A Shuffling of Planets (The Chained Worlds Chronicles Book 3) Read online

"Let's head out," I said as I shook myself free of my daydream and walked to the passenger side.

  "Excuse me, Professor," Alan said as he caught up to me. "There are more comfortable accommodations in the rear." Walking over to the rear door he opened it.

  He was certainly right. Inside was a living room, conference table, and kitchenette. I assumed the door to the rear was a bedroom or bathroom. I glanced outside again to make sure there wasn't any dimensional magic at work. There wasn't, it was simply an excellent use of space. Odd, when he said it was a transport, I assumed it was a moving vehicle for crates and packages. I didn't expect an entire living quarter.

  "This will work," I admitted. The trip would be a few hours so this would make it more comfortable. It was actually a lot roomier than the transport given the UN President. I am not sure exactly what that said. "We will be picking up someone on the way, in Paris. Let me give you the coordinate feed."

  The living room area had couches, reclining chairs and several interfaces for holo screens. It took me a moment to dig the coordinates out of their terminal. Another few minutes to figure out how to send it to his implant. He didn't seem particularly happy about the extra stop. I gave him mental kudos for not annoying me by complaining about it though. He might end up as my favorite thug.

  I settled in. As the transport flew across the globe, I sat on a couch and studied the second spell, Lightning. A few times I got a bit distracted and let my aura out more than I wanted, however, the vehicle was military class. So other than the lights dimming a bit and one of the lights exploding, it was harmless. Alan seemed spooked at this and spent most of the time asking his driver to rerun the diagnostics.

  I had finished learning the second spell and was contemplating it with a sense of deep satisfaction when I felt the speed and trajectory of the transport change.

  I fumbled a bit with one of the terminals before I figured out how to activate and change the views to the outside cameras. For a moment I thought we had arrived in the wrong city. I simply couldn't connect the city I was seeing to that collapsed ruin I had come to just a few months ago.

  The roads were no longer filled with fallen buildings and overgrown with a jungle of weeds and bushes. Instead, they were not only cleared but a good number we flew over had been repaved. The piles of wooden wrecks and bricks that had made up most of the city had been largely cleared away or moved into piles for later removal.

  The buildings that had been saved were largely repaired. New windows, doors, even lawns. It still looked different than the pre-invasion pictures. The photos I had seen all showed handsome older building. It was previously filled with old style construction with a good amount of character and centuries of history. The new city had sacrificed all of this. Frankly, it looked just like Arc's newer parts. The very picture of a generic modern city.

  That was unfortunate, in order to rebuild the city, they had gutted its character and sacrificed most of its history. However, in return, the city was extremely livable except for prominent piles of rubble. I could clearly see that people and even cars, which were all ground vehicles, were making their way around the city.

  I am not sure how Maribel would feel about this. Although the ley lines and earthquakes had done most of the damage, my girlfriend's rage had certainly contributed to the destruction of the city. Weeks of constant bombardment with circle magic generating fireballs, far larger than the ones I had just learned to make, and roaming animated skeletons had not helped. Knowing her, she would likely simply be disappointed the city still stood.

  I suppose she had moved on to other things. Such as eating councilors in Gildorn.

  The transport came to a stop next to an apartment building. It was newly constructed of course. Down the road I could see massive building-sized floating construction vehicles, busily raising more generic apartments.

  I was just getting out when I saw Jeremy exiting the apartments. He looked terrible. The resolution on the tiny terminal image was insufficient to show how bad he looked.

  He had bags under his eyes and hollow cheeks. Although he appeared clean and washed it was obvious that he had not otherwise been taking care of himself. Sighing in dismay I ushered him in. Alan had gone in the back, perhaps to discuss the electrical failures with his people.

  "You look appalling," I told him, just in case he wasn't aware. "What's happened? I thought you were feeling better from what Beth did."

  "Mostly," Jeremy said tiredly. "Bad dreams. Worry. With my parents in cold storage, Beth is all I have left."

