by P. S. Power
“We won’t be doing that. I promise. Even if I have to come and break you out myself. Then, I don’t care if you stay with us here, right now. We should all take a turn going upstairs. Just to show that we’re here.”
That made sense. Plus, his part of the job was done for the time being. Solidifying the others on his crew in their alibi was important though.
“Right. Come up in half an hour. Both of you. We need to hurry on this, but you going away from it won’t help either.”
Not that it would be happening. Not with what they had on people. It was, at least for the two that he’d seen, the kind of blackmail material that would give anyone holding it perfect control of them, for a very long time. That might even be the plan, he knew.
Blackmailing the people they were getting dirt on.
It was either that, or shutting down a lot of the federal government. Which, while a fun idea, might not be the best for the old folks and welfare mothers who needed those people to survive.
Howard headed up the stairs, locking the door and checking it twice, behind him. Anyone sneaking down there right now would probably end up dead, after all. It was just that big of a deal.
The party was still moving right along, so he inserted himself next to Tobin, the only person he kind of knew there, who had a clutch of people around him. All of them were young women. Some were pretty enough that Howard kind of understood why Kerry was feeling a little bit nervous about her chances of keeping the fellow.
She was a fine girl, but a few of the ladies there were pushing into the realm of being ridiculously good looking. One of them was so attractive that he actually had to take a step back from her. It was kind of overwhelming, to be honest. Next to her was a somewhat plainer seeming woman, holding Tabby in her arms. The kitten looked at him, purring loudly. Then she meowed.
He nodded then.
“Oh? This is Catherine, a cat from another place? She’s different looking for a kitty, isn’t she? Tall, for one thing.”
The pale girl next to her, who seemed to be of mixed blood, if very light skin, winked at him.
“Ha. Ratted out by our feline friend. Catherine is a shape shifter. I’m Eve. This other one that you were just being tempted to run away from is Judy. Friends of Tobin’s. In fact, we were just trying to set up having him in to do a concert in a few weeks. In a different world. You’re up on that kind of thing? Not everyone here is…” She sounded a little hesitant then, as if she were letting the cat out of the bag.
Tobin seemed tight then, wary, as if Howard might have a problem with that kind of thing.
“Not really. Up on that, I mean? It sounds interesting. We should get together and chat about it. Later, so we won’t ruin this excellent party. Does anyone need anything to eat? I was going to make a run to the kitchen. They’re doing really good work, aren’t they?” He meant for something on the fly like it was.
The palest of the women, Eve, nodded her head at that.
“Really, they are. I was just at the base earlier, when I noticed my bud Brian taking all my peeps away. We hitched a ride with him. The IPB does the most interesting things. I haven’t been to the beach in… Really, ever. Not for fun. It’s almost dark out. Raining, but I was thinking of taking a walk. I… Could go during the day, but the sun kind of hurts, so I avoid that sort of thing.”
He nodded then.
After all, a great way for him to prove he’d been there all day was a nice romantic walk with an attractive woman. Even if she was a bit too good looking for him. He was shorter than she was, as well as having big ears and a long nose. Probably too thin as well.
“I can go with you? I bet we can get something like a rain jacket or two around here. I have a friend that does good work on things like that. What do you say, ladies? A nice walk in the rain? Everyone loves that, don’t they?”
Catherine the cat shape changer… did not seem to think that was all that wonderful sounding for some reason. At least she glared at him a bit, then cuddled Tabby a bit closer.
“I think that we, myself and my new friend here, will stick to the nice warm party. Judy?”
The very attractive woman shook her head then as well.
“I should meet some new people. That and see if I can get Tobin to come and join us in a few weeks?”
The man shrugged, but smiled. It was a huge thing that took up all of his being. It seemed real, like he meant it.
“I can see if the timing works out? Really, I think I have it free, but I don’t do my own work schedule that way. Christian Pours does. Then… I bet she’ll like you, once you meet. She’s pretty nice.”
There was subtext to the whole thing, but Howard was missing it all.
Still, a few minutes later, he’d managed to steal coats for them, from a closet that had been locked, and got Eve to go to the kitchen with him.
“Kerry!” He waved from the doorway, and wasn’t that shocked when the woman jogged over and hugged Eve.
“Hey! I didn't know that we’d be having you in. Did Troy come?”
That got the pale woman to sigh.
“It… There was a thing. He’s all right, but…” Seeing that Kerry looked concerned, the woman rolled her eyes a bit and went on. “It turns out that he’s actually an ancient Norse god. Loki. The Trickster. I have to admit, I’m a bit… I guess upset. Not angry really, I mean I get why he had to do it, but… We were friends for over ten years. It would have been easier if he’d come out and told me he’d been a woman the whole time. Who just comes out as a god?”
Kerry, being a doll like she was, clearly didn’t know what to do with that piece of information.
He, however, was a thief and walker of the dark side of life from way back. His reaction was a bit different.
“That sounds great, actually. Send him by some time and we can meet?”
Ancient god sounded like it might be a useful skill set, after all.
