Crystal Core Read online

  Tamu leaned into him, companionably. Her body was both warm and soft in the correct ways. Not that she was pressing into him with intent. Her breast accidently brushed his arm however, so she could be seen on the device in his hand. It felt… Exactly like women did. That had probably been the plan when the girl had been created, so it made sense.

  “You should come with us, Willum. You can communicate from the vehicle as we travel, can’t you?” She looked at him innocently, since it was literally what he was doing at the moment.

  “I can do that. Good idea, Tamu. I should get on that, then. You have… How many people coming from there?” He thought it was three, but Laurie moved in and smiled at him.

  “Would five be all right? We’re expecting Gerent and Petra…” She seemed nearly diffident about it for some reason. He didn’t know either of those people well, but he nodded, since that wasn’t the point of the moment.

  “That would be lovely, if they’ll attend? Excellent. Eight o’clock, at my place, listed as the Black Tower on the transport system. See you!” Then he disconnected. Not because of his vast hurry, but due to the fact that Karina was starting to cackle wickedly in the background.

  “Oh, this is going to make mother angry, I bet. Well, it’s her fault. She shouldn’t have excluded half my people. Us simply organizing our own party at the last minute will be a nice slap to the face for her though. We even have important people coming already. Sara can come, can’t she?”

  For half a moment he thought she meant little Sara, from the IPB, only working out that she meant the Ancient of the Martian Circle as he spoke. They had the same name, even if they were very different individuals.

  “I think so? I need to get in touch to check…” Which would best be done by getting with Queen Tiera, of the Moon. Because that made sense.

  Tamu smiled then.

  “I can call her? Let me…” The woman closed her eyes, a pulse of information, which showed as a soft blue-white bulb of energy, moved out from her. It was the kind of thing that spoke of high powered magic being used. Most couldn’t see, or even feel it, but ever since he’d come back from the void the first time, Will had been able to.

  Then she opened her eyes, and smiled, about ten seconds later.

  “Sara! Willum Baker is holding a big Postern family feast at his black tower tonight. That’s in a bit less than three hours. You and Dareg are expected. Everyone is coming. I’ll get with Samantha and Eva next.” She was silent for a moment, then laughed, sweetly. “He seems nice, so far. You should meet. We’ll see you then… I don’t know…” She turned to Will then. “What style of dress is expected for this?”

  That was a thing, but while you generally wore your best clothing, or at least clean things, to the Postern meal, it wasn’t all that fancy. Not in Pine Creek, and that’s the kind of event they were having, nobles coming or not. To be honest, it was the only way he knew how to celebrate the event at all. If he tried it should be possible to dress things up a little bit and be fancy about it, compared to that. For the life of him, he realized, he couldn’t come up with even one reason why he’d do that, however.

  “Very relaxed. Anyone showing up in finery will be stripped and forced to run naked around the tower. Outside, and trust me, it’s getting chilly. You do not want to be the one doing that. Brrr.” He didn’t really know that, but the kids all seemed to think that was about right. That it was chilly enough that having clothing on seemed like a good idea.

  Not that they understood that Tamu was using her mind to connect with a communications unit directly. At a distance of millions of miles. It was impressive. Willum didn’t know if he could manage that, himself.

  The current plan seemed like a fine one, if extra work, so he took a deep breath, forced himself to focus, and found Tiera Bakers name on the device that was still in his left hand. Again, they’d met, but weren’t personally close. Probably not enough for a call out of the blue, even for an invitation. Then again, they were family and as his aunt, she was, in theory, close enough to him that doing that kind of thing wasn’t totally outside of what would be allowed. Even if she was a Queen.

  A sudden idea slapped at his brain then. In regards to the woman. It wasn’t exactly magical, but seemed like it wasn’t a thing that felt totally like himself, either. It was just an idea though. That the woman, a good person, wasn’t supposed to be leading directly. That she was, in the end, an Ancient first. Then, thankfully, that got set aside. Just as an image flickered to life.

  The rather ridiculously attractive woman answered very quickly.

  “What may I do for you today?” She barely even glanced at the device, which seemed to be mounted on her desk, instead of being held by her directly, which was the normal way of doing things like that. She wrote at the same time she spoke, for some reason.

  He rolled his eyes, and made a face, mainly to entertain the children. The adults all being busy talking had to be boring for them.

  “Postern dinner is at my place tonight. The Black Tower. You have to come, since it’s required. Everyone will be there. You know, family members and all that. In two and a half hours. Oh, also, see if the IPB people want to come. Sara, Lydia and Director Turner? Anyone else that wants to come as well. It’s for a real, if boring, party this time. Just so you know that they don’t all have to be fighters or anything.”

  She looked up then, and nodded. Somberly.

  “People from here as well? I have some friends, believe it or not. We were going to do a little thing for it, but if there’s an event… you could have given us a bit more notice, you know that, nephew?”

  That got him to laugh.

  “Nope. I really couldn’t have. I just learned that I was doing this about five minutes ago. Still, it will work. You can help me run the food unit, right? I mean, that’s what Queens really do, day to day, isn’t it? Help out with the lifting and toting, as well as party decorations and food?” It was absurd, but the kind of thing that the Baker family actually did to each other all the time.

