[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce wakes up in the morning to find Jiahui looking at her.  The missionary smiles and whispers, “Do you love him very much, this Al?”

Alyce does not even have to think about the answer to that question.  She smiles back at Jiahui and nods.  “I do.  I love him more than I would ever have thought possible.”  She sighs.  “I know that he loves me too, but maybe not enough to let me live with him for the rest of his life.  I am not a normal woman and I think I might have scared him away from making a commitment.”

Jiahui looks puzzled.  “But if you love him so much, why are you making love to me?  Should you not be only with him?  Does that not weaken your love?”

Alyce grins broadly.  “No, Jiahui, it only makes it stronger for me.  And I had hoped that it would make it stronger for him as well.  I am a sharer.  That means that I am willing to share my body with others, with many others in my case, and still be in love.  Having sex with you or anyone else is fun, exciting, and extremely fulfilling, but it does not weaken my love for him.  I do not compare lovers against him and would return to him every time.  If he wants me.  Sharing is such a part of me that I can understand it and not be quite able to explain it well.  I am afraid that he will run for the hills he was born in when he finds out.  But I cannot keep such a secret from him if I am to have any chance with him at all.  He has to know.  I hope that he can at least accept this lifestyle choice………………….and perhaps even come to embrace it.”

Jiahui has more questions about the sharing and Alyce talks to her as they dress and make breakfast.  Alyce has long ago stopped counting the number of lovers she has had, although her mutated mind would allow her to dredge up every name, every face, and every time she made love to someone if she wished to.  She does not wish to.


The morning climb is some of the hardest the expedition has done and the drone’s winch proves extremely helpful in assisting it and the others to ascend steep grades.  Even the bearers have a hard time of it.  By lunch, it seems that the worst of the climbing is done, as the ground levels off dramatically.  Alyce plots them on the small plateau that leads to the location of the book.  And the shaman.  Taking this route has certainly been more difficult but it has allowed the team to approach the ruins from an unexpected direction.  At least Al and Alyce hope that it is unexpected.  Certainly, they have not come across any further sign that the shaman knows where they are.  Alyce takes the time to brief Milo and Xander about Al’s intent and they are understandably less than pleased, but they also see the reasoning and agree that it should allow for the least number of casualties among the villagers.

Saying that the hardest part of the trek seems to be over is true, but that does not mean the rest is a stroll in the park.  The exertion of climbing the mountains has left the team weaker in strength of body and some weaker in the strength of spirit as well.  Alyce has to talk several times a day with the bearers to keep them with the team.  She has had to learn a good bit of the tongue of these people to get by, thanking Al silently for forcing her to do so.  Ling Tse Tau is clearly among those that have weakened in spirit as well as strength.  He stops all pretence and begins to openly stare at the women as objects of lust and Alyce wonders how long it will be before he just tries to take one of them by force.  He could expect loyalty from the rest, now knowing that the Gaxxins have arranged for new employment.  It sort of comes to a head two days after cresting the plateau, when Ling Tse Tau decides that he will be Jiahui’s escort to gather water.  He refuses to accept Yao Lung’s half-hearted recommendation that someone else do it and takes the missionary by the hand to lead her off.  In Alyce’s mind there was no thought of gathering water in the man’s mind and she reaches for her silver gun to go follow them when Xander moves forward to stop them.  “I will take the woman to get water, Ling Tse Tau.  Remember that tiger spoor I saw earlier today?  Such a creature might be prowling the stream to catch the unwary.”

Ling Tse Tau’s sense of survival proved stronger than his lust……………this time, and he stops in his tracks, allowing Xander to escort Jiahui.  Yao Lung watches Alyce closely as she puts the needle gun back at her hip.


