TERRA (The Portal Series, Book 2)

by Bowker, Richard;

  "Are they from Urbis?" I asked.

  "Yes. I have seen them in palatium. Maybe they have seen me too."

  We kept walking, losing ourselves in the crooked streets the way Affron and I had done the day before. Eventually we found a bench in a small park and sat down. I was afraid to go back to the insula now, as people grew more suspicious of us, and I was afraid to walk around out in the open.

  I wanted to go home.

  We sat silently on the bench for a while. Then I started explaining to Palta about "the" and "a".

  "I have heard those words from you and the rest," she said. "But they are stupid. They mean nothing."

  "Maybe, but I can't seem to speak English without them."

  She shrugged. "Then I will give them try. A try." She laughed. "And you learn the Latin."

  "I'm trying."

  "Try harder." She stood up. "Come. Let's go and buy the food."

  We bought food and made our way back to the insula. On the way, she silently slipped her hand into mine.

  The same people were staring at us outside the insula, but this time no one spoke to us.

  When we arrived, Valleia and Carmody had already returned, and everyone was worried about us, especially when we told them about the priests. "We must leave tonight," Valleia said. "We cannot wait."

  "You found a place for us?" I asked.

  "We did. In the Parioli castellum. It is secluded and very wealthy. The house is smaller than I'd like, but it has a wall and a gate. We will leave here after dark."

  Valleia had bought us all new robes, so we wouldn't look out of place walking through a rich neighborhood. I was happy not to be wearing my sweaty brown one anymore.

  "Our robes aren't as fine as yours," Palta pointed out to her.

  She shrugged. "We need to have servants, or people may be suspicious. You, Larry, and Affron will be the servants."

  Palta didn't seem happy about this, but Affron just bowed to Valleia and said, "We will strive to give you satisfaction, Domina."

  "It's just for show," Carmody said to Palta.

  Palta shrugged. She seemed to be okay with it because Affron was okay with it.

  We ate our last meal in the insula, cleaned up, and left the place, braving the suspicious gaze of the neighbors one last time.

  Valleia and Carmody went first, and we "servants" followed, carrying our few possessions. This was the first time I had been in the city at night, and I was glad I wasn't alone. The streets were dark, lit only by occasional torches and the glow of lights from houses and taverns. "Rich people go nowhere at night in Roma without their bodyguards," Affron said to Palta and me. "And things will be worse when the Games start. Then every pickpocket and thief in the empire will be here."

  But he didn't sound worried.

  Parioli was up on one of the hills, and the city seemed quieter, cooler, and safer when we reached it.

  The house was on a little side street lined with trees. The gate was locked, but Carmody had a key. He went inside, lit a torch in the entranceway, and we all followed him in.

  It had the same basic layout as Hypatius's house, but it was far larger and more ornate. Every room was bigger, and we each had our own bed to sleep in; the atrium was enormous, and there was a large garden beyond it—a peristyle, Valleia called it. The best part was that the place had a wide pool made of marble. No need to go to the public baths; no need to stink in the summer heat inside your apartment. When Palta saw the bath, she immediately took off her robe and sandals and got in.

  "Different customs here, eh, Larry?" Carmody murmured to me, watching Palta naked in the water.

  "And on Palta's world," I replied.

  Then Affron and Valleia took their clothes off too, so Carmody and I joined them, and we were all naked in the bath. I tried not to look at Palta or Valleia, but my eyes kept returning to them. And I couldn't help becoming aroused. If they noticed, they didn't seem to mind. Valleia's body and breasts were bigger than Palta's, but Palta was cute in her own way. I noticed Carmody looking at Valleia too, although he ignored Palta.

  Valleia looked back at him and smiled.

  Affron said nothing and looked at no one, closing his eyes and letting the water wash over him.

  After bathing Palta and I went out and bought the food and wine for dinner, and we ate in the dining room, reclining on couches the way we had in Hypatius's house. The wine made me sleepy—and happy. I wasn't back home, but it was better to be here than in the insula; it was good to have my own room for a change. I went to sleep right after dinner.

