Trickster

by J. C. Andrijeski

  Something about his face caused me to stare, above and beyond the human-like features. I didn’t get any pings off his light, nothing that would indicate a sight-rank much above average for a working infiltrator.

  Even as I thought it, however, Varlan sent around a sharp ping followed by a quiet whisper, indicating the same, gray-eyed seer with his light.

  Have a care, friends, Varlan murmured. That is brother Balidor.

  I stiffened, staring first at Varlan, then back at the gray-eyed male.

  Balidor.

  Adhipan Balidor.

  Gaos d’lalente.

  I never would have imagined such a thing, not from that seer, whose only seeming abnormality was his complete inability to be physically distinguished from a human. Such a build would make him an effective infiltrator, sure, but I found myself wondering how he could be the head of the infamous Adhipan with such unremarkable light.

  Do not underestimate him, Varlan continued, a bare whisper in my mind. His aleimi is entirely shielded. What you are seeing is a projection of light, not his own. I am quite sure he can hear me speak these words, Varlan added, softer still. Even within the confines of our construct. Even with Central actively attempting to keep him out.

  I swallowed, not answering that time, not even in my own mind.

  I no longer doubted Varlan’s assessment, though.

  Neither did Terian, apparently, for when I glanced at him, I saw him staring at the gray-eyed seer as well. His amber eyes grew openly wary as he continued to stare, his light sparking with criss-crossing, fast-moving lines that made it nearly impossible for me to pick out even a whisper of his thoughts.

  I fought to remain still, clenching my hand around the end of my rifle as I tried to decide if I should move closer to the new seers.

  I was still trying to decide, chafing against the silence, when the other four in the alien party appeared, melting into the range of the yissos one by one, faces impassive.

  That time, I felt a stronger ripple go through Terian’s light.

  It was strong enough that I looked at him.

  When I turned back towards the side of the clearing where that gray-eyed seer stood, I focused more intently on the new seers as they emerged into full light. Three males, one female. With the three who already stood there, that made a four to three split, male to female, which was unusual enough in the West for me to stare at them anew.

  If they were Adhipan, the sex ratio might make sense.

  All but the one leading the second group carried rifles, but older, less-modified models than what I was used to seeing within the Org.

  The guns of these newcomers looked positively ancient, in fact, compared to what I carried in my hands. One of them actually carried an unmodified M-16, a relative pop gun compared to the plasma rifles worn by Terian and myself and most of the others. Their guns looked shabby even compared to Varlan’s ultra-modified antique.

  Even the gray-eyed one, the one Varlan ID’d as Adhipan Balidor, carried one of these relics, gripping it in two hands without aiming it at any one of us specifically.

  The seer who didn’t hold a rifle slid between Balidor and the female seer who stood beside him, so that he was nearer to me and the others than the rest of their party.

  The newcomer just stood there for a moment, scanning faces.

  He was tall. Taller than me.

  Even though he didn’t carry a rifle, he held the wariest expression of the seven.

  His angular face remained solidly set in an infiltrator’s mask, his movements borderline graceful as he came to a stop in the middle of the clearing, a few yards ahead of his armed contingent.

  He definitely moved like a fighter, I thought.

  I realized as he approached that he did carry a rifle, just like the others, but he wore it slung over his back. Even his sidearms remained in their holsters, as if he’d deliberately left his hands empty to make his intentions for negotiation clear.

  I distinctly got the impression that the way the other six seers flanked him, they were there to protect him, not the reverse.

  Now that the tall, black-haired male took center stage, I found myself looking only at him. Even Balidor got only cursory glances from me, from which I always returned to that other male’s angular, high-cheekboned face, and odd, glass-like eyes.

  I didn’t need to be told who he was.

  If nothing else, I recognized pieces of myself in that face and body, enough to know why Varlan and Terian both reacted to my features and build.

  The clear eyes were different than my gray ones, though.

