Crystal Core Read online

  “I’m headed that way, shortly. Just passing the news that the work is done on my end. Have the others reported in?”

  “They did! So, that’s it. The war is over and we won. Why don’t I feel like celebrating?” She seemed a bit sad, to tell the truth.

  “Not a clue? Really, you should meet me in Harmony, if you aren’t there already. You need to get ideas as to how to set up your own passing of power. Sure, you get ten years or so, but it will need to be done. This one is a bit shoddy seeming so far. Like some kind of idiot just made the whole thing up over a meal. That reminds me, I have a potential girlfriend to get in touch with. Several in fact.”

  It was true. Though he had to stop for a moment.

  “After I get Timon to make some changes to me? I think I might like to be able to love again. Even just have normal friendships. Well, after the election. Being cold and calculating might help with that part. Anyway, I… Really, I’m going to do that part now.” Then he hung up, since he was, clearly, a very rude man.

  That needed to stop, of course. Manners were actually important in life.

  Still, he stood and moved to the transport hut. For once he just looked up the blue glowing sigil to the place he wanted and tapped it. Ending up on the Moon. Then he started to pull his handheld as he climbed out of the box, trying to find Tiera, but noticed her standing in the middle of the hallway, speaking to Sherri Bonner.

  That got him to smile and wave.

  “Aunt Tiera, Sherilyn!”

  One of them bothered to hug him at least. That being the shorter of the two, Sherri. She was dressed in a nice gold gown that had shiny green sleeves. There were at least five other shades of things to the whole thing, but it managed to seem refined, rather than gaudy. Tiera was just in a flowing white thing that seemed kind of boring.

  “Willum! See Tiera, I knew that someone would be coming to help you with this. Not that we really need it. Our part is only in announcing things, then holding the ceremony tomorrow evening, for you to pass power along. You’re officiating for that, Will. We have plans. Back at Tiera’s. This way? We can walk.”

  Being bowed and waved at as they walked, getting Tiera to actually bow back, while she moved. It looked awkward and uncomfortable.

  “Just think, by this time tomorrow, I’ll be free of all this. Just able to walk around like a normal person for once. It’s been years since I’ve been able to eat in public alone. I finally understand why King Richard has guards around him all the time. To run interference.”

  Sherri took her hand, and held it. That wasn’t a scandal there, since Harmony wasn’t Pine Creek.

  Nodding, he did his own bowing to people, since that was only polite. It really did make the trip take about three times longer. That meant nearly an hour of walking that they could have jogged in about five minutes. When they got inside the rather nice looking space that was used as Tiera’s living quarters, being kind of like the inside of a small palace, made rich with bright colors on the walls, he took a breath.

  “Oh, you have one of those paint units I made? I didn’t know if anyone would really want one of those here.”

  Sherri moved in and kissed him on the cheek.

  “The whole city has been done. We had to contract with Terry Baker to make the copies for us, since they’re very popular, even. Not that he didn’t do the work for free. It didn’t hurt that Miven asked after that for us, I don’t think. I’m not certain, but I think a certain High Day Leader might just be getting a visit from someone’s mother soon, about marriage. More, I think he’s planning to say yes.”

  She moved a bit, to a low table that had ten or so white stone writing pads on it. She sorted through them, then passed two of them over.

  “Memorize these and tomorrow should go well enough. I could have used some help on them. I hear you were off traveling around and wenching?”

  Tiera smothered a chuckle. It was a tiny bit manic seeming.

  Will simply nodded.

  “Right. That sounds like a bit more fun than what I was doing. We should go with that one, as a tale. The war seems done now. We might have a few more issues, but if we did it right and the truce holds… Well, I really think it will. It feels like a bit of a letdown, doesn’t it? I didn’t even have to fight an army by myself. I nearly died anyway, but just from breathing in the wrong place.”

  It felt silly, now that he thought about it.

