Light Bringer (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 2) (36 page)

"My cousin. We grew up
together. I'd
love
to come, but I don't know if I can. Travel is a bit
expensive these days, if you have to hire the Fast Transport system. I wish Tim
Baker was still doing that, instead of just the owner.
He
used to let me
ride around for free."

Dare smiled, then let his
shoulders lift a bit.

"We have a couple of ways we
can do that. The easiest one is that a group of Austran scientists will be
going, since the party is going to be on my ship, in orbit around Jupiter. If
you can meet them at the space port, you can just come along with us with no
trouble. Will the people that have you allow that however? I was told that
they'd fall all over themselves as soon as they learned that it was going to be
that far off in space? My contact there said something like that." It was
true, Jan really had.

The man, who could use either a
shave, or to let his beard to finish growing out, rubbed at his face. It was
almost like he was trying to wake up, or maybe attempting to remind himself
that the world was real.

"That might work. I've heard
something about that. I can get in free? If not, you mentioned some other way
of doing this?" There was a tightness to his face, worry about an unknown
thing flashing briefly. There was clearly a thing inside this man that was
troubling him, and it was directed at the conversation, since he was focused
too much for that not to be the case.

Dareg thought for a bit, and
finally guessed what the situation was. This man was wealthy enough, if the
surroundings behind him were his, but Austran's cared about coin
intensely
.
From his accent, this was a man of Noram, but around the edges he sounded just
a bit strange. Like he'd lived in that far off place for a long time.

"I can come and get you
myself, several days early, if you need. I don't know if I'll have a lot of
time, but I hear that we're related, so... You know, that's possible. As long
as I don't end up having to run all over the place for others." He paused,
then dropped some names, so that he would think Dare didn't care about family.
"King Richard or Queen Tiera. They aren't demanding, but things do come
up."

That got a chuckle. It was a dry
thing, meant to show he got the joke. Even if it wasn't one.

"You can do that? Come here
to get me? Do you... Have your own Fast Craft? I wouldn't credit it, but Tim
Baker made his own, when he was a boy."

It hit him that this fellow was
doing his own name dropping. That probably meant he was close to Timon, and
that he thought highly of the Austran Revered One.

"I didn't do mine. I have a
Jump Ship." He tried to be charming then. "Timon Baker gave it to me,
actually. Um, my uncle? Tor is my father, as it turns out. Like I said, we're
family, too. Dorgal mentioned that a few minutes ago."

That got slightly narrowed eyes,
and a nod. It was too knowing, for some reason. Like he'd figured something
out.

"Am I needed for the family
business? On this trip, or... After?" He seemed willing enough.

"Not that I know of? I'm
really just setting up a party. Well, some other things, but you're just coming
as a guest as far as I know. You might want to be ready anyway, since Dorgal
asked for you, like I said. I can't tell you it doesn't mean something
else." He observed the man closely.

There was a bit of relaxation
then, which showed by a sudden drooping of his shoulders. No smile came with
it, however.

"That's impressive. Sorry,
but I forgot your name already. That's rude of me, but I've got so many drugs
in me right now that I'll probably forget this conversation later."

That explained a lot, actually.

"Dareg Canton. Um, Prince
Dareg, of Harmony."

There was a bow then, from Marco
Sorvee, but words came from the pink lady.

"Git out of here! This is
the Boy Captain? No
way
!" The viewing screen in his own hand spun
away from the musician, and turned to her. It was much closer to her face, and
her eyes looked vast, suddenly. "Can you get me on this trip? I can't pay
for it... I could warm your bed, or, go with Marco?"

There was a growl, which sounded
frustrated, instead of angry.

"Fuck that, Bethy. You can't
just ask royalty things like that!
Especially
the ones related to me.
Give me that and go. Out. Now." There was a pouting sound, but no yelling
in anger or anything. The device was shifted to the man, who shook his head.

"Austran's lack manners in
some areas. They
aren't
bad people, but they really do fear losing out
on things too much for their own good. Sorry about this. She's a
good
kid, really. The younger sister of a band mate. I'm not sleeping with
her." That got something thrown at him, from across the room. It looked
like a shirt or tunic.

"That's only because he's
gay!"

That was said, and got an eye
roll from the man. Finally he glanced back at Dareg.

"That's Austran for 'enjoys
men'. Exclusively, and I
don't
, but she can't understand that it would
be more destructive to my current life to strain things with my work partner
than a few moments of pleasure with her is worth." He shook his head then.
"Which is odd, since that's the
Austran
way. Work comes first.
Anyway, I can get in with those scientists? I think I can make it to the new
port for that. That's in the outback, which is actually thousands of miles
closer to my location than the old port. Is it all right to get with you on
this issue? Or... You mentioned having a secretary here?"

Dareg shook his head a bit. That
wasn't the relationship he had with Jan at all.

"A work partner. Jan. She
does media work, normally, but is setting up a lot of the Jupiter mission. You
can get with her, or with me, at any time. I..." He nearly didn't say
anything about his life, but then decided this man might need to know. "I
really don't know a lot about having a family. So, I'm kind of making this up
as I go along."

That got a strained expression,
and a head tilt that was nearly like a bow.

"I understand. Thank you
then. You can get in touch with me, as well, at need. Please let Dorgal know
that I'll be attending? It's been too long."

"I'll see to that. Talk to
you soon. Goodbye!" He waved a little, and the other man stopped him, to
get Jan's contact information, as well as take about a minute saying his own
goodbyes.

Just as the thing went dark,
there was a rustling at the door to the space. He expected it to be Dorgal,
having mentioned him, but it was Collette, who had changed her attire, into a
soft looking powder blue tunic and trousers that hugged her body nicely enough
to show her figure. It was clear that she wasn't doing badly that way.

