by P. S. Power
“Just working on the idea of an insect shield. Sorry, I'll focus on the topic now.”
That, it turned out, was all about that summit Burks had mentioned, which just meant a meeting that everyone was required to go to. They argued about where it should be held, who should pay for it and how to arrange travel. Tor almost offered to just go and get people himself, then realized he had an actual life to get back to now. And a wife that, even if she didn't miss him really, would expect him to be around to take care of her. Thinking of that reminded him that he should see about getting some land from Rolph to build a real house on, and maybe set up the trees and large bushes for the garden he wanted. The idea was basically like Grenwyn, except that in his mind the houses would be better looking.
They argued for hours, but the final end point was just that everyone would meet in Vagus, wherever that was, and that Burks would cover any costs. Denno should have had to do it, Tor gathered, since it was his screw-up, but his resources were cut off because of his sudden relocation. Due to the pressing nature of the problem they all agreed to meet in six months. Tor felted shocked that it would take that long, but Ancients seemed to have their own time schedules for things.
In the mean time Denno would be shuffled off to stay with the royal family of Noram. That Burks intended to dump him there without asking first seemed a little rude to Tor, but unless he wanted to keep him at school, what else could he do?
Sighing he made the offer.
The man, no matter how annoying at times, was family. Denno hadn't been arguing the whole time with him even, so it wasn't that strained between them. Denno clapped, slow and ponderously, while he thought.
“Do you have the room though? I wouldn't want to put you out.”
“Yeah. You can sleep at the foot of my bed, no problem.” He teased. Burks grinned too when Denno gave him a funny look, but explained.
“The school rules say that Tor and his wife, both students there, have to live in separate dorm rooms, but they also have a house on campus, a very nice one actually. Very low energy use, I think you'll enjoy it. No video or computer access, but that would be the same at the palace. We need to stop in there first, introductions and all that. They might want to keep you regardless. Put you to work scrubbing floors or something.”
Denno shrugged at that, a thing very like what Burks did.
“Well, wouldn't be the first time. Might even be better really. Something to do while I wait.”
Tor yawned, apologized for it, and suggested they get to it, if they weren't staying the night. It wasn't late, but it could take a few hours to get the traveling done, and he really didn't want to stay in Soam for another night. It was pretty, but he hadn't learned the language yet, and frankly Julie, while pretty herself, fantastically so, and undoubtedly one of the kinder people he'd ever met, was really starting to make him uncomfortable.
He had an odd feeling that if he stayed the night that somehow, no matter how unlikely it seemed, he'd end up having sex with her. More, that doing that would erode his ability to withstand her future advances. She might be a good person, but a few hours of talking and being nice to one another didn't prove that, did it? Leaving made good sense, at least to him.
Denno and Burks both wanted to stay. Brain washed little lap dogs that they were.
Julie hugged the others close and long, her body pressed against them tightly and tried it with him, but backed off when she couldn't make the initial contact. Smiling she nodded to him instead.
“We need a color name for you little brother. I don't think the others realize how not Green you really are yet.” This was whispered to him softly enough that Tor doubted the other men could hear.
“What's your favorite color?”
“Purple.” He didn't get the idea for a second but the woman smiled at him and bowed Noram fashion, delicate hands going to the front of her skirted thigh.
“ I guess I can work with that. Too bad you didn't pick Indigo, that's my second favorite color personally. Purple it is then. No one has that one.”
Julie White didn't add anything else but did bow to him through the clear side as he took off. Or at least it looked like it was directed towards him. It could have been to all of them or even to one of the others. After a second he realized that each man probably felt like it was for him alone and nearly laughed. His new “sister” was dangerous that way, wasn't she? The world tended to focus on her, or seem like it did.
Tor flew them back, since all he had to do was fly north until he hit the Kings river, then follow it over to the Capital. Slowly. If he came in too fast, he warned them, starting to slow a good ways off, Squire Gerald would come out and kill them all. That or his sister Gemma. Either way they'd be dead, he informed both the Ancients with a certainty that made Denno go still and Burks smile.
“Too right. We never really covered that did we Den? Two children that have control of a weapon that makes nuclear weapons look like toys. A single device that could turn the world into a snowball in hours. And Tor here has the ability to make more of them. A nearly infinite amount. Not covered in the treaty at all, either. Just something to keep in mind. An attack on Noram would be a poor plan all around right now I think.” Burks smiled, a sad looking thing, from the glimpse of it Tor caught when he looked over his shoulder.
“Tor… How long would it take you to put out another, let’s say thousand such devices as the one Gerald and Gemma guard?”
Careful to keep his focus on what he was doing, Tor thought for about ten seconds first.
“About… Ten hours.” Then he shrugged, not knowing if anyone would see it from the back and not caring overly.
“That would be insane though. One of those would be more than enough to take out an entire land in a few hours. Even just to make sure the job was done ten would be enough. A thousand would just invite someone to do something stupid. And really, I could make a different kind of weapon in a day or two that would just take out the needed targets and not hurt the innocent people. I actually already have the basic plan for that. It locates the targeted individuals and denies them air. They can't run from it either. Well, not within the field space.” Tor didn't want to undermine Burks plan or threat, but it really was a dumb idea. Who would really threaten all those people who probably didn't even know the Serges?
