He laughed and had some more oatmeal.
Em interjected, “I recommend you allow them to do as they will. It will improve life in Whitehall for you and keep them busy. We have perfect weather to retrieve the STU. You and Par should go first thing in the morning after she gets unloaded. Oh, and you need to prepare Po and Olias in case they are there when Par arrives.”
“They were okay with Ash,” Barcus argued. It just hung there.
“If all goes well, you will be gone only a week at most,” Em said. “I don't know if it is too early, but the Plate is now configured for our local comm network. You could leave it with Po in case of emergencies.”
“How would I explain that?” asked Barcus
“It's in a leather bookbinder case now. Just tell her it's a magic book, and if she opens it and speaks to it, you will hear her. She doesn't need to know that we monitor them both full-time already, and it is just so we can speak to her. We will also have Ash there. He can talk to them if need be.”
“All right,” Barcus decided.
The day went by quickly. Barcus began a detailed survey via visual scans and measuring of Whitehall so he could create a 3D model that would facilitate repairs, renovations and enhanced utilization of the spaces. Lists grew as Po talked with Olias or Barcus about the kitchen garden, seeds, baskets, carts, wheelbarrows, goats, chickens, tools and hundreds of other things.
Barcus noticed a new window in the throne room list simply marked “people.” It included farmers, stone masons, carpenters, coopers, blacksmiths and even a vintner.
“Em, this is looking a little ambitious. I just wanted to be left alone, not draw attention until I can figure out what to do.”
Em's avatar walked into the room and sat down on the step that led up to the dais of the main hall.
“Barcus, what is it that you want here?”
Barcus stopped his pacing.
“We need to know what the real goals are so I can help move toward them. Survival was the initial goal. Escape and evasion. But here is the thing.” She actually waited until Barcus was looking at her. “I don't think they know we are here.” She let it sink in. “We have seen their ships. We've seen the tech they have. It's very old, but it still works. We have killed a lot of their people.”
He was scanning the many windows for clues. They all slowly faded except the local tactical map.
“If you knew there was a dangerous adversary loose in this region, what would you do?” she asked.
“Aerial search sweeps, coordinated ground searches, detailed crash site investigation.”
“What do we have instead? Coordinated Regional Genocide. I don't think these events are related at all. I also don't believe that this is the first time something like this mass killing has happened. The ruins are not all recent. Just look at The Abbey. What the hell happened here thirty years ago? A bomb went off here, and not a small one.”
“Are you saying getting the STU is too much of a risk?”
“I am saying the opposite. I don't think whoever runs this planet is watching at all.
“So I ask again. Barcus, what is it that you want here?”
He was thinking.
“Well here are some options.” She ticked off a finger. “If you decide you want to simply survive and live out your days on this planet, we are in an excellent position for that. The major downside is there would be no longevity treatments. You'd only get another 90 years or so tops before you die of old age.”
She ticked off her second finger.
“Next option: Rescue. Tougher to pull off, but if these fuckers have an automated defense grid, I'd bet they have a hyperdrive capable ship or an old school Tesla Comm Node.” Barcus was amused by her tone.
She ticked up a third finger.
“Third option: Vengeance. Find out who is responsible for killing Chen and the others and make those sons of bitches pay.” The violent undertone in her voice surprised him.
He thought for a minute before speaking.
“The next step on all of those plans would be to retrieve the STU. Even if it's just for the transportation, med bay and the fabricator,” Barcus said.
She stood and walked to him. “Look, Barcus. It's my job to keep you safe. I need to know what you are thinking to best do that.”
Just then the door opened. When Po looked in, he was just standing in the center of a room that was dimming with the coming of dusk. She looked around and all six fireplaces were burned down to beds of coals, and a chill was beginning to return.
“Olias is back.” She paused. “...with Ash.”
“I'll be there in a moment,” he said.
She averted her eyes as if she had been dismissed and backed out, closing the door.
“I want to survive first. Figure out what is going on here, and make them pay. Then maybe the rescue after. If any of it matters by then.”
His voice was harsh again. He had no idea Po overheard him. He always felt angry when he realized he was talking to himself. Yes, he knew it was an excellent computer interface. But it was not real. And Chen wrote it. Maybe that's why he felt so angry.
Chen was dead. All his friends and crewmates were dead.
How many times would that realization continue to kick him in the guts?
***
He found Olias unhitching one of the horses from the newly salvaged wagon as Po was pointing and directing Ash where to put a huge crate that was on the wagon. Barcus knew Ash could have carried the entire wagon and load if needed. At least he wasn't making them afraid.
As soon as Olias had stabled the horses and saw to their needs, he was off.
“Does that boy ever walk anywhere?”
Po smiled wistfully. “He has never had so much. A full belly twice a day is heaven to him. But three times a day, a warm, dry bed, rooms of his own and more. It's like the winter solstice feast every day for him.”
“He doesn't miss his family?” He knew this was her feeling as well.
