Josie gathered her crowd. Her small group hadn’t found anything she thought was

useful. She had found one that she could shape into something better, but held out

hope that the others had found something better.

“Beatrice?,” asked Josie.

She looked at her younger sisters. They had a list that they handed over. Three house

addresses were marked down as possibles.

“What did they look like?,” said Josie. She tried to think where the addresses were.

“They were dilapidated,” said Beatrice. “Some looked like they had been empty for

a long time.”

“I can fix that,” said Josie. “Did you find anything, June?”

“Two,” said June. “They both looked okay from the outside, but that doesn’t mean

anything.”

“So let’s look at these places in person and see if we can get one June likes,” said

Josie. “Then we’ll buy them and fix them up.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said June. “Do you want us to stay in them tonight?”

“Yes,” said Josie. “That way I can move Caroline out of the hospital tomorrow. Then

we’ll do your goodbye dinner at sundown tomorrow. Boim is going to need to get

used to living on her own for a bit until you come back.”

“We should take stock of whatever neighborhood we settle in so we know where to

get supplies,” said Boim.

“Let’s see what these five houses look like,” said Josie. She sent out a network of

birds with a minimum use of Zatanna. They looked at each house in turn. The places

were wrecks on the inside, but fixable.

“Which one do you think is the best?,” asked Josie.

Most of her contingent agreed on the one house on June’s list that had a short fence,

and a garret. A few of the windows had been broken out, and trash was everywhere,

but it had a yard for the Dragon Boat to rest in.

“All right,” said Josie. “This looks like an okay neighborhood, but you guys will have

to watch out for yourselves.”

“We can do it, Jo jo,” said June. “We’re not kids.”

“Really?,” said Beatrice.

“Really real,” said June. She smiled at the younger woman. “I’m like your big sister’s

big sister.”

“And half as responsible,” said Josie. “Let’s go in and see what we can do about

making this place livable.”

Josie led the way inside, pushing the unlocked door out of the way. It looked like

someone had pushed the door in at one point. The inside of the place looked almost

as bad as the outside.

At least there wasn’t a giant hole in the floor along with everything else.

“Nothing a little magic won’t fix,” said Josie. She rubbed her hands together.

She became Zatanna and summoned her army of birds to inspect the house and fix

everything so that it would be livable. The place glowed with cleanliness after she

was done. The defects fixed themselves as parts of the grass outside was used for fuel.

Josie let her persona go when the last bird popped out of existence after handing her

two keys for the door.

She handed the keys over to June and Boim.

“Go ahead and sort out you situation,” said Josie. “We will see you tomorrow.”

“We’ll be there,” said June. She held out her arms for a hug.

“No,” said Josie. She smiled. “I’ll get Jack to get Boim a band so you guys will be

able to coordinate about problems. We should have thought of it before this.”

“I got here the day before yesterday, spent yesterday helping Boim, and then we did

the three quests today,” said June. “I think we can be forgiven for a little gear

slippage.”

“Okay,” said Josie. “We will see you at sunset tomorrow before you go home.”

“We will be there,” said June. She glanced at Boim, who nodded in agreement.

“All right,” said Josie. She hated leaving June on her own in the north. She felt like

she was going to have return to Solas to bail her friend out.

“We will be fine, Josie,” said June. “I survived the world long before you were born,

and I will survive it long after you are gone.”

“Three years means nothing,” said Josie. “I will talk to Jack about putting in a

stargate so you can retreat if you need to, or we need to send Aviras and Matilda to

bail you out.”

“We will save you,” said Matilda. The look on her face was serious.

“You do need to be overlooked,” said Aviras.

“Even the munchkins are giving me grief,” said June. She grinned at the youngest

Duckling, and her dragon companion.

“Don’t lose,” said Josie. She held up her fist.

“Never,” said June. She bumped her fist with her own.

“I will file the paperwork for the deed,” said Josie. “Then we have to get home.”

“I know,” said June. “Jack could be making a giant monkey to mix drinks for him and

Elaine.”

