Death's Handmaiden

by Niall Teasdale

  Smoothing the front of her dress, Fawn smiled. ‘I’ve seen worse uniforms.’

  ‘I can’t imagine what idiot decided to put a huge hole in the front of it,’ Nava said. She wandered over to a spare seat and sat down.

  Mitsuko was a little perplexed; she had never seen Nava sulk before, but that was definitely the impression she was getting. ‘What brings you here, Fawn?’ Mitsuko asked.

  ‘I heard Nava was in town and wanted to check up on her,’ Fawn replied, ‘but I also heard that she was part of the student team from SAS-squared, so I wanted to look in and check out the competition. I’m going to be on the same panel as you, Mitsuko Trenton.’

  ‘Suki, since we’re being informal. I don’t think we’ll be competing. I had Nava profile all the other panel members and you don’t seem like you’ll disagree with us.’

  Fawn glanced at Nava, an eyebrow raised. ‘She does have some training in intelligence analysis…’

  ‘Which I hadn’t mentioned,’ Nava said.

  Blushing, Fawn waved the implied rebuke away. ‘Yes, well, how should I know what you’ve actually told anyone?’

  ‘Just assume it’s nothing and work from there.’

  ‘Nava doesn’t really talk about her life before school,’ Melissa said. ‘She said… No, I suggested it was bad memories, and she didn’t contradict me, but maybe it’s because she’s not allowed to.’

  ‘She did explain that some of it was secret,’ Courtney added. ‘That the operation where she was found was classified and talking about her past would reveal too much.’

  ‘All true,’ Fawn said.

  ‘Including the part about it not being my favourite memories,’ Nava added. ‘I wasn’t lying, Mel. I wasn’t telling the whole truth either.’

  ‘Well, no,’ Melissa said. ‘I don’t think you lie very much. Maybe at all.’

  ‘I’m not that virtuous. Lying a lot is simply a sure way of being identified as a pathological liar. Anyway, maybe we could take this opportunity to grill the lieutenant regarding the ASF’s attitude to sorcery education.’

  ‘What?!’ Fawn exclaimed.

  ‘Excellent idea!’ Mitsuko said, grinning broadly.

  Fawn raised her hands and backed up a step. ‘You know, “grill” is such an emotive–’

  ‘I think we have an uncooperative witness,’ Nava said, getting to her feet. ‘I’ll get the ropes.’

  ‘You do remember no one can tell when you’re joking, right?’ Fawn asked, backing up another step.

