Duty

by P. S. Power

  Alison nodded, her eyes searching his face. She narrowed her gaze for a second, concentrating.

  “You’ve had some magical reformation work done? It’s subtle, but your eyes were brown the last time we spoke. Now they’re a gem green. The rest is almost the same. Not exactly though. The lines that were forming around your eyes and mouth are gone.” She stopped then and looked away. “Which isn’t the point here. Do you have anything new? We’ve been tracking the wagon with the women in it, but haven’t actually found it at all. If we could just get ahead of it in the right place…”

  Al worked the wrapper of his sandwich with his left hand, making a crinkling noise. He was starving, having managed not to eat at all that day, so far.

  “Barony Pence seems to be the destination site. The Baron hasn’t been letting anyone investigate there. Then, I’m not absolutely certain what the situation is on the ground there. I invited him to a party, the day after tomorrow, in Second City, at The Eternal. You’ll need to show up there as well. Six o’clock, Capital time. In the evening. So far, it’s mainly Ancients, I think. Still, everyone is welcome.”

  He meant her, which got a nod.

  “Yes. It’s important to include the real people of the world as well as our sort…” She seemed sly for a moment, then let her face relax. “You were made one of us, weren’t you?”

  He looked away, at the burnt trees in the distance. Off to the right of his gaze men and women worked to rebuild their lives. The military was helping, seeming slow at the moment, since most of the people there had stopped to sit and eat. Like he was doing.

  “I was. At least Timon told me that was the case. Not why, of course. I got a bit sidetracked. He told me that drinking and doing drugs wouldn’t really do much for me any longer. That was kind of my main hobby, before, so…”

  There was a laugh. It wasn’t mean, being a bit gentler than that around the edges.

  “It was probably to trap you into doing work for them. You’d be surprised at how hard it is to simply find people who are both willing and able to get things done. Not without some kind of payment or recompense. Even on the Moon we have that problem. Well, you know. Most people don’t really bother to work hard, if they don’t have to. That means most of the work is done by about twenty percent of the people. Now we have you. You’re one of us and required by the rules to be helpful whenever anyone of the others of our kind ask. Really, it’s when anyone asks, but we all kind of try to play a little with that one.”

  That fit what he’d been told. Plus, the girl wasn’t lying to him. He could feel that, and see each part of what she was saying clearly in that regards. It was one of his new powers, after all. He didn't mention it, since he wanted to get to his sandwich.

  “Dare Canton and myself are going in to Barony Pence later today, to make certain we can find the place. That will be in… Four hours, I think. In the mean time I was asked to keep you in the loop. On the case, most likely, but if they don’t want you to know everything, that should have been mentioned, right?”

  There was a thoughtful look from the girl then. The woman. She was young, but doing a real job already.

  “That sounds right. What’s taking place that they accidently hid from me?”

  Quickly, he covered everything that had been spoken of at the meeting, then smiled at the pretty girl.

  “Now, I need to eat this food. Remember the party! Talk to you then, if nothing new comes up. Be prepared to save a dance for me, even if it’s awkward and makes you self-conscious.”

  They didn't chatter about how nice it was to talk to one another for ten minutes after that, even if there were a few more rounds of saying goodbye and how good it was to be friends than was strictly needed. Especially given that they barely knew each other.

  The sandwich was good, he had to admit, even if he had made it himself. Most of that was down to Terlee having shown him what to do. Toasting the bread, forming the meat into ultra-fine sheets and creating a strong but sweet sauce for it that was constantly in danger of leaking out of the edges of the thing. There were vegetables on the creation as well, for bulk. Carefully arranged to hit the tongue just right.

  As soon as he was done, changing his outfit, since the very large sandwich had run down his top, he stood, used a can of water to wash his hands and face, then moved to the transport hut. That was a bit of a walk, being closer to the front of the town than where the work was going on that day. He thought as he went inside, and realized that the work day wouldn’t be starting yet at The Eternal. He needed to talk to Serro, of course. Jeffery as well.

  There was simply no way he was going to be putting even a basic party together without professional help on such short notice. His manager lived her own life, when she wasn’t on shift. Jeffery however had wisely decided to live in the same place that Albert did. Making the man much easier to find.

  After a fashion. It was still a long walk from the Second City Space Port to his house. A thing he could do quickly now, without resorting to using the low flying portion of his shield. The idea of flying around other people still left him feeling odd. Scared, really. As if he’d mess up and kill someone if he tried it. That, it seemed, hadn’t been removed from his mind the night before.

  Then, he’d had a chance to ask for that and hadn’t. Not directly enough, it seemed. It meant he was going to have to deal with that issue himself, most likely. Part of it, talking with Baron Pence, could be handled that day. They wouldn’t need to go over apologies, but having him around would probably go a long way toward letting go of the hard feelings he’d been sitting on for most of his life.

  When he got into his own home, and checked the handheld for the time, he noticed that it was actually three in the morning. Which explained why Jeff wasn’t in his bed, or just getting up. Of interest, Carissa and Erie the High Servants were there, along with their other friends. Max and the other one, who’s name he kept missing somehow. The one that he couldn’t tell if they were a male or female.

