Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15)

by P. S. Power

  The girl looked away, but then nodded.

  "We can do that, if I can borrow some food units from Sara?" She glanced over, her face unreadable for a bit, almost as if she expected a negative answer.

  Like she could tell King Richard no? If the man wanted her to crawl around naked singing songs, she'd have done it without even blushing too much. She probably couldn't tell him no about anything. Her training ran too deep for that by far. It nearly pushed her into love of him, she realized. It wasn't even a subtle thing. Burks and her mother both had put that forward for so long that she pretty much didn't have a choice. She never really had.

  Kind of like the Tellerand with their silly religion and singular god. They were forced to act as they did, even if it was hard for someone like her to actually understand. They were different, but similar too, in a lot of ways. Even if they couldn't see that yet, for themselves.

  For a moment she felt a bit bad about what she'd been thinking about Roget. Yes, he hadn't approached her in the manner she expected, but did that make him actually evil? She didn't think so. Standoffish, and perhaps a Doretta, but by his own ways, the man was in the right, almost all the time.

  She grinned however, and reached out to touch the girl next to her. Just on the sleeve, but the heat from her body underneath flared slightly at the contact.

  "Of course! A nice stationary orbit over Noram? Say... One of the Counties that is being a bit of an issue? That could make a nice statement. We'll need some servers and cooks, ones that can put together a proper meal. The ship will make serving ware. Nothing as fine as what you have here, of course, but I think that might be forgivable, given the venue. Then we could take them a few places? To Harmony, to show an actual jump ship in action? I'll pilot for that part of it, unless..." She glanced at Gemma and tilted her head back and forth. "Well, if you don't mind us skipping out right now and taking Count Peterson and Princess Veronica with us? We can let Gemma make the trip back and forth twenty times or so, while they visit and set things up on that end? It's short notice, and things might still be in disarray there..." She pulled her communications device, then stopped, knowing that using it would be rude, at the table. No one glared at her though.

  Her stomach growled at her however. Loudly enough that everyone looked away suddenly, so they wouldn't have to acknowledge that part of things.

  "May I connect with Tiera? I don't want to disrupt this lovely meal, but..."

  The King smiled, but waved a gentle, and huge, hand at her.

  "I think that might be for the best. Even if we cannot arrange for such a visit today, it would be good to check in with her. I fear I haven't been in touch for days, knowing that she's been more than a little busy."

  It took a bit, about ten seconds, for the device to be set up to get in touch with her directly. It wasn't a private line or anything either, so Sara wondered how many random complaints the Queen of the Moon got each day?

  Still, she picked up almost instantly.

  "Tiera Baker. Go." It was nearly rude, but she smiled up at Sara when she saw who was actually there. The recognition came first, followed by an examination of her face, and then a nod.

  "Sara? I see that you've been busy." It wasn't a question. She meant the new Ancient part of things, no doubt. It showed, in some way or another? To this woman, at least.

  "I have. I can go to Earth though, too. Anyway, I'm planning a bit of a visit later. The King and his wife, Queen Constance, as well as some others, are planning to visit? After we have the evening meal, in orbit here, on the ship you provided Gemma. It's my idea, so if it's too stupid, just blame me and I'll take my lumps. It will let us all talk, which is good. Is that all right? I was thinking we'd drop Princess Veronica and Count Peterson off for you to chat with about it all first? In say... Ten or twenty minutes?"

  It was probably rude to drop people on her like that, but the girl could just say no. Actually, the woman smiled, even if she didn't know that anyone else was in the room.

  "We nearly have air back in the main city. The Southern section has been blocked off for now, but we can host a few people, say... A hundred?" That number got the King to furrow his brow, but he managed a counter offer, without bothering to introduce himself.

  "Could we do one-fifty, Queen Tiera? It might make for a more impressive visit, if we could allow the kitchen staff and servers a chance to see things as well."

