by P. S. Power
She had room three, it was on the first floor, making it room thirteen. She nearly traded off with one of the others, just because of the number, but no one here had that particular superstition, and she didn't want to start it as going around. Instead she took the room, and was a bit less than impressed when she got inside.
Speaking to herself, Gwen let her head hang for a bit.
"Two mets per night? I think we're being gouged." It wasn't a great place after all. Then, it was two mets for three people, each with their own room, and meals were included. Not that she was eating there. That was... Nearly a met per day right there though, if the food was decent. Then thirty cents or so per person for each day?
It was still high, but less than she'd been thinking.
The room had no particular scent at least, and while the bedspread was old and well worn, it was just faded from frequent washing, and not crispy with fluids that she didn't want to know the origin of, or anything disgusting like that. It was all she could do to arrange things properly. She carried her bags to the bath at the end of the hall, and showered, even though there was a very large and lovely tub there too. It was a giant thing, made of enamel and metal, with clawed feet on it, all in white. She had to stand in it, as the water power washed the flesh from her bones. It was hot though, and there was nice strong soap.
It took nearly an hour to wash, scrub, and repeat enough times for her to feel clean again. Part of that was simply the mustiness of travel that stuck in her mind, as well as the internal stink of fear and anger. Both of those were hers. She'd been so afraid, the whole time they were on the train. At any moment she expected an attack to come. For Carter to come up with some kind of magical weapon, or Sally to have gotten a message out, sending for rescue. Or for a monster to rip its way through the void to get at them.
Nothing had happened at all, and they hadn't even spoken very much, except to ask if they could use the pot in the corner of the room. That part had been embarrassing for them, but Gwen hadn't wanted them to have any chance to get away at all. She's barely gone to the restroom herself either. She and Beth took turns though, using the real facilities when they needed to. They weren't the prisoners after all.
Then, putting on her sleep wear, which was a nightgown, she walked back to her room, locked the door and turned the light off, one of the two Crin she had with her laying alongside her in the bed. It was a bit lumpy, but she hardly noticed that at all, sleeping until a soft knock came, as light peeked through the window.
Too early, really, since she'd wanted to sleep until she couldn't anymore, but she stood and spoke to the door, instead of just opening it. There was no peephole. She hadn't invented that yet.
"Who's there?" She made her voice light and pleasant sounding, in case it was someone she knew.
"Bethany. I've got our orders."
It sounded like her, except for the part where she was awake for the day already. That made Gwen slightly suspicious, but it wasn't a real thing. Beth was just better at sleeping in emergency situations than she was, and had actually gotten about eight hours a day on the train. Gwen had dozed a few times, but couldn't relax enough for it to really do the trick. That meant she was fuzzy and felt ready to stumble as soon as she took a step, but her buddy was probably a lot closer to fine.
Opening the door, she looked it too.
The witch.
She was perky, pretty and already made up for the day, and here it was... what? Gwen looked at the Detective and growled.
"Do you know what time it is?"
"Um, ten-thirty or there about?" There was no real response to the harshness of Gwen's words, so Beth was let in and the door closed behind her. Not locked, but they weren't really in a situation that called for that, were they? Not anymore.
"So, orders?"
"Well, as they are. We should be picked up in about an hour. James is coming for us, and has been driving all night to get here. The other option was waiting two days for the next train. The whole line has been disrupted, since the family has been grabbing all of the conspirators they can find. We still haven't worked up to the top, but we've gotten twenty-two of them. Fifteen alive. It's just a matter of questioning them all now, I bet. So far no one knows much though." She yawned, and covered it with a lightly patting hand. "So, it's back to Park Street for us. There's an issue there."
The tone was light, but Gwen stiffened. She couldn't imagine what the problem would be, but before she could say so, Beth grinned.