  Albert waved, being friendly that way.

  “Hey, everybody! How are things going?” That was the kind of thing you said when you found people in your home and they weren’t packing all of your things out the door. At least he thought it was. Max waved at him, seeming friendly, if a bit like he was hiding something in the move.

  “Albert! We were just talking about you, earlier. More to the point, Four here was wondering if you’d lend us your bedroom for a few days, if you weren’t going to be using it. Except, here you are, so probably not? We’ve been in one of the free inns, but they don’t want you to stay for more than a month, so…”

  He could see that. If you were going to be around for a month, then it made sense to get a real place. There were listings for empty rooms and even for roommates, if you were the type that didn’t have anyone but who didn’t want to go insane, from living alone. If you had to be in Second City for two months though, or longer, but didn't want to move there, it made sense to stay with friends.

  “Sure? You might have me in with you both at times, but other than that, it shouldn’t be an issue. I’m probably going to be away a lot, for the time being.” That might not be true, but Albert didn’t want to go out of his way to explain that he didn’t seem to need to sleep all that often any longer. That would lead to other discussions and while Jeffery and Serro, his best friends, might need to know that kind of thing, these people weren’t that close to him.

  Even if they were apparently staying with him now, for some reason.

  Smiling, wryly, he glanced at Carissa and then Erie. Both women smiled back at him, probably without noticing they were doing it.

  “We have the start of a project coming up soon. Probably in a month or two. Some of the wizards are getting together to put an atmosphere on the surface of the Moon. Using magic, before you ask. It sounds like it will last for thousands of years. They’re going to plant forests and put in animals and all that. Even a small ocean. We’re going to help with that. If you want, I m
ean? I’ll have to ask Johan if that’s all right, since it might take a while to really get done. It will mainly be going around spreading magic and checking on things at first, if I understand it all. Then help plant seeds and condition the soil. That has to be done with a combination of magic and microbes. Otherwise nothing will grow. Moon dust isn’t great for that, I hear.”

  He waited, wondering if the women were going to dash toward the door of the place, or make the mistake of freezing. Thereby dooming themselves to working on a long-term project. Not that it wasn’t as if they couldn’t work on it part time, going to do other things for a while if it got boring. It almost certainly would, from time to time.

  Carissa made a face at him. It was passably cute. Which was odd. So was the fact that she leaned in to touch him on the arm, letting her fingers linger.

  “We can probably do that. How are things going in County Thomson?”

  Her eyes locked with his, in a way that was strange to him. Women didn’t do that kind of thing, really. Men did, but only if they wanted to fight. At least with him that was how it worked.

  Four looked at what was going on, then nodded.

  “Pheromones?”

  “Ah! I was wondering why she was being nice to me. Yeah, I got a few things done, magically, last night. It’s mainly to help with the chronic depression I had going on. That and making it so I don’t really need to sleep all the time. I also can’t do drugs any more. I mean, I guess I can, they just won’t work right.”

  The medium sized person, Four, smiled at him, nodding their head.

  “So, the plan is to have you work with the Ancients in a long-term fashion? What role are you to play, in their organization?” The words were a bit cold and matter of fact. Then, Four seemed to be like that. It wasn’t bad or anything, just a bit different.

  Albert shrugged, as the others looked at him, interested.

  “Setting up emergency aid for people and getting help for needed projects. I think that’s it, at least. No one actually sat me down and told me exactly what I need to be doing, so far. I do get to order them around, if they’re needed. They took a vote, if you can believe it. So, I guess it’s kind of a real position. As long as I don’t mess it up, of course.”

  That got a smile from the strange person.

  “They probably don’t fully know that answer of what you’ll be needed to do themselves, yet. It sounds like a good plan. Emergency coordination is important.”

  Next to Four, sitting close, without it being too much so, Max ruffled his short brown hair.

  “I can see that being valid, myself. You’re also doing the program with the handhelds, in Noram, aren’t you?”

  Albert hadn’t known that anyone would have heard of that one yet. Not in a way that linked to him that directly. Max had been around when the idea was talked about, so it was probably just a sign that he had a good memory.

  “That’s right. I need to make some connections with the people doing the work there. I have an appointment in a few hours with Dare. He’s doing the public communications part of things. I think they’ll be little stands that can just sit outside, so you can connect with anyone in the Terry system. It sounds useful. Not everyone needs a handheld, after all.”

  Max nodded at that, his face going slightly still. It meant he was about to try and lie, even if the words themselves weren’t that impressive, when they came.

  “I heard from a friend that lives in Printer about that coming soon. He’s renting one of the devices already, which was a shock. I mean, almost no one in Noram has that kind of thing. Not regular people.”

  The lie itself was in the first words. That Max had heard it from a friend. Whoever the person was that he’d been in contact with, it wasn’t someone he thought of in that role, in particular. Still, it was a person that was close enough for Max to be contacted by them when testing out their new toy.

