“Enterprise,” said Jack. “Give all of us a point to point transport from here in the

cargo bay, to Sick Bay.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

Jack decided that using a transporter was not as good as his own ring gates, or Josie’s

bird. There was a noticeable snap.

“How did you do that?,” asked the woman. She looked around at the beds, the

screens, and the racks of equipment.

“The Enterprise can move things around by turning it into energy, loading it in a

storage space, and then it puts the things back together somewhere else by turning

it back to whatever it was,” said Jack. “The point to point we just did came later. The

initial idea was you couldn’t transport anything except by pads like the ones in the

cargo bay.”

“So it is magic?,” said the woman.

“I guess so,” said Jack. “Hopefully it will be something as common as water. Right

now, it was an idea I stole to do my job, and I haven’t quite figured out how much

I want to push this world to where you can fly through the sky, sail under the sea,

see what’s above the sky. I think it would be cool, but my partner thinks I have my

head in the clouds.”

“I can’t imagine why,” said the woman.

“She’s just bitter,” said Jack. He grinned at the woman. “You guys climb on the beds.

I will go by and look at things and see what I can do to help you. Enterprise, I am

going to need some help with this.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

Mister Warner vanished while Jack roamed around. There was no need for a transport

when he could just turn into a ghost and fly down to where he needed to be.

“Have you done this often?,” asked one of the patients, a slim man who had been

stabbed in the ribs, but was still holding on. The blade had broke during the action

and had helped seal the wound.

“Can I be honest?,” said Jack. He ran a scanner over the wound, getting a look at the

shape of it.

“Go ahead,” said the patient, waving his hand. “It’s not like I would know you’re

lying.”

“I haven’t really treated anyone here on the Enterprise,” said Jack. He put the scanner

away. They would have to do surgery. He wasn’t keen on that. “Usually I would just

turn into someone else if I was on the ground and do the work, but that someone else

looks like a monster. I don’t think you guys would appreciate having a doctor with

too many eyeballs and tentacles working on you after what you just went through.”

“I think you’re lying,” said the guy. “Not about working on people, but the other

thing. No way.”

“You are a bit clumsy with things,” said the bitter woman. She looked better after

some bandages. “And that voice is telling you what to do most of the time. A monster

healer is a bit much.”

“If I were to use my other self, I could work on you faster,” said Jack. “But it’s

personally embarrassing for me, and I don’t think you would like the look of it. Only

four people know what it looks like. Everyone else, I put to sleep so they couldn’t

see me.”

“That bad, eh?,” asked the slim man.

“The problem is you have a knife blade inside of you and I will have to open you up

to get it out,” said Jack. “I’m not proficient enough with the Enterprise’s equipment

to do it like this.”

“Cheap goblin blades,” said the man. “They snap if you look at them funny. Go ahead

with your monster healer. I would love to see this after what we went through.”

“Look away,” said Jack. “You won’t like this being so close and working on you.

Trust me on that.”

“All right,” said the slim man. He turned his head to look at the wall at the other end

of the room.

Jack turned into Doctor Strange. He got a lot of gasps, and one cute from the little

girl who had lost her Yoff. He activated his screens and frowned at the position of

the knife. He would have to close up a lot of tissue when he pulled it out, and it

looked like it was stuck on a rib.

“All right,” said Jack. “I’m going to numb your side. And then I am going to shift

you so I can cut. If you feel anything let me know because you are not supposed to

feel anything until I am done. Understand?”

“Understood,” said the patient. He kept his face pointed away from his doctor. The

voice was different somehow, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it. A small prick

entered his side, and then freezing chill followed. He couldn’t feel anything a few

seconds later.

“All right,” said Jack. He had plenty of time, even with the slow charging on the

Enterprise. “I am going to cut in and pull the blade out. After that, I am going to have

to sew everything up. I’ll let you know when I am done.”

A few seconds later the slim man heard something rattle on a tray. He didn’t turn to

look at the doctor. He felt a small amount of discomfort and tightness in his side, but

that faded in a minute.

“All right,” said Jack. He let the persona go. “You are going to have to take it easy,

and try not do anything to pull on your side for three days. I have some stitching

inside of you that should be okay, but I don’t want you to strain it before the muscles

and blood vessels grow together. Barring a problem with that, you should be okay

for the rest of your life.”

“You weren’t lying about the ugliness of the other body,” said the bitter woman. “But

that was fast work.”

“All right,” said Jack. “The rest of you don’t have pieces of metal in you, and

everything looks okay. Stay in bed and rest up. I’ll get you some sandwiches and tea.