"It's really all your fault you know. First you go and save most of the world's leaders, then you invite them to a party. The King and The Marduk have already agreed to come, by the way. The Empress of the Chinoise has declined, but has made a counter invitation for you and the Vernors, after her health returns. Nothing out of that stuffed shirt from Europa though. I'm fine with that one, but the invitation went out I hear. There's more, I gather, but it seems that this is going to be something of an event."
Gwen nodded, surprised, but not really caring all that much, stifling her own yawn.
"Cool. Let me get dressed and slap on some make-up. Can you get Clara around? If she isn't already, I mean?"
"I woke her first. She mentioned something about being mildly hungry? We all skipped the meal here. I'm sure it's wonderful, normally, but the man rather planned something foul for our supper. I won't tell you what, since we should probably leave him alive, but I can't say that I'm going to be recommending the place to anyone."
Gwen didn't bother thinking about it. People could be sick bastards, from time to time. It was probably a lot worse than she knew too. At least she had Bethany to clue her in now. As long as they were together. Otherwise she'd just have to eat the crap, or semen, that she was fed, wouldn't she? It wasn't something that she wanted to dwell on, so she just waited for Beth to clear her room, changed into her last bit of clean clothing, which was a rather nice dress that she hadn't had occasion to wear yet, and painted her face carefully.
Then she pulled two mets and carried everything down to the lobby, to find a different man at the desk. This one was younger, being about twenty or so, and wore the same basic outfit as the man from the night before, but actually had a smile to go along with it.
"Ah! The guests. Did you sleep well Miss?" He seemed to actually mean it, in a professional way, if nothing else, so she nodded.
"I did, thank you. I was told it would be two mets?" She waited for him to spring the trap on her, and claim it was two each, but he didn't, just writing out a bill of sale for all three rooms and all the meals that they didn't have.
"Please come again!" The voice was so earnest that she sort of wished they'd come in to find this one, instead of the other desk clerk. Then, if that had happened, they probably would have gotten the old man as they were leaving, which would have ruined her day.
The others joined her, along with their own bags, and all of them were in dresses now. Beth having changed. She looked more businesslike than Gwen did. Professional and ready for the next case. Even Clara looked more ready to actually work than she did. It was a curse, being an heiress. She smiled at the thought and carried her things outside to wait. She was hungry too, but she didn't want to go inside anywhere, just in case James came while they were inside eating. They could grab some bread and cheese to eat on the road.
The wait could have been a long one, but for once it wasn't, and James pulled up in front of the place almost exactly at the same time they walked out.
"James!" She waved to him, but the man was busy operating the little white Lorrie, so he didn't answer, until the thing was safely stopped.
Hopping down, he took the bags, smiling.
"Miss Farris. I trust that your mission went well?" He looked tired, but not so much that he was about to fall over. His face was weathered from his work, since no one had really gotten the idea that Lorrie drivers could be out of the elements. The day was already warm and bright, and he was in a light shirt for him, rather than a full suit with a jacket and top h
at.
"Yes. James, this is Clara. She's my new maid. She's also going to be trying for the Chargers Union." Gwen left out anything about her past. She could tell James about that herself. Or not. "Do we need to recharge the crystal for the drive motivator yet?"
James was practical, if nothing else and nodded.
"I was going to see about that myself, Miss, but if we have a professional, that might be for the best. It would take me at least seven hours."
Bethany took over then, being a bossy Westmorland, that thought everyone in the world should be used to superhuman work levels. It was one of her charms, Gwen decided. It might be a lot to live up to, but it also showed a lot of faith in the people around her.
"I believe that Clara can do it in about an hour and a half. Shall we begin? She and I can stay here for that, while you and Gwen procure some coffee? Perhaps some rolls?"
Gwen looked at Clara, who seemed nervous, but smart enough to move into place where Beth was pointing, at the front of the vehicle. Part of that was pure awe though. The little Lorrie was sort of a big deal. Other people were looking at it too, and several drivers craned their necks around as they passed in their slow and giant delivery vehicles. Almost no one had their own, after all, and one like this was special. It was like someone had driven a Ferrari up and just left it on the street.
