of to sleep.

#

The old figure in his cave work with a start and cursed himself for being so stupid. Why did he not use his Mirror of Scrying he had stowed in his cave before that fateful day when he had to make for his wilderness bolt hole just as the civil war was breaking out.

Wearily he got up and went deeper into the cave, to a side chamber he hardly visited. He looked at the items in there from his past life, before he had been forced to seek sanctuary in the wilderness. A lot of it was in the end totally useless for the life he now chose to eek out. He had stashed away a number of magical items, but they were a two edge sword as it were. If one used them, then there was always the danger that a good practitioner of magic could feel it and locate the user of magic. He did not want that as he was supposed to be dead.

By the flickering light of his burning torch he looked for the small mirror he had acquired, then in the morning before suns up he could go about an hour’s journey into the wilderness and see for himself what Brameana was up to, without risking his bolt hole being discovered

+ + +

Helicopter crash site
County Claire, Ireland

Shaun put the hand brake on the Land Rover as they reached the remains of the downed helicopter. Mark removed his seatbelt and opened the passenger door. Mitch climbed through from the back and out the front passenger door and ran as fast as he could to keep up with the marine commander.

Shaun switched off the Land Rover, undid his seat belt and exited the vehicle.

The smell of burning hung in the air along with the acrid smoke as flames were still burning on the spilled aviation fuel.
“Any chance of survivors?” Shaun asked
“Not really” Mark replied, “I saw a similar crash in Iraq some years ago, nobody survived and that was just a training accident”
“This was sabotage” Mitch chimed in
“We have to look though” Shaun insisted and pushed forward.

Mark grabbed Shaun and turned him around, “Have you ever seen dead people” Mark asked him.
Shaun shook his head
“You do not want to” Mark told him forcefully, “I have and believe me you do not want to. You’re a farmer Shaun not a soldier, now let Mitch and I deal with this.”
“The commander is right Mr O’Docherty” Mitch added, “We both have seen too much death and this is more than seeing the occasional still born lamb or calf, now go and sit in the vehicle and try that radio thing to see where the emergency services are”

“I just want to help” Shaun pleaded
“Like Mitch said Shaun” Mark reiterated, “its best if you stay away and get back in that Land Rover and wait for us”

Reluctantly Shaun returned to vehicle where he could communicate with the farm house by two way radio, since even in normal times mobile phone coverage was extremely patchy to say the least.

“He does have a point commander” Mitch said to Mark
“I know” Mark replied and then inched towards the wreckage of the downed Chinook.
“It was definitely gremlins” Mitch shouted, “It looks like they sabotaged the gears so the blades collided”

Mark yelled out to see if there were any survivors, but there was no answer. He made his way to the front of the aircraft wreckage. All the windows at the front were smashed and he looked into the dead eyes of the pilot and co pilot. Then he noticed something about the bodies. Their throats had been ripped out.

“Not a pretty site is it” Mitch said causing Mark to momentarily jump.
“Sorry to scare you commander” apologised Mitch, “When we finally managed to capture those creatures they had also developed a nasty habit of killing pilots as well as attacking aircraft. They feed on fear, and nothing tastes as sweeter to them as the fear one goes through when one is about to die and there is nothing one can do to stop it”
“So how did you stop these creatures” Mark asked

We co-operated with the Lord Low Troll’s magic users at his command and set traps for them. We would travel secretly on aircraft, and when a pack of those creatures approached, we teleported to the troll snatch squad who used the capture spells based on the positions we gave. Unless we have such co-operation, they are unstoppable”

“So the people who released them Mitch, they would not be able to use aircraft either” Mark said
“With magic and teleporting we have no need” Mitch replied, “But its worse, those creatures once they run out of aircraft will attack any mechanical moving vehicle to make it crash in a manner that will kill as many of the occupants as possible”

In the distance they heard the sound of sirens from emergency vehicles.
“I better make myself scarce” Mitch said as they saw the vehicles in the distance.

“Can’t you go invisible?” Mark asked
“I’m a leprechaun, not a pixie fairy or a major spirit” Mitch retorted, “I’ll teleport to the house”
“Before you do that” Mark asked, “Get on to whoever you can, we need to ground all aircraft until we can work out how to deal with these gremlins”
“I can’t make any promises commander” Mitch told Mark, “Remember the whole of G2 special section was wiped out by the nuke that was sent to Dublin” he added before teleporting away.

