by P. S. Power
She freed a hand carefully and tapped her disguise amulet, which let her real face show instantly. She was much prettier this way, though thinner than she'd been on the ship.
"Starved, beaten and broken. Not raped, but shat on and used to catch most of the bodily fluids guardsmen could manage throwing into a ten foot deep hole. Count Rodriguez." The words were hard and clipped, clearly angry about the whole thing. That was pretty normal. She probably would be for the rest of her life.
Timon was and he barely even knew her. She kept going then, gesturing to him with a single hand, fingers closed.
"This is Timon Baker. Tor's brother. No word on Tor. Tim here brought in a team to extract me. This gets out to no one, but they were Royal Guards. King Richard wanted me to tell you that, so you'd know he was taking care of this himself and not to declare war. Not yet. There's a plot to remove him from the throne. You and Maria are on the list of people he feels he can trust however."
That got the large man to set Petra down. With a little distance Timon could easily see the family resemblance at least. The older woman moved in for a hug as well. From what was said it seemed that she was Petra Ward, Conserina third or so. That explained most of the situation then.
"We are? You wouldn't have thought that would be the case, given..."
Timon nodded, which caught attention he wasn't trying to call for, instead of going silent he shared his opinion on the matter, since the giant was staring at him.
"You and your Countess both swore to him under Truth amulet. Really everyone at the party last night had to check out in order to get in. I tried to question one of the Royal Guard about it, but the man might as well have been a stone wall on the topic. I'll be back through here in a few days after making some visits and getting Petra settled where she's going."
That, the destination he had in mind wasn't going to pass his lips, but as expected there was some fuss in the matter. Petra just shook her head and wouldn't mention the location either.
"If you don't know, you can't let it slip. I wouldn't have told you this much, except that I was asked to make sure we didn't go to war before it was time. On the good side Morgan told "Ushal" that Timon here has hired him on as one of the elite Fast Craft Pilots." She turned to Tim and waved at him a little. "Will he be working out of the Capital? He didn't know."
"No... Actually it would be just as good if he could work from Warden. Would you all mind if I sent instructions for him here? That way I can use the device at Tor's house to pass the information, plus, that way he can live here and not get in trouble with his wife." Which was just as important as having a pilot after all, making sure he had a chance at a happy home life.
For some reason Maria clapped as if this was a present for her personally, and the Count seemed just as happy about it if in a more subdued and adult fashion.
"Oh! How wonderful, we can use the Fast Transport service all the time then! It will make visiting ever so much easier. Also, we can let people know that they can call on us here, which might get a few more people visiting again. It's been slow for a while now. Commit treason once and suddenly no one wants to be associated with you."
She looked around for a second and smiled, turning it on Timon.
"I almost forgot to pay you! Marvin, we owe Countier Baker forty gold I believe. For my and Collette's passage here. It was like traveling in a dream. There was even fine dining while we traveled, without the need to stop. Even a wake up service." She grinned about that part, her blue eyes happy.
Count Ward tilted his head and nodded hugely.
"Forty gold? That's reasonable for two passages from the Capital. Let me get that for you." He left without saying more and returned as Petra was being cosseted by her family a little, who were trying to insist that she not leave them again. Possibly ever.
A black velvet sack was placed in his right hand by the Count, "thank you for your services. All of them. If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know."
Timon took out seventeen of the coins, which he counted carefully, making Maria stiffen, since counting it would have been an insult and she seemed pretty sensitive to slights. Then he tossed the rest of it to Petra. That just got shocked looks from everyone except the Count, who seemed to find it totally normal for some reason.
"Travel funds. Call it an advance on your pay. I suggest we do what Dorgal Sorvee recommended and purchase some fresh goods to take with us for trade. No one else uses gold."
That earned a smile from Petra and a slight gasp from Maria.
"Where would you be going that they don't use gold?"
Collette came to the door just in time to hear it too, but her face didn't show any surprise at all.
Tim fought to keep his own face still. It was an inconvenient question. Except he had an actual answer, which he decided to simply share.
"Well, this trip is covering everyplace except Tellerand and the Antarctic. I should do those too soon, but it will have to wait, since I have appointments later in the week to see about. None of those places uses gold that I know of."
It was the truth after all and if he purchased goods carefully in the market no one would be able to tell where he was going at all. He shrugged then.
"So the most likely place for us to be going is actually the Antarctic. I've been to Tellerand and it isn't nearly as oppressive as you'd think, but I don't have the contacts there for a real pleasure trip yet. The average people there don't pray all the time or act like you should either, just the priests. There's so much to do. I'll be seeing to your trip to Soam on this voyage however."
That should lead anyone listening slightly astray. He'd just announced that anyone looking for Petra Ward was going to have to search the entire world. If there was a way of doing better than that Timon decided to learn it... Of course she had a ship, so just going out to sea would work too. Even getting the fresh food could work for that, since it would be useful at sea. His eyes nearly rolled on their own when he realized it. They could be hiding her literally anyplace on the entire globe.
