When they hit the bed Tor pushed Denno through the wall behind them, coming out on the other side with only a little struggle, when the good looking Ancient panicked a bit. Apparently just going through the wall hadn't seemed like the obvious plan? A guard room with screens that showed the inside of the room, where Tor and Denno were making out on the man’s bed. There was a guard wearing a gray one-piece watching the screen, chuckling as he did, but he didn't look down to see the two men under his desk.
Denno was wide eyed but stayed silent and crawled to the far end of the set up, leading to a corner, going left would take them back into the room they'd come from, so Tor was opting for straight, but Denno placed a slow and gentle hand on his back and shook his head when Tor turned around, pointing at the wall to the right. Tor nodded that he got the idea, his way wasn't going to work and the guy that knew where things were suggested going another direction entirely. But could they get there without the guard seeing them?
In the end all they could do was wait for a chance. The scene would last forty minutes, then the fake images of them would sit up and put their clothing back on and move to the table to talk. No sound would come out then though. There would be grunts and murmurs before then, hopefully when appropriate. Tor didn't really know. It wasn't like this was anything he'd done before. The whole scene was just made up after all.
The guard moved forward to watch the screen suddenly and Denno pushed Tor into action. Getting through the wall into a stairwell behind the stone material, smooth and bland, was no harder than a tree and took less time over all, since it was only about a foot thick. From there Denno led, running quickly, faster than Tor could go, but not so much so that he got lost. Finally, after climbing not five, but six flights of stairs, Denno pointed at another wall and grimaced. There would be a fall, Tor knew. When they left the building Denno rolled out of the fall, only about ten feet up, but Tor didn't have that skill, so landed with his legs nearly straight, the force of the whole thing going into the ground with a small pop. The other man looked worried for a bit, but Tor waved him on. Shields were nifty that way, taking the force of falls for you.
In the open Denno was faster than Tor by far. After about a minute of panting and struggling to keep up, being left far behind, Denno stopped, freezing by a fence made of metal, gray and oppressive. Inside hundreds, maybe thousands, of gray suited military men worked and trained. It took a minute for Tor to get what he was looking at. Inside the fence wasn't a military base, it was an assassin training facility. This was clear, because all the men inside were a single individual. All with eyes that had whites, but the rest was a pure black, eerie and off putting.
Larval.
Clones designed to ruthlessly take out any target, anywhere in the world.
Tor got ready to panic, but held himself still for the moment, taking in the scene, trying to count how many there were and how big the facility was. Huge. When he got to three hundred men, Denno started running again, this time towards the sea. On the beach he stopped and looked at Tor meaningfully.
“I don't know the plan…”
Of course not. Now they had to swim. Three miles out into the ocean and hope that Burks hadn't gone into town for a snack. Tor said this with a grin, as if he were joking and moved to the water, swimming as best he could
Denno might have been faster than he was, but after a few minutes the work was obviously getting hard for him to keep up. This wasn't a sprint after all. At fifteen minutes the man started to struggle, so Tor had to slow down and let him keep up. It took nearly two hours to get far enough out, and it was the place where he'd planned to wait, he guessed. It was really hard to tell. Looking down into the water Tor couldn't see anything, so they floated and treaded in place for a while.
He could make a craft for them, true. Tor could do it at any time, having one around his neck even, but that might show up to the Austran science and he didn't want to force them into action just yet.
It was a dilemma though, because they couldn't tread water forever.
“Hello.” A voice came from behind them, about twenty feet off. “Would you two like a ride?”
The craft looked different than Tor would have made it, like a perfect tear drop, a small hatch coming out one side, with Burks standing there dressed in a strange skin tight outfit of black that was vaguely shiny. It had a bright green stripe about four inches wide down the sides. It looked good on him, but strange. No one in Austra, Afrak or Noram dressed like it at all. Tor couldn't even identify what the material was supposed to be. Since he'd been the one that added all the field templates on the clothing amulet Burks wore, that meant the man, or someone else, had altered a field he'd made. It was possible to do, but showed a lot more building skill than he'd suspected before from the man.
Swimming towards the craft Tor wanted to shake his head. He was a moron sometimes, a big one too. Burks wasn't that good at building? Not only was he basically the same person as Tor, who did OK at it, but the man had invented the kind of magic they used. All the techniques, all the tricks and templates, were based on what he originally discovered. Of course he could tap into a field Tor had made. Now that the idea occurred to him, it wouldn't even be hard to do himself. Just match the work, like copying and rebuild it with the additional or altered information. He'd even done a little of that with his own work. It was nearly what he did to make shield improvements.
The first thing Tor did was touch Burks arm as he steadied himself on the craft then moved forward stepping inside to let Denno on.
“Burks, can I get a copy of the field for that material? It seems waterproof but flexible.” That was a rare combination. As he nodded, smiling, Tor remembered the important bit and blushed.
“Oh… Also, giant Larval army back there. I couldn't get their ages or exact numbers, but I left off at about three hundred and fifty and that was only about half of what was visible. The complex could hold more than that I think.”
Burks sighed.
“Of course. It had to be something didn't it? So, Den, what have you to say for yourself?”
