| "What happened?" Sigin asks, curious. "The orcs allied themselves with
one of Ethiopia's neighbours and attacked us. Eventually we defeated them,
but there was appalling loss of life. After that, the orcs seemed just
to disappear, and we hoped that the last had been seen of them. Apparently
they are back, though, if this time a long way from Ethiopia.
Dr Vincent wanders up to join them. "I'm glad you decided to stay on
when the possibility arose of your being returned to your own version of
Terra by the Alliance," Alicia tells him. "With your gifts, you can do
a lot for this world." "Well, I hope so," the eccentric doctor responds.
"After mixing with people again after having been alone for so long, going
back to my tower didn't seem a very attractive option. There are one or
two projects I'd like to collaborate with your 'sister' on. And fortunately
my 'babies' seem to have settled well into their new surroundings." Alicia
smiles to herself at such a term being applied to the two toaster-headed
gorillas. Almost everyone seems to be starting a family, she thinks,
but
Dr Vincent's must be the strangest by a wide margin.
Meanwhile High Lord Sithe in desperation is doing something that is
almost unthinkable for an orc, and negotiating with a dwarf. The two have
put aside for the moment the traditional emnity between their two peoples,
united by a common hatred of human-kind. Balok, dwarven elder, says: "Our
numbers are not great. But we have great skill in metal-working. We have
heard of these new 'guns', and our smiths have come up with something that
they call 'bullet-proof mail'. If a wearer is hit by a projectile from
one of the new weapons, then he will certainly suffer a nasty bruise, but
I know that orcs are tough and the injury should no longer be disabling.
"Also, if we could only get hold of one of the new weapons, our smiths
are confident that they could duplicate it. The basic principle, of using
a controlled explosion in a confined space to force out the 'bullet', as
I believe they call it, seems straightforward enough. We are familiar with
using gunpowder to help us in excavating our mine-workings."
-
 "Interesting,"
Sithe says.
Go Back
|