Envoy to Earth (41 page)

"Do you know who I am?" She didn't sound sweet
about it either.

It sounded off, really, her face making her look younger
than that. About fifteen. She moved like an older woman, which was a thing he
didn't know was real. Or hadn't until he thought about it. She was subdued in
how she moved. Keeping her arms and legs close and not over reaching very
often. Poised, but still too much of the time to be a child.

Gerent tilted his head, trying to make himself seem like he
was joking, because what he said wasn't going to be the right answer, was it?
No matter what he went with.

"That annoying woman from the other day? I... Was your
name Rudely?" He snapped his finger and nodded, even as other people moved
near them, holding back only because he had a girl trying to belittle him and
they didn't want to make his shame worse, witnessing it. They still watched
them, but that was because they were Austran. "Oh, that was it! Kan. B. Rudely.
Or that's close, isn't it?" He looked down at her, as she started to turn
colors. Red being just the first one.

"
Oh
! I'm Kincaid Rue that's who I am! I was told
by our new Revered One, Timon Baker, that there was a man coming at
nine
to take me to him! It's already nine-thirty and we aren't even boarding yet!
This is unprofessional. I'm going to tell him about how you stopped to talk to
all these people first, as if I'm not more important than they are?" She
at least had the intelligence to make a face and turn to the others watching.
"Sorry, but you know what I mean. I've been summoned by the Revered One!
That
has
to be more important than whatever these people have going
on."

Did it really? It wasn't like Tim was going anywhere. Gerent
tried to imagine having a family, perhaps with some of them being sick or
needing food, or even wanting to leave the troubled Earth to go to a happier
and better land, up in the stars. That sounded pretty darned important, at
least to him.

"Well, if you want to get going quickly, how about
helping? You know these people better than I do, being one of them. So... you
can either stand there and whine at me, or you can see to their comfort and
safety, before we go. Either way, we aren't leaving until we at least try to do
what we can. If that's unprofessional... Well, so be it. I don't
care
."
He had to force himself to sound bored through the whole thing, but it worked
and while no one laughed at them, people did come up to him.

Most of the people were actually in front of Erid, who
listened closely, and then got either amulets for people, or, in one case, some
gold, with which he hired several of the people standing there to go and help
an old woman who needed to save her pet cats from her half flooded living room.
It wasn't about the storm, since they were a good way outside of the area for
that. Just a burst water carrying pipe. Erid also sent along a pump, to help
dry the place out.

Dorgal had most of the rest, which left only a lone boy, a
man in his mid-thirties and an older fellow, who seemed to be about sixty. They
all bowed, which got him to do it back, and suddenly got Dorgal and Erid to do
it too, from where they stood in the distance. A few seconds later, Kincaid did
as well, standing behind him. Most of the rest of the people watching just used
their handhelds, or in some cases floating lens boxes, to grab their image
while they did it.

He smiled at the men, and spoke quickly, after they all
stood up.

"Hello! I'm Gerent Lairdgren. May I help you?

The boy was the one that spoke, his tone clipped and glib.
He really reminded Ger a bit of Tim, after a fashion. Like an adult in a
child's body. Not that
he
didn't seem like that now too. Just not as
much as this boy. Or man. He looked a bit funny, now that he really saw him. A
bit more like a midget than a boy. A small adult man.

"I'm Ken, this is Carlos and Robert. We were wondering
if we could get a ride to Noram? Our restaurant here closed, for the reasons
you'd think, no food to make anything and no one had credits for it. We were
invited by Countess Ward to... Actually go to a party about a year and a half
ago. Really this is a desperation play. We don't have a lot else to try
for."

Kincaid was standing behind him, making disgusted noises,
but she stopped after a half minute, and really looked at the men, who all
stared back.

"Wait, you're from the Royal Table?"

Gerent blinked and made a face at the men, then looked at
the boy, or young man, again. It was indeed them. He'd actually met them all
before. Once.

