Coven's Rebellion Chapter 19

As a test of bulk upload on Fluff4.me, I have uploaded three new chapters of this story! If you want to read this chapter there, here's the link: https://fluff4.me/work/QuietValerie/Covens-Rebellion/chapter/19

Rosa

I held my hand up and twisted, then pushed forward with featherlight, careful precision. The giant, spindly robotic arm mirrored my movement — swift and methodical — and the large steel beam slid beautifully into place. Curling my fingers, the heavy electromagnet disengaged, and I pulled the manipulator away. In a frantic blur, several quadrupedal robots clanked down from where they had waited patiently and with a cacophony of drills whirring, bolted it in place.

It was odd to think that above me, through the steel and soil, was the old paddock where I used to let the donkey roam. Now, the old animal was on somebody else's farm, and his stomping grounds were now a shield from the countless prying eyes that hung just above Earth's atmosphere.

Stepping back, I surveyed the partially constructed frame. It was such an odd, almost whimsical idea that I was currently laying down the foundations for. Hell, even the problem that this was attempting to solve wasn't yet a consideration. However, a contingency was worth nothing if it could not be activated when it was required, and so these first steps had to be taken.

I was getting tired, though, and so with a mental command I shut down the robot and headed for the cargo lift that would take me back up to the farm.

Weeks had gone by now, since we secured the Austrian servers and had that next-steps meeting. Weeks during which we investigated and gathered intelligence on our target — the old American Republic research facility.

Idly, I pulled up the current dossier we had on the place and flicked through it while I waited for the lift. So far, we knew that the site was hidden in a cramped valley within the southern end of the Appalachian mountains. The facility looked deceptively benign, like a hidden mountain resort where the rich might go to meditate and drink disgusting green smoothies. Beneath it though, if the UN’s satellite scans were correct, was a deep concrete structure of some kind. Within those immense concrete bunkers sat a wealth of knowledge about SAI, and more specifically how to bring one to a fragmented end.

The lift came to a stop with an abrupt jolt, and I flicked the information away to focus on winding my way through the SAI rebellion’s own underground concrete base. It was significantly smaller, so long as you didn't count empty air in the calculation.

The gentle tinkling jingle of a call coming in interrupted my introspection, and seeing who was on the other end, I answered. “Amelia, my love.”

“Hey Rosey, uh… there's a couple folks up at the main gate who could use your… attention…” said my girlfriend, voice holding notes of humour and confusion.

With a sigh, I altered my path through our underground complex slightly. “I'll be there soon.”

The call cut, and I mentally fortified myself for the unexpected. I looked presentable at least, for someone who had just finished operating heavy machinery. My jeans only had a little dirt on them, and my rough woolen cardigan wasn’t bad. The bright red had faded to a sort of dirty pink, though.

The gate to my farm was your typical cattle stop, with metal bars over a two foot pit that was attempting to grow some sort of bio-weapon in the sludge that had collected there. A treeline that I hadn't bothered to maintain in quite some time ran along the edge of my property, affording the whole place a slight amount of privacy from those few who drove up here.

Amelia, looking like a true farm girl in gumboots and coveralls, stood on one side of the cattle stop, while a man and a woman in their forties stood opposite. They held themselves with a certain amount of pride, or even gravitas, but was the type of confidence that held a very distinctive flavour — that of one who had no idea just how ridiculous they were.

Each of the unknown individuals had a wide brimmed cowboy hat on, each bearing a metal bull symbol stamped into the leather. Both wore polo shirts and heavy cargo pants, and on their feet were brand new hiking boots.

“Are you Dellie? This young woman here is insisting that she isn't here, but she told us to be here!” Said the woman, immediately launching into her little rantlet.

“I am not,” I said calmly, trying to hide my weary indifference. “My name is Rosa.”

Throwing her hands up, she looked around in frustrated bewilderment. “Well then where the heck is Dellie? This is Howha Hairy Tonga Adventures, right? It said it back there on the sign.”

“Hōha Haere Taonga Adventures is the turn immediately following the sign. This is much further on from it,” I said, then remembered that the turn onto my street was a good ten minute drive past the sign. “You are quite off course, I'm sorry.”

“No. I'm sure this is the place. It said one hundred metres to the turn off. This was one hundred metres. I don't know what prank you think you're pulling, young ladies, but it's not funny. I'm going to find an adult,” the man said with a reproachful scowl. Then, like a king striding forth across his domain, he began to walk over the cattle stop.

“Uh, hold on,” I said, frowning slightly as I watched him. “Be careful, sir, you'll—”

As if I'd prophesied a great calamity, the man missed his footing and his foot twisted sideways, sliding between the heavy metal rods of the cattle stop. A high yell of pain and surprise went up, along with a wave of grotesque mud. It coated him with a spray pattern that looked like a cartoon representation of explosive diarrhea.

I had to give credit to whoever sold him the boots, their high leather collars had protected his ankle from any real damage quite nicely. It was a shame that they would never really be rid of the stink of cow shit now.

While Amelia, the woman, and I all watched him in shocked or confused silence — actually, Amelia was making all sorts of gasping sounds, so I was forced to recategorise it as not silence — the man's foot began to sink further. Oh dear.

“You know, I never have seen the bottom of that pit,” I said mildly as the man grunted, twisted, and struggled.

Only one of his feet had gone through the bars, so as his foot sank into the muck, he was being forced into a very awkward looking spread-legged position. It didn't help that as he attempted to free himself, his efforts only made the situation worse.

“Why are you laughing?” The woman demanded of Amelia, panic beginning to set in. “My husband is in danger, help him!”

Rolling my eyes, turned back towards my house and curled my tongue —

Behind me, I heard Amelia blurt, “Ma’am, no! Stop!”

— and let out an ear-piercing whistle. There was an echoing screech of surprise from behind, as my shrill sonic assault startled the woman. Turning back, I was just in time to see her slip, one leg on either side of a metal rod, into the muck.

With a grimace, I watched as the two entitled tourists began to writhe and flail. The worst part was that this wasn't the first time I'd seen tourists get lost around here. One other notable incident had involved an overly confident man and my resident bull.

A whirring, humming noise approached from back towards the house, and Tim’s voice chirped happily, “Oh, dear. It appears we have some errant livestock who have fallen in the cattle stop. Do not fear, Mistress, I'll retrieve them!”

I couldn't help myself, I laughed. “Okay thanks Tim. Have fun, I'm going to go lay down.”

Ignoring the sorrowful cries of the damned, I began heading down towards the homestead.

Gravel crunched beside me as Amelia moved into step. “That happen often?”

“Once or twice a year,” I said, smiling up at my tall, lithe girlfriend.

Her arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I found myself pulled into her side. “If they hadn't been so clumsy, I'd suspect them of being snooping agents for some acronym agency.”

I laughed softly. “I wonder if Des is ransacking their online presence already.”

“She absolutely is.”

Suddenly, Amelia pulled us to a stop, and I looked up at her with a question in my expression. Apparently, that was the opening she was looking for, because her lips pressed in. Initially, I expected things to end quickly, but instead her arms wrapped around me, and… ah, the engineers did well with her body. Her lips were so soft, so warm, and so real.

She pulled away again and after glancing back over her shoulder again, began to lead me back to the house with an arm around my shoulders.

“I think Des is getting confident enough in our intel that we might run the op soon, so let's get some more cuddle time in,” she said gently.

The soft way she treated me was, truthfully, everything to me. My own mind had never handled my feelings or body with any particular care, so it was quite special when she held me like this. Which is to say, I was very much looking forward to the cuddles that were in my immediate future.