Death's Handmaiden

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘Is it too late for me to turn around and run screaming for my apartment?’

  Mitsuko shook her head. ‘I don’t believe you’d run screaming from anything, never mind a social gathering.’

  ‘There’s a first time for everything.’

  The Trenton Mansion.

  The flight proved uneventful. That was fine with Nava since, given what they were flying in, anything that might have been a threat was also something she would not have been able to deal with. The aircraft came with six miniguns, twin multibarrel rocket launchers, chaff and flare dispensers, multimode radar and lidar, a fully stocked galley, very comfortable seats which reclined into beds, and two very attractive cabin crew, one of each sex. Admittedly, the galley, seats, and crew were not going to help in a fight, but they did make the journey seem to pass quicker.

  After roughly eighty minutes in the air, Nava was looking down upon the estate which Mitsuko had grown up on. There was a substantial amount of open country nestled against a low, weathered mountain range to the north. There were a few small forests, a couple of lakes, but much of the ground was grassland of one type or another. From the air, you could see various houses dotted around the area. Not small homes either; these were small mansions with a couple of wings each, outdoor swimming pools or tennis courts. Only the one they were flying toward had a helipad.

  Mitsuko’s ‘family home’ looked more like the residence of a planetary ruler. It was a big, multilevel mansion with both indoor and outdoor swimming facilities, courts for tennis and basketball, and a carefully maintained formal garden which, to Nava’s untutored eye, appeared to include elements of both Japanese and European garden design. It was impossible to be sure what was inside the buildings – aside from the pool which had windows all around and was obvious – but Nava doubted she would be able to think of anything the place would be missing.

  ‘So, this is how the other half lives,’ Nava commented as the tiltrotor dropped toward the landing pad.

  ‘Not half,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘My parents are probably firmly in the one percent. That doesn’t bother you, does it?’ She answered her own question before Nava had managed to part her lips. ‘No, of course it doesn’t. Do you ever get upset about anything?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Just not social disparities.’

  ‘My worth as a person is not diminished by someone having more possessions than me. For that matter, it’s not diminished by someone thinking they are my superior.’

  ‘Good answer. Just remember that you’re my guest and here as the guest of my parents.’

  ‘Oh? You didn’t mention the latter.’

  Mitsuko smiled. ‘I didn’t? Well, they agreed to my bringing you and said that they were happy to have you here. My parents are quite progressive. My father spent eight years in the ASF before returning home when his father died. He left with the rank of commander having worked his way up from second lieutenant. My mother… My mother is going to look like she belongs in an old movie about feudal Japan, but she’s a modern woman with modern ideals. Their marriage was arranged, but they have much in common and were quite happy with the arrangement.’

  ‘If you don’t mind me asking, how Japanese are you? You have the name and some of the looks…’

  ‘My mother is pure Japanese. She was originally a Maki Sonkei. My father is… somewhere between a third and a half Japanese with the rest being English, Canadian, and French. I’ll let you do the math. I get most of my looks from my mother and my height from my father. Weirdly, my elder siblings take after our father, while me and my younger sister take after our mother.’

  ‘Genetics are random.’ There was a slight bump as the aircraft’s wheels hit the concrete. ‘And we’re here.’ Nava grabbed her overnight bag – containing some toiletries and a change of underwear – and got to her feet. She pointedly put herself in front of Mitsuko at the door of the cabin, which seemed to surprise the woman waiting to open it. Mitsuko appeared to think this absolutely normal so the attendant said nothing.

  As soon as the door was opened, Nava walked down the steps, which had extended from the hull, and scanned their immediate environment. The house was to the west and north. There was a clear view of over a kilometre to the south and east, but the tiltrotor blocked a clear shot from the south. A sniper could have been waiting out there in the grass, but that could not be helped.

  A man was waiting on the edge of the pad to the east. He was dressed in the uniform of an ASF officer. Nava could just about make out the rank insignia of a lieutenant commander in the naval branch. He was tall, rugged. His body was not muscular exactly, but he clearly maintained a high level of fitness. He was not exactly handsome, but you could not deny that he had a sort of ‘action adventurer’ attractiveness, like someone off the cover of a trashy ‘rescue the damsel’ romance novel. He had to be Mitsuko’s elder brother.

