Goddess of the Moon (Young Ancients: Tiera) (46 page)

"Oh?
Isn't your sister coming then?" There was no weight to the words as if it
were perfectly normal for a mother to send her little baby away. Tiera nearly
hit the man, but knew it wouldn't work, given all the shields involved.

Alphonse
seemed very troubled but shook his head gently, as they all stood on the
bridge, Eloise holding the little girl to her chest protectively.

"No,
it isn't unheard of for a baby to be sent away when there's a rebellion, or
even the Heir, so that power can't be wrested away too easily, but we had to
take Karina too, so that means Varley
has
to stay. As it is we've
already given the Rebels a signal that they might be winning. Word from home is
that they've redoubled their efforts or more, feeling that they've done
something right, because I left."

It
explained why Varley was crying before then. Tiera would have too. For a brief
moment she felt like she might anyway, but Ali did it for her, which was
considerate of the girl. It wasn't loud sobbing either, just a few damp lines
on her face.

Tiera
didn't love the idea of having the baby with them, but it was better than her
being on the planet below, or would be, if things went well.

She
didn't know what to do then. Gerent had a plan, and would be setting things off
in a few days, regardless of what else happened. Timon was supposed to meet
with her in three days in Lairdgren. Until then, they just had to wait.

It
was maddening. She tried to keep busy, setting things up for the little girl
and her nanny, providing all the meals with Ali and going to elaborate lengths
that way. She practiced fighting with Kolb a lot too, but still had hours of
time left each day. It ate at her, grinding away at each nerve, since it felt
like she was busily waiting for her brothers to die. For a
lot
of people
to die. All the Ancients on the planet, except whatever Remy were left.

That
thought didn't touch her much. She didn't know many of them, and it wasn't that
important. It was both sad, and a bit unneeded that Brown and Green were
staying, but they probably had some kind of plan in place. That they hadn't
told her was either brilliant or an ageist oversight. Possibly both.

They
killed time, but didn't make a lot of plans, since there was no real way to
know what was coming or not. So, three days later, feeling like it had been
three months, Tiera set down in front of Ali's house, with the girl herself
right there, and Trice next to her. The vehicle had been made tiny, by the
standards she was used to now, but it was plenty big enough for seven large and
cozy people. Nine or ten small ones being the alternative.

She
made the ship silver and purple. This time she left the blue off, since Regina
had nothing to do with this, as far as she knew. Except that she had something
to do with everything that Tiera was part of, of course.

The
'what if' ate at her mind when she let it. What if Regina had lived? Would they
have ended up going to Harmony together? Would Tiera have even ever tried to
build anything, or would she have been too busy with her girlfriend to bother?
What would have happened to County Morris, or Sandra? She just didn't know. It
would have been different, but how, exactly, she had no way of knowing. Things
had turned out like they had, and everything else was just wishful thinking
now.

In
the main, the dead stayed that way, Cordes and the Ancient clones aside. For a
half second she wondered if her friend could be brought back, but that didn't
make sense, did it? Reggie was a doll, and brilliant, but also fourteen. No one
had collected her thoughts for later use. They hadn't known to yet. Even if
they made a new one, a true clone of her, that wouldn't work. She was the sum
of her thoughts, what had happened to her and what she'd done about it, not
just some genetic instructions.

Tiera
just blocked the street, wondering what they'd find inside the house. It looked
nice, but right now had a slanted roof that would shed rain and a nice purple
color. That was different than it had been when she left, but could mean a lot
of things. Like Bonita having come to visit. Or... Well, Tor, but that seemed
unlikely. Would he have just shown up and be hanging around for days, waiting?

They
all got out, and she took her craft with her, since it really was in the way.
When they walked in, the place was as empty as could be expected, except for
the thumping and rattling of pans from the kitchen. They crept in, weapons in
hand, and ready to fight, to find Timon and Tor moving around, making lunch.

Timon
was nearly gone, into a very deep and complete trance state, but rallied enough
to smile and speak.

"You
came. Good. We need to leave. Let's eat first." There was no humor to it
all, just a blank focused sound.

Tor
however was a lot more chipper sounding. Not that he was less focused, he was
simply working harder to fake being a real person. It was kind of clear, what
with the waves of pure intent coming off of him.

"Ali!
I didn't expect you to come." The woman got a big hug anyway, so did Trice
and, as a clear afterthought, she got a slap on the arm.

That
got her to giggle a little.

"So
that everyone won't think we're sleeping together?"

"Exactly!
People have such dirty minds. I didn't realize that until I spent months
reading everyone all the time. I don't think we should eat, even if it means
leaving the food to rot. There's going to be an attack as soon as we do. I've
been setting it up for weeks. The one I told you about, on Austra? I got them
to hold back, by promising a new super weapon. It's pretty impressive. Huge,
about the size of a small mountain? It flies too and shoots beams of death. Or
will, until I hit this." In his hand he had a small tan square, with a
single glowing line on it, in green. "Then it will turn off, and all the
things I made for them will stop working. That won't keep everything from
happening, so Green and the others will be pressing an attack, while
Gerent..."

He
took a deep breath and then kept going, a bit manically.

"Then
Gerent will kill them all. I know that you need to eat, Tim, but..."

Tiera
looked around, they had bread in the oven, but it was nearly done. It seemed
like a risk, waiting on that, but life was full of decisions. She took a breath
and got a basket ready for it. Who knew when they'd get to have real bread
again? There was cheese too, and some sliced vegetables. Fresh ones. They were
the same as the things her device made, except that these were real, and had
actually grown. In the ground. On Earth.