Denno even looked good wet, which made Tor feel a little jealous. He probably looked like a drowned rat, this guy looked ready to seduce the upper crust of royal society. Tor moved past him and closed the hatch, a complex thing that melded into the body smoothly once it shut. Functionally the door was one with the solid and smooth side.
Cool.
Tor decided to take them down and get underway while the other two talked, or fought. Whatever was going to happen. He held them at about ten foot deep then hopped up to check the air flow in and out. It was a strong and healthy breeze on his hand coming in and the out port tried to grab him with suction. It was a little embarrassing, but he got his hand back before anyone laughed at him. Not that either of the others was paying attention to his antics, being a little busy.
They'd both collapsed into the passenger chairs in the back, large and comfortable things in a sturdy looking blue material, attached to the floor in a space bigger than his school dorm room. The men stared at each other silently, neither moving or even breathing hard. Shrugging Tor headed due west, it was both away and not particularly going towards Noram, which would be where he'd search first, if looking for a fleeing Tor. Almost everyone would try to run straight home, so he didn't.
If anyone was following yet they were good, he decided, or using techniques and tricks he just didn't know. Either way amounted to the same thing, a dead him if they weren't careful.
When Brown spoke his voice was mellow, relaxed and almost sounded like he was planning on trying to trick them into something. Believing him or what not. It wasn't a voice that Tor would trust, as much as he wanted to in the moment. It didn't sound phony, but it was clearly designed to manipulate. Incredibly sincere. Too much so.
“I have no clue what he's been up too Burks. He's held me prisoner for years, a decade I think. It's not any plan of mine. I admit that I was lax in my duty. Glost should have never gained power, but you know how I loathe killing and nothing else would have been half as effective.” It was a persuasive argument, but Tor snorted loudly, causing both men to look at him.
“You didn't want to kill him, which I get, killing is… hard. But you did nothing because you didn't want to kill him? Half as effective is better than not being effective at all, isn't it?” Tor made his voice stay relaxed and conversational, but felt like shouting at the man for having not done his job. It wouldn't help in the long run, so he made himself stay cool.
Denno sighed, his voice going back to normal.
“No doubt. Even telling him “no” a little more often might have helped, though I think… he may not be mentally well balanced. His daughter too. Daria has always been a problem.”
Tor nodded, but added what he'd found out about them first hand, Glost being crazy and ruthless and Daria mainly doing what she did to survive with her father in the picture.
“She's just as evil, but it isn't a mental disorder with her, she learned to be like that. She might have been able to learn to move past it, but it's too late now. ” She'd killed Yardley and would die for it. He had to quickly explain it all to Denno, but it only took a few lines. Tor didn't want to surprise the man later with the idea, but Daria Serge was a convicted murderer in Noram, that had escaped due to the threat of annihilation, which they'd gone with in order to save Brown.
The woman was going to be put to death for her crimes.
Burks didn't get side tracked as easily as Tor did and brought the topic back to the new problem, the one Brown's own lack of attention allowed to take place.
“What's your contingency with the Larvals, now that you know about them?”
Denno didn't have one. Not really. He tried to bluff his way through, but finally just fessed up.
“I have no clue. There were never meant to be more than twenty-one of them at a time. The interlocking nano systems for this many, they can't be controlled. Each individual is receiving raw data from all the others. If they aren't already mad, then they will be soon. But,” rubbing his face with both hands Denno paused for a full minute, then continued talking as if the thought was uninterrupted.
“Their being insane won't dampen their utility to Glost. If anything it will make them more ruthless, especially if all their training and actions follows a military model. About the worst case scenario.”
“Tor.” Burks spoke softly, as if trying not to spook him.
“Set a course for Soam please.”
Working it out in his head Tor shrugged.
“Already headed that way.”
“Good. We'll have to fly in, but I want about a thousand miles between us and Austra before we go aloft. I packed food for three weeks and these chairs lean back to make serviceable beds. Tor, are you good for the first leg?” His voice sounded tired, as if he hadn't slept in days, which he may not have, if he didn't know the escape schedule. Staying awake would be the only way he could assure catching them when they swam out. If they swam out.
The trip was boring, except when it was finally his turn to sleep and the other two started bickering about what should be done with the Larval army.
“Oh, come now Burks! They're just boys, what, fifteen tops? They aren't a real threat at this point, it will be years-”
“Until they come to Noram and start slaughtering innocent people because Glost couldn't get my daughter to marry him? I told you about all that, but you didn't do anything. After he stole a squad of young Larval from you? Why is that exactly?” Lairdgren sounded both skeptical and pissed at the same time when he spoke.
“What would you have me do? Murder him for having some strong feelings? Don't you remember being that age at all? We were all little monsters back then, but we managed all right in the end, didn't we?” Denno sat forward in the soft chair and stared at the back of Burks head as he drove the craft under the water. It wasn't hard to do, Tor knew, but it would have been easier to sleep if the men would just shut up about things they couldn't currently control.
“Seriously Den? He tried to kill my daughter, one of us. Using a weapon that's barely allowed under the treaty and then only because you've promised to keep their numbers down. Glost shouldn't even know what a nuclear bomb is, much less be trying to build one. Something isn't right here. Glost knows too much and is pushing too many boundaries to ignore. When we get to White, I'm going to recommend calling a summit. This is too big for just us to handle. God.”