  "Alright, have a seat," I gestured to the couches in the living room section of the truck. "I'll give you a checkup first. Um, eat some of this first," I puttered in the kitchen as the transport lifted again. I grabbed some fruit and simple sandwich mixture and juice.

  "Okay, eat that. I'll check you," I said as I shoved the food at him. He started eating and I checked his aura and then started to send my consciousness into his body. Physically he was just needing food and sleep. I fed him a bit of psychic healing energy and tuned up his system a bit with a more subtle aspect of psychic surgery. Ideally, he would eat and sleep on his own. Since it hadn't happened in the weeks, I was gone I supposed it wasn't going to.

  "Okay, nothing body-wise. Let's see your psyche."

  I placed my hands on either side of his forehead. He stopped eating. That was expected. It was an awkward position. Frankly analyzing someone's mind is not my strong point. Even my telepathy is only surface deep unless I merge memories. Merging memories is unpleasant and can be traumatic. Usually for my target but possibly for me too.

  However, I could roughly sense anomalies. I could also heal these anomalies. Although it is only temporary unless it is repeatedly administered. Kingston had taken advantage of me curing his mind to get professional help.

  Jeremy's mind was jumbled. Weeks later Beth's heavy-handed meddling had left scars. He wasn't a gibbering idiot but he was developing a phobia and left unchecked may just develop a psychosis. I had already told her to be more careful but maybe I should reinforce it a bit more.

  "Okay, this shouldn't hurt," I warned him. "In fact, it should feel soothing." I gently sent energy through his brain. The sparks and the eddies were gradually smoothed away. It was temporary but repeated treatment and meditation on his part would be a long-term solution.

  "Okay, therapy is done, for the moment," I informed him. "Let's do the basics. Force Field, Mind Block, Danger Sense," no doubt he will ignore the last but I had to try. "That should be a good start."

  "I want to be able to read and remember perfectly," Jeremy stated. I stared at him. Okay, I badger him into accepting waking his psychic potential. But now he wants more? I check his aura again. He seems sane.

  "Are you sure," I ask hesitantly. It's not like I mind, and it's certainly not hard. It will be really tiring for him but it's trivial to jumpstart someone that already has potential. "You seemed reluctant a little while ago."

  "Never do things halfway," Jeremy nodded firmly. "Do it right or don't do it at all." I nodded in approval. There's the risk taking daredevil I knew and loved.

  Hmm, maybe I should get him modified like Beth's battlemage transformation. I frankly haven't a clue how I would sneak him into a class intended for ten-year-old's. He was way too tall.

  I think I could duplicate the formula that I saw with Beth but I wasn't sure if that was the complete treatment. I would have to do some research and perhaps a little sneaking around when I had time.

  "Professor, we are approaching the Paris Portal," Alan's voice came over the speakers. I glanced at the terminal, which was still showing the outside cameras. Growing in size was the Arc de Triomphe. The dimensional energies were swirling vividly within the arcs. Clear evidence of the now permanent portals ensconced in the monument.

  "What do you need me for?" I asked. Unless he was supernatural, he wouldn't be barred from entry. I would have noticed if he was in our first meeting. You can generally hide what exactly you are, but whether your ba
sic nature is mundane or not is terribly hard to hide from anyone remotely sensitive. I should know since I regularly alter my aura. Though I think most people these days know I am not human. That ship has sailed.

  "I understand that you have developed some sort of relationship with the dragon on the other side of the portal," Alan politely replied. "Although this ship is military grade and has a force field, based on known intel it would be thoroughly destroyed within a half dozen strikes."

  "She might still be in Gildorn," I said thoughtfully. "But it's probably best I go ahead. I just gave her a gift yesterday, so it should be okay not to have one."

  "What did you give the lovely lady," Jeremy asked.

  I almost replied 'Blood', but stopped myself. It made Maribel sound like a vampire. "We went shopping and I took her out to lunch."

  "Sounds like a normal girl," Jeremy replied warmly. He was very much in favor of me dating. Although he had no girl presently, he was a hopeless romantic.

