Mage and Mate

by Taki Drake

  The embattled Patrol officer was so startled by their approach that he fired at the heavily armored weapons expert. The soldier stood there as the shot ricocheted away from them, waiting to be acknowledged as a friend rather than a foe. The medic called out, “Captain Soner sent us. Should I check you or your partner first?”

  The civilian law enforcement officer was obviously wounded and shaking with exhaustion, but managed still to reply, “Thank God for reinforcements. Sorry about the shot. Check Jerry, please. The bastards shot him, and I haven’t been able to do anything. I don’t even know if he’s alive or dead.”

  The medic dropped to his knees next to the still form of the other officer. Clicking his comm channel with his tongue, the doctor reported, “This officer is badly wounded. I will do what I can, but we are going to need to evacuate him as soon as possible. He’s lost a lot of blood. I’ll get an IV hung, but the situation is not good.”

  While the medic frantically worked to stabilize the severely injured officer, Captain Heson and Margot came out of the shuttle, accompanied by the other medic. Once again, one of the heavily armored soldiers provided the shield wall to protect the commanding officer and the corpsman as they ran over to the patrolman.

  Immediately, the second medic took over from the first. Captain Heson quickly opened a channel to the civilian Patrol Captain and reported on the situation. The sound of a racing vehicle made his voice less understandable.

  The Marine Captain promised that they would continue to protect the patrolmen and contain the fighting criminals. They would remain on-site until they could turn over control to the city law enforcement personnel.

  Margot took a different route. Making sure that they knew she was approaching from the rear, the security guard officer had come up to position close behind the front heavy combat fighter on the left. From that position, she could hear the frantic thugs as they panicked.

  When she started to move past the kneeling soldier, he reached out a massive arm to stop her. “Ma’am, you need better support before moving forward. Please wait for us to consolidate our movements.”

  “Corporal, remove your hand. I have better armor than you do even though it looks lighter. At some point, those sadistic creeps are going to decide to take out the very people that we’re trying to protect and rescue. Mary and Linie been hurt already once on my watch. Understand this, the only way they’re going to get hurt again is over my dead body.”

  The man’s arm came down, and he got to his feet. Margot was surprised and almost said something, but before she could, he started to advance. Bullets pinged off his armor and beam weapons sizzled in reflection.

  He and Margot quickly fell into a rhythm where he would advance for a while with her protected behind him, and then she would frog leap in advance of him using her agility to gain strategic positioning that allowed her to cover him.

  Margot had an errant thought that this must be like dancing with a behemoth. First, the juggernaut and then the bouncing rabbit. Uttering a short, sharp laugh, the woman slipped back into a zone of cold, calculated action and went to rescue her friends.

  The combat cameras caught their coordinated movements as they stalked, pounded, and danced their way down the alley. Crony and the remaining thugs tried to fight, but their lack of armament and the booby-traps that Linie had left worked against them.

  Although simple in nature, the young woman had left spills of thick viscous oil and razor-sharp shards of glass and metal positioned to cut unwary ankles and slash clumsy feet. Sobbing in pain, the attackers soon were covered in blood and coated with slimy lubricant.

  “To hell with this!” cried Crony. “Overrun the bitches on the end. The soldiers won’t shoot if we are in among them. Then perhaps we can use them as hostages.”

  Margot had heard enough. Her vision was crystal clear, and her mind was cold. Emotion had no part of what she was doing, although she knew that she would pay for it later. Nimbly, she jumped up on a trash receptacle stuck against the left side of the alley. With a subvocal warning to her armored companion, the Captain of the Inner Keep Guard took a running leap onto the back of the enormous armored combat soldier and dove forward.

  Landing in a controlled crouch between the advancing enemy and the unmoving Axlen woman and frightened woman child, Margot aimed her AI gun, Bill. She could feel his fury as if it were her own. The joining of her sense of responsibility and guilt to his wrath and her incandescent rage toward the attackers powered flashing actions as the Marine, and her Tegral partner proceeded to systematically dismantle the man who had been Crony Robbins.

