Asunder (The Infected: Ripped to Shreds Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  It only made sense, though he wasn’t thinking about it consciously yet.

  “Not that we should do a lot of that. The possible cross contamination is really a big deal. I get that one. So, you should do it yourself, Tor? I’ll set that up, so you can land at the base without NORAD flipping out and getting ready to hit you with missiles each time.”

  She was about to explain that idea, but it was kind of clear that they all understood it. After all, the missile system was why you weren’t allowed to fly over the Capital there. They’d shoot you down if you tried. It wasn’t a magical thing either, being very close to what they had going on at home. It was a bit of a surprise to learn that, but still the truth.

  Tor bowed to her, then Dumas, since he was the one in charge of that part of things.

  “Try to get me a few days warning first, if possible? I have classes to teach.”

  “I will, Uncle. If I’m to hold that position?” He glanced at his brother, then his mother and as an afterthought, at the King. Not Timon or Tor.

  He was too intimidated by both of them. Not that it would stop him from doing his duty that way. Clemance felt a bit aggrieved, since he felt that he should be the one to do that kind of thing, being older. He also realized that Dumas was a capable and brilliant person, who honestly could handle that task. Possibly better than he could. So he held his tongue and tried to focus on feeling pride for his little brother.

  It was nearly sweet.

  The King looked at the young boy, then over at Tor.

  “I don’t have a right to order you to do anything, Ancient. Of course.” Then the man, very wisely, didn’t say anything else, trusting Tor so completely it was kind of gay. As in the man sort of wanted to have sex with the younger fellow. Not enough to ruin their friendship over, thankfully. That would be annoying for Cindy, after all.

  Tor nodded again.

  “It will be done, to your orders, Dumas.” Then, carefully, he didn't look over at Clemance at all, his face being held still.

  The words over his head were kind of rough, though. It was clear that the younger boy being selected over him for the message and clerk duties was an insult. Probably not one meant that way by Cindy. At least he couldn’t sense any malice in it.

  She glanced at the King and bowed then.

  “Clem is going to be a squire and knows how to fly his own ship? Would it be possible for him to come and instruct our pilots on that? It will mean staying longer, and be an actual job for a while there. Possibly being kidnapped and held prisoner by my people as well, to keep his skills there. I’ll try to keep him close, but he’ll need to be prepared to escape, if it comes up.” Looking across the room she locked eyes with Willum. “You can have him ready for that? In… Call it a month, my time?” That would be over eight months, which also wasn’t a lot of time, but would be something to do and give Clemance a chance to actually do something that sounded brave. Even if she’d make certain he didn’t have that hard of a time of it.

  Terlee went wide eyed, but Taman put a hand out toward her and spoke very seriously.

  “They really aren’t that bad. I’m certain that if Cindy has him held against his will, there will be a good lesson in it. Willum can make certain that he has the abilities he will need for that in time. It will require hard training from both of you, however. That is as you intend?”

  The really attractive lady seemed kind of thrilled over the idea, since she’d been stuck as to how they were going to keep Will in training while they lined up how to infiltrate other realities. The trick of using Clemance for that was a good one.

  Cin nodded, to show she understood the idea there. Then she played into it.

  “It won’t be as safe as all that. We have loads of space junk to deal with for instance, which he’ll need to get training on. You don’t have much of that here, do you?” She got what they did have, mainly an active satellite program and several vast space stations in orbit. It made her feel a bit primitive, to tell the truth.

  Timon knew about all of that kind of thing, however. He’d created all of it, himself.

  He clapped then.

  “Good for now, unless you have duties for Terlee and myself?”

  She shrugged.

  “Well, Terlee needs to get over for a visit soon, so we can hang out. As for you… Actually, you should all come with me now, so that we can make introductions. Marcia will flip out, but at least you three aren’t there to be spies.” She winked at Will, who did it back, as if it made any sense. It was clear they were leaving Timmy out of things, but that was fine.

  He’d been there before often enough for it not to be needed that day.

  She was about to jump up and leave, when she realized that they had all kinds of world leaders there in the room. Rather than bow again, she waved at the King of Noram, then the Prince of the same place.

  “Alphonse? You should come after a while as well. We can’t really have Kings in, but we can hide that you’re a Prince for a while. Bring Allison, too? After it gets checked out and okayed by Clem and Dumas, of course. Let us know first? We can have strange foods for dinner and watch television.” She was about to explain the magic box and what it could do, then realized that everyone there was used to seeing much finer displays.

  Three dimensional ones that could even feel real if done correctly. They also had screens that just left it looking at things like you were there. They even had shows that played on their handheld communication devices. Entertainments, music and twenty-four-hour news programs. Even worldwide weather.

  That got her to grin.

  “It’s like the things from Austra, only not as advanced? We can wow you with our primitive entertainments. Maybe get a drum circle going?”

  The tall Prince, who was nearly nine feet tall, she thought, stood and bowed at her. To his mind she was either trying to curry favor, or attempting to get him into bed. Which, he knew, could also be about trying to gain a good position with him. He was going to be the King one day, after all. Probably inside the next seven years, since the tradition was for the old king to abdicate when his oldest child turned forty. It cut down on the patricide, or so the feeling went.

