SilentCityThe Silent CityKieran steps through the contact, and to a spot next to where Deirdre is standing. This spot is in a square, or a meeting place, or an open area in front of that sandstone and marble building that Kieran espied on the card just before entry. The building is moderately large sized, perhaps not the size of Castle Amber, but more on the scale of a large church. The eerie thing about it, and the entire city as Kieran gets a chance to look around is that there is no one and no living creature in sight or hearing. There are plenty of intact buildings, many of them sandstone or marble like the domed building he is in front of. The architecture tends toward the square-and dome or square with towers, crenellations, arches and the like. Kieran turns in place, slowly observing what he can of the place. He cautiously extends his senses to get a feel for the shadow and then brings up Faithful Mind. Once satisfied, he tries a bit of minor Psychokinesis - moving a rock or pebble to determine how well his abilities work here. Kieran's mental sorceries appear to work at full strength, as the pebble skitters along in tune with his desires. "We're far enough away from the Castle now, we can talk freely." Fiona, who has stepped through and closed the contact behind her, says. "that was another reason to choose this spot for your lessons." Deirdre makes a slow orbit around Fiona and Kieran, looking around, studying and examining the area. Kieran can see, too, though, there is an patina of weariness on his grandmother that she is doing well, but not perfectly, to submerge from sight. "You did notice the Pattern became very closed mouthed when you asked details about the artifact, didn't you?" Fiona says, putting a hand on Kieran's shoulder. "What do you deduce from that, Kieran?" "If this is going to take a while, can we take a seat over on the steps of the building?" Kieran asks of Fiona while subtly nodding in Deirdre's direction. "Just walked the Pattern and all that." "Of course. You're not Corwin's grandson." Deirdre says. Fiona seems to accept this as well, already heading toward the steps of the building. "True enough;" he replies. "Is it true he fought while walking the Pattern?" "Yes. My brother may not have the esoteric knowledge of my sister here." Deirdre replies. "However, his ability to do great feats on the Pattern is unquestionable." "I concede the point." Fiona says. "I wonder if the Pattern helped him in someway;" Kieran says musingly. "To answer your question;" he continues while heading towards the steps. "I'd say either it didn't know the answers and just didn't want to tell us; or he felt that someone or something might overhear the answer that, perhaps, shouldn't have that knowledge. Dworkin perhaps?" he asks. "Those are two valid hypotheses." Fiona says, leaning against the wall and regarding her sister and grandson. "Another is the one you might not consider, given your inexperience." Fiona says. "You did have a conversation with the Pattern, it is true." Fiona says. "What you must understand, though, that it is in a very real sense an alien, not a human, intelligence. Its thought processes may sometimes resemble ours and its speech may resemble ours. The Pattern may simply have been uncomfortable with the question, or had some sort of unfathomable reaction to the question you had." "Because this blade predates the Pattern, perhaps." Deirdre muses. "Really;" Kieran says with interest. "What do you two know of it then? Is it something we need to be concerned about if it gets loose?" "We don't know enough." Fiona says. "We know of it only in generalities. Much of the lore of its era, even for me, is fragmentary at best. I should set my daughter to the task of learning more about it." "Which one?" Kieran asks. "The Orichalcum blade of course." She respond. "You, of course, should keep an eye on Priya and that blade in the meantime." Fiona continues. "And keep its origins and ancient history in mind." "We should consider that the Pattern wanted to reveal the blade's existence for a reason it would not tell us." Deirdre puts in. She looks at Kieran and Fiona. "Perhaps to find it so that it could be destroyed, or suborned?" "I'll try;" Kieran says to Fiona. "Though that may prove difficult if she does not wish to assist us in dealing with the Omphalos." To Deirdre, he says; "At a guess, it's an attempt to gain the use of the sword for the Pattern's benefit, if not immediately, then in the long run. And the 'long run' for us is not necessarily all that long for the Pattern, as far it's concerned." "The time scales the Pattern understands are truly known and felt by very few." Deirdre says. "Your great-great-grandfather for instance. He can see the turn of the universe and see the long view." "In the long run, entropy seeks to unmake the universe." Fiona interjects. "That does not mean it should not be resisted." Kieran smiles and nods his head. "Fortunately, it seems I've a knack for creating or at least finding myself in small packets of controllable chaos, not the stuff from the Courts, with which to thoroughly muck up the plans of others." "It would be beneficial." Fiona adds "if the threat of the Omphalos were conveyed to Priya. Then again, she may know of it already, if she is well educated and well connected." "We should begin his lessons, sister." Deirdre says. She looks speculatively at Kieran. "If you are ready, that is." "I will do what I can to gain Priya's support against the Omphalos;" Kieran says. Kieran looks at Deirdre and nods his head once more. "Let's get started then." "Precisely." Fiona steps a few steps away from Kieran and Deirdre turns to look at Kieran as well. "The first rule of shifting shadow is motion. You generally cannot shift shadow without a vector component of some kind. You need to be able to move, even if it is in circles, to affect a change in the environment." "We will walk down the block." Deirdre continues. "You will start with some gradual changes, small ones, imagining how things are going to be around the corner, just out of sight, and by the power you now have, grandson, making them real, making them the reality." Kieran nods his head and considers things for a moment or two, then begins walking. Small changes first he considers as he taps into his new abilities. As they walk, Kieran decides that they will turn left a couple of blocks down the street following a wind gust that kicks up a cloud of dust. Past the dust and having made the left hand turn, the buildings will start to show signs of paint, extremely faded at first, but growing more colorful as Kieran walks and makes turns. Signs of habitation; trash, advertisements, smells, streetsigns, etc. will appear in time with his walking, turnings and shifting. Kieran walks further until a sign; indicating the direction of a park; appears on a streetsign. Kieran follows the sign, people begin to appear; few at first, but growing in number with his walking and shifting. In time, a park does appear, with a small lake or pond, and a beer garden. People are enjoying the sunny day, sunbathing, playing, walking their pets, etc. Kieran heads for the beer garden, nudging things a bit more, remembering to have a good supply of the local currency in his pockets. A table is waiting for them. Kieran walks over and pulls out chairs for his grandmothers. Kieran's changes take effort, and even a couple of tries to actually effectuate. Kieran's first attempt to add people to the city, for example, fails, leading to a series of window front buildings with mannequins similar to the people he envisioned. It takes some cleverness on his part to get them to appear, but appear they do. Other changes he tries are far less problematic once the problem of adding people was solved. Kieran takes the minor setbacks in stride (no pun intended) as they happen but doesn't let them faze him. Deirdre and Fiona smile appreciatively as Kieran makes the chairs ready. Both sit down, Fiona to his right, Deirdre to his left. "Well, that was certainly a good first effort." Deirdre says. "You have added inhabitants, and all that implies to a formerly empty and silent city." "Or, one might say" Fiona counters "that you have changed shadow significantly, to arrive in a shadow similar to Conordium , but one that has not suffered the e-ell-e that it had." Kieran ponders Fiona's words for a moment or two, then nods his head in understanding. "I'd wondered about that place;" is all he says. "Places empty of people make for a useful testbed for shadowshifting and other powers." Fiona says. "I have trained all of my children there." Kieran nods his head. "I can see that, to an extent. At some point though, you need to add life forms into the mix to learn how to affect them as well." "Of course." Fiona says "but it is easier and better to let the user to pick and choose those organisms. Although by changing the world as you did, you caused a lot of unintended cascading results from your large scale changes." "Or did you consciously mean to add, say, earthworms?" Fiona says with a smile. Kieran considers this for a moment or two. "Consciously? No, but insect life is an integral part of the bio-sphere on most human habitable worlds." Deirdre waves a waitress in the direction of the table. "You've taken your first steps into a larger world. Kieran." Fiona says, glancing at her sister for a moment. "How do you feel, besides obviously thirsty?" Kieran smiles. "Hungry?" He grins. "No, seriously, I am hungry; both for something to eat and drink, but also for more about practical knowledge and uses of the Pattern. I've got a feeling that my learning curve is going to be both short and steep." He pauses for a moment. "A lot of what Mom and Dad taught me and showed me makes more sense now." He glances about. " 'Larger world' indeed." "Hunger is a good sign you expended energy." Deirdre says. At this moment, the waitress arrives. Deirdre smoothly takes over ordering food and drink, brooking no argument, and giving her sister only a look when Fiona unsuccessfully interrupts. "Your training should be relatively rapid." Fiona says as the shadow of the retreating form of the waitress withdraws from the table. "I think your new position would mandate a rapid curriculum. To say nothing of recent events. We don't have the luxury, grandson, of you taking a year to master the basics." Again Kieran nods his head. "Fortunately, I'm a quick learner, because I don't think I've got six months to get the basics and other things down, barring a visit to one or more fast time shadows of course." "Such shadows have disadvantages" Fiona says. "While time relative to the rest of the universe is slowed down and thus training within those shadows can be done, such shadows tend to be solitary peaks in the extradimensional geometry of greater shadow." "In other words." Fiona says "Unless there are artificial barriers in place, its easy to slip out of the fast time shadow if you do any vigorous shadowshifting. And if you do have the barriers, then the amount of practice you can do is limited."