  “Margot, blast it girl what is happening?!” It was Jenna’s voice booming over Margot’s Borachland link. Shaking herself in an effort to regain clarity, the woman spared one glance for the pile of body parts that used to be a vicious bully before she looked up into the frightened eyes of two shaking men.

  Dressed in rough clothes, the thugs raised both hands above their heads and backed up slowly. When one of them crashed to a halt against the heavy combat soldier standing in the middle of the alleyway, the criminal fell to his knees and pleaded, “Please, arrest me. Please. Don’t let her hurt me.”

  When Margot looked over at the other one, the man had quietly fainted on the ground.

  Relieved that the team had her back, Margot spun around and crashed to her knees by Mary’s still form. The guard’s hands were shaking, and her breath rattled in her throat.

  Mary’s body was a bloody mess. Some of the injuries were slashing cuts. Many of these were stuck to a ripped quilt that had been placed over the Axlen’s back. Other injuries appear to be more recent.

  There were random patterns of light buckshot injuries on both of her right side legs. A deeper and more severe wound bisected one of her withers. Margot caught her breath in a sob, trying to figure out if it had missed the Axlen’s spine.

  “Medic!” Margot screamed. “Where is the damn medic?”

  A thready, shaky little voice spoke up, and Margot realized with a shock that Linie was trapped below Mary’s body. The woman staring up at the guard was young, very young. Chalk white enough to see every freckle on a heart-shaped face, the woman’s skin was smudged with dirt. The whiskey-colored curls were matted with blood, sticking up in strange spikes.

  It took a moment for Margot to process what the young woman was saying. “She saved me. When they went to shoot me, she pushed herself up and covered me so they could not shoot me again.” The girl began to sob in a hopeless, exhausted wail of fear and grief.

  Margot pulled off her armored gloves and brushed the hair away from the girl’s face, comforting her as best she could. Keeping one hand on Mary’s neck so she could count the heartbeats, the highly decorated combat Marine prayed like she had never prayed before as the senior Marine medic slid to a halt and dropped his bag.

  << <> >>

  With a wailing of sirens and flashing lights, the patrol command car showed up, and a stocky man with Captain’s flashes on his uniform jumped out and move quickly over to where the medic still worked on the patrolman. Following closely behind, an ambulance swooped to a stop and a pair of EMTs piled out of the vehicle.

  Standing up straight to greet the civilian Captain, the Borachland team lead saluted. Captain Heson reported, “Both of your men are alive, and we believe that they are stabilized enough to transport. We kept injuries to the minimum that we could and believe that there are no noncombatant injuries.”

  “Thank you, Captain. I am sure that you understand my concerns.”

  “Yes, sir. Different reactions for law enforcement than for combat, but we tried to accommodate you the best we could.”

  “I appreciate that, please convey my thanks to Major Culhane.”

  “I would be happy to do so, sir. The Major wanted to make sure that I told you that a full recording of the comm-unit conversation would be sent to you within the hour. If you have any other questions, we can be reached at our headquarters in Borachland.”

  Capt
ain José Soner was pleased, and it was apparent that he was appreciative of the courtesy. Before he could say anything more, one of the EMTs hurried over to them and said, “Captain, these medics worked wonders to keep our men alive, but we want to get them to the hospital as soon as possible.”

  Nodding a dismissal to the Borachland commander, the civilian officer began to turn. Rence called out, saying, “We also need to take our wounded to get better medical care. Good luck, Captain. I’m sure we will be talking again.”

  Two minutes later, the assault shuttle took off on a direct path to the orbiting spaceship. Only there could they be assured of the care and safety that their wounded would need. Margot sat between the two stretchers, a hand on Mary’s shoulder and the other gripped tightly by the still sobbing young woman.

  Margot held herself in stillness, the edge of rage barely contained. Her heart beat loudly and echoed in her head as she thought, Wait, just wait until Ruth finds out about this. They don’t know what they have done.