And I have to check on Mister Warner. He should have come back already.”

“Can you really help us rebuild out here,” said the man with the burn. Jack had been

able to treat it and put a bandage on it with minimal problems. If he had used Strange,

he could healed the burn so fast that a scar would not have been left.

“The rebuilding part should not be that much of a problem,” said Jack. “Mister

Warner said he was going to talk to the Society about staying with you until you don’t

need him any more. If that happens, he will help you with whatever comes up. It’s

not like him to take an interest in people he’s pulled out of bad situations, but Josie

and I have our own fish to fry and we’re not going to be able to keep an eye on things

like you might need for the next little while.”

“That old man?,” said the bitter woman. “What can he do?”

Mister Warner stepped into Sick Bay. He looked around. He didn’t smile at what he

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

saw, but he seemed less frowny.

“The tunnels are closed,” said Mister Warner. “The quest is still live. We’re going

to have to go south over the Picket. I may have to borrow a torpedo. Do you mind?”

“You collapsed the tunnels?,” asked the man with the burn. He exchanged a look with

the woman.

“It’s easy to do when you know how,” said Mister Warner.

“Enterprise,” said Jack. “Take us south. Any spot in particular?”

“There is a place called Bright Rose Point,” said Mister Warner. “It’s a hill

surrounded by a bunch of reddish orange flowers. There should be a circle of flags

on poles.”

“Can you find it, Enterprise,” said Jack.

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

“All right,” said Jack. “I still need to feed everybody, and then we can finish the rest

of the quest. Also I agreed to house everybody and start a new village when we settle

things down.”

“Doesn’t Sick Bay have replicators?,” asked Mister Warner.

“I think Dr. Crusher’s office had one,” said Jack. “I don’t remember any others. Let

me check.”

Jack looked around the room. He made a happy face when he saw the office standing

by itself in one corner. He found a replicator on the wall. This would help him with

the food and drink thing. All he needed was a tray to serve it on.

He also needed new clothes for his patients. He doubted they wanted to run around

in their rags. The replicator should be able to do that too.

He wondered idly if he was starting another Jane’s House without intending to do

that. He put the thought aside. He had a job to do and he needed it. He could reflect

on consequences later.

He got a glass of Cheerwine and drank it down. He turned into Magik long enough

to turn the glass into a wooden serving tray. Then he ordered enough sandwiches to

feed everyone. Then he ordered twenty drinks to go with it. Everything went on the

tray and he carried that out into Sick Bay proper.

“If you need more food,” said Jack. He put the tray on a cart. “Just go in the office

and ask for whatever. There is a private shower so you can get cleaned up. Try not

to get your bandages wet. I think the replicator will also get you new clothes to wear.

Enterprise, take measurements of guests and let the replicator outfit them when

ready.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

“So I go in and ask for a dress, and the Enterprise just makes it?,” asked the bitter

woman.

“Exactly,” said Jack.

“Will it get me another Yoff?,” said the girl. She clutched her stuffed animal.

“It won’t make anything living,” said Jack. “I’m sorry about that.”

The girl tried to hold back her tears. She hugged her animal harder against the

reopening of her wound. The bitter woman got off her bed and walked over and

hugged the girl.

“What are you going to do?,” she asked, turning her gaze on Jack and Mister Warner.

“I am going to break this invasion,” said Mister Warner. “That’s the job I have been

given, and I plan to carry it out. Anything that gets in my way will be flattened. That’s

how I like to do business.”

“And how are you going to do that?,” asked the man with the burn.

“I’m going to ask for a parley,” said Mister Warner. “That’s how we used to do it

in the old days.”

“A parley?,” said Jack. “Isn’t that some kind of fancy Musketeer talk for stabbing

people in the back?”

“Pirates too,” said Mister Warner.

“I would like to see how this parley goes,” said the man with the burn.

“Really?,” said Jack. “Are you sure you are up for something like that?”

“I think we all want to see how things go,” said the bitter woman. She still had her

arm around the girl’s body. The girl nodded in agreement.

“Eat your food, get cleaned up, and get some new clothes,” said Jack. “Then come up

to the Bridge. We’ll be able to watch things from there.”

“Come up to the Bridge?,” asked the man with the burn.

“When you are ready, go down to the end of the hall,” Jack pointed in the direction

he meant. “There will be a set of doors that will open for you. Just step in the room

and ask for the Bridge. The room will take you to us. Then we can see what we want

with the big screen.”

“These meat and bread things are good,” said the knifed man. “Try them out.”

