Jack looked at the table. There had to be a way to find out what was going on. He

watched as Orson rode south from the border into Grecious.

“Rick, do you know what is along this road?,” he asked, tracing the route with his

finger.

“It leads toward Lord Rails’s keep, Coldwater,” said the King. “Do you think that is

this Orson’s destination?”

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “Coldwater is a major fort out here, right?”

“If we were to invade along this route,” said Glunt. “We would have to crack

Coldwater, or leave enough troops to keep it shut in so the forces there couldn’t help

the rest of the region.”

“The general and forces you sent to relieve Hern is stopping at Coldwater first?,”

asked Jack.

“They would have to so that Rails could be informed of the orders and what was

going on formally,” said Rickard.

“He owns this section of the country, doesn’t he?,” asked Jack.

“Yes,” said Rickard. “There are four nobles that operate on the border, and are

expected to hold the line and make sure no one can invade through their territory.”

“The land on the Shemmarian side is held by a consortium,” said Glunt. “I remember

a report from a few months ago that the land was being looked at for resource

mining.”

“What kind of resources?,” asked Jack.

“Mostly gold and silver,” said Glunt. “I don’t remember if there was any follow up.

Someone at the Resource Ministry might be able to find out what was being

considered.”

“Would a war over minerals be worth all this trouble?,” said Jack.

“Maybe,” said Worldy. “Precious metals would bolster our economy, iron could be

used for weapons, some things would be good for alchemical purposes.”

“Rails controls that on this side of the border,” said Rickard.

“Who controls it if Rails is gone?,” asked Jack.

“I don’t know,” said Rickard. “I assume the next in line to his title, but I don’t know

who that is off the top of my head.”

“It’s the Lord’s brother, Harlan,” said Glunt. “Then it goes to his cousins. I don’t

know if any of those people are in Coldwater right now.”

“The Enterprise can only lock on people she has seen before,” said Jack. “Why is

Orson going south? Why wouldn’t he head deeper into Solas, or cross into

Shemmaria? What is in Coldwater that he wants?”

“Maybe his commander is in Coldwater,” said Kyle. “He just suffered a devastating

loss of all his forces. He might want to report that to his master.”

“That’s a good point, Kyle,” said Jack. “It will take him days of hard riding to get to

the city.”

“If he is heading to the city,” said Markus. “If he is going to Rails, or his relatives,

they might be close to the city, but they could also be on some estate outside of the

walls.”

“How do we find out?,” asked Jack. “Do we take him and ask him some hard

questions from the cargo bay? The threat of being dropped from a height tends to

make people start talking.”

“I think we would be better off befriending him,” said Case.

“We just ask him what’s going on?,” asked Budd.

“Yes,” said Case. “He’s going to have to start walking his horse in a minute, or watch

it drop dead from overexertion. Some hunters on the road with him might get him to

loosen his mouth.”

“It seems simple enough,” said Jack. “I guess I can do that.”

“Not you,” said Case. “If something happens to you, we would be stuck up here until

Madam Witch returned with the others. It should be one of us.”

“I’ll do it,” said Markus. “How hard can it be to ask a few questions if you are

walking the same way.”

“Are you sure about this?,” asked Jack.

“I think I can carry it out,” said Markus. “We just need a spot where I can intercept

him without making it look like I am intercepting him.”

“What about those rocks right there before the road goes into the trees?,” said Haslet.

“Enterprise, place Markus down on the road at landmark indicated by General

Haslet,” said Jack. “Monitor the situation for us.”

The adventurer appeared on the table in a cloud of blue sparks. He waved up at them

as he headed toward the road from the rocks.

“Don’t get killed,” said Jack. Orson’s horse slowed down when he saw someone

walking down the road going in the same direction as he was.

The bald man walked his horse toward Markus. He looked around for others on the

road. He seemed satisfied that they were alone.

“Good day,” said Markus, pretending to notice the horse for the first time. “How are

things?”

“Not as good as I want them to be,” said Orson.

“Sorry to hear that,” said Markus. “I’m heading into Coldwater. I’m glad for the

company while your horse rests.”

“I’m stopping before I get there,” said Orson. “It’s a farm a few miles short of the

city.”

“Enterprise, can you give me farm options before the road runs into Coldwater?,”

asked Jack.

Several places lit up on the map with a house and barn. Some form of cattle or sheep

were present. Some had rows of vegetables planted and almost ready to harvest.

“I’m headed all the way into the city like I said,” said Markus. “I have a girl waiting

on me. If I get this job I am looking at, we’ll be set.”

