Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15) (38 page)

Well, that was why she'd come early.

"I... need to run out for a bit, Roget. Would you stay here and speak to the Queen? She's the tall women over there. Your Majesty!" She waved and did her own scurrying now.

The woman spun a bit, having just been standing and waiting it seemed. She had a small decorative fan in her hands, that had delicately painted butterflies on it as a decoration. The room wasn't warm, and wouldn't be, since the ship would self regulate even when it was filled with people.

"Sara!" She didn't even guess at who Roget was, waiting to be introduced. She did flirt a bit with her eyes. Then, she liked short pale men too, didn't she?

"This is Roget Smithson, Ambassador from Tellerand. The real one this time. I... need to leave for a bit. I should be back in about half an hour? It's rude, but I realized that I'd forgotten something. Presents, after a fashion."

The Queen didn't ask for more information, since clearly it was important to Sara, or she wouldn't have mentioned it.

"Ah! Well, I'll stand here and entertain your Ambassador then, shall I?"

Strictly speaking he wasn't hers, but she nodded. It was better for people to think that than be too free with him, for the time being, until he learned to navigate the politics of Noram on his own.

"Thank you. I'll be back directly. After I get cleared by the gate again..." That was just going to happen, she knew. Every time you came in, you had to prove who you were.

She jogged away, and set up as soon as she found the space, calling Tor, since he was the one that she really wanted to see anyway.

"Sara! I was just thinking about you. Are you coming in tonight? Tiera said people were coming, but she didn't know who would be along."

"That's the plan. In fact, I'm headed your way right now. Would it be possible to have about two hundred space worthy shields waiting for me at the docking hangar? I just realized that I set up a whole bunch of people to go into space with nothing on them but good wishes and hopes that the air doesn't run out. Since we both know that can happen..."

There was a slightly manic grin then, from her love. Her heart flipped over a little when she thought that, but it was true.

"I'll have those. We... I might need to make them. That... I'll get something. See you in... Call it twenty minutes?"

Ten would be better, but no one could make two hundred copies of complex shields nearly that fast. That being the case she just
might
be late. Unless he could find the magic store. That had moved, and she didn't know if it had been set back up yet. Probably not, or Tor would have just gone there.

Cheating safety and a bit of sanity, she hurried things along and was not only at the Moon, but standing in the airlock of Harmony ten minutes later. It was the quickest she'd ever made the trip, by about twenty minutes. There was no one waiting for her, but she was a bit early, even if Tor made his schedule.

So she noticed when the six men and two women started smearing something on the outer wall of the space complex. It was three feet of solid stone, but she got the idea as the stuff started to melt away. Dripping slowly down to the off white floor. She didn't know what the compound was, but these people, looking like they were from several different lands, were clearly trying to let the air out.
Again
. That had been the trick that worked best for them, so it probably made sense to give it another try.

She didn't even yell at them, just sauntering over casually, making a large wooden cross appear around her neck, but not changing her clothing. Like she kind of suspected, once they saw that, the two lookouts, both small common looking men, with dark skin that marked them as being from her own home, relaxed.

She pulled her communications device, but smiled and waved to the men at the same time, staying out of earshot.

"Tiera. Go." She seemed worn down, and tired. That was a shame, since they were about to have some excitement. Sara bet it was Kristine that had done that, not the sudden party. Harmony had people to handle parties.

"Sara here. We seem to have eight people trying to make a hole in the wall of the hangar. Using some kind of acid or something. It seems to be working pretty well. I'm going to stop them, but could use some help? I can't get through their shields, you understand."

"The main bay? I'll have guards there in... Three minutes. Can you stall them that long?"

She didn't know, but did have an idea, even if it were a silly one.

"I can try? Let me see here..." She didn't hang up, just raising both her hands. Then calling out, she spoke as loudly as possible. "Praised be the All High! The one true God! Let all that speak His name, and hold Him in their hearts pray with me! Let all who hold Him in scorn and ridicule bear the shame of stillness and ignorance!"

Honestly, given that they were clearly trying to sabotage the entire air supply of Harmony, they
should
have either run or ignored her, but half the people turned and clasped their hands, while the other four looked at her as if she were an imbecile. They were the ones that didn't look to be from Tellerand. That was fair enough. It
was
about as stupid of a thing as could be said, wasn't it?

Still before anyone could react, Tor came, and looking at the scene, nodded. He had a nice full bag in his hands, that seemed to be made of silk. Rather than pull a weapon, the giant sank to his knees and looked at her, then set the bag down and clasped his own hands.

Sara smiled.

"Praised be the All High! The One God!"

To a man and woman, including Tor, they
all
answered.

Then they prayed together, for about three minutes, until the guard got there and took the people trying to let the air out, prisoner.

Chapter eleven

It was a race, after that to get back to the Palace in time. Like she'd figured, she was approached as she landed, and six royal Guards held weapons on her as the little craft landed. She'd left it just big enough for two people, and just answered the questions that were asked this time, staying relaxed.

"I was here earlier, but I had to go and get shields for everyone. For the trip? Then, when I was there on Harmony, Tor and I had to stop some people trying to melt a wall. It's not a good thing there. Very annoying, in fact. They'll be apologizing for weeks or longer."

Then they let her go, after glaring at her for several seconds.

The meal was nearly starting when she got in. She was met by the King personally, who took her arm, and escorted her to the top of the table. She was settled at his right hand, with Roget right next to her. On the far side of the table was an older gentleman, Count Isle. The senior male of that rank in the entire land. Next to him was an older woman that Sara recognized as his lover. His wife had died years before. Decades, actually. This woman had been around the entire time since.

