The Gates of Troy (Lopez Time Book 3)

by Phillip S. Power

  “I’ll do that. Stay over here, then, and try to work out how to be useful.”

  They both took cleaning gear, without speaking about it. Then Troy hurried to the other space, next door to the left and quickly tidied it up. It was mainly empty, so it wasn’t hard to make happen at all. Just as he was finishing up, Zack came in, through the node.

  “Yay! You actually showed up. Early and everything. I don’t even have to sweep now. Perfect. What did you do with your pet god?”

  Troy shook his head, even if Zack wasn’t really being mean about the idea.

  “Kind. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be. He’s working the other part of your operation right now. That means you’re paying him for it. Just regular rates, unless he’s extra spiffy at it. If you mistreat him… Well, that would be stupid. If a former god is willing to be your pal, then for cripes sake invite him to the good parties, you know?”

  The idea left him feeling slightly manic, if only on a deep level.

  Zack winked at him.

  “I got that one, actually. Any word from Tarsus?”

  “Nothing yet. I need to go and see about that. Really, I should call him again, right now. I’d say I was worried but I don’t know him well enough for that kind of thing. When do we need to start?”

  Zack didn’t even pretend to look at his watch. There was no sense of hesitation, either.

  “Fifteen minutes. We have a slightly more complex schedule today. Nothing you can’t handle but things over-lap more. It will allow us to put more people through in a shorter time period. If any gods come in, try to get them to wait until we’re done for the day? They seem like a patient bunch.”

  The spooky thing was, Zack really seemed to mean it, as if that were a real option.

  The work itself wasn’t really much harder than the day before. There really was a difference in how the bridges were opened and held. For the most part, he only ever did five at a time but he had to drop and rebuild one or two of them almost constantly. That way people would be able to move from where they were, to where they needed to go with a minimum waiting time. They were servicing twenty Earth side locations that day, and about two thousand people, in a four-hour time period.

  The turn arounds were tight but they had about one to three hundred people in the mall constantly, during that time. People shopped even, as well as ate food. It meant that, when the work was finished for the day and he and Zack finally went to visit with the folks on the other side of the sacred owl door, the book store was trashed. Not harmed really but there were piles of books all over the place, including the floor. Not one or two, either. People had looked at things, then been called back to leave, so had abandoned their would-be purchases in order not to be stuck there.

  There were three Alede running the counter. Constantly, instead of getting with new friends in the side rooms. Even then, since the activity had attracted more people to the store. Two more were using the side rooms, having sex. It was, he had to think, most of the people from Pretty Plus. The Alede embassy there at Westfield. It meant that the entire rest of the shop was being kept up by Kind, who seemed to be working away at a quick speed. Not super human but he didn't stop or pause for long at all.

  There was a glance at Zack but he looked directly at Troy.

  “I was called on to aid in the food area, so this portion got out of hand. I can have this done inside a few hours? Then I’ll need to scrub the entire place again. Both sides… Is that a good use of my time?” He actually seemed to be asking.

  “Yes. That’s really great, actually. Make sure you take some time for yourself though, too. Have sex or read some of the books. I need to leave for a bit, to go learn how to change people, using magic. I can do it a bit, already. At least I sort of have, once. That has to count. Which reminds me, I need to get with some people. I kind of got caught up in my own things and forgot to do that part for a few days.”

  Kind kept working, shelving books at a very nice pace.

  “I’ll take care of things here then. When do I need to be finished by?”

  Zack fielded that one, at least.

  “Whenever works for you. I can get you home, back to Troy’s in Lincoln, when you need. Or you can stay here, or go and visit other places. Really, you should head out with Troy soon and hit some of the other worlds. Maybe hang out in the void for a while, to learn how to do that? That’s the plan, right?”

  It was, so far.

  “Yep. I need to get the other students around and to work out a schedule for that. I feel like I’m running constantly now.”

  There was a subtle nod, from Zack, who patted him on the upper arm.

  “I hear that. Just remember, you have all the time you need. If nothing else you can hang out in the void for centuries to figure things out and just think. I don’t really do that, myself. My power works differently than yours does. That sounds useful, really.” He stopped then screwed his mouth up. “Um… hint, hint?”

  Then he walked away, back toward the café.

  There was no screaming from that direction, just the sound of work being done, rapidly. Troy figured that meant that Kind was good enough to be of help, even to the staff there. Which was kind of impressive. Palma was known for tossing people out, if they didn't work fast enough, or weren’t a master chef in the first fifteen minutes of their time there. The rumor was that there had been some rather fierce beatings over the whole thing.

  “I’ll try to be back in a few hours. If not, then head home? I don’t have any cash on me right now or I’d give you some. Um...”

  “That won’t be a problem. I’ll be fine. Thank you for looking out for me. I keep waiting for you to try to trick me or something, even knowing that isn’t in your plans. Still, it’s interesting, just seeing this new world that has been built. I could just sit and watch it for years, I bet.”

