When Harry, Dan-Sai Asha, and the Awumpai entered the crowded ore-ship depot, he was reminded of a train station he had visited in Amsterdam during the war. Both hubs had many seats lining the walls and vendors selling food and wares. However, in Millwood Junction, Harry saw hybrids with humanesque faces moving about the hub with many different types and sizes of luggage. Passengers stood in long lines before several ticket booths to buy heavy, eight-sided tokens about the size of a pancake. Each token had a strange symbol on it that Harry was unable to decipher.
Just as he and Asha got behind one of the shorter lines, the depot’s double doors far behind them were violently thrown open. Harry and everyone else turned to look and saw a tall, slender, black-furred creature, wearing a white tunic, step from the brightly lit street into the building’s darker interior. The creature carried a dangerous-looking scythe and reminded Harry of images he had seen on an Egyptian temple walls in National Geographic magazines.
The beast, which walked upright on two thick, dog-like legs, probed the immediate area with all its senses: its curved snout sniffed the air; its erect, square-tipped ears turned as if on a swivel, and its golden eyes scanned the crowd.
The jackal-like guard then raised one arm and said in a deep, thunderous voice (in Awumpai), “Make way for Queen Apsu!” He roughly shoved aside a passing hybrid to allow room for an elaborately festooned litter that was carried by a dozen Mook slaves.
As the litter entered the depot and moved to the line one over from Asha and Harry, more jackal guards, about half a dozen, appeared and encouraged other hybrid patrons to vacate to another line, which they did.
The litter’s bejeweled gossamer curtains parted just enough for Harry to see the royal traveler riding Cleopatra-style within. The lone occupant was a humanoid female, who wore the brightly colored robes and gaudy jewelry of a rich queen. When the queen turned toward him, Harry got a good look at her hairless head, floppy ears, and long face, which was marked by oversized lips and a heavy brow.
She and her entourage of servants and guards stopped in front of the ticket counter. A short hybrid, who Harry guessed was the equivalent of her valet, seemed to have a difficult time with the ticket master in the booth. After arguing with the clerk in hushed tones, the well-dressed hybrid darted back to the queen’s litter and whispered in her ear.
Upon hearing the valet’s report, the queen swung her long legs over the side of the litter and walked down an improvised Mook stairway to speak with the ticket taker personally.
Before the ticket master could utter so much as a word, the aristocrat held up a long six-fingered hand and silenced him. “Ticket master, are you aware of who I am?” she asked in a crisp, concise tones that, to Harry, sounded vaguely British.
“Yes, your eminence,” the unhealthy-looking hybrid behind the counter replied in a tiny voice. “You are Queen Apsu of the Southern providence of Skandaha.”
“That is correct. So why did you tell my valet that the deckhouse has been booked?”
The hybrid swallowed and replied, “I’m sorry Queen Apsu, but, as I told your royal valet, the last rooms have already been taken. But, we still have plenty of room on the outside deck.”
“On the deck? On the deck? This is an outrage. My valet booked this passage over seven hunter’s moons ago.”
The ticket master leafed through his reservations and tried to answer, but Queen Apsu cut him off. “And do you think it will do for Queen Apsu to sleep out in the open and ON THE DECK?”
The ticket master seemed to shrivel before her like a slug showered in salt. “No ma’am.” He rapidly flipped through more pages. “If you like, I can put you in the deckhouse on a flight two moons from today.”
“Two hunter’s moons from today?” she roared. “The gods will have come and gone from Joppa-Cal in two hunter’s moons!”
When Harry realized that she was heading for the same destination they were, he rolled his eyes. The aristocratic giraffe would probably behave like this the entire voyage.
Just then, another hybrid clerk climbed up on a platform, picked up a cone-shaped, metallic bell, and clanged it with a rod several times. Hearing this, the majority of the waiting passengers below departed the depot and headed for their waiting ships. The depot was nearly empty, except for the tall queen, her slaves, and her bodyguards. The ticket booths began closing one by one, and Harry saw that it was growing dark outside the hub windows.
