VAQS: Cry HAVOC! and Let Slip the Vaqs of War!(1/1) Where: Vachon's Church Time: Monday evening, after "The Eleventh Hour" Cry HAVOC! and Let Slip the Vaqs of War!(1/1) by Teri Delong and Sarah Howell, plus coaching from Tabitha Carlson The Vaqueras settled their various rides in the appropriate parking lots and paddocks of the Church and traipsed inside. The more sensitive members of the group instantly started sneezing over the layers of dust that coated everything. "Gah!" coughed Sarah H, making a vain attempt to fan the dust away from her face. "You can tell Vachon hasn't been here for a while!" Teri snorted derisively. "Like it would be any cleaner if he *was* home!" She suddenly doubled over sideways as Tab poked her in the ribs with the VaqBat. "Oww! Watch where you aim that thing!" "I did!" responded Tabitha, with a laugh. "You two settle down!" chided Melissa, "You're stirring up more dust!" As if to emphasize that, Sarah H went into a violent sneezing fit. Marilyn wandered around the inner sanctuary looking for a place to set her armload of things, obviously reluctant to set her laptop down where it could be lost in the dust. Tab ambled on through the room, weaving between sneezes and grumbling about dust and contacts *not* going well together. "What on earth are you doing?" asked Tricia, trying to stand on her head to see what Naia was looking at under one of the pews. "Dust bunnies!" exclaimed Naia, sounding much younger than she really was. "They're so cuuuute!" "Where?" demanded Tricia. "I don't see them." "They hopped away," said Naia sitting upright with a shrug. Tricia blinked at her for a moment. "I think the dust is getting to your brain." "Were they headless bunnies?" asked Teri from across the room. "Why?" asked Sarah M. "Missing your DP friends?" "Hey, life is never dull around Dark Perks!" laughed Teri, trying hard to ignore the convulsive shudder that passed over Doņa Angel. Angel had a severe allergic reaction to anything Perkly. That spasm only lasted for a moment, and didn't even slow Angel down as she started systematically cleaning a section of the church. Except for that shudder, she seemed lost in her own little world, happily mopping up dust puddles, humming contentedly to herself a tune that sounded suspiciously like the theme song to a certain TV show they'd just visited. "But don't worry," continued Teri." I'm Vaquera all the way." "Is that why we stock all that coffe and cappuchino for you in the Church kitchen?" grinned Cloud. "Because you have no Dark Perk tendencies?" "Well there's ONE place that you don't have to clean," announced Tab, coming back into the room. "Apparently the Evil Pink Bathroom is self-cleaning." "You had to go *again*?" Cloud looked at her in amazement. "You need help." "Ewwwww..."complained Lynne. "The EPB makes me ill just thinking about it. Why doesn't Vachon do something about it?" "Why should it bother him any?" quipped Janice. "He doesn't have to use it! Speaking of Vachon, do we have any idea where he's been lately?" Most of the Vaqs were shaking their heads and shrugging before she'd even completed the question. "Touring," answered Cloud. "He just had gigs in San Diego, San Francisco, Vancouver, and then he said they'd be heading back to Toronto." All heads swiveled toward her, and even Angel's humming stopped. "You've *talked* to him?" "When did you talk to him?" "Why did you talk to him?" "Why didn't you tell us?" The Native American Vaquera staggered a bit under the barrage of questions but bravely answered them as best she could. "In San Diego.... a few days ago....I tracked him down for Julia about the stuff written on the Mississauga treaty........ and I thought you knew." The assembled Vaqueras *blink blinked* back at her for a moment before the room erupted in babbling. "You thought we *knew*..." "Julia? Who's Julia?" "MessySoggy what?" "Why did you think we'd know?' "*HOW* could we know?" "You must've all received the messages by now....." She looked around the room at the blank faces and the blinking was almost audible. "Messages?" the uproar began again. "What messages?" "We've been here all weekend, how are we s'posed to get any messages?" wailed the Vaqs. "How?" repeated Cloud, managing to sort something out of the cacophony. "I dunno, email? ....voicemail?...carrier pigeon?" She looked pointedly at the cell phone clipped to Teri's hip. Teri looked down self-consciously and pulled the phone off her belt loop, still holding it out like it was something dead and smelly. "I have voicemail?" she asked weakly. As if that was a cue, the Vaqs scattered to their respective corners, grabbing cell phones and checking for messages. Marilyn swooped into the spot Angel had just cleaned and set up her laptop. Cloud took the dangling cell phone from Teri's trembling fingers and pushed the correct buttons for her. It didn't take long and all had regrouped, a little quieter, slightly abashed for jumping Cloud like they had. They ALL had messages that they hadn't thought to check. The VaqShaman looked up from her laptop and solemnly voiced what no one had brought themselves to say out loud. "We're at WAR." The silence was almost as deafening as the babbling had been moments before as they thought about the implications. They weren't prepared! They'd need to go shopping for a list of war supplies! There was food to buy, and clothing for a two week stay....and security systems to set up, and attacks to repel. The thrill of War slowly began to sing through their veins. They were always ready to defend Vachon! Vachon....... They turned back to Cloud as the last person who had spoken to him. "Any idea when he might be coming back?" "I'd say you could probably expect him any minute now." The very familiar, masculine voice came out of the shadows directly behind them, sending most of them skyrocketing to various degrees. Sarah H jumped out of her skin with a shriek, while Angel just staggered a bit with a tiny little "eeep", and looked like she might pass out. But Vachon's attention was drawn upward to the quivering form of a Vaq clinging to the rafters. "Wow," he said drolly. "That's gotta be some kind of record." ========