by P. S. Power
He didn't do anything as interesting as taking them up that high though, just leaving them hanging there for some reason.
"But that isn't why I've brought you here. I have some news, as I said. Denno has several hundred genetic profiles for you. You'll be happy to know that other than those you know about, no one else is related to us genetically speaking. Not in a way that would be a strain for you to deal with." He looked out the window then and sighed. "We've also located Gray. Possibly at least."
Tor felt a thin line of excitement then. If they could find her, they could stop her from destroying everything. Maybe.
"Oh? Where is she? Do we have a plan to pick her up?"
After a few seconds there was a brief nod.
"Yes. Orange and Dan are on it. It might already have happened in fact. The thing there Tor... She's near Two Bends. From what we can determine, she has been for weeks. We don't know if she's been there of course, since Laurie is identical to her in pattern. We all agree she did it to hide from us however."
That just got him to blink.
"Oh. I have nothing in particular to say about that."
Chapter eleven
After a good three minutes of the Count staring at Tor with a slightly bemused look on his face, he actually, for once, asked a question instead of acting like he knew everything in the world automatically. It was very nearly a victory as far as Torrance was concerned. It became a waiting game after that, since he wasn't about to open his mouth and explain until he was asked. If he was.
Green just chuckled lightly.
"I see. Why is that, precisely? Do you think that Gray isn't a threat? She is, at least most likely, responsible for the attempted murder of millions of people. For that matter, even with the devices you provided. She'll likely kill millions anyway. Isn't that worth a comment or two?"
Shaking his head Tor made himself smile back. The darkness outside the window of the very improved fast craft was deep enough that only the purple of the glowing river and the gas-flame street lights of the Capital showed at all.
"I can't do anything about it. I mean, I could fly off to Two Bends, but what are the odds she's just going to be hanging out there? I'm not certain why she'd go in the first place, but whatever her reason it's no doubt done by now. How did you find her? Those flying spy things?" He pointed at the ceiling of the vehicle, as if that would make what he was trying to convey actually clear. He knew that wasn't what they were called, the real name just escaped him for some reason.
"The satellites. Yes. I agree with your basic assessment however. She isn't there at this point, if she ever truly was. My guess is that she changed the data in order to throw us off, rather than put herself there physically. If so, given her pattern, that probably means that she's still in the area for some reason, because that would be the best way to distract us. Of course that would mean that she has access to the data in some manner. It wouldn't shock me. Everyone has a cache of secret technology. All of the Ancients I mean." There was a soft grunt that was out of the ordinary for the good looking man, but it came with a smile. "Even Timon. He has several pieces of Austran tech that he really shouldn't. Brown claims it belongs to him, which would get it around the treaty, if it were in effect. As things stand, I doubt it would be worth the argument to try and take it away from him. He only uses it there, so it should be fine."
Of course Tim would have things like that. He'd made it his business to go everywhere in the world after all. There was a bit of a mistake in the assumptions there though.
"I have some things too. I keep them in your basement, remember?" It had been something that the Count had said to Brown once, as if to deflect real blame for breaking the same rule that everyone else was.
"There is that. I forgot. Well, we have to assume that Gray can go just about anywhere, and her ability to blend in is far more adept than anyone you've dealt with before. I know that it's hard to understand just how well one of us can do that, but thousands of years of practice can have amazing results, from time to time. Don't mistake what you've seen so far from myself, or Denno, as being the height of what Gray might do. She isn't an easy person to deal with, but don't assume that will give her away..." He shook his head then, the short hair not moving at all. Then he went quiet for a long time. It was so long that Tor almost suggested that they head back when he started speaking again.
"Lara could be anywhere, posing as almost anyone. A man, woman or child. Her physical form may well be altered genetically... You know how Abumanitalli has ice blue eyes and brilliant red hair that doesn't exist in humans? She wasn't born like that, those are alterations she made to herself. Permanent ones. Gray could very easily do that as well. It takes some time to do things along those lines, but Timon's attack on her might have sent her into the wind. Today she might be recognizable, but in a month? Six? I know that it isn't helpful to know that, but..." He stopped again and just seemed to do nothing but breathe for a long time.
Tor finished it for him, if in a different way than a true Ancient probably would have.
"But I need to know that she might show up as anyone. Will her field itself change? I don't normally do it, but I suppose I could go around trying to read everyone I meet for a while. That will make me seem even stranger than everyone thinks I am though, don't you think?" It was a bit of humor, said mainly to deflect from the fact that he wasn't sure what his grandmother might be doing to his family back home. She wasn't a pleasant person, but he didn't have vast problems with her really. She was bitchy and rude, but...
Also trying to kill most of the planet. That was something not to forget at all. Two Bends was important too, since it was the main distribution center for the healing amulets in Noram. Maybe she had some kind of plan to use that to spread a different disease? Tor just didn't know and worrying about it wasn't going to help anything. He nearly asked Green for his opinion, but realized something.