  ‘We don’t really have any ropes,’ Melissa said. Then she noticed Nava looking at her. ‘We, uh, d-don’t, do we?’ She glanced at Mitsuko to find her blushing. ‘Okay. I stand corrected.’

  ~~~

  ‘Okay,’ Nava said, ‘what’s this really about?’

  She was in one of the offices with Fawn because the lieutenant had said she wanted to have a quick chat, catch up on how she was doing, stuff like that. But Fawn got regular updates from both Nava and the school, so there was no real need for ‘catching up.’ There had to be another motive.

  ‘Well, I did just want to check up on you,’ Fawn said. ‘You’re doing okay? No problems you haven’t mentioned?’

  ‘Nothing. I’m enjoying my time at SAS-squared. I’m learning. I’m also having fun.’

  ‘Yes. With ropes, apparently.’ That just got a look from Nava, so Fawn went on. ‘Your relationship with Mitsuko isn’t going to be a problem, is it?’

  ‘I don’t know. Is it?’

  Fawn frowned. ‘Not until it is. Her family went sniffing around when you took on that bodyguard job for her. We’re not naïve enough to believe they didn’t get pretty much the full story.’

  ‘If they told Suki, she’s a phenomenally better actress than I think she is.’

  ‘It’s quite possible that they didn’t. If they got even half of the story, they’re probably aware that you can keep their daughter safe. I’m… a little surprised that they didn’t object more to the more, um, intimate relationship.’

  ‘I think they did,’ Nava replied. ‘She never said anything, but she got tense around them while we were staying at her home in spring. I think, from the way she reacted, that they don’t want her to damage her reputation unless she’s sure. Since I’m of the same opinion, I can’t fault them. I’m perfectly happy to enjoy my time with her and, if it all falls apart, I hope we can salvage a friendship out of it.’

  ‘You say that now… You’re not emotionless, Nava. You hide your emotions extremely well, but you still feel them. The end of a love affair is never fun.’

  Nava shrugged. ‘I’ll let you know. Now, how about getting to the point, First Lieutenant.’

  Fawn scowled. ‘Why won’t you use my name?’

  ‘If you remove my rank, I will. The point?’

  ‘We’ve picked up some troublesome intel over the past couple of months,’ Fawn said, still looking a little annoyed. ‘We think that the Redwings are working with another group, small-timers called Free Beherbergen.’

  ‘Huh. We were talking about them yesterday. Kyle’s from Beherbergen. But I’d imagine you knew that.’

  ‘Obviously. He was checked out when he first came to Shinden. To be honest, it was a formality. Free Beherbergen consider anyone in the House clan a traitor.’

  ‘Befreit Beherbergen, I’m told. Kyle doesn’t think much of them, but they’re a thorn in his side for another reason. Anyway, you’re saying they’ve hooked up with the Redwings?’

  Fawn gave a brief nod. ‘And we’ve seen indications that some of them may have made their way to Shinden. It’s possible, maybe even probable, that the timing is a coincidence, but we can’t totally ignore the possibility that they’re targeting this symposium.’

  ‘And that’s why you’ve been assigned as the ASF’s spokesperson for this event?’

  ‘One reason. I am actually a liaison officer too, you know. The point, since you wanted me to get there, is that I’d like you to keep your eyes open. Let me know if you spot anything that could be a problem.’

  ‘How long have you known me, First Lieutenant?’

  ‘Uh, it’ll be a bit less than eighteen months. Seventeen, maybe.’

  ‘And you haven’t figured out yet that I always have my eyes open?’

  235/8/9.

  ‘Okay, I know it’s relaxation time, but I just want to check up on our current situation.’ From her current position – horizontal on her usual seat in the sauna – Mitsuko did not exactly sound business-like.

  ‘Up to our necks in steam and suppressed sexual tension,’ Nava said.

  ‘Not that kind of situation,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘There’s sexual tension?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘I think “suppressed sexual tension” is something of a redundant statement,’ Rochester said.

  ‘What I meant,’ Mitsuko said before the conversation could get further out of control, ‘is whether anyone can think of anything we need to do tomorrow. If not, we get three days to bask in the afterglow of work well done before the symposium starts on Tuesday.’

  ‘That’s a strong incentive to forget to do some things,’ Courtney pointed out. ‘This is actually supposed to be our summer holiday.’

  ‘Be conscientious. I can’t think of anything right now that needs doing. Chess, how’s the reference database looking?’

  ‘I’ve just been tweaking things for the sake of it for most of today. On Monday, I’ll take a fresh, empty copy of the schema and run a full import of everything we’ve collected. That’ll optimise all the data access and keys. Then I’ll export it to a datachip so you can use it on your ketcom.’

  ‘Could you do two exports? Then Mel and I can both have a copy.’

  ‘No problem. And the import process is all automated, so it’s not like I have to watch it. It’ll take… thirty minutes to set everything going. Another thirty to do the exports when it’s done.’

  ‘Okay. Can anyone think of anything we haven’t researched?’

  ‘That
depends,’ Nava said.

  ‘On what?’

  ‘On whether you include the things we should have researched but don’t know we should have.’

  ‘Huh?’

  Courtney answered. ‘She means that there are bound to be things we couldn’t possibly have thought of. Information we might need but we simply didn’t know it was needed or that it existed.’

  ‘In any battle,’ Kyle said, ‘it’s the stuff you didn’t know that you didn’t know that trips you up every time.’

