“That, acting too soon, it's been a major part of the Serge character for generations. I really think it may be genetic, a part of the familial field pattern. Possibly Rhetistic, if one of the others meddled in the line… Which is a field we need to discuss at some point, because it effects both of us, but later, since it’s a bit hard to understand and we don’t have time now. I'm hoping it doesn't work against us. A sudden attack before we make land and the whole thing is moot. Of course in this case it wouldn't really be acting too soon, but they don't know that.” Burks smiled slightly.
Tor shuddered and looked into his own face, identical, but not him, not even like looking in a mirror, which showed the same image, but was plain and boring looking, to his mind. The whole thing was eerie, but not important at the moment, not really.
Tor shook his head, tying to clear it.
“Lilli is a problem here too. The plan has to be to kill me, or if they figured out that we'd possibly make a switch, to get you. But even if Glost is smart enough to not kill me instantly, I don't know how balanced Daria is. She could simply do it, even against orders. Then again, maybe the whole crazy thing is an act. I don't suppose you have a secret technique to let us know which it really is do you?”
Tor tapped the smooth reddish black table top under his fingers, the focus stone was from around Wildlands Station, by its color, the work was plain, but sturdy, no edging cut in or any of the other things that had been added over time, so it was from the first few months of production there most likely. Nothing in the room moved, except Tor for a moment. Burks had moved within himself, mind silent and eyes closed.
“No secret technique, but we can simply assume that they are stupid, insane, clever and setting a trap at the same time. Just like we have to assume Denno is in on it. I hope not, but if he is, then we best be prepared. The man can't see magic for what it is perhaps, but he's incredibly intelligent. Oh, he comes across as all charm and sweetness, but don't forget that he's literally twice as smart as almost anyone else you've ever dealt with. If he makes a mistake, it probably isn't one, but rather a trick to throw you off.”
“OK.”
Really Tor felt a little disappointed. Three thousand years and the best this Ancient could come up with amounted to “prepare for the worst”? He could have said that. Before he could mention it though Burks stuck his tongue out playfully.
“Yeah, but the trick isn't in knowing it, everyone that bothers to think for a moment knows it. It's in following through and actually applying what you know. That's the step that takes people a long time to figure out. If there's a great secret to living a long time, some grand wisdom, it's that. Apply what you know and learn to recognize when you're about to make a stupid decision. Do that now and I'll have to admit your smarter than I am, identical or not. It took me nearly a thousand years to really learn that.”
Ah.
Well, if that was the wisdom of the ages, Tor would do his best. Really though, there had to be a little more to it than “don't be stupid”, didn't there? Maybe not. How many lifetimes would it take to really get that down? However long it would take, he kind of needed to survive first for it to count.
In life, being dead kind meant that you lost.
The room went quiet while Tor thought, Burks just sitting patiently and waiting, which seemed odd. Tor wasn't in charge of this and didn't have the skills to be. He gave the other man a nod, hoping it would get him to speak. It was another two minutes before he did.
“We need to familiarize you with what Austra is like on the ground. Hopefully we can park you out in the ocean, under water, to wait for me to get Denno out or fail completely. But just in case you ever do have to go ashore there, it won't hurt to have some basic information. Besides, you really are adapting to the new plan a lot more smoothly than I thought you would, so we might as well spend some quality time, eh? As it is I'm kind of starting to think you really are smarter than I was at your age. Perhaps all the building and meditation helps? I didn't start even really trying that for hundreds of years… Well, let's start, shall we?”
The data started flowing in rapidly, as fast as Tor could learn it, pushing the boundaries a bit really. Finally he had to drop into a meditative state and just absorb what he could. The customs were very different. Little things, like how you addressed a lady, or a man in the street, when not to make eye contact and the use of pieces of paper to buy things in stores. There was no haggling either, you paid what the shop said or got nothing at all.
The science was different than in Afrak, but the basic idea was the same as getting magic in Noram really. You paid for a device that did work, eventually it would wear out and you either got another one or went without. The people there were the least likely of all the groups on the planet to hold to the treaty or promise too. Greed and materialism led there. Burks actually went on about that for a long time, Tor noticed. The idea of science didn't seem to be a problem, it was the greed and desire to have things that did it.
Finally Tor gave him a funny look, “Most people here want stuff too though, don't they?”
That got a snort, one that sounded exactly like Tor’s own.
“Sure, they want things. Devices to help them survive, occasional comforts and good food. Sometimes they even want to show their neighbors how successful they are by collecting objects that are far more wasteful than needed.” He sighed gustily.
“But Tor… The Austrans are all like that. A few aren't perhaps, to be fair, but the average man on the street strives to have the richest life possible and if they don't have at least what a Duke would here, they consider themselves poor. Even the bottom tier of their society has more in many ways than the rich do here. It's fine on the surface, but it takes more than their share of energy and resources from the planet. Denno has tried to reign that impulse in, but in a technological society it’s too easy to let those things slide.”
Nodding, Tor thought about it for a minute, the idea of everyone trying to live like a royal. The drain on the environment would be vast. And nearly invisible to someone inside the system. It kind of made sense, of course an Ancient should know better, right? Denno had vast knowledge and had probably see the signs a thousand times before. Why would he just let it go now?
“Because it gets boring Tor. We're forced to watch over people and protect them, but after a while you start to want to do something else. You seek entertainments or new projects to hold your interest and then the next thing you know, it's fifty years later and some mad man has seized power and threatens to undo everything we all fought so hard for. Glost Serge is far from the first. Really it happens about every forty to sixty years. Some person, normally a man, but women have done it too, pops up and think they should rule everything, that if we all did it his way, things would be better. It never is thought. The best humans have ever managed is not killing their neighbors and remembering to say please. We need to strive for more, but don't really expect it.”
A knock came from the Top of the stairs.
“Diner!” Brenda sounded annoyed, probably that she had to say anything at all, but scent tends to rise, not sink, so how were they to know it was time?
Well a clock, but Tor didn't have anything like that on him. Burks grinned, a charming and almost happy thing.
“We'd best go then. If we take too long she'll throw the food down the stairs and we'll have to eat it off the floor.” Burks looked… tired suddenly, exhausted and far older than he should.
“Tomorrow we start the real training. Try to get some sleep after we eat.”
Chapter Five
They started the next morning with a run.
Tor had been running almost daily for the last few months, and irregularly before that, so at first he didn't think it would really be a problem. He changed his outfit to look like worn exercise browns, like an old and hard used school uniform and some running shoes, ones that had thin leather soles to approximate being bare footed, while giving him some actual protection in case of rocks or thorns. Burks took the lead, but it was his running path so it made sense, but soon the man was far ahead of him as Tor struggled to keep up, gasping for breath.
Burks didn't look back and didn't say anything, but the message from him was clear, Tor needed to toughen the heck up and do better fast. They were just running half of the normal distance today, about ten miles, but as each mile passed the Ancient got further and further ahead. Enough so that Tor realized after a bit that the guy wasn't just showing off, he was just running his regular pace for the distance…
