by P. S. Power
In the end they stayed until nearly eleven in the evening, then were allowed to leave, since the King needed to be returned to the palace quickly, before his personal guard panicked about his absence. The giant man spoke to him, in Standard, as they reloaded the funny looking flying purple and black bus.
Thankfully, there were words to translate for him, so it was understood.
“This is the first time I’ve been outside on my own in nearly thirty years.”
Not that the man was alone at all. There were far too many people around for that. The idea made sense though. There were no guards there for him, specifically. Cindy moved up, her face rather blank as she spoke.
“The tradition here is for the heir to take power when they turn forty, isn’t it? That’s in… less than five years. It’s good for you to ease back into doing things on your own, so it won’t be a shock to you later. A day here, a trip to another world there for a week or two. That kind of thing. Besides, you had the Queen of the Moon and the secret leader of Mars in on this already. You couldn’t really afford not to make a showing at all. More to the point, I wanted to get you in with Drake and Lydia for a bit here. Kerry and Denis as well. They aren’t that high up in my world, but they all have a certain cache in different places. Now you know them personally and can just get in touch with them all directly. Combat buddies, so no one will think it odd that you’re all close. See how that works?” She smiled about the words, which got a return look from the King.
He bowed a bit, as he walked. It was a practiced move that was probably a bit difficult to do while also not seeming like an awkward goon.
“I’d wondered at the reasoning behind it, to be truthful. After all, I wasn’t truly needed here at all, for all I’m glad to have done my part. I should attempt to procure a device to connect with your world directly, given that? The kingdom has one, naturally, but it wouldn’t be appropriate to use it for personal needs.” The words were a bit off, seeming covert instead of a simple statement.
A thing that Richard understood, without even thinking much about it. After all, if Cindy was hooking him up with members of the crew specifically, there might be a need for something that wasn’t being openly mentioned. A plan in the works that it would be foolish to talk about openly.
Looking up at the large man who shared his fake name, Richard smiled.
“Who do we go to for that kind of thing? Something on the black market?” They might be able to steal one, if they had that kind of data. That or buy one, if it could be done without being noticed on the books, if that was an issue.
From behind him, Tim Baker spoke. His words were bland enough that he didn't seem upset by what Rich had been considering mere moments before. That was probably down to not caring, rather than not getting it. The man could read minds, after all. At least Richard had been told that was probably the case. All the mages and wizards would be expected to be able to do that kind of thing.
“I have some of those left, as it turns out. I can have one sent over for you directly, King Richard. One for each of these others, as well, Ambassador Mableton?” The look he gave her was direct and clearly spoke of understanding things on a deep level.
There was a bob of the blonde woman’s head.
“That’s a good idea. Really, we probably need more than that, eventually. Otherwise you won’t all get the messages about our Halloween and Christmas parties in time.”
The words were a joke, meant to either throw off any listeners or just to keep the mood light. When they settled, it was in a cluster of bodies, all being near each other in groups. The cages in the back were empty, though still there. Existing now without a real purpose. The ship would change on demand. As technology went, it was remarkably flexible. The kind of thing that would be useful to have one of, if it were ever possible.
While it occurred to him that he might be able to steal that kind of thing and then take it to his own world, the truth was that, even if worth millions or possibly billions of dollars, staying in the good graces of Tim and Tor Baker was worth more to him at the moment. The ability to change Infected people like they could was priceless, as far as he was concerned.
Plus, you didn’t steal from your friends. It was a rule that he’d lived his entire life. Things were, in the end, only items. Inanimate objects that might be useful or pretty. Friends and crew were the important thing. Family as well, for most people. That last one wasn’t a thing he’d done much with, himself. The idea that he could now had come to him before, though being busy had held him away from taking any action on it. Really, he hadn’t even had a steady girl in so long that he didn't recall who had filled the position. It was something to work on, in the future.
Oddly enough, that thought got him to think of something and smile suddenly. It was a bit out of place for the conversation, which was currently about them getting nifty cross reality phones hooked up. Timon looked at him, then shook his head a bit.
“I’m missing something.” The words just hung there for a second. They weren’t a question. The man understood that he wasn’t following suddenly, just from a smile and a few random thoughts.
Richard kept smiling.
“I just realized that people were the important thing in life. Friends, family… Then it hit me that I missed my cat.” He spread his hands, willing to have others laugh at him. After all, Tabitha was as close to him as anyone in the world, any world, ever had been. His family, in a very real way.
Instead of ridicule, Tor simply smiled at him, then spoke in nearly flawless English.
“She is a marvelous cat. Alyssa was suggesting that we consider getting one of those for our place in Vagus. The building is solid and made of magic, but we do have a mouse problem. It’s living in a grassland like we do. They come in somehow and make themselves at home in our food stores and clothing cupboards.”
Then, as if it made any sense at all, the issue of pest control came up, and was discussed, until the King of Noram was returned to the palace. The rest of them were invited in for the night, though Tor waved that thought away for them all.
