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

Gwen sighed.

“I read one of
those
today,
as well. The Gwen Farris Investigation books? I didn’t even know they existed
last night. I can see why you keep thinking that I’m not me. Just playing at
it? Is that kind of thing common? Pretending to be me?”

There was no one around so her date
took her hand. The free one.

“It happens. Or so I’ve read. A lot
of young women like that freedom, I hear? I didn’t know that anyone would be
so… Literal? Though really, you
should
have your friend Bethy with you.”
The grin on his face seemed to be teasing.

“Bethany. Westmorland. She had her
sterilization reversed, so is pregnant now, which is a first for her group. She
married a few years ago. That wasn’t a first, but it was unusual. While I was
gone? Martin Cordell. He used to be the head of one of the anti-magic groups?”
That wasn’t truly fair to say, at least not that way. They weren’t so much
anti-magic as much as being anti-discrimination against people that didn’t have
a lot of natural talent.

For his part, Tomas missed a step
and looked confused.

“I’d heard about that, but didn’t
know that his wife was Gwen Farris’s lady friend. That… He must be a very understanding
fellow, in that case.”

That got a snort. It kind of
matched the ones that she was used to getting from telephone operators.
Telestator
.
She kept getting the words mixed up in her head. Not when she saw the things,
which looked very different, being huge like they were, but when she thought
about stuff casually.

There were real corrections to make
though, if she were going to be seeing the man next to her. Provided he ever
bought that she was herself. Really, at that point he had to be considering the
fact that she was at least truly insane. No one could pretend to be someone
else as well as she’d been doing.

Of course,
this
Gwen Farris
had sucked him off. It could be that he was willing to put up with a lot for a
regular dose of that kind of thing. Which reminded her to make sure the evening
ended on a similar note to that. Other than that kind of thing she didn’t
really have a lot to offer him, she didn’t think. Just strangeness and a soiled
reputation.

“Beth… We’re
friends
. That’s
all though. Where they got any other idea for that book… I’m going to be
looking into that one, actually. Not that it will stop anyone. I take it the
things have been out for a while? Just to keep this all clear, I’m
not
seeing anyone else, romantically. Just you. Though I did get a rather nice
offer from Derrick Westmorland last night. He suggested that I focus on you
first, but if you fall through, I have a backup.” She grinned then. “Oh, I also
kissed the old newspaper seller on the cheek earlier. That’s pretty worldly for
here, isn’t it? Almost
naughty
, for a good girl like me.” She tucked in
closer to him as they walked. It was a bit awkward with her bag in hand. His
jacket pocket had a strange, soft lump in it on that side.

A thing which she understood
without asking. He was a super hero. One with a real reputation, having a
series of books out about him. So of course he needed to have his mask on him
at all times. Plus, he clearly thought she was still playing games. That might
mean he needed to be ready to do the same, to keep her interest.

If it hadn’t been a creeptastic
junior Cthulu mask, she might have even gone with that one.

She was kind of focused on him, so
didn’t notice that anything else was going on until she heard a woman calling
out.

“Stop! That’s my purse!” Her accent
was a bit thick. A little more country sounding, which in the Western Kingdom
made everyone sound just a bit French to her ear. Which no one there would
understand, given that the people from that part of Europa spoke Mongolian.

There was a man running away from
the woman, her own escort seeming to be just getting up, having been pushed to
the ground. The thief wasn’t coming toward them, but it was kind of clear that
no one was close enough to stop him. Gwen started to point her finger, which
could be forgiven socially at the moment. After all, that was considered rude.
Pointing like that. She was about to blast the man as well, when Tomas started
chasing after him. The mask of Omegon didn’t come out, but he made pretty good
time.

Almost like he actually exercised
regularly, or something.

Smiling, she lifted into the air
and flew high going over both of the men, landing on the far side of the purse
snatcher, just before Tom got to him. There was a rough tackle from the rear,
which had both men on the ground. Fighting.

Poorly.

Right until Gwen walked over and
kicked the would be thief in the head a few times. Covertly enough that she
didn’t think anyone there would notice her doing it. Other than Tomas, of
course. She did it until the now moaning man stopped struggling, allowing the
bag to be stripped away. It wasn’t a nice one like she had, but
that
wasn’t the point.