“There is none to miss. His parents had died before he was six. His masters since then offered only work and deprivation, if not abuse and cruelty.”
Ash took another load to the kitchen, Po watching him.
“It's not alive,” she said. “Ash I mean. Not really alive. I can feel it. It's just a tool brought to life by magic. It’s not dead either because it was never alive.”
“Yes. A tool.” Barcus marveled at how perceptive she was.
“Like any tool, it's neither good nor bad, in and of itself.”
He realized she was trying to sort something out for herself. She looked up at him, one of the rare times she looked in his eyes.
“Ash is an extension of your will, isn't he? Like a woodsman's ax but more useful and more dangerous.”
“Yes,” he replied carefully.
She nodded and began to walk away.
“Po. In the morning, Pardosa will return.” She stopped and looked back.
“You know I have seen her?” Po asked him. “More than once. And she has seen me. I can feel it. That one IS alive.”
“I have to go away for a few days. I will take Pardosa with me. I'll be safe.” He watched the wrinkle appear on her brow. “I will leave Ash here to watch over you and Olias.”
She said nothing. She looked down.
“I won't be gone long.”
“Is there anything you would like us to do while you are gone, my Lord?” She was playing stiff upper lip. He could see it. “Besides eat too much, three times a day?” A smile struggled up to her eyes.
“Actually, there is. I will show you later. Let's go see what Olias is up to,” he invited.
***
Po knew where Olias had selected his rooms. They were not the largest rooms in the dorm wing, but they were nearest to the midden on that level. Barcus knocked on the door. Though Em had a monitoring window for him already, Barcus wanted to see for himself the room that Olias had been fixing up. There was already a huge pile of firewood in the hall outside his room,
a whole winter’s worth. Ash had been busy.
Olias opened the door with a huge smile and a sweeping wave of his arm.
The fire was blazing. The room was very warm already, warmer than Barcus liked for himself. Olias had a single-sized bed, but it was a canopy bed with heavy drapes he could draw. He had many blankets and pillows. In front of the fire were two mismatched but comfy looking chairs. He had a small round table and three stools. All of this was on thick carpets that overlapped each other, covering the entire floor. Each wall had a trunk. One was small and the other two were large enough for Olias to hide in.
Barcus noticed there were two swords and three daggers resting on his low mantel but said nothing.
“I presume by this you have decided to stay?” Barcus tried in his common tongue.
“Oh yes. I've never had my own room or a real bed before. Thank you.” Olias said in common, translated by Em.
Suddenly Em's voice was in his head and a Tactical Map in his vision. “We have an incoming, high altitude ship that is on a direct intercept vector with Whitehall.”
Po saw him look over his shoulder and head suddenly toward the throne room as if he had heard a sound.
“How far away is it? What is the ETA?” he asked to the empty part of the room as he arrived.
“ETA: 11 minutes 41 seconds,” came her crisp reply
“What is its altitude?” he asked, ignoring the looks from Olias and Po.
“Barcus, if it has a bomb, you could get clear in eleven minutes.”
“Show me the trajectory since detection.” A very straight line appeared from the east. He was walking back to the main hall. “How did you detect it? Show me possible sites of origin.” The map shifted and reversed along the same vector until it fell upon a series of islands well off the eastern coast to the far south. There was a major city marked there. Cookesthrow Shoals and the city of Millsea.
He looked down and finally realized Po and Olias had followed him. He barked questions at them.
“What do you know about the East Islands? What about the city of Millsea?”
Po answered first. “They... they make boats there. Ships. For sea trade.”
Olias added, “They are very rich there.”
“What else?” Barcus gave himself only two minutes to decide whether they should run.
Po answered, “They have only one Keeper there, and all the other Keepers hate him.”
“Millsea is here.” Olias ran across the floor and stood on an irregular pattern on the floor on the far side of the room.
From where he stood now, he could see it. The floor of the hall had a map of the world marked into the artful flagstone. Em shifted the tactical overlay to the floor. The ship was moving fast directly toward the throne.
“Come!” Barcus said.
The order left no doubt it was to be obeyed.
They ran to the stables and Barcus commanded them onto the horses, bareback, and to follow him.
The stars were beginning to reveal themselves as they cleared the gatehouse door.
Barcus ran.
The road was quickly covered by an arch of trees, but he didn't stop. He could hear them behind him so he ran faster and faster.
The horses’ training prevailed. They seemed to know they were to follow him. The low gravity served him well as he moved as fast as these horses at full gallop. Glancing, he could see that both held a hand full of the horses’ manes. Barcus ran full tilt for nine minutes.
When he could hear the ship, he began to slow. His HUD told him they were 5.7 clicks from The Abbey. Far enough for most tactical nukes. Well, small ones.
The road opened to the sky at this point. Cover was better he told himself. The Horses pulled up and nearly reared. Ash was waiting just inside the clearing.
Barcus held up a silencing hand.
They could hear the roar of the ship above. The ship and its vapor trail were still in the sunlight as it passed behind them.
