Envoy to Earth (14 page)

Petra looked at him, her face
glowing, it looked so sweet.

"We'd also like to invite
you, all of you, to the wedding? An official invitation will come when things
are set, naturally." She spoke so clearly and gently that it took a moment
for anyone to react. The first was Veronica who got up and ran around the
table, hugging her and then moving to Gerent.

 "Congratulations! I didn't
even know that was in the works. Is it soon?" She eyed Petra closely,
getting an eye roll in return.

"Everyone keeps asking that.
Yes, but only for
normal
reasons. If I wait too long someone will manage
to come up with a way to steal him from me. We don't need baby clothes yet,
however." She seemed happy enough about the idea, though that was
something he'd never thought of either. Children.

What did he know about raising
that sort of person? He'd never even seen it done for more than a few moments,
not close up. Even when he was tiny himself Ger had never really known any of
that kind. They were beings that pointed and laughed at the funny man, and at
times would call names. That was most of what he knew about them, except for
the Baker family children. He kind of thought that they, as a group, were a bit
like the King was to a peasant pig farmer, when compared to regular kids. They
all had the same basic parts, but you just couldn't count on them acting at all
similar.

Perhaps he could get lessons? If
he were going to make up for the time he lost to being him, then something like
that was going to have to happen. Schooling, and training, in a thousand things
that he didn't know. Subjects as arcane as numbers, to go with the few letters
he knew. Geography, maps, manners and even magic. If he were to have a wife, it
would follow that little ones would come. He had to get ready for them.

It was scary, but most of life
was
.
Especially the new parts.

He got patted by the King and
held close enough by Constance that he was nearly certain she was flirting with
him still. The difference now was that it seemed to be about him, not
distraction. The only thing they'd asked for was him to take some letters
however. It wasn't exactly a huge matter, was it?

Carefully, taking down the sound
bubble first, they moved back up the stairs, with Constance suggesting that
they stay the night.

Gerent shook his head.

"Actually, as it stands we
need to hurry away. We have about half an hour before Captain Debri is taking
off for Harmony. I know it's rude, but we need to rush away now. May I visit on
the return? I'll contact you first, but in case I have messages or
anything?"

That, it turned out, was more
than possible. Petra managed to work things around for him, with the help of
Count Peterson, and got them free about ten minutes later, which meant that
they had to shrink his Timon craft as much as they could when they got to it,
and meet the woman in her Jump ship, about ten thousand feet above the capital.
He managed to fly it inside on his own, by going slowly. There was a glowing
tan portion that opened in the back, which sealed behind him the second he was
in place.

Sara stood by the far wall,
waving at them through the shield window. Her craft had been made large, but
not, he didn't believe, as big as it could go. Not even a fifth of that really.
At full size the things could hold a decently large city's population, with
enough room for beds and bathing facilities for all. When they got out, she
spoke, sounding professional and a bit merchant like.

"You're the last ones on
board. We have the Dowager Countess Ward, Baronetta Coltress, and Ridley Dens
already with us. He's going just to look around. A last minute thing. So, come
on then, let's get to the bridge, so I can show you how to fly this boat,
Gerent."

They didn't run to the command
center, but they walked quickly, and Sara was serious about teaching him to do
the job right. He was required to make several orbits, which was the same as
piloting a Space Fleet craft. When he said that, everyone stared at him.

"
What
? I was the
second person to ever do that, thank you very much. Alice Orange went first. I
can even dock, if I have to." The controls really did seem the same. Even
the room looked similar.

It was a cream color with tan
accents, but that was personal choice. Space fleet did everything in orange,
yellow and red. Sara had her own color scheme, it seemed, but that was
controllable with a thought.
If
you could focus enough to make anything
happen. Not everyone could. The room had been made big enough for fifteen or
twenty people, but there were only chairs for six. He was in the front one,
near the center. When they moved around, after forty minutes, Sara asked him to
point toward the Moon.

"You did pretty well,
actually. I didn't know you were already a full space pilot. That makes this
easier. What I want you to do now is drop your hand to the flat area under the
floating control. Then just look at the Moon and imagine a red dotted line
between us and there. I always close my eyes for that part."

It took several tries, but all he
had to do was visualize a little slider on that dotted line, and move the ship
to a new place along it. It was hard, but when he got it right, everyone
gasped. Opening his eyes he saw why. The Moon, in all its silver splendor, had
grown huge.

Sara looked at it through the
front shield, and then waggled her right hand side to side, her face looking
silly.

