by John Booth
“Esta look,” Lana pointed at the horizon. “My father’s summer estate is just a little further.”
That and the lack of other coaches in the vicinity seemed to calm Esta down.
A short time later we approached a small town and started to slow down.
“Is your father’s estate in the town?”
Lana looked puzzled. “This is my father’s estate. Welcome to FalconNest.”
27. Supper
The coach came to a halt in front of a modest entrance. No sooner had we got out than the doors closed and it took off again. The absence of sound was almost as disconcerting as the lack of wind. It just departed like a spectral arrow.
“This is the family entrance,” Lana explained. “There are much grander ones for when my father is receiving other Lords.”
“How do you become a Lord?” Esta asked.
“You inherit it. But that is not as simple as it sounds.”
“How did sister and brother come to own this planet?” I asked. It had been bothering me since Alan had addressed Fandra as sister.
“Fandra is the sister of my mother, who was my father’s designated wife. She inherited the d’Cosard estates.”
“Will we meet your mother?” Esta asked.
That gave me pause. I have always found it more difficult to meet the mothers of the women I have been intimate with than their fathers.
“My mother is dead,” Lana said without emotion.
The door opened and a young woman confronted us. She was wearing nothing but a skirt that might have served better as a handkerchief. She bowed to Lana.
“Your father is expecting you. Please follow me.”
I got closer to Lana. “Your father’s choice of servant is illuminating,” I said in English.
“It is not what you think. Young women are sent here by powerful families in the hope that he might father a child with them. And they spy on him. It is a way to gain influence and my father cannot refuse them without insulting their families. These girls take their role very seriously.”
I nodded. “I think they used to do the same in England. That’s how most of our nobility got started, by-blows of the King.”
“Then you understand,” Lana said quietly.
We were taken to an intimate dining room, barely larger than the small low table at its center. Alan d’Fallon sat cross legged on a flat cushion in front of the table.
“Greetings daughter,” he said. “Would you and your companions do me the honor of joining me for supper?”
Lana chose to sit on her father’s right while I sat on his left and Esta had no choice but to sit facing him.
More semi-naked girls arrived to offer the first of what turned out to be ten courses. Each course was little more than a taster. All the girls were beautiful in a way that suggested plastic surgery was a refined art among the d’Tachi.
“Don’t you find all this flesh a little distracting?” I asked.
Alan smiled. “You become detached from it after a while. I am not as young as I look.”
One of the girls leaned over me to deposit a sweetmeat on the table. Her left nipple brushed against my cheek.
“I’m hoping it takes me a long time to get that old,” I said and Alan laughed.
His face grew serious as he turned to Lana.
“Your aunt grows restive and your relationship with her puts me in danger.”
Lana paused before replying.
“We passed the test, did we not?”
Alan did not give any indication he agreed.
“I have not forgiven your Aunt for killing your mother. Come here, or to any other family than her when next you visit.”
Lana’s face froze.
“Fandra was not my mother’s killer. That was Dion, as well you know.”
Alan shook his head. “I knew Dion well. Despite the evidence to the contrary, it was not him. He loved your mother in a way that only a younger brother can.”
Lana made as if to stand up and I interrupted them to keep her at the table.
“Lana has made great progress at Haldor University. You must be very proud of her.”
Alan glared at me, and then he worked out what I doing.
“I have always been proud of Lana, whatever she does.”
Lana settled back on her cushion, but she gave me a look that suggested my chances of sex with her anytime soon had dwindled to zero.
I looked around to check that the serving girls were out of earshot.
“Is being a wizard that bad in d’Tachi society, given your own position?”
He made a small gesture and I sensed blocking shields form around us.
“High technology and magic are largely indistinguishable, but people fear what they cannot comprehend. And fear leads to intrigue, which often leads to death.”
I went for the jugular.
“Then why would a man who fears being discovered as a wizard build devices that can detect us?”
He looked puzzled. “That would indeed be foolish, if such a man existed.”
Lana spoke urgently, “Father we know all about your production facility at Killan and your sales to the Diamond Worlds.”
Alan laughed. “I remember taking you to Killan Productions when you were a child. But we have no contracts with the Diamond Worlds. You know the d’Tachi policy on sales of High Tech to primitive worlds.”
“Honored more in the breech than in the observance,” Lana spat.
Alan was getting red in the face. “I have told you the truth.”
“Calm down everybody,” I said as we all got to our feet. I turned to Alan.
“Whether you are aware of it or not. Your factory at Killan is teleporting goods to the Diamond Worlds. Some of those goods are wizard-detectors for want of a better description.”
“Leave now, all of you,” Alan said. “I will listen to no more of your nonsense. Lana’s judgement has been impaired since her mother died and she killed the wrong man in revenge.”
The semi-naked girls rushed in to surround us and some held gun like devices pointed at us. I slapped up a shield just in time as energy shot towards us.
