by Power, P. S.
Tiera spoke her voice sounding very controlled again. Not that she'd ever really lost it. Even when she'd been in agonizing pain.
"I have one on me. Space craft."
There was a soft chuckle then, but Kolb interrupted the very attractive woman with more force than seemed needed. He was trying to resist her allure, it seemed. It showed as a slight gruffness.
"Not a joke, White. Tor made them. This one that we're in is Tim's design. Not as fast, but more complete than what Tor made the first time out. It's getting faster too, using some kind of growth algorithm. We have space travel now. Energy free, which is the first time in history that's happened, as far as I know. It will give us an edge over the others in a fight, when it comes to it."
Not if, Tim noticed. When.
He didn't doubt that was going to be true, but he was also a bit of a pessimist. So, it seemed, was everyone else with them. Even Julie, which was a bit of a surprise. She'd always seemed kind of... Well, the term interested in everyone came to mind, not wanting to call her slutty, even in his own mind. After all, he'd never seen her do anything like that, and it wasn't her fault everyone wanted her. She'd been made that way, on purpose, by people that were long dead.
Instead of debating the idea, there was a moment of silence from the back, and then a soft murmur that Timon nearly didn't hear at all. Considering his hearing was better than most people's, that probably meant it wasn't actually meant for him.
Julie just sighed, and sounded oddly pleased for some reason.
"This means we're almost done, doesn't it? The new breed is stronger than the old, and if not wiser, no worse. Finally we can lay down our heads and rest, letting these children take up the load."
She sounded far more tired than Timon expected her to. World weary. Then being held captive and tortured would do that to a person. Not that he wouldn't have traded her being kept in isolation for a few weeks, compared to the horrible pain he'd been subjected to, but it was, he figured, all relative. For all he knew she would have gladly taken that trade.
About an hour later, with no one talking overly, or using the communications devices at all, because Tim was nearly certain Tor could listen in if he wanted. He had an idea and rolled his eyes, feeling like he was being slightly slow, stopping over the ocean smoothly. Kolb put a hand on his shoulder and leaned closer to him from the back. They were all sitting way closer to one another than they had to, since they had the space at the moment.
"Problem?"
"Not really. I'm going to get some water in a holding tank, and set up a shower for Julie. I should have done that already. We can have beds too, private rooms, other facilities. Mainly I just want to surround our friend below us with a nice bit of water. If I leave a small hole at the top, the suit won't be able to come out... We need a shield too, over that, since he had some weapons in his fists."
Kolb seemed to consider the idea and then did something a bit strange, looking back at Tiera.
"You two can set that up. I'll see to the facilities up here. Timon is right, we should have thought of that already. Combat can be disorienting, no matter how much of it you've seen. Tim, can you land us on the water?"
"On it." That wasn't what Kolb had meant, he knew. He was asking if it was possible for Timon to do it. As if he didn't have the skills for it? Then, the man had just seen his flying destroy a building. It could be confusing as to what was done on purpose.
Or he might have just been asking, and Tim was being a jerk, taking it the wrong way. Regardless, it didn't seem like he was and no one seemed scared as he descended, using nearly perfect control. It was a thing that he was used to doing, on longer trips.
It didn't even take long, since the pumps were well enough designed, and took the salt out of the water, which was a design that Timon had stolen wholesale from his older brother. It was galling really, but there was no way to deny that Tor was a better builder than he was. Sure, part of that was simply that he'd had years more practice, but he also had a real talent for it, one that seemed beyond what any smart and driven person might manage.
It was almost like magic.
Timon didn't smile at the thought, feeling a bit tired after everything. He didn't complain however, just making sure that Tiera and Julie got the holding tank of water right. It meant making some small changes, their craft just hanging over the water, but not too many. Tiera was good, and White just stood there, holding her hand the whole time. When Tim moved too close, she reached for him, only to have his shield push her back a little.
She seemed a bit hurt by that. Betrayed, if the facial expression was right.
Tiera winked at her and held her a little closer.
"Tim isn't immune to your pheromones like I am. I think Doris left him vulnerable that way so that she could control him with sex, if it ever became needed."
It was a lot of information to come in one sentence, and he took note of it, but didn't comment. He knew that Doris was the meditation instructor at Lairdgren school, and in a way, had helped to build Tor, Tiera and himself. Not Taman however, if he'd gotten that part right. What he hadn't known was that the old woman he'd seen, who looked cute, but had normal colored skin, was able to do that. For a half second he wondered how she was planning to control him with sex, looking like she did, when he worked it out.
It was her hair that gave it away really. It was white, but had the same sheen to it that Julie's did. The bone structure was similar too, which meant that they were related. Since Doris was able to change shape, if only slightly, and look younger and older, like Count Lairdgren and Brown could, or perhaps more like Lyn Red...
It probably meant that she was really like the lovely and alluring woman in front of him, rather than an old woman that was a schoolmarm. Or, more correctly, she was both. Probably. He knew not to underestimate her, and that she was in on the current plans, since she could stop Tor from reading her. Not much else however. That was going to have to stop soon. It was too easy for the Ancients to get away without explaining things, having so much to tell you, if they wanted.
