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Anyone watching Burt would have thought he was thoroughly engaged with the piece of wood he was whittling as he sat on a barrel next to the door to the cottage that housed Jenny’s retinue. The Groga had been generous with their hospitality. Jenny was inside, deep in communication with the Alliance council. She did this at the same time every day. He was concerned about the burdens constantly being added to her to-do list. He knew it was necessary, he just wished he could somehow carry more of the load. For now, he was on guard duty, such as it was.
Anyone thinking he was all she had, however, would be sadly mistaken. Inside were four highly trained females who could lick anything less than a platoon of armed soldiers, and he wasn’t even sure about that. Jenny’s bodyguards were fierce and dedicated professionals, and this was magnified by the love they had for the Gatekeeper. Elizabeth was her adopted sister and a well-trained martial artist. He wouldn’t want to be the being that entered unannounced.
In addition to these were Freia and Grephan, both assigned to Jenny by Anwhal, the High Groga-ha, and commander of all the Groga forces. Their orders had been clear. Defend Jenny with their lives and honor and see to her comfort and care.
The cottage was situated just outside the walls of Groga administration, their version of a guest suite. Freia cooked all of her meals, tasting every dish herself before it was served to Jenny. Grephan took turns with Burt standing a few shifts each day outside of the cottage. BaaGah had also budded again and one of his Mookookie kids bonded to Jenny, which gave Noony someone to play with. The other Mookookie buds were assigned to each of the bodyguards to their obvious delight.
The Mookookie were pulling their weight when they weren’t eating everything they could get their little hands on. They spent most of their time in the spaces in one or another piece of clothing of their “buddies” as they called the people they had bonded to. Like Burt, Jenny’s Mookookie, Lolly, spent most of his time in the flesh-colored wrist band that obscured her MDP.
Despite his outward casual appearance, Burt was aware of every movement in the paved street in front of the cottage. As usual, when he was on guard duty, BaaGah was concealed as a shield over his torso, something he called “hardening the spaces”. The little creature was so much more than anyone would judge by looking at the funny looking little guy. Burt was sure he still didn’t know the extent of his talents. Every time he thought he did, BaaGah would spring something new on him.
Generally, the passersby were servants, couriers, and suppliers. Of course, there were military everywhere. The Groga were hurriedly preparing for war and they were dead serious about it. Not surprising since they risked total annihilation if they didn’t get this right the first time out of the box.
Today the delegation from the Daringi would arrive. They would show up inside the cottage to reduce the drama of appearing out of seemingly thin air inside the council hall. A Groga delegation would escort them to the hall; where they would begin the war council. Burt expected Tarafau would be a part of the delegation as he had been appointed by his people to lead the Daringi on all fronts of this many-faceted war plan.
Burt knew that their enemies were deep in planning as well. The revolution on the Inseni capitol or what they had thought was the Inseni capitol had shaken them. He was sure the Inseni had expected a confrontation, but not there, and not by the slaves. As far as Burt could tell, the Great Inseni, the true leaders of the Insenium, had not yet determined that the Groga were involved, but that wouldn’t last long. Any time now they would figure it out and it wouldn’t take them long to act.
But with the help of the Daringi and the Alliance space fleet that was already hidden in a nearby asteroid belt, Burt felt assured they could do right by the Groga. The brilliant part of the strategy was that it would hopefully neutralize at least a part of the Insenium space fleet right off the bat and coordinated attacks by units from all over the Alliance would then cause chaos and instability among the Norgoths and the leadership of the Great Insenium. At least, this was what they had planned for.
They knew that even with the victories they may accrue during the coming battles. There were too many branches and tendrils of the Great Insenium domain for them to get it all. There would be constant battles for many years, potentially hundreds of years across the dimensions before this was over.
