Goddess of the Moon (Young Ancients: Tiera) (9 page)

Then
they took half an hour to move a mile or so and dock. It was barely perceptible
as far as motion went, but also very smooth. Once inside and down, a wall
formed in the space they'd come in to, and the man that had welcomed them
before stood up, and clicked a button.

"The
record for unloading this craft with a full deck is three minutes and ten
seconds. Can you beat that?"

The
answer, as it turned out, was no. But they got darned close. Even the man with
the watch grinned about it.

"Three-fifteen!
Not bad! I figured that you kids would be slow and fumble a lot, but it seems that
I'm just an old slowpoke myself. The group with the record is an elite military
team. Royal Guards? No one that hasn't worked together before has ever gotten
this close." He seemed oddly proud, but then, a lot of the kids were from
his own homeland. Maybe that was it? Or maybe he just liked to see anyone do
well. They were all on the same side after all.

The
boxes of food had to be unloaded too, but that didn't count against them and
Guide had it all in hand about ten seconds after the door was opened for him,
at the back of the craft, in the cargo section. It was the last thing in, so
the first out. Just like the people.

Judy
looked around a bit, but didn't say what for. That presented itself about a
minute later, as a woman walked into the area they were in, from the ship
itself, using one of the sliding doors that were meant to save space or look
interesting or something. The ones here were red, which was an interesting
change.

Judy
saluted the woman that walked in.

"Captain
Michaels." She held it until the other woman, who was dressed identically,
saluted back.

"Captain
Kerry. You have the ship."

Then
Judith turned around and held her hands behind her back in a military looking
manner.

"Thank
you all for coming. For those of you new to the crew, we'll have someone along
in a few moments to see to your assignments. I'll personally meet with you in
the next day, barring emergency. The ship layout is fairly standard and should
be like the practice cruises that you've taken. As for those of you that have
been here before, welcome back. You don't need me talking your ears off yet,
but this won't take too long. We have with us a very special group of people,
and we should all seek to make them feel welcome here." Then she bowed.

Very
clearly to the Lairdgren Group.

It
was cute, really, because Sam and Guide looked ready to pass out over it. The
rest of them just bowed back, which got Terry to do it and the rest trying to
copy him, which meant everyone in the room from Noram did it too, just in case
they missed who was doing what. The crew from other places all seemed baffled
for a bit, except the Vagus man, who did it as well. Judy was tall after all,
and in charge, very clearly.

They
only had to do it once, and she didn't crack a smile at all.

"We'll
set up for that test as soon as possible. Do you have the needed shields for
your people?" This was directed at Kolb, who simply nodded. They knew each
other after all, since he was Judy's old teacher and everything.

Then
she looked at Sam.

"Do
you have your communications devices ready?"

He
started to stammer a bit.

"Um,
yeah, but..."

Then
she went on as if not hearing him at all. He blushed and looked at Tiera, but
honestly, she didn't care if she got credit for it or not. It absolutely didn't
matter to her, at
all
. For once. She felt kind of proud of that too.

"Any
questions?"

Tiera
actually had one. Or, more honestly, several, but the Captain couldn't answer
them, she didn't think.

"Would
it be possible to get an appointment with Timon Baker?" She waited,
expecting that he'd be working and that no one would want to bother him, but
instead the tall and thin woman in front of their rather hodgepodge group
nodded.

"I
can't promise anything, but he's supposed to be taking a rest day. Actually
several in a row, right now. I'll have someone take you to him. Is Terry going
too?"

That
was... Actually a very normal kind of thing, wasn't it? Plus, she wasn't trying
to hide anything from him, not in particular.

"That
would be good, if it's no trouble?"

It
turned out that it wasn't since the woman that had sat next to Terry on the way
up knew the way herself and volunteered to take them. She didn't look any older
than Tiera did either and kept smiling at Terry, as if she might just want to
eat him for lunch.

"I'm
Wistra, Ma'am." The common looking woman said, bowing at her, even if they
weren't on the ground and were about as far away from someplace where anything
about Tiera counted at all. Tiera bowed back, just as deeply, which got Terry
to go wide eyed and do the same. He, unlike Tiera, actually knew that kind of
thing, having had real lessons in protocol.

"I'm
Tiera, and you met Terry already?"

"Oh,
yes... Tiera." It was clear she wasn't all that comfortable using her name
like that, without a title at all, but that was just her genetics hitting her
without the smaller woman knowing about it. She recoiled a little after saying
the name and looked almost like she expected to be hit.

"What
do you do on the ship?" It seemed like a natural enough question, but the
woman held her head high and smiled.

"I
started out as a Cook Instructor, but I'm the Building Instructor, structures
not magic, for the High Servants now. The ones doing the work on the Moon
Colony? I've done some of that work myself." She looked down, but Terry
gasped.

"That's
really... I wish
I
could go and do that too. What would I have to do to
get in on that?"

The
small woman shrugged.