“What’s the job?,” asked Orson.

“Someone needs a clerk to file his reports for his taxes,” said Markus. “My girl will

be working the next floor down. We can see each other every day, all day.”

“Sounds okay,” said Orson.

Stolen novel; please report.

“What do you do?,” asked Markus.

“I was acting as a buyer, but something came up and I am on the way south after I talk

to my employer,” said Orson.

“A buyer?,” asked Markus. “A buyer of what?”

“Land up across the frontier,” said Orson. “But some bad luck has come my way, and

I have to quit and head south in case the trouble wants to follow me.”

“I totally understand that,” said Markus. “Good luck to you.”

“Thank you,” said Orson. He kicked his horse into a weary trot and pulled away from

his fellow traveler.

“Enterprise, give me close ups on all the possible locations Orson could be going to,”

said Jack.

The farmhouses showed people moving around. Only one had a crew made up of the

Montrose Makeover. Jack almost smiled.

“I’m going to say that’s where he’s going,” said Jack.

“It will still take him a few days to reach it,” said Hax. “Do we have the time to wait

for that?”

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “The other quests are still there too. Where does he go

from that farmhouse?”

“What happens if we raid it?,” asked Rickard. “Does our enemy just abandon the field

and return down the road to attack again?”

“We need something we can use to accomplish the quest, stop any thought of a war,

and protect the border at the same time,” said Jack. “A smart planner would make it

where we can’t go but so far up the chain. We need a different approach.”

“Harassing Orson won’t get us what we want,” said Rickard.

“Clearing out that farmhouse will help Josie with her personal quest, but it won’t

solve our official quest unless our mastermind is in that house waiting for news from

the infiltrators,” said Jack. “Enterprise, please bring Markus back aboard.”

“We might need to divine where the source of the trouble is so we can fix this without

too many more problems,” said Rickard.

“It won’t be proof that the person who planned things is really trying to pull it off,”

said Jack.

“Affirmative,” said the machine. The adventurer appeared in a cloud of sparks.

“This could be a leftover from Rustam’s scheme against Caroline,” said Rickard.

“Do you think we can move your general’s relief force up to this house and have him

take it?,” asked Worldy. “If he finds evidence, that’s fine. If he doesn’t, the people

inside are already wanted for being part of a criminal conspiracy inside your border.”

Josie appeared with Vin and Russ. She looked at the table with the fleeing Orson

heading south. She frowned.

“It will take him days to reach anywhere,” said Josie. “We don’t have that much time.

How do we speed this up?”

“We think he is heading to this farm here,” said Glunt. “What he intends to do after

that is anyone’s guess.”

“Probably send a message to whomever’s his contact to tell him his forces have been

destroyed in the field,” said Haslet.

“But we have no way to know who that is,” said Rickard. “I would venture it is

someone inside Rails’s administration, if not Rails himself.”

“We have a way now that we know what we are looking for,” said Josie. “We just

need to know who he wants to tell the news to and follow that person up the chain

of command. I doubt Orson would be let near the brains of the thing.”

“He’s too exposed as an agent,” said Glunt.

“Exactly,” said Josie. “He hires the adventurers to do the attack. He doesn’t have

control of anything beyond that. So we need to start by finding who everyone knows

and follow that.”

“We need to take the house we think he is going to,” said Jack.

“We only have six combatants here,” said Case. “Seven if we count the king.”

“We only need the Enterprise,” said Jack. “The rest will be seeing who they want to

talk to when we attack.”

“How exactly is that supposed to work?,” asked Case. Budd winced at the question,

but Jack just grinned.

“I’ll show you,” said Jack. “Get ready, Josie. We’re going to need one of your birds.”

“You do have a plan?,” said Josie.

“Yep,” said Jack. “Enterprise, beam up Orson and put him in the brig. Josie, see if

you can confirm he was going to the farmhouse. Enterprise, beam me and Case down

to the road leading to the farmhouse.”

“Wait,” said Case. He vanished in a cloud of sparks. He was holding up his hands

when he went.

“Come on, Case,” said Jack. “I’m going to show you how to do things. Maybe we can

impress the king enough, he will forego the need for a title.”

“I should have known this would be trouble,” said Case.

Jack’s com beeped. He pushed the button to take the call.

“Do you see the bird?,” asked Josie.

Jack squinted at the house. He saw the bird sitting on the roof of the target. He

nodded to himself.

