“Oh do set your mind at ease captain,” King Otmer insisted. “There is precious little danger of that. My friend here has already saved my life so many times that I've quite lost count of them.”
“Yes please be at ease,” the old seeker added. “If it will help, I hereby pledge on my word of honor, that I've no intention of harming your king.”
“Yes!” the Captain responded. “Actually sir, if you are indeed who I think you are, then ‘your’ word of honor does in fact help to ease my mind on the subject.” Then almost as an after thought he added, “I wonder if you would be so kind as to further pledge that should your intentions change in that regard, you will make it a point of honor to advise me of that fact? And then grant me the opportunity to defend my king?”
The old seeker chuckled at this.
“Very well captain,” the seeker pledged. “On my word of honor, ‘done’ and ‘done’, with the provision that you sit down and at least have a drink with us.”
At this the captain ordered the other guards to withdraw from their kings presence and see instead to the buildings outer defenses. Which order was complied with only after the sergeant observed the king nod his approval.
“Now that we are alone captain,” the king said, once the captain was the only guardsman left in the room. “Please consider yourself as free to speak your mind. As though we were just three off duty friends of equal rank.”
“I will try my king,” the captain replied.
“Good enough,” the King assessed. “In which case please do. Also, at least whenever we are sufficiently alone. If you would speak as a friend, call me ‘Darg’. Please also tell me if you would mind, if I likewise called you by your given name, ‘Hathmer’?”
“Again, I will try, my...Darg,” the captain stumbled over referring to his king so casually. “I think I can handle you calling me by my name whenever you would speak to me as a friend, rather than as a captain of the guard. But in that case, would you mind calling me just ‘Hath’, as do all of those few that I count as my true friends?”
“That I can do Hath,” replied Darg. “Indeed, let this serve as a signal between us. Whenever either of us would speak to the other as a friend. If ever you call me ‘king’ or ‘Otmer’, I will know you are speaking with respect to your duty as a captain of my guard. Rather than as my friend. Likewise whenever you address me as Darg, I will know that you are speaking as a friend. In like manner, whenever I speak to you as a friend rather than as your king, I shall call you ‘Hath’. Whereas, anytime I address you by your rank, you will know that I expect you to treat whatever I'm saying as the utterance of your king.
Will that work for you Hath?”
“I think so, Darg,” Hathmer replied somewhat stiffly. “Though, if you really intend this to be an ongoing arrangement between us, I would suggest that both of us use discretion in that we only speak as friends in private. It wouldn't do for my guardsmen to notice so large a lapse in etiquette between us.”
“Agreed.” was all Darg said, as he walked over to the liquor cabinet that occupied the far corner of the room.
When he got there he quickly filled three glasses with spiced rum. Then he deftly gripped two of them with his right hand and picked up the third with his left. Next Darg quickly returned to the table, where he set one glass before the old seeker and handed another to captain Hathmer. Then holding the last glass aloft, Darg proclaimed a toast.
“To friendship!” Darg called out.
Then he drank his rum in what seemed one long gulp. Barely giving either of his friends time to respond, “friendship!” and begin drinking down their own rum.
“Now, my dear seeker,” Darg began. “Let me tell you how I've used this past year and the knowledge I've gained through the crystal disk you gave me, to make great strides in rebuilding my world.”
At this point they were interrupted by the sound of the watchtower bell. As it rang three short tones and was then muted so suddenly, that the third strike didn't get to reverberate. After a short pause it rang three more times, with similar timing. Except that the last strike was allowed to continue reverberating until it faded out naturally.
“Speaking of which,” Darg explained. “That bell code means that our river boat has been sighted returning from it's trading trip down the river.” Then with a sigh, Darg continued, “Which means that we won't have as much time for this as I would like. Before I will need to resume my kingly duties and preside over the dockside festivities that will soon begin. But for the moment I'd like to tell you that when I first returned to Twin Falls, I found that King Quavlon had taken seriously ill. There was much turmoil in the kingdom because he had neither sired nor named an heir to the throne. But armed with the documents and the ring you gave me, I was soon ushered in to see him as he lay upon his deathbed. Upon sight of my ring he roused himself to ask, If I was really the same Otmer that his father had thought should sit upon the throne. I told him that due, in no small way, to the magic of the ancient seeker of legend. I was in fact that self same Otmer. He looked into my eyes and declared loudly that he could see that I spoke the truth. Then he proclaimed with his very dying breath, to all those present, ‘Behold thy new King, Otmer.’ When he fell back against his pillows. I saw the light leave his eyes.” Darg shook his head.
“You know Hath,” Darg decided to explain. “The old Seeker here is probably the only man alive, who is even more aware than yourself. Of how strongly I did not want this job. But I knew that if I didn't accept it, Twin Falls would soon have far too much inner turmoil. To be of much help in the rebuilding of our world. It also made some things much simpler. For I now had all the resources of the kingdom at my command. Including a few that nobody alive at Twin Falls knew existed. But it also made the idea of gallivanting around the Midland wastelands more difficult.”