“Stop firing,” Alan commanded, but it was too late.
Bolts of energy came at three of us from all sides. None were aimed directly at Alan, but he was at risk from deflected bolts and he had his shields up to protect himself.
Lana grabbed us and hopped us back to her aunts.
“What the hell was that about?” I asked Lana.
Lana took a moment to get her breath back and then started laughing. “That was a power play. A good one too.”
What was she on about?
“A chance to rid my father of his heir. And if he got killed in the crossfire, so much the better.”
I continue to look as puzzled as I felt.
“My father was ordering us to leave. A good enough excuse for his servants to shoot us when we did not instantly obey him. Especially as we are known magic users. People who cannot be trusted.” Lana laughed again.
“Should we leave the planet?” Esta asked.
Lana sobered. “No, my father will have regained control the moment we left. Despite what his servants did, he cannot fault them for it. They acted in defense of him.”
“What about the magic he used?” I asked.
“In all the confusion? They will not know and probably do not even suspect he used any.”
“I don’t know about you two, but I could use a nice cup of tea.” It was trivial to hop in and out of my kitchen back on Earth with the ingredients. A few seconds later we all sat around the teapot waiting for the contents to brew. There are some things in life where magic doesn’t improve things. Brewing tea was one of them.
None of us were in a state of mind to sleep and so we sat around the table talking about university for a couple of hours. We had started to doze when the sound of wind chimes brought us back to wakefulness.
A holographic image of Alan d’Fallon appeared before us. He s
eemed cool, collected and not the slightest bit tired.
“I apologize for the over-zealous actions of my servants. The one who opened fire first will be suitably punished. I wish you a safe journey home before dawn breaks.”
His image vanished.
Lana sighed and looked downcast. “Now that means we have to go home now. I’m sorry, Jake. We failed.”
“Never mind. I have to go anyway. Things to do”
I hopped directly to teleportation platform in the Killan production facility. Before I stepped off the platform, alarms began to ring.
28. Killan
The alarm was unexpected. We had teleported in the last time without any immediate response and I had assumed I would have the time to cloak when I got here. Still, there was no time like the present. I applied several layers of invisibility, the visible light right down into the infrared and up into the ultraviolet was persuaded to curve around me. I considered going into glim, but decided I’d hold that option in reserve. Glim was several steps removed from the world and getting out meant using the knife of truth as I wasn’t a dragon.
Once I was as cloaked as I could be, I hopped across the warehouse to the only visible door. I say door, but it was really just a truck shaped hole in the wall. Stepping through into the room beyond, I discovered a packing area. Robotic arms of various sizes were bundling up devices in transparent plastic and packing them into the same sort of boxes I’d seen in the Temple.
The alarm stopped, as did every arm in the packing area. I saw a walkway above me and hopped onto it. The sterile whiteness of the place reminded me of the Progenitors Conference World. Were there no high tech worlds in the multiverse that used color when painting their factories? What was wrong with these people?
The door at the other end of the walkway whooshed open and Alan d’Fallon appeared with a dozen men following close behind him. The men were armed to the teeth and wearing the sort of high tech uniforms that you just know were bullet proof. The two men immediately behind Alan did not look happy about being behind him and he had barely got through the door before they took up point. Their eyes drifted past me, which was reassuring.
Alan looked down into the packing area.
“Get me one of those devices.”
As two of his men jumped over the balcony and drifted elegantly to the floor I made sure my detector shields were fully operational. One of the men flew up to Alan and put a detector in his hand. He shielded the device with his hand as he switched it on. Almost immediately he switched it off again.
“I want all those devices taken to FalconNest. Make sure they all get there. In fact, take everything you can find. I want full dispatch information uploaded and an inventory of everything you find. Secure the facility and arrest the people who work here.”
The men between me and Alan saluted and started issuing orders. Some men went back through the door he had entered from and others jumped over the balcony. Alan stared in my direction and then walked slowly back to the door. I decided to follow.
I nearly got hit by the door as it shut behind us. I had to jump forward to avoid it. Alan turned as if he had heard me and I held my breath.
“We can talk now, Wizard Morrissey. If you would mind materializing?”
I decloaked.
“I thought I was shielded against the detector and wizards.”
Alan smiled. “You were, and you must teach me that trick. My eyes are fitted with active sensors and you were not shielded against radio frequencies.”
I hate high tech worlds.
“I told you to leave the d’Tachi Federation.”
“The detectors pose a threat to my world,” I said.
“As they do to me. Though I am probably established enough in my role to survive any simple coup attempt.”
“I take it you didn’t know they were being made here?” It seemed obvious, but I felt I had to ask.
“Did the alarms give it away? The people guarding this facility did not want me to enter. They proved inadequate to the task of keeping me out. And, for your information, the devices are not made here.”
I would have said ‘uhh?’ to that once, but these days I am much more sophisticated.
“Then where were they made?” See? Smooth is my middle name.
