Mountains of Magic - Ch.40 - Friends & Family (Patreon)

"Un-fucking-believable," Soneya grumbled as she stared at her phone.

She'd barely touched her food at all, and while nobody felt much like celebrating the rest of us were at least trying to make the most of things. Actually no, one of us was in a good mood. Lia was back in her foxgirl form, and her tail was wagging up a storm as she happily ate her way through a plate of bbq chicken.

Dinner tonight was courtesy of my dad. At around half past seven he volunteered to go get take-out from the nearby town so the rest of us could stay safe at home. There was a BBQ place that sounded good, and dad returned a half hour later with couple family-sized orders of bbq chicken, a big box of onion rings and another box of fries, and a couple orders of coleslaw and veggie sticks.

Now all six of us were sitting in our spacious new kitchen, trying to enjoy what should have been a nice little housewarming party. Except Soneya was understandably upset about what was going on in her home country, Robyn was anxious about her relationship with her parents, and my folks were quietly debating the possibility of packing up and fleeing their home in the next day or two so they could come live on our protected land with us.

And all that left me worrying about my friends, and my family, and my friends' families.

Our wolfgirl's ears folded back while she continued frowning at her phone. Her tail twitched in irritation and she sighed, "Every time I think it can't possibly get any worse, my fellow Americans find new ways to lower the bar even further."

That didn't sound good. And considering all the news we'd already heard from the States I dreaded finding out what else had gone wrong south of the border.

The evening news tonight confirmed what we'd learned during that meeting this afternoon. The president of the United States was dead, and so was his vice president. In fact pretty much everyone in the line of succession was either dead, or missing and assumed to be stuck in Washington DC. Which for now meant they were trapped and inaccessable, somewhere in the powerless capital.

With the entire chain of command gone it almost seemed like a kind of low-level panic had taken hold. The major news outlets were all speculating about what would happen next, with ideas ranging from setting up a new federal government from scratch in another major city, to the USA maybe dissolving or falling apart into smaller nations as various states split off and formed their own alliances. The governor of Texas certainly hadn't wasted any time bringing up the subject of his state's desire for independence.

One of the US news networks also mentioned something about the army rounding up horses, to form an old-fashioned cavalry division. The idea was they could ride into Washington and rescue whatever politicians or top military people they could find. That sounded more like wishful thinking though, rather than any sort of actual plan. For one thing there didn't seem to be anyone around with the authority to actually authorize or approve that sort of operation.

Meanwhile the impression we got from social media was the American public was still in shock over the whole situation. It looked like most folks living outside of the affected areas were just trying to carry on with their lives as best they could, while a vocal minority was screaming about retaliating against Gaia and demanding immediate counter-attacks. Not just against the Earth Mother herself, but against any other nation that started cooperating with her.

So that's what I was afraid of as I asked our wolfgirl, "What is it now? They're not launching another attack somewhere, are they?"

Soneya shook her head, "Nah. It's just more information coming out about the attacks from earlier today. Unfortunately it's entirely believable."

After a gulp of water she continued, "Some folks in Kentucky went scavenging around the artillery fire bases after the troops pulled out this afternoon. And they're saying they found evidence that in addition to the high explosive and incendiary shells, the army also tried lobbing nukes at Gaia's mountain."

"What?!" I gasped as my eyes widened and my tail dipped down below my chair.

"And you know if they did that in Kentucky they probably tried nukes in Arizona as well," the wolfgirl scowled angrily.

I asked, "But how? Missiles wouldn't work, right? And they couldn't drop bombs from planes, they can't fly over the mountains. Can they?"

"It was all just artillery," Robyn stated, while her long fuzzy ears hung down low.

Once again our adorable little bun surprised us with her military knowledge as she explained, "The US developed nuclear artillery shells back in the cold war. I think the idea was they'd be deployed in Europe, if the situation over there ever turned into a land war against Russia? Anyways these things are pretty small as nukes go, like one or two kilotons at most. That's a fraction of the size of the bombs they dropped on Japan during World War Two."

