//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Company's Here, Ma! // Story: The Mississippi Voyager // by Alden MacManx //------------------------------// Monday, 5 June 2017, not far from the impact site, northeast of the crater Pa came out of the sturdy army-surplus tent into the bright morning light as the rooster announced the rising of the sun, taking a breath of the sweet, clean air before going to coax the fire to life from the banked coals of the night before. Near the tent, a small house was under construction, framed out with a thatched roof for now, but a stack of shingles waited under a tarp. Around the house site, five fields, a hundred feet on a side, with a small rock berm surrounding each field. The fields were blooming with a bountiful crop of corn, wheat, potatoes, and two fields of mixed vegetables.  Once the fire was going, Pa went to the well to draw up a bucket of water to make coffee. Several hens clucked contentedly from a small coop and run, chicks pecking at the ground. He got the coffeepot started before feeding the chickens and collecting eggs, after glaring at the rooster to keep away as he gathered eggs. The two children, Pepper and J.J. (short for Julius Junior), came out of their tent, going to the well to wash up before going to help Pa with morning chores. It took a half-hour or so to get breakfast made, Ma waking up to get that started, porridge and omelets for each of them. After that, it was time for chores. “Ma, you clean up around here before tending the chickens and the vegetable patches. Pepper, you and I are to work on the fields, and J.J. handles getting the house built. What are your estimates on completing it, J.J.?” Pa asked. “A few more weeks, Pa,” JJ said. “Tomorrow, we should plan on a run to Oskaloosa for more parts and wood. I think six inches of dirt in the outer walls should be enough insulation.” “Good thing your daddy is a fine builder, and you learned a lot from him. Think you can handle the roof and chimneys when it comes time?” Ma asked. J.J. nodded, his mane and horn glistening in the morning sunlight. “I think so, the Good Lord willing. He’s brought us this far, what with the Heaven Stones and our ability to use them properly,” he said with sincerity. “Yes, he has. Why we have not met anyone else yet, well, He has his reasons. Until such time, let us get our house together,” Pa said before rising. “Let’s get to work.” 5 June 2017, 1000 hours, West Bottoms Pier The Mississippi Voyager came to a gentle stop alongside the pier, Aaron making sure the bumpers were in place before getting the lines set and deploying the port side gangplank. Smoking Horn, Silverwing, Caleb and Landry waited pierside as the Voyager was made ready to receive them. Once all was set, Aaron showed the four to the Lounge, where Captain Crane, Chief Officer Crowne, and Doctor Van Hoosen awaited, with coffee and pastry. After introductions, pleasantries, and the pouring of coffee, Smoking Horn got matters underway, preceding words with a cloud of cherry-vanilla smoke. “Heard from Twogogglehat last night. They arrived at the crater site, and found some small bits of the meteor. First impressions are that the meteor debris resonates with one’s magic. Just how, Wakinya does not yet know. It has been less than a day, and he’s still a kid,” he reported. “That he is,” Captain Crane said after a bite of beignet. “Can we sail up the Kansas River to the crater site?” “Much of the way, yes. You can sail to where the flood waters from the lake entered the Kansas River. The remaining distance, the river is too shallow. Hope your vehicles are off-road capable,” Smoking Horn said through a smoke cloud. “Two longbed four-by-fours, plus ponies who can drive them. Hopefully we’ll have enough fuel to make at least a first-level analysis,” Doctor Van Hoosen said. “Here’s hoping,” Silverwing said after some coffee. Roscoe can make good coffee, but Jason makes great coffee, and won’t tell how he does it..  “How is Jenny settling into the group?” Howard asked. “Wonderfully,” Caleb said, with Landry squeaking agreement. “She’s teaching me how to do smithing. We’ve barely started, but her discipline is showing in just about everything she does.” Julia spoke up. “She’s teaching you how to smith, but how are you going to refine the ore into iron that can be worked?” “She’s working on that,” Smoking Horn said. “She’s been talking with Maasvlakte on just how to do such a thing. She’s never had to work from raw ore before.” “Did you go back to Leavenworth to find her tools?” Howard asked. Smoking Horn nodded, a cloud of smoke coming from his ever-present briar. “We went up a week after you left. We did find her tools. We also found quite a bit of debris damage all throughout the town and fort. The Exchange and Commissary were both heavily damaged. When she saw the damage, she asked me to find out how to thank Raven properly for saving her life.” “What did the old crow say?” Frack asked as he entered the Lounge. “I quote, ‘Knew the jackass has some redeeming value!’” Smokey snorted, trying to hide a laugh. Nobody else did. “What did she say about that?” Frack asked. “Haven’t told her. I did say that he is pleased she decided to express her thanks in such a way he could receive it, namely, through me,” Smokey said before dipping and eating a beignet in his coffee. “Followed by that the ways of deities are truly unknowable to mortal beings, so don’t try to figure it out until he calls you.” Frack literally blew coffee out his nostrils at that last line. ‘ 6 June 2017, 1300 hours, northeast of the crater lake Twogogglehat, Wakinya, and the rest of the small herd stood atop a small hill, looking down at the tents, fields, shed, chicken run and partially built house. “This has to be new. This could not have survived the impact,” Chief Twogogglehat said quietly in Lakota. “If so, then where are they?” Strat asked. “Don’t know. They have not been gone long, and I’m sure they will be back by nightfall,” Wakinya said as he looked at the fields. “Lots of magic here, and it’s being guided. Lots of earth pony magic, and water creation magic keeping a well full of pure water. That much I can sense from here.” “Guided?” asked one of the other cows, a paler brown in color, named ‘Cookie’. Wakinya pointed to one of the fields with a hoof. “From what I feel, an earth pony worked the field, the stones picked up on what the earth pony was doing, and is maintaining the earth pony influences without needing the earth pony,” he said before pointing at the low well. “Over there, the enchantment is to provide cool clean water, probably from a unicorn. I’m not positive, but that’s what I feel.” “Looks like we should just wait until whoever lives here comes back, so we can have more questions answered,” Twogogglehat rumbled. “Until then, I’m going to call Smoky and let him know what we found.” He moved off a way to call his fellow shaman and speak unobserved.   After the report, which was done in Lakota, Smoking Horn went back to the Lounge, where ship crew and passengers were finishing up a very good lunch, courtesy of Jason. “So, ponies are living there, and have found some of the meteors. What do you think of the report, Doctor Laura?” Howard asked the astrogeologist. “I’m intrigued,” she said. “Apparently, the raw meteoric debris not only reacts strongly to magic, it’s like the magic is ‘programmable’ to whoever first uses it. What I would like to know is, can said debris be ‘reprogrammed’, how much is needed to generate an effect, and what happens when the ore is put through a blast furnace, then a forge. Will it retain the magic-guiding properties, or will it fade in processing, leaving plain metal?” “That makes this meteor the most valuable object on the planet,” Smoking Horn said gravely, letting out a cloud of smoke that was not cherry-scented, but smoke-scented. Acrid smoke, too. “Can you say ‘gold rush’?” “More than that,” Howard added, “ponies and non-ponies alike will beeline here. I’m worried about the dragons along the Ohio River. What will they do when they hear about the capabilities, and what can they do with it?” “No doubt they will send some sort of expedition this way. Question being, how many, which way, and what will they do?” Frack asked, in his capacity as senior WSU rep on the scene. “We may have to uncork the unpleasant surprises, Captain.” “What sort of surprises, Frack?” Landry squeaked. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?” “Point made, Frack,” Landry said before enjoying a sip of cold Sprite. Excess caffeine made the breezie twitchy, so he avoided it except in the morning. 