No, the point was that
her
boyfriend, when he saw a crime, had stood for what was right. At personal risk.
That was brave. Also she realized, kind of hot. The other man was about the
same size, though Tom stood up to right his clothing and grinned.

“Well! It seems I should partner up
with Gwen Farris more often! We should contact the local. Here… Aid! Aid! Call
for the constabulary! Aid! Thief!” The words got several others to do the same
thing. A boy that had been playing at something that involved teams of kids, a
stick and several balls scurried off, dashing away like it was a life or death
situation.

That still didn’t get the cops
there before the man tried to get up and run away.

“Nope. Stay down, or I’ll hit you
with a force blast that might just kill you.”

She pointed a finger, which got the
male friend, possibly husband, of the woman who had been robbed to smirk a bit.
Gwen shook her head trying not to be annoyed, but kept her finger pointed. The
man on the ground tried to run anyway. So softening the blow a lot, by
throttling the power flow back, she hit him with a shot of energy that was
invisible as it left from around her finger, but made a solid thunk sound
against his skull. Knocking the thief all the way out.

Like she’d sort of promised would
be happening.

That got shocked looks from
everyone else there, as if it were a rare thing to do. Which it really was.
She’d gotten the idea first from a man in a different land. Chinoise. It was
kind of a combination of China and
everything
else from that part of the
world. One of the four big lands on the planet. If there were any small ones
she hadn’t heard about them, but the point was, no one expected anyone to do
what she just had.

Not even the Westmorlands trained
for that kind of thing. Flying either. The only people that did that were
basically circus performers.

Them and her. Which, if it ever
came up could be a fallback occupation for her.

It took nearly ten minutes for the
Constabulary to jog up. There were two of them and they wore adorably old timey
seeming outfits. All in a deep blue, with dome-like hard hats on their heads.
Brass buttons on the front as well. They had polished wooden clubs and some
chains to hold the prisoner with, having been informed that someone was being
held.

One of the men pointed at the man
and winced.

“Slapped him about a bit? Not that
I blame you, but that looks to be a concussion. See as how his eyes don’t match
in the blacks.” He pointed, which got her to wince as well.

“Sorry. I hit him with an energy
blast. Just physical force. I tried to moderate it, but that can be hard to do
on the fly.” She tried to seem calm about it all. Interestingly the other
Constable just nodded.

“Right. I heard that about you,
Miss. Energy blasts, flying about, too. Interesting to see it in action. Well,
we need to get a report of what happened here.”

The words got Tomas to finally
scowl at her a bit, but it didn’t seem angry really. Just a tiny bit confused.
Which by this point she wasn’t going to take the blame for. Hopefully that
didn’t start a fight, but she’d
been
honest with him.

The constables knew their job, took
the notes they needed to get a report down, then pulled the guilty man away.
There were a few non-gentle pushes to get him to walk, but no beating for his
trouble. Probably due to the fact that she’d already handled that part of
things. Criminals there didn’t really get treated very well, unless they were
wealthy. Nobles could, and sometimes did, get away with murder.

In this case, her being Gwen Farris
seemed to pay off, too. No one called her on her use of force anyway. Not even
when the men walked away to go off to the local jail. For her part, wondering
if the date were over, she just started to walk again, pretending it wasn’t. It
was a bit amazing, but Tomas followed her, as she sniffed at her flowers.

“These really are sweet. We should
go back to my room?” She hadn’t gone to get any birth control, but had a few
ideas of things they could do that wouldn’t put her at risk that way.

It felt a bit strange, being
adults, having to sneak into her room. They were like ninjas anyway. Smooth,
silent and so out of place that anyone seeing them would have been instantly
alerted to something being strange. That meant they both laughed as soon as
they were safely behind her closed and locked door.

“So… Miss Farris… How many people
have you been telling that tale to? It’s a bit dangerous, actually assuming her
life like that. Not that I can’t see it. That… You were incredible out there! I
swear, you even looked like you were flying for a bit. How did you manage that?
Teletransport and drop?” There was a hand gesture to illustrate the idea, which
wasn’t a horrible one, if you couldn’t fly.

Shaking her head, she sighed.

