The Major waved away the nearby soldier, who seemed intent on spraying down Aisha with everything the hose had and then some. The spray sent flecks of grime and blood into the air, where parts of it would disappear a moment later. The poor bear was a soggy mess and would need a good deep cleaning back at the dorm or she would stain.

“I won’t talk about some of the other things Leigha mentioned to me, not yet, at least. Just let it be known that the two of you have my attention, even more so than before. We should sit down together and talk at some point in the near future, clear the air, if nothing else. Decide how far we can trust each other, and what else you might know about that portal at the institute.” The Major gave him a small thin smile along with a wink and then turned away. “Specialist McCleary, take a fire team and see these two home to their dorm, then come and report back to me.”

The soldiers all snapped to attention as the superior officer on-site left, taking the bulk of his own men with him. The few that were left were ones that had been brought along or had already been there. There was more than enough for Specialist McCleary to do as had been ordered of her. A fire team typically consisted of four members, the leader, in this case, Jean, and then three others.

Zack picked up a sopping Aisha and proceeded to ring the water from her the best he could. “I really hope you can’t feel any of this.” He muttered to the bear, knowing from Zelda that she had been aware when she was on this side of the portal. It was another example of magic working here, if only in a limited fashion.

It shouldn’t be possible, and yet it was. At least for him and Zara. That was dangerous information to have. It was even more dangerous to have it leak out at the wrong time.

Zara had been given a uniform shirt to wear over her clothes, and it hung over her small frame like a dress. He exchanged Aisha for George and proceeded to wring out that bear as well, with another muttered apology.

Jean had finished putting together her team before he could decide if he dared to try wringing out Zelda. They left her strapped to Zara’s pack and moved to join them near the vehicle.

“Sorry Specialist McCleary, but please STAND DOWN!” A soldier near one of the other vehicles knelt and held up a weapon most travelers disdained. It was called a ‘Mana-tech Pneumatic Powered Rifle’ or just a ‘Majair’ for short. They didn’t work for long inside the portals like any other tech, so they were useless. Which meant that they were only useful on this side, and against people.

Similar to how electricity had faded away and been replaced, black powder and its resulting variants had been done away with as well. Mana crystals and the magi-crystals that were eventually created as a processed form for smaller items were just more reliable.

Jean moved to cover the kids. “Why are you doing this? The Major won’t let you go. You have to know that?” She was careful to not make any more movements until she fully understood the situation. There were still other soldiers in the warehouse with them, yet they weren’t making a move to help.

“We don’t work for the Major. We aren’t part of the precious group that he brought with him.” The man’s barrel wavered slightly. “As for why I’m doing this, it’s simple, money. The price of everything is beginning to go up. Corporations have started to charge through the nose for mana crystals. Without them or the processed versions, I can’t light my house, heat it, or cook the food that is more expensive because shipping costs went up as well.”

A few of the other soldiers stepped forward and reached into the vehicle at the man’s back. They came out with Majair rifles of their own. His words had apparently stirred them from off the proverbial fence. Each of the rifles began to whine softly as they charged.

“I don’t want to do this ma’am, I have nothing against you or those kids, but the Albright brat is paying us a lot. Enough that we won’t have to worry about money even if they keep raising prices on everything. Now, please, all we want is the kids. That is all he asked for, especially the girl.” The man had the decency to look disgusted as he spoke. “Someone here apparently already reported to him that she came out of the portal. He was… rather interested in that.”

“Get on with it,” A man growled, ripping off his uniform top and revealing an Albright corporation shirt and logo beneath. “You aren’t the only one getting a massive payday, and I, for one, can’t wait to spend the next few days just counting it all in another country.”

A couple more of them ripped off their tops to reveal similar shirts, and Jean’s expression grew grimmer with each one. Soldiers could be reasoned with. Even those in desperate need of money usually didn’t want to betray their comrades. She was even willing to bet that if the man had approached the Major with this information that he would have made off rather handsomely.

Travelers, however, for the most part, were more mercenary in nature. They worked for the highest bidder if they had the skills, and whoever would take them if they didn’t. Even among them, most had a sense of moral decency. Of course, as with all humans, there was trash.

The travelers in Albright garb in front of them naturally fell under that distinction.

The three soldiers around the siblings pressed in closer while waiting for orders from Specialist McCleary.

“Give me Zelda, and then duck down, but be ready to run just in case,” Zack whispered to Zara, passing Aisha to her, and taking George. He would strap the bear to her pack in place of Zelda if there was time.

Jean hesitated, unsure of what to do. Both sides were armed, but one was at a clear and definite advantage. Her side still had their weapons holstered and uncharged for one, and they had to worry about protecting the kids for another. Giving them up was not an option.

“This is taking too long,” An Albright goon growled, his rifle bucked, and the air cracked. Blood and chunks of grey matter splashed down on the newly cleaned pair and the stuffed bears. The soldier to their right collapsed to the ground. Part his face now missing.

“What are you doing?” The soldier who had started the entire mess screeched, unable to take his eyes off the dead man.

Zara wiped the warm blood from her face without reacting and then reached over to do the same for Zack and Zelda.

“I told you, this is taking too long. We need to get a move on before someone comes back to take a look or something. Let’s kill the other two and then take the Specialist as insurance. The Major kept her in here earlier after all. That must mean something.”

A dawning horror was growing in the soldier’s eyes as he realized what he had done. He had deluded himself into thinking that this would be a bloodless affair, with none of his family-in-arms getting hurt. Now they had. One of them was dead. His blood already congealing as it spread slowly across the night chilled floor.

He had a choice to make. Was he going to stand by these people, or by the family he had known for years? His rifle twitched to the side, and his head instantly gained two new holes with another resounding crack. He had been too slow.

“You honestly thought we were going to let you live and take a portion of our money?” The man snorted and kicked the body to the side, the lifeless legs flopping underneath the closest vehicle. “Not likely.”

The rest of the Albright goons chuckled and kept their Majair rifles trained on their targets.

“Now choose your targets,” The soldiers and Jean reacted, pulling out their military-grade weapons. The smaller hand model, pistol Majair’s had the option of partial charges and that is what they went with. The shots would be weaker, but speed was more important at the moment than power.

Those shots cost both men their lives, but combined with the shot from Jean, they managed to also take out three of the opposing forces. It was too little in the end. However, the men had not gone down without a fight.

“Sorry, Zack, Zara,” Jean ground out in defeat, dropping her weapon. Sure, she might get off one, maybe even two more shots if she was lucky. If she did that, however, then no one would be able to watch out for the two of them. She had gotten her blood and could be satisfied with that for the moment. The shot she had fired had taken the talkative idiot squarely in the chest, where it was nearly impossible to miss at this range. Even a low-powered charge had enough force to drill through a person’s chest with energy to spare.

None of his supposed comrades seemed interested in helping to save his life, despite him still gasping away. It was the same for the other two that had been shot. These people were here for the paycheck and nothing more. The fewer of them there were at the end, the bigger that paycheck for them would be. That was the kind of math anyone could do.