Chapter Eighty-Five: That’s No Deer

“The tracks lead this way.”

“That they do.”

“So where are you going, strange one?”

“Watch.”

Irian jumped straight up twelve feet to an overhanging branch and motioned for the others to hide themselves.  It was well he did, because even with their aether-charged bodies they were stunned by Irian’s new ability.  Just as they hid themselves, a gigantic elk passed under the branch Irian was sitting on.  Irian calmly balled up his fist and knocked in the top of the elk’s skull.  The massive animal, all 12 feet of its rack first, crashed to the ground.  Ssanyu hissed in surprise, a short, quick sound that startled the two men still watching.  He was not blessed by Cernunnos, but he could down an elk barehanded?  Hariel felt small and weak in the face of Irian’s new abilities, even though he knew that in reality he wasn’t far off his prowess-and Irian had those artificial limbs.  Huntsman Himself, he thought, he’s looking more and more like them.  Hariel had seen animals with melds like Irian’s, though no humans.  He didn’t want to see a human with melds like Irian’s if he had anything to say about it.

Irian observed their slack-jawed aping, and shouted at them, “it’s not all that special.  No feeling, and the fun tricks are all voice-operated.  At least I think they are.  I think I’m spotting some features that weren’t in the spec.  I’m sure they’ll be something I just don’t need, or even better they’ll fall apart when I need them.”

“You said tricks?  What tricks can an arm do?”

“Raise your hammer, Thor.”

“All right, but I see no point in attacking you.”

“Too right, but watch this.  Airgeadlamh, shield function!”  A glittering liquid poured out of the arm, solidifying into a buckler on Irian’s metallic arm.  The edge glowed an intense blue.

“Swing at me.”

“More the fool I am…”  Thor swung.  The shield vibrated, then a hairline crack threaded its way across it.  “Ha! A telling blow.  You see, you got soft in that chair, Irian.”  He swung the hammer back to his side.  “Fancy, that arm.  I’ll take my hammer any day.”

“Even when I do this?  Airgeadlamh, retract.”  The shield flowed back from whence it came.  Crack was gone, no visible sign of damage.  “Interesting thing I learned about in the ship’s records.  Apparently they called the stuff ‘nanotechnology.’  Works well enough for me.”

Ssanyu had had enough of the show-and-tell session.  She hefted the elk over her shoulder and made her way out of the clearing in search of more tracks.  She was tired of fish, even if they weren’t.

She hadn’t walked twenty feet, however, when she saw a massive scrape across the landscape.  She whistled for the others to join her, when Irian said, “Leave that be!  I know that mark.  Hunt’s over.  So are we if we don’t vacate the area very, very quickly.”

“Is this what I think this is?”  Hariel shifted his blade from shoulder to shoulder.

“Fyrdraca.“

“I’m getting out of here.  You can stand about or you can join me.”

Thor seemed nonplussed.  “We wiped them all out, right?”

“Not here we didn’t.  And that’s a big one, from the size of the mark.  Time to go.”

Ssanyu wasn’t impressed.  “Wiped what out?”

“Something I hope you never see close up.  Or if you do, may you be at peace with your gods when you do.”

She hoisted the elk back over her shoulder, and they made a retreat toward the ship.

Deep in the undergrowth, something hungry watched her.  Something large and hungry.

Chapter Eighty-Four

A few days later, Irian was perched on the rigging, enjoying the air.

“Get down, what if you fall!”  Namid’s voice rang out across the deck.  Even unmarried seamen knew the tone of voice she was using.  “We’re not replacing your arm again!”

Irian laughed and climbed down.  His confidence was coming back with the new limbs.  The ship was in sight of land, and they were getting ready to go hunt, since everyone was tired of fish.  With no major activity in their part of the world, everyone was less on guard.

Thor and Hariel were already on deck.  They were joined by a tall, thin woman with ebony skin and a shaved head.  In her right hand she carried a short but rather sharp-looking spear.

“Irian, this is-”

“My name is Ssanyu.  You are this Irian I hear about.  Lay about and drink and do genius things with computer.  We all hear about it.  I think you go soft.”

The crew was collectively holding their breaths.

“Well then, if you feel that way, the largest animal back to the ship wins.  Thor, Hariel, do you want in?”

They both shook their heads.  Clearly, this was between them.  Both seemed fine with the thought.

“I think they’re afraid.  I am not afraid of you, metal man.  We kill many of your kind, another is no problem.”

