by P. S. Power
"Satellite images. Pictures from space. We can have one dedicated to sitting over the place?" He glanced at Tim, but Kolb just nodded and tapped a few keys. The quality of the picture improved then, and showed the slight waving of the trees around the place in the breeze. A few people were out working too. None of them in all white, but that didn't mean much, since High Servants were allowed to wear what they wanted, when off duty.
Kolb pulled back a bit, and then pointed in the direction they needed to go. That meant taking off first, but it was only about a hundred miles away from the Count's place. Dare got the handheld back to Karen, who kept chatting amiably with the Count. Even as they landed she kept doing it. There was a lesson in it for him, he didn't doubt. She was being polite, not just because they were in the man's area of influence, but simply because making friends could pay off.
They were able to land on a large, very well groomed, lawn, which had several people coming out to look at them before they could do anything. Smiling. Most of them were in tan or brown, and waved at them, but one man, who was much older, came out dressed in a nice blue uniform. He had a white mustache and a shiny head that was a soft tan color. In fact he was so bald that he nearly glowed on top. There was a small bit of pure white fluff on the sides however, trimmed closely, so everyone could easily see he was very well taken care of.
There were bits of red on the outfit, which really made it seem visible. He walked with a cane, but seemed spry enough, for someone with that many wrinkles. Almost as if the thing were an old habit, rather than needed any longer. That meant he had access to a healing amulet, most likely. They didn't work back the years, but returned people to perfect health, which meant that wrinkled didn't mean weak or all that slow anymore.
Climbing out, everyone pasted big smiles on their faces, so Dareg did as well. Bill had already, copying Karen.
Still, as odd as it seemed, everyone else stayed back and let Dare move forward once they were outside. That was a bit odd, but he got about ten feet from the man and bowed. Then lied a tiny bit, since it had kind of worked before.
"Hello! These worthies asked me to help them come and pick up High Servant Straughan? There's a big meeting, and all the High Servants have to go to the one closest to them. That's in the Capital for this area, which could be hard to get to. So, we came." He smiled, and got one in return from the very old man. Then he scrambled, having gotten part of the things wrong. "Oh, sorry there. I'm Prince Dareg. Of Harmony. Pleased to meet you." He bowed again, getting one in return, matching him.
"That's something then! I'm Baron Cohen Straughan. Kevin is around here somewhere. Sleeping the day away, no doubt. Can I offer you some refreshments while I send for him? Or is this an emergency? I'm certain he'll hurry, if his duty requires it."
The man was so clearly sincere that Dareg smiled at him, and didn't let anyone else talk.
"It's not that pressing. Commander Derring heard that High Servant Straughan and some of his friends were talking about taking over, since she wasn't on Earth. She is now, but seems to like the idea, so is planning to give them a chance to try it. She's a bit upset they didn't step up sooner, but that can't be helped. As long as they get the job done, she won't stand in anyone's way. It's part of being a High Servant, or so I hear tell?"
The man looked a bit troubled, but lightened when the others all started nodding, and Karen smiled.
"That isn't wrong. I was stuck on the Moon for a decade, and no one was willing to step up, probably thinking I was going to jealously guard the position, rather than let go if that was what was best for those we serve. I can see people thinking that, since I'm a Knight, not a High Servant myself. It's time for a change. I want to make sure that it's the best one possible." There was a firmness there, but the Baron waved to the woman in a tan skirt, who seemed to be in her early thirties or so.
Her upper lip pushed out a bit and her eyes were very deeply set, but she wasn't homely, exactly. Just distinctive.
"Pansy, could you go and locate Kevin for us? We'll set up in the front drawing room?"
"Yes, milord." The lady scurried off, not exactly running, but she'd heard enough to know it wasn't a bad thing, and smiled a little bit as she did it.
The old man turned, waving for them all to follow.
"This way, please. We don't have guests right now. Can you stay the night? Or the month?"
Kolb seemed pleased, and shook his head.
"I fear we need to go within the hour. Prince Dareg needs to be in Austra this evening. The High Servants are sending a contingent to aid them in building their own spaceport. Then each land will get a similar thing. You should lobby for having one of the lesser ones put in here. We'll need about twenty for Noram. Anyplace that has one will likely end up prospering a lot. That will help the people in the area, giving them jobs and access to easy travel, for work, or pleasure."
Dareg didn't blink, or react, but it was actually a good idea. Main places for the craft to set down and leave from, and smaller ones so that people could travel once there. This place bordered a nice ocean, which made it a lovely place to visit.
He nodded then.
"I'm planning one for Canton already. One here would work well. It won't cost anything, except some land, and a tax agreement. We can't afford taxes and tariffs on everything coming in, since it could be hit four times before reaching its destination. If we can keep that from happening, more people will benefit. You'd still get all those jobs and the tourism however, so it would be worth it, eventually."
Sea captains always complained about that kind of thing, so space captains would most likely feel the same. It was close enough that he saw the Baron give him a considering look, and Timon nodded, ever so slightly, letting him know that it was about the right thing to say.
"Hmm. I don't know. Most of my coin comes from tariffs. Here, we can talk inside. I think we have some sweet biscuits? You must all be famished, after your travels."