  There was a pause, but then the Queen in her hand nodded, looking unsurprised by the sudden arrival of her Earthly counterpart to the situation.

  "That... Should be fine, really. We'll need some kind of big welcome for them all. Music and a parade, or something similar. Fanfare... Veronica, can you help me set that up on this end? I have a few things that I need to attend to here. We had a bit of an issue. Kristine tried to work the whore house, and while it was her choice, things got a bit out of hand."

  That got Sara to sigh, understanding the whole thing. Her brother. Managing to cause problems again. Hopefully it wasn't too big of a thing.

  "Is she alive?"

  "Oh, yes. She... Rather had a breakthrough I believe, and came to understand that some people might simply not enjoy certain things. It's not a bad happening, but I need to go and hold her hand for a while, since the decision was mine. It's my job to be there for this part too."

  Sara as well, most likely. She nodded, knowing that would have to come later in the day. Well, she wasn't really needed for the introduction of the Noram elite to space, was she?

  Except that she probably was going to be.

  "Right. Well, tell her that we all love her and are pulling for her speedy recovery."

  That didn't seem like enough, and worse, she knew that she didn't mean it. Inside she sort of hated Kurt. She had for a long time, even if she was supposed to love him. That he was being helped now didn't really make it better. Even if he learned to be a better person, and not abuse others... Even if he'd been sick all along and it hadn't been his fault, she just couldn't wrap her mind, her heart, around the idea of forgiveness. What else could she do though? Other than setting him up to die for his crimes?

  That was tempting, but not helpful, so she let the idea go, finally. That she'd secretly been holding to that one kind of shocked her, she realized. Did she really want him dead? For being ill? The answer was simply yes. She'd hidden that from herself for a long time, but it was so clear now.

  Blindingly so.

  There wasn't time for a big emotional breakthrough of her own at the moment, so she shut that down, and focused on the woman in her palm. The idea of holding a tiny Queen suddenly tickled her, so she smiled.

  "We'll be there soon. Send food, since we need to skip out on the meal here, unfortunately. Otherwise I can't be back in time to meet Ambassador Smithson and help him get ready. That's at six, so..." They had several hours still. More than enough time to run Gemma through her paces.

  "Good. I'll meet you at the main lock."

  Then the device cut off, almost rudely. Queen Constance cleared her throat at it too, noticing the same thing.

  "I think perhaps we're being inopportune?"

  Sara grinned and shook her head.

  "You'd think, but that's how almost everyone there gets off the line anymore. I blame the Austrans for it, to be truthful. They've been a bad influence on the rest of them. It has to be them, since until about a year or two ago, everyone from here was more polite about that sort of thing. Well, don't worry, it's Tiera. If we weren't wanted, she would have told us to call on them some other day. On the good side I built a device that should let them fill that air reserve they need, without using manpower for it. It needs a good test anyway." On a whim, she pulled it out, showing the small etched focus stone piece. "I mean, it works and has been tested, but only on a space station. I want to see what it will do on a planet. We might be able to use something similar on Mars." That would take a lot more than what she had with her, but still, it was an idea, wasn't it?

  That got her stared at by e
veryone in the room, including Gemma, who blurted out the obvious for the rest of them.

  "You're a wizard now, too?"

  She nodded, taking a bite of salad, it was really finely done, after all. About the best such thing she'd ever had in her life.

  "Timon taught me how to do it, and I have my first build, so yes? It's a bit hard, but nothing that we all couldn't learn to do. Most people. Karina and I were talking about that. Perhaps a program to push that a bit more for the young? I think that Burks-" She sighed and shook her head then, since most of the people in the room wouldn't know that the two of them had been friends. King Richard knew, of course, having been introduced to her by the man himself, but she didn't think that even the Queen knew her as anyone other than a friend of her son.

  He was dead now though, and she missed him. It was too much to keep in, suddenly.