They left as soon as "Ushal" was ready, picking up Dorgal on the way out and flying the craft directly to the market. Driving it actually, low to the ground and slow, since the outdoor stalls weren't that far away. It took an hour, and they let the merchant haggle for them, since it was his business and he seemed to enjoy it. Timon ended up spending three gold on the whole load of goods, mainly fresh fruit, but a few leather goods as well, which were all hand crafted. Woven belts and some straw hats to keep the sun off.
The back looked like a cargo bin by the time they were finished, but then all he had to do was find Morgan and deliver his Fast Craft.
"Remember to call Abby in Ford and make sure she has what she needs. The Wards have said you can use their communications device, so do. We'll work out a deal for their time or something. Right now, when in doubt... give people a discount. It's better to give things away than ruffle feathers."
The man nodded, "I can do that. Thank you. Things like this don't come along often."
"Thank you. Be on the lookout for a few more pilots too. I have three more ships right now and I'll be seeing to getting more. We'll probably put a cap on the service, say about ten to twenty craft, so we don't out compete the regular transport service."
Then finally, at just after noon local time they were able to get under way. It would be a long flight, but only about six hours. They might end up having to sleep in the craft, he warned them, since it could take a while to get their officials to let them go on shore. He hadn't actually gotten to do that the last time they were there. If it didn't work he'd have to try getting Petra a place in Afrak. In Austra she'd be able to speak the language, if with an accent, which made it preferable to his mind. She'd stand out less for one thing.
He still hadn't eaten, so risked having a sandwich that Dorgal made for him, out of the lunch offerings. They had plenty with them, though he'd still forgotten to bring water, which was an oversight on his part. Luckily,
Glaren, genius that she was, had packed two bottles of juice as well. He had to be careful not to drink too much of it, since they couldn't stop to go to the restroom over the ocean. Or, they could, but not in mixed company. That made him hope that the officials wouldn't take too long to notice them when they came in.
It took longer than it should have, since continent or not, Austra had been missed by a few hundred miles. It was already night when they reached it, so he made the Craft glow brightly, so no one would think they were sneaking in. It was a nice powder blue color that would have matched the sky, if it were day light, but was about fifty times shinier. The whole ocean around them lit up as they hovered right over the water, moving carefully toward the shore. Then, about a hundred yards from the main pier they stopped, just waiting for someone to notice them.
That part wasn't going to be hard, he didn't think, since at least fifty people were watching them, a few waving. That could be taken as an invitation, he decided, so he worked his way toward the group slowly, no more than a few miles per hour and stopped about fifty feet away, looking up at the people he turned the craft to the right, so they could open the side hatch and call out. Or hear them if there was a chant about how they needed to go home and leave them alone.
There wasn't.
"Ahoy the boat!" This was yelled by a man that was wearing an all white jumpsuit. Almost everyone was wearing something like that, if in a different color, but that one held something in his hands. A board of some kind, that was also white. Just about the correct size to write on.
"Hello!" Timon made a point of being the one to call back, since no one would be overly intimidated by him. Ushal looked like small cities should fear her, but he was just a little boy. Totally harmless. It was even true, so he added a little wave to it, standing in the doorway. "We're from Noram. Come to visit. Can we land on your docks? I don't know what the protocol for this is, but that would be easiest, I think."
Before, they'd boarded with a search team. They didn't seem to have one of those here however.
"Why not?" The call came back, sounding pleasant enough. "Clear a space for the boat!"
It was the work of a few moments, even going very slowly, so no one would get scared, to land on the fake stone pier, leaving the craft hovering a foot over it, so that nothing would accidentally be damaged. He also dimmed the craft and matched the color to sunlight. It made it easier to see.
Hopping out, gestured for the others to stay on board, in case these people turned on him. He had a shield, but it was just possible the others didn't. If she'd had one on her Petra wouldn't have been taken prisoner in the first place and Dorgal was just a merchant. A friend of his brother's, but that had sounded a little new, so maybe he wouldn't have a shield worth over a thousand gold on him.
"Hello! I'm Timon Baker. Come with a few of my friends to visit my Uncle? Denno Brown. We have a cargo of goods from Warden in Noram, mainly fresh fruit, but some hand crafts too. We're here to set up the fast transportation system, in case anyone here wants to travel to other places, for business or vacation." There was nothing else to say about it really, not that he wanted to be in every Austran home.
Brown had explained that to him, how the people pointing small boxes at him were taking his image and more often than not either sharing it with others for free on a system that everyone used, or selling it to a service that would do basically the same thing. There were a half dozen tiny boxes doing that now he thought, so he repeated himself, then formed a door in the back and unloaded some of the cargo for people to look at. The others helped with that, but they didn't know about the special boxes the Austrans had, so he whispered to them both, hoping they'd get it.
"Smile and be friendly. Everyone in Austra is seeing this." Not provably, but they couldn't afford to take chances with it.
"This is Merchant Dorgal Sorvee. He's an important man back home, so anyone looking to open up trade with Noram should definitely seek him out. The lady with us is Weapons Master Ushal. My tutor."
