“Who …” Jade chewed for a moment and swallowed politely - her mind often outran her manners. “Who or what is this guy?”
“Precognitive - yes, the real thing, has visions of the future, mainly when he sleeps. Used to be a Stormrider, maybe even an Outrider, but he’s never been very well, mentally. He turned to freelance assassination, sabotage. Nasty piece of work.” HuanJen’s voice held some sympathy, mixed with weariness.
“And why do the Gendarmes need … wait, you’re Guild Esoteric. The one-stop Guild for the strange and the unusual. Fight fire …”
” … with fire, though I usually find that means everyone gets burned.” HuanJen smiled wanly. “I’m not tacking the job of tracking him until I hear more information. He’s dangerous and unpredictable, and there’s no use emulating the latter trait”
Jade pushed her near-empty bowl aside. “It’s not a bad bounty … you aren’t doing this to protect me now that I’m going to accompany you in the field?”
“Oh, no. Jade, if anything, I’m more worried about what you’ll do to the field than what the field may do to you.”
“You’re so supportive.”
“It’s my job.”
“Nine Millimeter pistol, Damascus boring. Targeting scope.”
Peregrine Johnson was not a reliable man as things went. He sold weapons out of his small, well-appointed, rather private shop, and that was it. The grandfatherly proprietor of “Peregrine’s Weapons and Survival Goods” rarely questioned a purchase. It just wasn’t polite.
However, he felt like being impolite. His new customer radiated a kind of aura of unpleasantness that hung in the air like a greasy cloud.
“Ah, bullets?” Peregrine asked.
“One box. The Deluxe. And the holster.” The customer’s ferret-like face managed a grin as he set down a few large Guilders on the counter.
“That’ll be …”
Mr. Johnson looked down at the money. It was an expensive purchase. He adjusted his glasses - the coins were real as well. Forty years in the business had exposed him to a number of highly incompetent counterfeiters. However, the purchase was not a standard purchase …
“A problem?” The customer was smiling at Peregrine. The merchant felt like he was looking at two people, one a polite client, one something distant and inhuman. Then again, he hadn’t gotten where he was by being judgmental.
“No. Here’s your change. Have a good day.”
“Thank you, and you too.”
The man took his purchases without another word, nodded, and walked out of the shop. The air seemed to clear a few seconds later.
Peregrine thought for a moment, then went back to checking stock and waiting for the next customer. No use questioning, really. Another customer, that was all the man had been.
In his business, it took all kinds.
Mr. and Mrs. Tivalli thought it took all kinds too, and they just loved meeting new and interesting people.
For instance, Gong-bang or whatever his name was and Jade. Lovely people who were helping them follow the tradition they had long ago started when they’d begun vacationing every two years in an alternate Earth - getting remarried every trip, locally. Last year Mrs. Tivalli had been talking to her neighbor, and had realized she’d passed through Xai many times, but had never been married there. Fortunately, her husband had found this Chinese fellow, what’s-his-name, who was willing to do some mystical ceremony from a religious order worlds away.
It was so charming. The priest wore simple yellow robes and looked all mysterious ��� dark eyes and that odd white streak in his hair really lent a wonderfully eerie aura to his appearance. His assistant, an exotic-looking Vulpine who was mysteriously silent, handed him the instruments of his trade. The ceremony was filled with deep sayings and things that were probably quite meaningful in some quaint way, and the cleric was so nice and kept smiling all the time.
At the end of it all, Gong-bang gave them a the ceremonial wine cup they had drunk from in the marriage ritual. Mr. Tivalli tipped him an extra twenty guilders, after they’d taken a few more photos. He would later comment to his many-times wife they were a very nice couple.
“What a pair of assholes,” Jade griped.
She and HuanJen sat on one of the seemingly infinite trolleys that rocketed throughout the streets of Metris, heading for their next client. Jade kept her voice down as best she could. She tended to be loud, not a popular trait in public, as Metrisians valued their piece and quiet in the busy city.
