So it's now shortly after 3am and I should really try to get some sleep as we'll be leaving to cross the black road in a couple of hours, and I'm tired enough already. If my laptop worked during the strange incursions I could have written this then but like everything else it doesn't. The plans are all laid and all I can do now it hope that I can hold the pattern together and that the plasma barrage is sufficient to deal with all the other aspects of the manifestation of the Black Road. All that's in the future now so perhaps I should deal with the events of the last 24 hours - well 24 hours as measured on my native shadow or 16 as measured in Amber.
We'd left the cabin shortly after the previous incursion finished and had reached the location of where Fiona had stashed the trucks a little over 4 and half hours later. Whilst the others unsaddled the horses and turned them loose I cautiously made my way across the clearing, not wishing to walk headlong into the concealed trucks. Finding the side of the truck I made my way along it in what I hoped was the direction of the cab. Luckily I guessed correctly, located the concealed control panel and deactivated the chameleon screen. As the screen deactivated it revealed a 60 tonne armoured articulated truck of a design I was all to familiar with.
It is strange how many shadows we visit or use, that other members of the family have used or visit. This one, and I guessed its counterpart, were from the Shadow Earth where I got my armour. Time and to a certain extent history run different there. If I remember correctly the year must currently be about 2520. I had spent some months there amongst a group of mercenaries, just travelling and righting the odd wrong. Once this mess is resolved I really must go back - I'd like to know more about tattoo magic and the Chiang-Ku. From what I information I could collect at the time it appears that they have the ability to manipulate and traverse Shadows, and it was they who taught it to the Atlanteans.
With both trucks revealed I set about loading passengers. Vialle and Mikato would ride with me. Allanon and Kohaku had already plummed for the second truck, which Hou-Jin would be driving. That just left Isocrates and Fane both of which seemed to want to ride with me. Fane would be more useful to me if we got into trouble but if I sent Isocrates to the second truck he wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone, which it were me I'd find grossly disconcerting. In the end I plumped for Fane on practical grounds and sent Isocrates to the second truck.
The return journey to my home shadow, even though we actaully returned to Fort Worth rather than San Francisco, was considerably quicker than the outward journey had been and we turned off the freeway leading to the munitions factory at just after 8am. It was raining.. not water but a gentle rain of fine volcanic ash, and where we passed in the trucks it flung a cloud into the air. I'd bearly begun to decelerate to make the turn at the bottom of the off ramp when the target tracking alarm went off and the weapon system auto engaged. I cancelled it as I didn't want some trigger happy trooper firing on the truck - small arms wouldn't be an issue, nor would most likely anything short of a tank. The problem was that as I thought this it's what the targeting system identified. I hit the brakes, then had to release them quickly as the proximity alarm went off indicating that Hou-Jin had been slightly slower on the uptake. I brought us to a stop and considered. They hadn't fire yet which was at least a good sign. I made the turn a we crept slowly toward the road block stopping at 50ft short. I waited.
After a couple of minutes three troopers detached themselves and made their way towards us. I lower the window. We were ordered to return to the freeway and move along. I had other ideas and told him that as a long term and valued customer of the facility with a large order for which I'd already paid I wasn't going to do that. I gave him the order number and suggested he go consult his superiors. He was about to insist we turned around when he did what I hoped he'd do, resulting in him going to consult his superiors. He returned a couple of minutes later, and I passed him my tablet upon which was the relevant verification paperwork. He checked it then handed it back, and told us we could proceed.
As we passed the main building I told Hou-Jin to park up as I could handle the small quantity of goods were picking up here. I drove round to the rear of the loading complex and reversed the trailer against the loading ramp. When I got out to open the rear doors, Fane joined me. He wanted to know if he could help. I said not. They'd load the crates by forklift. Three trips later and they were done. I moved inside and began strapping them down. Again he wanted to know if he could help. I said not.. I could do it quicker if I didn't have to explain to him how the cargo straps worked.
All told it took about 40 minutes to load the "rifles".. the reality was we'd loaded black powder rifles, shotguns, and shotgun shells. The next step was to get to York and get the mortars, cannon, and ammunition for the same. The problem was that meant crossing the Black Road .. in fact getting to Carnelian through shadow meant crossing the black road although technically we probably could get to York and Lucern, our last stop before Carnelian without doing so. I preferred to make the attempt sooner rather than later, principally because the mortars and cannon had a load weight of about 80 tonnes.
It's a simple thing to write "The Black Road" but in reality I knew it was anything but a simple thing to cross, and even allowing for literary license it had nearly cost my father his life, and I had no where near his power or experience. I had considered all sort of options in relation to crossing it, but in the end it would come down to could I sustain the pattern against its influence for long enough to cross it. I didn't really know but I needed as many variables in my favour as possible, which meant clearing a swathe through it. I was hoping the plan I'd formulated would work, but that first meant getting to a somewhere in shadow where I could requisition the artillery I would need.
My preoccupation with this issue meant I hadn't really been paying much attention to how long we'd actually been on the road for. It all came to a head as we were crossing some high altitude desert reminiscent of Peru, when Hou-Jin called for a break due to the bleating of his passengers, although he did then admit he could really do with one himself. I agreed to stop for half an hour, and then was forced to agree to a proper "food stop" in a couple of hours time. I pushed it to 3 and a half before locating a truck stop deep in the forest we were now travelling through.
I have to admit it was an interesting place, the garish advertising hoarding, offset against the three visible planetary sized moons in the pale pink sky, somehow fitted perfectly with the outlandish architecture. The fact that the proprietor wasn't the least bit human didn't surprise me in the least. I hadn't bothered with such details, just that the air was breathable and that the food was edible and wouldn't poison us. I worked out what was edible on the menu and explained what was on offer to the assembly. What I'd forgotten in my haste was the stash of local currency to pay for the meal. I explained to the proprietor that I'd left my wallet, well the local equivalent there of, in the truck, and I'd be back in a couple of minutes to settle the bill. In reality it took me about 10 minutes to locate the discarded bundle of local currency sufficient to settle the bill.
All in all I suppose we stopped for about an hour and a half, before I felt the need to press onwards. I wasn't sure we'd make the artillery base I was heading for before the next incursion. As it turned out we made it with about 45 minutes to spare, although by the time everyone had been assigned rooms, and things organised, there was about 13 minutes to go. I headed in the direction of the briefing room to set in motion the plans for us to cross the road in a little over 3 hours.
| Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supporting Cast - Cordelia | The Keep of the Thirteenth Hour |