by P. S. Power
Instead, his own Commander waved at him.
"All right. What do you recommend we do here?"
Clenching his jaw very hard, Erid surprised everyone by turning to Dareg.
"Can you judge this for me? I fear in my rage that I may call for too harsh a punishment for this man. He was wrong, but I don't think he's without any promise in the future."
That was a shock, for him. No one else seemed to think so however. Even Filby just stared at the ground, with a little fear now that he understood the real issue. It wasn't about the laws, but his own order's rules, which were a bit different.
It was tempting to suggest that the man offer his behind to anyone coming in from then on, since it was such high humor, but that wouldn't help anything really. After a moment of thinking, Dareg thought he had something close to reasonable.
"He should go and apologize to all of those he allowed to be hurt. Personally. One at a time. He didn't do the crime, but his lack of action allowed it to happen, which is shameful." That got wide eyes from Filby, who couldn't like the idea much, and a single nod from Commander Derring.
"Very good. And Straughan?"
Dareg locked eyes with her, his brown meeting her blue.
"We need to hunt him down, find out all of his crimes, and then punish him to the fullest extent of what is allowable for it. Otherwise Erid will probably kill him, which would be illegal. I do have a jump ship though, and once I learn to fly it, we can take him out and dump his body in space if you want? No one will catch us then."
That bit got a soft laugh from three sources. David, Kolb, and oddly enough, Filby. Commander Derring just smiled at him.
"We won't have to. He can be the first sacrifice to the new order. I was stuck too far away, for ten years. Eleven really. They all thought no one could touch them. Well, I'm back now. We can capture him, lock him up and kill him for dereliction of duty. Worse, he was leading others, like Filby here, astray. I'll set that up for you to go and do those apologies. For now, you need to go and start working, helping someone."
The man just stood, looking downcast and troubled. That part seemed pretty real, so at least there was that. He was still glowing even, so it might be the truth. If the devices worked that way, which probably didn't make sense. If they read his thoughts directly, it would be too hard to know what a body was lying about. It had to be linked to the words then.
Kolb waved then.
"You heard her. Go and do that. Now. Give Erid his amulet back first." Then he stood there, glaring until the man left the room.
The Ancient man looked at him then, "in the morning. Do you have that healing amulet yet? You'll want one." Then he glanced at the Derring's, his face hard. "It's his first full force practice. Prone to combat rage. You two can help with that, if we don't have other things to do?"
David at least nodded.
"I have an amulet for that. When? At dawn?"
They agreed to meet a bit later than that, at his little pod house, which would be set up by then. It was getting annoying carrying everything around all the time, but at least he had that option. Otherwise almost everything he had would probably have been stolen already. The world was filled with thieves after all. Other bad people too.
They all left to see about getting rooms and dinner. It was early for that still, being only about five, so it was more like time for a late luncheon, or possibly tea, if you were sophisticated enough for that kind of thing, which he never had been, himself.
That left him in the little room, oddly alone. The whole thing was thick walled and nicely tan, but warm. The whole world was there, at the port, all the time. Until night, when it got far too cold. At a loss for things to do, he found a focus stone chair behind the official table and settled in at it, and got his handheld communications unit out, and looked through the names. There was no listing for The Wizard Samuel Builder, Ancient of Noram Samuel Builder, or anything remotely like that. When he found the name, it was, rather humbly for such a great personage as their entire land's Ancient, just marked as Sam Builder. No title. No pretention in the slightest.
So he hit the sigil, which was just the name, glowing in blue at the moment, and waited. It really didn't take long for the man to answer, if it was the right person. He had blond hair in the picture, dark brown skin, and brown eyes. Like a common man would.
"Sam here, is there an emergency?" The words sounded concerned.
"Um, Dareg Canton. I... Are things that bad there? I mean, who answers their device like that? Is there an emergency?" He managed conversational, and got a chuckle in return.
"Sorry, I was asleep. It's about... Four in the morning here? So, if it isn't an emergency, what can I do for you?"
He winced, but went on, since the fellow was already awake.
"I was calling to see if we could have some people stay at your home, here at the port at the Capital? Um, Commander Derring, her brother David, some others? You have the room. The place is huge, after all."
There was a pause then, and a sigh that sounded strange.
"I have a palace now?"
"Oh, yes. It's nice, too. Big, and away from the main bustle of the port, while still convenient for you, and close to the city for visiting. So, can we toss people in there? Otherwise I don't know what to do with them that will seem polite." There were four other places set up, but those would be filled with just anyone that came along, no doubt. That was hardly fitting for people he actually liked.
"That seems fine?" He sounded pleasant enough about the idea, anyway.
So hopefully it really would be.
Chapter eight
There was actually very little for him to do then. Dare figured that would be the case at any rate. When he left the little hut, it wasn't hard to find that there were some problems already. Mainly in the lack of restrooms. There were about a thousand people there, and they were, grossly enough, just ducking under the floating and lightly glowing river and using wherever they happened to be.
