Slave Line (The Young Ancients)

by Power, P. S.

  He looked at Tor and then Petra, hunching his shoulders a bit.

  "They wish to board, to make certain this isn't a combat vessel in disguise. I said it wasn't, but they can't be certain I'm not being held against my will, since apparently the story here was that Tor Kidnapped me. It should be alright. I don't think they'll try anything." He didn't sound as certain of that as he normally would though.

  Tor nodded.

  "I'd do that too, all things being given. Why not have them send out... I don't know, ten people? They can get a good look at us and tour the boat. Maybe see if any of them wanted to take one of those trips you mentioned? We're looking for good will projects anyway, right?" Tor kept his tone light, in case the people on the other side of the device could hear him. No need to be a jerk and make things tense after all.

  Then they had to wait about two hours for the invasion to begin. On the nice side they sent the Noram Ambassador with them, who knew both Denno and Samantha Callings first hand, and he'd insisted on bringing his own people, so they only had four guards with them at all, which seemed more than reasonable to the rest of them, particularly since their weapons wouldn't do anything to them at all. Except Tor, who still wasn't wearing a shield, to make it easier to kill him if it came up.

  The Ambassador to Noram was an older man, not overly tall, and a little heavy, but with nice gray hair and a genuine smile. He wore a dark blue suit that was different than most of what Tor had seen the last time he'd been to Austra, not being a jumpsuit for one thing, which was the most common form of dress. The man had a strange green tattoo on his face, but most of the Austrans that came had something different like that. Strange hair colors, tattoos or piercings in visible places. One of them was dyed entirely purple, which made her look very distinctive. When she caught him looking she came over and put her right hand out to shake. That was an odd thing here. Everyone shook hands.

  They did were Tor was from too, but in the cities everyone bowed. At least he knew what to do and returned the gesture easily enough. The woman started talking in her clipped accent even before she let go of the hand.

  "I saw your video and then the museum display of the hologram you made. Bought a share of it as soon as I could manage. How do you do that? More, can I talk you into making more? If you let me have the rights to them for Austran distribution we could make a bundle. I have connections here." The woman smiled, brilliant and very straight white teeth showing.

  "Excuse me, I'm Fornia Stergis. Currently with the Office of Noram Affairs. So this is even kind of my job, bringing in new art forms and increasing communication between our lands." Her smile was infectious. The words were scary though.

  "Um, video? I..." He knew what it was. Those images on the screen. He'd only had one thing put out like that in his life, a scene that looked like him and Denno having sex. It was a trick, a seeming he'd created to cover their escape. A mortifying and horrible illusion.

  Which was apparently a thing they kept in a museum now?

  Wonderful. Tor really didn't want everyone in the world knowing about that, even if it wasn't real.

  "One moment please Fornia Stergis. I have to complain to your Ancient. Denno! Get over here please. Now." He sounded a lot more stern than he'd intended, but it worked well enough. The man left what he was doing and actually jogged over, smiling.

  "Ah, Fornia. How are you doing? I haven't seen you in what is it now... Twenty years? Looking as youthful and vibrant as ever I see." He was smooth and shook hands with the woman in a way that looked like an invitation for more than just light contact.

  "You as well, Revered One, look radiant as always. I was just asking the Tor if I could get the contract for his amazing sex shows. If we could set up a touring schedule it would be a beautiful thing. Are you involved in that too? I know he used your likeness. Do you know that his display even feels correct? I managed some time alone with it for a while. Everything was perfect on both of you. By the way I'm also fairly certain we're all dating now. It just plays on a loop, but one of the government scientists worked out how to turn it off and on so we could move it. You just think at it. Most amazing."

  People were starting to look and listen to them, and Tor didn't want to be mean, just get the woman to shut up about it while he was there. His mother and little brother and sister were over on the other side of the deck as well as all the Lairdgren group. It was kind of embarrassing, since it showed him having sex with a man.

  Fornia didn't stop talking though.

  "It's the most popular show in all Austra right now. Adults only of course, but still a full ten percent of the population over twenty has seen it in person. The lines on the museum often stretches around the block. If you made one that was more family friendly it would be even more accessible to the public. Maybe like a movie that played for ninety minutes? Can you do special effects do you think?" The woman kept speaking for several minutes, staying excited the whole time. Finally Tor shook his head.

  "I've been... sick for a bit, so I'm not taking on any work like that for a while. I suppose I could eventually come up with something like what you described though. It will be about a year or so. Maybe less, but, um, could I have that one back? I'd really rather it not be shown to any more people. I have family here with me and..." Tor didn't know if the idea of him being embarrassed would translate at all, but Fornia went wide eyed and swallowed.

  "Right. I'll get it shut down for your stay here. I didn't know. I... do we have to give it back? It's making several of us rich. Plus... You're already kind of a celebrity here. The moment people heard you were coming the Ambassador had to start fielding calls from news services and entertainment programs that want you as a guest. It's going to be a little bit hard to hide everything at this point. Like I said a large portion of Austra has seen you close up and personal."