isn't that hard. Finding the time and the place, however...* "Keltia might be an exception." Deirdre says to Fiona. She looks at Kieran "How many shadows around Keltia were cut off along with it, Kieran?" He frowns in thought. "Honestly, I've no real idea. Quite a few though I would have to guess. I was a number of shadows away from Mom's realm for the most part and was still locked under it's influence. Keltia and surrounding shadows sounds like a plan;" he says already thinking of how to go about shifting shadow to link up with his ship again. "That sounds like a large enough playground. And we will have a chance to see our children in the bargain." Fiona adds, glancing at Deirdre. Deirdre gives a nod of agreement. The waitress at this point comes over with a large platter of food. A mug of what appears to be beer, and a large hamburger, fries, and a salad are placed before Kieran. Fiona gets what looks like to be a piece of grilled fish, biscuits and the same salad. Deirdre has a piece of fried fish, two brown pieces of a bread like substance, fries, and a salad. Deirdre and Fiona have glasses of white wine with their meal. "We'll eat, re-energize and see about shifting to Keltia." Deirdre says. Kieran nods his and samples everything set before him. For him, edibility out weighs palatability though it would be nice if the food did, in fact, taste something like it's appearance leads him to expect. Experimenting with the various condiments, Kieran looks at Deirdre. "As to that, I have a plan already in mind. And it will also give me a chance to practice my newly acquired powers." He smiles. The food does, indeed not taste like an unfamiliar set of substances. The meat tastes like beef (a la Keltia if not the Empire), the potatoes taste the same, and everything is delicious, filling and very welcome after his first Patternwalk and shadowshifting. The next few minutes is wrapped up with all three enjoying very welcome food. "What is your plan, Kieran?" Fiona finally says, between forkfuls of fish. Kieran smiles after his first bite of food. Between bites, he replies. "I left my ship back in Amber's harbor. I plan for us to follow the waterway here in the park down stream and through shadow until we reach a harbor on the sea where my ship will be waiting for us. She's a good ship, the Voyager." After another bite and drink; "She's also not just a sailing ship; once aboard and moving through shadow, I'll eventually shift her back into starship mode and we can fly to Keltia or any nearby shadows." "We should make sure, however, that any shifting you accomplish is done by yourself and not the agency of your ship, given its capabilities." Fiona responds. "We wouldn't want it to act as an undue crutch for your shadowshifting development, now would we?" her responses seems to be directed to her sister as much as Kieran. "Floating untethered in hard vacuum does not have any appeal, either." Deirdre responds dryly after a bite of her food. Fiona laughs. "This is true. I am certain we can trust Kieran not to be tempted unduly. You should, though." she looks at Kieran severely "make sure as to test yourself. Make changes that your ship, unaided, cannot normally make." Kieran frowns, "It has no ability to move through shadow on it's own;" he says. Then clarifies; "That I know of, anyroad." He then stops and looks at his grandmother's in turn. "Wait, were one or the other of you aiding me in my first walk through shadow?" Deirdre shakes her head slightly and looks at Fiona. Fiona, for her part, just gives a slight smile and sips her wine. "Very well" Deirdre says, the exasperation in her voice only intuited by Kieran. "We'll find your ship, and take a quick trip to Keltia. I would like to study the locus of the barriers that walled you and your parents' shadows off, even if they have now fallen." Fiona comments. Kieran nods his head slowly and finishes his meal and drink. When they are ready, Kieran will lead his grandmothers on a walk around the park's lake while reaching out for the stuff of shadow and beginning to shift. He walks and shifts until he comes to a stream leading off the lake. Following the stream and moving through shadow, the stream becomes a creek, becomes a small river, then a larger one till they reach the sea and a port city. He takes his time shifting, both to get the things he wants and to try and detect if either of his grandmothers are aiding him. It doesn't feel like Deirdre is aiding him, Kieran thinks he could tell. Fiona, however, is a different problem altogether. If he detected her aid, was it because she wanted him to do so? Could she help him without Kieran knowing? Kieran ponders a quick shift for something highly improbable to occur, like say a plastic toy of a blue prancing horse to be found in their path as they round a corner. If Fiona was assisting him, the 'aid' might be enough of a boost for that to happen. But then he considers that Fiona must know he's going to be on his soon enough and won't have anyone to fall back on but himself, so maybe she's not assisting him. Maybe. For what its worth, there are bumps and bruises, for lack of a better word, that do not immediately resolve themselves, and require some effort for Kieran to resolve. The path along the stream suddenly loses its paved nature on one shift to increase the stream size, requiring Kieran to do a bit of backtracking to get an acceptable road. Once they achieve the port city, Kieran leads them through the streets and down to the docks where the Voyager awaits. Finally, though, a sign announces that they have reached "The Free city of Hannu." Kieran's shifts, concentrating on finding the Voyager and keeping the path going, has produced what appears to be a pre-Industrial city built on a couple of hills overlooking a find natural harbor. Down the main drag of Hannu, Kieran, Deirdre and Fiona, soon find themselves going down a hill and to the docks. The harbor is crowded with ships, mostly on the style of the Voyager, although there a smattering of other types, including what appears to be a primitive steamship amongst them. A little dickering with the harbor master is all that it takes for Kieran to get permission to leave dock. After a quick check of the Voyager to ensure it's stocked and not carrying hidden, extra passengers, Kieran begins the process of casting off. He'll point out the various lines, tackles, etc. to his grandmothers in the hopes at least one will lend a hand. Though he's quite capable of doing it all on his own if it comes down to that. Voyager is safe and secure, and aside from a brown rat that tried to get on board from the dock, free of passengers. Said rat is esoterically physically evicted from the ship, with a moue of disgust, by Fiona. She doesn't say quite where it was disappeared to. As far as helping to cast off, Fiona appears content to let Kieran do most of the work. In truth of fact, though, her body language suggests a relative unfamiliarity with shipboard tasks. His other grandmother, however, has no such reservations. "I worked with your great-uncle Caine for a while on board one of his ships." Deirdre explains, handling one of the tackles. "Father didn't like it one bit." "There's an ice chest with food and drink down below;" Kieran says to his grandmothers. "There's also a small armory should you feel the need to go armed;" he grins. Heading out to sea, Kieran keeps the trimaran at a sedate pace while inside the harbor proper. Once clear, he raises all sail and heads a mile or so out to sea before altering course to parallel the coastline. Fiona sits and watches the view, sipping what proves to be some sort of diet soft drink found in the cooler. Its not any brand that Kieran knows, but the red and white logo is tantalizingly familiar, at least in the broad sense. Deirdre explores the ship, although she very occasionally is very ginger with her movements. When all are ready, he begins shifting the stuff of shadow once again. He starts slow, to get a feel for how shifting works while being on a moving object but not really moving all that much physically works. His shadow shifts are always towards higher tech shadows, gauging his progress by the appearance of buildings on the shoreline and that of any sea or air craft they pass by. And of course, by the changing appearance of the various bits and pieces that make up his ship as well. Practice does make perfect, and the trip does allow Kieran to experiment, to try different approaches to whole shadowshifting process. There are a couple of reverses, here and there, but in the main, the preindustrial city of Hannu is replaced by a series of ever-more increasingly technologically looking buildings. A major milestone turns out to be an observatory. Kieran finds that having the same observatory, with ever increasingly advanced equipment, allows him to have a landmark for technological change. It goes from a primitive (but beautiful) small telescope observatory all the way to, in the end, a radio telescope array. The eventual appearance of transatmospheric craft in the air and his own feelings and instincts will tell Kieran when it's time to switch Voyager over to starship mode. When he does that, he'll stop and do a diagnostics/systems check with Harmony. And also, a pressure test/leak check. The diagnostics turn out to be mostly fine. There are a few yellow-level areas of concern, some corrosion on a few parts, and a minor leak that requires attention before the Voyager is space-worthy again. Kieran reactivates Gate, the R2-G8 astromech droid, and sets him to work assisting with the leak repairs and then on the corrosion areas. "Sentient?" Deirdre asks as the rotund little robot busies itself around the ship. Kieran nods his head. "And feisty and sarcastic;" he says. "Without a vocoder, he's hard to understand, unless you know binary. Though it's sometimes amazing the amount of information he can convey with just beeps and whistles. Heckuva a mechanic and not bad at piloting either. There's a display pad around here somewhere that will translate what he says if you're interested." "I pick up languages fairly quickly" Deirdre says. "Trait of your great-grandmother." She regards Gate speculatively. "Did you wish to summon Mr Destine prior to our departure?" Fiona asks Kieran. "Good idea;" Kieran says. "We should have a backup pilot onboard in case something happens." With that, he pulls up the HTD and calls up Paril's image. He attempts to contact his copilot. "Paril? It's Kieran, you there?" A few moments later, the trump call goes through. Paril is in a large common room, somewhere. There can be heard laughter, gambling, talking, a cacophony of sound. Some sort of public house, from what Kieran can see. "Kieran!" Paril says. "You found me. How are you doing, my, my old friend!" A little clumsily, he puts down a large glass of something on a sideboard and faces Kieran. Kieran manipulates the image as best he can to check out the place. He grins at Paril. "Not as well as you it would appear. Valerian took you to a bar?" From what Kieran can see, thanks to his trump manipulation, the place is a public house of some kind. In one corner is a large piano, with a man playing a tune. In the opposite corner is a fireplace, with a number of chairs, couches and tables arranged around it. There are clusters of high backed soft chairs and tables dotting the room, too. In the corner nearest the piano is a straight line bar, with a prodigious selection of bottles behind the man busily serving drinks to patrons sitting there, to the waitstaff, and to individuals who are ferrying the drinks with them back to their perch of choice. And then there are the gaming tables. Pentagonal in shape, the point of the pentagons point out into the center of the room, with the base of the pentagons facing the wall. Four to five players each sit at each of these tables. "No" Paril laughs. "Valerian, our old friend, went off on an...an anventure. Adventure with Dagny and Dulcinea. Kind of left me in the lurch a bit. So I headed into town, figured it couldn't be worse than half of the spp-spaceports we've been in." "I think one of your relatives actually runs this place" he adds, as if in confidence. "Least, that's the rumor around here." Kieran nods his head. "What's the name of the place?" he asks. Paril blinks, in alcohol fueled thought. "The Crimson House" he answers. After Paril's reply: "Look, my grandmother's and I are heading for home; my parent's home, and we're back on Voyager. Figured you'd like to come along." He holds out a hand. "Say the word and take my hand and you'll be here." "I probably would need to sober up a bit." Paril says reflectively. "As long as you can tell V...Val... The V Man that I'm off with you, I figure all should be good." Paril offers Kieran his hand. Kieran pulls him through and then steadies Paril until he is able to stand on his own. "Perhaps this idea had less merit than I anticipated." Fiona says dryly, once Paril is brought across. In the corner, Gate lets out a few agitated bells and whistles in Fiona's direction. Deirdre laughs slightly. Fiona looks thoughtful. Kieran looks at Fiona; "He'll sober up in due time;" he says. "Valerian will either figure it out or trump me to say he's lost you;" Kieran says [to Paril]. "Or possibly not. Depends on him of course." A shrug of his shoulders. "Anyroad, Paril you need to hit the rack for a while, sleep it off. I can manage on my own for a good long time yet." And with that, Kieran escorts Paril to his quarters. In short order, once Paril is stowed to sleep it off. Kieran can return to the business of preparing the ship for departure. Pressure tests and other checks are done, and the necessary repairs have been completed by Gate. Fiona turns from a console at Kieran's return. "There are apparently two small moons if we are intending to go past cis-lunar space before starting to shadowshift." "Two space stations and regular traffic to worry about" Deirdre says. "From what I was able to find, they are constructing a base on the smaller of the moons. Really not much more than a jumped up asteroid." Kieran nods his, glances at the scanners himself and takes his seat in the pilot's chair. "Not really worried about regular traffic around here;" he says calmly. "I'm guessing I can outrun just about anything local, and what I can't outrun I'm sure I outgun, should push come to shove." "Cyllene would be the best at this sort of shadow travel, it was her specialty." Fiona adds, reflectively. Kieran stops and looks at his grandmother. "On one level, that is so not helping; especially where her shadow clone is concerned. On another level; I'm a quick study and space is like a second home to me. We'll see who's better at this." He