by P. S. Power
Denno sighed, his voice going back to normal.
“No doubt. Even telling him “no” a little more often might have helped, though I think… he may not be mentally well balanced. His daughter too. Daria has always been a problem.”
Tor nodded, but added what he'd found out about them first hand, Glost being crazy and ruthless and Daria mainly doing what she did to survive with her father in the picture.
“She's just as evil, but it isn't a mental disorder with her, she learned to be like that. She might have been able to learn to move past it, but it's too late now. ” She'd killed Yardley and would die for it. He had to quickly explain it all to Denno, but it only took a few lines. Tor didn't want to surprise the man later with the idea, but Daria Serge was a convicted murderer in Noram, that had escaped due to the threat of annihilation, which they'd gone with in order to save Brown.
The woman was going to be put to death for her crimes.
Burks didn't get side tracked as easily as Tor did and brought the topic back to the new problem, the one Brown's own lack of attention allowed to take place.
“What's your contingency with the Larvals, now that you know about them?”
Denno didn't have one. Not really. He tried to bluff his way through, but finally just fessed up.
“I have no clue. There were never meant to be more than twenty-one of them at a time. The interlocking nano systems for this many, they can't be controlled. Each individual is receiving raw data from all the others. If they aren't already mad, then they will be soon. But,” rubbing his face with both hands Denno paused for a full minute, then continued talking as if the thought was uninterrupted.
“Their being insane won't dampen their utility to Glost. If anything it will make them more ruthless, especially if all their training and actions follows a military model. About the worst case scenario.”
“Tor.” Burks spoke softly, as if trying not to spook him.
“Set a course for Soam please.”
Working it out in his head Tor shrugged.
“Already headed that way.”
“Good. We'll have to fly in, but I want about a thousand miles between us and Austra before we go aloft. I packed food for three weeks and these chairs lean back to make serviceable beds. Tor, are you good for the first leg?” His voice sounded tired, as if he hadn't slept in days, which he may not have, if he didn't know the escape schedule. Staying awake would be the only way he could assure catching them when they swam out. If they swam out.
The trip was boring, except when it was finally his turn to sleep and the other two started bickering about what should be done with the Larval army.
“Oh, come now Burks! They're just boys, what, fifteen tops? They aren't a real threat at this point, it will be years-”
“Until they come to Noram and start slaughtering innocent people because Glost couldn't get my daughter to marry him? I told you about all that, but you didn't do anything. After he stole a squad of young Larval from you? Why is that exactly?” Lairdgren sounded both skeptical and pissed at the same time when he spoke.
“What would you have me do? Murder him for having some strong feelings? Don't you remember being that age at all? We were all little monsters back then, but we managed all right in the end, didn't we?” Denno sat forward in the soft chair and stared at the back of Burks head as he drove the craft under the water. It wasn't hard to do, Tor knew, but it would have been easier to sleep if the men would just shut up about things they couldn't currently control.
“Seriously Den? He tried to kill my daughter, one of us. Using a weapon that's barely allowed under the treaty and then only because you've promised to keep their numbers down. Glost shouldn't even know what a nuclear bomb is, much less be trying to build one. Something isn't right here. Glost knows too much and is pushing too many boundaries to ignore. When we get to White, I'm going to recommend calling a summit. This is too big for just us to handle. God.”
Then they argued about summits for another hour, finally, eyes drifting shut on their own, and, being woken by stern arguments again, Tor moved to the hindmost chair and activated his quiet field. They could bicker like hens if that made them happy, but Tor was getting some sleep. The magical light was already too bright, that plus talking was just too much. The chair was comfortable enough and laid flat when he pushed a lever and straightened his body, once his eyes finally closed he decided not to open them for several long hours.
Finally after four days of this Tor grew fed up and when the other two slept he rose above the waves by about a foot, using the low driving mode, and moved them along at about a hundred miles per hour. Going faster was an option, but it made a ripple in the water if he did. That could be seen from the air, he thought. They were at the thousand mile limit before Burks woke up and over Soam an two hours later. Tor hovered up high, not knowing where they were to go next.
If Burks had a problem with it, he could climb out and walk, Tor decided.
The constant fighting had worn him down and he was about to start hitting people. Since all the people on board could kick his behind, that wasn't a good thing to be feeling. Dangerous even. The only thing stopping him at the second was how much he cared about his own health. Once that level of frustration was breached, when he cared more about making it stop than his own safety, violence would ensue.
That would mean Tor needed to cheat, if he wanted to survive it. Oddly enough a plan formed. He couldn’t use it yet, but it should work…
True, they were nice and quiet while they rested, but Denno kept trying to get him to agree with him, even though Tor didn't know half enough to be involved in the decision making here. Burks had been careful not to agree with him on that when Tor finally said it out loud, but it was obviously what he'd been thinking too. Jerk. Assuming Tor was to uneducated to make a simple decision.
It was true, but still…
When they woke Tor created a hatch on either side and opened them, hovering about five thousand feet above the ground, which he lowered quickly so they could keep breathing easily. The area they were over had mountains, so they were actually way higher than it looked. It got their attention, which was the point.