  At least she looked properly mortified. Tor felt that way too, but finally just decided that passing out wasn't going to work. On the good side he had an excuse to leave in a few hours. Along with his mother, brother and sister. True, other people he knew would find out about it, but they didn't count. He'd just have to make sure they knew not to mention it to anyone back home.

  He really should have just fought his way out of the room at the time. Of course that would have meant people died, most likely. Was his pride worth other people's lives? He knew the answer when he thought about it for a moment. It did strike him that even a week before he wouldn't have had to give it thought at all. Was this what it was like to be free then? Having to actually think about what to do in almost every situation. It was different.

  Not bad though, as long as he didn't let himself turn into someone evil.

  "I don't have much time here personally. Um, have to run in an hour or two, can't even go ashore right now. Maybe some other time?"

  Denno smiled, looking like he was pleased with everything and wanted to go ashore right then. It made sense, having not really been allowed to be free in his own land for nearly a year and a half.

  "That's right, some of us have a trip to take, but I'll see if it's possible to bring Tor back with me when it's done. I have some excellent ideas for the show, based on my adventures in Noram. Wonderful stories filled with action and intrigue, as well as a heartwarming tale of bravery in the face of overwhelming odds." The idea got Fornia to pay more attention to him, letting Tor make an escape. Sort of. He had to go and meet with the rest of the delegation from Austra and finally suggested that they tour the ship.

  "That way you can see if any of you would like to take a trip with us some time. Maybe come to Noram and visit for a while Ambassador? I think I can clear that with the King. You're all invited though. Um, we will check to make sure you aren't intending to spy first, but other than that please feel free to come as my guests."

  Half the delegation stiffened almost subliminally. It wasn't until Quavel, who was apparently named Robert in his real life, started laughing.

  "Lord Baker means that as in being a real guest.
It isn't a suggestion that you'd be held prisoner, recent war or not. They didn't even lock us up for spying you know. Simply trusted us to be on good behavior and let us stay in luxury at Lord Baker's personal palace. Well, I recommend looking at this vessel for an idea of that. It isn't as nice as where we stayed in Noram, but I think it will illustrate the point well enough. Shall we?" He gestured toward the main stairwell, taking over smoothly, which was odd, but put everyone at ease again. Obviously if the spies had the run of the ship, the prison couldn't be that bad, right?

  Apparently that was the point.

  They scoured the ship anyway, checking every single compartment and room, even the walk-in cool room for food supplies, looking either for weapons or the torture chamber. They didn't find it of course. One of the guards had a camera out, a small thing that had a single lens on the front and must have had either some kind of direct mental feedback or a computer driven auto focus. Tor didn't even realize that he'd thought all that for a few seconds, it had integrated so smoothly.

  It was useful, but frightening in a way. He shouldn't have know what the thing was at all. He not only could tell what it was, but knew the basics of how it worked now. Thinking about it, he knew a lot of thing suddenly.

  More than he could really handle. As he started to panic it all shut off instantly. It was there, he got scared and boom, it was all gone, leaving Tor safe from even feeling overwhelmed. Protecting him.

  Tor took Denno by the arm and started to explain the facilities, getting Brown to go over it as soon as he caught on that he should be the one talking. The Ambassador asked questions and Tor tried to make certain that the spies answered them as often as possible, deferring to them by name when he could. Especially Quavel and Kenner. Ambassador Callings walked along with some of her people, making polite noises when she should, but not interfering for some reason, even though it was her job. Maybe she just figured that getting him an Denno to do it made sense to begin with?

  When they got to the bathing room things changed a bit in tenor, the older Ambassador spinning on Quavel in shock.

  "There's only the one facility? How did that work?" The man sounded scandalized about it. Angry and like it was a major and massive insult.

  Quavel just shrugged.

  "Very well sir. From ten to noon the facility was segregated for women only, then again for men from two to four. The rest of the day it was handled communally, which is the Noram polite mode for such things. Every effort was made to ensure no one felt out of place however. The other sanitary facilities are in each individual chamber, so that wasn't an issue at all." Then he demonstrated how it all worked, filling a tub and hitting the various sigils to make the water warm or cool on demand. It apparently wasn't that different than what most Austrans used at home, though Fornia did mention that it looked rather nicer.

  Surprisingly Denno explained why, knocking on the wall firmly enough to make a thunking sound.

  "The tubs, the whole ship, isn't really here. Made of virtual particles. This entire craft was created by Tor alone..." He stared into the camera and gave a winning smile.

  "That's just Tor by the way, not "The Tor". His full name is Sir Torrance Green Baker, Magics Counselor for Noram and Knight of the Realm. Both titles he earned through heroic service. Tor is his nickname. He's also one of the new generation of Immortals come to help preserve our world. Developed by a special project of the Green and Gray Immortals. I hope to have them all in Austra very soon to aid us as we build a better and brighter future."

  It was a strange speech to give, since Tor always felt that kind of thing should be a little bit secret, but it made sense from a certain perspective. Denno was introducing the concept of magic as a real thing to a land that thought it didn't exist by presenting it in scientific terms. He literally couldn't believe in it himself, even when he saw it, so he was basically lying to everyone, trying to make sure that they'd have hope when the news broke about those invasion fleets coming. It was smart. Very smart. Tor looked around and saw that none of his family were in the room and decided to bite the bullet, and speak about things openly, even if he didn't want to.

