Death's Handmaiden

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘Can we come in, Tracey?’ Courtney asked.

  ‘Why?’

  Courtney stared at her. ‘Do you really want to do this in the corridor?’

  Tracey backed up into the room. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I guess you’d better come in.’

  Courtney waited for the door to close behind her and Fawn before she continued. ‘Tracey Spears Cook, you are under arrest for the crimes of conspiring to commit terrorist acts and conspiracy with a terrorist organisation as defined under–’

  ‘Don’t be stupid! I’ve committed no such crimes.’

  ‘Tracey, I’m no analyst, but even I could see the money trail you left behind. We have several quite incriminating emails too. Things might go easier for you if you tell us where the assassin is.’

  ‘That’s ridiculous. How would I have the slightest clue…’ Tracey trailed off in the face of Courtney’s glare. ‘I’m saying nothing else without a lawyer present.’

  Courtney turned to Fawn. ‘She’s all yours, First Lieutenant. Where are you taking her? Just in case I need to talk to her again.’

  ‘You have my contact details,’ Fawn replied as she stepped forward with handcuffs in her hands. ‘You’ll need to call me to get access. We’ll be keeping her in a secure, orbital holding facility.’

  Courtney frowned. ‘You think she’s a flight risk?’

  ‘Oh no. It’s not to stop her getting out. It’s to stop someone else getting in. The Redwings don’t like loose ends and they tend to have an unsubtle attitude to eliminating them.’ Fawn gave Tracey a bright smile. ‘Don’t worry. I have an armed transport waiting to get you out of here and then it’ll be straight up to orbit. There’s almost no chance that they’ll kill you before we can get you to trial.’ There was a very slight emphasis on ‘almost’ which Tracey clearly noticed. Courtney had a feeling that Tracey would be singing her heart out before she was on the way to space.

  ‘Was becoming student president that important to you, Tracey?’ Courtney asked.

  Tracey seemed to consider the question for a couple of seconds while her wrists were locked together behind her back. ‘Yes. It’s the most important thing in the world.’

  Courtney shook her head. ‘Please, First Lieutenant, take her away.’

  ‘My pleasure,’ Fawn replied. ‘Oh, we have so much to talk about…’

  235/3/5.

  After a week-long break which had been anything but restful, school was back in session. However, lessons were over for the day and Nava was standing beside the door in the student council’s HQ, watching the first full meeting of the new council. They had got the basics out of the way and now Courtney was explaining the matter of Tracey Spears’ arrest.

  ‘It seems that the plan the Redwings were working to was to get Tracey elected as student council president,’ she said. She sounded weary, as though the recent events had been draining. Maybe finding out someone would stoop to such depths to get elected had a deleterious effect on your mental health. ‘The initial effort was aimed at scaring off the other candidates and it more or less worked. Then they moved on to eliminating those who remained.’

  ‘And the assassin was working alone?’ Darius asked. ‘Aside from Tracey Spears, obviously.’

  ‘We’ve uncovered no evidence suggesting there was another Redwing involved. First Lieutenant Fawn Tyrell is fairly sure that, if there is anyone else, Tracey knows nothing about them. Tracey never had direct contact with the assassin. Contact was via anonymous messaging. She was told to get out of the results ceremony as soon as the results were announced. Assuming she didn’t win, obviously. The idea there was to kill as many people as possible, leaving us with no choice but to bring Tracey in as the new president. Now that Tracey’s in custody, we can finally stop the protection details.’ Courtney looked over at Nava. ‘You can stand down, Nava Ward. Mitsuko should be safe now.’

  ‘You don’t think we should keep it up for a little longer?’ Mitsuko asked. ‘There may be reprisals.’

  ‘First Lieutenant Fawn Tyrell says that they’ll have given the entire operation up as a failure. The Redwings have many faults, but they don’t bother continuing a plan once it’s clearly dead.’

  ‘That’s excellent news,’ Darius said. His smile looked genuine. ‘Nava Ward can go back to… whatever it is she does. Thank you for your diligent protection of our new president.’