  Looking at the man, Troy forced a huge smile. So far it hadn’t been that hard, having him around. It would be, later, he had to guess. About the time he met back up with his little brother. The one that had locked him away for several thousand years. Even if he was being great with everyone else that part of things would probably have to be addressed.

  Hopefully the world wouldn’t be destroyed in the fight over that. Unfortunately, keeping that bit from happening was probably his job. As unfair as it sounded. They were brothers, so should be able to get along, more or less. Troy did with Julio, after all.

  Thinking of him got a head shake. The guy wasn’t exactly close to him. Troy hadn’t even seen him in over a decade. Or talked on the phone…

  Which couldn’t be right. He tried to hunt the source of that thought down, but was distracted after a moment. He had real things to do and his little brother was going to be fine. The kid always was, after all.

  Cheating a bit, since there was a natural node right there, not sixty feet from where he was standing, Troy waved goodbye and moved at the same time. What Zack had mentioned was a good idea, after a fashion. He could, once he knew how to do something, go and practice it mentally in the void between worlds. That would give him hundreds or even thousands of years to get good at things. It wasn’t perfect of course. There were no distractions there or anything, for instance. Still, it would let him get the basics and then make sure he had those down really well, before trying anything too complex on a person.

  If the people he needed to help him would do it at all.

  Troy came out into the rather pristine smelling world, inside a red hut. It looked almost exactly like it was made using computer graphics, rather than energy at all. When he focused on it, the whole thing felt like it was… nothing. Instead of being made of a vast amount of magical energy. It was, he thought, just an idea. One that was so powerful that the concept had taken on a sort of physical reality.

  Touching the blue star by the back wall, since that would let him out, he muttered a bit, to himself.

  “I needs to learns me how to do that.”

  The location itself wasn�
�t familiar to him, since Troy had tried to find the nearest node to a specific person. Dumas Thomson. The noble kid who had helped him learn Standard when he’d been there before for a few days. That had been his goal but he could feel that Taman was there as well, even if it wasn’t her home. That space was well away, to the South.

  He walked out in a city. It was a very tan place, though the rooves that could be seen were colorful. Mainly done up in red clay tile but some blue, green and yellow could be seen. The walls were either white or light tan as a rule there. In the distance, not too far away, a line of water about twenty feet in diameter, flowed in the air. It was perfectly clear, and glowed a bit but he could smell what it was made of. In places water was being taken from it for different functions. At least lines flowed from it, also making their way through the air as if gravity was only a good idea, not a law.

  The sense of bodies was to his left, behind the box. There was a wall around the place but it was only about eight feet tall. There was also an iron gate, that was higher, the bars showing that inside the courtyard was a lot of greenery. Some of that poked out over the top, looking like lemon trees. There was also a nice home inside, which was blue, large and had a lot of windows.

  The men on guard duty saw him walking toward them. That didn’t seem to be a good thing, in their world. At least they stiffened and looked hard. As if they were going to tell him to get lost. He didn't really have time for that, however.

  “Hela!” Troy spoke in Standard, since that was what they did there. He used the polite form of it, being that was all he knew, so far. “I’m Troy Lopez, from a different world. Might I meet with Dumas Thomson, if he’s in?” He could feel him inside but being rude wasn’t really going to help anything. Not considering he’d come looking for favors and introductions.

  Interestingly, the men in brown and blue both relaxed a lot. It was visible, and seemed real or at least really well practiced.

  “Countier Thomson is in, if he’s not ill disposed. We could send for him? We don’t wish to be unwelcoming but the numbers coming here have increased of late and not all of those that have visited have been…” The fellow, who was a bit older seeming, looking like he was pushing sixty or so, struggled with how to say what he wanted.

  From behind him, a very large man spoke. It wasn’t anyone that Troy knew.

  “I think that Lars is trying to suggest that not all of them have been as polite as you seem to be. I don’t think they meant ill. Different places simply have strange rules at times.” The man, who was better looking than Troy, as well as younger, bowed. “I’m Tim Baker.”

  That got a bow back, since that seemed to be the rule there. If anyone bent in half, you did it too.

  “Troy Lopez. From a different reality? I’m here to… Really, I need to learn how to magically alter people. It’s for an assignment. Kind of a school thing?”

  He figured that wasn’t going to make any sense at all but the man grinned at him.

  “Right! Taman mentioned you to me then. I think that I’m the one you need for that? I do the lessons for that kind of thing. How long do you have to learn it?”

  Troy shrugged.

  “Both a few hours and thousands of years. I get more time here than in my world, so… I need to be back in a day, to see to things? I can also go into the nothing that rests between and practice there. So, if it takes a million years, I can do it and get back in time.” It didn’t work exactly at that level, which wasn’t the point. Just that he had the time, if he could get the basics down.

  He was clapped on the back, which was a little close considering they didn't know each other. Plus, the guy was so good looking he was left feeling a bit like he wanted to do things with him, which wasn’t welcome at the moment. Troy smiled winningly anyway. Appearances needed to be kept, after all.