The briefings to Al are the highlight of Alyce’s days.  She cannot wait to talk to him and counts the seconds between conversations.  She passes on that the Gaxxins are on board with his plan to have them be ready to provide a distraction and fire support as needed..  Alyce does not really need Al’s directions any longer as her drones have spotted the ruined temple and the villagers slaving away at rebuilding it.  She gives Al and the others as complete a description as she can, marking positions of the sentries and the camps for the enslaved villagers.  The demon makes appearances to keep the workers in line and motivated.  She spends time in VR and detects nothing remotely like wireless technology.  Ling Tse Tau stops the group several hours out from the ruins to put forth his plan of execution.  As Al had thought, his plan calls for gratuitous death for the villagers as Milo and Xander create a distraction by destroying the slave compound.  Yao Lung and Lok would go with him to kill the shaman and retrieve the book.  The Gaxxins would be ready to cover the withdrawal and all would return to Alyce at the Mule and begin the walk back to Chi Pat.  Alyce leaves her mic open during this so that Al is aware of the plan.

[adamu]

Al was lying on his stomach on a fern-covered rock outcropping overlooking the temple site as he listened to Ling's planning meeting.

Watching the men hauling rocks on their backs while the dregs of the villages - the drunks and malingerers - cracking whips over them had put a vise around his heart. Then spotting the improvised hut where they kept the girls, watching their empty eyes as they set about various domestic chores, avoiding anyone's gaze. Watching the tortured looks of men that could only have been their fathers seeing them in that state.

He never saw the shaman, but he saw his familiar. Big, lots of teeth. No clear edge to its silhouette - a real otherworlder. Making sure all those men that would give their lives to save their daughters knew it would be a wasted effort and worse. He didn't look that tough to Al.

He'd spotted four corpses hanging by their feet, flayed, at various points around the camp. All were already dead, probably after days of unimaginable agony. If any had still been alive, then Al would have had to use his rifle, and things would have gotten interesting real fast.

All the reasons Al had given Alyce for his plan were true. But none were the real reason. He was going in there to kill the shaman. If he happened to get the silly book, well, that'd be a bonus.

Ling's plan was a no go. Slaughtering dozens or even hundreds of innocent men, boys and girls aside, it would give the shaman time to get away with the book. And if they caught him, Ling, Yao, and Lok wouldn't be able to deal with the demon. Hell, it'd really just be poor Yao and Lok, since he fully expected Ling to change the plan at the last minute to stay with the trolls.

So Al's first thought had been to slip in an hour or so ahead of LIng's planned jump-off time. Take care of business, render everything else moot. But doing it on the sly like that would mean no Gaxxins to cover his retreat if necessary. Worse, there would be too many potential distractions for Alyce if the rest of the camp didn't know she was busy guiding him in. So if she knew he was going in, she might stage that coup to make sure she wasn't disturbed and that she had the trolls available to her. But that would mean Yao and Lok getting killed, the trolls maybe hurt. Alyce would have betrayed her ultimate client, Wuxing. And however they tried to justify it with their weird code, it would be a stain on the rep of the trolls if the word got out wrong.

No, his play needed to be coordinated with the rest of the group. The only way to prevent a horrible conflict within the team was to maintain the illusion that Ling was in charge.

And that meant he could no longer avoid seeing her. Everything was different now, she'd made everything different, but there would be too much else going on to deal with it. It was going to be hard to keep one from impacting the other. This was what he'd been trying to avoid. But if he pussed out because his head wasn't right about her, and one villager died because of his delay, then there really would be no hope for their relationship.

So an hour after the team meeting, he was talking in Alyce's head: <<I'm ten minutes out.>> He explained why he was coming in, and why he thought they needed to leave Ling in place as titular leader. He asked her to have one of the trolls go to Ling after he'd presented his alternate plan, and pitch it privately to the corp boy as a sure way to get Al killed and throw the shaman off his guard at the same time. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, <<An' remember, the more people know we got a thing, the more vulnerable we both is. Keep yer damned head on straight.>>

Approaching the camp, he slipped the sentry and strode into the center of the dinnertime activity. The food smelled damned good. His face and hands were black with grime, and he sported a full beard. He looked at Jiahui with a wink, and she blushed a bright red. He looked at Ling and gave him a quick wink too, watching him go white.

Then he spotted Alyce, her tight white T-shirt sheer from the sweat that ran down from her brow pasting stray forelocks to the sides of her dirt-smudged face. 

