Pain Stones (Coalescence Book 2) Page 4

  Field reading wasn’t telepathy, but it was close enough to pick up things like that. Thinking about it, he felt a bit foolish for having forgotten to do that while he worked earlier. It had happened a bit, but for the most part Willum had just tried to use his mind, instead of his powers. That was foolish. In fact, it was a thing he really needed to not let happen, ever again.

  His job kind of meant he needed to be ready to do things right, each and every time.

  So, using his focus and reading everything around himself, he got off the jump ship known as the Ranford before anyone could figure out who he was. It had been a bit of a mistake to use his own name, like he had, but that wasn’t a thing he could really fix, given where he was in life. It had also been wrong for him to tell the men that he’d been changed to have special powers. Unless of course he set that up with Tim Baker, so that there really was a person on each ship that was there to stop that kind of thing.

  It was a bit far to go for a cover, but was probably a good idea anyway. Not doing the work wasn’t going to help anyone, after all.

  Doing that right would mean meeting with certain people, over the coming days and weeks. He actually had some things planned in the coming days, but it could be done, he thought. If he were careful.

  When he was about halfway to Taman’s palace, he dropped the disguise on his face, then changed his hair color to black. His skin was far too light for the area, but black hair worked really well. Brown eyes, too. His clothing shifted to a blue skirt wrap and sandals as he walked. Just going inside the giant place when he got there. From the outside, it felt very much like a space craft did. Like it was hollow, in some way.

  As if it didn’t truly exist.

  A lot of things were like that though, if you paid any attention at all.

  When he got inside, Will was met with Taman, who smiled at him, happily.

  “So, false alarm? You seem happy enough.”

  What he was feeling was bland, really. It had been built into him. He could become scared or angry, but after a short while that just went away.

  “Oh… No. The Ranford had been taken by mutineers. They killed all the officers except for the Admiral. The rest of the crew were taken hostage. Alice and I had to kill about thirty of them. It was a bit of a mess. We won in the end, but they were kind of in a bind for a while there.”

  His very pretty Aunt made a face at him.

  “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not…”

  “Nope. It happened. I should get something to eat, if that’s all right? It’s been a bit of a day, so far.”

  He wanted to sound a little pissy about it, but that didn't happen. In fact, he sounded fine. Too much so, considering what had taken place that day.

  Chapter two

  There was a strange effect in Will’s life. One that had been going on ever since he’d been altered to help fight in the war that had been foisted upon his people from the outside. Simply it was the fact that he didn’t get tired any longer. Sleep wasn’t a thing in his life, which, after the first few weeks, had been filled with work. That was a bit boring at times, so to keep things lively enough that he didn't wish for death every single day, he’d taken to filling that time by going to other realities and making deliveries for his new business.

  That was more than a little strange, of course. Entertaining though, which was the point. It was even the one that he’d been telling everyone. That he was, in the main, just a bored kid. Taking deliveries around for pocket change and to keep things lively for himself. It kind of worked.

  Mainly due to the fact that he lived in Soam, in his own home reality. That tended to run at a different time frame than most of the other places he headed out to. Commonly that was eight to one, but not always. At times it was two to one, and in one or two places, things reversed, so that he had vast amounts of time to hang out in the strange worlds that he was taking packages and letters.

  Most days he managed to spend about eight to twelve hours going off and doing that kind of thing. To him it felt like he was working almost every single day on the project. Without a whole lot to show for it. Oh, he was making gold enough, that was true. His fake wife, May, had mentioned that they were starting to become very wealthy in her world.

  The thing there was that Willum Baker didn't need coin any longer. Really, he never had, in particular. Filling his days with work meant that he needed even less than other people, instead of more.

  It was after a full night of going from place to place, taking letters, packages and computer records to very low level agents for different groups, when Taman found him. Sitting for once, in the front room of her palace. She was just waking up, it looked like.

  Her face was slightly puffy, and it was clear that she’d showered not long before. That or gone out to bathe in the pond which had been built for her not too far away. Her hair was still damp. Long and black, hanging down her back over the light blue gown that she had on. It wasn’t see-through or anything like that, which was fine as far as he was concerned. Really, as much as anything else, he noticed that he didn't particularly care that day.

  It was a thing that would fade over time, he didn’t doubt. Everything did now. All of his emotions were temporary. To that end, he faked a smile for the small woman, which had her beaming at him. They both knew that it wasn’t real at all.

  “Things are going to be a bit different today. King Richard asked for you to go to the Capital in Noram, if you can? He doesn’t have a message to send right now, since Avery Rome has been handling that part of things for the time being. It’s the river you built for them? Time to set that up. They can do it without you, of course, but I think he wants to honor you for doing the work? Something about either doing that or having to pay you for it.” There was a tight grin to go with the words.

  Willum just sighed a bit.

  “Yeah. I guess I can see that. You know, I…” Blowing his cheeks out, Will had to let his eyes close. He didn’t get tired now, but his soul wanted to be.

  Part of him just wished to go and sleep for a while. That or sit in the void between worlds and not have to worry about anything for a few thousand years.