  The giant fellow moved him along then, toward the closed gate.

  “We should hurry then? This might take a while.”

  Chapter fourteen

  If Taman Baker had been weirdly interested in teaching him a new language, for no real reason that Troy could determine, Tim Baker was almost insane about showing him how to make alterations to living things. That meant schooling him in magic first. After all, the systems were different. If he wanted to use their tricks, he had to have a place to start.

  The lecture was interesting to Troy, though not that hard to follow. Tim sounded calm, while being interested in the process, at the same time. It made it easier to bother paying attention. Not that there would be a real problem that way.

  “It starts with the idea. The thing you want to focus on, without words, or mental pictures. You can do this already, yes?” The man, looking too good, being too tall, seemed to be joking about that bit. As if it was a foreign concept that would be both new to him and hard to do.

  Troy, sitting on a very nice cream-colored love seat inside the cool mansion, nodded.

  “Yes. It’s how I learned to do magic back home. It’s a bit different but also needed for line walking, so I can do that portion pretty well.”

  Looking slightly surprised, the fellow went on.

  “Oh? Then this might be easier than I figured it would be. I’d kind of thought that I’d tell you how much this takes to get done and you’d run off, screaming about insanity and the unfairness of the world. Even most wizards or mages can’t be bothered to learn how to reshape life itself. It… Well, it isn’t easy but the big part really is knowing what you want to do and then holding that sense over the other person long enough that it takes root inside their being. Then hand off a healing amulet and in a few hours, they’ll be what you have chosen for them. As long as you don’t kill them by making the wrong alteration.”

  The big difference, was that the magic used there didn’t use any actual magic. It worked totally from the concepts, which were pressed into physical objects using sheer willpower, to hold the spells in place. That part was called building, which was as good of a name for it as anything.

  Tim’s method took a lot longer to get done. That said, they weren’t a weak people that way. They did the work to make things happen, on what were often huge scales. They just didn’t use a lot of energy to get it done. It was the kind of thing that he needed to invest time in learning. As a vampire, he was always going to be a bit limited that way. Oh, he could get a bit of power from the world around him but the skill that he was being shown could get super massive effects that he’d never be able to do, the traditional way.

  After a while, Timon went over the whole thing again.

  “You need to learn the feeling of what you want first. Then hold the concept for at least three to six hours over the subject. After that, they’ll grow into their new form. A healing amulet will speed that up by several tens of thousands of times. Pretty much anything can be done but making sure that two or more things don’t conflict is a good idea. If the heart stops, say, or their spine stops sending signals, then the person will die. That will cut into your client base fast.”

  “I wasn’t planning to do it professionally. You know, just for some friends of mine. That kind of thing? I can already do cosmetic things, or managed it once. That wasn’t too different. It also didn’t give Mable super powers. She’s dead already, so doesn’t really need much that way. Like me?”

  “Like Ambassador Benson?”

  “Exactly. She’s a friend of mine. Before you ask, no, not all of the vampires from my world know each other. There aren’t a lot of us but still…”

  “Understood. I get that with the wizards, here. Many of them have the same last name I do. Now… Do you think you can do this? We should start with magic. If I show you something simple, can you build one for me, from memory? Using the new method I told you of? Here, let me… This isn’t too complex. It’s just a magical house. A palace, actually. Can you sense it and hold the entire thing in mind?” it was so clear that the man was trying to trick him into doing it that Troy nearly called him on the idea. The only thing with it was that the m
an was also clearly asking him to do the thing. There was a prank in the words, but Troy didn’t get it in any overt fashion.

  The new project, the test meant to see if he got the basics or not, took a lot of focus. A thing Troy could actually manage, thanks to his previous training. Holding that feeling without letting it shift, over a plain gray rock that was provided by the butler, Tyler, the whole thing took nearly six hours.

  When it was done, Timon having left him sitting there, another rock was passed off to him instantly.

  “Do it again. This time I want something smaller. Adaptable as this one is but just big enough for children to play in.”

  That was more fun to make, since he got to add in a little bit of newness to it. For instance, he added music to the whole thing. That was all carnival type instrumentals. There were also a selection of light shows, including images that would play on a screen. They were simple cartoon characters, and total copyright violations but he was in a different reality, so being sued wasn’t a huge problem for him at the moment.

  When that was finished, about eight hours in, Tim walked into the space with a boy. He was about fifteen or so. That meant he was going to be too old to really appreciate the new play house. His face was warped, from a birth defect. It made his nose distorted and potato like. Lumpy. He also had a port wine stain on the side of his face. From the look of things there was bump on his back as well. That was about the size and shape of a football.

  “This is Karal.”

  There was nothing else said then. No suggestion that he fix the guy’s life for him or anything like that at all. Instead, Tim took the second rock, and tapped the glowing word on the outside of it. That just said, playhouse. The thing that appeared then was about ten inches high. That grew, sitting on the floor, until it was large enough for a small person to crawl around in.