HuanJen nodded. “And speaking of that …”
“Yes. I’m staying with Dealer Zero. And I need to get moving.”
“I see …”
Verrigent crossed his long arms. His eyes turned a purplish color. “He’s gone straight, I’m quite sure.”
“I had hope. Take care my friend and … did they get to that sewer problem at Greenpoole? I’m afraid I haven’t heard.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
HuanJen nodded sadly. “Good point …”
Commerce is the lifebood of Xai. The movement of goods in the Trade Zones, the archives of the University, and more come together to keep it running.
However, there are some things even the Travelers’ Guild restricts; those items that can threaten the ways-between-worlds, those technologies dangerous enough to devastate and destroy in great quantities. Death and disaster is bad for business.
This also means that a market is created for certain contraband, and people have a way of getting around the best-laid plans when money is involved.
Everyone adapts.
“You do meet some interesting people.” Jade watched Verrigent soar off of the porch. “OK, what’s the lowdown on him and the lowdown on what’s up?”
“Who he is, is an ex-smuggler.” HuanJen sat on the couch, looking over the documents Verrigent had provided. “He mainly does Frontiersman work and Xenoarcheology. I think he used to work for Faith.”
Jade sat on the arm of the couch. “The old biddy that Mr. Alexander goes on about? Yeah, I hear she does a lot of questionable stuff.”
“Very. Verrigent is a decent person, but he is trying to keep a reservoir of good will considering his past. He passes information along.”
“So why didn’t he go to the Gendarmes?” Jade raised an eyebrow. HuanJen could get in trouble by sitting quietly in the living room.
“According to this? I’d say not enough evidence, though he may have and hadn’t told me. Again, he has things to be concerned about.”
“Great.” Jade looked at the storm. It was starting to rain heavily. “It’s here.”
“I know.”
Jade thought for a moment, then settled in next to HuanJen. “Fill me in. This is Transcendi stuff, correct?”
“Yes. You’ve been studying like I suggested?”
“A little, stuff from world where people, well … evolved. Really evolved into something else No one knows much about it except it has some strange effects, it’s really pretty mental. The University is studying it constantly. Since you can’t exactly find the originators it’s a bit hard.”
“Virtually incomprehensible technology.” HuanJen rolled the papers back into their container, his voice taking on a thoughtful tone. “Imagine worlds where people stepped beyond the bounds of flesh and ego together, imagine what they would leave in their wake. Now imagine how much people will pay to get it, no matter how dangerous or useless it is. Just to be close to those who went Beyond.”
“And some of it screws with Travel and Navigators.” Jade nodded. “I remember. That’s why its so hard to get on or off Xai. So these …”
“Idiots?” HuanJen offered frankly. The word was not an insult, it was an assessment.
” … are going to try and use the cover of some vast dimension-ripping storm to recover some of these Transcendi items. When no one even knows how they work. So they basically could be risking their lives to smuggle in some evolved persons microwave oven or something that just happens to have a psychic signature because it was near someone when their mind went ground zero?”
“Very succinct.”
“And you, of course are going to … we’re going to stop them.” Jade knew the answer, but she had to ask. It was sort of traditional to ask Huan if he was going to do something you’d never talk him out of. Besides, she knew what answer she would.
“It is dangerous near a portal or a cross-storm. Yes.”
Jade shrugged, trying to find some humor in the situation. “So tonight we’re going to play superhero. Do we get a secret base at any time?”
“Well, there’s one in the basement, only the handymen and the landlady know about it, but its another six hundred guilders a month. Not worth it.”
Jade shook her head. “I wish you were kidding. Well …”
“This is what we do.” Huan’s words were gentle, but strong as a mountain.
Jade nodded. She glanced over her shoulder at the darkening sky and the unnatural flashes in the clouds. The Stormriders would be outside waiting to salvage anything that came through the cross-storm, and among them would be people tempting fate - and the fate of anyone that got in their way or happened to be nearby.
“Yeah …”
In Huan’s - hell, her - Zone of Keeping, they were going to really tempt fate.
The storm had entered Metris proper.
Tamer skies appeared in bolts of lighting. A flash of red here and a few gallons of sea water merged with the rain over Evening Street. A flash of yellow a half-hour later and a bag of shillings crashed into a dumpster in Baker’s Alley. Stormriders scattered across the city, some joined by their fellows from the plains who had followed the storm’s path, strange instruments and ancient divining techniques merged with plain intuition as they sought fortunes unknown.
Most of the inhabitants of Metris waited for the cross-storm to pass.
Jade wasn’t sure what to do during a cross-storm, let alone when her partner was waiting for signs of something that was both a crime and a dangerous stupidity. It really wasn’t the kind of thing she spent time speculating about before.
HuanJen was carrying out a vigil on the porch, armed with binoculars and his own mystical senses. Jade helped when she could, alternating between checking the news, calling friends when the phone lines were clear, answering calls, and looking over the city with him.
Now and then she didn’t feel like an assistant or a partner, but more of a bystander. It was, she mused while making HuanJen some tea, the one thing she disliked in their relationship. Standing by was never her strong point.
