Chapter 11
Sometimes, big investigations go strange places. It is your duty not just to solve the crime being investigated, but to be sure someone isn’t using the investigation budget to send profit to their own connections by oversupplying the people in the field. If you suspect it, contact headquarters. Don’t trust your local office or even the regional centers. It is part of our job not to let the various factions profit unreasonably on the budget of DIC and unbalance our ability to continue our work, sometimes even hoping to avoid prosecution that way. We have a team especially trained to handle this, and the Budget Protection Division absolutely never stops investigating.
Watchouts List, Investigator’s Manual - DIC
Gabbro Byrony, DIC lead investigator, popped out of no space and landed on the ground of the base camp his people had set up, his pale blue spikes glowing slightly in irritation as he looked around him. It was a busy scene, tents still going up and people, both Dragonkin and others, setting up equipment. He moved off the landing pad to let the next arrivals through, and watched as an enclosure fence, glimmering bright blue with arcane repulsive power began to shimmer, then there was a loud pop and the fence’s light shut down abruptly. A small wisp of smoke came from the the far left of the field, and someone unseen cursed loudly.
“This isn’t looking good,” Byrony muttered. He looked around and started walking to a tent with a sign marked Headquarters, busy with people going in and out. When he was about halfway there, a brown-scaled dragonkin woman stuck her head out. Her eyes and she dashed towards him.
“Rust, they put you on this case, too?” he said as he walked up.
“Byrony, good to see you, too,” Rust replied, her brown ruff half erect and dark from nerves. “I got called in yesterday, but as you can see, we’re still rather disorganized. It’s this place. This is as close as we can get to the investigation sight through no space. Half of our equipment isn’t working the way one would expect. The stuff that does work takes more monitoring.” The enclosure field began to glow again, and for the moment, it held. “The Gray Lands, and all that. Half of the gear we brought in didn’t work and we had to get replacements. I want to know who’s going to pay for this? They better not pull it out of my budget!”
Elsewhere in the enclosure someone yelled “Watch out!” There was a loud crash, but this time, no smoke.
“My orders were to set up a base camp with lab and other facilities, but unless we caravan to the mine site, this is as close as we can get to the incident itself. I hope that by the time you get there and see for yourself, we’ll be able to offer you all the assistance you need.” She looked around the site again. “Or someone’s head is going to roll, even if it’s all the way to the top of the Exploration council for selling DIC crap.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, although if anybody in logistics can get to the bottom of things, I’m sure you can.” Byrony gave her a smile. “Somebody must have thought this investigation was important if they put you in the field.” The color on her ruff brightened at his assurance. “How far are we from the mine?”
“About three hours by the local mounts, Syenah Griffins. We hired some good ones, and their keepers. And guards. There are dangers in this desert. Lilus, which like nothing better to attack small groups of riders. The occasional Gallu, like them, but bigger and with a tendency to drag you off to their lair where they can eat you piece by piece, and sometimes hunt in clans, rogue Jinn who don’t appreciate outsiders setting foot on what they think of as sacred land, Huwawas, some lion scorpions.”
“A friendly place, eh?”
Byrony looked beyond to the encampment, to the desert beyond. “Who’s at the site?”
“One of the local DIC persons.” She looked at the notes in her hands, shuffling her feet while she thumbed through them. “Albite Hessin. He came with the station master when the Jinn came in with the report and has stayed there since. I looked at his records. He has glowing reports from his supervisors. They don’t just deal with the light travel here - they have to deal with people from Exploration and Trade. There’s a lot of mineral wealth in the desert and the mountains that ring it, and none of the usual methods of getting it found and sold work very well here, so there’s more need for sound hands to sooth the irritated.”
Byrony nodded, and flicked his wings. “Trade, Transportation and Exploration in the same room, and no doubt grasping for the same resources – not a pleasant picture.”
A green dragonkin, young, too young to be working for DIC as an employee, perhaps serving here as an intern, ran behind them.
“Toby, what did I tell you about running in the camp?” Rust said.
The young one slowed down and dropped his head. “Not to.”
“So why?”
“Arthan told me to get one of the Griffin keepers right now,” the boy said. “He almost broke through the pen.”
“You know where they’re at?” she asked.
The boy nodded yes, and she let him go. She looked back at her companion and stuck the sheaf of notes she was still clinging to under her arm. “I swear, I think somebody at headquarters decided to send out everything they could think of to test it out here. We don’t get into the Gray Lands very often, but why all this crap that only half works, and interns, too? I’m not a creche keeper.”
Byrony rubbed the back of his head, thinking about some of the people who worked at the upper levels at DIC headquarters. “Oh, I bet they did just that. And don’t be shocked if they have family connections to people supplying the gear. Sorry you got caught up in it, Rust.” He sighed. “So is anybody but this Hessin person securing the site?”
