Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15)

by P. S. Power

  "If needed I can do it. Or you might pull it off. William is the right choice however, if we need to deal with King Richard directly. We'll still need someone on the ground there for it. Are you up for that, if it's needed, Debri?"

  Calling her by her last name made the question seem almost military in nature. Then, they were kind of dealing with an attack, weren't they? This could be coming from anywhere, too. Austra, the Rebellion in Noram, one of the other lands, or even her own King, trying to get Harmony to throw in on his side. Sara hoped it wasn't that last one, since she wasn't certain that Richard would survive it, if that were the case.

  Which meant she probably wouldn't either.

  Chapter seven

  Sara really wanted to spend time with Tor, even in the middle of an emergency, but instead she held her face still when Tiera suggested that she rush directly off to Noram and start pestering the King about the situation. It wasn't the best use of her time, but Queens probably didn't have to consider things like that too often. Not even relatively good ones that were known not to think they'd invented the right to rule personally.

  Thankfully Tim shook his head, earning a dark and rather brooding scowl from the tall, very thin, monarch.

  "That's not going to happen. If anything, this whole situation shows that Sara should be set to working on the tertiary grouping endeavor as quickly as possible. If people are going to attack us, here, then we need to have another fallback ready."

  The words sounded sensible, and Tor looked at his brother closely, then nodded, about ten seconds later. He was so clearly doing magic that Sara could feel it happening. It was just him reading Tim though, who felt smooth and almost unconcerned to her.

  Not that she had any great skill at doing things like that. She could clear her mind though, and feel the world around her a little. Most people could, with practice. It was a useful skill for a spy, so had been part of her training.

  It was their mother, Laurie, who sneered at the scene.

  "You're just trying to protect Sara from danger. Need I remind you that she was the one that stepped in front of that attack aimed at you earlier? That hardly sounds like a woman that needs to be coddled. Then she made sure the rest of us didn't harm poor Lars here." Her mood and tone shifting instantly, the pretty woman looked at the man from Austra, her brown eyes shining a bit with unshed tears. "We'll find your people. It's just a matter of time."

  Not that they'd find them alive. No one in the world, in either world, could promise that, could they? It made sense to kill hostages most of the time. You didn't get a ransom for them, but in this case that wasn't needed. Lars had to do what he did, and succeed, or they'd promised to kill his wife and daughter.

  Really, what they needed to do was fake Tim's death. It might not buy time, but it would be better than doing nothing, wouldn't it? Just in case these horrible people had some sense of honor?

  Sara took a deep breath, getting Tor and Ali to both look at her, and then, a second later, Trice to do the same. No one asked what she was thinking, so she finally went ahead anyway, hoping it wasn't too stupid to be allowed.

  "I'll go and handle the matters on Earth. On this end, I think that we should smuggle Tim out, both to remove the potential of him being attacked again, and so that the people that want him dead will have a reason to think Lars was successful. We won't announce anything, so it shouldn't affect the people doing the looking."

  That got several strange reactions from everyone in the place. Except of course Timon, who looked at her calmly, and didn't mutter silly things under his breath.

  "I can hide out on one of the space stations in orbit around Earth. Sherri's farm complex will work well enough. There's hardly anyone there, and most of them are commoners from Noram, or similar types from Afrak. I can work from there for now and it will be harder to find me, as long as no general announcement goes out about it. Then you here can use the time that will buy to figure things out. Good plan, Sara."

  Trice gave her a look. One that spoke of her trying to steal her boyfriend, but that was silly. Tim was her husband, and Sara had lost that chance, a long time before. Not that they couldn't have some fun on occasion now. It had never come up, because Timon hating her had kind of made sense. No matter what else he felt about her at the same time, that pretty much had to be the case, didn't it?

  Her friend's words were gentle though.

  "Take care of him? We'll handle the rest of things here. We should have air back inside two days, and everything rebuilt a little after that, if we keep working like we have been. We need to capture the ones that are behind this."

  Because that would be the real break in things. If they could find anyone involved, it would let them have a real shot at breaking the whole thing open. If not, then they'd need to scrape for clues and hints, while making wild speculations and hoping one of them was close enough to help. That was the modern world of investigation though, wasn't it? If you got close enough to the right people, the Truth amulets would do the work for you. It was the hit and miss getting to that point that was the challenge.

  She expected hours of deliberation and careful planning about things, but Douglas moved to his son, and patted him on the shoulder. They looked more like brothers than anything else, even if Tim was a lot taller already.

  "Get going then. Don't let anyone see you. We'll make things look right here. Like we're hiding what happened and that you died. Miss Debri will need a second ship. Otherwise everyone will see her taking off. Moving that many people is noticeable. Tiera, are there any left?"

  That got a head shake. It made sense, even without people to fly them. The things were able to become huge and make their own air, as long as they had something to make it from. The problem there was that they were all full of people.

  Tor shrugged, then grinned at her.

  "It's slower, but I can lend you one of the old ships. If there are only two of you going you can easily get enough dust together in about fifteen minutes of work." That he had a ship around his neck on a hemp string wasn't that big of a deal. That he just passed it over to her was. Even the slow ships were worth more than some Counties back home.