"On it. Let's try down here?" There seemed to be several shops at least. James walked along side of her, his eyes scanning the buildings, as if he were ready to fight. That was just him. He'd never mentioned it, but it was clear to her that he was her bodyguard, as well as driver. The man had worked for the Vernors for years too, watching their daughter. When she'd let him, which wasn't often. The thing there was that Gwen didn't really need a bodyguard in particular.
If anyone attacked her, they'd either be taken out very quickly, by her, or they'd be an overwhelming force that James wouldn't be a lot of help with. Not that the man wasn't hard, big and tough. Probably armed too, though she'd never seen him with more than a stick. It was just the nature of things in her world. It would be either a band of super-soldiers coming for her, magicians at least, or else it would be some two-bit petty criminal that should have realized that kidnapping her wasn't going to earn him a lot of ransom money anyway.
It didn't hurt to have extra eyes though, and if there were mashers about, he'd scare them off. Not that it would save them a beating. James wouldn't put up with things like that at all, Gwen was willing to bet.
They didn't rush, heading to nearly half a dozen little shops in order to get enough food to sustain them for the trip. It would take about six hours of riding, since they were about a hundred and fifteen miles away from Park Street. That would be boring, no doubt, but it was the nature of things. Apparently getting them back home wasn't enough of an emergency to warrant them getting teletransport spheres.
When they finally got back to the little Lorrie Clara was still hard at work, and Beth was watching her intently. The woman did take a flask of coffee however. It was really a ceramic jug with a stopper. Gwen had purchased eight of them, along with fresh fruit and some sweet rolls, which were tiny things that almost didn't have sugar in them. Without waiting, the coffee was passed to the one doing the actual work, and the new maid managed to sort of keep going while she drank it. It wasn't all that hot, Gwen realized, drinking from her own bottle.
Beth pointed at the large crystal.
"Focus. Don't lose it. You're doing very well."
It was pretty positive, really, coming from a Westmorland. It worked too, and the slow woman kept going, her eyes narrowing. Half an hour later, she was finished, and Beth checked the work for her. Then James did. It showed a high level of training, since that might be considered an insult by some people.
"Thank you, Miss Clara. Saved a lot of time. Let's get on the road, if that's the plan?" He looked at the other two, but then focused on her, since, she was, after all, the boss. Or at least the boss's daughter, after a fashion.
"Yeah, let's go."
Clara started to climb up on top, but Beth patted her shoulder.
"No, Clara, in here, with us. We have some food."
That wasn't the woman being slow, which Beth explained to her, by letting Clara know what the score was.
"The Vernor's servants generally don't ride up top, unless there's no space for them inside. They don't even make the Westmorlands do that."
There was a wide eyed look at Beth and then Clara sighed and nodded.
"They must be very nice people, if they let the likes of you and I ride with them like that. Of course I'll still be out on my rear when they find out what I am, but a ride is a ride. Thank you. Do you... I don't know if I'd like to work for your... Family. Maybe I could meet some and see?"
Bethany smiled sweetly.
"I think I can arrange that, if you'd like. In fact, I know a few people that would be very interested in meeting you, indeed." Then she went silent, as if trying to be mysterious on purpose.
Gwen just ate a banana and didn't ask who she meant at all.
Chapter sixteen
The trip was nicely boring, without any attacks, breakdowns or need to stop except for comfort. That being the case, they actually made good time and were back home inside five and a half hours instead of the projected six. That was good. Somewhere in the last year, Gwen had actually started to think of the giant and palatial estate as being home. Park Street. It was a funny name for the place, she knew. Even here people named their houses more peaceful and less industrial things for the most part. The Glades, Mount Carmen, things like that.
