by P. S. Power
There was a silence from the device, then a soft laugh.
"All right, as long as it's a beast, I guess I can't say no, can I? Alison and I will be there, say, this time tomorrow?"
"Sounds good, sis. See you then! Be ready to do some hard shopping."
"I will. It's so nice to hear from you all. I can't wait." She sounded sincere, but off. Only a little though. Like she was fighting tears.
Then the device was turned off firmly and the Prince looked at Trice and shook his giant head.
"So you got that? She's ready to leave in two hours, and will meet us outside the North wall of the Capital? We'll need to go in a much smaller vehicle, to throw off any watchers."
Tiera pretended to be relaxed about it, and pulled out a single moon shaped disk and waved it at Sara, who'd just been standing there quietly.
"It looks like you're up then, Miss Debri. I brought this one for you. In case this happened. I'll take it down to the planet this time and teach you to fly it. Kolb, can you hold the ship here? Ali?"
She was the only person that had ever flown the new craft, so she sort of needed to go, if they had only two hours to get it all done. But she wanted to make sure someone stayed with the thing, to prevent theft. Not that a lot of people could even give that a good try, but the ones that might were the last people that she wanted to have a crack at it. A jump ship, as Kolb had put it, was a big deal. They could be to the new colony and have it half destroyed in minutes, if they wanted, in a ship like hers.
"We can do that." This came from Ali, who looked scared and determined at the same time, as if they might just have to fight off an invasion, by themselves.
The hangar was at the back, which meant walking for a while, the Earth normal gravity leaving her feeling good by the time they got to it, about fifteen minutes later. The ship was big, and they weren't exactly running or anything. The space itself was large enough and she helped Sara put the thing up, starting from the clear bubble and ending up with a light tan thing that looked like a Timon craft. One not made huge or anything either. It was a bit boring, but that was the point. When they set down, no one should think anything in particular of it.
Unless they were being watched from space, which they almost certainly would be. Even crippled, it wouldn't do to forget that the Others had the ability to do things like that, and probably rebuild when things were taken out of action.
Sara was actually a capable enough pilot, having had some experience with Fast Craft, though she claimed she hadn't for some reason. It showed in how well she made things work though, coming in from orbit on her own, after Tiera got them out through the back, with Ali making the wall vanish and reappear as soon as they were out.
Then, after that, it was all the other woman, who took them down over the ocean in the east and then flew at no more than a few thousand miles an hour to their destination, getting slower the closer they got. She kept looking at her watch the whole time.
"We have ten minutes until we're supposed to be there. Should I go in now, or hold here?"
Tiera looked out and realized that the land to her right, out the front window, was part of her old County. Not too far from where it bordered the Wildlands really. That was right by the Capital, if fifty miles away could be counted as close. She did, given their conveyance.
Alphonse held out his giant hand, his tan skin smoother than it used to be, with less freckles. He looked better for it, she thought. Less spotty.
His voice was a bit dark though. Like he worried about a real attack coming at any moment.
"Wait five, then take her in slowly. I want to land about fifteen seconds early, if possible."
That sounded like pretty tight timing to her, but Sara managed it, which was impressive. Sure, the girl was a hard worker, which Tiera knew from the last several days manufacturing water, but this spoke of something special. Real skill and training.
They opened the side door, and from out of nowhere a hooded woman in all tan, with a cloak on, carrying a small child who was dressed in tiny magical trousers and a tunic, with little shoes on her feet, jumped on board. Alphonse slammed the door with a mighty tug, and then made it part of the craft.
"Go! Back to the ship! Best speed!"
They moved straight up and didn't stop, just starting to glide forward when they got high enough. It was pretty quick, but no matter what the Prince had said, it wasn't really their best speed. Sara hadn't slammed the controls to the front or anything.
Trice stood and hugged the new girl, who looked different than Varley, and when she reached out with her mind, Tiera understood why. While the baby was clearly an Ancient by pattern, the woman wasn't the Princess in disguise, but a different person all together. She had plain brown hair, and looked to be about twenty-five or so, and was about six feet tall, more or less.
Trice got her a seat.
"Eloise! Thank goodness you made it. We're going up now, to Tiera's ship, the..." She stopped, and looked toward the front, since she'd taken the seat next to Sara, in case there was any trouble docking. "Say, what's the name of your ship anyway?"
She hadn't really thought about it at all. Something occurred to her though, so she said it, sounding just a little subdued.
"Goddess of the Moon." That got everyone to look at her, since it was a bit pretentious. Or a lot, really. Still, it was too late now, it had already been named. It was bad luck to take things like that back.
Trice nodded. "I like it. It fits. Goddess of the Moon."
Tiera helped set up and coordinate the ship's approach, and didn't mention that the baby had come without her mother. It was pretty clear that everyone knew that already. Eloise didn't speak, and seemed very frightened for some reason. She was clearly a noble though, and was expected, so it wasn't that she needed to worry about being harmed or abused.
