phrases? Talk plainly and don’t bother using sugared words for my ears.”
Matthew spoke earnestly, “There’s a woman, in another world. She was badly wounded. I left her in stasis, but she wil surely die shortly after emerging from it, unless I can persuade you to help her.”
“Not my problem,” said Gareth curtly.
“But she’l die if…”
“Young man, I ate my friends and spent a thousand years living as a dragon. Why should I care if some stranger from another world dies? And you, you might as wel have spit on your father just now. Why should I help a fool?”
Matthew was thinking furiously, trying to come up with something. Finaly, he said, “Even if you consider my father your enemy, I am not. In the future, I could be a powerful aly.”
The archmage held up a hand to forestal any more, “I would not cal your father an enemy, though he certainly is not my friend. I owe him
much for his help in the past, or I would have tried to slay him for his insult to my wife. You do realize our disagreement is over your sister’s life, don’t you? Would you ask for aid from a man who might desire her execution?”
Matthew sat straighter and squared his shoulders. “That matter is not for me to decide. If it should lead to a fight between you, I wil defend her and the rest of my family. But it was not me who offended you, and it was no fault of my friend’s, either. Karen nearly died trying to help me and my dragon, though she hardly knew us. Help her, please!”
Gareth snorted. “She probably considered your dragon nothing more than a mount or fancy pet.”
“No,” he protested. “They were friends.”
“I wonder what Desacus would say if we ask him that same question?” said Gareth derisively.
“He’s dead,” snapped Matthew. “He died trying to protect us.”
The red-bearded mage’s eyes widened. “Dead?”
“Dead,” he affirmed. “I was knocked unconscious at the same time.”
“And the egg?”
“Taken.”
Gareth Gaelyn stood, looking down at the young wizard. “And what do you propose to do about that ?”
Matthew stood as wel. He was not as tal as Gareth, but he wouldn’t let that intimidate him. Giving the archmage an even stare, he answered,
“I’m going to take it back, and make sure that the ones who did it never make that mistake again. But I need Karen’s help to find him.”
Gareth began to laugh, a deep rumbling sound that was more menacing than humorous. “Very wel, young wolf! I wil strike a bargain with you.
I wil help you recover your maiden, but you wil make a promise to me as wel. I know very wel that once you have secured the woman, your
father wil forbid you to return. The dragons are important to him, but not worth the risk of his son’s life. Swear to me that you wil defy his wil and go back for your dragon. Do that, and I wil forgive your father’s offense against my wife, whether you succeed or die in the attempt.”
Matt smiled. “That’s an easy price. I would have done it anyway.”
“If that is true, then I have no reservations in helping you get your girl,” said Gareth. Either way my purpose will be served. Either a dragon is saved, or your arrogant father will get his comeuppance, losing his eldest son for treating my wife as his slave. He smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
Chapter 31
Gareth promised to return the folowing morning. Next, Matthew planned to ask for Elaine Prathion’s assistance, figuring her special abilities might come in handy should things turn out for the worse. But first, he had to face his father.
The Count was waiting for him when he left the false family apartments and returned to their semi-secret home in the mountains. He was pacing in the entry hal, visibly agitated.
“Dad…,” started Matthew.
“Did he agree to help you?” His voice was curious.
“Yes, but…”
Mordecai smiled. “Excelent! That was quick thinking. I’m proud of you son.”
Matthew paused, “Wait, you aren’t mad?”
“Ha! Your mother thinks I’m a bad actor, but I’ve got news for you, I can bluff with the best of them! No, I’m not mad. When you decided to try and talk to him alone, I figured you wanted to try to get around his anger with me by negotiating separately. You caught me by surprise, but I figured it would work better if he thought you had made me angry. It may have even tipped the balance—letting him feel like he was getting back at me by helping you,” explained Mordecai.
He didn’t think his father would have been as pleased if he had heard about the bargain at the end. Being ordered to stay safe at home after getting Karen back, he should have anticipated that. Even so, he knew he would have ignored the command, so he stil didn’t consider the bargain a betrayal. It just happened to align with what he would have done anyway.
“Wel, I’m glad our plan worked,” put in Matthew.
Mordecai looked at him, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “Plan, my ass! You thought I was genuinely angry. I bet I scared the piss out of you when I slammed that door!”
That was unfair—he’d been anxious, but he had never been one to shy away from an argument. “I was a little worried,” said Matthew
defensively, “but that was al.”
His father winked at him. “Either way, that took bals, especialy if you didn’t know I was just playing along. You’re quite the young rebel, aren’t you?”
“I wasn’t trying to be rebelious,” he protested. He had always thought teenage rebelion for its own sake was rather stupid, and he hated being stereotyped that way. “I was just…”
“Oh no!” interrupted Mordecai. “You were definitely rebeling, which is why I have to punish you.”
“What?! But you just said you thought it was a good idea!”
“There’s a pile of dishes in the kitchen,” his father informed him, “and I already gave Alyssa the day off.”
Matt glared at him. “You just didn’t want to do them yourself,” he grumbled.