"Decent. Now, you need to do
the second one. Make sure you leave a good bit of distance on the far side.
It's better to make ten jumps than to end up
in
the Moon."

It took two more, but he got them
there, and even landed it himself, going up to the hangar slowly. There was a
glowing wall, one in a bright blue, that pulsed several times at them. Sara
pointed at it.

"That's the signal. Just go
to that spot very slowly. You have all the time in the world now. Crawl through
this portion of it."

She sounded serious, so he did,
which meant that when the wall vanished it took nearly ten minutes for them to
get inside. The second the giant craft was however, the light changed and they
were enclosed totally. A strange projection came at them from the front, and
Sara moved to the wall, waiting for it to touch the material. Then, slowly, she
opened a hole in the side of the craft, like a door.

"The air pressure is always
a little different, but this is to prevent air loss. That, losing air, is one
of the few big crimes here. If it happens, you have to
personally
collect
the material needed to make more and replenish what you wasted. It doesn't
matter who you are or why you did it. We had a child stuck outside about two
months back, and the rescuers lost forty
tons
of air, trying to reach
her in time. Everyone was all right, but those people ended up working for a
month to replace what they'd lost. Trust me Queen Tiera was not happy about
that." She paused, then delivered the punch line. "Especially since
she was on the rescue crew. Smythe of Westend too, so, you get the picture,
don't count on being given special treatment that way. Other than that... Well,
the rules here are pretty simple. Everyone wears a shield all the time, and if
you don't have a Timon shield, one will be provided for you, before you leave
the ship. There is
no
excuse for not having that on at all times. In the
bath or shower, when naked in bed, it doesn't matter. That also means that
there is functionally no violence here."

She started to walk forward, then
turned in the little hallway thing that had formed.

"Anyone need a Shield?"

The Dowager smiled, "I could
use one? I don't think mine is up to this sort of adventure. Tor gave it to me,
several years ago."

Sara fished one out from around
her neck and handed it over. It was on focus stone, but glowed a bit, making it
look like fine silver. Timon loved silver, for some reason. Greed, most likely.
Not that Gerent could blame him totally. There had been a time when his biggest
dreams had been measured in green, as in having a whole garden of his own. That
thought got him to snap his fingers, which had Sara trying to hand him a
shield. They all had the right ones however, including him, so he shook his
head.

"No, the gifts, they're in
my craft."

He went to get them, surprised to
find that not only did that get him Petra, and Ridley Dens, who was a Baron
First, but
also
Dowager Ward. Collette stayed with Sara, and they had a
new air tunnel to the rear of the ship by the time they were unloading. It
wasn't
hard
, since the floating cases did all the real work, so they
managed to have a small forest of green following along behind them, when they
got out into the dock area proper.

Having come in at an odd hour
Gerent had kind of figured that they'd be traipsing around looking for someone
they knew, but everyone was there, waiting for them. Not just his adopted
family and their friends, but
everyone
, as far as he could tell. The
area they were in was vast, and was filled with thousands, possibly tens of
thousands, of people. Some even had banners.

"Harmony welcomes you. Well,
that beats, 'Strangers Go Home' don't you think?" He muttered that, as a
band started to play. He couldn't see them, but there was music, and it was
loud. Nearly painful. They were coming out of a wall, one with a hole in it,
and bits of colored things started to fill the air around them. At first he
thought it was ribbon and paper bits, but when it touched him he understood
that it was a magical seeming. Not physical even, just an illusion. The music
probably was too.

Before he could ask for directions
to Tiera, who was the one that had called him in, a small boy walked up. Or,
really, he was a normal sized child, taller than Gerent had been most of his
life.

Terrence Baker. His brother.

"Sir, ladies, if you'd come
this way? I'm to take you to the Council, while the rest of these people load
the ship for the return voyage." It was done in a way that sounded pretty
official, so Gerent shrugged.

"Sure, Terry. Um, I'm
Gerent. I grew."

"S'Gerent!" That got a
hand stuck out at him, to shake. "Everyone is waiting for you. Come on! This
way." It was more work than it seemed like it should be, since the idea
that all of those people were planning to help load things up was more literal
and immediate than not. Everyone moved down a line, to get packages, and then
carried them into the tunnel. Terry chuckled and had to have them all jump to
the side, more than once, as people flew through the air, to try and get to the
front of the line.