“Yosh Boudin. A pretty good man. I’ve worked with him before. He was one of the first of the first contact team to arrive, just before I got here. I know he was planning to put the site under stasis if the device for it would work. We’ve never tried it this far into the Gray Lands; he wasn’t sure if it’d behave like no space devices and refuse to function. There’s so much we don’t know about this area. So I sent one of my Daoine who has Magic Guard training with him. Between the two of them, they should be able to get something done.”
“What about the jinn man who reported it? Where is he?” Byrony asked.
“In my office. Let’s go get some tea and get out of the dust. You can talk to him and decide what’s next.”
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“Well here we go, men,” Gweir said as the door of the troop transport were latched shut. "Say farewell to Greshold's Keep."
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The structure he was in was a bit larger than the usual no-space transport. A bench ran around the sides of the carriage, enough to comfortably seat about 20, and there were straps dangling from the roof that could support another 20, but oddly, there were only about 12 people on board. In the middle, where the soldiers could have been standing, the area was filled with an assortment of boxes, carrying much of their supplies for the next several weeks, rations and training goods. Gabon, his third, was doing a last minute check when the first door latch sounded, and he hurried to his seat, where a large, well cared for pack rested. He settled down next to it.
With the last click, the general murmur of conversation died, the lights on the walls flickered, and they all felt the no-space lurch. Just as quickly, the lurch was over, and soldiers all through the compartment began to stand up and pick up their own packs.
“Duval, you and Rictor oversee the unloading of the carriage,” Gabon said. “Alandis, you and Finnen help. Grab others if you need them.”
Suddenly, the front door of the carriage rolled open.
Gweir blinked against the bright light pouring in from outside, stood up and hefted his own large pack, and walked outside of the carriage. While the men whose task it was to move their equipment out got busy hauling boxes out of the carriage, he stood for a moment looking around the spot they found themselves in.
Gabon walked up next to him. “Well, we made it. Odd way to get out of the keep, though, if you ask me.”
“I thought you hated it there,” Gweir said, putting down his pack, and rubbing the back of his neck. “Been too long since I had to carry gear like this.”
“I do hate it there,” Gabon replied. “It’s just...this assignment seems odd to me. What’s the Birch got up his sleeve? I’ve heard rumors about things his boy have gotten involved in.” He turned around and looked at one of the lower ranked men, who had put his pack on the ground and was sitting on it. “Hey Thibbit!”
The soldier, a young Bauchan man, barely old enough to be in the military, looked up with sleepy eyes. “Yes, sir?”
“Go help them get the carriage unloaded. We need to get the rest of the group here right away.” Gabon pointed at the carriage and the activity most of the rest of the lower ranks were engaged in.
Reluctantly, Thibbit got up, leaving his pack where he dropped it, and went to join the unloading. He muttered, “You could have asked me to start with, sir,” then hurried off to join the others.
“I wonder what made the Birch put him on the list,” Gabon said, turning back to Gweir. “He’s too young, if you asked me.”
Gweir shrugged. “He’s a good lad. Maybe he’s just not used to being awake during the morning any more.”
“Probably true for most of us, after all that time at Greshold’s Keep. It’s going to be odd, working in the sunlight.” Gabon scuffed at the dirt while he watched the soldiers pile up the crates of supplies.
“Well, we’re not in the Boundary Lands any more,” Gweir said. “Even the air is better.”
“I know the location of the training base is secret, but I wonder where we’re at? What do you think, Gweir? You’ve traveled more than me.”
The two men looked around. The place they were standing in was rocky country, not much more than grass and a few shrubs surrounding them, although the land rose, not far beyond them, with trees growing as the land ascended. Beyond that there was a range of mountains. The only snow to be seen was at the very top of the mountains. “It looks like the Gray Mountains, near Harani,” Gweir said. “Or maybe the Rises down south. It’s not very cold. The Rises might be more right. Harani mountains get more snow than this.”
“The Rises, huh,” Gabon said. “Never been that far south before, if that’s where we’re at.”
As they looked, the men got the last of the boxes out of the carriage, and momentarily after that, the carriage disappeared.
“Well, we better enjoy this last moment of nothing to do,” Gweir said. “Once the rest of the men get here, and Havron comes out, I bet that’ll be the last quiet we’ll have for a while.”
The men that came with him must have had the same feeling. About five of them copied Thibbit, putting their packs down and sat. A few others milled around the site.
The field was mostly empty, except for two noticeable buildings. One was a large, and squat, very plain except for a row of windows down the side they could see.