HuanJen nodded sadly. “I admit I did feel a bit like I was there for show. I am more used to being taken too seriously than not seriously enough.”
“It’s that whole Magician-Priest Fang-Shih mystic thing. Don’t worry, it doesn’t get to me.” Jade’s smiled smugly.
“I’ve noticed.”
Jade shrugged. “Well, they may have thought we were just an act, but we got twenty more guilders than we expected. That’s lunch right there.”
“True.” HuanJen shifted uncomfortably in his robes. The discomfort was physical, not social - in Metris there were few cases where clothing or the lack of the same shocked people. However a summer’s day was not the time for highly traditional, dignified, and above all very thick, robes.
“We got time for you to change, I worked that into the schedule,” Jade said helpfully. “Sorry, I had to rush you back there, you know how the trolley schedules are.”
“I do.” Huan’s high brow furrowed for a moment. “I admit, it is tempting …”
“Hey, don’t do that little zappy-transport thing with me unless you have to.” Jade waved a warning finger at the cleric. “And you told me you never abuse … er whatever it is you do.”
HuanJen nodded. Jade was still adjusting to abilities he had long ago considered quite unremarkable. He knew few people saw or interacted with the world the way he did. People never understood how interconnected it was, how there were no true barriers, no true things. It was so easy, when you needed to, to just step between places. It was easy to just “feel” things - but then you had to explain how you understood them in words.
It had been a complication of having an assistant he had not foreseen - “excuse me, I have strange supernatural powers, but don’t let them bother you.”
One tried to adapt …
Killian tried to stay focused.
Time wasn’t what people thought it was. They acted like it was a river, but they forgot you could swim against the current of a river, or ride its surface and catch the wind to go faster. They were just drifting along because they didn’t know better, or hadn’t been forced to see it differently.
Killian was on a trolley and he was waiting for it and he was off of it. Time was swirling around in the future, and in the center was the man who was after him.
It was an almost terrifying feeling. HuanJen was after him, he knew it. He was a dark figure, hovering in time, lying in wait like a beast in his lair, swirling like a cyclone. With him was … something else.
Focused. Killian knew he had to stay focused, and ride time until he could strike, right through the center of the storm …
Crimson wasn’t a happy man. He should have been, but he wasn’t.
The lanky, red-furred Vulpine had adapted very well to Xai. He was a successful manager in the Travelers’ Guild. His wife was loving and easily tolerated the few Xaians who didn’t understand why a standard human would marry a Vulpine. He should have been happy with himself.
Except, however, he wasn’t sure who he was, making being happy with himself much more difficult.
“It’s called Parallel Paranoia in popular language.”
HuanJen’s voice was calming. The mystic was an understanding man - he didn’t mind a client that preferred to be “counseled” while lying in his bedroom. Crimson found it much easier on himself to be not only lying down, but in comfortable, familiar surroundings - such as tucked into bed.
“Parallel Paranoia.” Crimson giggled nervously. “Yeah. But …”
“You don’t Travel a lot, but you deal with all the concerns. This can lead to fears that one will encounter a near-replica of oneself, or a concern that one may not be themselves at all.”
Crimson nodded frantically. “It’s like just watching yourself …”
“I know.” The cleric’s voice remained calm and comforting. “Now, what we have to ask is why would you feel this way, it can’t just be the experiences …”
Jade sat quietly away from the pair, watching them carefully while making mental notes. Psychiatry was virtually nonexistent on Xai for many reasons, from the lack of interest in making specialized pharmaceuticals, to a society more tolerant of differences. Where there was a need, Guild Esoteric and Guild Medical filled in any gaps, such as now.
It was certainly quite a gap to fill, though Huan managed his small part. Watching him was fascinating to the less-than-subtle Jade. The Magician-Priest seemed to suddenly be welcome in a person’s mind, as if he already had an idea of what was going on. He seemed to belong.
An hour later, Crimson was feeling better, and provided with a vial of powder to help him sleep. Huan himself seemed drained, but happy as he and Jade sat waiting for the next trolley.
