867. Chapter 867

After The Squab and the Quail

Episode 5.21

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I'd be a genius if I owned Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Author's note: This is a sequel to chapter's 536 and 802.

Kate looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She was much happier with the figure hugging nineteenth century style dress she was wearing now than she had been with the dress she had worn when she had been undercover with Castle at the Gilded Age Society's last event.

Castle entered their bedroom. "Are you ready to….Wow! You are just adorable. And sexy."

Kate smiled at him. "You're not half bad yourself." Rick was dressed in a claw hammer coat with a patterned, embroidered waist coat and a top hat with goggles above the brim. Kate picked up her hat, a slightly more feminine version of his hat and put it on her head. "And I'm always ready to go to the steam punk nineteenth century with you."

Castle grinned. "When we went a couple of years ago, I didn't think it'd take this long to perfect the virtual reality. But Manwaring ran into some problems with his virtual reality programs, but according to the Sinthesis website, we're all set for a night living in Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon, as interpreted by Manwaring and his people." He held out his arm. "Shall we go?"

A town car picked them and drove them to the Manhattan headquarters of the Sinthesis Corporation where the members of the Gilded Age Society, New York's finest steam punk club, had gathered along with anyone else who could beg, borrow or steal a ticket to an event which had fascinated people for years now. In addition to the usual steam punk crowd, Kate saw someone that she had hoped to never see again.

"Richard, how good to see you again."

Castle kept his face carefully neutral. "Ms. Vaughn. How are you?"

"Oh, Rick. No need to be so formal. Please call me Erika."

"And you know my wife, Kate." He said, pulling Kate close to him.

"Oh, yes." She said without enthusiasm. "I do remember her."

"I was hoping after our last meeting that you'd be in prison by now." Kate said acidly.

"Oh, you'd be surprised what a few million dollars worth of top notch legal talent can do. Plus, I was innocent of most of what I was charged with. I did have to pay a few million in fines, but that's just the cost of doing business."

"I'm surprised you're here." Rick said. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be attracted to the nineteenth century. Too old tech for you."

Erika smiled. "My dear friend Todd Manwaring had some problems with his software. I helped him out and bought a piece of his company. I am a genius, after all."

Kate remembered the genius who had, in her mind, orchestrated two murders to cover up massive fraud and embezzlement. And she had gotten away with it. Worse, Erika Vaughn had the body of a porn star and the sexual appetite to match. She had set her sights on Rick when they thought she had been the target of an assassination plot and insisted he guard her. Happily, Rick had stayed true to Kate, but Kate disliked Erika more than any other woman in her husband's life.

Before anything else happened, they were ushered into an auditorium and seated. Todd Manwaring came out and introduced himself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to resume of virtual reality trip across Africa from the Jules Verne classic, Five Weeks in a Balloon. Since I wanted to bring this to the attention of the largest number of people, I'm afraid that most of you will be passive witnesses to the events here tonight. However, through the magic of our virtual reality, the active players will be able to walk, run, jump and do anything they could do in real life, all while seated comfortably in the auditorium. Tonight the active players will be my business partner, Ms. Erika Vaughn, who will play the part of Lady Erika Spencer. Rick Castle will play her husband, Sir Richard Spencer. The part of Lady Spencer's maid, Matilda, will be played by Mrs. Kate Castle…."

Kate's hand tightened around Rick's. Erika Vaughn was going to be Rick's wife? Like hell. "Castle, I'm your wife, I should be your wife in this."

"It's just Erika trying to get to me. And you. Kate, you're the only one for me. You know that."

"Yes, but seeing her trying to paw you all night isn't going to be fun."

"Now, everyone, please put on your virtual reality goggles and away we go!" Manwaring cried.

Kate put on her glasses and found herself floating over the Sahara Desert in a balloon. She hadn't caught the real names of the other members of the expedition, but she knew who the characters they played were. Sir Reginald Gardener was an eccentric English inventor who had designed and built the balloon. In command of the balloon was Captain Trevor Leigh-Mallory, an engineer on loan from the Royal Navy. There was Dick Spaulding, and old African hand who looked like he was based on something out of H. Rider Haggard. Arlette d'Alencon was a lithe and beautiful Frenchwoman who was an explorer and something of an early feminist. Then there was Paddy O'Malley, Gardener's Irish servant, a large, muscular lad of nineteen.

And then there was Matilda. Kate looked down at herself and was shocked to see her hands were large, and gnarled. Looking under her skirts, she saw legs the size of tree trunks. She grabbed a mirror and found she had the face of an elderly woman, with half her teeth missing and a badly receding hairline. That bitch Vaughn did this. Kate looked over to Erika Vaughn. Her outfit would never have been worn by any nineteenth century woman. The skirt was too short and slit up one side and her blouse, what there was of it, barely covered her large, firm boobs.