Soon
enough that would be rare, she knew.

That
took an extra fifteen minutes, but they headed back to the ship, with her
piloting and everyone else picking at the too warm food, eating as it cooled.

"Save
me some too." She nearly whispered the words, but Tor, who had moved in
next to her nodded. He seemed happy and normal, but she could feel the waves of
peace and intense concentration coming off of him.

"We
will, there should be enough. Well... here we go then?" There was no
flourish or fanfare, but with a single tap, Tor made all the things he'd built
over the last months for the Others turn off.

As
far as she could tell nothing in particular happened. They were high up and far
away after all, weren't they? It put things in a very different perspective.
Then, from behind them, Timon spoke, having a communications device out.

"Gerent?
Do it. We're all off world."

"I...
Right. Forgive me, please." The last words were light and quiet, but a
second later his voice spoke a bit more powerfully. "There. It is supposed
to turn into smoke and fly away?"

Her
younger brother, looking pale and almost dead seeming, coughed.

"That's
the right one then. Good. It would be embarrassing if you'd accidently
activated a restroom. Meet us on the Ranford as soon as you can get
passage?"

"We
will. Be careful, everyone. I... I love you."

He
said the words as if to one person, and Trice moved in, from where she sat next
to her husband.

"I
love you too. We all do. Until we meet again?"

There
was a soft sigh, which sounded... conflicted. "I'm... not coming. I'm
sorry. I can't. Collette isn't either. I..."

Trice
started crying, and everyone else looked upset, but Tiera rolled her eyes, then
carefully made herself stop. It was rude, after all. She smiled, feeling
halfway grown up and everything.

"I
understand. Protect them then, Gerent." It was an order, clearly.

"Them,
who?"

"
All
of them. All the people of the world. We'll all be back, but for the next ten
years, it's up to you. Also, remember to come visit. I'm still expecting you to
help with the new gardens. The things are going to be huge, you know. Larger
than a farm by far. So, don't be long in coming."

There
was a sob on the other end, and after a bit he spoke, his voice cracking.

"I...
I'll try. I promise I will, Tiera. Take care of her for me?"

Even
she had worked out that her adopted brother meant Trice, not anyone else. The
girl was sobbing, trying not to be heard. It was brutally emotional, but she
hid it, so that Gerent could have a life, free of her?

It
was a worthy enough goal, probably. Not that Timon would have cared that much
if they were together, she didn't think.

"I
will. Now, if you aren't coming with us, what are you going to do? Go and run
the Fast Delivery service for the family? It would be good if you could do that
I think. Mother has a communications device, so get in touch with her?" It
made sense after all. People would still need their mail and packages.

"I'll
do that now. Thanks Tiera." Then the line was shut off and Trice let
herself get loud.

"It's
all my fault. I... his pain... I..."

Tor
ended up hugging her and rocking the woman back and forth, with Ali helping.
Timon tried to pat her shoulder, but it was clear he was too far gone into his
own mind to do much at all. That he tried was a sign that he took his duty
very
seriously, since she wasn't at all certain that he would have been able to get
his hand off of a hot stove at the moment.

She
just flew and coordinated the docking with Kolb and Sara, since he was acting
Captain, while she was gone. Sara did all the real work though, making the wall
vanish, as they got themselves inside. It took two tries, which meant she'd
beaten Sara's first attempt by one. They'd have to have a party to celebrate
that.

When
they got out Sara practically tackled poor Tor, kissing him a hundred times in
a few seconds. For some reason, though he kissed her back, he seemed a lot less
interested in her than he had with Ali or Trice. Tiera wanted to take him aside
and growl at him over it, but knew there probably wasn't time left. Tim was
nearly ready, and so, if she had it right, was her older brother. It was why he
was starting to drift away.

He
was getting ready to do something that couldn't be done. That, or die.

She
spoke, so Sara would understand it wasn't a slight against her. Even if it
might have been.

"They're
getting ready to try and remove Cordes. I don't know when it will start."
She stopped herself, since anything else would be a guess, nothing more than
that.

Timon
slowly turned to look at her, his face blank. For the longest time they all
just stood there, waiting, until nearly three minutes later he managed to
speak.

"Places
to sit?"

That
got arranged, if in a rather public space, right on the bridge. That seemed
strange to everyone else, but Tiera would need to be with them, no matter what
happened. Plus, if they could eat at all, as deep as they were, then they had
to be fed.

Otherwise,
they'd both die.

Kolb,
dressed all in black, stood looking at Northern Afrak, as bright flashes and
blooming clouds came up. It wasn't all nuclear, Tiera didn't think, since the
colors changed. There was a blue one in there, that lasted for a long time.
That was followed by about three minutes of nothing much at all.

"An
EMP. Probably our side. We have more magic than they do, so it makes sense for
us to remove electronics from the playing field." There was a thickness to
his words, as if he was watching the world end.

It
could, Tiera knew.

Right
there, below them, with a single tap of a button, or the wrong sigil, the whole
thing could come tumbling down. A very large fire started, but also ended after
fifteen minutes. Then, without warning at all, it all just stopped. The fire
was gone, and nothing new started. Only the smoke and dust was left.

Kolb
pulled a communications device, and didn't let the other person speak when it
picked up.

"Alice,
anything?"

"No.
All communications just went down. Even the magical ones. The lines are open,
but no one is answering. I think the final protocol is in play." Meaning
that all the Ancients were dead. Maybe not everywhere, but that was halfway
around the world from where Gerent had been when he set the lethal device off.
It stood to reason that it would be almost every place by then.