Ten #2
I thought about that for a moment. Once Evean had my child and found out just how much I wanted that with her, she hadn't gone psycho on me since. She'd definitely mellowed out as far as I was concerned.
"It also helps that for the last two weeks, the three of you haven't really been in public at all, so there haven't been any distractions."
"That's going to be changing soon, I suspect?"
"Very much. If the used car place you dealt with the previous times you've come through here is still in business, go to them first and buy a car, then change what money you can for supplies. Try to deal with the folks you saw when you came through here last time."
"What about the portal jumper's store? Is there one there?"
"There is, however, you need to be cautious, as it may be under surveillance."
"Something happened there, then?"
"Not there, it happened to the east, which is where the three of you need to travel to get to the gateway that leads through to Earth.
You didn't run into it last time you were here, nothing had happened in this region, and while it still hasn't exactly, there's a bunch of people who are seeing this as their chance to gain power, so they're raising 'concerns' and doing things 'in the name of public safety'. "
I sighed. "I've heard that one before."
"Yes, well, it's even worse back where you grew up right now."
"Wonderful. So where are we going?"
"Farmingham, which is a small town outside of Isleton, northwest of the town about three miles."
"Can we drive it? Or take a ship?"
"You'll have to take a canal ship. But take the car to a town east of where you'll come out—that's where the canal ships dock—then sell the car and use that money for passage."
"Would it really have been that hard to go back to Pennsylvania on Earth and just get a flight?" I asked.
"Will, they have police and soldiers with submachine guns at the international airports in your home country now. You may still be flagged as a person of interest in your government's database. Same for Evean, due to the things she was involved in back in Japan."
"Damn. I wonder if it'd even be safe to visit my folks?"
"As long as you stay away from the airports? Probably."
"I wonder if Nikki knows anything about this? I guess I'll have to talk to her when I'm out there next. Thanks, Fel."
"You're welcome, William."
With that, I went back to sleep.
§ §
"Good, the tide's still going out," I said as we stood on the rock and watched the water receding around it.
"Wow, that is fast," Evean said.
"Which way is the town?" Suzona asked.
I looked down at the rock and the arrow carved into it, then looked up and got my bearings.
"The closest landfall is that way," I said, pointing in the direction of the arrow. "The town is about four miles north of there. We've got an hour or two before the tide reverses, maybe longer, I never bothered to find out. Let's give it a few more minutes before we start walking."
"I'll go back and grab our bags," Evean said and popped out for a moment.
"I appreciate what she's doing, William," Suzona said as Evean disappeared for a moment.
"Good, because I appreciate what you're doing, too, and I think she's being sincere."
Suzona just nodded, and Evean came back through. "So, shallow enough?"
I looked down; it was less than an inch now.
"I think so, just watch your step."
I jumped off first, and it was a little slippery; the water was moving fast, but it was almost gone by then.
I helped Evean and Suzona, and then we took off at a brisk trot towards the shore.
I could see, off in the distance, in the direction of the town, boats that were now sitting on the ground.
I think I saw people out walking around, too.
When we made it to the shore, I led them up the shoreline.
"Shouldn't we go further in until we reach a road?" Suzona asked.
"I don't want to get picked up by a patrol. Fel told me things are a bit uneasy around here now."
"Aryanna told me the same," Suzona agreed. "Ev?"
"Roden doesn't have any connections out this way."
I nodded. "I've got a guy here I buy used cars from. We'll go there, I'll buy a car, talk to him a bit, and then we'll figure out what we're doing after that."
"What about the portal traveler's store?" Evean asked.
"Fel's worried that somebody might be watching it."
"Why?"
"Because those kinds of places get a lot of 'foreigners' going through them, I guess. If there's currently problems with people from another country, well…" I shrugged.
"But we look like locals. I mean, we came through the portal here, and it's our first time in this realm."
"True, but we aren't up to date on current affairs. So, we need to be a bit reserved and careful."
"What do you tell the guy you keep buying cars from?"
"That I design and repair my equipment. I have a small company, and I'm going up to the mines to try to sell stuff to the companies out there."
"Okay, so what's our story?"
"I wasn't thinking of having you two come in with me."
"Okay, but if we get stopped, what do we tell people? Especially the authorities?"
"Oh. I guess we tell them that I have a small shop in Merisburg, a small town about two days west of here, and we're taking a vacation. I needed to go to Isleton for a meeting with a small engineering firm I do business with, and I thought we'd make a vacation of it."
"And how do you explain the two of us?"
"I don't."
"You don't?"
"None of their business, we're not breaking any laws, and I don't want to encourage their jealousy. Go with that. If they press, you two are free to say I've got a big dick and really bring it in the bedroom."
Evean and I turned and looked at Suzona, who was suddenly giggling.
"What?" I asked.
"Well, at least you're not asking us to lie!"
I sighed as Evean laughed at that.
"Yeah, I know it's not a great story, but I wasn't actually expecting to run into anything different than I've run into before.
If you think you can come up with a better story, knock yourselves out, but I think we need to find out just what's been going on here in the last year that's changed everything. "
"Let me think," Evean said. "We should get a room here and spend a day. Can you do that?"
I nodded. "There's a hotel I've stayed at before. They get the same story."
"Let's get the room, then you can go get the car."
"What of the traveler's shop?" Suzona asked.
"First, I want to get an idea of what we're dealing with," Evean said, "then we'll look into it."
Suzona and I both nodded.
The walk to town took about two hours. Nothing seemed any different that I could tell, and I got us a room, left the girls in it, and went off to buy a car.
"You're back early," the old guy working there said as I walked into the small hut on the lot.
I shrugged. "Business to the east is off, and, well, I got some things I need to sell, so a long ass drive it is."
"I hear ya. How bad is it, anyway?"
I just shook my head. "I wasn't there, I was off on business. I don't even live that close, but, well…" I shook my head again. "Nobody wants to buy anything right now. Not from a small timer like me."
"I heard there was a lot of money to be made."
"I don't know the right people. So, whatcha got?"
"Nothing fast, obviously."
"Dependable is all I'm looking for. Either a wagon or a car with a trunk. I got some stuff to load."
"Word to the wise, don't go buying any guns in town; wait until you're a couple of days west."
"They cracking down?"
"Let's just say, everyone's a bit jumpy right now."
"I'll keep that in mind."
An hour later, I had a car; it ran well, and I was back at the hotel with the girls.
"What took you so long?" Evean asked.
"I had to get a few things for the car. Also—" I dropped a newspaper on the bed "—I can sort of read it. I never took the time to learn the written language here."
"I can toss it through to Aryanna once we're done looking at it, William," Suzona said.
"Okay. So, learn anything?"
Evean nodded. "I don't have the exact date, but about a year ago, a group of terrorists blew up a cargo boat in one of the canals, which damaged the locks and part of the city.
With the locks damaged, it began to flood, and then the locks failed, and half the city was destroyed by the water. Hundreds died."
"Do they know who did it?"
"A group from a country quite a distance away. I don't know why they did it, or what the politics of it is, but it inflamed everyone, and they're now at war."
"What city did it happen to?"
"Isleton."
"Oh, shit."
"Pretty much. Is that where the gate is?"
"Didn't Roden tell you?"
"He doesn't know. He's not really friends with Aryanna, just Feliogustus."