Crystal Core

by P. S. Power

  It got a smile from her husband, as if she were playing, but seemed pretty real to Willum. Like she was willing to try and lock him away like that. She couldn’t do it, using any normal means, but that didn’t mean she might not order it done anyway.

  Worse, Taman moved in behind her, stepping to the side, so the smaller lady could be seen by everyone. Her face looked a bit hard as well. Matching her sister-in-law. Only without the foot tapping, which, thankfully, had stopped. That kind of thing got old, fast.

  “Exactly. Thank you, Alyssa. So, Cindy, I hear that you’re planning to take Willum away for a while? We can find someone else to take your messenger route if you need the time, I bet. Perhaps line walker Troy will do it?”

  He felt out of place, even in his own front room, given that it looked like the inside of a large tower made of black stone. The big table had been cleared and was taken down, to be replaced with soft chairs and smaller surfaces to use as work stations. Everyone in their little group was looking at him as he searched the room with his eyes.

  Only one of them was actually smiling however, which was Cin.

  “That might work. Or, we might just announce that he’s going on vacation and will take things later? Really, we can even tell everyone not to bring things in for a month, since he won’t be there to take them around. Sell it as us protecting whatever they have to send? There’s a real point there. I know that if I wanted to send something expensive or sensitive across realities, I’d rather hold on to it than have it sitting in the back of a storeroom for a month. Anyone could get at it then. I know that I’d want my secrets to be protected, if it were me.”

  There was a nod, from Tor.

  “That will probably work best, now that you mention it. It’s a one-man operation and everyone knows that to be true. Much of it is based on the quality of effort provided, as well as Willum’s personal discretion. People might not like it if someone else is doing the work, suddenly. Will you have enough coin, if you don’t work for a while though? I can give you some, to offset things.” The man seemed slightly embarrassed by the offer. The idea behind it wasn’t noble, however. He just realized that most people actually had to work, day to day, in order to survive.

  Ordering Will not to do that for a month could actually be a problem for him, that no one had thought about at all. It wasn’t as if he were being paid to be a spy. Yet, they’d ordered him not to do the part of his life that kept coin coming in. Tor was simply worried that he, and the others, had created a problem for him.

  Willum knew he was fine that way. He might not be vastly wealthy, in Noram, compared to Tor, who was known for his vast riches. It just didn’t matter to him. Especially since he pretty much didn’t need anything that way. In a pinch, he could make a magical device that would create gold, silver or gems for him out of dirt and rocks, so that part wasn’t a real issue. Plus, he was rich, already. It was just in different places and not there, specifically. In over fifteen worlds, he was probably wealthy enough that he’d never need to work again, even if he didn’t want to survive using magic at all.

  “That isn’t really an issue. Though it’s a bit strange, forcing me to go on holiday, isn’t it?”

  Rather than letting them lecture him about how his mind needed a break, or that they had the information they needed, which had been his part of things, being their only real spy, Alyssa just shook her head.

  “Taman put her foot down. She needs a break from torturing you, so you have to have a break, too. Sorry, but it’s just what we all decided.” She was being clever and a bit funny, but Taman looked nearly ready to cry for a moment over the words.

  Then she schooled her face, because causing a scene wasn’t going to help anything. Most of the people there, even in his own family, didn’t really know what his job was for the Ancients. The major powers of their world, as well. It was why they kept talking about his business taking messages around to other worlds. That and making magic as a hobby. Even though he was good enough now that he could have done either of those things for real, if he had to in order to make a living. They were just his cover. At least that was how he thought of them.

  Aunt Taman wasn’t supposed to be really torturing him, she was just teaching him magic. Which she truly had been, so there was that. It was the training for spy craft that had been hard for her. She didn’t know what Willum might face, so had tried to get him ready for some pretty horrible things. Hence the hardships she’d put him through. He wasn’t holding a grudge, since he’d survived it all. A lot of it had hurt and wasn’t fun, but it seemed that Taman was taking it a bit more to heart than he was.

  So, he waved at her.

  “Bah. Aunt Taman isn’t that hard of an instructor. Oh, a bit mean, if I don’t measure up, but at least five people have mentioned to me that many of the best teachers do that kind of thing, to push their students. I mean, I’ve learned, what? Six years of building in about three years? That doesn’t happen because someone held your hand and whispered sweet words into your ear, does it?” It had been less time for him, since a lot of that had been spent in worlds that simply moved slower, but there was a nod, from his tiny aunt.

  She managed a smile then. One that didn’t seem real, but would work well enough for the room.

  “That’s about right, time wise. A bit more than that. I really only have a few more things left to teach you. Then we can set you to making better food units and new transportation hubs. Ships and space stations as well. That and life shaping. That should only take about another year, at your current rate of learning. We can start on that, once you get back from having fun with your friends.”

  Tam sounded actually sweet, instead of mean and threatening over it all. That had been her demeanor for a while with him. Unpleasant and grumpy.

