The man snorted and I winked at him as he asked, “Well then, how do I requisition one of them?”
I put the helmet on, then flexed in the armor and cycled it, training it to my skin responses and my neural pathways. It seemed to be a little more responsive than the last, and I didn't get vertigo as its surface thought scanning software interfaced with me. I almost panicked the first time I tried some of this experimental bullshit.
Then I asked, “I don't suppose...” He rolled his eyes and slid another basket to me. A full loadout of gear for my belt including not one but two MMG guns, like I preferred. Then I sifted through the mess of the destroyed armor, looking for something. I smiled when my fingers closed over smooth, cold metal. I pulled out the harmonica Mac had gifted me and slid it into one of my new belt pouches.
The silver instrument gleamed in the light, looking brand new and untouched by the chaos which had destroyed the SAs. Of course, it wasn't damaged. If I were right about it, it held more power in it than any magi-tech tool available to the citizens of the Leviathan. And if my hunch was right, it was sort of a focus, to enhance any magics that flowed through it to amplify them tenfold.
Another reason I suspected Mac of not being who he said. But we both pretended that he really wasn't Rory's dad. King Oberon was dead after all, isn't that what all the Fae myths say?
I sighed and said, “Thank's Zak, you're the man. Now I have to...”
He was looking at the duty roster scrolling on his wall and said, “You apparently have to get your un-modded ass to Verd'real to meet with Reise, President Yang, and Queen Titania... like yesterday.”
I groaned. Fuck me sideways and space me naked. Couldn't they just wait a couple of hours for me to wrap up the case in a pretty bow?
The old Human just chuckled at me. “That's why it pays to stay invisible, Knith.”
“Yeah, yeah...” I flipped him off with a smile before trudging down the hall to tell Rory the bad news.
She was not happy, and my offer for her to accompany me was declined. Though I viewed her as one of the more enlightened of the Fae lords and ladies, the grudge between the courts was a palpable thing, and she didn't wish to be seen in the Summer Lady's palace.
So we agreed to meet at... home, after I got done with them and with my case. She reminded me I promised dinner. “Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world.” Then I tried to be funny. “Should we invite Myra?”
I could hear Graz slap her forehead from across the room as she groaned. Did I mention how I wasn't such a smooth operator? Yeah... there it was. I squeaked out, “Too soon?”
She pointed at the door then turned her back and I trudged past and to the lifts. I was going to pay for that tonight wasn't I? Ok, I saw a tiny quirk of her lip as the lift doors closed between us. The old Shade charm at work right there. That or she had gas, but I'd prefer the former.
Mother shattered my delusions by tsking and sighing out, “Oh Knith...” Then she played a song from the archives called Viva la Vida by a band known as Coldplay.
“Are you trying to tell me something?”
“Yes, I'm better at dating than you.”
“But you've never been... on... a... you smartass.”
“Guilty as charged.”
By the time I was raked over the coals in the form of congratulating me for exposing the guilty parties and informed that the higher-ups would handle the closure of the case. The President awarded me the White Cross of the Leviathan for going above and beyond... basically a not so subtle way of telling me to keep my mouth shut about certain particulars of the case they didn't wish getting out to the public.
Later in a public ceremony, I would be awarded another heart medallion for being injured in the line of duty to go with my growing collection of them. Does it speak poorly of my competence if I keep getting injured?
I understood by the time I was allowed to leave that I was to be a good little Enforcer and keep my mouth shut. I did see something I didn't like in Titania's eyes when they spoke of having Max in custody. My lip burned as her eyes flared an angry flame. I needed to get her and Mab alone to warn them against doing anything drastic.
But just then, I was beyond exhausted, I just wanted to go home, have dinner with my girl, and sleep for a week. I let auto-nav on my Tac-Bike take me home while I napped.
When I arrived, Rory was there looking radiant in jeans and a tee, making the casual civilian garb look elegant and sexier than hells. She smiled bashfully and held her hands out from her sides and asked, “You like?”