Finding that his heart was still beating, he broke the stunned (or faux stunned) silence: "...'pears y'all done got along jist fine without me. Go figure. Anyone got a smoke?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Dead silence.  No, that is too weak.  DEAD SILENCE.  That is better.  The silence hangs over the camp like a blanket, smothering all conversation.  Every eye follows Al as he strides into the camp and asks for a cigarette.  Ling Tse Tau stares and grows angry.  Yao Lung appears startled, but not as much as one might expect.  He turns a wary eye on the Troll that had reported seeing Al die but says nothing.  Yet.  Then he casts the same wary eye on Alyce.  The bearers all jump up and move to the far side of the small camp, as far away as they can get and still be inside the perimeter.  They are jabbering in their motley tongue about some sort of walking dead come to destroy them all.  They are clearly close to the state of running away when Alyce calls out sharply to them to be still, telling them that this is the real Al, not a monster.  These words seem to calm them down.  A little.  Al is impressed that she has learned so much of the language in so short a time, but shrugs his shoulders.  There are more important things to worry about than how fast the Keeb learns languages.

Ling Tse Tau finally finds his voice, although he has to try more than once.  "Bu......but.......but you are dead!"

"Al looks closely at the team lead and says, "Not so's y'all could tell, kemo sabe boss man.  Thing is, ol Al was inna death fight with that satanic beast when my backup,"  Here he gives a stern look at Xander.  "When my backup done let loose wit that cannon o his and blew the monster and Al right offa ta cliff we were fightin near.  Almost coulda thought that be onna purpose.  But ol Al, he knows that ain't true.  Hella cliff, tho.  Monster fell first and Al landed onna him.  I reckon I owes my life to the damned creature.  Took ta now to crawl back up and follow y'all."  He finally lets the mean look wander away from Xander and back to the others.  "So, who's gotta smoke?"

Alyce's hands are trembling as she fishes a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and tosses it at Al, missing badly and hitting the man in the chest.  Al picks the pack off the ground, pulls one out and lights it with his large Zippo.  He takes a few drags and looks at Ling Tse Tau.  "So, kemo sabe boss man.  We's about a couple hours from ta action time.  Got a plan?"

[adamu]

Ling composed himself and outlined his plan to Al, instructing the little man to accompany himself, Yao and Lok to retrieve the book.

Al smoked contemplatively as he listened to the horrible plan for the second time. Then he mustered all of his diplomatic skills and said, "Well, that's a pretty good plan 'cept fer it's crap." Ignoring the offended look on Ling's face and the angry one on Yao's, he continued, "First of all, it puts you in too much danger, and if we lose you, hell, I mean, what'll we possibly do? Reckon we all know it's been your skills, courage, an' leadership got us this far. Second, yer plan pretty much wipes out the entire population o' Pearic peoples in the Cardamom Mountains, not ta mention the last native speakers o' the Chong tongue. Now you an' I both know they lives ain't worth the price o' they skin as leather, but while Al ain't no international lawyer or nothin', pretty sure killin' 'em all is actually the definition o' genocide. Crimes against humanity an' all that ain't gon' look real good on this year's Human Rights Watch scorecard fer Wuxing, now is it?"

Ling was torn between humiliation and fear of the dangers Al was pointing out.

"And your alternative?"

"Reckon I'll find my way in, steal it, bring it out to ya. With Alyce ridin' drone shotgun, an' y'all out here ready to pervide a distraction if'n I need one, can't imagine what could go wrong."

"I will confer with my lieutenant," he said brusquely, stepping aside with Yao. As if on cue, Xander approached the two men, and when they returned, Yao was clearly wary and deep in thought, but said nothing. "All right, we will try your plan, but if you fail, we will be ready to proceed with the initial plan while they are off balance from stopping you. Everyone make preparations." 

With that, he withdrew, leaving Al to say, "Well, think I could git me some o' that hot chow? Killin' demons on an empty stomach aint' this mother's son's idear o' fun."