In the main they didn't tell him anything at all, and that was going to have to end. They were working in a near vacuum already, and frankly, if that kept up, the world was likely going to die.
Thinking all of this took about half a second, and he made himself nod once, as if the information his sister had shared simply made sense. That or he'd already known it. It never paid to let everyone know what you did, which was probably what the others had been thinking, when it came down to it. It wasn't wrong, but a lot of things in life existed between one side and the other. Most things did, probably.
"We need to get back underway." Stretching, so he wouldn't stiffen up from sitting too long, he moved to the restroom that Kolb had set up and used it, then got them going again. They'd gotten a lot of water, which was all on the bottom of the craft and made the controls just a little different. Not sluggish really, but it took a bit longer to get to full speed when loaded up, and more time to stop. Tor's craft didn't have that at all, because, as he'd just been thinking, he was magic.
Annoyingly so.
They didn't try to talk to Monroe, who would either get the idea, or die. Clearly it was going to be the first one, because shortly after they started flying again, a completely naked man with true black skin the color of deep night, crawled out of the hole in the deck and moved to the side. He tried to move forward, smiling, but hit the shield. Then he tapped at it, exploring the little prison instantly.
"Well, that's a fine how do you do." Then he rubbed the center of his face comically. Timon turned back around then, since his job wasn't interrogating prisoners, but flying. That was probably good for Monroe, since everything he knew about getting questions answered had been learned at the hands of sadistic bastards.
Noble ones.
Kolb cleared his throat and swiveled his chair around, but didn't get up to talk to the man. He did it from where he was, nearly forty feet away. That meant he had to speak up,
more than a little.
"Ah, you've joined us. Timon here decided you should join our side. You're good with that, right?" The voice was... Actually kind and pleasant, which was a bit strange, considering the man had been trying to kill the weapons master not too long before.
Then that part hadn't been very effective, had it? Kolb would have won, if not for that pink glowing mist. They needed some way to stop that stuff, he realized. It would mean learning what it was and probably finding a sample of it. That would be for later, and possibly a thing for someone else to do, not him.
"What? I guess. I was told that we were supposed to lower the population... Is that not right?"
Julie answered, her voice happy enough. Tim risked looking back again as she stepped closer to the all black man. He wasn't a deep brown, but a true black. All of him was too, Tim noticed. He didn't have white anywhere on him. His head was as bald as Kolb's, and he was slightly shiny from still being damp. Even his teeth were all black, making it a little hard to see all his features at a distance.
It contrasted nicely with the pearl colored woman.
"We've had a stable and sustainable population for the last two thousand years, Monroe. You do use that name, don't you? You aren't Cordes or Gray? Perhaps one of the others?"
"Huh? No, I'm me, like always. A lot of the others have the wrong person in them. We aren't supposed to talk about it, but if I'm not on their side anymore, it should be all right. I see you have a Gray clone too?" He pointed, which was a little rude, at Tiera, which got Kolb to chuckle just a little.
"No, this is her granddaughter. There is a more than passing resemblance, and her mother is a Gray clone, but Tiera isn't. If you look closely you can see it."
The man smiled, or at least Tim thought he did, it was hard to tell, especially after he turned back around, trying not to be distracted by the stranger. The one that seemed far too tractable to be useful for anything. If it wasn't a trick.
"Tiera, can you sense his field enough to make certain he isn't lying?" Or someone else. She wasn't the best builder in the world, perhaps, but she was already in a trance, and closer to the new man, who still hadn't said if he was going by the name Monroe.
"I already have been. If he's faking it, he's a master at pretense." She moved close and plastered a smile on her face. "I can't sense anything at least. The shield makes it harder."
Timon knew that, but didn't tell them to take it down. They could do that later. In Vagus. When it wouldn't end up with him being even more distracted if the man started fighting.
"Good. Well, Monroe, welcome to the team. We can put you on one of the space craft, as crew. If you want." Timon didn't know if that was the right thing to say, but the man clapped a little, like a girl, or a small boy, rather than an Ancient that was probably hundreds or thousands of years old. The upper limit for memories seemed to be about five hundred years, using the Rhetistic system, so no older than that, as far as his mind went.
Of course, which five hundred years was an open question, wasn't it?
The man seemed pleased however.
"Oh, I've heard about that! The fleet that Green built, to fight off the fake invasion that Cordes mocked up? That sounds marvelous!"
Timon kept his back turned, but smiled a bit. That rather answered that one, didn't it? At least in potential. There was no invasion fleet coming from space?
That would make things easier, wouldn't it?
Chapter four
No one focused on the medium sized man's information really. It was hard to tell how large he was, being hunched down on the deck like he was, but Timon had to guess he was about six-two or three, based on the length of his body and legs. Tiera moved to sit in her original chair, and White sat next to the clear shield, as if trying to be close to her old friend.
It was Kolb that spoke however, holding to his own chair, way over by Tim. That had to be about not scaring the man in the bubble. He seemed different than the other Ancients. Not as bright in a way, but malleable. Easy to manage and without guile. That last part could be an act, but it resonated with what the others had said, as well as how they'd said it.