The next half hour they went just as slow and carefully as Space Fleet did, since a real docking was a lot different when the whole thing was up to you. It was all about the angles, as it turned out. By going slow enough, they had a chance to back off when Sara messed up, and try again. Three times.
Tiera smiled when the slightly moist girl next to her finally got the craft in, and the air was being returned to the space around the ship they were in.
"I'd make fun of you for taking so many tries, except that I'm almost certain I would have needed twice as many. The first thing we need to do is get Eloise and Alison shields. I only have one extra on me." She handed it back, and Trice pulled a second one herself.
Alphonse waved at them.
"These are the new shields, that will let you breathe in space. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, that won't happen and you'll die. Make sure my niece keeps hers on all the time, even in the bath. Understood? You need to do the same from now on." He looked at the woman and seemed a bit nervous suddenly. "Do you have word from anyone?"
She did it seemed, but it was also clear she wasn't going to say what that was, in front of all of them. The Prince nodded and let that idea drop then, seeming a bit out of sorts.
It wasn't until Eloise was introduced to Kolb that anyone asked the question that had been eating at her.
"Oh? Isn't your sister coming then?" There was no weight to the words as if it were perfectly normal for a mother to send her little baby away. Tiera nearly hit the man, but knew it wouldn't work, given all the shields involved.
Alphonse seemed very troubled but shook his head gently, as they all stood on the bridge, Eloise holding the little girl to her chest protectively.
"No, it isn't unheard of for a baby to be sent away when there's a rebellion, or even the Heir, so that power can't be wrested away too easily, but we had to take Karina too, so that means Varley has to stay. As it is we've already given the Rebels a signal that they might be winning. Word from home is that they've redoubled their efforts or more, feeling that they've done something right, because I left."
It explained why Varley was crying before then. Tiera would have too. For a brief
moment she felt like she might anyway, but Ali did it for her, which was considerate of the girl. It wasn't loud sobbing either, just a few damp lines on her face.
Tiera didn't love the idea of having the baby with them, but it was better than her being on the planet below, or would be, if things went well.
She didn't know what to do then. Gerent had a plan, and would be setting things off in a few days, regardless of what else happened. Timon was supposed to meet with her in three days in Lairdgren. Until then, they just had to wait.
It was maddening. She tried to keep busy, setting things up for the little girl and her nanny, providing all the meals with Ali and going to elaborate lengths that way. She practiced fighting with Kolb a lot too, but still had hours of time left each day. It ate at her, grinding away at each nerve, since it felt like she was busily waiting for her brothers to die. For a lot of people to die. All the Ancients on the planet, except whatever Remy were left.
That thought didn't touch her much. She didn't know many of them, and it wasn't that important. It was both sad, and a bit unneeded that Brown and Green were staying, but they probably had some kind of plan in place. That they hadn't told her was either brilliant or an ageist oversight. Possibly both.
They killed time, but didn't make a lot of plans, since there was no real way to know what was coming or not. So, three days later, feeling like it had been three months, Tiera set down in front of Ali's house, with the girl herself right there, and Trice next to her. The vehicle had been made tiny, by the standards she was used to now, but it was plenty big enough for seven large and cozy people. Nine or ten small ones being the alternative.
She made the ship silver and purple. This time she left the blue off, since Regina had nothing to do with this, as far as she knew. Except that she had something to do with everything that Tiera was part of, of course.
The 'what if' ate at her mind when she let it. What if Regina had lived? Would they have ended up going to Harmony together? Would Tiera have even ever tried to build anything, or would she have been too busy with her girlfriend to bother? What would have happened to County Morris, or Sandra? She just didn't know. It would have been different, but how, exactly, she had no way of knowing. Things had turned out like they had, and everything else was just wishful thinking now.
In the main, the dead stayed that way, Cordes and the Ancient clones aside. For a half second she wondered if her friend could be brought back, but that didn't make sense, did it? Reggie was a doll, and brilliant, but also fourteen. No one had collected her thoughts for later use. They hadn't known to yet. Even if they made a new one, a true clone of her, that wouldn't work. She was the sum of her thoughts, what had happened to her and what she'd done about it, not just some genetic instructions.
Tiera just blocked the street, wondering what they'd find inside the house. It looked nice, but right now had a slanted roof that would shed rain and a nice purple color. That was different than it had been when she left, but could mean a lot of things. Like Bonita having come to visit. Or... Well, Tor, but that seemed unlikely. Would he have just shown up and be hanging around for days, waiting?
They all got out, and she took her craft with her, since it really was in the way. When they walked in, the place was as empty as could be expected, except for the thumping and rattling of pans from the kitchen. They crept in, weapons in hand, and ready to fight, to find Timon and Tor moving around, making lunch.
Timon was nearly gone, into a very deep and complete trance state, but rallied enough to smile and speak.
"You came. Good. We need to leave. Let's eat first." There was no humor to it all, just a blank focused sound.
Tor however was a lot more chipper sounding. Not that he was less focused, he was simply working harder to fake being a real person. It was kind of clear, what with the waves of pure intent coming off of him.
"Ali! I didn't expect you to come." The woman got a big hug anyway, so did Trice and, as a clear afterthought, she got a slap on the arm.