  "We were close. Not lovers, but he was kind of like a father to me. Anyway, I think he'd made a point of keeping people from magic too much, for a long time. It's hard work, but no harder than learning higher mathematics, or running a business well. A skill, but no more than painting or sculpting a statue. True, I'm still at the finger painting stage myself, but it might be a thing to look into here, if you can? I can ask the others for real advice on it. Sam Builder and Tor? They'll know if I'm right or just talking of breezes." She covered her mouth, as the Queen did the same, laughing at her for saying something that crude at the table. Rightfully so. She wasn't certain what had gotten into her lately. Except the she knew. It was the changes that Tim had made. "Excuse my language, please. That was rude."

  There were a few murmurs saying of course, but everyone looked away from her, too. That was polite, what with them trying not to notice her acting like a dock worker.

  She blamed her time in the military for that though, it had given her a tendency to use coarse language like that. Normally she did better at hiding it in polite company however. She used to.

  Standing she sighed and shook her head, getting the attention of the room back. Gemma did the same, and so did the giant Count and his wife, who wasn't exactly short anymore.

  "We need to be going. I guess if I'm being rude, I should lead us in fleeing the table too? If that's not a hardship? I know that the staff will curse my name for it, and rightfully so, but..." She might as well take the blame, since it was really her fault.

  The King stood as well.

  "Thank you, Sara. When do you plan to return?" The man seemed relaxed, but also a bit excited. It looked nice on him, she realized. So often he just seemed blank. Hiding whatever was really going on inside.

  "Gemma will land at six, if that's enough time for the staff to get things ready? We'll have three food units set up, and a full kitchen, that they can change however they need. That should be a start at least. I'll be back with the Ambassador at eight, so that we can aid in setting things up if needed. I know that he'll want to help. He's..." She shrugged, and then shook her head a bit. "Different. Not bad though. It's clear that he's working to do his best to understand us and our people. Given where he comes from and what he's faced, that's saying something special, even if it might be hard to see at first. I'll remind him not to pray at anyone too much." She wasn't joking, but everyone smiled, even as most of the room started toward the door, led by the Princess.

  Sara bowed to the King, her eyes locking with his for a bit. He looked pleased, she thought, looking back at her. A girl that he'd known for almost half his life. Hopefully he felt proud of her? That might be too much to ask for, she knew, but he didn't seem upset to be losing a spy.

  Then, he had a lot of those. How many Ancients did he have in his pocket though?

  Four or five? It was more than she'd ever really considered before, honestly.

  He bowed back to her, and the Queen smiled at her as well, and gave a friendly little wave after they all stood.

  "We'll have everyone ready on our end. Thank you... Sara." She spoke the name as if she didn't have the right to use it yet, but honestly, if they were faking a stronger connection than what was really there, Karina and her, what else would her new... Girlfriend's mother call her?

  "And you... Mother?" She meant it to be funny, but the woman actually softened at the use of the word, as if it was welcome and not her just teasing a bit.

  Then she managed to get out of the Palace, being led at a sturdy walk by Veronica, who had nice long legs for that kind of thing, it turned out. She kept up easily though. They all did.

  It took grabbing some dirt from outside the city and reconfiguring the ship quickly, but they were in space not ten minutes later, with Squire Gemma at the controls. She looked a bit nervous, but with only a little coaching, she lined up the Moon for the jump and dropped her right hand under the floating metallic looking control hand piece. Karina had showed her how to make a jump, but this was the first time that she'd really gotten a chance to do it.

  So it took six tries, and three actual jumps through space to get close enough to the Moon to orbit. Then the girl had to be coached through landing and getting into the hangar. No matter what Sara had said, it was more like an hour later when they were able to offload the Princess and Count Peterson, dumping them on the waiting Queen.

  Gemma moved to get off too, seeming relieved.

  Sara laughed at her.

  "Silly goose! We need to get back into space. You and I have work to do. Oh... Wait though!"

