Chapter Four
The invisible car dropped two a short distance from public transport stop, then backed into a vacant lot. Nev worked on assembling the shield unit for a car, hoped no one took a shortcut and was fervently thankful he had something to do. Knight and Blade walked around two used car lots, got on another transport, looked at neighborhoods as they crossed town, walked around three lots there, caught another transport, looked at neighborhoods, and saw exactly the type, then got off the transport walked around the corner whooped and ran. They'd found the type of car lot they wanted and prices they 'could afford.' Blade said the neighborhood looked even better, then they saw 'the car.' They headed for it and the sales person who came from another direction got there right after they did.
"It needs some work, but it's priced right."
"Work we can do, Fem. Priced is… a little high."
"Cash?"
"Straight debit, but it is from two accounts."
"I'll drop it the cost of taxes and licensing."
"What work?"
"Gyro balance stabilizer. It can be tuned, but the wobble comes back. The comp's not terrific and the geo-locator is using a crutch. The exterior is good. The interior is nice. The sound system's fantastic. There's not another six-passenger beach party car near that price in town."
"It's a pretty clean job on the sound ports. Knight, boost me to see the solar panels you're looking down at."
"Sorry, Blade. It's a clean cut."
"Yes, recess is smooth. Do you know if this was a pro job?"
"She did it herself. Let me show you the deck space and what's under it."
"Under it?"
"The sound system, Knight."
"Oh."
"There's more than that. She's got a keeper, brewer and cooker in it. It can be opened from inside, too."
"How not-good is the comp?"
"Drive it yourself."
"We'd do that if it had the best comp made. How hard is it going to be to get the gyro?"
"A pain."
"Now we know why the price."
"If we got it to a big city, would it be less pain?"
"Not a close one."
"Richland? Jenneara?"
"Jenneara maybe. There's a distributor there that carries Tourline parts and stocks some of the odd models."
"Hainsley-Compton?"
"That's the one. I can check for you."
"Thank you."
"We decided?"
"It's the sixth place we looked, Blade, and you like the neighborhood."
"They won't think two chairs in the house and a garage full of guys working on cars, sound systems, entertainment screens or whatever is weird."
"We're home-hunting, too. Neither of us is going to find university positions until next term, and we're more likely to find people who don't show us retirement plans in this area than most."
"University positions?"
"There are things less useful than a doctorate in math. I have a list."
"I use his. Most apply for a masters."
"There's a lot of seasonal work coming up. Get that gyro fixed and that will get you and four others anywhere. The forest growers will appreciate that and you can pull the back seats and sleep in it. Maybe."
"I curl up. That's one reason we were looking for off-road capability in that size. We can hand harvest fast and clean."
"We fillet fish nicely, too."
"We have sufficient to live on until new term and then some, if we're not extravagant, but we'd rather not. Know a house for rent?
"I figured that was the reason for fiscal reassurance. Actually, I do. The owner of the tea shop across the street has one. It may be much bigger than you want."
"Would he mind if we looked for couple roommates with furniture? We didn't bring a lot from the Southwest continent."
"You haven't seen it yet."
"Or heard a price, but 'bigger' caused an immediate roommates response."
"Triple car garage and shop area."
"Triple? Bedrooms?"
"Five. It's huge and old. Heating it in winter costs a lot, but it's not expensive this time of year, it's well-maintained, has three bathrooms, and could again have a lovely yard."
"What happened to the yard?"
"Mowed period."
"Do you know the price?"
"Four twenty per thirty, if you sign a half-year. One hundred twenty-day will be more."
"It's real expensive to heat."
"Lots of windows that don't look at a great view."
"Uh, oh."
"It's zoned residential-commercial. It's on a big corner lot, but next door is empty, behind and over are walls and across the street is a warehouse. He's really hoping someone buys it for an in-home business."
"The neighbors wouldn't complain about parties."
"Does it have appliances and curtains?"
"And opaqueing windows."
"I think she got us a car and a house. Think we should give her the rest of our list?"
"Where to buy groceries, but we'll just look for girls."
"Toskit's on Shotz and Twenty-third and Waindain two blocks that way. Test drive?"
"Is it tuned as good as you can get it?"
"Wobbling as bad as it gets."
"This is a strange car shopping experience."
"The owner has a unique attitude. He says everyone knows the cars are used, and if they want perfect, the dealership is six blocks west. Long-time customers bring their grandkids here to look for their first car. He's my great-uncle. Nepotism runs rampant, but there's more seasonal than nieces and nephews."
"Powerplant sounds good."
"You want to drive?"
"Drive."
Knight drove around the block, then they bought the car. They walked across to the tea shop while the documents were being processed. They liked the little man with the wide smile as much as the woman in the car lot. He told them he'd prefer tenants that fixed minor and sent a receipt for payment, but would take care of major or appliance failure. When Knight said most of those were easy, and Blade wanted noisy buddies in the garage and neighbors they, and roommates with furniture, wouldn't disturb, the grin widened and he brought a half-year lease agreement up on the comp screen.
Both read fast and signed, then really surprised him when they paid a half-year. Knight told him it was preface for a request to use "yard restoral" equipment, then told him they had to go to Jenneara for a car part, so wouldn't be home, but had met a man also househunting and he might be, if they found him still looking. Their new landlord said he'd put "stuff" on the side patio and they walked out with the keycode. They didn't tell him they hadn't seen it.
They looked at a map while the car purchase documentation was completed and Knight giggled. There really wasn't anything between the house and the mine adit, except the road that went a quarter of the way around the town.
The callback from the parts distributor came while the hardcopy documents were printing. They had the part, but would probably be closed before they got there. Knight said they did have a place to sleep. Blade held up a finger.
"Is there a place that will be open someone could leave the part for us for… a not high delivery cost. We need to get back to job hunt. If we didn't need it fast, we'd have it shipped. It doesn't have to be a garage, just someplace open late that will stick it somewhere for a couple credits, I hope."
"I know a woman who'll hang onto it for nothing if you walk in hungry. Good food at a good price and I'll drop it off on my way home at seventeen thirty."
"I keep wondering what we did right today. We'll leave you a tea and dessert for next time you go in."
"The pinkfruit pie is great. Cherub's Kitchen, Seventy-eighth and Triller, open until midnight."
"Pinkfruit pie before midnight. Oh, and a car part to buy."
The late middle-age man laughed and set up the purchase. There was a fee because they weren't a lice
nsed vendor, but the part was listed as "limited older model" and it was only six credits. They walked out, got in their new car, with a well-verified excuse to go to Jenneara, drove out of the lot toward their 'new' house, then turned the corner and went the other direction.
Nev was very glad to see them. He'd run out of shield work and made more tea, more than once. He pulled out behind them and winced when he saw the perfect car wobbled. He was surprised when they led him out of town, but they turned north on the belt road, not south toward the adit. A few moments later, they turned onto a street between warehouses. Then he saw where they were going and whooped. He pulled in the fairly long drive that went between hedges and trees, behind them, then into the garage beside the car when Blade opened two garage doors. When they began to close, he turned off the shield.
"Fantastic! Perfect! Incredible!"
"And low price because it's big, old and the view out the opaqueing windows is ruined. Half-year paid, utilities transferred, and the landlord knows we're hunting garage and party buddies and roommates with furniture. Blade's putting the for-rent sign on the side patio, where the landlord will leave yard restoral equipment. We didn't tell him we hadn't seen it. The salesperson at the car lot sent us across the street to the tea shop owner, now landlord."
