by Eva Brandt
“I don’t understand you, Mother. You’re saying you want to help me, but instead, you’re trying to thwart me. You’ve called me an abomination, but you’re the one who’s defying Gaia’s dictates by spitting in the face of motherhood. I’m not going to blame you for the choices you make, but I’d appreciate it if you at least respected me enough to tell me the truth.”
It was a foolish, defiant request. I expected her to hit me again. Maybe I’d have deserved it.
But my mother surprised me once more. Her eyes filled with tears and she walked up to me, pulling me into her arms. Despite our dispute, my instinct was still to trust her so I went easily.
“My poor daughter,” she whispered, petting my hair. “I wish… I wish things were different. I wish so badly that I could protect you.
“This whole thing… It’s wrong. The Grand Judiciary is dangerous. You might think you’ve seen everything they can do, but you haven’t even brushed the surface.”
The desperation in her voice was far truer and more honest than the disdain I’d seen on Terra. She’d thrown harsh words and insults at me, but now, I had to wonder what she truly believed.
“Mother, what—?”
“Don’t,” she cut me off, still holding me tightly. “Your lovers know very well what’s going on with The Grand Judiciary. Brendan Chimera is a prince. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t directly involved in the messier affairs that go on behind the scenes. But if you find out about it, Selene, if you’re completely drawn into his world… There’s no way I can save you, not anymore.”
For the first time, I noticed she’d lost a lot of weight compared to the way she’d been before I’d left for Chimera Academy. How had I missed that when we’d reunited, back on Terra?
“You’ve fallen into a trap, Selene, and I can’t extract you. Just promise me something. No matter what you do, don’t have children with them until you’re absolutely sure you know everything there is to know about your situation.”
That much, I could agree to. I loved and trusted my fellow Chimera Warriors, but it didn’t hurt to find out what I was getting myself into before I committed to anything. Besides, I hadn’t forgotten what they’d told me about that whole business with the terrorists in New Washington.
I already knew The Grand Judiciary was unscrupulous and my lovers were keeping things from me. I’d have to make sure I fixed that problem before it turned into something more serious.
In the meantime, I had my mother’s erratic behavior to worry about. “All right, Mother. I’ll be careful. But you have to rest at ease. You might not be able to save me, but you can help me.
“Please. I know you’re against me using Gaia’s power. I know you think it’s not something I should’ve ever had. But I feel it deep inside me, close to my heart. I can become more, as long as you teach me. Will you give me the chance?”
My mother’s shoulders slumped. “All right, Selene. It looks like I have no choice. This is against my better judgment, but I agree.”
“Really?” I almost couldn’t believe my ears. “You’ll help?”
She nodded, although she didn’t look happy about it. “You can come with me when I return to Earth today. It’s high time you were introduced a little more to what it actually means to be a priestess of Gaia.”
Terra-forming! I could actually do terra-forming! Oh, this was excellent news.
“I’ll also speak with Dean Chimera to establish a better schedule for you,” my mother continued. “Come. We might as well take advantage of your free period and handle this now.”
Ecstatic, I hugged her one last time. “Thank you. I promise I won’t disappoint you.”
“You never do, Selene. No matter what I may tell you, at any point in time, please know that you are and you’ve always been my greatest achievement.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that, but I was grateful we were back to normal anyway. As we left the room together, I hummed a happy tune under my breath.
Finally, things seemed to be looking up. My mother had seen sense and she’d help me perfect my Gaia-oriented ability. I still had to figure out a way to speak with my lovers and see what they knew about this whole motherhood business, but there was no rush.
No matter what my mother said, I knew they’d never harm me. I trusted them, so I’d give them time to come to me of their own accord.
* * *
Knox
After the Terran class held by Tanya Renard, the day dragged on. Selene had left to do some self-study, since she had a free period in this time slot. The rest of us had Grand Judiciary Law with Professor Trask, but for unknown reasons, he was missing. Dr. Moore acted at his substitute and started to go over one of his usual lectures. I did not enjoy it.
I liked history as much as any other regular chimera pilot—which was to say, not a lot. It was interesting and something we did need to learn. People who didn’t understand the past were doomed to make the same mistakes in the future. The problem was that Dr. Moore tended to go into a lot of irrelevant details. Why would I care about the type of credits Terrans had used before the apsid invasion anyway? They were worthless now, with the occasional specimens existing only as museum pieces. I’d have preferred doing some more chimera practice.
It didn’t help that Brendan had been distant over the past couple of days. There had been no real developments on The Grand Judiciary front, but we feared we were being watched and we hadn’t made much progress on the plan Typhon had suggested. August was getting increasingly more upset about Charybdis’s enduring dormancy. At this rate, we’d be forced to do something regrettable to survive.
By the time the class ended, I felt like I was about to explode. Thankfully, we had Advanced Combat Practice next, and I looked forward to pummeling someone into the ground.
I should have known better than to think anything in my life would go over well. In the past, Commander Trevor had been the one to supervise our Combat Practice classes, but we’d always been aware that he was pulled in too many different directions and he needed aid. Another staff member had finally arrived, but it wasn’t someone I’d have liked to see.