“Without arguing, which way do we go?” Tor said reasonably, ready to tip them out if they didn't get along at least passably well.
“North-east, I think.” Burks didn't grin, but Tor could still tell he wanted to.
“Point.” Tor said, trying to not sound half as gruff as he felt.
Burks did, quickly, Denno looking on with slightly wide eyes for some reason.
OK, Tor was being a bit moody about it, but it wasn't like he really planned to do anything, say dump them both out to fall to their deaths, they'd just bugged him enough that he wanted to, that was all.
They found the city of stone easily enough, The only gray spot in a sea of green trees and foliage. The place was lovely, but much larger than he expected, at least ten times the size of the Capital in Noram. Tor slowly landed on a flat gray space that was both empty of people and reasonably close to where they were supposed to be. At least the others claimed that. Tor didn't care as long as there was a bath, or shower, even a bucket and a stiff brush, wherever they were. Even a container of clean sand would be good. The fact of the matter was, even though no one had mentioned it, they all stank badly from being closed in for so long without a way to clean up. They had a tiny restroom in the back, but no shower facilities. The carriages just didn’t. He hadn’t thought to build that in.
He’d have to fix that.
The city they were in was amazing though, Tor noticed even through the surly haze that covered his mind. It was all stone, every visible bit of it, natural rock had been cut somehow, into massive bricks the size of small houses, then placed together to form structures. If they used anything but rock to do it, Tor couldn't tell. There were people about, short and brown, with dark hair and bright red and blue skirts on. That's all anyone wore, a skirt, including the women.
As a g
roup they had small breasts, the few well endowed women sagged dramatically even from a distance. They didn't seem to smile much, but when a strange craft lands in your front yard and weird looking smelly people climb out, that could put a person off their game. Tor and the Ancients just stood and waited by the craft, not trying to go anywhere or even sitting. Maybe it was rude to sit here? Tor wondered if he should put the vehicle away but Burks didn't say anything, so he left it, just in case they had to flee quickly for some reason.
Say a large group of people indicating they should leave?
No one looked hostile though, just curious. After half an hour a boy, one that looked about ten or so, ventured over with a basket of fruit and offered it around. It wasn't poisoned and seemed to be free, so Tor took a funny looking banana that was all red, large and very fat compared to the ones he’d seen before and ate it. It was wonderful. Anything edible not from a jar would have been of course. Austran food sucked, hard, and after day three in that little pot of a vehicle, everything had started tasting like sweat and body odor anyway. Gross.
Burks quickly thanked the boy, who spoke to him for a while, in a language that Tor didn't understand at all. He listened as closely as he could, hoping to catch on. The language was pretty, and a few of the words were really close to Noram standard, so that gave him something to start from, the word endings were different, but there seemed to be a regular pattern to it all. More than what he was used to even.
The boy left them, still just standing, and other people came by to look, openly staring, which with their four days of beard growth, strange colors and bizarre, meaning more than a short skirt, clothing had to look out of place. They kept just standing and waiting though, and finally sitting and waiting, as dark fell. Tor wanted to sleep but didn't know if it was safe. He and his grandfather had shields, but Denno didn't, and if something happened it would be hard to protect the man if Tor was off dreaming of hand pies.
“Don't worry Tor, it's safe here. Violence is unheard of, like in Afrak, except that here it was a purposeful choice that everyone agreed too and a change of culture over thousands of years.” Burks sounded slightly bitter.
Probably over Afrak, where peoples fields had all been changed using “genetics” to make violence nearly impossible. Not bigotry or sexist behavior, just the ability to fight back against it. The idea still bothered Tor too. Of course that his own grandmother had been the one to do it made the whole thing even worse. For him at least. The people there probably wouldn’t care who did it. Honestly, he wasn’t sure they could.
She wasn't exactly a pleasant person, not if you were a man at least. Identical to his mother and possibly his little sister Tiera. But harsher somehow. It was a situation that could end up going horribly wrong. If Tor became Burks, well that wouldn't be too bad over all. He was an alright person as far as that went. But if his mom became Lara? God, that would be bad. The short answer being that he didn't think the world could survive two of her.
Possibly in a literal sense.
They slept in the craft that night, but with a side made clear, so that they could see out if anyone came to visit or needed anything. The back was close enough to a large stone pyramid that no one would try coming that way, the other way faced a road. It was only about eight foot across, but all the traffic seemed to be on foot here. Again the whole thing was made of massive stone blocks.
They kept waiting and waiting. People brought more food, and water and finally some wash water too. Tor cleaned completely, scrubbing up self-consciously as people stared at him doing it. He didn't get naked, washing in a skirt like the natives wore, one in red, the most popular color on men. Tor hoped it didn't mean he was agreeing to be sacrificed or anything, or if he was, someone would tell him about it first. If he was going to be sacrificed he at least wanted to know why. Wouldn't do to say the wrong words and ruin it for everyone else or anything either, so maybe a class in it would be good first?