"The gyro on that car is gone."
"That's the worst it gets, but we found the closest place to get a replacement, Jenneara. It'll be waiting for us at the salesperson's favorite not-expensive cafe. We have to be there before midnight. Nev?"
"Uh, huh. Knight…"
"I know. Blade's trying to figure out what we did right. That saleswoman, or our landlord, may have an entire season's work lined up for us by tomorrow. I teased about our list and we got both grocery store and place to meet girls. This is a very nice town. The sales pitch was a list of what's wrong with the car, then she showed us the keeper, brewer and cooker under the deck, after dropping the price the cost of taxes and registration fees. Blink, blink, you there?"
"No, I walked into a dream."
"Five bedrooms, three baths, all appliances, a workshop…"
"Think it's Blade?"
"What's Blade?"
"Well, maybe a fairy thinks he's a misplaced elf and sprinkled him with fairy dust, just in case."
Knight burst into laughter and led Nev from the garage into the house. Blade was in the kitchen, dancing around it, singing, "Our house, our very own house." They explored quickly, then went back to the garage. In just over an hour, they'd installed the shield 'post,' which extended ten cens, under the solar panels, which now recessed, under the roof panel which recessed. They checked the shield, then tuned the gyro balance. After that, they went to work on the hard part. They needed the windscreen to raise and the magic sword to rise out of the console. It wouldn't be as big as the one on the invisible car, but it wasn't small and it had to be completely hidden.
Their stomachs were complaining it was past dinnertime when they placed the mockup in the support bracket and checked it. The windscreen rose as the sword came out, both locked into place, then both unlocked, went down, the console cover slid into place and the windscreen sealed. They whooped and danced, then unloaded the essentials for Knight and Blade and carried them into the house.
Nev turned the shield on in the invisible car and headed for the mine, when the center garage door opened. Knight and Blade removed the back seat of their car, then took showers and chose clothes to wear. They made two stops before they left town. They bought a pad, pillows and blankets at a general merchandise store, then went to the recommended grocery store and bought supplies for the trip. As they left town, Blade yelled for "music to cook by" and went back to fix them an overdue meal, then they took turns napping. They loved their car.
The gyro-balance was rapidly progressing from slightly to badly out of tune when they reached Jenneara. The car 'disappeared' after it left the exit ramp, then Knight drove it to a more than very nice residential area. He drove across a wide, well-kept lawn to the back of the mansion and parked on the delivery drive. He and Blade got out and stood behind the car, though beneath the shield. They stepped through the shield opening in the fraction of a second it existed and walked up the drive in bright light that had come on when they 'appeared.' It quickly dimmed and a man stepped out of his back door, as they reached it.
"Good evening, gentlemen. This is a surprising visit, in many ways."
"This was the only way we could safely get word to you what the protection price increase was supposed to do and why, and warn you they'll probably try something else."
"Please, come in. My study is this way. I have a nice brandy there."
"I've never had alcohol. Have you?"
"No."
"We'll be starting with the best."
"I'm driving."
"Don't drink much."
"Brandy is too good to drink much. It can be abused, as any alcoholic beverage can, but it's made to be savored and appreciated. I'm glad to see you, I think."
"I wish we were bringing better news. You sure surprised them."
"I didn't expect that many to follow."
"We're working on why. That's some of why we're here. The main reason is to tell you the gov intends to 'lease two thousand economic indebted' to mine a non-habitable planet and add fifteen thousand a year. The contract was to start in about eighty days and included five hundred rebels. We've got a stall in, but they haven't discovered it yet."
"My hands haven't shaken in thirty years. The price increase?"
"Violence, theft, make people cheer and say send more, which is why you went full legal. The bunch calls you 'hero for a demon.' Demon isn't an insult. It's a recognition of the type of power you have to wield. It's fantasy fiction, not religion."
"What do they call you?"
"The companion."
"He's Silver Blade. I'm stuck with Knight. The finest sociologist, perhaps only true sociologist, on this planet sent us to you with what we've learned."
At the end of the brief, they told him the stall. He wasn't familiar with the game. He called his secretary and got a concise description of level eight. When she finished, he thanked her, closed in-house communications and began to laugh.
"You have the way to move to the next level."
"We think IS will hunt us a while before they just delete it."
"They won't delete it. It would take everything they know about everyone."
"We're missing one piece. We analyzed the elements in public trash cyclers and know drugs were dumped, but not why."
"There aren't any more. There's nothing to extract them from. The gov wiped out six hundred forty-three plant species in the wild over forty years ago and expunged the record of it. I'm sure you didn't leave them any crop or seed."
"We swept the floor."
"Six hundred forty-three species, it took years."
"Fourteen. All the gov employed to do it were over seventy. At least one outlived the expiration date on his pension, or I wouldn't know."
"Our timing was accidentally perfect. The gov or IS didn't raise the price on resupply. A computer sets it by a formula. Deliveries weren't made, so it applied it to current stock."
"It makes one wonder about the power of a prayer whispered by millions."
"We think there's a fairy keeping him sprinkled with dust because she's sure he's a misplaced elf."
"Elf?"
"Brownie? Sprite? Fairy?"
"Elf. Definitely elf."
"May I ask your next move?"
"Teach the millions, who want the government brought down and IS ripped apart, to plan carefully and do as little damage to innocents as possible, when they select their personal targets, such as water additive and equipment. Thousands of private labs make the spermicide and don't know where it's going. Destroying those would injure innocents. Destroying water treatment facilities would, not could, cause disease and death."
&n
bsp; "IS is really going to start looking for an organization. You know what it takes to construct a network and we can't do that. It'll be one, three, five people deciding to cut off a greedy finger. They won't tell anyone else, and no one will suggest when or where. IS is going to lose a lot of people. It won't be random. Every person who kills one will have a mental list of why that particular beast should be killed. There's no rebel force, but one will come into existence any place and time there must be one."
"The one thing people must realize is that no one should take an IS or police weapon to use. That would be the excuse IS needs to institute a police state. Every weapon goes in the cycler immediately."
"That's not going to be easy to convince people to do."
"The weapons of the people are the plants, wood and rock of this world. Blowguns and slings are deadly and poisons so common we distribute lists of things to keep out of reach of children."
"And your tech?"
"Was described by the ancients in the earliest forms of writing. They called it magic, because it was beyond physical law as they understood it. We've described those physical laws completely, and thought we'd described all that can exist. Our discovery is they were right. Magic exists. Technology was the only part of it we were using. We must go. We have to get a piece of pinkfruit pie from a cherub before midnight, or our coach will turn into a bright orange pumpkin. I don't think he believed me."
"He didn't feel the coach begin to wobble."
"The government is not of the people. It committed great offense against the life of this world. The weapons of the people are the plants, wood and rock of it. They have the power to end abuse. If the people use the weapons of the beasts, they give them the power to enslave them."
"That's good. I think he can use that."
"I think so too."
"Thank you. I liked the brandy."
"So did I. We're now spoiled."
"I memorized the names on the bottles in the liquor cabinet."
"Good thinking."
"Gershton beer, Allendon ale and Pipertown porter."
"Thank you."
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for fairy dust in your hair. As soon as I think a wish, it's granted."
"It's invisible."
