Other Places 3: Detours (16 page)

"She's
still in Australia? I can pick her up when she's ready. Do you have the number
for here?"

That
got a shocked, but pleased look. The Alede were actually pretty good about
accepting that he'd just do things, since they often got nice gifts from
people.

"She
is! What would you like as for payment?" Her chest was pushed toward him
even more aggressively than normal, and managed to brush his arm this time. The
undercurrent of fear, tinged with panic, didn't really help though. It left him
feeling bad, or would have, if he hadn't already been locking all his negative
emotions down.

Smiling
he shrugged, trying to let his narrow frame make it seem cute.

"Well,
you know... You already paid. I'm pretty sure that last bit didn't count as
your mother being picked up, so you can use your Christmas present for it. Just
have her call and we'll set that up. Kaitlyn is on scheduling for that sort of
thing. Hiram too. You know him, right?"

She
didn't, but the idea was, of course, that she should, so he introduced them and
then ran to help an older woman who wanted a cookbook. She was just a regular
person, it seemed, and her only desire was to get a book that was about fifteen
years out of date, for a friend of hers.

"This
is too last minute, but she's hinted about wanting this thing for nearly twenty
years and her husband just hasn't gotten the job done. I didn't think you'd
have it either, but this was about the last place I could ask for it at."
Being that they were new and all. Of course that also meant that they didn't
have any books that were more than a few months old.

The
computer did let him know that there was a copy of the thing, unused, at a
bookstore in Topeka, Kansas. It was cheating, but he used the node and more
magic than the book would ever have been worth, to pick it up, pretending he
was just checking the back room for it. He had to rush, and technically stole
it from the other bookstore. He'd dropped cash by the register, but no one
would understand what it was for, he didn't think.

"Is
this the one?" He hoped so, otherwise he was going to look pretty stupid,
but it was a full color, and totally illustrated master's guide to making
cupcakes. That couldn't have too many copycats in the world, Zack figured.

"Oh!
Oh! That's it! You found it!" She didn't jump up and down or grab him,
which meant that Hiram was allowed to ring it up. They did charge full price
for it though. After all, they were a business, not a charity.

Then,
after another snack, a tiny and twitchy Bat woman came into the store. This
time it wasn't Madeline, though she was due in soon, but rather her niece,
Calley. From the look on her face she wasn't coming to score with an Alede,
either. Or him.

"Line
Walker... A word, if that's all right?" She was very serious sounding,
which, given the fact that, even after finding out he wasn't Human she'd
always
called him Zack, at least to his face, probably meant she'd been asked to get
him to do something that he wouldn't like.

"Sure.
What's up?" There was no reason to take his slightly down mood out on her.
After all, he was planning on sleeping with her, eventually. If nothing else
she was decently friendly and had a tight looking body. All the Bats did.
Including her Aunt. Of course, Calley wasn't his employee. Not that he wouldn't
sleep with people just because of that. After all, Demon. He made his own
rules, or would, as soon as he worked out what that was supposed to really
mean.

"Jahn
Samson called, or rather, he had people call for him, since he's at the summit?
His little girl, Frieda, the youngest? She's got an earache and needs some
drops for it. The Ettarians have a perfectly suitable substitution, but that
won't do for his wife. She insists that you bring the medicine right away. Or,
rather, she's demanding it, and no one else can get it there in time to help. I
wouldn't blame you for telling her to jam it up her ass, but... Well, my job is
to get this done. So, do you want anything I can get you?" She snapped her
fingers and smiled, "
I know
! You can take that bitch of a Rabbit as
your slave and then I won't have to deal with her again. At
least
make
her do a porn shoot with Humans or something. She's such a bigot I bet she'd
kill herself first. Either way,
I
win." The words came fast, and
too freely for an Assistant Ambassador. At least if she wanted to keep her job.

"That
sounds like a plan. Still, the girl needs something. Can you get the meds? I'll
deliver those directly. A million, cash. Out of
her
personal budget. I
don't care if she has the funds or not, she can make payments. I'm just getting
sick of being mistreated by her. Hey, speaking of Vampires, I need to get my
night shift outfitted. Roland and Rowan? Have you met yet?" Not that there
was time, but it was a good distraction, since her eyes were huge looking
behind her glasses. It was kind of cute, really. Like a cartoon lemur.

"Nooo,
not yet. We can do that, as part of this. A million from her personal funds?
Ouch. Still, I was just suggesting how to push her into suicide, so I can't
really talk. Can I mention the porn thing as a secondary option? I'm pretty
sure that our leaders don't have that kind of money sitting around. In fact, I
know it, since all our governmental funds are held in common trust. Probably to
stop things like this from happening." She grinned though, clearly far too
happy to be needling the wife of her top boss.

He
nearly relented, not wanting to have to put that together, but he realized that
it either wouldn't happen, or if it did, he could use the
threat
of it
as leverage to get the woman to behave.

"All
right. Do that." Then he held out his hand, which had the woman dig for a
small paper sack that was sort of hidden under the clipboard she was holding.
As if anyone would miss what that meant? Then, just to make it all happen, he
took her along, so that she could deliver the medicine herself, at least to the
tall and decently handsome Ettarian man that was waiting by the node.

'Line
Walker. I see my message was understood? It's always a bit hard to know for
certain, using a booster. I tried to contact the Westfield Ambassador, but I
think I missed and got another location. Still, as long as the horrible little
rat woman shuts up, it was worth it.' He blinked slowly after sending the
thoughts, and Zack nodded back that he understood, responding in the same way.