“Never say anything like that again,” said Josie.

June laughed at her reaction.

“Let’s go,” said Josie. “Enterprise, can you send down the Dragon Boat. We’re

getting ready to go home.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine. A cloud of blue sparks turned into the sailing boat

floating on the lawn in front of the house.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I think you are missing a chance not to have a wizard’s tower,” said Matilda.

“Jack would love to do something to show off,” said Melanie.

“I like a plain house with a plain wall,” said June. “It probably needs bars on the

windows. I’ll work on that before we go shopping for food.”

“Enterprise, eight to beam up,” said Josie. “We should get home to see what we can

do next.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

Josie snapped her eyes open to see the transporter pad around her. She stepped off the

pad.

“Are we really leaving her on her own?,” asked Beatrice.

“She has Russ,” said Josie. “Hopefully, Seven will keep her on the rails. That was

probably one of the reasons she was picked as an auxiliary.”

“So if June crashes and burns, someone will be able to tell you what happened?,” said

Laura.

“Remember, the Society doesn’t care who goes in the grinder,” said Josie. “They only

care that their jobs are getting done. The rest is on us.”

She turned to look at her girls. She scanned them all one after the other silently.

“The condition we work under as champions of order and protectors of the planet

means that no matter what,” said Josie. “We have to accept that we might be killed

in the line of duty. The Society will pick someone else to take up our job if that

happens. Am I happy that June will have to figure things out on her own? No. Is there

any way for me to change her mind now that she has a position and has to be

responsible for people other than herself? That is a no too. When I invited her here,

it was to get Jack back on the rails. I had no idea that she was running away from

trouble. Now that she is here, it’s up to her to do the best she can. When each of you

decide to make your way out in the world on your own, I will be unhappy, but I will

also be ready to lend you a hand when you need it. But you will all be doing the same

thing June is doing now, figuring out what to do, and what you want. June has already

done this once, and is doing it again now. It is my intention that she succeeds without

the abuse of power that could happen.”

She looked her six adopted siblings and dragon over one more time.

“The day is ending,” said Josie. “I think we should head home and see if Jack did

something that we will have to fix before we turn in. We have to get ready for

tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, Missus,” said Beatrice.

“You’re right to be worried, but we have a lot to worry about,” said Josie. “June will

have to take care of herself in the face of settling in to some place new, and taking on

new responsibilities. All we can do is help her if she will give us a chance.”

“She will be fine,” said Melanie. “If the gate gets installed, we can visit and see how

she is doing with her quests.”

“We could help,” said Matilda.

“We are good assistants,” said Aviras. “But I am supposed to keep you out of trouble

for the next two decades.”

“Good luck on that,” said Melanie.

“Let’s head for home,” said Josie. “Enterprise, set course for Hawk Ridge.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

They waited in the transporter room until the Enterprise alerted them that it was on

target.

“Jack, we’re back,” said Josie into her com band.

“Great,” said Jack. “Elaine has been slaving over the cook fire to get you guys

something to eat.”

“And what have you been doing?,” asked Josie.

“Nothing, really,” said Jack.

“You worked out a way to make that singing cake, didn’t you?,” said Angelica. “Even

after we said it was ridiculous.”

“No,” said Jack. They heard him grin over the line. “I have not done anything like

that.”

“You guys go ahead and see what he did,” said Josie. “I have to secure June and

Boim’s lease before I come down.”

Josie walked to the elevator to ride up to the ready room. She should have done this

before she left Solas, but now was doing it as a way to get a grip on her turmoil. The

transporter had put her girls, dragon, and the queen down at the Hole in the Wall. She

imagined Jack telling them some story while they got ready to eat.

She talked to herself as she walked around the desk and sat down. She could already

see Jack making some kind of excuse for what he had done. She steeled herself to

fix whatever thing he had come up with while they were gone.

She smiled as she shook her head. How many other times had he jumped into the fray

to risk himself when he could have just left her in the lurch. Whatever excuse he

made would be something to behold.

He was better suited for this new life as a heroic figure than she was.

