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THE GATES OF NEW BOSNIA
Americans Crossed The Universes to where Turkey Rules - But Now Something Else Has Too!
See Our Previous Story: The Day of the Rapture! (www.eilertech.com/stories/2011/rapture.txt)
See A Related Story: The Hermit Wizard from Space! (wil.alambre.ca/racc/posts/read/618/.)
A man-bee wizard gripped a lever with his top two hands. He stared out a portal in a machine. His multi-faceted eyes were dripping human tears. But his eyebrows and his remaining human face showed only resolve. He had to pull the lever before he turned into a full-bee and betrayed his wizard world and all his friends to his new Queen Bee.
One wizard friend, still a man, nodded.
The man-bee pulled the lever. Ancient computers fed immeasurable power into everything but the man-bee.
The universe around the man-bee disappeared. There was only him, and darkness. Ultimate darkness.
The man-bee was used to apartness; he'd been a hermit. He was ready for the next step: non-existence. Better that, than to live with the memory of all his bad choices, the last of which had almost made him betray his world.
So here he was. But it was still existence. Nothingness was all around him, but he still existed.
During his wizard training, he'd heard theories of what surrounded the universe. Some said, Ultimate Darkness. But no one know, because no one had gone there and returned... No return. Perfect. The man-bee embraced his oblivion.
But the darkness itself was humming. When the man-bee turned his eyes toward what he heard, he saw a red thread like a slash in the far, far distance... Distance meant nothing in Ultimate Darkness. The man-bee was there as soon as he thought of it.
The slash was like a tube, with things pulsing through it. It was like a wound in the Darkness. That's where the humming was coming from.
The man-bee was still a wizard. He still had a wizardly duty, to heal reality when it was wounded. Even beyond his universe, this duty applied. So he raised his six limbs to cast a spell to cut the tube.
But his powers came from stellar energy. There were no stars in Ultimate Darkness! To cast the spell, the wizard-bee had to go inside the tube - which might at least lead to stars. So he did.
With all the stellar power he could gather, he cut the tube. As the tube collapsed he tumbled down his side of it, with everything else.
In another world, Americans had invaded across universes for their own survival. At least that's what their leader Scott Stiles told himself. But they'd landed without their weapons, and been captured by the Sultan of Turkey - in New Jersey! Scott Stiles had been pierced with arrows, but he still lived because of his superhuman powers.
He looked up at one American who was a Chancellor beside the Sultan. "You! You've betrayed your fellow Americans! Christians! Westerners!"
The Chancellor responded, "Oh? You're trying to find the right tag for me? Good luck. If I ever find one, I'll give you that tag. And I guess I'll have the chance some day, because we've spared your lives. Oh, joy."
But then something man-sized buzzed past them! It was some kind of giant bee!
The archers took aim and fired on it. They all would have hit, but the arrows bounced off a glowing shield all around it!
The Sultan spoke, "What is that monster?"
The Chancellor responded, "Nothing from any world I've ever catalogued. And it's magic. Good thing I brought mages for the ceremonial guard too." He motioned, then ten men raised their hands in mystic gestures.
Scott Stiles was still on the ground, helpless and weaponless... No! He had arrows! He started pulling them out of his body. Two of his captors with swords saw him writhe on the ground as he did it. But they let him continue. Less work for the medics, they must have thought.
The man-bee was becoming more bee, less man. But he was still a wizard-bee.
He'd popped out of the tube onto a planet. One look with his insect eyes showed him, men built good buildings here but not wizard-buildings, and they fought with good weapons but not wizard-weapons.
Archers shot arrows at him. Without thinking he deflected them. But he thought, Time to hide! And he thought, Time to find a hive leader! His man-brain and his bee-nature were thinking different things.
He decided to hibernate to meditate upon this. His natures agreed on this.
But then magicians raised their hands to attack him!
The bee-thing with the magic shield paused. The Sultan's mages built energy in their hands.
Scott Stiles said, "No!" He had three arrows ready. He threw them: the first two at mages, the third at the Sultan.
The mages had swordsmen as guardians. One swordsman parried the arrow. The second missed; the arrow hit the mage in the shoulder.
