There were four-hundred and two possible matches for the skyfaller on the docks.
And there were only two Inquisitor Imperialatis there to conduct the search.
And of those two, only Twenty-three seemed to have any interest in locating their target. He hadn’t had many direct interactions with Six outside the collective, but it was clear she wasn’t used to the outside world.
From all he’d inferred, he had thought her one of the less interesting members. No strong opinions, rarely leading the central projections nor channeling the connection to the Imperial City. Simply quiet competence, doing her part, a diligent child of the Empire.
As were they all.
It had taken less than an hour past the walls of the primitive ‘town’ of Vaskerville for Twenty-three’s illusions to shatter like a mirror used to gaze into the deep warp.
Yes, Six was all that he had thought she was. Competent to a degree that had allowed them to find the skyfaller’s trail. And that, despite the efforts taken by what he suspected must have been several warp-wrought hunters obfuscating the path.
Diligent, too. Diligently leading them to their goal, one turn of the warp-stallion’s rugged tires at a time.
And a child… yes, a child, most of all.
Six had not, Twenty-three quickly realized, ever left the collective’s enclave in the scant few centuries since she’d been inducted. And her curiosity was…
It was…
Twenty-three watched his colleague as she interrogated one of the men standing at a simple stall with water buckets and little cups, demanding he explain the rules, the prize selection, the difference between the odds of winning and the value of the prize and…
He had been annoyed, at first. That had melted quickly once he’d realized her curiosity was genuine. It had grown into concern when he realized that One had chosen her to go with Twenty-three on purpose.
What that purpose was, Twenty-three couldn’t be certain. At first he had thought she was simply the least useful to the investigation of the repaired pylon. A task that had been elevated to the highest priority when they realized the previous ‘flicker’ had been a test.
It was understandable. The Empire had lost all knowledge of how the pylons truly functioned over the last couple millennia. There were records that stated someone had known at least the basics, once.
Six turned her head in his direction, tilting it slightly, causing him to try to abort where those thoughts had led.
He was a diligent child of…
The Empress had grown erratic. She had started taking the opinions of drug addled street urchins over those of her advisers.
The Empire.
He traded a glance with Six. He could feel her smiling underneath her cowl.
Had he…
Her advisers started cutting the Empress out of the decisions, pretending to follow her orders for the Empire, though only the most immediate were truly followed. His mother had been one of them. She had been discovered. Twenty-Three had been a diligent child.
But not of the Empire. Of a human woman who tried to save it from its Empress.
Twenty-three found his hand clasping the wooden edge of a sign, painted to display prices and prizes. In his moment of weakness, he’d torn through the flimsy wood with hands dedicated to serving the Empire.
Hands of steel, prosthetics to augment his weak flesh.
Looking up, he found Six had abandoned her interrogation and was now standing just in front of him, beaked mask to beaked mask.
He couldn’t see her expression, but he didn’t need to. Not this close.
They were part of the same collective. Their minds were connected.
He’d been worried. Worried that having glimpsed the truth, she would be filled with righteous anger.
They were not supposed to retain their memories of the before.
Yet Six wasn’t angry. Nor was she concerned, other than for his well-being.
No, the emotion that radiated from her was the same as it had been since they left the crumbling town and the worthless tower behind.
She was curious.
She reached a hand towards him, the black taloned fingers slipping out from beneath her cowl to trace the edge of his mask as Twenty-three simply stood there.
And for the first time in a very long time, Twenty-three felt curiosity of his own.
By chance, for a few short hours, a certain skyfaller was no longer the center of his attention.
…Isekai-eh…
Before Jed could point out the Sniffers, a whistle blew. The next second the Queen’s Gambit shook as the paddle wheels started doing their job, sending the ship forward.
It was smoother than he’d been expecting, though slower than he’d have preferred in that moment.
Still, while the Sniffers both looked in their direction, neither made their way over or jumped on the ship.
Maybe… maybe they’d been there for a completely different reason. Or they just hadn’t noticed Jed standing there, staring at them like an idiot.
“Well, glad we made it out before whatever unpleastantness they were up to made it our way, wouldn’t you say, Jed my boy?” Jate said, tapping his cane on the deck. “No good comes from those sorts, I say.”
“Ha, yeah, no kidding. They give you the creeps as much as they do me?” Jed asked, feeling a shiver work up his spine just glancing back at them.
“If they were to do so, I would hardly admit as such. Wouldn’t be proper, you understand,” Jate said, giving Jed an oversized wink.
“Well, they creep me out,” Gwen said, mirroring Jed’s shudder. “Like a ghost that walked over your grave.”
