Goddess of the Moon (Young Ancients: Tiera) (23 page)

"It's
even warm! Just right too. Perfect! Do another one?"

That
meant getting
another
plate. Or dumping the food, but that seemed like a
waste. Though it could go back into the other side easily enough.

Sam,
being a builder, just got up and walked to the thing, whistling in a low,
smooth tone. Kurt however sat up and bounced a little in place.

"I
can have anything?"

Tiera
grinned, not really meaning it.

"No,
we can
try
anything, what you get might well not be what you wanted, if
you get too fancy. It will get as close as it can. Pretty much just things that
I know how to make, or at least have eaten before. That's a good range, but
isn't everything at all."

"Hmmm....
I'd like a thin sliced steak, with candied peaches on the top, and frozen cream
on the side." Because, obviously, he was a sick, sick individual. Still, closing
her eyes and trying to focus, she made the effort.

It
came out. It looked horrible, and like anyone trying to eat it should vomit,
but Kurt tried it all, using his fingers.

"That's
a hard order, but it
did
it. That's impressive." He picked at the
things a little, and proclaimed each one to be correct tasting, but Tiera stole
the plate back and dumped it in the hopper. It was dirty still, but Sam didn't
mind that, not being as picky as some in the room, that way.

Or
maybe he was, since he produced a stack of Guideware plates and handed that
over. It was a trick of course, since it might not have worked, the magic of
the flatware conflicting with her new build. Luckily nothing exploded, or even
reacted at all. She simply made a single slice of white cake, with soft white
frosting on it. It came out perfectly centered in the middle of the thing. Sam
used silverware, that he made with the tap of a sigil, and waved at Sara.

"She
should try. It looks like you're concentrating pretty hard to get this all
done. Can a non-builder use it? That will make a difference."

That
turned out to be the case, though presentation did vary. When Sam tried it,
everything looked a bit like it had come from the dining hall. When Karen did
the same dishes, they came out with garnishes and the finest placement
possible. Sara and Tiera did fine and Kurt was a disaster all the way around.
Part of that was probably down to the fact that he ate really bizarre things,
when he could. When they were done Tiera held the bag under the hopper, near
the bottom and tapped the release sigil, which filled the sack again. Most of
the material was still there even. She just didn't want to mess up her floor.
After running out to empty it, dumping some food along with other things,
behind her dorm, she came in and tapped the three lines on the tile. It wasn't
great looking, being kind of plain, that way, but the magic worked. She felt
relieved, to tell the truth.

She
hadn't really believed it would work at all, but it was a decent build. Maybe
even better than that.

Sara
tossed an arm over her shoulder.

"So,
Countess Baker, I don't suppose you need a girlfriend do you? Maybe one that
you could set up with a few of these?" She winked. "Just kidding.
Though if you're looking to sell them, we could probably get more for each
than... Call it ten thousand gold? The only reason it would be that low is
because no one could afford more than that right now."

She
shook her head.

"No.
I'm giving them away. I can only make so many, and even if the Lairdgren Group
does too, well, yeah. Things are too tense to charge for them. People need food
and will for long time."

That
got a nod from Sam, who held a hand out for one of the tiles. He got ten
though. Without hesitation, Kurt tried too, only to receive one. Sara did too.
Karen didn't try for one herself, but got tossed a tile anyway.

"For
your sister, the Countess? Tell her it's from us."

That
got Sara to perk up.

"I...
missed that. I don't think we've met? I mean last night, but I'd remember the
face."

Tiera
furrowed her brow, acting like she didn't get why Sara would miss who the
incredible looking short haired woman was.

"Karen
Derring? Didn't you know she really looked like this? Put your disguise on
Karen." She had to dig through her things, but after a minute was the much
plainer and almost manly girl again. She took the thing off and set it aside
though.

Sara
blinked. "Okay, I did
not
see that one coming. You probably thought
I was acting strange all night then, didn't you?"

"A
bit." Karen winked at the other girl. "But I was wondering how long
it would take you to figure it out. I'll pass this to Heidi." She hefted
the tile, as if it had weight and then tucked it into a pocket.

Tiera
set aside a nice stack of the things and took a few with her, then loaded the
slightly dirty sack from earlier with the rest.

"For
the Space Fleet. Well, a few are for the new colony." Standing she headed for
the door, knowing that she was going to be walking the whole way, or suspecting
it. Except, while
she
didn't have a Fast Craft, and Karen didn't offer
hers, they all had flying gear. Kurt had old style copper, showing it was early
Tor work, but the rest had the newer stuff that Tim had made. Even going slow
for the blond boy, they were there in a few minutes. It was only about five
miles away, if you flew.

They
had to land outside the wall. Or, more to the point, Tiera didn't know if that
was the case, but didn't want to accidently be taken out of the air by a craft
suddenly taking off. They went decently slow for that, but it only took one
pilot behind schedule to make her day a little less fun. That meant walking in
past guards, who, after looking at them, didn't particularly want to let them
in. One man seemed to be from Vagus, but wasn't the same one she'd seen before.
He spoke better Noram standard however.

The
other one was...

Tiera
didn't really know. She was a little taller than a regular commoner, and had
pale skin, like she did and almost the same color hair. She also had a cross
on, outside her clothing. That was just the regulation black jumpsuit, with
teal stripes for both of them, which was nearly the lowest rank, Tiera thought.

They
were going to be blocked totally it looked like, until her older friend that
had taken her up a few days before, noticed her and waved, then came over.

