by P. S. Power
Her mother nailed it, but hugged Douglas as if what he was doing was cute rather than him being awkward with it. Tiera got the idea with a blink. She was letting everyone else know they were together. In case they missed that part or something, having all those children?
She clapped a bit and winked at Tenet, who was cute, but pretty young. He however, just bowed back a little.
"What are we supposed to do now?" There was a sweetness to the words, but she had a plan for killing this first bit of time, didn't she?
"Memorize the names of everyone else going with us. You kids will be responsible for making sure they don't get into too much trouble. Once we have a schedule it will be up to you to make certain everyone is in the right place at the right time. Remember, these are mainly noble adults, so they might not sleep in their own rooms. You have to know who everyone is, regardless, in case we're needed for something. Let's go and introduce ourselves? Sir Kolbrin, Instructor Doris, would you help us with that?"
First up was Sheri, who bowed to each of them. She looked at Lauralie and Douglas professionally. Then the kids. "I'm supposed to help watch them, for the trip? We've met before. I'm Sherilyn Bonner, Baronetta second. Nice to see you all again."
Then they went from there.
It took a while, but they pretty much had things in hand by the time that an efficient and familiar looking woman walked over, wearing a black outfit with orange trim on the sleeves and collar. Henna. From the docks in Austra.
Several people waved to her.
"Good day everyone!" She waved her clipboard a little bit in welcome and seemed cheery enough. "We've had word that the rest of your party is due in shortly. After that, in about forty minutes, the Sea Spray will land and take you all to the Winters Kiss. You'll have a full day's wait, in orbit, while we load needed crew and materials. While on the ship itself, you'll be under Spacefarer law, which isn't that different than the law here, except that the Captain is the final arbitrator of it. So, basically, avoid killing anyone on the vessel, that sort of thing. Any questions?"
Taman raised her hand, getting Henna to point,
"Yes, Miss?"
"May I use the restroom?"
Then everyone chuckled a bit, but Tiera noticed, more than a few of them did the same thing over the next few minutes.
She did, too.
Chapter nine
Trice flew in with the people that had been in the Capital, and Tiera expected the problems to start then, since two of them were the Prince and Princess. Still, when she started barking orders at them to hurry and move the craft off the landing area and then get into student browns for the mission, they all did it instantly. Except Kurt. Oh, he hurried well enough, but didn't have a clothing amulet. The four Royal Guards all did however, and none of them even blinked about the idea of wearing what little kids did.
That meant Kurt stuck out, but Farlo Ross jogged over and handed him an amulet, so he could change. Which he did standing out in the open, with Tess staring at him the whole time, her eyes going much lower than was polite, and lingering there. No one else noticed, but Tiera moved in front of the young man.
"Student browns. It will turn on when the amulet does." She stopped and looked at her father. It really was the preset for that kind of thing, which meant that his difficulty with it was fake? Why? She didn't understand it at all. It also wasn't a real problem at the moment. She didn't move until Kurt tapped the clothing into existence and wiped at his slightly too long blond hair. His lean face looked at her pleasantly, and then took in Farlo.
"Hello! I'm Kurt Debri. Are you going on the trip with us?" Then as if it were perfectly normal, he walked off with her, carrying his leather travel case easily.
Sara cleared her throat and watched him with only a bit of unease.
"Thanks for having us Tiera. I promise he won't be a problem. He gave his word."
Sara got a hug and then so did the others. That looked a bit funny when she got to the muscular man she'd never noticed before, but he did it back without acting out of place, as if they were old friends.
Some of the others looked at them though, standing back in their lines.
Tiera didn't glare at them, but did indicate everyone else with her head.
"Expect to work on this trip." She ran through it all and then glanced at George. "Your people already have a job, which isn't me being nice, just making sure we all have something to do. Prince Wonderful and Karina both get to have jobs though. Possibly in waste management. Kurt too." She grinned at Sara, who covered a laugh, clearly understanding that she was playing, no matter how serious her face was. It got her to break into a smile.
"See there now, you ruined it. Actually, I'd like Alphonse and Karina on patrol duty, along with my brothers and sisters. Keeping people out of trouble and on task. Making sure they use birth control and all that, if it comes up. If we have any problems, you two can take turns beating people?" It was a plan and worked well enough for her.
The funny thing was, no one questioned her right to make this stuff up at all. Not even the Prince. He just went along with it as if it were already decided.
"Right now we've been learning everyone's names and faces. We should all spend the next bit of time doing that. Prince Alphonse, if you'd get with your team on that?" It was cute, but he bowed in a military fashion and took his bags to go stand by Sheri and the kids. The older woman that Tiera thought was named Wensa, smiled a bit.
Then she gestured at the giant young man.
"Excellent. Most people try to coddle him, but he isn't half as soft or lazy as one might imagine. Princess Karina, either."
That got Tiera a look from the Royal Guard, so she shrugged back.
"She's with me for this. Our job will be to get the people to load and unload as efficiently as possible. Let's make plans for that now, and then go over it with everyone, before the transport gets here?"