“I don’t know what you mean, I’m from this Earth.  Erinna, we call it-you would probably know it as Ireland.”

“You, from here?”  She made a noise of derision.  “Where the arm from, then?  Or the leg?”

“I was injured.  James had them built to help me.”

“Well, you look like the ones from somewhere else.  Where is your weapon?”

“The last I checked, under a hundred feet of water.  I have my hands, though.”

“Hands, hah.  And what of a beast?”

“They’ll do.  Mayhap I’ll find something along the way.  If not, I’ll make myself something.”

“I think you are a fool.  A brave fool, but a fool.  But I like you.  We will work well together.”

The crew released the breath they weren’t aware they were holding.

“I’m glad you think so.  The two behind you were getting nervous, though.  Did you beat them up?

Behind her, one shook his head while the other nodded.

“That answers that, then.  You two, as well.  We’ll hunt better as a team.  Even the deer are strange now.”

Chapter Eighty-Three

James stood in the doorway of their shared cabin.

“Did he tell you about rummaging in the pantry while you were out?  We’ll have to put ashore to get more food,as he spilled a good amount of what we have getting that mouse.  Would that he didn’t have those wings.  We can’t catch him since he flaps off when he’s caught himself one.”

“Well, friend, it sounds like you need some shore leave to stretch your wings.  As do I-though Manadwydan may have blessed me, he didn’t give me fins.”

“Well, that makes three of us,” Namid interjected.  “I’m well tired of fish.  I could stand to do some hunting.”

“Last I checked, you’ve been removed form active duty.  I’ll consult the healers to see if we can allow that, but I do believe Irian would be up to the task.  How do you feel, by the way?”

“He feels like death, right?”  Elanor wheeled into the room, carrying a small red-faced bundle.  She held it close as she wheeled over to Irian.  “It’s hard to believe, but you were right.  The nerves and blood supply were enough.  But you’ll hurt for a long time while you’re getting used to it.  Bother me not, I’m in your cursed chair.  I simply came to check on my patient.”

“And to show off your daughter, I see.”

“And what of it?  I think she’s a marvelous accomplishment.”

“I agree completely.”

Irian stood up.  There was no trace of weakness in his stance.  “Then it’s settled.  We go ashore.  Where are Thor and Hariel?”

“They haven’t made it in yet.  They’re in meeting with the newest member of our mutant family.”

“She’s right there in Elanor’s arms.”

“I meant the new strategist we brought aboard.  We think there’s hope in Africa.  A place to make a stand, to make sure humanity isn’t overrun.”

“So I take it our new recruit is from Africa, then?”

“Yes.  You’ll meet her soon.  In fact, a little shore leave together might help you two bond.”

“I do have a question for you, though.”  Elanor leaned close to tap the arm’s silver layer.  “Why silver?”

“Two reasons.  The first is cleanliness-silver kills most bacteria, or so your data told me.”

“And the second?”

“Prince Nuada’s favored weapon is an arm made of silver called Airgeadlamh.  Seemed a fitting name, as I’m left handed.”

“You say it as though it’s a fact.”

“Dragons.”

“Maybe we should feed you to it.”

 

Chapter Eighty-Two: Aes Sidhe, Aes Sidhe…

Somewhere in the fog of drugs, Irian saw sunlight.

Unfortunately, he may as well have been hung over when he opened his eyes-the painkillers were as rough as the usqueba he kept on hand for these headaches.  He stumbled out of bed, found the door to the privy, and did his business, then wandered back outside in the same fog.  It was only when he wiped his eyes and realized that one hand felt different than the other that he realized that he had two arms and two legs again.  He also realized that they hurt like fire, and set himself to looking for the jug of poitin he had been working through.

After ten minutes of searching, he decided to wake Namid to ask her where it was.  The headache was getting worse.  He shook her gently.

“Not now you idiot, I’m trying to sleep.”

“Namid, where’s my alcohol?”

“Irian’s gonna kill you if you drink it all, Thor.”

“That explains that.  So is it all gone then, love?”

“Who are you calling ‘love’ anyway?”

“My wife.  Open your eyes, Namid.”

Irian sat beside her on the bed, stroking her hair with his natural arm.  He looked like he’d gone a few rounds with the basilisk again.  But there he was, able to move on his own.

“You’re finally awake!”

“Well, exactly how long was I out?  Long enough to be out of alcohol, I see.”

“You’ve slept long enough that we didn’t think you would wake up.  We finally started feeding you through a tube.”

