Kingdom of Stars (The Young Ancients: Timon Book Three) (11 page)

Not
if
, Tim noticed. When.

He didn't doubt that was going to be true, but he was also a
bit of a pessimist. So, it seemed, was everyone else with them. Even Julie,
which was a bit of a surprise. She'd always seemed kind of... Well, the term
interested in everyone came to mind, not wanting to call her slutty, even in
his own mind. After all, he'd never seen her
do
anything like that, and
it wasn't her fault everyone wanted her. She'd been made that way, on purpose,
by people that were long dead.

Instead of debating the idea, there was a moment of silence
from the back, and then a soft murmur that Timon nearly didn't hear at all.
Considering his hearing was better than most people's, that probably meant it
wasn't actually meant for him.

Julie just sighed, and sounded oddly pleased for some
reason.

"This means we're almost done, doesn't it? The new
breed is stronger than the old, and if not wiser, no worse. Finally we can lay
down our heads and rest, letting these children take up the load."

She sounded far more tired than Timon expected her to. World
weary. Then being held captive and tortured would do that to a person. Not that
he wouldn't have traded her being kept in isolation for a few weeks, compared
to the horrible pain he'd been subjected to, but it was, he figured, all
relative. For all he knew she would have gladly taken that trade.

About an hour later, with no one talking overly, or using
the communications devices at all, because Tim was nearly certain Tor could
listen in if he wanted. He had an idea and rolled his eyes, feeling like he was
being slightly slow, stopping over the ocean smoothly. Kolb put a hand on his
shoulder and leaned closer to him from the back. They were all sitting way closer
to one another than they had to, since they had the space at the moment.

"Problem?"

"Not really. I'm going to get some water in a holding
tank, and set up a shower for Julie. I should have done that already. We can
have beds too, private rooms, other facilities. Mainly I just want to surround
our friend below us with a nice bit of water. If I leave a small hole at the
top, the suit won't be able to come out... We need a shield too, over that,
since he had some weapons in his fists."

Kolb seemed to consider the idea and then did something a
bit strange, looking back at Tiera.

"You two can set that up. I'll see to the facilities up
here. Timon is right, we should have thought of that already. Combat can be
disorienting, no matter how much of it you've seen. Tim, can you land us on the
water?"

"On it." That wasn't what Kolb had meant, he knew.
He was asking if it was possible for Timon to do it. As if he didn't have the
skills for it? Then, the man had just seen his flying destroy a building. It
could be confusing as to what was done on purpose.

Or he might have just been
asking
, and Tim was being
a jerk, taking it the wrong way. Regardless, it didn't seem like he was and no
one seemed scared as he descended, using nearly perfect control. It was a thing
that he was used to doing, on longer trips.

It didn't even take long, since the pumps were well enough
designed, and took the salt out of the water, which was a design that Timon had
stolen wholesale from his older brother. It was galling really, but there was
no way to deny that Tor was a better builder than he was. Sure, part of that
was simply that he'd had years more practice, but he also had a real talent for
it, one that seemed beyond what any smart and driven person might manage.

It was almost like magic.

Timon didn't smile at the thought, feeling a bit tired after
everything. He didn't complain however, just making sure that Tiera and Julie
got the holding tank of water right. It meant making some small changes, their
craft just hanging over the water, but not too many. Tiera was good, and White
just stood there, holding her hand the whole time. When Tim moved too close,
she reached for him, only to have his shield push her back a little.

She seemed a bit hurt by that. Betrayed, if the facial
expression was right.

Tiera winked at her and held her a little closer.

"Tim isn't immune to your pheromones like I am. I think
Doris left him vulnerable that way so that she could control him with sex, if
it ever became needed."

It was a lot of information to come in one sentence, and he
took note of it, but didn't comment. He knew that Doris was the meditation
instructor at Lairdgren school, and in a way, had helped to build Tor, Tiera
and himself. Not Taman however, if he'd gotten that part right. What he hadn't
known was that the old woman he'd seen, who looked cute, but had normal colored
skin, was able to do that. For a half second he wondered how she was planning
to control him with sex, looking like she did, when he worked it out.

