Chapter 2: Evansville, Indiana
The dogs on the door swung to the right before the door did, the handle moving in the same way. When the door opened, a diamond dog awaited on the other side, dressed in cut-down dungarees, a blue shirt, and a hat pinned to his rather curly hair that proclaimed ‘LST-325’ in gold lettering across the front. “Well, well… visitors! If you’re looking for the tour, you’re in time, I sure got lots of it. Just who are you anyhow? For that matter, WHAT are you, especially you, big gray fellow!” the dog said, as bombastically at ease as Doctor Lucien is much of the time.
The two from the Voyager exchanged a quick glance. “I’m Chief Officer Carroll Milsap of the Mississippi Voyager, and this is Ivan Pestov, Ambassador plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Louisianne,” Carroll said as politely as she could. “And you are, sir?”
“I’m Jackson Reynaud. My grandfather sailed on this ship back during the war, and once it came to Evansville, I jumped right aboard keeping it shipshape, just like he told me about it. Now, I’m captain, chief cook and bottle washer aboard ever since Yuri took his aide and as many who wanted to run with him out of town. Only other one here is the Engineer, Elaine Meyer. She’s down checking the auxiliary generators. Come on in and I’ll make you some coffee, okay? Been a while since anyone came knockin!” Jackson said, words eagerly falling from his muzzle as he led the rather perplexed pair towards the living area of the ship, namely the galley.
Lights were on inside the ship, but not all, every other light being out. Most doors were shut in the passageway. “Pardon the gloom, partners, but since everyone left except Elaine and me, we don’t keep everything open. We done got enough provisions to last us pretty much through winter. You the river sailors that got the dragons in a bother?” Jackson asked.
“Da, Captain, that be us. You listen to radio from WSU?” Ivan asked in his somewhat stilted English.
“If we ain’t tinkering with the ship, not much else TO do, is there?” Jackson said with a bit of a laugh as he prepared a coffee pot. “Nice to know there are others out there to chat about, it just that none of us know how to access those frequencies to call out. Far as I know, we ain’t got the radio to DO it with.”
“That, we can help with, Captain Reynaud. Part of our mission is to find other ponies or what else are around the rivers and offer assistance and tools if desired. You here are welcome to ask for anything we can provide. If I may ask, just what is the condition of the LST?” Carroll asked as the aroma of fresh coffee made its presence known.
Jackson was bustling around the galley, getting Navy glass cups and wood stir sticks out of a cabinet, plus almost-fresh bread and peanut butter. “Ah’m sure we COULD set sail in the next day or so, but to be honest, ah would want a full detailed inspection first. We’re just about full up on fuel, water, stores and parts, but our last inspection was two days before everyone took a powder, and that was back in early July. Better safe than sorry with a seventy-year-old ship, yes?”
“Can’t say no to that, Captain. Your partner, what is she? A unicorn, Abyssinian, or what?” Carroll asked. “Ivan’s a gargoyle and I’m a griffin.”
“Elaine’s a part-time parrot, a full-time yenta, and an all-around technical wizardess. She and her husband ran a repair shop here started by their grandparents back before the War. Sheer determination and customer happiness kept the place going. Too bad Reuben died of a heart attack the month before all this hoop-de-doo happened. She had yet to reopen, and everything was still locked up and intact when we started Returning. I was one of the first, she came around a week later,” Jackson told the pair as he got coffee poured and served, and bread sliced. “We done finished the coffee cake this morning,” he said apologetically.
“Not to worry, Captain Reynaud. May I call my ship and ask them to bring some goodies over, so we can have a good chat?” Carroll asked, holding up her radio.
The diamond dog grinned happily. “Why, sure! It would be an honor to host some talks! And, when not being officious, call me Jake. Been called that since I was a kid.” he told the two.
“Okay, then! I’m Carroll, and this is Ivan. Now, let me call my captain,” Carroll said genially as she walked to a porthole and opened it. “Chief to captain. How about bringing some goodies over for a talking with?”
“Sure! Give me twenty minutes to organize matters, and ask permission for us to tie up alongside. We may have to go in and out via the tank deck, if we can’t get the gangways up that high,” Captain Crane replied.
“Tell him that’s just fine, and I’ll have the lower deck door opened for them!” Jake called across the mess decks.
“Tell him I heard, and we’ll move to the bay doors. Head up to handle lines, okay?” Howard said.
“Will do, Captain. Chief out.” Carroll said before backing away from the porthole, closing it and rehooking the radio to her harness.
As Carroll was doing that, Jake went to an intercom set placed in the bulkhead, flipped a switch and spoke. “Elaine, head to the boat deck and open the bay doors! We done got company!”
After a moment, a reply came. “Is it those Voyager folk we hear about on the radio?” she asked, her Hebrew accent prominent.
“Sure are! I got two here on the mess decks and the boat’s outside. They want to come over and visit!” Jake said cheerfully.
