by P. S. Power
"Count Baker! So nice to hear from you. What do you need?" She tried to think of what she might have left undone, being a bit more serious suddenly, but nothing came to mind. He might be trying to put his nephew in as heir, but she doubted that. The kid was both lazy and smart. He could sit back and just live off his uncle for a while. Probably Terry too, if he played his cards right.
"Well." There was a pause that lasted a good half minute, and just as she was about to speak, he went on. "We didn't establish what you wanted done with your personal gold and all those magical amulets. You hold... three hundred and fifteen businesses here. Those didn't transfer when you abdicated. There were also those funds that you borrowed from the Wizard Tor? I imagine that with his sister no longer in power, he'll be wanting that back?"
She blinked.
"Okay, so I had forgotten a few things. Right. Well, I get to keep the businesses, naturally. Those are mainly about helping the County recover from things, but I don't want to jiggle the set up we have right now. The devices are for the County to use however. The same with those golds that Tor sent. They weren't given to me, but to the people there. It was a gift, too, not a loan. That won't ever be an issue for him. Don't let that get around though, since we don't want everyone to try and take advantage of him. So, how are things going so far? Settling in all right?"
The man drew a very deep breath, which shuddered as it went in a little, but then managed to sound a lot stronger, "I don't have to give it all back? Thank goodness. That would have been hard right now. Believe it or not, that was my largest worry for the time being. We're still having a problem with Baron Stergis and Baroness Finely. That matter over the pregnant daughter? The letters you sent did nothing. It looks like I'll have to make a visit in person before they start fighting over this. You know this whole thing would have been avoided if they'd just used birth control? It isn't like that's hard to get, or too expensive." He didn't growl, but it was clear he wasn't used to suffering fools that had their own armies either.
"I wish I had some brilliant advice as to how to fix this. My great plan was to ask you how to handle it, so, you understand, get on that?" It was flip, being that the man was the Count now, but he took it well, chuckling a bit.
"I'll see what I can do. I... Are you certain this is what you wish? I'll sign the papers to undo it, if you want. Just let me know."
"Which is one reason why I picked you. Not that I'm taking it back, but because you'll hold to right, even if it's hard for you. Not everyone always manages that. So, just know that I have the highest confidence in you, Count Baker. If I didn't, someone else would be called that right now. I can't give you a better recommendation than that."
Then, doing a much better job of it than she ever would have managed, the man spent a flowery five minutes saying goodbye.
Turning to Karen, with her mouth just starting to open, a knock came at the door. She had to hop up, and was a bit surprised to find Count Lairdgren standing there, looking attentive, rather than bored.
"Tiera, Karen." He let himself in and shut the door, then pushed a small canvas sack on her. "Can you take this to Harmony for me? They're units that purify and balance air. You'll have to fill the large spaces with it first, but this will keep things in balance after that." Then he stopped, since it was clear he was done. Most people would have said more though. Like why they were doing it, or how the things worked.
Tiera didn't know what to do for a moment, so she covered, giving him a little hug. Not one that would have anyone thinking she slept with relatives though, she hoped. Karen did the same, but spent more time on it, which got a smile to come out for all of them, as if it was funny.
Still, no one spoke, so Tiera decided that was her part in this.
"I'll make sure it gets done. Are we allowed to make copies of these if we need to? I don't know how large things are going to get, but if it's a new Kingdom up there, we'll need them."
After half a second the man tilted his head at her, and she really expected him to tell her that it was too complex for her or any of the others to do, but instead he spoke about other things. It was an answer, after a fashion.
"You'll need to have nearly one hundred percent coverage as for artificial gravity as well. It just occurred to me when you said that. Well, the ships have it, so you can make a copy of that on the way there, by separating the field out and making improvements. Then get the others to help with copies. Or have Sam do the work. That's up to you. Some water purification, holding and pumping will be needed, too. I believe that the workers there so far have been building for several hours a day, then living on the ship that took them there. From the sounds of things, your current plans are a bit further reaching than that? I have to say, I enjoy the sound of it. If you have a good restaurant and some shops, I might even take a tour there myself in a few months. Perhaps Bonita, and a few others could go as well?"
Tiera got the idea, but had another one at the same time. She snapped her fingers.
"Brilliant, we need an inn too. Plus houses. I also want to put in a giant forest garden and some things like that. We'll have to see though. I don't want to promise anything, just to find that all the High Servants have run off and are hiding when we get there."
Her roommate looked embarrassed about that part of things, but Burks stepped in and patted her large shoulder, reaching up a bit to get it done.
"Don't worry too much. Reports say that several of them are actually doing rather heroic work there. Even in this situation there are things, and people, to be proud of."
She nodded, but was red in the face. After a bit more patting, the Count turned to leave.
"Oh, Tiera, I hate to bother you with this, but would it be possible for you to room with Maris on the way there? A few of the others have been worried that she might be stressed, if people weren't looking out for her." The words had a strange tone to them, and she couldn't read it at all.
Finally, after ten seconds of trying to work it all out, she just asked, rude or not.
