Times Like These Read online

  "Sure it was! You want to see my family empire increase! This whole 'deal with the president' thing was just a clever disguise! I can see that now!" Steve said, chuckling. "Besides, I now have a bunch of people who are just sitting on their butts all day. Time to give them something useful to do."

  "Does that mean the ALS has been dealt with?"

  "Oh, we're still dealing with them, but they've been cut back a lot. That guy who got arrested is coming up for trial soon, and he's been singing like a bird, to use an old phrase. Apparently he hasn't been doing well in the general population and had to be put into some sort of 'protective' holding."

  "Your doing?" Sean asked, genuinely curious.

  "Hell, no. I need that guy to be prosecuted for the PR value. But at least he's fingered several high-value targets, and the FBI’s been taking them down, one by one. We're getting a lot of news value out of it here on the east coast."

  "Well, if you can get a lead on their west coast leaders, let me know."

  "What for?"

  "They tried to bomb us, and I don't have time to deal with that kind of shit anymore. Tell me where they are, and I'll task somebody to go deal with them."

  "That might cause some problems for us, Sean."

  "Right now I'm more worried about someone blindsiding us while we're dealing with the djevels that will probably be attacking Reno a week or two from now."

  Steve thought about that a moment. "You know what? I'll drop a few hints with the SS folks that they need to lean on the FBI to clean up the western operations of those jokers before they end up demon food."

  "You might also tell them they need to start pulling their own people out of the high-risk areas. That, or assign them to me."

  "I'll be sure to pass that on."

  "Well, I got things to do, and I'm sure you do too. Give my love to Terri and Tisha."

  "Right-o. Give my regards to Roxy and the rest."

  "Bye."

  Sean hung up and went back to the mess, where Daelyn was just finishing up.

  "I need to go see your uncle and your friend Geris about all those weapons we ordered."

  Daelyn nodded. "Give me time to clean up and I'll meet you out by the car in twenty. Cali!" Daelyn called.

  "What, Dae?"

  "We're going to my folks! Twenty minutes!"

  "Got it!"

  "You sure it's safe to bring her?" Sean asked, a little worried.

  Daelyn growled. "The Carson City halls are my hometown. I've made it clear to everyone there that, as Cali is one of my sister wives, she damn well better be welcome there, or I’ll be putting Maxwell up their ass!"

  Sean nodded. "Sounds good then. I'll help the others get the kids settled, and I'll see you at the car in twenty."

  Sean followed Daelyn and Cali through Geris' factory and into the office, where Geris and Samis were waiting for them today. Roxy had decided at the last minute to come along as well.

  "Great to see you, Uncle," Daelyn said, giving Samis a hug, then she gave Geris one. "You too, Geris."

  Roxy then did the same with Samis, but only shook hands with Geris, followed by Cali.

  Sean was surprised that Samis didn't hesitate to give Cali a hug, and Geris was more than happy to shake hands with her. Sean followed up, shaking hands with both of them. As he was in his hybrid form, Geris looked at him a little surprised, but Samis had seen him like this several times now and didn't comment.

  "Nice to see all of you," Geris said with a smile. "Now, let me show you what I've got."

  Walking over to a large table with several firearms on it, Geris waved them over.

  "First off," he said, picking up the first one and handing it to Sean, "repeating rifles. We went out and bought a bunch of forty-five seventy's, and then took some time to work on the action so it wouldn't gum up easily from the black-powder residue."

  Sean looked at it and worked the action.

  "Feels a little loose."

  Geris nodded. "That's intentional. Black powder is pretty dirty, and repeating rifles need a lot of lube to keep them running well. For cleaning, you can pretty much just dunk them in water and not worry about it. By the time these start to rust, I suspect you'll be long gone from your destination."

  Sean nodded and passed it on to Roxy, who immediately started looking it over quite carefully.

  "Is there water over there, Sean?" Roxy mumbled.

  "Actually, I have no idea," Sean admitted.