“I’m sorry, your highness, but the only room that still isn’t occupied was booked eight hunter’s moons ago.”
The queen raised her painted eyebrows when she realized that there might be a stateroom available after all.
“And who, may I ask, is this patron?” she said.
The ticket master adjusted the writing utensil behind his ear, coughed, and pointed toward Dan-Sai Asha. “Well, your highness, it is she.”
The queen turned and looked at Asha, who stood quietly in line at a different ticket booth. When Asha realized that the towering queen glared at her, she simply waved and said, “Hello.”
Harry noticed that Queen Apsu immediately took note of the formidable Awumpai flanking Asha and appeared to size them up against her jackals. She seemed to decide that the barbaric beasts would be little match for her honor guard.
Ignoring Asha’s greeting, the queen turned back toward the ticket taker. “I will not have this common rabble shedding their mounds of disgusting hair all over my new robes for the entire voyage. Why, what would the gods think?” She shook her robes haughtily.
This comment received a heavy growl from Hu-Nan, but Asha held up a small hand to silence him.
Hearing the growl, Queen Apsu spun toward Dan-Sai. “You! Call off your dogs, little one, before my honor guards take them out into the street and teach them how to conduct themselves before royalty.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Asha said innocently. She shook her head, a worried frown on her face. Harry was amused to realize that her concern was for the queen’s safety.
Queen Apsu was turning away from Asha but whipped her head again toward the princess after hearing this comment. “You wouldn’t do that if you were me?” the queen sputtered. “You wouldn’t …” she sputtered.
Harry had dealt with enough high-society types to know that Queen Apsu was up to something. The queen probably figured that if her guards beat Asha’s protectors into submission, it might open up her room in the deckhouse. Before Harry could warn Fu-Mar, the queen turned to the jackal guard nearest her.
“Ghanta,” the queen said.
“I’m Chephren, your highness,” the guard replied with a slight nod of respect.
Queen Apsu dismissed him with a wave. “Take these curs outside and teach them how to behave in a manner that is befitting respect of my station.”
Hearing this order, Fu-Mar stepped forward and took point. He carefully ushered the princess back to Hu-Nan, who, in turn, guided her behind his back.
Chephren gave the queen a nervous look. He leaned in close and whispered, “My Queen, those are Awumpai …”
“And you are a royal bodyguard!” she snapped, cutting off any further discussion. “Remove these peasant vermin from my sight!”
Hu-Nan and Ba-Tu quickly moved the princess near one of the sidewalls, out of the way. Only Fu-Mar remained in the center of the room.
Harry could see the royal bodyguards were easily twice his size; he knew he would be instantly broken in half the moment the fighting started. Despite this, Harry took his place next to Fu-Mar.
The battle-scarred warrior took note of this and Harry thought he detected a small upturn at the corner of the Awumpai’s lips.
Did Fu-Mar just grin at me?
Fu-Mar grunted something under his breath and suddenly Harry felt Ba-Tu’s large paw on his shoulder. She pulled him backwards until they were standing against the wall next to Hu-Nan and the Princess.
Hu-Nan took up a position protectively in front of the princess and Harry could see the big red Awumpai grinning with delight. Asha grabbed her protector from behind, putting her frail arms around his waist, and peered through the crack between the crook of his elbow and his side.
Harry watched the eight royal jackal guards encircle Fu-Mar. Their confidence seemed to build as they realized that Hu-Nan and Ba-Tu would not join the fight.
“I’m worried about Fu-Mar,” Harry said to Asha as he watched the older Awumpai pant heavily in the heat. “He looks overheated.”
“Oh, he’s fine,” the princess said. She seemed surprisingly unconcerned for the well-being of one of her Awumpai.
Fu-Mar panted more heavily now, and his tongue hung out his open mouth. Clearly, the afternoon heat had taken its toll on the older Awumpai, and he was not up for a fight. Harry had never seen Fu-Mar look so bad before. Heck, the big guy could barely stand.