  When I awoke it was daylight, and Palta was snuggled up beside me.

  Chapter 12

  We were safer here, but we needed a plan. After the Roman Games our lease would end, the owners would return, and we would need someplace else to stay. Or we would have to leave Roma entirely.

  Day after day we could hear Valleia and Affron talking in his room—it was Valleia talking, mostly, and sounding more and more frustrated. Obviously Affron wasn't agreeing with her ideas, or coming up with any of his own. At dinner, they both started drinking a lot of wine.

  Palta and I were still in charge of shopping for food. It was good to get away from the arguing, and with Palta's help I started picking up some Latin. It was like something finally clicked, and the sounds suddenly began to make sense.

  On our way home one day I decided to ask Palta about why she snuck into my bed every night.

  "Do you not want me to?" she replied quickly. "I'll stop if you don't want me to."

  "No, no—it's fine. It's great. I just—wondered why."

  She slowed down as she considered her answer. Her eyes glistened with tears. "On Gaia, we survive by being part of tribe. A tribe. In my tribe, we all slept close together. For safety. For warmth. I'm used to feeling other bodies next to me when I sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night and I miss it. It makes me scared. It seems like you don't mind."

  "No, of course I don't. Do you miss a lot about Gaia?"

  She shook her head. "Gants destroyed everything on Gaia. It was too easy to kill, too easy to die. My mother, my father—all my family was dead. It was too hard just staying alive to notice any good things."

  "It sounds awful. No wonder you want to—"

  I didn't have a chance to finish, because suddenly we caught sight of Gratius walking along the busy street.

  He had already seen us and was making his way through the crowd in our direction.

  "We should run," Palta said. "I don't trust him."

  But I didn't want to run. "He saved our lives," I pointed out. "And he'll know what's going on back in Urbis."

  Palta looked dubious. Gratius was wearing the purple robe of a viator, which meant that everyone bowed to him and got out of his way. When he reached us, he turned and pretended to look into a shop. "Follow me," he said in English, and he strode away from us.

  We followed him through twisty side streets into a dark alley, empty except for a mangy dog, who slunk away when he saw us.

  Gratius turned to face us. "Affron and Valleia—are they all right?" he asked.

  "Yes," I replied.

  He let out a sigh of relief. "Where are they?" he asked. "No, don't tell me—I don't want to know. You must tell them there is no time to lose. They must act soon, or else leave Roma. Tirelius has spies everywhere. He knows they are still here. And he will know where to look for them. It is only a matter of time before they are caught."

  "We can tell them," I said. "But—"

  "Tell them," Gratius repeated. "Tell them that many priests still support Affron, but he must act. He must do something to make those priests believe he will stop Tirelius. Or the pontifex will win, and everything that Hieron worked for will be destroyed."

  Then Gratius turned away from us and walked quickly out of the alley.

  Palta and I stared after him. I felt an icy fear in my heart. "Very bad," she murmured.

  "Yes," I said.

  We hurried back to our house in Parioli. We
found Affron, Valleia, and Carmody sitting in the peristyle drinking wine. Birds were chirping in the trees. The fountain gurgled. In the distance I could hear a band playing. It was such a lovely place.

  We told them about our meeting.

  Valleia looked at Affron. "Do you see?" she said. "We cannot delay."

  "Gratius gets nervous," Affron pointed out. "Perhaps he is being too—"

  "He is telling the truth!" Valleia exploded. "We can't simply sit here and drink wine while Tirelius and his spies hunt us down. We are safe now, but will we be safe tomorrow, or even an hour from now? It is time to act."

  Affron nodded slowly but didn't speak.

  "Well?" she demanded. "We may have enough money left to hire a ship that will take us to Barbarica," she said. "If not, you can steal some more. We can go to Persia, or India, or Scotia—anywhere that is not part of the empire. We don't have to stay and fight, if you don't want to. But we must decide."