smiles. Pivoting his chair, he motions to Deirdre to come up and take the copilot's seat. "Take a seat if you would and familiarize yourself with the controls, please." Deirdre gets into it with gusto, staring and studying controls. She activates nothing, but she gets the feel for the controls. There is an eagerness in her motions. Grandmother Fiona, I see you've found the sensor displays. If you would continue to monitor them and handle the communications systems if needed, that would be excellent." He then points to another console. "That is the remote control station for the upper and lower turrets;" he says to both grandmothers. "Though either or both can also be controlled from the pilot and copilot consoles." "I think you're old enough to call me Fiona, unless your mother is around" Fiona says. "First grandchild." Deirdre comments,amused. "Allright, Fiona;" Kieran says, trying out the use of his grandmother's given name. "Thank you." He gazes over at Deirdre and raises an eyebrow questioningly. Fiona nods approvingly and turns to the controls. Her hands do not touch but roam over the controls all the same, hovering over displays and controls. There is a brief change of eye color shade in Fiona's eyes. "You forget" Deirdre says to Kieran. "That I know the blood of my mother, your late uncle, your other uncle, and your father run in your veins. What *are* you going to address me as, is the question, Kieran." Kieran studies her for a moment or two. "Well, 'Warrior Princess' can be just as much a mouthful as grandmother;" he says with a smile. "But whatever you prefer is okay by me;" he finishes in a respectful tone. “Grandmother will do for a few decades.” Deirdre responds with a smile. Kieran nods his head after a moment or two. "As you say, Grandmother." Kieran then spends a few minutes recalling the experience of piloting Voyager while his father shifted shadow to take them to Keltic space. While he has no plans on trying the extreme shifting his father did, the memories of the experience should help him in his own efforts. With that, Kieran brings Voyager up out of the water and then gracefully pilots his ship up and out of the atmosphere. Once in space, he throttles up to about 75% power and sets a course to take them out of the planetary system. Once clear of the planetary system but still in the star system, Kieran calls the Pattern to mind and starts to experiment with shadow shifting in space. For the immediate future, he's staying well clear of the asteroid belt(s), should there be any and also the Kuiper belt, and reinforcing that idea via the Pattern. His goal is to head towards the outermost planet and then loop back, shifting as he goes. The early bit of travel is without incident. Oh, Fiona notes that there is an alert from the space station. However, the Voyager is already past the outer moon's orbit by the time a reaction can be made. The solar system before shifting is a relatively small one, six planets, five rocky and the sixth a gas giant. The asteroid belt is between the fifth planet and the Gas Giant. There turns out to be no Kuiper belt. The Gas Giant, named Denardo according to Fiona's research, has well over thirty moons, most of them little more than asteroids. Beyond Denardo, there is nothing until the Oort cloud and the heliopause, a wide open area to start his shifting. Adding a Kuiper Belt is an easy first step for Kieran. Thickening and thinning the belt of asteroids is simple. Changing the trojans of the Gas giant to a full fledged planet is a bit of trickiness that definitely changes the shadow substantially as Voyager falls inward toward the sun. "Flying in circles to change the system around us to Keltia, then?" Fiona says. "The alternative would have been to go for interstellar flight and shape the destination as Keltia." Deirdre says. "Would Voyager have been equipped for the hazards of interstellar travel?" "It's a start;" Kieran replies. "And there's nothing wrong in going in circles while shifting; Uncle Corwin did that a time or two didn't he?" "If you believe his story completely, yes." Fiona says. "It does work, if you can keep yourself focused properly." To Deirdre, he says; "Yes, we've got military grade shielding and weapons. And we have a hyperdrive, a rather good one at that. Didn't want to launch straight into that though, till I got a handle on this. Now though..." He builds a mental image of the greater Keltic system in his mind, the Scotan system particularly in detail. Simultaneously, he brings that data up on Voyager's navicomputer. He accelerates the ship up to lightspeed and engages the hyperdrive while focusing on his Shadow shifting once more. It actually, to Kieran's surprise, takes a little more shifting to find a shadow where the hyperdrive works as he expects. Gate reports that the drive is in operational order, it just doesn't do anything at first. Either the shadow they were in at the time used a different sort of FTL paradigm, or there was no FTL paradigm at all, or something else amiss, a little more effort, a little more shadow work and skullsweat from Kieran, seems to be required before near-lightspeed becomes trans-lightspeed. Whilst shifting shadow, Kieran prompts Harmony for some traveling music; rock and metal, of course. Just not the tunes held in the 'combat rock' playlist. Styx, Kansas, Rush, Mellencamp, etc. Again, speed is not the primary goal here. Learning and mastering the art of interstellar shadow shifting is the goal, along with reaching the correct destination. Kieran plans on taking his time, learning what works and what doesn't. Then, with the memories of his father's passage in mind for inspiration - not routes; Kieran gradually picks up the pace and scope of his shifting. At one point, as Road to Nowhere comes up on the music list, Fiona laughs out loud, once. Once Kieran, his passengers and the Voyager are in interstellar space, shadow shifting appears to be both more slippery and easier at the same time. Kieran quickly learns that constellations, for lack of a better word, although not very useful within a shadow, become crucial to his progress now. Changing one iceball to another, or making an Oort cloud thicker doesn't seem to make any progress. Changing the stars in front of him to more and more resemble configurations from Keltia, that seems and feels to him like real progress. About an hour into this, looking shaven, cleaned up and sober, enters Paril. "What did I miss?" "Not much;" Kieran quips while still concentrating on his shifting. "Just me shadow shifting us back to my parent's." "Concentration is key." Fiona says. With a strange clear sobriety in his voice, Paril nods to Fiona. "Yes, ma'am" he says. There is a little chair switching, as Deirdre gives up the co-pilot's chair to Paril, and takes one of the other chairs next to Fiona. The two are soon in low conversation together, difficult for Kieran to make out, especially with the majority of his efforts focused on the interstellar shadow shift. The stars continue to change under Kieran's watch. Stars wink out, are born, and shift position as Kieran shifts and shifts. Paril does good work in pointing out the changes, making navigation readings, and keeping Kieran focused. There comes a point, about another hour, a drink and a break later, that Kieran realizes that his approach to Keltia has slowed. Not because he is necessarily taking his time (which he is), but because the changes he is trying to make are becoming harder and harder. Each new star in place, the slight change in physical constants, and the small changes needed to finish the shadowshifting become progressively harder, as if he were climbing an ever steeper mountain. Kieran considers this in the back of his mind, while still attempting movement through shadow. Does he feel that the resistance is because he's reaching (or reached) his goal, or that he's pushing up against a wall or barrier? A barrier his mother erected to guard her homeland, perhaps? A couple of minutes of experimentation, of analysis and thought, and Kieran thinks that, as far as he can tell, its a barrier or a wall that is preventing shadow-shifting into Keltic space. A Curtain Wall, of some sort. Paril notices the lack of progress. "Kieran, what's wrong?" he asks. Behind him, Fiona is studying the instruments with pursed lips. Deirdre looks toward Kieran curiously. "A new wrinkle;" Kieran says. Kieran indicates the sensor screens with a wave of a hand. "It appears that a new barrier of sorts has been raised around Mom's realm. It's preventing shadow shifting within its confines. At least it is to me." Kieran turns to look at Fiona. "You can probably work around it or through it, if it comes to that." "I could, but I want you to make an effort to solve this first, Kieran" Fiona says. "Your mother would want it that way." He brings up his left arm and stares at his HTD. "However;" he continues; "there may be a simpler way through it." A 3D image of his mother appears above the HTD. He focuses on the image. "Mother?" "Lateral thinking" Deirdre comments to Fiona, in the background. The image of Brandeigh starts moving after a few moments. "Kieran" she says, mentally. "I had not expected you back so soon. Is there trouble? I notice you brought both of your grandmothers with you, and they have not killed one another." Kieran blinks slowly, then glances at his grandmothers then back at his mother. "Why would they try to do that?;" he asks then quickly shakes his head. "No, nevermind. Forget I asked." He smiles. "Uhm, what's up with this barrier or wall? It's not liking me trying to shadow shift through it to you. Does it block the shadow paths as well?" Kieran then awaits his mother's reply, and to see if she catches what he just said. Mother does not miss a beat, and smiles. "Congratulations are in order, then" she says "I suspect that it was my mother, or your other grandmother, who insisted that you walk the Pattern so quickly. Unless Random has changed his policies, I would have expected him to make you wait." "Thusly" she adds "We took some precautions, now that it is possible to reach Keltia, your father and I. If you bide an hour or two, the barriers we've erected should cease. There is a shadow path you can use in an pinch, or in an emergency, that we keep open. You should be able to find a Red Giant and neutron star pair near your location. The shadow path traverses a course that swings close to both. 'Twas your father's idea. He calls it the Niven Gate." "Something like that;" Kieran allows, referring to his Patternwalk. "Both of my grandmothers were present for my walk." "I see" Mother responds. Kieran nods towards Fiona and the scanners, while simultaneously bringing them up on his own console. "No, there's no emergency;" Kieran says, "but there's no need to drop your barrier for just us if we can slide in through a backdoor." He studies his screens for signs of other vessels in the area for a few moments. "OK, what's the trick with this Niven Gate once we find it? How do we get through it?" There is a lack of any appreciable space traffic. There are a few rogue bodies in the system, comets and asteroids on odd or perturbed orbits, but nothing that immediately suggests any of them are a ship. "According to your father, you need to plot a course that allows you to slingshot from the Neutron Star, increasing your velocity to more than .9c" Brandeigh explains. "At that speed, following a tangential path along the outer atmosphere of the Red Giant companion will complete the path requirements and cause the Niven Gate to open nearby for three minutes and 14.1592 seconds. Pass through the Gate, and you will be in Keltic space." Kieran parses that for a moment or two, then snorts in laughter at the time factor. His fingers fly over the helm controls and the navicomputer as he plots a trio of seemingly random microjumps that ultimately place Voyager on the prescribed shadow path. He then plots the course that will lead them to the Gate. "I believe he is getting instructions on our course." Kieran can hear Paril explain to Fiona or Deirdre, its not clear which. Kieran nods his head, once. "Anything else, Mom?" he asks. Brandeigh nods. "You will want to keep a identification transponder on once you reach Keltic space. Expect to be challenged frequently, after the business with that incursion. Especially since you will appear to have circumvented the Wall. I will send a warning to the Fleet, but the warning may not reach all of the units in time. The Niven Gate will put you in the Tulach Mhór System. Its uninhabited except for a Helium-3 mining platform circling the largest of the gas giants, Féinics, and a small patrol base on one of the gas giants' moons. I forget which one." "I look forward to see you, and Mother, and Deirdre when you arrive." Brandeigh adds. "Right;" Kieran says; "See you in a little bit then." And then closes the connection. He