“That can be arranged, for certain definitions of ghost and grave.”
Jed chuckled, turning away from the rail.
Soon they fell into normal shipboard activities, which for Jed and Gwen, consisted of more sparring. This time it was a bit less heated, a bit more practical, as he taught Gwen about grappling.
Ethward showed up part-way, having apparently been informed by one of the attendants. A short time later, Cathon was there too, so demonstrating with Gwen, he started teaching them what he could too.
“Don’t think we’ll be adopting the full technique,” Ethward said after half an hour of instruction, wiping sweat from his brow with a towel provided by the attendants. A towel that had been notably not offered to Jed the night before. “The bits you’ve picked up for redirecting an incoming blow seem worth practicing, but the rest…”
“It is very sexy, but I do not think wrestling demons is a good thing for us,” Cathon said, drawing a line and making a motion like finger guns across the room. “Guns work better.”
“Much better,” Gwen agreed, catching a towel of her own. “But I think it’s not totally useless. Sometimes they get close fast.”
“It wasn’t meant for hunting demons,” Jed said, feeling the need to defend it. “It was only ever for fun. That it’s useful is great, but I’m not expecting anyone to pick it up as some sort of demon-slaying art.”
“Oh, I like the sound of that,” Gwen said, slapping his shoulder with the towel. “We need some demon slaying arts.”
“What does that even mean, demon-slaying art?” Ethward asked, waving a hand in a circle. “Like, punch the air so hard they just… die?”
“It means… keep using guns,” Jed said, chuckling as the man booed him, though he caught Gwen smiling even as she rolled her eyes.
They made use of the public showers, which were smaller than their room’s by a fair margin, and only had two stalls besides. Still, it was faster and more convenient than taking three flights of stairs so they waited for their turn.
As Jed was waiting to the side after Cathon finished, the stout man stopped, placing a finger on Jed’s chest. Specifically, on one of the many lines that made up the markings from the station. “It reminds me of the Written, except it is not either of the patterns I know.”
“Not glowing either,” Ethward said as he emerged from his shower, grabbing his boyfriend’s hand. “Never had to keep you from feeling up another guy before.”
“He’s not another guy. He’s Jed,” Cathon said even as Ethward led him away. “I believe he belongs in a special category, like the green-skinned bullfrogs of hex six-hundred and twelve.”
“Well, that’s a new one,” Jed said as he stepped into his shower.
“What, never been classified as a dual-sex before?” Gwen asked with a laugh from inside her own stall, her words surprisingly clear.
“Thin walls,” Jed chuckled as he set about cleaning himself in the absurdly small space. Honestly, he was pretty sure they could’ve fit four of the stalls in their room’s shower.
“Very thin,” Gwen agreed, hand reaching over the divider and flicking water at him.
“Hey now,” Jed said with a laugh.
“What? Not my fault there’s no space in here. Seriously, we should just shower in our room from now on,” Gwen said as her hand disappeared. “This is more work than taking the stairs.”
“Probably,” Jed agreed, though he couldn’t help but wonder if showering in their room might lead to other distractions.
Despite the narrow confines, Jed was soon clean and re-clothed. At which point they made their way upward for lunch, then spent time back in their room working on their warp training.
“That’s a real art,” Gwen said, gesturing to the little flame Jed was causing to flicker back and forth. “Like we were talking about earlier. Good for demons.”
“I can’t summon it without Mythlyn, and a demon wouldn’t even notice it,” Jed countered immediately, even as he pulled the fire away from the back of Mythlyn’s hand.
“Not yet. But one day I bet you’ll be throwing rivers of warp-fire,” Gwen said, bouncing on the bed as she spun, whipping the blanket forward over Mythlyn’s head. “And I shall control the winds.”
Mythlyn, for her part, was mostly silent as the blanket went past, focused on her lunch.
“What we really need is a way for Mythlyn to join us without freaking out half the ship,” Jed said as the warp-fire disappeared. He pulled open his shirt and started practicing with the portal instead, specifically with changing the orientation while keeping the handle of a pencil poked through. He was not testing re-orienting one with his finger.
“Too bad you can’t hide the wings. Almost wouldn’t notice you’re a ghost without them, with the right tools,” Gwen said, hopping down off the bed to sit next to Mythlyn.
“Yes, well, they are a rather permanent feature,” Mythlyn sent instead of speaking, continuing her meal. “I can no more remove my wings than you can stop breathing.”
“Sure. But you disappear in and out of the revolver, yet remain linked to it, right? Couldn’t you… I don’t know, keep the wings part of you in the revolver?” Gwen asked, running a finger down the seam of Mythlyn’s wings.