  "It was pretty tame... mostly," I agreed. "There was a vampire god... er, squid attack but the date was over by then."

  "Say what?"

  "I'll tell you about it after I unlock your brain," I told him over my shoulder as I left the transport. "Assuming Maribel is in a good mood."

  With a wave I cast Clean and nervously straightened my collar as I approached the gate. A military buoy floated to the side and I saw a flash of light as it scanned me. It didn't say anything so I must have been in the system. Reminded by the floating device I looked around and suddenly noticed turrets and barriers located about a block away from the portal.

  I snorted. They were only able to get a foothold because Maribel and the government had come to an uneasy truce. I stepped through.

  The view was nice. The other side of the gate was what was left of a mountain peak and a castle. The portal had turned the adjacent land almost indestructible. Still, it looked odd, a portal embedded in a broken castle rising up from a shattered mountain. Down below stretched the remains of a valley.

  Maribel's home looked better. It was on the intersection of several ley lines and the life energy that was magic surged through the area. Now admittedly it was working overtime to restore a barren waste that had been mostly atomized by an atomic bomb... but it was magic.

  The soil looked much less dead. Almost not sand and glass. Small plants had started to break through the soil and it was distinctly less like a desert wasteland than it was. Off in the distance, the forest appeared closer, but that may have been an illusion.

  Maribel wasn't back. Chances were that she was rooting out the final members of the Dark Guild I had fingered for her. I chuckled again at her antics. Breaking into City Hall and killing the corrupt councilors. What a wild woman. While it was embarrassing at the time, I could see the humor looking back on things.

  Kneeling on the ground I took out one of the shards I had taken from the anchor stone. I pushed it into the stone in front of the portal. Despite the stone resisting the might of another world's nuclear fury the ground easily gave way before the shard.

  I tried to position it where it wasn't likely to bisect anyone I liked if it was to coincidentally, through no fault of my own, spontaneously turn into a weapon of mass destruction.

  I sighed. One less thing to worry about. The more of these I seeded the less I had to worry about the delicate balance I had reached with the energies connected to my dimensional anchor rune becoming undone. At least by accident.

  I walked back through the portal and entered the transport. Jeremy was at the terminal, looking at the specs of the vehicle.

  "This is more of a military vehicle than the military has," he said as I came in.

  "Good stuff then," I asked.

  "Fantastic for its size. Cutting edge and hardened for a... high energy environment." That was one way to say it. "Whose is it?"

  "Kingston's," I replied. "Alan, Maribel isn't home. It should be fine to move through. Should be dragon free all the way."

  "What about the hydra?" Jeremy asked nervously. It was the main excuse I used to not bring Beth back last time. It was also probably the only thing that would distract him from riding in a vehicle owned by Kingston.

  "There's a funny story about that," I began as I placed my hands on Jeremy's head and started to merge with his mind, just enough to show him the methods to use the skills. First came the Force Field. Survival always came first. "Faramond came through on his way to meet up with Stella. He ran into the beast and tore one of its head off."

  "Don’t two heads grow back when you destroy one?"

  "That’s just hype," I felt the dimensional membrane slid over my body as we moved through the portal. As I expected, there was no resistance from anything in the transport. "You do need to kill all of the heads or they just grow back but that’s it. They are pretty tough so that’s enough."

  "That feels odd," Jeremy said as I finished showing him the skill. "Like being able to sense in a direction you never knew existed before."

  "Welcome to my world," I said with a smile. Then I abruptly stopped smiling. I had an uneasy feeling. My danger sense was vaguely twitching.

  Frowning, I reached over and tapped the terminal to change to view back to the outside cameras. I saw a house-sized object fall out of the sky just missing us. It looked vaguely familiar but I didn't see it long before it flashed off the screen.

  "Alan," I said hurriedly. "If you don't have the force fields on full bore, now is the time to turn them on."

  Another house-sized object fell past us. This time I saw it had three snaky heads. It was dumb, dumber and dumbest. "Turn on the stabilizers and inertial dampeners or whatever this thing uses! Now!"