  "A lot can be done with such technology. For instance, some of you may have seen the..." He didn't know what to call it, but Fornia jumped in, apparently following along very well, even if not having all the information. Probably why she had her job in the first place.

  "We call it "The Tor's Magical Escape" or sometimes just "The Kidnapping", though I guess that part was incorrect?" She smiled and licked her lips a little. It showed that her tongue was purple too.

  "Yes, that. It was hastily put together on short notice. A lot more can be done with proper planning and creative input. We also have flying craft that are made of the same material, some of which can go faster than sound through the air. Not as fast as your own best craft, not yet, but we still hope to open flights for hire to the public here in the coming months. Austra is a major player in this plan, and we hope that some of you will join us as drivers and service crew on some of our new ventures. I have no clue how much that pays, but I can guarantee it won't be boring." Because they were going to need people to go into space and if they made the controls of the fast craft similar to what would be used for those, it might just give them a leg up. It would mean they needed a lot more fast craft and that they'd have to be bigger, but it was worth trying wasn't it?

  Denno, instead of thinking he was insane, actually clapped him on the back and supported what he was saying, almost as if it had been planned.

  "Exactly. The time of living separated from our fellows in other lands is done. It's led to senseless wars with good people that hold us no ill will. My hope is that we'll all take the time to get to know our neighbors and learn their ways, their hopes and dreams, to become a true family at last."

  Tor smiled.

  "I feel like we should all hold hands and sing now or something. It's all true enough though."

  Then they finished the tour. It wasn't until the camera got put away that the man announced it had gone out to every household in Austra live.

  Just like he'd figured.

  "The Tor's Magical Escape? Well it could be worse. I don't know how, but I'm almost positive of it."

  That taken care of he just had to get the people leaving for Vagus on the deck, which he announced to everyone clearly. He set up his Fast Carriage, only to find that Trice came out and did the same almost instantly. All the Immortals walked out with chests floating along behind them at varying heights, depending on how they were carrying their amulets. Kara and George were there with canvas duffle bags and Ali walked out with her own floating chest and his, a determined look on her face. It looked darling.

  Tor had wondered if that would happen, and got ready to argue with Burks or Denno over having an non-immortal or two with them. Neither man even blinked. They didn't even look sideways when Carlos came jogging over with his own bag, a simple cloth sack made of canvas that he held by the top. The Royal guards looked concerned, but no one else did.

  The man waved at Lyn with a huge smile on his face.

  "Hired me to cook for you all. I get paid in animal hides, isn't that exciting? Probably have to get Tor to help me again, but I couldn't turn it down. How often do you get to cook for most the worlds Ancients? When I get back I can truly advertise that I worked both in the King of Noram's own kitchen as well as being your personal chef. Start my own restaurant or maybe get you to hire me on as the head chef for your new cruise line. I kind of think I'll like that better than riding a desk, which is all the Protection Service is going to let me do now. Kind of a public figure after all this. We should find something for that kid we had at the palace too. No one will want to hire him for years and it won't be easy for him in school, looking like he does."

  Tor just thought about it for a second.

  "OK. We all have to eat. Denno, Kenner is one of yours, so I think you should think about what to offer him. I'll back you on it. Shall we then? I was going to fly, bu
t if Trice is coming too we should let her do it. She's better at it than I am. We should all fit in one craft, even with the luggage. Lyn, will you take the second front seat, so you can tell her how to get there?"

  Five minutes later they were in the air and moving fast. It still took nearly five hours to get to Vagus, since they had to search for the capital a bit, but it wasn't hard. It would be a lot faster to find the next time, since he had some landmarks now.

  "Make a note of where this is Timon. I don't know it for a fact but we may be making a trip for supplies in the near future. Carlos might want things from Noram or even Austra." That got a snort from his mother in the back seat. It didn't sound happy at all.

  "If you're just going to be flying about like this, why didn't you leave us at home instead of making us suffer that hell trip? I'd rather a twelve hour flight than put up with that again. Hmph." Tor didn't even have to turn around to know that she'd be sitting with her arms crossed and nose slightly in the air, looking off to the left. She always did that when she was trying to show how wronged she was.

  Next to him Ali went totally blank, and looked straight ahead, which got Tor to take her hand and lean into her a little, just to be reassuring. If his mother got mad for the whole summit it would suck, but it wouldn't lead to any kind of lasting harm. For all her bluster she wasn't a violent person and even if she was, he didn't have to put up with that kind of thing anymore.

  Not from anyone.

  "Hell trip? Well, we did put you in the bad room... You know the one with all the bats and spiders, since they're virtually identical luxury rooms otherwise. It took a lot of work getting those in there you know, plus aging the food for you so it was all spoiled like that... so I really don't think you should be complaining about it. Hours of extra work just for you. Don't you feel special now?" Tor didn't laugh or indicate that he was teasing in any way even, but it got another snort from his mom.