That got her to giggle a little.
"So that everyone won't think we're sleeping together?"
"Exactly! People have such dirty minds. I didn't realize that until I spent months reading everyone all the time. I don't think we should eat, even if it means leaving the food to rot. There's going to be an attack as soon as we do. I've been setting it up for weeks. The one I told you about, on Austra? I got them to hold back, by promising a new super weapon. It's pretty impressive. Huge, about the size of a small mountain? It flies too and shoots beams of death. Or will, until I hit this." In his hand he had a small tan square, with a single glowing line on it, in green. "Then it will turn off, and all the things I made for them will stop working. That won't keep everything from happening, so Green and the others will be pressing an attack, while Gerent..."
He took a deep breath and then kept going, a bit manically.
"Then Gerent will kill them all. I know that you need to eat, Tim, but..."
Tiera looked around, they had bread in the oven, but it was nearly done. It seemed like a risk, waiting on that, but life was full of decisions. She took a breath and got a basket ready for it. Who knew when they'd get to have real bread again? There was cheese too, and some sliced vegetables. Fresh ones. They were the same as the things her device made, except that these were real, and had actually grown. In the ground. On Earth.
Soon enough that would be rare, she knew.
That took an extra fifteen minutes, but they headed back to the ship, with her piloting and everyone else picking at the too warm food, eating as it cooled.
"Save me some too." She nearly whispered the words, but Tor, who had moved in next to her nodded. He seemed happy and normal, but she could feel the waves of peace and intense concentration coming off of him.
"We will, there should be enough. Well... here we go then?" There was no flourish or fanfare, but with a single tap, Tor made all the things he'd built over the last months for the Others turn off.
As far as she could tell nothing in particular happened. They were high up and far away after all, weren't they? It put things in a very different perspective. Then, from behind them, Timon spoke, having a communications device out.
"Gerent? Do it. We're all off world."
"I... Right. Forgive me, please." The last words were light and quiet, but a second later his voice spoke a bit more powerfully. "There. It is supposed to turn into smoke and fly away?"
Her younger brother, looking pale and almost dead seeming, coughed.
"That's the right one then. Good. It would be embarrassing if you'd accidently activated a restroom. Meet us on the Ranford as soon as you can get passage?"
"We will. Be careful, everyone. I... I love you."
He said the words as if to one person, and Trice moved in, from where she sat next to her husband.
"I love you too. We all do. Until we meet again?"
There was a soft sigh, which sounded... conflicted. "I'm... not coming. I'm sorry. I can't. Collette isn't either. I..."
Trice started crying, and everyone else looked upset, but Tiera rolled her eyes, then carefully made herself stop. It was rude, after all. She smiled, feeling halfway grown up and everything.
"I understand. Protect them then, Gerent." It was an order, clearly.
"Them, who?"
"All of them. All the people of the world. We'll all be back, but for the next ten years, it's up to you. Also, remember to come visit. I'm still expecting you to help with the new gardens. The things are going to be huge, you know. Larger than a farm by far. So, don't be long in coming."
There was a sob on the other end, and after a bit he spoke, his voice cracking.
"I... I'll try. I promise I will, Tiera. Take care of her for me?"
Even she had worked out that her adopted brother meant Trice, not anyone else. The girl was sobbing, trying not to be heard. It was brutally emotional, but she hid it, so that Gerent could have a life, free of her?
It was a worthy enough goal,
probably. Not that Timon would have cared that much if they were together, she didn't think.
"I will. Now, if you aren't coming with us, what are you going to do? Go and run the Fast Delivery service for the family? It would be good if you could do that I think. Mother has a communications device, so get in touch with her?" It made sense after all. People would still need their mail and packages.
"I'll do that now. Thanks Tiera." Then the line was shut off and Trice let herself get loud.
"It's all my fault. I... his pain... I..."
Tor ended up hugging her and rocking the woman back and forth, with Ali helping. Timon tried to pat her shoulder, but it was clear he was too far gone into his own mind to do much at all. That he tried was a sign that he took his duty very seriously, since she wasn't at all certain that he would have been able to get his hand off of a hot stove at the moment.
She just flew and coordinated the docking with Kolb and Sara, since he was acting Captain, while she was gone. Sara did all the real work though, making the wall vanish, as they got themselves inside. It took two tries, which meant she'd beaten Sara's first attempt by one. They'd have to have a party to celebrate that.
When they got out Sara practically tackled poor Tor, kissing him a hundred times in a few seconds. For some reason, though he kissed her back, he seemed a lot less interested in her than he had with Ali or Trice. Tiera wanted to take him aside and growl at him over it, but knew there probably wasn't time left. Tim was nearly ready, and so, if she had it right, was her older brother. It was why he was starting to drift away.
He was getting ready to do something that couldn't be done. That, or die.
She spoke, so Sara would understand it wasn't a slight against her. Even if it might have been.
"They're getting ready to try and remove Cordes. I don't know when it will start." She stopped herself, since anything else would be a guess, nothing more than that.