  His Aunt just sighed. It wasn’t even really at him in particular. The sense coming off of her was bleak, but blamed herself for how he was doing. Which wasn’t her job at all. Not to his mind. That it was to hers was outside of what he could see as valid at the moment.

  “You don’t have to go… It would be better, since we need to show you doing things that seem harmless and a bit…” She grinned then. “I was going to say foppish, but that sort doesn’t really go around donating public work projects, do they? Being seen as someone more concerned with style than substance will have to do the trick, I think.”

  Taking a deep breath, he stood up, not really wanting to bother at the moment.

  “I can get that done. When am I expected? For that matter, where do I need to get to? They don’t really need me a full day early, do they?” Given that he didn’t sleep at all, that kind of thing wasn’t needed to his way of thinking. He could go to the palace, but he didn’t get to hide from them for eight to ten hours a day, sleeping in a warm, very soft, bed.

  No, in that case one Will Baker would be stuck, sitting in a room. Alone, most likely. Probably meditating, using the pain stone. The thing didn’t really do much for him any longer, but he tried to keep up with his practice. After honing his ability to focus in the void for as long as he had, it would be a shame to lose the skill, or let it weaken.

  “Honestly? I have no clue. What do you think you should do?”

  The idea that doing something unique and useful came to mind, but what would be needed at all didn’t come to mind for him at all.

  Then a small thing did.

  “Crap. When is Noram Day?” He tried to count things up in his head, but time had been too scrambled for him for too long now. His Aunt shook her head at least.

  “That’s two months from now. I would have mentioned that part
of things. Though we should both make sure we make presents for everyone. It’s going to be magic, coming from me this year, for pretty much everyone. There are all those IPB people, for one thing. Even if I just count my close friends there, that’s five or six for me.” She looked at him, her face held stiff and blank.

  Because if she had five or six there for that, he had closer to fifty. There was also Avery’s world. Willum had a dozen people there that could be counted as friends as well.

  “I really need to learn how to build, don’t I? I was just talking about this with Royce last night. Some of his friends as well. How I haven’t really learned how to build yet? I’ve done a few copy things that are decent, I hope, but…” It wasn’t the same, he didn't think.

  “Royce? A new friend of yours?”

  He winced, then kind of smiled a bit.

  “Yes? I killed him. We were actually getting along famously, before that. He was very understanding about how I was born off in the woods, and had nobility thrust upon me out of the blue. I’d figured that people like that would have mocked me over it, but none of them did. Too bad they’d already killed those officers. Not that mutineers wouldn’t have died or gone to prison anyway.” Probably being hung, of course.

  His pretty Aunt closed her eyes.

  “That’s horrible. Do you need to take some time off? We could set up a vacation for you?”

  Except that, given what he was supposed to be doing, that couldn’t really happen. Worse, doing nothing was harder for him than keeping busy was.

  “Maybe later? I know that I can’t really have any friends right now. It…”

  He just stopped. Not making any noise for a long time. Taman stood there in front of him, waiting. Ten minutes or so later he shook himself a bit. It wasn’t the kind of thing that normal people would have ever let themselves do.

  “I’m growing too close to a few people. Even trying not to.”

  “Who?”

  She sounded very innocent, as if she wasn’t one of the people on the list.

  “Avery Rome… Eve Benson… Troy Lopez the human line walker. Phillip Hart… You, of course. Cin Mableton. Sara, Mark and Warren. Far too many. They’re good people, all of them, but that isn’t my job. Even with my screwed-up emotions I can’t help but like them.”

  There was another pause, but this time Tam wrinkled her nose at him.

  “Not May? Or Countess Ward?”

  “Nope? Why would…” He hadn’t even slept with the Countess. Yet. That was probably coming soon, since the woman used that as a way to get close to people rapidly. Every single time they met, she offered to do that kind of thing. So did her husband, though Willum was kind of sure that his heart wasn’t really in it. He did think highly of them both, however. Not as much as the others on his list, but enough that it reminded him of a few other names.

  “Right… Neesa and Erath. We can’t forget them.” They were aliens, as being from the void of space. Ysidril.

  “Well, it’s a danger. Having anyone close to you. Going through life without that kind of thing is hard for most people. We need to be close to others. To love and have those connections. That we’re forcing you to not have that kind of thing is nearly criminal. Except that… We don’t know what you’ll encounter or have to do. At first I was thinking of it as a traditional spying thing. You know, disguises and you pretending to be other people? You having to adapt to other worlds instantly, or face death if you couldn’t manage it fast enough. Now…” She looked away for a while, coming back at him with a grin. “You seem to have nailed what is really needed already, haven’t you? You go to almost any world, and people just accept that you’re the messenger. I don’t know why though. Not really. More people should suspect you, shouldn’t they?”

  That was true, he didn't doubt. There was a theory that he’d been working on, but Will didn’t have any real proof yet.

