Lineage (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 1) Read online

  After that, not knowing what anyone would expect of him, he got his bucket, shovel, and old clothing, and then took the time to refill the Tam-unit he'd met first. It was the only one that had been used so far. Or so he thought.

  The little blue box showed the now familiar girl again. She looked at his own top, which was a similar color, and he realized, cut, and smiled.

  "We match! Anyway, can you fill up the unit near the South side? We've had ten people in using it so far today. I think it must be a combination of your new river, along with Prince Gerent having come in. He does a lot of the transfers for immigration. The next batch isn't due to go out for a week however."

  "Got it. I'll do that now. Can you keep me up on who's using what? Also, can you put a little sign on that says trash should go into your hopper?" He doubted that would be happening, but the box just giggled at him.

  Then, in nice, rather bold, handwriting, the word trash, along with an arrow pointed the right way appeared on her side, and the front of the unit.

  "Like that?" She sounded a bit smug, but she really did have it about right.

  "That will do. Can the other Tam-units do that, too?" It would take a while to walk around and ask them, but the screen girl nodded.

  "Done already. We only have the one mind, more or less. So, do up that one unit? Please?" She drew the last word out, making it seem like she had to beg for something that basic.

  "Nothing is too good for my Tam-friend. I'm going now." He took his old clothing with him, and did indeed see people walking along carrying bags and boxes with them. One man even had a fully loaded donkey cart, complete with the animal. He was eating an apple, which the back was filled with. Slightly green looking ones.

  "Say there son, can you tell me if a ship is going off to Harmony soon? I was hoping to sell this load to them. Stole em' fair from the back orchards over yon." He wasn't an old man, being about forty or so, but not much taller than Dareg was.

  He snorted a bit, then nodded.

  "I don't know where the one ship we have is going, but you might want to avoid it. The Captain, Prince Gerent? He owns those orchards. I think the plan was to have High Servants pick those and give them away in the city?"

  The man made a face then and shook his head.

  "I best get back and sell these fast then. You calling in the Guard on me?" The guy really seemed worried about the idea. There was a fine tremble to his hands actually, that hadn't been there a few moments before.

  "Nope. Sell them for half price and we won't have any problems with it. You might want to hurry anyway, because who knows what those High Servants will be getting on to? If you do it fast, you can make some coin off of it before the market drops suddenly." He certainly didn't know if that was going to really happen, not personally.

  The cart turned, and the donkey left a mess in the middle of the focus stone road, which Dare, looking around covertly, deposited in the Tam-unit. She didn't care what was in there, and what the public didn't know about where their food came from wasn't going to get him into trouble.

  Still, there was more than that needed, so he took his time and started to really clean the place up, finally making a pile of things to be used later behind the little focus stone building. That was the only place to hide anything from view really.

  It was kind of interesting for him, given that several people came to his front door when he took his lunch inside. Most of them just wanted to know when the next Harmony trip was coming up. One of them, a woman that was dressed in scanty red and black clothing, with tall whore boots on asked if he wanted to spend some time with her.

  Not being a moron, he got the idea.

  "No coin. Though in a few weeks you might want to come back. We're going to be setting some things up here, like a tavern and a few inns. There isn't a lot of traffic yet, but I hear that might be picking up, so if you wanted to start a place, no one would stop you." As long as she was licensed. Possibly even if she weren't, since as far as he knew that kind of thing would have to go through him for the space base.

  "That sounds like an idea! I've been looking for a better situation than what I have in the city. Not saying anything against it, but a port is a better location. Horny sailors like to fuck. I'm betting that goes for space sailors. How long do you think that stuff will take?"

  Even if it was a bit rude, Dare ate part of the sandwich that he'd gotten from the Tam-unit and thought for a bit.

  "Call it two weeks? If you want a house though, like a real place to live, you'll have to build it yourself. That, or get the High Servants to do it. I don't think they're celibate, so that could work? Trade with them for it?" The woman wasn't all that good looking, being a little square and blocky around the edges, but she sank to her knees anyway, after pulling the door shut.

  "I could... Show you how good I am? It never hurts to get in good with the boss, does it?"

  Which, honestly, he figured was the real case. It was tempting, but before he could do more than stand up, his trousers getting tighter in the front, a knock came at his door.

  When he stared at the thing he could see that it was a City Guardsman, along with two other men dressed up in all red and white. They each had funny round hats, too.

  "You might as well stand up. Apparently I can't have a sandwich, or a woman, in peace." He faked a sigh, but waited for her to find her feet before opening the door.

  "Hello?" They were probably there to arrest him for messing with the base. That, or helping to put in the new river. The man in front, who was taller than he was by ten inches or so, faked a smile for him however.

  "Good day, sir. We were instructed to come out and see what, exactly is going on here?"

  "Ah. Well, I was just about to get to enjoy a woman for the first time in my life, and then finish my luncheon. I suppose I can walk you through things first." Looking at the woman, who had nice black curly hair, he sighed. True, her face was long and a bit horse-like, but she was still better than the next woman that had wanted to spend time with him. That had been a sixty year old farm wife who was deaf in one ear and who had kept pinching his behind. Even that had been tempting, but her husband hadn't gone for the idea, and had run him off. Good naturedly, however. The man hadn't really scolded him for it, just asked him not to tempt his woman away.

