Both of those options sounded annoying and like a waste of time, so he smiled.

  “It would be good to speak to you about that work, actually. I have some thoughts on the matter. We’ve brought some people here, to help with that.” He waved back toward Phoebe and Sinclair, both of whom didn't react at all. “These ladies have volunteered to work with two of the mages that had people pass away on them before. Simpler changes, so that we can build up their self-confidence. That’s got to be hard, having people die on you like that. We’ll have more people in the future for that but…” He pretended to blush, pushing blood into his face.

  The giant man sobered instantly, his feet still moving. His voice was deep. Somber as well, compared to even a moment before. His accent was a bit thick in places, while still being decently understandable.

  “That’s the heart of it, isn’t it? There has been talk in Council of Counts as to if your people would be coming to war with us over those losses. Six of yours have perished at our hands.” It might not have been real but the man managed to seem sad about it.

  It was tempting to shrug, which Rich managed not to do at all. In fact, he schooled his face, even if the Count wasn’t looking in his direction at all.

  “That was always a risk. A known thing. It hasn’t even hurt the numbers of people volunteering for the effort here. We’ve told the public too, so it isn’t being hidden at all. We just have to make sure that the kids here who had that happen to them don’t quit or fold under the weight of it. Not that it’s the only reason that we came.” More words, seeming rather bold and red, with yellow inside of them, flashed up.

  He took it to mean he had to tread carefully then. So, he read them off almost verbatim.

  Cindy was apparently going to make certain that they didn’t say the wrong thing way too often, at least. It wasn’t as good as having worked it all out ahead of time. Not that he wouldn’t take it in the moment. They just couldn’t allow themselves to get lazy.

  As the giant blond man turned to give him a questioning look, he went on. Smoothly enough, he thought.

  “We came to visit with you and your wife, the Countess. We’re all friends, or at least should be, after all.” It seemed phony to him, saying it that way.

  Which the Count understood it seemed. At least his demeanor changed. Almost as if he suspected plotting suddenly. As if he were being brought into the plan though. It didn’t hurt that Cindy wrote something toward that end in front of his eyes in rather less panicked seeming script.

  There was a theme to the idea.

  They needed to do certain things, before asking for help in getting what they wanted. The trick to their con would be in making the Count and his wife feel like they were important to the IPB world as a whole or at least to their group there. Which wasn’t false. After all, Lydia had come to these people as part of her plan, right off the bat. That meant a lot, really.

  The house was nicer inside than out, as well as being cool, comparatively. Almost cold at first, since the air conditioning was clearly going full blast. Not that he could hear it. However, it was working though, he enjoyed the effect. They all seemed to, even though no one spoke of it.

  Lydia, who was standing near the front of the pack, smiled.

  “Is Countier Thomson, Dumas, here by any chance?” There was no explanation as to why she was asking after the man, or boy since he was a son of the family.

  The Count simply nodded.

  “He should be at his studies at the moment, up at Lairdgren. Language lessons. Rather, he helps to teach English there, apprenticed to Ancient Doris. I believe he’ll be back shortly? No more than a few hours. We can have rooms made up. Will you all be staying the month? Longer, of course, if you wish.” The man laughed a bit then. “Though in that case, I have to admit we’ll want to move you back to Thomson house proper. It’s much nicer there in deep summer. It get’s a trifle warm here in the Capital about then.”

  That they weren’t in the depth of the hottest months made Richard feel genuinely sorry for the people that lived there. Not that he hated the heat. It was just a bit oppressive outside already.

  Cindy shook her head a bit and moved over to touch the fellow on the arm. That took reaching upward.

  “We won’t impose on you for that long. Not while you’re busy with the Council of Counts like this at least. Though I do have an invitation for you and your family to come and visit with our President soon. Technically you’re getting in along with Ambassador Thomson, of course. Just so you understand who the important one is over there. Oh… Clemance is being requested as well, if he can get away soon. We have another group of pilots being readied to be trained. Jump ship, of course. He doesn’t have to do all of it now, there’s just a request for oversight. More of a management and inspection thing than last time.”

