Pain Stones (Coalescence Book 2) Read online

  Down the table, eating a good-sized plate of food of her own, Avery nodded.

  “I was thinking of asking about that. The Shifters were wondering about putting some people here, full time. I think Eve mentioned something like that as well for her people. We… Um, the Noram world people? There should be an Ambassador to Sparks as well.” She looked embarrassed at the slip of the tongue, but when he translated, using her words exactly, the Prince stood and bowed.

  He spoke in Standard however.

  “I don’t know what that is, but we can discuss it, Ambassador Rome?”

  Which, as pointed out by Benjamin earlier, she wasn’t. Not officially. What she was, however, was a line walker. That was a large deal in its own right.

  Looking at her plate the woman nodded.

  “Yes, sir. We can do that.”

  It was Eve, who had moved into the room silently, but didn't get any food, not eating it, who spoke then. She wasn’t nearly as shy as Avery, after all.

  “Sparks is where the Embassy is for… Pretty much everyone. There are Ambassadors there from over three hundred different worlds. Mainly other realities, which means that you really should get in on that. I need to bring Tyler Gartner by for that. He isn’t a line walker. Yet. My guess is that if I can ever pin him down for the training he’ll be able to do it. Not everyone wants to, though. As if sitting in nothingness for a few hundred or thousand years, working the whole time not to dissolve is that big of a deal? Still, he’s in charge of the Coalition of Nations, which well, everyone pretty much falls under. Are you setting this place up as a second version of that? It… Honestly, that would be a good idea. Not everyone is comfortable at Sparks. This place would be better for a lot of them, I think. I mean, the Trollienkeine speak Standard as their first tongue, more or less.” She was using that language herself at the moment, so Alphonse could get the idea.

  The man perked right up then.

  “Truly? That’s incredible. I thought we were the only ones who used it at all, to be honest. We should meet with these people, if it’s allowed? I don’t know if a complex here is what was intended. If not, I can lend some land for it? Or, more correctly, I can speak to Tor and get him to let us use part of the wildlands. He holds the lease on it, for the next ninety years or so.”

  Interestingly, Benjamin, the little kid who was just standing there, shook his head.

  “We’ll have it here. This place can be made larger. If need be we can put in another palace or two. We need to hire a staff. Can I have my allowance early this month, father?”

  Willum didn’t even pretend that the funds a Prince had at his command wouldn’t be useful that way. Still, he winked.

  “I’ll give you a chest of coins for that part. Don’t spend your own gold on it. We can do that… Actually as soon as the meal here is over? Perhaps hire someone to aid him… Not that you aren’t capable of doing the work. In fact, I expect you to be in charge of that.” He locked eyes with the small boy. He was a child, even if bright and well trained. There was a somber nod in return. “We need to put in someone taller than you are however, so that people will know that we’re serious. You’ll be in charge of them, however, understood? That means selecting them carefully, since it will be natural for an adult to try and assume command over a child. You need to make certain that doesn’t happen, from the start.”

  He sounded nearly stern, though the kid just smiled in return, as if a five-year-old being in command of something that important actually made sense. Then, it wasn’t really important yet. If he wasted all the coin, then Willum could get more. It would give the kid something to do that was pretty official.

  Even if no one from any other worlds came there at all, or if it took years, setting up something like that would be good experience. Plus, if Benjamin did it, Will wouldn’t have to.

  The Prince actually looked troubled, though Princess Abbie didn’t seem to feel that way. No one else there did either, which was interesting. Then, some of them clearly weren’t listening to what anyone else was saying. Eve was however, which was made clear by a wave in the general direction of the small Prince.

  “I get with you to set that all up then?” She didn’t seem to be playing at all about the matter.

  Which meant that Willum had to do an official introduction. Then he needed to do everyone else there. Thankfully he knew them all. It was kind of clear that the kid was being overwhelmed by all the names, however, so at the end, Will nodded at Eve again.

  “The important person to memorize right now is Eve Benson. We need to get with Prince Dareg as well, since he’s our line walker. I just do the messages.” That was the game they’d set up anyway. He could, and did, take people around. That was all for free and not official at all.

  Getting everyone back after the meal was efficient enough, though he wasn’t done for the day after that. Everyone was gone, the small Prince taking a box of coins away with him, in order to hire people and set things up. Avery and Eve were still there however, since they had things for them to do. So was his new friend and possible coworker, Gwen Harrison.

  Baroness Harrison, as it turned out, though he didn’t learn that until Eve told him, smirking about it a bit.

  She waved it away.

  “Only by marriage. It’s new, so… I should get back and… I don’t suppose that you’d both be willing to go on the air? I have a telesar show… Um, radio, only… magical? Do you know what that is?” She looked at the others, then Willum.

  He really didn’t have a clue though. Eve at least nodded.

  “Nifty! I can do that. I’m in on your new project. Part time, since I have council work and my shifts at the shop to cover as well. I make frozen yogurt treats. That, and enforce laws and rules for my people. It’s a living.”