  Nearly colorless, they seemed to shine with their own internal light, like a cat’s eyes, or some kind of nocturnal predator. Despite his relatively peaceful presentation of himself, I had no trouble identifying him as the most dangerous seer in that group, even more than the gray-eyed Balidor with the misleading light.

  He may have presented himself as vulnerable, but I could feel a deeper charge in the background of his aleimi, even apart from the way he carried himself––even apart from the way he sized up our group, staring hard at Varlan before his eyes shifted back to Terian.

  Terian held up a hand to the rest of us.

  I felt the warning there.

  I felt his caution, as if he’d felt our collective interest in the black-haired male, and was reminding us against getting too close.

  As for Terian himself, I felt those sparks of reaction in his light intensify.

  He may have known this was coming, but his shock was apparent.

  I could feel that seeing Dehgoies in the flesh, standing in front of us like he was, unbalanced Terian in some fundamental way, even going so far as to render him briefly silent.

  For what felt like a long time, the two of them only stared at one another.

  I watched the measuring and scans and assessments flicker back and forth between their living lights for what felt like a long number of seconds.

  Dehgoies’ guard dogs stood slightly back while it occurred, their postures taut, those ancient rifles still gripped in their hands. Even so, they seemed to be waiting for this part to be ended, too.

  Strangely, to me anyway, it was Dehgoies who spoke first.

  “I am told you agreed to this,” he said.

  His voice was deep, tinged with a European accent, something Germanic-sounding. His tone remained as wary as his eyes. A clear tension vibrated his light, reflecting in his physical stance as he gave another quick scan around the clearing, adjusting his weight between his feet.

  When Terian didn’t speak, Dehgoies made a vague but somehow expressive gesture with one hand.

  “Terry?” Dehgoies said, his voice slightly sharper. “Is this true? Did you agree to act as go-between for Galaith on this thing?”

  Again, the amber-eyed seer didn’t answer.

  Dehgoies glanced around at the faces of the others in our group.

  His eyes paused briefly on me, right as he seemed as though he might speak again.

  He blinked at my face, then took in my height and body in another swift, appraising glance. Focusing back on my features for a few seconds longer, those clear eyes slid back towards Terian, holding a whisper of knowing that I found made my jaw clench.

  “A new pet, Terry?” Dehgoies said.

  Terian let the barrel of his rifle drop, right before he slung the gun over his shoulder, so that it mirrored roughly how Dehgoies wore his.

  As he did it, something in the energy of the exchange shifted.

  The tension didn’t dissipate exactly, but something about it changed tenor.

  “Something like that, yes,” Terian said. His full, sculpted lips lifted in a faint smile. “Do you approve, Revi’? He’s quite handsome, don’t you think?”

  “Is it for my benefit?”

  “Not entirely, no.” Terian tilted his head in a seer’s shrug. “He’s quite… accommodating.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Dehgoies said, giving me another dismissive look. “…For both o
f you.”

  “Oh, no need to chime the bells yet, old friend,” Terian smiled. “There’s always room for more to play, yes? Back in the day, we could have violated him together. He would have liked that, I think. He’s got a bit of your masochist’s edge.”

  There was a silence.

  A glimmer of disgust touched that narrow mouth.

  Terian seemed to see the reaction, and smiled wider.

  He aimed that smile at me, then looked back at Dehgoies.

  “He gets a bit possessive, though, Revi’,” he said, lightening his voice. “You’d have to fuck him a lot, Revi’, to get him over that. Until you broke him, maybe, got him to say uncle. I think he’d like that, too, though, Revi’… as I said, he likes a little pain with his sex. Not as much as you do, of course, but then… not many do.”

  That time, Dehgoies averted his gaze, his hands tightening by his sides.

  Terian chuckled, clicking at him in mock surprise.

  “Gaos. Did you just blush, Revi’? It used to take considerably more than that, to get such a reaction from you…”

  I felt my jaw harden, remembering Terian’s reaction to my own cheeks warming.

  But Terian didn’t seem to notice my reaction.

  That, or he simply didn’t care.