“I… You know, let’s do some
interesting things first and then I’ll show you? Now, here, let’s get into bed?
Above the covers. I want to see you.” That meant the lights being on, which was
fascinating
. It was a bit like the day before, except that she could
tell what she was doing, tried even harder to pay attention to what he wanted
and made sure she got a turn as well.

That was a
lot
more fun.

For the first time in her life she
kind of understood what all the carrying on was about, as far as that kind of
thing went. They did things for a long time as well. Tomas got tired of it
first, but was game to try things on her for a while, regardless.

Then, as soon as they were both
satisfied enough for the time being, Gwen stood up. Nude. Her body was a bit
thin, which she noticed as she looked down, but that had been explained.

“All right. We need to get dressed,
then go someplace. I have an appointment anyway.”

Tomas started moving, getting his
things rather quickly then.

“Oh? I didn’t know… A husband or…”
He looked away, but scrambled. Probably so her big brute of a boyfriend
wouldn’t find him and thrash the innocent man for taking liberties.

Not that it was going down that
way.

Rather than do anything else, she
made sure they were both cleaned up, presentable and tidy. Then held the man
close.

“I
hate
this next part.”
Gwen really did. Not that she had any choice in the matter. The fear of not
doing it, once the decision was made, was worse than the discomfort of getting
the job done. That had been trained into her, rather painfully.

Before he could respond to the
words, she took him away. Into the night.

They ended up standing in the front
yard of Park Street. The Vernor family main home. To be fair about it, the
thing was less house than not. More like a palace complex. The guest houses sat
at a remove, each big enough for a family of twelve. The whole thing was so
large that, honestly, Gwen had never even been in any of the out buildings.
Except the forbidden shed in the back yard.

Not that anyone would have stopped
her from going into the nice wooden structure. It held gardening and lawn care
tools, most days. In all it looked cute. Innocent. She’d been tortured in it
though and sane or not, that meant she hated the place now. Not enough to burn
it to the ground, but she wasn’t going to take her new guy friend on a tour of
it either.

She was huffing and puffing again,
trying to recover just a little bit faster than the last time. That didn’t
really work, since her body needed the oxygen. That was her bet anyway. That
something in the trick of carrying two people across the kingdom, or even the
world, just caused her brain to use up all the fuel in her blood. Including the
air in her lungs.

That, or just as likely, it did
nothing. In that case she just imagined that she felt so out of sorts.
Regardless, nothing she could manage at the moment prevented her from having to
suck in huge breaths in that few minute time span. On the good side, it didn’t
make her particularly tired, after that part was done. It was very much easier
doing it on her own. So much so that it didn’t even cause her to feel it in
particular. Not now that she could do it.

Finally, after most of three
minutes, she had control of herself again.

“Home. I get that… Well, just come
on?” She lived there. The Vernors did as well, having come back from the
country. They’d basically exiled themselves after everything. Robert had to
stay available for work, of course. That limited the good and effective hiding
that might have happened. Ethyl on the other hand had become nearly a social
pariah over the last years. They were ghastly rich still. Powerful as well.
Nearly royalty.

The thing there was that Katherine
Vernor had so truly tainted the family name that they might just never be able
to really recover from the shame. Even Gwen was feeling that a bit. Though, to
be truthful, so far the people that had known she was herself hadn’t beaten or
spit on her like she probably deserved for her failures. They’d been… Normal.
Maybe a bit shy about her, but not condemning her part in things.

Walking to the rather impressive
front door, she triggered the bell. It was like a door bell from home, but
worked using magic. That was a new thing however. One that she’d worked out
about a month before. It was nearly never used, so the crystal pack on it would
probably work for decades. It made loud chimes trigger inside. Turning she
winked at her date.

“Not to brag, but I made that.
Myself. Even the radiatives for it. You took classes on that at University? I…”
She was stuck suddenly, not knowing what normal people would ask then. For all
she knew it was horribly rude to bring up anything even remotely like that. It
hadn’t seemed like it with anyone else, but she was still kind of on a date.
The rules might be a bit different for that.

Thankfully, Tomas smiled at her as
if that were a totally normal thing to go on about.

“I
did
take a few. That
wasn’t my prime area, naturally. Most of the art types actually major in
traditional magic. It’s a bit more fluid and graceful than the more technical
applications. Still, that’s impressive. Magical chimes? To alert the folk
inside that we’re here?” There was a bit of nervous looking around then, as if
they might not be allowed there at all.