Burks chuckled, a slightly sinister sound.
“Indeed. I'd also point out that Tor isn't a signatory of the treaty. Oh, he's no threat to anyone that's peaceful, but remember, he risked his own life to save you in a foreign land away from all he's ever known, because you called him brother once. Think what he might do to protect the family and friends he's known for years?”
Denno sighed loudly.
“I get it already Burks, no need to beat that horse anymore, it's dead and buried already.”
With that in mind he landed, and reconfigured the craft to look like an official transport, like the one Smythe used when he didn't insist on riding around being pulled by horses. It was a nice cream color with gold scroll work on it across the doors. It looked like an elongated box, but that didn't make a difference to how it handled at all, just the size of the landing place needed.
Then he got them back in the air and crawled, coming in at no more than fifty miles per hour and hovered over the palace, descending so slowly Denno asked about it.
“That's so they know not to turn the shield on.” Tor said automatically, Burks didn't react, but his field did, and an idea surged from him that until they knew what Browns part in everything had been, they'd best not tell him everything. Tor wondered at that. They could threaten him openly with super death weapons and even mention who had them, but not about a simple shield? What else was off limits then? Bread recipes and how to make clotted cream? That last might be a real secret though. Tor still didn't know how the palace staff really did that. It was good and as far as he could see, Austra didn't have it at all.
After that Tor didn't speak, waiting for Burks to do it first, whic
h he didn't, except to run over protocol briefly for Brown so that he'd feel comfortable in the new situation. They got out slowly, Tor changing into some nice looking, palace ready clothing that he'd used before, a black silk shirt, with velvet trousers and boots in the same color. Not finery really, more visiting clothes, but they'd serve. Burks picked Lairdgren green, a military style dress uniform and Denno pouted as he was left in his soiled blue prisoner outfit. Tor almost took pity on him and passed over his second clothing amulet, but that had weapons on it too, as well as a shield. Besides, maybe the King and Queen would take pity on Brown if he didn't look perfectly sharp?
Tor stood on the far right, Burks took the left and they slowly walked towards the palace, waiting for someone to greet them. It turned out to be a cute, and obviously pregnant Princess who floated above the ground a few inches. She stopped and stared for a second, then nodded and floated to Tor, giving him a warm hug. That she'd figured out which identical looking guys was him didn't throw Tor at all. Burks may look the same, but he was five inches taller and obviously dressed up like Lairdgren always did.
“Guests?” She didn't ask any more.
“Yes. You know Count Lairdgren, even if he does look a bit funny right now. This other man is… Denno Brown, the Ancient that the Austrans were holding? We helped him leave.” Tor hoped he didn't say it in a way that would trigger the Royal Guard. They could be hugely over-reactive at times. No one tackled them, evil Austran in their midst or not, so Varley took them to the audience chamber. Floating in the air the whole time. She looked darling.
This was a place Tor had never been before, a giant hall used only for the most important guests. That was his guess at least. It was certainly grand enough, in polished dark wood, all one color for the whole room except the two chairs up front, that were gold wood and bright red seat cushions. In this space it screamed “look at me!” without being so obvious as having a man calling them all to attention and respect. That would be tacky. This was much better, since you could count it as happenstance instead of years of careful planning.
The King and Queen walked out of a door behind the thrones that was nearly invisible, recessed into the wall as it was. They wore robes that looked splendid and colorful, along with the royal crowns, but Tor picked up his own work from fifty feet away. It was all just a clothing amulet. They probably memorized the patterns for emergencies and quick changes. It was a good idea really, all Tor had was this suit of clothes and his student browns, at least for fast work. A bigger repertoire wouldn't hurt at all. Tor decided to actually come up with a couple of things. It would give him a reason to spend time with Petra if nothing else. She was good with styles and colors.
Tor bowed first here, being the least important person in the room. It was an odd thing, since he normally didn't bow to Rich and Connie at all, because they were his friend’s parents, and he'd met them as such, not royalty, but they needed to put on a good show for the stranger, so he went low, his head dropping below the level of his waist.
After they all bowed, Richard smiled.
“Welcome Dennorian Brown, Ancient of Austra. I hope you are… I suppose doing well is too much to ask yet, but let us hope that soon you will be.”
Connie stared at the men in front of her, not losing composure, but nearly so. To her it probably looked like two of him and the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen standing their chatting with her, Tor thought. Or had she seen Burks like this before, back when she was a school girl and thought of him as being another version of Count Lairdgren? It might explain why she kept acting like Tor was special. Was it the older one she really wanted?
It made sense at least, but in this case just being a good point didn't make it true.
After a few seconds Connie spoke, but it was to Tor directly.
“So, Torrance, in your capacity as Queen’s advisor, what's your take on this Ancient that comes from the land of those who would make war on us?” The tone was official and formal and didn't come with a smile for once. It took a second to understand she wasn't joking at all. She really wanted his opinion. Right.
Tor had to fight the shrug he felt and took a deep breath.
