Wine of the Gods 05: Spy Wars (10 page)
Read Wine of the Gods 05: Spy Wars Online
Authors: Pam Uphoff
Fifteen
10 June
3478 / Late Spring 1361 Local
Karista, Kingdom of the West, Comet Fall
Lefty settled into the chair across the desk from his boss. "
How closely are you watching the Earthers?"
Rufi gritted his teeth. "We've come to the conclusion that we've been suckered. They drove through the pass in one of those gyps of theirs, ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere and sold gems to hire teams of horses to pull them into towns where they bought distilled alcohol to fuel the gyps with. They pulled up to the Palace and said they had a reply from the President of Earth. Jerold Hastings and Ivan Kolnavik of the Department of Native Affairs."
Lefty wrinkled his nose. "Oh. Them."
Rufi nodded. "We've lost your spies. There were, at about the right time to be the Earthers, two Traveler's wagons that crossed the pass. But we didn't bother tracking them, as the Earthers had already blown by. Checking later, our watchers in Bridgeton never saw them. By the time we realized they'd actually detoured through Ash, the trail was cold. They passed through on the solstice, with all the witches up on Mount Frost, and no one else recognized them for what they were. None of the Karista Gate guards remembered Traveler's wagons. We're keeping our eyes open, checking Havwee for instance. But we haven't spotted them."
Lefty winced, as much at the general's tone as the content. "There really isn't much we wouldn't want them to see. And what we hope, that they'll find no One World influence, they hardly need help with. Here, at any rate. If they get people into Fascia it would be a different story." He made a face. "And the Travelers wagons may be a dead end too. They may have just used our rig for practice, and plain wagons for the infiltration. Or they could have hiked in on a foot trail and bought wagons. Or they just learned to drive wagons as a skill they might need."
Rufi sighed. "At any rate the people you had picked as the infiltrators-in-training, that have disappeared from their camps over there, fit the descriptions of the Travelers that passed through Ash. So we know who to look for.
" He raised his head suddenly.
Lefty looked around—two pages were scowling at each other in the doorway.
Rufi held out both hands and received two folded sheets of paper. He scanned them both quickly, then nodded to one boy. "Tell the King I'll be there directly." Then he turned to the other. "Please tell the King's Mage that I will send someone to keep the terrors out of trouble, and see him at the meeting."
The boys trotted off, still jostling for position.
Rufi grinned. "How would you like to go down to the dock and meet Oscar and Bran? They've just gotten close enough for Selano to notice them. Or feel them or whatever you lot do."
"It's closer to vision than anything else. Like thinking you've seen a far off light house through the fog.
What should I do with them?"
"Keep them out of trouble? The meeting shouldn't take long. Buy them a beer and make them walk? I'll leave it to your ingenuity, to decide what they need."
"They're mages. I know what they think they need."
Sixteen
1 April 3478/ Early S
ummer 1361
Karista, Kingdom of the West, Comet Fall
Damien enjoyed the one day a month he didn't work. So to speak. In the early dawn they drove the bear wagon
away from town, and from a different spot each time, sent a micro burst repot, and received one in return. Mike swore their satellites could locate their transmission down to a kilometer radius, and aim the return signal right back at them. In any case, it worked. The remainder of the day he generally took anyone who wanted to get away from the wagons and drafty shed into the city. He wound up at the Sooty Duck for lunch, as often as not. They knew a bunch of the regulars by sight, already.
Jeinah brought them
another round, managing to brush up against Max. "Code doesn't talk about anything but your horses. I think he's hoping to get a wagon himself, and start earning the kind of money you lot make."
Damien nodded. "He's a good kid. Reliable."
She snickered. "I shouldn't laugh, though. He's not thieving anymore, and I didn't think that was possible. My little brother, an honest hard worker." Her eyes tracked something behind him and lit up. "Oh, ho. Right off a ship!"
Damien winced.
She's too damn young to be a whore.
Max scowled at the newcomers, then hastily looked away. Damien glanced over his shoulder, then turned away casually, and did not stare at Lefty Lebonift.
"Stay and watch him." He barely breathed it. Max nodded. Damien
let someone elbow him away from the bar. Their tab was paid, so he stepped outside, and walked away. Turned a corner and turned on his radio, shoved the receiver bud into his ear.
<<
Anyone here? Lebonift is back in town, perhaps we can trace him? >>
Mike answered immediately. << I'm on. Where is he? >>
<< Sooty Duck. Max is watching him. >>
Mike's voice faded as he spoke away from the pickup. Others of the team must be with him.