[Mercy Merchant]

It is all Alyce can do to not throw herself at Al when he walks into the camp.  Even knowing all along that he was alive; even after talking to him daily; she wanted to go to him and kiss him.  Damn it, the man was just so..............................................yes, just so.  Not for the first time, Alyce nods as she contemplates just how much Al means to her.  She listens to the story he weaves about how he did not die and even manages to toss an accusatory look at Xander and open her mouth to say something but closing it instead. She forces her hand to tremble a little and tosses Al a pack of cigarettes that hits him in the chest and falls to the ground.

She sends a drone off to follow Ling Tse Tau and the others and trains her hearing on their conversation.  She is quite unsurprised to hear that Ling Tse Tau wants Yao Lung and Xander to kill Al if he manages to return with the book.  He chastises Xander for screwing up the job the first time and threatens to blacklist him and his brother if they screw this up again.  After they return and Al's plan is accepted, she brings him a plate of food.  >>Al, Ling Tse Tau is planning to kill you if you manage to get the book.  Such treachery is unusual, but he seems quite serious.<<  Aloud, she says, "Will you have your link on so that you can see what the drones see or am I to feed you the real time information?  Perhaps you can maintain an image link with one or two of them I put on you and I monitor the rest?"

[adamu]

"Much obliged, Doc," Al said, and set to with gusto. She was a damned good cook. He was amazed she could throw something together so tasty there in the jungle, and considering how low their supplies must be. The thought came to him that the way back would be pretty thin. Maybe that was in Ling's mind as he considered slaughtering the locals - he probably was thinking of taking their food stores.

"I'll leave it on so's ya can see what I do, but you in my ear'll be better'n any heads-up - all that AR an' little windows just screw up my moves. I know you'll watch my six. As fer the rest, well..." he gave her a shrug and a wink. He'd share his thoughts on Ling once he could speak freely, away from the camp. For now he was content to eat his first hot meal in a week and look at her breasts as she sat there. It occurred to him this might be rude, but he knew she liked it. With no one too close, he pitched his voice a bit lower and said, "Thanks again fer the, uh, self-portraits, by the way. They was some comfort. Speakin' o' which," he added, looking around, "Yer girlfriend seems to've made herself scarce. Whyn't ya have her rustle up some hot water?" He stroked the uncharacteristically bushy growth covering the lower half of his face. "Al's feelin' a bit too much like a hippie."

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce calls out to Jiahui to get some hot water as she goes to the mule and opens one of the sliding drawers.  She returns with a straight razor she flips open and some shaving crème,  "Don't look too surprised, Al.  I use these to shave people before surgery."  She fetches one of the camp stools from the mule and tells Al to sit and remove his jacket.  There is not enough light to see well, but Alyce does not need light.  Jiahui brings over some hot water and stands in front of Al when Alyce asks her to.  The Keeb wets the bears and applies the shaving crème before moving to stand behind Al and leaning against him.  Telling Al to remain still she reaches around and starts to shave him.  He can feel the hard points of her breasts poke into his back and move against him as she moves.  Alyce leans over to whisper in Al's ear.  "You want to look, don't you?"  She raises her voice slightly and asks Jiahui to step forward a bit and take her shirt off.  "Al likes to look at pretty women, and you are very pretty.  Jiahui complies, slipping her tee over her head so that Al could see her pert breasts only inches away in the near darkness.  For a while all that can be heard is the scraping of the razor against Al's skin as Alyce cuts tufts of hair away, revealing his smooth skin.  Finally, Alyce whispers again, Jiahui and I have talked and she is attracted to you in a physical way.  Are you interested in her, Al?" 

Before the man can answer, she makes a final snick and rinses off the razor in the water and tells Al he is done.  Jiahui steps back and slips her shirt back on before taking the water bowl and walking off to the edge of the camp to toss it into the bushes.  Alyce puts the razor in a sterilizing liquid and places it carefully back in the drawer.  Turning to Al, she says, "All done, my love.  And it does seem that you have made a hit on our young missionary.  Play your cards right and you could get lucky twice when this is over, if you are interested."