“Well that’s too well lit for a warehouse,” Gabon said, looking at it. “Bet that’s where they’ll cram us in.”
Gweir nodded. “It looks big enough to house fifty or more. Don’t think we’ll really feel crammed in.”
Not far from it was a more Daoine-style structure, with fine carving around the entry and elaborate stonework that echoed the mountains beyond, and a small garden to one side. Two guards kept watch at the door.
“And that fancy looking place, that’s the offices. And maybe even where Havron beds down, I bet. Look at the guards. Not formal wear, not everyday soldier gear either. They look tough and ready for something. And what’s that thing they’re wearing on their left arm, anyway? I’ve never seen anything like that in military gear.”
From their distance, it looked like some sort of leather arm cover, but it was studded with something, not spiky but flat.
“I guess if we need to know we’ll be finding out soon enough,” Gweir said.
Beyond both of those two structures were sheds and other buildings of indeterminate purpose.
“Maybe the boys have the right idea,” Gabon said and unslung his pack and laid it on the ground.
“You can sit if you want,” Gweir said. “It’s all right by me.”
“I think not, sir,” Gabon replied. He very seldom called Gweir sir, even with the difference in ranks, when it was just the two of them talking. This made Gweir raise an eyebrow.
“Just trying to be a good example,” he said.
Shortly after that, the carriage reappeared on its landing area. “Marlhaut must have had them queued up and ready to load,” Gweir said as the Dragon Web technicians gathered around the carriage to secure and open it.”
“I”ll bet he did,” Gabon replied. “At least he didn’t have all the goods to deal with. And in about ten minutes. I bet there’ll be a lot of grumbling once they get out of his earshot.”
The carriage door was opened, and the second half of Gweir’s men disembarked. Dylan, Gweir’s Second spotted the two men and walked over to join them with a brisk walk.
“I haven’t smelled air this good in I can’t remember when,” he said.
“Since you got to the Boundary Lands, I bet,” Gabon said.
“The air wasn’t all that great where I grew up. Brickmaking and pottery works and a little iron work don’t do great for the local air. I had to journey up into the mountains to get air this clear,” Dylan replied. He took a deep breath. “Ah, I don’t know where we’re at, but it’s lovely.”
“Say that after Havron has you in such a tired sweat you don’t even notice,” Gabon said.
“I think I’d rather face Havron and the sunshine than another day of night work at Greshold’s Keep, any day. Let him work me.” Dylan looked around at the location. “What is this? A parade ground?” he asked, indicating the large field they were on. It was mostly well packed ground, with few rocks and very little grass. It was obvious that many feet over a long time had used it.
“More likely the practice grounds,” Gabon. “No trouble with the transport?”
“None whatsoever. Marlhaut had everybody lined up in ranks right after you left. Soon as they opened up, he marched them in, made sure they sat down, and then they closed the doors.” Dylan replied.
Gweir and Gabon exchanged glances, and Gabon gave his commander a knowing smile.
Dylan shifted his pack straps. “Now what?”
The group of men milling around the field grew as the last of the men exited from the transport. There were about twenty of them, plus the officers. Some were familiar faces: Alandis, Tobin his Century, Ermid, Finnen, Garin. Some were people Gweir hadn’t worked directly with much, but the Birch had put on his list.
“Greenbriar showed up at the last minute, right after you left, and saw us off. He looked kind of unhappy about it all,” Dylan said. “ I guess he didn’t like being given the command.”
Gweir shrugged. “Being recalled from Ynys Afel to a pit like Greshold’s Keep can make you that way,” he said. “Still, he’s a good man and has worked at the keep before. He ought to do fine, if he doesn’t let Shulan bully him too much.”
“Not our worry any more,” Gabon said, scratching the back of his neck. “At least for awhile. Are they going to be sending us back after our training?”
“I have no idea,” Gweir said. “They didn’t tell me anything about what we’ll be doing after this training, but who knows? That’s for the Birch and the Hawk to figure out between them. But I don’t ever remember serving with someone who was under the Birch’s authority in any of my postings.”
“Considering how the Birch runs his branch, even if they were under his command, you’d never know it,” Marlhaut, his First said, coming up to join them. “His procedure is to remain hidden, even in plain sight. I guess we’re going to learn some of that here.”
“No doubt,” Gweir said, nodding. “Expect some hard work over the next few weeks.”
The door in the office building opened up. The guards sharply saluted as a single man exited, followed by a small group of other uniformed people, most in the colors of regular military, but several in the bright blue uniform of the Magic Guard.
Marlhaut barked orders to the group of soldiers, and they formed up in their lines.
“I guess we’re about to find out what we’re here for,” Dylan said.
“Looks that way,” Gweir said, and went to take his place at the head of his troops.