In the middle sara chron.., p.15
In the Middle (Sara Chronicles Book 2), page 15
There was a cute expression then.
“I can do that. I could take you over there, to talk to people if you want?” She looked at Turner’s office door, and then shrugged. “I know the temporary rules say that your friends can’t just do that for you and all that, but… I can order you to go, if it’s needed for work.”
“For the party? That… Well, if it’s needed, then that might be legitimate. Not that you can’t boss me around. I mean, I don’t work here and you do. That’s a thing, within limits.” She felt slightly excited, but didn’t know if it would count, really.
Tapping the top of the stone, hitting the right words and abstract designs, she dialed the communications device. There was a master portion to the thing, sitting in the same closet where they kept the healing amulets and other magics. On the bottom, all the way at the back, since the large device didn’t need to move at all. The hand-held portion she was working with was the actual phone part of the arrangement.
Instead of waiting an hour, the connection formed after only a minute. That meant whoever was answering had noticed it inside a few seconds. A moment later, a lovely face filled the screen, and started to speak. There was a vast time delay, so the custom was to say whatever you needed to first, then wait for a reply, before doing it again.
“Hello! This is Tiera Havor. Standing by for return message.” Then she composed herself, to wait.
Sara hurried.
“Hi, Tiera! Fiona Lewis proposed us going there and putting together a Halloween party. That will be in some weeks, your time, if you desire this? Costumes, decorations and specially themed foods. If this is allowed, can we enlist your aid in this? We need a location and to borrow some food units and a maker or two, for decorations. To be clear, this is being put together by a group of school kids, not the government or the IPB. Though, if it’s all right, we’ll invite them, too? Standing by.”
The return message was way faster than it would seem on the other side. They moved eight times faster there, after all.
Tiera lit up.
“That sounds amazing, Sara! I’ll find a location for that. In Noram, so Alphonse and Abbie can come? Is that all right? We’d love to have everyone from there, of course. Call it… No more than two hundred? I can provide the devices for that. Will you need servants? We can post the positions on the boards here, on the Moon, if so. Can you travel here, for the planning? With Fiona, of course? I was informed that you weren’t allowed to use your abilities for most of a year? No one really knows why… Standing by.”
Sara rolled her eyes, but smiled.
“Six weeks here. It’s mainly… Well, complicated, but I didn’t do anything wrong. Think of it as a training exercise? Forcing me not to be lazy and use powers for things, instead of my brain? Anyway, Lydia is in charge of this, and can order me in to do that work. Call it in a week? I need to get with Fiona on that. We’d love to have Alphonse come. Just let him know that, again, this is really being put on by school kids. Everyone is welcome, but we’re eating cupcakes and candies, not having a fancy ball. Our style music, too. Which for that holiday is going to be bad, and in English. At least… Well, I’ll work on that? I know some people… Standing by.” She did know at least a few who could sing.
Like Tobin. He was nearly even a friend of hers. What she wasn’t certain of was if he could sing in Standard. Or if he would do bad Halloween songs for them.
Tiera nodded at her then.
“I’ll set things up on this side and send out the warnings. I’ll see you here, at my place in Harmony, in eight days? For breakfast?”
It was about four-thirty, so she marked the time.
“We’ll be there. Thanks, Tiera. Out.”
Then she waited for the other woman to say the words as well. Doing anything else would be rude.
Chapter ten
“Hey Morgan. This is Sara. From school? Calling to make sure you can get away for the weekend?”
She didn’t know how hard that was going to be or not, to make happen. The girl sighed.
“I can’t. My mom said no. She isn’t wild about the idea of me going to a different reality, for some reason. I… Told her that it was, you know, that I thought you were trying to get me help, for my first mode, but she doesn’t trust the IPB. I tried to tell her that it wasn’t really through them, but she doesn’t think that’s true at all. I can’t change her mind on it.” The girl sounded sad, but not like she was going to cry about it.
“Hmm? Well, learn the language anyway? There will be other things coming up, where it might help, even without traveling. As for the other thing… Let me see what I can put together for you, that way? It’s… Yeah. I get the thing about not trusting the IPB. They aren’t bad people, but how is the world supposed to know that, with the bad press they get?”
It was a little sad that she’d miss the party, but they weren’t that close. Her real reason for involving the girl was to get her some aid with her first mode, after all. The problem was that the people from Noram didn’t really come there to do the work, any longer. They’d used to at the very start, but it was a real hardship for them. If they came for twelve hours it meant being gone for four days in their world. That wasn’t too bad, if they came and went quickly, but it was just simpler for them to do it there, rather than try to live with vast time differences.
It was hard for her, and she didn’t have a whole life over in their world. Just part of one. Cindy was away from her husband for nearly two months at a time, for instance. Willum could come and visit on his own, at least, so it helped, but it had to be a strain on their relationship.
There were a lot of people who were probably in the same general fix as Morgan, though. They wanted the magical changes, but they couldn’t bring themselves to trust that the IPB wasn’t going to kidnap, or even just kill them. Even if that wasn’t the case at all. Some of them had friends who had done it and lived and were better, but not enough to really show in the world, to the general public.