relays the information his mother provided and then checks his course plots once more. He checks the scanners once more as well All is quiet and there appears to be absolutely nothing in the area. She keeps it subtle but Kieran notices that Fiona does *something*, too. "Anyone have anything, or shall we go?" Kieran asks, looking at each person in turn. If not, Kieran engages the engines and sets out on the course he's plotted that should bring them to the Niven Gate. "No" Fiona says with a smile. "Hey, I'm ready to try this crazy course. How bad can it be?" Paril says. Gate responds with a string of beeps and whistles impertinently suggesting that he thinks it very well *could be* bad. This gets a smile from Deirdre. "I'm curious as to what my son would design as a shadow path in a space faring shadow. It appears he has surprised me." "Not for the first time." Fiona says. With these comments aside, the course plotted, Kieran's trajectory for the Long Distance Voyager starts in earnest. It is relatively uneventful until the ship starts its dive into the gravity well of the neutron star. The stresses start to pull on the ship, the view of the starscape starts to distort. Readings from stations relayed by both grandmothers, Paril and Gate show that this path is definitely difficult on his ship, a true test of its abilities. There is a released exhale of relief from Paril once that first part of the path is done, but the stresses start again as the Voyager nears the Red Giant. Temperatures rise on the outer hull thanks to the Voyager's high speed. Gate reports some ablative damage from components chilled to near absolute zero suddenly being warmed due to the heat of the nearby star. A few sensors are burned away and go offline. Kieran makes mental notes of the damages and repair costs. It's not going to be trivial, the ship is certainly spaceworthy, but a little repair and refit in Keltia is probably a good idea. However, as the ship reaches the tangent point, 49 million kilometers ahead (and thus about three minutes travel away at current velocity) , an oval shimmering shape swells into existence, at a small remove on the +y and -z axis from current course. Is this expected? Does the oval appear to be their target? If so, Kieran heads for it. Everything suggests that this is the Gate that Mother spoke of, especially once Kieran mentally recognizes that they will just make the Gate before it closes, going at current speed. With such a narrow window, it takes Kieran and Paril's skill and Voyager's computers, to reach the Gate within the 3 minutes and 14 seconds that it remains open. The transition through the Gate is, internally, about 5 seconds when the view from the viewscreens turns to a solid blue-white color. No sensors of any kind appear to work, although Gate in a series of whistles and beeps reports that there appears to be motion and velocity. After these 10 seconds, the Voyager emerges into a new solar system, according to the sensors and stations (which come back online without a problem). One thing that Kieran notes (and is quickly confirmed) is that almost all of relative velocity that the Voyager had prior to Gate transit is gone. The Gate, behind them, winks out of existence about eight seconds after transition. "And now we are in Keltic space" Fiona says, pleased. "Do you know, Kieran, if your mother has maintained the shadow time difference?" "It would make our visit something of a respite if they did." Deirdre muses. "Unless we're not and this is a trap;" Kieran mutters under his breath, though he doesn't think it is one. His fingers fly over the controls once again, doing another sensor sweep to determine they're position. He studies the stars through the windows as well. He sets the ship's transponder to flash Voyager's ID codes, there are a number of others after all, and keys it on. The Voyager is in a orange dwarf star's solar system. Eight planets, 6 rocky and small, too small for much of anything, and two gas giants. There is definitely activity on a large icy moon of one of the giants, as well as a station around the same gas giant. It seems to be Tulach Mhór, and astrogation by star identification confirms it. The exit point of the Gate appears to be at the L4 Trojan point between the Gas Giant and the orange dwarf. Some astrogation reveals that the Giant is currently 2.3 billion kilometers from its primary, and thus the Voyager is the same distance from the star, and the planet. A ship HAS launched from the moon, but it will take time for it to build up delta-v and reach the Voyager's position. It's running silent at the moment. It certainly will receive his transponder signal in a few hours. So roughly, the other ship is a couple of light hours away, more or less? Yes, yes it is. "I do not know if she has or not;" Kieran replies to his grandmothers. "I don't think she was entirely happy about being stuck in fast-forward though things seemed to have worked out okay as far as I'm concerned." "We would not have met yet, otherwise." Fiona replies. "We should speak to her about regularizing the rate, if she has not done so. Or aid her in doing so, if necessary." Kieran nods his head at this. Once he and Paril have plotted their position, Kieran sets a course for Scota and engages the engines. Hyperdrive is working as expected, and running up to translight speed goes with no visible problems. The orange dwarf flashes by, and the ship starts climbing on the galactic axis toward the heart of Keltic space. "Gate;" Kieran says to his astromech droid; "get me a damage report and then get started on fixing what you can while we're still in space." Gate burbles agreement and scoots off to do so. "Since arriving to see my daughter safely is something I am interested in." Deirdre says. "What might my sister and I do to help speed this process?" she says. "Or are we considered honored passengers at this point?" "Well;" Kieran says after a moment's thought. "Most of the damage appears to be external and extra vehicular activity while in hyperspace can be a bit discomforting to those not used to it. It's not recommended at any rate." "So, you can keep an eye on your stations as honorary bridge crew;" he grins. "Or I can show you the lounge area where you can relax until we reach Scota." Fiona laughs. "I think some relaxation is in order, given that it will take time to reach my daughter's planet, will it not?" "Our children's planet." Deirdre corrects Fiona. "it is about 10 hours at current hyperdrive speed." Paril puts in. "We do appear to be fairly far out." Kieran looks up at Fiona after a few moments. "I believe it's still running fast, but not nearly so much as before. Something like thirty days here to one in Amber ratio. Do you concur?" Fiona blinks her eyes and bolds up a hand. "Remarkably accurate for your first time. 30.67 seconds to one second in Amber is the ratio I detect." She says. "I prefer to use seconds because the length of days and seasons can vary from shadow to shadow." Kieran goes back to scanning the shadow to see if he can narrow the time flow ratio down to the seconds level. "Yes, I can see where that might make a difference;" Kieran comments. Using Fiona's measure rather than longer measures dovetails into some of the training he has undergone, both with his mother and father, and what he has learned in Paril's shadow. A matter of focus, of narrowing perception, of looking carefully at what he has discovered. Yes, now he can feel the rate in this shadow pass, expressed in terms of moments. Somewhat less than 31 seconds in this shadow is equal to a basal second elsewhere, presumably Amber. After scanning the time flow again, he turns his attentions to the shadow paths. With further study, what else can he learn? Anything more about their being 'twisted'? Is it that they're guarded or warded? All of the shadow paths, now, including the one he had often used to get between Keltia and the Empire, now have this "twisted" nature to them. Someone, presumably his mother and father, has made it deliberately difficult to navigate these ways out of the shadow. The terminus of the path to the Empire has been changed, too, from the F-star and asteroid Dromleigh system to the Warrenmount system. That system, as it so happens, does have a Keltic military installation in it. In fact, all of the paths out of Keltia's shadow, now, end in locations close to the Wall, and in systems that are militarily defended. "Interesting;" he comments upon concluding his study of the paths. "Mom, I'm presuming it's Mom anyroad, has moved all the shadow paths so that they exit into star systems that are defended by elements of the Navy. Except for the one we came through, of course." "Not true. There was a small station in that system we came through." Fiona puts in. "Not a large force, and tactically in a poor" Deirdre puts in. "On the other hand, very few ships are going to be able to use that Gate in order to get into Keltia. And if they do, they are either well known, or are going to be more dangerous than a small detachment of the Navy can handle." "I'm not so sure that station was run by the Navy;" Kieran replies. "Seemed more like a mining operation than anything else. Which, indeed, may be a cover operation." Still, he goes back to the sensor logs and studies the ship they observed there. From a terminal in the lounge, Fiona stands next to Kieran and watches with interest as Kieran pulls up the sensor logs and other data collected while they were in the system. Deirdre remains recumbent where she is, with her head cocked in the direction of her sister and her grandson. The ship itself is a bit of an enigma, given what Kieran can tell. Not the profile of a bulky He3 miner at all, instead the ship has a very narrow profile, as if trying to avoid being summarily studied easily in a sensor sweep. Too, the reflectivity of the hull is way too high for any sort of civilian ship, even a Police Cutter mothballed and sold at auction. And it does not match any of the readings Kieran has of Narek's ship, correct? He saves the data on the patrol ship to a computer chip. He'll run it by his parents later, in person, on the off chance it's not one of theirs. It's definitely not any known ship of Narek's. The profile is all wrong for ships that he has encountered in the Empire's shadow. "A covert ship, and a covert base, then." Fiona says. "My daughter has made sure that even that twisted entrance has protection." She smiles. "Good." she adds in a self-satisfied tone. "Or my son" Deirdre says. "Or both." Kieran looks up from the sensor logs and at his grandmothers in turn. He's reluctant to acknowledge something his mother said about his grandmothers. "My parents;" Kieran says neutrally; "They work well as a team; covering each other's weaknesses and complementing their strengths. I'm certain they both worked hard on this realm's current defenses." In point of fact, the sensor readings suggest that something did do a long range sensor sweep of the Voyager, one that Kieran did not detect at the time. The painting of the radar was done with an extremely careful laser, and covertly. Only after the fact does the fact that the LDV was scanned at all is revealed. Its difficult to ascertain if it was some sort of probe, the base, or the ship. It was very carefully done. Kieran is leaning toward the first. Later Kieran will prepare some food and drink (trying his best to accommodate his grandmothers' tastes as best he can). He'll try to steer his grandmothers into relating stories of his parents' childhoods, because those types of things are always fun to learn about one's parents. Given that Deirdre and Fiona appear to have something of a rivalry going on about Kieran's parents, among other things of course, hopefully this shouldn't be too difficult. Be it indulging Kieran, or just because there is lots of time to travel to Keltia, or that rivalry that seems to be in force, getting Fiona and Deirdre to talk about Kieran's parents and closest relatives is not difficult. And Kieran learns that, as he might have expected from the lunch he had with them, Deirdre's appetite is definitely of someone who likes to engage in a lot of physical activity, although she expresses a predilection for spicy food. Fiona's palate turns out to be more subtle and nuanced. Fiona does pause at one point and stands off. Kieran is a good enough artist to know that she is taking a trump call, and she is well practiced enough that Kieran has no idea of the conversation. Kieran briefly considers consulting the HTD in a possible attempt to identify the caller; but using the HTD for this is not subtle so he pushes the thought aside. "Excuse me" Fiona says. "Oh, I was telling you about your aunt Shannon and uncle Lorius, was I not...?" The biggest story that Kieran learns, and it embarrasses Deirdre when Fiona brings it up is that, in a sense, his mother and father bonded over