Mark then strode across to where Shaun was waiting in the Land Rover and got in the passenger seat.

Shaun hung up the radio, “They just told me that the leprechaun has arrived back”
“Yeah” Mark replied, “With that lot finally coming he thought it would complicate matters if he was around”

“You know” Shaun began, “When they told us all about Caer, it was quite a shock, but for a little girl she was quite well behaved and we loved her. They said that what she was was not her fault and they were right. When we finally found out that Fidelity was coming she was so excited, because it was like a member of our family coming home. And when the two of them met at Shannon and gave up their minor spirit-hood, I was so proud of them bothr”
“You did a fine job raising them” Mark told him
“But how can someone so special and so pure come from that other world and yet we have this atrocity caused by creatures from the same place” Shaun asked as he pointed at the wreckage of the helicopter”
“They’re just like us Shaun” Mark answered and then continued, “They may look different and have certain abilities, but you could ask the same of us humans, we have wonderful people like you and Felicity and of course my Jenny, but then we have the likes of Mr Blue and Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler”

It took about twenty minutes for the Garda and fire engine to arrive. Mark insisted that Shaun stay in the vehicle while he talked to the officials, he still had his old id badge from the days before the Facility in North London had been destroyed which identified him as homeland security.

When he showed it to the Garda, Mark was told that he was a long way from his jurisdiction and then asked what he was doing at a crash site.

Shaun got out of the vehicle and walked over to the officials, “Hi Stanley” he said to one of the officials.
“Hello Mr O’Docherty” the officer replied
“This is the fiancé of the friend of Mrs Andrews Stanley” Shaun explained
“You know each other?” Mark said incredulously
“Mr O’Docherty is part of our Farm Watch initiative” the officer known as Stanley explained
“We were all having a meal together Staley when we heard this crash” Shaun went on, “Mr Johnston here apparently is a member of the US Marines and knows a bit about helicopters so we thought as we were closest we ought to see if there were any survivors”

“Are there?” the Garda asked
“No sir” Mark replied
“Well we are here now” The Garda told them, “We’ll take it from here”
“Yes Stanley” Shaun said to the officer, “Do you need to take any statements from us”

The officer thought for a moment, “I think that will be done by the crash investigators at a later date”
“Ok” Shaun then told the Garda, “We’ll go back to the farm then and let you get on” and with that Shaun ushered Mark back to the Land Rover

As they belted up, Mark spoke to Shaun, “I almost wanted to warn them not to send out any more choppers and asked if he saw that broadcast from Venezuela with our friend the Clan Chief of the Manjura”
“You would have been locked up for sure” Shaun interrupted as he started the Land Rover, “Even though they saw it here, nobody believed it was true and everyone thought it was a hoax”
“That was what we were counting on” Mark muttered, “But it seems like it has back fired on us”

Shaun drove the Land Rover skilfully back towards the farm house, all the while Mark nervously looked to see if any gremlins might be coming their way.

Shaun put the radio on to see if there was a news station available, even though the reception was not as great as it was in the towns. There was plenty of static and so he switched off the radio.

They safely arrived in the yard as the twins were leading their brother Timothy back to the farm house.
“Do you and Jenny want to go over and see the Andrews?” Shaun suggested
“I don’t know” Mark replied, “I know Graeme was among the first to have dealings with the Mystical Realms in modern times, but he kind of passed the baton over to us, and I’m loathed to drag him back into it again”

“What did you think of what Cherry O’Kerry said about there being a connection to that Lord Low Troll guy” Shaun asked
“I don’t know about that either” Mark admitted, “I just wish I could get in touch with Sam on the USS Bataan, but since those nukes went off and especially since the president’s plane was brought down all the mobiles and communications links have not been working.

As the two men got out of the vehicle, there was Jenny Green waiting for them, “Can we go back to our cottage now” Jenny asked
“Sure love” Mark said and went and held Jenny in his arms and then kissed her passionately and then went back to holding her
“That bad Mark” Jenny whispered
“No survivors” Mark replied, “Just like Iraq all over again”

Then the two walked over to their cottage

+ + +

The Waylong Mountains
The Mystical Realms

The Early hours of the morning

The large lonely figure finally came to a stop at the base of Mount Red-Back in the Waylong Mountains. He had spent an hour walking from his cave, walking by the light of two of the four moons that orbited their world.