  Gwen seemed to think that was a fine enough thing to be doing, but was also happy to have anyone in with them, it seemed. Not that Eve wasn’t a great being. She honestly seemed to be. Then, having four line walkers in on her new operation was kind of big. Even if one of them was him. Only taking messages like he did.

  “When should we be there for that? To do your show?” He had a feeling it was something like being on camera, which he’d done before.

  His new friend smiled and then winked at him. Then she blushed, and looked away.

  “I need to be back for that in a few hours. As it is, I need to make a point of letting Tomas know that spending the night at Will’s house isn’t code for anything naughty. It was easier when you had the disguise on.”

  Shrugging, he turned that back on and changed his hair color.

  “I can do that. Especially if it will keep him from challenging me to a duel. That or having his friends chase me out of your world with pitchforks and shovels.” He didn’t know the man after all.

  Even if the Baron were bad at that kind of thing, there was no way for Willum to win that kind of fight. Either he harmed a man for simply caring too deeply for his wife, making it clear that Will was evil, or he was driven from their lands, which might harm the new business. If looking less attractive helped with that, then he could do it.

  Avery lit up then.

  “That’s a good idea. Especially if you come to my world right now.” She glanced at Gwen and then shrugged. “Willum is pretty famous there, now. As in, fan people will hunt him in the streets if he shows his face. We did this cooking show, with some of the IPB people… It’s actually doing well in the ratings already. The whole season already went up and he was in most of it. Krista didn’t realize that last night, when she asked you to be on the show, Will. Now she’s half freaking out. She told me when I got her back home. Not in the way you’d think, either. She wants to make sure that you get a part that’s good enough for you. So that she can capitalize on your fame there, and increase the percentage of people watching us.”

  They were sitting in the front space, but in the center of the large open room. The entire first floor was still set up from the night before and no one had bothered to ch
ange it yet. Eve stretched, or pretended to, even if that wasn’t a thing she needed to really do any longer.

  “See, I think that we can just have some guy do you from behind, or maybe have you sucking them off? A vampire or something like that? You know, pull a Steve York on it? That’s how he got his start.”

  That meant nothing to him, or it seemed, Gwen. The woman got the idea that it was sexually loaded, so it wasn’t about lacking a common sensibility that way. Avery probably did as well, but she didn’t blush about it. Gwen did.

  Willum shook his head.

  “No? If it’s all right, I mean? I’m a little shy that way, really. Not that I haven’t done some of those things, but that doesn’t mean that I want it to be known to thousands of people.”

  Avery nodded a bit and then shook her head.

  “Millions. Millions of people, Will. I didn’t get that at first either. Almost everywhere I go, people come up to me, wanting my picture now, just because I’m doing some work on television. That or wishing me to sign things for them. Most of them don’t even really understand that I’m a Dragon Shifter, even though that’s what I play in Red Rain. That’s popular in my world now. Krista has even been trying to get it up in the IPB world.”

  She clearly felt awkward about it all, but Gwen didn’t take it as bragging really. Then, she knew about it already. Really, to her it seemed like Avery was trying to get in good with him, for some reason. Probably a sexual one, since Avery was famous and pretty.

  Apparently, Willum was as well, which left the woman feeling a little self-conscious, even if she looked fine. Better than that, really.

  Her voice was a bit soft, when she spoke.

  “I really should be getting back, since it’s a work day for me. I only do that once a week. The rest of the time I just sit at home. Managing things. I’m not even really in at the S.R.R. anymore. I get called in to work, on occasion, but the leadership has been taken over by my Cousin Reginald and Captain Morse.”

  None of what the woman had just said actually made sense to him. The others looked at her a bit funny as well, but Avery nodded after a moment.

  “Oh, that’s the group you started? They teleport people out of trouble. If they’re lost, or missing? They find them and get them back. It started in the war they had over there. Getting captured soldiers back. That just ended a few months ago, though…”

  Gwen smiled at that, her eyes going wide. It was a bit fake seeming, but energetic anyway.

  “Right. Meaning that we have a bunch of people that need new jobs. Married Baronesses don’t rate, I guess. Anyway, you’re all in for the show? It should be in…” She pulled a watch, which was on a gold chain, from out of a pocket on her vest. “In four hours, my time, so… Over a day, here. Okay, so maybe I don’t have to exactly rush away.”

  The woman stood up anyway.

  “Except that I actually miss my husband. Can you all make it?”

  They all nodded then. They had a new friend or a chance at making one, so going to her world and helping out with her projects made sense. At least for them.

  Willum stood up, getting the rest of them to do the same thing.

  “I’ll be there. I look forward to working with all of you. Until then… Well, I have some work to do. I need to go and get with Darryl Lancaster, since I suggested him to Alice Orange. We need a special unit for Space Fleet. In order to prevent mutineers from killing more people in the future. It doesn’t make sense, given that Fleet is actually considered to be a really soft posting, but it happened. So now we have to react.”

  There were nods, but only Avery seemed to understand the idea Will was getting at.

  “That will work. He’s good.”

