The Mask of Omegon (Gwen Farris Book 6) (12 page)

That was one thing that she’d been
told flat out. People that were healers lived a lot longer than anyone else. To
extreme enough levels that Beth had suggested Gwen learn how, even if it took
her decades. She’d get all that time back, plus a lot, on the other side.
Possibly enough to truly change the idea of a life. It would be as a relatively
young person in looks as well. She’d seen Rhonda, the Westmorland Healer,
several times. The woman looked about thirty, more or less.

She was so old that Adam
Westmorland had let drop that the woman had worked on him as a young child.
That was a big deal. The man wasn’t exactly a spring chicken after all.

Gwen focused on her destination,
concentrating on the commons of Western University, rather than the inside of a
specific classroom there. She thought that the man would be in the same space
as he had years before, but honestly couldn’t know that for certain. If he’d
traded rooms while she was gone it would be a bit shocking to teletransport
into someone else’s space. Plus, she didn’t know that it wasn’t going to be
class time for certain.

It took a bit of walking to find
the lecture hall, though it was where she’d left it, as it turned out. The man
didn’t look much different than the last time they’d met as he stood at the
front of the room, teaching with more energy than she’d seen from him before.
He still had a large mustache, which was about the same color of gray that she
remembered him with. The guy was large, but smaller than three and a half years
before. Now he was mainly tall, his voice just as booming as always.

“So, the conductor is always a
factor. Using heat to promote-” The man looked up at her as she took a seat
near the back, pausing just long enough to smile at her. There was no other
acknowledgement.

“The chaotic element that is then
ordered by the radiative directive.”

He had a real chalk board, which
was made of heavy black slate, which got a chart to be produced as the class
took notes about what was being said. Nodding Gwen pulled her own pad and
copied it as well. It was, surprisingly, almost understandable to her. Not that
she was an expert on radiatives yet. She’d done a few small things however,
which were made in a similar fashion. Minus a few specific points that were
being explained.

Again
, apparently, since the man joked
about that with the class.

“Yes. I did warn you all that you’d
see this information, over and again! Order of operations is the
most
important factor. Conductor, chaotic, magical structure, power inducement, and
testing. This is the basic structure of all radiatives. After you have that,
you can work on complex operations using multiple radiatives. Now, please read
chapter seven before the next class. We’re going to begin practical work in
several weeks, so prepare now. I want new ideas as well.” There was a dark look
at the class then, which seemed a bit sad as a large head was shaken slowly. “I
won’t
forbid
a basic heating element, but frankly I’m getting bored of
seeing them at this point in my career.”

That got a soft chuckle from the
crowd. It wasn’t a huge class, if Gwen was going to judge by the number of
chairs in the raised amphitheater style place. It was about two thirds full
however. That was probably a good enough turn out, considering it was just past
noon.

She thought. Frankly it could have
been a bit earlier or later. She had a watch, in her things, but not being on
duty she hadn’t been wearing it around. That was a bit of a mistake, it seemed.
Kind of like having the pad with her. It was helpful all the time, or could be.

As everyone stood to leave she got
up as well, her notes in her hand. Doctor Grainger didn’t wait for her to come
to him, like he probably would have if she were in his class. That meant he was
on her about the time half the people had scurried out the doors at the back of
the room.

“Miss Farris! So nice to see you.
Is there something I can help you with? A new device, perhaps?” He grinned at
her, seeming to be actually excited by the prospect. It was enough enthusiasm
that she didn’t even bother to lie about it all.

“After a fashion? I’m trying to
learn how to make radiatives on my own. The goal is to create… Several things
that… Can I speak to you in your office?” She glanced around, noticing that
three of the students had paused, clearly listening in. Normally that wouldn’t
be a problem, but these hadn’t stopped until they heard the name.

She didn’t want her projects in the
tabloids or anything like that. It was kind of in her mind at the moment.

The man nodded hugely.

“Certainly. Come along then. This
way. This way.” He led her toward the back of the room. Or the front, depending
on who you were, Gwen supposed. It was on the side that had the chalk board and
a plain looking door that was painted a light green color. It seemed worn, but
not much abused. Like it needed new paint, but only because the man had been in
the space for several decades.

The fellow left the door open when
they got inside, but didn’t say anything when Gwen shut them in. The idea was
that he didn’t want to be falsely accused, or thought to be taking liberties.
Her goal was to not spread state secrets to college students that didn’t know
better than to spread things.