Except that moments later the front
door opened. That showed a rather dapper gentleman standing there. He was
decently tall, fit looking and attractive enough to get in trouble with the
right kind of person. Charles Winslow was taken however. A thing that Gwen had
long thought to be a shame. Gay as well, which would have gotten her right out
of the running. Not that she’d have been in it, anyway. After all, he was a
professional butler, as well as ex-special forces. If he’d been straight and in
desperate need, he
still
would have turned down his employer’s daughter.
Gwen wasn’t Katherine, but she looked just like her. That other girl was even
in her head still. Subdued for the moment.
Mainly
at her own behest.
Trying to stay alive. Or, just possibly, making sure that Gwen got to.

After no more than a tenth of a
second of hesitation, Charles smiled at her.

“Miss Farris! Have you come for
dinner? That would be lovely, to be truthful. I fear that there were plans,
but… Rather a last moment cancelation. It isn’t grand.” He seemed displeased by
that idea.

Gwen didn’t have to ask however. It
was a thing that happened to poor Ethyl now. She’d make plans, with an old
friend or two, only to have them pull out at the last moment, due to social
pressure.

On the good side, she was hungry,
not having gotten anything to eat that evening. She really did need to gain
some weight as well, so that part just made sense, if the food was already
there. A bit mean, dragging poor Tomas along to meet her mother and father like
that, but he was the one that didn’t seem to get that she was really herself
yet. Not totally.

“That sounds great. If it really
isn’t any trouble? I’m mainly here to show off for Tomas. The new door chime
and all that? We’re dating, so, you get the idea, I want to make a good
impression.” She winked, trying to be conspiratorial and a bit teasing. It
wasn’t like the man wasn’t standing right there with her.

Winslow bowed toward the fellow.

“Very good, Miss. Please, come in.
I’m certain that we can arrange a suitable meal, even if plans fluctuate again.
Would you be pleased with the sitting room? Mrs. Vernor is entertaining in
there, this evening.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Charles.” She
reached out and took Tomas by the hand, as they walked away. It wasn’t that bad
of a trip down the large hallway to the left, but it was still a bit of
walking. Park Street could be a tiny bit overwhelming at first. At least if you
weren’t a Duke or better.

In the sitting room there was a bit
of a surprise for her, since there
was
a Duke there already. Her friend,
Groundling. He was technically second in line for the kingdom’s throne at the
moment. At least if Marianna didn’t pop out a kid soon. The king and her were
trying though. Both were healthy enough even, so it wouldn’t be that long.

The large man was there alone it
seemed that evening. Normally he brought Gloria along with him. Gwen hadn’t
really thought about it, since they were of different social strata, but the
ship’s Engineer and the Duke seemed to be an item. Which was good if it was the
case. Gwen actually liked them both, after all. If nothing else it would make
dinner parties easier on her.

“Hey! Duke Morten.” She held her
arms open, but was a bit shocked when the man actually stood up from his sofa
and managed to give her a credible hug.

“Curly! Gloria was just asking
after you, not yesterday. Actually, she ordered me to see about getting you in
for a run? We’re two loaders down for our next trip out, otherwise.
Smitty
actually went and got himself promoted, of all things. Darnell…” There was a
sad look then, along with a head shake that felt both real and fake, at the
same time. “There was an accident at the last port. Paris? In Europa. I’m
afraid he didn’t make it back to the Peregrine on time, so has to find his own
way home.”

It sounded like that was a sad
thing, but given who had been left Gwen had to figure that it was done on
purpose. The man was an idiot. Worse, he probably wasn’t even stupid, which
could have been worked with. Slow was a thing and its own excuse at times.
Darnell just thought he was cleverer than he actually was, which made problems.

It had to be pretty bad though, if
they stranded him like that. It was close to the last thing that anyone in the
shipping business would do, on purpose.

“What did he do?”

The tall man, who was bald on top,
and a combination of silver, black and gray on the sides, all trimmed nicely,
sighed.

“Liberties with our cook. Rather
got a bit out of hand about it. I mean, a woman on a ship gets patted a bit
more than is proper at times, naturally. Hazard of the job. He was trying to
force her, though. Just with words, or he
wouldn’t
have been getting off
the ship at port. We’re keeping that part quiet, for the lady’s sake. Anyway,
are you in?” He looked at her closely, kindly not mentioning how thin she still
was. That played behind his eyes, but she
could
work.