  And the child hiding behind his legs had to be the youngest sister. She looked a lot more like Mitsuko than the brother did. He appeared to have sprung from European stock, while she looked like a Japanese child, though the yukata she was wearing possibly prejudiced Nava’s opinion. She was certainly a cute little thing with her long black hair, large dark eyes, and pink-and-silver abstract yukata. Nava figured there was every chance that she would grow up to give Mitsuko a run for her money in the beauty stakes.

  Turning slightly, Nava gave a tiny nod to Mitsuko and her charge tripped down the steps carrying her own bag. They were both still in school uniforms and they had flown north to get to the mansion. The cooler air was noticeable on their arms and Mitsuko appeared to be quite keen to get inside. She was hampered in this by a shriek of ‘Onee-chan!’ and the envelopment of her legs at the knees by a pair of small but strong arms.

  ‘Onee-chan?’ Nava asked.

  ‘Older sister,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘It’s an affectation she picked up from Mother. This is my youngest sister, Michiko. Say hello to Nava, Michiko.’

  Michiko looked a little reluctant to let go of her sister’s legs, but her social conditioning kicked in and she stepped back to look up at Nava. ‘Hello, Nava-sama, I am Michiko Trenton Sonkei. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.’ A hand was thrust out for Nava to take.

  Quite seriously, since Michiko was being quite serious, Nava took the girl’s hand and shook it. ‘Thank you for your warm welcome, Michiko Trenton. The pleasure is all mine.’

  And then, before anything else could be said, Michiko went on. ‘Please allow me to introduce you to my Onii-sama, Lieutenant Commander Ruben Trenton Sonkei.’ This was all delivered in perfect English without any accent. Clearly, Michiko had had an excellent education thus far, as was to be expected.

  ‘Ahem.’ Ruben looked a tiny bit embarrassed to be introduced by his little sister, but he was an officer in the naval branch of the Clan Worlds’ military and he rallied quickly. He held out a hand. ‘Pleased to meet you…’

  ‘Nava Ward,’ Nava said, not taking the hand until she had judged his reaction. His reaction was barely noticeable and his hand remained unwavering. She took it firmly and shook. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Commander.’

  ‘What are you doing here, Ruben?’ Michiko asked. ‘Shouldn’t you be on a ship somewhere keeping space safe from pirates and other criminals?’

  ‘The Pride of Shinden is in port for routine maintenance,’ Ruben replied. ‘Our parents asked that I attend tonight and my captain saw no reason to deny the request.’

  ‘The Pride of Shinden?’ Nava asked. ‘That’s a battleship, isn’t it?’

  Ruben raised an eyebrow. ‘It is, Nava Ward. One of five in the ASF.’

  ‘Brother Ruben is a gunnery officer,’ Mitsuko supplied. ‘He’s training to be a strategy specialist.’

  ‘Hm,’ Ruben said, ‘and, as such… Please don’t take this the wrong way, Suki, but why have you taken a first-year student in the support stream as your bodyguard? The family could have–’

  ‘Nava is a friend,’ Mitsuko sai
d, ‘and will not disrupt things at school by her very presence. Beyond that, she is perceptive, fast, and merciless. Her combat skills are easily better than the majority of the students in the school and quite on a par with most of the security personnel our parents employ. Since you know so much about her, I can’t believe you haven’t reviewed the recording of her duel with Devin Girard, so I’m surprised that you’re questioning my decision.’

  Ruben glanced down at Michiko, who was watching the exchange with interest, and clearly decided that he was not going to go into details regarding the duel in front of a child. ‘I watched the video and read the report. I… suppose you have a point. If our parents trust your choice, I doubt it’s a bad one.’

  ‘Thank you. Let’s get inside. You and Michiko have more cloth to keep the cold out than we do.’