“I don’t see any tube.”

“It interfaces with your back now.  Interesting little thing.”

“So how long was that, exactly?”

“Long enough that Elanor had a girl.  We think the stress of running the assemblers did it.”

“Bet Hariel’s proud.”

“He had to be dissuaded from toting her around the ship showing her off.”

“And everyone else?”

“Ouray has handled my duties.  Musashi locked himself in his quarters, and we’ve smelled incense, which is prohibited on Ship, but you know him.  James continues to examine the course of the ship, and to try and figure out our next course of attack.  And Thor has taken up with a strange person talking strategy and battle.”

“Strange?”

“Her skin is black as coal, and she has no hair!”

“Ah, they took my advice then.”

“Your advice?”

“Africa has been cut off from the rest of the problems of the world.  It’s a fresh viewpoint on our problems.  Plus, aether touched there just like everywhere else.”

“Forgive me, I’ve just never seen anyone like her.”

“Few have.  I don’t know her, I just know of her people.  There’s talk they were close to computers when the Harvest arrived.  Certainly, they’re more than able to work our machines-and improve them as well.  I was afraid they’d withdraw into their borders and leave us to our fate.”

“So what now?”

“I’m starving.  And where’s Cairbre?”

“I’ll call for food, and I don’t know.  He moped for days when they brought you back.  I hope he’s all right.”

“We’d better find him.  He’s trouble.”

“You’re telling me, I had to chase him for more than a month!”

And, true to form, Cairbre was off getting into trouble.  The TALLREDONE was hurt, and he wouldn’t wake up, no matter how hard he purred.  The TALLBROWNONE wasn’t leaving him, so someone could watch him if he went looking for help.  The fact that Cairbre was a kittychicken, and not a doctor, was completely lost on him.  He knew what would wake the TALLREDONE up-a crunchywarmfood!  It always got him out of the sunbeam and nosing through the cabinets!

Cairbre, following that train of thought, was currently banging around inside the pantry.  Every time he thought he had it, it found a new place to hide.  Just as he caught it, a familiar set of hands reached in the cabinets and grabbed him.  He was covered in flour from ears to stump of talk, but he caught the crunchywarmfood for TALLREDONE.  As if the universe nodded agreement, the set of hands deposited him into the room he shared with them.  He exploded in a cloud of flour, fur, feathers and squawk when he saw Irian awake.  He shed flour everywhere as he flapped over to Irian’s shoulder and perched there.  He dropped the crunchywarmfood into his lap and looked at him as if to say, “I KNEW this would wake you up!”

Irian scratched the strange creature under the chin.  “Well, old friend, are you trying to fatten me up?  How about you take the mouse, and I’ll order us some tea?  Much has changed, and we need to discuss it all.  Yes, yes, I know, I have to get your report first.  What can you tell me that I’ve missed?”

“Squawk!”

Chapter Eighty-One

Elanor bent over the panels of the assemblers.  Each one took matter, ripped it into subatomic particles, and reassembled it into the element and shape needed.  Hence the name “assembler”.

Trouble was, it took a lot of raw material to get something like that going, and the process got wasteful.  Seawater just did something to the assembler innards as well, so though they were surrounded by matter, most of it didn’t work.   Paper scraps, rope ends, tar, and netted fish had all been dumped into the assemblers to get them going.  Wasn’t any worse than when they geared up to leave their Earth and diverted sewage flow into the ones they had assembled on the sly.

Irian was sleeping on the table as the first assembler swung into place.  Its job was to create the neural and vascular connections that the limbs would need to gain power and control.  It was a risky proposition, and likely to hurt for a long time afterwards, but it would give him full use immediately, and not years from now.

As the machine spooled up and began to spin nerves another hummed to life and began creating a new shoulder joint.  It would be interfaced directly into bone, and the bone around it would have to be reinforced.  This work Elanor did as the machines quietly pieced together the machinery that made it all possible.  She worked in concert, testing each link as it was assembled, checking the math they had all worked repeatedly in the weeks since the accident.   Each one she checked was perfect.

As the two machines hummed around the table, a third machine hummed in the corner.  Every so often she would check it, test a part, and tell it to keep going.  It was a part of this, and yet it wasn’t.  What it did would keep, for now.

Layer by layer, myoelectric fibers built up artificial muscles, layered on bones of complex ceramics.  Tubes to connect the fibers to his aether-rich blood snaked through like blood vessels, though these required their own pumps to return to the bloodstream.  A scrubber was installed on his shoulder blade to clean the incoming blood.  She made modifications to both collarbones to support the weight of the artificial arm-while it wasn’t much heavier than his real one, it was enough to unbalance him.