Then they argued about summits for another hour, finally, eyes drifting shut on their own, and, being woken by stern arguments again, Tor moved to the hindmost chair and activated his quiet field. They could bicker like hens if that made them happy, but Tor was getting some sleep. The magical light was already too bright, that plus talking was just too much. The chair was comfortable enough and laid flat when he pushed a lever and straightened his body, once his eyes finally closed he decided not to open them for several long hours.
Finally after four days of this Tor grew fed up and when the other two slept he rose above the waves by about a foot, using the low driving mode, and moved them along at about a hundred miles per hour. Going faster was an option, but it made a ripple in the water if he did. That could be seen from the air, he thought. They were at the thousand mile limit before Burks woke up and over Soam an two hours later. Tor hovered up high, not knowing where they were to go next.
If Burks had a problem with it, he could climb out and walk, Tor decided.
The constant fighting had worn him down and he was about to start hitting people. Since all the people on board could kick his behind, that wasn't a good thing to be feeling. Dangerous even. The only thing stopping him at the second was how much he cared about his own health. Once that level of frustration was breached, when he cared more about making it stop than his own safety, violence would ensue.
That would mean Tor needed to cheat, if he wanted to survive it. Oddly enough a plan formed. He couldn’t use it yet, but it should work…
True, they were nice and quiet while they rested, but Denno kept trying to get him to agree with him, even though Tor didn't know half enough to be involved in the decision making here. Burks had been careful not to agree with him on that when Tor finally said it out loud, but it was obviously what he'd been thinking too. Jerk. Assuming Tor was to uneducated to make a simple decision.
It was true, but still…
When they woke Tor created a hatch on either side and opened them, hovering about five thousand feet above the ground, which he lowered quickly so they could keep breathing easily. The area they were over had mountains, so they were actually way higher than it looked. It got their attention, which was the point.
“Without arguing, which way do we go?” Tor said reasonably, ready to tip them out if they didn't get along at least passably well.
“North-east, I think.” Burks didn't grin, but Tor could still tell he wanted to.
“Point.” Tor said, trying to not sound half as gruff as he felt.
Burks did, quickly, Denno looking on with slightly wide eyes for some reason.
OK, Tor was being a bit moody about it, but it wasn't like he really planned to do anything, say dump them both out to fall to their deaths, they'd just bugged him enough that he wanted to, that was all.
They found the city of stone easily enough, The only gray spot in a sea of green trees and foliage. The place was lovely, but much larger than he expected, at least ten times the size of the Capital in Noram. Tor slowly landed on a flat gray space that was both empty of people and reasonably close to where they were supposed to be. At least the others claimed that. Tor didn't care as long as there was a bath, or shower, even a bucket and a stiff brush, wherever they were. Even a container of clean sand would be good. The fact of the matter was, even though no one had mentioned it, they all stank badly from being closed in for so long without a way to clean up. They had a tiny restroom in the back, but no shower facilities. The carriages just didn’t. He hadn’t thought to build that in.
He’d have to fix that.
The city they were in was amazing though, Tor noticed even through the surly haze that covered his mind. It was all stone, every visible bit of it, natural rock had been cut somehow, into massive bricks the size of small houses, then placed together to form structures. If they used anything but rock to do it, Tor couldn't tell. There were people about, short and brown, with dark hair and bright red and blue skirts on. That's all anyone wore, a skirt, including the women.
As a group they had small breasts, the few well endowed women sagged dramatically even from a distance. They didn't seem to smile much, but when a strange craft lands in your front yard and weird looking smelly people climb out, that could put a person off their game. Tor and the Ancients just stood and waited by the craft, not trying to go anywhere or even sitting. Maybe it was rude to sit here? Tor wondered if he should put the vehicle away but Burks didn't say anything, so he left it, just in case they had to flee quickly for some reason.
Say a large group of people indicating they should leave?
No one looked hostile though, just curious. After half an hour a boy, one that looked about ten or so, ventured over with a basket of fruit and offered it around. It wasn't poisoned and seemed to be free, so Tor took a funny looking banana that was all red, large and very fat compared to the ones he’d seen before and ate it. It was wonderful. Anything edible not from a jar would have been of course. Austran food sucked, hard, and after day three in that little pot of a vehicle, everything had started tasting like sweat and body odor anyway. Gross.
Burks quickly thanked the boy, who spoke to him for a while, in a language that Tor didn't understand at all. He listened as closely as he could, hoping to catch on. The language was pretty, and a few of the words were really close to Noram standard, so that gave him something to start from, the word endings were different, but there seemed to be a regular pattern to it all. More than what he was used to even.
The boy left them, still just standing, and other people came by to look, openly staring, which with their four days of beard growth, strange colors and bizarre, meaning more than a short skirt, clothing had to look out of place. They kept just standing and waiting though, and finally sitting and waiting, as dark fell. Tor wanted to sleep but didn't know if it was safe. He and his grandfather had shields, but Denno didn't, and if something happened it would be hard to protect the man if Tor was off dreaming of hand pies.
“Don't worry Tor, it's safe here. Violence is unheard of, like in Afrak, except that here it was a purposeful choice that everyone agreed too and a change of culture over thousands of years.” Burks sounded slightly bitter.