It was her hair that gave it away really. It was white, but
had the same sheen to it that Julie's did. The bone structure was similar too,
which meant that they were related. Since Doris was able to change shape, if
only slightly, and look younger and older, like Count Lairdgren and Brown
could, or perhaps more like Lyn Red...

It probably meant that she was really like the lovely and
alluring woman in front of him, rather than an old woman that was a schoolmarm.
Or, more correctly, she was
both
. Probably. He knew not to underestimate
her, and that she was in on the current plans, since she could stop Tor from
reading her. Not much else however. That was going to have to stop soon. It was
too easy for the Ancients to get away without explaining things, having so much
to tell you, if they wanted.

In the main they didn't tell him anything at all, and that
was going to have to end. They were working in a near vacuum already, and
frankly, if that kept up, the world was likely going to die.

Thinking all of this took about half a second, and he made
himself nod once, as if the information his sister had shared simply made
sense. That or he'd already known it. It never paid to let everyone know what
you did, which was probably what the others had been thinking, when it came
down to it. It wasn't wrong, but a lot of things in life existed between one
side and the other. Most things did, probably.

"We need to get back underway." Stretching, so he
wouldn't stiffen up from sitting too long, he moved to the restroom that Kolb
had set up and used it, then got them going again. They'd gotten a lot of
water, which was all on the bottom of the craft and made the controls just a
little different. Not sluggish really, but it took a bit longer to get to full
speed when loaded up, and more time to stop. Tor's craft didn't have that at
all, because, as he'd just been thinking, he was magic.

Annoyingly so.

They didn't try to talk to Monroe, who would either get the
idea, or die. Clearly it was going to be the first one, because shortly after
they started flying again, a completely naked man with true black skin the
color of deep night, crawled out of the hole in the deck and moved to the side.
He tried to move forward, smiling, but hit the shield. Then he tapped at it,
exploring the little prison instantly.

"Well, that's a fine how do you do." Then he
rubbed the center of his face comically. Timon turned back around then, since
his job wasn't interrogating prisoners, but flying. That was probably good for
Monroe, since everything he knew about getting questions answered had been
learned at the hands of sadistic bastards.

Noble ones.

Kolb cleared his throat and swiveled his chair around, but
didn't get up to talk to the man. He did it from where he was, nearly forty
feet away. That meant he had to speak up, more than a little.

"Ah, you've joined us. Timon here decided you should
join our side. You're good with that, right?" The voice was... Actually
kind and pleasant, which was a bit strange, considering the man had been trying
to kill the weapons master not too long before.

Then that part hadn't been very effective, had it? Kolb
would have won, if not for that pink glowing mist. They needed some way to stop
that stuff, he realized. It would mean learning what it was and probably
finding a sample of it. That would be for later, and possibly a thing for
someone else to do, not him.

"What? I
guess
. I was told that we were supposed
to lower the population... Is that not right?"

Julie answered, her voice happy enough. Tim risked looking
back again as she stepped closer to the all black man. He wasn't a deep brown,
but a true black.
All
of him was too, Tim noticed. He didn't have white
anywhere on him. His head was as bald as Kolb's, and he was slightly shiny from
still being damp. Even his teeth were all black, making it a little hard to see
all his features at a distance.

It contrasted nicely with the pearl colored woman.

"We've had a stable and sustainable population for the
last two thousand years, Monroe. You do use that name, don't you? You aren't
Cordes or Gray? Perhaps one of the others?"

"Huh? No, I'm me, like always. A lot of the others have
the wrong person in them. We aren't supposed to talk about it, but if I'm not
on their side anymore, it should be all right. I see you have a Gray clone
too?" He pointed, which was a little rude, at Tiera, which got Kolb to
chuckle just a little.

"No, this is her granddaughter. There is a more than
passing resemblance, and her mother
is
a Gray clone, but Tiera isn't. If
you look closely you can see it."

The man smiled, or at least Tim thought he did, it was hard
to tell, especially after he turned back around, trying not to be distracted by
the stranger. The one that seemed far too tractable to be useful for anything.
If it wasn't a trick.

"Tiera, can you sense his field enough to make certain
he isn't lying?" Or someone else. She wasn't the best builder in the
world, perhaps, but she was already in a trance, and closer to the new man, who
still hadn't said if he was going by the name Monroe.

