Jack finished the tour with Elaine at his side. He hung back behind the crowd of

adventurers who were sorting themselves out into what their jobs would be. Jane took

some of them through the gate to the House to show them where the women were,

and how to move them.

Any question was answered with Josie did it. That was enough of an answer that

further questions were stopped.

Jack diverted Elaine to the Cafeteria. They could get some tea before going home and

wrangling the Ducklings, and June.

The Fasses and Jane arrived as the crowd dispersed with their orders and pay

schedules. Tomorrow, everyone would be tested and flushed out. Then they would

start working on the sleepers.

Jack sipped his tea as they joined him and Elaine at the table they had taken. He

wondered what he needed to do next. He could see variations of worry on their faces.

“Budd not sitting in?,” Jack asked.

“I sent him to make sure the rest of the party can be ready to go in the morning,” said

Eric. “We have a contract from the Guild to carry out.”

“We are waiting on quests to come down from the Society,” said Jack. “Josie is in the

north right now. You guys want her to go with you?”

“The contract is an attack on a fort in the middle of nowhere,” said Eric. “We will

need her, or the Enterprise, to bust it open.”

“She took the Enterprise with her,” said Jack. He grinned at their sour expressions.

“You know, I can bust a wall down. So can Mister Warner now that he is back in

action. Depending on what these new quests are, one of us can do a fly-by and do

something depending on how the fort is constructed.”

“You could retire, Eric,” said Elaine. “Do you really need to take this contract?”

“My uncle sent me a message for help, and it just now arrived,” said Eric. “There’s

no way to know if he and his party are still alive down there, but I have to know for

sure.”

“Elaine, could you get June?,” said Jack. “We’ll take her with us. Scope the place

out.”

“Are you going to help Eric out?,” asked Madam Fass.

“I am going to give Mister Warner a call, and see if he will lend a hand,” said Jack.

“And we’ll look at things. That’s the best we can do right now. If we can, we’ll pull

the senior Fass out of the fire.”

“I will get June,” said Elaine. She stood and kissed Jack on the cheek. “I know that

it is asking a lot, but be careful.”

“I’ll have Eric as my meat shield,” said Jack. “What could go wrong?”

“Be careful,” said Elaine. “Eric, where is this fort? As soon as Josie finishes her

business, I will redirect her to the location so she can do what she does best.”

“I don’t think bad language is going to help in this situation,” said Jack. He grinned

at her stormy expression.

“Keep that up, and you will be sleeping on the couch,” said Elaine. “The location?”

“Fort Devermore,” said Eric. “It is south of us.”

“All right,” said Elaine. “I will be back with June in a few minutes. It was a pleasure

meeting you, Madam Fass. Give my regards to Marla, Jane.”

She swept out of the Cafeteria.

“I used to worry that Josie would kill you in the night, but now I am not so sure,” said

Jane.

“She’s spicy,” said Jack. He pulled out his phone. He pushed the contact button for

Mister Warner. “I like that in a girl.”

Eric and Eileen shared a look.

“Knived down in your bed,” said Jane. “What do you think, Madam Fass? Can you

run the adventurers part of the hospital?”

“I think that we can coordinate actions and move your patients here to be healed,”

said Eileen. “What are you going to do when they recover?”

“Send them home, or adopt them,” said Jane. “Some of them might not have homes

to go back to after however long they have been missing. Some of them might not

want to adjust to a life where they have been written off and thought dead. Josie

wants us to help them so we will as much as we can.”

“Adventurers as escorts can be done,” said Eileen.

“What do you want?,” said Mister Warner. “We need to talk about the elixir you gave

me.”

“Josie is out of town, and I am hitting a fort in the next few minutes,” said Jack. “You

want in on the action?”

“What fort?,” said Mister Warner.

“Fort Devermore,” said Jack.

“Harp and I killed some giant spiders there once,” said Warner. “The Army put up

two smaller lookouts after that. I can’t remember their names right now. You going

in on this?”