“Anything?” Jade rooted around in the refrigerator for the butter.
“I am not sure,” Huan said distantly. He definitely wasn’t his usual self. Now hs demeanor was so different it was getting creepy.
Then again she couldn’t exactly blame him. The city, his Zone of Keeping, was already facing the Cross-storm. She just wished he’d share more at times, even if their claims to partnership were not exactly valid. She was an assistant, she knew it, but she wanted to be involved.
Jade shuddered as she carried the steaming mug of tea out onto the patio. She’d kept a jacket on while buzzing around on her various errands, but Huan had remained in his black “work coverall.” Temperatures didn’t seem to have much effect on him - few extremes did.
“Tea’s here.” Jade held up the cup. Huan didn’t even look at her, taking the cup automatically and sipping it. He never even put down the binoculars.
“Need me to take a watch?” Jade asked.
“If you want.”
“Was there enough sulfuric acid and manure in the tea?”
“Very funny Jade.” Huan took a moment to flash her a look of pleasant sarcasm. “I’m sorry, I’m being …”
“Distant from your partner. In an important situation. When lives may be at stake.”
“Quite.” HuanJen lowered the binoculars for a second to look at Jade sympathetically. “You are worried too, aren’t you?”
Thunder echoed throughout the city. Cold rain spattered onto the patio. HuanJen nodded in answer to an unstated answer. He could read Jade, read people, easily, but at times he forgot to do so.
“You are. I apologize.”
“Dimension-ripping storms, smugglers out there, our friends battened down, yeah, I’m a little concerned here,” Jade tried to sound angry, but failed. You couldn’t be angry with HuanJen anymore than you could yell at the wind.
Jade continued after a moment. “I could use so
me things like feedback, suggestions, anything but ‘tea please’ or ‘see anything.’ I’d like to know if I’m doing things right.”
“You are.” HuanJen answered in a friendly manner. His usual self manifested like a light turning on. “You always do. Jade …”
“Well, I …”
“Jade, I think I’ve found them. Take a look over at Morrison’s park.”
“The park?” Jade looked around, and remembered she’d hung the second set of binoculars from the doorhandle of the porch door. She seized them quickly, and took a look out at the city.
There weren’t many truly tall buildings in Metris, except for Shard Tower and a few others. The Crosspoint at ten stories was one of the taller ones around, and provided an excellent vantage point. It took her little time to locate the park, and focus in.
“Damn.” Jade adjusted the binoculars. The park in question was one of the many supported by local communities, places to meet, places to socialize, and plays to encourage business. However, the park was apparently being visited by a few people in rain slickers during a time one would not expect anyone to be out, let alone particularly social.
HuanJen’s voice startled her out of her thoughts. “That park was … renovated about a year ago. I expect the people are going to do some excavation.”
“What did they renovate?”
“Sewer system.”
Jade cocked an eyebrow. “Lots of sewer problems lately?” she asked, remembering Verrigent. One of her greatest educations on Xai had been that, no matter how exotic the Crossworld was, it was still a frontier and one still had all the concerns of mundane life. Including your plumbing.
“Last year, yes. Perfect place to conceal things, though I doubt its been there for that long, there probably would have been effects.”
“I think we have our people.” Jade said grimly. Her stomach knotted. Something told her they’d found their quarry.
“Yes.” HuanJen set his binoculars aside, and strode into the living room. She heard him make a quick call on the phone, then he returned moments later wearing his worn denim traveling jacket.
“I’m going to transport us. Are you ready to go?”
Jade grimaced. Huan’s unusual mental disciplines were things she’d gotten used to, except for what he placidly called ‘transporting,’ stepping between places in a flash. It made her mind twitch. “Honestly, no, but …”
“We’re off.” HuanJen seized her about the waist with surprising force, and moved in a direction that didn’t exist inside the normal three dimensions.
Jade experienced an eternal heartbeat of disorientation. She was flat and infinite at the same time. Space was a concept she’d abandoned for a moment out so she could be somewhere else. Words danced around what had been her mind, unable to describe what was going on.
The sensation came and went several times, and then she was elsewhere.
Cold rain splattered onto her face, the shock and adrenaline sharpening her senses to a fine point. She and HuanJen were on a sidewalk, a few blocks from the Crosspoint, near a trolley-stop and the park. There were no people around, the sounds of the city had been replaced with the patter of rain and the scream of thunder.
“What …” Jade began.
A bolt of lighting streaked across the sky, giving a second’s-fraction glimpse of a spired cityscape Earths away. HuanJen made a “shushing” gesture, trying not to stagger. The act of transporting himself seemed to be debilitating, and Jade wondered how bad carrying her with him had weakened her partner. He certainly looked more disoriented than normal
Jade nodded at his frantic signals, understanding the request. No use getting themselves killed making too much noise - there were doubtlessly other ways to get killed tonight.
The Vulpine followed her partners lead as he silently moved towards a fence surrounding the park. It wasn’t remarkable at all, just like any other managed by the different communities and subcommunities of Metris. She reflected that, therefore, hiding something valuable there was a perfect example of hide-in-plane sight
HuanJen crouched, and peered over the fence through some of the small trees surrounding the park, Jade trying to look over his shoulder. She could make out a few figures, apparently gathered around a manhole cover. A few suspicions flitted about her mind, and finally alighted.
