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  Hesitating, not knowing what to do exactly, Albert wrinkled his nose.

  “Let me… We can do an announcement and see if we can find him inside? If he isn’t here… Well, we can call around for him. Here, come this way. Oh… What’s your name?”

  That got the lady to slap her chest. It looked firm, but definitely the kind of thing that belonged to a woman. She even had nice hips, which were highlighted by her two-piece outfit decently well. Her skin was pale enough to be special, even there on the Moon. Like a person from Tellerand.

  “This one is Ankh Ness. Ankh.” She tapped herself over the breasts a few times, so that he’d get the point.

  He did the same, while smiling.

  “Albert Benoist. Albert.”

  “Alert? Alvert?”

  “Albert… Call me Al?”

  That one went over better and the young woman followed him into the busy club. People tended to collect toward the back of the space, since that was where the tables and dance floor were. The bar was over to the left, coming from that direction, so he headed back that way, touching the Forten on the arm to get her to stop and stand with him. There was a bit of a line, so they had to wait their turn to speak with Jeffery.

  The man was good at his job though. Quick, and rarely making mistakes, even when taking orders from people who could barely speak.

  He lit up a bit when he noticed Albert was back. Then he smiled when he saw the silver haired girl with him.

  “A new friend?” That was what they called it at the club when you met someone you intended to take home with you for the night.

  He shook his head, not knowing if his roommate would understand what he was saying completely.

  “This is Ankh Ness. She’s looking for Manly Derret, and can’t seem to find him? Can we have an announcement?”

  It took a few minutes, since it wasn’t an emergency and there was no way that anyone was going to break into the middle of a song to call out a name like that. Between tunes it took place, with Serro’s voice coming from the back room.

  “Manly Derret, a cute woman is waiting for you at the bar. Repeat, Manly Derret, get to the bar quick, before you miss your chance.” That was the way things were called out there. If the woman had been speaking about Albert, she would have made it sound playful and funny, even if it was really all about him cleaning up vomit.

  After a few minutes a very tall man, who was wearing gold and white clothing, in what looked like silk, without it being robes, exactly, moved near Jeff and waved his hands.

  “I’m Manly Derret…”

  Albert called out then, not feeling shy at all. It was so starkly different from what he thought of as normal that he had to think it was due to the changes made to him.

  “Manly! Over here.” When the man approached Albert bowed. Politely, even if it was out of place. Instantly the tall man did it back.

  He looked fit, for a High Servant. Familiar as well.

  Even dressed up, with makeup on his face, he was, very clearly, the man who had tried to steal one of the Tam-cars from him, after the Ross fire. The one that had claimed to be ex-Space Fleet. Which could still be true, since there were no rules saying that the High Servants wouldn’t take that type of person. More to the point, it might have made sense for him to join and take an oath, simply to gain access to the High Servants personnel and magics. If he noticed who Albert was, it didn’t show on his face at all. Then, the man was purely focused on Ankh.

  “You made it! We weren’t certain that you could, so we don’t have transportation set up yet. I…” the man looked a bit panicked for a moment. “We’ll need a ship. Barony Pence is too out of the way for a transportation hub unit. This might take a while. I’m very sorry about that.” He bowed in her direction, which was answered with a puzzled look. Albert bowed again, since someone had to do it, or it would make Ankh Ness seem like she was preparing to fight, instead of simply not knowing the customs there.

  That meant, when he stood, his face looking a bit stern, Manly the High Servant glared in his direction.

  “Sorry, I didn’t get your name?” That was rude as well, of course. Especially from a Noram noble who was being bowed to. By anyone. You were supposed to know that sort of thing, even if it wasn’t possible. At least if the person might be important. By asking so boldly, the man was saying he simply assumed that wasn’t the case.

  It was clear enough that Jeffery, a man from Austra, winced and turned his gaze from the other fellow. It was a very Noram style thing to do, really.

  “Albert Benoist. So nice to meet you. It’s a bit of a coincidence, but I’m heading to Barony Pence in a few hours. A friend of mine on Earth has transportation from Printer to there. We’re going to talk about schooling. The Baron’s son is considering the Printer Academy and my friend goes there. Would you folks like a ride? It won’t be a bother at all.”

  Derret bowed again, much more quickly, this time. He also went lower. Enough to make it clear he was striving to be polite, even if he couldn’t really care enough for it to seem genuine. Only a fool would miss out on the free trip like that. Booking passage to a specific location like that would take days, normally.

  “You know Baron Pence? Or you mentioned his son, Barret?”

  Albert caught the lie on the kid’s name, so shook his head.

  “Nothing that advanced. I was speaking to the Baron and invited him to a party here, tomorrow. He mentioned having a son who was interested in the Printer School, in passing. I didn’t even get a name for the boy. Barret, you say?” He waited, to see if the man would carry on with the untruth.

  There was just a head shake.

  “Did I say Barret? That’s odd. His name is Eugene. I’ve had a bit to drink already. Sorry there.”

  Jeffery was working the bar, so not standing there listening, specifically. It meant waiting for him to be free to wave him over, which he did with a pleased expression.

