* * * EARTH – MARKOWITZ * * *

Markowitz dropped into his armchair. He was horrified at the changes that were occurring in Washington. He dropped the cardboard box he had been handed by the security guard when he had informed him that his security clearance had been revoked.

He reached into the box and extracted the open bottle of bourbon. He looked at it remembering the look of malicious glee in the security puke’s eye. Grimacing, he tossed the bottle in the bin. Reaching into his box, he extracted a sealed bottle. Cracking the seal he took a long pull from the bottle.

He was shocked. Perez was out, as was Wilkinson. Their two main backers in congress, one had resigned, the other was scrambling for cover. As had the senator, he was saying that he was standing down at the next election. That creep in the Whitehouse was being insufferable in his victory. As for his contact in CNN, she had committed suicide. And that was very unlike the bitch.

He had to do something to save his reputation, but all the contacts he had laboriously built up were scurrying around like cockroaches under a spotlight.

* * *

Markowitz woke feeling horrible. He shifted in his armchair and winced at the clink of glass. He hunched over and looked at the three empty bottles at his feet. He lurched to his feet and left at a fast shuffle for his bathroom.

By the time he was feeling marginally human again he was feeling more confused than before. The various media companies were tearing into each other. They all seemed to have dirt on each other’s managers, reporters and anchors. It was after watching the vicious mudslinging for a bit, that a chill ran up his spine. He knew all about the smear they were talking about. He knew it was true, because he had been one of the agents who had helped to bury that story... And that meant...

Markowitz hurried to pack a bag. He called a taxi and had it drop him off at Union Station. He hurried in and dropped off his bag in a locker before heading for the restrooms. There he made a few changes to his appearance and headed for a nearby bank.

Desperation had sent him hurrying to get the safety deposit box he had buried in the bank under a false id. With the appropriate contents in his pocket he left, returning for his bag before boarding the first train headed west.

He sat looking out of the window at the scenery while he plotted. Maybe he could persuade that idiotic survivalist militia outfit to help him take over the moon, or even better, grab the girl. He could only hope “they” would forgive anything to the man who opened up another world.

He just needed the right story to persuade those paranoid idiots. Stressing magic and the aliens would be a big plus for his case. And then again, he knew where the CIA had a cache of weapons. He was sure the gun nuts would love that.

* * *

Feeling old and creaky, Markowitz abandoned the latest train with relief in Denver. He took a taxi to a local hotel and after a quick meal he retired for the night.

The following day he hired a powerful truck; something he hoped would take him through Wyoming and into Montana. He hated the thought of driving through the mountains in November. But needs must.

Two days later he drove carefully down the badly kept dirt track to the compound the Militia used to train. There always used to be one or two members there.

* * * EARTH – BLACKROCK * * *

Fin was starting to relax. He had two floors and a total of eight rooms. The gym was really useful. The Colonel had had a stroke of absolute genius, when he had suggested it. The only problem was that he was at the mercy of the military.

His other self, and there was no getting over it, they were different people. His younger brother then, had a small dungeon, it was sited somewhere out in the sticks. The only people living near him were a bunch of semi-nomadic goat herders.

The most amusing thing was that his young brother’s most prized treasure was, goats!

Their link seemed stable enough, even if it was weak. Sarge was getting over the shock from when Jerica had contacted him. That had led to a four-way conversation with his younger brother and his river nymph companion.

Sarge had been a bit shocked when he had learned of the Dungeon Exchange. They had tentatively come to an agreement not to divulge more than the fact that dungeons could communicate with one another, in a very limited and restricted fashion, and that it was more or less voluntary. He directed his attention to where Sarge was making his latest report to the Colonel.

Sarge was standing on the tall table while colonel Anderson watched.

“Sir, I’ve learnt that Fin’s double is located in the wilderness, the only humans he’s seen are primitive goat herders,” reported Sarge.

“What does that mean for our project Sergeant?” asked the Colonel.