Not that she was truly there for
that reason.

“Two things. Well, three, I
suppose. First, I wanted to set up classes here, but have no grades or
transcripts that I can use to get in. Would you know how to do that? I was thinking
radiatives, traditional magics and languages. Maybe business classes as well,
eventually.” She figured it would be nearly impossible, or at least unwelcome.

Grainger smiled like she was giving
him a gift.

“Perfect! Yes… We can do that, if
you have the time? How many hours a week are you willing to put toward that
effort?” He leaned forward a bit, over his desk. Interested in her answer it
seemed.

Gwen didn’t know, off the top of
her head.

“As much time as it takes? I don’t
know what’s needed. I have a half year off, I think. More than that really. I
kind of doubled up on my last Special Service duty, running sixteen hour days
like I did. There’s a problem with the contracts. No one thinks I get the basic
idea, but I do. It pretty much means that I’ve tapped the current one, so King
Ferdinand basically sent me away. It wouldn’t be an issue for a Westmorland,
but on the civilian side it’s pretty much a ceremonial position, so the rules
are kind of soft.” It was a bit of a problem for her, personally. Work had been
about all that had let her stay distracted.

That and the people from other
realities that had been showing up, off and on.

The man nodded at her, getting more
than she would have thought, without explanation.

“So, you technically need to have a
full year off at a minimum. Not that the King couldn’t rework your contract at
need. He is the ruler, after all. I’d have to wager he doesn’t wish to stress
your good will that way. So, you find yourself at loose ends and wish to fill
the time with learning? That’s not a poor plan. How hard are you willing to
work? We could set up four hours of courses per week, for instance. Figure two
hours of study per class hour, so twelve hours out of your week? That would
leave a lot of time for other projects?”

He seemed to be teasing her on the
idea. As if she were lazy. Then again, she needed to learn radiatives for a
reason.

“That leads me to the other things.
Two projects. The first is making a device that will stop rifting. I know the
fields needed for it. I can’t do that myself, not in large measure, but I
can
do it on a small scale. If someone were trying to rift in the same room with
me? Then I need to get a device to rift.” She stopped then, looked around at
the door, then whispered.

It was a low and hoarse thing.

“I can do that as well. I know the
needed fields and techniques for it. That can’t get out however. The…” She
considered things carefully, not speaking at all.

The man finally nodded.

“That’s rather heady news. I’m not
certain that can be done however. Then, I don’t know how to rift, or create the
blocking fields…”

She nodded then, and smiled.

“If I tell you what you need to
know, in order to make the things, even how to block it, you’ll
know
how
to rift. You won’t be able to do it personally however. I
do
think that
you’d be able to make the devices for it, possibly inside a week or two. I just
don’t want to burden anyone with that knowledge, which is why I need to learn
how to do it all myself.” That way there was only one source of possible leaks.
Well, two, if Katherine were involved.

Grainger knew that story however.
It was clear from his face.

“That explains a lot, doesn’t it?
How Miss Vernor was able to give that basic information to the Europans? I can
see you being careful with it. Is that your main focus now? Making radiatives
is considered an active field. One that people generally specialize in.”

She got that, and nodded.

“It is. I promised the rifting
devices to get the Westmorlands free. The shields…
That
just makes
sense. I…” She thought about it all for a second, and closed her eyes. The man
across from her was one of the most trusted people in that field in the entire kingdom.
“Are you willing to learn the information portions of this, if I can get you
cleared to know about it? I’ll understand if you don’t want to. In fact, I have
to recommend that. If something happens to me however, I do think you can at
least make the shields, with no more than a few weeks of work and some
discussion. Probably the rifting devices as well. The reason that it hasn’t
happened yet is…” She stopped and spread her hands.

After all, telling him that would
be enough for a clever man to work out how the things were done. At least in
theory. Gwen was impressed enough with the guy that she didn’t doubt his ability
to do exactly that. She thought that
she
could do it. This man had
almost everything he needed to, already.

The real problem was that the
entire world she was in was used to using magic to make things happen. Most of
their devices were pretty simple, compared to what Gwen had grown up with. A
telestator was a complex device, but only had four main parts, for instance.

A rifting device would need at
least eight.