"So's the coach, until midnight, and we still have to find the cherub with the pinkfruit pie."
"We've got a real good clue."
They counted steps and stopped. Knight extended fingers and smiled when he touched the shield. He counted it off, pressed the remote and they stepped through in the tenth-second the opening existed. They got in the car and drove until they found a good place to reappear. A few moments later, they parked in the best-lit place in the Cherub's Kitchen lot. They bought dinner to go, a whole pie plus three pieces and an extra tea. Knight took the car part out and began installing it. Blade arrived with their order, just before Knight reached the place two people made the job a quarter as difficult, checking the gyro-balance tuning. When that was done, they got in the car and Blade gave Knight towelettes to clean his hands.
"Are you hungry?"
"Not terribly."
"How about tea and pie and I put the rest in the keeper?"
"Great idea. How's our time?"
"If someone checks records, it won't look like we went somewhere else first. If they check the monitor or ask questions, they'll hear me explain tuning and babying the old part home did not make sense, and you had enough muscle and irritation to yank the old out, if you had to do it with your teeth."
"Why did she think it would be a pain to get the part?"
"It was, Knight, a several hour drive each way, and she wouldn't have thought of that distributor if I hadn't said, 'Jenneara.' She'd have recommended a dealer or parts store that would hunt one down and order it. We might have gotten the same part, but it would've taken a while. Pie?"
"Feed me. Mmm… Save a piece for Mike. I hope he can figure out what's in it."
"So do I. A trip to Jenneara for pie isn't really practical."
They didn't stop for the night on the journey, but they did sleep more. Blade napped, then relieved Knight and he slept. Blade woke him when he began feeling groggy again. The last twenty-six minutes of the trip, they played loud music and ate their dinners. They loved their car.
When they got to the house, Knight opened the garage with the remote key. There were two vehicles in the garage. One was the invisible car. The other was an old light hauler. Nev was in the kitchen brewing tea when they walked in. There were a table and chairs in the kitchen too.
"Good morning. We have roommates with furniture?"
"Good morning. You have me, a brewer, kitchenware and a table, so far."
"We also have a light hauler in the garage."
"I bought it last evening, Knight, just before a car lot that's part junkyard closed. If the parts store had been two blocks farther away, it would still run as bad as it looks. There's a public transport stop four blocks that way."
"I wondered. I'm surprised some place was still open."
"I ate dinner on the way back with Case, Stats and Dawn. They had it and your kitchen stuffing waiting. Danny found the LH listed in area net ads as 'sale priced.' It's going to be very useful, after we get a shield a built in it, too."
"Too?"
"It's the first 'bunch in the garage' excuse, and it'll get charity store second-hand furniture here. I told the lot owner I'd seen the ad and decided it was the toy for me and my new roommates to play with in our nice garage."
"You're our also-househunting roommate."
"I was looking for something 'interesting' in the area, when I met you. I have a lot of money. I haven't had it long, though it's been around a long time. I got an excellent, extremely private, education while other people used some of it in my name. My opinion of their use of it wasn't asked, so when I was old enough, I took it away from them and left. University was interesting, but a regular job isn't. I'll probably buy a car, a boat, maybe a house, if I like the area. Currently, I'm delighted to find garage playmates who think I should keep my money in my pocket and not buy my 'share' of the house rent, furniture, at the nicest store in town. An entertainment system is an exception which is not subject to debate. I'll probably insist on a nice computer, too."
"None of us have family."
"An unusual circumstance, but not particularly notable. The reasons are well-documented."
"Five hundred forty-eight?"
"Some are family, Blade; brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces…"
"I didn't know either."
"You've been busy. In other words, 'Oops, forgot to tell you.' They worked on relatives while you were dodging haulers."
"I should have known she wouldn't make them obvious in that way."
"All identities are complete. You can order your university transcripts."
"Did they find the program?"
"Not yet. Did you learn why?"
"The government violated the colonial charter and expunged the record. They didn't want any competition developing. There are no plants that produce a substance from which an addictive drug can be derived. They wiped out six hundred forty-three plant species over forty years ago."
"No. No!!"
"Nev, they weren't the same! That was a high-yield domestic crop. The plants were the result of crossbreeding with who knows what from where. Those crop plants were developed over fifty years ago, specifically for drug production. The government wiped out six hundred forty-three plant species on this world. We destroyed a domestic crop and seed for more. They couldn't have 'reverted.' They were hydroponic crop plants, not the last of plant species of this world."
"Nev, he used his… horror at what the gov did well. 'The government is not of the people. It committed great offense against the life of this world. The weapons of the people are the plants, wood and rock of it. They have the power to end a
buse. If the people use the weapons of the beasts, they give them the power to enslave them.' It'll work. People will think about it and realize it's true."
"You memorized it."
"So did he. We both got it was… a magic spell, or invocation."
"Nev?"
"He's right. You armed every person on this world who wants the gov brought down, and intends to help do it."
"He told him the tech was described by the ancients and called 'magic,' too."
"Are they looking for you?"
"Not yet. They were still trying to figure out what happened to 'usual business' last night. Did you have breakfast?"
"No, we had dinner, but it was breakfast time when we ate it, just a few minutes ago."
"Let's go get furniture."
They found surprisingly nice used furniture at the charity secondhand store, but not enough. The woman at the counter recommended a used furniture store across town. They made three trips to the house with furniture, then went there. The prices were quite a bit higher than at the charity-run store, but they'd expected it. The used furniture store didn't get donations. The woman had said the owner bought the nicest of them, usually for more than people who came to the charity store could pay. They made two trips home with furniture from there, but they still needed beds.
One of the two couches they'd bought for the big living room became one, but every bed at the used furniture store was part of a suite and they didn't want to pay for nice sets. The man there, who'd told them his markup, had recommended 'The Bed Store.' When they found it, they were very pleased. The store had many types of beds in a wide range of prices, and linens to go on them, also in a wide price range. Nev sent Knight and Blade to start finding linens, after all agreed one type of bed was price and comfort right. When they'd gone, he grinned at the clerk.
"New roommates, and I'm already sure they're going to be friends forever. We've got a five-bedroom house and they've been working to keep me under a third of a half-year lease on it while we get the rest, most, of the furniture for it. Three of the biggest double, eight of the extra size singles, four of the tiered frames, pedestal frames for the doubles. I've been to parties that started after nine hours of play in the garage and hunted a flat place for my body. They haven't."
"I've been to some body-count parties too, and walked along to cars to make sure the comp was told it was driving."
"We won't do that. Anyone who's had that much to drink or is, more likely, that groggy stays. I'm getting that many tiered because I only like sharing mine with a special guest."
"Delivery?"
"No, we'll take it, in two or three trips."
"You're not staying under."
"The vehicle were going to customize is an old LH I bought. Stating I'm getting it, so the house gets plenty of beds for pooped helpers should work, I hope."
"I wouldn't want them mad at me. Key your code."
"Would you believe they're mathematicians?"
"You're kidding."
"Doctorate and masters, in math. The elf's the physical trainer."
"I'd be careful with that."
"So far, I've remembered not to say it in his hearing."
"Here's your loading dock code."
"Thanks."
"What do you call the big one?"
"His name. It's Knight."
