Promises and Powers (A Cat Among Dragons Book 4) Read online

  The clock struck eleven and Magda set her needlework aside. Her husband helped her out of her seat and the couple went to their room. As much as he wanted her, Joschka held back at first, in case she wasn’t in the mood. But his wife let him know that she was as eager as he and soon nothing existed outside their passion. Afterwards, he whispered, “I love you, you beautiful, wise, magnificent Magda.” She kissed him into silence.

  The next morning, Joschka, Magda, and Johann went riding along the old paths near the schloss. Joschka’s mount, the stallion König, fussed and sidled until his rider took him firmly in hand, schooling the horse and working him until the stud settled down. As a result, Joschka couldn’t worry or even think about anything else until the three riders finished their hack and returned to the stables attached to the old house. Joschka stripped König’s tack himself, checking the horse carefully for any problems or rub marks. He found nothing and chalked the stud’s fractiousness up to the warm spring day. The stable cats were also leaping and running around and Magda had practically needed a tranquilizer gun to get Peter and Maria settled enough to send to school.

  “It must be something in the air,” Joschka observed after dinner. “I’m not particularly inclined to work myself, for some reason.” However, the federal tax office did not seem affected by lovely spring weather, or by anything resembling life and cheer for that matter, so with great reluctance Joschka sat down at his work desk and waded through forms, reports, and bills. Magda joined him after an hour or so and they reviewed accounts and budgets for the household. He’d been forced to develop a decent head for numbers and the couple managed to get through over half the process of assembling everything. They employed an accountant but a great deal of work still needed to be done before things were ready for him. When they paused for a moment, Joschka looked over the records of one of the farms. “Magda, I don’t recognize this name.”

  She riffled through some newspaper clippings and handed him a funeral notice. “That’s because Herr Müller died in February. He left his widow nothing but debts and she can’t run the farm, so I let it to another man. She found a job in Bad Ischl at one of the hotels.” Magda frowned. “Jakob Müller could have picked up from his father but he didn’t want to return to the valley. He told me that it’s too provincial and we,” she nodded towards her husband, “are too demanding and unfair to our tenants.”

  Joschka indulged in a plume of pipe smoke. “Requiring them to abide by their contracts is too demanding and unfair?” He snorted with derision. “And I suppose setting aside funds for scholarships for especially promising students at the valley school is patronizing, as is offering pensions.”

  Magda didn’t comment. She just went back to the matter at hand. The couple worked through the afternoon coffee time and finally emerged only when Peter, Elizabet, and Maria returned from school. One of Joschka and Magda’s few serious fights had been over the children’s schooling, he remembered. He wanted them to go to the then-newly-created public schools but Magda preferred a traditional Catholic education. There had been some hard words between the parents before they reached a compromise. Elizabet still attended the Dominican girls’ school while the older two attended a public gymnasium now that they had reached that age. Magda and Joschka had tried the combination with their eldest first and Johann turned out well, allaying some of Magda’s concerns about public education. Well, Joschka reminded himself yet again, she’d been brought up in the Church and Joschka had not, which explained part of their difference of opinion.

  The family sat down for supper and discussed plans for the next week. The military academy had granted Johann two weeks leave and he wanted to go fishing and hiking with some friends. His father had no objections, although Magda preferred that her son stay closer to home. “We hardly see you anymore,” she protested.

  “Mother, I’m twenty, and I’ll be home for a month after summer training,” he reminded her. “Markus and Wiggi have to report to basic training in June, so this is our only chance to have some fun for the next two years!” He looked to his father for support but Joschka spread his hands, staying out of the matter. This wasn’t the time to remind Magda that Johann had to serve at least two more years in the military. Your mother does not like to be reminded of my military career, son, so I can’t help you, Joschka thought in apology, behind his shields. Even so Magda gave him an unhappy look, as if she’d sensed his words.