"I already have been. If he's faking it, he's a master
at pretense." She moved close and plastered a smile on her face. "I
can't sense anything at least. The shield makes it harder."

Timon knew that, but didn't tell them to take it down. They
could do that later. In Vagus. When it wouldn't end up with him being even more
distracted if the man started fighting.

"Good. Well, Monroe, welcome to the team. We can put
you on one of the space craft, as crew. If you want." Timon didn't know if
that was the right thing to say, but the man clapped a little, like a girl, or
a small boy, rather than an Ancient that was probably hundreds or thousands of
years old. The upper limit for memories seemed to be about five hundred years,
using the Rhetistic system, so no older than that, as far as his mind went.

Of course, which five hundred years was an open question,
wasn't it?

The man seemed pleased however.

"Oh, I've heard about that! The fleet that Green built,
to fight off the fake invasion that Cordes mocked up? That sounds marvelous!"

Timon kept his back turned, but smiled a bit. That rather
answered that one, didn't it? At least in potential. There was no invasion
fleet coming from space?

That would make things easier, wouldn't it?

No one focused on the medium sized man's information really.
It was hard to tell how large he was, being hunched down on the deck like he
was, but Timon had to guess he was about six-two or three, based on the length
of his body and legs. Tiera moved to sit in her original chair, and White sat
next to the clear shield, as if trying to be close to her old friend.

It was Kolb that spoke however, holding to his own chair,
way over by Tim. That had to be about not scaring the man in the bubble. He
seemed different than the other Ancients. Not as bright in a way, but
malleable. Easy to manage and without guile. That last part could be an act,
but it resonated with what the others had said, as well as how they'd said it.

In and of himself, Monroe wasn't a threat to anyone.
Fighting armor or not.

So some kind of slave line creation that hadn't made it in
the long run? Why bring back people like that however? Just for the genetic
diversity? As an actual slave?

Julie helped provide the answer, after a fashion, in the way
she spoke to the man. Like a small child nearly. One that she wanted to do very
bad things with, but it was there in her tone.

"That's right. It was Torrance Purple that made them,
however, not Green. He's a Green clone, but also himself."

That got the trapped man to nod happily.

"Yeah, yeah. I know him. Cordes Purple, isn't it? The
one slated to take over North America? I hear he's got some new tech? Is that
what you used in that fight Kolby? That was... Well, you looked normal, but
other than the screaming, you didn't back up at all. Against
frame armor
.
Some kind of energy shield? Like this?" He tapped the air in front of him,
which made no noise at all.

Shields didn't easily transmit sound from one side to the
other. Monroe was only being heard because there were spaces at the top of the
tiny dome he was in so that he could breathe.

Sir Kolbrin waved a large hand at the walls of the craft.

"It's all shield. A potential energy state really.
Fascinating stuff, if you get a chance to study it. I'm sure you'd be very good
at using the new magical techniques, come to think of it. It takes practice,
but most intelligent people willing to take the time and apply themselves can
manage it."

Timon filed that one away too. Kolb wasn't being flattering,
he was stating a fact. It was clear in his voice. The important part wasn't
that the man could do magic, it was that Kolb thought of him as
very
intelligent.
Not just bright enough, but at a high level.

It wasn't coming across in his voice or mannerisms, but that
could be due to other factors, like genetics, or a Rhetistic set that caused
him to act and respond a certain way.

"That sounds neat. Is that where we're going now? To
North America? Noram, I mean. Has it changed a lot?"

Timon nearly snapped at the man not to ask questions, but Julie
laughed and shook her head.

"No dear, we're going to Vagus. Lyn Red manages it for
us. For the side that isn't planning on killing most of humanity. It isn't a
metropolis, but no place really is. Not even Australia. Austra now. You
remember that, don't you? We made the selections while you were with us
originally." She didn't seem to think it was a weird thing to say, from
her tone.

Timon just watched the horizon, since they had a while to go
still, at these speeds.

Monroe seemed happy enough to chat at least, and spoke with
an innocent air about him, genius or not.

"I do remember, naturally, it isn't like I forget
things. I just can't know who or what is actually left, can I? The others,
Cordes Seven and Gray Four, they didn't let me have a lot of up to date
information about the rest of the world. They actually made it sound a bit
dismal, to be honest. Gray especially. Warring feudal level tribes in North
America, South America is filled with peaceful stone aged people, Australia is
a technological nightmare and Europe is run by a pseudo-Christian cult. Only
Africa and the Antarctic have managed to do the right thing."