“Josie’s adventurer ally has a relative there who sent a note for help,” said Jack. “I

thought we could cruise down, take a look around, maybe get a smoothie.”

“I’ll be up in Hawk Ridge as soon as I talk to Ropel and Dot,” said Mister Warner.

“Enterprise?”

“Josie took it,” said Jack. “Elaine went to get June. She should be at the Hole in the

Wall. I’ll think of another way down there before you get to the Hospital.”

“All right,” said Mister Warner. “I will be up as soon as I can.”

The phone went dead in Jack’s hand. He put it away.

“We’re going down as soon as I can assemble our forces,” said Jack. “I don’t like the

thought that giant spiders are around the place. This could turn into a bug hunt real

fast.”

“Is this Warner a doughty warrior?,” asked Eileen.

“He’s a veteran with experience dealing with monsters,” said Jack. “He and Harp

were partners for a while.”

“The Army will probably want to keep the fort intact,” said Eric.

“Don’t worry,” said Jack. “I will be like the Shadow. No one will see me.”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Eric. “We can’t tear the place down without cause.”

“The Society has said that I can’t do anything drastic,” said Jack. “I feel put upon

because everyone knows if you leave scorch marks, you didn’t use a big enough gun.”

“I don’t know what that means, and I don’t want to know,” said Eric.

“I’m not allowed to time travel either if that makes you feel better,” said Jack.

June walked into the cafeteria. She approached the table as Jack waved at her. She

smiled at his guests.

“Eric, Eileen,” said Jack. He waved at June as she approached in her track suit and

sneakers. “This is my sister, June. Juni, this is the Fasses. Eric leads the team that

helped with the zombie mushroom thing.”

“Good work on that,” said June. “I read the file, and was glad not to have to deal with

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

that.”

“It was messy,” said Fass. “I’m glad we rescued those women.”

“Elaine said you guys were cashing in the favor,” said June.

“Naw,” said Jack. “Eric is our friend and assistant. We pay him to chop people up

when we can’t. When you head north, he might be able to point you to an adventurer

up there so you have someone to help you and Seven.”

“I can ask around,” said Fass. “Are you working for the Society also?”

“I’m still in the probation period,” said June. “The Society wants me to set up where

I ran into Boim so Jack isn’t all up in my business.”

“They think June should sink on her own,” said Jack. “This will be her first real case

other than helping her assistant out of trouble.”

“Can you do as much as Jack and Josie?,” asked Eric.

“Not yet,” said June. “They only gave me four names. They didn’t give me a reason,

but I am going to say I’m new and they don’t trust me yet.”

“They might think Jack’s genius runs in the family,” said Fass. He stopped himself

from saying what he meant at the last moment.

“That’s true,” said June. “So we’re going to hit this place? Josie still has the

Enterprise.”

“I’ll come up with something when Mister Warner gets here,” said Jack. “I doubt we

have to travel that far beyond the city.”

“It’s many days on horses,” said Fass. “Flight from either the quinjet or the Enterprise

would make our travel a lot faster and easier.”

“I got it,” said June. “I need something in case a quest heads out of my future

headquarters. I might as well work on it for this.”

“Are you sure, Juni?,” asked Jack.

“You’re not the only one who has seen a movie,” said June. She smiled. “Do we have

a plan?”

“We’re going to go down and look at the place,” said Jack. “If Eric’s uncle is still

holding on, we get him out and away. If he isn’t, we back off and let Josie do her

thing.”

“Sounds neat and concise,” said June. She nodded as she considered the steps that

will have to go into each step in her mind. “But you know what Iron Mike used to

say.”

“Nooooo,” said Jack. He had heard something once upon a time, but he wasn’t sure.

He glanced at the Fasses and Jane. They didn’t have a clue either from their faces.

“Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face,” said June. She grinned at

them, as Jack groaned.