Instead of refuting her, Mythlyn’s gaze shifted to Jed, eyebrow raised as she chewed.
“That… I mean, I don’t know how we’d do it, but theoretically…” Jed trailed off, squinting as he closed his portal, slicing off the pencil’s end when he did so. “We definitely don’t have the equipment. And I’d need to figure out a way to toggle it, assuming you don’t always want your wings in the gun…”
At that Mythlyn nodded.
“But yeah… it’s possible. Theoretically. But it could be painful. There’s a reason I went with a pair of feathers as your anchor.”
“Wait, so you’re already partially stored inside the gun? That’s great, we already know it works,” Gwen said, plopping down beside Jed.
“Did you miss literally every other word I said?” Jed asked, flicking the a small spark of cyan warp-fire in her direction.
She didn’t even flinch, wiggling her eyebrows instead. “What? You saying you couldn’t do it, partner?”
“You know, you’re much more confident in my abilities than I am,” Jed said even as he pulled his cell phone out to check the formulas he’d need.
“She has reason to be confident. Even at the height of the Empire, there were few scholars who understood the warp so well as you do.”
“Seriously doubt it,” Jed grumbled. “Unless your Empress was intentionally keeping her people in the dark.”
“I would not be surprised to discover that was the case. Yet it does not change the truth. You are a proficient warp-engineer.”
“Without tools. We’d need a pod just like the one we used on the station to make those sorts of changes.”
“Ah phooey,” Gwen said even as she put her hand and head on his shoulder, looking down at his cell with him. “But you’re looking it up anyway?”
“I mean…” Jed shrugged, looking towards where Mythlyn was slowly finishing off her meal. “I’d like it if she could join us. I can’t do it now, but hopefully one day…”
“Ha, knew it,” Gwen said, shoving him away before grabbing him and pulling him back for a kiss. After a couple seconds they broke apart and she pushed to her feet.
Jed rolled his eyes, fighting to keep from smiling. And to keep from checking her out. Then he put the phone away. He was going to need a lot more time than he’d get on a single charge. A lot of it he could work out on paper, then confirm later.
“Thank you,” Mythlyn said, dabbing at her lips with a napkin made of the warp infused table cloth from the station. One of the few pieces that’d made it through the rapids ride.
She’d lost more than he had in that, he realized. Kept losing the little things that let her interact with the world.
Yeah…
He’d definitely need to work on a way to hide her wings. And maybe see if he couldn’t get her some more warp-wrought possessions.
The next few hours were spent in relative quiet as Jed split his focus between controlling warp fire, shortening his pencil one portal at a time and working on the math. To his surprise, Gwen was poking her nose into the math, asking questions. Mythlyn was fielding most of the questions, so Jed was able to stick to the math, though he suspected it wouldn’t be long before she ran out of answers.
Even with thousands of years to learn, Mythlyn had never been interested until after Jed had shown up, and then she’d mostly served as a sounding board. Still, it seemed she’d picked up more than he’d realized. Plus, she had insights very few other beings had, since she was a warp-wrought being herself.
After dinner, the plan had been for Gwen to start teaching Jed some of the lead-in steps for the dance they’d witnessed the night before, but they got invited to a game of cards with Ethward and Cathon.
After a few rounds, the men departed, off to practice their dancing.
Jed was standing to join them when another pair of guests approached. He couldn’t quite place them, but the man with the fur lined coat seemed familiar. The woman holding his arm, not so much. The man grinned, gesturing to the table. “Ah, not leaving already? Not many of our fellow guests know the rules well enough to play. Could I not interest you in a game?”
Gwen, who’d been rising beside Jed, slid back into her chair. Deciding he had no real reason to hurry, Jed slid into the chair beside her. “Sure, we can play a couple hands.”
“Excellent. Sit my love, join us,” the man said gesturing to the other chair.
“You know I detest these games, darling,” she said even as she took the seat. “Especially when there are no stakes.”
Jed hid a chuckle under his breath. That had to be the most obvious bait to get them to…
Sliding three stacks of silver coins onto the table, Gwen smiled. It didn’t seem like much to Jed, but with the way the man froze, maybe it was more than he’d realized.
“Well now, maybe this might be an alright night after all,” the man said, grin widening.
Jed glared at the money. It was almost annoying how bad he was with the local currency. In a way, traveling downriver on the pleasure wheeler would be a great excuse for him to not know the local coinage. A much better one than ‘I fell from the sky after warping from a planet on the other side of the galaxy.’
“It seems the next half hour is set then, darling. You will at least take me dancing after, to make up for it?” the woman said as she sat.