As he spoke, Darg poured himself a second glass of rum. Of which he took a sip and turned to look the old seeker in the eyes.
“Hath here was one of a select few,” the king explained. “Who accompanied me, under an oath of silence, through the tunnel behind the falls. All the way to the other side of mountains. Where I taught them how to capture and train woolbeasts. As well as how to build and sail our new riverboats. Indeed he was of invaluable assistance as we established an advance party of new riverman. Who even now seek to establish a trading route along the West river.
I can also tell you that we had a bit of fun, Hath and I. Getting a pair of woolbeasts through the tunnel to this side of the Gray Hills. By which time, the ‘royal yacht’ I'd commissioned the day I took the job, was ready for launching. Unlike most seaworthy vessels, the good ship Gwanon, included a modification to the woolbeast powered paddle wheels your riverboat design uses. I'd like to claim the design concept was all mine.
But the truth is that I took much advantage, of the processing power and data, that Jake woke up within the portal system that you built here so long ago.”
Darg paused to observe the slight tension that the old seeker failed to completely conceal when he learned that Darg appeared ‘fully’ aware of the hidden capabilities of the local portal link.
“We shall have something to discuss about that later my friend,” the seeker promised. “For now though, please just tell me you haven't told anyone else about it?”
“No!” Darg replied. “I've not told anyone a thing about it old friend. In fact, Hath here is the first person, outside of ‘Hillside’ personnel, to even hear me mention it at all. Speaking of which,” King Otmer focused his attention on Hath. “I know you must be curious to know what I was just referring to ‘captain’. But I'm afraid that it's unlikely that you will get to know much more about it. I'm also afraid that I must charge you to consider it a ‘deep secret of the realm’. And as such, never repeat a word of anything about it. That you have so far nor may yet someday learn, to anyone. Except myself, this old seeker here and any others that he or I myself may someday tell you to include within the ‘secret's circle’.”
<
br /> Then without waiting for the captain to acknowledge his understanding of the royal order he'd just been given, Darg continued where he'd left off.
“The Gwanon was basically designed to be like a fast schooner,” he told the old seeker. “With a pair of somewhat narrow paddle wheels in the stern. These wheels, one on each side of the rudder, are mounted on a frame that can be hoisted clear of the water. So that they won't get in the way when she is under sail. They were designed to provide just enough thrust, from a single well trained woolbeast, to claw it's way up the Bluefin under it's own power. At least that is, to the lower docks of the trading facility that I've had constructed at the downstream edge of the kingdom. Where the river is still deep enough to accommodate her draught.
Anyway, the paddle wheels made it easy to get to the more navigable lower section of the river. Where we switched to sail power and made good time to the sea. I must say that the few real sailors I'd hired to help me train my crew did an admirable job. At least the crew didn't embarrass me when, about 40 days out, we got the attention of a small flotilla of Brethren ships.
They were sufficiently impressed with the Gwanon's innovative design that it didn't take long to get an escort to the current gathering place of the Brethren council. Of all the people I've talked to about the need to rebuild the Midland infrastructure, they took very little convincing. I guess they were already feeling the pinch from the lack of viable trade moving upstream from some of their best port cities. Anyway they not only accepted my right to join the council, but they ceded to me authority over any new Brethren ‘river based’ shipping enterprises. They allowed that the Brethren would also grant me nearly unlimited credit. For the transport and construction of riverboat kits to as many of Woodland's river systems, as I think worth starting up riverboat operations in.”
Darg finished the remains of his second drink in another gulp. Then he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, causing Captain Hathmer to wince at his breach in etiquette and proceeded to announce, “And that's all the time we have for that! We need to start making our way to the docks. So I can see how well we fared in the last round of downriver trading.”
King Otmer kept to a busy schedule. It was soon obvious to the old seeker that having time for a private chat with a friend or even an honored guest, was a rare exception to the norm. It wasn't until late evening that the King was able to engineer a private meeting with him. They were seated in a private conference room deep within the castle's keep, when King Otmer banished his guards to the outer hall.
“Thank you for your patience,” Darg said as soon as the last guard closed the door on his way out. “It's been obvious that you want to talk about something you couldn't bring yourself to say in front of Hath. Well now's your chance.”
The old seeker smiled. Then he took his first sip of the now tepid tea. Which had been hot when it was placed in front of him and began talking.
“Yes I suppose it is at that my friend,” the seeker admitted. “The subject is of course that portal link of yours. I'm real glad you've kept it's capabilities under wraps. It is crucial that you continue to do so. As you already seem to know however, this particular portal is actually much more than a link. What you don't know is that there exists under the mountain a far more complex set of tunnels and chambers than you realize. There is in fact a complex that somewhat resembles the one at Hillside. And it is my intention to activate it for use as my new secret base of operations.”
This caused Darg to frown.
“I'm not so sure that I think any of my subjects could handle anything like what I saw at Hillside.” the king postulated.