Probably over Afrak, where peoples fields had all been changed using “genetics” to make violence nearly impossible. Not bigotry or sexist behavior, just the ability to fight back against it. The idea still bothered Tor too. Of course that his own grandmother had been the one to do it made the whole thing even worse. For him at least. The people there probably wouldn’t care who did it. Honestly, he wasn’t sure they could.
She wasn't exactly a pleasant person, not if you were a man at least. Identical to his mother and possibly his little sister Tiera. But harsher somehow. It was a situation that could end up going horribly wrong. If Tor became Burks, well that wouldn't be too bad over all. He was an alright person as far as that went. But if his mom became Lara? God, that would be bad. The short answer being that he didn't think the world could survive two of her.
Possibly in a literal sense.
They slept in the craft that night, but with a side made clear, so that they could see out if anyone came to visit or needed anything. The back was close enough to a large stone pyramid that no one would try coming that way, the other way faced a road. It was only about eight foot across, but all the traffic seemed to be on foot here. Again the whole thing was made of massive stone blocks.
They kept waiting and waiting. People brought more food, and water and finally some wash water too. Tor cleaned completely, scrubbing up self-consciously as people stared at him doing it. He didn't get naked, washing in a skirt like the natives wore, one in red, the most popular color on men. Tor hoped it didn't mean he was agreeing to be sacrificed or anything, or if he was, someone would tell him about it first. If he was going to be sacrificed he at least wanted to know why. Wouldn't do to say the wrong words and ruin it for everyone else or anything either, so maybe a class in it would be good first?
Thanks to those buckets of water and the fact he had a bath heater as one of the sigils around his neck meant they could all wash with warm water. Finally. Denno kept staring at him, but didn’t speak, just stripping and using the warm water himself.
Not that it was cold out, but the extra bit of comfort was nice. The bucket wasn't really one at all, but a large fired clay pot instead. It worked to carry water, but a handle would have made it easier to deal with.
Tor got to be clean again, shaved and even had nice smelling breath when White walked up. The other two straightened, subconscious behavior on their parts most likely, and smiled when the woman came into view.
She was more than pretty, she was exotic. Even that word didn’t capture her beauty exactly. It went beyond what was normal at all.
Her skin wasn't just light colored like his, but a gentle pearl color. It glowed as the soft sunlight hit it through the lush green of the trees and tall bushes all around them, and her eyes were a crystalline blue, like chips of deep and old ice. She ran the last few steps to meet the others, her breasts small, but still firm, Tor could tell, because she wore no top and promptly pressed them against him in welcome. His arousal was instant and complete. That was pretty normal. At eighteen, no, nineteen now, he was pretty young, and in his world a half naked hug from a pretty girl was still notable. After all, she looked about his age, his real age of nineteen, not what he looked to be, which was younger.
That the others were responding the same way was the tricky part. No scent should have passed his shield, and her field wasn't putting out anything extra alluring, so it was probably just her looks, rather than magic. Had she been designed to be physically perfect that way? It seemed likely. It could be a mental effect though. One he just didn’t know how to block yet. It wouldn't hurt for him to be careful that way.
“You brought a new brother for a visit? And he's Green! Only no? May I meet him, do you think?” She said this softly, the sound gentle and lovely to the ear, but Tor didn't trust it or her. She was just a little too perfect and it would be too easy to rule him using her allure. Tor grimaced and put up his bumpkin mental barriers.
“Julie, this is Torrance Baker, also just called Tor. He's my grandson and as you already guessed, me.” Burks looked almost eager to please the woman, it was strange and off putting in its aggressive nature.
Tor smiled and bowed to her, but she hugged him again.
“Julie White.” She made no move to let him go at all, as if she was trying to imprint him with her body, her image, so that he'd like her.
“Please, call me sister.” She said melodically.
“Alright sis, if we’re going to be family, would you kindly back the hell off and stop trying to use whatever your trick is on me?” It was blunt and from the men’s reaction almost scandalous. Julie just laughed, a sound like bells and moved back suddenly.
“Oh, was I doing that again? Sorry about that, old habit. Get people early and make friends before they can decide to be your enemy, you get the idea, I'm sure.” She sounded a lot more matter of fact, but stood and watched him a bit nervously.
Was it because he'd broken her stride? Probably not. Again with the “so old that she'd probably already done everything” concept. Nothing he did would really fluster someone like her. Still, he was a Noram Ambassador, if not the one for Soam. He bowed and spoke quickly, trying to be a little more diplomatic.
“Don't worry, I'm friendly. I just need to keep a clear head with this crowd. I don't have vast experience to fall back on, you know?”
Julie chuckled.
“That shows wisdom. So, to what do I own the pleasure? Did you just come to let me meet the new family member? That would be a wonder. We need to have reunions every ten years or so like we used to. I haven't seen anyone in over fifty, except you two now.”
They weren't invited in anywhere, and weren't offered more refreshments either, instead they all sat on the ground, Julie's short emerald green skirt flaring enough to show she didn't bother with anything underneath, meaning he had to lock onto a deeper meditative state not to look.