The issue wasn’t that they couldn’t
do that however, simply that the people of the world she was in didn’t think
that way. Except of course, the man in front of her and a few hundred people
like him. No one had ever really worked that part out however. They’d tried to
make physical rifting devices, but wanted to make them as simple radiatives. A
power crystal, a single radiative and nothing else. Most physical devises
worked pretty much that way.

Null-radiatives were basically made
using complex traditional magic. They were
nearly
what was needed, in
some ways, if you knew how rifting worked in the first place. That was a
different field however. The thing there was the Gwen Farris had been exposed
to both, coming from a world where cleverness had been used to replace the
ability to produce effects through mental effort. In fact, that had been one of
the very first things that had been said about her by the man in front of her.

After using a complex device to
make certain she was who she claimed to be, not a body thief. That he could
tell that her world used electricity, the stuff that lightning was made of, in
place of magic. Though he didn’t understand
how
they got the one
substance to do so many things.

The man across from her was smart
anyway. With no more than a few hours of discussion, he could probably become
one of the most powerful beings on the planet. The only person that would
directly rival him would be… Her.

If he got that part, she didn’t
know. The man nodded however.

“I’ll do my part for the kingdom,
if it’s required. We are at war, after all. I can’t love the implications of
this. Won’t it make the world a deadlier place?”

She got that part.

“Yes. It really will. No doubt
about it. My reasons for doing all of this… Well, in the end they’re selfish,
of course. I’m giving people here the ability to destroy everything, in the
hopes that it will get my friends free from slavery. It’s not the best idea
ever. I just don’t have another one. If you think of something, let me know?”

The man nodded, but didn’t come up
with anything at the moment.

Instead he listened to her
availability and suggested times for her to be there for classes.

It wouldn’t start for several weeks
and she’d probably need tutoring, but it was doable for her. Even if she were
working on the Peregrine at the time. Not that it would be needed if it was
only one three-week cruise. If she did several, that could change. That just
left getting with Adam about things. Him and King Ferdinand.

Gwen, day to day, had no great
thought as to being seen by the king himself. It came up now and again, just
being around the palace and with Marianna, but that didn’t mean she could just
pop over for a visit unannounced. So it was interesting to find that the man
himself was sitting in a room with Adam Westmorland and two others when Gwen got
there to put a word in.

The other two were women, though
Gwen didn’t actually know either of them. That, apparently was fine, since Adam
and Ferdinand stood up and waved around the space.

It was the Westmorland who spoke
first.

“Leslie and Farah. Westmorland,
naturally. They’re the people we have with the training and ability to move
others at a great distance. This is Gwen Farris. Also trained to the same
level, using our normal protocols, if only the second level.” The man stared at
her for a moment, then glanced politely at the king. Then he explained what
that meant, as if the man might not know.

Maybe he didn’t. Gwen wasn’t
certain about the idea.

“Miss Farris has no outside
controls on her abilities. So while she’s powerful in their use, there are no
alternative states involved for her. It was one of the reasons that we stuck to
physical magical elements with her. Telepathic abilities tend to drive people
insane at high levels. Precognitive ones are dangerous, but we haven’t used the
protocols on that for her. It’s a minimally trained natural talent in her
case.”

The words were bold and not
subservient, though it was clear that the other people there were nervous. Not
just a little bit either. Leslie was covered with a fine sheen of sweat over the
idea of Ferdinand being there. Farah, who was the older of the two, just sat
there, not making eye contact with anyone. That was probably down to both women
being rifters. Meaning they didn’t deal with nobles face to face most days.

That got Gwen to look at the file
that the king had in front of him.

“Is that a list for us to work
from? Pictures?”

The man, who wasn’t all that old
for a world leader, being in his youthful thirties or so, pushed the thing
across the table at her, gesturing for her to sit. The chairs were all made of
plain wood. Heavy and marked with age.

“Some of them. There are other
prisoners, but these are the ones that we need back first. Ten of them. If you
can get even one of them, it might make a difference in the war effort. They… Know
things.”

That got her to nod, open the deep
brown leather binder and think for a few seconds. The man in the picture wasn’t
anyone that she knew. In a way that made it easier for her. There were no
personal stakes, just her trying to do the right thing.

