Duty

by P. S. Power

  He shook his head for a bit.

  “I need to get the High Servants their magics back. They have some houses in their provided gear, but I don’t want to lose them. The free magic shops don’t carry things like that.”

  The words got Farlo to nod at least.

  “I don’t have one on me at the moment either, or you could use it for the purpose. If I had some rest, I could make one.” She shook her head then, suddenly. “Except that I need to get back home and see to my land. I can build, but not that fast. It’s never been my strong suit. You need one of the super builders in on that. Timon Baker, Taman, or Tor. Really, go with Tor. He created the things in the first place. He might just have some in a box by his front door. He used to do that, anyway.”

  Albert stuck his tongue out, suddenly and without meaning to.

  “Oh, sure, that sounds reasonable. Just give him a call and beg for a magical palace, should I? If I’m doing that, I really need to have a drink first.” Except that he wasn’t allowed to do that, due to common sense and the fact that Farlo Ross was shaking her head at him.

  “Or just call? I’d do it, and will, if you truly can’t, but this is important enough and you should make the connection. Well, or we can just get with Sam. You were suggesting playing go between there for me, so that doesn’t really fit, does it?” She was playing suddenly, seeming almost sly about things.

  Which left him feeling confused. Normally he’d have blamed his mental state, but that was fairly clear, really. Rather than fight he got ready to stammer and make a fool of himself, then pulled his handheld and found the right name.

  “If this is a joke, tell me now before I hit the sigil?” He tried to look hopeful. The woman didn’t shake her head or tell him to stop. His finger lingered for a bit, then dreading the outcome, slightly fearing the confrontation or rebuke that might be coming, Albert let his finger tap the stone surface. Gently.

  Hoping that it wouldn’t make the connection. It did, of course, since his handheld was a quality unit. About twenty seconds later, a smiling man looked up at him. The fellow was very attractive. More so than Dareg was and that man was impressive that way.

  “Hello? This is Tor.”

  Taking a deep breath, Albert tried not to let his voice shake.

  “Um… Hello. This is Albert Benoist. I need a magical palace, so figured I’d just call you up and snap my fingers in your direction in a high handed fashion. That will work, right? We need to house a hundred people for a few days. Maybe more than that. The fires in Ross? Those are out and the King and Count Ross have some focus stone builders from the military coming in. They get a transport hut, so can go back and forth, but…”

  The other man just nodded.

  “Right, the indisposed people will need a place to stay, while they wait for new accommodations. I can have that to you in… Are you close to one of those pods?”

  The man seemed serious about the idea, instead of upset about being asked for a thing that would probably be impossible to purchase for a normal person. Even a wealthy one. The things were probably worth about half a million gold, which is why he didn't want to lose the ones from the High Servants.

  Looking at the man, he just sighed, skipping the explanation of why he was saying what he was.

  “Except that if I lose your magical house, it’s still gone, isn’t it? I have some from the High Servants, but I don’t want to lose those, either.”

  The other man, the Mighty Wizard Tor, who was spoken of in fear as often as he was in praise, who was known as a fierce warrior and fighter, among less kindly things… Simply scoffed. Gently and with a kind undertone to it.

  “Good point. I’ll bring a couple. That way if you lose one it won’t be a problem for you. I need to make certain the High Servants are current on things as well. Where do I come in?”

  “Emergency Ross One? I think. It might be Ross Emergency One.” That felt important, but there was a simple shrug from the other man.

  “Fifteen minutes, if you don’t need me to hurry?”

  Albert nodded, his face feeling numb. His tongue thick as well. After all, he was speaking to Tor Baker. The wizard that had given him his legs back. A thing that probably wouldn’t be recalled by the man at all. It was his magic that had been used for it. Done promptly by Conserina Ward, as well. As if he, Albert the crippled boy, was important to the world.

  “That works. We’re waiting for someone to come in from the palace. He’s going to be taking the pod here to Wildlands Station, I think? That should be in an hour or so.”

  The screen didn’t just drop, though the man started moving. Running, in fact.

  “I’ll hurry then. Nice meeting you, Lord Benoist. I’ll be there directly.”

  “Albert.”

  The other man nodded as he moved.

  “Tor. See you soon!”

  Then the device did its thing, predictably, moving back to scrolling print that glowed gently, seeming to hover slightly over the surface of the smooth stone in his hand. He put it away in its home pocket, and puffed his cheeks up a bit. Feeling… Odd. Almost scared.

  Al understood why of course. He didn't let it show, since he didn't want to be that obviously a coward. Company was coming. He had to resist the urge to run around straightening, given that fact. Luckily, things were already tidy. The few food papers could be tossed into the hopper of the Tiera food device, but other than that there wasn’t much out of place. He did that, since the others didn’t move, as if it wasn’t a big deal that Tor Baker, the wizard, was coming. A creature of legend.

  Everyone else was just acting as if it was no major thing that the greatest wizard to have ever lived was about to be there. With them. With Albert being unable to speak, because he was going to pass out, due to the incredible blood pressure in his head. He wanted to start hyperventilating, but it was too much work, so he just stood still for a moment, then forced a smile.