Plus, from what he’d heard in his own world’s legends, that particular god was nearly as big of a thief as he was. They might be able to work something out, given that.
Chapter fifteen
The walk on the beach was nearly romantic. It would be if he was holding the attractive woman’s hand at least. Smiling, he just traveled along with her. After all, he needed to be seen, on the west coast, far away from the crime that he’d committed. It was, he knew, probably overkill. After all, they’d been careful not to be seen at all. They’d all worn gloves and the starting point, the office had been procured to be in a camera blind spot.
Howard was just being careful. Given how many shortcuts he’d taken during the job… Well, it seemed to have worked out. Which would last, right until the obvious mistake was pointed out. Hopefully not with one of them being busted for the crime.
Even if they weren’t going to be arrested for it. The very fact that he’d just seen a video of a very famous and powerful woman diddling herself while a child burned in the background was insane. Worse, he kind of thought that they had at least twenty people at about that level in life on the hook for things. What Kate had mentioned about that, these people starting a nuclear war to cover their actions, seemed oddly possible.
Which meant they might just be willing to do a whole lot to the thieves, if they worked out who they were.
Speaking, even though it seemed out of place, he moved a bit closer to the water. There was enough sunlight to show the reflections of it on the waves. That, along with a deep scent of brine and dead sea life. It was twilight though, which seemed to work for the lady next to him. She’d mentioned being sunburned easily. Given how pale she was, that seemed pretty likely.
“I need to get some of my friends changed. Altered? There’s a man from a different world that does things like that, I hear. Kerry wants to have her face made better looking.” He stopped, making sure his eyes crinkled as he smiled. The sand under his feet was packed and damp where they were standing. “I know, she’s already adorable. It’s just that she’s afraid that she’s going
to lose Tobin, since there are so many good-looking women around him now.”
Eve was one of those women. Pretty enough to be in the movies, easily. Her friend Judy was only about the same, though something about her had called to him at the time. In hindsight he could get the concept. She’d been projecting the idea of being attractive at him. Denis could do that too, at a guess. He’d done it for that older woman in the Safeway, after all.
“Hm? I can get her around for that. I know the place. Then… She could also talk to Timon Baker right now. He’s at the party back there. If they’re still there when we get back we should set that up. Not that she couldn’t do it herself. Those people, the ones from Tim’s world? They’re pretty nice when it comes to giving things away like that. Then…” She stopped and grimaced a bit. “Troy can do that kind of thing too, now. That… I know it probably seems like a non-issue, but it bugs the crap out of me. I mean… I was practically his girlfriend for years. I traded with a Greater Demon to get him out of being a slave, and then helped him become a Vampire. To find it was all a scam, the whole time…”
There was a nod then, since it was hard to find out you’d been taken. Even people in the life, thieves and con artists, hated that part of things. They often killed over it, when it happened, in fact.
“That would be tough. Did he have a good reason for it, or was it just because he wanted to pull one over on you all?” That part was interesting to know, but seldom actually found out. People very often didn’t know why they did things at all.
With him, his stealing had always been done because he wanted to do it.
The woman next to him, who was only a bit taller than he was, sighed. It seemed a bit overdone and dramatic to him. Like she was making a point.
“Oh, you know, he did it to save the world or some nonsense like that. It was a real enough thing. He had to get rid of about twenty gods from the past. Peacefully, which meant he needed a good cover for what he was doing. I get it… It’s just…”
“Yeah. That… It sounds pretty strange. Is your place over there really different than here?”
She started walking again, picking a rock up from the otherwise blank expanse of sand. It was flat and gray, if tilted toward the water. The thing was tossed. It looked like a light enough thing for the woman, but was done so quickly that the rock, which had to weigh several ounces, flew far off into the distance.
“You know, not really. The cars look like cars. You could wear what you are there and no one would think anything of it. Booze is booze and computers and television are the same. We even have a few of the same television shows. That’s pretty much cheating, since we actually brought them over, but it translates pretty well. No Infected though, over there. You don’t really have Vampires and Shifters here though, right? Mages, either. We have that kind of thing, along with regular peeps. Other than that, it’s the same. We’re all a bunch of tools to each other all the time. Just like here.” She grinned, as if he were going to take offense at that last line.
Instead he winked.
“Good to know we have things in common, then. We do have our moments. Anyway, you can travel between worlds? You have a… Machine for that?” It made sense to him that it would work that way.
“Nah. I just learned how. It took a while. A lot of meditation and things like that. Some people from the IPB are taking lessons in it now. From our Troy, actually. Brian can do it already, so if you need, you can get with him. He’s your pal, right?”
Thinking about that, he nodded.
“We’re crew, so… yes? I’ve been around him for, oh, five days now? Something like that. Before that I was in an old folks’ home. Shady Lane. I woke up with my bed wet and figured that my bladder had gone out on me, with Tabby the death cat on my chest. It turned out to be a flood, just so you know it wasn’t me. After that… Well, I tried to save the cat. We ended up falling into a mirror and using a different reality to get out of there. I looked a bit different at the time, I assure you.”