2030 hours, the camp by the crater Ma and Pa pulled their faithful wagon stolidly into the camp, said wagon loaded with wood, screws, nails, several large buckets of spackle compound, and other pieces needed to build a house, care for chickens, and run their little farm. Pepper and J.J. followed, J.J. puffing some from the six-plus mile walk from town. He was a unicorn, not an earth pony like the others, and consequently has less stamina. J.J. helped his grandparents out of the wagon harness, leaving the wagon until later.  “Ma, you and Pepper gather dinner, J.J., you draw up some water from the well, and I’ll get out the good gear. Company here soon,” Pa said. “You noticed them too, Pa,” Ma said as she stretched some after being freed from the harness. “Footprints all around the camp. They can’t be far. They are not horses, like we are,” Pa said, stretching as well. “I’ll get ready for them. Have not entertained guests since The Rapture,” Ma said as she headed for the big tent. “Hope we can do a good job at it,” Pa grunted, pushing the wagon aside to make room near the fire. Twenty minutes later, as the four were eating a substantial dinner, they could hear footsteps approaching and some talk, too low to make out. “That’s not Cherokee,” Pa said as he listened, after waving the grandchildren to silence. “Nope. Up north, maybe. Is a language, but one I do not know,” Ma replied quietly. “J.J., build up the fire some. Pepper, get the lantern,” Pa said. Quietly, they followed orders, J.J. putting another log on the fire while Pepper went to fetch a large work light they used for nighttime work. Six large shapes came into view, and one little bright blur. “The language is Lakota Sioux, of which we all are. Who might you all be?” Chief Twogogglehat asked. Pa took the lead. “I’m Parker Kettle, formerly of Medford, Oklahoma. Next to me is my wife, Marjorie, and then two of my grandchildren, Julius and Pepper. They’re even less twinned than they were before The Rapture,” he said genially, but with a guarded expression. “I am Twogogglehat, chief and shaman of our tribe. We wander the plains, wintering in Kansas City with some other ponies like you,” Twogogglehat told the earth pony before introducing the other six. “May we join you for some talk?” “Enter and be made welcome,” Pa said, allowing himself to smile some. “Can I offer you anything?” “Can you spare a bucket of grain for each of us? Will be better than prairie grass and the occasional vegetable we have found,” Twogogglehat asked. “I can see to that. Would you like your corn still on the ear or off it?” Pa said as he glanced at Ma, who went to get some. “On the ear will do, good sir,” Wakinya said, startling everyone. “You’re older than you look, son,” Pa said, looking at the little buffalo. “Before, I was six. I Returned a year and a half ago, and was lucky to find a lot of good teachers before the Herd arrived. Now, the Chief is instructing me in the way of the buffalo. It’s nice to meet new ponies,” Wakinya said to the big black and green earth pony. “Would you like to talk with Pepper and J.J.?” Pa asked.  “If I can have my corn and grain with them, yes,” Wakinya said sincerely. “Pepper, J.J., come and get little Wakingyou, and make sure he has a good dinner,” Pa ordered. “That’s said ‘Wa-kin-ya’, sir. Wakinya Pejuda Mahpiya, to be completely accurate,” Wakinya corrected gently.  Pa chuckled as he rubbed a forehoof gently against Wakinya’s head. “I’ll try to remember that, Wa-kin-ya. Now, go along with Pepper and J.J. They’ll make sure you have a good dinner,” he said like a grandfather would. “Okay, sir!” Wakinya said brightly as he trotted off to the colt and filly. Pa turned to look at the grown-ups. “Would you like some coffee, or will water do you?” he asked. As Ma and Pa talked to the adults, Pepper and J.J. talked to, and looked after, Wakinya. After making sure the little buffalo had enough corn, wheat, and some other vegetables, the three started chatting. “This corn and wheat are very good indeed, as is the water. Just how do you do it?” Wakinya asked after having some of the provided food and drink. “The Heaven Stones are what’s doing it,” J.J. said. “They are responding to our desires and providing it. For instance, the fields are lined with stones. Ma, Pa and Pepper worked the fields and got the plants to grow quickly and pest-free. Apparently, the stones sensed what they were doing and kept the influences going.” “What about the well?” Wakinya asked. “That came a little