  They dumped sudden work on other people, for no real reason. It was practically a tradition, for the extended relatives. Now that he thought about it, things had been more or less like that back home, in Pine Creek, growing up, as well.

  The woman, who looked to be perhaps twenty or so, actually grinned. As if she felt genuinely happy to be asked to work.

  “I bet I can manage that, with the food unit. After all, I invented the things. That should translate into a minor bit of skill in using them, I bet. We’ll see you then. Thanks. For remembering us up here. We tend to get lost in the press of life, as often as not.”

  Then she got off the line, since getting with another reality could take some time. As it was, any IPB people coming would probably have to run into the transport box, if anyone was even around to bring them at all. He could do it, but it wasn’t going to be fun getting all the work done at the same time. Really, he kind of needed to hurry everyone along, then enlist them as slave labor, as it was. Though Lith and Tab probably had to be getting home, as soon as they looked around for a few minutes. Not that they weren’t welcome at the meal, but they were apprentices. That meant they either lived at home and worked most days, or lived with their master.

  As soon as the device in his hand went blank, the Queen of the Moon vanishing, it glowed and buzzed at him. Meaning he was being contacted personally by someone. Which wasn’t impossible, but was strange enough to get his attention.

  It was a person he didn’t know at all. The look was familiar enough however, though he couldn’t guess at which Baker family member this particular man was. One of the tall ones, which meant magically altered at some point. By nature, the family was very short, for nobles. Some of them had decided not to bother staying that way, for some reason.

  “Greetings! Happy Postern!” Willum tried to sound chipper about it. After all, no one liked a sour face in their hand.

  The man answered instantly.

  “Happy Postern! I was told
that the family meal is in the Capital of Noram this year? At the Black Tower? Eva Canton got in touch, but I wanted to double check. I’m Terry Baker, is that open to all of us? We haven’t met, I don’t believe. I don’t want to press in, if it’s not convenient.”

  That sounded right, though it was actually hard to recall if they had or not. The man seemed familiar, but… Willum didn’t sigh, but understood that he’d seen him in a different reality. Running a small business, repairing automobiles. Which meant nothing in the current situation at all.

  Still, he let his face light up, as if suddenly very pleased. Which was, more or less, true. Terry Baker was famous, after all. As a wizard. Specifically, the one who had made the communications system everyone used.

  “That’s right. Exactly so, in fact. We look forward to having you.”

  The next half hour was filled with people reaching out to him, instead of him calling on anyone. When he finally got a break, he couldn’t rest, since he needed to get with some other people, just in case they could make it on such short notice.

  That call was actually easier in a way, since he could call on Ambassador Neesa first. She, as it turned out, was at her studies, on Mars, with her mentor, High Leader Hess. Four pink eyes looked out at him, the pointed doglike mouth filled with jet black teeth opening a little when she saw him.

  “Hello? This is Neesa, of the Ysidril.” She seemed pleasant, but a bit uncertain about who was in front of her.

  Willum had to make his normal pine tree emblem appear for her, since it was kind of clear she wasn’t getting who he was at the moment. Ysidril were brilliant as a rule, but that didn’t mean they could tell one lone human from another easily.

  “This is Will Baker, Pine Tree Emblem. There’s a party, for dinner, at my home. You’ve been there? The Black Tower, in the transport system. You and your family are expected. If you can, this is incredibly short notice, but it’s a family holiday, Postern, so you’re all kind of required to come and be bored with the rest of us. We’ll understand if you really can’t, but unlike most events here, we’ll probably have to look hurt and shake our heads if it doesn’t happen.” He did it, just in case she didn’t understand the idea.

  Which she did. If anything, the Ysidril used body language a bit more than humans did, day to day. Even if it was strange to her, she understood it. Even that he was joking. That idea came across clearly, even if reading her field from across the void of space seemed insane to think of. He was, it was clear, doing it anyway.

  “Ah? That sounds interesting. I shall inquire with my parents. Erath as well?”

  That got a quick nod.

  “Rik the botanist, too, if possible. Hess is coming, so his family is invited as well.” Which might mean thousands of people. If so, he was going to be in trouble. Regardless, he didn’t take the invitation back.

  Family was family.

  There was bouncing up and down then, indicating the girl was thinking. She was only just now an adult, by human standards, Will thought. About fourteen.

  “I shall do that now. When should we arrive?”

  That got covered fast, but after that, no one called him, for a moment, which meant he was able to look into the falling twilight and see what had sprung up as for a celebration. It was, frankly, amazing.

  There was a mountain, or a replica of one, that people were sliding down. In water. That had to be freezing, but from the steam rising from the small lake at the bottom it was heated at least. People in the distance were leaping into the air, as if flying, leaving glowing trails of light behind them. Others fought each other with glowing light swords, that reminded him a bit of the ones he’d seen in the movies, in a different world.

  There were about ten thousand people going from event to event, buying food from vendors and playing games of chance to win simple prizes.

  The kids all wanted to go and look around more, but it was time for Willum to bow out. At least if he were going to even attempt a real party.

