by Pam Uphoff
He felt the clumsy spell and diverted it as he turned off the main street uphill. Welcome home, Ajha!
"Hey look, Aaaajha! The family disgrace is close to home."
"Ewmo! Dear Cousin! Haven't you found a job yet? Yucky, Orc, still here?" No one else wants you idiots either? Ajha managed to not say it out loud.
The spells they tossed his direction seemed a lot weaker than he remembered. Age, experience and Directorate training, no doubt. Ewmo and his pals had just stagnated, here, while he'd learned to fight. "No? Still living off Granddada's pride in your test scores? I'd have thought he'd expect you to do something with all that potential." Ewmo was a high Withione, but compared to Idre or Wink? Flimsy. Ukky and Orqu were theoretically strong Neartuones. They were nothing compared to Egto.
"Beats being a Directorate slave. I thought you were stuck on a primitive World, trying to get through the dirt to dip your wick. Or is that long hair a sign you've gone the other way?"
It was enough to make one believe the people who said the non-prophet genes mattered too. He ignored his cousins of various degrees, and they failed to find the enthusiasm to chase after him.
His mother's house showed crisp, clean, straight lines, but was made of the local wood and blended into the mostly natural trees of her allotment. The door still opened to his thumbprint, and the house computer addressed him by name.
"The Mistress is out right now. She hopes to see you for dinner at sunset."
"I will be here." He walked down to his old room, a buffer between the Mistress' territory and domicile of the occasional Servaone. One forbid any member of their family ever hire a Multitude. "Any live servants, right now?"
"No. Mistress dismissed the last one a month ago, and hasn't run out of clothing yet."
Ajha chuckled. "Home. Nothing else like it." Tucked out of the way, or not, he had a great view and a huge bathroom, and he was ready to soak for an hour until sunset. He managed to get seriously pruney before he got out and tried to find an acceptable hair style. He uneasily told himself his hair was not thinning on top, nor receding, and finally brushed it straight back. His old clothes were a bit tight. He told himself it was muscle and went in search of his mother. He found her in the company of two aunts, two uncles and his maternal grandfather. He split the difference between his first impulse to hug her, and her formally offered hand, by broadcasting delight and a deliberate leak of :: She looks so young! :: as he took her hand in both of his.
"Mother, Kiaj Withione, I am honored to see you again. Aunt Zoum, Aunt Tuyq, Uncle Afla, Uncle Elwy." He clicked his heels properly and bowed. "Ahvi who is With the One. I greet you, Grandfather."
"Ajha. And I am pleased to greet you. You have gone far for your class, shaming me in my treatment of you. You are getting good reports from some interesting sources."
Plenty of praise, but still that reference to his classification. He smiled smoothly. "Thank you Grandfather. You have always inspired me to make my own way in the World, and that has aided me in maximizing my actual performance. Perhaps you should try that method on some of my cousins."
Uncle Elwy snorted. "Ewmo said he'd seen you, and you were pretty high nosed."
"I was surprised to see Ewmo here. I'd have thought he'd be pursuing advanced studies, or perhaps already in business or government."
"Ewmo graduated last year." Aunt Zoum stiffened. "He's looking for the right position."
"And I'm sure he'll find it soon. Elections are coming up, so I'm sure lots of opportunities are unfolding. I'm afraid I haven't been in a position to follow politics. I picked up the names from the news on the way here, but half of them meant nothing to me. Who do you favor?"
His mother looked grateful for the change to a merely inflammable subject and they all brought him up to date over dinner. Over-salted, over-cooked, over-decorated and skimpy. No wonder his clothes didn't fit, the way he'd been eating for the last year and a half.
His new found ability to shrug off all the tricks and traps of his cousins cheered him immensely over the next few days, and he was very nearly sorry to leave. And no matter what his girl cousins said, his hair was not receding.
***
The Info Team was ignored as the commander talked with the ambassador.
