Asunder (The Infected: Ripped to Shreds Book 3) Read online

  Saying that would be very rude, however. Given that he’d announced himself by fighting in their streets, in front of their base commander, he kind of wanted to avoid being a jerk for the rest of the day. It was leaving him kind of stuck however.

  Cindy nodded.

  “Would it be all right to bring in some security? Let’s say two people? Ones with powers, possibly, but unarmed, otherwise?”

  The man beamed at her, as if she weren’t standing there half naked. Then, he didn’t really mind that part. Will was feeling the pressure of it more, sort of wanting to cover her somehow. Possibly slapping at Tor and the other men, to drive them away, before their gaze could dishonor her. Which, when she checked, was a thing that Tor had going on as well. He was simply burying that impulse a bit better than the other man was. On the outside no one would think either of them cared at all, however.

  “Yes! That would work very well, in fact. It will be fine dress, but not fancy.” He looked at their uniforms, feeling bad for a moment, since they wouldn’t do at all as far as that kind of thing went.

  Trying not to let her hunger distract her too much, Cin, scraped his mind, figuring out what kind of thing was going to be needed for that. It was possible for them to manage. Not from her closet, but the kind of clothing needed, or the right level of things, could be bought at stores. Meaning they wouldn’t be stuck without the ability to fit in at all, or anything like that.

  “That sounds nice then. When should we be there?”

  That part had to be negotiated with Will, since they were clearly his people as far as Tor understood the idea and Tiera, the ruler of the Moon. Sara pulled her strange communications device and contacted the other lady. Her voice was soft, and very kind sounding. From the picture on the device in the tiny hands the woman was youthful and very lovely. Enough so that Cindy felt a tiny flare of jealousy.

  She’d thought that Taman Baker was a bit too hot to count as real, but Tiera was even worse.

  They spoke for a moment, going over what was said, if in a simplistic fashion. Then, almost flawlessly, the other lady switched to English. She had much less of an accent than Tor or Timon did. Part of that was due to her almost daily effort with Sara, no doubt. Often working in the girl’s native tongue. That was probably in speaking with Lydia, who was learning the new languages as well, but only as fast as a regular person might. Sara was cheating nicely, using super powers to do it almost instantly.

  “I was thinking that we could hold a dinner meeting? That will mean coming early, I fear, since the times don’t really match up, even day to day. That… We can get you rooms here, if you need? I was thinking we’d use Maris’s, instead of holding it at my home. Is that… Perhaps something grander? Sara said that the leader of that place is coming. I don’t wish to insult her.”

  She sounded like she meant that, but Willum was picking up that she was mainly not certain that the woman, Marcia, might not be difficult about things, just to show her power. It would be unwelcome, but not unheard of, for a noble guest.

  Tor wasn’t even considering any of that, just feeling more or less pleased that no one had started to kick him for the mess he’d made yet. He spoke though, his voice a bit tired sounding.

  “I’m sure that will work. I might be here for a bit, since I made a bit of a mess. There was another me here, and we fought. Cindy aided me, nearly dying in the attempt, but we won. I don’t know if you’re familiar with her, sis.” He sounded a bit contrite about the whole thing, actually worried in regards to the holes still.

  There was a delay, when talking between worlds, which meant that it was nearly ten seconds later when the woman on the other side seemed concerned.

  “Do you need help? I can send ships, or… We don’t have a military, but the local guard will come, I think, if I ask? Perhaps Samantha and Eve? Dareg will bring them.”

  There was a big head shake, and Willum laughed.

  “Nothing like that is needed, Aunt Tiera. The people here are very strong. Uncle Tor was evenly matched, but Cindy moved in and saved him. She lost half her shoulder in the weapons play, but regrew it already. That was close… If it had been her head… But it wasn’t and she saved us all. I have an earth moving device, so I can fix a lot of the things here. It will take a bit, since there really was a mess made, but it will be done. I think the point here was to let you know that Uncle Tor won’t be back for a few days? It’s the time rate difference here. Are we bringing officials from here as well? Perhaps Senator Roberts? He’s a man of good will and calm heart.”

  Turner didn’t know if that was going to happen, but she smiled and tried to act like it was possible.

  The rest of the talk was a bit boring, with the woman on the device trying to act like they were royalty, or at least very important, the rest of them there not understanding that they’d been invited to the Moon. By the Queen of the place. Will had kept that one back, thinking Sara might be over-awed by the idea, if she found out about it.

  It was a foolish plan.

  Also one that was taking the woman on the other side hours to work around.

  “We should go now, if that’s all right? The time delay has to be eating up your day, Queen Tiera. Thank you for the invitation. I look forward to meeting you in person. If I’m one of the people chosen to go.” She grinned and shook her head a bit then, moving in and bending over next to Sara. “Not that I should be. I mean, I’m not really anyone here, you know?”

  It was true but the other woman shook her head.

  “You saved my brother’s life, from the sound of it. That has a lot of weight with me. I’d love if you could come? If not, then please know that you will be asked in your own person, soon.”