Mister Warner strode into the cafeteria, frowning as he looked everything over. He

walked toward the table. His hair was darker, and his wrinkles had faded to almost

nothing. He looked more like Matt Smith’s Doctor than ever.

And he didn’t look too happy about it.

“Mister Warner,” said Jack. “Thanks for coming down. We’re going to do an

extraction from Fort Devermore. This is Eric and Eileen Fass.”

“Fass?,” said Warner. “Related to Earl Fass?”

“He’s my grandfather,” said Fass. He smiled. “He’s still living in the Patch.”

“Now that we are all here, we should head out,” said Jack. He stood. “June is

handling transportation for us.”

“This should be good,” said Mister Warner. “Jack, we need to talk afterwards about

this.”

He pointed at his newer face.

“It will stop eventually,” said Jack. “Now is your chance to chase women and drink

until you are falling down.”

“Why would I do that?,” asked Warner. “I planned to retire because I was old. Now

I am young again, and I am not sure I like the idea.”

“It will be fine,” said Jack. “Let’s help these adventurers out so we can tell Josie we

don’t need her telling us what we can’t do.”

“You’re on your own, bro,” said June. She patted Jack’s shoulder.

“You need Josie to tell you what to do,” said Mister Warner. “You would founder

otherwise.”

“Let’s go before you guys make me feel worse,” said Jack.

“You’re going now?,” asked Eileen.

“The Society has warned us that new quests are in the offing,” said Jack. “We need

to do this as fast as possible before we have to look at their new jobs. They want us

to concentrate on their problems until they are done, and then we can handle side

issues.”

“Don’t worry, Eileen,” said Eric. “I will be well protected while we are looking at the

place.”

“I will make sure that Eric is well protected while we conduct our business,” said

Jack. “Mister Warner is a vet. He’s killed so many monsters, the survivors are scared

of his name. No one will come close to us as long as he is there.”

“You can stay here, or at the House until they come back,” said Jane. “It will keep

your mind off things until Master Fass returns.”

“Don’t worry,” said Eric. “Jack is very good in the things I need done. I doubt I will

be gone for long with his methods in place.”

“Elaine will let Josie know what happened when she gets back in town,” said Jack.

“So if we can hold out that long from any unforseen problem, the problem will go up

in smoke when she gets there with the Enterprise. You can trust me on that.”

“All right,” said Eileen. “I will stay here and get everything I need to do under

control.”

“How’s Massa, Jane?,” asked Jack.

“She was doing fine when I left her,” said Jane. “That elixir was a little rougher than

we thought it would be.”

“Make sure she has plenty of water until it stops working,” said Jack. He gestured

for the group to start moving. “Show us this transportation, Juni. I would love to

see what you come up with.”

“It won’t be an Enterprise,” said June. “I don’t think I have enough control for

something like that, but it will get us there fast enough to handle the problem and

come back to the city to meet Josie and Boim.”

“Boim will like that if she has to bail out her sisters from where you guys set up,” said

Jack.

“I know,” said June.

The group walked across the building to the front door. They stepped outside and

walked to the sign marking the end of the hospital’s territory.

“Show us what you got, Juni,” said Jack. He gestured for her to make with the magic.

“It’s not going to be anything impressive,” said June. She reached for her watch.

“I’ll come up with something better when I need it.”

“Go ahead,” said Jack. He had some ideas to use if they needed them. He could build

another quinjet in a few seconds if he wanted to bad enough. He was going to step

back and let June shine a little.

“All right,” said June. She dialed Kami. She focused on the world around her, calling

up spirits for aid. She merged the spirits together, changing loose rock into floating

wood, carving it into a particular shape that floated above the ground. She made the

changes permanent, then let the persona go. “Here we go.”

“This looks familiar,” said Jack. He patted the dragon head figurehead on the front

of the floating boat. “But bigger.”

“It will take us to where we have to go,” said June. She grabbed the side and swung

over the top of the hull. “It might be a little windy.”

She reached out a hand to help Eric up, and then Mister Warner. Jack swung himself

aboard on the other side.