[adamu]

"Lucky don't play no part in beddin' nor cards. An' what a man can do an' what he does do are two diff'rent things. Leastways they oughtta be." There was more he might have said, but he'd already decided not to get into this yet. He rubbed his face in his hands and waited for the throbbing in his veins to subside before standing - the erotic charge of the experience had been undeniable, and not only were both of the women alluring, but each in diametrically opposed ways, the one shamelessly aggressive, the other meekly compliant. It was a heady combination for a man tired, in love, and over a year unsated. But the mental image of himself crumpling before their charms was better than an icy shower at focusing his mind on the real. 

"Left my shotgun here. Assume ya held onto it."

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce says, “Of course I kept the shotgun.  Without you near, I was using it to keep Ling Tse Tau at bay.”  There is a snort from Jiahui at that, but she says nothing as Alyce continues.  “Jiahui, please get Al’s shotgun from the tent.”  The girl nods and puts her shirt on before leaving for the tent.  Alyce swings around and places her forehead against his.  “I missed you, Al Guthrie.  More than I thought I would.  I hope like all hell that I can someday show you just how much.  I will hold you to that room in the penthouse.  And you may not believe in luck, but I do.  It was pure luck that brought you to Yao Lung’s attention when the original guide went on a binge and left.  It was luck that you accepted the job.  All in all, I will be the luckiest woman in the world if I can have your love and give you mine.  It might be hard to understand right now, and I will do my best to explain it later when we have more time, but there is a difference in who I am sleeping with and who I love.  The sex reminds me how much I love you and how much I want to be with you.”

“Al, I confess that I am a bit scared by my feelings.  I am sure of them, but scared.  I have never felt this way about anyone…..ever.  So as we go into this last bit, I want you to promise that you will come back out alive so we can have this chat in greater detail as I shag you.  Got it?  No dying on me.”

She does not move until Jiahui returns with your shotgun.  You can smell a faint odor of cleaning solvents as she hands it to you.  “Here, Mr. Al.  We cleaned it every day to make sure it is ready for you to use.  Only dropped the firing pins a couple of times, and I think we found all the parts that fell that one time.  I think everything is good, though.” 

Alyce laughs.  “Quit teasing the man, Jiahui.  Al, I am sure that you will check, but everything is as it should be.  I have found that Jiahui knows far more about guns that she lets on.  Now get some rest.”  She and the missionary woman laugh softly and walk off together, arms wrapped around each other’s waists as they go to the tent.  You are pretty sure that Alyce drops her hand to give Jiahui’s ass a squeeze.

[adamu]

"Well, wasn't plannin' on gittin' killed in any case," Al muttered to himself once the woman who claimed she loved him disappeared into a tent with her hand on her girlfriend's ass. If the idea was to get some rest before hitting the shaman's little Xanadu, then he doubted she'd be very successful.

And as such, neither would he.

Well at least one of his questions about what would happen if he returned to camp had been answered.

He went to find the trolls, wondering if he should take some more pain meds for his ribs but deciding against it.

The huge mercs were friendly enough, though there was a wary undertone to their otherwise ebullient greetings that he couldn't quite place. He had already put together a graphic of the temple site from pictures he'd taken and then overheads from Alyce's drones. They all agreed they wanted to minimize casualties, though the trolls were mindful that arrows could kill you as dead as a bullet. He showed them what he thought the best spots were to concentrate fire if they needed to create a distraction, and he used lines on the graphic to identify his primary and secondary exfil routes - plans were for pussies, but failing to coordinate friendly fire was for dead pussies.

There were other issues - issues regarding Ling - that were on all their minds, but Al was too cautious to discuss them near the camp. So once they were clear on their roles, he said, "It's still a good hike over there, an' I wanna take a slow approach, an' be in place well ahead o' y'all. I'm gon' take off now."

It was earlier than they'd expected, and their faces asked questions about rest, and goodbyes. Fortunately they were either too manly to say anything, or just weren't sure enough where they stood with the little man to broach such topics. He ignored their looks and took off, planning to communicate further with them and Alyce once he was well clear of the camp.

Walking away, he couldn't help feeling like he was actually leaving the most dangerous place behind him.