  Trying to think of something clever. Failing at it as well.

  “Um… I have a bit of a history with Tor. After a fashion. I mean, he doesn’t know me, or anything like that, but I might not…” He didn't know how to tell them that he might be unable to speak to the great man, or why. So, he just stood there, turning red. Wishing he could have a drink.

  Which he could, since there were bottles right there, not fifteen feet from where he stood. No one there would know that he was breaking his word to Serro and Jeffery, either. To them it would probably seem like he was just taking his leisure a bit, in a hard and trying time. Which it would be. Except that he had given his word and even if that wasn’t his highest priority in life, it really did seem like the people there still needed him.

  Gary, seeming uneasy for some reason, looked at him closely.

  “Do you need to leave? You seemed to handle talking to him well enough. I… Can’t recommend fighting him, if you don’t have to. I’m not certain we could take him. Really, I’m certain that we couldn’t, even if Farlo helps us and we all go into combat rage. You could go away though, or… is it a matter of honor?”

  Albert blinked, getting the general idea then. More slowly than he should have.

  “Oh… Not that kind of history with him. I just… When I was a child I was crippled in an accident. Broken back. As soon as Tor had the new healing devices, I mean, within days of it even existing, he sent a woman to use one on me. It was one of only a handful of them in existence at the time. I get that he made millions of the things later, but…”

  Instead of mock him for his nerves, the others there relaxed. Gary did it a lot, but the other two both seemed happier suddenly.

  The Count even stood and walked over to him, reaching down a good way to pat Albert on the shoulder.

  “Ah. That’s much easier to handle then. Just treat him like you would anyone else and he should be fine. Just don’t make fun of him, or at least make sure he’s in a good mood first. Remember, he’s coming here today because you asked him to bring you expensive magics. And he called you Lord
and is running to get that done. That practically puts you on equal footing, even. Try to keep that in mind.”

  Farlo grinned at him, as a new man walked out of the transport pod, the red box seeming clean and perfect, like that sort of thing always did. It could collect dust and soot, in potential. Right until you turned it off and back on again. Then it would look brand new.

  The giant man, the new one, was about seven feet tall, had black hair that was conservatively short without being a statement and was dressed in red clothing that was rather loose and reminded Albert a bit of the robes one might see on a Vagish mage. Really, they were practically those, except that they had trousers on the bottom for Tor.

  That it was him, the Great Wizard himself, was clear, since Albert recognized his face from the handheld. It had only been about six minutes since he’d seen the fellow.

  Who called out, his face cheerful.

  “Hello everyone! Farlo, Gary… Count Ross. How is your mother doing?”

  Everyone stood, since even telling him to be casual about the whole thing, the man was the Ancient of a different land and not a relative. At least not a close one. Albert didn’t know anyone’s family tree. Not even his own, past his grandparents on both sides and a few great-aunts and uncles.

  There was bowing to do, so he followed along, as Tor moved in and hugged Farlo, who did it back, then patted Gary on the arm and gave a nod to Count Ross. Then the Ancient looked at Albert, seemed to take in everything about him in a glance… And bowed, going low.

  “I have those houses you requested? I brought ten. Just keep them, or hand them out if you find people in need. You can get with me for more, if it comes up.”

  Everyone looked at the ridiculously good looking fellow, then at Al.

  For his part, Albert just blew out a big gust of air.

  “Oh, sure… With magical houses it’s all here, have most of a dozen… If I ask for a pony though it will be all but you live on the Moon. How would you care for it? You aren’t reliable enough and would give it wine to drink… Which is pretty much true, so I can’t fault you on the logic there. Still…”

  There was a funny look from Gary, but Tor actually nodded, instantly.

  “You’re right of course. Only a monster would keep a horse up there. At least until the new farming dome is built. Bad enough we have them on the space station. It isn’t good for them, I don’t think. Anyway, first, here.” A velvet bag was handed over, clicking as it landed in Albert’s hand.

  Then, after a moment, there was a wink. It wasn’t the man being flirty or anything, thank goodness. That he even thought about that left him feeling a bit uneasy. Not that it was about him or the other man at all. Mainly it was just one of those things that could happen from time to time. Shameful things best buried with a lot of drugs and denial. It was the best thing for everyone. Especially since Tor was clearly just being conspiratorial.

  “Now that we have that out of the way, I need to ask why I wasn’t invited?” He looked at Albert for half a moment, as if he’d be the reason why. Then over at the others. Especially Farlo and Gary.

  It was the woman, Tor’s fellow Ancient, who spoke though.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Tor. Albert already apologized for being late with my invitation. He didn't even know you though, and you aren’t handily listed as a Ross, so why would he think about that at all?”

  That got a nod, as if it were sage information, instead of common sense. At least it seemed like that until he lowered his head at Gary. The large man actually laughed.

  “I didn't know that you wanted to come to the massive fires. I’ll get with you first thing, next time. Hopefully not like this. It was… I know that things have been a little dry this year, but this came out of nowhere. Almost as if it were personal. As it is, even having been here the full time, I’m not certain why we didn’t lose more people.”