The man wouldn't know any more than he did. It was kind of the way things like that had to work. If he knew what Gray was going to do, he would have moved to stop her already, wouldn't he?
The man nodded, almost as if he knew what Tor was thinking. He didn't though. Not really.
"That seems like what we'll both have to do for a time. Read the fields of everyone we can, and try to keep in mind that we don't know what's going to happen. Gray... It isn't her way to seek direct confrontation normally, but she's capable of it, if pushed. I fear that Timon managed to trigger her Rhetistics in such a manner that she can't help but do everything possible to kill him. If not, then her actions toward him are some kind of a ruse, which also isn't outside of what she might do. Not that this virus has anything to do with that. It's a mess." He shrugged then and started to move the craft toward Tor's glowing palace.
It was the first time that he really thought of it that way. A palace. It really was after all. In most ways it was the nicest dwelling in the Capital. Made of magic and with amenities that no one else in the kingdom could easily afford. Well, a few people, that had other magical houses. It was both impressive and looked so overdone that it made him want to cringe a bit. Not that he could back away from the idea now. It had been sitting there for almost two years.
That got him to blink. Had it really been that long? No, almost that though, but just under. By about three months.
It would have made him feel old if it weren't for the fact that he had an Ancient being in his head that started mentally chuckling at the thought. Cordes didn't speak though, trying to be good and let Tor live his own life. Like that kind of thing wasn't going to influence him? Giggling at him like a schoolgirl... It seriously bugged him at the moment, but he let the idea go. He got it, he was barely a child compared to the King that was. More so compared to Burks, who was bringing his very much improved Fast Carriage in for a landing.
"Oh, can I steal some of your ideas for the new build I have? I haven't made any space craft before. It doesn't seem like it should be too hard, but I don't want to forget any needed
parts. It will save time to just copy this one and make it larger. The main point is to start working on the speed component. This one feels a little slow compared to what Orange and the others said they wanted. Space sounds pretty big." It was so stupid a thing to say that he covered with a cringe, but Green let his head come up as the vehicle settled gently to the earth below.
"Certainly. You're correct however, about the speed. This one was a bit of a rushed build and I didn't add anything novel to it at all. I copied your motivational technique, but I had the other portions worked out and have for a few centuries. Nine or so. The speed needs to be... A lot greater. As fast as light travels at a minimum. Better than that, if you can work it out. It is possible, but I won't tell you how. It will give you something to work out for yourself." He opened the door and climbed out, hovering over the front walk, his movements, light and quick.
Tor just sat for a minute, with his eyes closed, drinking in all the information about the construct he was in. There were parts of it that he didn't really understand instantly, not being his own work, but he got the basics he thought. It would allow him to make a copy and, since Tor was basically the Green Man, even without the old Rhetistics in play, he could merge with the information far more smoothly than if someone else had done the work. It would make it easier for him to change it.
When he got out the Count very efficiently took the craft down, tapping the front of the thing and making a deft grab for the amulet, which was on a silver chain. It didn't have a glowing sigil though, and was just a blank stone with a hole poked in it. If a person didn't know what it was they'd think it was just a flat river rock. In a way that was brilliant camouflage. It looked too boring to steal at all.
"Oh, hey, you didn't really say, will Gray be able to change her field? It makes sense, I guess, but... I don't know, it seems wrong, at the same time. Can that kind of thing be altered like that?"
"Yes." The tone sounded suddenly considering, rather than like something that the Ancient actually knew first hand. "If you hold a new state long enough it's theoretically possible. I've never done it myself. Most of us don't change a lot, once we become adults. The pattern in most people breaks down, of course, but things tend to stay about the same for our kind, overall. Given time and enough genetic tampering it's very possible that being could alter from what they originally were into a thing that's completely different, even on the quantum level. I strongly doubt that Gray will manage that in the time she's had, but I can't promise that it's impossible. Still, intent and focus are harder to fake on that level, so reading everyone should help keep you safe for the time being. Not that I'm worried about you, personally. She'd easily beat you in a fight, unless you use magic. If it comes to it, have no compunction about cheating. I don't think she'd harm you however."
Even Tor got that one. They weren't fast friends, Gray and himself, but they parted with no more than a few snippy words and a hug for families' sake. Timon had gone into a combat rage and knocked the woman out, if with his aura, and later sent killers against her. It sounded like he'd had some reason, but that kind of thing probably marked him as a target, didn't it? Tor was about to say that when Burks shook his head a bit.
"Laurie, of course. Not that she'd harm her own child, but she can be almost psychotically protective of her daughters."
"Plural... I know that she has more than just ma, but... How many daughters has she had over the years?" Trying to count Tor only got to two that he knew about, his own mother and Princess Abumanitalli's. It seemed reasonable, that there wouldn't be a lot, given how closely she guarded the population numbers as the leader of Afrak.
Which meant that Green's answer was a bit off-putting.