“I think he’s going to be better,” Huan smiled a little, lying back on the bench at the trolley station. “Nice man, really, but very insecure about himself. “
“Mid-life crisis, sort of.” Jade nodded, trying to shift the satchel she was carrying around to a more comfortable position - it held Huan’s robes and some other clerical implements, and they were not light. They’d have saved fare traveling between Huan’s customers, but there was a lot to carry, she was not used to walking as much as the average Metrisian, and …
“Yes. Well, now, lunch?”
“Lunch.” Jade said flatly. “We have reservations at the Nax.
“My, you have this itinerary planned out. Er … the Nax isn’t on our way to Mrs. Kyne’s.” HuanJen looked curious.
“No, but the food is good and we have time. It’s called ‘relaxing,’ Huan. New word for your vocabulary. Now help me with your crap …”
Much to Jade’s surprise, HuanJen actually took well to merely sitting, eating, and chatting. He was a bit like a cat, who could go from alert prowl to transcendently relaxed in a heartbeat. The cleric merely didn’t display such behavior very often.
” … so then I looked at the Powersmith’s Guild representative and told him ‘Find another arbiter.’ You should have seen his face. I don’t think anyone had stood up to him in years.” HuanJen’s eyes danced as he related the tale.
Jade laughed in a mid-sip of Spectral, dabbed at her fur with a handkerchief, and shook her head. “People don’t expect you to stand up to them, I can tell already. “
“Ah, and that makes it all the more effective when I do.”
“True. So that’s your first time as an arbiter?”
HuanJen shook his head, pausing to munch a bit of chicken. “Yes it was, though I haven’t done much in the area since - my one moment of glory as it were. It was more a gateway to doing my freelance work for the city and the Gendarmes, they like a known quantity.”
Jade shrugged noncommittally, her distaste for politics asserting itself. “I suppose. You know, it amazes me how much I don’t know about you. And … you don’t ask any questions about me.”
“When you want to tell me something, you will.” Huan smiled at her in a warm manner. “You were reluctant to talk, even when we first met. I won’t force you. I don’t work that way.”
“Thanks. It’s … Colony isn’t a pleasant place in any world …”
“Moreso for the females.”
Jade caught the mystic’s eye, and remembered how long Garnet had stayed with them. Jade vaguely remembered on Garnet’s world Colony had collapsed, but Huan still must have learned a lot from her and other Vulpines. The man was so good at listening, it was easy to start talking to him, and he was like a hollow you could pour yourself into.
For a moment, she understood why Crimson was so relaxed.
Jade’s eyes focused on the past. “It sucked, Huan. I didn’t like it and I damn well made my own way. I just happened to come here, I mean …”
Suddenly Jade stopped speaking. Now she was talking to him like … a client. And he was listening happily. It was kind of pleasant admittedly, but she didn’t like any feeling of being out of control.
HuanJen detected her discomfort and changed the subject. “I’m glad you did. For your sake and mine.”
“Than …”
A buzzing sound interrupted Jade. She checked her watch. One O’clock in the afternoon, time to go to their next appointment.
“You’re welcome” Huan finished for her. “I know it was difficult. Let me know if you want to talk.”
There was a moment where Jade felt a flare of annoyance run up her throat. He was treating her as weak, treating her …
No he was just interesting in treating. Even in two weeks shed spent with him, Jade had to remind herself that he was sincere when he said he lived to serve others. He was involved, entangled with peoples’ lives in a way she still couldn’t imagine, and found herself envying. He cared in a way you could feel. In Jade’s vastly cynical mind, Huan was a barely classifiable phenomenon.
“Thanks Huan. Most people seem to think I’ll always be fine.” Jade tried to finds words for her feelings. Damn, he got to you easily.
HuanJen stood, preparing for their departure. “Jade, you’re the kind of person it’s hard to worry about. And I mean that in a good way.”
“You’d better, buddy.”