I was just trying not to drool as I nodded. She dragged me over to sit. And there was a small cupcake sitting on a plate there. After she gave me a kiss that was so heated my ancestors could have felt it. She said, “Happy Birthday, Knith.”
Then Graz and her family buzzed out of the bedchamber, holding a sign that seemed to be made of gossamer silk that said, “Happi Burthdae!” They all squeaked, “Happy Birthday!”
Graz squinted an eye. “The kids made the banner. We're trying to teach them to read and write like me.” I blinked. Virtually no Sprites could read or write, most Fae think it is a waste of time to teach a race of 'vermin'. Whereas just about every other sentient race enrolls their children in the public schools. But none of the schools are equipped for children so small that another child accidentally sitting on them would kill them.
I couldn't stop smiling. I hadn't celebrated a birthday since I was enrolled in the academy... I never really had many friends once I graduated, and since I had no family, I didn't ever really pay attention to the date. “Is it really my birthday? Children, it's amazing, thank you.”
Mother scrolled the date in my helmet before I took it off. Sure enough. This was the day they pulled me from the artificial womb in the Reproduction Clinic forty... seven years ago now. I would be almost a quarter of the way through my life, as the expected lifespan of humans is only two hundred. But I... was different... and technically won't ever look a day older.
Rory said as she took my helmet from my hands and set it down, “Of course it is your birthday, silly woman. I would know.” Yes, she would.
Then she held up the cupcake and with a whisper of magic an icy blue flame lit it. She smiled and said almost breathily, “Make a wish.”
I looked around and realized I was growing my very own unorthodox family around me. What more was there to wish for? I shrugged and blew the candle out and the children went buzzing around like hyperactive sparkly lights as they cheered.
Twinkle buzzed up in front of me and I put my hand out and she landed on it, her eyes wide in wonder. “What did ya wish fer, Aunty Knith? I gots no birthdays yet.”
I smiled at her and whispered like it were a big secret, “I can't tell you or it won't come true.”
She nodded wisely then buzzed away, leaving a sprinkling of glowing dust behind.
Rory cleared her throat and looked plaintively at Graz. Our Sprite companion grabbed her two mate's hands and whistled. “Come on kids, I'll show you how to hotwire a mag-sled. I mean... let's go get some ice cream!”
They all cheered and in a trail of sifting dust up to a ceiling grill, they vanished into the ductwork, leaving me standing bashfully in front of Civilian Rory v1.0.
She smiled seductively and said, “I got you a gift?”
I almost asked, “Really?” But she placed a sparkly silver bow with trailing curly ribbons on top of her head as she advanced on me, whispering, “Mother, privacy mode.”
Best birthday, ever!
Epilogue
As I sat around the card table in Mac's cabin on the Underhill a few weeks later, I said as I arranged the cards in my hand, the others watching my face intently for any tells, “You know Mac, my girl, the Winter Maiden, says she'd like to meet you. I'm always sneaking off every week to play cards and her curiosity is growing.”
He was more intent than normal as he looked at his cards like they might change right before his eyes as he tri
ed not to react. Instead, he said like it were of no consequence, “Is that so? And what did you tell her?”
He looked up at me and I could almost feel the weight of eons on me. I shrugged as I tossed one card to Mir, who was the dealer this round. “One.” Then I looked at him. “I said I'd have to check with you but I was sure it was no problem. It isn't is it? A problem?”
He narrowed his eyes at me as we played a game other than the card game we were participating in, “Why would it be a problem?”
I shrugged as everyone discarded and got new cards. Mir really had to dial back her reactions in her emotional response software, as one of her mirrored eyes ticked.
Ben always had such a pained and pensive look whenever he organized his cards like it were such a serious task. That's how he was when on duty as an enforcer. I certainly hope he didn't use that look in the brothel where he worked for some extra chit to supplement his income.