"Ah,
my Noram friend! I heard from Captain Peterson that you actually did it? A
space drop at night? Have you come to do it again? It's a bit early right now,
but later... A lot of people are interested in seeing it done. Most of the
Elite Noram fliers haven't gotten a chance to try it yet."

She
shook her head then stopped.

"Well,
I could lead them through it if, they want? I was just bringing in some new
food units? I mentioned that to you, I think? Here, let me show you how to use
them, and then you can pass them out." They did it outside the gate, which
still had a lot of people running over to see. Then to sample things. It was,
she thought, a hit.

Walter,
which turned out to be her new friend's name, gave her a
very
funny
look.

"You
can turn dust into food? Amazing. Simply... I can get these around to everyone.
You said you wanted some for the lunar base? Harmony?"

She
nodded. "Is that the name? It's pretty. Yes, to answer the question. I
have more to go up, but I can send those in a few weeks. This is just so that
people will have some fresh food without too much trouble. The High Servants
think of everyone else first after all, and they're doing most of the
work." That was the line on them at least, though most knew it was a
little less smooth and pure hearted than that already.

They
didn't get to see Orange, since she was in orbit herself, but they were treated,
if that was the word, to a meeting with Count Lairdgren. He didn't even come
from space, simply walking up behind them and helping himself to a nice looking
cookie that he didn't use a plate to get. Taking a bite he nodded. Blandly. He
did a lot of things that way.

"This
is excellent, Tiera. Very efficient too. It can heat and cool in space?"

She'd
worked that one out, since it was a system she'd worked with before.

"On
any standard craft we have right now. It will take heat from the waste first,
then the environment, if needed. If it needs to cool it will do it into the air
until the temperature reaches seventy degrees, then will put it out in space.
It isn't perfect, but it should work, if we don't have ten or twenty of the
things running non-stop all the time on each ship. On the ground or, hopefully,
the moon, that will be simpler."

The
man seemed unreasonably happy about it. So much so he gave her a little hug,
not even frowning at her.

"Very
nice. I know this is an off day for you at school, but I was wondering if I
could speak with you and Conserina Derring in private? I'm afraid this will
take some time, Sara. Kurt." He started to turn away, but stopped, looked
closely at Sam and waved for him to follow along as well. "Sam Builder? If
you would join us as well? Perhaps a trip into space could be arranged for our
friends here?" This was directed to a man in the back, who looked Austran
to her, if that could be told without hearing him speak. He waved to Sara and
Kurt however, as if it were going to happen. Because, short or not, he was the
Count after all.

It
was his County even.

He
also knew who both Sara Debri and her little brother were, by name? That didn't
seem likely, did it? They were from a long way away and while Sara had attended
his school, as far as Tiera knew, the
Count
hadn't for years, so that he
could avoid Tor. Or something like that. It was strange.

If
she were Tim, it probably would have been enough for her to work out seven
levels of complex thought and planning about it all, but she scrambled to work
out what he was going to berate them for. Not that he ever really yelled. He'd
faked it a few times with her, but that wasn't the same thing. Karen didn't
have her regular version disguise on either, and he'd known it was her, and that
it was real no doubt, which meant he'd worked out that Ancients were being
made? Because...

It
was his County, he owned the school, and both Kolb and Alice knew about them
already? Would they have told? Or more to the point, would they care enough to?

Tiera
looked around, and then walked off, back toward the school. It was a place to
go, and no Fast Craft came out, so he wasn't planning on taking them all away
instantly. The others followed, but she didn't speak for a bit. Neither did
anyone else.

When
she did, she went with a Timon style thing, putting something out to see how
the man reacted.

"So,
who do you want made immortal, before Timon stops doing it? He's planning no
more than twenty. Most of those are already done, or at least planned. If you
want a lot more than that, well, the world is good for a few thousand or more.
Ten thousand, with the Moon base, but..." She let it draw out and the good
looking Count looked over at her with her older brother's face. It was creepy.
Not the face, just the likeness.

"I
don't have anyone I'd saddle with it, myself. This is about something
different." Then, maddeningly, he went silent. While looking at her, as if
she were supposed to figure it all out. Had he given clues? Well, he'd actually
seemed pleased with the new food units for space, and that was out of the norm
for him. What did it mean though?

Why
would they need to go to space for so long they'd need food that wouldn't run
out? In general, of course... Except that Austra was coming under an attack
soon, wasn't it? If Tor was right. The Count would know about that, she
figured.

Which
meant...

It
was right there, but like always it felt like there was something in the way.
Finally she got it, however.

"Gerent?"

"Exactly.
The others have voted on it. In three months, perhaps sooner, we will ask
Gerent Lairdgren, or if he is one of us by that time, another person, to
unleash the fatal magical plague of Timon Baker on the world, which will kill
all with the Ancient patterns. If I was told correctly, and I checked to make
certain of it, for better than a decade the earth will be barred to us. After
that however, we may return. Even before then, it should be possible for us to
pass items and information with others, as long as we avoid close contact with
the planet. I've come to beg you all to consider coming with us. At first we
may have to live on one of the ships. It isn't perfect, but living is better
than dying, or so I've been told."

Tiera
nodded.

"I'm
in then. It's a good plan. If it wasn't for this thing with Tor I would have
suggested it before. I've been thinking about it for a while now. Since I heard
that the device to do it existed. Off and on at least." Not that much, but
enough to count really. She was prepared. "Timon is building some huge
space stations? I don't know when those will be ready, but not too much longer,
if they work. His food devices make water and air too. So do my little ones,
just in case it ever comes up. We can do this."