Light Bringer (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 2) (17 page)

The Prime Minister. Foley.

That got a response, from the man
himself. Looking at his hand, the man winced.

"Ah. Hello, Prince Dareg.
There seems to be a small difficulty here. We rather sold the media rights to a
rather serious news group, and they are not pleased that you have your own team
as well."

Dareg tilted his head, and
furrowed his brow at that news.

"You sell media rights? How
does that work? Also, what does it mean here?
I
didn't sell anything,
and you don't own Saturn or my ship, so..." He tried not to sound upset,
but a bit of that came through. "Also, no one got with me on this?"

The man shook his head, and then
sighed.

"Technically the idea is
that we didn't want another problem like we had with the event a month ago. So
we sold the rights to the highest bidder. It's how we normally solve problems here.
No one thought that you'd have a plan in place as well. The problem here is
that the sale already went through. We can't just refund their money here,
since that would undermine any future action like this. People won't bother
settling things peacefully if the process doesn't work. It isn't about the
money, as I'm sure you understand."

He did, though it left a problem,
for him.

"Okay. The difficulty here
is that I gave my word to my friends, first, as far as I know. So, we have a
real problem here. I can't go back on my word. From what you said these others
won't simply let both groups go?"

"I'm afraid not... We don't
know what to do."

Dare thought for a second, then
laughed.

"I have an idea that might
work. That, or cause a war."

That was everything though,
anymore. There was a time, not long before when no one cared about what he did
at all.

Things had, it seemed, changed.

It wasn't possible to get things
set up from where they were, it seemed, since half of the needed people, while
in place on the ground, weren't answering any kind of device at all. It wasn't
down to people calling in their friends with war ships either, as far as Dareg
knew. That one almost made sense, but also didn't. This was, in the end, going
to be important to about thirty people in the world.

Karina was early, which got Dareg
to hug her for a bit, before explaining anything. The situation was tense, but
if worse came to worse he could simply leave the team he'd picked behind. It
wasn't what he wanted to do, however.

Tenet hadn't really said much
about the issue, going silent, and just looking a bit
annoyed
. What that
was about was hard to tell. Probably something along the lines of Dare not
doing the right thing, or, possibly, that he'd not managed things well enough
to prevent it from happening in the first place. It was, of course
that
one that was the real problem.

If he'd known to keep things like
that from happening, he could have not made the mistakes he had. Not that
Karina saw it that way. She merely listened to the whole tale, then crossed her
arms over her chest. She was in a Noram royal outfit that was black, with
elements of purple and gold, for the trip.

"
Ahg
. You know, I
shouldn't have said anything in the first place. I
thought
that a simple
distraction would work to keep them off you. I didn't realize the government
there would think they
owned
your work. Slavery isn't legal in either
land, so who knew they'd do that?"

That got Tenet to close his eyes
carefully.

"I
know
. It's
conflicting systems here. The Austrans used their own method of forestalling
problems, which is suddenly going up against Prince Dareg's very
honor
.
They aren't animals, but the idea of
not
just going along with the
highest bidder is unheard of there. Once a sale is made, it's iron clad. You
can't just get Tor to deliver a bundle of gold for this. I... Don't know what
to do. Not that will get us out of this without bloodshed."

Dare had an idea, though it might
not really work.

To start with, he had to get his
ship set up, making it big enough for the three of them. After they all climbed
in he explained the first part.

"I'm making it full size, so
we can get water from the ocean. Not that we'll need that much. Then, after we
get there, I'm going to have a chat with some people." The way the words
came out it sounded like the discussion might be fatal.

That was due to the combat rage
though, and nothing more. He started taking deep breaths and closed his eyes.
Going off like a madman wasn't going to help anyone. Worse, it was going to
leave him exhausted he was willing to bet. When he looked around both of the
others nodded.

It was enough to get him going
upward. There was a protocol to it, which he followed, even feeling dangerously
ready to fight. Upward two thousand feet, and ten miles to the west before
getting underway. Then, after a quick rise into orbit, and a single jump, he
brought the craft down over Austra, halfway across the world. Really was a bit
away from the southern end, so the missiles wouldn't get them.