  I teleported straight up fifty feet. Suddenly I was outside the transport. A whispered word and I was floating slowly downward. I felt a disturbance in the spacial fabric and sure enough the hydra, Kregar appear above us and fell straight down.

  I placed a force bubble around the hydra and he bounced off the bottom and then off the sides a few times before he popped it like a soap bubble. By then the transport had passed underneath. Concentrating a moment, I teleported to Kregar's back. We were falling but neither Kregar or I cared. Both of us could fall from orbit and walk it off. However, I had a plan, so I cast Float on the hydra.

  "Kregar, long time, no see," I bantered as I examined him. One head was distinctly smaller than the others. That must have been the one Faramond killed. It was back and looked even dopier than before.

  "You! You're the uppity little dragon that got away," head one stated, then he opened his mouth to breath on me. I recalled that one being fire. It wouldn't blister me with my fire resistance but I dodged around his neck anyway. "You made us sick with that magic squiggle."

  "He looks runty," the smaller middle head asked in a higher pitched tone. "Is it good to eat?"

  "We're going to try," the third one said eagerly.

  "I want the flying box," the third said. "It has crunchy snacks inside. All flying boxes have good stuff inside."

  I pulled out an anchor shard. Biting my tongue to draw a bead of blood I spat onto it. "You know what really yummy? Scooby snacks!" I tossed the shard into the maw of the smaller head. It saw the shard and snapped it up. Then I stepped off its back and floated gently downward.

  "You can't escape," roared the first head in rage. I simply smiled and watched as it floated toward me. Its limbs windmilled wildly as if it could move faster if it flailed.

  "I think you fail to understand your situation," I said with a smile. It suddenly stopped falling. The flailing continued however but even though it could spin in place it couldn't move. If I was to guess the point it was spinning upon, I would say it was its stomach. "You aren't going anywhere. Probably for weeks."

  "Damn you sneaky dragon," the third roared miserably. From the expression on its face, it seemed nauseous. It may even recognize the feeling since I had used a more primitive method to trap it last time as well.

  "You’re the one that
was stupid enough to swallow everything that gets near you. No, you get to stay there until Maribel comes back and uses you as a pinyota or you finish... passing that anchor stone."

  "Bah, we just need to teleport out," the runt replied.

  "He used that squiggle again," the first said. "You swallowed it. Stupid."

  I continued to float downward. I don't have super senses like some of the dragon breed do, though I suppose my vision may count. No super nose or hearing or touch. So it followed that very soon I couldn't hear them cursing each other. Within a few minutes, I had landed. In the forest near Maribel's lair.

  "Jeremy, tell Alan to pick me up," I said into the terminal. We had the satellite that Beth had hacked into so I was hoping for a connection. "Jeremy?"

  "I'm here," Jeremy's image flickered above the wrist terminal's projector. "What was that?"

  "Hydra," I said shortly. "The one we thought was gone. Apparently tearing its head off and dragging it through town was not enough of a hint that it was not welcome."

  "I see it," Jeremy said in confusion. "It's just flying there spinning and flailing around. Did you drive it insane?"

  "No more than it was," I sniffed in disdain. "Hydra's don't fly. It was teleporting above us and trying to fall on us."

  "It looks like its flying..."

  "It swallowed and indestructible rock that is immovable as soon as I let go of it," or my blood wears off. "It's going to be there until it works its way out. It's not going to be pretty."

  "It has to excrete..." he stopped his sentence looking ill. "Is its entire weight being supported by a tiny rock inside its body? Why doesn't its weight rip it out?"

  "It’s a dragon. It's a low-grade moron but its still an adult dragon. I think Maribel's stronger but either one can take your worlds nukes in the face and just have a few blisters."

  I frowned, I could probably do massive damage to it if I played with the balance of the energies and drew the shard to me. It would slice through the hydra like a hot knife through butter. Of course, there was the chance I would get it slightly wrong and draw all the anchor shards to me. I might get it slightly right and simply not be lucky enough to miss my vitals.