“Good!” the old seeker interrupted. “Because I've no intention of running anything like that here. I said I intended it to be a secret location. I've no intention of staffing the place with anybody from anyplace. Nor telling anyone else a thing about it. No the fact is, my friend, if you hadn't already found out that the portal is actually much more than a mere link, I'd not even have told you. But as it is, I'm not so sure I could have kept you from getting suspicious when your old friend starts popping in and out of your life again. You already know that I can't expect any more privacy from the guild at Hillside. So, with what you learned about portals there, you might have tried to find my new lair. In so doing, you might have inadvertently let the cat out of the bag.”
“So, it's to be like that again is it?” Darg asked, with a slight edge to his voice. “I'll never know when you'll suddenly show up. And of course, you'll just expect to be welcome whether you've been gone twenty days, or twenty years?”
The old seeker sighed.
“Now Darg, you know I never meant it to be like that,” he explained to his old friend. “But while I can't quite promise that I won't sometimes be away for a few years. Most of the time it's much more likely to be just a few days at a time. At least for the next hundred years or so. But, I'm afraid that when I am here, I'll be needing to spend more time in my lair than in one of your guestrooms.”
“Why do you suppose it is that ‘that’ doesn't surprise me?” Darg asked acidly.
“I didn't say I wouldn't spend some time visiting Darg,” the old seeker promised. “In fact, even when I am squirreled away in my lair, we will be able to stay in touch via your crystal disk.”
Darg sighed sadly.
“Oh I suppose I'll have to settle for what I can get old friend,” Darg allowed. “But if your going to be popping in and out of the castle, we're going to have to spin a few tales about secret passages and such. Perhaps even build one or two of them, for my guards to discover. Otherwise your going to give them fits.”
The old seeker chuckled.
“Build you say?” he inquired. “No need of that. There are plenty of them already. It would perhaps be best to let them find a few of them and then to actually use one or two of the more mundane ones. There are also a few special passages, that we should perhaps teach a few of the most trusted of them, to regard as ‘Secrets of the Realm’. So they won't waste too much time wondering where I suddenly went. Or came from as the case may be. But even so, I expect some of them will still go a little crazy trying to catch me at it.”
***
It took a carefully planned sequence of subspatial jumps, sidereal transfers and a very careful application of the Star Dragon's inverse temporal dilation based long range Stardrive. To ensure that the Guild didn't detect his presence so deeply within their operational territory. Doing so was risky but there was an alliance he would need to forge that he simply couldn't get anywhere else.
Prime David Miller had been in the bunker like control room within the bridge pylon for less than a minute, when he keyed in a short sequence that caused the access door to slam shut. Then he slowly turned his chair to face the empty space between him and the door before calmly speaking in a quiet voice.
“What madness brings you here?” he inquired.
“I guess that my cloaking field isn't as good as I thought,” Jake said as he shimmered into existence before his friend. “Thanks for activating your security protocol in any case. I couldn't risk decloaking until you did. After all even though your government has a high regard for me, if they detected my presence, the guild would soon hear of it. And that just wouldn't be good.”
“Which is why I called it madness,” David protested. “Now, if you please, explain it to me.”
“Sure will,” Jake promised. “Right after you tell me how you knew I was here.”
“Oh that, well to tell you the truth I wasn't quite sure,” David explained. “But tell me something. You've were hovering around me for nearly half an hour, before I came out here, right?”
“More like an hour and a half,” Jake acknowledged. “But I noticed you getting all fidgety, about 15 minutes before you stood up and walked to the bunker. Why was that?”
“I noticed the room temperature you see,” David explained. “It had risen more than my body heat could account for. Then I realized that it was precisely the temperature I'
d expect if another person was in the room. I spent a few anxious minutes thinking about that. Until I reasoned that the fact that I was still breathing, indicated that whoever was there didn't intend me any harm. Since you are the only one of my friends capable of such stealth... I guess it took me about fifteen minutes to realize that you evidently didn't think the anti-eavesdropping circuitry in my study was good enough. So I came out here. Then after checking my environmental logs for any other discrepancies I sealed the bunker.
Mind telling me how it could be that your body heat didn't register on my sensors for the first hour you claim you were hanging around?”
“Well that figures,” Jake said. “My stealth systems do try to protect me from thermal detection but by the time I got to your study, the thermal compensators were already on overload. An hour after that, I had to switch my thermal stealth subsystem to standby mode.
The madness that brought me here is like this. I need your help to do something devious, that neither the guild nor your government can ever find out about.”
David simply looked at him with a blank expression for a few seconds.
“And the specifics of this criminal conspiracy would be?” he eventually asked.
“Well for starters,” Jake explained. “I'm gonna need your help to modify some restricted guild technology and deploy it under the canopy of a certain daggerthorn tree. Where I'm going to have to use it to spend about 20 days in undisturbed hibernation. After which, with any luck, I'll have to hang around until the daggerthorn presents me with some very special and potentially dangerous seedpods. Which I will then secretly export to a certain planet that must remain nameless. Where their descendants may just alter the course of human destiny.”
David shook has head slowly from side to side, then he shrugged.
“I know one thing for certain,” David asserted. “If Judith ever finds out that you were here on Slowlane, without spending some time with her...”
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