"I... have to get Miss Rudely here to Harmony first,
but I can do that. If you don't mind riding with us for a while? I should go
visit, anyway. If she can't employ you, Countess Ward, I'll help you get
something going on. Tor will have something, I bet."

That got the older man to make a face, but it turned to a
soft smile after a second.

"I bet he loses my invitation..."

The other two nodded at him, very seriously.

The men were willing to sign on, really in almost any
capacity, if it got them something better than what they had, which was an
empty building that had once been a decently successful business. No one had
one of those any more. The best people in Austra were doing was a kind of
barely getting by that felt really familiar to Ger.

The trip back to Harmony wasn't too bad, though he had to
listen to Kincaid the whole time, whining about a half dozen things. Even
though she'd had food to eat the whole time, warm clothing and a ride in Boxy.
Without thinking about it, he took the box out and let him float on the bridge.
He'd sized himself to be about the size of both Gerent's hands again, and was a
silvery green at the moment.

Without him even suggesting it, the box kept bumping into
Kincaid, every time she got even a little annoying. After a bit she stopped
talking, and just watched Boxy.

The crew thought that was funny, but it really wasn't. Boxy
liked everyone, even the player from Austra. So for him to be that bothered by
her, well, it was a sign that she was being a real pain, wasn't it?

It wasn't hard to find a place for the three men, since they
were sought after, even if they weren't successful in the moment. When Tim
found out they were there, they were invited to stay with him, before he even
said hello.

Gerent just nodded at him, happy that Boxy was pushing the
player toward Tim with little nudges, as he stood in the back of the craft,
having come to actually meet his guest in person. After a moment Timon looked
at the box, and put his hand out, so that it floated over to him, and gently landed
on his outstretched palm.

"This is interesting..." He closed his eyes for a
moment, then smiled. "Not bad. You rewrote the basic instructions for it?
I mean, it's Tor's work, but this is well done. It ties to your subconscious
mind pretty clearly. You should let him look at it. Or not. He might just get
scared. Especially if he realized what it means for the other things he's made
if people can do this. Can you imagine a space craft acting like this?"

Gerent could, which was funny to him, but he managed not to
show it. In fact, he managed to do something he hadn't been certain he could
do, and give Michael and Erid some days off. Kimi, Monnette and Deng too. Normal
people didn't work every day, and there was no reason that his crew should have
to either. He tried for Dorgal as well, not wanting to stress the man's good
will, but he just shrugged and smiled at Kincaid.

"That won't be needed, yet. I'll catch a few days when
the others come back."

That meant, because it was his place, that Tim took everyone
away with him then. When they got back on the ship, Dorgal piloted them back
into place, and then hovered over Noram, looking down.

"So, are we going to finish this now?" There was
no judgment in the words, but Gerent, after a moment, nodded.

"Yes. This is just the cleanup, so we won't need the
others, unless the nobles around this are too bothersome."

"Which they will be. That kind always is. I know
I
was when it was my turn. Or that I seemed that way to everyone else, I
bet."

They knocked the first one out with a lot more efficiency
than Gerent had counted on, simply hovering over Galasia, finding the man by
asking at the guard station, and then waiting for him to get off shift. Then
Gerent just walked up and put a Truth amulet on him. The glow was more
impressive in the plain wood building that the guards met in each day. It was
next to the proper jail. Not the low one where he and Patty had been hurt.
Thinking about that made him want to kill the man outright, but he asked questions
instead.

"Do you know where Jimson is?" He started with
that, which got the man to furrow his brow.

"Jim? Oh... Um, last I heard he was going to the
Capital to look for work. There was some trouble... Well, our Liege, Count
Rodriguez..."

"Is that all you know about Jimson then? Or where he is,
I mean?" It had been an honest answer, which left the glowing white and
yellow pure and untouched by the sharp distorting black of a lie or untruth,
but the man seemed to think it really was.

"Yeah. What is this? I'm a guard in good standing
here..."

Gerent didn't explain.

"Did you rape Petra Ward?" His voice was angry, he
had to admit, but the man shook his head. A little upset himself.