Damien sauntered off toward the government buildings, cutting over until he was on a route one would ordinarily take, from the Sooty Duck to either Council Hall or Palace.
<<
Got him, still eating and drinking. His buddies ran off for a quickie with the pros. I'll get closer. >> Max's voice sounded in his ear.
Carl
's voice joined in a moment later. << His friends are back, one blonde and one redhead, all three in uniform. I think the redhead is named Bran. >> There was a long silence. << The blonde is Oscar. >>
<< Take notes, don't talk. >> Mike cut in.
<
There was a long silence.
<
Damien turned and walked further, and as the spread-out watchers collected and checked the trio of
natives he realized that they were indeed headed for the government buildings. Damien strolled out into the big park that separated the hill of the Council Hall from the hill of the Palace. Both complexes fenced off a square mile, and were separated by this quarter mile wide park. He placed himself to be able to view the front of the Council Hall, and if he hustled, would enable him to see the front of the Palace.
Allie was the closest when the trio failed to turn in to the Council Hall, and Damien got up from his bench.
<
"Right." He strolled like he had a lot of leisure time, aiming vaguely for the south side of the Palace complex. The offices of the King
's Own were on the street that ran east-west just to the north of the Palace. They were the Palace Guards, the bodyguards of the royal family, their military intelligence unit and several mobile platoons that could be sent about the kingdom at need. But why were the trio of natives cutting diagonally to the south?
Lebonift had been seen leaving General Rufi Negue's residence, two months ago. The General lived in a separate mansion
around the corner south of the main palace building. Right. Damien turned to be certain of staying out of their sight. "They may be headed for Rufi Negue's mansion. Can anyone get sight of it?"
<
Damien reached the southern edge of the park and strolled west. He spotted the trio and turned away. Lebonift walked like he meant it, and the other two trailed him by a bit. Damien kept the trailing redhead in the corner of his eye, as he turned and admired some roses, then walked back into the park a bit. From behind thin bushes that he th
ought would prevent recognition he could see the trio turning along the southern boundary of the palace grounds. He found a convenient spot with a view of the intersection, and proceeded to attempt to look relaxed and unimportant. For three hours.
The other seven walked by, took cabs by, and Max
fetched the wagon from the Sooty Duck and drove by it once. Mike and Allie, strolling hand in hand and stopping for a kiss, caught Lefty's exit.
<
<
<<
I think that was the fellow the Dallas people called the Auld Wulf, at the Battle in the Canyon. He's gone all grey, but the height is right. And the disappearing act.>> Mike sounded unsettled.
<<
I've got pictures.>> Allie said. <
Damien spotted them coming his direction and walked away himself. They all met where Max waited with the wagon.
They drove back out to their shed, cursing the time spent in slow travel.
Damien
looked at Allie's pictures, called up all of the reference photos they'd brought along.
"That's him.
The Auld Wulf. Damn." Mike scowled at the picture. "But we know to look for him now, and that height will make him easy to spot. I think we may have just seen the difference between a half breed and a real Oner. So, what did they talk about in the bar?"
"
Just about grabbing Selano, before going to a brothel for a real orgy. Guess a quickie wasn't good enough. Lefty said he's a respectably almost married man."
"That got quite a laugh." Max took over the commentary. "The other two seem
ed to think the guy's wife is a real terror, and the man lives in fear of her. Lefty looked pretty smug, I didn't catch all of his reply. Something about magicians and orgies."
Allie drummed her fingernails on the bench. "I've only heard, well, read, the name Selano a few times, and every time it was Selano Discorski, the King's Mage. Apparently an advisor. So . . . was it some other Selano, a joke, or do these guys socialize with the king's advisors?"
"We know they report directly to the head of the military." Damien shrugged. "But perhaps the so-called magical community is small and close?"
"And strange." Allie said. "The Auld Wulf is one of the names for the God of War. Maybe the Oners have taken advantage of the local mythos, and slipped into the roles of the local gods."
1361
Late Spring
Ash
, Kingdom of the West
Never hadn't worked in the Tavern for years. Just dining here made her home sick.
All the time I've spent away from here, for so many years. The Earthers will be changing all of that. The Army will probably take over exploring completely. Civilian volunteers will probably be given short shrift.
Lefty was in co
ntact with the string of observation posts; no doubt they would eventually hear what the king wanted done about the Earthers.