"Well,
like I said, most that work on it are High Servants. You'd probably have to
have something to offer the program if you wanted to go otherwise. Like being a
pilot, or like me, since I helped develop the tricks we use to work with Focus
Stone in low gravity environments." She stopped and then shook her head
just a little, clearly thinking something, but not saying it yet. "Or, if
you're a wizard, you could go and do that there. We need things, but it takes
time, nearly a week, to go back and forth. We have a hundred people there full
time and it would speed things up if we didn't have to wait for new gear all
the time. Things get damaged, lost, that kind of thing. Or even break down, if
the magical item wasn't very good. We're putting about as much strain on things
as you could imagine. Not all the copied work is equal to the task for
long."

Terry
sighed a bit and then shook his head and looked over at Tiera.

"I
can't, can I? I need to stay on Earth and help fight the Others, if I can. It
would be really fun to go to the Moon though, and help build a colony."

Tiera
felt her breath catch at the idea, since it was so far away from home. Then
again, was it any more dangerous than say, planning to hunt down some of the
most dangerous people that had ever lived?

"Well...
I don't know what mother would say about it." That was going to be her
whole answer, until her little brother snorted at her, walking along in the
well lit and slightly orange hallway with Wistra.

"I
haven't been at home in months. I figured that mother would have told you
immediately. I went and got some training, so I can fight. I know I need to do
a lot more first, but I can't let everyone down, and mother would have me hide
away in a locked room in Two Bends if she knew where I was." He didn't
sound at all repentant or anything at all.

She
kept walking for a while, and finally sighed, knowing that their mother would
probably punch her in the kidney if she found out that Tiera knew where her
little brother was and didn't tell her about it. Not that she was truly
violent, but she might just make an exception in this case.

"Brilliant
Terry. She's probably pulling her hair out as we speak, worried out of her mind
about you. We... Crud. I do
not
want to deal with this right now. Maybe
you
should
sign up for Moon duty? At least that would be so big that
even mother can't force you to go home. Not that she really could..." She
turned to Wistra, changing course instantly. "He can't really build yet, I
don't think? But he can make copies without a template at all. Which should be
useful. I can vouch for him being a hard worker, and while I can't speak for
his mother, his Countess will sign off on it, if he can make the cut."
That being her. It was kind of convenient really.

Terry
smiled, and nodded a lot suddenly.

"That
would be great, if I'm allowed to go, I mean. I can pilot too, but I don't have
a Space Ship. Tor didn't give me one of those."

They
stopped then, in front of a door, with Wistra in the front. She touched a small
glowing space to the right, which made the door flash with a bright red light.
It took about a minute, but finally someone came and opened it.

Trice.
Patricia Morgan. Tiera and Terry's sister in-law.

"Hello...
Tiera?" Then she looked down and started grabbing people handing out hugs
like they were going out of fashion. "Terry! I didn't think to see you
here! Wistra!" That last one was a bit strange, but the small and fairly
youthful woman giggled a bit.

"We
just got in from the main base. Deshi will be back in a week or so. He had to
work out some things with his Mages in Vagus. These two needed to be shown
where the door was, so I figured I'd drop by and let you know that I'm back. I
have a kitchen rotation this time, but Terry here might come out on the next
Moon visit? He's... A Wizard?"

The
talking seemed to have roused a fairly sleepy looking Timon, who moved in
behind his wife and smiled with a rather abstract gaze. Then he nodded, after
reading all of them for information. That was probably rude, but he didn't say
anything, and just waved them in.

Being
that he was going to be rude, she decided on doing her own reading, and found
some interesting things. The first nearly floored her. Trice had two arms.
Real
ones. The left was a bit pink and fresh looking, but all hers, and not the
magical one that Tor had made for her. She was also, like Terry, Immortal now.

Tiera
could get that, but there had to be a limit to how many people had that trait,
or the world's population would go way up. She checked Wistra, but she wasn't
like that at all, just being a normal, and rather healthy, girl.

Timon
clearly understood that she'd picked that all up, but started talking about
other things almost instantly.

"Terry,
have you called home yet?" It was a bit abrupt, but to the point, and
clearly a conversation that the two had carried on before, since the boy set
his lips into a frown, which actually looked a little overdone, and seemed
ready to fight about it.

Tim
just looked at him, watching closely. That was why neither one of them noticed
her getting her new style communications device out and hitting the sigil for
Two Bends. They noticed when their mother spoke, however. Even Timon glared at
her a little for that one.

"Laurie
Baker. How may I help you?" There was a sadness to her words that hadn't
been there before at all. Terry winced on hearing it, and when she picked up
his field reaction that was all about how she sounded, not his own fear. He
felt that too, but it wasn't why he did that.

"Hello,
mother! I've been out of touch for a while. Did you happen to have noticed any
of your children missing lately?"

There
was a gasp and she spoke rapidly.

"You
know where Terry is? Is he alive? Is he well? Where is he, I'll come and get
him right now!" There were sounds of movement, but Tiera didn't get a
chance to say a lot to her, not before Timon did.

