Crystal Core Read online

  Chapter three

  The children’s barracks was a decently large structure. Not half the size of the Ancient’s palace in front of it, but that was a matter of contrast, more than Willum stinting the kids by too much. After all, the port facility only had twenty young people working there each day. Each of them would have their own room, and while they weren’t set up to be copies of what a noble might have, the kids there all agreed that they were nice. Truly, they all seemed to be a bit in awe of what was being provided.

  Clean, insect free and with soft beds that were large and made themselves with the touch of a sigil. They were also hooked up to water, so had an individual restroom and bathing chamber connected for everyone. The trick was making the outside less interesting, so that no one would confuse it for an inn. The port had a lot of visitors, but that kind of building already existed on the city side of the disk. It was actually Karina who fixed that for them, focusing as she touched the front of the gray stone building.

  A sign came into being, right over the door. A thing that he hadn’t even thought about, before seeing the thing spring into existence. There was no excuse for that. He’d worked with signs, even magical ones, several times before.

  Willum tilted his head back and forth.

  “The Port Worker’s Living Facility. Not an inspired name, perhaps, but I bet it keeps people from walking in and thinking it’s a restaurant. We should… Here, let me…” Willum just focused, standing back a way, causing the same words to show up in half a dozen different languages.

  After all, the idea was to keep other people out, not instruct the kids as to where to go. He had an odd feeling that many of them wouldn’t be able to read well, to start with. They were little, after all. School hadn’t been given to them, either.

  Why they weren’t living at home or in an orphanage, well, Willum didn’t ask. A lot of them would have reasons, after all, and other than helping them now, there wasn’t a lot he could do. Fixing all of their lives… Well, it was the kind of thing that they all should be doing, but the truth was, he and most of the people he knew, were busy.

  Fighting a war, that, when it came down to it, really shouldn’t be called that. He’d been thinking of it being resolved with a big movement of armies, which was kind of how war was defined. Instead, so far anyway, it had all been about a few individuals acting, taking slaves and using threats to make others take action. You didn’t do that if you had a vast army of dedicated fighters behind you.

  Then, his side wasn’t doing that either, as far as he knew.

  In a way, it was more frightening than if it had been a massive movement of lethal forces.

  Will put that out of his mind. He needed to stay on task, for the moment.

  “Right, we need the school as well.” That building was created to look like a small one room building. Two, really, since it had a restroom near the back. Back in Pine Creek they’d had to use an outhouse for such purposes. This was much better.

  He waved at the wooden seats, and small desks that filled the place.

  “We can make it bigger at need, or have more rooms. Prince Alphonse seems to have a plan for a more advanced facility. Now all I need to do is bring the coin around for it. I can… Well, I’ll do that tomorrow. Soon at any rate. No one is going to be around to take it today, are they?”

  Tam-Unit stood there, looking at things closely, and finally smiled. It was a small thing, but sweet. Enough so that, if the woman didn’t look exactly like his Aunt Taman, Will probably would have been interested in her. Karina was nice as well that way. Not as good looking, perhaps, with her rust red hair and freckles. Her tan skin kind of made the darker marks blend in at least. That she didn’t look like anyone he was related to at all was a major plus in his book.

  Still, she was a good sort, it seemed. After all, she’d come from across space itself to help out her friend, Tam-Unit. Some random kids as well.

  He looked at the port kids, the three they had there, then he added Tam-Unit, since she was all over the place and worked with the dirt children every single day.

  “The kids all have a room here, if they don’t have a better place. I’ll get a food unit in as well. I… We need someone to watch them. I can’t do it. I’m simply gone too often and don’t have a steady schedule yet. We can hire people, but that’s a risk.” He didn’t say why, but even he had worked out that kids were often targeted by bad people.

  Elsa probably couldn’t do it either, even if she made herself look more like an adult again. She hadn’t yet, but Willum had no idea what kind of energy, focus or power that took her. If it required a week of hard effort, then it was too much to ask of her at the moment.

  The trick was that Willum didn’t have a clue as to how to find a solid, but friendly and responsible, adult to care for that many kids at all. No one volunteered either. He understood that Tam-Unit would be there all the time, but her human seeming body lived on Mars, with her people. Relocating was probably possible, but it wouldn’t be fair to ask that of anyone he didn’t know.

  Which was his only real idea on the topic.

  Instead of worrying over it, he put up the little wagon looking vehicle again, and smiled.

  “Over to the river side events?” He had time for it, after all. It was just pushing five in the afternoon, since the actual work hadn’t taken nearly as long as the travel time had. That and the snack he’d enjoyed with the kids. A meal for them, but he was going to need a whole lot more than that, pretty soon.

  Karina hopped into the driver’s seat again, and waved at him for some reason. Nothing came from her pattern that he could pick up without making a point of doing it.

  Not until she spoke.

  “You and Tamu have those connections to make. Everyone get a seat, we’re going to go… At a very sedate and relaxed speed!”

  It was a funny thing to say, and even the kids seemed to think so. They looked around and fidgeted as Willum settled in the back, leaving Lith in the front passenger’s seat. Since clearly, to his mind, he was supposed to work with the tall redheaded woman now. That was what had been set up.