As she set the assemblers to run the final layers of ceramic and aether glass armor over it, she couldn’t help but wonder about the composition of it.  She understood the armor, and the glasses, but over many of the plates was a thin layer of aether-alloyed silver.  Tough, thin, and bright as the sun n the water.  It didn’t make any sense.

She didn’t truly pay it much mind, though.  She still had his leg to attach, though that was a lot simpler to accomplish.  It didn’t need as much effort-the assemblers had already been programmed while she was doing his arm.

Many hours, a pot of coffee, and three trips for extra raw mass later, she undid the straps that held Irian to the table, and Thor and Hariel moved him into his bed.  Elanor administered a last dose of painkillers, and Namid tucked him into bed and made herself ready to wait on him to awaken.  Nothing more could be done now except to wait for what happened when he finally opened his eyes.

 

In the darkness of the abandoned operating room, the three assemblers worked in concert on a dimly lit stand.

Support a fellow developer!

This is a non-canon announcement for a dear friend of mine, she has done some excellent work and deserves some recognition. She could also use some love, so check out http://www.nyanko.ws/ and see if there’s anything you want/need!

Chapter Eighty: Drying Out

Irian was not handling the lack of alcohol well.

“You took this from him, what are you going to do about it?”  Namid was close to throwing Irian’s cup at Elanor.  “He can’t get out of bed, he isn’t speaking.  He didn’t sleep last night.  Look at his face.  Do you see the pain there?”  She pointed at the pile of blankets on the bed.

Elanor wheeled over to the blankets and drew them back.  Irian’s face was a rictus of pain.  Silent tears streamed down his face.  The ends of his stumps were bloody, as were the fingers of his right hand.  “Why wouldn’t you tell me, Irian?  It’s time to end this nightmare.”

Elanor typed a string of commands into the datapad Irian had left in the floor.  A detailed plan of his arm appeared, with the vital connections now in place.  Another command showed the leg, also suitably finished.  “Well, that answers the first question.  Now we have to figure out how to get you to sleep to do it.”

Namid looked at her blankly.  Elanor continued.  “Irian designed a large part of this.  What he didn’t understand was how to implement it.  And I can do it, if we can simply get him knocked out to begin.  I thought he drank for other reasons than to kill the pain.”  She swallowed.  “This will be more difficult.  I need some things from the assembler.”

Some time later, Irian was strapped to an operating table.  His face was still the same mask as before, and his wounds were uncovered.  Elanor was readying a series of injections.

“I had to make this in the assembler.  I needed such highly refined drugs there were none to be had on board-we used them all to keep him out the first time.  Are the two of you ready?”

Namid nodded.  “The stubborn thing can’t talk.  Will this work on him?”

“Yes.  Namid, help him drift off.  After that, lock the door and admit no one that hasn’t been decontaminated.  If you choose to come back, the lock has been keyed to you, but you’ll need to go through decontamination again.  I don’t recommend it.”

She nodded.  “Will it hurt him?”

“If he’s awake, yes.  I’m going to give him an injection, and then I want you to make sure he is completely asleep.  If he wakes up while the assemblers are working, he could damage himself further.”  She jabbed the needle into Irian’s forearm.  “This is all a big gamble.  We’ve never tried anything like this before.”

Irian’s eyes opened.  “Cariad…”  His mouth moved, but no words came out.

“Just like Taliesin, I used the suantrai on you.  You’ll sleep till I tell you to, and wake when I tell you.  And when you do, you’ll be whole.”  His eyelids drooped.  She supported his head as it lolled back.  “He’ll be gone soon.  I have to trust you to make him better.”

Elanor nodded.  “I know.  And like Musashi said, I’ll not make the same mistake twice.  Let me get to work, this will take a long time.  And I promise you-it won’t be pretty.  Come back if you dare.”

“I threw up already this morning.”  Both women shared a laugh.

“I’ll take care of him.  You take care of his child.”

The door shut as the two massive assemblers swung into place over Irian.

Chapter Seventy-Nine

As Namid started to explain what she meant, two figures appeared behind her.

“Sister, let us in.  We all need to talk.”

Ouray and Musashi entered, followed by Hariel and Thor.