“Aren’t you going to help?” he asked Hu-Nan.
Hu-Nan seemed perturbed by Harry’s interruption. He glanced at Harry in annoyance and resumed watching the fight.
“Well, if you’re not going to do anything.” Harry whipped open his jacket and removed his .45 pistol from its holster in a cross-draw with his left hand.
He had taken one step toward Fu-Mar before Hu-Nan’s hand fastened again on his shoulder like a vice and roughly pulled him back. Hu-Nan hadn’t given him so much as a glance.
“What the hell are you doing?” Harry asked. He looked to Ba-Tu for assistance, but the female Awumpai was leaning against the wall at her back. She sighed heavily, and, to pass time, removed knitting needles from her bag and began working on a blanket that she had started on the trail. The material was the same color as Hu-Nan’s red fur.
What the hell was wrong with them? Couldn’t they see that their friend was in trouble and in no condition to fight?
Fu-Mar already looked beaten. He stood there with his arms hanging loosely by his sides, as if he were too weak to raise them or his weapon. He panted heavily as the royal bodyguards slowly advanced on him from all sides. Stricken, Harry believed he was about to watch the old Awumpai get killed by the advancing jackal bodyguards.
Suddenly, Harry noted that Ba-Tu and Hu-Nan didn’t seem to have any problem adjusting to the warmer climate.
When the jackals had Fu-Mar surrounded, Chephren brought his weapon to bear and lunged forward. He thrust his scythe toward the Awumpai’s throat.
For a moment, time seemed to slow. Fu-Mar immediately straightened and darted to the side. He grabbed the shaft of the guard’s weapon, pulled it toward him, and backhanded the guard in the chest. The force of the blow sent the jackal flying backward into the ticket booth.
Everybody but Asha and the Awumpai were stunned. Hu-Nan chuckled to himself and rubbed his palms together. While he was clearly excited to watch the show, Ba-Tu looked slightly bored and continued with her knitting.
The jackal guards looked at their fallen comrade, who lay unconscious among the debris of the former ticket booth, and then at Fu-Mar. Enraged, they all charged the Awumpai at once.
It was the first time Harry had ever seen Fu-Mar truly smile.
#
Harry watched the queen duck behind the counter and join the ticket master. As the queen watched Fu-Mar toss her honor guard all over the depot, the ticket clerk removed a messenger bird from its cage and spoke to it. The bird quickly flew out of the depot ceiling.
As the battle raged on, a formidable-looking dagger slid across the floor and stopped at Ba-Tu’s paws. A jackal guard went to retrieve it but froze when he realized its close proximity to Ba-Tu.
Everyone waited silently to see what the female Awumpai would do with the discarded blade. When she realized that she was the center of attention, she sighed once more, put down her knitting, and picked up the weapon.
The fear in the royal bodyguard’s face turned to confusion when Ba-Tu flipped the knife expertly into the air, caught it blade first, and offered the weapon back to him. Thinking it a trick, the guard refused to reclaim his weapon.
Ba-Tu offered it a second time, only this time she stretched her hand out farther.
Harry saw that Fu-Mar didn’t seem bothered by Ba-Tu’s action in the least and that Hu-Nan smiled with delight.
“Don’t worry,” the small princess said from behind the protection of Hu-Nan’s thick hide. “She won’t hurt you. You should probably take it.”
After a few tentative reaches, the guard snatched the weapon out of Ba-Tu’s clawed hand and darted backward to rejoin the fight. The knife didn’t help him much, for Fu-Mar easily disarmed him a second time and threw him into one of his advancing comrades.
Just then, the result of the Queen’s messenger bird arrived. The sheriff and his deputy burst through the main entrance. Unfortunately, the hybrid sheriff made the mistake of approaching the princess with his rifle. “You there, halt!” he told her in guttural Awumpai.