  “Thanks! We should have you in here. You can eat in our humble dining hall. Sara and I will make something for you?” They were both taking cooking lessons almost every day, so that seemed like a thing they could pull off. “You like sandwiches, right?”

  The Queen on the phone clapped a few times. Happily, it seemed. As if she really meant it, as well.

  “That sounds lovely! What a kind offer. I’d love that, if it’s possible? Soon. Now, I really should go, I have several people standing here, trying to dun me with questions every time the device goes silent for a few moments.”

  She nodded. So did everyone else.

  “Bye! Talk to you soon!”

  There was a chorus of goodbyes, with Tor feeling pleased enough about the whole thing for his personal side of it. Her middle was burning, personally. It was detracting from the events of the day. As soon as the device shut off and Sara put it away, she grabbed her middle.

  “Food. Sorry about seeming weak, but… This is actually pretty painful.”

  Tor looked freaked again and moved to take her arm, which got Brian to move over, doing it instead.

  “I have that part, come on, Cin. I’ll set you up.”

  They moved off then, with her clothing flapping in places. Her pants covered her at the crotch, if just barely, but her bare and shapely legs were showing. Those were a bit lighter than they used to be. Probably because it was winter, and she couldn’t really get a tan any more. They weren’t shaved smooth, just perfectly hairless. The changes made had left her hair on her head, her eyebrows and lashes. From that point down there was nothing that way. It was a lot easier to care for, of course.

  At the moment, it meant she didn't have to worry that her pits were hairy, given that both of them were showing. So were her breasts. Not perfectly, but it was enough that once they walked into the dining hall, a few minutes later, a lot of people were staring at her. It was interesting to see the combined reactions to that part of things, really.

  For instance, Riggs, who still went around looking like a walking, breathing, Teddy bear, even after learning he didn't have to all the time, saw her and worried both that the thunder from the front area was a big deal, while also wondering if he should hit on her at some point. His own first mode had been removed by the same process as hers
had been. To him that meant that he was fit for being around people again. At least possibly. Enough to risk seeing if the lady might want a cuddle buddy some night or another.

  Tobin saw her and ran over, his face, looking fresh and very different than it used to, seeming cute now, and very normal, if Hispanic. Inside, he noticed her state, but focused on what she might need. First aid, or possibly help hiding from whatever had hurt her. He barely even glanced at her goodies, checking for wounds instead. Like a professional Agent might have done.

  She waved at the man.

  “Food? I had to heal and it took a bit out of me. We have the situation in hand for the time being, so at least there’s that.”

  The man didn’t even try to talk, running off with better than Human speed. He was small still, but over the last weeks had clearly grown a few inches. That was why he was there, between meals, no doubt. Eating constantly, to keep his weight going up, to match the growing he was doing. He’d started a lot lighter than she had, after all. She was going to be taller as well, but that was happening at a slower rate for some reason.

  Brian steered her by the arm, as if she were sick or something. It was both annoying and nice, since she liked attention as much as anyone else. For his part, he very carefully wasn’t consciously noticing her tits, since he thought that might offend her. It wouldn’t have, but saying that in public wasn’t going to go over that well.

  Suddenly there was a large, well presented, tray filled with food in front of her. Mark, who was a buddy of hers, was suddenly standing there, by her side.

  “Eat. Do you need anything else?”

  She shook her head, not really knowing.

  The man wasn’t a teleporter, but the words told of what had happened, as soon as Tobin was in the kitchen. The man had called out that Cin needed food, but not why. Then Mark had stopped time for everything but him, and taken fifteen minutes to make the food in front of her up. That was why it looked as good as it did. It seemed like it was nearly instant to everyone else, but the man lived every second of what he did.

  From the story inside his head, it was often just as oppressive as that sounded. On the great side, his first mode was starting to fade away. It wasn’t gone totally yet, but the constant fear that he’d felt after popping Infected had already been cut in half.

  To him that was such a big deal that he felt almost normal. It would probably diminish by another ninety percent still, however. Maybe more than that, which meant the man was going to be pretty normal that way, in another month or two.

  “Well, we have a thing tomorrow? In a different reality. I don’t know that we get to be in on that, personally, but it might work out for you. I mean, dinner in a different world? That has to be interesting, don’t you think?” She meant food wise, which the man caught instantly. For a skinny man, Mark was always and mainly about the eats, as far as things like that went. She went on, since he was kind of in charge of a certain short girl, along with Rachel, who was legally adopting her. “Sara was invited by her tutor there, Tiera. She’s… Basically the Queen of the Moon. Will didn’t mention that to anyone, because he didn’t want Sara to feel uneasy about it. So, the ones going will need fancy clothing and all that. Tuxes and nice suits for the men, nice evening dresses for the women, that kind of thing. Two guards as well, which I guess means that they get to go in uniform? Unarmed though, so we want powerful people for that.”

  Brian nodded, the words over his head thinking that there was very little reason for him to go, except that he knew Tor, having met the man several times before. Given that they were the same person from different realities, that made some sense. Then, she was Tim Baker, and Cindy didn’t really think that should count, either. Not as far as getting her into a different world for snacks.