"According to what I've read the nuclear artillery program was supposed to have been discontinued back in the nineties," she added, "But it's possible the US kept some in their inventory. Or maybe they didn't cancel the program after all, they could have kept making them in secret."

My dad pointed out, "None of the reports have mentioned any nuclear explosions. I think that'd be hard to keep quiet, wouldn't it? People would have noticed a mushroom cloud over those mountains."

Robyn shook her head, "I'm pretty sure the nuclear artillery shells would have had electronic fuses, so there's no way they could have detonated. If the army really did try them, about the worst they could've done was scatter some radioactive material around wherever they landed."

"That's not much better," Soneya grumbled. "So in addition to blowing up and burning down countless dozens of acres of what used to be a beautiful protected recreation area, they may have also salted the earth with radioactive ordinance."

She let out a long sigh and shook her head, "I sure hope my folks smarten up and get the hell out of there. While they still can."

We were all quiet after that, it seemed like nobody knew what to say or how to respond.

Eventually my mom suggested in a gentle compassionate tone, "You should try and eat something, Soneya. I know you're upset, we all are, but you need to eat."

The wolfgirl grimaced, then after another second or two she nodded. She mumbled a quiet thank-you to my parents as she picked up a piece of bbq chicken, then finally started on her dinner.

In fact we were all quiet for the next few minutes, before our small bun spoke up again. Robyn sighed as she commented, "I've been thinking about our meeting this afternoon? It might just be a bit of paranoia, but I'm worried we gave the government too much information."

"How so?" I asked. "Or do you mean me? Maybe I shouldn't have given them all our full names?"

Soneya was obviously paying attention to our conversation, but rather than interrupt she kept quiet and listened while she continued eating her dinner.

Meanwhile Robyn shook her head, "Honestly they probably already knew our full names, and everything else about us. If they've been watching us then they'll know we moved everything out of my apartment this morning. That and the plates on my car would have given them my dead name, and everything else about me. And if they saw us clear out your apartment yesterday they'll know who you are too. They'd have your parents' information from your dad's car, and if they ran the plates on the moving van that'd give them even more info. And I'm sure they've run the plates on Soneya's Jeep too, so they'll have her deadname and know she's an American."

"I really hope that doesn't put my parents in any danger," our wolfgirl sighed. "I hope your government hasn't communicated any of this stuff to the cops or any other officials in Pennsylvania. The last thing my mom and dad need is a visit from the government."

That made me grimace, but I had a feeling any officials down there probably had way more important things going on. I didn't need to remind Soneya about that though. So instead I asked Robyn, "If they already knew who we are then what information do you think we gave away?"

Our bun replied, "The fact that we didn't know about some of those details from the States? They might realize we don't have constant communication with Gaia. And we haven't had any contact at all with her other representatives or ambassadors. We don't even know who they are, or how to reach out to them."

"Which means we can't coordinate or share information," Soneya stated with another frown. "We need to bring that up with Gaia next time we see her."

Both Robyn and I agreed with that. But rather than having to wait for the next time our boss dropped in ununexpectedly, we now had a way to reach out to her.

I turned towards my small sister, but almost forgot what I was going to say when I saw her. Her hands and face were all smeared with bbq sauce, and she wore a huge grin while her tail continued wagging as she finished up another little piece of chicken.

Seeing her look so happy and care-free while the rest of us were all stressing out was enough to put a smile on my face. I asked, "How was your dinner Lia?"

"Great!" she replied. "I really like chicken!"

Then she turned to my dad and added, "Thank you for getting us food!"

Dad laughed, "You're very welcome Lia. I'm glad you're enjoying it so much."

"Good thing the restaurant included a dozen wet-wipes with the order," mom commented. She actually had one ready, and it looked like she was prepared to move in and help tidy up our small sister as soon as she was finished eating.

I nodded, but rather than respond to that I focused on Lia again. "Could you please send Gaia a message for us? We need to let her know that we think it's important for us to be able to talk with her other representatives and ambassadors."