  The man stiffened, which looked nearly like he was taking offense. Except a grin followed it.

  “I understand. It would be good if he wasn’t gone for too long? Perhaps… No more than a year? Our time. That isn’t long over there, but he has schooling and his own training here with Space Fleet. Their admiral has taken him on as something of a protégé. He’s currently about to be on break from school at the moment. Off to Lairdgren, since it’s the family tradition. I attended there as well, as did my mother.”

  It was a lot to take in and meant almost nothing to Richard and probably the others. The man wouldn’t have been bragging about it though, if it wasn’t meant to be impressive.

  Rather than commit to knowing things he didn’t, Rich simply nodded as they were led to a sitting room. On the way in a second bell was rung, which had a smaller man in a black suit scurrying over almost instantly.

  “Tyler, we’ll need rooms. I don’t know that we have enough space right now…” He seemed actually worried about that, for some reason.

  As if putting the strange home invaders on the floor would be too much to ask. Since the other plan they had was literally sleeping on the ground, that didn’t seem like a hardship to Richard. Not really.

  The new man, who from the name was probably the butler there nodded. He looked a bit stiff as well.

  “Very good, Sir. We could turn out the third floor rooms? I…” Both of the men winced.

  Cindy explained it though. She was good that way, it seemed. Useful.

  “Those are the old servants quarters. The Thomsons keep their people in the nicer rooms generally. The old traditions basically had a cubby for the people that worked here.”

  There was a slow nod from the giant man.

  “Barely a bed and a rod to hang clothing on.” He started to say something, when Peggy spoke up, smiling.

  “That sounds fine. We’re all pretty much military anyway. No one will complain about the rooms being too small.” She didn’t glare at anyone in particular, over it.

  Perfectly timed, Phoebe spoke as well.

  “Cock smoking fuck knocker!” It came out as a yell.

  Rather than explain that to the Count, Richard simply smiled back at the girl, then moved to pat her on the arm.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure he wasn’t trying to insult anyone by saying you’d whine about something that trivial.” The second the words were out, Rich realized that he’d said exactly the wrong thing.

  At least the Count bowed suddenly, his face extremely troubled seeming. Baffled, which wasn’t a good thing to let happen to anyone that you wanted help from. Before he could recover, Phoebe did it for him.

  “Sorry about that. My first mode makes me do things like that. Yell and say bad things… It wasn’t about you at all. I can’t help it, so… Please don’t take offense?” She bowed then, going lower than the big man by several degrees.

  Which had the rest of them doing it at the same time. It was the rule after all.

  Then the girl, who was thin enough, if a bit soft seeming for the IPB, moved forward and helped the Count stand up. From the way her eyes were moving, she was reading something first. It seemed to be the right thing to do, anyway. At least the Count hugged her. A thing that was returned easily enough. Keith looked at the scene a bit tensely but no one else did.

  It was Yi that broke them up though, about ten seconds later. Rightfully so, since it was pretty close to being improper already, as far as Rich could tell. Different places had different rules but there were limits. The fellow was married for one thing. If he wanted to get some on the side… Well, a woman from a different reality was probably the way to go for a short-term thing. He could hit that, then let her go home, forgetting about her, if that was his plan.

  Doing that right would still need to be hidden from the wife and kids. Possibly the servants, too.

  They were led into a large front room then, as Tyler the butler scurried off. A few moments later a rather attractive woman walked in. She was pretty small. Not the tiniest person in the room, since Rachel and Bridget fill that role for the moment, both being smaller than she was. Still, if the woman was five feet tall it was only thanks to her shoes having two-inch heels on them. She was incredible looking, though. Enough so that it was distracting. To detract from his staring, he stood, bowing to the woman. That got everyone else doing it, which happened twice for some reason.