No one questioned any of that, or did anything more aggressive than observe the produce, not even touching any of it. At first he thought they might not be used to the strange fruits and vegetables, so didn't know what to think, until one man, dressed in a workmanlike brown stepped forward and pointed to a banana that was a little green.
"How many credits for one of those?" He sounded almost a little shy about it, if that translated correctly, a tiny box in his hand, held out tentatively.
That was a good question, since there was no way to translate "a copper for a bunch" that he knew of. Plus the man had only asked for one. Timon got a ripe one off another bunch and handed it to the man. He tried to hand the little box to Timon, who understood enough to know he wasn't trading it, but wanted him to deduct an amount from a tally on it somehow. That had come up in conversation with Brown, thankfully.
"No, no, this is a gift for you. Please, everyone, we have more than enough for everyone to try one if they want." That got the crowd to go still for a time, until a woman, also dressed in white, came from the back.
"Free?" Her tone was highly skeptical.
Because, he remembered, Austrans were highly commercial, and used to paying for everything. Timon nodded however and passed one to her as well.
"Yes, you see, we don't have an exchange rate yet, so until we do that we can't actually sell anything. The treaty won't let us trade magic for technology, but produce and raw goods are fair game I believe. Plus services, and entertainments. So please take one as a gift from me today."
She did, snatching it from his fingers as if he was going to grab her up in trade, eating it on the spot. She figured out how to open it quickly enough, the star tattoo on her cheek causing Dorgal to stare a little bit. The woman didn't spit it out at least, smiling and nodding to everyone else.
"It's very good. Almost like ice cream, only warm." She was looking at a larger set of boxes being held by people that had letters on their jumpsuits, one of them boldly stepping forward to take a banana for himself. He was a good looking fellow for an Austran, his skin a uniform tan that wasn't real, but reminded Tim of Count Ward.
"This is a piece of highly expensive produce from Noram, delivered as a free sample here on the Victoria docks this evening, as part of the new super-sonic air system being developed by the Revered One." The fruit was held up as he stared at a man holding a box with a glass lens pointed at him. It was bigger than the others but still only about the size of both Timon's hands put together. "Do we have an estimated time of arrival for Brown?"
The gentleman was holding his finger to his right ear, clearly listening to someone over a communications device. It was impressive to see. The ones they had were much bigger after all.
"Yes... In just a few moments Denorian Brown will be here, to welcome these fine representatives from Noram. While we wait, could you answer a few questions?" The man clearly moved toward Dorgal, who suddenly put on a professional smile.
"Certainly. I'm Dorgal Sorvee of the Sorvee Merchant House of Noram. We're always looking for ways to increase peaceful trade, including with other lands. This Craft and the entire fast transportation business, is owned by this man here, Timon Baker. Countier Timon Baker." It was clear that the man was desperately trying to get them to not ignore Tim's rank, even though his age was clearly confusing the issue.
Dorgal looked like they did, more or less. They were all about his size, the women shorter of course, but he wasn't the tallest man in the crowd at all. The Austran man talking to them was only an inch shorter for instance. To their minds that meant he was probably in charge. If it had been Noram they would have asked Ushal questions first, since her size kind of gave away noble birth.
Almost as if amused the man held a small silver piece down for Timon to talk in to, looking a little patronizing for a few seconds until he grabbed his ear and suddenly looked surprised.
"Sir.. Are you related to the Tor? His last name is also Baker, isn't it?" The man sounded a little awkw
ard suddenly, as if the voice talking to him was making it hard to speak himself.
"My older brother. Don't be too impressed, he has a lot of siblings."
They were impressed anyway, which didn't do a lot for Timon's ego. This wasn't about Tor, but to these people it seemed that nothing he did would be able to match that single relationship. He'd felt it a bit at home, of course, especially in the Capital. There though a lot of the people he'd been meeting were Tor's personal friends, so it made sense for them to put them in the same box. This was worse, because these people just wanted him to go on about someone else's secrets and home life.
A strange low conveyance pulled up, a black device that had wheels like a real carriage only fatter, but no horses, like the one that they'd ridden in to the party the night before. When it pulled up Brown stepped out of the back, dressed in a full suit of clothing, all in his signature color, with four large, but not huge, men and women in tan jumpsuits surrounding him. They had weapons in their hands, and faced outward, moving when Denno did, until he was standing alongside them all.
"Timon! You've decided to come and visit? How wonderful. Can you stay long? I know that a lot of people are going to want to meet you. Happy Birthday, by the way. Are you fourteen already?" It wasn't a mistake that he was asking, since that was the age of consent in Noram, and people might just be willing to take a shot at getting him into bed if it was legal there. This was so that they'd know not to bother.
"Twelve. Thanks for remembering. Anyway, we brought some produce and hand crafts, then remembered that we don't have a real exchange rate or mechanism. Who's in charge of that here?"
It was, it turned out, something called the financial board, which had actually been working on it for a while, but hadn't come up with a workable system yet. It was harder than it sounded like, since gold was worth a lot more in buying power in Austra than Noram and they didn't want to unbalance the world's economy that much. Timon shrugged, since it made sense to him what they should do.