  ‘Of course.’ Ruben turned and started for the house. Michiko took Mitsuko’s hand in a grip which brooked no argument and they set off together, Nava bringing up the rear. ‘Mother and Father would’ve been here to greet you, but…’

  ‘I’ve been involved with organising something like this before. I understand. Is there anyone here I should know about?’

  ‘Hm…’ Ruben glanced back toward Nava. ‘Uncle Spencer is here.’

  ‘Has he started drinking?’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘We can handle him. Anyone else?’

  ‘Nobuyuki and Rhianna Greyling are here.’

  ‘Really?’ Mitsuko sounded surprised.

  ‘Yes. I mean, they’re good people, for Greylings, but you should know they’re here.’ An interesting choice of phrasing. Nava decided to ask more about the Greylings when she had Mitsuko alone.

  They entered the house through a door which only opened when Ruben passed his ketcom over a sensor. The security seemed reasonably solid. Inside was a corridor which led away in two directions and seemed to be a throughway with no doors off it. Ruben turned to the left and stopped, turning to face the newcomers.

  ‘I’ll leave you to get settled,’ he said. ‘Michiko, let your sister and her friend get changed in peace.’

  ‘But–’ Michiko began and then pressed her lips firmly together. She was not going to object further, but she was not happy either.

  Mitsuko dropped to one knee to bring her eyes down to her sister’s level. ‘Are you being allowed to stay up for some of the party?’

  ‘Until ten o’clock.’

  ‘In that case, you’ll see me and Nava for a couple of hours before then, and we’ll be here in the morning too.’

  ‘Okay.’

  With that sorted out, Mitsuko led the way to the right and into a wing of the house with two floors. Up a flight of stairs and then along another corridor – this one with doors on it – they ended up in a small suite of rooms which, it turned out, were Mitsuko’s rooms. There was a large bedroom with double bed, a separate dressing room with a walk-in wardrobe attached, a bathroom easily larger than Nava’s apartment at the school, and even a small kitchen.

  Nava looked around, came to a conclusion, but then asked anyway since she wanted no confusion. ‘Where am I sleeping?’

  ‘In my bed,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘Just to be clear, I’ll be sleeping in it too. Before you ask, yes, my parents are perfectly happy with that arrangement.’

  ‘If you say so. You said you’d have something for me to wear?’

  ‘It should have arrived. We have a fabricator facility on-site. I sent the requirements yesterday, so your outfit should be waiting in the dressing room. Oh, I asked for something which would go with those wonderful boots of yours. You can keep them on.’ As she spoke, Mitsuko set off into the dressing room and Nava followed. It had a dressing table with an array of makeup products on it and a couple of bench-style seats, and the door to the walk-in. On one of the seats was a box and Mitsuko pointed to it. ‘That’ll be your dress. I’ll go find something suitable in my collection.’ And she vanished into the wardrobe, leaving Nava to handle her own clothes herself.

  Nava opened the box – formed of recyclable plastic – and immediately wondered whether Mitsuko was trying to trick her. And if there was no subterfuge, then she had to wonder what sort of party she was going to. The box contained a dress and some panties, both in black which did go with her boots. The panties were mostly a lacy fine mesh with a strategically placed panel obscuring the most important area. That would have been bad enough, but the dress was composed primarily of mesh too, meaning that the panties were going to be visible under it. When she pulled the garment out to get a better look, it turned out to be a short, sleeveless design with a wide vent at the front and a pair of opaque panels which would cover her breasts. Part of her breasts since the vent would leave a lot of cleavage and her navel on display. What was Mitsuko thinking? Well, what the Hell.

  The boots had to come off so that Nava could take off her leggings, so she started from naked and pulled on the new outfit before putting her boots back on. Then she turned to a huge mirror which took up a substantial portion of one of the room’s walls and examined herself. The dress would have been risqué even without the fabric. It was above mid-thigh and there was that vent. With the mesh fabric, Nava thought she looked like someone dressing for a club who was determined to get laid.

  Mitsuko had not emerged from the wardrobe yet. ‘Is this really suitable for a high-society clan family party?’ Nava called over her shoulder.