  Finally, the woman spoke. If anything, her English was nearly flawless, even compared to her husband, who was doing a credible job of it. Much better than his mumbling along in Standard would have been. Which was a thing that he needed to fix, as soon as possible, he decided. Going to a strange land and not knowing how to speak the language was a serious disadvantage. Especially since it represented a whole new world to explore and exploit. To steal from, if it came up.

  Not that he had any need to do that kind of thing so far.

  The small lady smiled at them and moved in first to pass out hugs.

  “Cindy! Lydia! You brought new friends for us as well? How wonderful! Will you be staying here with us? I insist.” She seemed to mean it and even if it was a bit tentative, she moved to hug the others as well. That included Peg and Nan, though for some reason she skipped Sinclair. It was kind of obvious. Pointed even. As if she was doing it on purpose.

  Keith got one though, along with Yi, and Lauren was greeted by name, which was special seeming enough. Interestingly, Rachel groped the poor woman a bit when it was her turn, though Bridget managed to be pretty polite about the whole thing. With her it was just a friendly hug.

  Everyone was introduced, including Agent Lloyd, who was hanging back. Smiling, while seeming ready to fight for them at the drop of a hat. Not that Brian didn’t have that vibe going on as well.

  Richard was the last one greeted by the woman. He got a hug, which was nice, if a bit closer than it had been with some of the other people. Right in front of her husband, too. The man didn’t look away or seem to think anything of it but to Rich it felt a bit like he was being cuddled. Kind of inappropriately, for some reason. Probably due to the fact that they’d never met before.

  Then his hands, both of them, were held in hers.

  “Mr. Drake! I’ve heard wonderful things about you from two of my brothers. From Queen Constance, as well. Your efforts to help mages and wizards from both Noram and Vagus learn dangerous skills are well known. We should…” The lady stopped then and turned away a bit. Still holding on to Rich’s hands.

  When she spoke, her voice was almost subdued.

  “Would it be proper to have Timon and Torrance in for dinner with us this evening? They both wish to speak to you. All of you, I’m certain.” She seemed nearly ready to cry, for some reason.

  Cin moved in then and nudged the woman. It was friendly at least.

  “It isn’t that. No one is even thinking about pulling out of our arrangement to provide people for you. We’d love to have them in. The entire Baker family, if possible? I won’t lie to you, half of us came to check on Sara. We just don’t want to make the other kids at her school feel bad, since she has a lot of visitors and a lot of them don’t have anyone. Orphans and throw away kids.” The words were a bit matter of fact seeming. Almost a bit too much so.

  Richard shook his head then.

  “So, do something about that? Set up a tour of the base for some of them or something? They’re just kids, right? It won’t cost much to set them up, I bet. Keith, you always wanted to adopt some kids, didn’t you?” Richard didn’t know that about the man at all. Putting his people on the spot was a poor plan, too. Also, he didn't know why he’d said anything about it at all.

  Not until the words; Brian’s powers, flashed in front of his eyes.

  What that meant, he wasn’t totally certain. There had been hints about Brian kind of organizing things that way, but it felt strange, having it happen to him directly like that. Like his mouth wasn’t his own.

  Keith, however, covered like a pro. That or a mind control victim.

  “You know, that’s true enough. A lot of people on the base might be willing to take some kids under their wings like that, too. Have them in for the holidays and all that? It isn’t like we don’t have time, is it?”

  Nan went next, smiling rather hugely.

  “That sounds fun, actually. We’d need to learn to speak their language. Lydia, you can teach me, right?”

  The Count and Countess both looked at them for a few seconds, then smiled. It was a bit strange seeming. Like the cultures didn’t express some things in the same way. It was bound to happen, of course. Really, it was one of the reasons that they had to be very careful with these people. Anything they did might be the wrong thing.