  Wars were supposed to be about glory. That and untold suffering. They’d had some of that last one, with many worlds being hit harder than they had been by far. Human Zack’s world had been subjected to actual attacks, several times. Lesser Shia had as well. Other places had been hit even harder than that, and managed to free themselves of what was coming for them. Without his help at all.

  For their part, in his home reality, it had been mainly assassination attempts.

  As they settled, onto the nice white furniture, which was, he realized, real and not made of magic at all, his Aunt looked away, at the far wall. Then she whispered, even if it wasn’t really needed.

  “Spies don’t go into battle often. Never on purpose. You were too involved on the front lines by far, in the end. We won though. Even if it doesn’t feel like it. Our friends and families are safer, if not safe. That’s the goal of such things as this. We won.”

  She looked grim about the whole thing, getting her a knock on the arm by her friend. Sherri grinned.

  “It’s mainly that the regular people never really knew that much about all of this. We never announced it, since there wasn’t a lot they could have done about it all. It was a secret war, which means that we have to have a secret victory. That has to be a little empty feeling. I don’t feel it that much, but I wasn’t really involved, directly.”

  He nodded. Then Tiera did, her face pensive. Touching her lips with a single finger, she gave Will a soft look.

  “I know, let me…”

  Then she got up, since her handheld was on a table, about fifteen feet from him. Working on the plan for the next day, Willum mainly ignored what she was doing. At least until people started cheering.

  Then he looked up, since her device was placed in front of his face.

  In the picture there, looking grand and larger than life was King Richard. His red hair and beard covered his healthy-looking face. He was in his sixties, but looked about thirty, or less.

  The man was also looking best pleased, if his expression meant anything.

  “Willum Baker. Queen Tiera just informed us of your actions, ending the war that had plagued us for so long? May I inform the fleets of this as well?”

  That got him to sit up straight.

  “Oh… Right. I forgot about them. They might actually want to know about this. Good thinking. Yes, please do that, I should… Do that as well.” He had friends there. Ones that he’d kind of forgotten in the last hours. Really, he was going to blame Aunt Taman for that part.

  Mainly because she hadn’t bothered to show up to help with the work yet. That sounded oddly fair to him, if a bit wicked.

  The man, his large face and red beard and hair neatly, perhaps perfectly, groomed, seemed pleased enough with that idea.

  “I agree. This is a momentous day for many billions of people. Both on this world and others. We should hold a celebration here. Will you be able to attend?”

  That was for all of them, he thought, since the man bothered to look around at the others.

  “Um… Certainly? We need to handle the election here first, so that Queen Tiera can show up as Tiera, Ancient of the Moon. I have a good shield for it. Though I need to come up with something else. In case the Royal Guard tries for me again. Though really, if we’re doing that we should find a spot outside to wrestle, shouldn’t we? One of these times we’re going to break a table or a vase, and then we’ll be in for it.” He smiled though, even as the man stiffened a bit.

  “That might be for the best. Will Ambassador Mableton be attending with you?” It was an effort to change the topic,
which was fine enough.

  “I don’t know? Would it be allowed to bring, say, six others with me? Seven? We didn’t do this alone. I’d like to have some of the line walkers in for something, if that isn’t too much to ask. If it is, well, then I do understand.” He could hold something at his place, after all.

  Tiera looked ready to bust her gut open, holding the laughter in. Which was all about him being that heavy handed and slightly rude to the King. Then again, he hadn’t meant it that way. If the man wanted to take offense, it was up to him. Sherri just sat there, not moving much.

  Which, when he read her, was due to the fact that the King had suggested Will go with a different woman. It was fair, since Cindy and he were dating, but left her short a date. Only it really didn’t. At least if he got on the ball that way. Some of the line walkers were both men and single, after all.

  That reminded him of something, but he didn’t bother the King with it. The man was, actually, pleasant enough, but not in his chain of command. Not in any kind of direct fashion.

