Duty

by P. S. Power

  “Albert! How are things going?” The pretty girl, who was made of magic, smiled at him. She seemed a little concerned, but was hiding it. Really, it was incredibly well done. She wasn’t a person strictly speaking, after all. That meant she was a masterwork of magic.

  “Not bad. The fire is out here, or I think so anyway. It was suggested that I get some Tam-cars to get people back into the city? People had a little rest, but walking ten miles right now… That wouldn’t be fun. Not after the last few days.”

  There was a nod then.

  “I don’t have any of those, of course. I do however know who makes them. Which is why you really called me? To get the name in the Terry system? It’s Taman Baker. My mother. If she can’t help you… Get with Willum Baker… Then… Honestly, I don’t know after that. A lot of people can make that kind of thing, ten or so people, anyway… Which isn’t that many, I guess. I just know them all. You could also hire wagons or something. Tim Baker has his fast transport system, too. That’s a bit pricey to use though.”

  Which was out, then, since Albert didn’t have a single coin to his name. It wasn’t needed on the Moon, so wasn’t something that he worried about in life, day to day. People in Noram would need to be paid though, if they did work. Really, it was probably what kept more of them from volunteering to do things like he was, unless it was a direct threat to their own lives. They needed to be at work, earning their pay in order to keep food on the table. If Albert was out of work for a while, or even forever, he’d still have his rooms, food and everything else he needed taken care of. It left him freer than these other people. Even if he didn’t have the same meaning in life due to those same factors.

  “Thanks. I’ll make some calls and see if begging works. So far, it’s been doing pretty well. I can drop your name, right?”

  That got a snort.

  “Sure? Not that you’ll need to. She’s Taman after all. Tell her I said hello? I haven’t spoken to her in about a month.”

  He nodded.

  “I get that… She keeps asking you when you’re getting married? When she can expect the patter of little feet around the house?”

  The words got the laugh he was going for, though there was a weird expression to go with it.

  “No on the children, at least. Yes, on the other part. At least she keeps offering to make me a body, so that I can walk around and meet someone, which means that to my mind. I should probably do it. I just haven’t had a reason to, yet. My sister, Tam-Unit, she has one.”

  He didn't know how to answer that, so grinned.

  “Well, if you get that going on, you should come dancing with us in a month or so? I’m having some people in to the club, if anyone wants to really come. I invited them and they didn’t scream no, or hit me, so I figure it’s happening?”

  “Neat. I’ve never been invited anyplace for fun before. If I have a body by then, I’ll try to make it.”

  She grinned at him, then waved, just before the screen when dark. Hurrying he found the name he needed, which after twenty seconds or so had a familiar face showing back up on the screen. The woman there was dressed differently, in that she seemed to be naked, but was otherwise Comp. They looked the same at least.

  “Hello?” The woman seemed a bit annoyed with him already. At least the tone wasn’t friendly sounding.

  “Um, hello. I’m Albert Benoist, working for the High Servants presently, in County Ross. There was a massive fire here. We have builders, focus stone type, coming in to do some work and houses provided by Tor the wizard, he brought those for us a bit ago. Only… We need to get the fire fighters back home and don’t have transportation for them. I also don’t have any coin, being from Second City, so it was recommended that I call you up and beg to borrow some Tam-cars? I can just kneel down here or… You could come and meet me and I can do that in person? I can’t really leave here. I’m needed to help people. Oh, also, I invited Comp to come dancing with me and some friends in a month or so, what would it take to get her a body for that?” He was being silly, fully expecting to be glared at and hung up on.

  Instead the annoyed face softened suddenly.

  “I can… Do that, actually. I have a hundred Tam-cars in a box here, anyway. The body will take a little longer. I’ll need to make her look different, or it’s going to get confusing around here. How do I get that to you?”

  He froze for a second, then shrugged.

  “If you can get those to Wildlands Station, using the transport system? Emergency Ross One. Then we can have one of the military men bring those in with them. I should be there… Only, the people here will need to leave sooner than that. The other box is going to Smiton, but I don’t know the name for it.”

  There was a wave from the woman, and a smile. She had pretty black hair and skin that was a light cream color. Her eyes were brown, but lovely. Enough that he expected her to ignore him, suddenly. Women like that often did.

  This one made eye contact, at least.

  “I have to hurry, but I’ll work something out. Let me… Ten minutes?”

  He was about to say yes, when the thing went dead again. Not knowing what to really expect, he went back to work. Ten minutes seemed fast to him, unless you had a transport system hut right next to you. Which, even if the woman did on her end, there wasn’t one there, with him.

  That, it seemed, wasn’t going to stop Taman Baker. She simply drove in, a small blue vehicle floating above the ground about two feet, moving along at about a hundred miles per hour. If Albert had it right, she was coming from the city behind them, instead of one of the other places.

  When she pulled up, looking very much like Comp, if the magical being had grown a body suddenly and opted for adorably cute and tiny instead of being normal sized, she nodded at him. Then smiled, moving almost all the way to the food unit that was set up.

  She glanced at it, then the other things there and nodded.

