Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

Sergeant Scorp coughed delicately. “That’s a Deep Six Model, sir,” he said quietly. “Collapses the tunnel in after itself.”

The captain shut his mouth with an audible click and nodded once.⁶⁰

Major Resetti beamed. “Well spotted, Sergeant!”

The captain flushed. “Even so—”

Again he was interrupted. “Captain.” The speaker had just emerged from the Mecha-Mole, and it must have been a tight fit. She was over two meters tall and her shoulders were almost two wide. She was dressed in no-nonsense leathers which steamed slightly in the cooler air. Across her chest were strung several bandoliers containing ammunition for the hand cannon hanging from her hip, as well as a thick baldric which held an enormous broadsword across her back.

Her face was broad and plain, her hair was black and cropped short, and her eyes were intense. “I have a package for the Baron.” She patted an Imobilex jug that stood by her side.⁶¹ “One that he ordered personally.” Anticipating the captain’s next words, she presented a sheaf of papers.

The captain ignored them and stared at her. “Who the devil are you?”

The woman merely jiggled her papers. Sergeant Scorp took them and perfunctorily checked them while he made introductions. “This is the Lady Grantz, sir. She’s the Baron’s monster hunter.”

The captain blinked and stepped back. Grantz looked at the sergeant and raised an eyebrow. “Have we met?”

The sergeant handed her back her papers and tossed her a salute of his own. “Sergeant Damien Scorp. Of the Baron’s Vespiary Squad.”

Grantz looked interested. “The Bug Hunters.”

“Yes’m. Had the privilege of watching you work in Belgrade last year.”⁶²

Grantz looked pleased. “Good outfit,” she conceded. “You’ll do.”

The sergeant’s eyebrows rose. “Do for what, Ma’am?”

The monster hunter patted the Imobilex jug. “I need to get this bad boy to the Baron. I could use your help.”

The sergeant grimaced. Imobilex jugs weighed a lot. “It’ll take a while, Ma’am, but I could requisition a heavy caisson. Be a problem on the soft ground, but—”

Grantz interrupted. “No, no.” She effortlessly hoisted the jug up onto her shoulder and indicated a leather grip at her feet. “I just want you to carry my bag.”

The sergeant had worked with enough of the Empires’ Special Units to know when he was seeing a show put on for the benefit of others, and indeed, the captain, the Mecha-Mole drivers, and the rest of the assembled soldiery were watching with clearly growing awe.

“Stand aside,” he roared. “This lady is making a delivery!” Instantly a path towards the hospital gates opened and they set off.

“Do you know where the Baron is?” Grantz asked.

The sergeant shook his head. “Somewhere in the hospital, Ma’am. But I heard he’s movin’ around.”

They approached the main entrance to the hospital, which was now behind a barricade consisting of at least two-dozen troopers, several of the large brass clanks, and an enormous green-furred ape creature. The soldiers saw the sergeant and Grantz approaching and the ape stepped forward.

“Grantz,” he muttered cordially. Even though it was night, Nak wore a large pair of smoked goggles that glinted in the lights.

The monster hunter gave him a smile. “Sergeant Nak.”⁶³

The sergeant bared his fangs. “You have come for me.”

The monster hunter shifted the Imobilex jug to her other shoulder. “In your dreams.”

Nak stared at her. His fangs were still displayed, but the corners of his mouth turned up. “Yes—in the very best ones!” He then turned to Sergeant Scorp and his demeanor changed. “And who is this?”

The sergeant stared up at the large goggles and refrained from saluting with great effort. “Sergeant Scorp, Vespiary Squad.”

Nak leaned down and examined him closely. Scorp felt the chemical-scented breath gust past him. Nak straightened up and waved them through. “Watch your back, little man,” he growled.

Scorp waited until they were in the building’s foyer. “What was that about?”

Grantz looked embarrassed. “Don’t mind him. Nak gets jealous.”

The sergeant almost dropped the bag. “But—wait—”

Grantz rolled her eyes. “He can’t help it. Under those goggles? He’s a green-eyed monster.”

There was a lot left unsaid in that statement. Sergant Scorp was open-minded. He had to be. In the Armies of the Empire you worked with—and relied upon—any number of things that were, well, not human necessarily, but certainly people. And it followed that two people of any type might form the strongest of bonds. Scorp had seen it happen often enough. Hell, his daughter had fallen for an accountant, of all things, and after he’d gone to all the trouble of setting her up with a nice reanimated fellow from his old unit. No, nothing surprised him anymore, but…

“I thought you hunted monsters.”

To his astonishment, the woman laughed at this. “Only the ones that cause trouble. Most of my work involves the shambling, mindless stuff. Rogue machines, beasts gone mad…Intelligent, sentient monsters are rarer than you’d think.”