The Mask of Omegon (Gwen Farris Book 6) (23 page)

The man meant it, clearly.

She snorted and laughed at the same
time, which was incredibly geeky, she didn’t doubt.

“That’s all of us then, isn’t it? I
don’t know what
I
could have done. I just feel like I should have
managed it anyway. It isn’t your fault. Mine either, as hard as it is for me to
buy that one. No one is responsible for all of this except for Katherine and
some insane Europans. They wanted power and got it. Most people can’t really
handle that kind of thing, much less nations. Still, here we are. Ready to
destroy everything to prove…” Gwen flipped her palms up. “What, I do not know.”

The other man nodded, then reached
out to touch her on the shoulder. He stopped himself partway there, which was a
thing that she’d noticed people doing before. When she’d first gotten there
Gwen had figured it was about her. That they didn’t like her, so wanted to
avoid contact. Now she had to figure it was about the man making certain no one
got the wrong idea, while showing her that he
did
want to be supportive.

So she smiled.

“I can pretty much go anywhere. To
get anyone from a distance. Honestly, if I know where it is, I can get anything
that weighs less than a few hundred pounds. In general, I need to go and get it
though. Otherwise it would be stealing.”

“Oh? Good to know. As I mentioned,
it may well come up soon.”

Because Gwen was willing to bet,
the real mission was a bit deeper than just taking some goods to Eng. Her
thought, given the little she knew, would be picking up whoever they had taking
Darnell’s place in Paris. If he hadn’t worked his way across the channel, after
collecting data or whatever he was there for.

The trip into town, which meant
moving thousands of miles back home, went well. The show had fewer questions
that week. Most of them were annoying, as if they were making up for the lack
of quantity. Mainly thanks to having no real answers. Such things as when she
was going to get married.

“Well… That one isn’t real, is it?
I mean, who would want to marry an alien?” She managed to sound humorous about
the idea, then had to fight a laugh, since Brian, her old co-host, stuck his
tongue out at her. Like an impish child.

“
Who
? I think that many
would. Especially a catch like you, Miss Farris. Still, my best guess would be
your current gentleman friend? Not that I can’t tell when a question is
pressing you. So, we should cover your trip to the candy shop? That made the
news last week! Was the maple fudge as good as you wished for?”

She nodded, meaning it.

“
Better
. It was a dream. I
took the loading crew four huge boxes of candy. It’s all gone, needless to say!
I need to get right back to the Peregrine as soon as this is over, or I’d get
more. Well, that and a paper for one of the pilots. That’s Carmichaels’ if
anyone wants to try it out. Over on Fourth and Elm.”

The next question was more
interesting, since she got to give out the number for Westmorland Central. A
man
asked
for it, so he could sign up for the Special Service. At least
to try out.

“Good idea. Really, anyone that can
handle it should be signing up. Don’t be shy about using the telesar to get
with them for training options for other things as well. Even if you’re just
making them up. You’ll want to ask for Peter or Manly Westmorland specifically.
Great team, as far as training goes.” She grinned, then snickered. “I’m teasing
on that one. Not that they
aren’t
good. I know that
I’d
get with
them if I were going off to the military soon for instance, to be perfectly
honest. Peter is only fifteen, but the Westmorlands don’t coddle the kids all
that much.”

She didn’t really think about it
all, teasing like that on the air. Even Brian just thought it was cute. At
least he chuckled a bit and it didn’t sound harsh or evil.

“There you go everyone. Get with
Peter and Manly for training before going off to the Special Service or
military duties. I
have
to imagine that would be the fast track to
advancement or inclusion in special combat units.”

That
was
likely sounding,
but to get in on it people would have to be willing to deal with Westmorlands.
That wasn’t going to happen very often, Gwen didn’t think. Not that there were
many people listening to the program. It was just on a single local station.

When they were done she grabbed the
paper, getting a few of them, to take to Larry. Gwen didn’t let herself even
think about who he really was. Not even what might be going on. The trip itself
was just supposed to be loading and unloading as far as she was concerned. The
hour she was gone didn’t come out of her sleep time, but other than cleaning
and checking the tie downs, there wasn’t a lot to do on the ship. Not until
they put in to dock.

That would be the next morning, if
all went well. Which meant that she was sweeping the outer decks, along with
Meter and Tomas, later that afternoon.

It wasn’t hard at all. The wind
kept the dust off, for the most part. Plus, it was done almost constantly, so
the thing kept itself clean. That meant they didn’t have to work all that hard.
It was mainly what you had people on the ship do in order to keep them busy.
Which was needed, since there was nothing else to do. The officers had the telesar,
but even they only listened to that when they weren’t on duty. It was a
merchant ship, but they were being paid to work, not play around.

Meter grinned at Tomas as he moved
past him. Gwen half figured that he was going to make a snide comment about
her, but the man wasn’t even
mean
.

“So, new man, how do you like it so
far? Exciting and entertaining enough?” Meter, who was a large, powerful
seeming fellow, kept sweeping the whole time. He wasn’t a body builder or
anything, but the man seemed fit.

A body created by a life of hard
work.

Tom did his own sweeping.

“It’s different than I thought it
would be. Hard, but not constantly so. I really figured that I’d be ground down
by now, but it’s been a nice few days’ rest after that first portion.”

That got a chuckle from the ex-Air Navy
man.

“No doubt. That’s everything, isn’t
it? In the last war we’d stand to alert for weeks with nothing happening. After
the first two battles, you come to love that part. The lulls. The young crave
excitement, the wise seek the rest between the waves.”