  “Jeff? We’re heading out in an hour, if you can get away? It looks like we’re going to be taking Manly and Ankh with us, as well. I hope that’s all right?” He thought it would be, with Dareg.

  After all, given who they had there and the destination, the odds of this not being about slavery was small. Of course, it was probably going to turn out that he was taken as a slave himself, given everything. That or killed.

  There would be room on the ship at least, even if they kept the thing small. The magical creations could grow, and even change shape and color on demand, so that part wouldn’t be a problem, he was willing to bet.

  What might be was taking Jeffery along with them. If a fight broke out, well, his friend might not know to run instantly. It would be hard to explain the need for that in front of these other people, too. It should have been that way, except that Jeffery produced two drinks, handing them off to the others there, as if they’d ordered them.

  “Why don’t you get a seat at one of the tables, to wait. I’ll get with Serro and make certain that I can get out of here on time.” He waved them all away, across the room, then almost instantly moved over to the manager, who was helping keep the music flowing at the moment, by tapping something into her handheld, near her office door. That or she was getting ready to talk to someone. If so, going into her office was the better plan. The place was just simply too loud for that kind of thing.

  When they were settled at the table, Ankh taking a sip of something that smelled sweet and not at all alcoholic, while Manly had something brown and bitter scented, the big man leaned over to him and shouted. It was what people did at the club, if they wanted to be understood.

  “This is luck, meeting you, Albert. I’d say it’s a small world, but this is dealing with several of them. How do you know Baron Pence?”

  It was tempting to lie, since the real story wasn’t that great of one. He didn’t, since it would be harder to back up almost anything else, later. Even a polite demurring could come back on him. So, swallowing his pride and worry, Albert shared with the man as if he wasn
’t a stranger.

  “When I was a child, he accidently hit me while flying full speed through the streets of the Capital, in Noram. It shattered my back, leaving me crippled. That was healed, later, thankfully. The new healing amulets are a complete marvel. Trying to put that behind me, I got in touch with him the other day. He apologized instantly, as soon as he heard my name. Accidents do happen and he clearly feels poorly about it. Even now, all these years later.” He nearly added in something about the man mentioning his secret business, but that was a good way to give himself away.

  After all, no one was going to just start talking about their illegal endeavors like that.

  Except for Ankh, it seemed. She looked at Manly and made a face.

  “This, Pence, be one the man with the women for sale?”

  Derret, being clever or at least thinking he was, tried to ignore her, so that Albert wouldn’t notice what she was saying. It was a mistake, since she just yelled it, leaning in, so she was closer to both of them at the small round table. Again, it really was what almost everyone did at The Eternal. There was no faulting her for it, given that.

  “This Pence has the women? The price is not changed?”

  Giving the silver haired lady with the young-looking face a hard glare, attempting to convey meaning that might well not pass across cultures, the other man nodded.

  “That’s right. It should be the same. I don’t know how we’re going to transport them out. We need to get to a hub for that. The closest one to the barony is probably…” The man looked at Albert, who was busily looking away.

  Pretending not to hear the illegal conversation. Also, like he was looking at some of the women, across the room, as they danced. They were in bright colors, and seemed cheerful. They were also splashing drinks over both themselves and the floor, which was a slipping hazard. There was an honest puddle at the feet of the drunkest one, who didn’t seem to notice the sticky mess she was making.

  Making a face, he pointed in that direction and stood up.

  “Sorry. I need to clean that up before someone falls and makes a bigger mess.” No one was getting hurt there, since everyone had shields on. You were handed one the instant you got there, normally. At least if you came off of a ship. If you came through one of the boxes it was going to be spottier than that. No one had ever given him anything when he’d done it, anyway. He’d had to go to a magic shop first thing, in order to make that happen.

  The two with him seemed baffled as Albert got up. He didn't watch them, but figured it would keep happening as he vanished into the back, and came out with cleaning supplies. It only took a few minutes, though he was intercepted by Serro when he moved back into the hallway, by the supply cupboard.

  “What’s going on? With the people out there?”

  From her tone, he could tell that his boss wasn’t asking if he was getting ready for a fun night of amorous activity with his new friends. She seemed worried. Concerned on a level that wasn’t normal for the playful woman. As if she’d worked some things out on her own.

  After a moment, he shrugged and told her.

  “There’s a slavery ring in Noram. Possibly some other places. They move the people out to the far fleet. Forten are behind it, most likely, not the others there. High Servants and some ex-Space Fleet are doing it on this side. Baron Pence seems involved, on the Earth side and these two need to go there. It might not be related at all. Dare Canton is giving Jeffery and me a ride over there, in an hour or so anyway, so I figured we could take them with us and see what’s going on. Just watching. I’m not sure Jeff should be going, now. It’s one thing for me to get myself killed, but he doesn’t have a reason to risk himself in this kind of thing.”

  Rather than make him repeat himself, the woman reached out and touched his arm. The left one. The move was held for a while.

  “Crud on a freaking stick. I’ll make sure the needed authorities know about this. Be careful. You’re the janitor here, not Second City’s military contingent. How are you planning to record what you see and hear?”