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce spends a comfortable night with Jiahui, although both just cuddle together tonight, talking about Al and men in general.  At waking, Alyce does her usual quick check and finds that Al has already left the camp.  In fact, by the distance he is from them, he must have left shortly after she had gone to the tent.  A bit disappointed at not having a chance to tell him goodbye, she shrugs it off.  After all, he will need to come to terms with who and what she is, why should she think that she would not have to accept his ways?  She accepts that there will be lots of talking and perhaps some compromises made before they can have a real relationship.  She quietly sits through breakfast, considering just what she would be willing to give up to be with him and if that would affect how she sees him.  She smiles to herself as she realizes that the answer is that she would willingly give up everything to be with him.  Absolutely everything.  The thought is liberating…….and odd.  She has never felt this way before and it is a strange feeling.  Her heart has been absolutely certain almost from the first time she noticed him in that shabby warehouse.  Now her brain has caught up to her heart.  There are no arguments presented from the brain to tell her heart it is wrong.  It is like she is experiencing an epiphany of sorts and the light is breaking through the clouds of her life, telling her that this man is the man for her and that no sacrifice is too much to be with him. 

Jiahui hears her humming as the two are packing everything away for the last leg of the inbound trip.  “Alyce is happy?  Because of Al Guthrie?”

Alyce nods.  “Yes, Jiahui, because of Al Guthrie.  I have awakened from a deep sleep in my mind and have decided that I can really give up everything for him.”

“Everything?  Money, music, your sharing?”

“Yes, everything.  I think he is a man that will not want me to change too much, but I will change anything he wants me to change.  And with no recrimination or complaints.  I love him enough for that.  My God, Jiahui, that is absolutely the best way to explain it; I love him enough.  I want to be with him wherever he goes.  I do not care if it is tramping in the jungles or deserts or cities.  I just need to be near him.  I cannot really explain it but I need to be near him.”

Ling Tse Tau calls from across the camp, “Are you two ready to go?  We need to be in our places to assist Al if he needs it.  We leave now.”

Alyce nods at him and turns to giggle at Jiahui as they finish packing and fall into line.  She contacts Al, >>Good morning, Al.  I missed saying goodbye.  I know that you did not get much sleep, so please remember what I said about not getting dead.  I have a small surprise I have been keeping back.  So far, you will be the only other person to know because I did not want to give it away.  Good Old Dickhead Ron had some surprises up his sleeve.  It is good that he was not skilled enough to use them properly or we might not be having this conversation.  Coming up on your location are two Roto-Drones armed with very good sniper rifles.  I do not have any real skill with armed drones, so will have to trust to their capabilities, but the hardware and software look to be pretty cutting edge stuff.  I will use them to give you selective cover fire if necessary, which should help keep down any collateral damage.  I am keeping one micro drone with each of Senor, Ron and me, but will send you the remaining five drones I have control of.  Do you want to keep control of the two you have with you already or should I take them back?<<

[adamu]

Al moved slowly and carefully as he retraced his steps back to the temple site. He was watching for threats not only to himself but to the others as they followed. He hadn't seen any patrols or traps the previous day as he'd scouted around the site, but it was a fact the shaman knew they were coming, and had sent people to try to kill them. Best to assume he was still on his guard.

Or maybe he was overconfident, thinking no one could find or reach him way up here, because Al found no hazards again today. And by the way the Pearic men were being driven by their overseers, maybe the guy was just too consumed with rebuilding his holy site to waste manpower on patrols. No problem. Taking yes for an answer was one of the many things Al was best at.

By dawn he was watching the site. There were upwards of three hundred people there, all swarming about like ants. The temple itself was more a three-dimensional monument than a functional structure, and he'd already spotted a cave mouth that seemed to be where the real action was. He hadn't seen the shaman yet, but his top minions would go in and out of there, notably with trays of food that came back empty. He knew the collaborators were bunking in another place he'd spotted, so the cave had to be where the shaman and his pet demon were camped out.

Ling's plan had been to strike by day, but Al valued stealth over target visibility. Moreover, he wanted the villagers to be in the relative safety of their beds when things went crazy. He'd decided already to hit the place at night, but hadn't wanted to push his luck back at the camp. Now that he had the ball, though, no one would be in a position to argue if he waited until well past dark.