It was a mess, but with so many
hands doing the work, he didn't doubt that it wasn't going to take too long.
The boy, who was still that, as far as Ger could tell, raced a bit, making them
dash to keep up, walking quickly, as a few people stared. Most of them wore
simple black clothing, that looked comfortable, but just like a tunic and
trousers. Some had on Austran style jumpsuits. Those were brighter in color. Happy
reds and yellows, bright greens and brilliant blues speckled the crowd.

When they finally got to the next
room over, it was much smaller, and had chairs in it, for sitting. As well as
food, on a table to the right. He was, surprisingly, not that hungry, himself.

After a few seconds he was
tackled around the knee on the right, and had to look down to see who was
there.

"Taman!"

"Gerent! This way! Everyone,
here he is! Gerent is here!" She sounded too happy, considering it was
just him. She looked behind him and saw the floating boxes with the trees and shrubs
inside. "Oh! You brought me a whole forest?"

He shook his head.

"No, I brought
everyone
a forest, and this is just the start. You just have to water it each day."
He was teasing a little, since the girl was adorable, but too powerful for
seven.

She still seemed pleased and
called that out, yelling it. That got applause. A lot of it.

It also got him led to the front
of the room, where the important people were waiting for the guests.

In the center, on a slightly
raised dais, all in white, with a crown on her head, stood Queen Tiera. His
sister.

"Welcome, Prince
Gerent."

Then she giggled at him. Naturally.

It was, after all, hilarious.
Calling him that. A Prince.

It wasn't really meant as a joke,
but
Tiera pointed out when she moved in for a quick hug, it didn't mean
all that much in Harmony. There were several of them after all, and he was at
the end of the line. Also, for the most part, it just meant having to do extra
work, without the interesting perks that a Noram Prince would have had.

Alphonse heard all of this, and
patted him on the shoulder.

"For instance,
I
get
my own wine shop. Just because of my royal connections." The man was
smaller than Gerent recalled, being only a few inches taller than he was. Still
as red headed and manly looking. He moved in and gave Petra a hug too, picking
her up a little.

"Hey! Cousin Petra! I didn't
know you were coming, too.
And
Collette! This is practically a school
reunion for me. We should all get together for lunch later. That's what we call
luncheon here. We also have it at noon, our time. It's an Austran thing, or
like at school. Just so everyone is up on the time difference it's... Four in
the morning here right now." There was a much warmer hug for both Collette
and Sara than Petra had gotten, and oddly enough one for the Dowager Countess
Ward. Not
as
friendly, but it certainly wasn't neglectful either.
"I don't suppose you brought treats from home? Other than friends to
visit, which is the best thing. I'm just homesick."

Tiera cast a look over her
shoulder, pale skin offset by black hair that was still very short. No more
than a few inches. Gerent's was down to his collar, personally. Looking around,
he noticed that not
everyone
was actually around. They were conspicuous
in their absence, too, since he would have expected some of them. Tor wasn't
around, and Timon didn't seem to be there either. Tim was the one he was
closest to in the family, so he looked for the boy.

As he turned there was a strange
push against his left arm, getting him to glance down. He nearly didn't
recognize the pretty woman that was there, from his new lofty perspective. Her
nose looked different from above, for instance. Straight and lovely. All of her
was that. His heart skipped a beat.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Gerent?
Gerent Lairdgren?" She held a hand out, low to the ground, to describe
him, but that wasn't fair of her. Even the last time Patty and he had met he'd
been over five-nine.

Instead of speaking he took her
hand and pulled it up, which got her to glare at him a bit, until he had it at
the top of his own head, her palm flat to the floor.

"There we go, Patty! You'll
have a much easier time finding me now. I even stick up above the crowd, and
everything! How have you been?" Looking at her was hard, because it sent a
pain through him, ripping at his core. She was the only woman that he'd ever
really loved after all. It was amazing, that he could still love after the rest
of his life, but as such things pretty much had to go, she didn't return that
sentiment. Honestly, he couldn't blame her for it.

She just wanted to be friends. It
had to be enough for him, he knew.

"Gerent? I..." She
stared at him for a bit as he nodded back, waiting for her to get the idea.
There was no hug from her, just more confused looks, until Petra walked over
and took his hand. The left one, holding it possessively between both her own.
Not that Patricia Baker was a threat to her claim on him. She was
already
married, and just not interested. Not that he'd ever pushed her that way.

She rallied quickly enough, and
looked at the hand, smiling after a second.