In and of himself, Monroe wasn't a threat to anyone. Fighting armor or not.
So some kind of slave line creation that hadn't made it in the long run? Why bring back people like that however? Just for the genetic diversity? As an actual slave?
Julie helped provide the answer, after a fashion, in the way she spoke to the man. Like a small child nearly. One that she wanted to do very bad things with, but it was there in her tone.
"That's right. It was Torrance Purple that made them, however, not Green. He's a Green clone, but also himself."
That got the trapped man to nod happily.
"Yeah, yeah. I know him. Cordes Purple, isn't it? The one slated to take over North America? I hear he's got some new tech? Is that what you used in that fight Kolby? That was... Well, you looked normal, but other than the screaming, you didn't back up at all. Against frame armor. Some kind of energy shield? Like this?" He tapped the air in front of him, which made no noise at all.
Shields didn't easily transmit sound from one side to the other. Monroe was only being heard because there were spaces at the top of the tiny dome he was in so that he could breathe.
Sir Kolbrin waved a large hand at the walls of the craft.
"It's all shield. A potential energy state really. Fascinating stuff, if you get a chance to study it. I'm sure you'd be very good at using the new magical techniques, come to think of it. It takes practice, but most intelligent people willing to take the time and apply themselves can manage it."
Timon filed that one away too. Kolb wasn't being flattering, he was stating a fact. It was clear in his voice. The important part wasn't that the man could do magic, it was that Kolb thought of him as very intelligent. Not just bright enough, but at a high level.
It wasn't coming across in his voice or mannerisms, but that could be due to other factors, like genetics, or a Rhetistic set that caused him to act and respond a certain way.
"That sounds neat. Is that where we're going now? To North America? Noram, I mean. Has it changed a lot?"
Timon nearly snapped at the man not to ask questions, but Julie laughed and shook her head.
"No dear, we're going to Vagus. Lyn Red manages it for us. For the side that isn't planning on killing most of humanity. It isn't a metropolis, but no place really is. Not even Australia. Austra now. You remember that, don't you? We made the selections while you were with us originally." She didn't seem to think it was a weird thing to say, from her tone.
Timon just watched the horizon, since they had a while to go still, at these speeds.
Monroe seemed happy enough to chat at least, and spoke with an innocent air about him, genius or not.
"I do remember, naturally, it isn't like I forget things. I just can't know who or what is actually left, can I? The others, Cordes Seven and Gray Four, they didn't let me have a lot of up to date information about the rest of the world. They actually made it sound a bit dismal, to be honest. Gray especially. Warring feudal level tribes in North America, South America is filled with peaceful stone aged people, Australia is a technological nightmare and Europe is run by a pseudo-Christian cult. Only Africa and the Antarctic have managed to do the right thing."
Timon didn't know all the words, but worked out most of it based on what he did know.
"That isn't the way I'd have described it all. Noram is pretty much that way, I'll grant. But Austra is nice enough. They're using things up a bit too fast, and are too driven by greed, but are managing not to use everything up really. Tellerand... which I think is Europe?"
He waited, and Kolb cleared his throat gently.
"That's right. Christianity is basically the predecessor of the one god religions."
"All right, well, Black does have that going on then, but the actual land itself is well managed. People help each other there, and live clean and simple lives. The Priests can be a
pain in the rear, always trying to convert you to their way, but other than that most of the people are nice enough. They do a lot with architecture. It's in balance. Everyplace is really. I don't like what Grandmother did to Afrak. Africa. Gray changed the people, so that they can't even consider violence or resistance. They aren't destroying the world though and are kind enough."
The Antarctic didn't need going in to. They only had three people. The highest old style technology base too, but they didn't abuse it. The Blues were good that way.
Kolb turned around, so that his voice seemed aimed at the back of Timon's head, which meant he was looking out the front window.
"Which leaves Vagus, which, until a few months ago, was a stone age culture. Now they're taking up the new magic too. It's probably the way we'll all live eventually. Perhaps the way we were supposed to all along? It has very low material and energy cost, if used correctly. There are dangers with it still, of course."
Monroe made a noise that seemed a lot darker than not, for some reason.
"Oh, I can see that. This is what, a troop transport? A battle ship? One that you took into a building to retrieve Julie, then used as a weapon to kill the others? I didn't see that, but the radio cut out. Do you think anyone survived?"
The large bald man didn't turn to look back at all.
"I don't really know. Some of them likely did. A building falling on any of us in here wouldn't be enough to kill us outright, and most of the others are the same in that regard. Not unless they were very unlucky. It was more distraction than anything else. A few probably died, but we were too busy healing from the micro-plasma burns. That's been forbidden for a long time. I'm surprised that Cordes allowed it to be used at all, to tell the truth. He always spoke out against it as barbaric."
That got silence in return, and Monroe didn't even try to explain it. Not even when Julie made a soft prompting sound. That probably meant it was a big deal, since the man didn't seem to be resisting any other questions.
Timon didn't let it rest.