“Not needed. We’re near my place here. Plus, you had a group come in earlier for the students to work on, didn’t you, Mr. Drake?” There was worry in the words, as if that might not be the case. It hadn’t been brought up at all. They’d all been too focused on saving Georges.
He got to nod though, which was always nice.
“We did, in fact. People recently imprisoned. For the non-crime being Infected. We had to break them out of confinement. Which, even in our world was actually legal, so you don’t feel poorly about us. We shouldn’t have had to do it, but there were other circumstances involved. Mainly… Perhaps we could speak about this in a few moments?” It was mainly the Baker family members, IPB people and Baron Havar left. That and Clemance Thompson, since they were in his bus thing. It was probably rude to keep the King out of their plans, so he shrugged, the man freezing a bit on hearing his words. Seeming slightly upset, for the briefest instant. Then his face went blank. Perfectly controlled.
Waving, he smiled up at the man. No one else had stood up, even if Royalty had gotten up to leave.
“It isn’t that you can’t know about it, I just may have to beg a little bit and you know how it is, not wanting to do that in front of everyone in the world.”
For some reason, that got a smile from the monarch. A big and genuine seeming thing. Delayed, since he had to read up on the subject first, it seemed.
“Ah. I do, actually, have some idea of that one, then. Normally begging for forgiveness, for doing my job. It comes up with ridiculous frequency in my life, sadly.”
Thinking for a second, reading the translation himself, Richard nodded.
“About like that, actually. It’s kind of a big ask, as well, so Tor might have to tell me to go soak my head. If so, I don’t want to force him to do it in front of the king. That might embarrass him.” For some reason most of the people with him seemed to find that idea funny. Tor translated
the words, so the king could laugh at the idea as well.
It let the king move out without hurt feelings, so it was worth the gentle mocking. After that, no more than a minute later, the craft rose upward. Calling out, Cindy set the destination.
“Straight up, into orbit, if that’s all right, Countier Thompson? We need to speak. Not that anyone is listening to us here. It’s hard to do in a vehicle like this. I just haven’t been in space a lot before.”
The world shifted, without feeling like anything at all was happening. Sighing, Richard glanced over at Tim, who was sitting behind him, making the move obvious to everyone.
“Do you have some of these laying around? They’re amazing.” He laughed a bit, as the man shook his head. Interestingly, Dareg Canton tilted his head a bit.
“I have some, if you want? I think it would have to be hidden from your people though. Karina mentioned that her father and Uncle Timon arranged for a delivery of some jump ships to your world. It would lessen the gift if it was known that you have one as a personal craft… maybe a fast craft, as a replacement gift? They’re most versatile in shape. You can’t travel to the stars in one, but they’re speedy, if moving in air or near the ground.” He looked at the others in turn, with all of them smiling a bit. It seemed strained.
Enough so that Richard waved the idea away. His goal wasn’t to leave people feeling like he was greedy, after all.
“That sounds wonderful but I can’t afford that kind of thing right now. I mean politically, not just in money. Besides, I need to learn how to teleport more smoothly anyway. I have it on good authority that I can do something close to that, if I practice enough. Maybe even traveling to other worlds on my own. Which I haven’t been working on at all. No time for it.”
Those words got Tor to clap, one time only.
“You should stay here then, for such studies. You get eight days for each one in your home time. Even if you only come for a few days at a time, to gain more from your work hours, that might be of use to you. Would that serve? It… should be more than possible to get you any kind of craft you wish, as well. Especially if it comes from Mars. I do see the need for political concern, as you mentioned, as well. Too much wealth moving from one place to another might create concern in certain circles.” The man seemed nearly apologetic. Worried as well. As if he was being mean or might be thought of that way, simply for being considerate and polite beyond all reason.
They stopped moving, hanging above the world, so high up that Richard could feel the awe of it.
He stopped for a second, looking out the window. Muttering a bit.
“I remember when the first Moon landing took place, back home. I watched it on television like everyone else, of course. I honestly never thought that I’d go to the Moon myself. This is… Amazing. Anyway, just because I want a cool car, doesn’t mean I need one. What would be really helpful is if we can keep some of the current crowd being worked on here, for a bit. Most of them were put in that hospital prison by their own family. They won’t really have anything to go back to or resources to get them started again in the world. One of them is important to an upcoming mission. The rest are just good people who drew a bad hand. They…” He stopped for a bit, turning to look at Tor, even if he wasn’t as awe inspiring as the Earth below them. Swirling with clouds and hinting at blues, greens and browns.
The man looked back a bit blankly as Rich went on.
“Even without their first modes, some of them might be troubled for a while. Maybe for the rest of their lives. They weren’t beaten and tortured but they were betrayed by their own people. I don’t know if I can explain.” He felt a bit slow and stupid for a moment.
Until Tiera Baker spoke.
“If they can work at all, they might want to consider moving to Harmony or Second City? That or to one of the Mars locations. Life isn’t hard there and while it means learning a new language or two, they will be welcome. If they cannot work… Well, then Tor will host them here, until we can find a better position for them. I’d offer my own home, as well of course. I just don’t have any servants. Perhaps Two Bends would be restful?” She looked at her brothers, then at Ruel, who was very still for a moment.