"No. No I didn't." The device stayed pure again.

For a few moments Gerent wondered how the man had managed to
cheat the device, since that was pretty much impossible. He'd need magical
help, or total control of his thoughts...

Which meant he was, somehow, telling the truth.

"You didn't rape her? Not at all? You never touched
her?"

The man looked down and then shrugged.

"I did what I was ordered to. I spit on her, from the
top of the pit she was being held in and pissed on her head. We were told that
the Count ordered her raped until she died, but I knew that had to be a lie, so
didn't do it. I just kept letting someone else go. I couldn't say anything
about it, in case I was wrong and it was a lawful order. That's all. What's
this about?"

Dorgal glared at him, as if to let him know, without a
doubt, that he was being dense.

"
Petra Ward
. Tell us. Have you broken any laws
since then? Have you hurt anyone that you shouldn't have? Or forced a woman to
have sex with you? Or a man? Children?"

The man shrugged and rubbed at his clean shaved and smooth
cheeks. He was a bit yellow in color, but that was probably just how he tanned.
His face was a little round, but he wasn't fat, just solid looking all over.
Good for a guard, being bigger than most of the people that might cause
problems.

"Of course I've broken the law. Everyone does, mostly. There
are too many of them not to. I took a piss against a back alley wall for
instance, not two nights ago, so I wouldn't wet myself as I walked my rounds.
That's a four copper fine right there. I haven't forced no one, or beaten
anyone much more than was really needed to do my work. Probably punched a
couple of loudmouths harder than was strictly duty, but that's it." There
was no hint of a lie, which probably meant the man was cleverer than he looked.

If he gave even a hint of not telling the truth, it would
lead to people, in this case them, digging deeper into what that meant. Still,
he hadn't raped Pet, so that meant...

Really Gerent was at a loss for a moment. He still wanted
him dead, for not helping her, but that was just him seeking vengeance. Not
even for the woman that had been wronged, but himself. For all those times that
some big monster had hurt
him
. Now he was the big one, so it seemed fair
to start paying them all back. Except that he wasn't a monster, so he let go of
the idea. The fellow in front of him wasn't one either, it seemed.

Looking at the man, he put out his right hand to take the
amulet back.

"That's probably all then. You might want to consider
running away and changing your name. When Count Ward finds out about this, he
may not be happy that one of the remaining people on the scene got away. Or
not. I can't assure you that anything bad will happen, either. We'll try to
explain it all correctly for you, if we can." There was a moment then,
where Gerent was nearly certain that the man was going to yell at him.

Instead he just nodded.

"Right. Well, this is a good enough spot, and a decent
city. I'll stick here. If he thinks he needs to come for me, I won't hide, but
I didn't do it."

Dorgal looked a bit strange, almost raw, when they left, but
he didn't comment.

The next man, well that one was more interesting.

Duchess Keen, it turned out, was a fast friend of his
brother. At first he assumed that it would be Tor, but it was Tim she name
dropped, as they stood talking to her on her own stoop. Rather than being a
pain about things, the second she got a report on what was happening and why,
she just asked for the man to come to her sitting room.

He was a giant brute, if Ger had ever seen one. The man
didn't seem to have any body fat, and wasn't much taller than he was, but he
was wide with muscle. Vastly so. He rippled, under his red and yellow clothing,
to an extent that it almost had to be a trick, but wasn't. The questioning was
different this time, since the man threw the amulet down after ripping it off,
rather than even bothering to answer the questions.

"Fuck you. Die!" Then they fought. It was a
strange thing, since it took place in a Duchess' front room. It had nice
furnishings and delicate and complex tile work on the walls in bright colored
patterns.

Three of them had shields, and they were all at least better
than average. The guard, McKenzie, just didn't. Not until he went into a full
combat rage and started shooting lighting from his palms at them. It didn't
touch anyone, but that, along with the fact that the man threw large pieces of
furniture and finally, the
wall
, at them, certainly made a mess.