  "Then we're going to need some stiff brushes with each of the rifles to keep the gunk from caking up too thick," she said, looking up at Geris, who just nodded.

  Roxy then passed it on to Cali, who also gave it a thorough inspection, but she didn't add any comments.

  "How may of them do you have?" Sean asked.

  "Fifty of them. I can get you more if you wait longer, but with the current priority being supplying the people fighting here, I only have two people I can assign to work on this."

  "Okay, what else do you have?"

  Geris picked up a double-barreled shotgun and handed it to Sean. Sean looked it over. It was a lot shorter than a normal one; obviously the barrel had been shortened a fair deal.

  "We thought about pump actions, but with black powder, we got worried about jamming issues. Double-barreled shotguns are pretty simple, easy to shoot, easy to load, easy to clean. We shortened them a bit to give a better spread pattern, as well."

  Sean nodded and handed it to Roxy.

  "How many of those do you have?"

  Geris laughed. "How many do you want? They're so cheap we bought a couple thousand, and we've been handing them out to anybody and everybody who wants one. With iron pellet buckshot, these are hell on the demons. The only difference between you and the others is you'll be shooting black powder. We didn't have to change a thing on the shotguns."

  "Sounds good. Now, sidearms?"

  "We got a bunch of forty-four special pistols. They're not all the same; we really just went around and found what we could."

  "Why forty-four?"

  "Because it works well with black powder, and we didn't want the ammo getting confused with the forty-fives we've been giving the troops here. Plus revolvers were made with black powder in mind, and the rimmed cartridges of the forty-four special are easier to load."

  Sean nodded and took the two pistols Geris handed him. He passed one on to Roxy immediately, and looked the other over for a moment, before passing it on to her as well. They weren't matched; one had a three-inch barrel, the other a five.

  "Mostly we've got Rugers and Smith and Wessons," Geris continued. "But there are some Charter Arms and Colts in there as well. I daresay we'll have more trouble making holsters for whatever you pick than we’ll have with getting pistols."

  "Cowboy holsters," Roxy spoke up. "The type with webbing for bullets so we can reload quickly. For the shotguns and the rifles, we'll be slinging them on our backs, so we'll want bandoliers on the straps, and then just extra bandoliers that we can sling with ammo as well."

  Sean blinked and looked over at Roxy, but didn't say anything.

  "We'll get right on it," Geris said with a nod. "Shouldn't take more than a few days."

  "What about ammo?" Sean said, looking at Samis.

  "Other than having to be extra careful with the black powder, ammo isn't a problem, Sean," Samis said, motioning towards several large crates stacked by the wall. "We just finished a run of forty-five seventy, twenty thousand rounds, and another ten thousand of shotgun shells. We're going to run out another twelve thousand of the shotgun shells, and we should have twenty thousand pistol rounds done within the next three days."

  Samis looked back at Sean. "Which leads to the question: How many people are going?"

  Sean took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm not quite sure yet. We're thinking three teams going in, but we're not sure how many people we want on the other two. It's going to be about twenty with me, I think."

  "So we should figure thirty on each team, or ninety total?"
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  Sean looked at Roxy and Cali, who both gave small nods. He agreed and said so, "Yeah, I think that'll work."

  "Okay, I'll see if we can get any more of the rifles. It's the only long-range weapon you're going to have."

  Roxy spoke up again, "See if you can find some rolling block rifles, or some breechblock rifles. There were a lot made in forty-five seventy. Ruger still makes them in breechblock. They were made to deal with black powder."

  "Aren't those single shot?"

  "That won't be an issue," Roxy assured him.

  "Okay, I'll see what we can gather up," Geris said. "If we don't have to modify them to work with black powder, we should be able to get them quickly."

  "Sounds good. Deliver what you've got now out to the airport. That'll give people time to get used to the weapons."

  "When are you planning on going?" Samis asked.

  Sean shook his head. "No idea. There's just too many variables right now. But I'd like to be ready by Monday, the twelfth."

  "That only gives us four days," Geris warned.