Knight and Blade had found the best sheets for the price. Nev agreed. He picked up one stack off the shelf and handed it to Blade, then he picked up a stack and gave it to Knight, reached in, pulled the stack behind it out and stacked those on Knight's stack, then added a different size half-stack. They looked at each other and followed him to the next aisle. He loaded a stack and a half-stack of pads on Blade, then two on Knight and headed for covers.
"If he does that again, he'll have to steer me."
"Is this furniture, Blade?"
"I don't think he thinks it is."
"Maybe it's supplies."
"Maybe he got tired of us watching the budget he doesn't have."
"Nev, did you get tired of us watching your budget?"
"I loved it, Knight, but I like a full linen closet with lots of color selection. I like having sheets to put on when I take sheets off to go in the cycler. I also bought more beds and than you would have. If it's two forty when the bunch in the garage get done with something, I want to offer a bed, not steer to cars and tell the comp to drive. That LH is going to be worth a lot when we're done. I'm investing in assuring people know I appreciated help and know they worked hard."
"He got tired of us watching his budget, Knight."
"Yes, but it's a good excuse."
"Thank you. I worked hard on it. I like the furniture we got. Mixed used nice is appropriate for the house, but so is lots of beds for tired bodies."
"How many beds did you buy for five bedrooms?"
"A big one for each of ours and two of the tiered-frame singles for each of the other two."
"That's room for seventeen bodies!"
"Yes, Knight, but one couch shouldn't have to be used and we shouldn't have to share unless we work at it."
"That's still thirteen."
"I know, but the living and dining room carpets are nice and we shouldn't have to work not to step on fingers getting to the kitchen after a party."
"I like him, but he has a different concept of party than I do."
"Nev, I don't like drunk people."
"Neither do I, Blade. Most parties I've gone to that ended with lots of floor decorations didn't have alcohol at them. The bunch that talked longest stretched out on the floor and fell asleep talking, until the last one or two turned on the brewer, turned off the lights and got comfortable on the couch."
"We don't know enough people here to have a party like that, Nev."
"We will, Knight. Three guys with a great garage and great party house attract fun people. We'll be sorting who we do and don't tell were having one very soon. We're not the only ones who feel that way about 'drunk.' It will be a real attraction to a lot of women."
"Magic word. I want that deep rose cover."
"I like the dark blue-green."
"And the gold for mine. Go unload on the counter, while I find four each of four spreads. We need pillows and a stack of blankets too. Keeping every room comfy warm isn't necessary."
"We're going to do some window seal and such too."
"Very sensible."
Nev sighed in relief when the person who'd 'shopped' right behind them, from beds to linens, finally left, and went out the door. Everyone in the store relaxed a little, so he knew he'd been right. He had been following them. He looked out a window and identified the car as having been behind them on the way to the store. He walked back over to the clerk he'd liked.
"Is that frequent?"
"No. A nonresident we all notice visits. He's looking for a pay deposit, probably real disappointed you're just three guys with party plans, which you worked in well."
"You helped. It's appreciated. Locals?"
"Exceptionally nice, but they get help they don't request during resort and harvest season. Don't disturb your neighbors."
"Our neighbors are an unbusy warehouse and the walls behind businesses that only make noise during the day."
"You rented the old Madden place. You have a great party house."
"History?"
"A big house on open land outside of town. When the town annexed, put in streets and the belt road, it was all zoned residential, but no one built that direction. Instead of building on the valley floor that way, they went up the foothills on the other side. Costonby needed room and good access for specialty harvest equipment. They were as disgusted as the Maddens when the rezoning attracted a developer and that area sprouted big, cheap warehouse-type buildings. No one's going to tear that house down, but it's too big for most families. The current owner won't let it get run down, but he's right about it being a better location for a business
than home now. He won't sell it out from under you. You're paying taxes and maintenance and there isn't anyone looking for a place like that. It would be nice for specialty gift shop, except it's not close to others. No view, so not bed and breakfast. His expected is accountant, dentist or some such. Eventually, but the town's not really growing in permanent residents."
"That may change. People who don't have to go into a store or something to work are moving out of cities with unattractive and expensive decorations on every corner. Smaller towns have some, but they're not on every corner, often in vari-colored groupings, if the corner is busy."
"It's cheaper to buy things like beds and linens in Mountain City, but nearly all the residents and most of the summer-place people patronize local merchants."
"The selection isn't limited, the quality is high and the prices aren't. A few more credits to help one's neighbors keep it that way is more pleasant than helping pay for unattractive decorations. Why so many used car lots?"
"Flat valley floor and not forty K to the next. People looking for something besides late-model-used, sitting next to the dealership, come here. We get people from Mountain City."
"I wondered why I saw more used, and new, dealers than it looked like the town could support."
"This is the car shopping center for all the towns around here. They all have a dealer or two who carry and service several makes, but we're the center. If you want to buy fishing tackle, Veil Lake; a boat, Ambertown; agra supplies, Willaville. Teal Valley has cars."
"I want a fantastic entertainment system and computer."
"Talon Peak, Mimmor Payne Home Tech. For smaller home tech, I'd send you to Entonbee's on Center, between Eighth and Ninth."
"Towels and such?"
"Shelf stuffing or decorator quality?"
"I don't like blowers, but I like dry and big enough to wrap around. I didn't pack a bathrobe."
"Either of the big everything stores."
"Would we get good pillows cheaper?"
"We're about the same on good."
"I thought so, but Carla Bedding has an outlet in Caprina and my pillow price view is skewed."
"You came a long way."
"Distance was irrelevant and closer to the popcorn fungi source was attractive. I love it."
"Delant's at Fourth and Center, popcorn fungi sautéed with blue herb and real butter."
"Knight, Blade, get pillows! It's time for lunch!"
On the way to the house with the first load, Nev briefed Knight and Blade on everything he'd learned from the clerk. He said he'd have invited him to a party, if he hadn't been wearing a wedding band, and still might if they planned a more couples type. Both of them nodded. They understood the reason there should be lifelong residents 'around,' too. Then they picked up the follower's car again and Nev swore.
"It's our sizes, Nev."
"Arranging an accident is tempting, but not until he learns we aren't a big pay deposit, and then not close."
"Blade, that's not…"
"Nev, he's the type who looks for anyone he can sell to IS. Sooner or later, he'll sell someone and IS has a five hundred 'rebel' quota to fill. When he does that, someone would try to kill him and might get caught. I won't."
"He won't, and neither will I."
"Two is more obvious and you don't fit behind a narrow tree."
"I'll find a wide bush."
They were unloading, when Danny, Dawn and Ronnie walked down the street. Blade set down pedestals and went down the drive quickly. Knight and Nev dumped the tier frame in the living room and followed. Their watcher would have thought it odd if they didn't more than notice beautiful women. They got to the group just in time for introductions.
"Danny, Ronnie and Dawn."
"Knight and Nevin. They're looking at rentals."
"We rented it yesterday."
"That explains why our recommender didn't know, Knight."
"The house is bigger than we want, but the garage isn't."
"Three girls, three cars."
"Usually two and parts that would make a third."
"We try to keep Dawn from disassembling a second one before reassembling the one in pieces, but it's not easy."
"This house has a workshop too."
"We plan to share both, Dawn. We're going to customize that LH."
"Danny, where's that other house we looked at over this way?"
"Dawn, you didn't like it."
"I didn't like the garage. The rest was all right. I like… everything going in this garage."
"We plan lots of parties, too."
"The house is close, Danny. Danny?"
"Hmm?"