  Albert was willing to just assume they’d gotten lucky, but Tor the wizard look at each of them in turn. Then he took a breath that seemed to be testing the air in some ill-defined way.

  “You suspect sabotage or attack?”

  The Count huffed. It was nearly a laugh, if done without humor.

  “Always. Why, or who? Not a clue. It’s probably not that. I know it’s hard to believe but I haven’t even been having major personality conflicts with anyone for the last five years or so. I suppose it could be an old grudge…” The man smiled then. “I did apologize to you already, didn’t I?”

  The younger Ross people looked away, as if embarrassed by something.

  Tor just chuckled.

  “That you did. In a fairly timely fashion, even. I doubt anyone going after Farlo would hit you here. That would be done in Afrak. It’s a ridiculously soft target for attack. They aren’t violent or warlike at all. That means no one really hates them though, so that one probably won’t happen. Gary?”

  Albert was a little lost. The slightly smaller giant, who was probably close to ten feet tall, nodded.

  “I don’t know that it would happen this way, but I did get into a fight with Count Prentiss last King’s week. I tripped and fell on him, which he took as being an attack. I did try to explain, but the broken arms he ended up with made that difficult. It could be that I owe an apology there. At the time it wasn’t me though, so… Well, drinking was involved and a combat rage. He should have let it go.”

  The news was a bit odd, but he’d seen similar things himself, at the club. Not with fighting, but people spilled drinks, hit on someone’s date or inadvertently insulted someone else and hard feelings could linger. Al had been the target of about ten or twenty such situations over the last three years. Mainly due to him not being that sure footed all the time while he worked.

  Tor just waved, once.

  “See to fixing that, if you can? I agree, it won’t be part of this. You don’t need to leave that kind of thing hanging forever, if you don’t have to. Anger builds up if it’s not lanced. Even good people can do that sort of thing.”

  It was good advice, which Gary at least seemed to be taking to heart.

  “I’ll… Let me sleep first? Possibly call everyone and thank them for their aid? Dad just did King Richard, to report. Prince Alphonse is coming to take the pod there to Wildlands for us. Himself, which is pretty telling. Something must be going on, if he’s coming in his own person, especially this close to being coronated. That’s what, two years off?”

  There was a smile and a scanning of the sky from Tor in response. As if he expected the heir to show up instantly. It didn’t happen.

  “Yes. In two years and a few months. The plan is to take Rich and Connie off world so they don’t end up locked into living on a little estate for fifty years. Since they’re both immortal, that would be a bit of a waste. I was thinking Mars. So was Tiera. She tries, but she doesn’t always get along with Richard. Before that the fleet is getting in, so the population is going to go up, almost everyplace. My guess is that Mars and the Moon will be the most popular options. We’re going to need more space soon, even given that. Tim has a plan for a large orbital station around Venus. There are problems with the space stations though.” He spoke absently, as if it was all supposed to be easy to follow.

  Albert had about half of it, so chimed in on that portion.

  “I think we should build a few more cities, on the Moon. We have six, but doubling that would be a good idea. Maybe more. Mars is doing a lot better that way, I’ve heard. Their High Leader is really keeping them moving, for some reason. Faster than our council. It could just be that they have to vote on things.” Albert stopped speaking, since politics wasn’t his strong suit. He normally just nodded along when Jeffery talked about things like that. “Um… I heard that there’s a plan to terraform the Moon? That’s going to have to be mainly magical, I think. It’s too small to hold an atmosphere, otherwise.”

  Everyone looked interested at that, even though Tor shook his head.

  “The trouble there is that in ten to forty years
the magic will fail. Then we lose all the work if it isn’t updated almost constantly. Even then, we’d need special plants and animals that could live in the lower gravity there. We can’t just increase that, overall. It will crash into the Earth, if we try.”

  Albert shook his head at that. He wasn’t much on science or how to do magic, but he knew how gravity plates worked. He had two of the things under his living quarters, after all.

  “No? Just limit the area of effect, so that it only goes, oh, fifty feet up? That’s about what the plates do now, anyway. We have to put them in every few floors. The hard part then would be in getting enough of them all over the place so that the surface has that and air. Some kind of magnetic field, too. That’s why the space stations don’t work for most people. I was listening to some builders talking about that… Oh, a long time ago.” He didn't know when. It had been as the club was closing, the young men not being lucky in love that night, it seemed. Not unless they were interested in each other.

  Tor looked annoyed for a moment, then closed his eyes. Albert was ready to slap his shield on, for all the good it would do him. Then the man just sat there, not doing anything for about twenty minutes. Nothing on the outside, anyway.

  It lasted long enough that a yellow and blue craft flew over them, with Gary jumping up and down, to signal to the pilot. Whoever it was landed about a hundred feet from them, leaving the craft up as he climbed out. Showing that the red-haired man was nearly as tall as the others there. Taller than Tor, less so than Gary. About nine feet tall. He was thin though, instead of broad with muscle. A nice even tan color that went well with the blue eyes.

  He was also smiling as he walked over.

  “Tor! Count Ross! Gerald!” It was Farlo that got a hug, the man picking her all the way up off the ground, as if they were old friends. “Farlo! That must mean that this is Albert?”