Alyce called and told him about the new drones. Not bad news. <<Always full o' surprises, ain't ya? Listen, everything we want's inna cave - the brothers got the graphic I made. I'm goin' in after dark ta minimize casualties - make some excuse to Ling fer the delay. I can slip the sentries, but there'll be guards at the cave mouth, an' yer drones'll be real handy fer them. After that hold 'em back unless I git into trouble in there. I'll give ya back all the small ones, won't have time ta handle 'em an' I'll want ya ta have all the eyes ya can.>>

Then he remembered another tedious detail he'd been waiting until now to discuss. <<As fer the diabolical machinations o' the Lingstermeister, well, he sure ain't gon' try it hisself. We know the trolls won't do it - unless you've misjudged 'em somethin' awful. So that leaves Yao an' Lok. They's good soldiers and not bad men - don't know what they'll do. But I don't want 'em killed, whatever happens. So that's where it gets tricksy. Gon' have ta think on that one some more. Let me know if ya got any ideas.>>

Once he'd watched the patterns at the site a while longer, he moved off into the jungle to find a place to sleep away the heat of the day if he could. Curled up with the spiders and centipedes in the hollow trunk of a dead tree, he scanned through the small collection of pictures Alyce had sent days earlier. Two sets. The first was disturbing. The second downright alarming. Both irresistably charming. And arousing. 

He figured she'd be on the march by now, but knew even if she couldn't speak openly she could hear him. <<An' sorry about no goodbye. I know from the trid that womern're into that sorta thing. Jist ain't got no space in my head right now fer all that hippie free-love shit.>>

[adamu]

Alyce smiles at Al’s message and sends a response.  >>I completely understand, Al.  I will be send the drones out to get a view of the clearing and send you maps and diagrams later.<<   She is walking along in line as the team makes its way to the supporting position outlined in Al’s plan.  She takes control of the two drones that she had earlier cut to Al’s control and sends her small fleet of eyes forward from his position, keeping the two armed drones back a bit.  The Roto-Drones are relatively small, but there is no sense in taking chances at this juncture.  She takes them to just the edge of the large clearing and drops them into the top canopy of foliage.  The much smaller eyes fan out across the clearing to get as clear a picture of the people and the structure as possible.  She notes the slave pens where the girls are kept, watching as two are hauled away by grinning guards.  By this time, there is little resistance left as the girls go off with the men.  Alyce has a drone follow the guards back to their camp and gets a count about twenty men there is various stages of sleeping or getting ready for duty.  The girls are stripped in the center of the small compound and several men line up to take turns with them before they are led back to their pen and replaced with two more.  A total of eight young women are brought to the camp like this, but Alyce does not feel a need to watch.  She does note, however that some of the men appear to be other than Pearic tribesmen.  Zooming in on these, she sees signs of western clothing with a mining company logo on the right breast, and even a few pistols and rifles among the six guards.  Perhaps these are some of the miners that Al had worked among.  She takes pictures of their faces to send to Al later.  If he knows them, he might be able to gain an advantage over them, but in any case he should be warned that some of the guards are armed with guns.
 
The larger camp is apparently for the men and boys working on the structure growing in the clearing and there are guards with whips and canes to make sure that people stay in line, although Alyce believes that the periodic presence of the demon does more to cower the villagers.  The drones circling the structure paint an odd picture and it is clear that there is little design in the way the stones are going up, just some sort of large tower reaching to the sky.  Alyce is reminded, strangely enough, of the tales of the Tower of Babel from the bible, or even some of the Mayan and Aztec temples that can still be found in the jungles of Central America.  She reminds herself that those structures usually had something to do with human sacrifices and has no doubt as to the fate of the villagers building this one.  She notes that most of the guards seem to be housed to one side of the structure, but that the shaman and his pet demon make a short appearance from a guarded tunnel on the other side.  She nods as she raises her sniper drones and wonders if she could end it all right now with a few aimed shots.  She shakes her head; she is not terribly proficient with the weapons on the drones and Al’s idea to keep the villagers mostly out of it makes more sense than trying to be the hero here.  The shaman’s death might very well release the demon following him and allow it to rampage among the villagers.  Instead, Alyce focuses on the cave tunnel, sending in a couple of her drones for a quick look.  She puts a map of the tunnel together and adds notes to it in preparation of sending it to Al.