"Would you like a cup of tea, Danny?"
"Yes, Knight, I would."
"Nev, if we put the back seat back in our car, we can take six to lunch."
"Wonderful idea, Blade. Fems, we have another load of furniture to get some time this afternoon, but it's not rush and I didn't really want to wait to try the lunch recommendation I got. We'd love your company."
"I'm sure I'm starved."
"If you've got three cars…"
"Had, and will have, but Danny decided she wanted to live a 'pretty place' and searched mountain lakes. My job moved and I didn't want to go where it did. Ronnie didn't either. Danny just needs a computer to work and Mountain City isn't a bad commute. We don't really expect to find jobs here. Ronnie does circuits in symbols and I do them on a workbench."
"I don't do anything but play, though I have a masters in Hydro E. They're mathematicians and plan to do anything available until colleges and universities start looking again. We met househunting."
"We've met a couple others looking before the seasonal influx. Damn, I'm glad that door closed."
"He's looking for a pay deposit, Ronnie. Every local knows it and growls when he comes to town. Knight and Blade didn't know you were the three rental shopping."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I was putting off Knight's lecture."
"Nev, come here."
"Yes, Knight."
"You're getting all eight of us in this neighborhood?"
"There's no neighborhood with this type of access in the other towns, not with a number of houses for rent. Condos, apartments, duplexes, but not houses. The other towns don't have belt roads that access the gravway without going through town and routes out of the area aren't as direct."
"We've still got two hundred forty-one who don't want to be on the Shimmer Lake side, period, if we can get them out of the mines. Some, we aren't going to for a while. They'll go out to put a debit in a file, so it's not flagged, but they won't leave for anything else but a target."
"I understand that well, Danny, but…"
"Knight, you only had a year and you understand what she did to make us all 'real' other people to the gov and IS. We need cars and garages and they aren't going to push people who need to feel safe out to get them. Mike isn't going to leave the mine, except to look at produce and have lunch, but he won't buy. Not here. Not yet."
"Blade's right. We're not going to rush anyone. Basically, only those who really understand how IS keeps track of people, and the numeric improbability they'll attract attention, are ready to leave the hidden place."
"A very slow exodus makes sense, Ronnie."
"Knight, we need more cars to do anything. The eight of us aren't nervous about buying them. Sit down. Dawn, with me to the brewer."
"All of you stay calm. I'm going to take care of nosy in a direct fashion."
"Blade…"
"Not that direct, but there's no reason he should make me nervous. I'm going to say show me police badge or I'm calling."
Blade walked out the side door and was standing on the patio, when the man came around the house. He told him they knew he'd been following them. Knight opened the door and told Blade that Nev was giving the police the man's car ID, because he'd heard the girls were househunting in the area.
>
"Good. I don't think you're a thief, but you act like you think people should be scared of you. We don't have any reason to be scared of anyone."
"He's an IS informant!"
"Why's he following us, Nev?"
"The police didn't know, but said tell him that they checked us out."
"I'm no longer sure I like it here."
"Blade, I'm wealthy. The gov doesn't keep track of me, but it keeps track of my money."
"Think you should tell them you're here because you like popcorn fungi?"
"I'm sure they'll realize it the twentieth time it shows up on a purchase receipt."
They walked in the house, closed the door and burst into laughter. The girls applauded. Nev patted Blade on the back and yelped when he spun around. Blade noted "relaxed" was "appearance only."
"You dislike talking to people you're going to kill?"
"I never had to before. I killed some I'd talked to, but not after I decided to do it."
"I was sure you weren't tense about me calling the police."
"He was a good excuse. Now we're sure they, and he, won't snoop."
"I don't think the police would have, Blade, very different."
"Actual police. They checked you because there was a prison break, not because they check everyone to see if they'd be profitable."
"Let's get the house we chose."
"Good idea, Dawn. May I use your comm?"
"Of course."
"First comm call to the police. IS marked us off, too."
"Probably, Knight."
"Comm connect Millert Property Management."
"MPM, we have your summer place."
"You have the house we want, not just for summer."
"I'll connect you with Connet Millert, our residential property manager."
"Good morning."
"Hi, I'm Danniera Tracy. My two roommates and I are interested in the house on…"
"Thirty-second!"
"West Thirty-second, almost to the belt road. Two may be commuting to Mountain City and condos are out."
"That house has character, but it's not a quiet neighborhood."
"We aren't looking for one. One of my roommates won't notice it's twenty-three when she picks up a vibra-stripper to clean a car door, until we yell the time."
"That garage is sound-dampered."
"I changed my mind about the garage!"
After questions about things they couldn't see through windows, the neighbors and the lease terms, they 'decided' to rent the house on the one hundred twenty day minimum-length lease. Danny was transferred back to the secretary. After she paid a ten-credit reference check fee, imposed by the apt complex 'where they'd lived,' not MPM, she filled out the lease form then paid the deposit and one hundred twenty day lease. That saved the ten-credit reference fee and five more. Dawn and Ronnie were asked to use the sig pad to sign, as well. Since Danny had been asked who else, they weren't surprised.
"We have a house as empty as this one was, plus a clothes cycler."
"We also have 'new friends' with muscles, who just went through fill-a-house. And buy a car."
"This is where nearly everyone on this side of the mountains shops for used cars."
"We'll take you to the place we got ours. She won't be surprised. She knows we liked the sales pitch."
"Gyro-balance shot, computer not good, it was different."
Knight and Blade went after the last load, while Nev and the girls arranged furniture and made beds. Nev also called Delant's and made a reservation. Danny told him it was that type of place, as soon as he said the name. The four 'wandering,' Case, Stats, Kendra and Doctor Larry, returned to the house just before Knight and Blade got back. They were all getting a brief from Nev when the two carried in a tier frame.
"I know what you just told them."
"I said the same thing you said to me, Knight. It just takes a while to sink in that those plants didn't belong on this world."
"They were built for the purpose of destroying lives. They were no more the plants they had been than the wood in that table is the tree from which it was made."
"Knight, I've got a question."
"What, Blade?
"What shape would give us a comm system?"
"He's gone!"
"We've got comm coming!"
"We've got a bed frame held by a statue, Case. And Blade planned it!"
"I'm just going to put my end down, Nev. And watch you guys try to…"
Knight heard laughter, looked around and saw seven people were draped over furniture and Blade was on the floor. Then he noticed he was holding a bed frame. He picked it up and carried it to the bedroom. Blade made it upright to follow. Nev rolled off a chair and crawled. Blade was some help getting the frame set up. Nev wasn't. Knight looked at Nev then Blade. He nodded.
"Thank you, Tarse."
"Don't say…! It was intentional. Why?"
"Because you didn't plan to be our roommate, or that we only have one, until you saw how we felt about 'our' house. You chose you because you could be 'the roommate we found' and assure we still felt like it was our house."
"He told me about you guys. He said he hadn't realized you were friends, until he was screaming your names. He wasn't surprised you were the one who saved them all. The top spot on his to-kill list is blank because he doesn't know who ordered it."
"Danny couldn't find the name, either. She thinks there are at least three standing in Warkerdoll's shadow, whispering lines and moving the puppet strings he'd deny existed if they were pointed out. She can't learn who, or even be sure there are three."
"You weren't supposed to be the one who bought the old LH, and it was supposed to be stacked with furniture when it got here, today sometime, with guys who needed a place and heard this one was for rent."