"I don't know for certain. Hundreds at least. Possibly more than that. Not all of them in Afrak either. She's better traveled than you might think, which speaks to her using some kind of forbidden technology. That or having worked out a biological system for rapid travel and not sharing with the rest of us. It's possible, since she's had enough time to work on the idea."
The idea was so odd that Tor just had to shut down thinking about it and take a few seconds to open up, his mind clearing as much as possible while he walked. If he was going to try and get a sense of those around him, he needed to actually put some effort into it. Otherwise he'd be taken off guard. That wouldn't help anyone, would it?
Tor half expected his grandfather to get out of there quickly, but he was actually living at Tor's house, it turned out. Along with the Ross's, a nice older couple that Ali had given the house over to for the duration of the Council of Counts. The lady herself had been in attendance earlier, at both the meeting and the meal, but he hadn't had a chance to say much to her. She was, like everyone else, clearly avoiding him. Or more to the point, he realized when he saw her through the doorway of one of the sitting rooms, trying to make it seem like they weren't close. It was a matter of politics, even though they were both on the same side of things.
Her thoughts almost boiled to the surface in a way that was surprising to him. She was a bit attracted to him personally, even though she wasn't planning on making a move, which Tor was instantly grateful for. She was older after all, and huge. One of the largest women he'd ever seen. She wasn't great looking, but that wasn't a problem for him, since she was pretty nice, but the logistics of sex would be embarrassing, given the size difference. The Countess was also a bit concerned that Tor's bad reputation would rub off on her and her Count. That was news to him, since he hadn't been aware that he had a poor reputation at all. Why that might be he didn't know, but it was clear in the thoughts of about half of the people in his own household. Even the servants thought he was scary. It didn't make sense at all. He was sweet and nice, mostly, wasn't he?
Lairdgren had made a mistake it seemed, not getting out of the way fast enough, so Tor rounded on him and made a sour face.
"Everyone thinks that I'm some kind of monster now? When did that happen?" He didn't bother explaining, which turned out not to be needed anyway.
"Oh, that. Well, yes. It's been the common thought for some time now. Since about the time you built the Falcons. Don't worry about it overly, most great heroes have the same thing happen to them, eventually. You do enough that gets attention and people eventually start to come up with reasons why it's happened that they can understand. Most of the time it's assuming that you know the right people, or are at least sleeping with them. In your case that clearly isn't it, so the idea is that you're not a normal person at all. Who knows what you might do, that being the case?" He said it all as if it weren't a big deal, and kept talking when Ali walked over, as if his little wife would understand it all.
The strange thing was that, from the reaction she had inside, she really did.
Burks spoke calmly, as if discussing the coming weather.
"After you killed those Larval Assassins in a duel, starting out naked and unarmed, people simply started to assume that you could do anything. They didn't pick up on the part where you nearly died, and only the heroic action of others saved you. Then when you dealt with Baron Rochester... Well, I wasn't there for that myself, but I hear it was something to see."
Alyssa took a deep breath and swallowed, not certain if she should speak. She was, Tor could tell, still pretty uncertain about Burks. She didn't hate him, but he was a Count and that meant dangerous. Worse, Tor understood that she was at least a bit afraid of him too. Not in a big way, but it was there, when he bothered to notice it.
"I saw it. Tor killed him." She sounded so young and sweetly innocent for a few seconds, then, surprisingly, something inside her mind firmed and she hardened a bit, her resolve stiffening. "That makes it sound wrong. To anyone watching it seemed like simple murder. If you didn't know how hard Tor tried to get out of it, how he'd done almost everything to avoid the fight, short of making the kingdom look bad... It seemed like he set the Baron up to die, if you didn't know all that. The man never even got close to touching him at all, even after he pulled that
knife and started slashing at the air full speed." She shuddered a bit, but then made herself stop. "I can see it, why some people think it means something other than what it did. That plus his being so good looking and wealthy, of course people hate him a bit. Most of the time they say that just before they mention wanting to get him into bed."
"Really? That seems a bit off, doesn't it?" Tor just responded, feeling a bit baffled by the whole thing.
"Oh, sure it is. Incredibly so. People do it though. Normally before asking if I'd like to have sex with them, taking your place, to make the connection. It's part of why I keep telling everyone that you're a prude, so that they'll back off a bit. More people want to bed you than the King I think. They assume that you can do more for them than he can. That you will, too. Your friends tend to do rather well, don't they?" She grinned at him, and patted his arm a bit. At first he assumed it was because she was thinking of him as a small dog to be placated and comforted, but it wasn't that at all. She was simply afraid that he might get mad and go into a combat rage over the new information.
That wasn't fair at all though, since he almost never did that. Even when he did it had almost always been used to help someone. Not all the time, but nearly.
Next to him the Green Man stood and looked at both him and Ali as if they were infants. He felt that way, and it carried across strongly enough that it couldn't be missed. Not only did he think of them as very young, but also... cute. Like puppies.