The tide was well into its ebb when we left Hygria but at least the weather improved and remained good for the entire journey to Alto Mento.
I had litlle difficulty in off loading the cargo at a decent profit, 40% of which went to the captain for division amongst the crew. Yousheng and I transfered the bulk of our belongings to the Night Star, which was far more cramped than the Endevour had been. The Captain was also no where near as pleasant.
Now the thing about shadow walking is that the shadows you travel to and through are a function of the desires of the walker. Since Random had originally brought us here this version of Alto Mento was very much attuned to him and therefore didn't suit me well. As I wanted to return to Amber with a cargo, and particularly with the items in short supply, I needed a different Alto Mento.
Not being as practised as Random I also needed to be moving whilst manipulating probabilities. I therefore requested the captain put to sea and sail up the coast for an hour before returning to port. I guess it must be a function of his experience but he didn't complain in the least despite his obvious distain with the request.
By the time we returned to port it was after dark and the weather had started to close in again. My next actions pleased him even less. I said that Yousheng and I were going ashore and would be gone for a couple of days. He could either arrange to procure the cargos on the list himself or he could wait for my return and I'd do it, but that of course would add additional delay. I then went to my cabin and packed the few things I'd need for the trip.
By the time we reached my condo, Yousheng was definitely suffering technological shell shock. I on the other hand wanted a shower and to go skinny dipping, and not necessarily in that order. I was surprised to see the lights on as we approached. I drew my sword and approached cautiously, scaling the balcony, rather than using the front door. My entry therefore came as a complete shock to Brad and Brandy, leaving them in a very compromising position.
My initial reaction had been to ball them out for using my bedroom, one of the spare rooms I wouldn't have minded However my untimely arrival had caused her to contracted violently leaving him stuck. Their rolling about trying to disentangle themselves just made things worse and momentarily reduced me to a heap in a fit of laughter. Brandy's scream as Yousheng arrived, brought me to my senses somewhat, especially now that Brad was actually sceaming at Brandy to keep still, in between the gasps of pain. Yousheng then wanted to know if this was the way I usually entered my house and if he should deal with the trespassers. I told him no on both accounts and led him down stairs.
Putting on a fresh pot of coffee and the kettle, I returned upstairs collecting jeans and T-shirts from the living room as I went. I'd hoped that the break would have been enough for Brandy to relax enough to relieve the muscle spasm and let Brad go but unfortunately this wasn't the case. They had managed to get themselves into a more comfortable position and covered themselves with the duvet although Brad was clearly in pain.. I toyed with the options, I could call 911 embarressing them further, leave them where they were and hope Brandy relaxed shortly, or try some form of intevention. I chose the latter although it proved more complicated than I'd expected. Brandy refused to allow me to remove the duvet and examine the predicament more closely. In the end I had to resort to psychic manipulation and remove the memory of what I'd done.
By the time I returned downstairs the coffee had finished percolating and the kettle had long since boiled. Yousheng was busy wandering from room to room examining things. Putting on the TV, I switched to the local news channel determined to catch up on local events, then turned the monitor on so I could check on the status of my email and deal with anything from the office that had occurred in the past month. By the time I'd returned from the kitchen with a coffee for myself and a tea for Yousheng, Brandy and Brad had come down. I told them I was ordering Thai and asked if they wanted anything. They said no and were about to scuttle out the door when I pointed out I didn't fancy sleeping on their secretions and that there were clean sheets in the laundry room. Slightly abashed they returned the way they'd come. By the time the food arrived I'd reduced the emails to a dozen that needed to be dealt with, Yousheng had mastered the remote control, and Brandy and Brad had completed their chores. I told them to use the spare room next time otherwise the house would be off limits.
I suppose it was about an hour later that the door buzzer went. Yousheng and I had finished eating, and I'd explained the bathroom and WC and put something more comfortable on - if it hadn't been for Yousheng's presence I'd have been naked, but despite us having slept together several days ago I was wearing a kimo, even if it wasn't tied. I answered the door to find two police officers standing there. Apparently two stange people had been seen scaling the outside of the condo wielding swords and they were checking that everything was ok. They asked if this was my house and I said it was, at which point they asked for my id and some proof of ownership. I had no option but to invite them in.