  Looking at this one now, he really wondered if he could get her to wait. That didn't seem likely given how nervous she seemed around the Guards. Dare got it. These men could beat you, rape you, and then claim that you were the one at fault. At least that was a thing that used to happen he bet. Now they all had to answer under truth magic. A lot of formally bad people had probably changed their jobs in the last years, over that.

  "I suppose I should show you all around. Miss, would you like to come?" Turning to the men he shrugged. "She's looking to set up a business here. Things should be picking up a bit. So, starting here. This is my place." Tapping the door frame as he left got everyone to follow along with him. The three large guardsmen had to move for him to do that. They didn't, he noticed, have horses with them for the trip. It wasn't a short walk, but only a few miles, so it probably wasn't all that bad.

  Outside he pointed at the little river.

  "Thanks to this we can have water in to replenish the ships, as well as for the restrooms and bath houses. We're planning an inn, and a tavern." That reminded him of something, so he looked at the one that seemed to be in charge. He had gold braid on his shoulders at least and the others didn't. That looked pretty fancy to Dare. "Would it be possible to get patrols out this way?"

  The man, who had a slick looking brown mustache seemed taken aback by the idea. Only for a moment however.

  "We could put in a form for it, sir. That would have to be selected by the commander, but it seems reasonable, if we're being invited. It wouldn't take but a few extra moments for a flying patrol or two to stop by for a look around, I'd dare say."

  Behind him one of the other men nodded.

  "Especially if you have g
irls working out here. Do we get a discount?" He was talking to the woman behind him, who looked away, frightened of the man, even if he was only flirting a bit.

  That got him waved at by Dareg.

  "I imagine so, but it would have to be while off duty. It should probably be pretty quiet, over all, but we'll find some reason for people to want to come out here." That was for the Guards, but the girl, whose name he'd never gotten, nodded a bit then.

  "Like anything else. Give people enough entertainments, and they'll come. Set up some gambling, girls, and liquor. That will get bodies around. Maybe some singers and dancers?"

  He looked at her, and nodded, not even really certain what the heck she was talking about.

  "Good. We'll talk about that later? I need to get some paper so I can draw out plans and write this all up. Nothing illegal." Again that was for the men, who seemed well enough pleased about the idea.

  It didn't take long for him to show them the entire place, though the lady did make a few suggestions, such as where to put some things. The idea would be, they decided, to have it all as close to the Capital as possible, and outside of the base itself, rather than inside the river. That would make it less likely for people to be crushed by incoming craft.

  After about half an hour of this, the guardsmen said their goodbyes, promised to write up the request for patrols, and then all flew away.

  That got a gasp from the whore.

  Which reminded him of something. Really two things.

  "What's your name?"

  "Stara. What's yours?"

  "Dareg. Good, now, you were about to bribe me? I'm almost certain that was your plan. A very good one, too. I mean, I've never done anything with a woman, so it seems like a pretty good way to get my attention. Not that you really have to, since you have some good ideas, but if you want..."

  The girl laughed then. She was younger seeming when she did that. Like a person that was in their early twenties.

  "Come on then. I can earn my place here. With ideas too, not just my mouth. You seem like a fun time, so let's?"

  They went inside together then. While she might not have been the best looking person in the whole world, she was talented at her craft, which Dareg quickly realized. No more than ten minutes later she was cleaning up, and getting back to work.

  Making suggestions. Pretty good ones.

  "I could stay on here? Sleep on the floor while things get built? It's a lot to ask of you, but I'll do you each day, for rent on it? That way I can get in early, before someone else does. Maybe even work it out so that I won't have to whore anymore. It seemed like a good idea at the time, when things got hard, but now... Well, I guess my parents would be happier if I wasn't doing it with half the city."

  That Stara, the street girl, had two parents was kind of amazing to him. If she were his daughter, she wouldn't have been having to make her way in the world like that. Not that he was going to say no to her staying there, if he got to do things with her. It was a pretty fair trade, to his mind. Especially since he would have been willing to share just for the asking.

  "We can set that up. Now, I need to get to..." Honestly, he realized he didn't have much to do. Gerent had left, as seen by the absence of his craft, and all the Tam-units were full, or nearly so, for the time being. "Actually I think I need to try and fly into space without a ship."

  That line should have gotten a laugh, but the girl just nodded at him, like it made sense in some obscure and strange fashion.

  "How long will you be gone? I need to know, so I can go through your things, and see if there's anything to steal."

  That got him to snort.

  "I wouldn't bother. I'm taking all the good stuff with me but this house, and I bet that hanging around here will get you a lot more than that would. We even have a shower, and a Tam-unit right outside that will make food for you. Good stuff, too. Just make sure you fill up the hopper when you're done. Throw some trash or rocks in."

  That meant making a trip out to the thing with her, and helping her get a plate of food and a frosty cold beverage that didn't have any alcohol in it, but could be made that way, if he changed the restrictions on the device.

  Which he wasn't going to do right then.