  They made plans for two days later, for the party the King was planning. Which meant he needed to get to work, memorizing the events and speeches for the next day. Everyone was voting using their handheld, which meant they didn’t have to collect anywhere. They could only do so once, which a clever wizard had worked out for them. One of the mages from Vagus, actually.

  All he had to do was read the names off as soon as the last tally was in, at six in the evening, then introduce them all. After that, he’d get Tiera to bow and kneel, then rise as the Ancient of the Moon. It wasn’t going to be that hard, he didn’t think.

  Then again, he really didn’t care about things like that anymore.

  At seven in the morning, Harmony time, he moved into a node to make the rounds, meeting up with some of his friends. Not all of them. His web had grown pretty wide. Then, while worthy of a visit, some of them, like Gwen Harrison, didn’t really need more than a few minutes of his time. They were starting a line walking depot there, in her world, but hadn’t really set anything up yet.

  Still, the woman deserved to know what was going on. Her world had been hit, several times, by the enemy. They, or more clearly, Gwen and her friends, had fought them off.

  Stepping out of the void near her doorstep, he held the rift to the void open behind him as he bounced up the front steps of the nice home. It was big and the yard was well fenced and cared for perfectly. There were hundreds of flowering plants, as well as shaped shrubbery.

  Most of them in the form of trees, instead of animals but they looked very uniform and tidy. When the door opened, the woman there was familiar enough. She looked like several people he knew, in fact. Marcia Turner, as well as Patricia Baker.

  The expression on her face was baffled. Mainly due to the fact that he looked like himself at the moment. Normally he wore a disguise in her world, so that her husband wouldn’t grow too jealous of him working with her. That got slapped on just in time for the man himself to step into view behind her.

  It was the Baron Harrison that spoke for them. Recognizing him instantly.

  “Mr. Baker? Is there news?” He seemed slightly hesitant about it. As if it would be something bad.

  Bowing, he spoke, somberly.

  “The war for all reality is finally done, and we have won. Which you can probably tell, us still being here and all that. I just came to pass that around.”

  Gwen jumped on him. It was a bit heavy seeming, but didn’t take him to the ground. Part of it was sort of like a hug, so he assumed it wasn’t an actual attack.

  “We won! The war is over!” She clung to him for a bit. Then moved back. The Baron moved in to shake his hand. It was hardy and seemed more pleased than most had felt on hearing the news so far. Both of them had large smiles on their faces.

  “We should call Ferdinand and the others…” Gwen ran off then, the Baron waving for him to follow along. Except that he had other things to do.

  “I’m off to the next one then. Nice seeing you both! Tell everyone that I’ll be by soon?”

  His next delivery needed to go to one of the Zack’s. Hartley, as they called him, to prevent confusion. Willum stepped out of the node in the back of a candle shop. Putting things off a bit, since the woman who claimed to be his wife, but wasn’t, May, was just down the hallway there. That was a thing he needed to deal with in some fashion.

  After all, she was a good woman. Kind and even a princess of her people. One that had been traded to him, as if she were an old cow that no one wanted. The idea that they were married allowed her some small protection. If he stopped coming around though, then that might eventually fade. The easiest thing to do would be to make it real. Except that he wasn’t certain she was a woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

  Which, until he could love properly, and feel things like a normal person again, he wasn’t going to be able to tell at all. Not that marriage had anything to do with love. As a business arrangement, the deal he had with her worked rather well. In fact, his parents would have been well pleased if she were brought home for an introduction, he didn’t doubt. To them she would seem a good bit more proper than Cindy or Sherri would.

  The problem there was that he really did kind of like Cin better than the others. Which wasn’t fair, but just how things had shaken out in his head.

  Not that he was going to get much of a reprieve from seeing May that day. He could tell, when the line of intent that lead to Zack moved out the front of the shop and started moving toward the food court. He scurried a bit, waving at Lisa on the way past.

  She called out for him.