"We'll keep all the basic training down in Discordia for now. We'll hustle the Amma's picked guard through first, and return them to Fascia. Then as the regulars adapt, we'll assign them to Fascia too. Start building them up for the strike at Verona. That should go quickly enough. Then, when the rumors have reached the other nations, we'll see if they'll join voluntarily." The officer shrugged. He glowed with unmistakable Withione power. "If they won't join voluntarily, we'll take them by force."
The ambassador nodded. "I've got people in all the bureaus, now, and we're talking about banking practices. The Amma's a bit resistant to changing his taxing procedures, that'll take more work. The other nations are actually better organized and have a higher GDP with lower taxes. And less corruption."
"Vexing." The officer nodded. "But it makes Auralia easier for us to manipulate as we slide people in while we modernize their fiscal policies."
"True." The ambassador shrugged. "Not that any of these countries are exactly well run, by our standards. The gold rush in the Kingdom of the West is likely to be a problem."
"That's why it'll probably be the last one we incorporate. We'll make sure there aren't any alliances they can buy, no matter how much gold they have. As we take the other countries, we'll be sure to seal the borders, so soldiers can't slip away to the kingdom."
The ambassador nodded. "Although given the rampant jealousies, taking it first would do as well. No one would rescue them."
The train eased into motion. The gates did not handle long vehicles well, but with sufficiently thin and flexible links, they could get a lot of material through in a short time span. The power to open and hold open a cross-dimensional gate was large, and expensive. Ajha looked out to watch the complex stream by the window. Then they plunged through the bright flash of the gate and spiraled up to ground level at the back of the compound, turning as gravity and friction slowed the train without stressing the linkage, and finally stopped it.
Now that the rail was finished, the construction of the main building could get underway. It would be nice to be out of the hotel. Especially nice to not have to watch the Action Team's out of control behavior. He made himself useful as a guide for the financial experts the Ambassador had brought along. With the treaty signed, they would start moving into positions of future power—assistants to the Amma's minister of finance.
Tomorrow Ajha'd probably be arranging cargo ships to take the Military personnel and equipment down to Discordia. Then they'd head for the Kingdom of the West. He hunched his shoulders uncomfortably, feeling like he ought to be in five places at once. They needed to constantly monitor the political balance here. Pax was especially troubling, as he was already assisting the Auralians on raids into the Kingdom of the West. If they weren't careful, they could be blind-sided by a war with a polity they hadn't studied yet. Pax's provocations were one of the more outstanding uncontrolled factors. Their lack of knowledge about the local magic was another.
The ambassador may have felt the same. They were immediately ordered to Karista, the capital of the Kingdom of the West, to study the native magic where it was rumored to be more common.
Chapter Twenty-two
22 Hija 1363 / fall 1361 Local
Karista, capital city of the Kingdom of the West, Target World Forty-two
Ajha savored the clean cold ocean air and watched the approaching shore. It had been easy to get used to the Auralian dialect, half English, half Spanish with an Arabic word tossed in now and then. Since the Multitude's language was a mixture of Arabic, Spanish and English in diminishing quantities the new mix had been easy to pick up. But the Kingdom of the West had a different mix in its roots, and they'd spent the voyage practicing what was claimed to be the local accent in the northern
dialect, which was nearly all English derived. It made him homesick. His Mother refused to speak anything but English in her home. Keeping to the correct accent had proven to be difficult. Softening the final r, contracting "the" into the article, and generally running words together.
Idre and Egto climbed the ladder up from the accommodations below. Egto was still arguing. ". . . we could have been visiting Auralians. They have regular trade and plenty of people move back and forth. No need to practice this One bedamned accent."
Ajha ignored the grousing and watched the crew as they trimmed the sails and the helmsman turned them more directly into the bay. He hoped that they would finally find more evidence of magic, up here. The local agent, a deep mole who'd been here since shortly after the discovery had reported a magical battle between the church of Ba’al and “witches.” The Princess had confirmed it through a connection she'd established, and then there was the battle with the Earth forces. Lots of solid reports of extant magic.