Gwen was standing a bit away,
working her own straw broom. They didn’t need dust pans since things just went
over the edge of the ship in the back. That way it didn’t blow back onto the
side of the ship, making it dirty.

“Darn, Meter. That sounds almost
wise. Like Yoda.” She blinked, swept and didn’t explain.

Tomas bit though.

“I don’t know the name. A
philosopher from your world?”

Meter winced, then shook his head.

“Curly isn’t Gwen Farris. Lots of
people here aren’t who they are. Understand, new man?” It was a bit gruff
seeming. Hard, and like there was a problem in the making.

Tomas didn’t take offense, just
chuckling a bit while nodding.

“I misspoke, of course. So, we put in
to Eng in the morning? I hear that they’ve been having a hard time of the current
conflict.” The change was nearly smooth, which got Meter to stare at the new
man, probably wondering who he was. Other than Tom.

Gwen nodded.

“Yeah. We should get in, unload
fast and then see if we can pick up a load. I don’t know what’s available. Then,
that isn’t my job. It might already be arranged. If the people on the ground
are having that hard of a time, they might not have much to sell.” It was an
island though, which probably meant they had sea food to move, even if nothing
else was available.

That would take too long to ship,
even by air.

Diets were less varied than what
she was used to, from her old world.

Meter just shrugged, then moved
closer to both of them.

“When we get in, don’t go into the
city. Normally we get a day or two in each port. Even
if
we get that,
stay close. We might have to leave in a hurry.”

It was
so
clear that he
wasn’t sharing everything he knew. Gwen just nodded.

“We won’t. I think we all
understand that part. Things aren’t what they seem right now. Right Tom?”

Omegon the hero looked back at her,
but Tom Moore, the cover identity, nodded.

“That’s a good idea. I don’t need
to play on this trip. It will help me look better with the bosses, don’t you
think, Curly?”

She did, so nodded as she worked.

“Yup. That’s Meter’s point, no
doubt. Good. Pass the word with the others? If they don’t already know. We’re
the new people, but… Just in case?”

Meter just looked at them both like
they were being strange, but finally waved toward the back of the deck.

“Let’s clear this level and get to
the next. I need to find Gloria. Curly is in charge. Hit the next level too,
before it gets dark.”

She kept sweeping.

“We can get that done. Come on, new
guy.” She nearly winced, but didn’t let herself. She was so obviously Gwen
Farris that it wasn’t even funny. No one was going to be fooled by her acting
otherwise. She’d been telling everyone in the world that she was off on the
Peregrine. Which might make sense. After all, if she was there openly, working
as a loader to get the goods in place, then no one would think it was a special
spy mission.

Which meant that she was being
used. For
being
Gwen Farris, which was a new thing in her world. To
anyone looking in from the outside it had to seem nearly like the entire thing
was about her. A special, easy, trip to let her feel useful. Even having a
Westmorland on board could be taken as being a guard for her. Possibly for
Katherine Vernor.

The thought itself got her to
consider that one for a few seconds. It wasn’t a horrible idea, come to think
of it. For a moment she wondered if that was just the case. That Kelvin was
there to take her out, if Kat tried to run again. Gwen could have told them not
to bother if that was the case. Then, if it really was that one, Larry wouldn’t
have that fake name. The man would have just been put there with a few weapons,
ready to go if it came to it. After all, it wasn’t like Gwen could miss that
her friend was on the ship with her.

As they got to the back, moving
quickly, Tomas whispered as she passed.

“Yoda?”

She grinned.

“It’s from a story. A wise
nine-hundred-year old alien being that gives advice that sounds wise, but
actually means almost nothing. I was teasing Meter a bit there, which isn’t
fair. His words were
probably
meaningful. Not that I can prove it.”

“Ah. I’d wondered. Anyway,
something strange is going on here, isn’t it?” He looked straight forward, as
if they might be overheard.

“Oh, yeah. My guess is that there’s
some kind of mission going on, that we just happen to be near at the moment.
So, I think we should stay with the ship and make certain everything is ready
to go at a moment’s notice, if we can. Stay prepared for anything. Just in
case. If we get lucky it will end up being nothing, but we can’t know that.”

There was a nod then. It was a
simple thing, and he brushed her shoulder as he moved past, sweeping the entire
time. It was a bit fresh, if they weren’t supposed to know each other. Nice
though. Gwen stopped herself from smiling, since the goal was to have Tom work,
as a form of training for the coming military stuff. Whatever that ended up
being.

The evening went slowly, as things
did on the ship, but she got to sleep until four in the morning, which put her
being awake as they approached the island of Eng. The name annoyed her a bit,
since she kept wanting to add land to the end of it.
Every
single time
the name came up. Even inside her own head. Europa was just as bad for her. It
was too close for her to not try to correct. Luckily, she was just herself now.

It had been kind of brutal when she’d
been pretending to be Katherine.

A thought occurred to her then.

“Crap. Katherine! We haven’t been
getting you your reward time!”

The voice in her head sounded calm
when it replied.

~I was promised an hour per day, as
soon as this is done? That should be close to a whole day in a row.~

“Oh, good. I kind of forgot about
you. That… Sorry. I shouldn’t do that. Who said that?”

~Adam Westmorland. The man is most
concerned about me. That’s probably why Kelvin is here. Like you thought. To
kill me, if I try to flee.~

That might be right, but Gwen
thought that it could also be something else. It wouldn’t be the first time
that the Westmorlands had done things that were directed toward her if it was.
Without
telling her what was going on. It just didn’t feel right this time. Not that
she’d blame them if it were the idea.