  That evening the couple slipped out and made their way up a narrow trail running from near the schloss into the Drachenburg. Despite Joschka’s worries the weather remained fine and he rather enjoyed the hike. His night vision surpassed that of a pure human, so he led the way, moving the occasional debris out of Magda’s path. Once inside the mountain she took over. He was of House Drachenburg by marriage, she by birth, and she retained precedence here.

  They walked deep into the mountain. It grew cold, then warm, and at last they emerged into a beautiful natural chamber hung with flowstone, cave flowers, and other rock formations. Several of the other House members waited for the Head and his Lady, and they saluted the Graf and Gräfin. Joschka and Magda returned the courtesy and found seats as the others reported the goings on from the valley and the rest of the House lands. The gathered House members socialized as well as bringing news and information. One couple brought their new baby and Magda and Joschka formally welcomed the little boy into the “family.” There were also some disputes to be settled, which Joschka listened to carefully. One was fairly easily solved with a compromise that completely satisfied neither party. The other required more information and the Graf asked two neutral parties to look into the details and bring him their findings. Herr Martin needed help with unexpected medical bills in the family but was reluctant to come before the rest of the House with his problem. Magda pulled the House account records from their storage places, looked at some things, and decided that that they could give him a loan until he was able to work again.

  In short, the House cared for its own. Joschka lost track of time as he listened and dealt with matters. At last he and Magda finished addressing all the business, returning from the Drachenburg well after moonset. Joschka led her through the starry darkness down to the house. As he did, he thought privately that this was why he’d left home in the first place! He was a soldier, not a diplomat or governor.

  Or so he thought. When they reached the house, Karl-Heinz stopped them. “There’s a message for you, my lord Colonel,” he informed Joschka. “From a General Weisenfeld.” Joschka’s heart sank as he took the paper. He didn’t feel any better after he made a phone call and got his orders.

  “My leave has been cancelled and I have to be back by 1700 tomorrow, ready to travel,” he informed Magda.

  She paled a little. “Do we need to prepare for trouble?” She remembered the end of the War and the events of 1956 and 1968.

  Joschka put his arm around her. “No, lady of my heart. This is something related to an ongoing project. It appears that someone has finally decided to act on information we’ve been gathering for a while now.”

  “Then why do they need you?” his wife demanded.

  “Because of December 1973,” Joschka said quietly. “This comes from that.” She was one of a handful of people who knew all of what transpired with the “witches” and their “god,” and her eyes grew wide as he concluded, “I can’t tell you more.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder and he held her close. “Be careful,” she whispered. “Joschka, be careful, please promise me.”

  “I promise, beloved. I’ll do everything I can to stay out of notice,” he assured her.

  He left at seven the next morning. By one that afternoon Col. Hohen-Drachenburg reported for duty and two hours later he and General Weisenfeld were en route to Switzerland for a meeting. “The Indians apparently decided that some things require extraordinary measures,” the Bohemian said, handing his chief-of-staff a report.

  Joschka’s eyebrows rose well into his hairline as he re
ad the document. “These sound like the creatures that appeared near the air base in the United States,” he commented after he finished.

  Weisenfeld nodded. “If they are, there may be more of them. If not, it still means problems. The Indians want some way to share data about this kind of thing and I think they are right. They organized this meeting and the Swiss, as neutrals, are hosting.”

  “It seems to me, sir, that if these sorts of episodes truly are attempted invasions or scouts from, well, outer space, than no one is neutral. We all must oppose the invasion, or we could all be conquered,” Joschka opined. “Perhaps better to say that we are all neutral in that politics comes second or third behind self defense.”

  Weisenfeld gave his chief-of-staff a curious look. “Colonel, I thought you claimed to know nothing about diplomacy.”

  “I don’t sir. I’ve just watched my children. The moment an outsider tries to threaten one of them, the other three drop their latest fuss and form a united front.” Joschka chuckled at the memories and his superior smiled in agreement.