“All right. They might need medical
attention when they get here. Can we have some healers standing by? I’ll go
first? Or… Do you want to do them all at once?” She glanced at Adam, since the
women would probably need to have someone there to guide their actions. It was
one of the main ways that the Westmorlands were controlled. They couldn’t help
it, by the age the women there both were. Anyone over twenty had been programed
already.

Adam walked to the door and called
out.

“Mick! Get me all available healers.
Support staff and at least two guides. We’re going to try something new.”

It took a few minutes to get
everything together. Then they just had to send the king away. That didn’t go
over well at first. Finally, after Adam struggled with the whole thing for a
while, as the King pretended not to understand what he was getting at.

Gwen rolled her eyes.

“Ferdinand. We can’t protect you
for certain. If we get the wrong person, or if people have been mesmerized,
they might attack without notice. Probably not, but we can’t know that won’t
happen until we see the conditions. Also, everyone here but me has been trained
to be incredibly uneasy around you. That’s great for them paying attention to
your
needs, but right now they need to be focused on what we’re attempting. So… Get
out? Possibly far away from here? After all, if
I
can think of using
prisoners of war as rifters, so can the Europans. We know they have Debussy’s
enhanced techniques. Katherine delivered those to them.” Which wasn’t a thing
that left Gwen happy in life.

Rather than fight, or argue, the
man simply stood up, bowing slightly.

“I see. Very well then. I’ll go
back to the palace. I
will
be standing by the telestator however, so
please contact me if there is any success at all?” That was for Adam, who
nodded and bowed back.

Gwen did that too, just in case it
was needed. Not one told her she was wrong to do so. Then, they wouldn’t.
They’d just let her flounder, not knowing what to do, until she worked it out.
It was one of the bad things about her new world.

“I’ll go first. As soon as everyone
is ready?” She’d pulled people before, so it wasn’t completely new to her.
Doing them one at a time wasn’t even that hard. Certainly no more so than
teletransporting herself to different locations.

 That meant, two minutes later,
that they had a half-naked, very thin man being taken out of the room. The
other women each took a turn each, led to do it by their handlers of the
moment. Other Westmorlands that were telling them what to focus on. In this
case it was the pictures in the file. Mainly high level military men. All of
them had been tortured, but seemed to be strong enough to stand. At first.

When Gwen got to the seventh person
there was a bit of an issue. The man, who was bearded, disheveled and reeking
of human waste, started screaming.

“Put me back!
Now
! They’ll
kill them if I escape!” He was clearly panicked. Not just a tiny amount either.
The man stood there, seeming ready to go back into a tiny cage. At least he was
hunched over, which meant that might be the case.

Adam actually grabbed the man.

“Count Morris?”

“Put me back! The other men… We
tried to break out, so some of us were separated. The enlisted. If any of the
officers go missing they’ll be killed.”

That caused a real issue then. Adam
was clearly torn on a level that was nearly palpable. He had to put the man
back, to protect the people on the ground. It was also an order, from a Count,
apparently.

On the other hand, doing that might
well have the man himself be tortured or killed.

Gwen nodded, since it was kind of
clear that none of the Westmorlands were going to be able to get anything done
on that score.

“Adam, keep working on the others.
I’ll…” She didn’t know what to do either. Sending the man back wasn’t
happening, of course. That he was concerned about the others was simply the
truth, it seemed however.

The poor guy was starting to gibber
a bit.

“Count Morris! We need a map. Can
you tell us where the people are? The other men? We need to know now! I can
take two people with me. To where they were keeping you. Can we work from
there? If we have weapons?”

She had to repeat herself a few
times before the man blinked at her, nodding.

“Yes! Yes… If you go out the door,
which is to the right, take out the guards, then… To the left, there’s a shed.
All the others are in there. Ten of them. What…” He might have been a bit out
of it, but the man wasn’t a fool. Shaking his head, he yelled again.

“Right! Put me back. Then come in
four hours. Make a plan. They’ll take me off for questioning then, you can use
that time.” He didn’t seem to love the idea and Adam was about to freak out on
them, his old eyes looking truly scared.

Gwen shook her head.

“Nope. Get me…” Again she didn’t
know what she needed. Except that she had to do something. Desperately, she
started to nod. “All right. I think I have this. I’ll go in alone. I… Leslie,
give me your clothes.” She was bigger than Gwen, but not by too much. “Adam,
get the back of this for me! Hurry!”