"We all realized we want to be close to you, both of you. Case said the only thing wrong with this place is there's not a house for rent next door. Comm?"
"No, but we can send and receive impulses, like telegraph. It can be coded for a specific receiver, or broadcast. IS won't be able to detect it and it will go through the shield, without a pinhole."
"I don't know 'telegraph.'"
"The first type of long-distance communication, Blade, electrical impulses across a wire, long and short in patterns called…"
"Morse code."
"I couldn't come up with his name, Knight, Samuel Morse."
"I learned it."
"You did?"
"The Ed program had audio of how it sounded to an operator. It was fast. I decided to learn it to hear the message, instead of bringing it up in text. I was seven. I still remember it. It was fun work to learn. I got fast enough to tap with the message, and write my own at that speed."
"Show me."
"This… Is… Morse. Code. I'll teach you, Blade, but a light would be better than audible, I think."
"Especially with music playing."
"Lunch reservation! Get the beds in!"
"Seats!"
"In, but the LH is in front of the car!"
Case, Stats, Doc Larry and Kendra went to the invisible car. Danny keyed all three garage doors open on the kitchen panel. Case drove out. The three men got the beds in fast, then Nev pulled the LH in. Danny keyed two doors closed and the three women joined Nev in the garage. Knight and Blade weren't far behind.
They still almost missed their reservation. There were people waiting in hope of an open table, when Nev ran in the door and told the host they hadn't included enough time to find a parking place, but were "unloading most." Blade escorted the three women through the door and told Nev that Knight said he'd "hike in."
"I considered hunting a place by a pub-trans stop."
"Lunchtime. It won't be bad by fourteen."
"You're obviously the reason parking is a challenge."
"It's not usually this bad. Caelton Forest Foods is having a big meeting. They've got a par
king lot, but the streets are full of overflow. Right now, they're all looking for lunch."
"I'm glad she knew I needed a reservation."
"It's not usually necessary for lunch, if you realize you might have to wait fifteen or so. Would you like tea while you wait for your hiking friend?"
"We are here for your famed popcorn fungi, and he has very long legs, so we don't really need to wait."
"I'll tell your server."
Knight arrived as the server was bringing tea. Nev told him he'd ordered for him, two servings. Knight said he wasn't that big and Nev told him he wasn't the only one getting two. Blade told him the server hadn't even look surprised when Nev ordered twelve. When it came, they were all pleased he had. It was wonderful.
After lunch, they went to the used car lot. The saleswoman said referrals weren't unusual, but she still felt like giggling, when the three women chose a car each. Then Nev suddenly went out the office door.
"What did he see, Knight?"
"Someone parking a car in the lot, Blade. If we put another car in the garage, there won't be room to work on the LH."
"If we're working on the LH, he won't have a vehicle to drive."
"Is the car silver-blue or bronze?"
"Silver-blue."
"He knows cars. That's a gem, but the previous owner was stingy with the polish. It wasn't driven much, so why would it need maintenance? The head mechanic said the lube tank was dry and she felt like crying when she saw it. It's not dry now, but the gaskets can't really seal right until the surfaces are polished. If it hadn't been neglected, it wouldn't have come here. It was still close on shop cost and mechanics' wages. If they hadn't had a full schedule, I think they'd have polished the gem because it is one."
"Gem?"
"A Darivel T."
"That person should be… something!"
"Sold another car and told she'd have gotten several thou more in trade, if she'd spent forty a year on a lube change, Fem Lee."
"Here he comes and he has an interesting expression. I think it's delighted steaming mad. Hi, Nev. She told us what wasn't done."
"I don't know whether to cheer or cry, Knight. I'll take it. I'd probably take it if I had one, just to fix it."
"Thank you. I was wondering if they'd be upset if I showed up with tools."
"We obviously have the same attitude about abuse of… perfect tech, Dawn."
"She's still not inexpensive."
"I'd try to bargain on principle, if I wasn't near desperate to hear her purr instead of clatter."
"I'll drop her two hundred because she didn't sit."
"Thank you. How much is that?"
They didn't wait for the document processing to be completed. They went to the places Knight, Blade and Nev had bought furniture that morning. It didn't take the women as long. Each was choosing for her room and one other and the only thing they'd wanted at the charity store was a clothes cycler in need of minor repair. Knight and Blade took them back to the car lot, took their car home, then took the LH to get the cycler and pick up beds and linens. The bed frames were at the used furniture store and they'd be making several trips there.
They got everything moved and got to Talon Peak at sixteen forty-two, forty-eight minutes before the store closed. Nev walked through the computer section with a clerk with an order pad trailing him. Knight and Blade looked at entertainment systems. They were ready with a recommendation when Nev got there. He agreed.
"Two of those."
"Two?!"
"They asked me to select the same for them, Knight. You know I wouldn't get away with giving them a gift like that. They're waiting for a comm call to pay for it and their computer equipment. I followed Danny's recommendations on that. I also calculated square meters in the LH. We can get it all in one trip, but it's going to be stacked."
"Nev, did you 'furnish the house' with computers?"
"It's my house too, Blade."
"Nev, it makes us feel a little… weird because we can't afford to pay our share of stuff you stuff in the house, but you're right. It's your house too, and telling you that you shouldn't put what you want in it isn't right."
"You wanted a roommate who likes what you do and you'll have fun with, Blade. When you learned your new roommate has a lot of money, you worked to keep from spending it, not to keep me from spending it. It didn't bother you at all when I bought a car. I did work to get the money, but I didn't earn it. I don't need or want more. I don't want to leave it in the bank for them to use to make four times as much as they pay me to use it. I like putting it into the economy personally and directly. It's a family fortune and I'm the only family member. I'll buy toys for us to play with together. Remember, I'm only spending pocket change when I do. Don't compare what I spend to what you could."
"Your purchase totals, Gen Curran.
"Comm code D D R eight. Hi, Danny, the clerk has your piece separated from the total. Don't strap yourselves. If it makes things too tight, I'll take care of the entertainment system and you can pay me whenever."
"Our budget got un-tight a few minutes ago, Nev. We've got a contract and just need comps to do it."
"That was fast."
"The meeting that made parking a mess is a discussion of how to make things more efficient to reduce waste. I commed from the grocery store where we learned it, and offered my services to program the comp to agree with the result of the discussion. I said, 'resident' and we'd watch how harvest differed from discussion and tailor through the season. If I'd asked before they offered, we wouldn't be getting near as much for the job. Dawn and Ronnie are part of the team and won't be commuting."
"I'm in love with my new hometown."
"So are we. Caelton is figuring out the best way for them to pay us and will cover business licensing costs if it's as contractors. They think it will be, and a commercial-residential zoned address will make it easy. If we'd rented any other house we looked at… We're just inside the zone."
"I didn't realize it went that far south."
"One block along the belt road to Thirty-second. Across the street isn't in it."
"That's 'just inside.' The clerk's ready."
Getting everything into the LH was "assembling a puzzle of various-size blocks." One of the store employees tossed them used binding straps before she closed the loading dock door for the day, so they weren't worried about the puzzle coming apart when they began the trip home, a few minutes later. On the way, they discussed what they were going to do to the LH.