Then the large man nodded.
“I could host a few as well, in the Barony. Not in the splendor of Tor’s palace perhaps but I have some land there and could build something, if needed?” He seemed nearly humble about mentioning what he was.
Which was likely due to the fact that he wasn’t as rich as some of the others there. Still, he was making the offer anyway, even if it might be a hardship for him to do. Richard didn’t know if it was the right thing to do, but stood, moved to the aisle and bowed to Tiera and then Ruel.
As an after thought he covered the others as well, which had all the IPB people standing and doing the same thing.
Tor nodded though.
“Good, we have options here for them. I can also help them set up businesses or even give them funds to take back to your world, if that would be more welcome? Now, Richard, you mentioned needing to ask a favor of some kind? I… don’t want to stress you, we could move to the back?” The man gestured, as if that were a real thing.
Richard bowed again, directly to the man. It was done back, though not that deeply, since it was clearly supposed to be playful.
“That was it. Finding a place for these people. That and a spot to work for a few days, if it’s allowed. One of them, Gillian Sprouse, her parents are high up in the government back home. We need to ask her to speak about them publicly. She might refuse. Honestly, she probably should. It works for us to have her do that, and having a safe place for her where no one from back home can easily touch her will help, but really, she should say no. They and their people will pretty much have to try and kill her if it even looks like she might tell what she knows.”
It was a lot to drop on people all at once. Tim tightened his face then.
“They raped her? Torture or something similar. Then, when she showed the hated Infection, they used that as an excuse to have her hidden away from the world?”
Cindy smiled looking over at the man, who was across the aisle from her.
“That’s pretty close. They were training her to be one of them. A monster, basically. There, it isn’t all of our leaders, but many, aren’t good people. Back home they all know that speaking up will have them put to death if they try it. The kids… A lot of them are broken solidly by the time they’re old enough to speak. Gillian wasn’t fully indoctrinated into the cannibalism when she was locked up. Kids can’t be blamed for what their parents feed them. That means, with the other evidence we have that we might be believed, if she’s willing to speak. It really isn’t safe. She may well have to go back home for it and that will leave her open to assassination. They might even be able to reach her here, using magic or people with powers. I don’t think that will happen but I can’t prove it yet. Magic works in our world and is largely held in secret by the kinds of people we’re going up against.”
The words were clearly meant to be shocking. It seemed to work even. Everyone looked uncomfortable at any rate.
Dareg looked over at Cindy, then Richard.
“We can send her in with a shield and some armor. Weapons as well. Should we offer guards or… I don’t know. I’ll stand ready to do what I can. You say you have other proof of this evil, as well?”
Denis, who had been fairly quiet all evening, let his voice be heard then.
“Oh, yeah. Loads of it. Video of famous people doing horrible things. Body parts taken as trophies. It’s enough that we’re slowly making headway, finally. We stole it from them, a few months back. The major news services won’t touch it, but it’s been released on the deep web… I can’t explain that one.”
The man, his short hair wavy on the top, ran his fingers through it. Not caring if it messed things up at all. Men didn't concern themselves with things like that past good hygiene, after all. That and a tidy appearance on occasion.
&
nbsp; Richard had a clue on that one, having learned about such computer based things, over the past months.
“That one… It’s a bit like a secret handheld that only criminals use. The people that are spreading the information on it are being killed when they’re caught. In secret. They aren’t the good guys, but they won’t let this kind of thing go without trying to stop it. Some of them at least. The rest… Well, like I said, they aren’t good.” About half the people that saw the things were probably using them to pleasure themselves to.
A thought that left him feeling vaguely ill. He’d seen enough of the footage to have had it haunt his dreams more than once.
Everyone went silent for a while, until Clemance spoke up, from the front.
“Line walker Lydia, would I be allowed to travel with you back to your world? I’m needed there for another viewing of the new crop of jump pilots tomorrow, your time. Cousin Will was going to take me in, but…”
She nodded, speaking from her seat. A rich looking thing that seemed like soft cloth and was soft enough to remind one of an easy chair.
“Sure. We can do that when we get back. Is there anything else we need to talk about while we’re up here? I love the view, I have to admit.” She moved to the window to look out. Kerry was doing the same thing, her blue eyes avid seeming.
Cindy snapped her fingers.
“Yes. Ruel needs to send that letter to Laurie Baker, asking for Tiera’s hand. We’ll work that up, while we’re here.”
Kerry smiled and finally looked around, finding the tall, very attractive, woman first.
“She can just say yes or no right now, can’t she? Or… Well, I guess not, if it’s the tradition here. You need to get with Will on that too, don’t you Cindy? Accepting his marriage proposal? Then we just have to get Lydia set up that way. You and Clemance, maybe? He’s very cute and has his own space ship. That has to be a good sign that he’s going places.” The words were teasing, though the fellow at the front laughed at them. Not unkindly in his manner.