"He's
on the Ranford right now, here with us, in orbit. So, it might be a bit much
for you to just run up here to get him. He's been training at Wildlands Station,
pretending to be an orphan so that they'd let him. He'll be back home in a few
days, but he has a duty rotation on the Moon in... When did you say that was
again Wistra?"

The
small woman shrunk back a tiny bit.

"Next
month, on the first day?" There was a meekness to her words.

Tiera
spoke next, saying what had to be said.

"Mother,
I need you to listen to me, since this is
very
important. You need to
make certain that you don't try to hold Terry against his will. He's learned
enough that I don't really think you can now. Some other things have changed
too, but we need to talk to you in person about them. Let's call that...
tomorrow? We'll come in from here, directly." She waited, expecting her
mother to go ballistic on them, only to be very surprised a moment later.

"I
think I understand. Yes, will you all come, please? Patricia too, if she
wishes? It would be lovely to see you all."

Tiera
looked around and then dropped into a deep trance state, which flattened her
voice nicely.

"I'll
be there." The others nodded, except Wistra, of course. Her mother
wouldn't know who that was most likely, so she didn't mention the girl.
"It looks like we'll all be there. Call it mid-afternoon or so? We have to
be on the right side of the planet at the time, so that can set things back a
bit. We might have some other guests. Timon's military group? About half of the
Lairdgren group, and some of the Instructors from school. They aren't really a
part of anything we need to discuss, but the kids earned a prize, so they get a
trip into space. Among other things."

Like
new weapons. That was something she'd think of as a good prize, if it were her.

"We
look forward to seeing you all then. May I speak to Terry. Please?" She
sounded so kind that Tiera feared it was a trick, but she handed over the
communications device and the boy wandered away, so that the rest of them
wouldn't have to hear him being shamed. It almost had to happen, but she was
sort of glad he did it.

On
the good side, even with her better than average hearing, she couldn't pick up
more than a casual and slightly worried conversation from across the room. When
Terry came back, three minutes later, he just handed over the device.

"She
claims that I won't be locked up. I did mention that I was coming in very well
armed and shielded, but she just
laughed
. I don't think she really
believes me." That seemed to worry the boy a little bit, but Timon just
shrugged.

"Well,
we won't let her take you by force
too
easily, little brother. You'll
probably be in for a beating or two, but hey, after all that training with Baron
Havar, I doubt that it will be a problem for you at all. Just make sure you
take a healing amulet along with, just in case."

That
got a grumbled reply that sounded a lot more innocent than surly.

Wistra
stood and bowed to everyone, including Terry, and walked backwards toward the
door, bowing every few steps along the way.

"I'm
sorry I can't visit longer, but I have to go and see to my new class. We should
get together soon?" She sounded oddly hopeful about that, but Timon shook
his head.

"Not
too likely for me, I'm afraid. After I get back in a few days from the planet,
I have to go into the next project." He turned to Tiera and then looked at
their brother, his gaze lingering there. "Space stations. We need at least
ten of them and they have to be huge
and
self sufficient." He
glanced at Tiera again, his eyes looking sleepy. "You mentioned that some
of the Lairdgren Group is in? I could use a chat. I have some projects I need
done and no time to do them really. You two really need to get on the ball and
take over some of this stuff. I can't do what I need to, and build our way into
space."

That
part was about
his plan to save their brother.

Terry
looked at Trice and then shrugged,
very
cutely.

"We're
here to test a new communications device, for when people work in space? Tiera
made them. All by herself. She also made this." He pulled the little
white, rather delicate looking weapon and handed it to Tim, who just looked at
it for a long while and then slowly, handed it back.

"That's...
Complex Tiera. It might be the most controllable weapon I've ever seen. You
made it to take out Tor, if we have to?" He stopped and looked directly at
his wife. "I mean
stop
. It shuts down shields, and I think it can
remove fields from amulets too. It has the most delicate force lance I've ever
seen, and an explosive device, both of which use mental controls as far as how
powerful you want the blast to be. Continuous running
and
pulse, again,
based on what you want. Is it hard to use?"

Terry
shook his head, but then paused.

"Not...
really? I wouldn't want to pick it up without instruction at all, but knowing
what you do right now, it isn't that hard. Everyone in my section got it on the
first try and so did the Lairdgren Group people. Even Ali." He covered his
mouth then and went wide eyed. "That sounds mean. I just think of her as
really
nice
, and not a fighter. She used it really well though."

Trice
looked at it and then Tiera.

"Hey,
sister in-law means that I can have one for a steep discount, doesn't it?"
She looked sidelong at her husband, but he smiled gently, instead of saying
anything.

Tiera
had a few extra on her and handed one over.

"Oh,
yeah. Especially if you're going to live forever. I don't want any more ill
will between us." She stared at Timon, but didn't make it all that mean.
"Mind if we sit? This might just take a while."