  The whole thing was kind of cute, really. Except that, clearly, knowing a Princess that helped to run a whole planet might not hurt a man’s prospects, if he played his cards right. The trick there would be in making sure it got started well enough to take hold.

  Not that it was his business. Except, even he could tell that it wouldn’t really happen, otherwise. It was a good thing, at least in theory. A chance for the boy to have contacts that would be useful in life. Even just knowing a few rich people that might want leather work at some point could make a big difference over the years.

  Tam-Unit, or, apparently Tamu, which made total sense to him, sounding a lot more like a real name, pressed her leg against him. It felt warm and real enough. Really, if he couldn’t sense magic, he wouldn’t have even suspected that she wasn’t just a regular, if extra cute, woman. Really, unless he was paying attention all the time like he was, due to people trying to kill him frequently, even that probably wouldn’t have been a factor. She was pretty normal seeming.

  A bit bubbly, but other than that, nice.

  Pulling his focus stone communications device, which said that it was actually five-twenty-three there, not five exactly as he’d guessed, Will stopped for a moment, to think. After all, it was important to get that kind of thing right, if his new pal, Tamu, wasn’t in constant contact with her family.

  The first one to get in contact with was obvious though. Aunt Taman. After all, the woman was his mentor, so might have plans for his month off. Ones that required work. She was also Tamu’s mother.

  Tapping the correct name, which was very near the top of his device, since the most commonly used ones would order themselves that way on his new unit, he got ready to wait. It really did take a minute, but when she picked up, the background was different than he would have suspected at all.

  The last time he’d seen her she’d been in Soam. She was th
e Ancient, and really, the ruler, of that land. Even if that last part wasn’t supposed to happen. It was such an ingrained custom there that the woman hadn’t managed to find anyone else to take that part on yet. There, the Ancient was the leader and had been for thousands of years.

  Except that, from what he’d heard, from the woman herself and a few others, no Ancient was supposed to be the ruler of a place at all. That work was supposed to be given to others, with the immortal just helping out behind the scenes, to prevent tyranny. It was going to take a while to get Soam ready to put in a different leader, however. On the good side, they didn’t really seem to need one, day to day. Their town councils and local leaders handled most of the heavy lifting already. So, really, they just needed a figure head, other than Taman Baker. It was what the rules said had to happen, after all.

  Instead of her palace there, or more likely, her tiny and efficient pod house, where she lived if there were no visitors to hand, she was in what looked like a rather nice home. A place that wasn’t grand on a high level, but that seemed comfortable, while also showing whoever owned it had wealth. Even if they weren’t flashing it around on purpose.

  There were nice brown and blue furnishings, and some art behind the wide chair or sofa that the Tamu lookalike sat on. That was a nice deep blue and probably made of magic. Meaning that the rest of the room was the same, most likely. It wasn’t impossible to make a magical chair, but anyone that could do that would probably be able to get or even make a full house that could simply produce such things.

  Though it might work to make that kind of thing for, say, Mars or the Moon. They lived in stone structures in both places, so an amulet that would let people make different types of furnishings on demand might be popular.

  Everything was very clean and new looking, as well. That was pretty telling.

  Taman Baker was brilliant, in a lot of ways, but when confronted by her own face, sitting next to him, she paused for a second and looked concerned. Then she checked out where he was. Probably getting more data, since it was clear he was moving and that it was at a space port. From his position, there were two large space ships behind him. One of them was purple and gold, the other was orange in color. Both were vast, however.

  She looked puzzled though.

  “Will? Is everything all right?”

  “It is! For once. Happy Postern! Tamu and I are just making calls. She came all the way from Mars to help me with a project. That was pretty kind of her.” He went on, since Taman would suspect the worse if he didn’t. Plus, there were things to tell, that approached being a real report. “Elsa came to visit, with some friends of hers. Kids from the city and some of the port workers. We came over here to set up housing for the ones that work here. A school, too. Prince Alphonse and Ancient Sam are helping with that. The buildings are up already, so that’s not horrible for the first day.”

  She blinked, went still, and then… Smiled. As if she meant it. That was kind of a rare thing for her.

  “Elsa? I thought that she was on the other side of things. Did I get that wrong?”

  There was a small head pressed against his arm suddenly, that shook side to side.

  “No, that’s still true. I’m on the side of good and right, just like always. Just because I want to end all reality, that doesn’t mean I’m a bad person. The same is clearly true of you and yours here. Oh, Happy Postern. We’re just headed over to the events by the river in the Capital. Can you come? Tamu is feeling shy, as if you aren’t her family. Which is clearly silly. You people are about as family oriented as I’ve ever seen.”

  Tam Baker didn’t need it explained that the heart shaped faced girl was the same person from all the recent stories. Even if she looked wrong at the moment. Not matching her description much at the moment. That came from context. She didn’t growl or act surly either. Willum nearly smiled at that part of things.