The Sultan's guardians were off guard for that one second. But the Chancellor lunged in front of the Sultan and took the Sultan's arrow! It bounced off some kind of shield, dammit.
Then Scott Stiles had to fight for his own life.
The wizard-bee noticed the magical attacks upon him. It was weak magic, not super-magic like he was used to. But still it stung... Szzzting! Time to szzting!
But who? The ones who szztung him were hiding behind others. What leader did they have? What leader did he have?
The wizard-bee had a new hive instinct. He sensed three leaders. One commanded an army all around him. Another commanded warriors and the mages who stung him. The third commanded prisoners and was fighting for his life.
The hive instinct said, go to the army commander. The wizard bee considered that instinct... and decided the opposite. It might be the last time he ever could.
Scott Stiles had pried one more arrow out of him. He instinctively tried to parry a sword with it. Of course the sword broke the arrow. That still left two arrows inside him.
But then mystic beams brought his attackers down. The bee was fighting on his side!
So Scott said, "Get that one!" He pointed at the Sultan.
But then the Chancellor said, "Tyrmj! On me!" He crossed his arms, and stood before the Sultan. As the warriors and their mages formed around him, a blade of mystic force pointed out from him. The blade grew stronger, and pointed at the bee.
Scott thought, Oh, no! What ever it is, it's our last hope! He said, "Get out of here!"
Muszzt Szzzting! Plussz a leader command!
The wizard-bee had a huge stinger. He stung the warrior which was fighting the closest to his new leader. As that warrior fell, the wizard-bee grabbed the leader and flew like the leader was waving: back over the stands, away from the big buildings they overlooked.
Behind them, the Sultan breathed, "You saved me. I thank you. But how did your wondrous guard not save us both for you?"
The Chancellor shrugged, "They were busy. Some things I do for myself."
"You will not ever have to do this in my presence again... Now, the escape of one rebel is trivial. But of all the wondrous things you've seen, how did you not imagine that bee-creature?"
"I do not imagine. I catalog. This is something new to add."
"How do you suppose our alliance of worlds should react to this?"
"I shall mention this new item in Council. I suggest you take the lead in handling it. I see they fly toward New Bosnia. Your security is ready there."
"You speak truth. So let it be done."
And then the Sultan and the Chancellor were amazed. The stung warrior rose up with wings, and flew away after the one who stung him.
Author's Notes:
... Shit.
Survivalist Americans vs. evil Moslems is (yawn) modern pulp fiction, even if we blur the battle lines, the history, and the lines between good and evil. But now we've thrown in a magic bee who makes other magic bees. This is novel-writing territory. Uh oh. I do not promise to follow this story line in regular episodes, but I might have to start respecting the RACC concept of separate series, such as "New Bosnia". (I considered calling it "New Buzznia", but thought better of it.)
Gavrilo the Hermit Wizard Bee was created by Wil Alambre, and is used by permission. (For once.) It's awesome that Wil spent five episodes giving this character an origin, and then challenged people to use him in other stories. So let it be done.
The Ultimate Darkness is similar to what came once from Alan Moore in DC Comics, but it's like (say) Thor in that no one can claim a copyright to the concept, thanks... Most things in my world are stronger than human but still weaker than in, say, DC Comics. But if Gavrilo's super-powerful friend the Super Wizard from Space ever needs something that can kick his ass, I nominate the Ultimate Darkness.
Yes, Chancellor Wyatt has archers, swordsmen, and mages among his ceremonial guard. Also battle-maidens and war beagles. They may not kick Super Wizard ass, but they still kick ass. www.eilertech.com/stories/2005/after.htm#mountain
The world of the ascendant Turks comes from when the Usenet newsgroup soc.history.what-if tried an Unfinished Sentence concept: The Great Wall of Upper Canada. I'll take credit for the Nicaragua Canal action, the Ottoman reconquest of Egypt, and The Bomb, thanks. The secret of the Wall Builders is unrevealed, but Russia and China were ruled by Khans until at most 100 years ago. www.eilertech.com/stories/2011/wall.txt ... So let us be careful with Unfinished Sentence concepts.
This usually goes without mention, but all other characters and concepts in this fiction are copyright 2011 by Eiler Technical Enterprises.
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