Po was worried, “Barcus, what's happening?” She looked up. “It's the Keepers. We see them like this sometimes.”
Olias chimed in, still breathing a little hard, “My mother always said that they were on the Errands of the Mighty. We are naught but ants.” He sounded like he was quoting.
They waited.
Darkness had fallen fully before they turned back. Po and Olias were both shivering by the time they got back. The blackness of the open maw of the gatehouse door was unsettling. Barcus turned on the light from his multi-tool. They entered the fountain court and turned into the stable yard. He snapped off the light.
“I'll take care of the horses. Goodnight,” Olias said uncharacteristically sober.
“Barcus, the ship continued without deviation until it was out of range,” Em Said in his mind.
They went into the gatehouse, and Barcus sat and started to unlace his boots.
Po just stood in front of the fire warming herself.
“I'm sorry, Po. I didn't mean to frighten you,” Barcus said quietly.
“How could you run... like that?” Po said.
That was not the question he expected.
“Where I come from, we are very strong and fast.”
“Do you have to go tomorrow?” she queried.
“I do.”
“What was it you wanted me to do while you were gone?” Po asked.
Pulling his other boot off, he said, “Get ready for bed and I will tell you.”
She went into the loft to change into her night dress. He watched her through the HUD, even as he changed into his nightshirt. He got the book from the side table and waited.
She climbed in and sat up next to Barcus. She remembered.
“A is for Apple. B is for Bee.” She traced the letters with her finger, then turned the page and cocked her head.
“Try.” Barcus encouraged.
“Cat?” she guessed. “We could use some cats around here.”
A livestock list window popped open and “cats” was added.
“C is for Cat. D is for Dog,” Barcus said
“E is for Ear. F is for Fire.” Barcus continued making the “f” sound.
She sat, and they went through the book dozens of times. Barcus explained that letters made words, words made sentences, and sentences held the thoughts or ideas. The back cover of the book had random letters scattered over it.
“Show me a T.” Po found it easily. They did a few more until she almost chose wrong on “W.”
“That's enough for tonight. I want you to read it every night I am gone. Think about the letters, the words.”
Po set the book on the side table, added a large log to the fire and blew out all the candles.
Em said in his HUD, “Barcus, Par will be here in four hours. They will quietly unload, and she will be ready to go whenever you want.”
Just then Po spoke. “Barcus, when I was a young girl, I lived on an estate just below the gorge. House of Keeper Volk. He discovered one day that the head cook could recognize the name of the spices from the jars. He made us all watch as he beat her to death, bashing her head in, with an ax handle. After he was done, he cried because he would miss her pastries. He said only witches could read, and we are always obliged to kill witches.”
“No one will kill you as long as I have a say. Besides, you are already a witch,” he teased.
In the middle of that night, he caught her out of bed reading the book by the light from the fire. It was when she said out loud “F is for Fire” that he woke. At first light, she was at it again. He smiled and watched her sitting on the floor. When she saw he was awake, she asked, “Is P for Po?”
“Yes!”
“M is for Magic...” she said.
“B is for Breakfast,” Barcus said. At that, her eyes flew wide.
“Is B also for Barcus?” she asked.
“You mean that there is a magic set of symbols that if I were to recognize it, I would see you in my mind?” her eyes were wide.
“Yes,” he smiled.<
br />
Breakfast that morning was cold meat and cheese with hot tea.
Barcus went out the gatehouse door for a bit, and when he came back, he had another book in his hand.
“This book has more magic than the other books. While I am gone, if you ever need to speak to me, all you have to do is open this book and call to me. Even a whisper will do. And then I can answer. Let's try it. I'll go out.”
He left the gatehouse and a minute later, Po opened the book while it was on the table and whispered, “Barcus, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Po. I can hear you,” came his reply.
There was an image of Barcus in the book, out into the air. He was on top of the bell tower. She looked out the window and she could see him there.
“It's like the other side of the mirror is there, not here,” she said.
“While I am gone, carry it with you in case I need to speak to you,” Barcus said.
And then the Plate became a simple mirror.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
STU
“The Emergency Module had valid intel that a massive bomb was inside a transport. This bomb was to be used north of the gorge somewhere. It was just being cautious. Barcus never knew about the four trackers Em killed as they fled the Abby.”
--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team.
<<<>>>
Barcus didn't see Olias before he left. It didn't bother Barcus – he knew Em would keep an eye on him. Olias would get more done around The Abbey than Barcus would know how to do. The boy was driven.
“Hello, Barcus,” Par said as he entered the cargo area from the rear ramp.
“Good morning, Pardosa.” The HUD activated before he even sat down, creating the illusion that the spider had opened and they were looking directly at the sky. “Is there anything new this morning, Em?”
“The inventory lists have been updated with the new goods Par just dropped off. That will keep them busy while we are away,” She replied efficiently.
“Bring up the tactical map with full annotations. Indicate the route you intend to take, current positions and ETA.”
Solstice 31: The Solstice 31 Saga, Books 1,2,3 Page 12