  To his mind both were fine ideas. He even knew that Timon was that world’s version of her. The trick there was that he totally would have done Timon as well. Possibly both of them at once. Which she had to admit, did sound interesting. Still, his words were more polite than that, since she might also be trying to get an appointment with him to pass information. As the Heir, that was one of his jobs in life, after all. To go to places too dangerous for the King, to show the world that they weren’t cowards, even if well protected.

  The man, who reminded her of Hobbs in looks, spoke in Standard. Then, that was how she’d addressed him.

  “So, I should learn to speak English better? See, I knew I should have been doing that all along. I’ll do that though. Any volunteers to teach me?” He figured that Tor would do it, but Willum waved at him first.

  “Get with Clem, Dumas and I on that? We can start soon. Princess Allison should learn that as well. Where do you wish to meet for that?”

  They decided it was easier to do that at the palace than it was for two people to travel someplace else each day out of it. For one thing it would mean that the Royal Guard didn’t have to go with them. Will nodded at the words, but relived a bit of unhappy noise that had happened with that crowd once. He wasn’t proud of it, since he’d been showing off and ended up having to beg their forgiveness, to allow the men and women to save face. In hindsight he could see it as a mistake. One that shouldn’t have happened at all.

  They got out of there a short hour later, since you didn't normally just run off with ships and presents like that. She copied the right words from different people’s heads, so that they’d know she wasn’t lacking in gratitude or fellow feeling. The tricky part was that they’d all gifted her with it. If it had just been Tim, she could have put out and possibly dated him for a while.

&nbs
p; Now she was kind of beholden to the whole group of people there that way, if it came down to it. They weren’t planning on asking, but it was sort of inside their rules. The gifts were that big, and they were all on the same side, so it even made a skewed kind of sense to them. Thankfully, Will got them back before they had to engage in a creepy, family-tastic, little kid orgy. With extra royalty added for flavor.

  The instant they were back on the base, they got rained on. It was the damp season after all. She waved for everyone to follow her, laughing a bit.

  “Just around the corner here. Don’t be too shocked at what you see inside. It’s sort of boring.”

  The little box, which wasn’t that small, floated after her, making Terlee move to the side so she didn't get hit. That was just a danger of the things, which everyone rich enough and from Noram understood. Cindy got it the moment it was too late. Thankfully, Countess Thomson was kind of wealthy in her own world, so had been looking out for a box ambush from behind like that.

  Once inside, they all stopped, only a bit damp. No one wanted to run in and shock anyone, after all. They were dressed up nicely enough for visiting, but it was clear that the visible people inside were dressed in uniforms, which none of them were.

  Before she could speak, Lydia, their young receptionist, waved at them and smiled. Looking at her words, and still focused more intensely, having been in Timon’s presence for a while, she understood a lot that she could have known, but had missed about the girl. Her parents were Korean, and her real name had been Wendy, which she always hated. She used to look a bit like a human shaped blue bird with a yellow beak, but now was both young enough seeming and pretty enough that Clemance caught her eye. He was a bit younger than she normally went, but tall enough to seem a little older.

  It was also clear that her birthday was coming and she kind of wanted to see if her parents would be allowed at the base. That, or if she could leave to visit with them. Given that Cindy had always figured that they’d dumped her for being Infected, that sounded much closer than not. As in they talked on the phone several times a week.

  Also, when she checked it was pretty clear that the girl’s parents were willing to risk the wrath of the Federal Government to gain her freedom. Possibly even coming to demand she be let go. The only problem with that was that Lydia wasn’t a prisoner. She wasn’t even really required to work there any longer. She could have gone home at any time, and now that she looked normal, it could be done without anyone thinking twice about it. Before, she’d stayed in order to protect her friends and family. They’d come under attack because of her, more than once.

  Now it was mainly that she didn't know she was free. So, she stayed and tried to keep herself being as useful as possible.

  Which didn’t keep her from being chipper at the moment.

  “Hey! Are you here to visit someone?”

  Cindy nodded and waved at them.

  “Yes. You, for one. These are Tamerlane, Clemance and Dumas Thomson. From Will’s world? Relatives of his, but a bit more important to us than he is. You’ll be working with Dumas. He’s in charge of me for some projects over there, so if he comes in here, you both can come and make me work. Can you get with Sara and hook up communications?” She didn’t know if that would be possible or allowed, but the boy started to bow, then stopped and waved.

  “Pleased to meet you. You’re Lydia?” He was reading her name plate, but got the pronunciation correct, which was kind of neat. The letters were different, after all.

  “Right. Well, this is fun. We can do that now, or…”

  Cin shook her head, then waved at Brian and Karen Young as they walked in behind them.

  “On the way out? Or we can send Dumas out as we bug Marcia. Then I need to set up a meeting with Christian. Outside the fence line?” The people from there actually knew what that meant.