“On the surface he seems friendly and charming. His captivity felt real enough. However… I do have some questions that need to be answered before I fully accept him as a friend to us, the people of Noram.” She'd asked for his real opinion, so supposed brother or not, she was going to get it.
Richards’s eyes went wide, perhaps he expected a joke, but if so he was going to be disappointed.
Tor kept going, hoping no one would hit him.
“When we were escaping from captivity, the whole thing went smoothly, even though it was just being made up as I went along. I'd like to think I'm just that clever and intelligent, but everything worked for us. We started in a room with twenty armed guards and seemed to have been gone at least an hour or more before pursuit came. Maybe we got lucky, but there are some other things…
“For instance, I thought I was being clever in acting slightly afraid of Denno, forcing Glost and Daria to push me towards him, but insane or not, would you thrust me into a meeting with your highest level prisoner? Or anyone for that matter? At best they should have kept us apart just because he was a captive, don't you think? I would have.”
Both the monarchs sat forward and Denno had gone wide eyed as if to show his innocence.
“Then, later, Denno and I came across an army of young Larvals. At least six hundred, possibly many more. We didn't engage with them, just ran away from the fence line without issue, but they were at least fifteen years old if not older.”
Burks nodded. So that hadn't gone unnoticed by him either? The Ancient version of him spoke softly. “It takes a normal life span to grow a Larval assassin to maturity and high level training. But much of what makes them so effective is a semi-intelligent nano hive that infects them all. It literally makes them into one being, that had to be done early and it isn't a simple process.”
Tor tried to store that information away, even though some of the terms weren't familiar to him. He knew what a nano was, kind of. A little machine. Like death dust. A hive… Like hornets or bees? Put together it seemed to mean something specific, which could be anything. Tor shrugged and tilted his head to the right before continuing.
“But if we stretch things to the outside and say that Denno was a prisoner for ten years, not just seven, that leaves five years of work being done that needs someone really skilled. I don't know if Austra has a lot of people that could make them, Larval's, but I'm willing to bet that in the list of their best few doctors that do that kind of thing, you'd find the name Denno Brown right near the top. Having the skill to do something doesn't imply guilt, but…”
All of that didn't mean it was a trick, maybe he really was just that good or unexpected, or maybe the guards knew what was going on and purposefully looked the other way? Yeah, they could be killed for it, but it could be pretty easy to love someone as charming as Denno if your other option involved a crazy man in a clown suit. Plus there was one other thing that bothered Tor a little.
“It was when Denno was arguing with Burks about what to do in regards to the Larval. I mean, there are only so many things that can be done there, and the only certain one is killing them all. Denno seems to regard them as his kids, so fair enough that he doesn't want them killed outright, but he drew Burks into calling for a summit of Ancients. Why? Right now, if Denno said he wanted to set aside a compound in Austra for them, everyone would agree, as long as Glost lost power and we knew they weren't going to invade Noram or one of the other lands and take over. If he said kill them, well we could to that too. I don't want to myself, so I get how he feels on the matter, at least a bit, but-”
Burks gave Tor a small bow.
“Thought you might have missed that bit. But as Tor was getting at, I believe, Denno has more power in this situation without the others being involved, so why goad me into getting them together?”
T
he King asked if they should question Brown using a truth device. It was a plan but it might not work, Tor told them.
“I don't know if it can be beaten, but if anyone can figure it out, a three thousand year old is the being for the job, don't you think? If we're going to question him using it, I think Burks should spend some time trying to defeat it for a while. He could at least tell us if it works on someone like him.” Then Tor shut up. The rest would take care of itself or not. Really that he was speaking at all here was half insane itself. What did he really know?
Not enough to pretend to advise anyone, that was for sure.
The conversation went forward from there as if he hadn't spoken at all, except that everyone looked at him funny when they thought he wasn't paying attention.
Yes, he'd been a little rough, but Denno was, at least supposedly, in charge of all the Larval and Austra to a good degree. Maybe what he'd mentioned was too obvious? That could be it. He started to feel embarrassed when Connie suggested that they set Brown up in a guest room and get him some clean clothing and a nice hot bath. That and a good meal, she added after a second. That the men and women assigned to care and guide him wore Royal Guard uniforms might have been lost on the man, but that they were clearly hardened fighters wasn't. He looked at them closely as they guided him away.
Tor waited to be taken to task or mocked, but everyone just went quiet for a while. He was about to apologize when Burks spoke.
“Well done Tor. Very well done. If anyone else had spoken those questions, it could have been taken as an attack, but from you, his little brother, one that holds family so dear, he pretty much has to simply cooperate, doesn't he? Especially after you risked your own life for him.” Burks nodded and after a few seconds spread his hands.
“I've used your truth device before myself, but never tried to defeat it. My first move would be trying to tamper with the field itself, since you and I share basic field patterns, but I can guarantee that Denno can't do that. So… mechanical and electronic devices, nanos and mental discipline I think. Very few people on the planet have Denno's level of biophysical self-control. I can see what can be done though. If I can't rig the device or control it by any of those methods, well that doesn't mean he can't, just that it would be harder to do.”