Asunder (The Infected: Ripped to Shreds Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  After all, Cindy was cute. Strange as well, being pale and exotic as she was. The problem there was that the butler wasn’t certain what her relationship to the rest of the house was. Some of the Baker family members were pale as well. So it was possible that he’d misunderstood that part of things.

  Making a mistake like that might be the last thing he did, so it would be a great idea to avoid that, if possible.

  It meant that no one came to get her, even after she woke up, and dressed for the day. She was up early, so decided that getting out for a run was a great plan. Except for the part where she didn't need to do that kind of thing any longer. Meditation was still on her menu of things to do however, so Cin moved to the front yard, and stood there, trying to focus her entire being on her belly button as well as she could. After what felt like an hour, she shifted her concentration to the top of her left foot.

  Finally, when she was about to get bored anyway, she headed in, to find that Terlee was up already, and setting food on the table with her own hands. It was oatmeal, from the look of it, but she could handle that. A lot of it, if that wasn’t rude of her. The issue there was asking for it.

  “Hello! Tyler mentioned that you were out front, standing?” She said it as if that wasn’t insane sounding without context. As if all the guests might be doing things like that, on a daily basis. From behind her a deep voice spoke, explaining what was going on.

  Tim Baker.

  “She was meditating. Preparing for the day’s work, before either of us even woke. She’ll need to eat more than this by several times however. I should have mentioned it last night. Her body has been altered, so she’ll need… Think of feeding a growing giant? It’s about like that.”

  Instead of calculating the cost of such things, Tamerlane took a slightly shaking breath, then bowed.

  “Forgive me, Lady Cindy… I should have…”

  That got her to grin and shake her head, before the apology could come.

  “Not a problem. I could use a bit of food before we start? If it isn’t an inconvenience?” There had been mentions of rationing, the night before. That didn’t seem to be a big problem there, since they had a Tiera-food unit.

  Which thinking about it, had Tim looking at her, smiling.

  “Tiera actually does great work on those. This is the fifth version, I think? They’ll make almost anything related to food. Honestly… If you want, we can try one out later today? It would be fun to see what happens if a person that just has a different version of what food is were to try using it. You did a great job with the clothing amulet, so we know that you can use magic.”

  The Countess actually went wide eyed then, the words over her head telling Cindy why she was feeling poorly, if nothing else. It came down to simply not wanting to put her on the spot. Just in case she couldn’t manage using a complicated device to good effect.

  Which was a nice idea, if nothing else.

  “Are we starting work right after we eat? We’ll need the boys if so, to take notes for us. Unless they have school? In that case…” Well, she could write well enough. Not in Standard, but that wouldn’t stop all the people involved from getting the data really.

  Timon shrugged then.

  “We’re here to wait on your needs. After all, you’re the one with the special skill we’re abusing. Maybe…” He stopped, falling into a trance then, thinking. She understood what was happening, since he accidently pulled her into it, taking her to a much deeper place than she’d been the last time she’d been there. She could tell, because she wasn’t just seeing labels on everything, but getting complicated histories, if she started to read at all. Including how to information on manufacturing, as well as instant links to the people that had made them.

  Living or dead.

  She smiled as Timon opened his eyes. There was a countdown to that event over his head. It reminded her a bit of what Brian did occasionally. A precognitive thing that took place subconsciously.

  She didn't let him speak, his idea being to take her to Harmony in order to work that day. He had other things to do, but nothing that would preclude him from taking notes, if it was needed. After all, that would limit the number of individuals that had the new information. Not that either Terlee or the boys couldn’t know that kind of thing. They were all in the set of people he considered trustworthy. The kids were young though, and probably didn’t need to be exposed to world ending trauma.

  Not more than was needed.

  Then, Cin didn’t need that either. Timon was certain of that, even as he knew that she was, in many ways, more of a warrior than he could ever be. After all, he might have pulled the right weapon if his brother were attacked, but there was no way he would have managed the rest of it.

  True, half of that was down to the new powers that Cindy had been given. Only half, though. The rest was due to the fact that the woman was just that strong inside. A thing that he feared he really wasn’t. Oh, it could look like that, from time to time, but it would be lying to himself to think that he was really tough inside. Not to the level that having an arm nearly removed wouldn’t have him gibbering on the ground. Even if it didn’t hurt.

  The only real problem with that was that it wasn’t particularly true. Oh, Cin knew she was kind of a bad-ass, but Timon Baker wasn’t less of one. He didn’t like to fight, but when he had to, he tried as hard as anyone in the world could ask of him. It was just that his life had needed him to be something more than a mere fighter. So he thought himself weak, compared to his older brother Tor and even his sister Tiera. Mainly because Tor had won pretty close to every battle he’d ever been in. As far as Cindy could tell, so had Tiera.

  Tim had as well, but was underselling his own efforts.

  It wasn’t really low self-esteem, so she didn’t bother him with a correction.

  Instead of letting him try to remove her from the nice house, a place he didn’t think was grand enough for her, she shook her head.