The desert region was beautiful at this time of the morning, before suns up, with the nocturnal creatures that came out to hunt and feed out of the heat of the two suns during the day. Also the star constellations were a sight to behold.

This was not why this solitary figure was here.

He wanted to use a magical item with minimal risk that his bolt hole might be discovered. Even so, if they did trace it to this mountain, who was to say a wider search party would not locate and find where he had been hiding out? But he had to find out about this Brameana and her other co-conspirators, which was why he had brought his Mirror of Scrying

The lonely figure took a deep breath and pulled out the small silver mirror and then spoke a small incantation.

The glass misted over.
“Brameana of the Ghetto and Manjura clan residing at the port of Faldon” the figure said to the mirror
The mist cleared and there was the female troll known as Brameana lying in a bed next to another figure, that did not seem like a troll. It was obvious that under the blankets both were unclothed. Both were obviously lovers

As the figure in the desert peered into the mirror of scrying he looked intensely at who this other figure was, and then he spotted what he was. He was a drow.

Could this be the drow Vabalavich that his servant Meetal had spoke of?

A troll and a drow as lovers? A shudder went through Meetal’s master as he shook his head in disgust. The different races mixing together on their world was not unknown, but still frowned upon even though contact with humans had seen an increase in this practice. If only there had been a good male troll influence when Brameana had been growing up she would never have considered sharing her bed with a drow. Meetal’s master suspected that what ever Brameana was leading the bug bears and the Ghetto trolls into, this drow was probably the real driving force in the shadows urging her on to do what ever devious plan he was hatching and convincing Brameana was hers.

“Careful there” the Meetal’s master said to himself as a sudden realisation hit him and then uttered another incantation. The mirror once again became like a normal mirror. Hopefully he had got away with it. Drow were very acute at magic detection and could have detected he was being scryed upon.

Meetal’s master took another breath, uttered an incantation and once again the mirror clouded over, “The works of Brameana over the last arc of the suns”

The Meetal’s master watched as the mirror relayed images of metal conic objects being replicated and then passed through blue worm holes”

“What is she sending to the world of mortals” Meetal’s master said to himself, then the mirror, as if answering the question portrayed a human city. Suddenly a white light erupted and buildings were levelled and people vaporised, followed by a cloud similar to the one he had observed after the strange thunder clap. Then another city another eruption of light and another cloud rising was shown by the mirror of scrying. The lonely figure sat in the wilderness and watched in horrific fascination as this was repeated with a number of different human cities. Then there was the largest ship he had ever seen, and that two was obliterated by one of these conic metal objects that erupted into destroying light.

Finally it was a scene from the wilderness; in fact it was the road from the Central city to the port of Faldon. As Meetal’s master peered at the mirror, he saw a vast horde of trolls, obviously sent to counter the bugbear invasion from the Far Islands. A metal cone object appeared and suddenly a white light and the cloud that he saw. Not a single troll survived.

The lonely figure said another incantation and the mirror again was a normal mirror. “Brameana” the lonely figure shouted in the early morning light, “Our most sacred law. Brameana what have you done?”

The figure packed the mirror away and started off back to his cave, after all he had Gagh roots to plant and weeding to do.

+ + +

Faldon Port
The Mystical Realms

Vabalavich woke up suddenly. He had the unnerving feeling that he had been watched, plus he had had a strange dream.

Brameana stirred and dreamily gazed up at the drow she had spent much of her youngling life with in exile on the Far Islands. “What is it?” she asked, “Is our supply of hydrogen bombs ready?”

Vabalavich shook his head and swung his legs over the bed, “They should be Brameana” he replied, “But that was not why I awoke”
Brameana climbed out of bed, without covering herself and then sat next to her drow lover, both as naked as each other. Gently she put an arm around him, “What woke you my dear?” Brameana asked, “Did I snore?”

