by P. S. Power
The tall, somewhat thin man smiled.
“I see! So regular people can communicate with others? That’s a good idea. Making it large like this so that no one walks off with them. I should have thought of that myself, but I’m not a builder so…” He tapped the name for the port, which looked to be inside the wall. It didn’t seem like anything had happened, though Dareg felt it work.
David furrowed his brow.
“Did I do it wrong?”
“Nope. Exactly correct, in fact. Touch the star there again?” The wall behind them opened up, letting them out, into the the port at the Capital, which got a rewarding, wide eyed, grunt from the man in brown next to him.
“I… So. Not a communications device?”
“Not so much. That is a good idea. Do you mind if I use that? We should get back though. Is anyone else coming in today?”
It took less time to set up to go back, and the whole thing had only been a few moments all told. That meant they were back before the other person that was coming in to work that day, Willet, from the afternoon classes got there.
Dare saw him coming from a distance, and smiled, waving as he worked his way into the practice square. They’d practiced together before, after all. The boy was a bit heavy, and a little lax in making it to classes all the time, hence being there on his off day to make up time.
“Hello! I was just asking who we were going to be practicing with. I think we should take turns beating Derring here, don’t you? Full force? I’ll work at one fifteenth speed.” It sounded like he was joking, which got Willet to grin a bit.
“All right. I’m in for a beating either way. You can go first, while I do stones and pells? That way I can stall, and you can tire him out for me.”
Before he could say that sounded like a plan to him, David tackled him, from behind, and threw him to the ground. Hard.
It felt like he was floating slowly in that general direction, as far as he was concerned. Moving like he was in thick water, he was still able to tuck into a ball, his feet under him, and then start to expand, his arm going between the other man’s legs, as he picked him up in return. It took work to get that done, and seemed to take a while, but even as Derring grunted in pain, the man managed to hit Dare on the right cheek. It was a short cross, but done well considering he hadn’t had much time to make it all happen.
That arm, the one on that side, was in use, so there was no way for him to block. That was a great thing to remember, for the future. It would probably work out if an attack had just been missed as well. It took time to recover form things like that.
The fight was a lot more even this time, even though he moved a bit slower than David was doing. Not a lot, but it was a nice even flow. The gaps between things were nearly gone however, for both of them. He did a bit better that way, given everything, but it was really pretty close. They kept going for a long time, with Dare getting hit slightly more often than David was.
The other man didn’t have as much time to think about it all, but the skill difference was showing a lot. Finally, after a time that was too hard for Dareg to follow, Willet came over and called out.
“Break!”
Then, wisely, he went for David without hesitation. That didn’t go as well, or last as long, but both of them were doing better than he had. Then he worked in with Willet. After that was done the others healed, though he didn’t need to himself, already having finished doing that, so he went and had one of his drinks. It was a bit warm, but tasted fine enough, if a little thick for a liquid. Shaking it first helped a bit.
Then David drilled them, having them practice the same holds, locks and throws on the other, over and over, for several hours. They just worked. It was incredibly boring, but he didn’t complain, or try to do anything else, just fixing his mind, staying attentive, and learning all he could.
When they were done, David clapped.
“All right, Willet. I want you to go into that box, and see if you can work out how to use it. If you can, meet us back here in… Call it five minutes?” There was a smile on his lips, but Dareg got it. If they were going to put the things out, they had to be accessible to anyone wanting to use it. The things were big enough for about eight cozy people to use at once and wouldn’t activate unless the other side was cleared already, so it should be safe enough, Dare guessed.
He was a bit worried, but Willet, whatever else he was, took the challenge pretty well, and was back in the time limit, smiling a bit manically.
“I… Just went into a box and ended up at the Capital Port? That’s handy, isn’t it?” He was working hard to not seem impressed, which got Dare to smile back at him. It was kind of a noble thing. Acting like even new things weren’t that impressive. As if they’d already seen it all.
“Right. We can only use them to go to places that we’ve been, so still need ships, but for day trips it should help a bit. I’ll try to get a few more set up in different places soon. I…” It would be a bit boring of him, but if he played it right, he could get things set up in several key locations before he had to meet with Wendra.
Though the sun was nearly over head already, meaning it was noon in Printer. Time for them to stop for the day, but also only about ten back in the Capital. That meant running however, since being late to a first date was about as bad as he could imagine being with Wendra.
On the great side, he could use the boxes to come back, which would be faster. The first trip for the day was to each port, setting up a box, and other Tyler’s for each. They, like the Tam-Units, were only one person, so he didn’t have to explain things each time, just turn a few of them on. It was a bit risky, but for once he managed to get into Tellerand, diving at the ground from space so fast that no one would notice he was there. There was no Tyler for that location however, since no Tam-units had been set in place. Their god might not like that, or so the thought went.
The last place he did was Soam, which did have Tam-Units, but was also in a very green forest, that had strange plants. People saw him that time, but when he waved they simply smiled and did it back. What they thought of him vanishing from inside a red box, he didn’t know. No one immediately followed him back, which didn’t mean they weren’t going to other places already.
