Out of the Woods (The Coalescence Book 1)

by P. S. Power

  He pulled it out for her to look at.

  “It’s a clothing amulet. Um… If you want to copy it, you might do what Rigs does? To make himself look like a bear? It’s pretty close to being the same thing. Only, of course, making it look like clothing or other people is probably more useful than what he’s doing.”

  That got a nod from her, a wince from Marcia and a funny expression from Lauren.

  “Um, Rigs is making himself look that way? He can be normal otherwise? Does he know that?”

  The answer, obviously was no, to that one. Which had a very different set of reactions than he would have suspected. Sara just nodded to herself, focusing on his neck intently enough that she accidently turned the thing off. He laughed as he reset it.

  “Hey, stop that for now. I have an extra that you can play with.”

  Lauren didn’t ignore his nudity, but did scowl at him, her face and body language seeming almost ready for combat.

  “We have to let him know that! Now. Right now. We can’t… I was stuck for years in a shell! Even if someone had just let me know that there was hope it could be fixed… no one knew, but…”

  Marcia nodded.

  “Fine. We need to get things together for the mission, now that you’re back. Did the project you were talking to me about work out?”

  That took him a second to go back over, but he was able to nod.

  “Yes. Timon had one that he’d already made for you folks here. We need to test it, since parts of it are experimental. Technically he’s putting Sara in charge of that mission. If that works out it will allow us to talk to people there, in Noram. Very few of them to start with, but Tim, probably Aunt Taman and several others. Queen Tiera. Patricia Baker most likely.”

  He smiled then shrugged.

  “They should have pictures, so don’t be shocked, Ms. Turner, she’s you. Should we do that, then go and see if Rigs wants to hear about all of this?”

  That might not be the case. The man, or bear if he preferred, had picked that form for some reason. Probably to make himself seem more gentle and kind than he internally felt. It was good camouflage, after a fashion. In which case, he could do whatever he wanted that way, if he knew the score.

  The device worked as far as getting in touch with the other unit they set up there, on their side. He had one handheld, the other being logged in to Sara’s name, since, as he’d pointed out, she was the one in charge of that. They did that inside the command offices, setting the tower in a closet, since as interesting as it looked, it was considered a bit distracting by the ladies who worked there. Lydia pushed in next to young adult looking Sara, her face seeming happy.

  “Neat. Picture phones! How far away do they work?”

  Will turned away then walked out the door, around the corner of the headquarters building, into the little red hut, then went to Harmony. At first he used his mind to hold the node represented by the booth open, but then dropped it on purpose. The handheld blinked, but kept showing both girls. Meaning that the things would probably just function like normal units did.

  Walking into the magic shop, he spoke, using English the whole time.

  “Well, I just went to the moon, in a different reality. So that works.”

  The only problem was that the girls were moving in slow motion on the screen. He was probably going much faster for his part of things. That got him to smile, as Tim walked over, having been working in the shop.

  “Wait… Time distortion, hit that orange sigil there, to speed it up?” Then they had to explain it to the girls, but after a bit they were having a conversation of sorts. Not a good one, but he could talk, then wait for them to catch up and the other way around. The delay wasn’t huge, but was a bit annoying.

  Timon laughed, then waved at Will to leave, breaking the line and getting in touch on his own hand held. One from the world they were in. It still worked fairly well.

  “Get back there? We can talk now, which is a bit less of a hassle. For me anyway. Thanks for setting it up, Will.”

  That meant a bit of jogging, line travel and quick walking on his part. Being outside he could see that the sky was looking a bit dark with clouds. Off on the horizon anyway. Moving toward them. Inside the office everyone was playing with the new toy. It really was kind of interesting to see, he had to admit.

  Still, after a few minutes they were doing well enough that Timon was able to speak to Ms. Turner directly. At that point the whole conversation suddenly skewed sideways on them.

  Turner started it, however. Mainly by doing what most grownups would have done when they realized that a little girl had the ability to contact other realities under her control. She tried to take the duty from her.

  “We need someone with more experience on this. Sorry, Sara, but…”

  There was a small voice from the background then, which gave in instantly.

  “Okay. I understand.”

  Timon made a sound that was nearly aggressive however.

  “You know… When my little sister Taman was seven, she was placed in charge of an entire land as its overseer. My sister Tiera became Queen of the Moon at fourteen. At thirteen I had to face and conquer one of the most capable assassins to have ever existed in this reality, by myself. I think that Sara is capable of handling a communications device for us.” The very tall noble stopped then, and after a moment, smiled. It was a charming thing, meant to disarm the woman he was speaking to.

  It was a bit different, looking at his image, hearing the words that came, without being able to feel the concepts and ideas the man was using directly. That was a thing Will had only started to notice in his life since coming back from the void, but to have it suddenly not be in play was like being slapped with a piece of wood. Instead of letting that rock him too much, he nodded.

  Speaking out of turn, even if he weren’t the commander of the place they were in.