The buildings all had facilities in them, but most of the places weren't inviting to the poor and low status people, which was, of course, most of them. Worse, he had no idea what to do about it in the moment. The places all looked so nice that there was no way that the kids, the poor and those that expected to be put in their place would use them. Dareg knew he wouldn't have, if it were him. Still. Having piles of shit all over the place was gross.
Shaking his head, he got out a palace, set it up outside the front, past the river on the left facing the city, and made it really small, then filled it with restrooms. It took work to make it plain and boring on the outside. He went with tan, and made the roof the same color on the one story place. There were washing stations, and some showers as well, with a floor that wasn't made of dirt, since the place couldn't do that, but was a matching color with a bit of texture to make it seem that way.
Then he put up signs, and some pictures on the outside, with a path that would lead people under the river to it. Sure you had to duck under the thing, and if you messed up, you were going to get wet, but it wouldn't harm anyone too much. He knew because he put his hand in it to test it. He was tossed out, almost instantly, and water sprayed, but other than making him damp, it didn't hurt anything.
Then, not knowing if it would work at all, he set up three more, around the whole spaceport. That way, anyplace you were there would be someplace to go and clean up, or take care of needs, without having to soil the environment too much.
Even with the signs put up, no one was using them however. It was a problem. One that seemed to be about everyone being too polite to just walk in and see if it was meant for them. Finally, he places a few toilets outside of the main little buildings, and had outdoor showers, as well as the ones inside. By the time he was finished with that, people were getting it. No one was using the outdoor ones, but they got the idea and figured the whole thing out once they got to the place.
Then he saw the group of men trying to rob some other people. The aggressiv
e ones were large, but not noble seeming. They were too small for that. About five-nine to six feet tall. City men. There were three of them, and they were pushing a much smaller common looking fellow around, using their weight.
"We know you have coin. We were watching you at the inn. Give it over. Now, or the little lady here is going to be split in two." There was fake laughing to go with the rape threat, as the unshaved man took the woman by the arm.
She was tiny. On a level that would have had Dareg, who wasn't vast himself, thinking she was a child, if not for her face, which was that of an adult. There were a few lines there, and a horrified expression. Then, the choice was for these people to either give up all their coin, or let her be raped in public. As far as they knew anyway.
The evil man in charge growled at them again.
"There ain't no guards out here neither, not that little pieces of shit like you would get no help. Now, give over. Or else." It was a real point.
Without doing anything other than walk over to the group, Dare spoke loudly.
"You know, I need to get to that one. I started to set things up, and then got side tracked. For guard patrols? Anyway, you men are under arrest." Then he chuckled himself as they spun and looked annoyed. Until they took in his nice, new looking blue robe-like outfit and shiny boots, saw his funny backpack, and the floating chest behind him. It probably made him look like a traveler to them. A wealthy one, who might be a nobleman.
One who was twelve, and hadn't really started growing yet. Also not a person in charge.
The lead man gave him a smarmy smile and moved in front of him as people started to collect around them. Most of them were commoners, but a few were taller people.
The scruffy man in stained gray clothing shook his head.
"You're a pretty thing ain't ya? Wanna suck me off before I rape you, too?"
Rather than fight, Dareg just shook his head. Then he pointed a single finger at the man, which got a scowl.
"Rape! Robbery! Rape! Rape! Robbers!" That got all of the common people to stand silently at first, looking frightened, but a tall woman, about five inches taller than he was walked up and started doing the same thing.
"Robbers! Rapists! Put up the call!" That got fifteen or twenty people to start in, and they all moved to actually pull the men down. Commoners were strong and often worked in physical jobs, so even being smaller than the bad men there, they were able to pull them down with only a few people being hit.
The blonde merchant woman, who was nicely appointed, and youthful seeming, about twenty or so, smiled at him.
"Do you have a jail around here? You seem to have everything else. Maybe we can find who's in charge here?"
Dare shook his head, but smiled, understanding her reasoning. He wasn't old, after all.
"That's me. We don't have one of those yet. I..." He was at a loss, but the lady nodded, and pointed at the restroom he'd just been working on.
"A magical palace? We can use that. Gerent did that after the attack on the Capital about ten years ago. Well, Tor did. Ger was just in charge of it. Here, I think I can work that out. Can you people bring the criminals?" She was a bit pushy, but Dareg let her do it. She was dressed in a plain tan outfit that was nice, but not expensive looking.
It was magical clothing however, but there were small flaws to it as well. It made it seem like she was a bit more real than a lot of the people that normally wore such things.
It also turned out that the crowd was more than willing to help hold the men until they could store them safely, after that. They just wanted someone to tell them what to do.
The woman, who was lean, and confident seeming, moved at a quick walk to the restroom, touched the wall, and made a rather nice cell on the side of it, that had bars, but was open to the air otherwise. Inside there was a long bench at the back wall.
"We need to search them for weapons." Almost instantly the men were stripped bare, and it was found that they were carrying knives, but that was all. One of them was a woman too, but she was still tossed in with her compatriots. They were all being watched, though they got their clothing back.
