Duty

by P. S. Power

  The words were meant to be funny, and got a serious nod in return.

  “You’ll want a private network node for that. Trust me. You do not want your place listed on the public system. Not if it’s actually inside your house. People will come to visit. I have one of those for you, already and a few more of the public system units, for you to set up as you feel a need for. You can always get more of them at need. Anyone can, if they’re willing to set them up correctly. Here.” The man reached into his left side pocket and dug for a bit, passing five red tiles, glowing things, over to him and one in gold. “That last is the private network node, for your home. The rule there is that if you want to visit anyone using it, you call them first. It also connects to the main system, so that’s handy. It doesn’t go the other way, so if you use it for travel, expect to walk back, at least a bit.”

  He got that idea and nodded. Then he bowed.

  “Thanks. I doubt I really need that kind of thing…” He started to hand it back, meaning it, which was waved away.

  “Nope. That’s yours. It isn’t a gift. It’s a demand on your time and efforts. A sign that you’re trusted, but also that anyone who needs you can expect instant aid. At least within reason. The other nodes are for you to use as you see fit. Places like Wildlands should be in the system already. That they weren’t was an oversight on my part. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. The incoming fleet could use thousands more, for instance, if you ever get out that way. That’s a hint, by the way, even if it’s not a real emergency, yet.” The man, who had settled across from him at a table, directly in front of his plain little magical house, stood suddenly.

  “I’ll be in touch. Every few days, if you don’t call first. As for drinking… Well, that’s a hobby, I suppose. Keep a healing amulet handy though, in case you need to move quickly. A kit of useful devices as well. Drugs too, I suppose. When you don’t know what you might be facing, it only makes sense to be ready for anything.”

  The man, tall and strong seeming, moved away fast enough that Albert couldn’t so much as say goodbye. That left him to stand up, look around for a moment, then start packing everything away. No one was in the larger emergency building any longer, so it came down. Only after the food units, which were placed either in his pocket, for the Tiera one, or in the box with the High Servants things. Then, the world empty, he went to their depot.

  Using the transport system, since he wasn’t responsible for the emergency box that was being left in Smiton. People would need it the next day, anyway. For the funeral. He, at least, was planning to come in using that.

  It was late, but not so much so that Martha the High Servant wasn’t there, behind her counter, looking at him with a smile on her well-lined face. Her white robes practically glowed.

  “Mr. Benoist. Is all well?”

  “It is. I’m just bringing back what I borrowed from the High Servants. Um… Here.”

  He had to take the drugs from the large floating case, and ended up with a smaller box, that held all the amulets from Harmony, the woman looking at him curiously as he did that. Then she probably thought that he was pocketing magics in front of her, that she’d lent him. Except that it was all there when she went over her inventory list.

  Everything. Which seemed to please and shock her, slightly.

  “That’s a first, nearly. You have all of it though, I triple checked. There were no problems with theft then?”

  “Just the one. A man tried to steal a Tam-car. I got it back, but… It was close. That still bothers me.” It really did, of course.

  Then, he had time to do something about it now. Or would, soon.

  Chapter six

  When Albert woke up, the scene was sort of familiar. At least he thought it was, at first. He was in his room, on his nice, soft bed, feeling as if he needed to have a few more drinks to keep things going for the day. That was the problem with sleep, so he tried not to do it too often while he was drinking. Not that it was hard to manage. He didn’t sleep well when he was drunk. It came easily… and didn't stay, hardly at all.

  Also, rather normally for him, a large form was standing over him in the doorway, with blinding light coming from behind it. Jeffery. There to tell him that he needed to get ready for work. Which was fair enough. Floor cleaning was the one useful thing that he did on a regular basis. Having helped those people in Ross had taught him something as soon as the work, and the funeral, were both done.

  Most of his time was wasted. The only things he really did well were drinking and sweeping up. Even his vomit cleaning skills probably needed to be kicked up a notch or two, if he wanted to be honest about the whole thing. Still, he had a healing amulet and even if sweeping the floor was a humble position and not really important to the functioning of the world, someone had to do it. He might as well at least try to do it well.

  That was his new path in life. He’d decided it when the bottle of wine had touched his lips, some three days before. That wonderful, lovely brew that had brought a comfortable numbness to him. It was reliable. A thing that Albert wasn’t really, day to day. Except that he’d managed it for a few days, which meant he could do it again, if he tried.

  So, holding up a hand, he slapped it on the side table, not speaking at all. It was where the healing amulet was, since sleeping with a glass tile around his neck wasn’t all that comfortable. The magic activated, his hand grasping the slick tile firmly, as pain both entered and left him. It caused him to grunt, which hopefully was a manly and strong sounding thing, instead of the weak-willed whimpering he feared it truly was. Still, after a moment, his eyes closed, since going from dark to light still hurt the eyes, even with a healing amulet in use, he nodded.

  “Sorry there. I’m ready for work now. Or I will be, after a shower. One of my new goals is to stink fifty percent less than before, so you get the idea.” Jeffery would get it, of course.