  Sean nodded. "I know, I know. But I want to be ready by then in case the opportunity presents itself."

  "Okay, I'll ship everything we’ve got over this afternoon."

  "Great, thanks."

  "I still think you're crazy for wanting to go back there, Sean," Samis said.

  Sean shrugged. "They had weapons that could kill the djevels so they wouldn't come back. We need that. Besides, they don't think we can touch them. With the other two groups running around and attacking them, it'll definitely be a wake up and might just take the pressure off here for a while."

  "Especially if we can kill some of their leaders," Roxy added.

  "Well, good luck, and don't do anything stupid," Samis told Sean. "None of us want to lose you, Sean. You're family now."

  Sean smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

  Shaking hands again, they left and headed back to the car. Once they were out of the factory, Sean stopped and turned to look at Roxy.

  "We? What's this 'we' shit?" he said, almost growling.

  Roxy smiled sweetly at him and then kicked him in the balls! Sean's eyes went wide and Roxy grabbed his mane and pulled his head down until it was level with hers.

  "I'm going. Cali's going. Peg is going. Estrella's going. And you better get used to that idea, or you’re most certainly not going."

  Sean blinked as her words blindsided him. This wasn't anything he’d been expecting.

  Daelyn spoke up, "We had this conversation yesterday while you were busy, Lion-boy. Who could go, and who couldn't. Roxy and Peg are lycans; we know they won't be affected. Cali's a dark elf; we know they're not affected either.

  "I'm staying home to run things and keep whatever lion you leave behind on the straight and narrow, with Jolene and Roberta to help me keep an eye on our children."

  "What if I say no?" Sean asked. He didn't growl it out, but he still wasn't sure he liked it.

  Daelyn pulled out a pair of battery-powered shears. "Then we’re going to shave you bald, kitty cat."

  And damned if Cali and Roxy didn't each pull out a set as well.

  Sighing and shaking his head, Sean gave Roxy a kiss. Then after she let go, Cali and Daelyn as well.

  "I guess I'm outvoted."

  "And still furry!" Cali teased. "Which pleases me greatly, I don't know if I'd like to see my husband bald."

  "Yeah, sounds cold," Sean agreed as they got into the 'Cuda.

  "And Peg was alright with this?" he asked after a minute's thought.

  "At first she wasn't sure she wanted to go," Roxy told him, "but she changed her mind last night."

  "Oh? Why?"

  "Because she didn't think one magic user would be enough."

  "What about Stewart?"

  "We think he should go with one of the other groups, Husband," Cali said.

  "It's too bad we don't have more magic users we could send," Roxy said with a sigh of her own. "But lycan magic users aren't very common, and no one’s been willing to take Peg up on her offer to convert them."

  "Well, it's only worked twice that we know of," Sean said.

  "Actually, there's a third time, Husband," Cali said with a wink. "But we promised not to tell you about it."

  Sean just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I really don't want to know."

  Grand Designs

  Steve walked into the small room and immediately collapsed back against the wall, panting.

  "What's wrong?" Tisha asked, coming into the room next and going over to him.

  "When I thought this would be a good idea, I had no idea just how badly some of these people were injured!" Steve took a moment to catch his breath. "And then there's what you and the others had to do to make them right, to heal them, when you were infecting them!

  "All that blood! The limbs! It's worse than the shootout on the highway!"

  Tisha gave him a hug. "I had no idea it was bothering you, Steve."

  Steve sighed and hugged her back. "It wasn't. At first. But after the sixth one? How do you manage? Hell, how do Granite and the others manage?"

  "Because we've seen it all before."

  "You I can believe," Steve said. "You're a lioness, you've been around, you've seen and experienced more than I probably ever will. You've been to war and fought with swords, while I've grown up in a much safer world. But Granite, the other wolves, they grew up in the same world, but they don't even flinch."

  "Now you know what Sean was saving us from," Granite said, having followed Tisha into the room. "Because the lives we lived before he came and saved us really were worse than this."