a tomb--Deirdre's in fact. Brandeigh felt that, when she was thought lost, Deirdre deserved a memorial every inch of Corwin's or Eric's, and worked assiduously to do so. Percy was moved enough by it to finally see that the two of them had slowly and unexpectedly fallen for each other. "Much like Corwin" Deirdre says. "I have no desire to see such craftsmanship torn down merely because of the inconvenient truth that I happen to be alive. If Brand had his way, I would not be." "That's Mom;" Kieran says with more than a little bit of pride. "I think I've seen some of the sketches and design drawings she came up with for your memorial, grandmother;" he adds. "Mom and Dad never really spoke of it much but they'd always smile at each other when they did." "I can understand that." Deirdre says. "I had had no idea that Brandeigh would be taught architectural design, sister." she says, looking at Fiona. "It was a self-taught interest" Fiona says. "I'm aware that all of my children have contacts with a variety of talented people in various practical fields, and have learned thereby." The biggest story that Kieran learns, and it embarrasses Deirdre when Fiona brings it up is that, in a sense, his mother and father bonded over a tomb--Deirdre's in fact. Brandeigh felt that, when she was thought lost, Deirdre deserved a memorial every inch of Corwin's or Eric's, and worked assiduously to do so. Percy was moved enough by it to finally see that the two of them had slowly and unexpectedly fallen for each other. "Much like Corwin" Deirdre says. "I have no desire to see such craftsmanship torn down merely because of the inconvenient truth that I happen to be alive. If Brand had his way, I would not be." "That's Mom;" Kieran says with more than a little bit of pride. "I think I've seen some of the sketches and design drawings she came up with for your memorial, grandmother;" he adds. "Mom and Dad never really spoke of it much but they'd always smile at each other when they did." "I can understand that." Deirdre says. "I had no idea that Brandeigh would be taught architectural design, sister." she says, looking at Fiona. "It was a self-taught interest" Fiona says. "I'm aware that all of my children have contacts with a variety of talented people in various practical fields, and have learned thereby." "Besides being a pilot and a ship captain." Fiona continues. "What skills have you been taught, Kieran?" Kieran smiles. "Many;" he replies. "Why do you ask?" "Looking for any glaring lacuna in your education." Fiona replies with a smile. "What my sister means." Deirdre interrupts "is that given how the members of the Family pick up skills and interests, and the unexpected interest my daughter in law had in architecture, I think Fiona and I were curious as to what unusual ones you have chosen to learn." "I have been trained as a Fianna, Bard and Druid here as well as one of the Dragon Kinship;" Kieran replies after a moment. "Like your mother." Fiona says approvingly. "I've also trained as a Jedi and adapted many of their abilities to my own uses. I've served in both the army and space navy here. I'm skilled in mechanical and electronics design and repair." Here, he hold up both his lightsaber and HTD. "I've also learned ship design and repair." Deirdre holds out a hand as Kieran shows the lightsaber. "Hand to hand weapons interest me." she says. "If you don't mind, I'd like to handle it." After a moment's thought, he hands it to her. (Assuming Kieran lets her). She takes the light saber and turns it on and experiments with it for a few moments before shutting it off and returning it to Kieran. "An energy blade. I would design this a bit differently." Deirdre looks thoughtful '"It doesn't work in Amber, does it?" "How so, differently?" he asks with genuine curiosity while securing the lightsaber to his belt. "I haven't tested it in Amber itself, but it functioned just fine in the center of the Primal Pattern. The primary focusing crystal;" he pauses; "has been... enhanced somewhat, let us say; courtesy of Mother." "Well, it is a fine weapon as it is. I can see that its mainly meant as a ritual dueling weapon, isn't it?" Deirdre says. "These Jedi are a culture of honorable combat?" "Yes, they are honorable;" Kieran says. "But lightsabers are not just ritual dueling weapons. They are true combat blades, and much more in the hands of one skilled in their use. I can deflect, even redirect rounds fired from energy weapons with this. I can cut my way into or out of just about anything with this." Kieran grins then. "And, they're compact and concealable with the blade deactivated. It's a lot easier to get this past security checkpoints than a rapier or broadsword, or axe for that matter." "That is all true" Deirdre replies. "However, I would think that if you are using a field-defined energy blade, then limiting it to a single form seems a too-narrowing of the possibilities. Why not incorporate the ability to have multiple shapes for such an energy blade?" "I can adjust the blade length and thickness as needed;" Kieran replies. "Also, other 'light' weapons have been developed and used by others; lightflails and lightwhips for example. Problem with those, as with a lightsaber, is there is very little room for error when wielding one. There are training versions of lightsabers, that will only stun when the blade makes contact - like a taser. But to pick up an actual light weapon and try to wield it without some training; well your first mistake is usually your last." "That's true of any energy weapon" Deirdre counters. "A blaster may be a less elegant weapon, but is no less dangerous in untrained hands." "True;" Kieran counters. "But a blaster is not going lop off a limb while swung around in a careless manner." "I think he eventually abandoned the experiment, but I believe your father experimented with a force mace a century or so ago." she adds. Kieran considers this for a moment. "That idea, has possibilities;" he admits. "Maybe I'll show him some vibro weapons; they have small power packs and motors that vibrate the blade or blades of a vibro weapon at an incredible rate. Hundreds of small cutting actions a minute. Almost as deadly as a lightsaber." He pauses for a moment. "I would be happy to show you how all these weapons work once we reach Mom and Dad. Perhaps we can spar again, this time me with my preferred weapons?" "Given space and time, I would be pleased to spar with you, your mother and father." Deirdre says. "You're on then;" Kieran says. "What else have you learned?" Fiona asks. "Besides dealing with energy blades." [Kieran] pauses for a few moments, then continues. "I've worked for extended periods of time as an investigator and spy; I'm good with languages as well." "I've learned something of Trump as well, obviously;" he says indicating the HTD. "Any particular skill set you were looking for?" he asks of his grandmothers. "Just what skill set were you looking for?" Deirdre looks at Fiona. "This was your line of questioning." "Mere curiosity as to the manner of our grandson's education." she replies coolly. "Fine. Tell us in your own good time, sister." Deirdre rises from a chair and leaves the lounge. Gate lets out a series of whistles and beeps. Kieran looks at Gate questioningly. Kieran sends Gate after his grandmother, telling him to give her a tour of the Voyager, including the concealed hangar bay and his fighter. Gate departs the room in pursuit of his errand. He then turns his attentions back to his other grandmother. "Were you trying to get her to storm off like that?" he asks bluntly. "It has been a long time since my sister and I have had cause to cooperate on ventures and projects together." Fiona replies. "And its been 15 years since I thought she was even alive. Old conflicts came far too easily. In a way, its a compliment to her, that I am not treating her with kid gloves as many seem to be doing, given her debility." "With the boys dominating or pretending they dominate Amber so, the past rivalries among Deirdre, Flora and I are less well known but no less real." Fiona adds. "Hunh;" Kieran replies. "So you seek to anger her, prod her into pushing herself to regain or rebuild her strength and skills then?" "Yes" Fiona says. "Your other grandmother is at her best when engaged in or responding to, conflict. Genuine conflict." she adds. Kieran considers this for a few moments. "There's anger and then there's anger. If you succeed in making her angry enough to push herself along the road to recovery... that it will pale to the anger she'll manifest when she discovers that you've been manipulating her, for her benefit." "Then she is not going to find out." Fiona says coolly. "I think your plan has merit. I'm willing to help as I'd like to see my other grandmother at the top of her game. However, I'm not eager to damage the relationship she and I are beginning to forge." "I don't intend to test our relationship to destruction, Kieran." Fiona says. "Spending long periods with her, angry, on a spacecraft would be unwise." "Yes, very unwise;" Kieran agrees. "I just got this ship replaced after Dad and Paril destroyed the original the last time we were home. Granted, it was necessary at the time to deal with an enemy force. But I hope destroying ships is not a Faiellan trait." "You destroyed your ship to deal with an enemy force." Fiona says. "Aside from some unusual gambits Noys uses in chess, I don't believe it is..." she furrows her eyebrows. "But, then, your great-uncle Corwin did sacrifice a fleet in trying to invade Amber." "Ahem;" Kieran coughs. "I said that Dad and Paril destroyed the original Voyager. I prefer not to destroy useful assets. I was off in my fighter, the Azure Flame, redirecting a comet enemy forces had directed towards Caledonia and then fending off enemy ships sent to figure out why the comet had gone off course. And then later still, fighting a pitched space battle with Mom, her navy and me with my little fighter against a large fleet of Yithonghu and Coranians." Kieran will relate the entire tale to his grandmother should she wish to hear it of course. "Tell me more..." Fiona says. Midway through Kieran's rendition of the battle, Deirdre returns to the room. She doesn't look at Fiona, but instead sits down and listens as Kieran describes the events of the battle between the Keltic forces and the alliance between the Coranians and the dimension-invading Yithonghu. Gate comes in and takes a sentinel like position next to her. Gate is drafted to display visuals of the ships, their positions and movements as appropriate. "I understand the Yithonghu caused problems in the realm of dreams." Fiona says at one point. "A number of people, led by Valerian, dealt with the threat there. But it sounds like they are seeking other ways to make mischief." "Tactically changing their tactics to a more frontal assault." Deirdre speaks at this point. "Had it worked, even if they only sacked Keltia, it would have been a useful exercise from their point of view. Proof of concept." "Yes;" Kieran says; "the one I fought said they were going after all those who'd opposed them in the dream realm. And if he couldn't get one of them, Mom, he'd settle for a descendant." Kieran pauses and looks at his grandmothers. "I got the impression the guy would've been happy to get his hands on any relative of Mother's." "That's a rather broad set of people." Fiona says, steepling her fingers. "Any of the Family, for openers. I have neither felt nor heard of any trouble along those lines, but using a space fleet shows their capacity for the unexpected." "Any of her Keltic relatives, too, I would guess, would be at threat." Deirdre adds. She turns blue eyes toward Kieran "How big is this family of yours, Kieran, and how well trained are they in techniques to ward off something like the Yithonghu?" "My guess is they're going for whoever they can find in Shadow first;" Kieran says. "I'm not sure they know exactly whom they're dealing with." He shrugs his shoulders. "Or they do and are going for the ones off on their own first." "We do not know enough, but need to learn more." Fiona says neutrally. She looks away, a thoughtful look on her face. He turns to Deirdre, sighs and frowns in thought. "That... is a simple question with a complicated answer. It depends on how far back you want to trace connections, relationships. Most of the royal houses are interconnected to some degree or another. If you want to narrow it down to those who have a claim to the high throne; well there aren't a lot of us. All of us, though, are capable of defending ourselves to one degree or another. Few have had extensive training in psionics, though." "That may need to be changed." Deirdre says. "If the large-scale front assault proved impossible, the obvious thing to try would be more small scale, individually targeted retributions." "Alteration of the shadow's properties may