The Reign is Over – Part 13
The project is dead! Long live the project!
One of the things that I have begun to notice about writing is that there isn’t a time where you’re ‘done’. Whenever you manage to finish whatever you’ve been working on, there is invariably another project prepared for lift-off.
No matter how hard you work, no matter how crafty and ingenious your skills, there is no end destination. There exists no final boss for you to defeat. Your Princess is always in another castle. Always.
I like that aspect of being an author. I love that no matter what, I’ve always got the option of starting something new. It’s unbelievable to me that no matter what I do, I cannot possibly run out of new things to work on.
What a blessing! Forever in my life I have yearned for a job which affords me horizons unending. Every single day is a new opportunity, a chance for me to take a new idea out for a walk and see where it leads me. I cannot tell who is chomping harder at the bit: me or the idea.
I recently finished the next portion of Queen of Frost. It took a long time to go from part one to part two, mostly because of 2018’s relentless awfulness, but I stepped back up to the plate and took another swing. That’s 99% of the battle, being willing to get back on the horse after it throws you off and tramples you.
Here I am, dusty and sore, bruised and a little broken. But I’m back on top, and I’m excited to see where we go.
The Reign is Over – Part 13
“I’m sorry Lieutenant, but that’s the truth and there ain’t no mistakin’ it.”
Lieutenant McNamara ground her teeth, seething quietly in Corporal Washington’s direction as he stood stoically behind his statement. She finally turned her gaze back down to the plasma rifle in her hands, and nodded to acknowledge that she wouldn’t try to fight his assessment any longer.
Corporal Washington sagged visibly, and scooted off with a hasty statement that he needed to get the prisoners moving. He and three others had been dispatched to escort the prisoners they had captured and the wounded Corporal Vasquez back to the assault transport for evac. Capturing prisoners who were so closely involved in the organization was a treasure trove of knowledge waiting to be tapped.
Maybe one of them would help cast some light on this, she thought darkly.
It was almost too much, on top of everything else that had gone wrong so far. They had come so deep into Laszlo Reignover’s stronghold. Too deep, really, to turn around now. And she couldn’t risk communication with the ISF Hidalgo either.
She hadn’t lost her communications generator, but it became riskier to use as the minutes dragged on. The chances that Reignover didn’t have someone furiously tearing down the communicator’s encryption was basically zero, so it was an option of last resort.
Besides, even on an encrypted tight-wave comm, telling the Captain of the Hidalgo that the guns which had killed three officers and crippled another had been supplied by her own armory wasn’t something she was looking forward to
Her seething had died down to a quiet, smoldering rage. Someone within Organized Crime had gone rogue. Someone with the ability to arm a highly dangerous and extremely intelligent mafia boss with military grade firepower. How it had happened would have to wait until they got out. For now, it was indisputable that it had happened.
“Mara, we have to get moving. We don’t know what Reignover has planned, but we can’t afford to give him extra time to prepare it.”
McNamara hadn’t even heard Lieutenant Armsworth sidle up next to her. His statement was the only herald of his presence. He had set Brutus aside while they secured the entrance foyer of the storage facilities, and unburdened by its weight, it was disquieting how agile Armsworth could be. Especially for a man who looked like he had stepped off a Mr. Universe stage and into his uniform.
“You’re right Armsworth. Everyone, get those prisoners moving, secure the weapons we’ve recovered, and lets get back to business.”
Five officers, lead by Corporal Washington, brought the line of prisoners more or less upright. Four officers would guard the prisoners, and the last officer was the surprisingly upbeat Corporal Vasquez. Even down an arm, she still held her assault rifle and cracked jokes with her fellows as she stood at the front of the line. With three officers at the front, two at the back, and the line of seven men and women with lightly glowing grav-shackles, all of them began making their way back towards the entrance.
Armsworth had flipped down his comm lense, giving quiet instructions to his second in command, Lieutenant Raithe. He was requesting that she send a team towards their end of the building to meet up with the five officers McNamara was sending. Lieutenant Raithe had been making great strides in the office building which made up part of the Reignover complex, arresting nearly thirty support personnel, bribed functionaries within other businesses, and public servants who were part of the various entities that Reignover had a controlling interest in.
Since Raithe had yet to encounter any armed resistance, and was unlikely to do so at any point during her sweep, having her send an extra group of six highly armed officers to escort mission-critical prisoners was well worth the risk to her squad. McNamara was still uneasy about how quiet their trip through the mansion had been, and wouldn’t put it past Reignover to have a delayed ambush waiting, ready to pounce from the shadows when presented with a juicy enough target.
Lieutenant McNamara took point for the remaining twenty-three officers of her own assault squad. It was barely over half of their original number, and they still had to get through the bulk of the storage facilities.
With her mouth a line of grim determination, McNamara gave the order to advance, marching determinedly into the maw of Hell.
To be continued…
Shacklefully,
The Unsheathed Quill