  “You can stay? You could get me into a deeper state again? I can’t really get there on my own, yet, but it might help me find what we need a lot faster.” It was true, but the man still considered trying to find a reason to take her away.

  “But those notes? The boys have lessons…” He knew that one to be true, though Tamerlane waved the words away casually.

  “They do, but working to translate intelligence for the war effort will be an acceptable excuse for them to miss a day. Or even a week. It isn’t as if they’re drinking and carousing in town or anything.” She meant it, but also didn’t want to be cut out of the information loop.

  It was harder to get at information if all the good things were being hidden from her. Instead of pouting or yelling, she just moved to get more food from the device. Interestingly, instead of making something fancy, she got more hot cereal for her guest. She was guessing, but thought that Cindy might be so powerful that a simple meal would be fine for her. It nearly didn't make sense, but when she put the large bowl in front of the woman, Cin merely smiled and placed a napkin in her lap, using good manners.

  “Thanks, Terlee. This looks great.” It kind of did. Then, she wasn’t a picky eater. It was a bit bland, being just oats, but she dove in, using a silver spoon that had been provided for her.

  Timon did the same after a bit, waiting until the boys got there, twenty minutes later, to try and pry her away again.

  “We could work from the back of Trice’s shop?” The woman had already left for the day, having to open her shop. Or, more to the point, not having scheduled anyone else to do her job, even if she could have. She was the owner of the magic shop, as much as anyone owned a place that just gave things away for free.

  Before the boys could glare at him for stealing their prize alien, or Terlee could become upset over being diminished as far as the war effort went, Cindy shook her head.

  “Nope? This is the working team for it. Three of you already have experience and your part will just be getting me as deeply focused as you can manage, then ke
eping me there while the others guide me to the right locations or people to research. It would take longer to train someone new than for these people to do it. I suppose we could all go to the Moon, but unless you’re needed there, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

  The guy actually gave her a wry look then, along with a smirk.

  “Oh? I suppose not, given that. I wasn’t aware that we had an expert team here already.”

  She shrugged.

  “The three most experienced people in this reality when it comes to working with me? The four, counting you. But this way we can keep you on task more easily, since Tyler can guard us while we work.” She thought that was the butler’s name.

  At the mention of it, Terlee nodded.

  “Yes. Tyler?” She called out a bit loudly, then spoke in Standard to the man.

  The instructions were polite, but also complimentary. Cindy read them off from over the head of the Countess. It wasn’t hard at all, the print seeming to come more quickly, along with margin notes that she normally wouldn’t have gotten. That was down to what Tim was doing to her.

  “Tyler? Ambassador Mableton has requested that you, personally, guard us while we work today. By name. She trusts you, it seems?” There was a grin then. “I think she’s asking for you to monitor any communications and telling everyone to go away unless it’s very important, rather than fighting for us.” There was an amused smile at the joke, though Cindy didn't see it as funny really.

  Timon was smothering a smile, though Dumas just noted it, his book telling of how asking the butler to fight for them would be humorous, since anyone attacking would be better armed. It wasn’t that the man wouldn’t do his best however, if asked. He just didn’t have a shield, or weapons of note. Not until Tim stood up and pulled some things from around his neck.

  “Good plan, sis. Here, take these, Tyler. A shield and an air lance. Both made by me, so these legally belong to you now. Just in case anyone becomes too aggressive about seeking an audience. If it comes to that, yell and we’ll come to aid you.”

  The words got Cin to nod along as the man took the things, not knowing if he were being joked with or not. After all, it was legal for a wizard to give magic away. Not to sell it to anyone who had the coin. Not for everything. A high-end shield for instance, had to be a gift from the maker, or purchased by nobility. So, Tim Baker giving the man these things wasn’t just him handing over several thousand golds worth of things. It was giving the man a license to own them, at the same time. A thing that even being a sworn man to Count Thomson couldn’t have gotten him.

  In that case he might have been allowed to use one, holding it for the Count, but not own it.

  There was a deep bow then, the man not certain that the things weren’t about to be removed from him. Then, he’d never heard of Tim Baker as being that kind of man. Only the opposite, which fit the situation totally at the moment.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  That got a small bow back and a wave.

  “Tim. Clearly we’re all friends now, after all. We’ll use your best discretion as to who gets in to bother us. If it’s anyone in my family, let me know first? Then I can warn them about the thrashing they’re about to receive if they try to press in past you.”

  That was supposed to be funny, but Cindy noticed that Tyler was prepared to actually do that, given his orders for the day.

  The work itself was led by Tamerlane and Dumas, for the most part. Tim and Clem interjected things occasionally. Timon was mainly there to vastly improve her abilities. That was all, as far as his job for the day. Which, his story confirmed, was interesting, but a little bit low on importance to his mind. After all, Cindy could do it for herself. Which was probably true, by the time it was nearing lunch. They didn’t break for it though, since they ate at two in the afternoon most days, not noon. So she kept on, ignoring the hunger that gnawed at her as she checked person after person. Hundreds of them, before they found one that had two copies in place. One of those was there, in the same city with them.

