by V. St. Clair
The Major’s eyes took in the sight of Carl, and something in his body tensed.
“Is there a problem?”
Shellina seemed to understand immediately and thankfully said, “No, not at all! I was just introducing myself to Jessamine’s first Gifted Ground-Captain. Part of the Integration Initiative, you know.”
“Delightful.” Major Andro looked like he found the sight of Carl there to be anything but.
Sensing danger, Carl said, “Excuse me, Vicerina. Major. It was an honor meeting both of you.”
“Yes, a pleasure here as well, Captain…”
“Carl Vucanis,” Carl answered, though he had a mad desire to keep his name a secret.
“I’m sure we’ll meet again, Captain Vucanis.” Shellina curtsied prettily and asked Major Andro to dance while Carl focused on escaping.
He felt like he had a giant target on his back as he turned and walked away in what he hoped was a calm and confident manner. Years of conditioning had taught him to be terrified at the sight of a Provo-Major, and here he was, in a room likely containing all sixty of them. As fortuitous as it was to meet the Viceregal and Vicerina in person, he was really hoping for more progress to be made in the Integration Initiative before he came to their attention.
“Carl—hi, do you have a minute?” A familiar voice called out to him, and he turned towards it in relief.
“Risa, thank God,” he blurted out without thinking.
Her eyebrows raised in surprise. She was wearing a sleek black pantsuit, which made her look more mature than usual and highlighted her pale skin and red hair by contrast.
“I didn’t think you’d be happy to see me,” she admitted, looking embarrassed. “I’ve been—well, I’ve been horrible to you recently, and I wanted to apologize.”
Caught off-guard, Carl said, “I feel like I’m walking in a minefield of politics here, but I’m still too new to fully understand it, so it’s really like walking in a minefield blindfolded. It’s good to see a familiar face; someone I trust.”
She smiled in relief.
“I’ve been a jerk ever since I heard you were taking this job—before, even. I know there’s no excuse for it, but I was still holding onto some old anger and it just hit me really hard when I thought I would lose you. I wanted you to know that I’ve made my peace with Topher, and I want to apologize to you as well.”
This was a pleasant turn of events, given how their relationship had been deteriorating recently.
“Then I accept your apology. For what it’s worth, I didn’t handle the whole thing very well, either. I wanted to be the one to tell you, and to find a way to make you understand what I’m doing this for, and I’m sorry it all got thrown at you by the Minors in my hospital room. Even after, I should have taken your feelings into account, knowing what I knew about your past experience with the military.”
“Then we’re friends again?” Risa asked hopefully, a smile creeping onto her face.
“Always. How did you get in here, anyway? I know they were letting some Gifted in, but you had to get really lucky to manage an invite.”
“Unlike the rest of you, I have a clean record. I told you there were reasons for not staying out past curfew,” she said airily. “Though it’s not as exciting as it should be, since I don’t know anyone else except for you.”
“I feel your pain,” Carl chuckled humorlessly.
“But you’re one of them now—you work with them every day.”
“Ha. I’m still Gifted. There’s a lot of prejudice and bad feelings towards us in the government, even with everything Jessamine is doing. It’s going to take a while before I start feeling like ‘one of them’.” Changing the subject, he said, “Do you want to dance?”
“Who, me?” she blurted out in shock.
“No,” Carl grinned, “I was talking to the large gentleman behind you.”
Risa choked on a laugh and smacked him lightly on the arm.
“It won’t look good for you to be seen dancing with another Gifted. You’re supposed to be blending in with the others.”
Carl frowned thoughtfully. There was truth in what she said, little though he liked to admit it.
“Sometimes it’s important to stand out.” He extended his hand to her anyway, and she smiled in relief and accepted it, following him onto the dance floor, where they received a few pointed looks but were otherwise ignored.
“Where’s the Vicereine when I need her? She would approve of this,” he said to break the ice, because now that they were so close together he could feel tension of another sort between them.
“I haven’t seen her in a while. I think she might have left, or maybe she’s just hard to find in such a big crowd.”
Carl glanced around for any signs of the Vicereine in her purple, backless dress, but was unable to see her.
“Hmm, maybe she went out to greet the partiers who weren’t allowed in. It seems like the sort of thing she would do.”
“I saw you talking with the Viceregal and the Vicerina a few minutes ago. Do you know them very well?”
Carl suppressed a grimace and said, “No, this was our first meeting.”
“What do you think of them? Are they like Jessamine?”
“Not exactly.” He was mindful of who they were surrounded by. “The Vicerina was very polite and politically-correct, very regal. In that sense I guess she is like her sister. I can see them both as strong leaders in their own sense. I only know about her through her reputation, though, and in the past she hasn’t appreciated the need for peace with the Gifted as much as her sister.”
Risa frowned thoughtfully and said, “Maybe Jessamine has been able to change her mind.”
“Hopefully.” Carl nodded.
“And our new Viceregal?” Risa prodded. “What was he like?”
A fish out of water. He remembered Shellina’s words to him and knew he couldn’t say anything of what he was thinking, not even to Risa.
“I didn’t talk to him long enough to get a good impression of him.”