  He clucked in mock consternation at his friend.

  “What have they done to you, my brother?” he said, still clicking. “And are you as celibate these days as you feel? Perhaps you only fuck Council-approved whores now, and are finding the willing ones difficult to come by? I imagine there are few, if any, who would deign to touch you, given your unsavory past…”

  Dehgoies didn’t answer that either.

  Still, I got the sense Terian had touched a nerve somehow with the remark.

  The tall seer’s narrow mouth hardened perceptibly, as did something in those clear irises.

  Even as I thought it, Dehgoies averted his gaze, glancing at the seers standing just behind him, pausing on the middle-aged male with the human-like face and those strangely riveting gray eyes.

  Terian took another step forward, looking over Dehgoies in a sweeping appraisal of his own.

  “You really do look… housebroken,” he said. “What happened to your light, my friend? Is it true that they stashed you away in Himalayan ice caves after they cleansed your mind? Forced you into penance to plead forgiveness for your sins? I wouldn’t have believed it, myself, but all I can feel on you now is the stink of kneeler’s mantras and incense.”

  He paused, as if waiting to hear if Dehgoies would answer.

  When the black-haired seer remained silent, Terian went on.

  “Clearly, they feel they’ve brainwashed you sufficiently by now, though, na?” he said, his voice holding more anger. “They wouldn’t have let you out of your cage at all, if they didn’t. So, what did you promise them, Revi’? Did you promise to be a good little boy, to not go anywhere or do anything without their permission? Is this group here to protect you? Or to make sure I don’t corrupt your mind with the filth of common sense?”

  Dehgoies’ angular face didn’t change.

  I found myself staring at the tall seer anyway, wondering how he was reacting to Terian’s words, or the anger I could feel plainly on Terian’s light. I wondered if Dehgoies was even still capable of feeling the genuine emotion there, or in anyone.

  I’d heard that seers brainwashed by the kneeler’s cults couldn’t really hear those who spoke to them from outside of them.

  They couldn’t feel or see anything past that cloying light.

  I myself still couldn’t penetrate whatever shield protected Dehgoies’ aleimi. Whoever created it, they knew what they were doing. I couldn’t help wondering if it had been Balidor, the gray-eyed seer standing behind Dehgoies, holding that antique gun.

  Why was Galaith even negotiating with these clowns?

  Even if they didn’t care about Dehgoies, surely they would trade their beloved Balidor for some seer traitor’s brat, no matter how well-ranked its mother?

  Terian gave me a brief glance then smiled humorlessly.

  I couldn’t help wondering if he was hitting the blankness of that same wall.

  His fingers tapped at the top of the gun he wore in a gentle cadence, his eyes never leaving Dehgoies’ face.

  “Come now, Revi’,” he said next, his voice carrying that harder edge. “Tell me. Confess your sins to me this time, brother, since you never bothered to tell me anything before you left. Is it really true? Are you a believer again, Revi’? Like you were back when we found you in that shithole in Berlin? Are you truly ‘in penance,’ as the rumors tell me? Or is this just another act to save your worthless skin?”

  I found myself watching Dehgoies after Terian said it.

  That narrow face never moved.

  Clicking at him softly, Terian shook his auburn-haired head.

  “Gaos. I confess… it bothers me, brother. It troubles me greatly to see you like this. I never thought I would have to witness the day that you became such a hypocrite again. You always had an enormous capacity for self-deception, of course, but this…”

  Terian shook his head, trailing in his words, almost as if he couldn’t quite express what seethed through his light.

  Then, as if shaking it off, he rested both his forearms on the barrel of his gun, focusing more intently on Dehgoies’ face.

  After a few more seconds of staring, Terian’s lips curled into another smile.

  “Gods,” he murmured. “But they haven’t taken all of you, Revi’, have they? Not yet. I can still see you there, brother, even under all of that kneeler crap. Tell me, did they really think they could take a poisonous snake and turn him into a fluffy bunny rabbit?”