But it hasn't been all bad.
Without our trip to Earth, Question wouldn't have Jek, wouldn't have thought about potions for everyone. I wouldn't have had my understanding of history blown to itty bitty bits.
Never brought her thoughts back to the present.
They looked like a proper family, husband and wife, son and daughter, another child clearly on the way. All sitting down together for dinner at the Tavern. Idea and Kindly were cooking, and Harry's current strays, twin girls aged about thirteen, and Weg were serving. Of course her mother and grandmother wouldn't let Dydit set foot in the house, and tried to keep her so busy that unseemly things like dining together would rarely happen. And they tried to ignore all the time they spent together exploring.
She reached out and took Dydit's hand, distracting him from his study of the merchants who had invaded their village. He'd been as proper a father as a man could possibly be to her daughter, and loved her deeply and completely. Why was she still living with her mother?
Where could she build a house to tempt him away from living in Nil's wizard tower? She couldn't see him living in the village. Nil had moved far enough away that he didn't have to worry about Dydit or Question losing control of the power they were learning to wield in huge amounts. Never needed to keep that in mind. Not that she'd ever seen Dydit lose control, but . . .
She needed to also consider the kids' schooling and friends.
I need to be close, for my own training, and working with the pyramid.
Actually there were little hot springs all through the
hills, following a fault zone thousands of miles long. She could search along there first.
"I'm going to be scrambling around in the rocks uphill from your tower tomorrow. Why don't you hunt me down tomorrow morning?" she smiled alluringly at him.
He made an uncertain noise, and eyed her suspiciously.
"I'll bring lunch."
Big white granite boulders shoved up out of the ground, and pine trees somehow found space for roots in between house sized
rocks. A shaded damp nook was filled with ferns.
It was one of her favorite places in the mountains.
"Too high though."
"Too high for what?" Dydit asked.
She spun around in surprise. "You're early." She wasn't surprised that he was naked. The terrain was tailor made for goats.
"Nil said I was too distracted by impending fatherhood to learn anything and sent me away." Dydit leaned over and kissed her, slowly and gently, arms wrapping her shoulders, then sliding down her back. "Too high for what?"
"Building a house. I've decided I don't really want to spend the rest of my life living with my mother. I’m hunting geysers." She ran her hands over his shoulders and felt the play of his muscles as he thought it over.
"There's a little geyser about a mile down hill. You could have it for your very own, and this place a short walk away."
"Really? I don't remember anything near here."
She followed him through thickets and down steep slopes and into a rocky clearing with a tiny steaming hole. "Goodness. It's a baby geyser. It looks like a teapot."
"We could dig out a pool for it, if you liked." He shifted uneasily and walked off. "House over here would catch the winter sun. Little barn there if you wanted to keep a horse or two up here."
She followed and turned where he'd indicated a house. Mountains on the left, clear views between trees to the south and west of hundreds of miles of empty sky and forest. Downhill, it was two miles to the road, maybe another mile to the Wizard's Tower. "Hmm, this is definitely a possibility." She shrugged off her backpack and sat down to extract food.
He wandered off, frowning a bit, came back dressed, and sat beside her, sneaking looks her way, and played with his food. "So, am I allowed to live in this house you are contemplating?"
"That was the main goal of having my own house," she admitted.
His smile bloomed, and he scooted over to wrap himself around her. "Answer and Happy will throw fits."
"Let 'em," Never shrugged. "What are they going to do? Toss me off the Pyramid?"
"Nah, but I think I'll drop even further in their opinions." He snorted. "I distinctly heard you think 'not possible.'"
She snickered. "It probably isn't. So, let's talk house design. I need to sleep on the ground, and you need sunshine. So our bedroom had better be, umm, about right here . . ."
***
"We've watched them build plenty of times." Rustle grumbled. "There's no reason to send us away."
Havi sniffed. "You're going to get into trouble again, aren't you?"
"No!"
Havi shook his head. "Me and Primo are going fishing. See you later. If you haven't gotten killed, like Dad swears you're trying to do."
She stuck her tongue out at him, then turned for home. She lived with her mother, grandmother, great grandmother, half aunt and half great aunt.
For maybe another couple of weeks. Once the house was finished, she'd have a bedroom all her own. Havi would be her brother all the time, not just when they were out exploring. And in two months she'd have a baby sister.
