Slave Line (The Young Ancients)

by Power, P. S.

  Tim worked for hours without a break and kept going through the night. Tor stayed with him, daring to check on his progress and once, even though he really shouldn't have stressed his field that much yet, making one tiny correction in the field. His brother picked up on it instantly and kept working without pause. Lyn and Ali came by with food, and gestured him out of the room after the feeding was done, to chat. The kid wasn't so deep he couldn't eat after all. It was important to keep a builders strength up. Without food and water they could die, just like anyone else.

  Once the door was closed they spoke freely. It was pretty close to sound proof after all.

  Ali hugged him to her and held on for a long time.

  "Tor, husband, I was wondering, could I try to learn building too? I don't know if I can do it, but making copies is useful too, if I can figure it out. Lyn said I could try, but I know I need your permission first." She looked happy about the idea though, if a little too nervous. It was only building after all, what was he going to do, say no? For one thing she didn't really need his permission at all. She was a Noram noble woman. They had a tendency to just do what they wanted anyway, unless it was forbidden them. Kind of their thing as a class.

  "That's a marvelous idea honey. We should get Tiera to try it as well and probably my mother, if she's willing to listen to an idea that starts with me yet. After all, I'm thinking of quitting after we're done here. Maybe just work on the space projects for a while. We have enough gold, but someone has to keep the family name good while I lark about and play merrily. I can work with those orphans in the Wildlands fixing that while you do all the building work for us. That sounds fair, doesn't it?" He smiled and so did Ali, but Lyn didn't.

  She just looked suddenly serious and nodded, a big and obvious gesture of agreement.

  "That actually seems about right, to be honest. The space craft alone might take years, even for Tor to design. Plus we need space stations and all the builders we can get. Ones that can work together maybe? You mentioned that to me once Tor, but no one has tried it yet, we're all waiting for you to show us how." She gave Ali a single nod, one that seemed almost military for some reason, which got one back that was almost identical.

  Adult. Not something he was really used to noticing on either one of them, but it was always there, wasn't it? That sense of ancient presence in Lyn and at least age beyond her years for his wife. Enough hardship would do that to a person.

  It took two full days for Timon to finish the build and three more corrections, but by the testing day they had a template for everyone to work with. Looking out the front door Tor had to smile when he saw the turn out though. Sixty people stood ready to give it a shot, half of them with woven carry packs on their backs and horses tied up in the distance, showing they'd traveled for the chance. Lyn did the actual work though, putting them all through their paces. She, rather wisely, had made ten copies of the template itself, so that eleven people could try it at once. It was an advanced skill making a true template copy. Most people could only get devices out of them. Tor knew he could do it, and thought that all the Lairdgren group could, in theory, but it was good to know that Lyn had the ability for certain, since she was going to have to kind of prop up her new industry for a few years, the way things looked.

  It gave Tor an idea.

  "Say, Lyn, would you mind if I started a school here? For training? Get some people from Noram in, I'll train them and all that, maybe have each of the King's builders take a stint doing it or something? You know, Sandra and Mark to start with. They could take turns. We could use this house here for that once the summit is over, unless you want it somewhere else?" He said it casually, since it wasn't his land at all and he had no responsibility for it. Plus he'd have to actually exist to see it done, but it made no sense to assume he wouldn't be around.

  So far Cordes was being a good boy and had even learned to keep his memories to himself for the most part. Some things got passed forward, but it was almost like they were being filtered, so Tor wouldn't be overwhelmed.

  It was a good thing too, or he'd have already been gone. He sent a thought back into his head, focusing a bit, saying thank you. It couldn't hurt to be polite after all. For the time being he had to live with the man, so it would pay for them to be friends.

  "That would be... thank you Tor. Why though? We aren't your people. Just horse riders that live in squalor most the time, or is that the point? Pity? Not that I won't take it, if it helps these people get ahead. I'd give up my life to do that. It's been so hard for so long. This is about the last chance I think." She looked saddened by it, but only for a moment.

  Tor tried for a serious look himself.

  "Not pity at all. I just think that if you do a training program right and people are willing to work hard at it, you can have a much larger and more active building population here in Vagus than what we have in Noram. People there think that magic is hard. Here it's just something new. Just make sure to start it with the wizards having to work for you directly, so they won't get into the golds or idea of fame instantly, and you might be able to do some amazing things in a really short time. I figure it will prove a good idea to make sure Vagus and Noram are close friends after that. Mutual aid treaties and whatever else we can think up. Pacts that say all disputes must be settled with a bake-off or basket weaving contest. That kind of thing. I'm an official there, after all. It makes sense for me to try and get in on the beginning of this. Start banking trust and cooperation early, so that all your Builders here think of my people as friends."

  They chatted about the idea while the first eleven people tried to make something happen with the template. They might not get anyone in the first group, or even the first day, Tor knew, but there would be someone eventually. They actually got two after five hours of work. Both girls.

  Both the same girls Tor said he thought could do it.

  Interesting. Tor smiled about it to himself, wondering if it was more than a coincidence. Not sure it wasn't he made a point to talk to the next group before they went in personally, giving a little speech.