Unloading and setting up equipment didn't take much longer than loading it had. There were six of them to do the work of changing speakers in the houses, assembling computer desks and chairs and integrating the house computers with the entertainment systems. They didn't integrate the other computers, just purchased infonet access. Neither house comp was bad and the houses were rented. It was a nice excuse for keeping comm and message systems off their computers and making them very difficult to tap. They increased that difficulty a great deal before they went shopping for workshop and kitchen cabinet stuffing. When Knight, Blade and Nev got home, the invisible car was in the garage and Case and Stats were in the kitchen.
"We backed in with the deck of their car stuffed all the way to the front seats."
"We expected we'd be helping unload, Nev, but thought it would be the LH until we saw it parked in front. Did someone hang the person who abused the T in the garage?"
"By the trade-in value, Case. Update."
"They're feeling much more secure with their identities. When seasonal influx begins in the area, quite a few will be ready to join it, I think. Your stunt with the IS informer and police is still causing giggle relapses. Mike sent 'supper.' He figured you'd grab a snack, but had too much to do to have a real meal before you got home."
"Perfect assessment. Quiet. Answer comm. Hi, Danny."
"Hi. We're calling to volunteer to help put groceries away. We found
that ale that was recommended and are wondering if it would be nice accompaniment to cabinet filling. In other words, Dawn is dying to see what you got for the workshop and figures the groceries have to come out before she will."
"Your assistance would be appreciated and the ale would be marvelous. We didn't find it or the beer."
"Thirty-second Street Spirits, straight down the street, but clear across town. They said they're the only ones who carry most of the list of terrific we got. We looked for superb-taste neighborhoods and commed. It was the second one we called. Be right there. Comm out."
"I wonder what she learned. She was working not to laugh."
Danny told them the gov hadn't found the program and hadn't noticed six were gone. IS had heard "committed offense," but not the rest. The reason she was nearly laughing was something they found in a nature preserve, four leaf-fletched, chert-tipped arrows laying on a stone altar. The arrows wouldn't have hit anything at which they were aimed, but IS was quite busy researching cults and trying to find the offense the bureaucrats had committed. The bureaucrats were researching nature religions and trying to find the offense IS had committed.
Five loaded equipment that had been used in the garage into the invisible car to go back to the mines, while three had supper, then eight put away groceries and stocked the workshop in the back of the garage with new equipment. They didn't open the ale until they were done. Blade and Knight liked it, but had no basis for comparison. The six who did were "impressed."
Danny used one of the comps Nev had bought to 'move' Case and Stats from the northeast continent to the center continent. They 'arrived' in Mountain City, then rode a transport to Teal Valley, where they put things in a locker at the transport station. Case and Stats left the house and rode a public transport to an inexpensive hotel. An hour later, they met Nev at the bar at Waindain.
"Why did you choose Teal Valley?"
"We haven't. We got a recommendation to used-car shop here, in Mountain City. The hotel prices were less, so we came up tonight."
"I actually haven't visited Mountain City, Case."
"We weren't there long enough to call it a visit."
"You're going to look for work there?"
"Not yet. We've both got money instead of days off and vacations. The company was purchased for a nice price. We weren't included in the sale."
"We didn't want to be. More money instead of vacation had no appeal. We can't afford resort living, but we can afford to live in this area for a while, enjoy the things that make it attractive to less affluent vacationers and maybe do something different when the bank accounts get to the point we should start looking."
"It's not expensive to live here, even this time of year. It's not on a lake, but many put a boat on one, rent a summer place here and make the twenty to eighty K drive to the favorite lake to boat and fish. There are also many who just take a boat with them. There are a lot of public boat launches and beaches, which I've been told the local people use for great parties."
"What's a condo run here?"
"I have no idea, Stats. I know you can rent a great house with appliances and a garage for under four-fifty per thirty and furnish it with nice used quite inexpensively. The area is known as 'not quiet' and you're more likely to have a bunch of roommates working forest harvest than families vacationing, as neighbors. Case, Stats, Danny, Knight, Blade, Dawn and Ronnie. Case and Stats are new arrivals in the area and I think I just gave them a sales pitch on Teal Valley and our neighborhood."
"We probably all would, Nev. We feel like we found Shangri-La."
"Lost, Ronnie."
"Literary reference, Blade, a beautiful magic valley high in the mountains with peace and prosperity for all. Eternal summer and youthfulness aren't really essential at the end of spring and our current ages. We rented from a property management company. It wasn't bad, but I still wish we could have dealt directly with the owner like they did. However, the house is perfect."
"So is ours."
Case turned to a person at the next table, explained they were "looking around" the area and were wondering about condo and apartment rental prices. The cute girl grinned and said he could stay with her. The other girl at the table groaned. The tables of two and six were merged and two chairs added before the band ended their break. By the time they'd played two songs, there were fifteen around the tables. The locals all knew "the old Madden place" and were delighted someone who really planned to use it had rented it.
Case and Stats never did get condo prices. They got led to a public comm and introduced to a grandmother who had a rental house she'd trade for one hundred twenty days for labor getting three lake cottages in shape for the season. The granddaughter was grinning widely and Case and Stats were laughing when they got back to the table. Dawn looked at the girl for explanation.
"I just told them the location of grandma's house-for-labor place."
"Do tell, Lori."
"The other side of the warehouse from the Madden place."
"You're kidding!"
"Grandma owns all four houses on that block."
"I don't live far from you guys, either, Thirty-fifth and Belinda. I've got two roommates, currently trying to rebuild a power regulator."
"Trying?"
"It was too late to get a new one, Nev, and the guy across the street, with a micro-gauge, isn't home. Donce needs the LH for work tomorrow. I'm a chef. My response to the problem was ask if they had dinner."
A few minutes later, the entire group was headed for the big house, but Knight, Blade, Nev, Case and Stats were far enough ahead to get the invisible car out of the garage before the main group got there. Nev followed them to their new house in the LH. Knight and Blade had the tools and Dawn in their car when they got back. Stats got out and Nev and Case followed them, following Chal to his house. He opened the garage door and yelled he'd brought the whole neighborhood to help get them to a party.
"We've got micro-gauge, Ciron hone, Reser wrench and Bolletter sealant!"
"Bless you!"
"I'm Dawn. Yow, those knuckles are proof of the value of a Reser wrench for the job."
"I'd have just bought a new one, if it hadn't gone six minutes after Relton's closed. Donce."
"Barrett. You're not dressed for this mess, but I like it."
"Thank you, but all my clothes are chosen with the possibility I'll be wiping lube on them in mind. Knight, Blade, Nev, Case, Donce and Barrett."
"We know it doesn't take seven to do this, but it didn't occur to any of us not to come. Ouch. Several times, but you did get it apart."
"We were about to put it back together and pray it worked, and lasted a morning."
"Chal said you had to have the LH."
"I've got sixteen vends to fill between seven and ten, Knight. Everything that goes in them is in it."
"May I borrow a person to help load beer and snacks?!"
"I'll help, Chal!"
"Thanks, Blade."
"Nev, it's popcorn fungi!"
"You're kidding!"
"He's loading trays with gorgeous!"
"Let's get this done."
With the right equipment and several working, it didn't take long to get the regulator done and installed. Nev was pleased he wasn't far behind the popcorn fungi. When he got to the house, he tasted and headed for Chal. They'd purchased some and Nev wanted to know what Chal had done to it. It wasn't just cook it.
"I had Delant's specialty for lunch. It was superb, but I actually like this better."
"You like the taste of the fungi so much you prefer it not be changed at all."