Josie took a moment to draw on Zatanna. She sent out a bird with the payment for

June’s house. She sent another bird to file the transfer of property. Then she sent the

deed to June’s new house and hid it under a shelf in the pantry.

She should have set up a fund for June and Russ to get simple gear when they needed

it. She shook her head at the gear slipping.

At the very least, she had to let June know she had ownership of her place.

“Enterprise,” Josie said. “Connect me to June Lee.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

The line hummed as it opened and connected Josie to June most of the continent

away.

“What’s up?,” asked June.

“I secured your deed,” said Josie. “It occurred to me that you might not have any of

the local money. Can Kami make gold for you?”

“I don’t know if I can change elements,” said June.

“Remind me before you go home to give Russ money to set up,” said Josie. “Also tell

her to stay away from the local Exchange until I come by to open the account.”

“Why should I stay away the Exchange, Josie?,” asked Boim over the open line.

“The Exchange funds the Montrose which means they are behind some of the

corruption we have encountered since we got there,” said Josie. “I want you to stay

safe until June comes back from home.”

“I understand,” said Boim. “I will wait.”

“I’ll see you both tomorrow,” said Josie. “Don’t forget.”

“We’ll be ready,” said June.

“See you,” said Josie. “I’m done.”

The Enterprise cut the line. It remained silent as it waited for a new order.

Josie sat back in the chair. She looked around the ready room. She smiled quietly.

Despite the flack Jack caught for building the giant ship, it had been a good thing

in the long run. It had saved them a lot of travel time saving the world.

“You have been excellent, Enterprise,” said Josie. “Keep up the good job.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

Josie tried to think of anything else she had to do. She firmed her face. It was time

to get the rest of things done.

“I have to get downstairs and fix whatever Jack did,” said Josie. “I hope it was

singing cakes. We are planning to take a fishing trip in the next few days. I guess

be ready for that.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

Josie got up and headed down to the transporter room. She asked the machine to

teleport her down to the Hole in the Wall. When she cleared her vision, she found

herself standing behind Elaine, who was standing behind the group in the living

room.

She tapped Elaine on the shoulder. She tried not to smile as the taller woman jumped

at the touch.

“What’s going on?,” asked Josie.

“Jack is showing the girls the proposed changes to the Hangar and the Hole in the

Wall,” said Elaine. “He built models of the things.”

“I thought he had caused an explosion, or something,” said Josie. “This is better than

I expected.”

“He also has developed a partial reader for books,” said Elaine. “He calls it a search

engine.”

“The next thing he needs to do is build a com band for Boim,” said Josie.

“Are they ready?,” asked Elaine.

“I have no idea,” said Josie.

She pushed into the living room, and circled the group of girls and the Queen. Jack

grinned when he saw her, pausing in his explanation of everything he had thought

about since they were gone.

“As you can see, if the Hole in the Wall is bricked up, we can use the Hangar as

our main headquarters and the Hole in the Wall as our guest house. That way all

we have to worry about is transiting from the Hangar to here, or the hospital without

having people trying to break in here again,” said Jack.

“Exits from the Hole in the Wall into the city?,” asked Josie. She regarded the models

Jack had built out of light.

“I can put a stargate on the wall to let us out in the street,” said Jack. “That way

anyone trying to get at the kids would have to either know how to work the gate,

or knock the wall down.”

“Is there any open caverns under the Hangar?,” asked Josie. “I think we need to

know that after dealing with the goblins and the Door of Tern.”

“I haven’t looked at it yet,” said Jack. “I was waiting for you guys to get home to get

approval before I just ripped everything up.”

“That sounds like Elaine,” said Melanie.

“No,” said Jack. “I just looked at it, saw that I might have to expend a lot of work

into shaping everything, and hit pause.”

“What is this other thing?,” asked Aviras. He pointed a claw at the set of objects

standing by themselves. It was two rings, and a box, hooked together with string.

“That’s just a book reader,” said Jack. “It’s nothing.”

He waved his hand in dismissal.

“What?,” said Matilda.