  There was a nod then, from Ambassador Mableton, since several others were hanging back, behind the little group there, seeking to talk to different people. None of those were him, either. That got him to smile, since he was far from the most important person in the room that evening. Yet, he’d still gotten to sit at the head of the table.

  His house, his rules, after all.

  Three Ysidril moved in, to speak with Cindy. At least he thought that would be the case. Elsa took his arm, pulling him away however, along with Prince Rik and Tom. Ambassador Neesa and Builder Erath’s father. One of the two males to hold that position. Tom looked at Neesa’s hand on his arm, but let his mouth open about halfway. A real smile for his people, but a small one.

  His voice was deep, but his Standard was a lot better than it had been the last time they’d spoken with each other.

  “Will Pine Tree! We need to set up a meeting with the formerly lost home world and the humans from the fleet, soon. Would you be available to attend that, as the human Ambassador? The Forten have been struggling to put a candidate forward, but they still respond too fearfully to us. Though, I must admit, they have been doing much better, in the last months. Several of their technical class have come forward to work with the Ysidril directly. They still fear, but there is no harmful touching, so we have managed new things that have not happened in the time we have been with them. It is a great improvement.”

  It was a lot to take in, all at once, but the answer was easy enough for him.

  “I’ll make time for it. I need to improve my Ysidril and learn any accents that might have come up for your people, since the separation.” He didn’t know who to get with for that exactly. The Ysidril would help, if he asked, but they kept themselves very busy, day to day.

  Still holding his right arm, Elsa made a soft sound. Then spoke in Ysidril.

  “It isn’t too hard to learn. I can drill you in it, or could, if I wasn’t going to be off in a different reality. I have a real job after all. I handle data for my people. It’s… well, different than how any of you do it. Using telepathy, as well as computers. Before you ask, it’s a mid-level thing, which makes me not important at all, back home. It pays the bills though, and isn’t that
hard to do. As it is, I need to get going soon. Believe it or not, my boss won’t accept that I was late, because I was off, trying to save all of reality from eternal torment.”

  Prince Rik, the botanist, one of the best the Ysidril had, let his mouth pop open a tiny bit. Then he bounced, but it was a happy and light thing. Showing that he was wearing magic to make himself lighter. All of his people were moving easily and had all night, which meant that had been taken care of, thankfully. They were a bit weak, for all they looked powerful on the outside. They had large enough muscles even, they just couldn’t do as much as a human that way.

  Rik hissed a bit, using Ysidril as well. He was much clearer in his own language.

  “That is not at issue. I was planning to come and aid the learning ones, who have no mentors. It is a different thing to do, working with many mentees, but we understand that your ways are different. I shall teach the little ones our language, as well as about plants. You can learn at the same time?”

  It wasn’t meant as a joke.

  “That sounds as an idea worthy of seeing done.” He felt stilted in the new language, and was corrected by Tom, hitting the errors instantly.

  The deep red and purple of his scales were a new pattern for the being.

  Which was still not enough to make it hard to tell who he was. Not to Willum. The being was simply distinctive. All of them were, once he spent some time with them. He repeated the line, getting it close enough that he wasn’t corrected again. It still wasn’t perfect. He could tell that part, without being told.

  Part of that was due to the shape of his mouth and throat. Looking at Elsa, he started to say that he needed to learn how to change shape. She cut him off though, switching back to English.

  “I have to hurry now. People at work will think I’m being weird if I show up as a Ysidril. Even if seeing things this way is interesting. The extra arms don’t hurt, either. Have you ever seen how they juggle?”

  That got him to tilt his head.

  “What, this isn’t your real form? I figured that it was. You’re very at ease in it.” He grinned at her, which got all four of her arms to spread instantly.

  “Mwa-ha! Acting! It isn’t that hard to learn, really. Not once you get the basic shape down. I should… Go and meet the other me, here. I really do need to get gone, quick. I can come and visit in a month or two? Set up a passing of information, now that we’re on good footing again. I can also pass word to the other side, our counterparts and see if they might just leave off trying to kill you for a bit. At least while your people try and build that distance from the difficulties you’ve been having. That may not last forever, even if they listen to me now. I don’t know what their plan is, but I can ask after it. They normally take our calls, at least. Then, killing me won’t help their plans at all.”

  He winced, not meaning to. It was just that he’d put that part out of his head for a while. Just figuring that they’d kill him or not.

  “That works for me, if it isn’t a hardship for you or your people? I have to admit, I don’t really get it. Why would they come after me at all?”

  Elsa touched his arm with a single three fingered blue hand.

  “Probably to kill off another part of your greater being. At a guess… They think that you’re one of the cores. Maybe even the heart core… Why they want to do that, I’m not certain. I can ask? They might want to tell you themselves, in that case. That whole thing where passing intelligence to the enemy isn’t a great idea all the time… You understand.”

  He did, actually. That Elsa had told them anything was kind of suspect. The thing there was that it both made sense and didn’t seem to harm her people at all. She’d probably left things out. For instance, their best plan to try and destroy everything. That the people trying to attack them didn’t have a workable idea was obviously correct.

  Unless she was simply playing with them all, in order to distract them from what would really work.