Thanks to those buckets of water and the fact he had a bath heater as one of the sigils around his neck meant they could all wash with warm water. Finally. Denno kept staring at him, but didn’t speak, just stripping and using the warm water himself.
Not that it was cold out, but the extra bit of comfort was nice. The bucket wasn't really one at all, but a large fired clay pot instead. It worked to carry water, but a handle would have made it easier to deal with.
Tor got to be clean again, shaved and even had nice smelling breath when White walked up. The other two straightened, subconscious behavior on their parts most likely, and smiled when the woman came into view.
She was more than pretty, she was exotic. Even that word didn’t capture her beauty exactly. It went beyond what was normal at all.
Her skin wasn't just light colored like his, but a gentle pearl color. It glowed as the soft sunlight hit it through the lush green of the trees and tall bushes all around them, and her eyes were a crystalline blue, like chips of deep and old ice. She ran the last few steps to meet the others, her breasts small, but still firm, Tor could tell, because she wore no top and promptly pressed them against him in welcome. His arousal was instant and complete. That was pretty normal. At eighteen, no, nineteen now, he was pretty young, and in his world a half naked hug from a pretty girl was still notable. After all, she looked about his age, his real age of nineteen, not what he looked to be, which was younger.
That the others were responding the same way was the tricky part. No scent should have passed his shield, and her field wasn't putting out anything extra alluring, so it was probably just her looks, rather than magic. Had she been designed to be physically perfect that way? It seemed likely. It could be a mental effect though. One he just didn’t know how to block yet. It wouldn't hurt for him to be careful that way.
“You brought a new brother for a visit? And he's Green! Only no? May I meet him, do you think?” She said this softly, the sound gentle and lovely to the ear, but Tor didn't trust it or her. She was just a little too perfect and it would be too easy to rule him using her allure. Tor grimaced and put up his bumpkin mental barriers.
“Julie, this is Torrance Baker, also just called Tor. He's my grandson and as you already guessed, me.” Burks looked almost eager to please the woman, it was strange and off putting in its aggressive nature.
Tor smiled and bowed to her, but she hugged him again.
“Julie White.” She made no move to let him go at all, as if she was trying to imprint him with her body, her image, so that he'd like her.
“Please, call me sister.” She said melodically.
“Alright sis, if we’re going to be family, would you kindly back the hell off and stop trying to use whatever your trick is on me?” It was blunt and from the men’s reaction almost scandalous. Julie just laughed, a sound like bells and moved back suddenly.
“Oh, was I doing that again? Sorry about that, old habit. Get people early and make friends before they can decide to be your enemy, you get the idea, I'm sure.” She sounded a lot more matter of fact, but stood and watched him a bit nervously.
Was it because he'd broken her stride? Probably not. Again with the “so old that she'd probably already done everything” concept. Nothing he did would really fluster someone like her. Still, he was a Noram Ambassador, if not the one for Soam. He bowed and spoke quickly, trying to be a little more diplomatic.
“Don't worry, I'm friendly. I just need to keep a clear head with this crowd. I don't have vast experience to fall back on, you know?”
Julie chuckled.
“That shows wisdom. So, to what do I own the pleasure? Did you just come to let me meet the new family member? That would be a wonder. We need to have reunions every ten years or so like we used to. I haven't seen anyone in over fifty, except you two now.”
They weren't invited in anywhere, and weren't offered more refreshments either, instead they all sat on the ground, Julie's short emerald green skirt flaring enough to show she didn't bother with anything underneath, meaning he had to loc
k onto a deeper meditative state not to look.
Tor let the others talk unless asked a specific question, not getting everything spoken of anyway. Most of what they said was in short hand or foreign languages, that or the words had been lost over time. Julie didn't get angry over the Larval situation, but was concerned. At least she sounded that way, it was hard to tell, because she kept petting Burk and Denno in an extremely creepy fashion for a sister.
Yes, Tor got that they weren't really directly related, their genetic “gifts” were vastly different, and probably their parents were too, if they even had them.
Tor hadn't asked how that all worked yet. But still, they grew up thinking of each other as brother and sister, enough so that Burks had gone to rescue Denno thousands of years later because of those family ties. That meant that Julie was being inappropriate. Then again, given what he could piece together about her, she might not be able to help herself. She kept her hands off Tor however. Not because she wanted to, she kept reaching out to him, but he'd turned his shield on and left it. She giggled at that, but Denno largely ignored it like he did anything magic.
“Oh, I need one of those! Does it keep insects from biting?”
Tor nodded.
“As long as it's on it will. A regular insect biting you won't force it to turn on though. Are they a problem here, insects? I could make shields just for that, I think… It could take a bit. This Larval thing will probably come first. Then a simple bug shield would be easier to manage.”
A specific insect shield was really more interesting too, because it was a complex problem, at least if he wanted to do it right. People would need to be able to touch things and each other, but bugs had to be filtered. It could be done, but… yeah, millions of kinds of insects in the world. Could he make it to discriminate against biological creatures under a certain size? That… could work. He'd have test it and see. After a few moments a hand was waved in his face. Denno.
“Are you well Tor?” His voice held actually concern, but Tor laughed.
