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

  Black went with everything.

  Cindy raised a hand and waved, which got a pleasant enough look from the woman. Then, carefully, she tried to speak the local language. Probably butchering it, but attempting that kind of thing wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings, she didn’t think.

  “Hala. Ve art de volks wat come…” She struggled a bit, the words over the lady’s head suddenly booming with reams of data and information. Fast and hard, as if seeking things in a set of encyclopedias rather than the single tome most people had going on. After a moment, the words flickered, then stilled, showing a complex chart with each of the people there being penciled in. Not by name, but rather description.

  It wasn’t a combat oriented thing either, though Hobbs had that going on. In his head everyone around them was a target. Even if he liked them. This was nearly worse, since the woman in front of them, Maris, was trying to figure out how to best serve each of them that day. That included a lot of things which were at least a bit kinky, if probably not incorrect.

  Most of it was about getting them to the right spot, without them feeling less than easy about it.

  “Hello! You’re all expected. Would you like to follow me to the table?” The interesting part there was that, unlike Tim or Taman Baker, or their older brother, Tor, this woman had no particular accent when she spoke in English. From her words, the ones over her head in heavy black ink now, that was all down to the fact that she was from a time when people spoke that as their first language.

  The nifty part there was, she knew, that she was only about five hundred years old. While also being from three thousand years in the past…

  As well as being about fifteen, tops.

  There had been cloning involved, rather than time travel. Not that any of this was Cin’s business, but it was interesting to meet a person like that anyway.

  “That would be lovely, thank you, Maris. I’m Cindy Mableton. This is Sara, and back here we have Marcia Turner. She’s in charge of the IPB. Most of the rest of us are roughly equal in rank… Probably about the level of Captain or above in the Army from Noram?” That was, more or less, true. She could have inflated the idea, but the woman with them wasn’t going to care at all.

  She couldn’t, being genetically not allowed to hold that kind of thing as important, unless one of them were her master. Then it didn't matter who the person was, they were the light of her world. In this case, interestingly, that was Queen Tiera.

  What it did change was how they’d be treated. Not that any of it would be bad. Cindy was basically putting Marcia forward as a top general however, as far as that kind of thing went. It wasn’t exact, but when she thought about it for a few seconds, it basically worked out. That altered the chart inside of the other lady’s head, but it was all done very gently. Nothing mentioned was about anything except making certain things went well.

  The interior of the place was nice, being done up to look a bit like the inside of a tent. That impression was a bit off, being huge, but there were enough silk hangings on the walls and thick carpets and cushions to really help give that impression. The only real failure of the place, if it was one, was that the chairs were made of glass. Opaque, and lovely, but the impression of the rest of the place was a bit more along the lines of cushions on the floor as far as the feel of the whole thing went.

  Standing in a clutch in the middle of the room, a space that had obviously been cleared, almost as if they were setting up a fighting ring, were about forty people, ranging in size from about four and a half feet tall to what had to be nearly ten. Looking at one fellow, who had red-hair and a large gold goblet in his right hand, as well as a polite smile on his face, she froze.

  For two reasons.

  The first was that, accessing his data, it was clear that this was Prince Alphonse, of Noram. That was cool enough, Cindy had to admit, but not a huge problem for anyone that day. The second part was that the man was also Hobbs. Writ large, but it was still there, etched onto his face perfectly. That wasn’t the only person there like that either.

  Not far from him stood another version of Tobin Peterson, for instance. Also, much bigger than she was used to seeing. Tim Baker turned and waved at her suddenly, the woman by his side matching the one next to Cindy almost perfectly. Only a bit of size and color gave them away. Checking the information, she noticed that the other one was a person she’d met before. Patricia Baker. The lady with all the magic.

  Turning to the boss, she winked.

  “See, you’d look really hot with a tan. I bet we could work out a spray thing for you.”

  Marcia smiled, which was a bit strained, but nodded, in case anyone could hear them. Maris could, it was clear. She hadn’t done more than lead them in, clearly trying to bypass the clutch of people on the floor. It wasn’t happening, of course, since this was their meet and greet time, but the idea was to see to their comfort at the moment. The ebony lady really couldn’t give two thoughts about what the protocols were, if they got in the way of that.

  Still, she pulled back a bit, feeling frustrated when Tim, Patricia, Tor and a very tall woman came over. If she were a woman. All of them looked young, but the lady seemed to be about sixteen if she were a day. That was a lie, of course. She was nearly thirty.

  Cindy bowed, Sara actually having gone first, since she’d had the protocol lessons on that, if over the phone. Everyone else did it, too, since she’d put that in the briefing packet. For once it seemed like everyone had actually read the darned thing. That was never assured with the IPB, but apparently going to a new world was enough to get everyone to pay attention.

  They went kind of low, nearly halfway down, and were matched by the people on the other side of things, everyone in the whole room stopping and doing the same thing, even if they held glasses of wine or juice. Interestingly, for some strange reason, what was in each cup labeled itself. It was mainly booze, of one kind or another, but Tor and several of the others had softer things.