Dare was, but the others all seemed fine still.
Half an hour later Kevin came in, looking baffled and a bit scared, as they spoke about the benefits and drawbacks of hosting a hub.
Dareg smiled at the man and waved, standing. No one else did.
"High Servant Straughan! We came to get you to the meeting. You'll need to get your paperwork together, since Commander Derring is giving you and your friends a chance to show that your takeover plan is best for everyone. If it works out, you get control of the High Servants. Well, whoever you deem to be the best fit, I mean. You aren't the only ones getting a shot, so you'll want to be ready. Can we get some paper, and pens, for that?"
Digging into the bag at his side, High Servant Erid got some out, and handed it over instantly. Like it was all real.
Dareg smiled at him and bowed a bit, even as the confused Kevin took the things.
"I'm putting High Servant Erid here forward as well. If these other people have a better plan than you do, you'll step aside, won't you?"
The very funny thing was that the man bowed, going low, to both Karen and him.
"That is most kind. I... don't know if I'm worthy however."
Commander Derring smiled a bit and went a little misty.
"I don't know that either, Erid, but I would love to see your plans for it? I've failed at my duty in this. That's clear. I'll probably have to order myself jailed for it, but only after I make sure things will be seen to properly. A High Servant should run the order. I was always meant to be a place holder."
Erid swallowed, looking odd, and got out more paper and a pen. They were the new kind from Austra, that held their own ink all the time.
Looking around, Dare waved toward the door, "you can work on the ship? I hate to eat and run, Baron Straughan, but... You know, would you like to come with us? I can take you there and get you a place for the rest of the week? Sam Builder, the new Ancient of Noram is in at his palace at the Capital port. Introducing him to the people he serves makes sense to me." Plus, the man was nice and seemed gen
uinely friendly.
The Baron smiled, then sighed and shook his head, making the light glint.
"I fear I cannot. It's a shame, but I have guests. I can't abandon them."
Standing, Dareg bowed to the man.
"Later then? I'll work on Sam to set up a party in a month or two?"
They chatted for a bit, as the others moved to get to the ship. Still, about ten minutes later, with little tables set up for each of the writing men, he got them back to the spaceport. It took a while, so they had drinks and talked casually, about what Karen was planning to do.
"Well, after all this, I'll have to turn in my resignation as the Commander of the High Servants. Then, well, I might be off to prison. Hopefully I won't be hung. It would undo the whole immortal thing that I have going on. I can afford to sit in a cell for a while if need be. King Richard might let me stay out, so I can train you though, Squire Bill. He really isn't an unfair man. It probably comes down to what Smythe, Johansson, and Fines decide." She glanced at Bill and explained. "They're the councilors that oversee the High Servants. Tor used to be the Councilor of Magic, but he had to resign, in shame, when some of the first High Servants refused to do their sworn duty. He gave up his Knighthood, too. I'll try to keep mine, if I can, until my work with you is finished."
The ship was silent then, those being things that Dareg hadn't known. No one had ever mentioned it. Not even in school.
She went on, her voice a tiny bit thick.
"Keep that in mind, Bill. Sometimes duty means taking responsibility for things that aren't your fault. Tor almost had to go to prison for the failure of others back then. I'm not joking about that being possible now. If it happens, you have to accept it. Part of duty always means doing things that are unpleasant, and unfair. It isn't about that. Only about what is required of you. Just like you have to be willing to give your life to protect the King and Kingdom now."
On that somber tone, she stood up, stretched, and looked around.
"Now, I'm not certain what it is that we have planned? Dareg? This seems to be your show."
He nodded, getting that his natural tendency to push people around was being called, if in a gentle manner.
"We can set up at Sam's? He should be in on this. It's a Noram thing. It's a bit of a walk from here." They were back in the place they started from, which had managed to stay empty, thankfully. No place else was, and there were a lot of Space Fleet uniforms outside his window.
Which was very nice to see.
Not that they were going to be in and out at that level all the time, but Alice had gotten people in to enjoy the festival, which was both going to put bodies on the ground for the fun, and meant that they were backing his effort to get things set up. Given that there was no real reason to back him in anything. Especially if his command ability didn't influence her.
Though, it might have simply been that she wanted the work to be done. In that case, it wouldn't matter to her who did it, most likely. As long as they weren't too good looking around her.
That wasn't too much to ask, he didn't think.
The walk was slow, since the crowd was intense that day, filling the pathways. Mainly with commoners, dressed in browns and grays, who were waiting to take a free trip into space. It was free, after all, and still rare for a certain class of person. Those being normal ones. It just made sense for the common people to try for it, if they could.
Orange even took them into fleet. He knew that since about a third of the people in uniform were very short. Some of them had nearly black skin, which probably meant they were from Afrak. In a way it was a good sign. He'd never heard of fleet having problems as far as getting along across class lines. Probably because if anyone was a problem, Alice would have dropped them into space.
Without any air.
For a moment he wondered if that was how it really worked. That the woman was a bit wild around the edges was true enough, but would she just have killed people like that?