“Grab a seat,” said June. She went to the stern and sat in front of the tiller, as the

others found seats on benches on the deck. “Take us to Fort Devermore.”

The boat unfurled sails. It picked up speed and headed for the nearest gate out of

the city. It railed through before the guards could ask what was going on and headed

south in almost a straight line. Animals and monsters scattered out of its way as

the dragon blew steam from its mouth.

“All right,” said Jack. “I am sorry I doubted you.”

“It’s fast,” said June. The wind pulled on her braid as she looked around. “The rate

we’re going, we’ll be able to see this fort in an hour or so.”

“Sooner than that,” said Eric. “We just passed the mile marker sign pointing back

to Hawk Ridge. That is at least a day away from the city.”

“There are two more between here and Devermore,” said Mister Warner. “We should

start trying to slow down when we see the second one.”

June nodded. She had not considered they should sneak up on the fort in her ask. She

had decided on pure speed first.

“Dragon boat,” she said. “When you reach the third mile marker, slow down to a

walk. We might have to stop before we reach the fort.”

“Yes, Mistress,” hissed the figurehead.

“You said your uncle was on a delve, Eric?,” said Jack. He needed to take his eyes off

the blurred lines of trees. “What was he looking for?”

“I have no idea,” said Eric. “I received the note and asked for permission to mount

a rescue right before we went to look at the hospital. Sally said she would allow it

under the rules as an official guild action. Running into you was a stroke of luck.”

“June, stop us about a quarter mile, half mile away from the fort,” said Jack. “I can

look around from there.”

“Dragon boat, please stop us a half mile from the destination,” said June. “We will

need cover.”

“Yes, Mistress,” said the figurehead.

“The initial plan is to look around from the outside of the place,” said Jack. “Then we

can use the watches to break in and do a quiet rescue. Once Eric’s uncle is out, we

can use full force on the place.”

“A lot of my guys’ physical abilities are arrow range,” said Mister Warner. “Samson

will allow me to act as a catapult if we need that.”

“I have a sniper rifle with Bond,” said June. “I don’t know what I would be able to

do with Sakura, but I can put something together as Kami to open the fort up.”

“I have a lot of big gun potential, or something to handle up close crowd dispersal,”

said Jack. “I don’t have a lot of blasters that I can use from a distance.”

“Really,” said Mister Warner. “Marvel should be lousy with that kind of thing.”

“I’m afraid of what would happen if I call up someone like Nova, or Firestar,” said

Jack. He made an explosion gesture with his hands.

“The name change does that,” said Mister Warner. “I guess you could go with

someone like Yondu. He’s an archer, and his ability shouldn’t be changed around that

much.”

“That’s an excellent thought,” said Jack. “I can’t believe Josie got a gunfighter and

I got a goat with a gun.”

“Goat with a gun?,” said June. She grinned at her brother.

“Hap said he likes to put a trick persona in for his own amusement,” said Jack.

“The boat is slowing,” said Eric. “We must have passed the third marker while we

were talking.”

Two of the sails furled as the boat slowed down. The figurehead looked right and left

for the cover June wanted before deciding on a mass of trees it could squeeze into and

not be visible from the road. It furled the rest of its sails as it float to a stop the

required distance from the fort.

“All right,” said Jack. “Let us go to the edge of the trees and look at the place. After

that, we can take the intel and use that to break in.”

The group hopped to the ground and took a moment to get their land legs. June patted

the figurehead as she passed. Its grin grew wider at the knowledge of a job well done.

They paused at the edge of the tree line where grass took over and ran to where

Devermore stood reaching for the sky.

“Let’s take a look,” said Jack. He called on Vision and looked across the cleared

field. “All right, I see five guys walking the wall, one guy in a kitchen toward the

center, three guys roaming the rooms, and a group under the fort. One guy is down

separate from them but close. Let me pull back.”

He adjusted his vison.

“All right,” he said. “The group under the fort is in the dungeon.”