What they needed, was for some of the mages and builders doing that kind of work to come and live there, off the IPB base, for a time. Setting up and doing the work in clinics or something, that seemed more trustworthy. Where people could walk in, without there being IPB Agents all over the place. That or cops.
It was, she thought, possible to get the magic users they needed for it. Difficult, since asking them to come and stay even for a year was pretty much requesting, they give up their current life totally, but some of them might be willing to do it, to aid those in need.
What she wasn’t certain how to do at all, was the other side of things. Setting everything up for those men and women to live there, have food and all that. Even if some of that could be done with magic, she wasn’t certain how to buy or rent the land.
Rather, she could figure out that part of things, but not how to pay for it.
Morgan snorted, just a bit.
“I know. My mom… She isn’t trying to be awful or a bigot. I’m the only, you know, Infected person in my family, and we try to hide it. She’s always been afraid that the IPB might come for me. To make me one of them or maybe just kill me.”
“And now you’re talking about taking a cozy trip with them to a different reality? Only, it isn’t really the IPB, but we can’t expect her to get that. She has to protect you. It’s her job.” Sara thought that was what real parents did, at least.
“Yeah. Still, it’s a pain. I’d love to not smell all the time, you know?”
Sara cleared her throat.
“Just to be clear, even though you know this on some level, and can’t believe it. You don’t. You’re clean and tidy, all the time. Which won’t fix your first mode, and I know telling you not to worry about it can’t help, but that’s the truth. I’ll work something out. Even if I have to sneak you to a different reality. Let me try this without breaking any rules first?”
“Okay. Thanks. Sorry I’m being a problem.”
“You aren’t. This will be fine. Talk to you at school tomorrow?”
“Sure? Bye.” The girl sounded a bit sullen, as the phone hung up.
Then Sara sighed and tried to work out how to pay for things, in her own world. Where she didn’t have any money. She was still in the head office, standing at the front desk. Just grimacing. The communications device was in front of her, so she tapped it without thinking when it went off. Flashing blue, rather brightly, to indicate an incoming call. She spoke in Standard, going first, since Timon Baker’s face was on the device. That could mean anything, from the man wanting in on the party, his sister having told him about it, to there being an emergency.
“Sara here. Standing by.”
“Sara? Good. Taman mentioned to me that her new school, in Soam, is ready for some life changing practice on human beings. They’ve done minor things there, on their own people, but could use some advanced level work. I was calling to see if it would be possible to increase the amount of people coming in each day there, for that? It would mean sending them to a different location, too. There have been some troubles, getting enough people, lately? Standing by on this side.”
She hadn’t really been told about that, herself. Then, she wouldn’t have been, most likely. Lydia nodded though.
Her voice was soft, and hurried.
“We can manage about fourteen people a day. Things are still coming in, but we’ve been catching up, on the wait list.”
Sara understood something then. That Bridget’s power had influenced events. Across realities. Possibly just by messing with Sara’s mind a bit, so she’d be thinking what she had been. She could have been mad, but it sort of made sense to her, really.
“Would any of them be willing to come and work here? That might increase the numbers willing to do it a lot. Actually, if we do it right, we might be able cycle them through here fairly rapidly, so they don’t burn out, or lose too much time over there. Have them come for less than a week at a time in your world, so about twelve to sixteen hours here? At least if they’re willing to do cosmetic work, too? Make people look better and all that? I have a friend who isn’t allowed to go there, by her mother, because she doesn’t trust the IPB. Nice people from another reality, working out of a tent in a parking lot… That might go over a lot better with some people. Standing by.”
She had more to say, but didn’t want to dump too much all at once, in case it simply wasn’t possible.
There was a rapid nodding, in the image in front of her.
“I… Can ask about that? We’ve talked about it before, with Richard Drake, but no one wanted to press in. What would it take to make that happen? Standing by.”
She was about to reply when her cell phone rang. She nearly let it go to voice mail, but had been calling people all afternoon, so knew that would be too rude to allow.
“Sara here.”
The voice was male, and familiar.
“Sara? This is Senator Bob Roberts. You have a way to get us an Ambassador in the Noram Reality? The President asked me to look into this.”
She grinned, the man on her regular phone not able to see her at all.
“Oh, hey! Yes. They need to be ready to leave on Friday night, our time. For a Halloween party. This will be at least a two week stay. The weekend, here. They should learn Standard first. We have some lesson stones for that. Sorry to hurry, I’m on with Tim Baker, from there, trying to arrange for some of their mage trainees to come here, to do life shaping work for us. Um… Can we get funding for that, do you think? We don’t have to pay them, but food, shelter and a place to work?” She held her breath, expecting to have to explain the whole thing and then be told no.
The man gasped.
“They’ll do that? They’re willing? We can make that happen, if they are. Tell them yes. I’ll pay for it myself, if I have to!”
“Hold one minute? This could take a bit.”