He didn't know, but if so, it was working for fleet so far.
When they got into the palace, Karen made a small room for each of the men that were putting forth their plans for the High Servants. Each had little desks, and soft chairs in them, along with doors.
For some reason High Servant Straughan really seemed to think that this was serious. He didn't really act nervous enough however. The man was being calm about it and wrote quickly, like he had a real, and very solid plan.
It wasn't right. There should be no way that a person that was planning to take over wouldn't have been sweating so hard that they were under threat of drowning, given the set up.
Walking away from the doors, everyone looked at one another, then stared at Karen, who laughed a bit.
"Well, it can't hurt to see what they have to say. Can it?"
That meant sitting in a different room and waiting, which meant that Tim and Tor changed outfits, since they had a lot of other people around them. Family, who wanted to visit, with Dareg. Bill stayed in the High Servant robes however, and no one suggested he do anything of the sort.
Interestingly, Terry came in, looking tall and strong, dressed in a worn black outfit. Taman was with him, and blushed a bit when she saw Dareg. Not that she left, or tried to not look at him.
Instead she moved over and tried to give him a hug. It started out fine, but after a bit she move closer, her eyes going wide.
"Hello, Dareg." Her breath sounded a bit short. She pulled away, but seemed nearly desperate. Then she hit him with an incredibly powerful compulsion to have sex with her. This time stripped of anything hinting of children. That would be due to the fact that she was incredibly intelligent. One thing hadn't worked, so her mind came up with a plan to get around the perceived flaws.
Tor snapped his fingers, like he'd forgotten something.
"Right! Dareg mentioned what you'd told him. Tim, Taman finally wants to get that little issue of hers taken care of. Do you have a plan for that?"
The tall man nodded, making the move large enough to be easily seen.
"Sure. I just didn't know how to get it done without kidnapping you, Tam. If you're ready now we can go do that. It won't take an hour. It isn't a big thing, so we can see to it now?" Not giving her a chance to say anything he hopped up, and took her away by the hand.
She could have fought, or refused, but the look on her face was resigned. She needed to change and knew it. That was clear even as she looked back at him, a bit sad. Like getting his seed was that big of a deal for her. Then, maybe it was? The perfect match for her otherwise would have been her brothers, which wasn't ever happening, and a thing she probably couldn't have stood to consider, being a good person. He had most of the same traits, but wasn't really related to her at the same time.
Still, it was better for him if it happened, and she got things seen to before a real problem took place. Dare didn't know what kind of fallout there would be from his aunt getting pregnant outside of marriage, since his own mother hadn't cared at all on her own part that way.
Still, in the end it hadn't been the most wonderful idea in the world, had it?
He'd been left all alone, to fend for himself. A bastard in a world where things had gotten hard in a way that Merilee had never thought would really happen. Not that he blamed her for what she'd done, but whatever family she'd had didn't even know that he existed, which was probably the way she'd planned it all to be.
Now... Well, he had a family. It was simply that he couldn't really believe in it. It was all too much like a fairy tale. A thing that would come to an end, probably after a few more days, leaving him to fend for himself again. This time however, he knew more about himself, so if it happened, he'd have a lot more of a chance. Really, it had to be hard for a person that people had to like and respect, to fail. Especially now that he knew it to be the case. All he had to do was pull off his little magical amulet that protected everyone else, and he could get by without struggling too hard.
Find a rich woman to marry, or
a business that required good sales, then use his powers to get people to spend their coin with him. It had let him take over the spaceport, after all. Even before anything had taken place as far as him being given privileges thanks to this new family, even. Part of that had been Tam-unit, but the rest was probably him.
That thought left him feeling a little better as he sat. Most of the others busied themselves by getting in touch with people, but other than calling on them to chat, he didn't have a lot to do that way, personally.
Karen had been on with Count Ford again, and invited the man there, since it would be a lot less crowded, in case anything happened. He was bringing guards, but only the four allowed him at an important meeting where he wasn't feeling personally threatened.
Terry muttered something about needing to get to work, and walked off, leaving the boring people sitting there, waiting for things to finally happen.
Tor, for his part, ran a commentary on everything, which was useful to Dareg, even if everyone else got what was happening.
The man, his father, touched his bare chin, and seemed to be thinking for a while.
"We should set up a meal with Ali. I know that she wants to get to know you. Right now she's being a bit shy, since... Well, her family life wasn't that great growing up. She doesn't really know how to be a mother. Not that hers was evil, but there were problems, and she left home early. We can invite Karina?" He smiled, his face peaceful and relaxed. "They're best friends, you know? Famous in Austra, too. They helped to overthrow the last Prime Minister there. It was needed, so they weren't blamed for it much."
That sounded like a good story. Before he could ask about it to pass the time, Erid and Kevin Straughan walked into the room, both carrying several sheets of paper. It was hard to read, being held away from him like they were, but the men looked to have fine handwriting. Dareg could manage that, if he tried, but these men seemed to be better at it. They had the kind of artistic penmanship that was nearly pretty to look at, even from a distance.
Count Ford was, it seemed, still in transit. Commander Derring didn't stand on that however, just nodding firmly one time.