"I know you're trying to tell me something, but I'm missing it. Is she a danger? Or in danger? Has someone been abusing her already? Ali? Sheri? I..."
The man laughed, but it sounded tired, if heartfelt.
"No, no, nothing like that. It's simply that she's focused on you as her master at the moment, and that's a positive thing, over all. The longer she stays with you, in close quarters, the less likely it is that someone else will come and simply be able to order her away. I would have thought that young Sheri would be the one, given how much time they've spent together, but Remy believes that Maris views her as your slave as well, so it still comes back to you."
"Slavery is wrong." She crossed her arms, which got a simple eyebrow raised in return.
"True. She also doesn't get a choice in the matter. The best we can do for her is put her with a person that won't take too much advantage of her. One that will see to her well being and not let others harm her for sport. As for Sheri, well, have you considered that you might have a connection there that should be explored? I'm not normally up on these things, but if I can see it, coming only occasionally into contact with you both, then perhaps it's worth looking into?"
Then, turning on his heel rather artfully, he left, closing the door behind him.
Almost as if people were just taking turns annoying her, Gerent called.
Thankfully, that was just to chat, which was actually nice. It wasn't until halfway through that they even mentioned the trip they were taking.
That part was interesting, since if she'd heard it before, she didn't know about it.
He sounded shy, when it came up.
"Oh, yeah. Um, Collette and I are moving there, so I'm going up to make sure it's all right?"
"Oh? That's good then. I was thinking about that someday myself. Hey, you can help me set up the gardens and forests there? They'll need to be inside, but we can make lights for it, I think." They chatted about that as if it were perfectly normal then. Making plans
for projects in space and on the Moon itself? What else would anyone be doing, correct?
She nearly made herself laugh, and he did, when she told him about what she was thinking.
That lasted until she had to run to meditation, which, Doris assured her, would be the last one for the week, since they were all leaving in the morning.
"That will be interesting, for my students. Will we be meeting in the commons here?"
Tiera winked, which was faked up, since she was so deep everything she did was.
"That's right. Just after breakfast? We need to be to the Space Training center here by noon, but I gather the rule is for everyone to get places early and wait, rather than anyone waiting on us."
"Wise. We'll be there." Then she went back to meditating, not bothering to move at all.
Tiera hardly slept that night. It wasn't nerves, exactly, as much as the constant stream of people contacting her for last minute advice. As if she knew what they needed? Except, well, she did, after a fashion. Clothing amulets, the new style Timon shields, grooming supplies, and of course, clean sand. She wasn't bringing any, but Prince Alphonse had made arrangements for about eight tons of the stuff to be taken with them.
Originally that had been four, but she'd had him double it. She might have to eat reprocessed waste, eventually, and it really would be fine when it happened, but she didn't want to do it sooner than was needed, did she?
That was wimpy of her, but she decided to embrace the idea. After all, it wasn't expensive to bring it with them. That had been a problem when she'd travel with Cynthia Blue and her children there. Everything was weighed and judged to the gram. If it couldn't do ten things and be as light as a feather, it didn't go. Thanks to the Tor ships though, they could take nearly as much weight as the things would hold, and it wasn't a problem. Heat buildup was, but not mass. So extra sand was no big deal.
Really, they could use the human waste with her new build. She'd tested it, but hadn't shown anyone yet, since she wanted something to play with on the trip.
That didn't make food, so, stinking, rotting bits and feces would work just fine for it. She didn't care if her table cloth was made of that stuff, as long as lunch wasn't. That probably meant she was a picky eater, she guessed.
The morning came early, and she went for a run and a last work out, since she didn't know what would be possible for the weeks after that. True, she wouldn't instantly get weak or anything, but it was best to stay ready, when she had the chance. That meant she had to eat in her room, having just a bit of dried fruit, since she didn't want to set up a food device. That would take hauling in some dirt and then taking it out again... Besides, she needed to do something with the bit of food since leaving even dried things behind could lead to mice or other vermin getting into the room.
So it was, at about nine in the morning, that she moved outside and set up her Fast Craft, making it large enough that she could seat everyone for the five mile trip. Remy had managed to convince Dean Hardgrove that, as an Instructor, he should get a room himself. It probably didn't take much wheedling, since it really did go with the job. Sure, the being hadn't been hired at any point, but he'd been doing the job pretty well, while not being paid. Even the new people liked him well enough. He was a bit hard, true, but that was mainly in insisting on accuracy and best speed, at least from the beginners. Other than her. She took a real drubbing every day or so, with Kolb and Karen being given about the same.
The craft was a plain gray that day, and looked a bit like a small version of a space craft, since she wasn't feeling all that much like decorating at the moment. She'd taken time to wash up really well, so she wouldn't be a problem that way, but other than waiting she didn't know what the next few days would bring at all.
People started to show up about ten minutes after she set up, leaving the side door open. A girl she didn't really know, except in passing from the fighters section, popped her head in and smiled, looking a little tentative. Her short brown hair gave her away though, along with the clothing bag she was carrying. It seemed to be a real one.
"Hello! Is this the conveyance to the training base?"