  The man next to her, dressed up in a white outfit for his chef job, since he did that kind of thing, day to day, smiled in a friendly manner, and interestingly, patted her right shoulder. That was bare, but he wasn’t thinking anything of it at the moment. On purpose. His mind was nearly totally still, except for the topic at hand. Ignoring her being naked on a level that was almost annoying. After all, even half blown up and sandblasted, she was hot.

  “That sounds fun. I doubt I rate, but I can lobby for it like everyone else. Rachel should be there, since she’s Sara’s mom.”

  Then he walked away, in real time. There was no difference to him, except that he could watch things move around him as he did it, which was a lot more interesting.

  For a while, she sat and simply ate. The food was actually good, since they had a professional staff there at the base. Real cooks and people like Mark, who worked on a television show part time. A cooking show that actually had openly Infected people on it. More than that, he was the headliner on it, not just one of the people in the background. Given that he’d been crippled by fear for what had to seem like hundreds of years to him, that was impressive.

  So she ate something that was probably gourmet, which she had an odd feeling was likely made of things that she might not want identified. To that end she didn’t check it with him. It was good, regardless. Plus, she felt so hungry at the moment that going and getting a burger to replace it seemed like a dumb idea.

  Brian sat next to her, just waiting, as if that made any sense. Finally, she waved him away.

  “If you aren’t going to check out the marvelous goods on display here, you should at least go and check on Tor. I mean, some asshat just tried to kill him, or close enough. That has to be hard on the nerves. I’m good here. After this is done, I’ll go put on real clothing. Try and get us in with Sara tomorrow?”

  He stood, getting at least that Cindy didn’t need him at the moment.

  “On it, then. Not that I’d take us there. Still, I can get there on my own. I really need to learn their language. We should get Will to teach us.” Then, a lot like Mark had, he just turned and walked away. Leaving her all alone.

  For about fifteen minutes, no one even looked at her funny. Most of them were out helping with the event that had taken place, rather than snacking in the dining hall with her. Which meant there was more food for her. Not that she needed a lot more than what had been brought. Except that, when she was finished, she was still half starving. Even as her stomach bulged a little bit. She decided to stop anyway, for the time being, since digestion would take time, regardless of how she felt.

  Putting her tray and plates through the wash window didn’t take long, though no one was inside the place working at the time being. She didn’t know if that was normal or not, but there were other trays there, so she didn’t feel bad about it.

  Jogging, as soon as she got outside, Cin headed back to her room, about a quarter mile away. That didn’t take her long, thankfully. Since she was changing anyway, it made sense to shower first. The cascade of warm water poured over her, taking about a pound of dirt with it. It left mud in the bottom of her shower stall even. Not a lot, but it meant washing that out, then scrubbing up again, several times. Just to make sure she wasn’t going to end up drying into dirt streaks. Finally, about half an hour later, she put on a clean uniform, brushed her damp hair, tying it back so it wouldn’t be on her neck directly. She could have used the hair dryer, but she didn’t bother just then.

  There were aliens to deal with, after all.

  Possibly more food to get as well.

  More than that, even if it seemed insane, she had her own job to do. A month before she’d found a man, by name. One who had shot her several times, trying to kill her. That had indicated his guilt to her, which had meant she’d checked on him carefully at the time. It turned out that the man was tied directly to the real problems that they’d been having. Attacks, and people kidnapping their personnel, trying to replace them with identical doubles. That hadn’t worked perfectly, once they’d caught on to the idea. They had telepaths who could find out who those people were, for one thing. Before that though, it had been kind of effective.

  The issue was that the organiz
ation behind the whole thing was incredibly careful and rather clever. They’d left nearly no traces of themselves as they moved through the world. Until they’d panicked, and gone for her. Trying to take out the one person that they viewed as a real threat to their operation at the time. It would have worked, if Taman Baker hadn’t altered her to be way tougher than anyone outside the IPB knew about. That meant she’d spent a lot of time dogging that single mind, reading only one story, for most of that time. Searching for a clue or break. A few others as well, but it turned out that of his whole team of killers, only Anthony Levitt was an insider. Part of the secret organization behind things.

  Mariah the Divine Wind.

  It was a stupid name for a deadly organization, but what he knew them as. His father had been part of the same group for his entire life. That man was dead now, which made it hard to access his information. She’d done that before, with people that she’d met, but doing it at a distance, with strangers, was a lot harder. Really, that was a shame, since it meant that, while the data was there, in some way, she hadn’t figured out how to get at it. It was frustrating.

  Not that she was giving up. Cindy could tell she was close to the right words.

  When she moved back to the building she worked in, the front office, the holes that had been there, looking like impressive building foundations in depth, were largely gone. Will and Tor were pointing at the dirt with one hand, making streams of dust fly through the air to where they pointed with the other. It was fast and efficient. She would have been even more impressed, but she’d seen the same thing before, more or less. Kerry, who also worked on the cooking show, could do that. Along with thousands of other neat things. Making stones appear out of thin air, moving large objects and even healing people. That last one was secret however, since in potential she was really good at it.

  People like that tended to vanish. Not that taking Kerry would be easy, but it could happen, as they were all aware now.