"Petra Ward. To what do we
owe the pleasure? I was told it was just Sara, Collette and Gerent on this run?
Not that it isn't good to see you, too." After a bit there was a hug, but
it came slowly, and Petra didn't let go of his hand. That got attention.
"Are you and Gerent dating?"

She grinned.

"
Engaged
. Yesterday.
My mother came to talk to Laurali Baker, to see about the wedding plans? I
think the idea is to hold it here, or at least in space, so you and Tim don't
have an excuse not to show up. Speaking of him, where is he hiding? Tor too. I
haven't seen either of them in forever."

There was a covert look around
the large space and then a shrug. It didn't seem all that happy, as far as he
could tell.

"Working, on various things.
They'll both be around later in the day. How long are you staying? This is a
big deal for us, here, since Gerent is the first big dignitary we've had here
so far. Lots of immigrants, but not too many high officials."

"I'm an
official
now?
That's good to hear. I was worried that
everyone
coming might be met by
a throng like this. It's a bit intimidating, if you want to know. As for how
long we're staying, well... Honestly, I need to get back as soon as possible, don't
I? Things are pretty bad in places on Earth. The last crops, well, people lost
a lot. They can still get food, thanks to those devices of Tim's, but that's
mainly in Noram. I didn't even
check
anywhere else yet. I'm a bit
nervous about it. So, the less waiting on that the better." Not that he
was going to get a choice, he didn't think.

Tiera moved in and put an arm
over his shoulder, not moving him away, but showing support, understanding that
being faced with Patty first thing was hard for him. She was a good sister that
way, he decided. Then, he'd whined at her about wanting to avoid the woman
enough times for her to get the concept. She also thought he was being a wimp,
not just facing her directly. There he was, doing it, however. Right there,
next to Patty, in the flesh. With her barely looking at him. She pretended to
scan the crowd, her face wary, for some reason.

Queen Tiera, who still looked too
young to be the leader of anything much, smiled at him and spoke in a very
regal tone.

"Gerent, I have some things
for you. We can... Can you give us twelve hours? Tor asked for more time, last
night. After this ship is full, we'll need to get yours up as well. I can show
you how to use it?"

There was a call from across the
way, where Sara and Ridley Dens were both chatting with a young looking and
sturdy man. He didn't recognize him, but he seemed familiar somehow.

It was Captain Debri that did the
yelling. Her voice was direct, and it seemed like she was simply reporting,
rather than giddily sharing information about him.

"He's up to spec on the
Jump. He got us here, and did it all himself. Did you know he was
already
a space pilot? I want to check him on ship to ship docking, but his landing
here was perfect."

Tiera touched her head, but then
nodded, "yes. I just forgot, of all things. So, let me get you loaded up
then. I didn't really know that things were that dire. Can you take some
messages for me?" There was no wheedling from her, and it wasn't a
command. It was just a question. A request, that made it sound like he could
just say no, if he were busy, or feeling spiteful toward her, which he wasn't
at the moment.

"Sure can. I... Um..."
He fought with his breast pocket for a bit, and then, working carefully,
separated out the missives that were for her. "Here you go. From a variety
of people. The King of Noram, some Rebels... I'm running an equal opportunity
mail service. I have some things for others too. Mainly Tim and Tor. Um, Smythe
of Westend and Karen Derring, too? Are either of them around?" There were
one or two others, but that was most of it. He simply handed the ones for
Alphonse over directly.

Then he wiggled another one at
him.

"For Princess Karina of
Noram."

Everyone looked at each other,
but Tiera nodded, not trying to take it from his fingers.

"She's on patrol. Captain of
the Jewel. Um, she won't be back for a while, since we're also exploring some
other planets. That's a bit of a secret. Right now we're looking into Mars,
which is the next planet out from the Sun. Timon and Karina want to set up a
colony there. I think it's a good idea. Not that we really need to yet, but why
not?" There was a close look at him, as if Gerent was going to have a
problem with that for some reason.

He just tilted his head a bit, in
return.

"So I
can't
deliver
the letter directly? Or, I suppose I
could
, when I get my ship, but I
don't think I have time for that. Can I send it along with someone?"

Alphones put his large hand out,
taking it directly. Then he opened one of his own letters and started nodding.

"Oh... Varley wants me to
beg you to send someone to bring her here, so she can visit with Allison."
This was said to Tiera, who looked hard suddenly. Stern.

"I told King Richard that we
can't be seen to be involved with unfair support like that! He had to have told
her. I understand her wanting to see her daughter, but-"

Gerent cleared his throat.