  "How does Sean even manage?"

  "Because he's a lion?" Granite said with a shrug. "Honestly, the fact that you held it together until we were done impressed everyone out there. They could tell you weren't comfortable; hell, we could smell it," Granite said with a disarming laugh. "But you still stuck it out with the rest of us."

  "I'm your leader; I'm the guy in charge. I owe it to you," Steve said with a repressed shudder. "It wouldn't be right for me to dump all of that on you."

  "Next time, you will," Tisha told him. "They're all impressed that you did your part, but there's no reason to be here for this anymore."

  "It's not their opinion I'm worried about," Steve said with a sigh.

  "Oh? Is it mine, then?"

  Steve snorted and looked into Tisha's eyes with a grin. "No, it's mine. My opinion. I don't like asking people to do things and run off when they get nasty. You're my team, my people. If I don't weather the storms with you, how can I really say I know who you are? People are forged by a common experience, and you're my people. That makes you my responsibility; you’re all my hopes, my dreams, my successes, and yes, even my failures. I have to own this, all of it."

  Tisha smiled then and, leaning forward, she tilted her head up and kissed him.

  "And my mother wonders why I turned down all those other males for you! You're more of a lion than my last ever was!"

  "Please, don't tell me I now have to battle your six evil exes!" Steve joked.

  "Nope. But if you did, I'm sure you'd win."

  Steve turned and looked over at Granite. "Do we have enough space for all our new friends, or do I need to rent a hotel?"

  "We're going to shuffle them between Card's group over at Sapientia and Race's people over at Eruditio. It's well away from any outside influences, and there's a lot of nice open space in the area for them to run while they learn about their new bodies."

  Steve nodded. "I guess once they're over the shock, we can send them home or back to the military, or wherever it is they have to go. I'll talk to the doctors."

  "I'll get them organized," Granite said with a nod and left.

  "Come, let's get this over with," Steve said and led Tisha out of the room.

  "Ah! Steven! I was just looking for you!" said Doctor Carella, the director of the hospital, coming up to them in the hallway.

  "Well
, it's a good thing you found me then," Steve said with an easy smile, putting the day's experiences behind him, for now. "I wanted to let you know we’re going to be taking all those we infected today with us, so we can spend a few days teaching them about their new abilities before sending them back."

  Doctor Carella nodded. "That does make sense. People often forget that physical therapy is important after you recover from a serious injury. But that's not the reason I was looking for you."

  "Oh?" Steve asked, curious.

  "Well, you see, we have a lot of outpatients in the DC area. And then of course, there are the other veteran's hospitals, and, well, a few of the generals from the Pentagon called after they heard about the successes you were having here, and we were all wondering..." the doctor asked, giving Steve a hopeful look.

  "Of course we will!" Steve said with a cheerful smile that was only partially faked. "I'll even talk to my boss about setting up teams to go around to the different hospitals. Just make sure everyone understands that not everyone can be made whole again, for all that we’ll do what we can."

  Doctor Carella smiled broadly then and stuck out his hand, which Steve shook.

  "Oh, trust me, I know there are no guarantees in medicine, but still, this is as close to one as we've ever hoped for, and while it may sound cold, for every soldier you heal, there are more resources for those you can't help. Some of those VA hospitals find themselves stretched pretty thin at times. Cutting down on their patient load will definitely help them cope."

  "Glad to hear it, Doctor, glad to hear it." Steve got out his card and passed it over. "Please have your people call my office so we can set up a schedule to get everyone taken care of."

  Doctor Carella smiled again. "Thanks again. I have to say while all these changes we're going through are a little worrisome at times, it's nice to see there's an upside to all of it. We've got thousands of disabled veterans around the greater DC area alone."

  "Thousands, you say?" Tisha asked.

  "Oh, yes, the number of disabled vets is a lot higher than many people realize, because most of them don't talk about it."

  "Interesting," she said with a smile. "Now if you'll forgive us?"

  "Oh, of course! Have a good day!"