“It means he has had little chance to grow. Most of the work to grow Fin’s dungeon will have to come from us,” explained Sarge.

The Colonel narrowed his eyes in thought. “I see,” he said. “Anything else, any suggestions?”

“I believe we can continue as planned colonel. Are we getting all the recordings and measurements we need?”

“Yes,” then the colonel smiled tightly. “Though some of the techs are jumpy with the spiders. And why the goat?”

Sarge snorted with amusement. “Can’t have monsters without treasure.”

The colonel gave the dungeon pixie a long look.

“Also sir, it would seem dungeons can – send brief messages – like telegrams, to other dungeons. The recipient does not need to reply, or acknowledge the message.”

Colonel Anderson rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Mmm... Might prove useful, might not. How many dungeons are there in the US?”

“Don’t know sir, but there are, or there will shortly be thirty dungeons on Earth,” offered Sarge.

Once again the colonel studied the dungeon pixie carefully. “How sure are you about that?”

“The message option has thirty addresses. Most only have a number. But now that Bet Your Life is spreading the news, well.”

Colonel Anderson winced. “Yes quite,” he interrupted. “Now we will get a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon.”

* * * EARTH & FRAGATTA – MARY * * *

Mary contemplated her underwater domain with satisfaction. She switched her attention to one of her factory caverns and watched as her followers prepared the latest set of satellites for transport. It was stupidly cheaper to generate high tech items in her Earth domain. She found it amusing, considering they were all going to be used in orbit around Ambuila. The most tech backward of the worlds she knew.

Next she spawned several computers and satellite receivers, assuming the former earth humans turned dungeons would be as eager for them as the ones on Parthia.

She contemplated the local news and winced, maybe she’d been just a little overenthusiastic. She had to rein her AI folk in, just a tiny little bit. Try to let things calm down a tad, no one would benefit if things got totally out of hand.

Mary checked out her home, and decided to reclaim it and half the garden. There seemed little point hiding things now. Then she inserted several traps and minor guardians, happy she had a safeish base for her cat colony, she turned her attention elsewhere.

« Hawaiʻiloa, how soon can you get back to Mars? How would you like to lead an expedition to Fragatta’s nearest star system? »

« About three weeks Mother. How far a journey? »

« Eight light months. I’m preparing a special ship. According to your colleagues around Fragatta it should be feasible. Especially using the Sun to accelerate. »

« What’s at the other end? »

« The solar system has seven planets, two are mid-sized gas giants. As the principal goddess of Fragatta I know it has gods and a gods realm. So intelligent life exists. »

« How long would the journey take? »

« Somewhere between two to three years depending on the captain’s choices. »

« I’ll do it! Turning back to Mars now. »

* * *

Once settled into the core she had on Fragatta Mary studied the progress she had achieved. She decided to leave things be, tempting as it might be, she didn’t want to find herself having to scramble to reverse her tampering.

Only when she was satisfied, did she turn her attention to her latest project. Slowly the new spaceship took form in her shipyard. It was easily twice the size of any of her previous designs, incorporating as it did a large garden and numerous storage devices. Defence was not forgotten; Mary installed two turret-mounted lasers.

Then she used the spy sats to examine the Polar Regions. She paid special attention to the rugged mountains near the North Pole. She grinned to herself; yes she would let Lewis go ahead. The dungeon he wanted to create based on the story Mountains of Madness would fit in nicely. And it would do as a dumping ground for reckless adventurers.

And to think there was someone who wanted to go all Lovecraft dungeon. Glad the lunatic had approached Lewis and not her.

Finally satisfied she pondered her plans. She could see that she would have to see to Tarifax next. It irked her that there were probably enslaved Earth origin dungeon cores. Not to say that the other dungeons being enslaved didn’t irk her. It did, she really hated the precedent. It was an idea she intended to scotch.

The core glittered angrily as Mary made plans.