  They were either going to pass secrets, or were planning to fight. Since she could have probably just sent an email about most things to the other woman, Karen seemed a bit worried. Brian wasn’t. After all, if it was something like that, Christian Poures wouldn’t show up. She wasn’t a wimp, physically, but also not a real fighter. So she’d wisely run off and not let herself be caught if Cin was out for her.

  Still, it was Karen who nodded.

  “I can get in touch with her on that? Call it an hour?” Much past that and it would be too dark outside.

  “Sounds great! Now, we should go meet the boss. Director Turner?” She yelled a bit, which got the woman in tan fatigues that said her name and IPB on them to come to her office door. She was just off the phone so had actually missed them coming in.

  Which annoyed the heck out of her, until she saw that it looked like a young family standing there, minus the father. That was common enough that she kind of relaxed for half a moment. Until she saw that Will Baker was back already. There to spy on them again. Only not. She really did know that, on some level. It was just so hard for her to believe.

  “May I help you folks?”

  That was Cin’s cue to introduce them all again.

  “So, Terlee here is my pal. I’m inviting her to movie night with us, so make sure to get that set aside, all of you.” She glanced around the room, which got pleasant enough nods. “The small one here is the boss of me, as far as his world goes. So, if I’m needed for spying or the war effort over there, he’s the agent they’re sending in. I was hoping that we could get Lydia to work with him? We need to talk about her though, after this, Ms. Turner.” She wasn’t being hard about it, but the other lady’s mind was all over the place as to why that might be.

  Most of the thoughts were not at all good, either.

  There was a nod though.

  “All right. I recognize Will, of course, so…” She looked directly at Clemance then.

  Which got Cindy to bring the box that floated behind her around.

  “Presents from Will’s people. Their entire reality. Twenty space ships for us. The U.S. One for Canada and one for Mexico. They don’t have weapons, but can travel between stars in an instant, so are worth having. Also, two hundred giant food producing units. They can make good food out of rocks and dirt. Other things as well. Sea water for instance. Those are earmarked for Africa and France. No strings attached on any of it.”

  The woman started to swear, but then stopped, looking at the kids.

  “My goodness. That’s incredible! We have nothing at all to trade back with them, do we?”

  Interestingly, Dumas spoke then, his voice a bit young, but not that shrill little kid thing that would have made her hate him forever. He did it in English as well.

  “Ambassador Mableton came to our land and helped uncover a plot that would have killed the High Leader of Mars. Then she helped us find several others of the enemies spread out in ways that we would not have managed. My take is that these… tokens, are considered to be barely enough to even begin her repayment. It troubled the King that she did not ask for lands or titles. I can say that without breaching confidence. Plus, she has spoken of her intent to return and aid us? That has great value to us, I assure you. So please, do not see these things here as too grand to repay, but rather as a mere statement of our admiration for your people.”

  Marcia blinked at the boy for a bit, then smiled.

  “So, you decided that doing the little kid thing was too boring? Just jumping right into being eighty?” It was a bit abrupt sounding, but got several smiles in return.

  The boy grinned at her, actually managing to make it cute.

  “Well, I had some time to come up with a speech earlier, so figured I’d trot it out now. I mean, how many times do you get to travel to another world and meet their highest leaders?”

  That got Marcia to nod, then to hold up a single finger. Then she made a phone call. After a moment, she nodded again.

  “Mr. President? Turner here. IPB. I have four people from a different reality here who brought some gifts. A few nifty space ships, and enough food to make a good dent in
shortages in France and Africa. Those are machines that make it, after a fashion. Magic, but it really works. The space ships are magical as well. It’s from their entire reality, so we should spread the wealth a bit, but apparently there are no strings attached, which sounds good to me.”

  There was a moment of silence, but instead of sounding awkward about it, the man just grabbed the ball and started running.

  “That’s incredibly kind of them. We should have them over for a State Dinner. Can that be scheduled?”

  Cindy leaned in, since the man had been put on speaker phone already.

  “Mr. President? Cin Mableton here. That can probably be arranged. These four are in my working group. Two kids, their mother and Will Baker, who’s an IPB Operative. Also the messenger between worlds if you need to set anything like a package going someplace else up. Countess Thomson, her oldest Son Clemance and youngest Dumas. Clem is coming back in a month to teach us how to fly the Jump Ships. They actually go to the stars, so this isn’t a little thing. He’s young, but that’s his job, so…” She stopped for a moment, as the man on the phone, a disembodied voice that sounded older to her than he normally did on television, sighed.

  “Thank you then, Mr. Thomson. We appreciate the help. All of it. Can we draft a letter of thanks to go back with them, or… Are they moving here? We can come up with better accommodations than the base there, for royalty.”

  She shook her head, then remember to speak out loud before it looked too funny.

  “Not needed. They have transportation back and forth. Just to hit the salient points, there are twenty ships for us, one each for Mexico and Canada. All unarmed. We have a month our time before Clemance comes in for the lessons. I don’t know if we get more people for that, or not, since he’s in charge of that part. I’m working with Dumas on some things. He’ll drop in occasionally, so if you need a message sent, or a report on his people, he’s the one to get with for that.”