“Someone was scrying us” Vabalavich said icily, “Plus I saw him in my dreams”
“Are you sure my love?” she asked as she playfully moved her other hand to rest on her drow lover’s groin area. Vabalavich lightly placed his hand on hers.
“Yes Brameana” Vabalavich replied, “I do not know who it was, in my dream I saw an old male troll, on a lonely hillside in the dark”
“Maybe it was Qwi-chong” Brameana suggested
Vabalavich shook his head, “The Deputy Clan Chief of the Manjura is taller than this troll and I sensed that this troll had been living in the wilderness for some time”

Brameana sighed, “Even if we were being observed by this one troll out there in the desert, what can he do?” Brameana asked, “Maybe he was one of the trolls sent to try and stop us”
“No Brameana, the tactical nuclear warhead took all of them out”
“Ok my love, but my question is still the same, what can this old troll do”

The drow thought for a moment, “I do not know, perhaps he is an acetic troll who found a device, I just do not like being scryed. Next time I will prepare a glyph against scrying” Vabalavich told his troll lover.

Brameana gave a cheeky grin and lightly squeezed her hand that was over the drow’s groin, “Maybe we can have intimate time before we get up my love?”
“There is nothing more I would like Brameana” the drow replied as he pulled away Brameana’s hand, “But as you asked, the hydrogen bombs will be ready and I must attend to a certain Major back in the Realm of Mortals”

Brameana, hiding her disappointment at not having her intimate time with her drow lover grinned, “Today will be a glorious day when we do what my father and my half brother never dared to do”
“Take Earth?” Vabalavich ventured
“And then after that by the law of Gal-Ha-Din I will reclaim what was denied me, my right to rule the troll clans and by them the Mystical Realms” Brameana said
“With me at your side” the drow added.
“Of course” Brameana said as she kissed her drow lover’s shoulder, “I could never have done any of this with out you and that Qwi-chong”
“Well my love” the drow sneered, “Qwi-chong has served his purpose well in getting us the dimension jump orbs”
“Yes Vabalavich” Brameana agreed, “we can dispose of him later if we need to” she added.
Vabalavich grinned, “I knew there was a reason I loved you my dear”

+ + +

Mark and Jenny’s cottage
The O’Docherty Farm
County Claire, Ireland

Mark’s phone rang loudly in the middle of the night, which was odd as there was supposedly no signal.

Mark woke up and grabbed for the phone in the darkness guided by the illuminated screen as it was sounding.

Mark opened the phone up and in his bleary state whispered “Hello”

“Hello indeed” said a small humanoid figure materialising in the bedroom.
Mark tried to go for his side arm, but suddenly he creatures produced it, holding it by the gun barrel.

He looked like a small man naked except for a green pointed hat

“That’s no way to greet someone trying to save your life” the creature said to the commander

“What are you?” growled Mark, “Are you responsible for those nuclear attacks or releasing the gremlins”
“Absolutely not” the small figure said with indignation, “I’m a Cornish pixie; we help humans, not kill them”

“What do you mean save our lives” Mark then asked, “is someone targeting another nuke here”
“I don’t know about that” the pixie replied, “But you need to get up your lovely pregnant wife and get ready to leave now”
“Why?” Mark asked

The pixie sighed and then pointed a finger at the television in the bedroom, immediately it stirred into life at full volume.

Jenny suddenly woke up, for a moment thrashing around in shock from the sudden noise then she sat up and looked at Mark and the pixie. She was so glad she had decided to wear a nightie while they were in the cottage instead of sleeping naked as she preferred to with her beloved Mark.

“Don’t look at me” the Pixie told them “look at the TV”

On the television set was a rolling twenty four hour news service detailing how Moscow had been confirmed destroyed by a Russian fifty Megaton hydrogen bomb. It was also saying that the two small island states in the Pacific Ocean of Tuvalu and Tonga”had been obliterated by hydrogen bombs as well.

The ticker tape at the bottom of the screen was saying how a large number of civil airlines had crashed with no survivors and some with massive casualties on the ground.

Then came the most shocking news, it was recorded footage of a female troll claiming to be the daughter of the most evil troll known in recent history, the Lord Low Troll. It carried in full the details of her claiming responsibility of the nuclear attacks so far and the ultimatum that Earth surrenders all power over to her.

The pixie clicked his fingers and the television went off and the main lights went on.

“How could she?” Jenny asked in a shocked tone, “All those people murdered”

“Quite easily” the pixie replied, “If she is who she says she is”
“The daughter of a blood thirsty dictator who is thankfully long dead” Mark ventured
“Plus she is of the Ghetto clan” the pixie answered back

“Gheto?” Jenny asked, “All we know of are the Manjura, Yataxal, Delethon, Rachtal, Najav and the Clavia”
“And you are a clever little girl for memorising that little list” the pixie retorted, “But it is not complete as there was a seventh clan many season ago called the Ghetto. They did some terrible dishonour or something and so all the other clans turned on them and supposedly wiped them all out. From the dark legends of the Ghetto, mass murder and genocide would not be an issue for them if it got the job done”

“So how are we in danger” Mark asked
“What is left of the government of this fair aisle know you are here” the Pixie explained, “They have agreed to surrender, and part of the terms is to hand you over so she and her cronies can put you on a show trial as enemies of the new regime and have you executed in public”

“Who are they coming for exactly” Mark pressed.