  He blinked, several times. That wasn’t a thing he’d considered at all.

  “I do not know. I could use my handheld?” Patting his pocket showed that it was actually there.

  Serro rolled her eyes at him. They were a nice blue color, behind the white makeup.

  “Only if you want to be caught doing it… You… There’s a man that might be able to help, even on short notice. He does magical cameras and things like that.” She made a hard face and a slight growling sound. “He’s also the Revered One of Austra, so I can’t just call him up and bother him at this time of day. Tim Baker. You said you met him?”

  Albert got that idea. It was incredibly early, for people that lived on the Moon. He was willing to give it a try, after her excellent hint as to what would be needed. Taking his handheld out, he found the correct name, the woman across from him not bothering to protest what he was doing.

  It wasn’t normal, the lack of that kind of thing.

  When the face showed on his device, Tim the great wizard smiled at him.

  “Albert? What can I do for you today?”

  He explained, quickly, then moved the handheld around, so that Serro would be shown clearly on it.

  “So, Serro here mentioned that I should get a camera from you, appropriate for spying on people without being noticed. She’s… I don’t know how this works, but she’s some kind of spy, isn’t she? One working for you. I mean, she’s Austran and you do kind of run that place.”

  The woman tried to look innocent, which read as a total lie, even without her saying a word.

  Before she could mutter a denial, there was a soft sound from the handheld.

  “Something like that. I mean, she’s not spying for me and isn’t from Austra. The rest is really close to being correct. I’ll have that for you in… Forty minutes. I have it already, I just need to get it out of the box and to you. How are we doing that?”

  His boss, the woman that had probably saved his life, snorted. It wasn’t like her that much at all, but was a bit familiar. Albert couldn’t exactly place it.

  Not until she spoke.

  “Well, that cover is blown then. I’ll run over and get that from you, Tim. Then I’ll set Albert up, before they leave. He’s going in with Dare and Willum.” She glanced at him and shrugged. “Willum Baker. Your best friend, Jeffery? Don’t worry, he’s actually your friend, names aside. I am too, just to stop the normal five hours of screaming about trust being violated. Not that you don’t deserve your moment that way. We just don’t have time right now. Not if you’re escorting a slaver and one of the buyers into a nest of that sort of people. You seriously aren’t trained for this kind of thing… Trust in Dare and Willum and if it comes to it, run.”

  That, all of it, was true. She wasn’t who he thought she was, but she was, it seemed, actually his friend. However that worked. She honestly figured the Jeff was as well.

  Albert simply blew out a breath, his cheek puffing outward. Then he tried to relax, just a little.

  “All right. You can explain the rest of this later? Also, who are you, if you aren’t, you know, you?”

  In answer she tapped the front of her green robe, making the white makeup on her face vanish, the device producing it turning off. Underneath was a pleasant face. Pretty even. It was different than what he’d figured Serro would look like without the paint on. Then, it wasn’t paint at all. It was a magical disguise that she’d had on. It was fairly easy to change the shape of a face, using that kind of thing. It even felt right, when you touched it, being what it was designed for.

  Trice, the magic shop woman and Ancient looked back at him. She was holding still, not even grinning at him. As if he might be disappointed in her. That she was only herself, instead of someone more impressive.

  At least he read the situation that way.

  “Trice? Well, that explains a few things. Like you feeling bold enough to walk into my room unannounced. Serro would do that. Th
en, she’s known me for years. Not all of it makes sense yet. Go and get the magic we need. We can talk later. If I live through this.”

  If he didn’t, well, Albert knew the answer to that one pretty well. If he was dead, so were all his problems.

  Chapter twelve

  The camera was in his hair, hidden as a decoration. In fact, Serro hadn’t just put one in, but ten of the things, so that the pictures would show in all directions. There should be sound as well. They were just flat tiles, to start with. When he altered his clothing to show the club insignia on the front, like Sam Builder had placed there before, the woman let her lips curl a bit and did the same thing for the decorations in his hair.

  It had to look ridiculous, but no one bothered to make fun of him as they landed in Barony Pence. In part that might have been due to the fact that his hair was pulled back and held in place, so it at least seemed like he was doing something on purpose with all the little owls. He was also in a nice brown robe, and his face had been done up, magically.

  He hadn’t seen a mirror, but figured that Serro wouldn’t make him look too funny. She’d assured him that he still looked like himself, more or less. Again, no one had commented on how he looked, after coming out of the back of the club. Ankh had smiled at him, but it hadn’t seemed mean or anything. Just like she’d noticed he was making some kind of effort before visiting.

  Dare had been waiting for them in the Weapons Square, which wasn’t empty as Albert had suspected it would be. There was an actual class going on, which they distracted by walking out into it. Not into the middle, thankfully, since people were attempting to murder others with heavy looking sticks and even metal blades.

  They’d been taken to a spot about half a street length away, outside the low stone wall, before the ship was put up. They hadn’t stopped for introductions either, until they were all just about ready to climb out. In what seemed to be Baron Pence’s back yard. The space was grandly large, showing activity in three different directions. The whole thing was well away from a city or town, too.