Tor let the others talk unless asked a specific question, not getting everything spoken of anyway. Most of what they said was in short hand or foreign languages, that or the words had been lost over time. Julie didn't get angry over the Larval situation, but was concerned. At least she sounded that way, it was hard to tell, because she kept petting Burk and Denno in an extremely creepy fashion for a sister.
Yes, Tor got that they weren't really directly related, their genetic “gifts” were vastly different, and probably their parents were too, if they even had them.
Tor hadn't asked how that all worked yet. But still, they grew up thinking of each other as brother and sister, enough so that Burks had gone to rescue Denno thousands of years later because of those family ties. That meant that Julie was being inappropriate. Then again, given what he could piece together about her, she might not be able to help herself. She kept her hands off Tor however. Not because she wanted to, she kept reaching out to him, but he'd turned his shield on and left it. She giggled at that, but Denno largely ignored it like he did anything magic.
“Oh, I need one of those! Does it keep insects from biting?”
Tor nodded.
“As long as it's on it will. A regular insect biting you won't force it to turn on though. Are they a problem here, insects? I could make shields just for that, I think… It could take a bit. This Larval thing will probably come first. Then a simple bug shield would be easier to manage.”
A specific insect shield was really more interesting too, because it was a complex problem, at least if he wanted to do it right. People would need to be able to touch things and each other, but bugs had to be filtered. It could be done, but… yeah, millions of kinds of insects in the world. Could he make it to discriminate against biological creatures under a certain size? That… could work. He'd have test it and see. After a few moments a hand was waved in his face. Denno.
“Are you well Tor?” His voice held actually concern, but Tor laughed.
“Just working on the idea of an insect shield. Sorry, I'll focus on the topic now.”
That, it turned out, was all about that summit Burks had mentioned, which just meant a meeting that everyone was required to go to. They argued about where it should be held, who should pay for it and how to arrange travel. Tor almost offered to just go and get people himself, then realized he had an actual life to get back to now. And a wife that, even if she didn't miss him really, would expect him to be around to take care of her. Thinking of that reminded him that he should see about getting some land from Rolph to build a real house on, and maybe set up the trees and large bushes for the garden he wanted. The idea was basically like Grenwyn, except that in his mind the houses would be better looking.
They argued for hours, but the final end point was just that everyone would meet in Vagus, wherever that was, and that Burks would cover any costs. Denno should have had to do it, Tor gathered, since it was his screw-up, but his resources were cut off because of his sudden relocation. Due to the pressing nature of the problem they all agreed to meet in six months. Tor felted shocked that it would take that long, but Ancients seemed to have their own time schedules for things.
In the mean time Denno would be shuffled off to stay with the royal family of Noram. That Burks intended to dump him there without asking first seemed a little rude to Tor, but unless he wanted to keep him at school, what else could he do?
Sighing he made the offer.
The man, no matter how annoying at times, was family. Denno hadn't been arguing the whole time with him even, so it wasn't that strained between them. Denno clapped, slow and ponderously, while he thought.
“Do you have the room though? I wouldn't want to put you out.”
“Yeah. You can sleep at the foot of my bed, no problem.” He teased. Burks grinned too when Denno gave him a funny look, but explained.
“The school rules say that Tor and his wife, both students there, have to live in separate dorm rooms, but they also have a house on campus, a very nice one actually. Very low energy use, I think you'll enjoy it. No video or computer access, but that would be the same at the palace. We need to stop in there first, introductions and all that. They might want to keep you regardless. Put you to work scrubbing floors or something.”
Denno shrugged at that, a thing very like what Burks did.
“Well, wouldn't be the first time. Might even be better really. Something to do while I wait.”
Tor yawned, apologized for it, and suggested they get to it, if they weren't staying the night. It wasn't late, but it could take a few hours to get the traveling done, and he really didn't want to stay in Soam for another night. It was pretty, but he hadn't learned the language yet, and frankly Julie, while pretty herself, fantastically so, and undoubtedly one of the kinder people he'd ever met, was really starting to make him uncomfortable.
He had an odd feeling that if he stayed the night that somehow, no matter how unlikely it seemed, he'd end up having sex with her. More, that doing that would erode his ability to withstand her future advances. She might be a good person, but a few hours of talking and being nice to one another didn't prove that, did it? Leaving made good sense, at least to him.
Denno and Burks both wanted to stay. Brain washed little lap dogs that they were.
Julie hugged the others close and long, her body pressed against them tightly and tried it with him, but backed off when she couldn't make the initial contact. Smiling she nodded to him instead.
“We need a color name for you little brother. I don't think the others realize how not Green you really are yet.” This was whispered to him softly enough that Tor doubted the other men could hear.
“What's your favorite color?”
“Purple.” He didn't get the idea for a second but the woman smiled at him and bowed Noram fashion, delicate hands going to the front of her skirted thigh.
“ I guess I can work with that. Too bad you didn't pick Indigo, that's my second favorite color personally. Purple it is then. No one has that one.”
Julie White didn't add anything else but did bow to him through the clear side as he took off. Or at least it looked like it was directed towards him. It could have been to all of them or even to one of the others. After a second he realized that each man probably felt like it was for him alone and nearly laughed. His new “sister” was dangerous that way, wasn't she? The world tended to focus on her, or seem like it did.