  ‘You people are speaking English, right?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘It makes sense,’ Rochester said. ‘In the scientific method, nothing is ever proven, because there may be evidence contradicting a hypothesis which you just don’t know about yet.’

  ‘So, what you’re saying,’ Mitsuko said in a musing tone, ‘is that we may be faced with something we haven’t anticipated, and then we’ll have to wing it.’

  ‘That’s a succinct summary, yes,’ Nava said.

  ‘But there’s no point in worrying about something like that because we can’t anticipate it. Is there anything we can anticipate that we haven’t dealt with?’

  Steam hissed into the silence.

  ‘That’s a no then,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Nava’s reports are going into the database, right, Chess?’

  ‘Yes, but you should read through them. Mel too.’

  ‘Of course. I plan to do that before the panel, so it’s fresh in my mind.’

  ‘Me too,’ Melissa said, even if that was the first time she had thought of it.

  ‘Great. I declare us to be on holiday until Tuesday. We may return to the steam and sexual tension.’

  ‘Suppressed sexual tension,’ Nava corrected.

  Rochester shook his head. ‘That’s still redundant.’

  235/8/12.

  It had been something of a lazy weekend. They had slept in – well, they had got up late anyway – and gone out shopping or to sit in cafés to watch the world go by. The sauna had seen less use because they were not as stressed, though they had ended up all sitting in the sento-style bath on Sunday night because their feet were aching after a day wandering the city on foot.

  And now it was Monday evening and the stress was starting to ramp up again. They had not retreated to the sauna again. Yet. Instead, they were sitting in the lounge, watching coverage of the Shinden Annual MagiTag War Games.

  ‘There’s Naomi,’ Courtney said, pointing at the ridiculously huge wall screen.

  ‘And Francis Goretti,’ Nava said. ‘It looks like they went with the expected line-up.’

  ‘Once again, the Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery team is favourite for the junior title,’ an announcer said over the video. ‘With almost the same line-up as last year, including their captain, Naomi Himura Sonkei, they appear to be a shoo-in for the top spot. However, this will be the last year Naomi Himura can compete in the junior competition, so everyone will be carefully examining his teammates for signs of weakness they can exploit next year.’

  ‘No pressure or anything,’ Melissa said.

  ‘And my decision to avoid that seems like even more of a good idea,’ Nava said.

  ‘In the senior competition, we’re once again expecting great things from Leontina Bisset Firmin’s team, the Firmin Commandoes. Six-times winners, the Commandoes have won three consecutive titles and are aiming for their fourth. After today’s preliminary matches, it looks a lot like they’ll take the top spot on the podium on Friday.’

  ‘To be expected, in some ways,’ Kyle said. ‘The Firmin clan is known for their combat skills.’

  ‘You mean they’re known for producing some of the most active mercenary units in the Clan Worlds,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘And that.’

  ‘They used to be one of the most powerful clans around. Peace hasn’t been kind to them.’

  ‘So they turned into mercenaries?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘Pretty much,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘They used to supply a lot of people to the ASF. Marines for the most part. Now, most of their people end up in their clan militia or one of their mercenary companies. They have their own sorcery school too, so it’s pretty rare to see any of them at SAS-squared.’ She paused, her gaze turning to Chess. ‘Did the databases compile properly, Chess?’

  ‘Yes,’ Chess replied. He was not exactly excited by the war games. Actually, he was not excited at all. ‘The two of you should plug the chips into your ketcoms. Make sure there are no issues. I’ll go get them.’ He was on his feet and heading for the offices before Mitsuko could say anything.

  ‘This isn’t really his kind of thing,’ Melissa said, waving a hand at the screen where footage of various MagiTag games was now showing. ‘To be honest, I’m more interested in the aerobatics in two weeks.’

  ‘I’m not really all that interested either,’ Nava said.

  ‘I’d have thought you’d be really into it,’ Kyle said. ‘I know you didn’t want to take part, but…’

  ‘MagiTag is a means to an end. It’s the best way we have of simulating realistic battle scenarios. But it’s still a game. Especially when it’s this kind of tournament. Games don’t teach you anything other than how to play games. Thinking otherwise will get you killed.’

  ‘That’s not gloomy at all,’ Mitsuko said.

  Nava shrugged. ‘Not really. Wait until you’ve been shot, then you’ll know what “gloomy” feels like.’

  235/8/13.

  The opening ceremony of the symposium reminded Nava, to some extent, of the matriculation ceremony at her school. The school’s principal was even there to give a speech. It was boring. If the rest of the symposium was like this, Nava felt it likely that she would be catching up on her sleep. It was a shame that she had not lost any sleep recently, but maybe she could bank some while pretending to listen to some of the panels.

  ‘I’m not exactly sure that this convention was designed with us in mind,’ Melissa whispered. ‘I mean, there’s next to nothing I’d normally pay any attention to in any of the panels. If we weren’t part of one, I wouldn’t have come.’

  ‘I was thinking something similar,’ Nava replied. She turned to her right, where Mitsuko was sitting. ‘Can’t we just go sunbathe and come in tomorrow?’

  ‘Courtney wants to see the policing panel this afternoon,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘And we get a free lunch.’

  ‘It had better be good.’