  “Hey! We have deliveries to go out? Not a lot of them. Three, still…” That got him to stop, and then, on impulse, hug the woman. She was a bit older and not that good looking compared to many, but was healthy enough seeming.

  “The war is over. Everyone is safe now.” He stopped then, and shook his head. “Well, no one is ever truly safe, but you understand the idea? We’re not all going to be attacked by the other side in this one conflict right now. That or blink out of existence. So, we won?” He felt little to nothing over it now, the impact having faded totally for him.

  Meaning it was time for him to get back to his life. Or, more exactly, to build one for himself. The last years had left him feeling uncertain about what he even was. Not that he couldn’t work on that now.

  Interestingly, the mage woman, who looked to be about in her late thirties, but felt older than that, kissed him on the cheek. It was friendly, though not more than that. She enjoyed women, as a rule. At least he thought that was the case.

  “That’s amazing! So, we get to see you more regularly in here then, if you aren’t busy doing that kind of thing?”

  He shrugged.

  “I haven’t decided what to do yet. I might just give the message thing up. Then again, everyone needs a job, don’t they? Something to fill the time and give back to the world. Or in this case, several worlds? Regardless, I’m taking a real break after the next few days. I need to get back home soon. First… I should hurry. Time really flies and I have an election to help with. On the Moon.”

  That got him pushed a bit, telling him to go. The lady got it, after all. Even if it didn’t totally make sense, really.

  The layout of Underwood Mall was the same as Westfield, over all, meaning the food court was about where he’d left it. Down the hallway, to the right. Then another right to find Zack Hartley. He was at a table, eating already. That meant sitting at the glass topped metal framed table with him. Not asking if he should or was allowed.

  He was. Zack was friendly that way.

  “Willum. I thought I noticed you coming in. How are things going?”

  That got him to smile.

  “The war is over. You should be done having attacks here. I just came to share that. Then run away.”

  May came out of her shop, which sold Italian style food. He knew that, since the name of the place was Italian Food. In her hands was a
plastic tray, that had three large plates balanced on it. Filled with things to eat. She deftly settled that in front of him.

  Then called out loudly.

  “Husband! I didn’t know you were coming in today. We have no packages waiting…” She seemed slightly sad about that, as if it were a personal failing.

  Standing up, he hugged her. She was short, but cute enough really. Not tiny either, since she was a noble of her people. It was like Noram that way. The bigger a person was, the more likely they were a leader. The king was over six feet tall even.

  “Wife!” That was for anyone watching, so they’d know that she was under his protection.

  Zack blurted a bit, seeming thrilled with the current news.

  “The war is over! He came to tell us that.”

  That got a nod from Willum, since it was basically true.

  “I have to hurry back. Oh, I was thinking that I might add a second wife, if you don’t mind? She’s powerful, but lives in a different world. I haven’t asked her yet, so you get me, she might say no.” The words just popped into his head, as if he didn’t have control of his own mouth.

  I thought you said that you weren’t going to do things like that anymore? He focused his mind, in case that made a difference in his being heard by the massive being that was both a part of him and very different.

  Nothing very clear came back. Only a single feeling. It basically said sorry. Which was fine enough, if the being stopped right then.

  May actually bounced a little, in happiness.

  “I can interview her for the position? I need to watch my store here, but later, tonight?”

  He shook his head.

  “In a few days? I really need to run. After eating, this all looks and smells wonderful.” It did, of course. A bit strange, but the basic ideas were similar to things he’d dealt with before. Buttered garlic bread and pasta, with various sauces and meats. Willum didn’t thank her for her efforts, since that would be considered rude.

  Not just to her, but her entire people as well. She didn’t hover however, once they had a plan. That was one of the best things about her. She understood that he had to work, and didn’t get in the way too much. Not so far anyway. Then, she didn’t really think of herself as his wife. What she was thinking, just then, was that if he were willing to make that much effort for her, then she was finally safe. A thing that she’d never really expected to be.