Tenet sucked air into his lungs
like it was a big deal. Karina didn't.

"He's good at this, isn't
he? There's a reason
he
found Saturn. Here I'd figured that getting to
Mars the first time in a month's worth of jumps was special. I still need to
get those lessons, by the way. In jump piloting?"

"Of course. I think it's
just resetting what you focus on a little bit, to be honest. Let's see. I'm
thinking big, and... White instead of black this time? Maybe..." What he
envisioned was different than anything he'd ever heard of, unfolding upward, as
much as it would go, and turning a nice cream color. The ship was rounded, though
fatter at the bottom, with shield windows for almost every room. The hard part
was tracing all the plumbing and power, actually.

After about five minutes, the now
vast ship settled on the ocean and tried to drink it all. That happened in ten
locations, rivers worth of water rushing into the bottom section, which had
been built just for that. It took nearly half an hour to fill, the space just
being that big. Once it was done and the pumps put away, he moved toward the
docks very slowly, letting the entire trip take about twenty minutes to cover
the fifteen miles or so they had to travel.

Then it was time to change his
clothing and hair. He used his disguise amulet, and altered his hair color to
blue and purple, like Tomas had going on, and placed a more realistic view of
Saturn on his cheek, just above his beard. To his surprise Karina did the same,
except that when she was done her hair was all done in purple, gold and red,
and there was a picture of Mars on her face.

It was weird looking, but Tenet
chuckled, clapped his huge hands and opened his eyes a bit.

"Perfect. Let me see
then?" After a moment he changed too, looking like a creature of living
stone. All in gray, but with his own face and clothing. Then, on top of that he
made his hair purple, gold and silver, and had an image of the Moon on his left
cheek.

That would work well enough.

"Right. I'll settle at the
docks. Everyone try to follow my lead, and don't kill me for it. This is
risky." He didn't cover the plan, since they really would be bound to stop
him.

Just outside the door, standing
in loose lines, and taking pictures of the craft, were about ten thousand
people. The ones closest however were the scientists, and his friends the media
crew. There was a collection of others there too, right next to them, seeming
calmer than he would have expected. Probably due to Mike Coltress, who turned
when people stopped making noise, and looked directly at all of them. It took
the man a while, but when they got closer he bowed deeply.

"Karina! I didn't know you
were coming. Dressed for adventure, I hope? Not to start a war? I've been
trying to work things out. I..." He looked at Dareg then, and seemed half
panicked. "I told them that you might have to cancel the mission, due to
breach of contract? That... Really
would
be better than killing people
until things worked out."

Dareg could see that one. Killing
probably wasn't the best option most days.

He spoke loudly.

"There's been a bit of... An
issue here. It seems that the government here mistakenly decided that I'm their
slave now." It took a bit of effort to care to make his voice loud enough
to be heard more than ten feet away.

The crowd had gone as silent as a
big group of people could, and several black orbs, along with two small
rectangles powered by magic, moved much closer to him, capturing what he was
saying.

"Now, I'm certain they
aren't really saying
that
, though it seems like that to
me
. Selling
the product of my labor, without permission, that isn't a good thing where I
come from."

Helpfully a man, who looked a bit
older, and was standing with the scientists called out right then.

"Here either! That isn't the
way we do things." That got a mixed muttering, since some of the people
really
wanted to go to Saturn it seemed. That was what the general muttering was
saying, as far as he could hear.

When they slowed down a bit,
Dareg went on.

"So, just to fill you all
in... I invited a crew for this, which leaves me bound... By unbreakable
contract, to take them with me. The government of Austra, believing no doubt
that they were acting in good faith, sold the rights for this event. What they
didn't
sell, or have right too, or knowledge of, was the new magics that will allow
real time pictures from Saturn. Satellites, and what is going on
in
the
ship. You have that ready, Jan? Nimbus?" They were, rather handily,
dressed exactly alike. The whole group was, which made them all seem like they
belonged there, while the other crew didn't so much. They were led by an
attractive man who seemed about thirty. One who moved forward, so that he could
speak and be heard.