“I got it, Jo,” he said. “We’re just going to roust them. When we do, see if you can

locate the next guy in line. That’s how we’ll find out who is giving the orders before

the mission runs out.”

“I’m ready on my end,” said Josie. “Better hurry.”

“Shouldn’t take a second,” said Jack. He cut the call. “Stay here on the road, and look

like an adventurer, Case. I’ll do the rest.”

“All right,” said Case. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“It’ll be a breeze unless the guy isn’t home to take messages, and then we’ll have to

find him from whomever’s there on watch,” said Jack. He put his hands in his pockets

and walked across the yard toward the house. He walked on the creaking porch, and

knocked on the door. It seemed solid and heavy to him, a door ready to stop anybody

trying to use it to get to the owners.

“Who’s there?,” asked a rough voice.

“Got a message from Orson,” said Jack. “I’m going to give it to you.”

The door swung open. Three tough guys glared at Jack. He grinned back at them.

None of them had drawn their swords, so he was ready to back up long enough to

switch to his Hulk, or Thor.

“What’s the message?,” said the guy.

“Cover’s blown, operation wrecked, run,” said Jack. “Some guys from Shemmaria

wrecked the town he was recruiting in, he gave me the message and told me to run.

They might be coming here after me. I don’t know. I’m headed into Coldwater, try

to blend in, you know?”

“What did Orson look like?,” said the guy.

“Bald, hunchbacked, a little shorter than me, wearing brown clothes,” said Jack.

“Get out of here,” said the guy, starting to shut the door.

“One more thing,” said Jack, holding the door open with his foot. “He said to watch

out for the Ear Ripper, but I don’t know what that means.”

“Neither do I,” said the guy. He waited for Jack to move his foot before he shut the

door in his face.

Jack walked back to the road, already calling the Enterprise. He turned to look at the

house.

“Enterprise, drop a torpedo with a low yield in the back yard of the place,” said Jack.

“I want them to run, but I don’t want them to be hurt just yet.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine. A few moments later, a glowing projectile sent a tree

flying through the air. Dirt and wooden shrapnel hit the house. Men rushed out of the

house, running for the barn to get their panicked horses and ride out.

Jack reached the road and urged Case to back away. He seemed stunned by what he

had just seen. The gang fled from the yard to the road and then headed for Coldwater.

“They are moving toward the city,” said Jack into his com.

“I think a torpedo was excessive,” said Josie.

“It got them moving,” said Jack. “Did you figure out where they want to go?”

“He keeps changing his mind, but we think he is heading into Coldwater to meet the

next guy in the chain of command,” said Josie. “If it’s Rails, there is going to be a

problem according to Rickard.”

“I guess I can see that,” said Jack. “What do we do if it is Rails?”

“We’re going to have to prove he is behind everything and make an arrest,” said

Josie. “A court of his peers will have to be called and be persuaded he’s guilty.”

“Never happen,” said Jack. “Nobles flock together like crows.”

“I told Rickard and Worldy I would make the effort instead of dealing with him

myself,” said Josie.

“What do you think, Case?,” asked Jack.

“If he is responsible, we should at least try to bring him in,” said Case. “But there are

a hundred ways I can see such an arrest going wrong.”

“All right,” said Josie. “I don’t like it, but we will see what happens.”

“Enterprise, bring us back aboard,” said Jack. “Good work with the tree. You put

the fear of applied science to those clowns.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

“Is it agreeing about the tree, or acknowledging the order?,” asked Case.

“I have no idea,” Jack said as they appeared in the conference room.

“Did you have to shoot at them?,” asked Mister Warner.

“Are they running?,” asked Jack. He looked at the table and the forces splitting up as

they ran away on horseback.

“Yes,” said Josie. “But you could have done something else.”

“Instead of judging me,” said Jack. He grinned at the others in the room. “We should

be thinking about how far this goes and if the top guy has ties with the consortium

that was mentioned earlier. This guy might be trying to carve out his own little

kingdom between Shemmaria and Grecious.”

“What do you mean?,” asked Glunt. He glanced at Worldy and both men didn’t seem

to like the idea.

“Back home, two countries shared a border,” said Jack. “It was a river. In the middle

of this river was an island. Neither side could claim it. At one point criminals set up

on the island and used the fact that it was in the middle of the border to smuggle

contraband and violate both countries’ laws. Eventually after many years, the two

countries banded together and invaded the place. What if we have a similar situation

here?”

“A war breaks out, a third party claims the land from both sides, and makes his own

country?,” said Hax. “It’s possible as long as the two governments never see eye to

eye on their border.”