Death's Handmaiden

by Niall Teasdale

  Meanwhile, something else was playing on Courtney’s mind. One hundred and forty-six light years. A habitable world, one hundred and forty-six light years from Shinden. That was where Nava was saying she had come from. There was one world Courtney knew which was that far from where she was now: Earth.

  The old home system of the human species was, technically, within the Clan Worlds. It was not part of the Clan Worlds because no one lived there. Well, there were people there, but they were more or less isolated tribes of survivors. They had no interest in the greater universe outside Earth’s atmosphere. The colonies on Mars and the Moon had been abandoned when it became clear that Earth could no longer support them. Occasionally, archaeologists or anthropologists would go there to look into the dead cities or the people left behind. Generally, Earth was left alone as an object lesson in how not to treat your planet. The only known location where intelligent life had evolved had been ruined by that very species of evolved apes.

  Of course, there were probably other worlds at that approximate distance from Shinden. It was doubtful that Nava had quoted a precise distance. Earth was actually one hundred and forty-six point three-nine-six light years away, if Courtney was remembering it right. Nava had been extracted from somewhere as part of a classified ASF operation. Why would the ASF have been doing anything on Earth? Except… There had been a Redwing Faction base on Earth until the ASF had raided it. It had been all over the news because the Clan Council had been claiming they had put an end to the Redwings. There was no way that could be related. Right?

  Someone in the panel decided to shift the discussion away from the use of mind-reading and Courtney decided to return her attention fully to what was being said. Speculating about Nava would get her nowhere anyway. Even if Nava had been born on Earth, that told Courtney nothing about the enigmatic girl. She was not a Redwing. Events suggested that was a highly unlikely possibility. When it came down to it, this was all about Courtney’s inability to let a mystery go, and she strongly suspected that Nava would always be a mystery.

  235/8/14.

  The panel on sorcery education was underway and things were not going especially well. Felix Leavitt Orlando had an agenda. It appeared to be denigrating SAS2 as much as possible.

  His primary target was Auberon Ewart, the principal of the school. Felix’s opening remarks had basically indicated that the school on Shinden promoted a toxic atmosphere for any student not engaged in learning to use sorcery for combat, blaming the administration. Everyone else had started up with a more general view pushing forward with the future of sorcery education, but the person running the panel appeared to view Felix’s inflammatory words as a way to create an exciting panel. Or Felix had bribed him to push for whatever Felix was selling.

  It did not really help that Auberon did not seem to be able to take the man seriously. Nava watched the principal, sitting up on stage with a sketchy smile on his face as Felix expounded his view that SAS2 fostered an attitude that might was right, that offensive magic was all that mattered, and she wondered whether Auberon was ever going to actually rebut any of it.

  ‘Principal Auberon Ewart,’ the panel’s compère said, ‘what do you say to Felix Leavitt’s quite stinging remarks?’

  ‘Stinging?’ Auberon replied. ‘Were they? I hadn’t noticed.’ The strange little man was wearing purple today. Maybe purple was wrong since it was a bright shade with a metallic quality to it. It could be seen in his waistcoat and bow tie. Shine a spotlight on him and he could have blinded people with the reflection. Joslyn Harris sat behind his right shoulder, ready to lend assistance if it was required. She was wearing the school’s faculty uniform dress and leggings and she looked just as efficient as ever.

  ‘I think,’ Auberon said after a short pause, ‘that I should yield my time to Mitsuko Trenton, our student president. She has more direct experience of the culture Felix Leavitt speaks of and I believe she’ll give a more relevant response.’

  Nava inwardly grinned as she saw Mitsuko’s expression ripple. The flicker of annoyance was perfectly reasonable; ‘You utter bastard’ was flashing through Mitsuko’s mind, no doubt. Well, maybe not that. Nava was not sure that Mitsuko would ever come out with something like that, even inside her head. The sentiment was there whatever the actual thought. Nava checked her ketcom, which was linked with Mitsuko’s and Melissa’s. Melissa was pushing the profile of Felix to Mitsuko’s unit. This ought to be interesting.