help." Deirdre adds. "Or the alterations my son and daughter in law have now put in place. We will need to inquire." Kieran appears to be about to reply, then stops in thought. "Maybe they can change things at that. Or, already have;" he says. "The Curtain Wall is new, really new. If they can't find their way through that in ships large or small, they may not be able to get to anyone." "Then" Fiona says. "We should hold off on further speculations until we have our feet on the ground in Scota and seeing my daughter and her son in law." "Fortunately, we've only some hours more before that happens." Deirdre says, with an elated tone at the thought of that prospect clearly in her voice. Kieran nods his head in agreement. "Well, I should go check on things;" Kieran says. "If you two want to relax back here for a while, go ahead. Or I can setup a flight and combat simulator on the aft stations on the bridge if you'd rather do that." Kieran awaits a reply. "Maybe an hour or two of idleness will give us the need for that." Deirdre says. And so it goes. It does take an hour and a half for Deirdre to ask Kieran for such a simulator to play around with, as it were. In the meantime, Paril has been flying the craft admirably. Nothing of note has occurred, beyond a few IFF type signals from the occasional navy craft that passes by or comes into range. Nothing too out of the ordinary although Kieran doesn't remember so many casual requests for identification before. Things have changed. Kieran thinks the ID requests, 'casual' or otherwise, are rather reassuring in a way. It means the Navy is doing it's job. Important if they're still on a war footing. In a few hours, though, the Long Distance Voyager is on the outskirts of the Scota system, heading inbound to the planet itself at long last. A message from the planet, from Mom and Dad, soon comes. "Hello, Long Distance Voyager. Welcome home!" "This is Voyager;" Kieran replies on the comm system. "Thanks, and request clearance to enter planetary orbit and then land at the royal spaceport.;" he says following protocol. "Clearance granted" comes the response from the FTL communications system. Mom's voice. "Standby for further information." Then, he grins. "Your mothers are eager to see you two." A pause as he leans forward into the audio/video pickup. "You've been warned;" he whispers. "Understood" comes the response. This time It's Dad. Is that nervousness in his voice? He leans back and continues. "As am I, of course." "Of course." Dad replies, nervousness abating. "Incoming approach vectors to orbit and orbit-to ground will immediately follow." The Voyager registers receiving a data packet of the information for the course to Scota orbit, and a descent to the royal spaceport. "Anything further, Voyager?" Dad adds. "Negative;" Kieran replies. "What we should talk about can wait till we've landed and debarked from Voyager." Kieran checks and verifies the data packet before uploading into Harmony's systems. Then, he'll lay in the course the packet sent. "See you on the ground;" Kieran says. "See you on the ground. Scota out" Mom's voice ends the call. The packet is verified. There is a lot less wiggle room in the packet in instructions as compared to previous instructions from the spaceport. Keltic independent streaks usually meant that flight paths were much, much more liberal, especially in open space between planets. Not so much these days. Still, with the course set, the trip to Scota doesn't look like its going to cause any difficulties. "Something about all this is wrong" Paril says, about two thirds through the course, the pale blue dot of Scota slowly resolving into something larger. "Could things have gotten worse since we were gone How long we were gone, anyway?" Kieran slows Voyager down, to about half his previous speed on the sublights, while passively scanning the surrounding area of space with Voyager's sensors. Any signs of debris from a large battle? Are the other ships in the area running with the standard transponder codes? Is the traffic volume, both numbers and types, what Kieran would expect? In short, anything out of the ordinary, that Kieran spots? There is still plenty of space traffic, as much as Kieran would reasonably expect in one of the major Keltic systems. Volume certainly has not decreased measurably. Transponder codes are not out of the ordinary. What does strike Kieran, and perhaps this rises to out of the ordinary, is that the traffic is far more...orderly, structured and in line than previously. Previous and projected flight paths for the vessels show a lot less variability than Kieran is used to. There are no signs of a major battle in the system. No unexpected debris or other anomalies in that way. Then he concentrates on the Pattern to verify the time flow once again in order to answer Paril's questions. The Pattern suggests that events here still pass significantly more rapidly than in shadows outside of Keltia. In Amber, say. Its not anywhere near as severe as previously, when two decades passed in the matter of a week, but Kieran deduces that several months in Keltia have passed since he and Dagny left Scotia orbit in the direction of Amber. "It's been several months since you and I were last here, Paril;" Kieran answers his companion. "And, all this space traffic is far more orderly than I'm used to seeing here." "It reminds me somewhat of the core worlds of the Empire" Paril says. "Although nowhere near as extreme." Kieran nods his head in agreement. "I was thinking the very same thing;" he says. Kieran moves his left arm, bringing up the HTD. He cycles through the stored images for place trumps of various places inside and around the royal castle, spaceport, etc. He'll try to establish a light contact on several in turn; just strong enough to see what's currently going on within each. Kieran's stored images on his trump device work as expected. Things appear to be relatively normal at all of the scenes. The spaceport is seeing traffic, as usual. There appears to be a birthday celebration of some kind outside of the Royal Castle, there are tents up and people mingling and milling around. If three months has passed, then a birthday of one of the fosterlings would be just about now. As opposed to the stark militancy and strictures above orbit, on the planet itself, all is quiet. Certainly nothing that Kieran's random selection shows. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary;" Kieran says after cycling through the random places. "Still..." he sounds a little puzzled, troubled. "Still" Paril agrees. "Do we trouble your Grandmothers about this?" "Wait one;" Kieran says holding up a finger to let Paril know he's doing something. "Okay." Paril says. Kieran brings his Third Eye to mind and sends it out to scope out an orbital spot on the far side of Ruchdi. There are two reasons why he does this though they are closely related. First; in case he needs to get Voyager quickly out of Caledon's orbit and into a sensor shadow via a Dimension Door or other means. Second; to check and see if anyone or thing is currently hiding in said sensor shadow. Ruchdi is the oversized moon of the oversized planet Caledon, the true planet name for the Scotia system. Being so large, it has a thin atmosphere, not thick enough to breathe, but its large enough to retain a Martian-style atmosphere. There is, to Kieran's memory, an installation or two on the planet-facing side of the moon, but not much else. There is simply no lack of real estate on Caledon to warrant it. The use of the Third Eye is thus a surprise for Kieran. There aren't any warships or anything like that in the sensor shadow, but there IS a space station in a geostationary orbit above Ruchdi, right in the sensor shadow, on the dark side of the Moon. And, there is construction activity, lots of activity, on the moon below the spot where the station is. "Oh... Maulk;" Kieran mutters aloud. "What the grap is that doing there?" He sends his Third Eye in for a closer look, attempting to locate identifying markings, styles, etc. "Paril;" he says. "About my grandmothers? Go get them." "You're the boss" Paril says, and heads into the depths of the ship. In the couple of minute it takes Deirdre and Fiona to arrive on the bridge, Kieran has had the time to look over the construction and the space station in more detail. There is a stunning lack of markings on both the station and the base under construction. In that, its clear that the lack of markings is deliberate. However, Kieran was born and raised in this world, and so it falls to a matter of style. One that takes a bit to recognize, but recognize he does. The style appears to be not of the House of Douglas, or even the Royal House...but rather of the Aoibhells. "What news?" Fiona asks, as Paril leads them onto the bridge. "What are they doing building something like that here?" Kieran mutters to himself. He splits his attention between his Third Eye and his physical location. "It may be a bit of a false alarm;" Kieran says. "But things here are not as we, Paril and I that is, left them. Mom and Dad seemed a bit distant. Things are too orderly now;" he shrugs his shoulders. "For Kelts that is. It raised alarms. I've scanned several trumps I have of places in and around the royal castle, but nothing seems amiss." "This started with the barrier around Keltic space, didn't it?" Fiona says. "And your suspicions have only been reinforced." Kieran nods his head. "Aye." Kieran focuses on his contact with the HTD and starts what would be a trump sketch, not that he will most likely finish it or make a true one of the station. "On the off chance something was wrong here, I went looking for a place to hide us until we could decide on a course of action. What I found in orbit on the dark side of the moon was this." He pushes the proto trump sketch to project in 3D from his HTD. "It's not marked, deliberately mind, but from the design I can tell it's from the House of Aoibhell. And to put that there, they'd either need to have Mom's permission or they'd be doing it in utter secrecy." "A space station." Paril says, walking around the three-dimensional image. Fiona and Deirdre remain in place, studying it. He looks at Fiona. "I was hoping you could maybe take a quick peek, or scrying as the case may be, in on Mom and Dad to let us know how they're truly doing." "I would have thought this world of yours would have learned from the rulership of my brother's reflection." Fiona says with a moue of disgust. Fiona sits down and cages her fingers together. Her eyes go unfocused, distant, and she becomes very still. "Quiet" Deirdre quietly and sharply says to Paril, ready to open his mouth. Five excruciating minutes pass before Fiona returns to mindfulness. "My daughter and your son are not under obvious threat." Fiona says. "No signs of external suborning or coercion. I also did a brief touch of their minds, and they are not being obviously controlled or puppeted." "That was beyond what our grandson asked." Deirdre says. "A mother's and mother in law's prerogative." Fiona says coolly. "But also what I wanted to know;" Kieran adds. "As did I, now" Fiona says coolly. "Kieran" Deirdre turns to look at Kieran. "Your mother and father rules this system. Who rules Keltia now? These Aoibhells building their secret base?" "Arthur and Gweniver Pendreic, are High King and Queen;" Kieran replies. "Unless something has happened to them; which, I think Mom would have mentioned; or one of their children, Arawn and Arwenna. They're the Royal House of Don from Gwynedd in the Kymric system, though the High throne is in Caerdroia on Tara. The House of Aoibhell claims descent from the Royal House of Dana, they're from Erinna. Or should be." he adds. "Why?" he asks while storing the image and other pertinent data of the Aoibhell station in the HTD. "We find a more militarized and regimented Keltia than you are used to." Deirdre says. "Your mother and father are fine and there are no visible signs they are being held hostage, but their attitudes suggest they are reacting to something that has changed in the politics of Keltia." "Ergo, if my son and Fiona's daughter and their rule here is secure and untainted, the next place to look is to the political center. Either the Aoibhells are building their base with Royal consent, or have manipulated the Royals to allow them to do so." "That's a well formed chain of reasoning." Fiona says. "Yes, it is" Deirdre replies. "So, we ask your parents if the Royal House is in good order? Or go visit Tara ourselves?" Paril says. "We ask Mom and Dad;" Kieran says. "Then we go looking for our own answers as needed." He glances at Paril, then his grandmothers. "We may be able to gain information from another source, here on Caledon. The Dragon Kinship, of which I'm a member, the order charged with guarding the life, spirit and well being of Keltia;" he looks at Deirdre. She