“Go ahead,” said Mister Warner. “It’ll take some time before the tribes answer the

challenge. You might as well do what you can to build your energy up.”

“Will they answer the challenge?,” asked the man with the burn.

“Maybe,” said Mister Warner. “What’s important is the challenge is made. They can’t

not answer it. It’s the way everything is settled inside the clans. They all meet at

Bright Rose to settle disputes. We’ll see how many have thrown in with the Iron

Teeth and have to be eradicated.”

“Eradicated?,” said the bitter woman.

“Eat your food,” said Mister Warner. “We might be looking at a power grab that

needs to be nipped in the bud. The rest of the goblins might not know what happened

to your villages. The ones that do will have to pay.”

“Remember to come up to the Bridge when you are ready,” asked Jack. “Little girl,

what kind of dog was Yoff?”

“He was a small badger dog,” said the girl. “Why?”

“A Scottie, or a Corgie,” said Mister Warner to Jack’s questioning look. Jack nodded.

“You’re going to need another protector when we put you on the ground,” said Jack.

“Are your parents here?”

“They both died from sickness,” said the little girl.

“I’ll look out for her,” said the bitter woman.

“Okay,” said Jack. “If I asked people to come to your new village, would you look

out for them too?”

“What do you mean?,” asked the bitter woman.

“My partner and I have been taking stolen people back from their takers,” said Jack.

“Some of them don’t have any place to go, so we have founded a place to help them.

If we freed people close to your village, would you take them in too?”

“Yes,” said the girl.

“What do you want for that?,” asked the woman.

Jack made a gesture that said what do you think I need since I already have a flying

battleship that will give me all the creature comforts I want.

“What can we give you in exchange for this favor when you obviously need nothing

from us and have already gone out of your way to be kind when you didn’t have to

be is what I think she means,” said the man with the burn. “After all we have nothing

to give other than our bodies and minds.”

“You have more than that,” said Jack. “You have experience. Some of the people I

will send to you will be hurt just like you, maybe more so. They will need a kinder

hand than what I have. They will need some looking after until they are ready to walk

on their own again.”

“So you want us to take them in because we’ve been hurt?,” said the bitter woman.

She glared at Jack.

“I want you to take them in because you are going to need bodies to help with the

farming and so forth that you will need to keep going out here in the middle of

nowhere, and they will need places to stay because their lives have been ruined and

they need a fresh start,” said Jack. He grinned at her. “It’s like making a blanket but

with people.”

“No one likes you, do they?,” said the bitter woman.

“My partner’s youngest sister’s dragon loves me,” said Jack.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” said Mister Warner. “Tolerate is my expectation.”

“You like me,” said Jack.

“In small doses,” said Mister Warner. “Maybe this is why they let June try out. They

want to see if they can field someone else to replace me, so there are three champions

here after I buy the farm.”

“Let’s go up and see if the Enterprise found your rallying point,” said Jack. “Then we

can go about our business.”

“Eat your food, clean up, get ready to go,” said Mister Warner. “The powers that be

might not let me stay to protect you. If they don’t, you are going to have to think

about going to other villages, living on your own, moving in with relatives if you

have them. If they do, I will still have to run quests to protect others so there will be

times I am out of town. It will be up to you to look after yourselves.”

“Are you going to get us swords and shields?,” asked the slim man.

“Yes,” said Mister Warner. “If I’m not there, I want you to hold out until I am there.

When I talk to Zu, I will work something out with him. There’s a trainee who wants

the work. He might decide to stick her in the South instead of letting me do it.”

“How good is this trainee?,” asked the bitter woman.

“She is still in her trial period,” said Jack. “She might not make it out of the three

days.”

“I don’t understand any of this,” said the girl.

“I’ll work on a good explanation for when you come to the Bridge,” said Jack. “I’ll

be waiting.”

He took the exit, glad that he had helped a little. Mister Warner caught up with him.

They rode the elevator silently.

“Are you sure about this parley?,” asked Jack. He waved to Josie’s firebird before

taking his own seat. “Enterprise, lock any door that non-essential personnel should

not be able to get into such as Engineering.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

“The guy who led the raids was an ogre,” said Mister Warner. “The guy I questioned

said the Iron Teeth are welcoming any exile they can to swell their ranks. So all the

criminal goblins are flooding to this banner. They aren’t enough to take on the other

clans yet, but the peace here in the South is fragile. All it takes is for word to get out

that goblins are on the move, and the High King will be pressured by the Lower

Kings to do something about the problem. A lot of blood will be spilled unless we nip

this in the bud.”

“I’ll back whatever play you start,” said Jack.