//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 
// Story: Traveler 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	I stood at the wheel, frantically trying to compensate for the out-of-balance sails.  A casual observer might have thought that they had gotten that way on purpose.
It’s actually not that easy to fake a shipwreck.  I was rather glad that an experienced sailor like Penny was along to help, although we had to keep her out of sight to be convincing in our acting as an incompetent, human crew.
Celestia might be a little miffed at ruining the boat she had given to us, but surely a modest sailboat couldn’t be that important to a nation with gold-based currency like Equestria.  I steered Traveler towards the rocks.
Briefly taking a look through the binoculars, I spotted a couple of griffons along the rim of the cliff.  It was too far away to tell if they were armed, but close enough that they definitely noticed us.  I picked up a portable air horn and pressed the button, trying to convey that we had an emergency.
I honked it a couple of times and went back to fighting with the wheel.  With the boat nearly out of control, I might actually have a difficult time wrecking it exactly where we had planned.  On top of that, everything else had to go perfectly or we would have no fire support and no evacuation.
While I trusted the help we had coming, nobody was infallible.  This was still a stupid plan.  Lucky for us, our opponents didn’t know that.
I quickly reviewed what I knew about the target.  There was no way to tell what kind of force we were facing, but hopefully we could play the innocent shipwreck victims until we got a better handle on the situation.
Penny’s father was dead and Celestia hadn’t mentioned any hostages.  Theoretically that meant that anyone we found up there was hostile, which simplified things.
I felt a small shot of guilt at resolving not to tell her until this was finished.  Either way, it would be over soon.
One of the guarding griffons came down from the cliff and landed on the boat.  “What do you think you’re doing?”
He carried an AK-47, which for some reason was more humorous than it should have been.  I maintained my acting role in this and shouted, “We’re heading for shore and can’t get this thing heeled around in the wind!”
The griffon glanced up, looking as if he didn’t know much about sailing.  He glared at me.  “Try harder.”
“I’m doing everything I can, but I don’t think—”
“Watch out!” shouted Nika, letting the boom swing around, out of control.  It was not a planned maneuver and would make the sail react strangely, but she had seen an opportunity and taken it.  The boom smacked the griffon in the back of the head and he fell to the deck.
Nika knelt, playing the role of concerned caretaker.  The griffon had been knocked out cold.  A couple of his friends saw what happened and came to help.  Nika stepped back, faux horror on her face.  “I’m so sorry!”
And then we hit the rocks.  The boat came to a jarring halt, the hull beneath the waterline splintering apart.
“We have to get off!” I shouted.  Penny was below decks, and we needed to get out of the area and distract the griffons so she could escape.
There was a jagged fissure in the cliff that ran in a steep diagonal, probably the results of thousands of years of wave pounding.  It was not a path, but I thought I could probably get up it with some effort, even if I wasn’t used to this body.
I abandoned ship, jumping to the rocks.  Carefully keeping my shirt down to conceal my handgun, I put out a hand to help Nika.  The rest followed after us.  Earlier, Andy had wiped any relevant information off his electronics, and we had disposed of our sensitive paperwork.  If this didn’t play out like we hoped, maybe acting innocent would work.
The griffons had flown away with their injured comrade.  While the Russians had sold a lot of weapons to the Griffon Kingdom, like the Flanker jets, I didn’t think these guys were military despite their weapons.
I checked my watch.  We were on schedule.  I kept climbing.  There was still one griffon waiting for us at the top of the cliff as we struggled up to the top.  He was suspicious, but wasn’t actually pointing his weapon in our direction.  That was a mistake.  All seven of us drew pistols.  He surrendered.
“We’re looking for a glass ball,” I said.  “Know something about that?”
The griffon nodded.  I said, “Good.  Take us to it.  Walk in front so if you lead us into a trap you die first.”
There were two buildings.  One had more windows and had the appearance of a place to sleep and eat.  The other was more utility-based.  We headed for the second, skirting around a main area that had more guards standing around.  I saw a few ponies mixed in.
Entering the building, we found a couple of unicorns working on the device.  They were arguably more dangerous than the griffons, and I kept a tight grip on my weapon to keep it from being magically taken from me.
“What is all this?” asked one.
“I could ask you the same thing,” I said.  “But to answer your question to me, it’s a hostile takeover.”
“Once the rest realize that you’re here, you won’t be leaving,” growled the griffon.
Andy knelt and slipped the globe into a backpack he had brought along.  With one less gun ready, one of the ponies bolted for the door.  Shooting at him would alert the rest more quickly than if I simply let him go tell them.  Also, I’m kind of against shooting anyone in the back if they aren’t actively hostile to me.
Penny darted in after the escapee had left.  “Dad?!”
A saw a flash of comprehension on one of the pony’s faces as he realized who she must be.  I cracked him on the head before he could say anything.
“He isn’t here,” I said to Penny.
“We have to look for him!”
Going over to the other building to search for a pony who was already dead was just plain stupid.  Our extract was coming, and we couldn’t miss it.
With the pony I had let escape, our plan had gone off the rails.  I prayed that we wouldn’t need those extra few seconds.  When Andy got his bag zipped up the group of us retreated out of the building.
Staying inside probably would have been a better idea.  If nothing else, we would have had cover.  Coming our way were several griffons and ponies with weapons.
From behind us, there was a flash of light and the distinctive sound of a dimensional doorway opening.  A voice shouted, “Get down!”
I hit the dirt and a large amount of automatic gunfire sizzled over my head.  The group of armed assailants in front of me broke up, either killed or wounded.  Sporadic fire continued to keep the rest of them at bay.
I looked back at who had appeared through the portal.  It was the Canadians.
Major Hiller nodded to me, keeping his rifle up and ready.  “Come on.”
“We can’t leave my father!” argued Penny.  The military man looked a little surprised at her outburst.
This was exactly the situation I didn’t want to be in.  I had hoped to leave breaking the bad news until later, hopefully making it Celestia’s responsibility if I could.  I cleared my throat.  “He isn’t here, Penny.”
“What?  Then where is he?”
“He’s dead.  This was never planned to be a rescue mission.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” demanded Hiller, shoving us through the doorway.  It closed a second later.
We had appeared in a doorway research facility owned by the Canadian government.  The experimental equipment was being used to possibly open doorways on command to anywhere that could be plotted.  It was revolutionary stuff, as current technology only allowed doorways to be tied to one place.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Penny, looking shell-shocked.
“Now that we’re here, do you mind explaining what kind of secret weapon you recovered from that place?” asked Hiller, speaking over her.
A doorway technician approached.  “Sir, there’s a phone call.  It’s Princess Celestia.”
Oh, horseapples.