  Albert wasn’t planning to call the man on the idea. It was kind of clear that people were going to be lying to him a lot. Most of them without even getting they were doing it. They’d tell him they could eat a horse, knowing that even a small equine would be far too much for them, or that they loved their new shoes, when they were, in fact, merely fond of them, lacking any intent to marry at all.

  That was just part of speech and not really worth thinking about, day to day.

  Smiling, Al waved at his bedroom.

  “Anyway, you two use that space and I’ll go and see if I can chat with Jeffery and Serro. Oh… There’s a party at the club tomorrow. After closing. At least that’s my plan. You should all come and pass out drinks. I have no staff for it at all. You all love being asked to parties as servants, don’t you?”

  Carissa made a face, showing that she didn’t, in fact, value that sort of invitation but Four laughed. It was a bit odd and slightly braying. Like a well amused mule.

  “We can all be there, I bet. Do you need more people than this?” The person smiled at the normally meaner High Servant. “Carissa, you could ask some of your friends if they want to come and work it? That would be different and an excuse to do something. It probably won’t be hard.”

  The aid in getting people there to work was nice, if a bit out of place. There was no real reason for Four to help him with anything in particular. They’d met two or three times, and been friendly, but that was all.

  It worked anyway, at least enough to get Carissa to look a bit snotty, then make a face.

  “I guess. That doesn’t sound all that fun. The last time I did anything with Albert I ended up working for five days. Straight. That’s hardly my idea of a good time.” She sneered a bit, which softened when she looked back at him.

  Then, after ten seconds or so, she nodded. At Albert.

  “Fine. I’ll do it. I can’t promise anyone else will actually show up. Let me ask?”

  There was a soft statement from Erie, who smiled at him and reached out to touch his hand.

  “Me too. I can pass out drinks or food, well enough. At least if you show me what to do.”

  “Thanks. All of you. You didn’t say anything Max, so I’m just assuming you’re in. It will be… Well, fun is probably too much to ask. Interesting? Possibly worth being in the room, just on the off chance to meet new people.”

  The man looked a bit strained, which wasn’t over having to work at all. No, it was clear that he was far more focused on the High Servants that might be coming. Ones that he didn’t think really would be. Not to work.

  Albert nodded at him, both agreeing and surprised that he was able to get that much from the fellow. It wasn’t in words and, he thought, was really only about reading his face and body language. Only, it felt like more than that. Rather than let it upset him, he smiled at the man and stood up.

  “Sorry to run off, instead of staying to talk, but I should get my work done.”

  Then, because he actually had more to do, he moved to the door, and waved back at the people there. In his front room. Uninvited, as far as he knew. Jeffery had probably done it. There was no indication of that, but it was probably the truth… Hopefully he was having enough fun with Erie to make having the rest of them around worth the effort.

  He thought about it for a moment as he walked down the underground walkway, how odd it was that Jeffery was entertaining a High Servant, as he walked to the club. The hallways weren’t empty, but not many would be out that time of day. People tended to sleep at the same time, holding back day time, whenever that was, for work and socializing. Even he would have been asleep or locked in his room, drinking, when it was supposed to be night. If he didn’t have work to do, at the club. Or, if it weren’t just now turning toward late afternoon in Noram.

  Jeff though, was seeing one of the rare High Servants, from Noram. While living on the Moon, in Second City. Harmony was larger and more popular, as far as tourists went. So, it was strange to find a collection of the white robed people there.

  As far as he knew there were only about a hundred of them anywhere. Which
meant that a party with six or seven of them attending would be a big part of their numbers. Also, and possibly unconnected, Jeffery was meeting with that sort, just as they were being accused of trafficking in slaves.

  Which didn’t mean he was involved in that, of course. The man had been his roommate for three years, which meant Albert knew for certain that he wasn’t involved in anything that dark. He wouldn’t be, either. Still, it was strange that Erie and Carissa were around at all. Max and Four weren’t exactly normal, either. Four was, most likely, Austran. Like Jeffery and Serro. She sounded odd for that, but it could just be a regional dialect he hadn’t heard before.

  Max clearly wasn’t, his accent fit being from Noram far too well. It was consistent, too. Unlike how Erie and Carissa had been dressed up as Austrans the first time that he’d met them. Then dropped the act before the next morning. Austrans weren’t playing when they did their strange costumes and facial tattoos. They were each designed to define the individual, so were more like a name badge than a thing to amuse their friends.

  Even if he looked more or less normal now, Jeffery always wore a large amount of green, including coloring his hair that way. Serro was most often in white face paint, with very little else going on, except for bright red lips. You knew who they were when you saw them. Even at a distance. They were both distinct, in their differences.

  It was how Albert found his boss in the club. He had to wave, several times, before she noticed him, of course. Part of that was due to her talking to someone on a handheld. It was an almost insane thing to try and do in a room with hundreds of dancing, talking people, who were half screaming, trying to be heard over the blaring music. It was all recorded that day. At least no band was up on the stage. He wanted her help, so moved in that direction. Being bumped into half a dozen times as he crossed the floor.