The r
est of the witches were mad at mother for wanting to go off and live with Dydit out in the forest. And they all kept telling Rustle about how awful it was, and how she could still live with Answer. She wasn't even a member of the Pyramid yet, and it felt like they were tearing her apart. She didn't want company. She didn't want anyone telling how it would be all right. She slipped into her room and put on her toughest pair of pants and a shirt that was already ripped. This felt like a hike in the mountains and tree climbing sort of mood.
She managed to sneak back out without being seen, and headed for the forest. She veered away from the witches hotsprings, and crept up to see what the Auld Wulf was doing.
He hadn't been around much this spring, and he wasn't in sight today. It seemed like an excellent opportunity to spy, so she crept through the neatly ordered ranks of the grape vines. No sign of the god at the house, nor in the back at his own hotsprings. There was a shed, a small barn, actually, big double doors wide open. She checked and found it empty.
Sort of. There was something on the wall. Behind an illusion.
Irresistible. She put a hand through the illusion, and followed it into something that sucked her flat and suffocated . . . there was a little white hole and she reached for it, pulled it to her, except it pulled open like ripping cloth and dumped her on the hard rock.
She had a fast impression of a big black horse spooking and twisting around so the swordsman on his back had a good angle to swing at her. She scrambled out of reach of the sword, looking for a place to run.
"Little Rustle, how did you do that?"
The voice stopped her in mid-flight. The Auld Wulf. Of course.
"I saw an illusion on your shed wall, and I sort of fell into it, and saw the hole and opened it and fell out."
The huge horse snorted as if amused. Her eyes widened as she realized she was finally seeing
The
War Horse. The one everyone said He had, but she'd never seen. The one that He rode when He was summoned to a battle. The stallion was huge. So black he almost wasn't there.
The Auld Wulf dropped to the ground; the horse was big even next to him. "This is Jet." He pulled something off his saddle and carried it to the nearest rock wall.
Rustle pulled her gaze away from the magnificent horse and looked around. "Why are you riding down the Rip?"
"I'm taking a magic Corridor to the Earth gate." He touched four spots on the canyon wall, forming a rectangle of foggy light.
Rustle squinted and sort of saw the inside of the barn, and the vineyard beyond the open doors. "Why is it so foggy?"
"Because you can see the energy of the Corridor. Most people could see the other side as clearly as looking through an open window. Corridors are just stretched out bubbles, which you probably won't be able to see until you
have gotten a bit older and better trained. This one will make it easy for our people to go back and forth, spying on the Earthers. I can open them anywhere, but I have to pull the other end out to where I want it." He nodded at the vineyard. "Of course, I can go home whenever I want. And switch horses, so Jet doesn't have to do it all himself."
The horse gave another expressive snort, and the Auld Wulf laughed. "But of course he could, if I didn't want to give some other horses the exercise."
"What does a bubble look like? Is it one of those?" Rustle poked at one of the things she'd been almost-seeing lately. It ignored her and floated on by.
"Yep. What did your parents do to deserve a child so precocious?"
Rustle eyed him uncertainly, wondering if this was praise or disapproval.
"Your father can see them, too. But he doesn't want to. So ask one of us, if you have questions. Right now, though, you're going to go home." He pointed at the foggy rectangle, and she stepped through. Looking back, she could see him through the fog as he picked up the corners of his doorway and it shrunk back down to a bright dot.
She trotted back down the hill to the village, and climbed in her bedroom window. He'd said she had to go home, not that she had to report in to a relative and get another lecture. She flopped on her bed and thought about magic corridors, and those bubbles she could sort of see, but hadn't managed to catch.
Yet.
She heard voices and looked out the window on Ask's side of the room. The visiting Mages, Oscar and Bran, who were probably Cor, Brad, Vala and Kett's fathers, and the old mage that worked for the King walked down the board walk. Probably going to the Grange barn. Were they going to have a compass tonight?
The mages were fun to spy on. Easier to fool than the Auld Wulf, as well. All the older kids spied on them, especially the mage girls. The mage boys were generally in the barn, even the ones that hadn't grasped power yet. Mages' power sort of came in gradually, there weren't any big sudden jumps, like witches had.
She slipped out of the window and headed for the white hill, where the mage girls tended to hang out. Most likely the little girls would be planning on sneaking a peek. Which of course they were, b
ut their mothers showed up and chivvied them off.
Rustle retreated, too. If the mothers were participating it meant there'd be an orgy. Ick! Maybe she should give up and go fishing after all.