listens to Kieran intently. "All have some psychic abilities to varying degrees. The Dragon Kindred's main training base is here on Caledon. A remote part true, Caer Coronach. They would know what is going on." "Percy and Brandeigh are members of this Kinship, too, I take it?" Deirdre says. "Or perhaps just Brandeigh, given Percy's status as an immigrant?" "They are;" he says. "Being an immigrant would not be the only reason to keep Dad from becoming a member. "He completed the Fianna training easily enough of course. And while Mom couldn't sponsor him into the order; and neither of them sponsored me when my time came; she could, and did, make sure others of the Kinship took an interest in Dad." "I get the feeling" Paril says. "That the best place to talk to your parents about this is on a sudden and impromptu hike out in the countryside with them, rather than in the Castle." "Then you are feeling correctly." Fiona says crisply. Kieran nods in agreement. "Right then;" he says turning back to his flight controls. "Let's get this started then." He pushes the throttles back up to 75% of max. And so it happens. The trip to the inner solar system is without further Without further preamble, the Long Distance Voyager is soon on approach to Caledon. Ruchdi is on the solar side of Caledon at the moment, and thus it would take a blatant course change for Kieran to do a flyby of the dark side to get a personal look at the station and the hidden base. "One advantage to Voyager's size" Paril says conversationally to Deirdre "is that we don't have to leave her in orbit. We can take her down to a planet's surface and take off again. Or a moon. Or an asteroid.That's gotten us out of more than one jam." "That and the starfighter docked in a concealed launch bay;" Kieran adds. Gate beeps and whistles in agreement. "I am not surprised." Fiona says sardonically. A radio message from Mom reaches Voyager at this point, welcoming her to orbit and that she and Percy will await his arrival at the Castle, rather than coming to the spaceport themselves. Kieran sends an acknowledgement and guides Voyager to the spaceport. Landing in the designated bay, Kieran shuts down the engines and runs through a quick shutdown sequence. "Harmony;" he says; "Stay active and no unauthorized people come aboard while we're gone. Contact me if anyone boards or attempts to board. Coordinate with Gate and the local maintenance crews for refueling and repairs." He turns to look at Paril and his grandmothers. "Shall we go then?" On the way out, Kieran detours to his cabin long enough to buckle on his gunbelts over his armor. "Do, let's." Deirdre says. "I am curious as to how a quasi feudal structure with feudal trappings actually works within a relatively high tech environment. I'm intrigued. How DO we get from the spaceport to the Castle, Kieran?" "The Keltic worlds are a surprising mix." Fiona explains, as Kieran and company head away from the main hangar where the Voyager is now parked. "At the time, I was exploring the fractal boundaries between magic and high tech science, looking through worlds that had partaken of both and had not rejected the former in exchange for the latter." "And so I discovered Keltia. Or, depending on your point of view of metaphysics, created it." Fiona says. "Or both." "I think this is far beyond my understanding." Paril says. "Don't worry;" Kieran claps Paril on the shoulder. "Think of it as 'magic' and leave it at that, unless you want to delve deep into theoretical multiversal, multidimensional, and quantum mechanics." "They are often the same thing." Fiona says with a smile. "I will take Kieran's advice." Paril responds. "If you mind not." To Deirdre he says; "Kelts, if they in no real hurry, would walk as its not all that far." He grins; "That said, we can borrow horses, or a carriage. Or Trump there. Me, I vote for the trump." He cycles images through the HTD quickly until he comes to one that depicts a secluded outcropping of rock screened by trees that lies about an eighth of a mile from the front gates of the castle. "I'd pull up one directly before the main gates, or in the main hall, or in my chambers but... no need to startle them with unexpected guests if they're being twitchy." "Outcropping." Deirdre says without question. "We don't want a sudden use of Weapons." She looks at her sister. "Agreed. Short reaction times limit options for response." Fiona says. Paril nods. The trump works as advertised, taking the group to the secluded outcropping extremely familiar to Kieran. Deirdre and Fiona look around, and the later turns in the direction of the Castle, even if the trees and rocks of the grove prevent a true line of sight. "Hey, Kieran." Paril says. "I think your parents figured we'd do this." On one of the tall stones, written freshly in white chalk, in Thari, not Celtic, are the words "We need to talk." "Damn;" Kieran says looking at the writing. "I hate being predictable. I haven't used this, haven't had to, since I was teenager sneaking out of or into the castle." Can Kieran tell who wrote the message? Kieran would guess its his father. Deirdre steps forward. "I saw to my son's education. That is the way he writes." she says. "Allowing for the medium and the message." "My daughter would have used another method." Fiona allows. "Aye;" Kieran says. "Most likely either a trump trap of some sort or a spell causing the message to be written in fiery script." [Kieran] will pull up their image and allow everyone to get a look. "Stand ready with magics or weapons as needed;" he says while glancing at each in turn. Kieran himself brings Faithful Mind and Mind Fugue up and readies a Telekinetic Strike should it be needed. When he's ready and all have indicated their readiness as well, he'll try his father's trump. The trump contact goes through, without difficulty. Father is sitting in a room. He gestures with his hand to someone, unseen. And he does not speak aloud, when he speaks mentally to Kieran. "Good. You found the message." A pleased tone is in his mental voice. "Your mother and I debated the best way to talk to you." Dad pauses. "Arthur and Gwen are compromised in some way, suddenly acceding to many demands from their brand new advisors at Court, and Egan and Geileis Aiobhell. Your mother and I are treading carefully, not wanting to disturb either the fabric of Keltia or the shadow itself. But I take it you've noticed the changes." Kieran watches his father carefully looking for signs he's under mental or physical duress. *She couldn't just trump me directly?* Kieran asks mentally. *If it was a matter of keeping trumps secret, Mom hasn't really bothered using an actual deck since before I was born except to teach me.* he adds.
Kieran looks up from his father's image to his grandmothers. "I've got him on the line." "Good" Deirdre says. Fiona appears distracted. Back to his father; "Aye; we noticed the sudden influx of order in just about everything we observed on the way in." "Where's Mom?" he asks, trying to zoom out a bit on the trump connection in order to see more of the room his father's in. Dad is simply in one of the sitting rooms in the Royal Quarters. A servant in the background is busying himself with preparing a luncheon. No sign of Mother is visible.
Kieran grunts in agreement.
Kieran looks up from the HTD and his father's fading image. "Well, Mom and Dad are waiting for us in the castle;" he says. He frowns in thought. "The situation here is not as bad as feared on the way in." He scowls and kicks a loose rock. "Although, come to think of it, it might be worse; we're dealing with politics here. The House of Aoibhell appears to working on long terms plans to assume the throne of the High King. But we'll learn more of the details once we meet Mom and Dad." "Politics. Inescapable wherever you go." Deirdre mutters. "I wonder if you should have brought your Aunt Florimel instead." Fiona agrees. Kieran glances at Paril, Deirdre and Fiona. "We ready to move on, then?" With murmurs of agreement, Kieran leads Paril and his grandmothers out of the grove and engage in the walk to the Castle. It's not particularly long or hard, and nothing of import happens on the journey. The guards both recognize and welcome Kieran (and to a lesser extent, Paril). One of the greybeards amongst the guards give Fiona looks as if having seen a ghost. She just smiles and passes in. The guards are ones Kieran recognizes then? And they're all in the uniforms of the royal guards? Most of the guards are in House Douglas colors, actually, and the recognition is mutual. There is a population of guards, as Kieran heads through the Castle, that are in Royal Colors and definitely not recognized. It's maybe a 3:2 ratio of Douglas guards to Royal guards. Royal guards? As in from the High King/Tara? Yes. Just so. Kieran's not too sure he likes that, but not much he can do about it at the moment. In short order, Paril(? Kieran, I suspect) has been reunited with his father. Mother, according to Percy, is still dealing with the emissary from Aiobhell but expects to be done and join them shortly. "I suppose your questions will want to wait until then." Father comments. "In the meantime, you might show your grandmothers the Castle?" "All right;" Kieran says. "I can point out changes made since grandmother Fiona was here last." Kieran leads them off on a tour of the castle, both public and private areas. He has a couple of suites assigned to his grandmothers when they reach the private areas, if such hasn't already been done by the time they get there. He excuses himself for a few moments when they walk by the office of the Fianna commander. As Kieran emerges from the Fianna commander's office, Deirdre gives a look to Fiona "I win the bet." Deirdre says with satisfaction. "Don't ask me." Paril holds up his hands. "What bet?" Kieran asks. He looks at both his grandmothers. "Later" Deirdre says with a smile. Then, he leads the group back to where his father was (or wherever they are expected to meet up). By the time Kieran leads Fiona, Deirdre and Paril to the solar where they are to meet Father, Percy is there, as well as Mother. Both of them embrace Kieran first, and warmly, before they face and regard their respective mothers. Soon, everyone is seated on the ornate wrought iron benches that decorate the glass-domed room. "These benches were put in by my ancestors during a dispute he had with the Fae." Brandeigh says conversationally. "The solar is also warded, and the emissary from Aiobhell and all the royal guards far away from this room. For the moment, anyway." she says. "We have some time to talk without interruption or eavesdropping." "Could you not take stronger measures?" Fiona says in a critical tone. "I do not wish to tip my hand." Brandeigh replies, and then looks at Kieran expectantly. Kieran calls up his Multi-Tasking, Third Eye and Ear (I've got to sit down and work out a Psychic Avatar spell sometime that combines these powers with Psychokinesis) and sends them out to first check on the solar and it's immediate surroundings for eavesdroppers, spies, etc. then slowly sends it in search of the Aiobhell emissary. "Checking;" he says. He begins building a Mental Illusion spell in his mind. "Dad;" he says in a conversational tone while glancing towards the ceiling. "I was telling them;" he nods to Fiona and Deirdre; "about the battle with the Coranian fleet on our way in. Could you tell about it from your perspective?" "Certainly" Percy says. "I'm sure my mother and mother in law would like to hear the story of the Coranian invasion as well. Especially given the potential implications." "The Yithonghu, yes." Fiona says. In the meantime,Kieran's checking has uncovered that the emissary is relatively far away at the moment. There IS one of the royal guards who seems to be dawdling and relatively close to the solar at that. He looks at his mother to get her attention, then glances at his left wrist (the HTD) and then back at her while casually scratching his head, making a slight tapping motion. She gives a nod of the head in response, scratching his head for good measure. Kieran shakes his head, making a 'wait' gesture with one hand. He concentrates on building his Mental Illusion spell; it will be an audio and visual image of the current group of people in the solar discussing the Coranian invasion in some detail with he, Paril, and his parents providing most of the data and with Deirdre and Fiona asking appropriate and relevant questions. The spell should run about 30 minutes or so and Kieran will keep track of where it's at. It will be set to go off inside the solar right up against the walls so that anyone looking or listening in will see/hear only what Kieran wants them to. People inside the area of effect, will not be affected by the spell. When its ready, Kieran casts the spell. "Ok;" he says once the spell has been cast successfully. "There's one royal