'This
is Calley Hale. She's sweet, but still has to go and deliver the medicine. Can
you get her there? I'll be back to get her in an hour, if that's enough time?'

'It
will be done, Line Walker.'

The
man couldn't communicate with Calley directly, so some explanations were in
order. The Bat girl cringed, but didn't explain why that was. Not at first.
Finally, just before Zack left, she touched his arm.

"For
those clothes?" There was a lifted brow and a desperate tone to the words,
but he shook his head.

"Heck
no. That's just payment for your people putting a spy in my place of business.
We'll call
this
transfer an investment in your future. You owe me
though. Big time."

She
made a face, but was already there, so left with the tall, very blond, Ettarian
man.

Really,
if all went well, he'd have enough time for a long lunch and then be able to
pick her back up. If it didn't, well, he was going to eat anyway.

It
killed time and was a chore, but a needed one for someone like him. How the
rest of them managed, he didn't know. How he'd done it for years without
pain... Well, he
did
know that one. Mirror Him had protected him from
anything that would let him remember what he was,
including
hunger. Now
that things were integrated, he recalled having done it, daily.

Lunch
was several chickens, since he needed more protein in his diet, and a lot of
buttered bread. It was fresh and crusty, but also made a mess of his desk. That
meant he had to clean up before getting his Bat girl back. That she was his now
was a bit strange, but it was the plan, wasn't it? It explained why he was
pressing her to be around Jahn, and his wife. Being the one that got the job
done and who, after he horribly worried the Rabbit shifter that was being a
problem for a while, the Bat woman that nobly sacrificed her
own
virtue,
taking the bitchy Rabbit's place in porn. Literally sacrificing her tender ass
to protect the evil harridan. If that didn't boost her up the ranks of their
power structure, Zack would have to think a lot less of them.

Unless
they ponied up the cash. In that case, he'd let it go and simply figure that
the message would be well enough delivered.

Calley
was, helpfully enough, waiting for him, when he got back to the summit, along
with three Vampires, and a Cellephant. The last was a very Human looking
person, who was actually part reptile, appearances aside. Before he could say
anything at all, Calley did, gesturing to the assembled individuals.

"Line
Walker, these people asked me to request your aid? The Vampires here need more
blood, and while they can pay for it, they can't actually afford the line
travel fee to get it here. Which, since you charge a million for a tiny bottle
of ear medication, makes sense. This lady also has a food issue, and requests
both a trip to her home caves and return here, so that she might harvest some
fungus to eat?"

The
reptile woman, who looked a little yellow, in the right light, hissed, her
heavy frame shifting under her robe. That was, Zack guessed, due to her tail
twitching. Agitated for some reason.

"Is
for supplement. The light here, is too much. Use to dark, am I." There was
a slight hiss to the words, but one of the Vampires, who looked to be pretty
old, and had been when he was turned, nodded.

"That
is a thing that I have felt as well. They do much with light here. It is
spectacular, and a true feat, but hard on the eyes."

Zack
could see that. The very walls glowed in places, after all. It gave things a
very futuristic feeling. Like something from a science fiction movie. Looking
around for a few seconds, he nodded.

"I'll
see to those things. The blood will be delivered shortly. I'll contact the
needed people as soon as I get in. Ma'am? If you'd like to come with us? We can
go to those caves directly?" It took a bit to organize, and then longer,
since the Vampires wanted to know what the blood shipments were going to cost
them.

In
the end, after far too long standing there chatting about the idea, they worked
out that one case of delivered blood would be worth approximately ten million
dollars to them, given the shipment method. They didn't have that kind of
money, not for things like that, so he traded them other things. They owed him
information mainly, and some back up, if he ever had a war or minor skirmish he
wanted seen to. It never hurt to have friends, so he memorized all their
information and got Calley back to the mall, before taking a trip through
several miles of subterranean caves. It was a lot more impressive than he would
have figured, since there was an entire underground world to look at. They
didn't see anyone, but he could feel the beings watching them.

It
was interesting.

The
mushrooms
weren't
really, being the thready portion that normally
existed in the soil, as far as surface dwellers like him were concerned. The
good part, no doubt. At least the reptile woman next to him, who he realized
after a while was projecting the image of a Human at him pretty hard, seemed to
think so. She kept sneaking bites as she worked, and looked at him guiltily, as
if he'd have a problem with that.

As
they walked out of the cave complex, she stopped and made a move that felt like
a shrug, even though it was more of a bobbing at the knees.

"There
are medicinal fungus that we have, that no one on the surface does. Would this
be a trade worth your time, for your efforts here today?"

He
didn't know, but nodded. If nothing else he could let Master Wu-Li and his
Apprentice try them out.

"It
would. We can arrange a time to pick those up, after the Summit? I know you
must be anxious to get back to the rooms full of shouting and ego
displays."

There
was a long hiss, a thing that didn't sound happy at all.

"They
do say that Greater Demons know everything, even if they are not there. You
have the correct idea however. Why they do not simply listen to those saying
'let us not fight' and go home, I cannot tell."

Zack
knew though, when he thought about it.

People
lived in separate worlds, without understanding that they did. Their minds were
all geared toward their own concerns, and even most of the others, the cousin
races, had similar things going on. They were selfish and vain, petty and
distorted reality to try and make it fit what they wanted, rather than what
was. Even Greater Demons did that, he knew. He certainly did.

Of
course, he was still at least a little bit crazy, wasn't he? For his kind, that
meant ignoring reality in favor of what they wanted to exist. He could do that
with the best of them, he didn't doubt. The trick there, if he wanted to
survive, would be in finding out when he was doing it and where. If he could
manage it, he might even, sometime in the far future, become sane.