Hu-Nan’s lion-like roar nearly knocked the sheriff off his feet, so Harry could hardly blame the sheriff for aiming and firing at the oversized Awumpai.
In the blink of an eye, Hu-Nan turned and hugged the princess to shield her with his back. The buckshot struck the thick armor on his back, denting it, and, in a few places, even punching through.
Once Hu-Nan was satisfied that the princess was unharmed, he stomped toward the sheriff. A retreating royal jackal guard got in Hu-Nan’s way and was swatted away effortlessly.
The sheriff took another round from his quivering deputy and attempted to reload but, seeing that the enormous Awumpai was almost upon him, turned on his heel and attempted to flee. Before he could do so, Hu-Nan grabbed him by his collar and the waistband of his pants. The sheriff’s body flew through the air and smashed all the way through the wall by the window. His body left an outline in the wall behind him.
When Hu-Nan turned toward the timid deputy and roared, the deputy retreated out the door through which he had come.
Meanwhile, still hidden behind the ticket booth, the queen ushered up two of her guards and pointed at Asha who was now standing alone, “Go grab her. Grab the little one,” she ordered the two guards before ducking again behind the clerk’s desk.
Harry tensed, reaching for his gun again, but the princess was not alone; Hu-Nan was only the second line of defense. When the two honor guards were nearly upon the princess, they discovered the third: Ba-Tu.
Ba-Tu’s slender body moved between the two jackals in graceful, fluid motions. She struck them multiple times with her knitting needles before they even knew she was there. Their dead bodies, punctured with dozens of holes, hit the floor within moments of their fatal attempt to grab the princess. When a third jackal tried to attack Ba-Tu from behind, Hu-Nan appeared and tore the jackal’s body in two.
Harry realized that anyone who approached the princess with the intention of harming her received the death penalty. The sentence was swift and sure. The royal bodyguards fighting Fu-Mar were still alive only because they posed no threat to the princess. In fact, during Fu-Mar’s fight with the guards, he never drew his blade. As Harry watched, the last royal bodyguard dropped at Fu-Mar’s feet, dazed but alive.
Fu-Mar stepped over the stunned guard and ripped the ticket counter from the floor. He threw it aside to reveal the queen responsible for it all. Queen Apsu backed against the wall and shrank into the floor.
Fu-Mar slowly withdrew his sword and held his blade to the queen’s throat.
Asha picked her way through the debris and moved alongside Fu-Mar. She whispered something up to Fu-Mar’s ear and gently moved his sword away.
Asha then knelt down beside the queen and said, “There there, old mother. Do not fear. Let me help you to your feet.” She helped the older woman to stand, and two badly beaten royal bodyguards assisted.
Asha turned to the ticket clerk and handed him a sack of coin. “Here. This should compensate you for any damages my protectors may have caused. My apologies, noble ticket master. With your permission, please allow Queen Apsu to reside in my accommodations.”
The clerk, happy that Princess Asha was speaking to him, replied, “Thank you, Dan-Sai Asha.” Looking inside the bag, he added, “You are most generous, but I hardly think someone such as you should give up your stateroom for the likes of her.”
“Please, grant me this, Ticket Master, and I will be forever in your debt.”
The clerk blushed. “As you wish, Dan-Sai.”
Hearing this, Queen Apsu dusted off her clothes and resumed her arrogant stature. She threw her scarf over one shoulder and, limping on one broken sandal, boarded the ore ship ahead of Asha’s group.
Harry watched the way the clerk interacted with Asha and realized that the hybrid not only recognized her but also loved her, as Harry suspected most of the people of this world did. It was easy to see why; she was generous and noble beyond anything Harry had ever known.
Her kindness made him think of his own wife. Although his memory still had more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese, one thing he remembered was that she was kind. He felt his heart physically ache for her. He had to get home to his family. Whatever the cost, however impossible, he would never stop trying.
Their tokens cashed, Asha, Harry, and the Awumpai boarded the ore ship that would take them to Joppa-Cal, the city of the gods and, quite possibly, all the way home.