“Well, this is just perfect,” August mumbled as we entered the training room. “Why do we always get saddled with this shit?”
“Because Father lives to make my life difficult, even when he claims otherwise,” Brendan said between gritted teeth.
Lord Paul Welton stood in front of us, clad in the familiar uniform of The Oceanus Attack Corps. He hadn’t bothered to use the clothing provided by the academy, but even so, from the moment I looked at him, I knew what his role here would be.
“Ah, Prince Brendan, Flight Lieutenant Donadieu, Flight Lieutenant Alexander, Flight Lieutenant Cavallero. I’m glad you made it here early. I had to speak with you regarding an important matter.”
“You mean other than the fact that you’re our new teacher?” Brendan asked, having obviously realized the same thing I had.
“Yes, other than that.” Lord Welton smiled, and if I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve sworn the expression was genuine. “I trust you’ve shared the issue of your chimeras with all the interested parties?”
“Of course,” Brendan replied. “My unit needed to know of the orders we’ve received. I’ve already discussed it with my father. Is there a problem with that?”
“No, not at all. I was merely double-checking. There have been whispers of treason going around The Grand Judiciary. We wouldn’t want this information to leak by accident.”
A shiver coursed down my spine. ‘Treason,’ Lord Welton had said. Brendan had been planning that for years, although he’d held back because it had been too dangerous. No one could possibly suspect, because if they had, Brendan wouldn’t still be here, having a pleasant conversation with Lord Welton of all people.
What the fuck was The Grand Judiciary up to?
“If you’re so concerned about such issues, Lord Welton, it’s probably unwise to talk about this out in the open,” Brendan replied
coolly. “But for the record, I’m a prince from the royal line of Chimera. I know how to keep secrets and so do the people I trust.”
“Yes, of course, Your Highness. I was merely making sure the dynasty is safe.”
“As always, your service is appreciated,” Brendan answered. The words sounded faker than the atmosphere around Tartarus Base.
Luckily, we weren’t forced to continue the awkward and dangerous conversation. The doors of the training room slid open and the other students walked in. Most of them were just as surprised as we’d been upon noticing Lord Welton. It wasn’t every day that a member of The Grand Judiciary left our main legislative branch and became a teacher at our school. Still, they knew better than to question it.
“I’ll be here to supervise your hand-to-hand combat sessions,” he explained. “As some of your teachers might have mentioned in the past, it is impossible to be a chimera pilot without having perfect control over one’s own body. To some people, space combat might not seem physically strenuous, but it is in fact one of the most dangerous and difficult activities you can embark on. Every muscle and bone in your body is a weapon you need to hone to perfection. You’re a diamond of Tartarus, but you’ve yet to be polished. The harder you fight, the stronger you’ll become.”
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Coming from any other teacher at the academy—even people like Professor Trask who taught dry, theoretical subjects—I would’ve taken that seriously. But I didn’t want to hear shit like this from an asshole who’d never been in a chimera in his life. He might belong to The Oceanus Corps, but he was no soldier and everyone knew it.
Paul Welton came from one of the families that had attached themselves to the Chimera royals through their connection to chimera manufacturing. Welton’s great-grandfather was said to have been the one to discover the mysterious alloy used to craft the giant mechas we used, and the technique had bought his whole line power and influence in The Grand Judiciary. In that sense, Penelope Welton would’ve made a perfect wife for Brendan, since King Philip doubtlessly wanted the secret of the alloy in the family once and for all. But Brendan had ruined his plans because of his decision to choose Selene instead.
In any case, Welton’s less than impressive military history didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. It also did nothing to change the fact that he was currently our teacher. So I schooled my features into neutrality, kept my mouth shut, pretended to listen to the speech, and prepared to beat up whoever was assigned to me.
My partner turned out to be August. I’d expected Lord Welton to throw Brendan at me, since I was notoriously volatile, and Welton had every reason to want Brendan hurt. But maybe the king had given Welton different instructions, because Brendan had to fight a member of the Harpy Squad instead. Pollux was assigned to Scott Argyle, which I suspected wouldn’t go over well at all. He might not show it as much as we did, but he’d been very pissed after that incident in the hangars.
But both Brendan and Pollux could take care of themselves. With a sharp grin, I faced August and said, “We haven’t done this in a while. Don’t think I’ll go easy on you because you almost died.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Knox. In fact, I’d be insulted if you tried something like that.”
I doubted that was true, because it took far more than something so simple to insult August. These days, the easiest method to do that was insulting Charybdis or Selene.
“All right, students,” Welton said. “On the count of three. One, two… Begin!”
The deceitful countdown didn’t take me by surprise. August and I lunged at one another at the same time. I made a grab for him, but he ducked, taking advantage of his slimmer build to avoid me.
Fighting August would be a challenge. We knew each other’s moves well and understood all our strengths and weaknesses. After that first attempt, August could have tried to tackle me. But that would have ended in disaster for him, since no one but Brendan—on one of his good days—could physically overpower me. Instead, he shot to his feet again and directed a roundhouse kick at my shoulder.