Before the pixie could answer there was a banging on the door
“I suspect that’s Mr O’Docherty” the pixie observed
Mark got up and ordered Jenny to get dressed as fast as possible and pack and then he headed over to the door with the pixie in tow.

Mark opened the door and there was Shaun along with Mitch the leprechaun.
Mitch spotted the Pixie and waved his finger at it, “This had better not be pixie mischief” he said before anyone else could talk
“I wish it were Leprechaun” the pixie retorted, “Too many of our kind have died to get the warning out”

Mark tried his best to ignore the spat between the pixie and the leprechaun and asked Shaun what the matter was.
“We just got a call from my friend in the police” Shaun told them, “They are coming up here to arrest us, specifically you, the Andrews and my twin girls”

“How long have we got?” Mark asked
“About fifteen minutes, twenty tops” Shaun replied
“What about the Andrews?” Mark asked
“Felicity is getting them up as we speak” Shaun said
“Do we have car space?” Mark asked
“With your car, the land rover and Graeme’s car we should be able to make it, but we have to go now” Mitch answered.

“That won’t work” the pixie interjected, “They will be coming up with a drow tracker since Ireland has surrendered to Brameana”
“What do you suggest?” Mitch asked

“It’s not just you leprechauns that have networks and bases in this fair world” the pixie insisted and then put his fingers to his lips and whistled.

Instantly a large number of lights appeared in the cottage, then turning to other pixies both male and female. All wearing no clothing save for a green hat.

“These are also Cornish pixies” the first pixie explained, “We are here to help you all pack”
“And then what?” Mitch scoffed
“Get you to safety” the first pixie replied and then turned and gave a command to all the other pixies who suddenly scattered.

“How?” Mark asked
“Teleport you out” the first Pixie replied, “We know of a place that is safe for the moment, but here is not safe”

Jenny came into the main room followed two pixies levitating two suitcases. “I’ve never seen someone pack so fast” Jenny said pointing to the two pixies.

“We have to get out of here Jenny” Mark told her, “they’re getting up the Andrews family as well”
“We’re getting all three groups of you out of here” the first Pixie told them.

“Not Me” Shaun put in, “I have livestock, and I just can’t abandon them”
“What?” the Pixie replied, “They will kill you most likely”
“Come one there” Shaun rebuffed, “The Garda know me why would they do that”
“The Garda are not in charge now” the pixie insisted, “They are sending drow with them. They will torture you for information”
“Don’t tell me where you are going” suggested Shaun
“Then they will kill you” the pixie insisted

“We don’t have time for this” Mark butted in, “Is there any other farmer you can call”
Shaun shook his head, “I’m the only livestock farmer around” he told Mark, “The rest are arable farmers, they would have to be trained”

“There is another solution” Mitch mentioned, “It is high risk but if it does work, you, your wife and son could stay put, but not the twins”
“That would not be advisable” insisted the pixie.
“You forget, me and my wife are G2 and we know a few tricks” Mitch grinned, “In fact Cherry is coming over now”

Mitch spoke about his plan and it was clear that the pixies were not comfortable with it, but it did have some merit. The deal was that three pixies would hide and watch for when the drow showed up, in case it did not work. Mark asked if the pixies would be detected, but the pixies assured him that they had been doing that trick for a while, since they had been working for a secret Cornish intelligence agency that had been run secretly by people agitating for Cornish independence. The pixies also pointed out that since the Cornish groups were considered so fringe in human political terms, there was no suspicion of pixie involvement by either the Mystical Realms or the human authorities and so as far as they were aware they were not on radar. If the had been the pixie insisted, Cornwall would have been attacked as well as Dublin.

It seemed incredible but with five minutes to spare, the Andrews family, Caer and Fidelity and Mark and Jenny were standing outside the farmhouse as Shaun, Felicity and Timothy waved a tearful farewell, uncertain if they would ever see them ever again.