That meant, that when the Sea Spray set down, fifteen minutes later, the pilot reconfiguring for them all before opening the door, they were ready. It was almost impressive. The instant the woman piloting came out and saw them, she blinked. It was someone familiar though, being Wendy, who had been recommended to the job by her, if Tiera remembered correctly.
"Hello. Would you all like to start boarding?"
Karina took that as a sign, and yelled a single word. "Go!"
Then for a little over two minutes, they all followed the plan. It was almost like they were getting ready to fly out to battle, instead of to... Threaten a bunch of errant and lazy High Servants. Right. There was that. Well, if they could keep it up, maybe some of their discipline would rub off?
Wendy followed them in at a run, and then closed the hatch, as if ready for an attack to come.
"That was good! Here I figured we'd be chasing our own shadows as night fell out here, waiting for the last of us to board!" Leaning in she whispered to Tiera, who she knew, and smiled nicely at Karina.
"Wasn't that Rolph Merchant back there? I used to have such a crush on him a few years ago, but he left school before I worked up the nerve to ask if he wanted to go on a date." Then she froze. "Um, I mean hello, Countess Baker. I wasn't trying to be rude."
That got a wave, "I gave that up. It's just Tiera now. This person next to me is Princess Karina, if you really want to bow and scrape. Rolph... He's really Prince Alphonse. He's very nice though, so you should ask him out sometime. Not now, of course, unless it will take that long to get to the Winters Kiss?"
A strange set of reactions worked on the pilot's face, but she settled on professional.
"About half an hour. I'll call it in now. We should time you getting off. This is the largest group of civilians we've ever had going up. The competition time to beat currently is two minutes-forty seconds. Held by the crew of the Holst. It was only about this many though, so we can take them, I think. It's worth trying if nothing else." Then she stopped and bowed to Karina. "Princess."
That made sense. If Tiera had been lying, then
it was her fault. Protocol said that when in doubt, promote upward. Even if that meant calling some Knight's youngest daughter a princess. Of course, in Noram that would also be punishable by death, so very few tried it. Karina just did a seated half bow back. Even if it was a little ship, Wendy was the Captain here. Soon they'd be out of Noram too. At that point being a noble meant about as much as being a cook or baker did. In fact, having a useful skill would mean a whole lot more than a title did, unless that was Captain or First Mate.
She was willing to bet on that at least.
It wasn't like there was a book on it yet. Maybe, if she ever had the time, she'd write one?
Wendy had them rising a few minutes later, with extreme speed, and into a matching orbit with the Winters Kiss about ten minutes after that. It still took twenty for the approach, but that couldn't be helped. They had rules to follow and they did, every single time. It was why there had never been a serious docking accident. That, or the fact that the ships were all really sturdy and no one noticed that kind of thing. Karina started speaking, from her seat, before they set down.
"Just like before, except that the people in front get off first. We're being timed. The record for a group this size is two minutes even. I think we can beat that, if we all work together. The Captain will tell us when to go, everyone get ready..."
Tiera grinned at the lie, and got set, her floating case in her hand, by her shoulder. It was right in Karina's face, but she didn't whine about it. Wendy came bustling back with a watch in her hand, pushed the door open and yelled for them to go, jumping back just in time not to be hit by Tiera.
She kept going out of the door, to see a decently tall man wearing a nice suit that was clearly fake, with a black jacket a funny white and black hat, and black shiny shoes. The trousers were white, but had an orange stripe down the side. He looked confused really, and had a clipboard too, since a lot of people in and around space liked them it seemed. He waved to her though and pointed to a large box on the floor made of blue lines. It glowed slightly, so that it would look special, she guessed.
She went to where he pointed, and Karina filled in next to her. It went on like that, with people literally running off. Except for Tess who used her Tor Shoes for it, and was dragging Tara with her. Taman, Terry and Tenet all flew over, literally. It kept the slow people out of the way at least.
The poor meditation students were half carried out, though Doris managed well enough on her own. Wendy slipped through the door, and hit something at the top of her time piece.
"Done!" Then she looked at the clock, and without saying anything, walked over to the nicely dressed man that was standing there. "Captain, your verification?"
He looked at the thing and then... started laughing. After a bit he schooled his face, which looked to be about forty or so. Austran she thought, until he spoke. It was in pure merchant accented Noram.
"That... Is not too bad. A minute fifty-nine. What's the old record?"
Wendy gave a thoughtful nod, and glanced at Karina. "Not to call anyone a liar, but two minutes and forty seconds even. This sets the bar a bit, doesn't it?"
The man stood with his hands behind his back, and walked down the line a little, his clipboard behind him.
"My name is Alan Sorvee. Captain of the Winters Kiss. We have one more day in high orbit, and then will take a six day journey to the lunar colony of Harmony. I ask that everyone please wear a space worthy shield at all times while on board. We'll be distributing them at the door. Please take one if you don't have one already. We might not have enough here..." He seemed troubled by the realization. "A show of hands please, who needs a new style space shield?"
That got Kurt. Captain Sorvee grinned at that and bowed, then motioned at a short common looking man to come over with one that was given to the boy immediately.