Tor flew them back, since all he had to do was fly north until he hit the Kings river, then follow it over to the Capital. Slowly. If he came in too fast, he warned them, starting to slow a good ways off, Squire Gerald would come out and kill them all. That or his sister Gemma. Either way they'd be dead, he informed both the Ancients with a certainty that made Denno go still and Burks smile.
“Too right. We never really covered that did we Den? Two children that have control of a weapon that makes nuclear weapons look like toys. A single device that could turn the world into a snowball in hours. And Tor here has the ability to make more of them. A nearly infinite amount. Not covered in the treaty at all, either. Just something to keep in mind. An attack on Noram would be a poor plan all around right now I think.” Burks smiled, a sad looking thing, from the glimpse of it Tor caught when he looked over his shoulder.
“Tor… How long would it take you to put out another, let’s say thousand such devices as the one Gerald and Gemma guard?”
Careful to keep his focus on what he was doing, Tor thought for about ten seconds first.
“About… Ten hours.” Then he shrugged, not knowing if anyone would see it from the back and not caring overly.
“That would be insane though. One of those would be more than enough to take out an entire land in a few hours. Even just to make sure the job was done ten would be enough. A thousand would just invite someone to do something stupid. And really, I could make a different kind of weapon in a day or two that would just take out the needed targets and not hurt the innocent people. I actually already have the basic plan for that. It locates the targeted individuals and denies them air. They can't run from it either. Well, not within the field space.” Tor didn't want to undermine Burks plan or threat, but it really was a dumb idea. Who would really threaten all those people who probably didn't even know the Serges?
Burks chuckled, a slightly sinister sound.
“Indeed. I'd also point out that Tor isn't a signatory of the treaty. Oh, he's no threat to anyone that's peaceful, but remember, he risked his own life to save you in a foreign land away from all he's ever known, because you called him brother once. Think what he might do to protect the family and friends he's known for years?”
Denno sighed loudly.
“I get it already Burks, no need to beat that horse anymore, it's dead and buried already.”
With that in mind he landed, and reconfigured the craft to look like an official transport, like the one Smythe used when he didn't insist on riding around being pulled by horses. It was a nice cream color with gold scroll work on it across the doors. It looked like an elongated box, but that didn't make a difference to how it handled at all, just the size of the landing place needed.
Then he got them back in the air and crawled, coming in at no more than fifty miles per hour and hovered over the palace, descending so slowly Denno asked about it.
“That's so they know not to turn the shield on.” Tor said automatically, Burks didn't react, but his field did, and an idea surged from him that until they knew what Browns part in everything had been, they'd best not tell him everything. Tor wondered at that. They could threaten him openly with super death weapons and even mention who had them, but not about a simple shield? What else was off limits then? Bread recipes and how to make clotted cream? That last might be a real secret though. Tor still didn't know how the palace staff really did that. It was good and as far as he could see, Austra didn't have it at all.
After that Tor didn't speak, waiting for Burks to do it first, which he didn't, except to run over protocol briefly for Brown so that he'd feel comfortable in the new situation. They got out slowly, Tor changing into some nice looking, palace ready clothing that he'd used before, a black silk shirt, with velvet trousers and boots in the same color. Not finery really, more visiting clothes, but they'd serve. Burks picked Lairdgren green, a military style dress uniform and Denno pouted as he was left in his soiled blue prisoner outfit. Tor almost took pity on him and passed over his second clothing amulet, but that had weapons on it too, as well as a shield. Besides, maybe the King and Queen would take pity on Brown if he didn't look perfectly sharp?
Tor stood on the far right, Burks took the left and they slowly walked towards the palace, waiting for someone to greet them. It turned out to be a cute, and obviously pregnant Princess who floated above the ground a few inches. She stopped and stared for a second, then nodded and floated to Tor, giving him a warm hug. That she'd figured out which identical looking guys was him didn't throw Tor at all. Burks may look the same, but he was five inches taller and obviously dressed up like Lairdgren always did.
“Guests?” She didn't ask any more.
“Yes. You know Count Lairdgren, even if he does look a bit funny right now. This other man is… Denno Brown, the Ancient that the Austrans were holding? We helped him leave.” Tor hoped he didn't say it in a way that would trigger the Royal Guard. They could be hugely over-reactive at times. No one tackled them, evil Austran in their midst or not, so Varley took them to the audience chamber. Floating in the air the whole time. She looked darling.
This was a place Tor had never been before, a giant hall used only for the most important guests. That was his guess at least. It was certainly grand enough, in polished dark wood, all one color for the whole room except the two chairs up front, that were gold wood and bright red seat cushions. In this space it screamed “look at me!” without being so obvious as having a man calling them all to attention and respect. That would be tacky. This was much better, since you could count it as happenstance instead of years of careful planning.
The King and Queen walked out of a door behind the thrones that was nearly invisible, recessed into the wall as it was. They wore robes that looked splendid and colorful, along with the royal crowns, but Tor picked up his own work from fifty feet away. It was all just a clothing amulet. They probably memorized the patterns for emergencies and quick changes. It was a good idea really, all Tor had was this suit of clothes and his student browns, at least for fast work. A bigger repertoire wouldn't hurt at all. Tor decided to actually come up with a couple of things. It would give him a reason to spend time with Petra if nothing else. She was good with styles and colors.
