//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 On The Eland Veldt // Story: DARING DO AND THE COMPASS OF DISCORD // by De Writer //------------------------------// The buildings of Kuduspar were far behind. The surrounding farms, managed by the many industrious kinds of antelope that made up the population of the Eland Republic, gave way to semi open veldt with large patches of woodlands. Morail was watching all in fascination. “I was just getting used to the idea of ponies with one horn! Now there are all of these antelope with TWO horns! This whole area is so different from the veldt across the Selenes, where my Drift is!” Withers looked up curiously, from the map that he was studying. “Your Drift? Morail, how much of what we have heard is real and how much is Amber taking advantage of this expedition to further her own plans for the Diamond Dogs?” Morail, continued to look out the window eagerly as she replied, “My spell locked ID as Morail Ruby Drift pretty well nails part of it. I was not really a Veldratten. I was Morail Blum Fauntin and did go down into the Ruby Drift so much that they DID adopt me. “Sometimes I would spend as much as a week or more down in the Drift. The Diamond Dogs took really good care of my education and taught me. I earned my mining and explosives certifications. “My family sent me to the Royal University but the Ruby Drift was paying half of my education costs. “The Downitall Party killed the rest of my surface family and claimed WITH DOCUMENTS TO PROVE IT, that I was killed too. That let them seize the farm for one of their hacks. “This is where the story gets really funny! You see, I did play tricks on zebras above, about being a Diamond Dog adoptee that did not even know how to speak Zebra. Tried to buy things with Diamond Dog gems and pretended not to know about Confederation Marks! “The ZC Ambassador called Ruby Drift's Matriarch Topaz and she confirmed that I have been a Diamond Dog since fillyhood and knew Morail Blum Fauntin. She told him about some of “our” tricks. He bought it all. “Nils Downitall actually had the story checked. Since I did do those tricks, there were lots of good Zebra witnesses to the Zebra orphan raised by the Ruby Drift. Now, that is the official line!” Daring Do spared a glance from her driving to flash a grin. “So, you did tell Princess Luna the truth, that you already were a Diamond Dog! How old were you when the Drift adopted you?” Morail snorted cheerfully, “About six! Vater was both proud and mortified at the same time!” Glancing back, Morail suggested, “Pull off the road in the next patch of trees, Doctor Do. We are being followed by a truck flying Zebra ensigns. We need to set up our special equipment.” Daring Do simply nodded and began watching the road sides as they entered the shade of the patch of woods. The truck swerved, bounced fiercely and skidded to a stop! Morail and Withers leaped out and pulled the canvass top clear of the back. Withers, with practiced ease, opened the crates holding parts and began the assembly. Morail opened another case and began to remove blocks about five centimeters on a side. She was affixing things to them and setting them aside. In moments, she was out near to the road, stabbing a tool into the sod, prying it up, setting a block in the hole and stomping it snug, then repeating the procedure. Daring Do checked the action of a semiautomatic rifle and loaded in a big curved magazine. She made sure that her throwing and combat knives were ready and that her big Spiderly 13 mm revolver was loose in its holster. Seeing that Withers was done setting up the MT84 quickfire cannon, she passed him the rifle. Cannon set up, Withers made way for Morail to take the big gun's aiming handles and took cover where he could aim back the way that they had come. They had only a small wait. The big boxy black and white saloon style car roared almost past their position, screeching to a stop and backing up. The Zebra Confederation flags on little staffs on each front fender fluttered in the breeze. It crossed the roadside ditch at the same place that they had, bumping to a stop as soon as it was clear of the roadway. Sitting quietly up by the MT84, Morail smiled and pulled out a small device. It looked a bit like a Magic Net mirror. The car's doors opened and two soldiers in Zebra Confederation Army Uniforms hopped out. They held the door for a portly Zebra in his Downitall Party uniform. Daring Do pulled a tight smile of recognition. This was the same Zebra that she had walloped flat back there by the harbormaster's office! She also, and very ostentatiously, pulled her big 13 mm Spiderly revolver. He did stop, as he stared down the unwavering barrel of the big pistol in Daring Do's grip. Arrogantly, he gestured toward her and one of the uniformed Zebras went to one knee, starting to aim his rifle at Daring Do. From the brush off to one side, there was the crack of a rifle firing! The Zebra fell squalling his pain! He had facial cuts and one fore hoof was bleeding! His rifle lay in two shattered fragments! The other uniformed Zebra sprinted for the roadside ditch! Morail, grinning ear to ear, barked in Diamond Dog, “Mistake!” She tapped her mirror like device! Along the ditch and several places closer, explosions tore craters and scattered sod, tossing the second Zebra to the middle of the road! The exploding mine under the Zebra Confederation car lifted its rear end up almost two meters! The right side rear wheels went flying, to crash into the brush as the car flipped up! It fell heavily onto its left side, the undercarriage starting to burn! The aghast Downitall Party uniformed Zebra picked himself up from where the blast from Morail's mine under the car had thrown him. He gave a wild look at his fallen soldiers and the wrecked car, now ablaze. Faced with massively superior firepower, he still tried to assert his “authority!” “Doctor Do! You must give over this expedition! It has been forbidden by Nils Downitall himself!” Daring Do raised her eyebrows and, incidentally, her big Spiderly revolver. That last, she brought to bear on the second button of the Downitall Party uniform, just over his heart. “For starters, sirrah, your precious Nils has overreached himself for a second time. This is the Eland Republic, not the Zebra Confederation. “Additionally, we are not even interested in the origins of the Nil Eya Civilization. We know, from wall paintings and from written evidence that has survived, that the Zebras did play an important part in building it. AS SLAVE LABOR. The genius that guided the labor was not Zebras. “What we are now going to check out is an apparent temple complex found by workers from the Spinel Drift, here in the Eland Republic. “You may tell Nils that his minuscule navy has upset the Chineighese Empire with the interruption of free trade from Equestria, Prance, Saddle Arabia, Epona and parts of Sorica. “Qushi Han Lee, the Pirate Queen, has dispatched a fleet to take care of the matter.” He started to scoff, “Pirate Queen? Our modern gunboats ...” From her vantage point behind the MT84, Morail interrupted in her heavily Diamond Dog accented Zebra, “Qushi Han Lee's yards built the Malachite, our delivery packet. You know, the ship that sank your light cruiser Das Capitin and blew the engines out of your patrol ship. She is sending two battle ships, four heavy cruisers, six Hunter Destroyers and a pegasus carrier strike ship. “They have been ordered to sink your entire navy and destroy every ship yard in the Confederation.” The official drew himself up and snapped, “They cannot do that! It violates International Law!” Daring Do, tilted here head and scratched an ear, while suppressing a chuckle. “Really? And your criminal blockade of the Medial Sea does not violate the same laws?” He snarled, “Not at all!! Nils Downitall has declared the entire Medial Sea to be our waters to regulate as we see fit!” Morail barked, “Then he can have no recourse to International Law! Setting aside Free Passage in the Medial Sea breaks those same laws!” She brought the barrel of the MT84 to bear on him too. Daring Do pointed north. “Kuduspar is only about two to three day's walk that way. I suggest that you gather your fallen zebras and start walking. Since it is illegal for them to carry those guns in the Eland Republic, I would suggest leaving them behind unless you want to spend time in a Republic jail.” Gathering his uniformed zebras and starting to walk, he shouted back, “You have not heard the last of ONDER OTTARHOOF!”