  Really, it was about trying to care about being alive. So far it wasn’t really working too well, but he was awake enough to sweep floors, so stood, stumbling a bit, even if he was suddenly sober.

  Jeff spoke then, his voice strange, being that his roommate’s accent was totally different and he suddenly sounded like a woman, instead of the man that he normally was. Which either meant that Jeff had changed sexes, a thing that could be done now, in Harmony, or one of his dates had accidently found the wrong room, looking to relieve herself.

  Before he could point out that she wanted to move a door over, or it occurred to him that anyone looking in like that would have said oops and moved on already, instead of waiting for him to heal, the lady spoke. Her voice friendly enough, he had to admit.

  “Hey, Albert. I don’t know if you remember me? Trice, from the magic shop in Harmony?”

  He forced his eyes open, the sun like red gems on the ceiling turned on full blast. Trying to rip his skin from his bones, it felt like. Which was just him being overly dramatic. Standing, dressed, thankfully, he nodded, since he did recall the woman.

  “I returned the magics I borrowed, was there a problem with that? The man there, um, Ron? He said it all sounded fine. I didn't have a receipt or anything.” Mainly because the Harmony magic shop didn’t do things like that, in the first place. People did return things though, which were just put back on the shelves, unless there was something wrong with the magic. The most common reason being that the person that had gotten it all simply didn’t need it, once they got it home. Things like emergency shelters were interesting, but the truth was, that someone like Al didn’t need that kind of thing, to get to and from work a few times a week.

  The lady in front of him had a nice face, he realized. Pretty, with a perfect complexion and alluring eyes under her curly black hair. Those orbs were blue. In short, she was the best-looking woman to have ever been in his room. At least with him inside of it. She was a few inches taller than he was, clearly being a Noram noble of some sort, even if he didn't know the title.

  There was a smile on her face at least, instead of
a list on scroll pad or paper in her hands. Those were empty, without even a stick to beat him for not paying his debts. Which was good, since legally he didn't have anything like that.

  She seemed pleased with him, for a moment. A thing that might have been fake.

  “Nothing like that. Actually, I checked and you returned everything. Perfectly. I even got with Johan, who pointed out that you did that with the High Servants, Taman and Tor as well. In short, no one in any world has a problem with you, which is rare, given you were working with the public for a week. Even the Ross family found you tolerable, which can run hot and cold, given who you’re dealing with, there.”

  Still feeling sleepy, Albert nodded, trying to catch up, mentally.

  “Ah… Do you need my help then? To… I don’t know, work in the store?” That was all he could think of, really. Some emergency placeholder action, so she could attend an event or something like that.

  Which, if he wasn’t working, was doable.

  Instead, the woman shook her head at him, crossing her arms. It seemed a bit stern, really, for some reason.

  “Come to the front space here? I have a real mission for you. A humanitarian one, if not as large in scope as the last thing you worked on for us. Johan sent me. I actually asked if he could free up a High Servant for the task, but too many of them are missing right now, for some reason. It’s a real problem, not just the normal thing where they try to get out of about half their work. A lot of equipment is missing as well. I figure it as a mutiny, but it isn’t actually your problem. Can you spare some time? This is… different, really.”

  He had questions, but followed the lady to the front room, which was decorated to the side with a gold and crème colored box, about ten feet high. It was smaller than the official red transport boxes, even if it did more. Trice looked at the thing, then didn’t ask what it was. Given everything, that probably meant it was how she’d gotten in. After all, Jeffery was from Austra and Albert had grown up in the Noram Capital. They both locked doors as a rule. If Jeff wasn’t there with them, that meant he was out, and the place had been secured.

  The attractive woman didn’t sit on the long bench they had for that. It was well padded, but the style was strange, having been a thing that his roommate had dreamed up and built. It had a back, with no arms. The part you sat on was extra wide, in case you needed to sleep on it. That had come up, since the other man was popular enough to have friends in occasionally.

  Trice stood, turning to face him. Her voice going serious.

  “I was approached by Alice Orange, of Space Fleet. One of her agents, a man doing undercover investigations for her, is having financial problems. His family is, I mean. They live in Printer, on Earth. The man sends most of his pay home, but the truth is that his parents are about to lose the house and their lands. There’s a bit of time, since Countess Printer isn’t actually a bitch when it comes to dispossessing people due to back taxes and land rents.”

  Albert thought for a moment. Oddly enough, his mind turned to Queen Tiera. Who had gone to Ross herself, so that no one would abuse the magical device she had, the Maker. It was possible to make gems and coins with it, after all. Gold and silver, fine jewelry. Art, even. Practical things as well. Albert was still using the decorative and very nice toothbrush the woman had given him.

  Space Fleet ran kind of like the Moon did. They had everything they needed, but not a lot of actual coin. They could make it, but not spend it on any of the planets, since that would derail the economies there.

  He nodded.

  “I see, I think. This man would have to go home, to make coin to save his parents?”

  There was a quick, almost efficient, nod.