  His fingers tickled her palm as the focus stone block touched her. It was warm, from having been so close to his body.

  "Be careful. Both of you. We don't understand this yet, and while it will probably be easy enough to fix once we know who's behind it, I can't actually prove that yet. This could be them."

  The Ancients. No one in the room had to ask who he meant either. Sure, they were supposed to be dead, but so was Timon, and he looked pretty mobile and chipper in the moment. Almost happy, for some reason.

  Sara hugged Tor closely, standing first. He stayed in his wooden chair, and was just a bit shorter than she was that way. It reminded her of how things used to be, back when she was the large one, and Tor was just a pretty and kind boy she knew from school.

  One that the King had set her on, as a spy. It had been in secret, and well before Trice had been set to the task. Nearly two whole years, in fact.

  "We will be. You too. All of you." She didn't want to let go, and a feeling nearly overwhelmed her then. Just how much she actually loved him. She always had, as far as she could remember. Her grasp tightened a bit, but she forced herself to let him go. It was indiscreet, given that his wife was right there.

  Alyssa wasn't the one that gave her a sad and longing look though. Trice did.

  It was clear that Timon saw it too, and for once he turned away a bit, his face still, but making it clear that he didn't really like seeing that happen.

  Sara wondered if it seemed to him that every woman he wanted, his brother already had? That would be a heartrending thing, but it was very nearly true, wasn't it?

  The only one that Sara didn't really know about that way would be Petra Ward. She was going to be married to Gerent Lairdgren though, so there was a different brother getting her, in the end. What did that really leave him? Pain, came to mind, but Sara buried
that thought and moved to give everyone else a hug. Except Lars. She didn't know if he could be trusted yet.

  Not even if he'd been telling the truth the whole time.

  That took longer than actually getting things set up did. In fact, she had the new ship set up outside, filled with enough dust to keep them fed and in water and air for several years, and had the devices that everyone had pressed on them ready in about that fifteen minutes that Tor had thought getting the dirt would take. She was getting good at her job, after all. Even with all the time off she'd had, playing beggar in Tellerand.

  No communications came in before they left, but that part wasn't hard either. No one was standing around outside to watch them go. Really, Sara didn't even feel like a proper spy, like she was stealing away with Timon illicitly, or anything fun at all. When they got inside the new ship, which was well lit from the ceilings, she glanced over at Tim, who hadn't even gone to get so much as a toothbrush.

  "Have everything you need?"

  It was just making conversation, but his answer shocked her a bit. Not too much, but it was the kind of thing that she forgot about, just talking to him, or Tor.

  "I have a set of things with me all the time. Anything I missed, I can make now, in about ten minutes." There was a smile then, one that was angled to look charming, and, she thought, just a bit flirtatious. "Ten minutes for each thing. Unless you want a ship like this. That would take a month. I can do a jump ship in that time, but it's an organic grow, not a forced building. It makes a difference. These things are incredibly powerful though. Even these old ones that Tor made."

  His large hand stroked the wall, the smooth white of it turning silver under his fingers, then, almost as if he really were flirting with her, a complicated pattern of silver interwoven with tan, to match the clothing she was wearing. It was complex but also very finely done. A pattern that nearly seemed to shimmer, the lines were so close to each other. The floor changed too, but was a deeper brown that looked a lot like wood, polished to shining. If there was a repeating pattern to the thing, Sara was missing it. That took a lot of skill.

  Rubbing her bare and now bald head, she giggled a bit.

  "Not bad. You can help me make some hair later? I have a disguise amulet, but..." It was a weird thing to ask, but there was almost no hesitation there.

  "We can do that. It's going to be nearly a week just getting to the farming unit. Sheri's space station. She doesn't live there. So far no one that runs the stations does. Mainly due to lack of people. We're going to have time to do things, was my original point. So, we can make hair, have sex, and I can teach you how to make copies from a template? Or... You know, I never asked, can you do that already?"

  Sara looked at him, feeling her eyes narrow just a little. It was pretty clear that he was trying to bury something in that, having mentioned sex like he had. The thing there was that he had to know that given the situation she'd do that with him without having to be clever about it. They were pretty much trapped together for the time being. Yes, the ship was large and they didn't have to see each other for that time if it became a problem. That would be lonely though, wouldn't it? So, Tim was going to have all the sex their bodies could handle, most likely.

  Her too. There just was nothing else to do.

  So she nodded, locking eyes with him.

  "You want me to learn to be a builder? Is that something that you can pass along when you change people? I've noticed that a lot of the top builders are immortal."

  Timon let his head come up a bit, and then took a slow breath.

  "Well, most of the ones that have really done that were builders already, and among the best, before I did anything to them. They did get a bit better after that, but a lot of that improvement is physical in nature. The ability to work for longer without dying, for instance. The rest is mental, but varies from person to person. We all have our strengths. I think you should learn how though, if you're moving out that far away from help."