  After all, the woman had been a bit down on him for months, personally. When the enemy shows up, she was suddenly calm and collected though. Polite and friendly, even.

  “I can’t, really. We’re having a meal here in Two Bends. Mother is a bit sad, so I really can’t leave her alone. All her children are busy, except for me. I think she’s at loose ends, to tell the truth. I don’t suppose you have a job for her, do you, Willum?”

  It was a very strange question, but also the kind of thing that happened around wizards. Telling the future and reading minds weren’t strictly builder skills, but the truth was, those things existed and the same skills that let you make a Tam-car or a spaceship would allow you to do that kind of thing with practice. Sometimes even on accident. Even regular people with no training did things like that from time to time. As far as he’d been able to tell it happened in almost every reality as well. So, it was part of being a person. Not just a human being.

  Everything that thought had an influence on the world around them. Even if most people didn’t always understand it was happening or even possible.

  “You know, I might, if you think she’d be good at it? We have twenty kids here that need watching. There need to be arrangements for schooling as well. I’m covering that, coin wise, but I can’t really do it, myself. It’s my hobby of traveling around, and taking messages… Plus, the fact that I don’t really know much about caring for children.” Which was true enough, actually.

  Taman clapped, several times. Only at a medium speed though. It was kind of fake seeming. As if she were trying to draw attention to herself, but not doing a wonderful job of acting at the moment.

  Another woman, looking no more than two years older than his very youthful seeming Aunt, walked into the room then, but stood back. Even if they were talking about her. Then, she wouldn’t know that, having just gotten there. So he faked a new scene for her. That could seem like a kindness, as well as a way of getting them all together, to work on plans, without it seeming too forceful or like he was begging outright.

  Not that he was too humble for that. It just wasn’t time for that kind of thing yet, to his way of thinking. Besides, he needed to be watchful of Elsa, for the time being. The woman hadn’t been a danger to him yet, or anyone at all, but when someone explained that they wanted you dead, it was best to be cautious around them, just in general.

  Smiling he let his eyes light up. As if he were secretly thrilled with his new idea.

  “You should all come here for the evening meal, then! I was planning to invite you all, but the truth is that I was in a host of different worlds until this afternoon. That tends to put a crimp into all the best plans. We’ll have at least some of the kids here. I don’t know what to do about that. Like I said, if you know anyone that’s good with children, please let me know?” He stopped, wondering if Taman was going to pick up what he was dropping on her. She might not have, since he was the spy, not her.

  She was the one that had been training him though, so managed it with near perfection. It probably didn’t hurt at all that she was mentally pretty sharp.

  “I’ll suggest that then, coming to your place. We have a transport hut here, after all, so it won’t take but a few minutes. As for the port children… That sounds like it will be hard to put together, doesn’t it? There are twenty of them, many not having anyone in the world, so we do need to do something about it. It’s very good of Prince Alphonse and Sam Builder to see to their care and protection like they are. I’ll try to find someone. Perhaps from Soam? Itzel is kind that way, I think. There would be a language barrier that way though. Let me think about it? Now… Mother!” She pretended the woman wasn’t directly behind her, and even faked a small jump and squeak when the woman answered instantly.

  “Yes?”

  Taman laughed a bit, acting as if it were a shock to find another person right there with her. Again, the acting wasn’t great. It seemed a little phony and strained. If only to Will. It might, or might not, be enough to fool Laurie. The honest truth was that he didn’t know her well enough by half to truly understand how attuned to things like t
hat she might be.

  Still, his aunt went on, trying not to seem like she was making things up on the fly.

  “It looks like Postern is being set up for the Capital, which is why no one else showed up here. Willum is putting it together for us this year. Which means it’s a bit of a rush job, since he’s been gallivanting around like he does. I swear that boy… We need to be at the Black Tower at seven?”

  That was a bit tight, so he grinned, then shook his head.

  “Eight. Some of the kids are going to the events here first, to look around for a bit. I’m doing the work on the meal myself, since the servants have the day off. That’s only right. It’s Postern, after all. Still, we won’t starve. I have a good food unit and know how to use it, so bring your appetites!” There was a trap in Taman’s words, of course.

  She seemed fine though, on the hand-held screen, even if Karina was a bit stiff, as she drove the wagon for them.

  Willum smiled anyway.

  “I think we have Tam-Unit, Karina… Is Dareg coming as well?” He didn’t know, but Karina was his wife, which probably meant that Tam-Unit was their shared girlfriend. It made sense to him to include everyone, in that case. There had been hints in that direction already.

  The words got Karina, Princess of the Realm, to nod.

  “I think so. Hess as well?”

  That part got her to seem a little bit reticent, as if bringing in the leader of Mars to their family holiday meal would be out of place. It really wouldn’t be though. The being was wonderful and helpful as far as Willum had ever seen. Most of the aliens were.

  That meant it was Willum’s turn to nod, even if the woman couldn’t see him.

  “Right. I have some calls to make then, fast! So, at eight, I bet we’ll even have, oh, five or six people, even! Really, I should send you here off to the events and see to doing that…” Which would mean missing whatever the festivities were. He’d live.