Tor bowed first here, being the least important person in the room. It was an odd thing, since he normally didn't bow to Rich and Connie at all, because they were his friend’s parents, and he'd met them as such, not royalty, but they needed to put on a good show for the stranger, so he went low, his head dropping below the level of his waist.
After they all bowed, Richard smiled.
“Welcome Dennorian Brown, Ancient of Austra. I hope you are… I suppose doing well is too much to ask yet, but let us hope that soon you will be.”
Connie stared at the men in front of her, not losing composure, but nearly so. To her it probably looked like two of him and the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen standing their chatting with her, Tor thought. Or had she seen Burks like this before, back when she was a school girl and thought of him as being another version of Count Lairdgren? It might explain why she kept acting like Tor was special. Was it the older one she really wanted?
It made sense at least, but in this case just being a good point didn't make it true.
After a few seconds Connie spoke, but it was to Tor directly.
“So, Torrance, in your capacity as Queen’s advisor, what's your take on this Ancient that comes from the land of those who would make war on us?” The tone was official and formal and didn't come with a smile for once. It took a second to understand she wasn't joking at all. She really wanted his opinion. Right.
Tor had to fight the shrug he felt and took a deep breath.
“On the surface he seems friendly and charming. His captivity felt real enough. However… I do have some questions that need to be answered before I fully accept him as a friend to us, the people of Noram.” She'd asked for his real opinion, so supposed brother or not, she was going to get it.
Richards’s eyes went wide, perhaps he expected a joke, but if so he was going to be disappointed.
Tor kept going, hoping no one would hit him.
“When we were escaping from captivity, the whole thing went smoothly, even though it was just being made up as I went along. I'd like to think I'm just that clever and intelligent, but everything worked for us. We started in a room with twenty armed guards and seemed to have been gone at least an hour or more before pursuit came. Maybe we got lucky, but there are some other things…
“For instance, I thought I was being clever in acting slightly afraid of Denno, forcing Glost and Daria to push me towards him, but insane or not, would you thrust me into a meeting with your highest level prisoner? Or anyone for that matter? At best they should have kept us apart just because he was a captive, don't you think? I would have.”
Both the monarchs sat forward and Denno had gone wide eyed as if to show his innocence.
“Then, later, Denno and I came across an army of young Larvals. At least six hundred, possibly many more. We didn't engage with them, just ran away from the fence line without issue, but they were at least fifteen years old if not older.”
Burks nodded. So that hadn't gone unnoticed by him either? The Ancient version of him spoke softly. “It takes a normal life span to grow a Larval assassin to maturity and high level training. But much of what makes them so effective is a semi-intelligent nano hive that infects them all. It literally makes them into one being, that had to be done early and it isn't a simple process.”
Tor tried to store that information away, even though some of the terms weren't familiar to him. He knew what a nano was, kind of. A little machine. Like death dust. A hive… Like hornets or bees? Put together it seemed to mean something specific, which could be anything. Tor shrugged and tilted his head to the right before continuing.
“But if we stretch things to the outside and say that Denno was a prisoner for ten years, not just seven, that leaves five years of work being done that needs someone really skilled. I don't know if Austra has a lot of people that could make them, Larval's, but I'm willing to bet that in the list of their best few doctors that do that kind of thing, you'd find the name Denno Brown right near the top. Having the skill to do something doesn't imply guilt, but…”
All of that didn't mean it was a trick, maybe he really was just that good or unexpected, or maybe the guards knew what was going on and purposefully looked the other way? Yeah, they could be killed for it, but it could be pretty easy to love someone as charming as Denno if your other option involved a crazy man in a clown suit. Plus there was one other thing that bothered Tor a little.
“It was when Denno was arguing with Burks about what to do in regards to the Larval. I mean, there are only so many things that can be done there, and the only certain one is killing them all. Denno seems to regard them as his kids, so fair enough that he doesn't want them killed outright, but he drew Burks into calling for a summit of Ancients. Why? Right now, if Denno said he wanted to set aside a compound in Austra for them, everyone would agree, as long as Glost lost power and we knew they weren't going to invade Noram or one of the other lands and take over. If he said kill them, well we could to that too. I don't want to myself, so I get how he feels on the matter, at least a bit, but-”
Burks gave Tor a small bow.
“Thought you might have missed that bit. But as Tor was getting at, I believe, Denno has more power in this situation without the others being involved, so why goad me into getting them together?”
The King asked if they should question Brown using a truth device. It was a plan but it might not work, Tor told them.
“I don't know if it can be beaten, but if anyone can figure it out, a three thousand year old is the being for the job, don't you think? If we're going to question him using it, I think Burks should spend some time trying to defeat it for a while. He could at least tell us if it works on someone like him.” Then Tor shut up. The rest would take care of itself or not. Really that he was speaking at all here was half insane itself. What did he really know?
Not enough to pretend to advise anyone, that was for sure.
The conversation went forward from there as if he hadn't spoken at all, except that everyone looked at him funny when they thought he wasn't paying attention.