“They definitely found something in the sewer,” Jade mused. “If this stuff is so potentially dangerous …”
“It’s the last place someone would look, and the concrete, piping and soil would shield it from detection, if it wasn’t shielded in other ways. HuanJen finished.
Jade nodded. “We found it … er, what do we do?”
“Well, I … and there’s someone behind us.” HuanJen said conversationally.
“I know. I smell him.” Jade nodded.
“He has a gun as well.”
Jade sighed. It would be nice to be ambushed by someone who was completely unarmed. “It figures. You want to …”
“I planned to. Ready?”
“No, so lets do it.”
The Fang-Shih and his companion raised their hands. “I hear you,” Jade said, “I saw the gun.”
There were footsteps behind the two, and a muffled curse as a puddle was discovered to be deeper than expected. Jade tensed, preparing herself …
HuanJen turned into an all-but invisible streak and charged his target. Jade dropped to the ground, reaching for her pistol, only to find it slip out of her rain-slicked fingers. The Vulpine swore in a few languages, rolling for cover. She caught a glimpse of HuanJen disabling a surprised man in a raincoat with a few well-placed punches.
Yes, the action-packed life of …
There was a whine and a strange ripple in the air, and HuanJen was knocked aside as if from a blow, tripping and falling to the street. Jade caught a glimpse of a person emerging from behind a trashcan, holding some kind of long tube, perhaps a gun. In a distant, clinical part of her mind, Jade figured that the person was some kind of sentry.
In a less distant part of her mind, that person had attacked HuanJen. The Vulpine charged and leapt on the attacker, ramming her forehead into the sentry’s chin while seizing the armament. Jade’s world became a blur of chaotic images; a started female face, a dark rod-like device, the water-slick street. Her mind was on fire, blazing with thoughts of subduing the woman as quietly as possible and checking on HuanJen.
Come to her Zone of Keeping, attack her partner, endanger people …
There was a whine, and Jade felt herself torn from her opponent by an unknown force. She managed to land on her feet unsteadily, and found herself clutching a strange, black staff. One end held a greenish orb and a curved blade, the other was unadorned.
“Damn!” The woman who had attached Huan cursed, reaching under her jacket. Jade was quite sure she wasn’t going to get a pen and paper and write a nice surrender note.
Jade pointed the staff on instinct. There was another whine, the woman’s eyes went wide and the air rippled as she was flung back with considerable force. Her head rammed painfully into the sidewalk. To Jade, it was no different than striking her with her fist, though the added range was a nice extra.
Time stopped for the Vulpine. She looked down at the artifact, lost in thought. Black and green, a mysterious but familiar shape. It called to her, it was easily made a part of her.
There was only one thing to say.
“Hot damn!”
There was a splash behind Jade, and she spun about, bringing her new acquisition up defensively. A somewhat bruised but no worse-for-the-wear HuanJen stood over another prostrate man. The magician priest dropped a pistol to the ground.
“They know we’re here. Hide.”
HuanJen sprinted over to her, and the pair ducked around the corner of the park’s permieter. A few people emerged from the main entrance, all well-armed.
“Damn, I …” Jade began, then noticed a kind of itching between her ears. “Hey, you feel something funny?”
�
�Yes, whatever it is, they’ve found it. The artifacts are probably exposed to the open air.”
“That’s bad.” It wasn’t quite a question. Jade knew the answer. Over time, she’d found herself rather sensitive to strange phenomena, such as HuanJen herself. She could tell in her soul something was wrong.
“Very. If the storm keeps getting worse …”
“It can get worse? Lovely. So if it gets worse, what?”
HuanJen’s voice was flat as he concentrated on the armed people scouting the park entrance. “Transcendi technology has a variety of effects, the major concern is usually that it interferes or alters Travel between Earths. Right now, Jade, the sky itself is Traveling.”
“Wonderful.” Jade rubbed her forehead.
“They’re coming this way, retreat. Hopefully the University will show up.”
Jade followed Huan, running various possible plans through her head. The park, as far as she could tell, was square, and Huan was leading her around the periphery. As long as no one suspected they’d actually stay in the area, it was, hopefully, a good deception.
Then, a thought struck her.
“You called the University?” The staff seemed to writhe in her hands. That seemed to be rather high on the stupidity scale for HuanJen to do.
“We may have a cleanup or containment situation. They called the Gendarmes. They’re still following us, I can sense them. Over the fence, we’ve got to seal away whatever it is they’ve dug up.”
“No ‘hold-them-off and distract them?’”
Ominous thunder sounded. The clouds were thicker, redder, and appeared to glow slightly. The rain wasn’t letting up. Jade shook her head, realizing the answer.
“Help me over the fence. At least they won’t expect us inside … wait.”
“What?” Jade hissed.
“There’s someone behind us with a gun. Again”
“What is this, sneak-up-behind-Jade-day?” At this point Jade was not scared, but disgusted. If her life was going to be in danger it could at least be so in more original ways.
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