The location for the thing on Harmony was simple enough, since he placed it next to the magic shop. It was a magical device after all, so it made sense to him. Doing that got his Aunt, Patricia, to come out and stare at him.
“And this is…?” She gestured, in case he didn’t understand what she meant.
“Part of the new transportation system. Can you get away for a moment?”
She gave him a sly look, as if he were planning to ask her to bed, instead of show her how to use the new thing. Even if that was probably a bit out of bounds for her to assume. Not that she hadn’t hinted at that kind of thing before. It was hard to tell if she just liked to flirt, or might be serious. They weren’t related by blood, so either worked for him, or might, eventually.
“Sure? How long will you need me for?”
“Five minutes? Maybe ten?”
That got her to make a face, but she covered well enough then stuck her head into her shop and called out.
“You three have this for the rest of the day?”
A rather flat Austran voice called back, seeming slightly annoyed. It was a man, from the tone.
“Or the next six months? This isn’t exactly hard.”
Dare smiled at her then, and nodded, then brushed against her as he stuck his own head in.
“How about one month? Can you handle things for that long? I mean for real?”
There was a laugh, but the man didn’t say no.
Chapter three
Patricia, thankfully, didn’t need him to hold her hand, though she did insist on following him to Timon’s palace for some reason. Worse, he couldn’t even tell her no, or ask her not to do it, since it was, literally, her home. That made it all a bit harder for him. Worse, as they moved around the Capi
tal, she got in touch with the King, just using her communications device as they used the low flying feature on their shields.
Which meant that the man asked them both to come to luncheon.
Dareg didn’t want to tell the King no, in particular, but also didn’t want to lose his plans for the afternoon.
“Um… I have a date? With Wendra, and I don’t know that she’d be impressed if I just left her to visit with you. Unless this is important? Then, well, emergencies have to come first.” He felt a bit bad, saying that, but the King laughed, and shook his head.
“Far be it from me to stress you that way, Prince Dareg. Would the evening meal be better for you?”
It was, even though it was a bit clear to him that King Richard wasn’t all that fond of the idea of him turning down the invitation like that.
“Yes? I think that Alyssa and Tor are planning on bothering you and Queen Constance, about wedding details? I promised to be around for that starting at six. I…” What explanation he had, or could have made up, faltered, the King sighing a bit.
Then there was a nod.
“It’s needed. If you could both attend then? If that suits, Patricia?”
“Oh, that sounds fun! I’ll be there. We need to talk. Smythe might want to be there as well? If he’s available.”
That got a grunt from the man on the communications device, which seemed strange, until Smythe leaned in, smiling. He looked to be about nineteen or so, but was, if Dareg hadn’t been lied to, closer to eighty.
“I’d love to meet with you, Patricia. Yes, let’s do that? At six this afternoon?”
It seemed like that was going to be fine, even if Dareg didn’t particularly love the idea himself for some reason. Probably because the way Patricia had said his name had that hint of him being told on. Reported for some breach or mistake, even though he couldn’t see what that would be. Except of course, he could. The new transportation system. Before, people would have to get on a ship in order to go new places. Now, for several hours, a lot of people could have simply walked up to his red boxes, and gotten to other lands, or even the Moon. Instantly, more or less.
There was no provision for gaining coin from it either. Not that it couldn’t be done. Just placing a guard or two with a coin container outside the doors would do the trick. If he could think of that inside a few seconds, then anyone probably could. The rest of the trip was taken in silence, with his Aunt not speaking until they were nearly to the front of the walled palace. It was kept smaller than what Tor had, but still big enough for several hundred people to live in without sharing a room with anyone they didn’t want to.
“Um, well… I guess I should just ask…” The woman went silent, getting him to look at her, and try to pick up what she was going for, if not trying to get him in trouble with King Richard and Smythe.
Examining her, he tried to think through it all, without reading her field too much. She was an Ancient. One that ran a magic shop, but that didn’t get you in to see the King that easily, he was willing to bet. So, she had some kind of connection there, most likely. From that he was able to work out that she was probably after something fairly large from him, given all of that. If it was small, like a party invitation, or even asking him to bed, she’d have done it already and not pretended to be building up to it like she was. That only left the kind of thing that was big enough she feared he might actually say no, strange enough that he could do it and not be so insulting that he might not be willing to do it. Dareg simply didn’t have much that she didn’t already. There was no way he wasn’t inviting her to the wedding, so it wasn’t about that.
“You want your own private travel network?” It was a guess, but he didn’t feel that shocked when she smiled and sighed gently.
“Yes! Exactly that. I need to be able to come and go without being seen. Uh… So I can get to my secret meetings? You know, lovers and what not?” There was no sense of her trying to needle him over the idea of lovers, which meant that wasn’t the real case at all. That part was simply the deflection for whatever her real issue was. Which made sense. No one would care if she were seeing a few other people in her own social circle, including her husband. At least in theory.