"Agreed. How did you accent it?"
"A light brush of tamili oil right after it comes out of the oven. If it doesn't sizzle you waited too long or used too much."
"You bake it at a higher temperature than I would."
"Bake, boil or fry, always very hot and fast. I usually heat the baking pan before I put the fung
i on it. I doubt you've gotten really fresh before, either. It's best in the first three days. It's usually five or more other places."
"The store on Shotz?"
"When they have it, it's fresh. In eighty days, there won't be any fresh, only cold-packed."
"I'm going to tell you something I heard. It shocked me. Ending about forty years ago, the government spent fourteen years destroying six hundred forty-three plant species in the wild, every one from which an addictive substance could be derived."
"Where did you hear…"
"It's everywhere. It's being passed like this, one person to another. I heard it here. Knight and Blade heard it on a car part run to Jenneara. Case has heard it."
"That means the gov…"
"I remember the feeling when I realized it. There's an 'invocation' that goes with it. I don't know whether I memorized it or I can't forget it."
"Tell me."
"Maybe this is why people tell strangers."
"It's easier if they don't know who you are."
"The government is not of the people. It committed great offense against the life of this world. The weapons of the people are the plants, wood and rock of it. They have the power to end abuse. If the people use the weapons of the beasts, they give them the power to enslave them."
"It's a warning."
"If I tripped over an IS weapon, I'd certainly pitch it in the nearest cycler."
"In the Viltson Nature Preserve, a group of hikers found an 'altar' with four stone-tipped wooden arrows on it."
"An altar?"
"Of stone, like prehistoric."
"When?"
"Early this evening. A server overheard two dinner patrons talking about it. I agreed with them. A nature preserve isn't the place to play some fantasy game."
"I'd have thought that. Now, I think someone told them they're angry. They're probably looking for cults."
"Probably. I don't know whether I memorized it or can't forget it, either."
The eight new and eight life-long residents enjoyed themselves, but the party didn't last until morning. By two, everyone had gone home. That included Danny, Ronnie and Dawn. Case and Stats left last. They went to their house, then drove up to the mine. In the morning, after the first night in their house, Knight, Blade and Nev went up, invisibly. They were just in time to move people. There were a number ready to leave the mine, get places to live, cars and 'regular jobs.' Four who had lots of money were ready to choose vacation places.
"I actually didn't expect it this soon, Doc."
"There may be some who just aren't going to want to leave, Nev, but not many. They realized it's safer to work to bring the gov down from out there than from here. That was important."
"The IS wouldn't know Morse code if they saw it. The other piece is being able to manufacture things here. The power stores and personal shields will make them safer when they do something if they're seen, because they can't be seen."
"You taught them how to meet last night."
"If they were dumb, the IS and gov wouldn't have been afraid of them."
"Very true. The bit with the altar and arrows was a brilliant mind choosing a method to show people meaning."
"Absolutely. The group who found it told people before IS told them not to. Most were irritated someone was playing some game in the preserve. As soon as they hear the invocation, they realize that wasn't what it was. A chef told me about it last night."
"You told someone."
"Of course. Everyone knows IS wouldn't like it, but they haven't said that. Until they do, it's an odd rumor being passed in the way people always have. That no one really doubts it, doesn't make it less a rumor, and people will pass it as fast as they can before IS tells them not to."
"Agreed. Blade intends to show them exactly what it means in another way."
"So does Knight. I'm working on convincing them to start in general, before they begin on a list."
"That's a good idea."
"What's wrong?"
"Would you believe I have the old roommate problem?"
"Kendra and Elise?"
"Yes, and several others."
"They probably all have you on their lists and are figuring out where they are in line."
"Blushing makes me feel silly, even if no one can see it."
"When are you moving, and where?"
"When the message system is ready, to Roundin Lake. I'm going to record the size and type of fish people catch, what they used, and their level of skill. I came up with a way to sabbatical at one beautiful place after another with work being talking to other people fishing. Some tackle company will pay for it for their advertising and more than reimburse my expenses."
"Every person who enjoys fishing will be awed by your brilliance."
"Thank you. Figuring out something to research that IS wouldn't be irritated someone was assembling stats on was a problem, until I saw a 'catch the big ones with' ad on a tackle shop window."
"Teal Valley is a true community, with 'summer people' who are very welcome, but not in it. You won't be a member of the community, either."
"I know, but I'll make friends with lovely residents, probably all of them."
"That didn't take long. You were completely detached."
"Kendra pointed that out quite bluntly. She asked if I wanted the first amateur psychologist I met researching my case and giving me a referral to a psychiatrist or sex therapist. It's moving incredibly fast."
"You're surprised?"
"Not with the data Knight and Blade brought back, and the invocation. When are you going to kick them into the lead?"
"When they see I'm carrying the load because they weren't ready for it."
Danny checked access counts and did a bit of programming. When she finished, every botany reference access count and record on the infonet was from previous years, which year of fifteen changed daily, and no out of service accounts were recorded. They were replaced with educational institution accounts in random order. After that was done, she went to work on her job. She'd set the time to work on it at twenty minutes per day, so she didn't finish it too soon. She expected it to take about six days.
Blade dropped off a family of three. He wasn't nervous about the boy. He was the planner of the three and excitedly working to convince "Mom" and "Aunt Dina" car shopping should come before home hunting. Their next delivery was of Nev, Case and Stats to their house. The invisible car schedule began at eleven. Only one car drove by with windows open. Reesa and Cody followed all the others to new residences, then went back and waited for a car to pass at fourteen.
Case and Stats hadn't found what they wanted at the first used car lot to which Nev took them. Case found his car at the third. Nev left them there and went back to the house to help Ronnie and Dawn work on his T. By the time Blade got back from his last drop, Kendra, Dayton, Elise and five others had built seventeen shields and Knight had finished the design for the message system.
Before they left the mine, Knight and Blade built their sword and installed it. They didn't tell anyone it might explode when they tested it, but they had an argument over who shouldn't be in the car on the way to do it. Eventually, Blade won. Knight had to accept his value, as the one who had the best chance of finding more applications, as need arose, and he couldn't argue Blade hadn't taught him all he could. They took the six shields out of the car. When Blade got back, Knight was crying.
"You came apart as soon as you were sure it didn't go boom."
"No, I came apart as soon as you left. It just changed to relief when I became sure. I need to make love with you. Let's take the seats out."
"Sometimes, you are not practical. Let's go home and make love in a big bed. They'll all know we proved I've got great ears and stop worrying when we do."
"They can unload the shields."
"They won't mind. It's getting too heavy for Nev."
"I don't know how to be a lea
der."
"Knight, it's not know. You have to work to keep people from following. Since you are, Nev is giving them someone else, but he wants to walk beside, not in front. Dump naïve kid who needs to be steered, or I'll knock it out of you. I figure you won't pick it back up after you check me for broken bones."
"I love you."
"I know. That's why I'm sure it would just be a check."
"It's time to kill people."
"Yes, it is."
"The informer?"
"Should be a body."
"Nev would be a mess, if he was anyone else."
"He loves you both, and everybody else after you two. You need to have an 'affair,' so she can relax and get back to being his 'princess with a roving eye,' but not until after we share your bed again."
"You knew I didn't want to be alone last night."
"No, I knew I didn't and was sure it was mutual."
"Let's use yours."
"I'd like that."
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