  Mitsuko was already speaking, however; she remembered Felix Leavitt’s profile well enough. ‘I’m not going to say that the culture of SAS-squared has changed since Felix Leavitt was there. There is still a “warriors before all” culture at the school and there probably always will be.’

  ‘Ha!’ Felix burst out. ‘It’s as I–’

  ‘Because that culture is not a product of the school.’

  ‘What?! Of course it’s–’

  ‘Perhaps Felix Leavitt would like to let me finish,’ Mitsuko said. Her voice was calm and not at all loud. It held no hint of rebuke. At the same time, it froze Felix in place and left his cheeks shading into red. ‘Felix Leavitt had something of a tough time at SAS-squared, it seems. He became vice president on the student council and yet his graduating test scores were not exemplary. He blamed the “warrior culture” of the school and the school itself for his poor results and, on returning to Floridia Three, he began a campaign to create a new school there, one which would teach a curriculum based around support magic.’

  ‘It’s what we need!’ Felix snapped.

  Mitsuko ignored him. ‘He has had little luck finding public or private funding for this. Interviews he’s given indicate that he believes that the Sonkei clan are blocking his progress because they don’t wish SAS-squared to lose Alliance funding.’

  ‘It’s–’

  ‘Felix Leavitt suffers from a problem which is not uncommon. He can’t accept that his own abilities are the cause of his problems. It’s a form of cognitive bias. I’m sure Sarah Keifer knows all about it. We all do it to some extent. There’s no conspiracy to defeat him. There are two reasons why Felix Leavitt is unable to secure funding for his project, and one of the foremost is that he’s not that good at persuading people to do as he wishes.’

  Felix was turning purple. ‘You have no evidence–’

  ‘I’ve seen your interviews. You’re not that good a speaker. However, you do have a point regarding the “warrior culture” at SAS-squared. The problem is that it’s not caused by the school.’

  ‘Of course it–’

  ‘We live in a society which prides itself on self-reliance, taking up arms against any threat, and resolving personal issues in the duelling arena. Our media glorifies combat and the warrior spirit, despite the fact that it misrepresents both and most citizens have no idea what combat is really like. Most are ready to enter a duel, but never have to. Most of those who have been in a duel think that they’ve been in combat, but what they have really experienced is a game.’

  Mitsuko paused, her gaze going out into the audience. ‘A friend of mine at school was not born into the culture of the Clan Worlds. She doesn’t talk about her life before she came to Shinden, but what I’ve put together is that she did not have it easy. She is… disparaging of our culture, even while she accepts it and, I think, believes it better than the alternative. Duels, she says, are abhorrent. They are bullies’ charters. The strong imposing their will on the weak in the name of honour. Just to be clear, no one at the school will duel her because they would lose if they tried. She’s studying support magic because she knows all she needs to know about killing people. Our entire culture looks up to “warriors” and down upon everyone else. It’s not just magicians. We idolise those adept at all forms of combat. Until we change the way our society thinks, we will never change the culture in our schools. SAS-squared allocates the same funding to all of its courses and to all of its official clubs, no matter their focus. I can display the figures if you wish. There are students and faculty
prejudiced against the academic and support streams. They shouldn’t be, but they are. And changing their minds means changing the entire nature of our society. I have to say, that’s something of a tall order for someone only halfway through her fifteenth year. Perhaps the adults can handle it.’

  There was a rumble of laughter from the audience. Nava did not laugh, but she did tap at her ketcom’s screen for a second or two. Up on stage, Melissa leaned forward and tapped Mitsuko’s shoulder, presenting her own ketcom’s screen for Mitsuko to look at. Mitsuko grinned.