later. At the bottom of the well is a stone. I impressed on it our need for fresh, clean pure water, and it worked. The rocks on top are just for the well shape, not for the water,” J.J. explained. “How can you find the Heaven Stones?” “They feel different, making my horn tingle. If they are small enough, I can pull them out of the ground. Bigger, and I have to dig for them. Plus, there is a lot of leftover dust in this entire area. That helps the stones somehow. Don’t know how it works, but we can make it work. As Pa says, why question a gift from Heaven?” J.J. explained. “The stones help us build a happy life here,” Pepper said. “We’re all happy, and we got to this point within a month. What’s this about other horses in Kansas City?” Wakinya eagerly told his story about the ponies of the Deliverance and of Kaycee between bites of sweet corn. When Twogogglehat and the other buffalo arrived in December, he told of his fascination of there being others like him. He also told about Raven, how he was being taught by ‘the old crow’, Smoking Horn and Twogogglehat on how to be a good shaman and leader. At the grown-up’s circle, Ma and Pa chatted with Twogogglehat and the others, telling a similar story and getting told of the greater world outside. “You’re saying the Rapture was over two years ago, and we were given these bodies because our human bodies burn rapidly in the presence of magic. Is that correct?” Ma asked, sounding a touch skeptical, but not hostile. “That is correct, Miz Kettle,” Twogogglehat rumbled in as gentle a tone as he could muster. He explained about the types of ponies and not-ponies that had shown up, with the help of the other buffalo. “We bison are the stewards of the lands, like we were long ago before the arrival of the white men. All bison so far that have Returned were members of one tribe or another. We six were on a Greyhound bus that Returned last year going south on I-35 near Wichita. After Returning, we six were changed into bison. We were guided to Kansas City to meet with those there. The other survivors headed for Wichita.” “Why do you say ‘survivors’, Chief? Pa asked. “Because the bus rolled over when the driver lost control. If it were not for Twogogglehat’s ability to get in touch with Raven, I would have had a severely broken leg, and three others aboard would not have survived,” said one of the cows, who went by the name of ‘Snippy’. “Four did die, including the driver.” “You say deities of old have returned. Has God Himself shown up?” Ma asked. “Not as far as we know, but the divine does not operate according to mortal’s desires,” Twogogglehat said. “However, we will have to get you a shortwave radio, so you can listen to Catholic services every Sunday morning at one am, with repeats every six hours on Sunday. It’s being transmitted from the Netherlands.” “Who delivers the sermon?” Pa asked. “I could not tell you, Mister Kettle. I have never met the two men whom I know deliver the services. Once we get in contact with Kansas City, you can speak to someone who does know the two men. One is a deacon from Florida, and the other a sexton from Nebraska. The sexton rescued Wakinya early last year. He calls the sexton and his wife his grandparents,” Twogogglehat told the couple. “Interesting. When can we expect more company?” Pa asked. “I would say in two days, maybe even tomorrow late. That depends on if the riverboat can navigate up the Kansas River safely and swiftly,” Paley told the pair. “None of us have done much sailing, so we can’t say for sure until we try.” Pa put a couple of more pieces of wood onto the campfire. “Take all the time you need. Tell us more about this world, and who will be coming to meet us,” he said, getting comfortable in the grass, the fire shielded from the grass by a ring of rocks and a ready five-gallon bucket from Home Depot full of water within reach. 