Rather than give him the stink eye over his obvious lie, being that he was young at the moment, she winked at him.
“Oh? How old are you, then?”
“Ninety-four. No spring chicken here, eh? I probably shouldn’t tell you that. Now you’ll be all worried that you’ll catch old man germs.” Which was fair enough. Just being there walking with her was probably creepy of him.
There was a gentle chuckle then.
“That’s not so bad. I’m a few thousand years old, myself. It’s all the training in the void between worlds. To learn to be a line walker? Time doesn’t run the same way there. I’ve trained others to do it as well, which eats up a lot of time. So, no, I won’t really have an issue that way. Kid.” There was teasing to her tone, but only at the end. The first part seemed to be the simple truth.
“Ah? Well, that makes me feel better. I was about to die there, and ended up… I wasn’t ready for this. You’re a…” He wasn’t certain that he was getting the whole thing right. “A vampire?”
“Yep! The whole being dead, blood drinking and all that experience. Not that I need blood now. I’ve learned some tricks. Anyway, if we aren’t going to make out, we should get back to the party.” She looked at him then, winking again. “Wait… We weren’t going to make out, right? I can totally get behind that, if you want to? The others are going to be good here for a while. I just don’t know when Timon is planning to leave. We can do both, if you want, I mean? Head back now, then find a room?” She was teasing, it was clear.
As if he was supposed to say no.
Like he was going to do that.
“Sounds good. I already have a room, so that works. Let’s go? We can hold hands on the way back. That way everyone will think that I’m actually with you or something. A bit quick, for me, since I’ve only known you for about an hour now.” Less than that. Not that he was going to mention it to the woman.
The old lady, if he had that right. It didn’t show on the outside, so it probably wasn’t a thing to worry about. Which meant that, if he were going to be fair, it probably didn’t for him either.
She nodded, her chest heaving a bit. She wasn’t huge that way, being lean and tight, instead. It wasn’t a horrible look, really. She took his hand though, her fingers cold and dry. Then, she’d told him that she was dead already. The whole moving around thing gave the lie to that. It was clearly a form of being alive, no matter what else was happening.
When they got back to the party, she did let him go, moving her hand to his upper back, instead. It still seemed close. Chummy and like they were together. Carefully, she moved them over to a clutch of tall people. All of them were good looking. Young seeming, as well. Eve smiled at the group, getting a hug from one of the women, who was a giant blonde with a huge bust line. It was hard not to stare, to be honest. Her clothing was very nice, but seemed more like she’d intended to go to a ball, instead of a house party with friends.
Eve waved up at one of the men.
“Timon, this is Richard. From the IPB? He wanted to talk to you about getting some work done for his peeps here?”
The words got one of the men, who seemed to be about twenty, was over seven feet tall and had good posture, to look down at him. His face was pleasant, at least.
“Ah? What do you have in mind?”
He had to scramble mentally, since he didn't know when he’d have a chance at talking to the man again. He wanted to get Kerry hooked up, but Kate’s words kind of hit him then. They needed to have someone look out for the Infected again. It might as well be him.
“I’ve heard that you and your people have been working on teaching others to make changes to first modes and other things like that? You, your students there, they’ll need people to practice on, right? I can get you a steady stream of volunteers, if that works for you?” He was trying to make the whole thing seem more important, like it was a big deal to get free work like that done.
A different tall man, who was in a red robe and seemed to be far too
pretty to be real, or a man, turned to him then. He spoke with a slight accent to his words, but it was almost not there at all.
“That would be good, actually. I have a class of twenty learning to do that, but it’s hard to find people to make changes to. We already have purple horses and chickens that glow in the dark. How much would it cost, to have… Say, ten people per week come in? That would be nearly ten a day for you here… Can that be done?”
Howard didn’t know that at all, but he nodded.
“If we open it up to the public? Not all of them will be Infected, which is more interesting to work with. I think we can get that done for you, if you want. Probably more than that, if you have other people learning in different places? As for cost… Well, we need travel over to there. I don’t know how to get that done.”
Eve, who was still there, waved at one of the other men.
“Will? Any ideas there?”
The man actually slapped the prettier large man on the arm.
“Tor will come and get them, in his ship? We can do this from the IPB base, if that’s allowable?” He stared at Howard, looking at him closely. Intensely.
He nodded, staring back.
“I’ll have to get that set up, but I think we can make that happen. I’ll get the first group ready in say… A week your time? It might be a bit slow at first.”
That got a nod from all of the tall people. One of the women, who was the shortest of that group there, touched his shoulder.
“That simply makes sense. Thank you for considering us. Your people must be most brave. These are students, so may not be… Perfectly safe.”
Nodding back, he smiled.
“That’s the job though, isn’t it? If we want people to have the skills, we have to step up and make sure they get enough practice. I’m sure you have people from there as well, willing to do it, but we’ll have all the fun Infected people for them to work with. That and people who don’t speak the language there. We’ll need to make sure we send a guide along who does. Do we have anyone that does that?” It occurred to him that no one there was going to know the answer.