“Ah, well, maybe you’ll get to know him better the longer you work there.”
I hope not.
“At least you got to mingle with the upper-crust of society,” Risa said consolingly. “The most exciting thing to happen to me tonight was watching a Provo-Minor knock an entire wine tray to the floor while gesturing wildly.”
“I hope he was at least telling a good story.” Carl released her as the song ended, considering whether or not to ask her to dance again. Before he could decide, another female voice said, “Care to dance?”
Not recognizing the speaker, he turned and nearly gasped at the Provo-Major addressing him. She was short but muscular, wearing a glitzy red dress that hugged her frame and with her hair pulled back, leaving the twin Enhancers on either side of her temples highly visible. Risa took a step backwards out of sheer reflex.
“I—do you mean me, Major?” he asked in alarm, wondering if he had ever met this woman in his life and why she had approached him. Maybe she was a friend of Andro’s. Maybe he had said something about Carl and this woman was here to get rid of him. Maybe…
“You are Captain Carl Vucanis, are you not?” the woman asked flatly, as though he was being deliberately obtuse and this meeting had been pre-arranged for weeks.
“Yes, I am.”
“Great, then dance with me.” She extended a hand and he took it, glancing briefly back at Risa and wondering what in the world he was getting himself into as she led him to a more secluded part of the room. Carl wondered if she was purposely trying to make sure they wouldn’t be overheard—or missed.
He took her waist, adrenaline still coursing through him at being in such close proximity to a Provo-Major. True, she didn’t look like the terrifying images of his childhood of armored gods raining down from the sky to slaughter the masses, but he had no illusions about what she could do—or had already done—in her tenure at the Augenspire.
“Relax. I’m not going to stick a knife
in you.” She looked annoyed with him.
“Do I seem nervous?” he asked truthfully. He thought he was doing a good job concealing it.
“Either that or you have a gland condition which causes your hands to sweat profusely.” She smirked, tilting her head back to look up at him. “Damn it, you’re tall.”
“Sorry?” he tried, completely thrown by this entire encounter.
“Why? I’m not sorry for being short.”
He was beginning to think nothing he said would be correct. He was clearly out of his depth and had no idea how he was supposed to play things right now.
“I don’t think I caught your name,” he said at last.
“Probably because I didn’t give it. Now, tell me about your conversation with the Viceregal, Shellina, and Andro.”
Stunned, Carl was beginning to wonder just how many people were watching him earlier tonight.
“What?”
“Did I stutter?” the Major asked, annoyed. “What did they say to you?”
“Why do you care?” he asked boldly, wondering if he was about to be in a world of unpleasantness.
“Look, Jessamine says you’re trustworthy, and you’ve got intel from places I can’t go. If you actually support her, then tell me what I want to know and stop acting like a taxidermy victim.”
Was she telling the truth? Was this one of the Majors who helped Jessamine when she was in hiding, who she actually trusted? It seemed so, but then again, anyone could approach him with the same claim and he would have no idea who to believe.
“If you were actually an ally you’d tell me your name.”
The woman scowled at him and said, “Fine, I’m Reya Augen. Pleasure to meet you. Again. Do you think Jessamine chose the Majors guarding her at your interview by coincidence?”
It suddenly occurred to him that he had seen this woman before, during his final interview at the Augenspire. She had been standing behind Jessamine when she and the Ground-Leader asked him questions.
Well…I eventually have to trust someone.
“Nice to make your acquaintance, Major Reya.” He blinked back into focus.
“Great, now tell me what the Viceregal said to you.”
“The Vicerina asked me not to,” he said bluntly.
Reya looked shocked. “Why? Was it that sensitive of a discussion? This is a matter of Jessamine’s security, damn it. Now spill.”
“I don’t want to risk your ire, but the Vicerina’s orders trump everyone except the Vicereine herself, and she told me not to speak.”
“You really don’t want me to call Jessamine right now and get her permission,” Reya growled.
“You think the Vicerina is part of the plot against her sister?”
“Don’t be ridiculous; of course not,” Reya assured him. “But she has less foresight than the rest of us, and her job is primarily to keep up appearances and relationships between the many different groups involved in society and the government. She is not really security-focused, so the rest of us must be.”
Carl was silent for another moment and Reya blurted out, “Damn it, we wouldn’t be having this problem if Max or Ana were here. They weren’t scared shitless by the sight of me.”
If Reya knew who Max and Ana were, then she was definitely part of Jessamine’s inner circle. Hoping he wasn’t going to be killed for disobeying the Vicerina’s orders, Carl said, “Fine. I bumped into him when he was in his cups and he asked why I was wearing an emblem and a military uniform. I guess Jessamine didn’t tell him she hired me, or he wasn’t paying attention or something. He grumbled about how much Jessamine loves the Gifted, and how it’s going to get them all killed. He made a bitter comment about how he is surprised she didn’t marry a Gifted instead of him, and the Vicerina interrupted and sent him away.”
Reya took all of this in without any evident show of emotion, processing the information.
“What did Shellina say?”
“She offered an apology for the Viceregal and told me not to tell anyone about his comment. Then Major Andro came over and sneered at me for a minute and they went to dance.”