  The meeting location proved to be just outside an “abandoned” Swiss Army base near the city of Vallorbe. On the surface the facility looked like one of the older chalets, a bit worn down at the corners from neglect, as if its owners had sunk into genteel poverty. Once inside the facility’s gates, however, Joschka noted that the Swiss were taking no chances on security, politely but carefully confirming that all were who they claimed to be before ushering their guests under cover. The last thing anyone wanted was for a war to start because someone or something lobbed a mortar shell and killed Soviets, Americans, and anyone else in the forest-edged parking lot.

  The Austrians’ quarters appeared comfortable but a bit spare for a general and his chief aid. That may have been the point, Joschka decided, making a mental note. If everyone had the same quarters it was one less thing to argue about and the lack of amenities discouraged lingering. Joschka’s respect for the Swiss rose a notch.

  As he took his place in the briefing theater, Joschka studied the other representatives as well as the information packet. Tension in the air made the room feel small and he wondered if the men and their governments could set aside personal and political enmities long enough to face the problem and deal with it. Joschka recognized some faces and quite a few names as he looked around. Col. Tom Peters’ shock of white-blond hair stood out as he followed Major General Forrest Calhoun to seats near the front of the room. The Italian representative, General Marko Fazzioli, waddled irritably behind the Americans, his rotundity and a badly-healed hip injury giving him a distinctive gait and overly-sensitive temper. Major Piet van der Weide nodded to Joschka as he staked out his boss’s place. The Austrian and Dutchman had worked together before during a stint as observers at a Swedish military exercise. It had been almost a quarter century since Joschka had been that cold, he recalled with a shiver as he nodded back. Laughter heralded the arrival of Maxwell Alexander, who never met a stranger and who’d literally written the book on jungle warfare.

  Most professional infantry soldiers had at least heard of General Alexander and Joschka was not surprised to note that he would be presiding over the opening meeting, along with Lt. General Ikshan Talwar from India. After all, the Indians had requested the meeting and had somehow managed to persuade everyone to come. Joschka also noted that for the sake of clarity, languages were limited to German, French, Chinese (Mandarin), English, and Russian, and a several-pages-long list of specialized terms and their translations had been provided in the information packet. When he read that anyone exceeding the specified time limits or going too far off topic would have their microphone turned off, Joschka snorted a little with envy. Motion at the front of the room caught his attention as Generals Talwar and Alexander took their places in front of a map of the world and the lights dimmed.

  “Welcome, gentlemen,” Talwar began. “I am a soldier, not a diplomat or politician, so I will be direct. The Indian military has dealt with two incursions by things not known. They were neither human nor man-made and it has come to the Indian government’s attention that we are not alone in this.” He nodded and the picture behind him changed to a photograph of a dead Zeelaknou. “At least one of the things was reported in a different hemisphere but at almost the same time. There have been other equally strange creatures and events reported.” A map appeared with dots showing varieties of incidents. “We, the Indian military, have information on these things. You, or your governments and military, also have information on other things. That is why we all are here. General Alexander?” The thin Rajput turned to the Australian.

  “We’ve found weird things too, or the remains of them. As many of you know, most humans don’t do well in the New Guinea jungle or up in the Kimberly. Apparently neither do space aliens, but we may not get that lucky again,” and he paused to let the translators get used to his accent and joke. It took Joschka a moment to sort out what the photo showed because the skeleton bits scattered on the rain-forest floor did not match any animal he was familiar with. General Alexander drew a circle around a large boney chunk with what might have been eye-pits and a snout. “This was probably the skull, but the soft tissue was all gone by the time we found the remains. The natives said it stunk so bad that they didn’t try to butcher it or save the hide; just left it until the stench cleared. Now, maybe I’ve read too many of my son’s science-fiction novels, but if someone is trying to stock this planet for a hunting preserve, or to move in and take over, I want help dealing with it. Australia and New Zealand don’t have the resources to go it alone: if intruders have the technology to get here, they have weapons beyond what we ANZACs can deal with. As General Talwar said, that is why we are here.” He stepped to the side.