Then for each person going, a pixie touched their shoulder and they were teleported away. A moment later four pixies came and teleported Mark’s hire car and Graeme’s People carrier to a remote part of Ireland.

Shaun, Felicity and Timothy were teleported back into their respective bedrooms and a mild sleep spell placed upon them by Mitch while Cherry raced as fast as she could, first to the son and then to the parents. When she had finished a pixie whisked her away, as being a pregnant leprechaun, teleporting herself was out. Mitch had to be teleported by a pixie, because only they knew where to safely send them.

And then the patrol arrived.

There were three police cars and two police vans in the patrol.

The Garda got out as did three drow officers.
“Is this really necessary?” the lead officer asked, “I mean two of these are just teenagers”
“Absolutely” snapped the lead drow, “The people on the arrest warrant are enemies of her imperial majesty Brameana. They must be returned to the Mystical Realms for their trial and execution”
The Garda officer shook his head and went up to the farmhouse and banged on the door, yelling “Garda open up”

Some of the other officers accompanied by drow headed for the two holiday cottages, but they were cold and empty.

“OPEN UP” The Garda officer yelled as he pounded on the farmhouse door.
“Break it down” ordered the lead drow.

More Garda officers came to batter the farmhouse door when they heard a female voice yelling that they were coming.

The door was opened by Felicity, “What’s going on” she protested, “It’s the middle of the night”

The Garda officer sighed, and then spoke up, “We have arrest warrants for Caer and Fidelity O’Docherty”

Felicity looked at the officer with contempt and then up at Shaun as he came down the stairs.
“Your too late” she snapped back and then burst into tears
“Go inside love I’ll talk to them” Shaun told her and ushered her away while he came to the door. “I’m sorry about that officer” he apologised, “Our girls went with the Andrews on a trip to Dublin since the Andrews were applying for Irish citizenship and the girls wanted to check out the university there as they are” Then Shaun stopped and swallowed, “They were hoping to go to the university there. We have not heard from them since that nuclear explosion went off. I think they were all caught up in the attack”

“I’m sorry” the Garda officer said

“I’m not satisfied with that” said another voice, and then from the darkness emerged a tall figure with a dark complexion, and pointed ears.
“Who are you?” Shaun asked

The figure did not answer but in a flash held Shaun by the throat with one hand and then put his other hand over Shaun’s forehead. He then concentrated and then let go and drew back.

“He appears to be telling the truth as I detect no guile or falsehood in him” The tall figure said, “I will need to see the boy and the woman to confirm this”

Shaun wanted to tell them that his son was still in bed but the dark figure terrified him.
“Is that really necessary” the Garda officer asked, “Even I could tell that she was distraught”
“The Spirits of Fancying and Fidelity are considered enemies of her imperial majesty” the dark figure replied unsympathetically

“I know that that’s who they were” Shaun pleaded, “But they gave that up and became human. I don’t understand how they can be enemies of anyone”

“That is not for you to say” ordered the dark figure, “We need the boy and your wife NOW” he insisted

Shaun stood away from the door and allowed the officers and the tall dark figure entry to the farm house

“There were two others due here” the tall figure asked as he walked in
Shaun shook his head, “The lass Miss Green heard that her friend had gone to Dublin so she and her fiancé decided to take a flight to Chicago via Amsterdam”
“Which flight” the tall figure demanded to know

“It was a NW 8611” Felicity sobbed
The dark figure frowned, “That was one of the flights that was brought down by the gremlins” then he approached the woman and grabbed her head and concentrated.

“Same as the man” he said, “Now get the boy” the dark figure ordered

Shaun went upstairs accompanied by a Garda officer and then brought down a sleepy Timothy, “Have they found my sisters?” he asked as they went down the stairs.

Then he work up as he saw the tall dark figure with pointed ears and tried to step back in fright, “Dad’s it a Romulan”
“Bring the Boy to me” the figure insisted so reluctantly Shaun brought Timothy towards him.

The figure put his hand on his head and concentrated for a moment, “The same again” he said.