Her own camp is a bit tense as people wait.  Ling Tse Tau had wanted a daylight strike and is clearly very disappointed in what he sees as a clear case of disobedience to his directive.  He argues for sending the Gaxxins out to begin laying waste to the villagers, but Yao Lung convinces him to give Al a chance.  After all, if the plan fails he has a built in scapegoat and can still go in with the Gaxxins.  This calms Ling Tse Tau down a bit, but Alyce can see that he is fuming.
Alyce slips away from the camp for a few minutes, careful to be unnoticed.  She has the camp drone follow her.  This time she remains clothed as she stands in the heavy undergrowth and focuses the drone sensor on her.  >>Al.  I am sending you a map of the various camps and the tunnel.  I added notes so do not need to cover them now, but I want to make sure that you know that some of the guards are armed with pistols and rifles.  I was only able to go so far into the tunnel before something began interfering with my signal.  Please place the satellite dish you took from Ron on the ground after you go about twenty feet in and push the green button on its front.  That should help me keep control and give you eyes.  I will be with you all the way on this.  I know that you are intimately familiar with what I look like naked, so I have decided to stay clothed this time.  You can imagine what I look like if you wish, but I just wanted to say something without you being distracted by my body.  Al, I have a feeling that I am somehow disappointing you or at least making you question whether or not you really want me.  I very much want you to understand that all you need to do is tell me what you want and I will be that.  There is an old Chinese phrase that translates to something like this:  “You are my world, my all of creation.  I worship the land you tread upon and would give you the very air I breathe if it would sustain you for a moment longer.  My life and my love are yours without condition, completely and entirely without reservation.  I need you more than life itself and will cease to exist in the moment that you forget me.  You are with me even while apart and my soul fits neatly into your hand to do with as you please.”  I think that this phrase pretty much sums up what I feel for you.  It is very beautiful in the original language and loses a bit in translating it, but the meaning carries across rather well, I think.  Please be careful and come back to me so that I can show you in detail what every bit of it means.  I want that time in the penthouse suite, damn it, so don’t go and fuck it all up by getting dead.  I love you.<<

[adamu]

<<The Chinese said all o' that? In one phrase? Now that's a hell of a language. Must be that fancy writin' they got. But the only thing Al wants ya ta be is you. 'Nuff said. Roger onna drones an' the dish. An' the cave map's a bonus, far as she goes. An' yeah, reckon I know some o' them guys. Bad apples in a rough class o' men. Couple of 'em wanted in on the crew I formed when I left the mines, but I wouldn't have 'em. They was more interested in killin' than earnin', an' that warn't our aim. But I do digress. Be jumpin' off 'round midnight, but anythin' comes up afore then jist give a holler. If not, talk then.>>

[Mercy Merchant]

Alyce smiles.  Al is as full of inconsistencies to her as she must be to him.  He has said more than once that he does not want her to change, yet seems to pull away when she shows a new side of herself.  She shrugs and puts that up to one of the things that they will need to talk about in that penthouse.  Right after shagging his brains out for two or three days straight.  She wonders if she might be able to add Jiahui to the mix after a day or so of getting him to herself.  She knows lots of men who would give anything to have two pretty and willing women in their bed; maybe Al is one.

She gets as much rest as she can in the hours leading up to midnight.  Her drones keep watch and are tagged to her agents so that she will be warned if anything odd happens.  She wakes at 2230 and makes a sweep of her eyes and passes on the latest updates of the activities in the clearing to everyone.  Ling Tse Tau is strutting around nervously and keeps telling Alyce to let him talk to the Gaxxins, who are out in their overwatch position.  After a while Yao Lung tells him that he is risking them being heard if he continues to call them.

Alyce sends one last message to Al just as the time ticks to midnight.  >>I love you, Al.  Never forget that, no matter what happens.  Now go kick some hippie shaman ass.<<