Killian was good at asking questions. He had an idea of what people were going to say anyway. A little prodding and pushing and you knew just what to ask, as long as they didn’t catch on.
Finding a member of Guild Esoteric was usually easy. The Guild offered many services and had many contacts. It was not powerful, but it was widespread, interconnected like a web. Follow one strand properly, and you could find any other strand with ease. HuanJen, irritatingly, was both easy to find yet hard to locate.
It was like trying to find the source of an echo or the start of a rumor - something was going on, but the exact center of it all wasn’t easy to get to. Worse, he apparently had some new assistant who had been rearranging his life. Some people had stronger opinions abut this new servant than they did about HuanJen.
HuanJen.
Killian could taste blood in his mouth, vaguely. The man was after him somehow, he felt him breathing down his neck. Something terrible was going to happen.
He just had to make sure it happened to his pursuer first.
Jade had found that while working and living with HuanJen she had to learning a great deal about the cleric. One of the strangest was that Huan, technically, had a territory. This concept had been slammed into her mind when she’d started looking at his relations with his fellow clerics, shamans, and ministers while keeping his schedule.
It wasn’t as formal as some business arrangements, but some members of Guild Esoteric had divided up the city to provide for people better. Most people got to know the local holy man, cleric, priestess, etc. and count on them to find people of their own faith, provide a friendly ear, or more unusual services. Everyone had a Guildsmember to call on, and the various clerics and ministers and such of Guild Esoteric didn’t step on each other’s toes. Thus Huan served a vaguely triangular area, bounded by Sister Cynthia to the north, Magus Schwartz to the east, and Old Man Green to the South.
However, even clerics needed help …
“I do hope Old Man Green didn’t mind you … us … servicing his clients.” Jade said as she and HuanJen walked down Obsidian Street. They’d dropped off a few of HuanJen’s mysterious elixirs to two of Greens regulars, and were leisurely walking towards their final destination.
“No, no.” HuanJen shook his head. “He’s not as crotchety as he seems. That broken leg is irritating to him, he knows people have to be tended to. He’s v
ery dedicated, Jade.”
“I’m surprised he’s taking it so well for a man of what, seventy?”
“Quite well, considering he’s ninety.” HuanJen caught Jade’s startled look. “Hard to tell isn’t it?”
“Yes, and I still think he grabbed my rear on purpose that time no matter how old he is. So we took care of your medical deliveries - hey, why did we have to drop off that batch of tonic at a funeral home? I wouldn’t think you’d have many clients there.”
“Oh.” HuanJen was nonchalant. “Brenner lives there. Saves space and you never really know when you’re going to be called upon or the Hospital is going to have a sudden need. It’s not unusual on many Earths.”
“Living there? I doubt I could get used to that.” Jade shrugged uncomfortably. “Why did you take so long?”
“Sorry. Brenner needed to talk. A lot to deal with you know.”
“I bet.” Jade checked her notepad. “OK, Chin’s Useful Herbs is up here, we grab … all this stuff I can’t pronounce and our day is over. Only about five minutes behind.”
“Yes. Nice day, actually, this is really quite pleasant.”
Jade looked out into the setting sun. Actually, it was a nice day - had been a nice day. Huan’s life wasn’t exciting, exactly, but it was fulfilling. She’d never experienced anything quite like it.
“Yeah.” She smiled at her … partner. “I’m glad I can go into the field. I’m learning a lot.”
“Oh, I may have an apprentice on my hands then.” HuanJen’s innocent, guileless voice held a hint of humor.
“Heh, I …”
“Wait.” The mystic raised a hand, his body seeming to resonate like a tuning fork.
Killian looked at the couple across the street. HuanJen had nearly spotted him. The precognitive faded behind a pay phone booth.
It had been close, but close wasn’t going to save him.
Something crawled at the edge of Killian’s time-distorted mind, like a net being drawn up. He knew, somehow, HuanJen was up to something …
Jade looked curiously at her partner. His stance suggested a spring about to uncoil or an animal about to pounce.
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