"But... My station won the
bid..."

To that, Dareg nodded.

"I know. That has to count,
but won't get the live footage back here. I'm suggesting that your people work
with Tomas and his, so that you'll be able to share in the effort?"

That was his big play. The fact
that one team was clearly better provisioned for this mission than the other.
They were Austrans however, so he figured that they were going to fight and
start tossing shoes about in protest. Instead the good looking man with his
gemlike green eyes pulled a strange handheld and held up a finger.

"One bit then? I need to
call this in..."

They waited then, the man turning
his back, and making gestures at the tiny screen as he spoke. Ten minutes later
he turned and then put the thing away. His face
wasn't
happy looking.

He figured that meant the man was
about to move to violence. Dare activated his shield, to get ready, and so did
Karina, both of them tapping their chests. Tenet didn't, but he was a builder,
so it was possible that he didn't have to move to activate that kind of thing.

The fellow moved forward, and
looked even more dour as he did.

"The network says..."
Everyone went quiet then, getting that things were a bit tense. Most of them
were in the shadow of the ship, off to the side. The little clutch of people
there with him were in the sun however. That meant he and Karina were slightly
dim looking, and the aggressive fellow was squinting. "That we need to
share the story. I'm not happy about that. I'm
Grant Bugler
! I can't
believe they folded like this. We won the bid!"

He still seemed ready to fight,
but everyone just stood there, as if it made sense.

"All right. Let's load up,
and get rooms? Then everyone can meet on the bridge for the trip."

Tenet smiled, which meant his
face looked a bit more pleasant than normal. He didn't often frown it seemed.

"Are we going to Harmony
first to pick up the crew?"

Dareg had totally forgotten about
that part, but nodded, like it just made sense.

"The Moon, then Mars, and
finally Saturn. We won't be putting in at Mars this time, but we can get
pictures?"

Instead of being angry at the
stops on the way to the destination, the scientists all seemed happy. Like it
was a great gift. The older man, who'd backed him in not being a slave, carried
three bags of stuff. It was enough of an effort that Dare moved to help him with
the largest one. It was heavy, but not more than he could carry.

"Thank you, um,
Captain?" The man put a hand out, to shake. That was strange, but not a
thing that was totally unknown to him. Country people did that from time to
time. "Doctor Henry Grainger. Astronomy."

The whole thing was slightly
awkward, but Dare managed to bring the whole thing together smoothly enough
that the man didn't wince or seem like anything was wrong with it. The shaking
was done firmly, but not with enough pressure to hurt.

"Dareg Canton. Um, Captain
as you said. I haven't given the ship a name, maybe you and your people can
help me come up with something?"

That got a laugh, with a nod as
his hand was released. He felt odd having touched the other fellow like that.
It was hard not to wipe his hand, even though there was nothing at all wrong
with the man. He was slightly chubby, but not more than a wealthy man in Noram
might be. A few of the people there were truly heavy, which
was
different. That probably meant those others came from great privilege, since
only the important people could get that much to eat over the last years.

With a wave the Doctor cleared
his throat, and pulled at the front of his red one piece jumpsuit.

"I'm not in charge. I don't
think anyone has been assigned to that. We're basically lottery winners. You
did have to be in the sciences to get in, but it was done in a bit of a rush.
I'm certain we're going to be raked across the coals for not getting enough
data, but who could pass up a chance to go on such an adventure?"

Looking at the slowly moving
people, many of them needing help to get all their gear inside, the whole thing
being put on the system so the entire land could see it. Really, both of the
news teams were doing it, so Dareg waved them over, moving a bit closer to
Doctor Grainger.

When they got there, stuck up man
and Tomas, cameras on them, he waved at the scientist.

"This is Doctor Henry
Grainger, who's in charge of the science side for this trip. I'm on the ship
duties, and Tenet Baker is on artistic things. That means he's in charge of you
media types. The first thing we need done is for everyone to have a shield.
Don't worry, it's just a loan. While you're on board, you will wear one at all
times, day and night. Including in the shower. It won't have to be activated,
since it will do that automatically, in case of an emergency."