Birth of the Alliance (18 page)

Will moved past those documenting the new arrivals as though invisible, sliding onto the busy streets of the city as if a ghost, unseen by those around him. Horses and carriages moved by with the requisite clopping of hooves and periodic deposits of excrement, adding to the malodorous aromas on a blistering hot summer afternoon.

Will moved toward Independence Hall. They’d not set a specific site to meet, but he suspected Adam would look for him there. His predictions of events over the half century between meetings would suggest this site for a reunion. Will stood and looked at the Hall. It wasn’t an imposing or impressive building, yet one of the most pivotal documents in history had celebrated its birth within those walls.

“A new government with a written constitution emerges from a convention meant to fix a few minor issues with the old.” Adam’s voice sounded behind him, and Will smiled without turning. “John Adams elected the nation’s second president. Thomas Jefferson defeated him to become the third. I suppose you might have suspected they’d try something like creating an entirely new document if you had inside information, or could read minds.” Adam chuckled. “If you believed that, those two had reasonable odds to succeed General Washington in the office.” Will turned around to find Adam shaking his head. “How did you know they’d both die on the same day, though? That one I can’t explain. What’s your secret, Will? Have your extensive Energy stores given you visions of the future?”

Will laughed, shaking his head. “No such luck, Adam, at least not that I can tell.” He motioned with his head, and the two men walked off, not wishing to be overheard. “But it’s a curious thing. Four predictions made for events that would occur over the course of nearly fifty years. All of them were accurate. How could that be possible?”

Adam sighed. “I hope you aren't going Aliomenti on me.”

Will startled. “Meaning… what, exactly?”

Adam paused for a moment before responding. “It’s been an interesting fifty years. Most of them are still congregating in and concentrating on the nations in Europe for growth and recruiting. While there are a handful of Aliomenti living here, it’s nothing worth concerning yourself over. And they know you’re here, which is the strangest part of the whole thing. If this was a declared war, Will, the older Aliomenti seem content to cede you the former Colonies for now. But the younger generations are becoming incredibly restless while they remain entrenched there. It won't be long, maybe a century, maybe less, before they start to expand their numbers here in droves.”

Will snorted. “Why would they cede this to me, even metaphorically speaking? Seems completely unlike Arthur to call a strategic retreat and pull back.”

“At the moment, there’s nothing here for them to exploit. The Aliomenti have moved past any type of manufacturing or mining business concerns. Remember all those years ago when Arthur and I were so reticent to get involved in the money lending business, and so instead we traded capital for future shares of profits?”

“Of course.”

“He’s gotten over whatever concerns he had about lending money. He’s not focusing on lending to business or individuals now. Instead, he’s lending to kings and queens and czars and other royalty.”

Will didn’t like the sound of that. “Why would he do that?”

“Far larger sums of money are involved. Why loan out five thousand gold coins to a hundred different businesses when you can loan half a million to a king who needs to raise money to fight a war? It takes a great deal of effort to track those hundred people and ensure you get paid back. It’s far easier to track down a single monarch, especially with our… advantages.”

“Let me guess,” Will said. “Arthur’s the only one who can produce the amount of gold they need. He probably goes through intermediaries though, others in the banking business who use him as a source of capital. They get signatures for usurious rates on loans which can never be paid back.”

“Exactly. And when the contract is ignored by a monarch who can’t pay the loan back, probably because he lost a war against someone
else
Arthur’s funding… well, that’s when those monarchs find out that not everyone who looks human actually
is
human. Payment terms are often changed to include favors as well as money to cancel the debt.”

Will felt a chill despite the blistering heat of the day, and shuddered. “What kind of favors, exactly?”

“Passing laws the Aliomenti find favorable. Gifts of land, titles of nobility, or both. They’ve been gifted control of land in rather obscure places now, one of which is far closer to the Colonies than any of the existing outposts.”

“Where?” Will asked. Even before Adam replied, his memory spun up the answer.

“They’ve gotten control of a handful of islands to the south of the North American mainland. Arthur’s supposed to be visiting them in the next decade or so. A few scouts have told him that the weather is fantastic. Those who have made the journey have told Arthur that they’d love to turn those islands into a place just for Aliomenti, where we can be Aliomenti without worrying about humans noticing what we are and what we can do. Arthur seems intrigued by the idea. If that happens, you can expect it will mark the aggressive entry of the Aliomenti into this country’s financial markets and governments.”

Will sighed. “The only reason they aren’t here yet is because those markets are still forming, and the governments borrow very little. Not much business to be had unless and until that starts changing. If there were huge profits to be had, they’d be here, no question, whether there’s some nearby island outpost or not.”

“Or they just don’t have enough people yet,” Adam replied. His face tightened into a grim smile. “Infiltrating a dozen governments to exert and extort control from the shadows while extracting large fortunes is rather labor-intensive, you know.”

Will snorted. “I’m sure.” Then he smiled. “For our part, we’re doing what we can to ensure that we continue to seem mere shadows to Arthur and his team, and mask our true numbers.”

Adam brightened. “Do tell.”

“We’re working on a lot of technology that will allow us to do Energy-style activities without using Energy,” Will explained. “Our primary concern is to operate without detection. If we’re seen or heard—detected with human senses—there’s not much we can do about that. We want to make it as difficult as possible for the Aliomenti to find us and try to overwhelm us with their superior numbers and their unique talents.”

“Wise idea,” Adam said, and they stepped to the side in unison, avoiding a carriage that rattled through their walking lane a moment later. Both turned to observe the angry faces and violent shouts directed at the driver. “I’m doing what I can to keep the large influx of Aliomenti at bay. I’m speaking in support of the idea of maintaining primary presence in Europe, and I can make plausible arguments that will carry some weight. My hope is that you’re able to grow your numbers sufficiently before the invasion of this continent begins, and that you can withstand whatever they dish out.” He glanced at Will. “How are you avoiding detection?”