6 June 2017 2130 hours, west of the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers Zvezda and Impedimenta got the crystal ball set rigged up before calling Vladimir. “Have made landfall, and all is being set. With five hundred miles to overland, it should take us eleven days or so to get within the crater’s vicinity, maybe less, depending on the state of the roads,” Zvezda reported to her superior. “I knew we should have left a week ago, but the boats took a while to build properly. Did you get some wagons from Yuri and Nikolai?” Vladimir asked his subordinate, even though he was relatively certain of the answer. “Yes, we did, Vladimir. What we do not know for sure is just how sturdy and effective they are. We’ll know in the next few days,” Zvezda reported. “Anything new on the news?” “Not since you left. The second riverboat is under way, heading first to Memphis. With luck, they won’t find the flatboats.” “No luck needed, Vladimir. We disassembled them and hid the lumber away from the river, then erased our trail from the river. The ponies will not find anything,” Zvezda said with confidence. “Good. Give me a call in a couple of days with a progress report,” Vladimir commanded. “Will do, Vladimir. Zvezda out.” 6 June 2017, 2230, HPI main base (wherever that is) Ham and Judy sat in a lounge, sipping some carefully rationed home-made ‘white lightning’ with cherry powdered fruit drink mix blended in to give it some flavor and not sear their throats. “We leave early in the morning on the eighteenth. I know we’ll be ready. What do you think, Judy?” Ham asked. “For a chance to get out of here and see some real daylight for once? You bet I’ll be ready!” Judy said after a sip of cherry lightning. “At least the research staff finally puzzled out Lexington’s notes enough to make some lighter-weight anti-thaumatological suits, with enough power to look around some before the batteries need a recharge. Still need an exoskeleton, but none of the hazmat gear.” “The older power suits, no thank you! Those things, you had to lug a reactor with you just to get out of the plane! I tried one once and could barely breathe in it,” Ham said before having a shot, followed by a rough cough. “When was this stuff made? Last Tuesday?” “The Tuesday before. I have some real gin left in my sixteenth (what the lower level staff jokingly referred to their cramped quarters as), but that’s for when we come back,” Judy told her workmate. “I’ll hold you to that. I know I have some liquor-laced chocolates left in the back of my locker. I’ll let you pick a couple for a shot of gin. Deal?” Ham asked. “You’re on!” Judy laughed, knocking back some more of her drink. 6 June 2017, 2300 hours, a cave complex southwest of Branson, Missouri Lex and Amelia sat at a table, watching a line of mice bringing pieces of stone out of one hole and bucket-brigading the pieces to another hole, one they knew was very deep. “They’re very eager to get down another level in the cavern,” Amelia observed, sipping some water, which this cavern had in more than adequate amounts. “They’re worried. We’re going to have people pass by in the next however long, and they want another layer between them and any possible company,” Lex said. “At least they are responding well to Joshua’s presence.” “Seeing as the mice were the ones who led Joshua here three months ago, I’m not surprised. The Gen Five mice are better than the Fours,” Amelia replied, referring to a diamond dog that had lived in the area, and was brought to the caverns to ‘help the big ones’ move in. The big dog was not only an exceptionally good digger, he also had the curiosity of a chunk of sandstone. He was just glad to be around others, even if they were smaller than him and were covered in gray or brown fur. He also liked the mice as friends. Joshua had grown up in the area, and knew the best places to find needed goods in the Ozarks. “We just need more of the Fives.” “Radio says that the WSU and Louisianne are sending an expedition out to the meteor strike. I have not heard anything on the HPI frequencies about it, other than something’s planned,” Lex said with a snort. “I wonder if they will fall for the bait we left at the silo.” “If an airship passes within fifty miles, the beacon will activate. We’ve left enough evidence to confirm our deaths, plus they will just love your notes.” Lex smiled at his friend and aide. “Now that we don’t need the thaumic shielding, I can still think about how to make what we had better. At least they don’t know about the mice yet. By the time they do, they won’t be able to do anything about them. They will be too established.” “Gotta admire your confidence, Lex. About ready for bed?” Amelia asked. “Sounds like a plan to me. Joshua and the mice know when they’ve had enough. We don’t need to lord over them all of the time,” Lex said with a yawn. “Just some of the time.”