That left him in a bind. They didn't have any guards at the port yet. Just pointing at people and telling them to stand there and watch the would be thieves and rapists was overreaching his own power. That meant he had to do it himself. Which didn't get the guardsmen out to see to this problem.
Finally he pulled out his communications device, the white focus stone smooth under his fingers. Then he tried to think about who could help him with this one. Oddly, he had an idea, and called King Richard, figuring that would get him to the right person.
Except the wrong one picked up.
"Hello!" The man in the picture that he held was the King, who lit up when he saw him there, which was nicer than he would have figured on. "Dareg! How nice of you to get in touch. We were just planning our visit in a few days."
He nodded at that, not knowing if it was true or not. Honestly, that he was bothering to say things like that was kind of him really.
So he chuckled a bit.
"Hopefully we'll be ready for you all. Things are... Actually coming along decently here. I'm going to need to get with Baronetta Coltress and see if we can have some of the magical events out here." That got him to shake his head, but he fought the eye roll he felt. "Which isn't really why I called. We caught some people trying to rob a family. They threatened rape too, which was brilliant of them. We made a small jail, but I don't know the name of any guards that I can get in touch with. I was actually calling to chat with your message boy." He smiled and shook his head a bit. "Honest, I don't normally call the King for things like this."
That got a chuckle from the King, and the blonde lady, who leaned in.
"Hey Richard. I just got in here and noticed a minor issue, so butted in, like I always do. Who's in charge of the Guard now? Is it still General Hamish?"
"Ah! Sara, this is going to be a wonderful week, I believe. I'm most excited. The answer there is yes. Would you like me to get in touch with him for you, Dareg? I'm sure it won't take but a few moments."
Letting his eye narrow a bit, he shook his head. They needed a few guardsmen, not for the entire force to descend on them with weapons at the read.
"I can do that. Sorry to bother you. Would you know his full name? Or if he's listed as General Hamish?"
The King smiled than, and sat, then closed his eyes, but only briefly.
"Rolland Hamish. I recall his name being stated that way on the device. Now, Sara, are you coming for the evening meal? We might have to bump someone, but..."
The woman waved at him, smiling.
"No, no. I need to visit with my mother, if that works for you? I'll grab up Dareg here if he can get away, after this is done. Frankly, I wonder why Debri house doesn't have a store out here yet. I'll have to needle my family about slipping like that. This place has been growing for... What, two days now?"
"Ah! Very good. Yes, I can see that. Keep in touch, and make certain to leave some of your evenings free?"
The woman, smiled, but it was professional, not sexy. So the King wasn't suggesting they were going to be entertaining each other that way. Then, just because Dare had sex on his mind all the time that didn't mean everyone else did.
The King was a bit flowery since, as it turned out, Sara here wasn't just some merchant, but the Ancient of the Martian Circle, the ring of space stations set up out there around the lonely and dead, rather cold, world. He'd learned of it in school. Information that included her name, now that he thought about it. As soon as his brother in-law cleared the line, he started looking for the right name.
Then he tapped it, speaking out load so that everyone else watching would know about it all.
"Here we go, Rolland Hamish."
The man was older looking, but smiled politely instead of scowling about being interrupted.
"Happy King's Week!"
It was a bit interesting, but the older fellow, which his
blue and red outfit, which was both official seeming and cheerier than the standard guards red and white, was loud enough that at least ten people responded in kind.
Including Dareg.
"Happy King's Week! Sorry to bother you like this, sir, but we caught some robbers out at the spaceport. I meant to set up regular patrols out here, but didn't get to it yet. So it's all my fault, but we kind of have the two men and a woman locked in the jail we have set up here right now. They aren't going anywhere, but I sort of arrested them using my power as the Commander of the Port here." Which didn't have that kind of ability, as far as he knew.
The man, who had fantastically bushy silver eyebrows leaned in, and seemed serious suddenly.
"Do they, or anyone, require medical help?" It was a great first thing to ask, so he looked around.
"There doesn't seem to be more than bruises going on, for anyone. Not bad ones at that. I just don't have any way to get in touch with your people, yet. Is there a name I should-" The fellow might be older, but he was jogging gamely enough it seemed, image bouncing incredibly. As that happened, Sara's pocket started to make the noise that the devices did when someone was trying to get in touch with you.
So she moved off, which let General Hamish speak after a moment.
"Allow me to... Alert! We have a problem out at the spaceport. Robbery attempt. Clean up only. The port authorities have the wrong doers locked away already, but we need some bodies to pick them up." The face turned back to look at Dare. "Three you said? Is that right?"
"Yes, sir. Two men, and a woman. All in men's clothing. So, you know, the lady won't be mishandled." By that he just meant not tossed in the men's prison, where she might be abused beyond her punishment for what she'd really been doing. It was really hard to tell which of the dingy and smelly people was the lady, however, so it had to be mentioned, and would be again when the guard got there.
There was a lot of rushing and murmuring in the background and a bell sounded, which after a bit he could just make out, coming from the city. That meant it was a very loud bell indeed. It was chiming the hour however, not an alarm. It helpfully let him know it was six already.