  He sighed. He rubbed his cheek. It looked like he still wasn't used to being clean-shaven. He poured himself a cup of wine. "I will fight," he said finally.

  "How? With Marcus Decius?"

  He nodded. "As you say. With Decius."

  "Who is Decius?" Carmody asked.

  "He is the governor of the Roman province," Valleia replied. "Not a friend of the priests, especially Tirelius."

  "Why not? Doesn't the pontifex appoint governors?"

  "It's complicated. The different provinces that make up the empire are allowed considerable autonomy, as long as they follow the policies that the priests set down. Decius has criticized Tirelius for many things. But he is highly popular, so Tirelius has been reluctant to move against him."

  "Why does he criticize Tirelius?"

  "You have seen Roma," Valleia said. "Much of it is beautiful. But you have also experienced the wretched insulae, the beggars, the poverty. Decius says the priests do not do enough to help the poor of Roma. And he is right. Other provinces have wealth—gold and iron mines, rare spices, rich, fertile land. Roma doesn't; it has land, but not enough to feed its citizens. So the Roman people suffer, and Tirelius doesn't seem to care. It is where the empire started, but he is too interested in expanding his power elsewhere. The people look to Decius to help them."

  "All right," Carmody said. "What is the plan? You make an alliance with this man?"

  Valleia nodded. "Yes. He knows about Affron. He will support us."

  "But how?"

  Valleia looked at Affron, who said nothing. "We have a gant," she said. "It is not much, but it may be enough. The rest of the gants are held in an armamentarium not far from the soldiers' barracks in Urbis."

  "Yes, you talked about going there after we rescued Affron."

  "Yes. Well, we have worked out a plan—or rather, I have. There's no reason why we can't return to Urbis the way we left it. At night, through the tunnel; it won't be guarded. The armamentarium will be guarded, but the guards aren't trusted to have gants. That means we can capture all the weapons it holds. Once we have those gants, Tirelius loses the main advantage he has over us."

  "But where does Decius come in?"

  "There are only five of us," Valleia pointed out. "Even with those gants, even with our supporters among the priests, it's not clear that we could defeat Tirelius and his soldiers."

  "Not without killing many, many people," Affron said.

  "But Decius could provide you with soldiers?" Carmody replied.

  "Yes, he has soldiers who are more loyal to him than to the priests. With them, we can take over Urbis. Once we are in control of Urbis, we can control the empire."

  "And Larry can go home."

  "Yes, Larry can go home."

  I noticed that Carmody didn't mention going home himself.

  He seemed dubious about her plan, though. "You don't think Tirelius will guard against someone sneaking into Urbis? The walls are patrolled, after all. Presumably they know we used the tunnel to escape. What makes you think they won't guard that, as well?"

  "Perhaps they will," Valleia replied. "But there are other ways into the city. And again, the guards won't have gants. No, the key is to get to the armamentarium undetected. And I think we can do that."

  "This will need to be carefully planned," Carmody said.

  "We will rely on you to help with that, William." Valleia turned back to Affron. "You and I will track Decius down tomorrow and lay the plan in front of him," she said. "I'm sure he will agree."

  "I would prefer to go with Larry," Affron replied.

  And that caused Valleia to explode again. "Why?" she demanded. "Why do you need Larry? He adds nothing. He is just a boy. He can't even speak Latin."

  "I can speak it well enough," I protested—in Latin. Not that I was particularly interested in going to meet Decius.

  Valleia glared at me. But Affron wouldn't change his mind, and he wouldn't explain himself. "Larry comes," he said. "You can come too, of course."

  And that was that.

  Through all the discussion, Palta said nothing. After the plans had been made she went off to the kitchen to prepare dinner. We ate in silence for the most part, but afterward, in my room, I asked her what she thought.

  "I like it here," she said. "In this house, with Affron, with you. I want to stay here forever."

  "But we can't—you know that. We have to leave at the end of the summer, even if Tirelius doesn't track us down."