She moved to the other device, and spoke, quickly.
“Tim? We have backing, from the government here. That should mean that your part would be arranging for the students to be willing to come. I need to get with Richard on this, of course, since I am, currently, stepping all over his toes on this. Not that he’ll say no. He’s just in charge of that program, so needs to be the one doing the work. Can I arrange a meeting with you about this? Standing by.”
“Incoming directly. Out.”
That wasn’t what she’d meant, but nodded.
“Out.”
She knew that Senator Roberts had probably heard her, but pretended otherwise, just in case.
“We have Tim Baker coming now, Senator. Will you be available for a conference call when he arrives?”
“I’m at home right now. Let me get you the number for that? This is… amazing. We’ve been trying to open a dialog on the idea for a while now. The President wants to have some… I don’t want to be rude, but someone other than the IPB working with the key realities? Nothing at all against the job that you’ve been doing. Honestly, so far we can’t have asked for better, which wasn’t what was expected.” He went silent then, for some reason.
Sara cleared her throat, pretending to be old and a bit curmudgeonly.
“I don’t work for the IPB. Really, if anything, I work for the FBI. Not that I can do my job right now. It’s a pain, just to share. Grumble, grumble.” She spoke the last two words in what she hoped was a playfully cute fashion. It was still whining, but better than doing the actual thing.
The man chuckled.
“That would be. You’ve been managing not to use your powers too often, so far?”
“Not at all. Not even when I was being shot at, the other day, or during the military attack on the base here. Those were separate things. I was working in a different reality. Peacefully not using any powers, when the frozen yogurt shop was attacked by an anti-vampire militia.” She was a bit salty on that one, since having her powers honestly would have been nice, at the time. Still, she’d dealt with it, well enough. Luckily Avery Rome had been there.
The voice sighed, a bit.
“That sounds like a story, then! This whole thing was probably a mistake, but we’re trying to make some very nervous nellies feel like we have you under control. Even if that isn’t possible.”
She sighed.
“Isn’t it? I mean, they snapped, I jumped… That sounds pretty solid, doesn’t it? Though, if they want to influence me, helping with this current project wouldn’t hurt? I mean, you know, getting life changing going for a lot of people would make them look really good, in my eyes…” That was probably even true.
“I will mention that. Oh, that number! I need to make a few calls, first.”
They hurried and were off the phone before Tim got there at all. In fact, it took him nearly twenty minutes. That, of course, was due to him having collected a small delegation of visitors, and coming in from space, in a Jump Ship. Sara blinked when she saw them at the doorway of the office.
“Um, Director Turner? We have people here?” Lydia spoke, loudly enough to be heard easily, even in the other room. Then, dressed in tan fatigues, she moved out around the counter as the collective came in. Some of them were very large.
Sara bowed, going low.
“Welcome! Please, everyone, come in.” They did, and bowed back, most of them matching her. Bent nearly in half. Marcia came out, saw who was there and bowed herself. They all were. Cindy even came out of her office. She did that too, then moved to give people hugs. She was pretty close to a lot of them, after all.
“Terlee! Tovee! How wonderful for you to come visit. Tor and Timon, as well!”
She glanced behind them, to see the other two who had come.
“Taman and Erath!”
Sara moved in, and passed out some hugs herself. She liked hugs, after all, and even if she didn’t know everyone there that well, they did it back, without any hesitation. As if it were normal.
She glanced back at Marcia.
“Um, we need Richard Drake? This is… I’m setting up a program to have life changing work done here. The government is covering the costs. Senator Roberts will be on the conference call with us. The idea is for the IPB not to be openly running this, even if that’s what will be happening in secret.” She turned to the people from Noram, and bowed again, making them do it back. She only went halfway down. “This will work, but there might be some yelling at me, from various people. If so, please know that they’re in the right and I deserve to be scolded. I’m way overstepping here.”
She was speaking in English, which everyone there understood.
Director Turner smirked, but crossed her arms and nodded.
“That’s probably true. This is the first I’m hearing about it. Keep me informed, next time?”
“I will. This is all happening fast, for once. I only came up with the idea about half an hour ago.”
That was true. Both Taman and Tim winced, on hearing it. Sara got what they were probably thinking, which was that what had taken hours for them was minutes for her, but she waved that away.
“Which is a good thing. We have people in need of help, who won’t take it, under the current conditions. I don’t know how many. We should get Charlotte Chambers in with us as well? That-” She was about to explain her reasoning, when Lydia spoke into her desk phone. You could hear her voice, coming from outside. It would be louder in each building on the base, and kind of echoed, due to the distances involved from each location.
“Richard Drake and Charlotte Chambers, please report to the head office. We have foreign dignitaries in.” she repeated it again, then put the device back in its cradle. Tor looked outside, and smiled.
The too attractive man seemed amazed.
“That’s a wonderful device! How does it work?”
Turner looked at him, then gave a nod.
“It uses a regular phone on this end, and plays the message on speakers around the compound. I don’t know if it would be possible, using magic?”