Erika then kissed Rick, passionately. Rick tried to push himself away and finally managed to.

Erika batted her eyes. "Really, Richard. You needn't be so coy. We are married, after all."

"And as you know, I'm a very reserved English gentleman." Castle replied. "Not in public, don't you know?"

Reserved for me. Kate thought. Not for you, you criminal bitch.

"Look lively now." Captain Mallory called. "There's a Foreign Legion fort down there, being besieged by the Tuaregs. We should help them."

"Bloody right." Spaulding said. "Bloody Tauregs."

"Arise children of the fatherland, the day of glory has arrived!" Cried d'Alencon.

"Oi thinks we'll give thim Johnnies a hiding." Said O'Malley.

Kate found that while the others were armed with then modern Lee-Metford breech loading repeaters, she had a sawed off shotgun that looked to be a hundred years old. She checked. As near as she could tell, she had only the two shotgun shells. If there were any other shells about, she didn't know where they were.

Kate walked to Castle. "Shouldn't I have a rifle, too? I'm a good shot."

Erika laughed. "Really, Matilda? You're a maid. You've never fired a gun in your life."

Kate glared at the woman. "Where's the ammo for my…."

She was cut off by a sudden thump.

The balloon's gondola touched down on one wall of the fort just as a horde of Tuaregs poured over the far wall. No more than a handful of Legionnaires survived to make it to the balloon. As the soldiers ran, the balloon's occupants poured rifle fire into the Tuaregs. Suddenly, Kate felt a shove and found herself sprawling onto the parapet of the fort. Kate knew that if her character died or was captured, her virtual reality goggles would be turned off and she'd sit in the dark while the rest of them continued the game.

"Kate!" Rick screamed and jumped down to save her. He was followed by Spaulding and d'Alencon who fought off the Tuaregs while Rick tried to lift Kate back to the balloon.

"What's wrong? I can hardly lift you?"

"In this damned scenario I weight about three hundred pounds and your virtual arms can't lift that much." Suddenly Kate looked up and saw Erika looking down at them with a superior smirk on her face. Then Erika was pushed aside and Paddy O'Malley jumped down. The huge, muscular Irishman lifted Kate up and then pulled the others to safety.

As the balloon ascended, everyone looked at their new companions, three legionnaires. "Waal, that thar was as close a shave as I've ever had." Said one.

"You're an American?" Castle asked.

"Yup. Private Bucky Thorpe, the pride of Kingdom Prairie, Texas, at your service. These here are my pards, Leon and Maxim. They don't speak no American like I do. But they parlez vous the Francais real good."

"I don't like the looks of what's below us." Spaulding said.

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"The wind is hardly moving us and now the Tuaregs are starting to look up at us and…."They heard the crack of a rifle and then the zip of a bullet passing them. "They're bloody shooting at us."

"Mallory, we should go up quickly." Gardener yelled as the others grabbed their rifles and fired down into the mass of Tuaregs.

The balloon rose slowly in the hot desert air and the Tuaregs kept firing at the balloon, holing it in several places.

Just as the sun set, the wind picked up and moved them far from the Tuaregs. Mallory landed the balloon after several hours and climbed up to examine the envelope of the balloon.

When he returned he had bad news. "We have several holes that need patching. It'll take an hour or so to do so. In the meantime we should rest a bit and then we can be on our way. Perhaps we should have a meal."

Just as they were about to ascend nearly an hour and a half later, when a camel caravan hove into sight.

"Those are Fulani from northern Nigeria." Erika said. "I speak their language. Perhaps I can barter for some fresh food. These canned goods are not appealing."

"I'll go with you." Spaulding said. "They could be dangerous."

Erika shook her head. "The sight of an armed man will worry them. I'll go alone. After all, I am a genius."

She walked over to the caravan leader and spoke to him in his native language. To everyone's surprise, the leader and his men pulled out their rifles and shot Erika. The virtual reality Erika collapsed and the real Erika found herself in the auditorium.

And for the rest of the game, Sir Richard stayed with the maid Matilda, making out at every opportunity.

When the game was over, Rick and Kate were about to leave when a dark haired young lady came over to them. "Did you enjoy the game?" She asked.

"The beginning was a little rough, but it got a lot better." Rick said with a smile.

"Wall, pards I'm sure glad you had a fine old time." She said smiling.

"You were Bucky Thorpe?" Rick and Kate asked together.

"Yes. Melinda Cummings, and I was the chief scientist until that bitch came along and grabbed all of my work and called it hers. So I decided to have a little fun. Of course Erika doesn't speak Fulani, so I programmed the VR computer to have her tell the caravan, "I'm an evil djinn," or demon, "and I will make you all my slaves." Naturally they shot her character and she exited the game." She winked at Rick and Kate. "Have a good night."

And they did, having a steampunk role playing game of their own in the bedroom of the loft.