“I should be free? I think I
actually wore out my welcome with Ferdinand. Not that he hasn’t been a dear about
everything. At least I don’t
think
I pissed off Marianna or anything.”
They were short on female watchers for her. The Special Service had some women,
but only four of them now, and Beth was down, since being pregnant meant not
being in combat armor. Not that they lived in the stuff, but if it came up, she
couldn’t fit in hers, or wouldn’t be able to soon.

Groundling, her old ship pal, just
grimaced at her a bit.

“He called me up on that one. It
isn’t
what you’d think. You came back and then spent six months on duty. Straight,
without taking so much as a single rest day. That’s your entire duty set for
the year. Given you worked sixteen hour days, that’s your whole contract at
once. Stupid rule, if you’re willing to do more, but that’s the civilian way
for that sort of thing. You’re the only non-Westmorland in the job on the
women’s side, so they have to treat you like a girl.” He smirked a bit, then
looked over at Tomas, nodding. It was very nearly a casual thing.

“Baron Harrison. Good to see you
out. Last I heard you were consumed with your latest art project? Children’s
novels, wasn’t it?” There was no particular condemnation over that being what
the guy was doing.

No hesitation about the
Baron
part either. It could have been a bit of a shock to her, but Gwen figured that
the man had probably hidden who he was from a lot of people. Really, that was
likely for the same reason that Groundling did on the ships. At least he used
to, before being shown as nobility to the masses. It was so he could do his
work, without being bothered all the time.

In this case it could also have
been about something else. Like the fact that he’d figured that Gwen was
playing make believe when they met.
He
had been, apparently. Doing a
better job of it than she would have figured at the same time. After all, he
had calling cards made up with a different name on them. Also a man to pretend
to be him on the telestator. That took real planning and skill.

She glanced at him and shrugged.

“Ah. I see. I think that Ferdinand
was setting us up then. At least to meet, if not for a bit of mystery. Anyway,
Tomas and I…” She stopped then, and waited for the name to be corrected. Still
holding his hand.

Rather than act goofy the guy smiled
and squeezed her hand gently.

His words were even and calm then.

“Miss Farris and I are seeing each
other? I rather hadn’t told her who I was yet. Just Tomas the legal clerk and
artist. She did say that she’d read my books however, so that makes at least
one person! They aren’t really for children however…” He seemed a bit
embarrassed about that part, but was interrupted when Ethyl Vernor walked up
and hugged Gwen.

“This is wonderful! I’ve been a bit
worried about you, to be honest, Gwen. It’s good to see that you have a
friend.” She looked at him and nodded, a bit forcefully.

Robert stuck his hand out at the
guy, smiling.

“Robert Vernor. This is my wife
Ethyl. Gwen’s parents, more or less. Just so you get the situation?” He seemed
happy enough about it however and Duke Morten slapped the Baron on the arm.

“Don’t worry, Tom. They’re good
people. Better than you might have heard, to be honest. We should sit. Talk and
catch up. Mainly with Gwen, since she’s far more interesting than the rest of
us.”

She blew a raspberry at the man.
Oddly, that translated well enough to get a laugh from him. Along with slightly
scandalized look from Ethyl, though it wasn’t unkind.

“Interesting is another word for
odd
,
right? I’ve worked out your crafty alien codes, you know.” She paused, then
shrugged. “I guess I’m the alien here? Anyway, I mainly came so that Tomas would
get that I’m actually me and not just roleplaying at being Gwen Farris. I know
that sounds insane but…” She was willing to go on, but Groundling nodded at
her.

“Too true. I can see that one.
She’s the real deal however, Tom. Different than you’d heard as well, I bet.
For instance, I
wasn’t
kidding or joking about having her on as a
loader. It’s part of why I’m here tonight. That and the company, of course.” He
bowed, sitting already, toward Ethyl and then Robert. “Your parents were
worried that people would think you were being forced into hard labor. Again.
Missing the part where you plan to take over the shipping concern someday.
Really, if you get the chance, you should start doing some duties that way. I’d
suggest the military as well, but Special Service has to count for that part.
Then we just need to find some nice young man for you to marry.”