I was stuck for a few days. Probably still tired from DayJob. Not wanting this to turn into a long road show, I finally came up with their likely final investigative destination before returning to Aurie. When I realized it would be San Diego, it was one of those “I’m so stupid” moments. This allows me to link this MS to my romance/horror novel, Cursed Hearts (and it’s for 18+). Like many of my stories, it ended very quickly, so what has happened over the last 150+ years of the handful who survived Maya’s rampage?

That city was quickly stabilized under the Mexican Army, commanded by Anton Alvarez’s great-to-the-fourth grandfather. There should still be a stable of characters – heck, there was a proto-Thinking Machine in that book – I can draw on for this next scouting mission.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

“So, where next?” Graf asked as they left the barn.  It was still misting just a little and their boots were instantly covered in mud.  Pai had said she needed to recharge in Caper.  “From what you saw in the city and what Ildi said about Chile, are we finished here?”

“Mostly,” she replied as the side hatch opened.  “Ildi said they would make a stop at the Philippines and nose around a bit to see what may be going on there, regarding her and those like her.  To your question?  San Diego, in Mexico’s Alta California Province.  They occupied that city in the early days of the Breakup and killed nearly a million starving refugees who attempted to come south, from the LA Basin.  Since then, they’ve edged north, just as we, Russians, edged south.  There is a DMZ around Redding, policed by imperial legionaries to keep us apart.”

The door closed behind them and she went to tiny mess.  One of the pull-down chairs was a charging station for her.  She looked back over her shoulder with a smile.  “Shall I take my pants off, Graf?”

Always making trouble.  “I know you don’t have to, Dear Wife.  San Diego… I kind of know that’s on the coastline.  Maybe we can first pick up Alix and the kids, for a mini-vacation?”

Her eyes flared as tiny bit and she began to draw power.  Of concern was the rare frown she produced.

“Dear slightly clueless Husband,” she began. “The area we’ll be going to has been under Mexican control for over a hundred and fifty years.  I am from a nation they regard with deep suspicion.  Alix is an imperial subject.  You are stateless, but work for the Empress.  Shooting us as spies would likely be their first order of business.”

“Oh.” He got that.  “But, then, even you and I…”

“Will keep things low-key, just like Fort Wayne,” she went on.  “If the authorities get involved, then you just be you and I’ll be your niece from Los Alamos, Pai Díaz, showing you around as a tourist.”

If she can speak Spanish here, I’m sure she can there.  “How long do you think we’ll be there?”

“Two days, minimum.” Now she smiled.  “There are several nice beaches and you get to see me in a bathing suit!”

“Not much to see, really,” he teased right back.

She tilted her head right just a little.  “Time for me to get a new body, uncle?”

“I admit,” he conceded, “to being very fond of this one.  But, it’s something we, and Alix, and your family, need to talk about once this mission is over.  Speaking of:  what after San Diego?  Oh, we’re lifting?”

A nod.  “Ildi and Doe just left.  I want us over the horizon before sun-up.  And, unless we find something weird going on, we report back the Aurie and await additional instructions.  This is a religious-political matter; not for agents such as you and I to make decisions.”

Graf just shook his head at her false modesty and reached to pull the plastic pitcher out of its friction fit to pour some water.

“Guess you’d better tell me about this Alamos place, so our stories fit,” he began.