Musashi started.  “Namid brings tidings, but I think we needed a few more ears to hear them.”  He seated himself in the floor.  “For once, we humans are going to tell you what to do, and you are going to do it.  No arguments.”  He reached into his robe and pulled out another gourd similar to the one he had shared with Ouray.  “Now that I’ve gone and said that, Ouray can tell you what we’re going on about.  I’m getting too old for this.  I should be sitting in the temple doorway drawing calligraphy, not running around with children a third my age and some.”  He uncapped the gourd and drank.  “Go on, we haven’t got all day.”

Ouray smiled at him.  It was easy to forget he was nearly seventy, and had well earned his retirement.  “Before you tell them your news, Namid, tell Irian his news.”

“His news?”

“You know what I speak of.  He will need it while they work on his limbs.”

Namid flushed.  “I had not thought to mention it for a while yet. We have need of my skills.”

“Yes, as a translator in my place.  I will go for that part.  Now tell him, so we can share this knowledge.”

She straightened.  Namid walked over to Irian, knelt in front of his chair and took his hand.  Straightening, she placed his hand on her stomach.  “Irian, you’ll need your new leg, at least.  I’ll need the help chasing your child around.”

The room erupted.  Irian was nearly knocked from his chair by the pats on the back he received most enthusiastically from the assembled group.  He said nothing, but the smile on his face made it clear he had no need to.

“Now that we’re all properly happy, I’m here to tell you what else is going on.”  Musashi rose from the floor.  “Namid, you are now relieved of combat duty.  You are restationed to translator in place of Ouray, who is going on active duty.  Elanor, I’m going to strap you down if you don’t stay in bed.  If you must get up, use a chair, we’ve told you this.”  He reached inside his robe again, but this time drew out a datapad.  Tapping it a few times, it flickered to life and displayed a map.  “We have activity again, and we’re nowhere near one hundred percent on people.  I have sent out a call to some old friends, and I hope they respond.  But seeing as to the fact that Irian is out of commission for now, I will take his place in the field.”

Irian made as if to comment.  Swift as lightning, a bokken shot out of Musashi’s sleeve, its butt end striking him between the eyes.  He sat there, blinking.

“I’m cutting off any argument before it starts.  I’m not as strong as you, but don’t think I’m useless yet.”

“Yes, Sensei.”

Musashi continued.  “Hariel, Thor, James, you are all active as of now.  Find your weapons, find your armor, and get ready to leave.  Irian, you’re going into surgery.  We need you back on your feet as fast as we can get you there.  Safely or not.”

Elanor interrupted.  “I know you won’t try that trick with me.  Irian’s not ready for surgery-if nothing else, we have to sober him up.  Besides, we haven’t agreed on how to fix him yet-this is a delicate process, you know!”

Musashi stared at Elanor.  “I know full well.  And I know full well too that you’re capable of doing the work here while we save lives out there.  Your actions took from us one of our best minds.  I know you have no intention of ever repeating that mistake, but now you must step in where he would have.  Now our best mind needs a body.  When will he go in for surgery?”

Elanor paused for a moment.  A single tear ran down her left cheek.  “Tomorrow at the earliest.”  She took Irian’s cup from him.  “No more of that now.  Your blood type isn’t aether, it’s ethanol.  You’d bleed out on the table.”  She handed it to Thor.  He took a sniff and recoiled.  “I need an assembler.  James, I know you have one left.”

He started visibly.  “I have three.  What for, though?  They don’t work with aether.”

“Well, I have some new ideas.  But if we want to attach these like Irian theorized, it’s going to take at least one to do it.”

“You’ll have all you need.  Anything else?”

Irian rose unsteadily, supporting himself on Namid.  “Yes, there is.  I’ll need a new sword.”

 

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Ouray and Musashi were elsewhere in the ship, drinking tea.

“This isn’t as good as my normal tea, you know.”

“True, but would James let you build a fire in the hold of the ship?”

“Could he stop me?”

“I’ll take that bet.  I’ve got a flint and steel right here.”  He dug around in the pouch on his side.  “Yoshio, you’re the worst influence.”

Musashi smiled.  “And how is your sister?  She and Irian have made quite the couple, no?”

Ouray continued striking the flint against the steel.  Sparks were falling into a pile of notes from the morning’s briefing.  “She’s happy with him.  I think this was what they needed-their quarrels were nothing more than figuring it out.”