  Running nearly full speed, which was a lot faster than she'd thought she could go, Sara tore down the ramp, and nearly threw the new amulet to Tiera. A gentle toss, but the girl snagged it from the air without hesitation.

  "It makes air, set it up outside, and run the flow into a hole, by thinking of a line. It holds up to vacuum, so it should work here. You can make copies?"

  "Got it. If it works right, I'll set Tenet and Taman on that. Some of the mages too, if they have time. I don't know who else is going to be free." She stopped, and looked at the thing for a bit, then nodded. "I get the pattern. Nice, Sara. See you later?"

  She nodded, but ran back, not bothering to speak. She hadn't expected hugs and cuddles or even pats on the back for making magic. Not from the Queen of Harmony. Tiera was too used to that kind of thing for it to really be special to her anymore, most likely. It didn't even matter, Sara understood. No matter who made something, the important part was all about if it worked or not. This would.

  She made Captain Gemma guide her own ship out, and then ran her through fifty back to back jumps, to Earth and back to the Moon, not orbiting, just turning the ship every time. By the end of it, the girl looked ready to collapse, but she didn't get to yet, needing to be solid for her evenings work. Then they went into orbit and practiced holding a stationary position for a while. It wasn't hard, but did take attention to detail.

  When she was satisfied that the girl wasn't going to kill the royal family at their evening repast, she let the girl land, outside the city, next to her ship. It was just past six, she knew, but only a few minutes. Roget was already back at the ship, but hadn't been able to go in, since she'd cleverly hidden all the doors. Instead the man knelt in the dirt, and seemed to be praying.

  She ran out, ready to apologize, since the man looked more than a bit upset. At first she thought it was her own tardiness that was doing it, but when she jogged over, he finished his prayer and stood. Then bowed to her.

  "I have dark news, I fear. A thing that... I can hardly credit it. It shames me, to even know of such a thing. Would it be proper for us to speak of this? Later, perhaps when there are others around to guard your virtue?" The man looked down, ashamed for some reason.

  She shook her head.

  "We can do it now, Ambassador. Remember we're in Noram. Plus, I'm almost certain that I don't have any of that, by your people's standards. No one here will think anything of us being alone together. In fact, we'll need to be, so I can help you change for the evening meal. We're doing that in space, then going to Harmony. Is... Come on, let's go inside an
d talk there. I'm almost willing to bet that no matter what happened today, I won't think of you as being shameful."

  She touched the side of her ship, the Pain Maiden, and let a nice tall door appear. It wasn't made huge, but that was fine really. At its current size they could land at the Palace in it. Unfortunately that meant she'd have to dump her reserve of working material, so she could tuck it away and take it with her for the evening. That was a bit of a pain, but not impossible to recover from. She could refill on Harmony, after all.

  Roget was subdued, and seemed almost shy. Ashamed of something. When they got inside, he actually reached out, touching her arm. It was as close to personal contact as the man had ever made an effort toward with her. So whatever it was probably wasn't sexual trauma. That was good. Him having been abused by some noble man would be hard to deal with. She'd probably have to make it right with an assassination, which would cause other problems. Especially if the attacker was highly placed. You didn't just kill Counts for instance.

  Paying attention she noticed that the man was walking all right, so he hadn't been used too harshly that way. It left a mark on the stance and movement of a person, when things like that happened

  He spoke, his voice stilted.

  "I... In this vast city, I was taken to meet with several that believe in the One God. The All High. It... They told me that they, with some from my own land, and the land of Austra, far away, have been working to kill the unbelievers that work with the devil. Your friend, Timon, the secret leader of Austra, and seek also to destroy Sam, the Builder. They blame them for the changes to this world, and seek to make things correct with the All High, by removing them. That is abomination! He does not seek death! He wishes us all to fight for life. They dishonor Him, acting in such a fashion, but I managed to hold my words to pleasantness, and not give my intention to stop them in too clear a manner. They wish me to throw in with their evil cause, but I cannot. I would but spit in His eye, were I to do such a thing!"