“You’d best hurry, young hero—every quest starts with an onerous task, and yours lies in the kitchen!”
***
Elaine Prathion stood beside him in the transfer-house, waiting on Gareth’s arrival. She wore a plain woolen dress that was fairly practical by her standards, lacking extra embroidery or decoration, though it was dyed a deep crimson. Despite its simplicity, the dress was wel tailored, showcasing her figure. Matthew might have preferred it if she had worn trousers, given the dangers of their task, but Elaine would only make so many concessions when it came to hiding her femininity.
“Somehow, I thought he would be the first one here,” she said.
Matthew considered it for a moment; he had thought the same thing, but now he wondered. “Wel, he is a thousand years old, and most of that time he was a dragon. Maybe his sense of time is a little eccentric.”
She chuckled, “That’s a kind word for him. He’s almost as scary as your father.”
“Scary? Dad?” Matthew had trouble imagining that. If anything, Gareth was far more intimidating.
“Maybe it’s because he’s your father, but he was my teacher. Not to mention the first time I met him, he was fighting Celior.”
He guessed seeing something like that might have an effect on someone. For himself, he had missed seeing almost al of his father’s legendary battles. Some had happened before he was born, and for those that came later he and Moira had usualy been ushered to safety. Growing up, he had always thought his Dad was pretty amazing , but in part it was because everyone else seemed to believe it. The reality he lived with was an older man who stopped pretending to be an adult the moment he was out of the public view.
Matthew nodded. “I’l share the truth for you then. He’s a complete klutz. He’s never met a wal or a piece of furniture he couldn’t run into or trip over. When he isn’t busy faling down , he acts like a randy teenager around my mother. If he didn’t shield himself constant
ly, she’d have beaten him black and blue by now. It’s realy embarrassing. He also has a habit of wandering around the house in his underclothes, and that’s if you’re lucky.”
Elaine giggled. “I guess our homes are more alike than I realized.”
“Some things cannot be unseen,” agreed Matthew in mock horror.
It was then that Gareth Gaelyn appeared within the teleportation circle. He eyed them before speaking, “I hope you two wil be able to take this seriously. This isn’t a summer outing.”
Elaine lifted her chin and graced him with a smile. “Not to worry, Lord Gaelyn. I’m certain we wil both be doing our best when we arrive.”
The older wizard ignored her reply and turned his eyes to Matthew. “Where wil we be leaving from?”
“Right here is fine,” he replied. “I should warn you both, though—I can’t predict exactly where we’l arrive in the other world. I left a circle near Karen, so once we get there I’l need to make another so we can get to her location.”
“This should be easy then,” observed Elaine, “as long as we don’t appear in the middle of your enemies.”
“Or the ocean,” added Gareth.
“That’s happened to me once already,” he admitted before continuing. “I also need to introduce you to the fourth member of our team.” He
held the PM out in front of him with the screen facing in their direction, “Gary, introduce yourself.”
The screen lit and a face appeared, “Good morning, everyone.”
Both of the other wizards frowned and Matthew could sense their focus on the PM. They were examining it not only with their magesight but
more actively with faint aythar probes.
“How is it talking?” wondered Elaine out loud.
Gareth squinted. “There’s no magic in it, and I sense nothing from him either.”
By ‘him’ he obviously meant Matthew. If they hadn’t both been mages, they might have been awed by the sight of such strange technology, but they were used to seeing unusual things. They only wanted to know how it worked.
“He’s Karen’s virtual father,” said Matthew. “Similar to your wife, Lord Gaelyn, but without using aythar.”
“The term ‘thinking machine’ might be easier to understand,” suggested Gary.
“How does it know our language?” asked Gareth.
“While Matthew was learning our language, English, I also kept close notes of his usage of his native tongue. You cal your language ‘Barion,’
correct?”
They nodded.
“Since, I’ve been here, I have had a lot of time and opportunity to listen to your language. Some of the syntax and coloquialisms stil confuse me, but I believe I have a grasp of at least eighty percent of it now. That wil improve dramaticaly when we return to my world and I can upload the data I’ve colected to my larger self. I’l be able to integrate the information much more quickly then.”
Elaine and Gareth simply stared at the device in Matthew’s hand, trying to sort through what it had said. The language had been Barion, but the usage and vocabulary had been put together in ways that were unfamiliar.
Matthew cut in, “He has a strange way of speaking, since he isn’t used to our language yet.”
Gareth snapped out of it first. “Wil it be useful to us?”
“Very,” assured the young man.
Gary made an observation in English, “He’s rather rude, isn’t he?”
Matthew replied in the same tongue, “He’s a practical man. Do your best to stay on his good side. He’s the one that can heal Karen.”
“Noted,” said the AGI.
Elaine was frowning as they spoke, but said nothing. Gareth showed no such restraint, “Stick to our language. I don’t like being in the dark.”
It took a few minutes longer, but eventualy Matthew finished the explanations and they were ready to leave. Elaine and Gareth stood on either side of him. She took his left hand and Gareth rested his hand on Matt’s shoulder. The world blurred, and they fel into the timeless abyss between worlds.