“I’m glad to see you figured it out.  If you make it to my age, you’ll see some things instantly.”  He drained his cup of tea.  “If you want to make a fire, use the proper fuel.”  He reached into his robe and withdrew a gourd.  As he poured a dash of fluid onto the pile of documents, it blazed to life.  “Care to join me?”

“And what do you have there?”

“Nihonshu.  Sweet wice rine, if you’re asking how it’s made.”  He refilled his teacup with the wine.  “It is best served in the company of one’s closest friends.  How many years is it now?”

Ouray offered his cup.  “Is it not customary to pour for your friends?  I’ll take that, and take my cup.  The least I can do for these last twenty years is remember how to respect a friend.”

Musashi smiled.  “Twenty years.  I remember the day you held Namid, new-born, and reminded us all that in her was hope for the future.”  He passed the cup to Ouray.

“And I do believe I was correct, though I didn’t know how.  I believe she has something important to tell Irian.”

Musashi covered his cup.  “You do not mean?”

“Yes, yes I do.  I drink to their future.  Our future.  And the hope that we have twenty more years as friends.”

They both drained their cups and burst into laughter.

“Are they ready to fight?”

“I think we need to talk to them.  It’s been far too long since the young ones have let us have any fun.”

“In that case, my friend, let us finish this wine.  Such is wasted on the young.”

Chapter Seventy-Seven

It didn’t take the three of them long to figure out how Irian’s arm and leg should work.  Getting them attached, however was a different story.

“I’m telling you, a pressure socket will be easier!”

“And have his leg flop off during a battle?  Direct joins to the bone will be much stronger.”

“They’ll hurt more too.  He’s already drinking all day!”

“I’m still here, you know.  Besides, I have an idea.”

Elanor and James turned to look at him.  He had already undone the bandages around the stump of his leg and was fighting the ones around his chest.  He stared at them.  “Did you ever ask my opinion?  No, of course not.  But I have one, you know.  Tie them into my circulatory system.  Let the aether in my blood power them.”

They both looked at him in shock.  “That’s not safe!”

“And neither is a leg that would fall off during battle.  Direct to the bone would be safer, though it will hurt more.  If I can imagine that.  But you still never figured out power.  And James, yours are weak.  You fight with a gun more than a sword.  They handle linear impact but shearing torsion destroys them.  Only implantation will fix that, and the aether in my veins will power them sufficiently without going to this… nuclear you speak of.  I don’t like it.  It’s too dirty.”

“And do you know how long you’ll be down from the surgery?”

“Not a clue.  But I have to have help just to relieve myself.  And neither of you seem to understand what it’s like.”

“Well, Irian, actually I do.  You never wondered about these arms?”

“No, because you spoke of upgrading yourself.  I understood that you replaced them to gain an advantage.”

“No, I replaced them because the Prince cut them off.  Did you never wonder what happened to his face?”

“Of course, but I figured he was disfigured fighting the Harvest.  You’re saying it was you?”

“Yes, and he did the same for me.”  James removed his surcoat, then his shirt.  A complex strapping system tied both arms across his chest and back.  “They tie to the nerves at the ends of my stumps, and the hand designs are yours, Elanor.  He designed the system that controls them.  And yes, I do fight more with my gun.  So they work for me.  But try me with a blade sometime.”

“So you lost your arms.  What happened between the two of you?”

“I married his sister.”

Elanor stopped reviewing component lists and looked up.  “He never mentioned a sister.”

“And he wouldn’t.  He didn’t approve of me.  He didn’t approve of her marrying me.  And he sure didn’t approve of her leaving his laboratory.  When I confronted him about it, he pulled a weapon.  We fought.  I carved his face up pretty well.  Got him in the leg pretty badly.  But he was the better swordsman, and when I overextended myself, he took both of my arms off mid-bicep.”

“And what happened then?”

“She told him if he killed me she’d never speak to him again.  He told her that if I meant that much, then he wouldn’t, but that she wasn’t going to enter his lab again.  I think at that point she didn’t mind.”

“And where is this wife of yours?”

“Translation, working beside Namid.  You’ve met her, you just didn’t know it.”

“One of these days, you owe me an explanation on that.”

“Duly noted.”

“And why did he help replace your arms?”

“Guilty conscience, I guess.”

“Well, that’s all well and good.  Now can someone put an arm and leg on me?”

“You really should, you know.  I’m getting tired of carrying him places.”   Namid entered, carrying Cairbre.  She deposited him in Irian’s lap.  He immediately set up purring.  “Whatever you do, you might want to do it.  Our break is over.  They’re on the move again.”