They had a good shot at finding the local magic, finding out about how it was inherited, how it was taught, how it controlled, or was controlled by, the government. Ajha took a deep breath of the crisp air. "This is going to be an excellent assignment."
Egto snorted. "Well, it seems we'll have good weather, at least. Beyond that it's hard to say."
Idre nodded. "I've heard this Agent is . . . opinionated and not likely to suffer fools."
"Then we'd best not act like fools. We'll do literature and newsprint searches, and if needed, travel t'find t'local magic centahs." Ajha grinned. "Hopefully lots of travel."
"Down, Puppy. Pretend to be serious and studious." Egto frowned reprovingly.
Idre nodded grimly. "Remember to not make assumptions about the natives. T'natives. Stay tucked up and shielded."
Ajha nodded agreement. They'd be out here alone, without backup apart from, perhaps, the Post Head. Antagonizing him would not be a good idea.
"I've heard t'girls are pretty loose, up here." Wink sounded hopeful.
The bay was the largest on this coast, and the City of Karista, capital of the Kingdom, was located on its southeastern reaches. He could see the fishing boats, and all the islands spotted along both shores. Their ship cleared a large clanging buoy and heeled to starboard. The City came into view, climbing up hills from the long wharves that lined the shore.
The first mate dropped down to the main deck and nodded politely to them. "See the two tallest hills? That's the Council Hall on the left and Royal Palace on the right." He ran an approving eye over the crew, both on deck and in the rigging, taking in sail. The Auralian ship had been purchased by the early exploration teams, improved and updated. It was manned by natives they considered reliable. And, Ajha had noted, very competent sailors. "We'll be docking in just a few minutes, if you'd like to get your gear."
Ajha took the hint to get out of his way, and dropped down the ladder. He was already packed, and fidgeted a bit before gathering up his two leather satchels and heading back up. The Garavette was just coasting up to the wharf and stopped at the kiss of the cushioning sacks that hung down to protect her sides. Ropes were tossed and tied off. The Customs man hustled over the plank, stamped their papers perfunctorily and wished them a pleasant visit, before turning to the waiting merchants with the cargoes to be tallied.
Ajha staggered on the solid wharf and tried to not show it. A wiry old man snorted his amusement. "Hope you lot can walk two miles. I'm not paying for a wagon. I could buy a horse for what these robbers charge to haul freight." The faint glow he'd allowed to show disappeared, and he turned and walked away, so closed up Ajha wouldn't have known he was there without visual evidence.
The ground steadied, or their brains remembered how to deal with unmoving ground, and they kept up handily as the old man wound his way through wagons and horses to a decrepit green warehouse two streets uphill from the wharves.
The warehouse contained nothing but a few crates, and a huge bale of wool. A desk and two chairs by the door served as an office. There were rooms in the loft. Above the front door, windows looking out over the bay, and a small telescope. No doubt the Post Head had a good grasp on what and how much was coming and going.
"Throw your stuff in the last three rooms, I need to check for more news. The science team detected something this morning that might have been a low powered scrambled signal."
"Signal? The Earthers?"
"Who else? We need to locate all their bases. They have a 'Native Affairs' team, here. Just pathetic, although some might find them amusing. I have some locals who keep track of them for me." He climbed the stairs into an open section that hosted a couch, two chairs, a table with a single chair, a nook for cooking and a counter top of wooden planks.
"We probably need a team to keep an eye on their gate. It's difficult, because of the remoteness. No native towns in Asia to hide in." Idre backed away as the Post Head stopped and grabbed the rough countertop.
The counter top lifted and tilted backwards, displaying a modern communication setup. He tapped a red light, and the Princess's voice sounded. "Communications decoded. A report from a diplomatic mission to their superior. Location is most probably in the Karista area, now. They are moving to the Cove Islands. All Teams are to consider means of detecting Earthers in their locations, and cleaning them out if found. We have decided to eliminate their presence everywhere outside their immediate gate location. Post head Usse, if you can find them before they leave, a slow acting poison so they have left your region might be the best method, but I leave that to your discretion. Your anonymity is more important than their elimination."