  The other was on Mars, in their First City.

  Talking as it turned out, to Hess. The High Leader of that planet.

  “Well, fuck.” She blinked then, not certain anyone else would understand her. They did though. All of them. Terlee looked annoyed with her for the first time, cursing like that in her home.

  So Cindy pretended to wince.

  “Sorry there. I found one, I think. Princess Allison? The one here is fine. I mean, she’s the real one and no one has her working against the rest of us yet or anything. There’s another on Mars right now, gaining intelligence from the Leader there. Hess, from last night? Only, we need to get to them fast, since I think that she’s about to try and kill him. We have about five minutes?” Provided she was right. Which she was.

  There was no particular reason for anyone to think that was the case there, however. Even back home it would have been carefully checked out before doing anything about it all. Just in case she was wrong.

  Rather than run to the transport booth down the street, even if it were handy, Timon pulled something from his right hand trouser pocket. It had blue glowing letters on it, not all of them being things she instantly recognized. Some of them announced themselves as sigils, the rest as various letters, spelling out names, which translated as she watched. Her own power taking their meanings and presenting them to her. It was kind of wild.

  After a moment, Tim started speaking. She had to check the print over his head to keep up with what he was saying. Thankfully he provided a translation of what the man on the other end was saying at the same time. It was Prince Dareg, she thought.

  So, a person that didn’t really have any particular reason to trust in her powers or abilities yet at all.

  “Dare? Cin from Brian’s world found an attack that’s imminent. On Mars. Hess is about to be hit by a copy of Princess Allison. I don’t think that Hess can tell that it’s her from the looks, if those are even close…” He looked at Cindy, which did get her to check on them both. It wasn’t hard to link to either of them at the moment. The killer girl, who was about thirteen and the four-armed leader.

  She paused though, for a second. Then spoke in English, not thinking about it.

  “Um… She has a fairly powerful bomb. Maybe two. One that she placed just inside the… Samantha’s Restaurant? On the floor, under the second table against the right-hand wall, if you’re facing the back of the place. In a tan satchel. She plans to come here, to Earth, first, before that goes off.” She slowed for a second, hearing the man running on the other end of the magical phone. “For weapons… She has several knives and a handgun. A nine-millimeter, I think. The bullets are Teflon coated, so will go through armor, but not the force fields you use here. That’s an oversight. The blades have poison on them, but again, that won’t go through the shields you have. She has armor on however. That…” She actually had caught reference to something similar before. Brian used to have that kind of thing, before it was stolen away by Tesseract, the villain. “That’s pretty good. She also has… A hostage? A woman in tow, behind her… Um… She isn’t from here, but doesn’t seem in on the attack. So, I guess you should try not to kill her, if possible?”

  She didn’t take time to learn more than that, just pulling it from the fake princess’s mind directly that the lady was there. Against her will, since the man in charge had ordered it to be done. The woman wasn’t old, but did have a bomb strapped to her, in case the first one didn’t go off.

  “Seriously? The woman has a bomb vest on. It isn’t powerful, but it will kill the woman wearing it and maybe damage the walls if she’s in the wrong place when it goes off. The lady, Nadia… She really doesn’t want to be there.”

  There was a half second pause in the running, then Dareg started to move faster, his breathing becoming harsh.

  “I understand. Samantha? Did you get that about the bombs? Grab the other woman and the first device and meet me outside your shop.” Then the line broke as i
t seemed that Dare Canton was running.

  Shrugging, Cin simply read up on what people had going on. Or at least she tried to. She could see what was happening with Dareg easily enough. He was clearly smart on a level that was very high end. Like Brian Yi was, roughly. When she tried to connect with the other person there, Samantha, the world attempted to explode inside her head. At least that was how it seemed. There was something going on with that person, that was a bit like what Trivia had going on back home, only not as well organized. Not even close. It was just a flow of hundreds of minds acting all at one time, in one place.

  Sitting there Cin ignored that part of things, for her own sanity, and switched to Hess. The Ysidril. His mind was incredibly well organized, and easy to read. It was a layered computer screen at the moment, all of them moving quickly. The trick there was that he couldn’t see that the girl, and she was young, being about thirteen or so, was about to try and shoot him in the head.

  The issue was that Dareg wasn’t anywhere close to being where he needed to be. Nadia the captive was just standing there, and knew she was about to die. It would have helped if she decided to run, except that Evil Allison had told her that if she got too far from her, about twenty feet, the bomb would go off, killing her instantly.

  “Right. This is going down now. I need to… Help Hess out. How…” She didn’t really know what to do there. Even as the gun came around, he was unguarded about it. To him weapons weren’t even a thing, really. He’d heard about the concept, but couldn’t make sense of it. To him the woman seemed to have a calculating device of some sort.

  So, bringing up a blank screen, she forced words to appear on it.