  ‘If you’re unmarried,’ Mitsuko called back. ‘Married women are expected to dress more formally, though the trend over the last decade or so has been for… more risqué gowns? I think that’s the best way to describe it. In society, the rule has become “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.”’

  ‘And you think I have it to this extent?’

  ‘I’d accuse you of fishing for compliments, but I suspect you genuinely don’t understand how attractive you are. I can understand that from Mel, who is a shy girl at the best of times, but not in someone with your confidence.’ Mitsuko’s voice got louder as she spoke the last sentence, and she appeared soon after, dressed for the party. ‘As you can see, I haven’t dressed you up in anything I wouldn’t wear myself.’

  Nava would have gawped if she was not more or less physically incapable of that level of expression. Mitsuko was practically naked. Her dress was a bib-fronted design with an extremely low back and a hem which barely covered her crotch. Since the garment was largely composed of fine, black mesh, it did not really conceal anything anyway. The only areas of solid black were the hem, the trim at the sides, and the collar which held the dress up at the front. Mitsuko was wearing a lacy black G-string and pasties under it. She was in outrageously tall high-heeled pumps which lengthened her legs. She looked incredible, but Nava could not believe the girl’s parents would accept their daughter walking around in an outfit like that.

  ‘Is your plan that I become so aroused that I won’t allow you out of the bedroom?’ Nava asked.

  ‘You know, the way you speak, it’s very difficult to tell whether you’re joking or not.’

  ‘I’m aware.’

  ‘Just wait until you see what the other women our age are wearing. This is nothing out of the ordinary. We need makeup.’ Mitsuko turned to the dressing table and began examining her supplies.

  ‘I’m going to refrain from judgement until I’ve seen the other guests then,’ Nava said, also stepping over to the table. ‘Keep in mind that I can kill you in one strike and reduce your body to its component atoms. They would never catch me.’

  ‘Now I’m sure you’re joking.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘No,’ Mitsuko whined.

  ~~~

  Mitsuko was safe from atomic decomposition for another night, but Nava had to wonder how such a ridiculous double standard had developed. The men at the party were either in formal suits or military uniforms. The women… were not. Well, except for a couple of women who were wearing ASF uniforms, and those came with cleavage windows only partially obscured by a mesh cape which was what
passed for a ‘dress uniform.’ As Mitsuko had suggested, the older women, the ones more likely to be married, were in gowns, but those gowns tended to be low-cut or have skirts split to the hip or both. The women at a party like this could afford medical and magical treatments to keep them looking young and beautiful for more or less as long as they wished, so the outfits did not show off anything the owners would not wish seen. The younger women… Well, Nava almost felt overdressed.

  It was possible, she reflected, that this kind of dress code had developed because it could be developed. Modern social conditioning within the Clan Worlds and most of the other societies had finally done away with gender discrimination and the ‘she’s just asking for it’ culture of earlier centuries. That need not lead to a society where women felt the need to wear basically nothing since they had the freedom to, but it partially explained the female school uniform and Nava figured it was at least one possible outcome of a society like that. She was moderately sure that this undress code did not apply to the lower ranks of society, however. Further research was needed, but that was going to have to wait.

  ‘Nava Ward, I’d like to introduce you to my parents,’ Mitsuko said. ‘This is Commander Zackery Trenton Sonkei.’

  Mitsuko’s father was indeed a tall man and he had indeed given his looks to his son. There was the strong jawline and carefully chiselled features. His hair was dark brown, like his son’s, and Ruben seemed to have inherited his father’s slightly misty-blue eyes. Zackery was bigger, more muscular, and there was a hint of strong intelligence in his eyes, more so than in Ruben’s. He was dressed in a formal black suit with a black shirt beneath it. It made him look like a gangster, but he pulled the look off perfectly. This was a man to be reckoned with, mentally and physically. If he had also been a strong sorcerer, he would have been a real threat, but there was no hint of magic about him.

  Nava took his offered hand.

  ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nava Ward,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard much about you.’

  ‘The pleasure is mine, Commander,’ Nava replied. ‘I hope what you’ve heard hasn’t been too bad.’