"All her embassies around the world need to keep in touch with each other," Soneya added. "So we can share information and coordinate our efforts. Otherwise we're going to get caught out by the humans, because I know they'll be sharing information amongst themselves. When they realize we're all acting independently from each other we'll lose a lot of credibility. So will Gaia. And the humans will absolutely try and take advantage of that fact."

We all watched as a small frown settled on Lia's face. She seemed to spend the next half minute lost in thought, before she finally looked up at the rest of us.

"Gaia is really really busy right now," my small sister announced with a sigh. "But she says she already added that to the list of things she's working on. She said we're the fourth group to ask about it."

I smiled, "Thank you Lia. Now if you're all done eating, why don't you let mom help you get cleaned up? We'd rather not have bbq sauce smeared all over our new home or furniture."

Another thoughtful look settled on her expression as she eyed an unsuspecting piece of chicken. Her ears angled forward and her tail twitched, then a moment later she pounced. Soon she was making more happy fox noises as she munched on her latest prize.

That brought another smile to my face, and my parents were both smiling too.

Meanwhile Robyn commented, "I'm glad Gaia's working on it. And it's good knowing some of her other groups are thinking along the same lines as us."

"Yeah," Soneya frowned. "On the other hand this feels like yet another thing she should have had prepared in advance. Like all the stuff we're still waiting on? She promised magical replacements for power, and internet, and magical upgrades for our cars so we won't need to keep burning gasoline."

The wolfgirl added, "She didn't even have employment contracts or anything like that when she first offered us these jobs. I had to ask for them. I have no idea what she's doing with the rest of her representatives. Maybe just going on a handshake, or verbal agreements?"

I grimaced, "We already know she's not infallible. She practically said that herself, things are happening that she didn't plan or anticipate. And like she told the UN, she's not a goddess."

It looked like Robyn was about to reply to that, but she was distracted by her phone's ringtone. The small bun checked the screen then her ears drooped and she got up out of her chair. She started heading for the door as she sighed, "It's my mom. I'm going to take it this time."

"Hi mom," she spoke into the phone a moment later while she continued on out into the hallway.

Thanks to our tall fuzzy sensitive ears both Soneya and I could still hear her as Robyn added, "Mom it's me. I know I sound different, but I warned you about that in my messages, remember? And yes, that picture I sent you is for real. This is the new me..."

Her voice faded as she kept walking, out into the main foyer then from the sound of it she was heading up the stairs. I figured she was probably going to her bedroom for some extra privacy. I could still hear that she was talking, but by that point she was far enough away I couldn't make out anything being said.

Then my mom commented softly, "I hope everything goes ok with Robyn and her parents."

"Me too," I agreed. Then I asked my parents, "How are you both doing? I don't mean to pressure you, but have the two of you made any decisions yet?"

My folks exchanged an uneasy look. Then my dad nodded, "Your mom and I are going to take you up on your offer, Tori. I'm going to cash in some of my sick days starting tomorrow, and the two of us will begin packing and moving things right away."

"I'm glad," I replied with a little sigh of relief. "Which place are you going to take?"

Mom smiled, "We'd like to take the orchard house, like you suggested. I hope that's ok?"

"Considering it's already October now that gives us all winter to learn about apple farming," dad added with a smile.

I knew he meant it to be a bit of a joke, but none of us actually laughed. After all the recent bad news, it felt like there was a decent chance we might actually be depending on those apples by this time next year.

"Of course it's ok," I told them both. "And unless we hear back from the government people right away, I'll come and help you pack."

Dad shook his head, "Your mom and I appreciate the offer hon, but we'd both be happier if you stayed here, where we know you'll be safe."

Mom agreed and added, "You're welcome to help us unpack at the new place Tori. We'll probably be making multiple trips, like you suggested earlier."

"All right," I sighed. "I'll stay here then, but I'm definitely going to help you unpack when you get here."

Soneya offered to help my folks unpack as well, and we both figured Robyn would pitch in too. Unless she was busy dealing with her own family tomorrow, which seemed like a distinct possibility.

The last few days had been hectic, and the last seven or eight hours had been almost overwhelming. I couldn't help worrying that the situation was going to get even worse, before it finally started getting better.