  Chapter 29 – Teamwork is Hard

  Approaching the Force X Bar, Arkken Port

  Ruth was pleased with what she had gotten accomplished during her morning errand running. Ever since the steward, Harril had gone over the complex rules of Arkken guest, and host responsibilities, the woman from Earth had been afraid that she would not be able to navigate such a complicated labyrinth of social behavior. At the very least, I now have the essential item for the dinner party covered. Now, all I have to do is get something presentable to wear and hope that I don’t embarrass Pawlik.

  “Lady Ruth heads up!”

  Ruth responded to the warning from Iver and looked around, ready to drop her packages if needed. At first, she didn’t notice anything amiss. She and her two bodyguards were only a block away from the Force X Bar, and she had been feeling safe already. Obviously, that was a bad practice. Like the people after you are going to let you have a “safe zone?” It was unwise for me to relaxed that much, but I am still not used to what my life has become.

  The neighborhood looked pretty much the same that it did every day, with people moving around on the street and carrying out their usual activities. None of them looked like assassins or other dangerous types. Ruth was positive that her two bodyguards would have reacted differently if the threat had been that obvious.

  It was almost midday, and the sun was shining. Ruth would have considered this to be a perfect day to be outside, either working in her yard or hiking in the woods. The situation was different on Arkken. Something had caused Iver to warn her, and Gerian to take a closer position by her left side.

  Ruth carefully placed her packages on the ground and stood up by them. Her hands began to feel hot as twisting tendrils of magic rose to wreath her forearms. Keeping her voice calm, the Mage asked, “What is it, Iver?”

  “I smell ozone. That’s not usual for this area, and anything strange makes me wary.”

  Gerian chimed in, his head turning from side to side as he tried to check all directions, “I noticed the sharp smell, but to me, it smells like fuel.”

  Given some hint of the situation, the Mage allowed her senses to flare out over the surrounding area. Picking up the acrid odor that the two bodyguards had reported, she searched through her memory and found a similar sensory input. “That is the smell of spaceship or shuttle exhaust. There must have been a shuttle here, something that isn’t supposed to happen within the confines of Arkken Port.”

  “Shuttle fuel? That makes me even more concerned. Mage Ruth, you are too exposed here. We need to move to a more protected location.”

  “We need to get into the Force X Bar,” Ruth said quietly. She took a couple steps forward before Gerian reminded her, “My Lady, what about your packages?”

  “Leave them. If there’s a danger, they are of little importance. If there is no danger, hopefully, someone can retrieve them.”

  Before the trio could take another step, Iver noticed a pair of armor-clad Marines wearing House of Borach patches moving down a side street. The rapidly moving soldiers were obviously headed toward the same destination that Ruth had identified. The bodyguard called out, “Xavier, what is going on?”

  The two Marines, a man and a woman, changed their direction and moved immediately toward Ruth and her bodyguards. The woman spoke first, saying, “My Lady Mage, thank God someone contacted you! Major Culhane is waiting for you in the taproom. He’ll have updates on the injured.”

  “Injured!? What happened? Is Pawlik okay? The children?”

  The woman’s face paled, and she took a partial step backward. Swallowing noticeably, the Marine answered, “I think it would be better if the Major briefs you.”

  Ruth stood still in momentary shock. Trying to calm her raging nerves, she took a deep breath and started to walk toward the bar doorway. The two Marines snapped into position around her with drawn weapons. Her bodyguards merged into a protective perimeter with Gerian glued once again to her left side.

  Ruth felt Iver move away from her briefly, returning to say, “I have the packages.” Gerian grunted in acknowledgment but kept his eyes searching for threats.

  The female Marine snapped out a command, “Sentry Three, supplement the guard detail until the Mage is within walls. Then return to your post. Sniper Two, back path check on our primary.”

  Ruth was startled almost into the use of her magic when a stealth-clad Marine charged into the street in front of her, his weapon held in a ready position. His powered armor gave an almost inaudible hiss as he took two large steps and slotted into place behind Ruth, shielding her back with his armored body.