It had come up in some of her lessons in school. They'd been given pictures to match to names. Her name was Leslie Timpet. There was nothing else that had stuck in her memory, but that one was firm and correct. The King gestured to her after everyone else settled into their seats.

"Thank you all. We'll be going into orbit shortly-"

Sara smiled, looked right at him, and held out the bag that Tor had given her. He went silent and seemed expectant.

"Yes, Ancient?"
That
had an awkward sound, but no one would doubt her place up near the top, even if she was new to the job.

"Shields, King Richard. Provided by Torrance Baker, made for the people here by his own will. They'll keep people safe even in the vacuum of space. I believe Timon Baker did the initial work on them?" They were hard to get, and almost no one that had managed to find one would lend it out, or sell it. "One for each person here. Including the staff."

The man smiled at her.

"Ah, is that where you were? Off getting those?"

"Yes, I went to Harmony for them." She didn't raise her voice, but it had gotten silent enough she didn't doubt people would get the point.

Just then they started to move upward quickly. The man took the bag, opened it, and called for the servers.

"Pass these to everyone please, regardless of station." He didn't take one himself, she noticed, nor did the Queen.

Casting her mind out, she could tell why. They both already had them. That made sense. They felt an awful lot like Tim, she noticed. Ones made by him personally. That wasn't too hard to understand, since he'd made millions of the things.

It took time, but they all were well enough guarded by the time the second orbit came around, and the servers started on the first wine. They had to stand, one by one, and taste the beverage, after testing it for poison. At least the ones that had devices for it. Hers was small, rectangular and on copper. One of the first ones that Tor had made, and given her himself. From the very first batch of ten that he'd made. It was really special to her.

Her mother had a habit of grabbing the devices gotten from Tor and running off with them, but this one she'd kept with her almost constantly the entire time. She'd be too hot, or even go without a shield if needed, or magical clothing, but this one thing was
hers
.

 No one noticed it.

The meal went well enough. The food was good, and she ate it hungrily, as did Roget, who was relaxed, even as they hung over County Harris. It was far enough away from the Capital that everyone got the idea. Especially after the whisper went up, given the location.

After the last course, Richard waved to one of the servants, who hurried from the room.

"Noram, has now entered the realm of space. This craft, a gift from Queen Tiera of the Moon, is not just a standard craft, but one of her new jump ships. Now, if you will follow me, I believe we can all watch this from the observation lounge?"

That was in the front of the ship, and was a sight that she was used to seeing. The room was crowded, with well dressed nobles and even a few servants from the Palace, standing in the back. In two great leaps, which she felt again, even before they took place, and the Moon went from normal looking and small, about like a coin, to filling the front viewing window.

People gasped.

"I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that we are now at the Moon. A different world. More, we've been invited in. It will, I understand, take some moments to land?" He looked at Sara, who nodded.

It had better at least.

Gemma didn't stint on the time, taking a whole fifteen minutes to get inside the hangar, and get the tube hooked up for them to walk through. Without waiting to see what the King wanted, Sara started explaining what was going on. It seemed like everyone was paying attention.

She led them to the entrance to Harmony, and then looked at King Richard.

"I think they're waiting for you, Sire?"

He leaned in, a kind smile on his face.

"Thank you, Sara. Call me Rich. I'm not actually your King, anymore."

Then they all went inside, to be met by a crowd of people, all of whom cheered.

Sara didn't have to go with them, so she looked around and found Tor. He was by his wife, but they both lit up when she walked over.

"Any news about the, um, little problem earlier? Or was it just vandalism?" A part of her kind of hoped for that one, to tell the truth. It wouldn't make sense, given the attacks, but it would be less difficult to explain. As it was, it seemed that the One God believers had been
trying
to mess up her event. To mess up King Richard's first visit to Harmony and create strife.

Ali who was blonde, pretty, and tall now, moved in and pressed her large chest against Sara's face. That wasn't on accident either. The woman was friends with almost everyone, after all. As good of friends as they wanted to be, too.

Hugging her back, she leaned in, went on tiptoe, and kissed her, then pulled back and did the same with Tor. He didn't let her pull away again though, holding her close.

"They gave us a lot of information, actually. We should be able to stop the attacks here, and possibly end them on Earth, if people will help us. Tellerand will be the hardest to break open. A lot of their people here were involved. Terry... isn't too happy about it. The young lady that he was planning to marry?" He stopped, as if not sure that Sara knew about that, though her eyes went wide.

"Magda? I was the one that suggested it. Her?"

Tor shook his head, sadly.

"Her mother. It's a crushing blow to her. Magda is the first person from Tellerand that's tried to learn magic, officially. She has special classes in it. I'm afraid she might leave the program now, especially if her mother is put in prison. Not that we really have one of those here. Just a little jail with two cells. No one knows what to do. There are others too. About fifty of them."

Sara took a deep breath, but didn't offer to take them to Mars. They needed
good
people for that kind of thing.

"I don't either. We need to stop them, but... We should try to make it happen without death. I'm not certain we can reason with them however. Their belief in their god trumps outside reason, logic, and fact. Even their own people probably won't be able to get them to leave off."

Ali shook her head and looked away.

"We can change them, can't we? We did it to Kurt. Kristine is having some trouble, but she's learning that not everyone wants to have sex all the time. It's new and different, but maybe we could make that kind of change to them? Allow them a chance to see reason?"

Sara didn't know.

Thankfully that wasn't her job.

"Well, after we get these things taken care of, I have to go off to Mars for a while. You two can come with me? After I get things set up, I mean. I... Think we should live together."

It made sense to her, and she nearly wanted to take it back the second it left her lips. Tor couldn't leave, and Ali, well, Tor was there, and had the Mage school to lead. His bakery too. He wouldn't let those go, or move them, just for her.