  Terian’s smile grew wider, even as those amber eyes shone in the light of the sparking and hissing yisso.

  “How long do you suppose this transformation of yours will last this time, Revi’? How long before those appetites rear their ugly heads? Before the hunger to have them sated grows too much for you? Your new friends may think they know you, brother, but I do know you. I know you far better than they ever will. Better than you perhaps know yourself.”

  Again, Dehgoies didn’t speak.

  I felt him flinch that time, though.

  It was there and gone, scarcely a whisper, but something in Terian’s words had touched him, even if he quickly deflected that feeling from his light.

  Terian must have felt it too, because that smile once more teased the edges of his lips.

  He straightened his spine, still resting his arms on the gun.

  When he spoke next, his voice turned business-like.

  “So, what’s the parlay, Revi’?” Terian sounded almost bored now.

  When the other didn’t answer him, his words shifted to an open impatience.

  “What is it that your kneeler masters have to say to us, old friend? What would you like to plead for, on their behalf?”

  “Galaith agreed to this,” Dehgoies said, wary.

  Terian laughed, holding up his hands to the rest of the Org operatives, a mocking sign of peace in seer sign language.

  “You are quite safe, Revi’. Quite safe. Do not worry, my brother.” Terian grinned, motioning once more around the clearing, the gesture expansive. “None of my people will shoot you, I promise. Tell me your new friends’ concerns and wishes. I won’t bite.”

  Dehgoies glanced at the gray-eyed seer.

  For the first time, I noticed the latter had moved so that he now stood at Dehgoies’ side. He’d done it so silently that I hadn’t felt it at all, even through the strands in my light.

  It struck me also that Balidor hadn’t stopped staring at Terian the entire time they’d been in the clearing. I wondered again about Varlan’s words. Could this really be the famed Ahdipan Balidor, who had reputedly taken down Syrimne d’Gaos?

  Why would they risk sending him on such an errand, if so?

  Whoever he was, he obviously had some relationship to Dehgoie
s, although if it was master or servant, I honestly couldn’t tell, even with Terian’s goading.

  Dehgoies returned his stare to Terian, right before he placed his hands on his hips.

  The movement was oddly precise, like all his previous movements, and strangely vertical in nature, as if he’d scripted each micro-movement that took him to the new pose.

  His clear eyes appeared unreadable once more, focused.

  “Fine,” Dehgoies said, making another of those graceful yet oddly precise gestures with his hand and fingers. “You need to back off, Terry. Now.”

  “Do I? Now?” Terian’s words were openly amused, but Dehgoies went on as if he hadn’t spoken.

  “…The prisoner we took,” he cut in, his accent growing more prominent. “It is legal for us to have her, by the old laws. It was a mistake you made, bringing her here. It violated not only the ancient laws, but those of your own making––”

  “Those of our own making, Revi’?”

  “Yes,” Dehgoies said, his voice a growl. “She’s pregnant. Don’t pretend you didn’t know… or that to take a pregnant female captive in a human-run work camp doesn’t go against about a dozen laws of our people, yours and mine. To imprison one who carries a child of our race is unpardonable, and you know it. She should never have been there.”

  Terian laughed, forcing the other into silence.

  Dehgoies stared at him, his mouth hardening into a deeper frown.

  “She shouldn’t have been in Saigon, either, Revi’,” Terian said, his voice holding a colder edge. “…And yes, I know who the cunt is, and I know why you’re so hellbent on protecting her, brother. Which is a bit rich, Revi’, given that she’s about to give birth to another male’s pup. Or do you plan to take the child, too, Revi’? Bring her back to Asia with you, so the three of you can play house in the Pamir?”

  “It’s not like that,” Dehgoies growled.

  “Ah, hit a nerve, have I?” Terian said.

  “Stop making this about me!”

  “About you?” Terian raised an eyebrow, his voice shifting to a mock innocence. “Whatever do you mean, Revi’? This is about the good of the race, is it not? Isn’t that what you would have me think?”