  It was a less than graceful dismissal, but it was water off a duck’s back to Nava. She nodded. ‘I’ll return to my own apartment this afternoon.’ She started to turn, but Courtney interrupted the movement.

  ‘Actually, Nava, could you just hold on a second?’

  Nava paused and turned back. ‘Of course, Courtney Martell.’

  ‘What possible reason is there for her to stay?’ Darius asked. There was more annoyance in his voice now, which was a mistake.

  ‘I can see we have a lot of work to do improving your attitude, Darius,’ Mitsuko said. She was smiling, making a joke of it. Her eyes, however, suggested that she meant exactly what she said.

  ‘The reason,’ Courtney said, ‘is that I need to ask her something. Nava Ward, I’d like you to join the Student Security Force.’ Both Darius and Leland started at that. ‘You’ve shown exemplary ability while guarding–’

  ‘Respectfully,’ Nava said, ‘I decline.’

  ‘What? Why?’

  ‘She’s support stream, Courtney,’ Darius said. ‘You know they can’t cut it in–’

  ‘That’s exactly why I want her in the force,’ Courtney snapped. ‘She’s got the combat skills to take on just about anyone in the school. And support students are useful to the SSF under the right circumstances. Donovan Ilbert Morgan’s analysis skills are essential to our activities. I’m not sure how we’re going to replace him when he leaves at the end of this year.’

  ‘But all the other members are combat stream.’

  ‘And that’s a perfect reason for Nava Ward to–’

  ‘I repeat,’ Nava said, ‘I’m afraid I must decline. Courtney Martell, you don’t want me in the Student Security Force.’

  ‘If I didn’t want you, I wouldn’t have asked,’ Courtney snapped, visibly annoyed now. ‘What reason do you have for declining? No one has ever declined before.’

  ‘As I understand it, a nomination to the SSF must come from the current captain but taking up the position is entirely voluntary. I don’t need a reason. However, I will give one. I’d estimate that it will take no more than a month before I kill someone should I accept a position in the SSF.’

  ‘What? But–’

  ‘Putting a support student in an enforcement role will cause resentment among a certain segment of combat students.’ Nava did not say that Darius was one of them, but she obviously meant it and he glowered across the room at her. ‘They will resent the idea that someone on the support stream is good enough to enforce the school rules against any of them. They will start probing to determine whether I can do my job. It will start with minor things, which I will ignore, and escalate. Eventually, they will engineer a situation which I have to respond to and, since they will be intent upon doing me harm, I will react to them as enemy combatants. Then you will have one or more corpses on your hands as a result of the arrogance of students too foolish to realise that their games have consequences. I cannot, in all conscience, agree to put myself in that situation.’

  Courtney stared at her for a long second. ‘Not having you in the force is a huge waste of resources.’

  ‘If you require my talents and they can be used in a suitable way, I have no objection to lending assistance where it’s required. The politics of the situation make my regular participation in the SSF’s duties impossible.’

  Looking away, Courtney nodded. ‘You may have a point.’ She lifted her head and looked across the table at Darius. ‘I’m not withdrawing the nomination. If things change, we’ll revisit this.’