  Looking away, he smiled, his eyes going still as he looked at the far wall, well ahead of them, and started walking toward the bridge. They didn't talk while they moved, and he didn't run, but he kept looking at her from the side of his gaze. Carefully collecting every emotion and bit of body language, no doubt.

  She finally looked back at him and smiled.

  "Wait, were you really trying to sneak in the sex bit? You have to know that's going to happen. Unless, I understand if you're too busy, or have something else that you've already committed the time to."

  He cleared his throat a little, seeming almost prim, and then shook his head.

  "It's not just that. I'm... Rather fond of you. You know that though. I get that things could be tense because of that. You love Tor." There was no stopping or pausing, just steady steps down the wooden looking floor. "Not that you should have a problem with that kind of thing, but you have to know that he might. I think he might be doing better that way, but it's hard to change things that deeply ingrained. In Two Bends you didn't even think of having more than one woman in your life. I notice that he's managed that part well enough. I'm not sure if he's up to sharing yet. Not with his own brother."

  It was insightful, but she shook her head.

  "Tor... He's been being very loving lately, but for a long time he barely seemed to notice me. It wasn't for lack of me trying, but I've kind of come to realize that I have to let go of him. Not altogether, but I have to learn to just take what's there, and move on otherwise. If you want to be friends, then... Well, I can't see any reason why not? Trice is good with it. She's even mentioned the idea to me. I really do like you, regardless of what else happened before."

  Going into why didn't seem like a good idea, since they were getting to the bridge, and he already knew the meat of it. From the King himself. That was surprising to her, but not something she hadn't noticed before. Richard loved Timon. Tor too. It wasn't even sexual in nature, which she could have seen, given how good looking they both were. No, he seemed to look at them as if they were his own sons. Maybe even closer than that.

  What she didn't know, was why. Douglas Baker was clearly their real father, and while King Richard had slept with their mother when they were younger, she wasn't certain that either of the boys knew that. Not for certain. She had it from Laurie Baker herself. Said in passing, years before. The first time they'd met, in fact. Trice knew too, but it was the kind of girl gossip that you kept to yourself, so as to not ruin someone else's liaisons. That would be beyond rude.

  Besides, she'd mentioned having been much closer to Queen Constance. It had been years later when Burks Lairdgren, the Count and Laurie's father, had mentioned to Sara in private that Tor's mother had very nearly become the Queen herself. Things had gotten in the way, and worked out differently than that, but it wasn't that surprising. She was little, but so pretty that Richard probably would have had a hard time seeing anyone else, with her around.

  They didn't speak for a long time, Tim locked into a bit of a trance, she thought, watching what she did once they got to the bridge. She started to tell him what she was doing, so that he could pilot in case it came up. Not that he couldn't have figured it out anyway. He could fly a fast craft already, and was as good at that or better than anyone else living.

  Touching the arm of the comfortable, blue colored, chair Sara murmured gently.

  "Make sure that the air lock is put away, and everything is sealed. There's no need for tie down, like a water vessel, but that doesn't mean there can't be connection points. Take off touching anything except the ground, and it will probably come with you."

  Then she took off, going straight up, pulling the metal fob up gently. The vessel shot into space, and Sara pointed with her left hand out the front window shield.

  "We'll orbit and find Earth visually. Then just head toward it and keep it in view the whole time. It isn't fast this way, and we'll need to regularly make alterations to the course, but only a few times per day."

  Then she just sat, waiting
for him to do or say something. What he did was a lot different than she expected, since it was just pulling a bit of focus stone tile, white moonstone, from his pocket and closing his eyes. She got that he was working, making magic, but it really wasn't that interesting to look at. The end result might well be, however.

  In this case, he probably needed a toothbrush. That, or towels. She could share however, so it might have been something else. About twenty minutes later, Tim sat up, stretched his arms over his head, and then slipped the tile, which had a blue glow on the top, underneath the control piece that floated in the palm of her hand.

  "Here we go. Let me..." When he tapped the piece nothing happened. Until she tried to move her hand. The control device was locked into place solidly. Even pulling on it, the thing didn't move. She got the idea pretty quickly.

  They didn't need to make a lot of course corrections on the trip they were on. Like she'd said, a few times per day, since the Earth was constantly moving a bit. Less than that if she'd hit the travel line correctly the first time. She probably hadn't. It was harder than it seemed like it would be to aim at a planet from that far away.

  Timon grinned then.

  "It should make things easier, and try to follow what you aimed at. That part's a bit new, so it might not work perfectly. We need to keep an eye on it. Do you want to do that hair yet? Or something else?" The words were a bit bland sounding, as if he were hinting at sex. Perfectly too. With just enough notice given to it that she could back out, or pretend she didn't get it, in order not to give offense.

  Before she got to that idea, he shrugged.

  "I can make a template, and show you how to make a copy? You have the organization you need for that mentally, I can tell that much. It isn't hard. Or we could eat. When is the last time you had anything?"

  For a moment she couldn't remember, but she knew that she was still raw boned and thin looking, from her deprivations over the last months. Blinking, she looked away.