Usse grinned fiercely. "Now things will get interesting. If the Earther's leave immediately, they'll be safe. Unless one stays behind. Last year they had both government and corporate people here. I'll have to be subtle. But By Pure Chance it would be satisfying to beat them openly and kick them off our Target World."
Ajha wrinkled his nose. "The intercepts were clear that the Army interpreted the local magic as Oner tech. Surely they passed that on to the diplomats and the company employees? Don't they co-operate?" Ajha felt the depth of his own inexperience yawning beneath his feet. He'd studied a lot about Earth, but he was ignorant of something this basic.
The Post Head snorted. "They’re human. Most likely they co-operate except when they're competing. I'd bet the diplomats got snobby with the Army, and now the Army's getting its revenge by not telling them critical information. Otherwise they'd have better encryption, and microsqueal it, so we'd be less likely to detect it."
Idre nodded. "So we don't know if they are watching for us, or not."
Usse shook his head. "Act as if they are aware of us. Personally, I'm surprised they didn't just send in the full strength of the army this year. But as late as it's getting, I suspect nothing will happen until next spring. They have some sort of land route through gaps in the ice cap, but it can't possibly be useable during the winter."
Ajha rubbed his nose. "Do you have contacts in the government here? If not, we could probably initiate some while we're in town."
Usse tipped his head and studied Ajha with a predatory glitter in his eyes. "Moles don't do anything so noticeable as have contacts in government. I gossip with people who know people in government. What do you have in mind?"
"I've heard they have a University here. Their version. I was wondering about taking classes there. Or at a minimum, hanging about and acting like a student. I expect all the nobles and younger members of the royal family attend. Do you have a list of the noble families and the king's relatives?"
"Humph. That's actually fairly practical. Long term, certainly, and through meeting the students' fathers, possibly short term as well. Information Teams must be getting better. But you'll have to start at the City College, which is for the commoners, as they count them here.” The old man snickered, probably at their expressions. Oners being accounted commoners! “Do well enough and you can be admitted to the University next year. I'll ask the
Princess if I may keep you long enough for that. In the mean time, I've kept files of all the instances of magic I've heard or read about. Most of it involves Ba'al, a rather unsavory god, whose church was outlawed about six years ago."
"I wondered about that. Ba'al is an ancient name for a variety of heretic gods, four or five thousand years ago. Practically a generic name for 'Evil God.' It's not on the list of the Thirteen Gods these people believe in." Idre frowned.
Usse curled a lip and opened the door of the second room. "Have a good read." He waved them in and walked away.
Idre walked in and stopped. Egto shouldered past and stopped as well. Ajha nudged Idre forward, then stared at all the boxes.
Idre sighed. "Well, they're dated, and labeled Ba'al and Other. Usse's been here for thirty years? By the, er, Pure Chance. Let's start with the last ten years, shall we? How much information is in each category . . . umm, mostly Ba'al. Egto, you go for other, and Wink, the kid and I will sort out Ba'al."
Even with just a third of the information under consideration, it was a daunting task. Usse subscribed to a large number of newspapers, both foreign and domestic.
Ajha took a break after an hour, and wandered down the hall to eye the kitchen, and the stores of food. Beans. Rice. Clear glass jars of vegetables.
"I hope you lot can deal with primary foods. No reformulators here." Usse looked grimly amused. "You should take a stroll to the market. Three streets south, then ten blocks west. I trust you have local coinage?"
"Yes, we went to a money changer before we left Fascia. Perhaps I should shop for dinner?" Ajha wondered suddenly what this man would eat, not to mention his companions' tastes. They'd complained a bit about some of the meals they'd gotten in Fascia, and tended to stick to the breads and vegetables. And that had been stuff they hadn't seen until it was cooked and served. He'd tried primitive cooking in scouts . . .