"I, um, already told her
that I'd get her here, a few times a week. Anyone else that wants to come too,
or go back to Earth for a visit? I mean, if I'm coming and going anyway? That's
fair, right? If anyone can come and go?" He thought so, but for some
reason Petra grabbed his hand hard enough that he had to hold his shield off,
since the auto-trigger nearly tripped.

"So
that's
why the
King apologized to you and was acting like that? He'd already been told no, and
then Varley asked like that, and he was afraid that you'd feel
pressured
.
But, like he said, you were just trying to act like a good family
member..." The dark skinned girl looked up a bit to stare at Tiera.
"It was a bit strange. I didn't get it at the time. If it's all right for
just anyone to visit, I bet Marvin and Maria would want to try it."

That they were "rebels"
went without saying. It was also pretty plain that about half the people there
knew they weren't really doing that, at least once you were in on that yourself
it could be seen. People looked strained, except Patty, who just nodded a
little bit.

She smiled after a few seconds.

"Ger, can you take a letter
to them for me? Maria and I are very good friends. Marvin too, come to that. We
should... get together, soon." She looked at him, as if expecting some
other reaction than the expected one. Why wouldn't he take a letter for her?

Yes, he got that she was saying
that Maria Ward and she were lovers. It was painful to hear that the woman was
good enough for his friend that way and he wasn't, except, well, that wasn't
true, was it? Patty didn't love him, but she'd told him they could have sex, if
he wanted. Even after everything in Galasia. When he failed her, so many times.

"I'll be making a pass
through there in a day or so. Soon to be in-laws, and all that." It was
his turn to give the hand in his a gentle squeeze, but no one other then Petra
noticed that, he didn't think. "Now, who can help me find Karen Derring,
that or William Smythe of Westend? I don't see either of them."

That got a giggle from Patty, who
took his far arm and tugged gently, as if it were all right to simply walk away
from the Queen without permission. That was answered by Tiera with a grin, as
she led the way herself. To a point about fifteen feet away.

"Smythe is the tricky one
here. Next to Ridley, being so young and handsome looking now. It's a little
creepy, since I keep forgetting that he's old enough to be my grandfather.
There's an almost irresistible urge to call him Billy,
and
slap him on
the hind end during weapons practice. So far I've restrained myself, but it's
been close a few times."

Gerent got the idea, and tried to
fix the face of the powerful looking man in his mind. Brown hair, blue eyes and
smooth skin. That blemish free look that all the immortals had. He was dressed
in plain white and yellow loose clothing, that seemed like a robe, but had
pants on the bottom.

Being that he was delivering
messages, Ger bowed, going low enough to be polite, even if the man turned out
to be a high councilor here or something. He had been in Noram, and might still
be, after a fashion. If so, that could make things interesting for Tiera. It
was a good thing that he wasn't really part of all that political stuff, he
decided, not for the first time.

"William Smythe, of Westend?
I have missives for you, from Richard Cordes, The King of Noram. Also one from
Constance Cordes, the Queen of Noram." That was, he hoped, formal enough.
There was a bow back and a kind smile that looked oddly gentle on the masculine
and square jawed face. He was lean too. The muscles on his jaw showed a bit as
he spoke.

"Thank you, sir. I don't
believe we've met? Are you one of Richard's messengers?"

Gerent handed the letters over,
their fine paper smooth in his fingers. Before he could speak, Petra did,
acting far more casual with the man than would have been expected.

"Smythe, this is Gerent
Lairdgren? He's a
Prince
here, so you know, you should be up on who he
is." There was a mild hint at humor behind the words, but the man in front
of him, papers in hand, bowed low.

"Forgive me, Prince Gerent!
I didn't realize."

He bowed back quickly, before the
man could try and kneel or anything. That would be awkward for them all, given
the crowd that was bustling in and out of the room. True, most stayed over by
the far door, but some were coming in to record them on Austran handhelds. He
thought that was the case, until he noticed that Tiera had a small unit out
too, and was taking his picture. The problem there was that the thing wasn't
made of plastic, but rather, milky white focus stone. She flipped it around to
show him the image.

"You can send them to other
people too. I'll get you one of these before you go. Tor did the initial design
work and build, but Terry and Tenent did the copying work for all of them.
Everyone here has one, nearly. They can record moving images and sounds too,
and
act like a communications device. Also..." She tapped the flat back of the
surface, and then flipped it around again for him and Petra to look at.
"Maps. Earth, Moon and coming soon, Mars."