  “This is an efficient set up, for a High Servant. No white clothing and you said you were working for them, not that you were one of them. Also, that you’re from Second City? I used to live in Harmony, myself. Clearly you know Comp. I called her to check on you and make certain you weren’t planning to steal the Tam-cars from me. She claims that you’re halfway decent as far as things like that go, as long as you’re sober. Which you aren’t, right now. Not drunk though… Some kind of energy enhancer?”

  The woman didn't pause in what she was saying, but got out of her craft and handed him a small box. It was made of stone, but clicked in a way he was starting to realize meant that a thing was filled with magical tiles. He peeked inside, noticing that they were a shiny but soft green in color, with what looked like a tiny horse on wheels inside of it. Like a toy that a rich child might have.

  A thing that oddly matched the little vehicle the woman was in. It was rounded at the corners and seemed soft, even if it wasn’t. Inside looked to be large enough to seat four people, which meant there were enough of them to go around. How they got them back, he didn't know.

  The attractive woman touched his arm, reaching up a bit to do so.

  “Those are actually larger. They can seat up to twenty at a time. I figure that you’ll only need eight of them, given that. You know how to drive one, of course?” She smiled, as if she knew the answer to that.

  Snorting, he lied. After all, she was teasing him with the fact that he was lacking in some way. It seemed only fair for him to not let her. Not too easily.

  “Oh, sure. Just like a space craft, except the little bauble only works in four directions? No jump capability, right?” His face was kept blank.

  There was a squeeze on his forearm then. A gentle one.

  “That’s actually right, even if you were trying to be funny about it. The trick is to go slow and give yourself plenty of room while learning. The big trick will be hiring people to drive for you. You don’t have any coin, right? So… You have a good food unit here. You could trade spices for it? This unit will make containers for it, even.
I’m shocked that you got Tiera to part with one, to be honest.” She seemed to be saying something different than the words themselves indicated.

  As if he’d stolen the thing, which wasn’t the truth. Then, if she really thought that, she could have taken it away from him. Instead she just looked over his shoulder, at Farlo.

  “So… You were set on me because someone didn’t want to do some basic copy work?” She looked like there was going to be teasing going on in that regard.

  Which he wasn’t going to allow. Ancient Farlo had been there in the fire with him, after all.

  “She hasn’t slept in over a day. Maybe two by now. I’m on accella to keep me going. Most people got a little sleep here. Some have been drinking. Um…” He turned and called out then. “We need eight people to drive Tam-cars! I’m trading some nice spices for the work, which is as good as gold! First come, first to get a chance at the job.” No one rushed him, but a few people stood up and walked in his direction.

  One of them was the fit woman that had gotten out of the building first that day.

  Taman did the training for them, taking about half an hour and making everyone, including him, drive around for a while, to get the hang of what they were doing. One man was sent away, because he refused to moderate his speed, even when told to. Albert did that part. Even if the man was going to glare at him for the rest of the day, he wasn’t turning a potential death magic over to a fool.

  She clapped after getting everyone to come and stand near her.

  “There we go. Give those back to Albert here at the end. You can bring them to me, later. Just get in touch and I’ll work that out with you.”

  He nodded, since it seemed to be time for him to pack things up. That meant checking the house out first, which seemed like extra work to him. Worth it, since there were two people in the baths and one still in bed, when he got inside. The sleeping one needed healing, and to clean up a bit before he took the place down. Taman walked with him the whole time for some reason.

  Then, so did Farlo. Neither of them spoke, until he had everyone outside for the day. Then the tiny woman took his hand for a moment and made certain she was loud enough to be heard.

  “Everyone get behind Albert here. Load up the transports! Try to get these back, if you can. It’s not the cost as much as that it hurts when people steal from me.” Then, patting him again, she got in her own little car and left.

  For his part, Albert made a point of taking the food unit down and then double checked everything to make certain he had all the magics with him. The last of the food remaining was passed out first, with more being made, to use up all of the trash, so nothing was left. It took longer, and a few people seemed to be getting antsy by the time he got on the lead Tam-car and slowly steered the large thing toward the city in the distance. The place wasn’t that big, but he wasn’t going to miss it or anything.

  There was no wall, and after the first person called out that they lived near their current location, all of the transport stopped. Everyone got out there, even though Albert had been willing to drive them further into the city. The narrow streets were wide enough for two wagons to pass, which wasn’t that bad. Instead, he got to stay where he was, men and women walking up to him, carrying the tiles that had the Tam-cars on them.

  “That’s seven… Um… You! You accidently forgot to give me the tile.” He pointed at the large man who was walking off with the thing. That got him to spin around, looking angry. It was odd, but he looked mildly familiar. Probably from the club, since that was the place where Al regularly saw hundreds of people a night.

  “You calling me a thief?” He seemed ready to fight over it, if that was the case.

  Albert was used to dealing with drunks though, so didn’t fall for it. Stupid questions didn't need answers.

  “The tile? You drove in and then placed it in your pocket? On the left-hand side.” He pointed, not able to see the outline of the thing.

  Everyone else had walked off, almost instantly, so there wasn’t a large crowd to there to see the spectacle. It also meant the man, who was at least a head taller than Al was, thought that trying to intimidate him might work.