“Be good to see new faces. We’ve hardly seen anyone since the dragon took off with most of the colony! Let me pack up and head to the doors!” Elaine squawked merrily.
“Meet you there!”
All told, it took about an hour to get the Voyager securely moored to the 325, and after introductions, the 325 crew were talked into having the first meeting on the Voyager, which was agreed to when Jason altered the ventilation lineup to blow the scents of the kitchen out the door.
After a fine lunch and several hours of chatting, Captain Crane summed up what they had learned. “So, Yuri and Getafix took two thirds of the colony and hared off somewhere, which you never did find out. The rest of the colony scattered out into the country, coming to you for technical assistance and providing food in trade. Is that about right?”
Jake and Elaine looked at each other before nodding. “That’s the story in a nutshell, Howard,” Elaine squawked. “Getafix teleported the ponies and others, while Yuri flew off.”
“Which way did the dragon go, Miz Elaine?” Lucien asked.
Jake answered that question. “Northeast, mostly. Maybe a little more east than north,” he said, after scratching under his hat some.
“Not towards Louisville, then. More towards Cincinnati,” Harry said from where he sat. He had been studying the river charts intensely since they turned up the Ohio.
“You can say that, yes,” Jake agreed.
“What about Louisville? Did that dragon flee like this one?” Frack asked.
Jake and Elaine both shrugged. “That, we don’t know. Nobody’s come down and told us. That’s not far upriver, so think you can let us know what you find there?” Jake asked.
“That we can, via the WSU. We can search the city for some satphones for you and teach you how to use them,” Howard told their ‘hosts’. “Now, what about the remaining villagers?”
“I fly out to the farms two to three times a week,” the Ornithian said. “More to see if they need anything and to make sure we get our food shipments.”
“How about we spend a few days here, and see if we have anything they can use before we head upriver?” Howard asked. “Can you guide us to them?”
Elaine laughed at the questions. “You bet! I know mostly what is needed, but leading your fliers to them for a chat will go over well!”
“Then, you get with Harry to find out if what we have will fit their needs, and tomorrow, we’ll fly out to visit and scout the roads to see if they are still passable before loading the truck and heading out. Acceptable?” Howard asked the group.
Jake stood and held out a paw to Howard. “Sounds like a plan, Captain! Let’s get started!” Captain Crane ‘shook hands’ with Captain Reynaud, and the lunch party broke up to get started on picking out what may be needed for the ‘grocery runs’. All but Howard, who retired to his office to do ‘paperwork’, but actually went into a conference with Colonel Forrest in New Orleans, via crystal.
“So, they-all don’t know wheah the dragons done went to?” the Colonel drawled after Howard’s detailed report on the proceedings.
“So far, that’s it, Nate. We’re hoping some of the others who stayed behind have a better idea.”
“Okay, then. Your orders are to help out Evansville for a few days, find out what they need and give it to them. Designate Captain Reynaud as our contact point, make sure he has a radio that can reach us, and give him one of the smaller blue crystals. Either mahself or Her Majesty will train him. Do the same in Louisville and Cincinnati, and go all the way to Pittsburgh before turning back around.”
“Voyager copies orders, Colonel. Now let me get back to work.”
“Get to it, Howard. N’Awlins base out.”
For the next three days, the crew of the Voyager did just that, meeting with the six remaining members of Evansville, who lived on two new-start farms about a mile north of the LST, on Pigeon Creek. Each group of three consisted of an earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus. One group had fields of various grains and vegetables, while the other was mostly fruit trees with some patches of grain. They both willingly accepted some tools and training to improve their lives.
The day before leaving, Captain Crane and Doctor Macombe were in downtown Evansville, intending to raid the police station for some powerful portable radios for the locals to keep in touch with each other. As they passed the jail, Lucien stopped in his tracks. “Trouble, Howie,” he muttered, a glow forming around his horn.
“What’s wrong, Lucien?” Howard asked quietly, the doctor’s attention clearly elsewhere.
“Somebody’s hurtin’, an’ it’s not far away. Lemme get a fix on him or her…” Lucien said quietly as he looked around, his red glow expanding like a cloud before it narrowed into a ray pointing down the street at a building. “That way.”
“Let’s go looking,” Howard said firmly as he followed the red glow, which got more vivid as they walked. The ray led to one building in particular.
“Sheriff’s Residence and Jail,” Howard said, reading the sign.
“Well, let’s bust our way in. What ah feel reminds me of Jenny McLaine from Leavenworth,” Lucien answered as the ray got more intense. “Yep, she’s in a bad way. Starvation, dehydration. It’s jailbreak tahm!”
“Let’s do this,” Howard said as he went to the door, not expecting to find it open. Having been proved correct, he gestured for Lucien to perform the honors. The red ray changed to a cloud again, surrounding the door lock and releasing it. The door swung open, and the pair resumed their search. Three doors later, they entered the jail proper.