guard lurking outside the solar. He or anyone else spying or scrying this room will be getting a rather in depth discussion about the Coranian affair while we actually talk about other things; like what's going on here." He pauses and then looks at Deirdre; "What bet? It's later." He smiles. He'll keep his Third Ear and Eye circling the solar and occasionally checking in on the emissary whereabouts. "That's why you were asking about the Coranian affair." Percy says. "You get that from your mother the counter-revolutionary" "I found the discussion interesting." Fiona says. "Know your enemies as well as your allies." "Speaking of which, as far as the bet." Deirdre says. "When you went to talk to the Fianna Commander, I bet Fiona that you were going to start the nucleus of a personal resistance cell in case you need muscle against whatever this House Aiobhell is really up to." "I should have put a grubstake in." Paril says. "I figured you for it." "I admit that I did not foresee you doing this, Kieran." Fiona says. "It would have been best if you had warned us first." Brandeigh says to Kieran. "Can't say either of us should be surprised, cariad." Percy says. Kieran chuckles. "Then you win on a technicality;" he says to Deirdre. "I do plan on forming my own personal resistance unit." He pauses a moment. "Just not necessarily to be used on the Aiobhell. I was thinking more along the lines of taking them with me when I go to the realm of the Omphalos." "Should have seen *that* coming. Like mother like son." Percy says, looking at Brandeigh. To his parents, he says; "Well you were busy with that emissary and I wasn't entirely sure of Dad's situation till we got to see him. So please let the Fianna commander know you approve as soon as you can manage it." "I will." Brandeigh says. "As long as you don't deplete the blood of Scotia too much, hmm?" "Only a couple dozen as I told the commander;" Kieran says. Looking back at his grandmothers, he grins again. "I like being unpredictable;" he says to Fiona. "It keeps my enemies off balance." To Deirdre, he asks; "So, can I have some of your Valkyries as well?" "You *are* ambitious." Deirdre says. "I have not fully reasserted control from Selene Typle, but I daresay she will not oppose loaning some Valkyries to my grandson." "I shall take that as a compliment, grandmother;" Kieran says. He turns back to his parents. "I'd like some Rangers as well. Do you think you could help out with asking Uncle Julian or Brieanne? Maybe write something up?" "A letter would not be that effective." Mother says ruefully. "They would insist on talking to me directly. Unless you were looking for something like a letter of introduction." Kieran nods. "That would at least open the door or break the ice and give me a chance to talk to them about it." "All right. I can manage that. Not sure what Percy's letter would do for introducing you to Brieanne or Julian." Mother says. To Paril, he says; "And we're swinging close to the Empire on the way back also. Or a shadow thereof where the Mandalorians like me, at any rate." "At least you weren't thinking of the Mangalores." Paril says. "They might be mercenaries, but they are awfully unreliable." Kieran nods his head again. "Aye. I could get some Clone Troopers if nothing else. Ones that haven't had Order 66 activated at any rate. Their fast aging would be too problematic though." "Too troublesome. You might have to do that hoodoo you do with minds to make sure they'd follow you and not get genocidal." Paril says. "Reprogramming shadow minds is something my grandson could certainly handle." Fiona says. Kieran nods his head, after a moment. He turns back to his parents. "OK, now that that's out of the way; what's going on here? You going to let the Aiobhell take over while you pull a gradual fade from the scene, or what?" "We raised him" Percy says to Brandeigh. "Yes, we did, cariad." Brandeigh says to Percy. "It's our belief." Percy says. "That the Aiobhells may have someone or something behind them. Letting them have enough rope to hang themselves has been our plan. If we countered their actions too soon, we might not easily discover if they are merely ambitious and following in the tradition of, say, Blackmantle, and asserting right to rule by their actions, or if they are Arthur and Gwen's true heirs, or if they really are someone's stalking horse." "Besides" Brandeigh says. "We thought it was about time you were introduced to the Royal Court. The heir to the Mistress of Scots might draw exactly the right kind of attention to discover the truth, don't you think, Kieran?" Kieran doesn't quite grumble at this. "And I thought you loved me;" he quips. "But now you're throwing me to the wolves." His mind ponders multiple possibilities and problems. "Could be the Yithonghu I suppose going for subtlety where brute force failed. Could be Narek and her master, if she got her ship repaired and managed to find her way here. How long has the wall in space been up?" "Some months." Percy says. "Not long after you departed with Luke's daughter for Amber. In the wake of the Coranian incursion, it was judged prudent. Keltia is not an expansionary power anyway." "Then if it is an outsider backing them;" Kieran says; "they've been here since before your wall, or they don't use space to come and go." To his mother, he asks; "You've detected no new powers in use?" "None." Brandeigh says. She looks at her mother. "I thought you, Mother, might be able to help." [Kieran] pauses then, before adding. "And I am not, repeat not, going to agree to any marriage brokerings. I'll get married when I'm damn good and ready to." Deirdre smiles in satisfaction, in an almost Fiona like way but Fiona herself laughs out loud. "What is so amusing, mother?" Brandeigh says. "He is echoing *you*, after all. Almost word-for-word." "We were not looking to plant you in the Royal Court for purposes of arranging a marriage." Brandeigh says firmly. "Besides, if we were going to marry you off, son, it would be to some Hellmaid of House Hendrake." Percy says. "Bigger politics than just this region of shadow." "Your father is joking. I think." Brandeigh gives a glance at Percy who gives a smile. "Yes I am." Percy replies. Kieran stares at his parents for a moment or two. He considers many possible replies to what his parents have said, but decides not to voice any of them. "Right. Well then, those couple dozen Fianna I want would serve rather nicely as personal guards and staff;" he says. "If I can get a couple who are also bards, druids and or brehons, even better." He turns to regard his grandmothers. "If you two are coming along, we'll need cover stories for you. Any ideas?" "Oh, I think we're going to remain here for the nonce." Fiona says, after a glance at Deirdre "At the very least, I should. My presence in the Royal Court might be problematic, especially if there are Sidhe about." Brandeigh looks at her mother in surprise. "There's a story there." Deirdre says. "And I am not going to share it." Fiona says sweetly. "Besides, as your mother said, Kieran, there are things to learn from this end about what is happening. And besides, this gives us time with our children, your parents." "I'm glad you clarified that." Deirdre replies. "You think the Sidhe could be involved then?" Kieran asks. "Yes" Fiona says."I do." Then, he looks closely at his grandmothers. "Wait... what you two just said could be interpreted in more than one way; are my parents your only children in this shadow?" Deirdre looks at Fiona which causes everyone else to look at Fiona intently. She continues to smile. "Brandeigh is my only child resident in this shadow." "But you suspect that there is another child of the Blood here?" Brandeigh says. "Do Percy and I have a cousin here?" "Perhaps" Fiona says. "Something I want to investigate while I am here." Kieran slowly nods his head. "Okay, please let us know what you find out;" he says. "Anything else?" "No" Fiona says. "If something emerges, I will inform you ,grandson." Fiona says. "Or help with Local Customs." Brandeigh suggests. "Even if he spends much of his time elsewhere." To Paril, Kieran says; "I want you and Voyager to stay here. Help Gate finish up the repairs and once the Fianna start arriving, half will stay with you to assist in converting the cargo holds into living spaces for them and the ones we'll be recruiting later on." "So are we converting the Voyager into a true ship of war rather than a trading and exploration vessel?" Paril asks "Should I start converting systems to go for more of a war footing? Or..." Paril chuckles "should I say, should I direct Gate to do so? Once the repairs are all done of course. We did take the specs of that prototype from that Imperial base for their missile boat. We can certainly do a refit toward that sort of vessel." Kieran considers this for a moment or two. "No, think of Voyager as more of a troop ship than a man of war;" he says. "Clear out most of the cargo containers, the ones we won't need and use the upper deck office as a command control center." "A light carrier?" Paril prompts. "Like Uncle Gerard's Marine ships." Percy muses. Brandeigh and Deirdre nod in agreement. Kieran nods his agreement as well. "Like the LAATs (Low Altitude Assault Transports) the Republic used against the Separatists, Paril;" Kieran replies. "Only with a hyperdrive and most of her weapons hidden." He pulls up an image, non trump, of one via the HTD. Deirdre, Fiona, Paril, and Kieran’s parents lean forward and study the hologram. [Kieran] pauses again, thinking. "Still... wouldn't hurt to put a drop down mini-turret with a heavy repeating blaster in the loading bay area. And maybe a pair of missile tubes to cover the rear arc. The main turrets are already carrying quad mount heavy lasers, not much more room to conceal anything else in there." He shrugs his shoulders. "Besides, if we need to, we can always acquire more ships and vehicles. And I should be able to lead them on treks through shadow now that I have the Pattern. Well, as long as they're tech works anyroad." "As long as the tech works, you can lead a fleet of ships anywhere." Brandeigh says. "Its never really been tried with spacecraft. Your own trip to Amber with Dagny was and is, unique, as far as I can tell." "A singular achievement to get so far." Fiona says with satisfaction. "I will have to speak to Dagny about her part in it." Kieran's eyes light up. "Hmm, hope that holds true over in the Omphalos realm as well. It's hard to defend against something you've never seen before." “Neither of us saw spacecraft.” Kieran’s mother says. “That does not mean they didn’t exist, however.” “Valerian.” Percy suggests at random. “He’d know if they are familiar with space craft.” "Okay." Paril says " So I will get to work on those conversions while you go to the Royal Court." Paril says. "Gate and I will have it ready by the time you are ready to leave. Hopefully not like the time on Zathras Beta, when we were flying for our lives with those Ties on our tail." "Hey, dropping that cargo pod full of furniture and dishware bound for a restaurant in Bespin City and then shooting it with the cannons made for a most excellent and unexpected debris field those fighters did not survive;" Kieran rejoins. "Shame about all that alcohol though." He claps Paril on the shoulder. "Good man; hopefully this won't take too long." “I don’t want you to spend three months in the Royal Court.” Mother says firmly. “The longer this takes, the more worried I’ll get that there is a particularly pernicious snake in my garden.” “There are few if any snakes in Ireland.” Percy says. “My point, cariad.” Brandeigh says. She looks at Kieran. “Spend the night.” “At least” Percy says. “I’’ll have a letter of introduction done for you by morning.” she finishes. "I don't want to spend three months in the Royal Court either, for that matter;" Kieran replies. "I'll need to go back to Amber at some point for my introduction to the King and the court there." "How old are Arawn and Arwenna now anyroad?" he asks after a moment. "Still too young to inherit." Brandeigh says. "By Keltic standards. In a less unsettled time, they would be ripe to be fostered again." "They had their first night thing though" Percy counters. "If you were Flora's grandchild, and not my own and Fiona's, a warning not to go seducing the heir might be in order" Deirdre says. "Which one?" Fiona says. "That doesn't matter" Brandeigh waves their hand. "Cultivate their friendship, but nothing else." "I will keep that in mind, mother;" Kieran says. "Just wanted to make sure I would not have to worry about marriage proposals from that quarter." "Okay, a few days here first;" Kieran says. "I'll need some time to interview and pick people for my 'staff' as it were. Plus Paril, Gate and I can hammer out and polish the plans for Voyager's conversion." "Thank you" Paril says, relieved. Backlinks |