***
A light blinked on Aiseman’s desk. Nodding and issuing a mental command, he accepted the channel. The face of Major General Gardner
appeared across the desk from him.
“We have a signal,” said Gardner.
“Where?”
“In Honduras.”
Aiseman nodded. “Resolution?”
“Less than a mile, Director,” reported the General. “It’s very close to a place that used to be known as Dulsuna .”
“That’s good,” commented the Director. “ANSIS has improved our accuracy by a factor of at least ten.”
“As we get more signals and data, we should be able to do even better,” agreed the General.
“How long before we can respond?” asked Aiseman.
“It’s seven minutes for the nearest missile assets, Director. Eighteen minutes for air support, and twenty-five if you want units on the ground,”
reported Gardner succinctly.
The Director paused, thinking for several long seconds. The plan was to respond with an immediate missile strike if the response time was five minutes or less. Seven was close, but not close enough. “Send in drones and air support. Get the armor on the move. I don’t think they’l reach the area in time, but it’s best to be sure. We’l have to hope they move as we expect.”
He glanced toward the ceiling of his virtual office, as though wondering if an invisible god were listening in. I didn’t say too much, he thought.
“You have your orders General. We’l speak again in ten minutes,” commanded Aisemann , cutting the link.
I can’t even say something as simple as ‘secure channels,’ he thought sourly. With a sigh, he rose from his desk and prepared to send himself to the Gulf Coast UN Cybernetics facility. He hated being forced to download into a physical body, but if their suspicions were correct, it was the only way to avoid having their communications intercepted.
He would meet General Gardner and Deputy Director Wong there, where they could coordinate their ANSIS assets directly, without relying
on the network. He could only hope that Dr. Miler wouldn’t decide to join them.
Chapter 32
Matthew was almost used to the disorientation that always came after shifting, but it was the first time for Elaine and Gareth. The former looked decidedly green as she swayed on her feet, while Gareth unceremoniously bent over and vomited onto the ground.
Elaine jumped back, hoping to avoid letting vomit land on her shoes or the hem of her dress, but the sudden movement almost made her lose
control of her own stomach.
Matt ignored them both, taking a couple of casual steps away and using his power to clean his boots while he waited for them to regain their composure. Scanning the area, he was struck by its beauty. The landscape was dominated by roling hils, with larger mountains on the horizon.
Their immediate vicinity was a verdant grassland, but there was a heavily forested area within a half mile of them to the north. Gazing south, he saw signs of more forest there.
Gary spoke almost before Matt could finish looking around, “We have trouble. The military is already moving. They know your location.”
“That was fast,” observed Matthew. “Are you sure?”
“They’ve grown very cautious. They’ve stopped communicating through military network channels. Most of their leadership is convening in
cybernetic units in North America,” said Karen’s virtual father.
“You’l have to explain what that means,” said Matthew. He was stil coming to terms with the broader implications of the world’s technology.
“It means they suspect I have infiltrated military-encrypted channels. They’re going to the trouble to download into cybernetic bodies for their meetings in order to avoid me overhearing them. It also means they expect that what they are saying on secure channels wil reach me, so we have to assume that what I have learned m
ay be deliberate misinformation,” said the AGI.
“So, they’re paranoid,” said Matt. “What do you think they’re doing?”
“They may have missiles in the air already. If so, this area wil be obliterated in less than five minutes. The best-case scenario is that they were teling the truth; in which case drones and other offensive air capabilities wil be here in around fifteen minutes,” reported Gary.
“Shit,” swore Matthew. “Why does everything happen so quickly in this world?” He didn’t wait for an answer, though. There wasn’t time.
Using his aythar to direct the soil beneath him, he cleared a five-foot by five-foot area and started drawing a circle.
Four or five minutes wasn’t long. Elaine stepped closer. “Are we in that much of a hurry?”
He nodded, too busy to bother talking.
She could see the concentration on his face, and that was al the answer she needed. Drawing out one of her wands, she poked him with it to get his attention. “I’l do the outer and inner geometries—I’m faster. You focus on the runes and the keys, since I don’t know them.”
Matt stared at her for a second. “Good idea.” She was already beginning the outer ring, so he started inscribing the runes that went between it and the inner ring, trusting her to complete the lines that would enclose them.
Gary spoke again, “I should also warn you that they have something else planned. They’re expecting you to move if they don’t hit this location quickly enough, and they think they have an idea of where you wil go. As far as I can estimate, that means they suspect you wil either try to reach the egg or return to get Karen.”
Matthew heard him, but he was too focused on his work to reply. Somewhere in the back of his head, though, he tried to assimilate the new
warning.
Meanwhile, Gareth was stil having trouble adjusting to the new world. The older man’s nausea had subsided, but he was deeply affected by
the complete lack of ambient aythar. He continualy turned his head, first one way, and then the other, as though he were listening for something. “I don’t understand,” he muttered to himself.
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