  ‘Perhaps,’ Mitsuko said, ‘if that’s all we need to say about that subject, we could discuss the real future of sorcery education in the time we have remaining.’ She turned her gaze on Felix, but the man was glaring at the stage. He had nothing further to say.

  ~~~

  Felix remained silent for more or less all of the remaining time, sullenly watching the other panellists as they spoke about the use of advanced psychological and sociological techniques to increase the rate at which students learned, alternate lesson schemes which had been proven to have some effect, and the promotion of teaching as a profession among magicians.

  Fawn spoke up on the ASF’s views, returning to Felix’s agenda, to some extent. It was, she said, easy to get combat-oriented magicians out of the education system, but technicians were just as important to the running of any military organisation and quality magicians with technical skills were harder to source. They had other options, so the ASF was keen to push for more support students and commonly gave out more grants for them than for combat students. The latter point rather undermined Felix’s arguments.

  The session wrapped on a far more positive note than it had started. Auberon crossed the stage to congratulate Mitsuko and Melissa on their part in the proceedings and Nava set off toward the stage to join them only to come to a sudden stop as something caught her attention.

  At first, she was not sure what it was. The audience were filing out of the theatre and she had seen something… Nava turned, looking around the room slowly, her accelerated perceptions taking in faces where she could see them, profiles and hair where she could not. One such head, turned away from her, jumped out just as it vanished through a door and was gone. Nava considered running after the person she thought she had seen, but the crowd was too dense. There was no way she was getting near her prey now.

  She turned back to the stage. She needed to speak to Fawn.

  ~~~

  ‘Maya?’ Fawn asked. ‘You’re sure it was her?’

  ‘No,’ Nava replied, keeping her voice low. Fawn had taken her to a room at the back of the stage, but neither of them were sure they could not be overheard. ‘I’m… sixty percent sure. The hair was hers, but someone else could have the same style and colour. I couldn’t see her body properly. But something caught my attention and made me look for her, so I think it was her.’

  ‘Your sixty is probably anyone else’s eighty or ninety.’ Fawn said it in a grumbling sort of tone. ‘We’ll check the security cameras…’

  ‘Are you aware of the Escape Detection spell, First Lieutenant?’

  Fawn grimaced. ‘That’s the one that hides you from cameras, right?’

  Nava nodded. ‘I was taught it. I’m moderately sure that Maya was still around at the time. Even if she wasn’t, I’d imagine she can use it. You won’t see her on cameras.’

  ‘There are times when I hate magic. I’ll coordinate with security and get some extra people in. Maybe this is what Free Beherbergen are targeting.’

  ‘Maya’s not–’

  ‘We have some intelligence suggesting that the Redwings have been working with Free Beherbergen. If she’s here, she may be scouting for them. Or she could be after you, of course.’

  ‘Yes… But if she was after me, I think she’d have tried something by now. I’ll keep my eyes open for her.’

  ‘Let’s hope we can spot her before anything happens.’

  Nava gave Fawn a look. ‘You know you just doomed us, right?’

  235/8/15.

  ‘Is it just me, or is there more security around today?’ They were walking across a plaza outside the conference centre on their way in. Mitsuko’s question was aimed vaguely in the direction of Courtney, who was frowning.

  Nava answered. ‘It’s not just you.’

  ‘There does seem to be a heightened ASF presence,’ Kyle said. ‘Maybe they heard something they haven’t made public.’

  ‘We could ask,’ Courtney said. ‘Somehow I doubt they’d tell us their reasons, however.’

  ‘I might be able to find out,’ Mitsuko said, ‘but I doubt it’s something to waste that kind of contact on. If we need to know, I’m sure they’ll tell us.’

  Nava remained silent. If ‘they’ were keeping quiet about the reasons now, it seemed unlikely that they would say anything until it was too late to matter.

  They had just made it through the doors of the building when Darius Miller spotted them and rapidly closed the distance. ‘Do you know why the ASF is out in such force?’ he asked without preamble.