She stopped, seeing that he still
had his handheld out, but moved in anyway, doing it quietly.

He put it away, using two fingers
to push it back into the pocket where he kept it most of the time.

"Marco Sorvee is planning to
come. He'll work in with the scientists at the port, so it shouldn't be too big
of a difficulty. There might be some kind of problems with his people there,
the ones that own him, but he didn't seem to think it would be the main issue.
The travel costs
would
be, but that's free." Dare knew that he
liked free things, and that Marco wasn't
only
concerned with that.

Collette lit up however.

"That's news then! Dorgal
has been trying to work out a visit for nearly two years, but it is a bit
pricey. If this went on much longer, he was thinking of taking a slow boat to
Austra, just to see his friend."

Dareg didn't know if that was
real or not. Still, he could see it.

The others came in, almost all at
once. Marvin Ward looked a bit bland, like he was schooling his face, and Maria
Ward seemed both sour and like she was hiding a smile. The only one that looked
like he was pleased was Dorgal, who explained why almost instantly.

"Prince Gerent is coming
along. That means we can have the whole crew. They're scrambling now. It will
be about half an hour for everyone to get into place. I said that we'd meet
them at the port?"

It was a good plan, so Dareg got
them to follow him, and set up his craft out in the front yard, so that they
could ride over. It would be faster to go around the city and land carefully
than it would be to travel through the Capital, even that late at night. The
streets would be clear, but the raw speed made a difference.

That meant he had them to the
port first, and while it was tempting to just leave them all to set things for
themselves, Dare fought the urge to go to sleep, since none of them knew Hess
yet. No one would have a problem with the Ysidril, but he'd proclaimed himself
their protector, which meant that he had to actually
do
the job. Even if
it meant he didn't get to rest properly.

Really, it meant doing it even if
he had to die to do it. Hopefully that wouldn't be needed, but he would, if he
had to. Not that anyone had ever told him that was the case. Not exactly. Every
story had that though, didn't it? You had to keep your word, and do your duty,
no matter how much it cost you.

It really did take a while to get
done however.

He stood there, in the cool night
air, along with the others, for nearly an hour and a half, before everyone came
into place. The first ship in was a brilliant green, and the second one a mint
green color that was much lighter. That was Hess, who had made the ship plenty
big enough for the ten who were going that night. Nine really, since it was
clear that Dorgal had thought he'd be going when the count was made.

When Hess got off the craft, he
bowed almost instantly.

"Ambassador Hess! Thank you
for coming."

He stood first, since he didn't
think that Hess knew the rules for that. Really he wasn't certain what those
were himself. No one would be, he bet, so Dare didn't worry about it. They
could make it up on their own. To that end, he decided that it would be quick,
and painless. Still bowing, but any return nod or bow was polite. That way if
people didn't know what they needed to do, it would always be good enough.

He moved in and patted Hess on
the arm, then turned to notice that the others were mainly stiff and a bit
frightened looking. Except Count Ward, who stared a bit, but managed to smile
and step forward himself. The large blue circle was back on the center of his
chest, marking him clearly.

"Ambassador. I'm Count
Marvin Ward. Let me introduce these others? Thank you for allowing us to travel
with you. It's most kind."

Hess bobbed in his direction,
which was a strange thing to do. Alien, but clearly meant to indicate something
kind.

"It is I, and all the
Allies, who must thank you for your consideration. We have been having some
small issues using the food devices. We can turn them on, but doing more than
pressing things at random is beyond us yet."

Marvin nodded, looking more
serious suddenly.

"We can aid with that. It
isn't difficult, but like with many things it's much easier to do once you see
it done a few times. Would it be proper for us to go?" He seemed ready, himself,
and the others had moved to merely nervous, instead of scared. There was a bit
of sweating going on, and Collette was hanging back with Maria, behind the men,
but they moved toward the Jump Ship that Hess had brought. Gerent and his
people did the same, a large hand patting him on the shoulder as the fellow
passed.

"You aren't coming?"

Dare shook his head.

"Nope. I have training
during the days. With Petra tomorrow, on Harmony. That's in about eleven hours,
but I've been sleeping a lot lately. I could use Alyssa's awakening charm, but
I'm still recovering from... Things."

Gerent nodded then, as if he knew
that had been the plan and was just checking to make certain Dare wasn't being
silly about things. Insisting that he had all the adventure himself.

"Good. I'll see you then, if
we're back. If not... Well, set up coming to dinner with Petra and I?"

He nodded, and glanced at the
others, then whispered to the man.

"Make sure to protect Hess?
I should be going, but really can't. He looks fierce, but his people seem to be
very gentle. I don't even know if they have the
idea
of fighting."

That got a nod as the man walked
off. It wasn't a promise, but hopefully things would work out. He stood there,
and waited until the ship lifted off, actually following the take off protocols
properly, even if Hess was a new pilot. Then, when the dot of light vanished,
Dare walked to his little pod house, the light from the magical river showing
him the way. The focus stone under foot was clean and tidy, looking darker and
slightly purple tinted at the moment. That happened at night, near the outer
edge of the port. In the landing areas they glowed in their own colors, which
was faint, but a real enough thing.

Thankfully, he was able to get
the door open, which did happen faster now than it used to, and get inside,
almost falling into his soft and magical bed. When sleep came, it took him,
hard and fast. He was a bit restless, since he'd just fallen asleep in the nice
clothing he'd made for earlier. It wasn't until a bit after daylight that he
noticed a shadow at his door, when he forced himself to open his eyes to look
toward it.