"Yep. Go ahead and get a seat in the back. It's how we'll load and unload for this mission. Keep your bag near you and make sure everyone else does please? Once we get there, I don't know how long we'll have to unload, so we need to be ready to do it fast."
"Got it. You can count on me." She seemed pretty happy about that, and called out what people were supposed to do when the next people came too. The first few were fighters, but the meditation students came in too, listened to the instructions, and even though it meant sitting next to unfamiliar people, they did it, holding themselves calm the whole time. More or less. These were the top five students from that section, but their ages varied a lot, from a girl that was a true woman, who had graduated from the school, but still attended lessons, to a boy that was no older than Tiera was.
It made a big difference in how they all seemed. There was simply a stillness to them that regular people didn't have most of the time.
Doris and Kolb weren't the last ones in at all, but did account for their own people. That left Tiera counting for the rest. Sheri and Ali were the last ones in, but had six large cases with them. Their own gear too, so Tiera pointed at that, only to have Maris explain.
"Oh, we're bringing rocks. To eat?" Because that sounded right, didn't it?
"It never hurts to have extra." Tiera didn't let herself smile, looking at them all, just standing with her hands behind her back and feet spread, ship fashion.
Then she spoke so that everyone would hear her.
"For the first part of this trip, while we're on the ship, everyone is required to wear student browns. This is so that the crew can recognize us instantly. That will change at the colony, no doubt, but from this point until then, it's the standard wear." She was making that up, but it made sense to her. More, everyone knew what that was here and could make their clothing amulets look that way. Everyone did it, before she could even go on, including Maris, Kolb and Doris. She nodded once.
Then she continued.
"When we get into place, there may or may not be someone needing to leave or land that we can't see. We need to set down and move to the side as fast as possible. The people in the front will get off first, and so on. If someone is slow with their bags or needs help, then use your best teamwork for it. When we get to the base, I'd like everyone to make a point of memorizing the names and faces of everyone on the trip with us. On the ship, expect to be assigned tasks. That will be at the discretion of the Captain. We'll leave from here in one minute, stand ready to disembark."
She was proud of that last word. She thought it was the last one at any rate. Dashing to the door she got it shut and then ran to the controls. She took off before her behind was even totally in the seat and looked around carefully as she flew into place. There was an empty spot, surrounded by a glowing river and a wall. The river was striped, deep green and orange. It looked horrible, but was easy to see, even during the day.
She started toward the spot.
"Ready to move!"
Then, as soon as she got into place, she started yelling.
"Go, go! We have one minute, make sure to clear the landing area!" It took longer than that, but everyone ran off, carrying their bags, or in a few cases letting those follow along, a hand on them for extra control. Otherwise they could be a little sloppy about where they went. She was, technically, the last person off, but did it at a run too, turning the whole craft off as she ran to join everyone else, who were standing in lines off to the left.
They didn't look military really, but it was efficient enough.
Her family was there, and came out of one of the nice and very large buildings, all of them walking quickly, though it was Terry and Tenet in the lead, along with her older brother, Taller. Except, of course, that wasn't right at all. When they got a bit closer, she noticed who it was and had to grin. It was Douglas, her father. He
wasn't much taller at all, but he looked both younger and a good bit cuter than he used to. Apparently he'd worked out Karen's healing amulet trick too.
Sam still hadn't, though he'd used it enough that each training day left him a bit better looking too. He just didn't bother to hold it for hours on end. No one normal would, would they? The boy might have been average looking, but he wasn't vain at all, it seemed. Of course she hadn't really ever thought of her father in that way before either. It hit her that he might just have looked like that, when he was younger. That seemed about right, actually.
"Tiera! We were told that we had about an hour before the transport got in. Are we all wearing matching outfits?" He looked around, seeming slightly bemused by it all. He was wearing a nice green and brown outfit himself, that made it look like he was a decently high level noble. Short or not, a lot of the girls and a few boys were staring at him. Then they stared at her mother when she walked up too, just a bit behind, being too proper to run like that.
"There you all are! Hello everyone!" She seemed nearly friendly even, which she often was, as long as her male children weren't about. Like Tiera's father, she looked to be about nineteen or so. Older than Tiera did, but far younger than her forty odd years. In a lot of ways she was the best looking woman there. Though Karen was very close.
Really, that was probably down to the fact that Karen had a fighter's haircut, which wasn't flattering at all. If both women had long hair, it might have very well swung in the other direction as to who was better looking.
That meant a lot of the boys stared for a while. Little did they know that old Doris, the meditation instructor could have had them all begging for attention if she wanted. Luckily she didn't. It would have made moving quickly too hard to manage.
"That's right. Everyone should be in student brown for the trip out and probably back. That way the crew of the ship can recognize us all at a glance. We might have jobs too. I don't know what those are yet, but first come first serve, so get in line as early as you can without pushing, when they're handed out. Try to match this." She looked at Tess and Tara, because Terry and Tenant already had it done. The little girls didn't take long to do it either, and Taman had already finished too. Douglas actually took the longest, as his version kept coming out a bit lopsided, being a slightly lighter brown on the left than the right at first.