  “Exactly. A thing that Alice can’t allow right now, at this point in the investigation. So, she asked me to see to fixing things for them. I asked Johan, since the High Servants should be able to do something about a situation like this. They aren’t a poor organization, being backed by Tor like they are. He sent me to you. So, who are you going to send me to?” She seemed amused by the idea.

  Albert just shook his head, sadly. It was fake though.

  “I have no one, for a job like that. I’ll have to… Figure something out for myself. I guess I could move to Earth for a while and get a job? Then give them what I make from it? That won’t be fast though. The only thing I know how to do is fix and build wagons. That and sweep floors.”

  Instead of mocking him, the lady lowered her head, looking at him as if he were saying something important or good. Impressive, instead of too little and ineffective, which was what the plan would have really been.

  “That isn’t bad, actually. We don’t have time for that to work, as you seem to suspect. Instead, it might work better if you can manage to get some coin going on, to give to them. Then… Set them up in some kind of business? You have contacts, right? I mean, I’ve been on the handheld with half a dozen people in the last three days who have mentioned knowing you.”

  She was clearly trying to lead him somewhere. That place was escaping him, however. No one wanted to go and beg from the rich, since it was humbling. He’d done a bit of that before, recently and it had worked, but eventually those people might well get tired of him if he kept coming back for more.

  Still, as long as he didn’t think of himself as important or worthy of having honor, asking for other people was probably allowable enough. All he had to do was get drunk, then swallow his pride and act like it was a wonderful thing for them to do.

  A thing that was easier with magic, since that could all be returned when the need was done. Gold and silver would be spent, and he didn't have any way of replacing it. That meant going into debt, if he wasn’t careful.

  “Let me… Do you have names for these people? I can probably find Printer. That’s a County, right?” He knew that one, since it had been in his lessons in school. It was in the middle of the eastern coast of Noram, nearly. A little lower than that, but close enough. Just above County Ward.

  There was a slow nod, as if the woman was considering something.

  “Right. I could make this harder for you, but the easy way to get it done will be to ask Tor for the funds and some kind of magical business, so these folks can be set up, long term. Get with Holly first and see what she wants done that way. Try to work out a tax break, if you bring in the sort of magical business she wants. That kind of thing. Otherwise it will look too obvious that you’re just handing coin out. We…”

  She went still, looking at him as if he might not get what she was going to say next. Which was absolutely correct. She didn’t want him to be obvious about giving the parents things. The easy way around that was to simply tell them that it came from their son.

  Who was working in a secret fashion for Space Fleet, on a thing too important for him to leave, even to save the family home. Shaking his head, Albert smiled, getting it. In part.

  “It’s strange, being sober like this. My head is clear and everything. Annoying, to be honest. So, um, you know, I just sweep floors for a living? I can get on hand and knee and beg from Tor, I suppose, to help these people. I have no clue who Holly is though.”

  The tall woman reached out, her hand resting on the outside of his left arm. That was warm, but didn’t linger for too long.

  “Holly Printer. The Countess. She’s not hard to deal with, if you’re bringing her or her people good things. If worse comes to worse, seduce her. She’s not married, and while you lack a bit in social status, that might be an avenue in. We can create a title for you, I bet, if it comes up. Still, talking to her has been known to work. She does tend to get into intrigue, so keep that in mind in your dealings with her.” There was a pause, then a single nod. “You’ll want Betters Tolland and his wife Missy. They have three other children, who all live at home, last I heard. Try to do this in a way that won’t be too obvious that you’re singling them out? It’s marginally important, for the time being.”

  Pulling his handheld, to look at the time, he thou
ght for a few moments. Not speaking or moving. The woman just waited, seeming relaxed, as if that kind of thing were normal.

  When he spoke, she smiled at him, at least after the first few words.

  “It’s just after noon here, which is midnight in Noram. In the capital. That will be two in the morning in Printer, I think. I can call her, Countess Printer, during the day. Do you know what kind of things she might like, business wise? If I can present something to her, she might be a bit more willing to work with us. I mean, she might not accept me simply calling out of the blue to ask for a date.” He stroked his face, running a hand down the side, to showcase what he had on offer. Which was too thin, a bit lopsided and with a rather prominent nose stuck in the center.

  Trice narrowed her eyes a bit.

  “Hmm. Don’t underestimate your abilities there. A man, originally of Noram, who’s well enough connected and who lives on the Moon may not be rejected out of hand, if you play your cards correctly. Holly is actually nice. As for what she wants… She’s been working on the idea of getting handhelds for her people. The common ones, in her County. The real issue so far has been the price. The Terry System units are free, here and on Mars. In Noram they go for about two hundred gold each. That’s considered a steal, too. No one has bothered to find a loophole yet.”

  Albert thought he saw one, of course. Poor people, the real ones, couldn’t afford such high magics. Then, most people didn’t buy magic at all. They were gifted it by their liege or lord, or, if they were wealthy enough, they rented such things, for limited periods of time. The trick there would be doing that kind of thing in a way that would allow people to use the system, without going into debt to hold one of the units.

  “I might… Who does those? Terry?” He was joking, thinking that the name was probably about how the system of communication worked.