  That thought got him patted on the arm with a scale covered three fingered hand. The woman having obviously been reading his mind.

  “There we go. I was a bit worried you were just going to blindly accept what I was telling you all. It’s all correct, and might even work. In smaller ways it has before, so building distance is worth trying. This is kind of a big program that you’re working on here. Your people, I mean. I agree with them though. You need a vacation. Look how well it’s working already?” Then, as if it made any sense at all, she walked away, trundling a little bit, heading toward Sara, who was standing near Brian Yi, both sipping at drinks that seemed unfamiliar.

  It probably wasn’t coffee, though he knew what that was. Rich people drank it in Noram. Nobles at least did it. The IPB people did that, too. A lot more commonly, truth be told. It was served at every meal, used for its ability to chemically keep people awake.

  Really, he probably had this beverage down as well. They were just too far away from him to smell it. Given it was being drunk by a child, and there was beaten cream on the top… That meant it was warm chocolate. At least most likely. They had the food units in the kitchen and Brian knew how to use them, at the very least. If the girl didn’t, she needed to be gotten up to speed on that part of things. Her mentor was Tiera Baker after all. As the woman had pointed out, she’d invented the food devices. It only made sense for that to happen, considering everything.

  Willum didn’t stare or try to listen in to what Elsa was saying to Sara. He did notice that Erath was waved over, which made perfect sense as soon as he neared the other two. That hadn’t been called out, but they were all clearly the same being. They felt similar, at the very least.

  That left Will just standing for a bit. Not included in any groups, or approached for other reasons for a time. No one even asked after a bedroom they could use, even if it was clear that many of them needed to spend the night. Instead, even if it was late, Laurie and Douglas Baker both looked around, trying to get someone to pay attention to them and the group of seven brown clad students.

  Smiling, he walked over to them. He was the host, after all. That meant seeing to their comfort was, for the evening, his job.

  Laurie didn’t let him speak, going first.

  “Ah, Willum. We need to get the children to their beds, but don’t know where that is, exactly.” She spoke as if it might not exist yet.

  So, he nodded. The kids really did look dead on their feet.

  “For tonight you should all stay here. There’s the building to the back that can be changed to suit you all. Here let me show you? Normally you’ll all be in the barracks behind Ancient Sam Builder’s Palace. You can’t miss it. I can show you how to get there in the morning. Really, we might consider getting a transport hub for that location. The port here would have two of them, then, but it will let students traveling in for lessons get there directly, instead of having to run around half the port twice a day.” Not that kids didn’t need exercise.

  Getting the little ones settled didn’t take long, since they just needed rooms to sleep in. They were going to need food in the morning, which he had there, but not so much over at their port facility. Tamu had that for them though, he realized, thinking about it. They might have to walk outside, but no one was going to starve there, if they didn’t want to. Really, it was surprising that a lot of poor people hadn’t worked that out yet. Anyone living near a Tam-Unit would have access to things like that, if it ever became a problem for them. Food, clothing and even tools could be made by the magical woman in her blue box forms.

  Still, when he came back to the party, he waved to his Aunt, Taman. She was talking to Tor and Tiera, which meant she waved back. Expecting him to go to her, instead of the other way around.

  As if her being his mentor meant he was supposed to actually do what she wanted. That or she was just being lazy.

  Smiling, he moved over.

  “All right. I was going to beg you for some food units in private, but I suppose we can do it in front of the relatives. Now won’t
you feel small, if you don’t pony up and keep the little kids from starving to death? Their poor tiny stomachs aching all night long, as they shiver in the cold… Moaning and wishing they had even a crust of bread.” They wouldn’t be doing that, of course. Even if he had to learn to make the devices himself, and it took a few months.

  They had Tam-Unit, which was how they were getting food already.

  His tiny aunt, looking smaller than normal, next to the giants that were her siblings, rolled her eyes.

  “I don’t have any on me. You can pick some up on Mars, or possibly Harmony.”

  The words got a smile, from Tiera.

  “Oh, sure, except that we’re all demanding he not work right now. When you get things from those places, you’re expected to make it balance out with effort of your own. Here… I have a few on me. You’d be surprised how often people want them. True, that’s normally for their own use, not to feed orphans and street kids, but it works out for you. This time. Really, we should trade for it. What do you have that might be interesting to me? Hmm?” The moon white tiles were passed over instantly, regardless of what she was saying about the idea.

  Tor looked away, as if his sister, the Queen of the Moon, was being crude.

  For his part, Willum felt happy enough. He had the food units, after all. Thinking for a moment, he shrugged.

  “I have some very nice communications devices? They do a bit more than the old ones, but still tie into the Terry system. Let me show you?”

  He pulled his own, and pointed at the blue floating words on it.

  “If you notice the top of the calling list? The people that I contact the most show up first. If I press the little orange arrow, it will show the people that try to contact me most.” Which, interestingly enough, had Aunt Taman at the top, with Alice Orange listed just under that. The Ancient who ran Space Fleet hadn’t come to the Postern event that evening.