Jane always folded when things got too rich. She just watches with her big doe eyes blinking, it was what made her Faun race so damn cute. But don't let that fool you, as she also ran the brothel here on the Underhill and was a shrewd businesswoman.
I prompted the old captain, “So it's ok then?”
He rearranged his cards, the ironclad control he usually had over his facial expression strained from the topic giving me insight into his hand. It was decent and he was scheming like a Fae to leverage the most profit out of it. “I don't see why it wouldn't be... just clear it with me to make sure I'm in when she comes.”
Our new sixth, who Rory was no longer jealous of once she found she was dating some half-elf twins, Raliegh and Monica... Myra had a tell... I mean tail. Whenever she was excited about a hand, the end of her tail would twitch. Everyone but Mir had figured that out already. The Sentinel pilot was all twitch, twitch as she asked everyone else, “Are these two playing the same thing as us?”
Mir snuggled up to her because she says Myra's fur feels sinful against her mirrored skin. “Just ignore them. They're always double-talking around us. We're just waiting for the day Knith grows a pair and just accuses the old fart plainly what it is they dance around.”
I've had a feeling since day one, that Mir knew the answers to all the questions and suspicions I had about who Mac really was. I was like ninety-five percent sure I was correct. But I found myself acting more and more like the Fae as I hung around with them.... and I enjoyed the game.
I was sure if I called before we came, Mac, who never seemed to leave the Underhill, would be out on errands, but I also saw the eyes of a man who wished to see his daughter. I wondered if Rory could see through the glamour to the man beneath and recognize him. Odds were about even and I think he knew that, since if he was Oberon, his bastard son, Lord Sindri hadn't seen through it.
I've felt both Sin's and Rory's power, and I'm of the opinion she is more powerful than her half brother.
I shrugged and threw a full food ration card, ten chit, and a plasma capacitor in the middle as I said, “She really misses having a father and I'm sure that she'd be happy to see him if she ever met him again.”
He just nodded and dropped five little bricks of trillium in the pot. After all bets were in, Ben folding, they showed their cards once I called their bets.
Mir squinted an eye and said almost in question, “Half moon?”
Mac patted her shoulder in a consoling manner and said to me, “Would she now?” Then to the room. “Two half-moons.” His grin was predatory.
I whistled at that and Myra snickered and said “Sorry people, but mama needs a new scratching post. Three-quarter form,” as she laid down her cards like a trophy cocking an eyebrow at me.
I sighed and said, “That is a hard hand to beat.” She grinned in triumph as she reached for the trinkets in the middle of the table. And I laid my cards down on top of the pile to stop her, “Quad-form!”
They all moaned and she blurted, “Bullshit! Again? She has to be cheating.”
Everyone was nodding in agreement as I raked in my winnings. Mac said, “We just can't figure out how.”
I sighed. “I've told you all, each and every one of you has a tell.”
Mir pointed to the only piece of clothing she wore, a purple tank top that looked about to tear as it stretched over her prodigious breasts. “I'm covered up, you can't see my cards anymore.” Then accused, “There's no way you're reading Mac.”
I smirked as I collected the cards and started to deal the next hand. “Actually his would be a reverse tell. You see, he plays like a Fae, I'm sure he learned that somewhere. And Fae are all about cunning deception, so if you go into a hand with that in mind...”
Myra nodded. “Don't play the man, play the cards.” I tapped my nose and pointed at her.
Mac growled and grinned.
I looked around the table and marveled at my growing ring of friends. I had a family I chose now, and friends I held dear. My life had changed so drastically in the past few months, and as odd as it sounds, I feel... alive for the first time.
I thought back to the prior Friday, after Max's trial and sentencing to the mines two days prior and feeling I might not survive my confrontation with the Queens of the divided Courts.
It turns out Max hadn't been in on the attempt on my life, he had actually been preparing to turn himself into me for his involvement in the fire while the Alpha One Three crew ferried me out to look at the damaged area. He had figured I had put it all together. He didn't know I had a history with his accomplices.