  So, he did, literally. Bowing at the waist, going about halfway down.

  “I need to go and make sure there’s something ready in time. You all know to be there at eight? If you can. I get that some of you might have to leave first. You’re all welcome at the dinner, naturally.” Which was true enough.

  Then, shrugging, he took off the box amulet, around his neck and handed it to Tamu, since she was pressed up against him still. There was room for more spacing, but she didn’t seem to mean anything sexual by it. Some people were just cuddly like that.

  “This case has all those presents. They’re for the people here, not just family, so hand those out for me? Maybe make a show of it, or… I don’t know how that’s normally done.”

  Karina, made a long snorting sound that was probably supposed to be a laugh. It sounded mildly painful.

  “It isn’t done. Ever. We’ll have to have some kind of simple contests or something. What all do you have in there?”

  “Um…” He had to think, since there was a lot, really. “Lights, clothing amulets, communications devices, some houses. Make-up amulets. Ten of the new wagons. A few decorative pieces. Sculptures and water features. Things like that. No weapons or anything dangerous. I left those at home.”

  Some people weren’t allowed to have good weaponry or shields to protect themselves from harm. Those people were called commoners. That was probably so the nobles could always beat them in a fight, if it down came to it. As if being giants wasn’t enough of an edge for them.

  Which the Princess knew.

  “That’s impressive. We can do that, I guess. Kind of a tight time schedule. Let’s get to that? You kids should meet back here in an hour or so, if you want to get in on the free food. Which you should, if possible. This is a good party for making connections. There will be a lot of powerful people there.” The woman glanced at each of the kids in turn, locking eyes with Lith for a moment. Almost as if passing a message to him personally.

  There was music in the background, which sounded happy enough. Postern wasn’t really a thrilling holiday, most of the time. It was about family, and being together. Possibly about realizing that kind of thing was important. Which reminded him that he had people as well. The trick there was that he was jogging as he pulled his communications device out. Not breathing hard at all yet, only going about twice as fast as a regular person in a quick sprint. He had ten miles to cover, so needed to speed up a lot, if he was going to have any time to prepare left at all

  Who he connected with was his brother, Carl. That meant speaking in Home Tongue. Not that he wouldn’t be understood speaking any of the major languages. This one was just what you did with family. At least where they came from.

  “Happy Postern. Excuse the running. Anyway, dinner is at my place here in the Capital. In about an hour and a half. Everyone is expected, so drag them in?”

  His brother, who was often a bit shy around people, wasn’t that way with him, in particular.

  “That will go over well with Ma, I bet. She spent all day making food for us.”

  “Bring it? We should have… A few others, so anything will be good.” His mother was a good cook, after all. His little sister Diana was, as well.

  It took less time to get that going than most of the other calls had. His family had their traditions, but when someone needed you, you answered as well as you could. That meant they were packing things up before Carl let him go.

  Then he sped up, sprinting as fast as he’d ever run in his life. It wasn’t that hard, in that it didn’t hurt, and he had to dodge some people and jump over others while sticking the landing correctly, but about two and half minutes later he was back at his place, breathing harder than he had in a very long time.

  Interestingly, he realized that he wasn’t alone, as soon as he stopped moving.

  Technically he got the idea from about a quarter mile away, but the people standing there were partially hidden, since they were going in and out of his house already. Carrying things. They were fami
liar thankfully and family, in a way.

  People from the IPB base. Loaded down with food. That last part nearly even made sense, given who some of them were.

  Master Warren, dressed still in his daily work uniform, a white smock and a puffy hat that was always on his head while on the job, waved.

  Then he called out, in English.

  “Will! We heard there was a sudden party breaking out? For Postern? I have that name right? I have no context for it, but Queen Tiera wasn’t certain you could be ready in time, so we got Lydia to bring us in.” There was a grin from the man, who walked past Will, his arms filled with enough food to seem heavy for the fellow. Behind him, standing there and looking cute, was the woman in question.

  Lydia. One of the IPB’s secretaries. Now, apparently, a line walker as well.

  That got her hugged.

  “You did it? That’s incredible!” The light boned lady was picked up and spun around a bit. It was a big deal, and it was important to show enthusiasm when people had major things like that in their life. It had to be new, since she’d just started training a week before, in her world.

  Which probably meant she’d taken thousands of years to learn it all. They all did, in the end. You didn’t just become a line walker. You earned it. There was a hug for him as well, and a kiss on the cheek as he set her down.

  “Thanks! I have to admit, it was touch and go there for a bit a few times. The void is… Harsh, in a lot of ways.” She meant it, but waved at him a little. “I need to get some of the others. People are trying to sneak into your event, by pretending to be servers or cooks. That’s your fault, inviting some of us to your exotic world like this. Everyone wants to get in on it.”

  There was a wary tone in her voice and her attractive face, which was Korean in ancestry, which if he had it right was different than and related to being Vagish, seemed a little tense. Her mind was too hard to read now, since her mind was being held perfectly still, except for what she needed to stay alive and talk to him. Most people that spent a lot of time in the void could do that kind of thing.