I blocked the blow, but the strength behind it still jarred me. Had I been anyone else, it would have probably dislocated the bone. For us, it was just the beginning.
I caught his ankle and flipped him around, trying to toss him to the ground. He freed himself at the last moment, avoiding a grip that, in a regular fight, would have snapped his leg and incapacitated him. It still made him drop his guard and gave me the opening I needed to lunge at him.
We fell together on the mat, with me on top of August. He wasn’t deterred. His hand landed on my shoulder and clutched me so tightly it hurt. And that was when things got really interesting.
For Chimera Warriors, sparring was more than a mindless brawl. It involved both physical violence and tachyon manipulation, although the combination between the two depended on who you were actually fighting.
A talented fighter could reach into another Chimera Warrior and extract the tachyon particles running through his blood.
Of course, this was a practice some trainers frowned upon, since it meant absorbing someone else’s tachyons into yourself. But August had always excelled at it and used it often when we sparred. Today was no different, and yet, it felt like something had changed.
His touch felt crueler, more vicious. When he lashed out against me, I felt as if I was facing Charybdis herself, not my friend and lover.
I was standing in front of a black hole that threatened to absorb me. My light, the power I wielded with such ease, was drifting away.
Weakness invaded my limbs and August rolled us around, pinning me down to the mat. The match should have stopped there. But he didn’t let go, and his eyes still burned me.
I took it in stride. I had no idea what was up with him, but I’d never backed out of a fight, and I wouldn’t do so now. Besides, even if I’d wanted to, Cerberus wouldn’t have allowed it.
At the back of my mind, my chimera snarled in anger. “Get away from my pup!”
As Cerberus attacked, a tachyon blast emerged out of me, striking August in the chest. He landed easily a few feet away, looking unharmed even if his uniform was smoking. “Ow,” he said simply.
It was more than I could say. The whole incident had shaken me. We might not have hurt one another, but for a moment there, August had come very come close to it.
Welton and the other students seemed unaware that anything was wrong. The rest of the sparring sessions had stopped, but the others showed no sign of panic, only curiosity.
Welton approached us and shot us an exasperated look. “Flight Lieutenant Cavallero, Flight Lieutenant Alexander… We appreciate your display of advanced techniques of sparring, but maybe next time, try to keep it a little more sedate. Our yearly budget for fixing walls is limited.”
“Yes, Sir,” August replied calmly. “My apologies. It won’t happen again.”
Brendan walked up to him and helped him up, his lips twisted into a tiny smile. “We really should spar more together. We’re losing our touch.”
Pollux let out a low chuckle. “Hardly. Knox doesn’t have a scratch.”
“What can I say?” I drawled. “It takes a little more than some tachyon manipulation to bring me down.”
Our words and expressions weaved a careful and elaborate lie, a mask hiding the wrongness of what had just happened. Brendan didn’t show his disquiet. Pollux suppressed his panic. August didn’t freak out over losing control of his powers, and I shoved Cerberus back.
Our efforts were at least partially successful. The other students lost interest and returned to their sparring. Brendan and Pollux’s former partners teamed up, and Lord Welton left us to our own devices.
Brendan dragged August away for a second sparring match, whereas I was left with Pollux. Nothing of note had really happened, but as Pollux and I faced one another, dark questions drifted into my mind.
Just how much had August lost to the light of the sun that day, when he’d been adrift in space?
Could we ever help him get it back?
Unpleasant Surprises
Selene
“I thought we’d been over this, High Priestess. We discussed the matter and agreed you wouldn’t bring your daughter here.”
“I changed my mind. Selene has a lot of potential and everything we’ve heard was clearly a huge misunderstanding.”
I stood in the center of the main hall of Gaia’s New Washington temple, studiously ignoring the way everyone was staring at me. My mother had told me that people didn’t like me here anymore, but it was still strange to feel the hostility. Even when I’d thought I was an Unblessed, I’d been here many times before and they’d never acted like this. The idea that they’d change their minds like this overnight, because of my sexuality, was almost too much to accept.
But I didn’t let it bring me down. My mother was the High Priestess and she’d promised to take me to a terra-forming today. I’d seen the process when I’d been younger, but at the time, I’d been basically blind to the deeper currents of magic flowing around me. I hadn’t heard the call of Gaia’s song. I could do it today, and maybe through it, I could craft a song of my own.
The other priestesses in the temple and their adepts couldn’t stop it, because in the end, my mother had the ultimate authority. “But High Priestess…” Sister Flora tried to protest.
“Enough,” my mother cut her off. “I’ve made my decision and will allow no interference. If Gaia has seen fit to give my daughter a gift, no one has the right to challenge it—not me, and definitely not you.”
It was a little surprising that she’d said that after her reaction the first time I’d revealed my skills to her. I still wasn’t sure I understood what scared her so much and why she’d reacted so badly during our first meeting. But it didn’t matter anymore. I was here now. The other priestesses couldn’t keep me from perfecting my skills. Soon, I’d become even more powerful and I’d make sure my lovers would never be hurt again.