He had learned of the secret airlock a year ago when that area suffered substantial meteoroid damage and his system came up flagged Double Black for the replacement panels. Finding out it had a camouflaged outer airlock door built into it.
He took a random crew and had them sign non-disclosures as per the instructions in the encrypted files. It was a Fae contract with the original External Maintenance Commanders, and breaching the contract would leave him subject to punishment by the Fae and the loss of the generous bonuses the Maintenance Commanders got at the end of each ship year. The only real positive of his position.
After removing the Skin scale he had gone in to inspect the superstructure for damage and looked through the inner airlock window to see the magic-induced world inside, and the Summer Queen with Ember.
It was after the new budget proposal was deferred so that the Fae could have yet another unnecessary perk installed in the upper rings, that he got frustrated. He was trying to revolutionize the way the External Maintenance programs were run, and streamline and modernize all the procedures, but the rich people and Fae wanted a damn water feature.
And he knew as he ordered his crew to vent that pen, that it was the wrong thing to do. He tried reasoning with himself that it was only a stupid animal, not knowing it was sentient. But he had recently got a pet and knew how heartbreaking it would be to lose Spike. So he thought it would be a good way to punish Titania, and she wouldn't be able to report it lest she revealed that the Fae had hidden compartments on the Leviathan.
The only reason he even knew about it was the contingency plan that was in place just in case this exact scenario happened, where that portion of the Skin needed repair during the ten thousand year flight. Operational safety.
He changed his mind just after sending the crew of A13 out to do it, and he recalled them, but it was too late, they had done the deed. Only when the pen experienced explosive decompression, Ember hadn't been blown out into space. She had grabbed the seal of the airlock door and pulled herself onto the Skin, her claws burning through the hull, and she scrabbled until she found the other airlock and melted her way in.
By the gods, I can't imagine just how terrified the little one was.
The A13 crew replaced the scorched and damaged panels right after the fire was contained so that nobody would ask questions. Max said he was just waiting to be discovered and knew the first time I had talked to him that the jig was likely up because he said, “You did
n't strike me as a half-assed investigator.”
He had never imagined the sheer amount of damage that occurred when his plan went to hells. And he tried to rationalize that since nobody was killed, and he didn't think the Fae would admit to having a Firewyrm, that it would all just go away. It didn't.
Under pressure from the Seelie, Unseelie, and the President, it was a closed-door trial. Since our findings showed he hadn't been involved in the attempt on my life, and the three who had were dead anyway, that instead of arson, the charges would be a dereliction of duty and reckless negligence resulting in structural damage to the world.
Due in part to me suggesting a reduced sentence for the very competent Maintenance Commander, he was found guilty and sentenced to just a year in the pressurized side of the mines with the possibility of parole in six months.
I wound up responsible for finding a temporary home for Spike since Max was a Clinic Child like me and had no family. I gave him to Rory in my office outside of her lab with a smirk. The sneak had just smiled and said, “Nyx?”
Her poor personal assistant, who she has never used, had almost catapulted up from her desk, pen and paper in hand, ready to take a message. She deflated when she realized she wasn't needed for that when Rory asked her, “You like animals from what I hear when J'real is flirting with you. Could you please take care of this little one?”
Nyx had just about melted into a puddle as she accepted the pooch.
I had told Rory, “Sneak.”
“Guilty as charged.”
I'd never win.
I had been in a dark mood when Thursday, a report came across my desk about an industrial accident down in the mines. An unfortunate collapse of the tunnels had claimed Max's life and it had been determined by structural engineers that that portion of the asteroid, which served as the Heart of the Leviathan, had been over mined and the collapse was ruled an accident.
How can something in micro-gravity collapse? Especially now that the asteroid was over eighty percent mined out? There wouldn't be enough mass for hydrostatic equilibrium to be a factor, and even if it was, it wouldn't happen quick enough in microgravity to trap someone.
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