  ‘I can accept that,’ Nava said. Then she turned and left the room. />
  ~~~

  ‘You didn’t even say goodbye,’ Mitsuko complained at dinner.

  ‘It’s not like I moved to another planet, Suki,’ Nava responded. ‘I’m sitting beside you now. “Goodbye” is hardly an appropriate thing to say. I just moved my stuff back to my assigned apartment.’

  ‘Well, you could’ve…’ Mitsuko trailed off, frowning; she was not sure what Nava ‘could’ have done either. Or she was sure but was not going to say it in front of Melissa and Rochester.

  ‘I can’t believe you turned down Courtney Martell,’ Rochester said. ‘Members of the SSF have rank.’

  ‘I’m not interested in that, Chess,’ Nava replied. ‘I’m in this school to learn, not to lord it over anyone else, and certainly not to be forced into a position where I have to defend myself from idiots who think they have something to prove.’

  ‘But wouldn’t they be put off by what happened in January? Everyone knows about the duel.’

  ‘No,’ Mitsuko said, a little sullenly, ‘Nava’s right about that. A duel is one thing. Enforcing school rules is entirely different and they would expect her to show restraint even when they aren’t.’

  ‘It’s a shame,’ Rochester said. ‘It would be nice to know someone on the SSF understands what it’s like on the support stream. I mean, the one guy they have is basically a forensics specialist. He doesn’t patrol.’

  ‘Do you think students on the support stream are discriminated against, Chess?’ Mitsuko asked.

  ‘Well… Yes. Yes, I do. We’re looked down upon. We’re considered cowards. I mean, I’ve made it clear I plan to go academic in my fifth year and that makes it worse, but the combat students look down upon anyone who isn’t in their stream. They are the warriors and we… are not.’

  ‘So, not that different from any other school.’ Rochester opened his mouth to respond and then closed it again, bemused. Mitsuko smiled at him and continued. ‘In lower schools, magicians get picked on for being “weird,” or they’re rejected from cliques because the other members are scared of them. In ordinary high schools, the sporting types pick on the studious ones. “Nerd” gets used a lot. It’s no different here. In fact, there’s likely a direct correspondence between sporty and combat.’

  Melissa shook her head. ‘I don’t think that’s true. The Flight Club is pretty mixed. Maybe a slightly higher proportion of support than combat. Flight Club is pretty sporty.’

  ‘Kendo is frequented by more support than combat,’ Nava said, ‘while it’s the other way around for kenjutsu. I think karate has more combat students while aikido and judo have more support students. Oh, and it’s pretty even in the Swimming Club, but they’re not competitive enough to have made official status.’

  ‘Okay,’ Mitsuko said, ‘I stand corrected on the correspondence, but I’m not wrong on the general point. People will always find a way to present themselves as superior to another group so long as we have a society where status is important. That’s easy for me to say because I belong to a family with considerable status, but it’s true.’

  Nava nodded. ‘It may be wrong, but there’s probably nothing to be done about it. Just don’t let it get to you. What you can do has value, Chess. Whatever anyone else says, you have value.’

  ‘Then why are you worried you’d kill someone for being an idiot?’ Rochester responded.

  ‘Ah, well, when I was growing up, it was kill or be killed. Put me in a position which forces me into that mindset again and I’ll kill. Devin Girard did just that. You saw the results. Simply put, I can’t trust myself to be in a real combat situation where I should keep my opponents alive. If I’d joined the SSF, it would have ended in blood.’

  235/3/6.

  Nava’s apartment signalled that someone was seeking admittance at twenty past midnight, which seemed odd for a number of reasons. Melissa was likely in bed by now. Nava was preparing to do the same, a little late. Melissa had, in fact, spent a couple of hours in Nava’s apartment earlier, so it seemed strange that she might need something now. It was also raining, heavily, which was likely to put off anyone else seeking to visit so late.

  Shrugging, Nava opened the door and was confronted by a dripping wet Mitsuko. Her hair was plastered to her head and neck, and water ran across her chest in thick droplets. Her dress was quite resistant to rain, but there were rivulets of water running down from her bodice to her skirt. She looked miserable, but apparently that was not due to her soaked condition.

  ‘I can’t sleep,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I tried. I can’t.’

  ‘I’m absolutely positive that you can work an Umbrella cantrip,’ Nava responded.

  ‘I… didn’t think of it.’

  Nava shook her head and stepped back to let Mitsuko in. ‘Go and dry yourself off. I’m not cleaning up a puddle.’ She indicated the bathroom door and Mitsuko vanished through it. ‘I thought you’d be able to last one night without me,’ Nava said through the door. There was no answer, so she wandered off to watch the rain running down her window.

  She heard the bathroom door slide open a minute or two later but did not turn around. A pair of high breasts were pressing against her shoulder blades a second after that. Arms wrapped around her waist. Nava got the distinct impression that Mitsuko was now naked.

  ‘Apparently, we both overestimated my resolve,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I’ll get over it. Well, I hope you won’t be a complete stranger now we’re not under one roof, but…’

  ‘It’ll be harder to keep this a secret now.’

  ‘I don’t care.’

  Nava was fairly sure that Mitsuko would come to care. Or maybe not. Others would probably care. There was no way a relationship like this could last, not in the society of the Clan Worlds or that of the school.

  ‘I want you,’ Mitsuko said.

  Nava turned around. Sure enough, Mitsuko was not wearing a stitch of clothing. Her nipples were already standing out. Nava’s lips shifted to find one, but first she said, ‘Since you went to such trouble to have me, I can’t think of a reason to deny you.’

  Mitsuko’s response could not have been described as words.