They left about half an hour later, a little peturbed but unable to do anything dispite the obvious presence of two swords and items matching elements of the description they had been given, but since no crime had been committed there was nothing they could do. With them out the way I made my way outside to the pool. There was a feint chill in the air, the first hint of the arrival of autumn, but I wanted a swim.
When the sound of the front door slamming, accompanied by fits of giggling and attempts to tell the male voices to keep the noise down or they'd wake her brother, woke me, the clock said 3:50am. I eased out of bed and into the corridor to find Yousheng doing like wise. I motioned for him to return to his room. I heard the sliding doors go and the noise receeded a little. I crept downstairs. There were 7 of them by the pool, 4 guys I didn't know plus, Patrick, Marcie, and one other girl - also unknown. My appearance in proceedings several minutes later caused them all to react as if they'd been stung by electric cattle prods. It took me some time to resolve the situation and I eventually returned to bed an hour later.
Due to the early morning disturbance I woke later than normally. I checked on Yousheng, who was already awake and enjoying an early morning swim. I put on a fresh pot of coffee and retreated to my balcony. I was about halfway through my Tai Chi routine when I first noticed the prickling sensation. As I continued the sensation grew and evolved into something tangible. There was something approaching, something that posed a danger to myself but I couldn't work out what. Forgoing a shower I told Yousheng to pack and hurriedly began packing my own things.
It wasn't until we reached the ridge of the hills above the condo about 40 minutes later that I finally realized what the problem was. There was a big storm coming but something told me this was no ordinary storm. The same something told me I didn't want to be in its path. I pulled the Trump deck from my pocket and extracted Random's card. I concentrated and it went cold. After a minute or so Random appeared with a 'shadow' behind him. "Cordelia your timing really sucks", he wasn't shielding particullarly well and I realized the shadow was Vialle, who was doing her best to break his concentration. "Sorry, but this is urgent. How can you tell if a storm is a Shadow Storm and what can you do about it". Both mental images were paying attention now. "If you're asking that question then you already know it is. As to what you can do about it, nothing; just get out of its path. Where are you anyway?"
"I'm at home. How do I do that?"
"Since you've a trump deck use that"
"Can't I hellride away from it?"
"Depends on what the storms path is and how close it is to you. Chances are that it's already too close and you'll just draw the storm down onto yourself. If it's been tracking you then the current shadow you are in will take the full brunt of the storm. Shit! You're on Earth arn't you? "
"Yes. Does that matter?"
"Only that the family have a large number of assets there, and the effects of the storm can be as mild a changing the time flow to completely obliterating the shadow. Got any idea of how big it is?"
"No. From where I'm standing I can just see a large storm front on the horizon. I guess I have about an hour or so before it reaches here. I've never seen one that looks like this before though."
"Technically there are limits to what I can ask you to do, especially as this doesn't threaten Amber directly, and this would be extremely dangerous, possibly fatal, but I want you to lead the storm away from the current reality in that shadow. You're going to have to go some and once you start the storm will gain on you quickly so you'll only have about 20 minutes to cover as many shadows as possible. Are you game?"
I considered for a minute, "And the repercussions if I don't", he didn't reply. "I see so I can die trying or be ostracized is that it"
"I wouldn't put it quite like that."
"So what do you want me to do exactly?"
When I finished the call Yousheng was looking at me. "You said you wanted a bit of excitement. That storm is no ordinary storm. It's probably followed us across shadow. Now if it terminates here, there's no telling what it will do so we need to take it somewhere where its affects will be less disruptive. You're going to have to stay right on my heels. We have a short but very interesting run ahead of us and the possibility of not seeing anything beyond the end of it."
He nodded. I adjusted my pack and set off at a jog.
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