Yes, he'd been a little rough, but Denno was, at least supposedly, in charge of all the Larval and Austra to a good degree. Maybe what he'd mentioned was too obvious? That could be it. He started to feel embarrassed when Connie suggested that they set Brown up in a guest room and get him some clean clothing and a nice hot bath. That and a good meal, she added after a second. That the men and women assigned to care and guide him wore Royal Guard uniforms might have been lost on the man, but that they were clearly hardened fighters wasn't. He looked at them closely as they guided him away.
Tor waited to be taken to task or mocked, but everyone just went quiet for a while. He was about to apologize when Burks spoke.
“Well done Tor. Very well done. If anyone else had spoken those questions, it could have been taken as an attack, but from you, his little brother, one that holds family so dear, he pretty much has to simply cooperate, doesn't he? Especially after you risked your own life for him.” Burks nodded and after a few seconds spread his hands.
“I've used your truth device before myself, but never tried to defeat it. My first move would be trying to tamper with the field itself, since you and I share basic field patterns, but I can guarantee that Denno can't do that. So… mechanical and electronic devices, nanos and mental discipline I think. Very few people on the planet have Denno's level of biophysical self-control. I can see what can be done though. If I can't rig the device or control it by any of those methods, well that doesn't mean he can't, just that it would be harder to do.”
That left Tor to go to dinner with the royal family and Denno Brown, the Ancient of Austra. Honestly Tor didn't figure much would happen. They'd eat, make small talk and go to bed. At least Tor got a real bath first, in the guest house out back. It was his normal room, so he knew the way, and he even had a toothbrush this time. Really, Tor didn't want to sleep here, but short of going all the way back to school, or at least Two Bends, he didn't have anywhere else to go. So here it was for the night. Whee.
The bath was delicious. It sounded strange to put it that way, even inside his own mind, but it was simply the truth.
It felt so good to actually scrub his skin after all that, to wash away the stink of the escape and the four days mainly under water. He didn't feel tired for once, which was good. He almost always felt tired any more. It was like he was just running and never taking a break, but that was silly. He slept nearly every night, didn't he?
Tor leaned back and must have dozed off for a time, because he felt someone straddle him and lock their mouth over his passionately. Gently, before he got his eyes open, a warmth eased over his manhood. Well, Tor thought as he struggled to the surface, at least it was a woman. It would have caused a scene if Denno had found his room and tried something, and on so many levels.
So many.
When he got his eyes open he was mildly surprised, having expected Karina, since she was pretty forward and aggressive sexually, but it was Varley, naked and pregnant, showing just a bit, riding him in the bath.
“Hey.” Tor's voice was soft and a little baffled, but not too much. They were friends after all, and even been engaged to marry at one point, until her pregnancy by a different man had caused her to have to marry someone else pretty quickly. She was tall now, he noticed, nearly six-three, even sitting on him she had to work to reach his mouth with hers. That was all right, Tor paid attention to her breasts, which had grown a good bit, probably the first stages of what would happen as the pregnancy grew inside her. Not that he was an expert. He'd just seen enough pregnant women in Two Bends to know their breasts got bigger.
She gasped and kept moving faster and faster, making sounds that were half pleased and half sounded like pain. Tor reach out to her field to make certain she wasn't hurting herself just to please him, but it wasn't that, these were just the noises she made. That was fine then. After ten minutes or so she stood and turned, facing the other side of the bath and asked him to enter her from behind. Tor was gentle with her and went slowly. At first. She urged him on, faster, until she almost collapsed on the side of the tub. He hadn't finished, but she obviously wasn't going to be up for another round just then. Oh well, it was a bit frustrating, but he'd deal.
Chuckling, she splashed his groin with water and then washed him, clean, still hard, possibly more so than before. Kneeling she took him into her mouth, not being soft or gentle at all, working her lips and tongue hard, sucking and bobbing her head so furiously he worried for a moment that she might injure herself.
Then it all hit him and he stopped worrying at all for a few minutes.
When they'd both recovered and bathed she poked a finger into his chest, not a hard move, but not a tickle either.
“Alright you, why exactly did you miss my wedding?” Her tone was serious.
“Wedding? I… congratulations!” Tor hugged her warmly and then gave her a kiss for luck and then another one to hide his sudden panic. He'd slept with someone’s wife? A Count’s wife? He must have looked scared or something because she started laughing.
“Oh, Raul is a nice man, once you get used to the looks. Smarter than you'd think too. Not at all jealous either, in fact he suggested that I seek you out and make sure we have a solid friendship still. Of course he said I should “screw your brains out”, but I decided that would be too messy, besides, you might need them later.” Giggling, something rare for her, she kissed him again.
“Oh, also, wedding presents. Don't forget or people will think you're stingy, or, given who you are and what you've done for people, they'll probably think you're mad at me still for breaking the engagement. Not that I'd blame you for that, but… I kind of wish… well, never mind, done is done.”
“What?” Tor dreaded the answer, but knew that he had to ask anyway, she wanted him to. “What do you kind of wish?”
“Oh, it's nothing… just I would have liked to marry you regardless. Who cares if the baby looks wrong? We'd love her anyway and if anyone said anything we could un-invite them from all the best parties.”
Tor nodded.
He really would have liked that too, but as she'd indicated, done was, when you came down to it, done.