Timon didn't know all the words, but worked out most of it
based on what he did know.

"That isn't the way I'd have described it all. Noram is
pretty much that way, I'll grant. But Austra is nice enough. They're using
things up a bit too fast, and are too driven by greed, but are managing not to
use
everything
up really. Tellerand... which I think is Europe?"

He waited, and Kolb cleared his throat gently.

"That's right. Christianity is basically the
predecessor of the one god religions."

"All right, well, Black does have that going on then,
but the actual land itself is well managed. People help each other there, and
live clean and simple lives. The Priests can be a pain in the rear, always
trying to convert you to their way, but other than that most of the people are
nice enough. They do a lot with architecture. It's in balance. Everyplace is
really. I don't like what Grandmother did to Afrak. Africa. Gray changed the
people, so that they can't even consider violence or resistance. They aren't
destroying the world though and are kind enough."

The Antarctic didn't need going in to. They only had three
people. The highest old style technology base too, but they didn't abuse it.
The Blues were good that way.

Kolb turned around, so that his voice seemed aimed at the
back of Timon's head, which meant he was looking out the front window.

"Which leaves Vagus, which, until a few months ago, was
a stone age culture. Now they're taking up the new magic too. It's probably the
way we'll all live eventually. Perhaps the way we were supposed to all along?
It has very low material and energy cost, if used correctly. There are dangers
with it still, of course."

Monroe made a noise that seemed a lot darker than not, for
some reason.

"Oh, I can see that. This is what, a troop transport? A
battle ship? One that you took into a building to retrieve Julie, then used as
a weapon to kill the others? I didn't see that, but the radio cut out. Do you
think anyone survived?"

The large bald man didn't turn to look back at all.

"I don't really know. Some of them likely did. A
building falling on any of us in here wouldn't be enough to kill us outright,
and most of the others are the same in that regard. Not unless they were very
unlucky. It was more distraction than anything else. A few probably died, but
we were too busy healing from the micro-plasma burns. That's been forbidden for
a long time. I'm surprised that Cordes allowed it to be used at all, to tell
the truth. He always spoke out against it as barbaric."

That got silence in return, and Monroe didn't even try to
explain it. Not even when Julie made a soft prompting sound. That probably
meant it was a big deal, since the man didn't seem to be resisting any other
questions.

Timon didn't let it rest.

"Not to be pushy, Monroe, but micro-plasma, what do you
know about it? Did you make it for them?" It was a hunch, based on
nothing, but occasionally it paid to just throw things like that out. There was
a soft sob then. Not crying, but a gasp that sounded a bit funny.

"The others made me do it. I didn't want to, but they
ordered me to do it. I didn't have a choice. It..."

Julie growled, which was so out of character that Tiera
stood up and moved toward the shield, her soft energy signature flaring with
sudden rage. She didn't let it show though.

Luckily the White woman explained what was happening, before
his sister got to the prisoner.

"There was a time when using micro-plasma weapons
nearly crippled half the world. It was a war that we don't remember now. It's
been blotted out of the records, everywhere. On purpose. To make an innocent
man like Monroe make something like that... It's not a good thing. It's worse
than a mere crime against him, it's one against the world. How new is
this?"

The black man was quiet for a bit, when he spoke he sounded
scared. Shaky.

"It was... I woke up three months ago. In the facility
you took me from. I think they brought me back just to do that. They said
something about the plague not working as well as hoped, since something went
wrong with the plan. Not many died from it, so they started on another one.
Nuclear weapons and micro-plasma. You don't seem hurt now though, so you can
beat it, right?" The unspoken part, where he was asking them to let him
know that they hadn't destroyed the world, seemed to be the real question.

Tiera moved further back in the vehicle and ended up
standing in front of the nude man.

"Healing magic. Not everyone has it however. These
weapons are designed to cripple and not kill? Why?"

Timon got that one without needing to be told. It was
obvious after all.