  "So, if you can work this out, you should be able to see that you have a pretty good thing lined up here. Don't ruin it." Then, using the mental commands that Gerent had taught him, he rose straight up into the air.

  Fast. Faster than he'd ever seen anything go in his own life. The shield kicked on instantly, when he started flying away, so a few minutes later, still able to breathe just fine, he found himself very high above the Earth.

  That got him to grin.

  "So, not afraid of high places? Good to know." Then he looked around for a while. The Moon did catch his eye as he traveled around the planet, being above him and a bit to his right. That wasn't where he wanted to go for the time being however. Ger had suggested a space station. He thought he saw one, traveling around the planet really quickly, it was big, like a giant version of Gerent's ship. For a while he followed it, trying to see if there was a door that could be used.

  Like everyone in Noram he knew what space was, and had a good concept of vacuum. What he didn't know was how to get inside the all gray station in front of him. Finally he found what looked like a window, and flew over to it, seeing people inside of a little room. This was near the bottom of the whole thing, and inside, standing suddenly, there was a rather nice looking young woman. She had short blonde hair, and smiled at him, even waving back when he did it. Then she gestured for him to come closer. Like she wanted to tell him something.

  Probably to go away, but he did it, and found that after a few seconds a room formed around him. There was, after a few moments, a clicking sound, which shouldn't have been there in a vacuum, and then the wall itself opened up for him. Gravity tugged at him, letting him fall to the floor when he let himself move a bit closer.

  The door was large enough for an adult giant, even though he wasn't one of those, so he ducked his head into the place. Then he tried to smile, happily.

  "Hello! Is this the space station?"

  The woman, who was dressed in a nice purple, black and gold outfit, shook her head.

  "I'm afraid not. This is Noram One. The stations are all a bit further out. If you come to the window you can see one of them, I think. Over here?" She pointed over to her right, and he did indeed see the thing. It was really different than what he was on.

  "I see. Well, this wasn't what I had planned. I was just testing my new shield. It worked pretty well, but the pilot has a lot left to learn, I guess." After that he was at a loss for what to say. On the one hand he was an idiot that had gotten lost on his first time into space. On the other, he'd just flown, without a craft at all, into the great black void.

  It seemed to him that neither of those things was lost on the lady there.

  "Captain Gemma Cannor. Conserina Second, Cannor. Not to be picky, but most people call ahead before they visit."

  Her smile was friendly, possibly even kind, so he bowed, going low, like he would for the King himself. She was the Captain after all. Also the Conserina of his home county. That pretty much meant he worked for her, more or less. Worse, it meant she sort of owned him, after a fashion. He didn't mention that part.

  "Um, I'm Dareg Canton." The rest of it stuck in his throat, seeming like a lie. The kind that could have you killed just for uttering it. Still, he'd been assured it was true by Gerent, and he was a Prince. "Um. Prince Dareg, of Harmony. Ninth for that. Countier Seven, Baker... I think. There might be one for Lairdgren too, but I forgot it. It wasn't that high of a number."

  That got the girl to make a face at him, but she didn't call him a liar. Not directly.

  "I've never heard of you, and several of the Baker's are friends of mine. Close ones. Explain. Please, I mean, in case I don't have to strip you and toss you out the air lock." There was a bit of steel to the words, but she didn't start hitting and neith
er did the people with her.

  Dare smiled, trying not to die in the moment.

  "It... My father is the Wizard Tor. I'm a bastard, but that's what my mother used to tell me. The other day I met this Tam-unit, and she got some kind of scan or reading from me, that said it was true, so she called up the real Wizard Tam, and that one sent Prince Gerent to give me some things. I'm kind of in charge of the Capital spaceport in Noram?" After a few seconds, the woman unclenched her right fist, and nodded.

  Then she moved away, and started to pace a little.

  "We need to confirm this. I don't want to call you a liar, so I'm sort of stuck here, aren't I? We're in space, but on a Noram vessel, so our laws apply. If you're lying, then I can't let you go. If you just told me the truth, then I could very well swing, for even questioning it. This isn't how I planned to spend my evening." She glared at him a bit, but smiled, too. "Granted, you do look a lot like him. So, what do you suggest we do?"

  Dating came to mind. Sure he had a woman in his little house already, but this tall lady was a lot finer seeming. At least if she didn't have to kill him.

  "I'm supposed to get with Tim Baker and report this? I've never spoken to him before, so he might tell me to get lost, but that could work?" Or have him killed. It wasn't bothering Gerent, or Tor, however. Other than that he'd have to go to Taman, being the one he was closest too, thanks to her devices.

  She waited, which was for him to pull out his communications device and do that, he realized after a few seconds. Rather than just making eyes at him like he'd thought at first.

  It took a bit for him to find the right name, and when he tapped it, he didn't know what to expect. A face appeared in his palm however, and while it wasn't identical to his own, it did share enough similarity that he could kind of see the resemblance. They were about the same in coloration, and while his own hair was a bit longer, the other man had a few more years. Not by a lot.

  "Timon Baker. Are you Dareg?" The words were polite, but there was something off about the phrasing. Like he'd started to simply announce that he was Dareg, but then changed it, so to make himself seem more conversational.