“Andro’s an ass, and incidentally, not someone you should trust.”
“The list of Provo-Majors I trust is extremely small,” Carl admitted.
“Gareth, Lorna, Lara and Topher are all in Jessamine’s confidence. Others, probably, but I don’t know who. Andro was very close friends with Fox and Parl.”
Confused by the onslaught of names, Carl said, “Are they the ones who—?”
“Yes,” Reya cut him off darkly.
“Can’t you just arrest him?”
“For what? Being friends with traitors? We can’t prove Andro’s done anything wrong yet, and the last thing we need is a witch-hunt where we’re all hurling accusations at each other and tearing each other apart from within. Which brings me to you.”
“To me?”
“You have different sources of information than we do, and you’re new and shiny and people will be flocking to use you for their own agendas. I’ll send a list of people to watch for to your comm, and any information you get from them you’re to report to one of Jessamine’s people.”
Carl frowned. “I’ve never met most of ‘Jessamine’s people’ so I wouldn’t even know who I was talking to.”
Exasperated with his desire to stay alive, Reya said, “Do some reading. You should have sufficient clearance to access basic bio records on the Provo-Major. Anyway, any conversations you have with Darius should be reported in full, as soon as possible but not over the comm.”
“You think the Viceregal is part of the plot against Jessamine?”
“He’s not as stupid as he looks, and he’s in a key position now. As a Viceregal, he has more power than he used to, and with Jessamine out of the way he could try to marry Shellina—who he has always gotten along with—and solidify his rule. She’s malleable and naïve and just waiting to be manipulated by someone smarter. I’m not taking any chances with Jessamine’s life.”
Carl nodded faintly, wondering how bumping into someone at a party could get him embroiled in danger so rapidly.
“How am I supposed to report to you if I can’t use the comm? We aren’t likely to run into each other a lot by coincidence.”
Reya nodded and said, “We’ll plan to have someone meet with you every Sunday in your room, so make yourself available. Call Topher if you need to report something urgent and can’t wait for the normal meeting time.”
“Why him?” Carl asked in alarm, as Reya took his comm from his pocket and began keying in relevant contact information.
“I don’t have a huge contact pool outside of the Augenspire, so it would look strange to the tech group to see a Gifted Captain calling me and might raise suspicion if any of them are traitors. Topher, on the other hand, has so many contacts that no one can keep track of them all. The Gifted, high- and low-ranking military personnel, informants working in shoe-shops in Silveria, people in the underground…no one would bat an eye at you calling him for something. He’s a direct pipeline to the Vicereine, so when people can’t get in touch with her, they call him.”
“He seems like an ass,” Carl blurted out, thinking of his one interaction with the man on the night of his interview with Jessamine.
“Ha! He’s a focused ass, and reliable. He grows on you.” She shrugged. “Anyway, we’ve been seen together long enough. Go mill about for at least another half-hour and then head back to your room. Don’t tell anyone what we’ve discussed.”
“That’s what the Vicerina said, and look how that turned out.”
Reya grinned and said, “Yes, but if you betray Shellina she’ll pout about it to her big sister. If you betray me I’ll cut your heart out.” She winked and seemed to melt away into the crowd on that ominous note.
Carl had no idea how he was supposed to enjoy the reception after such an unnerving conversation, and Risa was nowhere in sight. Sighing, he forced a natural expression and went to get a drink, thinking he w
ould have to watch his back on the way back to his room at the Augenspire tonight.
20
Risa Vorhees
Risa tried not to stare at Carl too overtly when he began dancing with Major Reya, twitching a smile when she saw how stiff and uncomfortable he looked with her. She thought the Majors would using the occasion to conceal their enhancers and blend in with the crowd, but Reya had her hair pulled back to put her enhancers in even greater prominence, and her bold red dress was hardly inconspicuous.
I didn’t even recognize her at first.
She had backed away out of reflex when Reya first approached them, despite having met her at Hera’s house before. It felt like a long time ago, and if the Major recognized Risa by sight, she didn’t show it.
Now Risa felt like an idiot, standing in the middle of the dance floor with no one to talk to or dance with. For a moment she looked around desperately for someone she knew, without any expectation of actually finding anyone. Of the ten-thousand people in the room tonight, none of her friends from the Academy had a clean enough record to win invites to the indoor reception.
I might as well have stayed outside with the rest of them, she thought ruefully. At least I’d have people to talk to and cheap drinks.
She rejected the thought almost immediately. It was worth a stuffy, uncomfortable evening surrounded by strangers to be able to apologize to Carl. She wished they were able to talk—and dance—longer, but perhaps after Major Reya was done with him he would be willing to spend more time with her…
Risa took a step backwards and bumped into someone, stumbling and barely catching herself.
“Excuse me, I’m sor—” she almost choked when she turned to apologize to the man behind her, only to catch sight of the enhancers peeking out from beneath his hair.
The unknown Major took in her emblem at a glance and made a face like he smelled something dirty.
“Watch where you’re going,” he blurted out, letting his eyes run over her appearance much more slowly now, as though looking for weapons.
“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you,” Risa winced, backing away from him and nearly hitting someone else.