  "Thank you all for coming. Building isn't hard, it just takes focus and concentration, which all of you here have. I know that you can do this and look forward to seeing you all in classes here in the future." That was all he said, and no one even thought anything of it, since it just sounded like what anyone might say. A bit of talk to help get people going in the right direction and feel confident. It couldn't hurt.

  Four of that eleven managed it, making real cutters on their first try. It took two more days to get all the work done on the testing, and Carlos insisted they send for provisions, which meant half of them took off to Noram, to do some shopping. Tor had wanted to go himself, but what they were doing was just too successful. In all they had fifteen people pass the test. Out of sixty trying.

  Tor had expected two.

  It was tempting to start a school right then and there, but Lyn assured him that they could wait until the summit was over. After all, people would be showing up any time. They should have already, but no one wanted to be the first one in, since that would mean waiting for Orange, who could take weeks still, even if she'd left home months before. She lived a simple life and didn't have advanced transportation, not even a horse the last anyone knew of. She took her duty to attend seriously though and always showed up eventually, even if it was normally an adventure for her.

  It got Tor thinking.

  "Why not go and see if we can find her? I mean, do we know where she'd be coming from? I can't promise anything, but I could go and look. It should take less than an afternoon or two." If nothing else it would let him get out and about for a while. He didn't feel trapped exactly, but he hadn't gotten to see much of the land itself. It was a good idea though, since he wasn't going to be in Vagus every day or anything.

  Tor decided to do it, even as Lyn looked at him like he was being silly.

  Cordes had memories of what Orange used to look like, and she wasn't a shape ch
anger at all, so other than aging a bit, she should look about the same. Black had aged over the years, so she might have too, being of a different line than Green and Brown.

  A warrior line.

  Tor decided to wear a shield, just in case she got edgy, and fly using his rig, instead of a carriage, it would let him see everything more easily.

  She should have been coming from the south-west. That was all anyone knew at all, so Tor just went that way for hours, seeing some people a few times, but discounting them, since most of them seemed to be scared and ran away pretty quickly upon seeing a strange pale man flying in the air. Orange didn't feel fear really. He didn't see her though, not until the trip back, then he noticed a form walking along the major river in the area between some trees, a pumpkin orange pack on her back.

  After a bit she seemed to notice him too and waved excitedly. She didn't look like black at all, having light hair and cream colored skin to the man's black and even paler face. She was dressed in rough leather clothing though with fur used in several places. It made her look pretty wild, but she had a smile on her lips and didn't seem to be actively holding a weapon or even going for one.

  Tor landed well away from her anyway, not wanting to spook her into attacking and walked forward with his hands held out and up. Truly up though, not in an assassins fighting pose. He had a shield on, which was a risk, but so far Cordes hadn't taken advantage of either that or him being away from people that could kill him if he went all mad man on them. It was a great sign as far as Tor could tell.

  He slowed and then stopped about fifty feet back.

  "Hello." He called it out, but didn't shout it, just in case she'd recently had to fight or something. Black had seemed cranky both times Tor had seen him coming off a fight, and they just might be similar that way.

  The woman laughed and jogged toward him her hair in a long blond pony tail waving just a bit behind her.

  "Burks? I didn't expect to see you out here. Is everything alright?"

  He smiled and nodded hugely.

  "Yes, it is, but I'm Tor, Burks grandson. We just decided that you might like to be one of the first to show up this time instead of last. He's back with the others, Denno Brown, Lyn Red of course, my mother whole you'll recognize as Gray, but she isn't, lacking the same Rhetistics and being only half as difficult to deal with, and my younger brother and sister. Those are the Immortals there so far. We also have my wife and our girlfriend, along with a cook that Lyn hired. No one else had shown up when I left, about eight hours ago. So, would you like a ride?"

  She looked at him, smiling, but not seeming upset about anything at all. She shook her head though.

  "Sorry, what? I think you lost me there... Plus, I don't take rides with strangers." Her accent was heavy, but understandable.

  Tor nodded.

  "Well, we're family right? So not strangers at all, even though we don't know one another. Why not ask me some questions to prove who I am? That or at least let me set up a house so you can rest while I go and get Burks and Denno, so you know to trust me."

  She just laughed and waved a hand in his direction.

  Chapter eight

  Orange looked at Tor as if he were a child being cute, or possibly slow, but didn't explain why for a long while, just standing and watching him like he should be catching on to her complex thought processes. After a almost two minutes he thought that a picture was forming, based on the memories that the Cordes in his head was suddenly tossing at him. Burks, when they were younger, was as innocent and kind as anyone could have ever wanted, but Orange and Black hadn't come into the picture for almost eighty years. They were from a different laboratory system altogether. For some reason Orange had always assumed that both Burks and Denno were trying to tease or trick her. Probably because she just didn't trust good looking men.

  She couldn't understand that they were just responding to their own innate conditioning, even though she had a powerful set of instructions as well. Most of hers leading to rather dangerous combat reflexes. The woman in front of him truly believed that Tor was Burks, just playing a game with her, most likely. She probably would no matter what he said or did.