  "I know that, of course. But I worry about Affron. He doesn't want to do this. He doesn't want to go back to Urbis. The woman is forcing him into it."

  "Then why didn't he agree to go to Barbarica instead? That would have been safer."

  "Maybe he doesn't know what he wants."

  That seemed pretty likely to me.

  "This will let you go home," she noted.

  "Yeah." She didn't sound happy about that. And that made me happy. I hadn't been thinking so much about home in the past few days. But just hearing Palta saying the word made memories come flooding back. Doritos. Cell phones. The Internet. Cassie's play—I had missed it, of course. Matthew's school project about California. Almonds. In this world, there wasn't even a California. I realized that I didn't even know the date anymore. School was out by now. In the summer I was supposed to be a counselor trainee at Glanbury's town day camp—my first real job. I had been so excited when I got that job. Now, none of that mattered.

  I suppose Palta could sense my emotions, because she reached out and squeezed my hand. "Affron will get you home," she said. "I know it."

  I hoped she was right.

  I didn't sleep well. Again, Affron wanted me to go with him. Why? Why did I feel it when Affron used the power of his mind, and Palta didn't?

  Why did he want Valleia to bring me to Terra, even if he knew I wouldn't help him during his trial?

  I had no answers. In the morning Valleia was excited, but Affron was his usual calm self. "Decius will be surrounded by aides and soldiers," he said. "But we will see what can be done."

  "Does he knows what you look like?" I asked.

  "I doubt it."

  "He knows your reputation," Valleia pointed out. "He knows why Tirelius is so interested in finding you. We just need to find a way to talk to him."

  We had breakfast and a bath, and then we were ready to go. "Bona fortuna," Carmody said to us. Good luck.

  Palta gave me a quick, hard hug.

  Valleia put the gant in a pocket of her robe.

  The day was hot, as usual. We walked quickly out of our shady neighborhood and onto the busy, crowded streets. And we made our way to the real, central Roman Forum, which was lined with buildings even larger and grander than those of Urbis.

  "Before Hieron, before Urbis, this was the center of the Roman empire," Affron said.

  He pointed at one of the largest buildings, a great stone edifice with a long set of steps leading up to an entrance supported by massive columns. "That's the headquarters of the provincial government. I expect that Decius has an office somewhere i
nside."

  "We shouldn't all go in," Valleia said. "Let me find out if he's there."

  Affron shrugged. "As you wish."

  We watched her climb the steps and disappear into the building. Then we found a place to sit on the steps of another building where we could see her when she reappeared. Affron said nothing.

  "Why do you bring me with you?" I asked after a while. "To the pawnbroker, and now here. I don't mind, but I don't understand it."

  Affron rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "Because I need company," he said. "Because no one else seems to feel what I feel, experience what I experience."

  "You mean like the feeling I had at the pawnbroker's shop? Like I was experiencing the entire multiverse at the same time?"

  "Yes. Something like that."

  "But I'm just a kid from an average world. I wasn't trained to be a viator or anything Why am I the only one?"

  "Terra was an average world—until Hieron came along," Affron responded. "It's not training. Or not just training, perhaps. In an infinity of universes, there are bound to be people who are different. Perhaps they are not even aware of that difference—they just need to be made aware of the possibility that they are different. There is so much locked inside the human mind, Larry. Some people remember every event of their lives as if it just happened to them. Others can multiply six-digit numbers in their brains without a thought. Others invent gants. Others... are somehow in tune with the multiverse."

  "I don't understand any of this."

  "Well, neither do I. But I do know that it was not my doing that the portal brought you back to your home at the instant you left. And it was not my doing that you can feel this—this—" He groped for the right word.

  "I think of it as speckness," I said. "This sense that you're just this tiny speck of nothingness inside the multiverse."

  "Yes, that is good. Your speckness. That is what is inside you."

  I pondered this. And then I asked: "What do people believe here—about the portal, about the multiverse? Do they know the truth? Or do they think it's all, you know, magic, or miracles, or something?"