“It’s obvious that they are not here” The lead Garda officer insisted, “All the people you are after are probably dead”

For a moment the tall dark figure looked distracted and whispered, “I feel a presence here”

“That’s the ghost” Timothy offered, “Please sir can you make it go away”
“I’m an interrogator not an exorcist” the tall figure snapped back. Then he asked Shaun, “What do you know of this ghost”
“My maternal great grandmother” Shaun replied, “They say she was one of the last people in County Claire to die of Scarlet Fever, the doctor refused to see her because they could not afford him as my great grandfather spent his money on drink”

The tall figure sighed, “I suppose a residual memory could explain the presence I felt”
“If you ask me” Shaun went on, “I don’t believe in ghosts, and that there is always a rational explanation if you look for one. I mean this house is old and draughty and”

“That will be enough” snapped the tall dark figure, “If they did perish in our action against the enemy leprechauns then it seems that justice has been served on these guilty ones as well”
“What do you mean justice” Felicity said with a growl, “My daughters never harmed anyone and you murdered them with your attack on Dublin”
“Whether they actually harmed anyone is not of any concern to me woman” the tall dark figure replied icily, “You do not have to have committed an act to be declared an enemy of her imperial majesty. But as it seems they may be dead and I will report that to the order and they will decide if any further action is warrented” Then the tall figure turned to leave, and then turned to speak to the O’Dochertys, “We will be watching this farm, just in case justice did not deliver them into the blast zone of our majesty’s glorious retribution on the leprechauns of Dublin. I must also warn you, that all of you are considered persons of concern, any lack of loyalty to her imperial majesty and you too will be declared her enemies” and with that he left

The lead officer looked at the family, or what was left of it sitting in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry for your loss” he said quietly
“Sorry for our loss” Shaun said angrily, “Our daughter’s and our friend are incinerated by an atomic blast on our capital city and you barge in here wanting to arrest them and now you threaten us just because we gave them a home while they were alive?”
“I’ll leave” the officer then said
“You’d better” Shaun growled, “Now if you excuse me, now we are up, I better get on with the early morning milking”

#

A female pixie on the top of the farm house looked at the vehicles as they started to leave the farm, “That was close” she said, “I forgot that some drow could sense us”
“That’s why Mrs O’Kerry planted that false memory of a ghost in all of them just in case” a male pixie replied.
“You mean there is no ghost story?” the female pixie asked
“No” grinned the male pixie, “His grandfather actually bought it when he was a young man, and none of his relatives or the previous owners ever had scarlet fever”
“But what if they check that out?” the female pixie asked
“How?” The male pixie asked, “All the records were kept in Dublin”
“They were?” replied the female pixie
“Well that’s what Cadan is off to make sure they will find if they do try and do a background check”

+ + +

A command centre
The USS Bataan

Mark opened the door to the command centre and entered. There sitting down was his friend and CO of many years, Colonel Samuel Peters with a very haunted look on his face.

“I hear you bought children aboard this boat” Samuel said to Mark

Mark nodded, “Yeah Sam, well actually it was the Cornish pixies that brought us here, although I’m not sure why”

Samuel looked into the distance for a moment, and then looked up at Mark with a haunted expression, “It must have been the same one that brought Captain Philips here”
“I thought she was part of the Central City Team” Mark asked
“Not any more” Samuel replied, “They hanged her for the crime of the murder of our troll friend”
“So they brought her body here” Mark asked with horror in his voice.
“Yes and no Mark” Samuel replied, “They took her soul just before she was executed and then repaired her body and restored her soul to it when they got here. She’s alive, but she’s the only one. It seems our troll friend’s deputy has ousted him in a coup. All the rest of our people who were there were murdered on his orders”

Mark looked up at the ceiling for a moment and then at the colonel, “They said that Ireland had surrendered to that supposed half sister of the Clan Chief of the Manjura”

“That’s right” Samuel said in a haunted tone, “I told them too”
“You did what?” Mark asked
“Just after the ultimatum Mark” Samuel explained, “Someone left from the UN got through and asked what we should do, most likely someone in Geneva since the UN building in New York was destroyed in that attack,. It seems Mark, I was the only person with experience left they could contact since our chairman was killed and her deputy has gone missing”
“And you told them to give in to her?” Mark said with incredulity

Samuel stood up, “I had to Mark OK” he shouted, “This b***h has got the means to deliver an unlimited supply of fifty megaton nuclear warheads anywhere on this planet. With the loss of the Facility and now our headquarters in Washington Mark, we can not defend against incoming wormholes. I had to tell them that they had to save as many lives as possible and in the absence of any kind of defence, thanks to the loss of our only other known allies with magical capability, that meant unconditional surrender Mark. So blame me Mark. I have handed this Brameana troll Earth on a plate, and if you had had that call you would have had to do exactly the same thing”