Alan gave a dismissive wave. “I do not know… yet.” He waved the detector at me. “Most of this is d’Tachi tech, probably made by my companies as components for other devices. The chip that detects the magic and provides all the data is not made by us. The devices are assembled somewhere else, brought here and then shipped to the Diamond Worlds.”
“How can you possibly know?”
Alan looked disappointed in me. “If they had been making these devices here it would have been impossible to hide. When I checked on what you had told me, unauthorized deliveries and dispatches stood out, but assembly energies were spot on target for what is being made.”
I must have looked dejected. Alan put a hand on my shoulder.
“Whoever is behind this has hidden their trail well. The d’Tachi do not like being set up as a scapegoat and my reputation is at stake. We will find those responsible and they will answer for their crimes.”
“I’m not sure that will satisfy Bronwyn, she wants answers for everything,” I said.
“Another of your wives?”
I shuddered.
“But someone you fear?”
“Not exactly fear,” I said carefully. “It’s more a respect issue.”
Alan smiled. “You will make an excellent husband for Lana. Learning to respect dangerous women is a survival trait across the multiverse.”
“Err… I haven’t…”
He patted me on the shoulder again. “Lana has made her mind up and I agree with her choice. I’m afraid you are outnumbered and outgunned.”
There was the unmistakable sound of weapon fire. Lots of weapon fire. Even when the weapons use energy you can always tell. Alan looked around us. There was no one in sight.
“You should return to your world and speak to this Bronwyn. Tell her I am hunting Riard d’Conte and Grena d’Hans, the man and woman in charge of this facility. If she has agents on the Diamond Worlds she might hear word of them. I will send Lana a message and you can join me if I discover where they are hiding.”
Alan clicked his fingers and two images appeared in front of me. I took out my phone, powered up and snapped photos of them, much to Alan’s amusement. I guess our tech looked old fashioned to him.
I hesitated after putting the phone back in my pocket. “I don’t like leaving in the middle of a fight.”
Alan’s grin revealed gleaming canines contrasting against his skin. “This is not a fight. This is merely a vermin extermination exercise.”
I still felt bad about it, but it didn’t look as though I had a choice.
Next moment I was back in the Bat Cave.
29. Actions
Bronwyn frowned, always a bad sign. Despite the fact that she was sixteen and I was twenty-three it was just like being in front of my old school headmistress. I resisted the urge to fidget.
“We have nothing. The detectors were not being made by the d’Tachi though they use d’Tachi parts. There is another player in the game and we know absolutely nothing about them.”
Put like that it did seem a little negative.
“They won’t get any more detectors from Killan and Lana’s father has confiscated hundreds if not thousands of detectors. He’s spitting blood over being used. If he finds out who these people are, they may be on the market for a new home world.”
Bronwyn allowed herself a small smile.
“But that’s all if’s and but’s and maybe’s. My agents are going back to the Diamond Worlds as soon as they learn to use your shield. A small number have already returned.”
“We have these people to chase.” I waved my phone at her. I had already sent the photos to her phone along with my translation of their names.
Bronwyn stepped closer and looke
d into my eyes. Given I was taller, she had to look up, but there was no hint of subservience in her eyes.
“Is it likely we will find these two when they have the whole multiverse to hide in? Do you think you are going to turn on the television and find them staring back at you?”
“It’s still a place to start.”
She sat at the table. “Go away, shoo.”
“There is the matter of my wives?”
Bronwyn ignored me and started to read a ledger.
“It’s not only me you’re annoying.”
She looked up and stared at me. Being somewhere else seemed like a good idea. I hopped home to Jenny.
Merlin flew into my arms and I hugged him.
“Good Daddy,” he said.
“I meet with your approval?” It seemed unlikely, as I rarely did.
“The boy dun good,” he said in a Welsh-American accent.
“Who taught him that?” I asked Jenny. She was waiting for her chance to hug me, so I put Merlin down, much to his annoyance.
“He picks things up from the television,” Jenny said. “He watches too much, but it’s difficult to stop him. It stays on even when I pull the plug out.”
I set out the latest state of play for her.
“Bronwyn hasn’t been here or on Salice since she started this. I plan to give her a piece of my mind if she ever dares to visit.”
“I’m out of options. Unless Lana’s father gets back to me we’re stuck.”
“Let’s have a look at these people you’re chasing, then.”
It was a fair request and I got the photos up on the phone.
Jenny often bites her lower lip when she is concentrating, it looked cute.
“I’ve seen these two, both of them. I just can’t think where.”
I laughed. “Come on, love. What are the chances of that happening?”
Jenny hit me just hard enough to dry my laughter.
“I’m serious, Jake. I’ve seen these people, and recently too.”
I decided to humor her. It was probably the need for a solution to her endlessly pregnancy playing with her subconscious.
“Well, the next time you see them, make a note and let me know where to find them.”