It required stripping in public,
but a few minutes later she was wearing a nice blue outfit. One that had
trousers instead of a dress. The shoes were the same, but she’d been wearing
flats. Not running shoes, unfortunately. Boots though, if nicer ones. Not the well-worn
ones she used to jog in most days.

The events were interesting after
that, since a bleary looking Count Morris shook his head, seeming strained.

“We… Can’t send you alone. We need
men. Fighters. Or… I don’t know. This isn’t right. Sacrificing you helps no one.”
There were tears in his eyes. No one there tried to look away, which was the
first time Gwen had ever seen that kind of thing in the Western Kingdom. They
always looked away.

“Good plan. I’m not going to fight
though. Not if I can help it. I need to do this right…”

That meant going fast, ducking down
to fit into the small cell that other man had just come from. She squatted,
moved her information, then reeled from the stench of the iron barred cage. The
room it was in wasn’t huge, like she’d been thinking. Instead it was about the
size of the space that she’d just moved from. There were two more men in other
cages, across the way. Only one of them looked up, going wide eyed.

He had almost white hair and pale
blue eyes that were visible from across the dim space. Holding his hand over
his mouth he pointed with the other hand, to the right. By where the door was
supposed to be. Then after she nodded, getting that she needed to be quiet and
that was where the guards were, the man held up three fingers.

Gwen did the same, nodding.

Then she took a deep breath, still
holding up three of her own fingers. She slowly put them down one at a time.

When they we’re all down, she
moved. Teletransporting the closest distance she’d ever even tried before.
Three feet. From inside the small cage, to outside. That put the metal bars at
her back and left her in the open. Squatting down, which caused the three men
at the end of the building to turn toward her. They weren’t far away or
anything, only about twenty feet.

That meant only their grunts were
heard as she pointed at them, using all the force she could muster. It took five
power blasts, since one of the men tried to rush her, as the others fell. He
called out something in Mongolian, even if he were about as white as she’d ever
seen on a human being in real life.

They weren’t alive, after a few
seconds, however. They also hadn’t gotten a good yell off before doing that.
Hopefully no one would be coming to check on the strange noise. They were all
wearing very bright red outfits. Head to toe, the young men, who were all white
where they weren’t covered with blood, wore scarlet.

It was an odd choice for a
battlefield. Then, these were prison guards, not soldiers in the field. That
might be different.

“Can you two move? We need to go
and get the enlisted men… I can do that alone, I think. Move back from the
bars.” She was going to blast the things open, but the man with pale blue eyes
shook his head.

“The keys are at the end. In the
pocket of the one on the left. Left front side?” His voice was rough sounding.
A mere whisper, which got her to be quiet as well.

No one spoke the entire time she
walked and then tried to dig in the front pockets of the man. It required
rolling him over, which took some strength. He wasn’t a giant, but the man was
built like a professional wrestler. He had to be nearly three hundred pounds,
she figured.

He did have the key however, so she
was able to get the two men out. One of them, the silent one, had a broken leg.
There was simply no way for him to do anything useful. Even hiding wasn’t going
to be an option. Not really.

“Fuck. Fine, I’ll take you back.
Both of you. Not at one time. I can’t do that and still recover enough to
fight. Even one at a time will be rough.”

The broken man, who was still on
the floor of the place managed a half smile. His face was too beaten on the
other side for more than that.

“Kill me. Take Hendrid here and get
the men out. If you can. I can’t leave. I can’t take much more. It would be a
mercy.”

She nodded.

“Good plan. Great, actually. Except
that the king would have my ass for that. So, get ready?”

She didn’t let the man speak again,
just moving into his cage, touching his arm and then hugging him, half over his
body. There was no time to rest when she got back however. Gasping she looked
at Adam.

“
In… coming
.” She was being
optimistic, naturally.

Then that was her way. Being all
light and cheery.

When she transported back into the
cell, she had to fight, since two more men had come for some reason. They had
weapons, crins, which meant she was hit in the right leg as she fired back.
With her finger. It hurt, but was a burn, rather than flesh blasted away from
her in a great red fountain. Which was better than it could have been. There
was
charred flesh, and pain, but she could move.

“Hendrid. Come with me. I need to…”
She was still gasping, forcing herself to move, without stopping to get sick.
That part was hard. Her throat tried to close down, as she struggled for air
and limped forward.