  “That’s a good plan, really. Sara can learn Standard, having the time for that kind of thing, as well as a few other languages. We need a tutor for her. I can do part of it, but have duties here as well, so we should have more than one person on the task.” He was thinking of getting Erath for that, if only over the handheld, since they were both young and looking to be extremely powerful as they grew up.

  Not when they did that. As it happened. Either of them could have destroyed whole lands, Willum didn’t doubt. At that very moment, if they wanted to try.

  Before he could mention the idea, Tim smiled at him, speaking without waiting for anything.

  “I have an idea of whom we can get for that on our side. She’s a little busy, but it makes a certain amount of sense. Are we agreed on this, Director Turner? Otherwise…” He didn’t claim the device would be taken back or anything. That would be foolish, even if the woman was going to be difficult about it all.

  When Will focused on her in particular it was clear that she simply didn’t want to put too much stress on little Sara. That was her entire point there. After all, that kind of thing led to outbursts, in her experience. A thing that any sane and reasonable person was going to want to avoid with the young lady. She could change her own shape at will. Adding powers that she noticed in others.

  The girl also lived in the center of the IPB base, with some of the most powerful people in her own reality, with others coming in from all over, for her to pick up new tricks from. It was a risk, if she ever decided not to behave herself. The issue there was that, and it was clear Turner understood the idea, forcing the girl to their way of being wasn’t going to really work. They had to lead her there. Into being a good, helpful and moral person.

  Ms. Turner looked at Sara then, who was watching the floor, as if a scolding were about to take place.

  “Hmmm. I don’t know. This is really important. An actual mission that we should have an expert handling…” The attractive lady paused for a bit, her pale skin shifting just a bit as she nodded. “Though, I do suppose we’d have to train them for the job anyway, so there is that. All right
. Sara, you’re in command of the unit that will be communicating with other realities using such devices. You need to get up to speed on their languages, customs and practices. You also need to have the phone with you, twenty-four-seven. Do you understand that? What that really means?”

  Interestingly, the girl looked up, her face very serious suddenly.

  “That I need to learn to not sleep? I can do that. Several people here don’t. I can… Also copy Svetlana’s power? That will let me talk to everyone.”

  Willum knew nothing about that himself, but Lydia smiled, standing off to the side.

  “That’s a good plan. Though you need to learn to do that regularly as well. You know, the hard way? I should get in on that myself. I mean, secretary, right? I kind of need to be able to communicate with anyone coming in.” She grinned then, her face prettier for it. She was good looking to start with, so it got Will to pay some attention to her that was, for the world he was standing in, technically improper, he thought. The girl was only about fifteen or so, meaning she was too young for him.

  Even if he were only two years older than she was.

  Shaking his head a few times, he waited. After all, it was kind of clear that not saying too much would make it easier to blend in with everyone else. So far, he’d kind of done a poor job that way.

  Sara made a bit of a face. It looked a little stubborn, but the feeling behind it was determined, more than anything else.

  When she spoke she sounded very adult for a little kid. Then, she looked old enough at the moment that in Noram Will would have to place a guard on her to make certain no nobles tried to marry her. Or do less balanced and wholesome things.

  “You can be on my team. We need at least three people, so that someone is always around. Who else should be on that?” She glanced at Willum then, which was actually a good call, he realized.

  After all, he already spoke the currently needed languages, had more of an idea of the customs of Noram and the other lands and worlds there down than anyone else and was related to their contacts on the other side.

  Interestingly, Ms. Turner shook her head.

  “You can have Lydia, but Will has other work that might take him out of range for this kind of thing. Still, we can put him in as the fourth member of your team, contingent on him being around?” She looked at him then, as if he might actually say no, for some reason.

  Instead he just nodded, trying to think about who he knew there that might work. It didn’t take a genius to realize that, if copying Svetlana’s power was a good idea for Sara, that the woman herself might be a good one to have working with them. He mentioned that, just to see if it was doable at all. Instead of growling at him, or telling him that his place was best kept to looking pretty and running errands, Ms. Turner smiled at him.

  “That’s not bad at all. I’ll see if she wants in… Or, actually, Sara, that’s your job. She can say no, since this is a special team situation. Tim, you said you have a tutor for them? They’ll all need to know how to act, as well as the language.”

  For a few seconds, about three, there was no response. Then the man winked at them, from the device in Ms. Turner’s hand.

  “I’ll have that set up… Probably inside a few hours, your time. A day or two for me here. Let me say, I’m very excited and pleased to have opened this communication between our peoples. If I’m allowed, might I have some others from here speak to you directly over the next few days, Sara? Lydia as well, of course.”

  That got them to chatter for a while, which Will only spent a portion of his attention on. Cataloging it all in case it was important at some later date, without actually focusing real effort on it at the moment. Before the call was finished Cindy came out of her office, waving at him.

  “Got a minute, Will? I have some data for you. Things that will help, I think.”

  Without waiting to say goodbye, he jogged over, since he actually had a real mission he was supposed to be on as well. Getting his new team of people into the strange land of Houston. Where that was in the world he didn’t really know.