It didn’t take long for them to find the source of the problem. They found a pegasus dangling from an upper bunk, her wing tangled in a support strut. Lucien, with Howard’s help, quickly got the stricken pegasus down. “Broken upper right wing, several strained ligaments, some vascular damage from hanging head down foah however long, dehydration and starvation. Call Aaron and have him bring the truck and Doctor van Alten here. This young lady needs tahm in mah sickbay,” he said in tones that meant he is not to be denied.
Howard did not take offense at the tones used. He knew that Lucien knew his business. “How about I fly back and bring them? I’ll call ahead.” he asked.
“Better than my plan. Go do it,” Lucien said distractedly as he carefully brought the mare to the floor.
“See you soon.”
Brenda Jourdain woke up in a strange room, definitely not the county jail. It took her a few minutes to notice her ‘altered form’, but in her drowsy state, she took it calmly. She laid in bed on her left side, idly looking at her wing in a cast, her hooves, her fur, her feathers, her mane, wondering what brought this on. Her fur is a sky-blue color, her mane ashy blonde like her hair was, her hooves glossy black, her wing feathers scarlet and pink mixed.
Her dreamy contemplation was interrupted by a pink and yellow unicorn and a blue-black bat-winged pony. “Helloo, Brenda! I am Doctor Jessica van Alten of Amsterdam, and this is Bernie Larsen, last of Saint Petersburg, Florida. How are you feeling now?”
Brenda took a few seconds to answer. “Drowsy, but waking. What happened to me and you?” she managed to say.
“We’ll tell you the full story, as we know it. Be glad of the potion fog, it will take the place of the booze you’ll be craving afterwards,” Bernie told the pegasus before starting the tale of the Event. Even with Jessica’s help answering the questions Brenda posed, it took a good two hours to finish the tale up to ‘now’.
“What will be my place in this new world?” Brenda asked.
Jessica countered with “What did you Before?”
“I was a courier. I delivered small cargoes of valuable substances around the country. Paid well, but I got a little careless here in Evansville and wound up in jail. Hopefully that won’t be a problem now.”
“No, not any more. Once your wing heals, we can see just how good a flier you are. Who knows, you may be able to get a job with Louisianne as a secure courier,” Jessica said with a smile. “With phones and radios, you have to worry about being overheard.”
“Couriers get around that. It’s what kept me in business for the past few years. How long am I stuck in bed?” Brenda asked.
We should be removing the cast in two days, then doing exercises to get wing strength back before we submit you to the tender mercies of our flight instructor,” Jessica said with a giggle.
“My husband Frack, who channels the spirit of R. Lee Ermey to get newbies off the ground. Don’t laugh, it works…” Bernie added in sarcastic tones, which set all three mares to laughing.
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I always enjoy seeing my state make an appearance in any work of fiction.
Huh, interesting start. Some mystery to unravel and dragons to track : )
11692273
Out of curiosity, do you know why Merchant Mariner interrupted his story?
11692273
What is the situation with the Abrahamic god in this story?
I mean which image of the Abrahamic god is the real one in this story
11770137
As of now, the Abrahamic god is hurrying to catch up with the other deities. His influences are geographically in the Holy Lands for now, with few true, sincere worshipers. Other deities moved first. He got caught with his divine britches down.
11770361
I'm more interested in which Abrahamic religion (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) is right.
I have an idea that the reason Yahweh is considered the supreme deity is due to the blatant self-promotion contained in his best-selling book. Each different pantheon has its own supreme god, and in a world where multiple pantheons coexist, I see no reason why one should be more or less powerful than the other. The basic difference is that Abrahamism is mostly monotheistic, but even then we have a Christianized Holy Trinity and Angels who are equal to any other normal god in any other religion, for example you have the Angel of Death, the Angel of War, the Angel of Medicine, for everything you have god.
I have an idea that the gods worked more or less like in the series of books (Percy Jackson) where we were shown that the Olympians had a split personality into Greek and Roman personalities.
I imagine that with all the beliefs and theological differences from the Abrahamic religions that have gathered over the millennia, Yahweh would be very powerful, but largely incapacitated and unable to act directly much of the time.
the Abrahamic god himself would have had his origins as the Canaanite deity El. for all we know, the God of Abraham is an evolved Canaanite god because the original Israelites were Canaanites who settled in the highlands, and their culture, language, and religion gradually evolved from Canaanite culture, language, and polytheism, creating a unique identity.
They originally worshiped gods from the Canaanite pantheon called Elohim (meaning "children of El"), including the sky god El (Heavenly Father), his wife Asherah, and some of their children, such as the storm and rain god Baal. The Israelites added their own war god Yahweh to the pantheon as one of the sons of El. They later combined El and some of his sons such as Yahweh, Baal, and Jamm to become the god called God/Elohim/Yahweh. At this stage their religion had become monolatristic, not yet monotheistic
Later, during and after the Israelites' fifty years of captivity in Babylon 2,500 years ago, they borrowed the concepts of messianism, good and evil, heaven and hell from Zoroastrianism, an older monotheistic religion than Judaism, and Judaism eventually became monotheistic