  That was all she said, her thoughts suddenly stopping as to why she thought that. It was hidden, but before it had vanished from being, her pattern had spoken of something recent to her. With death involved. An explosion…

  Interestingly, Gwen left from outside of the box out front, not needing a node at all. She punched a hole in reality, then walked through it. The blast of power it took was silent, but still nearly knocked him down when it happened.

  Avery and Eve both used the box, though at different times. Eve went first, hugging him before she left.

  “See you in the next… Well, probably at the meeting with Gwen?”

  “Yep. That sounds fun. I hope the people there are nice?”

  That didn’t get an answer from the dead woman. She just walked into the box and vanished, not bothering to close the thing at all. Avery followed along, but waved to him, after turning.

  Then she twisted space, almost gently, and moved into the void herself. It was interesting to see, since he could feel what was going on the whole time. So when she vanished, it wasn’t a baffling thing to him at all. He could sense her moving away, before it took place. Through a bend in space.

  It was similar, but not exactly the same as what he did when traveling.

  Left alone, finally, Willum took a deep breath. It wasn’t really restful, but felt nice. Then, before he even had a chance to go and make a sandwich, his communication device went off. Almost as if it were planned that way. There was a buzz that came from his pocket, which caused him to reach for the thing instantly.

  After all, in all the world, not a single person should have been able to make the thing work that way. He didn’t have a code in the network at all. To his mind that meant it would probably be one of the Ancients doing it. Someone that had entered him into the network, without him noticing it. Instead it was Eve. Or, given the way she was dressed, possibly not her at all.

  “Eva? Is everything all right?”

  The girl, who was made of magic, gave him a cheery look.

  “No? We actually have a rather serious problem here. On Mars? There’s a… We actually have several Ysidril here, but no one knows what they want. That would normally be fine, but Hess is away on Harmony and can’t get out of the meeting that he’s in at the moment. Dare is in classes and I can’t find Ancient Karina. She isn’t answering her device. So, naturally, I thought of you. Can you do anything?”

  He stopped for a few seconds, then took a breath.

  “Where on Mars? I can be there… Directly. I’m standing right by a transport hut.” In fact, he was less than five feet from the open door of the thing. Moving inside, he waited for the girl to let him in on the secret.

  “Mars Seven? It’s by the space port here. They came in by Jump Ship, but none of them seem to speak Standard. I haven’t learned Fleet yet, which is a failing on my part, but it doesn’t fix anything as for this situation.” The girl actually sounded apologetic about it, as if it were a huge failing on her part to have not master the tongue of another group yet.

  “On my way.”

  It was strange, using the box for travel, now that he was used to doing the work for himself. The transfer felt different, now that he knew what to look for. Not at all like node travel. In fact, he didn't do anything for himself, except closing the door with a touch to the blue star sigil near the opening on the left. Then he spun in place, and hit the blue arrow on the back wall, scrolling through to the Mars section. It took some time, being that there were hundreds, possibly thousands, of places to go now, via the box. Many of them, if not most, were on other worlds. On the world ships at least. The incoming fleet was bigger than Earth was. Not in raw size perhaps, if they counted Mars and the Moon, but much larger in the number of beings.

  When he walked out, the air tasting drier and the world feeling different, there were nine Ysidril standing there, wearing blue or silver jumpsuits. They didn’t seem to have scales at all, and were a soft red color, instead of the bright blues, reds and greens he was used to seeing on them. Then, these were beings that clearly weren’t wearing the same kind of outfits. Most of the time Ysidril looked to have scales, but that, he was coming to understand, was the style of clothing they wore in the main, not what they actually looked like under that. Their four eyes were even a different
color.

  They’d come from the fleet, since they had a Jump Ship with them. That or a different reality, which was possible, he supposed.

  Just in case they weren’t he focused and got his pine tree emblem on his shirt.

  Bouncing a bit onto his toes, using their people’s common body language, got their attention easily enough. When he spoke it was in their own language, since he hadn’t learned the language of the fleet yet. That was different, he knew, since most considered Ysidril to be impossible for Humans to learn. That wasn’t true. It was just different, being made up of hisses and clicks. On occasion, there were some whistles. Those were all numbers. Willum could count to ten that way, but hadn’t really been practicing like he should have been.

  “Hello. This is Mars. May we help you?”

  One of the beings, a woman, who was larger than the others there by about two inches in height and probably ten percent by weight, being broader across the shoulders. She was fierce seeming, but was clearly distressed, not getting ready for violence.

  “Ah! You are green and brown shrubbery? The human that can speak? I’m-” There was no way for him to translate the word she used. If it meant anything other than her name, he didn't know the word or anything like it.

  “That’s right. Pine Tree Emblem.” The last three words were in Standard, not Ysidril. They really didn’t get the difference, he knew. Probably because they didn't have pine trees on the ships. He nearly added a request for them to inform him about what they were doing, but didn’t. After all, they weren’t children and had come via ship. They knew what they were doing. He hoped. If not, well, then he’d need Hess in for that part.

  That, or their Ambassador, Neesa.

  The alien woman clasped both sets of arms, her mouth opening wide. That was, as far as he could tell, a fake Ysidril smile. She was really tense though, so he let it go.