"Economic warfare. If you can incapacitate half the
people, the others will have to spend most of their time and resources caring
for them. That or kill them. That would destroy any cohesion the other side had
however. I don't know if it would work though, it seemed to be like a gas, or
nano cloud. Would it be that effective? I-"

"Yes. That isn't really wrong, in a way. It's actually
a form of complex free form energy. Hence it being called a plasma, like a
flame is?" Monroe spoke without seeming to bother censoring himself.
"It communicates within itself however, and can attack specific targets.
The stuff at the base was just set to go after anyone human that wasn't in its
memory. We made enough to cover most of the planet. Not all at once, but over a
few years, with it moving around, it could do it. The design is similar to
making a nano cloud. Very good. Do you do design work?"

Tim was about to say no, when Sir Kolbrin answered for him.

"Timon does magical designs. This ship is one of his.
I'd like you to work with him on coming up with a counter for the
micro-plasma." There was a rustling, and the large man patted his
shoulder, or at least the shield over it. That made it clear they were both
wearing theirs and had them on still. "Not that I can order Tim around, or
you, Monroe. We just don't have anyone else that can do the magical side of
this."

Because Tor,
The Builder,
had been compromised, and
couldn't be trusted. Green could probably do the work, but Kolb didn't mention
that part at all. Either he was doing something even more important or... The
only thing that Tim could come up with was that having
two
slaves work
on the project might not be optimal.

Timon went with that one.

"Right. We'll be working in space on that then. I got
kicked out of school earlier, for being a nuisance. It nearly made poor
Countess Printer cry, and everything. On my first day too. Not great for the
long term record, is it?" He smiled though and let it be heard in his
voice. It wasn't that important, over all, was it?

Not with world ending weapons being made and Remy Seventeen
wanting him dead.

Tiera sucked in air and nearly ran to him, her concentration
breaking almost totally.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. It was the attack on Printer? Or on
you, I mean?"

"Naturally. The trick now will be getting Orange to
lend us a ship. We need supplies and all that too. It will probably help keep
Remy off my back for a few weeks at least. Not forever, I'm willing to bet. I
might as well make things interesting for it though."

"What! There's a Remy left? And it's trying to
kill
you? How can you be so calm? That's horrible! Yes, we need to hide you. We...
Right now. I..." Monroe was standing, and trying to push past the shield,
which got Kolb to wave at him, not smiling.

"The Remy couldn't beat the shield yet either. Almost,
but the healing devices saved Timon once. For the first time since the Concord
someone in the world can actually bring a fair fight to one of them. The last
time they met, all the Remy could manage was to stand there, and had to
flee
in the end. From a twelve year old boy. I wouldn't panic on Tim's behalf just
yet. In fact, if you'd like to make a wager, I'll put twenty gold coins on
Timon removing it as a threat inside the next year."

"How? Before the Catastrophe they had to discontinue
the line, because they couldn't control them. Blow it up with a nuke? A high
test bomb at least? Fire works, but only if you can hold them in it. Trap it
somehow? I don't know how long a potential energy shield like this one will
last. If you took out the air, and made it solid, that might work to hold it
for a while. Other than that... It makes it all sound too easy. Those things
are hard to catch, and it normally takes a lot of lives to finally get it to
happen. Armies have died trying and failed at it."

Timon kept looking out the front and let his eyes scan the
world in front of him. The ocean was a pretty color that day, in the twilight
gloom. A flat blue-black already. The sky in front of him was a pretty pink
color too.

"We can do large explosions. Would the smaller kind of
weapon do or that huge one-"

Kolb stopped him.

"The smaller will do. I have an extra on me. You'll
want layers of backups however, in case one thing doesn't work. Plan for
everything you can."

Naturally. It was almost as if the man was thinking of him
as a kid or something. He didn't let his thoughts show.

"I can do that. I probably can't help it, really. This
is sort of a big deal in my life. Most of the time people love me, you
know?"

That got a snort from Tiera, who still wasn't all the way
back to normal. Finding out that he'd nearly been killed, blown up by Kim the
mechanical ship girl,
that
didn't faze her, but being kicked out of
school as a hazard...

"We'll need a reason for me to be off working in space
however. I guess we could claim that Monroe is my new special tutor. Have the
others in for a weekend or two, if it's ever safe enough. It would be a good
enough place to test Ma."