“Sam” Mark said quietly, “With the cartel, the doppelgangers, the Magnus Timor and Sir Sidney we’ve always found a way to beat the odds”

Samuel shook his head, “Not this time Mark, not this time”
“We have another problem Sam” Mark began, “We have a bunch of people, Jenny and I included who this Brameana person wants executed”
“She’s out for revenge” Samuel said quietly, “She has a vendetta against anyone who has been seen to have humiliated her father or taken what she sees her rightful place as his successor”
“So are you going to hand us over too” Mark pressed
“Not if I can find a way” Samuel replied
“And if you can’t” Mark asked
“We will find a way” Samuel said unconvincingly.
It was becoming clear to Mark, that this once confident person he knew had been just about broken by the responsibility of ordering the governments of the world to surrender to nuclear blackmail by the daughter of a long dead tyrant. Someone by her actions was setting out to prove that she was her father’s daughter.

#

Simon, accompanied by Shamus McTuckle, the leprechaun from Ireland’s special diplomatic service, walked up to Celeste lying in her bed in the infirmary.
“She looks so beautiful” Simon whispered, “I lover her Mr McTukle”
“And she loves you Simon” Shamus replied.
“She was upset about not having a soul” Simon told Shamus, “I told her it did not matter”
“Maybe she was confused about your human expression, soul mates” Shamus suggested, and then he asked, “Do you know the story of sleeping beauty?”
“Yes Mr McTuckle” Simon replied, “Do you think I should kiss her?”
“Maybe” Shamus said

Simon went to kiss her and then noticed a small crystal object by her bed. He picked it up, “What’s this Mr McTuckle?”
Shamus shook his head, “A trinket a pixie brought back, they said her mother sent it to her”
Simon took one of Celeste’s hands and pressed the object into it.
“I love you Celeste” he whispered.

Suddenly Celeste’s eyes opened and she took in a sharp breath

Simon started to panic, “What have I done, what have I done he wailed”
The crystal in Celeste’s hand shattered in a magical sort of way into a number of stars and then a beam reached out and hit Simon.

Simon was back in the lab with Celeste hugging her, this time both were naked and it did not seem wrong.
“I love you too Simon” Celeste told him in a voice that sounded like it was in an echo chamber, “I just wish I had a soul like you so we could be soul mates like Sophie says she is with her boyfriend and Miss Wang is with Mr Smith”
“That doesn’t matter to me” Simon insisted, “You have a good heart that’s enough for me” Even his words were like being in an echo chamber
“I so want to be soul mates with you Simon” Celeste insisted with tears in her eyes.

Then Simon was standing fully clothed back in the infirmary feeling slightly dizzy and disorientated. As he looked down at Celeste he saw that she was having convulsions in her bed.

Medics tried to race to her, but some force field kept them at bay. Then a white light appeared in the ceiling and descended onto Celeste and engulfed her

“I’ve killed her” Simon wailed and ran forward, bumping into the force shield around her.

Then the light vanished and Celeste woke up and started to come round, “What’s happened” she said weakly, “I feel strange”

Simon got to her and put his arms around Celeste and started crying, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I love you so much and I almost killed you”
Celeste looked up into Simon’s eyes, “I love you Simon” she told him, “I want to be with you, I want to have children with you I just want to be with you” and then the two kissed each other passionately.

Shamus pushed forward and held up his right hand and then opened his eyes wider in astonishment. “I can’t believe it he exclaimed”
“What’s the matter” Simon asked, “What have I done”
Celeste swung her legs off of the bed. Simon sat down and the two teenagers held each other.

“You have a human soul Celeste” Shamus exclaimed.
“Does this mean I’ve lost my powers?” Celeste asked, “Like what happens with minor spirits and talismans of permanence?”

Shamus shook his head, “As far as I can sense you should still have them, but you have a human soul as well, how can this be?”

#

Mark sat looking at Samuel in the command centre, was Samuel right, if it had been his call would he have done the same?

The first officer entered the room, “I’m sorry” he told them, “The captain has just heard over the radio from another captain. They have been given orders to capture this ship and turn you over to the forces of Brameana for being as they put it, an enemy of her imperial majesty”

Season Nine - to be concluded