  “And this is why the Indian government would like to establish an international database of incursions, what stopped them, and of whatever technology came with them,” the Indian general picked up the thread of the discussion. A murmur rolled through the gathered officers at the last phrase and Joschka guessed that several parties had already decided that they wanted to keep potential weapons and other technology for themselves. Not wise, he mused to himself. Strange devices tend to blow up in your face when you try to make them into weapons. Literally, as he’d once seen from behind heavy-duty shielding.

  Calhoun raised his hand and was acknowledged. “It’s a great idea but we can’t go that far, General Talwar. Share some information, sure, but there are still serious security considerations to keep in mind. I don’t see the Department of Defense opening our computers for, oh, say General Sima’s secretary.” The Chinese general bristled, or at least Joschka thought he did, but he remained silent.

  Admiral Ivan Pavelovitch Sarkozii loomed up from his seat. How he managed to fit his two point two meters of height into anything in the Soviet Navy provided a fertile ground for speculation among those who met him. “General Calhoun, once again your government wants to leave everyone else to fight our enemies, just as you did in the Great Patriotic War,” he stated firmly. “We have already suffered great losses from something apparently not of this world and the People’s and Workers’ government does not care to repeat 1942-1945, fighting a two front war!” After the interpreter finished, the murmurs grew louder and Col. Peters seemed to be whispering rapidly to his boss as the lean, weather-beaten American general glared at his Soviet counterpart.

  Karl Weizenfeld stood up and was acknowledged. “If these, incursions let us say, are indeed from outer space, then we are all on the same side, gentlemen,” the Bohemian stated in a firm tone. “If something with greater numbers or more advanced weaponry is able to gain a foothold on this world, we all will have to deal with it, either fighting or attempting to negotiate peace long enough to learn how to repel the invaders. Assuming they are hostile, which it is probably healthiest to assume.” He let the interpreters and continued, “With that in mind, let us see what we can devise to protect ourselves by protecting all of our homes. What does Austria gain if the U
S and USSR are set to war by an outside party, as was attempted a decade ago? We gain nothing but fresh graveyards. India cannot afford to re-learn what the United States’ military already discovered, and if Brazil’s experience helps Indonesia or the Soviet Union as well as Canada and Sweden, all the better.” He sat down after making eye contact with as many as he could see.

  “Thank you, Gen. Weizenfeld,” General Alexander said quietly. He looked around as if noting the number of murmured discussions and reluctantly nodding heads. “Talwar, I yield to Col. Patel.” The Indian general’s aid took the microphone and began narrating a slide show. Joschka thought he recognized two of the items or creatures shown, but it was hard to tell from fragments and some of his memories had faded over the century since he’d come to Earth. The images came from five different countries, including India and Australia. Col. Patel and Gen. Talwar had also brought some samples of remains and technology and the Australians and New Zealanders set them out for inspection as Patel spoke. Taken as a whole, the collection was quite disturbing and Joschka really wondered if first, all of the things were indeed alien in origin and second, if so, why Earth? He wanted to call Commander Ni Drako and see if she could tell him, but this was most certainly not the time or place, and the possibility existed that she couldn’t help him without violating the Laws.

  The answer to the first question turned out to be “not entirely,” but enough of the strange things were purely alien that they left the audience stunned, especially since some of the samples pre-dated the First World War. To Joschka’s discomfort, apparently only Austria and India had actively collected data and even then the Indians were playing their cards close to their chests, as the Americans would say. Albert Slim, the British general present, commented that his observers had noticed something like one of the things shown, generating more sotto voce discussion. Maxwell Alexander returned to the microphone. “I trust we agree that there is a threat and that it is quite real?” A rumble of unhappy and somewhat reluctant agreement answered his question. “Good.”