  ‘Good morning to you too, Darius,’ Mitsuko said. ‘No, we’ve heard nothing. We’re assuming they have some intel they’re working on, but we don’t know what that might be.’

  Darius frowned. ‘I asked, but they wouldn’t give me a straight answer.’

  ‘What did you expect?’ Courtney asked.

  ‘Well… Nothing, I guess. This isn’t making you nervous? They wouldn’t raise the alert level without a reason.’

  ‘Probably not. On the other hand, they’re professionals tasked with keeping us safe. I don’t see a reason to worry more than I usually do. Keep your eyes open. If you see anything suspicious, report it to the nearest ASF officer. Just like you would at any other time.’

  Darius gave a weak, rather self-deprecating smile. ‘You’re right, of course. I suppose the events of the last few months have made me hypersensitive to trouble.’

  ‘There’s nothing wrong with that,’ Nava said, ‘unless it affects your performance negatively. Like Courtney said, keep your eyes open. There are a fair number of important people here who could be targets. We never did catch the assassin who attacked the school during the election…’

  ‘We never did get a good image of her either,’ Courtney said. ‘Short blonde hair with a peak at the top. Fit. Fairly attractive.’

  ‘I think I’d recognise her if I saw her again,’ Kyle said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Courtney conceded. ‘I guess I would too. But I doubt she’s going to turn up here. She was with the Redwing Faction, right? What would they want with a symposium like this? The people here aren’t that important.’

  Nava shrugged. ‘Who knows, but the ASF obviously have information about something which could be trouble. No point in getting too excited about it. No point in ignoring it either.’

  ~~~

  It began at midday. A truck with canvas sides drove onto the plaza outside the conference centre’s entrance and stopped. The driver made no move to get out of the cab and just seemed to be sitting there, waiting. The ASF officers on duty looked at each other and one of them, a second lieutenant, selected himself to go check on what the problem was.

  He had taken two steps toward the truck when twin streams of high-velocity bullets began flying out through the canvas side of the vehicle. The lieutenant was peppered with eight-millimetre bullets, dying on the spot. The other officers, still at the top of the steps leading up to the building, took multiple hits as the machine guns swept across the building’s frontage.

  The canvas was ripped open by a massive metal leg as the spider tank inside the truck pushed its way out and began to move toward the building. It had eight small turrets atop its bulky armoured body and three larger weapons mounted at the front. One of these blasted out three rounds as soon as the robot was clear of the vehicle, blowing a gaping hole in the entrance of the convention centre.

  With surprising dexterity and speed, the tank began walking up the stairs to
occupy the lobby.

  ~~~

  The first Nava knew of the attack was when her ketcom signalled a loss of network connectivity. It was not unknown for networks to go down, but it was unusual. She was in a session discussing ‘novel applications of sorcery in everyday life,’ which had sounded like it might be interesting. It had just started and, so far, it seemed like her estimation was going to be right. And then the network went down.

  A second later, the sound of explosions somewhere in the building put an end to her speculation on the failure and, incidentally, to the panel. Nava got to her feet and headed for the exit while those around her looked up in confusion and began to mumble questions no one had answers to.

  ~~~

  In another theatre, Melissa frowned at her ketcom as the network indicator turned red. Networks did not fail, as far as she was concerned. She had never seen the indicator turn red. Yellow a couple of times when the signal got weak, but such regions were rare, even on Avorna.

  ‘The network’s gone–’ she began, addressing Rochester on her right. Then three rapid noises vibrated through the building and she stopped, looking around toward the door.

  ‘Was that…’ Rochester’s words trailed off.

  ‘Explosions. I think anyway.’

  ‘Should we find the others?’

  Melissa shook her head. ‘The network’s down. There’s no way to contact them. The best thing to do is wait here until Nava comes to get us.’

  ‘You seem quite sure she will.’ Rochester watched as various people got to their feet, looking confused. A couple started for the doors.