"Park Street is named after the tiny apartment that the Vernors first had, when they were starting out." She said this out loud, looking at Clara, who was clearly as baffled by what she was seeing beyond the iron fence as Gwen had been the first time she'd seen it. "They've moved up in the world a bit, but kept the name to remind them of where they'd started." Not that Robert hadn't inherited a vast fortune, he'd just used it all for business when they were getting things started.
There was no sound, but the woman finally nodded, staring out the window like a tourist, acting shocked when they were actually let inside. She looked ready to bolt too, as the Lorrie pulled into the circular driveway, and came around to let them out. They got out on their own, with an exhausted James moving to pass down the luggage, which had been tied to the top of the thing, in the rack there for it. The straps were made of leather, and had a thick look about them, meant to hold chests, not just a few small bags and packs. Clara had a chest, since she'd been moving. It had almost her entire life in it.
Gwen didn't know if she should be impressed or saddened by that fact.
"This way. Thanks James! Go, get some sleep. We've got this part." Or rather, the men running out to take their bags would have it. She let Winslow take her things, and Carlisle had Clara's, manhandling the large and heavy chest with ease. Beth's things were taken by Peter, the Westmorland that Gwen had claimed was working for her now. Apparently that had sort of worked, since here he was, waiting for them.
"Hey, everyone. This lady with us is Clara. She's currently my maid and also does charging work. If anyone intimates different you three get to take them out back and set them right." Not that anyone there would even think of saying something like that, but Pete nodded.
"Got it. Don't worry, Miss. Everyone here is ridiculously kind. I'm getting slow and fat already, just by being here. I don't know how you manage it, Bethany." All Westmorlands were on a first name basis. They sort of had to be, since all the Miss and Mr. Westmorlands would get confusing otherwise.
Beth just smiled. "We keep ourselves remarkably busy. I think you'll be learning that soon enough. Other than party planning what do you have in the works, Gwen?"
"Eh? Well, that unarmed combat training for Peter, as a test subject, and teletransport for myself. That and rifting." She said the words without meaning to, and both the Westmorlands winced, and Beth actually teared up.
"No. Tha
t isn't-" She sounded angry at first, but Gwen shrugged.
"It's the cost of getting you all free. Ferdinand wants something to replace you, and I know what to do, I think, but I need to learn how to do that first, so I can be certain. I know that it won't be fun, but it's part of what's needed, I think." If it wasn't she wouldn't bother learning how to do that at all. The fewer people in the world that had that information, the better, right?
It would be, in a literal sense, turning herself into a potential nuclear weapon. Also learning to make them. After a fashion, for a time, it would probably make her the most dangerous person on the planet. Not that anyone sane would want that for themselves. Especially since she was probably going to have to kill herself, after she managed to get everything worked out.
She couldn't leave that ditz Katherine in a position to ever know how to do that, after all. Maybe she could work out another way of doing things though? Get others to handle that part of things, and just draw up the plan itself? She looked at Bethany, and actually felt her presence, inside her mind. Reading her thoughts.
Her friend looked terrified for some reason, but Gwen winked, and pulled it off pretty well, she thought.
"But not today. We should get Clara set up first thing." That meant finding Mrs. Vernor. After all, trying to hide the woman's past from her felt wrong. Like a mistake.
It didn't take that long, since the lady herself tackled Gwen with a hug as soon as they got in the door. Bethany got one too, and Clara got a big smile.
"You have a new friend? Let's get her a room."
Clara bent her legs under her dress and looked nervous, as if it was the Queen in front of her, not Ethyl. Then, she looked a lot like a noblewoman, didn't she? Gwen could see it.
"This is Clara Samberg. I hired her on as my new maid." Everyone was standing right there, and she really didn't want to ambush Ethyl later with the information, so she just pretended it wasn't a shameful thing, and stared at the men when she spoke. "She used to be employed as a prostitute, but we're hiding that, so she can get a new start in life. Hence what I said earlier. She'd been set up to be a sacrifice, but we stopped that before it happened. Then she helped us bring the bad people in."