  “You’re skinny as a stick, and I can break you like one. You think you can make me give it back? I used to be a ship’s guard, back in space fleet. I don’t have to take any crap off of the likes of you!”

  Albert, feeling annoyed and a bit scared, stood his ground. After all, Tam-cars weren’t free and the man was trying to steal from both him and Taman, the wizard that had come to help them.

  “Well, really, that depends. If you still have your space worthy shield, there isn’t a lot that I can do to you. On the other hand, I have mine, on me.” He turned it on with a tap near his throat. “That doesn’t make me a great fighter, true enough, but you won’t make it, running away on foot. Do you really want me chasing you home, screaming to all the world how you’re a thief? I’ll actually do it. I have a surprising lack of shame or embarrassment when it comes to making a fool of myself or others in public. In fact…”

  He pointed with his right accusation finger.

  “Thief! Thief! This man is stealing from the Wizard Taman Baker! Help! Thief!”

  No one came, though a few looked over at them. Rather than run, the big fellow just dug in his pocket and pulled the tile. Holding it, poised to flee on foot, or possibly fly away, if he had the right magic for it. Then he threw it down the street. Hard, into the distance. It made a nice clattering sound as it hit the paved road. Far enough away that it was impossible to see, of course.

  “Good luck finding it. You piece of shit.” Then he stormed off as if he were the aggrieved party.

  Thankfully the tile wasn’t that hard to find. The street was made of stone and not packed dirt, so the light green was easy to see and didn’t end up being buried or covered with dust. He cleaned it off as he walked back to the Tam-car he was driving that day. It was big and in three colors, at the moment. Those could change, but he hadn’t bothered. They had all come into being looking the same, being yellow, brown and a different shade of brown. They had to be made to grow though, which he undid, since it made turning around in the street possible. The craft he left the small city in was big enough for two people, and held a cuteness that the larger version lacked.

  As he left, feeling wired, tense and like he needed to drink something harder than water, he tried to figure out what he was supposed to be doing. It didn’t take him long, since his option pool was small at the moment. Glancing back at the floating case behind him, he nodded.

  “Get the housing together in Smiton, idiot. Then get these things back to the depot, before someone steals them.” Part of him had figured that everyone had been kidding about that part of things, for some reason. Too many had said the words, for it to not be more or less true. A wiser man would have seen that from the second attempt to warn him about the possibility.

  The incident with the large man bothered him, of course. As if he should have fought the fellow, instead of using a trick to get the craft back. Only, he didn't know how to fight at all. Not even the sort of tussling that small children did. After the accident and his healing, he’d been forbidden from that kind of play. Running and jumping, as well. His mother feeling that being left broken once was more than enough that way. It had cast a pall over his childhood. Fun was supposed to be a thing he found in very relaxed, not very active, activities.

  Singing had been mentioned. Many times. He had a decent voice, without the drive to do anything with it. That was the biggest issue in his life, of course. It didn’t take a genius to understand that he simply didn’t have the will left to really do much of anything at all. Not past what was coming in the next hours or possibly days. Even at that, most of the time he had to battle against a desire to just leave the world. To give up and let the hardship of being him be over.

  It was just really hard to do without being obvious about it. Shields could fail, but he didn’t have any way to make them do so.
Not if there was a real threat involved. Even being hit on the fire line wouldn’t have worked if Albert hadn’t been more than a bit suicidal. Part of him wanted to die. The rest didn’t love pain though, so after he was hit the magic had kicked on, responding to his fear of being uncomfortable. It was weak of him on a level that simply meant it was the truth.

  The shield was incapable of lying, after all.

  It took a while to find Smiton. He knew that it was about twelve miles away, and the general direction it was in, from the base that he’d taken down. From there he ended up following roads and backtracking several times before he got to the right place. It wasn’t large, or hadn’t been, when most of the buildings were standing. He counted, and saw that only a few places were left. Given that there had been about twenty of them to start with, that probably meant that there were around one to two hundred people that would need a place to stay.

  Instead of getting all the magical palaces out, Albert set up two of them. The first was sort of like a large, decently nice inn. It had individual rooms that would sleep four without it being a hardship for anyone. The inside was nice, but looked like wood, with bare walls and sturdy doors, instead of refined splendor. The second was smaller, looking like a plain square, done in boring gray. It seemed very official to him. Inside there was a single bed, a shower and bath, a tiny kitchen and it looked almost devoid of interest. There were some chairs and a table. All of them simple and unadorned.

  That was all. Really, he wanted to have his own place, without anyone feeling like he was cheating them. To that end, what they had, everyone else, would be a good bit nicer than his humble and rather drab place. On the front of the bigger place he made a sign appear, which said that it was emergency housing. On his little building was just his name. On the front of it, so that no one would think it was for them. It was selfish, but made sense to him.

  On the great side, Gary had already set up the transport box for them. Indeed, the first soldiers were coming through. He could tell who they were by the short haircuts and black uniforms. The first man that walked out of the box, just about when Albert walked over, bowed in his direction. Which made sense, being that he was the only one close to it.