“Of course, of course,” the man said, laughing as he ordered a drink. The man had recovered his composure so quickly Jed was doubting his earlier conclusion. Maybe the man had just been surprised Gwen was so ready to add stakes to the game?
Even as he shuffled the cards, Jed mused over how long he’d have to remain on board the pleasure wheeler before he could use their travels as an excuse to not know local currency.
When Gwen split the stack of silver into two, giving half to Jed, the man’s eyebrow ticked up. “A mite less interesting. You’re a pair then?”
“Thought the hats might’ve given it away,” Jed said tipping his in Gwen’s direction.
“They are clearly together, darling. It’s as obvious as our own love,” the woman said, her voice flat even as she picked her cards up, barely glancing at them before setting them back down with apparent disinterest. Thomas had said those were the kinds of players you had to watch out for. They’d take you for everything you had, then come back for the keys to your car.
Given that he didn’t have a car, nor was Jed inclined to bet the keys if he did, he wasn’t too worried. Gwen had put out the change they’d had left over after their earlier shopping trip, though he was sure she’d kept a few coins in reserve.
Gwen sat forward, tipping her hat much like Jed had. “We’re partners.”
“Like she said. I’m Jed, and this is Gwen,” He flashed her a smile. “My long term partner.”
“No offense meant, friend Jed,” the man said, raising his hands in silent surrender, flashing his cards towards Jed and Gwen as he did so. “My name is Ignias Finch, and this lovely creature is my fiance Adella.”
“Re-deal,” Jed said as he pushed his cards away before they could start the betting.
“Pardon?”
“Re-deal,” Jed repeated, tapping the deck on the table, as he’d been taught.
“Didn’t like your cards?” the man asked, flashing Jed a grin.
“Didn’t like seeing yours. Can’t be starting with an unfair advantage now can I?” Jed asked, flipping his cards to show he’d drawn ascending guns. Not the best hand, but it was up there. If he’d had the ten of guns, it would’ve been the strongest in the game.
“Well, that certainly beats mine,” the man laughed out, jostling his partner who offered Jed a raised eyebrow but little more.
After a quick reshuffle, the game was soon underway. Jed was having a hard time not winning.
Whatever it was, Gwen was racking up the silver while Jed won enough to break even. The woman was clearly either a professional, though whether it was at the game or something else, he couldn’t tell. Her choices seemed random, though she might’ve been counting cards. It was hard to tell, since her eyes rarely left her ‘darling’ as she fawned over him.
It almost had him wondering if there was more than one game being played.
“You’re really gonna let me take the pot, partner?” Gwen asked, eyebrows waggling. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were letting me win. And you know how I feel about that.”
Jed suppressed a sigh. He’d been trying not to make it obvious but supposed there were only so many hands he could fold on. Maybe he should’ve let her know it was less about letting her win and more about letting the others win so they could get on with their night.
For some reason, Metsa’s sign language lessons hadn’t covered that particular scenario.
“Yes, it does seem as if your partner is amassing a rather impressive hoard,” the woman said, flashing a hint of a smile in his direction, the first sign of emotion he’d seen out of her outside of her fawning over Ignias and his fur coat.
It didn’t go unnoticed by Ignias, who frowned.
“Well, I’m certainly not letting her win this round,” Jed said, laying his cards down. A ten from each of the five suits.
“I knew it,” Gwen said, slapping his shoulder. “Knew you were holding out on me.”
Jed arched an eyebrow at her. “You know, I was under the impression you didn’t like losing.”
“Losing to my partner doesn’t count,” Gwen said, reaching over and patting his revolver.
That one, Metsa had covered. Not as sign language, but as part of one of her stories, from when her and Sotas were starting out. Jed wasn’t sure what organ harvesters had to do with a card game, but he figured Gwen was using it to signal that they’d already fallen into a trap.
And the only way she saw out was violence.
“It seems I have underestimated you, Jed,” the woman said as she laid her own cards down. An ascending suite of guns, with a ten high. Nearly the same hand he’d had at the start.
Also one that was impossible, given he had the ten in his own hand.
“Huh,” Jed said, leaning back.
She gave him a smile that didn’t go anywhere near her eyes even as her ‘darling’ pushed to his feet.
He grabbed the glass of liquor he’d been drinking, throwing it in Jed’s face as he roared, “You dare cheat me, Ignias Finch? I demand satisfaction!”
Jed looked at the man who’d gone red in the face. Then to Gwen who, gave him a small shrug.
Finally his eyes landed on Adella, who’d set the whole thing up.
Then he threw his head back and started laughing.