A tapping on the glass window behind him got his attention. In the window, Nona beckoned to him. It was time. Grephan came out the door, and they passed one another with nearly identical grins. Grephan had been practicing perfecting that grin when he had noticed how well Burt used it to his advantage. Burt sighed; another youngster corrupted by the enchanting draw of adventure.
“They’ve arrived.” Grephan sent. “That was amazing. One second just the usual people were there and the next...”
“Yeah,” Burt agreed. “They are pretty amazing, and you should see them fight.”
“I hope to,” Grephan sent, his eyes alight with youthful enthusiasm. “I am still trying to convince my father to allow me to enlist in the Groga force. I want to be a bigger part of this.”
“Actually, you’ll probably see more action if you stick with us, Grephan. Jenny is a major target for the Insenium. She’s going to need every one of us by her side.”
“I never thought of that,” Grephan replied with a light in his eyes. “You’re right. I shall stay here and defend the Disciple and the Honored One.”
Burt nodded and fired off a cocky salute in the Groga style, fist to chest.
As he had hoped, Tarafau was there with his cousin Desminda and a half dozen Daringi he hadn’t met yet. He stuck out his hand and Tarafau shook it with enthusiasm, pounding him on the back at the same time. Burt tried hard not to gasp, but it was no use. Tarafau grinned at him wickedly.
“So good to see you, Burt; I can see you’re staying in shape.”
“I’m working on it,” Burt replied, panting. “I can see you’re still in fighting condition. Glad to see you too. If anyone can help get the Groga ready for the coming conflict, it is you and your people.”
“Let’s go to the council chambers,” Jenny broke in, all business. “The sooner we get the introductions over with, the sooner we can get down to it.”
Tarafau raised one eyebrow. So, Burt wasn’t the only one who could see the change in her. In the past week she had become laser focused on her tasks and it was taking a toll. She seldom joked with her bodyguards anymore. When she consulted Lizziebot, it was always about nit-picky details about the various combatants, and she found herself frustrated with the lack of current information. After all Lizzie had died before this conflict began and had served in a time of relative peace in the dimensions.
“We are ready, Jenny. It’s good to see you safe and functioning effectively in your calling.” Tarafau said wryly. “Let us see what the Groga have to say and what we can do to help them.”
They left, her bodyguards bracketing her side to side as well as one in the back. Elizabeth walked between Tarafau and Desminda, and the Daringi ranged themselves behind as a sort of rear guard. Burt strode along between Jenny and Mynn, his eyes constantly moving, his ears alert for any unusual sound.
They arrived at the door to the council chambers un-assaulted as Burt had hoped, but not assumed; never where Jenny was concerned. His assumptions in the past had nearly proven fatal to him and to her. He would take no chances.
Perhaps he had changed as well as Jenny. He still put on his casual demeanor, but he was dead serious about seeing her safe. The only problem is that she didn’t confide her plans in him as she had in the past. How could he keep her safe if he had no idea what was going on in that mop head of hers?
Her hair was growing back into soft curls framing her face. It made her look innocent and harmless, especially with those deep blue eyes of hers. He dared not tousle her hair playfully as he wanted to, however. Her playful side seemed to be buried deep within her, and Burt admitted that this was a blow to him. He would stand by her regardless, but he was afraid of what this conflict and her role in it was doing to her.
Anwhal met them at the door to the chambers. “Welcome, honored guests and advisors. Please enter and let us acquaint ourselves. Our leaders are ready to get to work. I hope you are rested and ready to go.”
“Indeed,” sent Tarafau. “I have been looking forward to it. Jenny has briefed us thoroughly up to this point and we have come prepared first to listen and then to aide you in making the vital decisions that will hopefully mean the difference between success and failure.”
“Agreed,” Anwhal bowed slightly and gestured for their party to precede him through the doors.
Inside the chamber at the huge council table were the Great Groga-ha of the Groga nation, his councilors and three other military officials in addition to Anwhal. Seats at the table had been provided for Tarafau, Desminda, Jenny and Burt with additional chairs on either side of the table for their entourage.