That meant she had something more in mind. Probably dealing with either a criminal situation, or some kind of work for the King. Dareg had already uncovered part of a secret military force. Patricia hadn’t come up in connection to that however. That meant she most likely had to do with another thing entirely. Being the King’s lover was possible, since the man had taken her call easily enough, but he also took Dare’s so far. The man hadn’t even hinted at the idea that he needed to pay him back with sweet alone time or anything. So far.
“So… Some kind of spy network? I suppose we could set that up. I’ll need to make a few changes, or it would just tie in to the current system. I suppose I need to get one for Queen Tiera, too?”
Instead of asking him not to, she just nodded at him, and put a firm hand on his back as she opened the front door.
“Good idea. Great, actually. Maybe even one for your new friends from the fleets. Just keep the things small, so that we don’t have to worry about an army coming through at us. Ooohhh. Do you think these things would work if they were on a ship?”
It was part of the initial design work, so as they walked in, he nodded. Patricia was still touching him, which meant that Wendra went wide eyed when she saw them coming in. She’d been near the door, waiting.
Dareg smiled and moved over to her, giving her a small hug.
“Wendra! Aunt Patricia was just about to scold me for telling King Richard that I’d rather spend the day with you than him. It’s true though, and I think he took the news rather well, after he made that sour face about it. I have to go to the palace at six though. I know that you mentioned having luncheon here, but would you like to go do something else? I was thinking that we could go to Afrak if you like? You’ve never been, have you?”
The girl, who was a few years older than Dare was, smiled at him and rolled her eyes. Those were blue and rather pretty. Really, they looked a lot like Patricia’s did. Wendra did, over all. Enough that if someone had claimed they were sisters, no one would have argued against the idea. It was, really, close enough that it probably hadn’t been done on accident.
Finally, Dareg just nodded.
“Right. Tor did the work on Wendra, and knows you, so he probably shaped her to look like you on purpose. I have to admit, it’s a great appearance to have, for a woman.”
That got a soft denial from his date for the afternoon, and slightly wide eyes from his aunt.
She nodded though, and pursed her lips a bit.
“Oh… I… Guess that might be. It’s a good bit more than a passing resemblance and that kind of thing doesn’t really happen in real life does it? Not just by mistake. Well… Hopefully you think I’m cute, Wendra?”
The girl smiled about it all, and changed the subject rather well, given everything.
“So, what’s this now? You were back talking the King and telling him about how wonderful I am?”
Dareg shook his head.
“Back talk? No. I just told him I had a date with you, when he asked me over for luncheon. Anyone would have done the same, right Patricia?”
His aunt shook her head then, the curls that framed her face moving a little as she did it. Then she moved a bit further into the space, and waved them to the side. There was a sitting room over to the right. At least he could see white and gold furnishings in that direction.
“That way. I’ll go get something to drink for you both. Unless you’re planning to run off immediately? That might work. I love your family, Wendra, but your mother might not let you go if she gets her eyes on Dareg first.” There was no explanation to go along with that, but Dare would have been fine staying there as well.
At least that seemed like it would be a fine enough thing until a serving girl walked by the room. She was dressed in a plain dress, and what seemed to be a
n apron over it. Like kitchen help might have on, Dare thought. When she glanced over she smiled, and came over to where they were all standing, smiling hugely.
Then the serving lady who was a bit long faced, but not that old, squealed a bit.
“Wendra! I didn’t know you were coming to visit! How? I didn’t think that the ships came from Printer to here like that…” She glanced at Dareg, and smiled, but pretended not to realize who he was. Or, if she actually got the idea, she was covering it very well.
Dareg recalled, briefly, the last time they’d met. It was vivid, but he turned his mind away from it, after a few moments. He didn’t need to relive the memory after all. He recognized the woman as Stara. They’d only met once, but she’d managed to do some rather interesting things with him at the time. Mainly with her mouth.
Which, in noble society was actually fine. That in mind, he tried to pretend along with her and just smile, like he would have if he’d passed her on the street.
She didn’t actually spend much time on him, giving Patricia a hug as well, since that was how all serving people acted. It was probably a sign that his Aunt was actually a good person, he realized.
“Stara! I’m just in for the afternoon. Testing the new transportation system. Dare was just about to run out of here with your sister.”
She tried to push them back, toward the door, but the noise had several other people out to see what was going on. Including an older seeming lady, who was about five-five or so, and dressed like a rather top end house servant. Her clothing was magical, of course. Much like Stara’s was. Actually, they all had that on. It wasn’t uncommon, on Harmony. In Noram it was probably a sign of incredible wealth, or influence.
Just to get the clothing from Harmony, the only place that had made that kind of thing for a long time, to Earth probably meant something very special had been arranged by Timon or Aunt Patricia for their people. Now, of course, that kind of thing could be arranged with a simple and easy trip to the magic shop, that would take no more than a half day, even if the people there had to walk to the port and back. Thanks to his new system.