“New skills and new technology,” Will replied. “We’ve learned of a technique to prevent excess Energy from leaking out. Essentially, that means that if we’re not actively using any Energy skills, we’ll seem human to any Aliomenti who happen by.”

Adam looked intrigued. “You'll have to show me that one. If I can ‘tune out’ my Energy, I’d probably be able to physically overhear conversations I’m not supposed to hear. It would be beneficial to be able to move around undetected like that.”

“I can teach you the technique in just a few minutes, but it takes quite a bit of time and practice to keep the Energy leaks shut down,” Will explained. “We’re teaching people that the best way to help human beings is to act as humans whenever possible. That means that we conserve our Energy. We don’t teleport everywhere, or fly, or use telekinesis to move everything we need to use. It’s difficult to understand the challenges humans face when you resolve their issues with skills and resources they don’t possess. Someone struggling to make enough money to eat can’t fix that by using telepathy to gain an advantage in a transaction. Someone who finds themselves in the midst of a fight they can’t win isn’t able to fly or teleport away as we can. Our people are learning how to survive without their skills, to use them as supplements only when absolutely necessary. It’s a challenge, to be sure. We teach everyone everything, how to increase their Energy, how to control their skills, and then when they head out into the world to make it a better place, they’re better able to help those they want to serve.”

“How well do they respond to that requirement?”

"With some deep concern,” Will admitted. “But we take the time to talk about why the approach makes sense, and over time our people understand. They aren’t prisoners, mind you; it’s not as if we tell them that they can’t leave until they swear an oath not to make a spectacle of themselves. It’s helpful that people come back to our main location after they’ve lived in a human city for a time; people stay until their lack of aging becomes an issue. Those who return from those trips to human settlements are able to talk to our newer recruits, explain what they’ve done, how they’ve changed the lives of a small handful of people for the better, and the effect their work has on the larger community. Rarely have the benefits they’ve described required large uses of Energy, and usually they expend no Energy at all. The peace of mind the approach provides is what most often makes the difference. It’s easier to work in a human city when you aren't worried about Sebastian showing up in your room with Tacitus in tow to haul you away.”

Adam nodded, thoughtful. “You mentioned other means of avoiding detection, with technology?”

“That’s right.” Will reached into his pocket and retrieved an armband. He handed it to Adam.

Adam looked at the armband, turning the clear material over in his hands, and frowned. “What is this, exactly?”

“It’s a piece of clothing. We wear them on our arms back in our main space, generally lower on the arm near the wrist, so that they’re visible to others. In the cases when we’re
not
at our main location, we wear them under our clothing. That material, which we call an armband, is able to measure the strength of your Energy, and the band will actually change color accordingly. The colors are based upon the colors you see in rainbows; pink and red are the weakest, while blue and purple are the strongest. The colors tell an individual which skills they should be able to perform. The riskiest skill is teleportation, because if someone does that without knowing it’s possible, they won’t know where they’ll end up. These bands help us to make sure each of our people know when they’re gaining sufficient strength to teleport, and they’re able to work with someone more experienced to go through the steps and keep things under control. It’s something of a rite of passage; we’ve found that it’s best for our people to stay at our main location until they’re able to teleport, because even though we’d prefer they
not
teleport on a regular basis, it’s the best way of escaping a difficult situation quickly. If there are Aliomenti nearby, as is often the case for those who travel to Europe, those difficult situations are quite likely to develop. It's the ultimate defense mechanism."

Adam pushed his sleeve up and pulled the band on to his arm. “It's warm!” he exclaimed, watching in awe as the material turned a deep green in color. Several passersby gave him an odd look at his outburst, and Adam quickly sent a small bit of Energy out to encourage them to forget what they’d seen and heard and move along. He wiped some of the sweat from him brow. “How… what… can you explain that?”

Will chuckled, dabbing at his own forehead, and breathed in the aroma of fresh-baked bread from the bakery they passed on their walk. “Our technological development is progressing at an incredible pace. The warmth you feel from the band is alerting you that your Energy is leaking. If someone like Sebastian is nearby, and the band is warm, he'll be able to find you. If it’s hot enough, and
any
Aliomenti happens by, they’ll sense that you’re an Energy user. That’s the primary reason we wear the bands—inside our clothing to avoid curious looks—when out in public. It’s better to know that your Energy is leaking from a bit of warmth on your arm than Sebastian showing up in front of you. The green color you see means you're an incredibly strong Energy user. If I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect you’d been working on building your Energy for five centuries or more.” He arched an eyebrow. “You must be pretty old, Adam.”

Adam couldn’t resist a chuckle. “You said that this helps you with training as well?”

“Exactly. The colors get deeper and darker as a person becomes stronger. Our new recruits have bands that are pure white until they receive their first batch of morange and zirple. The bands turn a light pink color after that, and gradually change as their Energy grows. When the band becomes red, they're able to perform the most basic skills. When it turns orange, they’re strong enough to perform very short-range teleportation. That’s when we need to be very careful.”

“We’ve had a few people vanish, and that’s a long-standing fear of Arthur’s,” Adam noted. “He’s long feared teleportation, and makes use of it so rarely that you’d think he was a neophyte. Seeing those few new people vanish, never to reappear, has exaggerated his concerns. I believe those who vanished were neophytes developing faster than we suspected, men and women who teleported without realizing it, and who probably tried to go too far as a result.” He shook his head. “It’s a cruel fate.”