  ~~~

  ‘So, you’re sleeping with Suki, right?’

  Nava glanced at Melissa, who was walking alongside her as they headed for their apartment building after lessons. It sounded like she just wanted to be sure and lying seemed pointless. ‘Yes. What gave us away?’

  ‘Uh, well, the walls are thin and she’s loud.’

  Nava made a mental note to buy a gag for Mitsuko. ‘Did we keep you awake? You did look a little bleary-eyed this morning.’

  ‘Yes… Yeah, the sounds woke me, I think, and then…’ Melissa’s cheeks were getting redder by the moment. ‘I couldn’t stop listening.’

  ‘Huh. We were that entertaining?’ That just got a mumble in response. ‘Well, next time, come around and ask for admittance.’ And that got a squeak. Melissa’s cheeks looked like you could fry eggs on them. ‘Suki wouldn’t mind. She wants you too. We just thought you’d be too shy to join in.’

  There were some unrecognisable sounds which likely indicated disbelief mixed with discomfort. Eventually, Melissa settled enough to say words again. ‘I’m not sure I could do that.’

  ‘Mm.’

  ‘Well, this certainly brings a new meaning to “student body politics.”’

  ‘We don’t discuss politics in bed. It’s a policy.’

  ‘Probably a good one.’ Melissa was silent for a second or two. ‘I think I’m jealous.’

  ‘Well, all you have to do is ask…’

  Part Three: Addictions

  Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery, Shinden, Clan Worlds Alliance, 235/3/19.

  Another week, another homeroom, another set of announcements. Nava’s eyes flicked over the windows on her terminal while she listened to Luca Newton telling her much the same things.

  ‘The most important thing on the announcement list is also the one most of you are not going to pay attention to,’ Luca said.

 
Nava was not at all sure what their homeroom teacher was referring to. Everything appeared to be important, one way or another. Well, a lot of it was seriously boring, but you had to take note, right? Nava thought herself fairly used to life at SAS2 now, but she did have to wonder how people put up with all the bureaucracy. She had decided, after hearing all their complaints, that both Mitsuko and Melissa were practically goddesses of patience because, yes, they complained, but they seemed to do that as a coping mechanism. The work still got done.

  ‘Every year we have to issue a warning around this point,’ Luca went on. ‘Every year we lose students to Crystal Mana.’ There was a rumble of muttering around the room. Nava picked out the parts of at least some of the mutters and she had to admit that Luca was right: a lot of her classmates did not want to hear it. ‘For those who aren’t aware and skimmed the first two lines of the notice before deciding they’d never touch drugs… Crystal Mana is an illegal drug which enhances your ability to perform magic. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? If you use it for an extended period, it can permanently increase your magical capacity. Really fantastic.’

  Luca paused, staring around the room at her students. Nava had scanned the full document and seen what was coming. She figured it would be interesting to hear Luca’s take on it.

  ‘Power always comes with a price,’ Luca said. ‘In this case, the price is a near-unbreakable addiction. Trying to come off Crystal Mana is incredibly hard, and it can permanently cripple your ability to work magic while you’re trying to break free. If you’re forced into withdrawal because you can’t get the stuff, your magical strength tends to decrease. And it’s expensive on top of all that.’

  She spoke slowly to emphasise the point as she continued, narrowed eyes sweeping the room. ‘Stay away from Crystal Mana. If you learn of anyone selling it on campus, report it. These people are scum. Even if they’re friends of yours, you owe them nothing. And that’s the last I hope I have to say on the subject.’