“We welcome the Daringi to our council of war,” Merdahl began by way of greeting. “We understand you have many things to teach us and many resources to allow us to better protect our land. We also understand that in all things, the final say about any plans that are made here will be ours. Am I correct in this?”
“Indeed,” Tarafau agreed somberly, his large hands clasped on the table before him. “It is never our intent to force anything on you at any time. You can even refuse our help completely, if that is your final decision, and we will leave you peacefully to manage on your own.”
The Groga were large and stocky, but nearly a head shorter than the Daringi before them. They showed no signs of being impressed or intimidated, however.
It suddenly dawned on Burt he was witnessing the inside workings of an epic battle like no other before. He was somewhat in awe of this fact, considering his age and lack of any military training or experience. He put his business face on, however. He would never let any of that show to anyone.
He glanced at Jenny. She sat straight-backed, her face showing no emotion except attentive respect. Behind her, her three bodyguards and Elizabeth could have been carved from stone. Each face was intent on the events playing out before them, on hyper-alert if anything should get out of hand. Elizabeth’s briefing had been that her job was to whisk Jenny away to Sanglarka if at any point anything went seriously wrong.
Tarafau’s soldiers, seated behind the Groga councilors along with equal numbers of their military, were not stone. They were like jungle cats, ready to spring, every muscle in readiness. He wondered if the Groga had any idea that they could actually become jungle cats if they so chose.
As they went through the formalities, introducing one another and stating the purpose of the meeting, Burt scrutinized every face, every nuance of body language, how they presented themselves. It was what he did.
He had always had a knack of “reading” the people around him. Nothing supernatural or mystical, he just seemed to have an instinct for it. He was seldom wrong about his impressions of the people he met, and he also seemed to know the best way to approach a particular person to get what he wanted based on what he observed.
Merdahl was obviously impatient to get on with things, but he went through the motions. The High Groga-ha was doing much like Burt, apparently focusing intently on each face as they were all introduced. He particularly focused on Tarafau, immediately recognizing that this was the person to pay attention to. He treated Jenny with respect, but she was, after all very young and a woman at that.
Burt had witnessed that the Groga women were not subservient and definitely not oppressed, but they did have some very clear roles in the Groga society, and leadership in formal government bodies wasn’t generally one of them.
He found it significant that the High Groga-ha was never addressed by name, only by title or “Great One”. Burt wasn’t clear about the hierarchy of the Groga political system, but evidently when it came down to it, the High Groga-ha had the final say.
When the niceties had been performed, Tarafau wasted no time cutting right to the issue at hand, the coming assault by the Insenium. First, he introduced them to the abilities of the Daringi, so they would have a clear idea why it was a good idea to receive their aid. He had Elizabeth transport Jenny to the house on Infinity Loop and back to demonstrate. The Groga were suitably impressed.
Secondly, he laid out several battle strategies that they could possibly choose from or even use in combination.
Finally, he turned the discussion over to the High Groga-ha. This was clever of Tarafau, as one of the concerns of the Groga was that the Alliance was here to dominate them. They were adamant they wouldn’t ever go on that path again.
As Burt observed the give and take, he gained a new respect for Tarafau’s abilities and how his hundreds of years of experience made him the perfect person to work with the Groga. He also realized that although he had become fairly skilled in negotiation due to his natural abilities, he could learn a great deal from this man and his respect for his friend grew substantially.
They never broke for lunch or anything, with the exception of a very few 15-minute breaks. Food was brought in by servants and they ate as they talked, barely even noticing the food that had been set before them. Everyone had some input into the plan, and he could see the Groga begin to relax in the process, realizing, finally, that their own experience and opinions were being respected and that the needs of the Groga as a people were the first priority of the Alliance representatives.
By the time they were done, late into the night, they had a solid plan that had a good chance of success with the least possible casualties, at least on the side of the Groga and the Alliance.