  “Every other version of me that I’ve met has been on the other side. The ones wanting to destroy all reality. I think that someone has killed the good versions of me, and most of the neutral ones. That probably means that I’m closer to neutral on this than anything else. That or in the evil group. I don’t feel that way. Then, I doubt the versions of me in on the destruction of everything really do. I know that when I travel, I can’t find myself in most of the other worlds on either side of me.”

  That wasn’t normal. Not at all.

  His Aunt nodded, the movement being big, for her.

  “That’s probably why then. If you’re only known as being on the other side for any reason, then people will only see you that way. My point is that that seems to be working so far. Making most of the training that I’ve been coming up with totally unneeded. Unless things change, which means you can’t get out of it now. Plus, I’ve already done all that work… You wouldn’t want me to lose that, would you?”

  That got him to laugh, meaning it.

  “I really would! That last thing… That really wasn’t fun, you do understand that, right? Plus, it got really confusing after that. With the thing on the Ranford? I just couldn’t tell if it was real or not, because it was kind of clear that you might push things that way. It wasn’t until Alice killed someone that I got that it might be either real or at least the order of the day. You know, that I had to kill them as a lesson of some sort? I hope that wasn’t the case.” Will just couldn’t trust that it hadn’t been.

  Taman just waved that idea away. It was a good enough answer. Nothing else could be more trusted at the moment.

  “You should connect with everyone. Richard and Connie. Dareg and the others? See what’s going on that way. I know that Terlee is getting nervous about the lack of communication from her son, Clemance.”

  He nodded at that one, getting the problem there.

  “He’s been teaching Jump Ship classes for a little over a month, in the world that he’s in. About ten months, here. I saw him about a week ago, in Willum time.” He was stealing that one from his friend Troy, who described living on Lopez time. In that he had to get to places when he did. The shifting nature of reality made it too hard to live any other way.

  Aunt Tam was bright enough to understand that.

  “Still, he could come back for a visit? She’s trying not to be a mother hen, but she worries. Most of the time we don’t send fourteen-year-old boys off to other realities like that.” Reaching out, she touched his arm, above the wrist. It was a gentle thing. Tentative, as if she feared he might lash out at her in his poor mood. “We wait for them to turn seventeen instead, then set them adrift in other worlds.”

  That got him to laugh.

  “Ah… Well, I haven’t been that young in so long that it can barely be counted any longer, Aunt Taman. I know that’s hard to keep in mind, but I’m not the child in this situation. I haven’t been in longer than… Well, that doesn’t matter. So, I should make some calls?”

  That got a happy enough nod from the woman, who started out of the room.

  “That’s a good enough plan. I wonder…” There was a head shake then, dismissing the feelings that tried to come off of her. “That isn’t important. Keep going, Will. We need you. If nothing else you’re a hero. I wouldn’t be shocked if Alice doesn’t want you for her fleet.”

  She was teasing, but the words reminded him of a few things.

  “Oh… Yeah. There is that. I have a project to work on there. Setting things up, really.”

  Instead of asking him about what he meant, there was a nod and the Ancient of Soam leaving him alone. Sitting there, dressed in a strange blue skirt, with a grass bag on his side, he pulled his communications device and then stopped, thinking about who he needed to be getting in touch with. The truth was that who he needed wasn’t who he wanted to see or talk to at all.

  Tapping at the device, he waited. A face coming up in front of him after about a minute.

  It was, he had to figure, a good enough face. A bit too good looking really, if that was a thing. Masculine though, even if there was an ed
ge to it that was too smooth. His Uncle, Tim. The Wizard Timon Baker.

  A man who was famous across not just one world, but three. In the incoming alien fleet as well. He didn’t look old or anything. He was, Willum thought, about thirty or so. He barely looked to be twenty. Will was in about the same range though, so couldn’t say anything about it.

  In many ways, his own face was even prettier seeming. Enough that he attracted attention everywhere he went, if he didn't put on a disguise well enough.

  “Willum! Are you getting in touch about the river project? That sounds exciting. I was thinking of popping down there to the Capital tomorrow to see what you managed.” The man was watching him closely, trying to figure out what was actually going on. Searching the world for secrets that no one wanted to give him.

  Will wasn’t planning to make him play that kind of game.

  “We need to put special troops on the space fleet ships. I was talking to Alice yesterday night, after we freed the Ranford. Get the story from her? Anyway, can you do the work on that? It will need to be done in secret. They’ll need a way to take down shields, among other things.”

  The man looked at him for a bit, then nodded.

  “You’re depressed. The weight of everything is high right now. What are you planning to do about that?”

  “Nothing? I don’t have… I can’t really stop now, can I? This should fade, after a bit. I can meditate or…” He didn't know. That was the problem.

  “Let me think about that? I’ll see if Alice is taking my calls today. I’m shocked that she was able to work with you. You used a disguise amulet?”

  “Yeah. She didn’t seem to have a problem with me at all, but I was hiding what I looked like the whole time.” Except for a few moments, when he’d dropped things in front of her. She hadn’t seemed to mind though.

  “That’s a good plan, for the future. She really doesn’t work well with attractive men. So, see you tomorrow at the wall?”