  On standing, Will moved forward, feeling a bit uncertain about his actual place in the scheme of the world there for a moment. Right until Tam walked forward, looking almost tiny compared to half the room, and hugged him.

  Then she spoke rapidly, in English.

  “Villum! I wasn’t certain they were going to bring you. Are you well?” It was supposed to be casually spoken, not sounding like she was asking if they were abusing them, but Will nodded happily enough.

  “Yes. I’m the native guide for the day. It makes sense, after all. Should I make the introductions? I don’t actually know everyone here…” That part was interesting.

  After all, it was true, but he didn’t mean the people on their side at all. He actually had all those names down very well. It was the others, many of whom were relatives of his, that he didn’t know. A thing which Tor picked up on easily enough. So did the others. Almost all of them.

  The giant wizard bowed again, getting her to follow along instantly, which was annoying, but the actual rule. Everyone else ended up doing it as well, as Tor spoke.

  “Perhaps if you could do your people, and I’ll take care of these others? As is appropriate to the day, of course.”

  That got Cin to blink, then smile and speak openly.

  “That’s a great idea. Keep the naming of names down, in case things go wrong, so that only a few of us die? Still, this is pretty much our crew for that one, so hopefully it won’t come to that. I mean, I have all that work to get to.” Which was true enough.

  For a second Cin thought that her words were just so out of place that people were shocked or angry. It wasn’t that though. It was mainly translation. Then, instead of laughing at the idea, Tiera bowed again.

  “I hadn’t been thinking that way, but it makes a certain amount of sense. Thank you, Tor. Perhaps the top five people from each group? That might not be fair… Your collection is much smaller.”

  Interestingly, Marcia wasn’t all that pissed with her. Not that she’d felt threatened either. This, clearly, was a
bout making these others feel at ease.

  “That sounds like a good plan. Thank you for having us.”

  Tiera smiled hopefully, as Will started to speak. His voice was smooth enough, like it always was.

  “This is Director Marcia Turner, of the IPB. She’s a powerful warrior and leader of men. In many ways, her position is that of a top general or military advisor. Um… Think of her as being in charge of the most elite troops?” He bowed toward her, so that everyone could see who he meant, then he repeated the words in not one, but four different languages.

  One of them a series of hisses and glottal stops, which was aimed toward the back, where an Infected woman stood. Only, of course, the four armed, four eyed and scale covered lady wasn’t Infected, just being an alien.

  Tor smiled softly, and bowed toward his tall sister.

  “This is Queen Tiera, the ruler of Harmony and all the Moon. Also, a powerful fighter and leader. She actually makes decent scones as well, if she ever has time to do any baking.” That part wasn’t a dig. It was a listing of special skills, meant to impress them.

  Will, being in charge of who their five were going to be for the day, actually down played Sara a bit, skipping her on purpose. Instead he moved Hobbs forward with a wave. For a moment she really figured that he was just going by who he thought of as important, but it wasn’t that. He knew that if they were going to possibly die over some kind of slight, that Hobbs was expendable. Even if he did like him more than some of the others there. Not that he didn’t think they were all nice enough people.

  “This is Weapons Master Hobbs. My instructor in such things. I think he is perhaps the best fighter in many worlds. I don’t mean that as mere praise either.” He didn’t, which was cute.

  Tiera, who was actually not bad in a fight herself, merely smiled over that, but she didn’t feel hurt over the idea in particular.

  Tor did Prince Alphonse next, who bowed low and goggled a bit at the smaller version of himself. He didn’t speak though, having about as much English as she did Standard. Their tongue. Only without her ability to crib notes from people’s books, reading up on how to say things. Interestingly, the man was starting lessons on the new language. At least that was the plan. He just hadn’t had time to do much that way yet.

  Interestingly, the next one to go was Olga. Everyone else there was fine with that, since, clearly, she was the noble in their little group. Everyone bowed when her name was given.

  Will smiled.

  “She’s a sub-commander for her people. Also, we’re dating.” He sounded pleased by that idea, and Olga didn't shout no, or deny it, which was interesting. The thing there was that by Cindy’s criteria they simply weren’t doing that at all. No movie nights, hand holding, or midnight booty calls. Interestingly Tiera smiled at the words. Happily.

  She didn’t comment however, though in her head she was going over how to rearrange the seating without insulting anyone. Ambassador Neesa was able to speak English rather well, but was a female, so had to be placed next to a man for the meal. Things were a bit tight that way, given everything. The new people had brought in about half men, but that had been an unknown. Plus, the lady simply didn't know if the Ysidril would be too fearsome for the new people.

  Cindy could see that, if it weren’t for the fact that to almost everyone there she just seemed Infected. Calm at the moment as well, making her fairly safe. In a way, a lot of the people there seemed pretty normal that way. Nifty, but oddly gentle for the time being.

  Tor, interestingly, moved to bring her forward then, having picked up that no one seemed ready to attack the brightly colored woman. She had lovely orange and pink eyes, which were very interesting, for instance. Those, Cindy realized, were basically contacts. Protective coverings that put a screen directly on her eye balls, which displayed information almost constantly. Also, the white patch on her front was all about marking her as unique. To the Humans.