  ~~~

  They ended up in a café in the Clan Assembly building for lunch.

  What people thought of as the Clan Assembly building was more of a complex. The convention centre was one of several buildings backing up the one where the representatives of the clans actually met, and it was a short walk to get from one to the other. You could walk between any building in the complex through either tunnels or covered walkways. Nava took note of the riot shutters installed at various points along the tunnel they used; you could isolate any given building from the others, though you could always go outside to bypass those shutters. Thinking about it, all the external doors were shielded too. Whether that was good or bad probably depended upon whether you were stuck in a building with or without rioters.

  ‘They weren’t trying with that lunch,’ Mitsuko said once they were sitting down with a view of the ocean.

  ‘I think the school does better,’ Melissa agreed.

  ‘And another nail goes into the coffin,’ Nava said. ‘We could’ve been sunbathing. There’s a shielded deck beside the helipad, right?’

  ‘There is,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘I don’t think it gets much use, but it’s there. When’s that panel you wanted to see, Courtney?’

  ‘Fourteen hundred,’ Courtney replied. ‘Theatre nine.’

  ‘And our panel is the same time tomorrow. Maybe we should just take the mornings off.’

  Courtney shrugged. ‘I figure we’re here, so we may as well look like responsible adults.’

  ‘I am legally not an adult,’ Nava said. ‘I reserve the right to not behave like one.
’

  ‘She makes a valid point,’ Kyle said. ‘Ah, to be young again.’

  ‘You’re only five years older than me.’

  ‘Ah, but it’s not the years, it’s the mileage.’

  ‘Really?’ Nava said. ‘A hundred and forty-six light years.’

  Kyle shook his head. ‘Got me beat. Beherbergen is a hundred and thirty-eight from here.’

  Melissa let out a little squeak. ‘Avorna’s only sixty-four.’

  ‘Seventy-three to Leigh’s Landing,’ Rochester said. ‘There are not many systems in the Alliance that are over a hundred light years from Shinden.’

  ‘Ah,’ Mitsuko said, ‘but one of the few things we know about Nava is that she did not grow up on a world with our culture.’

  Kyle shrugged. ‘Parts of Beherbergen aren’t part of clan culture, but the world is in the Alliance. One or two of the Clan Worlds aren’t entirely clan worlds. Especially out on the fringes. You okay, Courtney?’

  Courtney wrenched her eyes away from Nava and shook her head. ‘Yes. I’m fine. Just… lost in my thoughts. Uh, Garavain is only twenty-four light years away. Really, Suki’s the least-travelled person at the table.’

  Mitsuko frowned. ‘You’re right. I’ve been to orbit a couple of times. Never out of the system.’

  ‘A real homebody,’ Kyle said.

  ‘That’s the Sonkei clan for you. We stick to our system like glue. Right up until the time we don’t.’

  ‘That describes more or less everyone in the Clan Worlds,’ Courtney said. ‘I read somewhere that eighty percent of Clan Worlds citizens never leave their own planet.’

  ‘I think that might be a bit low for Avorna,’ Melissa said. ‘We don’t get out much.’

  ‘Same for Leigh’s Landing,’ Rochester said, nodding.

  ‘I couldn’t wait to leave,’ Nava said quietly, as though to herself.

  Courtney heard it anyway. ‘I’d imagine so,’ she said. Then she went on quickly. ‘I mean, you were rescued or something, right? Wherever it was, it can’t have been good.’

  ‘No. “Good” doesn’t describe it. “Good” doesn’t even come close.’

  ~~~

  Courtney sat in one of the theatres in the convention centre, only half her attention on the panel she had wanted to see. They were discussing the role of sorcery in the ASF’s police work and it had slid into an argument over whether spells which affected the mind should be allowed to investigators. Specifically, mind-reading spells. It was a privacy issue, and a serious one, but it was something which had been hammered to death on multiple occasions without resolution. It was, essentially, not that exciting to see it dragged up into the light once more.