  Her mind in chaos, energy surging like an irresistible tide through her veins, all Ruth could think was, It must be bad.

  << <> >>

  The door to the Force X Bar slammed open with a reverberating crash. From all over the taproom, people reacted. Weapons were snatched up and drawn, some personnel dropping to their knees to have a more advantageous firing position. Seeing two of their own enter the room provided a split second of relaxation before an almost palatable wave of impending doom crowded the room with Lady Ruth’s entrance.

  This was not the pleasant woman that most of them had come to know. This was not the loving mate of the Lord of Borach, nor the nurturing grandmother of Troyer and Techla. This was the Unfettered Mage, arms dripping with swirling magic and ready for battle.

  Before anyone could do more than cringe slightly under pressure of potential danger, Ruth’s eyes skimmed around the room and settled like a heat-seeking missile on the inhabitants of the table where Maj. Alan Culhane had set up his command post.

  The major was a brave man, fearless in battle, but even he audibly swallowed when Ruth’s eyes met his. She demanded, “Alan, what is going on? And why was I not notified? Also, I need an explanation of why Pawlik wasn’t notified either.”

  The Major’s mouth opened up and failed to close. In a panic, he looked over at the bartender, but Luka had his hands pressed over his face. The man’s head slowly turned from side to side. It was evident that he was not going to be of any help.

  The room was silent, and the magic around Ruth started to drip off her hands and onto the floor, creating a swirling pool that slowly started to rise up around her. At first, just a flat puddle, it grew to ankle height in a few seconds. Paling, even more, some of the soldiers started to back up away from the Mage in fear.

  Jenna stepped out from the group clustered around the Major and said, “Ruth, please don’t be angry. I know now we should’ve called you, but until you said something, none of us thought of it. To us, it was a combat situation, and we don’t call civilians in the middle of combat.”

  Ruth walked over to Jenna and said, “Do you or do you not report to me? Am I not the Lady of Borach? Am I not the Unfettered Mage? Am I not the blasted Archmage?”

  Jenna’s face paled until she was paperwhite, refusing to excuse herself. Trying to protect the rest of the people in the room, she answered in a slightly shaky voice, “Yes
, ma’am, you are all three of those things. You should have been a high priority notification, and Lord Pawlik should have been the same. There is no excuse, ma’am.”

  Spinning around, the infuriated Mage made eye contact with each person. “We are supposed to be a team. That means we work together. You have requested that I let you know what is going on so you can participate and you have promised to do the same for Pawlik and me. Whatever the situation happened to be, you owed me the courtesy of information. By failing to do that, you did not make use of your resources, and the damage that was done was more severe than it needed to be.”

  Looking over at the bartender, Ruth added, “You know better, Luka. You know what I’m capable of from firsthand knowledge. You not only left your most powerful offensive weapon out of this engagement but also ignored the power that Pawlik can bring. He understands the situation on Arkken and has many resources to draw on, including the Blasted. Ships. In. Orbit!!”

  Most of the people in the room were staring determinedly at their feet. There was only a small movement by the bar as Luka brought his hands down so that Ruth could see the tears running down his face. He said nothing but the look of abject apology moved Ruth to ask in a slightly softer tone, “What? What happened?”

  No one wanted to tell her. The sound was absolute. Ruth let the silence stretch out for a few seconds. Even the slight tapping that she recognized as someone’s knees knocking together was not enough to get her out of the incandescent center of her anger as she waited.

  Chapter 30 – Clearing Channels

  Force X Bar, Arkken Port

  Finally, a voice in her head provided her with the information she demanded, << Margot and Jenna uncovered multiple efforts by a variety of groups to either cause problems for you or Pawlik. They were investigating those and came back to meet up with you and Mary. >>

  << That is fine, Jack. I was on my way here as soon as I finished my errand. We could have come back quickly if there was a problem. >