  “This is Ambassador Neesa, of the Ysidril. A wonderful person. Very kind and…” He actually struggled for a moment, since he didn’t know that much about her at all. She was closer to Dareg, who was hiding back in the crowd, or even Willum, it seemed.

  Will actually had a lot of data on her inside of his head, which Cindy picked through rapidly, as she moved forward. After all, pissing these people off wasn’t going to help anything, plus, aliens were kind of fun. First she bowed, as the slow moving creature came toward her, half the room worried that she was going to freak out, then she moved in to hug the being.

  That was the traditional greeting for her people, after all. In private they were much more cuddly and clingy than Humans were, but they’d schooled that reflex in order to make the new people feel more at ease. Which didn't mean she didn’t hug her back now that it was offered. She simply marveled that Cindy wasn’t afraid.

  “Ambassador. So nice to meet you.” She stepped back, but Cin looked at Marcia, who worked out that it was her turn to do the same thing. Then Sara took a turn. It started a trend, and everyone, including Burkes and Lancaster did the same thing.

  After she moved back, her mouth open in a cute, almost doglike smile, Will grinned a bit and then gestured at Cindy and Sara. Almost at the same time.

  “Cin and Sara.” That was all he said, which she didn’t get. He didn’t really either, but oddly enough Tor had prompted him to do it that way. Using magic. Not to denigrate them in any way, but to protect them. In return they got the two Wizards they already knew.

  “Timon and Taman Baker. You’ve met?”

  That was, apparently, the signal to break into smaller groups and then discuss things, or drink free booze since dinner wasn’t to be served for another hour. That wasn’t even due to them being early, though that had been the plan. No, it was just how they did things there. With lots of built in waiting times, since not everyone had the best clocks in the world still. In three worlds.

  Interestingly, Sara was almost instantly grabbed up by Tiera, who acted like she was a long lost sister, more than anything else. Marcia was in that club as well, given that Rachel had been called away with Bridget. All of the others were grabbed up like prizes, if not too far from one another, though she ended up in a group with Tor and Tim Baker, for some reason. Not that it was hard to understand.

  Patricia Baker moved in next to both of them, her internal descriptions of them both different, but not unkind as she did it. She was in love with them both, which was interesting to see. Different.

  “Hello. I’m Trice. Pleased am I to meet you?” She was clearly working her new language skills, and still had a very heavy accent, but Cindy understood her pretty well.

  “Cindy Mableton. I’m pleased to meet you, too. Again. Um, Hala, Patrees-ia Baxter?”

  That got a bit grin and a laugh, with Tim taking over after that.

  “So, I heard that you had to bail out my brother last week? It’s what we get for letting him go off alone. I hope that it wasn’t too big of a… You were injured.” His eyes went to her shoulder then, and some very clear words came into being over his head.

  He really didn’t want her to mention the work that Taman had done on her. Tor kind of suspected that she could make that kind of change, but most people didn’t realize it yet. That was, mainly, about operational security. The thing there was that Tor also understood that Cin had been altered. Even that it had been done by his brother. Most likely. He hadn’t really put two and two together yet, however.

  So she lied, easily.

  “Yeah. The work you did saved my butt out there, Tim. Maybe even all of us. That other Tor… He hadn’t come with pie, you know? From what I got from him before we left, he didn’t really want to do it. His side just felt that it was the only way to push Pie-Tor, or possibly Brian, into… Something. That part is kind of complicated. Something about shifting the location of a section of reality? Only…” She looked around and then shook her head. “Only that won’t work. I know that the others believe that stuff, but all time is one thing, just like space
. This has been a known thing, for a while. So the end is already at the beginning, even if we can’t see it that way. What they want is already real and true, and hasn’t changed anything.” She’d read up on the idea, but both men nodded at her, as if they’d heard that one before.

  Tor looked away even.

  “I know. What I don’t get is how any version of me could have done that. Especially over such a foolish… Was he just evil? Harmed beyond all reason or… I don’t know. Insane?” Or, and the man spelled this out rather clearly inside his own mind, was he.

  As in, she realized, that Pie-Tor actually wondered if he was a bad person, who could be easily influenced that way by a few words or suggestions. The thing there was that it was kind of clear that some version of him had been like that. He didn’t seem that way at the moment, but it could really change, if he weren’t careful.

  Just like everyone else.

  “Not really. He just had different ideas. He wasn’t acting from hate or rage. Not that I love the part where I was supposed to be a sacrificial pawn in his game.” They didn’t get the word pawn, but did understand the sacrifice part pretty well. Tim actually reached out and slapped her on the arm, gently.

  “No doubt. Did you… I don’t know if I have the right to ask, but did you find out anything else?” He felt bad about bringing it up. Not that bad, since the man was about halfway to being a psychopath, but enough that it was clear he really didn’t know if she’d think it was rude, instead of being her job, more or less. True, she didn’t work for them, directly, but Marcia had gotten her to do that kind of a work up.

  She nodded then turned and waved at Burkes. The man had been talking to the giant Tobin Peterson, who had slightly goofy ears, which meant both of them walked over.