  It made for an interesting dilemma.

  Tor shook his head. How to best explain? Anything he said would likely seem like a joke and surprising her would be a bad plan. The only thing he could do was tell the truth and get her to come along anyway. That, or, Cordes chimed in with an actual voice for the first time, leave her. She was strong and would eventually make it on her own. True it would be rude to do after finding her like this, but it beat having her attack, since that would really be getting off on the wrong foot.

  Sighing Tor shook his head and scuffed at the tan dirt and grass at his feet under the black boots he had on. If Cordes could talk at all, respond to the situation and answer what Tor had been thinking about, that meant he wasn't just going to be a set of memories didn't it? A sinking feeling started to take him, but there was work to do in the moment, so he forced himself to rally and smiled at the woman.

  "Seriously, I'm Tor, not Green at all. It doesn't actually matter though, I just don't want to shock you later when you see him. Um, I have a vehicle, if you don't mind me getting it out? It will kind of appear out of nothing when I do that, so, you know, don't be overly shocked." He didn't wait for her to say anything, the good looking Ancient just giving him a knowing smile that said a lot about what she thought was going on.

  She jumped when the Fast Carriage came into being anyway, a purple and silver craft in the shape of a teardrop. It was strange looking, but kind of elegant for all that. Sleek.

  "Oh." The woman didn't have a frightened air about her, new thing suddenly there or not, nor was she angry. In fact she looked at it for a second and then whistled, a sound of low appreciation.

  "Nice. What can she do?"

  "Um, speed wise? About three thousand miles per hour right now, a bit slower than the best Austran craft. It might be a little slower than that actually. It's surprisingly hard to get a good reading on things like that. It can also change shape, color and configuration as well as some other things. We can even make it clear, if you want. Most people that don't fly on their own don't care for that too much though." He shrugged, waiting for her to do something.

  The answer he got was her walking over to it and knocking. It made almost no noise of course, being made of shield material. Like his clothing. Tor wondered for a minute if he should keep talking, trying to lure her into his lair or something, but the woman climbed in on her own. At the controls.

  "So, what do I do to make this work?" She put her hand on the control knob, which was a little small for her and just floated in the air. Right now it was a smooth metal looking piece that fit his hand perfectly, but she was only a bit bigger than he was, not a true giant. About five-ten or so, maybe a little shorter. Almost like a normal person.

  "The controls are simple enough, but sensitive. Start by simply pulling straight up. Do it slowly please." Tor got the door shut at about five hundred feet. The air sucking out with a sudden burst of activity that made his ears pop. Then he settled into the front passengers seat next to his... he thought about it and wondered if sister was the right word here. She wasn't even Burks adopted sibling, he realized. Just an old friend. So... Not really family at all. She hadn't seemed mad that he'd said that though, so at least there was that.

  "Go ahead and bring the control down just a little, to about five thousand feet. If you fly too high the air will get hard to breath. Too low and people tend to crash into things. Once you get that taken care of, slowly move the hand control straight forward. It won't feel like much of anything, since we'll speed up at the same time as the craft, so don't slam it forward. North-east please..." Tor looked around to get his bearings, but realized that she'd already been walking that way, meaning he didn't need to point.

  A few seconds later the woman grunted softly.

  "Not bad. Who makes these, Blue? It has to be pretty high tec
h. Is it covered in the treaty? I haven't seen anything like this before."

  "I make them. Noram magic, not technology at all. You'll want to start slowing down now. I think we're nearly there. The big red dome on the horizon is our destination. Overshooting is a pain."

  There was no comment, just an almost instant deceleration that caused the landscape to go from being a blur to just moving fast under them. Tor waited for her to stop, but the woman didn't try to land the thing herself at all, she even started to move to let him do it. That wouldn't make much of a first solo flight though, would it?

  "Just ease it down as gently as you can. Try to leave it hovering over the ground about six inches. Take a few minutes to get down. It makes holes if you do it too fast."

  For some reason that just made the woman seem genuinely happy as if envisioning little ship shaped pools being made all over the land. When they were on the ground Tor put the craft away, getting her to shake her head.

  "You know Green, this is impressive. This building here too. I guess I've been out of the loop too long, I didn't even see this coming. Maybe I should finally rejoin society a bit? I have to admit that I'm starting to miss being around other people." She'd grabbed her pack instantly, so Tor didn't try to carry it for her. Besides, she was probably ten times stronger than he was or something. Black was and she would be in about the same mold, Tor figured.

  "Not Green. Black kept making that mistake too, and he actually knew better, having the man himself right there with us. I think he finally learned the difference though. It took some work." A few beatings too, but Tor didn't mention that part. It would be harder to hit Orange. For one thing she wasn't being a complete ass the whole time. Black had been worked up though, so couldn't really have stopped himself, Tor didn't think.

  They walked in without seeing anyone, until Lyn waved from across the expanse on seeing them and jogged over, her form looking a little younger now, but not the youthful girl he was used to. She was using her disguise device for make-up and looked a lot better than normal, but still like herself. Just like Lyn trying to impress someone.