  His own crack about Phoebe’s outburst for instance. The proper thing to do would have been to let Cindy or Lydia, their experts for the region, handle it. Instead he’d let himself speak out at the wrong time. Taking over because some old-fashioned part of his soul kind of thought that women weren’t real leaders. Even if the ones with him gave the lie to that pretty solidly.

  Even apologizing might be the wrong thing to do. Which meant keeping his trap shut, unless it was time for him to speak. Smiling seemed to work though, so he did that without letting himself seem too strained.

  They were waved, rather gently, toward the sofas and chairs in the room. They took up most of them. He ended up sitting directly next to Nan, their legs bumping occasionally. No one seemed to notice that except for him. On the other side Yi sat. Their legs didn’t touch at all. It probably meant that the lady needed more space, due to her dress. Not that he minded the contact. She was a pleasant sort, really. Polite and kind when it mattered.

  She liked Tabby, too. The little cat had stayed back at the base, with Marcia Turner. You didn’t take an animal with you when you went to visit people, as a rule. At least that hadn’t been the way Richard had been raised. Hopefully the Director would remember to feed her. Not that the cat wouldn’t do that for herself, if the need arose. She’d hunt or go and pester the folks at the mess hall until they met her needs. She was clever that way. A lot more so than a normal cat might be.

  It was kind of clear that she understood English, after all.

  The Countess produced a picture phone from a side pocket. A thing hidden in the design of her dress perfectly. There was a bit of lace that pulled out but which hid the line of the thing. Richard noticed it happening. No one else did. Which probably meant he was staring at the poor woman a little too closely. She was incredible to look at. On a level that had his hormones roaring at him.

  Even being a bit stronger than a regular man, he didn't really want to fight her giant of a husband if he could help it, so averted his gaze a good bit. Not that he didn't eavesdrop shamelessly. The words spoken were all in Standard, though a helpful translation appeared in front of him. Floating in the air.

  Like subtitles, only in real life.

  Cindy getting him and possibly the others hooked up with information when they needed it. A good thing, in his book. In fact, it was close to being amazing. Not just because it was a power she had. No, the woman was bothering to make sure her crew got what they needed. Being a team player was important if you were going to pull off a con or heist. Also, military missions. This current one was a lot more con than anything else.

  They had leverage, it looked like. A thing that he hadn’t really understood before that day. The Noram folks were clearly worried that they might pull out of their deal because a few people had died trying for miracle cures and changes that they couldn’t have had back home at all. He’d already set the ground work for some of the free work to be done, even. Sure, it meant working with the kid’s that had failed and gotten some people killed already. That was a risk.

  A small one.

  The truth was that the mages and wizards that were learning to do that kind of thing were all hard working, driven people. The kind of folk that wouldn’t make the same mistakes twice. Really, in each case the issue had been due to the Infection being so strange that accidental changes to biology had caused hearts or brains to suddenly stop, instead of smooth alterations to take place.

  None of them there that day were that bad off. So, it would be fairly safe to have work done that way. Not perfectly so, which was why the con would work. That hint of danger, a potential threat, would cause a lot of people to back out. Even if it wasn’t anything real.

  Honestly, they needed to find something big, to show their high level of confidence in the people there. What that was, he didn't know yet.

  After a few words of greeting, the Countess took a deep breath. The words in front of him explain what the wonderful woman was saying.

  “Tor… people from the IPB have come to visit. I think they wish to speak to you? Timon as well. You mentioned wanting to visit with them?”

  The man on the other side of the stone telephone, his face upside down at the moment, from where Rich sat, answered. His voice was deep, even if his face was a bit delicate seeming. The man was nearly as tall as Count Thomson, which helped with the whole thing. Otherwise the poor guy would have seemed a bit girly.

  “I did. Any word on the weather there? It’s going to be bad if they can’t help us anymore. Even Tim barely has anyone willing to work with him that way right now. The word on the deaths hit the net… We won’t have a war or cutting of ties over this, will we?”

 

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