Matriarch Moonstone was as good as her word. The four found a veritable feast laid on for them! The famous Highland Harar Coffee was there in quantity, both hot and iced. There were several sorts of sweet breads, topped with the tan of caramel, the dark brown or light brown of fine chocolate. There were pull apart loaves of wheaten or rye breads and drawn butter to dip the pieces in.
There were a variety of vegetables and melons, as well as fine salads. One long dish proved to have a substantial baked fish on it.
Morail looked to Meridian with concern, “Will it bother you if I have this lovely pike?”
Meridian shook his horns. “That one? Not at all. That is pond raised and sold to Diamond Dogs, the Hyena packs, and Lion Prides. The Dik Dik Hills region is famous for raising them and several other kinds as well. The fish are raised as a crop and are a major contributor to the over all peace of the Republic.”
All happy smiles, Morail set about separating nice fillets and saucing them. As she was delightedly devouring everything but the bones, Daring Do looked up from her artichoke salad to point a hoof at Morail and pronounce. “Equis Sapiens Carnivora!”
They were all giggling but Morail who snorted! “You should not say things like that when I am eating! I nearly got fish sauce in my nose!”
They were just settling in to after dinner games. With a wicked grin, Daring Do produced a traveling Mah Jongg set and rule book!
Meridian perked up at first, exclaiming, “Mah Jongg! We love evening tournaments in . . .” He broke down, weeping, ears drooped. “I am sorry. For a moment I forgot that all of those that I played with were murdered.”
Daring Do started to recover the tiles and counters. Meridian's split hoof stopped her. Smiling around his pain, he explained, “Let us play. Doctor Do, will you take North Wind?”
Looking uncertainly to the others, Daring Do replied, “Of course, Meridian, if you are sure that you want to go on.”
“I am sure. Their evil bullets may have taken all else from me, but the Path of Chaos has left me this which is a good memory.”
The tiles shuffled, the group began building their walls.
The game was barely underway when Morail's Magic Net mirror chimed. Looking up with a diabolically innocent curl to her lips, she suggested, “We can return to the game in a bit. They have a tug taking the other damaged heavy cruiser out to their other naval yard at Sarese. It should be fun to watch, for us.”
The mirror showed the severely damaged ship being towed by one heavy tug and its stern being pushed and pulled by another to keep it following true behind the tow boat. Morail took the moment to enlarge the name plate at the stern for them all to read. “Capitain das Maria,” Daring Do read for them, “Captain of the Seas.”
Without incident, the big ship was maneuvered into the harbor channel. The mines took out the lead tug! She was slowly rolling, as frantic Zebras raced to the life boat! They got free just in time as the tug went under! While they were clambering to the safety of the jetty's big rocks, the untended Capitain das Maria, still pushed from behind, swung majestically to the side and smashed her bow into the jetty's stones!
Due to the angle of the wreck, her sheer mass was still trying to go forward, in spite of the bow pinned solidly to the rocks. The stern of the Capitain was forced to swing like a huge, multi tonne gate! As the ship's stern grated against the opposite jettey from the nose, she was solidly grounded across the channel, blocking it totally!
As Withers was complimenting, “That ought to take care of things for a few months . . .”
Morail pointed out, “We had DAYS to set this up! The good part is yet to come!”
Withers quietly nodded, “Diamond Dogs can swim and have diving gear.”
Morail was snorting quietly, “Correct. The tide is going out. That will really solidly seat the ends and put the maximum strain on the center area. Ought to provide some amusement in a few more minutes.”
While they watched, they could see the ship's center section settling some, though neither end could settle at all. Morail tapped some codes into her mirror.
The detonation, a few seconds later, blasted water and steel fragments out from under both sides of the ship! Slowly, almost majestically, great cracks began spreading up as the massive ship's own monster weight finished breaking her almost in two! She sat, blocking the channel and solidly sunk to the bottom!
Morail was about to close the mirror when she caught part of a Degrate Magic Net news broadcast! Nils Downitall had been minorly injured! A part of the surviving Presidential Palace had collapsed! He had bruises and a few cuts, not worse.
Deaming the Palace unsafe, he was taking a motorcade to the Presidential Summer Residence.
Their game paled compared to what they had just watched. They carefully put away the pieces and retired for the night.
The morning's breakfast included piles of wheaten waffles and a sweet syrup that Daring Do had never before encountered. There were multiple sorts of toast and a mass of scrambled eggs. Altogether a most satisfactory meal.
Matriarch Moonstone came into the dining hall as they were finishing up. All smiles, she led them several big tunnels over. Daring Do mounted the boarding ladder at the end of the big low sided heavy ore transport cart that squatted on the iron rails. Radiating delight, she called to the others, “They fixed it all! Our truck is as good as new!”
Withers retorted, “Amazing! It was second hand when we bought it!”
That brought a good natured chuckle from Meridian!
Matriarch Moonstone called, “Morail thinks that you will want to watch this before you go to the far south entrance! Nils Downitall is hard at work in his new office in the Summer Residence!”
Daring Do joined them with a leap and glide! As she alighted, she commented, “I have no idea what you are going to do, Morail, but I suspect that when it is done, Nils might begin to feel persecuted!”
Whistling the Funeral March for Kings, from the ancient Nil Eya civilization, some hundreds of kilometers to the east, along the Forgotten River, Morail set her mirror where they could all see.
The view showed the impressive Summer Residence, with its two story high portico all around it, set with cheap copies of Nil Eya pillars supporting the roof. The whole place was surrounded by a tall stone wall, set with spikes. The front gate was guarded by two heavy armored brush cars, their seventy millimeter cannon watching menacingly down the road!
Morail, with inate showmanship, let them all get a good look. While they were staring, she whispered, “Thanks for teaching me that particular tune, Doctor Do.”
Whistling again, she tapped codes into her mirror.
At first, nothing notable appeared to be happening. Withers spotted it first! “Look at the center of the roof!” It was dropping, slowly at first, and then suddenly the whole roof dropped down, dragging the walls in after it! Pillars toppled towards the wreck, striking the remains of still infalling walls and rebounding like concrete nine pins!
As they all watched the unfolding disaster at the Summer Residence, the ground fell away under the armored cars and the front gate, blocking the only way in or out!
It appeared that Nils Downitall had escaped the destruction by diving out a window! He was limping on a foreleg. Not all that many had got out. A good many troops had been camped on the lawns and were now heroically digging into the rubble for survivors!
Morail noted with an angelic smile, “All trace of our tunneling is gone too. Those sink holes might as well be natural in origin, except that they aren't! Shall we go to the far south entrance?”
At the far south entrance, expert Diamond Dogs lowered one side of the big ore transport and set ramps. With almost no problem at all, they off loaded the truck.
With the portal opened, they pushed the truck that last bit to the outside. Matriarch Moonstone pointed to several high points. “We have guards and weapons already in place, should you need them, Doctor Do. Be careful out there. There are some Discordians who are not of Meridian's sort.”
They had to work carefully, clearing brush and sometimes rocks from the truck's path. It was early afternoon when they rounded an outcrop. Morail heard Daring Do's sudden intake of breath! As she let it out, she muttered to herself, “EARLY Nil Eya! Perhaps completely before the River civilization!”