"Well, I see you came prepared. Most excellent. We don't have a lot of entertainment yet, but some of the crew have offered to put on a show for us, mid trip. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask myself or any of the crew. Do remember to keep those shields on at all times, since we may have an air evacuation drill at random. I wasn't going to do that, but after that impressive display exiting the Sea Spray, I think you can handle it. Now, we have plenty of space, but you'll have to share rooms, which are spaced throughout the ship. Four to a room. Please sleep in your assigned alcove."
Tenet had his hand up, like kids did in school in Noram, and the Captain blinked at him a little. Then gave a polite bow.
"Yes, sir?"
"Is that so our body heat will go into the reclamation bank correctly?"
The man blinked a bit more, then walked toward the boy, smiling hugely. "Exactly that. We have four banks, one for each quarter of the ship. There is play in the system, but knowing where people will be even a third of the time helps tremendously. We also ask people to eat in their assigned dining facility. We have four of them." He stopped and looked at Tenet, but the boy didn't say anything, so he looked around a bit more. No one said anything so he went on. "We have some of the new Processing Units. Food making machines. Since you're all from home, I don't have to explain magic to you, but the heat balance is important in their use. Worth it though. These things will make anything you can think of, and a lot you can't. We have technicians standing by to help you at need, in the use of the units. If there is need to exit the ship at any time, we have two vessels on board that are space worthy and can take us either to our destination, or back to Earth. Your personal shields will allow you to go out into space for prolonged periods of time. Have any of you ever done that?"
A few hands actually went up. The Captain looked shocked.
"I... Really? I didn't know that so many... youthful people had been in space already."
Kolb spoke easily, from the second of the four lines back, near the middle.
"The space drop on Callwood. We have about half that team here."
Captain Sorvee chuckled a bit nervously, and then bowed to them all. "Honored. Well, please stay in the ship on this trip, until we get to our destination at least. Very good. We have people in the hallway waiting to lead you to your assigned rooms. Have a pleasant trip."
They all started to move in a messy fashion which wasn't going to work very well. Tiera was already being bossy, so she waved at them all and called out.
"Stop! Let's have the first group go out, then do it one at a time. It will be prettier if nothing else." She looked at the Captain and bowed. "If we have your permission, sir?"
He didn't give that specifically, just calling out loudly.
"Group one guide, come in and get your charges!" That lead to names being called out, but hers wasn't one of them.
It took a bit, so Douglas, looking like her old, very normal da again, thankfully, walked over, smiled a bit.
"Hello, Alan." He stood directly in front of the man, looking happy, so was caught totally unaware when a fist caught him right below the right eye. Only the one though, and the fist stopped in the air, since her father had a shield on.
That didn't save him from a dressing down though.
"You lousy piece of... Doug, where the fucking hell have you been?"
Tiera looked at him, and then the kids.
"Hey, language."
The man glared, but then looked at the children too. "Sorry. Anyway, what the heck Doug? One day you were on your route, then the next you were missing, and not only weren't we to search, no one was allowed to speak of it! We all knew what that meant, but it's been twenty years. More than that! Couldn't you have sent a note?" The anger in the man's eyes faded, but not totally.
Douglas just stood there. For a long time he didn't speak at all. "Duty, Alan. I can't say more. This is my family. Lauralie, my wife." He gestured at her and she walked up, looking all of nineteen still. She did that, after all. It was her normal pattern.
Then he gestured to the others, starting with Taman and working up. Using their titles.
"Terry here is Countier First
Baker, of course. This one here, looming over us, is Tiera. She's the one that took Morris, and gave the legacy to her brothers and sisters. Count Morris caused the death of a friend of hers." He stopped there, as if it were meaningful. It didn't say enough at all, but for some reason the Captain hugged her.
Hard.
"I understand. Well, I'm glad to meet you all. Doug, we need to talk, in private. Right now however, family reunion or not, I need to get back to work. Besides, the second group is about to be called."
Her family was in that group, but she wasn't being in the last one. There were twenty six others in it, but that wasn't a problem. They were given four rooms, which as promised had sleeping alcoves, which were low ceilings and close walled things to trap their body heat. All in white at least, rather than orange. The beds were slim, and meant for one person at a time, but just as soft and pliable as a person could want, being made of magic anyway. Why wouldn't they be?
It had been a little bit rude of her, but earlier she'd neglected to chat with Smythe of Westend, the Military Counselor. He was pretty old, but still looked like he got enough exercise really. His hair was thinning on top and he was shorter than she was, but otherwise healthy.
He also had the alcove right next to her own, which got her to blink. Across the way, the Prince was setting his space up too. Maris was on the other side of him, and Sheri one over from that. Looking down the way, Tiera saw that Karina was their sixth. It was kind of an interesting arrangement. They had more people than most of the rooms, for instance. They could have had all girls in the one space, or all Ancients...
That got her to check, and she nearly passed out. It was that last one then. Even Smythe was immortal. That was a shock. Timon had done it, clearly, but why? By her count it was still about good as to his promise of no more than twenty, but it seemed strange. William Smythe had tried to kill Tor once, by his own admission.