  Which Cin, being intelligent and reading the information from him, as if he were a book, understood without having to talk to him about. Showing him a color image on a computer window, she pointed with a small sigil, controlled by a hand piece on her desk. A mouse. He could kind of see it, since the part she held was kind of like the body of that sort of thing, with a tail sticking out the back end of it. That was how it communicated with the computer. He thought.

  She just nodded, her blue eyes locking with his for a moment.

  “That’s right. We should go over all of that too, but later. Right now… Things you need to know to not seem like a goof.” She paused, as if he might take offense at that usage of the word.

  She wasn’t incorrect however, since he knew what that word meant. If he didn’t want to seem awkward and like a mistake, he had best pay attention. Always, given his new life.

  Cindy grinned at his thoughts.

  “Right. This is the Earth from space. We’re in a country called the United States. The lines drawn here show the borders. To the North is Canada. To the South here is Mexico. We don’t have a legal right to work in either of those countries, unless invited. Over here, across the Atlantic Ocean is Great Britain. This part of this island is England. London is the capital there. So the Prime Minister is in charge of the whole thing, not just the one city.” She didn’t so much as crack a smile, even though Willum did. It was the kind of mistake that would have had anyone in the world that heard him understanding he was either an idiot, or not from that reality.

  Sure, Cindy Mableton was cheating a bit, getting that directly from his mind, but there were other people who could do that kind of thing. Himself, for instance. So that meant he needed to be much better versed in anything he thought. That, or figure out how to suppress considerations that were incorrect, without knowing what those might be.

  With a few clicks, the pale woman, who had high cheek bones and was a little too thin to be looking her best at the moment, got the floating map of the world to shift around. After a bit, she tapped inside some lines, which caused a picture to come into being. She pointed at it with a single pale finger, to make certain he was paying attention.

  “This is where you are now. The IPB facility in Montana. Down here, in the State of Texas, is Houston. That’s where you need to go. More specifically, here… Which is your hotel for the stay. You can set that up ahead of time, so you know where to go exactly? I have more info for you. A briefing on who’s probably going to be protesting, what it’s about and all that? Also the techniques likely to be used by your team. You don’t have a lot of time to get up to speed, but you can do this. We set it up so that you can go in after noon. So in about six hours now.”

  He nodded, staring at the screen, focusing on it so intently that he could actually use it to find the place he needed to go. The idea, after a moment, was solid. Getting up, without saying anything, he moved to the little hut outside. It took him about five minutes to go to the inn they were set to visit later. Then he came back, making the same trip several times, getting an idea of where things were best set up for them to come through as a team. The first time he was simply out in front of the building. That meant a man blinked at him and looked hostile at first, until Will smiled and waved at him.

  That got a confused expression, but oddly enough the man did it back, then went inside.

  So, after a little walking, he discovered that they could all come in behind the location, in an alcove that would be more or less protected from being seen. The trash was emptied near there, making it less than attractive to most people, as a place to linger long. It smelled, reminding him of the alley in Galasia, where he’d assassinated a man not long before.

  Rather than dwell on it, he stopped thinking about much at all, focusing on going back to Cindy, in her office.

  “I can do that. Get us there. At least the building looked like the picture. It’s the right place, tho
ugh.” He could feel that, but it was hard to explain how he knew.

  Cin didn’t ask about it, just agreeing with him.

  “Yeah, that’s the spot. Good work. Now, are you ready for a crash course in politics, IPB style?”

  He didn't know, but nodded, trying to just pay attention to what the pushy woman was saying. He let the thought come to the surface, which got her to smirk at him. She didn't deny his mean accusation however. Probably due to the fact that he wasn’t wrong.

  She was bossy and knew it. Cindy was also getting her job done. Apparently well, so he wasn’t going to call her on it.

  What was presented to him then was disturbing, even to him. It showed people going insane, in large groups. Fighting, screaming, burning buildings down and breaking lovely glass windows that had to cost more than many people made in a year back home. Then there were pictures of people with powers, dressed in regular clothing, stopping that from happening. Gently, for the most part.

  Cindy looked at him and smiled.

  “It’s a really fine line. People have a right to say what they want, for the most part. They can get together, chant, call names and let people know they dislike what the government is trying to do. Even that they just hate some other person or group. What they aren’t allowed to do here is break the law. So, if anyone is trying to hurt other people, we stop them. If they want to burn property that isn’t theirs, we stop them. The trick is that as Infected people, we have to do that without hurting anyone. Otherwise we’ll be blamed for being the bad guys. So, you get the idea? Anything we do is going to piss someone off.”

  She didn't seem that bothered by the words.

  Honestly, it was as if the concept was all so normal to her that she just didn’t care about it at all. They covered tricks, techniques and tactics however, going over everything that had been done by the IPB, including the things that hadn’t worked very well. It was, to him at any rate, really clear that when they’d failed, it had often been due to the authorities in a given area basically stopping them. Ordering them to stand down. Then when it didn't work the way they’d intended, the IPB could be held to blame for it.